1831.] Affairs in General. 429 



knowledge, dull foi" a professed wit, and rather destitute of plol for an 

 inventor of so many ruses on the boards. But we will have no quarrel 

 with old George the younger, after all. He has done something for the 

 drama in his day. His John Bull was, to be sure, one of the most 

 impudent things that ever %v ere ftibricated; but it was clever, it was a 

 fair attack upon the blundering arrogance that from time to time abuses 

 authority, and George w^as at that time no hypocrite. His " Heir at 

 Law" too, though a clumsy caricature of both the pedant and the 

 parvenu, yet had life about it, and deserved to live. George must have 

 a monument, placed somewhere in the purlieus of Covent Garden, with 

 himself in the gentleman-pensioner's full embroidered suit, setting his 

 foot on the head of a prostrate Shakspeare, and a motto from Wesley's 

 hymns, Requiescat ! 



Why is not Martin an R. A. ? Have the whole forty among them an 

 abler artist, a more poular painter, or a more amiable member of society ? 

 Is there among them one whose works have done more honour to British 

 art on the continent } have produced more, in the more commercial sense 

 of the word, to the community, or are more distinctive of original talent ? 

 Certainly not one. The academy contains able men, and we have every 

 reason to be proud of our national school ; but the absence of Martin 

 from the academy is a public slur upon its reputation. Of the private 

 and individual reasons which may be offered for this strange neglect of its 

 own honour, we ask nothing, for we care nothing. If Martin is offended 

 with their overlooking him when his genius was known only to his pro- 

 fession, we cannot wonder at his feelings : if he disdains to canvass for 

 election, and, manfully scorning the little arts of mediocre men, stands 

 upon his claim of right, we altogether applaud him : if he appeals to his 

 celebrity, to the fame that he has added to the British school, to the im- 

 pulse that he has given to his art, and scorns to crouch, while he feels 

 himself entitled to hold up his head, and rank with any artist living — 

 there too, we applaui him; and say that it is of such men that an academy 

 should be formed, and that sycophancy and creeping should be as deci- 

 sive grounds of rejection as absolute want of talent. We trust that under 

 so intelligent a head as the president, this blot will be cleared away, 

 and that Slartin and the academy will, before long, be in circumstances 

 to do honour to each other. 



In the mean time he perseveres with his unwearied activity and ability. 

 He has now enriched his art with a series of compositions on the finest 

 subjects ever offered to the pencil. Illustrations of the Sci'iptures. The 

 second plate from Genesis has just appeared: — The first plate represents 

 Adam and Eve after the fall. The figures are well conceived ; the atti- 

 tudes natural and expressive. The back-ground would be grand 

 enough, we think, without being quite so black. The sky, together with 

 tlie moon and stars, have a fine and appropriate expression ; the lights 

 playing among the foliage are sweetly introduced, and give great life 

 and value to the scene. — The second plate is, where they are, or should 

 both be, covered with skins. The air of the disconsolate pair is striking ; 

 the distraction pourtrayed is pertinent, and seems to pervade even the 

 surrounding scenery. The face of nature presents a howling wilderness, 

 as if all fell with Adam ; the tempestuous sky, the lightning, and the in- 

 furiated tiger, all conspire to spread despair and desolation around. The 

 lion killing the deer, though not exactly new, is not the less good. The 



