AMERICAN QUARTERLY REVIEW. (continued 8)

The first measure of the assembly, when at length convened, was to appoint commissioners to a general congress that was to be held in New-York; its next, to make an expression of its sentiments on the existing question. The tone and unanimity of the resolves adopted, sufficiently show, in the author's opinion, that the temper and course of Maryland at this juncture, have been too lightly considered, and may advantageously be compared with those of any other colony. Another of her contributions, and not the least effective, to the common cause, was an essay published at Annapolis, in October, 1765. "A style easy but energetic, perspicuous thoughts, illustrations simple, and arguments addressed to every understanding," betrayed it to be the production of Daniel Dulany, the younger, whom it placed at once in the first rank of political writers. Long signal for talents and professional learning, his "Considerations" earned him the more grateful distinction of the great champion of colonial liberties; and in the joyous celebrations of the repeal of the stamp-act, placed him in remembrance with Camden, and with Chatham, his admirer and eulogist. It is known, that in this essay Mr. Dulany, though bold and decided as to the question of right, urged the disuse of British commodities as the most advisable weapon of resistance. This appeal to the commercial cupidity of England would, also, he thought, be the most effectual. The course, even could it have been perseveringly adopted, was too pacific for the temper of the times.

Political integrity and abilities associated the name of Dulany with the history of Maryland, during the better part of a century. The father of the distinguished person just mentioned, was admitted to the bar of the provincial court in 1710, and for forty years held the first place in the confidence of the proprietary and in the popular affection, being a functionary in the highest post of trusts, and long a leader also of the country party in the assembly. He was a kinsman of the celebrated Delany, the intimate of Swift, some of whose letters to him breathe the tone both of friendship and reverend regard. His son, Daniel Dulany, the Greater, (as our author styles him,) came to the bar in 1747, and was named one of the council in 1757; in 1761, he was appointed secretary of the province, and thenceforward held these posts in conjunction, till the Revolution. His legal arguments and opinions, the praise of contemporaries, and the deference of courts, attest him to have been an oracle of law; as a scholar and an orator, he was not only highly celebrated at home, but in the judgment of Mr. Pinkney, who saw him but in his "evening declination," unexcelled by the master minds abroad. Suavity of manners, and the graces of the person, combine to complete a most agreeable picture.

The stamp-paper had now arrived. The governor, to whom the lower house had refused all advice as to the disposal of that paper, found it expedient to pursue the suggestion of the upper, to retain it on board of the vessel. By a general consent, the ordinary transactions of business and of the courts proceeded without it, and on the 24th of February, 1766, an association, bearing the name of the "Sons of Liberty," was formed at Baltimore, with the object of compelling the government offices at Annapolis to dispense with it likewise. They assembled at that place on a day assigned, the 31st of March; and the provincial court and other offices, after first a peremptory refusal, and some delay, conceded the point. Thus was the stamp-act virtually annulled in Maryland; it had been repealed in England a few days before, on the 18th of March; so that, in the author's words, "Maryland was never polluted even by an attempt to execute it."

Of the subsequent revival of the scheme of taxing the colonies, the manner and the event are so well known, that we have only to notice the contemporary transactions in Maryland, which fanning the resentment of her people, kept her at an even pace with the other provinces in the march of resistance. The "Proclamation and Vestry Act questions," have lost indeed their momentary interest, but serve to show in how many schools of exercise the champions were trained, who afterward displayed their collected prowess in a more conspicuous arena.

The colonial legislature had always controlled the provincial officers by exercising the right to determine their fees, which, by way of further precaution, they had been in the habit of regulating by temporary acts. An act of this nature, passed in 1763, coming up for renewal in 1770, objections were made to the exorbitance of the fees themselves, abuses in the mode of charging, and the want of a proper system of commutation. Angry discussions were followed by a prorogation of the assembly, and subsequently by a proclamation of Governor Eden, ostensibly to prevent extortion in the officers, but with the real purpose of regulating the fees by the prerogative of his office; accordingly, he re-established the fee-act of 1763. The proclamation begat the usual array of parties for and against prerogative, in which our author includes the established clergy on the government side, and on the popular, the lawyers. In this conflict of influence and abilities, by a turn which is to be lamented, as it threw them into collision with the Revolutionary leaders, and exciting high resentments on both sides, kept him aloof from their measures, Daniel Dulany was, in this question, the prominent partisan of the governor and upper house. The grounds somewhat technical on which he defended their procedure as both legal and expedient, and the more large and comprehensive ones on which it was impugned, were set forth in a series of essays in the Maryland Gazette, in which Mr. Dulany's antagonist was Charles Carroll of Carrollton. The angry excitement of the day gave these essays one feature in common,—strong invective, and personalities,—"of which, some are now unintelligible, and all deserve to be forgotten." Their distinctive characteristics are,—in Mr. Dulany's, "the traces everywhere of a powerful mind, confident in its own resources, indignant at opposition, contemptuous, as if from conscious superiority, yet sometimes affecting contempt to escape from principles not to be resisted;" in his opponent's, the language of a man "confident in his cause, conscious that he is sustained by public sentiment, and exulting in the advantage of this position." When the discussion was dropped by these combatants, it was taken up by others, as vigorous and adroit. In this new controversy, John Hammond, no contemptible reasoner in behalf of the proclamation, found antagonists in Thomas Johnson, the first governor of the state of Maryland, Samuel Chase, and his more conciliatory friend and coadjutor, William Paca. In the proceedings of the lower house relative to this subject, we find a sententious description of political liberty, which might serve as the motto of all Constitutionalists. "Who," says their address, "who are a free people? Not those over whom government is reasonably and equitably exercised, but those who live under a government so constitutionally checked and controlled, that proper provision is made against its being otherwise exercised."

The "Vestry Act" related to clergy dues, and the controversy on it arose out of the technical objection, that the law imposing them, which was enacted in 1701-2, was passed by an assembly, which, being dissolved by the demise of the king, had nevertheless been convened with fresh writs of election. The law thus regarded as intrinsically defective, had the farther demerit of being revived, (as in the case of the officer's fees,) in default of an existing enactment, by proclamation of the governor. In this discussion the clergy naturally took a part, and "found in their own body an advocate of extraordinary powers, in the person of Jonathan Boucher." These questions filled the province with contention. An act regulating clergy dues, some time after, put that question to sleep; the other remained in angry suspense, till swallowed up, with all less disputes, in the vortex of the Revolution.

That event was now nearly impending. It may be remembered, that the duty act of 1767, in which the ministerial scheme of taxing the colonies had been revived, had been subsequently repealed, except as to the article of tea, on which the duty had been retained, "by way, it has been remarked, of pepper-corn rent, to denote the tenure of colonial rights." A new stratagem of the ministry in this matter was followed, it is also known, by "the burning of the tea in Boston," and by the retaliatory measure of the Boston-Port Bill; acts, respectively, which may be said to have made up the issue between the conflicting parties. The convention in 1774, assembled at Annapolis, in June of that year. In the October following, the tea-burning at Boston was re-enacted in Maryland, with circumstances of deliberation and defiance that show what a flame was abroad. On the 14th of that month, the brig Peggy Stewart arrived at Annapolis, having, as a part of her cargo, seventeen packages of tea. The non-importation agreement, to which the act of 1767 had given rise, was understood to be retained as to this article, which still bore the badge of usurpation in the obnoxious duty. The consignees did not venture to incur the public indignation by landing the teas, without at least consulting the Non-Importation Committee; but in the meantime, the vessel was entered, and the duties paid by Anthony Stewart, a part owner of the vessel. The people, highly incensed, determined, in a public meeting, at Annapolis, that the tea should not be landed. It was proposed, in a subsequent one, to burn it; and at a county meeting which followed, it was decided, that this should be accompanied also by a most humiliating apology from Stewart and the consignees. As the people now threatened to burn the vessel itself, the former, by the advice of Carroll of Carrollton, proposed to destroy her with his own hands. Crowds repaired to the water-side to witness the atonement; the vessel was run ashore at Windmill Point, where Stewart set fire to his own vessel, with the tea on board.

All was now preparation for open hostilities. Military associations were formed, military exercises eagerly engaged in, and subscriptions set afoot for purchasing arms and ammunition. The planters were requested to cultivate flax, hemp, and cotton, and to enlarge their flocks with a view to the manufacture of woollens. At this point we must leave Mr. M'Mahon. On the appearance of his second volume, we may resume his narrative from this period, and take the same occasion to notice some other matters in his work, for the discussion of which we have not room at present.

Art. X.—Notes on Italy. By Rembrandt Peale. 1 vol 8 vo. Carey & Lea: Philadelphia: 1831.

To review a new volume of travels in Italy, may seem to many readers an unprofitable task. Since its shores were first hailed by the faithful Achates, it has been the goal of travellers and the theme of authors. Every age has sent its children to visit that favoured soil; and the barbarians who rudely invaded it from beyond its Alpine barriers, have been followed by successive generations of men, less rude indeed from the progress of time, but not less ardent to explore and overrun it. Peace and war have alike urged them on. Its mountains, its valleys, its defiles, its broad and sunny plains, have resounded for hundreds of years with the clash of arms, and glittered with innumerable warriors; bands scarcely less numerous have penetrated every corner, led by spirits inquisitive for knowledge or fond of dwelling on beauties of nature, perhaps unrivalled, and on the certain charms of refined and exquisite art, with which no other land, however favoured, has yet dared to offer a comparison. Nor is there wanting the ample, the reiterated record of all this. Historians, and poets, and antiquarians, and novelists, and travellers, have made familiar every incident of every age—every allusion that can give fresh and delightful associations to every spot. What ruin is there that they have not made eloquent? What mountain, what grove, can eager curiosity, urged on by the enthusiasm of taste and genius, discover, which is not already hallowed—that has not "murmured forth a solemn sound."

Yet, still, we read over the oft-repeated tale; we can bear to hear again and again the history of Roman grandeur; we delight to trace the footsteps of warriors, of statesmen, of heroes, philosophers, and poets, whom we have learnt to regard rather as old friends, as household deities, as companions who have enchanted our youth, and beguiled our later years,—who have given us at once rules and lessons of human conduct, and pleasing visions to delight our fancies and our hearts, than as merely individuals in the great family of mankind. We can bear to dwell again and again on the graphic page which imparts to us the knowledge of those triumphant efforts of taste, of genius, and of art, whose charm time cannot injure, and which become to us the more dear, because they remain after centuries have passed away, with scarcely a single rival.

We were impressed with these feelings when we took up the unpretending volume before us; we can scarcely doubt, that they will be common to many at least of our readers, when they find our page headed with "Notes on Italy." To these sentiments will be justly added a favourable impression from the character of the writer, and the circumstances which have led to his tour and to the publication of the present volume.

As early as the year 1786, Charles Wilson Peale, the father of the author, and a gentleman whose name is well known as connected with the infant arts and sciences of America, was the first person to build an exhibition room in the city of Philadelphia. There he displayed to a public, perhaps but little prepared to appreciate them, the first collection of Italian paintings, and there his son acquired in his earliest youth, not only an enthusiastic admiration for the art itself, which he has since successfully cultivated, but an ardent desire to visit the region where he could behold the productions of artists whose genius he had learned to venerate.

Having commenced his studies as a painter under the direction of his father, he went to England, during the peace of 1802, with the design of visiting France and Italy. The renewal of hostilities, however, prevented this, and after availing himself for a short time of the benefits London offered, he returned home. In 1807, he again crossed the Atlantic; the disturbed situation of the continent obliged him to confine himself to France; but in the gallery of the Louvre he could admire, study, and emulate the noblest productions of the pencil and the chisel, collected by that wonderful man, who loved to blend in the triumphs of warlike ambition, the trophies dear to philanthropy, to science, and to art. Mr. Peale returned to his own country, not satisfied however, because Italy itself was yet unseen. It was in vain that an increasing patronage and attention to the fine arts in his own country offered him renewed reasons to remain there; he was as restless as before, and in 1810 we again find him in Paris, and again obliged, by the unsettled state of Europe, to forego his long cherished visit. He returned to his own country; but the fever that still burned as in the ardour of youth, was not allayed, and the idea that his dreams of Italy were never to be realized, seemed, as he tells us, to darken the cloud which hung over the prospect of death itself. For a number of years the duties required by a large family forbade his separation from them; but these at length permitted the gratification of his wishes, and patronised by the liberality of several gentlemen of New-York, at the age of fifty-one he was able to gratify a desire which had not failed to increase with his years. The narrative of his tour, which occupied nearly two years, is embraced in this volume. His main object was to examine the celebrated works of Italian art, and to select, for the employment of his pencil, some of the most excellent pictures of the great masters which are preserved in Rome and Florence; the copies of these carefully made cannot fail to advance, among the artists and amateurs of his own country, a correct knowledge of the fine arts.

With his thoughts and his pursuits directed chiefly to this object, we find in the volume before us, no pretension and little attention to antiquarian research, or classical allusion, which have been so generally called forth by the mouldering monuments, and the familiar scenes connected with the history and poetry of earlier days. Neither do we meet with the elaborate reflections on the political or social state of Italy, in the present day. It is true, the remarks of Mr. Peale are not confined to works of art, for he could not shut his eyes to the scenes among which he had to pass, and he was not uninfluenced by a general curiosity and love of truth;—but they are the notes of a transient observer, whose mind was turned to other things. Yet they are found not unfrequently to convey lively impressions of the state of society and manners, and of the local peculiarities of Italy.

Having sailed from New-York, Mr. Peale arrived at Paris, in the month of December, 1828. After a short stay there, merely sufficient to glance over the principal works of art, and to regret the altered situation of the magnificent gallery of Napoleon, deprived of the matchless memorials of his conquests, he continued his journey towards the south of France. Passing through Lyons, the route continued a long way on the border of the rapid Rhone, upon which he saw but one vessel,—whilst the road presented a constant procession of wagons. Such a stream in America, between two great cities, would be covered with steam-boats. As the road advanced south, it passed through more abundant vineyards, the verdure of the fields became more extensive, and, on each side, were seen vast orchards of mulberry trees, for the support of silk-worms, tributary to the great manufactories of silk at Lyons. As he approached Marseilles, the milder atmosphere gave evidence of a more genial climate, and the altered costume of the women, of a different people—to the caps common after leaving Paris, was now added a piece of black silk, of the size and shape of a plate laid on the top of the head; and, in the immediate vicinity of the town, the women wore black hats, with small round crowns and broad rims. Marseilles is a large and bustling sea-port, with but little to detain those who are in search of the productions of Italian art. Instead of pursuing the route he had intended, by Aix and Genoa, Mr. Peale here embarked in a Neapolitan ship, and, after a stormy and uncomfortable passage of ten days, found himself in the magnificent Bay of Naples. Four weeks were devoted to an examination of the works of art in the various galleries, palaces, and churches;—and most of the curiosities, the objects which attract an inquisitive traveller, were examined. Among the latter may be mentioned the catacombs of Santa Maria della Vita, which are thus described:—

"Descending into the valley of houses, and then rising to the foot of a neighbouring hill, we entered the court yard of a vast hospital for the poor; an establishment made by the French, in which are men, women, and girls, each class being kept separate and made to work. Here an old man presented himself who officiated as an experienced guide, furnished with a lantern and great flambeau made of ropes impregnated with some kind of resin. A little back lane conducted us to a kind of grotto, containing an altar ornamented with several marble medallions, which are said to have been sculptured by the early Christians. This chapel served as an entrance to the chambers of the dead, which consist of long, winding, and intricate passages, cut out of the tufa rock; in procuring which, for the purposes of building, these vast subterranean excavations were originally made, and afterwards used as depositories of the dead. During the persecutions against the early Christians, they were occupied by them either secretly as places of residence, where they might practise their worship unmolested, or, by the permission of their pagan persecutors, as abodes of the most humiliating kind, secluded from the light of day. Here our guide, preceding us with his smoking torch, which he occasionally struck on the walls, so as to scatter off a radiating flood of sparks which left him a brighter flame, showed us the little lateral recesses in which the humble believers were contented to lie, and shelves, excavated in the rock, in which their mortal remains were deposited after death. He pointed out the larger chambers, somewhat decorated with columns and arches in faint relief, in which the priests resided; the places where altars stood; and, in a higher excavation, raised his torch to a rude recess, or sunken balcony above the arched passage, whence the word was preached to the faithful below in a hall of great width. The chambers occupied by the most distinguished characters were denoted by better sculpture, Mosaic incrustations, and fresco paintings. We followed the windings of these subterranean corridors to a great extent, till we reached a hall which was said to be a quarter of a mile in height; but whether contrived for the purpose of ventilation, or as a shaft for raising the stone, we could not ascertain, any more than we could the accuracy of our guide's information, that the bodies of hundreds of martyrs were thrown down there by their pagan murderers, whence they were conveyed by their surviving friends into the niches prepared for them. From these remote parts, passages, now closed, were formerly open, which communicated with other catacombs and villages for sixteen miles round, affording the inmates, it is said, the means of escaping the persecutions which, from time to time, fell upon a sect so obnoxious to the pagan priesthood.

"We found the bones in these catacombs in excellent preservation, and on many the flesh of fifteen hundred years was still of such tenacious though pliant fibre, that it required a sharp knife to cut off a piece. The guide showed us the heads of some of those early Christians, with the tongues still remaining in them, but would not permit us to take one away. Here lived the venerated St. Januarius, whose particular cell was pointed out to us; and to these retreats was his dead body borne after his martyrdom; though some ancient painters represent him walking back with his head in his hands.

"We then visited the church of Santa Maria della Vita; it is an old and curious edifice, rich in marbles, and remarkable for the style of the grand altar, which is constructed over another one, as on a bridge, to which you rise by two lateral flights of steps, ornamented with elegant balustrades of costly marbles. The old monk showed us, behind the altar, an ancient painting of the Madonna, resembling an Indian, and a precious door to a case containing some sacred relic; but as we did not seem interested in these, he proceeded to open a door in the side wall, and requested us to walk in. To our surprise it was the entrance to another series of catacombs, in which were deposited the dead within the last two hundred years. These were placed in perpendicular niches in the rock, and plastered up, leaving only a part of the head projecting; the men with their faces out, the women with their faces in, only exposing the backs of their heads, from which the hair had long since fallen. By scraping away the plaster, some of the skeletons appeared in their whole extent, among which was an extraordinary one of a man about eight feet tall. The plaster which covers these bodies, thus showing only one half of the head, was painted so as to imitate the entire figure, clothed as men or women, and sometimes representing them as skeletons in part covered with drapery, with various inscriptions above them. The deeper recesses of these vaults led to chambers where we saw two carcasses of men, deposited only six months since; the flesh not decaying, but gradually drying up. They were naked and seated in niches in the wall, with their heads and arms hanging forward in very grotesque postures. In the catacombs which we first visited, the dead were generally placed horizontally, whereas here, all that we now saw were standing erect. We entered some chambers, however, with numerous empty horizontal recesses."

All the spots around Naples, of particular interest, as Vesuvius, Posilippo, and Portici were visited; crowds of beggars were encountered in all directions; but the people in general appeared to be healthy, lively, and happy. The streets are made gay by the immense number of carriages with which the public are accommodated at a very cheap rate, and people of all ranks are seen splashing along, sometimes to the number of seven or eight, clinging, as well as they can, to a vehicle scarcely large enough to hold half the number. The Neapolitans speak with great gesticulation, using many signs which have a known meaning; and they may sometimes be seen thus conversing across the street, from the upper stories of opposite houses. They are, of course, great eaters of macaroni, which is seen dangling from the shops in all parts of the city; and nothing is more amusing than the humble purchasers gathered around the stalls, stretching their necks with open mouths to suck it in.

Having seen as much of Naples as a long succession of bad weather permitted, our travellers set out in a vetturino for Rome, under the guidance of a snug, young, leather-breeched postilion, who spoke nothing but broad Italian. Crossing the Pontine marshes, where, it is probable, the wintry season prevented the frogs and musquitoes from recalling to their recollection the sufferings of Horace, they first looked down from the heights of Albano on the dome of St. Peter's, glittering in the bright rays of the sun, which just then broke through the clouds. On the last day of January, Mr. Peale found himself comfortably placed in a hotel of the Piazza di Spagna, ready to explore all that the eternal city could offer to his curious research. He remained at Rome till the month of July following.

His earliest visit was to St. Peter's, which he has minutely and graphically depicted. His first sensation he describes as one of surprise at the brightness and elegance of the whole interior, and in part of disappointment at the apparent want of magnitude. This was probably occasioned by the colossal statues, which, being proportioned to the vast pilasters, arches, and columns, seem to reduce the whole to an ordinary scale; and also to the wonderful harmony of all the parts, which prevents the contrast necessary to fill the mind with a sense of a gigantic object. When he had, however, walked over the wide fields of pavement, and compared the human beings before him with the stupendous masses around, he became by degrees convinced of the mighty magnitude, and experienced increased emotions of wonder and delight.

His visit to St. Peter's was followed by a minute survey of all the principal churches, galleries, antique monuments, and ruins, with which Rome abounds, among them, and in the study of the works of the great masters of art, he found five months pass rapidly away.

The houses of modern Rome generally present a good appearance, from the circumstance, that, although built of brick, they are, with few exceptions, plastered with great skill and dexterity to resemble stone, outside and inside. The puzzolana earth forms an admirable cement, and even when placed on the tops of houses it forms a terrace impenetrable by water. The streets are kept rather clean by the employment of convicts, but there is always abundance of dirt around the dwellings of the poor, who inhabit the ground floors, which are used not only for the residence of poverty and wretchedness, but for stables, and shops of every kind. The men, women, and children, however, in these unpromising abodes, are fat, dirty, and merry, and present no appearance of being victims of malaria or despotism. The streets, except the Corso, are seldom straight; but in the evenings they are filled with people, the rich taking a fashionable drive, with the utmost seriousness and silence, the poor lying and sitting on the ground, eating a piece of bread, or a fresh head of lettuce, in general, silent and serious like their betters, but occasionally bursting into roars of laughter, and expressing their hilarity by loudly clapping their hands.

"As the warm weather advances, every kind of workman who can get out his little bench, apparatus or chair, is at work in the street close up to his house. I have counted nine shoemakers, with their stalls, in front of one house, for the purpose of enjoying light and air. Benches and chairs are likewise occupied by the idle, chiefly old gentlemen, in front of the coffee-houses, especially in the Corso, where they are amused by the continual movement of carriages and pedestrians. In the evening, especially on holidays, tables are spread out with white cloths, and brilliantly illuminated and decorated with flowers, containing various articles of food, whilst a cook is busy on one side with his portable kitchen, cooking dough-nuts, or other articles, which are eaten on the spot.

"The English and French style of dress, both among men and women, prevails not only in the higher classes, but through all others, and in every part of the city. Huge Parisian bonnets, full set with broad ribands, are seen in every street; contrasting widely with the fashion of the country, which covers the head with a white linen cloth, folded square, and either hanging loose, or kept flat by sticks within them, or long pins like skewers, which bind up the hair. Long waists and stays are universal—the rich wear the fashionable corset of France—the poor, the stays of the country, thick set with bone, covered with gay velvet, and worn outside of their gowns, when they have any on, and tied at the top and back of the shoulders with long bunches of gay ribands. An apron, skirted with many coloured bands, hangs in front of a short petticoat with similar bands, and the shoes have great silver buckles. The taste for large ear and finger rings is universal, and heavy rolls of beads encircle almost every neck—the dark red coral being calculated, by its contrast, to improve their brown Italian complexion.

"The peasants, as they appear in town, differ from these, in wearing coarse pointed wool hats, decorated with ribands or flowers; wretched, old, ragged, or patched clothes; breeches without buttons or strings at the knees; sandals which they make out of raw hide, turning up a little above the sole, and with strong cords bound to their feet, the cord passing around their legs and up to their knees, encircling coarse linen or rags, which they wear instead of stockings. On Sundays and holidays, certain streets, as the Repetti, are the rendezvous of labouring men, who are then a little, but very little, better dressed than on other days; always displaying their stout legs in coarse white stockings, their knees still unbuttoned, and their shirt collars open even in cool weather, and, if warm, their jacket across one shoulder, one sleeve hanging in front—the other behind, and shifted to the other shoulder, should their exposure to the wind or current of air require it. I have often stopped to notice these groups, and have been surprised to find them generally silent, but with an expression of content. Occasionally, when a joke would circulate, it was managed with the fewest words. It is only when much excited, that a Roman displays any volubility of tongue or extravagance of gesticulation to disturb his usual air of dignity—whether above or below contempt—whether with much thought or with no thought at all.

"The Romans are certainly a sober people, but the lower classes, though they are not afflicted by Irish, Scotch, or American whiskey, Holland gin, or English porter, yet often indulge to excess in the cheap wine of the country. Every body drinks wine, and to offer water to a beggar would be an insult. It is only used occasionally with lemons in hot weather. At a late hour in the evening, in many streets, may be heard the noise of Bacchanalian merriment proceeding from some deep cavernous chamber, which, seen by lamp-light, shows nothing but coarse plastered walls, a greasy brick pavement, and benches and tables, around which, in the absence of all other comforts, the most miserable enjoy their principal, or only meal of the day, and freely circulate the bottle as a social bond. Besides, on holidays, the wine shops are frequented by groups of men and women, who sometimes exhibit around the door a noisy and licentious crowd. But wine is not always deemed sufficient, and those who are disposed to take a walk about sunrise, may every day see persons with little baskets of aqua vitæ, which is swallowed by artificers between their beds and their workshops."

During Mr. Peale's stay at Rome, the election of the pope afforded him an opportunity of witnessing the many gorgeous and striking ceremonies, which attend the elevation of the spiritual father of the church to his temporal throne. These he has described minutely, but with little variation from the accounts given by those who have been at Rome on previous and similar occasions. He speaks of the sudden illumination of the vast dome of St. Peter's, as a sight of singular magnificence; in an instant the whole edifice appeared to throw out flowers of flame, and then, a few moments after, a new succession of lights, still more vivid, by their superior brightness, rendered the first nearly invisible.

From Rome, Mr. Peale went to Tivoli, and spent some days among the lovely scenery of that spot, familiar to every one who has not forgotten the exquisite praises Horace has bestowed on it. He saw and admired the remnants of the temple of the Sibyl, which Claude Lorraine has so often selected to add to the harmony and beauty of his inimitable landscapes; and amid the importunities of beggars, who infest a traveller in Italy in every haunt to which the love of antiquity or of scenery can lead him, and beneath the spray of the cataract—the polvere del'acqua, as it was called by the natives—he sketched a drawing of a spot which poets and painters have alike loved to select in ancient and modern days.

On entering Tuscany, he was pleased to find no longer the rags and patches of Naples and Rome, but a peasantry, better clad, and more industrious; the country was in a fine state of cultivation, and the habitations were neat and commodious. It was the season of harvest, and the fields abounded with men and women in nearly equal numbers, and apparently happy as they were cheerful.

At Florence, where Mr. Peale arrived on the 7th of July, he remained until the 22d of April following, thus devoting to that fair seat of the arts more than eight months. His time was zealously employed in the pursuit of his favourite studies; and he made, in the galleries so liberally opened to artists, copies of many of those works which have been considered as masterpieces at all times, which have been deemed the noblest of the spoils of conquest, and have become the guides of aspiring genius, and the test of taste, throughout the world.

The manners of the inhabitants are lively, but in general decorous; and whenever crowds are accidentally assembled, they disperse without tumult.

"In the public square it is common, once or twice a week, to see a quack doctor, seated in his chaise or gig, haranguing the crowd, with the most impassioned language and gestures: at one corner of his carriage is a banner consisting of a hideous portrait of an old monk, from whom he professes to have learned his precious secrets in the healing art; occasionally he displays a book of botanical engravings, gaily coloured, to show his knowledge of nature and his reliance on the bounty of Providence, invoking frequently the name of the Blessed Virgin, and reverently taking off his hat, in which he is imitated by the faithful around him. At the end of his discourse he produces his medicines, which are eagerly bought by the credulous.

"Occasionally, too, a dentist appears, on horseback, with an attendant, likewise on horseback, who, in a similar manner, but with an eloquence more voluble, and language more refined, expatiates on his well known skill and experience; and then, to suit his action to the word, proceeds to draw the teeth gratuitously of any that may present themselves at the left side of his horse, to the amount of five or six. It is surprising with what dexterity he performs the act, without moving from his saddle. Afterwards, if any one wants the assistance of the accomplished dentist, he must be sought at his lodgings."

The number of beggars, though great in itself, is small, when compared to that at Rome. Every place, too, is crowded with persons who pester you with knives, razors, and combs—linens, silks, and cloths—cravats, shawls, and rugs—alabaster carvings, and every thing that can be carried about by hand, which they persecute you to buy in spite of your no, no, which means nothing to them. Experienced Italians send off the dirty fellows with a "caro mio"—"no, my dear, I am not in want of it." The streets are kept remarkably clean, and the houses are generally substantial and well built, but less ornamented with stucco and sculpture, than those of Rome. The public edifices are remarkable rather for massive strength than architectural beauty, looking more like fortresses than palaces, and black with stone and time. There are numerous fountains scattered through the city; but, amidst the abundance of bronze and marble ornaments which they exhibit, the stream of water they pour out is extremely insignificant. The coffee-houses are well served, the favourite ices are made with clean ice taken from the streams, instead of the frozen and dirty snow collected in the mountains, which is used at Rome. In all public places of resort, are seen quantities of beautiful and fragrant flowers, the delight of the Florentines; and men are everywhere met who carry baskets of them, which are offered not only to the ladies, but are presented bunch after bunch, with the most persevering assiduity, to gentlemen who are sipping their coffee, eating their ice-creams, or reading the papers.

While Mr. Peale was in Florence, he had the good fortune to witness the powers of the most celebrated improvisatrice of the day, Rosa Taddei, of Naples. Her performances took place at the principal theatre, two or three times on each occasion, but with intervals of several days:—

"When the curtain rose, the scene was that of a parlour, with an open piano, at which a professor of music was seated. On the entrance of Rosa Taddei, she was greeted with loud applause by her old friends and confiding expectants. She appeared to be about thirty years of age, and, though small, her uncorsetted chest gave ample space for the important action of her powerful lungs. She was dressed as a private lady. Her pale face indicated a studious life, but her forehead was low and narrow, though her head was broad; her little sunken eye was quick in its movements, and when it looked intently out, to fashion the measure of a thought, was accompanied by a slight contraction of the brow that banished all suspicion of coquetry. Her nose was small, and her mouth would be called ordinary; but when it was about to speak, it quivered delicately with the rising emotion, and varied its expression according to the passion of her discourse.

"A servant now advances to the front of the stage, holding a little casket, destined to received the papers which are handed from different parts of the house, containing subjects proposed for recitation. When about forty of these are received, the casket is placed on a side table. Without reading them she folds and returns them to the casket. This is an operation of some time, and serves to give the appearance of business, and, perhaps, composure to the performer. Advancing to the side boxes and orchestra, she offers successively to different persons the casket, out of which, each time, a paper is drawn and presented to her. With a grave, deliberate, and emphatic voice she reads the theme proposed. If the subject is hackneyed, dull, or unfit, a lamentable and deep-toned ah! synonymous with our bah! is heard from various parts of the house; on which she tears up the paper with an impressive look, which seems to say—such is your pleasure. When six or seven subjects are approved by the cries of yes, yes, she places them on her side table, selects one, and, advancing to the piano, decides upon a musical harmony, which the professor immediately begins to play, and continues delicately; during which she walks in measured steps across the stage backwards and forwards, looking earnestly down, occasionally pausing, sometimes raising her hand to her mouth or forehead. The crowded house is silent as death, and she is only influenced by the measure of the music and the arrangement of her unseen materials of thought. This being completed, she suddenly advances, and begins with a burst of language, in which she continues with unhesitating volubility and moderate action, occasionally uttering some fine expression that draws forth from experienced critics an approving bravo! It was to be remarked, that as she advanced to the termination of every line, couplet, or stanza, according to the compass of the sentiment, there was a dwelling on the syllables and a monotonous chanting, very much resembling the cadence of a Quaker preacher; thereby permitting her thoughts to advance and fashion the commencement of the following line, couplet, or stanza, which was always eagerly and expressively pronounced at its commencement, and as regularly terminated in the thought-resolving chant.

"Among the subjects which she treated, some of which she began with little preparation, were the following:—The discoveries of Galileo and Columbus, and the ingratitude of their country; two Doctors, a Lawyer and Jealous Woman; a Lawyer's Inkhorn; and a Dialogue between the Dome of St. Peter and the Dome of Florence. This last appeared to perplex her a little, and it was some time before she could fashion it to her mind; indeed, there was an expectation, from the frequency of her turns across the stage, and her contracted brow, that she would be obliged to acknowledge a failure; but when she advanced and began in elegant strains to state the difficult nature of the singular task imposed on her, to give tongues to the domes so long silent, and listen to so distant a dialogue between the Duomo, the boast of Florence, and the Dome of St. Peter, suspended in mid air by the divine Buonarotti; and then with increasing enthusiasm, made them recount, in strains of honourable emulation, the great events of which they had been the witnesses, the delight of the audience knew no bounds in the thundering repetitions of bravo!

"Some of the pieces she composed with terminating words, suggested by acclamation from the audience as she proceeded; other pieces were so conceived as to introduce a particular word into every stanza, proposed by any voice at its commencement. It was a singular and interesting exhibition, in which a little feeble woman, during a whole evening, could afford the most refined entertainment to a crowded theatre. Such is the homage paid to mental superiority."

From Florence, Mr. Peale proceeded to Pisa, and thence along the plains or alluvial grounds between the mountains and the Mediterranean, on the road to Genoa. At Carrara, he visited and examined the studios and work-shops, where the various works in the marble of the celebrated quarries are made. This marble is obtained in the ravines of the mountains, from two to five miles distant from the town. It is generally taken from their base, but frequently great masses are tumbled from situations many hundred feet high, to which the labourers are an hour in ascending, and where they work with cords around them, to secure them against the danger of falling. The whitest marble is found only in occasional layers, some at the base of the mountain is most beautifully so.

On entering Genoa, the streets through which Mr. Peale passed, though of moderate width, presented the appearance of much magnificence, being lined with the palaces of the king and nobles. In other parts he remarked, however, but little of the splendour which would entitle it to be called a city of palaces; the houses are in general plain and high, and the passages of communication wide enough only for persons on foot.

From Genoa, Mr. Peale turned again to the east, and, crossing the extremities of the Maritime Alps, passed through the broad and beautiful plain which spreads far and wide on either bank of the Po. At Parma, he visited the plain and simple palace where the Empress Maria Louisa resides, and a beautiful new theatre contiguous to it lately built by her; he saw also the more splendid palace once inhabited by Napoleon, which is at the extremity of the city, surrounded by fine gardens, and contains some good frescoes and fine old tapestry. The pictures which crowd the churches, are not, however, in the best style, but the marbles are frequently rich and well wrought.

Bologna presents the singular character of a city composed of streets, lined, with a few exceptions, with arcades, many of which are of lofty and elegant proportions, and the arches supported by stone pillars with handsome bases and capitals, while others are of plastered brick. These long ranges of columnated arcades, impart great elegance to the general aspect of the place. The public square is ornamented by a magnificent fountain, which ranks among the greatest works of John of Bologna. In the gallery of the fine arts are some admirable pictures of Guido, Domenichino, and the Caraccis; and the Pontifical University is attended by a great number of students, while its halls are well filled by an extensive library, and large collections relating to natural science.

From Bologna Mr. Peale proceeded through Ferrara to Venice. His description of the entrance into that celebrated city of the sea, does not offer the glowing picture which novelists and poets have delighted to paint, but perhaps conveys a more correct idea of the reality.

"Early the next morning we beheld the queen of the ocean, at the extremity of the lagune, stretching across, and almost united with the mole of fishermen's dwellings, called Palestrina. The steeples and domes were relieved by an extensive range of gray mountains, rising high in the distance, upon the tops of which the snow was bright with the rising sun. For many miles our boat was towed by another boat with oarsmen. At length we reached some old walls and ruinous houses, the outskirts of Venice, and passing these, opened into a magnificent harbour, resembling a great river, lined with good houses, and animated by a variety of shipping and boats in motion. Crossing this great harbour, we approached a point of land embellished by a beautiful edifice as the Porto Franco, and then opened into another great but less spacious canal. In front, the singular but beautiful palace of the doges, and the lesser palace of St. Mark were close by, with a fine terrace or wharf extending along the water's edge. As our boat pursued its way to the post-office, down the great serpentine canal or river, the magnificence of the palaces, and their peculiar style of architecture, rich in bold ornaments, balconies, and sculptures, excited us to frequent exclamations of admiration. What must have been their beauty when Venice was in her full glory, and these marble palaces were new or in bright repair? From many which were built of brick, the plastering was falling off, and others, with broken windows, were uninhabited: yet, as an evidence of renovation, since Venice has been made a free port, we passed a large new edifice, rising from an old foundation, and others undergoing repair.

"The Gondola, about which so much is said and sung, is a ferry-boat, very much resembling an Indian canoe, floating lightly on the water, and rising pointed at each end, the front being ornamented with a large sharp-edged piece of iron, something like a battle-axe. In the centre are cushioned seats, with an arched covering of black cloth, where two grown persons and two children may conveniently sit, or, on an emergency, six grown persons may squeeze together, either with open door and side windows, or closed with glass or black Venetian blinds. The boatmen, without a rudder, and only one oar at his right side, stands on the little deck of his narrow stern, and bearing his weight on his oar, which seldom rises out of the water, not only urges the gondola straight onwards, but by dextrous movements, which are practised from infancy, turns it in all directions with surprising facility and accuracy.

"Having reached the post-office, and assorted our baggage, we entered one of these gondolas, and returned to the Hotel de l'Europe, which we had passed on entering the port. I found that the use of one oar produced an unpleasant rocking of the boat, to which those are not subject who employ an additional boatman at the front of the canoe, whose oar, striking simultaneously with the other, at opposite sides, corrects the evil, and it affords the advantage of greater speed when long excursions are to be made. We landed on marble steps rising a few feet out of the water to a vast hall, in which the light gondola, when only for private use, may be deposited; first divested of its covered chamber, which two men lift off the seats and carry up.

"It had begun to rain before we entered Venice, and a mist obscured the magnificent mountains which we had seen at sun-rise stretching beyond and extending far over the low lands of the adjoining continent. As it cleared up, however, the view from our elevated balcony, of splendid edifices stretching in various directions into the broad expanse of waters, was as delightful as it was novel."

Mr. Peale remained in Venice, only sufficiently long to make a rapid survey of the works of art which it contains, especially the masterpieces of Titian, Paul Veronese, and Tintoretto, which are found in its palaces and churches. Though the necessity of passing generally along the canals, and the narrowness of the streets which do traverse the city to a much greater extent than is supposed, give a gloominess to Venice, yet the place and arcades of St. Mark offer a gay scene not often surpassed. The leisure and excitement of a Sunday afternoon especially, make them lively with the fashion and curiosity of the city; among which the gay modes of Paris are less to be admired than the fine features and rich complexions of the descendants of those men and women, who have served as models for the glowing pencils of the masters we have named. In the evening, the crowd may he seen still to increase, enjoying the soft mildness of the sea atmosphere, and basking in the blaze of the patent lamplight which attracts them round the coffee-houses; whilst a fine band of military music, stationed in the centre of the place, with music-books and lamps, greatly increases the popular enjoyment at the expense of the government. The grand canal, in length two miles, presents on each side a great number of elegant palaces, intermingled with some ordinary buildings, all in a degree blackened and injured by age and neglect. Some of the palaces of the ancient noble families are in a grand style of architecture, enriched with a profusion of bold sculpture, according to the taste of the times, and the peculiar propensity of the Venitians to this exuberance of decoration.

From Venice Mr. Peale again turned across the peninsula. Passing through Padua, Vicenza, and Verona, he reached Milan, where he visited the celebrated works of art, which however do not seem to be numerous. There, however, he took leave of the arts of Italy, and bent his way towards the Alps. Near the village of Arona, he saw and inspected the colossal statue of San Carlo Borromeo, which he thus describes.

"It is made of sheet copper, and stands on a pedestal about forty feet high; and judging by a ladder which was placed at one side, and the proportions of the persons who ascended it, I computed the height of the statue to be about seventy feet. This agrees with the statement of my companions, who ascended under the skirt of his tunic, and climbed the iron bars which united the circumference of the bishop's garment with the brick core that rises through it. The head, they agree, is about eight or nine feet in height, so that only a boy or a very small man can stand in the nose. Yet it is not only a very stupendous, but I think it rather an elegant statue. My companions were amused with the singular animation which they found in the head of the saint, the dark asylum of a vast number of bats, which darted past them to escape out of a trap-door in the neck."

Crossing the Alps by the route of the Simplon, Mr. Peale reached Geneva, on the 29th of May, and after a short stay, set off for Paris. The dirt and incommodiousness of most of the Italian cities, gave increased enjoyment to his return to the noble quays of Paris, the Boulevards, and the gardens of the Luxembourg, Tuileries, and Palais Royal. After the course, too, which he had made through Italy, it became an object of no little interest to examine the treasures of the Louvre. He acknowledges that the specimens of the Italian painters there preserved, sunk a little in his estimation as he compared them with the best works in the galleries he had visited; but at the same time, he derived increased pleasure from many of the productions of what may be termed the old French school—especially from those of Poussin, Vernet, and Subleyras.

From Paris, he crossed the channel to England. He was astonished at the great improvements of late years in London, especially in the vast amount of buildings and ornamented squares, erected in the place of green fields, and the improvements effected in opening and widening many streets. Regent street, lined with splendid shops and dwellings like palaces, including its circular sweep of fluted cast-iron columns, and connecting St. James's park with the Regent's park, encircled with splendid mansions, he thought perhaps unequalled by any thing of the kind he had seen. Among the artists, he found our countrymen, Leslie and Newton, holding a distinguished rank, and he bears especial testimony, not only to the genius and reputation, but to the urbanity and moral worth of the former.

From London he proceeded to Portsmouth, and embarking there, reached America after an absence of nearly two years, on the last of September, 1830.

We have already remarked, that in this volume a reader is not to look for those reflections, either on ancient or modern Italy, which are to be found in the pages of scholars and travellers, who have visited it to revive the memory of former studies, or to gratify emotions which are excited by the contemplation of the fading relics of the grandeur of Rome. Yet, we collect among the notices of Mr. Peale, many remarks which occurred to him in the necessary attention he paid to the antiquities that abounded on his route, from one part of the country to another; and while he was exploring, with the curious zeal for which he is distinguished, all parts of the various cities and towns in which he stayed. Of these his narrative is perfectly simple. He enters into no antiquarian discussions; he quotes no passages of familiar poets and historians; he feels no peculiar glow from standing upon spots, or gazing upon scenes, which would have filled to overflowing a heart imbued with the remembrance of Virgil and of Livy. He paused in the midst of the Forum, but not for him

"Did the still eloquent air breathe—burn with Cicero."

He wandered among the heights of Tivoli, but though the "præceps Anio" and the "domus Albuneæ resonantis" were still there, they seem not to have excited one thought of him, who not only preferred them to the favoured cities of Juno and Minerva, but gave them as lasting a fame. This is not in our opinion an objection to the volume of Mr. Peale; the task of classical illustration has been well performed in the travels of Eustace, whose book, censured as it may be, will ever be a favourite with scholars; and it has been yet more brilliantly performed by the wonderful genius of that man, who has given new fame in his immortal poem to spots already consecrated by the noblest and sweetest inspirations of the muse. As to most travellers, indeed, we had infinitely rather that all classical allusion was omitted, than have inflicted upon us the long string of hackneyed quotations, and the vapid recollections of schoolboy studies, which go for the most part to make up such portions of their journals. What we find here on the subject of antiquities, is just what we might expect from an inquisitive man of taste, making no pretensions to extraordinary research or information. When at Naples, Mr. Peale of course visited the buried towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii, and has described them with much minuteness, so as convey a very distinct impression of their present state.

"The first house which was shown to us was the Villa of Diomedes, of considerable extent, comprising a variety of apartments and gardens. We descended into his wine cellar, where there still remain some of the jars that contained his wine. In this spacious cellar seventeen skeletons were found, probably persons of his family who had sought this place for safety. They were smothered and entombed, with all their ornaments of gold upon them, by the flood of hot water and ashes, which had evidently flowed in through the little windows where light had been admitted, and where the traces of the fluid may still be seen.

"The houses were generally of only one story, though, in a few instances, we found a small stair-way leading to some upper apartments. They consist of a great many small rooms surrounding a court-yard, with a kind of piazza all around, as a protection against the sun and rain. In two private court-yards we were shown gaily decorated fountains, in alcoves or niches, curiously and elaborately ornamented with mosaic and shellwork, the shells being in perfect preservation.

"We looked into many shops, the counters of which were incrusted with bits of marble, of various colours, fitted around the narrow mouths of large earthen jars, which were imbedded in solid brick work, to hold oil and wine. Sometimes there were little shelves, like steps, covered with marble, upon which small articles were displayed close to the window.

"The basilica, or great hall of justice, was an oblong hall of great size, surrounded inside with noble columns, which, from their size, must have supported a lofty roof. At the farther end was an elevated throne, on which the judges sat; and beneath it a chamber, where three skeletons of men were found, fastened by their legs to iron stocks. From the public promenade we entered the tragic and the comic theatres; walked over the stone scats, now moss-stained; looked on the shallow stage, which allowed no scenic effect; stood in the prompter's central niche, and read the names of the managers, recorded in mosaic letters on the pavement in front of the orchestra; but its best sculptural decorations had been removed to the museum."

In the museum at Naples are preserved all the articles taken from the houses at Herculaneum and Pompeii, and they offer specimens of almost every thing that, even at the present day, domestic establishments seem to require. The visiter may here behold the charcoal form of a loaf of bread impressed with the baker's name; a plate of eggs, or rather egg shells, some of which are not broken, retaining their natural whiteness; thread nets for boiling vegetables; figs, prunes, dates, olives, and nuts of various kinds; the golden ornaments of the ladies; vases of glass of various colours; utensils of the clearest crystal; bronze candelabra of singular and beautiful forms; and all the apparatus of a household, exhibiting taste, convenience and luxury. Here, too, are seen the fresco paintings taken from Pompeii. Those first discovered, happening to be found in a part of the city inhabited by tradesmen, did not furnish the most elegant specimens of the arts. The judgments which were consequently propagated from one antiquarian critic to another, were unfavourable to the ancient painters, who were pronounced inferior to contemporary sculptors, and ignorant of grouping, foreshortening, and perspective. Subsequent excavations have been made in a portion of the city where splendid temples, halls of justice, theatres, and spacious dwellings, gave occasion for the best employment of the arts. The result has been the discovery not only of statues and sculpture far superior to that formerly developed, but of fresco paintings of great excellence and beauty. Very different from those previously collected, they decisively indicate a high state of painting, as it must have been practised in Greece and Italy at the time the statues were executed, which yet exhibit such perfect knowledge of the human form, and of the principles of grouping. They prove that the ancient painters were perfectly acquainted with the rules of perspective and foreshortening. Indeed, we may fairly believe, from these beautiful works, done on walls, and probably by inferior artists, that on other occasions, as in moveable pictures, their best artists must have painted in a manner to correspond with the high rank of their sculpture, and the extraordinary accounts given of them by contemporary writers.

"These specimens of ancient fresco painting have been cut out of the walls, where they were executed, with great care, and transported here in strong cases, which serve as frames. When first found, they are pale and dull; but, on being varnished, their colours are brightened up to their pristine hues, and exhibit to the astonished eye every stroke of the brush, slightly indenting the fresh mortar, which was given by hands that perished, with the genius that directed them, nearly eighteen hundred years ago, yet appearing as the rich and mellow pencilling of yesterday. Most of them are taken from shops and ordinary houses, and represent all kinds of objects, drawn with remarkable spirit and truth. Many of the better kind served to decorate apartments in which there were no windows, where they must have been executed, and afterwards seen only by lamplight. But the best were found in the porticos of open court yards, or on the walls of dining-rooms or saloons. In looking closely into these, I was surprised to find such spirited execution and knowledge of anatomy, combined with the most exquisite beauty, perfection of drawing, colouring and expression of character."

It is, however, to the works of modern art that Mr. Peale has turned his principal attention. Travelling himself as an artist; seeking for the subjects of his own studies, the masterpieces wherever found; exercising a criticism, not as the picture-dealer who sees in every dingy canvass which bears, truly or falsely, the name of some celebrated master, the marks of pre-eminent genius, regardless of the time or circumstances under which it was executed—nor as the connoisseur or virtuoso, who has to maintain or to gain reputation by the singularity, the rashness, or the accidental correctness of his opinions; but viewing them at once with the devotion of an artist who had long heard of and known the works he was now to see, as the various efforts of genius, sometimes successful, but sometimes also less happy, and having no end to gain but the improvement of his own style, and the gratification of his own taste, Mr. Peale must be allowed the credit of candour, and entire freedom from affectation in the judgments he has passed. At the same time we should not omit to notice the variety, extent, and minuteness of his examinations. No church, gallery, or collection, was passed by, and most of the individual pictures are separately and carefully noticed. At Rome, especially, he admired and copied many of the works of her immortal artists, and in the loggie of the Vatican he gazed on their matchless productions with the enthusiasm of a painter, but without yielding up his senses to the praise of tablets, famous only in name, and disfigured by smoke, damp, and age. The walls of the celebrated Sistine chapel were painted by various artists of merit in their time, but they are now much injured, and offer little worthy of notice; but the ceiling, designed and executed by Michael Angelo, is eminently worthy of admiration, as exhibiting the best productions of his pencil, and as among the few paintings of that great genius not yet destroyed by smoke, and giving evidence of the grandeur of his invention and the boldness of his execution. The Last Judgment, so familiar in name to every one who reads the history of art, now excites no attention except from its former celebrity, as it is dimly traced in the dark, through stains of damp and mould, and blackened by smoke. Of his great rival, and in some respects superior, the fate is scarcely different, whilst some of the smaller works of Raphael are tolerably preserved, the celebrated frescoes in the Pauline chapel are so much injured by time and smoke, and the lances of soldiers who have occupied the rooms as barracks, that they excite but little pleasure at first sight. Artists, however, of all nations may be seen continually copying them, some mounted on scaffolding up to the ceiling, some drawing, others painting, and all seeking out with almost idolatrous or rather superstitious admiration, the beauty of every head, hand, limb, and fold of drapery. They obtain permission to copy, without difficulty from the Pope's secretary, when the places are not occupied, or whenever a vacancy may occur; but so numerous are the applications for some celebrated pictures, such as the Transfiguration, that they are frequently engaged for years in advance by artists of various nations.

It is, indeed, by foreigners chiefly, that the galleries of Italy are filled. The praise of superiority is no longer due to the painters of the peninsula, and amidst the precious models which they have around them, few have, of late years, maintained or restored the departing glory of their country. Fresco painting, so admirably calculated to call forth and give display to grand and spirited invention, as well as to promote careful and beautiful drawing, by the elaborate cartoons which it requires, has almost ceased to exist as a branch of works of design. Mosaic is still cultivated with considerable success, but it is seldom applied to original works. We may rejoice, however, that this happy art will preserve to future and distant ages, accurate copies of those great productions which have faded, and are still quickly fading, beneath the touch of time.

In the Vatican, there are apartments especially assigned to workers in mosaic, and placed under the directions of the historical painter, Camucini, who is zealous in endeavouring, by means of this curious art, and the great skill of those artists who at present execute it, to preserve the best paintings of the great masters, now imperfectly seen in several churches, and in danger of perishing. In these rooms may be found various workmen, some copying small pictures, for the purpose of learning and practising the art; and others, who are more experienced, occupied with larger works for the churches. In a great hall is a store, arranged on shelves, of the semi-vitreous porcelain, or coarse enamel, in cakes half an inch thick and several inches in diameter. These cakes are of every colour that may be required, all arranged, numbered, registered, and weighed out by an accountant to the workmen as they are wanted to be afterwards broken into bits. Some of the cakes consist of two or more colours, gradually blending into each other; and there are said to be no less than sixteen thousand assorted tints. The large pictures are wrought by being placed nearly erect, with the one to be copied, so that the effect may be compared from time to time; when not more than three or four feet long, they are done on sheets of copper, stiffened with strong iron bars within a rim of metal; but those of a greater size, especially such as are intended for permanent fixture in churches, are executed each on one great slab of stone, from eight to twelve inches thick, which is excavated about an inch deep, leaving a raised border all round. The irregular surface is then nearly filled up with a level mass of cement. On this, when dry, the artist carefully traces the contours of his picture; he then procures from the adjoining magazine an assortment of tints to suit the part he purposes working at; and is furnished with a little table, on which is fixed a chisel, with the edge upwards, in the manner of an anvil, on which, with a hammer, he breaks the semi-vitreous composition into small squares or other shapes, to suit the part to be copied. Along side of this is another table, furnished with a horizontal grindstone on a vertical shaft, made to revolve rapidly by a cord which passes round a larger wheel, turned by a pin at its periphery. This is moved with the left hand, while the right is employed in fashioning the bits of stone into squares, triangles, circles, crescents, &c. of various dimensions. The artist then chisels out of his composition, within the lines of his drawing, any spot he chooses to fill up with his mosaic; which, being inserted, stone by stone, with fresh cement, enables him either to pursue the continuity of an outline, or the masses and directions of similar tints; so that he can work at any spot, and fill up the intervals, or take out any portion of what he has done, and do it over again. The stones are from half an inch to three quarters in depth, and in breadth, of all sizes, from an eighth to half an inch in diameter. After the picture is finished, and the surface of the stones ground down to a level, and perfectly polished, the white cement is carefully scraped out of the interstices to a little depth. A variety of painters' colours, in fine powder, are then each mixed with a small portion of melted wax, and put on a palette. With these, by means of a hot pointed iron, like a tinman's soldering-iron, the artist melts a little of the coloured wax to match the stones, and runs it from the point of his iron into all the crevices—then scrapes off the superfluous wax, and cleans the surface with spirits of turpentine.

In an art kindred to painting, but perhaps more impressive on the imagination and the senses, that of statuary, the Italians of the present age may bear a more honourable comparison with their predecessors. It is true, they cannot aspire to that wonderful excellence, which we are able to appreciate in the few fragments that have descended to us from the great sculptors of ancient times; but, still, the works of Canova, Thorwaldsen, and others, may be added to those of Michael Angelo and John of Bologna, and given as evidence of great powers of invention and a profitable study of the ancient remains. Thorwaldsen, who, since the death of his great rival, Canova, holds the first place as a sculptor at Rome, and whose taste and skill are known in America by a graceful statue of Venus, executed for and in the possession of a gentleman of Philadelphia, is remarkable for his careful cultivation of the antique taste, and the extreme simplicity of his statues. To become an artist, he studied at Rome, with singular assiduity, although contending with the most distressing poverty, till the age of thirty. His practice at the academy was to draw from the life only those parts of the figure which chanced to please him. He modelled in clay numerous spirited compositions, which he was obliged to destroy for want of the funds necessary to put them into marble or even plaster of Paris: and it was owing to the taste, judgment, and liberality of an English gentleman, that he was at last enabled to execute his first work in stone. In his workshop, Mr. Peale was shown a basso relieve to the memory of his patron, who is represented supplying the lamp of genius with oil.

Statuary, however, at the present day, appears to be an art altogether different in its mechanical and practical details from that of former times. The genius of Michael Angelo was frequently fatigued before he could approach in his blocks of marble, the forms his imagination conceived, and he often hastened to chisel out a part as a guide in the development of the whole figure, which was sometimes spoiled by his impatience. Now, however, a sculptor is scarcely required to touch his marble, or even to know how to cut it. He first models the figure in ductile clay, which is kept moist by wet cloths, during any length of time, so that he may give it the utmost perfection of form. This model he places in the hands of a careful mechanic, whose art is to make a mould upon it, and to produce a facsimile in plaster of Paris, the colour of which enables him more readily to judge of its effect, and to add to its beauty. When the model is thus perfected, the artist may either copy it himself in stone, or employ workmen who generally do nothing else all their lives, and who proceed without any of the inventive enthusiasm of genius, but with wonderful mechanical accuracy. The model is marked all over with numerous spots, which are transferred by the compasses to the block of marble; two well defined points may serve as a base for fixing the position of a third, and the workman continually measures as he advances to the completion; and in this he is expert or excellent, in proportion to the attention he has paid to his studies in drawing, modelling, and anatomy. The accuracy with which these workmen copy the model, is such as to induce the ablest sculptors to trust to them their choicest works. Many of the most skilful reside at Carrara; and, to save the expense of transporting large masses of marble, it is becoming very customary to transmit thither the model very carefully packed up, and to have it either accurately copied there, or roughed out for the sculptor to complete. Thorwaldsen, whose models are seldom remarkable for the delicacy of the finish, is so well satisfied with the general accuracy of the work done at Carrara, that statues which he is making for his native country, will be boxed up there and sent to Denmark, without being once seen by him.

As a school of art, Mr. Peale seems to consider the great advantages of Italy, as arising less from her academies, or from any direct facilities which are there offered to the student, than from the treasures of ancient sculpture, and the sublime works executed by the greatest masters, which offer admirable models, and serve to infuse a kindred spirit. In regard to the peculiar excellence exhibited in these, he admits that nothing has more puzzled the professors and critics of art. He thinks that, although much must have depended upon the capacity of the artist, and his means of information, and a great deal on the nature of his employment and encouragement, yet that almost as much advantage has been derived from accidental circumstances. The Italians, who enjoy a clear sky, and witness in their sunsets the most glowing colours, are surprised that the Hollanders, living in an atmosphere of gray mist, should have produced so many excellent colourists. It may be from that very circumstance that they were so. A vapoury atmosphere which reduces all colours at a distance to one hue of gray, serves, at the same time, to render every colour which is near, not only more distinct, but more agreeably illuminated; but, under a blue sky, the shadows are necessarily tinged with blue, and the eye becoming accustomed to vivid colours, too easily rests satisfied with the most violent contrasts, both in nature and the works of art. The atmosphere of England, in like manner, has contributed to produce a good taste in colouring, which was confirmed by the example and authority of Reynolds, who so well understood the principles of the Flemish masters. Giorgione, Titian, and Paul Veronese, were, it is true, Italians, and rank at the head of good colourists; but the situation of Venice, built in the water, essentially softens its atmosphere, and combines the advantages of Holland and Italy. The happy genius of Corregio derived his theory of light and colour certainly not from his visit to Rome.

Accidental circumstances have probably influenced several distinguished artists. Vandyck happened to learn the use of a certain brown colour from Germany, called Terra de Cassel, by which he softened and harmonized his shadows; hence the English artists call it Vandyck brown. Holland, enjoying the commerce of the East Indies, which furnished her with a variety of pigments, likewise produced from her own soil the best quality of madder, from which her chemists and manufacturers procured the richest and most durable dyes. Van Huysum, and other painters of that country, must have learned the use of this and other rich pigments, the knowledge of which they could not entirely keep to themselves, but which were probably known to Andrea del Sarto and the good colourists of Florence. It is not improbable that the fashion of wearing changeable silks, reflecting opposite colours in different angles, may have influenced the old painters to represent their blue draperies with red shadows and yellow lights, as in Raphael's picture of the Transfiguration: certain it is that such things being found in the master works of the great painters, which are copied with the most scrupulous exactness, even to the most palpable fault, the painters of the present day in Italy pursue the same system of colouring, with as much pertinacity as they display in their hard-earned accuracy of outline.

Besides, the revival of the art in Italy was by fresco painting, the peculiar nature of which required that the artist should first prepare his compositions in finished cartoons. At all events, it was the practice of painters, derived from each other, and passing from generation to generation, to bestow their chief study on a cartoon executed in black and white chalk of the full size of the intended fresco. Many of these are preserved in the galleries and churches of Italy, and are to be considered among the most precious relics of the art; displaying the finest skill of the master, in composition, drawing, light and shade, and execution. Of these original and spirited drawings, what are called the original pictures are but copies in colour, sometimes executed by the master himself, but more frequently by some of his pupils.

When oil painting was introduced into Italy, and adopted by those who had practised in fresco, the habits which they had acquired led them to practise the methods with which they were most familiar. Their oil paintings were therefore generally painted from drawings, and, hence, the colouring was often from imagination or recollection, which sufficiently accounts for its deviation from nature; although it is frequently spread out with great beauty and airiness. Those painters who, it is agreed, excelled in colouring, almost always painted their studies in colours, by which they had a double chance of success, without vitiating their own powers of vision by the continual contemplation of highly wrought colourless forms, or transcripts in fanciful hues.

We had desired, after these observations on the subject of the arts, which it must be confessed form the topic of chief interest in perusing the volume of Mr. Peale, to add some remarks on the political and moral character of the Italians, as it appears in the unaffected and occasional observations which occur in regard to the people themselves and their institutions. There is in general a freedom from prejudice; a temperateness of expression; a mildness of judgment, and a clear and natural manner of relation, which do great credit to the author, and while they assist a reader in forming an opinion of his own, give strength to that expressed by the writer himself. Our limits, however, do not permit us to do so, and after the expression of this general opinion, we must refer to the volume itself for the evidence of its correctness. In concluding, we may respond to the sentiment of Mr. Peale, when on leaving Milan, he bade farewell to the arts of Italy.

"An Italian, not exempted from bigotry, discovered a new world for the emancipation of man. May America in patronizing the arts, receive them as the offspring of enlightened Greece, transmitted through Italy, where their miraculous powers were nourished in the bondage of mind. Let them in turn be emancipated, and their persuasive and fascinating language be exalted to the noblest purposes, and be made instrumental to social happiness and national glory!"

INDEX.

A B C D E F G H I J K L

M N O P R S T U V W Y Z

A.

Achilles, illustration of the effects of ennui in, 38.

Acosta, commendation of tobacco, by, 149.

Address of Convention of Teachers and Friends of Education at Utica, &c., notice of, 283.

Alibert, J. L., his Physiology of the Passions, &c., chap. XI. Ennui, reviewed, 33, &c. See Ennui.

Aristotle, a prey to Ennui, 43.

Augustus II. and III., Kings of Poland, reigns of, 469.

Auto-biography of Thieves, 116, &c. tests of truth in marvellous narratives, 117, 118 first commitment to prison of James Hardy Vaux, Thomas Ward, and Vidocq, with the effect of placing young prisoners with old convicts, 119, 120 Vaux's account of a prison-ship, 121 necessity of solitary confinement, ib. evils from the slow operation of the law, 122 Ward's account of his first act of dishonesty, 123 his escape after horse stealing, 124 adventure of Vaux with Mr. Bilger, a jeweller, 126-128 robbery by Beaumont of the police of Paris, 128, 129 criminals the best police officers, 129 circumstances that led Vidocq to become a police officer, 130 his first capture, 131 arrest of a receiver of stolen property, 132 hazard police officers run, exhibited in the arrest of Fossard by Vidocq, 132, 133.

B.

Bacon, Lord, commendation of tobacco, by, 149.

Balboa, Vasco Nuñez de, his adventures in South America, 176-183 his execution, 184.

Baltimore, Lord, his grant of Maryland, &c., 483, &c. See Maryland.

Bank of the United States, report of the Committee of Ways and Means on, and the President's Message in relation to, 246, &c. President Jackson's course in relation to, 247, 248 propositions involved in his Message examined, 249, &c. on the constitutionality of, 249-258 whether the influence it exercises is dangerous, 258-261 whether it creates discontent with the people, and collision with the states, 261-266 whether the proposed bank is free from these objections, 266-282.

Bastides, Rodrigo de, his voyage to America, 169.

Bates, Professor, in the New-York Convention for founding a University, 285-287.

Beaumont, M. E. de, his researches on the geological age of mountains, 109-112.

Beaumont, Elie de, and M. Dufrenoy, their Voyage Metallurgique en Angleterre, notice of, 352. See Iron.

Bible, the, oration on the advantages of, as a school-book, &c., by Thomas S. Grimké, notice of, 283.

Bolingbroke, Lord, character of, 49, 50.

Bollman, Dr. Erick, his arrest by General Wilkinson for a participation in Burr's plot, 216.

Boré, Etienne, his cultivation of the sugar cane, 198.

Bruce, the traveller, a prey to ennui at the fountain head of the Nile, 38.

Brun, Malte, his Universal Geography, 82, &c. his arrangement of mountains into connected systems, 90.

Bonaparte, N., remarkable instance of ennui in, 48.

Burke, Edmund, notice of, 323-326.

Burr, Aaron, proceedings at New-Orleans in relation to his plot, 216-218.

Byron, Lord, his description of ennui, 34.

C.

Calvert, Cecilius, his part in the settlement of Maryland, 490.

Calvert, Leonard, colony of Maryland established by, 490.

Carondelet, Baron de, his miscalculations respecting the western people of the United States, 211.

Casimir the Great, King of Poland, events in the reign of, 461, &c. See Poland.

Casimir, John, his resignation of the Polish crown, 467.

Catacombs of Santa Maria della Vita, 515.

Catechism of Education, by William Lyon Mackenzie, notice of, 283.

Catharine of Russia, her part in the dismemberment of Poland, 476, &c.

Chamberet, M., his opinion of the use of tobacco, 152.

Champollion, Jr. M., his System of Egyptian Hieroglyphics, by J. G. H. Greppo, translated by Isaac Stuart, reviewed, 339, &c. See Hieroglyphic System.

China, residence in, &c., 52. See Dobell, Peter, his Travels.

Cibber, Colley, epigram on, by Pope, and by self, 127, note.

Clarke, Dr. Adam, a dissertation on the use and abuse of tobacco, by, 136, &c. anecdote of, 155.

Clayborne, William, his disturbances in the early settlement of Maryland, 486 Clayborne and Ingle's rebellion, 491.

College-Instruction and Discipline, 283, &c. education must be suited to the country, 284 universities in France, Italy, Great Britain, Germany, Russia, and the United States, ib. proceedings of a Convention of literary and scientific gentlemen at New-York, 285, &c. organization of Harvard and other colleges, 287 appointment of professors, ib. Mr. Sparks on this subject, 288 their remuneration, 289, 290 Dr. Leiber's opinion, 290 powers of the president, 291 University of Virginia, 292 salutary rules the best safeguards of universities, 293 existing and proposed modes of punishment, 294-296 should one university refuse admission to students dismissed from another? 297 gaming and drinking, 298 regulations in regard to students' funds, 299, 300 uniform dress, &c., 301 practical instruction, 301, 302, age of admission, and period and plan of study, 303-306 ought students to be confined to their classes, or allowed to receive degrees when found prepared on examination? 306 should the title Bachelor of Arts be retained? 307 study of languages and mathematics, 307, 308 mode of conveying instruction, 309, 313 necessity of a department of English language, 313.

Columbus, C., Voyages and Discoveries of the Companions of, 163. See Irving, Washington.

Cosa, Juan de la, his participation in the discoveries of South America, 166, &c.

Croly, Rev. George, A. M., his Life of George the Fourth, reviewed, 314, &c. See George IV.

Cullen, Dr., his opinion on the use of tobacco, 153.

Culman, F. I., his translation of Karsten's Manuel de la Metallurgie de fer, notice of, 352, &c. See Iron.

D.

Davila, Pedro Arias, his execution of Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, whom he superseded, 184.

Dobell, Peter, his Travels in Kamtchatka and Siberia, with a narrative of a residence in China, reviewed, 52, &c. his facilities for acquiring information, 52 venality of the Chinese, 53 opium smuggling, 54 robbery of the government, 54, 55 pirates, and fate of their leader Apo-Tsy, 55 salt trade, ib. unblushing venality of the mandarins, 56, 57 population of China overrated, 57 productions of the climate, tea, 58, 59 mechanic arts, 59 character, mode of living, temperature, fops, amusements, 60, 61 dinners of ceremony, 62 religion, 62, 63 Mr. Dobell's arrival at St. Peter's and St. Paul's, 63 bay of Avatcha, and embankments on the river, ib. the Kamtchatdales poor but hospitable, 64 their dwellings, 65 hospitable reception at the cottage of Toyune of Sherrom, 66 volcano of Klootchefsky, ib. town of Nijna Kamtchatsk, ib. winter store of a Kamtchadale family, 67 perilous adventure of the Toyune of Malka, ib. sagacity, perseverance, and swiftness, of the Kamtchatdale dogs, 69 in the country of the Tongusees, the author deserted by the native guides, and his dangerous adventures, 70-72 town of Ochotsk, 72, 73 journey thence to Yakutsk, 73 dress and appearance of the Yakuts and Tongusees, 74 water communications of Siberia, ib. colony of banished persons on the banks of the river Aldan, 75 the Yakuts a pastoral people, 76 arrival at Yakutsk, ib. Siberian wedding, 77 town of Olekma, 78 Irkutsk the capital of eastern Siberia, 79 journey thence to St. Petersburg, 80, &c. disinterestedness of the Siberians, ib. Tomsk, ib. Tobolsk, 81.

Dufrenoy, MM. and Elie de Beaumont, their Voyage Metallurgique en Angleterre, notice of, 352, &c. See Iron.

Dyspepsia, Method of Curing, by O. Halsted, reviewed, 233-246.

E.

Egyptian Hieroglyphics. See Hieroglyphic System, 339, &c.

Encisor, Martin Fernandez de, his participation in the early adventures in South America, 171, &c.

Ennui, J. L. Alibert's chapter on, in his Physiology of the Passions, reviewed, 33, &c. character of the work, ib. Lord Byron's description of ennui, 34 literature of the day transient, with a feverish excitement for novelty, 34, 35 nature of ennui, 36 Solomon's delineation of it, 37 illustration in Achilles, 38 in Bruce the traveller, 38 in Vergniaud, ib. ennui conjured up the ghost of Cæsar to Brutus on the eve of the battle of Phillippi, 39 its extensive influence, 40 its operation to be traced in the sanguinary amusements of ancient Rome, 41 its power over Jean Jacques Rousseau, 42 exemplified in Spinoza, 43 Aristotle, ib. King Saul, 45 causes the slander of the gossips, ib. influence on fashion, 46 in the haunts of business, ib. peoples the mad house, and inhabits jails, ib. Pyrrhus an ennuyé, 47 Napoleon, 48 Leibnitz, ib. Lord Bolingbroke, 49, 50 cure for it, 51.

Erskine, Lord, notice of, 324, 325.

Europe and America, &c., translated from the German of Dr. C. F. Von Schmidt-Phiseldek, by Joseph Owen, reviewed, 398, &c. features which distinguish the American from other revolutions, 399 representations made to England in 1635 of disloyalty in Massachusetts, 400 deductions from the North American revolution in regard to the south, 401 the old governments of Europe, 401-403 effects of the American revolution upon Europe, 404, 405 discontents now agitating Europe, 406-408 causes that will produce emigration to America, 408, 409 Europe cannot do without America, 409, 410 in seeking new markets for her surplus manufactures, North America will be an enterprising rival, 411 the old world destined to receive its impulses in future from the new, 412 consideration of events which have occurred in Europe since Von Schmidt-Phiseldek's work was published, 413, &c. situation of France, 415 England, 415, 416 Holland, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Russia, and Prussia, 417 South American states, 418.

F.

Fendall, Josias, trouble to the colony of Maryland from, 492, 493.

Fowler, Dr., his opinion of the medicinal virtue of tobacco, 153.

Fox, Charles, notice of, 322, 325.

France in 1829-30, by Lady Morgan, reviewed. See Morgan, Lady, 1 , &c.

Francis, Sir Philip, his claim to the authorship of Junius, 325.

Franklin, Dr., anecdote of, 163.

G.

Gallatin, Albert, in the Convention at New-York, to form a University, 285-305.

George IV., Life of, &c., by the Rev. George Croly, A. M., reviewed, 314, &c. marriage to Sophia Caroline, 315 character of George III., 316 private education of the Prince of Wales, 317 income allowed him, ib. attempts to palliate his vices, 318-320 his debts and expenditures, 321 Pitt, Fox, and Sheridan, 322-324 Burke and Sheridan, 324, 325 investigation of the authorship of Junius, Sir Philip Francis, Edmund Burke, Horne Tooke, Wilkes, Lord George Germaine, Dunning, Gerard Hamilton, &c., 325-327 jeux d'esprit of the Prince, 328 his marriage, Mrs. Fitzherbert, 329 ascends the throne as regent, 330 his last sickness and death, 330, 331 description of an election for members of Parliament, 332-334 how republicans can usefully study the characters of kings and legitimate nobility, 335-338.

George III., character of, 316.

Germaine, Lord George, his claim to the authorship of Junius, 326.

Greppo, J. G. H., Vicar General of Belley, his Essay on the Hieroglyphic System of M. Champollion, Jr., reviewed, 339, &c. See Hieroglyphic System.

Grimké, Thomas S., his oration before the Connecticut Alpha of the ΦΒΚ Society, notice of, 283-302.

Guerra, Christoval, his adventure to South America, 168.

H.

Hall, Judge Dominick A., his arrest and imprisonment by General Jackson, 226-232.

Halsted, O., his Method of curing Dyspepsia, reviewed, 233-246.

Hamilton, Gerard, his claim to the authorship of Junius, 326.

Hayne, General, his attack in Congress on the New-England States, and the discussion that ensued, 448-455.

Hearne, (the traveller) his commendation of tobacco, 153.

Herculaneum and Pompeii, ruins of, 525-527.

Hieroglyphic System of Champollion, Jun., Essay on, by J. G. H. Greppo, translated by Isaac Stuart, reviewed, 339, &c. cause of Champollion's researches, 340 clew afforded by the Rosetta stone, confirmed by a monument found in the island of Philæ, 341, 342 signs common to both, 342, 343 advantages of his discoveries in the prosecution of sacred criticism, 344 plan of the author's essay, ib. did Pharaoh perish in the Red Sea? contrary opinions of the author and Professor Stuart on, 345, 346 city of Ramses, where situated? 347 a manuscript 200 years older than the Pentateuch, 349 reason for the silence of the Scripture in regard to Sesostris, ib. concluding remarks of the author, 350.

Hood, Zachariah, the distributer of royal stamps, in Annapolis, case of, 507, 508.

Howell, (author of Familiar Letters), his commendation of tobacco, 149.

I.

Ingle, Richard, his part in the Clayborne and Ingle rebellion, 491.

Iron, importance of, 352 its use by the Egyptians in the time of Moses, 354 its importance gathered from Homer; used by Lycurgus for currency; in Solomon's temple, 354 art of welding; mines of Elba; steel; cast iron, 355 appearances of good and bad iron, 356 impurities in ores, 356, 357 grey and white cast iron, 358 theory of Karsten on, 359 reduction of ores, 361, 362 blooming, 363 stuckoffen, 364 flossoffen, 365 blast furnaces 365-368 casting; pig iron, 368 causes of whiteness, 369 fuel adapted to different kinds of castings, 370, 371 early preparation of iron in the British American provinces, and attempt to introduce into England, 372 refining, 373-375 cost of manufacturing iron in England, 375, 376 duty on iron in this country; its manufacture by charcoal; stone coal; capital required for a profitable competition, 377-380 how far government ought to afford protection, 385.