any fingle Lord of Jufticiary, ever has been, or will be founded ez error, caprice, or corruption." • As civil actions of pecu iar intricacy and importance cal be tried before the Court of Sece; is anciently, the crime, & robbery, murder, and wilful fre-ring, wat were cauto pleas of the crown, could only be tried before the Chem en The Court, however, has not, for a long period, pofif-c kar clufive jurifdi&tion; treafon being now, pe as the o which can be tried before the Court of before this court, the prifocers enjoy mary van otr t They are always ferved before-hard win a IE of ne v meis u ze adduced against them; and, in capital man, de eVILENCE DİLİ BE all reduced into writing. Bat there is no reci unanimous, the verdict of a bare majority of a ja cient. If the prisoner be indigent, come are 25 DITOREI for him, and they are indulged in a (berty, BILLI DI LI Dten, of being extremely prolix and writing a ter 1 fal I the relevancy of the indictment Tra fonte a te Court of Justiciary, and thole we have feat O ba though, in both, they appear very fair, yet ter ALPE & STRI oppofite. In the latter, they are concafe va par ene dour, and expedition; nothing efential mein 12 fluous admitted: but, in the former, a gran sex tf von ging m · admitted; so that, together with the evidences being a writing, the trials are spun cet to as in moderate 51. rarely finished in less than a day; they will shace 11 eight hours; and, upon one occaics, the tra les 12. hours *. Before this court, the counsel for the primarilal of parliament, to fum up the evidence in his team u laft fpeaker, except in trials for high treat and me acuri, charge (as it is called), to the jury by the Lord dome ir me counsel for the public profecutor, is always celtre va fer candour. But a notion fome how prevat, the Lau ciary are generally inclined to be unfavourite zwart, de pà and, in fact, they do frequently accres me pary after me for the prifo er has finished.' After difcuffing the courts office at Efaberne Arnot explains its military government, and ftitution. Its revenue, manufactures, commerit, and ritable foundations are then canvalled; and work with a defcription of Leito, wolts a ne put of Eburgh. #That of Provet Stewart." · In a trial before the Crest Court at Perth AD 1 a matter of adjudging to flavery for free 32, 42MST INTE witness to the judge, after the code for the amuser 121 1: addreffing the jury, muttering up only the evidence at the mone pieces the argument made by his counel in his seat, and serve proof was by no means direct), that he could not fader met a sket that the jury would acquit the pricer. It is impoffible, in attending to the numerous branches of this performance, not to applaud the diligence of the Author; whose exemption from préjudices in a country which has been torn with the wildeft factions and the groffeft bigotry, are demonstrations of candour and fincerity. In his compofition, though not free from a variety of little defects, he is generally clear and perfpicuous; and when his fubjects permit, his narration is not inelegant; but fometimes too florid. T ART. IX. A Collection of Prints, in Imitation of Drawings. To which are annexed Lives of their Authors, with explanatory and critical Notes. By Charles Rogers, Efq; F. R. S. and S. A. S. 2 Vols. Folio. Imperial Paper. 121. 128. White, &c. 1778. O collect the precious remains of ingenious artifts, is a mark of elegant tafte; to preserve those remains, at great expence, and to endeavour to beftow on them immortality, is a proof of generous ardour for the improvement of fociety: for the cultivation of refined arts, whatever the eloquent but fanciful Rouffeau and his followers may pretend, contributes not only to the embellishment and fplendor of polifhed life, but to its real happiness and perfection : "Ingenuas didiciffe fideliter artes "Emollit mores, nec finit effe feros." When we confider the imitative arts in their relation to the general improvement of civil fociety, the invention of engraving is entitled to a principal fhare of our regard. This art, though but the copy of a copy, diffules and perpetuates the fublime conceptions of the painter, and renders that which would otherwife be confined to a particular place, and to a few centuries, the general entertainment of the prefent age, and the moft diftant pofterity. The fame advantage which printing has bestowed on fcience and literature, engraving has conferred on the arts of defign; and had thefe valuable inventions been known to the celebrated nations of antiquity, the tafte of beauty, as well as the knowledge of truth, would in all probability have advanced with a more rapid progress, and have already approached nearer to that degree of perfection, which is confiftent with the limited powers of human nature. But the invention of engraving, as well as of typography, was referved for the middle of the 15th century; and the improvement which, fince that period, the modern nations of Europe have attained in arts, fciences, laws and manners, is unrivalled in the hiftory of mankind. The fplendid work of which we here announce the publication, is executed in various kinds of engraving; if we apply that term generally to denote the art of copying drawings as well well as paintings, on wood or metal, to be afterwards impreffed on paper; but we do not find that this branch of the art has received a particular name in any modern language; and the ancients, as we have already hinted, were entirely unacquainted with printing, in every sense of the word. The work before us contains one hundred and twelve prints, in imitation of the drawings of the greateft painters; and they are executed by the most celebrated artifts of this kingdom. We fhall give the names of the mafters, whofe works are here faithfully copied, and a lift of the pieces which seem most worthy of attention. Vo.. İ. 1. Lionardo da Vinci. The last Supper. 2. Michel Angelo Buonarotti The Madonna and Jesus. 3. Raffaelle. ft, The gathering of Manna. 2d, Terræ motus. 4. Giulio Romano. Nature and Time. 5. Caravaggio. Birth of Jupiter. 6. Bandinelli. Two Lovers. 7. Battista Franco. Discovery of Achilles. 8. Perino del Vago. Battle of the Centaurs and Lapitha. 9. Zuccaro. Queen Elizabeth. 10. Domen. Paffignano. Sleep in the arms of Night. 11. Pietro da Cortona. Scilurus recommending concord to his fonse 12. Bernino. Angel bearing the Cross. 13. Andrea Sacchi. St. Antony preaching to the fishes. 14. Stefano della Bella. Theatrical figure of a young man. 15. Romanelli. Judgment of Paris. 16. Bourgognone. Two battle pieces. 17. Filippo Lauri. Corifca and the Satyr. 18. Carlo Maratti. Affumption of the Virgin. 19. Ciro Ferri. Cæfar preferring his Agrarian Law. 20. Leone Ghezzi. Portrait. 21. Titiano. Repofe. 22. Tintoretto. Study for a Crucifixion. 23. Paolo Veronefe. First thought for a large compofition. 24. Jacopo Palma. The woman wiping Jefus' feet with her hair. VOL. 1. Correggio. Study for the principal part of his cupola. 2. Parmigiano. David and Goliah. 3. Camillo Procaccini. David with Goliah's head marthing before Saul. 4. Lodovico Carracci. The Car of Harmony. 5. Agostino Carracci. Cupid with the fword of Mars; 6. Annibal Carracci. The Bacchanalia. 7. Michel Angelo da Caravaggio. A study. 8. Guido Reni. Repofe. 9. Albani. Jofeph and fefus Bb 2 10. Dominichino. St. Catherine. 11. Guercino. Pfyché attiring from the bath. 12. Schidoni. A heroine. 13. Mola. Cain and Abel. 14. Pefarefe. Boys playing with a lamb. 20. Nicholas Pouffin. Prometheus. Califto difcovered. Proceffion of Silenus. 21. Le Sueur. Mofes expofed. 22. Raimond le Fage. Vulcan's forge. 23. François Boucher. Bathsheba. 24. Breughel. Landscape. 25. Rubens. Helena Forman. 26. Van Dyk. Jacob perfuaded to fend Benjamin into Egypt. 27. Rembrandt. ft, A monk fitting in his cell. 2d, Turks drinking coffee. 28. Wouwerman. Hawking. 29. Van de Velde. 30. Ryfbrack. Time. A rising storm. The portrait alfo of each painter, in a rondeau cut in wood, is prefixed to his life. In order to render thefe prints faithful imitations, they are engraved by the fame lines, of the fame fize, and, as nearly as poflible, of the fame colours, with the original drawings. This, doubtlefs, will give them a very high value with fuch as are fond of collecting the defigns of great masters; and must also render them extremely precious to ftudents in the arts, who will here perceive, more diftinctly than in the most finished paintings, the beautiful lines by which a Raphael and a Guido expreffed thofe divine conceptions which have been fo juftly and to universally admired. Valuable pictures are commonly placed in churches or palaces, which are open, in all parts of Europe, to the inspection of the public. Drawings are concealed in cabinets, to which only a few virtuofi have access. The publication of exact copies from the latter will be received therefore with gratitude by thofe who could not otherwise expect to obtain an exact knowledge of the originals. When we confider Mr. Rogers as an author, we must abate fomewhat of that commendation which is due to him as an editor. In his Introduction, his Lives of the Painters, and his Appendix, his ftyle is fometimes careless and inaccurate, and he has employed several peculiarities of expreffion, and even of spelling, which denote a degree of affectation unworthy the magnificence of his undertaking. But if we can make allowance for for flight defects of language, we fhall have reafon to be fatisfied with the information which it conveys. The Introduction and Appendix, combined with the Lives of the Painters, afford a general history of the arts which are the subjects of this noble publication. These arts, Mr. Rogers informs us, were early cultivated by the eastern nations. The Jews, indeed, were forbidden to make images, as objects of worship; but on other occafions they were not only permitted, but even enjoined the practice of ftatuary. Thus, two cherubims of beaten gold were directed to be made in order to be placed at the two ends of the mercyfeat, which they over-fhadowed by their wings, their faces looking towards each other. It is probable, however, that the Jews made but a small proficiency in the ornamental arts, compared with that of the Egyptians and Tyrians. Bazaleel of the tribe of Judah, and Ahaliab of the tribe of Dan, were appointed in the time of Mofes to execute the works for the service of the fanctuary (Exod. xxxi, &c.). But Solomon was not willing to trust the decoration of his temple to the taste of Jewish artifts: he fent to Tyre for Hiram, "who was cunning "to work all works in brafs." The Tyrians, it is probable, acquired much of their knowledge in the arts from their neighbours the Egyptians. The fable of Prometheus fhows that the Greeks had very early an idea of sculpture; but fo confufed is the ancient chronology of Greece, that it is impoffible to afcertain the period at which they began the practice of this or of any of the fifter arts. In Greece, however, they all fhone with peculiar luftre; and from the Greeks, were tranfmitted to their conquerors the Romans, who carried them in their declining ftate to Conftantinople, which, from the year 330, had become the feat of the Eaftern empire. Here they had to ftruggle with many inconveniences, particularly the madnefs of the Iconoclafts, who deftroyed every picture, and broke every piece of ftatuary, that came within their reach. At length Conftantinople was taken by Mahommed II. furnamed the Great, in 1453; and the barbarous fuperftition of the Turks expelled the poor remainder of artists, who were glad to efcape in fafety into the western provinces, to which they offered the fruits of their ingenious labour, in return for the protection which they folicited. The Italians, in particular, were well prepared to receive thefe new guests. For as early as the year 977 the beft architects were invited from Conftantinople to direct the rebuilding of the church of St. Mark of Venice. Ninety-fix years were employed in erecting that edifice, which was ornamented by Greek artists with feve ral pictures in mosaic. (Ridolfi, P. 1st. p. 12.) |