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OBSERVATIONS ON PAINTING, ADDRESSED TO A FRIEND. NO. IY.

The existence of natural genivs, however much sme Philosophers may pretend to call it in question, is s fact of which the common sense and feeling of man- bind will not admit a doubt; our — experience, with- gat any further argument, may convince us of the great intellectual superiority which some men possess over others, and of the different manner in which that supe-

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— A tize

yority manifests itself as the peculiar genius of each. Among Painters, to whom these observations have es- yecial reference, the presence or the absence of genius is 0 very evident as scarcely to admit of being mis- saken. It is true indeed that Painters of great genius do sometimes widely and egregiously err; but their very errors are their own, and bear no sort of resemblance to those of mediocrity; neither: do the blemishes of one Painter of real eminence resemble those of another; each has his own, proceeding from the exuberance of that same peculiar genius to which are owing all the good qualities and beauties of his style.

You are no doubt aware of the leading incidents in the life of the late Mr. Salt, with his early struggles to attain skill as a Painter, and his cruel mortifications and want of success in that endeavour ; yet he laboured hard and long, and acquired an ample knowledge of the me- chanicol parts of the art ; he even tock likenesses with such precision and verisimilitude that upon one occa- sion his portrait of a Lady enabled one who had never

seen her in person to recognize her Brother, also a total | -eturn to considering the variteies of genius, and ask’ stranger to him ;* but Salt’s genius was not that of @/ ourselves how the same subject would have been hand- Painter, and of this he was himself painfully sensible ;! led by different masters, say for instance, Hogarth, a prospect of humiliating drudgery on the threshold of Rembrandt, and Rubens. Inthe work of Hogarth we art was all that lay before him, until at length it pleased | micht expect to see something Jike a Brewer's Dray, or

providence to open anew path which exactly suited the

vent of his energetic and powerful mind. This was the’ pp ijistines either all agape with amazement or in com-

Eastern Expedition of Lord Valentia in the year 1802.

Salt’s rise to distinction was now rapid, his knowledge jin the mean while, dancing in awkward merriment to of the merely mechanical part of Drawing was, doubt-'the music of a Violin; in short much such a regale to lesss, of much service to him, but for proofs of his|the eye as that offeredto the ear of “The enraged Mu- genius we must look at his conduct as Envoy at the! sicjan” in Hogarth’s famous picture of that name, Rem-

barbarous court of Abyssinia,—as the active and pru- dent Counsel General in Egypt,—the companion and counsellor of Mahomet Ali,—the liberal patron of Bel- zoni,—the diligent and successfui Antiquarian, and lastly, as the kind friend of all who stood in need of his assistance ;—nature made him both a good and a great man, but not a Painter.

Men of genius, particularly Artists, look at whatever may be before them with reference to the bent of their own'minds ; the late Mr. Robson,* for instance, looked upon the Mountains, Glens, and Lakes, of the High- lands, as Homer may have jooked on Greece, or Virgil on Rome,—not as mere combinations of rocks, trees, and water; but as the groundwork of those conceptions of alpine grandeur which his masterly hand would after- wards stamp and embody in his drawings. In the sum- mer of 1830, I had the pleasure of making one of a little party with Mr. R. for the purpose of an excursion to the Highlands; we went by water from London to Ab- erdeen, and thence by way of Elgin, Gordon Castle and Nairn, to Inverness. Up to this place the scenery though generally pleasing, and at E)gin in particular of surpassing loveliness and beauty, yet did not seem to strike any corresponding chord in the mind of Mr. Rob- son; his lively and unaffected good humour, irresisti- ble drollery, and sterling wit had been the very life of

* See Hall’s ‘ Life and Correspondence of the iate Mr. Salt, a very interesting and instructive work.

* ‘hia distinguished Artist died in the Autumn of the year 1833 at Stockton upon Tees, to which place he had gone by @ Steam Boat from London about a week previously :—a tremen- cous Storm on the passage was thought to have at least accel- erated his decease.

Che Examiner,

‘IS TRUE LIBERTY, WHEN FREEBORN MEN—HAVING TO ADVISE THE PUBLIC, MAY SPEAK FREE.” —Evruriprs.

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CHARLOTTETOWN, P. E. ISLAND, MONDAY, JUNE 19, 1848.

[No. 46.

our little party, but when, having left Inverness, our route lay through Ardmeanach by Fortrose, the Mulbuy Hills, and the beautiful Bay of Cromarty,—with Ben Wavis and the Ross-shire mountains in the distance, Robson was no longer the same man; his eye involun- tairly fixed upon the lofty summit of Ben Wavis, and re- mained immoveable as its object. I really do not think he spoke twice during the whole of our ride from the Kessock Ferry to Cromarty, and it was merely observed by one of our company that “ Mr. R. might as well fol- low his eye and his heart out of the carriage window.” | feel a pleasure in this recollection ofa friend to whom | was sincerely attached, and I hope it will not be consi- dered irrelevant to the support of my opinion of the reality of genius, that is to say, of a natural bias and tendency of the mind towards some particular class of objects. Such a tendency in the mind of an Artist to- wards his art, is almost certain to lead to excellence, and indeed it has not unfrequently conquered al] the obstacles which external circumstances could well heap together, to retard and prevent its triumphant pro- gress towards perfection.

There is now in the National Gallery, a Picture, by Sebastian Bourdon, of the return of the Ark to the Is- raelites ; of which it may be sufficient to say that it was very much admired by its former possessor, Sir Joshua Reynolds, as evincing in the highest degree the true Poctry of Painting. A reference to the Scriptural} text * will convince us that the subject is not one an which an ordinary Painter could have conferred any interest, yet Bourdon’s composition is of such classic beauty, elegance, and imagination, as we do not often

find surpassed. With this picture in our minds, let us

‘a Sussex Wain, drawn by two Smithfield Heifers ;—the |

‘mon place attitudes of grief; the Jewish husbandmen,

brandt would probably present us with clumsy and il] pro- portioned figures in a very common-place landscape,**

but we should at the same time find that magnificince'-

of chiaro obscuro, that magic harmony of light, shade, and colour, in which Rembrandt stands almost without a rival, and which, blinding us to every defect, would| leave no other impression than that of admiration and| delight. There is a little difficulty in picturing to our- selves that conception of the subject which we might expect from Rubens; his very name calls up ideas ofa

precation of {wasting time in that minute and laboured trifling which distinguished the Dutch School of Paint- ing, proved that he was fully cepable of appreciating genius, and well aware that, without it, no labour and no study can ever make a great Painter.

It is not in Painting only that genius becomes evident but also in Sculpture, Architecture, and Landscape Gardening—those sister arts which so eminently tend to elevate, improve, and delight the human mind; to satis- fy ourselves of this, we need but recall the names of Phidias, Michael Angelo, Thorwaldsden, and Canova among Sculptors ; of Palladio, Sansovino, and our own Sir Christopher Wren, among Architects; and of Uve- dale Price, Gilpin, Repton, Whately, and Loudon, among Landscape Gardeners. In the light and orna- mental branches of Mechanics, in the art of the Gold- smith, the Jeweller, and the Cabinet-maker, genius may be abundantly manifested. In evidence of this, I shali refer you to an authority which, at the same time, proves genius to be the gift ofa kind and benevolent provi- dence, ever watchful for the best interests of mankind, and furnishing us with the means of raising and expend- ing our minds in endeavours at the highest order of excellence, in the fine arts, as in every thing else ;* this authority I find in the ealjling of Bezaleel and Aholiab, mentioned in the first six verses of the 3st Chapter of the Book of Exodus, and shall conclude these observations by quoting them as an argument, last in position but preeminently first in importance:—

1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

2. See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uni, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:

3. And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship.

4. To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass.

o. Anc in cutting of stones to set them, and im car- ving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.

6. Ana I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of al] that are wise hearted [ have put wisdom; that they may make all that I have commanded thee.

*‘Ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes ‘ fmollit mores, nec sinit esse feros.’

MONDAY, JUNE 19, 1848.

THE BAR OF P. E. ISLAND.

WE return our thanks to a correspondent who has drawn our attention, during the past week, to the state of the Bar and the legal profession generally in this Island. We regret to observe that the letter contains too many personal reflections to warrant its publication, but we shall gladly avail ourselves of some of our correspond-

spirited and splendid group of stalwart Philistine Chiefs) ent’s observations, premising, that we presume our re-

in gorgeous armour; a triumphal car of the most elabo- rate magnificence drawn by cattle worthy of the sacred burthen, and the Israelites, as well as every other part of the picture, disposed with a view to the most, striking effect. |

marks upon the political creed of the Bar as a body, in our last Number, may have given rise to our friend's communication. R

To take modern instances only, it may be said that everywhere but in Prince Edward fsland, the Lega!

The name of Sir Joshua Reynolds has often been brought forward as an authority by those who deny the existence of genius; but I think this is hardly a fair construction of the context of Sir Joshua’s “ Discourses” taken collectively ; he was addressing himself to young men who were too apt to trust entirely to genius, ifthey had it, and to wait for it, if they had it not; it was ne- cessary to urge them to study and application, and to set before them, in the most impressive manner, the be- nefits of steady perseverance and Jaborious practice in the mechanical parts of the Art; but Sir Joshua, in his enthusiastic praises of Michael Angelo, and in his dé-

* Samuel 1 Chap. 6. ** See his picture of ‘Tobias aad the Angel’ in the Bational Gallery. ;

Profession has produced not only accomplished states- men, but men distinguished for their advocacy of popu- lar and constitutional rights, from Lord Erskine to Lord Brougham, with a horde of others. This appears to have been eminently the case in Great Britain, and else- where—Curran, Grattan, ©’Connell, and others in Ire- land, and nearly all the celebrated men of modern times in France, were men of the Legal Profession. In more ancient times, and particularly among the Romans—the most enlightened people then on the earth—the cause of popular liberty readily found advocates in the Legal Profession. It should almost seem as if legal studies, when divested of those technicalities and subtleties, by which, in unworthy hands, they are too often dis-

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