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AN Italian who happened to be a humourist as well as a poet, had for debtor another humourist, the sum claimed being only three lire (about 2s.). The creditor at stated times demanded his money, but many applications were vainly made, and at each disappointment he uttered his complaint in a piece of most witty and amusing verse. These pieces were the delight of the whimsical debtor, who read them in every company where he happened to be, and the recitations continued to extend the fame of the poet, and put some incidental zecchini's in his purse. This happy order of things endured for years, till one unlucky day, when the debtor, through mere absence of mind, put the three unlucky liré into the poet's hand. It was a most unfortunate occurrence for both parties. The poet being now without a grievance, was dismayed by the desertion of the divine afflatus at the same time. In vain he invoked the muse; he felt himself still master of rhyme and rhythm-the mere shell of the art; but the inward life, the spirit, was not to be found. Some versions of the tale assert that he died from the visitation of the three lire, but this is a piling of the agony not to our

taste.

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her wrongs are redressed by her big sister, and she is robbed of her last grievance. Our only comfort is the great lapse of time that must first intervene, and the certainty that then, as well as now, or even in the days of Horace, some bitter bubbles will continue to arise to the surface. Sir Hyacinth Muldoon, whose existence and well-being depends on the solvability of his Irish tenants, cannot afford to live among them, and do them those good offices which the old chiefs were so ready to extend to their agricultural dependents. He lingers out a lazy and useless existence in London or Paris, and employs a blood relation of Mr. Hopkins (see Miss Edgeworth's Rosanna) screw Farmer O'Shaughnessy's rent up to the starving place." Lady Morgan, after holding up "Sir Muldoon's absenteeism to public hatred and contempt, quits her bower in Kildare Street and ends her days in Piccadilly or its neighbourhood. Donoch O'Brien, of Lower Ormond, writes a book or two on Irish country life, its ups and downs and amenities, its local traditions and legendary lore, and exerts himself to remove illfeelings between the two religious sections of the country. He visits farmers' houses, the parlours of provincial shopkeepers, the book-stalls of the railway-stations, the booksellers' shops in Dublin, Belfast, and Cork; finds everywhere copies of

Whether death, or a moping condition of existence ensued, the tale inspires us with bitter anticipations of the state of our country when all

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the "Lawyer's Disloyal Wife," "The Licentious Robber," "The Deeds of Dick Turpin," "The Soiled Dove," and many another unedifying work; but of "Happy Days by the Bann," scarcely a copy. A native sculptor or painter of undoubted ability, exhibits for a few seasons in Lower Abbey Street. His works are in much esteem, but he cannot attain the honourable position to which he is entitled. He removes to London, and when Irish noblemen and gentlemen find his productions in demand among the English Upper Ten Thousand, they become liberal in their orders. His picture or his bust in Somerset House does not exceed in merit what he exhibited in the Royal Hibernian Academy; but it has been impressed with the London stampatalisman of mighty power.

Are we to blame "Perfidious Albion" for these national annoyances? By no means. Neither does the Queen nor Mr. Gladstone, recommend these books or forbid those. Neither is "Sir Muldoon" ordered, or even requested, to show his face daily at the window of a West-End Club House, nor did Mr. Foley nor Sir M. A. Shee receive the royal command to emigrate. It is all the result of too close proquinquity between the castle and the cabin. Æsop's iron pot had not the slightest ill-feeling (the reverse rather) to his earthen neighbour as they floated down stream. Oliver Goldsmith's giant cherished the dwarf who accompanied him to the wars, but we know well enough how it fared with the little body of flesh and blood, and we also know how it would have fared with the little body of baked earth, if the force of the stream had brought its iron brother into close contact with it.

A valuable work, lately published, confirms and illustrates the correct

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ness of these observations. Daniel Maclise not passed over to London in his youth, he would not have stood while living, in the front rank of British painters, and enjoyed a world-wide celebrity. In his provincial position, he would have attained a respectable name as portrait or historical painter, but he would have lacked the encouragement or inclination to execute those noble works which have secured him so high a rank in the history of British art. Had his lot been cast in Cork or Dublin, his existing fame would never have been attained; but perhaps he would, at this present moment, be enjoying a reputation sufficient for the self-complacency of any reasonable mind, and in addition, the comforts arising from the friendly regard of his co-citizens, the admiration and esteem of his countrymen in general, and that chiefest of worldly possessions - domestic happiness. The sacrifices exacted from one in Maclise's position were too great and too exacting. He satisfied the demands made on him, but he thereby abridged his span of life.

The biography of the great Irish artist could not have fallen into better hands. Mr. O'Driscoll was his school intimate, his boyish companion, and has remained his devoted friend through life. In the course of the narrative his sound æsthetic taste, his judgment, and the qualities which distinguish a good biographer, are evidenced.

Mr. O'Driscoll gives as introduction to his work, a sketch of the Fine Arts in England from the commencement of the last century; but limited space prevents any reference to that portion of the work, with the exception of a glance at the doings of some Irish artists.

Barry, a townsman of our artist, travelled on foot all the way from

A Memoir of Daniel Maclise, R.A. By W. Justin O'Driscoll, M.R.S.A., Barrister. at-Law. London: Longmans, Green, & Co.

Cork to Dublin with his "Baptism of Aongus, King of Munster, by St. Patrick." The Royal Dublin Society held its school at the time in Hawkins' Street, on the site of the present Theatre Royal, and in an obscure corner was the picture hung. Our legends say that when the saint was administering the rite, he inadvertently struck his pointed staff (as he thought) into the ground, but the stroke was given with such good will that it pierced the poor postulant's foot through the instep. He, considering this as an essential part of the sacramental rite, gave no outward sign of his suffering; but the saint, drawing up his staff at the conclusion, and giving a glance downwards, was horror-struck at the sight of the gushing blood. Of course, when he heard from the king the cause of his silence, he lost no time, till by urgent prayer he obtained the healing of the wound.

Edmund Burke, happening in one of his visits to catch sight of the picture, "inquired of the secretary (we quote the text) the name of the painter. 'I don't know,' said that gentleman, but it was brought here by that little boy,' pointing to Barry, who was modestly standing near his work. 'Where did you get this picture, my boy?' said Burke. Who painted it ?' It is mine,' said the proud boy : 'I painted it.' 'Oh, that is impossible,' said Burke, glancing at the poorly-clad youth. Barry burst into tears, and rushed from the room. Burke instantly followed him, soothed him with kind and encouraging words, and was ever after his friend.

In his twenty-third year, 1764, he visited London, at the instance of his patron, who procured for him, the year after, the means of going to Rome to study. Returning in 1770, he painted the fine picture of "Venus Rising from the Sea;" and in 1772, he was one of the four who completed the magic number (40) of the Royal Academy. Between the

years 1777 and 1783, he was employed at the now celebrated series of pictures in the Adelphi, illustrating the Progress of Civilisation, and the Rewards and Punishments of the Future, a stronger or weaker pagan animus pervading the whole. For the National Exhibition, held in Cork in 1852, the managers could only procure one of the great painter's pictures, and that by no means among his best, viz., King George IV., when Prince of Wales, invested with the insignia of the saint whose name he bore, exulting over the defeat of the Dragon. We have often stood in wrapt admiration in the entrancehall of the drawing schools of the Royal Dublin Society, before his bedchamber scene from Cymbeline, the bright warm spots of colour, so nicely set in relief by the general greenish-grey hues of the large chamber, and the representatives of truthful innocence and deceptive guilt presenting so powerful a contrast.

Sir Martin Archer Shee, who presided over the Royal Academy for some years, had received his art-education in the school of the Royal Dublin Society. Along with being an able portrait painter, Sir Martin was a man of letters. He wrote "Rhymes on Art," "Elements of Art" (poems),

Alasco," a tragedy, which the Lord Chamberlain of the day would not permit to be acted, "Old Court, a Novel," and other novels, now, alas, not sought for in the libraries, yet well worthy of perusal, especially the first-named, the scene of which is laid in Connaught.

Danby, with whose sublime conceptions and able execution every print-shop visitor is familiar, was a native of the county of Wexford. Mr. O'Driscoll relates the following circumstances connected with his first visit to England, in company with Mr. O'Connor, the landscape painter, and the late Dr. Petrie, the last-named gentleman being the authority for the facts:

"Putting together all their earthly

en route.

possessions, ie., their sketches and drawings, they proceeded to Bristol, When they arrived there the state of their finances presented serious difficulties to an extension of their journey, and their necessities forced them to adopt the expedient of offering some of their drawings for sale. One of the party went to the shop of an eminent print-seller with a few drawings. The gentleman looked at them, and was so impressed with their merit that he directly purchased them at a liberal price, and intimated his desire to buy any more that might be brought to him. This circumstance generated an acquaintance with the young artists, and procured for Danby a commission to paint an oil picture for a nobleman living near Bristol. In the meantime the three companions painted a joint-stock picture on a pretty large scale, each taking the part for which he felt himself best qualified. O'Connor did the landscape and background; Petrie finished some architectural ruins; and to Danby was allotted the figures and foreground. The picture was sold in Bristol, and the proceeds divided. O'Connor and Petrie returned to Dublin; Danby held to his original resolution, and proceeded to London, where he speedily distinguished himself. Many years after this, Petrie again visited Bristol, and was asked to dine with a gentleman who possessed some excellent pictures. He showed his collection to Petrie, and remarked as to one, that though it was considered the best work in his gallery, no one could tell the name of the artist. The moment Petrie saw the picture he recognised it as the joint-stock performance, and told its history to his host, who was rather disappointed at learning its hybrid origin."

Mulready and Roberts, as well as the painters just mentioned, have upheld the character of their country for the production of artists of the highest rank.

Cork, the birth-place of Maclise, though long unable to make it worth the while of a great native artist to set up a permanent atelier within its river bounds, had at times made strenuous, though unsuccessful, efforts to foster native talent by the establishment of schools of design. What the patriotic Corcagians, with all their energy and patriotism had been unable to effect, was unintentionally accomplished by the gratitude of Pope Pius to the English Crown, and the want of appreciation by the Prince Regent of the magnificent present sent him by His Holiness. This was no less than casts of the world-renowned marbles made under the eyes of the great Canova. The Prince appears to have been more annoyed than gratified by the valuable gift. The casts were allowed to do a long quarantine in their cases at the Customhouse, and when they made a lodgment at Carlton House, were considered rather in the way. To no purpose did his Royal Highness offer them to the Royal Academy;, no room could be spared for them. But while the embarrassed Prince was sorely perplexed about their disposal, the late Earl of Listowel relieved his mind, and made Ireland his debtor, by asking them to form a nucleus for models of a fine-art school in Cork. He was not more eager to get than the Prince to give, and thus by a side-wind was an impetus given to the study of the beautiful in form by the Munster students.

"The gift of this splendid collection (we quote our biographer), like the myrtle which Minerva presented to the Athenians, induced a love of the art to revive and strike deep root among the people of Cork. By their exertions, and, very much more, by their liberal subscriptions, a theatre was fitted up for the reception of the casts and the admission of students, and it was placed under the superintendence of a competent master."

Mr. O'Driscoll dwells on the abilities of some of these early students, among others, Forde and Hogan. Our limits will not admit of more than the mere mention of these artists, one of whom died just as he had given proofs of the highest genius and ability in his unfinished cartoon of the overthrow of the Rebel Angels. A black statue was erected some years since in a public thoroughfare in Dublin, apparently to the genius of heaviness and stupidity, and idle tongues have said that the end of poor Hogan was hastened by certain pestilent leaden emanations escaping from it into his system, as he incautiously gazed on it when passing by. He was endeavouring, at the unfortunate moment, to solve the problem,-how the essence of lightness, gaiety, and joyous fancy, could, by passing through the brain-chambers of a man of undoubted talent, have assumed the plodding, stupid form which daily saddens the souls of the wayfarers by the College wall.

Daniel Maclise was born in Cork in the year 1811. Two of his brothers, Alexander and Joseph, are still living. His two sisters were beautiful women: their portraits add to the charm of some of his finest pieces, e.g., "All-Hallow Eve," the "Installation of Captain Rock," "Malvolio and the Countess," &c.

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Anna, the younger sister, married Mr. Percival Weldon Banks, a member of the English Bar, and well known in the literary world as a distinguished contributor to Fraser's Magazine and other periodicals. Isabella was never married; she loved her brother so intensely that nothing would induce her to separate from him. She died in the early part of 1865, and her death had a most depressing effect on his health and spirits."

The future artist's school days

were spent under a teacher of ability. He varied and relieved his studies by pen-and-ink sketches, among which caricatures of everybody, not neglecting the master, were frequent. Leaving school at fourteen years of age, he spent some time in a banking house; but finding his vocation. to art irresistible, he entered the Cork Academy as pupil, and devoted his entire attention to drawing and the study of useful and improving books in the library of the late Mr. Sainthill, a lover of the fine arts, and a distinguished antiquary. At Mr. Sainthill's house he made the acquaintance of the amiable chronicler of the "Southern Fairies," Crofton Croker, Esq., who continued his steady friend through life.

"The late Dr. Woodroffe, one of the most famous surgeons of his time, had a school of anatomy in Cork, to which Maclise and other students of the Academy were gratuitously admitted. He attended the lectures there, and occasionally dissected; and this early discipline of his hand and eye in the science of anatomy contributed very much to produce that marvellous facility and accuracy in delineating the human figure, which imparts such a charm and grace to all his works. While pursuing unremittingly his studies from the models in the Academy, and attending the lectures of Dr. Woodroffe, his pencil was exercised in every imaginable way. Whenever he saw a grotesque face or figure, a picturesque tree or a beautiful landscape, it was at once transferred to his portfolio, and scores of his sketches were distributed with a profuse hand to his friends."

A favourable circumstance seized on, and turned to account on the instant, established his reputation, and brought him more orders than he was able to accomplish. Mr. O'Driscoll thus relates the fortunate

1 Our readers will please to consider all passages between inverted commas as literal quotations from Mr. O'Driscoll's text.

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