Copley Medal

“ Hooker’s unaffected modesty came out again about this period. In 1887 he was awarded the Copley Medal of the Royal Society, an honour which is the pinnacle of scientific ambition, and is open to foreigners as well as British subjects. He wrote in regard to the award, “I never once thought of myself as within the pale of it.” And in a letter to W. E. Darwin, “The success of my after-dinner homily at the R. S. is to me far more wonderful than getting the Copley. ”

“ COPLEY, Sir GODFREY (d. 1709) , founder of the Copley medal, was son of Sir Godfrey Copley of Sprotborough, Yorkshire, who was made a baronet 17 June 1661, and was M.P. for Aldborough in 1678 and 1681. Copley became second baronet on his father's death about 1684. Of his early life nothing is known. ”

“ Commander of the Legion of Honour, and a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus. Among the medals which he received were each of those at the disposal of the Royal Society—indeed the Copley medal was given him twice—and the Grande Médaille d'Honneur at the time of the French Exhibition. Altogether it appears he was decorated with ninety-five titles and marks of merit, [10] including the blue ribbon of science, for in 1844 he was chosen one of the eight foreign associates of the French Academy. ”

“ The annual award of the Copley medal for scientific research gave him the opportunity of commenting on the value of the investigations honoured with that prize in a series of six discourses, which were afterwards published. Among their subjects are themes as various as Priestley's researches on different kinds of gases, Nevil Maskelyne's observations on the force of gravity in the mountain Schehallion, and Captain Cook's account of the means by which he kept his crews free from scurvy. ”

“ The Copley medal was in 1775 awarded to Maskelyne for his ' curious and laborious observations on the attraction of mountains.' In the dissensions of the Royal Society in 1784 Maskelyne strongly supported Dr. ”

“ Delicacy of health compelled his retirement in the autumn of 1835. He died at Blackheath on the 7th of September 1836, and was buried beside Halley in the churchyard of Lee. The Copley medal was conferred upon him in 1823, and the Lalande prize in 1817 by the Paris Academy, of which he was a corresponding member. ”

“ Trans. lxx. 338) , and on 11 Jan. 1781 a striking paper on ‘The Rotation of the Planets’ (ib. lxxi. 115) . The discovery (then without a parallel) of a new planet was acknowledged by the bestowal of the Copley medal a few days previous to his election into the Royal Society on 6 Dec. 1781. In the spring of 1782 he received a royal summons to bring his instruments to London, when their superiority over those at Greenwich was shown by direct comparison. On 25 May 1782 he had an audience with George III at Buckingham House ”

“ The prize (half a dozen or a dozen copies of the work itself) was not less an object of triumph, than a Copley or a Royal medal is in our own time amongst the philosophers of the Royal Society.
These men, from similarity of employment and inevitable contiguity of position, were brought into intercourse almost of necessity, and the formation of a little society (such as the "Oldham") the natural result—the older and more experienced men taking the lead in it. ”

“ Without my having made any application for that honour, they chose me a member; and voted that I should be excused the customary payments, which would have amounted to twenty-five guineas; and ever since have given me their transactions gratis. [12] They also presented me with [Pg 179] the gold medal of Sir Godfrey Copley, for the year 1753, the delivery of which was accompanied by a very handsome speech of the president, Lord Macclesfield, wherein I was highly honoured. ”

“ Needless to say the man didn't get his sovereign, though he did leave a queer message for you. It is astonishing what strange things men say when they are in liquor."
"And what did this one say?" Copley asked.
"Oh, he said if he could see you he would get as many pounds as he liked. He went on to remark that if he had to put up with any more of this you could find somebody else to monkey with your fruit baskets at Covent Garden. ”

“ In the dark eyes, and around the voluptuous mouth, there played a look made up of pride, coquetry, and a gleam of mirthfulness, which impressed Copley with the idea that the image was secretly enjoying the perplexing admiration of himself and other beholders.
“And will you,” said he to the carver, “permit this masterpiece to become the figure-head of a vessel? Give the honest captain yonder figure of Britannia—it will answer his purpose far better—and send this fairy queen to England, where, for aught I know, it may bring you a thousand pounds.” ”

“ In colouring Copley avoided the opaque and monotonous smoothness of West. He always kept nature before him, and had no fear, as many of his contemporaries had, that she ‘would put him out.’ Many of his best pictures have gone to America; but his merits being now better appreciated in England, those that remain with us are not likely to leave the country. ”

“ Copley may be a rich man now, but he is just as big a scamp as ever he was, and Sir George ought to know it. I tell you, Mr. Harry, it fairly makes my blood boil to see that blackguard swaggering about here and hanging around Miss May as if she belonged to him. It fair spoils my enjoyment and my food, it does. But you see how difficult it is for a man in my position to interfere. ”

“ Copley is a scoundrel. I knew something about him in South Africa, though we never met. But he was in constant contact with a sort of partner of mine named Aaron Phillips. Phillips and I contrived to get an option on a diamond mine and, but for unforeseen circumstances, we should have made a fortune out of it. But the locality was kept a secret. The only man who knew where it was died and we had nothing but some plans to go on. Copley and Foster heard of this and resolved to get hold of those plans. The plans [281] have vanished and probably will never be seen again. ”

“ COPLEY’S LARGE PICTURE. Copley, the father of Lord Lyndhurst, painted a vast picture of the Relief afforded to the Crew of the Enemy’s Gun-boats on their taking fire at the Siege of Gibraltar. The painting was immense, and it was managed by means of a roller, so that any portion of it, at any time, might be easily seen or executed. The artist himself was raised on a platform. The picture was at length completed, and a most signal mark of royal favour was granted the painter, by his receiving permission to erect a tent in the Green Park for its exhibition. It attracted thousands. ”

“ With an intellect so keen and a memory of unusual tenacity, it was comparatively easy for young Copley to cover a wide field of study, not only in literature, but also in mathematics, physics, and mechanical science. ”

“ There were a few good pictures by European masters in Boston, to which Copley, of course, had access, among them two portraits by Vandyck and one by Sir Godfrey Kneller. But, like most men of genius, Copley had to trust to his own persistent study and practice and his close habit of observation for those qualities in his pictures which gave them value. The multitude of his portraits executed in America is sufficient proof of his industry and conscientiousness. ”

“ No painter was ever more in sympathy with his age than Copley; and thus, when we look at the admirable portraits in which his genius commemorated the commanding characters of those colonial days, in their brilliant and massive uniforms, their brocades and embroidered velvets, and choice laces and scarfs, the imagination is carried back to the past with irresistible force, while, at the same time, we are astonished at the ability which, with so little training, could give immortality both to his contemporaries and his own pencil. ”

“ It came promptly, and in acknowledging it (30 May 1804) young Copley writes to Mr. Greene: ‘Assisted by your friendship, I am about to launch my bark into a wider sea; I am not insensible to the dangers with which it abounds. But while to some it proves disastrous and fatal, to others it affords a passage to wealth, or, what is of more value than wealth, to reputation and honours.’ On 18 June 1804 he was called to the bar and joined the midland circuit. His great abilities were by this time recognised by his brethren at the bar. He worked hard, and was assiduous in attendance on the courts. ”

“ Art is in its utmost perfection here; a mind susceptible of the fine feelings which Art is calculated to excite will find abundance of pleasure in this country. The Apollo, the Laocoön, etc., leave nothing for the human mind to wish for; more cannot be effected by the genius of man than what is happily combined in those miracles of [Pg 21] the chisel.” Copley returned to London, and being introduced by West to the Academy, the King, in 1783, sanctioned his election as an R.A. His name being established, year after year witnessed works of high and enduring merit from his brush. ”

“ These works established Copley's reputation as an historical painter, and secured him a commission from the corporation of London for a very large picture painted in 1789–90, now in the Guildhall, of ‘The Repulse and Defeat of the Spanish Floating Batteries at Gibraltar’ (13 Sept. 1782) . Having to introduce into it the portraits of four Hanoverian generals, Copley, accompanied by his wife and eldest daughter, went to Hanover to paint their likenesses, furnished with an autograph letter of introduction from George III, which secured for them a most hospitable reception. ”

“ Copley was away on business. He came back on Saturday and made his way across to Haredale Park after dinner. In the drawing-room he was coldly informed that Sir George was in the library. He appeared to take this curt dismissal in good part and went off in search of Sir George whom he found sitting moodily over the fire.
"Where have you been lately?" the Baronet asked.
"Oh, my dear sir," Copley explained, "you forget that I have my business to look after. I [264] have been exceedingly busy. When things take a turn for the better that is the time to follow your fortune closely. ”

“ Harry. I haven't been at this game for fifty years without learning a thing or two. I have always made it a rule to go straight myself, but that is no reason why I should keep my eyes closed to the doings of other people."
"Quite right," Fielden said approvingly. "But [63] what do you know about Mr. Copley? He is a stranger in these parts."
"That may be, sir, but he is no stranger to me. I never forget a face, and I've been on every racecourse in the country during the last five and twenty years. The first time I saw Mr. Copley, he was being shown round the stables by Sir George. ”

“ As there was very little literature for America to be proud of before the Declaration of Independence, so, in casting our eyes backward over the annals of art, we can discover but one notable native artist in the period between the early settlements and the Revolution. This was John Singleton Copley. He was born in Boston in 1738, and became the pupil of Smybert, an English artist of some talent, who had accompanied Bishop Berkeley across the Atlantic and had settled in Boston. The pupil soon eclipsed the master, and for years Copley stood alone as a popular portrait-painter in New England. ”

“ But then he went off to the Pincian.
And there, surely, was a most wonderful, rich, and varied scene; a concourse of people of all characters and nationalities—except the small party in the world which Dolly represented; a kaleidoscope view of figures and costumes, classes and callings, most picturesque, most diversified, most changeful. There were the Thayers, amongst others; and as they joined company with the Copley party, of course Mrs. Copley's pleasure was greatly increased; for in a crowd it is always pleasant to know somebody. Mr. Copley knew several people. ”

“ His wish in youth was to be an architect, but of this his father would not hear. He had formed a high estimate of his son's abilities; and, as these seemed especially fitted to win distinction at the bar, young Copley was sent to be educated, with a view to the legal profession, to Cambridge, where he was entered as a pensioner at Trinity College on 8 July 1790. He had every motive to make the best use of his time at the university. His father was not rich, and was dependent on a precarious profession. ”

“ Through him Fielden had lost the chance of his lifetime. But for him and his rascally associates, Fielden and Phillips would have been rich men to-day. Moreover, if something were not done speedily, a fate which was worse than death awaited May Haredale. To turn his back upon a chance like this would be to precipitate the very calamity which he was most anxious to avert. Copley was the type of strong man who always gets his way. He was not the least scrupulous as to his methods, and Sir George Haredale was bound to him hand and foot. ”

“ The industry of Copley never flagged. Before he left America it has been ascertained that he had executed at least 290 oil paintings, forty crayon portraits, and nineteen miniatures. These have all along been highly prized by his countrymen, many of whom seized the opportunity of a visit to Europe to have their portraits painted by him. It is probably by his portraits that Copley's reputation will be longest maintained. There are many of them scattered throughout England. As a rule they bear the stamp of individuality, are well modelled, and rich in colour. ”

“ At the end of 1795 he sailed for America, where, since the peace of 1784, friendly relations with England had been established. He was warmly welcomed in his native city of Boston, where his father's reputation as an artist stood very high. The chief object of his visit was, if possible, to recover a valuable property on Beacon Hill there which belonged to his father. It had been sold by Mr. Copley's agent in his absence without due authority, and the price never accounted for. ”