a "Sketch" should present, that it should never have escaped the artist's study. No. 219, Sleep, and several portraits, by Mr. Haydon, are works of considerable talent. The Seventh Plague of Egypt, by J. Martin, is one of the very best performances of this artist, whose style is peculiarly his own. In subjects of this sort Mr. Martin is without a rival. His colour ing is perfectly correct, when it is associated with an Egyptian story, 'in which are prominently exhibited palaces of great extent and magnificence, temples, porticoes, colonnades, pyramids, terraces, statues, and sarcophagi. The picture now under notice is one of this description. Architecture is its prominent feature, and the accuracy with which it is outlined, and the sublimity of its effect under the aerial tone of colour which prevails in the middle distance of this interesting composition, are striking excellencies.

The Drawing Room, which we could have wished to have been conspicuous for the merit of its pieces, is remarkable only for the poverty of its display. This censure applies to all the subjects, whether historical, landscape, or architecture. Of the last, indeed, there are here, as in most Exhibitions, but few specimens from English originals: the views of buildings are, for the most part, very feebly executed, and the designs are unexceptionably destitute of good taste. As a specimen of the former, we name a "View of the High Street, Oxford;" and of the latter, a Design for a Cathedral. There are several good Flower-pieces, and some interesting and well-executed Portraits.

To the admirers of highly finished Engravings, the South-east room will afford extensive gratification. The collection, though not very numerous, is various and beautiful. Messrs. Heath, Engleheart, Meyer, Pye, and Reynolds, have contributed some of the best specimens of their work, and we are only sorry that we do not recognize any of the charming perform ances of our eminent architectural engravers. The Le Keux's, W. B. Smith, and Ranson, are able to exhibit a series of plates of English Antiquities, that would do honour to themselves and the country. The incomparable drawings of Turner receive justice from the skilful burins of Pye and Heath. Hardraw Fall-in a frame also containing an admirable view of Lambton Hall, and another of Wycliff, in Yorkshire-is one of the most superb specimens of Engraving ever executed. Nos. 612 and 656, among which we must particularly remark the "Junction of the Greta and the Tees," are performances of the same artist. The principal Landscape pieces by Mr. Heath, are Nos. 669 and 676,—a View from Richmond Hill, and Richmond, from Twickenham Park. These are some of the largest Engravings of the kind ever executed, and they are also to be numbered among the most beautiful. They are copied from drawings by Hofland, who has succeeded admirably in his efforts, which are calculated to display the enchanting scenery of Richmond to the utmost advantage. Mr. W. B. Smith's View of the noble town of Richmond, in Yorkshire, cannot be spoken of in terms adequate to its merit. This fine plate, as well as those before described, by Pye and Heath, were published in Dr. Whitaker's fine History of the County to which those places belong. The Chalk Engravings by Meyer are executed in the very best manner, as are also the Mezzotint Portraits by S. W. Reynolds.

The contents of the Sculpture Room are not remarkably interesting. Mr. Henning nearly fills the small space allotted to works of this description. His busts are not without merit, but his restoration of the sculpture of the Parthenon possesses considerable interest and merit. The "Model of the

late B. West, Esq. P. R. A.” by C. Rossi, R. A. is a faithful likeness of that deservedly eminent Painter, and we have no doubt that the statue will prove one of the best specimens of sculpture in St. Paul's Cathedral.

0.

ANCIENTS AND MODERNS.

Est vetus atque probus centum qui perficit annos.—Hor.

It is a common complaint, that the writings of the moderns do little more than re-echo the thoughts, and dress up the sentiments, of the ancients. <If we can but read Homer,' it is said, 'we shall have all the ideas which we could gain by perusing the productions of the Muse in the present day.' Not to enquire into the justness of this affirmation, let us consider the superior advantages which the primitive cultivators of poetry possessed, above their modern imitators.

When the Muses first descended from Parnassus, and gladdened mankind by a new and engaging music of words,' they had the whole range of nature and art, from which to select whatever appeared most pleasing to the imagination. They could celebrate the fragrance of the rose, the variegated colours of the rainbow, or the harmonious song of the nightingale; they could describe the din of war, and the horrors of a battle; and they could transport their hearers to fair Arcadia's bowers,' and the delights of Elysian fields, or to the dreary regions of Tartarus, and the snowy heights of Caucasus, without being fettered by the fear of treading in the footsteps of former adventurers. But now the case is widely different. Now, if Æneas reach Italy by the same course that he pursued formerly, the pilot is thought to have been directed by Palinurus. And if, to avoid this imputation, he deviate from the accustomed track, the vessel is seldom able to avoid the rocks of criticism. If a poor, luckless poet happen to say that the nightingale sings prettily, he is told

'Enough has Philomela's praise

Been sung by poets, great and small.'

One cannot even invent a new death for a disappointed lover, or find any new charm in a haughty mistress, so hackneyed are the subjects. How then are poets to be blamed for not performing impossibilities? If their opponents will create a new scene of things, a new heaven and a new earth, they may expect as fine specimens of poetry as are to be found in all the writings of antiquity.

T. J. R.

THE PRIDE OF WEALTH.

As Alcibiades was one day boasting of his vast riches, and the great extent of his estates, Socrates led him to a map, and requested him to point out Attica. It was scarcely visible; they discovered it, however, with some trouble. Socrates then bid him point out his own estates. "They are far too small," answered Alcibiades, "to be delineated here." "And canst thou then," said Socrates, "be vain of an imperceptible spot of earth?

EXTRACTS from a JOURNAL, written on the Coasts of CHILI, PERU, and MEXICO, in the Years 1820-2. By Capt. BASIL HALL, R. N. 2 Vols. Edinburgh. Constable and Co.

CAPTAIN HALL, the author of the work before us, is already advantageously known in the literary world, by the very interesting description of the Islands of Loo Choo, and their inhabitants. He is a son, we believe, of Sir James Hall, Bart., whose scientific exertions are generally known and appreciated. Having commanded the " Lyra," a sloop of ten guns, which was attached to the Embassy to China, under Lord Amherst, he was, on his return to England in 1817, promoted to the rank of Post Captain; and in 1820 appointed to H. M. S. Conway, of 26 guns, intended for the South American station, then under the command of Commodore Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, Bart, and K. C. B., the friend, and constant companion, in service, of the immortal Nelson.

THE DEPARTURE,

The Conway left England on the 10th of August, 1820; and having touched at Teneriffe, Rio de Janeiro, and the River Plata,-none of which places are, however, described,-Captain Hall received orders to proceed to Valparaiso, the principal sea-port on the coast of Chili. The passage round Cape Horn, so terrible to our early navigators, and of which such tales were told by grey-headed seamen, that " he has doubled the Cape" had become a common forecastle expression, to denote a man more than ordinarily celebrated among its reckless tenants, for "telling tough yarns." But now, owing to the improvements in navigation and seamanship, the Cape is stripped of its terrors; and the Conway reached her destined port without experiencing the slightest accident, or any bad weather of consequence enough to deserve notice. She passed within ten or twelve miles of the Cape, which Captain Hall describes as "a high, precipitous, black rock, conspicuously raised above all the neighbouring land, utterly destitute of vegetation, and extending far into the sea in bleak and solitary grandeur." Under every aspect presenting a bold and majestic appearance, worthy of the limit to such a continent. On the night previous (Nov. 25th), they had a distant but distinct view of an eruption of flame from the volcano on Terra del Fuego, although upwards of a hundred miles from them.

The manners, and domestic habits of the inhabitants of Chili, are rapidly, but characteristically described; and the officers of the Conway appear to have experienced, in common with every well-bred and honourable Englishman, who has visited the country, that almost unbounded hospitality from all classes, which is the general characteristic of South America, and which we (the writer hereof!) still remember with heartfelt pleasure.

THE LADIES IN CHILI.

Long indeed will it be, ere the full beaming eyes of the fair daughters of the soil are forgotten by us; let not our beauteous countrywomen smile incredulously, for fair they are, almost as your angelic selves; often have we marked them, peeping from beneath a profusion of long, dark, glossy tresses, and striving to look angry, when the close-formed line of petticoats,

at an evening tertulia, has at length been successfully invaded by some enterprising Englishman, while gleams of pleasure were, at the same moment, darted from beneath curls that might have excited the envy of the golden-haired Medusa, ere the vindictive Minerva had changed their form and nature; till at length, the budding rose-emblem of confidence and truth-transplanted by their own fair hands, from those tresses, of which it formed the only ornament, to the heart of the happy intruder, intimated his full and free pardon, from the lovely group around him.

TRAVELLING.

The communication by land between Buenos Ayres and Chili has been open for some years; couriers pass between the first-mentioned city and Santiago in twelve days, or on particular occasions even in eleven. The distance is 1365 miles, so that the messenger must travel, on an average, about 114 miles a-day. Post houses are established along the whole line of road, and horses are kept in constant readiness; the supply being maintained from the multitudes of wild droves which cover the Pampas, or plains of Paraguay; so numerous indeed are they, that we remember having purchased a very beautiful animal in the city for five dollars: the only difficulties to be apprehended, therefore, on these journies, arise from fatigue, bad lodging, and occasionally, perhaps, bad fare; but it is rare, indeed, that you need fear an abundant supply of beef on your journey. "Beef, of all sorts," is usually the fare of the Pampas.

OBSERVATIONS.

The cutting out of the Spanish frigate "Esmeralda," from Callao, by the boats of the Chilian squadron, under the immediate command of Lord Cochrane, in November, 1820, is described at some length. It was undoubtedly a gallant attempt, and was crowned with the success which it deserved. Had, however, the officers in command of the Spanish gunboats done their duty, it appears to us that the assailants would have found considerable difficulty in attaining their object. The officer commanding the advanced gun-boat was taken by surprise, and what was, if possible, still worse, he became so intimidated, that no alarm was given; in consequence, his Lordship was on the Emerald's side, and almost on her gangway, before he was discovered. The frigate appears, notwithstanding, to have been most gallantly defended, and her crew to have successively rallied, and obstinately disputed the possession, first of the forecastle, and afterwards of the main deck. When we consider that these men were, in all probability, first roused from their sleep by the appalling sound that the enemy was already on board their vessel, that they started on deck halfnaked, half-armed, to oppose a force nearly equal in number (his Lordship had 240 men) perfectly prepared, and already in possession of their upper deck, it is impossible to deny them the credit due to their gallant conduct. They lost, according to Captain Hall, 120 men killed and wounded; the assailants lost 11 killed and 30 wounded. Lord Cochrane's order of attack will be read with considerable interest by naval men, and is strongly illustrative of his characteristic gallantry and decision.

From Valparaiso the Conway proceeded to Callao, the port of Lima, from which it is distant about six miles. At the time of Captain Hall's arrival (5th February, 1821), Peru still adhered to the mother country: San Martin, however, was even now, almost at " the silver gates of the

city of the kings," as this capital had been proudly called, in the days of her magnificence, while Cochrane blockaded her port, and had, as already described, carried off their finest frigate from under the guns of their strongest fort. His Lordship being an Englishman, and a large proportion of his officers and crews being English, the gentlemen of the Conway were, in despite of the greatest caution on their parts, not unfrequently objects of distrust and suspicion. "A person professing neutrality is placed in an awkward situation between two contending parties; his indifference is ascribed to ill-will. The slightest expression which escapes him in favour of the other party, is resented as hostility; and any agreement on a single point, is instantly seized upon as an indubitable proof of his friendly disposition." In consequence of this feeling on the part of the inhabitants, Captain Hall did not find himself so pleasantly situated in Peru, as he had previously been in Chili. Two of his officers were, in fact, arrested at Callao, on suspicion of belonging to Lord Cochrane's squadron; and owing to the positive manner in which they were sworn to by some designing villains, added to the political effervescence of the moment, they very narrowly escaped with their lives. Under these circumstances, the officers of the Conway were not sorry to return to Valparaiso, which they did in March, 1821,

LIMA.

Lima has been described as the "heaven of women, the purgatory of men, and the hell of jackasses;" and so, Captain Hall observes, perhaps it may be in times of peace, but the war had broken down such distinctions, and all parties looked equally miserable; or if there were any advantage, it lay with the donkeys, who, from the absence of all business, were, for the first time in their lives, exempted from labour.

The Conway returned to Peru, and arrived in Callao roads, at a most interesting moment (June 24, 1821), as Lima and Callao were now, in point of fact, though not in point of form, closely invested by the army of San Martin and on the 5th July, the Viceroy announced his intention of abandoning the city, and in a proclamation, pointed to Callao, as an asylum for those who felt themselves insecure in the capital. The natural consequence may be easily conceived, the city was immediately abandoned by the most respectable of its panic-stricken inhabitants.

SAN MARTIN,

San Martin's conduct, on this occasion, seems to have been dictated by consummate policy. The inveterate hatred which he bore to the old Spaniards, was for the present cautiously veiled, nor was it till his power was consolidated, that it displayed itself; it then burst forth in all its fury. Captain Hall has given his character and history at considerable length: the portrait he has drawn, however, will, by most impartial spectators, be considered rather a flattering, than a faithful likeness. His unassuming manners, his popular character, and apparent forbearance, in a country totally at his mercy, seem to have blinded Captain Hall to the darkest shades of his character, in which cruelty, and a vindictive, indiscriminate hatred of the natives of old Spain, were afterwards but too conspicuous,― some instances of which are recorded in the second volume, at a time when the political horizon of South America, which had, to the officers of the Conway, in the first instance appeared so brilliant, had become clouded