The Press. — London, England, 1855-03-03 00:00:00

14 It was while he was at Florence, engaged in the study of the art treasures of that city, that Strange seems to have conceived the idea that his knowledge of pictures,might be turned to good account, by buying the best ho could procure and selling them in London. He noticed that by this traffic Mr. Jenkyns was making " a fortune without loss of time, fur I " am told that he has of late disposed to the " amount of at least 3,0001., only to three " different people." Memoirs of the time are full of the tricks played on unsuspicious con noisseurs. Choice works of great masters were manufactured by the gross, and, as paintings were at this time really supposed to be the productions of the artists to whom they were aseribed,the imposture proved profitable, until the market got overstocked, and con noisseurs became, if not more keen-sighted, at least more wary. Strange imported largely, and had an exhibition of his purchases. It is absurd to suppose that ho could have had the means of purchasing eighty-seven really genuine works, including a Raffaelle, a Cor reggio, a Leonardo, &c. The exhibition, how ever, seems to have been profitable, and with the sale he was so well pleased that he im ported more largely, and had a sale of 119 " capital and elegant pictures, selected from " the Roman, Florentine, Lombard, Venetian, " and other schools." As these works were stated to be collected by Mr. Robert Strange, they probably sold well. "He entirely sub " wits to the curious " the assertion that one picture sold to him as a Domenichino was really such ; but we fear the author of this memoir is too sanguine in concluding from this instance of frankness that we are entitled " to augur " somewhat favorably of the nomenclature " generally adopted." These sales, it is pro bable, laid the foundation of that large fortune which Strange was enabled to amass. His shrewd wife, who managed sales for him while he was abroad, wrote to him on one occasion, " I can sell nothing but what is really tine ; " bad and middling things in the way of virto "I am for burning." The original orthogra phy is preserved in the letters of this energetic dame, much to the advantage of their pi- quanoy. Strange turned his residence abroad to better account, at least in an artistic sense, than by this traffic. He studied the great Italian masters, took drawings from their finest works, and thoroughly acquainted himself with their spirit. He providently, too, gained all the foreign distinctions which were to be had for a moderate expenditure of money. In 1765 he produced his two plates of " Justice " and " Meekness," from Raffaelle's figures in the Hall of Constantine. He was in 1765 admitted a member of the Royal Academy of Paris, and on the occasion of publishing two of his greatest works, Charles I. and Henrietta, was presented at the French Court. These engravings met with a large sale in France. The distinctions he received abroad made him think that he was shame fully neglected at home. Though ordinarily a peaceful man, intent on making his way in the world, he was sensitive when his position as an artist was called in question, and he took an active part iu the disputes which arose on the foundation of our Royal Academy, conceiving himself insulted by the exclusion of engravers. At length, when his reputation had become European, the sunshine of royal favour, for which he ardently longed, beamed on him. The deaths of the two young princes Octavius and Alfred produced the " Apotheosis " of West, and this picture Strange was commis sioned to engrave. Mrs. Strange, as we have said, was an ardent Jacobite, but the King found a way to convert her into one of the mst loyal of his subjects. We quote from one of o her letters to her son, dated London, Jan. 13, 1787 : Your dear father has been employed in engraving a most beautiful picture painted by Mr. West, which he liked so much that he was desirous of making a print from it. The picture was painted for his Majesty : it represented two of the royal children who died. The composition is an angel in the clouds ; the first child sitting by the angel, and the other, a most sweet y outh, looking up; there are two cherubs in - he top, and a view of Windsor at the bottom. This print was lately finished, and Friday the loth proof current of was appointed for your father's pnting some s , it to his Majesty. lie went with them the Queen s house and had a most gracious receptiomto Majesty iMim•-._ THE PRESS. was very much pleased. After saying many most flattering things, he said : " Mr. Strange, I have another favour to ask of you." Your father was attentive, and his Majesty rejoined, " it is that you will attend the levee on Wednes day or Friday, that I may confer on you the honour of knighthood." His Majesty left the room, but coming quickly back, said, " I'm going immediately to St. James's, if you'll follow me, I'll do it now ; the sooner the better ;" so calling one of the pages gave him orders to conduct Mr. Strange to St. James s, where kneeling down he rose up Sir Richard Strange. This honour had the effect of eliciting all those heraldic details concerning the family of Strange which Mr. Dennistoun relates at some• what unnecessary length. The herald-painter when applied to for " supporters," sketched figures of antiquity and of a Roman warrior, suggesting with much s implicity,that, as " they " were uncommon, they might not be improper " for Mr. Strange." Sir Robert lived fifteen years to enjoy his dignity. He amused him self with his art to the last. It is supposed that he injured his health by his application, but he nevertheless reached the ripe age of seventy one. He died wealthy ; he left 10,0001. to his children in special legacies, and the remainder of his fortune, with his very valuable stock of engravings and plates, among them. Not much is to be said of the character of Sir Robert. Apart from his art, he had little intellectual culture, and nothing to distinguish him from the thousands of prudent Scotch men who both before and since have plodded along the road of industry to fortune. But to his art ho was entirely devoted. He was so careful of his reputation that he executed the greater part of his works withhis own hands : I find now by experience (he wrote) that I am obliged with my own hands to execute two-thirds of every plate I do. Nay I often consume more time in correcting the work of others, than had I done the whole myself. Could I see with other eyes than I do, it might be otherwise, but I am generally the last to please. This will always be the case with every man who values his reputation. Sets of his engravings (proofs) were sold after his death at eighty guineas each, and they still bring high pricesit is said here thathe "restored " the reputation of Raffaelle and Correggio, of " Titian and Guido, in nations among whom " they had fallen into neglect." This is more honour than he can justly claim, but he had undoubtedly a fine taste for the highest walk of art. His engravings were usually from excellent works of great masters, and it is universally acknowledged that in rendering the softness, roundness, and delicacy of flesh he had no equal. It is this peculiar quality of his burin that made his engravings from Titian so highly prized. By no means indif ferent to patronage and profit, it is stated to his credit that he had yet sufficient inde pendence of mind to abstain from engraving for publishers, which would, in the first in stance at least, have afforded him higher re muneration. Yet it was by the humblest style of book-illustration that Stothard worked his way to eminence. Strange's small patrimony saved him from some drudgery, but on the whole it is a mistake to suppose that an artist of real capacity may not improve by whatever work he turns his hand to. His active partner survived him some years, and at eighty-four could write—" My health "is excellent ; I have no cough; my cheeks " are blooming ; I have still two teeth, and " several brown hairs in my head. I could " dance at any of my childrens' weddings." A daughter died so lately as 1849, at the age of ninety. The sons all prospered. The eldest, after a residence in India, became a banker in London, and a member of Parliament, marry ing for his second wife a daughter of Lord Melville. The male line of the Stranges is carried on through the second son. " Greatly " do I wish," said his thrifty mother, " to see " Andrew settled, as it is called. A. decent " young woman, with education and a penny, " is what I wish, for the fire of love soon " burns out when it is founded on beauty " alone." This Andrew became Chief Justice of Madras ; married twice, and each time well, gaining probably the " penny " his mother desired ; and left a numerous family. The descendants of Sir Robert take rank with our first gentry; and it is an odd reflection that they owe their being to the fashion of the large hoops of a century ago, and to the ready wit of the girl who sheltered her lover beneath her ample petticoat when Cumberland's t ro opers, closely dogging his heels, burst into her presence, clamouring for his blood. SATURDAY, A Ramble through Normandy. By George M. Musgrave, M.A.. London: Bogue. Mn. MUSGRAVE'S book is one of those which are best left to speak for themselves. He journeyed through a country which has lately been so thoroughly explored by our " roving " Englishmen" that it would be tiresome to fol low in his steps. The obvious features of the land have been often described, and. for this reason what he saw is of less importance than how he saw it. The merit of his volume must depend less on its matter than its style. It is to the mind of the author rather than to the external objects with which he deals that we must look for entertainment. Fortunately, Mr. Musgrave has a mind equally vivacious and well cultivated. The towns, the monuments, the celebrated locali ties of Normandy are texts upon which he can discourse with the 'eloquence and knowledge of a master. We do not mean to say that he pretends to profound acquirements. His style is gay and glancing rather than serious ; but with his lively loquacity he indicates the historical memories and archreological remains of one of the most engaging provinces on the face of the globe, and with his ready pencil brings objects of special regard before the reader's eye. He observes no other kind of method than the order of his reflections ; on one page we have a vivid description of some present peculiarity of the land or people, and on the next the capital of a column, or a piece of grotesque wood-carving, carries us back to the days of Norman chivalry and the dawn ing greatness of the race whic h hasp layed a more conspicuous part than any other in modern history. Our author has other qualities requisite !for a tourist who ventures to tread beaten ground. He has shrewd sense, a uoyant bosom, an eagle eye, generous feeling, b and au imagination readily impressible. If not always original, he is never dull. The stores of his mind, freely thrown forth, will afford some in• formation to the best-instructed ; while those who know Normandy only through books or from a rapid visit will gather from these animated pages a most pleasing conception of the province. Indeed, the whole country is re presented under so charming an aspect that the book, we make no doubt, will bring a large in crease of custom to the hotel-keepers in Norman towns. With these few prefatory remarks we turn to the book itself ; but before his departure from England, we extract, for the benefit of travellers with excellent appetites, Mr. Musgrave's plan of securing a good dinner at those railway stations, Swindon to wit, where " ten minutes only are allowed a hungry crowd for a substan tial meal:— Let me lend a helping - hand to any man who may wish to accomplish the act of dining on this occasion, without being scalded or choked for lack of dexterity and discrimi nation. Whilst others are losing precious moments in vain endeavours to swallow soup at 210 degs. of tempera ture, I advise a rush to the nearest uncut fowl ; it is always alongside of a ham or tongue. Secure the entire leg— leaving the wing and breast for some gentler and fairer consumer ; cut deep and de ft ly into the ham, and, while calling for a glass of ale, deposit a wedge of veal-pie (all ready ranged for whoever might fancy it, in a plate) upon the slice of ham, and cut for your piece de resistance a due ration of the cold round of beef. (The pickled walnuts are good there.) When you have disposed of this, you may instantly turn to the soup—which by this time is not too hot to be swallowed. Return to your plate, and finish the wedge of pie and the ale ; but if the bell ring before the pie-ration can be finished, bear it off in your newspaper, and terminate on the platform, or in the carriage; no one will take umbrage at this dewier resort, as there is a general sense of disapprobation and outrage at the scant measure Qf time allowed for snatching a few morsels while the train halts. Dinner, after a certain fashion, will then be a fait accompli ; and certainly when " a bona fide traveller," as the late Beer Act has it, is compelled to eat and drink at threepence a minute, he may as well be au fait at the process. In contrast to this desperate mode of eating against time, the author relates the deliberate breakfast made by an elegant French lady and her husband on board a Seine steam-boat. Every one must have admired the pertinacious appetite of our excellent neighbours, only to be accounted for by supposing that the stomach is as active in digesting food as the jaws are in receiving it; but the Normans, ac cording to our author, must beat all other French people in their gastronomic capacity : The French seldom take that meal (breakfast) before ten or eleven o'clock. I was sketching on the hatchway, I 4