The Press. — London, England, 1855-07-07 00:00:00

646 tact of the spiritual with the outward world. He writes : Scripture language may thus be truly said to belong to an intermediate world different at once from both the visible and the invisible world, yet partaking of the nature of both. . . . Yet it does not follow, if we acknow ledge the limits of human faculties, that our ideas of spiritual things become wholly indefinite. There are many symbols and images of them in the world without and below. In anticipation of the objections which may be urged to this train of reasoning or reflec tion, he says : The course of speculation which has been adopted in this essay may seem to introduce into Scripture an element of uncertainty. It may seem to cloud truth with metaphysics, and rob the poor and uneducated of the sim plicity of the Gospel. But perhaps this is not so. Whe ther it be the case that such speculations introduce an element of uncertainty or difficulty into Scripture or not, they introduce a new element of truth. For without the consideration of such questions as that of which a brief sketch has been here attempted, there is no basis for scriptural interpretation. We are ever liable to draw the meaning of words this way or that, according to the theo logical system of which we are the advocates ; to fall under the slavery of an illogical logic, which first narrows the mind by definitions, and then wearies it with far-fetched inferences. Metaphysics must enter into the interpreta tion of Scripture, not for the sake of intruding upon it a new set of words or ideas, but with the view of getting rid of metaphysics and restoring to Scripture its natural sense. An opponent might, not unfairly, urge Mr. Towett to carry forward his ideas o their legitimate conclusion, and apply to the Gos pels those principles of interpretation, or of speculation, whish he has applied to the Epistles of St. Paul. In that case, Mr. Jowett would probably suspend his judgment on certain passages in the narratives relating to the miraculous occurrences described, but would insist on the spiritual character and spiritual influence of the New Testament, as facts from which there could be no appeal, and which were infinitely more important than any of those points which casuistry might dispute. Let the sceptic (we can imagine Mr. Jowett urging) reason or cavil as he may, he never can get rid of the New Testament, or shake that spiritual communion which it establishes between God and man. While the Gospel lives in the soul of mankind, while it satisfies their aspirations, and meets their wants, it can no more matter what are the outward evidences of particular facts connected with it, than it can matter what is the chemical composition of that water which it has been found by experience quenches the thirst and conduces to the health of man. The philosophy of Mr. Jowett is, indeed, an off-shoot from the philosophy of Berkely. We live in our perceptions of what is external to us, not in the external world itself. The principle is applied emphatically to religion, which is the life of the soul; and Faith is a belief, not in the evidences of sense, but in a perception of what is appropriate to the wants and wishes of the spirit—the secret sympathy between the thirst of the soul, and the element held forth for its gratification. This philosophical theology is a subject for calm discussion, not for newspaper notice. We have merely endeavoured to give our readers some idea of the two very remarkable works on our table. For our own part, we should have been better pleased had both Mr. Stanley and Mr. Jowett (and especially the latter) taken a narrower view of their editorial duties, and restricted their dissertations, and even their notes, to points strictly elucidatory of their text. The dissertations of Mr. Jowett might have formed a valuable collection of theological essays, but are not in their general scope so immediately connected with the Epistles of St. Paul as to require any kind of incorporation with his text; and we are inclined to think that they will, except to those highly meditative minds which can calmly look down upon every kind of speculation with perfect serenity and uhclouded judgment, impede the circulation, and perhaps detract from the repute, of his work. The speculations of the theorist and the reveries of the metaphysician are in our opinion rather inconsistent with, than consonant to, the strict duties of an editor. It is doubtful how far metaphysical theology can ever be useful. Even the mind delights to claim some kind of relationship with God through the medium of sense, and to make munitlsst His Goodness and Perfections by rest THE PRESS. son. It is elevated by the contemplation of Him or His works in nature, and comforted by being continually surrounded with sensible evidences of his care. And we should tremble for the spiritual condition of men, if belief in these sensible evidences were, as they have been, weakened by the refinements of too subtle and contemplative intellects. These books, with others of a somewhat similar bearing, are a remarkable indication of thA theological tendencies of our time, and so far may excuse the space we have devoted to them. We have yet to notice Mr. Thomson's treatise, which obtained the first Burnett prize, and Mr. Bins volume on the " Intellect and the Senses." The Louvre; or, Biography of a Museum. By Bayle St. John. London : Chapman and Hall. THOSE English who have been to Paris will perhaps remember a large building on the right bank of the Seine, through which they hurried so precipitately that they can merely call to mind one or two galleries full of pictures, some statues that had lost their arms, and were therefore curious relics, and a very comfortable divan in the centre of the great saloon. We have frequently been struck by observing the process required for " doing the Louvre." Some people pass all pictures with a deliberate scrutiny, and deliberately exclaim " Beautiful ! " at intervals of a minute. Some settle about the programme of the next day's amusements, or divert your attention from " La Belle Jardiniere " to express a hope that they may see you in town. For some the Louvre is a convenient lounging-place ; for others it is a favorite place for boring their companions ; for few is it the temple of art and the permanent abiding•place of the immortal labours of the greatest painters. To those who are really interested in art we can recommend Mr. Bayle St. John's volume. They are sure to receive some information from its pages, and may also calculate on much pleasure. If not an artist, Mr. St. John possesses many of an artist's characteristics, with delicate sense of beauty and highly cultivated taste. His book gives in addition a history of the Louvre, the vicissitudes it passed through before it was made a museum, and the neglect it suffered owing to the caprices of its different rulers. This part of the book will be new to many who are familiar with the Louvre of the present day. We find that the Louvre was first built by Philippe-Auguste in the shape of a feudal fortress, in which state it remained for above three hundred years. It then became a royal residence, and, alternately restored and ne glected through many reigns, it passed into a kind of Hampton Court, accommodating officers of the Crown and others with lodg ings : It became (says Mr. St. John) the great hotel, the lodging•house of the whole rabble of Court followers, Court artists, ant Court sevens. In order to increase the number of habitable rooms, most of the great halls were divided horizontally and perpendicularly by temporary floorings and partitions ; staircases and chimneys were cut through the walls ; on all sides projected ircn tubes of the most hideous shape, that perpetually vomited smoke and soot. By degrees some of the inhabitants who could afford to keep horses turned the lower halls into stables ; the Government post•house was built against the colon nade, along which were ranged long lines of mangers; wooden sheds gradually accumulated on every side. This state of things was gradually being swept away, till the Republic of 1848, by which a certain M. Jeauron was appointed director. It would seem that the energy of the Republic with regard to the Louvre tends to overthrow the theory advanced in Johnson's favorite line— And never rebel was to arts a friend. M. Jeauron, the Director of the Museums, displayed wonderful energy in bringing the Louvre to its present state. During the Revolution of 1848 he pacified the insurgents, who would have made the Louvre follow tho fate of the Palais Royal, the flames from which lighted up the skies, by assuring them that the Louvre belonged not to the King but to the nation, and that in destroying it they would destroy their own property. He also began to reclaim all the pictures belonging to the Louvre that had been either lent out to SATURDAY, copy or presented to Ministers for their own apartments. Mr. St. John informs us that - The royal manufactories of Sevres, the Gobelins and Beauvais, were fond of reproducing the most important works of art in the museum, and for this purpose, instead of making copies, obtained the loan of the originals, and frequently kept them fur many years. I may mention, as an instance, that Raphael's " Vierge an Linge " was kept for five years in the atelier of Madame Ducluyeau, who was engaged in copying it on porcelain fur the manufac tory of Sevres. It was only restored to the gallery in September, 1848, by M. Jeauron, who insisted that the public ought no longer to be deprived of its view. The Vierge su Voile," by the same master, had also been long kept from exhibition for a similar purpose. M. Jeauron's interference in houses where the pictures belonging to the Louvre had been long displayed, was often resented. We are told that a functionary actually opposed with success the removal from the place absurdly given to it of Le-Sueur's " Phaethon," under the pretence that, as it had been made a ceiling of, its absence would be disagreeably felt in the apartment of the Due de Nemours. Mr. St. John hazards a supposition that if some prince could be found to make use of the cartoons of Raphael to carpet his ball room, the same appeal to accomplished facts would be the answer to any complainant. Another evil against which the hero of Mr. Baylo St. John's book made a vigorous stand was the system of picture•cleaning, which ap parently was originally invented for the pur pose of entirely cleaning the canvas from the pollutions of paint. Magnificent pictures have been scrubbed with coarse sand till they became worthless. Not contented with having a live negro, the owners of pictures would fain scrub him to get the dirt off; and the conse quences are the same with pictures and the negro in lEsop who was scoured to death. On this subject we find one or two quotable passages : - - • I undertook a copy of the picture of Sebastian del Piombo, " The Virgin going to visit St. Elizabeth "—a fine thing, large, sober, and rich, where the double in• fluence of Michael Angelo and Giorgione manifested itself in the most learned conciliation and the most imposing unity—a masterpiece, in fact. The picture disappeared, and ascended to the paradise of restorers, the hell of painters. Some months after, this admirable work, worn down, violated, destroyed, reappeared in its place. I was struck dumb : I understood the whole extent of the mis- chief—of the crime, I must call it. Louis Philippe was not devout, I think ; but, on the other hand, he was very clean. What a vast amount of pictures were scrubbed under his reign ! How many beautiful pieces of colour dirtied, during that period, the essence, alcohol, and so appears in those active ateliers of restoration which were favored with such frequent visits! Crosses of Honour were gained at that work, and immense sums to boot. A Dutch picture•dealer, I think—a M. de Niewenhuis, whose acquaintance I made whilst copying under his eyes the " Man with the Toque" of Rembrandt —said to me one day, " If your king goes on in this style, I would only give one•feurth for his gallery in twenty years." After reading the accounts given by Mr. St. John of these restorations, one can readily imagine one of the old masters appearing from his grave to have a look at his pictures. With what an incredulous stare would he not greet those spurious pieces of canvas, with fresh colour badly laid on, so as to spoil all the delicacy of touch that he bestowed upon his favorite works ! Was it for this that he had toiled so perseveringly, that he had re ceived such a gift of genius ? And while he gazed in honour and wrath at this desecration of his powers he might hear some modern, commenting on his restored pi,tture, saying, " Not so bad for an ancient, that ! But you " should see our modern paintings ! " The third and fourth chapters of the book are among the most valuable, as they describe the way in which most of the pictures in the Louvre came into the possession of the French nation. Mr. Bayle St. John gives an enter taining account of the triumphal entry into Paris of the objects of art and materials of science—books, statues, manuscripts, and pic tures—seized in Italy during the early Italian wars Among these pictures were fifteen by Raphael, seventeen by Perugino, twenty eight by Guercino, four by Cerreggio, nine by G uido, and five by Titian, many others of the best masters being also among the spoils. In statuary, we find the "Apollo Belvedere," the " Nine Muses," the " Antinous," the " Laocoon," the " Gladiator," and the " Mel pomene " of the Capitol, borne in the same procession. After the citation of such apolia opima, the French should hardly twit their neighbours about the Elgin marbles.