The Sun.
London, England, 1817-11-25 00:00:00

DESCRIPTION OF THE PICTURE.

The general effect proposed to •be excited by
this Picture is the-terrible sublime and its various
modifications, until lost in the opposite extremes
of pity and horror, a sentiment which painting
has so seldom attempted to awaken, that a parti-
cular description of the subject will probably be
acceptable to•the public.
In poetry the same effect is produced by-a few
abrupt and rapid gleams of description, touching,
as it were with fire, the features and edges of a
general mass•of awful obscurity but •in- painting
' such indistinctness would he a defect, and imply
that the Artist wanted the power to pourtray the
conceptions of his fancy. Mr. IVEST was of opi-
nion., that, to delineate a physical form, which in
its moral impression would approximate t 6 that
of the visionary Death of Milton, it was necessary
to endow it if possible with theappearance
.so-
perhuman strength and energy : he has therefore
exerted the utmost force, and perspicuity of his
pencil on the central figure. He has depicted the
King of. Terrors' with the physiognomy of the
dead in a .charnel-house, but animated almost to
ignition with. inextinguishable rage—placed on
his head the kingly crown, and clothed the length
of his limbs with a spacious robe of funeral sable.
His uplifted right band holds no steptre, but is
entwined with the serpent who first brougi►t Death
into the world, and he launches his darts from
both hands in all directions with a merciless iM-.
partiality. His horse rosins . forward with the
universal
.wildness of a tempestuous element,
breathing livid pestilence, and rearing and tramp-
ling with the vehemence of unbridled fury. Be-
hind hiai is seen an insidious daemon bearing the
torch of Discord, with a monstrous progeny of the
reptile world—
' All prodigious things,
Abominable, unutterable, and worse
Than fables yet have feign'd or fear conci'iv'd,
Gorgons. and hydras, and chimeras dire.'
The Ministers rif Hell, who had power giVen
to them over the. fourth part of the Earth, to kill
with sword, and with hunger, and with. disease,
and with the, beasts of the Earth.'

The next, character on the canvas in point of
consequence, is The Rider on the White Horse.—
As he is supposedtorepresent the Gospel, it was
requisite that he should be invested with those
exterior indications of purity, excellence, and dig-
nity, which•are associated in- our minds with the
name and offices of the Messiah. But it was not
the &moult healing and comforting the afflicted,
or the meek and. lowly ',JEsys,' bearing with
resignation the 'scorn and hatred of tlae scoffing
multitude, that was to be represented--it was the
King of Kings going forth conquering and to
conquer,' to bruise the head of the serpent, and
finally to put all thing under his feet. He is
therefore painted with a solemn countenance, ..ex-
pressive of a mind filled with the thoughts of a
great enterprise ; and he advances onward in his
sublime career with that serene majesty in which
Divine Providence continnes through the storms
and commotions of the temporal world, to exe-
cute its eternal purposes. lie is armed with a
bow and arrows, the force 'and arguments of
Truth, ,and; leave behind him as passing vapour
all those terrible tumults and phantoms which
make up the auxiliaries and retinue of Death.—
At the first view he seems to be only a secondary
character, but on considering the business of the
scene, it will be obvious that he is the great leader,
and that all the. others hot follow in his train, and
carry into effect the interior -objects of .his hea-
venly mission, as he goes towards that glorious re-
gion, in which appear the sank of them that were
slain for the word of God, and for the testimony
Which they held.'

The third of the apocalyptical characters is
.The Rider on the Red Horse. Mr. WEST has re-
presented him simply as a warrior armed with
the great sword.' He is advancing in the same
direction as the Messiah, thereby intimating that
those wars which have accompanied the progress
of the Christian Religion, and of which he is the
type and emblem, are a part of the divine scheme
for effectually diffusing it thiTughont the whole
earth. It Will be observed, that the horse in

this instance is caparisoned as a war horse.; but
thOse of Death and the Messiah are wit hoot reins,
being. guided.only by the will of their riders.—
Tim- prophetic vista beyond this character shows in
one division the Romans under Titus returning
with the spoils of Jerusalem,. and in the other.
Crusaders contending With Saracens.
. Bettina! the Messiah sod the ‘Varrior, The
..Rider on the Black Horse is seen coming FA ward.
He is represented with the steady countenance of a
roan scrupulous in his,estimaie• of things ; stern
in his decisions, and likely to require the execu-
tion of his adjudications with the unrelenting so-
lemnity of a terrible Judge. lie bears those ba-
lancep in • his hands in Which Mankind are
weighed .and found waiitiog,' and Despair and
• Famine are seen before lain in the form of tt
tvretched woman and an •einaciared tnan, absorbed
in the feelings of their' own - parr ichl'ar misery.
He 'follows the two'preceding characters, and is
.supposed to typify that sceptical philosophy which
affects to estimate Christianity by the temporal y
circumstances that have arisen in the course of
its progress, while it is itself but a part of the
great cloud of mysteries which envelopes the pre-
lent anti future purposes of Religion.
The domestic group in the foreground hpre-
sents a family belonging to that class of society
who are supposed to be safe beyond the reach of
;the ordinary casualties of life, but who lire still'
not farther remote from the darts of Death. It is
here that the Painter has attempted to excite
the strongest degree of pity which his subject ad-.
mined, and to contrast tire surrounding horrors'
with images of tenderness and beauty. The
inn-
ther, in the prime of life, is represented as having
expired in the act of embrading tier children, a•
the woe of sudden death is still more empliaticaVy
expressed in the lovely infant that has fallen front
her breast. The husband deprecates tire wrath
of the hideous spectre that advances over them all,
while the 'surviving daughter catches hold of her
mother, sensible only to the loss which she has
sustained by the death of so kind a'parent.
In the other grotips, which form the riglit-hand
division in the picture, the Artist has shewn the
anarchy of the combats of men with the beasts
of the earth. The chief of the human figures in
this divisiOn, is one in the act of launching his
javelin at a lion, which has seized and 'brought
down a man and his horse. In tire character
With the javelin, Mr. West has endeavoured to
delineate that species of courageous muscular
strength, which enables some men to face, with an
undaunted countenance, the rage of the most ferry-
clot's animals. The sedate bravery of Iris look
•affords a fine contrast to the alarin and terror of
the Man who is seized by the enraged lion, .which
he had wounded with his spear. Below them is
a youth who has brOken his lance in the combat,
and received a fatal blow on the head ;
.behind
them, a horseman comes forward with an- uplift-
ed sword, in the act of striking at a lioness that
is" springing upon him and his horse. But the
story of this troupe would have been inedmplete,
Ilatl the lions not been gliewn conquerors to a cer-
tain extent, by the two wounded men who are,
thrown down-as overcome beneath time hoofs of
the horse of Death. The one with his hack to-
wards the spectator seems to regain his strength,
and by still holding his dagger, indicates a wish
to renew the fight ; tire other, irreco-verably dash-
ed out of the combat, and having lost his wea-
pon, grasps at the head of his horse with a use-
less exertion of bewilderid sense. Tire Pyra-
midal.form• of this large division is perfected by
a furious bull (dm by 'dogs as be tosses on his
horns the body of a yohtli. •
In this portion of tine picture the firmament
is rent asunder by beasts of lightning, anti a dis-
tant groope is seen started by the death of a
young man who has been struck with the thon-
derbolt, and whose friends supporrhim in their
arms. The interest of the episode is increased by
the figure of a young woman flying from the•
.scene of terror, but who is still induced to look
back, as if constrained by affection for the victim.
• The principle of destruction is exemplified
through every part of the subject. In the upper
region of the clouds the audacious eagle is seen
pouncing on the heron, and near the dead ser-
.pent•in the foreground the affectionate dove de-
plores its mate that 'has just expired.

EARTLIQUAKF..—On Sunday morning week, ex-
actly 3 minutes past 11 o'clOck, a slight shock of
an earthquake, which Was accompank,d-by a hol-
low subterratreous sound, was perceptibly felt by
numbers of persons in the different places of wor-
ship.' The same alarming sensation was expe-
rienced in .Dent, on the banks.of Windermere, as
Well as at Coniston ; and it is to be hoped, that
the concussion was confined to narrow limits,
'because we have not been able to trace be 'pro-
gre” of it to any other places than lhote
mentioned. The last earthquake in prior
to this, happened at 3 o'clock in the morning of
August I 786. —(Kenthil Tiapez-.)
We feel pleasure 'in publishing the following
Letter, as transmitted to us, in confirmation of
a paragraph which appeared in our Paper, re-
lative to the cure of that general and dangerous
complaint, Rupture.
Sir,,—Observing a paragraph in yOur Paper respecting the
cure of an Hernia, performed (of a large sire) by the Meical
Board, at Charlotte-House, Great ,Charlotle-street, Black-
friars-road, in justice,. Sir, to Messrs. COOPER, and Co. I beg
to add my personal testimony. Having'
.been 'afflicted near
twenty years, and deemed incurable by eminent Surgeons, I
patiently bore my affliction, ezepectinr, every hour_ to be my
last ; I at length applied to the Medical Board, And have rea-
son to pray for that excellent, Establishment, for although I
am near 50, I was perfectly cured in a few weeks, and now,
thank God, enjoy good health.
I Oink, Mr. Editor, all who know me will ailow that I can
have no other motive for this communication than a public
benefit. I am, Sir, your obedient Servant,

C. CLEVELAND.

Dog and Stile, near London-road,
St. George's Fialds, Oct. 1817.

MPORTANT LE TER ' FROM BRUSSELS,

DA.TED NOVEMBEIt 21, 'lBl7.

(From the Morning Chronicle.)

"Apolitical event has just 6,7curictl here,which
perhaps, nia.y•titake sortie ituise in the worid, and
have thooght that a:shartaccontit of it ntightThe
acceptable to you, and you tinily depend on its
authenticity.

*1 It appears that gotne jealottstes Il3ve'existed
for some time pait. bet Ween Anti the
P---- and that the latter has a 'de-
eitled aversion Os wel,l as his Sposa) to the
Iliigne; to which place the Court lately remov-

eel for a year ; last week the K-- made hi,

re-entry here unexpectedly, anti various rumours
were circulated in consequence of this visit (a
eimproviso) ; 8111011 g others,
.that the had
been placed in arrest, &c. &c. lie certainly did
not make his appearance in public for some clays ;
be that as it essay, the took bis departure
for Holland .on the 17th, in the middle of the
riight.' It now comes out, that this Royal -fracas
has been occasiimed by .some maitauvres .of the
Count GOLTZ (the Under Minister of IVar, a Prus-
sian), who "tad acted, contrary to the inten-
tions of 'the in transporting to Batavia a
certain number of Officers, whom 11. R.,. H. bad
recommended, in his capacity of Commander-in-
Chief, to be taken from the half-pay, and placed
on home service. As appeal was made there-
on to the who, it seems, supports his
•
Minister, and the r -- has in consequenie
re-
ri'ned all ,his military appointmentS; and on the
1311 (the anniversary of the Q--'s birth), as-
sumed th,e dress of a Bourgeois .1 Last night lie
appeared at the Spectacle in this costume, and was
received by a crowded house with great, acclama...
tions,•particularly by.the Military, who formed
a large part of the andience ! It is rather singolar,
that, I.fter !toying been present at a Funeral Sermon,
preached at the English Chapel oil Wednesday, on
tr- late melancholy event, lie threw of his sable dress,
and now appeals in a blue coat! The., P--ss
has also as.unied colours in her morning costume.
The former assisted at a Concert of Amateurs
(Bourgeois), on Thursday,- and seemed "in high
spirits, in tripping on the light fantay!ic Me.' IL
It. H. is extremely popular here, as iSilse Grand
whose manners ate very mild and and-
- able: She has been indispascd'iltning the last
week ; but yesterday again made her appearance
in the Parc, with her beautiful little boy, who is
universally admired and cAressed. It is given out,
that the declared to the he never
vould again serve as long as the Count G-- re.
Llain:d in office. H. R. H. was Chief Minister of
\Var. and Commander in Chief, the emoluments
of which were 40,000 florins per annum. Ile
i, very popular, especially with the Army. It
seems now doub:ftd if he will winter at the 'Hague.
though it is generally said that he sets out tor that
plate-its a few days.
" For obvious reasons, I shall make no remarks
on this curious affair ; the mote especially, as it
does not appear that the press is permitted to ad-
vert to such Subjects—the public prints having
baldly mentioned the fracas.
All the English here are in deep mourning,
and deeper affliction, for the sad and melancholy
event of the ,dea,th of our 'amiable Princess.—
Adieu !"