clusion that the Ottoman nation is the bitterest enemy to the human race, and the severest scourge that ever was sent by Providence to chastise mankind."

BALLAD.

(For the Olio.)

The morn look'd down wi' sklentin light
On Lomond's misty pow,
As I gaed o'er his weary height

To meet my winsome jo:
The snaw-flake drifted o'er the lea,
And o'er each mountain's brow,
But nought I ween could hinder me
Frae gaun to meet my jo, man.
Frae gaun to meet my jo.

Fu' dreary pass'd the time alang,
Nae footstep press'd the ground,
Nae birdie charm'd me wi' his sang,
But grim night hapt me round;
And soon each silver twinkling star
Withdrew its friendly glow,
And breezes seem'd to shriek afar,
Aw' stark and cauld's thy joe, man.
Aw' stark and cauld's thy jo.

Alas! the wind's prophetic sigh

Too true a story tauldMy Jenny's corse soon caught my eye, Aw' lonesome, stark, and cauld: Her sweet blue een nae langer gleam'd 'Wi' love's resplendent glow, And wild her raven tresses stream'd, Congeal'd wi' wreaths o' snaw, man. Congeal'd wi' wreaths o' snaw. T. F.

Fine Arts.

BRITISH SCHOOL OF PAINTING.

THE HISTORICAL SCHOOL.
(For the Olio.)

JAMES BARRY, R. A.

It is always a source of deep regret, when genius and capriciousness of temper, or eccentricity, are blended together. Some say, that madness and genius, or genius and madness are akin : we know not how this maxim may hold good, but we can enumerate many an ornament and genius of this and other countries, that will set it aside, though we confess we also can mention many who have been called_madmen, yet men of genius. The great Dr. Johnson was unquestionably a man of genius, and at the same time he unquestionably was a madman, or as he at all times was called-a bear. Milton was a genius, but we know no act of his life that had any appearance of insanity. And above all, the greatest genins which has ever appeared in any country-Shakspeare, he was madman, neither was Pope, Dryden, nor Addison. In painting, neither Reynolds nor West, though Fuseli strongly tinctured with the disorder, as

no

was

also was Gainsborough, and he was not unaptly called Tom-o'-Bedlam.'

When these two impedients, genius and eccentricity, are attached, it is unfortunate, both for the individual and the world; whereby the latter is deprived of many a beautiful production, either in literature, the fine arts, or the sciences, which lies enbedded in the mind of the former; and this unhappy trait of character was in part the great barrier against the success of the highly talented, but ill-fated, James Barry, R. A. He was a man endowed with great powers of mind, strong enthusiasm, and love of his art; but, his pettishness, his irritability, frustrated every good intention of his dearest and best friends, and they one by one dropped from him, and he died a victim to poverty and most abject wretchedness. Barry's greatest fault was, a false notion of independence, a notion at times carried to the utmost extreme; and when we consider that a mind like his, which could dive, and illustrate by facts and arguments, the progress of causes and effects, that could both defend his art beyond controversy, and lash his enemies with the bitterness of a Pope, it certainly is a matter of wonder, that such a philosophic mind should not have been conscious, how in a certain degree we are dependant upon one another, no man need be a continual suppliant or sycophant, yet there are favours and assistances, which we cannot do without, and those who should attempt it will meet with the same fate as Barry's, let him be ever so great a genius. Man cannot stand alone. He must through life be more or less dependant upon his fellow men. It is when a man, to obtain riches, praise and every worldly advantage, descends to cringe and flatter, and receive favours from those, perhaps, whom he detests, to "bow" and turn up the "white of his een," like Sir Pertinax; it is then that every honest heart must despise so weak and so mean a creature, and glory in their independence. But there never was any occasion for Barry to degrade himself in this manner:

he refused the smallest tokens of friendship, which it is common to our nature in every state and stage of life to receive, and which men of riches and good feeling consider their bounden duty to bestow upon the unprotected and pennyless genius. His first appearance in the

world as an artist occurred in a remark

* Success, so far as regards pecuniary advantages, but as to his profession, he was eminently successful.

able way, in a manner which at once demonstrated his character.

Barry was born in the city of Cork, where he received a very liberal education, but that city had no school of painting, and nothing beyond a house-painter was known; and yet in despite of every disadvantage naturally arising from a want of any direct instructions, he designed and painted a picture, which immediately proclaimed him to be possessed of no common abilities, and also procured him the patronage and support of several of the leading men of Ireland. As he could derive little or no benefit from the exhibition of his picture at Cork; he, accompanied by a friend and schoolfellow, proceeded to Dublin, where he arrived on the eve of an exhibition of a society, the mother of our Society of Arts, at the Adelphi, and going to their rooms without even a solitary letter of recommendation, and in company only of his friend, he at once obtained his request to have his picture placed for exhibition. When the exhibition opened, all eyes were fixed upon the Baptism of the King of Cashell, for that was the name of his painting. The applause was general, and the company were at a loss who could be the artist, never having heard of Barry before, and when he proclaimed himself as the painter, he was treated with derision, and considered as an impostor; for his youth, being then no more than nineteen, and boyish appearance, indicated no such capabilities. The society at whose exhibition he had thus suddenly shone so conspicuously, voted him the sum of £20, and three eminent members of the Irish Commons bought the picture, and presented it to the House as an honour to Ireland; but unfortunately, it is now no longer in existence, having been consumed by the fire that destroyed the Dublin House of Parliament.

From this time also must be dated the commencement of that friendship between Barry and Burke, which so much redounds to the honor of the latter. Burke immediately offered all the assistance in his power to enable him to reach London, and it was on this occasion that Barry first showed that obstinacy and independence, by refusing assistance of any kind, and he did not come to London till he had earned a sufficiency by his own exertions, which was nearly a twelvemonth. Burke also induced him to visit Italy, where the vast powers of Barry's genius were fully developed by the study and contemplation of those relics of antiquity, and the remains of those specimens of Italy's golden days,

which still renders that classic country so dear to real lovers of art and literature. After five years absence he returned to England, and claimed the admiration of the public by his productions founded on the model of the antique, yet possessing that degree of originality, that he could not be accused of mannerism, or being a mere copyist. He was chosen professor of painting to the Academy, and in that office, he attempted to model a real Historical School of Painting; but what are the efforts of the greatest genius if not ably supported? He endeavoured to reason with his fellow Academicians, to appropriate some part of the accumulating fund derived from their exhibitions, to the purchase and establishment of a gallery of choice paintings from the Old Masters, for the benefit of the students. This was a request, which was but reasonable, and to be expected from such a mind, but his fellow academicians, at least the majority, were not gifted with the same powers of mind and ardent love of their profession; for, from this magnanimous attempt to embody all that was excellent for the benefit and advantage of rising future artists, and for the honour of the country-he was expelled the Academy! C. H.

To be continued.

The Note Book.

THE MARINER'S COMPASS.

The mariner's compass is thought to have been made use of by the Christians in the crusade in 1248, in which St. Louis, King of France, was engaged. It is expressly mentioned and described by Cardinal James of Vitri, in 1220, and by Goyot of Provence, in 1200, under the name of the magnetic needle. The French pretend, from the flower de luce marked upon it, that it was their invention. This symbol might be added, and its use rendered general by the French in these crusades, though it was discovered a little before, not by John Goias of Melfi, in the 14th age (as some have mistaken), but by Flavius Gioias of Malfi, in 1013, as is proved by others. This Amalfi, or Malfi, is an archiepiscopal city on the sea coast, sixteen miles from Salerno: it has been confounded with Melfi, a town situate between Naples and Tarento, ninety miles from each. The variation or declination of the needle from its true meridian was noticed by Columbus, in his voyage to America; and that the variation itself fluctuated, was discovered by Muir, in 1612. The dip, or inclination of the needle to point below the horizon, was first noticed by Norman in 1581.

H.B.

CITY SPLENDOUR.

Henry Pritchard who was Lord Mayor of London in 1356, had the honour of entertaining at his table at the same time, his own sovereign, Edward the Third; the King of Cyprus; John, King of France; and David, King of Scots, both prisoners of war; Edward, Prince of Wales, and a long train of nobility, &c. Such an assemblage of royalty and rank, probably never before or since graced the table of a British subject,

H. B. A.

THE PRACTISE OF FLEDGING.

The custom of pledging people while they were drinking, had its origin in this country soon after it had been reduced by the Danes, who would sometimes stab a native in the act of drinking; the Saxons therefore, would not drink in company, unless some one present would be their pledge of security, that they should receive no hurt. Others date it from the death of King Edwin, son of Edgar, who was, by the contrivance of Elfrida, his step-mother, barbarously stabbed in the back, as he was drinking." Hob_nob" is supposed to be derived from the Saxon "hobben," to have, and "nobben," to want.

The festival of the_Bairam nearly answers to that of the Easter, as celebrated by the Greek church. It is remarkable that the Turks eat lamb" during this season. On the first Friday of this festival the Sultan goes in immense state, and amid the thundering of cannon from the ships and forts to the mosque. The Baïram lasts for forty days, and is a season of rejoicing and indulgence, after the privations of Lent or Ramazan, both to Turk and Greek. It is amusing to behold the Greeks, upon an evening during this period, wrestling, boxing, pitching the bar, and throwing the pallum, in the manner described by the ancient writers as prevailing in this city. Thus the supple Greek wrestler oils his limbs, and rolls himself in the sand, and the player at the pallum guards his hand with a thick piece of leather; the boxer continues to wield the cestus, and to inflict dreadful blows upon his adversary, whose face yields token of the cutting edge of the metal glove. The Turks have forbidden the use of the cestus, but it still continues in vogue.

* Captain Frankland's Travels.

GEORGE THE SECOND,

H. B.A.

Retained a German manner of pronunciation to the last; amongst his peculiarities was one of changing the letter p into the more rotund and sober b; and this was sometimes productive of laughable equivoque-for instance. A certain nobleman, not very celebrated for the sharpness of his own intellect, resolved, if possible, to gain a reputation for encouraging that quality in others by patronizing literary men. Accordingly, he one day introduced a person, who had written a poem of very doubtful merit, to the notice of his majesty, who commanded the trembling author to read his production. At the conclusion of the piece, which was a mass of turgid and bombastic rant, Lord turned to the king, and respectfully inquired," If his majesty did "Bathetic," not think it very pathetic ?" returned the king, as if willing to say something in its praise : "Bathetic! Why the boem is full of bathos!" Whether

this sally was intentional or not, we cannot take upon ourselves to say, but certain it is that both the boet" and his " batron" slunk off in dismay, amidst the scarcely suppressed laughter of the surrounding courtiers, who all coincided with his majesty!!

A PHENOMENON.

J. WOOD.

THIS is the age of autobiography, reminiscences (real and pretended), personal narratives, and confessions; need I, then, apologise for my appearance before the public, when animate and inanimate objects have been made to speak, and have given to the world a profusion of anecdotes and recollections ?-But I abhor prelude as much as digression, and shall, therefore, commence without further preamble, feeling assured that what I have to relate will be found as interesting to the reader as many of the narratives invented by the marvel-dealing personages of this inventive age.

I was born on a fine summer's afternoon, in the garret of a house at a little village in Gloucestershire, and I had no sooner entered this breathing world" than I 2-VOL. IV.

C

found myself in company with three brothers and sisters, to whom my mamma had given birth a few minutes before. We were soon exposed to many annoy ances; first, our whole nest seemed to descend rapidly (for you must remember that our race are blind as moles until the ninth day), and, ere long, it appeared to have reached its destination, for shortly after our family were exposed to the rough handling of a parcel of chubby children. I have often since thought, that at no period are we subjected to rougher treatment than in our infancy. Picture to yourself, gentle reader, a helpless kitten struggling in the grasp of a strong child of two years old, who, regardless of its suffocated cries, almost wrings its devoted head from its body; while the mother, tender soul! in reply to the entreaties of any friend who has some spark of feeling. left, says, with great sang froid, "Oh! let it alone-it amuses him!" Oh, Mr. Martin why wander through miry Smithfield, to watch the doings of that respectable class of men the drovers?Why look with such a searching eye at that feeling and upright body the hackney

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