On the locomotive Faculty of the Oyster. If the oyfter is young. ings differently animalized. Under the pretence of having a better idea of it, they lopped off all the extre mities, that is to fay, they rid themfelves of every thing they were not well acquainted with, or that threw difficulties in their way. This, to be fure, was very convenient, but ve ry unfuitable to the proceeding of an enlarged mind, and very unfit to inform us with regard to the economy of nature. The organization of the oyfter, though very different from that with which we are beft acquainted, may be comprehended under our confiderations of the animal economy in general. Those authors are not fo enlightened as they imagine, whe reprefent the oyster as an animal deprived of fenfation, as an intermediate being between 'animals and vegetables, as a plant, and even in fome refpects as inferior to a plant. It is thus that the oyfter has been madea foundation for many an abfurd hypothefis with refpect to the nature of animals. But let us quit the confi deration of thefe faithlefs pictures and attend to the original. I would not be surprised that oyfters, which have been fixed to a rock from the beginning, fhould be able to detach themfelves. I have feen them operate upon their fhells in fo many different ways, and with fuch admirable contrivance, when those shells have been pierced by their enemies (among whom I must be ranked) that I do not think it at all impoffible for them to quit the place to which they are attached. It will eafily be imagined how delicate and difficult fuch obfervations and experiments muft be, confidering the fenfibility of the animal, the delicacy of its organs, the tranfparency of the matter that forms the layers of its fhells, the opacity of the fhells themfelves, the viciffitudes of the fea, and the feafons, &c. But it was of ufe to fhew, that, (contrary to the opinion generally entertained by the learned as well as by fifhermen) oysters are endowed with a locomotive faculty, and by what means that faculty is exerted. I must add, that thofe which firft fhewed me thefe motions, were brought from the coafts of Bretagne, put into a bed at La Hogue, then at Courfeulle, whence they were carried to Havre; and that, as all thefe tran-, sportations were made in a dry carriage, the oysters could not be in perfect vigour. It was neceffary alfo to fhew, that these animals have much more fenfation and more induftry than is generally attributed to The oyster is confcious of its exiftence, and confcious alfo that fomething exifts exterior to itself. It chooses, it rejects; it varies its oper ations with judgment, according to circumstances; it defends itself by means adequate and complicated; it repairs its loffes; and it can be made to change its habits. Oyfters, newly taken from places which the fea had never left, inconfiderately open their fhells, lofe the water they con tain, and die in a few days: but those that have been taken from the fame place, and thrown into beds or refervoirs from which the fea occafionally retires, where they are incommoded by the rays of the fun, or by the cold, or where they are expofed to the injuries of man, learn to keep themfelves clofe when they are abandoned by the water, and live a much longer time Pp Remarks 1 306 Remarks on the Sacred Hiftorical Defigns of Raphael d'Urbino*. Raphael, which formed the choiceft The fuperior magnificence difplayed by the great works conducted in the Vatican palace, with the beginning and forming of the vaft defign of St Peter's by the Popes Julius II. and Leo X. which exceeded any of the fovereign princes in that age, and affifted to raise the arts to fo great a height. Whilft Raphael was engaged in the chambers of the Vatican, he alfo, with aftonishing rapidity, formed all these defigns, as well as the Seven which will be hereafter particularifed. They then were fent to Flanders, to be co Gent. Mag. after the deccafe of Raphael, and even in all probability were not finish ed and fent there before the terrible fack of that city in the time of Cle ment VII. when Raphael's fcholars were fled from thence, and none left to inquire after the original Cartoons, which lay neglected in the ftore-rooms of the manufactory. The great revolution alfo which followed in the Low Countries prevented their being noticed amidst the entire neglect of the works of Art. It was therefore a moft fortunate circumftance that these feven efcaped the wreck of the others, which were torn in pieces, and remain difperfed as fragments in different collections. Thefe Seven were purchafed by Rubens for Charles I. and they have been fo roughly handled from the firft, that holes were pricked for the weavers to pounce the outlines, and other parts almoft cut through in tracing alfo. In this ftate perhaps they as fortunately efcaped the fale amongst the royal collection, by the difpropor tioned appraisement of thefe Seven at 300l.; and the nine pieces, being the Triumph of Julius Cæfar, by Andrea Mantegna, appraised at 1000l. They feem to have been taken fmall notice of till King William built a gallery, purposely to receive them, at Hampton Court; whence they were moved, on their fuffering from damps, to the Queen's Palace, They are now at Windsor Castle, and open to public inspection. It To those who are unacquainted with Italy, or the Italian language, it is neceffary to explain the derivation of the word Cartoons, from the Italian expreffion Cartoni, Carta, paper, and oni, large; that is, many fheets of paper pafted on canvas, on which large defigns are made, whether coloured or with chalks only; as one fees many at Rome, particularly by Domenichino, the fize wanted to paint in the churches and pa laces at Rome and elfewhere. Thofe by Andrea Mantegna, which are at Hampton Court, were made for paintings in the old ducal palace at Mantua. Remarks on the Sacred Hiftorical Defigns of Raphael. 307 Of the fmall drawings made by Raphael for Marc Antonio, Silvester di Ravenna, and others, to engrave, a few are remaining. Two are in the royal collection, Elimas the Sorcerer ftruck blind, and the Miraculous Draught of Fishes. It is alfo neceffary to contradict Barnabas is without a name, but da❤ the report of others remaining in ted "1640." France and elsewhere. It has been faid, that fome were torn in England, and made blinds for windows. That there were no more than these Seven in England, can now be fully proved by drawings made according to their dates * a circumstance known to few. Had there been o thers, they also would have been copied. Thefe drawings are highly finifhed with a pen, and on a much larger fcale than thofe engraved by Dorigny; the characters of the heads better imitated. The fize of the largeft drawings, where they are going to facrifice to Paul and Barnabas, is 3 feet 9 inches and a half long, and 2 feet 3 inches and a quarter broad. Under that of Ananias ftruck dead, is written, "Raphael d'Vrbin in.; I. Clein. fec.; ANNO 1646†.”. At the bottom alfo of the drawing of Chrift giving his Charge to St Peter and the Apoftles is written, " 18th July 1640." Elimas the Sorcerer ftruck blind, at the bottom of the pedestal under St Paul, " Incepi MAI 4 1645.” Thofe who are acquainted with the works and with the hiftory of Raphael, muft know the great affiftance he received from his fcholars, who laboured under him in the con ducting of the vaft number of his works; particularly Julio Romano, who affifted in the paintings of the Cupid and Pfyche in the Little Farnefe, formerly the Ghigia; and the whole of the Sala Conftantina in the Vatican, except two figures after the defigns of Raphael; and, with others, aflifted in the number of Scripture fubjects painted alfo in fresco, in what is called La Logia del Vaticano. They have alfo aflifted in these Cartoons: but the whole of the inven tions must be attributed to Raphael alone; and most of the heads are clearly feen to be by his hand. The undertaking by Mr Dalton was not a small one; who made drawings The Going to facrifice to Paul and from all thofe tapestries of which the original * The copies by J. Clein are pafted on linen, and were found in the fame old bu reau which came from Kenfington; that alfo contained the invaluable volume of Leonardo da Vinci, four pocket-books of Parmegiano, and other valuable drawings; out of which were alfo taken those portraits by Holbein, which Queen Caroline had framed, to adorn a cabinet at Kenfington, fince taken out of the frames, and forming two volumes in his Majesty's Collection of Drawings. Mr Dalton, fince the discovery of the volume of Leonardo da Vinci, has twice vifited the Ambrofian Library at Milan, and finds that the whole of his anatomical ftudies, mentioned by Giorgio Vafari, are contained in this volume, befides other studies, with MS. on the reverfe. When purchased, and how restored to the Crown, is not known, only that in the troubles of King Charles I. Lord Arundel had it with him in Flanders, and there Hollar etched many of the caricatures dated from Antwerp. + In Mr Walpole's Anecdotes, vol. II. p. 144, in the Life of Francis Cleyn; it is faid, that, at his return from Copenhagen, he went to affift at the manufactory at Mortlake, towards the conducting of which the King had given two thousand pounds to Sir Francis Crane; and five of the Cartoons were fent thither to be copied by him in tapestry. But Francis Cleyn it could not be, nor his cldeft fon, alfo Francis, born in 1625, who died and was buried at Covent-Garden, Oct. 21. 1650; if any of that family, it must be the youngest fon John, who, when these drawings were made, was a youth, not arrived to manhood, according to the age of Francis his eldeft, and. the date of these drawings, Pp 24 original defigns had perifhed. They were hung up in a great chamber in the Vatican palace, by the order of cardinal Valenti, prime minifter of Benedict XIV. Mr Dalton afterwards gòing into Sicily, and there meeting accidentally Lord Charlemont and his company, went with them into Greece and Egypt; and, on his return to England, that Grecian and Egyptian publication delayed this after Raphael; yet he etched the following fix: 1. The Birth of Chrift, and the Adoration of the Shepherds. 2. Prefentation in the Temple. 3. Refurrection of Chrift, a very large defign. 4. Supper at Emmaus. 5. Defcent of the Holy Ghost. 6. Stoning of St Stephen. These plates have lain by for feveral years, in a manner forgotten, by the immenfe number of other publications; but particularly by Mr Dalton's engagements with Sig. F. Bartolozzi, and bringing him over to England, and by that means enriching this country with fo great an Artist. The above-mentioned fix plates are in good order; and more prints may be taken off on a tolerable number being befpoke. The few first printed are fold. With regard to the remaining fubjects, of which drawings were made, it is neceffary to give a defcription of them, to fatisfy the curiofity of the public. Adoration of the Wife Men; which all the Italian painters reprefent as three kings, with all their grand fuite; a very large compofi The Afcenfion of Chrift. A fmall one, Chrift relieving the Souls out of Purgatory. This is no way worthy of Raphael's name. All thefe have been poorly etched at Rome, fo as to give an idea of the compofition only, without the leaft imitation of the great expreffion of the characters of the heads. The whole feries of thefe tapeftries, by their unequal lengths, feem to have been first defigned to adorn apartments in the Vatican. They are hung out annually, for fome days before and at the feftival of the Corpus Domini, when the artists were engaged in making sketches of different parts, particularly Carlo Maratti, who almoft adored the works of Raphael, amongst whofe drawings one fees a great number of studies from thefe tapestries. The criticifin is just with regard to the fmallness of the boats in the Miraculous Draught of Fishes. The character of the heads, particularly St Peter's, is moft expreflive. The twifted columns, ornamented with boys, and vine-branches with with bunches of grapes, where Peter and John. heal the Cripple at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple at Je rufalem, can never be admitted in that kind of sculpture, being only proper for a portico to a Temple of Bacchus. In all these compofitions, Raphael has been left to the full flow of his own imagination, without fpoiling the uniformity of his ftory, by making compliments to princes, or of his friends and patrons, as has happened in fome of his most admired pieces in other refpects. This appears in the Transfiguration, where two por traits, one in a clerical habit, are placed on one fide of the three Apostles, who are proftrate on the Mount. They are both kneeling, but one would with them both rubbed out. In the lower part of the picture the other Difciples are employed about the Succefs of a Printing-Prefs in the Turkish Empire. Poffeffed, and pointing to Chrift above the Mount, fufpended between Mofes and Elias, from whom alone he must expect that relief which they were not able to give. And in the wonderful performance of Heliodorus plundering the Temple, the introducing Julius II. brought on mens' fhoulders, in his chair of ftate, as fpectator to this ftory, like a vifion to him, is a highftrained compliment to that fpirited and warlike Pope. The Attila prevented from the Destruction of Rome, by the extraordinary vifion of the Saints Peter and Paul, when St Leo meets him in his pontifical ftate, alfo when the Saracen prifoners are brought before him, no way fpoil the uniformity of thofe compofitions, as Leo X's portrait may be used for that of the Saint; of which they know nothing. In that most aftonishing performance called "L'Incendio del Borgo di ૩૦૦ San Pietro," the Fire of the Suburbs of St Peter, where the Saint Pope is at a diftance, and does not in the leaft interrupt the matchlefs defign of the painter, as not only every groupe, but every fingle figure exprefs, in the highest degree, the terror, hurry, confufion, and diftrefs, occafioned by fuch a conflagration, without the fpectator's paying the leaft regard to the legend. The Bolfena Miracle, the Pope's Portrait, is of no confequence; nor is the Affemblage of Theologifts, Philofophers, and Poets, in all different Ages. He might, in fuch works of fancy, where no ftory is told, introduce whom he pleafed to compliment amongft his ingenious friends, as he has done in the Sacred Doctors, School of Athens, where is his own portrait, Pietro Perugino, and others, alfo others of poets in the Mount Parnaffus. Yours, &c. R. D Some Account of the only Printing-Prefs that ever had any fuccefs in the Turkish Empire. By M. Volney *. TH HE Druzes (in Syria) having received among them the Greek Christians and Maronites, and granted them lands to build convents on, the Greek catholics availed themfelves of this permiffion, and have founded twelve within the laft feventy years. The principal is MarHanna: this monaftery is fituated oppofite the village of Shouair, on a fteep declivity, at the bottom of which a torrent runs in winter into the Nahr-el-kelb. The convent, built amid rocks and blocks of ftone, is far from magnificent, and confifts of a dormitory with two rows of little cells, above which is a terrace fubftantially vaulted; it maintains forty monks. Its chief merit confifts in an Arabic Printing-Prefs, the only one which has fucceeded in the Turkish Empire. This has been e stablished about fifty years, and the reader will perhaps not be offended if fomething is faid of its history. At the commencement of the prefent century, the Jefuits, profiting by the refpect which the protection' of France procured them, manifested, in their houfe at Aleppo, that zeal for the improvement of knowledge which they have every where fhewn. They had founded a fchool in that city, intended to educate the children of Christians in the doctrines of the Catholic religion, and enable them to confute heretics: this latter article is always a principal object with the miffionaries; whence refults a rage for controverfy, which caufes perpetual differences among the partifans of the various fects in the eaft. The Latins of Aleppo, excited by the Jefuits, prefently re Travels through Syria and Egypt in 1783, 84, and 85. commenced |