The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-01-31 00:00:00

etching of this very beautiful work, which in its present state

le who fascinated, like a
How ex-

serpent, all that came within her ma
quisitely and touchingly she reads her own fate and character

c influence

a few pages on, in the same work, while gazing on the fate of

one of her many slaves

" Thus has it been with all who loved Mary Stuart ! The
royalty of Francis, the wit of Chastellar, the power and gal-
lantry of the gay Gordon, the melody of Rizzio, the portly
form and youthful grace of Darnley, the bold address and
courtly manners of Bothwell, and now the deep devoted pas-
sion of the noble Douglas !—nought could save them ;—they
looked on the wretched Mary, and to have loved her was

crime enough to deserve early death! No sooner had the
victim formed a kind thought of me, than the poisoned cup,

the axe and block, t

he dagger, the mine, were ready to pun-

sh them for castin

g affection on such a wretch as I am !

The queen appears in a kneeling posture, clad in white,
with a flowing mantle of velvet and ermine, by the side of the
" noble Douglas," who is stretched on an ensign, looking his
last on his queen, for whom he had risked all, with the most

devoted loyalty, uttering, as may be supposed,

his dying

words. Fixing his eyes on her with an eagerness of passion
which death itself could hardly subdue. "Mourn not for
me," he said faintly, " but care for your own safety ; I die
in mine armour as a Douglas should, and I die pitied by
Mary Stuart." Sardanapalus exclaims—

" 'Tis comfort still to have our last looks
Fixed on lovely and loving faces."

And how well might Douglas have uttered the same words !
At Douglas's feet is a noble hound, one of the veritable
Landseer breed—at his head, a monk, who is dipping his
hand into a helmet filled with water—at the back of the
monk is Roland GrEeme, who holds, by the bridle, Al ary's
favourite palfrey " Rosabelle"—a beautiful, gentle creature—

which appears to look wistfully towards the group

guard, wounded, fills up the foreground at
the spectator's right—near him are the arms of Douglas, his
sword and helmet. Near to Mary is that exquisite creation
of the novelist, Lady Catherine Seyton, who holds one of
Mary's hands in hers. Next to her is the Lady Fleming,
wringing her hands in all the passionate utterance of grief
and sorrow; next, the Abbot Ambrosius, richly clad in the
vestments of his order. Behind him is a monk, with whom
a knight, armed " from top to toe, from head to foot," is in
, as he points with his mace to the field of battle
in the distance. Old Adam Woodcock supports Sir Ilalbert
Glendinning, whose hand rests upon his hip as if in pain from
the shock of his late encounter with the Douglas, in which
he was unhorsed; be gazes with intenseness and regret on
the features of the Douglas, dying by his hand. At Glen-
dinning's feet is a dead soldier, his face to the earth—an
aged woman is striving to lift him. Nearly in the centre of
the tableau is the yew tree before mentioned, under the
spreading boughs of which• Mary chose to stand " spectatress
of the fight." Those peaceful boughs, brightly green in the
sunlight of a May morning, o'ershadow the whole party.
On the left is the distant battle ; on the right Crookstone
Castle, with its square and embattled towers, where with
the beloved Darnley the honeymoon was spent, and where
he died—a place teeming with, to Mary, such happy and
mournful memories. The middle ground is occupied by two
flying horsemen, bearing the royal banner, looking back with

archer of the

conversation

curiosity to the group. Such are the characters in the scene
of an eventful drama. The management of the figures is
admirable; there is no confusion : every one stands as a
principal, without detracting from that which gives the main
subject. The grace, loveliness, and tenderness of Mary—the
manly beauty of the Douglas—the sternness of Avennel—
the distress of Lady Fleming—the charms of Catherine
Seyton—the elastic youth of Roland Grteme—the heartiness
of old Woodcock—the venerable appearance of the eccle-
siastics—the feeling of grief which pervades the whole
group—give the picture a truthfulness and fidelity to nature
that cannot fail to be admired and acknowledged as excel-
lent. When completed this etching will be converted into a
noble engraving—and one that must and will be eagerly
sought after. It is replete with the spirit and soul of Land-
seer. The poetry and genius of the original have been
caught by the engraver. How Sir Walter Scott would have
been delighted with it ! Would that that great man had
been living for Mary Parkes to have had the honour and de-
light of sending him a copy for his approval and acceptance !

The sale of the library of the late Marquis Wellesley pro-
duced between £1,200 and £1,300.

LOAD H ARROWBY'S TENANTRY.—The present Lord
Harrowby was at one time vexed with, perhaps, the most
troublesome village in England. The little community had
been for years thoroughly disorganised. Almost every la-
bourer was a poacher, and during the winter time there were
never less than eight-and-twenty of the finest young fellows
of the village doing nothing, and exacting from the parish-
officers what they called " relief." The noble earl cut off
from one of his best farms a piece of land, and divided it
amongst the labourers. Poaching ceased ; a stimulus to ho-
nest industry was created ; the poor-rates were relieved ;
and—to shame selfish farmers as well as utilitarian philoso-
phers—we must ask them at what expense this was done?
The parish to which we allude contains more than five thou-
sand acres, and only thirteen acres were appropriated to this
benevolent experiment, which answered so well ; in justice
to the noble earl we may add, that he has since appropriated
more of his land to secure and complete the fulfilment of his
intentions.

DIFFICULTIES ATTENDING PICTURE DEALING.—In the
Bazar St. Honore, where there was a permanent exhibition
of pictures, appeared a " Descent from the Cross," attributed
to Van Dyke. An Englishman offered 30,000 f. for it; but,
as no less than 35,0001. would be taken, he called in M.
Henry, the sworn appraiser to the Royal Museums, who, on
examining it, declared it to be a copy not worth more than
150 f. or 200 f. at most. Soon afterwards the owner died; and
Messrs. Perrier, having advanced money upon it and other
paintings, had them sold by auction. The catalogue was
drawn up by M. Henry, who put down the " Descent from
the Cross " as a copy, and it was knocked down to M. War-
neck for 31(if. who relinquished his bargain to M. Bedotti,
who gave him to boot a picture he had bought for 1801.—
Bedotti sold the " Descent from the Cross" to the proprietor
of the Galerie Lebrun, Rue du Gros Chenet. Here it was
seen by M. Aguado, in company with several connoisseurs,
including M. Lahante, the son-in-law of M. Errard, the late
celebrated collector, and whose judgment in paintings was
held in high estimation, and also M. George, who, on the
death of M. Henry, succeeded to be one of the appraisers of
the Royal Museum. They all concurred in p.ionouncing the
painting to be an original Van Dyke, and M. Aguado pur-
chased it at 40,000.—French paper.
THE LATE AFFRAY AT BEWSEY.—It appears that the

name of the young man who inflicted such serious injury upon
his brother, as mentioned last week, is Henry Crosby. The
one who suffered, Thomas Crosby, on Saturday afternoon,
wanted zo go shooting again, instead of assisting his brother
in the business of the farm. Thcy had both had some drink ;
and, on Henry remonstrating with his brother on the impro-
priety of using his gun, and neglecting other matters of more
importance, the serious affray ensued. The lock of the gun
caught Thomas just at the hack of his head, and, inflicted a
, •

7 -
into the brain, a portion of w
Mr. Okill

rich protrude
.e Warringtc

, the surgeon to . Union, was the
.first medical gentleman in attendauct ,e was quickly fol-
lowed by Mr. Sharp and Mr. Hunt, two other surgeons.
They found their patient in an insensible state but, after
bleeding, he rallied and came to himself. On Saturday
morning, Mr. Davies was called in to attend him ; and on
Monday. Mr. Wilson, of Manchester, visited the patient.
Up to Monday, no serious inflammatory symptoms were ex-
hibited. The distress of Mr.. Crosby's family may easily be
imagined, but not so easily described. They are highly
respectable, and connected by marriage with the family Of
Messrs. Stubs, the celebrated file and Lancashire tool manu-
facturers. Henry Crosby has hitherto been suffered to go at
large. The offence being committed out of the borough, Mr.
Jones, the active deputy-constable, did not feel himself called
upon to take the offending party into custody.—(Manchester
Guardian, of Wednesday.) Mr. Thomas Crosby, of Bewsey-
hall, we are happy to be enabled to state, has, since our last

rs can wish, although ht

—Mid

,-- e
, or Saturday

d out of danger. vieniy kingdom