UWINS, THOMAS, R.A. 



UZZIAII. 



211 



facturcs and internal commerce, and he was subsequently for some 

 years minister of finance. That his influence was not extinct was 

 proved by his being able to establish in 1823 an institution for the 

 instruction of young diplomatists in the Oriental languages, carrying 

 out in some degree his early project. After the accession of the 

 Emperor Nicolas he wa appointed in 1832 Minister of Public 

 Instruction, a step which excited some surprise, as the tendencies of 

 the new government were certainly not in favour of permitting the 

 liberty to think. From that time till 1848 Uvarov was indefatigably 

 active in founding museums, botanical gardens, observatories, and 

 educational institutions, and in providing for the better endowment 

 of such establishments, and any deficiency in liberality in their 

 management was attributed rather to the emperor than the minister. 

 In 1848 he again retired from office on occasion of some restraints on 

 education being imposed, of which he did not approve. 



The principal writings of Uvarov are rather elegant than profound : 

 they are collected in two volumes, one bearing the title of ' Studies of 

 Philology and Criticism," and the other 'Political and Literary 

 Sketches ' (' Etudes de Philologie et de Critique,' St. Petersburg, 1843, 

 2nd edition, Paris, 1845, ' Esquisses politiques et lite'raires,' Paris, 1848). 

 All of these essays are in French, except two on philological subjects, 

 one ' On the poet Nonnus of Panopolis,' and the other ' On the 

 Ante-Homeric Age/ which are in German. In the preface to the 

 essay on Nonnus, addressed to Gothe, the author expresses an opinion 

 that " it is now time for every author to choose for his instrument 

 the language which is best suited to the circle of ideas he intends to 

 treat." He seems however, iu spite of the confidence of his tone, to 

 have been for some time in doubt as to venturing to print in German, 

 and before publication applied to Gothe for advice, who in a half 

 jesting tone replied " Never confide to any German the grammatical 

 revision of your manuscripts. Do not forfeit the immense advantage 

 you enjoy in not knowing German grammar; I have been trying to 

 1'orget it these thirty years." Among the few foreigners who have 

 written in that language, Uvarov is admitted to have been one of the 

 most successful. In French, which was in the time of his youth more 

 familiar than Russian to educated Russians, bis style is pronounced to 

 be perfectly idiomatic by his French editor M. Le"ouz;on Leduc, who 

 in his amusing preface declares with apparent confidence in his own 

 correctness that "everywhere our novels, our plays, our books, 

 whether serious or frivolous, enjoy a monopoly of admiration." The 

 subjects of Uvarov's essays ' Stein and Pozzo di Borgo,' 'The Prince 

 de Ligne, 1 ' Venice,' ' Rome,' &c., are iu themselves of interest and are 

 treated in a light and graceful style which never fatigues the reader. 

 Uvarov is reported to have written memoirs of his own time, which may 

 probably form the best portion of his writings in the eyes of posterity. 



* ALEXEI SERGIEVICH UVAROV, the son of the preceding, has pub- 

 lished in Russian ' Researches on the Antiquities of Southern Russia 

 and the coasts of the Black Sea' (' Izsliedovaniya o drevnostiach 

 Yuzhnoy Rossii,' St. Petersburg, 1852, &c.) and is still publishing a 

 magnificent work on the antiquities of Kertch. 



* UWINS, THOMAS, R.A., was -born in Pentonville, London, in 

 1783. Apprenticed to Smith, an engraver of some repute in his day, 

 ho acquired, whilst learning the use of the burin, a certain familiarity 

 with the general principles of design. But having fixed his heart on 

 becoming a painter, he, on quitting Smith, entered as a student at the 

 Royal Academy, at the same time availing himself of the lectures 

 which Sir C. Bell was then delivering to students in art. For some 

 years he was principally occupied in making designs for book engravings, 

 in which he seems to have taken Stothard as his model, though 

 maintaining considerable originality; many of his designs display 

 very decided power as well as grace. He also made numerous copies 

 of paintings for the use of engravers. At this time he practised 

 almost exclusively in water-colours, and in 1811 he was elected a 

 member (and subsequently secretary) of the Society of Painters in 

 Water Colours. Failure of health having led to a temporary abandon- 

 ment of his profession, he after a short interval commenced practice 

 iu Edinburgh as a portrait painter, having prepared himself by making 

 a series of portraits for book illustrations. In 1826 he visited Italy, 

 and the studies which he made during his stay led him to commence 

 painting pictures illustrative of the cheerful out-door life of the 

 Italian, and especially of the Neapolitan peasantry. These works 

 painted with a light bright pencil, picturesque in costume, gay in 

 colour, and cheerful in spirit, became at once very popular, and their 

 popularity remained undiminished as long as he continued to produce 

 them. As samples of these sunny Italian pictures may be mentioned, 

 'The Mandolin;' 'Dressing for the Festa;' 'Neapolitan Peasantry 

 returning from a Festa;' 'The Fisherman's Song of Naples;' 'In- 

 terior of a Saint Manufactory at Naples ; ' ' Festa della Madonna del 

 Arco ; ' ' Loggia of a Vine-dresser's cottage in the afternoon of a 

 Saiut-day ; ' ' Mountaineers returning from the Festa ; ' ' Bay of Naples 

 on the 4th of June ; ' ' Teaching a child the Tarantella ; ' ' Children 

 asleep iu a Vineyard ; ' ' Making a Nun.' He also painted some 

 EngttBh peasant pieces, as ' The Top of the Stile,' ' The Pet of the 

 Village,' &c., but with less success. Later he painted illustrations 

 from popular authors, Sterne's Maria, the Dorothea, &c. ; and still 

 later he essayed a loftier class of subjects, as ' Lear and Cordelia in 

 prison ; ' ' Cupid and Psyche ' (painted for Prince Albert) ; ' Psyche 

 returning from the Infernal Regions with the Casket of Beauty ; ' 



The Reproof ; ' ' John the Baptist proclaiming the Messiah on the 

 Morning after the Baptism ; ' ' Judas,' &c. ; but these were scarcely 

 adapted to his pencil. Mr. Uwins was elected a Royal Academician 

 in 1836 ; and from 1844 to 1855 he held the office of librarian to the 

 Royal Academy. He was appointed keeper of her Majesty's pictures 

 in 1842, and keeper of the National Gallery in 1847, but ho resigned 

 the latter situation after two or three years. In the Veruon collection 

 are two pictures by Mr. Uwina, ' The Vintage in the Claret vineyards, 

 South of France,' and ' Le Chapeau de Brigand . ' in the Sheepshanks' 

 collection are four more characteristic examples of his pencil ' Italian 

 Mother teaching her Child the Tarantella ; ' ' Neapolitan Boy decorating 

 his Inamorata ; ' ' The favourite Shepherd ; ' and ' Suspicion.' 



UZ, JOHANN PETER, was born at Ansbach on the 3rd of October 

 1720. He studied at Halle, where he formed a friendship with Gleim 

 and Gotz, and, in conjunction with the latter, published a translation 

 of Anacreon in 1746. In 1748 he was appointed secretary to the 

 College of Justice in Ansbacb, then an independent margraviate. Of 

 this post he performed the duties for twelve years, but devoted his 

 leisure to the writing of poetry, chiefly in a lyrical form, of which in 

 1749 he published a small collection, entitled ' Lyrische Gedichte.' It 

 acquired him a considerable reputation, and encouraged him to pro- 

 duce the ' Sieg des Liebesgottes ' (Victory of Love), a narrative poem ; 

 in 1755 ' Theodicee,' which has much poetical merit; and in the 

 same year a new edition of his lyrical poems, with considerable 

 additions. In 1760 he produced his didactic poem of ' Die Kunst, 

 stets frohlich zu sein ' (Art is ever Cheerful), written in alexandrines, 

 and which still maintains a high rank in this class of poetry. In 

 1768 he was appointed assessor of the justiciary court at Niirnberg, 

 and again published his lyrics, with fresh additions ; but then for a 

 time abandoned poetry in order to devote himself more sedulously to 

 the duties of his office. In 1781 however he was called upon by his 

 prince to write, in conjunction with Jungheim, a ' Neue Ansbachische 

 Gesangbuch ' (a new Ansbach Hymn-book), in which he was very suc- 

 cessful. In 1796, when Ansbach was incorporated with Prussia, he 

 was created a counsellor of justice and judge of the court at Ansbach, 

 but he enjoyed his dignity only a short time, for he died on the 12th 

 of May of the same year. His poems still continue popular, and 

 several editions have been issued since his death. The religious 

 hymns, the epistles, and some of his lighter sportive pieces are the 

 best of his productions. In 1825 a monument was erected to his 

 memory in the royal gardens at Ansbach, with a colossal bust from 

 the chisel of HeidelofE 



UZZIAH, or, as he is sometimes called, AZARIAH, king of Judah, 

 was the son of Amaziah and Jecholiah. Uzziah was only five years old 

 when his father Amaziah died (B.C. 849), and as the inhabitants of 

 Judah did not acknowledge him as fit to reign till he had reached his 

 sixteenth year, there was a regency for eleven years. Uzziah appears to 

 have been instructed by Zechariah, a wise and holy man, whose teaching 

 had a salutary influence on his mind, so that when he grew up he 

 served the Lord; and we are told that "as long as he sought the Lord, 

 God made him to prosper." When Uzziah was sixteen years of age 

 he was raised to the throne. Everything he undertook prospered in 

 his hands, and his mind was equally engrossed by the arts of peace aud 

 of war. He bred cattle, and for their protection and subsistence he 

 built towers and dug wells. He also had many husbandmen and vine- 

 dressers, " for he loved husbandry." He repaired the old fortresses 

 and built new ones ; and he not only caused the walls of Jerusalem, 

 which had been damaged, to be repaired, but he also strengthened the 

 towers, and had balistae and catapults mounted on them. He also 

 caused shields, spears, helmets, bows, slings, and other warlike 

 weapons to be prepared for his army as it would seem, a kind of 

 militia which consisted of 307,500 men, commanded by 2600 chiefs, 

 all mighty men of valour. Being in possession of such an immense 

 power, he waged war against the Philistines, and obtained possession 

 of several of their principal towns Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. He 

 was also successful in his wars against the Arabs, of Gur-Baal, the 

 Mehunims, and the Ammonites, and the terror of his name was spread 

 abroad. Rendered arrogant by his power and prosperity, he was dis- 

 satisfied at not possessing like the king of Israel and some other 

 neighbouring monarchs the right to officiate as high priest at the 

 incense-altar, and he determined to assume the function. Accordingly, 

 he went into the temple to offer incense upon the altar. Azariah, the 

 high-priest, with eighty other priests, followed after him, and warned 

 him that his usurpation of the priestly function was unlawful and 

 impious. Uzziah was enraged at this remonstrance, and took the 

 censer to burn incense, but no sooner had he done so than he was 

 smitten with leprosy. On perceiving this, the priests would have 

 expelled him from the Temple as a pollution ; but he himself, being 

 conscience-stricken, hastened to leave it, and he remained a leper to 

 the day of his death. According to the Jewish law, lepers were 

 excluded from towns during the continuance of their leprosy : Uzziah 

 was consequently unable to exercise his kingly office, and the sove- 

 reign power was administered by his son Jotham in his father's name. 

 Uzziah djed B.C. 757, having lived sixty-eight years and reigned fifty- 

 two. His reign was longer than any other of the kings of Judah 

 with the exception of Manasseh. The prophets Amos, Hosea, and 

 Joel began to prophecy during his reign, and hi the last year of it 

 Isaiah was called to the prophetic office. 



