their works, but that they have been either unable to strike into a truer and more affecting vein, or that they have not had courage to relinquish a routine that meets with public approval ? Here then is one of the instances in which the influence of a better taste in the high and influential classes might be most beneficially exercised ;-where the artist is ignorant, to inform ; or, where timid, to encourage.

The ungracefulness of its forms and the general unfitness of modern costumes for the simple character of sculpture, is one of the greatest difficulties the artist has to contend with; and we can easily conceive the distress and almost despair of a classical mind when called upon to clog its pure and unsophisticated aspirations with the unclassical, unpicturesque addition of modern dress. Good taste may however do much to remove the more objectionable parts of a conventional costume; and we have seen how, in the hands of artists of judgement, it may be modified, and still an individual and national character preserved, either by omitting minor and insignificant details, and amplifying the folds of a cloak, or the drapery of the peer's robe or the judge's gown, in most satisfactory contrast to those who have thought it necessary to carry imitation into the meanest objects, the cockade of a three-cornered hat or the details of a queue. It is idle, and it is untrue, to say that the public insists upon these puerilities. The public will be led by the better feeling of the educated and the considerate, and an artist who is jealous for the honour of his art should rather endeavour to check, than pander to, a depraved or mistaken taste. We do not often see, and it is hardly hazarding too strong an opinion to say, that no sculptor of any eminence or character would consent now to make a bust dressed in neckcloth, coat, and waistcoat; indeed we remember when a distinguished member of the profession refused to execute a bust of a late venerable bishop in a wig! and that at a time when that appendage to the episcopal dignity was considered indispensable.

How possible then would it be to carry this spirit into groups and rilievi, illustrating actions of military prowess, or scenes of interest in the civil or religious history of our country! We see no reason why all the interest of an event may not be successfully conveyed without sinning against pro

a

a

priety, by making the actors in it Grecians or Romans, or offending good taste by introducing shoe-buckles, bag-wigs, and court-swords. We should not have a very high opinion of the talent or resources of the most classical sculptor who would refuse to execute a rilievo to illustrate so recent an event, for instance, as the coronation of our Queen, because he could not make a classical arrangement of the costume; as if the real interest of the subject depended upon the correct representation in bronze or marble of Prince Esterhazy’s diamond boots or of Count Zicci's tourquoise buttons, of this duchess's coiffure or that countess's necklace !

There are some subjects, however, that seem to us to be utterly unfitted for, as there are some objects that are intractible in, sculpture; and the exact capabilities of the art being

;; understood, good taste should at once protest against and condemn any attempt to transgress or go beyond its defined limits. The motion of water, or even fire,--the effect of light, or clouds, or smoke, in which the appearance of transparency and buoyancy are essential to true imitation,—and the representation of objects in perspective, when the effect of distance cannot be given by variety of colour, as in nature and in painting,—are quite beyond the power and province of an art that can only represent by form. This is an established principle; great talent may sometimes, but very rarely, transgress, and be pardoned; but the sculptor, of real knowledge in his art, will not attempt combinations that must weaken rather than aid its effects. The universal condemnation, by real critics and judges of art, of the works of Bernini, is a proof how fatally the disregard of this principle is visited. Few men have shown more imagination, and few greater powers of execution; but his miserable and corrupt taste, exhibited in the vain attempt to introduce the variety, and flutter, and picturesque effect of painting into sculpture, have condemned him to the unenviable distinction of being held up as an example only to be shunned. Bernini, from his undeniable genius and his extensive employment, might have regenerated and saved art; by his bad taste, and the influence he exercised over the artists of his day, he precipitated its downfall, till Flaxman and Canova, by boldly appealing to nature, and forming their taste on the ancient models, burst the fet

ters which ignorance and bad taste, and the prejudice growing out of long usage, had forged around it. What we most desire to see exploded is the mixture of styles; and particularly the union, if it can be a union, of personages of mythology, poetry, or fable, with objects essentially modern. To illustrate what we mean by a reference to the subject we have already hypothetically alluded to, (viz. a representation in sculpture of the coronation,) our sense of propriety would be shocked at seeing allegorical groups of Peace, Plenty, Britannia, Thames, or Neptune, mixed up with her Majesty, and the necessary attendants at the ceremony, archbishops, chamberlains, and ladies in waiting. If a poetical allusion or illustration can be represented felicitously; or, if for the sake of classical forms, classical subjects can be introduced, (and and we are the last persons to condemn their judicious application,) let them be totally and entirely distinct from what may be termed the matter of fact portion of the design ; they should, according to our notions, be made to occupy a compartment or compartments as accessories only, and subservient to the principal, and, as it should always appear, the leading idea.

The proper bounds within which painting and sculpture should be confined, and the line which separates these arts from poetry, have been ably defined by one of the most profound critics. Lessing, in his admirable work “Laocoon," has shown how far invention and illustration may be combined, and where the poet and where the artist may go hand in hand; at the same time he has pointed out with clearness and precision the “ thus far shalt thou come and no farther.” This is a subject, however, upon which it is not expedient to enter at present; it deserves a more extended consideration than can here be afforded for it; but the hints we have thrown out may be sufficient to lead those, in whose power it is to give a direction to public taste, to think seriously of the best means for effecting the good proposed. The public, that is that portion of the public that interests itself in such matters, has no great confidence in committees of taste. They usually intend well, and often do their best to effect it; but the good that is intended has been limited by their incompetency, and the directing and deciding influence has been usurped and

exercised by two, or three, or four, either better informed, or, as it has appeared, more busy and jobbing than others; and the interests of art have in more than one instance been sacrificed and compromised in order to serve an individual. The tribunal we should be glad to see established would be composed of a more extensive body of judges; not packed in a committee-room, but exerting their influence in every direction; consisting of all the higher and educated classes of society, who, making themselves acquainted by reading, by observation, by discussion with those who have studied the philosophy of art, and by intercourse and consultation with those whose knowledge is more practical, will not only contribute greatly to giving a correct tone to the artist's mind, but will eventually direct the taste and form the judgement of the great body of the people.

ARTICLE X.

:

1. Progress and present Position of Russia in the East. Lon

don : Murray. 1836. 2. India, Great Britain, and Russia. London: Baily and Co.

1838. 3. Present and future prospects of our Indian Empire. Lon

don: Hooper. 1838. The note of martial preparation that has been sounded on the banks of the Indus has vibrated to this country, and startled the public into the recollection, that an important part of Asia is a portion of the British empire, in whose security, welfare and prosperity the reputation of the whole empire are deeply concerned. A strong, salutary, and it may be hoped a durable impression, has been made upon our national councils; and our statesmen are forced to admit, that the condition and political relations of India and the neighbouring states require, at least, to be understood. They are now seen to be of a magnitude which far surpasses the ordinary scale of colonial importance, and to involve considerations of vital interest, not only to the tranquillity of England, but to the peace of Europe.

We shall therefore attempt to convey to our readers a correct summary of the recent occurrences in the East, and investigate carefully and calmly their probable motives and results.

Mohammed Shah, the king of Persia, not long since placed on his throne, and even still maintained in his seat by the support of Russia and England, lays siege to Herat, a city on the frontier of his kingdom, in the occupation of Shah Kamran, a prince of the royal family of Afghanistan. Upon being apprised of his proceedings, the government of British India first sends a small force to take possession of the island of Karak, which commands the navigation of the Persian gulph, and then enters into an alliance with Raja Runjeet Sinh, the Raja of the Sikhs,—which has for its object the deposition of the present ruler of the Afghans, Dost Mohammed Khan, and the restoration of Shah Shuja, a former king of Kabul, who has for thirty years been a fugitive from his patrimonial dominions. What is the meaning of all this? what have we do with Herat? what offence has Dost Mohammed offered that he should have incurred our sovereign displeasure? “What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba ?” Why do we plunge into the turbid stream of trans-Indian politics ? The web is something intricate—we will endeavour to unravel it as distinctly

as we can.

Herat is the chief city of the extensive province of Khorasan, which in its widest limits reaches from the Oxus to Baluchistan, and from the Caspian almost to the Indus. From the days of the first Khalifs until modern times it formed one of the most valuable provinces of the Persian kingdom, and although its boundaries on the north and east have been very considerably straitened by the encroachments of the Uzbeks and Afghans, it may be admitted, that the Persian monarch inherits very fair claims to valuable territories in this direction no longer subject to his sway; amongst others to Herat and the adjacent district. That city, however, and the country to the east as far as India, were taken possession of by the Afghans, about a century ago, and have ever since been considered as dependencies of Kabul. In the civil distractions by which the Afghan monarchy has been torn to pieces, Herat fell to the share of Mahmood Shah, a member of the royal family, and sometime king; but whose regalities