with nearly a hundred illustrations. They are certainly of various degrees of merit, but the majority are peculiarly bold, striking, and appropriate. Fuseli could. not have imagined a more Shakspearean Caliban, Sycorax, Ariel, Prospero, and the other worthies of the immortal Tempest; and he who looks among the embellishments to the Two Gentlemen of Verona, at the mischievous mirth of Launce as he regards Speed hastening away from his gibes to make up for the time he has lost in gossip, and not laugh, must have a greater command over his risible muscles than we pretend to have. The Ann Page, Mrs. Quickly, Bardolph, Ford, and Falstaff of Mr. Meadows, none can deny to be the very dramatis personæ of the Merry Wives of Windsor. Then Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Maria, Malvolio, and Viola, are they not such as Twelfth Night has taught us to expect? The principal personages in Measure for Measure have the same justice done them-Barnardine within the bars of his prison is a fine instance of this. In Much Ado about Nothing, the artist is equally at home; and in the delineation of Dogberry and his satellites, he puts forth all his powers of humour. Macbeth affords him more tragic materials, and even with the impression Retzh has created in this masterly drama, many of Mr. Meadows' designs, particularly his Lady Macbeth, are not less remarkable for their originality. The remaining plays, Troilus and Cressida, and Timon of Athens, contain several very beautiful illustrations, in which the artist makes a happy use of his classical subjects.

We hope that Mr. Meadows will proceed with this delightful work in the same spirit in which he has commenced it; for, when concluded, it will, without doubt, be a monument of his genius, that will keep his name famous for many generations. Besides these productions, this accomplished artist has won golden opinions by his "Heads of the People," which is distinguished by a knowledge of character such as no other pictorial work with which we are acquainted, possesses the slightest pretension to. The engraver of

both these popular publications is Orrin Smith, who, if not, in consequence of the talent there displayed, acknowledged to be the first wood engraver now existing-it would be no easy matter to discover his superior.

Mr. Jackson, whose landscapes we think worthy of all praise, and whose numerous embellishments to the essay on wood engraving already quoted, prove his high eminence in the art he professes, does not impress on our mind such a thorough conviction of his perfection as an artist as we have felt whilst examining the works of Orrin Smith. But in saying this, we are not at all inclined to lessen the claim to general esteem the former gentleman possesses for his valuable services in advancing wood engraving in this country to the eminence in which it is now placed. His labours with that object have neither been few nor unimportant. He has exhibited his command over this beautiful art in the large designs, consisting of groups of birds, animals, and plants, in the landscapes and portraits introduced in the Penny Magazine with such extraordinary success; in Harvey's Tableaux, rivalling them in size, in the Pictorial Shakspeare; and in various other illustrations that may truly be said to run

"Small by degrees and beautifully less." We need only allude, among the smaller efforts of his graver, to his reduced engravings from Hogarth's Rake's Levee and Marriage-à-la-Mode, in Part XVII. of the Pictorial Shakspeare; having observed these, the amateur cannot fail of wishing to see the engraver's numerous admirable works, in Lane's Arabian Nights, Dr. Wordsworth's Pictorial Greece, and in the various other publications on which he has been employed.

The productions of Orrin Smith appear to be equally numerous. Besides Meadows' Heads of the People, and the Illustrated Shakspeare, all of which are executed by him, we find eighty of his productions in the Pictorial Greece, and several in other periodicals. A favourable example of his style in figure engraving will be found in the wood-cut in the Illustrated Shaks

peare, where Master Ford and Sir John Falstaff are represented enjoying their sack together; but this work contains many fine specimens of the art from his hand; and the same may be said of the Pictorial Greece, where his landscapes may be compared with those of Jackson without disadvantage, which, we think very high praise. Evans, Whimper, Bastin, and Landells have also produced many clever engravings; and Bonner, Green, Gray, Branston, and T. Williams have severally put forth productions entitled to the highest commendation. For the recent productions of Samuel Williams, we must refer the reader to Lane's Arabian Nights, Howitt's Rural Life of England, Visits to Remarkable Places, and Boy's Country Book, and to some equally choice examples in a very pretty edition of The Pilgrim's Progress. Thompson has also enriched several works, but his engravings to Yarrell's History of British Birds are of matchless beauty. Besides these, there are several professors of the art who only require to be better known to be more generally appreciated. Brief as is this notice of our wood engravers, we cannot close it without expressing warm commendation of the efforts of several ladies who practise this accomplishment-an accomplishment, by the way, which our fair readers would find less difficult to acquire and infinitely more advantageous to learn than nine-tenths of that task-work for which so important a portion of their lives is usually sacrificed. At the head of the female engravers of this country we must place Miss Williams, and for our reasons for this, we refer to that lady's engravings of Sargent's Valley of the Alpheus in Elis -of the Pandroseum, from a sketch by C. R. Cockerell, R.A.-of Sargent's General View of Meteora, his Scene in Zacynthus, his View on the Alpheius, his Plain of Olympia, and his Pass of Thermopylae.* Mr. Sargent seems inclined to rival Meadows and Harvey in the multitude of his designs for wood engravers; for one work alone-the one to which we have referred in the last sentence-he has contributed

* Greece, pictorial, descriptive, and historical, by Christopher Wordsworth, D.D.

very nearly two hundred drawings; but his forte is evidently landscape, in which, it is but justice to say, he is a most delightful draughtsman, and is another instance of the falsehood of the assertion we have already pointed out in Mr. Jackson's book, that there is but one artist in the kingdom qualified to make designs on the block. Our old friend Phiz, H. K. Browne, we are glad to find exercising his talents in the same channel, and with such a desirable associate as G. Cattermole: their embellishments to "Master Humphrey's Clock" are excellent. They have, however, taken a leaf from German art for their title-page, though it must certainly be allowed that the transfer does them infinite credit.

The method now in general use of stereotyping the engraving is one of great advantage to the community, no doubt. It makes these illustrations more generally employed. The plates are exported to other countries, and are frequently used in publications for which they were not designed, but though the former may be desirable, the latter is not always so; for by it the purchaser often runs the risk of buying the same engraving more than once. France, Germany, and the United States are the usual markets for our stereotypes, and in the spirit of reciprocity we have lately made use of French plates, in getting up English versions of some of their illustrated works.

In conclusion we must pay our tribute of approbation to the various publications that have issued from the firm of Knight & Co., of Ludgate Hill, in which a great portion of the talent in the kingdom in wood engraving has been employed, and by which the beauty and utility of the art have been made so completely manifest. Mr. Tyas, of Cheapside, appears to be labouring in the same field, with a spirit equally enterprising; and the same may be said of Van Voorst, of Paternoster Row, whose works on natural history are worthy of all praise. We hope their speculations will be rewarded with the success they deserve.—

HERMES.

No. I. THE YOUNG ATTACHÉ.

SHADE of Machiavel! guide the pen which endeavours to pourtray the votary, who haply aspires to become no mean disciple in ministerial craft. Let not the "Attaché" be confounded with the hosts of young gentlemen that migrate to London in the merry month of May, and come out with spring flowers, grand ballets, pretty opera dancers, young débutantes, Parisian milliners, and new fashions. True, they all to the undiscriminating eye appear alike; but analyse them; take for instance their outward man, and even there you perceive the vast difference. There is a species of diplomatical "Je ne sais quoi," (quite unattainable by those who are not of the clique,) that equally pervades his cab, and his coat, his manners, mantle, and moustache. Observe the peculiar air with which he drives down Regent-street; those hands, that so scientifically hold the reins, and apparently curb, yet secretly urge on his splendid steed, have perhaps penned a paper, sealed a dispatch, or copied out a protocol, that may affect the fate of Europe. On any other fingers and thumbs, Houbigan's gloves would show as nought beyond the common; but on his, oh, ye powers plenipotentiary! they have an undefinable air; as though they had been conveyed fresh from Paris by a government courier, and had just issued from the ambassador's bag. Mark his entrance into a room! his exquisite self-possession! the perfect consciousness that he is an integral part of a great whole; a unit following, but giving value to the "corps diplomatique." And then his ease of manner as he advances! the graceful address, the bland smile, the courteous nod of recognition, the admirable dexterity of his retreating bow, acquired we may be sure in a court circle. Contrast it with the "guacheries" of the mere home-bred youths, those precious specimens of "English awkwardness on two left legs; those poor defenceless innocents, "just come out;" that for the first time venture into Nugee waistcoats, and coats à la Stultz; and who having to make their