ture, under various circumstances and aspects The list of professional subscribers which rel flected so much credit to the author in his first edition, is substituted by many extracts of letters of commendation highly to the author's ho nour. MANNERS OF THE FRENCH. (Continued from our last.) stance; but you can go no further.-Genius here Of the other topics treated in these letters, the following extract from the table of their contents will convey an idea : Letter the first contains a gèneral view of the proper progress of a student, part of which forms the above extract.-2. Proper materials and habits.-3 and 4. Treat on radical lines, curves, and easy lessons, (plate 15), with a view to a proper command of hand.-5. Directions for beginning a copy.-6 and 7. Treat on the study, and explain the general proportions of the human head and figure.-8. Teaches the use of the native chalks, and recommends proper books on the subject of the fine arts.-9. On application, and explains the author's manner of black-lead pencil drawing.-10 and 11. Treat fully on the use of India-ink, and give regular rules for light, shade, reflection, and transparency.-12. On the economy required in treating overshadowed parts in a picture.-13. Ohjections to the liberties taken with light under the sanction of poetical licenses, with instructive observations on the subject.-14. On the engraver's tint as a substitute for colour, distinguished from light and shade, and extreme blackness considered.-15. How to avoid manner; knowledge, forecast, and the memory considered. 16. A comprehensive yet compendious treatise on colours, with four diagrams.-17. The use of water-colours with systematic agreement to na THE FETE, AND THE DAY AFTER THE FETE. MADAME MOUSSINOT is the mistress of her husband, who is the proprietor of the house which I inhabit, and she is one of the guests at our suppers. She is a woman of feeling and of good sense, in the true acceptation of the term, but very headstrong. If she had been endowed with a more easy temper, and had not been such a mere citizen's wife, of a less imperious character, also, where vanity predominates, she might be cited as one of the first amongst the middling classes. It was some time before I could conform myself to her manner of shewing her affection to. wards her husband and her children; to that kind of acrimony which discovers itself even in her most tender sentiments; and which is, perhaps, the reason that one does not render her justice for other many good qualities. A good comedy, I am sure, might be written from those scenes which I witnessed at M, Mous : sinot's, last week, on the day and the day after his fete this little picture of life might be worthy of a place in the gallery of the Hermit of the Chausee d'Antin, which I have been obliged to continue. There are, from ancient times, two great solemnities to be observed in the family of my landlord, Saint Barbara, the feast of the lady, and Saint Dominick, the feast of M. Moussinot : these days are the only two from which they derogate from the sumptuary laws which regulate the order of their household, where economy bor|| ders strongly on avarice, if vanity did not some times order otherwise. There is. scarce a house in Paris where we do not meet with those people, who make a trade of their indefatigable complaisance: their usefulness, their prepossessing manners, on which they pride themselves, render them equally indispensable, either to the husband, the wife, or the children. The house of Moussinot, has, like every other, one of these officious beings, under the title of a friend; it is as old as the employment of controller general; and he is an old bachelor, who lives on his pension, and passes his life in meddling with the affairs and the plea parlour, that Descourtils gave way to the suggestions of his lively imagination: it was nothing but festoons, wreaths of flowers, and cyphers. Over the place which the master of the house was to occupy, was suspended a crown of laurels and roses to a pully, which had been taken from the cage of the canary bird, and which, at a signal given, was to make the crown descend perpendicularly on the head of M. Moussinot. It was seven o'clock before every thing was in proper order; those persons who were invited were, contrary to general custom, precise to their time. M. Bernard, entered, like a man used to the best company; and seemed even to forget that he had obtained a judgment against his fa ther-in-law. Precisely at eight o'clock, M. Moussinot, that Descourtils meant to have fetched, arrived, and immediately testified his surprize, with some acrimony, at the row of lamps on the stair-case. sures of other people. Fifty years, which have passed over his head, have not in the least diminished his natural gaiety: no one knows so well as M. Descourtils how to do the honours of that table which does not belong to him he carves so well; and plays the violin like a professor for a little family ball; knows a thousand little innocent pastimes, and they are always certain in finding in him a fourth for a party at whist, basto, or reversi. Too old to be regarded amongst a number of young girls, and yet young enough to please by his assiduities those who are growing old, and yet in search of husbands: so that he is received every where, made much of by every one, consulted on all occasions, and is, in short, the friend, the adviser, and the oracle of every house he frequents. He had not yet found an opportunity of displaying all his knowledge || before Madame Moussinot; but the birth-day of her husband gave scope to his talents: he laid his plans, and proposed, in the first instance, in a point of moral view, to bring about a reconciliation between several members of the family, who had fallen out with the head, from motives of selfinterest; and which subject is one on which the latter will never hear reason. He had just given notice to one of his nieces, who owed him two quarters rent, to quit her dwelling. Nor did he scruple to plead with his son-in-law, M. Bernard, on the execution of one of the clauses of his marriage contract. M. Descourtils, who was busy in preparations for this festival, could not give himself up to it, in the presence of him for whom it was made; while Madame Moussinot, as a secret is the delight of these joyous meetings, made her husband go out before twelve, to dine with one of his friends, who did not dine tilling sentiments and praises, which, however ab. four; and whom she requested not to let him stir till he was sent for. Scarce was he at the bottom of the stair-case, when the workmen under the orders of Descourtils, entered his apartment, and while some were placing festoons of green paper amongst the branches and girandoles, others were ranging benches, and suspending curtains to make a drop scene, and to cover a pantomimic exhibition in the bed-chamber of M. Moussinot, hastily transformed into a theatre. It is impossible to form an idea how quickly the bed, the bureau, the charts, all the furniture of this room, were carried off and thrown together, péle méle, iu a little dark room, which served heretofore as an office. The theatre, formed of two tables, which the fiddler arranged together, was placed in an alcove, and a few screens, some of tapestry, the others of India paper, served as scenes and decorations. All the company, with Madame Moussinot, at their head, were prepared to receive him in the anti-chamber, presenting nosegays to him; at the same instant, the two musicians in the orchestra struck up the inimitable quartetto of Lucille, and the heart of M. Moussinot expanded with affection as he received the embraces of his family. His ill-humour was, however, on the point of returning, when he saw the state of his apartment; but pleasure succeeded pleasure with such rapidity, that he had no time for serious reflection. He was affected even to tears, as he listened to a little composition of ballads, at the end of which his friends and his children addressed to him by turns those couplets, contain surd, could not claim the privilege of insanity in the present case: Descourtils was certain of his little entertainment being well received, as it had been already performed twenty times on similar occasions and by the means of a few additional verses, which he had in reserve, it would suit any saint's day in the calendar. A ball succeeded to the comedy, and was only interrupted by a call to supper; the sensibility of M. Moussinot was put severely to the proof: what profusion! every dish, every bottle of wine that he counted with his eyes, drew a sigh from him, which his wife suppressed by a look of affection. A rondeau was sung, and every chorus was bedewed with a bottle of Champaign, and when the rondeau finished, the garland, which had not been made according to the size of the hero's head, fell over his nose, and terminated the feast in the most satisfactory manner After supper, dancing recommenced, and was continued to a very late hour; but all on a sudden, a lodger, dressed with a night-cap and a cotton dressing-gown, presented himself in the ball-room, complaining of the noise which was making at such unseasonable hours, and threaten The hall was stripped of its furniture to make a dancing room, and the orchestra, which was composed of two musicians from the Circus, was placed, to give room, into the seat of an open window. It was chiefly in the decoration of the dining ing to quit the house the next day. Monsieur much harshness; and I could not forbear telling this lawyer to recollect all that he had said and sung the preceding evening in honour of his father-in-law. The case is altered," replied he, day it was his birth-day." Moussinot, by the advice of his wife thought better to put an end to the evening's entertainment, and accordingly wished his guests a good night. left the room the last, not being able to withstand the amusement 1 found in the embarrass-coldly. "There is time for all things. Yesterment of the good man, who could find neither his night-cap or slippers; and for want of his bed, which had been taken down, he was obliged to sleep on a sofa; fatigue, however, and plenty of Champaign, made him accommodate himself to these inconveniences with a very good grace; I expected a different behaviour the next day. In effect, by seven o'clock, the storm arose between the wedded pair, and what was extraordi. nary, the husband's voice was as loud as that of his wife. I did not want a pretence to be present at this fracas, the cause of which I was previously acquainted with, and of which I was desirous of seeing the result. When I arrived, the servant, with her eyes half closed by sleep, was picking up in the diningroom, the several remains of glasses and plates which had been broken the preceding evening. Moussinot, with a face as red as fire, was walking from one room to another, and every new object augmented his rage; nothing could be more laughable or incoherent than his conversation. “Twenty-two empty bottles! Can it be possible? See, see, my curtains are all torn! that calico cost one hundred and ten sous the yard! and those holes in the wainscot to place their cursed music stands! My account books, my cartons; where have they stowed them? That crazy Descourtils!"-"Do, pay some attention," screamed out Madame Moussinot, from her cham ber. "What do you say, M. Guillaume? How happy a woman must be with such a husband?" "Hey, Madame," replied Moussinot; "why tell me yesterday that I was the best husband in the world?"-" Because it was your birth-day." did you "It was your birth-day"-This sentence, both the mistress and the servant alternately made use of as an excuse against all the reproaches of M. Moussinot these words, which I also made use of to appease him, as I entered, caused him to make the queerest grimace I ever saw on a hu man countenance. This first scene was only the prelude to what was to come: those who had furnished every thing for the last evening's entertainment came in crowds, each holding his bill in his hand. Moussinot cried out against the price of every article. "It was your birth-day," cried out all the workmen, in full chorus. "We were pressed for time, and Monsieur would not wish us to work for nothing." The bills then were paid, without the workmen abating a single farthing. To complete the farce, M. Bernard, accompanied by a tip-staff, came to notice the judgment he had obtained against the best of fathers; Madame Moussinot treated her son-in law with When M. Bernard was gone, I tried to make my two neighbours listen to reason: Monssinot acknowledged how much he owed to his wife and his friends for their kind intentions; but he persisted, very reasonably, that they might have amused themselves at less expence; that disorder and profusion was not pleasure, and that a truc domestic entertainment ought to be without end. Madame Moussinot, on her side, confessed that she had been ambitious to do like other people; she wished their little fete to be spoken of, and she had therefore less consulted her own feelings than her vanity. The married folks now embraced each other, and promised to enjoy themselves in future with less ostentation; and I took my leave, thoroughly convinced, that if ever the gratification of vanity made any one really happy, that person was no better than a fool or a madman. GUILLAUME THE FREE SPEAKER. ACCOUNT OF AN AUTOMATON EX- The speaking automaton in London, now draws many spectators to view the extraordinary specimen of human skill: as the process employed in figures seeming to speak, is well known to be effected by certain tubes which have a communication with separate apartments, we think the action of automatons far superior to that of borrowed speech, and the following account will, we doubt not, be entertaining to our readers. "The press to which this automaton is fixed, is about three feet and an half in height. It is placed on four rollers, by means of which it can be safely transported from one place to another. Behind this press is a figure, as large as life, dressed in the Turkish habit, seated on a wooden chair, which is attached to the body of the press, and moves with it when it is wheeled into the apartment. This figure leans on its right elbow on the table, which forms the base of the press, and holds in its left hand a long Turkish pipe, and seems in the act of smoking. It is with this hand that it plays, when the pipe is taken away. Before the automaton is a chess-board placed on a table. M. de Kempelen, the owner of this piece of machinery, opens the press doors, and takes out a drawer which is underneath, and the press is divided by a kind of partition in two unequal parts, that to the left is the narrowest, near three parts narrower than the other, and it is filled with wheel-work, levers, cylinders, and other pieces of clock-work; in that towards the right, are some wheels, some little barrels, with springs, and two-fourths are of horizontal circles; the vacant part is filled up by a box, a cushion, and a tablet, on which are characters traced in gold. The inventor takes out the case or box, and places it on a little table near the machine; he does the same by the tablet. The front doors of the press being opened, he opens those behind, so that the wheels are all displayed, and a wax light is brought that all the crevices may be open to inspection. They then lift up the caftan of the automaton, and unbind the head, in order to display completely the interior structure, and to shew all the wheels and levers which are within the automaton, and to prove that no living being can act with more seeming intelligence. After having allowed every one to take time in examining it, they close the doors of the press, and place it behind a railing, in order to prevent the speculators from shaking the machine, by Teaning on it while the automaton plays, and also to leave a place for the exhibiter to walk at his ease, as he approaches by times the press, either on the right or on the left: though without touching it except sometimes to wind up the springs. It appears difficult to conceive what communication there can possibly be between the machine and the table, or between the machine and the box, to which, however, the inventor frequently has recourse during the time the automaton is at play. Many have been prompted to helieve, that this box is only a stratagem to take off the attention of the spectators: but M. de Kempelen affirms, that this box is so indispensably requisite to the mechanism of his automaton, that without it it could not play, and if he should be disposed to reveal the secret, the world would soon be convinced of the truth of what he advances. "If the automaton plays with the left hand, it is through the carelessness of the inventor. When it gives a check to the queen, it bows the head twice, and three times when it checks the king. If a false move is made, it shakes its head, repairs the fault, and continues the game. ORIENTAL CORNELIAN. The Parisians are now employed in discussions on a very curious oriental cornelian, bearing an exact likeness of Louis XVI. which was discovered in the stone by a M. Paradis, in 1800. Some attest it to be a natural production, others say it is not possible. The stone in question is about two inches and an half in length, and one inch and an half in breadth. It was found amongst a number of other cornelians. When first M. Paradis saw it, he thought he discovered something extraordinary. He bought it, and gave it into the hands of a skilful polisher, and watched the progress of his work. What was their astonishment, in discovering a perfect resemblance of the head of Louis XVI. surmounted by rays of glory! without one having been traced, the portrait being formed only of the veins and undulations of the stone, In 1812, M. Paradis shewed this prodigy to M. Lesage, director of the mint, who declared he had never beheld any thing so wonderful. Several persons waited on M. Paradis to see the stone, which became an object of public curiosity and admiration. The police, on being informed of these visits, took umbrage at || them, visited the proprietor, examined the stone, and forbade him to shew it again. The back part of the head of Louis XVI. represents an old man with a long beard, if regarded in one certain point of light. If a part of this beard is covered, it represents the exact features of Henry IV. Considerable sums have been offered M. Paradis for this precious gem; but he has preserved it with the most scrupulous care, in the intention, sooner or later, to lay it at the feet of the royal family: his wishes have been crowned with success; the Duchess of Angouleme has been pleased to accept it, and has thanked M. Paradis in the most honourable and flattering manner. FRENCH BEGGARS. There are a set of beggars at Paris, who excite “When the game is finished, the tablet is placed the public charity in an extraordinary manner; on the chess-board; and the automaton satisfies the assembly, by answering their questions, in pointing with his finger to each different letter requisite to announce his replies. These these mendicants do not offer to the eye the loathsome and repellant spectacle of people covered with rags, and displaying revolting infirmities or hideous deformities, but they appear always in "The most able mechanists in Germany have clean linen, a good-looking outward garment, not yet been competent to the discovery of the agent and with an air of gentility, while they are disemployed to direct the motions of the automa- tinguished by the manner in which they address ton: there is no perceptible manner of the inven- their supplications to the passers by. tor's influence on the machine. They have not select beggars generally address themselves to the failed, amongst many other conjectures, to attri-ladies. Their manner, though meek and plainbute it to the force of magnetism: but in order to do away that opinion, M. de Kempelen gives permission to any one to place on the machine the most well tempered and heavy loadstone they please, without fearing that this astonishing piece of mechanism will receive the least alteration." tive, is not mean; it is the moving accent of misfortune, and not the importunate plaint of beggary; and thanks to the perfection to which they have attained, the trade of a beggar hás become a science.-One of the masters of this art, useful, because he feeds his master, stopped me yesterday on the boulevard Poissoniere. "Sir," said he, with a plaintive voice, and downcast Another class of beggars will say, when a gentleman refuses them, saying he has nothing but gold-"Ah! Sir, when a person has gold and charity, change is easily found." BIRTHS, A TRAVELLER. In Newman-street, in the 74th year of her age, Elizabeth, the wife of Benjamin West, Esq. President of the Royal Academy. In the death of this excellent woman, her afflicted relatives have respectively to lament a faithful wife and an affectionate parent her friends an object of their warmest regard, and the world a female whose undeviating integrity and benevolence of disposition have rarely been equalled. In the Island of Jamaica, William Clowes, Esq. of his Majesty's ship the North Star. This much valued young man fell a victim to the climate at the early age of 23 years. Mrs. Finch, wife of Mr. William Finch, of the Edgware-road, and sister to Mr. Ebers, bookseller, Old Bond-street.. At Falmouth, on board his Majesty's ship Weymouth, aged 23, Mrs. Thurston, wife of Mr. Thurston, surgeon, Gibraltar. Lately at Kingston poor-house, of an illness which had for some time been gradually bringing him to his end, John Harcomb, formerly of Portchester. This unfortunate young man exhibits, in an extraordinary degree, the frailties of human nature, and the follies of dissipated youth. The lady of the Rev. R. Massie, of Chester, of|| In early life he was articled to a most respectable Solicitor at Portsea; but on considerable pro a son. At Withenshaw Hall, the lady of T. W. Tat-perty falling to him, he launched forth into all tou, Esq. of a daughter. those improprieties which will soon reduce the At Thorp-Arch Hall, the lady of Colonel Gos- most extensive patrimony, and the possessor to sip, of a son. MARRIED. Jobu Serancke, Esq. 4th Regiment of Dragoon Guards, eldest son of Francis Carter Seranck, Esq. of Hatfield, to Lucy, third daughter of Samuel Newbould, Esq. of Bridgefield, Sheffield. comparative misery. When this money was spent, he entered as a private in the 10th Hussars. After having served in this capacity for some time, another occurrence placed him again in affluence. He now instead of a private, figured as an officer, and not having profited by experience, resorted to his former ways, kept hunters, &c. spent all his money, sold his commission, and again enlisted as a private in his former regiment, in which capacity he breathed his last, almost unknown, without a single friend of his prospeAt St. Martin's in the Fields, Mr. W. Arm-rity appearing at his bedside to soothe his last strong, late of the Royal Navy, to Miss Margaret Meighan, of Brighton. At Mary-le-bonne Church, by the Rev. R. H. Chapman, J. Borland, Esq. to Miss Elizabeth Dymond, of Topsham, Devon. DIED. At his seat, Slindon House, Sussex, the Right Hon. James Anthony Radcliff, Earl of Newburgh. His Lordship was grandson of James Radcliffe, second Earl of Derwentwater, by Lady Mary Tudor, natural daughter of Charles the Second. Dying without issue, the title devolves to his first cousin, Francis Eyre, Esq. of Hassop, Derbyshire, whose mother, Lady Mary Radcliffe,|| was sister to the deceased Earl's father. The whole of his Lordship's estates, on the Countess of Newburgh's death descend to the presentEarl's family. At his seat, Amesbury Hall, Wilts, in consequence of a fall from his horse while hunting, John Rowland Bloxam, Esq. aged 74. moments. The Dowager Lady Kensington, at Haverfordwest, at a very advanced age. Aged 56, Mr. William Fieldwick, many years a respectable inhabitant of Hackney. In Southampton-street, Strand, Mr. James Bell, of North End, Fulham, aged 82. At Geneva, the Most Noble John, Marquis of Bute, Earl of Windsor, &c. He was born June 20, 1744. At Simson's Town, Cape of Good Hope, Rear Admiral George Dundas, the Commissioner of the Navy at that station. At Hereford, aged 64, Mr. Henry Jones, solicitor. At Stoneyford, Francis Bradley, aged 104. At Foeslase, Cardiganshire, Jane Harry, aged 105.-At Dyffry Paith, in the same county, John Davies, aged 108. London: Printed by and for J. BELL, sole Proprietor of this MAGAZINE, and Proprietor of the WEEKLY MESSENGER, Corner of Clare-court, Drury-lane. |