design, we must look to the state of newspapers at an earlier date. As
vehicles of information they are often mentioned in plays in the time of
James and Charles the First. Carew, in his ‘Survey of Cornwall,’ first
published in 1602, quotes ‘Mercurius Gallo-Belgicus.’ Till the beginning
of the eighteenth century, the periodical press had been exclusively
political; no class of writers but divines and theoretical reasoners had
administered to the moral wants of society: certain gentlemen,
therefore, of liberal education, and men of the world, combined to
furnish practical instruction in an amusing form, by fictions running
parallel with the political newspaper. Addison announces the design “to
bring philosophy out of closets and libraries, schools and colleges, to
dwell in clubs and assemblies, at tea-tables and in coffee-houses.” In
the character of his fictitious friend the clergyman, he speaks of “the
great use this paper might be of to the public, by reprehending those
vices which are too trivial for the chastisement of the law, and too
fantastical for the cognizance of the pulpit.” Another object was to
allay party-violence by promoting literary taste; in Steele’s figurative
language, to substitute the lute for the trumpet. On this subject
Addison says, “I am amazed that the press should be only made use of in
this way by news-writers, and the zealots of parties; as if it were not
more advantageous to mankind to be instructed in wisdom and virtue than
in politics, and to be made good fathers, husbands, and sons, than
counsellors and statesmen.”
Dr. Beattie, who published an edition of Addison’s works in 1790, with a
Life prefixed, says that he was once informed, but had forgotten on what
authority, that Addison had collected three manuscript volumes of
materials. He might have found this in Tickell’s Life. “It would have
been impossible for Mr. Addison, who made little or no use of letters
sent in by the numerous correspondents of the Spectator, to have
executed his large share of this task in so exquisite a manner, if he
had not ingrafted into it many pieces that had lain by him in little
hints and minutes, which he from time to time collected, and ranged in
order, and moulded into the form in which they now appear. Such are the
essays upon wit, the pleasures of the imagination, the critique upon
Milton, and some others.”
The original delineation of Sir Roger de Coverley, for the management
and keeping of which character Addison has been highly extolled, must
unquestionably be ascribed to Steele. He drew the outlines; Addison
principally worked up the portrait. Johnson not only takes a false view
of the character, but in contradiction to every judgment but his own,
represents the author as sinking under the weight of it. “The
irregularities in Sir Roger’s conduct seem not so much the effects of a
mind deviating from the beaten track of life, by the pressure of some
overwhelming idea, as of habitual rusticity, and that negligence which
solitary grandeur naturally generates. The variable weather of the mind,
the flying vapours of incipient madness, which from time to time cloud
reason, without eclipsing it, it requires so much nicety to exhibit,
that Addison seems to have been deterred from prosecuting his own
design.” This seems to be a mistake from beginning to end. Addison had
no more design to impute incipient madness to Sir Roger, than to his
contrast, Sir Andrew Freeport. Habitual rusticity is not the prevailing
feature in a man who visited the metropolis every season: a main beauty
of the picture is, that Sir Roger is always a gentleman, although an odd
one. Hear Lord Orford on the subject. “Natural humour was the primary
talent of Addison. His character of Sir Roger de Coverley, though
inferior, is only inferior to Shakspeare’s Falstaff.” But however
prejudiced or mistaken Johnson might be in this particular instance,
when he deals in generalities, he traces the peculiar merits of
Addison’s manner with the touch of a master. “He copies with so much
fidelity, that he can be hardly said to invent; yet his exhibitions have
an air so much original, that it is difficult to suppose them not merely
the product of imagination.”
An attempt has been made to compare the humour of Addison with that of
Molière, of whom Lord Chesterfield said that no man ever had so much.
But a parallel between an essayist and a dramatic writer will not run
straight; the construction of the drama gives so much greater latitude
to the display of humour, and allows of so much nearer an approach to
extravagance, that there can be no drawn game between them, and the
essayist will almost always be the loser.
As a critic, Addison’s merit is impartially and ably set forth in the
notes to his Life in Dr. Kippis’s edition of the ‘Biographia
Britannica.’ On that subject Johnson is just and liberal. “Addison is
now despised by some who perhaps would never have seen his defects, but
by the lights which he afforded them.” By some of these arrogant
despisers he has been blamed for deciding by taste rather than by
principles. To this Dr. Warton, who thought him superior to Dryden as a
critic, briefly answers, taste must decide. Addison’s style has been
universally admired and thought a model. Lord Orford says of Addison,
Swift, Bolingbroke, and Dr. Middleton, “Such authors fix a standard by
their writings.” Johnson says he did not wish to be energetic; Dr.
Warton affirms that he is so, and that often. Steele describes his
habits of composition. “This was particular in this writer, that, when
he had taken his resolution, or made his plan for what he designed to
write, he would walk about a room, and dictate it into language with as
much freedom and ease as any one could write it down, and attend to the
coherence and grammar of what he dictated.” Pope says that he wrote with
fluency; but if he had time to correct, did it slowly and cautiously;
but that many of the ‘Spectators’ were written rapidly, and sent to the
press in the instant; and he doubts whether much leisure for revisal
would have led to improvement. “He would alter any thing to please his
friends, before publication, but would not retouch his pieces
afterwards; and I believe not one word in Cato, to which I made an
objection, was suffered to stand.” The last line of Cato was Pope’s; a
substitute for the original.
We have neither room nor willingness to enter on the jealousy between
these two eminent persons. Bowles vindicates Addison’s conduct, and
relates the following fact to the credit of his disposition:—“Though
attacked by Dennis as a critic, he never mentioned his name with
asperity, and refused to give the least countenance to a pamphlet which
Pope had written upon the occasion of Dennis’s stricture on Cato.” The
piece here alluded to is the ‘Narrative of the Madness of John Dennis.’
Pope strangely imputed Addison’s pious compositions to the selfish
motive of an intention to take orders and obtain a bishopric on quitting
administration. Johnson cites this as the only proof that Pope retained
some malignity from their ancient rivalship: with this opinion we cannot
quite agree.
Addison’s defect of animal spirits condemned him to silence in general
company; but his conversation, when set afloat by wine and the presence
of confidential friends, was brilliant and delightful. Steele represents
him as “having all the wit and nature of Terence and Catullus,
heightened with humour more exquisite than any other man ever
possessed.” This high flight is borne out by Pope’s less suspicious
testimony. “Addison’s conversation had something in it more charming
than I have found in any other man.” Tonson and Spence represent him as
demanding to be the first name in modern wit; and with Steele as his
echo, depreciating Dryden, whom Pope and Congreve defended against them.
We close our account with the following summary of his character from
Hutchinson’s ‘History of Cumberland’:—“Addison was modest and mild, a
scholar, a gentleman, a poet, and a Christian.”
[Illustration]
BRAMANTE.
The name of Bramante derives a marked distinction from its intimate
connexion with the history of the famous church of St. Peter at Rome,
and is further interesting in its association with the names of Michael
Angelo, of Raphael, and of the pontiff Julius II. Bramante is justly
noted among the _cinquecento_ architects, as a powerful co-operator in
the great work of restoring, under certain modifications, the style of
ancient Rome. The leader of this reformation is universally acknowledged
to have been Brunelleschi; while Palladio is honoured as having effected
its final and permanent establishment. Brunelleschi had evinced his
daring and his taste in projecting the vast dome of Florence cathedral,
the character of which, however, exhibited only a slight advance towards
the regular architecture of antiquity; and it remained for a successor
to emulate at once the majestic elevation of the Florentine cupola, and
the more classic beauty of the Roman Pantheon.
Brunelleschi died in 1444, a circumstance which we mention as giving
additional interest to the fact, that, in 1444, Bramante was born. The
family of the latter, his birth-place, and even his name, are matters of
some obscurity; but there is reason to believe that his parentage was
humble, and that he was born in the territory of Urbino. Whether at
Urbino the capital of the Duchy, or at Castel Durante, at Fermignano, or
at Monte Asdrubale, there are no means of deciding, unless we admit as
evidence in favour of the latter place an existing medal in the Museo
Mazzachelliano, whereon are inscribed the words “Bramantes
Asdruvaldinus.” He is variously called Bramante Lazzari, Lazzaro
Bramante, and is spoken of as “Donato di Urbino, cognominato Bramante.”
[Illustration:
_Engraved by J. Posselwhite._
BRAMANTE.
_From a Portrait by Alessandro D’Este in the Collection of the
Capitol, at Rome._
Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge
_London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
]
He seems to have evinced, at an early age, a general feeling for poetry
and art; and is said to have first studied painting assisted by the
works of Fra. Bartolomeo Corradini. During a sojourn at Milan he
obtained the friendship of the poet Gaspero Visconti, and in the
capacity of a sonneteer and improvisatore exhibited an unusual facility
of composition. Of his abilities as a painter in distemper and fresco,
examples are to be seen in that city, and at other places in the
Milanese territory. On his subsequent removal to Rome, he was employed
to execute some paintings (which no longer exist) in the church of S.
Giovanni Laterano.
Architecture, however, soon claimed Bramante as more particularly her
own, and he manifested a zealous ardour in the study of classic
examples. It does not appear that he published any volumes on the
subject, but we are credibly informed that he industriously measured the
ancient remains of Rome, and of Adrian’s villa at Tivoli.
The Cardinal Caraffa was among the first to form an estimate of his
merits, and commissioned him to rebuild the cloisters of the Monastery
della Pace at Rome. He also superintended the execution of the
Trastevere Fountain for Pope Alexander VI., and erected great part of
the palace della Cancellaria. The church of S. Lorenzo in Damaso, and
the circular chapel in the cloister of S. Pietro in Montorio (where St.
Peter is said to have been crucified) are also of Bramante’s
architecture; nor should we omit to mention him as the designer of the
palace in the Piazza di Scossacavalli, which for some time belonged to
the English crown, and was presented by Henry VIII. to the Campeggi.
Bramante’s designs for other palaces and churches were numerous. Several
buildings in Milan are attributed to him, as well as an imperial palace
for the Duke of Urbino (never finished), and the church dell’ Incoronata
at Lodi.
The established fame of Bramante now recommended him to Pope Julius II.,
who had formed the idea of uniting the old Vatican palace with the
Belvedere by means of a magnificent court, an engraving of which, as it
was first executed by Bramante, is to be seen in the public library
erected by the Corsini princes. The division of the court by the Vatican
library, subsequently erected by Sixtus V., and other additions and
alterations, have utterly destroyed the effect of Bramante’s design,
though the principal architectural features still remain. Among these,
in a lofty central pile of building, is a vast semicircular headed
niche, the archivolt of which springs from the cornices of two lofty
wing compartments, appearing, it must be confessed, more like the
section of an interior, than an external elevation. It is as if the
opposite walls in the length of a cathedral choir were taken away, the
grand altar recess being alone suffered to remain; and it may be
regarded as a very curious instance of a passion for the spherical
vault, which thus prompted Bramante to turn it, as it were, inside out;
and to take from the cellæ of the temples of Peace, and of Venus and
Rome, the idea of the garden alcove.
Bramante was now high in favour with Julius II.; and, having invented an
ingenious machine for stamping the leaden seals attached to the papal
bulls, was rewarded with the office “_del Piombo_.” He attended the Pope
to Bologna, when that city was united to the states pontifical in 1504,
and served his Holiness in the capacity of military engineer.
Our account of Bramante now resolves itself into the history of St.
Peter’s church, the antecedent progress of which may be thus briefly
stated:—
St. Peter being buried within the site of Nero’s Circus, Constantine
erected (A.D. 324) a magnificent church over the apostle’s remains.
During the lapse of eleven centuries, it fell into decay, and in the
pontificate of Nicholas V. (1450) a new building was commenced from
designs by Alberti. On the death of Nicholas, the works were
discontinued till Paul II. caused them again to proceed: but it must be
understood that the structure then in course of erection was in a great
measure mixed up with Constantine’s church, many remaining parts of
which were to be incorporated in the new building.
The ascent of Julius II. to the papal throne was at that period, when
the revived taste for classical architecture suddenly pervaded Italy,
and left him assured of general support in his boldly formed resolution
of demolishing the old building with all its subsequent amendments, and
of erecting an entirely new structure, that should stand paramount in
the modern world for vastness and splendour. It has been said, that the
idea of the new church originated in a suggestion by San Gallo, that the
gorgeous sepulchral monument which Julius, in honour of himself, had
commissioned Michael Angelo to execute, should be placed in a church of
corresponding grandeur, purposely built to receive it. Be this as it
may, the new St. Peter’s was resolved on: designs were sent in by
various architects, and several were submitted by Bramante, who proved,
as might be expected, the successful competitor. His ideas were as
colossal as the ambition of his patron:—“I will raise,” said the
architect, “the Pantheon on the Temple of Peace!”
Bramante’s plan was a Latin cross. The area of intersection was to be
surrounded with massive piers, having columns between as in the
Pantheon; and the noble dome of the latter edifice, in the august
novelty of its exalted position, was to be freely imitated. A medal
struck in honour of Bramante shows the façade of his design, having two
_campaniles_, or towers, flanking a central compartment. In examining
the practicability of his plans, he failed not to inspect the quarries
of Tivoli, and was confirmed by the discovery that they would yield him
blocks of nine feet in diameter. Into the pecuniary means of
construction he did not however so closely examine. The contributions of
a world would have been necessary to the full realization of his plans,
which were considerably reduced by succeeding architects.
The first stone of the new edifice was laid on the 18th of April, 1506;
and the works proceeded with a rapidity more pleasing perhaps to the
impatient spirit of Julius, than beneficial to the stability of so vast
an edifice. Either to this haste on the part of the pontiff, or to a
want of constructive care on his own part, must be attributed the
failures which occurred to several of Bramante’s buildings; and it is
said, that, in the fear of Michael Angelo’s superior scrutiny, he
industriously sought to compass the removal of that great artist from
Rome.
His jealousy had been excited by the high admiration with which Julius
regarded Michael Angelo’s talent; and he strove to arrest the progress
of the intended monument, by stimulating in the pope a superstitious
dread of constructing his own tomb. He was, perhaps, not more envious of
Michael Angelo as a rival, than of the art of sculpture as compared with
his own; and it may have been with the view of diverting the pope’s mind
from the engrossing subject of the tomb, that he suggested that Michael
Angelo should be employed in painting the vault of the Sistine Chapel.
Julius, adopting the suggestion, ordered Bramante to construct a
scaffold for the painter’s purpose; but it was no sooner done than
Michael Angelo rejected it as totally unfit, and invented one himself.
If the opposition of these celebrated men had been hitherto restrained
within bounds, it now assumed a more decided character of hostility.
Half the painting of the chapel being completed, Bramante was desirous
that Raphael, then rising into eminence, should finish the half
remaining; expecting, no doubt, that the latter, being more exclusively
a painter, would exhibit a superiority over one who had chiefly
practised as a sculptor. At this, the indignation of Michael Angelo was
naturally fired, and he arraigned at once, in the presence of the Pope,
not only the architectural defects of Bramante’s buildings, but likewise
the moral faults of his character. At a former period, however, he had
paid full tribute to his rival’s exalted taste, saying, in his letter to
a friend, “It cannot be denied that Bramante is superior in architecture
to all others since the time of the ancients.”
Among the more pleasing passages of Bramante’s life, is that which
relates to his friendship for the inimitable Raphael, who was his
fellow-countryman, and, as it is reported, his relation. Certain it is
that Raphael was his pupil in architecture, and that he entertained an
affectionate regard for his master, whose portrait he introduced into
his celebrated picture of the “School of Athens,” where Bramante is
represented as describing with his compasses a geometrical figure to
several youths who surround him.
Bramante died in 1514, one year after his patron Julius II., and eight
years after the commencement of the new St. Peter’s. At this period the
great arches over the central piers were turned, and the principal
chapel opposite the entrance erected. Subsequent additions, however, to
his portion of the building, and material deviations from his original
design, have left us to regard the church in its complete state as
deriving little else than its general idea from the genius of its first
architect. His remains were deposited in it with great pomp, being
attended by the Papal court, and the leading professors of art. He is
described as lively and agreeable in manner, and, notwithstanding his
quarrels with Michael Angelo, of a liberal and generous disposition. He
seems rather to have been distinguished by a bold and fertile fancy,
than by any great attainments in the mechanical department of his
profession; and to form a just estimate of his designs, they should be
considered with reference to the progressive state of architectural
taste, and cautiously adopted as examples for imitation.
The best authorities to be consulted on this subject are Vasari,
Tiraboschi, Milizia, and Condivi.
[Illustration: [Great niche of the Belvedere.]]
[Illustration:
_Engraved by E. Scriven._
MADAME DE STAEL.
_From the original Picture by F. Gerard in the possession of M. de
Broglie, at Paris._
Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge
_London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
]
[Illustration]
MADAME DE STAEL.
Anne Louise Germaine Necker, the celebrated daughter of a celebrated
father, was born at Paris, April 22, 1766. In her earliest years she
manifested uncommon vivacity of perception and depth of feeling; and at
the age of eleven, her sprightliness, her self-possession, and the eager
and intelligent interest which she took in all the subjects of
conversation, rendered her the pet and the wonder of the brilliant
circle which frequented her father’s house. Necker himself, though he
delighted in promoting the developement of his daughter’s talents, was a
watchful critic of her faults: “I owe,” she said, “to my father’s
penetration, the frankness of my disposition, and the simplicity of my
mind. He exposed every sort of affectation; and, in his company, I
formed the habit of thinking that my heart lay open to view.” She repaid
his care and tenderness by a passionate and devoted affection, such as
scarcely seems to belong to the relationship which existed between them.
Throughout his life, the desire to minister to his pleasure was her
first object, and his death threw a permanent shade of melancholy over
her spirit.
Madlle. Necker paid the usual price of mental precocity, in its
debilitating effects upon her bodily constitution. At the age of
fourteen, serious apprehensions were entertained for her life; and she
was sent to St. Ouen, in the neighbourhood of Paris, for the benefit of
country air, with orders to abstain from every species of severe study.
Thither her father repaired at every interval of leisure; and being
withdrawn from the strict line of behaviour prescribed by her mother,
who, having done much herself by dint of study, thought that no
accomplishments graces could be worth possessing which were not the
fruit of study, she passed her time in the unrestrained enjoyment of M.
Necker’s society, in the indulgence of her brilliant imagination, and
the spontaneous cultivation of her powerful mind. This course of life
was more favourable to the developement of that poetical, ardent, and
enthusiastic temper, which was the source of so much enjoyment, and so
much distinction, than to the habits of self-control without which such
a temper is almost too dangerous to be called a blessing. Her character
at this period of life is thus described by her relation and biographer,
Mad. Necker de Saussure: “We may figure to ourselves Mad. de Stael, in
her early youth, entering with confidence upon a life, which to her
promised nothing but happiness. Too benevolent to expect hatred from
others, too fond of talent in others to anticipate the envy of her own,
she loved to exalt genius, enthusiasm, and inspiration, and was herself
an example of their power. The love of glory, and of liberty, the
inherent beauty of virtue, the pleasures of affection, each in turn
afforded subjects for her eloquence. Not that she was always in the
clouds: she never lost presence of mind, nor was she run away with by
enthusiasm.” In later life her good taste led her to abstain from this
lofty vein of conversation, especially when it was forced upon her: “I
tramp in the mire with wooden shoes, whenever they would force me to
live always in the clouds.”