to their temper, will smile at or applaud the zeal of the theorist, which has led him to plant a Willow Cathedral in confirmation of the truth of his system :-but we cannot forbear to quote the account of this pious and philosophic work:

Finding that all the essential parts of Gothic architecture could thus be explained, by tracing its origin to the imitation of a very simple rustic edifice, I was desirous of submitting the theory to a kind of experimental test, by endeavouring actually to construct a building such as has been described. With the help of a very ingenious country workman*, I began this in spring 1792, and completed it, in the course of the winter following, in a manner which far surpassed my expectation, and which has already met with the approbation of several Members of this Society. The method of construction answered so well in practice, that I doubt if a better could be followed, with such simple materials; and so primitive is the mode of execution, that I believe, with a little ingenuity, the whole might be executed without the help of a sharp instrument, or of any materials but such as the woods afford.

A set of posts of ash, about three inches in diameter, were placed in two rows, four feet asunder, and at the interval of four feet in the rows. Then a number of slender and tapering willow rods, ten feet in length, were applied to the posts, and formed in the manner already described, into a frame, which being covered with thatch, produced a very substantial roof, under which a person can walk with ease †.

This little structure exhibits, in miniature, all the characteristic features of the Gothic style. It is in the form of a Cross, with a Nave, a Choir, and a north and south Transept. The thatch, being so disposed on the frame, as not to hide the rods of which it is composed, they represent accurately the pointed and semicircular arches, and all the other peculiarities of a groined roof. The door is copied from that of Beverley. The windows are occupied by a number of designs, executed, (by means of split rods,) in exact resemblance of those which actually occur in various Gothic edifices. Round each window is a border of compact wicker-work, which, by deepening the shade, adds greatly to the general effect. At a little distance stands the spire, formed of eight straight poles of willow planted in the earth, and rising in an octagonal pyramid to the height nearly of twenty feet. Various other Gothic forms are likewise introduced, which being of the more complicated kind, will be explained in a subsequent part of this Essay.

* John White, cooper, in the village of Cockburnspath, in Berwickshire.'

+ The roof, being protected from the weather, is still in perfect preservation, though it has now stood about five years; but the windows and other parts, which are more exposed, are going fast to decay, though they have been often repaired. Soon after the work was finished, a very accurate drawing of it was made by an ingenious young artist, Mr. A. Carse, which it is proposed to engrave for the llustration of this Essay, when published at full length.'.

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The appearance of the whole, whether seen from within or from without, bears, I flatter myself, no small resemblance to a cathedral.'

M. Chevalier's Tableau de la Plaine de Troye, illustrated and confirmed from the Observations of subsequent Travels and others. By Andrew Dalzel, M. A. F. R. S. Ed. Professor of Greek in the University of Edinburgh.

This memoir renews the controversy of the War of Troy, of which we have given an account in reviewing the publications of M. Chevalier and Mr. Bryant, Monthly Reviews for May 1793, p. 96. and for February 1797, p. 142, and in some subsequent Numbers. The present controvertist is Mr. Dalzel, the original translator of the Tableau de la Plaine de Troye; his zeal is considerable; and he has taken great pains to illustrate and confirm what his friend M. Chevalier has written,-not without success. His essay comprehends a short abstract of the material contents of the original work, as confirmed by subsequent travellers; an account of the opinions entertained of it by learned men; and the several papers, letters, &c. which are the testimonies to the truth of M. Chevalier's narration. Among those who have given their suffrages in favour of the Plain of Troy, are the Abbé Barthélémi, author of the Travels of Anacharsis; and Professor Heyne of Göttingen, who caused a German translation of M. C.'s work to be made, illustrated, and enriched it with a preface and an Essay on the Topography of the Iliad, and moreover added a Dissertation on the Height and Shadow of Mount Athos, by M. Kaenster. The English Ambassador at Constantinople, (Mr. Robert Liston,) Mr. Hawkins, Dr. Sibthorpe, and Mr. Dallaway, have by their own observations confirmed the truth of M. Chevalier's description.

It would be tedious to compare the accounts of the last mentioned travellers with the several passages in the "Plain of Troy;" it is sufficient to remark that the object of the present memoir, as set forth in the title-page, is attained. The account of M. Chevalier, in the most material circumstances, has received ample and satisfactory confirmation. The memoir before us, however, has a second object in view, not inferior to the primary and alleged one in importance; namely, the refutation of Mr. Bryant's scepticisms on the existence of Troy: but in attaining this second object, Mr. Dalzel has in our opinion laboured with less felicity. We are unwilling to become a party in the controversy; and it will not be a dereliction of our former opinions to observe that the reality of Troy and of the Trojan war is not necessarily proved, although M. Chevalier's description be REV. JAN. 1800.

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verified in every instance. Homer, it is probable, would be acquainted with the scene of action, whether a real or a feigned scene of action, and adapted his descriptions accordingly. The theatre of his war had a substantial and permanent existence; the war itself might be the creature of fable, or of the poet's imagination. From every account, it appears that of the city Troy no vestige remains. What M. Chevalier has proved concerning its site, and what the letters of Mr. Hawkins and Dr. Sibthorpe confirm, amounts to no more than this; -that, in the country styled the Troad, there is a place which has many conveniences, and much natural strength, to recommend it as a proper situation for a fortified city.

By means of a quotation from Mr. Dallaway's description of Constantinople, &c. Mr. Dalzel obviates Mr. Bryant's objection against the situation of Troy as too distant from the sea; he assents to the validity of other objections made against the distance of the promontories, the barrows, &c.; and concludes with a compliment and reproof.

In a contest such as Mr. Bryant has excited, few are qualified to enter the lists. Not many will espouse his cause: but he may hope for some auxiliaries either among those who love scepticism for scepticism's sake, and would rather be singular in their opinion than correct in their judgment; or among those of stern and rigid minds who demand truth and truth only, and are resolute to attain it with whatever sacrifice of prejudice or of feelings.-The great bulk of readers, however, who are swayed by their feelings and prejudices, will hold fast their faith in the existence of Troy: so long accustomed to feel delight in reading Homer, and to believe that the Trojan war really happened, they strongly associate the beauties of the poem with the truth of the history; and they will fear lest the loss of Troy should bring with it a loss of their pleasure. To be convinced, however, of the stability of Homer's excellencies, though learning should demolish and dissipate the city which he celebrated, there is little need. of any nice and logical disquisition; we have only to recur to his poem, in order to be convinced that his beauties have suffered no blight: we shall still find ourselves glow with sympathy at his sentiments, and again kindle into animation at his descriptions; we shall then feel disposed to dismiss a controversy like the present with frigid indifference, and to consider it as one of those which the pride of wit and learning has uselessly excited. Troy may be the baseless fabric of the poet's vision but the Iliad has its foundation in truth and nature, and neither time nor criticism can cause it to decay.

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An advertisement prefixed to this volume informs us that the society had come to a resolution, on the 15th Feb. 1798, that a publication of papers, communicated to the society, shall be hereafter made annually, whether such papers be sufficient to form an entire volume, or only a part of a volume :'--but we have not yet heard that this resolution has been carried into effect.

ART. II. The Scotish Gallery; or Portraits of eminent Persons of Scotland; many of them after Pictures by the celebrated Jameson, at Taymouth, and other Places, with brief Accounts of the Characters represented, and an Introduction on the Rise and Progress of Painting in Scotland. By John Pinkerton. Royal 8vo. pp. 230. 2l. 12s. 6d. Boards. Harding. 1799.

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HIS publication, we believe, is the first that has appeared in which Scotish portraits have alone been introduced: in Birch's Lives, some few eminent persons of that nation. were inserted, but the proportion was very inconsiderable.— Few countries can boast a greater number of distinguished characters both in literature and in arms than Scotland; and the talents of Jameson, the Pupil of Rubens, and a fellowlabourer with Vandyke, were exerted to perpetuate their likeMr. Pinkerton, whose zeal in the cause of learning and science have been shewn on frequent occasions, unwilling that any of these valuable portraits should perish by time or neglect, before they had been both preserved and multiplied by the hand of the engraver, has engaged in this undertaking with the most disinterested views. His sole motives,' he declares, 'were his own curiosity, and a warm inborn wish, which has stimulated most of his literary endeavours, that his countrymen. should not neglect their native productions of art and literature. To emolument he never looked; and after the sacrifice of much time, will be contented to find that he has made but. a small sacrifice of gold.'

The Introduction contains a short view of the Rise and Progress of Painting in Scotland;-we wish that it had been consistent with the author's plan to have enlarged on this part of his subject, as it is of an interesting and amusing nature.It is conjectured by Mr. P. from the antient and continual. commerce between Scotland and the Netherlands, that the first artists were Flemings. So early as the year 1430, painting had become very common; as is proved by the following curious anecdote, taken from Bowar, the continuator of Fordun; ‹ A highland robber having taken two cows from a poor woman, she swore she would wear no shoes till she had complained to the king.

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king. The savage, in ridicule of her oath, nailed horse shoes to her feet. When her wounds were healed, she proceeded to the royal presence, told her story, and shewed the scars. The just monarch instantly dispatched orders to secure the thief, who being brought to Perth, and condemned, "the King commanded that he should be clothed in a canvas frock, on which was painted the figure of a man fastening horse-shoes to a woman's feet. In this dress he was exhi bited through the streets of the city for two days, then dragged at the tail of a horse to the gallows, and hanged."

The native artists, however, according to our author, commenced with Jameson; who was born at Aberdeen, and who burst forth at once with meridian splendour. Many particulars of the life of this eminent painter are given by Lord Orford in his Anecdotes of Painting; to which the present author has made a few additions, and has subjoined a catalogue of his works. The largest collection of his portraits is that at Taymouth, the seat of the Earl of Braidalbane, whose ancestor, Sir Colin Campbell, was the painter's chief patron. account of the person who was employed to copy these valuable pictures is truly affecting:

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} This artist was the late ingenious Mr. Robert Johnson of Newcastle, whose death, while employed in this task, is deeply to be - regretted. He had copied about fifteen; and four remained to be done, the Marquis and Earl of Argyle, and two from the Genealogical Tree, when the editor was surprised with an account of his deplorable fate, in a letter from Messieurs Morisons dated 18th Nov. 1796. It states that, a few days before, they had received a letter from the man with whom Johnson lodged at the village of Kenmore, desiring them to send for him, as he was quite delirious; and by express the day following they were informed of his death. That, in his anxiety to complete his labour, (he was to have been at Tayouth in June, but a fit of illness prevented him till August,) he 'would sit all day in a room without fire: a violent cold was the consequence, which neglect increased to a fever," it flew to his brain, and, terrible to relate, he was bound with ropes, beat, and treated like a madman." This ignorance of the people around him was hap pily enlightened by the casual arrival of a physician, who ordered blisters; and poor Johnson died in peace! Though the editor endeavoured to solace himself by the reflection that he was giving bread to an ingenious man, whose fate was thus decreed, yet he could not help deeply feeling his being the innocent cause of an event so deplor able in all its circumstances.

His correspondent at the same time informed him, that Johnson had been bound apprentice to Bewick, by his father, an aged car- 1 penter of Gateshead near Newcastle-that Mr. Bewick, observing his uncommon genius for drawing, employed him to trace the figures on the wood in his elegant history of quadrupeds--that he had been employed about six months, on his own account, before he engaged to go to Taymouth-and that his labour supported his aged parents.'

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