496 CUE WOOD ENGRAVERS. 



tions of European diplomacy that it will be restored. In fact, no 

 peace can be lasting, that is not based upon the independence of 

 Egypt, with the territorial arrondisement we have alluded to : with- 

 out this sine qua non, hostilities would recommence ere the expiration 

 of a twelvemonth, and instead of erecting an imposing barrier against 

 the ambitious designs of Nicholas, the very few obstacles that remain 

 to oppose their completion would most effectually be levelled. 



" Dans trente ans," said Napoleon, on the ocean rock of his exile, 

 " dans trente ans, I 'Europe seraou republique ou Cosaque." In 1830, 

 only ten years after these prophetic words were uttered, the Russian 

 standards floated on the walls of Warsaw, and before the close of 

 1833, if our present besotted and drivelling policy be persisted in, 

 they will soar on the towers of the Seraglio at Constantinople and 

 then who will say that the completion of the prophecy, after such 

 a course of events, is beyond the range of human probability ? But 

 however this may be, one thing at least is evident, that Napoleon was 

 better acquainted with the grasping policy, and ambitious designs of 

 the Russian cabinet, than our present foreign minister, Lord Vis- 

 count Palmer ston. 



OUR WOOD ENGRAVERS/ 



IN the present " high and palmy state" of Wood Engraving, the 

 ignorance of the press and the public, as to the art and its professors, 

 is truly remarkable. The most wretched trash is not only purchased, 

 but praised to the skies for its beauty, vigour, force, colour, breadth, 

 and half a dozen other qualities in every one of which it is most 

 glaringly deficient. Among the fine art critics of the day, there are 

 many who evince a profound judgment, and great taste, in pro- 

 nouncing on the merits and demerits of paintings, and copper or 

 steel engravings ; but on the subject of wood-cuts, the best of them 

 rarely hazards an opinion without committing an error. Happy men ! 

 they have no idea of the prodigious laughter which their complacent 

 criticisms excite among the parties criticised ! Their censure is con- 

 temned, for, in most cases, it falls on the finest productions of the first 

 masters ; their praise is scoffed at rejected with loathing because it 

 is frequently lavished on the worst cuts, the occasional failures of the 

 great veterans, and the sheer abortions of the veriest sticks in the 

 profession. The tooling of raw lads, destitute alike of experience or 

 talent, often obtains a higher degree of praise than the most skilful 

 execution of men gifted with extraordinary natural powers, cultivated 

 to perfection by intense study and most elaborate practice. In fact, 

 the critic is precisely in the condition of that celebrated trunk-maker, 

 who had the misfortune of always applauding in the wrong place. 



The number of wood-engravers, at least of those who have any 



* Fables, Original and Selected. By the late James Northcote, R. A. Second 

 Series. Illustrated by two hundred and eighty engravings on wood. London. 

 John Murray. 



