CHAHTRKY. SIR FRANCIS. 



CHANTRKY, SIR FRANCIS. 



181 



eoelrwalin* as now. He took hie degree in 17M, and soon after 

 went u> VirjJoK and spent some Mat* there as a teacher; but in 1808 

 ho wee appointed to the oBot IB hirh be remeined for tbe rest of bis 

 We- that of pastor of tbe FoderaMrcet ootigragation in Boston. At 

 Ibis time be *ae eoosidere.1 to leen to what are called evangelical 

 view*; end several of taene%hbonilni>egvmenof other pereuasioos 

 need nscBslcailly to preach from his pulpit Bis own preaching early 

 drew attention; by its superior polish and eloquence ; but not, it would 

 appear, to any remarkable degree till be bad officiated for some years, 

 wbea his theology Bsaumsi more decided character, and his congre- 

 caboB, having considerably moresesd. built him a larger church, and 

 In IftM ga*e him a colleague, the Rev. Mr. Gannett. What first 

 broogbt him into nil notice in hie own country wore several 

 scrmoBs which be published during tbe war of 1813. These were 

 follow*] by a number of papers in the '0111811811 Disciple,' the 



Christian hammer.' and perhaps other Boston reviews or magazines. 

 In Knciand however Or. dunning 's name was not much beard of till 

 nftcr the appearance of bis ' Remarks on the Character and Writings 

 of John Mdlon.' originally published in the form of a review of the 



Treaties of Christian Doctrine ' in the Christian Examiner ' for 1820. 

 IB DM same publication for 1829 appeared bis ' Remarks on the Life 

 and Character of Napoleon Bonaparte,' as a review of Scott's ' Life of 

 Napoleon.' In 1830 a collection of Channing's writings was published 

 in B royal 8vo volume at Boston, under tbe title of ' Reviews, Dis- 

 courses, and Miscellanies.' He continued to produce occasions! tracts, 

 dtseaerses, aod other writings during tbe remainder of his life, of 

 which several aubeequeot collection! were formed, both in America 

 aad hi England ; but the most complete we believe is that published 

 at Glasgow in 6 vole. Svo, of which the first five were brought out in 

 1410, with tbe sanction and assistance of Dr. Channing himself, and 

 the sixth in 1844 under the authority of his son, Mr. W. F. Channing. 

 The subjects principally treated of, besides those already mentioned, 

 are war, temperance, public education, the church, and especially the 

 abolition of negro slavery, of which measure Cbaanin; was one of the 

 warmest advocates. His death took place at Burlington, Vermont, on 

 the 2nd of October 1842. 



'"^"nirn is one of the most striking writers America has produced ; 

 and his works, besides their attractions of style, are all animated by a 

 pore and lofty moral spirit. His eloquence however, though often 

 imposinf, has not much nature or real fire ; its splendour is mostly 

 verbal ; the thoughts are true and just, rather than new or profound ; 

 K is exciting on a first perusal, but will hardly bear a second. Nothing 

 that he has written therefore has much chance of long retaining its 

 reputation ; there is too little in it of the spirit of life ; too little of 

 anything that can be called its own, and that is not to be found else- 

 where. Both in its rhetorical character however and in its strain of 

 sentiment it was well calculated to produce an immediate effect. 



CHANTRKY, SIR FRANCIS, was bora on the 7th of April 1782, 

 at Norton, in Derbyshire, where his father was a farmer. Chantrey's 

 father wished to make an attorney of him, but he preferred being an 

 artist, and his predilection was for carving. He was accordingly 

 booed for three yean to a carver at Sheffield ; but during the time of 

 his apprmtiorsbip be found that it was a style of work which afforded 

 little scope for bis true love for art, and he therefore turned his atten- 

 tion to modelling in clay. He tried hie fortune as a modeller, first in 

 IhiUin. thra in Edinburgh, and lastly in London. In London, Nolle- 

 keus was greatly instrumental in promoting Chantrey's fortune*. The 

 young sculptor (be was then four-and twenty ) sent a bust of J . R. Smith 

 to the exhibition of the Royal Academy, which, in tbe deposition of 

 the works for exhibition, attracted tbe admiration of Nollekens, who 

 aid-" It is a splendid work; let tbe man be known : remove one of 

 my baste, and put this in its place." Nollekens himself did all that 

 was in bis power to make him known ; but Chantrey, having once 

 found the opportunity of making himself known, required thenceforth 

 no other recommendation than bis busts to ensure himself full employ- 

 ment in that department of art. In 181 6 he was chosen an Associate, 

 nd in ISIS a Member, of tbe Royal Academy. In the following year 

 <IW) be paid bis first visit to Italy, where he was elected a member 

 of the academics of Rome and Florence. 



IB the career of uniformly suooeasful artist there are few incidents 

 to record : Cbantrey's career for tbe last twenty yean of his life, as a 

 ooumeotel sculptor, was unrivalled j beyond this sphere however he 

 "j. * e was knighted by tbe queen in 1887, at which 

 riod be was already a sufferer from disease of tho heart, and from 

 this time he nniabedfew works himself: their completion was entrusted 

 to hie able assistant Mr. Weeks*. Of his poetic work*, which arc not 

 , few were executed from his own designs : the statue of Lady 

 Russell, daughter of the late Duke of Bedford, at Woburn 

 r, and the Sleeping Children,' in the cathedral of Lichfield, his 

 sepulchral monument, were both executed from the designs of 

 : the first is a child on tiptoe, pressing a dove to her bosom ; 

 m second it a monnmcot to two children of tbe late W. Robinson, Ksq. 

 r two reliefs from Homer by Chantrey 

 Iromaebe,' and Penelope with the bow 

 bat they are calculated rather to detract from his repu- 

 ta other words, are evidence that poetic art was beyond his 



say, f 

 LouU 



, or, U o 



poetic art was beyond 

 . and xxx. of the ' 

 of the Woburn Abbey Marbles.' 



Tney are engraved in plates xxix. and xxx. of the ' Outline 

 bcnvasi od Descriptions 



As a monumental sculptor Chantrey will rank high : romc of his 

 statues in this branch of art are among the finest specimens of their 

 class. One of his best works is the bronze statue of William 1'itt, in 

 llanovtrsquare, London. There are also marble stature by him, in 

 Westminster Abbey, of Francis Homer, Sir T. S. Raffles, George 

 Canning, Rev. K. F. Sutton, and Sir John Malcolm. Among hU prin- 

 cipal works are also statues of Washington, in the state-houM at 

 Boston, United States; Spenoer Percival, in All Saints' Church, North- 

 ampton ; James Watt, in the church of Aston, near Birmingham ; Sir 

 Kdward Hyde East and Bishop Heber, at Calcutta; Canning, in the 

 town-hall of Liverpool ; Mountste wart Elphinfttone and Sir Charles 

 Forbes, at Bombay ; Dr. Ryder, bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, in 

 Lichfield Cathedral ; and Dr. Bathurst, bishop of Norwich, in Norwich 

 Cathedral. His busts are extremely numerous ; his sitters were a large 

 proportion of the persona of rank and distinction of his time. He 

 executed also a few equestrian statues in bronze, but their postures 

 are formal and want vigour; the horses are particularly inanimate in 

 the body and limb'. His last work of this class, the Wellington testi- 

 monial, now placed before the lioyol Exchange, London, was executed 

 nearly entirely by Mr. Weeks*. 



Though deservedly eminent in his style, aod certainly one of the 

 best sculptors of his time, Chantrey cannot be reckoned among great 

 sculptors : bis busts display no extraordinary powers of conception or 

 of modelling, and the best of his statues are but simple draped figures 

 in repose, well-proportioned, and with much characteristic expression; 

 but they are not superior to similar works by many sculptors of less 

 renown. In the treatment of his portraits however he always disposed 

 the unpiaturesque costume of the present day with the greatest judg- 

 ment and with the least possible injury to the proportions of the 

 human figure ; he never left them stilt' or stony, as they are on many 

 of the statues in St. Paul's Cathedral, executed by some of Chantrey's 

 contemporaries and immediate predecessors. 



Chautrey had no children or very near relations, and he left the 

 reversion of a portion of his property, at the death or second marriage 

 of his wife, at the disposal, under curtain restrictions, of the president 

 and council of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, for the promo- 

 tion of British Fine Art in painting and sculpture, including an annuity 

 of 3001. for the president and 501. for the secretary, payable on the 1st 

 of January in every year. The interest of the residue is to be laid out 

 in the purchase of works of Fine Art of the highest merit in painting 

 and sculpture that can be obtained, either already executed or which 

 may hereafter be executed by artists of any nation, provided such 

 artists shall have actually resided in Great Britain during the executing 

 and completing of such works ; it being his express direction that no 

 work of art shall be purchased unless it shall have boon executed 

 within the shores of Great Britain : and further, that in making such 

 purchases, the works of the highest merit shall be chosen, solely with 

 regard to their intrinsic merit, and a liberal price be paid, wholly at 

 the discretion of the president and council of the Royal Academy. 

 The president and council however will not be obliged to lay out 

 annually the whole or any part of the annual sum at their disposal, 

 which may be allowed to accumulate for not more than five years. 

 All purchases must be bouiV fide purchases of finished works. The 

 will expressly provides against commissioning any artist to execute 

 works ; and all purchases must bo publicly exhibited for at least one 

 mouth at the annual exhibition of the Itoyal Academy or elsewhere. 



All these purchases are to be collected for the purpose of forming 

 and establishing a " Public National Collection of British Fine Art in 

 Painting and Sculpture," executed within the shores of Great Britain. 

 The will provides also against any expenditure of these funds in tho 

 erection of a building to contain permanently the works thus pur- 

 chased ; it having been Chantry's expectation that such building would 

 be provided by the nation free of all charge upon his estate. Tim 

 property devoted by Sir Francis Chantrey to this purpose is hU 

 residuary personal estate, over and above the property bequeathed to 

 his wife, and all legacies ; but ho expresses a wish that at the decease 

 of his wife all the property bequeathed to her should be by her d> 

 to the same purpose. Lady Chantrey however, so long as sbo remains 

 a widow, has a life-interest in this residuary penonal estate: its 

 amount is not publicly known, but it is said to be about 2JOOI. per 

 annum; it is vested in five trustees, including the president and 

 treasurer of the Royal Academy. Chautrey left to liu friend and prin- 

 cipal assistant Allan Cunningham 20001., and, in a codicil, a life-annuity 

 of 1 <)<>/., and, in case of his death, to his widow. Ho left also to hia 

 assistant Henry Weekes, lOOOi; provided in both oases that they 

 continued in their offices as assistants, until the completion of hia 

 unfinished works, or such as it was necessary to finish. Allan Cunning- 

 ham however did not survive Chantrey an entire year : Chantrey <lic<l 

 on the 25th of November 1841; Cunningham died on the 5th of 

 November 1842. 



Chautrey was buried in a vault constructed by himrelf in the church 

 of his native place, Norton iu Derbyshire, and ho bequeathed 2002. 

 per annum to the clergyman of the place, no long a his tomb shall 

 last, to instruct ton puor boys, and to pay annually 101. io five poor 

 men, aod to five poor widows or unmarried women, selected by tho 

 clergyman, and being of the parish of Norton ; tho residue to bo 

 reserved by the clergyman for his own use in consideration of his 



tooahk 



