Bandana handkerchief press, 92 Banks of the Tamar, 153 Black Abbey, ruins of the, 225 Caraccas, cow-tree of the, 228 Chelms'ord, Essex, town of. 149 lasco, 133 City hall, New York, 57 Coffee-house and sch ol of Byrma- Cow-trer of the Caraccas, 229 Dartmouth, view of, 189 Elgin marbles, blocks from, 217, 219, Exterior of the palace at Mede ya, 81 Religion, influence of, 77 Richardson, selection from, 139 Rosemary, lines on the, 103 Sage, garden, culture of, 195 Scott, Sir W., lines by, 77 selection from, 222 Sedgwick, selection from, 176 Sharpe, selection from, 248 Sketch of the history of Algiers, 33 182 in Egypt, 130 of national history-Holland, Skilled labour, importance of, 112, 119, | Torquay, Devonshire, town of, 133 191. 235 Smith, Sir T, counsels of, 175 Smoliet, lines by, 143 Smyth's lectures, extract from. 223 effects of, on the mind, 236 Supreme Being, proofs of a, 103 Tamar, banks of the, 153, 177 Teheran, Persia, town of, 99 Timber floats of Germany and Italy, 9 Tombstone, inscription on a, 80 INDEX TO THE ENGRAVINGS. Fable, illustration of a, 243 Figures from the Panathenaic frieze, Floating timber in Lombardy, 9 Gad-fly, 221 Galvanic battery, section of a, 220 Gate and fountain of Bab-el-Ouad, 40 Goat-moth caterpillar, 194 Grand Chartreuse, monastery of. 201 Grecian huts, 125 Hall at Ockwells, Berkshire, 89 Infant academy, after Sir J. Reynolds, 1 Jersey, town of St. Anbin, 137 Laburnum, the, 232 Locomotive engine, railroad, 164 Miner's hut at San Pedro Nolasco, Moors, costume of the, 84 Neptune, temple of, Corinth, (remains New York, city hall at, 57 Oakhampton castle, 241 Hotel de Ville, at, 32 Townson, selection from, 31 Truth, power of, 80 Turks in Algers. 86 Turuspits, boys employed as. 947 Vanity, effects of, 111 Vendome, Fraser, account of, 109 Visit of Mary de Medics to Charles 1, Voyage, comparison of life to a, Si Waller, lines by, 76 Ward. selection from. 228 artificial flowers in, 204 Whitehall palace, notice of, 101 Wolsey, cardinal, establishment of, 101 Roman peasant and family, 156 Kirkstall Abbey, 48 St. Aubin, Jersey, 137 St. Bertin, ruins of the abbey of, 17 Smoke-jacks, illustrations of, 248 Statne of Jupiter, by the great seulp. Strata, diagram illustrative of, 55 Tamar, banks of the, 153 Weir-head, 177 Temple of Neptune at Corinth, re- Theseus, 128 Pandrosus, at Athens, res Tewkesbury, abbey church at, 73 Tree, the cow, of the Caraccas, 229 Vendome, entrance into, 109 Weir-head, river Tamar, 177 · Golden age, 185 Wiclif, monument to, ・・ Yew, the comm Zurich, Swi . SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS AND HIS WORKS. I. AMONG the distinguished characters of the last century, who exercised great influence upon the profession or vocation to which their abilities led them, we may class SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. It is sufficient for the term of a man's life and the natural powers of his mind, that, in whatever direction his capacity may develope itself, he should continue, in order to excel, to cultivate the object to which his capacity tends, so as to make such object individual, and his own. Painting is, and has been, from the early days of the world, one of the great arts of life; and to that department of it, which is occupied in the delineation of portraits, Reynolds was throughout his life most chiefly and successfully devoted. generally having been found to bring their incipient professors into much trouble, for neglecting, in the judgment of their older and wiser friends, better and more substantial interests. Some of the most distinguished poets have been in early life educated with a view to the law: Reynolds was destined to the practice of physic. But having a natural tendency to limning, he could not nor did he attempt to restrain the impulses of nature. Hence he was deficient in the routine of scholastic learning; but, though he believed that genius and capacity were identical, and that he possessed these in reference to the arts, he did not fall into the seductive fallacy, which sometimes leads genius astray, namely, that fits of inspiration beget skill, and thereby relieve the possessor from earnest and assiduous toil. From his earliest years, therefore, till he was about nineteen years of age, his time was chiefly taken up in copying such pictures and prints as came within his reach; in taking likenesses of his friends and relations; and in perusing all such books as fell in his way, which treated of painting and perspective. Some of his performances at length struck the attention of his father, who, thereupon, by the advice of his friends, sent Joshua to London, where he began his professional studies under Hudson, the most celebrated portrait-painter of the day, on the 18th of October, 1741, which day is the festival of St. Luke, the reputed patron of painters. The legends of antiquity tell us that portraitpainting took its rise in very old times in the city of Corinth, in Greece, from the circuinstance of a young woman tracing the profile of her lover by his shadow cast upon the wall by a lamp. This was to serve as a memento during a separation, which the dread concerns of war were about to inflict upon them :-and in this dwells one of the great charms and incentives to this species of painting,-a charm which incites and enchains the mind with the desire to possess, in spite of time, of absence, space, and death, such a❘ means of calling up the features, looks, and expression of those whom we have loved and lost on earth, that they may seem to be constantly with us in this world, as we trust they will be eternally in the next. Whatever may be the merits and excellencies of all other species of painting, whether they be of a mental or mechanical kind, they cannot in this one quality compete with the tracing of portraits; for the latter ministers to the best and holiest of human propensities, and excellence in this ministration is naturally and deservedly rewarded. That the painting of por-Hudson, the preceptor of Reynolds, was essentially detraits is, and has been, liberally rewarded, as conducing to gratify pride and vanity, cannot be denied: but we do not refuse the good because sullied with evil; and we do not refuse due honour to Sir Joshua, though, as Northcote remarks, he thought it his duty "to discover only the perfections of those whom he represented." The general tenor of the foregoing sentiments has been long ago confirmed by the pen of Johnson, who speaks of this department of the art as being "employed in diffusing friendship, in renewing tenderness, in quickening the affections of the absent, and continuing the presence of the dead." The exercise of of this art, he goes on to observe, every man desires "for the sake of those whom he loves, and by whom he hopes to be remembered. This use of the art is a natural and reasonable consequence of affection and though, like all other human actions, it is often complicated with pride, yet even such pride is more laudable than that by which palaces are covered with pictures, that, however excellent, neither imply the owner's virtue, nor excite it." The subject of this paper was born at Plympton, in Devonshire, in 1723, and was one of a large family. His father was a clergyman and master of the grammar school of the place. He has been accused of neglecting the education of his son; but if young Reynolds' attention was not driven to the acquirement of literature in the ordinary course, it was owing to his strong natural predilection for sketching, principally, the human features. His conscquent neglect of the pursuits, which education imposes on the young, was a source of much rebuke from his sire:-poetry, painting, and the fine arts, In the practice of portrait-painting, it has been wisely and acutely observed by those who are competent judges of the merit of it, that it is not sufficient to satisfy the judgment, to give merely an exact and mathematical likeness of an individual, if there be not imparted to the picture an expression which shall arouse in the beholder's mind such an idea of vital warmth, as we should entertain if we actually beheld the living prototype of the portrait. In this, we are told ficient; though otherwise a distinguished and accurate maker of portraits: whereas, Reynolds, by connecting the latter excellence with the former, rose, on this ground, to the very top of his profession. He remained with Hudson about three years, and then returned into Devonshire; the separation having probably taken place, in consequence of Reynolds pursuing a style of painting very much out of the ordinary beat. The event, which led to their parting was Reynolds's painting the portrait of an old servant-woman of Hudson's. This picture astonished his master, and obtained unbounded applause in the Gallery. Having acquired the friendship and patronage of several distinguished persons, Reynolds soon after returned to London, and lived for a while in St. Martin's Lane, which was then the favourite residence of artists, and where something like an Academy was established. As most of those, which are esteemed to be the best productions of the best painters of the middle ages, are congregated at Rome; and as Rome has, in consequence, been held to be the finishing academy of artists; it was only a natural desire in Reynolds about this time to visit the city of the Seven Hills. In the year 1749, after voyaging about with Commodore Keppel up the Mediterranean, he landed at Leghorn, and proceeded direct to Rome. It is a most interesting and astonishing circumstance in the history and profession of painting, that Reynolds, and many other distinguished painters, when at Rome for the purpose of viewing, studying, and imbibing the principles of the great masters, should have felt but little impression from them at the early contemplation of their performances. To describe the feelings of Sir Joshua, as he has ingenuously developed them, would be to pourtray the feelings of many other professed admirers of the fine arts, leaving their ingenuousness out of the question. The keeper of the Vatican told Reynolds that many visitors at Rome, who went to see the paintings, and Raphael's in particular, would ask, when they had seen the whole collection, where the performances of Raphael were to be found?-and would not believe, that they had already passed through the rooms where they were kept. When Reynolds found that others, even the greatest of painters, had stood in the like case with himself, in not all at once admiring and appreciating the merits of Raphael, he felt comforted; and solaced himself with the just and wise reflection, that he himself was then in the midst of works executed upon principles, with which he was at first totally unacquainted; that he had come from a country where the arts were then in a low state; that the name of Raphael, and his admirable paintings; did not owe their reputation to the ignorance and prejudice of mankind: consequently that he himself had come to the Roman School, not to congratulate himself on his own acquirements, but to relearn the principles of his art. In a short time, he tells us, a new taste and perception dawned upon him; that, instead of admiring stiff and extravagant attitudes, he began to feel the sober dignity and majestic simplicity of the illustrious Italian to be more congenial with the feelings of his own soul. Before he left Rome, therefore, he became one of the daily worshippers of these models of excellence in the art. On the other hand, he remarks, that many visitors at Rome, who had no taste or feeling for the art, made pretensions to instantaneous raptures at the sight of Raphael's works. The whole character and conduct of Reynolds. in life was marked by urbanity and courtliness. His behaviour, when thrown into the way of pretenders to the art of painting, is happily sketched by Goldsmith at the conclusion of his "Retaliation.' The deafness of Sir Joshua, there alluded to, was brought on by a dangerous illness, which he suffered at Rome. To coxcombs averse, yet most civilly steering; When they talked of their Raphaels, Corregios, and stuff, The reader will gain some idea of the taste and genius of Sir Joshua Reynolds, from the frontispiece to the present number. "The Infant Academy" is a happy example of our artist's power in grouping and designing children, and in pourtraying the innocence of youth and childhood. By the will of Sir Joshua, the second choice was given to Lord Palmerston, of any picture of his (Sir Joshua's) own painting; and his lordship chose "The Infant Academy," which has been made known to the world through the engraving by Hayward. THE wise man, says the Bible, walks with God; THE following article is supplementary to an article. entitled, "WHAT IS AN ALMANAC ?" p. 150, Vol. XV., of this work. The terms used at the head of this paper, are usually denominated the CHRONOLOGICAL AND COMMON NOTES of the Almanac or Calendar. THE CALENDAR is an adjustment of time, accordThe term ing to rule, for the use of society. "Calendar" is derived from an old classic word implying to call, from the circumstance of the priests, proclaiming, on the first day of the month, Pontifex Maximus, the head of the ancient Roman the date of the appearance of the new moon, and the festivals to be observed throughout the month. In the early stages of society, the progress of time was estimated by the courses of the sun and moon; the former marking out years, seasons, and days; and the latter, months and weeks. But, as we observed in the former paper, of the several divisions of time, it has been most difficult to determine with accuracy, the month and the year; since the revolution of neither the sun nor the moon is completed in an exact number of days. To reconcile the revolutions of the sun and moon, with the common account of time, and to make them agree with each other, was the objeet held in view upon reforming the Calendar on the following re markable occasions : i. Julius Cæsar, being convinced by the Greek astronomer, Sosigenes, that the year then employed was too short, and that it could never be properly settled but by referring it to the (apparent) annua! revolution of the sun, and finding that about ninety days had been lost by the old reckoning, made the first Julian year to consist of 444 days, which was in consequence called the "year of confusion." This year was thus made to terminate at the proper season. The following years, with the months, were then adjusted nearly as they are at present; and, as the year was from that time made to consist of 3651 days, a day was inserted every fourth year, between the 6th and 5th of the Calends of March, (which days answer to the 24th and 25th of February); so that, the 6th day of the Calends of March being repeated, there were accounted to be two sixth-days of the Calends of March, and the day thus inserted was named bissextus dies, or the double-sixth day; whence we call Leap-year, in which this addition is made, Bissextile. ii. But, as the year does not consist of quite 365 days, it was found, in the sixteenth century after the birth of Christ, that the course of the civil year was ten days in advance of the course of the sun. The calendar was, therefore, again corrected by Pope Gregory the Thirteenth, A. D. 1582. This, which is called the new style, was adopted in England, a. d. 1752, as noticed in our former paper. The regulations assumed in this second reformation of the Calendar, are such as, reckoning from the sixteenth century, will make the civil year and the course of the sun to differ after the lapse of 4000 years, only to the amount of one day! THE NOTES given at the head of this article, were the elements employed in the correction of the Calendar; and these we proceed briefly to explain, 1. The GOLDEN NUMBER is the number which any given year holds in the Lunar Cycle, which is a period of nineteen years, at the lapse of which the new moons take place on the same days of the same months respectively as at the commencement of the cycle. Therefore, while the sun performs its annual course nineteen times, those of the moon amount to 235. The importance of this discovery in the regulation of time was held to be so great, that the rule for ascertaining the number of the year in the Lunar Cycle was inscribed in letters of gold on a tablet, set up in the market-place of Athens, in Greece. Hence, the term GOLDEN number. The rule is given in the Calendar which prefaces the Church service. 2. The EPACT is the number of days over and above all the complete courses of the moon, for any number of years, in any part of the Lunar Cycle. Hence, it is the moon's age at the beginning of any year; that is, the number of days which have elapsed since the last new moon in the preceding year. 3. The SOLAR CYCLE is a period of twenty-eight years, which, owing to leap-year, must necessarily pass round before the days of the month can return respectively to the same days of the week as at the commencement of the cycle. 4. The Dominical or SUNDAY LETTER is one of the first seven letters of the alphabet; which letters are used to denote respectively the days of the week, and one of which letters must of course fall to the Sunday throughout the year. But, owing to leapyear, their order is every fourth year disturbed; so that the Solar Cycle must pass round before the letters can fall respectively to the same days of the week. The present being leap-year, there are two Sunday letters; the left-hand letter is used till the end of February, and the other till the end of the year. 5. ROMAN INDICTION was a period of fifteen years appointed by the Emperor Constantine, A.D. 312, for the payment of certain taxes from the subjects of the empire. 6. The NUMBER OF DIRECTION. It having been decided by an assembly of Christian bishops at the Council of Nice, in Asia, A. D. 325, that EASTER DAY is always "the first Sunday after the Full Moon which happens upon, or next after, the 21st of March," it follows that Easter Day cannot take place earlier than the 22nd of March, or later than the 25th of April; so that from one date to the other (both inclusive) are thirty-five days. The number of direction is that day of the thirty-five, on which Easter-Sunday falls. 7. The JULIAN PERIOD consists of 7980 years; which is produced by the multiplication into each other of the Solar Cycle, the Lunar Cycle, and the Roman Indiction (28 x 19 x 15 7680). This period is reckoned from 709 years before the creation of the world, when the three cycles are supposed to commence together; which circumstance cannot take place again until the lapse of the entire period, a. d. 3267. The Roman Indiction and the Julian Period are not now of practical use in the Calendar; but the other observations will serve to assist those who wish to understand the Calendar, which is prefixed to the Church service, in the Prayer-book. BLEST Solitude! when life's gay hours are past, Trust future ages, and contented die. THE DUCHY OF SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA. COBURG is a country which has been as yet little visited by travellers, because it does not lie in the course of the great roads; but the fine scenery, the unsophisticated and original old German tone of manners, the economical mode of living, and the celebrity of its reigning family, will probably gradually attract many strangers. The ducal house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha is of the Lutheran religion. The reigning duke is Ernest, born January 2, 1784, who succeeded to the throne, December 9, 1806. He was married, first to Louisa, princess of Saxe-Gotha, from whom he was separated in 1826, and who died in 1832, and secondly, in 1832, to Maria, daughter of the late Duke Alexander of Würtemberg. He has two sons, Ernest, the heir apparent, born June 21, 1818, and Albert*, born the succeeding year. Of his two sisters, Julia, married to Prince Constantine of Russia, from whom she was divorced in 1820, is dead; the other is Victoria, duchess of Kent, born August 17, 1786: he has also two brothers, Ferdinand, born 1785, and Leopold, king of the Belgians, born 1790. The former has three sons and one daughter; the eldest son, Ferdinand, is married to Donna Maria, queen of Portugal. The following is a view of the provinces of the duchy and of their population: According to the latest census, the entire population amounts to 131,861. The principal towns are, Gotha (13,006 inhabitants), and Coburg (9067). With the exception of the Jews, all the inhabitants are Germans, and all are Lutherans, except 2000 Catholics and 1000 Jews. In this duchy, there are three gymnasiums and classical schools, one academical gymnasium, two seminaries for schoolmasters, one ladies' school (at Coburg), thirty-five town schools, and 300 village schools. The revenue is 1,100,000 florins. - The public debt amounts to 3,000,000 florins. The contingent to the army of the confederacy is 1366 men. The government is a constitutional monarchy: the representatives form one chamber only. Gotha, however, has still its old diet (three classes in one chamber). The qualification to vote for a deputy of the nobles is constituted by the possession of a seignorial estate (Rittergut). For the deputies of towns, every citizen is entitled to vote who has never been a bankrupt, and who has not been punished for transgression of the laws. In the villages, the householders form the constituency. The deputies must be of the Christian religion, citizens of the state, thirty years of age, and men of unblemished reputation. Those of the towns and villages must have either an estate free from incumbrances, worth 5000 florins, or an annual income for the purpose, superintend the election of the Officers of the government appointed knights and of the citizens: in the villages, the elections are superintended by the ordinary officials. of 400 florins. The ministry is composed of one minister of state, and of three privy-councillors. The highest court of justice is the supreme court of appeal; the lower courts are the colleges of justice at Coburg and Gotha; and finally, throughout the The husband-elect of our gracious sovereign Queen Victoria. ED. Sat, Mag: |