The Diorama.
We htld, on Saturday. an opportunity of privately irspecting the two new scenes which are to-day to be p ublicly exhibited in this temple otoptical delusion. Theoneisarepresentation of' " Te letc:- r.or of thc Ca(thcdrat lf (Jar l.zfdy of (Cartras ," the ether, i " Vicit; (if lthe Harbour oif Brest." Wedo not think cither suhi.ct well selected. I here is nzothing in thc Cathed-al to delight or to stir- prise; and the appearance of l;rest harbour has long been famiiia- nized to us, not merely through thc various drawings and engravinrs which have been adLtle of it (sowe of them of muchi excellence), but from the panoranmic view which was exhibited somtle years since. Of' tic two subjects, the lecided preference is due to " Ue Inter,iot r of 'tfl. C'aih-edral of Clhartres.- Every part of the architectural de- tail is broadly anad listinctly nmarkel ; and the perspectiv. is ex- ceedingly good, whether we view it where the light is boldly admitted, or where the pillars dimly and almost insensibly fade into shadow. The artist has also been very happy in hitting off thle tintw ani appearances occasior.ed by what may be termed lo- ahtitceg. He lias, tn one part of his picture, imitated with great success, the light, half trarnsparent and half opake, which, admitted through a .ttinted window, tremibles on a neichbouring column. . Tnc Miew of Bresd" did not give U8s tIIucI pleasure. Doubt- less, as a piece of topography, it is correct; bat as a picture, we saw nouting brilliant about it. We at tirst supposed, from tie haziness of its appearance, that the artist intended to give us an idea 9f th'te harbour when enveloped in a blight fog: but we could not recotcile the clear lively colouring of the sky with the mttkiness of the itiiddle tint, and the antrae!sparent flue of the water. The fore-ground in ttis picture is, however, good. From the rock on the right, ti0til the eye rests on the gate of the Rose Bat. tery on the left, every object stwutls out frotn the ceavass boldly and naturally. The rippling of the water, as thc tide Sevws, and the occa sional liglt clouds of smioke tbat rise over (he hky, are weil imngiLed and executed. They are, however, mere mcchianical operations. Tlhis exhibition we think inferior to the last, partly in choice of sub- ject, antd partly with reference to execution; buit still we look upon it as worthy ot patronage. The itivention, if not deeplv scientific, is certainly ingenious; hnd any novelty which Innocently whiles away a tedious lhour ought to be encouraged. TIlE D I0JHI,11,4.