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his merciful regards from you; he is still looking wistfully and af549 fectionately for your return. He did not wait until Peter looked on him with an eye of penitence, before he looked on Peter with an eye of pity. He does not wait until you repent; he freely offers his "preventing grace" to enable you to repent. He does not content himself with calling home his wandering sheep, but he seeks those that are lost; and when he has found them, he carries them home " on his shoulders rejoicing." Can you really believe this without saying from your heart, "Draw me, and I will run after thee;" «Turn thou us, good Lord, and so shall we be turned." If I address any whose heart convicts him that by life and conversation he has denied him whose name he bears, (and remember that every forbidden act is unquestionably an act of denial,) to him I would most affectionately say, let this be diate resource; fix your thoughts and your heart earnestly and steadily your immeupon your Redeemer, for he, and he alone, has both the will to restore your soul, and to reconcile you to your heavenly Father. power and the Let this be your instant, fervent prayer: "Lord, look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name." Your wanderings cannot have been too wide, your sins too heinous, your denials too repeated or too aggravated, to hinder the effect of that look of power, that look of guidance, that look of love: through the influence of divine grace, it will not only speak to your heart, but change your heart, and bring you in penitence and contrition back to the fold from which you have wandered.

'Observe, in conclusion, the immediate effects of Peter's repentance: "he went out and wept bitterly." He no longer remained enemies of his Lord; he instantly forsook a scene of so much temptaamong the tion, and to him of so much sin. We are not again told that he continued "warming himself in the high priest's palace," or "waiting to see the end." That single glance of power from the eye of his Redeemer had driven Satan from his prey, and dissolved the chains which he had wound about his captive; the "snare was broken, and he was delivered."

'My beloved brethren, if you are really in earnest in your penitence, this also will be your course; you will immediately and for ever forsake those scenes, and those habits, and those companions, who have induced you to deny your Lord; cost what it may, of ease, or pleasure, or comfort, like Peter, you will instantly go out from them; worlds would not tempt you back to tread that path of danger from which, by the preventing grace of God, you have been so mercifully extricated. But although the first proof, this was not the only proof of Peter's penitence. "He went out and wept bitterly;" not in expiation of his sin, for all the tears which sinning, suffering mortality has ever shed, are utterly unavailing to wash away the faintest trace of guilt; he wept from very bitterness, from anguish of soul, that he had so deeply offended One so gracious and so merciful. He was assured of his forgiveness, for that look had told him that no anger lingered in that pure and perfect bosom. But did this thought arrest his tears? No; it was this which bade them doubly flow; he could hear his master say, you have denied me and disgraced me; the tongue of my friend has wounded me far more deeply than all the thorns and nails of my

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enemies ever can; I freely forgive you; I have prayed for you, and this moment demonstrates that I have not prayed in vain; you have escaped the destroyer; go and sin no more.' pp. 182-188.

This is preaching which must come home to the bosoms of all, young and old, learned or illiterate, plebeian or polite. It is 'the voice of the pastor', which the sheep will hear and follow; oratory which conceals itself in the subject, the true idiom of pulpit eloquence.

Art. VII. 1. The Keepsake, for M.DCCC.XXX. Edited by Frederic Mansel Reynolds. 8vo. Price £1. 1s. in silk.

2. Emmanuel: a Christian Tribute of Affection and Duty; for the Year of our Lord 1830. Edited by the Rev. William Shepherd. pp. 340. Price 7s. 6d. in silk. London.

THE Keepsake is worth keeping, as in former years, only

for the sake of its plates; but these deserve for the most part high praise. The frontispiece, Lady G. A. Ellis, is a light and graceful sketch of a beautiful woman, touched by Heath in the very spirit of the original. Stephanoff's designs for Sir Walter Scott's juvenile translation of a German drama, are better than his average: they want expression, but the figure of George of Aspen is vigorously cast and well conceived. Both are well engraved. The subject from the Greek story is by no means equally good. Chalon has two drawings touched with his usual dexterity. In the subject from the Drama, the figures are excellently grouped, but the countenance of the elder female wants dignity; the drapery is rich, and the scenery well managed. Bacon has been more successful in the engraving, than in some other instances. The Prophet of St. Pauls' has one of those characteristic female figures, in antique costume, of which Chalon is patentee. It is a pleasing picture, excellently engraved.

Turner has too brilliant views of Virginia Water-we should have preferred the Lake of Albano. Prout has contributed one of his admirable city views,-a scene in Venice. Cooper has an animated and difficult subject, a Moorish cavalier saving a female from a lion. The horse is excellent, but the king of beasts wants dignity: his hind legs remind us of a monkey's. 'The Bride', from Leslie, has a plump and rather unmeaning countenance, not at all suitable for the frontispiece to a tale of woe; the portrait is, however, beautifully painted and admirably engraved. In Bonington's painting of Francis the First and his sister, we do not quite like the management of the king's figure: the attitude of the lady is novel and clever, Deveria's reposing female figure is a pleasing picture expressively engraved.

Smirke's Lady Pentweazle calling up a look, is a delightful version of an old favourite. We have seen this design roughly criticised somewhere-we are happy to differ from the censurer. That it is broad farce, we admit; but it is not a whit more broad than the original demanded.

Wilkie's fine picture of the Princess Doria washing the feet of the pilgrims,furnishes the subject of an excellent plate by Charles Heath.

Upon the whole, the selection of the subjects, as well as the execution of the plates, does high credit to the Editor of this splendid Annual; and were the literary matter of corresponding quality, it would be entitled to take the lead; but the contributions do not rise above a patrician mediocrity.

We must now, agreeably to our promise, advert more specifically to the embellishments of some of the volumes noticed in our last Number. Those of the Amulet, we have already stated to be of a very superior order of merit, and they will be among the favourites of the print-shops. An enormous sum has been lavished upon the engravings, but we cannot say that the execution is uniformly in correspondence to the price given. The frontispiece, the Minstrel of Chamouni', is a rich picture exceedingly well engraved. We cannot help wishing, however, that the rich painting and skilful tooling had been bestowed upon a more agreeable countenance. We do not know how it is, but we do not fancy Mr. Pickersgill's beauties. The Cru'cifixion' is striking and thoroughly Martinesque; but there is no discrimination in the figures, and the grouping is commonplace. The engraving has certainly nothing so super-excellent about it as to warrant the extravagant sum which is said to have been paid to the artist. The plate, nevertheless, will please the public, and so far answer the Editor's purpose. There are, however, far better things in the Amulet. For instance, the 'Sisters of Bethany' is a bit of the old school, reminding us rather of Ludovico Caracci: the countenance of Our Saviour is mild and dignified, though somewhat deficient in intellectual expression; the figure of Martha is graceful; and the whole composition is finely conceived. The Dorty Bairn', though not one of Wilkie's most interesting designs, is good and expressive; and the engraver has done justice to the painting. The Gleaner' is a highly finished picture, beautifully engraved: the countenance is extremely sweet and pleasing. In the Pe'dagogue', the figure of Mrs. Page is almost too graceful for the merry wife of Windsor', while the face of Sir Hugh is rather too fierce and silly, and does not exhibit the genuine humour of the naif Welch parson: still, the design is Smirke all over. The Italian Scene from Uwins, is a beautiful picture; but the engraver has not done justice to the richness or expres

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sion of the original. The Fisherman's Children' is a simple but well treated subject, cleverly engraved. Preparing for the Festa', is a rich plate, but rather a common-place design. 'The 'Anxious Wife' is an interesting design, though not of the highest order of the class in which Mulready is unrivalled: it is excellently engraved by Engleheart. Taking the interest of the subjects into consideration, the Amulet is second to none of the Annuals in its embellishments this year.

The Forget-me-not is better got up as to the engravings, than in former years, although it cannot compete with some of its rivals. Wilkie's Spanish Princess, by Graves, is a rich and characteristic print; but the striking beauty celebrated in the illustrative poetry, is not very perceptible in the engraving. Of the Place de Jeanne d'Arc', it is enough to say, that it is drawn by Prout, and engraved by Le Keux. Gaugain's Flower Girl, by Robinson, is a characteristic figure and an excellent plate. The Land Storm is a well rendered plate, from a clever and spirited design by Clennell. Stephanoff's Exile is spoiled by the affectation of the design, though the engraving does credit to Portbury. We are getting rather tired of Mr. Stephanoff: he should study simplicity and variety,-in a word, nature. Chisholme's 'Orphan Family' is the promising effort of (we hope) a young man, well engraved by Davenport. In Collins's 'Tempting Moment', the story is well told, but it is wanting in rich humour: considerable and effective pains have been bestowed upon the plate by Shenton. Owen's 'Greenwich Hos'pital', by Wallis, is too crowded. The Death of the Dove' is a pretty design by Stewardson, engraved by Finden. Shipwreck, by Smart, from Reinagle, is well conceived, but not well managed. The Ghaut', from Daniell, is a clever composition of plantains and palms with native figures, by Finden. Retsch's Undine, we mention last, as being worth all the rest,-a fine original design from a most singular tale. The fine knightly figure of Hulbrand striding through the torrent, with the wild, beautiful, tricksy water-nymph in his arm, is admirable; the old fisherman is in good style; and the grim smile of Kuhleborn is in admirable character with the mischievous glance of Undine. Warren has given an admirable expression of the picture.

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The Literary Souvenir has for its frontispiece, Mrs. Siddons, in the character of Lady Macbeth, from one of the finest productions by Harlowe, well engraved by Rolls. There is a rich portrait of the Hon. Miss Fox, from Leslie, and one of Viscountess Belgrave, from Sir Thomas Lawrence. The Brigand's Cave is a well managed and characteristic design by Uwins, beautifully engraved by Rolls. Jacob's Dream, by Goodall, from a painting by Allston, in the possession of Lord Egremont, is more splendid' than happy in the conception. Ste

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phanoff's 'Discovery' has not had justice done to it by the engraver. Chalon has a very grotesque and dramatic groupe of figures, La fille bien gardée'. The Sale of the Pet Lamb, from Collins, is a beautiful little print. There is a gorgeous landscape, the Tournament', from Martin, and a classical Oberon ' and Titania', from Howard.

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The Iris seems to have been entrusted to young hands, and we regret that we can bestow only very modified praise upon its embellishments. The Madonna and Child, from Morillo, by Graves, is a creditable plate; but there is a want of precision in parts, which is perhaps meant to imitate the fleecy style in which the artist sometimes painted,-though we have seen something like it in other works of this engraver, where he had not the same excuse. The vignette is an interesting half-figure of Christ, by Humphreys, from Carlo Dolce. There is a Claude, by Smith, which we are compelled to pronounce black and coarse. The Infant Christ with Flowers', from Carlo Dolce, by Sangster; the attitude of the figure is by no means particularly graceful, nor does the engraving happily express the style of Carlo. The Magdalen' too, gives us nothing of Carlo's gloss and glow. The best imitation, by the burin, of this artist's peculiar manner, is a Madonna, by Bartolozzi. Christ expounding the Law', by Smith, from Da Vinci,-is, loose and raw. We can speak in no higher terms of Raddon's Incre'dulity of Thomas, from Ludovico Caracci. The Raising of Lazarus', from a scarce and celebrated print, by John Lievens, is a singular and striking, though not a very pleasing composition, exceedingly well engraved by Warren. Christ in Gethsemane', from an antique';-the figure is strangely elongated, and reminds us of Bellini; the effect is cold and hard; nor is there any landscape accompaniment to relieve and har monise. Yet, Correggio has evidently been indebted to it for the hint of his celebrated 'Agony', in the National Collection. St. John in the Wilderness', from Carlo Cignani, by Ensom; -the head is vulgar, but original and expressive; the attitude, happy; the engraving good, but unequal. Hagar and Ishmael', taken, we suppose, from the large print by Garavaglia, is a promising engraving by Smith. The idea of selecting the subjects from the old masters, was in itself a happy one; yet, it should have occurred to the Editor, that their works require to be rendered by the burin with very peculiar care and feeling. Besides which, the qualities of high merit to which they owe their celebrity, are not always of a nature to be obvious to persons who have not made the arts their study. The public will judge of a print chiefly as pleasing or unpleasing; and the name of Carlo Dolce, or Caracci, or Correggio, will not be accepted as an apology for impropriety in treating a subject, whatever

VOL. II.-N.S.

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