being too strong and decided for the nights. Sun is man was purity vigy unequal to some of his predecessors in dignity and grandeur, there was no other artist in his line (after the death of Reynolds and Hoppner,) who could advance any pretensions whatever rivalry. JOHN SARTAIN.

GIRL AND FLOWERS.

SHE was one of Nature's Nobles,

With her forehead broad and high;
And the fervent love that sparkled

In her clear and steadfast eye.
She was full of happy fancies
Glancing round her like the light,
And the sunshine of her spirit

Made the Earth and Heavens bright;

And she dwelt afar from cities

In her grandsire's princely halls, 'Midst the shades of rocky mountains And the sound of waterfalls;

And her infant footsteps wander'd

By the brook and through the dell,
And she lived so much with Nature
That she learned to love her well!

For she had no other playmates

Than the birds and bees and flowers,
And she sported gaily midst them
Through the long and summer hours.
And she was the noble heiress

Of broad lands that round her spread,
And the hopes of a long lineage
Centred all on that young head.

SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE, F. R. A.

In the wide range of the history of Artists, there is probably no instance of a genius for painting developing itself so early as in Lawrence; for we find him, when but a mere child, already in the field wielding the crayon and stamping upon paper the lineaments of his elders. Peculiar circumstances combined to bring him favorably forward, before he was of an age to comprehend the difficulties he had to contend with: possessed of a handsome person and a dulcet delivery of speech, he was brought into company by his parents, as a reciter of English poetry; and strongly gifted by nature with a genius for drawing, combined the more lucrative practice of drawing the portraits of his audience. Proceeding step by step, he finally substituted canvas and oil colors for the paper and chalks. When we reflect on the gradual development of the talents of most artists under the theoretic guidance of a master, we cannot contemplate these early pictures without a degree of wonder, as they possess many high qualities of art, an exquisite taste, and a boldness of handling, which sets criticism at defiance. But like all precocious geniuses, the after career of the man cannot be said to have realized the promised excellence of childhood; he had painted almost by instinct; and when reason and a knowledge of the rules of high art came to his aid, he was unable to divest himself entirely of the pernicious effects of early habits. Thus the great misfortune of Lawrence was that he painted too soon; his reasoning faculties did not keep pace with his intuitive facility of execution; with more thought and less precocity, his high reputation would have been more enduring, and with more confidence might he be classed with the illustrious masters of the art.

Lawrences' style of drawing is light and elegant, captivating in its contour, and practical in its effect, but with a tendency to feebleness; it breathes the very elements of his mind, gentleness and amiability. The rude but vivid forms and etchings of Rembrandt display a wealth, a poetry of imagination, such as found no similarity in any touch of Lawrence's. The portraits of Reynolds too speak the mind of the man, deep, reflective, and vigorous; his men partake, in feature and attitude, of the solidity and squareness of their sex, his female portraits beam with the modesty and grace of nature, and his children are the perfection of simplicity and infantine joyousness. But the portraits of Lawrence-men, women, and children-partake of the reigning fashion of the day. His men are courtiers; his women the slaves of fashion, glittering in ornament; his children, the heirs of coronets and titles, the tools and pupils of the dancing-master.

Lawrence had three distinct styles in his manner of painting: his first before settling in London; his second, during the lifetime of Reynolds; his third, a style between his first and second, the one in which he continued to paint till his death. There was a finish and brilliancy in his works peculiarly his own; the effect in most of his pictures is somewhat forced, from the shadows being too strong and decided for the lights. Still his manner was perfectly original, and although unequal to some of his predecessors in dignity and grandeur, there was no other artist in his line, (after the death of Reynolds and Hoppner,) who could advance any pretensions whatever to rivalry.

JOHN SARTAIN.

AMERICAN ECLECTIC

AND

MUSEUM OF LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART.

MARCH, 1843.

AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF HUMAN INDUSTRY.
Translated from the "Journal des Travaux de la Sociéte Française de Statistique Universelle."

INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

vary the geometrical and symmetrical form of its cells; the beaver, without the rules THE subsequent article is from the pen of M. of architecture, constructs with solidity, Cesar Moreau, Director of the French Society of its regular habitation; the spider always Universal Statistics, Member of the French In-weaves its web in the same manner; the stitute, etc. Our readers will discover in it the results of much learned research, on topics of interest to the public. ED.

cocoons of silk-worms all resemble each other, in form and workmanship; the young swallow is quite as skilful as its mother, in WHAT is human industry? It is not a the construction of its nest; the nightinscience; it existed before all the sciences, gale does not teach its young the art of and it borrows from them now, its most uttering melodious sounds; why does not valuable resources. It is not an art; all arts, the formica-leo, crouching patiently at the all talents owe their rise to industry. It is extremity of a tunnel of light sand, awaitnot genius; it has neither its fire, nor its ing there, with indefatigable perseverance, light, nor its rapid step. What then is hu- the imprudent insect, which may chance to man industry? It is an intellectual faculty, fall into the snare, why does it not attempt which, on one side, impelled by interest or some more active and more expeditious necessity, on the other, aided by medita- stratagem? The power of flying among tion, judgment, imagination, and very often birds, the art of swimming among fishes, by chance, connects effects and their causes, the instinct which leads the duck, just escalculates means and their products, com-caped from the shell, to forsake the wings bines the properties of bodies and substan- of the brooding hen and fly to the water, ces, and draws from them the elements, of and so many other wonders, the sight of which are composed the processes of invention in all kinds of utility, amusement and luxury.

After this definition, there is no longer any parallel to be drawn, between the industry of man and that of animals. The productions of human industry are voluntary, reflective, variable, unlimited, and are not acquired without labor. The industry of animals is blind, forced, necessary, limited, always the same, and without laborious invention. It depends not upon the bee, to VOL. I. No. III.

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which no longer surprises us because our eyes are accustomed to them, all prove to us, that the industry of animals belongs mostly to their physical organization, and that it is rather a gift of nature than the result of their understanding and will.

But let us leave the industry of animals to occupy ourselves with that of man. Let us cast a rapid glance over its different epochs, in order the better to strike off the picture of its efforts, and its progress.

The first epoch, from the first year of the