whilst even the lower ranks in the country were proud to have it twining round the humble porch, or embowering the casements of their low-roofed cottages. That it must have been introduced, and in general cultivation, long before Gerarde's time, however, is evident, from his stating, that "Master Lyte would have it to grow wild among us, which however it did not," he says, as far as he| could understand. From its being found in many hot climates, it has been supposed a native of the torrid zone, or the countries bordering on it; if so, its early introduction here is proved by the botanical fact of its being now so well inured to our climate as to flower, and thrive extremely well, and to bear the most inclement winters, though it has never yet been known to produce its fruit or berry with us. tries so different in climate and temperature. There is no doubt, however, that it has been long naturalized in Switzerland, as it now grows wild among the rocks, particularly in the neighbourhood of Chiavenna, and the warm vales bordering upon the fertile plains of Lombardy. The name is certainly Arabian; yet Dioscorides considers it derived from the Greek, ion signifying viola, and isasme, odor, or smell, and when thus compounded marking the fine odour of its flowers. In botanical arrangement it is of the class DIANDRIA MONOGYNIA, and of the order Sepiariæ. The calyx has the perianth one leafed, tubulated, oblong; the mouth five toothed, upright, permanent. The corolla is one petalled, salver shaped, tubi-cylindric, long; whilst the border is five parted and flat. The stamen has two short filaments, the anthers are small, and lie within the tube of the corolla. The pistil has a roundish length of the stamen. The stigma is bifid; the pericarp, in those countries where the fruit comes to perfection, has an oval berry, with two cells or capsules, and smooth on the outside. The seeds are always two; these are ovate oblong, and are flat on one side and convex on the other. It is something extraordinary that a shrub, o elegant in its form, so fragrant in its odour, and so susceptible of poetical embellish-germ, and a styliform style, which is the ment and of moral allegory, and at the same time so well known in the reign of Elizabeth, should have escaped the notice of the Avonian poet; yet it seems totally to have been overlooked by him, although it would have afforded so many elegant similies and sentimental references. Though no natural historian has given us any absolute facts as to its date of introduction, yet Parkinson, who wrote soon after Gerarde, is of opinion that it was first brought from Syria to Spain, and from Spain to England; if so, we shall perhaps not err much in fixing it about the latter end of the fourteenth century, when the Black Prince marched with his army into Spain from Gascony, and when the marriage of two of Ed. ward's sons with the daughters of Spain produced a frequent intercourse between the two countries; though it is not impossible that it may have been introduced as far back as the time of the crusades, by our own steel-clad knights. who, on their return from Palestine, migh have been anxious to decorate the bowers of their strait-laced dames with so sweet a floweret. . It is a curious fact that the great Linnæus should have fallen into the error of supposing that India and Switzerland were the native habitats of this elegant shrub, two coun It has been stated as a general observation, that the shape varies as to acuteness or obtuseness in the different specimens; and that the berry is in some simple, in others dicoccous. The essential character can only be noticed in this country with respect to the flower, which has the corolla salver shaped; the other distinctive marks are on the fruit. There are no less than seventeen different species of this shrub; the principal of which are the Arabian, Cape, Azorian, Auriculate, Italian yellow, yellow Indian, Spanish or Catalonian, and our common white jessamine, &c. The Arabian is a most beautiful variety, and has flowers more odoriferous than any other. It is a native of the East in general, and is now frequent in the West Indies. In th East In 'ies it is used as a personal perfume, the females of all ranks stringing its sweetly-smelling flowers for necklaces. With us it has been cultivated since the close of the seventeenth century, or perhaps the middle of it, having been reared with sedulous attention in the Royal Garden at Hampton Court; but being lost by some accident, in the reign of William, the only specimen in Europe was then in the garden of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, who was so selfish for many years as to refuse permission for either layers or cuttings to be taken from it. This paltry conduct was, however, soon punished by our botanical Millar, procuring a plant from India, and who, with a liberality beyoud that of a Grand Duke, gave every facility of spreading it through the kingdom, so that there are now many specimens of it in England, with both double and single flowers. Of late years also it spreads much in Italy, and it was a species of traffic for the poor travelling Italians to bring specimens for sale, but these being generally grafted upon the common stocks were worth but little. The method used here by our florists is always by layers or cuttings; the first method is the best, as the branch, when prepared, is easily bent, and must be inserted into a soft rich earth in a hot-bed or tan. The layers formed in spring will always be ready for transplantation in autumD, when they should be moved to the bark stove, though a moderate degree of heat is sufficient afterwards. The Azorian jessamine has a native habitat which comes nearer to the temperature of our climate, and is therefore with us a pretty hardy plant, merely requiring shelter from very severe frosts, though in general when trained to a south wall, a mat and some hot compost laid to the stem is sufficient. It is a beautiful shrub for cultivation, as its 'eaves are of a lucid green, and remain all the year; but its branches are very slender, and always require training, as they of en run to a length of twenty feet. If judiciouly treated, it flowers from May to November; the corolla is of a clear white, and the flowers terminate in loose bunches at the end of the branches. The common yellow jessamine was some years ago much cultivated; but the flowers have no scent; it has nothing particular to recommend it, and its suckers are so numerous and fruitful, that if once introduced into a garden, it is extremely difficult to eradicate, or even to keep within due bounds. The Spanish, or Catalonian jessamine, was certainly brought from Spain to this country; and as it bears a very great resemblance to our common white jessamine, that similitude may have given rise to the opinion that we had no jessamine until introduced from Spain; however, we cannot help inclining to the opinion that we are indebted for it to our crusades, particularly as its five cleft corolla may have been considered by these warlike enthusiasts as being symbolical of the five wounds of our blessed Redeemer. FINE ARTS. Illustrations of the Graphic Art; EXEMPLIFIED BY SKETCHES FROM THE NATIONAL MUSEUM AT PARIS. (The first Print in this Month's Number ought to have been inserted in No. XXVIII. and the Print in that Number of a CHEVALIER ON HORSEBACK, refers to the first Criticism of the present Month.) FRANCOIS DE MONCADE. THIS sketch is nothing more than a study of a portrait on horseback. Francois de Monsade was not only a soldier, but also a man of letters; he is known in the history of his time, both by his actions and his writings. His physiognomy is indicative of the excellence of both, and possesses all the wisdom of gravity. He is on horseback like a soldier upon his march, and he is thus sketched in an easy style, without stiffness or study, and without any forcible turn of expression. The head is tranquil, but the features, though common, bave an air of nobility. More a plain soldier than a hero, he seems merely a veteran grown old in arms; and all the costume is of a cotemporary date, according to the judicious custom of the great portrait painters. The iron of his armour is most correctly coloured. An anecdote has been mentioned respecting this portrait. It is said that Van Dyk, dissatisfied with his work, was complaining to a friend of his ill success; the friend did not answer him, but merely took away the armour which Van Dyk had before him as a model. The painter then proceeded in his work, and having only his own imagination to direct him, he soon became content with it.-Painting is nothing but an art, and art is nothing but imagination, says the French critic; and thus the palm of success is nearest to the aim when the point aimed at is farthest out of reach. The foreshortening of the horse is a fine specimen of skill in drawing; the head is very beautiful, the hind parts less so; but there lay all the difficulty. The sky, as well as the ground, are a little too dark, but that is according to the Flemish principle of sacrificing the distances to effect. The figure is not sufficiently light, like a figure exposed to open daylight; it looks rather like a cavalier in a riding-house. The scenery too is less firm, less historical than that of the picture of Charles I. engraved by Raphael Morghen; a work of beautiful execution, but in which firmness and execution are too much sacrificed to the graces. The bust of Moncade has also been engraved in half-length by Sweiderhæk, and reduced by Dejode, probably to put at the head of his works. A LADY WITH HER DAUGHTER. The portrait of the Lady, in this piece, is the handsomest; the head is done in such a way as not to mark any particular labour; there is scarcely any shade, so that the demitints give all the necessary effect, and that effect is complete. The character of gentleness and of amenity, is well preserved; it is no longer the freshness of early youth, it is not even beauty, but it is that of a young mother who arrived at thirty years of age, after passing through all the peaceful details and daily cares of an easy establishment, has acquired an habitual and becoming smile. The right hand is a little defective in design; and the dress is that of the fashion of the times, even to the details of embroidery and jet buttons, nothing is omitted. The air of this female (like that of her husband, which will be noticed in another place) is simple; in short, they seem made, the one for the other, and may be called a well assorted couple. In composition from this picture, the draughtsman ough: to observe the crimson arm chair which unites its dark tints with the yellow ochre of the back ground, without which gradation the transitions of colour would be too strongly contrasted. The little girl is not so well modelled as the child in the other picture which we shall have occasion to criticise, but her physiognomy is fine, the eyes frolicksome, and the tint exquisite, although there is rather too much light on the right cheek which thus is brought too far forward. The peculiar tint chosen for the child, however, has induced the artist to sacrifice all the effect of the clothes; the satins are dirty, the linen soiled. All this is a resource, a means, perhaps an excuse; but ought never to be a motive. |