New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-01-28

ktewn TO It's fn the rsptures Of creation HIS mind
rs IN perpetual glow HIS imagination, no longer
agtaied py hucsuaiiog impulees seemed 20 bear MN
/ onward with a firm and DO ~erful cgrYent. Every
teneh Of the skful hand brought pew gfsoe.
lie saw the g. IN receive, sofened by oesuy a,mos'
feminine difuse sef The features rs ne baa CON
n+ved IL m the recssses of bis Imagination lie saw
the Welding clay sseume esh-like surface, and tue
delicate hmba stifen into the rigor OF muscular o.,
ton. He felt that, at last, hs hand was uac " n
thoughts; and come now what might negfsc,' y. vi
er, or early deasb, he bad proved hs or'nnEn', ans
e,abIsled his claim 20 be numbered among the poe's
| Of art. . IL. .;...~ -
al am writing fays he, in letter 70 MS sister,
the midst of terrible thunderstorm, and can scarcely
rroeeed for the Dcessant flashes OF lightning when
| Sart every moment IN 70 the wnooW OF my t.uuH,.
NY statue Of 0rpbeus is before me, anu wnen ieos
upon il in the midst Of the thick darkness ~nich
frightened occasionally by glow OF rapid RED hgnt,
/, &c dificult 10 persuade yself that this inanmate
creation of mine Is not starting from it's pedestal and
actually rushing into the realms If Pluto. The thun-
der s ee'spg really awful and must sSP 70 compose
one of those fearful flashes rent Tassos oak in the gar
den Of ST. 0nofrio aud shatsred the pnth Of the col
uun Of AptoDne, untouched till then by the hghtnings
Of nearly Two thousand years. have been thiHk-
ing" he continues, resumng his pen, of the story
about Phdias and bis wonderful statue Of Jove. You
know, that npon finishing it, he requested sign
from the god, to know If he were pleased with the
representation; II seems the nod was given, for at
that moment the clroied by Lightning, which
came end passed off with such noise could only
be produced by heavens artillery. Were we living in
that age, or were ours the religion OF the an neut
Greeks, l. too might interpret the sign in my favor.
Hardly was the Orpheus completed, when brain
fever consequence OF the intense excitement through
which he had passed, seized him and held him for
many days at deaths door. The long coovalescence
that followed brought back TO Spring. Rot no
sooner wac he able 20 walk a1out bis room, than he
sebt for some clay and a modelling stand, and began
the bust of frieLd. The Spring passed at Alba
no. In the Summer he made his first visit to Flor:
tnce; and on bis return, modelled bis Genius OF
Autumn" ex luisite little figure foil Of grace and
chd-ke beauty but which, being his first attempt at
finished composition after his Illness seemed, for
while TO bring back all his former difficulties. Many
were the changes many the corrections that he made
Seldom rid bis ttemiDg mind cling so tenaelously 70
spgle thought. And, indeed, sometimes almost fan
citd that III this sunny faced little boy, with his keen
tickle and swelling sheaf, he meant 30 express his own
npwaveIpg trust that where the seed-time has been
used rightly, the harvest will surely follow. 1t was
the fret OF Lie ks that parsed directly from the clay
10 the maJb the t of his nvtDliOns that foutd
ready purchasers and il may not be uninterestDg TO
my present audience TO know that the purchaser is
member OF our society.
The intellectual struggle was now over; the essen,
tia harmony between invention and execution firmly
established. No; that be was not often dissatisfied
with bimself and still left things unfinished which he
bad begun with high aDticipatiOns. Bot he was no
longer eroping in the dark His principles bad become
iI,eI with his practices or rather had assu ned
the cbarartr of ptuitions guiding him, fol- the most
part with a spontaneous and unerriDg accuracy. I'M
harmonious lines and false proportions had begun, as
IhoIwaldseD used to say Of himself to jar upon him
like discOrd in music. Creation bad ceased TO be a
laboriOu and painful process, but employ
deep, pure and intense that he already found
il cult 70 bend bis mind those renuneratise
objects 10 which his situation compelled hum to give
some part of br attention.
For The struggle with circumstances still continued.
The 0rpbeus through the exertions Of Charles Sum-
Ter, one Of his earliest, hrmest, and most Jud'cous
friends, wac bought, by suoscrpt on, for the Atbe
a BOSTON. Other
tine TO Time showing what direction the current was
beginning take but not flowing in that steady stream
which his ardent nature required He felt himself
pref AIRED for holder ghs aud began to look anxious
y for opportunity of trying his hand at come public
monument But naturally averse 10 ignorant praise,
he would not toop TO he arts by which some men are
often forced into transient notoriety. He wished 10
bring his claims before bis countrymen; but,
artist should through his works. The Orpheus had
already been engraved twice. the first time for the
Roman Bee" a publication devoted excnsvely to
engraving ard describing the important works Of art
of the day; the second, by Grnner an eminent Ger
man. anO in both forms had conui buted materially to
bis reputation He conceived the idea Of publish.
ing series of compositions engraved In oatne and
accompanied by descriptive leterp'ess. Some OF his
frends unable 10 understand how his invention could
beep pace with the engraver were startled by the bod
of the plan. They litsle knew the exhaustless
fertility of biz mind ana If undertaking went
beyond the frat number it is not at his door that the
blame should lie.
Everything relating to Washington Irving il read
with peculiar interest at this tme and hence the
ccmparison which Prof Greene institutes between
bin and bis friendly rivals Prescott and Bancroft,
though written before the decease Of the former is
valuable for its seaoDableness no less than its crit
ical sagaeity.
OF the three great American historians Mr.. Pres
cots perhaps, has the ewest of those characteristic
traits wbichmay be regarded distinctive of our
umes. The general structure Of his style resembles
that Of the best parts Of the lsst century though every
sentence has that fine favor Of general culture which
be acquired only by leng and careful study of
the mott polished writers of every age His
have eaty and natural flow, adapting themselves
with graceful hexibty TO the different forms of ex
preston which the gu ject requires, from full pic
tuTe 70 simple out iDe. The rhythm of his periods IL
not always apparent, or, at least not always prom
ben for they addressed 70 the eye rather thaa 20
the ear; but there is a sweet uDderone Of natural
melody running through them, which mingles pleas
anly With their general iow sDd fills the mind with
HI agreeable sense Of harmony There is no apparent
Effort about them. Every thing is natural and easy,
like the free giving Of what has been freely received.
Yen may sOnemes feel the want Of energy; OF lucid
ness, never The words for the part happily
chosen Inocang judciOus ute Of the different ele-
ments of our vocabulary without sny exclusive pref
eIeDce. he does not indulge largely in epthets,
though thste which he employs are beautiful and sp-
propriate. He has of those fiery sentences which
blaze up wi spontaneous combustion if they
about consume the paper on which they are writ
ten; yet any Of that other cast common among
mOdish wTers which see p to have been shot ont
like arrowr, pahing the the sensitive ear by the uces-
cant twang of the 6owsiribg But he expresses his
thoughts with genuine simplicity, a natural warmth
unaffected dignity that bring them before the mind
Of the reader distinctly they arose ia his own and
leave them there like the recollection Of q sunny
Landscape or sweet song, which dwells in the soul az
uDfsilipg source OF secret refTeshment.
In strkIn, contrast with these natural graces 10 the
brilliant and elaborate tessellation Of Mr.. Bsncrofts
TILE into which rich and varied learning and wide