216 



Present Condition of the Peojj'e of India. 



[April 1, 



alone, and for persons of an easy and 

 slothful genius. The Friar Sebastian© 

 del Piombo, had prevailed so far with 

 Paul the Thiid, as to permit him to 

 prepare the plaster for Michel Angiolo; 

 this the latter immediately ordered to 

 be destroyed, and, making a rough cast 

 after his own disposition, he finished 

 this stupendous achievement of the 

 art in the space of eight years, and un- 

 covered it in the year 1541. In this 

 immense picture he had been fully 

 able to content himself, and to display 

 to the astonished world, the real gran- 

 deur of his worth ; for tiiat place may 

 be said to have become peopled by him, 

 and that he raised to that sanctuary 

 the most superb and best adapted mo- 

 nument the proudest production of 

 the ability of man. The innumerable 

 figures awakened at tlie sound of the 

 last trumpet : the hosts of good, and 

 the bands of wicked angels ; men elect 

 and reprobates ; some issuing from their 

 tombs, others standing, some hastening 

 to their reward, others dragged to 

 punishment, are at once the most sub- 

 lime, the most terrible display of a 

 genius so incomprehensibly vast, of a 

 mind so exalted on the summit of con- 

 ception, that it could neither be awed 

 by the appalling subject of the wrath 

 of God, or by a history which had for 

 its basis, a world of men who rise 

 again. But this unequalled work on 

 fresco has not escaped the criticism to 

 which all good works are sulyect ; and 

 Vasari, who participated even in most 

 of his views and intentions, tells us in 

 page 24.1 and 25.3 of his life, that Mi- 

 chel Angiolo, " intent upon the prin- 

 ciple of the art, whicli is the htiman 

 body, left aside the beanties of colotir:, 

 of caprices, and of new fancies." '• /«- 

 te.io al principale deW arte cli'^. il corpo 

 umano, lascio da parte le vaghezze tie'' 

 colori, i capricei., le nnnve fantasle ;'"' 

 and again, that there are neither land- 

 scapes, nor trees, nor houses, nor even 

 certain varieties and beauties of the 

 art seen there, because he never at- 

 tended to them, as one who did not 

 choose to debase his great genius by 

 similar things. " Ne paesi vi sono we 

 albert, ne casamcnti ; ne anche certa 

 varietci e vaghezze deW arte vi si veg- 

 gono percke non vi atiese rriai, come 

 quegti che forse non voleva abbassare 

 il suo grande ingec/no a shnili cose.'"' 

 But why suppose Michel Angiolo, (a 

 man gifted with every grand quality,) 

 capable of so foolish a pride of mind? 

 or why disincliued to arrive at perfec- 



tion in an art which, having for its 

 object whatever there is in nature, was 

 not to be limited by one thing alone, 

 such as is the naked or natural (nudo) 

 or to one character, which is the ter- 

 rible? True it is, that his character 

 was the terrible, and his object vvas the 

 nudo, and it is most probable, that 

 seeing himself so strong therein, he 

 sought no other, from the well known 

 conviction, that perfection is rarely or 

 never attained in all. His chief mis- 

 fortune was, that he held no bridle to 

 his fancy in the choice of the undo, 

 that he neither acknowledged limits 

 nor measure, that the nudity to which 

 he had given such unbounded scope in 

 the grand work of the Judgment, had 

 nearly lost to him the work ; for suc- 

 teeeding popes, ashamed of the inde- 

 corum in the sanctuary, wished it to 

 be washed over : nor was it but with 

 great diiJiculty that Paul the Fourth 

 was satisfied that its improprieties 

 should be corrected by some veils 

 added by Daniel of Volterra, which 

 has preserved this splendid master- 

 piece to the admiratif.n of posterity. 



For the Moutldij Magazine. 

 On the circumstances ivhich cotulnce to 

 the HAPPINESS or the MISERY of 

 the People o/india.* 



AMONG the circumstances which 

 woiild naturally contribute to the 

 prosperity of India, were they not coun- 

 teracted by the state and manners of 

 the people, are its happy climate; the 

 fertility of its soil, and its being so 

 amply furnished with rivers; its fa- 

 vourable situation for commerce; the 

 smallness of its taxes ; and, above all, 

 the security for person and property 

 which the people now enjoy under the 

 British government. The first of 

 these alone, the influence and effect* of 

 its mild and salubrious climate, will 

 furnish sufficient matter for the present 

 essay. 



The climate of India is highly fa- 

 vourable to the enjoyment of the inha- 

 bitants, as it lessens in various ways 

 the expenses necessary to their comfort. 

 It makes a vast difference in the ex- 

 pense of a habitation. In Britain, a 

 house, while essentially necessaiy to 

 the presei'iation of health, must be 

 such as to be proof against the incle- 

 mency of seasons. Far different is the 

 climate of India. It is true that the 

 heat for some months is very great, 

 particularly about mid-day ; but then 



* From " the Friend of India." 



ho\y 



