The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-06-29 00:00:00

BRUSSELS PAPERS.

Yesterday we received the Brussels papers• to the 96th
instant, from which we give the followidg extracts. The
conduct of the-Norwegian Diet, in resisting ail innovation
sin its ancient Constitution, is an interesting event, and one
ati which it seems the Swedes were favourable:—
FitArterOßT, JUNE 20.
_lt really anpunt that there is at present a kind of Con ens of
Ministers at Johannisberg, the seat of Prince Alettentich. Be-
sides'Prinee Hautilid, the Prosaism Minister atViennai Baron,
Mealtime, the Wottemborg eltneter of bate; Baron Denten t;
Count Caraman, A mbassisaor from Imam to she Court of.Vienria.,
wise have been there a few day s ; 31. N lager. Prussian
Miansesnarysini. ts
1, Ausbrtro iano• e httiolate? asit Cassel, have now joined them. mm
has not yet anived.
' ' • CHRISTIANA, MAT 20. I
The enanimnus rejection of all the Royal irroptultiobe relative
"to auingcs in the Constitution, which, taken together, etre egui-
valises to a plao for a new Constitution, is a very remarkable poll.
tied event, especially when we know the motives which actuated
the Committee of the Coostitution, some of which only could be
*lived in the whitest which the Diet presents to the King.
The Wisdom of several of these proposed changes is acknow-
ledged by those who have rejected them. The necessity of a
Royal veto, that the cirecutivepower may norbe in a situation of
absolute depettleney on-the legislative assembly, is an incontestible
political axiom. The rights which the Norwegian Constitution
secures to the Diet, may therefore appear exorbitant, since the re.
solutionrof three successive :hits have bet-rime laws without need-
ing the RotO unction: An aeseenbiwinvested with such a power,
apd whlchWdeles cannot be dissolved int the King during the legal
pined of Sessiuns; is uedoubtettly more powteful than the
CTONTII.
But to the teethe which were urged by 'time 31inistrrial Mem-
bers, the Committee hes opposed an unanswerable argument—the
Coristitution, such as It is, whether good or defective, was freely
and elemitly accepted by the King hi person, when be was Prince
An Btu!.
article of this "Constitution determines and guaiantees the
right of the reigning King, and of his dynasty, to the throne of
Norway. Another aytiele says, that " the King may ameliorate
the details of the Constitution, but not change the spirit of it."
It, then, a islet should *sum the right of charging articles of
such importance as thi-se which regulate the sanction of the laws—
natunlizatMo ' dui duration of the Legislative Sessions, the culla-
Won of all herkitary Nobility. &c. would there not be reason to
fear that a faction, which happily has now no existence, might one
day nuke Use oft le Diet to change also articles relvite to therights
of the reigning (tinnily, and to the succession to the throne ? Under
these circumstances, maintaining the Constitution, is therefore
matntainlng and consolidating the throne itself, and giving to his
Majesty the King, and his worthy heir, a pledge of attach-
mere, a proof of gmtitude, which Norway owes him for his paternal
gorernment.
" Betides," says the Committee, " the character of the Norwe-
gians, their loyalty, their aversion to revolutions, the high degree
of their moral and intellectual eivilization--all give a pledge that
they will not Ouse this political liberty, of which, according to his
Mn jesty'e own exereutiona, they have shown themselves to worthy,
by eetabli4hlng it anti preserviug it untouched without the slightest
tuallaaionOTieconvenience."
Other grounds of political expediency were discussed ; but it
Would. perhape be imprudent to divulge them. It is known that
Is wasuite smug other things, that the estates of Seceder% haying
fur she.? Beams -neighbour on one side the most autocratic empire
' in the wined, would f tot be sorry to see, on the other side, their
Bloroggian brethren maintain even a degree of liberty rather demo-

awry. 41oaseaan ir HAM M, 01.41. wr err.. _
Cambridge, Sub-Nlaster of St. Saviour's Grammar School,
work. has been elected Head Muter of the Grammar School at Al-
denbaria, Ruts.
The Irish Corpointois—Bill—iUrabandoned by Mr.
Aroughstn a few daps before the adjournment of Parlia-
ment. The measure, it is expected, will be revived next
Session.
Letters to the 12th February from Lima. by way of
, Bogota, were received yesterday by an eminent mercantile
house in the City. At that period the negociation he-
r twetn Bolivar and the Spsnish Generals Canterac and La
Sena was still going, on.
The accounts from Greece yesterday are rather contra-
, dietary. A letter from Missolonghi of the beginning of
May, states Colocotroni had refuted the command of the
army destined for the attack of Patras, and that he re-
mained in hostile possession of Napoli, which the Greek
Government had ordered the blokade of by sea and land.
A letter from Malta of the 29th ult. states, that accounts
had been received of the occupation of Napoli by officers of
the regular Greek Government. The dispute among the
Greeks is, as to which Government they are to obey, that
of Argos, or that of Tripolitaa ' • but as the leading men of
both Governments are actuated by the purest patriotism,
there is no doubt that this difference will be soon removed.
The public arc likely to be in some degree compensated
for the less of " Memoirs of Lord Byron, written by him-
, self," by the publication of the Nulde Lord's Correspon-
dence, which, amongst others, will comprise Letters written
by his mother, during his travels in Portugal, Spain, and
Greece. These letters will be accompanied with very in-
teresting biographical notes, and edited by a very near re-
lation and confidential friend of the Poet.—Cramer.
A gentlemen who resided many years in Mexico, has re-
ceived, per the ship Valorious, from Vera Cruz, a large
assortment of the most beautiful specimens of the minerals
of that country, to be presented in the name of the Execu-
tive Government of Mexico to Mr. Secretary Canning, as
an instance of their respect for his high talents and liberal
sertiments.
HORN3.—The Duchess of Orleans, in her Sketches of
the Court cf Louis XIV. relates the following anedote:—
" The wife of the Marshal de Villars is running after the
Count de Toulouse. My son (the Regent) it also in her
good graces, and is not a whit more discreet. Marshal de
Villars came one day to see me ; and, as he pretends to
understand medals, he asked to see mine. Baudelot, who
is a very honest end clever man, and in whose keeping
- ' they are, was derived to chew them ;he is not the most
cautious man in the world, and is very little acquainted
A letter from Mareeilles mentiens, that an inhabitant of with what is going on at Court. He had written a dis-
tal city, having fai:en dangerously ill, wished to make his , sertatien upon one of my medals, in which he proved,
will, and declared his intention of leaving 400 francs to the' against the opinion of other learned men, that the horned
poor, and thereat &ibis property to his nephew. The bat- I head which it displayed was that of Pan, and not of
tfr hawing left the house, to accompany the doctor part of Jupiter Ammon. Honest Baudelot, to display his crudi-11
Ws way home found his uncle dead on his return, and tion, said to the Marshal—' Ah, Itlonseigneur, this is one
learnt that the' curate had taken away several bags of mo- of the finest medals that Madame possesses; it is the
nev, to the amount of 6,000 francs, .o the parsonage. On triumph of Cornificitts; he has, you see. all sorts of
the heir demanding the restitution, the curate acknow- horns. lie was like you, Sir, a great General ; he wears'
!edged he had taken the money away, but declared that the the horns of Juno and Faunua. Cornificius was, as you
defunct had verbally ordered him to take the sum in goes- probably well know, Sir, a very able General.' Here I
lion, and distribute the same among the poor ; but the ne- interrufted him. Let us pass on,' I said, 'to the other
phew refuted this allegation by. producing the will of the medal; if you stop in this manner at each, you will not'
deceased, r bich fixed his donation at 400 francs. Such is have time to chew the whole; but lie, full of his subject,
the preseer. state of the case ; the procurator of the King returned to it. Ah, Madame !' He went on, this is
has the *fair in hand. We know that possession is, at- worthy of more attention than perhaps any other; Conti-
cording to a vulgar adage, nine points of the law ;and ileitis is, indeed, one of the most rare medals in the world.
when tnose points are in possession of the church • • • •. Look at it, Madame ; I beg you to observe it narrowly ;1
'-Journal du Cearewa,r.-e. here, you ace, is Juno crowned, and she is also crowning
Ott the nights of the 13th and 14th of this month, some this great General.' All that I could say to him was not
robbers entered the cottage of a man named Bodin, living sufficient to prevent Baudelot talking to the Marshal,
in the hamlet of Vennelles, in the canton of Valencay, of horns; Monseigneur,' he said, is well vt caed in all
who, after knocking out the brains of the poor man with there matters, and I want hint to see that I am right in
the iron dogs of the tire-place, robbed the house of between insisting that these horns arc those of Faustus, not those of
7 and 14,000 francs. A child of nine years owes its life to Jupiter Ammon: All the people who were in the Chain-
being sound asleep during the murder. The gendarmes her with difficulty refrained from bursting into a loud
are in search of the assassins. laugh. If the plan had been laid for the purpose, it could
The celebrated demesne of Piercelield is again likely to not have succeeded better. When the Marshal had gone,
pee* into the hands of a new proprietor. Mr. iVeele has, I too indulged myself in the laugh. It was with great
or is on the point of disposing cf it to the Hon. Mr. Pon- difficulty that I could make Baudelot understand that he
nenhy.—/rish had done wrong,"

use were some ceermed Members who were for aeeeptirg
of the !loyal propositions with modifications, but they
up their personal opinions, and thus a resolution was taken
intously. which %%01 be remarkable in the annals of European

CELF.BII.ITED PAINTERS.

LIONARI9 DAypitt.

Milan will always be hallowed inikereeollectiott of art,
for it contains the master-niece of one of the luminaries el
modern painting. Lionardo, called da Vinci from his birth.
place, a castle in the vale of Arno, was flit sawn! son of
a Florentine notary, and was born ha 4Y year 143
Gifted with a vieorosis and Inquisitive mind, and a person
robust and active.; he soon became remarkable for his se.
quaintanoe with various subjtces in profound and polite
literature, and for the graceful acoomplithmenu of a cs•
'slier. Ile learned the rudiments of painting from
Andrea Vtreechio, the master of Pietro Perngino. So
much superior was Limier& to his teacher, that when the
young roan assisted the veteran in a representation of St.
John baptizing Christ, Verecellio was astonished at the
excellence of his pupil's mode of colouring, and in mord&
cation at Isis own inferiority. lie threw aside the percil fbr
ever. But this rmunciation of pictorial ambition did not
cast him into a state of indolent vacuity, fee, like most ones
of art of his time, he was a sculptor, a medalist, and a
goldsmith, as well as a painter. Liam& remained at
Florence, till he was more them forty years old; but of his
studies and occupations during that long and important
part of his life, we have heard no authentic particulars. be
1494 he went to Milan on the levitation of ',odorless
i Sforza, a most afilmtiossate enthusiast of his various merits.
To amuse the court with his extemporaneous poetry, and
to play on a curious 'ilea lyre of his own construction, to
erect a statue to the memory of Brom% father, and to pee.
tide over an academy of architecture amp tainting, such,
were ti:e objee:s of da Vinci's thenge of abode. At Miles'
he was accordingly a musician, a poet, a aelptor, sad a
teacher of art, and as if every sia. 410- were within the
scope of Isis abilities, he also practised both civil and mili-
tary engineering. Of the works of his peneil there are
many sketches and dr:tidos*, but of dahlia pictures only
a few. Of this last cl his prod the Leen.
Supperfrit,the mast b ands, Of
irittpwkalller.at atf. • _ It- '
lwalla..of • ee Vlthietetry
church •ef Sonia Maria del Grade, at Milan, FM. de-
puce of design, graceful air of the figures, Satiety of ex-
pression, and tastef.l disposition of drapery, this painting
is not inferior toady work of art that we liavemeen in Italy.
He never finished the face of the redeemer, for be had ex-
hausted his powers in depicting the twelve Apostles. It
has been often said, that he was lees unable to Concentrate
in one countenance all those baneful parkas which lie
thought distinguithed Jude, but that at led he was fully
satisfied with delineating the face of the prior of the con-
vent. The true case was this. The prior, ignorant of the
painter's delicacy of judgment, complained at the tardy
manner in which the work proceeded. Sfores's authority
was appealed to, and the artist was commanded us lichee
two hours each day to the picture. Days and 'weeks pass-
ed away, and the walls of the refectory did not glow with
additional colours. The prior, not knowing that the artist's
mind was busied in intense meditation upon the grand and
glorious conception of his fancy,reiterated his complaints to
the Duke, and in a subsequent conversation between Lio-
nardo and Sforza, the former declared, more perhaps in
wit than in malice, that for the portrait of Judas he had
not yet sufficiently studied the physiognomies of condemn-
ed criminate:, and that should the state prisons be defective,
the countenance of the friar would furnish him with an
ample expression of hypocrisy and vice. the frill admire-
lion of the (Mineola will, however, be confined to the pre-
sent generation. The pictute is even now radios, for Lio-
nerd°, from his inability to give a prompt and decisive ex-
pression of his ideas, was unable to paint ln:freseo, and,
therefore, used oil colours, which he Olaf)," efface or re-
touch as his judgment dictated.
The for tune of Lodovico Sforza changed i• Milan be-
came the theatre of war e the school of art waralimipated
and Lionardo himself returned to Florence. lie remained
in that city for the nineteen years which eucceedeli 1499,
except for a sheet residence at Rome on the occasion of
Giovanni de'Medici becoming Pope Leo. X. The literary
giories of the Metlicean house would, it was thong,he shine
with more brilliant lustre. Like other artists and men of
genius, Lionardo repaired to the holy city ; but his stay
was abort, for mutual disgust soon separated him and Leo.
We never could learn the real cause of this feeling, nor of
the equally surprising circumstance, that in his early resi-
dence at Florence, da Vinci had net shared the patronage
of Lorenso de laicelici. The French King, Francis J.,
tztolil a vain endeavour to separate the picture of the Last
_ _

for the person i; of trfieartist.EetivitaiLiateireto to Ids
court, and da Vinci was not unwilling to quit Italy. The
young Tdichelangiolo was rising into fame, and he who had
Air years engrossed public favour could not brook yivalry.—
The two artists bad exhibited their respective abilities in
cartoons for pictures to adorn the walls of the great council
chamber at Florence ; awl a mind of no ordinary ambi-1
don might have been satisfied with the battle of piccolo
Piecinino, by Lionardo da Vinci, and yet have allowed
high merit to the cartoon of the battle of Pisa, by Michel-
-1 angiolo. The mutual anger of the two great Florentine
artists was notorious, and Lionardo, canstilting his own
tranquillity of mind, went to France. He died, however,
in that country., in the arms of the King, without having
exercised hie pencil, A. D. L;l9.
Of Lionardo s various abilities that for painting was the
most prominent and splendid. He investigated the princi-
ples, and marked the peculiarities of the human form. He
perused human nature with the most careful attention ,
and even viewed public executions, in order to observe the
various expressions of pain, contrition, and fortitude, on
the faces of the criminals, and the different appearances ,1
of sympathy awl horror in the spectators. Lionardo,l
therefore, became the painter of expression. His paint-
ing of l,..rist among the Doctors is a prodigy of cha-
racter ; and many of his heads are equally beautiful
for their spirituality and sweetness. Ilia knowledge of,
comparative, as well as human anatomy, has amazed
even professional anatomists. He was a master both of
I chiaroscuro and of half tints. Before him chiaroscuro
was confined to mere opposition of light and shade. Ile
made the most important discovery of the beauty of a
central radiance, and the coalescence of that light with
shade (shade being with him not a positive colour, but an
absence of light), by imperceptible demi-tints. Barto-
lommeo della Porta adopted the principle of the beauty
arising from concentration of light, purity of shade, and
subordinate masses. The genius of lichelanp-riolo disco-
vered, and occasionally displayed, the same magic of chia-
roscuro. But, in general, it was disregarded by the painters
of the Tuscan and Roman schools. Rafaello did not, in
respect of light and shade, attempt any graces beyond
those of the old masters. He did not suffer the blandish-
ments of chiaroscuro to usurp the place of character; and,
indeed, his want of attention to this accessory of expression
often diminishes the effect of hie subjects. But to return to
Lionardo da Vinci. His imagination was fertile of beauty,
but his judgment war insecure and irregular; and his
eccentricities are often more striking than his taste. He,
was a singular instance of dui union of the apparently op-.
posite qualities of unsteadiness and minute attention. He
was perpetually wandering in search of the beautiful;
never retaining lone any chain of ideas; and yet he was so
careful in finishing his pictures, that he spent four years
upon the portrait of a woman (Mona Lisa, wife of Fran-
cesco di Giocondo,) and did not dismiss it from his easel,'
till, to the finest example of female beauty, he had added
the most perfect imitation of every hair of the head, and
every pore of the skin. He left many of his pictures im-
perfect, for he never could reach his own ideas df excel-
lence.
Much of his life was lost in indulging this fastidi-
ousness; and much more was wasted upon subjects totally
foreign from painting. But when we view his best pic-
tures, we feel more wonder and reverence than from the
works of almost any other painter. In drawing the naked
figure, Michelangiolo was not snore accurate—in „race
and expression, Rafaello was not more beautiful and cha-
racteristic, than Lionardo da Vinci. Ile displays the
powers of chiaroscuro with unparalleled effect: and his
colouring rivals, and was perhaps the origin, of the Vene-
tian mode. Such does Lionardo appear in his best works;
:if which, unhappily, only a few genuine specimens exist.
The great excellencies of art were combined in,pne
indivi-
dut.l, before they appeared severally to the astortshment of
the world in Michelangiolo, Rafaello, and Tiziano. Da
Vinci was the precursor 4 these three great men ; and the
herald of the brightest day yet known in the history of the
art of painting.

On the 2;141 the remains of Cardinal de Bausset were in-
terred in the church of St. Thomas d'Aquin, is Nrits. .