portion thereof; but their performances fell so far short of the grandeur of his designs, that one day, in a fit of disgust, he effaced all they had done, shut himself up in the chapel, and commenced and continued his work that hand, he turns round his head without moving his body, on being called by one of the children that are behind him; a figure which, if attentively studied, might fully teach the precepts of a master. Buonarotti was months, and received for it 3,000 crowns. In 1513 Pope Julius II. died, and was succeeded by Leo X., the son of Lorenzo de Medici. One would have thought that he would have delighted in patronising one whom he had known in his youth, the protege, too, of his father, and, like himself, a Florentine. Leo, however, the graceful and accomplished, preferred the gentle Raffaelle to Michael Angelo, the lofty and unbending. Consequently, during this Pontificate, which lasted ten years, Buonarotti was employed in no work of importance. After the death of Leo X., Clement VII. was elected in 1523. He wished to devote a chapel in the Church of San Lorenzo, at Florence, for the tombs of his ancestors, the Medici. Michael Angelo was the architect, and here are six of his finest statues. One represents Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino, the father of Catherine de Medici; a work of extraordinary power and grandeur, known throughout Italy, from its look of awful contemplation, as "Il Pensiero," the thought. The opposite one is his cousin, Giuliano; and there are four colossal statues recumbent, called Night, Morning, Dawn, and Twilight. We would refer the reader to Mr. Rogers' fine description of this chapel, in his "Italy:' alone. He even mixed and prepared-employed on this work about twenty his own colours. When he had advanced to the third compartment, he had the mortification to find his labour frustrated by the bad quality of his materials, in which fermentation had taken place, and, in utter disappointment, he abandoned the undertaking. The Pope, learning the misfortune, sent his own architect, Sangallo, to investigate the cause of the failure, and teach Michael Angelo how to correct it. Thus encouraged, he proceeded, and when the chapel was half completed Julius insisted upon seeing it. He was so struck with admiration and wonder, that he became still more impatient and anxious that the work should be finished. Once inquiring of Michael Angelo when he would complete it, the artist replied, "When I can." "When thou canst ! rejoined the Pope. "Hast thou a mind that I have thee thrown from the scaffold?" It was opened on All Saints' Day, 1512. The roof is divided into twelve compartments, in which the history of the antediluvian world is portrayed. In the first three compartments Michael Angelo has personified the Supreme Being, dividing the light from the darkness, creating the sun and moon, and giving life to Adam. The eleventh subject of his series on the roof is the Deluge; and the twelfth, taken from the history of Noah, showing the remnant of the human race preserved after that awful event. the sides of the chapel is a series of designs representing the persons who compose the genealogy of Christ; and between these compartments are the colossal figures of Prophets and Sibyls. On The dignity of the aspects, the solemn majesty of the eyes, the strange, wild casting of the drapery, and the attitudes of these, all seem to belong to an order of beings who hold converse with the Deity, and whose mouths utter what he inspires. Vasari points out the figure of Isaiah as the one he most admires; who, absorbed in meditation, places his right hand in a book to denote where he had been reading; and, with his left elbow on the book, and his cheek resting on Nor there forget that chamber of the dead, In 1537, Rome was taken by the Constable de Bourbon, and, the Medici being again disgraced, Buonarotti was commissioned by the Republic to fortify Florence against his former employers His skill in engineering was considerable, and he conducted the defence of his native city for nine months. Florence was, at last, delivered up by treachery, and, in consequence, Michael Angelo was obliged to fly. The Pope granted him a generous and free pardon. He withdrew to Rome, and, during his residence there, it is affirmed by some authori ties that he gave the design for the Bridge of the Rialto. Pope Paul III. succeeded Clement in 1534. He ordered Buonarotti to finish the adornment of the Sistine, which had been left incomplete; and thus, when nearly sixty years of age, the artist commenced painting, "The Last Judgment" on the wall of the upper end of the chapel. It was nine years before this famous work was done-a picture which, though abounding in faults, is yet, perhaps, the greatest ever painted. It was first exhibited on Christmas-day, 1541. The groups representing the lost are terrible in the extreme: full of fearful energy and wild despair-thoroughly Dantesque in treatment. The artist has lamentably failed in delineating the Redeemer. In the pardoned we behold, says Kugles, "no traces of the glory of Heaven." On the contrary, instead of angelic beauty and holy serenity, we meet merely with the sentiments of "human passion," undignified by the light of celestial love, and the glorified expression of a Divine repose. On the opposite side of the chapel it was designed to depict the fall of the rebel angels, but this was never carried into execution. A modern writer, in speaking of "The Last Judgment," says: "Michael Angelo has made terror the predominating sentiment of his picture. In the Messiah we see, rather, the inexorable judge, than the merciful Redeemer ; he turns to the left, and fulminates his sentence on the wicked, who fall thunder-struck. These groups, precipitated through the air, are seized by demons, who spring from the abyss beneath. This is the finest part of the picture, for there is little among the groups of the righteous, who, on the opposite side, are ascending into Heaven, which expresses the happiness of the blessed. That part in which the dead are seen rising from their graves is admirable. The excellence of the work consists in the unparalleled powers of invention displayed in the various groups, and in the profound knowledge of the human figure, by which the artist was enabled so effectually to embody his conceptions.” Michael Angelo's best productions in painting were the frescoes in the Capella Paolina. After their completion, his wonderful genius was entirely con secrated to architecture. In 1544, he was appointed chief architect of St. Peter's at Rome, and was thus employed by Paul III. to finish that grand structure commenced by Bramante. He remained in this office during the Pontificates of the three succeeding Popes, Julius III., Pius IV., and Pius V. He undertook the work with great reluctance, and ever refused all payment. Indeed, he regarded it as a solemn act of religion; and, therefore, "for his own honour, and for the honour of God," he declined most resolutely any offer of emolument. Michael Angelo continued in perfect health until well advanced in age. He died, Feb. 17th, 1562, and was, consequently, 89 at the period of his death. His last will and testament was comprised in these simple words: "I bequeath my soul to God, my body to the earth, and my possessions to my nearest relatives." The remains of this great artist were interred in the Church of the Holy Cross at Florence. Buonarotti has usually been represented as a man of stern and imperious disposition, of simple and ascetic habits; but his conduct to his faithful servant, and almost friend, Urbino, proves that he was also capable of true and tender affection. Once, while Urbino stood by his side, as he was working, he said: "What wilt thou do, my poor Urbino, when I am gone?' "Alas," replied Urbino, "I shall then have to seek another master!" "Not so!" returned Michael Angelo; "that shall never be!" -at the same time presenting him with 2,000 crowns. It is related that during the last illness of this devoted servant, Buonarotti waited upon him with the most touching tenderness. He was almost inconsolable on the death of Urbino. "My Urbino is dead," he wrote to the painter Vasari, “to my infinite sorrow. Living, he served me truly; and, in his death, he taught me how to die. I have now no hope remaining but to rejoin him in Paradise!" Michael Angelo lived in terms of perfect equality with the men of highest rank in Italy. The Grand Duke Cosmo I. always stood with his hat in his hand while conversing with him; and when the artist waited on Julius III., the Pope rose to receive him, and seated him on his right hand. Perhaps no better proof of Buonarotti's genius can be adduced than the observation of the French sculptor, Falconet, who, to the utmost, endeavoured to detract from Michael Angelo's merit, without having seen any of his works. When, however, some of his sculptures were brought into France, he exclaimed to a friend: "I have seen Michael Angelo; he is terrible!" The eloquent author of "Modern Painters" has declared that the object of all art should be, "the glory of God." Thus it may be exalted and refined, and rendered not only subservient to human luxury, to the delight we ever experience in the contemplation of the beautiful, but sanctified to the holiest ends, and sublimed to the noblest purposes. This was evidently Michael Angelo's idea. It is a generally received fact that he prefaced the commencement of any important work by solemn prayer and meditation; and we think that there can be no doubt but that this was always the practice of many of the earliest Italian painters. Would it be too much to suppose that to this they were partly indebted for the sentiment of celestial loveliness and divine purity enshrined in many of their Madonnas ? We can scarcely imagine otherwise than that these creations of seraphic beauty were the work of men consecrated to the worship of all that is great, and glorious, and good; for there should be ever a true and consistent harmony between the daily existence of genius and its productions If the poet's life be not "set to heavenly music," there will most assuredly be a discord in the song. So with the painter and the sculptor. We shall, in a future paper, offer some reflections on Michael Angelo as a man, sculptor, painter, architect, engineer, and poet, and therein attempt to show his relative position as an artist, and the influence of his life and productions on succeeding generations. With an expression of the sincerest veneration for his memory, and the deepest admiration of his lofty genius we conclude our present sketch of him, characterised by Ariosto as Michel, pin'che mortal, angel 'divino. LORD PALMERSTON. IT is difficult to write, with fulness and impartiality, the biography of a living man. His career, and, therefore, the manifestations of his character, being incomplete the hand of Death not having set the seal of unalterable fact upon his being and doing-the materials of the historian and judge are imperfect. Till the drama is played out, it is difficult to pronounce upon the heroes, or criticise the moral. Besides, the incidents of private life are either unknown or sacred; those little daily traits and habits which are truer indices of the inner man than set, conspicuous performances, are veiled by respect for the sanctities of home; and as these are to the biographer what colour is to the painter, neither a faithful nor a pleasing picture can be made. And, lastly, if the supposed subject of the biography be representative of controverted opinions, or a leader of one of several parties, it is impossible, while he yet lives, for the writer totally to divest himself of prejudice or prepossession. The spirit of partisanship, the warmth of political conviction, possibly the bias of personal attachment or dislike, will insensibly mingle with the narration of facts, and influence the portrayal of character. In the case of the illustrious individual whose name heads this article all these disadvantageous circumstances are combined, and each in a high degree. Lord Palmerston is one of, and prominent amongst, a class of men-the diplomatists-whose profession is declared by themselves to be necessarily esoteric; their transactions of a nature not to be revealed, or only bit by bit, and at their own discretion, until they have lost all interest but to the political antiquarian. His lordship is also the type of a set, or rather a series, of principles on the great subject of international relations, which have been fiercely contested at every stage of their development, and promise to become more than ever important and critical. As a party leader he is the subject of excitements separate those of foreign policy; and though, as an individual he is universally admired, the circumstance rather adds to than detracts from the difficulty of forming a sound judgment upon his character and career. What we propose to do is, to recapitulate the leading facts of his public life, and to deduce therefrom the guiding principles of his policy. We may first, however, tell whatever may be fairly stated of Lord Palmerston's pedigree and personel. The "Peerage" informs us that he is “Henry John Temple, Viscount Palmerston, of Palmerston, County Dublin, and Baron Temple, of Mount Temple, County Sigo, in the Peerage of Ireland, G. C.B., M.P., and P.C.; that he was born October the 20th, 1784; succeeded to his title and property, April, 1802; married, December the 16th, 1839, Emily Mary, Dowager Countess Cowper, eldest daughter of Peniston, first Viscount Melbourne, born April the 4th, 1787. His Lordship's genealogical tree is more deeply rooted than even those of the few noble families who boast of having come over with William the Conqueror-and some of them might with greater truth be said to have come over with William the Dutchman. Its fibres strike into the Homeric age of English history, and clasp around such rocky ribs of earth as our Saxon progenitors. Leofric, Earl of Mercia, who founded the abbey of Coventry, and married the famous Lady Godiva, is the putative founder of the Temple family. Among its later and less mythical ornaments is the learned Sir W. Temple, better known as a diplomatist than a literatuer, having effected, in 1668, that "triple alliance" between England, Sweden, and Holland, by which the ambitious designs of Louis XIV. were effectually checked. Lord Palmerston, it will be observed, is sixty-seven years of age. His ap pearance, however, is comparatively juvenile. He is thus sketched in Mr. Grant's "Random Recollections of the House of Commons :"-" In person, Lord Palmerston is tall and handsome. His face is round, and is of a darkish hue. His hair is black, and always exhibits proofs of the skill and attention of the peruquier. His clothes are in the extreme of fashion. He is very vain of his personal appearance, and is generally supposed to devote more of his time in sacrificing to the Graces than is consistent with the duties of a person who has so much to do with the destinies of Europe. Hence it is that the Times newspaper has fastened upon him the soubriquet of 'Cupid.'" The same writer describes his Lordship as a very indifferent speaker. Either Mr. Grant's judgment is strangely at fault, or Lord Palmerston has greatly improved since the date of the above sketch (1836). There is now no member of the House of Commons who is listened to so eagerly, and whose style of speech is more emphatically effective. Sir Robert Peel expressed the universal opinion when, in the last speech delivered by that eminent and lamented statesman, in the great debate to which we shall have again, and more than once, to advert, he spoke of Lord Palmerston's as "that most able and most temperate speech, which made us all proud of the man who delivered it (loud and general cheering);-and in which he vindicated, with an ability worthy of his name, that course of conduct which he has pursued (renewed cheering)." His Lordship's oratory possesses that rare quality of adaptability which renders his speaking as effective on the hustings as on the floor of the House. When his re-election for Tiverton was contested, in 1847, by Mr. Julian Harney, one of the ablest of the Chartist orators, Lord Palmerston's reply was a model of fluency, humour, and point. One expression we remember. In allusion to the famine in Ireland, he spoke of the young, the hale, and the hearty, as becoming skeletons before they became corpses - than which it is scarcely in the power of words to portray more vividly death in its most appalling form. Lady Palmerston, though in her sixty-fourth year, is still a leader of fashion. Her soirées in Carlton-place have succeeded to the celebrity of Lady Holland's, and are regarded as one and a principal source of her husband's political influence. Cut off, by the Act of Union, from his senatorial inheritance, Lord Palmerston had the alternative of taking his chance of election as an Irish representative peer, or seeking admission to the Imperial House of Commons. He chose the latter. Educated at Harrow, he went, as was then the fashion among the scions of the Whig nobility, in stress of politics," as Sydney Smith says, to Edinburgh, where he studied mental philosophy under its celebrated professor, Dugald Stuart. He next entered St. John's College, Cambridge, and took the degree of A.M. On the death of the Premier, William Pitt, in 1806, our young politician contested the representation of the University with Lord Henry Petty, then a member of the Fox-Granville Cabinet, now the Marquis of Lansdowne, and until lately a colleague of Lord Palmerston's. He was defeated in this contest, but was returned for the Government borough of Bletchingley, and was made a Lord of the Admiralty, under Lord Portland's Ministry, in 1807; and, on the accession of Percival to the Premiership, in 1810, became Secretary-at-War, and continued to hold that important office during the remaining five years of Continental war. He again contested the representation of Cambridge University in 1807, on Lord Henry Petty's elevation to the Peerage, but was defeated; and again in 1811, when he was successful. Of this anxiety to represent the scene of youthful studies and sports in Parliament-the honoured Alma Mater-we have repeated illustrations in the lives of statesmen. To Canning, it was an object of higher ambition than any honour that could be bestowed by Crown or people; and to Mr. Peel, its resignation was the heavy price of conversion on the Roman Catholic question. The mention of the former of these gentlemen introduces us to the second epoch in Lord Palmerston's career. It was in consequence of Canning's duel with Castlereagh, in 1810, that Palmerston was promoted to the office held by the latter. Canning was for some time out of office, but was sent, in 1814, on an embassy to Lisbon, and on his return was placed on the Board of Control. Refusing to participate in the persecution of Queen Caroline, he threw up that office, and spent a year or two in travel. The suicide of Castlereagh vacated a post- that of Foreign Secretary-which none but Canning could fill with the slightest acceptance to the public; and the King reluctantly consented to his recall from Liverpool, whither he had gone for embarkation to India. Canning's accession was much more than a change of men,-it was a total change of policy. When Castlereagh committed suicide, he was on the eve of setting out for the Congress of Verona. Europe was just then astir with democratic movements. The Iberian and Italian peninsulas were in arms for constitutional freedom, and Greece was fighting for inde pendence of Turkey. To suppress these agitations was the object of the Congress, and to that design Castlereagh would have offered no opposition. Canning, on the contrary, deeply sympathised with these struggles, as a man; and, as a Minister of England, would, at least, not consent to their repression by foreign powers. The result was, the virtual dissolution of the Holy Alliance by the resistance of England to its policy. True, Spain was invaded by a French army, and the Italian despots reinstated by Austrian arms; but Portugal was protected from a counter-revolution, and the independence of the Spanish colonies recog nised; "the New World was called into existence to redress the balance of the Old ;" and the right of peoples to choose their own form of Government, was formally declared by the British Minister. In this great change Lord Palmerston fully concurred. He was not one of the many who deserted Mr. Canning at the period of his elevation to the Premiership, and of the fierce assaults upon him of inveterate Tories and unappreciating Whigs. On the contrary, he was known as one of Canning's closest friends and adherents; continued in office after his death, under Lord Goderich; was one of the five "Canningites" who had seats in the Wellington Cabinet, and seceded with Mr. Huskisson. Though he had joined with Mr. Canning in his anomalous resistance to Parliamentary Reform, Palmerston became Foreign Secretary in Earl Grey's Cabinet; fought with them the battle for "the bill;" sacrificed to his Liberalism the representation of the University of Cambridge (in which he was succeeded by Mr. Goulburn); and was returned, at the exciting election of 1831, by the county of South Hants. The continental revolutions of 1830 tested at once the foreign policy of the new Ministry. The Duke of Wellington had frankly recognised the dynasty of Louis Philippe-Lord Palmeston sought to cherish an alliance with him against the absolutist powers. To the suppression of Polish independence, they offered only verbal opposition; and to the gallant people who appealed for substantial aid, only sympathy in struggle, or an asylum in defeat. The Belgians were more fortunate. United to Holland by the |