MR. URBAN, MINOR CORRESPONDENCE. Hull, Oct. 6. I HAVE this moment perused the letter of your Correspondent Mr. James Crossley, in the last number of the Gentleman's Magazine, and would beg through you to refer him to the volume of your work for the year 1825, April and July, where are to be found some extracts from the very curious and interesting volumes which he mentions. They are there communicated by Mr. W. Hamilton Reid, but that gentleman does not state the source whence he derived them. Some of these extracts have also been transferred from your pages to those of the Youth's Magazine, which may be deemed an additional evidence of the interesting nature of the volume. I would state for the satisfaction of such of your readers as may not be able to obtain a sight of the original work, which is extremely scarce, that the larger and by far the more interesting portion of the work was republished with notes and observations by the late Rev. John Scott of Hull, under the title of "Narratives of Two Families exposed to the Great Plague of London, A.D. 1665; with conversations on religious preparation for Pestilence." Seeley, 1832. This passed through two editions in the same year. It was my impression that Mr. Scott had stated it as his opinion in his preface to the "Narratives," that Defoe was the author of the work. I find, however, that he has not. I have more than once heard him state that such was his conviction. I have by me the copy of the work which the late Mr. Scott possessed, and I have seen another copy in a private library in London, which had evidently belonged to the family of Defoe; two of their names appearing on the title-page with the date (I believe) of the very year in which the work was published. Yours, &c. JOHN SCOTT. INQUISITOR cannot discover, either in the British Museum, at the Bodleian, or in other public libraries, a copy of the book quoted in White's Discovery of Brownism, (1605, 4to.) and entitled, in the margin of p. 13, "A Discourse of Certain Troubles and Excom. &c." by "G. J." The author was GEORGE JOHNSON; and the tract relates to the English refugees at Amsterdam. As there is not a copy even in the Dissenters' libraries at Cripplegate and Finsbury, the tract must be very rare; but, if in existence, he requests to be informed. W. of Darlington communicates the two following curious English inscriptions on the bells of Gainford Church, co. Durham, inquired for in our vol. V. p. 2 :"1st bell. + SAVNT CWTBERT SAF WS VNOWERT [unhurt?] 2d bell. ++ HELP MARJ QWOD ROGER OF KYRKEBY." This Roger of Kirkby was instituted Vicar of Gainford in 1401. The following is a more correct copy of his epitaph than that above referred to : Hic jacet humatus Roger Kyrkby uocitatus Mr. MANGIN remarks:-" The quantity of Roman coins exhumed in Britain, is, literally, incalculable in some parts of the west of England, as well as in the north; so great, that the pieces have no price. I wish to inquire, How came they to be thus disposed of? Some have imagined that they were flung down as offerings to the shades of the dead: some, that they were lost by the owners through accident, or let fall in the hurry and perplexity attending the enforced departure of the Romans from Britain! They have been supposed, by others, to be the contents of shop-tills, or of the money chests of mercantile persons. Likewise it has been thought that they were thrown away as being useless, and no longer currency at the commencement of each new imperial reign. But were this the fact, surely the material of which they are chiefly composed might (and, no doubt, would) have been recast. I have often put these queries and positions to various reflecting and deeply learned persons in Bath, especially to Mr. HARRIS, so widely known for an extensive acquaintance with classic antiquity, and his magnificent cabinet of ancient coins; but to no purpose. I, accordingly, beg leave to repeat my earnest request for the favour of a satisfactory explanation." By an unintentional omission, we neglected to notice that the Roman bronze head, lately found at Winchester, and represented in the plate in our last number, is in the possession of Mr. Drew, jun., cutler, of that city, who has made some perfect casts of it for sale. In our next number we hope to give some further account of the recent Roman discoveries at Winchester. GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE. Works of Art and Artists in England. By G. F. Waagen, Director of the Royal Gallery at Berlin. 3 vols. Murray, 1838. We WE consider this work, as relates to the fine arts in England, and particularly to painting, to be one of the most important which has been published. The author, Dr. Waagen, as his translator observes, unites a profound knowledge of the subject, with such an accuracy of judgment, refinement of taste, and nicety of discrimination, as claim the highest respect for his opinions, delivered as they are with a conscientious impartiality, and an enthusiastic love and admiration of all that is beautiful and noble in the whole domain of the fine arts. Dr. Waagen also derives no small advantage from his being a foreigner, coming to the critical survey of our possessions in art, with a mind totally uninfluenced by the force of long received and established opinions; and without any prejudices to mislead, any caprices or fashionable opinions to submit to, or any fear of giving offence to the possessor, which so often impairs our confidence in the judgment of the critics of our own country. Dr. Waagen confesses that, though Mr. Smith proves himself, in his excellent Catalogue Raisonnée, to be a refined connoisseur, yet that many of his opinions on pictures to which he cannot assent, proceed more from regard to their possessors,* than from want of better judgment. must add also, that all the judgments in Dr. Waagen's letters were formed on the spot, and committed to paper before the freshness and force of the impressions were impaired. Dr. Waagen brought to this country such recommendations, from the hand of royalty itself, as to ensure the civility of the " surly porter," and to throw back the hinges which too reluctantly open to the amateurs of our own country, and reveal the noble treasures which princely wealth has collected, with a yet more princely and enlightened munificence and liberality; assuredly to more than one of our nobles, may be applied the praise which that fine scholar P. Victorius applies to Cosmo de Medicis, the Duke of Florence.-" Supellectilem illam egregiam relictam sibi a majoribus, suis diligenter servare, et semper aliquos studiosè conquisitis et magnis sumptibus paratos, ipsis addere, inultosque et omnium lectissimos illi civibus suis, cupiditatis hujus rectissimæ explendæ desiderio flagrantibus passim dari." We trust that in England our picture galleries, the knowledge of whose treasures are not only gratifying to the curiosity of the public, but necessary to the improvement of the student, will not be liable to a sarcasm, similar to that which called the libraries of some wealthy Italians, not βιβλιοθήκας but βιβλιοτάφους. To the possessors themselves, the admission of scientific and enlightened persons to view and judge of their collections, will always be of the highest value. No individual judgment, however estimable or renowned, is implicitly to be trusted, in matters requiring such delicacy of feeling, accuracy of eye, and extension of knowledge. We all know * Catalogue Raisonnée of the Works of the most eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters. 8vo. 7 vols, By John Smith, the extraordinary evidence given by Mr. Payne Knight, at once a scholar and virtuoso of the first rank, on the Elgin Marbles; we know the mistake of the Gem engraved by Pistrucci, and purchased as an antique by the same person; we know that the authority of the two greatest painters in England, induced Mr. Angerstein to give a large price for a pseudoCorregio; and that the most extensive and longest experience will not secure the critic from partial errors, to which, as Dr. Waagen justly observes, the frame of mind, and more or less leisure in viewing a work of art, and even the light and situation in which it is placed, will have great influence in the formation of an opinion. Dr. Waagen possesses the true character of German frankness and simplicity; he seems always actuated by the love of truth, as alone leading to the advancement of art; and we are pleased to find that when he gave, as his principles obliged him to do, an unfavourable character of a picture, previously highly esteemed by its possessor, when he plucked the borrowed splendour of the plumage from it, when he erased the long-cherished name from the catalogue, his knowledge and his impartiality secured him from offence. From more than one, whose galleries he visited, he seemed to receive the same honest and plain avowal which Henry the Fourth of France made to the great Casaubon, when he appointed him librarian. -" Qu'il voulait qu'il fut en sa librarie, qu'il verroit ses beaux livres, et lui diroit ce qui etait dedans, où il n'entendait rien." The chief object of Dr. Waagen's inquiry and observation in England, was in our collections of pictures; but his observations on the kindred arts of sculpture and architecture are equally worthy of attention. We will therefore in the first place show our readers how the later architecture of our metropolis appears through the prism of the foreign critic, whose eyes had been accustomed to the classical buildings of Berlin and Munich. "The outside of the brick houses in London is very plain and has nothing agreeable in the architecture, unless it be the neat and well-defined joints of the brick-work. On the other hand, many of the great palace-like buildings are furnished with architectural decorations of all kinds, with pillars and pilasters, &c. There are, however, two reasons why most of them have rather a disagreeable effect. In the first place, they are destitute of continuous simple main lines, which are indispensable in architecture to produce a grand total effect, and to which even the richest decoration must be strictly subordinate. Secondly, the decorative members are introduced in a manner entirely arbitrary, without any regard to their original meaning, or to the destination of the edifice. This absurdity is carried to the greatest excess in the use of columns; these originally supporting members, which, placed in rows in the buildings of the ancients, produce the combined effect of a pierced wall, which bears one side of a space beyond, are here ranged in numberless instances, as wholly unprofitable servants directly before a wall. This censure ap plies in an especial manner to most of the works of the deceased architect Nash. In truth, he has a peculiar knack of depriving masses of considerable dimensions of all effect, by breaking them into a number of little projecting and receding parts; but in the use of the most diverse forms and ornaments, he is so arbitrary, that many of his buildings for instance, the new palace of Buckingham House, and some in the neighbourhood of Waterloo Place, look as if some wizard enchanter had suddenly transformed some capricious stage-scenery into sober reality. This architect is even more capricious in some of his churches, for instance, All Souls, in Langham Place, a circular building in two stories, with Ionic and Corinthian columns, surmounted by a pointed sugar-loaf. But what shall we say to the fact, that the English, who first made the rest of Europe acquainted with the immortal models of the noblest and chastest taste in architecture and sculpture of ancient Greece in all their refinement, when it was resolved, a few years ago, to erect a monument to the late Duke of York, produced nothing but a bad imitation of Trajan's pillar. This kind of monument, we know, first came into use among the Romans, a people who, with respect to the gift of invention in the arts and in matters of taste, always appear, in comparison with the Greeks, as half-barbarians. The very idea of insulating the column proves that the original destination, as the supporting member of a building, was wholly lost sight of. Besides this, the statue placed on it, though as colossal as the size of the base will allow, must appear little and puppet-like compared with the column; and the features, the expression of the countenance, the most important designations of the intellectual character of the person commemorated, are wholly lost to the spectator. In Trajan's pillar, the bas-reliefs on the shafts give at least the impression of a lavish profusion of art; but this Duke of York's column, with its naked shaft, which, besides, has not the advantage of the Entasis, has a very mean, poor appearance. If the immense sums expended in architectural abnormities had always been applied in a proper manner, London must infallibly have been the handsomest city in the world. I must, however, add, that several buildings are honourable exceptions; among the older ones, I would only mention Somerset House, which, by its simple proportions, corresponding with its great extent, produces the effect of a regal palace; and of modern buildings, the new Post-Office, built by the younger Smirke, the exterior and interior of which, in elegant Ionic order, has a noble effect." We have said that we conceive Dr. Waagen's taste and connoisseurship to be of a very high order: his eye very quick and discriminating, and knowledge of art extensive and profound. It would therefore be unpardonable were we to pass over without extract some parts of his observations on the Elgin Marbles, though at the expense of other specimens of art: but the modern receptacles of art possess nothing approaching to these divine works, the bright consummate flow of the finest genius of the most refined and mature æra. In these wonderful sculptures, of the higher imaginative and abstract nature, the ideal is seen in its true character and perfection, in all the wisdom of form, purity of taste, and flow of grace, beauty, and elegance. Here the mind of the spectator is addressed by the grandeur of the thoughts, and the simple energy of the expression; here may be seen all that ancient art could combine, and modern has not been able to effect; -purity without dryness, grace without affectation, nobleness without pomp, and richness of invention that is inexhaustible. Indeed, in these and works like these, which baffle all analysis, criticism has nothing but to admire, and art to emulate. Κρίνειν οὐκ ἐπεοίκε θεηΐα ἔργα βροτοῖσι ""Thus, then,' said the admiring artist as he traversed that awful vestibule which contains the gigantic crystallisation of primeval civilisation, where we either shew the granite statues of the Memnonium, and the colossal monuments of the age of Sesostris, and of the ancient capital of Egypt, thus, then, I behold, face to face, those monuments which came from the work-room and many from the hand of Phidias himself, which the ancients themselves most highly extolled, of which Plutarch says they exceeded all others by their magnitude, and by their beauty and grace were inimitable. The thought that the greatest and most accomplished men of antiquity, Pericles, Sophocles, Socrates, Plato, Alexander the Great, and Cæsar, dwelt with admiration on these works, diffused over them, in my eyes, a new charm, * * and heightened the enthusiastic feeling enjoyed among the ancients as a sculptor of horses. This head, as well as all the statues from the two pediments of the Parthenon, of which, partly from the importance of the place they occupy, partly from the beauty of the work, it may be assumed, with the greatest probability, that they are from the hand of Phidias himself, stand in a long line in the middle of the hall, in the order [in] which it is partly conjectured they were originally ranged. As the window is immediately over them, they unfortunately do not afford any contrast of decided masses of light and shade. The statues from the Eastern pediments, in which the birth of Minerva was represented, follow from the angle of the left of the spectator, rising to the centre in the following manner:-Hyperion with two horses of his car, rising from the Ocean; the statue of the reposing Theseus, of muscular form, full of youthful energy and healthy vigour; the two sitting divinities called Ceres and Proserpine, extremely noble in the contour, attitude, and drapery; a female figure in rapid motion, called Iris, of which no cast has yet been takenthe momentary effect of motion in the funica and flying mantle is wonderfully natural and bold; the torso of a Victory, of which likewise no cast has been taken; the folds of the drapery, which is closely fitted, are of finer materials than in all the others. At this place, where the height of the pediment was the greatest, were the two principal figures of Jupiter and Pallas, who had just sprung from the head of Jupiter, and that of Hephestion; all of which are entirely lost. Several of the statues belonging to the other half of the pediment are likewise wanting, for here immediately follow the fine group of the three Parcæ reposing, and the celebrated horse's head which belonged to the Car of Night sinking into the Ocean. * * * * * The peculiar excellence which distinguishes the works of the Parthenon from almost all other sculpture of antiquity arises chiefly, in my opinion, from the just balance which they hold in all respects between the earlier and later productions of Art. Sculpture was in Egypt, as well as in Greece, a daughter of Architecture. In Egypt, the mother never released her from the strictest subordination, the greatest dependence: in Greece, on the other hand, Sculpture, after a very similar long education, which was very favourable to her growth, was at length past her nonage; yet, notwithstanding her acquired independence and liberty, she was never entirely alienated from the mother, even to the latest period of antiquity: but in the earliest time she still clung to her with the greatest filial attachment. To this period the sculptures of the Parthenon belong; the general arrangement is still determined entirely by the architecture, and even the several groups correspond, as masses, with architectural symmetry; but in the execution of them there is the greatest freedom in manifold diversities and contrasts of the attitudes, which are so easy, unconstrained, and natural, that we might believe that the architecture had been adopted as a frame for the sculptures, and not, on the contrary, the sculptures suited to the architecture. Nor was it only in the local arrangement, but also in the conception of the subject, that architecture had an influence; for in all circumstances, even in those which occasion the most lively expression of passion and reflection, as, for instance, in the combats of the Greeks and Centaurs in the Metopes, these requisites are most delicately combined with a certain calm dignity and solemnity. It is in this prevalence of the element of architecture as the predominating law in general, with the greatest freedom and animation in the single parts, that the peculiar sublimity of these monuments consists. But they derive their highest charm, like the poems of Homer, from their simplicity. As the authors of them, by the enthusiastic endeavour to treat their subjects with the greatest possible perspicuity and beauty, had attained the most profound study of Nature, and an absolute command of all the means of representing their ideas, and had thereby thrown aside every thing conventional in earlier art, it never occurred to them to use these advantages except for these objects. Nothing was more remote from their minds than, as in subsequent times, to display and make a show of them for their own sake. Hence all the characters of the bodies are so perfectly adapted to the subjects; hence in all the motions such simple natural grace. Equally rare is the refined manner in which the imitation of Nature, of which the noblest models have everywhere been selected, is combined with the conditions necessary to produce the due effect in Art. The execution is so detailed, that even the veins and folds of the skin are represented, by which the impression of truth to nature is produced in a very high degree; yet all is so subordinate to the main forms, that the effect is imposing, and represses every thought of their being portraits. Thus these works are in a happy mean between the too individual forms of earlier times (for instance, the statues of Egina), and the mostly too |