Morn is the time to don IV. Morn is the hour to shave; Inverness, too, and Elgin, and Aberdeen, and Stonehaven, and Forfar, have sent forth their poets to greet us lovingly, but as we cannot annihilate time and space to make a poet happy, and as both are pressing on us, we must return at once so near ourselves as the celebrated To soap the chin about; town of Leith, and whether the following poem be the To sheer down every grizzly knave production of Mrs Cookson or not, (and we are strongly That ventures to peep out; inclined to think that no other living poetess is capable of Then bring the razor smoothly round, producing it,) we earnestly recommend it to the best at-To leave no stubble on the ground. tention of our readers. It is probably the most splendid effort which they will have an opportunity of seeing in print for a long while, and is certainly calculated to add new laurels to the already over-laden brow of Leith: ORIGINAL STANZAS ON TRUTH. Now in a musing mood, My thought I'll write It may some wight Touch to the heart. It should: Oh, from my inmost soul, I wish it would! Then know, thou glowing youth, That bliss is but in truth; By it hold fast, "Twill make joys last, Even past this world of ruth, And here 'twill cheer thy soul in all her trials forsooth. Oh, truth, blest truth! bide here, This weary soul to cheer; Thine is the balm The soul to calm; With thee I may not fear, Or future, past, present, although tenfold severe. What's here but empty toys? No sooner held but cloys, And leaves one left (If of truth reft) To that which more annoys The longer held. All earthly joys are grievous joys. What's here but soon will die? Morn is the time to take Our neckcloth, black or white, In folding it aright; Twisting it round our neck with grace, Puts on his stockings. Flannel drawers a comfortable wear. Barbarous customs recommended. The late Mr Skirving, the painter, nonplussed in the case of Neckcloth v. Neck. Human hair compared to farthing candles. Something mysterious Turns philosopher. A concert-- A peep at a lady's dressing room. MATIN SONG. By W. A. Fergusson. Awake, love! the sunbeam Is sporting in glee, It wooes thee to taste o' The hymn of the lark, love, To gladness is given; The sun from the harebell Is waiting to bless thee. a And then to see what now I see, Without the wings o' a bird to flee Outower the land, outower the sea, Till I got back to my ain countrie! And now 66 word that must be, and has been." Whatever our own prospects are, it would be folly to deny that we can separate ourselves from all the associations connected with the LITERARY JOURNAL without regret. In our capacity of Editor, we know not what impression we may have made individually on many whose good opinion we wished to gain; but this we know, that, as life grows upon us, we every day see additional cause to grieve that we have not already done more, that we every day feel more acutely the errors and imperfections of our past lucubrations, and that we are every day more and more resolved to press forward into the higher and more arduous paths of intellectual exertion, where, if we fail, our epitaph may at least be, "Nobile ausus cecidit." Meantime, what little we have as yet done may perhaps win for us a few friendly wishes; and armed with these, we shall go boldly on in the more ambitious undertakings which are before us. Our fellow countrymen will hear again of the EDITOR IN HIS SLIPPERS, either for good or for evil. Till then, farewell! THE ROYAL INSTITUTION-ITS MANAGEMENTAND CATALOGUE OF ANCIENT PICTURES. We have no curiosity-only a desire for information. We wonder whether the Directors compile their own catalogues, or keep, like the celebrated Packwood, a man "to do them things." The present one, preface and all, is an admirable specimen of the art of saying nothing at great length. Its logic is peculiar; its informationjust as distinct as we expected from the source whence it comes. The Oxford waggoner, being asked whether his horse could draw an inference, answered it could draw any thing in reason. We suspect that the author of the document to which we allude is not a horse, but, as Captain Brown happily phrases it, one of "the allied species." Our last poem is a national ballad, in which we think Take the following example :-"They are pictures which there is both pathos and truth to nature; SCOTCH BALLAD. My heart an' soul are fu' o' thee!Had I a wee bird's wing, I'd flee Outower the land, outower the sea, Till I got back to my ain countrie. My star art thou in the dead o' night, I mind the day that I gaed awa', I mind my mother, and sisters sma', My mother blest me through a' her tears, And she spoke of hope through a' her fears; My sisters were 'maist wi' greeting drook'd, And Colin waggit his tail and look'd: But, Jeanie, o' them I took sma' tent, have never been in the market, but are derived immediately from the private collections of several noble and distinguished families of Piedmont, who, by reason of a recent alteration in the entail laws of that country, have been induced to part with these ancient and valuable heir-looms of their respective families. It is a matter of great satisfaction to the Directors, considering the responsibility inseparable from the purchase of objects of art, to be in possession of the receipts in the handwriting of the noble persons for whose ancestors the pictures were painted, and out of whose collections they are declared to have now issued for the first time, as being a circumstance which materially influences their value, in removing any doubt on the subject of their authenticity," &c. We have known in our day minds of strange constitution, but never till now did we meet with a man who looked upon a receipt for a certain amount of pounds, shillings, and pence, signed in the nineteenth century by an Italian Conde or Barone, as sufficient proof of a picture having been painted by a certain artist three hundred years before. Equally ingenious is the idea that a recent alteration in the entail laws of Piedmont has induced some We owe an apology to our readers for not presenting them with an account of the really admirable pictures at present in the Gallery of the Institution; but the subject into which we have diverged is one of the utmost moment; and, by confining ourselves to it for the present week, we gain time to mature our opinions, and enable our selves to speak more worthily of what we so highly admire. noble families to part with their pictures. The alteration may have enabled them, but we suspect they were induced by the same commonplace motive which, even in this country, makes many a person exchange valuable property for hard cash. Again :-"There is a copy of this head [No. 29] in the Neapolitan Gallery, stated to be by an author unknown. But the Grimaldi being an older collection, there is little doubt of this being the original; and being marked in the under corner G. A., it is probably a portrait of Giorgione, and certainly painted by that master." None but the curator of an Antiquarian Museum could have ventured on such a reason, with the warning example of Jonathan Oldbuck, Edie Ochiltree, and the celebrated inscription A. D. L. L. before his eyes. We said above that the catalogue contained as much information as we expected from the source whence it came. Our readers are well aware, that this is not saying much. We are told that "the present is presented to the public as a first step made by the Institution towards realizing a plan," which is described in very magniloquent and unintelligible terms, and which is afterwards stated to be "the foundation of a national collection of such works of the great masters of painting as might in time do credit to the country, and supply that deficiency in which the study of art in Scotland has been hitherto altogether unprovided." The idea is a good one, and therefore we shall not quarrel with the clumsy and roundabout way in which it is expressed. As, however, the Directors go on to say that they rely upon their effort being favourably received by the public, as well as substantially seconded by those having the power to advance its completion," we must enquire whether their statement of their plans and resources is sufficiently explicit to justify the public in intrusting to them the execution of so useful and noble a project. 66 The Sphinx-like sentence in which they advert to their funds, is too elegant to be translated: "While the pecuniary means of the Institution were almost entirely confined to the contributions of its members, which [what?] had to sustain the burden of a high rent for the apartments, joined to the heavy taxation which has been attached to them, any measures involving expense became unattainable, however important they might seem, or anxiously they might be desired. But recent circumstances having placed a portion of its private fund at the disposal of the Directors, they have resolved," &c. There is only one other passage which tends to throw some light, or more properly "darkness visible," upon the nature of their resources: "The Institution having at the same time been placed more immediately in connexion with the Board of Trustees, and consequently with the very fine gallery of casts of the works of the great Masters of antiquity, belonging to that establishment, was another circumstance which induced the Directors to turn their attention to the important measure at present contemplated." This is the whole that we learn from their oracular preface of the funds at their command; and of the manner in which they propose to set about collecting and managing "a national gallery," not the most distant hint is given. We appeal to the common sense of the public, whether they ought, upon such meagre information, to intrust to any self-elected body the important duty of forming a national gallery, of standing forward as the representatives of national taste, or of managing the funds necessary for the accomplishment of the great task they have undertaken. Board of Trustees to the Institution. What right the Board had to make this appropriation of such a sum, we know not, any more than we know what the Directors mean by stating that the Institution has now been placed more immediately in connexion with the Board of Trustees, when all the world knows that the active managers in both bodies have all along been the same persons. This is a matter of little consequence. The main point is the ascertainment that the funds at present in the disposal of the Directors are, the contributions of the members, the yearly L.500 allowed them by the Board of Trustees, and what surplus of the income of former years may be lying in their hands. Now, we know that the annual receipts of the exhibitions averaged considerably upwards of L.500. The income of the Institution has consequently diminished, instead of having increased. Unless, therefore, they have been relieved of the rent and taxation, which pressed so heavily upon them, it is to us utterly inconceivable that a portion of their private fund should be placed at their disposal, for the immense undertaking of founding a national gallery. These gentlemen have evidently an eye upon the pockets of the public, and we earnestly beg our beloved countrymen to keep them close buttoned, until such a statement has been made of the nature of the object to be attained, and of the measures taken to ensure success, as may enable them to judge whether its projectors are worthy of their confidence. Nay, the Directors have already enough of other people's money in their hands to render them liable to account for what the lawyers call their "intromissions." The funds at the disposal of the Board of Trustees are the rents of the forfeited estates, given to their management for public purposes; and they and their deputies are responsible to the public for their right administration. Part of the funds of the Institution was collected by exhibiting the works of Edinburgh artists, and these gentlemen are entitled to demand an account of its disposal. Having thus established that the proceedings of the Institution are no matters of a private concern, but necessarily liable to public scrutiny, we proceed to cast a glance at its past management, as the only sure index of the future. We need not revert to the good taste and good temper displayed by the Directors, in those discussions which led to the secession of the artists. Upon that question, the public mind has long been made up. We take them at present as men of business, and upon their own testimony. From the statement in the preface to the catalogue now before us, we learn, that at the very outset of their career, they burdened themselves with apartments so expensive, that although associated for the promotion of art, they had no surplus funds to expend in the attainment of the sole object of their incorporation. This step, not unlike the conduct of a young merchant, who should lay out all his money in the purchase of a splendid mansion, leaving himself no available capital to trade upon, gives rather an unfavourable notion of their sagacity. Their next step is to attempt to found a collection of pictures, by raising money from the exhibition of their successive importations, previous to depositing them in their gallery. A specious enough plan; but they have left out of calculation that they have only one room to serve both as exhibition room and gallery; and that they have no funds wherewith to procure additional accommodation. To complete our distrust in such bunglers, we have only to add, that the whole management is in the hands of a few. Directors, and that the great body even of the life governors are as much in the dark re Now that we are upon this subject, we may as well give our readers a little of that information of which the Di-garding their motions as the public at large. rectors have been so chary. First, as to the funds of the Institution, they have at no time been "almost entirely confined to the contributions of its members." Their principal source for many years was the money raised by the exhibitions of modern paintings. This source has now been dried up by the secession of the artists; but in its stead we have an annual sum of L.500 given by the The truth is, that the project of the Directors to found a National Gallery is worthy of all acceptation; but its execution cannot be intrusted to their hands. They have been tried in the balance, as cherishers and promoters of art in Edinburgh, and have been found wanting. Their charter must be thrown open, and an association of the amateurs and artists of this city, upon a more enlarged lasis and more liberal principles, must do what they have failed to effect. The Board of Trustees, in as far as regards the promotion of manufacturing industry, is a mockery, or worse, and must soon be done away with. A stand must be made, whenever this happens, to procure its gallery of casts, and part of its funds to be vested in such an association as has now been suggested. To them must be intrusted the management of the gallery of paintings commenced by the Institution. There is enough of taste and sagacity among the classes we have named, to warrant the belief that these united collectious will be conducted so as to bear the happiest fruits, both in contributing to the increase of national happiness and refinement, and to the education of rising artists. LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES OF EDINBURGH. WERNERIAN SOCIETY. Saturday, January 22, 1831. Dr GREVILLE in the Chair. Present,-Professors Jameson, Ritchie, Graham; Dr Scott Walker Arnott, Henry Witham, Y. Y. Audubon, Patrick Neill, Esquires, &c. &c. MR AUDUBON read an account of the White-headed Eagle, full of that enthusiastic eloquence, and minute acquaintance with the habits of the animals tenanting the wildernesses of his native land, which characterise all his writings. The paper forms part of the illustrative letterpress intended to accompany his splendid publication of American Birds,—a work which we hope, ere long, to have submitted to us in our critical capacity, when we purpose gratifying our readers by ample extracts. A letter was read from an emigrant to the Swan River, commenting, in a severe, but apparently impartial strain, upon the account given in the Quarterly Review of that settlement. Dr Scott read a paper on the Selavim, or Quails of the Bible; and the Society adjourned. SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES. Monday Evening, 24th January. Professor RUSSELL in the Chair. Present,-Admiral Sir David Milne, Sir James Miles Riddell, Baronet; Drs Carson and Hibbert; Messrs P. F. Tytler, Pitcairn, Maidment, Trevelyan, Macdonald, Lothian, Repp, &c. &c. with a number of visitors. M. de Saint Amans of Agen in France, and The Right Rev. Peter Erasmus Müller, Bishop of Zealand, were elected Honorary Members of the Society. Mr Gregory, secretary, read some remarks upon the two Roman heads, supposed to be those of the Emperor Severus and his wife Julia, built into the wall of a house in the Netherbow, Edinburgh, with reference to an engraving of them which is about to be published by the Society. There was next read a contemporary account of a remarkable escape made by Rob Roy from the Duke of Athole's men, in 1717. From the original in the possession of John Gregorson, Esq. of Ardtornish. Communicated by Sir Walter Scott, Baronet, V. P. A Report, by the Rev. Dr Jamieson, upon the very interesting collection of Anglo-Saxon and other coins exhibited at the last meeting, was then read. These coins were found in Inchkenneth, a small island not far from Iona, along with a number of others, nearly 100 in all, and some silver ornaments. The treasure had evidently been hidden in the rock, where it was discovered, by one of the northern pirates who infested the coasts of England during the Heptarchy. Eight fine specimens of these coins were presented by Captain Macdonald to the Society. The secretary also read some Extracts from a Short Chronicle, chiefly an Obituary of Highland Families, compiled before 1542, by James Macgregor, dean of Lismore; with an introductory notice, pointing out the value of this carious document, which is the only one of the kind we have seen relating to the Highlands. The most interesting paper of the evening, however, was a very learned essay by Mr Repp, upon the remarkable brooch mentioned in our last notice of the Society's proceedings. This antique, when we consider the fact of its being the first ever discovered with Runic, or indeed with any, inscriptions upon it, is one of the most remarkable we have had occasion to see for some time, and that quite independent of the singular beauty of the workmanship. We regret that our space limits us to the following very brief abstract of Mr Repp's erudite and ingenious essay; but there is enough to show that the subject has been handled by an Mr Repp directed individual well qualified for the task. alphabet; secondly, to the inscriptions themselves, and the the attention of the meeting, in the first place, to the Runic language or languages in which the inscriptions appear to be written; thirdly, to the word Dalkr or Dale, which occurs in both inscriptions, and is of importance as settling a philological question which has long occupied the northern literati relative to the true meaning of this word; finally, to the proofs, ex facie of the ornament itself, which demonstrate its antiquity and that of the inscriptions. By referring to the alphabet, and comparing the inscriptions with it, Mr Repp showed, in the clearest manner, that the letters in the inscriptions were genuine Runes. The meaning of them is quite distinct, and they do not admit of any interpretation but one-and that the most natural and obvious we can imagine. It is worthy of remark, that neither inscription is perfectly correct, according to the idiom of either the Anglo-Saxon, or the Norse language, in both of which the Runic character was used for inscriptions. The following table will give a more correct idea of Mr Repp's views on this subject: POPULAR LECTURES ON CHEMISTRY. DR REID, the Lecturer on Chemistry to the Edinburgh School of Arts, has commenced a course of popular Lectures on Chemistry, in the Assembly Rooms, George Street. His first lecture comprised a general view of the nature, objects, and applications of the science, which he illustrated by numerous interesting and beautiful experiments. His second lecture was devoted to an account of the laws and phenomena of chemical attraction; and we must do him the justice to say, that his explanations of the atomic theory, and some other complicated doctrines, were admirable for their simplicity and clearness. He contrived to divest this fascinating science of much of the technicality in which, to a certain extent, it is necessarily involved, and rendered its principles evident and intelligible to the youngest of his auditors. We have before had popular lectures on chemistry delivered in this city; but the arrangements for the present course appear to us superior to any that we have witnessed on any similar occasion. The large Assembly Room has indeed been expressly fitted up for these lectures, and is lighted by gas, so that the lecturer can darken the room at pleasure, by which means his experiments are frequently given with a most brilliant and magical effect. We allude especially to the ignition of the lime ball, by the oxy-hydrogen blow-pipe; and we may add, that all the experiments he performed were executed with dexterity and success. The rooms, at each lecture, were well filled; and as the course will be continued on every succeeding Saturday until the end of April, we recommend it to the attention of those who find pleasure in the pursuits and recreations of science. THE LONDON DRAMA. Regent's Park, London, to reappear as Richard, at Drury-Lane, on Monday the 31st, at fifty guineas per night; and when his engagement is over, will, we doubt not, go through the profitable farce of again taking leave, in emulous imitation of old Charles Incledon, who used to take leave annually. 66 The two major of the minors, the Adelphi and the Olympic, are both flourishing; at the former, Mathews is to reappear in a most outré novelty, by Buckstone, entitled, "The King of the Alps and the Misanthrope," plead guilty to and at the latter, Madame continues to the minor offence of uttering notes for her own benefit," to applauding crowds every evening. Both theatres are, indeed, what an Emerald Islander would call "fuller than they can hold" nightly. On Saturday next, the Queen's, formerly the Tottenham Street, is to be added to the number; and if the manager's promissory notes are to be relied upon, it will not only "deserve success," but "command it also." Peregrine Somerset. ORIGINAL POETRY. THIS HOUR IS THINE. By Miss Jewsbury. ARM, warrior, arm; the banner'd host advancing, THE history of Professor Milman's tragedy of "Fazio" forms perhaps the strongest evidence that can be adduced of the absolute injustice of the present laws of theatrical copyright, as well as of that indescribable legal anomaly, which permits the theatres to represent any printed play, not only without the slightest benefit to its author, but absolutely against his wishes and consent. When this drama was, many years ago, first presented to DruryLane and Covent-Garden, it was returned from both, with the customary civil circular of refusal, and subsequently published by Murray, when it was immediately read, praised, and popular, and at once went through several large editions. More than one review then recommended it to the managers, who, however, still consistent in their first error, still declined taking their advice; until Mr T. Dibdin, the then proprietor of the Surrey Theatre, brought it out there, reduced to three acts-which, by the way, was a real improvement-under the title of the "Italian Wife," with a Mr Huntley and a Miss Taylor as Fazio and Bianca. Being both well got up and well acted, the piece had a run of success there, sufficient to attract the notice of the Bath managers, who then produced it, with the late Mr Conway and Miss Somerville, now Mrs Bunn, in the principal characters; and the following season saw it at Covent-Garden, supported by Charles Kemble and Miss O'Neill. Thus tardily rendered as popular on the stage as it had long been in the library, it was next played all over the provinces; has been again successfully revived at CoventGarden, with Fanny Kemble as the heroine; and, to complete the climax. is announced by Elliston, at the Surrey, under its old nom de théâtre of "The Italian Wife!" Thus then has Mr Milman suffered the manifest injustice of all these managers benefiting by the The gather'd winds within their tents recline, representation of a play which they originally refused; but which, by being printed, was legally (or illegally?) at their mercy; and the profits arising from which he has no legal claim to participate. Amongst the other new theatrical enactments, it is to be hoped, however, that this will receive the Lord Chancellor's serious consideration, and that what is so palpably equity, will be made law as speedily as possible. Their plumes are dancing, Their chargers prancing, Arm, warrior, arm; this hour of fame is thine! Sing, maiden, sing; the vine-clad hills are glowing, The herds are lowing, The earth is sleeping, And heaven watch keeping, Dream, mourner, dream; this hour of peace is thine! LIFE AND DEATH. To live in cities, and to join The loud and busy throng, To yield the soul to fashion's rules, Borne like a leaf upon the stream,— Oh no, this is not life! After this very tedious prologue to our notice of Miss Death, thou art waiting, for all hours are thine! Kemble's Bianca, we must be brief in our criticism; which is of the less importance, from its being by far the most effective part she has yet attempted, and one which has more tended to remove the lingering scepticism, that she is not rapidly advancing to the highest rank in her profession, than any which has preceded it. The character of Bianca is, indeed, the only one of any "mark or likelihood" in the tragedy; in her, all its deep and fearful interest solely centres; and, as at present represented, Fazio and Aldabella become more contemptible than even their author has represented them, when played by Warde and Mrs Chatterley, and placed in contrast with Miss Kemble. No talents could entirely redeem them, but in the present instance there was no attempt; and the crowded audiences which the play has drawn, and the intense and breathless interest which its scenes have constantly excited, are attributable to the heroine only, in which opinion all her critics have coincided. The pantomimes still continuing to draw excellent houses, no other novelty has been produced at either theatre; though Covent-Garden promises a new opera, to be called "The Romance of a Day," on Thursday next, and had another new piece read in the Green-Room on Friday; and Drury-Lane is to revive Colman the elder's "Jealous Wife," with a very strong cast, to-morrow. Kean, after levying his contributions on the public under the pretence of taking leave for ever, and uttering a great deal of commonplace nonsense on that interesting occasion, having thought better of it, is To pass the calm and pleasant bours, That each to each can give, It is not death, when on the couch And the bloom of youth decay'd; |
