RAMBLING REMINISCENCES OF FASHION AND THE FINE ARTS. 171 character, and sank into a dry and servile it is admitted that they had passed away representation of the individual's dress. || prior to the reformed state of things, but Art drooped and decayed as the sources their works paid the penalty of their deof patronage became straitened in the viation from the laws of taste, being exiled rigid times of the Presbyterians, and the to the gloomy solitude of deserted galleagitations of James II.: the professors ries or chambers, and the custody of antiwere fewer, and more mechanical than || quated housekeepers, in the country manotherwise in the exercise of their acquire- sions of their noble originals. She who, ment. Unable to correct the bad taste of in the outset of youth and the supremacy the period, they laboriously copied what of loveliness and fashion, had, in dress they saw before them; the formalities of and style, undergone metamorphose from the Dutch prevailed over the stately ele- || the brush, now sate to the more discrimigance and picturesque style of the Spanish | nating painter, and, though perchance costume, and the extravagant toupées, the somewhat passée, issued from the modern ill-designed stomachers, the lappets and easel attired in the airy robes of ton, and pendants of some century ago, were given the soft bloom of earlier years. But it with plodding and undeviating accuracy. was not until Lawrence arose, like a bright "Nothing was extenuated" in these faith- star, culminating on the horizon of porful productions, which were rendered not traiture, that the new school was estabonly resemblances of the sitters, but lished. Endowed in an almost singular genuine likenesses of their favourite or degree with a perception of exquisite reholiday chintz or brocade. Contrasted finement, he availed himself of every subwith these, it is true, there were allegorical ordinate that could heighten the aristoportraits where the lady masqueraded as cratical caste of his productions. The a Diana, or a Venus, with her hair turned female heart glowed in the successes of up and powdered in the court mode, and the artist; and, while his creative pencil her garments fluttering fantastically in emulated nature in her loveliest producpursuance of the approved model of the tions, his splendid elegance of fancy led period; as an Arcadian Shepherdess, a him, like Vandyck, to array them in all Phyllis, or a Chloe, she displayed a crook the luxuriant attributes of rank. The bound with blue ribands, and a hoop of fascinations of a bewitching countenance, moderate pretensions. the dazzling revelations of the mind, the The error had struck so deeply, and be- air of patrician grace and loftiness, and come so inveterately hardy, that from the the traits of exclusive ton, were never reign of Queen Anne to that of George III. more felicitously pourtrayed than by this it continued to flourish without intermis- gifted individual. Imparting its last high sion. Reynolds, whose feeling of the pic-tone to fashion, he purified the gold in the turesque led him to reject a tame adhe- crucible of his genius, and sent it forth rence to the mode, when opposed to the free from all particle of alloy, while his graceful in art, ventured a first blow at pencil only seemed fitted to do justice to the starched proprieties of his predeces- the female nobility of the land. Among sors; but those who followed in his train his most enchanting performances, may fell into the extravagance of dismissing be included those of the Countess Gower' from their pictures every thing like appropriate costume, while at the same time they offered an unpleasing substitute. Of course it will be borne in mind, that these remarks bear reference to their female portraits only. With these originated the scumblers- the trowel-and-mortar apparelists: but their date was, comparatively, of brief endurance; fashion eschewed them, and the fair, at length, openly arraigned them of high treason. principal defaulters experienced the truth of the old adage-“ Chacun a son tour:" The An engraving, in line, after this captivating performance, illustrated a volume of that attractive and popular annual the "Amulet:" the limits to which the artist was circumscribed, however, proved unfa vourable to a development of the features and character. From this disadvantage the beautiful stippled engraving by Thomson, enriching a late number of "La Belle Assemblée," was happily exempt, a three quarter having been judiciously preferred to a miniature transcript of the entire. = (an emanation of divine beauty); of the Marchioness of Londonderry, with her son, Lord Seaham; of the Hon. Mrs. Peel, and of Miss Croker. The intellectual lustre, the tranquil charm, and sparkling vivacity in these pictures—their truth of character, brilliancy of colour, and felicity of arrangement, would alone stamp him as the first court painter of the age. We cannot quit this portion of our remarks without glancing at the portrait of the Countess of Belfast, exhibited a season or two back at Somerset House: one of the proudest triumphs of his art, it was indeed like a dream of poetry; the radiant eloquence and sportive witchery of her ladyship's countenance, beamed upon the canvas in a halo of loveliness. It was, in truth, a treasure cheap at a monarch's ransom, and threw into shade every thing beside it. But a bright train might be enumerated that would compose a galaxy eclipsing the celebrated fair ones of Hampton, and stealing the palm from the darkbrowed beauties of the days of Charles II. || In the brief space which we may claim, we dare not, however, enter upon the beguiling task of examining these glories of portraiture; and when the parterre is sown so profusely with flowers of the most exquisite dye, it would be a bewildering effort to attempt selection. It may, nevertheless, be positively affirmed, that of the better part of creation, no member ever sate to Sir Thomas Law-|| rence without the satisfactory conviction that her brightest mien was about to be perpetuated for the admiration of succeeding ages. Like one who roves through spellbound glades and bowers, ever and anon gazing upon features of unearthly sweetness, we have been insensibly drawn into these recollections of the late president by the allurements of the subject: we must, however, reluctantly turn from this delightful contemplation, to hasten to the conclusion of our paper. The style of Sir Thomas has annihilated every vestige of the former school. While the figure is justly deemed of paramount importance, the accesories receive due considera- || tion; they are appropriate, and powerfully defined, and the whole picture is consequently in perfect union. It is no longer a countenance of charm connected with a figure of slovenly arrangement, or, star-like, looking out upon us from a cloud of vapour and obscurity. The day for such has gone by, and the whole world of sitters, the bright votaries of the beau monde, rejoice in its conclusion. All the gay, the gorgeous, the beautiful and glittering conceptions of ton may now be advantageously submitted to the judgment of the painter: the plume may wave, or the coronet beam proudly upon the brow; the diamond sparkle in the silken braid, and the pearl gleam upon the still whiter neck. Fashion may attire her followers in her choicest vesture, nor fear that the favour will be slighted by the pencil; and the fair one, while preparing for her last sitting, and blushing before the mirror from the enforced consciousness of her attractions, may feel that her fancy is not exercised in vain, and that the reflection before her is scarcely more accurate in its details than the resemblance upon the easel of the painter. Among the favourites of the day, A. E. Chalon is one of the most conspicuous for the courtly elegance of his design: his performances in oil are however too rare, a circumstance which cannot be sufficiently regretted, when we remember the superb specimen, “ Hunt the Slipper," which he put forth last season at the Royal Academy. Sir Martin Archer excels in the male physiognomy; but there is much beauty and character in his female heads. Phillips has produced some striking representations of the leaders of ton; Pickersgill is rising, deservedly, in estimation, and the Hayters have, justly, attained fashionable popularity. The earnest advocates of genius, we with pleasure adopt this opportunity of grafting upon our remarks a brief notice of Miss Alabaster. The name of this fair artist, and the merits of her productions, are not unknown to the higher classes. Her copy of "the Infant Don Balthazar on horseback," from a Velasquez, in the possession of the Marquess of Westminster, was exhibited at the late view of the student's works in Pall Mall, and was remarkable for a purity of outline, masterly freedom of handling, depth and transparency of tone, and brilliancy of touch, which ren dered it one of the best, if not the best, in the gallery. Her fancy subjects are marked by sweetness of composition, force of character, chastity of colour, and elegance of sentiment; and her portraits in oil and chalk are not less eminent for an air of high breeding, truth of resemblance, ease of attitude, and picturesque introduction of accessory. In this " age of puff" panegyric becomes universally an object of suspicion, and a sneer or a depreciatory shrug, too frequently attends the perusal of encomiums based upon impartiality, but heralding a new name to the public. They, however, who would serve the interests of art and literature, must not shrink from the encounter of hopeless scepticism, malicious inuendo, or open attack. Were he to turn himself to portraiture, we think Parris, with his winning conceptions of grace, tenderness, and sentiment, his pearliness of tone, richness of colour, delicacy of pencilling, and poetical fancy, could not fail to se cure the suffrages of the élite. In miniature the claimants of patronage are still more numerous than those in oil; and in this branch, perhaps, no period ever presented so many genuine candidates for fame. An idea of their varied excellence may be gathered from the engravings which distinguish this periodical, many of which are transcripts of some of the purest gems of the art. On some future occasion we may probably enlarge on the respective merits of our miniature painters. We must here terminate these reflections by remarking, that although the genius of Sir Thomas has taken wing, the mantle of inspiration has, in part, fallen upon his disciples: it cannot, perhaps, be said that the magician has left one worthy of immediate comparison with himself; but it is gratifying to know that there are sufficient followers in his steps to ensure the permanence of his school, and prevent the revival of "the scumblers." Y. THE TALE OF AN ANCIENT CITY. of inexhaustible treasures, to frame a city entirely of jewels, forming one edifice of a whole transcendant diamond, another of a carbuncle, and others of emeralds, rubies, amethysts, topazes, sapphires, and beryls, the glory and beauty of it would fall far short of that which I now describe, and which it was my supreme good fortune to behold. Nevertheless, there was something terrible, both in the appearance of this wonderful Land of Ice, and in its nature; the atmosphere became saturated with its coldness, and the crew of the Mariana, in those sultry latitudes, shivered, and felt as if pierced to the very bone, by boreal frost; whilst the gay, beautiful birds, that inhabit the Edens of the great Pacific, and that occasionally flutter about vessels which wander over it in those parts, fell, deprived of sense and motion, apparently, if not absolutely, dead, upon this icy and unaccountable phenomenon. Nothing human dwelt in that land, but I could have made oath, as I gazed upon it, that it was peopled by spiritual creatures, that flitted incessantly to and fro, without visible, tangible form, but like those spectres which dance before eyes that have long gazed on an object of intense brightness; so dazzled, suppose, had my own sight become by the lustre of this enormous iceberg. "JUDGE of our astonishment," proceeds Father Alva. "Not a vestige of || land had greeted our longing eyes, on the preceding evening, and according to the Admiral's calculations, it should have been many days ere the western isles of Spice rewarded our exertions; besides, neither our soundings, the colour of the water, the substances afloat on its surface, or the fish and birds that played || about the vessel, had indicated our approach to land, whilst a dead calm had for many hours caused the good ship Mariana to sleep as profoundly on the deep waters, as does the mysterious Albatross in the empyreum; judge then, of our astonishment, I repeat, when, at the close of day, land, habitable land, lay before us, but land of a very singular aspect for those latitudes. In fact, had it not been that the bright scorching rays of an occidental sun shone upon us, I, who had sailed to the utmost practicable verge of the Great Ocean, which laves the coasts of eternal ice, towards the North Pole, I should have imagined that we had come, unawares, upon the southern extremity of earth's axis; the land, which now greeted our amazed eyes, being a tremendous body of solid ice, stretching alongside the Mariana, to a distance, east and west, of at least a couple of leagues, and towering at an immense height above her lofty main-mast, in masses (all pure ice) resembling rocks, forests, and temples. The rays of the newly-risen sun, illuminating this singular country, caused it to shine and glitter, like the finest gold, || helmsman vowed that it came suddenly and oriental jewels, with lines as changeable as they were diverse, glorious, and vivid; indeed the frost-crystals, reflecting and refracting those beams of purest light which fell upon them through the medium of a rarified atmosphere, and dividing them into their component colours like so many myriad prisms of various magnitudes and powers, presented to the surprised and delighted eye a spectacle unutterably refulgent and magnifi- || cent. Were a sovereign prince, possessed I "The decks and rigging of the Mariana were crowded, of course, to behold the singular land we had made, and which, indeed, to our apprehension, seemed sailing, slowly and heavily, past us. The upon his sight, like an apparition, and that ere he could cry 'land, a-lee!' it was perceived, and hailed by the whole crew; whilst some of our men wished immediately to put off boats, and to reconnoitre it, ere it should have sailed out of sight. Thereupon, rose up an old, old man, a passenger like myself, in the good ship Mariana, but a being of silence and gloom, who had ever been greatly feared by the ship's company. He was bent almost double; his wrinkled countenance proclaimed him more than a century old; his dress was not in the fashion of our days; his voice, when heard, which was seldom, sounded like the boding croak of the raven; and in his fierce, unnatural visage, and shy, cold manners, we fancied that we could detect a man of care, of sorrow, and of sin. He sometimes spake in our own tongue-the Portuguese, but sometimes in another quite unintelligible; styled himself the Fray Ludowig-and this was all we knew concerning him, because none had ever heard whence he came, and whither he was bent. When, therefore, this ancient personage arose, as if to speak, a profound silence ensued; and all eyes, turning instantly from the marvellous Land of Ice, were riveted on him, as if, on account of his unsightly form and physiognomy, he must needs be connected with this phenomenon. one does not know that some of the descendants of Ham, colonizing an island named Huz, in the Indian Ocean, built thereupon the city of Charathuz. It was a magnificent place, and rendered more so by the natural defences and ornaments of the island; lofty mountains, and majestic forests, upon, between, and amid which all the edifices composing it were necessarily built. Huz, also, was one of the loveliest of the Indian isles, and its colony might have been a happy one, had it not nurtured a fatal ambition. Its people sought to be monarchs of the world, and endeavoured to wrest universal empire from the hands of those powers of darkness, who held in thrall the souls and bodies of earth's increasing population. "Their religion was degraded into the performance of a series of barbarous and stupidly-superstitious rites, whilst magic stood at the head of their encyclopædias of sciences. The infernal powers, who were in those remote days allowed to exercise an authority over man, of which, in after ages, they were almost wholly deprived, were not then invoked in vain, and Behemoth was the supreme demon, or divinity, of Huz and Charathuz. A colossal image of this many ""Admiral!' cried he, to Dom Hermandez, listen to me, ere you allow your hot-headed crew to act; they know not the danger which they dare; and still less do they know, that the enterprise of visiting the deadly Island and City of Ice, is reserved for one alone.' Murmurs of amazement, dissatisfaction, and derision, were here very distinct. Silence!' exclaimed Fray Ludowig, in a harsh authoritative tone. He was obeyed, and pro- || armed, sanguinary god, formed of pure ceeded in his discourse, thus: gold, adorned his temple, to which was ascribed oracular and supernatural powers; its head was ornamented with a wreath of rubies, emeralds, and silver, wrought into leaves and flowers, so naturally, that strangers were wont to come from all parts to view it, who had ever heard of the beauty and magnificence of Huz, Charathuz, and the temple and statue of Behemoth. 66 6 'Yet more, probably on account of that which the demon had declared, respecting this wreath, than for its work "Friends! there is a history connected with the land before us, which it is plain that none of you have yet heard, and which I, being an older man than most of you may imagine, happen for some years to have known; long indeed, ere the most aged amongst you was born. "Not many generations after Adam,|| the rapid advances made by mankind in arts and sciences became truly astonishing; but wickedness also increased, till at last came the deluge, sweeping all human beings, save eight, from the sur-manship and richness, did it thus become face of the globe, and to these eight was entrusted, after the subsiding of the waters, not only the repeopling of the earth, but the task of educating its low inhabitants. During the tremendous epoch then of the deluge, the arts of necessity slumbered, but they were destined to awaken, and, after their repose, to shine in renovated splendour and beauty. Every one knows the history of Noah and Ham, but every an object of such marvellous interest and curiosity; for Behemoth had declared, that whosoever should succeed in tearing this diadem from the brow of his statue, should be Lord of the Earth, and the minds of people afar were therefore bent || upon devising means of obtaining it. As to the inhabitants of Charathuz, the declaration of their idol made them almost mad: drunken already with the dreams |