The once gay, vivacious, and captivating poet, died at his residence, Slopperton Cottage, near Devizes, on the 26th of February, 1852, and he was laid at rest in the green church-yard at Bonham.
[SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.]
Three months previous to the date when the ashes of Sir Godfrey Kneller mingled with kindred dust, the first Englishman who, according to the eloquent eulogium of Burke, added the praise of the elegant arts to the other glories of his country, was cradled, with time-honored formalities, in a borough town of Devonshire.
Joshua Reynolds was the tenth of the numerous family with which his parents—a worthy and old-fashioned couple—were blessed. His father was a scholar and divine, known and valued in the province for the respectability of his learning, the innocence of his heart, and the simplicity of his mind. Besides, he is stated to have been of so singularly absent a tendency, that once, while performing a journey on horseback, he dropped one of his top-boots by the way, without perceiving the unusual and inconvenient loss he had met with. Doubtless when he arrived at home, this laughable and disastrous incident would furnish his fruitful dame, Theophila, with the text of a diffuse and impassioned curtain-lecture, and, perhaps, make the reverend personage considerably more careful when in future he escaped for a while from his toils and fatigues as head-master of the grammar-school of Plympton. There his distinguished son was born on the 16th of July, 1723; and there he was ere long inspired with the ambition of linking his name indestructibly with that glorious art of which he became so successful a cultivator.
The occasion of the high-fated infant’s presentation at the baptismal font was rendered memorable by a mistake so awkward and peculiar, as to furnish reasonable grounds for believing the mental characteristics of the elder Reynolds to have been then at work. In any case, the officiating clergyman was led by some process to pronounce the Christian name of Joseph instead of that by which the child then presented has since been known to the world, as well as registered in the records of fortune and the rolls of fame. On the education of young Reynolds much less attention was bestowed than might have been expected from the circumstances of his birth; and he did not profit to any large extent by such instruction as he received. He did not obtain any great stock of classical knowledge; but his deficiency in this important respect, though never supplied, was, in after days, countervailed and thrown into the background by the information which he had acquired in untiring study of Nature and perseverance in Art, in that commerce with the most refined portion of the British public, of which, for many long years, he had the advantage, and in the constant and familiar intercourse which, during prosperous manhood, he maintained with men of genius, intellect, and erudition. But, however little inclined to pore over Latin and Greek books, his heart was, without loss of time, turned toward an accomplishment which he afterward found of infinitely greater value. Almost in infancy he began to show signs of his vocation for the pursuit which made him one of the most remarkable men, and the greatest painter, of his age; and his first effort was the copying of some drawings made by his sisters. He was then in early boyhood, and he next applied the artistic skill he possessed to the imitation of such prints as illustrated the volumes in his father’s library; particularly those in an old Book of Emblems, which was inherited, along with her Dutch blood, from a grandmother, who had come from Holland. The clerical pedagogue did not smile on these juvenile attempts, nor did he look with a propitious eye on the direction his son’s talents were taking. However absent scholars may be in regard to other matters, especially those which chiefly concern themselves, they are usually observant enough when the welfare and interests of their children are at stake. Even Adam Warner awoke from day-dreams about the Eureka when he saw the lordly chamberlain whispering soft tales in the ear of his beauteous daughter; and Parson Reynolds, though so much occupied with sage reflections that he could only find time to indicate to his wife by monosyllables whether he would have tea or coffee on an afternoon, opened his eyes to the fact, that Joshua’s industry in drawing and coloring, with the rude materials within his reach, contrasted disagreeably with his remissness in attending to the lessons of the school over which he presided. Thus he denounced the boyish essays as the offspring of pure idleness, and the author of them was destined for the medical profession. Though, perhaps, this was decided on with little consideration for his own wishes, Reynolds stated in after life, that if such had been his fortune, he would have exerted himself as strenuously to become an eminent physician as he strove with success to be a great painter. However, the paternal views were suddenly and fortunately changed.
Having, about his eighth year, met with the “Jesuit’s Perspective,” young Reynolds read and digested its contents with so much earnestness, that he was enabled to execute a drawing of the school-house on the principles asserted in the treatise. This, when exhibited in the family circle, quite astonished the anxious father, who, with gratified pride, pronounced the execution wonderful; and he began to regard the juvenile artist’s predilections with comparative complacency. Upon this, Reynolds devoted himself more arduously to his chosen studies, took likenesses of the inmates of the house, improved perceptibly in execution, and quite neglected his school exercises. He was confirmed in his love of art by reading Richardson’s “Treatise on Painting,” which so captivated and inspired his mind and imagination, that Raphael seemed to him the most marvelous name in ancient or modern annals. Thus charmed and stimulated, he continued to make numerous sketches and portraits, which were recognized by his friends as evidencing progressive improvement. Nothing was now wanting but a field in which to practice and bring to perfection the talents with which he had been bountifully endowed, to confer pleasure on his fellow men, and to refine their tastes.
While Reynolds was in his nineteenth year, a neighbor and acquaintance of the family, observing that a provincial place was too limited a sphere for the proper cultivation of such powers, recommended that the aspiring lad should be placed under proper tuition in London. Accordingly, in the autumn, the future knightly President of the Royal Academy was on his way to the metropolis, and consigned to the care and superintendence of Hudson, who, though at the period much employed in the manufacture of portraits, was not possessed of any surpassing skill or taste in art. A contract was entered into, that if the veteran approved of his pupil’s conduct, he was to retain the latter’s services for a term of four years; but he reserved the power of discharging the assistant at pleasure. Perhaps, in this position Reynolds was merry enough; for there were other youths in Hudson’s studio, and on warm summer days they had opportunities of making agreeable excursions, rambling about the country and admiring the scenery.