The National Register.
London, England, 1812-06-07 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL RECISTF,R.

By the Princess Elfzabeth packet, which arrivel at
Falmouth on Tuesday, c%e leam, that the bombardment
of Cadile. had re-commenced, with increased e:tergy, en
the 15th ult. Several of the shells had fallen in the towtt.
but no one had been hurt by them. A very flat tire was
also directed upon "Puntales, which was returiied whit
much spirit. A report prevailed at Cadiz that Sotur was
to be superseded by SuctirT.
A letter, received yesterday from Liverpool says, Mr.
FosTER has written to the British. Con,nis .ALTI ri.a, in-
forming them it was quite uncertain how StJoll there might.
cease to be occasion for the performacce of their official
duties.

The American Government has evinced great sorrow
for • the misfortunes of the Spaniards at the Caraccas ;
and has voted .50,(X)0 besides afTyrding them
every facility with' respect to supplies.
'1 he Jamaica Papers xyl,ich an iv rd on Monday, state
the sudden renewal of hostilities between the two rival
chieftains of St. Domingo. It appears, that taking ad-
van:age of the absence of PETIoN v;ith his army from
MPH E marched his force en masse
against that city. The return of his antagonist, however,
soon terminated t!:e coefusion created by this unexpected
o:tack ; and though CnatsTot an had obriined possession
of a strong fortress, which had been evacuated in a mo-
ment of consternation, it was imagine:l he would be tinder
the necessity of making a speedy retreat. The abhor-
rence crented by hit cruelties will probably be a stronger
barrier to his success than even the strength of PL:TtoN,
who was, nevertheless, reckoned fully able to meet his
adversary in the field.
Jamaica papers received to the 11th of April, certain
a melancholy nccount of the e:nahquake at the Car-
raccas, and state th,! number that perished in cmlsequencc
of the calamity at 15,000. The catastrophe, it appears,
happened on the second anniversary of their indepenuonce,
at the very hour when th se who had the ascendancy
dragged the Governor to prison. The circumstance,
from the superstition of the people, has Ind a sensible ef-
fect on the politics of that part of South Am.-rica, of
which the priests avail the:nselves in their exhortations to
the people.
The Proprietors of the East India Company are said to
have taken tl7O hundred of the most necessitous of the
weavers of Spitaltields, and its neighbowh-cd, into their
emptoy as supernumerary labourers. Those with the
largest families have been selected ; so that this benevo-
lent measure has afbrded immediate support to above
one thousand distressed individuals in that quarter.

Lieutenants ]3 sKS mai WEEKS, Of the NOrthumberland
and Growler :“m-vesseis, are pr,,mote .1 to the rank cf.
Commanders, f r their exertious in the recent destruction
of the French frigates c)if L'Orient.
A new ,oc;t2ty is tornmig, the sole object of which is
to promore Parliamentat y Reform. A gre.tt annit7r of
names have b,:en :ttready enrolled, and ihe society will in
a few days issit.t a declatation, containing its principles
and defending its r.hject,
It was stated by 11.arl STAN ttoPE on Tuesday, in the
House of Lords, dui a Lk.tivcrsatin on Lord ItrpEs-
DAL E'S Deotot's Bill, that the reason ( f so few
Bankrupt Lenifica:cs bein,, unsigned, was, that there
were a number. iil. prrs-its ea:led " kiies," who,
whenever they saw .i titan's n. cue in he Gazetie, would
go to him, and, hy his signinr4 antedated hills, which he
delivered to them, they wouid ensure to him the sill,ning
Lis certificate.

10

COL-1%2' AND IVORLD OF F.4SIIION.

'l'l-IF. KING.
Sunday last the following Bulletin was shewn at St.
James's Palace :
WINDSOR CASTLE, MAY 10.-..4-415 Majesty continues nearly in
the same state as the last monthly rerort."

THE KING'S BIRTH DAY.—TIIIITSday his Majesty com-
pleted his 74th year ; the morning was ushered in with
the ringing of bells, and colours and standards were dis-
played from the steeples. The Park and Tower guns
were fired at one o'clock. In the evening n the mail coaches
went in grand procession, the coachme and guards in
their new cloaths, past the Palaces and Carlton House,
through the Park, and several principal streets, to the
Post Office. Several of the public offices, all the places
of amusement, and the Royal tradesmen's houses, were
illuminated. The PRINCE REGENT, accompanied by the
DUKE of CUMBERLAND, left town oon after nine o'clock,
for Windsor, where they were met by the other branches
of the Royal Family, who, with a sele, t party of particu-
lar friends, paid their complim.2ntary respects to the
QUEEN, in die Grand Saloon, on the return of the day.
—new—

Wednesday, the Lonn MAYOR and LADY MAYORERV.
gave a grand dinner, at the Mansion Horse, to most of
the Royal Dukes, the French Princes, a d
n a number of
f
the Nobility ; and in the evening a grand ball and supp
was given to upwards of 600 persons of fashion.
The newly-installed Knights of the Bath have, with
the most laudable consideration for the sufferings of the
poor, determined to appropriate the sum usually spent
upon such occasions in festivities, to public charity. The
first suggestion of tFis humane .proposition proceeded
from the Fail of Norairrsx.-
At no time did the BiNifittania rage with more vio- 1
lence than at present. t the uke of ROXBURGH'S sale,
Tuesday last, a collectioAn of twDo-peuny portraits of Cri-
minals, and other remarkable characters, chiefly of per-1
sons tried at the Old Bailey, sold for 941. 10s.—The Boke
of St. Albans, printed 1486, 1471.—The Nirrour of the
World, Caxton, 1480, 3.511. 15s.—The Kalindayr of the
Shippers, 1503, 1801.—The last little volume was bought
for the Duke by Mr. NrcaoL, for two kuineas.—At a
subsequent day's sale of the above library, a collection of
old-half-penny Ballad; and Garlands, pasted in three vo-
lumes, sold for 4781. Isis. and a set of the Sessions Paupers,ke
from 1690 to 1803, sold for 3781. ! ! !—The young D
of DEVONSHIRE has also bought the Count MACCARTHY'S
splendid library, in one lot, for 25,000 guineas.
Tuesday morning, a little before eight o'clock, a man
of a very gentlemanly appearance, dressed in black silk
stockings, black small-clothes, marcella waistcoat, and
dressing gown, a white night-cap on his head, and carrynt
-
ing a small poker on his left arm, walked through Sai
James's Park. His uncommon appearance attracted a
number of followers. He proceeded to York-house, and
knocked at the door ; the porter, oberving his strange
' appearance, did not open the door ; however, he repeated
his knocks with a degree of consequence, which induced
the potter to open the door. He then presented a letter
for the Duke of YORK, observing, that it was upon State
affairs, and it must be given to his Royal Highness di-
rectly. The porter told him it was impossible to deliver
the letter to his Royal Highness immediately, but he
should have it very shortly ; with which the other appear-
edsatisfied, observing, he shouldcall again about 10 oclock.
lie then left York-house, and ploceeded along the Park.

FINE ARTS.

JUNE 7

ROYAL ACADEMY, SOMERSET-HOUSE.

No. 2.riB. Snow Storm : Hannibal and his Arnty crossing the Alps. By
T. M. W. TURNER, R. A.—Human genius, we know, does not follow
the trodden path of the vulgar—he takes his flight above the common
spheres and often conceals himself in the regions of the clouds. From
thence he shoots his lightnings, thunders upon our understanding, and
astonishes the world : but is it not often the case, that we admire his
works because he is hidden from us, and that if we were more ac-
quainted, or even acquainted at all, with the means he employs the spell
should soon he broken ? At first sight the Passage qf Hannibal across
the Alps strikes the imagination. The awful sight of the sun bedimmed.
by convulsive clouds, and tremendous tempests, torn, on the canvas,
by the unruled rage of a wonder-working brush ; sheets of half-con-
gealed water pouring from the skies; the glare of the snow, and a few
individuals on the fore-ground, where the pencil and the pallet, as if in a
drunken fit, seem to have vied with each other which might contribute
the moat to the insignificant daub—this is all that excites our astonish-
ment when at a distance, and all we can find when we approach nearer.
We have always felt a decided aversion against the fashionable manner
and ephemerous success of those who work merely for effect. Wee have
long been persuaded, and remain still of opiniou, that it is a paltry trick
Flayed upon the innocent sight of those who are not perfectly acqtraint-
ed with what real painting is. Did the masters and luminaries of the
antient schools produce the admirable effect which we find in their
works by these means ? Certainly not; every branch of the art was
treated freely by them ; no spurious scurefeling ever usurped the place of
the real and genuine exertions of a clear mind and of a skillet hand ;
and
we do not share the happiness of those who publish* that many geed
thoughts may be fortunately elicited out by an accidental dash; that
we are to learn from shapeless holes and moisture-wrought inequa-
lities on a wall how to compose ; and that we can fertilize the barren-
ness of our imagination with heaps of rubbish, forms in the clouds, or
figures in the burning coals of our grates. De nihilo nil fit ; we under-
stand that no good performance can arise from an unthought of sub-
ject: and without a previous plan. The picture under consideration is
one of those productions that seem to have been flashed out, when the
artist was, dike the improvisatore of the satyrist, Stalls perk ins uno;
and tar from what we expect of the well-tried talents of Mr. To It >alt.
Had we to review the timid endeavours of a novice in the art, or the
first and rapid sketch of a youthful mind, pregnant with grand and
bold ideas, and whose hand can hardly follow the velocity of the con-
ceptions in their flight, we should have most willingly laid down the rod
of severity—but here, the artist is an Academician, a man to;ohom the
British Muse of Painting has long looked up for the addition of new rays
to his celestial crown ; a man whose example is of the greatest import to
young practitioners ; and we hope, that our observations will induce
him henceforth to embody his sublime ideas in a manner more like
substance and shape. This style of Painting reminds us of the non
who had, at the solicitation of an ignorant financier, undertaken to
paint the plafond of his villa's staircase. The sul,ject was to be the
drowning of Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea. The artist more
cunning in his tricks than in his profeseion, smeared the whole with
tints of red—not a figure was to be seen. When the proprietor came
to sec the work finished, he asked, very hastily, " What is all this ?"
" The Red sea," answered the man.—`' Well, but where are the Egy'
dans ?"—" Drowned," said the painter ;—" But the Israelites, Where
are they ?"—‘' Gone over, Sir."
No. —. Sir William Curtis, Baronet. 4 Portrait. By T. Lew-
SINCE, R. A.—lt cannot be denied, even by the most is veterate ene-
mies of this country, that our Portait Painters leave
arriveda and at a dcoeen rce
of perfection not to be equalled by any Artists in E squently in the rest of the globe. This performance is one of those which
cannot be seen without paying that tribute of admiration which hyper-
tiality offers to real merit. We arc sorry to be under the necessity of
deploring, that this most fruitful of all the branches oth f e art should
have employed Sc) many hands, and chiefly hands vishich misht have
be, n led by superior minds to the highest steps of the chromatic throne,
to those places where RAPHAEL, BITONAROTTI, TITIAN, and stun,
others, stand wreathed with the unfailing laurels of the 1 listori•.
Muse. But, alas! few, very few. imitate the aecient artist l'roto
genes, who, when he rainted his fayoUrite Jalysus, lived entirely up ea
lupines and beans, kit the vapours of gross nourishments should Lao'

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