dent had an opportunity of seeing the whole progress of a great work from the beginning to the end, and even of executing part of it under the direction of his master, who had, on his part, the advantage of shortening his labour by the assistance of his scholars. By this method, the student became a proficient in execution before the years of manhood, and when he afterwards became a master himself, and had to paint his own inventions, the practical part followed without difficulty or exertion. How different it is now, I believe every one will acknowledge, who has been left to his own direction in the art. For myself, I remember well how I was puzzled when I began to paint, and after going over a head two or three times, I was no farther advanced than at the beginning. I had no idea of glazing or finishing with light touches or scumbling, and went on embroiling myself more and more with my body-colour, and the farther I went on the more it was muddled and heavy.-Of late years, the Academy in Italy, sensible of this inconvenience, have appointed a professor of painting, who has an apartment in the Academy, and is to instruct the students in the practice of painting; but the consequence of this is, that all become the disciples of but one master, and consequently all paint in his manner, whereas in the good olden time every one chose a master according to his particular taste, and thus in every great city, a greater variety of manners was produced. Besides this, in former times the students were constantly with their masters as inmates in their houses, and were employed in assisting them in their works; but at present, all that is required, is, to look now and then at what they are doing, and giving them instructions in its progress, whilst he is carrying on his own work from beginning to end in his private study, without, perhaps, their ever seeing it till it is finished, depriving thus both himself and them of the mutual advantage which might be derived from a more intimate union.Academies are certainly of use in procuring the materials of study, (especially out of Italy ;) but they have thisin convenience, that they foster the idea that a young man may acquire the art at no expense, whereas by prolonging his studies to two or three times as much as would be required under a good master, they in fact cost more than by paying a sum to learn it, and the best part of life is spent before the artist is in a way of procuring a livelihood. There is no example, I believe, of any ancient painter having acquired the art without a master.

I have to thank you for having procured me the acquaintance of Mr. Rogers, who, after staying here some time, went on to Rome, and as I have not seen him since, I suppose he took anVol. I.

51

other route on his return. He is a gentlemanly well-informed young man.

The sum you mention of $40,000 for the equestrian statue of Washington (if colossal) appears too small, for here the casting merely would cost that sum.

Florence, 9th April, 1825.

*** As I have here the advantage of a spacious apartment, I mean to attempt something, on a scale, larger (at least as to composition) than any thing I have hitherto executed, and shall probably afterwards confine myself to small works, as I cannot expect, at my age, to be much longer able to go through the fatigue of longer ones. My exertions have of late been much interrupted by indisposition, which, though not serious, has retarded my progress considerably. As this climate is too severe during a great part of the year for my age and constitution, I mean to return to Rome in a year or two, where I shall have little occasion for those local conveniences I enjoy here, and which are there more difficult to be got, from the immense concourse of artists that renders good and commodious painting-rooms scarce and of comparatively high rents. Here the artists live much more secluded from each other, than at Rome, and seem actuated by a little mean jealousy, which prevents that sociability and communication of ideas serving to unbend the mind of an artist, whilst they improve it. Finding therefore so little of this kind of society, and mixed companies, where nothing interests me, rather a fatigue than relaxation, I live very retired, and amuse myself chiefly by painting during the day, and reading at night. We have, however, some British families, whom I visit occasionally. Having só little acquaintance with the artists, I know but little of their works. Benvenuti is decidedly the first for composition and drawing, but of late, he seems to have paid less attention to colouring than formerly, and having been for several years occupied on a work in fresco, in the Pitti palace, (containing the life of Hercules,) this mode of painting, though it is of great service in giving a facility and quickness of execution, is, I think, detrimental to colouring, as it is there less necessary, than in oil, though there are examples of some who have coloured equally well in fresco, as in oil, particularly Guercino and Pietro da Cortona, the first of whom I look upon as the greatest fresco painter, for effect and colour, that ever lived.-Benvenuti is paid 10,000 Florentine crowns for this work, which is something more than as many dollars.

TO A MUSQUITO.

FAIR insect! that with thread-like legs spread out,
And blood-extracting bill, and filmy wing,
Dost murmur, as thou slowly sail'st about,

In pitiless ears full many a plaintive thing,
And tell'st how little our large veins should bleed
Would we but yield them freely to thy need;

Unwillingly, I own, and what is worse,

Full angrily men list to thy complaint;
Thou gettest many a brush, and many a curse,
For saying thou art gaunt, and starved, and faint;
Even the old beggar, while he asks for food,
Would kill thee, hapless stranger, if he could.

I call thee stranger, for the town, I ween,
Has not the honour of so proud a birth;
Thou com'st from Jersey meadows, broad and green,
The offspring of the gods, though born on earth:
For Titan was thy sire; and fair was she,

The ocean-nymph that nursed thy infancy.

Beneath the rushes was thy cradle swung,

And when at length thy spotted wings grew strong,
Abroad to gentle airs their folds were flung,

Rose in the sky, and bore thee soft along;
The south wind breathed, to waft thee on thy way,
And danced and shone beneath the billowy bay.

And calm, afar, the city's spires arose,

Thence did'st thou hear the distant hum of men,

And, as its grateful odours met thy nose,

Didst seem to smell thy native marsh again : "And we will see the world!" in transport cried The tuneful crew of brethren by thy side.

At length thy pinions fluttered in Broadway,-
Ah, there were fairy steps, and white necks kissed
By wanton airs, and eyes whose killing ray

Shone through the snowy veils like stars through mist! And fresh as morn, on many a cheek and chin, Bloomed the bright blood through the transparent skin.

Oh, these were sights to touch an anchorite!

What!-do I hear thy slender voice complain?

Thou wailest, when I talk of beauty's light,
As if it brought the memory of pain:

Thou art a wayward being-well-come near,
And pour thy tale of sorrow in my ear.

What say'st thou !-slanderer!" rouge makes thee sick,
And China bloom at best is sorry food-

And Rowland's Kalydor, if laid on thick,

Poisons the thirsty wretch that bores for blood ?"
Go! 'twas a just reward that met thy crime-
But shun the sacrilege another time.

That bloom was made to look at, not to touch,
To worship, not approach, that radiant white;
And well might sudden vengeance light on such

As dared, like thee, most impiously, to bite.
Thou shouldst have gazed at distance, and admired,
Murmured thy adoration, and retired.

Thou'rt welcome to the town: but why come here
To bleed a brother poet, gaunt like thee?

Alas! the little blood I have is dear,

And thin will be the banquet drawn from me.
Look round-the pale-eyed sisters, in my cell,
Thy old acquaintance, song and famine, dwell.
Try some plump alderman—and suck the blood
Enriched with generous wine and costly meat;
In well-filled skins, soft as thy native mud,

Fix thy light pump, and raise thy freckled feet.
Go to the men for whom, in ocean's halls,
The oyster breeds and the green turtle sprawls.
There corks are drawn, and the red vintage flows,
To fill the swelling veins for thee; and now
The ruddy cheek, and now the ruddier nose

Shall tempt thee, as thou flittest round the brow;
And when the hour of sleep its quiet brings,
No angry hand shall rise to brush thy wings.

LETTER FROM CHARLES WATTS TO WILLIAM SAMPSON.

[WE insert, at the request of several distinguished members of the New-York Bar, the following letters on a subject of great public interest and consequence. We do this with the greater readiness, because we feel confident, from our knowledge of the talent and personal ex

perience of the writer, that he has it in his power to aid materially in the discussion of an important question, to which already many pages of this Journal have been cheerfully devoted. Vide Nos. I, IV, X. of the Atlantic Magazine.]

LETTER I.

SIR-It gives me pleasure to gratify your wish that I would institute some general comparison between the civil law as administered in Louisiana, and the system of jurisprudence existing in the state of New-York. There is, perhaps, some truth in your observation, that being theoretically and practically versed in both systems, affords the means of forming a more competent judgment of their relative advantages, than could be done by a person not similarly situated with respect to them. The object is to embody in writing, the substance of the conversations we have had together. To give information to others, or aid to improve the science I profess, is a duty which, by me, will always willingly be rendered. Educated in the school of a black-letter lawyer, my early prejudices were enlisted in favour of the complicated but nicely adapted proportions, as I then thought them, of the common-law system of real property. Its intricacy had charms for ingenuity, and having once conquered the difficulty, and believing that law was a matter far beyond the comprehension of the multitude, I entertained the opinion, that it was only men who had not industry or ability to master their profession, who could complain of its intricacies. With these impressions, my removal to Louisiana compelled me to study and practise the civil law as there administeredand my own judgment and that of every member of the Louisiana bar conversant in both systems, gives the most decided and warm preference of superiority to the civil law as there practised over the common law as it exists in the Atlantic States, on this and most of the important points of their discrepancy. Nor is this preference confined to the profession, but is general with the American population, with the exception of that branch of law which regulates the marital rights of property, some parts of which are considered as too anticommercial.

To treat the subject with some method, we will consider first, the difference in the law of real property. The law of real estate does not constitute a distinct and anomalous code, but is nearly identified with that of personal property. The principal differences consist in a more formal mode of transfer, and a longer period of prescription. Every one owns by allodial title, without distinction of citizen or alien.-They descend in the same manner-are equally liable for debts in the hands of the heir, escheat only for a defect of heirs. The mode of