Le Sueur died young. He left behind him many works; such as the "Cloister of the Chartreux, at Paris;" "Alexander and his Physician," &c. that might rival the works of the greatest painters for elegance of design, beauty of form, and truth of expression. He was defective in colouring,in that meretricious and ambitious appendage of the art, which is exercised upon great subjects, and embraces extensive compositions, the appropriated effects of which can be well produced only in chiaro-scuro.

THE DEATH OF CLEOPATRA.

(Painted by Regnault.)

Cleopatra was the daughter of Ptolemy-Auletes king of Egypt. This prince when dying, left the crown to the elder born of the two sexes, with an order that they should marry each other, according to the custom of his family; but Ptolemy-Dionysius, the brother of Cleopatra, desirous of reigning alone, did not hesitate to repudiate and to banish his sister. Cleopatra was one of the most amiable, the most beautiful and the best informed women of her time-she spoke all languages, and was never in need of an interpreter. When Cæsar went to Egypt she presented herself before him for justice against her brother, when, smitten by her numerous charms, he re-established her in her possessions. He had by her a son, named Cæsarion; and promised to convey her to Rome, and to marry her. On his arrival in that city, he caused the statue of his mistress to be placed in the temple of Venus, beside that of the goddess. Ptolemy being drowned in the river Nile, Cæsar confirmed the crown upon Cleopatra, and upon a brother of hers about eleven years old, whom this ambitious queen poisoned before he had attained his fifteenth year. After the death of Cæsar she declared in favour of the Triumvirate. Antony then beheld, and was incapable of resisting her seductive charms. The time which they passed together, whether at Tarsus or at Alexandria, was marked by festivals and entertainments of unparalleled magnificence. These pleasures were interrupted by the departure of Antony for Rome. Cleopatra consoled herself, during the absence of her lover, by her studies. She re-established the Alexandrian library, which had been destroyed by fire a few years before, and enriched it with that of Pergamus, consisting of more than 200,000 volumes. Antony, upon his return to Alexandria, caused Cleopatra to be proclaimed queen of Egypt; but, having been defeated by Octavius at the battle of Actium, this princess deceived her lover, and to secure her crown, attempted to assume a conquest over the conqueror. In this hope she was deceived: and, to avoid the disgrace of being carried to Rome in triumph, she applied an asp to her bosom, and died at the age of thirty-nine, in the year 80 B. C.

It is related that Cleopatra, after dressing herself in her royal vestments and placing herself upon her death-bed, expired suddenly, without any convulsion, by the virulence of the poison of the asp. The author of the picture before us, M. Regnault, has made choice of this last moment. Charmion and Iras, the females who were the most attached to Cleopatra, are unable to survive her loss. One has already died by excess of grief, the other is expiring.

DAVID HUME.

AVID HUME was born at Edinburgh, on the 26th of April, 1711, of a family distinguished rather by its rank than its opulence. While he was yet in his infancy his father died, and he continued under the watchful care of his mother, who though still young and handsome, rejected every overture that might have led to a second marriage, in order to devote all her attention to the education of her children. Hume, gifted with a natural quickness of understanding, pursued his studies with astonishing rapidity and success, and imbibed so decided a taste for philosophy and literature, that he found it impossible to apply himself to any other study. The intreaties of his family, and the necessity of improving his fortune by the emoluments of a profession, induced him to try successively the bar and commerce; but an unconquerable aversion to these, and every other pursuit, rendered all his attempts abortive, and he returned with renewed activity to his books. That he might be no longer estranged from them by the dread of dependance, he determined to prevent it by the strictest economy. He went to France, settled first at Rheims, then at La Fleche, and in that profound solitude persevered in a plan of intense but varied Treatise on Human studies. It was there his first philosophical works were written. Upon his return to his native country, he published in 1738, his " Nature," and a more unfortunate production never was attempted; to use his own expression, it fell "still born from the press." Disappointed, but not discouraged, he was about to engage in other works, when he was unexpectedly, and without any solicitation on his side, tempted by offers which drew him from his obscurity, and ultimately advanced both his fortune and reputation. After having been sometime connected with the Marquis of Annandale, he accompanied General Sinclair to Venice and Turin. Some years after, he was appointed librarian to a public institution in London, a situation which probably first suggested the idea, while it gave him the opportunity, of writing his "History of England. In 1763 he went to Paris, as secretary to the embassy under Lord Hertford; and after the departure of his principal, received the title, and executed the functions of Chargé d'Affaires. In 1767 he was made under secretary of state; but after having performed the duties of that conspicuous station for little more than a year, he renounced all public business, and, in 1769, returned to Edinburgh, where he spent the remainder of his life, in the centre of his family and numerous friends, and in the enjoyment of a handsome independance, which he deserved by his virtues and his talents. He died in 1776.

Hume has candidly acknowledged that a passion for literary fame was always predominant in him. It may be observed, however, that his reputa