The Life, Studies, and Works of Benjamin West, Esq Part 21

NATIONAL MONUMENT.

[The following letter on an interesting subject is curious, and is inserted here to be preserved.]

_Mr. West's Letter to Sir George Beaumont, Bart._

East Cowes Castle, Isle of Wight,

Sept. 30. 1815.

"DEAR SIR GEORGE,

"Your letter to me from Keswick of the thirty-first of last month I have received at this place: in that letter you have honoured me with the communication of 'the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury having done you the honour, among others, to inform you of the commands of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, that measures be forthwith taken for the erection of a monument to commemorate the victory of Waterloo, in pursuance of an address of the House of Commons; and to request you to apply to such artists as you think fit, for designs for this national column;' and you are pleased to say, that you believe at this distance you cannot better forward their views than by applying to me.

"The honourable way in which you have noticed my humble abilities in the arts, by calling on them for a design for a monument, to perpetuate an occurrence of such high military glory and national greatness as that of the victory of Waterloo, demands my warmest acknowledgments, and I also feel a duty and profound respect for the sources of your instructions to procure appropriate designs from the artists. When a monument is to be raised by a great and victorious nation (such as England) in memory of her departed as well as her living heroes, I feel it of the highest importance to her national character, when her arts and her arms stand so high, that they should bear a proud record to posterity of both their powers in such a building as that now under consideration.

"To raise a record to departed virtue in an individual, an obelisk, a column, or a statue, may bear an honourable name to posterity; but a record when thousands have devoted their lives to save their country from a rapacious enemy, as in those victories gained by the Greeks at Thermopylae and Marathon; the English at Blenheim and Trafalgar; and, lastly, that greatest of all, gained by the unsubdued valour and heroism of the armies of the United Kingdom at Waterloo, demands a building of greater magnitude and more national consequence than that of a column.

"Such a design as I have conceived to record that victory I will give to yourself and others for your consideration; but not as a compet.i.tor presenting a drawing or model for a decision to be made on it as offered for compet.i.tion: I therefore give you the following ideas on friendly motives for a dignified building.

"All records to be transmitted, must be by the three means which have been established for that purpose; namely, the pen, the pencil, and the chisel. I therefore propose a building wherein these three may be employed to express the various incidents, and to mark that victory distinct from all others, by applying the several spoils and trophies taken; and to have the building of considerable magnitude. For as the subject is great, so should be its representative: nothing little or mean should be accepted, or permitted to appear in such a work, nothing but what will mark the great features of that event: all of which by dates, names, and sculptured trophies, as well as paintings, may be proclaimed and recorded to distant times.

"The basis of such an erection being intended solely to commemorate the battle of Waterloo, its name should be in capital letters on the four faces, and the trophies of that victory should enrich the sides of the same; and the characters of the various military in British armies made conspicuous by their numbers shown; and on the summit of the lofty pile the sovereign's figure then in power should be placed.

"The plan and dimensions of the building I present to you are as follows:--Its base a square of sixty feet, and its height thirty: this will make each of the four faces of the base a double square on its measurement. From the centre of this base a building to be erected in diameter thirty feet, and in height one hundred and twenty, formed out of the spoils of victory, and diminishing as it rises, and to be surmounted by a figure twelve feet in height, including the pedestal on which it stands, In the centre, over the front face of the great case, to be the equestrian group of the Duke of Wellington, under which, in large letters, WATERLOO to be inscribed; and the four angles of the great base perpendicular tablets, ornamented with military insignia expressive of the British armies, and inscribed on the four tablets the number of each regiment who shared in the glories of that day, and by the four tablets be placed the statues of distinguished generals. Thus I have presented you with the external appearance of my imaginary building in honour of the victory of Waterloo; and the interior of this building to be considered as the place of deposit for preserving the powers of the pen, the pencil, and other gems from perishing by water or by fire: to be built of stone, and all its ornaments to be made of durable metals: all of which to be ill.u.s.trative of the victory for which such a building was erected.

"The situation of this building should be a populous one, and that within a circus or square of a diameter not less than six hundred and fifty-eight feet. This size of s.p.a.ce will give the spectator an opportunity of viewing the erection at double the distance of its elevation, which is the optical distance that pictures, statues, and buildings should always be seen at.

"Should my ideas of a building to commemorate the military achievements of Waterloo be viewed with complacency by yourself and others, I shall feel a satisfaction, as President of the Royal Academy, to have done my duty; and should His Royal Highness the Prince Regent be pleased to signify his approbation, I shall be gratified and honoured. With the sincerity of profound respect,

"I am, "My dear Sir George, "Your obliged and obedient Servant, "BENJAMIN WEST."

Suffolk Lane, 28th Jan,

"MY DEAR SIR,

"Sir Philip Francis's critique on the _Transfiguration_ appears very ingenious, so far as it explains the painter's design in representing the Demoniac Boy as the connecting link between the action _on the Mount_ and the groupe at the foot of it; but I cannot agree with Sir Philip in supposing the picture to represent the _Ascension_ and as you request me to state my reasons for this dissent, I shall briefly endeavour to specify them.

"I have _not_ seen the original picture; but in the copy of it by Harlow, which was much admired in Rome, and which one would think must be accurate, at least in regard to so important a point, since it was exhibited beside the original--I say in Harlow's copy the raiment of our Saviour is _white,_ not _blue_. The white has, indeed, in the shaded part, a bluish tinge, but the colour is decidedly a _white_, and, therefore, Sir Philip's a.s.sumption that it is _blue_ appears contrary to the fact.

"The _Transfiguration_ was witnessed by _only three_ of the Apostles, Peter, James, and John, (see St. Matthew, chap. xvii, v. 1, 2, and 3.) exactly as represented In the picture, 'and (see v. 9.) as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, "Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of Man be risen again from the dead."'

"It maybe as well, to prevent the trouble of an reference, to quote at once from the Evangelist, the description of the subject which it appears to me the painter meant to represent.

Chap. xvii. as before.

1. And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,

2. And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

3. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

6. And when the disciples heard, they fell on their faces, and were sore afraid.

14. And when they were come to the mult.i.tudes there came to him a man, kneeling down to him, and saying,

15. Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic and sore vexed: and oft-times he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.

16. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him, &c.

"Now this is exactly the scene delineated in the picture. There are _on the Mount_ the three disciples, fallen on the ground, and shading their faces from the '_bright cloud_' which _overshadows_ the transfigured Saviour; and Moses and Elias are the two figures of old men attending the Saviour, or '_talking with him._'

"At the _foot of the Mount_, there are _the mult.i.tude_, the lunatic boy, _his father_ holding him, the _disciples_ who _could not cure him_; and one of whom appears in the act of attempting to cure him, by addressing or exorcising the demon who is in him. There are also _several women_ in the groupe; and it seems that instead of bringing 'different incidents together to const.i.tute one plot,' the painter, on the contrary, has exactly followed the Evangelist, and represented the same instant of time in the action _on_ the Mount, among the _mult.i.tude_ at the foot of it.

"I cannot imagine how Sir Philip Francis could have supposed the picture to represent the _Ascension_, which took place in the presence of the _Eleven Apostles_ and of them only, (see St. Luke, last chapter and last paragraph,) as follows:

"And he led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and he blessed them. And it came to pa.s.s, when he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into Heaven."

"This bears no resemblance whatever to the scene represented in the picture, and the opinion given by Sir Philip can only have arisen from an imperfect recollection of the Sacred Writings, and from having neglected to refer to the text.

"I am, "My dear Sir, "Yours truly, S.M'G-------."

_John Galt, Esq._

The Funeral of Mr. West.

It would be improper to close this appendix without giving some account of the funeral of Mr. West.

Soon after Mr. West's decease, a deputation from the Council of the Royal Academy waited on his sons and the executors, to apprise them of the intention of that body to honour the remains of their late President., by attending them to his grave, according to the ceremonial adopted on the public interment of the late Sir Joshua Reynolds, in St. Paul's Cathedral. His Majesty having, as Patron of the Royal Academy, given his gracious sanction that similar honours should be paid to the late venerable President, his sons and executors adopted active preparations to carry the arrangement into effect. As the schools of the Royal Academy were closed, and all its functions suspended, by the death of the late President, it was of material importance on this account, and with the view to the usual preparatory arrangements for the annual exhibition, that the funeral should not be delayed; and as early a day as practicable was therefore fixed for the public interment in St. Paul's Cathedral. The obvious consequence, however, of this has been, that owing to the absence from town, at this particular season, of so many n.o.blemen and gentlemen of the highest rank, and the indisposition of several others, many warm admirers and friends of this celebrated artist and amiable man, who have, during his long life, honoured him with their friendship, and who have been particularly desirous of paying their last tribute of respect to his remains, have been precluded attending the funeral. The corpse was privately brought to the Royal Academy on Tuesday evening, attended by the sons and grandson of the deceased, and two intimate friends, Mr.

Henderson (one of the trustees and executors of the deceased) and Mr.

Hayes (for many years his medical attendant), and was received by the council and officers of the Royal Academy, and their undertaker and his attendants, with every mark of respect. The body was then deposited in the smaller Exhibition-room, on the ground-floor, which was hung on the occasion with black.

About half-past ten yesterday morning, the Academicians, a.s.sociates, and Students, a.s.sembled in the Great Exhibition-room, and the n.o.bility, gentry, and the deceased's private friends, soon after arrived, and joined the mournful band. The chief mourners were in seclusion in the library of the Academy. About half-past twelve o'clock, the whole of the arrangements having been effected, the Procession moved from Somerset House to St.

Paul's Cathedral in the following order:

Six Constables, by threes.

Four Marshalmen, two and two.

City Marshal on horseback.

Undertaker on horseback.

Six Cloakmen on horseback, by twos.