the rules of his art. His skill enables him to display the various scenes of nature at one view; and by his delineation of the striking effects of passion, he instantaneously affects the soul of the spectator. Silent and uniform as is the address which a good picture makes to us, yet it penetrates so deeply into our affections, as to appear to exceed the powers of eloquence. Painting is the most imitative of all the arts. It gives to us the very forms of those, whose works of genius, or of virtue, have commanded or won our admiration, and transmits them from age to age, as if not life merely, but immortality flowed in the colours of the artist's pencil; or, to speak of its still happier use, it preserves to us the lineaments of those whom we love, when separated from us either by distance or the tomb. How many of the feelings, which we should most regret to lose, would be lost but for this delightful art, -feelings that ennoble, by giving us the wish to imitate what was noble in the moral hero or sage, on whom we gaze, or that comfort us, by the imaginary presence of those whose affection is the only thing dearer to us, than even our admiration of her'oism and wisdom. The value of painting will, indeed, best be felt by those who have lost, by death, a parent or much-loved friend, and who feel that they should not have lost every thing, if some pictured memorial had still remained. Paintings, in regard to their subjects, are called historical, landscape, or portrait; and in regard to the painters, they are divided into schools or countries; as the Italian, German, French, English, and other schools. Each of the schools has treated the practice of painting in its peculiar manner, and each with exquisite beauty and admirable effect. The great component parts of painting are, invention, or the power of conceiving the materials proper to be introduced into a picture; composition, or the power of arranging them; design, or the power of delineating them; the management of lights and shades; and the colouring. Invention consists principally in three things, the choice of a subject properly within the scope of the art; the seizure of the most striking and energetic moment of time for representation; and the discovery and selection of such objects, and such probable incidental circumstances, as, combined together, may best tend to develope the story, or augment the interest of the piece. In this part of the art, there is a cartoon of Raphael, which furnishes an example of genius and sagacity. It represents the inhabitants of Lystra about to offer sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas. It was necessary to let us into the cause of all the motion and hurry before us; accordingly, the cripple, whom they had miraculously healed, appears in the crowd: observe the means which the painter has used to dintinguish this object, and of course to open the subject of his piece. His crutches, now useless, are thrown to the ground; his attitude is that of one accustomed to such support, and still doubtful of his limbs; the eagerness, the impetuosity, with which he solicits his benefactors to accept the honours destined for them, point out his gratitude and the occasion of it. During the time that he is thus busied, an elderly citizen of some consequence, by his appearance, draws near, and lifting up the corner of his vest, surveys with astonishment the limb newly restored; whilst a man of middle age and a youth, looking over the shoulder of the cripple, are intent on the same object. The wit of man could not devise means more certain of the end proposed; such a chain of circumstances is equal to a narration. In the cartoon of Paul preaching at Athens, the elevated situation, and energetic action of the apostle, instantly denote him the hero of the piece, whilst the attentive but astonished circle gathered around him, receive, as it were, light from him, their centre, and unequivocally declare him the resistless organ of divine truth. QUESTIONS.-1. What are paintings in regard to their subjects? 2. To the painters? 3. What are the great component parts of painting? 4. In what three things does invention consist? 5. What cartoon of Raphael is an example in this part of the art? [NOTE. Engravings, taken originally from the cartoons of Raphael, are sometimes inserted in Bibles. That of Peter and John healing the cripple at the beautiful gate of the temple, and that of Paul preaching at Athens, are common.] * Consist'ence, degree of density or rarity. To ascertain when the art of sculpture was first practised, and by what nation, is beyond human research. We may safely conjecture, however, that it was almost one of the original propensities of man. This will still appear in the ardent and irresistible impulse of youth to make representations of objects in wood, and the attempts of savages to embody their conceptions of their idols. A command from the author of our being was necessary to prevent the ancient Israelites from making graven images; and the inhabitants of the rest of the earth possessed similar propensities. The descriptions in the Scriptures demonstrate that the art had been brought to great perfection at the period of which they treat. It is necessary to make a distinction between carving and sculpture the former belongs exclusively to wood, and the latter to stone or marble. It is probable that every essay at imitating animated objects was in each nation made originally in wood. But they soon discovered, doubtless, that wood was incapable of a durability commensurate with their wishes; they adopted, therefore, a close grained and beautiful granite, which not only required tools of iron, but those of the most perfectly tempered steel, to cut it; and with such they have left us at this very distant time vast numbers of excavated figures, as complete and as little injured as if executed within our own memory. The acknowledged masters of the sublime art of sculpture are the ancient Greeks, to whom every nation of the earth still pays a willing homage, and from whose matchless works each sculptor is happy to concentrate and improve his observations on the human figure, presented by them to his contemplation in its most graceful perfection. Such have been the excellence and correctness of their imitations of nature, and the refined elegance of their taste, that many of their works are mentioned, as efforts never to be exceeded or perhaps equalled. Statuary is a branch of sculpture employed in the making of statues. The term is also used for the artificer himself Phidias was the greatest statuary among the ancients, and THE LOVE OF NATURE. 271 Michael Angelo among the moderns. Statues are not only formed with the chisel from marble, and carved in wood, but they are cast in plaster of Paris, or other matter of the same nature, and in several metals, as lead, brass, silver, and gold. The process of casting in plaster of Paris is as follows: the plaster is mixed with water, and stirred until it attains a proper consistence; it is then poured on any figure, for instance, a human hand, or foot, previously oiled in the slightest manner possible, which will prevent the adhesion of the plaster: after a few minutes the plaster will dry to the hardness of soft stone, taking the exact impression of every part, even the minutest pores of the skin. This impression is called the mould. When taken from the figure that produced it, and slightly oiled, plaster, mixed with water as before, may be poured into it, and it must remain until it is hardened; if it be then taken from the mould, it will be an exact image of the original figure. When the figure is flat, having no deep hollows or high projections, it may be moulded in one piece, but when its surface is much varied, it must be moulded in many pieces fitted together, and held in one or more outside or containing pieces. This useful art supplies the painter and sculptor with exact representations from nature, multiplies models of all kinds. It is practised in such perfection, that casts of the antique statues are made so precisely like the originals in proportion, outline, and surface, that no difference whatever is discoverable, excepting in colour and materials. and QUESTIONS.-1. What is said of the origin of sculpture? 2. How does sculpture differ from carving? 3. What is said of this art as it existed among the ancient Greeks? 4. Define the word statuary in both senses. 5. How are statues formed? 6. What is the process of casting in plaster of Paris? 7. Of what use is the art of casting to the painter and sculptor? LESSON 124. The Love of Nature. WHEN the mind becomes animated with a love of nature, nothing is seen tha does not become an object for curiosity and in iry. A person under the influence of this principle can converse with a picture, and find an agreeable companion in a statue. He meets with a secret refreshment in a description; and often feels a greater satisfaction in the prospect of fields and meadows, than another does in the possession. It gives him indeed a kind of property in every thing he sees; and makes the most rude uncultivated parts of nature administer to his pleasures; so that he looks upon the world, as it were, in another light, and discovers in it a multitude of charms, that conceal themselves from the generality of mankind. A river is traced to its fountain; a flower to its seed; and an oak to its acorn. If a marine fossil lies on the side of a mountain, the mind is employed in the endeavour to ascertain the cause of its position. If a tree is buried in the depths of a morass, the history of the world is traced to the deluge; and he who grafts, inoculates, and prunes, as well as he who plants and transplants, will derive an innocent pleasure in noting the habits of trees and their modes of culture; the soils in which they delight; the shapes into which they mould themselves; and will enjoy as great a satisfaction from the symmetry of an oak, as from the symmetry of an animal. Every tree that bends, and every flower that blushes, even a leafless copse, a barren plain, the cloudy firmament, and the rocky mountain, are objects for his attentive meditation. For, To him who in the love of Nature holds BRYANT. LESSON 125. The Importance of Natural Philosophy. WITH thee, serene Philosophy, with thee, |