‘BRISTOL.’ This year Arthur Young, an American prisoner, wrote to me asking charity; it deserves to be mentioned that in a book called ‘England’s Black Tribunal’[86] there is a list of emigrants to America in the seventeenth century, at the head of whom stands the name of Arthur Young. The following letters are from James Barry,[87] the celebrated painter. This was a very singular character. I sat to him for the portrait which he inserted in his famous painting for the decoration of the Society’s room.[88] I met him often at Dr. Burney’s, and always found him to abound with original observations, which marked a character peculiarly his own. He always seemed to me to be proud of his poverty. ‘Adelphi: April 1783. ‘Dear Sir,—I am very much obliged to you for your kind letter, and hope your goodness will make every allowance for my not having answered it sooner, but of all things I hate writing at any time, more particularly at present, when I had resolved to allow myself some days’ Sabbath, to the utter exclusion of all manner of labour, even of that which was most agreeable to me. I shall be sincerely obliged to you for your corrected copy of my account of the pictures,[89] and the freer and the more extensive your strictures are the more thankful I shall be; whatever is for use shall be adopted, and I will further promise you that whatever may not be to the purpose shall be thrown aside with as little reluctance as if I had written it myself. I expect to find you on a wrong scent in what you call _my violence_, which you may think _has been carried too far_, and I shall have a pleasure in setting you right as to that matter the first time we meet. You will find nothing has arisen from resentment, nothing from a desire of retaliating, nothing from paltry, interested views; such motives, though I might be inclined to make allowance for them in others, I should reprobate in myself. It appeared to me a bounden duty to point out for the common good whatever I could discover of those quicksands, shoals, and rocks that obstruct and endanger our _viaggiatori_ in the _belle arti_, and I am confident that the arts and the reputation of the country will receive essential service, whenever this chart (of which I have made but a rude sketch) shall be perfected by some man of more information and better abilities (though perhaps not of more love for truth, for the public and for science) and of penetration, energy, vivacity and perspicuity, to treat this matter as it deserves.