and statues were unknown; but in the centre of Greece, amidst the master-pieces of art, in the age of Alexander, surrounded by the most celebrated artists, all astonishment vanishes.' The instance I intend to produce includes all the conditions required by Falconet, may be regarded as unique, and therefore worthy of the greatest attention. In the interior and agricultural portion of America, inhabited only by farmers, namely in the State of Vermont and village of Woodstock, HIRAM POWERS was born during the year 1805. He was removed while yet a child to Cincinnati, in Ohio, then a hamlet, now a city; but this, far from offering him any increased advantage, subjected him to a misfortune, the loss of his father. Necessity constrained him to support himself by his labor and ingenuity in mechanics. A secret consciousness of his genius however taught him for what he was destined. He imagined something like the plastic art while yet a stranger to its existence; and so vehement was the passion, that doubtless if he had not found, he would himself have created it. The first materials on which he employed himself, especially wax, did not entirely content him. In this state of restless desire he had approached his seventeenth year, when he saw for the first time a bust in plaster, which however destitute of merit strongly fixed his attention. After some time he found, even in Cincinnati, an amateur who attempted to model in clay the portrait of some celebrated personage. He saw the material and the mode of working it; in fine all he desired. To him this was a fortunate discovery, the realization of his dreams. To turn with avidity to the imitation of what he saw, to struggle eagerly first to equal, then to surpass it, to produce admirable likenesses, and such most assuredly as he himself had never seen, succeeded each other with such rapidity as scarcely left time to note the stages of his progress, so swift were the pinions of his happy genius. If this artist, hurried forward by natural inspiration, had merely arrived at a servile, however faithful an imitation of nature, it would be no great wonder. But at the first glance he has formed for himself a just conception of the art of portraiture, uniting to the characteristic features the spirit and expression of the individual. He has dedicated himself to preserve the grandeur of the whole, at the same time that he represents the minutest details, and may be hailed as the Denner of sculpture. He is careful that every-head of his shall preserve, even in its smallest particulars, that type of unison, that mixture of variety and individuality coherent with themselves, which is the special attribute of nature, and totally escapes from the eyes of so many. Such a combination of rare qualities becomes marvellous in one who could not previously have had any idea of the works of ancient Greece, nor even of the sculpture of Donatello, Mino da Fiesole, and Gambarelli. Continuing with increasing delight to model in clay, he had occasion to visit some of the principal cities of his country, whence at a favorable period, he directed his steps to Washington. Many of the distinguished men of the nation were assembled in congress, and Powers enjoyed the opportunity of multiplying portraits. Among the members of that respectable assemblage were to be found some who, having travelled among us, had acquired just notions of the fine arts. This is all one as saying, he encountered competent judges capable of appreciating the true merit of his labors. Perceiving now that encouragement would not be wanting, Powers wisely resolved on a voyage to Italy, where he might finish what he had begun, and at the same time perfect himself in his art. Arrived at Florence, it was the same thing to find marble and direct all his energies to overcome its resistance; and when the instruments and mechanism in use were not sufficient to produce the results he sought, his own skill and ingenuity enabled him to fabricate others. He reproduced in the more obdurate material all that he had at first executed in the softer; and true and unprejudiced critics accorded him their admiration. The fame of Apelles' portraits is known to every one. They were held so like the originals in every particular, that physiognomists founded their judgments upon them, in the same manner as if they had been living persons.* Those who, with another name and end, occupy themselves with similar speculations, may find in the likenesses of Powers full scope for the exercise of their ingenuity, even though color be wanting. In fact, while engaged in examining some of them, another person present, who had perhaps a tincture of such knowledge, said to me with enthusiasm: 'Have you remarked that head? What a penetrating character it has! How expressive are all the features! That is doubtless a new Demosthenes. That other must certainly be an upright arbiter of the laws. In that one yonder there is an energetic calmness which bespeaks the dictator,' etc., etc. Occupying myself only with the art, I listened carelessly, taking no interest in individuals unknown to me even by name, and little noting such observations, however plausibly supported. If what he said to me by conjecture was really well-founded, the truth of Pliny's sentence will be confirmed; that the admirable portion of this art consists in adding greater celebrity to men already celebrated.† Such productions are rare in our day because many think it right to execute portrait in the heroic style, of which they have examples from the ancients, taking little pains to preserve an exact likeness. But though rare, some remarkable specimens have been produced in that line also. And among them it is impossible to pass over the magnificent and I may say colossal portrait of Pope Rezzonico in St. Peters at Rome, by the celebrated Canova. In despite of those who detract from the merits of that great man, it cannot be denied that he has surpassed himself in the venerable image where devotion is embodied in the fine character of the head whose extensive surface enabled the artist to express the most minute details, consistently with general magnificence, so that the work seems less a statue than a picture from the pencil of Titian. Let me anticipate, finally, the caution of some sophist who will possibly concede, what many excellent critics have already willingly con * IMAGINES adeo similitudinis indiscrete pinxit, ut (incredibile dictu) Apion grammaticus scriptum reliquerit, quendam ex facie hominum addivinantem (quos metoposcopos vocant) ex iis dixisse aut futuræ mortis annos, aut præteritæ. - PLIN., 35, 36, 14. † MIRUMQUE in hæc arte est, quod nobiles viros nobiliores facit. -PLIN., 34, 19, 14. ceded, the superiority of Powers in busts, but nevertheless hesitates to pronounce him a perfect sculptor, because he has not yet produced any thing in the more important branches of the art. It should be remembered that his rapid and impetuous career in the one field has allowed him no time to labor in the other. But at present he is no longer the inhabitant of a remote region, a stranger to the arts, nor are ideas and examples wanting to his progress. He who has known how to reach so far without assistance, will in a better position easily attain all he requires. It may be added, that he has already commenced the model of a statue, and we may reasonably promise ourselves he will carry it to the same perfection that marks every other work he has hitherto undertaken. Possessing as he does the gift of genius, joined to assiduity, a passionate love for his art, and the modesty necessary to be always capable of improvement, his success may be confidently predicted. A. M. MIGLIARINI. STANZAS. STREAMLET! in thy placid face Childhood's grace and manhood's pride; Mirrored there, the aged go. Streamlet! as thou murmurest on Say, who sat beneath the shade When the moon-beam downward gave Did some gushing eye with thee THE QUOD CORRESPONDENCE. The Attorney. CHAPTER XI. THE opportunity which the attorney had been seeking for years was at length come. It was strange that one so notoriously infamous could have gained an ascendency over a man like Mr. Crawford, or kept on in a course of hypocrisy and deception for so long a time without detection. Often had he been placed in situations where he trembled lest his character should be unmasked and his schemes frustrated; but the devil aided him, and he did escape. The rumors in circulation against him were whispered in the old man's ear; but he shook his head, said that he knew him well; had seen nothing to give color to such tales; that they were vile slanders, and that he did not believe them. In truth, to strong natural sense and great purity of character Mr. Crawford united a heart as guileless as that of a child. The very rumors that kept others off, drew him nearer to the attorney. His indignation was aroused at what he considered an unjust persecution, and strong in his own rectitude, he determined, as far as his influence would go, to let the world see that he was not biassed by it. His friends at last ceased to remonstrate, but shook their heads, and said he would pay for it some day. There was one person however on whom these reports had their effect, and that was Mr. Crawford's daughter; but it was in vain that she urged her father to inquire about the man, to trace these tales to their source, and to ascertain their truth. He merely laughed; told her that she was a good girl; that he was sorry she did n't like the lawyer, and there the matter dropped; and thus it remained until his sudden and dangerous illness afforded an opportunity of which Bolton did not scruple to avail himself. When the attorney made his appearance at his office on the morning after his interview with Higgs and Wilkins, he was so pale, his face so thin and ghastly, and his eye so black and bright, that it struck even his clerk, who was a young gentleman not ordinarily struck with any thing appertaining to the office. During the whole of that long night his mind had been on the rack. His brain was teeming with cases similar to his own, with stories of those defrauded by designing relatives; of old men sent to mad-houses while they had their senses, and shut up with lunatics, gibbering idiots, and men stark raving mad; lying on straw in damp cells, while their relatives seized all they had and lived in luxury; of those stripped of their property by artful men whom they trusted, who wormed themselves into their confidence and then sent them into the world— beggars. Hundreds of tales of this sort sprang up in his memory, so fast and |