readily accepted his offer to accompany me to see the painting and sculpture at Somerset House. I had already paid a visit to the exhibition, but I nevertheless gladly availed myself of the opportunity of hearing the criticisms of a gentleman who is intimate with the principal litterati and artists of Edinburgh and London, and who I suspect is a contributor to one of the principal

reviews.

Having paid our shilling at the door, and purchased the catalogue, which contains a list of the pictures and statues exhibited, together with the names of the artists, we first entered the sculpture room, which is on the ground floor. Sir William pointed out to me a groupe representing the archangel Michael overcoming Satan. "This," said he, "is the production of Flaxman, our professor of sculpture." I could not help remarking, "that I hoped for the honour of Flaxman, both as an artist and professor, that he was capable of presenting something better to the students of the Academy, for I could perceive no traces of a

master's hand in this production, which appeared to me almost wholly devoid of grace and beauty."*

After a hasty glance at some other works of indifferent merit, we stopped to examine a subject, borrowed from Milton, Eve at the brink of the lake.

I laid me down

On the green bank to look into the clear
Smooth lake, that to me seem'd another sky.
As I bent down to look, just opposite, a shape
Within the watery gleam appeared

Bending to look at me; I started back, &c.

This subject has been treated by two different artists. The first, Mr. Rossi, who is a Royal Academician, seems to have translated Milton after the manner of the Abbé Delille, that is to say, by substituting dazzling style and insipid ornament for the dignified and nervous simplicity of the English bard. To represent the smooth clear lake, he has placed a mirror at the feet of Eve. This whimsical conception fortunately does

* I have since seen some of Flaxman's works, which induce me to form a higher opinion of his talent.

† The following is Delille's translation of the passage above quoted, which seems calculated to refute the opinion I have just expressed. That opinion is, however, founded on the consideration of the work a a whole:

De ces bords enchanteurs, sur cette plaine humide
Je hazarde un regard ignorant et timide.

O prodige! mon œil y retrouve les cieux,
Une image flottante y vient frapper mes yeux;
Pour mieux l'examiner sur elle je m'meline,
Et l'image à son tour s'avance et m'examine,
Je tressaile et recule. A l'instant je la voi
S'effrayer, tressaillir, reculer comme moi.

degree of magnificence, considered with reference to their general aspect; but the English are mistaken in supposing that theirs excel in elegance of detail.

The earliest specimens of ecclesiastical architec ture belong to the clergy themselves, who were the guardians of the fine arts in the ages of barbarism. The first Christian architects were bishops and abbots. The canon, Elias of Berham, built Salisbury Cathedral; bishop William Wykenham erected the Cathedral of Winchester, and also superintended the building of Windsor Castle. When Henry VIII. invited a crowd of Italian artists to his court, they claimed the property of the fine arts as their transmitted inheritance, and for a time possessed a monopoly over architecture and sculpture; but when they themselves became partly converted to the taste of the barbarians, they introduced an absurd mixture of the gothic and classic styles, and destroyed the noble simplicity of the regular columns. Holbein himself was led into this whimsical corruption, as was also John of Padua ; and in the reigns of Elizabeth and James, it would have been difficult to banish from palaces and churches a pedantic style of ornament, which was perfectly in unison with the style of the court. At length, in the reign of Charles I., Inigo Jones appeared, and erected Whitehall. This artist was worthy to have inhaled the classic air of Italy, and to have been the pupil of Vitruvius and Palladio. Charles was a lover of the

arts; and there was a certain degree of French

taste in all the entertainments of his elegant court. Inigo Jones designed the scenery and decorations for the performance of Ben Jonson's masques; but the genius of the English Palladio is immortalized by the banqueting-house at Whitehall, Greenwich Hospital, and the Exchange. When the revolutionary storm, and the despotism of Cromwell, were at an end,-when the Stuarts, to use the expression of an English writer, brought from France a wretched imitation of the theatrical pomp of Versailles, to that wretched imitation our disdainful neighbours were indebted for their fine classic cathedral of St. Paul's, their spacious palace of Hampton-court, their magnificent hospital at Greenwich, and the Monument of London. Walpole observes, that unfortunately the great architect of that period travelled only in France; -a sad misfortune truly! Vanbrugh inherited the celebrity of Wren, but not his talent; of this Blenheim is a striking proof. Hawksmoor and Gibbs, who were pupils of Wren, followed the precepts of their master, but were merely cold copyists. There was a total want of grace and imagination in the works of the English architects until the reign of George II., when Lord Burlington exercised over the artists of his time the powerful influence of his patronage and his taste. Burlington House, which was built by his father, was adorned by the son with a new front and a colonnade, presenting an imposing effect. Horace Walpole mentions, that he had heard nothing of the improvements which Burlington House had

undergone, when he was invited to a ball there on his return from Italy. On entering the gates at night he did not perceive the change; but at day-break he happened to look out at one of the windows to see the sun rise, and the colonnade appeared before him like a vision. It resembled, he says, one of those structures which we read of in fairy tales, and which the genii are described as raising by the power of enchantment. With all due submission to Horace Walpole, I cannot help thinking that the colonnade would not have produced so powerful an impression on him in a capital where he might have admired, I will not say the colonnade of the Louvre, but the Hôtel des Monnaies or the Garde Meuble. Be this as it may, Burlington House, which was then a detached building, now stands in the centre of one of the busiest streets in London, and seems to blush for the structures by which it is at present surrounded. The front of the house is concealed behind a brick wall. In the neighbourhood of Burlington House an arcade has recently been made, which eclipses both the passage De Lorme and the passage Des Panoramas. Lord Burlington's villa at Chiswick is said to resemble the Villa-Capra near Vicenza, which was built by Palladio. His Lordship was munificent as an English Croesus, and enlightened as a nobleman of Florence, during its most flourishing period. He was the friend of Pope and the patron of Kent.

Horace Walpole wished to revive the feudal