The Press.
London, England, 1855-05-05 00:00:00

and the patrons of art, would relieve Mr. Hall from
an expense which he ought not to be allowed to
bear, and would be at the same time an appropriate
testimony to his indefatigable industry in promoting
the appreciation of art by the public, and to his
liberal encouragement of many branches of it by the
enterprises he has undertaken.
The fourth part of the Royal Gallery of Art con-
tains two plates which will charm all lovers of
pictures. The first is from " Fisher Boys, Coast of
Norfolk," by Collins. The engraving is extremely
delicate, and preserves with great skill the charac-
teristics of the original work—the clearness of the
perspective—the showery sky, with gleams of sun-
shine playing on the sea—and the happy, careless
expression of the boys, which Collins was peculiarly
felicitous in rendering on his canvas. His genius as
a painter resembled that of Crabbe as a poet ; but he
has not either the gloom or the glory of " Nature's
sternest poet ;" he was most attracted by cheerful
aspects of nature, but in looking on his coast scenes
we are irresistibly reminded of some of Crabbe'
marine descriptions. This picture was greatly ad.
mired on its nest appearance, and was obtained by
the Prince Regent from Lord Liverpool. It is now
in Windsor Castle. The uther plate is from Cana-
letti's " Dogana, Venice ;" and here too the style of
the painter—in the clearness of the atmosphere, and
distinctness of every outline—is faithfully preserved.
In the works of this fertile artist, atmosphere as a
medium of vision is scarcely ever discernible, and
his works have, we rather think for this reason, the
faculty of so completely filling the eye that they
seem to expand as they are viewed, and, contrary to
general rules of art, to produce the effect of the scene
itself. Any person who will, for example, stand be-
fore the fine Canaletti in the National Gallery,
with intent eye, will find himself abstracted from
all other objects, and existing in the scene por-
trayed. London is lost. The National Gallery is no
more. The mind is the dupe of the eye, and, by that
effect of sense on intellect which is beyond our com-
prehension, we live in Venice, where the tall many-
storeyed houses look down upon the green and scarcely
ruffled waters. The "Dogana" is a good specimen of
the master, and has more bustle than his Venetian
-views usually possess. The third plate is a portrait
of the Princess Amelia, after Lawrence, painted
before Sir Thomas had acquired his distinctive
style, and when he seemed inclined to follow the
manner of Reynolds.

One More Return from Captivity. By the Rev. E. J.
Ffoulkes, late Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford.
London : Burns and Lambert.
THIS pamphlet would be a mystery to all uninitiated
into the mysteries of convert, and book, making.
The preface is evidently written by a devout Catholic,
who would sacrifice logic to the claims of his Church,
yet it is equally manifest that the first portion of the
body of the work comes from a Protestant, who has
not lost all power of insight into the merits of any
religious system. They who are ignorant of the fact
that a preface is the last part written, would be as
much puzzled with the changes in Mr. Ffoulkes's
pamphlet as those unaccustomed to the Romish
system of conversion would be with the changes in
Mr. Ffoulkes's faith. In the first part of his
-pamphlet he propounds difficulties in a logical man-
ner, that he either answers with sophistry, or evades
entirely, in the second. Never was there a completer
analysis of the changes gone through by a mind in
its progress from Protestantism to Popery; but why
be took that step we cannot discover from his
pamphlet. How a man of so active a mind and such
unusual scholarship could have satisfied his own
conscience by such arguments is really astonishing.

The Rivers of Paradise. By Major W. Stirling.
London: Rivingtons.
THE mouths of the Indus discharge themselves into
the Gulf of Guzurat, and some miles lower down a
river, called the Nerbudda, empties itself into the
Gulf of Cambray. This river Major Stirling supposes
was the Pison of Scripture, and that the region of
the Nerbudda was the birthplace of Abraham. He
believes, also, that Ophir and Havilah ware cities on
the Nerbudda, and that the modern Baroach was the
ancient Tarshish. He founds his conjecture princi-
pally on the gold, onyx stone, and other precious
substances which at one ti-ne abounded in the region
of the Nerbudda ; but, obviously, such facts alone
.(if they be admitted) are insufficient to support the
'theory founded on them. The author appears to
possess some knowledge of the literature and anti-
quities of India, but in his tract there is nothing
which would lead one to place confidence in his judg-
ment as a commentator on the geography of Genesis.
NEW MUSIC.
Six Original Songs for the Young. Dedicated (by
permission) to the Countess of Zetland. By Mrs.
Kingston. London : Mills.
Mits. KINGSTON will be remembered as the authoress
of " Vocal Music for the Young," a work published
iome few years ago, under the patronage of Lady