this not for the sake of any particular popular singer, but for the sake of the music itself. The Messiah of Handel, the creation of Haydn, the Elijah of Mendelssohn, a work confessedly so scientific that it requires to be heard often to be fitly appreciated, are the objects of their admiration. These concerts, though all classes are present, are for the most part attended by the neighbouring tradespeople and their families, who not long since would have been tempted out by nothing less exciting than an Ethiopian melody.

The same change, though at a slower rate, is being effected in the public taste in the department of Painting, by the greater facilities afforded for becoming acquainted with the works of the great masters in the National Gallery, Lord Ellesmere's and others, freely opened to the public. And it is not possible that any one, whose eye has been accustomed to delight in the richness of Rubens, or whose imagination has been excited by the inspiration of Raphael, can fail to see the justness of that Taste, which accords to them such an illustrious place in the Temple of Fame; and while deriving intense gratification from the contemplation of their works, he will turn with indifference from the gaudy canvass, which he perhaps had once fondly regarded as a masterpiece of art.

Good Taste will particularly require that there should be a certain harmony and propriety in all the parts of any work; not satisfied with any amount of ornament, which is not in place and keeping. Thus, however excellent may be the quavers and flourishes of any scientific singer, yet if they are intruded into the music of Handel, for instance, they will be so out of place, so out of keeping with his majestic simplicity, that they will utterly destroy its character and effect. Just as if in Architecture you were to erect a Portico, with Corinthian pillars, for a Temple of the severe simplicity of the Doric order; or what is still more incongruous, a highly ornamental Grecian porch for a Gothic church as is the case in the great church of St. Mary's at Oxford. However such ornaments may be admired in themselves, they are out of place.

But to form a correct Taste in Music, Painting or Architecture, it is requisite that the best models should be studied. In Painting, the first thing which attracts the attention of the many, is the

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story, if there be one; but this evidently has nothing to do with the painting, since it is equally well told in an engraving, or in a painted copy. This is soon mastered, and can be learned at once by reference to the printed text of a catalogue; and when once understood, there is nothing further to be developed by it. But this is but a small portion of the painter's art; the poetry, the imagination, the high artistic skill which depends on the genius of the artist, and which are shown in the lights and shadows-the depth and richness of colouring-the force of expression-all this requires long study to appreciate. It gives such an enduring interest to the portraits of Vandyck, and the great master-pieces of Correggio, Caracci or Raphael. The same occurs in Poetry. What numbers have read "The Lady of the Lake," or "Marmion," simply for the story; utterly regardless of all the beautiful imagery and poetic fire which constitute their highest charm and excellence.

Here on this side the Atlantic there must be, for many years, great disadvantages in forming a correct Taste in most of the Fine Arts from want of facility of access to the best models. In painting, scarcely any single specimens of the best masters are to be seen anywhere by the public on this continent; and there does not exist one great public collection of them. There is one public exhibition of pictures in New York, the Dusseldorf Gallery, which is a collection of works of modern German artists, sent there for exhibition and sale: and though including some pictures of considerable merit, yet as a general gallery of Art it is quite without pretensions.

Where there is but little familiarity with the style of the old Masters, great impositions are often practised; and a school of painters is said to exist in Italy for the purpose of manufacturing pictures which may pass for old originals, and which are being constantly bought up as such. These copies easily remain undetected, where they are not exposed to the examination of any experienced judges. But you could not exhibit a copy of any ancient master in London for a single day, how excellently soever it might be executed, without its being immediately detected as such, by many scrutinizing eyes, which know at once the ex

quisite touch of Caracci and Correggio, Julio Romano and Raphael; and each distinct from the other, as well as if their names were emblazoned in full at the bottom of the picture. This arises from having their judgments corrected by experience, and their Taste raised by long familiarity with excellence. And so also in Architecture. Where shall we look in this country for any pure specimens of Art? And in Music we must likewise to a considerable extent, be at great disadvantage in these respects, when compared with the inhabitants of England and the continent of Europe.

But if this be so in these branches of Art, from the difficulty of access to more perfect models, the same need not be the case, to the like degree, in Literature.-Raphael's great work of "the Transfiguration" in the Vatican, or his "Madonna di San Sisto' in the Dresden Gallery,-the Crucifixion of St. Peter by Rubens at Cologne, or that marvellous "Statue that enchants the world" in the Tribune of the Florence Gallery,-the ecclesiastical edifices in Normandy and England, the colossal remains of the Flavian Amphitheatre at Rome, or the ruins of the Acropolis at Athens, -are single and alone; they cannot be reproduced and multiplied in their identity, and made equally accessible to the inhabitants of every nation. But the Art of Printing enables every one, if he pleases, at a trifling cost, to be as familiar with the works of the ancient or modern Augustan ages of Literature, in the backwoods or wilds of North America, as in the most famed seats of learning on the banks of the Isis, or amidst the groves of Academus. Of course it is not likely that in such different localities they will be studied with equal assiduity or success; and there must be many advantages, arising from without, that are accessible in one and not in the other. But still, as contrasted with the sister arts, the path of Literature is thus comparatively laid open, and in consequence the best models may be studied, and the taste improved, and what is excellent appreciated. And there is such an affinity between these different branches of Art, that the formation of a just Taste, capable of appreciating the Beautiful and the True in any one department, will prepare the way for the development of an improved Taste in others also. For it will give a more correct standard to the mind and feelings, and will cause a craving after

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a just proportion, a harmony, a fitness of parts in whatever may be under consideration. And it will generally be found that the same style which is approved in the one, will be approved in the other Arts also; and the power of appreciating excellence in one having been attained, will, by developing the faculties of discrimination, and raising the standard of true Taste, assist in cultivating a general Taste capable, to a certain extent, of being applied, when required, to any objects presented. It may, for instance, be generally expected that a person who is fond of tropes and figures, and what is often termed fine language, or flowery eloquence, will also give the preference to the Corinthian capitals, or the later florid style of Gothic Architecture, with its flamboyant windows and richly carved mouldings; while another, who gives the preference to Addison and Hume, instead of Johnson and Gibbon, as models of style in Literature, will be far more likely to give the palm to the earlier Gothic edifices, where the great harmony of the whole is less disturbed by the elaborate development of single parts; or to point with admiration to where " in simplest grandeur stands a Dorian Fane."

Having then made these few and hasty remarks on Taste in general, let us apply the subject more particularly to Literature; and this, more especially, because it may be more practically useful: the means of improving our Taste, and raising our judgment of the Beautiful and True to a more correct standard, being, in this department of Art, more easily accessible to all.

It was a saying of that wily diplomatist, Talleyrand, that, "speech was given us in order that we might be able to conceal our thoughts." Without entering upon the duties of diplomatic reserve, certainly, ordinarily considered, the use of words and language, whether written or spoken, is intended to assist us in making manifest thought, and conveying information. And if that be so, care should be taken that, in composition, that end be effected; that, whatever be the subject, or whatever the style, it should be clear and intelligible, from the right use of words, true grammatical construction, and proper formation of sentences. That, supposing there be something which is intended to be told, that we have some information to communicate, it should be done in a manner capable of being understood.

With respect to the right use of words, people of imperfect education, who affect fine language, often make sad blunders. This has been broadly ridiculed by Shakspeare and other dramatic writers, in the characters of Dogberry, Mrs. Malaprop, and the like. But, without offending to such an extent, more careful persons often write and express themselves loosely, confounding words in common use, but of widely different meaning, such, for example, as secure and safe; since a person may be quite safe, liable to no danger, and yet not secure, free from all apprehension; and vice versa, he may feel quite secure, when really least safe. So again Pride and Vanity are often spoken of as if they were synonymous, or almost necessarily developed in the same character; whereas a really proud person is hardly ever vain, nor a vain one proud. A proud person thinks so highly of himself, that he is perfectly indifferent to what the rest of the world think of him. A vain man is timidly solicitous for the applause of others because he does not feel really proud and self-satisfied. Then, there is great care required in the use and proper location of pronouns; most useful parts of speech, when rightly applied, but making sad confusion and nonsense, when out of place. careful and elegant a writer as Addison is not always free from censure, as Blair remarks, in this respect. Thus in the Spectator, No. 412, he writes, "We no-where meet with a more glorious and pleasing show in nature, than what appears in the heavens at the rising and setting of the Sun, which is wholly made up of those different stains of light, that shew themselves in clouds of a different situation." Which is here designed to connect with the word show, as its antecedent; but it stands so wide from it, that without a careful attention to the sense, we should be naturally led, by the rules of syntax, to refer it to the rising and setting of the Sun, or to the Sun itself; and hence an indistinctness is thrown over the whole sentence. The following passage in one of Bishop Sherlock's sermons is still more censurable: "It is folly to pretend to arm ourselves against the accidents of life, by heaping up treasures, which nothing can protect us against, but the good providence of our Heavenly Father."-Which, the relative pronoun, always refers, grammatically, to the immediately preceding substantive,

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