afforded him but a moderate subsistence; nor was he enabled by any ecclesiastical preferment to provide for his numerous family, amounting to eleven children in all, of whom Joshua was the seventh. Five, however, of these children died in their infancy.—His father had a notion, that it might at some future period of life be an advantage to a child to bear an uncommon christian name; which might recommend him to the attention and kindness of some person bearing the same name, who, if he should happen to have no natural object of his care, might be led even by so slight a circumstance to become a benefactor. Hence our author derived the scriptural name of Joshua, which though not very uncommon, occurs less frequently than many others of this baptismal name, however, the Register of Plympton by some negligence or inaccuracy has deprived him.'

2 From Dr. Percy, Lord Bishop of Dromore.

In the Register of Plympton, by which it appears that

Under the tuition of Mr. Reynolds he was for some time instructed in the classicks but at an early age his inclination for that art of which he afterwards became so illustrious a professor, began to display itself; and his imperfect attempts at delineation were encouraged by his father, who was himself fond of drawings, and had a small collection of anatomical and other prints. The young artist's first essays were made in copying several little things done by two of his elder sisters, who had likewise a turn for

he was baptized on the goth of July, he is styled " Joseph son of Samuel Reynolds, Clerk:" probably in consequence of the entry not being made at the time of the baptism. The name, I suppose, was written originally on a slip of paper in an abbreviated form-" Jos. son of Samuel Reynolds," and was at a subsequent period entered erroneously by the clergyman or clerk of the parish.

4 Lady Inchiquin has one of these very early essays; a perspective view of a book-case, under which his father as written" Done by Joshua out of pure idleness,"

is on the back of a Latin exercise. Joshua's idleness as, his preferring the employment of his pencil to that of the pen.

the art; and he afterwards (as he himself informed me) eagerly copied such prints as he met with among his father's books, particularly those which were given in the translation of Plutarch's Lives, published by Dryden. But his principal fund of imitation was Jacob Cats' book of Emblems, which his great grandmother by the father's side, a Dutch woman, had brought with her from Holland.-When he was but eight years old, he read with great avidity and pleasure THE JESUIT'S PERSPECTIVE, a book which happened to lie on the windowseat of his father's parlour; and made himself so completely master of it, that he never afterwards had occasion to study any other treatise on that subject. He then attempted to draw the School at Plympton, a building elevated on stone pillars; and he did it so well, that his father said, "Now this exemplifies what the author of the Perspective' asserts in his Preface,-that, by observing

5 From himself in 1786.

the rules laid down in his book, a man may do wonders; for this is wonderful." From these attempts he proceeded to draw likenesses of the friends and relations of his family, with tolerable success. But what most strongly confirmed him in his love of the art, was Richardson's Treatise on Painting; the perusal of which so delighted and inflamed his mind, that Raffaelle appeared to him superior to the most illustrious names of ancient or modern time; a notion which he loved to indulge all the rest of his life.

His propensity to this fascinating art, growing daily more manifest, his father thought fit to gratify his inclination ; and when he was not much more than seventeen years of age, on St. Luke's day, Oct. the 18th, 1740, he was placed as a pupil under his countryman Mr. Hudson," who though

From the late James Boswell, Esq. to whom this little circumstance was communicated by our author.

7 Thomas Hudson; who was the scholar and son-in-law

but an ordinary painter, was the most distinguished artist of that time. After spending a few years in London, which he employed in acquiring the rudiments of his art, on a disagreement with his master about a very slight matter, he in 1743, removed to Devonshire, where, as he told me, he passed about three years in company from whom little improvement could be got: when he recol

of Richardson the Painter, was born in 1701. "He enjoyed" (says Lord Orford, ANECDOTES OF PAINTING, iv. 122, 8vo.)" for many years the chief business of portrait-painting in the capital, after the favourite artists, his master and Jevas, were gone off the stage; though Vanloo first, and Liotard afterwards, for a few years diverted the torrent of fashion from the established professor. Still the country gentlemen were faithful to their compatriot, and were content with his honest similitudes, and with the fair tied wigs, blue velvet coats, and white satin waistcoats, which he bestowed liberally on his custo mers, and which, with complacency, they beheld multiplied in Faber's mezzotintos. The better taste introduced by Sir Joshua Reynolds, put an end to Hudson's reign, who had the good sense to resign the throne soon after finishing his capital work, the family-piece of Charles. Duke of Marlborough." [About 1756,] He died, Jan. 26, 1779, aged 78.