Part 4

On national encouragement it becomes not the mediocrity of our talents and station to presume to decide; yet, possibly, it will not be judged too vauntingly confident to say that it should in all cases be spirited, generous, impartial, and should not be subjected to the caprices of power, to the varying humours of the transient depositaries of the public confidence, nor to the inconstant and ever-mutable gusts of popular phrenzy. What effect such encouragement would have on the artists themselves can, indeed, be only conjectured; for such encouragement has never yet been exhibited in the modern world: but that conjecture is neither vague nor random, as it is guided by permanent principles, and directed by the known influence of steady affections on the human heart. It may be affirmed then, with some assurance, that it would inspirit their labours, that it would multiply their pains, that it would invigorate their studies, that it would augment their industry: for such were heretofore its experienced consequences in similar cases, and therefore they are reasonably to be expected again. They would not waste their youth in the riot of lawless pleasure, and so treasure up sickness and sorrow for the days of their prime: they would not spend their hours in the ceaseless pursuit of the intoxicating amusements of some great capital: they would not lay out their whole attention on the low and subordinate, but gainful, branches of their _trade_, in contempt of the superior features of their ART, and of its possible improvement: but concentring all their powers, all their abilities, all their faculties, in the advancement of their peculiar pursuit, would rapidly raise themselves from the drudgery of mechanical workmanship to the proud elevation of professional exertion. Thus the arts, advanced by so conspicuous a change of manners in their cultivators, and by an encouragement differing so widely from the paltry private patronage pretending to that name, would attain that state of perfection to which their admirers fondly wish to see them carried; but which they must wish in vain till something like the changes here etched out shall have taken place. And that what depends on the artists has not been too sanguinely supposed, nor too strongly pictured, will surely not be asserted: for it has only been supposed that they are men of common sense and natural feelings; that they are not insensible to the allurements of each dignified distinction in life; that they have hearts that can be warmed and minds that can be roused.

That much higher ideas might justly be formed of some artists we can positively affirm from personal knowledge; as we know some who have really the souls of Artists; who, even in present circumstances, instead of grovelling all their lives in mean and sordid occupations, adventurously dare to soar into the immense void of possible excellence; and whose characters it would be highly grateful to portray, were not the desire restrained by the consciousness of inability to do justice to their merits. Such men, indeed, by the vigour of their genius, counteract the disadvantages to which they may be exposed, and, bursting the barriers of opposing obstacles with spirit all their own, impart to the arts whatever of addition or improvement they receive; elucidating their obscurities, polishing their asperities, and lopping their luxuriancies: and their number might be increased to any given amount. But until that halcyon period shall arrive, if it ever shall arrive, when the arts shall be considered as real national objects, and receive _real_ national encouragement (without which, it must be confessed, all extraordinary progress in them is not _generally_ to be expected), their beauty, their grace, their grandeur, depend on these men alone. And conscious of the high ground whereon they stand, as the champions of truth and nature against fashion and futility, and caprice and extravagance, and of the possible benefits resulting from their labours in giving passion to the mute canvas, expression to the inanimate block, and magnificence to utility in each public edifice; they will not suffer themselves to be discouraged by temporary neglect, nor to be disheartened by temporary preferences of the incapable and undeserving. They will strengthen their minds to encounter the provoking criticisms of pert and petulant presumption; they will scorn the contempts of self-conceited and ignorant folly, however highly seated; and they will meet with firm dignity the misjudging decisions of purse-proud affluence. And conscious worth shall crown them with a wreath of honour, greener than ever bloomed on the brow of an Olympic conqueror; their own hearts shall applaud them; their works shall form a lasting monument to the immortality of their names; and their fame shall float down the current of future ages with daily increasing strength, with daily augmented splendor.

The final result then of our enquiry on this amusing and interesting subject is, that we have the best grounds for concluding the progress of the arts originally, and the great perfection to which they were carried in Greece, to have arisen from natural and moral causes of confessed efficacy, and not from any casual circumstances, extraneous to and independent of man: and we deem it reasonable to think that the same causes, operating as uncontroledly any where else within the extent of the temperate climates, would most probably again produce the same effects. Far from indulging any licence of imagination, or from giving wing to its flights, it has been endeavoured rather carefully to detail facts than wantonly to invent systems. Of the evidence, which to us has appeared convincing, the public will judge: of the rectitude of our intention in producing it we are sure, for it is only to incite public reward, to encourage study, and labour, and industry.

William Andrews Clark Memorial Library: University of California THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY

_General Editors_

R. C. BOYS University of Michigan

VINTON A. DEARING University of California, Los Angeles

RALPH COHEN University of California, Los Angeles

LAWRENCE CLARK POWELL Wm. Andrews Clark Memorial Library

_Corresponding Secretary_: Mrs. EDNA C. DAVIS, Wm. Andrews Clark Memorial Library

The Society exists to make available inexpensive reprints (usually facsimile reproductions) of rare seventeenth and eighteenth century works. The editorial policy of the Society remains unchanged. As in the past, the editors welcome suggestions concerning publications. All income of the Society is devoted to defraying cost of publication and mailing.

All correspondence concerning subscriptions in the United States and Canada should be addressed to the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 2205 West Adams Boulevard, Los Angeles 18, California. Correspondence concerning editorial matters may be addressed to any of the general editors. The membership fee is $3.00 a year for subscribers in the United States and Canada and 15/- for subscribers in Great Britain and Europe. British and European subscribers should address B. H. Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, England.

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Publications for the eighth year [1953-1954] (At least six items, most of them from the following list, will be reprinted.)

JOHN BAILLIE: _An Essay on the Sublime_ (1747). Introduction by Samuel H. Monk.

Contemporaries of the _Tatler_ and _Spectator_. Introduction by Richmond P. Bond.

_John Dart and George Ogle on Chaucer._ Introduction by William L. Alderson.

JOHN T. DESAGULIERS: _The Newtonian System of the World the Best Model of Government_ (1728). Introduction by Marjorie H. Nicolson.

_Sale Catalogue of Mrs. Piozzi's Effects_ (1816). Introduction by John Butt.

M. C. SARBIEWSKI: _The Odes of Casimire_ (1646). Introduction by Maren-Sofie Roestvig.

_Selections from Seventeenth-Century Songs._ Introduction by Jennifer W. Angel.

_A Sermon Preached at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul_ (1745). [Probably by Samuel Johnson]. Introduction by James L. Clifford.

Publications for the first seven years (with the exception of Nos. 1-6, which are out of print) are available at the rate of $3.00 a year. Prices for individual numbers may be obtained by writing to the Society.

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THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY _WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY_ 2205 WEST ADAMS BOULEVARD, LOS ANGELES 18, CALIFORNIA

Make check or money order payable to THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.

PUBLICATIONS OF THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY

FIRST YEAR (1946-1947)

Numbers 1-6 out of print.

SECOND YEAR (1947-1948)

7. John Gay's _The Present State of Wit_ (1711); and a section on Wit from _The English Theophrastus_ (1702).

8. Rapin's _De Carmine Pastorali_, translated by Creech (1684).

9. T. Hanmer's (?) _Some Remarks on the Tragedy of Hamlet_ (1736).

10. Corbyn Morris' _Essay towards Fixing the True Standards of Wit, etc._ (1744).

11. Thomas Purney's _Discourse on the Pastoral_ (1717).

12. Essays on the Stage, selected, with an Introduction by Joseph Wood Krutch.

THIRD YEAR (1948-1949)

13. Sir John Falstaff (pseud.), _The Theatre_ (1720).

14. Edward Moore's _The Gamester_ (1753).

15. John Oldmixon's _Reflections on Dr. Swift's Letter to Harley_ (1712); and Arthur Mainwaring's _The British Academy_ (1712).

16. Nevil Payne's _Fatal Jealousy_ (1673).

17. Nicholas Rowe's _Some Account of the Life of Mr. William Shakespeare_ (1709).

18. "Of Genius," in _The Occasional Paper_, Vol. III, No. 10 (1719); and Aaron Hill's Preface to _The Creation_ (1720).

FOURTH YEAR (1949-1950)

19. Susanna Centlivre's _The Busie Body_ (1709).

20. Lewis Theobold's _Preface to The Works of Shakespeare_ (1734).

21. _Critical Remarks on Sir Charles Grandison, Clarissa, and Pamela_ (1754).

22. Samuel Johnson's _The Vanity of Human Wishes_ (1749) and Two _Rambler_ papers (1750).

23. John Dryden's _His Majesties Declaration Defended_ (1681).

24. Pierre Nicole's _An Essay on True and Apparent Beauty in Which from Settled Principles is Rendered the Grounds for Choosing and Rejecting Epigrams_, translated by J. V. Cunningham.

FIFTH YEAR (1950-1951)

25. Thomas Baker's _The Fine Lady's Airs_ (1709).

26. Charles Macklin's _The Man of the World_ (1792).

27. Frances Reynolds' _An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Taste, and of the Origin of Our Ideas of Beauty, etc._ (1785).

28. John Evelyn's _An Apologie for the Royal Party_ (1659); and _A Panegyric to Charles the Second_ (1661).

29. Daniel Defoe's _A Vindication of the Press_ (1718).

30. Essays on Taste from John Gilbert Cooper's _Letters Concerning Taste_, 3rd edition (1757), & John Armstrong's _Miscellanies_ (1770).

SIXTH YEAR (1951-1952)

31. Thomas Gray's _An Elegy Wrote in a Country Church Yard_ (1751); and _The Eton College Manuscript_.

32. Prefaces to Fiction; Georges de Scudéry's Preface to _Ibrahim_ (1674), etc.

33. Henry Gally's _A Critical Essay_ on Characteristic-Writings (1725).

34. Thomas Tyers' A Biographical Sketch of Dr. Samuel Johnson (1785).

35. James Boswell, Andrew Erskine, and George Dempster. _Critical Strictures on the New Tragedy of Elvira, Written by Mr. David Malloch_ (1763).

36. Joseph Harris's _The City Bride_ (1696).

SEVENTH YEAR (1952-1953)

37. Thomas Morrison's _A Pindarick Ode on Painting_ (1767).

38. John Phillips' _A Satyr Against Hypocrites_ (1655).

39. Thomas Warton's _A History of English Poetry_.

40. Edward Bysshe's _The Art of English Poetry_ (1708).

41. Bernard Mandeville's "_A Letter to Dion_" (1732).

42. Prefaces to Four Seventeenth-Century Romances.

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Transcriber's note:

Variations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained except in obvious cases of typographical error:

"... joined increased (conveniencies->) conveniences" "... which nothing imperfect (eould->) would please,"

Footnotes interrupting paragraphs have been moved to the end of the respective paragraphs.