were than the degree of comparison on which they naturally stand, in our minds, with that of death, will easily allow us to perceive: but so far are the French legislators from thinking that the security of property is increased by punishing petty larcenies with the loss of life, when committed in shops, booths, canals, &c., that they expressly reject the boasted influence of intimidation in this respect, as having been proved by experience to defeat its own object : As to thefts,' say the orators of government, of objects exposed to the public faith, the law of 1791 subjected them all indiscriminately to an afflictive penalty.' (not death, even then.) 'Many of these crimes remained unpunished, because the senience was found to be too severe, and the acquittal of criminals was preferred to subjecting them to a chastisement exceeding that which they appeared to have deserved. (Motifs du Code Penal, p. 111.) The opposite extreme of indiscriminate lenity, which was tried by the directory, was found equally ineffec tual; and the present code has drawn a distinction which merits attention. Property necessarily exposed, as cattle, crops, implements of husbandry, &c. are protected by the terror of afflictive punishments, very short indeed of the last infliction to which man is subject, and for that reason more likely to be carried into execution: but the theft of articles voluntarily exposed is repressed by the correctional police, which has no power beyond that of imprisoning for a very limited period. Amends perhaps ought, in all cases, if possible, to be made to the loser. On the subject of Larceny, we must not conclude our remarks without stating our peculiar circumstance of exemption, of which we quote the subsequent description, not from the code itself, but from the motives detailed by the orators who present it: The reader will here be reminded of a similar saving clause introduced into the Chinese code in favour of near relations; but it is a proof of the looseness and inaccuracy with which the present code has been penned, that no provision is made for excluding acts of violence committed between relations who do not reside under the same roof, from the benefit of this most extensive privilege. If in some instances we have awarded the preference to the code of the rival nation, we may boldly claim the praise of superior liberality and good sense for that of England, in respect to the section which immediately follows. Its very title is sufficient to convict it at once of false political economy, and of the most cruel of all injustice, that which confounds misfortune with guilt. It is thus superscribed "Of bankruptcy and savindling.* (Escroquerie.)' In conformity to language thus barbarously ignorant, every bankrupt, in addition to the ruin of his affairs and the misery of his family, is subjected to afflictive and infamous punishments! While this law is carried into effect, we need See the third number of the American Review, p. 54 of the appendix, where, in a note to this title of bankruptcy, the editor explains this apparently sanguinary part of the French penal code, by showing that the word bankruptcy in the French law is never used but when accompanied with some degree of fraud.-Ed. Sel. Rev. VOL. VI. not fear the commercial competition of our neighbour. The remaining dispensations of the third book, and the whole of the fourth, strike us as not deserving particular attention. They are trifling and minute, relating to the most paltry attacks on property, and to that long list of petty grievances which our law classes under the denomination of nuisance: they appear in general equitable and moderate, but they do not involve either leading principles or important consequences. We have judged it sufficient to call the attention of the public to the more material parts of the code, and have laboured to compress them, as well as our opinions on them, into the smallest space; for we are persuaded that those who are intrusted with the reform and the preservation of the English system will profit by studying that of France. Not that we recommend it for indiscriminate imitation or are blind to its numerous defects of arrangement, precision, and subject; but since nothing can keep the foundations of society clear of corruption and decay, except a frequent recurrence to first principles, we think that much benefit may be derived from attending to the practical discussion of them, by some of the first men in a neighbouring nation, in many instances closely resembling our own: happy, we repeat, that, on this as on every other subject, the very nature of our constitution provides the means of peaceably introducing those remedies of what is wrong, and those improvements of what is incompletely right, which countries less favoured have been compelled to purchase at the dreadful price of subversion, massacre, and desolation ! Another task remains to be performed; that of disavowing in the strongest terms all participation in the extravagant and disgusting praise,— praise" which damneth him who gives and him who takes," with which the consecrated head of the Emperor is so profusely anointed by MM. Les Comtes Treilhard, Faure, Giunts, &c. It equally proves the degrading servility of their minds, and the coarse appetite for the flattery of inferiors that sways that imperial bosom; which is, we believe, generally found in an inverse ratio to the love of rectitude, and the desire of honourable renown. SPIRIT OF MAGAZINES. In pursuance of our design of occasionally embellishing the Select Reviews with engravings, we now present to our patrons a faithful likeness of BENJAMIN WEST. The drawing from which it is taken, is the production of Mr. Robertson, the celebrated English miniature painter. It was brought to our country by Mr. Sully, who lately returned from England, where his intimacy with Mr. West enabled him to offer it to us as a correct resemblance of our countryman.-Mr. Edwin, the engraver, one of the best of our artists, has done justice to the painter, and to his own genius. A friend has accompanied the engraving with a brief Memoir of MR. WEST; and although original articles form no part of our plan, yet we shall never reject from the pages of the Select Reviews, an offering so acceptable to ourselves, and so gratifying to our readers. If, indeed, we can even be justified in deviating from our plan, it is when the subject of the essay relates to a native of our own soil, who, with many more of his countrymen, eclipses the genius of British artists in the centre of their own splendid metropolis. In addition to Mr. West, our country has been honourably represented abroad by Copley and Trumbull, perhaps, in historical painting, second only to Mr. West; whilst, at home the names of Stuart, of Sully, of Trott, and of Peale, with many others, are always repeated with the encomiums which they so highly deserve. In our next number we shall probably give a detailed catalogue of all the paintings of Mr. West, for whom painted, and in whose possession they now are. BENJAMIN WEST, Esq. THIS celebrated artist is so universally known, and has so long been a distinguished object in the world of taste, that his history is quite familiar with all who claim any acquaintance with the fine arts and their great masters. Yet, in an American publication, we should not pass by the occasion to repeat that this gentleman, on whose genius the British nation so justly prides herself, and by whose talents principally she maintains her rank on the lists of taste, was born in Pennsylvania in the year 1738,. Although his powers have been brought to full maturity and perfection by the aid of European schools, and under the auspices of English patronage, yet it should not be forgotten that he was indebted to the discernment and liberality of his own countrymen for the opportunity of seeking and obtaining that aid and patronage. When we look to the wealth and honour which now attend Mr. West, we acknowledge the comparative insignificance of the kindness with which the first dawning of his genius was greeted in Pennsylva. nia. But when we consider him, as he then was, an obscure lad, destitute of all means to gratify and improve his passion for painting, we shall more justly appreciate the merit of those who first offered him the generous hand of disinterested assistance; encouraged him to persevere; and put him on the path which has conducted him to the summit he now enjoys. No man ever better deserved or more richly repaid the attention of his friends. The indications of superiority, which manifested themselves in his youth were not, as is too frequently the case, delusive and unsubstantial. As soon as his eye caught objects worthy of imitation in his art, his comprehensive mind embraced all their excellence, and his vast powers rapidly unfolded themselves. In 1760 he left his native land, and with a boldness of enterprise, which characterizes true genius, embarked for Italy. Can we imagine the feelings of a young enthusiast, for a painter is the greatest of enthusiasts, from the woods of America, when he first breathed the air so congenial with the arts, and trod the soil in which, for ages, they had bloomed and flourished! He remained in this great school of perfection, improving himself by a constancy of application and labour, until his health was materially impaired, and visiting every place where any thing was to be seen worthy of his regard. It is an impressive evidence of the amiable and conciliating manners of Mr. West, as well as of his superior genius, that wherever he went, he attached to him ardent, useful, and respectable friends. Without the influence of family or wealth to draw attention from strangers, he never failed to attract the notice and command the affections and services of the most valued men in the various places he visited. It may be here added, that the same kind dispositions adhere to him in his prosperity as the numerous Americans can attest who have known him in England since his elevation. After remaining a considerable time in Italy, not one moment of which was lost in idleness, or given to dissipation, he went to France; examined what was most curious in the arts in that country, and in the summer of 1763 arrived in London, and greedily seized upon all the means of improvement to be found in England. It is said to have been Mr. West's intention to have returned to Pennsylvania, with the rich harvest of his travels and toils. However proud we should have been in having such a man to reside with us, yet for himself and the arts it is certainly fortunate that he resolved to remain in London, where he found a theatre ample enough for the exercise of his talents, and able to reward them. The disposition of the young king to foster the fine arts was in happy coincidence with the resolution of Mr. West to reside in his dominions. Genius requires the warm beams of wealth and the fostering care of power; nor can wealth and power be more honourably employed than in protecting and ele vating genius. The situation of this country was not at that time favourable to the encouragement of the arts; especially on such a scale as the talents of Mr. West required. Added to the natural and obvious deficiencies of a new country in this respect, where every man is pursuing some occupation to maintain and establish himself and his family, and where there is no superfluity of money and no mean of leisure, the leading characters of the country were even then becoming politicians, and preparing themselves and their countrymen for the great events which soon after followed. In the calamities and confusion of the revolution, Mr. West must have been obscured and neglected, if not overthrown and lost. The establishment of the Royal Academy in London, and the manner in which Mr. West has presided over it for a great number of years, are known to every body. From his settlement in England to this hour, he has gone on encreasing his powers and his fame, and his last work, notwithstanding his extreme age, exceeds all his former productions. This indefatigable man, who has "no parallel in the annals of painting, if we consider the number, size, and extent of composition of his pictures in figures, and their great diversity of matter," has begun another painting for the Pennsylvania Hospital, as a substitute for that originally intended *Letters from Mr. Coates and Mr. Hunt, who have seen the progress of this new painting, and have heard the promises of the venerable artist, give every assurance that it will exceed the original. To their testimonies we are pleased to add the opinion of so distinguished a painter as Mr. Robertson, as contained in a letter from him, dated London, April 26, 1811. "Mr. West's picture here is the wonder of the world. It is truly gratifying to see the enthusiasm of the venerable president eclipsing in ardour and enthusiasm the youngest enthusiast in the art. His spirits are revived and sustained by the honours he receives, and his mind, is invigorated for the production of still higher excellence. He has now made considerable progress in the second picture; I cannot call it a copy; for as soon as he had drawn it in slightly, the first was sent to the Institution, and the second must, like the first, be produced from the energies and resources of his own mind." FROM THE UNIVERSAL MAGAZINE. Brief Memoir of the Life of John Lowe, author of "Mary's Dream." By the rev: William Gillespie, minister of Kells Parish, in Galloway. [From Cromek's "Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song"] AS no pathetic ballad was ever more popular in this country than Mary's Dream,' it is presumed that some account of its author, (who was a native of Galloway,) will not be considered an intrusion in the present collection. The authenticity of the memoir will not be doubted, when it is known that the gentleman who communicated it is minister of the parish in which Lowe was born, and that his father was one of the poet's best friends, and most intimate correspondents. The history of the latter part of his life, which he spent abroad, Mr. Gillespie collects from notices furnished by his own correspondence, and from the communication of the rev. Mr. M'Connochie (an old and early associate of Lowe's,) transmitted from Virginia, which gives the unfortunate particulars of his death. If the public sympathize in the interest felt by the editor on perusing this excellent memoir, their approbation will give a value to the thanks which he here expresses to the gentlemen by whom it was communica❤ ted. John Lowe, author of the pathetic and popular balled Mary's Dream,' was born at Kenmore in Galloway, in the year 1750. His father was gardener to Mr. Gordon of Kenmore, son of that unfortunate nobleman who paid the forfeit of his life and titles for his adherence to the house of Stuart in 1715. Our poet was the eldest of a numerous family and as the excellent institution of parish schools in Scotland affords, to the humblest of her sons, the opportunity of educating his children, so Lowe was early put to the parish school of Kells, where, under an assiduous and able teacher, he imbibed the rudiments of classical education. He discovered an early ambition of becoming a scholar, but, on leaving school, |