48. The successors of Le Brun were not wanting in ability, yet, with a few exceptions, they failed in reaching an enviable eminence in the art, on account of their servile imitation of the false taste of their popular model. The fantastic style of Le Brun became unpopular in France some time previous to the revolution in that country; and another, of an opposite character, and by artists of other nations thought to be equally distant from true taste, has been since adopted. 49. Very little is known of the state of the fine arts in England until the time of Henry VIII., who encouraged the abilities of Hans Holbein, an eminent painter from Switzerland. But painting and sculpture, and particularly the former, having become intimately interwoven with the religion of the Church of Rome, fell into disrepute in England after the change of opinion on this subject in that country. They, however, began to revive in the eighteenth century, and England and English America have since produced some eminent painters, among whom are Hogarth, Reynolds, Opie, West, Copley, Trumbull, and Peale. [Illustration: The ENGRAVER.] THE ENGRAVER. Engraving is the art of cutting letters or figures in wood, metals, or stone. It was practised in very ancient times, and in different countries, for the purposes of ornament and monumental inscription; but the idea of taking impressions on paper, or on any other substance, from engraved surfaces, is comparatively modern. THE WOOD ENGRAVER. 1. The Chinese are said to have been the first who engraved figures or letters on wood, for the purpose of printing. The precise time at which they commenced the practice, is totally unknown; but a book printed by them in the tenth century, is now extant. It is thought by some antiquarians, that the Europeans derived the art from the Chinese, through the Venitians, who traded in that part of the world earlier than any other Europeans. 2. This opinion is somewhat probable, from the circumstance that the tools employed by the early engravers in Europe, are similar to those used in China; and also, like the Chinese, they engraved on the side of the grain. However this may be, it is certain that the art was practised in various parts of Europe in the fourteenth century. The earliest subjects executed, were figures of saints, rudely engraved in outline. The prints taken from them were gaily colored, and sold to the common people as original paintings. The principal persons engaged in this traffic were monks, to whom the art was confined for a considerable time.