340 FINE ARTS. 



popular feelinpr, cannot possibly fail to be universally acceptable in the 

 fashionable circles for which they are, evidently, designed. Ail that 

 relates to Byron, all that has been heard, seen, or said of him, his every 

 look and word, and tone, and whisper, his slightest gesture or most 

 ordinary proceeding from the penning of " Childe Harold," down to 

 the throwing off his pantouffles and drawing on his boots, have been put 

 upon record and listened to and swallowed with dilated eyes and open 

 mouths by the multitude, — and probably no man ever created a more 

 generally extended interest than the " Bard of Newstead." It is not 

 the peer alone who, seated in his library, surrounded by the wit, the 

 wisdom, and the genius of all ages, turns his eyes with a high toned 

 sentiment of exultation upon the undying inspirations of his brother 

 patrician, the fame of the poet is familiar to all, and the intensity of 

 interest with which he was viewed may be estimated not only from the 

 overwhelming mass of ** Recollections," ** Tributes," " Souvenirs," 

 "Conversations," "Particulars," "Memoirs," "Anecdotes," "Last 

 days," and " Private Accounts," which hurried from the press with an 

 alarming fecundity, but from the fact that every tagger of rhyme, from 

 the bard of the drawing-room to that of the attic or counting-house, 

 fell to and fancied that their anonymous and anomalous lines would 

 mystify critics, and make men cry out " Ho ! ho ! Byron sub rosa /" 

 Then his air. his dress, and his manners were studiously attempted by 

 )Oung medical men and clerks of delicate nerve and poetic complexion ; 

 nay an interesting degree of lameness, such as Charlotte de Baviere 

 ascribes to the fair De la Valliere when she tells us, " Elle boitail un 

 peu ; mats il semblait gu' au lieu d'y nuire, ce defaut ajoutait a ses graces,^' 

 was assumed by several, in order to perfect the identity of the resem- 

 blance. Read, quoted, talked of, thought of, and dreamed of, Byron 

 has made, and his name will continue to make, noise enough in the 

 world to render any well-conducted speculation of which he forms the 

 basis free from incertitude, and profitable to the parties engaged in its 

 issue. The work before us has already attained that degree of popularity 

 which might have been foreseen, and in which its spirited projectors 

 will find their reward. Six parts only have appeared, yet these are in 

 everybody's hands, and on everybody's table ; they greet us at every 

 corner, smile at us from every printseller's window : go where we will 

 we have " Zuleika" or the fair "Julie;" " Kaled " in page-attire, or 

 " Leonora D'Este," "the bright particular star" rising before us, and 

 giving to the eye that which before was visible only to the imagination. 



With equal liberality and judgment, the proprietors of the work have 

 called into requisition the talents of various artists, thus judiciously 

 diflfusing their patronage, and increasing the interest of the illustrations. 

 With her cultivated taste, her pure sense of the graceful and beautiful, 

 aided by her long study of the antique, her skill in design, and her 

 practical power over the materials of art, that gifted — but we fear too- 

 diffident — artist. Miss Alabaster, could not fail to produce something of 

 high character and loveliness — something most admirably calculated to 

 add to the reputation of this charming series ; we trust that a specimen 

 of her genius — one of her exquisite female heads, will be shortly in- 

 cluded in this collection, and when we revert to the brilliant and 

 surprising progress evidenced by this fair enthusiast in her lately- 

 exhibited picture, we indulge, fearlessly, in the warmest anticipations of 

 her eminence — anticipating which we feel nothing but the continued 

 delicacy of her health can possibly disappoint. In the six numbers 

 before us we find that out of the eighteen portraits, one is contributed 

 by J. W. Wright ; three are by J. F. Lewis ; seven by F. Stone ; one is 

 by W. Boxall, and one by that captivating painter Mac Clise ; three are 



