the grammarian; another between Sir Thomas More and the Vicar of Bray: another, I believe, between Oliver Cromwell and his Porter. They are said to abound in readiness of repartee and liveliness of remark. It is to be hoped that they will be published. SIR, THE ARTS. No. IV. THE ENGRAVERS OF THIS COUNTRY. TO THE CONDUCTOR OF THE CABINET. BEFORE the invention of printing, human knowledge must have been confined within narrow limits. Before the discovery of ENGRAVING, taste pervaded but an inconsiderable circle: the engraver and printer have distributed elegance and information, to the utmost extent of civilized society. Whatever improvement may be made in sculpture or painting, such improvement will be of trifling consequence to the manufacturer, without the assistance of our art, that being the only mediuin through which he can receive his advantages from the painter and sculptor. The mechanics employed in Birmingham, Sheffield and Manchester, the potteries of Staffordshire, the iron works at Carron, : "The late Recorder of Cambridge [Pont] had seen some MS. Dialogues of the Dead of Prior's; they were prose, but had verse intermixed freely, and the specimen, I heard, proved it. The Dialogue was between Sir Thomas More and the Vicar of Bray. You must allow that the characters are well chosen; and the speakers maintain their respective opinions smartly at last the knight seems to come over to his adversary, at least so far as to allow that the doctrine was convenient, if not honourable; but that he did not see how any man could allow himself to act thus: when the vicar concludes; 'Nothing easier, with proper management; &c. You must go the right way to work' "For Conscience, like a fiery horse, "This certainly is sterling sense." and Rotheram, and every other part of the kingdom, cannot be supposed to have access either to private collections of amateurs, or the public exhibitions in London; and but for engraving alone, improvement in the arts of design would be to them of no consequence or advantage. Happily, engraving is fully equal to the conveyance of all the taste the manufacturer requires. But our art does not rest its honour solely on the instruction of the mechanic; it is among the first means of improvement even with the painter. Every painter has not the opportunity of travel, and those who have, cannot be supposed to retain all they have contemplated. The port folio is always at hand, and through engraving the works of Michael Angelo, Raphael, and every son of genius that has given life to canvas can be studied; invention, composition, outline, light and shadow, and expression, are within its power; colouring alone is beyond its scope. To the sculptor and the architect the graver is equally necessary, for by its efforts they are provided with a wide field of contemplation. In proportion as this art is carried to perfection, in that proportion it benefits all the other arts; and although it follows the invention of the painter, it precedes every other in the conveyance of general information. Science without it, would lose the best means of its propagation, and mo◄ rality one of its most pleasing instructors. The first spring of human action, is the hope of reward; and whatever weakens this spring, will enfeeble its exertions. The print trade of this nation is so carried on, that no engraver can possibly receive a fair compensation for his labour by the publication of his own productions. If he is the publisher of his own works, he becomes liable to exactions from the print-seller amounting to a profit of fifty one per cent; after subinitting to this, he is compelled to give, upon an average, eighteen months credit. On those terms it might be supposed the print-seller would take such a number of prints as would give the engraver some chance of remuneration, but that is not the consequence, for if he apprehends a risque, he will not take above a single print at a time, and upon that print claim those advantages; and should the engraver by the publication of his own works excite the jealousy of the print-seller, which is often the case; his prints are condemned to lay in a port-folio, neither to be shewn to the amateur, nor to the public. Of all the hardships of commerce, that of the engraver, attempting to receive the reward of his labour by the publication of his own productions, stands without a parallel. His expences are certain; the picture he engraves from, his copper, paper, printing, and writing, must be paid for. The process of engraving is long, tedious, and laborious; plates of large dimensious require years for their completion; during which time the engraver has himself and his family to support; to add to this, single prints will not sell; the public demand them in pairs. After this length of time and certain expence, embittered by anxious uncertainty, he receives, eighteen months after he has finished his labours, forty-nine pounds for every hundred he has earned; whilst the print-seller, without talent, or the necessity of capital, pockets the remainder. When Sir Robert Strange advertised one of his prints for sale in Paris, he was sure of having four hundred purchasers at his apartments the next day; thus he alone received the full reward of his labours; and this is common in Paris. In England prints are seldom or never bought of the artist, but always of the print-seller; thus the very usage of the country destroys the springs of ingenuity. If the engraver is employed by the print-seller, he has a greater certainty of being paid; that certainty is considered, and his payment is in proportion. There is not one man in that profession in England, who possesses, what may justly be denoininated, a knowledge of art; consequently the engraver has too frequently to contend with all the caprice of ignorance, and imbecility of error. The manner of printing the works of the engravers, is to them a matter of infinitely greater consequence than is generally imagined. The better and more perfectly a plate is engraved, the more it suffers by bad printing; and the finest plate that ever was engraved, may lose all its excellence through this process. The print-sellers being totally ignorant of the particular merit of the several plates coming into their hands, and the different mode and means required in printing them with that perfection of which they are capable, are totally unable to give the proper directions to the printer, who is equally ignorant of the method he ought to pursue. As low a price as possible is agreed upon; the printer must live, and his only consideration is to print so many impressions each day as will enable him to do so; thus, by a tacit consent, is the reputation of the engraver sacrificed. The texture of the paper is of equal consideration with the printing; but print-sellers are too frequently so parsimonious in their savings on those two articles, that the excellence of the copper vanishes upon paper. There are many exemptions against this charge; nevertheless, it still may be safely asserted, that many works in the first stile of execution, have been consigned to oblivion by bad paper and printing. There are six associate engravers admitted into the Academy, who have the power of exhibiting their works to the utmost advantage before the public. It is unaccountable that in a country professing to give encouragement to every art and science that advantages or embellishes human nature, that in so useful and ornamental an art as engraving, only six artists should have the privilege of bringing their works fairly before the public. Upon the Continent the engravers are treated with due distinction, and their works of merit enjoy a public exhibition with the productions of the other departments of the arts. In England, engravers of the first talent and celebrity, have no honourable place assigned by the public for the exhibition of their ingenuity. The walls of Somerset House, though adorned with the finest works of our best painters, are too much loaded with wretched productions in history, portrait, landscape, and cattle, through all the mediums of oil, water colours, Indian ink, pen and ink, and chalk drawings: miniature painting, models in wax, and architectural drawings, have free admission. In short, whatever boasts originality of invention has a claim for election, whilst the finest engraving, which requires more originality of invention in the process than is employed on a great proportion of the things exhibited, is denied all pretension to public honour, unless its author be an associate. Thus is the public in this country, and in this country alone, taught to disregard an art, that is equally uesful to the painter, the statuary, the architect, the manufacturer, and mankind. AN ENGRAVER. [To be resumed next Month.] ROYAL ACADEMY. The present exhibition at Somerset House does infinite credit to the talents and exertions of the artists of the British school: it undoubtedly contains a greater number of fine pictures than we have seen on former occasions of late years; and we cannot but congratulate the country upon the very favourable result of the patronage which every person of rank and fortune now seems ambitious of extending towards co-temporary merit. We shall now proceed to some particular observations upon those pictures which most forcibly arrested our attention. No. 7. Waggon-horses frightened at lightning. I. WARD.-This is certainly a very fine picture, and will ensure the artist a considerable addition to his reputation. The horses are painted with great spirit, and evince Mr. W's very superior acquaintance with this part of his subject. There is a variety in the action of all of thei which is perfectly natural, and in point of colour we think the artist has been equally successful. We cannot however omit to remark that in attempting a novelty of effect in the whole, Mr. W. has sacrificed nature almost entirely; the sky is like any thing but a sky, but chiefly resembles an assemblage of full-bottomed wigs. 17. The Hon. B. Paget. T. LAWRENCE, R. A.A very masterly and finely-coloured head. The whole of the picture is painted with great firmness, and pos sesses a powerful effect. 18. Market-day. A. W. CALCOTT, A.-Although we must allow this picture considerable praise, we cannot but observe that, from some former productions of this artist, we had hoped he would have inade some further progress in his art. The general effect is feeble, and the landscape wants variety of colour. 23. Sir W. Heathcote, Bart. W. OWEN, R. A.This is a forcible and well-coloured picture, and possesses an additional recommendation from the correctness of the likeness. 24. A Sea Storm, an Italian Scene, with a Ship making signal for a pilot. P. I. DE LOUTHERBOURG. R. A, A pleasing picture. The water is beautifully penciled, |