, 
1823] 
vround: the interspersed statues were 
all that pleased me. The walks are 
erowded on Sunday evenings with 
uncommon yaiety ; but it is the trades- 
people who most frequent them. From 
the neighbouring Boulevards may be 
heard the busy hum of thousands of 
voices, with music of every kind. To 
one who has been brought up in the 
tranquil observance of an English 
Sabbath, this sound appears to proceed 
as if from Pandemonium. I had ob- 
served several women stitching at a 
mattress in the morning,—for Sunday 
seems no day of rest; and is univer- 
sally looked forward to by the better 
classes as a jour de féle.- The Yrench 
€annot have an idea of true religion, 
notwithstanding all their pretensions, 
In the Gallery of the Luxembourg 
Palace, many of the best paintings of 
modern artists are collected. It has 
always struck me that the French are 
hard in their outline, and much too 
clean in the whole picture. I like de- 
cision; but there must be harmony 
too. David is considered a man of 
talent; yet his painting of “‘ the last 
hour of Socrates,” can never please a 
lover of natural appearances; the 
attitudes are good, but the philosopher 
is_ honoured with chains of polished 
steel, the walls of his dungeon are of 
fine bright marble, and he is attired 
in a new dress,—to die becomingly, I 
suppose. It is possible this new look 
of every thing may arise from the 
brightness of the varnish. My old 
acquaintance from Pall Mall, Le- 
thiére’s “ Judgment of Brutus,” was 
seen to greater advantage in England 
than in its present situation. 
It is singular to observe the strange 
mixture of company in picture-galle- 
ries abroad: three or four dirty rag- 
ged boys, with the air of connossicurs, 
pointing out the different beauties or 
deformities their fancies lead them to 
ercelve, may be seen in one corner; 
in another a group of soldiers, making 
perspective-glasses of their fingers, 
and viewing every thing con amore; 
and a well-dressed man lounging at 
full length on a bench, to the great 
annoyance of all near him (English, be 
it observed). The same taste for fine 
arts is very general, indeed, amongst 
the lower classes of the French. I 
discovered in the back-room of a little 
shop, an excellent collection of prints 
from Westall and West. 
The rooms in the Luxembourg are 
all small, and the Salle des Séances 
Montuty Mac. No. 376, 
Suggestion of an Improved Life-Boat. 
497 
disappointed me; itis too compressec, 
—no space for grandeur. The curious 
apartment of Marie de Medicis is very 
diminutive, and crowded with orna- 
ment to a ridiculous degree: the stair- 
case is truly beautiful. I send you 
Galignani’s Guide to Paris, where you 
will meet with particulars that I omit. 
When well enough to resume my 
pursuits, I received lessons from 
Mugnie; he has composed many 
sweet things for the flute, but is too 
old to be any longer a good master. 
Mugnie was a favourite of Louis the 
Highteenth, and was in England all 
the time that monarch took refuge 
there. Never was there such a de- 
vourer of flattery, and he is equally 
munificent in distributing the pala- 
table potion: it is a sovereign specific 
among the French for that dreadful 
epidemic the spleen or ennw, and 
rouses all their faculties. 
With Signor Giovanni I read that 
delightful work, so justly praised in a 
late number of the Monthly Magazine, 
“ Te Nottt Romani.” He is the author 
of the elegant preface attached to it, 
anda man ‘of finely cultivated mind. 
It is requisite to have some study even 
in the midst of pleasures; for, if you 
are intent upon a pursuit at home, you 
see every thing out of doors with 
greater zest, and you return to relieve 
the wandering seuses by uniting “all 
the powers of the mind on one object. 
Yours ever, M. 8S. 
—— a 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, | 
HAT the common open boat, not- 
withstanding the skill and intre- 
pidity with which it is managed, not- 
withstanding the almost miraculous 
feats which it has been known to ac- 
complish in.outliving a storm when a™ 
large ship has gone to the bottom, and 
notwithstanding the sundry contri- 
vances which have been adopted to 
give it security, is one of the most pe- 
rilous situations in which a mariner 
can be exposed, as the almost weekly 
disasters that the newspapers record 
are an incontestible proof,—it is no- 
torious and self-evident, that it would 
be quite absurd to enlarge upon such 
a subject. And, though I do not 
mean to find fault with the life-boat 
commonly attributed to Mr. Great- 
head, but am willing to give it all the 
credit which is due to it, and thongh 
I would hardly go so far as to say that, 
beneficial as it may be, it is not ex- 
35 actly 
