year, 1828, Sir Walter fulfilled his promise; and I finished from his face the marble bust now at Drayton Manor-a better sanctuary than my studio, else I had not parted with it. The expression is more serious than in the two former busts, and the marks of age more than eight years deeper. "I have now, I think, stated all that is worthy of remembering about the bust, except that there need be no fear of piracy, for it has never been moulded. "I have, &c. "F. CHANTREY." serene expression into that conversational look which it now wears, to the delight and admiration of thousands. The bust of Southey was a second request made in pursuance of the very sound and judicious advice of Allan Cunningham. It would be no easy matter to enumerate the many ways in which Allan Cunningham was of the utmost use to Sir Francis Chantrey. He wrote a sketch of his life, and a glowing account of his works, in April 1820 for Blackwood's Magazine, and, in 1826, a kind of critical panegyric upon his genius for the Quarterly, in a review of Meme's Life of Canova. These articles were publicly known as his. They contain no drawing of the arrow of adulation to the head, but a just appreciation of Chantrey's works and genius. That such public notices as these were not of real benefit to Chantrey, it would be idle assertion to deny. Chantrey, at least, forgave their author-he never rewarded him rightly for such substantial services. Now this is in the outset substantially incorrect; yet it was so written, and by Allan Cunningham, we are assured, to please Sir Francis Chantrey. In 1820, Chantrey knew nothing of Scott as a poet or a man beyond hearsay, and had never indeed seen him. He never wrote to Scott to ask him to sit; for the very suggestion and bringing about of the whole, Chantrey was indebted to his friend Cunningham. Sir Walter had come to town in 1820, and Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, in writing to his brother bard in London, assured him One of the many commissions obtained that Scott would consider a call from Allan for Sir Francis Chantrey, by his friend and Cunningham as a very friendly act. When foreman, was the Wellington equestrian Sir Walter had been settled a week or so statue for the City of London. A subscripat "kind Miss Dumergue's," Allan set off tion was set on foot, some ten thousand one morning with a palpitating heart to pounds collected, a kind of packed commake his half-expected visit. But before mittee called together, and a day of meethe was on his way for Piccadilly, where ing named. For what? To give the statue Miss Dumergue resided, Allan had commu- to Mr. Wyatt. The Duke of Rutland nicated to his patron (so they word it) his purpose of calling upon Scott, to thank him for some kind message he had received through a common friend. "Now," said Allan to Chantrey, "if I can get Scott to sit, you must make his bust. Reynolds painted all the great authors of his time, and Phillips has painted all the great authors of our own. You must make the busts of them all, and begin with Mr. Scott." Chantrey at once consented. Allan saw Scott, made known the willingness of Chantrey, and obtained the poet's promise to sit. In this way the matter rested for some time; Scott expected a call from Chantrey, and Chantrey a call from Scott. Neither had their expectations realized. Chantrey was for a while angry; he had never asked a soul to sit to him before, and the result of his first request was far from satisfactory. Cunningham now interfered again, and saw Sir Walter on the subject. The moment that Scott became acquainted with the circumstances, he set out with his friend Allan for the studio of Chantrey. The contest was sore; and, though ChanThe sculptor was more than pacified, he trey gained the day, it was only by a mawas highly pleased. Friendship ripened jority of one, the casting vote of the then into intimacy, and the bust grew from allord-mayor. Twenty-nine members were and Sir Frederick Trench were the prime movers in this affair ; they pulled the puppet-strings of this bronze subscription, and had an artist of their own. In short, the matter looked like a job, and so it struck Allan Cunningham, who sounded his friend Sir Peter Laurie, a member of the Committee, on the matter, and inquired if there was no way of wresting the statue from Wyatt's feeble fingers into the artistic hands of Sir Francis Chantrey. Sir Peter Laurie at once confirmed the impression of Allan Cunningham that it was a job, but doubted if there was any chance of upsetting Wyatt, so strongly was he backed. Laurie, however, undertook to inquire and do all he could. Members were sounded, the story told, and Chantrey's willingness, nay, anxiety, to execute the statue spoken publicly about. The day came, 12th May, 1837; Sir Peter Laurie was in the Committee room, and Allan Cunningham behind the scenes, to back Sir Peter in his battle for true art. present, and their votes were thus record-clining the honor thus ingeniously and honed. For Chantrey-1, The lord-mayor; 2, orably acquired for him. Lord Sandon; 3, Sir Henry Hardinge; 4, Sir Claudius Hunter; 5, Alderman Birch; 6, Sir Peter Laurie ; 7, Alderman Winchester; 8, Alderman Lainson; 9, Sheriff Johnson; 10, A. K. Barclay, Esq.; 11, C. Barclay, Esq.; 12, T. Burbidge, Esq.; 13, Rev. V. K. Child; 14, W. Chadwick, Esq.; 15, C. Francis, Esq. For Wyatt-1, The Duke of Rutland; 2, Earl of Wilton; 3, Viscount Beresford; 4, Sir Frederick Trench; 5, Dr. Croly; 6, B. Edington, Esq.; 7, T. Farncome, Esq.; 8, William Jerdan, Esq.; 9, J. Masterman, Esq.; 10, J. M. Rainbow, Esq.; 11, W. Richardson, Esq.; 12, D. Salomons, Esq.; 13, E. Silon, Esq.; 14, W. Simpson, Esq. Whether Allan Cunningham was or was not forgiven by Sir Francis Chantrey for this very effective support and accession of good fortune, both in an artistic and a pecuniary sense, we shall not stay to inquire. Mr. Cunningham really was a sufferer by his very proper interference in this matter, for Chantrey left the legacy of £2000 to his friend and assistant, conditionally, that he should superintend the execution of this very statue, and be alive at its completion. Allan Cunningham superintended the work for eleven months after Chantrey's death, to the very day indeed of his own death, when the legacy became, in the eyes of the executors of Sir Francis Chantrey, a lapsed legacy. They have now declined paying what they have the power to give; and are they in refusing, it is natural to ask, administering to the intentions of the dead? What did Chantrey do in the case of Northcote? The works of Sir Francis Chantrey divide themselves into equestrian statues, standing statues, sitting statues, recumbent figures, groups, chiefly in strong relief and busts. The business was opened by Trench proposing that the statue should be given to Wyatt. Dr. Croly and Mr. Jerdan supported Trench, when Mr. Charles Barclay, as was agreed upon with Sir Peter Laurie, proposed Sir Francis Chantrey. Mr. Barclay was seconded by Sir Peter. One of the committee then got up, and said that Mr. Wyatt was a great man, and deserved the statue, as he had lost much through affection for his art. To this Sir Peter replied, "I propose a greater artist, one, too, There are three equestrian statues-Sir that has no losses for the City of London Thomas Munro, George IV., and the Duke to repair, and that he will undertake it this of Wellington. Of these three, the Munro letter from my friend Mr. Allan Cunning- figure is the finest, but the horse the worst; ham will convince all." Sir Peter then the Wellington horse the best, the figure read a letter on the subject from Allan the worst. Of his standing statues, some Cunningham. "Now all this is vastly eighteen in number, we prefer, far above well," said Sir Frederick Trench, "but all others, Grattan, Washington, Malcolm, who will sanction what Mr. Cunningham and Canning. Of his sitting statues, some says?"—"I will!" said Lord Sandon. eighteen in number, we prefer James Watt, "Whatever Mr. Cunningham has written (the small-size figure), Dr. Cyril Jackson, on this subject, Sir Francis Chantrey, I know, will sanction." This unexpected turn settled the matter, for Lord Sandon came with the Duke of Rutland and Sir Frederick Trench, as it was said, to suppo t Wyatt, and was with them, it was believed, till this stage of the business. Sir Peter Laurie has been heard to attribute the whole success of Chantrey in this business to his friend Allan Cunningham. Mr. Cunningham, on the contrary, attributed all to Chantrey's high name, and the activity and intelligence of Sir Peter Laurie. When Allan Cunningham was asked in what way Chantrey had expressed his pleasure at the news of his triumph, "Oh," said Allan with a smile, "I fear he will not forgive me." The truth is, Chantrey could not bear to lie under an obligation, as it were, to his foreman, and for a while, urged on by some of his friends, he talked of de and Dr. Anderson of Madras. Of his recumbent figures, some fourteen in number, the Two Children at Lichfield, the Wild. man group, Mrs. Digby and Mrs. Jordan. His reliefs are very poor. What can be worse than the Hector, the Penelope, and the Conscript Fathers of the Reform Bill signing the Magna Charta of King John? His busts are beyond all praise, they are the heads of Sir Joshua or Vandyke in marble. Oh for a head of Shakspeare like Chantrey's Sir Walter Scott! "Look," said Coleridge, "at that head of Cline by Chantrey. Is that forehead, that nose, those temples, and that chin, akin to the monkey tribe? No, no! To a man of sensibility no argument could disprove the bestial theory so convincingly as a quiet contemplation of that fine bust." Chantrey's fancy figures cost him too much thinking, and he was putting his rep utation at a hazard in making them by ven- | England to contend for his prizes, solely turing out of his depth. He was content out of respect for the epigrammatic and with the fame of his "Lady Louisa Russell inimitable Frenchman. Fondling a Dove," a sweet little figure all tiptoe and delight. In 1813, his charge for a bust was one hundred guineas; in 1814 and 1819, one hundred and twenty. He had one hundred guineas for Cline, and one hundred and twenty guineas a-piece for James Watt and John Rennie. In 1820, his charge was one hundred and fifty guineas, the sum he received from Lord Liverpool for the bust of the Duke of Wellington. In 1821, he had two hundred guineas for the bust of George IV., the highest sum he was ever known to charge for a bust. Chantrey was at times a kind-hearted man-liberal with his purse, ready to hear and relieve distress. Prosperity blunted those better portions of his nature which adversity or a smaller share of prosperity had called into action oftener and with more effect. In his death, art lost one of its greatest ornaments; in the death of Allan Cunningham, literature a very able man. THE LATE "DUCHESS OF SUSSEX."-As the fact the event of the death of the King of Hanover, and of is becoming a matter of general discussion, that in the Crown Prince, his son, the question of the title of Sir Augustus D'Este to the throne of that kingdom will create some controversy, the following letter from her Royal Highness (the Countess of Ameland) to Sir S. J. Dillon, will not be uninteresting. It is dated so long since as December 16th, 1811: "My dear sir :-I wished to have answered your last letter, but having mislaid your first, I did not lieve that I am delighted with your pamphlet; but know how to direct to you. I am sure you must be For the Wellington statue he was paid the largest sum he ever received for a work of art, equal as it was in all, with bronze and money, to £10,000. For the equestrian statue of George IV., still unerected, he had nine thousand guineas; for the equestrian statue of Sir Thomas Munro, £8000. The Munro horse was the same horse as the George IV., and Chantrey would have thrust a third edition of the same animal upon the City of London but for the sturdy interference of Allan Cun-I must confess I do not think you have stated the ningham and Sir Peter Laurie. He would certainly have had the Glasgow Wellington Statue to execute, but from his anxiety to supply a cast of the same horse to the fair City of the West. This was imprudent, for the Glasgow people wisely wanted a horse of their own. Modelling horses gravelled Chantrey; he was at home with men, but had to learn a new line of art when he came to manufacture horses. His standing statues and sitting statues were well paid for. He had two thousand guineas for the George III. in Guildhall; £1800 for Spencer Perceval; £4000 for President Blair (with niche and pedestal); £3500 for Lord Melville; £1000 for Dr. Anderson at Madras; 1575 for General | Gillespie in St. Paul's; £1800 for Francis Horner in Westminster Abbey; £2250 for Washington; £1200 for Chief Baron Dundas; £2000 for Grattan ; £7000 for Pitt in Hanover Square; £7000 for Watt in Westminster Abbey. For "The Two Children" he had £650; for "Lady Louisa Russell," £350. Chantrey's admiration of English sculp ture did not get much beyond the bust of Dr. Johnson by Nollekens, and the statue of Sir Isaac Newton by Roubiliac. They were both, as he was wont to say, perfect. Such, indeed, was his respect for Roubiliac, that he has allowed foreigners resident in fact quite exactly, when you say (page 25), that MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS. From Tait's Magazine. "Memoirs of the Life of the Rev. John Williams, Missionary to Polynesia." By Ebenezer Prout of Halstead. 8vo, with Portrait, &c. London; Snow. Williams so far to outstrip all his contemporaries, and to become the primitive Bishop of Polynesia. During his apprenticeship, his mind was forcibly directed to serious subjects, by accidentally hearing a sermon preached by Mr. East of Birmingham; and, after slender educational preparation, he was sent out as a missionary, at a very early age, and when just married. The manner in which Williams, on landing at Eimeo, made the first great step, the acquisition of the native languages, goes far to establish the theory of Professor Blackie.* We are told, By great diligence, he had acquired a sufficient acquaintance with the language while at Tahiti and Huahine, to be enabled to preach intelligibly as soon as he reached Raiatea. The method by which he made this rapid proficiency was his own. Instead of remaining at home, pending upon the assistance of his senior brethporing over translations and glossaries, or de THE terrible fate of "the Martyr of Erromanga," equally with his eminent missionary labors in the islands of the Pacific, have drawn the public attention to his career. His own remarkable narrative, his "Missionary Enterprizes,"-the accounts of him found in the Missionary Society's Reports, in the writings of the Rev. Mr. Ellis, and in the recent publications of Dr. Campbell, have contributed to gratify the general curiosity about an individual, who, if the accomplishment of actual good to his race is to be taken as the measure of a man's worth, ought to be ranked as among the first class. ren, he constantly mingled with the natives, But the character and career of an individ-"hearing and asking them questions," and thus ual so eminent for the good he has done, acquired, as he considered with great ease, not deserved the most ample and complete merely the signification of words and phrases, record; and this is now found in these Me- but, what was quite as requisite, the correct acmoirs of the life of Williams, which are would be the most successful in all cases may centuation of the language. Whether this plan evidently compiled by one who could truly admit of doubt; but there can be none respectand warmly appreciate the many happy ap-ing its suitableness to Mr. Williams, one retitudes and excellencies of his character, markable characteristic of whose mind was the and also his peculiar-may we not say pro- power of exact and minute observation. vidential-adaptation to the work which was given him to do. It is not until Williams is fairly landed on the Hervey Islands, one of which, Rarotonga, re-discovered by himself, became the scene of his almost miraculous efforts in civilizing and evangelizing,-that the memoir becomes of intense interest. In ten months after he reached Eimeo, he preached his first sermon in the native language; some of his elder brethren affirming, that he had done as much in that period, as might have taken another three years. As soon as, with the approbation of the chiefs, and with the prospect of quiet and permanency, the missionaries had settled at Raiatea, Mr. Williams laid a stable foundation for his future usefulness. Mr. Williams was the son of respectable parents of the middle class, and he was blessed with an excellent and pious mother. After receiving a very plain educa- Having selected a convenient plot of ground, tion, he was, at a suitable bound apage, he resolved to erect upon it a dwelling-house in prentice to an ironmonger in London, to the English style, and in all respects superior attend the retail-shop only; but being of to any building ever seen, or even imagined by "a mechanical turn," he, most fortunately not merely by a desire to obtain for himself and the people around him. To this he was incited, for the great cause in which he was after- his family a commodious and respectable resiwards engaged, lost no opportunity of dence, but by the hope of elevating the standstealing into the adjoining work-shop, ard and awakening the emulation of those whom where he obtained that practical know- he was anxious to benefit. Before this time, ledge and skill in the craft of the black- the best native houses consisted of but one smith, which enabled him, in after times, and for all domestic purposes. This was coverapartment, which was used by the whole family, with more ease, to act as a self-taught ma- ed with a thatched roof, but open at the sides, son, plasterer, shipbuilder, farmer, weaver, and carpeted with dry, and too frequently, dirty and, in short, Jack-of-all-trades. It was grass. Mr. Williams perceived the unfitness of this "mechanical turn," together with his such abodes for the purposes he had in view. remarkable facility in acquiring the lan-He knew that domestic comfort, social morality guages of the South Seas, and his peculiar- and spiritual religion could never flourish, unthe degraded habits, inseparable from such ly kind and engaging manners, together with his devoted energy, which enabled *See Tait's Magazine for November, 1842. Much of the civilization, the fruits of which may now be witnessed in these then barbarous islands, resulted from this, and similar measures, to make civilization pro a mode of living, were first destroyed. He therefore resolved to show the people a more excellent way. "It was my determination," he writes, "when I left England, to have as res pectable a dwelling-house as I could erect; for the missionary does not go to barbarize him-ceed hand in hand with evangelization. In self, but to elevate the heathen; not to sink himself to their standard, but to raise them to his." about eighteen months after landing, we hear of a society established by Williams, for encouraging (among the natives) the growth of the arts and sciences! the rewards islanders. Within the same brief space of being nails, a most desirable article to the time, we find this indefatigable missionary writing home :— "It is a great advantage to me that I am able to turn my hand to any thing, and indeed it is very desirable that every missionary, sent to an uncivilized part of the world, should possess mechanical qualifications, as well as a missionary spirit. Prompted by this enlightened and truly benevolent motive, Mr. Williams prepared the plan, and commenced the erection of his new and noble dwelling-house. And this was an undertaking in which most of the labor necessarily devolved upon himself. The natives, indeed, readily assisted in procuring the materials and placing them according to his direction; but all beyond what the most ordinary assistance could render, was done by his own hands. Yet although obliged to execute the work of many different artizans, whose divided labor and united skill are commonly considered essential to such an undertaking, he, relying solely upon "We have not only instructed the natives as his own resources, soon beheld, with pride and to the improvement of their houses, but also in pleasure, his future home rising up before him. sawing timber, carpentering, smith's work, and, The natives saw it too, and were lavish in their among other things, in boat-building. Brother expressions of astonishment and admiration. Threlkeld has now in hand a very large boat, The house was sixty feet by thirty, and consist-on which only the natives are employed. Reed of three front and four back rooms. French quiring a larger boat than that which I built at sashes, shaded with a green verandah and vene- Eimeo, that I may visit Tahaa, I have comtian blinds, gave an air of elegance to the sit-pleted one sixteen feet long. ting-rooms, which commanded a splendid view "When we came to this place, there were of the harbor. The frame-work of the building was wood, but the walls, both within and without, were wattled, and plastered with coral lime. From this lime, Mr. Williams made not only a whitewash, but a grey and orange coloring with which he adorned the interior. On either side and in front, he had enclosed a spacious garden, which was tastily laid out in grass-plots, gravel-paths, and flower-beds, where there flour ished a variety of ornamental shrubs and plants, some of them indigenous, and others exotics introduced by himself and his brethren. Immediately behind the house, there was an enclosed poultry-yard, well stocked with turkeys, fowls, and English and Muscovy ducks; while beyond this, lay a large kitchen-garden, which supplied vege only two native habitations, and it was difficult to walk along the beach for the bushes. But the former wilderness is now an open, clear, and pleasant place, with a range of houses extending nearly two miles along the sea-beach, in which reside about a thousand of the natives. We earnestly desire to see the moral wilderness present the same improved appearance. The king, who, we are happy to say, is one of the most consistent characters, resides very near to us. He is a very constant attendant both at the chapel and the schools. He will probably be one of the first whom we shall baptize in the islands. We are happy in being able to state that his behavior is circumspect, and that he is very active in suppressing crime. their table with several British roots and "We are glad to be able to inform you, that tables, including cabbages, beans, peas, cucum- many have built themselves very neat little bers, pumpkins, onions, and pot-herbs. At a houses, and are now living in them with their later date, the bleating of goats, and the lowing wives and families. The king, through seeing of oxen on the hills, indicated that still more im- ours, and by our advice, has had a house erectportant additions had been made to their domes-ed near to us. It contains four rooms, wattled, tic comfort. and plastered inside and out, and floored. He is the first native on these islands that ever had such a house; but many others are now following his example. The furniture was in keeping with the house, and discovered in the Missionary an equal amount of taste and skill. Tables, chairs, sofas, and bedsteads, with turned and polished legs and We have been constantly exhorting the peopillars, quite in the English style, and carpeted ple to abandon their pernicious custom of livfloors, gave to the interior of this dwelling an ing several families together in one dwelling, appearance, equally inviting to the European and have advised their separation. Several visitor, and surprising to the natives. Mr. Wil. have complied with our request, and before six liams augured much good from the excitement months more have elapsed, it is probable that which these novelties would produce in the too there will not be less than twenty houses, watsluggish intellects around him, and was soon retled, plastered, with boarded floors, and divided joiced to see that their imitative propensities into separate rooms for meals and sleeping." had been so powerfully called into useful exercise by his example, as effectually to overcome their indolence. Mr. Williams had not been long in these islands, when he perceived that tobacco |