As Critic and Censor-General, I shall take the liberty to animadvert on every thing that appears to me vicious or ridiculous: always endeavouring to hold, as it were the mirror up to Nature, to shew Virtue her own feature, Scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the Time his form and pressure.' N° 2. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1754. -Commissa quod auctio vendit Stantibus, œnophorum, tripodes, armaria, cistas. Juv. I HAVE already received letters from several Virtuosi, expressing their astonishment and concern at my disappointing the warm hopes they had conceived of my undertaking from the title of my paper. They tell me, that by deserting the paths of Virtu, I at once neglect the public interest and my own; that by supporting the character of Connoisseur in its usual sense, I might have obtained very considerable salaries from the principal auction-rooms, toyshops, and repositories, and might besides very plausibly have recommended myself as the properest person in the world, to be keeper of Sir Hans Sloane's Museum. I cannot be insensible of the importance of this capital business of taste, and how much reputation as well as profit would accrue to my labours, by confining them to the minutest researches into nature and art, and poring over the rust of antiquity. very well know that the discovery of a new zoophyte, or species of the polype, would be as valuable as that of the longitude. The cabinets of the curious would furnish out matter for my essays, more instructing than all the learned lumber of a I Vatican. Of what consequence would it be, to point out the distinctions of originals from copies so precisely, that the paltry scratchings of a modern may never hereafter be palmed on a Connoisseur for the labours of a Rembrandt! I should command applause from the adorers of antiquity, were I to demonstrate, that merit never existed but in the schools of the old painters, never flourished but in the warm climate of Italy: and how should I rise in the esteem of my countrymen, by chastising the arrogance of an Englishman in presuming to determine the analysis of beauty! At other times I might take occasion to shew my sagacity in conjectures on rusty coins and illegible marbles. What profound erudition is contained in an half-obliterated antique piece of copper! TRAJ. IMP. P. VII. COSS, MAX.*** *TREB. V. P. P. S. C.; and how merveillous, most courteous and ryghte worthye reader, would the barbarous inscription of some ancient monument appear to thee, and how pleasant to thyne eyne wytheall, thus preserved in its obsolete spelling and original black character! To this branch of taste, I am more particularly pressed: a correspondent desires to know, whether I was of the party that lately took a survey of Palmyra in the Desert; another, if I have traversed the Holy Land, or visited Mount Calvary. I shall not speak too proudly of my travels: but as my predecessor the Spectator has recommended himself by having made a trip to Grand Cairo to take measure of a pyramid, I assure my reader that I have climbed Mount Vesuvio in the midst of its eruptions, and dug some time under ground in the ruins of Hercula neum. I shall always be solicitous to procure the esteem of so respectable a body as the Connoisseurs: since I cannot but be sensible, could I any way merit it by my labours, how much more important the name of Mr. Town would appear, dignified with the addition of F. R. S. or Member of the Society of Antiquarians. I therefore take this early opportunity of obliging the curious with a letter from a very eminent personage, who, as well as myself, is lately become a Connoisseur, and is known to have gone abroad for no other purpose than to buy pictures. Dear Sir, TO MR. The hurry in which I left England must have convinced you how much I was in earnest, when I talked of making a valuable collection of pictures. By my frequent attendance on sales, I already know almost as much of painting, as I do of the funds and can talk as learnedly of light and shade, figure, proportion, drapery, &c. as of the rise and fall of stocks. I have, however, been very much embarrassed in getting together a collection, suitable to the religion I profess. The famous painters were most of them such bigots to their own way of thinking, that they have scarce left any thing behind them but Holy Families, Dead Christs, and Madonas; subjects which, to me and my tribe are odious and abominable. A picture, since it has the property of being the language of all mankind, should never be particular in its subject; but we should paint, as the English are taught to pray, for all Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Heretics.' When I have made the tour of Italy, I will send you a complete list of all my purchases: in the mean time, the following short specimen will enable you to judge of my precautions, in selecting pieces suitable to my character, and not offensive to my principles. The first that I bought was the Elevation of the Golden Calf.' This I shall set up in the Royal Exchange, as a typical representation of myself, to be worshipped by all brokers, insurers, scriveners, and the whole fraternity of stock-jobbers. The second is The Triumph of Gideon.' This I intended, if a late project in favour of our brethren had not miscarried, should have been hung up in St. Stephen's Chapel, as a memorial of our victory over the Uncircumcised. The third and fourth are Peter denying his Master,' and Judas betraying him for thirty pieces of silver;' both which I design as presents to our two worthy friends, the B-s of· and The next which I shall mention to you, deserves particular notice; and this is the Prophet of Nazareth himself, conjuring the Devil into an herd of swine.' From this piece, when I return to England, I intend to have a print engraved; being very proper to be had in all Jewish families, as a necessary preservative against pork and christianity. I shall not tire you with a particular detail of some other lesser pieces; such as-the Deluge, in watercolours-the New Jerusalem, in perspective-Some Ruins of the Temple-a Publican at the Receipt of Custom-and a Samson in miniature. Besides these, I have employed an ingenious artist here to execute a design of my own. It is a picture of Fortune, not standing (as in the common style) upon a kind of cart-wheel, but on the two wheels of the lottery, with a representation of a net cast over the lesser engrossers of tickets, while a chief manager is breaking his way through the meshes. I must not forget to tell you, that I have picked up an infamous portrait, by an English hand, called Shylock; with the following inscription under it, taken, I suppose, from the London Evening Post, or that impudent fool the Gazetteer: 'they have disgraced me, and hindred me half a million, laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies ;-and what's the reason? I am a Jew.' As soon as the parliament is dissolved, you may expect to see me in England; till when, I am, dear Sir, your's, &c. ************* I shall here subjoin a letter of a very different stamp; which points out to me another walk as a Connoisseur, not less extensive, perhaps, and more agreeable to the modern taste, than that of Virtu. Sir, TO MR. TOWN. I suppose Connoisseur is only another word for a knowing one. So write me a few papers in defence of cards, dice, races, and gaming in general; and I will admit you upon the square, introduce you at White's, set you upon the turf the next meeting at Newmarket, and make your fortune at once. If you are the man I take you for, you will be wise, and do this directly; and then the odds are for you. If not, I'll hold you an hundred pounds to a China orange, that your paper is neglected as low and vulgar, and yourself condemned as an unfashionable blockhead. Your's, as you behave, T. WILL. HAZARD. N° 3. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1754. LUCRET. Suave mari magno, turbantibus æquora ventis, WE writers of essays, or (as they are termed) pe riodical papers, justly claim to ourselves a place |