JOSEPH NOLLEKENS, THE ENGLISH SCULPTOR.

Cunningham says, “He was passionately fond of drawing and modelling, and labored early and late to acquire knowledge in his profession; yet he was so free from all pride, or so obliging by nature, that he would run on any errand; nor did he hesitate to relate, in the days of his wealth and eminence, how he used to carry pots of porter to his master’s maids on a washing day, and with more success than Barry did when he treated Burke, ‘for,’ says he, ‘I always crept slowly along to save the head of foam that the lasses might taste it in all its strength.’ Such traits as these, however, I cannot consent to set down as incontrovertible proofs of a mean and vulgar spirit; nay, they often keep company with real loftiness of nature.”