atoned for by the striking expression of the deeply furrowed and care-worn countenance; energy and determination appear in every line; a piercing look and a decisive air characterize the face, which is evidently that of a man irresistibly bent upon his object, and hesitating not as to the means of accomplishing it. The handsome features of Augustus next attracted my attention. His head is good, though the front is rather low; the countenance expresses amiable feeling, rather than dignity; there is nothing in it which indicates the proscriber of Cicero or the conqueror oi Marc Antony. I came now to the bust of a woman of exquisite beauty; that Grecian forehead and nose, that small mouth, that round and finely formed chin, that voluptuous throat, might have served for the model of a Venus. It is Julia, the daughter of Augustus and the wife of Agrippa. The forehead seems rather low-for this was esteemed a great beauty among the Romans and the form of her head is like that of her father's; the hair is parted on the front and combed back of the ears, being gathered in a simple knot behind a most beautiful way of arranging it; the face is dignified, but you think only of the beauty while you contemplate it. The bust of Agrippa stands nearly opposite. Energy, decision, and majesty, are the characteristics of the face; some would say there was too much sternness; the brows are heavy, and have the appearance of a scowl; but the goodness expressed in the countenance contradicts this first impression. The head is magnificent-the front broad and high, and the whole skull finely formed. The features are Grecian and very handsome, and nature seems to have lavished her gifts upon the man. Near Agrippa, is Tiberius. The likeness was taken probably in the earlier part of his reign, before all his detestable qualities were developed. The head is very well formed; but the countenance is coarse, vulgar and sensual, and there is a brutality in the expression, which is very disagreeable to look at. The daughter of Marc Antony and of Octavia deserved a moment's notice, and I was attracted by her dignified as well as beautiful face, and her admirably formed head. In all the busts of females the dress is extremely modest, but particularly so in that of Antonia, whose virtues form a bright contrast to the prevailing licentiousness of the age. Close by is the bust of the infamous Messalina, whose debauchery and crimes brought her to an untimely death; her trial, condemnation and death are finely described by Tacitus, in the eleventh book of the Annals, and having there traced her character, I was much interested in examining her features. There is nothing in her strikingly handsome face which indicates her character; and, unless there be something too little modest in the rich curling of her hair, no one would imagine this to be the portrait of a voluptuous and depraved woman; the formation of her head shows considerable intellectual power, which she probably possessed. Opposite, is the bust of Nero the portrait seems to have been taken in his youth, before the deformity of his character was exhibited; as here represented, he has a well shaped head, and a fat, jolly, and rather pleasing countenance; the nose is thin and somewhat aquiline; there was, however, an expression in the face which did not please mea sort of hypocritical benignity which utters tones of sorrow while it tortures a victim; if there is anything predicted by his look of his future ferocity, it is in this expression. Near him is his mistress, the celebrated Poppaea, the most beautiful woman of the time; her celebrity, however, was probably not owing merely to her beauty, which is indeed great; there is an animation, a brilliancy in her look, which shows the workings of mind; her countenance is rather bold, but full of vivacity, like that of a very witty person. I have no doubt she was a woman of talent and a great belle. Her hair is dressed with great care, in a manner which displays her face to advantage. No one can pass the head of Antoninus Pius without being attracted by the majesty and benevolence of the expression. The forehead is high and broad, the nose thin and aquiline, and the face rather long; the prevailing characteristic in the countenance is goodness; the dignity is increased by the long beard. This is supposed to be an excellent likeness. The next bust was that of a woman, remarkable for the fine preservation. Though undoubtedly an antique, it still has no mark of age, none of that yellowish color of the ancient statues; it is fresh as from the hands of the sculptor; like all the women whose busts are preserved in this gallery, it is singularly beautiful-a circumstance which would lead one to suspect the correctness of the likeness; it is the bust of Faustina mater; nothing can be more exquisite than the face and the arrangement of the hair, which is twined in wreaths about her head. The countenance of Vespasian is that of a philosopher rather than a monarch; in later times it might have been taken for that of a jolly monk. The head is bald; the countenance very broad and full of benevolence and amiable feeling. I could not help noticing also, the great size of the ears. His son Titus has a finely shaped head, and the features are handsome, particularly the mouth. The portrait of Domitian is not considered correct; the head is intellectual, the face thin, and the upper lip projects a very little. There are three busts of Trajan, of which the colossal one is considered the best likeness; the other two are absolutely weak, especially about the mouth; in the large one, the head is well formed and the face good, though not remarkable for anything. Adrian has a very good countenance, marked with thought and very dignified; the beard and mustachios become him extremely well; he is very properly represented in his ar mor, as he was probably seldom without it. I was much interested in the four busts of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, which represent him at different periods of his life. In the first, he is perhaps fourteen or sixteen years of age some would say twenty, or over; the thin pale countenance commands our interest at once, and displays to advantage the broad and lofty forehead; this peculiar thinness of the face, which is marked with thought, does not disappear till a somewhat advanced age, in which he is represented in the fourth bust. In this, the countenance is more stately, and the dignity is increased by the long beard. Lucius Verus is remarkable for his long, shaggy, knotty hair, which seems absolutely piled upon his head; the front is very good, but the countenance has a disagreeable and even brutal expression. The head of Sept. Severus is well formed; the forehead is high and the countenance amiable, but the nose is very ugly. Caracalla is remarkable for his bold and commanding look, the effect of which is increased by his long beard. We come next to Heliogabalus; his countenance is weak, almost imbecile - but the features are rather handsome. There are two busts of Alexander Severus; in one of these, the formation of the head is very poor a defect which is somewhat contradicted in the other; the ears are very large, and project from the head. Amidst all these, it was pleasant to meet with the sweet face of Julia Aquila Severa, a vestal virgin; mildness and goodness are the characteristics of this lovely countenance; the hair is simply parted on the forehead, and combed back of the ears. She was afterwards compelled to marry Heliogabalus. I came next to the bust of the Thracian barbarian, the gigantic Maximin, whom Severus raised to the highest offices, and who at length arrived at the throne of the world by the murder of his benefactor. The head is finely shaped, the countenance bold and majestic, and deeply marked with care and passion. The head of Constantine the Great shows that sculpture was on the decline in his time; there is a sort of hardness and stiffness in the outlines, like that observable in the first paintings since the revival of the arts. The face is rather long and thin, but bold; the forehead high, the look piercing, and the expression striking, but not agreeable. In one of the side rooms I saw the bust of Marc Antony. The head is uncommonly fine, and the features handsome; the characteristic of the face is dignity; the neck is uncommonly large-the effect perhaps of passion. All along the great gallery are hung the portraits of the most distinguished sovereigns, and the remarkable men of almost all nations. I was less interested in these, as I have no faith in their correctness; yet some of them are undoubtedly good likenesses. I was most attracted by the pictures of Saladin, the great opposer of Richard Coeur de Lion, and of Mahomet. The former I suppose to be a fancy piece; the face is very superb, the features small and very handsome, and the expression pleasing. Mahomet has not a very good head; the front is retreating, the nose aquiline, the mouth and chin small. But the countenance is full of fire, and is remarkably expressive. He is dressed in the Oriental style, and has a drawn cimiter in his hand. THE STAR OF NIGHT. BY WALTER SEVERN. CALM rolled the river, broad and bright, Disturbed, by fits, the mirror'd scene. Wild haunts within its column'd deep, There breathed the breeze its mournful dirge, Sent, like a warning voice, to urge The red-bird's flight to Southern bowers. Some hues of summer lingered still, Their shattered leaflets o'er the tide, The warbled music wont to ring Along the woods, in ceaseless chime ! Within the covert of the wood, When sunset faded o'er the wave, And coming night to solitude The dreams of superstition gave, A Christian lover woo'd his mate, The daughter of an Indian chief, Who listening look'd, and lowly sate, With smiles that seemed to strive with grief. There bloom'd upon her dusky cheek The coral sends its blushing hue. Had named the maid the 'Star of Night.' A gentle heart St. Aubin bore, Though he the hunter's craft pursued, And though fierce rivals frowned to see He fearless roved the forest wild, With passion's tender fondness fraught. THE HUNTER'S SONG. Away in the East, in the land of my birth, That, vine-clad and olive-wreathed, borders the sea, There dance, in the glow of their innocent mirth, A thousand pale-faces- but none are like thee. Through deep, tangled forests I wandered forlorn, And sighed for some planet my pathway to light, When, bright as the rose-cloud that heralds the morn, I saw thee appearing, my sweet Star of Night. Oh! when wilt thou gladden my home on the wild, As flow'rets in darkness still pine for the light- Dear lamp of my darkness, and Star of my Night. For thee will I speed to the prairies so green, And strike the wild bull in his headlong career No forest, though dismal and tangled, shall screen The fierce prowling bear, or the fugitive deer. Oh! how can my rifle prove other than true, Or how can my courser prove other than fleet, When success will restore me more quickly to you, And Love give new wings to the wanderer's feet? |