REVIEWS OF PRINTS AND ILLUSTRATED WORKS. "Her Royal Highness the Princess Victoria;" from R. Westall, R. A., by Ed. Finden. Hodgson, Boys, and Graves, Pall Mall. An exceedingly beautiful line engraving from the well-known picture by Westall, exhibited at the Royal Academy some three or four years since. As a highlyfinished whole length portrait of one, in all probability, destined to sway the sceptre of Britain, it cannot be otherwise than most acceptable to the public, and a safe speculation on the part of the publishers. We are glad to observe that the stiff strange little black dog in the picture has been omitted in the print. "The Child with Flowers, portrait of Louisa Georgina Augusta Anne Murray;" from Sir Thomas Lawrence, by George T. Doo. F. G. Moon, Threadneedle Street, Hodgson, Boys, and Graves. This is indeed a superb specimen of the graver, and a noble addition to our modern works of art. The expression of her little ladyship is in Lawrence's least agreeable style-it is too searching, too speculative, too pointedly brilliant for that sweet simplicity of childhood which is never obliterated without fatally compromising the truth and loveliness of the character: ingenuousness ought to be the predominant sentiment. "The Gentle Student;" from G. S. Newton, R. A., by S. Sangster. Hodgson, Boys, and Graves, Pall Mall. A very fine line engraving, but not one of Newton's happiest inventions: the head and figure present the idea of a pyramid; the countenance is too puerile, and we suspect that the left arm is wanting in purity of outline. Mr. Sangster has, however, produced a very brilliant print. "The Brute of a Husband;" from H. Richter, by W. Nicholas. F. G. Moon, Threadneedle Street. Mezzotinto. Mr. Richter is an artist of great merit; his water-colour drawings have long excited attention and admiration; the "Tight Shoe;" "Village School in an Uproar;" and others of a similar class, have acquired him a reputation which we fear must be ultimately injured by his latter occasional selection of subject. The present is particularly unfortunate; an incident founded upon brutality to a woman can only create a strong sense of disgust: even in classical story we shudder in spite of the mastery of art; Polyxena perishing by steel, or Dirce fastened to the horns of the bull, inspires us with unwelcome sensations; what then must be the impression produced by a circumstance of aggravated ruffianism represented in the barbarous grossness of low life, without any effort to tone the repulsiveness of its character? The cobbler's wife shewing to the magistrate the marks of her husband's blows on her bosom is not only a shocking but an indecorous idea, and we cannot refrain from expressing our regret that so clever an artist, and so amiable a man as Mr. Richter, should lessen the pleasure which we have usually derived from his works by a choice of subject utterly repugnant to good taste and good feeling. We sincerely trust that he will return to that charming train of invention in which he has been so eminently successful; if he does not we shall recommend Mrs. Richter to take him in hand. 66 Engravings from the Works of the late Henry Liversedge." Part IX. Hodgson, Boys, and Graves, Pall Mall. (Monthly.) "Don Quixote in An attractive series of prints from the designs of Liverseege. his Study," by J. E. Coombs; "The Cavalier," by J. C. Bromley; and "Edie Ochiltree," by G. R. Ward, form the contents of the ninth part. Liverseege displayed abilities of no ordinary class; his conceptions were poetic and original, but unfortunately he has left little more than sketches behind him-of grace and beauty, and truth, and occasionally of sublimity, without doubt, but after all leading us, from their rapidity and slightness, to regret that so gifted an artist did not bestow more time upon his pictures, and shine out in some finished performance of his pencil. We remember a small painting of his, exhibited at Somerset House three or four seasons back, in which the supernatural was, perhaps, more thrillingly revealed than by the genius of Fuseli: the subject was the appearance of the ghost to Hamlet during his interview with his mother;-art could not go beyond the effect of this extraordinary production; to look at it was to shudder, and in spite of its cabinet dimensions, to endow it with the illusiveness of reality, and dream ourselves confronted with the disembodied "majesty of Denmark." Liverseege's habit of sketching was of course unfavourable to the development of his powers as a draughtsman, and his figures are marked by too many negligences of form to be perfectly satisfactory to the fastidious eye; these deficiencies naturally become more conspicuous in the engravings, notwithstanding the talents and practical excellence of the artists employed. The plates are, however, very beautiful. The cavalier, in the design bearing the name, is too burly a personage for the beau-ideal of grace and gallantry; we cannot well think of a fair lady singing enraptured to this most Flemish-looking gentleman. "Trésor de Numismatique et de Glyptique, ou Recueil général de médailles, monnaies, pierres gravées, bas reliefs, etc., tant anciens que modernes, les plus interessans sous le rapport de l'art et de l'histoire;" gravé par les procédés de M. Achille Collas, sous la direction de M. Paul Delaroche, Peintre, Membre de l'Institut de M. Henriquet Dupont, Graveur; et de M. Ch. Lenormant, conservateuradjoint du Cabinet des médailles et antiques de la Bibliothèque Royale. Paris, Rue de Colombier 30, près de la rue des Petits Augustins. 1834. Folio. 66 We have received a prospectus with specimen plates, of a French work under the above title, now in the course of publication. To say that the promised series will eclipse anything of the kind which has hitherto appeared, is to say but little in comparison with the rare and extraordinary merit of these engravings. Claude Mellan's single stroke (without hatching) is adopted in the execution; but the boldness of that masterly burinist is not to be sought in these unrivalled performancesa sharpness, a purity and delicacy of tooling which we can but faintly describe, added to a perfect conception of the object to be represented, mark them to be as distinct from the ineffective outlines which we have usually seen, as gold sand from barley chaff." The precise state of the stone or medal is described, all the little dints, and flaws and damages of time and accident are delineated, and the whole effect is so exquisitely wrought up that there is nothing left for the eye to wish. The "tresur" is indeed worthy its name, and we sincerely hope that the spirited projectors will meet with adequate support. The numbers appear weekly, each containing four plates, from twelve to fifteen subjects, and from two to four pages of descriptive letter-press: the plan comprehends three principal classes subdivided into series; viz. "Monumens antiques," (six series,)" Monumens du moyen âge et de l'histoire moderne," (ten series,) and "Monumens de l'histoire contemporaine," (three series.) The price of each number is five francs; proofs on India paper (12 copies only taken) ten. We strenuously recommend this unique and invaluable series to the attention of the lover of art, as well as the virtuoso. "Fisher's Views in India, China, and on the Shores of the Red Sea;" from drawings after original sketches, by Commander Robert Elliott, R. N. (Monthly.) plates, 4to. Another of Fisher's splendid publications, and one possessing singular interest for the European. Much of Oriental scenery is invested with the charm of poetry and romance; the cave, the tomb, the temple, the palace, the mosque and the pagoda; the city with its minarets, its ghauts and terraces, its pillars and towers, and sculptured porticos intermingled with the foliage of the peepul, the tamarind and the banian, steal upon the eye like a revelation of fairy-land. The wild and beautiful, the gorgeous and magnificent features of Eastern lands are here assembled before us in lavish profusion, and the tranquil stay-at-home, in the solitude of the boudoir or the library, may wander at will through these regions of imperishable charm. The engravings are of the same high class as those in Fisher's unrivalled illustrations of Britain. The descriptions, historical and topographical, by Miss Emma Roberts, a fair traveller in the climes which she so poetically depicts, are not only brilliantly coloured, but enriched with many valuable and interesting particulars. Next to the views in our own dear island, we should covet these vivid representations of localities with which we can boast no familiarity. The artists employed on the drawings were, Austin, Boys, Cattermole, Cox, Cotman, Fielding, Finch, Purser, Proút, Stanfield, &c. &c., and in addition to the engravers of the British Scenery, we find Goodall, Finden, R. Wallis, Woolnoth, Heath, Higham and Cooke; these names alone are sufficient evidence of the excellence of the work. "The National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans." Part X. New York. London, O. Rich, 12, Red Lion Square. (Monthly.) Following our example the Americans have put forth their "National Portrait Gallery," a work honorable not only to the distinguished individuals whose features it pourtrays, but infinitely creditable to the efforts of the American burin. Issued under the superintendence of the Academy of the Fine Arts, it appears with considerable éclát: the portraits are three in number, J. S. Johnstone, former representative of the state of Louisiana, by B. Longacre, from C. B. King; Dr. Beck, from R. W. Weir, by E. Prudhomme; and Louis Mc. Lane, Secretary of State, by T. Kelly, from G. S. Newton. The first two are clever stippled prints; the last is a clear, masterly line engraving, with great brilliancy of stroke, reminding one of Wille or Bervie, and alone well worth three times the "75 cents" charged for the whole. Autographs are annexed, and well-written biographical sketches complete the attraction of a National Gallery on which our Transatlantic brethren have reason to congratulate themselves. “The National Gallery." Nos. XXXV. and XXXVI. Jones & Co., Finsbury Square. An undertaking deserving encouragement as affording tolerable glimpses of the master-pieces in the National Gallery; indeed when the "shilling a number” is considered, the plates must be admitted to be of remarkable merit. The present numbers contain" The death of Earl Chatham, from Copley, by F. Walker; "Europa," after P. Veronese, by H. Fernell; Annibal Caracci's "Hunting Scene," by J.C. Varral, and "St. Jerome," from Guido, by J. Fuseli. Of the descriptions we say nothing. "Illustrations of the Bible;" London, Bull and Churton. Part V. Four very magnificent designs by Martin are included in this part; "The passage of the Red Sea ;""The seventh plague;" "The fall of Dagon ;" and "The stranger's sacrifice accepted ;" these are, indeed, sublime illustrations. "The infant Moses;" "Moses receiving the tables;" "Balaam and his ass ;" and "Jael killeth Sisera," form the contributions from the justly-celebrated pencil of Westall. A slight meagreness of design and drawing, and a probable tameness of expression, may be obvious in one or two of these; but their general merits counterbalance that trifling inequality which is, in fact, a sort of Mephistopheles ever lurking in the train of a long-continued series of efforts. Even the cartoons of Raffaelle are not uniform in excellence. "The Botanic Garden, or Magazine of Hardy Flowering Plants cultivated in Great Britain;" by B. Maund, F. L. S. London, Simpkin & Marshall, &c. &c. (Bordered edition.) the We have received the 116th number of this singularly beautiful publication; illustrations are judiciously arranged, and of extreme interest. "The dark purple lubinia" is superbly coloured; "the ivory-coloured centaury" presents a contrast of tender emerald and the faintest amber: these, with "the Italian toad-flax" with its golden flowers, and "the wind-herb" of lilac hue, compose the present specimens. The letter-press is particularly pleasing and instructive; we cannot refrain from an extract, a microscopic description for which our readers will, assuredly, thank us. "On examining the deep crimson petals of the lubinia, under a magnifier, we observed a number of minute pearl-like substances, spread over their whole interior surface. Its crimson filaments were also similarly gemmed, They appeared as grains of farina, fallen from the anthers, but a comparison showed them to be evidently brighter. This induced the application of a more powerful magnifier. The result was gratifying. The inner surface of the rich-coloured petals, and the filaments also, were now seen to be adorned with prominent glands-each a little globe, on a cylindrical pedestal. On the sun's rays being fully reflected on a small portion of a petal, it instantly became a most dazzling object-a ground-work of fine crimson studded with brilliants. The most apathetic must exclaim wherefore this labour wherefore this great splendour and beauty? That these glandular appendages have certain uses in the economy of the plant, none dare deny, but what they are all are equally ignorant." CRITICAL NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. The Works of Robert Burns, with his Life, by Allan Cunningham. 1834. When Allan Cunningham commenced the brief preface to his life of Burns, by stating, that “with something of hope and fear he offered that work to his country," he made but a simple admission of fact: he hoped that to Scotland his memoir of one of her principal poets would be a meed grateful in acceptance, but he feared, and with reason, that to England it could scarcely be as agreeable, since its whole tendency was to fix a charge of neglect and oppression upon the country which, only, could have realised any of the fanciful expectations in which the bard loved to indulge. We have, already, recorded our opinion of the feeling with which Mr. Cunningham set about penning his memoir, and at no small hazard to himself, striving to reconcile with the established principles of religion and morality, the actions of a man, who, unhappily for his credit and welfare, lived too much at variance with what good men and wise deem the essentials of a fair and virtuous life. We will now enter upon our promised task of investigating the merits and interests of this little volume as a piece of biography; its literary pretensions require not a moment's discussion. "Allan Cunningham" has been, for years, before the public, as a writer of fiction: as such he has obtained a popularity since extended by his 'Lives of the Painters," a work probably not adapted to his calibre, or free from defects and inaccuracies, but, possessing many excellencies; and his style, always striking, original, and delightful-always poetical and forcible, is as well known to the republic of letters as the name of the "illustrious peasant," in whose honor he has at length come forward and erected a temple of purity. In the course of our remarks we shall speak plainly and fearlessly, because we think—and not lightly-that Mr. Cunningham has more than insinuated chimerical charges against the British Administration; that he has, wilfully, we must say, overlooked the real features of Burns's character and conduct, and has permitted himself to gaze upon an air-drawn vision "steeped in the hues of the rainbow," and girt with a glory and a brightness which belong not to the sober tints of truth and identity. Scotchmen love to think and speak of Burns as a sacrifice to the jealousy of the great, a victim to the narrow-souled and coldblooded Ministry of his day, a burnt-offering on the altar of pride and prejudice; but in the ardour of their nationality they forget that with all his virtues, his vices, and his follies, his genius, his claims, and his misfortunes, he was suffered to perish in misery and comparative starvation, by his own countrymen; and that by disposition, habit, and education he was utterly unfit to receive or to profit by_such brilliant patronage as they now seem to suppose he deserved. Burns mused on a seat in the Parliament of the land-he deemed himself peculiarly qualified for this commanding position; and it is possible that he considered himself an injured, a slighted, and an oppressed individual because he was not called to the House. Again, possibly, he dreamed of the Church, or the Bar, or the Army, of distinguished preferment, or a commission which might entitled him to rank with the 66 great and the illustrious; that Mr. Cunningham fondly imagines he was qualified for such we find in one or two remarkable passages, in p. 19. Without stopping to touch upon the disgraceful imputation unthinkingly thrown on the army by Mr. Cunningham, who appears to have adopted the poet's inveteracy against the gallant defenders of our country, we hasten to remark that the only situation to which one of Burns's character could, with any propriety, be preferred, was bestowed on him -that of an Excise Officer; and it is notorious that the imprudent avowal of certain political opinions drew down that censure which would have been exchanged for the instantaneous dismissal of any other subordinate. To discuss Burns's private character was a dangerous attempt for a biographer so ardent in his affection as Mr. Cunningham; facts are, indeed, stubborn things," and though warped in outline, and variously coloured, cannot be entirely done away with; and Mr. Cunningham, eager as he is, and stretching probability and conjecture to the very uttermost of their endurance, has failed to prove that Burns was a man of sober, moral, and religious character. He has aimed at palliation by every mode which ingenuity could devise, and himself a sober, steady, God-fearing man, who scruples to introduce the name of the LORD at full length, ventures to talk lightly, and pleasantly, and with good humour of the poet's lapses in the paths of morality, his unhappy sallies against things reverend, and the unalloyed impurities of too many of his productions. To use Burns's own words, in all these he must have gone "agonizing over the belly of his conscience," but even so he has been unable to negative the serious allegations against the object of his idolatry. The wisest step for one who wished well to the memory of the bard would have been to have abstained from offering a defence of his irregularities; to have afforded the general particulars of his career, and to have turned attention more peculiarly to his claims as a poet. To dwell upon his private history is to point the eye to that which no partiality, no sophistry, no evasion, no dexterity, no dovetailing of incident and insinuation can, under any circumstance, make clear and spotless; and it is very questionable whether Mr. Cunningham has not inflicted an injury upon the memory of his illustrious countryman by his strenuous exertions to wash him clear of offence A candid admission of the poet's failings and errors would have ensured a forgiving temper in the reader. Still, as a new and interesting version, by a popular hand, of an old story, this "life of Burns" must be read with avidity. The writer apprises us that the farming speculations of the "illustrious peasant, his excise schemes, political feelings and poetic musings, are discussed with a fulness not common to biography," and we admit that he is fully borne out in his assertion; the slender materials of Burns's life are wrought out, like gold wire, and worked up in the most amusing manner conceivable. The utmost possible importance which every step and movement of the bard's humble career was capable of receiving, has been conceded by the veneration and tenderness of Cunningham: when, and where, and how he composed his songs; what "sonsie lassie" proved, for the time being, the inspiration of his Muse, or to what cold and disdainful fair one he ventured to address his too ardent effusions; when he commenced to build, to sow, to reap, to thrash, and to chaffer in the grass-market; his politics and polemics; his peep at high life, his convivialities and equestrian feats, his fairings and junkettings; his gaugership, with its numerous little traits and stories-all are detailed with unwearied enthusiasm. Nay, the particular spots, the trees, the banks, the bushes beneath which he indited such |