272 
JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
In 1801 John Britton visited Plymouth on his way to Cornwall 
for the purpose of seeing places and objects to be noticed and illus- 
trated in his Beauties of England, and he became acquainted with 
Dr. Bidlake, who introduced Prout. The sketches of the humble 
stone cottages, bits of rockwork, and other rude studies were sub- 
mitted to Britton, who professed to think little of them ; and yet 
somewhat cruelly, as it seems to me, he invited the young artist to 
accompany him through Cornwall, in order to make drawings to 
be engraved for the Beauties of England, of some of the most 
complicated architectural objects in the county, such as Probus 
Tower, Truro Church, and the Norman west end of St. Germans 
old Cathedral. It was, in fact, setting a man who had only as yet 
mastered the foundation work to undertake all at once the super- 
structure with its distinctive ornament and technical difficulties ; 
or telling him to draw the lace collars and cuffs, when he had only 
just felt his way to the boots. 
The expedition proved to a great extent a failure, affording little 
of the delight anticipated by Prout, but, on the other hand, tem- 
porary disappointment. 
Prout is described at that time as "a pretty timid youth." As 
a man he was always small and thin. The first day's walk to St. 
Germans, through a heavy fall of snow, whs not a very favourable 
beginning for the delicate artist. The village inn is described as a 
most miserable place — full of smoke, and with bedrooms ap- 
proached by a flight of stone steps on the outside of the house. 
Prout's first task the next day was to make a drawing of the well- 
known Norman end of the church, with the receding doorway and 
the two towers. " Prout was sadly embarrassed, not knowing 
where to begin or how to settle the perspective." He worked 
away, however, before the building for four or five hours ; and the 
sketch then produced was deemed by the antiquary too inaccurate 
in proportion and detail for engraving. The next clay he made 
another sketch, which was considered equally unsatisfactory. So 
they gave up St. Germans and went on to Probus, where the 
church tower, which is a late Perpendicular structure, is almost 
covered with elaborate ornament — quatrefoil panelling, pinnacled 
buttresses enriched with crockets and finials, and mullioned and 
traceried windows. The sketch occupied a day, and though it was 
afterwards engraved, it was deemed a failure. The Cheesewring, 
and other objects near Liskeard, were then drawn with more 
