"The form of the prophet is brought out in such noble relief, is in such
fine contrast to the pale and feminine sweetness of the scribe at his
feet, that for a time you are satisfied. But by and by you begin to
doubt whether this picture is not rather imposing than majestic. The
dignity of the prophet's appearance seems to lie rather in the fine
lines of the form and drapery than in the expression of the face. It was
well observed by one who looked on him, that, if the eyes were cast
down, he would become an ordinary man. This is true, and the expression
of the bard must not depend on a look or gesture, but beam with mild
electricity from every feature. Allston's Jeremiah is not the mournfully
indignant bard, but the robust and stately Jew, angry that men will not
mark his word and go his way."

The test here imagined, that of concealing the eyes, would answer as
little in real as in pictured life. Although the method of these
criticisms is arbitrary, the conclusion to which they bring Margaret is
one in which many will agree with her:--

"The more I have looked at these pictures, the more I have been
satisfied that the grand historical style did not afford the scope most
proper to Mr. Allston's genius. The Prophets and Sibyls are for the
Michael Angelos. The Beautiful is Mr. Allston's dominion. Here he rules
as a genius, but in attempts such as I have been considering, can only
show his appreciation of the stern and sublime thoughts he wants force
to reproduce."

Margaret is glad to go back from these more labored and unequal
compositions to those lovely feminine creations which had made
themselves so beloved that they seemed to belong to the spiritual family
of Boston itself, and to "have floated across the painter's heaven on
the golden clouds of fantasy."

From this paper our thoughts naturally revert to what Mr. Emerson has
said of Margaret as an art critic:--

"Margaret's love of art, like that of most cultivated persons in this
country, was not at all technical, but truly a sympathy with the artist
in the protest which his work pronounced on the deformity of our daily
manners; her co-perception with him of the eloquence of form; her
aspiration with him to a fairer life. As soon as her conversation ran
into the mysteries of manipulation and artistic effect, it was less
trustworthy. I remember that in the first times when I chanced to see
pictures with her, I listened reverently to her opinions, and endeavored