3. Family Library CIII. History of the Fine Arts. Illustrated by wood engravings. By BENSON J. LOSSING. New York: 1840. Harper and Brothers. 12mo. pp. 340.

A HISTORY of the Fine Arts belongs to that class of books which may rightfully claim a place in a family library, but such a history as we have here can rightfully claim a place in no library. It wants the first requisite of a historical work, accuracy in the statement of facts; it is a crude compilation, carelessly put together, without order, and without examination of the authorities upon which it relies. It would not be fair to complain of it for being superficial, as a single small volume upon a subject of such extent could not be otherwise, but it might well have spared many of the details relating to the arts in ancient times, and all the frivolous anecdotes, to make room for something better in the modern part of the history, than the pitifully meagre account it now presents. Not the slightest notion can be gathered from it what architecture, or sculpture, or painting, has been since the revival of these arts, or what the present condition of either is, We learn that there are such buildings as St. Peter's church at Rome, St. Paul's at London, Santa Maria del Fiore at Florence, and the duomo at Milan, and that is all or nearly so; we hear nothing of their form, size, proportion, and style of architecture; and as to Germany, Belgium, France, and Spain, with all their beautiful and noble monuments of this art, they are too insignificant to command the notice of this writer of its history. And so in sculpture, there are but few names upon whom he deigns to confer the immortality of a record in his imperishable volume, which however is not half so bad as the wretched manner in which he has murdered the fame of those he has undertaken to honor; we refer particularly to his blunders in speaking of Donatelli, Michael Angelo, and Canova. In what is said of painting, the ignorance and incapacity of the author to judge of such things is still more striking. Of Raphael (who by a vile misprint is called Lauzio da Urbino) and his numerous and inimitable works, we hear only that "in composition, the most splendid are his celebrated cartons." Of Murillo we are told that " although he executed some meritorious originals, yet his fame chiefly rests upon his copies of the works of Titian, Rubens, and Vandyck." The name of Claude Lorraine is mentioned, and nothing more, and that incidentally; not an intimation is given of the branch of the art in which he excelled, nor of his unrivalled superiority in that branch; the same is true of Vandyck, Paul Veronese, and Tintoreto. Many masters of the art are not even named, such as Daniel da Volterra, whose Descent from the Cross was pronounced, by Poussin, the third best picture in Rome, the Bellinis, Andrea del Sarto, Guercin, the Palmas, and numerous other scarcely less inferior. Not a syllable is heard of the modern German school, nor any thing of Gerard, Girodet, Gros, Robert,

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or any other distinguished names of the French school, except David and Dubufe, the last of which would hardly be cited as one of the only two who have given it celebrity in modern times. But it would be a hopeless task to attempt to point out the defects of this volume ; it is in no sense of the word a history of the Arts, and is throughout imperfect, inaccurate, and confused; it abounds in typographical errors, and its wood cut illustrations are in perfect keeping with the

rest,

4.- France: its King, Court, and Government. By an American. New York: 1840. Wiley and Putnam. 8vo. pp. 191.

WHEN one takes up an octavo volume, purporting to treat of "France, its king, court, and government," and having for its reputed author an ambassador at that court, well known, too, as an able writer and learned scholar, he naturally expects to find it a work of more than ordinary interest and importance. But in the case before us, this expectation will by no means be answered; he will be disappointed in the book every way; in manner, matter, and execution, it will be found wanting in dignity, substance, and style. We cannot but think that the publishers have done great injustice to the author, in bringing out with so much "pomp and circumstance," a mere light magazine article, to which he had given the above ambitious title, probably with the usual view of calling attention to it-in doing it, they certainly must have had more regard to their own interest than to his reputation. Still, little of information as it may furnish upon the great subjects it undertakes to discuss, the source whence it comes renders that little important, and we must give it all the attention which our present limited space will admit.

The volume opens with a picture of the king, as he now appears when he ventures abroad, and a striking and painful contrast it presents to his situation in the early part of his reign, when he was accustomed to walk unguarded through his capital; and an equally striking one to the confiding manner in which most of the absolute sovereigns of Europe occasionally appear before their subjects:

"He and his cortége," says our author, "generally occupy three carriages, in the first of which, drawn by eight horses, is the king, with such of his family as accompany him. They are preceded by an outrider in the royal livery, (red,) and by two dragoons, who always keep themselves at a considerable distance from the main body, and who take care that the road is clear. These are followed by a detachment of dragoons immediately in front of the royal carriage, and on each side, and close to the doors, ride the aide-de-camps and orderly officers who attend the king; and then succeeds another detachment of dragoons. After this, come the two other carriages, each drawn by six horses, and preceded by an outrider, which are occupied by the gentlemen and ladies of the court. The guards who attend the king of the French whenever he leaves the walls of his palace,

are not in the performance of a vain ceremony, like those with which many of the European sovereigns are accompanied, but they are in the execution of a necessary duty, and without their presence the life of the monarch would not be worth a day's purchase. What is the cause of this deplorable state of things? Is it the fault of the king or his subjects-of the government or of the people? Is the root of the evil in the state of society, or in the course of political measures followed or rejected?"

To the questions raised by the author at the close of the passage just cited, no satisfactory answers are given; there is certainly no solution of the mystery in the sketch of events from the revolution of 1789 to the present reign, which is intended as such in part, and still less of one, in the suggestion that the king's pacific disposition excites the constant hostility of those who think that without war there can be no national glory. Louis XVIII. and Charles X., notwithstanding their unpopularity, were exposed to no such dangers as those which have repeatedly threatened the life, and still constantly excite the fears of Louis Philippe; and surely it cannot be said that they did any thing to disarm the spirit of the revolution, or gratify the passion for war and glory. But they came to the throne because they were of the royal line, and were expected to rule as kings; as such they wore their crowns, openly and without the disguise of a republican veil; the enemies of royalty were therefore necessarily their enemies, at least politically, and the dangers of a revolution were always hanging over them-those of private assassination, never. The hostility to Louis Philippe, is exactly the reverse; it is against him personally; but whether it is the vengeance of a dethroned dynasty, or the deceived expectants of a republic, that directs the assassin's blow against him, it is difficult to determine— that it is one of the two we have not a doubt.

We pass over several minor topics to come to our author's comparison and contrast of the characteristic features of the American and French revolutions; first observing, that we entirely dissent from his opinion as to the share that is justly due to Washington for bringing the former to a successful issue; we do not believe with him, that the great work would have gone on to its consummation if he had never existed, and certainly not at the cost of a single struggle. But he makes some very just remarks on the distinctive characters of the two revolutions, which we give in his own language:

"The state of excitement and of terrible crimes which marked the progress of one event, and of form, revolution, and continued exertion, destitute of all political fanaticism, which distinguished the other, drew their origin from the characters of the respective people pushed to these struggles, and not from any peculiar political opinions of either of them, regarding the foundation of their rights or the duty of resistance. The Frenchman might have considered the prospect of future oppression not worth immediate exertion, while upon his ardent temperament a single wound may have required the propitiation of the fall of the Bastille. But most assuredly the Americans do not want a visible signal to push them on; and he who should have displayed a bloody shirt would have been followed by the contempt of the spectators, and saluted with stones by every idle boy in the streets. It must be remembered in all attempts to analyze the

views of the French writers upon our country and government, that there is one peculiar fact to be kept in view, of the utmost importance in its bearing here, but which has not the slightest point of resemblance to any thing in the institutions of the United States. In all questions of national opinion and of political movement, Paris is France. From the first explosion, in 1789, to the last émeute, in May, 1839, not a single popular effort has overturned, or seriously threatened to overturn, the existing government, which has not originated in the capital. And, a very slight knowledge of the elements of the society which compose its mass of a million of inhabitants, is sufficient to explain how this multitude may be excited, and how a bloody shirt may perform an important part in the revolution of a kingdom. But God be praised, we have no Paris, with its powerful influence and its inflammable materials."

The analysis might have been carried farther, but this suffices to mark out the broad lines of difference between the two struggles. The frequency and extent of riots among us is another important point upon which the author has taken occasion to comment, and to correct the erroneous impressions prevailing in Europe in regard to it. The common supposition there is, that they are the legitimate fruits of republican governments, and that such governments are not efficient enough to suppress them, whereas the truth is, as this writer clearly shows, that they are less frequent, less violent, and more easily quelled in the United States, than in many parts of Europe, notwithstanding the strong military force there always at "command to prevent or restrain them." "In the city of Paris and its immediate vicinity," says he, "there is a constant armed force of not less than thirty thousand men, and which it is said often reaches the number of fifty thousand. The soldiers are quartered in every part of the city, prepared to put down any insurrectionary movements, and to give aid to the civil authority. And at all the public offices and round all the courts of justice, guards are stationed, and sentinels are always on duty. Continually in the streets, soldiers are seen passing with persons in their custody to be examined or committed. This display and employment of military force is evidently the great machine of authority, without which the peace of the capital and the safety of the kingdom could not exist twenty-four hours." This, and more than this, is seen in every capital and considerable town in Europe; there is no numerous assembly and no place of public amusement, where order is not preserved by the bayonet ; and were it true, that these subjects of kings and emperors are more peaceful than the citizens of our unmilitary republic, it would not be a cause for boasting, seeing the force it requires to keep them so.

There are several topics introduced into this volume which seem to us no less out of place, than beneath the dignity of the high official station of the writer; on both accounts, it would be well if he had omitted all that relates to English travellers in America, and foreign travellers in England; his own " Trollopiana," the extract from the Journal des Débats, the beauties of the English periodical press, and his tirade against the English form of indictment, and English court usages. We see not even how these can be subservient to the prin

cipal purpose for which the book must have been written the glorification of Louis Philippe and the royal family of France-and if intended only to conceal the real motive, the veil is too thin, the object is distinctly seen through it. That the present king of France is both a great man and a wise king-that the queen is an excellent woman, a faithful wife, and an affectionate mother-that their sons are intelligent and brave, and their daughters virtuous and amiablewe are by no means disposed to doubt, but we do doubt the propriety of a foreign ambassador's appearing as their public panegyrist, and it is no justification of the proceeding, that he has kept his praise within the bounds of truth; we care not so much that it is undiplomatic, as that it is time-serving, indecorous, and undignified. And besides, if Louis Philippe is a wise king, wiser by far than king's in general, it is no more than he ought to be; he has had opportunities for becoming so, that kings rarely enjoy, he has had a personal knowledge of mankind in every condition of life; he has travelled far and wide, and seen the manners of many men; he has been disciplined in the school of misfortune, and made patient through suffering. While we render him all due homage for his superior sagacity, it is but right to call to mind the extraordinary advantages which he has had for acquiring it.

5. Scotland and the Scotch; or, the Western Circuit. By CATHARINE SINCLAIR, author of Modern Accomplishments, etc. New York: 1840. D. Appleton. 12mo. pp. 345.

THE title of this work is we think, ill chosen, as it naturally awakens a comparison it will not bear. Had it been termed " A Ramble through the Western Circuit," it might have passed, though even then not without some apology for its own "rambling." The truth is, it is a very slight work, and not only so, but without that sprightly good sense and happy command of language, by which even the lightest gossip may be made not only entertaining but instructive. To justify the present title, required powers of observation the authoress did not possess, and materials very different from those which make up the tangled web of her book, the “ omnium gatherum" nature of which wearies the mind of the reader, by the very restlessness of the author's. A good memory for anecdote, or rather perhaps a full common-place book, must have been evidently necessary to its production, though we would willingly have bartered whole pages of stories and bon-mots for a few honest traces of thought and judgment, or even a little more warmhearted and simply expressed sentiment.

For all this, however, the book is not without its merit. It relates to the most interesting portion of Scotland, and that of which