36 
REYN 
of his merits and defects with singular modesty and can¬ 
dour. “ Not having the advautage of an early academical 
education, £ never had that facility of drawing the naked 
figure which an artist ought to have. It appeared to me too 
late when I went to Italy, and began to feel my deficiencies, 
to endeavour to acquire that readiness of invention which I 
observed others to possess. I consoled myself, however, by 
remarking, that those ready inventors are extremely apt to 
acquiesce in imperfection, and that if I had not their facility 
I should, for this very reason, be more likely to avoid the 
defect which too often accompanied it,—a trite and common¬ 
place invention. How difficult it is for the artist who possesses 
this facility to guard against carelessness and common-place, 
is well known; and in a kindred art, Metastasio is an eminent 
instance, who always complained of the great difficulty he 
found in obtaining correctness, in consequence of his having 
been in his youth an improvisatore. Having this defect con¬ 
stantly in my mind, I never was contented with common¬ 
place attitudes or inventions of any kind. I considered my¬ 
self asplaying a great game; and instead of saving money, I 
laid it out faster than I got it, in purchasing the best exam¬ 
ples of the art that could be procured; for i even borrowed 
money for this purpose. The possessing portraitsby Titian, 
Vandyke, Rembrandt, &c. I considered as the best kind of 
wealth. By studying carefully the works of great masters, 
this advantage is obtained: we find that certain niceties of 
expression are capable of being executed, which otherwise 
we might suppose beyond the reach of art. This gives 
us a confidence in ourselves, and we are thus incited to 
endeavour at not only the same happiness of execution, 
but also at other congenial excellencies. Study, indeed, 
consists in learning to see nature, and may be called the art 
of using other men's minds. By this kind of contemplation 
and exercise, we are taught to think in their way, and, 
sometimes to attain their excellence. Thus, for instance, 
if I had never seen any of the works of Correggio, I should 
never, perhaps, have remarked in nature the expression 
which I find in one of his pieces; or if I had remarked it, 
I might have thought it too difficult, or perhaps impossible, 
to be executed. 
“ My success and continual'improvement in my art (if I 
may be allowed that expression), may be ascribed, in good 
measure, to a principle which I will boldly recommend to 
imitation; I mean a principle of honesty, which in this, as 
in all other instances, is, according to the vulgar proverb, 
certainly the best policy. I always endeavoured to do my 
best. Great or vulgar, good subjects or bad, all had nature; 
by the exact representation of which, or even by the endea¬ 
vour to give such a representation, the painter cannot but im¬ 
prove in his art. 
“ My principal labour was employed on the whole toge¬ 
ther, and I was never weary of changing and trying different 
modes and effects. I had always some scheme in my mind, 
and a perpetual desire to advance. By constantly endea¬ 
vouring to do my best, I acquired a power of doing that with 
spontaneous felicity, which at first was the effort of my 
whole mind, and my reward was three-fold; the satisfaction 
resulting from acting upon this just principle, improvement 
in my art, and the pleasure derived from a constant pursuit 
after excellence. 
“ I was always willing to believe that my uncertainty of 
proceeding in my works, that is, my never being sure of 
my hand, and my frequent alterations, arose from a refined 
taste, which could not acquiesce in any thing short of a 
high degree of excellence. I had not an opportunity of 
being early initiated in the principles of colouring; no man 
indeed, could teach me. If I had never been settled with 
respect to colouring, let it at the same time be remembered, 
that my unsteadiness in this respect proceeded from an in¬ 
ordinate desire to possess every kind of excellence that I 
saw in the works of others ; without considering that there 
are in colouring, as in style, excellencies which are incom¬ 
patible with each other: however, this pursuit, or any simi¬ 
lar one, prevents the artist from being tired of his art. 
We all know how often those masters who sought after 
OLDS. 
colouring changed their manner, while others, merely fron? 
not seeing various modes, acquiesced all their lives in that 
in which they set out. On the contrary, I tried every’ 
effect of colour; and by leaving out every colour in its 
turn, shewed every colour that I could do without it. As 
I alternately left out every colour, I tried every new one; 
and often, as is well known, failed. The former practice, 
I am aware, may be compared by those whose first object 
is ridicule, to that of the poet mentioned in the Spectator, 
who in a poem of 24 books, contrived in each book to leave 
out a letter. But I was influenced by no such idle or 
foolish affectation; my fickleness in the mode of colouring, 
arose from an eager desire to attain the highest excellence. 
This is the only merit I can assume to myself from my con¬ 
duct in this respect.” 
His assiduity and love of his profession left him little lei¬ 
sure for country excursions. Occasionally, however, he- 
spent a few days at his villa on Richmond-hill, and visited, 
at different times, the seats of some of the noblemen and gen¬ 
tlemen of his acquaintance, from whence he was always glad 
to return to the practice of his profession, and the enjoyment 
of that intellectual society, of which, like his friend Johnson,. 
he justly considered London as the head-quarters. He, very 
soon after he became settled, perceived the advantage which 
one confined to the laborious duties of an arduous profession 
might derive from the society of literary men. Finding how 
little time he could spare from his profession, for the purpose 
of acquiring general knowledge from books, he resolved to 
partake as much as possible of the benefits which might be 
drawn from the conversation of the learned and ingenious 
men of his time. In consequence of this, and of his cheerful. 
and convivial habits, his table, for above thirty years, exhibit-, 
ed an assemblage of all the talents of Great Britain and Ire¬ 
land ; there being, during that period, scarcely a person in 
the three kingdoms distinguished for his attainments in lite¬ 
rature or the arts, or for his exertions at the bar, in the senate, 
or the field, who was not occasionally found there. 
Soon after the return of Sir Joshua from Italy, he became 
acquainted with Dr. Johnson, to whose superior talents he 
was always proud to acknowledge his obligations; and in 
the paper we have before-mentioned, has expressed his 
sense of the benefit he had derived from his society. When 
speaking of the value of associating either personally or by 
study with the truly greaf, he adds, “ May I presume to 
introduce myself as an instance of the truth of what I have, 
remarked. Whatever merit the discourses which I have 
had the honour of delivering from this place may have, it 
may in great measure be imputed to the education which I 
may be said to have had under Dr. Johnson. I do not ■ 
mean to say, though it certainly would be to the credit of 
these discourses, if I could; say it with truth, that he contri- • 
buted even a single sentiment to them; but he qualified my , 
mind to think justly. No man had, like him, the faculty 
of teaching inferior minds the art of thinking.”—“ The 
observations which he made on poetry, on life, and on every 
thing about us, I applied to one art; with what success 
others must judge.” The great leviathan of literature found 
in the mind of Reynolds a congenial purity and strength, 
and became zealously attached to him; who, with such a 
coadjutor, found but little difficulty in collecting around 
him a circle of the most able and useful members of society. 
Many illustrious foreigners were personally intimate with him, 
and his friendship was sought by individuals of the highest 
quality; who revered his genius as much as they respected 
the worth of his private character. From such connections, 
his mind rich in its own stores, received an accession of 
most extensive information, and an inexhaustible treasure • 
for conversation. He had a mind ever open to acquire useful 
knowledge; a sound and penetrating judgment to select 
what he acquired, and great industry and application in render¬ 
ing his acquirements useful. 
The variety of talent he exhibited, and the consequent 
eminence which he gained, qualified him to share the ho¬ 
nours of the first scientific institutions. . He was accordingly 
admitted to the Royal, the Antiquarian, and the Dilletauti 
Societies; 
