THE RETURN FROM THE WARREN. 23 



in the suggestion, that he has seen his master borne into the room, or has traced him 

 there by the drops of blood scattered in a line on the floor. On a table lie the gauntlets 

 of the wounded man ; and in the immediate foreground is an eagle's feather. Few 

 as the materials of this picture are, they are worked up most expressively and 

 touchingly. 



The two pictures exhibited by Landseer at the Academy in 1843 were less notable 

 as regards subject than was usual with him. One, " Portrait of the Hon. Ashley 

 Ponsonby," was subsequently engraved by Mr. T. Landseer, and published under the 

 title of "The Return from the Warren." The figure, that of a handsome youth, 

 bareheaded, and dressed in crimson velvet, is mounted on a beautiful bay pony, which 

 is cantering homewards with sundry rabbits slung over its back : their companions are 

 two dogs, a terrier and a beagle, one of which carries his young master's cap in its- 

 mouth. The composition of the subject is very simple, yet most effective from the 

 wonderful animation with which the animals are portrayed : the head of the pony is 

 really a fine study; it shows a sagacity almost amounting to intelligence. Landseer' s 

 manner in dealing with portraiture was always most fascinating ; while keeping the 

 individual as the most prominent object in the composition, he accompanied it with 

 such accessories as to render the whole a scene of surpassing interest. 



In his other picture of the year, " Horses— the property of William Wigram, Esq.," 

 we notice the same inventive power displayed in the portraiture of the animals. Two 

 horses are seen In the foreground preparing to drink from a large iron pot. By their 

 side are a pair of magpies, one of which thrusts his beak into a huge marrow-bone. It 

 is evident that the horse nearest to the bird considers it a thing of ill omen, for while 

 his nose dips into the pot, his ears are thrown back, and his eye is turned significantly 



towards the intruder. 



There were two engravings published this year from the works of Landseer, but I 

 have been unable to ascertain when and where the pictures were exhibited, or if they 

 ever were seen in public at all. One was called " Lassie herding Sheep," engraved 

 in mezzotinto, by John Burnet, from the painting then in the possession of Mr. Wells, 

 of Redleaf. In a far-away nook among the heathery hills of Scotland, a "lassie" 

 stands leaning against the broken acclivity, in the act of knitting. There is extreme 

 ease in the position of the figure, and the limbs are, as usual with this artist, admirably 

 rounded. Near her are scattered about numerous sheep, and a black-face ram, tethered 

 by the horns, is struggling to release himself. Her dog, a meagre lank-boned 

 animal, crouches by her side, with his ears pricked up, alive to every sound and 



movement.. • . , t^ , , . ,, 



The other print, engraved by T. Landseer, is called " Children with Rabbits. 

 The former are the son and daughter, orphan-children, of the Hon. Seymour Bathurst. 

 The boy stands holding a live rabbit, which is carefully covered with a cloth, while his 



