The National Register. — London, England, 1814-07-03 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER. JULY 3• THE FINE Alit S. MR. WEST'S PICTURE OF " REOCTED.' Though accident has deprived es d the assistance we proudly looked to this week, we shall not defer the obser vations we have to offer on Mr. 'West's picture; notwithstand ing our strictures may be deemed deficient in the essential knowledge of the art. To be gratified with the con templation of such noble productions is one thing i to be ca pable of critical detail, another; and the school of painting has a language of its own, a certain technitallity of ex pression, that though it frequently leaves nature behind, seems to have obtained more approbation than the ordinary phraseology of the passions, with a more copious vernacular t'qually novel and precise and singularly descriptive of the pecu!iar character and habits of the profession. In entering the exhibition room, it is impossible to look round without mingled sensations of respect and admit Aion, for the noble sketches which adorn its walls. Here we have zlways deemed Mr. West pre-eminently great. The mijesty of the conception flows with an easy and graceful variety , unincumbered with the harsher labours of the easel, and nothing occurs to repress the sublimity of the design. if, however, we find It impossible to convey these higher sen sations to the lower cahvas before us, it may perhars he rather attributable to our deficiency in what the catalogue falsely calls the Epic, than to the unity of the design or the com prehensive grap of the subject. To us the character of true Sublimity is not sustained. There is more magnificence in the execution than in the mental corrOduation ; many puerl lities and more furtivity of other masters, than belongs to ge , 'thine and native invention. The figure of Christ is the focus from which it is in tended all other points shall diverge, and here, where the rowers of the mind should appear to concentrate, we are diverted by a number of inferior objects that break in upon the light, and draw our attention from what is denominated the main interest of the epic—Nor is the divine character of the Redeemer kept up with that overpowering grandeur thlt naturally belongs to it, and which, even in sorrow, triumphs over the virulence and hatred of bigotry and scepticism, and leaves the awful emotions of the faithful to the reverential eulogiums of hallowed criticism. There is a singular vulgarism in this picture from which we should have thought Mr. West's accomplished mind would have Wined with disgust. What we allude to is the detestable figure and countenance of Barabbas, which if in tended as a contrast to the subdued feeling and contem plative graces of the Saviour, glares too powerfully for the re pose of the subject, and 'has more the appearance of " moon- struck madness" than del;berate guilt, and criminal indif ference. We have only seen its repre s entative once be foie in Sir Joshua Reynold's death of Cardinal Beaufort, Nvbese main grandeur and sublimity arc diminished by similar defects. This is, however, not the chief error in the conception—we 'know it is • the practice of the drama to give villainy one undistinguish;ng reaturt of coarsenm art'. 'brutality—though the greatttt 4 , 9 moral turpitude is frequently hid beneath the " smil ing exterior" and the graceful deportment of consummate deception is perhaps much nearer nature than the other. We are of opinion that Mr. Vest had better have exhibited this picture without the commentary contained in the catalogue and which figs led to enquiries that invalidate its otherwise strong pretensions to public favour ; for ourselves we quitted it with emotions of concern and veneration, as the last great attempt perhaps of one of the greatest ornaments of the British school, as rather the jubilee of the man than the art % not enhancing, but still preserving, the greenness of that fame imperishable as mind, and durable as the universe. ON RELIGION. C*** Where Can the soul Lind rtlnge bat in the bosom of tTl:gion ? (jitp:GoitY. How awful is the Majesty of nob ! When we contem plate the numerous b!essing,s conferred on man, we are ready to exelarn, LORD we are unwottiry thy, diffu , e bene dictions ! Our conceptions of man's beatitude; emanating f‘orn above, are exceedingly limited. Without a compre hensive knowledge of the Christian rel ig ion, how can we expect to celebrate the Lb lib's DAY, with that fervency and teal which ought ever to accompany our petitions to the Throne of Grace. In what can we repose tonfidence? In earthly pursuits? No; for they nre all transient and uncertain, glittering for a moment, then eluding our grasp. Religion, therefore, is our only sure resource and refuge of happiness. whence are deliver! all Our comforts, temporal and spiritual— all oor joys, present and to critic. If the , neients considered religion as the sure and cep tamp hope of bliss, fire progressive link which unites mankind to the re deemer, how much more does it become us, who breathe the vital air cif this Christian atmosphere, who live in an age wherein the mind of man is illuminated with the rays of knowledge and under Standing, and in a generation when the liberal arts and sciences are so effectually cultivated, through the means afforded by erudition----the fountain whence spring our knowledge of the At MIGHTY—how much more, I as sert, does it become us, denominated Christians, to lean upon the bosom of religion, upon the dispensation advanced by Christ, and sealed with his precious blood? In the writings of Horace are the following reflections concerning the nature of the SUPREML MANG, the princi ples of revealed religion ; 44 Qui mare et terras, Yar &Tie mundum Temperat Innis? llnde nil majuz. generator Piec viget. fpridritiath :aide, ant seeturdmn. Hor. B. 1. Ode 12, Lille 15. Hence we may infer that the heathens had some perception of a SUPREME Powtn, and sole Governor of the universe, and as such they worshipped lit at ; but not Possessed of Chr'stian precept , , their ideas of a futurity were very con fined. If such were the doctrincs proinulizated by the Pagans, it is the duty of us, who profess Christianity, enjoy the light of reason and the advantages resullint; from knowledge, ac, quire 4 by the labor:ous'researehes of nien of tiiidelstanding, to trace the mean!: % . vlierebv this knotcletio . r Iris been A ttained. • the foundation whereon we erect otir 1 .iypotlicsis ins the only true GOD, is evidently Nature, assisted E INSPIRATION, granted to the Prophets of old basis, strengthCned by educatiuU, futuisliez us with concern- id by Tit- d ; which jag con- • I