Which bar these commoners from browfing: Pigs, goats, fheep, oxen, calves and cows in.' A piece of the Postscript is more to the purpose: • If a word in fober sadness may be permitted to close a long train of sportive irony, let it exprefs a wish that no part of this jeu d'efprit may give ferious offence to a writer, whofe learning always merits respect, and whofe tafte often claims approbation. Nevertheless, very few, probably, will be convinced, by his Poetry, that the old ftyle of laying out grounds was "negatively good." Thofe who think, on the contrary, that it was pofitively bad; who look up with reverence to the memory of BROWN, as the great deftroyer of an unnatural and abfurd fyftem, will feel with indignation an injury offered to his ashes.' The "Word to Uvedale Price, Efq." in the P. S. is not a long one: we copy the better half of it: I am ready to acknowlege, that this Gentleman has marked out the limits of the Picturefque and Beautiful with as much precision as the nature of that debuteable ground feems to admit; his manner of doing it, cannot be better characterized than in his own language. He is full of unexpected turns, of flashes of light: objects the most familiar are placed by him in fuch fingular, yet natural points of view, -he strikes out fuch unthought-of agreements and contrafts-fuch combinations fo little obvious, yet never forced or affected, that the attention cannot flag; but, from the delight of what is paffed, we eagerly liften for what is to come." midable. But if it was referved for him to lay down better precepts ; Such an affailant is truly forif he is the first who has properly invoked the rural Graces folutis zonis, why fhould poor BROWN, who made way for them by the deftruction of the formal and the ugly, meet with fuch harsh, fuch very fevere criticifm? Would it not be more juft, as well as candid, to detect nis errors, but at the fame time give him his due fhare of praife? The whole list of crimes committed by this great culprit in the regions of tafte, and for which he is now impeached at the bar of the public, may be comprized in one article, viz. that he made the Beautiful his fole aim, without fufficiently attending to the Picturefque. If his merits should not be thought a complete fet-off, to balance this defect, I would shortly urge in his defence, that the higher ftyle of the Picturefque is not much in the power of the Improver. the landscapes of RUBENS are admired in the Effay for being full of For example, the picturesque accidents of Nature; among thefe, the most ftriking are," the effects of thunder and lightning, torrents rolling down, trees torn up by the roots, and the dead bodies of men and animals.' "But ah! how diff'rent is the formal lump Break, break, ye Nymphs, the fence that guards it round! KNIGHT'S LANDSCAPE, P. 25. Mr. P. has given a pleasant caricature of an Improver working upon a picture of CLAUDE, A picturefque Imitator of RUBENS, attempting to transfer these accompaniments from the canvas of Nature, might be sketched by way of companion, with features no lefs ridiculous. In gardening, I conceive, we must only hope for the picturefque in the wilder parts of the scene; and here Art must tread "With unfandal'd foot, Printlefs, as though the place were holy ground." It is the Beautiful, which is more within the reach of the Improver. This is furely to be found in the undulating play of fmooth verdure, in the contraft of different trees happily difpofed, and in the endless variety of foliage and flowers of humbler growth. All these circumftances are charming in reality, though they may not furnish good fubjects for the pencil. The faftidious eye, which turns from fuch a fcene with difguft, because there is no temptation to take out the fketch-book, is, I think, not much to be envied. Hollow lanes, "rutts and rubbish," burdock and thiftles, produce a very pleafing effect in their proper places; an exuberant beard is alfo a moft picturefque ornament to the human countenance; but haven turf and "prim gravel walks," like a smooth chin, are facrifices to the comfortable, (a principle not totally to be forgotten in laying out grounds,) which, I apprehend, cannot well be avoided; and even these, if Mr. P.'s remarks with regard to avoiding monotony be attended to, are in themselves by no means deftitute of beauty.' ART. XVII. A Letter to Uvedale Price, Efq. By H. Repton. 8vo. pp. 20. Nicol. 1794. THE HIS fhort epiftle is intended as a vindication of Mr. Brown's and the writer's principles of improvement, and to manifeft the weakness and injuftice of the attacks which have been made against them by Mr. Knight and Mr. Price. We will tran fcribe a few of thofe paffages which, we think, apply the moft clofely, and with the best effect: During the pleasant hours we paffed together amidst the romantic fcenery of the Wye, I do remember my acknowledging that an enthufiafm for the picturefque, had originally led me to fancy greater affinity betwixt painting and gardening, than I found to exift after more mature confideration, and more practical experience; becaufe, in whatever relates to man, propriety and convenience are not lefs objects of good tafte, than picturefque effect; and a beautiful garden-fcene is not more defective because it would not look well on canvas, than a didactic poem because it neither furnishes a subject for the painter or the mufician. There are a thousand scenes in nature to delight the eye, befides thofe which may be copied as pictures; and indeed one of the keeneft obfervers of picturefque fcenery (Mr. Gilpin), has often regretted that few are capable of being fo reprefented, without confiderable licence and alteration. If therefore the painter's lanfcape be indifpenfible to the perfection of gardening, it would surely be far better to paint it on canvas at at the end of an avenue, as they do in Holland, than to facrifice the health, cheerfulness, and comfort of a country refidence, to the wild but pleasing scenery of a painter's imagination.' Again, The neat I cannot help feeing great affinity betwixt deducing gardening from the painter's ftudies of wild nature, and deducing a government from. the uncontrolled opinions of man in a favage ftate. nefs, fimplicity, and elegance of English gardening, have acquired the approbation of the prefent century, as the happy medium betwixt the wildness of nature and the ftiffness of art; in the fame manner as the English conftitution is the happy medium betwixt the liberty of favages and the restraint of defpotic government; and fo long as we enjoy the benefit of these middle degrees betwixt extremes of each, let experiments of untried theoretical improvement be made in fome other country.' This letter, which has been written, at various opportunities, during my journey into Derbyshire, has infenfibly grown to a bulk which I little expected when I began it: I fhall therefore caufe a few copies to be printed, to serve as a general defence of an art, which, I truft, will not be totally fuppreffed, although you fo earneftly recommend every gentleman to become his own landfcape gardener; with equal propriety might every gentleman become his own architect, or even his own phyfician: in fhort, there is nothing that a man of abilities may not do for himself, if he will dedicate his whole attention to that fubject only. But the life of man is not fufficient to excel in all things: and as "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing," fo the profeffors of every art, as well as that of medicine, will often find that the most difficult cafes are thofe, where the patient has begun by quacking himfelf.' We cordially join with Mr. Repton in his termination: I fhall conclude this long letter by an allufion to a work, which it is impoffible for you to admire more than I do. Mr. Burke, in his Effay on the Sublime and Beautiful, obferves, that habit will make a man prefer the tafte of tobacco to that of fugar; yet the world will never be brought to say that fugar is not fweet. In like manner both Mr. Knight and you are in the habits of admiring fine pictures, and both live amidst bold and picturefque fcenery: this may have rendered you infenfible to the beauty of thofe milder fcenes that have charms for common obfervers. I will not arraign your taste, or call it vitiated, but your palate certainly requires a degree of "irritation" rarely to be expected in garden scenery; and, I truft, the good fenfe and good taste of this country will never be led to defpife the comfort of a gravel walk, the delicious fragrance of a fhrubbery, the foul expanding delight of a wide extended profpect, or a view down a fteep hill, because they are all fubjc&s incapable of being painted.' Mr. Price has published an answer to Mr. Repton, which we fhall speedily notice. REV. MARCH, 1795. Z ART. ART. XVII. A Difcourfe, by Way of general Preface to the Quarto Edition of Bishop Warburton's Works; containing fome Account of the Life, Writings, and Character of the Author. 4to. pp. 150. (Not fold.) 1794. AN air of mystery and ftudious concealment not only excites but fharpens curiofity. When, therefore, we announced (vol. lxxxi. p. 352.) the quarto edition of Bishop Warburton's works, and fubmitted to the confideration of our readers the promiffory note given with it, informing the purchasers that there was a life of the author prepared, which would be published and delivered to them on their producing the note, but that it was withholden for the prefent,-for reafons which would be feen hereafter, we felt a strong defire to see this myfterious book; and no fooner was it brought to us, than we threw afide our other ftudies, and poftponed the payment of fome critical debts, in order to fit down in the fnug luxury of our armchair to the immediate perufal and examination of this difcourfe. First, we ran it over in hafte; and, when the keen edge of curiofity was blunted, we gave it a more fteady perufal. Here, however, it has fared with us, as no doubt it fared with many of the initiated into the antient myfteries ;-we have found lefs than we expected, and lefs than we had good reason to expect; for we are not told why this performance was withholden for fo many years, and not fuffered to accompany the collected works of Dr. Warburton in the year 1788, to which it may be deemed a neceffary preface. The Bishop of Worcester (Dr. Hurd) did not fay, in the promiffory note, that this discourse was then printed, but only that fuch a work had been prepared; and it may be that, in revifing and re-revifing it, fuch erafements and alterations have been made as have removed his original objections to its now venturing abroad, in order to be prefixed to the works. Suppoling, however, that the Right Reverend editor and biographer has accommodated matters in this refpect to his own fatisfaction, he has not answered the expectation of the purchasers ; who were promifed, among the Warburtonian myfteries, the reasons which induced the editor to fo fingular a procrastination. Perhaps the keen eye of the learned editor of Tracts by Warburton and a Warburtonian may yet difcover these motives; though the general reader will probably look for them in vain. Reatons for fome timidity, on the part of the Right Reverend biographer, may be feen in his treatment of Warburton's opponents; fome of whofe friends and admirers will perhaps offer their ftrictures on thefe parts of this difcourfe. There are other parts on which we might raife conjectures, and offer particular comments: but, abftaining from all minute and invi dious criticism, we applaud Bishop Hurd for the refolution which he has at length taken, and congratulate the public on the appearance of this biographical preface. "If(as Johnfon remarks in one of his Ramblers) alife be delayed till intereft and envy are at an end, we may hope for impartiality, but we must expect little intelligence;" and though, as he also remarks in the fame paper, the biographer "owes more respect to knowlege, to virtue, and to truth, than regard to the memory of the dead;" yet it must be confidered that, while that very friendship, which interefts itfelf in tranfmitting to pofterity the particulars of departed worth or genius, has its bias, to it we are indebted for the most interefting details of biography. Let us not be moved to wrath if the zealous friend fometimes throws over the portrait, which he intends to delineate, the fhade of apology, and at others enriches it with the glowing tints of panegyric. Allowance must be made for the partial hand that guides the pencil; and, as long as friendship mildly exercifes its privilege, and does not, in order to exite admiration or to prevent cenfure, deftroy the refemblance, we view its efforts with fatisfaction-but, when it indulges itfelf in intemperate encomiums, in laboured juftifications, and in flimfy apologies, both amusement and inftruction ceafe, and difguft fucceeds. The Bishop of Worcester, with all his good fenfe, has been fo far in danger of running into this extreme, that it may be more than queftioned whether he has fairly appreciated the subject of his memoir. With this tribute to Bishop Warburton's memory, he is, doubtlefs, himself fatisfied, as harmonizing with his own feelings: but, in juftifying Warburton, others are at times undervalued; and there are paffages which cannot be deemed liberal in a proteftant bishop, and a polite scholar, at the close of the 18th century. This memoir commences with an account of Dr. Warburton's family and birth: but, as great parts and learning can' receive neither luftre nor degradation from pedigree, this part of the fubject is difmiffed in a few words: WILLIAM WARBURTON was defcended from an ancient and very honourable family in Cheshire, at the head of which is the prefent Sir Peter Warburton, Baronet, of Arley, in that county. I leave the reft to the genealogist, and go no farther back in his pedigree than to his grandfather, of the fame name, who distinguished himself in the civil wars of the last century. He was of the royal party. He had three fons, the second of whom, (George) was Mr. Warburton's father; who was bred to the law, and practifed as an attorney at Newark; where the fubject of this memoir was born, Dec. 24, 1698.' Of his juvenile ftudies, nothing fingular is recorded. In April 1714, he became clerk to Mr. Kirke, an attorney at Great Z 2 Markham, |