with the fight of every thing that is new or uncommon. I have, fince their departure, employed a friend to make many enquiries of their landlord the Upholsterer, relating to their manners and converfation, as alfo concerning the re

marks

Some account has been given of the four Indian kings in an antecedent note on TAT. N° 171, to which the reader is referred. For several years after this time, it was common, at Mafquerades almoft coeval with this Paper, to affume the characters and dreffes of Indian KINGS, as appears from a paffage of a periodical work in 1717, conducted by Mr. Theobald, under the title of "The CENSOR." See CENSOR, vol. ii. N° 58. p. 194. The curious may fee in The British Museum four beautiful pictures of these Indian Chiefs in their. peculiar dreffes, and probably the reprefentations they give, are as faithful as they are elegant. There was an opinion that they were the figures of four Chinese Emperors, and fome fimilarity in the names to those we meet with in the hiftory of China favoured the fuppofition; but on the removal of the frames, and the plated glaffes placed before them, which create fome deception, and cover parts of the infcriptions, they prove to be, not coloured metzotintos, or printed paintings in the ingenious method difcovered about this time by James Le Blon, as was at first supposed, but fine pictures on ivory. The Emperor of the Mohocks, holds the wampum in his hand, a pledge of the amity of the fix Indian nations, and his name as well as the names of his three royal companions correfpond to thofe of the Indian KINGS, given TAT. N° 171, and Note, with no other variations in the orthography of the founds, than their uncouthness may well be supposed to account for. The real name of the artift, for his cypher upon them was taken for that of Le Blon, is certainly known by the following endorsement, "Drawn by the life, May 2, 1710, by Bernard Lens, Jun."

These fine pictures are not whole lengths; but from the following advertisements in the TATLER in folio, it appears that the four Indian KINGS were painted at full lengths by John VERELST, and that his paintings of them were in the collection of pictures belonging to Q. Anne.

"Whereas an advertisement was published in the Supple“ m¢13

marks which they made in this country: for, next to the forming a right notion of fuch ftrangers, I should be defirous of learning what ideas they have conceived of us. The Upholsterer finding my

friend very in

quifitive

"ment of yesterday, that the effigies of the four Indian KINGS 66 were drawn from Mr. Verelt's original pictures, these are "to give notice that Mr. Verelft has not permitted any per"fon to take any draught or sketch from them. If he should, "he will take care to have it correctly done by a fkillful "hand, and to inform the public thereof in the TATLER." Signed JOHN VERELST. At the Rainbow and Dove, by Ivy Bridge, in the Strand. TAT. in folio, N° 172, May 16, 1710.

About half a year after, the following advertisement appeared at the end of TAT. N° 250 in folio, Nov. 14, 1710. "This is to give notice, that the metzotinto prints by John "SIMMONDS, in whole lengths, of the four Indian KINGS, "that are done from the original pictures drawn by John "VERELST, which her majefty has at her palace at Kenling"ton, are now to be delivered to fubfcribers, and fold at the "Rainbow and Dove, the corner of Ivy Bridge, in the "Strand." This notice was reprinted with fome variation in the TAT. in folio, at the ends of N° 253, N° 256, and N° 257:

Befides the prints of Simmonds, there were it seems, other prints of the Indian Chiefs, faid to have been drawn from Verelft's original pictures, difowned by that painter as not originating from him, and represented in his advertisement as incorrect, and the workmanship of an unfkilful hand.

WALPOLE in his "Anecdotes of Painting, &c." gives fome account of John, under the name of Simon VERELST, and fays," he lived to a great age, certainly as late as "1710, and died in Suffolk-treet," i. e. Ivy Bridge Lane. He was a Dutch flower painter of capital excellence in that branch of the art of painting; and like wife attempted portraits, labouring them exceedingly and finishing them with the fame delicacy with his flowers, which he always introduced into them. His works were much admired, and his prices the greateft that had been known in this country, for

one

quifitive about these his lodgers, brought him fome time fince a little bundle of papers, which he affured him were written by King Sa Ga Yean Qua Rafh Tow, and as he fuppofes, left behind by fome mistake. These papers are now tranflated,

one half length he was paid 1107. He was a real ornament to the reign of Cha. II. and greatly leffened the employment of Sir Peter Lely, who retired to Kew, while VERELST engroffed the fashion. Walpole has recorded entertaining inftances of the vanity of Kneller, and Jervafe mentioned TAT. N° 4, and No7; but Verelft was outright mad with vanity, and more than once confined as infane. In his confinement under a proper regimen, towards the end of his life, he recovered his fenfes, but not his genius. His fon Cornelius was of his father's profeffion, as was alfo his very accomplished daughter, who was an excellent colourift, painted in oil, drew fmall hiftories, and portraits both large and small; fhe understood mufic, and fpoke with fluency Latin, German, Italian, and other languages. John VERELST had likewife a brother of the name of Herman, who painted history, fruit, and flowers; he lived abroad at Vienna till the Turks befieged it in 1683, but died in London about the beginning of this century, and was buried in St. Andrew's Holborn.

John SIMMONDS, whom Walpole calls Simon, mentioned in the fecond advertisement, was the beft metzotinto scraper of his time, but he was foon excelled by Smith, White, and other improvers of his art. He copied the pictures of Sir G. Kneller, and other maflers with fuccefs, and died in 1755.

Bernard LENS fprang from a family of artifts, and was an admirable painter in miniature; he painted portraits in that way, but his excellence was copying the works of great mafters, particularly Rubens and Vandyke, whofe colouring he imitated exactly. He had three fons who followed their father's profeffion, who retired from bufinefs, made two fales of his pictures, and died at Knightsbridge in 1741.

James Le BLON above mentioned, invented his method of printing PAINTINGS, about the fame time that Edward KIRKALL invented his method of printed DRAWINGS; but though both of their inventions had much.

fuccefs

flated, and contain abundance of very odd obfervations, which I find this little fraternity of kings made during their ftay in the ifle of Great Britain. I fhall prefent my reader with a fhort fpecimen of them in this Paper, and may perhaps communicate more to him hereafter. In the article of London are the following words, which without doubt are meant of the church of St. Paul.

'On the most rifing part of the town there ⚫ stands a huge houfe, big enough to contain the ⚫ whole nation of which I am king. Our good brother E Tow O Koam, king of the Rivers, ⚫ is of opinion it was made by the hands of that great God to whom it is confecrated. The kings of Granajah and of the Six Nations believe that it was created with the earth, and

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fuccefs and applaufe, yet they had no imitators. Their methods are probably too laborious, and too tedious; and in opulent countries, where there is great facility of getting money, it is feldom got by merit, the artifts being in too much hafte to deserve it. Le Blon, the inventor of the method of metzotinto here fpoken of, which adds at least the refemblance of colour to fuch prints, fucceeded in his art fufficiently to convince the world that the want of colouring, a great deficiency in prints, was attainable, and well worthy of acquifition. His difcovery was however neglected, as the revival of encaustic painting has lately been, though the advantages of both thefe arts are fo obvious and fo defireable. He communicated his invention to the public in a book in 4to. English and French, en it ed "COLORITTO; or, The Harmony of Colouring in Pa.nting reduced to mechanical Practice, under eafy Precepts and infallible Rules " This ingenious man was an unfortunate projector, and on the failure of one of his projets in this country left it under some difgrace, and died it is faid, in an hofpital at Paris. See SPECT. N° 136, Note; TAT. N° 171, and Note. ' produced

produced on the fame day with the fun and 'moon. But for my own part, by the beft in• formation that I could get of this matter, I am apt to think that this prodigious pile was fashioned into the fhape it now bears by feve⚫ral tools and inftruments, of which they have a wonderful variety in this country. It was probably at first an huge mis-shapen rock that € grew upon the top of the hill, which the natives of the country (after having cut it into ⚫ a kind of regular figure) bored and hollowed ⚫ with incredible pains and industry, till they had wrought it into all thofe beautiful vaults and ⚫ caverns into which it is divided at this day. As foon as this rock was thus curiously scooped to their liking, a prodigious number of hands must have been employed in chipping the out'fide of it, which is now as fmooth as the fur⚫ face of a pebble; and is in feveral places hewn ⚫ out into pillars that stand like the trunks of fo many trees bound about the top with garlands of leaves. It is probable that when this great 'work was begun, which must have been many hundred years ago, there was fome religion among this people; for they give it the name of a temple, and have a tradition that it was de⚫ figned for men to pay their devotion in. And indeed there are feveral reasons which make us ⚫ think that the natives of this country had formerly among them fome fort of worship; for they fet apart every feventh day as facred: but upon my going into one of thefe holy houses on that day, I could not observe any circumstance

'of