Art in England | Page 5

Architecture, Secret Motions
of Scenes, Fortifications, the Besieging and Defending of Places,
Fireworks, Marches of Armies, Ordering of Battailes, Fencing,
Vaulting, Riding the Great Horse, Music, Playing on all sorts of
Instruments, Dancing, Drawing, Painting, Limning, and Carving,' etc.
Certainly Sir Balthazar's was a sufficient catalogue of arts, sciences,
and accomplishments. The lectures 'composed for the good of the
public' were afterwards printed, and to be obtained at Robert Ibbitson's
house in Smithfield, near Hosier Lane. It may be noted that a lecture
upon the art of well-speaking, brought upon the lecturer the derision of
Butler, author of Hudibras.
In the winter the Academy was moved from Bethnal Green to
Whitefriars. Sir Balthazar issued advertisements as to his lectures. It is
to be feared his good intentions were not always appreciated by the
public of the day. In one of his advertisements we find him
complaining bitterly of 'the extraordinary concourse of unruly people
who robbed him, and treated with savage rudeness his extraordinary
services.' Something of a visionary, too, was Sir Balthazar;--yet, with
all his vanity as to his own merits--his coxcombry about his

proceedings,--a sort of reformer and benefactor also in a small way. At
one time we find him advertising that, besides lecturing gratis, he will
lend from one shilling to six, gratis, 'to such as are in extreme need, and
have not wherewithal to endeavour their subsistence, whereas week by
week they may drive on some trade.' By-and-by, however, Sir
Balthazar was probably more disposed to borrow than to lend. His
Academy met with little support--with ridicule rather than
encouragement; was indeed a total failure; and he left England for
America. For some years nothing was heard of him.
In 1660, however, we find him publishing at Rotterdam 'a sommary
description, manifesting that greater profits are to be done in the hott
than in the cold parts of America.' This contains an account of his
journey with his family to settle at Surinam. But there, it seems, he was
seized by the Dutch, treated with much violence (one of his children
being killed), and brought to Holland. He attempted, but in vain, to
obtain redress from the States for this strange treatment of him. He
probably returned to England with Charles II., for he is said to have
aided in designing the triumphal arches erected at the Restoration.
Gerbier's name is attached to a long list of books and pamphlets. Some
of these are of a controversial character; the author was a stout
Huguenot, fond of denouncing the Pope; oftentimes alarmed at plots
against himself on account of his religion, and now publishing a letter
of remonstrance to his three daughters who, in opposition to his will,
had entered a nunnery in Paris. Other works relate to architecture and
fortifications, the languages, arts, and noble exercises taught in his
Academy, or contain advice to travellers, or deal with political affairs.
Mr. Pepys records in his diary, under date the 28th May 1663:--'At the
Coffee House in Exchange Alley I bought a little book, Counsell to
Builders, by Sir Balth. Gerbier. It is dedicated almost to all the men of
any great condition in England, so that the dedications are more than
the book itself; and both it and them,' the diarist adds somewhat
severely, 'not worth a farthing!'
Sir Balthazar died in 1667, at Hempsted-Marshall House, which he had
himself designed, the seat of Lord Craven, and was buried in the

chancel of the adjoining church. Portraits of Gerbier were painted by
Dobson[2]--the picture was sold for £44 at the sale of Betterton the
actor--and by Vandyke. The work by Vandyke also contained portraits
of Gerbier's family, and was purchased in Holland by command of
Frederick, Prince of Wales, and brought to Leicester House.
[2] A portrait of Gerbier, Sir Charles Cotterel, and W. Dobson, painted
by Dobson, the property of the Duke of Northumberland, was exhibited
at South Kensington in 1868.
For something like half-a-century after Sir Balthazar Gerbier's time we
find no trace of another Art Academy in England.

VERRIO AND LAGUERRE.
Pope, denouncing the vanity of wealth and the crimes committed in the
name of taste, visits Lord Timon's villa, and finds plenty of pegs on
which to hang criticism--ample scope for satire. With depreciating eyes
he surveys the house and grounds, their fittings and garniture, almost as
though he were going to make a bid for them. 'He that blames would
buy,' says the proverb. Then he passes to the out-buildings, taking notes
like a broker in possession under a fi. fa.
'And now the chapel's silver bell you hear, That summons you to all the
pride of prayer: Light quirks of music, broken and uneven, Make the
soul dance upon a jig to heaven. On painted ceiling you devoutly stare,
Where sprawl