Richard Payne Knight: The twilight of virtuosity 9783111392257, 9783111029740

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STUDIES

IN ENGLISH

LITERA

Volume LXXXIX

TÜRE

RICHARD PAYNE KNIGHT The Twilight of Virtuosity by FRANK J. MESSMANN Fordham

University

1974 MOUTON THE H A G U E · PARIS

© Copyright 1973 in The Netherlands Mouton & Co. Ν. V., Publishers, The Hague No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in any form by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publishers

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 73-79281

Printed in The Netherlands

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to express my gratitude to Dr. Grover Cronin, Jr. of Fordham University who inspired this critical biography and to Dr. W. Rainer Kroll and Ms. Claire Jelic who read it. I also wish to thank the staffs of the New York Public Library, the Butler and Avery Libraries of Columbia University and the Duane Library of Fordham University for their kind assistance. Finally, I wish to thank the Faculty-Student Association of Westchester Community College and the Research Foundation of the State University of New York for their assistance in the publication of this work.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

5

Introduction

9

I. II. III. IV. V. VI.

Early Career: Downton Castle and the Grand Tour . Priapus and The Greek Alphabet Two Poems: The Landscape and The Progress of Civil Society Knight and the Problem of "Taste" The Virtuoso The Elgin Marbles

.

13 37 59 99 119 141

Conclusion

166

Bibliography

168

Index

176

INTRODUCTION

Although Richard Payne Knight was a well-known dilettante in his own day, he is little known to twentieth-century readers even though his valuable collection of bronze sculptures, which he bequeathed to the British Museum, is still prominently displayed 1 and one of his most important works has recently been reprinted with a judicious introduction by Ashley Montagu. 2 Knight can be regarded as the last of the eighteenth-century virtuosos, following in the footsteps of such celebrated amateurs as Horace Walpole and William Beckford. 3 At one time Knight was a pivotal figure in the world of genteel scholarship, and his contributions to aesthetic theory, especially to the formulation of the theory of taste, were accorded the utmost respect. Since his death in 1824, his notoriety, occasioned by his startling views on the worship of Priapus, has paled, and he has descended into the spacious region of forgotten men. But less deserving ghosts have been recalled, and the relevance of his works to issues universally acknowledged to be of central importance justifies reconsideration of his career. Nikolaus Pevsner, for example, recently called Knight a "pioneer of aesthetics in England", 4 and Walter Hippie wrote that "Payne Knight is not only

ι According to William St. Clair, Lord Elgin and the Marbles (London, 1967), p. 174, Knight put together the most valuable collection of classical antiquities in Europe. 2 "A discourse on the Worship of Priapus" in Sexual Symbolism: A History of Phallic Worship, ed. Ashley Montagu (New York, 1966). 3 Both Walpole and Beckford have attracted, ever since their deaths, considerable scholarly attention. The literature on Walpole by now is almost overwhelming, climaxed as it is by the indefatigable labor of W. S. Lewis and his Yale collaborators. 4 "Richard Payne Knight", Art Bulletin, XXXI (1949), 300.

10

INTRODUCTION

an aesthetician but a moralist of stature". 5 Scarcely any recent studies on late eighteenth-century taste, as exhibited, for example, in discussions of landscape gardening, the picturesque, or the sublime, fail to mention Knight. Usually he is given much more than cursory attention. 6 Knight was also a pioneer in the field of comparative religion where he stressed the sexual basis for many primitive as well as modern beliefs. Analyzing Christianity's relationship to pagan religious ideas and practices, he showed himself a harbinger of radical theories that were to challenge old complacencies and to beget the nineteenth-century discipline of comparative religion. In a sense, Knight's religious heterodoxy can be subsumed under "primitivism", and his writings then deserve to be examined by all who are concerned with that key concept in the new history of ideas. 7 Knight can also claim a modest place in the history of classical scholarship. At least he is a figure of considerable interest to all who are interested in the phenomenon of the gentleman scholar. Particularly important is his membership in the Society of Dilettanti, which explored and publicized the remains of Grecian antiquity and which furnished the best record of the activities of the gentleman scholar. 8 Not the least compelling reason for a fresh look at Knight's career is his association with men of acknowledged eminence. Walpole disliked him, but at least thought him worthy of notice. Joseph Farington mentions him frequently in his Diary—an indispensable source of information for the historian of "taste". Sheridan knew him and no less a poet of the new age than Lord Byron.

5 The Beautiful, the Sublime, ά the Picturesque (Carbondale, 1957), p. 277. 6 See, for example, Elizabeth Manwaring, Italian Landscape in Eighteenth Century England (New York, 1925); Samuel Holt Monk, The Sublime (New York, 1935); and Edward Hyams, Capability Brown and Humphry Repton (New York, 1971). ^ For a full treatment of this subject, see Lois Whitney, Primitivism and the Idea of Progress in English Popular Literature of the Eighteenth Century (Baltimore, 1934), and Arthur 0 . Lovejoy, The Great Chain of Being (Cambridge, Mass., 1936). 8 The influence of the gentleman scholar on the Royal Society has been discussed by Charles Sumner Slichter in Science in a Tavern (Madison, 1938). No one has yet devoted a work to the importance of the gentleman scholar on the Society of Dilettanti.

INTRODUCTION

11

The present study does not pretend to be a full-dress biography. 9 This rather represents a kind of ground-breaking for such a definitive work. It relies for detail on the accounts of Knight by Warwick Wroth in the DNB and Jean-Jacques Mayoux in Richard Payne Knight et le Pittoresque.i0 Correcting here and there their short biographical notes, occasionally adding to their disappointingly meager store of facts, the present study is primarily concerned with Knight's place in his world and his continuing relevance to later generations than in the minutiae of formal biography.

9 In a letter to this writer dated October 19, 1970, Elisabeth Inglis-Jones states that she and Christopher Hussey had intended to collaborate on a biography of Knight but that Mr. Hussey's death has led her to postpone this project. 10 Paris, 1932.

I

EARLY CAREER: DOWNTON CASTLE AND THE GRAND TOUR

1

Although Richard Payne Knight wrote numerous books, few passages in them reveal much about his personal life, nor does it seem that many of his letters are extant to help one fill in the gaps. His journal of a tour to Sicily in 1777 shows us a demure young man who is not particularly inclined to comment on his private life. The one lengthy biographical study of his younger brother Thomas, a prominent horticulturist, throws almost n o light on Richard Payne Knight's own life. 1 Consequently, the lacunae in his biography undoubtedly will remain. According to the parish register, Knight was born on January 31, 1750, at Wormesley Grange, Herefordshire. 2 His grandfather, Richard Knight, 3 was an important ironmaster in Shropshire, and in search of a cheap and abundant supply of charcoal for his furnaces, leased a few ι Published in A Selection from the Physiological and Horticultural Papers . . .by the Late Thomas Andrew Knight, ed. George Bentham and John Lindley (London, 1841). 2 Elisabeth Inglis-Jones, "The Knights of Downton Castle, I", National Library of Wales Journal, XV, No. 3 ( 1 9 6 8 ) , 2 4 2 . Jean-Jacques Mayoux errs on the date of Knight's birth, stating that "Richard Payne Knight naquit ä D o w n t o n (Shropshire) en 1749 . . Richard Payne Knight et le Pittoresoue (Paris, 1932), p. 9. He also errs in placing D o w n t o n in Shropshire rather than in Herefordshire. 3 Founder of the Knight family, son of John Knight of Little Stretton, Shropshire, and presumably a descendant of the Knights of Baschurch and Shrewsbury. John Bernard Burke, Landed Gentry of Great Britain (London, 1852-53), I, 6 7 7 . Richard Knight lived at the estate o f Castle Green in Madely parish. H. Avray Tipping, " D o w n t o n Castle, Herefordshire," Country Life, XLII (July 14, 1917), 36.

14

DOWNTON CASTLE AND THE GRAND TOUR

acres of Bringewood Forest near Ludlow. 4 Eventually he amassed a considerable fortune and purchased 10,000 acres of Bringewood as well as acquiring other estates for each of his four sons, including Richard Payne Knight's father, Thomas, who entered the Church of England s and became rector of Ribbesford and Bewdley in nearby Worcestershire. 6 Thomas inherited from his father the Herefordshire properties of Wormesley Grange and Bringewood. 7 His son, Richard Payne Knight, was a sickly child and because of his poor health did not receive any formal education until he was fourteen, 8 at which time he was tutored by one Mr. Blyth at Coleshill in Warwickshire, where he boarded for the next four years. 9 Knight had been forbidden by his father to study Latin or Greek at home but made rapid progress in Latin once he was at school. 1 0 His study of Greek did not begin until 1767 when he was seventeen. 1 1 How these early years affected him Knight recalled in a passage of a poem written many years later: And though neglect my boyish years o'erspread Nor early science dawning reason fed: Though no preceptor's care, nor parents' love, To form and raise my infant genius strove; 4 Bringewood was a vast forest of oaks suitable for charcoal making. When Ludlow was the seat of the government of Wales under Henry VII, Bringewood Forest was one of the most important of the royal hunting grounds. Ibid. A principal forge of Richard Knight had been at Downton in Bringewood Forest. Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (London, 1833-43), XIII, 249. Here he erected a small house where he resided occasionally and in which he died. Tipping, p. 36. s According to the obituary of his son Thomas in the Gentleman's Magazine, CVIII, Pt. 2 (1838), 99. 6 DNB, XI, 259. He married Ursula Nash, daughter of Frederick Nash of Dinham, Shropshire. Lewis Namier and John Brooke, The House of Commons, 1754-1790 (New York, 1964), III, 13. They had two sons, Richard Payne (1750-1824) and Thomas Andrew (1759-1838). 7 Tipping, p. 36. 8 DNB, XI, 259. 9 Inglis-Jones, "The Knights of Downton Castle, I", p. 243. There is no evidence that Knight attended a public school or either of the universities. 10 Penny Cyclopaedia, XIII, 247. His brother's education had been so neglected at home that when he attended school he was "scarcely able to do more than read". Ibid., p. 249. π DNB, XI, 259. The Penny Cyclopaedia, XIII, 247, differs: ". . . at the age

DOWNTON CASTLE AND THE GRAND TOUR

15

But abandon'd in the darksome way, Ungovern'd passions led my soul astray; And still where pleasure laid the bait for wealth, Bought dear experience with the waste of health, Consum'd in riot all that life adorn'd, For joys unrelish'd shared with those I scorn'd. Yet when exhausted spirits claimed repose, Each milder spring of mental vigour rose; Aspiring pride my soul to science led, And bade me seek at once its fountain-head, Its fountain-head whence Grecian genius pours, O'er the wide earth its everlasting stores; And in each deep and lucid current shows How fancy, join'd with taste, corrected flows. There as I heard the mighty Chian's song Roll its vast tides of melody along In rapture lost, upon the sounds I hung And numbers flow'd spontaneous f r o m my tongue. 1 2 At about the age of seventeen, 1 3 "principally on account of his h e a l t h " , 1 4 he began a tour of the Continent which lasted for several years. 1 5 Knight reached Italy, getting as far south as Naples, 1 6 where his classical tastes were further developed and where, presumably, he began collecting antiques. It is likely that he returned from his tour in 1771, since in that year he came of age, inheriting the 10,000-acre estate of Bringewood, 1 7 thereby becoming one of the largest property owners in Herefordshire. 1 8 He probably began building Downton Castle there within the next year. 1 9 Unfortunately, nothing is known

of eighteen he commenced the study of Greek, which he pursued with great diligence, and which became one of the chief occupations of his life." 12 The Progress of Civil Society (London, 1796), Bk. III, 11. 489-510. 13 DNB, XI, 259. 14 According to Nikolaus Pevsner, "Richard Payne Knight", Art Bulletin, XXXI (1949), 293. 15 DNB, XI, 259. 16 Tipping, p. 38. 17 Christopher Hussey, English Country Houses: Mid Georgian, 1760-1800 (London, 1956), p. 148. 18 William Page, ed., The Victoria History of the County of Hereford (London, 1908), p. 140. 19 Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Herefordshire (London, 1963), p. 117. More recent evidence has come to light supporting Pevsner's conjecture; in 1772 a Thomas Farnold Pritchard of Shrewsbury Went to

16

DOWNTON CASTLE AND THE GRAND TOUR

about the building o f the Castle. Not a note or plan is extant, only a few bills from carpenters, glaziers, and bricklayers who assisted in the construction. 2 0 2 Downton Castle is an important structure not only because of its unique design but also because of what it reveals about Knight's attitudes toward architecture and the Picturesque which he later crystallized in The Landscape21 and An Analytical Inquiry into the Principles of Taste.22 The Castle, constructed entirely of stone, is situated on a hill above the Teme. The south front consists of a large square keep with wings that are deliberately asymmetrical. Projecting from the west front is an octagonal tower which seems to support the mass where the ground descends to the river. With its picturesque, irregular outline, the Castle looks like a compact Roman fortress, but its castellated appearance of battlements and machicolations and the Gothic tracery of a majority of its windows also reproduces the spirit of medieval structures. 23 The "medieval" had, of course, been in vogue for years, but such an asymmetrical plan was almost unprecedented in 1772. There is one structure, however, that is similar in some respects to Downton Castle.

Downton to decide on a site for a new building, presumably Downton Castle. See Pauline Beesly, A Brief History of the Knight Family (Ludlow, 1964), p. 6. 20 Ibid. See also Inglis-Jones, "The Knights of Downton Castle, I", p. 248. 21 London, 1794. 22 London, 1805. Knight himself was undoubtedly the designer of the Castle. "The Mansion in Downton Park . . . was erected under the direction of its late proprietor, the highly accomplished Richard Payne Knight, Esq. from his own designs . . ." J. P. Neale, Views of the Seats of Noblemen (London, 1820-29), HI, s.v. "Downton Castle, Herefordshire". No one has disputed this contention. Pevsner states that "Payne Knight was responsible for all of i t - h e did not employ an architect . . ."Herefordshire, p. 117. 23 Judging by the detail of the windows, they were undoubtedly carefully studied and drawn. Knight himself does not seem to have sketched or drawn. When visiting the Continent in 1776, John Robert Cozens accompanied him as his draughtsman. See below p. 28-29. According to Hussey, Knight may have employed the antiquarian artist John Carter (1748-1817) to collect medieval detail. Mid Georgian, p. 149. There is a drawing of the Castle in Neale, HI, s.v. "Downton Castle, Herefordshire".

DOWNTON CASTLE AND THE GRAND TOUR

17

In 1750, Horace Walpole began enlarging his c o u n t r y cottage just west of Twickenham i n t o a Gothic castle. By 1754 the east end o f the house, comprising the dining parlor, library, a r m o r y , staircase, and many smaller rooms, was finished, but the building continued to evolve until as late as the 1790's. 2 4 The r o u n d , square, and polygonal towers and the battlements of D o w n t o n Castle seem t o resemble those of Walpole's estate at Strawberry Hill, b u t these similarities are superficial. Knight shuns the confectionary battlements a n d plaster turrets of Walpolean Gothic, nor does his Castle have the loose, informal sequence of Strawberry Hill. 2 5 Furthermore, Knight's inspiration for an asymmetrical building was quite different f r o m Walpole's. In An Analytical Inquiry, he states that in the pictures of Claude Lorraine ( 1 6 0 0 - 1 6 8 2 ) "we perpetually see a mixture of Grecian and G o t h i c architecture employed with the happiest effect in the same building". 2 6 That Knight was deeply influenced by Claude there can be little d o u b t . 2 7 The compactness of D o w n t o n Castle stands in marked contrast t o the rambling structure of Strawberry Hill and closely resembles the picturesque castles that Claude invented in his arcadian paintings and drawings. These heterogeneous buildings, which never had an independent existence of their own, combine Greek, R o m a n , and Gothic styles and have a visual beauty a n d a suitability to setting that one finds at D o w n t o n Castle. 2 8 24 On the history of the building of Strawberry Hill, see W. S. Lewis, "Genesis of Strawberry Hill", Metrolopitan Museum Studies, V, Pt. 1 (1934), 57-92. 25 Walpole's liking for informality in architecture is revealed in his letter of February 25, 1750, to Sir Horace Mann: "I am almost as fond of the Sharawadgi or Chinese want of symmetry, in buildings, as in grounds and gardens." The Yale Edition of Horace Walpole's Correspondence, Vol. XX, ed. W. S. Lewis, Warren Hunting Smith, and George L. Lam (New Haven, 1960), p. 127. Sharawadgi was alluring because mysterious, but no one seems to have known exactly what it meant. According to Lewis, the term probably was a hoax invented by Sir William Temple. Horace Walpole (New York, 1961), p. 102, n. 9. 26 ll.ii.32, p. 160. My references are to the second edition (1805). 27 Knight possessed "the most valuable collection of Claudes in Europe". Walter John Hippie, Jr., The Beautiful, the Sublime, & the Picturesque (Carbondale, 1957), p. 247. Concerning Knight's indebtedness to Claude, see Elizabeth Manwaring, Italian Landscape in Eighteenth Century England (New York, 1925), pp. 156-158. 28 Downton Castle is remarkably similar to Claude's The Enchanted Castle. According to Pevsner, Knight was familiar with this painting. "Richard Payne Knight", p. 296.

18

DOWNTON CASTLE AND THE GRAND TOUR

When Knight put his aesthetic theories on paper in An Analytical Inquiry in 1805, he was still proud of having built an irregular castle: It is now more than thirty years since the author of this inquiry ventured to build a house, ornamented with what are called Gothic towers and battlements without, and with Grecian ceilings, columns, and entablatures within; and though his example has not been much followed, he has every reason to congratulate himself upon the success of the experiment; he having at once, the advantage of a picturesque object, and of an elegant and convenient dwelling; though less perfect in both respects than if he had executed it at a maturer age. It has, however, the advantage of being capable of receiving alterations and additions in almost any direction, without injury to its genuine and original character. 29 Knight is careful to qualify his defense of asymmetrical design, pointing out that it is suitable for country houses that are part of the landscape. 30 Since the Renaissance, the normal Georgian town and country houses had been designed in the same style and were virtually interchangeable. Knight seems to have felt that country houses should be developed and appraised as distinct types, in visual terms as part of a landscape setting. He points out that to construct a house where the principal parts should all be regular, and correspond with each other, in situations, where all the accompaniments are irregular, and none of them corresponding with each other, seems to me the extreme of absurdity and incongruity. 31 Like Claude Lorraine, by emphasizing the visual unity of a building with its setting, he justifies asymmetrical planning and draws attention to irregular grouping and broken skylines. Knight further justifies his attempt to dissolve the notion of stereotyped styles by showing that the Romans had mixed architectural styles when it was practical to do so: . . . the villas or country houses of the Romans were quite irregularadapted t o the situations, on which they were placed—and spread out

» II.ii.98, p. 221. 30 In the city, in buildings removed from nature, he preferred "neatness, freshness, lightness, symmetry, uniformity, and propriety". Ibid., II.ii.28, p. 157. 31 Ibid., II.ii.92, p. 216.

DOWNTON CASTLE AND THE GRAND TOUR

19

in every direction, according to the wants or inclinations; the taste, wealth, or magnificence of the respective owners. 3 2 He also states that there are native precedents for his mixed style: Perhaps we are becoming t o o rigid in rejecting such combinations in the buildings of our own c o u n t r y : for they have been, in some degree, naturalized here, as well as in Italy; though in a different order of succession, the Gothic having here preceded the Grecian. Nevertheless, the effect is the same; the fortresses of our ancestors, which, in the course of the last t w o centuries, were transformed i n t o Italianized villas, and decked with the porticos, balustrades, and terraces of Jones and Palladio, affording in m a n y instances, the most beautiful c o m p o sitions; especially when mellowed b y time and neglect, and harmonized and united by ivy, mosses, lichens, etc. 3 3 We see, then, that his advocacy of the country house as a distinct genre is based largely on empirical grounds: it should be irregularly planned so that it is congruous with its location and purpose. Although Knight refers t o the exterior of his Castle as being Gothic, he was aware t h a t it was n o t " p u r e G o t h i c " : At this time, when the taste for Gothic architecture has been so generally revived, nothing is more c o m m o n , than to hear professors, as well as lovers, of the art, expatiating u p o n the merits of the pure Gothic; and gravely endeavouring t o separate it f r o m those spurious and adscititious o r n a m e n t s , b y which it has been debased: b u t , nevertheless, if we ask what they mean by pure Gothic, we can receive n o satisfactory answer:—there are n o rules—no proportions—and, consequently, no definitions . . , 3 4 His Castle was, as we have seen, a Claudesque combination of RomanGothic styling, R o m a n , apparently, in order to make it elegant, Gothic t o make it picturesque by adding a quality of wildness and mystery to it. In designing D o w n t o n , Knight seems t o have been reacting against the prevailing style of architecture f o u n d in country houses—the square, well-proportioned Palladian boxes which opened u p space designed for houses h i t h e r t o confined t o churches—on the grounds t h a t 32 Ibid. II.ii.38, pp. 164-165. 33 ibid., II.ii.33, pp. 160-161. 3* Ibid. ,II.ii.35, p. 162. Actually, Knight had a deep and abiding distaste for "the barbarous structures of the middle ages". Ibid., II.ii.97, p. 22.

20

DOWNTON C A S T L E A N D THE G R A N D T O U R

such a s t y l e , d e r i v e d as it w a s f r o m sacred literature, w a s m i s a p p l i e d t o domestic

buildings,

especially

to

country

estates. 3 5

Knight

was

a p p a r e n t l y searching f o r an alternative aesthetics w h i c h w o u l d replace Palladianism w i t h a less f o r m a l , m o r e f l e x i b l e , m o r e picturesque design. It is s o m e w h a t surprising t o f i n d that, unlike S t r a w b e r r y Hill, the e x t e r i o r o f D o w n t o n Castle is n o t a p r e f a c e t o the arresting interior. I t is e n t i r e l y finished in a style reminiscent o f R o b e r t A d a m w i t h its m a h o g a n y c o l u m n s , marble entablatures, and Italian fireplaces. 3 6 O n the

walls

still

Rembrandt,

hangs m u c h o f K n i g h t ' s c o l l e c t i o n

Poussin,

Ruysdael,

Rosa,

Van

o f paintings

Dyck,

Turner,

by and

M a n t e g n a . T h e r e is also a g r o u p o f paintings b y his f a v o r i t e English artist, R i c h a r d Westall, a series o f w a t e r c o l o r s c o m m i s s i o n e d b y h i m f o r T h o m a s H e a r n e o f t h e g o r g e b e l o w the Castle, and a portrait o f Knight b y Lawrence.37 His classic taste in interior design is m o s t clearly revealed in the m a g n i f i c e n t dining r o o m , 3 8 the m o s t i m p o r t a n t r o o m in the Castle. It is a rotunda o c c u p y i n g the entire interior o f the central G o t h i c t o w e r o f the s o u t h f r o n t . T h e c o f f e r e d d o m e w i t h w a l l entablatures w o u l d s e e m t o b e in i m i t a t i o n o f the P a n t h e o n . M o s t o f the o t h e r r o o m s are d u e to K n i g h t , b u t evidently he was n o t responsible f o r the entire Castle.

An

estate

plan

of

ca.

1780

indicates

that

he

probably

c o n t i n u e d t o b u i l d after that date, m a k i n g a d d i t i o n s w h i c h i n c l u d e d a nearby

tower

Downton39

containing

a

library

which

he

used

when

a f t e r turning the estate o v e r t o his b r o t h e r in

visiting 1809.40

Several a d d i t i o n s , including an entrance t o w e r , c h a p e l , music r o o m , a n d main staircase, seem

t o date f r o m the 1860's. 4 1

Even t h o u g h

35 See An Analytical Inquiry, II.ii.40-41, pp. 167-168. 36 John Flaxman (1755-1826), a noted sculptor, might have been responsible for these fireplaces. Writing to Wedgwood in 1781, Flaxman stated that he had been carving a chimney piece for Knight. See Rupert Gunnis, Dictionary of ^British Sculptors, 1660-1851 (London, 1953), p. 147. 37 This represents only a part of his collection, since many of his drawings and paintings and a large number of antique bronzes, gems, coins, and utensils were kept at his house in Soho Square. See Tipping, pp. 41-42. 38 Built later than most of the other rooms. Pevsner dates it from 1782. Herefordshire, p. 118. 39 See Hussey, Mid Georgian, p. 152. to See below, p. 132-133. 41 Pevsner, Herefordshire, p. 117. Also from this time are various Gothic oriels, arcades, and traceried windows. Hussey, Mid Georgian, p. 152.

DOWNTON CASTLE AND THE GRAND TOUR

21

Knight was not responsible for all of the Castle, the greater part is his, and his basic conception is not significantly affected by the additions of others. Along with Strawberry Hill, Downton Castle is one of the most significant houses of the latter half of the eighteenth century. The philosophy underlying this asymmetrical Gothic dwelling, designed to harmonize with the wild Herefordshire landscape, is essentially that of the Picturesque with its wholly visual values. It contrasts markedly, for example, with Burlington's Chiswick House near London. The abstract, geometric design of this building not only asserts the superior authority of Grecian antiquity but in its attempt to imitate the ratios of Andrea Palladio, tries to satisfy the demands of reason. 42 Downton was a serious attempt to synthesize picturesque outline with the practical necessities of modern planning. In building the Castle, Knight was not really in revolt against Augustan architecture so much as he was asserting his independence of it. By examining those elements from the past which seemed valuable for strictly contemporary needs rather than making Downton a slavish imitation of a feudal castle or Greek temple, he registers the effects of a different trend in eighteenth-century architecture. Nevertheless, through his pictorial and eclectic approach he does tend to replace traditional humanist values with visual ones. His success appears questionable. 4 3 The synthesis of Gothic and Greek styles in the exterior with the classical interior is not an entirely happy one. The traceried windows, for instance, tend to lessen the effect of the Adam-like interior, while the huge sash window in the dining room detracts from the medieval aspect of the tower. Nevertheless, in creating Downton Castle, Knight made a sound contribution to architectural evolution. 4 4 42 See H. W. Janson, History of Art (New York, 1962), p. 454. 43 Tipping, pp. 40-41, states that "good and interesting as it is, the exterior of Downton Castle cannot claim to be more than the best and ablest piece of playacting of its time". John Britton remarked that Downton Castle "is certainly not calculated to reflect much credit either on his own taste in architecture, or sound judgment in such subjects. Large, round, and octagonal towers, with thin and poor machicolated and embattled parapets, are the only features of the castle; but these seem rather to belong to the scenes of a theatre, than to a baronial fortress. Its sash windows are still further out of character." Graphic Illustrations (London, 1840), pp. 21-22. 44 Evidently, Knight influenced his relative Thomas Johnes in designing his Gothic residence at Hafod. See James Edward Smith, Fifteen Views Illustrative

22

DOWNTON CASTLE AND THE GRAND TOUR

3 Before completing Downton Castle, Knight made his second tour of the Continent, eventually traveling as far south as Sicily. 4S A Continental tour was a part of the education of every English gentleman of means in the eighteenth century, although the Continent had, of course, been attracting Englishmen for centuries. Geoffrey Chaucer journeyed to Italy to confer with Genoese merchants in 1373 4 6 and with Bernabö Visconti in 1378. 4 7 Throughout the Middle Ages, Englishmen traveled to the Continent as ecclesiastics, diplomats, and scholars, but not as sightseers. It was not until the seventeenth century that men visited the Continent primarily for pleasure; 48 f r o m then until the close of the eighteenth century, the Grand Tour, as a prolonged trip on the Continent came to be called, 49 formed a significant part of an English gentleman's education. Joseph Addison is the first notable eighteenth-century Englishman to make the Grand Tour. Addison saw the Continent, and especially Italy, through the eyes of the Latin poets; to him, Italy was the home of those poets and virtually little else. His Remarks on the Several

of a Tour to Hafod, in Cardiganshire (London, 1810). Johnes and Knight probably discussed architectural theory together before the construction of Hafod in 1783. See Terence Davis, John Nash: The Prince Regent's Architect (London, 1966), p. 22. 45 DNB, XI, 259. 46 The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, ed. Fred N. Robinson (Cambridge, Mass., 1961), p. xxi. 47 Ibid., p. xxii. 48 Among the most significant travel books by seventeenth-century tourists are The Diary of John Evelyn, ed. E. S. de Beer (Oxford, 1955), first published in 1818; John Milton, Travels Through the Low-Countries, Germany, Italy and France (London, 1678); and John Ray, Observations, Topographical, Moral, & Physiological (London, 1673). For a detailed history of the early- and midseventeenth-ccntury English travelers, see Boies Penrose, Urbane Travellers, 1591-1635 (Philadelphia, 1942), and John W. Stoye, English Travellers Abroad, 1604-1667 (London, 1952). 49 John Ray seems to have been the first person to refer in print to the term "Grand T o u r " : "I might have been more large concerning France but that we were frustrated in our design of making Grand Tour (as they there call it) being driven out thence by the Fr. Kings Declaration, commanding all the English to withdraw themselves and their effects out of his Dominions within two months time." Observations, Preface, n.p.

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Parts of Italy50 is the first travel book to reflect such an exclusive interest in Roman antiquity. Every spot is to him redolent of the memory of some important Latin writer: The greatest pleasure I took in my journey from Rome to Naples was in seeing the fields, towns, and rivers, that have been described by so many classic authors and have been the scenes of so many great actions; for this whole road is extremely barren of curiosities. It is worth while to have an eye on Horace's voyage to Brundisi, when one passes this way, for by comparing his several stages, and the road he took, with those that are observed at present, we may have some idea of the changes that have been made in the face of this country since his time. 5 1 The Grand Tour became especially popular after the Peace of Utrecht in 1715. The most notable Continental tourists between 1715 and the beginning of the Seven Years' War in 1756 were Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Horace Walpole, and Thomas Gray. Lady Montagu, as the wife of a prominent Englishman, had access to the highest circles in Italian society. 52 Walpole and Gray traveled together in the late 1730's, and their trip and quarrel are famous. 5 3 The Seven Years' War interrupted the Grand Tour; when it was resumed, it entered a new phase and developed on a new scale. Britain had been triumphant in India and North America; her people were leading the world in trade and methods of industry and agriculture; there was far more money to spend than ever before. It is not surprising, then, that the next three decades saw the zenith of the Grand Tour. Horace Walpole remarked that where one Englishman travelled in the reigns of the first two Georges, ten now go on a grand tour. Indeed, to such a pitch is the spirit of travelling come in the kingdom, that there is scarce a citizen of large

so London, 1705. Reprinted in 1718, 1726, 1745, 1753, 1755, 1761, 1767, 1769, and 1773. British Museum Catalogue. si The Works of Joseph Addison, ed. George Washington Greene (New York, 1859), II, 228. 52 See The Complete Letters of Lady Wortley Montagu, ed. Robert Halsband (Oxford, 1965-67). 53 See Walpole's Correspondence, Vol. XVII, ed. W. S. Lewis, Warren Hunting Smith, and George L. Lam (New Haven, 1954), p. 50. Letter from Sir Horace Mann, dated May 23, 1741.

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fortune but takes a flying view of France, Italy and Germany in a summer's excursion. 54 Because of the proliferation of travelers in the eighteenth century, it is to be expected that many writers would comment on the Grand Tour. 55 John Breval advises travelers that the great rule that I would have every Traveller lay down for himself is this: that he is entering a vast school, the minute he sets foot upon the Continent, where there are a million of things to be learned more than a genteel minuet step, the nice handling of a foil, or a graceful seat in an Academy saddle. 56 Not that these things are unimportant, he explains, but they should only be allowed to "bring up the rear" 5 7 of the traveler's qualifications and ought always to give place to improvements of the mind, such as a knowledge of "Antiquities, History, and Geography". 58 Smollett's vitriolic attack on the Continent in Travels through France and Italy59 is famous. Equally so is Adam Smith's, made while Knight was on his tour: In England it becomes every day more the custom to send young people to travel in foreign countries immediately upon their leaving school, and without sending them to any university . . In the course of his travels, he generally acquires some knowledge of one or two 54 Letters Concerning the Present State of England (London, 1772), p. 240. 55 Most of the arguments for and against the Grand Tour are to be found in Richard Hurd, Dialogues on the Uses of Foreign Travel (London, 1764). See also J. Tuckcr, instructions for Travellers (London, 1757), pp. 223-224. 56 Remarks on Several Parts of Europe (London, 1726), I, Preface, n.p. Breval quarreled with Pope, and in his play The Confederates (London, 1717) satirized him. Pope took revenge in The Dunciad where he referred to Breval as having sauntered Europe round, And gathered every vice on Christian ground The stews and palaces equally explored, Intrigued with glory, and with spirit whored. (Bk. IV, 11.311-312, 315-316) 57 58 59

Remarks, I, Preface, n.p. Ibid. London, 1766.

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foreign languages; a knowledge, however, which is seldom sufficient to enable him either to speak or write them with propriety. In other respects, he commonly returns home more conceited, more unprincipled, more dissipated, and more incapable of any serious application either to study or to business, than he could well have become in so short a time, had he lived at home. By travelling so very young, by spending in the most frivolous dissipation the most precious years of his life, at a distance from the inspection and controul of his parents and relations, every useful habit, which the earlier parts of his education might have had some tendency to form in him, instead of being rivetted and confirmed, is almost necessarily either weakened or effaced. 60 Occasional men from eighteenth as she had that

attacks on the Grand Tour did not deter young Englishflocking to the Continent, especially to Italy. In the century, Italy was still the chief attraction for the traveler, been since the days of the Renaissance. Addison remarks

there is certainly no place in the world where a man may travel with greater pleasure and adventure than in Italy. One finds something more particular in the face of the country, and more astonishing in the works of nature, than can be met with in any other part of Europe. 61 Samuel Johnson, who, though traveling on the Continent, never reached Italy, claims that the man who has not been in Italy is always conscious of an inferiority from his not having seen what is expected a man should see. The grand object of travel is to see the Mediterranean. 62 Italy permitted the traveler to meet a culture more ancient than his own; here stood the monuments of Rome which evoked memories of the poems of Virgil, Ovid, Horace, and Cicero. 63 Italy was also looked 60 An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (London, 1904), II, 260-261. First published in 1776. 61 Works, II, 137. 62 James Boswell, Boswell's Life of Johnson, ed. George Birkbeck Hill, rev. L. F. Powell (Oxford, 1934-50), II, 458. 63 For a thorough exploration of the significance of Italy for the eighteenthcentury traveler, see Paul F. Kirby, The Grand Tour in Italy, 1700-1800 (New York, 1952).

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on as a country of picturesque and sublime scenery, 6 4 and it was in Italy that the remnants of Greek culture could be studied to greatest advantage. Greece, at the time that Knight visited Italy, was still controlled by the Turks and was therefore virtually inaccessible. Even Sicily, replete with many monuments of the Greeks, was as yet almost unknown. The route of the Grand Tour in the eighteenth century usually did not extend farther south than Naples; consequently, Knight's journey there is of some interest and significance. Although Sicily contained ruins of numerous Greek colonies, only a small number of hardy travelers had penetrated the island. 65 Early in the eighteenth century, John Breval remarked that Sicily is a Ground very few Englishmen have trod before me as Observers; and t h o ' I am far from pretending to the Learning and Merit of some now living, who have made that Tour, yet, I hope, my Account of that Island (which I survey'd as I may say, in Company with all the Antients, as well as Moderns, that have left any thing memorable concerning it) will not send t h e Curious away unsatisfy'd. The Views of the Temples, and other principal Ruins, are just as I found them (a method I have follow'd in all other Parts of my Travels); but as t o Ideal Plans, (to say nothing of the general Vanity of such Attempts) they are what I had neither Leisure, nor Instruments for. 6 6 64 See, for instance, Gray's description of Italian scenery in The Works of Thomas Gray in Prose and Verse, ed. Edmund Gosse (London, 1884), II, 4 0 ff. He reveals in his letters from Italy an appreciation of landscape far more remarkable than that of Addison. Although Mrs. Piozzi infrequently described Italian scenery, when she. did so it was o f t e n in language of the Sublime. In Observations and Reflections, ed. Herbert Barrows (Ann Arbor, 1967), p. 23, she described the Alps: "Going down the Italian side of the Alps is, after all, an astonishing journey; and affords the most magnificent scenery in nature, which varying at every step, gives new impression to the mind each moment of one's passage; while the portion of terror excited by real or fancied dangers on the way, is just sufficient to mingle with the pleasure, and make one feel the full effect of sublimity." 65 John Dryden, Jr., second son of the poet, is o n e of the few w h o visited Sicily early in the century. See his Voyage to Sicily and Malta. . . in the Years 1700 & 1 (London, 1776). For later accounts, see Henry Swinburne, Travels in the Two Sicilies (London, 1783-85), and Jean Claude Richard de Saint-Non, Voyage Pittoresque (Paris, 1781-86). 66 Remarks on Several Parts of Europe. . .Since the Year 1723 (London, 1738), I, iv.

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Throughout the eighteenth century, Sicily remained off the itinerary of English travelers. The island could not be toured by traveling coach or the post, and even though some abominable inns were to be found at Messina, Catania, and Palermo, they were non-existent throughout the rest of the island. 67 Many travelers, including noblemen, carried their own eating utensils and bedding, although a nobleman could often expect to lodge in a palace, since even when a Sicilian nobleman was absent from his residence, he frequently left it open for foreign travelers of distinction. For instance, the poet Friedrich von Stolberg, commenting on his accommodations in Palermo, remarked: The fishing being over, we were rowed toward the inn to which we had sent our mules. A hot sirocco wind blew, the inn was wretched, and we were very glad at receiving an invitation, from a steward of the Marchesse Santa Croce, to dine in the neighbouring palace of the absent possessor. He gave us some of the country wine; of which that which had been kept a year was good, but that which was nine years old was excellent. He likewise supplied us with beds, and cool chambers; where we reposed during the heat of the day. 68 The first important book on Sicily in the eighteenth century was by Baron J. H. Riedesel, a friend of the archeologist Winckelmann. 69 In 1767 he attempted to traverse the island instead of sailing around it and touching at various ports, as most other travelers, including Knight, did. Riedesel hoped to ascertain the artistic and cultural significance of the island, and in fact, he seems interested in very little else besides antiquity. After Riedesel pointed the way, others followed, anxious to see what he had described. 70 The numerous publications of these travelers indicate that when Knight decided to visit Sicily in 1777, it was no longer a terra incognita. The fauna, flora, and customs had been described, although the remains of antiquity still had not been thoroughly studied. Knight probably began his trip on the Continent in

1776,

67 See Maurice Vaussard, Daily Life in Eighteenth Century Italy, trans. Michael Heron (New York, 1963), p. 50. 68 Travels through Germany, trans. Thomas Holcroft, 2nd ed. (London, 1797), 111,424-425. 69 Reise durch Sicilien und Grossgriechenland (Zurich, 1771). TO See, for example, Patrick Brydone, A Tour through Sicily and Malta (London, 1773).

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a c c o m p a n i e d b y the y o u n g e r painter J o h n R o b e r t C o z e n s . 7 1 Knight's Sicilian j o u r n a l 7 2 is the m a i n source o f e v i d e n c e c o n c e r n i n g this tour. It is o n l y b y piecing t o g e t h e r t h e scattered i n f o r m a t i o n p r o v i d e d b y the

s k e t c h e s o f C o z e n s that w e are e v e n able t o m a k e

tentative

i n f e r e n c e s concerning the itinerary that K n i g h t f o l l o w e d early in his tour in S w i t z e r l a n d . 7 3 T h e s k e t c h e s indicate t h a t C o z e n s and Knight arrived in G e n e v a b y A u g u s t 18, 1 7 7 6 , and that t h e y traveled t o Sallanches b y A u g u s t 2 6 , t o C h a m o n i x , and on A u g u s t 3 0 , t o Martigny w h e r e t h e y arrived b y A u g u s t 3 1 . T h e y then visited Bern b y S e p t e m b e r 5 , T h u n , S p i e z , Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen, and Grindelwald, b u t the order in w h i c h t h e y visited these places is uncertain. E v i d e n t l y , t h e y s t a y e d s o m e

71 The painter John Constable called Cozens "the greatest genius that ever touched landscape." Quoted in Charles Robert Leslie, Memoirs of the Life of John Constable (London, 1843), p. 263. Although certain deductions can be made about his journeys from his drawings, the relative sequence of these works can only be conjectured. There is no biography of Cozens. 72 This journal, under the title of "Tagebuch einer Reise nach Sicilien", was translated into German and inserted .by Goethe in his biography of Philip Hackert. It is to be found in Goethe's Sammtliche Werke (Stuttgart, 1851), XXIV, 65-108. Hereafter cited as Werke. Evidently, the original of Knight's journal has been lost. Christopher Hussey states that it is only preserved in Goethe's life of Hackert. The Picturesque (London, 1927), p. 124, η. 1. Portions are retranslated in Pevsner, "Richard Payne Knight", pp. 293-320. Whenever possible, I have referred to Pevsner; otherwise, the retranslation is my own. 73 The principal documentation of the itinerary is the sketches by Cozens. Most are of Swiss landscapes, but John Lewis Roget states that " a very few of these sketches are from the North of Italy". A History of the Old Water-Colour' Society (London, 1891), I, 61. This volume of sketches has been broken up and its contents widely dispersed. A number are in the British Museum, but their history is unclear. See Laurence Binyon, Catalogue of Drawings by British Artists and Artists of Foreign Origin Working in Great Britain (London, 1898-1907), I, 271-272. The book in which they were originally contained is said to have been in the Townley collection and borne the inscription: "Views of Swisserland, a present from Mr. R. P. Knight, and taken by the late Mr. Cozens under his inspection during a tour of Swisserland in 1776". Burlington Fine Arts Club, London . . Catalogue of a Collection of Drawings by John Robert Cozens (London, 1923), p. 41. However, there is some evidence suggesting that this volume was bought at a sale of some of Knight's books by Molteno, a prominent dealer, and sold by him to Rowland Allanson Winn. It is possible that Knight made a gift of the volume to someone and later bought it back or had it returned to him. Ibid., pp. 41-42.

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t i m e at the falls o f the R e i c h e n b a c h , f o r C o z e n s m a d e nine different s k e t c h e s there. T h e s e q u e n c e o f his drawings p o i n t s t o the c o n c l u s i o n that after visiting Sargans and Coire t h e y t h e n crossed i n t o Italy, passing through Chiavenna and C o m o . 7 4 We n e x t hear o f Knight's m o v e m e n t s April, 1 7 7 7 , w h e n he l e f t R o m e f o r Sicily w i t h Charles Gore and Philip H a c k e r t . 7 5 T h e three departed o n April 3 , 7 6 arriving in N a p l e s o n April 1 2 ,

77

where Knight w a s particularly impressed b y t h e harbor w i t h M o u n t V e s u v i u s in the b a c k g r o u n d : 74 Walpole Society (Oxford, 1935), p. 5. Disjointed as the drawings are, they are the only evidence by which one can reconstruct Knight's itinerary in Switzerland. From Como, Knight probably traveled to Florence. In his Sicilian diary, he mentions having been there but does not indicate when. Werke, XXIV, 79. 75 Charles Gore (1729-1807), an amateur artist and wealthy landowner, had a long intimacy with Goethe who described his artistic accomplishments in an appendix of his biography of Hackert. Ibid., pp. 274-285. For a brief account of Gore's life, see The Faringtcm Diary, ed. James Greig (London, 1923-28), VI, 31, and Walpole Society, pp. 8-9. In 1824, Knight bequeathed twenty-four drawings to the British Museum which Gore executed for him on their trip to Sicily. The bequest includes drawings made at the Lipari Islands, Stromboli, Segesta, Etna, Syracuse, Agrigentum, and Selinus. Binyon, II, 236-238. Philip Hackert (1737-1807) was a Prussian landscape painter who rapidly achieved fame and wealth after a visit to Paris and Normandy in 1765. With his brother Johann Gottlieb, also a painter, he went to Rome in 1768 and made a name there as a specialist in landscapes. He painted for Knight's friend, Sir William Hamilton, and for Lord Exeter as well as for other British virtuosi. Catherine II commissioned him to paint six pictures which firmly established his reputation, and in 1786 he was made Court painter to the King of Naples. See John D. Champlin, ed., Cyclopedia of Painters and Paintings (New York, 1927), II, 195-196. Champlin calls Hackert "one of the most noteworthy landscape painters of the 18th century." (p. 196) Von Stolberg remarked in the 1790's that "The King [of Naples] honours the painter [Hackert], and loves the man. He has very pleasant apartments in a palace, with a prospect toward the sea. They are in the attic story. From these he descends into a charming garden; thus equally enjoying the lofty and the low, at pleasure, while the din of the street is below him, at a distance." Travels, II, 421. It would seem that Cozens did not accompany Knight on his trip to Sicily, since there are no references to him in Knight's journal. Gore's absence can be plausibly explained: Goethe notes that each of the three travelers paid his own expenses. Werke, XXIV, 64. Since Knight was accompanied by a professional artist and an amateur, it probably did not seem necessary to pay the expenses of a young student artist. 76 Ibid., p. 65. η Ibid.

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The endless multiplicity of colors and shades was blended and harmonized by that same pearly tone which imparts such distinction to the paintings of Claude Lorraine and is quite peculiar to this delectable climate. 78 From Naples they traveled by felucca to Paestum, 7 9 which even after its discovery in 1755 was infrequently visited. Most tourists were discouraged from traveling south of Naples because of the country which was dangerous, unhealthy, and usually uncomfortable. Concerning the difficulty of visiting Paestum, Mrs. Piozzi remarked: We wished to have made a party to go in the same company to Paestum, but my cowardice kept me at home, so bad was the account of the roads and accommodation; though Abate Bianconi of Milan, for whom I have much esteem, bid me remember to look at the buildings there attentively; adding that they were better worth our observation than all the boasted antiquities at Rome . . . How mortifying it is to go home and never see this Paestum! 80 Knight, like others who had visited Paestum, was awed: The first view of these remains is arresting in the extreme. Three temples, in a fair state of preservation, stand one behind another in the midst of a rich and beautiful valley, surrounded by romantic hills clothed in flowering shrubs and evergreen oaks. One of these is the Möns Alburnus, and is still overgrown with those trees of which Virgil makes mention in the third book of the Georgics . . . The blocks [of the temples] are excellently cut and assembled with the utmost precision, and, furthermore, in a way common to the most outstanding monuments of antiquity, without the employment of mortar. 81 τ» Ibid. 19 Ibid. so Observations, pp. 246-247. 81 Werke,. XXIV, 66. Henry Swinburne called the stark temple of Poseidon at Paestum "one of the noblest monuments of antiquity we have left". Travels, II, 128. Charles Dupaty, who toured Italy shortly after Knight, was equally excited at Paestum: " I t is impossible to visit these places without emotion. I proceed across desert fields, along a f r u i t f u l road, far from all human traces, at the foot of rugged mountains, on shores where there is nothing but the sea; and suddenly I behold a temple, then a second, then a third: I make my way through grass and weeds, I mount on the socle of a column, or on the ruins of a pediment: a cloud of ravens take their flight; cows low in the bottom of a sanctuary; the adder, basking between the column and the weeds, hisses and makes his escape;

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Here, before the magnificent Doric temples of Paestum, which Knight saw as eminently " p i c t u r e s q u e " , 8 2 his liking f o r the sublime was satisfied. Knight, the antiquarian, now viewed ruins older than Rome's, older even t h a n the great age of Athens. 8 3 F r o m Paestum they sailed t o the islands of Stromboli and Lipari. 8 4 Here they stopped briefly before landing at Milazzo 8 5 and traveling west along the n o r t h e r n coast of Sicily, where they stopped at various points of interest such as Tindaris, 8 6 Acquedolce, 8 7 Cefalu, 8 8 and Termini. 8 9 On May 1, they arrived at the remote capital of Palermo. 9 0 Knight remarked that the streets are regular and clean, and the place for the most part prosperous and well p o p u l a t e d ; the architecture, however, is extraordinarily bad. The taste of Prince Palagonia seems to reign supreme in the entire t o w n . 9 1 Knight was particularly unimpressed by the architecture of one of Palermo's most famous buildings, the Capella Palatina (or chapel of the Vice-Regent), which, he n o t e d , "seems to have been built under the Byzantine emperors, in so far as it is overlaid, b o t h internally and externally with barbarous mosaic . . . " 9 2

a young shepherd, however, carelessly leaning on an ancient cornice, stands serenading with his reedy pipe the vast silence of the desert." Travels through Italy, trans, anon. (London, 1788), p. 325. 82 Werke, XXIV, 66. 83 Knight must have revised his journal. At Paestum, for example, he mentions having seen temples that he was not to see until later on when in Sicily. Ibid. 84 Ibid., pp. 70-72. 85 Ibid., p. 73. 86 Ibid., pp. 73-75. Here Knight and his party were arrested on a charge of illegally sketching a military fortification, but the charge was quickly dismissed. Ibid. 87 Ibid., pp. 75-76. 88 Ibid., p. 76. 89 Ibid., pp. 76-77. 90 Ibid. As late as 1852 there was no continuous road between Palermo and the important city of Messina. Geoffrey Trease, The Grand Tour (New York, 1967), p. 140. 91 Werke, XXIV, 77. 92 Ibid., p. 79.

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From Palermo, Knight traveled overland to the southern coast of the island rather than sail around the western tip, since he felt that there was "nothing remarkable" 93 to be found in the medieval town of Trapani which stood on the western coast. On May 7, he arrived at Selinus, 94 an ancient Greek colony containing some of the most remarkable ruins in Sicily. Evidently, they deeply impressed him, since he wrote about them in detail. Concerning one of the temples, he noted with ecstasy: The vast ruins . . . which took in a large piece of land, show that it one of the most splendid buildings which will ever be constructed Indeed for all the buildings ever constructed in the world, was large temple of Selinus, after the Egyptian pyramids, built eternity . . , 95

was ... the for

Knight then traveled to Girgenti , 96 which, like Selinus, was one of the most famous Greek colonies and contained extensive ruins, including fourteen temples. 97 Here, as at Selinus and Paestum, Knight found the perfection of architecture as well as the picturesque and sublime setting which he admired in the paintings of Claude Lorraine. While describing the temple of Hercules he noted that in the angle of the easterly aspect was the battle of the Giants, in the westerly the capture of Troy, both of them of superlative sculpture, such as one of the wealthiest and most glorious Greek cities might produce at a time when the arts stood on the highest peak of perfection. This temple, in common with many another building of the

93 Ibid., p. 82. 94 Ibid. , pp. 82-85. 95 Ibid., pp. 82-84. Knight's language here is remarkably similar to that used by Breval: "The Ruins of its amazing Temples, and other publick Structures, have not their Equal, in all likelihood, in our Age, on this side of Palmyra or Egypt, and are a Demonstration beyond any other that Europe affords, how far the Antients exceeded the moderns, not only in a great Taste of Architecture, but likewise in their Skill in Mechanicks, by raising to such an Height such unwieldy and ponderous Bodies., I, 38. Other travelers also found Selinus to be the most impressive place in their tour of Sicily. Stolberg wrote that "the remains of Selinus consist of the ruins of three Greek temples; which, for their wild, desolate, and confused aspect, I never saw equalled". Travels, III, 481-482. % Werke, XXIV, pp. 85-91. 97 Stolberg remarked that "no where are there so many grand remains of ancient Greek magnificence to be seen as in Girgenti". Travels, III, 519.

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Greeks, was never completed. Their audacious spirit was ever directed towards the sublime . . , 9 8 Knight arrived in Syracuse on May 2 0 " and stayed three days. Judging b y the invidious comparisons he makes between ancient and m o d e r n Syracuse, he did n o t find the inhabitants particularly interesting. For example, at the fountain of Arethusa he recalls that Virgil m e n t i o n e d it b u t that it has stagnated and serves only as a washing-place. This we f o u n d f r e q u e n t e d by n y m p h s somewhat d i f f e r e n t f r o m those described b y Theocritus and Virgil; they were, indeed, n o t h i n g b u t a collection of the dirtiest old washer-women I have ever seen. 1 0 0 Nor was he impressed with the ancient a r c h i t e c t u r e . 1 0 1 What Knight fails to m e n t i o n concerning the architecture of Syracuse indicates, however, what he most admires. He does not m e n t i o n , for example, any of the Byzantine structures of Syracuse, such as the thirteenthcentury church of Santa Lucia or the small basilica of San Pietro. Concerning the Byzantine-styled cathedral ( t h e D u o m o ) , Knight laments that the ancient Doric temple, over which the church was built, is " s o overlaid and disfigured with m o d e r n ornaments that its antique f o r m is altogether lost". 1 0 2 Nor does Knight mention a single Gothic building such as the palaces of M o n t a l t o , Margulense-Maciotta, Abele, or Chiaramonte—all built in the f o u r t e e n t h century, nor the castles of Lanza, Gargallo, and Bellono, built in the f i f t e e n t h and sixteenth centuries. Evidently, he was n o t particularly impressed by one of the most i m p o r t a n t medieval buildings in Sicily, the Castle Maniace, built b y Frederick II in the thirteenth c e n t u r y , since he does n o t m e n t i o n this structure. In short, Knight here, as elsewhere,

98 Werke, XXIV, 87. Commenting on another temple at Girgenti, Knight remarks that "the present appearance of the temple is as picturesque as the traveller could desire." Ibid. 99 Ibid., p. 93. 100 Ibid. ιοί Ibid. Concerning the decline of Syracuse, Brydone remarked that "this proud city, that vied with Rome itself, is now reduced to a heap of rubbish; for what remains of it deserves not the name of a city". A Tour through Sicily and Malta, I, 287. 102 Werke, XXIV, 93.

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DOWNTON CASTLE AND THE GRAND TOUR

sees very little in medieval architecture to attract h i m . 1 0 3 The Byzantine, Romanesque, and the Gothic styles all seemed to him to be "Gothic". In Syracuse he did, however, find picturesque scenery. His description of the Latomiae of Epipolae, an ancient quarry, is "sublime" in its emphasis on vastness and wildness: These are immense quarries, sunk to a prodigious depth and excavated in some places to immeasurable vaults, supported by stone pillars which have been left in position. Various of these pillars having yielded, vast masses have collapsed and n o w a f f o r d , with their covering of bushes and vegetation, the wildest and loveliest sight imaginable. 1 0 4 Knight's entries from Syracuse particularly reveal what Sicily itself meant to him: he sees the island not only as a treasury filled with the remains of ancient Greek culture but also as a land of picturesque and sublime scenery. Greek culture, especially as manifested in architecture and coins, was to influence him throughout his life, and the Sicilian scenery probably exerted some influence on him when landscaping his estate at Downton. From Syracuse, Knight traveled north by land to Catania, 1 0 5 a city which had been largely destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 1669. Throughout his life, Knight attacked religious superstition, and here he could not help but comment on the failure of the populace to take preventive measures to avert the force of the lava. He ridicules them for having brought forth the veil of St. Agatha, in company with a multitude of saints. The consequence of this was as usual: a large part of the t o w n was

103 Knight seldom praises the Middle Ages. At Monreale he remarks that William II, son of the Conqueror, died in the year 1100, a "barbaric time". Ibid., p. 80. 104 Ibid., p. 94. He then tells of the alum-boiling establishment in one of the caves "which increases its natural gloom. The smoke of the furnace, the flickering light of the fire, the black faces of the laborers give the impression of a romantic witchcraft scene". Ibid. He adds, concerning the latomiae of Acradina, that "they are of the same style as the others, only infinitely more beautiful and picturesque. The spacious caves and jagged rocks. . . now form pleasant and romantic asyla . . . " Ibid., pp. 94-95. los Ibid., p. 96.

DOWNTON CASTLE AND THE GRAND TOUR

35

destroyed, the harbor blocked and the inhabitants exterminated, but the saints remained in greater honor than ever b e f o r e , f o r the people persuaded themselves that this misfortune had befallen them on account of their unbelief and not through the fault of their celestial guardians.106 A t Catania he met Prince Biscari w h o was perhaps the most prominent man of letters in S i c i l y . 1 0 7

Knight was deeply impressed by the

Prince's museum and especially admired his excellent collection of bronzes, Etruscan vases, and coins, the latter of which are numerous and well-preserved, and a f f o r d agreeable and instructive entertainment even to those w h o are not exactly connoisseurs of the antique, f o r so outstanding is their taste and execution, that, considered purely as examples of sculpture, they are highly attractive.108 F r o m Catania, Knight set out f o r E t n a , ascending during the night so as to reach the summit in time to see the sun r i s e . 1 0 9 A f t e r climbing part of the w a y , Knight kindled a fire in a cavern and rested until midnight b e f o r e resuming his ascent. As he looked up toward the crater he remarked that it was " t h e most f e a r f u l spectacle I have ever witnessed and with which, of a certainty, nothing in the world m a y be compared".110

Arriving at the summit, which towered nearly three

times as high as Vesuvius, Knight, in a rare flight of ecstasy, remarks: The view which is here revealed defies all description or imagination. The whole of Sicily, Malta, Calabria and the Lipari Isles appear directly below the spectator as on a map. All the detail was lost in the bluish tint of morning and the whole seemed sunk in silence and repose. I felt myself elevated above humanity and looked with contempt on the mighty objects of veneration below me. The localities where so m a n y mighty cities flourished through art and arms, where so many fleets and armies contended f o r the supremacy of the world, appeared nothing but dark s t a i n s . 1 1 1 106 Ibid.,?. 91. 107 Brydone had visited him a few years earlier: "This morning we went to see the house and museum of the prince of Biscaris; which, in antiques, is inferior to none I have ever seen, except that of the king of Naples at Portici." A Tour through Sicily and Malta, I, 143. 108 Werke, XXIV, 98. 109 Ibid., p. 100. n o Ibid., p. 102. in Ibid. Breval, who only climbed part of the way up Etna, remarked that

36

DOWNTON CASTLE AND THE GRAND TOUR

Knight then resolved to l o o k into the very abyss o f the crater: Thence I gazed into the awful abyss o f fire and saw gigantic projecting rocks between which issued mighty clouds of steam always intermingled with a dim, tremulous light. I could perceive no b o t t o m , nothing but the crashing and roaring o f the billows o f molten matter, which made a noise o f such magnitude as to give me some conception of the waves and tornados of tempestuous fire which raged below. Having thus indulged our curiosity, we descended once more, more or less frozen, t o our cavern, there to warm and recover ourselves, and then return to Catania, where we arrived in the evening, exhausted with fatigue. 1 1 2 A f t e r descending f r o m Etna and resting f o r t w o days, Knight and his party traveled north to Taormina

113

and then to Messina, 1 1 4 leaving

the island in early June, 1777. References

to

Knight's

tour

stop

after he left Sicily.

Dated

drawings prove that Cozens was in R o m e in February, 1778, 1 1 5

at

which time he may have copied three o f Gore's drawings o f Sicily f o r Knight. The drawings also prove that both Gore and Hackert had left R o m e before Ascension Day, 1778. 1 1 6

It is possible that Knight

traveled with them, since at this time large dated drawings by Cozens o f T i v o l i , Albano, Nemi, and R o m e begin to appear. 1 1 7

Many are

copies o f the same subjects, which leads one to believe that they were executed for different buyers, unlike the Swiss drawings executed for Knight. Probably, then, Cozens remained behind alone. "the landscape hereabouts yields a Scene that is not possible for the Mind to conceive, without the Assistance of the Eyes; nor is it to be express'd what a dreadful Horizon here is for several Miles, and what a black and irregular Surface of Earth rises about one one every Side!" Remarks of a Tour through Sicily, I, 17. 112 Werke, pp. 103-104. Stolberg, looking into the crater, later remarked: "The whole aspect and course of this conflagration, descending from above and collecting in the deep below, then dividing into meandering streams and forming islands, was inexpressibly sublime." Travels, IV, 307. 113 Werke, p. 105. 114 Ibid., p. 106. 115 See Walpole Society, p. 7. A letter from Rome by James Northcote dated February 4, 1778, mentions that Cozens was also in Rome at this time. See William T. Whitley, Artists and Their Friends in England, 1700-1799 (London, 1928), II, 309. lie Ibid. See also Walpole Society, p. 11. in Ibid.

II PRIAPUS

AND THE GREEK

ALPHABET

1 Knight returned to England by 1780, since he was then standing for Parliament 1 as a Whig candidate from Leominster 2 near Downton. The great issue was the American war, which Knight opposed. 3 The campaign must have been brief, since the election in Leominster was held on September 9, 4 just nine days after the dissolution of Parliament. 5 Knight was unopposed until the last moment when the

ι DNB, XI, 259. In July, 1780 John Robinson, Secretary to the Treasury and manager of the election for the Tory Party, reported in his survey that in Leominster "a gentleman not a friend to Government it is thought will step forward". Quoted in Lewis Namier and John Brooke, The House of Commons , 1754-1790 (New York, 1964), III, 13. In this survey he also mentioned that the Government thought of starting a candidate against Knight. Ibid., I, 305. 2 Ibid., I, 898. Leominster sent two men to Parliament. An opening occurred in 1780 because Frederick Cornewall, who had represented Leominster since 1776, stood for the borough of Ludlow in this election. Lord Bateman had held the other seat since 1768. Ibid. I, 304, 363. Knight was the first member of his family to sit in Parliament. Ibid., Ill, 13. 3 See below, p. 40. 4 Namier and Brooke, I, 304. 5 On September 1, 1780, George III dissolved Parliament on the advice of his cabinet in order to strengthen Lord North's Government. Since there had been a slightly favorable turn in the American war, the King hoped that his temporary rise in popularity would aid North, who was pledged to the subjugation of the Colonies. The intention to dissolve had been kept secret until the very last moment so that there was little time to organize contests. In 1780 there were contests in only eighty-six constituencies, sixty-eight in England. See W. I. Jennings, Party Politics: Appeal to the People (Cambridge, Eng., 1960), pp. xv-xvii. The general election, expected by George III to yield an increased majority for North, actually resulted in a loss of five or six votes. See John Robinson's list of

38

PRIAPUS

AND THE GREEK

ALPHABET

G o v e r n m e n t put u p a c a n d i d a t e 6 w h o m h e easily d e f e a t e d . 7 Parliament

convened

on

October 31,

1780,8

and

presumably

Knight w a s present. R e c o r d s o f his a t t e n d a n c e and o f his Parliamentary career begin o n February 2 0 , 1 7 8 2 , 9 w h e n it s e e m s certain that h e s u p p o r t e d F o x ' s m o t i o n o f censure against the Earl o f S a n d w i c h , First Lord o f the A d m i r a l t y . 1 0

T w o d a y s later, on February 2 2 ,

1782,

K n i g h t a l m o s t certainly v o t e d w i t h the O p p o s i t i o n . 1 1 On war.12

February 2 7 , 1 7 8 2 , a n o t h e r m o t i o n w a s m a d e t o e n d

the

Again Knight v o t e d w i t h the O p p o s i t i o n . 1 3 On March 8 , Lord

February, 1781, in Ian Christie, The End of North's Ministry, 1780-1782 (London, 1958), p. 160. 6 Thomas Mytton, a Shropshire squire, who declared his candidacy on the day of the election. Namier and Brooke, I, 305. ι Results: John Bateman: 357, Knight: 345, Mytton: 44. Ibid. Judging by his late announcement for office and the election results, Mytton's candidacy hardly seems serious. Knight stood for election in a Tory county. "Between 1689 and the Reform Bill of 1832 the majority of parliamentary representatives returned by Herefordshire and its boroughs was decidedly Tory." William Page, ed., The Victoria History of the County of Hereford (London, 1908), I, 401. 8 See Frederick M. Powicke, Handbook of British Chronology (London, 1961), p. 542. 9 Records of the five divisions in which Knight voted in 1782 (those of February 20, 22, and 27, and March 8 and 15) were kept by Parliamentary organizers on both the Government and Opposition sides. John Robinson tried to forecast the Government's majority while both John Debrett and John Stockdale published division lists for the Opposition. See Christie, pp. 376-377. 10 The motion against Sandwich failed. Figures for the division are Government, 236, Opposition, 217. Ibid., p. 378. Robinson lists Knight as absent for the vote. Ibid., p. 379. Stockdale lists him as voting with the Opposition. Ibid. The evidence, therefore, is circumstantial, but since Knight proved to be a Foxite partisan, it seems likely that, as Stockdale recorded, he voted with Fox in this division. Furthermore, since each compiler was likely to know more about the voting of men on his side of the House, it is probable that concerning this division, Stockdale rather than Robinson was correct in recording Knight's vote. 11 Robinson's list of the Opposition for this division is sixteen more than actually voted. Christie, p. 376. No list is available from the Opposition side. Christie accounts for Robinson's errors, making it virtually certain that Knight voted against the Government.Ibid., pp. 382-383. 12 Ibid., pp. 319-320. 13 There are three sources for this division: Robinson, Stockdale, and

PRIAPUS AND THE GREEK ALPHABET

39

John Cavendish introduced a motion to remove the North ministry for mismanagement of the war. 1 4 Knight voted for this motion which was defeated. 1 5 One week later, on March 15, Sir John Rous resolved that no-confidence be placed in Lord North and implicitly blamed the ministers for Great Britain's misfortunes in recent years. 1 6 Again Knight voted with the Opposition. 1 7 Nearly one year later, on February 18, 1783, when Great Britain was preparing to make peace with the Colonies, Knight voted for Lord Shelburne's unpopular peace preliminaries. 18 The defeat of this measure brought down Shelburne and led to a coalition of Fox and North.19 On November 27, Knight supported Fox's India Bill which proposed to transfer the affairs o f the East India Company to commissioners appointed by the Government. 2 0 Although the bill passed in the House of Commons, it was defeated in the House of Lords, 2 1 and George III dismissed the Fox-North coalition on December 18, 1 7 8 3 . 2 2

Debrett. Stockdale and Debiett agree exactly on the votes cast in Opposition. There is no reason to doubt that Knight voted with the Opposition. Christie, pp. 376-377. 14 Ibid., p. 345. is Robinson is the one source for this division. Ibid., 386. 16 Ibid., p. 353. 17 There are two sources for this division: Robinson and Debrett. Both agree that Knight voted with the Opposition. Ibid., p. 394. 18 Namier and Brooke, III, 43. 19 See R. W. Harris, Political Ideas, 1760-1792 (London, 1963), p. 50. 20 Namier and Brooke, III, 13. 21 The Fox-North government was beaten first by 87 to 79 and then, on December 17, 1783, by 95 to 76. On December 18, the ministers were dismissed. See J. Steven Watson, The Reign of George III, 1760-1815 (Oxford, 1963), p. 267. 22 Ibid. Shortly after the rejection of Fox's India Bill by the House of Lords and previous to George Ill's dismissal of Fox and North on December 18, 1783, John Robinson prepared a survey of political allegiances, probably in the second week of December. See John Robinson, Parliamentary Papers, ed. William Thomas Laprade (London, 1922), p. 65. Robinson made two lists: first, an estimate of the probable attitude of members of Parliament should George III dismiss Fox and North and Pitt take office; second, an estimate of the probable attitude of members of a new Parliament elected after a dissolution preceded by the dismissal of Fox and North and the accesssion of Pitt. In both lists Robinson

40

PRIAPUS AND THE GREEK

ALPHABET

During this period of confusion and instability, a group of country gentlemen, including Knight, 2 3 met at the St. Alban's Tavern in late January and in February, 1784, in order to form a stable government under the joint leadership of Fox and Pitt. 2 4 Their attempt, however, was unsuccessful. When Fox and Pitt proved unable to form a coalition, George III called for a general election in order to strengthen Pitt's Parliamentary position against the' combined opposition of Fox and North. 2 5 In this election Knight stood in the neighboring constituency of Ludlow, Shropshire, rather than in Leominster and was returned to Parliament. 26 One can only conjecture as to why Knight stood for election in Ludlow rather than in Leominster. Ludlow was a closed borough under the patronage of Edward Clive who, like Knight, voted with the Opposition. 27 Quite possibly Clive and Knight were friends, since the Clive estate of Oakley Park bordered on Downton Park. 2 8 But the most compelling reason seems to be that Knight must have known that he would not be returned from Leominster, where the Foxite, Sir George Elliot, was easily defeated by two Pittites. 2 9 Except for its usefulness in helping later generations to understand the eighteenth-century Establishment, Knight's political career is of relatively little importance. He can scarcely be said to be in the forefront of his time. But he, like most of the comparatively progressive thinkers of his day, opposed the war with America and in general can be included among the Foxites. 3 0

estimated that the two members from the constituency of Leominster, one of whom was Knight, were "pro" (i.e., opponents of Fox and North). He remarked that the same two members would probably be returned if a general election were held. Robinson, p. 73. 23 Namier and Brooke, III, 13. 24 Ibid. 25 See Jennings, p. xviii. 26 DNB, XI, 259. 27 Namier and Brooke, I, 363. 28 Neale, III, s.v. "Downton Castle, Herefordshire". 29 Namier and Brooke, I, 305. 30 Since the pioneer studies in eighteenth-century political history of Lewis Namier, one hesitates to venture generalities on politics in the age of the American Revolution.

PRIAPUS AND THE GREEK

ALPHABET

41

2 On May 6, 1781, shorly after entering Parliament, Knight was elected to the Society of Dilettanti, 31 a group of enthusiasts especially concerned with the study of Grecian antiquity. The Society had been founded nearly a half century earlier: In the Year 1734, some Gentlemen who had travelled in Italy, desirous of encouraging, at home, a Taste for those Objects which had contributed so much to their Entertainment abroad, formed themselves into a Society, under the Name of the Dilettanti, and agreed upon such Regulations as they thought necessary to keep up the Spirit of their Scheme. 32 The original purpose of the Society, however, had been primarily to encourage conviviality: . . . it would be disingenuous to insinuate, that a serious Plan for the Promotion of Arts was the only Motive for forming this Society: Friendly and Social Intercourse was, undoubtedly, the first great Object in view . . . 33 Horace Walpole describes the Society more caustically: There is a new subscription formed for an opera next year, to be carried on by the Dilettanti, a club, for which the nominal qualification is having been in Italy, and the real one, being drunk: the two chiefs are Lord Middlesex and Sir Francis Dashwood, who were seldom sober the whole time they were in Italy. 34 31 Lionel Cust, History of the Society of Dilettanti, ed. Sidney Colvin (London, 1914), p. 119. Knight's friend Charles Gore was also elected on May 6. Ibid. Cust's is the definitive history of the Society. Although Adolph Michaelis' Ancient Marbles in Great Britain, trans. C. A. M. Fennell (Cambridge, Eng., 1882) conveys much information about this organization, unlike Cust, he did not have access to its private archives. 32 Richard Chandler, Nicholas Revett, and William Pars, Ionian Antiquities (London, 1769), Preface, n.p. 33 Ibid. 34 The Yale Edition of Horace Walpole's Correspondence, Vol. XVIII, ed. W. S. Lewis, Warren Hunting Smith, and George L. Lam (New Haven, 1954), p. 211. Letter to Sir Horace Mann dated April 14, 1743. Dashwood was involved with the orgies at Medmenham Abbey. Cust, p. 9. Another member of the Society, John Montagu, fourth Earl of Sandwich, was associated with him at Medmenham. Ibid., p. 18. Gray satirized him in "The Candidate". Although

42

PRIAPUS AND THE GREEK

ALPHABET

Although most of the early members became well known in political and social life, they were also men of taste—patrons and collectors of art—rather than specialists. 35 By the 1780's, however, the original character of the Society had altered, with many of the newer members having well-developed antiquarian interests which made the Society a pioneer in the field of classical archeology. Knight was typical of this new type of antiquarian. In May, 1782, one year after his election to the Society, he was appointed to a committee whose purpose was to assist in the publication of the remaining unpublished drawings of Nicholas Revett and William Pars, 36 two men who, along with Richard Chandler, had made an expedition to Asia Minor in the 1760's under the sponsorship of the Society. 3 7 Two years later, in 1784, Knight became involved in a project that was to prove embarrassing both to himself and to the Society of Dilettanti. His friend Sir William Hamilton, during his twenty-six-year residence in Naples as English envoy, had diligently searched for remains of classical antiquity. Hamilton discovered, while on one of his archaeological excursions, that in the small town of Isernia in the Kingdom of Naples the phallic worship of the Romans was combined with the Catholic worship of Saint Cosmas. On December 30, 1781, Hamilton sent to Sir Joseph Banks, the Secretary of the Society, a lengthy letter describing his findings, which at that time were not acted upon by the Society. 38 Several years later, however, probably in 1784, Hamilton's friend, Pierre Francois Hugues (generally known as Hancarville), propounded his theories on the symbolic rites of

early members of the Royal Society include no such conspicuous rakes as Sandwich and Dashwood, it is worth remarking, if only jocularly, that the "Philosophical College" can be said to have had its origins in convivial surroundings. See Charles Sumner Slichter, Science in a Tavern (Madison, 1938). 35 For a complete list of the early members, see Cust, pp. 239-245. 36 Ibid., p. 100. 37 Ibid., p. 87. Knight's stature in the Society must have been increasing during these years, judging by the fact that in 1783 -Thomas Johnes, a relative, was elected to the Society and in 1786 Edward Knight, another relative, was elected. Ibid., p. 275. 38 Knight included this letter in The Worship ofPriapus (London, 1786). See pp. 3-12.

PRIAPUS AND THE GREEK ALPHABET

43

pagan races to Knight and his friend Townley, 3 9 communicated them to the Society which resolved

who in turn

that the Committee of publication be requested to undertake to Print Sir William Hamilton's letter concerning the great toes [i.e., the generative organs] of the Holy Martyrs S. Cosmo & Damiano with such illustrations as they think proper & to cause the drawing annexed to be ingraved for the use of the members of the Society and that part of the expence of doing it be not considered as part of the original grant. 4 0 The resulting publication, The Worship of Priapus, was printed in 1786. On March 3, 1787, the minutes of the Society note that Mr. Windham on the part of the Committee of publication reported that the Priapeia ordered by the Society to be printed is Finished and ready for delivery. Ordered, motion made by Ld. Bessborough, Father of the Society, That the Thanks of this Society be given to R. P. Knight Esqre. for the able & elegant manner in which he has investigated the interesting & deficult [sic] subject of this valuable work & that they be delivered to him at the next meeting he shall attend by the arch-master or his deputy appointed by the Society, dressed in his Crimson Taffety Robe & other insignia of his office. That the Copies be lodg'd in the custody of the Secretary & one of them deliverd [sic] to each member of the Society, & that except these he do not on any Pretence whatever part with any other copy without an order made at a regular meeting. That each member be allowd [sic] once & no more to move the Society recommending by name a Friend to whom he wishes the Society to present a copy. 4 1 On April 1, the minutes recorded that Mr. Wilbraham as Deputy Arch-Master Dressdfsic] in all the insignia of office returned the Thanks of the Society to R. P. Knight Esqr. for his able work of the Priapeia. Orderd [sic] that the Secretary do inscribe on the back of the title-page of each the name of the Person to whom it is presented & 39 M.L.Clarke, Greek Studies in England, 1700-1830 (Cambridge, Eng., 1945), pp. 188-189. 40 Cust, p. 122. Shortly thereafter, in 1785, Knight visited Italy and "laid the foundation of his fine collection of bronzes by the purchase of an antique head ('Diomede') from Thomas Jenkins, the dealer in Rome". DNB, V, 450-451. 41 Cust, pp. 122-123.

44

PRIAPUS AND THE GREEK

ALPHABET

the circumstances of its being a Present from the Society of Dilettanti. 4 2 Copies of The Worship of Priapus were distributed to various interested parties, 4 3 and notable Englishmen. 4 4 Needless to say, the work came under intense and prolonged attack, so much so that Knight eventually attempted to buy back all existing copies, thereby making the work exceedingly rare. 4 5 The most virulent denunciation of The Worship of Priapus appeared in Thomas Mathias' The Pursuits of Literature: A friend of mine would insist upon my perusing a long disquisition in qua/to, on the Worship of Priapus, (printed in 1786) with numerous and most disgusting plates. It has not been published, but distributed liberally, without any injunction of secrecy, to the emeriti in speculative Priapism, as one would think. As I hope the treatise may be forgotten I shall not name the author, but observe, that all the ordure and filth, all the antique pictures, and all the representations of the generative organs, in their most odious and degrading protrusion, have been raked together and copulated (for no other idea seems to be in the mind of the author) and copulated I say, with a new species of blasphemy. Such are, what I would call, the records of the stews and bordellos of Grecian and Roman antiquity, exhibited for the recreation of antiquaries, and the obscene revellings of Greek scholars in

42 ibid., p. 123. 43 Such as Dr. Charles Combe, physician and numismatist. DNB, IV, 882-883; Thomas Astle, antiquary and paleographer, who "brought together the most remarkable private collection of manuscripts in the country". Ibid., I, 676; Edward Thurlow, the Lord Chancellor and also a scholar. Ibid., XIX, 824-829. For a complete listing of the recipients, see Cust, p. 123. 44 Horace Walpole, for example, was presented a copy "as an acknowledgement of the useful assistance received from him by the author in the prosecution of this work" (inscription on the flyleaf by Sir Joseph Banks, Secretary of the Society). See Walpole's Correspondence, Vol. XXIX, ed. W. S. Lewis, Grover Cronin, Jr., and Charles H. Bennett (New Haven, 1955), p. 340, η. 12. The above inscription probably alludes to a bronze of Ceres lent to Knight by Walpole and which was engraved in The Worship of Priapus. See PI. VIII, fig. 1. At least twenty-five foreigners, including Hancarville, also received copies of Knight's work. Cust, p. 123. 45 Neither the British Museum nor the New York Public Library possesses a copy. In the nineteenth century the work once sold for 20 pounds. See Samuel Austin Allibone, A Critical Dictionary of English Literature (Philadelphia, 1858-71), s.v. "Knight, Richard Payne".

PRIAPUS AND THE GREEK

ALPHABET

45

their private studies. Surely this is to dwell mentally in lust and darkness in the loathsome and polluted chamber at Capreae. 46 Earlier, in a letter to William Mason dated March 22, 1796, Walpole had written: "I did ardently wish you had overturned and expelled out of gardens this new Priapus, who is only fit to be erected in the Palais de l'Egalite." 47 Joseph Farington, in a diary entry dated January 18, 1797, recorded that the poet Rogers "notices with severity Knights [sic] Treatise on the Worship of Priapus". 48 Elizabeth Holland was one of the few who was neutral toward the work. In a journal entry in 1799, that lacks incisiveness, she noted that "Mr. Knight wrote a famous work upon the traces still to be found in Italy of a primitive worship. He has assembled a large collection of these symbols in bronze, marble, etc." 4 9 Knight's purpose in The Worship of Priapus is to present a comprehensive view of the origin and nature of the phallic worship which had once been so widespread in Europe and the Eastern world. This worship, Knight argues, was directly related to the theology of the ancients; the numerous fables, for instance, which seem puerile and contradictory, in fact have a relation to a profounder system than commonly suspected. The Worship of Priapus is a pioneer work in a field where the initiated had heretofore kept the facts from the public. The sensuality inherent in antique culture had been emphasized by several serious studies, such as De la Croze's Histoire du Christianisme des Indes which spread an account of the Hindu adoration of the lingam and Jablonski's Pantheon Aegyptiorum which described the orgiastic rites related to the worship of the Nile. The only direct predecessor of The Worship of Priapus, however, was a French work by Hancarville, Recherches sur l'Origine et les Progres des Arts de la Grece.50 Knight acknowledged his indebtedness to Hancarville early in his work:

46 3rd ed. rev. (London, 1797), Dialogue i, pp. 20-21. 47 Walpole's Correspondence, Vol. XXIX, p. 340. 48 The Farington Diary, ed. James Greig (London, 1923-28), I, 186. 49 The Journal of Elizabeth Lady Holland (1791-1811), ed. G. S. H. FoxStrangeways (London, 1908), II, 9. so London, 1785. This three-volume work was in part concerned with the phallicism in ancient religious rites. According to Cust, Knight was "completely fascinated" by Hancarville's theories and arguments, (p. 122).

46

PRIAPUS AND THE GREEK ALPHABET

Those who wish to know how generally the [phallic] symbol, and the religion which it represented, once prevailed, will consult the great and elaborate work of Mr. D'Hancarville, who, with infinite learning and ingenuity, has traced its progress over the whole earth. 5 1 Another influence on Knight was the excavation of Herculaneum, begun under the patronage o f Charles VII, King of Naples, 5 2 which contributed to Knight's appreciation of the Priapic influence on ancient religion and culture. 5 3 That Herculaneum was well known in England is attested to by the fact that English travelers had begun visiting the site shortly after the discovery of the city in 1 7 3 8 . 5 4 Knight, in his frequent references to the phallic amulets and idols found at Herculaneum, 55 implies that they were part o f a natural religion which was both dignified and sensual: Many small [phallic] images of this kind have been found among the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii, attached to bracelets, which the 51 The Worship ofPriapus, p. 25. 52 See Beverly Sprague Allen, Tides in English Taste (New York, 1958), II, 232. 53 The wall paintings and statuary discovered at Herculaneum depict Priapic ceremonials and licentious myths. See the illustrations of fauns, centaurs, and nymphs in amorous embiace throughout Sylvain M'diich&W Antiques d'Herculaneum (Paris, 1780-1803). One tavern unearthed at Herculaneum was named the Drinking Priapus. See Marcel Brion, Pompeii and Herculaneum: The Glory and the Grief, trans. John Rosenberg (New York, 1960), p. 178. Hamilton's letter of 1781 concerning Isernia had made clear to Knight that the amulets worn by contemporary Christians were actually of pagan origin and related to the worship of Priapus: "We have a proof of the hand [i.e., an amulet shaped like a hand] above described [in PI. II, fig. 1] having a connection with Priapus, in a most elegant small idol of bronze of that Divinity, now in the Royal Museum of Portici, and which was found in the ruins of Herculaneum: it has an enormous Phallus, and, with an arch look and gesture, stretches out its right hand in the form above mentioned; and which probably was an emblem of consummation . . ." The Worship of Priapus, pp. 5-6. 54 Horace Walpole, on his Grand Tour, visited Herculaneum in June, 1740, two years after excavation had begun. Writing to Richard West, he called it "perhaps one of the noblest curiosities that has ever been discovered". Walpole's Correspondence, Vol. XIII, ed. W. S. Lewis, Warren Hunting Smith, and George L. Lam (New Haven, 1948), p. 222. Knight visited Herculaneum in 1777. See his "Tagebuch einer Reise nach Sicilien" in Goethe's Sämmtliche Werke (Stuttgart, 1851), XXIV, 79. 55 See The Worship ofPriapus, pp. 56, 72, 154, et passim.

PRIAPUS

AND THE GREEK

ALPHABET

47

chaste and pious matrons of antiquity wore round their necks and arms. In these, the organ of generation appears alone, or only accompanied with the wings of incubation, in order to show the devout wearer devoted herself wholly and solely to procreation, the great end for which she was ordained. So expressive a symbol being constantly in her view, must keep her attention fixed on its natural object, and continually remind her of the gratitude she owed the Creator, for having taken her into his service, made her a partaker of his most valuable blessings, and employed her as the passive instrument in the exertion of his most beneficial power. 5 6 Knight's work, in contrast to numerous " s e x " books published in the eighteenth century, is intended to be a serious work. He sees himself as the bringer of light, the remover of intellectual cobwebs: It is observable in all modern religions, that men are supersitious in proportion as they are ignorant, and that those w h o know least of the principles of religion are the most earnest and fervent in the practice of its exterior rites and ceremonies. 5 7 He attempts to defend his subject matter against attack by prudish critics: This [phallic] interpretation will perhaps surprise those who have not been accustomed to divest their minds of the prejudices of education and fashion; but I doubt not, but it will appear just and reasonable to those who consider manners and customs as relative to the natural causes which produced them, rather than to the artificial opinions and prejudices of any particular age or country. There is naturally no impurity or licentiousness in the moderate and regular gratification of any natural appetite; the turpitude consisting wholly in the excess or perversion. Neither are organs of one species of enjoyment naturally to be considered as subjects of shame and concealment more than those of another; every refinement of modern manners on this head being derived from acquired habit, not from nature . . , 5 8 Knight begins by showing that phallic rites and religious rites were inextricably joined: Whatever the Greek and Egyptians meant by the [phallic] symbol in question, it was certainly nothing ludicrous or licentious; of which we 56 57 58

Ibid., pp. 46-47. See PI. II, fig. 2. Ibid., pp. 52-53. Ibid., pp. 27-28.

48

PRIAPUS AND THE GREEK

ALPHABET

need no other proof, than its having been carried in solemn procession at the celebration of those mysteries in which the first principles of their religion, the knowledge of the God of Nature, the First; the Supreme, the Intellectual, were preserved free from the vulgar superstitions, and communicated under the strictest oaths of secrecy, to the iniated [sic]; who were obliged to purify themselves, prior to their initiation, by abstaining from venery, and all impure food. We may therefore be assured, that no impure meaning could be conveyed to this symbol; but that it represented some fundamental principle of their faith. 5 9 Since the phallic objects, then, were religious symbols, the contrivers of them naturally selected those objects whose characteristic properties seemed to have the greatest analogy with the Divine attributes which they wished to represent. In an age, therefore, when no prejudices of artificial decency existed, what more just and natural image could they find, by which to express their idea of the beneficent power of the great Creator, than the organ which endowed them with the power of procreation and made them partakers, not only of the felicity of the Deity, but of his great characteristic attribute, that of multiplying his own image, communicating his blessings, and extending them to generations yet unborn? 6 0 Hamilton, in a letter to Joseph Banks in 1781, 61 pointed out that the ancient Priapic rites had been incorporated into Christianity, emphasizing that the discovery at Isernia "offers a fresh proof of the similarities of the Popish and Pagan Religion." 62 Knight likewise argues that Christianity and paganism, as well as all religions, are essentially alike: Men think they know, because they are sure they feel; and are firmly convinced, because strongly agitated. Hence proceed that haste and violence with which devout persons of all religions condemn the rites and doctrines of others, and the furious zeal and bigotry with which they maintain their own; while perhaps, if both were equally well understood, both would be found to have the same meaning, and only to differ in the modes of conveying it. 63 59 Ibid., pp. 25-26. 60 Ibid., pp. 28-29. 61 See above, p. 42. 62 Ibid., p. 4. 63 Ibid., p. 23. Later he adds: "It is the avowed intention of the learned and excellent work of Grotius, to prove that there is nothing new in Christianity. What I have here adduced, may serve to confirm and illustrate the discoveries of

PRIAPUS AND THE GREEK ALPHABET

49

Judaism, for instance, argues Knight, is little more than an o u t g r o w t h of ancient forms of fertility worship. 6 4 Knight goes b e y o n d Hamilton by a t t e m p t i n g t o prove that primitive religion was, in fact, superior t o Christianity. He agrees with those heathen priests who, he claims, when they felt threatened by Christianity, tried to show t h a t the o u t w a r d structure of their religion was n o t so absurd as it might seem, and that, "when stripped of poetical allegory and vulgar fable, their theology was pure, reasonable, and s u b l i m e " . 6 5 He later points o u t that the corruptions of the religion of Greece, is an exact c o u n t e r p a r t of the history of the corruptions of Christianity, which began in the pure theism of the eclectic Jews, and b y the help of inspirations, emanations, and canonizations, expanded itself, b y degrees, to the vast and unwieldy system which n o w fills the creed of what is c o m m o n l y called the Catholic Church. In the ancient religion, however, the emanations assumed the appearance of moral virtues and physical attributes, instead of ministering spirits and guardian angels; a n d the canonizations or deifications were bestowed u p o n heroes, legislators, and monarchs, instead of priests, monks, and martyrs. 6 6 Paganism, claims Knight, was actually superior t o Christianity because it had feeling and a oneness with nature and was " a very natural symbol of a very natural and philosophical system of religion". 6 7 Knight argues that the rites and symbols of Christianity are directly descended f r o m heathen fertility rites. Concerning the cross, perhaps the central symbol of Christianity, Knight states: One of the most remarkable [male symbols of generation] is a cross, in the f o r m of the letter T, which t h u s served as t h e emblem of creation and generation, before the church a d o p t e d it as a sign of salvation; a

that great and good man." Ibid., p. 64n. Knight's work is one of the first studies in the field of comparative religion. In many respects it anticipates more scholarly and comprehensive early nineteenth-century books such as Ferdinand C. Bauer, Symbolik und Mythologie (Stuttgart, 1824-25); Georg F. Creuzer, Symbolik und Mythologie der Alten Volker (Leipzig, 1810-1823); and Karl O. Müller, Prolegomena zu einer Wissenschaftlichen Mythologie (Göttingen, 1825). 64 Ibid., pp. 193-194. 65 Ibid., pp. 30-3In. 66 Ibid., pp. 186-187. 67 Ibid., p. 24.

50

PRIAPUS AND THE GREEK ALPHABET

lucky coincidence of ideas, which, without doubt, facilitated the reception of it among the faithful. 6 8 The early Christian agape, or love feast, also comes under Knight's attack: The Christian religion, being a reformation of the Jewish, rather increased than diminished the austerity of its original. On particular occasions however it equally abated its rigour, and gave way to festivity and mirth, though always with an air of sanctity and solemnity. Such were originally the feasts of the Eucharist, which, as the word expresses, were meetings of joy and gratulation ; though, as divines tell us, all of the spiritual kind: but the particular manner in which St. Augustine commands the ladies who attended to wear clean linen, seems t o infer, that personal as well as spiritual matters were thought worthy of attention. To those who administer the sacrament in the modern way, it may appear of little consequence whether the women received it in clean linen or not ; but to t h e good bishop, who was to administer the holy kiss, it certainly was of some importance. The holy kiss was not only applied as a part of the ceremonial of the Eucharist, but also of prayer, at the conclusion of which they welcomed each other with this natural sign of love and benevolence. It was upon these occasions that they worked themselves up to those fits of rapture and enthusiasm, which made them eagerly rush upon destruction in the fury of their zeal to obtain the crown of martydom. 69 Knight's most significant contribution to the study of sexual symbolism is that he is not concerned with ancient art qua art, that is, with the aesthetic quality of that art, but rather with the content. He sees the ancient objects of worship, especially the phallic objects, as symbols which were "intended to express abstract ideas by objects of sight". 7 0 The ceremonials of a religion are not always to be understood in their direct and obvious sense; but are to be considered as symbolical representations of some hidden meaning, which may be extremely wise and just, though the symbols themselves, to those who know not their true signification, may appear in the highest degree absurd and extravagant. It has often happened that avarice and superstition have continued these symbolical representations for ages after their original meaning has been lost

68 Ibid., p. 48. 69 Ibid., pp. 183-184. 70 Ibid., p. 28.

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ALPHABET

51

and f o r g o t t e n ; when they must of course appear nonsensical and ridiculous, if n o t impious and extravagant. 7 1 Knight, then, does not view the Priapic cults in a literal sense; for instance, the phallus itself, he claims, was not being worshipped b u t rather the generative principle, a male manifestation of divinity whose great characteristic attribute was represented by the organ of generation in that state of tension and rigidity which is necessary to the due performance of its function. 72 A f t e r Knight's death there was much adverse criticism of The Worship of Priapus. It focused, however, less on his " i n d e c e n c y " than on some of his inaccurate theories. In 1882, Adolf Michaelis pointed out that Knight's work deserves blame far less on account of the offensiveness of its subject than for its u n s o u n d , unmethodical, mythological fantasies after the manner of Hancarville. But at t h a t time, when treatment such as this was in vogue, it was the first-named characteristic that called f o r t h especial reprobation. 73 Lionel Cust criticized the work on essentially the same grounds: It is evident that the Society [of Dilettanti] in issuing this work had no intention of publishing anything calculated t o give o f f e n c e or t o be considered a breach of morality. Its spirit is meant to be truly antiquarian: if the result is b o t h dull and grotesque, that is due partly to the farfetched mythological fancies which passed for learning at the time, partly to a failure of tact and h u m o r on the part of the authors. 7 4 Roger G o o d l a n d , w h o wrote the compendious Bibliography of Sex Rites and Customs,75 attacked the b o o k , n o t on the grounds of its being indecent, b u t , evidently, in part because of its indebtedness t o Hancarville, calling it a "well-known 'classic', which is, however, written in a fanciful style, w i t h o u t m u c h d i s c r i m i n a t i o n " . 7 6 71 Ibid., p. 24. 72 Ibid., p. 46. 73 Ancient Marbles in Great Britain, pp. 121-122. 74 Cust, pp. 123-124. 75 London, 1931. This bibliography contains over 9,000 items and a wealth of annotations. 76 Ibid., p. 328.

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PRIAPUS AND THE GREEK ALPHABET

N o t all criticism of The Worship of Priapus has been unfavorable. Recently, Nikolaus Pevsner praised the b o o k and a t t e m p t e d to d e f e n d it f r o m the type of attack made b y Michaelis and Cust: Sexual symbolism altogether is w h a t fascinated Knight more than anything in antiquarian lore, and if this little b o o k , where copies exist in libraries, is n o w kept in the librarian's poison c u p b o a r d , it does n o t deserve such treatment more than Freud's writings on similar subjects. It is quite different in this respect f r o m its immediate predecessor, Hancarville's Veneres et Priapi, published in 1784 [actually 1785], and financed by Hamilton. Knight's comparisons of t h e shell or concha with the female parts, the serpent and the bull and the obelisk with the male m e m b e r , and the Italian gesture of the t h u m b sticking out between second and third finger (as a safeguard against the evil eye) with the act of copulation are in fact expeditions i n t o the subconscious amazing for their date. 7 7 Knight's only written defense of The Worship of Priapus is to be f o u n d in the Preface to his long p o e m , The Progress of Civil Society. Here he seems especially interested in defending the b o o k against Mathias' charge of obscenity: I flatter myself that it is totally free f r o m any of that criminal obscenity, which tends to p r o m o t e lewdness and debauchery: so far f r o m being written with any such intention, the whole t e n o u r of it goes to prove, that no such immoral meaning ever did belong t o those symbols; and if the writer above-mentioned [i.e., Mathias] f o u n d his appetites excited, or his desires inflamed by any part of it, he has t h e m i s f o r t u n e t o have appetites and desires of a very extraordinary kind, and such as certainly qualify him for the society of Tiberius. Perhaps it were well if the friend, w h o insisted on his reading t h e b o o k , had also enabled him t o understand it. 7 8 Concerning the plates, which Mathias had called "disgusting", Knight notes that t h e y have been mostly copied f r o m other publications, executed at the expense, and published u n d e r the a u t h o r i t y of the Popes, or the kings of Naples, the defense of t h e m does not belong t o me. The most objectionable of them, and t h e only one which contains any thing like 77 "Richard Payne Knight", Art Bulletin, XXXI (1949), 298. By "subconscious" Pevsner would seem to mean that men did not consciously or deliberately use certain objects as phallic symbols. 78 London, 1796, p. xix.

PRIAPUS AND THE GREEK ALPHABET

53

profaneness, was copied f r o m De la Chausse's Museum R o m a n u m , of which three editions have been published at R o m e within this century, and f r o m which the plate in question has again been published in the great collection of Graevius and Gronovius. It represents the male h u m a n organs of generation erect u p o n the head of a cock, in lieu of a beak, which head grows out of the bust of a man: beneath it, on the base, is written Σ Ω Τ Η Ρ Κ Ο Σ Μ Ο Τ - s a v i o u r of the world. The original, f r o m which it is taken, is an a n t i q u e bronze, preserved in the Vatican palace, where it has been publicly exhibited for near a c e n t u r y , without corrupting any o n e ' s morals or religion, that I have heard of. It did, once disturb the conscience of a superannuated. cardinal, w h o requested Benedict XIV. t o remove this profane Σ Ω Τ Η Ρ f r o m his sacred seat in the pontifical palace; but that excellent pope, and most w o r t h y man, replied, with his usual pleasantry, that he had no authority over such a personage; being but his vicar. 79 Knight's surprise at the criticism of The Worship of Priapus seems genuine, and it is difficult t o understand w h y he should have failed to anticipate the reaction that his b o o k provoked. 3. Between the publication of The Worship of Priapus in 1786 and An Analytical Essay on the Greek Alphabet in 1791, Knight continued to travel and was again returned t o Parliament. It is established t h a t in 1789 H u m p h r y R e p t o n , the landscape gardener, had requested A n n a Seward t o join Knight and himself on an excursion through Hainault Forest in Essex b u t t h a t she reluctantly declined: Much, indeed, should I have liked making a trio with y o u and Mr. Knight, in exploring the labyrinths of Hainault Forest. Emes made the same declaration a b o u t being indebted t o our Needwood for lessons in the elements of picturesque gardening which Brown avowed concerning that of Hainault. 8 0 Her reference to "picturesque gardening" would seem t o imply that the purpose of the trip was t o view picturesque scenery. Presumably the t w o men could utilize this—Repton in the laying o u t of his clients' gardens, Knight in the laying out of his own at D o w n t o n . Knight and 79 ibid. 80 Letters of Anna Seward (Edinburgh, 1811), II, 309. Letter dated July 15, 1789. Repton's letters to Seward have not survived.

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ALPHABET

R e p t o n did travel through the forest, and in Epping, R e p t o n drew a sketch o f Knight carving their names o n a t r e e . 8 1

Later in 1 7 8 9 ,

Repton visited Knight at D o w n t o n C a s t l e . 8 2 In 1 7 9 0 , h e visited Paris with his brother T h o m a s A n d r e w and Knight's friend Charles T o w n l e y . The trip was discontinued because of the turbulence of the French Revolution w h i c h had begun shortly before.83

Also in 1 7 9 0 Knight stood for Parliament in the general

election and w a s returned, as he had been in 1 7 8 4 , for the borough o f Ludlow.

84

Early in the f o l l o w i n g year, Joseph Banks, t o assist the

Board o f Agriculture which was carrying o u t an investigation o f the conditions of agriculture in various parts o f England, consulted Knight concerning w h o could best inform him a b o u t farming in Herefordshire. Knight r e c o m m e n d e d his brother w h o was a resident o f that shire and an agricultural expert.

85

A year later, Knight published An Analytical Alphabet,

86

Essay

on the

Greek

the first o f several o f his works dealing with Greek

antiquity. A l t h o u g h five o f the seven sections o f the essay are a close verbal analysis o f the Greek a l p h a b e t , 8 7 the m o s t significant sections of the essay concern his exposure o f the forgeries o f the Abbe Michel

81 Dorothy Stroud, Humphry Repton (London, 1962), p. 26. 82 Edward Hyams, Capability Brown and Humphry Repton (New York, 1971), p. 143. 83 Elisabeth Inglis-Jones, "The Knights of Downton Castle, II", National Library of Wales Journal, XV, No. 4 (1968), 366. 84 Namier and Brooke, III, 13. In 1790, Knight also furnished the plan of a new toga for the Society of Dilettanti. Presumably it was to be worn by the presiding officer. Cecil Harcourt-Smith, The Society of Dilettanti: Its Regalia and Pictures (London, 1932), p. 17. 85 Inglis-Jones, "The Knights of Downton Castle, II", p. 66. This event is noted in DNB, XI, 264. 86 London, 1791. 87 Richard Porson, the classical scholar, while favorably reviewing the book for the Monthly Review, New Ser., XIII (1794), 7-16, 379-385, was not entirely pleased with Knight's analysis, especially his etymological speculations concerning the Greek alphabet: " . . . when he traces the history of the language, and the etymology of words, he gives too much scope to conjecture and imagination. In the execution of his plan, he unnecessarily contracts his foundation, by building only on the ground-work of Homer; and, while he denies that particular changes of sounds and words can take place except in one certain prescribed mode, he allows too little to the changes, caprices, conveniences, etc. which produce the fluctuations." (p. 385)

PRIAPUS

A N D THE GREEK

ALPHABET

55

Fourmont (1690-1746). 88 Fourmont, a classical scholar and member of the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, 8 9 had been sent to Greece in 1728 by Louis XV to purchase manuscripts and collect classical inscriptions. 9 0 In 1732 he returned with his alleged discoveries 91 but was dilatory in producing his inscriptions and died leaving most of them unpublished. 92 The few that were published met with unquestioned acceptance by leading men of letters in France. The Abbe Barthelemy utilized all of them in his Voyage du Jeune Anarcharsis;93 Count Caylus engraved therr. in his Recueil d'Antiquitiesi94 Hancarville, in his Recherches, considered them among the most significant paleographical discoveries of modern times and devoted nearly one third of his second volume to them. 9 5 The integrity of Fourmont does not seem to have been questioned until many years after his death when in 1785 Knight's suspicions were aroused concerning the authenticity of the inscriptions. At that time he formulated his objections, giving them to Hancarville who, although not mentioning Knight by narr.e, attempted to refute them in his Recherches. 96 Six years later in An Analytical Essay, Knight

88 For a brief account of his life, see Biographie Universelle (Paris, 1843-65), XIV, 548-550. 89 Ibid., p. 549. 90 Ibid. 91 For Fourmont's o w n narrative of the earlier part of this expedition, see Histoire de l'Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres (Paris, 1836-43), VII (1733), 344-358. 92 Fourmont published some of them in Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres (Paris, 1836-43), XV ( 1 7 4 3 ) , 3 9 4 - 4 1 9 . More were published after his death in Memoires, XXIII ( 1 7 5 6 ) , 394-421 and in Charles Frangois Toustain and Rene Prosper Tassin, Nouveau Traite de Diplomatique (Paris, 1750-65); I, 6 1 5 - 6 2 5 . 93 Paris, 1788. 94 Paris, 1752-67. See, for example, Vol. II, p. 51. 95 See esp. Ch. ii. 96 Knight mentions that Hancarville's "reason for undertaking a formal defence of them [i.e., the inscriptions of Fourmont], was to answer objections which I first put together for his use, and which I n o w re-state, nearly in the same form, and submit to the judgment of the Learned; only intreating every person w h o shall again differ with me in opinion, and think m y remarks worthy of animadversion, to make reply generally to them all, and not, like a learned author above mentioned [i.e., Hancarville], oppose a profusion o f argument to those parts which appear weak and harmless, while the rest are left, unchecked

56

PRIAPUS AND THE GREEK ALPHABET

published his o b j e c t i o n s , 9 7 arguing that n o n e of the transcripts were of genuine Greek inscriptions: The inscriptions published contain specimens of writing f r o m the earliest period of fabulous tradition down to t h e subversion of the Greek Republicks—from Eurotas, a king supposed t o have reigned in Laconia seven generations before the Trojan war, d o w n to Philip of Macedon. In m o n u m e n t s , engraved at periods so r e m o t e f r o m eaeh other, we might expect t o find great variations b o t h in the f o r m and use of the letters; b u t , nevertheless, they are so nearly the same as t o appear of one hand-writing, and of one person's composition. We have the terminations of names in the oblique cases the same as in Pausanias; and all the barbarous f o r m s of letters, such as the Sigma and Σ Epsilon, e m p l o y e d under the later R o m a n emperors. T h e Sigma in the earliest inscriptions is, indeed, taken f r o m the very ancient medals of G o r t y n a , in Crete, u p o n which we find the word ^ Ν ν Τ Φ Ο Ί , which F o u r m o n t , like some other Antiquaries of equal sagacity, t o o k for Γ Ο Ρ Τ Τ Ν Σ ; whereas it is Γ Ο Ρ Τ Τ Ν Ι , the abbreviation of Γ Ο Ρ Τ Τ Ν Ι Ω Ν f o u n d upon other medals of the same city; the Iota being of this f o r m , as before observed, on the medals of Lyttus, Posidonia, and in the Veletrain Inscription . . . . The f o r m s of the bucklers also, u p o n which t w o of the inscriptions are engraved, are totally unlike the simple round shields of the antient Greeks, or indeed of any other antient people, they being in absurd fanciful shapes, wholly unadapted to the purposes of defence. The m o d e of writing the titles of the magistrates, too, in larger letters than those employed in their names, is w i t h o u t example in any genuine m o n u m e n t of antiquity t h a t I have seen; and it is observable, that one of the stones is represented as broken in so artist-like and regular a m a n n e r , that it could not have been the result of accident; for, if so m a n y fractures had been caused by t h e fall of ruins or the decay of time, the edges would necessarily have been splintered or corroded so as t o destroy many of the letters. I shall, however, waive the consideration of these suspicious peculiarities, as well as the singular forms of t h e shields a n d letters, because whim and caprice might have operated in antient as well as modern times: but errors in orthography, grammar, and dialect, the blunders of dictionary-makers, transcribers, and editors, transferred i n t o m o n u m e n t s attributed t o r e m o t e antiquity, will, I flatter myself, if proved, be deemed of themselves sufficient evidence of imposture. 9 8

and unnoticed, to prey upon the spoils of the Academy." A η Analytical Essay, p. 113. 97 Ibid., pp. 111-130. 98 Ibid., pp. 113-115.

PRIAPUS

AND THE GREEK

ALPHABET

57

In the course of the essay K n i g h t errs o n w h a t are essentially m i n o r points.99

H o w e v e r , the gravamen o f his argument c o n c e r n i n g the

inscriptions s e e m s to b e c o r r e c t , 1 0 0

a l t h o u g h it is n o t certain that

F o u r m o n t ' s purpose in e f f a c i n g and in s o m e cases actually d e s t r o y i n g inscriptions and other

antiquities

was primarily m o t i v a t e d b y his

desire t o perpetrate a f r a u d . 1 0 1 Knight's arguments against F o u r m o n t were generally a c c e p t e d as conclusive

102

e x c e p t in France where the a u t h e n t i c i t y o f at least

99 Knight's errors have been commented on by several critics. John S. Watson, in The Life of Richard Porson (London, 1861), stated that "Knight's book contains much that is fanciful in regard to the gradual formation of the Greek alphabet, and especially with regard to the digamma, of which he allowed himself a more liberal use than any preceding critic had ventured to make", (pp. 118-119) Porson commented on Knight's errors in the Monthly Review (see above, n. 65) but added that "the errors in his research are sometimes more to the purpose than the successful inquiries of others", (p. 385) Lord Aberdeen stated that ". . . as no man is more eminently qualified to do justice t o the whole subject [i.e., judging the authenticity of Fourmont's inscriptions], if he think fit, than Mr. Knight, I shall only state my conviction, without taking the matter out of his hands, that although some unimportant errors may have been detected in his work, there has been absolutely nothing adduced at all calculated to invalidate the main arguments by which he arrived at that conclusion which is now so generally adopted by the learned world." Robert Walpole, ed., Travels in Various Countries of the East (London, 1820), p. 490. 100 Richard Christie agrees with Knight that all the inscriptions published by Fourmont were fraudulent, but he points out a few of the transcripts brought from Greece are undoubtedly genuine. See Notes and Queries, Ser. 4, IX, (1872), 369. For a more detailed account of the forgeries, see Selected Essays and Papers of Richard Copley Christie, ed. William Shaw (London, 1902), pp. 58-91. ιοί Knight knew that Fourmont had destroyed inscriptions in Greece. See An Analytical Essay, p. 112. In a letter to the Count of Maurepas, Fourmont boasted of having ruined many inscriptions in order that they might n o t be copied by any future travelers. See Desire Raoul Rochette, Deux Lettres (Paris, 1819), p. 11. Fourmont's remarks on his own destructiveness are also quoted in Edward Dodwell, A Classical and Topographical Tour through Greece (London, 1819), II, 406-408. Fourmont claimed to have destroyed many remains of antiquity out of patriotism so that France might be the only possessor of the remains which he had transcribed. Ibid., pp. 407-408. 102 In 1817 Lord Aberdeen wrote that "Mr. Knight has so ably exposed the nature of his [i.e., Fourmont's] pretended discoveries, and from the internal evidence afforded by his inscriptions, has so satisfactorily refuted all their claims to authenticity, that in England it would be difficult t o find a competent judge

58

PRIAPUS

AND THE GREEK

ALPHABET

s o m e o f F o u r m o n t ' s inscriptions w a s for a l o n g t i m e d e f e n d e d . 1 0 3 A l t h o u g h h e had n o e x p e r i e n c e in e x a m i n i n g or c o p y i n g inscriptions in G r e e c e , his k n o w l e d g e o f Greek grammar and ancient c o i n s enabled h i m to e x p o s e F o u r m o n t . 1 0 4 In this w a y he p u t his learning t o n e w uses in the critical treatment o f the literary records o f t h e ancient world.

who should now hesitate an instant in forming his opinion respecting t h e m . " Robert Walpole, ed., Memoirs Relating to European and Asiatic Turkey, 2nd ed. (London, 1818), p. 452. 103 See Rochette. In the brief life of Fourmont in the Biographie Universelle (XIV, 548-550), Knight is not even referred to, only the fact that the inscriptions were under suspicion. 104 Knight frequently made use of his knowledge of coins to support his conclusions concerning the Greek alphabet. See An Analytical Essay, pp. 15, 17, 35. He also exposed the forgeries through his knowledge of coins. See pp. 119-120.

III

THE LANDSCAPE

TWO POEMS: AND THE PROGRESS OF CIVIL

SOCIETY

1 In the early 1790's, Knight was probably composing his long poem, The Landscape. By September, 1793, he was writing the last section of it, 1 and the work was published in the following year. The subject of landscape gardening, or the improving of an estate, was one which interested numerous men of letters throughout the eighteenth century. 2 Joseph Addison, who turned against the formal topiary garden, was an early advocate of a less mathematical style: Writers, who have given us an account of China, tell us, the inhabitants of that country laugh at the plantations of our Europeans, which are lain out by the rule and line; because, they say, any one may place trees in equal rows and uniform figures. They chuse rather to shew a genius in works of this nature, and therefore always conceal the art by which they direct themselves. They have a word, it seems, in their language, by which they express the particular beauty of a plantation that thus strikes the imagination at first sight, without discovering what it is that has so agreeable an effect. Our British gardeners, on the contrary, instead of humouring nature, love to deviate from it as much as possible. Our trees rise in cones, globes, and pyramids. We see the marks of the scissors upon every plant and bush. I do not know whether I am singular in my opinion, but, for my own part, I would rather look upon a tree in all its luxuriancy and diffusion of boughs and branches, than when it is thus cut and trimmed into a mathematical figure; and cannot but fancy that an orchard in flower looks ι See The Landscape (London, 1794), Bk. III, 1. 405n. 2 For a fuller account of this subject, see Elizabeth Manwaring, Italian Landscape in Eighteenth Century England (London, 1925); Christopher Hussey, The Picturesque (London, 1927); and Edward Hyams, Capability Brown and Humphry Repton (New York, 1971).

60

THE LANDSCAPE

AND THE PROGRESS

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infinitely more delightful, than all the little labyrinths of the most finished parterre. 3 The attack on geometrical planning was a significant aspect of eighteenth-century English aesthetics. While mathematical demonstration was removing unpredictability from the physical world, it concurrently led to a greater reverence for nature. This can be seen in the poetry of Pope, whose Epistle to Burlington (1731) suggests a more natural style in landscape gardening: On ev'ry side you look, behold the Wall! No pleasing Intricacies intervene, No artful wildness to perplex the scene; Grove nods at grove, each Alley has a brother, And half the platform just reflects the other. The suff'ring eye inverted Nature sees, Trees cut to Statues, Statues thick as trees, With here a Fountain, never to be play'd, And there a Summer-house, that knows no shade; Here Amphitrite sails thro' myrtle bow'rs; There Gladiators fight, or die, in flow'rs; Un-water'd see the drooping sea-horse mourn. And swallows roost in Nilus' dusty Urn.4 William Kent (1684-1748), a friend of Burlington and Pope5 also turned away from the more formal type of garden by emphasizing variety, contrast, and surprise. Horace Walpole had high praise for Kent, singling him out as a man who saw that all nature was a garden. He felt the delicious contrast of hill and valley changing imperceptibly into each other, tasted the beauty of the gentle swell, or concave scoop, and remarked how loose groves crowned an easy eminence with happy ornament, and while they called in the distant view between their graceful stems, removed and extended the perspective by delusive comparison . . . . The great principles on which he worked were perspective, and light and shade. Groups of trees broke too uniform or too extensive a lawn; evergreens and woods were opposed to the glare of the champlain, and where the 3 Specator No. 414, Wed., June 25, 1712, The Works of Joseph Addison, ed. George Washington Greene (New York, 1859), VI, 339-340. 4 The Poems of Alexander Pope, ed. John Butt (London, 1963), p. 592, 11. 114-126. This is the one-volume edition of the Twickenham text. s See DNB, XI, 23, 25.

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view was less fortunate, or so much exposed as to be beheld at once, he blotted out some parts by thick shades, to divide it into variety, or to make the richest scene more enchanting by reserving it to a farther advance of the spectator's step. Thus selecting favourite objects, and veiling deformities by screens of plantation; sometimes allowing the rudest waste to add its foil to the richest theatre, he realized the compositions of the greatest masters in painting. 6 Lancelot "Capability" Brown (1715-1783), perhaps the most famous landscapist of the century, improved on Kent's aims and reduced the new irregular landscaping to a system of his own by emphasizing clumps and belts of trees and lakes in an otherwise close-shaven terrain. 7 Throughout the second half of the century, especially in the works of William Shenstone, 8 Horace Walpole, 9 William Chambers, 10 and Thomas Whately, 11 interest in landscape gardening remained undiminished. The aesthetics of eighteenth-century English gardening is unique in that many of its basic ideas came from landscape painting. Landscape gardeners claimed that their surest guide was the painter. "All gardening is landscape painting", Pope said. 12 Gardeners attempted to beautify the countryside by smoothing it out, and forming serpentine rivers and lakes, planting clumps of trees at well-proportioned intervals, and placing a Grecian temple or monument at the end of a vista.

6 Anecdotes of Painting (Strawberry Hill, 1762-71), IV, 138. 7 Brown, unlike most other i m p o r t a n t eighteenth-century landscapists, did n o t put his theories into print. F o r a thorough study of his life and gardening principles, see Dorothy Stroud, Capability Brown ( L o n d o n , 1950). 8 Shenstone did not write an elaborate treatise on the subject of landscape gardening, b u t his " U n c o n n e c t e d Thoughts on G a r d e n i n g " in Works in Prose and Verse ( L o n d o n , 1764), II, 125-147, does contain his general principles. Shenstone was o n e of the most widely k n o w n amateurs in landscape gardening. There is an informative section on his gardening activities at his estate, t h e Leasowes, in E. Monro Purkis, William Shenstone, Poet and Landscape Gardener (Wolverhampton, 1931), pp. 63-74. 9 See his "History of t h e Modern Taste in G a r d e n i n g " in Anecdotes of Painting, IV, 117-151. 10 See his mock-serious Dissertation on Oriental Gardening (London, 1772), which ridiculed Brown. 11 See his Observations on Modern Gardening ( L o n d o n , 1770). 12 Q u o t e d in Joseph Spence, Anecdotes, Observations and Characters, of Books and Men, ed. Samuel Weller Singer ( L o n d o n , 1820), p. 144.

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In short, the aim had often been to reproduce a painting, thereby making the landscape more picturesque. 13 The picturesque habit of viewing nature meant that it was seen pictorially, that is, as a series of well-composed subjects such as had appeared in the landscape paintings of Salvator Rosa, Claude Lorraine, and Gaspar Poussin. Walpole is describing nature in picturesque terms when he writes: In the mean time how rich, how gay, how picturesque the face of the country! The demolition of walls laying open each improvement, every journey is made through a succession of pictures; and even where taste is wanting in the spot improved, the general view is embellished by variety. 14 One of the first Englishmen to view nature in this way was Thomas Herring, who wrote the following in 1738 while traveling through Wales: We turned into a village, with a neat church and houses, which stood just at the entrance of a deep valley; the rocks rose high and near, at each hand of us, but were, on one side, covered with a fine turf, full of sheep and goats, and grazing herds; and, on the other, varied with patches of yellow corn, and spots of wood, and here and there a great piece of a bare rock projecting. At our feet ran a stream, clear and chrystal, but large and foaming, over vast stones rudely thrown together, on unequal magnitudes, and over it a wooden bridge, which could scarce be said to be made by the hands of art; and, as it was the evening, the hinds appeared, in many parts of the scene, returning home with pails upon their heads. I proceeded in this agreeable place, til our prospect was closed, though much illuminated, by a prodigious cataract from a mountain, that did, as it were, shut the valley. All these images together put me in mind of Poussin's drawings, and made me fancy myself in Savoy, at least, if not nearer Rome. 1 5

13 For a discussion of the origin of the word "picturesque", see Elizabeth Manwaring, Italian Landscape in Eighteenth Century England, pp. 167-169. For a fuller treatment of the word, see Paul Frankl, The Gothic: Literary Sources and Interpretations through Eight Centuries (Princeton, 1961), pp. 428-435. As important as the word was in the eighteenth century, Samuel Johnson did not include it in his Dictionary, 14 Anecdotes of Painting, IV, 148. is Letters. . .to William Duncombe (London, 1777), pp. 41-42.

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By mid-century the practice of viewing nature pictorially was rather common. Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu, leader of the Blues, wrote in 1754: We drank tea yesterday in the most beautiful rural scene that can be imagined, which Mr. Pitt had discovered in his morning's ride . . . . He ordered a tent to be pitched, tea to be prepared, and his French horn to breathe music like the unseen genius of the wood. The company dined with us; and we set out, number eight. After tea we rambled about for an hour, seeing several views, some wild as Salvator Rosa, others placid, and with the setting sun, worthy of Claude Lorraine. 16 Toward the end of the century, a split developed between those who were most interested in the theory and those most interested in the practice of landscape gardening. Some, like Knight, advocated landscape painting as a model for gardening; others, following "Capability" Brown, preferred to imitate his shaven lawns and woody clumps. In the year 1794, Payne Knight, Uvedale Price, and Humphry Repton started what proved to be a lengthy dispute among themselves over the aesthetics of landscape gardening. 17 Both Price and Knight were amateur gardeners. Price's estate at Foxley in Herefordshire was in close proximity to Downton, and the two theorists undoubtedly conversed frequently on the subject of landscape gardening. That the two were well acquainted with each other's views on landscape gardening can be seen by the following remark of Price's: I had mentioned to Mr. Knight that I had written some papers on the present style of improvement, but that I despaired of ever getting them ready for the press; though I was very anxious that the absurdities of that style [i.e., Brown's style of gardening] should be exposed. Upon this he conceived the idea of a poem on the same subject; and having all his materials arranged in his mind, from that activity and perseverance which so strongly marks his character, he never delayed or abandoned the execution, till the whole was completed. When it was nearly finished, he wrote to me to propose, what I consider as the highest possible compliment, and the strongest mark of confidence in my taste,—that my papers (when properly modelled) should be 16 The Letters of Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu, 2nd ed. (London, 1809), III, 315-316. 17 The fullest treatment of this controversy is to be found in Walter John Hippie, Jr., The Beautiful, the Sublime, & the Picturesque (Carbondale, 1957), pp. 238-283.

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p u b l i s h e d w i t h his p o e m , in t h e same m a n n e r as Sir Joshua R e y n o l d s ' s n o t e s were published w i t h Mr. Mason's Du F r e s n o y . This proposal, could it have b e e n m a d e at an earlier period, I s h o u l d have a c c e p t e d w i t h pride; b u t m y work had then t a k e n t o o m u c h o f a f o r m and character o f its o w n t o b e i n c o r p o r a t e d w i t h a n y thing else; f o r indeed a l m o s t t h e w h o l e o f w h a t I have n o w published had b e e n written s o m e t i m e b e f o r e . 1 8 H u m p h r y R e p t o n , the third party in the dispute, unlike K n i g h t and Price, w a s a professional l a n d s c a p i s t 1 9 and at this t i m e p r o b a b l y the m o s t f a m o u s in E n g l a n d . 2 0 He had h a d n u m e r o u s talks o n the subject of

gardening w i t h Knight and P r i c e 2 1

b u t unlike

them

stressed

c o n v e n i e n c e and utility in landscaping at t h e e x p e n s e o f picturesqueness.22 T o forestall a work in progress b y R e p t o n , Sketches Landscape

Gardening,

and Hints

in d e f e n s e o f their views. Early in 1 7 9 4 appeared Knight's The scape,

23

on

Knight and Price c o n c u r r e n t l y p u b l i s h e d w o r k s Land-

a l o n g p o e m in three b o o k s , e a c h o f w h i c h c o n t a i n e d over

f o u r h u n d r e d lines. In B o o k s I and II, h e presents his t h e o r i e s o n 18 An Essay on the Picturesque (London, 1794), pp. iv-v. 19 By 1794, landscape gardening had become another profession or trade. An anonymous reviewer noted that "landscape-gardening is become a distinct science, having its appropriate practical professors, who undertake the formation and improvement of grounds; and who generally follow, or pretend to follow, the system or style of the late Mr. commonly called, Capability Brown. That gentleman stands at the head of this modern art, and to his genius and taste many enchanting scenes in this country owe much of their beauty." Monthly Review, New Ser., XVIII (1795), 62. Repton invented for himself the title of "landscape gardener". See The Landscape Gardening and Landscape Architecture of the Late Humphry Repton, ed. John C. Loudon (London, 1840), p. 28. Hereafter cited as Works. 20 Repton's first important work in landscape improvement was at Cobham in Kent. He laid out Russell Square in Bloomsbury and altered Kensington Gardens. DNB, XVI, 915. 21 See Works, p. 95. 22 "I have discovered that utility must often take the lead of beauty, and convenience be prefered to picturesque effect, in the neighbourhood of man's habitation." Ibid., p. 99. 23 The Landscape was probably published in January or February, since a letter by William Mason t o Horace Walpole, dated March 6, indicates that by that time it was in print and well known. See The Yale Edition of Horace Walpole's Correspondence, Vol. XXIX, ed. W. S. Lewis, Grover Cronin, J r . , and Charles H. Bennett (New Haven, 1955), p. 366.

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landscape gardening as well as his objections to Brown and his followers such as Repton. In Book III, which is, at best, loosely joined to the previous two, he discusses the use of trees in gardening and includes a long note on the French Revolution. A few months after the publication of The Landscape, Price published the first volume of Essays on the Picturesque. 24 Price had found Edmund Burke's categories of the Beautiful and the Sublime, postulated thirty-eight years before, to be inadequate in explaining all that gave pleasure to man. Burke had said that the Beautiful was characterized by the smooth and gentle, 25 the Sublime by the vast and obscure. 26 In his Essays on the Picturesque, Price claimed that there was an intermediate grade in which objects that were neither Beautiful nor Sublime gave pleasure by their irregular details, coarse textures, and shadowy chiaroscuro. This, he said, was the source of the Picturesque. 27 His thesis was that the Picturesque should be studied with constant reference to the landscape masters, rather than to other gardeners, since it was not to be found in the parks of Repton and Brown with their monotonous and merely Beautiful smoothness. 28 Judging by the remarks of Uvedale Price in the Preface to his Essays on the Picturesque, The Landscape enjoyed considerable popularity: This unfinished work (and such I fear it is in every respect) I did not intend publishing till it was more complete, and till I had endeavoured, at least, to render it more worthy the public inspection. I have, however, been induced to send it into the world earlier than I wished, from the general curiosity which my friend Mr. Knight's poem has awakened on the subject. 29 The Monthly Review, which was consistently pro Repton, disagreed:

24 London, 1794. 25 See A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, ed. J. T. Boulton (London, 1958), pp. 114-116. 26 Ibid., pp. 57-59. 27 "The two opposite qualities of roughness and of sudden variation, joined to that of irregularity, are the most efficient causes of the picturesque." Essays on the Picturesque, (London, 1810), I, 50. 28 Ibid., pp. 2-3. 29 An Essay on the Picturesque, p. iii.

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We cannot but differ somewhat from Mr. Price, respecting his idea of the success of Mr. K's poem. We, on the contrary, have some apprehension that, so far from having excited the general curiosity, there seems reason to conclude that no work of equal poetic merit has, for many years past, less engaged the public mind: a fact which, if it be established, will furnish a proof that the subject matter of it is not suitable to the general taste; and hence it may be inferred that Mr. P's motive for abruptly drawing forth his reserved forces is so far from being, as we are indirectly led to understand, that of sharing in the victory, that he has evidently hastened to the field for the purpose of preventing the defeat of his ingenious and spirited ally. 30 In light of the many references to Knight's poem and to Price's essay, it would seem that both works were indeed well known. At Crewe Hall, whose owner was a client of Repton's, Mrs. Crewe recorded that Edmund Burke objected to the assertion that nature should be viewed chiefly in a picturesque light and judged by works of art. She noted that Burke admired many parts of Mr. Price's book, and thought both he and Mr. Knight often discovered much genius in their observations, though like most system-mongers they had pursued their theories to a dangerous length . . . . 3 1 On August 31, 1794, Joseph Farington recorded that a Dr. Matthews "thinks very moderately of Mr. Knights [sic] [The Landscape]".32 On March 16, 1794, William Mason had written to George Simon Harcourt: " I t seems the town is busy in reading a didactic poem on landscape, and Stonehewer tells me that Lord Orford has censured it in his best epigrammatic manner." 3 3 That same month Harcourt wrote to Mason: Lord Orford has been very ill, and the gout affected his spirits more, I am told, than ever it had done before, but now he is nearly well again. I have seen him but once, though I am no longer ill at that court, and of course he talked to me of Mr. Knight's poem, which is indeed a poor, yet pompous nothing, and I am quite vain, that without ever having seen him, or heard what he had said about it, I should have stumbled upon the very same expressions when I returned it to the 30 NewSer., XVI, (1795), 316. 31 "Extracts from Mr. Burke's Table Talk at Crewe Hall," Miscellanies of the Philobiblon Society, VI (1862-63), 42-43. The poem was undoubtedly popular since a second edition was published in 1795. 32 1,68-69. 33 Walpole's Correspondence, Vol. XXIX, p. 366.

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person w h o lent it to me, n a m e l y , that, it was a didactic poem -without poetry and which taught nothing. There is but a small part o f this unpoetical p o e m w h i c h treats of the subject y o u e x p e c t f r o m its title, and that little is sufficient t o show that he d o e s n o t understand it. The abuse of Brown is as coarse and illiberal as it is cruel and unjust. 3 4 34 Ibid. Judging by this letter from Harcourt, Mason was clearly referring to The Landscape in his letter of March 6. Furthermore, Mason was so annoyed by the publications of Knight and Price that he attacked them in two sonnets: Sonnet XI Occasioned by A LATE ATTACK ON THE PRESENT TASTE OF ENGLISH GARDENS When two Arcadian squires in rhyme and prose Prick'd forth to spout that dilettanti lore Their Ciceronis long had threadbare wore, Taste from his polish'd lawn indignant rose, And cry'd, "as Pedants arc true Learning's foes, So, when true Genius ventures to restore To Nature, scenes that Fashion marr'd before, These travell'd Cognoscenti interpose And prate of Picturesqueness,-Let them prate While to my genuine Votaries I assign The pleasing task from her too rustic state To lead the willing Goddess; to refine, But not transform, her charms, and at her shrine Bid Use with Elegance obsequious wait." Sonnet XII TO A GRAVEL WALK, RELATIVE TO THE PRECEDING SUBJECT. Smooth, simple Path! whose undulating line, With sidelong tufts of flow'ry fragrance crown'd, "Plain in its neatness," spans my garden ground; What, though two acres thy brief course confine, Yet sun and shade, and hill and dale are thine, And use with beauty here more surely found, Than where, to spread the picturesque around, Cart ruts and quarry holes their charms combine! Here, as thou lead'st my step through lawn or grove, Liberal though limited, restrain'd though free, Fearless of dew, or dirt, or dust, I rove, And own those comforts, all deriv'd from thee! Take then, smooth Path, this tribute of my love, Thou emblem pure of legal liberty! The Works of William Mason (London, 1811), I, 132-133.

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The Critical Review, while generally favorably inclined toward the poem, pointed out some of its defects: We think Mr. Knight has attacked successfully enough the weak side of the present mode of gardening. His verse is free and spirited, though often careless,-his descriptions lively, and his remarks for the most part founded on taste: but, as a didactic poem, his work is very deficient, and at the same time redundant, for the digressions are frequent, and form near half the poem. 35 The Monthly Review denounced Knight for attacking Repton's book on gardening before it appeared in print and forewarned its readers against being seduced by the arguments in the poem and its attractive layout: By the title of Mr. K's poem, we were led to expect some practical ideas on the subject of picturesque beauty, either as it arises from the magic colours of the landscape-painter, or from the more substantial materials of landscape itself; and sorry were we to find it little more than a satire pointed at the modern style of English gardening. Part of the poet's intention appears to be an ill-timed, and therefore, we conceive, an unwarrantable attack on a work which is not yet published,— the work, too, of a professional man; and while subscriptions for it, we understand, are still depending. This, however, is a matter which Mr. Knight and Mr. Repton, or their seconds, of whatever profession, must settle. All that we shall attempt will be to guard our readers against the fascinating charms which otherwise might chance to flow from the triple refulgence of poetry, fine paper, and fashionable printing, and so save them frorr. being hurried away, by a wild poet, into the dear sequestered shades of Siberia', or (strange incongruity!) decoyed into the labyrinth of a Dutchman's garden: either extreme being, in this gentleman's opinion, more tolerable than the grounds at Blenheim, at Stowe, or at Burleigh. 36 William Marshall, a practitioner of and writer on landscape gardening, 37 reviewed Knight's The Landscape and Price's Essays on the Picturesque together in one volume, and like the Monthly Review was solicitous for readers who might be ensnared by Knight's arguments and by the pleasing appearance of the poem:

35 36 37

New Ser., XIV (1795), 316. New. Ser., XIV (1794), 78. DNB, XII, 1136-37.

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It is proper to be understood, that the Reviewer of these Works has no other knowledge of their Authors, than what is furnished by the works themselves; which, considered abstractly as literary compositions, are entitled t o high respect: it would be difficult for him to say, which of them, as such, has the greater share of his approbation; and equally difficult would it be in him t o decide, which of them, as such, is most calculated t o give the imposing form of Falshood [sic] the fair semblance of Truth: a circumstance which, more than any other, determined him to proceed in the analysis of them, and to publish the result of his inquiries; for there are readers who find it more convenient to judge from dress and outward appearances, than to examine into the rubbish and rottenness which may be hid beneath them; and, to such readers at least, this Analysis, imperfect as it may be, will have its use. 38 Repton, too, admitted that Knight's arguments were seductive: At the time my former publication was in the press, the Art of Landscape Gardening was attacked by two gentlemen, Mr. Knight, of Herefordshire, and Mr. Price of Shropshire; and I retarded its publication till I could take some notice of the opinions of these formidable, because ingenius, opponents. 3 9 Mathias, who had heaped obloquy on The Worship of Priapus, disliked The Landscape:

40

also

With Price and Knight grounds by neglect improve, And banish use, for naked Nature's love, Lakes, forests, rivers, in one landscape drawn, My park, a county, and a heath, my lawn . . . 4 1 But the most vituperative attack on the poem appeared in A Sketch from the Landscape in which the anonymous author at times parodied Knight's work almost line for line. At one point he somewhat obscenely alluded t o Knight's The Worship of Priapus while attacking his views on landscape gardening: Triumphant Knight! to give thy name A passport to immortal fame, What shall the grateful world agree on? 38 39 40 41

A Review of The Landscape (London, 1795), pp. vii-viii. Works, p. 220. See The Pursuits of Literature, 3rd ed. rev. (London, 1797), pp. 10, 20-21. Ibid., pp. 7-8.

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Thy statue of Colossal size, In ductile yew, shall nobly rise(Think not thy modesty shall 'scape us) The God of Gardens thou shalt stand, A huge and terrible Priapus. 42 In this controversial poem, Knight attempts to change the current taste in landscape gardening by enunciating certain broad principles rather than by presenting a formal system of aesthetics. In trying to alter taste, he vigorously and repeatedly attacks "Capability" Brown and his followers, including Humphry Repton, and in so doing often presents arguments that Price employed in his Essays on the Picturesque. Price did not deny that his and Knight's ideas were similar: I flatter myself, however, that though my plan is totally different from his, and though in some particulars we may not exactly agree, yet the general tendency is so much the same, and our notions of improvement are upon the whole so similar, that my work may, in many points, serve as a commentary upon his; and I cannot wish it a more honourable employment. 43 The influence that Price had on Knight is made clear at the beginning by Knight's dedication of the poem to him and the asking for his assistance in the invocation: How best to bid the verdant Landscape rise, To please the fancy, and delight the eyes; Its various parts in harmony to join With art clandestine, and conceal'd design; T'adorn, arrange;-to sep'rate, and select With secret skill, and counterfeit neglect; I sing. Do thou, Ο Price, the song attend; 42 London, 1794, pp. 13-14. The British Museum Catalogue indicates that John Matthews was the author, although his name did not appear on the title page. George W. Johnson states that it was believed to have been written by William Mason. See A History of English Gardening (London, 1829), p. 256. This book, incidentally, is dedicated to Knight's brother, Thomas Andrew. 43 An Essay on the Picturesque, p. v. William Marshall said that The Landscape appeared " t o have grown out of the Essay on the Picturesk". A Review of the Landscape, p. 1. The Critical Review also noticed Knight's indebtedness to Price: " T h e Landscape is dedicated to Mr. Uvedale Price, from whose publication on the same subject the ideas are mostly taken." 2nd Ser., XIV (1795), 319.

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Instruct the poet, and assist the friend: Teach him plain truth in numbers to express, And shew its charms through fiction's flow'ry dress. 44 Knight next announces the purpose of the poem, to change what he considers the decadent taste in gardening 4 5 and begins the attack on Brown and his followers in which he will try to cure or kill that strange disease, Which gives deformity the pow'r to please; And shews poor Nature, shaven and defac'd, To gratify the jaundic'd eye of taste. 4 6 What Knight dislikes about the followers of Brown is what he considers to be their insipid landscapes from which had been removed all mystery and intricacy. Everything, he thinks, had been reduced to a dull smoothness: See yon fantastic band, With charts, pedometers, and rules in hand, Advance triumphant, and alike lay waste The forms of nature, and the works of taste! T'improve, adorn, and polish, they profess; But shave the goddess, whom they come to dress; Level each broken bank and shaggy mound, And fashion all to one unvaried round; One even round, that ever gently flows, Nor forms abrupt, nor broken colours knows; But, wrapt all o'er in everlasting green, Makes one dull, vapid, smooth, and tranquil scene. Arise, great poet, and again deplore The fav'rite reeds that deck'd thy Mincius' shore! Protect the branches, that in Haemus shed Their grateful shadows o'er thy aching head; 44 45

The Landscape, Bk. I, 11. 1-10. Knight frequently attacks the prevailing taste in gardening. For example: Dear peaceful scenes, that now prevail no more, Your loss shall ev'ry weeping muse deplore! Your poet, too, in one dear favour'd spot, Shall shew your beauties are not quite forgot; Protect from all the sacrilegious waste Of false improvement, and pretended taste . . . Ibid., Bk. I, 11. 299-304. 46 Ibid., 11. 17-20.

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Shav'd to the brink, our brooks are taught to flow Where no obtruding leaves or branches grow; While clumps of shrubs bespot each winding vale, Open alike to ev'ry gleam and gale; Each secret haunt, and deep recess display'd, And intricacy banish'd with its shade. 4 7 Knight is occasionally less than decorous in his attack on Brown: Hence, hence! thou haggard fiend, however call'd, Thin, meagre genius of the bare and bald; Thy spade and mattock here at length lay down, And follow to the tomb thy fav'rite Brown: Thy fav'rite Brown, whose innovating hand First dealt thy curses o'er this fertile land . . . 4 8 Knight argues that the reason for the vapid landscapes of Brown and his followers was that, whereas originally they had stood in revolt against the formality of the seventeenth-century French garden, they in turn succumbed to a new type of formality of their own in their application of Hogarth's serpentine line of B e a u t y 4 9 which, Knight implies, was just as formal and unnatural as the mathematically precise layout of Versailles: Nature in all rejects the pendant's chain; Which binding beauty in its waving line, Destroys the charm it vainly would define; For nature still irregular and free, Acts not by lines, but gen'ral sympathy. The path that moves in even serpentine, Is still less nat'ral than the painted line . . . 5 0 47 Ibid., 11. 261-282. 48 Ibid., 11. 283-288. The Monthly Review stated that these lines "lead us to suspect some intervals of poetic derangement:-the phantoms which they strive to censure have surely no other existence than in the poet's wild imagination". New Ser., XIV (1794), 79. Later, while defending Brown, the Monthly Review conceded that "the Brownists, in their style of rural ornament, are getting into a smoothness, tameness, and monotony in works on an extensive scale, which, though not so disgusting as the old clipped garden, are always offensive to pure taste". New Ser., XVIII (1795), p. 64. 49 See William Hogarth, The Analysis of Beauty (London, 1753), Chapter x, "Of Composition with the Serpentine-Line", pp. 50-67. so The Landscape, Bk. I, 11. 140-146. Price more clearly explained this in Essays on the Picturesque: Formerly, every thing was in squares and parallelo-

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Knight includes H u m p h r y R e p t o n in the group o f B r o w n ' s f o l l o w e r s w h o m he attacks and in a l o n g f o o t n o t e ridicules w h a t h e considers R e p t o n ' s a f f e c t e d and corrupt taste and his willingness t o p a m p e r his w e a l t h y clients: Mr. R e p t o n , in his plan f o r improving T a t t o n park, in Cheshire, w i t h w h i c h h e m e a n s t o favour the public in t h e general collect i o n o f his w o r k s , and in w h i c h he has p r o f e s s e d l y detailed t h e principles o f his art, suggests m a n y e x p e d i e n t s f o r shewing the e x t e n t o f p r o p e r t y , and a m o n g o t h e r s , that o f placing the f a m i l y arms u p o n t h e neighbouring m i l e s t o n e s ; but as d i f f i c u l t i e s might arise a m o n g t h e trustees o f the turnpikes, w h o might each wish t o have his o w n arms o n s o m e particular s t o n e , I flatter m y s e l f that the more direct and explicit m e a n s o f gratifying pursep r o u d vanity w h i c h I here p r o p o s e , m a y n o t b e t h o u g h t unw o r t h y o f the a t t e n t i o n o f t h o s e improvers, w h o m a k e this gratification the object of their labours. 5 1

grams; now every thing is in segments of circles, and ellipses: the formality still remains; the character of that formality alone is changed. The old canal, for instance, has lost, indeed, its straightness and its angles; but it is become regular serpentine, and the edges remain as naked and as uniform as before; avenues, vistas, and strait ridings through woods, are exchanged, for clumps, belts, and circular roads and plantations of every kind: strait alleys in gardens, and the platform of the old terrace, for the curves of the gravel walk." (I, 230-231). si The Landscape, Bk. I, 1. 159n. That Repton was more "practical" than Knight can be seen in his following remark: "Fashion is neither to be directly opposed nor imperiously guided, either by the theory of authors, or the practice of professors. I have occasionally ventured to deliver my opinion freely in theory, but in my practice I have often feared to give offence, by opposing the taste of others, since it is equally dangerous to doubt a man's taste as his understanding." Works, p. 352. Repeatedly, writers censured Knight for his "impractical" views. Evidently, the eighteenth-century gentleman was unwilling to sacrifice convenience for picturesqueness. The Monthly Review, New Ser., XVIII (1795), 65-66, noted: "Mr. Knight, if we may judge from his poem and copper-plate annexed, is averse from dressed scenery even near the mansion, and would have us suppose that he prefers a bridge, which can be of no use except for a peasant to clamber over, to one capable of sustaining a carriage: but the resident in such a dwelling, as his plate exhibits, would not be satisfied with having no other approach than over such a misshapen thing as Mr. K's threelegged tumble-down-dick bridge, nor would he choose to have his house picturesqued into gloom and dampness. In the first place, the beauty of utility must be studied, nor must comfort be sacrificed to make scenery which the landscape painter would wish to transfer to his canvas. Who would live in a ruin, and suffer the surrounding trees to grow in at the windows, and to blend their foliage with

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Knight also dislikes Repton because the latter was unwilling t o admit the didactic value that landscape painting had for gardening. Said Repton: The author of the poem [i.e., The Landscape] appears to forget that a dwelling-house is an object of comfort and convenience for the purposes of habitation; and not merely the frame to a landscape, or the foreground of a rural picture. 5 2 The question of the relationship between landscape gardening and landscape painting had been raised several decades earlier by William Shenstone: "Landskip should contain variety enough· to f o r m a picture u p o n canvas; and this is no bad test, as I think the landskip painter is the gardener's best designer." 5 3 Knight concurred with this view and in describing what constitutes a pleasing landscape makes use of terminology from the visual arts and refers to the masters of picturesque painting: To make the Landscape grateful to the sight, Three points of distance always should unite; And howsoe'er the view may be confin'd, Three mark'd divisions we shall always find: Not more, where Claude extends his prospect wide, O'er Rome's Campania to the Tyrrhene tide, (Where tow'rs and temples, mould'ring to decay, In pearly air appear to die away, And the soft distance, melting f r o m the eye, Dissolves its forms into the azure sky), Than where, confin'd to some sequester'd rill, Meek Hobbema presents the village mill: — Not more, where great Salvator's mountains rise, And hide their craggy summits in the skies; While tow'ring clouds in whirling eddies roll, And bursting thunders seem to shake the pole; Than in the ivy'd cottage of Ostade, Waterloe's copse, or Rhysdael's low cascade. Though o f t oerlook'd, the parts which are most near Are ever f o u n d of most importance here; the broken fragments, because such a combination would make a beautiful picture? "

52 53 129.

Works, p. 99. "Unconnected Thoughts on Gardening" in Works in Prose and Verse, II,

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For though in nature oft the wand'ring eye Roams to the distant fields, and skirts the sky, Where curiosity its look invites, And space, not beauty, spreads out its delights; Yet in the picture all delusions fly, And nature's genuine charms we there descry; The composition rang'd in order true, Brings every object fairly to the view; And, as the field of vision is confin'd, Shews all its parts collected to the mind. Hence let us learn, in real scenes, to trace The true ingredients of the painter's grace; To lop redundant parts, the coarse refine, Open the crowded, and the scanty join. 54 The question arises: Are the well-ordered landscapes of Brown lacking in congruity? Evidently, Knight feels that incongruity has resulted from Brown's rigid application of certain broad principles of gardening: Curse on thy pedant jargon, that defines Beauty's unbounded forms to given lines! With scorn eternal mark the cautious fool, Who dares not judge till he consults his rule! Who, when strong passions shake the actor's frame, And all his soul has catch'd the Poet's flame, Thinks but of rhetoric's phlegmatic laws, And with his stop-watch measures ev'ry pause: Or when, Salvator, from his daring hand Appears, in burnish'd arms, some savage b a n d , Each figure boldly pressing into life, And breathing blood, calamity, and strife; Should coldly measure each component part, And judge thy genius by a surgeon's art: Or else, where Rembrandt, through some darken'd room Spreads his soft tints, and animates the gloom, Refuse t'admire the sweetly blended light, Till some optician had pronounc'd it right. Such formal coxcombs let us still defy, And dare be pleas'd, although we know not why. 55 Brown frequently had left the mansion standing in the middle of an 54 55

The Landscape, Bk. I, 11. 227-260. Ibid., 11. 79-98.

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extensive lawn from which he had stripped all but a few trees. This struck Knight as being incongruous; the mansion should be mixed and blended, ever let it be A mere component part of what you see. For if in solitary pride it stand, 'Tis but a lump, encumbering the land, A load of inert matter, cold and dead, Th' excrescence of the lawns that round it spread. 5 6 Knight dramatically presents his view of how a picturesque landscape should appear by including in the first book two etchings facing each other so that the reader might compare t h e m . 5 7 One depicts a landscape stylistically similar to Brown's. In the distance is an eighteenthcentury mansion on an undulating lawn on which grow a few carefully placed trees. The middle ground shows two Oriental bridges spanning a serpentine stream which is bordered by a carefully manicured lawn. In the foreground are several well-cared-for trees. Facing this is an etching of a mansion situated on the same terrain but which is barely recognizable as such. The mansion is Elizabethan; the lawn is broken by balustrades, terraces, and heavy shrubbery; the bridge, which is rustic and quaint, spans a stream bordered by weeds and shrubs. 5 8 In the foreground can be seen heavy undergrowth and untrimmed trees. This scene seems quite picturesque and was perhaps painted at Downton. 59 Knight here is not as unconventional as it at first might seem, 56 Ibid., 11. 219-224. Repton agreed with Knight on this point: "The baldness and nakedness round the house is part of the same mistaken system, of conceding fences to gain extent. A palace, or even an elegant villa, in a grass field, appears to me incongruous; yet I have seldom had sufficient influence to correct this common error." Works, p. 127. 57 See PI. 1 and 2. The two sketches are by Thomas Heame. 58 Interestingly enough, Knight himself is accused of affectation here: "His trussel bridge (apparently copied from Wheatley) may suit with his place; being in character in rustic recluse spots; but become mere bantlings of affectation, when mixed with the ornamented scenery, which ought to surround the architectural ornaments of a modern-built house: just as absurd as it would be in a woman, otherwise well-dressed, to appear in company with a coarse hempen apron, a rough woollen cloak, or a pair of wooden shoes." Marshall, pp. 23-24. Repton, too, thought the bridge to be an affectation: It "looks like the miserable expedient of poverty, or a ridiculous affectation of rural simplicity." Works, pp. 101-102n. The bridge was copied from one at Downton. See Hippie, p. 249. 59 A series of water colors of Downton by Heame is at Downton Castle. See Pevsner, "Richard Payne Knight", Art Bulletin, XXXI (1949), 302.

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and it would be erroneous to infer that he has broken with essential eighteenth-century attitudes. The etching shows n o t a medieval castle but an Elizabethan or Renaissance building with balustrades and terraces. Furthermore, although its setting is "natural" and seemingly untamed, the scenery has been improved according t o Knight's principles. Knight liked wild scenery, 6 0 but he was not a believer in unimproved nature and actually advocated congruous, improved landscape. 61 The Landscape, then, must be seen in an eighteenth-century context. The long footnotes, the heroic couplets, and above all, the reverential attitude toward Greece, 6 2 make the poem somewhat oldfashioned. In Book II of The Landscape, Knight is less concerned with attacking Brown, whom he had discredited in Book I, than with criticizing the modern taste in gardening that had been shaped by him, a taste whose ornamentation Knight sees as meretricious and effeminate. Knight seems to desire a landscape which is more natural, less deliberately contrived, than one improved by Brown or his followers. If, says Knight, one should be fortunate enough to possess an unspoiled, sequestered estate, let no servile copyist appear To plant his paltry imitations here; To shew poor Baalbec dwindled to the eye, And Paestum's fanes with columns six feet high! With urns and cenotaphs our vallies fill, And bristle o'er with obelisks the hill! Such buildings English nature must reject, And claim from art t h ' appearance of neglect: No decoration should we introduce, That has not first been nat'raliz'd by use; And at the present, or some distant time, 60 For example, see The Landscape, Bk. I, 11. 53-56. 61 See above, ρ . 70. 62 For example: "The state of society in Greece was such that it afforded the artist the advantages of savage, joined to those of civilized life; and in the games and public exercises, exhibited the most perfect models of strength and agility in men of high rank and liberal education, whose elevation of mind gave a dignity of expression to every act and gesture of their bodies." The Landscape, Bk. I, l , 5 7 n .

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Become familiar to the soil and clime: For as the cunning nymph, with giddy care And wanton wiles, conceals her study'd air; And each acquired grace of fashion tries To hide in nature's negligent disguise; While with unseen design and cover'd art She charms the sense and plays around the heart: So ev'ry pleasing object more will please, As less th' observer its intention sees; But thinks it form'd for use, and plac'd by chance Within the limits of his transient glance. 63 As in Book I, his advocacy of "counterfeit neglect" reveals his reaction against the type of landscape that was t o o obviously planned, t o o professionally ordered. Knight, it must be remembered, was a landed gentleman who prided himself on being an amateur landscapist as opposed to a professional like Humphry Repton. Knight felt that the landscape garden had become t o o cluttered with ornamentation and had fallen under the hand of the professional improver. His animosity toward Brown and Repton appears in part due to his class consciousness. Knight had inherited his large estate and was independently wealthy, whereas these two men were of a lower class. 6 4 Since, unlike Knight, they were professional rather than amateur landscapists, they were, in Knight's view, men of trade, and he looked condescendingly on them. Speaking of himself in the Advertisement to the second edition of The Landscape, he writes: Misrepresentation and abuse he of course expected, when he presumed to attack a system of public embellishment, so lucrative to those who make a trade of it; for he was not unacquainted with the sympathy that exists between mercantile improvers and mercantile writers. 6 5 Knight sees the current taste in gardening as lacking vigor. Those who try to improve a barren mountain t o p by planting trees will find that Nature herself the rash design withstands, And guards her wilds from innovating hands; 63 The Landscape, Bk. II, 11. 276-297. 64 Brown "was originally a kitchen gardener in the employment of Lord Cobham at Stow". DNB, III, 22. For a brief sketch of Repton's life, see DNB, XVI, 914-916. 65 2nd ed. (London, 1795), p. vi.

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Which, if successful, only would disgrace Her giant limbs with fripp'ry, fringe, and lace. 66 The Chinese bridge used in gardening is also seen as lacking strength: But false refinement vainly strives to please, With the thin, fragile bridge of the Chinese; Light and fantastical, yet stiff and prim, The child of barren fancy turn'd to whim . . , 67 The landscapist should make use of that which Nature herself has supplied, even if it may not initially seem pleasing: The quarry long neglected, and o'ergrown With thorns, that hang o'er mould'ring beds of stone, May oft the place of nat'ral rocks supply, And frame the verdant picture to the eye; Or, closing round the solitary seat, Charm with the simple scene of calm retreat. Large stems of trees, and branches spreading wide, May oft adorn the scenes which they divide; For pond'rous masses, and deep shadows near Will shew the distant scene more bright and clear; And forms distinctly mark'd, at once supply A scale of magnitude and harmony . . , 68 For those improvers who would rob the scenery of that which is wild, untamed, and interesting, Knight has nothing but scorn: Break their fell scythes, that would these beauties shave And sink their iron rollers in the wave! Your favourite plants, and native haunts protect, In wild obscurity, and rude neglect; Or teach proud man his labour to employ To form and decorate, and not destroy; Teach him to place, and not remove the stone On yonder bank, with moss and fern o'ergrown; To cherish, not mow down, the weeds that creep 66 The Landscape, Bk. II, 11. 95-98. 67 Ibid., 11. 216-219. 68 Ibid., 11. 234-245. Repton ridiculed these lines as revealing Knight's impracticality, claiming that this scene is "ill adapted to the residence of man. The quarry long neglected may supply a home for swallows and martens. ..". Works, p. 100.

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Along the shore, or overhang the steep; To break, not level, the slow-rising ground, And guard, not cut, the fern that shades it round. 6 9 In view of Knight's predilection for a bolder, more natural landscape, it is significant that he also is attracted by the formal, intricate, seventeenth-century English garden: Oft when I've seen some lonely mansion stand, Fresh from th'improver's desolating hand, 'Midst shaven lawns, that far around it creep In one eternal undulating sweep; And scatter'd clumps, that nod at one another, Each stiffly waving to its formal brother; Tir'd with th'extensive scene, so dull and bare, To Heav'n devoutly I've address'd my pray'r, Again the moss-grown terraces to raise, And spread the labyrinth's perplexing maze; Replace in even lines the ductile yew, And plant again the ancient avenue. Some features then, at least, we should obtain, To mark this flat, insipid, waving plain; Some vary'd tints and forms would intervene, To break this uniform, eternal green. 7 0 It is in this type of garden, formal and "unnatural" as it might be, that one can find a certain vitality, variety, intricacy, and mystery which is to be preferred to the bland landscapes of Brown and his followers which are so totally lacking in vigor. Book III is a long, tedious poetic disquisition on the relationship between trees and landscaping: What trees may best adorn the mountain's brow, And spread promiscuous o'er the plains below; What, singly, lift the high-aspiring head, Or mix'd in groups, their quiv'ring shadows shed; What best in lofty groves may tow'r around, Or sculk in underwood along the ground; Or in low copses skirt the hillock's side,

69 The Landscape, Bk. II, 11. 188-199. 10 Ibid., 11. 1-16. Knight's praise of the old-fashioned garden was ridiculed by Marshall. Referring to lines 9-13, he wrote: "This we pass, as being intitled only to pity, or ridicule."/! Review of the Landscape, p. 17.

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Or form the thicket some defect to hide; I now inquire. 7 1 Although this third book does enable Knight to reveal his broad knowledge of English trees, it is tangential to landscape gardening and has little relevance to picturesque beauty. 7 2 It would seem that Knight appended it so that the poem might then be lengthy enough to be published as a book. As in Books I and II, he continues his attack, although somewhat abated, on the Brownists. Knight, like Salvator Rosa, and unlike Brown's followers, would not prune away every branch that was not in full leaf: Not that I'd banish from the sylvan scene Each bough that is not deck'd in vivid green; Or, like our prim improvers, cut away Each hoary branch that verges to decay. If years unnumber'd, or the lightning's stroke, Have bar'd the summit of the lofty oak, (Such as, to decorate some savage waste, Salvator's flying pencil often trac'd); Entire and sacred let the ruin stand, Nor fear the pruner's sacrilegious hand . . , 7 3 As opposed to Brown, Knight would plant trees in close proximity to the mansion. In this way, they would be shown to best advantage, since light from the building could be reflected on them: From buildings, too, strong refluent lights are thrown, When the sun downward shines upon the stone; Or on the windows darts its evening rays, And makes the glass with fire responsive blaze. 7 4 Again Knight mentions restoring the seventeenth-century where trees are best displayed:

garden

From the high terrace or rich balustrade; 'Midst sculptur'd founts and vases, that diffuse, 71 The Landscape, Bk. Ill, 11. 1-9. 72 Much of Knight's knowledge of trees undoubtedly was obtained from his brother, Thomas Andrew, who was President of the Horticultural Society. See DNB, XI, 264. 73

The Landscape,

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11.

Bk. Ill, 11, 25-34.

209-212.

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THE LANDSCAPE AND THE PROGRESS OF CIVIL SOCIETY In shapes fantastic, their concordant hues; Than on the swelling slopes of waving ground, That now the solitary house surround. 7 5

He then reiterates his charge that Brown's landscapes were insipid: Curse on the shrubbery's insipid scenes! Of tawdry fringe encircling vapid greens; Where incongruities so well unite, That nothing can by accident be right; Thickets that neither shade nor shelter yield; Yet from the cooling breeze the senses shield: Prim gravel walks, through which we winding go, In endless serpentines that nothing show; Till tir'd, I ask, Why this eternal round? And the pert gard'ner says, 'Tis pleasure ground. This pleasure ground\ astonish'd, I exclaim, To me Moorfields as well deserve the name·, Nay, better; for in busy scenes at least Some odd varieties the eye may feast, Something more entertaining still be seen, Than red-hot gravel, fring'd with tawdry green. 76 He sees the landscapes of Brown as analogous to political despotism, inhibiting man's growth and freedom. In the following passage it would seem that he is describing a pool of the type that Brown would have created: As the dull, stagnant pool, that's mantled o'er With the green weeds of its own muddy shore, No bright reflections on its surface shows, Nor murm'ring surge, nor foaming ripple knows; But ever peaceful, motionless, and dead, In one smooth sheet its torpid waters spread; So by oppression's iron hand confin'd, In calm and peaceful torpor sleep mankind; 75

Ibid., 11. 214-218.

76 Ibid., 11. 219-234. Concerning these lines, the Monthly Review remarked: "Now, be it known to all who set up for connoisseurs, without being acquainted with the subject on which they undertake to give didactic rules, that gravelwalks are formed for use;-chiefly for the convenience and comfort of the more tender sex, in this our cool and humid climate; and are not intended as matters of ornament, abstractly; much less, we believe, were they ever framed for the use or abuse of 'red-hot' poets, ranting under the fancied beams of a Grecian sun." New Ser., XIV (1794), 81.

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Unfelt the rays of genius, that inflame The free-born soul, and bid it pant for fame. 77 On the other hand, Knight sees his own picturesque landscaping as not unlike a political revolution which liberates man: But break the mound, and let the waters flow; Headlong and fierce their turbid currents go; Sweep down the fences, and tear up the soil; And roar along, 'midst havock, waste, and spoil; Till spent their fury:—then their moisture feeds The deep'ning verdure of the fertile meads; Bids vernal flow'rs fragrant turf adorn, And rising juices swell the wavy corn: So when rebellion breaks the despot's chain, First wasteful ruin marks the rabble's reign ; Till tir'd their fury, and their vengeance spent, One common int'rest bids their hearts relent; Then temp'rate order from confusion springs, And, fann'd by freedom, genius spreads its wings.78 Such views on landscape gardening were seen as supporting the French Revolution and therefore dangerous if not actually subversive. Anna Seward wrote in September, 1794, concerning The Landscape: Knight's system appears to me the Jacobinism of taste;—from its abusing the rational spirit of improvement, suggested by Milton in his description of the primeval garden; and realized by Brown; which uniting the utile with the dulce, has rendered Britain the Eden of Europe. Mr. Knight would have nature as well as man indulged in that uncurbed and wild luxuriance, which must soon render our landscape-island rank, weedy, damp, and unwholesome as the incultivate savannas of America. 79 Walpole, in a letter to Mason on March 22, 1796, also saw political implications in the poem: I could make fifty other objections to this pretended and ill-warranted dictator to all taste, who Jacobinically would level the purity of gardens, would as malignantly as Tom Paine or Priestley guillotine Mr. Brown . . , 80 77 78 79 80

The Landscape, Bk. III, 11. 377-386. Ibid., 11. 387-400. Letters of Anna Seward (Edinburgh, 1811), IV, 10. The Yale Edition of Horace Walpole's Correspondence,

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Regardless of his views on the French Revolution, for Knight, the free growth of a landscape garden is not unlike the free growth of an individual. His advocacy for greater freedom in gardening, therefore, cannot be separated from views which he expresses elsewhere on greater individual freedom.81 2 Two years later, Knight published The Progress of Civil Society , 82 a long didactic poem in which he shows man rising from a state of primitivism to one of complex civilization. Like numerous other eighteenth-century poems, this one was indebted to the classics, Knight having borrowed much of his subject matter from the De Rerum Natura of Lucretius. 8 3 He also borrowed from Pope's An Essay on Man. 84 The titles of the six books of the poem indicate, in a general way, how Knight plans to show the "Progress of Civil Society": I. II. III.

"Of Hunting" "Of Pasturage" "Of Agriculture"

W. S. Lewis, Grover Cronin, Jr., and Charles H. Bennett (New Haven, 1955), p. 339. As late as 1804 t h e relation between The Landscape and the French Revolution was still being discussed. See Joseph Farington, The Farington Dairy, ed. James Greig (London, 1923-28), II, 264. Entry dated July 5, 1804. 81 Concerning the influence of Knight on nineteenth-century gardening, an a n o n y m o u s reviewer stated in 1828: " T h e champions [i.e., Knight and Price] . . . succeeded in demonstrating t o a deceived public, that what had been palmed upon t h e m as nature and simplicity were only formality and affectation . . . There has been, since this controversy, that is, for these thirty years past, a considerable and marked improvement in laying out of pleasure g r o u n d s - t h e spade and shovel have been less in u s e - t h e straight-waistcoating of brooks has been less rigourously enforced; and the improvers, while talking of Nature, have not so remorselessly shut her out of doors. We believe most landscape-gardeners of the present day would take a pride in preserving scenery, which their masters of the last age would have made conscience to d e s t r o y . " He continued: " . . . the best professors of the art have tacitly adopted the more enlarged and liberal views of their art provided by t h e late Mr. Knight and Sir U. Price . . ." Quarterly Review, XXXVIII, No. 74 (1828), 317-318. 82 83 84

L o n d o n , 1796. The Progress of Civil Society, Ibid., p. vi.

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"Of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce" "Of Climate and Soil" "Of Government and Conquest"

In the Preface, Knight responds to charges that had been levelled against him because of The Worship of Priapus and answers charges which he anticipates will be made against him because of the present work. He strenuously argues that The Worship of Priapus, published ten years earlier, is not obscene. He also attempts to counter what must have been a frequent charge concerning his comments in that book, that of being anti-Christian: . . . I have never printed or written any opinion on the subject of Christianity, which I cannot prove to be consistent with the duties of a good subject, a good citizen, and a good man: I might perhaps add, of a good Christian, did I understand the meaning of the term, or know the duties which it implies; but having found, by some little reading and observation, that it has not had only a different signification in every age and country, but in the mouth of almost every individual who has used it, I will not pretend to it, till its meaning is so far determined, that I may know whether I can justly pretend to it or not. What is established by law, I respect and obey; but still, as it appears to me to be in many respects extremely different from what was calculated by the founders of Christianity, and his immediate successors, I am not certain that I can thereby claim the title of a good Christian.85 This provocative statement, so clearly revealing Knight's combative ness, drew a caustic response from the British Critic·. The disposition of the writer toward Christianity is sufficiently displayed in this passage; where, because men differ in some particulars, as they must for ever, except in matters of fact or demonstration (and sometimes even with respect t o them) he insinuates that a good Christian is a thing undefinable and unintelligible. To assist him in this difficulty (which, if it were fairly and sincerely alledged [sic], would denote a pitiable infirmity) we shall tell him, that, in spite of accidental differences, to be a good Christian is to receive the Scriptures implicitly, to interpret them honestly, and to obey them conscientiously, which, if he cannot understand, he ought not t o write books, and might as well leave off reading t h e m . 8 6 85 86

Ibid., pp. xvii-xviii. VIII (1796), 26-27.

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Knight admits that not all of the heroic couplets in the poem are conspicuously inspired: Those who are accustomed to admire the uniform glitter of the present fashionable style, both in verse and in prose, will certainly think my colouring flat and insipid; but do not let them imagine that any defects of this kind proceed from negligence or inattention . . , 87 Since the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars were very much on the minds of his readers, Knight knew that a poem like Civil Society, touching as it occasionally does on French and English politics, would be subject to criticism: At a period so awfully eventful as the present, it is impossible to treat any subject of this kind so generally, as entirely to exclude temporary illustrations and allusions; and in these, I shall probably suffer the fate which moderate and impartial men always have suffered in times of turbulence and prejudice, that of being condemned by all parties. 88 Civil Society, although not so popular as The Landscape, 89 nor as notorious as The Worship of Priapus, was evidently widely read. Several important literary personages and journals commented on it. The Critical Review, almost without reservation, recommended the poem to its readers: It is with no small satisfaction that we find Mr. Knight, after having tried his strength in vindicating rural nature [in The Landscape] from the encroachments of art, now exercising his poetical genius in a more audacious labour, and tracing and elucidating the progress of civil society. In a didactic poem of six books, he has unfolded man, gradually emerging from the early period of remote barbarism, to the full attainment of science, and to the enjoyment of modern civilization; and though in such a work the loftier flights of fancy must be necessarily restrained by the judgment, yet on this occasion the author has not forfeited his original claim to the inspiration of the Muse;-and the speculations of the philosopher, and the experience of the statesman, have not unfrequently been recommended and adorned by the vivid colouring of the poet. 90

87 88 89 90

The Progress of Civil Society, p. xii. Ibid., p. xxii. There was no second edition of Civil 2nd Sei., XVI (1796), 330.

Society.

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The Gentleman's Magazine, while seeming t o hint at Knight's controversial views, favorably reviewed the p o e m : The "Progress of Civil Society," if n o t a work of the highest merit, is yet far above most of the poems of the present day. The Reviewers had given such unfair extracts f r o m this b o o k , that I was foolish enough t o suffer m y curiosity about it to subside. I have since been very angry with myself for it; b u t it is not my business n o w to discuss the capacity, taste, or honesty of Reviewers. Accident at length threw the p o e m in m y way. I shall not enter into an investigation of Mr. Knight's principles or opinions: I shall confine myself to his poetry.91 Generally, however, The Progress of Civil Society was n o t well received and like The Worship of Priapus was subjected to stinging denunciation. The poem was attacked primarily on two grounds: tediousness and political radicalism. Although the subject m a t t e r of Civil Society is n o t particularly uninteresting (Pope's An Essay on Man had successfully treated a similar subject), the h u n d r e d s of lines of p o e t r y are almost u n i f o r m l y tedious. The British Critic succinctly pointed this out: We do not in the least exaggerate when we declare that, w i t h o u t undertaking it as a task to be performed f o r d u t y ' s sake, we think it next to impossible for h u m a n patience t o toil through the unharmonious barrenness of the present poem. 9 2 T h o m a s Mathias, a most hostile critic, in a f o o t n o t e in The Pursuits Literature, also attacked the tediousness of the p o e m :

of

See and read (if possible) what Mr. R. P. Knight calls a Didactic Poem, " T h e Progress of Civil Society in six books, 4 t o . " I protest I speak impartially, when I assert that Mr. Knight seems to have n o o t h e r ideas of poetry, t h a n that of lines and syllables put into a measure with, n o w and then, some little attention to grammar. I mean when he writes verses himself. For if he conceives, that the versification of Montesquieu's Spirit of Laws, Tacitus on t h e Germans, Smith on the Wealth of Nations, Robertson's Introduction to his History of Charles V., Stuart on the View of Society in Europe, and such works, is poetry, there is n o help for him, he must be suffered to rhyme on. "Dogmatizer en vers, et rimer par chapitres. "93 91

LXVII.Pt. 1 (1797), 474.

92

VIII (1796), 28.

93

Dialogue ii, p. 8, n. "o".

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The most devastating attack on The Progress of Civil Society appeared in the Anti-Jacobin early in 1798, two years after the publication of the poem. This short-lived Tory periodical supported the Pitt Government in its struggle against the Whigs and the French Revolution. 9 4 The editors saw this effort not as one of mere partisan politics but as a matter of defending England against French domination and society itself against anarchy. The Anti-Jacobin attempted to discredit Knight by parodying The Progress of Civil Society in a short poem entitled The Progress of Man. The author, so the reader was told, was a certain Mr. Higgins of St. Mary-Axe, 95 a correspondent who sent the editors samples of his didactic poem, The Progress of Man, dedicated to Payne Knight. 96 Through this poem the Anti-Jacobin not only ridiculed Knight's tedious heroic couplets but, more importantly, linked him with English radicals and with French revolutionaries. The editors accomplished this in several ways. First, as Knight had done in his poem, they added many pedantic footnotes. One of these, concerning a passage intended to parody one in which Knight had expressed doubts about the nature of the universe, referred the reader to works by the following radicals: William Godwin, Erasmus, Darwin, Thomas Paine, Joseph Priestley, and the French Encyclopedists. 97 Secondly, in a commentary preceding an installment of The Progress of Man the editors linked Knight with those radicals who would destroy the existing order: The Specimen of the Poem on the "Progress of Man," with which we favoured our Readers in our last Number, has procured a variety of Letters, which we confess have not a little surprized us, from the unfounded and even contradictory charges they contain.—In one, we are accused of Malevolence, in bringing back to notice a Work that " There were thirty-six of the Anti-Jacobin which was published on Mondays from Nov. 20, 1797, to July 9, 1798. 95 Anti-Jacobin, 5th ed. (London, 1803), II, 96. 96 Ibid., I, 524. The Progress of Man appeared in installments in the following numbers of the Anti-Jacobin: No. 15, Feb. 19, 1798; No. 16, Feb. 26; No. 21, April 2. The Progress of Civil Society has obtained a dubious type of immortality because of The Progress of Man which Hoxie Neale F'airchild called "one of the finest parodies in our literature". The Noble Savage: A Study in Romantic Naturalism (New York, 1928), p. 344. 97 Anti-Jacobin, I, 526, 1. 14n.

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had been q u i e t l y consigned t o oblivion;—in a n o t h e r , of Plagiarism, in c o p y i n g its m o s t b e a u t i f u l Passages;—in a t h i r d , of V a n i t y , in striving to i m i t a t e w h a t was in itself inimitable, etc. etc.—But w h y this Alarm? Has the A u t h o r of " The Progress of Civil Society" a n exclusive p a t e n t f o r fabricating Didactic P o e m s ? Or can we n o t write against Order and G o v e r n m e n t , w i t h o u t incurring t h e guilt of I m i t a t i o n ? 9 8 A l t h o u g h Knight f r e q u e n t l y e s p o u s e d u n p o p u l a r a n d even radical ideas, such was n o t t h e case c o n c e r n i n g his views on t h e F r e n c h Revol u t i o n . In The Landscape he h a d m a d e his p o s i t i o n quite clear: The a r m e d rabble, w h i c h n o w govern and lay waste F r a n c e , u n d e r the direction of the d i f f e r e n t clubs established in every p a r t of t h a t c o u n t r y , and c o n c e n t r a t e d in Paris, m a y yet p r o c e e d f o r m a n y years in their career of pillage a n d e x t e r m i n a t i o n ; b u t w h e n d e p o p u l a t i o n and r u i n are a d v a n c e d to a certain e x t e n t , t h e c o n s t i t u e n t comm u n i t i e s will b e c o m e t o o t h i n l y scattered, to h o l d t o g e t h e r of their o w n a c c o r d , and m u s t either divide i n t o separate states, or s u b m i t t o s o m e e x t e r n a l force. Even a J a c o b i n republic could n o t subsist in Siberia; a n d , if t h e present m e a s u r e s c o n t i n u e , F r a n c e , in less t h a n half a c e n t u r y , will b e c o m e as d e s o l a t e as S i b e r i a . . . . S h o u l d t h e excessive rigour, and sanguinary severity of t h e p r e s e n t g o v e r n m e n t in F r a n c e b e c o m e s y s t e m a t i c and p e r m a n e n t , and t a k e a military t u r n , it will be f o r m i d a b l e indeed, a n d e n d a n g e r t h e very existence of civilized s o c i e t y ; f o r a m o n g n a t i o n s , as a m o n g individuals, t h o s e w h o hold their own existence in c o n t e m p t , have the existence of o t h e r s at their command. 99 His views in The Progress of Civil Society

are similar:

U n h a p p y L y o n s ! o n c e m o r e t h e rich—the gay: — Of ruthless t y r a n t s n o w t h e helpless p r e y : — Low in t h e dust h e r envied s p l e n d o u r lies, 98 Ibid., p. 558. Admittedly, these were tense times in England, and it is easy to sympathize with the Anti-Jacobin's fear of revolution and anarchy. There had been a threat of invasion from France; English sailors had mutinied at Spithead, and revolutionary clubs were in existence throughout the country. For a fuller account of these troublesome years, see Philip Anthony Brown, The French

Revolution in English History, 3rd ed. (New York, 1965), pp. 153-158. However, it has been argued that the Anti-Jacobin had, in fact, struck at foes who were then really impotent to effect any revolutionary change in England. Hoxie Neale Fairchild argues that in 1797-98, the Anti-Jacobin was beating a dead snake. The war with France and the conservative reaction affected all but a few minds. See The Romantic Quest (New York, 1965), pp. 48-49. 99 Bk. III, 1. 4 1 5 n .

90

THE LANDSCAPE AND THE PROGRESS OF CIVIL SOCIETY Bewail'd by widows tears, and orphans cries; While o'er her spacious quays and double shore, Stalks the assassin grim'd in guiltless gore . . , 100

In defending the American Revolution, Knight takes the opportunity of again criticizing the leaders of the French Revolution: America having no great manufactories, had none of these mobs [that the French Revolution had], and was therefore able to go through her revolution in peace I do not mean to undervalue the wisdom, virtue, and temperance of those who conducted the American revolution, or to apologize for the rashness, violence, and ambition of the leaders of the French; on the contrary, I think it probable, that, had the Duke of Orleans, La Fayette, and Mirabeau, been such men as Washington, Franklin, and Adams, France might have been now happy in a free constitution, and quite certain, that if the latter had at all resembled the former, America would have suffered all the miseries of anarchy and slavery.101 What undoubtedly annoyed the editors of the Anti-Jacobin was that at a critical juncture in English history, Knight, by warning England that its faults could lead to revolution, seemed to them less than patriotic. He had exhorted Britain .to rid itself peacefully of its evils: Yet happy Britain! ere it is too late, Shun the dire horrors, that thy rashness wait: See, in thy bosom, the same hydras rise, And learn, from other's sufferings, t o be wise: — See, the same giddy pilots guide thy state, And yet avoid thy wretched neighbour's fate: Dismiss the venal and the useless train, That waste thy vigour, and thy vitals drain; Shake off the leeches, that, at every pore, Empty thy veins, and fatten on thy gore . . , 102 Later he praises the American Revolution and gloomily prophesies an English one: Hail happy States, that, fresh in vigour rise From Europe's wrecks, beneath Atlantic skies! Long may ye feel the blessings ye bestow; 100

B k . V I , 1 1 . 294-299.

ιοί

Ibid., 1. 428n.

102

Ibid.,

1 1 . 449-458.

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91

Nor e'er your parent's sickly symptoms know! But when that parent, crush'd beneath the weight Of debt and taxes, yields herself to fate, May you, her hapless fugitives receive; Comfort their sorrows, and their wants relieve! For, come it will—the inevitable day, When Britain must corruption's forfeit pay, Beneath a despot's, or a rabble's sway. 103 The Anti-Jacobin also took issue with Knight's views on primitive man, attempting, in effect, to characterize him as a follower of Rousseau and an apologist for the Noble Savage. In the Contents of Canto i of The Progress of Man, they employed this technique: Man only discontented-born a Savage; not chusing to continue so, becomes polished-resigns his Liberty-Priest-craft-King-craftTyranny of Laws and Institutions.—Savage Life-Description thereof:-The Savage free-roaming woods-feeds on Hips and Haws . . .104 How some of these ideas are developed can be seen in the following passage: Lo! the rude savage, free from civil strife, Keeps the smooth tenour of his guiltless Life; Restrain'd by none, save Nature's lenient Laws, Quaffs the clear Stream, and feeds on Hips and Haws. Light to his daily sports behold him rise! The bloodless Banquet health and strength supplies. 105 Although Knight was interested in many of the customs of primitive man, especially primitive sexual practices in relation to religion, he was not a primitivist, if by that term we mean one who believes that man once existed in a condition of primal innocence but in time became corrupted by civilization. In the Preface to The Progress of Civil Society, Knight divorces himself from any association with Rousseau, pointing out that by decorating plain truth and common sense with the ornaments usually appropriated to fiction, [he would] also contribute to wean men's affectations from those splendid paradoxes and pompous absurdities, by which »03 Ibid., 11.619-629. 104 Anti-Jacobin, 1.524. ios Ibid, p. 558.

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several late writers, particularly Rousseau, have contrived to captivate the ignorant and unwary . . , 106 Throughout the poem, Knight presents a balanced attitude toward civilization and primitivism; that is, neither is exalted at the expense of the other. While civilization has enabled man to advance, it has also corrupted him: To fix and regulate this general plan, Arose o'er all the moderator man;— At first, the enemy alike to all, He fled the strong, and made the feeble fall; Till freer intercourse his soul refined, And artificial wants enlarged his mind; Taught him affection's circle to extend, And be at once the tyrant and the friend. 107 Although Knight censures certain abuses which have arisen in civilized society, it is difficult to understand how the editors of the AntiJacobin could have interpreted this as meaning that Knight was therefore an apologist for the Noble Savage. He clearly is neither a naive nor a sentimental primitivist: When tribes with tribes the petty warfare wage, The same fierce temper animates their rage: Tortures and lingering death the captive wait, And madness raves in the fell victor's hate: With grim delight the quivering limbs he tears; Quaffs the warm blood, and the live entrails shares. No plea of avarice, or claim of right Excites the quarrel, or provokes the fight: — Slaughter's at once his motive, and his end,— To that alone his daring efforts tend ;— Alone he glories over heaps of dead, And boasts of endless deserts round him spread. Yet there no lawyers fatten on distress; No purse-proud tyrants indigence oppress; No venal statesmen riot in the spoil Of plunder'd industry, and patient t o i l . . . 1 0 8

106

The Progress

107 ίο»

Ibid, Ibid.,

of Civil Society,

Bk. II, 29-36. Bk. I, 11. 3 1 1 - 3 2 6 .

pp. x x i - x x i i .

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93

Knight was too ardent a defender of the values of culture and civilization to believe seriously in the superiority of a primitive state of existence. He sees man not as having deteriorated from a state of original goodness but rather as a creature steadily advancing from primal animalism because of the advantages of civilization: From toil released,—exalted by command, Man feels his faculties of mind expand; His simple notions into science spread, And reason grow, by observation fed; Thoughts more enlarged his active soul inspire, And blunt each selfish impulse of desire; In gentler ties the social union bind, And tune the heart to passions more refined; The chains of sympathy still more extend,— Interest to interest join, and friend to friend. 109 Although Knight was not the political radical as portrayed in the Anti-Jacobin,

it is not difficult to understand why he was seen as a

dangerous writer, since in Civil Society

he unabashedly presents a

thoroughly sceptical cosmography and vigorously attacks a fundamental institution of society—marriage. From the beginning, Knight sounds a sceptical note, arguing that man is unable to fathom the mysteries of the universe and is foolish in thinking that he has arrived at any final answers: Whether primordial motion sprang to life From the wild war of elemental strife; In central chains, the mass inert confined And sublimated matter into mind? — Or, whether one great all-pervading soul Moves in each part, and animates the whole; Unnumber'd worlds to one great centre draws; And governs all by pre-establish'd laws?— Whether, in fate's eternal fetters bound, Mechanic nature goes her endless round; Or, ever varying, acts but to fulfill The sovereign mandates of almighty will?— Let learned folly seek, or foolish pride; Rash in presumptuous ignorance, decide. 110

109 "0

ibid., Bk. Ill, 11. 91-100. Ibid., Bk. I, 11. 1-14.

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William Mason was particularly annoyed by these opening lines. In a letter to Horace Walpole dated March 15, 1796, he vigorously attacked Knight: The extract, which I have before me, contains only six lines of his last production, taken from the very first page, which contains so much rash scepticism, if not worse, plainly declaring that, in his opinion, none but learned fools would decide that there was a God, that it moved my indignation . . . . Your Lordship may perhaps recollect, that some years ago we differed in opinion about a Parliamentary reform, but I am convinced, that if an Association was now formed (much different from that of the present Whig Club) to petition the House of Commons to exclude, instead of rotten boroughs, men of such rotten principles as this writer's, we should both of us very cordially give it our signature. Whether the present author represents such a borough, or holds it in fee, I know not; but this I know, that his principles ought to be exposed before the next general election, that such honest freeholders, who detest the French Jacobins, may be led to make it a point of conscience not to vote for him; for in one of the worst parts of their worst characters he clearly fraternizes with them. This the six lines I have seen clearly evince, and I wish to read no more. 1 1 1 On March 22, 1796, Walpole responded to Mason's letter, remarking that I could not without using too many words express to you how very much I am offended and disgusted by Mr. Knight's insolent and selfconceited poem; considering to what height he dares to carry his impious attack, it might be sufficient to lump all the rest of his impertinent sallies in one mass of censure as trifling peccadillos . . , 112 The sceptical note on which Knight begins is continued as he argues that man acts on the pleasure-pain principle. Knight implies that neither Grace nor Original Sin affects man's actions: In every region of unbounded space, Wher'er the quickening breath of life we trace; Through all that o'er the earth's wide bosom creep, i n Walpole's Correspondence, Vol. XXIX, pp. 334-335. Mason was so incensed by the poem that he wrote a sonnet attacking it. See Sonnet XIII in The Works of William Mason (I, 134). 112 Walpole's Correspondence, Vol. XXIX, p. 338.

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Or float in myriads through the briny deep; Through all that high in air suspended fly; Or, fix'd on rocks, in vital torpor lie; Two graduated powers assert their reign— This leads to pleasure, and that flies from pain: — Two powers, derived from one efficient cause Acting, in different ways, by equal laws; While both alike, by adverse measures, tend To one eternal, universal end; And in the common cause of life conspire To guard and feed its frail and feeble fire: Through constant change to bid the race remain, And still connect the links of nature's endless chain. 113 Knight is referring here to the widely held belief that the universe is composed of one Great Chain of Being, that it is a concatenation of an infinite number of links, each of which barely differs from the preceding one, beginning with the simplest, most primitive form of life and ascending through numberless grades to the highest kind of creature. 1 1 4 Pope succinctly described this chain in An Essay on Man: See, thro' this air, this ocean, and this earth, All matter quick, and bursting into birth. Above, how high progressive life may go! Around, how wide! how deep extend below! Vast chain of being, which from God began, Natures aethereal, human, angel, man, Beast, bird, fish, insect! what no eye can see, No glass can reach! from Infinite to thee, From thee to Nothing! 115 In The Progress of Civil Society, Knight accents not man's kinship with the Infinite but with the subhuman and reminds man, as in The Worship of Priapus, of his ties with earlier, less civilized modes of existence. Near the equator . . . the next gradations of his kind, The links that to the whole his species bind, 113 The Progress of Civil Society, Bk. I, 11. 27-42. 114 For a fuller discussion of this subject, see Arthur O. Lovejoy, The Great Chain of Being (Cambridge, Mass., 1936). us Epistle I, 11. 233-241, in The Poems of Alexander Pope, p. 513.

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Baboons and monkeys through the forests stray, And all his native beastliness display; The high pretensions of his pride disgrace, In the unfinish'd models of his race; And show God's image, sunk into the shape Of a malignant, treacherous, filthy ape. 1 1 6 The most provocative idea that Knight presents in the poem is that marriage should not be indissoluble. His reasons are not unlike those employed in attacking contemporary religion in The Worship of Priapus and the gardening techniques of "Capability" Brown and his followers in The Landscape: Knight feels that when a practice has reached the point where it is mechanically performed, it should not be perpetuated. Regarding marriage, civilization, through its rigid laws and customs which do not permit the dissolution of a loveless union, deadens the institution of marriage and robs life of feeling, spontaneity, and genuine love: For fix'd by laws, and limited by rules, Affection stagnates and love's fervour cools; Shrinks like the gather'd flower, which, when possess'd, Droops in the hand, or withers on the breast; Feels all its native bloom and fragrance fly, And death's pale shadows cloud its purple d y e . 1 , 7 In a footnote to this passage, Knight added: Let me not be supposed to mean a condemnation of marriage; from which I have derived all the blessings and benefits of Civil Society; but merely of its indissolubility. There are many causes which ought to justify divorce, as well as that of adultery on the part of the woman; and I think it probable, that if other causes were admitted, this would be less frequent. Divorce is, I believe, as often the object, as the consequence of adultery. 1 1 8

Π6 The Progress of Civil Society, Bk. V, 11. 49-56. 117 Ibid., Bk. Ill, 11. 146-151. l i e Ibid., 1. 150n. The Anti-Jacobin parodied Knight's radical position on marriage: Of Whist or Cribbage mark th' amusing gameThe Partners changing, but the sport the same. Else would the Gamester's anxious ardour cool, Dull every deal, and stagnant every pool.

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97

This leitmotif, stressing freedom from inhibiting laws and customs, is in evidence throughout The Progress of Civil Society and is applied not only to matrimonial but to religious freedom as well: Religion's lights, when loose and undefined, Expand the heart, and elevate the mind; Brighten the fancy, and the spirits raise, Exalt the artist's touch, and poet's lays; With smiling hope the brow of anguish cheer, And dry up melancholy's silent tear; But, in dogmatic definitions bound, They only serve to puzzle and confound; To awe the timid, and the weak enslave, And make the fool subservient to the knave: Reason itself becomes an useless tool, When bent by force, and modified by rule . . . 1 1 9 Knight seems to feel that civilization, especially eighteenth-century civilization with its emphasis on Reason, was crushing instinct and spontaneity: But still, as more society's refined, Each native impulse less affects the mind; Instinct to intellect is slowly brought, And vague perception methodized to thought . . . 1 2 0 It is significant, however, that Knight does not hold primitive man up as an ideal but rather the civilization produced by ancient Greece where By no dull methods cramp'd, or rules confined, Each effort bore the impression of the mind ;— Warm from the fancy, that conceived it, fiow'd, And, stamp'd with nature's genuine image, glow'd. Alike the poet sung and sculptor wrought,— Each sound breathed sentiment, each figure thought; Beauty and grace, and easy motion shone,

Yet must one Man, with one unceasing Wife, Play the long rubber of connubial life. 119 120

The Progress of Civil Society, Bk. IV, 11. 456-471. Ibid., Bk. I, 11. 243-246.

(II, 99)

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SOCIETY

In forms of ductile brass or fragile stone, And each expressive feature learn'd t o impart, Back t o the eye, t h e impressions of the heart. 1 2 1 Knight was not a friend of the Noble Savage and did not wish to run off with one into the wilds of Siberia or North America. But quite clearly he did believe that eighteenth-century English society had crushed something vital in man. Knight wanted to have the amenities of civilization without its corruptions and sensed that man needed the simplicity of a more primitive society without its brutality.

121

Ibid., Bk. IV, 11. 403-412.

IV K N I G H T AND T H E PROBLEM OF " T A S T E "

1 Several facts are known concerning Knight's career in the remaining years of the eighteenth century. In April, 1796, Knight attended the Royal Academy b a n q u e t at Somerset House. A supposed slight t o the distinguished statesman and friend of Knight, Charles James F o x , made t h a t year's b a n q u e t the subject of general attention. Farington recorded the following in an entry dated April 23: Owing t o lack of arrangement most of the guests at the Royal Academy Banquet were obliged to take such seats as were left. Marquis Buckingham sat by the singers. C. F o x between Z o f f a n y & Rooker. After dinner G. Dance came u p to me t o m e n t i o n his concern that Mr. Fox was so improperly situated: on which I went to Downman & requested he wd. come and sit b y me which wd. leave an opening for Mr. Fox between Mr. Price & Mr. Knight witht. Downman being obliged to leave his place, an opening sufficient was made. I then spoke t o Mr. Price & Mr. Knight who were very' happy at my proposal. I t h e n went t o Mr. Fox and requested He would remove to a seat prepared for him. He very good h u m o u r e d l y said He was very well situated but on my repeating my wish went with m e and took his seat between Mr. Price & Mr. Knight. I observed this attention to Mr. Fox was much approved of. Malone told me it was a good manoeuvre. 1 Later in 1796, Farington visited Knight at his h o u s e in Whitehall and recorded the following in an entry dated May 5: The conversation chiefly turned u p o n Poetry and Art. F o x spoke, but in a doubting qualified manner, free f r o m assertion. To Westall it ι

The Farington Diary, ed. James Greig (London, 1923-28), I, 146.

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KNIGHT AND THE PROBLEM OF " T A S T E "

appeared that a sense of Fox's superiority of talents prevented each person from speaking so fully as He wd. otherways have done, so that the conversation was rather amusing than close and instructive. Speaking of the works of Shakespeare Fox gave the preference to Lear, as being the strongest proof of his extraordinary powers, for the Fable of Lear is childish & poor as a girl could write; yet it is so treated by Shakespeare that its weakness in this respect is never felt.—Knight thought Macbeth superior to Lear, in its machinery & poetical excellence. 2 In February, 1797, he and Sir George Beaumont raised a subscription for John Robert Cozens, the painter, and his wife and child. Cozens, who had suffered a complete nervous breakdown, received thirty guineas in the first year. It is not known what amount Knight contributed to this sum. 3 In 1798, all that is known of Knight is that he visited his estate at Downton. John Britton recorded that "in the year 1798 I visited [Downton] and spent a most delightful day with the accomplished o w n e r . . . " 4 On August 26, 1799, Lady Elizabeth Holland visited Knight at Downton and recorded the last biographical information that is available about Knight in the eighteenth century: Ly. 0 [ x f o r d ] has lost her vivacity and beauty. She is in a deplorable state of spirits, proceeding, I fancy, from an enthusiastic, romantic admiration of Sir Francis's ideal perfections. She fancies herself a victim of sensibility, and is really so drooping that I should scarcely be surprised if she perished from imagining grief. Mr. Knight encourages her in those bursts of sensibility; he compares her tears to April showers that sprinkle and revive the freshness of the violet. 5 During the early years of the nineteenth century he continued to be associated with a wide variety of important people. Knight, for instance, knew Anne Seymour Damer, 6 a staunch Whig, who about the

2 Ibid., I, 147-148. Late in the same year Knight again stood for Parliament from Ludlow and was re-elected. Lewis Namier and John Brooke, The House of Commons, 1754-1790 (New York, 1964), 111,13. Also in 1796, Thomas Johnes again stayed at Knight's house in Whitehall. Elisabeth Inglis-Jones, Peacocks in Paradise, (London 1950), p. 143. 3 Ibid, p. 193. 4 Graphic Illustrations (London, 1840), p. 22. 5 The Journal of Elizabeth Lady Holland (1791-1811), ed. G.S.H. Fox-Strangeways (London, 1908), II, 8. 6 DNB, V, 450-451.

KNIGHT AND THE PROBLEM OF "TASTE"

101

year 1800 sculpted a marble bust of herself which she presented to him. 7 The Latin inscription on it would seem to indicate that the two were close friends. 8 On May 11, 1800, Lady Holland records that she and Knight, among others, were entertained by the famous Greek scholar, Samuel Parr, and that "Mr. Knight's love of pedantry got him too frequently upon verbal criticism, and when they [i.e., Knight and Parr] did fall upon a doubtful Greek word, they pulled at it like hungry curs." 9 A year later, in 1801, Knight visited Lady Holland in London. Her journal entry of March 11 shows him to be a fierce social critic and misogamist: "Knight was here also. To use a vulgar phrase, he has corrupted her [i.e., Lady Oxford's] mind by filling her head with innumerable vain conceits, and teaching her to exclaim against institutions, especially that of marriage, to which she says she has been a helpless victim." 10 That his aesthetic judgment was well regarded may be inferred by the fact that a year later, in May, 1802, Joseph Farington notes that Knight was involved with a committee whose purpose was to choose designs for war memorials honoring British heroes who had fought against Napoleon. 1 1 Two months later he was visited at Down ton by Admiral Horatio Nelson, Sir William Hamilton, and his wife, E m m a . 1 2 The three had been traveling together through Wales and the west of England and intended to visit Hamilton's property at Milford Haven as well as Oxford, where Nelson, the nation's hero, was to be h o n o r e d . 1 3

ι Percy Noble, Anne Seymour Damer (London, 1908), p. 82. The bust is now with Knight's collection in the British Museum. Ibid. 8 Hanc sui ipsius effigiem at vita veteris amici Richardi Payne Knight, sua manu fecit Anna Seymour Damer. Ibid. 9 The Journal of Elizabeth Lady Holland (1791-1811j, II, 79. 10 Ibid, II, 136-137. 11 Farington, I, 343. Entry dated May 24, 1802. Other committee members included Joseph Banks, George Beaumont, and John Flaxman. 12 Thomas Joseph Pettigrew, Memoirs of the Life of Vice-Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson (London, 1849), II, 60. At this time Emma had become the paramour of Nelson. Ibid. 13 Brian Fothergill, Sir William Hamilton: Envoy Extraordinary (New York, 1969), p. 142.

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Knight invited the trio t o visit his e s t a t e , 1 4 which they did, probably on August 27, 1802. 1 5 Although n o t the most complaisant of men, Knight's reputation alone assured him of an entree into fashionable society. Early in the year 1803, for instance, he attended a gathering at the home of the Marquis of Abercorn, an important Whig and a trustee of the British Museum. 16 Among those in attendance were ThomaS Lawrence, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and the Prince of Wales. 1 7 In 1804, Farington mentions that he, Knight, and others discussed Dutch a r t , 1 8 and Knight states that in this year he added to his extensive collection of small bronzes by acquiring an Egyptian statue. 1 9 The year 1805 was one of the most important in Knight's career. On March 3, he attended a party given by the Marquis of Abercorn. Farington records that There was an assemblage of many of the most distinguished Characters viz: Duke & Duchess of Devonshire, Duke of Bedford, etc. etc.—a most splendid Assembly many of whom dined there with the Young Roscius [Fox?], was one of the Company. He said the enthusiasm respecting him appears to encrease among the higher ranks. The Duchess of Devonshire was in tears at a speech which He had recited.Payne Knight was there, & told Lawrence that the Duke of Norfolk meant to give him a Commission to paint a very large picture, perhaps 25 feet high, to be placed in Arundel Castle, the subject to be "the granting Magna Charta to the Barons,"— and it was proposed to give him 3 or 4 years as a proper time in which He might execute i t . - 20

it Walter Sichel, Emma Lady Hamilton (London, 1905), p. 395. is They were in nearby Ludlow on August 28. See Jack Russell, Nelson and the Hamiltons (London, 1969), p. 268. It would seem that they had been at Downton the day before. See Pettigrew, II, 60. 16 DNB, V, 1164. 17 Farington, II, 83. Entry dated February 19, 1803. is Ibid., II, 264. Entry dated July 5, 1804. 19 Specimens of Antient Sculpture (London, 1809-35), I, 4. For an engraving of this statue, which was only 2'2" in height, see PI. 2. 20 Farington, III, 67. Entry dated March 4, 1805.

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Several days later, Knight wrote t o Samuel Parr that a Russian nobleman h a d informed him of the emperor's anger concerning England's involvement in the Peninsular War in Spain. 2 1 Knight felt that the war was badly c o n d u c t e d and that the situation would improve if his friend Charles James F o x replaced Pitt as prime minister. This would seem t o be the implication in w h a t is evidently a reference to Fox later in the letter, with Knight writing that "blind i n f a t u a t i o n continues, and prevents the country f r o m turning to the only m a n w h o has a mind sufficiently vigorous and comprehensive, to meet the difficulties i n t o which a long train of errors has brought u s " . 2 2 Shortly thereafter, Knight became involved in a project with several artists, including Joseph Farington, Bejamin West, and T h o m a s Lawrence, one of the purposes of which was t o p r o m o t e historical painting. 2 3

2 At this time, early in 1805, appeared one of Knight's most significant works, An Analytical Inquiry into the Principles of Taste, 2 4 in which he a t t e m p t s to formulate a universal standard of t a s t e . 2 5 T h r o u g h o u t the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, m a n y of the finest minds in England had focused on this problem, usually concerning themselves with some aspect of the subjects of the beautiful, the sublime, and the picturesque. In their investigations they examined man's mental and emotional workings in order to show how he responded to these qualities and in so doing usually employed the

21 The Works of Samuel Parr, ed. John Johnstone (London, 1828), VII, 307. Knight's letter is dated March 12, 1805. Ii Ibid. 23 Farington, III, 73. Entry dated April 23, 1805. 24 London, 1805. Farington, 111,91, in an entry dated May 24, writes as though the work had been recently published. The DNB, XI, 260, erroneously states that the date of publication was 1808. 25 In the eighteenth century the word "taste" was frequently employed to mean individual sensibility. John Gilbert Cooper, for instance, implied that taste was a kind of intuition: "The effect of a good Taste is that instantaneous Glow of Pleasure which thrills thro' our whole Frame, and seizes upon the Applause of the Heart, before the intellectual Power, Reason, can descend from the Throne of the Mind to ratify its Approbation." Letters Concerning Taste, 3rd ed. (London, 1757), Letter I, n.p.

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theory of association to explain man's aesthetic judgments. Like Knight, these aestheticians attempted to establish standards for judging objects in art and in nature, but generally they were unsure as to whether their efforts could lead to the formulation of a universal standard of taste. 2 6 Knight's work in this field can be seen in better perspective by a brief examination of similar works on taste which appeared in the eighteenth century. Joseph Addison, as much as any other writer on taste, gave impetus to and shaped the course of aesthetic speculation for the next hundred years. Although he neither formulated a system of taste, nor, like Knight, rigorously analyzed the subject, his essays on imagination in The Spectator (Nos. 4 1 1 4 2 1 , June 21 to July 3, 1712) made a significant advance in aesthetic theory by enumerating three sources for the pleasures of the imagination: the great, the uncommon, and the beautiful. 2 7 This differentiation between the great (i.e., the sublime) and the beautiful was a constant source of discussion in eighteenth-century aesthetics. Like many later important aestheticians, Addison, by stressing the importance of taste, led to an increasing emphasis on a subjective reaction to art: Musick, Architecture and Painting, as well as Poetry and Oratory, are t o d e d u c e their Laws and Rules from the general Sense and Taste of Mankind, and n o t from the Principles of those Arts themselves; or, in o t h e r Words, the Taste is not to c o n f o r m t o the Art, but t h e Art to the T a s t e . 2 8

The most influential treatise on taste after Addison's essays was Edmund Burke's A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. Burke's purpose was to discover how the imagination was affected, and he concluded that taste operated by fixed principles in all men. His work, however, tended to further the growing trend toward subjectivism in art for, as Samuel Holt Monk pointed out,

26 The title of an essay by William Hogarth gives some indication of this attempt to set up standards: The Analysis of Beauty, Written with a View of Fixing the Fluctuating Ideas of Taste (London, 1753). 27 See The Spectator, No. 412 (June 23, 1712), in The Works of Joseph Addison, ed. George Washington Greene (New York, 1859), VI, 327. 28 Ibid, VI, 87, The Spectator, No. 29 (April 3, 1711).

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although he cannot, by the very nature of his reasoning, refer beauty and sublimity to the perceiving mind alone, as Kant was to do and as Hume had already done, he does, perforce, concentrate most of his attention on the effect rather than on the qualities of objects. 29 The Reverend Archibald Alison's Essays on the Nature and Principles of Taste 30 is one of the most purely aesthetic documents in the eighteenth century. He defines taste as follows: "Taste is, in general, considered as that Faculty of the Human Mind, by which we perceive and enjoy whatever is Beautiful or Sublime in the works of Nature or Art." 31 His subjectivism is evident in the statement that "matter is not beautiful in itself, but derives its Beauty from the Expression of mind". 32 This leads him to an analysis of beauty which rests on a theory of the association of ideas and which is not too dissimilar from the theory propounded by Knight. Knight's book was widely read, quickly going through four editions. 33 It received a mixed critical reception. A writer in the Monthly Review, in a detailed analysis, typifies the favorable response evoked by the work:

29 The Sublime: A Study of Critical Theories in XVIII-Century England (New York, 1935), p. 98. Knight took issue with many of Burke's ideas, declaring that "I have never met with any man of learning, by whom the philosophy of the Inquiry into the Sublime and Beautiful was not as much despised and ridiculed, as the brilliancy and animation of its style were applauded, and admired", An Analytical Inquiry, III.i.59, p. 371. My references are to the second edition (1805). 30 Edinburgh, 1790. 31 Essays on the Nature and Principles of Taste, 4th ed. (Edingburgh,1815), I, xi. Taste, Alison went on to say, should not conform to the art but the art to the taste. This was, of course, a view held a century earlier by Addison (see above, p. 104), and Alison quotes him to this effect in his Essays, I, xxvii-xxviii. The quote first appeared in the 2nd ed., 1811. 32 Essays on the Nature and Principles of Taste (1790), p. 411. 33 1st and 2nd ed., 1805; 3rd ed., 1806; 4th ed., 1808. Coleridge read the work, noting in his 1808 lecture on Shakespeare that it "has excited no ordinary degree of attention". Coleridge's Shakespearean Criticism, ed. Thomas Middleton Raysor (Cambridge, Mass., 1930), I, 180. Coleridge also made numerous remarks in the margins of his copy of Knight's work. For a full discussion of them, see Edna Aston Shearer, "Wordsworth and Coleridge Marginalia in a Copy of Richard Payne Knight's Analytical Inquiry into the Principles of Taste", Huntington Library Quarterly, I (1937), 63-99.

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Mr. Knight has given uncommon attention to this subject [of taste]; and, in the course of his present Inquiry, he has displayed so much philosophical acuteness and discrimination, so intimate an acquaintance with polite literature and the fine arts, and so much judicious criticism, that the reader will find himself amply rewarded by a perusal of this volume. The examination is strictly analytical; though it is very far from being a dry analysis. A mind richly stored and highly cultivated appears in every page; a mind which scorns all trammels, and without hesitation brings to the test of inquiry the most generally sanctioned opinions. Even those, therefore, who may not always coincide with him in judgment, will probably receive so much real instruction and entertainment, that they will be unable to apply to Mr. Knight's book the common saying, "it is fruitless to dispute concerning Taste." 34 The Critical Review was equally favorable: We regret the necessity we are here under of taking leave of this very interesting work. If in our imperfect notice of it, we have ventured upon some few occasions to differ from its author, we cannot but acknowledge that in many more instances we have felt obliged to give an unqualified assent to his opinions; and, in recommending the perusal of his elaborate inquiry to our readers, we do it with the full conviction that they will receive much entertainment and much information. The illustrations are for the most part, original and apposite, and many of the topics such as have been scantily discussed by former writers. 35 The Edinburgh Review discussed the book at length and was generally laudatory in its comments, pointing out, concerning the most important section of Knight's work, Part II, that "the doctrine of association has never been more happily applied to matters of taste". 3 6 Several years later the Edinburgh Review again praised An Analytical Inquiry, calling it "lively and miscellaneous" 37 and an "acute and philosophical publication". 38 The British Critic, although hostile to Knight's earlier works, praised this one: He is certainly no good poet, and on some topics he is a superficial philosopher; but he appears to have studied, with success, the prin34 35 36 37

New Ser., L (1806), 142-143. 3rd Ser.,VI, No. 3 (1805), 237. VII, No. 14 (1806), 314. XVIII, No. 35 (1811), 4.

38 Ibid., p. 36.

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ciples of taste; and has favoured us with a work on that subject to which, though it is not of equal merit, nothing superior will be readily found in the compass of English literature. 39 The reviewer went on to point out that on the whole we have seldom studied a work on the fins arts, which more completely gained our approbation than this Analytical Inquiry into the Principles of Taste. Faults it has, and some of them we have pointed out; but he who shall see only its faults, and be blind to its merits, must, in our apprehension, be defective as well in understanding as in taste. That which is most objectionable in the volume, and most likely to excite the disgust and indignation of the reader, is the arrogance of the author's language, and the contempt with which he treats all who differ from him in opinion respecting positions, which, if not felt to be true, cannot b* demonstrated. 4 0 Although highly acclaimed, An Analytical Inquiry received much adverse criticism. Joseph Farington noted that at a dinner party "Knight's new publication on taste was spoken of and many observations were [made] upon the contradictions it contained, as well as the weak arguments." 41 He also noted that Knight's old friend Sir Uvedale Price was "much hurt" 42 by the book and that "a decided coolness had subsisted between them". 4 3 A bitter attack on An Analytical Inquiry came from the artist John Hoppner who, in a lengthy article, called Knight one of the "dogmatizers" 4 4 on taste who would "deny the existence of beauty; or who [would] refer the measure of it, at least, to every man's rude or unmatured opinion". 4 5 But the Edinburgh Review pointed out one of the most glaring weaknesses in the book, its discursive prose style: We never met with a book, in which the main stream was so much divided into by-channels and conduits. It waters all the meadows around, and is 'strangled with its waste fertility.' Such stores of read39

XXIX (1807), 189.

-»ο Ibid. 41 42

Farington, IIII, 81. Entry dated May 24, 1805. Ibid., p. 91. Entry dated July 13, 1805. 43 Iv, 31. Entry dated October 13, 1806. Also see Farington, III, 252, entry dated June 21, 1806. Knight denied having intended to injure Price. See his letter to Samuel Parr dated June 20, 1805, in Parr's Works, VII, 309. 44 Artist, I, No. 11 (May 23, 1807), 2.

45 Ibid

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KNIGHT AND THE PROBLEM OF "TASTE"

ing and reflection have indeed rarely been brought before to bear on the subject of criticisrp; but their effect is sometimes obscured, and sometimes weakened, by want of compression and arrangement. We have turned it over, not once, but repeatedly, paid more attention to the train of reasoning than those who are not reviewers, will usually be disposed to do; yet we are by no means clear, that we have a distinct view of its plan, unincumbered with the numerous episodes, which hurry us away at every turning. 46 Despite the tediousness of Knight's treatise and the difficulty encountered in following his reasoning, An Analytical Inquiry remains a work which still commands favorable critical attention. Christopher Hussey pointed out the importance of the book, 4 7 Gordon McKenzie 4 8 and Walter John Hippie, J r . 4 9 discussed it in some detail, and William St. Clair observed that in its day, Knight's work was "the canon" on the subject of taste. 5 0 An Analytical Inquiry is a lengthy work organized on a three-fold division in which Knight examines sensation, the association of ideas, and the passions. Part I, "Of Sensation," is concerned strictly with aesthetic perception; his analysis proceeds from the simple sensations of taste, smell, and touch, which are least affected by reason and intellect, and proceeds to the more complex sensations of hearing and sight. In Part II, "Of the Association of Ideas", the longest of the three sections, Knight analyses the associative elements in the pleasures of beauty. Like many eighteenth-century aestheticians, he is concerned with the way in which beauty, sublimity, and picturesqueness affect the mind as feelings and with the nature of the causes of those effects. Part III, "Of the Passions", which primarily concerns the sublime and the pathetic as they affect taste, is brief, and, like the last book of The Landscape, is relatively unimportant. In the Introduction, Knight clearly establishes the fact that he is following in the footsteps of those earlier aestheticians who had argued that taste was less a matter of the intellect than of feeling, and 46 VII, No. 14 (1806), 306. 47 The Picturesque (London, 1927). See esp. pp. 16-17. 48 Critical Responsiveness: A Study of the Psychological Current in Later Eighteenth-Century Criticism. University of California Publications in English, XX (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1949), passim. 49 The Beautiful, the Sublime, & the Picturesque, pp. 254-277. so Lord Elgin and the Marbles (London, 1967), p. 173.

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like earlier theorists, he too is concerned with the problem of establishing a standard of taste. The problem, however, was never really solved by Knight. Since taste is a "matter of feeling" 51 and the term "beauty" so indiscriminately applied, is there then no real and permanent principle of beauty? No certain or definable combinations of forms, lines, or colours, that are in themselves gratifying to the mind, or pleasing to the organs of sensation? Or are we, in this respect, merely creatures of habit and imitation; directed by every accidental impulse and swayed by every fluctuation of caprice or fancy? 52 If taste is merely a matter of "fancy" rather than of reason, it might be argued that it is possible to construct a standard based on the general "fancy" or feeling of mankind, but, unfortunately, no such values are really general. As he so frequently does in An Analytical Inquiry, Knight turns to a sexual analogy to prove his point: All male animals think the females of their own species the most beautiful productions of nature. At least, we know this to be the case among the different varieties of men, whose respective ideas of the beauty of their females are as widely different as those of man, and any other animal, can be. The sable Africans view with pity and contempt the marked deformity of the Europeans; whose mouths are compressed, their noses pinched, their cheeks shrunk, their hair rended lank and flimsy, their bodies lengthened and emaciated, and their skins unnaturally bleached by shade and seclusion, and the baneful influence of a cold humid climate. Were they to draw an image of female perfection, or a goddess of love and beauty, she would have a broad flat nose, high cheeks, woolly hair, a jet black skin, and squat thick form, with breasts reaching to her navel. To us imagination can scarcely present a more disgusting mass of deformity; but perhaps at Tomboctoo the fairest nymph of St. James's, who, while she treads the mazes of the dance, displays her light and slender form through transparent folds of muslim, might make the same impression; and who shall then decide which party is right, or which is wrong; or whether the black or white model be, according to the laws of nature, the most perfect specimen of a perfect woman? 5 3

si 52 53

An Analytical Inquiry, Introduction, p. 3. Ibid. Introduction, p. 4. Ibid., Introduction, pp. 13-15.

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In the Introduction, Knight is forced to conclude that since there is such great variety in matters of taste, general principles of beauty cannot be established with the accuracy of a scientific experiment. 54 In Part I, Knight argues that in making an aesthetic judgment we should understand how our reactions—our ideas and especially our emotions—are formed. His emphasis is on the way in which art communicates emotion; feeling will be the test of an aesthetic experience, and Knight will examine the causes of that feeling. In so doing, he will argue in Part I that the way in which objective reality produces subjective responses may at times simply be physiological; that is, an aesthetic response may on occasion be entirely the result of organic stimulation: . . . all sensation is really produced by contact; the effluvia, that we smell, and the vibrations, that we hear, being locally and essentially in the nose and ears, just as the food, which we taste, is in the mouth, or the implements that we hold, are in the hands. The mere sense of hearing, therefore, can afford us no information concerning the distance or direction of a sonorous object, which can only be perceived by a faculty acquired entirely by habit . . . 55 Of the various physiological causes of an aesthetic experience, Knight is primarily concerned with the sense of sight, since this is the most accurate and vivid sense and has the greatest potential for evoking numerous mental associations. Concerning it, he points out that we can receive aesthetic pleasure simply from the color of an object, independently of its structure or form, but this pleasure of the isolated reaction, as distinct from an associative reaction, depends upon the 54 Knight's subjective approach to the question of taste and perhaps the recollection of his shocking views as propounded in The Worship of Priapus, provoked the following c o m m e n t from the painter Hoppner concerning An Analytical Inquiry: Knight is a "philosopher w h o would take from nature the direction of our senses, and deliver them over to the guidance of fashion or h a b i t - w h o confounds sweet with bitter, beauty with deformity, the sensibility of human nature, with the sexual instinct o f the brutes-furnishes (perhaps unintentionally,) argument for the indulgence of a vicious taste, and the most depraved appetites; while he hardens the mind against virtue; and strips creation of those charms, that were beneficially bestowed on the feeling mind, to solace it in a world of Connoisseurship and care." Artist, I, No. 11 (May 23, 1807), 11-12. ss

An Analytical

Inquiry,

I.iv. 16, p. 54.

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111

moderate and varied irritation of the organic nerves; for, if the irritation be too strong; that is, if the transitions of colour be too violent and sudden, and the oppositions of light and shadow too vigorous and abrupt, the effect will be harsh and dazzling, and the sensation painful, or, at least, unpleasant; while, if they be too monotonous and feeble, the effect will be flat and insipid, and the sensation too languid to be pleasing. 56 From this, Knight arrives at a very specific idea of visual beauty. It consists in harmonious, but yet brilliant and contracted combinations of light, shade, and colour; blended but not confused; and broken, but not cut into masses: and it is not peculiarly in straight or curve, taper or spiral, long or short, little or great objects, that we are to seek for these; but in such as display to the eye intricacy of parts and variety of tint and surface. 57 Knight then focuses on a difficult aesthetic question: how can a subject which in real life might offend us, please us in a painting? The answer, Knight argues, is that the painting exhibits the pleasing qualities only; so that we are delighted with the copy, when we should, perhaps, turn away in disgust and abhorrence from the original. Decayed pollard trees, rotten thatch, crumbling masses or perished brick and plaster, tattered worn-out dirty garments or a fish or a flesh market, may all exhibit the most harmonious and brilliant combinations of tints to the eye; and harmonious and brilliant combinations of tints are certainly beautiful in whatsoever they are seen; but, nevertheless, these objects contain so many properties that are offensive to other senses, or to the imagination, that in nature we are not pleased with them, nor ever consider them as beautiful. Yet in the pictures of Rembrandt, Ostade, Teniers, and Fyt, the imitations of them are unquestionably beautiful and pleasing to all mankind; and as these painters are remarkable for the fidelity of their imitations, whatever visible qualities existed in the objects must appear in their copies of them: but, in these copies, the mind perceives only the visible qualities; whereas, in the originals, it perceived others less agreeable united with them. 58 Despite Knight's subjective approach to aesthetics, he is traditional in emphasizing that the five senses can be channels of direct aesthetic 56 57 58

Ibid., I.v.9., pp. 63-64. Ibid., I.v. 16, p. 68. Ibid, I.v. 18, pp. 70-71.

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feeling. But his emphasis on color, light, and harmony, rather than on line and form, leads to a decreased emphasis on the subject matter of a picture and towards a greater interest in the way in which it moves us and makes us feel. This emphasis on optics is original with Knight and is a step, albeit a tentative one, towards nineteenth-century Impressionism. 59 Part II, "Of the Association of Ideas", is the longest and most important section of An Analytical Inquiry. In it Knight goes beyond Part I, in which he had stressed the importance of direct sensation in causing aesthetic response, to show how it is association that primarily accounts for our varied and complex response to art. The theory of association holds that aesthetic pleasure comes neither from the sensation excited by an object nor directly from the form of an object but from the recollection of pleasure that we have earlier known in connection with the same or a similar object. Knight seems to hold that ideas that are similar or which have often occurred simultaneously tend almost by necessity to suggest one another: The habit of associating our ideas having commenced with our earliest perceptions, the process of it, whatever it was in its beginning, has become so spontaneous and rapid in adult persons, that it seems to be a mechanical operation of the mind, which we cannot directly influence or control: those ideas, which we have once associated, associating themselves again in our memories of their own accord; and presenting themselves together to our notice, whether we will or not. 60 59 Knight's interest in light and color, rather than with line and form, was first manifested in The Landscape (London, 1794). In Book II, 11. 408-419, he wrote: Reviv'd again, in Charles' and Leo's days, Art dawn'd unsteady, with reflected rays; Lost all the gen'ral principle of grace, And wav'ring fancy left to take its place; But yet, in these degen'rate days, it shone With one perfection, e'en to Greece unknown: Nature's aerial tints and fleeting dyes, Old Titian first imbody'd to the eyes; And taught the tree to spread its light array In mimic colours, and on canvas play. Next Rubens came, and catch'd in colours bright The flick'ring flashes of celestial l i g h t . . . 60

An Analytical

Inquiry, Il.ii.l, p. 136.

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113

The theory of association deeply influenced Knight to the extent that he is far less concerned with the object that arouses certain associations than he is with the mind that perceives the object, and as a person becomes more experienced, his mental enjoyment of aesthetic pleasure should be increased, since the more the materials of association are multiplied, the more will the sphere of these pleasures be enlarged. To a mind richly stored, almost every object of nature or art, that presents itself to the senses, either excites fresh trains and combinations of ideas, or vivifies and strengthens those which existed before: so that recollection enhances enjoyment, and enjoyment brightens recollection. 61

Knight is rather dogmatic in insisting that "all the pleasures of intellect arise from the association of ideas". 62 Our liking for symmetry, for example, "depends entirely upon the association of ideas, and not at all upon either abstract reason or organic sensation . . . " 6 3 Form, "considered in the abstract, is neither grand nor mean; but owes all its power of exciting sentiments, either of the one kind, or the other, to the association of ideas". 64 Even our taste for many paintings is acquired by the association of ideas: for, as great skill and power, and a masterly facility of execution, in any liberal art, raise our admiration, and consequently excite pleasing and exalted ideas; we, by a natural and imperceptible process of the mind, associate these ideas with those excited by the productions of these arts; and thus transfer the merit of the workman to the work. 65

Knight's concern with associationism is especially important for an understanding of his ideas on the Picturesque. In An Analytical Inquiry he develops ideas that had been adumbrated eleven years earlier in The Landscape and presents a philosophical rationale for our liking of the Picturesque. The pleasure that we receive from the Picturesque, argues Knight, is not of the type that makes itself immediately felt to all viewers. The Picturesque affords

61

Ibid., II.ii.12, p. 143.

62 Ibid. 63 64 65

Ibid, II.ii.44, p. 172. Ibid, II.iii.49, p. 301. Ibid, II.i.6, p. 103.

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no pleasure, but to persons conversant with the art of painting, and sufficiently skilled in it to distinguish, and be really delighted with its real excellence. T o all others, how acute soever may be their discernment, or how exquisite soever their sensibility, it is utterly imperceptible: consequently there must be some properties in the fine productions of this art, which, by the association of ideas, communicate the power of pleasing to certain objects and circumstances of its imitation, which are therefore called picturesque. 66 It is through association, therefore, that we can come to an appreciation of the Picturesque. The viewer's eye and intellect can be trained to relish the Picturesque. One w h o before overlooked or neglected it can with study learn to appreciate it. However, his appreciation will be thwarted if he permits himself to be influenced by systematizers or rule makers. As in The

Worship of Priapus,

and The Progress of Civil Society,

Landscape,

The

Knight has little use for

those w h o would take dogmatic positions on any subject. And it is in art most especially, claims Knight, that one simply cannot establish universal principles. Critics cannot direct by definitions matters which fundamentally depend on feeling: Their rules and systems can never reach every possible case; and, even if they could, the very act of applying them would distract the attention from the sentiment excited; and, consequently, prevent or destroy all just feeling, by making them hesitate and doubt whether they ought to feel or not, till they had tried their sentiments by the standards of their opinions: but sentiment, that is checked or impeded, is at the same time enfeebled; and thus, though rules and theories may prevent those, who have no just feeling or natural tact, from judging wrong, they, in an equal degree, prevent those who have, from judging entirely right. 67 Reason and the rules that it creates, while of benefit to the scientist, have "little or nothing to do with taste; for taste depends upon feeling 66

Ibid., II.ii.15, p. 146.

67

Ibid.,

II.ii.115, pp. 237-238. Earlier, Knight had pointed out that one's

artistic principles cannot remain static, since "principles in art are no other than the trains o f ideas, which arise in the mind o f the artist out o f a just and adequate consideration of all such [relevant] circumstances; and direct him in adapting his work to the purposes for which it is intended; consequently, if either those circumstances or purposes change, his ideas must change with them, or his principles will be false, and his works incongruous." Ibid., pp. 181-182.

II.ii.54,

KNIGHT AND THE PROBLEM OF "TASTE"

115

and sentiment, and not upon demonstration and argument". 6 8 Knight, of course, is concerned with the association of ideas, and this leads him to stress that art is in its essence a transference from the artist to the viewer of a particular type of emotion and that the job of the critic is to understand that emotional response. Knight attempts to understand and evaluate aesthetic experience on the basis of reactions of cultivated viewers, although he realizes that the examination of emotions does not guarantee that educated men will necessarily like a particular kind of emotionality, nor does it necessarily lead to an admiration for a particular subject or writer. And yet, Knight is unwilling to deny, despite the seeming inconsistency of such a position, that there are at least some permanent, universal aesthetic principles: In all serious compositions—in every representation of character, where strong passions and affections are to be expressed, both the poet, the painter, and the sculptor should adhere to permanent principles, and avoid all fluctuating modes and fashions: for, not only the passions and affections of the human mind, but the natural modes of expressing them, are the same in all ages, and all countries; and the less these natural modes are connected with those of local and temporary habit, the more strong and general will be the sympathies excited by them. 6 9 In this concern with permanent values, even though seeming to doubt that their reality can be proved, Knight shows himself to be a man not of the nineteenth but of the eighteenth century. Despite his subjective position in aesthetic theory, his own literary taste, for example, was quite traditional and by no means heralded the Wordsworthian Era. He dislikes the "license" of the metaphysical poets such as Crashaw and Donne, 7 0 while deeply admiring the clarity and especially the regularity of Dryden, Pope, and Goldsmith. 71 Despite his defense of Pope and the heroic couplet, for Knight, poetic truth meant something quite dissimilar from what it had meant early in the eighteenth century. Whether one considered poetic truth to have been demonstrable fact, truth in an empirical, scientific sense,

68 69 70 71

Ibid, Ibid., Ibid., Ibid,

II.iii.2, p. 259. II.iii.37, p. 289. II.i.26, p. 119. II.i.27, pp. 119-120.

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or conformity to an ideal, for Knight, poetic truth differed significantly in that he thought of it as an effect, a quality of the mind. Exactly what kind of truth or belief can arise in literature from the association of ideas Knight tried to answer in the following way which rather clearly summarizes late eighteenth-century thought about poetic truth: . . . poetic probability, does not arise so much from the resemblance of the fictions to real events, as from the consistence of the language with the sentiments, of the sentiments and actions with the characters, and of the original parts of the fable, with each other: for, if the mind be deeply interested; and it always will be by glowing sentiments and fervid passions happily expressed, and naturally arising out of the circumstances and incidents of a consistent fable, it will never turn aside to any extraneous matter for rules and comparison; but judge of the probability of the events merely by their connection with, and dependence upon each other. 7 2

Knight, however, like Pope and other men of the eighteenth century, sees the creative writer as a man whose imagination represents the norm of human experience. What the poet reveals is what is usually unseen or unnoticed by the average man until created by the person who is emotionally sensitive. The artist, according to Knight, is a man whose taste is most universal, but his mind does not significantly differ from that, say, of a mathematician. The poet's imagination is not eccentric except in making new combinations that had heretofore not been seen, and this is an activity common to all fields of experience. The implication throughout Part II of Knight's work, then, is that the essence of the creative writer's imagination is normality. Knight, it should be noted, is one of the last representatives of the eighteenth century to view the creative writer in this way. Part III of An Analytical Inquiry contains Knight's account of emotion. He begins with a long chapter on the sublime and the pathetic, follows with a short and unimportant chapter on the subject of the ridiculous, and concludes with a full discussion of novelty. The first chapter, "Of the Sublime and Pathetic", abandons Burke's opposition between the sublime and the beautiful, Knight holding that the pathetic is a necessary accompaniment to the sublime. He also rejects any particular emotion, such as Burke's terror, 72

Ibid., Il.iii. 16, p. 270.

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as being a sure sign of sublimity. The essence of the sublime, argues Knight, is energy: All sympathies, excited by just and appropriate expression of energetic passion; whether they be of the tender or violent kind, are alike sublime; as they all tend to expand and elevate the mind; and fill it with those enthusiastic raptures, which Longinus justly states to be the true feelings of sublimity. 7 3 Energy is the catalyst of emotional response: Every energetic exertion of great and commanding power; whether of body or mind; whether it be employed to preserve or destroy, will necessarily excite corresponding sympathies; and, of course, appear sublime. 74 To convey feeling, especially through energy, is more important to Knight than to present rational motivation; in fact, he tends to see the two, feeling and reason, as antithetical to each other and almost mutually exclusive. Since poetry is essentially the communication of emotion, rationality can only be inimical to the poetic effort: As most of the crimes and enormities of mankind arise from the violence of the passions, moralists have endeavoured to win over pride to the side of virtue, by representing all passion as weakness; and considering the energy of reason as the only real energy of the human mind: but, nevertheless, the powers of mental feeling are as much powers of the mind, as those of thinking; and the different degrees of energy, in both, equally mark the different degrees of perfection, or imperfection, in different individuals. Those philosophers, who would exalt the one by suppressing the other, attempt to form a model of human perfection from a design of their own; which may, indeed, excite our admiration, as a consummate work of art; but will never awaken our sympathies, as a vigorous effusion of nature. 75 In the last chapter of Part III, Knight discusses the necessity for novelty in art, seeing it as a sine qua non. If the sentiments and sensations that we receive from art are repeated too frequently, they cease to please. Innovation, then, is absolutely essential as long as it is not so violent as to be painful: 73 74

Ibid., III.i.19, pp. 332-333. Ibid., Ill.i. 46, p. 360.

75

Ibid..,

III.i.25, pp. 337-338.

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. . . every natural sentiment or sensation, when long continued without variation or interruption, becomes an habitual mode of existence instead of a transitory affection; and, therefore, ceases to produce any marked degree either of pleasure or pain . . . Change and variety are, therefore, necessary to the enjoyment of all pleasure; whether sensual or intellectual: and so powerful is this principle, that all change, not so violent as to produce a degree of irritation in the organs absolutely painful, is pleasing; and preferable to any uniform and unvaried gratification. 76 For Knight, since there is no ideal to be reached in art, no preconceived idea of something better, no one critic can be more than a transitory arbiter of taste. Our happiness, he claims, consists not in attaining an end but in the means to that end. The source and the principle of happiness is novelty. Yet, in spite of the anti-traditional sound to Knight's views on change, it must be remembered that to him the poetry of Pope was intensely novel. In An Analytical Inquiry, Knight illustrates the eighteenth-century Newtonian tendency to search for immutable laws, hoping to find some permanent rules governing taste, yet really despairing of ever discovering them. Jean-Jacques Mayoux wrote perceptively of Knight's "esthetique d'iddologue qui porte la marque de la raideur des derniers representants du XVIII 6 siöcle intellectualiste". 77 He was, says Mayoux, a "rationaliste fantaisiste". 7 8

76 77 78

Ibid., Ill.iii. 1, pp. 426-427. Richard Payne Knight et le Pittoresque Ibid., p. 72.

(Paris, 1932), p. 120.

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1 The popularity of An Analytical Inquiry and its enhancement of Knight's position as an aesthetician did not deter opposition to his views on art. George Beaumont and John Flaxman said that Knight's taste was not always to be depended on, 1 and in August, 1805, Farington, commenting on a committee of taste that had been formed, noted Knight's strenuous opposition to the view that the artist should have primacy over the connoisseur in judging works of art. The chairman of the committee gave his opinion of the propriety of consulting or referring questions upon the merits of designs laid before the Committee to the members of the Royal Academy or to such artists as might be thought best qualified to give judgment. This was warmly opposed by Mr. Payne Knight who was the Chief if not the only Speaker.-Mr. Long seemed to sit, as Chairman, only to see how the Ayes and Noe's counted. Knight carried it.—Mr. Banks gave a proof of his [i.e..Knight's] taste by observing on the advantage which Sculptors wd. derive by the great Altar at St. Peters in Rome, a design of Bernini in which twisted columns & many flourishing fancies appear. 2 This diary entry is especially significant because it shows Knight, the connoisseur, collector, and dilettante, opposed to permitting men who were actual practitioners of their craft from being the arbiters of taste. During these years, Knight divided his time between London and his estate at Herefordshire where he lived as a country gentleman.

ι Joseph Farington, The Farington Diary, ed. James Greig (London, 1923-28), III, 186, 230. Entries dated April 13 and May 15, 1806. 2 Ibid., III, 230. Entry dated August 24, 1805.

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In 1806, Richard Westall, the painter, stayed at Downton, and Farington's record of his comments provides a glimpse of Knight's daily routine at his estate: He rises at or before 7 oClock, breakfasts when alone at 8, & dines at 4 or 5 oClock. At dinner He drinks several glasses of wine, but after dinner, if any, not more than one or t w o glasses. Abt. 20 minutes after dinner He has Coffee brought in which He makes Himself, and He makes it so strong that it might be called the Essence of Coffee.— Westall could not do more than taste i t . - O f this He drinks one or two cups,—while His company drink their wine which He passes abt. as is usual.—In the even'g Supper He eats fruit & goes to bed towards 12 oClock. - H e takes a good deal of moderate exercise being careful of his health. He walks leisurely around his grounds, and with a Saw & an implement to lop off loose branches of trees amuses Himself in improving the views & keeping His place in order.—Westall understood f r o m Lord Oxford that Mr. Knight has about £6000 a year. 3 The year 1806 marked the end of Knight's twenty-six-year career in Parliament, as he chose not to stand for election in the borough of Ludlow. 4 There is no evidence of his ever having delivered a speech in Parliament; politics was peripheral to his main interests as dilettante and man of letters. Nevertheless, he was deeply concerned with certain political issues, deploring, for instance, the war against the American colonies and while not speaking in Parliament on this, made his opinions known in writing. 5 In this year, upon the death of Pitt, Charles James Fox, Knight's long-time intimate, came to power in a coalition ministry. Both Knight and Fox were staunch Whigs who also shared similar literary interests. In a letter to Samuel Parr in 1805, Knight wrote that he and Fox had been avidly reading the Greek poet Lycophron: Fox and I have been lately reading Lycophron, and having been both startled with the distinctness of some predictions of events which happened long after the age in which he is supposed to have flourished.

3 Ibid., III, 301. Entry dated September 5, 1806. It was perhaps while visiting Knight at Downton that Westall was commissioned to paint a picture. Ibid., p. 237. Entry dated May 23, 1806. 4 DNB, XI, 259. s See The Progress of Civil Society (London, 1796), Bk. III, 1. 415n.

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we have had some correspondence upon the subject, but without any other effect than encreasing our perplexity. 6 Fox's accession to power was to be short lived. Throughout the year 1806, his health steadily deteriorated, and on September 13, he died. Several months after Fox's death, Knight paid homage to him in a poetic elegy, A Monody on the Death of the Right Honourable Charles James FoxΡ In this 334-line poem, Knight expresses his admiration for Fox's liberal Whig principles: his desire to end the slave trade 8 and the long Napoleonic war, 9 and his general service to mankind. 10 Curiously enough, he also eulogizes Fox for possessing the very virtues which Knight himself lacked: No pomp of speech, in learning's garb array'd, Dazzled the ignorant, the weak dismay'd; No pointed sentence of sarcastic wit The unoffending or defenceless hit; No proud display of what His mind contain'd Abash'd the timid, or the meek restrain'd; No gawdy rhetorick, with selfish aim, In private converse, courted public fame; No quaint allusion, with ambiguous sense, To blushing modesty e'er gave offence; No prim conceit, in foppish neatness drest, No hoarded repartee, or studied jest, Slyly conceal'd, in watchful ambush lay Till apt occasion prompted its display. 11

Like all of Knight's poems, the Monody is traditional in that it is written in heroic couplets that might well have been penned in the age of Dryden or Pope. Especially traditional is Knight's emphasis on Fox's powers of reason. He notes that England will regret that it "Mock'd the calm voice of reason's steady guide" 1 2 and goes on to

6 The Works of Samuel Parr, ed. John Johnstone (London, 1828), VII, 304. Letter dated January 22, 1805. 7 London, 1806-07. 8 Ibid., 11. 249-258. 9 Ibid., 1.12. ίο Ibid., 1. 12. 11 Ibid., 11. 165-178. 12 Ibid., 1. 44.

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praise Fox's "prophetic reason and unerring sense" 13 and his ability to detect "metaphysic fallacies". 14 The poem, however, is pessimistic, as though with the passing of Fox the political managers who would follow him would be of a lesser breed with narrower vision and less liberal beliefs. In 1806, the same year in which Fox died, Knight became entangled in a controversy which in the long run irreparably damaged his reputation as an art critic. The controversy concerned the famous Elgin Marbles, some of which had been brought to England in 1806 by Lord Elgin who, seven years earlier, had been appointed ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. 1 5 Elgin did not originally intend to remove the marbles from Athens but did want to have drawings and moldings made of some of the sculptures of the Parthenon. However, because of the damage being done to the marbles by the Turks, he resolved to convey to England many of the metopes, friezes, and pedimental sculptures of the Parthenon. 1 6 In January, 1803, part of this collection was ready for embarkation to England, 17 but in transport the vast cargo sank. The process of recovering the tons of marbles took three years so that they did not reach their destination until 1806. 1 8 Meanwhile, Lord Elgin was being held captive in France after the collapse of the Peace of Amiens, delaying his arrival in England until June, 1806, 19 after an absence of nearly seven years. Ten days after his arrival from French captivity, Elgin attended a dinner at which Knight was present. Although Knight had not yet seen the Marbles, he nevertheless told Elgin: You have lost your labour, my Lord Elgin; your Marbles are overrated—they are not Greek, they are Roman, of the time of Hadrian, when he restored the Parthenon, and even if Greek, they are by Ictinus and Callicrates, and not by Pheidias, who never worked in

13 Ibid., 1. 66. 14 Ibid., 1. 114. is DNB, III, 130. 16 Ibid., pp. 130-131. 17 William St. Clair, Lord Elgin and the Marbles (London, 1967), p. 120. This work contains a full account of the tribulations and expense that Lord Elgin went through in trying to obtain the marbles. 18 DNB, III, 131. 19 St. Clair, p. 135.

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marble at all; they are, perhaps, executed by their workmen, hardly higher than journeymen, and throw no light on the details and construction of the body. 2 0 Almost immediately Knight's judgment was the talk of London, and it ignited a controversy that was to continue for ten years. All of the available information concerning Knight's activities in the year 1807 is to be found in Farington's Diary. His references to Knight cover a period of almost five months, from March 2 to July 22, and they indicate that, although not everyone agreed with Knight's views on art, his position as connoisseur and critic was still secure. It is safe to assume that the maintenance of his stature was due in part to the success of An Analytical Inquiry and in part to what Farington noted was his forte, "discussion and description". 21 In an entry dated March 2, 1807, Farington writes that two sculptors, John Flaxman and John Bacon, were in competition for the privilege of erecting a monument to the late Lord Cornwallis and that Knight, along with several other members of the Committee of Taste, decided in favor of Bacon. 22 A few days later, Farington records that Knight was involved in choosing a sculptor for a monument honoring William Pitt "the Younger": Westall called in consequence of Payne Knight & Charles Long having been with him to look at His design for Mr. Pitt's monument. Long was pleased with it. Knight when alone with Westall told him He did not approve Westmacott's design for Mr. Pitt's monument & said "it consisted of a figure speaking what another figure was recording & two other figures sat like persons weary of hearing it. 23

20 Quoted in Eric George, The Life and Death of Benjamin Robert ed. Dorothy George, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1967), p. 81.

Haydon,

21 Farington, IV, 137. Entry dated May 27, 1807. Farington added that Knight had "no talent for repartee." Ibid. 22 Ibid., p. 91. 23 Ibid., p. 97. Entry dated March 11, 1807. However, on March 16, Farington noted that the Committee overruled Knight's objections to Westmacott's design. Ibid., p. 100. Knight's involvement with the Comittee of Taste in 1807 seems to have made him much more aware of the talent of English artists, although his own collection consisted largely of works by foreign artists. In his references to Knight in 1807, Farington shows how Knight became increasingly interested in English painters and sculptors. This is most clearly brought out in a dairy entry dated April 12, in which he writes: "Sir George

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This entry would seem t o indicate that Knight exerted considerable influence concerning the erection of public monuments in London. Later, on July 22, 1807, Farington gives further evidence of Knight's prestige: Carlisle called, and talked of a Plan of making the public exercises of the Pugilists,—a school of study for artists who study the Human figure.— He repeated what He has asserted in His Essay published in the Artist, that the Greeks had little or no knowledge of anatomy; so little had they discriminated the parts which compose the human body, that they had but one word, to express muscle, fibre, nerve, &.—He referred His opinion to Payne Knight who has studied the Greek authors deeply, & he agreed with him. That the Greeks had little or no knowledge

of Anatomy.

24

On July 7, Farington revealed Knight's prestige as well as the hostility that he frequently aroused: At Willm. Spencers afterwards Sir Henry Englefield said that Knight has declared that the picture by Rembrandt of the Woman taken in Adultery is a damaged picture; that the head of our Saviour has been rubbed almost to extinction. — This caused a cry against Knight's judgment, & Rogers sd. plain speaking was best, that Knight knew nothing of pictures, & was becoming an Old Woman.—The approbation He gave to Westall's Flora was considered an additional proof of his bad taste. 25 In 1808, Farington shows us the continuation of the close relationship between Knight and Richard Westall. It is curious that Knight rated this rather insignificant artist so highly. On February 11, Farington writes: Westall called.—He had been with Mr. Payne Knight, who yesterday purchased his picture of "Moses in the Bulrushes" for 150 guineas.Beaumont told Heame yesterday that having spoken to Payne Knight of Edwd. Coxe's Hobbima which is to be sold this week, Knight said Hobbima was a fine painter, but he did not now feel so much interested abt. His works as formerly, as we have now painters coming forward in this country, ' ho much surpass Hobbima." Ibid., pp. 123-124. 24 ibid., p. 182. 25 Ibid., p. 168. Earlier, on April 13, Farington had noted concerning Westall's Flora, that George Beaumont "Sd. he hoped Knight had enough of what He liked in Westall, in his picture of Flora; meaning the gaudiness of it". Ibid., p. 134.

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Mr. Knight has hung the picture in his gallery between two pictures by Old Masters, & says He shall be happy to shew that the moderns can stand with them. 2 6 Knight's admiration for Westall reflects a remarkable lapse in judgment. He overrated him both as a painter and as a poet. On April 21, 1808, Farington records that he dined with Westall and that Knight had earlier advised him to publish some of his poetry, which he, in fact, did. 2 7 The volume was not a notable success. 2 8 Although Knight was a prolific writer, Farington makes it abundantly clear that he was anything but a scholarly recluse. On February 6, he notes that Knight dined with Charles Long and other important personages 2 9 and seems to indicate in his entry of May 15 that Knight was a regular guest at the annual banquet given by the Royal Academy. 30 In this year, Knight moved into a town house at No. 3 Soho Square, a residence which he maintained until his death in 1824. 31 He also, in this year, relinquished the management of his Downton estate to his brother. In her memoirs, Knight's niece mentions the reason for this: In February 1808 we left Elton and went to live at Downton, my Uncle [Payne Knight] having become tired of the trouble of managing an establishment as a bachelor, and having fitted up a cottage for himself, where he had his books: but he usually dined at the Castle, and received his friends there. 3 2 Hereafter, Knight would be relieved of the burden of running an estate of more than 10,000 acres and be free to spend more time in scholarly pursuits. 26 27

[bid., pp. 22-23.

Ibid., p. 54. 28 One thousand copies were sold. Ibid. 29 Ibid., p. 20. Long was a Tory politician, Secretary of State for Ireland, a member of the Royal Society and Society of Antiquaries, and later a trustee of the British Museum. DNB, XII, 99-100. 30 Farington, V, 61. 31 F.H.W. Sheppard, ed., Survey of London (London, 1900-66), XXXIII, 57. According to Margaret Goldsmith, Soho Square (London, 1947), p. 144, Knight was the best-known patron of art and artists in the Square. 32 Quoted in Elisabeth Inglis-Jones, "The Knights of Downton Castle, II", National Library of Wales Journal, XV, No. 4 (1968), 373.

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2 After giving up the management of Downton, Knight enjoyed measurable literary success. He saw published a fourth edition of An Analytical Inquiry into the Principles of Taste 33 as well as a lengthy treatise on Homer. This work, Carmina Homerica, Ilias et Odyssea, 34 was privately printed and was intended as an introduction to Knight's translation of the two Homeric epics. Knight's ambitious project of translation, however, was not published until 1820 35 in a work that included, with some minor additions, the Latin prolegomena that he had printed in 1808. It would appear that Knight had begun work on the translation of the epics, and perhaps the prolegomena itself, some years earlier, for in 1805 he had written to the Reverend Samuel Parr that he had "resumed a task alone sufficient for the longest life and most unremitted industry, that of investigating the Homeric language, the peculiarities of which appear to have been very little understood." 3 6 Knight had no university training and doubted his competency in Latin. He therefore distributed copies of the prolegomena to scholars in order to receive corrections from men more proficient in the language than he. In a letter to Parr dated June 19, 1809, he wrote: I beg you, my dear Sir, to accept my most sincere thanks for your very kind and friendly letter, and to be assured that I shall be as grateful for any corrections and emendations that you may favour me with, as I have been flattered and delighted with your most valuable approbation. It was to obtain the critical assistance of my friends, in purifying my latinity, that I printed the fifty copies, of which I sent you one . . . 37 Knight's mterest in Homer was deep and abiding. In An Analytical Essay on the Greek Alphabet,38 he referred to Homer as "the most 33 London, 1808. 34 London, 1808. Only fifty copies were printed. DNB, XI, 259. 35 Ibid. This work had the same title and place of publication as the prolegomena of 1808. 36 Works, VII, 312. Although he contributed nothing of significance to Greek scholarship, Parr was an important classicist and teacher. Sydney Smith called him "by far the most learned man of his day". Quoted in John E. Sandys, A History of Classical Scholarship (Cambridge, Eng., 1908), II, 422. 37 Works, VII, 313. 38 London, 1791.

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elegant, correct, and perfect of all poets". 39 In The Landscape, 4 0 he noted that Homer had inspired the colossal statue of Jupiter sculpted by Phidias. 41 He later lauded Homer as the only poet, who has exhibited much variety of descriptive imagery, and been uniformly excellent in all-distinct without minuteness, great without extravagance, and preserving, amidst parts strongly marked, the general composition unbroken and entire. 42 To Knight, Homer also epitomized the eighteenth-century emphasis on common sense. 43 His simplicity, claimed Knight, could even be applied to improving landscape gardening: The unadorned simplicity with which Homer begins his poems, has been always so universally admired, that I wonder it has not been imitated in all other works of taste and genius. In building, and what is called landscape gardening, it has not only been neglected, but studiously avoided; though in reality, more important in augmenting the effect, and progressively interesting the attention, than in poetry. 44 Knight's interest in Homer was doubtlessly increased as a result of his membership in the Society of Dilettanti. During the eighteenth century there had been a steadily growing interest both in classical archaeology and in the works of Homer, due in large part to this society. The important expedition of Stuart and Revett to Greece was funded by the Society, 4 5 and its publication of Ionian Antiquities has already been referred t o . 4 6 Another member of the Society, Robert 39 p. 23. 40 London, 1794. 41 Bk. I, 1. 63n. 42 The Progress of Civil Society, Preface, p. xii. Such high praise of Homer was not uncommon in the eighteenth century. For example, Edward Young regarded Homer as an original genius and considered the Iliad "divine". Conjectures on Original Composition (London, 1759), p. 20. 43 "Homer, as o f t e n as he has occasion to express the same thought, always does it in the same words: this, plain sense naturally dictates; and plain sense and good taste are very nearly allied in every thing." The Landscape, Bk. Ill, 1. 43n. 44 Ibid., Bk. I, 1. 197n. 45 See Lionel Cust, History of the Society of Dilettanti, ed. Sidney Colvin (London, 1914), pp. 75-78. 46 See above, p. 4 1 .

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Wood, made an expedition to Athens in 1751 4 7 and later published An Essay on the Original Genius and Writings of Homer. In addition to the publications on Greece and Homer by the Society of Dilettanti, there was a considerable amount of independent work being done by English scholars. Questions were being raised as to who Homer really was, when and where he lived, and whether the art of writing was known to him. Doubt was cast on the single authorship of the Iliad and the Odyssey and whether the two epics might not have been unified after Homer's death. 4 8 According to John Harvey, the "materials for the Iliad", instead of being divided into various books, "were originally sung or recited in little broken sketches, then called by the Greeks rhapsodies". They were known by this name until Lycurgus collected them "into some form" and until the time of Solon when they were "digested into the order in which we now have them". 4 9 No less a figure than Oliver Goldsmith, while not questioning the origin of the poems, said that the manners of the Iliad produced feelings of "horror and disgust". 50 Criticism of Homer was undergoing a profound historical transition, but the really significant Homeric scholarship was being conducted not in England but in Germany. The moving force was one particularly brilliant scholar, Friedrich August Wolf. His 280-page Prolegomena ad Homerum 51 was perhaps the most important work to appear in the eighteenth century and the one which most profoundly influenced Knight. Wolf argued that the epics of Homer really consisted in a collection of various lays and Märchen which had been orally transmitted through several ages. His scepticism about the origin of the Iliad and Odyssey was based on the historical argument that writing was either unknown in Homer's time or not in general

47 Cust, p. 78. 48 For a detailed account of this subject, see Donald M. Foerster, Homer in English Criticism: The Historical Approach in the Eighteenth Century (New Haven, 1947). 49 The Bruciad (London, 1769), pp. xii-xiii. so Critical Review, IX (1760), 17. Goldsmith was reviewing Critical Dissertations upon the Iliad of Homer by R. Kedington. For a discussion of the grounds upon which the review is attributed to Goldsmith, see R.S. Crane, "A Neglected Mid-Eighteenth-Century Plea for Originality and Its Author", Philological Quarterly, XIII, (1934), 21-29. si Halle, 1795.

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use, thereby making the composition of a long poem impossible. 5 2 Thus, the supposed coherence of the Iliad and Odyssey resulted neither f r o m design nor necessarily f r o m single authorship but instead f r o m talented later writers who interpreted the folk tales. 5 3 To Knight, it must have seemed that W o l f s arguments would irreparably damage Homer's reputation, that he would come to be regarded simply as one of many bards and his poetry a f o r t u i t o u s collection of lays. He attempts to refute Wolf by claiming that his argument did not satisfactorily explain the unity of the two epics: It is surprising that so many poets should, w i t h o u t consulting together, by some lucky chance, have treated the same theme in such a way that their separate poems, as it were of their own accord, fitted together so well that all succeeding ages regarded the resulting works as perfect models. 5 4 Although defending the unity of the two epics, Knight recognizes that they do contain inconsistencies; however, the original hearers of the poems were not so critical as to inquire into the reason for such [inconsistent] incidents; nor did their credibility depend on nice questions of congruity; students of Homer must be constantly reminded that the old bards did not use the language of professors, did n o t sing to scholars and grammarians or to any such subtle critics; their hearers were men who indulged their feelings freely and openly and undisguisedly, who had not overlaid their natural emotions with philosophy and the learning of the schools, or blunted their force by the refinement of civilization. 55

52 Wolf, p. cxii. 53 Wolf, however, did not abandon the belief in one great individual poet by whom the thread of the story was carried down a certain way. See his Prolegomena, pp. cxxiii, cxxxv. 54 C'armina Homerica, p. ix. This translation from Knight's Latin text is to be found in M.L.Clarke, Greek Studies in England, 1700-1830 (Cambridge, Eng., 1945), p. 140. Knight's view is similar to that of Samuel Johnson. On September 8, 1773, Boswell wrote that "Mr. Macqueen alleged that Homer was made of detached fragments. Mr. Johnson denied it; said that it had been one work originally, and that you could not put a book of the Iliad out of its place; and he believed the same might be said of the Odyssey." Boswell's Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D., 1773, ed. Frederick A. Pottle and Charles H. Bennett (New York, 1961), p. 129. 55 Carmina Homerica, p. xxiii. Quoted in Clarke, p. 141.

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This passage is especially significant in that it goes far toward explaining Knight's earnest defense of Homer. He sees himself as the traditional eighteenth-century dilettante and gentleman opposing the emergence of the new literary figures, the "professors", "scholars", and "grammarians"-in short-the professional Homeric specialists. Knight evidently viewed Wolf, with his historical approach, as destroying the simplicity of Homer and replacing it with what Knight considered pedantic dissection of the epics. 5 6 In Carmina Homerica, Knight attempts to refute many of Wolfs ideas but most importantly his thesis that in constituting the text of Homer one could not go back beyond the recensions of Pisistratus. It was he, argued Wolf, who arranged the various rhapsodies and tales in their present form in Athens about 550 B.C., thereby creating an order which went far beyond the design of the original p o e t . 5 7 Wolf concluded that since Pisastratus had significantly altered the old lays, we could not now distinguish between the original and the later work. In his Preface he wrote that the web was begun, and the threads were carried to a certain point, by the poet who had first taken up the theme . . . Perhaps it will never be possible to show, even with probability, the precise point at which new filaments or dependencies of the texture begin . . . 5 8 Earlier, Knight had taken a position diametrically opposed to this, arguing that the writings of Homer, though defaced by the varnishes of criticks, grammarians, and transcribers, are composed of materials so pure and simple, and executed with such precision and regularity, that we can still trace the minutest

56 Matthew Arnold would seem to be more in agreement with Wolf than with Knight in remarking that "the translator of Homer ought steadily to keep in mind where lies the real test of the success of his translation, what judges he is to try to satisfy. He is to try to satisfy scholars, because scholars alone have the means of really judging him". On Translating Homer (London, 1896), p. 31. 57 Wolf, p. xxviii. A good summary of W o l f s views is to be found in Sandys, III, 56. Gilbert Wakefield was one of the few Englishmen who accepted Wolfs thesis: "These songs of blind-men were collected and put together by some skilful men (at the direction of Pisistratus, or some other person), and woven, by interpolation, connecting-verses, and divers modifications, into a whole." Correspondence of the Late Gilbert Wakefield (London, 1813), p. 29. 58 Wolf, p. xxviii. Quoted in Sandys, III, 56.

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touches of the master's hand, and ascertain, with almost mathematical certainty, the principles upon which he wrought [italics mine]. 59 This is the difficult task that Knight placed before himself in Carmina Homerica. His object essentially was, despite so many imponderables, to restore the text to its original condition. Knight's Carmina Homerica achieved some notoriety but less than several of his earlier works. The Gentleman's Magazine printed a precis of Knight's preliminary dissertation. 60 And according to the Quarterly Review, a certain religious society in the diocese of St. David's commenced its operation, by proposing two premiums, one for the best essay on Homer, the other for the best poem on (or rather about) Dartmoor. Whether any body has compiled a dissertation from . . . Payne Knight we know not . . . 61 The Quarterly Review also noted, without going into specifics concerning Knight's prolegomena, that we cannot always adhere to his conclusions, though we may occasionally avail ourselves of his principles, for no where do we find more candour in the statement of facts, nor more acuteness in observing and generalizing them. 62 Carmina Homerica attracted much interest on the Continent where it was frequently published. 63 But evidently it was not taken too 59 An Analytical Essay on the Greek Alphabet, p. 23. 60 LXXIX, Pt. 2 (1809), 933-935. 61 XXVIII (1822), 181-182. 62 XXVII (1822), 51. Numerous writers commented on Knight's work. Robert Walpole's Travels in Various Countries of the East (London, 1820), p. 45 In, referred to it. Henry Nelson Coleridge stated that "Mr. R.P.Knight's Prolegomena presents a great deal of matter in a small space, and should be read as being a kind of judgment on the theories of Wolf . . . by an eminent though rather eccentric scholar." Introductions to the Study of the Greek Classical Poets (Boston, 1842), p. 56. M.L. Clarke, in reference to Knight's 1820 translation of the Iliad and Odyssey, to which the prolegomena was attached, called the work "an able though perverse edition of Homer" (p. 187). A.E. Housman, also in reference to the 1820 edition, referred to Knight as having an "acute but undisciplined" mind. Selected Prose, ed. John Carter (Cambridge, Eng., 1961), p. 157. The Classical Journal, VII, No. 14 (1813), v, noted that a copy of the 1808 Carmina Homerica "was lately sold by auction for above 7£". 63 An edition was published in Leipzig in 1816. See Sandys, 11,435, n. 3.

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seriously by German scholars who coined the term "Knightianismus" to refer to such a work as his. 64 Volkmann says that it was a "literary absurdity of which only the first paragraphs are understandable", that "Payne Knight's viewpoint against Wolfs Prolegomena is untenable", that his work is "a piece of dilettante capriciousness, such as only an Englishman is capable o f " . 6 5 Volkmann may be too harsh on Knight, but it is true that Knight's views on Homer are now only of peripheral importance. On the other hand, virtually no eighteenth or nineteenth-century classical scholarship has relevance today. Knight at least knew what was going on in Greek studies in his own day and was not altogether unsuccessful in his struggles with the problems. If his identification or definition of the problems fails to meet our twentieth-century needs, the fault is not Knight's. Not a Bentley, not a Porson, he still deserves a place in Sandys, and, indeed, in Pauly-Wissowa. 6 6 In 1809, Knight bequeathed to the Royal Academy much, if not all, of his extensive collection of gems, coins, bronze sculptures, marbles, and drawings. 67 In a letter to Samuel Parr, he notes that he also completed the transferral of his personal effects from Downton to his new residence in Soho Square: All my supellex critica is now transferred hither, and joined to my collection of antiquities, in a spacious library and museum that I have built secure from fire for that purpose, in which I hope to have many entertaining and instructive discussions with you. Increasing attachment to objects and pursuits of this kind has so alienated me from the habits and modes of life of a country gentleman, that I have put my brother and his family into possession of Downton, and am myself a mere guest of summer and autumn, coming and going as I like, with-

Other editions appeared in Paris in 1820 and in Göttingen in 1821. See Richard Volkmann, Geschichte und Kritik der Wolfschen Prolegomena zu Homer (Leipzig, 1874),p. 167. Carmina Homerica was also reprinted in part in the Classical Journal, VII, No. 14 (1813), 321-354. 64 Paul Cauer, Grundfragen der Homerkritik (Leipzig, 1821), p. 77. 65 Volkmann, p. 167. 66 It is not surprising that Knight is not the subject of a separate article in Pauly-Wissowa. A careful reading of that monumental reference work to see if and how often Payne Knight is mentioned would not be worthwhile. 67 Farington, V, 127. Entry dated March 15, 1809.

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out preparation or precaution, and enjoying all the comforts without any of the cares or distractions of a fixed country establishment; which, though it often procured me a company of friends whom I liked, oftener obliged me to entertain guests who were by no means entertaining. 6 8 But Knight himself was not always entertaining. In 1809, Farington recorded Charles Long's comments concerning Knight's personality: He spoke of Mr. Knight, as being a well informed man but sd. His manner was not agreeable,-dictatorial,-when observations are made upon the subject on which He has spoken, He hears witht. condescending to answer any objection, but repeats his own opinion. 69 Judging by Farington's comments, the subject on which Knight seems most to have spoken was art. On June 10, 1809, he notes that Knight spoke on the deterioration of a painting by Lawrence; 7 0 on June 13, he notes George Beaumont's disagreement with Knight's comments on the realism in the painting of Rubens. 7 1 In 1809, Knight reviewed an edition of the Greek geographer Strabo by Thomas Falconer of Oxford University. 72 He sneeringly attacks this work, bringing to bear his superior knowledge of numismatics and acidly remarks that we have not, indeed, thought it a part of our duty to collate 1305 folio pages, in which nothing new was promised; having found the labour of wading through every muddy puddle in the margin, and analyzing its contents, sufficiently irksome, and such as no animal but a reviewer will probably undergo. 7 3 Knight claims that his purpose in denouncing the book is to improve England's literary reputation, which has become "tarnished and de-

es Works, VII, 314. Letter dated June 19, 1809. The fire to which Knight alludes occurred late in 1805 at Downton while he was in London. A note in the Gentleman's Magazine, LXXVI, Pt. 1 (1806), 132, states that the damage was not considerable. 69 Farington, V, 195. Entry dated June 25, 1809. 70 Ibid., p. 183. 71 Ibid., p. 186. 72 Edinburgh Review, XIV (1809), 429-441. The review is unsigned but attributed to Knight by the DNB, XI, 259. 73 Edinburgh Review, XIV (1809), 440.

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graded" 7 4 by works such as Falconer's. Knight, whose own works had been, on more than one occasion, scathingly reviewed, is himself quite capable of writing venomously: Our purpose is to admonish, rather than to expose; and we trust that more care will be taken in future; so that the honour of the University, which must depend on its publications, be committed to none but men of real talents and sound erudition. 75 A much more important writing of Knight's appeared early in the year, perhaps on January 1, 1809, when the Society of Dilettanti published the first volume of Specimens of Antient Sculpture, 76 a folio containing seventy-five expensively engraved plates of sixty-three different monuments of classical antiquity. 77 Twenty-three works each came from the collections of Payne Knight and Charles Townley, the remainder chiefly from the collections of Thomas Hope 78 and the Marquis of Lansdowne. 7 9 Included in the volume was a lengthy essay on the development of ancient art by Knight as well as his comments on each of the plates. In 1799, the project was begun, 8 0 two years after Knight and

74 ibid., p. 434. 75 ibid. 76 London, 1809-35. The DNB, XI, 260, states that the volume was published in 1809, and the date of January 1, 1809, appears beneath many of the engravings. However, the volume would seem to have been ready for publication as early as April, 1808, since in that month the Society of Dilettanti ruled that " n o member elected into the Society after March 21, 1808, shall be entitled to receive the work now about to be published". Quoted in Cust, p. 128. 77 The cost of engraving the plates was 2,300 pounds. The actual publication cost was 1,222 pounds. Adolf Michaelis, Ancient Marbles in Great Britain, trans. C.A.M. Fennell (Cambridge, Eng., 1882), p. 123. 78 Hope (1770? - 1 8 3 1 ) belonged to a wealthy merchant family and kept his extensive collection in two houses. Like Knight, he was a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. DNB, IX, 1221-22. 79 William Petty, first Marquis of Landowne (1737-1805), better known as Lord Shclburne, had a vast collection of maps, political and historical tracts, as well as coins and medals. Ibid., XV, 1012. 80 On May 10, 1799, the Society of Dilettanti resolved that "Mr. Townley and Mr. Knight do inquire for proper engravers, and put a certain number of the drawings now selected into their hands to be engraved during the summer; and also do employ draughtsmen to make additional drawings from the different collections of antiquities in London, giving draughts upon the Treasurer of the

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Townley had suggested that the Society of Dilettanti finance it. 8 1 The text, which was probably written at Downton, 8 2 reveals Knight's wide reading and especially his knowledge of ancient art gained from his extensive collection of ancient sculptures and coins. Specimens of Antient Sculpture met with almost universal critical approbation. A contemporary, James Dalloway, 83 highly praised the work for two reasons: the inclusion in the volume of part of Knight's "singularly excellent collection of small bronze statues . . . [which] is unrivalled both in rarity of individual subjects and perfect workmanship", 84 and second, Knight's text, which he called "a rich mine of information". 85 Later in the century, Adolf Michaelis, not without some reservations, wrote the most favorable criticism of Specimens: In his description of the statues and judgment of their style, in his information as to their origin, restorations, etc., he observes throughout an appropriate precision and brevity; digressions into critical territory occur seldom, although there are many explanations which read both singular and entertaining at the present day. The exhaustive introduction gives us . . . a glance over the development of ancient art. Though much in it is questionable, or even quite wrong, this introduction belongs nevertheless to the best of Payne Knight's writing. All things considered, the first volume of Specimens of Antient Sculpture in Great Britain . . . forms a brilliant conclusion to the century of antique dilettantism in England. 86 This work received such critical acclaim, partly because of the excellent specimens included in it, but more importantly, because Knight's text, if not written in pellucid prose, is more penetrable than many of his earlier works. Furthermore, in Specimens, his controversial views on the symbolical nature of ancient art, which he was to express more forcibly in a later work, 8 7 are here kept muted. Society for the work as it is executed, not exceeding in the whole the sum of £200 till further orders." Quoted in Cust, p. 126. 81 Michaelis, p. 122. 82 Inglis-Jones, "The Knights of Downton Castle, II", p. 375. 83 Like Knight, a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. DNB, V, 398. 84 Of Statuary and Sculpture among the Antients (London, 1816), p. 356. 85 Ibid. 86 Michaelis, p. 123. A minor dissenting note on the book appears in Nikolaus Pevsner, "Richard Payne Knight", Art Bulletin, XXXI (1949), 296. He referred to the work as simply "a history of technique". 87 See below, pp. 155-160.

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The title of Knight's Introduction, "Preliminary Dissertation on the Rise, Progress and Decline of Antient Sculpture", rather accurately summarizes his text. Although his main concern is with the rise and progress of Greek sculpture, there is some discussion on the art of other civilizations, especially of Egypt, Phoenicia, and Rome. While not denouncing Egyptian art in toto, Knight feels that Egyptian sculpting had been paralyzed by the civil and especially by the ecclesiastical government. 8 8 As for Egyptian civil government, Knight, as in The Landscape, compares an oppressive political system with a formal, rigid, landscaped garden: The same mechanical arrangement in the orders of civil society, and strict hereditary limitation of every individual to a particular way of life, prevented their artists from having any living models of grace or elegance to copy: for men in such a state become, like the plants in a shorn hedge, each fashioned to his station and moulded to his place, with all the distinctive characteristicks of nature, except such only as belong to the detail of his composition, cut down and destroyed. His limbs and features, when examined separately, are, indeed, as nature intended them to be: but all the general actions of his body are crampt and methodised like those of his mind; and are in reality as unlike those of a man, as the fantastic forms of a garden yew are to the real shape of a tree. 8 9 Knight summarily dismisses Phoenician art, except when it is executed by Greek artists residing in Phoenicia. His judgment of ancient culture, as in The Worship of Priapus, is based largely on his numismatic knowledge: The only monuments [i.e., coins], known to be of Phoenician or Punic art, now extant, all which, excepting those made for the Carthaginians by Greek artists, are in a minute sharp style, executed with much neatness and precision, but without any of the higher characters of art.90 88 Specimens of Antient Sculpture, I, iv. Knight's earlier hostility toward superstition is manifested again in this work. Concerning PI. LXX1V, a sculpture of a young androgynous Bacchus, he remarks: "The stay and plinth arc of wood, by the workman who made the restored arms; and the feet have been antiently worn smooth, like those of the statues of saints in Roman Catholic Churches, by devout persons kissing them and rubbing their foreheads upon them" (pp. 125-126). 89 Ibid., p. v. 90 Ibid., p. viii.

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Knight is especially harsh in his denunciation of Roman art, which he invidiously compares with that of the Greeks: All the eloquent arts of life, which tend to soften the enmities of the savage, and expand the affections of the social man, were treated with scorn and ridicule; whilst almost every severer vice was honoured with the name of virtue . . . 91 While not denying that much Roman art is magnificent, ultimately, claims Knight, Rome's finest art is derivative. The Romans lacked the inventiveness of the Greeks as well as their technical dexterity: The statues of deities, heroes, etc. which adorned their temples, theatres, baths, palaces, and villas, were either from the plunder of the Greek cities, or copies made from the masterpieces which still continued, or which had once enriched them . . . 92 As in An Analytical Essay on the Greek Alphabet and Carmina Homerica, Knight cannot suppress his admiration for Greek culture which, in Specimens of Antient Sculpture, is all encompassing: The prodigious superiority of the Greeks over every other nation, in all works of real taste, and genius, is one of the most curious moral phaenomena in the history of man. 93 He continues: In all their fashions of dress, address, and personal demeanor, Greeks were polished, and yet simple; adhering to nature, but endeavouring to elevate and embellish her; so that they united advantages of savage and social life, in the models which they sented for imitation. 94

91

the still the pre-

Ibid., p. lviii. 92 Ibid., p. lxxvi. 93 Ibid., p. x. 94 Ibid., pp. xiii-xiv. Knight restates the position he had defended in Carmina Homerica, that "the great influence of their [i.e. Greek] poetry in expanding and elevating their minds, and in forming and polishing their taste, appears to have been owing to the transcendent genius of one individual; from whom all, that is splendid, elegant, or exalted in the productions of man, seems to have flowed." Ibid., p. xii.

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Greek art continued to rise, reaching its peak, claims Knight, between 250-150 B.C., after which time various wars contributed to its decline. 95 But despite such unfavorable conditions, it maintained both the dignity of its style and the delicacy of its execution in a very high degree of excellence down to the last stages of the Macedonian power in Asia [i.e., 144-131 B.C.]. 96 As he had so often done in the past. Knight bases many of his conclusions on his knowledge of coins. 9 7 In his Introduction to Specimens is expressed a fear that had been expressed in the past, especially thirteen years earlier in The Progress of Civil Society, namely, that civilization is all too precarious and easily crumbles. 98 Concerning Greek art in its decline, that is, between 250-50 B.C., Knight writes: To these ages of the decline and relaxation of art, from vigour and sublimity to luxuriance and softness, we attribute the articles engraved in plates lxi . . . vii inclusive. And here we must pause to consider the effects of a great and disastrous change in the affairs of mankind, which brought all the learned and civilized nations of the earth under the hard dominion of one military republick; and, in its consequence, plunged them into barbarism and utter darkness. 99 Knight's view here was quite likely influenced by the fact that much of Europe at this time was still embroiled in protracted warfare against Napoleon. Although Knight traces the rise, progress, and decline of ancient sculpture, throughout the text a certain restlessness is evident, as though he were conscious of writing under a restraint. Knight, rather than discuss, as he does, the technique of ancient sculptors, seems more interested in theorizing on the symbolical and mystical implications of the sculptures. But this, he explains, will be the task of a later work: The systematic style and principle of imitative art among the polished nations of antiquity, and the symbolical language, in which it con95 97 98 99

ibid., p. li. Ibid., p. Iii. Knight bases this conclusion on examples of Greek coins. Ibid., pp. lii-liii. See above, p. 90. Specimens, I, liii.

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veyed abstract ideas under visible forms, shall be the subject of another dissertation; and we will, at present confine our inquiries to the mimetic part. 100 Concerning PI. L: The religious and symbolical meaning of this curious and elegant figure of the mystic cupid, or spirit upon the waters, shall be duly explained in the preliminary dissertation to the second volume . . . 1 0 1 Concerning PI. LVIII: This figure is that of the Venus Architis, a mystical and symbolical personage, of whose nature and attributes we shall endeavour to give a satisfactory account in the preliminary dissertation to the next volume . . . 1 0 2 Of the seventy-five plates in Specimens, it would seem as though Knight deliberately chose to hold in abeyance sculptures that would lend themselves to obvious phallic interpretation. Only the last plate, LXXV, a centaur bearing a cornucopia between Hercules and Aesculapius, clearly lends itself to a sexually symbolic interpretation. Concerning this plate, which concludes Knight's text, he points out that As a symbolical composition it is of great importance in explaining the systematic principles and style of antient art, in subjects connected with religion; of which we shall treat at length in the preliminary dissertation to the next volume; where it will be further noticed. 103 Specimens of Antient Sculpture must be seen as the first part of a two-volume work that Knight would later attempt to complete. In this first volume he confines himself to a clear, succinct account of the technique of classical sculptors and presents many excellent en-

loo ibid., p. [i]. ιοί Ibid., η.p. 102 Ibid., n.p. There are other instances in this work revealing Knight's interest in the symbolic implications of the sculptures. Concerning PI. LXXV, Knight wrote that the mystical and symbolic composition of this plate would be explained in the next volume that he would write. Ibid., pp. lxxx-lxxxi. 103 Ibid., n.p. Some of the plates for the second volume had, in fact, already been engraved by this time. Cust, p. 129.

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gravings which reveal his refined taste in collecting. But, as we have seen, he is looking ahead to a future volume in which the specimens would reveal what primarily interested Knight, namely, their symbolic significance.

VI THE ELGIN MARBLES

1 Knight, who had a penchant for being at the center of numerous literary and artistic quarrels in his lifetime, in 1810 found himself once again involved in several disputes. Farington notes that the sculptor John Rossi criticized Knight who, as a member of the Committee of Taste, had been one of those who had voted against granting him the commission to sculpt certain monuments. 1 Farington also refers to a fourteen-page manuscript by Uvedale Price attacking certain passages in Knight's An Analytical Inquiry into the Principles of Taste.2 Judging by the diary entry, Knight's ideas as expressed in this work were still being widely discussed. In this year, Knight also came in for abuse from Edward Copleston who defended the scholarship of Oxford University and of Falconer against Knight's charges made in the Edinburgh Review in 1809. 3 Among other things, Copleston called Knight a prejudiced writer who made a scurrilous attack which should never have been printed. 4 Knight responded in the Edinburgh Review,5 attacking Copleston, Falconer, and especially Oxford University. Knight said he was entitled to the gratitude of the University "for pointing out the abuses

ι The Farington Diary, ed. James Greig (London, 1923-28), VI, 70. Entry dated June 14, 1810. Rossi (1762-1839), like Knight, was in Rome in 1785 and later became a member of the Royal Academy. DNB, XVII, 290. 2 Ibid., VI, 20-21. Entry dated March 4, 1810. 3 A Reply (Oxford, 1810). See esp. pp. 31-103. 4 Ibid., p. 103. s XVI (1810), 169-177. The article is unsigned but has been attributed to Knight. See theIW.ß, XI, 259.

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of a most valuable establishment, which, if properly administered, might be of equal honour to its members, and an advantage to the community at large". 6 In August 1810, the Edinburgh Review printed another article by Knight, a review of a two-volume edition of the works of the historical painter James Barry (1741-1806). 7 Barry's paintings were unusual in that frequently they were executed on a massive scale; in 1783, for instance, he exhibited six pictures, two of which were over forty-two feet long. 8 Although expressing sympathy for Barry's unfortunate life, Knight, strenuously objects to his immense paintings: When the whole of a picture does not come within the field of vision, from the point of distance best adapted to show the beauties of particular expression and detail in the parts, it is too large; since its effect on the mind must necessarily be weakened by being divided, and the apt relation of the parts to each other, and to the whole, in which the merit of all composition consists, be less striking when gradually discovered, than when seen at once. 9 The historical painter Benjamin Robert Haydon took exception to Knight's view in an article in the Examiner: "The grand style is a style which alone can give rank to 'this England in art,' and which only wants rank in such matters to be the greatest nation the world has yet seen." 10 The review is significant because once again we see Knight opposed to large works of art. His collection of coins, bronzes, and paintings all attest to the fact that he preferred delicacy of execution to massiveness. During these years, Joseph Farington supplies most of the information concerning Richard Payne Knight. While not hostile to him, Farington does not attempt to defend Knight against his detractors. 6 Edinburgh Review, XVI (1810), 177. ^ Ibid., pp. 293-326. 8 DNB, I, 1242. Concerning these paintings, Dr. Johnson said, "Whatever the hand may have done, the mind has done its part. There is a grasp of mind there which you find no where else." James Boswell, Boswell's Life of Johnson, ed. George Birkbeck Hill, rev. L.F. Powell (New York, 1934-50), IV, 224. 9 Edinburgh Review, XVI (1810), 308-309. 10 February 2, 1812, p. 77. Evidently, Knight's review of Barry was widely discussed. See Farington, VI, 145, 225; VII, 122. Entries dated September 21, 1810; January 8, 1811; October 23, 1812.

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What he provides is a record of Knight's activities and of the numerous comments made by him on the subject of art, comments which invariably are spoken with immense self-assurance. In referring to a small picture reputed to have been painted by Rembrandt, Farington quotes Knight as saying in 1811 that "in beauty and simplicity of composition, elegance of drapery, truth of expression, and grace and dignity of attitude and character, it is inferior t o no work of any school of Italy; and in brilliancy, richness, harmony, and unison of effect, superior to anything of any other artist of any country." 11

This pronouncement is typical of Knight; he is unequivocal in his position, sure of his taste, but it is not difficult to imagine such a categorical statement inviting criticism from some of Knight's audience. Farington reports that Benjamin West took umbrage at Knight's pontificating and charged that he was so often at the center of conversation on art because he had "associated much with persons in high life whose studies had not been of such a kind as to enable them to contend with him. 12 West's charge does not do justice to Knight. It is true that he conversed with a wide variety of people, not all of whom were particularly knowledgeable about art or literature, but Knight also was comfortable with and respected by many of the most prominent connoisseurs and artists of his era. For instance, Farington notes that in 1811, Knight continued to be a member of the select Committee of Taste 13 and that he evidently knew the painter Thomas Lawrence rather well, judging by his comments concerning an exhibition held at the British Institution. 1 4 In 1811, Farington again makes note of Knight's friendship with the painter Richard Westall. On April 5, he saw two pictures that Knight had commissioned Westall to paint, remarking that the 150 guineas paid by Knight for each was "too little considering the

11 Farington, VI, 240n. Entry dated February 15, 1811. 12 Ibid., VI, 243. 13 Ibid., p. 258. Entry dated April 8, 1811. 14 Ibid., Knight was a founder and governor of the British Institution. See Benjamin Robert Haydon, The Diary of Benjamin Robert Haydon, ed. Willard Bissell Pope (Cambridge, Mass., 1960-63), I, 213, n. 6.

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work in t h e m " . 1 5 If so, it cannot be argued that Knight was always an illiberal patron, for on July 8, Farington writes that Knight commissioned Westall to paint a picture f o r which he would pay 1,000 guineas. 16 And the following incident also reveals Knight's largesse: Knight called on Mortimer the Painter at his house in Church-court, Covent Garden, expressed his uneasiness at the melancholy mood in which he found him. "Why, Sir," observed Mortimer, "I have many noble and generous friends, it is true; but of all my patrons, I don't know one whom I could now ask to purchase an hundred guineas' worth of drawings of me, and I am at this moment seriously in want of that sum." "Well t h e n , " observed Mr. Knight, "bring as many sketches as you would part with for that sum to me to-morrow, and dine with me." This he did, and enjoyed his bottle. Mr. Knight gave him two hundred guineas which he insisted the drawings were worth . . . 17 Knight remained an important figure throughout the year 1812. Farington records that Westall devoted an entire season in London to The Grecian Marriage which Knight had a year earlier commissioned him to p a i n t . 1 8 The Gentleman's Magazine called him "always candid and intelligent, and he appears to me to have done so much more honour to the investigating powers of man than any other person of our times, as almost to form a class by h i m s e l f ' . 1 9 And his 1810 article on Barry continued to be discussed. 2 0 But in 1812, Knight's reputation began what proved to be an irreversible decline. Against his will he was drawn deeply into the controversy over the Elgin Marbles which were becoming more widely discussed, partly because of two events which occurred in this year: the arrival in London of a second shipment of Lord Elgin's collection 2 1 and the appearance of Byron's "The Curse of Minerva", a satirical poem in which he referred to Elgin as a plunderer who 15 Farington, VII, 12. Also in this year John Bacon sculpted a bust of Knight. Rupert Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1660-1851 (London, 1953), pp. 28-29. 16 Farington, VII, 12. 17 John Thomas Smith, Nollekens and His Times (London, 1949), p. 15. First published in 1828. 18 Farington, VII, 128. Entry dated November 1, 1812. 19 LXXXVI, Pt. 2 (1812), 41. 20 Farington, VII, 122. Entry dated October 23, 1812. 21 William St. Clair, Lord Elgin and the Marbles (London, 1967), p. 219.

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"basely Stole" the treasures of the Parthenon. 2 2 Knight's involvement in the controversy resulted from the publication by Benjamin Robert Haydon of two articles in a London newspaper directly attacking Knight's taste in minimizing the beauty of the Elgin Marbles. 2 3 In 1813, Knight wrote the Latin inscription for the monument erected in St. Paul's Cathedral in memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds ( 1 7 2 3 - 1 7 9 0 ) , 2 4 and he was one of six stewards at an exhibition honoring Reynolds held at the British Institution. 2 5 In 1814, Knight continued to be a conspicuous figure in London, especially in the world of literature and art. 2 6 Byron mentions having attended a dinner at which Knight and other literati were present, 2 7 and on at least one occasion Thomas Lawrence was invited to dine at Knight's fashionable house in Soho Square. 2 8 Also in 1814, Knight attended an exhibition held at the British Institution which, judging by Farington's remarks, was attended by numerous important artists and bon ton, including the Princess of Wales whom he personally conducted through the galleries. 29 In the Preface which he wrote for the exhibit's catalogue, Knight extolls certain paintings of William

22 The Poetical Works of Lord Byron, ed. Ernest Hartley Coleridge (London, 1898), 1.463, 1. 112. This poem was not published in its entirety until after Byron's death; however, an edition did appear in 1812. Ibid., p. 453. 23 Examiner, January 26, 1812, pp. 60-64 and February 2, 1812, pp. 76-78. 24 Charles Robert Leslie and Tom Taylor, Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds (London, 1865), II, 637. 25 Farington, VII, 172, 173. Entries dated May 9 and 11, 1813. 26 For instance, he wrote to the Morning Chronicle approving the purchase of the Phigaleian Marbles and was appointed the trustee of his late friend Townley's collection of coins and bronzes which had been bequeathed to the British Museum. NDB, XI, 260. In this year he published "Conjectures concerning the Instruments Called Celts", Archeaologia, XVII (1814), 220-223, based in part on artifacts in his own collection. This article did not receive critical approval, the Monthly Review, LXXVII, New Ser. (1815), 168, remarking that "little besides conjecture is offered in this paper". 27 Diary entry dated March 6, 1814. Quoted in Peter Quennell, ed. Byron: A Self-Portrait (London, 1950), I, 248. Among others in attendance were Madame de Stäel and Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Ibid. 28 Farington, VII, 222. Entry dated March 8, 1814. 29 Ibid., pp. 243, 244. Entries dated May 3 and 11, 1814. Farington observes that Haydon was piqued when in 1814 Knight conducted the Princess of Wales through an exhibit at the Water Colour Society and when passing a picture by

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Hogarth (1697-1764), fifty of which were being shown. 3 0 This exhibit, along with Knight's Preface, for the first time brought to public attention paintings which had not, even in Hogarth's lifetime, been given much recognition. 31 As a director of the British Institution, Knight came under severe attack in 1815. An anonymous work entitled Catalogue Raisonne censured the directors, and especially Knight, for their views on the Institution's exhibit of Flemish and Dutch painters. 32 Knight's prestige was further diminished in 1815 when the Government, which had requested the striking of a medal commemorating the victory at Waterloo, adopted a design by John Flaxman rather than one advocated by Knight which was to have been taken from an ancient medal in his personal collection. 33 In 1816, Knight found himself at the very center of the Elgin Marbles dispute that had begun years earlier and which now reached its climax. His involvement at this time proved to be one of the most momentous events of his life and one of the most disastrous. Interest in the Elgin Marbles had begun soon after the arrival of the first shipment in 1806 34 with many artists warmly praising them. One of the first to recognize the importance of the Marbles was the historical painter, Benjamin Robert Haydon who, immediately upon inHaydon, called it a "Bombastical performance". Ibid., p. 245. Entry dated May 15, 1814. Haydon's growing animosity toward Knight can be found in his Diary, I, 398. Entry dated November 19, 1814. 30 Account of All the Pictures Exhibited in the Rooms of the British Institution from 1813 to 1823 (London, 1824), pp. 11-16. Knight claims that Hogarth "adopted a new line of art, purely English" and that he directed his satire "against the fit objects of ridicule or contempt. The powers of his pencil were not perverted to the purposes of personal attack; the application of his satire was general, and the end at which he aimed was the reformation of folly or of vie ε." Ibid., pp. 12-13. 31 Henry B. Wheatley, Hogarth's London (London, 1909), p. 7. 32 Farington, VIII, 8-9. Entry dated June 10, 1815. Also see Cecil HarcourtSmith, The Society of Dilettanti: Its Regalia and Pictures (London, 1932), p. 5. 33 Farington, VIII, 31. Entry dated August 15, 1815. A minor setback to Knight's reputation occurred at this time when Pistrucci, a restorer of antiquities, arrived in London immediately after Waterloo and identified a gem which Knight highly valued as being not an ancient stone but his own product that he had sold to Knight as an antiquity. Cornelius Vermeule, European Art and the Classical Past (Cambridge, Mass., 1964), p. 150. 34 See above, p. 122.

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specting them, was enraptured: "I felt as if a divine truth had blasted inwardly upon my mind and I knew that they would at last rouse the art of Europe from its slumber in the darkness." 3 5 The landscape painter Joseph Farington called the Marbles "the highest quality of Art, a union of greatness and nature". 3 6 Benjamin West, President of the Royal Academy, was equally enthusiastic; they were "sublime specimens of the purest sculpture". 3 7 Although Joseph Nollekens, a sculptor, at first found nothing fine in the Marbles, 3 8 he shortly thereafter altered his position and along with orther artists applied for permission to sketch them. 39 Another sculptor, John Flaxman, called them "very far superior" to all of the marbles of I t a l y . 4 0 In the following years interest in the Marbles continued undiminished, in part because Lord Elgin brought eighty additional cases of sculptures, drawings, casts, and other works of art from Athens to London. 41 But the Government, despite overtures from Elgin, delayed in purchasing his vast collection. 4 2 What finally seems to have provided the impetus that moved the House of Commons to act were the opinions, not of English artists, but of three foreigners. In 1814, Ludwig, Crown Prince of Bavaria, visited London, admired the Marbles, and offered to purchase them. 4 3 In October of the same year, Ennio Quirino Visconti, an eminent Italian archaeologist, also inspected the Marbles and wrote to Lord Elgin that they were as fine as any statues in Italy. 4 4 A year later, in November, 1815, Antonio Canova, the great Italian sculptor, saw the Marbles and was immediately

35 Benjamin Robert Haydon, The Autobiography and Memoirs, ed. Aldous Huxley (London, 1926), p. 66. 36 Karington, V, 31. Entry dated February 27, 1818. 37 Ibid., p. 46. Entry dated March 30, 1808. 38 Ibid., IV, 145. Entry dated June 6, 1807. 39 St. Clair, p. 168. 40 Quoted in Arthur Hamilton Smith, The Sculptures of the Parthenon (London, 1910), p. 297. 41 Edward Edwards, Lives of the Founders of the British Museum (London, 1870), 1, 394. 42 The Government had considered purchasing the collection in 1811. St. Clair, p. 223. 43 Cust, p. 135. 44 St. Clair, pp. 221-222. Elgin immediately ordered a printed edition of the letter to be published. Ibid.

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enthusiastic over them. 4 5 The British Government seemed to have felt that it would appear foolish if it delayed any longer in acquiring the Marbles which had been so highly valued by such respected foreigners. 46 Shortly thereafter, early in 1816, it set up a Special Committee to inquire about purchasing the Marbles. The investigation conducted by the Special Committee began in February, 1816, and lasted for two weeks, 4 7 during which time the artists who were requested to testify agreed on the merits of the Marbles as works of art. Thomas Lawrence effusively praised the Marbles as "an union of fine composition and very grand form, with a more true and natural expression o f the effect of action upon the human frame than there is in the Apollo or in any o f the other most celebrated statues." 48 Joseph Nollekens called them "the finest things that ever came to this country". 4 9

John Fl ax man was even more

exuberant: " T h e finest works of art I have ever seen."

50

After the artists, Knight was called to testify. That he was asked more questions than any other witness except Lord Elgin indicates the esteem in which he was at that point still held as a critic. Throughout his lengthy testimony, Knight, in marked contrast to the artists who preceded him, was noticeably condescending toward the Marbles. In his answer to the very first question put to him, he belittles the sculptures: " A r e y o u a c q u a i n t e d w i t h the Elgin c o l l e c t i o n ?

"

" Y e s : I have l o o k e d them over, n o t o n l y f o r m e r l y , but I have l o o k e d t h e m o v e r o n this o c c a s i o n , w i t h r e f e r e n c e t o t h e i r v a l u e . "

51

" I n what class o f art do you place the finest works in this Collection?"—"I think o f things extant, I should put them in the second

45 Ibid., p. 227. 46 Earlier, on April 8, 1815, the British Museum had set up a committee, one of whose members was Payne Knight, to consider having the Government purchase the collection. St. Clair, p. 223. 47 Ibid., pp. 229, 257. 48 Report from the Select Committee of the House of Commons of Elgin's Collection of Sculptured Marbles (London, 1816), p. 90. 49 so si

on the Earl

Ibid., p. 67. Ibid., p. 70. For a complete list of the witnesses called to testify, see p. iii. Ibid., p. 92.

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r a n k - s o m e of them; they are very unequal; the finest I should put in the second rank." On the basis of unreliable evidence, Knight went on to further minimize the worth of the Marbles by arguing that a great part of them were executed, not during the time of Phidias in the fifth century B.C., but much later, during the reign of the Roman emperor Hadrian (117-138). 5 2 In fact, Knight did not think that Phidias had sculpted any of the Marbles since "Plutarch expressly excludes him". 5 3 When asked to place a monetary value on the collection, he stated that it was only worth 25,000 p o u n d s , 5 4 and that the Marbles would bring less than half this amount if publicly auctioned rather than purchased outright by the Government. 5 5 To understand why Knight lacked the acuity to see in the Elgin collection what so many artists had seen, it is necessary to take into account the peculiar role of the dilettante in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Deep animosities existed between artists and patrons. Although the artists who testified did not doubt the worth of the Marbles, Knight, the connoisseur, did, and his adverse criticism may have been animated by jealousy over the fact that the artists, in publicly judging the Marbles, had trespassed on what had formerly been the domain of the dilettanti. 5 6 Furthermore, Knight was not particularly fond of sculpture. Earlier he had written that sculpture can only appeal " t o the imagination and the passions" 5 7 and never "afford any . . . sensual pleasure to the e y e " . 5 8 52 Ibid., p. 97. Knight's argument rested on the observations of a seventeenth-century English traveler, Dr. Spon, who was not an expert in architecture or art. For an account of how Spon influenced others, including Benjamin West, see St. Clair, p. 175. 53 Report from the Select Committee, p. 101. In Specimens of Antient Sculpture (London, 1809-35), I, xxxix, Knight stated that Phidias did not sculpt any of the Elgin Marbles and that they seemed to be the "works of many different persons, some of whom would not have been entitled to the rank of artists in a much less cultivated and fastidious age". 54 Report from the Select Committee, pp. 95-96. 55 Ibid., p. 97. 56 Haydon certainly saw it as primarily a dispute between artists and connoisseurs. See his Diary, II, 521. 57 An Analytical Inquiry into the Principles of Taste (London, 1805), Il.i.15, p. 110. 58 Ibid., II.i.14, p. 109.

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Even though he c o m m e n t e d negatively a b o u t the Marbles, Knight has been censured unfairly for his testimony. St. Clair called his pron o u n c e m e n t s "supercilious" and " u n e n t h u s i a s t i c " , a " d i s m a l " perf o r m a n c e in which "his deep-seated prejudices shone t h r o u g h " . 5 9 Eric George stated that Knight's evidence was marked by "ignorance and flippancy". 6 0 Cust accused him of "unflinching c o n d e m n a t i o n of the marbles". 6 1 Such criticism distorts Knight's forthright testimony by ignoring the many counterbalancing remarks that he makes. Knight had carefully canvassed the huge deposit on at least three occasions 6 2 and stated that the metopes were " o f the first class of relief: I think there is n o t h i n g finer". 6 3 Concerning one of the friezes, he c o m m e n t s that "I think it is of the first class of low relief: I k n o w nothing finer than what remains of it." 6 4 He was willing to concede that certain sculptures in the collection of his friend Townley were inferior to some in the Elgin collection, although Townley's were b e t t e r preserved. 6 5 He was especially generous in praising Elgin for preserving the Marbles which, except for his intervention, might well have perished a l t o g e t h e r . 6 6 Knight concludes, n o t by disparaging the Marbles, but by remarking that if purchased by the Government, they would " c o n t r i b u t e to the improvement of the arts and be a valuable addition t o the British Museum. 6 7 The testimony of Knight, then, is actually quite cautious, but he, of all the witnesses, least applauded the Marbles and to his chagrin was attacked stridently in the press by Haydon for minimizing the w o r t h of the collection. It is largely because of this one artist that Knight in 1816 was permanently discredited as a connoisseur of art. In 1815, b e f o r e the Select Committee had been set up, it had seemed t o Haydon that because of the opposition of Knight, the Marbles might

59

St. Clair, p. 2 5 4 .

60 The Life and Death of Benjamin Robert Haydon, ed. Dorothy George, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1967), p. 83. 61

Cust, p. 136.

62 63 64 65 66 67

Report from the Seiet / Ibid., p. 93. Ibid., p. 94. Ibid., p. 99. Ibid., p. 104. Ibid.

,ιΐι. \ p. 94.

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never be acquired by the Government. His diary entries reveal the depth of his anger and frustration. On May 6, 1815, he wrote: Why does not Payne Knight put forth his reasons for doubting the originality of the Elgin Marbles? Shall a mere connoisseur's opinion be put against the opinion of an Artist? Shall the idle, superficial, conceited, vain glance of a dilettante be of more value than the deep investigating principles & practiced search of the Artist? Posh! Shall a dabbler in Gypsum grounds & a learned bungler of Pliny, shall a secret sneerer of the Art in the Edinburgh review, & a pretended public Patroniser tell me they are not pure? What does all this prove? Why, what all artists knew long since, that Mr P. Knight knows nothing of Art, either from feeling or Practice. 6 8 One week later, on May 13, he wrote: I came home from the Elgin Marbles melancholy. I almost wish the French had them; we do not deserve such productions. There they lie, covered with dust and dripping with damp, adored by the Artists, admired by the People, neglected by the Government, doubted by Payne K n i g h t . . . 6 9 In 1816, Haydon's hostility toward Knight dramatically increased. Between January 27-30, he wrote in his diary a rough, partially illegible draft of a diatribe against Knight. 7 0 On February 23, he recorded that he went down to the Elgin Marbles by desire of Lord Elgin to meet the Committee from the House of Commons. They seemed unassuming & intelligent. I was exceedingly pleased. I expected to meet Payne Knight; I wish I had, & that he had dared to utter a breath against them in my presence. 71 On March 17, before the Select Committee rendered its decision concerning the Marbles, Haydon mercilessly attacked Knight in an essay entitled "On the Judgment of Connoisseurs Being Preferred to That of Professional Men": In no other profession is the opinion of the man, who has studied it for his amusement, preferred to that of him who has devoted his soul 68 69 70 71

Haydon, Diary, I, 433-434. Ibid., 1,439. ibid., II, 6. Ibid., II, 8.

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THE E L G I N M A R B L E S

to excel in it. No man will trust his limb to a connoisseur in surgery. N o minister would ask a connoisseur in war how a campaign is to be considered. N o nobleman would be satisfied with the opinion of a connoisseur in law on disputed property. And why should a connoisseur of an Art, more exclusively than any other without the reach of common acquirement, be preferred to the professional man? What reason can be given, why the Painter, the Sculptor, and the architect, should not be exclusively believed most adequate to decide on what they best understand, as well as the Surgeon, the Lawyer, and the General? I have been roused to these reflections, from fearing that the opinion of Mr. Payne Knight, and other connoisseurs, may influence the estimation of the Elgin Marbles. Surely the Committee will never select this gentleman as one to estimate the beauty of these beautiful works of Art. 72 Despite his hostility toward Knight, one cannot help but express admiration for Haydon; he was a man of undaunted courage who was not easily cowed and who willingly took on one of the most formidable critics o f his era. The report of the Select Committee

appeared early in April,

1816. 73 In it the Committee recommended that the Government purchase the Marbles for 35,000 pounds, 74 thereby ignoring the judgment of Knight, who had placed their value at only 25,000 pounds.

75

Lord Elgin reluctantly accepted the Committee's recommendation,

76

even though the amount represented less than half the 74,000 pounds he had spent over the years in obtaining the Marbles. 77 On June 7, 1816, the House of Commons debated the recommendation of the Committee 7 8 and on July 1, passed an act approving the purchase of the Elgin Marbles.

79

72 Examiner, March 17, 1816, p. 163. This essay achieved much fame by being translated into Italian and French and was dispersed over Europe. Haydon, Diary, II, 38, n. 4. 73 According to Farington. Entry dated April 10, 1816. This information, although contained in the manuscript of the diary, was never published. Quoted in St. Clair, p. 259. 74

George, p. 88.

75

See above, p. 149.

76 77 78 79

St. Clair, p. 260. George, p. 88. St. Clair, p. 260. Edwards, I, 395.

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Almost instantly Knight's reputation was destroyed. Farington states that at the Royal Academy everyone was talking about his ruin: It was gratifying to us to see that Mr. Payne Knight had so fully and publicly c o m m i t t e d himself in the opinion he gave of the Elgin Marbles . . . . Thus will the j u d g m e n t [sic] ignorance of this presumptious [sic] connoisseur be recorded. 8 0 The Examiner poem:

mocked him, as well as o t h e r connoisseurs, in a short

Nay some, unconscious of remorse, Prefer a Beetle to a Horse, And worship Egypt's models, Composed t h r o u g h o u t of granite rare In substance hard, in outline square, The type of their own noodles. Envelop'd by the shades of Knight Still must Athenian genius bright Be d o o m ' d to shine unseen . . . 81 The Quarterly Review, in a devastating article, questioned Knight's pretensions to be considered the chief dilettante and arbiter of taste 8 2 and attacked his testimony almost point by p o i n t . 8 3 Haydon, Knight's chief antagonist, gloated over his decline: " A h , Mr. Payne Knight, whilst thou wert giving laws t o the drawing room, thou little knew what an intellect was at work in obscurity t o give thee the c o u p de grace when the destinies had fixed." 8 4 Now, it seemed, n o one d o u b t e d the w o r t h of the Marbles. Even the Society of Dilettanti effusively praised t h e m : 80 Farington. Entry dated April 10, 1816 (unpublished). Quoted in St. Clair, pp. 259-260. The animosity of the Royal Academy toward Knight can be seen in the following diary entry: "Owen spoke of the great loss which the Royal Academy and the arts in general had suffered by the death of Sir Joshua Reynolds. Opinion was so much in favour of His taste and Judgment that had He lived it wd. have been impossible for Mr. Payne Knight & the other Members of the Committee of Taste to have obtained the importance they have done and that they should be referred to for decisions as they are now." Farington, VIII, 53. Entry dated January 27, 1816. 81 Examiner, April 28, 1816. 82 XIV (1816), 533. 83 [bid., pp. 533-543. 84 Haydon, Diary, II, 146. Entry dated November 24, 1817.

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In the marbles of the Parthenon, which have been brought to England by the Earl of Elgin, we possess indisputable specimens of the style of design and execution which prevailed at Athens when Pericles administered the affairs of the republic, and Phidias directed the public works . . . . 8 5 The Society went on to say that "of all human productions they approach nearest to ideal perfection, with the least appearance of technical study". 8 6 Lionel Cust, historian of the Society of Dilettanti, stated that Knight's "reputation as a connoisseur and critic was for ever engulfed." 8 7 Adolf Michaelis called his adverse remarks about the Marbles "foolish c o n d e m n a t i o n s " . 8 8 Haydon was rather perceptive when in 1815 he wrote: Remember, Mr. Payne Knight, the fame of the Elgin Marbles will encrease with our knowledge and treble with time. Remember that when all thy works are sunk into oblivion, Priapus & all, thou will be only recollected by thy presumption in disbelieving their beauty. If to such fame you aspire, you shall have it. Thy name shall be mentioned by posterity in conjunction with these immortal works, but it shall be with contempt, with sneers of indignation. 89 Knight never again would be as highly esteemed as he had been before the eventful year of 1816 in which his reputation was permanently tarnished. Joseph Farington, writing in 1817, makes it clear that Knight's involvement in the dispute over the Elgin Marbles in the previous year harmed his reputation. When Knight's name was put forward for the Honorary Professorship of Ancient Literature in the Royal Academy, the choice was considered by several respectable persons to be ill-judged . . . the opinions which Mr. Knight has given respecting arts, and some Artists, and an im85 Specimens of Arttient Sculpture, II, liv. 86 Ibid., p. lv. 87 Cust, p. 136. 88 Ancient Marbles in Great Britain, trans. C.A.M. Fennell (Cambridge, Eng., 1882), p. 143. 89 Haydon, Diary, 1,442. Entry dated May 13, 1815. Keats, a friend of H a y d o n , wrote three sonnets to Haydon and o n e a b o u t the Elgin Marbles. See J o h n Keats, Complete Poems and Selected Letters, ed. Clarence De Witt T h o r p e (New York, 1935), pp. 45-47.

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proper publication [i.e., The Worship of Priapus] upon a gross subject, and the tendency of it, made him a very unfit person to be attached by name to the R. A. 9 0 Farington does not express regret at Knight's decline. On June 9, 1817, he cites another instance of his having been humiliated: [Lysons] spoke of Payne Knight's ignorance in having at the Duke of Somersets at dinner last Saturday week, said that Mosaick floors were Roman work only, the Greeks never having worked in Mosaick— Lysons immediately quoted Pliny to prove his contrary, who mentioned a Greek artist being employed in such w o r k s - t o this Knight made no answer. 91 Farington's increasing dislike for Knight also manifests itself in less significant ways, as, for instance, when he gently mocks his eating habits: R. Payne Knight goes frequently to the Priory, Lord Abercorn's, where He finds a table well suited to His taste: but He does not escape observation in the family: it is noticed that He eats voraciously, & will take 5 or 6 eggs at breakfast. 92 Despite the decline in Knight's reputation, evidently, he was still in favor with many important people. Farington notes that on April 7, 1817, Knight held a dinner at his house in Soho Square at which the following personages were among those in attendance: the Duke and Duchess of Somerset, the Marquis and Marchioness of Stafford, Prince Esterhazy, ambassador from Austria, and Sir Henry Englefield, President of the Society of Dilettanti. 9 3 2 In 1818, Lord Byron visited Knight, probably at his house in Soho Square, 9 4 and in this year Knight published The Symbolical

90

Farington (unpublished). Quoted in Elisabeth Inglis-Jones, "The Knights of

Downton Castle, I", National Library of Wales Journal, XV, No. 3 (1968), 256. 91 Farington, VIII, 131. 92 Ibid.., p. 112. Entry dated February 3, 1817. 93 Ibid., p. 120. Entry dated April 8, 1817. 94 See Byron's letter of September 19, 1818, to Thomas Moore in Quennell, II, 435.

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Language of Ancient Art and Mythology. 95 Judging by his statement on the title page, Knight meant this treatise to be part of a larger work: Intended to be prefixed to the Second Volume of the Select Specimens of Antient Sculpture, published by the Society of Dilettanti; but the necessarily slow progress of that work, in the exhausted state of the funds to be applied to it, affording the author little probability of seeing its completion, he has been induced to print a few copies of this proposed Part of it, that any information which he may have been able to collect upon a subject so interesting to all lovers of Elegant Art, may not be lost to his successors in such pursuits, but.receive any additions and corrections which may render it more worthy to appear in the splendid form, and with the beautiful illustrations of the preceding volume. 96 The second volume of Specimens of Antient Sculpture, to which Knight refers, was to contain etchings of antique sculptures, as did the first volume. Rather than write a brief explanatory essay for each etching, Knight composed a lengthy one. It is a heavily footnoted work which is remarkably similar to The Worship of Priapus and like it is concerned with the esoteric principles of ancient worship. 97 Here in The Symbolical Language, however, Knight deleted the most controversial passages and risque plates that had been included in The Worship of Priapus. He stated his purpose in the first paragraph: As all the most interesting and important styles of ancient art are taken from the religious or poetical mythology of the times, a general analysis of the principles and progress of that mythology will afford a more complete, as well as more concise, explanation of particular monuments than can be conveyed in separate dissertations annexed to each. 98 In The Symbolical Language, Knight tries to prove that all religions are essentially the same:

95 London, 1818. 96 The Symbolical Language of Ancient Art and Mythology, ed. Alexander Wilder (New York, 1876), p. [iii]. All page references are to this edition. 97 In both works Knight is especially interested in the pervasive phallic symbolism of ancient religions and the sexual rites performed at pagan temples throughout Europe and the Middle East. 98 The Symbolical Language, p. [i].

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The polytheist of ancient Greece and Rome candidly thought, like the modern Hindu, that all rites of worship and forms of devotion were directed to the same end, though in different modes and through different channels. 99 Knight's own beliefs on this matter are not too clear, but he seems to have believed in a kind of pantheism, judging by his comments on "emanations": The principle underlying the system of Emanations was, that all things were of one substance; from which they were fashioned, and into which they were again dissolved, by the operation of one plastic spirit universally diffused and expanded. 100 As in The Worship of Priapus, what especially interested Knight were the arcana of various ancient religions, the secret or mystic system, preserved, generally, by hood, in temples of long-established sanctity; and the most solemn vows of secresy, to persons proved themselves to be worthy of the important

an hereditary priestonly revealed, under who had previously trust. 1 0 1

Knight found it difficult to obtain reliable information concerning these mystic systems, since, he claims, early writers were horrified by them, and the assertions of later writers were "generally founded in conjecture, and oftentimes warped by prejudices in favor of their own particular systems and opinions in religion and philosophy". 102 He therefore, to a great extent, relied on the evidence provided by ancient coins, especially those in his own collection and that of his friend Townley. When trying to prove a particular point, Knight's method often is to begin by citing ancient writers and then buttressing the evidence which they supply with the more reliable proof found on extant antique coins. For instance, although a traditional sign of the female generative power, such as the shell or the conch, "was expressed in [ancient] symbolical writings", these and other such symbols all

99 Ibid., p. 41. For a fuller account of Knight's views on the subject, see pp. 39-41.

100 Ibid., p. 41. ιοί Ibid., p. 3. 102 Ibid., p. 5.

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"occur very frequently upon coins as well". 1 0 3 Knight, after referring to an ancient writer who showed that the sun and the cock were traditional symbols, namely, of the male generative power, 1 0 4 then reinforces this with evidence that he has found on many antique coins where the sun is represented by a cock in a circle with some symbol of the female reproductive power on the reverse side. 105 From this evidence, based on the coins, Knight argues, and here he is on less certain ground, that the weathercocks which now surmount the spires of many churches "though now only employed to show the direction of the wind, were originally emblems of the sun [i.e., the symbol of the male generative power]. 1 0 6 Modern Christians, Knight implies, are unknowingly employing on their religious edifices, what was once a pagan symbol of reproduction. Continuing in this iconoclastic vein, Knight points out that Phoenician coins indicate that the rosary used by Roman Catholics had its origin in paganism 107 and that the Christian symbol of the cross was not only of pagan origin but was part of the cult of Priapus. 108 Bells, which are rung in the Roman Catholic mass, especially at the elevation of the host, were not only used by pagans in religious ceremonies, but many Priapic figures have bells attached to them. 1 0 9 Even the concept of the Trinity, or supreme Triad, as Knight calls it, had its origin in paganism. 110 In its emphasis on phallic symbolism, The Symbolical Language does not advance beyond The Worship of Priapus. As in the earlier work, Knight attacks the decorum and restraint that he saw as so prevalent in his own era. He points out, for instance, that Grecian women, although eminently civilized, retained a spontaneity that Knight implies has been lost by their modern counterparts in London: Considering the general state of reserve and restraint in which the Grecian women lived, it is astonishing to what an excess of extrava103 104 los 106 107 los 109 no

Ibid., Ibid., Ibid., Ibid., Ibid., Ibid., Ibid., Ibid.,

p. 28. pp. 70-71. p. 71. p. 70. p. 31. p. 30. p. 133. pp. 167-172.

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gance their religious enthusiasm was carried on certain occasions; particularly in celebrating the Orgies of Bacchus. The gravest matrons and proudest princesses suddenly laid aside their decency and their dignity, and ran screaming among the woods and mountains, fantastically dressed or half-naked, with their hair dishevelled and interwoven with ivy or vine, and sometimes with living serpents. In this manner they frequently worked themselves up to such a pitch of savage ferocity, as not only to feed upon raw flesh, but even to tear living animals with their teeth, and eat them warm and palpitating. 111 The Symbolical Language, then, would seem to be an attempt to undermine the complacency of the times. According to Knight, not only were the ancients more "natural" and spontaneous than moderns, but the very origins of the Christian religion of Western man are hidden in the dark, mysterious Priapic rites of ancient paganism. The Symbolical Language was not reviewed by the major literary journals for numerous reasons. First, only a few copies were printed and those privately; 1 1 2 second, the work incorporated the essence of The Worship of Priapus·, third, by 1818, Knight's reputation had markedly declined because of the Elgin Marbles controversy. 1 1 3 The Symbolical Language, however, has received critical acclaim. Many years after its appearance, the Society of Dilettanti praised it, saying that it is acknowledged by all who have had access to it, to contain so much erudition, and such strong proofs of the Author's deep and recondite knowledge of the philosophy and mythology of Greece, that it well deserves a place which will ensure to it a permanent existence in the best public and private libraries of this country and of the Continent, and thus make it accessible to all who may wish to consult it. 114 The last editor of The Symbolical

Language stated that

ill ibid., p. 49. Π2 DNB,X1,259. 113 Nevertheless, the work was popular and reprinted five times: first, in continuous portions of the Classical Journal, XX1I-XXVII (1821-23); second, at the end of Specimens of Antient Sculpture, II; third, ed. E.H. Barker (London, 1835); fourth, ed. Alexander Wilder (New York, 1876); fifth, ed. Alexander Wilder (New York, 1892). 114

Specimens

of Antient

Sculpture,

II, n.p.

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Mr. Knight has treated the subject with rare erudition and ingenuity; and with such success that the labors of those who came after him, rather add to the results of his investigations than replace them in important particulars. 115 More recently, Nikolaus Pevsner called this work Knight's "magnum opus".116 3 In 1821, Knight published an article in Archaeologia, "On the Large Silver Coins of Syracuse", 117 and on April 18, 1822, he read the following paper, "Observations on the Coins Found by Colonel Caldwell", which was later printed in Archaeologia. 118 Although Knight continued to publish almost until the end of his life, his health was evidently deteriorating. In 1822, when Knight was seventy-two years old, Thomas Moore records the following rather humorous incident in his diary: "On somebody remarking that Payne Knight had got very deaf, 'Tis from want of practice,' says R[ogers]; Knight being a very bad listener." 119 In April, 1823, Knight dined at Samuel Rogers' with a distinguished party that included Sydney Smith, Lord Aberdeen, and Abercrombie. 120 In June, he dined at William Ponsonby's with Thomas Lawrence, Lord Bessborough, and other members of the Society of Dilettanti. 121 During this year, however, Knight's health, presumably, was declining, since in this year he handed over to his brother the management of the remainder of his Downton estate. Through this arrangement, he received 2,000 pounds annually and one-half share of any timber that was sold from the estate. 1 2 2 115 The Symbolical Language, pp. vi-vii. lie Art Bulletin, XXXI (1949), 297. Since The Symbolical Language really duplicates much of The Worship of Priapus, Mr. Pevsner's statement more aptly applies t o the earlier work. 117 XIX (1821), 369-378. 118 XXI (1827), 5-10. It is not known to what group Knight read the paper. 119 Thomas Moore, Memoirs, ed. John Russell (London, 1853-56), IV, 23. Entry dated November 26, 1822. 120 Ibid., p. 53. Entry dated April 10, 1823. 121 Ibid., p. 86. Entry dated June 19, 1823. 122 Elisabeth Inglis-Jones, "The Knights of Downton Castle, I I ' N a t i o n a l Library of Wales Journal, XV, No. 4 (1968), 377.

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Nevertheless, in this, his seventy-third year, Knight published Alfred, 1 2 3 a twelve-book epic in heroic couplets about the exploits of Alfred the Great, the ninth-century king of England. The major literary journals ignored this poem, Knight's longest, which remains one of his least-known works. It would seem that in his old age Knight had become n o t a venerated b u t an almost u n r e m e m b e r e d figure in L o n d o n literary circles. Knight anticipated the p o e m ' s chilly reception and claims n o t to have intended this to be a serious work: To trifle is the privilege of t h e last, as well as the first stage of h u m a n life; and this must be the Author's excuse in producing such a work as he here offers to t h e public. The composition of it h a t h a f f o r d e d him much innocent amusement; and he therefore flatters himself that the perusal of it may a f f o r d some to others, t h o u g h he shall n o t feel much disappointment in its failure: the taste of the present age being, as far as he is enabled t o judge by its most popular productions, very different f r o m that which he has imbibed f r o m sources which he thinks more pure, and t o whose purity and excellence the continued approbation of successive ages h a t h borne t e s t i m o n y . 1 2 4 In the course of the epic, Knight shows Alfred's resiliency as he rises f r o m defeat at Wilton by the invading D a n e s 1 2 5 t o his ultimate victory over t h e m . 1 2 6 Like Lucifer in Paradise Lost, he attempts to rally his forces 1 2 7 but before doing so undergoes numerous tribulations as well as falling in love with Elsintha, daughter of the king of Mercia. 1 2 8 In the meantime, Knight chronicles the machinations of various Saxon political figures.129 By Book VII, Alfred is once again in a position to challenge the Danes but not until several books later on does he d o so. His t r i u m p h over t h e m in Book XI and marriage to Elsintha in Book XII brings the epic to a happy c l o s e . 1 3 0 In many ways, Alfred

is a p o o r p o e m ; its p l o t is loosely organized

123 London, 1823. 124 Alfred, Preface, p. [v], 125 Ibid., Bk. I. 126 Ibid., Bk. XI. 127 Ibid., Bk. I. 128 Ibid., Bk. III. 129 Ibid., Bks. III-VI. 130 Nevertheless, death was on Knight's mind throughout the poem. The work opens on the note of death, and through Alfred, Knight often seerps to be speaking of himself. For instance:

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with few books having a major unifying event. Alfred, the central figure, is at best only vaguely sketched, and the language is clumsily handled. This can be seen, for instance, when Alfred, after rescuing Ellen from danger, speaks to an intruder: And who art thou? he cried; what baleful shade Thus dares our secret sorrows to invade? Instant the cause of this intrusion tell Or hence, and mingle with the friends of hell. 1 3 1 Despite such lines, Alfred is an interesting poem, for in this, Knight's final work, he restates many of his most important ideas. As in The Worship of Priapus, he looks back, this time nostalgically, to an era when man was less "civilized," when nature was seen not as a part of an impersonal cosmic machine but as something permeated by the Divine, when Each bubbling fountain was some nymph's abode, And every river had its guardian god; The unfathom'd ocean local spirits knew, Who earth's dark centre oped to mental view; Th' unnumber'd progeny of Heaven through all Appear'd responsive to the poet's call; And when, in solitary wilds remote, Resounding rocks prolong'd his pensive note, Fond Echo, Ungering in some name beloved, Th' inspiring muses' vocal presence proved: Where'er he wander'd Fancy's realms he found, Enchanting visions ever hover'd round, Peopled each dreary desert that he trod, And made this world one temple of its God;

Though more than seventy winters' frost hath shed Its withering blights upon my hoary head; Though, slowly lingering through half empty veins, My heart's cold current scarce its pulse maintains; Still Memory rouses Fancy's drooping fires, And transient gleams of youthful glow inspires; Which mellow'd in the calm of life's decline, Autumnal twilight's various hues combine, And still with cleat but fading lustre shine. 131

Ibid., Bk. II, pp. 32-33.

(Ibid., Bk. Ill, pp. 50-51.)

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Till prying Science Heaven and Earth unveil'd, And Fancy droop'd, by rigid Sense assail'd; No mystic regions now left unexplored, Whose distance might enchanted scenes a f f o r d . 1 3 2 He then attacks those men, especially those clerics, who have assisted in destroying this pantheistic view of nature by watching "God's image sunk into a mere machine", 1 3 3 and have lived but to maintain Captious distinctions and opinions vain; Who dared, with rash impiety, decide What Heaven's high wisdom hath to man denied; Polemic doctors, sophists, and logicians, Divines, reformers, and mad politicians, Who here, with adverse fury, ever strive Their various bubbles, various ways to drive. 1 3 4 Knight's animosity toward organized, formalized religion which was seen in several of his earlier works, is here expressed through a young Mercian warrior and chieftan: Alone young Eric had resumed of late, Some doubts concerning rights divine to state; To scoff at meddling priests, and gaping fools, Whom groveling Superstition made their tools . . . 1 3 5 Eric then launches his attack: Such let our priests, as bright examples, shine, And prove, by virtues, what they teach divine ; Not Hell's worst attributes to Heaven impute, Their own malignant purposes to suit; Their own dark envy, eager to destroy, When lust exhausted can no more enjoy: The basest passion of the basest heart, Which every nobler effort seeks to thwart; And, 'gainst whate'er can claim esteem or love Its venom'd shafts of rancorous hate to prove. 1 3 6 132 133 134135 136

Ibid., Bk. V, pp. 120-121. Ibid., p. 133. Ibid., p. 132. Ibid., Bk. IX, p. 218. Ibid., p. 224.

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Despite Knight's animosity toward organized religion, he was not an atheist. His religious views are stated as clearly here as he was to state them anywhere else. Knight believed in a "system of emanations" 137 which he describes as follows: through boundless space Unnumber'd spirits from Heaven their lineage trace Though endless emanations flow, Yet all alike their place and office know; That all alike in different modes fulfil Their Great Creator's universal will; And act, as predisposed by general laws, To one great end, from one efficient cause. 1 3 8 In Knight's final work, then, we have what is essentially an optimistic philosophy. Ultimately, in some inexplicable way, Knight believes that death is not the end, that man endures after death. His theology, while certainly not Christian, is not without hope and a belief in an afterlife. In 1824, Knight became increasingly despondent and is reported to have wandered sadly about London, going from the house of one friend to another. 1 3 9 Shortly thereafter, on April 23, he died at the age of seventy-four at his house in Soho Square of an "apoplectic affection", 1 4 0 but according to Samuel Rogers, "he poisoned himself with prussic acid—his nerves were destroyed by women".141 Knight was buried on May 11 in the churchyard at Wormesley, Herefordshire 142 where there is a monument to him with a Latin epitaph by the bishop of Worcester. 143 Knight bequeathed most of his collection of coins, 1 4 4 gems, marbles, bronzes, and drawings to the British Museum. 1 4 5 This collection >37 138 139 140 141 142

Ibid., Preface, p. vii. Ibid., Bk. II, p. 37. Elisabeth Inglis-Jones, Peacocks in Paradise (London, 1950), p. 233. Gentleman's Magazine, XCIV, Pt. 2 (1824), 185. Peacocks in Paradise, p. 233. Inglis-Jones, "The Knights of Downton Castle, II," p. 379. 143 DNB, X I , 260. 144 Kn'ght had entered in a journal a description of his coins which amounts to a complete catalogue of his collection. The British Museum published it under the title Nummi Veteres (London, 1830). 145 Inglis-Jones, "The Knights of Downton Castle, II", p. 379. He left his pictures to his brother who brought them to Downton Castle. Ibid., p. 375. A

THE ELGIN MARBLES of classical antiquities, the finest in E u r o p e , 1 4 6 to 6 0 , 0 0 0

pounds147

and

immensely

165 was valued at up

strengthened

the

British

Museum collection. The only condition t o Knight's bequest was that a perpetual Knight family trustee should be a p p o i n t e d by the British M u s e u m . 1 4 8 This was arranged by the passage o f a bill in Parliament on June 17, 1 8 2 4 . 1 4 9

portion of his library was auctioned in December, 1829. See Catalogue of a Select Portion of the Library of John Crosse, Esq. and a Portion of the Library of the Late Richard Payne Knight, Esq. (London, 1829), n.p. Although he had originally willed most of his collection to the Royal Academy, in 1814 Knight made a new will whereby the British Museum became his chief benefactor. See William T. Whitley, Art in England, 1800-1820 (Cambridge, Eng., 1928), II, 82. 146 According to St. Clair, p. 174. During his long visits to Italy, Knight amassed a vast collection of antiquities and sent agents all over Europe in search of specimens, even as far as Russia. In fact, "as soon as a fine piece of bronze work appeared on the market anywhere in Europe-and many did at the time of the French Revolution-every dealer knew that Payne Knight would buy." Ibid. 147 DNB, XI, 260. 148 ibid. 149 Ibid.

CONCLUSION

It is this writer's belief that Knight's life and his many contributions justify this detailed study which has attempted to supplement previous biographical sketches of Knight and also to analyze his works in greater depth. Small problems remain, such as the extent and type of education he received and his activities after the abrupt decline in his reputation. On the whole, however, the available evidence has been assembled so that much that had heretofore been vague concerning Knight's life is now clarified. Throughout most of his life it almost seemed that Knight would achieve an imperishable name, especially because of The Worship of Priapus and An Analytical Inquiry into the Principles of Taste. As late as 1816, at the age of sixty-six, Knight was still one of the foremost authorities on art in England, but shortly thereafter his fame underwent an almost total eclipse, so that by the time of his death in 1824 he was nearly a forgotten figure. This decline occurred largely because of his involvement in the dispute over the Elgin Marbles. That Knight's works were not widely read after his death, however, can be attributed, not to the above-mentioned dispute, but to the fact that he seldom wrote with clarity or economy. The cumulative effect of his verbal meanderings is frequently more than mildly soporific. Nevertheless, it is a mistake to consign Knight to oblivion. What he lacks in vibrancy of style, he more than compensates for in analytic power and erudition. As a critic, Knight invites comparison with the best-known figures of his era. In fact, William St. Clair claims that Knight was "a man whose influence on the taste and opinions of his generation was almost equal to that later enjoyed by Ruskin". 1 One

Lord Elgin and the Marbles (London, 1967), p. 173.

CONCLUSION

167

of his works, The Worship of Priapus, was recently reprinted, 2 evidence that in the eyes of at least one anthropologist the book has continuing relevance. The purpose of this study has not been to promote a Knightian revival, since he undoubtedly will remain a minor figure, although an interesting example of the eighteenth-century dilettante. But it has been the purpose of this study to throw greater light on Richard Payne Knight's many contributions and to make clear that, as Christopher Hussey pointed out, Knight was "one of the period's most representative minds". 3

New York, 1966. English Country Houses: Mid Georgian (London, 1956), p. 295.

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INDEX

This is a selective index. N o t all persons, places, classical authors, titles, or authorities cited have been indexed.

Adam, Robert, 20,21 Addison, Joseph, 22-23, 25, 26, 59, 104, 105 Alison, Archibald, 105 Anti-Jacobin, 88-93, 94, 96

Banks, Joseph, 42, 4 4 , 48, 54, 101, 119 Beautiful, the, 34, 65, 103, 104, 105, 108, 109, 110, 111, 116 Beckford, William, 9 Boswell, James, 129 Breval, John, 24, 26, 32, 35-36 British Museum, 9, 28, 29, 4 4 , 101, 102, 125, 145, 148, 150, 164, 165 Brown, Lancelot "Capability", 5 3 , 61, 6 3 , 64, 65, 67, 70, 71, 72, 7 5 , 7 6 , 77, 78, 80, 81, 82, 83, 96 Brydone, Patrick, 33, 35 Burke, Edmund, 65, 66, 104, 105 Byron, George Gordon, 10, 144, 145, 155

Chaucer, Geoffrey, 22 Christianity, 10, 48, 4 9 , 50, 85, 158, 159, 164 Constable, John, 28 Cozens, John Robert, 16, 28, 29, 36, 100 Cust, Lionel, 45, 51, 52, 154

Damer, Anne Seymour, 1 0 0 Dashwood, Francis, 41, 4 2 Debrett, John, 38, 39 D o w n t o n Castle, 13-22, 34, 37, 53, 5 4 , 63, 76, 100, 101, 102, 120, 125, 126, 132, 133, 135, 160 Dupaty, Charles, 30-31 Elgin, Lord, 122-123, 144, 147, 148, 150, 151, 154 Elgin Marbles, 122-123, 144, 145, 146-154, 159, 166 Farington, Joseph, 10, 4 5 , 66, 84, 99, 101, 102, 103, 107, 119, 120, 123, 124, 125, 133, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 147, 152, 153, 154,155 Fourmont, Abbe Michel, 55-58 Fox, Charles James, 38, 39, 4 0 , 99, 100, 102, 103, 120, 121-122 French Revolution, 54, 65, 83, 84, 86, 88, 89, 90, 165 Freud, Sigmund, 52 Gardening, Land ; , ape, 10, 59-84, 127, 136 George III, 37, 39, 4 0 Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 28, 29 Gore, Charles, 29, 36, 41 Grand Tour, the, 15, 22-36, 46 Gray, Thomas, 23, 26, 41

INDEX Hackert, Philip, 28, 29, 36 Hamilton, William, 29, 42, 43, 46, 4 8 , 4 9 , 5 2 , 101 Hancarville (see Hugues, Pierre Frangois) Haydon, Benjamin Robert, 142, 145, 146, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154 Hippie, Walter John, Jr., 9, 17, 108 Hogarth, William, 72, 104, 146 Holland, Eüzabeth, 45, 100, 101 Homer, 54, 126-131 Hugues, Pierre Francois, 42, 44, 45, 46, 51, 52, 55 Hussey, Christopher, 11, 16, 28, 108, 167 Inglis-Jones, Elisabeth, 11 Johnes, Thomas, 21-22, 42, 100 Johnson, Samuel, 25, 62, 129, 142 Jones, Inigo, 19 Keats, John, 154 Knight, Edward, 42 Knight, John, 13 Knight, Richard, 13, 14 Knight, Richard Payne (divided into two sections: Biography and Major Works) I. Biographical Summary: birth, 13; education, 14; grand tour, 15, 22-36; designs Downton Castle, 16; stands for Parliament, 37; elected to Society of Dilettanti, 41; publishes An Account of the Remains of the Worship of Priapus 43; publishes The Landscape, 59; publishes An Analytical Inquiry into the Principles of Taste, 103; end of Parliamentary career, 120; moves to Soho Square, 125; reputation begins sharp decline, 144; health deteriorates, 160; turns Remainder of Downton estate over to brother, 160; dies, 164

177

II. Major Works: An Account of the Remains of the Worship of Priapus, 9, 42, 53, 69, 85, 86 87, 95, 96, 110, 114, 136, 155, 156,157, 158,159, 162,166, 167; Alfred: A Romance in Rhyme, 161-164; An Analytical Essay on the Greek Alphabet, 53-58, 126, 137; An Analytical Inquiry into the Principles of Taste, 16, 17, 18, 103-118, 119, 123, 126, 141, 166; Carmina Homerica, Ilias et Odyssea, 126, 129, 131, 132, 137; The Landscape, 16, 59-84, 86, 89, 96, 108, 112, 113, 114, 127, 136; The Progress of Civil Society, 14-15, 52, 84-98, 114, 120, 127, 138; Specimens of Antient Sculpture, 134-140,156; The Symbolical Language of Ancient Art and Mythology, 155-158; Tagebuch einer Reise nach Sicilien, 13,28-29,30-36,46 Knight, Thomas, 14 Knight, Thomas Andrew, 13, 14, 20, 54, 70, 81, 125, 164 Landscape Gardening (See Gardening, Landscape) Lawrence, Thomas, 20, 102, 103, 1 3 3 , 1 4 3 , 145, 148, 160 Lewis, W.S., 9, 17 Lorraine, Claude, 17, 18, 30, 32, 62, 63, 74 Mann, Horace, 17, 23, 41 Marriage, 93, 96, 101 Mason, William, 45, 64, 66, 67, 70, 83, 94 Mathias, Thomas, 52, 69, 87 Mayoux, Jean-Jacques, 11, 1-3, 118 Medmenham, Abbey, 41 Michaelis, Adolf, 51, 52, 135, 154 Montagu, Ashley, 9 Montagu, Elizabeth, 63 Montagu, Mary Wortley, 23

178

INDEX

Nash, Frederick, 14 Nash, Ursula, 14 Nelson, Horatio, 101 North, Lord, 37, 39, 40 Palladio, Andrea, 19, 21 Pevsner, Nikolaus, 9, 15, 16, 17, 20, 28, 52, 76, 135, 160 Picturesque, the, 10, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 2 1 , 2 6 , 3 1 , 3 2 , 3 3 , 3 4 , 5 3 , 6 2 , 64, 65, 67, 73, 74, 76, 81, 83, 103, 108, 113-114 Piozzi, Hester Lynch Thrale, 26, 30 Pitt, William (The Younger), 39, 40, 63, 88, 120, 123 Pope, Alexander, 24, 60, 61, 84, 87, 95, 115, 116, 118, 121 Poussin, Gaspar, 20, 62 Price, Uvedale, 63-70, 72, 84, 99, 107, 141 Pritchard, Thomas Farnold, 15-16 Repton, Humphry, 53-54, 63, 64, 65, 68, 69, 70, 73, 74, 76, 78, 79 Reynolds, Joshua, 64, 145, 153 Riedesel, J.H., 27 Robinson, John, 37, 38, 39. 4 0 Rogers, Samuel, 45, 160, 164 Rosa, Salvator, 20, 62, 63, 74, 75, 81 Royal Academy, 99, 119, 125, 132, 141, 147, 153, 154, 165 Royal Society, 10, 42, 125 Seward, Anna, 53, 83 Shenstone, William, 61, 74

Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 10, 102, 145 Smith, Adam, 24-25 Smollett, Tobias, 24 Society of Dilettanti, 10, 41-44, 51, 54, 127, 128, 134-135, 153, 154, 155, 156, 159, 160 Soho Square, 20, 125, 132, 145, 155, 164 Stockdale, John, 38, 39 Stolberg, Friedrich von, 27, 29, 32, 36 Sublime, the, 10, 26, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 49, 65, 103, 104, 105, 108, 116, 117, 147 Swinburne, Henry, 30 Taste, 9, 10, 99, 103-118, 119, 123, 124, 141, 143, 153, 161 Temple, William, 17 Townley, Charles, 28, 43, 54, 134-135, 145, 150, 157 Walpole, Horace, 9, 10, 17, 23-24, 41, 44, 45, 46, 60, 61, 62, 64, 66, 83, 94 West, Benjamin, 103, 143, 147, 149 West, Richard, 46 Westall, Richard, 20, 99, 120, 123, 124, 125, 143, 144 Winckelmann, Johann Joachim, 27 Wolf, Friedrich August, 128-132