THE PORTRAIT GALLERY OF DISTINGUISHED POETS, PHILOSOPHERS, STATESMEN, DIVINES, PAINTERS, WM. S. ORR AND CO., AMEN-CORNER, PATERNOSTER-ROW. M. DCCC. LIII. PREFACE. THE public are indebted for the unrivaled collection of Portraits contained in this work to a Society, numbering among its members the most eminent Dignitaries of the Church, and the most Illustrious men of the land. By their influence and liberality, the engraver has been permitted to copy the paintings of the most distinguished artists; and Portraits of genuine authenticity, executed in a style of masterly superiority, have been produced. When first issued, the cost of these volumes was such as to place them beyond the reach of any but the affluent ; and a publication which ought to be found in the library of every gentleman became, in consequence, the possession of a select few. In the present edition, however, cheapness and excellence are combined, for although the number of Engravings and Woodcuts remains undiminished, the work is published in a much improved form, at less than half its original price; and the Plates, having been preserved with extreme care, will be found equal in style and beauty to those which appeared under the superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. To represent the features of those individuals who have acquired celebrity in modern times, is an undertaking at once difficult and honourable. To place before the spectator the resemblance of men, whose "hands have swayed the rod of empire," whose counsels have sustained the destinies of nations, and whose lips have discoursed eloquence;-to array in one long and illustrious catalogue, heroes, statesmen, and philosophers, who have enriched science by their learning, or advanced civilization by their doctrines, without any partiality for country, or predilection for class, is a consummation worthy of the most eloquent writer, and of the ablest artist. The Publishers of these volumes present them before the public, in the full conviction that they contain faithful representations of the departed great; and they believe that every educated mind must rejoice to be brought, as it were, face to face with men whose names have descended to posterity, while their bodies have returned to dust. Nature, indeed, fulfils her |