last gleam of that kindly spirit, which had shed its warmth, and gaiety, and benevolence on all within its influence. After some remedy had allayed a passing convulsion of violent pain, the sufferer cheerfully raised his countenance towards his friend, and, "Now you see I can smile again," was the affectionate acknowledgment of relief. These were the last words he ever uttered; and he soon after tranquilly expired, October 9th, 1826, without a struggle.

Thus untimely died, in the maturity and meridian vigour of his intellect, and at the early age of thirty-eight years, one whose writings had already placed him among the most distinguished names in our historical literature, and whose exertions, had his years been prolonged, would assuredly have elevated him to the very highest rank of intellectual greatness: so fine and accomplished was his genius, so indefatigable his industry, and so ardent his passion for fame.

A

In his private character Mr. Mills was eminently successful in securing to himself the sincere and lasting attachment of his relatives and friends; and for this he was not indebted so much to the high accomplishments of his mind, as to the good and amiable qualities of his heart and disposition. man of more kindly affections never existed: the warmth of his heart was one of the leading springs of his character, and from that source flowed all that was valuable in friendship, all that was kind and generous in man.

In the higher relations of our being, Mr. Mills's life was strictly, though unostentatiously regulated by the strong dictates of a pious and virtuous mind. In his worldly intercourse his principles were pure, simple, and well-defined. He here stood on "the broad-stone of honour;" and his life was an example of unimpeached integrity and incorruptible love of justice. Such was his firmness of mind, that it would indisputably have been found equal to the most trying emergencies that could have occurred to demand its exercise. From these features of his character proceeded an occasional rigidity and austerity of manner which a casual observer might be apt to misconstrue, not knowing the kindness, sen

sibility, and affectionate temper which it covered. Never in the cause of humanity were his zealous endeavours suffered to sleep; and small indeed can be the number of those who, in similar circumstances of life, have conferred half the benefits on their fellow-creatures which resulted from his active and steady, though secret and silent, course of benevolence.

In friendship, his esteem and confidence were slowly won; but where once his affections were placed, there were no limits set to their exercise; no cheerful sacrifice of himself, his pleasure, his labours, or his possessions, too great for his noble and generous spirit. In the ardour and constancy of his few chosen intimacies every worldly consideration of his proper advantage was forgotten; and he threw himself into the interests and feelings of others with a devotion of purpose, an abandonment of self, which seemed to lose the very consciousness of a separate being.

The foregoing is an abridgment of a detailed and singularly interesting memoir prefixed to the fourth edition, recently published, of Mr. Mills's "History of the Crusades."

No. II.

JOHN FLAXMAN, ESQ. R.A.

PROFESSOR OF SCULPTURE AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY.

Ir is a trite remark, that the worth of superior talents is seldom sufficiently valued until their possessor is placed beyond the influence of praise: his fair meed of fame is rarely granted him during his life; but crescit occulto ævo; and it is reserved for posterity to award it. This observation may with great truth be applied to the subject of the present memoir; for though the merits of few living men have been more ably discussed, or more liberally judged of, yet the genius of Mr. Flaxman was of that vast and lofty nature which is beyond the reach of ordinary or immediate appreciation, and which grows gradually and imperceptibly on the estimation of mankind.

Mr. Flaxman was of an ancient and respectable family in Buckinghamshire, but originally from Norfolk. The affluence of his ancestors was considerably diminished by the civil wars during the reign of Charles the First. Four brothers of this family joined the Parliamentarians against Charles at the battle of Naseby. James, the eldest, was shot through both arms while in pursuit of the king; Francis was killed in the battle; another brother emigrated, after the fight, to Ireland; and John, the youngest, from whom the subject of our memoir was lineally descended, settled in Buckinghamshire, where he entered upon an agricultural life, at the same time following the business of a carrier.

This eminent sculptor was born at York, on the 6th of July, 1755. His father, of the same name and profession, was for many years employed by Roubilliac and Scheemaker,

and also kept a shop in New Street, Covent Garden, and afterwards in the Strand, for the sale of plaster-figures, which was not then so hackneyed a trade as by the large importation of Italians it has now become.

Mr. Flaxman's earliest notions of art were derived from the collection of casts from classical sculpture in the warehouse of his father; from many of which he made small models in clay, and being admitted, in 1770, a student of the Royal Academy, he there continued to prosecute his studies with the greatest diligence. We have not heard that he was ever placed under any master; but it is rather a curious circumstance, that in early life he was in the habit of frequently passing his evenings in drawing and designing in the company of that excellent painter Mr. Stothard, Mr. Blake, the engraver (lately deceased), so remarkable for the eccentricity of his opinions and designs, Mr. George Cumberland, and Mr. Sharp. The works of the two first-mentioned artists, together with Mr. Flaxman's own, partake, although in different degrees, of the same character; which appears to be founded on the style of the very eminent English sculptor, Banks, whose basso-relievos of "Thetis and Achilles," and "Caractacus before Claudius," will furnish, to those who examine them, sufficient proofs of the validity of this supposition. Perhaps it would not be deviating too much from the subject to observe, that although Banks's works are not numerous, he was undoubtedly the most finished sculptor of the last century.

*

It has frequently been noticed that men who have not borne away any of the honours of the University, have afterwards eminently distinguished themselves in literature. Such also is sometimes the case in the arts. Mr. Flaxman, while a student at the Royal Academy, was an unsuccessful candidate for the gold medal, which that year was adjudged to Mr. Engleheart. So powerfully was he affected by this disappointment, that he shed tears when the decision of the council was announced by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Fortunately, how

* Mr. Flaxman makes this remark himself in one of his lectures.

ever, the occurrence had the effect of stimulating, instead of abating his exertions.

About this period Mr. Flaxman lived in Wardour Street, Soho. His principal occupation was modelling in clay and wax. Among the earliest of his productions of this kind, were two exquisitely beautiful small profiles in wax, the one from the head of the Antinous of the Capitol, the other an Ariadne. He also made an admirable set of models of chessmen for Mr. Wedgwood. He likewise painted in oil. One of the subjects of his pencil was "Hercules rescuing Alceste.”

In 1782 Mr. Flaxman married Miss Anne Denman, of a respectable family in London, who was not only an amiable, but a highly accomplished female. She was distinguished for her literary attainments, particularly in French and Italian; and was the companion of her husband's travels and studies in Italy.

In 1787 Mr. Flaxman went to Italy, where he pursued his studies for seven years. When at Rome he resided in the Via Felice, and his productions were the objects of general admiration. The late Earl of Bristol engaged him to execute in marble his magnificent group, representing the Fury of Athamas, from Ovid's Metamorphoses, consisting of four figures of heroic size. For this he received only 600l.; a sum which proved far from sufficient to cover the actual cost; and Mr. Flaxman, in all but reputation, was a considerable loser by the commission. The group is at Ickworth, the seat of the Marquis of Bristol, in Suffolk.

Soon after, Mr. Flaxman made for Mr. Hare Naylor, and for the trifling sum of a guinea each, about eighty designs from the Iliad and Odyssey.

These designs were so highly admired, that Mr. Flaxman, who had already executed a beautiful group in marble of Cupid and Psyche for Mr. Thomas Hope, was engaged by that gentleman to illustrate, in a similar manner, the works of Dante. At the desire of the late Countess Spencer, he also made a series of designs for her ladyship from Eschylus. The whole of these designs those from Homer, those from