at Rotterdam, in 1698. We admire in this, as much as in the preceding ones, the expression of the heads.

There are here nine pictures by Rembrandt;|| some portraits, others historical subjects. The one I admire most is a three-quartered portrait of himself. Those energetic touches, that magic of light and shade, which makes us like him so much, are happily depicted here.

or where he finished. One suffers with those that are falling. What sublime confusion! It is a burst of Rubens' genius, and can only be compared to the fine conception of Milton's Paradise Lost. Lucas Vosterman has engraved it.

The whole-length portraits of Rubens and his wife, are well painted, and replete with grace and truth. They have been engraved by Hetz.

happy.

I have said too much, and yet not enough; The Assumption of the Virgin, by Guido Reni, but it is no longer in my power to correct my is one of his most esteemed works. The Virgin fault. If I have been able only to make you is ascending the heavens, carried on the clouds appreciate the fine collection I have endeaby two angels; two other angels hide them-voured to describe, I shall feel myself too selves under her drapery. The attitude of the Virgin, the correct and agreeable expression of the heads, the beauty of the drapery, all enchant us in this admirable production. It has been engraved in dots by professor Hetz. This picture is nine feet ten inches long, by seven feet wide.

I have still a few words to say of Rubens: forty-six of his works are found here. I shall not, however, dwell on them, as you have an opportunity every day at the Museum, of judging of more than fifty of his pictures.

Permit me, however, to add a few words relating to those who have written on this gallery. The first architect, Nicholas de Pigage, has published in 1779, a work entitled "On the Electoral Gallery of Dusseldorf; or, Descriptive Catalogue of its Paintings" This description is written in French, and ornamented with thirty large plates, engraved by Chretien Michel, at Basle. All the pictures are represented in the order they are placed. They are in general well engraved, and in the true style of their different masters. In engraving each part of the Gallery on one plate, the dimensions must be naturally observed; the result is, that the small pictures must necessarily appear embarrassed, so much so that they can scarcely be recognized. This is the fate of two of Vander Werff's. The drawings and the plates cost the Elector above 40001. These plates are so much worn that no more impressions can be taken from them. There are still eight proofs to be sold at the Gallery, their price is six guineas. The descriptive part is well written; as to the judgments, the author in general praises too much, thinking that the name of a great painter is sufficient for a work to be exempt from faults.

The Day of Judgment, is one of the prodigies from the pencil of Rubens, and undoubtedly one of his most capital performances. I, however, think this subject out of the style of painting, still more so than the Deluge. The celebrated Lessing has made the same observation in his Laocoon We cannot deny that this picture has great beauties; but the subject is not treated in a style worthy of its anthor. None of the figures have the attitude or character that becomes them, not even the principal one, Jesus Christ If ever a subject was favourable to expressions, this certainly is, where you may represent men of all ages agitated by all the various passions, all the virtues, and all the vices. We cannot then with reason pardon him for making so many mean and insignificant faces, when he had at his command all the various expressions which characterize the human heart. But in reproaching him with this fault, we cannot but admire the grandeur of his composition, his fine groupes, his various attitudes, his bold and striking touches, that warmth and beauty of colouring which enchants us in all the works of Rubens, particularly if we view them at a certainder of the Lower Rhine, for the Amateurs of distance; those tints, unequalled in the time he painted, insured him a crown of immortal faine. This picture, one of the largest of this master, by its height, gave the plan for the construction of the gallery; it is twenty feet long, by fifteen feet wide. It has been engraved by Cornelius Vischer.

The Fall of Sinners to Hella Sketch. It is not easy to divine where the artist commenced

J. R. Forster speaks much of this collection in his "Travels to the Lower Rhine," which for the style may be deemed an excellent work. Many of his judgments are just, and prove that he unites genius with knowledge; others shew an amateur prejudiced against the Flemish school, who sometimes only criticises to remain true to his own system.

There has appeared, since 1799, "A Calen

the Good and Beautiful," by F. Muhr. It gives a description and engravings of the principal paintings of this fine collection. The engravings are executed with care, by Hetz; and the descriptions, written with discernment, give us a just idea of the artist and his performance. Every amateur of painting ought to wish to enrich his library with this work.

T. C.

POETRY,

ORIGINAL AND SELECT.

There social bliss, when hearts unite,
With sweet Retirement's calm delight
(Rare harmony!) we bl nd
And of, enlivening vacant hours,
Meet in sequestered walks and bowers
Some dear unlook'd-for friend.

There, when the vital spark decays,
On my lov'd Charlotte's form I'll gaze
Ev'n to my latest breath;

And, if beside my couch she stand,
Grasp her with trembling failing hand,
And smile, serene in death.

THE BIRCH.

Should darkness Egyptian, or ignorance, spread
Its clouds o'er the mind, or envelope the head,
This rod thrice apply'd puts the darkness to
flight,

Disperses the clouds and restores us to light.
Like the l'irga divina, 'twill find out the vein
Where lurks the rich metal-the gold of the

brain.

Should Genius a captive by Sloth be confined,
Or the witchcraft of pleasure prevail o'er the
mind,

Apply but this magical wand-with a stroke
The spell is dissolv'd, the enchantment is broke.
Like Hermes's rod, these few switches inspire
Rhetorical thunder and poetry's fire.

And if Morpheus our temples in Lethe should
steep,

Ye Worthies, in trust for the School and the These switches untie all the fetters of sleep.

Church,

Pray hear me descant on the Virtues of Birch.
Though the Oak be the prince and the pride

of the grove,

An emblem of pow'r, and the favorite of Jove; Though Phoebus with Laurel his temples have bound,

And with chaplets of Poplar Alcides be crown'd;
Though Pallas the Olive has graced with her
choice,

And mother Cybele in Pines may rejoice;
Though Bacchus delights in the Ivy and Vine,
And Venus her garlands with Myrtle entwine;
Yet the Muses declare, after diligent search,
No tree can be found to compare with the Birch.
The Birch they aver, is the true tree of know-
ledge,

Revered by each School, and remembered at
College.

Though Virgil's fam'd tree may produce, as its
fruit,

A crop of vain dreams, and strange whims from each shoot;

Yet the Birch on each bough, on the top of each switch,

Bears the essence of Grammar, the eight parts of speech.

'Mongst the leaves is conceal'd more than me

THE sailor o'er the ocean borne,
His reck'ning lost, his canvas torn,
While midnight shades involve the sky,
Awaits the morn with anxious eye;
Yet, should the well-known polar light,
Thro' breaking clouds, burst forth to sight,
His fears dispell'd, the joyful Tar
Transported, hails his guiding star.

Thus, tost on love's tempestuous sea,
The darken'd prospect frowns on me;
Within my bosom, dubious care,
And woe-fraught comfortless despair,