AT THE PLYMOUTH ATHEN^UM. 115 



enthusiasm, and that he has also pondered intently 

 over the works of the old masters ; in some of these 

 works such depths of shadow may be found, when the 

 subject is to be inspected at a height or from a distance ; 

 but in referring to individual portraits by Vandyke or 

 Rembrandt or, coming nearer home, to those by 

 Lawrence and Reynolds, we shall find that the shadow 

 is seldom so deep as to obscure the details. Having 

 said this much on Mr. BalFs principal work, we need 

 only say of his portraits. No. 45, of the Mayor of 

 Plymouth, and No. 44. of his son, jR. Coryndon, Esq, 

 that they possess the good qualities inherent in his 

 large picture — the elder is, in our opinion, the best. 



No. 147, The Fugitives, by the same artist, is a 

 piece of exquisite pathos and sentiment ; its best praise 

 is to say that it is an illustration worthy of the con- 

 ception of Shelley's master mind ; for, however this 

 writer may have erred, he was, nevertheless, a genuine 

 poet. In this picture Mr. Ball has represented two 

 figures, a male and female, in a frail boat, drifting 

 through a sea as wild as desolation itself, and seeming 

 chaotic with eventful gloom. The stern resolution^ — 

 the fearful energy — and the muscular frame of the 

 man — are beautifully contrasted by the abandonment 

 of affection — the devoted ness of feeling and grace- 

 ful beauty of his fond companion. It would be too 

 much to expect that Mr. Ball should manage canvas 

 at sea as well as he does in his study ; a sailor, how- 

 ever, would take exceptions to the trim of the boat, 

 the position of the sheets for service, and the circum- 

 stance of the sail of the vessel indicating her to be 

 going free before the wind while the crest of the waves 

 shows it to be right on her larboard quarter : we know 

 that artists sometimes set these little matters at defi- 

 ance and, in our opinion, they detract but very little 

 from this beautiful picture. 



Colonel Hamilton Smith has four historical draw- 

 ings, Nos. 40, 48, 54, 59. In all the works of this 

 talented gentleman we expect and find perfect fidelity 

 in the representation of individual character, and the 



