R E Y 



bour, however, was never wholly fo, for he added to the 

 force and harmony of his piftures by thefe repetitions ; and 

 frequently attained graces by them which would otherwile 

 perhaps have remained unknown. 



The numberMs inftances in which he is known to have 

 borrowed thoughts, both in aftions of figures, and eileft 

 of colour, feem to impeach his power of invention. But 

 furely it could not proceed from want of a fufficient por- 

 tion of that high and neceffary quality, that he, who pro- 

 duced fo many novel combinations, adopted that fhort-hand 

 path to compofition. We fee it exemplified in a fuperior de- 

 gree in moll of his principal produftions ; and particularly 

 in his whole length and half length portraits ; the arrange- 

 ments of which are no lefs beautiful and interefting, than 

 new, and entirely his own. Thefe are compofed in a tafte 

 far furpaffnig all that had ever been done by his predeccffors ; 

 uniting the grandeur, fimplicity, and fulnefs of Titian, and 

 the grace and nature of Vandyke, with the artful and at- 

 tractive effects of Rembrandt. 



Moft probably he adopted that line of conduct from 

 neceffity ; driven to it by the immenfe fource of employment 

 which his talents for portraiture fhowered upon him. He had 

 fcarcely time to invent new aftions or effects in all cafes, 

 or to bellow that ftudy upon them which would have been 

 requifite, and therefore he fatisfied himfelf by endeavouring 

 to infiirfe into thofe he borrowed more elegance, more feel- 

 ing, or more fentiment. How effectually he did this, needs 

 not here be mentioned. One quality he had, which no 

 other painter that ever breathed fhares with him in an 

 equal degree, fafcination. The effect of his belt pictures 

 acts like a charm, and arrefts the tafteful beholder with 

 irrefiftible power. On the works of others we look with 

 approbation, and fometimes with feelings of admiration 

 and delight, or even with a fenfation of awe ; but in thofe 

 of Reynolds there is generally an indefcribable unity and 

 amenity, which aft upon us with moft fafcinating power, 

 and rivet the attention with fuperior gratification. No 

 real connoiffeur can deny the exigence of this quality in his 

 pictures, bu* wherein it fpecifically dwells, it is not eafy 

 to difcover or define. They are not laboured to perfect 

 imitation, indeed they Hop very far (hort of that ; yet they 

 prefent a full image, with a degree of life and animation, 

 that has rarely been difplayed upon canvas. It is a dan- 

 gerous doftrine to advance, and may be abufed ; but, per- 

 haps, this power may be in great mcafure owing to his 

 having painted lefs upon fyftem, than from feeling ; and 

 the latter governing the exercifc of his pencil, not to the 

 negleft of, but in a fuperior degree to the influence of the 

 former, jieceffarily imbued his works with a glow of nature ; 

 which, it will be allowed, attrafts beyond the power of 

 art. Whencefoever this fafcination, of which we fpeak, 

 proceeds, it mull be acknowledged, that no painter ever 

 poflefled it like Reynolds. 



His hiftorical works are but few. Thofe, however, ex- 

 hibit a power, of which it is fair to fay, that if it had 

 been early cultivated, and kept in employment, he would 

 moft probably have rivalled the great names of antiquity. 

 His poetic and fancy fubjefts are treated with originality, 

 variety, tafte, and fentiment. 



The fenfe of his extraordinary talents was revived and 

 ftrengthened to its proper medium, by a moft juft and 

 pleating tribute paid to his memory in the courfe of the 

 year 1813 : viz. a public exhibition of a feleftion of his 

 works at the gallery of the Britifh Inftitution, Pall Mall. 

 About 150 pictures, produftions of his eafel, collected 

 from various pofleffors, were arranged for the infpeftion 

 of the public ; and prefented an aflemblage of tafte and 



KEY 



genius, fuch as we conceive no other country in the world 

 could boat!. At leaft in an equal number of any other 

 artift's produftions, fo pleafing a combination of the beau- 

 ties of the art of painting could no where be found : and 

 thefe were but a Email proportion, indeed, of the number of 

 pictures which he painted. There are engravings from 

 upwards of 700 of his works, and a vait number of others 

 have evidently never been under the engraver's hands. The 

 idea of this token of refpeft to our great artilt originated 

 in converfatiou at the annual dinner of the Royal Academy, 

 in 181 2 ; when, upon its being propofed to his royal high- 

 nefs the prince of Wales, who was prefent, he entered moft 

 cordially into it, and profeffed his readinefs to lend his 

 own pictures for the purpofe. The exhibition being pre- 

 pared, it was opened on Saturday, the nth of May, when 

 the members of the inftitution gave a grand dinner to a 

 large portion of the nobility and the members of the 

 Royal Academy, which was honoured by the prefence of 

 the prince regent. After the dinner the rooms were illumi- 

 nated by lamps, and the company increafed and adorned by 

 the admiflion of ladies, many of whom had been the happy 

 fubjefts of his ingenious pencil : for he is faid to have 

 preferved to pofterity the features of three generations of 

 the beauty and fafhion of the country. 



The pleafure afforded to the country at large by this ex- 

 hibition was teftified by the immenfe concourfe of people 

 that flocked to behold and admire, during the whole time 

 of its remaining open. So that the funds of this excellent 

 inftitution were well repknimed, its objeft of exalting the 

 honour of the artift and his profeffion moft amply effected, 

 and the country itfelf exalted in the eftimation of the 

 world, by this effective difplay of native power in an art, 

 the negleft of which had been the fource of obloquy upon 

 our climate, as it continues, notwithftanding and more 

 juftly, ft ill to be upon our government. 



We (hall conclude our account of this great and valuable 

 man, by quoting part of an eulogium written by his friend 

 Mr. E. Burke a few hours after the melancholy event, 

 which it commemorates, had taken place. " He polleffed," 

 faid that clear inveftigator of character, " the theory, as 

 perfeftly as the practice, of his art. To be fuch a painter, 

 he was a profound and penetrating philofopher. 



" In full affluence of foreign and domeltic fame, admired 

 by the expert in art, and by the learned in fcience, courted 

 by the great, carefled by fovereign powers, and celebrated 

 by diftinguiftied poets, his native humility, modefty, and 

 candour, never forfook him, even on furprize or provoca- 

 tion ; nor was the leaft degree of arrogance or affumption 

 vifible to the moft fcrutinizing eye, in any part of his con- 

 duft or difcourfe. 



" His talents of every kind, powerful from nature, and 

 not meanly cultivated by letters, his focial virtues in all the 

 relations and all the habitudes of life, rendered him the 

 centre of a very great and unparalleled variety of agreeable 

 focieties, which will be diffipated by his death. He had 

 too much merit, not to excite fome jealoufy ; too much in- 

 nocence, to provoke any enmity. The lofs of no man of 

 his time can be felt with more fincere, general, and unmixed 

 forrow. 



" Hail! and Farewell!" 



Reynolds' IJland, in Geography, a fmall ifland in the 

 Florida Stream. N. lat. 24 . W. long. 8l° 30'. 



REYNOSA, a town of Spain, in Old Caftile ; sc miles 

 N.W. of Frias. 



REYOOR, a town of Hindooftan, in the circar of 

 Condapilly; 15 miles S.E. of Condapilly. 



REZ. 



