Montgomery, whose opinions I quote the more freely, not merely because he has himself looked upon sculpture with a poet's eye, but also because he oft endeavoured to excite a similar taste in his gifted friend-says, "Nothing in sculpture is truly excellent but that which is pre-eminently so, because nothing less than the most successful strokes of the happiest chisel can powerfully affect the spectator, fix him in dumb astonishment, touch his heart strings with tender emotion, stir thought from its depths into ardent and earnest exercise. I appeal to all who hear me, whether, among a hundred of the monuments in our cathedrals, and the statues in our public places, they ever met with more than one or two that laid hold of their imagination, so as to haunt it both in retirement and in society? "Such are the Apollo Belvidere, the Venus de Medici, and other inestimable relics of antiquity; such the Moses and David of Michael Angelo; and such- ( to give an English example worthy to be named with these, judging solely by the power which it exercises over the purest and most universal of human sympathies, -- sympathies which can no more be bribed by artifice than they can help yielding to the impulse of nature ) -such, I say, is the simple memorial by our own Chantrey (age 35), in Lichfield Cathedral [Map], of two children that were 'lovely in their lives, and in death are undivided. Of these specimens, it may be affirmed, that they have shown how the narrow bonds of vulgar precedent may be left as far behind as a star in the heavens leaves a meteor in the air."¹ There is not, indeed, a more exquisite group in the whole range of modern sculpture than Chantrey's "Two Children" in marble. The sisters lie asleep in each others arms in the most unconstrained and graceful repose. The snowdrops which the youngest had plucked are undropped from her hand, and both are images of artless beauty, and innocent and unaffected race. Such was the press to see these children in the London Exhibition, that there was no getting near them: mothers, with tears in their eyes, lingered, and went away, and returned; while Canova's (age 59) now far-famed figures of Hebe and Terpsichore stood almost unnoticed by their side. Chantrey modelled two other figures of this class, viz., a "Sleeping Child," the daughter of Sir Thos. Dyke Acland; and a "Reposing Infant," for Mr. Boswell, of Auchinleck.

Note 1. "Lectures on Poetry," p. 20.

This was too much; and a reclamation of credit for the original mistake, was made by Mr. Peter Cunningham, who, while denying the claim of, or on behalf of the late Mr. F. A. Legé to anything more than having carved the monument, a workman, adds- "The sketch from which Chantrey (age 35) wrought was given to me by my father a few months before his death, and is now suspended on the wall of the room in which I write. It is a pencil sketch, shaded with Indian ink, and is very Stothard-like and beautiful. It wants, however, a certain sculptural grace, which Chantrey gave with a master feeling; and it wants the snow-drops in the hand of the younger sister -- a touch of poetic beauty suggested by my father." Had the matter rested here, the full and fair claims of the Sculptor to the merit of one of his most celebrated works would have been rendered apocryphal; but, happily, the very same page of the periodical¹ which contains Mr. Peter Cunningham's statement, presents one also from Mr. Edward Hawkins, which so explicitly and satisfactorily establishes Chantrey's credit as the original designer of the "Sleeping Children," that it may be hoped the question can never be revived again. At all events, Mr. Hawkins states the case as I ever understood it; and as this far famed monument, which is so intimately, and it may be said, universally identified with the name and fame of Chantrey, has been so repeatedly made the theme of flagrant misrepresentation-not in all cases, it is to be feared, solely on the ground of honest "historic doubt," - I should have felt my self guilty of something very like injustice to the memory of the Sculptor, if I had neglected this opportunity of rescuing it from unmerited reproach. To return. The Royal Academy at length admitted him of their number; and, in 1818, Chantrey was an Esquire and an R. A.

Note 1. Notes and Queries, ii. July, 1850, p. 94.-Mr. Hawkins says: -- "Dining one day alone with Chantrey in January, 1833, our conversation accidentally turned upon some of his monuments, and amongst other things he told me the circumstances connected with the monument at Lichfield to the two children of Mrs. Robinson. As I was leaving Chantrey, I asked if I might write down what he had told me; his reply was- Certainly; indeed, I rather wish you would. Before I went to bed, I wrote down what I now send you; I afterwards showed it to Chantrey, who acknowledged it to be correct.-Nicholson, the drawing master, taught Mrs. Robinson and her two children. Not long after the death of Mr. Robinson, the eldest child was burnt to death; and a very short time afterwards the other child sickened and died. Nicholson called on Chantrey, and desired him to take a cast of the child's face, as the mother wished to have some monument of it. Chantrey immediately repaired to the house, made his cast, and had a most affecting interview with the unhappy mother. She was desirous of having a monument to be placed in Lichfield Cathedral, and wished to know whether the cast just taken would enable Chantrey make a tolerable likeness of her lost treasure? After reminding her how uncertain all works of art were in that respect, he assured her he hoped to be able to accomplish her wishes. She then conversed with him upon the subject of the monument, of her distressed feelings at the accumulated losses of her husband and her two only children in so short a space of time; expatiated upon their characters, and her great affection; and dwelt much upon her feelings when, before she retired to bed, she had usually contemplated them when she hung over them locked in each other's arms asleep. While she dwelt upon these recollections it occurred to Chantrey that the representation of this scene would be the most appropriate monument; and, as soon as he arrived at home, he made a small model of the two children, nearly as they were afterwards executed, and as they were universally admired. As Mrs. Robin son wished to see a drawing of the design, Chantrey called upon Stothard, and employed him to make the requisite drawing from the small model. This was done; and, from this circumstance, originated the story from those envious of Chantrey's rising fame, that he was indebted to Stothard for all the merit of the original design."

On his return from the continent he modelled four of his finest busts, viz., those of Lord Castlereagh, Mr. Phillips the painter, Mr. Wordsworth, and Sir Walter Scott; the Wordsworth for Sir George Beaumont, the Sir Walter Scott for his own gratification, and from sincere respect for the worth and genius of Sir Walter. Chantrey (age 37) never excelled this bust - it is his very best. The history of this admirable head ( which has been thought superior to anything in ancient or modern art ) is contained in the following letter, which, although it has been repeatedly printed, is too interesting to be omitted in this place:

TO THE RIGHT HON. SIR ROBERT PEEL, BART. Belgrave Place, Jan. 26, 1838.

DEAR SIR ROBERT, -I have much pleasure in complying with your request to note down such facts as remain on my memory concerning the bust of Sir Walter Scott, which you have done me the honour to place in your collection at Drayton Manor.

My admiration of Scott, as a poet and a man, induced me, in the year 1820, to ask him to sit to me for his bust, the only time I ever recollect having asked a similar favour from any one. He agreed, and I stipulated that he should breakfast with me always before his sittings, and never come alone, nor bring more than three friends at once, and that they should all be good talkers. That he fulfilled the latter condition you may guess, when I tell you that on one occasion he came with Mr. Croker, Mr. Heber, and the late Lord Lyttelton. The marble bust produced from these sittings was moulded, and about forty-five casts were disposed of among the poet's most ardent admirers. This was all I had to do with the plaster casts. The bust was pirated by Italians; and England and Scotland, and even the colonies, were supplied with unpermitted and bad casts to the extent of thousands, in spite of the terror of an act of parliament.

I made a copy in marble from this bust for the Duke of Wellington; it was sent to Apsley House in 1827, and it is the only duplicate of my bust of Sir Walter Scott that I ever executed in marble.

I now come to your bust of Scott. In the year 1828 I proposed to the poet to present the original marble as an heirloom to Abbotsford, on condition that he would allow me sittings sufficient to finish another marble from the life for studio. To this proposal he acceded, and the bust was sent to Abbotsford accordingly, with the following words inscribed on the back:-This bust of Sir Walter Scott was made in 1820 by Francis Chantrey (age 37), and presented by the Sculptor to the Poet, as a token of esteem, in 1828. '

In the months of May and June in the same year (1828) Sir Walter fulfilled his promise, and I finished from his face, the marble bust now at Drayton Manor - a better sanctuary than my studio, else I had not parted with it. The expression is more serious than in the two former busts, and the marks of age more than eight years deeper. ' I have now, I think, stated all that is worthy of remembering about the bust, except that there need be no fear of piracy, for it has never been moulded. "I have the honour to be, Dear Sir, "Your very sincere and faithful servant, "F. CHANTREY."¹

Note 1. Alas! in the brief interval between the transcription of the above letter and the placing of it here in type, a sudden and fatal accident has deprived the country of a most accomplished, non factious, and noble-minded senator, and the fine arts of an equally intelligent and munificent patron. Sir Robert Peel died July 3, 1850, in consequence of injuries received when thrown from his horse two or three days before; and the intelligence of his death was probably received through the country with a more general and spontaneous expression of sorrow, than was ever caused by any similar event.

Although Chantrey (age 37) can hardly be said ever to have touched the poetic in marble, he not only cherished an early, and probably a life-long love of poetry, but at one time or other, in some way came into friendly contact with every one of the celebrated men in "Britain's living choir." In the month of September, 1818, Mr. and Mrs. Chantrey, along with Collins the landscape painter, were paying a pleasant visit to Southey, at Keswick, on their way to Scotland. Whether or not the head of the worthy Poet Laureate was less adapted for representation by the modeller than by the painter, I do not take upon me to say; but it appears that the portrait by Lawrence was considered more successful than the bust by Chantrey. Alluding to this matter, the son and biographer of Southey says that, on visits to Sir Francis, "their mutual friend, Mr. Bedford, always accompanied him: and there, too, was Allan Cunningham; so that the moulding went on merrily, for Chantrey loved a good story, and the reader need not be told that Mr. Bedford would both give and take a joke¹. The Sculptor, however, was not so successful as the painter, [ Sir T. Lawrence, ] and, though he made several attempts to improve the likeness by after-touches, he never regarded his task as satisfactorily accomplished, though many persons were well satisfied with it; indeed, although he promised my father a marble copy of it, he would never fulfil is promise, always purposing to amend his work. After his death, I believe it was purchased by Sir R. Peel."²

Note 1. As an illustration of Chantrey's fondness for a joke, and of the "free and easy" manner in which he could avail himself of his friend's hospitality, it may be mentioned that, on one occasion, when Mr. Read, after being out most of the day, returned home to Norton House, he was startled by the apparition of two uninvited gentlemen, evidently enjoying dinner at the table to which he was looking with a similar object. His surprise was very brief - the self-bidden guests turned out to be Chantrey and his companion, Grosvenor Bedford, Esq. ( to whom so many of Southey's letters were addressed, ) who being on their way northward, and not finding Mr. Read within, nor being sure of his early return, were thus availing themselves of a welcome way-side meal.

Note 2. Life and Correspondence of Southey, "v. 327.