Page images
PDF
EPUB

being esteemed palatable."-What does the Author think of the Snipe, WaterRail, Land-Rail, Plover, and others.

P. 162. "The hooded Crow, useful to the farmer, though scared away by him." -The rooks are useful to the farmer in some counties and prejudicial in others; as they have, what is called in birds, intermediate stomachs. They live on grubs, worms, and corn. Where corn is grown, as in Suffolk, they are highly prejudicial; doing a little good and much harm. In dairy counties, such as Gloucestershire and Cheshire, they are, probably, very useful.

Such are a few observations that we have made in cursorily glancing over the volume before us. The author wants a wider circumference of observation, and more accurate habits of investigation. We shall extract a pretty passage about those interesting insects, the bees, p. 27.

"Wildman was able to discover that his bees found their way from his house in London (Holborn) as far as Hampstead Heath and back again. The way in which he proved it was as follows-As they were going through a hole cut for them in a pane of glass, he with a small camelhair pencil dipped in vermilion, touched the back of each bee in its passage out. After he had marked a great number in this manner, he walked to Hampstead, and observed these same bees on the heath, among the wild flowers. Upon his return home, and at the close of the day, he found bees with the same mark returning to the hive. * But you will be more astonished, when I tell you that bees have been known to fly a distance of 30 miles after wild thyme, a flower they are particularly fond of. They are also capable of being tamed, and made familiar to a surprising degree; for this same Mr. Wildman was so well known to his little companions, and they were so attached to him, that when he called a hive of bees in a particular manner, you would in a few minutes see him covered with them; and upon a given signal they would return to their hive."

*

Love and Pride. By the author of Sayings and Doings. 3 vols.-The author of these volumes is justly a great favourite with the public, and his work is written in the spirit of a person secure of approbation. There is nothing of the extreme carefulness and timidity of a young debutant; he knows the public taste, and feels that he has the power of delighting it. No man writes his best till he is independent of the person whom he addresses, as no one talks well who is afraid of his company. The first tale is "The Widow." GENT. MAG. VOL. I.

It is very slight in its frame-work, and of no great interest, with touches of cleverness and drollery, and a humour rather too broad to be in perfectly good taste. There is a smart artful lady's-maid, Miss Johnstone, who, advising her young mistress not to marry a rich old Mr. Smith, says, nearly as cleverly as a real lady'smaid would say in the same circumstances" Besides he would make you a present of all the wedding-clothes; and as for the jewels-pooh !—what is the value of a long suit of diamonds in a game where hearts are trumps?" Then there is a ludicrous embarrass produced by a Mr. Charles Saville, who is extremely romantic, falling into love with a Miss Harriet Franklin, who is equally unearthly, and who he supposes lives on lemon-cakes and eau des fleurs d'Orange, as undoubtedly all young ladies do; but whom he hears of, "getting a bit of cold beefsteakpie and some pickled onions, and swallowing a pint of porter." There is too a letter from this sylph, beginning, "You are a shabby fellow. My aunt's temper has grown unbearable. She's a perfect divil," and so on; portentous sounds, strangely bewildering the brain of a delicate and romantic lover. But we must leave our hero to arrange these points with his betrothed, and mention that the second story, Snowdon," is more ingeniously contrived, and more full of entertainment; though the humour is of too broad and common a kind, and the incidents too ridiculous, as if the author was writing for the Gallery. We have no doubt, however, that he knows his audience. The story turns on the aristocratic insolence, pride, and stupidity of a Lord Snowdon, and on the evils inflicted on himself and all around him by the abovementioned attributes of nobility. The whole scene between his Lordship and Wiseman the Mayor of Shuttleworth, would work up into a capital farce, where Farren and Liston, our two incomparable comedians, would take the two parts, and embody to life the shadows of the author's fancy.

66

The History of Wales; written originally in British by Caradoc, of Llancarvan; translated into English by Dr. Powell; augmented by W. Wynne, Fellow of Jesus College, Oxon. Revised, &c. by Richard Llwyd, Gent.-The substance of the work mentioned is generally known as "Wynne's History of Wales," though in the present edition it is somewhat modernized in language, and supplied with occasional corrections and notes of reference, explanatory of Mr. Wynne's text; to this, the compiler has attached a col 2 Q

lection of topographical notices relating to the several counties of North and South Wales, which furnish not only much interesting and additional information as to the past, but afford a tolerably correct view of the present state of Cambria.

At p. 284 of the additions, we find that Montgomeryshire" has been, and is still, and will continue for some years to be the best wooded of any country in the Principality, and of its size, is one of the best in the kingdom. The woods were so abundant, that less than a century back, the fuel of a great part of the country consisted almost entirely of the best cleft timber, but which, within the last eighty years, begun to be of some value, from its finding its way into the navy market. The first sale was from Abertanat wood, on the confines of Shropshire. About the year 1750, the woods of Powis Castle Park, Abernant, and Trefedryd followed. From that period the county contributed annually to the supply of the navy and commerce of the nation. In the reign of Henry the Third the timber on the Vaenor estate was destroyed to cut off the retreat of the Welsh ; in that of George the Third, it was converted to a more laudable purpose, to assist in perpetuating to our sea-girt isle the sovereignty of the seas. The fall at

Vaenor Park, in 1796, deprived the county of much of its most valuable timber, of which the following were some of the most noted dimensions :-one oak measured 68 inches in circumference, at the height of 73 feet; another measured 687 cubic feet, and was valued at two shillings per foot, exclusive of bark. On the Garth estate, near Guilsfield, some of the finer oak forest trees were from ten to twelve feet in circumference; one in particular in the parish church of Meivod, measured fifty-five feet in length, and ten feet in circumference."

Journals of Excursions on the Alps. By WM. BROCKEDON.-No one who has seen Mr. Brockedon's larger work, containing his splendid views in two volumes quarto, of all the grander and sublimer scenery of Switzerland-the narrow defile the almost impassable gorge, overhung with dark precipitous rocksthe snow-capt, sky-piercing mountainthe foaming cataract, the calm, secluded, hill-encircled lake-the long picturesque valley, with its Alpine villages, its vineyards and its castles-no one who ever gazed with delight on the scenes, beautifully transcribed as they are from nature by the pencil of the artist, but must have sighed to escape from the murky fogs and gloom of London, from the bustle of its commerce, the rancour of its politics,

and the folly of its heartless and joyless dissipation, to repose in scenes sanctified by the presence of nature, and fresh, as it were, even now from the hand of the Creator himself-presentiorem et conspicimus Deum. The present work will be an admirable guide to the wanderer through these abodes of glory; they will facilitate the acquisition of the objects he has in view; and point out to him the very deepest recesses and hitherto unknown fastnesses where sublimity and solitude reside. There is not one pass of the Alps, from the Cisalpine country into Italy, that Mr. Brockedon has not explored. He has followed where the astonished and affrighted elephants of Hannibal laboured up the icy mountains ;— "uncurled their trunks, and drank the eternal snows." He has pierced where the cannon of Napoleon was carried, as it were, through the air on eagle's wings; and he has traversed the fine opening which the Austrians have made across the Splugen, and through the heart of the Grisons to the enchanted waters of Como. In fact, the passes of the Col du Bon-homme, the Col de la Seigne, the Col de Sestrieres, the Mont Genevre, the Col du Lautaret, the Little St. Bernard, and the Great St. Bernard, have been all explored. The book is written with gracefulness and simplicity of style, and with that true picturesque feeling that we might expect from a painter.

The History of Wales, arranged as a Catechism (in the manner of Pinnock's), is well adapted to impress the minds of young persons with a general view of ancient British history, and will, we have no doubt, become popular as a schoolbook throughout the ancient Cambria.

Stories from the History of Wales, by a Lady of the Principality, abound with amusing historical incident, and biographical memoranda; and to the juvenile members of a family, would be an instructive fire-side companion.

De Lolme on the Constitution of England, with Notes. By H. HUGHES, ESQ. M. P.-The value of this popular work is much increased by the practical notes and illustrations of the editor. Some errors of the author are corrected, and information, curious and useful, is given on many points that are difficult to those whose historical knowledge is not accompanied with the study of the laws. This edition must supersede all that were previously published; and will mainly contribute to support and increase the reputation of a very useful book.

FINE ARTS.

BRITISH INSTITUTION, PALL-MALL.

The gallery of this Institution opened to the public on the 5th January, with its annual exhibition of the productions in painting and sculpture of living British artists; and the collection, we are bound in justice to state, reaches more than an average point of excellence. Historical painting does not appear to thrive among us at the present moment, and accordingly little is attempted in that particular department; but those who are as well satisfied as we are disposed to be with the faithful delineation of a rural scene, or a domestic incident, need not apprehend that they will here experience any lack of gratification.

It is not in historical painting alone, that the neglect we allude to is felt; for the arts generally are labouring under extreme depression at this period of political ferment; we trust, however, that the cloud which has for some time darkened our social horizon will speedily disappear, and that painting and sculpture, together with many other interesting and useful branches of the national industry, may again rise to its ordinary level.

The act lately recorded of King Leopold and the Belgic Government, in connexion with that popular, though possibly over-lauded artist, MARTIN, is calculated to do good; for if it is not painful to our more opulent classes to leave a man of eminence pining in indigence in his own country, it must surely be daggers to them to see him thus driven, and not in vain, to seek his reward in another. We are confident that no one really worthy of the name of an artist would have us so far compromise the independence of his profession, as to solicit patronage for it as a matter of charity; yet we may be permitted to observe, that if the aristocracy of England are no longer content to uphold the interests of their native school, they must, as an inevitable consequence, prepare for its certain though gradual extinction.

Trusting that these remarks may not pass altogether unheeded, we now address ourselves to the more agreeable duty of offering such opinions on the works composing the present exhibition, as may lead to a correct estimate of their merits.

No. 1. Rangers. H.WYATT. The claims of this fancy-portrait to our approbation I will be found on examination to rest principally on the drapery, which is picturesque as well in colour as arrangement, and withal carefully painted. Though the exquisite pencilling, the

grace, and the poetry of NEWTON are not here apparent, the figure represented is but another version of one of the engraved works of that admirable artist. The texture of the flesh is hard, and the tints little in accordance with our own recollection of nature. No. 168 is a commonplace portrait of a commonplace subject. Mr. WYATT has given it the title of Le Chapeau Noir, a circumstance which we deem singularly unfortunate, inasmuch as it provokes a comparison that few would not be anxious to avoid.

No. 3. A Dutch Ferry. A. W. CALCOTT, R.A. Like the rest of Mr. Calcott's landscapes, exceedingly natural and effective.

No. 39. Returning from the Mill. T. WOODWARD. A light rural scene, of much simplicity and truth, and affording the artist an opportunity of displaying his great ability in the portraiture of the horse.

No. 52. Hylas and the Nymphs. W. ETTY, R.A. A twilight subject, previously exhibited at Somerset House. Hylas owes little to Mr. ETTY on the score of beauty, and Hercules still less, neither being made over-handsome; but the pretensions of the Mysian damsels have suffered no diminution in his hands. Exception has been taken to the colouring of the flesh, which is somewhat livid; but when the hour selected by the artist for the introduction of his figures, as indicated by the stars above, is considered, this can be no longer urged. Is not the drawing imperfect, and the hair of the nymphs susceptible of some improve

ment?

No. 53. Sunset. J. P. KNIGHT. A little scene of familiar life reduced to canvas with the artist's usual feeling and effect. The Cotter's Saturday Night probably suggested the idea of it, and in the treatment of that class of subjects we know of few who have acquitted themselves with greater ability than Mr. Knight.

No. 63. Interior of the Louvre. S. DAVIES. As a work of art, there is nothing very striking in this production, yet to the patriotic few who indulge not in a taste for foreign travel, but remain at home

"And never see the Louvre,"

a glance at Mr. DAVIES's fac-simile of that once great repository of art may be gratifying.

No. 75. Sea-coast. F. R. LEE. Of

the numerous landscapes exhibited by Mr. Lee, this sea-coast view is by far the most agreeable. The effect of sun-rise, as seen in nature, has been faithfully imitated, and the prevailing coldness of tone, so detrimental to his works in the Middle Room, is here less obvious.

No. 82. The Persian. W. ETTY, R. A. A fine characteristic head, powerfully finished; and, though simply a portrait, one of the most attractive morceaux in the room.

No. 87. The Hypochondriac. D. M'CLISE. A comparison of this work with the one we have just named, will convince Mr. M'Clise, however sceptical he may possibly be upon the subject, that his style of colouring is much too florid and inartificial.

No. 93. A Decayed Convent at San Vivaldo, Tuscany. W. SCROPE. A scene of much local magnificence, painted with a freedom of execution and a purity of taste that do the highest credit to the artist.

No. 144. Suspense. E. LANDSEER, R.A. This picture represents a dog of the mastiff species watching for the opening of a door, but not in the hope of getting at some unfortunate chickens, as a contemporary has suggested. He is not of a class to chase poultry, or to catch them if he would. He looks as wise as Solomon, but we rather object to the absurd air of sentimentality which Mr. Landseer so uniformly gives to these canine creatures. It may impose on vulgar tastes; but, for our own part, with all our respect for the faithful brutes, we cannot feel the propriety of investing them with the attributes of human wisdom. This is not so sober in tone as its companion subject, Deer and Deer Hounds in a Mountain Torrent (No. 156), a work previously exhibited; but, on the other hand, it has less of that painful minuteness about it, so adroitly imitated by Mr. HANCOCK, a circumstance we ascribe to the use of a bolder brush. Mr. L. exhibits, in another part of the Gallery, a specimen of his skill as a delineator of the human form, but with what possible motive it would be difficult to determine, unless indeed with that of corroborating a fact never yet disputed, namely, that he is an animal painter. We allude to No. 4, entitled A Naughty Child.

No. 150. The Cathedral of Seville. D. ROBERTS. In this claborate piece, representing the interior of the metropolitan Church of Seville, or rather a portion of it, as seen during the festival of the Corpus Christi, will be recognized a considerable accession to the well-earned reputation of the artist. We, however,

doubt the propriety of exhibiting such a structure otherwise than in its ordinary and natural dress. The great charm of a fine old cathedral is found in its deep solemnity and gloom, a sentiment which, as regards the magnificent work in question, the bustle of a crowd of fancifully attired boys dancing at the high altar, but too effectually destroys.

No. 128. A Cottage in a Field of Corn. J. CONSTABLE, R.A. The constancy with which this talented individual pursues the style of art he originally adopted, is worthy of the highest commendation. Few perhaps have the taste to appreciate his beauties as they deserve; for his means of producing them is peculiar, and, to an inexperienced eye, doubtless extravagant. We, however, have seen and admired nature through the same poetic medium, until, at length, we know of no one whose works we contemplate with greater satisfaction.

No. 185. The Hencoop. J. INSKIPP. A country lass, young and simple, but by no means pretty, scattering a handful of grain among a brood of chickens, a wicker coop in the foreground, and a few trees or shrubs in the distance, are the slender materials of which this little painting is composed; yet even of these, how much may be made by one who knows how to appreciate them! The expression and

the attitude of the rustic are all character and truth, while the breadth of the dress, and the general tone and harmony of the whole, combine to render the picture one of the most complete and masterly in the exhibition. The Perch Fisher (No. 210) displays the same inimitable tone and feeling. How true is it to nature; and yet how unlike any thing around it! The admirable way in which the figure of the angler is brought off the golden rays of an autumnal sun-set, is indeed, as we heard a spectator remark of it, perfectly mysterious.

No. 213. Anecdote of Milton. W. BROCKEDON. One of the artist's most agreeable pictures.

No. 228. Sand End Common, near Wycombe. J. STARK. Of the numerous landscapes exhibited by Mr. Stark, we consider this the most pleasing. Forest scenery is the principal subject of his studies, and in his view of nature he is always simple and unaffected.

No. 240. The Pantheon at Rome, No. 245. The Grotto of Pausilippo, and No. 255. The Bay of Naples. G. JONES, R. A. In subjects of this description, namely, architectural exteriors and street scenery, Mr. Jones is unrivalled. He has many imitators, but not one that can at all approach him. The three pieces

we here enumerate are small, but exceed- graced in comparison with those by West, ingly effective.

No. 361. Oberon, Titania, and the Indian Boy. H. P. BRIGGS, R.A. Respectable, but wanting in flexibility, tone, and originality.

No. 379. The Harvest Field. F. R. LEE. Mr. Lee's landscapes have all an air of truth about them, but remind us more of the artist's material than of the rich effects of nature. Nature is often, nay always simple, but never poor.

No. 443. Francis the First. D. M'CLISE. This picture is characterised by some excellent drawing, with crude colour in violent and unpleasant opposition. No. 519. Allhallow Eve, which had been previously before the public, is infinitely the best thing he exhibits.

No. 523. A View in the Valley of Tieserbach on the Moselle. J. A. O'CONNOR. Decidedly clever, but perhaps not quite so striking as some of the landscapes we have seen by the same hand.

No. 524. Lane Scene. T. CRESWICK. We observe several views by this gentleman scattered about in various parts of the exhibition, and all of them evince talent, but we give the preference to this.

Unable at present to go into further detail, we briefly enumerate the following, as also worthy of attention.

No. 28. A Study of Plate, by LANCE; No. 32, Le Beau Temps, by GEDDES, in the way of Watteau's Fêtes Champêtres. No. 54, Nelson Square, Greenwich Hospital, by Holland. No. 68, Italian Children, by LADY BURGHERSH. No. 86. The Young Soldier and Sailor, by GILL. No. 139. A Portrait, by Mrs. CHARLES PEARSON, very good, but not quite powerful enough for an exhibition. No. 147. A Coffee House at Athens, by E. F. GREEN. No. 220. Rembrandt in his Painting Room, by FRASER; and No. 375. The Head of a Greek, by CAFE.

In Sculpture, No. 560, A Bacchanal, by COTTERILL; and No. 564, Love Benighted, from the well-known Ode in Anacreon, by PITTS, are much to our taste. There are also some very clever things by WESTMACOTT, LOUGH, ROSSI, and others.

The Print of the Citation of Wycliffe, engraved by J. Egan from a painting by Mr. J. S. E. Jones, is of a size and character which is seldom rivalled at the present day. Its dimensions are 22 inches high by 29 wide, and the engraving is judiciously executed in the mezzotinto style, with a careful and skilful management of light and shade. This picture itself possesses very considerable merit as a composition, and would not be dis

or the best historical painters that have yet appeared in England. Perhaps the principal fault is, that Wycliffe himself is not a prominent figure. But alas! when will our painters arrive at true accuracy and harmony of costume? We have here a tawdry dress on John of Gaunt, which would suffice for a stage-struck Richard; but yet nothing of the luxury, and even effeminacy, of costume which distinguished the reign of Richard II. and which painters might learn from contemporary illuminations. The leg of "Lord Henry Percy," by which name we presume is intended the Earl of Northumberland, is clothed in armour, and that armour is chain mail! Indeed all the armour is of the most anomalous description. The general character, however, of the whole is impressive, and in the present imperfect state of the art, with respect to historic truth and antiquarian accuracy, it does the painter credit. aged heads are fine.

His

We are glad to find Mr. NETHERCLIFT is encouraged to proceed with his lithographs of important historical documents. He has now presented us with a fac-simile of the rough official draft of the Warrant for the Queen of Scots Execution, from the Harl. MSS. 290. It is encircled with vignettes, consisting of portraits of the rival Queens and their signatures, a view of Fotheringhay, and a representation of the Queen's Execution.

The Maps in A new and comprehensive Gazetteer by J. ASPIN, Esq. are not inferior to the best modern productions of the kind; and we have been much pleased by the frontispiece, a carefully executed

view of London from the tower of St. Saviour's church, in which a well-known scene appears with so many new features in the bridge of Rennie and its vicinity.

Mr. MAJOR continues to maintain a highly creditable character of art, in the engravings of his Cabinet Gallery of Pictures. There have been some excellent specimens of the Dutch schools in his recent Parts.

Parts V. and VI of the Illustrations to the Poetical Works of Sir Walter Scott, contain some beautiful landscapes. The portrait of the Royal Knight of Snowdoun, from a carving formerly at Stirling Castle, is curious; but the imaginary interior of Rokeby castle is not a "hall" but a crypt.

« PreviousContinue »