grievously misunderstood, if it is supposed that they are intended to depress youthful talent, pining to make itself seen, and heard, and felt far from it: we only desire youthful talent to lay seriously to heart the requirements and the difficulties, as well as the rewards of literary life; we only entreat the young enthusiast, as he values the health of his mind and body, to pause and meditate long, before he adopt as a profession one, in which, if he succeeds, he may find the shadow outstretch the substance before he begin a race in which the crown is oftener of fading leaves than of goldbefore he encounter a strife from which he may return broken-hearted and dismayed. The pursuit of letters is a noble pursuit-therefore, to be commenced and continued in a genuine and noble spirit. It is not to be treated as a light and easy play, that has vanity for its origin, amusement for its end, and profit for its reward. The enthuyoung siast who would fain persuade himself that a celestial call summons him to this pursuit, should muse upon it in those dim yet priceless libraries, where of old sat pale and solitary students, till their hair was silvered and their stature bent, reverently yielding their faculties and their days and nights to the lore gathered round them, adding, at last, some volume of their own, which, although the labour of a life, they added with simplicity, with "meekness of wisdom," and self-distrust. Or if the enthusiast turn from these solitary students and these austere studies, to those works of imagination that successive centuries have acknowledged perfect in their kind, let him still remember, that their authors wrote them not till time had knit their powers into mental manhood-till keen observation of their species, if not travel, extended to many lands, had crowned their reading with experience-had united reflection to native wit, and placed the sceptre of philosophy in the hand of genius. Such review might for a time dishearten him, but, if possessed of genuine intellectual enthusiasm, he would take courage and go forward. He might yet pour out his thoughts -he would still dream dreams, and behold visions; authorship might still be the goal of his ambition, but the goal would be further off, and the ambition would be purified. A divine thirst for knowledge-a passion for perfecting and furnishing his mind—a docile reverence for all goodness and all wisdom a walking as in white raiment—a composed and modest, yet fervent and courageous spirit, would mark the Neophyte of the Muses-and his coronal (no matter whether of few or many leaves) would at last be twined of

Green strength, azure hope, and eternity. Then to the pursuit of letters might be transferred Jeremy Taylor's sublime description of friendship, as embodying "the greatest love, and greatest usefulness, and the most open communications, and the noblest sufferings, and the most exemplary faithfulness, and the severest truth, and the heartiest counsel of which brave men and women are capable." At present, of many, who aspire to this pursuit, may with too much truth be used the words of the same writer in another place" they read with the eye of a bird, and speak with the tongue of a bee, and understand with the heart of a child-that is, weakly and imperfectly."

STANZAS.

Methinks I love all common things,

The common air, the common flower, The dear kind common thought that springs From hearts that have no other dower, No other wealth, no other power, Save love; and will not that repay For all else fortune tears away? Methinks I love the horny hand That labours until dusk from dawn, Methinks I love the russet band,

Beyond the band of silk or lawn;
And, oh! the lovely laughter drawn
From peasant lips, when sunny May
Leads in some flowery holiday!

What good are fancies rare-that rack
With painful thought the poet's brain?
Alas! they cannot bear us back

Unto happy years again!

But the white rose without stain

Bringeth times and thoughts of flowers,
When youth was bounteous as the hours!
E'en now, were I but rich, my hand

Should open like a vernal cloud,
When 'tcasts its bounty on a land,

In music sweet but never loud;
But I am of the common crowd,
And thus am I content to be,
If thou, sweet love, will cherish me!

C.

LANDSCAPE ILLUSTRATIONS OF LORD BYRON. No. II.

[Our own opinion on this beautiful work has been given heretofore, and differs from our intelligent correspondent's in many points; but he is entitled to be heard, and his observations well deserve the attentive consideration of all artists. They are in the spirit of some which we thought it our duty to make on the last Landscape Annual.']

illustrate. Byron talks of the "rainbow tints" of "the bluest sky," and uses every term that describes the warmth, the glow, and the purity of Grecian landscape. Such gloomy days as are here represented, may be seen even in a country where there is constant fine weather for ten months in the year; but surely the object of a picture is to convey the best idea of the scene, not only in the form, but in the expression of the climate. Such truth we find in Claude's compositions, and in that lies half their charms. In a recent work,t the same just feeling is shown in a subject called 'Grecian Landscape,' illustrating an exquisite passage of Childe Harold;' here the spirit, and the "bella natura" of Greece are classically treated, in a rich harmonious composition; the painter appears worthy of the poet, and the sentiment of both is admirably conveyed in the engraving. When, on the contrary, the representations of scenery not only do not approach, but give an opposite impression to the reality, we experience the disappointment which made Forsyth exclaim

Oh, these lying prints!"-but he was angry with them for excessive embellishment, whilst we object to these because justice is not done to the beauty that actually exists.

Our landscape painters who have formed their reputations from studies in England, are naturally influenced in their works by the character of our own country, and they with diffi culty consent to dismiss from their minds those fine combinations of clouds, and Turner-like effects, to which they have been accustomed. They are greatly influenced, too, by the applause the public have given to these sky effects, whether in the paintings of our own masters or in those of the Dutch and Flemish school.

It is evident, that, from this cause, the style of most of the artists employed in the embellishments of the Annuals is injured, when they represent southern scenery. A comparison of the successive series of these beautiful works will enable us to observe, that the character of the country becomes each year more and more lost sight of in an ostentatious display of clouds, like Alps, till the scene itself sometimes is of minor consequence, a mere accessory in the composition. There is a ' View of Naples from the sea,' in the Landscape Annual' of the year, which might pass for Dutch Fishing. boats in a breeze. Of the many views of this town and its neighbourhood, they are all (the Bay of Baiæ alone excepted) represented under our own dreary sky. Such days do certainly occur, but they are exceptions, in a country where, to use the words of a modern traveller, "there is a continued return on each successive morning of unchanging lovely weather, where you lie down and rise to the same glorious light." What we look for in the gay and brilliant Naples, is the warmth of its own sunny climate, not for the cold and gusty rawness of the north.

THE commencement of this work gave promise of more excellence than we find realized in the number now before us. There is a general feeling among many of the subscribers that it is unworthy its predecessor; we confide, however, in the taste and judgment of the enterprising publisher to remove this disappointparts. We still hope that this will be the most ment, by an improvement in the subsequent beautiful set of Illustrations that have hitherto been made for our great modern poet; and such indeed it ought to be, considering the certainty of the sale, the known talents of the artists, and the ample materials fit for illustration that exist in so many portfolios. With this view, it is hoped that the few strictures here made, in a spirit of fair and honest criticism, will find a place, Mr. Editor, in your journal, which, having for its object the advancement of literature and the arts, must be of real service to the country when it proportions due praise with just criticism, and is not unnecessarily indulgent, or to be led away by a respect for mere names. The artists employed on this work are deservedly With greater force do these remarks apply to high in public estimation, but names are not all Greece, because there the atmosphere is, if poswe require: care should be taken that the sub-sible, still more pure, and is evinced to be so ject be adapted to the particular province of the artist, to his occupations, and to his way of thinking. That such is not the case, is the reason we have to regret, in some of the scenes, the absence of that spirit and truth which we find in nature.

Any one who is acquainted with the climate of Greece, or has formed an idea of it from the vivid descriptions of the poet, (which these Illustrations profess to embody,) will ask, when he observes the two views of Athens, if this is Greece? Mr. Stanfield, we believe, has not visited the south of Europe; but why give the dismal northern skies to the country

Where every season smiles?

The illustrator ought to be guided by the expressed feeling, and the poet he undertakes to

by a greater depth of blue in the sea and sky. One of the views of Athens has been given nearly from the same point, by Williams, and it appears to have been the type for this by Mr. Stanfield. It is under the effect of a storm, but is treated with more poetry and feeling, for it is evidently one of those accidental effects in the Mediterranean, from a sudden and violent thunderstorm. The storm is passing over the town, and, by throwing a strong light on the temple of Jupiter Olympius, in the foreground, has given the proper brilliancy to its marble columns. The appearance of the other view is that of habitual bad weather-more suited to Edinburgh or Stirling Castle, than to the Acropolis Williams's Views in Greece. Dr. Bell's Italy.

+

of Athens. The figures, too, reclining in the foreground, are in direct contradiction, for they seem to be enjoying themselves in the sun. The fact is obvious, that the sketch was made and ought to represent the lovely weather of Athens, where the sun

O'er his own regions lingering loves to glow. We cannot bestow more praise on the view

of the 'Convent, with the Monument of Lysicrates. The sketch and the picture are again

at variance. We observe, that every object and every projection throws a strong shadow, that the side of the convent is illumined-whence does the light come? there could be to sun in such a sky, which is a dark mass, furrowed like a ploughed field. We regret, that Mr. Page had not made the drawings as well as the sketches. This artist passed a long time in the Levant, has taste in choosing his points of view, and has had ample opportunity of studying the local effects and colouring. He would, at all events, be able to give more faithful representations, than any artist can, who, however high he stands

in his profession, wants the feeling from habit and association, for what he has never seen.

We wish to say a few words, before we close our remarks, on the print of Ali Pacha.' It is so unworthy the name that appears below it, that we may safely give the performance to a pupil-indeed, there is a want of confidence in the hand, that decides the fact of the authorship of this inferior stippled plate. Having seen and known the Pacha, we can assert, that the character and costume is not more correct than the execution is indifferent. There are very good likenesses of Ali Pacha, correct in drawing and dress; and one by a French artist, M. Dupré, has been published in France and in England.

OUR WEEKLY GOSSIP ON LITERATURE
AND ART.

No one talks of Literature in these stormy and changeful times. It seems to be utterly forgotten by all but those who in better days lived by it. There are even few books advertised: in a double sheet of the Times we did not observe a single volume announced. Literature will gradually sink into pamphlets and papers; for such is the agitated state of the public mind, that no attention is paid to anything but speculations on reform and change of rulers. It is, however, equally our duty and our pleasure to hold fast by the permanent, and to cling to literature and its humanities.

We have said much of what we had to say on Art in our notice of the Exhibition. We before mentioned, that a statue of Canning had been erected at Westminster: it is curious to read the various opinions of the various papers on its merits and defects. With one, it is all elegance and nature with another, the figure stands in a posture unnatural and absurd: while a third declares it to be far inferior to the statue of Pitt, by Chantrey, in Hanover Square. We have already stated our own opinion of it, which differs from them all. The most remarkable circumstance is, that one of the papers attributed it to Chantrey, and railed at the artist in good set terms for making a statue so unworthy of his fame.

'Robert le Diable' is in preparation, and the chorus-singers are being disciplined by Mr. Harris. We understand that the German artistes who did such ample justice to the choruses of the Freischütz on Wednesday night are to execute those in Meyerbeer's opera, with the assistance of several English chorus singers who understand and can pronounce French. We regret to say, that Mey

erbeer must positively leave this country on the 20th,unless information, which he expects from Berlin, shall enable him to defer his departure a few days longer. There is little probability of Robert le Diable' being performed before that time; and it is anxiously to be desired, that the composer should be present, at least, liberally offered to go to any expense that on the first representation. The manager has Meyerbeer may desire, in order to get up this opera in a manner worthy of the master, provided the latter will stay. As, however, the possibility of his remaining here depends on circumstances which he cannot control, we think it well to mention, that the distinguished composer has no engagement with Mr. Mason, and came here entirely at his own personal cost, in the hope that he might render some assistance in the bringing out of his opera, and with an anxious wish that the English public should have a fair opportunity of hearing and determining on the merits of his celebrated work.

SCIENTIFIC AND LITERARY

ROYAL SOCIETY.

May 10.-John William Lubbock, Esq., Vice President and Treasurer in the chair.-The reading of Mr. Robert Were Fox's paper, entitled 'On certain irregularities in the Magnetic Needle, produced by partial warmth, and the relations which appear to subsist between terrestrial Magnetism and the geological structure and thermo-electrical currents of the Earth,' was resumed and concluded. Lord Northampton, and Archibald John Stephens, Esq., were admitted Fellows of the Society.

ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE.

General Anniversary Meeting. May 4.-Right Hon. Lord Dover in the chair. The chairman, in his annual address, after adverting to the resignation of the Bishop of Salisbury, the late President, proceeded to consider, as a subject of historical and literary interest in accordance with the Society's objects, the question lately brought forward regarding the death of Richard II. King of England.

It is well known that the old account of the citly received, viz. that he was slain by Sir Piers manner of that monarch's death, so long impli

of Exton, and his assistants, in Pomfret Castle, has been, for some time, exploded. This account Mr. Amyot has shown, in a paper published in the Archæologia, to be incorrect, and at variance with all the contemporary narratives of that event, which agree in ascribing the King's death to voluntary starvation.

In 1829 Mr. Tytler, in his 'History of Scotland,' again raised a controversy upon this subject. At the end of his third volume he has published an elaborate and ingenious essay on the death of Richard II.-since adopted by Sir by Sir James Mackintosh, and answered in the W. Scott, in his History of Scotland,' rejected Archæologia by Mr. Amyot,-in which his object is, to establish the following statements:-That Richard effected his escape from Pomfret, and being discovered in Scotland by Donald, Lord of the Isles, was sent by him to Robert III., king of that country; by whom, and after that king's decease, by the Duke of Albany, the

governor of the kingdom, he was honourably treated; and that he died in Stirling Castle in

1419.

of the evidence on which Mr. Tytler founds his His Lordship, from an elaborate examination opinion of the truth of this narrative, compared with the authorities and arguments brought against it by Mr. Amyot, and in support of the

account previously adopted by the latter, concurs in the disbelief of the fact of King Richard's escape from Pomfret, and in the opinion that he died there, in the manner alleged by the writers whose testimony is adduced by Mr. Amyot.

The noble chairman's address was followed

by the Secretary's report of the proceedings of the Society during the last year; the most prominent topics in which were-the state of the

Society's funds; the circumstances relating to the resignation of the presidency by the venerable and learned Bishop of Salisbury, and an abstract of papers read at the ordinary meetings. We should be glad to be able to announce a more satisfactory report in regard to the first of these topics.

Since the anniversary of 1831, the Society death; as the following names of the more emihas suffered severely in its list of members, by

nent members, deceased in the course of the year, will show:

Mr. Roscoe, Mr. Crabbe, Archbishop Magee, M. Champollion, Mr. Bilderdijk (the Dutch poet), Mr. Impey (late the Society's Treasurer), Mr. Duppa, &c. &c.

Some discussion (in which the Bishop of Bristol, the Chairman, Mr. Sotheby, and Mr. Jacob, were the chief speakers), arose, after the reading of the report, respecting the propriety of a further application to His Majesty, for a renewal of the annual payment to the royal associates, granted by King George IV., but no resolution was adopted.

The following elections took place for the ensuing year:

President: The Right Hon. Lord Dover. Vice-Presidents: The Right Rev. the Bishop of Salisbury (late President), his Grace the Duke of Rutland, the Earl of Carlisle, the Earl of Munster, the Right Rev. the Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Right Rev. the Bishop of Bristol, the Right Hon. Lord Bexley, the Right Hon. Charles Yorke, the Rev. G. Richards, D.D., William Martin Leake, Esq.

Council: Sir Gore Ouseley, Bart., Sir Thomas Phillipps, Bart., the Rev. H. H. Baber, W. Bankes, Esq., the Rev. Gilbert Beresford, John Caley, Esq., the Rev. Richard Cattermole (Secretary), the very Rev. G. Chandler, D.D., the Rev. Henry Clissold (Librarian), Henry Hallam, Esq., Wm. R. Hamilton, Esq. (Foreign Secretary), William Jacob, Esq. (Treasurer), Hayes Petit, Esq., William Sotheby, Esq. William Jerdan, Esq., F. Madden, Esq., Lewis

Treasurer: William Jacob, Esq.-Auditors: David Pollock, Esq., William Tooke, Esq.Librarian: The Rev. Henry Clissold.-Secretary: The Rev. Richard Cattermole.—Foreign Secretary: W. R. Hamilton, Esq.-Accountant and Collector: Mr. Thomas Paull.

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.

March 13.-The President, T. Telford, Esq. in the chair. A communication from Mr. Sibley was read, being a description of the apparatus put up by him for warming and ventilating the Hanwell Asylum, by means of the circulation of hot water through pipes. Six four-horse high pressure boilers are placed in the basementstory, to each of which is attached, one quarter of a mile in length of four-inch cast iron pipe, which conveys the hot water round the building, and back to the boiler: the arrangement of the pipes, &c. was shown by a drawing.

A model of a steam-boat, on a scale of halfan inch to a foot, was placed on the table for illustration, constructed by an eminent shipbuilder, of Liverpool: it was stated, that a considerable number of vessels had been built after this model, amongst them the Hibernia (a South American boat), the Lusitania, and the St. Patrick were mentioned. The dimensions are 150

feet from stem to stern, breadth of beam inside,

sary for such an event, is less to our liking.

2. 'Sunset at Camuglia, a small Sea-port near Genoa;' CALLCOTT, R.A.-This is a fine mixture of sea and shore. The former is, perhaps, the most natural representation of salt water that we ever saw in art; the hue is of that kind, known among the vulgar by the name of bottlegreen, the exact colour of old ocean, when his waves are gently agitated: there are ships in the bay, and people on shore, all very beautifully done-but commend us to the sea.

tance exclude the splendid error from our list. | grouping good; but the heroic sentiment, necesThe landscapes are numerous, one hundred and fifty or so, and many of them excellent: Turner we have already praised; Callcott is little behind Turner in imagination, and equal to him in every thing else, and, moreover, has more variety in his works this season than we have ever seen before; the younger Daniell has some charming Indian scenes, which we wish we could buy, particularly the Hirkarrah Camel and his dromedary-like rider-a little thing of singular beauty; Collins continues to add to his well-earned reputation, by his fine sea-side scenes and his fish-like fishermen; Arnold too has some notable things. In that department of art, which lies between the high historical and the domestic, there are many pictures of singular beauty: Cooper has not forgotten his skill in skirmishing, and in the sterner toils of battle-there are some glorious bits of colour, and life, and character, scattered through his compositions; Allan has nature equal to any one, and colour surpassing all his former efforts; his 'Sir Walter Scott in his Armoury,' is painted with such skill and care, that the nearer the view the fairer is the picture. Edwin Landseer has several pictures, such as the Two Pets,' and the 'Heron and Falcon,' surpassed by nothing but nature: Mulready has a small work, but that is no matter, he has the art of saying much in little: Newton has left us something to remember him by; but perhaps one of the most successful things of the kind, is 'Rustic Civility,' by COLLINS.

Of portraits, the amount is enormous, nor are there many of great excellence; out of the 563 which we counted, there are perhaps not more than an hundred uniting elevation of character with that elegant ease, clear depth of colour, and scientific skill of handling, which distinguish the best paintings. Phillips and Pickersgill have several portraits, which are certainly not surpassed, if equalled, by any in the Exhibition. Wilkie has painted a likeness of His Majesty, which surprises by the depth and vigour and harmony of the colouring, and the President exhibits some capital heads; on the whole, however, portrait has descended a point or two compared to former Exhibitions. In architecture there is less too, we think, to commend than formerly: Gandy has made a stair to heaven, and other artists have given restorations of antique temples and towns. The sculpture-room contains a number of excellent works: we wonder, however, that any artist of taste can think of placing a work of genius in such "a dark opprobrious den;" the room is so ill-lighted and so small, that nothing can be seen to advantage-nothing, indeed, as it really is. Chantrey's fine statue of Canning, shows its legs at the expense of its head; and though we knew it to be the same work we had seen in the sculptor's study, yet the change for the worse made it look so different, that it fell fifty per cent. in our estimation. In the present disastrous situation of the country, with a question which, like a disturbed ghost, no conjuring can settle, we cannot hope for a new building worthy of receiving the labours of our artists: this is the more to be deplored, as a love of art is spreading far and wide, and works of merit are growing annually more numerous. We shall now proceed and describe as clearly as we can a few of the principal works, taking them as they are numbered.

15. Portrait of General Lord Hill, Commander-in-Chief;' PICKERSGILL, R.A.-Here we have great depth of colour and truth of character; our praise can go no farther; it has been the pleasure of nature to make this distinguished leader too stout in body for being graceful, and it has been the pleasure of the artist to show all this, by painting him in tight close-buttoned regimentals. With how much skill as well as propriety could the painter have found a remedy in a military cloak.

20. An Imaum-barrak, or Mausoleum of a Mahometan High Priest, at Sassarem, in the Province of Bahar, East Indies;' W. DANIELL, R.A. -The paintings of Daniell are generally of an eastern character, and, in colour and handling,

quite original. They seem all to have been lined under an eastern sky: the air is rarefied by the heat of the sun; the shade of the trees is unlike that of our ungenial clime; and there is a picturesque splendour in the buildings, and a luxuriance in the flowers, such as we find nowhere else. As we like the enjoyment of new sensations, we usually look at these eastern scenes first.

28. The Fair Maid of Perth-St. Valentine's Morn;' ALLAN, A.-This northern artist has usually but one or two works in our Exhibition; and we are grieved for this the more, because his paintings are full of nature and original character He sometimes, it is true, mingles clumsiness with elegance, and is too fastidious about detail, but on the whole he leaves an impression on the mind which is slow in passing away. The painting of the Fair Maid of Perth has many beauties and few faults; among its beauties we reckon, besides the general air of the picture and the fine light and shade, the honest and gladsome face of the old Glover, who sees with such unfeigned joy the affection of his beautiful daughter for the renowned Harry Wynd. The smith, we must confess, resembles the description of Scott too closely: the magical

skill of the writer enabled him to make an excellent rustic hero out of very clumsy materials, as regards exterior; the pencil has attempted a fac-simile from the pen, and we cannot praise it: the art of Scott was laid out on the mind; the art of Allan was necessarily laid out on the body as well as intellect and what sympathy have we for heroes long of the arm and short in the body?

29. Rustic Civility;' COLLINS, R.A.-A picture much to our liking in all things. Three peasant children have been gathering sticks, and are come to a gate, towards which, a rider of rank approaches-the youngest squats unconcerned on the ground, while the eldest, with a singular mixture of bashfulness and awe in his face, puts his hand to where his hat should be, and makes an obeisance with his looks. Now we could not describe the work, without speaking of the rider, but the artist has told all that we have told, and more, without painting him.

1. 'Death of Sir John Moore, K.B.;' JONES, R.A.-The hero of Corunna is represented dying, surrounded by his principal officers, 37. Battle of Naseby, a Sketch;' ARNOLD. Anderson, Colborne, Napier, Percy, and Stan--We always encourage as much as we may, all hope. A highlander soldier or two look mournfully on, and not the least interested in the scene, is a Spanish chief, whose broad hat and swarthy face contrast finely with the fairer islanders. The colouring is natural, and the

artists who venture upon the hazardous line of the historical; there is an animation in this picture, which reminds us of Cooper, and much of which Cooper need not be ashamed: it is but justice, however, to the latter artist, to say,

manner.

62. Portraits of Lady Coote and Child;' PICKERSGILL, R.A.-One of the best and loveliest works in the Exhibition. The lady, though not so young as she has been, has a maternal beauty in her looks, which is sufficient for all the purposes of fine painting; she indulges her babe in her bosom, as if such sweet office were

nothing new to her; but the child is a lovely one, and much becomes the mother. We looked long on this charming work.

67. 'Portrait of the Rev. Dr. Buckland, Professor of Geology, Oxford;' PHILLIPS, R.A.-This we consider an admirable painting, as well as a wonderful likeness; there is an air of manliness and vigour about the work, which we see too The Prolittle of in this department of art. fessor stands meditating, with the fossil skull of some extinct species of animal in his hand; his look is full of meaning, and there is an evident connexion between his thoughts and the

text-bone in his hand.

The Byron Gallery. Part I. London, 1832. Smith, Elder & Co.

WE are a little in arrear in this department of our paper, but we cannot defer, even for another week, to make honourable mention of this beautiful work. It is got up in the very finest taste, and, seemingly withoutconsideration ofexpense. The present number contains illustrations of the 'Bride of Abydos,' 'Manfred,' 'The Two Foscari,' 'Don Juan,' and 'Beppo,' from the pencils of Richter, Corbould, Stothard, and J. P. Davis; engraved by W. Finden, Romney, Portbury, E. Finden, and Goodyear. Richter's first picture was noticed by us a short time since; Corbould has exceeded our expectations; Stothard is always interesting and delightful;