FINE ARTS.

THE LAWRENCE GALLERY.

ONE of the most interesting exhibitions ever opened to the public is that of the collected drawings of the late Sir Thomas Lawrence, at 112, St. Martin's-lane. The exquisite taste of the President of the Royal Academy has been fully appreciated; but taste without wealth is comparatively useless. It is known that he expended large sums in gathering together the productions of his predecessors in art; and his death explained the cause why he had been so long in embarrassed circumstances. The present collection consists of fifty original drawings by Claude Lorraine and Nicholas Poussin. They are, of course, studies for larger pictures; but the first thoughts of artists have frequently more mind than their finished works. They show how genius conceived; and it is equally pleasant and profitable to examine the after-changes or improvements. The subjects of several of the designs of Claude are selected from Virgil. Among them are- A landscape, with the subject of Æneas receiving his armour from Venus. A design of woodland scenery: in the foreground is a path along the wood towards a shady recess, in which the sybil is seen attending Æneas; the background is composed of ruins. No. 41, also a landscape, with an architectural composition in the foreground: Dido, Æneas, and their attendants are here introduced. No. 11 is a view of Santa Maria Maggiore, at Rome: the elegant arrangement of the groups and figures must be at once admitted. Nos. 10 and 19 are original studies of the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba, from which the celebrated picture in the National Gallery was executed.

In the room is also Lawrence's greatest work (in one sense of the term) -Satan calling up his Legions; and some other paintings by our most admirable English master.

THE COSMORAMA.

The views in this interesting exhibition have lately been changed. Among those that may now be seen is the burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, so managed, by a skilful arrangement of light and shade, as to afford a very accurate idea of the splendid but awful scene.

PUBLICATIONS.

Stanfield's Coast Scenery. Parts II. and III.

We noticed the first number of this publication; the two that have followed amply bear us out in the praise we gave it. The drawings are admirable, beautiful, and correct, and worthy the pencil of our most accomplished landscape-painter. They are also well engraved: those from the burins of Mr. Cooke and Mr. Stephenson are among the best. It is not always we can commend the letter-press that accompanies such illustrated works of this, although unaccompanied by any name, we can speak in terms of the highest praise. It is written in an agreeable style, supplies much information, and introduces nothing that might be dispensed with. The author is evidently well qualified for the task he has undertaken, and has been judiciously chosen to associate with Mr. Stanfield in the production of a work useful as it is beautiful.

Memorials of Oxford. No. 33.

This useful and interesting publication has continued to sustain its high character up to its thirty-third number. The engravings do not assume to compete with the brilliant productions of the work we have just noticed, but their accuracy is unquestionable. They afford a just idea of the gran

deur of the venerable buildings of the University; and are valuable as historic records of an art, the sustainment of which is now unhappily placed in the hands of Mr. Wilkins and his brother botches. The descriptions which accompany the prints are full, clear, and satisfactory. The work, when complete, will be a treasure to the library.

Wanderings through North Wales. Part IV.

We fear our copy of this work has not been well printed; for the plates are "muzzy," and it would appear that justice is not done to the engraver or the painter. Mr. Roscoe performs his part of the publication with his usual tact and judgment.

THE DRAMA.

HAYMARKET.

The old comedies continue to be played here with great success. We were delighted to find a very numerous audience the other night enjoying the wit of The School for Scandal. Mr. Farren's Sir Peter is certainly good, very comic, and very fretful, and very much of an old bachelor; but he is too solid in the latter part of the famous screen scene-too grave, too awful-looking, too much like a man meditating a positive action of crim. con., which is a thing the real Sir Peter never dreamt of. Miss Taylor's Lady Teazle would be better with less labour of natural vivacity, and a greater perfection of artificial refinement; but it is generally by no means a poor performance, and it has passages of great truth and feeling. Mrs. Glover does not always do justice to the infinite delicacy of Mrs. Candour, but she relishes the wit and scandal, and gives both with capital gusto. We have seen better Crabtrees, and better Sir Benjamin Backbites, and better Charles Surfaces, and better Josephs. Mr. Warde is laborious, without a particle of real plausibility. He is a careful and intelligent actor, but not "a man of sentiment." Little Moses has been played worse, and Trip's powder and bouquet seemed, from the distance at which we sat, unexceptionable. We should not at all object to see the comedy, on the whole, so played again.

My Late Friend, a farcical commentary on the text, that Time waits for nobody, is amusing enough. Mr. Farren is the hero, Mr. Onslow, and the moral is the loss of a mistress and twelve thousand pounds. We have no doubt it will bring many people to their senses on the subject of the value of time. Mrs. Humby plays an impudent waiting-maid, whose familiarity with her mistress is uncommonly edifying, and plays it with great effect. After all, we are not over fond of moral and instructive farces.

ENGLISH OPERA,

"The tide of success," say the bills, "again flows in." We believe this to be the truth, although the bills say it. Great exertions have been made, and the result is greater success. It rarely fails to follow.

The Covenanters is a pleasant little piece, in which Mr. Wilson sings some of his Scotch airs, and Mr. M'Ian plays to the very life a Highland Soldier. The Old Oak-Tree is a drama of good effect, and excellently played. Mr. Serle exhibits his usual taste and quiet pathos, and Mr. Wrench is more than commonly amusing. The Mountain Sylph has been successfully revived.

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS.

A paper has been read, on the first introduction of complaints well known in old countries, into regions hitherto unvisited by them, by Dr. Macmichael. Immediately connected with the subject, were the circumstances which attend the gradual disappearance of certain savage races of the human species; the gradual extinction of the aborigines of Newfoundland was one of these instances. The skull and scalp of a female, the last individual of this race, was upon the table; it exhibited the following peculiarity:-the parietal bones were divided in the middle by sutures running parallel with the sagittal suture, and extending from the lambdoidal to the coronal suture; it was stated that a similar variety of structure was to be observed in the skull of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, preserved as a curiosity in the abbey church of St. Alban's. Dr. Macmichael's paper made frequent reference to the returns sent from abroad to the statistical inquiries of the college. Of Van Diemen's Land, he stated at large, on the subject of vaccination, that it appears no aboriginal native has been subjected to it; vaccine lymph has several times been introduced from the Mauritius, but it has always been lost, from the prejudices of the colonists in not bringing forward their children, and there being no institution for the express purpose of propagating it. One cannot here, observed the author, but pause to reflect upon the facility with which the great scourges of mankind, such as the plague, the small-pox, and, as we have lately seen, the cholera spread over the earth, as contrasted with the difficulty found in transmitting an antidote to one of them,-namely, the salutary practice of vaccination,-from Europe to the East. It had been ascertained that vaccine lymph would stand a heat of 120° Fahr., but was injured at 140°; hence the difficulty of transmission to the East. In the year 1800, however, a physician took some of the lymph to a tallowchandler's, and dipped it until it was covered in by a solid ball of wax or tallow; in this state it was carried safe to Bagdad, thence to Calcutta, where, since 1802, the full benefit of vaccination had been proved. Every fact connected with New Holland, in which England, within the last half century, has planted a colony, is full of interest, since it abounds in natural productions, which a late elegant French writer and great naturalist (Cuvier) has pronounced as extraordinary and novel as if they came from another planet. It appears that the natives of Van Diemen's Land exercise blood-letting by cutting the angles of the mouth, lips, and gums, by drawing across them a rough sharp glass; that they cure rheumatism by pricking the body with sharp shells or wood, in fact, by using a kind of acupuncturation; that they cure diarrhoea by giving kino; and the bites of serpents by sucking the wound, dilating it, and introducing combustible matter which they burn like moxa. Some observations were then made respecting the general use of fire among all savage nations, from which it would appear, that the discovery and application of this element is rather the result of an instinct implanted in man by Providence, than of the tardy development of reason.

STATISTICAL SOCIETY.

Statistics of Public Education.—At the last meeting of the Statistical Society, a paper was read from Thomas Vardon, Esq., containing a table founded on the parochial returns of the House of Commons, on the motion of the Earl of Kerry, of the numbers of children receiving instruction in the different Sunday, infant, national, public and private schools, in England and Wales. The total number receiving daily instruction is stated at 1,222,000, including the whole of those educated at the various colleges, with the exception of those of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

The number of children under fifteen years of age in the kingdom may be estimated at about 4,000,000, and deducting from this amount those who are under two years of age, or about 500,000, it will leave 3,500,000 who are capable of receiving the instruction which is afforded by one or other of the above seminaries. If the number of those who derive private instruction be further deducted, and these be estimated at 500,000, there are still 3,000,000 to be provided for, more than one-half of whom are not, therefore, furnished with the means of instruction. The number of children taught at Sunday schools is stated at 1,359,719; but these, although justly to be considered valuable auxiliaries, by the formation of religious habits, cannot be considered to impart education; whilst the principal part of the children receiving their instruction at these sources are in the habit of attending day-schools, and although it must be noted that there are 968 Sunday schools, containing upwards of 40,000 children, in places where no other description of school exists. The infant schools, also, where the children leave at the age of seven years, can only be considered as auxiliaries. Considering the great benefit that has resulted from the annual Parliamentary grant of 20,000l. for aiding in the erection of school-houses, Mr. Vardon expresses a hope that not only may the grant be continued, but also increased, as realizing a most important object in the diffusion of education, and the moral instruction of the young.

We shall reserve for our next number an abstract of the proceedings of the British Association, the fifth meeting of which took place in Dublin on the 10th of August.

VARIETIES.

Capital Offences. From the 1st May, 1826, to 1st Jan. 1827, the number of capital cases reported to the King in Council was 160; of which the sentence of death was mitigated previous to the order for execution, 140; ordered for execution, 20; sentence mitigated after the order for execution, 5; sentence executed, 15. From 1st May, 1827, to 1st Jan. 1828, number reported, 168; sentence mitigated previous to order, 153; ordered for execution, 15; sentence mitigated after order, 3; sentence executed, 12. From 1st May, 1828, to 1st Jan. 1829, number reported, 107; sentence mitigated previous to order, 89; ordered for execution, 18; sentence mitigated after order, 5; sentence executed, 13. From 1st May, 1831, to 1st Jan. 1832, number of cases reported, 110; sentence mitigated previous to order, 108; executed, 2. From 1st May, 1833, to 1st Jan. 1834, number of cases reported, 69; sentence mitigated previous to order, 69; none executed.

Parliamentary Committees.-The total amount paid by the Treasury on account of Parliamentary Committees in 1833 was 10,4287. Os. 8d., of which 97587. 15s. 2d. was incurred by the Commons, and 6697. 5s. 6d. by the Lords. In 1834, the total amount was 10,3657. 19s. 10d., of which 93947. 18. 4d, was incurred by the Commons, and 9717. 18s. 6d. by the Lords.

Criminal Offenders in Ireland.—The following return shows the number of criminal offenders in Ireland from 1828 to 1834, both inclusive, committed for trial, and the comparative number convicted :-In 1828, committed 14,683, convicted, 9269; 1829, committed, 15,271, convicted, 9449; 1830, committed, 15,794, convicted, 9902; 1831, committed, 16,192, convicted, 9605; 1832, committed, 16,036, convicted, 9759; 1833, committed, 17,819, convicted, 11,444; 1834, committed, 21,381, convicted, 14,253.

Poor-rates. By a Parliamentary paper just published, it appears that the total of the sums levied by assessment for the relief of the poor in England and Wales, in the year ending March 25, 1834, amounts to 8,308,0787, 158. Out of this, there has been expended 6,317,255l. 68. for the relief of the poor; 258,6057. 18. in suits of law; for removal of paupers, and miscellaneous purposes, 1,713,4897.: thus leaving a balance of 18,7291. 8s. As compared with the preceding year, the expenditure was reduced seven per cent. taking the average of the counties.

Total Families in Great Britain and Ireland.-It appears from the population returns made up by Mr. Rickmann, from the census of 1831, that the total of families in Great Britain is 3,414,175, of which there are employed in agriculture, 961,134; in trade, manufactures, and handicraft, 1,434,878; other families, 1,018,168. In Ireland, the proportion of the classes exhibits a remarkable contrast; the total of families being 1,385,066, of whom are employed in agriculture, 884,339; in trade, manufactures, and handicraft, 249,359; other families, 251,268. Thus, the agricultural proportion of the population of Ireland is a quarter more than double, and the proportion of trades, &c., above a quarter less than half these proportions, respectively, in Great Britain. In England and Wales there are 117 families for 100 houses; in Scotland, 133; in Ireland, 110.

Iron. A return has been made to an order of the House of Commons, moved for by Mr. Guest, member for Merthyr-Tydvil, containing, 1st. An account of the quantities of foreign iron imported into and exported from the United Kingdom in the years 1833 and 1834, distinguishing the several sorts of iron, and the countries from which imported, and to which exported.-2nd. An account of the quantity of British iron (including unwrought steel) exported in the years 1833 and 1834, distinguishing the countries to which exported.-And 3rd. An account of the quantities of British hardwares and cutlery exported in the years 1833 and 1834, distinguishing the countries to which exported, and the declared value thereof. By the first account it appears that in the year 1833 there were 17,913 tons of iron, in bars or unwrought, imported into this country from places abroad. The other descriptions of iron enumerated in the account are of small amount and insignificant value. In 1834 the quantity of the same sort of iron imported was 16,215 tons, showing a decrease in the quantity imported in the year 1834, as compared with the previous year, of 1698 tons. The exportation of this description of iron in the year 1833 being 2024 tons, and that of 1834 being 2885, the account shows an increase of exportation in 1834, as compared with the year of 1833, of 861 tons. By the second account it appears that the quantity of British iron, of all descriptions, exported in the year 1833 was 160,226 tons (exclusive of 1587 tons of unwrought steel), and the quantity exported in the year 1834 being 156,456 tons (exclusive of 1709 tons of unwrought steel), there is a decrease in the quantity of British iron exported in the year 1834, as compared with the preceding year, of 3770 tons. By the third account it appears that in the year 1833, 16,497 tons of hardwares and cutlery, of the declared value of 1,466,36 17. were exported from the United Kingdom; and that in the year 1834, 16,275 tons of the same, of the declared value of 1,485,2337. were exported; showing a decrease in the quantity exported in the year 1834, as compared with the year 1833, of 222 tons, while there is an increase on the declared value of 18,9727.

Spirits.-23,216,272 gallons have been distilled in the United Kingdom in the year 1834. The return for England is 4,652,838 gallons; Scotland, 9,193,091; Ireland, 9,370,343. The amount of duty stands thus:-England, 2,866,6127. 178. 6d.; Scotland, 1,007,5071.38. 4d.; Ireland, 1,369,3187. 68. giving a total of upwards of five millions sterling.