1807.] 
douces, asit iscalled by the French. At 
this place the river Lykus empties itself 
into the harbour — Its breadth is various, 
but m gencral about fifty paces. It is 
formed by the juncuon of two streams, 
the Barbysses, which comes from the 
suburb of Belgrade, and the Zydarus 
Machleva, which rises towardsthe north- 
west. 
Lhe Lykus is navigable throughout; 
but here and there it bas shallows, two of 
which are marked with poles, as signats to 
mariuers Across the two other rivers 
there are bridges, over which lies the 
road from Pera to Adrianopie. There 
Memoirs of John Opie, R.A. 
453 
are besides several other streams in tha 
Vicinity, all of which run through the 
whole length or the harbour to the Sea 
of Marmara, and contribute not a little 
to cleanse and purify it. ae 
From the heaghid Khaneh one direct 
road leads to Adrianople, another to Var~ 
na, anda third tothe Danube. Vhere is 
no other way by land from Pera to the 
city thau through this-quarter, and roads 
lead from several suburbs on the Eu 
ropean side to the canal, whichis here 
Separated from the harbour by a streight 
of great breadth. 
~ 
MEMOIRS AND REMAINS OF EMINENT PERSONS, | 
EE 
THE LATE JOHN OPIE, R.A. 
AND PROFESSOR OF PAINTING TO THE 
ROYAL ACADEMY. 
SENIUE Fine Arts may be strictly con- 
sidered as modern in respect to 
Bigland. They are; indeed, in some 
measure, confemporary with the present 
generation, and almost with the present 
retgn, 
Simple delineation, or the first rude 
effort towards painting, is common even 
among barbarous nations; but ages may 
and ipu:t pass away before the sublimer ef 
fort> of the pencil begin to be exhibited. 
Tf we are to givecredit to a great autho- 
rity,* painting, properly so called, was 
unknown during the epoch of the siege 
of Troy; and in Greece, fated to excel in 
every art that can dignity the human 
mind, a long period intervened, before 
any thing like perfection was acquired. 
At length, after a Zeuxis and an Apel- 
les had been formed, and the mould in 
which they were cast destroyed; the 
Attic sun reflected his faint departing 
rays on ancient Italy, and gave birth to 
an inferior class of imitators. In more 
recent times, when the Fine Arts revived 
‘in that country. under more favourable 
auspices, a Leonardo da Vinci, a Mi- 
chael Angelo Buonaroti, and a Raffaele, 
arose, and tended not a little, by their 
labours, to add to 'the celebrity of the 
age in which they flourished, 
The Dutch and Flemish schools had 
already attained a considerable degree 
of periection; while England, constantly 
engaged either in civil broils ‘or foreign 
wars, did not find time or opportunity, 
to culivate the acquirements that spring 
out of peace and tranquillity. 
- 
® Pliny, 
At length, however, taste was impor- 
ted from the Continent, and it was of a 
species suitable to the age and the re= 
gion of the times. Edwaid Uf. who, 
during the greater part or his réign, kept 
Up a CoOlistant mtercourse with france 
aid blauders, wishing to copy what he 
bad seea in more polished countries, em= 
ployed foreign artis's to give a splendour 
to the ecclesiastical establishments of 
his own. Paintings were accordingly 
afixed to the walls, while the windows 
were decorated with- stained glass, em- 
bellished with scriptural subjects.* 
Thus, the Fine Arts may be said te 
have been planted in this kingdom by 
the hand of a warrior-king.  [t- was 
reserved for a prince of a very different 
description, and who, from his supposed 
literary acquirements, might haye been 
called a priest-king, to mvite Raifaele 
aud Vitian cto, aud actually to entertain 
Hoibem. at, his court. Charles I. whose 
zeal for the promotion of painting and 
architecture has embalmed a character 
ii imany other respects equivocal, not 
only formed a very fine collection of 
works of the great masters, bat orait- 
ed his patronage to Rubens and Van-~ 
dyck, and enjoys the glory of being 
the rst monarch of England, who exteng 
ded this species of protection to his 
natural-born subjects. Queen Anne, 
bnproving on this plan, employed the 
British pencil to decorate our national 
monuments; and; finally, in 1768, his 
present Majesty became the avowed and. 
osicial protector of the Fine Arts, as 
patron of the Royal Academy. If this 
establishment did not create creat men, 
A 
* Witness the fine monuments*in Weste 
minster Abbey, executed in this age. 
