1829.] Fine Arts’ 
they are essentially poetical in their nature ; 
and to engrave them, is to translate them 
into a foreign language, or into prose. That 
they will bear this process, that is to say, if 
skilfully and judiciously performed, and by 
a hand guided by a kindred, or the same 
spirit, the plates before us fully testify ; and 
this, perhaps, is all the criticism that we need 
pronounce upon those plates; especially as 
the original works are so universally known 
and appreciated. 
North elevation of St. Paul’s Cathedral. 
Gladwin.—The unrivalled beauties (for un- 
rivalled we must believe them to be) of our 
national Protestant Cathedral, have hitherto 
been most strangely neglected and over- 
looked ; and this no less among artists than 
the general public. The present is among 
the very best attempts we have witnessed to 
place those beauties and merits in a shape 
which will ensure them the attention and 
admiration which they so well deserve. It 
is an entirely detached and architectural 
view of the north elevation of the Cathedral. 
Its execution is exceedingly careful; and 
there is a delicacy of hand about it which is 
much more appropriate to subjects of this 
Exhibitions. 55k 
kind than is generally supposed. There is 
something spirited and original about the 
architectural engravings of Piranesi and the 
artists of that school; but we doubt if the 
effect of what they have produced is so true 
and so appropriate to the subject matter as 
works executed in the formal manner of the 
one before us: for architecture is a formal 
art altogether, and is not susceptible of 
being illustrated in what is understood by 
picturesque style of execution. : 
View of Cologne. By Kernot, from a 
picture by Stanfield.—Though altogether 
different in its style of execution from the 
engraving just noticed, the present is equally 
effective, because equally appropriate to its 
subject matter. The foreground is as forci- 
ble and brilliant, as the distances are tender 
and truly touched. All the figures (even to 
those which are almost invisible, touched 
out here and there in the distance) have the 
air of life which they received from the pencil 
of the original artist ; and the Cathedral has 
an effect of misty and mysterious beauty 
which even the original was certainly 
without: for nothing can produce this effect 
so perfectly as the burin skilfully wielded. 
VARIETIES, SCIENTIFIC AND MISCELLANEOUS. 
THE incalculable advantages which the 
Quarterly Journal of Science derives from 
its astronomical and nautical collections have 
induced the Proprietors of Tur MontTHLY 
MaAGazine to spare no expense to obtain 
‘the inyaluable assistance of the compiler of 
them ; unfortunately, his professional avoca- 
tions in public and private practice, his 
‘Rumerous duties as secretary, inspector, ad- 
viser, calculator, computor, projector, transla- 
tor, and decipherer, haye prevented his 
ing mo: an withhold some occultations 
of science from the forthcoming number of 
e Royal Institution Journal, and transfer 
em to our more lucrative pages. 
Almanacs.—About nine or ten years ago 
the editors of Moore’s Almanac attempted 
-to improve the work placed under their direc- 
tion by discarding the monthly column con- 
_ taining the moon’s supposed influence on 
the several members of the human body ; 
__ and as an experiment to ascertain the feel- 
ing of the public on the occasion, printed at 
first only 100,000 copies. But the omission 
Was soon detected, nearly the whole edition 
Was returned on their hands, and they were 
obliged to reprint the favourite column.. The 
total annual sale of this work by the Station- 
ers’ Company is nearly half a million copies, 
besides pirated editions of about 100,000 
copies, and two or three reprints of it in 
France—one at Boulogne, the other at 
Paris. The column of predictions of the 
weather in this almanac is regarded by the 
lower classes with peculiar respect; the 
coachman of an eminent astronomer assured 
7 
‘ 
his master that he always consulted it to 
learn if it would rain, as he might know 
thereby whether or not to clean the carriage 
harness. 
Eclipses.—During the time that L. F. La- 
lande superintended the Royal Observatory 
in Paris, not long, indeed, before the revolu- 
tion, a party from the court proceeded to the 
observatory to see an eclipse, which was to 
take place on the day in question. When 
they arrived Lalande was occupied, and 
there was no admission; they desired the 
astronomer to be informed they had come 
to witness the eclipse. An answer was re- 
turned that the eclipse was over. ‘“ Let 
him know,” exclaimed one of the indignant 
courtiers, * that the Duc de 4 the Du- 
chesse de , the Marquis de ——, &c. 
&c. are waiting, and we expect the eclipse 
to be repeated.” 
At the conclusion of the last century some 
fortuitous circumstances strongly directed 
the attention of the inhabitants of Bologna 
to an eclipse which was about to take place. 
As the hour approached, the people flocked 
in crowds to the great square of the city ; 
many, the ladies especially, were provided 
with chairs, and tranquilly seated themselves, 
as in a theatre, to gaze at the phenomenon. 
The clocks in Bologna were not sufficiently 
accurate, the predicted time of commence- 
ment was apparently past; the spectators 
were impatient, and a general clamour arose, 
to accelerate the movement of the celestial 
bodies. At length the eclipse began ; un- 
luckily it was but a partial one, as after some 
