My presuming to write the Life of so illustrious a man as Sir Joshua Reynoldsa task which Burke declined and Malone » has not performed a work, midable in my own view of it also, so for may require some apology; the truth is, that I was drawn into it by degrees, as we commonly are to all the sins we commit. I had at first written a short Memoir, at the earnest request of a friend, which was received with marks of approbation: I had also collected many little anecdotes, which I was told were worth preserving; and at length was persuaded to make the present attempt, or rather, I may say, pressed into the service. Another motive to my undertaking this subject was, that several of the circumstances which I had to relate might help to 164139 clear Sir Joshua, in respect to the unwarranted ideas, many persons have entertained, that he was not the author of his own Discourses, and that also in his youth he was particularly illiterate. That the latter is far from the truth may be seen in the letter from him to Lord E- which is demon strative of a delicate, elegant, grateful, and feeling mind; and is written with admirable simplicity of language. Familiar letters by Sir Joshua are, however, very scarce: he was too busy and too wise to spend his time in an occupation which is more congenial to the idle and the vain, who are commonly very voluminous in their production of this article. With respect to the anecdotes which I have inserted in these Memoirs, a few, I hope, may be gratifying to the Artist; others may amuse the leisure hours of my reader; some, I must acknowledge, are trifling, and may not do either: but I have given all I could recollect, and would not make myself the judge by omitting any, especially when I reflected, that minute particulars are frequently characteristic, and that trifles even are often amusing, when they relate to distinguished persons: therefore I felt unwil ling that any memorial, however slight, should be lost, as would inevitably happen, few years. in a very It is my fixed opinion, that if ever there should appear in the world a Memoir of an Artist well given, it will be the production of an Artist: but as those rarely possess an eminent facility in literary composition, they have avoided the task; and the labour of writing the lives of Painters has been left to depend solely on the skill and ingenuity of men who knew but little concerning the subject they had undertaken, in consequence of which their works have been rendered useless and insipid. I feel sensible that certain parts of these Memoirs may be considered tedious, some parts weak, and others not sufficiently connected with the original subject; but no man can be a competent judge of his own work and I apprehend that, amongst a variety of readers, many will be pleased with what others will despise, and that one who presumes to give a public dinner must provide, as well as he is able, a dish for each particular palate; so that if I have given too much, it is at my own risk, and from an earnest desire to satisfy every one. 3 In respect to the volume on the whole, if I were to say, by way of excusing its imperfections, and to screen myself from severe censure, that it was composed in my idle hours, to relieve my mind when pressed by the difficulties of my profession, and therefore ought to be looked upon with a favourable eye, it would be asked, “Why I should, with any pretence to modesty or justice, suppose that the mere amusement of my idle hours can in any degree occupy the attention or contribute to the amusement of an enlightened public And if, on the other hand, I declare that it has cost me infinite pains and labour, and that I now humbly and respectfully offer it to the experienced world as the most perfect work I could produce, it may then be reasonably said that I ought to have performed my task much better, as the effect is by no means answerable to such labour. Surefore, I Under these considerations, shall say no more on this subject; but calmly submit the work to the animadversion of the public, and rest perfectly satisfied with their decision, as on the verdict of the purest jury, and one from whose judgment there can be no appeal. |