pression, he equalled the greatest of his predecessors; and whatever he attempted, he rendered with a degree of truth, of reality, of illusion, that defies all comparison. By these powers he seemed to be independent of his subject. It mattered not what he painted; his pencil, like the finger of Midas, turned every thing it touched to gold; it made defects agreeable, gave importance to trifles, and begat interest in the bosom of barrenness and insipidity itself.

"But though thus gifted to dwell with nature in her simplest retirement, he was no less qualified, with a master's hand and poet's fire, to follow and arrest her in her wildest flights; all that was great, striking, and uncommon in her scenery, was fa

miliar to him; yet he chiefly delighted in obscurity and repose; mystery and silence floated round his pencil, and dreams, visions, witcheries, and incantations he alone, with no less magick power, rendered probable, awful, and interesting. In short, so great and original were his powers, that he seems to be one, who would have discovered the art, had it never be

fore existed.

"Rembrandt, with all his powers, is a master whom it is most exceedingly dangerous to imitate; his excellencies are so fascinating, that we are apt first to forgive, and, lastly, to fall in love even with his faults, or, at least, to think the former cheaply purchased with the incumbrance of the latter. But let the student carefully remember, that the imitator of any individual master, must never hope to occupy a station in the first class of artists; and that defects like those of Rembrandt, and most of the Dutch school, even if associated with equal excellence, can never hope to be forgiven a second time."

The fearless originality of thought, and bold freedom of discussion, which are displayed in these lectures, form one of their most power

ful charms. They express a just deference for every sort of talent, but no timid acquiescence in mere authority. Even the venerated name of Reynolds, which Mr. Opie sometimes defends with vehemence against petty cavils, affords no sanction to such opinions as he deems erroneous; and while an enthusiastick gaze is fixed on the highest excellencies of the noblest professors, with sentiments approaching to idolatry, a just and keen scrutiny is still devoted to the work of discrimination. Never was a stronger instance exhibited, of the similarity often remarked between an author and his works, and of that general character which pervades them all and assimilates them to each other. As a painter, as an author, and as a member of society, the same distinguishing qualities are prominent in the mind of Mr. Opie. His imagination was vigorous, but not playful; his judgment was correct, but his taste uncultivated; his simplicity was almost severe; and in him the total absence of artifice and affectation bordered perhaps too nearly on awkward coarseness. If we had much confidence in systsms of physiognomy, we should say that the same character is found in the portrait, painted by himself, of which an engraving is prefixed to this volume. To us, the internal evidence of his lectures sufficiently contradicts the report of their not being exclusively his own; yet, as it existed, Mrs. Opie has properly encountered it by a formal contradiction.

WHEN we contemplate a picture by some eminent master, we often find accessories scarcely less interesting than the main action. That, it is true, enjoys the strongest light

and the most vigorous touches; that attracts the eye of the spectator in the first instance; and the unpractised eye of the casual spectator discerns not the art which retires from

his observation, although it contributes essential support to the beautiful, or the striking, effect of the piece. If biography be compared to a picture, the performance before us completely justifies our observation. Lord Nelson has been known to the world as a British admiral of uncommon enterprise, skill, and success: his countrymen have contemplated his actions on the ocean, and they have felt their obligations to him in his immediate profession; they knew that his ardour to distinguish himself was not to be controlled; and they participated in his exploits, with all the enjoyment and all the sympathy of the most zealous patriotism.

But, if we consider lord Nelson only as an admiral, however highly we may rank him, we do injustice to other important parts of his character; parts of it, which, by being brought forward to admiration, derogate nothing from his merit as a naval officer. He was not less conspicuous as a patriot than as a commander; and as a politician he was singularly keen-sighted and judicious. He penetrated into the dispositions of men; from his knowledge of what they had been and what they were, he very correctly inferred what they would be. He foresaw their conduct, as the natural, and almost inevitable effect of those causes on which he had ruminated, and of which he justly estimated the influence and the

extent.

There is, in some men, a certain intuitive tact, a discernment, which is not the less real, because perfectly inexplicable; nor the less influential on their opinions and conduct, because altogether nonapparent to those who survey their actions. Perhaps the impulse of such a discriminative faculty is little considered by its possessor; neither is he aware that he exercises a power of mind imparted but rarely to the sons of men. Such characters are formed to

lead, not to follow; to command, to inspire confidence, to communicate that magick spell which may be felt but cannot be described, to excite that glow which is not transient like the electrick shock, but lasting like effects of personal activity; yet, like the electrick power, may be treasured up for future service; and by diffusing a grateful warmth throughout the subject of it, may quicken into a flame that latent spark which docs exist, although unperceived by the mass of obsérvers, and unsuspected by the person himself.

Is this genius? is it a superiority of spirit? is it a portion of ethereal fire, originally infused into the constitution, or is it acquired by education, by accident, or by habit? It is alien from the mere machinery of matter; it is not to be communicated by recipe: it does not descend by inheritance: wishing has no influence in obtaining it: expectation cannot warrant the acquisition of it: and even emulation itself, may be foiled in attempting to exert it. It is a gift bestowed by Heaven, necessary to accomplish specifick purposes. It is, in the case before us, a kind of inspiration, for a while transporting the individual whose exertions were to prove salutary to this country; and whose example was destined to confer on the British islands that security, for which Providence is to be praised, in the first place; while the instrument in the hand of Providence is to be applauded by his contemporaries, and venerated by posterity.

Those who saw the person of lord Nelson, hardly could be said to see lord Nelson himself. He was neither tall, nor athletick; neither robust in form, nor powerful in muscular strength; he did not look the hero; his physiognomy was not striking; his gait was not majestick. Yet was he neither a pedant nor a petit maître. He trod firmly, though not with dignity; and he was active though not stately.

There was, then, in him a something distinct from, and independent of his person; to which his person was but the vehicle; to which all that the eye could discover in beholding him was subservient. If any doubt whether mind be predominant in the composition of man, whether intellect be his true, his noblest characteristick, let them well consider the personal appearance, and accurately analyze the fervour and talents of lord Nel

son.

We are not Platonists, yet we can admit with Plato, and his commentator, that there may be periods when men of more than common intellect, and capacity for eminent services, are unusually abundant in certain parts of the earth; as there are periods, too, when events require the exertions of great men, of leading characters; but they are not; and their absence is felt in the calamities that triumph over the herd of common mortals, in the misery resulting from the arrogance of a victor; in the incumbrance of that yoke which he rivets on the neck of the vanquished. They crouch to the ground, sunk beneath the ponderous fetters which load them; the iron galls their limbs; it cankers, it corrodes their very flesh; they pine, they consume away, yet they make no effort for relief, nor dare to raise themselves erect, and as men to claim the honours of the human race and nature.

Shall we not then receive with pleasure the biographical portrait of one of those worthies to whom we are indebted, in his line of action, for a part of that security in which we now contemplate it? Shall we not applaud the intention, which by means of his own pen, and of the press, has erected a monument to his memory more durable than perennial brass, more honourable than statues and trophies? This will descend to future ages, when the tears of his nation are forgotten; and when the calumnies of his enemies YOL. III.

3 D

have long ceased to augment his glory.

Yet is that man happier than Nelson, whose biographer turns not away from any portion of his conduct; nor with averted face pursues any part of his narrative. He is happier than Nelson, who never put the fidelity of his friends to the painful trial of reproving him by allusions to the enchanted Rinaldo, in the magick palace of Armida; or, to whom might be applied the more classick comparison of the too complaisant Ulysses in the island of Calypso:

"Calypso in her caves constrained his stay, With sweet, reluctant, amorous delay

"While Fate, impatient, his return attends, And calls him to his country, and his friends."

The personal biography of lord Nelson may be comprised in a narrow space. He was the third son of the rev. Edmund Nelson, rector of Burnham Thorpe, in the county of Norfolk, and Catherine, daughter of Maurice Suckling, D. D. rector of Barsham, in Suffolk, and a prebendary of Westminster. He was born September 29, 1758. We find in this volume several instances of the intrepidity of our youthful hero. He had strayed, when quite a child, with the cow boy, in search of birds' nests, and staying after the usual dinner hour, the family fearing he had been carried off by gypsies, sought him in all directions; his grandmother, on finding him alone, sitting with the utmost composure, exclaimed on seeing him: "I wonder, "child, that hunger and fear did not "drive you home."" Fear never 4 came near me, grandmama," replied Horatio. He received the rudiments of learning in the publick school at Norwich, whence he was afterwards removed to North Walsham. In 1770 he happened to read in a newspaper of the appointment

of his mother's brother, captain Maurice Suckling, to the Raisonable, of 64 guns. To him application was made to receive Horatio Nelson; with which, after objecting to his weakly frame, he complied. The business respecting Falkland's isl ands being settled by a convention, Horatio was sent to the West Indies in a merchant vessel; he returned a practical seaman, but with a fixed horrour of the royal navy; which it required a long time to root out from his mind. His spirit was first called into exercise on occasion of the expedition fitted out in 1773, to explore the geography of the North Pole, as far as was practicable. He sailed in the Carcass, captain Lutwidge. During this expedition he stole away from the ship, with intent to procure for his father the skin of a huge arctick bear; he attempted to shoot the animal; but his musket missed fire, and happily a chasm in the ice seperated him from the vengeance of the object of his fearless pursuit. His next trip was to the East Indies, but his health forbad his continuance in that sultry climate; here, however, he was made a midshipman, and thus was fixed to the naval service of his country. He passed his examination for lieutenant, April 8, 1777, when nine-' teen years of age, and was sent to the West Indies in the Lowestoffe, captain Locker. In this ship he boarded a prize, during a sea which might have terrified the oldest mariner; the prize was so completely waterlogged, that Nelson's boat went in on deck, and out again with the scud. December 8, 1778, Nelson terminated his services as lieutenant on board the flag ship of sir Peter Parker; and was succeeded by lieutenant Collingwood. In January, 1781, captain Nelson was chosen to direct the naval part of the expedition against St. Juan's, where he transported troops, a hundred miles up an intricate navigation, and "boarded" an island, which formed

the outpost of the Spaniards, intrusted with the defence of the country. In this expedition, the following remarkable circumstance occurred.

"On their subsequent perilous march through the almost impassable woods, an curred. As one of the men was passing extraordinary and melancholy accident ocalong, a snake darted from the bough of a tree, and bit-him under the eye. The pain was so intense, that he was unable to proceed. But when one of his comrades was soon after sent to his assistance, the poor fellow was found dead and putrefied. had nearly experienced the same dreadful Captain Nelson, also, during this march, fate. Being one day excessively fatigued, he had ordered his hammock, on one of their halts, to be slung under some trees. During his sleep, that extraordinary animal culty of warning persons of the approach called the Monitory Lizard, from its faof any venomous animal, passed across his face; which being observed by some of the attendant Indians, they shouted and awoke him. He immediately started up, and throwing off the quilt, found one of the

most venomous of the innumerable ser

pents in that country, curled up at his feet. From this providential escape, the Indians who attended, entertained an idea that Nelson was a superiour being, under an especial protection; and this idea, which his wonderful abilities and unwearied exertions tended to confirm, was of essential prolonging their cooperation. service in gaining their confidence and

On another occasion, captain Nelson and his men narrowly escaped being poisoned, by drinking at spring into which some branches of the Manchineel apple tree had been thrown.

Sickness, from fatigue and exposure, proved extremely fatal to the brave men engaged in this expedi tion. Happily Nelson escaped the fatality of the contagion, but his constitution was so greatly injured as to render his return to Europe indispensable..

He arrived in London, January 1781. At the close of the year, though debilitated by service in the West Indies, he was sent to the frozen Baltick, in the Albemarle of 28 guns. The knowledge he gained

of the Danish coast, on this occasion, was afterwards of essential service to him. He next sailed for Canada. He quitted America, with lord Hood's fleet, for the West Indies; returned to England, June 1783. "When lord Hood carried him to St. James's, the king was exceedingly attentive to him." After his return from court, he threw off" his iron bound coat," and spent the evening with his friend Mr. Davison, in talking over occurrences since they had parted on the beach of the river St. Laurence.

The peace of 1783 restored Nelson to the parsonage of Burnham Thorpe; but, disgusted with inactivity, he took an opportunity of making a tour in France with his friend captain Macnamara. His remarks on that country are just. In March, 1784, he obtained the Boreas frigate, and went in her to the West Indies, where he conducted himself with great spirit, for the good of the service, and of his country. In this voyage he married Mrs. Nesbit, widow of Dr. Nesbit, physician to the island of Nevis, March 11, 1787. The lady was about twenty one years of age. We shall notice his patriotick conduct, at this time, in a separate article. He again arrived in England, in July 1787.

Capt. Nelson, with his lady, resided at Burnham Thorpe, with Mr. Nelson the father; and here the seaman engaged with considerable zeal in cultivating his father's garden. "He would there often spend the greater part of the day, and dig, as it were, for the sake of being wearied."

In January 1793, he was appointed to the Agammennon. In this ship he sailed to the Mediterranean. In August, lord Hood obtained possession of Toulon; but Nelson was absent on publick business at the court of Naples. Here he lodged in the house of the English ambassadour, and ❝commenced that intimacy with sir William and lady Hamilton,

which afterwards had so powerful an influence both on his professional and private life." He arrived at Toulon in October. At the siege of Bastia, in Corsica, he united the ta lents of a land officer to those of a naval captain, and was justly called "the brigadier general." Bastia surrendered May 22, 1794, after a siege of eight weeks, 4,500 French soldiers laid down their arms to 1,000 British serving as marines. He afterwards assisted in the reduction of the other towns of the island, particularly of Calvi, where he lost the sight of his right eye. March 14, 1795, he assisted in taking two French line of battle ships, the Ca Ira and the Censeur. Soon afterwards, capt. Nelson was made colonel of marines. Towards the end of 1795, capt. Nelson was put under the command of admiral sir John Jervis; and continued his services on the coast of Italy. In 1796, Spain joined the French in the war. Corsica was immediately evacuated; and February 14, 1797, captain Nelson was happily the means of taking two Spanish men of war, the San Nicolas of 84 guns, and the San Josef of 112 guns. Two other ships, the Salvador del Mundo of 112 guns, and the San Isidro of 74, were also taken. Sir John Jervis, the commander in chief of the fleet, was on this event created lord St. Vincent, the action taking place off Cape St. Vincent. Captain Nelson was made an admiral, February 20, 1797. He also received the insignia of the order of the Bath. He was sent to bring off the garrison of Porto Ferrajo; and then commanded the inner squadron, in the blockade of Cadiz.

"It was during this period, says the gallant admiral, that perhaps, my personal courage was more conspicuous than at any other part of my life. In an attack of the Spanish gun boats, I was boarded in my barge with its common crew of ten men, coxswain, captain Freemantle and myself, by the commander of the gun boats. The Spanish barge rowed twenty-six oars, besides officers, thirty men in the whole.