Pimentel, R. Sharland, W. H. C. Stanford, E. H. Stone, A. Sutter, and H. M. Whitley.-The Council have transferred Messrs. W. Airy, H. J. C. Anderson, M. Smith, and W. Wilson, from the class of Associate to that of Member; and have admitted the following Candidates as Students of the Institution: Messrs. L. M. Acland, P. L. Addison, R. P. Atkinson, C. J. S. Baker, E. Baker, Á. W. T. Bean, A. Bewley, H. R. Blackburn, P. W. Britton, W. H. Cole, G. O. W. Dunn, C. H. Holme, E. H. Johns, L. M. Kortwright, F. Lang, W. C. Lewis, E. Leycester, C. Perrin, and the Hon. L. M. St. Clair.

reliquaries. The mode of production and the relative artistic skill and style of ornamentation shown in these objects were critically examined by Mr. S. Smith at some length.-In the discussion which ensued, the Earl Amherst, Mr. W. Egerton, Sir J. Maclean, and others, took part.-Mr. Tregellas and Sir J. Maclean exhibited gold rings of special make, lately acquired on the West Coast of Africa.-Mrs. J. G. Nichols sent some original MSS., comprising a letter under the Great Seal, and Sign Manual of Edward the Sixth and the Lords of the Council empowering the officers of the Mint at Canterbury to arrest, and retain for their service, goldsmiths and other artificers, and to take possession of metals and minerals. The deed is an interesting example ROYAL INSTITUTION.-May 1.-Annual Meetof the exercise of the Royal prerogative of impress-ing.-Warren De La Rue, Esq., V.P., in the chair. ment, and appears to have passed through no preliminary stages and not to have been enrolled. The other MSS. were several thirteenth-century deeds relating to Ticehurst, &c., in Sussex, with seals attached; a Commission from the Mayor, &c. of Hastings for the carrying of the canopy at the Coronation of Charles the Second; and a power of attorney by the Superior of the town of Youghall to give seisin of land there, temp. Richard the Second; Licence of entry to his lands to John Trollope, from Toby Mathew, Bishop of Durham.-The Rev. J. Beck sent some Icelandic ornaments of silver, including a silver bodice lacing which had been gilt, but had been put into the fire by a silversmith of Reykjavick to get off the gilding. Some of these ornaments, among which were several large and richly chased buttons, which are modern, but obviously copied from a very early type.-Mr. Feuardent exhibited some bronzes found at Annecy, in Savoy, consisting of three heads, the smallest of which was of full life size; a human foot; and a statuette, nearly twenty-four inches high, representing an athlete. This figure, of which the Athenæum has already made mention, was the subject of a dissertation by Mr. C. W. King, who maintained that it was an example of the best period of Greek art-a position which was contested by Mr. Fortnum, who considered it to be a Gallo-Roman work of great beauty, and in this opinion he was supported by Mr. Waller.

PHILOLOGICAL. May 1.-A. J. Ellis, Esq., President, in the chair.-Mr. J. D. Meiklejohn was elected a Member.-The paper read was 'On the History of English Sounds, Part III.,' by Mr. H. Sweet. In this third paper Mr. Sweet dealt with the modern period, from the loss of final e, which he divided into five sections: 1, Earliest, A.D. 1450-1550; 2, Early, 1550-1650; 3, Transition, 1650-1700, the period of the short u in but; 4, Late, 1700 to? 1830, the period of vowelnarrowing; 5, Latest, 1830-1874, the period of diphthongization of vowels, a change now largely proceeding, though unnoticed by grammarians. Mr. Sweet held that, in the ordinary talk of men now, no pure vowel sound was uttered, except sometimes the a in father, and the a in all; and he showed that these were passing into diphthongs, that is, utterances not ending with the same sound that they started with. Mr. Sweet read specimens of his theoretic pronunciation from the Saxon Chronicle, the 'Ancren Riwle' (of about 1230 A.D.), Chaucer's Prologue to the 'Canterbury Tales,' and Shakspeare,-Portia's speech on mercy, and Launce's talk to his dog. He promised to print full lists of the spellings of words from a series of authorities during the whole course of English, and said they would prove the English language to be, perhaps, the most regular in its development in the world, one most obedient to laws, and laws easily stated and understood.

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.-May 5.— Mr. Harrison, President, in the chair.-Five gentlemen were elected as Members-Messrs. P. Burrell, T. C. Clarke, C. W. Hawkins, W. King, and H. V. F. Valpy-and eighteen as AssociatesMessrs. T. H. G. Berrey, G. W. Brenan, J. R. Brittle, W. F. Butler, F. Cheesman, H. Deane, C. P. Gibbons, E. W. Jarvis, T. W. Jeffcock, W.; M. Mayes, J. C. Melliss, E. Perrett, J. G.

-The Annual Report of the Committee of Visitors for the year 1873 was read and adopted. This Report testifies to the increasing prosperity and efficiency of the Institution, and congratulates the Members on the fact that the new laboratories have been constructed and fitted up by means of funds contributed by themselves; and that this heavy charge is not larger than what the surplus income of a few years will probably be able to reimburse. Fifty new members were elected in 1873. Sixtytwo lectures and nineteen evening discourses were delivered. The books and pamphlets presented amounted to about 120 volumes, making, with those purchased by the Managers, a total of 259 volumes added to the library in the year, exclusive of periodicals.-Thanks were voted to the President, Treasurer, and Secretary, to the Committees of Managers and Visitors, and to the Professors, for their services to the Institution during the past year.-The following gentlemen were elected as officers for the ensuing year: President, The Duke of Northumberland; Treasurer, G. Busk; Secretary, W. Spottiswoode; Managers, G. Berkley, Adm. Sir H. J. Codrington, Warren De La Rue, Sir T. F. Elliot, E. Frankland, F. Galton, J. P. Gassiot, C. H. Hawkins, A. Latham, J. C. Moore, Sir W. F. Pollock, The Earl of Rosse, R. P. Roupell, C. W. Siemens, and Col. P. J. Yorke; Visitors, J. Brown, J. C. Burgoyne, A. J. Ellis, Col. J. A. Grant, Lieut.-Gen. Sir F. W. Hamilton, T. H. Hills, R. P. Linton, W. Millar, A. C. B. Neill, W. S. Portal, W. Salmon, J. B. Sedgwick, J. Spedding, The Hon. J. G. P. Vereker, and H. Wedgwood.

May 4.-The Duke of Northumberland, President, in the chair.-Miss C. C. Astley, Messrs. G. L. Basset, W. M. Brown, J. O. Corrie, H. Deacon, G. K. Hardie, G. J. S. Lock, T. F. Miller, S. Sampson, and T. Taylor, were elected Members. -J. Tyndall, Esq., was re-elected Professor of Natural Philosophy.-The Managers announced that they had appointed J. H. Gladstone, Esq., Fullerian Professor of Chemistry.

SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGY.-May 5.— Dr. Birch, President, in the chair.-The following candidates were elected Members: Miss E. Bagster, Messrs. H. Bland, W. Boscawen, jun., J. Dryden, J. H. Lydall, Rev. J. M. Fuller, and Rev. Canon Lane.-The following papers were read:

Synchronous History of Assyria and Judah, B.C. 745-688,' by Mr. J. W. Bosanquet, Treasurer.'Revised Translation of the Descent of Ishtar, with a further Commentary,' by Mr. H. Fox Talbot. In this paper the learned Assyriologist showed that the Legend of the Descent of Ishtar was, in its present form, dramatically arranged as a species of Mystery or Miracle Play. The translator was now able to render the whole text more complete by the addition of a fragment of a duplicate copy, containing ten lines, recently found by Mr. G. Smith in the British Museum.-'On the Egyptian Altar at Turin,' drawn by Mr. J. Bonomi, and described by Mr. S. Sharpe.-Translation of the Hieroglyphic Inscription upon the Granite Altar at Turin,' by Dr. S. Birch, President.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE. — April 28. — Prof. Busk, President, in the chair.-Mr. C. C. Tennant was elected a Member. — Mr. H. H. Howorth read a paper, 'Strictures on Darwinism,

Part III., on Gradual Variation.' The paper was in continuation of a series in which the author endeavoured to show that Mr. Darwin's main conclusion is not supported by the evidence of the changes in type that can be examined. Mr. Darwin differed from the older naturalists in assigning as the cause of variation a struggle between the individuals of a class for existence, by which a favoured individual and its progeny eventually survive. They, on the contrary, argued that variation is induced by a change in the external conditions of climate, food, &c., which operate upon the whole class together, and make it change, as a whole, in a certain definite manner and direction, -that is, in one which can be actually predicted; so that if any individual of a class, or any number of individuals of a class, be subjected to a certain alteration of conditions, a certain definite and uniform change will be produced in the individual or the class. Again, if the new conditions were annihilated, the object of the experiment is reverted to its original surroundings. The author supported that argument by a large number of facts, and, in doing so, was constrained to conclude that the operating cause of variation in man, as in the case of plants and animals, is the working of external causes; and that an individual with its progeny is not so much better fitted for enduring the new conditions that it eventually supplants the rest, but rather that the whole class is moulded together into a new shape, which is called a new variety. Some facts were drawn from the experience of history, showing that where the conditions have been uniform, as in Egypt, although there has been a considerable mutual pressure among the individuals of a class for food, &c., yet there has been no variation; while a transplanting of similar individuals, as in the case of European emigration to America, has been followed by almost immediate change. The illustrations that might be drawn from the cases of man, as in the changes that have ensued in both the Aryan and the Black Emigrants to North America, in the Dutch at the Cape, in the Portuguese at South America, &c., were notable and telling instances of the operation of the law argued for by the author, inasmuch as changes of type of a marked character have occurred where there has been neither time nor opportunity for the creation of a fresh type by the successive amelioration or change in the idiosyncrasies of the descendants of a common ancestor, but where the change has undoubtedly occurred in the whole class together over a very wide area.

|

MON.

=

MEETINGS FOR THE ENSUING WEEK.

United Service Institution, 3.- Volta Expedition, during the late Ashanti Campaign,' Capt. Glover.

Society of Arts, S.-Carbon and certain Compounds of Carbon treated principally in reference to Heating and Illuminating Purposes, Lecture V., Prof. F Barff (Cantor Lecture). Surveyors, 8.-Agricultural Geology, Mr. E. J. Smith. Geographical, 8-Geography and Resources of the Country between the River Volta and Coomassie, Capt. J. R. Glover. TUES. Royal Institution, 3.-The Nervous system,' Prof. Rutherford. Civil Engineers, 8.- Peat Fuel Machinery,' Mr. J. M'C. Meadows.

Anthropological Institute, 8.Statistics obtained from Schools, and Excess of Female Population in the West Indies, Mr. F. Galton; Extinction of Families, Rev. H. W. Watson; Ancient Stone Monuments of the Nágás,' Major H. Godwin-Austen. WED. Literature, 4-Council.

Geological, 8.- Generic Modifications of the Plesiosaurian Pectoral Girdle,' and 'Muranosaurus Leedsii, a Plesiosaurian from the Oxford Clay,' Mr. H. G. Seeley; 'Remains of Labyrinthodonta from the Keuper Sandstone of Warwick, preserved in the Warwick Museum,' Mr. L. C. Míall. Society of Arts, 8-Importance of a Special Organization for the Diffusion of Sanitary Knowledge, Major-General Synge. THURS. Royal Institution, 3.- Physical Symmetry in Crystals, Mr. N. S. Maskelyne.

FRI.

SAT.

Mathematical, 8.-Correlation of Two Planes,' Dr. Hirst; 'Contact of Quadrics with other Surfaces,' Mr. W. Spottis woode.

THE Annual Dinner of the Fellows of the College of Surgeons takes place on the 4th of July, Prof. Erasmus Wilson in the chair.

MR. BOWDLER SHARPE has been engaged for the last year on a work on the 'Birds of Prey,' which will be published this month by the Trustees of the British Museum, as the first volume of

a Catalogue of Birds. Mr. Sharpe's work will give complete descriptions, not only of the species contained in the national collection, but of all the birds of prey known throughout the world. In a communication to the May number of the Zoologist, Mr. W. H. Wallis notices the recent discovery of large numbers of fossil bones during extensive draining operations at Reading. Many of the bones were brought to light in digging a trench through some low meadows between the Kennet and the Thames.

In our list of the New Council of the Society of Antiquaries we, last week, accidentally omitted from the eleven members retained from the old Council, the names of Richard Henry Major, Esq.

and Octavius Morgan, Esq., auditor.

DR. A. STELZNER, an old Freiberg student, who was appointed some time ago to a chair in the University of Cordoba, has contributed to a recent number of Tschermak's Mineralogische Mittheilungen some Mineralogical Observations in the Argentine Republic.'

SOME curious examples of crystallized glass, obtained from bottle-glass works, at Blanzy, in the Department of Saône-et-Loire, have been recently described by M. Peligot. Unlike ordinary devitrified glass, the specimens are well crystallized in prismatic forms, resembling crystals of augite. It is maintained by some chemists that vitreous and devitrified glass differ from each other in chemical composition, whilst others assert that the two substances are identical in composition, but differ in the arrangement of their molecules. Analyses of the Blanzy specimens tend to support the former view; in fact, the crystallized portions contained more magnesia and less soda than the clear glass from which the crystals had separated.

IN a recent session the Associates of the First Class of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Lisbon voted an expression of regret that the Portuguese Government should have resolved not to send out a Scientific Expedition, destined to proceed to Macao, to observe the Transit of Venus.

THE Journal of the Franklin Institute for April contains two very important papers by Prof. R. H.

Thurston. The first is 'On the Thermal and

Romains (1819) recall the mode of painting affected by the late George Mason, and have the same origin.-M. Wahlberg's Port de Pêcheurs (1826) is beautifully painted. The student must not miss M. J. Breton's La Falaise (257), nor the vivid La Via Appia, au Temps d'Auguste (235), by M. Boulanger, with its rich illustrations of Roman character and admirable design and composition. -M. Aublay's Ferme au Tréport (48) gives, with rare ability, a sunny_courtyard.-Fleurs et Fruits (38), by M. Armand-Delille, is painted as few but Frenchmen paint such subjects.-M. Beaumont's Têtes Follies! (106), a humorous piece, of ladies looking at the antics of dwarfs, shows the same turn for that vein of humour as Zamacois. It

first rate in its way. The same artist has “ Bête

comme une Oie" (105), a cook selecting his victims from a hissing, intrusive crowd of birds.

The SHADOW of DEATH.' Painted by Mr. HOLMAN HUNT in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Nazareth; begun in 1868, completed end of 1872 -NOW on VIEW at 398. Old Bond Street.-The Gallery is opened at Ten, closed at Six.-Admission, ls.

DORE'S GREAT PICTURE of CHRIST LEAVING the PRETORIUM,' with 'The Dream of Pilate's Wife,'' Night of the Crucifixion,' Christian Martyrs,'' Francesca de Rimini,' &c., at the DORÉ GALLERY, 35, New Bond Street. Ten to Six.-Admission, 18.

Will Close, on May 16th, ROUND the WORLD with W. SIMPSON, being Pictures from the Four Quarters of the Globe by " A Special Artist"-Burlington Gallery, 191, Piccadilly. Open from Ten to Six.-Admission, including Catalogue, 18.

THE SALON, PARIS.

(First Notice.)

Ir is the general impression in Paris that the Exhibition of this year is not equal to the average in merit. It shows, at any rate, no falling off in number, for the aggregate of works is nearly 3,700

The more important pictures will come under without prejudice to future observations, we may review in their proper order; but meanwhile, give the following summary of a part of this gigantic gathering, and name, in the order of the Catalogue, the salient works in some of the rooms. M. Adan contributes a truly pathetic and capitally painted illustration of 'Faust' in Marguerite (No. 6). Mr. Alma Tadema sends La Dixième Plaie certain improvements since effected, was at the Royal Academy under the same title; also a large picture, the companion to that now in Burlington House, and, like it, executed for Mr. Gambart's villa at Nice. This is Sculpture (19), and shows a Roman gentleman displaying to his friends, and in a sculptor's workshop, a noble fountain of black marble which he has bought.-M. Barillot has two capital cow pictures (74, 75), at which Mr. T. S. Cooper might look with astonishment and admiration.-M. Berne-Bellecour contributes a capital humorous piece in Le Prétendu (145), a lover holding thread for his mistress's unwinding; likewise Un Matin d'Été (147).-The Roméo et Juliette (161), by M. Bertrand, is a pathetic piece in the painter's mode; the lovers recline before the tomb. He sends besides Jeune Fille (162) and Anuccia (163).-M. Biard's Le Capitaine Pleville (173) has the merit of a striking subject, a lame hero being lowered over a cliff to the rescue of a shipwrecked crew: see also Les Convives en Retard (174).-M. Arus's Armée de la Loire (44), a snow-piece, with small figures, is a marvel, to be criticized at length by-and-by.-M. Andre's Brigands pour les Oiseaux (22) shows an upland road, with the ricketty cart of M. T. Gauthier's comedians in 'Le Capitaine Fracasse' arrested by the hero and his phantom assistants; the travellers alight in a hurry. The figures are, comparatively, of little account, but the painting of the baggage and the cart is admirable; full of spirit and vivacity.-M. Appian's La Mer, Calme Plat (33), with thunderladen clouds gathering above and reflected in it, and enormous cumuli towering against a brassy gleam on the horizon caused by the setting sun, is intensely expressive and pathetic; but we have seen better work by the artist, for this is painty, and parts here and there are mechanical.-M. von Thoren's Campagne de Rome (1818) and Buffles

M. L. Bonnat signalizes himself by painting an intensely naturalistic crucifixion, called Le Christ (205), and, in one respect, thereby supports his great reputation; but the figure, the very antithesis of that in Mr. Holman Hunt's 'Shadow of Death,' is nothing but a model, however marvellous it may be in execution. A more pleasant production is Les Premiers Pas (207), a young Italian mother guiding her child.-M. G. Brion sends the capital Une Noce en Alsace (265), the happy pair preceded by musicians.-Nuit d'Hiver (256), by M. E. Breton, gives, with felicity, snow L'Automne (254).-M. Bourée has a capital Retour in a village; by the same are Crépuscule (255) and de la Pêche (237), fishermen on a beach.-M. Bonvin's L'École des Frères, la Petite Classe (216), depicts school children in perfection. His L'Écureuse (217)

Billet's Fraudeurs de Tabac (181) shows smugglers is wonderful; a woman scours a brass pot.-M. with dogs, in a snowy landscape.-M. Bouguereau's Charité (232) is an allegorical composition, the genius with two babes; a fine academical painting; he has likewise two other pictures, Homère et son Guide (233) and Italiennes à la Fontaine (234); of which the last pleases us most.

Madame H. Browne has, besides two fine portraits, Un Poëte, les Coptes dans la HauteEgypte (275), two figures, one writing at a table, painted with noble solidity and fine colour.-M. Cabuzel's L'Automne (298) is superb as a landscape.

M. Puvis de Chavannes, in his Charles Martel after the Victory of Poitiers (1526), shows his fine powers of design, and something of his weakness in painting.-M. Corot sends three characteristic landscapes, in Le Soir (459), Clair de Lune (460), and Souvenir d' Arleux-du-Nord (458). The second of these is the most attractive; the moon seen beyond a vista of trees, and glinting on the flowing stream of a full river, where it slides towards the darkness.-M. Matejko's Étienne Bathori, Roi de Pologne, devant Pskow (1275), men bringing symbols of submission to the victor, is a picture which we commend to the admirers of the works of Sir J. Gilbert. It is impossible not to compare the sketches of the popular English artist with this scattered but prodigiously vigorous and rich work, which is of immense dimensions.-M. Detaille sends one of the best of the numerous pictures representing incidents in the late war-pictures in which, as we are glad to say, our unfortunate neighbours retain their self-respect. These works generally show the losses rather than the victories, for there were such, of the French in the contest. Charge du 9e Régiment de Cuirassiers dans la Village de Morsbronn, Journée de Reichshoffen, 6 Août, 1870, (598) is intensely full of dramatic power and rich in incident. The soldiers are stopped by barricades of farm-carts as they ride through the street, and fired at from the windows of the houses.-One of the best pictures here is M. Pille's Un Pardon aux Environs de Guémené Morbihan (1489), Breton peasants assembled near a church: a triumph of composition in regard to distinct groups, and inexhaustible in individual character; likewise admirably painted in detail. -La Fontaine du Couvent (335), by M. Castres, gives a sunny street, with figures.-M. Coosemans has painted a tragic-looking landscape in Le Soir, Campine Limbourgeoise (445), a marshy waste,

study in red, together with striking character, in the seated figure, Le Cardinal (1096), reading a letter, and enthroned.-Among the brilliant pictures of the class of 'Un Beau Dimanche' (see above), is M. Laborne's Le Marché, à Blois (1033), a crowd of women, small figures, with unaccountable heaps of vegetables, under trees in a place, in sunlight and shadow; a capital composition, with abundance of incident.

We hope to conclude our general survey of the Salon next week, and, after that, return to the fuller consideration of the more valuable pictures. Already we must have written enough to give a tolerable, if not a complete, idea of the amazing wealth of the gathering, which, nevertheless, as we have said, good judges think not equal to the average of its forerunners. We admit that, as we proceed, we incline to rate this Salon more highly than

others have done.

THE ROYAL ACADEMY. (Second Notice.) FURTHER opportunities of examining this Exhibition have led us to the conclusion that the paintings and sculptures, although more numerous than on any former occasion, are below the average of the Royal Academy shows in the higher artistic qualities. In architecture, on the other hand, a decided improvement is observable. In the paintings we are impressed by what may, broadly speaking, be described as a laxity of style, and a lack of solidity in the workmanship of the pictures as a whole. That too evident seeking after success by comparatively easy methods, which we have more than once observed to be on the increase, is now, so far as we are yet able to judge, more than ever rampant. The galleries contain, we believe, a larger display than on any previous occasion of "clever" pictures; unsubstantial and brilliant execution seems more frequent than the results of serious studies-such studies seem to be going out of fashion. This Exhibition contains, of course, a considerable number of capital specimens, works in which high technical skill has been devoted to the expression of ideas which are at once poetic and paintable. Even these admirable works are, however, fewer than has been the case on recent occasions; and those of them which are likely to preserve the gathering itself in men's memories are not numer

ous.

To several of them we have already called the reader's attention, and there remain fewer fine works to speak of than has been the case in former years. In short, the pictures which are at once salient and admirable, are by no means numerous. Our task of reviewing the whole is, therefore, not likely to be so pleasant a one as hitherto.

The visitor receives a shock, at least such was our feeling, at the very moment of reaching the top of the staircase. At this point we encounter rows of ghastly portrait busts, in marble and plaster, the obtrusiveness of which is due, not only to the pallor of so many faces, but to the formidable array they make, stretching on either hand, and in grim rows, right across the entrance. Yet there are some noteworthy productions even in these rows; of them we shall write by-and-by. Among the sculptures proper, i.e., statues and designs in relief, an unusual number are meritorious. Mr. Watts's portraits are five in number, and are all more or less delightful. To that of Lady Arthur Russell (No. 318) we have already referred. It is a bust portrait, in a black dress, seated, with that charm of simplicity and refinement in the treatment of the face and figure which so often makes the works of this artist valuable. His Mrs. Le Strange (44) depicts with rare power of characterization, in a gentle way, a lady with a pearl necklace, the whole beautiful in its delicate breadth, and, like No. 318, a masterpiece in its fine and chastened way. Every one will turn with interest to the unique portrait of The late John Stuart Mill, Esq. (246), not only on account of its artistic nobility, although, the work being unfinished, that quality has not been fully developed, but because in it is, we believe, the only existing likeness of the eminent original. Mr. Mill entertained, or, at least, showed, great reluctance to sit for a por

trait, and it was only at Sir C. Dilke's instance that he was induced to give the necessary opportunities to Mr. Watts. These were, it is to be regretted, but too few; yet, however unfortunate this may have been as regards the completion of the picture, posterity will possess in Mr. Watts's work a most speaking" likeness. It seems to be a privilege reserved for men of eminence that their portraits should be painted by Mr. Watts, for here is a noble and beautiful portrait of The Rev. James Martineau (51), a half-length, with a fine though yet worn face, rendered with intense pathos, and perfect recognition of the poetry of the far-seeing eyes and sensitive lips. The tone and colour of this picture, its masterly and free modelling, render it the best portrait in the gallery. The Rev. Harry Jones (1353) is painted with keen appreciation for character, perfect solidity and richness of tone, and wealth of colour, in a sober, fine way. In these portraits, whether we consider them as likenesses or pictures, Mr. Watts may be said to have surpassed himself. At least he never did better.

We noticed last week the more important two of Mr. Marks's contributions, and may now at leisure turn to those which interest us less than Capital and Labour (179) and A Page of Rabelais (388). Winter (978) is a large decorative picture, designed, with others, we believe, for the decoration of a gentleman's seat near Middlesborough; it is one of a series, and comprises nearly life-sized figures of two itinerant musicians, standing in the little garden before a cottage, the hostess of which rewards their exertions with a dole. One fellow is old, the other a stalwart young man; the one is clad in brown and red, the other in green. The landscape is in keeping with the title, a champaign covered with snow. There is a hale "Englishness about the persons depicted here, which will please every one; and the workmanship is as spirited and sound as the humour of the picture is genuine and wholesome. The only fault we can find with this painting is that the wall of the cottage is needlessly crude and red. The bricks and mortar there are more strongly suggestive of a doll's house than we conceive to be desirable. The picture has peculiar interest on account of its being intended for the enrichment of a private dwelling. Another work, by Mr. Marks, will attract a much greater number of admirers than the last. It is styled The latest Fashion (125), and illustrates the old verses :Any silk, any thread,

Any toys for your head,

Of the newest and finest wear-a.

66

The scene is a medieval shop or booth, belong. ing to a mercer. A lady is choosing a new head-dress, and she hesitates about one which is furnished with a lofty horn, and is trimmed with black; while the shopman commends the structure as The newest thing out, ma-am," and seems likely to get rid of it. There is abundance of humour in the design of these figures, and much of that satiric vein which characterizes the lighter pictures of the artist. It is capitally painted, and has a more than usually rich effect.

Mr. Eyre Crowe sends, besides the capital FoxHounds in Kennel (1045), which we noticed last week, several other works, which, although less valuable than that one, possess remarkable merits of their own. Still the style of painting adopted by the artist is much against his success, for it is hard, although firm and, though bright, rather cold and opaque. One of these is The DinnerHour, Wigan (676), a vista of a street, the topography of which, however unlovely it may be, is correct, with tall brick mills on either hand, their lofty shafts and bald walls being purplish red in sunlight; the pavement slopes before us to a lower level. On the wall which divides the one road from the other, are gathered many damsels, chattering away an interval of labour; one, leaning against a lamp-post, throws apples to her neighbours; another squats on the pavement, and takes a meal from a service of tin, two gossip as they loiter. The effect of the picture, rendering of light, &c., is quite stereoscopic, but a photographer could have contrived as much;

notwithstanding the local interest of the subject, we think it was a pity Mr. Crowe wasted his time on such unattractive materials. Another work by him, though decidedly more grimy than the last, has higher claims upon our attention, yet photography would have sufficed for this occasion too, as the picture is the representation of A Spoil Bank (537), one of those heaps of useless material brought up, and rejected at the mouth of a coal-pit, with figures. The temporary wooden frame-work which supports a railway from the pit's mouth to the end of the bank, and which is extended as the "spoil" increases, rises on high towards the front of the picture; a truck at the end of this road has been tilted, and deposits its load in a cloud of dust and smoke with abundance of noise; the whole looks harsh, foul, and painful. There are groups of persons, women and children, who rush to obtain chance scraps of coal from the overthrown truck load, and who grovel eagerly in the dust,-five kneel in the smoke, two are in the front, one takes a can from her neighbour. Three children are grouped on our right in front, and in this group, the vitality of Mr. Crowe's genius may be compared with that of Nature herself on the spot he has so well, if not wisely, represented. As she insists on, at least, blades of scurfy grass, so the painter must have incident and character, however trivial and mean they may be. One of the children has formed a little pile of coal, and fenced it with a circle of brick-bats, vain fortress round a grimy treasure. We admire Mr. Crowe's conscientiousness in painting such uninviting subjects as these, but we submit that he might often have used his time more wisely, and that photography was made for such work as recording all that these pictures tell us, and that inferior hands might be trusted with the colour they display.

Last week we spoke of the lack of ambition shown by Mr. Elmore this year. It is to be lamented that he did not find opportunities for greater efforts than Alice Bridgenorth and Julian Peveril (327), the lovers at a door; she turns from him, while he places his hand to close the entrance. Still Mr. Elmore never read his subject more carefully than in these brightly painted figures; the expressions are all that can be desired, and the work is highly dramatic, and of excellent quality. No. 421 gives, from Thackeray's 'Virginians,' Mistress Hetty Lambert, with a bunch of violets; she has a fine thoughtful expression. This is a study in lower keys of colour and tone than Mr. Elmore generally affects. Wandering Thoughts (428) shows a lady seated, with a book on her knee, following with vacant eyes the flying fancies of her mind.-Mr. E. M. Ward has seldom painted better, and rarely designed so well as in the figure of the king in Charles II. and Lady Rachel Russell (252); the latter kneels, imploring a short respite for her husband. Had she been more beautiful than she seems to have been, the king would surely have granted her prayer. He is the better figure. It is capitally painted, admirably designed, full of rich and vigorous colour, and as solid as it can be. He trifles with a spaniel, and casts down his eyes, indifferent to her clasped hands and streaming eyes. The Duke of York, prompter of the refusal, looks on. In the background, the Duchess of Portsmouth — here Mr. Ward carefully hints at the dark influences at work in this case-loiters at a doorway. The lighting of this picture is very good indeed. Mr. Ward sends three less important paintings.

Mr. Frith has, as we said before, done much towards retrieving his reputation by producing more taking pictures than we have had from him for some years. Still, about the design of the most important production there is a good deal of what must be called "deadly-lively." The subject is Blessing the Little Children: an Episode in the Great Annual Procession of our Lady of Boulogne (243). Social virtues have so often obtained support from the painter of The Derby Day,' 'The Railway Station,' and the 'Salon d'Or,' that we are not surprised to find the artist gently rebuking a whim of the day, so gently, indeed, that, at first

sight, we did not see his drift. We suppose there can be no mistaking the meaning of the group of English Philistines on our right in Mr. Frith's design, the humour of which, if not of Hogarth, is "Hogarthian." This group comprises, if we recollect aright, an elderly gentleman, a young one, and two ladies, all in costumes of the "brumous isle." The latter pair seem to have been taken alive out of London and dropped here on their knees before the Bishop, who in taking part in the procession in which the sailors carry the famous silver nef up the long and pleasant street of Boulogne, with the cathedral in the distance. Something like the prose of this, and in rather slovenly painting, we see here. The kneeling damsels play at devotion, and we ought, we suppose, to admire the subtlety of the artist, who has contrived to make them appear insincere, for, as the painter, quoting Shakspeare, says, in the motto of his work,

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.

It is clear that the young ladies do not believe in the bishop, or see the good of his blessing the babes, any more than they confide in the nef which goes up the street so grandly; in fact, we doubt not that, if they think at all, the whole business savours of idolatry to their innocent minds. Still it may appear to them that, after all, it may look well to kneel in the street. Their own costumes, as they are quite aware, are not worth much, and Mr. Frith, with due forethought, has made the pavement extremely clean. So down they go, as piously as you please. Papa looks on; but there is scorn, to say nothing of bad tobacco and worse wine, in the face of the younger gentleman. Besides these figures, there are the bishop, his attendants in the queer caps, mothers and children, lookers-on, &c.; and, in a balcony above, a whole British family, ladies and others, engaged most energetically in seconding the petition emblazoned on a scarf stretched before them, being "Priez pour l'Angleterre." Now that we have discovered and expounded the subject of this picture, it will be incumbent on the Royal Academicians to provide policemen to protect it against danger from the Philistines who may take offence. It is quite safe from the clergy, Roman Catholic or Ritualistic. Technically and seriously speaking, we are bound to praise the effort made by the artist to recover the dexterity shown in his early works. This picture is superior to many we have had from him of late; but it lacks air, the flesh is leathery, and the expressions less really lively than it is within the power of the artist to make them. The dresses do not sparkle so much as, in sunlight, they might be expected to do, while the inferior figures, e. g., those in the balcony, have received much less attention than was due to them. Pamela (74) sits in full face before us, in a black dress and a white mob cap, writing, or in an interval of writing, and, with one hand on her cheek, with eyes of meditation, looking out at nothing. She seems to have been hard at work on a letter. The picture, despite its lack of brilliancy, looks, from a distance, attractive, from its cleanness; but, when we go nearer to it, we detect the fallacies of art which underlie the work, the false modelling, the lack of care shown in the flatness of the painting, the defect of half tints and tones, and the mistake (as it seems to us) of making Pamela look like a consumptive servingmaid. By far the best painted part of this picture is the flat top of the shiny, circular table on which the young woman writes. This, with its wealth of reflections and brightness, is really very good indeed. Another picture by Mr. Frith is called Wandering Thoughts (167),-a lady seated in a chair, but whose thoughts do not wander, for the simple reason that she does not and cannot think. A woman with eyes like these being incapable of that. The damsel-she lacks much to make her a lady-sits in a red chair, has dark hair, and wears a stone-coloured dress, which, if it were more solidly and less pretentiously painted, would be capital. The white petticoat below the dress is the best piece of execution here. The carnations are open to the remarks we made in regard to 'Pamela.'

One of the by no means numerous designs which are marked by spontaneity of conception, and by their fine execution justify their existence, is Mr. Wallis's From Naxos (572), showing the marble wall of St. Mark's, at Venice, with the bench at its foot, and the two elderly merchants, in red robes and black caps, whom we saw last year seated in the same place, and in the receipt of "News from Trebizond"; but in the interval between the two pictures more than a year has passed over the heads of the worthies. Their hair has whitened, and, although still hale, their forms are less erect than before. They still wear red robes, but of a crimson tint, which does not become them quite so well as the red proper. Nevertheless, they remain fine old fellows, and a new phase of life has come on them. A man does not stand cap in hand, but kneels before them this time; for there is no need to return with a message to the old merchants' correspondents at Trebizond; all that is over the great carrack has, it may be, gone to pieces, or made their fortunes by a happy return. It seems more likely that the latter is the case, for what this kneeling man offers is a rarity of considerable price, and, apparently, not before known to the signors, being nothing less than Cupid, an antique relic, dug up, as it seems, in the Isle of Naxos, where our friends had dealings of yore, but for raisins and such like goods. They look at the relic with great interest and some hesitation. Here is Cupid at last, fresh as ever, though made in lustrous, dark, gold-hued bronze, and just rescued from the basket of that jovial Levantine sailor, himself a model of his kind, and one of the best designed figures Mr. Wallis has produced. We enjoy heartily the brilliant lighting, the rich colour, the rare spirit of this picture; but it suffers from the tints, both of the gowns and the marble wall being a little forced, as if the artist had used gas-light too freely while he painted them, or, in obedience to an afterthought, changed the gowns from red proper to crimson.

M. Legros sends Un Chaudronnier (24), and another picture, which we will consider presently. The former is among the artistic productions of the year, although it has no more ambitious subject than an old itinerant French tinker at work on a copper pan, while he sits by a wayside gravely and patiently hammering; his portable forge is by his side; three trees rise behind the figure. These elements are made into a picture by the artist, who has given the charm of earnest expression to the man's worn, but not sorrowful face, added rich colour, superbly solid paint ing, and chiaroscuro such as Velasquez might enjoy. The Royal Academicians have, it would seem, yet to make the acquaintance, or at least to learn to respect these fine qualities of art, to say nothing of the genius of this remarkable artist. Ignorance of art and the man is the only honest apology they can offer for the ignominious place in which the hangers-let those by no means numerous gentlemen divide the responsibility between them-have placed this fine work: above the line, not in a good light, and in a secondrate room; while, in the better places, are acres of gaudy, sentimental trash, such as these very hangers are quite well educated enough to reject if asked to take it to their own homes, where they might not be sorry to welcome the picture of M. Legros. It is useless to offer the usual idle and false excuses for this injustice, e. g., that the scale of the picture is large, so that the work does not suffer, nay requires, to be hung at a distance from the eye, while, at that elevation, the trash could not be seen at all. The fact is that M. Legros is a foreigner, and " has no friends" in the old school sense of the phrase, so everybody's friends are served before the stranger gets a place. This is probably the main reason; but there must be a good deal of sheer ignorance at work in these cases, and critics can hardly refuse to credit the effect of that ignorance when they observe what has been done with Mr. H. Moore's noble wave piece, Rough Weather in the Open, Mediterranean (1409). -Mr. Holman Hunt has a wonderfully solidlypainted portrait of Thomas Fairbairn, Esq. (660),

seated in a room. The background is occupied by glass cases and the general contents of a collection of works of art, referring, we suppose, to the dis tinguished part taken by Mr. Fairbairn in forming the International Exhibition and gathering the Art-Treasures of 1857. This picture shows the transcendent manipulative power of the painter as such, but it may serve to prove that portrait painting is by no means so easy an art as many profess to think. The modelling throughout, the fine draughtsmanship, powerful and brilliant local colouring, and all those qualities which derive from intense grasp of the subject, are here in abundance. That the whole lacks something of those less strenuous elements which we are accustomed to require in portrait-painting is probably

true.

EXHIBITION OF THE SOCIETY OF FRENCH ARTISTS.

THE gathering of pictures now at 168, New Bond Street is hardly equal to most of its forerunners. On the other hand, it comprises a considerable number of fine works, and would that we had more frequently the opportunity of saying so there are absolutely no bad ones. When people enter the charming little Exhibition,—by far the pleasantest in London,-which the agents of M. Durand-Ruel have established where the gaunt and staring German Gallery once was, they enter a home of culture, skill, and refinement. There are, it must be said, plenty of trivial pictures, the outcome of mere conventions; but there is nothing which is vulgar or defiant of art, nor can we discover any outrageous offences against those canons of design which are laws for the artist and guides to the critic. The astounding ignorance,— the wilful blindness to everything which the toil of ages has secured for man labouring in art,—the contempt for everything that the individual painter has not cared to learn, the amazing technical incompetence, these, and other too distinct features of a British exhibition, are not seen here. The very Catalogue they sell you in Bond Street is a different thing from that which you have to buy elsewhere. It is nicely printed, and covered with stiff grey paper of a pretty tint; it is not too big for one hand, nor too small for two; and it has a margin on which you can write, the pages not having been, like the thing the Royal Academicians sell, cropped to the very bone. There is another difference between the Catalogues which at once oddly and emphatically marks the contrast between a "British" exhibition and this one, that is, that the painters' names are placed before those of the subjects of the pictures. The picture before us, for example,is a "Corot"; that a "Fantin de la Tour”; that M. Daubigny painted; M. Madrazo's handiwork is there; here hangs the noble and grave mastery of Georges Michel. It is a secondary matter that those larkspurs are depicted by a flower-painter whose delight it is to apply grand principles of design to beautiful subjects. We can see for ourselves that M. Madrazo meant that for a boudoir, and it is almost superfluous to style M. Daubigny's painting there "Banks of the Oise."

may

We have said that this collection is not quite up to the standard of its forerunners. Nevertheless, there is abundance of art here, as much skill and beauty as would set up half-a-dozen common picture-shows, where one daub outstares its neighbour, until it is quite a treat to come on something showing signs of culture, although they be as weak as the educated whisker" of the Laureate's Sir Robert. Of course this is a collection of “picked" works, and it would be ridiculous to compare it with others, in the formation of which almost every other interest than that of Art has been considered. An exhibition of 500 paintings, 300 of which are bad or indifferent, is not so interesting as the collection would be if the unfortunate majority had been weeded out beforehand, and each visitor were not compelled to weed the 500 for himself.

We will take the pictures here in the order of the Catalogue, grouping each artist's works. M. Fantin sends Larkspurs and other Flowers (No. 2), a rich, solidly painted, and beautiful work, pos