geon's Hall of this city. Aikman, the friend of Ramsay the poet, produced the very excellent portrait of Principal Carstairs, which may still be seen in the Library Hall of the University of Edinburgh, and several other individuals of eminence in their day contributed to furnish those bearded countenances, or those majestic monsters in robes or gowns, by which the walls of our ancient and public edifices are so profusely covered. It ought to be remarked, however, that some native painters occasionally appeared, who ventured to indulge in a bolder style, and whose productions bear the stamp of that progressive improvement which every country in Europe very rapidly underwent during the last century. The taste and power of Runciman are sufficiently displayed by his great work in the Hall of Ossian at Pennycuick House, and by his excellent picture of the Ascension, which still appears over the altar of one of the Episcopal chapels of this city. As society advanced, the art of landscape painting, and all that infinite variety of the productions of the pencil, in which the genius of the artist must furnish his subject, gradually attained a state of comparative excellence; and several works of consider able merit, in both these departments, may still be found either in the collections of the curious, or among the hereditary treasures of our older families. Norrie was a landscape paint er of some eminence in this city about the middle of the last century. Moore, who flourished somewhat later, has been regarded as the best landscape painter of his day; and, since his time, every branch of the art has been advancing with a rapidity, though not perhaps proportioned to the high character of the country in other respects, yet sufficient to shew what might be expected from the abilities of our artists, if their exertions were aided by every advantage of circumstances. From this review, however, it must be apparent that the genius of this country, for the arts of design, has never been placed in such circumstances as completely to develope its native tendency; and that we are not entitled, from those productions of the pencil, which are still exhibited as the shef-d'œuvres of our predecessors, to decide respecting the character which painting would assume in this coun try, if the exertions of our artists were left to their natural bias. Many circumstances, it is true, contribute to produce and to modify the genius of à people; but there is a strong presumption, I apprehend, from the romantic character of the scenery of this country, the peculiar naïveté of our national character, and our decided tendency to catch what is striking and picturesque, either in the appearances of nature, or in the aspects of character,-a tendency so unequivocally displayed in the idiom of our languagethat the genius of our artists would naturally display itself with the happiest effect, either in depicting the more romantic scenery of nature, or in expressing those peculiarities of our national manners which offer so many fine subjects for its exhibition. It is notorious, accordingly, that in both these departments the natives of this country hold, at this moment, a very high rank; and that, while Nasmyth and Williams, in landscape painting, may vie with the most approved artists among our southern neighbours, the compositions of Wilkie and Allan, as delineations of character, have outstripped the exertions of all other competitors, in the captivating style appropriated to such productions. Your readers will perceive, therefore, from what I have now said, that, though I consider the genius of our countrymen, in the art of painting, never yet to have been so propitiously situated as decidedly to display its native partialities, I am disposed to believe, not only from analogical reasonings, but from facts universally acknowledged, that the department of this art, which may be regarded as especially suited to the character of our minds, is that which is conversant either with what is magnificent in nature, or interesting and peculiar in national character; and that, as the poetical compositions of Ramsay and Burns are pre-eminently entitled to the character of Scottish, not merely because they are occupied with national peculiarities, and delivered in the characteristic language of the country, but from their being exact specimens of that tone of thinking and feeling which is most congenial to our natural temperament-that artist also may be regarded as peculiarly the representative of the genius of our people who exhibits, with the happiest and most characteristic effect, either the picturesque features of national scenery, or the grotesque peculiarities of national manners. From about the middle of the last century, till the present times,-a period during which the advances of this country towards refinement have been quite unexampled,-many unsuccessful attempts have been made to establish in Scotland, and particularly in this city, such a general combination of the productions of its artists, as might have the effect both of fostering the talent which is latent in the country, and of diffusing a more decided taste for what is excellent in art. The first of these attempts was made in the year 1753, by Robert and Andrew Fowlis, the celebrated printers. These accomplished individuals, having previously given much reputation to Glasgow by the unrivalled elegance of their style of printing, were naturally desirous that in other branches of art that city should support the high character it had acquired in one department. The academy which they instituted with this view, continued to exist for somewhat more than twenty years, and, though it was at last found to be too great a scheme to be maintained principally by private individuals, and fell accordingly into utter extinction, it is yet well known that this attempt was productive of a very beneficial influence upon the taste of the community, and that several artists, who have since attained to very considerable eminence, were reared under the auspices of this most patriotic institution. About ten years after the decline of this establishment, viz. in the year 1786, another unsuccessful attempt to establish an academy of the fine arts in Edinburgh was made by some artists who had recently returned from the Continent of Europe, and who had been accustomed to witness the splendid institutions which are so numerous and beneficial in foreign countries. At the distance of five years from the period of this attempt, viz. in the year 1791, Mr Alexander Nasmyth made a similar fruitless endeavour to supply this important defect in the establishments of our metropolis. The institution which he projected was to have been denominated the Gallery of Art, and, as it was designed to have been supported by private contributions, it was intended chiefly for those who had already acquired a taste for the refinements of art, and was meant to support and perfect this taste among the better educated of the inhabitants of Scotland. Another attempt was made in 1797, which likewise failed; and, lastly, a public exhibition of the productions of our artists was opened in the year 1808, with the most promising appearances of success, but ul timately shared the fate of all preceding attempts, partly, as it is understood, from some misunderstanding among the artists themselves, and partly from the want of due encouragement on the part of the public. Of this last institution, however, the merits of which must still be fresh in the recollection of many of your readers, and which may be regarded, indeed, as the only general display of the powers of our artists that has yet been made, it is but justice to affirm, that, during the first years of its existence, it was supported with an ability and spirit, from which every friend of painting anticipated the most beneficial results, and that, although it necessarily suffered a diminution of brilliancy from the retirement of some of the leading artists during subsequent years, it had altogether a most important effect upon the taste of the country, and contributed to diffuse, throughout every class of the inhabitants, a very correct feeling, both of the comparative merits of our native artists, and of those principles which are universally applicable to the productions of the pencil. It seems to me quite evident that some establishment similar to those the failure of which I have now been noticing, must exist in every enlightened country, as a centre from which a knowledge of the principles of art may be generally diffused. Some such establishment, in fact, is necessary to enable the artist to acquire that feeling of his importance, and that sense of his relation to the other members of the community, which are essential to a vigorous prosecution of his labours; because it is evident, that, so long as he works merely for his employers, without possessing an opportunity of exhibiting his productions, along with those of his most distinguished compatriots, to the notice of the public, he exists but as a hid den member of the community around him, as a being whose operations are confined to the seclusion of his study, with little relation either to similar individuals, or to the interests of the commonwealth to which he belongs. It is obviously under a very different aspect that the artist views himself, when his solitary labours are intended to augment the treasures of his country, and are destined to be brought into public competition with the productions of other masters. Every feeling, both of private interest and of public spirit is then awakened in all its activity; and, while the productions of the artist acquire a new dignity in his estimation, from their relation to the most valuable riches of the community, he is excited to expend upon them all the powers of his genius at once, by the recollection of the able rivals that surround him, and of the impartial examination to which his works must be subjected. It is also obvious, that it is only by bringing his own productions into comparison with those of other individuals, that the artist can acquire that correct feeling of the comparative me rits of different styles, which is necessary to regulate his attempts at improvement. The finest genius, unless guided and corrected by an extensive observation of contemporary productions, will necessarily be subject to many irregularities and defects; and no individual can be expected to arrive at much excellence in his profession who is not in the daily habit of comparing his efforts with those of an extensive circle of ardent rivals, whose separate merits he may gradually appropriate, and whose peculiar defects he may make it his object to avoid. Such an establishment seems to be necessary, in the last place, for diffusing a taste for what is elegant over the great mass of the inhabitants of a country. A people who have no opportunity of examining those productions on which the masters of art around them have been employed, will necessarily remain in pitiable ignorance of all the first principles that are applicable to such sub-provement of your country. And the jects, and, what is decidedly a matter inhabitants of this metropolis, who of far deeper regret, will be deprived may be supposed to exercise a paraof all that high feeling of the capabi mount influence over the taste of their lities of their nature, and of all those neighbours, I would also earnestly exmeliorating influences upon the tem- hort to co-operate with ardour in the per and habits, which the sight of the same patriotic design; to patronize, finer productions of art will be found to generate, more powerfully perhaps than any other cause, in the minds even of the lowest and least instructed of mankind. The time, in fact, seems now to have arrived, when the existence of some such institution cannot long be dispensed with. Scotland, during the last fifty years, has been advancing with unexampled ardour in the path of improvement. In science and in arms she has already obtained the most brilliant trophies; and the only wreath which is yet wanting to her glory is that which is reserved for the "Mistress of Arts." The natives of this country have also displayed unequivocal talents for this species of excellence. Their public exhibitions have been considered, by very compe tent judges, as not inferior, on their limited scale, to any other within the British dominions. A crowd of accomplished individuals are now collected within this city, whose taste and genius in every variety of style are universally admitted. Many of the most celebrated artists in the capital of the empire are natives of this country; and the same impression of their superior talents, which Scotchmen have conveyed to our southern neighbours in so many other departments of manly accomplishment, continues to be maintained by the style of their productions in this fine branch of liberal pursuit. To the artists themselves, then, of this city, I should be disposed most respectfully to say, Let every feeling of jealousy or of private misunderstanding, which may hitherto have prevented the success of your endeavours to establish for your country a repository of art, be now resigned at the prospect of that mighty good which your steady co-operation is sure to produce. Assume, as a body, that prominent place in the eyes of your countrymen which your undeniable merits entitle you to hold; and remember, that, by thus conducting yourselves, you are achieving a great work, not merely for your private interest, but for the im as far as their abilities extend, exertions which are intended for the general advantage; and, in particular, to abstain, by hasty observations, from casting a slur upon the productions of a body of men who may be supposed peculiarly sensible to the attacks of criticism, and who are exerting themselves for the accomplishment of a great national object. I make this last observation with the greater earnestness, because I have long regarded the spirit of criticism, which is at present characteristic of the inhabitants of this metropolis, as presenting a subject of very curious speculation. All the world are aware what an unexampled tone of decision this spirit has assumed on the great subjects of literature and science. For a long period, too, the stage in this metropolis has been guarded from the intrusion of any audacious novelties, by an unfailing exertion of those damnatory powers which the lieges have reserved entire to themselves; and there is reason to believe, that the failure of so many attempts to establish a repository of the fine arts in this city may, in some degree, be attributed to the same cause. I will not, at present, endeavour to account for so remarkable a propensity in the natives of this country. They, of course, will naturally attribute it to their superior discernment, and better education, and those who have smarted under the lash of their chastisement, will as willingly attribute it to very different causes. But an impartial observer will probably suggest, that both these conclusions might be very advantageously modified, and that mixed considerations, as in all human concerns, are more probably the efficients than either superior taste or absolute folly. What I wish, however, at present more especially to remark is, that a very delicate regard to circumstances is at all times necessary, in order to render criticism subservient to its only legitimate purpose; and that there is a vast difference between the state of literature, as it now exists in most of the countries of Europe, and the situation attained by the fine arts in some of the most enlightened of the European commonwealths. A very powerful hand may be necessary for repressing the tendency to hasty composition in an age when literature is an univer sal study, and when the greatest danger to which knowledge is exposed, may be derived from the very superabundance and fearlessness of its cultivators. But the arts require to be fostered and supported by all the care that is appropriated to productions which are reared with difficulty, and easily injured; and though it is neither possible nor desirable completely to repress the exertions of criticism, it ought never to be forgotten that the incision which may be both necessary and expedient for removing the luxuriancies of an overgrown tree, mayinjure the vital energy of a sapling, and if continued to be inflicted with an unsparing hand, may eventually_expose the land to all the horrors of nakedness. It is with much pleasure that I have lately seen the artists of this city assiduously employed in the study of those masterpieces of Grecian art which, during the last two thousand years, have commanded the universal admiration of mankind, and which have now been propagated by means of casts over most of the enlightened capitals of Europe. Copies of several of the most remarkable of these sculptures had been transmitted to this metropolis as materials of study to the youths who are educated in the academy of this place; and the very handsome manner in which these models were laid open to the artists by the eminent individuals who patronize the academy, demand the gratitude and thanks of the community. It is interesting, at the same time, to observe the effect which the first sight of these celebrated statues appears to have upon the minds even of the best judges. The severe and unadorned simplicity of Grecian taste is not readily appreciated by those who have been accustomed to that more vague expression which characterizes the works of all modern artists; and it is not till repeated study has discovered the animated but correct qualities of the productions of Greece, that Taste resumes its native simplicity, and Admiration joins that shout of acclamation which these wonderful monuments have so long commanded. Much will unquestionably be done for the perfection of art by the general study of these celebrated works. The very enthusiasm which the artist must necessarily feel while employed in copying after the masters of Greece, and while contemplating those models which have so uniformly been admired, amidst every vicissitude of opinions and tastes, cannot fail to animate him to more successful exertions. A fine opportunity is also afforded him, by these models, of observing those correct proportions, and that resolute adherence to the truth of nature, by which the statues of Greece are so remarkably characterized, and a conviction cannot fail to be produced by the same studies, that it is in an attentive observation of the appearances of nature that the artist must seek for that perfection in his line which it is the necessary object of his ambition to attain. Amidst all these advantages, however, it ought never to be forgotten, that there is a radical difference between the style of the ancients, and that which is most natural to our northern imaginations; and the following profound observation of Madame de Stael, the principle of which it is the object of most of her works to illustrate, ought to be familiar to the understanding of every artist. The ancients, says this accomplished writer, possessed, if we may be allow ed the expression, a corporeal soul, and its emotions were all strong, decided, and consistent. It is not the same with the human heart as it is developed in modern times. If, continues the same author in another passage, if in our days the fine arts were confined to the simplicity of the ancients, we should never attain that primitive strength which distinguishes them, and we should lose those intimate and multiplied emotions of which our souls are susceptible. Simplicity in the arts would, among the moderns, easily degenerate into coldness and abstraction, while that of the ancients was full of life and animation. I have thus rapidly delineated what I conceive to have been the progress of the art of painting in this country. I will not conceal from you, however, that my chief object in making these observations has been to draw, if possible, the attention of the community, and particularly of the artists, to the importance of forming some such repository of their productions as may at once be conducive to the progress of the arts, and form an object worthy of the attention of the many en lightened strangers by whom this metropolis is visited. I have not ventured to propose any plan for this purpose, because I do not profess to be sufficiently acquainted with all the circumstances, upon a consideration of which such a plan ought to be formed. I cannot doubt, however, that the country is now prepared for such an establishment, and leaving the manner of producing it to the judgment of those who are better acquainted with all the requisite considerations, I have only to express a hope that this important object will speedily be accomplished; and that this city, so celebrated in other respects, will, at no distant period, vindicate, in this particular also, its right to the title so often bestowed upon it, of being the "Athens of the North.' I am, Mr Editor, yours, &c. L. EXPENCE OF THE BOARD, CLOTHING, AND EDUCATION OF CHILDREN IN PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. MR EDITOR, THE inclosed Report I think valuable and deserving of publication, although not of a very recent date. Some particulars in it are merely local, but others are of general interest. It is the only account I have ever met with of the expences of an institution for the board, clothing, and education of children, exclusively under the management of that respectable Society of Friends commonly called Quakers, and it may serve in some degree as a standard of comparison by which the public, or their respective managers, may judge of the profusion or economy in the conduct of similar institutions. To serve this purpose effectually, it would be necessary to know every thing regarding the object and extent of the institution. I can only state, that the children in the Ulster Provincial School were well clothed, well fed and educated; and that they received instruction in reading, writing, accounts, needlework, the service of a house and farm, besides acquiring habits of method, order, and subordination, qualifying them to be excellent servants or apprentices. From this report we see that all this may be done for the expence of L. 18, 6s. 4d. annually for each child; and we may rest assured, |