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Article SKETCHES OF CELEBRATED CHARACTERS. ← Page 3 of 6 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Sketches Of Celebrated Characters.
contemporaries would still have entitled him to the first honours of the art . Those who from ignorance , or from envy , have endeavoured to depreciate his productions , have represented them as exceeding in their forms and attitudes the limits and the possibilities of nature , as a race of beings the mere creatures of his own imagination . But such critics would do well to consider , whether the great reform to which we have alluded , could have been effected by the most accurate
representations of common life ; and whether any thing- short of that ideal excellence , which he only knew to embody , could have accomplished so important a purpose . The genius of Michelagnolo was ^ leaven which was to operate on an immense and heterogeneous mass , the salt intended to give a relish to insipidity itself ; it was , therefore , active , penetrating , energetic , so as not only effectually to resist the contagious effects of a depraved taste , but to communicate a portion of its spirit to all around .
JOHN HELVETIUS . John Tlelvetius was the son of Dr . Adrian Plelvetius , a resident in Holland ; he was educated in the science of medicine under his father ' s care , who , when he had finished his studies , sent him to retail some particular medicines in Paris—a city in which he thought a large fortune was soon to-be acquired from the great number of sick always
there ; and from their partiality to novelty , he thought his medicines would generally be adopted : but notwithstanding the young ITelve tius was very attentive , arid sought every opportunity to dispose of his medicines , he cm Id not earn sufficient to procure him the common necessaries of life ; he was obliged to part with one share of his drugs gratuitously , in order to sell the other ; at length , oppressed by
necessity , he returned to Holland . His return did not in the least cloud the golden prospects his father had in view , who , with the utmost confidence in success , sent him back with a large cargo of medicines of more elaborate preparation , and more powerful ingredients , and , as he imagined , infallible efficacy . H ' elvetiuson his return to Parisimmediately published his arrival ;
, , but the public opinion being less favourable of him than his own , no notice was taken of him ; his assiduity and exertions however were not less than before , and he at length became acquainted with a rich druggist , who soon after being attacked with a very dangerous disorder , permitted Heivetitis , jointly with Aforti , a celebrated physician , to exert his abilities for his relief .
On the druggist ' s recovery , he offered Aforti five or six pounds of ipecacuanha root , as a very valuable recompense for his care and attention ; but this plant was unknown to the doctor ; he preferred the louis d ' ors , whose specific virtue he well knew against the accursed pest of poverty , which then desolated many families at Paris .
Fortune here seemed inclined to . raise Heivetitis , and t : > reward him for his perseverance ; he was particularly happy to find that Aforti preferred a few pieces of gold to the valuable and efficacious plant which had been oilered to hhn . Helvetius , who was a great favourite
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Sketches Of Celebrated Characters.
contemporaries would still have entitled him to the first honours of the art . Those who from ignorance , or from envy , have endeavoured to depreciate his productions , have represented them as exceeding in their forms and attitudes the limits and the possibilities of nature , as a race of beings the mere creatures of his own imagination . But such critics would do well to consider , whether the great reform to which we have alluded , could have been effected by the most accurate
representations of common life ; and whether any thing- short of that ideal excellence , which he only knew to embody , could have accomplished so important a purpose . The genius of Michelagnolo was ^ leaven which was to operate on an immense and heterogeneous mass , the salt intended to give a relish to insipidity itself ; it was , therefore , active , penetrating , energetic , so as not only effectually to resist the contagious effects of a depraved taste , but to communicate a portion of its spirit to all around .
JOHN HELVETIUS . John Tlelvetius was the son of Dr . Adrian Plelvetius , a resident in Holland ; he was educated in the science of medicine under his father ' s care , who , when he had finished his studies , sent him to retail some particular medicines in Paris—a city in which he thought a large fortune was soon to-be acquired from the great number of sick always
there ; and from their partiality to novelty , he thought his medicines would generally be adopted : but notwithstanding the young ITelve tius was very attentive , arid sought every opportunity to dispose of his medicines , he cm Id not earn sufficient to procure him the common necessaries of life ; he was obliged to part with one share of his drugs gratuitously , in order to sell the other ; at length , oppressed by
necessity , he returned to Holland . His return did not in the least cloud the golden prospects his father had in view , who , with the utmost confidence in success , sent him back with a large cargo of medicines of more elaborate preparation , and more powerful ingredients , and , as he imagined , infallible efficacy . H ' elvetiuson his return to Parisimmediately published his arrival ;
, , but the public opinion being less favourable of him than his own , no notice was taken of him ; his assiduity and exertions however were not less than before , and he at length became acquainted with a rich druggist , who soon after being attacked with a very dangerous disorder , permitted Heivetitis , jointly with Aforti , a celebrated physician , to exert his abilities for his relief .
On the druggist ' s recovery , he offered Aforti five or six pounds of ipecacuanha root , as a very valuable recompense for his care and attention ; but this plant was unknown to the doctor ; he preferred the louis d ' ors , whose specific virtue he well knew against the accursed pest of poverty , which then desolated many families at Paris .
Fortune here seemed inclined to . raise Heivetitis , and t : > reward him for his perseverance ; he was particularly happy to find that Aforti preferred a few pieces of gold to the valuable and efficacious plant which had been oilered to hhn . Helvetius , who was a great favourite