and with considerable alterations in the groups. The opportunity of restoring to its original state and colossal proportions, this beautiful composition, far more suitable to a consummate artist than a pious princess, and perhaps even better adapted to a sculptor than a painter; the absence of all rivalship in the adoption of the design of him whom all considered as a master; and the means it afforded of employing at the same time the numerous sculptors who were anxious to pay homage to the memory of Canova, all concurred to justify the choice of this model, formed by the hand of Canova himself.'

During the last years of his life, Canova was much occupied with a plan for the erection of a church in his own native village of Possagno. This project grew out of another which he had conceived upon the return of the Pope to Rome from his exile in France. Though totally free from affectation and fanaticism, Canova was deeply and sincerely religious, a quality which seems indeed to be almost implied in the strong sensibility to the beauty and sublimity of nature that constitutes the principle of genius. The extraordinary character of the political revolutions of 1814, considered particularly in their influence on the interests of the church, produced so powerful an impression on his mind, that he was desirous of commemorating them by a work of his own art. He accordingly prepared a model of a statue of Religion, personified under the form of a colossal female figure, of the height of thirty palms, which he intended to execute at his own expense, and erect in some one of the principal churches at Rome.

'By the completion of this design,' says the biographer, 'the present age would have possessed a wonder of art and sublimity to which it has never yet seen anything equal, emanating too solely and spontaneously from the mind of the artist, wholly uninstigated and unaided by extraneous means. All Europe

looked forward to see it adding to the glory of the Vatican, or adorning the magnificent expanse of the Pantheon. Already the model was completed, the marble disposed, and the chisel of the sculptor suspended until the signal of authority should be given by pointing out a place for its reception. It will be for history to explain the causes of the frustration of this devout and magnanimous design; and perhaps it may be found needful to draw a veil over the motives to which it may be traced. Posterity will with difficulty believe, that no place could be found at Rome for the reception of the sacred image of Religion. It is however certain, that the model remained for many years the object of public admiration, a masterly engraving being made from it with the following inscription, Pro felici reditu Pii VII. Pontificis maximi Religionis formam sua impensa in marmore exculpendam Antonius Canova libens fecit et dedicavit; and that finally it was worked in marble, a little above the natural size, by order of Lord Brownlow. The emblem of Catholicism was thus rejected from the Tiber, and found refuge on the banks of the Thames.

'This extraordinary circumstance did not, however, depress the mind of Canova, who, actuated by the deepest religious feelings, had already formed the design of consecrating his fortune and the last efforts of his genius to the commemoration of a period in which the inscrutable decrees of Providence had been so remarkably displayed. That the statue which he had projected for this pious purpose might not be profaned by any less sacred use, he resolved on raising a temple for its reception in his native village, to be enriched with the productions of his chisel; by which means also he would open a perpetual source of prosperity for Possagno, in the concourse of workmen, the visits of strangers, and the expenditure of his entire fortune. The first stone of this sumptuous edifice was accordingly laid in July, 1819, amidst an immense concourse of people, with all the solemnities of religion, and the deep emotions of the assembly. But the artist had not foreseen, that this design would require an infinitely greater expenditure than that of the colossal statue; to supply which it became necessary for him to renew his labors, and to undertake fresh commissions. Accordingly he set about new statues,

groups, and monuments, working incessantly, and with all the ardor of his youthful application; his mind always intent on the great object of his pious wishes. It is not improbable, that this greatly increased exertion, and the mental excitation consequent on it, tended to accelerate the termination of his existence.'

The church, as we learn from one of the preceding extracts, is now nearly completed, and will doubtless be finished by the piety of the friends and patrons of the great sculptor and his art; but what hand is competent to take the place of his in executing the statue which was to have been its principal ornament? It is singular indeed that objections should have been made to the erection of such a monument at Rome. We have no further information whatever respecting their nature, than is given in the above extracts. The model, of which there is an engraving in the work before us, is certainly conceived in the highest style of sublimity; and if executed with the usual felicity of the artist, and on the grand scale which he had intended, would have been perhaps the noblest effort of his chisel and of modern sculpture.

283

SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH.*

[North American Review, October, 1832.]

SINCE the decease of Stewart, Sir James Mackintosh has been generally considered as the first living writer on Moral Philosophy in the English language. Until the publication of the work before us, his reputation as such had not been justified by any extensive, elaborate or scientific work, and was rather imperfectly sustained by his Introductory Lecture on the Law of Nations, by various anonymous publications in the leading periodical journals, and by the fame of his brilliant and powerful conversation. Political and professional pursuits had probably occupied much of the time which he would otherwise have devoted to what seems to have been through life his favorite study. The present volume will not entirely supply the deficiency which was felt before, and hardly does full justice to his great talents and various learning. It is, however, a very interesting and valuable production. We were preparing to give it the notice to which it is so well entitled by its intrinsic importance and the celebrity of the author, when intelligence was received in this country of his untimely death. We call it untimely, for although he was somewhat advanced in years, and had nearly reached the ordinary term of human life, his intellect and literary activity appeared to be

* A General View of the Progress of Ethical Philosophy, chiefly during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. By the Right Honorable Sir JAMES MACKINTOSH, LL. D. F. R. S. M. P. 8vo. Philadelphia. 1832

constantly increasing. This fact had encouraged the expectation that he was destined to enjoy a protracted, fruitful and glorious old age. The lamented event which has disappointed these hopes augments our interest in the work before us, which now remains the only formal record of his mature opinions upon the most momentous of all subjects. Before we proceed to notice it, it may not be improper to offer a brief sketch of the leading events of his life.

Sir James Mackintosh was born in the small parish of Dorish, in the county of Inverness, in Scotland, on the 24th of October, 1765. His family was a branch of one of the principal Highland clans, and his father, who was a captain in the army, had little to bequeath to him but an honorable name. Through the kindness of some of his relations, who discerned the early promise of his future greatness, he was enabled to pursue the studies necessary to a liberal profession; and in the year 1787, he took the degree of doctor of medicine in the university of Edinburgh. Some of our fellow-citizens, who were then pursuing their studies at that seat of learning, recollect him as a youth of ardent curiosity, wide research, engaging manners and brilliant conversation. Although the necessity of providing for his personal wants had compelled him to choose a profession, the superior attractions of polite literature and philosophy prevented him from studying it with any great earnestness, and it is understood that his attention to medicine was little more than formal. He, however, wrote and submitted to the medical faculty, on taking his degree, a Latin dissertation on muscular action, which was probably his first literary production, and which has since been republished. We are not informed in regard to its merit. Soon after leaving the university, he repaired to London, ostensibly for the purpose of practising as a physician.