The rapid MORTIMER, in Fancy ftrong,
Marks the juft horrors that to Vice belong;
The murd'rous Ruffian, in the Dungeon's gloom,
Stung with remorfe, and fhudd'ring at his doom.
Yet ftill to nobler heights his Genius fprings,
And paints a leffon to tyrannic Kings:
In his bright colour fee the field appear
To Freedom facred, and to Glory dear,
Where JoHN, proud Monarch, baffled on his throne,
Hears the brave Chief his lawless pow'r difown,
And, for an injur'd Nation, nobly claim
The glorious CHARTER of immortal Fame !
But fee far off the modest WRIGHT retire!
Alone he rules his Element of Fire:
Like Meteors darting through the gloom of Night,
His fparkles flath upon the dazzled fight;
Our eyes with momentary anguish smart,
And Nature trembles at the power of Art.
May thy bold colours, claiming endless praife,
ages fhine with undiminish'd blaze,
For
And when the fierce VESUVIO burns no more,
May his red deluge down thy canvas pour!
Art with no common gifts her GAINSB’ROUGH grac❜d, Two different Pencils in his hand she plac'd ; This fhall command, the faid, with certain aim, A perfect Semblance of the human Frame; This, lightly fporting on the village-green, Paint the wild beauties of the rural Scene. In Storms fublime the daring WILSON foars, And on the blafted Oak his mimic Lightning pours : APOLLO triumps in his flaming fkies,
And claffic Beauties in his fcenes arife.
Thy Graces HUMPHREYS, and thy Colours clear,
From Miniature's fimall circle difappear:
May their diftinguish'd Merit ftill prevail,
And fhine with luftre on the larger Scale.
Let candid Justice our attention lead,
To the foft Crayon of the graceful READ:
Nor GARDNER, fhall the Mafe, in hafte, forget
Thy Taste and Eafe; tho' with a fond Regret
pays,
while here the Crayon's pow'r the notes,
A Sigh of Homage to the fade of COATES.
Nor, if her favour'd hand may hope to shed
The flowers of glory o'er the fkilful dead,
Thy Talents, HOGARTH! will be leave unfung; *
Charm of all eyes, and Theme of every tongue!
A separate province 'twas thy praife to rule;
Self-form'd thy Pencil! yet thy works a School,
Where ftrongly painted, in gradations nice,
The Pomp of Folly, and the Shame of Vice,
Reach'd thro' the laughing Eye the mended Mind,
And moral Humour sportive Art refined.
While fleeting Manners, as minutely fhewn
As the clear profpect on the mirror thrown;
While Truth of Character, exactly hit,
And drest in all the dyes of comic wit;
While thefe, in FIELDING's page, delight fupply, 255. So long the Pencil with his Pen fhall vie.
Science with grief beheld thy drooping age
Fall the fad victim of a Poet's rage:
But Wit's vindictive spleen, that mocks controul,
Nature's high tax on luxury of foul !
This, both in Eards and Painters, Fame forgives;
Their Frailty's buried, but their Genius lives.
Ver. 243. See NOTE XLVII.
Still many a Painter, not of humble Name,
Appears the tribute of applause to claim;
Some alien Artifts, more of English Race,
With fair ANGELICA our foreign Grace,
Who paints, with Energy and Softnefs join'd,
The fond Emotions of the female Mind;
On his bright canvas each dramatic Muse
A perfect copy of her scene reviews ;
Each, while those scenes her loft delight restore;
Almoft forgets her GARRICK is no more.-
O'er thefe I pafs reluctant, left too long
The Mufe diffufely fpin a tedious Song.
Yet one short pause, ye Pow'rs of Verse allow
To cull a Myrtle Leaf for MEYERS's Brow!
Tho' fmall its Field, thy Pencil may prefume
To ask a wreath where flowers immortal bloom.
As Nature's felf, in all her pictures fair,
Colours her Infect works with niceft care,
Nor better forms to please the curious eye,
The fpotted Leopard than the gilded Fly;
So thy fine Pencil, in its narrow space,
Pours the full portion of uninjur'd Grace,
And Portraits, true to Nature's larger line,
Boaft not an Air more exquifite than thine.
Soft Beauty's charms thy happiest works exprefs,
Beauty thy model and thy Patronefs.
For her thy care has to perfection brought
Th' uncertain toil, with anxious trouble fraught;
Thy colour'd Crystal, at her fond defire,
Draws deathlefs Luftre from the dangr'ous Fire,
And, pleas'd to gaze on its immortal charm,
She binds thy Bracelet on her fnowy arm.
While Admiration views, with raptur'd eye,
Thefe Lights of Art that gild the British fky
Oh! may my Friend arife, with luftre clear,
And add new Glory to this radiant Sphere.
This with, my ROMNEY, from the pureft fource, 305
Has Reafon's Warrant, join'd to Friendship's Force.
For Genius breath'd into thy infant Frame
The vital Spirit of his facred Flame,
Which frequent mifts of Diffidence o'ercloud,
Proving the vigour of the Sun they throud.
Nature in thee her every gift conbin'd,
Which forms the Artift of the nobleft kind;
That fond Ambition, which bestows on Art
Each talent of the Mind, and paffion of the Heart;
That dauntless Patience, which all toil defies,
Nor feels the labour while it views the prize.
Enlight'ning Study, with maturing pow'r,
From thefe fair feeds has call'd the op'ning flow'r;
Thy jut, thy graceful Portraits charm the view
With every tender tint that TITIAN knew. :
Round Fancy's circle when thy Pencil flies,
With what terrific pomp thy Spectres rife!
What luft of mischief marks thy Witch's form,
While on the LAPLAND Rock the fwells the storm!
Tho' led by Fancy thro' her boundless reign,
Well doft thou know to quit her wild domain,
When Hiftory bids thee paint, feverely chafte,
Her fimpler fcene, with uncorrupted tafte.
While in these fields thy judging eyes explore,
What fpot untried may yield its fecret ore,
C 5
Thy happy Genius fprings a virgin Mine
Of copious, pure, original Design;
Truth gives it value, and, diftinctly bold, 1
The ftamp of Character compleats thy Gold.:
Thy Figures rife in Beauty's noblest scale,
Sublimely telling their heroic Tale;
Still may thy Powers in full exertion blaze,
And Time revere them with unrivall'd praise.
May Art, in honour of a Son like thee,
So juftly daring, with a foul fo free,
Each feparate Province to thy care commend,
And all her Glories in thy Pencil blend :
May tender TITIAN'S mellow Softness join,
With mighty ANGELO's fublimer Line ;
CORREGIO'S Grace with RAPHAEL'S Tafte unite, 345 And in thy perfect Works inchant the ravish'd tight.
How oft we find that when, with nobleft aim, The glowing Artift gains the heights of Fame, To the well-chofen Theme he chiefly owes, That praife which Judgment with delight beftows. 350 The Lyre and Pencil both this Truth confefs,. The happy Subject forms their full fuccefs.
Hard is the Painter's fate, when wifely taught
To trace with ease the deepest lines of thought,
By hapless Fortune he is doom'd to rove
'Thro' all the frolicks of licentious JOVE,
That fome dark PHILIP, phlegmatic, and cold,*
(Whofe needy TITIAN calls for ill-paid gold)
May with voluptuous Images enflame
The fated Paflions of his languid frame.
Ver. 357. See NOTE XLVIII.
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