The Press.
London, England, 1858-01-09 00:00:00

Colburn's New Monthly contains several careful
reviews of current literature, and much pleasant light
reading, as well as an instructive article upon the
composition of the Bengal army.
The January number of the Art Journal is unu-
sually good. Mrs. S. C. Hall continues her charming
historical sketch of " The Thames and its Scenery,"
which we hope at some future period will be presented
to the public in a separate and compact form. Then
we have an excellent paper upon Paul Veronese,
careful reviews of the current art literature, and
some remarks upon the statues and frescoes of the
Houses of Parliament, which we take leave to tran-
scribe :

In comparing the first statues that were placed in St.
Stephen's Hall with those of the more recent execution
—we mean those of Hampden, Lord Falkland, and a few
others, with the figures of Fox, Grattan, and Pitt,—it is
found that the sculptors have approached the impersona-
tions of the earlier statesmen with a certain degree of
timidity which is not apparent in the last statues. It
would have been better that this were not felt, although
the men of the 17th century were not, so well painted as
those of the 18th.
The peculiar features of William Pitt are never to be
mistaken ; they are here very truthfully pronounced, al-
though much refined by a delicacy of treatment which has
been carried into the dress, perhaps inconsistently with
the character of the man, for Pitt was not a beau. This
minister lived at a time when the maxim of Chesterfield
was in full force—" That every gentleman should dress in
the morning for the day." We find him, therefore, wearing
the ordinary coat of the period, for there was then no
variety ; the choice being that of the famous Cambridge
horse-dealer, to whose narrow proposition there was no
alternative. In the right hand is placed a scroll, and over
the left arm is thrown a cloak, which, passing behind the
figure, is ingeniously settled into a support for the statue.
To a portrait•statue of Pitt we look for a firm status; we
think that mare resolution might have been given to the
attitude with advantage, as allusive to the character of the
man, and benefit to the statue as a work of art ; but
withal, the identity at once impresses any, even idle,
observer, who may at any time have seen in portraiture
these remarkable features. The impression sought to be
conveyed by Bally in his statue of Fox is the very reverse
of that which we receive in contemplating Macllowell's
work. The figure is heavy, but yet the head looks too
large. The action—that is, the uplifted right atm—is
energetic and resolute ; but the feeling is lost as soon as
the eye passes down to the lower limbs, which are
to a degree ponderous. We live in days not so remote
from the time in which Charles James Fox flourished
but that persons of ordinary inquiry know his personal
points; but the statue will occupy its present site for a
long hereafter, and the sculptor should have addressed
himself to those who, without inquiry, will, now from this
statue, conceive Fox to have been a coarse and vulgar-
minded man. Mr. Macllowell has attributed to Pitt too
much exterior refinement; Mr. Bally allows Fox too little,
although a man of eminent refined sentiment. The statue
of Grattan, by Carew, is a felicitous effort. The relief
communicated to the figure, the pose and expression, place
him at once en rapport with the spectator, with whom he
seems rather to converse than to be in the act of address-
ing the house. The dress is a successful study; it is
judiciously broken by lines, and all these lines are pro-
babilities, and mean something. A most impracticable
thing is a new coat to deal with, either in painting or sculp-
ture. Grattan was not, in the simplest sense, studieses
rerum nova rum, and yet his dress is that of a gentleman.
A few of the first of these works may be too pictorial, and
it is extremely difficult to avoid such a result, as the ma-
terials from which the sculptors have worked have been
but meagre and unsatisfactory. But the last works gene-
rally of the series must be considered as the men them-
selves, allowing for that increase of stature necessary to
sculptural effect. When the twelve in St. Stephen's Hall
are complete, we cannot stop here, there is yet much to be
done.
To the frescoes we turn with pain, though not with dis-
appointment ; for as soon as even these corridors were built
it was obvious that they were not suited to show pictures.
For the Commons' corridor Mr. Ward has painted two
subjects; one is the execution of Montrose in Edinburgh,
the other " Alice Lisle sheltering the Fugitives after the
Battle of Sedgemoor." We will not do these works the
injustice to attempt to describe them, for the light is so
insufficient that they are very indistinctly seen, especially
the "Mice Lisle " subject. The execution of the latter
is less obscured, but still the light is by no means that
whereby works of Fine Art can be examined. We observe,
however, that the pictures are moveable ; that is,lthey are
executed upon frames prepared with mortar, and fitted
into the spaces left for their reception ; and we trust that
their location here is only experimental, unless the win-
dows of the corridor be enlarged, and the stained glass
removed. In the Lords' corridor is placed Mr. Cupe's
picture—" The Embarkation of the Early Emigrants for
New England." The composition of this is seen, perhaps,
as well as Mr. Ward's Execution of Montrose ; but we
repeat that, in their present state, these corridors are not
suited for pictures, they are worse than the Poets' Hall.
Under the very intense colour of the stained-glass windows
any picture would look feeble : indeed, it cannot be gain-
said that wherever, as .et, pictorial decoration has been
tried in the Houses of Parliament, the light has signally
failed.
Tait's Magazine is always welcome. The current
number contains some pleasant and thoughtful
papers, which will well repay perusal.
The Titan, in its enlarged form, has thoroughly
achieved for itself a place in the magazine literature
of the day. The present number is, however, rather