Iborace tKttalpoIe 233 



disappointed the public in proportion, the 

 blame was thrown on the engraver ; but so 

 far unjustly, that, though ill-executed, the 

 wretchedness of drawing, the total ignorance 

 of perspective, the want of variety, the dispro- 

 portion of the buildings, the awkwardness of 

 the attitudes, could have been the faults of the 

 inventor only. There are figures issuing from 

 cottages not so high as their shoulders, castles 

 in which the towers could not contain an infant, 

 and knights who hold their spears as men do 

 who are lifting a load sideways. The landscapes 

 are the only tolerable parts, and yet the trees 

 are seldom other than young beeches, to which 

 Kent, as a planter, was accustomed. 



But in architecture his taste was deservedly 

 admired ; and without enumerating particulars, 

 the staircase at Lady Isabella Finch's, in Berke- 

 ley Square, is as beautiful a piece of scenery, 

 and, considering the space, of art, as can be 

 imagined. The Temple of Venus at Stowe has 

 simplicity and merit, and the great room at Mr. 

 Pelham's, in Arlington Street, is as remarkable 

 for magnificence. I do not admire equally the 

 room ornamented with marble and gilding at 

 Kensington. The staircase there is the least 

 defective work of his pencil, and his ceilings in 

 that palace from antique paintings, which he 

 first happily introduced, show that he was not 



