1830.] 



Domestic and Foreign. 



477 



cording to Fuseli's recipe. But he ap- 

 pears to have had better opportunities 

 of taking his notes and making sketches. 

 He has evidently been on a more fami- 

 liar footing than the rest of his brethren ; 

 he seems to have so much knowledge of 

 the stage-business of the infernal the- 

 atre, as almost to justify a conclusion 

 that he has been admitted behind the 

 scenes. The best of it all is, that he 

 can turn our terrors and twinges to 

 " quips and cranks and mirthful wiles." 

 He has made the Devil the principal 

 comic actor of his time ; he has endeared 

 him to us by the drolleries with which 

 he has surrounded him. He has made 

 his horns more ludicrous than Falstaff 's 

 with the buck's head : and the glass slip- 

 per of Cinderella, gives place, in beauty, 

 to the fascinations of his cloven foot. 

 The volume before us presents us with 

 some additional marvels of this kind. 

 The frontispiece awakens a mixed sen- 

 sation we know not whether we are to 

 laugh or be agitated. The dark figure 

 with his hands resting on his knees, is 

 the herald of much mystery, and the 

 white dots that form his eyes are over- 

 poweringly expressive. There are six 



or seven of these illustrations, engraved 

 in a most masterly style by Thompson 

 and Williams. They carry the art to 

 its height, and we may almost defy it 

 to advance farther. The tales, of which 

 there are twelve, have appeared before, 

 but they are well entitled to this re-ap- 

 pearance. The style of them is quaint 

 and pleasant enough, and the subjects 

 are sufficiently varied. There is an air 

 of antiquity about them that is in keep- 

 ing with the design, and the habits and 

 costume of the dramatis personse have 

 been carefully attended to. We like 

 Roger Clevelly, the Magic Phial, and 

 Friar Rush, especially. The Fifth of 

 November wants an illustration ; we 

 would have given much to have seen 

 Cruikshank's notion of Guy Fawkes. 

 The illustration of the Three Suitors is 

 exquisitely beautiful the tale is not 

 so complete. One of the best, is that 

 in which the fiend has disarmed his 

 antagonist, by curling his sword, so that 

 it is left hanging on his own. The vo- 

 lume is not only an elegant but an amus- 

 ing one, and will be found a rare prize 

 on a winter's evening. 



FINE ARTS' PUBLICATIONS. 



Portrait of His Majesty King William. 

 Popularity is a fine thing, for it re- 

 conciles us to very indifferent portraits, 

 and makes us find an interest where, 

 but for the charm that hangs about the 

 subject, there would be very little. In- 

 fluenced by this feeling, we look upon 

 certain bad portraits of our present 

 monarch, with more satisfaction than 

 would be excited by the finest resem- 

 blances of some kings that we could 

 name. The engraving before us, is the 

 best that we have seen, and will be an 

 acceptable offering, at this loyal moment, 

 to all classes of His Majesty's subjects. 

 It is a mezzotint, somewhat over-fi- 

 nished, by Dawe. The composition is 

 not remarkable for grace, nor will the 

 engraving be renowned as a likeness ; 

 yet it is, as we have said, the best that 

 we have hitherto seen. 



The portrait of Adelaide, Lady Ribbles- 

 dale, which is now before us, forms the 

 seventieth contribution to the " Portrait 

 Gallery of the Female Nobility," pub- 

 lished *iw La Belle Assembler, and is in 

 every way worthy to be admitted into 

 such a collection of graces. It is remark- 

 able for the extreme softness and femi- 

 nine beauty of its expression, a modest 

 elegance and unaffected simplicity, that 

 realizes every thing we could desire in 

 the portrait of a truly English lady. 

 The picture is by Mrs. Carpenter ; and 

 the taste and purity of the composition, 



in the execution of the head especially, 

 has been skilfully caught and appre- 

 ciated by the engraver. 



We have been delighted by a glance 

 at the first specimen of Views in the 

 East, comprising India, Canton, and the 

 Shores of the Red Sea. This first part 

 contains three engravings : viz. " The 

 Tomb of Humaioon Delhi," from a 

 drawing of Purser's, by Miller ; " Taj 

 Mahal Agra," a most lovely and liquid 

 view from the pencil of Prout, finely 

 engraved by Wallis ; and u Tiger Is- 

 landCanton," executed by Goodall, 

 from a design by Stanfield ; the whole 

 being copied from original sketches by 

 Capt. Robert Elliot, R.N. What these 

 original sketches may be, we know 

 not, but the genius of the several artists 

 is distinguishable in every touch and 

 outline. They have made them their 

 own, but not, we hope, to the sacrifice 

 of fidelity and correctness. It would 

 be a pity, were they to destroy or lose 

 sight of nature, while they are clothing 

 it in poetry. Capt. Elliot, who must 

 himself be the best judge, should place 

 a gentle check upon the imaginations of 

 his improvers ; for it must be very diffi- 

 cult to colour and heighten a scene from 

 the conceptions of another, without re- 

 sorting sometimes to poetical invention. 

 The view by Prout is perfectly Indian 

 in its character ; the white columns and 

 cupolas, contrasted with the dark view 



