Along the street the new-made brides are led,

With torches flaming, to the nuptial bed;

The youthful dancers in a circle bound To the soft flute, and cittern's silver sound;

Through the fair streets, the matrons in a row

Stand in their porches, and enjoy the show.

There, in the forum swarm a numerous train,

The subject of debate, a townsman slain :

One pleads the fine discharg'd, which one deny'd,

And bade the public and the laws decide; The witness is produc'd on either hand,

For this, or that, the partial people stand:

Th' appointed heralds still the noisy bands,

And form a ring, with sceptres in their hands.

On seats of stone, within the sacred place

The reverend eldersnodded o'er the case; Alternate, each th' attesting sceptre took,

And rising, solemn, each his sentence spoke.

Two golden talents lay amidst, in sight, The prize of him who best adjudg'd the right.

Another part (a prospect differing far) Glow'd with refulgent arms and hor

rid war.

Soon the white flocks proceeded o'er the plains,

And steers slow moving, and two shepherd swains;

Behind them, piping on their reeds, they go,

Nor fear an ambush, nor suspect a foe. In arms the glittering squadron rising round

Rush sudden, bills of slaughter heap the ground;

Whole flocks and herds lie bleeding on the plains,

And, all amidst them, dead, the shepherd swains!

The bellowing oxen the besiegers hear, They rise, take horse, approach and meet the war;

They fight, they fall, beside the silver flood;

The waving silver seemed to blush with blood.

There tumult, there contention, stood confest;

Que rear'd a dagger at a captive's breast;

One held a living foe, that freshly bled With new-made wounds; another dragg'd a dead.

Now here, now there, the carcases they

A field deep furrow'd, next, the God design'd,

The third time labour'd by the sweating bind;

The shining shares full many ploughmen guide,

And turn their crooked yokes on every side:

Still as at either end they wheel around,

The master meets them with his goblet crown'd;

The hearty draught rewards, renews their toil,

Then back the turning plough-shares cleave the soil,

Behind the rising earth in ridges roll'd;

And sable look'd, though form'd of molten gold.

Another field rose high with waving grain;

With bended sickles stand the reaper train;

Here, stretched in ranks, the level'd swaths are found,

Sheaves heap'd on sheaves here thicken up the ground.

The skill and application necessary to complete so extensive and so complicated a composition, consisting of upwards of a hundred human figures, besides animals, &c. must have been very great. Nothing 'similar to it, ancient or modern, is, that we know of, in existence. Mr. Flaxman must, therefore, have relied upon his own unassisted imagition and judgment; and we congratulate him on a happy opportunity, thus afforded him, of condensing into one comprehensive space all the professional knowledge, which he had acquired during a long and laborious life from the study of nature, and of the sculpture and literature of the Greeks. It is a production which, if any thing were yet wanting for that purpose, would set the seal upon his fame. Amidst so much beauty and excellence, it is difficult to select any particular objects of admiration. If, however, we were absolutely required to do so, we should name the personification of the Sun, by the spirited alto relievo of Apollo in his chariot, in the centre of the shield; and the .manner in which the various subjects of war, the attack by the Lions on the Herd of Oxen, and the Marriage Festival, are treated. Of the representation of war especially, in which Mr. Flaxman's anatomical knowledge is finely displayed, it may with perfect truth be said,

but alarmed dogs to further resistance. To these scenes of contest and death, the beauty, elegance, and sprightliness of the nuptial procession, with all its classical accompaniments, form a delightful contrast.

It appears that, highly to the credit of the taste, discernment, and liberality, of Messrs. Rundell and Bridge, this has been entirely a speculation of their own; no other person having any interest or concern in it whatever. They gave the original order to Mr. Flaxman, and paid him for the drawings and the model the sum of six hundred and twenty pounds. Four casts, in silver gilt, each of the value of two thousand guineas, have been finished from them: the first for his Majesty, who, with his characteristic liberality and love for the arts, ordered a cast even before the model was finished; the second for his Royal Highness the Duke of York; the third for the Earl of Lonsdale; and the fourth, which is the one we had the gratification of seeing, for the Duke of Northumberland. Each cast, with the necessary and elaborate chasing, &c. all of which has been performed in the most masterly manner, under Messrs. Rundell and Bridge's superintendance, and to the entire satisfaction of Mr. Flaxman, has occupied two experienced workmen for a whole twelvemonth.

We are surprised that this splendid specimen of British genius and enterprize has never been publicly exhibited. We are persuaded that a faithful and spirited engraving or etching of it, of a size sufficiently large to enable justice to be done to its merits would be extremely attractive; not merely to the classical scholar, but to the public generally.

THE Exhibition of paintings, patronized by this Society, becomes annually more interesting. This year, the productions of different artists are more numerous than formerly, and merit has increased with numbers. The number this year is

342.

No. 7. Interior View of York Cathedral. View of the East Window. T. TAYLOR.-Those who have visited York Minster, and contemplated the scene presented to the eye from the West door to the East window, must acknowledge the vista to be magnificently grand, and almost

to defy the imitation of the artist. But Mr. Taylor has attempted and succeeded beyond expectation. The minute tracery of the window and the roof must have been a work of laborious industry.

No. 43. Christ healing the Sick in the Temple, from a picture by the late B. West, P.R.A. H. CORBould. -Is strikingly expressive. Gratitude in the subject healed, surprize in some, and malice in others, are all depicted in a lively manner.

No. 60. The Death of Moses in sight of the Promised Land. E. CHATFIELD.-Is on a large scale, but a physiognomist would certainly conclude from the face of Moses that he did not possess all those mental qualities mentioned of him in Scripture. The attendant Angels have too much of human appearance for celestial beings.

No. 84. The Alehouse. G. MILNES. Is in mediocrity, but the scene is too disgusting and has a tendency, by being publicly exhibited, to blunt the moral faculty in its aversions from vice. Society suffers an injury when the Fine Arts are cultivated at the expense of decency.

No. 90. Dead Pheasants and Jay. H. P. PARKER.-This is a rich painting and an accurate imitation of nature, and would undoubtedly be a suitable ornament to the sportsman's sitting-room.

No. 110. Fox and Hounds. C. H. SCHUANFELDer. Is exceedingly animated. The fox is in the posture of defending himself in the last extremity, as mentioned by naturalists. He is perhaps too small for the relative size of the hounds.

No. 140. Vase of Flowers from Nature. ANN KELLY.-Is exceedingly brilliant, and rendered quite natural by the lively-appearing but terflies upon them.

No. 160. From Esop's Fable of the Ass laden with Provisions and the Thistle. E. LANDSEER. - The much abused quadruped, which is the subject of this painting, appears quite in style, bending under its Toad; the nostrils inflated and the hair handing in tatters.

No. 195. The Vision of Zachariah. W. BROKEDEN.-This picture was painted at Rome, and publicly exhibited in the Pantheon there in April and May last. The scene repre

sented here is very sublime. The contour of the Prophet's face is indicative of the masculine boldness for which the Jewish Prophets were signalized. The sombre hue of the drapery is quite appropriate. The agitated appearance of the atmosphere is well pourtrayed; but the horses and chariots, which are a part of the vision, are too much in the back-ground; indeed, some of them are scarcely visible. The Angel is too much of an earthly being. His eyes are not celestial and his fingers too workmanlike. There is an error in the Catalogue, which quotes the fourth instead of the sixth chapter of Zachariah's Prophecy.

No. 200. May-Day. Time of Queen Elizabeth. C. G. LESLIE, A. R. A. -This brilliant painting is a lively illustration of some of the scenes related in Kenilworth. The elevated May-pole; the motley groups; the clown in his scarlet dress, with pyramidical hat and long toed shoes; the various amusements; the promiscuous gambols of men, women, children, and dogs; the serenity of the atmosphere; and the Queen beholding them with royal complaisance; exhibit a specimen of English novelty in the days of." Good Queen Bess."

No. 206. Homer reciting his Iliad; Sun-Set. J. R. WALKER. The splendour of this painting gives it as great a superiority over its adjoining contemporaries, as the brilliancy of gold exceeds the appearance of the common metals. The setting sun has put the heavens in a blaze, and tinged the elegant buildings on each side of the river, which form a dazzling vista. The rich foliage of an eastern climate, burnished with the deeply tinged rays of the departing luminary of day, presents to our imagination a a paradisiacal state, where

"Blossoms and fruits at once of golden hue

Appeared, with gay enamell'd colours mixed;

On which the sun more glad impressed his beams

Than in fair evening cloud, or humid bow,

When God had shower'd the earth; so lively seemed That landscape."

In the fore-ground the poet is reclining and singing his fliad to a few bystanders. The whole is a chef d'œuvre of Mr. Walker.

If

there be any fault it is that the subject of the painting appears subservient to some of the accompaniments.

Method of preserving Paintings. -The following is an extract from a letter which we have received, and which we think may be in some degree useful, although the method is not, we believe, unknown to artists, and is considered by them impracticable. "As nothing is so much wanted as durability, to render the master pieces of painting invaluable, permit me, through the medium of your widely circulated magazine, to propose the following method: (which, if not attended with complete success, may probably induce others more competent to devise something better). Cause two plates of glass of the same size, somewhat larger than the painting, to be prepared, the one ground, the other ground and polished; having laid the former in a horizontal position, place the painting on it with the face up, the polished plate to be laid on that, the edges of the plates are then to be united by the blowpipe, except at a very small portion, that to be formed into a tube, and connected with an air-pump: when the air is exhausted from between the plates, by working that apparatus, let the tube be closed in the same manner as the other parts; thus the painting will be placed in a vaccuum, enveloped in glass, the excess of glass forming a margin wide enough to prevent the increased temperature from affecting the picture, may be let into a groove, or rabbit in the frame, leaving no other than the usual appearance.' British Academy at Rome. We have already mentioned the design of establishing a School of Drawing and Painting at Rome, destined exclusively for British artists. The idea of this Institution arises wholly from a few individuals. The subscription, began a short time since, already amounts to 935/. it will, no doubt, rapidly increase; and in the mean time, the managers are occupied in forming the regulations and conditions of admittance.

Discovery of an ancient Painting.

In cleaning the south wall of the church at Wootton Basset, Wilts, which is a more ancient part than the rest of the structure to which it is now united, the workmen accidentally brought to light a very curious painting, executed in the rudest style, but evidently illustrating the subject which it represented; the murder of Archbishop Beckett. The four knights in complete armour are in the act of assaulting the Archbishop. The figures of the knights are nearly perfect; the two latter in the act of drawing. The Archbishop is leaning before the altar; between his hands, which are raised in a pious attitude, is the wafer; the cup and the book are placed on the table before him; the crosier and mitre are by his side. His Cardinal's red robe, with golden bands, is distinct. His features are a good deal obliterated; but there is sufficient to distinguish that his head is turned round in sudden surprise. This painting is evidently very curious, both from the subject and rudeness of the execution. The picture is evidently painted on the first coating, as the bare stone is immediately underneath. The entrance by the folding-doors is also rudely represented, and, below, is sketched what seems intended to signify the cathedral itself. The picture is highly worthy the inspection of the curious.

The Statue of his late Majesty George III., which, a short time ago, was taken down in the Royal Exchange, was found to be so much out of repair, that the Gresham Committee have given orders to an eminent statuary to complete a new one, which will then be put up in the same niche.

Burns' monument, at Ayr, is completed, by the tripod being raised on the summit. Fifteen mason lodges walked in procession, besides yeomany, and a vast number of persons were present at the ceremony. The monument is about seventy feet.