The Sun.
London, England, 1829-11-03 00:00:00

coLOSSEUNT.

(We hnt•< s redly invited public attention
to the !!..;.twcs tl,is stupendous masterpiece
of genii's an i “it ; ::ow feel pleasure in copying
following testimovy to it% merits frsan the Times of
yesterday.)

The sapid resress which this estrordinary under-
tAites iti realdeg towate!s eempletien is highly cre-
' disable to the good tests. of the persons into whose
hands its direction has fallen. The picture is at
length entirely finished, and is unquestionably the
most magnificent work of the kind that has ever
been produced. It displays for the first time, and
in the only shape in which it could be properly
understood, a distinct and accurate view of the me-
tropolis. It is impossible, as every one who has
ascended the gallery of St. Paul's Cathedral knows,
-to see any part of this immense town free from the
vapour which always hovers above it. Even at the
earliest hour of the morning, and in the finest sea-
son of the year, there are some obstructions in the
atmosphere which render the greater part of the
extent invisible, and a very large portion of it is
always obscure. This painting has, however, been
lexecuted with such extraordinary minuteness and
correctness, that every point of detail—all that gives
interest, whether on account of local association or
for picturesque beauty, are carefully and punctually
represented. In addition to this merit of representing
the greatest city in the world in its true form and
features, is that which belongs to the panorama as a
mere painting, in which respect it is at) admirable pro-'
duction. The difficulty of arranging the various
parts of an extent so immense as that of
the canvass which fills the building, of uniting
the discordances, and supplying the deficiencies,
must have been immense; and this has been
performed by Mr. Parris with great skill and as
great success. It now presents that harmonious
effect which is absolutely necessary to a picture; the
distance, which is beautifully painted, is so managed
-as to produce the precise effect that it was intended;
the tone, of colour which pervades what may be
called the middle ground, is very happily devised,
and gives a perfectly natural appearance to the
scene. But that part of the picture in which the
artist's skill, as a painter, is most forcibly manifest-
ed, is the fore-ground. The nearer houses are so
drawn as to keep up the delusion, that they are
looked upon from a much greater height and dis-
tance than that at which the spectator is really
placed, while the truth of the local colouring, and
the ingenuity with which the artist has availed him-
self of such circumstances as give character to that
part of the town which is represented, as the names
of shops, passengers, coaches, &c. tend powerfully to
create the impression that the reality is before one.
The two Campanile Towers of the church are works
which as paintings alone possess a very high charac-
ter. The difficulty of drawing must have been con-
siderable; but that is a difficulty which practice
and study will always overcome. The manner in
which these towers are painted give, however, indi-
cation of talent of a much higher order. The aerial
effect which is produced by them could not have
been attained but by a close observation of nature,
a happy sense of that which is true and beautiful,
and a free and prompt hand to execute it. These
towers form in the picture the main attraction, as.
in the scene represented, they occupy the most pro-
minent station; and although every one must be in-
.terested with the view generally, stupendous as it
is, the lovers of art will turn to this as the ablest
and most agreeable part of the whole work. The
effect of the panorama is much improved by the
whole of the scaffolding and every thing else which
denoted a want of finish being removed. The ma-
chinery of the ascending room is completed, and vi-
siters are now conveyed to the galleryiwithout the
fatigue of mounting the stairs, its perfect security,
and by a motion which is only in the slightest pos-
sible degree perceptible. 'I he saloon contains some
good specimens of sculpture, by modern artists, and
some very admirable bronzes. The conservatories
are undergoing an improvement which will consi-
derably increase their attractions, and the prepara-
tions for the waterfall which is to be seen from the
Swiss cottage are in a state of great forwardness.
That part of the undertaking which is finished has
been perforMed so well as to realize all the expecta-
tions that have been formed of it during its progress,
and in those which are in a course of completion
there is evidently so mach energy and good taste
engaged, as promises to remove the faults that have
been committed, and to finish the whole undertak-
ing in a manner which shall be worthy of its design,
and entitled to the national encouragement.

It is singular that the Swiss, who have come
the last into the field of competition of manufactures, have
at once beaten all the scientific in France, and all the un-
scientific dyers in England, in colouls. Neither Man•
chester Ror Glasgow ,:an produce colours such as are given
by the Swiss to the very coarse handkerchiefs wrapt round
the head or neck of most of the peasant girls on the
continent.

FAMILY DISTINCTIONS.---A. person resid-
ing in a town in this county, was lately heard to boast that
his family had been noticed by the late Loan CHANCEL-
Loa more than almost any other person; for in the
course of a few years, his Lordship issued commissions of
bankrupt against this person's father, his uncle, his uncle's
brother-in-law, his uncle's cousin, his wife's mother, and
his wife's brother, his sister's husband, and that husband's

sister's husband ! Moreover,—which is, perhar., a coin-
cidence more curious than the above circumstances are in
themselves remarkable—Lord ELDON was a pupil with
the great uncle of the person alluded to for two years.—
Durham Chronicle.

NOBILITY REFUSED.—The King of the
NETHERLANDS, in visiting this summer a part of his king-
dom, stopped on his journey at Thuin, at the house of M.
TRW?, the comtnissary of the district of that town, and
was very willing to accept a breakfast. Some time after-
wards M. 'Nom received a brevet of Baron. He, regard-
ing hospitality al a duty, and not at all a title to such an
elevation, took the respectful liberty of sending back the
brevet to his Majesty.

THE HEIGHT OF PRESUMPTION.—An old
woman was praising, in rather unqualified and enthusiastic
terms, the sermons of a Scotch minister, who bad acquired
a great name for depth and sublimity. The suspicions of
her auditor were a little roused, and she ventured to pro-
pose the quetien to her, " Weil, JENNY, do you understand
him ?" " Understand him I" said JENNY,
.holding up her
hands with the utmost astonishment at the question, " Me
understand him ; wad I hac the presumption ?"

THE ADVANTAGE OF A SQUINT.-A gen-
tleman in the south of Ireland received a visit lately from
a party of Itockites, who were armed with sticks. Ile had
just time to seize a pistol, which he cocked and presented
towards the party. "Be off," said he, " you get of vil-
lains, or shoot one of you, at all events. I have my
eye upon him at this moment." Luckily for himself he was
blessed with that happy and pictorial obliquity of vision
which caused each particular ruffian to fancy himself to be
the marked man, and they withdrew without obtaining the
spoil they had come for.

SMUGGLING EXTRAORDINARY.--SOMC

strangers made their appearance in Mayo last week, and
contrived to dispose of several rolls of tobacco at an extra-
ordinary low price. On examination of their bargains they
turned out to consist of l9lbs. of clay and I lb. of tobacco
carefully rolled round the outside, so as to deceive the most
experienced eye. The clay was, we suppose, pipe clay !
SIIAKSPEARE ALTERED " A LITTLE."-
Most of our playgoing friends are aware that the signal for
" Macbeth's" entrance is the distant sound of a drum, on
which one of the witches says,

" A drum, a drum!
Macbeth (loth come !"
FITZHARRIS (who performed some time ago at Covent-
garden) was lately enacting the part of the regicide in a
barn in Ireland ; and, before going on the stage, called to
the prompter, "Now for it, with the drum." "By
J-, we have no drum ' for it,' with. " Sound a trum-
pet, then." He did, when one of the witches who saw
the necessity of altering the text, exclaimed with equal
promptitude and coolness,
"A. trumpet, a trumpet !
Macbeth doth stump it."
The audience were amused, the hero of the Right was as-
sailed with shouts of laughter on his entree, and the inte-
rest of the piece, at least for some time, totally destroyed
by this ingenious effusion of Irish wit. .