was on their backs^ and with the hands 
joined in prayer : under this obvious disad- 
vantage our ancient sculptors contrived to 
make many excellent and interesting figures 
in beautiful transparent alabaster, although 
almost all the males are represented in ar- 
mour. As the effigies of persons were fre- 
quently accompanied by that of their con- 
sort, more scope for genius and variety pre- 
vailed in the latter, and consequently we 
find females in the habits of their times, 
and represented in the rich ornaments of 
the sex, and making due allowance for the 
stiffness of their cumbent position, the dra- 
pery is frequently placed in true and well 
conceived folds ; as to expression in the 
features beyond a mere state of quiet, as it 
would not have been proper, it is not to 
be discovered in any instance. Some of 
the tombs under consideration are divided 
into compartments, in each of which small 
bas reliefs are introduced of the children 
of the deceased, or monks or nuns telling 
their beads; these are frequently well exe- 
cuted, and so far so as to make us wish the 
artist had been indulged to the full extent 
of his abilities. 
It appears, upon an attentive compari- 
son, that the figures, executed between the 
reigns of Henry III. and Henry VII. are 
infinitely superior to those placed on tombs 
during and after the time of Henry VIII. as 
in his, and the two preceding reigns, the 
effigies were generally exhibited either 
kneeling at prayer, or cumbent, in a most 
miserable taste indeed, which was made 
still more disgusting by the custom of paint- 
ing and gilding the drapery. In the period 
of the interregnum, nothing was done in the 
art of sculpture, as, unfortunately, the era 
alluded to completed the destruction begun 
at the reformation, by the application of a 
blind principle of dislike, which prevented 
the preservation of the statues of saints, not 
as objects to excite devotion, but as the 
only mementos that existed that the art 
had ever been encouraged in England. 
As might have been anticipated, sculp- 
ture sunk into a state of total neglect, if 
not of contempt; but, after the restoration, 
the ancient habits of the people recurring, 
statues of the dethroned king, and of his son 
and successor, were erected in every di- 
rection, and in some instances they are 
tolerable figures; but the monumental of 
the same date are wretched indeed, as they 
are clad in Roman armour, and their heads 
and shoulders sustain enormous wigs. En- 
couragement increasing, the art began to 
foHze from its torpid state, and at lengtfi 
Cibber flourished, to whom we are indebted 
for many very excellent statues, and some 
rich embellishments at St. Paul’s cathedral. 
Without invidiously mentioning names and 
making comparisons, it would be impossible 
to enter more fully into the progress of sculp- 
ture since the date just mentioned ; we shall 
therefore merely say, that numerous proofs 
exist that the modern English possess a ge- 
nius for sculpture equal to the inhabitants 
of any nation, but unfortunately it seems to 
be nearly confined to the execution of mo- 
numents, on which a routine of genii, an- 
cient gods and goddesses, and virtues, are 
constantly introduced, to the total extinc- 
tion of taste, as they must each possess their 
attributes to point out their names. 
Little need be said of the mechanical 
part of this art, as various chissels, a mallet, 
compasses, and materials for polishing mar- 
ble, are all that is required ; the essential is 
seated in the mind, and as Roubiliac used 
to say, “ the figure is in the substance of the 
marble, I only extricate it from the enclo- 
sure, or pick it out.” 
SCUTAGE, was anciently a tax imposed 
on such as held lands, &c. by knight’s ser- 
vice, towards furnishing the King’s army : 
hence scutagio habendo was a writ that 
lay for the king, or other lord, against te- 
nants holding by .knight’s service, to serve 
in person, or send a sufficient man in their 
room, or pay a certain sum, &c. 
SCUTELLARIA, in botany, skull cap, n 
genus of the Didynamia Gymnospermia 
class and order. Natural order of Verticil- 
lat®. Labiatae, Jussieu. Essential charac- 
ter : calyx with an entire mouth, after flow- 
ering closed by a lid. There are sixteen 
species ; these are all perennial plants, 
chiefly herbaceous, with square stalks, and 
opposite leaves ; the flowers are either soli* 
tary, axillary, and naked, or else in termi- 
nating bracted spikes, with one bracte, or 
floral leaf to each flower ; they are chiefly 
natives of the South of Europe. 
SCUTTLES, in a ship, square holes cut 
in the deck, big enough to let in the body 
of a man, serving to let people down into 
any room below upon occasion, or from 
one deck to another. Thqy are generally 
before the main-mast, before the knight in 
the forecastle ; in the gun-room, to go down 
to the stern-sheets ; in the round-house, to 
go down into the captain’s cabin, when 
forced by the enemy in a fight aloft. There 
are also .some smaller scuttles, which have 
gratings over them : and all of them have 
