A biographical sketch of the artist, whose name stands at the head of this paper, may be comprised within a brief space, the external events of his life being few, and not in any sense extraordinary. The few facts are gleaned from Dunlap's meagre notice, and confirmed on the personal authority of the artist. ting a comparison between the divine Italians | original critics of the present century, adand the homely Dutchmen; rather would mirable writers upon art as well as literature, we oppose a first-rate artist of the actual to Hazlitt and Lamb, in their essays upon the a second-rate painter of the ideal school. works of Hogarth, have abundantly and Something german to this subject are the brilliantly illustrated and confirmed this following remarks of Leslie, whose single position. authority is sufficient to decide a point of this kind. In a letter to Dunlap, he writes, speaking of Newton: "For my own part, I had much rather have been the painter of one of Sir Joshua Reynolds's best portraits, or one of Claude's landscapes, than of any historical painting by Guido, Domenichino, or Annibal Daracci, I ever saw. If dramatic invention, a true expression of the passions and feelings of human nature, and a perfect knowledge of physiognomy, are to be estimated by their rarity, Hogarth was the greatest painter the world ever saw. Yet, according to the received classification, his art must take a lower rank than that of his father-in-law, Sir Thomas Thornbill, who designed the dome of St. Paul's with the history of the saint from whom the church is named." In Heine's letters we find an idea expressed so similar to this, and with such clearness, that we append it by way of corollary to the above. He is contrasting Goethe and Schiller, and in his light, flowing tone of sarcastic irony, which probes a subject as effectually as the finest serious analysis, he declares: "Those highly painted, those purely ideal forms, those altar images of Virtue and Morality, which Schiller has erected, are far easier to produce than those frail, every-day, contaminated beings that Goethe reveals to us in his works. Indifferent painters ever present the full-length picture of some holy saint upon the canvas; but it requires a consummate master to paint a Spanish beggar, or a Dutch peasant suffering a tooth to be extracted, or hideous old women as we see them in the little Dutch cabinet pictures, true to life and perfect in art. The grand and fearful are of much easier representation in art than the trifling and the little. The Egyptian sorcerers could imitate many of the acts of Moses, as the snake, the blow, the frogs even; but when he did acts much more seemingly easy for the magicians, namely, brought vermin upon the land, then they confessed their inability, and said, 'That is the finger of God." If any further criticism were necessary, we might add, that two exquisitely just and The youngest of three brothers, artists, our painter, the son of a substantial Long Island farmer, was born at Setauket, Suffolk co., Nov. 26, 1807. Up to the age of seventeen he had been bred " a farmer's boy," as he himself expresses it, and which early education sufficiently explains the character of the subjects of his art-all rural scenes of a domestic character, or, as in most cases, of out-of-door scenes and occupations. At that age he came up to New-York and commenced an apprenticeship as sign and ornamental painter, to his eldest brother, Henry S. Mount, who pursued that branch of painting,although with powers and execution much superior to it, especially excellent in pieces of still life. Feeling no doubt an instinctive superiority to this occupation, the future artist relinquished it for a higher walk. He commenced seeking after good pictures as models, and entered a student of the National Academy of Design, 1826. The next year he returned to the country, partly on. account of his health and for recreation, but chiefly from a native preference for its quiet, and the innocent pleasures it affords. As a more congenial residence, from early associations, and the proper field of his labors, no less than from its intrinsic attractions, he has always (except for a short interval) continued to reside there; coming up to the city on brief periodical visits of business. In 1828, he painted his first picture, a portrait of himself. In 1829, recommenced painting, in New-York, portraits. History early fired his ambition, and he imagined himself destined to succeed in Scripture pieces. He has not entirely relinquished this fancy yet. Liston came out in tragedy, and, as a matter of history, comic geniuses have in general made a beginning in a sim ilar way. Time, sooner or later, corrects He has been so universally considered the the error. The first painting he exhibited comic painter of the country, that his power at the Academy was Christ raising the in portraits has been overlooked. Portraits daughter of Jairus, followed by Saul and of Bishop Onderdonk, Rev. Drs. Seabury and the Witch of Endor. But he soon found Carmichael, Hon. Jeremiah Johnson, of his true line. His first comic picture was Brooklyn, &c., attest his skill in depicting exhibited in 1830-the Rustic Dance. A few the human countenance, in catching the years after, the judgment of the great artist genuine expression of the sitter and fixing it of the country was thus expressed. In a on the canvas. One of the latest producletter to Dunlap, August, 1834, by Allston, tions of the artist in this department is a occurs the following most judicious criticism, portrait of E. H. Nicoll, Esq., exhibited at cordially presented: "I saw some pieces in the annual exposition of the Academy, some the Athenæum (of Boston) last year, by a years ago, and which was pronounced by young man of your city, Mount, which Frothingham, a master in portraiture, to be showed great power of expression. He has, one of the very best heads in the collection. too, a firm, decided pencil, and seems to Since then, he has just finished a head of have a good notion of a figure. If he Mrs. William Nicoll, of Islip, which has given would study Ostade and Jan Steen, and the utmost satisfaction to the family. master their chiaro-oscuro, there is nothing, Mount sometimes speaks of comic design as I see, to prevent his becoming a great as so slightly remunerative, on the whole, artist in the line he has chosen." Had though good prices are paid for the few orders Mount gone abroad at that time, he might he receives, that if he should paint to satisfy very probably have learned new secrets of col- himself, he would soon qualify himself for oring; but as probably he would have been an honorary degree at that modern temple confused by the brilliancy of so much ex-of artistic fame-the alms-house. cellence, and, in his attempt to gain too much facility, have lost his distinctive local freshness, and untaught, natural beauties. A truly national painter might have been sacrificed to the varied accomplishments of a tasteful artist of the schools. Perhaps it was wisest for him to have remained at home. Copies of some of his most characteristic pictures might be bought up in England, by wealthy connoisseurs, at a liberal rate, and one field still remains open to To return, however, to his peculiarly orihim which he could worthily occupy-ginal works, those which have given him an the Southern negro, plantation life, cornshuckings, &c. He would find open-handed patrons among the cultivated and opulent planters. His heads of negroes, in Right and Left, and the Lucky Throw, are the finest Ethiopian portraits ever put upon canvas. Doubtless many would be gratified to be immortalized to posterity, in a portrait by Mount, even if the head was not so admirably painted, with the truth and fidelity of his faces and figures in his familiar scenes. But he might, if he chose to devote himself to it, be at least as successful as many of our portrait painters, who, with a tithe of his genius, enjoy high position and command handsome prices. individual reputation. Some of these have been, for fifteen years or so, locked up in private collections, which we have not seen; others we saw so long since, that we hesitate to speak of them confidently. Some ten or a dozen masterpieces, however, are Mount has painted some fifty pictures familiar to us, and must be to our readers. which he would be willing to acknowledge. Of these, two are in the New-York Gallery, Among the best of these are Men Husking several are already engraved, two are now Corn, Walking the Crack, the Sportsman's in Paris, and one is now in the engraver's Last Visit, the Raffle, the Courtship, the hands; and, during the last two or three. Tough Story, the Barn-Floor Dance, Bird-years, some of his finest have been in the ing, Turning the Leaf, Undutiful Boys, Bar- exhibitions of the Academy, the Art-Union, gaining for a Horse, Cider-Making on Long and the rooms of Goupil & Co. Island, Boys Trapping, Nooning, Power of Music and Music is Contagious, Just in Time, Right and Left, California News, the Lucky Throw, and Who'll Turn Grindstone? his latest efforts. In a brief review of his works, we cannot enter into any detailed description: a few words must suffice. Bargaining for a Horse, in the New-York Gallery, and which is to be one of the Art Just in Time represents a handsome young countryman, who, violin in hand, has just hit the proper pitch. This picture is in the exhibition of the present year. It has been beautifully lithographed, and is worthy of a rural Adonis by Morland. Union engravings for next year, and Noon- | but, to our eye, what they gain as portraits, ing, engraved by Alfred Jones, a capital they lose as humorous pictures. The classic engraving, appear to us his chefs d'œuvre in size for comic pieces has been diminutive. his out-of-door scenes. In the first picture, Yet they are truly excellent, and we must remark the diplomatic manner of the traf- add a few words by way of description. fickers; how cool and indifferent; whittling; their attitudes, like their dress, easy and slouching. Nooning is nature itself, a perfect transcript from life: how close and sultry the mid-day heats; how lazily lolls the sleeping negro on the hay, whose ear the boy is tickling with a straw, which produces a slight smile. The white laborers are naturally disposed about with their farming implements. The landscape is unmistakably that of Long Island, bare and homely, yet with an air of thrift and comfort. In all of his productions, the details are carefully painted, but in some of them, separate faces or some special object form the most attractive features. Power of Music and Music is Contagious are, like most of his works, of cabinet size and companion pieces. The titles tell the story, which is narrated with pictorial effect. They represent the love of music at different periods of life. The phrenological hobby of the artist is apparent in the musical bump of the negro, whose organ of tune in the second picture has been much developed. The faces of the boys are full of sweetness. California News is a hit at the times. A group of listeners surround the reader of an "extra," containing the miraculous developments of gold discovery at the El Dorado; the scene, a village tavern bar-room, hung round, among other ornaments, with a handbill advertisement of a vessel up for the Mines. This is, altogether, a capital thing, full of telling effects: an historical painting, though of an humble order, in the genuine sense. Within the last year Mr. Mount has been executing orders (of which Just in Time, Right and Left, and the Lucky Throw, are three already completed) for the enter prising French publishing and print-selling house of Goupil & Co., whose agent, Mr. Schauf, had the taste and judgment to select Mount, as the most national of our artists, to introduce to the French and European public. These pictures are tastefully lithographed in Paris by La Salle, a spirited hand. In this enterprise, he has ventured on the experiment of combining portrait and comic design. The heads are life-size, half-lengths; Right and Left is a negro fiddler calling out the figures of a dance at a ball, fully equal to the last-mentioned. The negro is a comely specimen of his race, and something of a village dandy, to boot. The Lucky Throw-a negro who has won a goose at a raffle-inimitable for spirit, expression, details and coloring. Indeed, the coloring in these last three is much superior to that in his earlier works: a fine tone is prevalent, and there is no sign of carelessness or neglect. His last work, in this year's exhibition of the Academy, Who'll Turn Grindstone? illustrates a well-known apologue of Dr. Franklin, impressing the moral of the heartless conduct of worldly men towards those whose good offices they have exhausted. The countenance of the boy is the trait we like best in this picture. It reminds one of the amenity of Gainsborough's children, and of the faces in the Truant Gamblers. barn is as natural as possible. It was painted for Mr. Sturges, the President of the NewYork Gallery, and a liberal patron of art. The Mount has been fortunate in his patrons -the late judicious lover and munificent friend of art, Luman Reed, Esq., his successor in the Presidency, James Lenox, Esq., Mrs. Gideon Lee, Mrs. Leupp, Goupil & Co., gentlemen of discrimination and cultivated taste. The prices he is paid are generally higher than those he places upon his productions; and yet, although handsome for this country, he would probably receive double or thrice the amount abroad. Commonly considered indolent, he is indefatigable in elaborating his productions. Fastidious and full of conscientious integrity, he is accused of slowness by those who are ignorant of the internal, intellectual labor of the artist, who, faithful to his cherished conceptions, seeks to work them out by diligence and pains. Much is going on in the mind, while the artist may not touch his brush for days or weeks. He is also much | sant excursions, and little parties at home or censured for his coloring, at one time too in the neighborhood, relieve the toils of the cold, again too hot. It is true, expression studio, the farm, the manufactory; and more and character are his fortes, coloring is not. real happiness is found than amid the Yet he is sometimes highly successful, as in splendid luxuries of the city. his later works, and almost always his coloring suits his peculiar class of subjects, which, homely and rustic as they are, neither require nor approve vivid tints. Mr. Mount is now living at Stony Brook, some three miles from Setauket, on the Sound side of Long Island, with his married sister. His studio is as rustic as possible, and nothing could be more appropriate. It is in the upper story or garret of an oldfashioned cottage, a comfortable homestead, with the light artistically let in from the roof. Mr. Shepherd Mount, well known as a successful portrait painter, for which department of his art he has a fine feeling, and especially for color, is an able and intelligent artist. His drawings and sketches are even better than most of his portraits; and, in pieces of still life, he has done some capital things. He has also a turn for landscape. It is delightful to witness the frank and generous pride of the brothers in each other, and their family connections, an instance of brotherly sympathy and disinterestedness as rare as it is grateful. The scenery about Stony Brook is not beautiful nor romantic, but has a certain rural charm that confirms local affection, when a more picturesque scene might fade out of the fancy. It has that ever-delicious repose of the country, that air of quiet and seclusion, so full of unobtrusive beauty to the citizen, tired of the turmoil of a town life. It was a favorite resort of the late Henry Inman. The country about here is one of the oldest settlements on the Island. It has some antiquities of its own, the chief of which is the quaint little old Caroline church, an Episcopal church, erected during the reign of George II., and named after his consort. Old farm-houses and aged people are not unfrequently met, and comfort with contentment is the ruling characteristic of the neighborhood. Here, in serenity, and in the enjoyment of social pleasures, practising a genial hospitality, with abundance of goodhumor and native courtesy, combining much intelligence and true natural refinement, reside a pleasant society, of which the Mount family forms the centre of attraction. Plea The place of W. S. Mount, as an artist, may be considered as not easily assignable. He is an original painter, a follower of no school, an imitator of no master. But yet he may be classed generally with English painters, as partaking of certain of their qualities and as possessing similar attributes. Mount is not merely a comic painter, and by no means a caricaturist. At the same time, he is much above the most successful painter of still life. His forte properly is rustic picturesqueness, and heightened by true humorous descriptive power. He is something akin to Wilkie, with traits of the better part of Morland and a good deal of Gainsborough in him. Some of his cabinet pieces with a variety of figures deserve to be ranked in the same category with the admirable pictures of the Dutch and Flemish schools. Of course we would not insult Mount by declaring such an extravagance, as that he equalled Ostade in coloring, or Douner in minute finish. The general characteristics of his paintings, however, are much the same with theirs. A comic artist without doubt, he is still essentially a rural painter. There is nothing of the town life in his pictures: all are imbued with a feeling of the country-its freshness, its foliage, its sweet airs and soulcalming secret recesses. His best works are, in a word, humorous pastorals, with sweetness and fine-tempered satire, (where there is any at all;) no bitterness, no moral obliquity or personal deformity impair their effect; they present a picture of country life, at once satisfactory for its truth and agreeable in its aspect and general features. .The character of the artist is reflected in his works,-his sweetness of temper, purity of feeling, truthfulness, gayety of heart, humorous observation, and appreciation of homely beauties of nature that are overlooked by the common eye. He loves to discover the good in others, in artists, especially beginners, in all pictures, and indeed in every thing. He is a practical optimist, in the best meaning of the term. With maturity of judgment and character, he has all the vivacity of youthful feeling and the freshness of the morning of life. A guileless, generous gentleman, indifferent to the pecuniary rewards of his art, except so far as they insure the essential comforts of life and bring the independence he cherishes with manly spirit. In common with all the members of his family, who inherit a turn for humor and vivacity of spirits, he is a lover of and skilled in music, plays with spirit on the violin, and is fond of all social and innocent pleasures. His figure is tall and slight, but graceful; his gait buoyant and springy; his manners cordial, cheery, and full of bonhomie; with a voice uncommonly musical and insinuating. Those who have not met him, may obtain a good idea of his physiognomy and expression, from the admirable head by El liott, painted for Goupil & Co.'s gallery-a trifle too highly colored perhaps, and making him look more like a bandit than the painter, still a picturesque head of an artist, by one who well deserves that title. His smile and frank expression, both very attractive, give way in the portrait to a more elevated expression, not the habitual look. His eye is remarkably mild and intelligent: the whole profile, in a word, is such as one fancies a painter's face should be. In conversation he is modest and unassuming; his remarks are direct, full of sense, humor and feeling. He speaks hurriedly at times, and without any pedantic precision; but his expressions are generally as pithy as his ideas are just and true. A HUNGARY: DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. THE last three years will ever be remem- with a detailed history of the struggle itself. bered with the deepest interest by the whole Our materials for this work are not so amcivilized world. Great events have trans-ple as we could wish they were, and yet they pired, and in evident preparation for greater still. The voice of the forerunner has been heard, and the multitudes have gone forth to listen to it. The baptism of fire follows. The minds of men are alert and watchful for the opening of the next scene of this fearful and momentous drama. are sufficient, we believe, to enable us to present truthfully the great features of this most interesting passage in the recent history of the civilized nations of the earth. In the description which follows, it has been our endeavor to convey both a distinct and correct general impression of the kingThus far, no nation has acted a nobler or dom of Hungary, and also to give in detail a more tragical part than that of the Hun- the most important facts illustrative of its garians. For many years scarcely thought physical characteristics. Particular pains of, and hardly known by any on this side of have been taken to retain the very language the water, and not at all understood, this of those who have written from their perpeople has surprised the world with an exam-sonal observation, and in most instances this ple of heroic devotion to a righteous cause, which, if it has been paralleled, has never been surpassed by any nation of ancient or modern times. We propose, in three papers of moderate length each, to give an account of the late events in Hungary; commencing, in the present article, with a description of the country, of its position, natural resources, capabilities and relations; proceeding next to a brief summary of Hungarian history, with a statement of the condition of the nation at the opening of the late struggle, and concluding has been done. We hope the reader will put himself to the trouble of reading with a map before him; and we are confident that if he does, he will conclude this article with a clearer idea of the land of the Magyars than he will readily obtain in any other way. The kingdom of Hungary lies north of Turkey and south of Poland, the great mass of it falling between the 45th and 49th parallels of north latitude. From the best statistics within our reach, we gather that its extent is about equal to that of the States of Ohio and Indiana taken together, or, with |