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some Austrian renegade-some Spanish traitor-sent here, peradventure, with promises of reward for thy head and mine."

"It were but fair," cried another, "to let him leave his own as a pledge for his good faith.'

"

"Not his head, good Rinaldo, but his heart."

"An' we have women to lead us, and the talk be of hearts to be pierced with Cupid's arrows, rather than good Spanish steel, we may better lay down our weapons at once."

"Thou poor youth, cease thy fears. If thou art not sent here to do us harm, what wild caprice hath tossed thee among the heights of the Abruzzi?"

"I am, by profession, a poor painter, without a carline or a friend. I wandered here to study nature, that I may transfer her features to my canvass.

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"It is a false tale," cried one of the men; "painters love their ease too well, and have little to do with nature. Spagnioletto sleeps in the gorgeous halls of the Spanish viceroy. Neither he nor his gang haunt the peaks of the Abruzzi. I see not why his life should be spared." "He is no painter," cried several voices; "he comes here a spy, perhaps a cardinal, perhaps a Spanish noble. I say, give him a sound sleep in the rocky bed of yonder stream."

"Youth," cried Madalena, "I would save thy life; tell me truly art thou what thou professest to be."

"By the blessed Redeemer, by the holy Mother, dear lady, I am."

"Canst thou paint well, then?" "I may not say of myself such a thing, but my hand is familiar with the pencil."

"Soldiers," said Madalena, in a goodnatured voice, "6 come, I will wager with you for this youth's life; ye have a fair set of goodly faces, though somewhat rough and uncourtly; but we will put this young stranger's skill to the test; we can find whether he be pain ter or no. I see pencils and paper in his portfolio, through which thy bullet, Leonardo, has made a perforation. Now lie ye down here, and let him draw one of ye, to prove his profession, and as a specimen of his ability."

"Agreed, agreed," cried the rude group; and flinging themselves down into careless attitudes, they unbound the pale youth, and placed before him the utensils of his art.

The boy seized his pencil. It was always his joy, now it was his inspiration and his life.

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He is well rid of his paleness, too," said Antonio. I think the youngster

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hath touched his skin with the colour fair women paint their cheeks with, only the eyes are as fiery as our lady's when Leopoldo brought in his last plunder."

"If the youth be truly a poor moonstruck artist," cried Leonardo, I thank the saints we have spared him; but I took him for a certain Duke, whom I have seen ere now grinning at the prison windows of such scum as we."

"Duke or artist," cried another, "it was a lucky chance which brought Madalena up the hill. He would have been drawing else by fire light."

While the wretches were thus engaged, the animated artist had, with a few bold touches, sketched the splendid scene around, and told the whole story of his morning adventure. The cliffs frowned, with their shaggy, rugged outlines against the sky, upon the terrific edge of the chasm where they sat. The ferocious ruffians lay around, dashed off with a vigorous and powerful hand, and strikingly like the originals, whose eyes, now lighted with better humour, gleamed from under their black and heavy brows. On the brink sat the artist himself, bound, and aghast at the prospect of approaching death, and in the centre rose the commanding form of Madalena, her finger on his head, sternly remonstrating with the savage banditti against their murderous intent.

The brigands fairly shouted with delight, as each portrait was recognized, and with one accord, promised him his life and liberty.

"This is nobly done, gentle youth. Thou hast in thee the cunning of true genius. Here shalt thou remain, as free as the winds, or the eagle, till thou art tired of our company, and I pledge thee a hospitable entertainment, and a safe return; am I right, comrades ?"

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Yea, by the heart of Diana, not a hair of his head shall be injured by us."

Even Leonardo smiled, and said; "The hand that drew this, should not perish among the mountains."

"And what is thy name young man ?" inquired Madalena kindly.

Alas! I have no name," replied the liberated youth, "the world knows not of me. It will scarcely dwell in thy remembrance, but I am called in my own little circle, Salvator Rosa."

The obscure painter long dwelt with his rough friends, and it is supposed imbibed among them many of those deep and splendid conceptions, which have since made the productions from his hand precious treasures, in the galleries of kings, princes and pontiffs. The magnificent figures of robbers, found scattered through his works, are said to be closely drawn from his entertainers among the Abruzzi; and he has even left one picture, an engraving, in which the above recital is narrated more vividly; where the fierce brigands still recline around; where the noble Madalena still remonstrates with her finger on his head; and where he, the greatest artist in many respects which the world ever saw, and the only landscape painter produced by a country, the most remarkable of all countries for its exquisitely beautiful scenery, hangs trembling over the cliff, awaiting till the appeal of a robber's wife be pronounced upon by the group of Neapolitan brigands.

New York, Nov. 1834.

ARTS AND ARTISTS.

We have obtained further extracts from Dunlap's "History of American Arts and Artists," which is now nearly ready for publication, and we doubt not will interest the British public as much as our Atlantic brethren, to whose national pride the work is intended as an homage.

We like these memorials of a nation's genius-they incite and cheer others in whom are the germs of like talent; and although patronage may not be found on their native soil, they have the assurance that other "Benjamin Wests" will find a home in every clime-the world's their sphere, and their most lasting monuments are their works.

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WEST'S EARLY AMBITION. "One of his school-fellows allured him on a half-holiday from trap and ball, by promising him a ride to a neighbouring plantation. Here is the Forse, bridled and saddled,' said his friend, so come, get up behind me.' 'Behind you,' said Benjamin; 'I will ride behind nobody.' O, very well,' replied the other, 'I will ride behind you, so mount.' He mounted accordingly, and away they rode. This is the last ride I shall have,' said his companion, 'for some time. To-morrow I am to be apprenticed to a tailor.' 'A tailor!' exclaimed West; 'you will surely never be a tailor?' Indeed but I shall,' repiled the other; it is a good trade.

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What do you intend to be, Benjamin ?' A painter.' 'A painter! what sort of a trade is a painter? I never heard of it before.' 'A painter,' said this humble son of a Philadelphia quaker, is the companion of kings and emperors.' 'You are surely mad,' said the embryo tailor; there are neither kings nor emperors in America. Ay, but there are plenty in other parts of the world. And do you really intend to be a tailor ?' Indeed I do; there is nothing surer.'' Then you may ride alone,' said the future companion of kings and emperors, leaping down; I will not ride with one willing to be a tailor.'

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"When directing our friend Sully how to find the house in which he was born, the old gentleman, in describing the road, pointed out the spot where he had abandoned the intended tailor."

WEST'S FIRST INTERVIEW WITH THE
KING.

"Dr. Drummond, the archbishop of York, a dignified and liberal prelate, and an admirer of painting, invited West to his table, conversed with him on the influence of art, and on the honour which the patronage of genius reflected on the rich; and opening Tacitus, pointed out that fine passage where Agrippina lands with the ashes of Germanicus. caused his son to read it again and again, commented upon it with taste and feeling, and requested West to make him a

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painting of that subject. The artist went home: it was then late, but before closing his eyes he formed a sketch, and carried it early next morning to his patron, who, glad to see that his own notions were likely to be embodied in lasting colours, requested that the full size work might be proceeded with. Nor was this all-that munificent prelate proposed to raise three thousand pounds by subscription, to enable West to relin. quish likenesses, and give his whole time and talents to historical painting. Fifteen hundred pounds were accordingly subscribed by himself and his friends; but the public refused to co-operate, and the scheme was abandoned.

"The archbishop regarded the failure of this plan as a stigma on the country; his self-love, too, was offended. He disregarded alike the coldness of the Duke of Portland and the evasions of Lord Rockingham, to whom he communicated his scheme-sought and obtained an audience of his Majesty, then young and unacquainted with cares-informed him that a devout American and quaker had

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painted, at his request, such a noble picture that he was desirous to secure his talents for the throne and the country. The king was much interested with the story, and said, 'Let me see this young painter of yours, with his Agrippina, as soon as you please.' The prelate retired to communicate his success to West. gentleman came from the palace to request West's attendance with the picture of Agrippina. 'His majesty,' said the messenger, 'is a young man of great simplicity and candour, sedate in his affections, scrupulous in forming private friendships, good from principle, and pure from a sense of the beauty of virtue.' Forty years intercourse, we might almost say friendship, confirmed to the painter the accuracy of these words.

"The king received West with easy frankness, assisted him to place the Agrippina in a favourable light, removed the attendants, and brought in the queen, to whom he presented our quaker. He related to her majesty the history of the picture, and bade her notice the simplicity of the design, and beauty of the colouring. There is another noble Roman subject,' observed his majesty, 'the departure of Regulus from Rome -would it not make a fine picture?' 'It is a magnificent subject,' said the painter. Then,' said the king, 'you shall paint it for me.' He turned with a smile to the queen, and said, 'The archbishop made one of his sons read Tacitus to Mr. West, but I will read Livy to him myself-that part where he describes the departure of Regulus.' So saying, he read the passage very gracefully, and then repeated his command that the picture should be painted.

"West was too prudent not to wish to retain the sovereign's good opinion-and his modesty and merit deserved it. The palace doors now seemed to open of their own accord, and the domestics attended with an obedient start to the wishes of him whom the king delighted to honour. There are minor matters which sometimes help a man on to fame; and in these, too, he had his share. West was a skilful skater, and in America had formed an acquaintance on the ice with Colonel, afterward too well known in the colonial war as General Howe. This friendship had dissolved with the thaw, and was forgotten, till one day the painter, having tied on his skates at the Serpentine, was astonishing the timid practitioners of London by the rapidity of his motions and the graceful figures

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which he cut. Some one cried West! West!' It was Colonel Howe. I am glad to see you,' said he, and not the less so that you come in good time to vindicate my praises of American skating.' He called to him Lord Spencer Hamilton, and some of the Cavendishes, to whom he introduced West as one of the Philadelphia prodigies, and requested him to shew them what was called 'The Salute.' He performed his feat so much to their satisfaction, that they went away spreading the praises of the American skater over London. Nor was the considerate quaker insensible to the value of such commendations; he continued to frequent the Serpentine, and to gratify large crowds by cutting the Philadelphia Salute. Many, to their praise of his skating, added panegyrics on his professional skill; and not a few, to vindicate their applause, followed him to his easel, and sat for their portraits."

PERPETUAL MOTION STOPPED.

"We must all remember how long, and how successfully, Redheffer had deluded the Pennsylvanians by his perpetual motion.

"Many men of ingenuity, learning, and science, had seen the machine: some had written on the subject; not a few of these were his zealous advocates; and others, though they were afraid to admit that he had made a discovery which violated what were believed to be the established laws of nature, appeared also afraid to deny what the incessant motion of his wheels and weights seemed to prove. These contrived ingenious theories, which were hardly less wonderful than the perpetual motion itself. They supposed that Redheffer had discovered a means of developing gradually some hidden power, which, though it could not give motion to his machine forever, would keep it going for some period, which they did not pretend to determine.

"One of these perpetual motions commenced its career in this city, in eighteen hundred and thirteen. Mr. Fulton was a perfect unbeliever in Redheffer's discovery; and although hundreds were daily paying their dollar to see the wonder, Mr. Fulton could not be prevailed upon for some time to follow the crowd. After a few days, however, he was induced, by some of his friends, to visit the machine. It was in an isolated house in the suburbs of the city.

"In a very short time after Mr. Fulton had entered the room in which it was

exhibited, he exclaimed, Why, this is a crank motion.' His ear enabled him to distinguish that the machine was moved by a crank, which always gives an unequal power, and therefore an unequal velocity in the course of each revolution: and a nice and practised ear may perceive

that the sound is not uniform. If the machine had been kept in motion by what was its ostensible moving power, it must have had an equable rotatory motion, and the sound would have been always the same.

"After some little conversation with the show-man, Mr. Fulton did not hesitate to declare that the machine was an

imposition, and to tell the gentleman that he was an impostor.

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Notwithstanding the anger and bluster which these charges excited, he assured the company that the thing was a cheat, and if they would support him in the attempt, he would detect it at the risk of paying any penalty if he failed.

"Having obtained the assent of all who were present, he began by knocking away some very thin little pieces of lath, which appeared to be no part of the machinery, but to go from the frame of the machine to the wall of the room, merely to keep the corner posts of the machine steady.

"It was found that a catgut string was led through one of these laths and the frame of the machine, to the head of the upright shaft of a principal wheel: that the catgut was conducted through the wall, and along the floors of the second story to a back cock-loft, at a distance of a number of yards from the room which contained the machine, and there was found the moving power. This was a poor old wretch, with an immense beard, and all the appearance of having suffered a long imprisonment; who, when they broke in upon him, was unconscious of what had happened below, and who, while he was seated on a stool, gnawing a crust, was with one hand turning a crank.

"The proprietor of the perpetual motion soon disappeared. The mob demolished his machine, the destruction of which immediately put a stop to that which had been, for so long a time, and to so much profit, exhibited in Philadelphia."

There is a curious oversight in Mr. Bulwer's novel, "The last days of Pompeii." He has made an uneducated blind girl write a letter; obviously impossible.

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Of nature's loveliness, as though too bright
For man's undying and unhallowed gaze.
Welcome, ye solemn shades and boundless
gloom!

Dear to the wanderer, and his mournful tale
Of giant death, of charnel-house and shroud.
Welcome fair Night Queen, with thy silver
glance

And azure train, bedecked with starry gems, Rousing each slumbering wave to revelry,

And joyous dance upon its parent deep."

Oh! I could dwell for ever on this hour,
So still and sad, yet melancholy sweet;
For I am sick, and weary of the world,
Its strife and treachery;-would that my heart,
Stemming its ruddy tide, might cease to beat,
And fading eye be closed in endless rest,
Untouched by thought, unscathed by memory!
JULIAN.

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Pur into a retort a quantity of pounded fluor spar, with a few bits of broken glass, and pour upon them some sulphuric acid; fluoric acid gas will be disengaged, holding silex in solution. The subjects that you wish to resemble petrifactions must now be moistened with water, and placed in a vessel connected with the neck of the retort. The fluoric acid gas will be absorbed by the moisture adhering to the substances, and the silex will be precipitated upon them like a sort of hoar frost, which will have a beautiful appearance, and is very durable.

Artificial coronas may be made in cold weather, by placing a lighted candle in the midst of a cloud of steam; or if a glass window is breathed upon, and the flame of a candle placed at some distance from the window, while the operator is also at the distance of some feet from another part of the window, the flame will be surrounded by a coloured halo. In winter, an elegant chimney ornament may be formed by cutting the head, or thick end of a carrot, containing the bulb, and placing it in a shallow vessel with water. Young and delicate leaves unfold themselves, forming a radiated tuft of a very handsome appearance, which is heightened by contrast with the season of the year.

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BEHIND a transparent screen of white cloth, place a very powerful light, from which, as the performer, whose image is formed on the screen, recedes, his figure will attain to gigantic proportions; again, when he approaches, and is between the light and the screen, his figure will be more accurately defined; by jumping over the light, he will appear to ascend to a great height, and disappear. By nimble and grotesque movements and attitudes, and by the judicious introduction of any animal, &c., the effect may be considerably heightened, and much laughter be excited.

MERCANTILE ANECDOTES.

(For the Parterre.)

IMPORTS.

AMONGST the many whimsical anecdotes told of the peculiar habits of the Chinese, perhaps few will be considered more characteristic of their love of imitation than the following. Towards the close of last century, an officer of the Pitt, East Indiaman, when that ship lay off Canton, sent ashore to a native, an order for a dozen pair of trowsers, to be made of the Nank een for which China has so long been famed. The Chinese artisan required a pattern; he could not make any thing without a pattern: so a pair of trowsers were sent at his request, which pair had been mended with a patch, and needle-work on the knee. In due time the dozen pair were sent on board, made of a fabric of exceeding beauty for fineness and quality, but every pair bearing, like an heraldic badge, the obnoxious patch on the one knee, exactly copied stitch for stitch, in a style that reflected the highest credit on the mechanical skill of the workman, and for the difficult execution of which an extra charge was made upon the purse of the exasperated owner, who had no alternative but to bring home his bargain as a qualification for the Traveller's Club; for certainly amongst no kindred or people living betwixt this and China, could a similar achievement have been perpetrated.

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ket. The Scotchman, whom we will call by his familiar epithet of "Jock," was careless to incredibility in his mercantile concerns, but like a cat always fell upon his feet, in a jump to the conclusion. The heretic party denying his infallibility, went forth from the conference, terminating in the curious bet alluded to, with a commission to lead "Jock" into temptation. Presently it chanced that our merchant had a small share of a cargo of hardware to make up for the West Indies at a late hour: so a friend with a wise face, seized on the opportunity to advise "Jock" to send out a consignment of warming-pans, adding he was credibly informed, that there was not one to be had for love or money in Jamaica. "Jock" fell into the snare, and exported warming-pans to the tropics, with the greatest satisfaction. When the vessel put into Kingston, messengers from the plantations thronged down directly, to inquire the lading; for, the sugar season had commenced, and the harvest was so abundant, that in many of the boiling houses they were waiting for ladles, to the great inconvenience of the manufacturers. The warming-pans were bought up at a high premium as a substitute for ladles, and Jock's infallibility as a commercial speculator, unanimously subscribed to. This same individual paid a visit in the course of time to the East Indies, in his proper person; his facetious friends directed a letter to "Jock at Calcutta," making it another bet as to whether it would reach him. The very day it reached the post office at Calcutta, it chanced to meet the eye of a mutual friend to the parties, who was aware of the witticisms to which they inclined, and being persuaded, from the hand-writing, &c. for what Jock it was designed, made the necessary communication for its safe transmission to the right owner. It is better to be born lucky then rich, so Jock's friends thought. B. E. M.

THE BALL THAT KILLED WITHOUT WOUNDING. (From the French).

"'Sdeath, sir, you shall give me satisfaction."

"Whenever you please." "To-morrow at eight o'clock." "At eight o'clock then, let it be. I shall be furnished with a second."

And the following morning at eight o'clock, four individuals took their way towards the "Bois de Boulogne," two

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