1816.] New Publications with Critical Remarks. God of stillness and of motion- The Mountain Boy; in four cantos. By Vision. Christabel, a Poem; and Kubla Kan, a By S. T. Coleridge. 8vo. 4s. 6d. Lord Byron's Farewell to England. 2s. 6d. Poems. By Mr. Alfred Bunn. 8vo. 4s. The Battle of Waterloo. By Robert Gilmour, esq. 2s. 6d. The Poetical works of Thos. Little, jun. Redemption; in twenty books. By Geo. Verses for Gravestones in Church-yards. An Epithalamium on the union of the The Royal Marriage, or Miss Lump and the Grenadier. By Peter Pindar. 28. An Ode on the Marriage, of H. R. H. the 10s. 6d. POLITICS. Three Letters of Paul Silent to his Country We lately noticed, in terms of commendation, a man, which might have been delivered in the senate 445 the Property Tax. If, however, the identity and number of persons assessed in any one district, could be compared with the petitioners of the same district, I should not be surprised if the result proved, that those who signed had no grievance to complain of, excepting that of not being rich enough to be comprehended within the scope of this tax, which, indeed, may justly be called the tythe of the rich given for the support of the industrious." The following argumentum ad hominem will aot easily be answered by logic, or confuted by political arithmetic. "I would ask, suppose, as an individual, you had been forced by the fraud, injustice, or open violence of another, to defend yourself by the laws of your country, and were consequently involved in a heavy expense. Suppose that your appeal to the laws of your country eventually obtained success:-how could you object to pay the costs and charges of your advisers and defenders? Would it be right to leave the heavy debt contracted for your temporary welfare, as a legacy to your children, to be discharged by them, who were not immediately but partially interested in it? Such, then, is the conduct of the nation by its rejection of the Income Tax. It leaves to future ages to make good the expeuces the present have contracted; and it has therefore committed a breach of faith towards posterity."-Much acute reasoning and practical remark will be found in these letters, on subjects of general importance. The First Annual Report on Mad Houses. Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, April 26, 1816. 8vo. 7s. Plan for a General Inclosure Bill for Commons of a limited Extent. By a Country Gentl. man. 1s. Proofs and Demonstrations how much the projected Registry of Colonial Negroes is unfounded and uncalled for. By Geo. Chalmers, F. R. S. S. A. 10s. 6d. Remedies proposed as certain and effectual for our present Embarrassments, By J. Symmons, esq. 2s. 6d. On the Policy of throwing Open the Transit Trade in Foreign Linens, and on the importance of that Trade to the Manufactures and General Commerce of the British Empire. 1s. Speech of Henry Brougham, esq. M. P. April 9, 1816, in the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Agricultural Distresses. 2s. 6d. The Inquisition; a Letter addressed to Sir John Cox Hippesley. By a Catholic Christian. Peter, esq. More Thoughts occasioned by two pamphlets on the Bill for the Registration of Slaves. By Joseph Marryat, esq. M. P. The Extraordinary Red Book; containing a detailed List of all Pensions, Places, Sinearising therefrom. cures, &c. with the Salaries and Emoluments Negro Emancipation made Easy; with Reflections on the African Institution and Slave Registry Bill. By a British Planter. 3s. 6d. Ireland not England; a letter to Lord Castlereagh on Irish Affairs. 2s. 6d. 446 Review of New Musical Publications. Statements of the Revenue and Expenditure of Great Britain, in each year of the late War, from 1803 to 1814, both inclusive. Compiled from the Accounts presented to the House of Commons. By C. Stokes. 45. Letters on the present State of the Agri [June 1, cultural Interest, addressed to Charles Forbes, esq. M. P. By the Rev. Dr. Crombie, LL.D. 2s. 6d. Catechism of Political Economy. Tramlated from the French of J. B. Say by John Richter. 8vo. 6s. REVIEW OF NEW MUSICAL PUBLICATIONS. A Dictionary of Music. By J. Bottomley. Button and Co. 15. The author in his preface says, "The object in the publication of this dictionary is, to convey that technical information which is incispensable to every practitioner of music, in as small a compass as possible. Hence this work is not to be consulted merely as a book of reference, but to be diligently red until the substance of it becomes perfectly familiar. It will be found useful to the teacher as a text-book from which he may reguJarly select a certain portion of the terms for his pupils to study, and then to explain, not altogether in the words which are written, but in language of their own. To an experienced teacher, the utility of this exercise will be sufficiently obvious."-As a specimen of the performance, we shall extract a few articles, taken promiscuously as they occur. "Resolution. That change of harmony which is occasioned by the transition of a discord to a concord; as when the ninth is resolved into the eighth, &c." "Sonata. In the modern acceptation of the word, a composition for the piano-forte (but, query; why not all other instruments?) in which a variety of movements are introduced." "Relative. A term principally made use of to imply the natural connection between the major and the minor keys. To every major key belongs a minor, and the signatures of both are in every respect the same. The relative of C major is the key of A minor. Upon examination, A will be found a (flat) third below C. The relative of every major key is, therefore, the (flat) third below." He might have added, that every note in the diatonic scale, except the 7th in major keys, and the 2d in minor keys, is in various degrees related to the key note. This will be found a very useful little book in schools and seminaries for children. Notturno. Op. 54, for the Piano-forte, composed and dedicated to F. W, Collard, esq. by J. B. Cramer. Clementi and Co. 3s. Notturnos are generally used abroad as serenades, consisting of a band of violins, viola, and bass, or a lute or Spanish guitar as an assistant to the voice. As no man can carry a piano-forte at his back, this title does not appear to be exactly appropriate. Mr. Cramer in this, his fifty-fourth essay, has supported the high character acquired by his former productions. Perhaps it would not be going too far were we to hazard our opinion, that this is one of his very best performances; combining, in its four characteristic movements, every variety and every excellence the piano-forte is capable of. My Life, I love you! written by Lord Byron; set to music, with an accompani ment for the Piano-forte, by Mrs. BMunro. 1s. We have been favored before with some of the productions of this unknown lady. The music is tolerably correct in point of composition; and, in company with the noble poet, she may hope to glide down the stream of time. Amanti Costanti, from the Opera of le Nozze di Figaro. By Mozart; with varia tions for the Piano-forte, composed by Ferd. Ries, member of the Royal Academy of Music in Sweden. Op. 66. Goulding and Co. 35. This beautiful air of Mozart is well adapted for variations, and is handled with all the skill and taste that Mr. Ries is known to possess. The dif ferent shades or gradations of time are accurately marked to the air, and through all the variations, by Macizl's Metronome. The Winds whistle cold. Glee for three Voices, viz. Alto, Tenor, and Bass, in the the musical Play called Guy Mannering, or the Gipsey's Prophecy; the words by D. Terry, esq.; performed at Covent Garden Theatre. Composed by Henry R. Bishop. Goulding and Co. 2s. 6d. Very few good glees have appeared since Dr. Calcot ceased to write. Mr. Bishop is the only man we know of likely to step forward as an effec tive successor to the doctor. The present glee is an excellent sample of what in future may be expected. Fare the Well! Written by Lord Byron; composed, with an accompaniment for the Piano-ferte, by G. Kiallmak. Goulding and Co. 2s. It must be no ordinary composer who would st tempt to give musical effect to these pathetic words. The choice of the measure in 3-4 time, like that of "Crazy Jane," is judicious, because it affords scope for a more powerful accent than any other. The change of the time to 6-8 at "When her little hauds shall press thee," is a happy thought, and adds greatly to the effect. Rondo, with Original Russian Themes for the Piano-forte; composed and dedicated to Miss Christiana Lane, by Ferd. Ries. Goulding and Co. 3s. This is a collection of Russian airs, dances, &c. woven together in a very judicious manner, and, however uncouth the tunes may have originally been, the magic touch of Mr. Ries, has rendered all smooth and agreeable to the ear, forming, all together, one of the most interesting sonatas we ever heard. Hibernian Air; arranged as a Rondo for the Piano-forte, with an Introduction; com. posed and dedicated to Miss Dalton, by J. B. Cramer. Goulding and Co. 2s. 6d. This season of the year seems peculiarly prolife in musical productions; we hardly remember so great a variety of new ones, and most of them of the best kind. In the piece befere us Mr. Cramer has honored poor Pat with his notice, and dressed him up so fine that he hardly knows himself: of, to speak more intelligibly, the simplicity of the air · forms a powerful contrast to the embellishments of: it, and to the brilliancy of the intermediate pas 16.] Review and Register of the Fine Arts. by Lord Byron. The music by J. Naan. 2s. 6d. We are happy to find that the rapid sale of these gs will induce Mr. Nathan to continue his exer ens for the entertainment of the public. The autiful simplicity of these airs, as well as the ebrew Melodies, cannot fail of being duly ap preciated where they are sufficiently known. [In answer to the communication of a corespondent in the last number of the New Monthly Magazine, signed A SUBSCRIBER, he Reviewer has to reply, that, having had The Battle of Rosbach long in his possession, he was fully aware of the plagiarism; but he maintains that it is a dry dull performance, 447 which Kotzwara, in his Battle of Prague, has very much improved upon: and God save the King is so well known in England, that he could not have attempted to deceive the public by passing it upon them as his own composition. How it got to Prague at all is rather surprising; as it is not probable, that either the Imperialists or the Prussians, after the battle, would have shouted, God save great George our King.-The Turkish music, of which Sterkel has taken only a small part, was probably composed by either of these illuminés, it having been a wellknown tune in Germany many years before.] REVIEW AND REGISTER OF THE FINE ARTS. Offendar maculis, quas aut incuria fudit The Antiquities of Athens measured and 1816. ARTISTS, and the lovers of the Arts, have long been on the watch for the appearance of the fourth volume of Stuart's Athens. To the former parts of this invaluable work we owe much of the superiority of modern British taste; they opened the stores of Grecian art, and by snewing the pure and primitive style of design, banished the corruptions which had arisen in the latter ages of the Roman school; and to which English artists were compelled to have recourse as models of imitation. It was with great pleasure we found that Mr. JoSEPH WOODS was selected to fill the office of editor to the remaining volume, and the manner in which he has discharged the multitudinous duties it involved, has fully justified our anticipations of his fitness both as a scholar and an artist. A posthumous publication not unfrequently tarnishes the fame it seeks to brighten; but here, fortunately both for the public and the memory of the authors, the hand of kindred taste has woven, from Howers which they themselves had culled, another wreath to decorate their tomb. The history of this publication is so Gurious, that we are tempted to give it to our readers: MR. WOOD, speaking on the subject says, "Only the first volume was published by the author; each succeeding one was ushered into the world by a different Editor: the first appeared in 1762; the second bears 1787 HORACE. on the title page, but was not published till after Stuart's death, which happened in February 1788, when the arrangements were completed by Mr. Newton; and in 1794, Mr. Revely appears as the editor of the third-after a further interval of 20 years, the papers put into my hands by Mr. Taylor, enable me to offer to the public the last and fourth volume." Not the least interesting part of this publication, is the prefixed memoirs of both the artists, and the journal kept during their travels; the latter, evincing the extreme difficulty as well as the danger of their undertaking, In one part of the life of Stuart the writer observes, that whilst Hogarth, in the beginning of the last century, was in an obscure corner of the town earning a scanty subsistence by engraving cyphers and arms upon plate," Stuart in another quarter equally obscure,supported a large family by ornamenting the most frivolous of all female toys, the fan! consoling himself, no doubt, with the hope that by perseverance he should finally raise himself to a situation better suited to his talents." Let the poor neglected artist, struggling against adverse fortune, read this with exultation; and though now doomed to design decorations for a tea-tray, or what is equally painful, to paint unmeaning portraits, remember that his predecessors in art were equally unfortunate, and that although now the great luminaries of their profession, they once, like him, had to endure the pangs of penury, and the supercilious frown" which patient merit of the unworthy takes." The antiquities given in this last volume are far less architectural than those in the former: they are more adapted to 448 Exhibition of the Royal Academy. the studies of those who pursue the sister arts of painting and of sculpture. The basso-relievos of the Parthenon, comprising those in the well known collection of the Earl of Elgin, are beautifully given by Stothard, in a series of faithful and splendid etchings; and by Baxter, in outline engravings of equal merit,from drawings left either by Stuart, or Mr. Parrs. The classic reader will be delighted to see accurate delineations of the Castalian fountain, so often sung by poets, and a view of Parnassus, the mere name of which raises a thousand images, and recalls the interesting recollection of school-boy hours. It is, however, to be regretted, that the engravings of the view of Pola, and that of Mount Parnassus, have not been better executed; surely among British artists some might have been found to have done justice to these subjects, instead of the crude black and white style which is here given us; and we cannot help fearing that the price charged by the engraver, rather than his merits, was consulted on the occasion. The singular basso-relievo in the quarries of Paros, and the head and tailpieces of the chapters are elegant and useful studies. The arch of the Sergii, at Pola, is a tasteful building, and many of its details beautiful : and, in conclusion, we confidently recommend this volume, not only to the possessors of the preceding parts, but as a highly interesting and very useful publication to artists and amateurs. French Characteristic Costume; containing 18 Plates. Frontispiece and letter-press description. Drawn and engraved by R. B. PEAKE. Colnaghi and Co. Cockspur-street, 1816. This little work is a faithful and pleasing representation of the dress and manners of our volatile neighbours, and deserves attention from those about to visit France, or who wish to become ncquainted with the peculiarities of the people. EXHIBITION OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY. The annual exhibition of the Royal Academy presents this year more than its accustomed display of portraits, and contains fewer attempts than are ordinarily shewn, in the highest walk of artHistorical Painting. The anathema of poor Barry against portrait painting still vibrates on the ear of all who heard him, and the exhibition of 1816, awakens the recollection of his sentiments with peculiar force. Multitudes of men, women, and children, are seen, emblazoned in gilded frames, seeking through the pros [June 1, titution of the pencil, a momentary do- "'Tis true 'tis pity, and pity 'tis 'tis true." But let it be remembered, that the art suffers, although here and there an artist may be benefited, and that it is not so much painting portraits as exhibiting them which we deprecate. If they were more sparingly admitted, people in general who frequent the Academy would endeavour to discover the real merits of the pictures they behold rather than to trace the accuracy of resemblance of Tom Nokes,or the faithful representation of the features of Jack Styles. In de picting scenes of domestic life, and is landscape, however, English artists may successfully vie not only with moders but with ancient painters. No. 176, Mauritania, H. THOMSON, R. A. is a picture of great merit. Itrepresents a family groupe disturbed by the approach of a lion; the mother straining to her embrace an infant; the father preparing to make resistance to the attack of their formidable foe. The expression of the picture is highly inter esting; every muscle betrays apprehen sion, and the language of another Thomson is appropriately quoted "Th' awakened village starts; And to her fluttering heart the mother strains Her infant: 1816.] Exhibition of Painters in Oil and Water Colours. While, uproar all, the wilderness resounds, From Atlas eastward to the frighted Nile." 206. The Battle of Waterloo, D. DIGHTON. The attention bestowed on. this picture is derived from its subject, not from its merits. 283. The Raising of Lazarus, W. HILTON, A.-This is not the best work we have seen of Mr. Hilton's, but still it preserves no small degree of excellence. The figure of Christ is majestic and commanding; the expression of Lazarus is exceedingly well managed, and the drawing highly creditable, both as to anatomy and fore-shortening. We regret to see something like affectation in the attitudes of the women, and the colouring of Lazarus is crude; but with these trifling exceptions, we feel great pleasure in pointing out this picture to the notice of our readers. 33. Tam O'Shanter, T. STOTHARD, R.A. is excellently painted: it completely embodies this eccentric production of the Scottish bard; a supernatural tone of colour pervades the whole, and the lovers of Burns will in this picture find a treat. 119. The Presentation in the Temple, R. WESTALL, R. A. has the mannerism of the artist. Its colours are gaudy and harsh, and the grouping of the figures frequently theatrical and affected. It is but justice, however, to observe, that the kneeling figure of the madona is elegant and simple. The child too is well painted, and the figure of Simeon, were it not for his woolly beard, would be admirable. Mr. Westall never appeals in vain to the feelings, but he has not succeeded so well as in the picture of last year-The Dead Fisherman. 64. Europa, B. WEST, P. R. A. is evidently placed here in order that the catalogue might not lose its distinguished honour in bearing the name of the president; and a recollection of the former greatness of the artist is perhaps the reason why this picture has been spoken of so severely. It is not in his best style certainly, but had it been the work of any other pencil, it would have attracted great attention. The colouring and expression are not unworthy of the name that is affixed. We defer our farther remarks on the domestic scenes and landscapes in this exhibition till our next. We are sorry to state that this exhibition is not so good as in some former NEW MONTHLY MAG.-No. 28. 449 years. We perceive that many artists, who heretofore excelled in water colours, have now painted in oil, and the marks of inexperience are evident in their pencilling. Let us hope that this evil will be removed by next year, and the change of style will not then be regretted. to the 66. Christ giving Sight to the Blind, H. RICHTER. There is in this picture a great portion of sublimity; a sort of supernatural light, well suited subject, pervades the whole groupe, and although the artist has frequently defied nature, yet, in pursuing the sublime, he has never once trod upon the absurd, of which, in such an object, there is great danger. The figure of Christ is a personification of all that is grand and beauteous in the human form, over which the artist has thrown a hea venly and benign character, plainly indicating the superior nature of the being whom it represents. 26. A Study for a Head, R. B. HAYDON.-A most exquisite and beautiful performance, of which we can say nothing more flattering, nor more just, than that it equals in excellence the former productions of our most vigorous and promising countryman, Haydon. 64. A Portrait, J. LINNELL.-We are sorry that this gentleman deserts that line of art in which he so much excels; he has about the room two or three hard and ill painted portraits, which we should be inclined to notice with censure, but for some exquisite landscape in his best style, which quite disarms our criticism. 13. View on the River Kennet, and 35. Ferry near Oxford, J. LINNELL, need only to be seen in order to be admired for their faithful representation of the most pleasing and sparkling effects of nature. 60. Scene at Hampton Cliffs, B. BARKER, is highly beautiful and masterly, and partakes of the character of a good old painting. Its hues are always faithful to nature. 65. Cattle. The Last Gleam of the Setting Sun, J. GLOVER.-This picture is nature itself: every object catches the "last gleam," as if reluctant to sink into obscurity and night. The effect is brilliant and interesting, and this one picture would (had he painted no other)_place Glover high in rank among British painters. 82. View in Villa Franca, in Spain, J. VARLEY. A very masterly production. We shall resume our remarks on this exhibition in our next. VOL. V. ΩΜ |