ar; there is nothing to compete
with it--the gallant vessel cares not for the winds or waves--she
commands them. It is wondrously painted, and as fresh as from the easel.
Here are three pictures by Paul Potter--the larger one, "Landscape, with
Cattle and Figures," how unlike the others! "Cattle in a Storm," is a
large picture in little. The wind blows, and the bull roars. It is very
fine, and quite luminous. The other, "Landscape, with Horses and
Figures," looks, at first view, not quite as it should; but, on
examining it, there are parts most exquisitely beautiful--the white
horse coming out of the stable is perfect, and, like the Daguerreotype
portraits, the more you look with a good magnifying-glass, the more
truth you see. There is no picture in this room that excites so much
attention as the "View of Dort from the River."--Cuyp. It is certainly
very splendid. It is a sunny effect; the town is low--some warm trees
just across the river, near which, half-way in the stream, is a barge,
the edges gilded by the sun--further off is a large vessel, whose sides
are illuminated--above all is a thunder-cloud, very effectively painted.
The picture has been divided, and rejoined, and is very well done. It
would perhaps be better if it were cut off a little beyond the large
vessel, as the opposite sides are not quite in harmony, one part being
cold, the other extremely warm. There is a companion by Cuyp, which has
been engraved for Forster's work, "A River Scene--Fishing under the
Ice." It is very fine: if not quite so luminous as the former, it is in
better tone altogether. We must move on to--

THE SOUTH ROOM

With the exception of two pictures of the modern German school, this
room contains the works of English artists not living. Only one of the
German school is a picture of any pretension, "Christ blessing the
Little Children"--Professor Hesse. The reputation of this painter led us
to expect something better. We must consider it apart from its German
peculiarities, and with respect to what it gains or loses by them. As a
design, the story is well and simply told. As a composition, it is a
little too formal, lacking that easy flowing of lines into each other,
which, though eschewed by the new school, is nevertheless a beauty. The
expression in the heads is good generally, not so in the principal
figure. There is throughout a character of purity and tenderness--it is
a great point to attain this. But none of this characte