trait of the Earl of Pembroke, and an exquisite Madonna and Child, by Vandyke; Sampson and Delilah, by Rubens; some charming little pieces by Wouvermans; but, above all, Jacob's Dream, by Rembrandt,"perhaps the most purely poetical picture he ever produced. Nearly all over this picture, except the centre, is spread a thick, black gloom-deep as the darkness of night, and yet so transparent, that, after looking at it for a while, you see or seem to see down into it, as if you were looking into deep clear water. In one corner of this darkness lies Jacob, sleeping; his arms stretched beyond his head, and one knee bent up, in the most inartificial attitude that can be conceived, and altogether representing a rude shepherd-boy. In the upper part of the sky an intense light is bursting forth; and it descends slantwise, and widening as it descends, till it reaches the sleeping youthgradually decreasing in splendour as it recedes from its apparent source: and, at different intervals of this road of light, winged figures are seen descending." In the contrasts between this darkness and this light, consists the effect of the picture, which, without doubt, is exceedingly fine; yet, in my own humble opinion, a little exaggerated by the writer of the de scription just quoted. Speaking of the repre

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sentation of the angels in particular, he says, as a delineation of superhuman appearances and things, I conceive it to be finer than any thing within an equal space in existence." As poetical creations, they are certainly superior to the most perfect delineations of beauty in the human form, with a pair of wings to make it heavenly, that could have proceeded from the pencil: yet they are as certainly defective in this, that they require a degree of distance to make them appear any thing but actual daubs; which, though it gives them their due effect, considerably detracts from that of the rest of the picture. In truth, although I most unfeignedly admire this work of Rembrandt's, I cannot, with the ingenious and sparkling author alluded to, conceive of it as, 66 upon the whole, the finest in the collection."

In the third room we continue among the Flemish schools, but we meet also with a few Italian, French, and Spanish pictures, as well as with some attractive portraits. Of these latter, "A Girl at a Window”—a portrait, undoubtedly," for there is an absolute truth about it that no memory or invention could have produced"-is "as purely natural and forcible a head as Rembrandt ever painted." Archduke Albert, by Vandyke, is in his finest manner. So Rubens' Mother, by that artist,

is one of his most interesting productions.-But Rubens should never have even sketched such a subject as "The Graces." A little landscape, by Both—a súnset—“ steeped in lighted air”is exquisite: the reflection of the light upon the rustic vehicle in the centre, and the pure truth with which that vehicle occupies its position in the road, are especially admirable.

The Poussins in the fourth room are of the number of its greatest treasures; and there are also some of the loveliest productions of the pencil of Claude. There is, too, a "Venus dissuading Adonis from the Chase," by Titian,-a favourite subject with that painter-and of which there are repetitions in the Angerstein and several other collections. But Murillo's Portrait of a Girl with Flowers, pleased me best: indeed, for my own poor part, I cannot but esteem the works of this Spanish artist, as, even beyond comparison, the great ornaments of this gallery. -A portrait of Philip the Fourth, of Spain, by Valasquez, will elicit the more admiration the oftener it is examined.

The fifth and last room includes some of the very finest pictures here assembled. The Spanish Peasant Boys, by Murillo, is truly a "miracle of successful art, beyond all praise and all price:" and there is an Assumption of the Virgin, by the same artist, only less

worthy the most enthusiastic commendation. The expression of Mary is the simplicity and truth of nature itself-perhaps a little too simple -but the face of the child is more full of superhuman intelligence than Vandyke's. On the very contrary, "Mars, Venus, and Cupid," by Rubens, is replete with the crying faults of that painter, and exceedingly repulsive: "the Venus looks like a Dutch courtesan, the Mars like a rough soldier of the League, and the Cupid like nothing that ever was in the shape of a human infant."-On the contrary again, the Judgment of Paris, by Vanderwerf, is one of the most exquisite delineations of elegant beauty in the female form, that the hand of painter or statuary ever created.-Guido's Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, though somewhat cold, is a very fine picture.

Closing these very brief remarks, I with pleasure again advert to the writer, from whom the passages placed between inverted commas are quoted; and refer the reader, for a more full, and exceedingly clever and spirited description of the treasures of art here collected, to his little work, entitled "Beauties of the Dulwich Picture-Gallery,"-a work, which he will find a very pleasing companion on visiting these pictures. I could shew my sagacity by giving a shrewd guess at his name—indeed, there is that

in his peculiarly flashing style, which, to many readers, would betray it—but I forbear, as he himself chooses to appear anonymously in this instance before the Public.

The Dulwich (or Bourgeois) Gallery, it will be proper to observe in concluding this article, was originally founded by Mr. William Cartwright, a celebrated comedian and bookseller in London; but derived its chief consequence from the bequest of Sir Francis Bourgeois, a painter of some eminence, who died in 1811, and left the whole of his pictures to the institution, besides £10,000 to keep them in due preservation, and £2,000 to repair the gallery, which was then situated in the west wing of the original building. He besides transferred to the Directors of the College, as residuary legatees, the rest of his property of every description. The late Mr. and Mrs. Desenfans were also munificent contributors: and, in consequence of these extensive liberalities, the Directors raised the present gallery, to which access may be obtained by any respectable person, on presenting a ticket, procurable from the principal print-sellers of the metropolis. A mausoleum, which projects from the centre of the edifice, contains the ashes of Sir Francis Bourgeois, and Mr. and Mrs. Desenfans, in stone sarcophagi, painted to resemble porphyry;