I learned, however, from Gilpin, and to my great satisfaction, that Mason, in a letter to him, had spoken well of it;-he pronounced it to be very different in style from the poetry of the day.

During my whole life I have borne in mind the speech of a woman to Philip of Macedon; "I appeal from Philip drunk to Philip sober." After writing any thing in the excitement of the moment, and being greatly pleased with it, I have always put it by for a day or two; and then carefully considering it in every possible light, I have altered it to the best of my judgment; thus appealing from myself drunk to myself sober. I was engaged on The Pleasures of Memory for nine years; on Human Life for nearly the same space of time; and Italy was not completed in less than sixteen years. *

I was present when Sir Joshua Reynolds delivered

* I was with Mr. Rogers when he tore to pieces, and threw into the fire, a manuscript operatic drama, The Vintage of Burgundy, which he had written early in life. He told me that he offered it to a manager, who said, "I will bring it on the stage, if you are determined to have it acted; but it will certainly be damned." One or two songs, which now appear among his poems, formed parts of that drama.-ED.

his last lecture at the Royal Academy. On entering the room, I found that a semicircle of chairs, immediately in front of the pulpit, was reserved for persons of distinction, being labelled "Mr. Burke," "Mr. Boswell," &c. &c.; and I, with other young men, was forced to station myself a good way off. During the lecture, a great crash was heard; and the company, fearing that the building was about to come down, rushed towards the door. Presently, however, it appeared that there was no cause for alarm;* and they endeavoured to resume their places; but, in consequence of the confusion, the reserved seats were now occupied by those who could first get into them; and I, pressing forwards, secured one of them. Sir Joshua concluded the lecture by saying, with great emotion, " And I should desire that the last words which I should pronounce in this Academy and from this place might be the name of— Michael Angelo." As he descended from the rostrum, Burke went up to him, took his hand, and said,

* There was cause for alarm. "On an examination of the floor afterwards, it was found that one of the beams for its support had actually given way from the great weight of the assembly of persons who pressed upon it, and probably from a flaw also in the wood." Northcote's Life of Reynolds, ii. 263, ed. 1819.-ED.

"The Angel ended, and in Adam's ear

So charming left his voice, that he a while

Thought him still speaking, still stood fix'd to hear.” *

What a quantity of snuff Sir Joshua took! I once saw him at an Academy-dinner, when his waistcoat was absolutely powdered with it.

Sir Joshua was always thinking of his art. He was one day walking with Dr. Lawrence near Beaconsfield, when they met a beautiful little peasantboy. Sir Joshua, after looking earnestly at the child, exclaimed, "I must go home and deepen the colouring of my Infant Hercules." The boy was a good deal sun-burnt.

Count d'Adhemar was the original purchaser of Sir Joshua's Muscipula. Sir Joshua, who fancied that he was bargaining for a different and less important picture, told him that the price was fifty guineas; and on discovering the mistake, allowed him to have Muscipula for that sum.-Fox had been anxious to possess Muscipula when it was first painted; and he bought it at the Ambassador's sale for (I believe) fifty guineas. It is now at St. Anne's

* Par. Lost, b. viii. 1.—ED.

Hill. It would fetch, at the present day, a thousand guineas.

The morning of the day on which Sir Joshua's Puck was to be sold, Lord Farnborough and Dance the painter breakfasted with me; and we went to the sale together. When Puck was put up, it excited such admiration, that there was a general clapping of hands: yet it was knocked down to me at a comparatively trifling price.* I walked home from the sale, a man carrying Puck before me; and so well was the picture known, that more than one person, as they passed us in the street, called out, "There it is!"

I like Northcote's Life of Sir Joshua:† it may

* "When the Shakespeare Gallery was disposed of by lottery, the building itself, and many of the capital pictures, formed the principal prize, which was won by Mr. Tassie of Leicester Square, who, after showing it a few months, divided the property into several lots, and sold them by auction. In that sale the pictures of Sir Joshua produced the following sums, which are here contrasted with the prices paid to Sir Joshua by Mr. Boydell :

Prices paid to Sir Joshua by Prices for which they sold by Mr. Boydell.

auction.
*

*

Puck or Robin Good Fellow,

100 guineas.

£215 5s 0."

Edwards's Anecdotes of Painters, &c. p. 204.

t "Northcote assured the writer of these pages that Laird, not

be depended upon for facts; and, of course, Northcote was a very competent critic in painting.

I can hardly believe what was told me long ago by a gentleman living in the Temple, who, however, assured me that it was fact. He happened to be passing by Sir Joshua's house in Leicester Square, when he saw a poor girl seated on the steps and crying bitterly. He asked what was the matter; and she replied that she was crying "because the one shilling which she had received from Sir Joshua for sitting to him as a model, had proved to be a bad one, and he would not give her another."

I recollect when it was still the fashion for gentlemen to wear swords. I have seen Haydn play at a concert in a tie-wig, with a sword at his side.

The head-dresses of the ladies, during my youth, were of a truly preposterous size. I have gone to himself, procured the greater part of the materials for the Life of Sir Joshua, and put them together; his own part was small, and confined chiefly to criticism on art and artists." Prior's Life of Goldsmith, vol. ii. 572.-ED.