only by constant practice, for, however readily the eye may perceive the form of an object, the power of delineating it on the paper or canvas is where the apparent difficulty lies. It is here where its correctness is put to the test. How much constant practice perfects this chain of communication between the eye and the hand may be proved by the facility with which a person acquires the power of writing in the dark, or with his eyes shut. This quick communication, however, is not to be purchased at the expense of correctness, which ought to be the greatest consideration; for if the eye, or ear, falls into a loose, imperfect method of study, the student finds the greatest difficulty in getting rid of such unprofitable groundwork. In advocating the advantages of this branch of education, it is not my province to raise up chimeras, or what might be considered sufficient reasons for deferring it. Those who have the instruction of youth entrusted to them, I am confident, would find it rather an assistance, as it might be given either as an amusement or as a reward of merit; and, in order to put it in the power of any master to instruct, I shall endeavor to proceed in the simplest manner, and with as few diagrams as the subject renders

necessary.

MEASUREMENT.

To teach the eye to measure the distance between one object and another ought to be the first proceeding. The forms of the lines which bound these spaces, the shapes contained or excluded by such lines, ought to follow, for, as the eye must have something tangible to work upon, it ought to be

Fig. 1.

simple and evident. I should, therefore, commence by a series of dots or points, first two, then three, four and five; also the angles made by drawing lines from each of several points. A pair of compasses will enable any one

not mean that I would have your son a perfect painter; to be that to any tolerable degree will require more time than a young gentleman can spare from his other improvements of greater moment; but so much insight into perspective and skill in drawing as will enable him to represent tolerably on paper any thing he sees, may, I think, be got in a little time."-Locke's Thoughts Concerning Education.

"With regard to the practice of drawing, it will be proper to incite the scholars to industry by showing in other books the use of the art, and informing them how much it assists the apprehension and relieves the memory, and if they are obliged sometimes to write descriptions of engines, utensils, or any complex pieces of workmanship, they will more fully apprehend the necessity of an expedient which so happily supplies the defects of language, and enables the eye to receive what cannot be conveyed to the mind any other way."-Preface to the Preceptor.

to compare their correctness with the original, for, until a pupil can accomplish pretty correctly these preliminaries, it is useless to hasten to more complicated matters.

FORM.

As all forms contain more or less portions of a triangle, square or circle, the eye must be taught to comprehend and imitate such objects in their simple forms, in order to fit it for the purpose of seeing such qualities when mixed and combined with more complicated figures.

I would now recommend these forms to be cut out in paper, and viewed in various situations, being set upright, and also viewed in a horizontal position, that the eye may become thoroughly acquainted with the figures in all their variety of shapes, and with the causes of their alterations in form.

Fig. 2.

Fig. S.

Fig. 4.

I would also recommend the pupil to draw from a cube and a ball, that the eye may become early accustomed to draw from the real objects, in place of flat surfaces, which will give him a power in drawing from Nature unattainable by any other method.

Fig. 5.

Fig. 6.

Fig. 7.

PERSPECTIVE.

Many have been deterred from attempting to learn drawing from the dread of encountering so formidable a department of the art as perspective; whereas, if it is stripped of its geometrical and mathematical intricacies, it will be found a very simple matter, and easy of comprehension.2 Perspective, as the word denotes (being a compound of the Latin words

Long calculations or complex diagrams affright the timorous and unexperienced from a second view, but if we have skill sufficient to analyze them into simple principles, it will be discovered that our fear was groundless. Divide and conquer is a principle equally just in science as in policy. Complication is a species of confederacy which, while it continues united, bids defiance to the most active and vigorous intellect, but

per, through, and specto, to view), is the art of drawing the several objects as they appear when traced upon a glass, or transparent medium; the art of drawing in perspective, therefore, is nothing more than representing the various objects subject to those laws which regulate their appearance in Nature."

LINES.

All lines are subject to an alteration in their appearance, except two, a perpendicular line and a horizontal one; and lines are more or less diminished in length according as they depart from the parallel of the base line; for example, if a person holds a pen or a stick parallel with the eyes, and gradually turns it around, he will see it gradually become shorter, until it assumes a mere spot when it is placed with the point directly toward the eye, as it then covers what is termed the point of sight, being a point immediately opposite the observer's eye, and upon the horizontal line, which is always of the height of the eyes of the spectator; and, as it is turned around, it will describe innumerable points along the whole line. These are termed accidental points, and vary according as the

of which every member is separately weak, and which may therefore be quickly subdued if it can be broken. The chief art of learning, as Locke has observed, is to attempt but little at a time; the widest excursions of the mind are made by short flights frequently repeated."-Doctor Johnson.

It was in the sixteenth century that Perspective, a new branch of optics, was revived, or rather invented; this is more a business of geometry than optics, and is indeed more an art than a science; but since it is derived from optical principles, and as the use of it is to give pleasure to the eye by a just representation of natural objects, I would do wrong not to give a short account of its rise and progress. The art of perspective owes its birth to painting, and particularly to that branch of it which was employed in the decoration of the theater, where landscapes were prinicpally introduced, and which would have looked unnatural and horrid if the size of the objects had not been pretty nearly proportioned to their distance from the eye. We learn from Vitruvius that Agatharchus, instructed by Eschylus, was the first who wrote upon the subject, and that afterward the principles of this art were more distinctly taught by Democritus and Anaxagoras, the disciples of Agatharchus. Of the theory of this art, as described by them, we know nothing, since none of their writings have escaped the general wreck that was made of ancient literature in the dark ages of Europe. However, the revival of painting in Italy was accompanied with a revival of this art. The first person who attempted to lay down the rules of perspective was Pietro del Borgo, an Italian. He supposed objects to be placed beyond a transparent tablet, and endeavored to trace the images which rays of light emitted from them would make upon it, but we do not know what success he had in this attempt, because the book which he wrote upon the subject is not now extant. It is, however, very much commended by the famous Egnazio Dante; and upon the principles of Borgo, Albert Durer constructed a machine, by which he could trace the perspective appearance of objects. Balthazar Perussi studied the writings of Borgo, and endeavored to make them more intelligible; to him we owe the discovery of points of distance, to which all lines that would make an angle of 45 degrees with the ground line are drawn. A little time after, Guido Ubaldi, another Italian, found that all lines that are parallel to one another, if they be inclined to the ground line, converge to some point in the horizontal line, and that through this point also a line drawn from the eye, parallel to them, will pass. These principles put together enabled him to make out a pretty complete theory of perspective."-Priestley's Optics.

Since then the Jesuits' Perspective, Brook Taylor's, Malton's, and others, have rendered the most difficult and intricate diagrams clear and comprehensible.

lines run more or less at right angles from the base line. Lines also vary according as they are situated above or below the observer's eye; for instance, if a book is held up horizontally before the eye, the under cover will be seen when held above, and the lines of its sides appear to run down

to a point on the horizontal line. When underneath the eye, the upper cover will be seen, and the lines describing the sides appear to rise up to the horizontal line. Before proceeding further, for the better understanding the several lines already mentioned, and showing how they are affected, I shall give an explanatory figure.

The above represents a cupboard with folding doors. Being placed immediately before the eye, the sides appear to rise and descend to the point of sight, A; also the door в, from its being opened at right angles with the base line, while the lines of the door c appear to run to the accidental point D. This point will vary its situation according as the door is more or less opened, which explains what are termed accidental points.

B

D

Fig. 9.

с

Horizontal line.

The truth of this may be also cleary proved if a person holds up a piece of glass on which a series of lines are drawn, radiating from the center; for by looking through it either up a street, avenue, or long room, he will perceive those lines of the pavement, buildings, etc., which are at right angles with the base line, fall in with and cover many of the lines, so drawn on the glass, for as they all run to the point of sight, they will of necessity converge, since the spaces between them diminish as they recede from the spectator.

DIMINUTION.

All objects diminish in size as the spectator departs from them, hence two parallel lines seem to approach each other as they recede from the eye; and this diminution will appear more or less sudden, according as they commence from a near point, or one more removed. For example, if the hand is held near the eye, it will intercept a larger space than when held out at arm's length.

Objects diminish in an increased ratio until removed to a certain distance, when the diminution appears less violent. This may be made apparent by the following diagram:

Fig. 10.

Horizontal line.

Let the line a represent the spectator, and the line в represent a line of pavement. The circular line c, which cuts through the visual rays as they approach the eye, will show the diminished ratio as the squares become more distant. And, as they have to be represented upon a plane surface, their proportions will be as the divisions on D. They will, therefore, present the following appearance to the eye.

Fig. 11.

When, therefore, objects are commenced too near, they appear out of proportion with the other objects in the work, and, though true according to rule, appear false with regard to their effect upon the eye of the