of acquiring any proficiency, even in the art of engraving, under such a master; and he accordingly determined to obtain admission to the studio of some painter of distinction, where he might pass a limited portion of his time, without quitting the roof of Girardet. Fortunately for him, he selected that of David.

The proficiency obtained by the young painter during the earlier part of his probation, was not, however, of a kind to satisfy the ardent anticipations of his parents. "They had other children (says he in a letter) and could not afford to sacrifice them all to me. Discontented with the apparently unsatisfactory result of my studies, my mother resolved to repair to Paris herself, for the purpose of satisfying herself personally, as to what hopes they might fairly entertain of my ultimate success. She waited on David, who gave her every encouragement; and she returned home with the conviction that it was the duty of my father and herself to persevere in supplying me with the means of pursuing my studies in Paris. My object was to obtain admission into the French academy at Rome, and in my first attempt I obtained the second prize. Two years afterwards, nothing doubting that the first would follow, I became once more a candidate but political excitement, that Upas tree alike to belles lettres and the fine arts, put an extinguisher on my hopes; and with a heavy heart I once more retraced my steps homeward, having already occasioned my exemplary parents expenses which nothing short of personal privations could have enabled them to incur. In spite of the untoward circumstances under which I pre

sented myself, however, I was received with demonstrations of the fondest affection, not only by my father and mother, but likewise by my brothers and sisters. The gratitude to which these cordial tokens of affection gave rise, had an important influence on my after life. I have never omitted to consult that sentiment on all occasions-it has been the moving spring of my actions; and the more imperatively so, that the sacrifices which I occasioned, have been, (I cannot conceal it from myself), in part the cause of circumstances which, some years afterwards, brought heavy misfortunes upon my family. It is with agony that I reflect on this fact. Thanks to the instruction I received from M. David, I had by this time acquired enough of expertness in my art to be enabled to occupy myself, whilst under my paternal roof, in a manner sufficiently lucrative to prevent the necessity of further sacrifices in my behalf. At Neufchatel, I formed an intimacy with a Monsieur de Roulet Mezerai, an amateur of the fine arts, who had resided with his family, in Italy, for several years; and who, impressed with the belief that there was no place like Rome for a young painter, prevailed on me to visit it. To avail myself of this suggestion, however, it was necessary that I should obtain pecuniary means, and I would rather have descended at once to the condition of a peasant, than have occasioned my family any further expense on my account. M. de Roulet was informed of my position, and made me a very disinterested proposal. He undertook to furnish me with the means of studying and working for three years; contenting him

self with the understanding that I should repay him his advances when I should be in a condition so to do. You may readily imagine that I accepted his offer with gratitude; and I departed for Rome, with the determination to achieve the object of my ambition or die. I had the good fortune to make many friends in the eternal city, and some, whose advice induced me to abandon engraving for painting. My constitution must have been very strong to bear up as it did, under toil the most unremitting, even to the extent of imprudence, and against the trouble and chagrin occasioned by unhappy tidings from home. At length, however, thanks to the Great Disposer of events, after long anxiety as to my success, towards the close of the third year I began to hope. I had some dozen of pictures finished, upon which the artists of Rome bestowed their eulogies, and which were attractive from their originality. I had obtained from the authorities of Rome permission to have an atelier in a place in which were assembled more than two hundred mountaineers, men, women, and children, all relatives of the brigands who infested the mountains, and all of whom wore costumes such as are not to be met with elsewhere. Here I passed several months; and after having executed a few pictures, I purchased the dresses to aid me in making more at home. I was never possessed of the tact necessary for pushing myself amongst the amateurs, who resided in great numbers at Rome; and my timidity at that period was so great as to stand a good deal in my own way. An artist, however, brought one day to me, M. le Colonel

de la Marre, who resided at that time in Rome. My pictures pleased him; he introduced his friends and acquaintances to me; and the most remarkable success was the result. This piece of good fortune

arrived at a most seasonable time.

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I had already been obliged to request M. de Roulet to continue his assistance a little longer, to enable me to get through the winter; and it was at this critical moment that fortune began to look on me with a favourable eye. the end of a few further months, I found myself in a position to desire that my parents would send my younger brother to me, who was already occupied in a branch of the watch-making business at home. Aware of his dislike to the mechanical arts, and remembering that he had exhibited some inclination for drawing, I urged upon him the advantages of such a change of condition. On his side, too, the temptation of my dawning fortunes naturally inclined him to adopt my proposal. I had contracted a considerable debt to my family, and another to M. de Roulet; and could have no rest till these sacred obligations should be discharged. With this view, I executed a great quantity of small pictures, which facilitated my means at the moment, more than others by which I might perhaps have been ultimately a greater gainer. I had another cause of anxiety in my doubts as to my brother's success; and was fearful of engaging him at once in the "grand style,"-which offers prospects to those only whose talent is of the most distinguished order. I conceived the idea of making him begin upon a collection of drawings after my own pictures-a plan in which he took much interest, under the impres

sion, that the speculation of engraving them would be an advantageous one for us both.

"It was not till some years after the arrival of my brother, that I had entirely discharged my obligations; but I still remained without any advance as regarded my own fortunes. I could not, therefore, prudently, think of marriage; the less so, that, on that subject I have very strong opinions, and have always feared to make a wife and children share in my uncertain position. I have, at the same time, never harboured the notion of selecting a wife from interested motives. Do not, I entreat you, imagine that it betokens a barrenness of heart on my part, or that I am like a great number of men, who shrink from marriage because they regard it as a tie which may restrain them in the career of a libertine and unregulated life. I am too much a lover of order and of tranquillity for that; and I have always looked upon a well-assorted union, as the best happiness attainable by man. If I have some regrets that that happiness is not mine, I ought to add, that I have, also, some compensations. The comfort of having always happy tidings to convey to my family, in which all its members could share, has constituted hitherto my greatest happiness. My poor mother, who loved her children so dearly, afforded me the joy of having her with me for some time, at Rome. Oh! had not this been so, how much heavier had been her loss to me! I am much occupied with my painting;

look calmly to the future. If rewards or honours await me, I shall receive them, certainly, with pleasure; but I can truly say, that I torment not myself for their attainment. A quiet and contemplative existence seems to me far preferable to the agitation of an ambitious spirit; and what contents me is, that the farther I go the more certainly do I discover that that calm,-which at first, had ennui and sadness, and dissatisfaction for its companions,becomes habitual to me.'

His first picture of any consequence was "L'Improvisateur Napolitain," and it opened for him in Paris a career of success which went on increasing with each successive exhibition. In 1824, Robert became a member of the royal academy of the fine arts at Berlin. In 1827, he completed his magnificent picture of "La Madonna del Arco," which was purchased by the French government for the gallery of the Luxembourg; and which, now that its painter is no more has been removed, in accordance with the rule which applies to the works of a deceased painter, to the Louvre. This picture was the first of a series of four, which he had formed the design of executing to represent the four seasons of the year, as seen in different parts of Italy. The festival of the Madonna del Arco, the subject of the one in question, takes place at Naples in the spring. The second of the series was intended to represent the harvest of the Pontine marshes. In the third he proposed to exhibit a picture of the vintage, in Tus

if there was a gift within me, which I would fain bring to the light of day, and in the consciousness of which, I am sustained and

scene of which was to have been Venice, he had originally intended to paint some scene of the carnival, but he finally chose for it the

departure for their distant fishinggrounds, of the fishermen of the Adriatic.

In 1828, after an absence of ten years, Robert revisited his native country, and had the affliction, `almost at the moment of his arrival, to lose his amiable and affectionate mother. It was on his return to Rome, that he executed his celebrated picture of "Les Moissoneurs," the second of the series to which we have already alluded,-a painting which combined the purer drawing of David with the breadth of handling, boldness of composition, and warmth and vigour of colour, of Horace Vernet. For this picture, he received, in 1831, the decoration of the Legion of Honour, from the king of the French; who with a discrimination worthy of a monarch, purchased it at a liberal price. Robert's reputation had, however, been already sufficiently established by his previous works. After a brief sojourn in Paris, Robert repaired to Florence, with a view to the execution of his third picture, that of the Tuscan vintage. This portion of his plan, was, however, never executed; owing to some peculiar circumstances which exercised a fatal influence over the remaining years of his existence, and induced him to quit Florence for the purpose of taking up his abode in Venice. The circumstances are said to have had reference to an unhappy attachment, which Robert had formed for the daughter of an Italian nobleman, of high rank. Venice, Robert set about the execution of the last and noblest of his works, the departure of the fishermen for the Adriatic; and this, his crowning labour, was prosecuted amidst

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influences which were gradually destroying his intelligence. A manifest change became gradually visible in his deportment, and a still more obvious alteration took place in his bodily health. Attended with the most assiduous affection by his brother Aurele, who had remained with him from the period of his first visit to Rome, he wanted nothing, which the most devoted fraternal love could supply; but during the greater part of the progress of his work, he was silent and melancholy, complaining frequently of the most intense and agonising pains in his head. On the morning of the 20th of March, 1835, after the completion of the picture, Aurele having passed a long and anxious vigil by the bedside of his brother, retired to his own chamber to snatch an hour's rest before he began the labours of the day; leaving his patient in what he supposed to be, a deep slumber. Intending to return in an hour or two at farthest, he took with him the key of their atelier. Having somewhat overslept him. self, he hastened into his brother's room, in the morning, fearing lest he should have been inconvenienced by his inadvertence. He had, however, risen and dressed himself without assistance, and was no where to be found. On entering the atelier, Aurele discovered him on the floor before his picture, weltering in his blood. The vital spark had fled for ever. A post-mortem examination clearly established the existence of great and most excruciating bodily disease. A quantity of water was found suffused upon his brain ; and the singularity of his conduct for some weeks previous to his death, satisfactorily accounted for the unpremeditated act which was the