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The Freemasons' Magazine, Or General And Complete Library.
. THOMAS BANKS , Esq . was born about the year 1738 , in the parish of St . Mary , Lambeth . His father , William Banks of Great Badminton in Gloucester , was many years Steward to the late Duke of Beaufort , and also a respectable Architect : under his care his son Thomas was first trained to a knowledge of the liberal arts , a knowledge which his own taste , talents , and industry , have since matured into such an high degree of professional skill .
Mr . Banks , we believe , received the rudiments of his education at Ross in Herefordshire , a place which the genius of POPE has preserved from oblivion , however it may fall into decay , by his exquisite portrait of the man " Whom portion'd maids , apprentic'd orphans , blest , " The young who labour , and the old who rest . "
What progress in literature Mr . Banks made at this place , or where he extended his studies , we cannot pretend to say ; but as he is well known-to be a man of general information , and has chosen the subjects of his works . from classic stores , without falling into the more hackneyed tracks of mythological invention , we may presume that his father took care that he should be in no want of scholastic acquisitions ,
and that the aspiring mind of the son was emulous to second the diligence of parental zeal . Mr . Banks senior acted in the capacity of Surveyor as well as Steward to the Duke of Beaufort , and superintended the buildings at Ms Grace ' s seat > which were executed accordin g to the designs of the
ingenious KENT . Young Banks doubtless assisted in the arrangements of these works , and must have derived much knowledge as well as many useful hints for the direction of his future pursuits . We do not find that he was ever regularly placed under a Sculptor . At the age of fifteen he was bound apprentice to a wood-carver , an employment so much below his genius that we cannot but wonder how his father could suffer such talents to be lost in the temporary
obscurity of such a profession , and not exert himself with the utmost zeal to raise his son into a sphere more adapted to the dawning lustre of his genius-. To the credit of Mr . Banks it fhould be mentioned , that though placed so much beneath what the original powers of his mind so obviously gave him a right to expect , he faithfully served the whole period of his articles , which was the usual term of seven years .
This circumstance may shew , that regularity of conduct is consistent with great talents and a forcible imagination , contrary to the general opinion of certain empirical philosophers , who have been too indulgent to the excesses of men of genius . The first public proof we find of Mr . Banks ' s skill was a basso relievo of the Death ' of Ep AMIKON D AS , for which he obtained a
premium from the Society for the Encouragement of Arts . This preT mium was obtained in the year 176 3 , after he had entered himself at the Academy in St . Martin ' s Lane to draw from the life . In the year 17 6 5 he obtained another for a basso relievo in marble , representing the Redemption of the Bod y of HECTOR . In the year 176 9 he gained a third premium , for ' -a mpdel of PRO MET HE us as large-as
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Magazine, Or General And Complete Library.
. THOMAS BANKS , Esq . was born about the year 1738 , in the parish of St . Mary , Lambeth . His father , William Banks of Great Badminton in Gloucester , was many years Steward to the late Duke of Beaufort , and also a respectable Architect : under his care his son Thomas was first trained to a knowledge of the liberal arts , a knowledge which his own taste , talents , and industry , have since matured into such an high degree of professional skill .
Mr . Banks , we believe , received the rudiments of his education at Ross in Herefordshire , a place which the genius of POPE has preserved from oblivion , however it may fall into decay , by his exquisite portrait of the man " Whom portion'd maids , apprentic'd orphans , blest , " The young who labour , and the old who rest . "
What progress in literature Mr . Banks made at this place , or where he extended his studies , we cannot pretend to say ; but as he is well known-to be a man of general information , and has chosen the subjects of his works . from classic stores , without falling into the more hackneyed tracks of mythological invention , we may presume that his father took care that he should be in no want of scholastic acquisitions ,
and that the aspiring mind of the son was emulous to second the diligence of parental zeal . Mr . Banks senior acted in the capacity of Surveyor as well as Steward to the Duke of Beaufort , and superintended the buildings at Ms Grace ' s seat > which were executed accordin g to the designs of the
ingenious KENT . Young Banks doubtless assisted in the arrangements of these works , and must have derived much knowledge as well as many useful hints for the direction of his future pursuits . We do not find that he was ever regularly placed under a Sculptor . At the age of fifteen he was bound apprentice to a wood-carver , an employment so much below his genius that we cannot but wonder how his father could suffer such talents to be lost in the temporary
obscurity of such a profession , and not exert himself with the utmost zeal to raise his son into a sphere more adapted to the dawning lustre of his genius-. To the credit of Mr . Banks it fhould be mentioned , that though placed so much beneath what the original powers of his mind so obviously gave him a right to expect , he faithfully served the whole period of his articles , which was the usual term of seven years .
This circumstance may shew , that regularity of conduct is consistent with great talents and a forcible imagination , contrary to the general opinion of certain empirical philosophers , who have been too indulgent to the excesses of men of genius . The first public proof we find of Mr . Banks ' s skill was a basso relievo of the Death ' of Ep AMIKON D AS , for which he obtained a
premium from the Society for the Encouragement of Arts . This preT mium was obtained in the year 176 3 , after he had entered himself at the Academy in St . Martin ' s Lane to draw from the life . In the year 17 6 5 he obtained another for a basso relievo in marble , representing the Redemption of the Bod y of HECTOR . In the year 176 9 he gained a third premium , for ' -a mpdel of PRO MET HE us as large-as