feeling to bury his mind in the beauties of Raphael, of Rubens, of Titian, Vandycke or Rembrandt; to exhaust yet replenish his mind with thinking over their glories, and refresh his soul with an invigoration of feeling at cordially acquainting himself with them. Here Raphael stands before us in all his "moral majesty," réflecting from nature all that is charming, various and intense in expression and character, or graceful or vivid in action, and adding from art whatever is most grand in composition and drapery, and broad, solemn, and effective in chiaroscuro; there Rubens steeps the sight in the copious luxuriance of his colours, dashed on the canvass with the decision and master-hand of praetised genius-the lights full and rich glowing in the eye like a summer evening cloud painted with a fiery sun-beam, the shadows cool and transparent, tempering and giving value to them. Now Titian's flesh so warm, so soft and delicate, tint imperceptibly blending into tint, light melting into shade, and shade softening to reflection, fixes us in admiring gaze. Yes, we have seen some of the finest works of these great men in our own country, in the metropolis of England, and such beauties as are here hinted at have been poured upon us from the walls on which they were arranged. Such beauties do these exhibitions hang up to our view, so diversified, and all so productive of delight; exciting, as we pass from picture to picture, and from one style of art to another, all the different emotions that leap about the heart in consonance with

its impression, bidding "alternate passions fall and rise. The impetuosity of Salvator Rosa, and the grand quiescence of Claude, though as opposed to each other as the nadir is to the zenith, force upon the mind an almost equal admiration, and both fit into it by turns.

A man of real genius in the midst of such an aggregation of excellence is not crushed nor appalled with the mass of idea suspended around him, but buckles it upon him as an armour; his own ideas do not suffer when they come in contact with the mighty conceptions he beholds so near him, but roll over them, increasing as they roll, like oil upon water, they consociate without mixture. At such a time, in such a presence, he is as it were lifted above himself, and departs from the chambers of high renown with an impression of grandeur about him, the finger of awe touching his soul, and when he looks at nature again he regards her from an elevation.

Such being the pleasure that these exhibitions of the old masters open upon a painter's heart, he should turn that enjoyment to some account and extract from the opportunity afforded him as much benefit as it is capable of yielding, and return the favour he receives upon his country, by zealously endeavouring to raise her to a rivalship with those -nations that have produced such admirable works. He should come to these galleries with very peculiar considerations. Under the consciousness of the superiority of these early painters to himself

and his contempories, let him, in the first place, weigh the probability that that superiority is the consequence of higher intellectual capacity, and stronger energy; against the opinion that it emanated from more devoted application; closer examination of, greater trust in, and more frequent reference to nature; if he choose, he may pile these two causes one upon the other, and then he will form a mountain of difficulty, which though its height make his heart sink, will yet shew him of what materials it is composed, and under what stipulations its summit is to be attained. Although he should fasten on their perfections, and cull their honied flowers, he must shake off those burs that so frequently adhere to an impression we take from a favourite object of study; his love in embracing their beauties, if he be not on his guard, will be apt to enclose their faults also-this is so often the origin of manner, and its liability reminds one of the necessity there is for a painter to walk with nature continually at his side as a Mentor.-In mentioning the faults of these great men, án apology should perhaps be made, and we make one with all our heart, at the same time it must be confessed faults are to be discovered in them, insignificant enough to be sure sometimes, but at others dangerous, especially in being separated from the opposite qualities that cover them, and adopted, as we have known them in more than one instance, without concomitant virtues.-In examination of the different styles which characterize the several

schools, from the grandeur and severity of the Roman to the minuteness and delicacy of the Dutch, the painter should by no means despise the latter, and suffer his admiration of the former to carry him so far away from the idea of combination, and push him so far out of himself as to make him lean his own character solely upon it.-If he feel a vivid power within him, and a desire to establish an ENGLISH style of art that shall at least be upon an equipoise with the best of the old schools, let him endeavour to unite as many excellencies as can be approximated without incompatibility or discordance. For such an union we are sure can be made that shall be devoid of the slightest tincture of either. The transparency, minuteness, and attention to detail of Metzu, or of any of the first Dutch masters, is certainly not inconsistent with the elevated designs of Italian art-the composition of Raphael we imagine would not lose its grandeur, nor would his expression be less vital and impressive, if accompanied with the golden colouring or blended with the rich, soft tones of Titian (accordance with the subject of course is implied). No, such an association, in our opinion, is no more inconsistent than is the union in the same counte> nance of the soft dimple of beauty, and the broad, full forehead of intellect.It may not, to be sure, be in the power of one man to combine in his own works the various and scattered accomplishments of all the schools: to produce such a concentration would, perhaps, require superhuman

ability, neither do we think that if effected its consequence would be the perfection of art, or indeed a pleasing and harmonious style; but we vehemently oppose the meagre system which some would set up of classifying pictorial beauties, and separating them one from the other into distinct and insulated styles, and of crying out against their union as incongruous and absurd.--Yes, we oppose, in this respect, an opinion of Reynolds, but we oppose it without presumption, it is trusted, since clearer views of art have been disclosed, to our countrymen, since the decease of that eminent man, and we indulge the hope of some great achievement by our native painters, as living evidences can be adduced of their highly excelling in intèllectual invention, and mechanical dexterity. Is it unwise to tell a painter he should invest his stylė with every adscititious ornament within scope, and thereby render his works more consummate, more attractive and more contiguous to nature? Wé dwell the more upon this topic, because we know it to be too generally received an idea that high art has the privilege of sweeping down all detail and attention to parts, nay, that it would be demeaning itself to check its bold career to attend to such underneath labours; and because we think that a painter of genius, who has energy of mind enough, and sufficient power of hand to maintain a high reputation in grand historical design, could, if he would take the trouble, inlay his conceptions, however fine, and his compositions, however grand,