exactly the way, either to render Mr. Haydon really an excellent painter, or to induce the public cordially to allow him the rank to which he was justly entitled by his merit. It would have been surprising if the tone of Mr. Haydon's own mind had not been injured by his association with the little junto to whom we have alluded, and who have the modesty to believe that they monopolize the judgment and taste of the world. That it was so injured has been manifested in several instances; -in none more strongly than in his frequent forgetfulness, that the muse of painting is too jealous a nymph, to admit of any rival in the attachment of her votaries, and that

"'Twas not by words Appelles charm'd mankind."

For ourselves, from the appearance of the " Dentatus," which we believe was the first picture, or the first of any importance, which Mr. Haydon exhibited at Somerset House, we have been the steady assertors of his genius. We especially recollect that when his "Macbeth" adorned the walls of the British Gallery, while we could not be blind to the strange and exaggerated action of the Thale of Cawdor, and to the unhappy introduction of the diminutive figure of his "dearest chuck' in the back-ground, we endeavoured, through the medium of the press, to draw the public attention rather to the exquisitely conceived, and admirably executed repose of the venerable Duncan, and to the extraordinary knowledge of grouping, colouring, and effect evinced in the the "sleepy grooms.' When the "Judgment of Solomon" followed, while we were cempelled to admit the blemishes of the composition, we warmly applauded its many and preponderating excellences. From that time we frankly confess that in our opinion Mr. Haydon's pencil gradually degenerated, and that it did so we most consientiouly attributed to the cause which we have already described. To the same source we ascribed certain proceedings on the part of Mr. Haydon which, were it not for the respect we entertain for him, we should unquestionably denominate "quackquackery."— Still, however, we hurried

to see any new work of his with feelings of hope and expectation similar to those, which impelled us to run to Albemarle Street for the earliest copy of a new poem by Lord Byron, or to squeeze into the pit of Drury Lane theatre to witness the performance of a new character by Mr. Kean.

After what we have said, we trust we shall have full credit for the sincerity of our declaration, when we express the high gratification with which, on entering the exhibition-room at the Egyptian Hall the other day, we found ourselves in the presence of a production, which appears to us to be at once Mr. Haydon's chef-dœuvre, and an honour to the country. We heartily congratulate Mr. Haydon on having broken the spell under which he seems to have been for some years labouring; and which dwarfed his efforts. His mind has resumed its natural dimensions.

The general effect of this fine picture on the first glance, that critical, and agitating, and decisive moment!-is powerful and grand; and the impression thus favourably made is considerably strengthened by contemplation. Of the manner in which the awful and interesting subject is treated, the descriptive catalogue (which is rather incorrectly written) thus speaks:

"In the centre stands Christ, resting firmly on the left leg and foot, and easing his right foot by bending a little the right knee; his right arm is lifted up, the hand bent and beckoning, as suiting the words,

come hither;' his left arm hangs easily. Tranquil power and tender affection are what I have wished to convey by the action and expression; as if in the turbulence of the scene he, only, was not alarmed or doubtful. Right opposite is Lazarus, that instant come to the entrance, tearing back the grave-clothes that obscure his sight, (the first impulse of life being to see) and instinctively looking towards the Being who has restored him, with no distinct impression of what has been done. I wish to convey the idea as if his face still retained the unmoved, unliving air of death, while his eyes shine with bewildered re-animation. His mother, on the left, impelled by

her feelings, darts forward to embrace him; while his father, not yet sure of his actual existence, keeps her back till he has ascertained the nature of the figure. In the foreground are the grave-openers; one of whom has seen him, and, covering his eyes, as if haunted by the vision, drops his lever and dashes on without being sensible where he will run; the other sees him, and I wish to convey by his action and muscles the instant motion of a start. On each side of our Saviour kneel the two sisters, Martha and Mary. Martha suddenly lifts her head at Christ's voice, as if awakened from a sob; and half believing, wondering and delighted, sees her brother; while Mary, tender and pathetic in her affections, muses in total abstraction on her loss; for though she believed if Christ had come sooner her brother would not have died, she was not perfectly sure he would again be re-animated. Behind Martha is St. John, bowing down with passionate piety at this new proof of his divine Master's power, while St. Peter is bending forwards, affected with awe, and putting his hand to his forehead in sign of his reverence. Between St. John and Christ are a Pharisee and a Sadducee; the Pharisee, who believed in resurrection, regards Lazarus with spite and doubt; the other, a Sadducee, who denied resurrection, won't look at all, but turns his head away as if in joke and contempt. They wear phylacteries on their foreheads, with quotations from scripture, as was their custom; and, as expressive of that hypocrisy with which they were continually reproached by our Saviour, I have given each a quotation the reverse of his look and expression. That on the frontlet of the Pharisee is, Lying I abhor;' while that on the Sadducee is, Thy commandments I keep ;' when the one is meant to look as if he did not abhor lying, and the other as if he did not keep God's commandments. Immediately behind is a young woman coming in with water on her head, unconscious of what is doing; next to St. Peter is an old ⚫ woman with the unmoved care of

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age, begging a younger, who is grieving, not to be so affected; a father and two sons are above these;

the father thanks God for such a miracle; the eldest boy, with the impetuosity of youth, points out Lazarus with both hands; while the younger boy clings, alarmed, to his father. Directly over the Pharisee is a young man out of danger, and who is eagerly investigating the look of Lazarus. The back-ground is meant to be the tone that envelopes the sky at a thunder storm; and the figures are supposed to be lighted by a sudden flash before the fore-ground. In this description it is simply intended to convey to the spectator the painter's notions of all the characters and expressions; the visitor is still left to the decision of his own judgment, as to the success of the execution."

We proceed, with no other confidence than that produced by our determination to state fairly, and without undue influence of any kind, the opinions, such as they are, which a close examination of the details of Mr. Haydon's picture induced us to form.

The action of Christ is very indicative of the feeling by which Mr.. Haydon conceives that our Saviour must have been at the moment inspired. We are not however satisfied with the expression of the features. The forehead and nose are delicately and characteristically marked; but the receding under-lip. conveys an idea of feebleness inconsistent with divinity. The proportions of the figure also are not quite correct. The left arm is rather too long, and the raised right hand is rather too large. These may seem to be trifles, but they are materially injurious.

In Lazarus himself we think Mr. Haydon has been completely suc cessful; and it is a success atchieved in defiance of great difficulties. It must have required consummate skill to represent a human being, the instant after exhumation, without pro ducing an exhibition of horror. Here there is nothing of the kind. Enough of the state from which Omnipotence has just delivered him remains in the countenance of Lazarus to attest the miracle of which he has been the subject, but there is sufficient manifestation of return

ing life to prevent the spectator from experiencing the slightest disgust or aversion.

dex already given, than to look for and find it in palpable and elaborate details. It was, therefore, with some degree of anxiety that we heard of the progress of a work, to be executed with all the minutiae of portrait painting, comprehending such a numerous body of the Peerage and public characters of the king dom, all engaged in the discharge of a duty likely to call forth such an infinite variety of expression and display of individual character.

The exhibition of this great his torical work, (for it refers to an event which must figure in the page of history) has removed the anxiety which we previously felt for the arduous undertaking of a meritorious artist. Those who had not access to the House of Lords during the Queen's trial have, in this picture, á most accurate view of the whole scene; a better view, indeed, than any person could have had during the trial, for in Mr. Hayter's work the spectator's eye at once embraces the whole of the proceedings: the order and arrangement of the Peers and of the House, and the respective situations of the Queen, her counsel, the witnesses, &c. &c. in the most palpable and interesting detail. The singular merit in the composition and execution of this picture is, that the eye never tires in surveying the crowded, yet still distinct grouping of which it is composed. The House of Lords, as a building, is very little adapted for pictorial effect there

are no architectural beauties to relieve or embellish a picture; the cross lights from the small side windows, the monotony of colouring of the tapestry and decorations, and the erection of the temporary side galleries for Peers during the trial, were still less calculated to aid the painter's work. The parallel lines formed by the Peers' seats, the cross benches, the sunken position of the woolsack, the brass rods supporting naked cornices, and the fence-railing of the side galleries, (all secure and commodious enough for the accommodation of their Lordships) presented a combination of difficulties in the composition and execution of an historical work, where accuracy of details must not supercede that general sim plicity and imposing effect as a whole, which is indispensable to invite and secure permanent attention.

A light and partial panoramic sketch of such a subject might be, and perraps has been executed; but neither of that nor of any other event in British History are we aware, that a record has been preserved like the present; entire in its comprehension of the actors and the action in the scene, faithful in its particular representation, and most curious and interesting from the great variety of authentic protraiture of eminent characters in different ranks, and the contrast and arrangement of attitudes, which denote in no small degree the force of individual habits, and the degree of interest which, in many instances, they may be supposed to take in the passing business of the day.

The labour of such a work must have been intense, when we see that the artist had to paint from the sittings of the originals (as has been stated) upwards of two hundred portraits; but not the least part of his merit is in the arrangement of the composition. There is, however, to the eye of the ordinary spectator, a singular and most felicitous arrangement of the perspective of the picture; which, without casting any object or part out of its proper place, conduces in an eminent degree to make the whole harmonize.

The choice of the point from which the view of the house is taken is admirable, and the propriety of treating the perspective diagonally, instead of taking a parallel view to the base line, by which arrangement the horizontal lines are in no instance parallel, evinces very great skill and a critical knowledge of the principles on which the old masters acted when determining to produce a peculiar effect; the arched top to the pictnre is another advantage also conducing to effect. Considerable art is also displayed in surmounting the difficulty of uniting the figures in the galleries to the great lower groupe, and the plan of placing the Peers at the right hand corner in a standing posture assists in attaining the desirable end. The chandeliers are finely drawn and coloured, and the manner in which the gorgeous colouring of the throne in the background is subdued into a chaste and quiet tone, by the gradations of the brass columns so managed as to lead the eye to it in the most perfect har

mony of colouring, cannot be too highly praised. The portraits are all true to nature, and even the unfavourable variety of plain habiliments, while they designate individual taste and habit, attest the fidelity of the artist, while they greatly diminish his means of producing pictorial effect. Had Mr. Hayter, like the late Mr. Copley in his picture of the Death of Lord Chatham, resorted to a violation of the strict costume of the moment, and diminished the pressing difficulties of such a work by a mere selection from the Peers present on that occasion, attiring them in their robes, (not worn on the particular day of that statesman's illness) he might have obtained some magnificence, but at the expense of real truth; not that we blame Mr. Copley, for he had great examples for his deviation from the strict costume; but that we feel ourselves bound to pay a higher tribute to the artist, who has succeeded in representing every thing as it was really seen at the particular moment, and shewn that by the application of arduous labour, and unsparing attention, it was practicable to combine this minute fidelity with a plan of composition and tone of execution, in a high degree calculated to produce general effect. The concealment of labour, where so much must have been exhausted, is also a remarkable proof of the artist's skill; every figure seems perfect in itself, and there is not a constrained or affected attitude in the whole composition-each personage appears to occupy his proper position, and to be engaged after his ordinary manner. In the various lines of figures, notwithstanding the

unfavourable arrangement of the seats for a work of art, there is nothing monotonous; all are naturally placed, and these positions which from their close resemblance to the practice in real life, dictated by ease and mutual convenience, appear to the ordinary observer as of common execution, because they do not strike him with any novel appearance, is the most difficult of management in the whole executive mechanism of art. To give the various attitudes of two or three hundred personages, all of the highest rank, and therefore requiring of the artist a close adherence to strict propriety; to preserve the respective likenesses amid all the difficulties of local situation, some in the galleries considerably above the eye, and where they were played upon by the cross lights from the windows, and others engaged in the thronged grouping below, was an arduous and, were it not for the example of execution before us, we should say an insuperable task; in every part of the picture the fidelity of portraiture is preserved, from the full front groupe

of the learned Counsel for the Prosecution and for the Queen, (a most finished part of the picture) to the more distant and indistinct, but still perceptible likenesses of the crowd of Commoners upon the steps of the Throne. The variety of interesting objects in this great historical work, leads us into prolixity; but we must conclude our remarks, by observing that the picture must be seen to have its merits more adequately understood. We understand it was painted by the order of the Hon. George Agar Ellis, a distinguished judge and patron of the fine arts.

ing. Both in form and in colour it bears the unequivocal stamp of Rubens; but it is Rubens refined, it is as if Rubens had painted with Titian's pencil and palette. Although the features are not individually perfect, the general expression possesses the most enchanting interest." The face, which is rather inclined forward, would in consequence of that position, and of a large projecting Spanish hat, have been prin