The National Register. — London, England, 1809-09-03 00:00:00

TIM NATIONAL REGISTER. 570 Confidence renewed. But I have alrea4 outstepped the bounds .of a letter; and am, &c. -A Co 'SST ANT READER. Kent Road. "We received the above interesting Letter from an unknown Correspondent. His remarks, though not always just and dis passionate, contain such bold, ingenious, and original.allusions, that we have no doubt of conferring considerable pleasure on our Readers by inserting it. TO tILE EDITOR OF THE NATIONA:L . REGISTER. Sift, The influence which the Edinburgh Review exercises over a considerable portion of the informed part of the public, imposes a particular necessity of minutely examining its statements. — The writers for that publication possess considerable claims to extensive information, vigour of judgment, independence of opi nion, and minute industrious investigation. These qualities, which it displays in a far higher degree than any other periodi cal work in this country, are unfortunately disfigured by party bias, an extravagant love of paradox, point, and sarcasm. To gratify the miserable interests of a party, whom they cannot tail to despise in their hearts, they arc weak, or base enough to belie their indqsendence, and to indulge their rage for hypo thesis, will torture occurrences to make them subservient to some theory they desire to establish ; hut for the pleasere of a sarcasm they make no scruple to sacrifice party, paradoxes, and the gravity of reviewers. This unaccountable, and to all ap pearance, irrisistible inclination, is not confined to lighter sub jects of criticism, it is as conspicuous in those articles, which refer to some new discovery in science, or some recent explo sion in the political world ; as it is in their caustic remarks upon the progress of Methodism and the suppression of vice. I hare, however, no inclination to condemn, on this account, a public:ldols, which tends, infinitely more titan any other now extant, to diffuse a spirit of research, in matters of sci=ce, und promote the effects of taste upon objects of literature. I would even excuse its dogmatism, and smile at occasional sallies •f its arrogance, and its pretensions to fix the vary lug course of opinions and occurrences. I would overlook these as frailties incident to critical pride, as trifling defects, serving - only as a shade to set off' the splendour of its merits ; but on seeing it em ploy argument and sophistry, prophecy and declamation, to •x -wggerate the difficulties and discourage the efforts of the commu nity; make wilful mistatements and glaringly erroneous calcu lations, in order to magnify our losses, and excite despondency by the - prospective view of their augmentation; I feel both re gret and indignation at so criminal and worthless an abuse of the indueuce it may possess over the minds of its readers It.is.not possible, Sir, to peruse the contents of the last num ber of .this work, as far as they refer to our internal and ex ;ernal affairs, without lamenting the existence of those passion• amongst us, rhich can tempt men, who might 'atm the sup.cri inky of their understandings, to disfigure the simplest facts ; and employ this misrepresentation, to prove that our situation is al nos; desperate, and that all our efforts and sacrifices, without the interventions of some convenient miracle, are inadequate to remo ve the impending calamity. It, is fortunate, Sir, that mo dern poWicians,like ancient dramatists, have some Deus ex Ma china, to cut short the catastrophe, and help them out of their embarrassments. Miraculous intervention seems familiar to them, as it does to the followers of Johanna Snoth«)t, who also blends religion with politics; and has prophetic vi4onc, which mark the fate of Empire's, and keep alive the credulity and en iblitialun a her pgrly. This eitrpagaace, as lung as •it is SEPT; kept in check by the vigilance of the magistrate, and the good iense or the public, will excite otil•y lat!.;hter, when it is attri buted to a, fanatical insane devzfree ; butt its s squenct s are alzaming, when it introduces itself into the calculations of states. men, and tie discussions of pUlitical writers. I am, Sir, A SUBSCRIBER/a; k' 1.1171; ARTS. The Statues of Tragedy and Comedy have been placed in the niches prepared for them in the East front of the new Theatre at. Covent-garden. The former is from the. chissel of Mr. Boss', the latter bears the name of FLA XM N on the pedestal. From these artists we expected figures far superior to these both in design. and execution. if extravagance in design is reprehensible, this classical fri gidity is still inure so. aassicai!—if by classical, an imi tation of ancient design is intended, we caunot help declar ing, that the works of ancient Greece arc vilified and in sulted by such affected jargon. Had we been called upon to estimate the merits of these two sculptors, before the present display of their contrasted productions, we should have said that Haman had most science and most cor rected taste, but that Rossi had most natural genius. The genius of Flaxman is a mere cast of an ancient figure • that of Rossi is a model from the !rinds of nature. But, in. their present performances, we think far more meanly of the mental powers of both than we should have done. The relievo of Rossi is poorly conceived, that of Flaxman a jumble from the rehques of the ancients. In neither, the execution deserves much commendation. Flaxman's figures are square and inelegant: the matronly figure of Thalia, as she presents herself to Menander and Aristo phanes, is unhappily imagined. It is a silly excuse to say, that the Muse of Comedy has been found represented as a; serious country wench, on sonic of the sculptured friezes belonqing to the ruins at Athens : the question will be, what is the most natural conception of the figure of Comedy ? But Mr. Flaxman seems to form no idea of what ins a:legorical heings should be, his only care is how the ancients would have exhibited such figures. He hes lost the natural in the classical; he will not trust to nature and himself; tho ancients are to him nature, and he seems scarcely to wish to be himself independently of them. la the statue of Comedy, to which his name is affixed, we have the figure of a broad shouldered country wench, with her crook upon her shoulder, like a Shropshire lass jour neying with a pack at her back after the sweetheart, who has loaded her with a nine month's trouble and deserted her. A melancholy countenance, a clumsy figure, thick heavy drapery, covering even her feet, are these charac teristics of the arguta Thalia: , Besides, what has the di vinity of modern Comedy to do with a.crook? Thalia was designated by a crook among the ancients, because she was supposed to preside over pastoral poetry ; but has pastoral poetry any thing to do with the comedy of Bri tain ? It is not the Thalia of Virgil's Eclogues that we expected to see in the front of Covent-garden Theatre,. though many such a one, we doubt not, with a big belly and a sulky face, of whom it might be said nee erubuit sNlcas habitare, Thalia, may be frequently met with in ilow-street:—it is a pity Mr. Flaxman has not placed his miserable wench in the niche opposite the Brown Bear; she would there, have had many admirers, well versed in the classics of the place. Enough of Thalia. Let us look at Rossi's figure of Melpomene. Here we have less classical allusion, and, therefore, nothing contrary to the nature of modern Co medy in the design. The figure of Tragedy is stately,— she is looking upwards ; and she holds her arms folded, with a dagger and a mask in her hand. This is all very well ; but - her upward look ought to be more impassion ed,—her arms ought to be enfolded in the violence of agi tatlou, not in repose of case s—how her dagger and 5P'""