The National Register.
London, England, 1809-05-21 00:00:00

534

Oisterihr, the %rail, has an excellent eirert, but would be •:
danzer prmedent fiiir the pencil of au inf talon It is only
perfectly acquired skill that can venture to play these ad libitum%
%jilt strong brilliancies.

The •Rnit-1)"Y by WIT-gill displays the steward's hall, in
'men the tenants are assembled to pay their rents, and partake'
of a bountiful repast provided Itr their refresh went. To de-
scribe the many natural traits with which this picture abounds
-would far exceed our limits. The group at the pay table tirta
claims our attention. A very old farmer and his son are ex-
plaining- at disputed point with the steward, yr/lose assistant tie-.
countant is referring to the rent-book : the hottest open counte-
nance of the son, who seems to sav, , " Sir, you will certain!:
find my statement correct," is t-uthtsed with a blush, not of
shame, nor of indignation, but of that gentle, yet hectic nature,
hich a man feels w hen he cannot make himself clearly under-
stood in a delicate matter. The earnest feebleness of the old
wan, the cool scrutinizing, • yet good natured, aspect of the
steward, and the busy, yet profound attention of the arcono.
tattl, which seems divided betviVen the !tent-book and the ex-
planation of the younger man, are all accuratelN, andjudici-
ously depicted. The middle group consists of those who are
-waiting to pay their rent. These have all the excellence of
Owe delineated character. Two standing in earnest conversa-
tiou, atse well &timed : one of them appears to have some
pecuniary claims on the outer, • and seems nrgent in hiS demand,
the other is labouring. between a similiing apology, and the
tuvauS• 4)f eluding the-demand., The wives and children of some
of the tenants snake up this group, and two old men•irt country
cloaks, one of whom is in the agony of a violent cough. Thos,-
vita .have transacted their business ht the steward's hoard of
green cloth, are seated at a board which is covered much more
ta their satisfaction. They are snot idly employed amid the
pt:enty which their hands have laboured to produce. Every
31!outh is in motion, the knives and forks, and hands and teeth
Are honourably ;exerted : himortrobll 1 sly, for What feast can
he mom So, than wheres, all tietenniary obligations discharged—
the 11shooter-tastes of luxuries without envying their possesq,r,
an& sits!, .w4ll.isatistied at a hoard which his honest exertion,.
have assisted to enrich. Far be it from u; to attribute any of
those extravagant sentiments of content and happiness, which
romantic people fancy must belong. to the hard-labouring coun-
tryman Ciddhhe's.poems have wiped • away every notion of
that deseri pftioni xahidt in irnr•yohth ‘t•e • might have imbibed.
Still a coarse.hearty shnliment of •lionourable pride, is found in
the English farmer on the Rent Dai ; and we wish that the
sentiment of benevolence whirl, on that day glimmers a little
on one aide of the landlord's hill, would beam more generally
and *awe -constantly over the winds estaie, throughout the
year,
,t its it is, for the mnst part, found to do. • In light and
shadow, keeping,letrett, tirii-drin"; nod ehatliter, we have not
seep a *WC superior to that before Us. It is cne of those
Recce • wbich art. seents.to oll'er at the shrine of natu;.:- ; human
perception amlitaste red4efr it vWuable even tfe
and nature feelsillowt-wortlty Vthe Hnota mit,.l its -lee—plate
hey hidden labours, and to .Weiitoie acquainted' with her most
secret emotions.

.Good News, fig 1:: ..11,1 nn. —The principal figure in this.pieec
i a Veteran Soldier,w hose ardour is excited by the intolligenee
which 114 just arrived, and Which has been read alotuthy an
honest. old colder in the .common room of a viliage inn. The
old warrior is so highly ex hilerated with goad liquor and good
news together,thu he seems unable to expre.s his joy with suf-
ficient energy. lie brandishes his walking stick, cocks his hat,
and partleipates'in the victory w hieh has been gained. in the
praises of the cominander, and the int repid i of the cr«nhatNlVs.
This figure is coyeckyed, but not boldly executed. It
Atauts strength of outline, and, general shadow. The .old
Ilan who is listening; to the soldier. and cheering his claim-
sint:na with all the sympathy• of honest hilarite„ is much better
dAidetVed, and more carefully finis:lied. The best figure, how-
iver, is thr colder. lle is turniog his head to reprimand t‘‘
dbongloobies wbo are ridiculing him and the old soldier. His
air is vtqasitely natural. : the expression of contemptuous irri-
tat ioviis adntirably imagined and well (leaned : thc attitude is it-
self eloquent, and while it utters just in.lignation through all
its lineioneott, puts us most ludicrously in mind of the shill
and the last. A boy, and a young woman :t it h a ehll,l,
nssist In directing our attention to the veteran : their wonder
thin;led with pleasure is well described, and powerfully assiits
the general and reigning idea. The post-boy covered with heat
and dust, and the bar-maid who. is pouring Out a refresh in
glass fur him, and div (din her attention between the good

r r.sr.:

M.% V 21.

news and his tale of fatigue, ar, writ !ley:civil. IT fume the
whole, we think. Mr. Bird is in the road to arr ki• ilkie's
excellencies: he is, how ever. •111.1 very for lichen:: Own., !'here
is a sloveuli'te. in iii foikiting : all the fornitore of the ronvii
badly dra‘kii, aril gcnerally deficient in penipei•the : titt
has nn rep the first effect of the picture of spotty
conlisiti: 6 '1.% r . Bird pos.es-e, geoin.-; Lut ~;etiius is lost
out 'Hat iikill acquired I plirat A*.