EUROPEAN MAGAZINE, DECEMBER, 1823: PUBLISHED ON THE FIRST OF JANUARY. WITH A PORTRAIT OF MARTIN ARCHER SHEE, ESQ., R.A. BY SHERWOOD, JONES, AND CO. PATERNOSTER ROW, And Sold by all the Booksellers in the United Kingdom. [TWO SHILLINGS.] NOTICE TO CORRESPONDENTS. We have been always inclined to think, that men of genius and talent (and such we justly consider our principal contributors), are as finely and exquisitely organized, and have fingers as pliant as the generality of mankind; and yet, from some cause which we confess ourselves unable to account for, we frequently receive MSS. so badly written, that we forget the sense while we are labouring to decypher the characters. We would request such Correspondents to get a few lessons of Mr. Carstairs', or, if they must write badly, at least to write plainly. Letters will be left at the Publisher's on the 5th instant, for all private communications which have not been replied to. We have to apologize for not replying earlier, but the European Magazine may be looked upon at the moment as in its infancy, not only from the late change which has taken place, but from the Editor's having been engaged in the completion of two works, which remained unfinished when he took charge of the Magazine. As these works are now completed, and on the eve of publication, he will henceforth be able to pay due attention to his Correspondents and Contributors. He wishes, at the same time, to observe, that the promises of improvement which he made last month, is not to be looked for in the present number, it being the last of the volume; and, according to the plan which has been adopted by the conductors of the European Magazine, from its commencement in 1782, to the present time, the December number. The Letters from an Irish Gentleman," are by the Author of the "Hermit in London,” and will be continued. EUROPEAN MAGAZINE, · AND LONDON REVIEW. DECEMBER 1823. MEMOIR OF MARTIN ARCHER SHEE, ESQ. R.A. IT gives us real pleasure to be able to gratify our readers, this month, with the portrait of a gentleman who has conferred such high honour, not only on his own profession, but upon the sister art. Mr. Shee is the only living artist we are acquainted with, either personally or by report, who has laid down the palette and the pencil, and ventured, with unpractised but daring wing, into the sublimer regions of poetry. Indeed if any thing were necessary to shew that painting is not a mere mechanical art, and that excellence in it can result only from capacities and mental energies of the highest order, Mr. Shee's poetical works, undertaken and completed in the midst of his professional pursuits, pursuits that would appear to have little, in common with the glowing raptures and instant determinations of the inspired muse,— would be sufficient to prove both. Though the eye of the painter is generally confined to a line or a point, his mind is almost continually wandering through the imaginative world, through the beautiful, the picturesque, and the sublime of nature; and how easy is the transition to the world of feeling and passion, that world in which the poet chiefly delights to revel, and in which he exercises the most absolute dominion over the human heart. Of Mr. Shee's poetical merits we shall immediately speak; but it is proper we should first introduce him to our readers, and let them know who he is, for it is difficult to give interest to abstract virtue, or to works of the highest merit, if their author be unknown. We first wish to know the man, and afterwards the poet. This, perhaps, is a delusion in human nature, as it may be thought that we cannot be acquainted with any man through his works, neither the warrior nor the poet appearing to his valet de chambre what he appears to the world; but whether it be delusion or not, it is one to which philosophers themselves are obliged to submit. It is idle to quarrel with delusions founded in the original nature of man; nor are they, perhaps, always so delusive as they appear to be. The delusion, no doubt, is frequently to be found in the fine spun theories of the philosopher, not in the common sense and common feeling of mankind. We find, from a memoir in Messrs. Cadell and Davis's "Collection of Portraits of Eminent Public Characters," that "Martin Archer Shee, Esq. R.A. is descended from an old and respectable Irish family, long settled in Connaught, the western province of the sister kingdom. "His father, the youngest of four brothers, entered into business as a merchant in Dublin, where the subject of this memoir was born, on the 23d of December, 1770. "He early discovered a strong inclination for the fine arts, and at twelve years of age, obtained the three first medals, for drawings of figure, landscape, and flowers, in the Dublin Society's Academy. In 1787, he had the honour of receiving from the Dublin Society, a silver palette, with an inscription expressive of the approbation of that patriotic body. "In the pursuit of his studies as an artist. he came to England in 1788, and was introduced to the notice of Sir Joshua Reynolds, by the late Right Honourable Edmund Burke. "Mr. Shee first exhibited with the Royal Academy in the year '1790. He was elected an associate of that institution, in 1798, and in the year 1800 was honoured by the diploma of Royal Academician. "With his attachment to the arts, Mr. Shee has combined a love of literature; and conceiving the period favourable for an appeal to the public on the subject of the pursuits of taste, he, in 1805, published the first part of a poem, the composition of which had been for some time the amusement of his leisure hours, under the title of " Rhymes on Art, or the Remonstrance of a Painter." "In 1809, he published the three remaining parts, under the title of Elements of Art." In 1810, at the request of one of the Directors of the British Institution, who wished him to communicate his ideas on the subject, he published "a Letter to the President and Directors of the British Institution," including a plan for the encouragement of historical painting. "On the occasion of the magnificient exhibition of the works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, at the British Gallery, he, in 1813, published the Commemoration of Reynolds, and other poems, with notes, and a dedication, by permission, to bis Royal Highness, the Prince Regent." To this brief view of Mr. Shee's professional and poetical career, we add the following, particulars which we can vouch as authentic. Mr. Shee acquired the first radiFrancis Robert West, a very emiments of design under the late Mr. nent draughtsman, and distinguished teacher in the Metropolis of the sister country. He afterwards became a student in the academy of the Dublin Society, where he obtained the medals already spoken of. He was honoured with these early pledges of his unfolding genius, at the same age in which Pope wrote his 66 Ode on Solitude," but it must be confessed that there is nothing in this ode that renders the age at which it was written, worth remembering. It is a mere string of moral reflections without a single image, sentiment, or association of a poetic character. Indeed it is sufficient to prove, that though Pope "Lisped in numbers for the numbers came," and it appears to us no small proof, he was far from lisping in poetry; that if Pope had directed his mind, pursuits, he would not have less at an early period, to philosophical excelled in them than in poetry; or, if we aright, perhaps what appears to us were to express ourselves is, that neither he nor any other person was born a poet, and that the celebrated expression poeta nastrue, although Pope himself seemed citur non fit, is more popular than to think differently. Without natural abilities, it is true, no application of mind can lead to eminence in any art or pursuit, bat where these natural abilities exist, they in one particular art. Indeed, the are not exclusively formed to excel subject of the present memoir appears to us one of the strongest proofs of this assertion, for though he first distinguished himself in painting, and that too at so early an capable of estranging his affections age, that we could hardly think him for a moment to a different art; and though it must also be admitted, that delicate hand and exquisite that his poetry is not finished with touch that characterize his paintings, there are still thickly scattered through his "Elements of Art," sufficient evidence that he was not less capable of excelling in the higher walks of poetry; not less delighted in being permitted to linger around the sequestered shades and flowery haunts of Parnassus, than in stealing from nature her finest aspects, and giving palpable existence to those less obvious, more delicate, and more retiring features of nature, which withdraw themselves from the gaze of vulgar perception, and disclose their charms to the gifted eye of genius alone. But of this more hereafter. Having availed himself of all the means of improvement which the state of the Arts in Ireland, and the facilities afforded him by the Academy, would allow, and they were as extensive as their materials could afford; Mr Shee determined to proceed to London to complete his studies, but the approbation bestowed on some small portraits in Crayons, which he had executed previous to his in tended departure, and the opportunities of occupation which consequently opened to him in this line, induced him to remain two years longer in Dublin, where, at the age of sixteen, he became a professional artist, and obtained the most distinguished practice in that city. His desire for improvement, how ever, and his wish to become an oil painter, soon induced him to relinquish all the pecuniary advantages which a further resi dence in Ireland held out,-and accordingly declining all farther commissions there, he quitted his native country, and arrived in London in June, 1778. Some time after his arrival, he was personally intro duced to the notice of Sir Joshua Reynolds, by the late Right Hon. Edmund Burke, and was by that great artist, introduced as a student of the Royal Academy, where he studied with unwearied diligence for some years. Mr. S. first exhibited with the Royal Academy in the year 1790, and immediately obtained not only notice but employment. He has ever since been a regular contributor to our annual display of art, and whatever he has done in his profession, has resulted from the public exhibition of his works. On the retirement of the late Mr. Romney, the Artist, in the year 1799, Mr. Shee succeeded to his establishment in Cavendish-square, where he continues to reside. In the year 1802, he visited Paris, to see the collection of Art then exhibited in the Louvre, and while in that city, had an opportunity, through the politeness of some members of the French Institution, of being introduced to the then Chief Consul, Buonaparte, on a very interesting, public occasion; when the Committee of that celebrated Society made their public report to the Chief Consul of the state of the Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, in the Republic. Mr. Shee has likewise received honorary diplomas from the American Academies of Philadelphia and New York. Mr. Shee is one of those few who owe no part of their fame to individual patronage: he trusted to his own unaided merits, and he found that however bright were the prospects of success which he anticipated in the ardour and temerity of youth, those which he realized were still brighter and happier. This must be a peculiarly pleasing reflection to a man who breathes that spirit of independance which glows through every page of his "Elements of Art;" and who burns with such indignant ardour, while he advocates the rights of neglected genius. He is indebted to himself alone for the eminence which he has obtained, and the independence which he has realized in his profession. While his country then has to boast of having produced a Shee,—a man who united all the combined charms of poetry and painting, he himself, has nothing to boast of, that reflects credit on his countrymen. If it depended upon them, he would be unknown in the world of science and art, and in saying so, we say it with regret. Of all nations, Irishmen are the most fearful of conferring honour on each other, individually. However much they are looked down upon by other nations, they look down upon each other still more. An Irish lording thinks it want of taste to acknowledge, or even to perceive any merit in his own countrymen. When we say his own countrymen, we use the word in the ordinary phrase, or as it would be used in this country; but |