'Tis a picture in memory, distinctly defined Beheld on that cloud, and transcribed on my soul. Campbell. WIFE AND MOTHER. As a mother we behold woman in her holiest character -as the nurse of innocence-as the cherisher of the first principles of mind-as the guardian of an immortal being, who will write upon the records of eternity how faithfully she has fulfilled her trust. *** In assuming this new and important office, she does not necessarily lose any of the charms which have beautified her character before. She can still be tender, lovely, delicate, refined, and cheerful, as when a girl; devoted to the happiness of those around her; affectionate, judicious, dignified, and intellectual, as when a wife only; while this new love, deep as the very wells of life, mingles with the current of her thoughts and feelings, giving warmth and intensity to all, without impairing the force or the purity of any. S. Stickney. POETIC PICTURES. THE colours, nay even the forms in poetry, as in the kaleidoscope, already exist; accident here, and genius there, put them in new positions, and thus create new pictures. W. Alexis. SPIRIT OF PAINTING. ONE bright sunshiny autumn day, When the leaves were just beginning to fade, Her flowery cheek had caught the dyes But those dark eyes outshone them all. And clear as a mirrored sheet it lay; And phantoms would come and pass away, Bryant. APPLAUSE. To please is a laudable and elegant ambition, and is properly rewarded with honest praise; but to seize applause by violence, and call out for commendation, without knowing, or caring to know, whether it be given from conviction, is a species of tyranny by which modesty is oppressed, and sincerity corrupted. The tribute of admiration, thus exacted by impudence and importunity, differs from the respect paid to silent merit, as the plunder of a pirate from the merchant's profit. Johnson. MUSIC. MUSIC, in her sovereign power, Inspiration of the soul! Spirit of the painter's art! Lead me captive to thy will. R. P. SCOTT'S PENCIL. I Do not by any means infer that I was dead to the feelings of picturesque scenery; on the contrary, few delighted more in its general effect. But I was unable with the eye of a painter to dissect the various parts of the scene, to comprehend how the one bore upon the other, to estimate the effect which various features of the view had in producing its leading and general effect. I have never, indeed, been capable of doing this with precision or nicety, though my latter studies have led me to amend and arrange my original ideas upon the subject. Even the humble ambition which I long cherished, of making sketches of those places which interested me, from a defect of eye or of hand, was totally ineffectual. After long study and many efforts, I was unable to apply the elements of perspective or of shade to the scene before me, and was obliged to relinquish in despair an art which I was most anxious to practise. But show me an old castle or a field of battle, and I was at home at once, filled it with its combatants, in their proper costume, and overwhelmed my hearers by the enthusiasm of my scription. Scott. de THE SKETCHER. YES, Sketch the landscape, fix each glowing hue, With all the truth thy graceful hand can give ; Blessington. MUSIC. WITH music it was even worse than with painting. My mother was anxious we should at least learn psalmody; but the incurable defects of my voice and ear soon drove my teacher to despair. It is only by long practice that I have acquired the power of selecting or distinguishing melodies; and although now few things delight or affect me more than a simple tune sung with feeling, yet I am sensible that even this pitch of musical taste has only been gained by attention and habit and, as it were, by my feeling of the words being associated with the tune. Scott. GREEK STATUES. GONE are the glorious Greeks of old. Their bones are mingled with the mould, The forms they hewed from living stone And scattered with their ashes, show ALL men are in some degree impressed by the face of the world; some men even to delight. This love of beauty is taste. Others have the same love in such excess, that, not content with admiring, they seek to em |