wind and weather. The bustle of preparation, even for so short a voyage, is a very entertaining sight in such a river as the Thames, where it seems to be increased, in each vessel, by the babel of tongues, and the clattering of oars, sails, cables, freight, and passengers in the motley fleet around. The old proverb of "time and tide" seems to be treated as the wisdom of ages generally is; every body acknowledges its truth in the abstract; but few allow it any practical influence. To the last moment, "while the wind sits in the shoulder of the sail," some one is still coming on board; and after you have fairly set off, it is odds but you see an unfortunate loiterer striving, perhaps in vain, to overtake you in his boat. In the embarkation for long voyages, more interesting scenes take place. The moment of parting from our native land, and all its deeply interwoven sympathies, gives scope for the play of the most powerful emotions in every bosom. Even in our little expedition something of this kind was observable; the farewell of friends was prolonged, and repeated, and varied with a thousand little circumstances of kindness; and one whole family accompanied us as far as Gravesend, before they could prevail on themselves to take leave of their relations on board.

We are, perhaps, too seldom accustomed to look upon sea-ports as affording materials for the exercise of imagination and taste; yet it is probable that all the arts might be improved by so doing. Whether they communicate hints to the musician, I know not; but I should but I should suppose that even upon him

the expression of so much natural feeling could not be thrown away. Certain it is, that our poets and painters might find in them abundant food for their genius. The The great fault of inventors in the present day, is a kind of common-place finery, which strikes the eye, but seldom touches the heart: hence these scenes are generally considered as vulgar, and consigned to the caricaturist alone; but they are not only adapted to him; the landscape painter (under which term I include the marine) would be much improved by studying in this school.

With regard to compositions of form, and effects of light and shade, and colour, I am happy to observe that many of our present artists seem, in some degree, aware of this circumstance. The old mode of composing pictures by certain formulæ, like apothecaries' prescriptions, or receipts in cookery, seems (at least in landscape) to have given way to the study of nature; and it is acknowledged by every man of

thought and feeling, that no general rules, however excellent, can be of any use, unless they are often refreshed by comparison with her living varieties. The landscape-painter, therefore, has abandoned his garret, and no longer paints green fields" from green baize," or "a sheep" from "a bug." At first, as his subjects chiefly demanded, he travelled into the inland parts of the country; he visited Wales, Cumberland, Scotland, and brought home their lakes, and mountains, and glens; but he could not shut his eyes to the glorious spectacle of the vast ocean, as a whole; and on its shores he must have observed the innumerable combinations of its parts, grand, beautiful, or romantic.

In sublimity, or in beauty, no mass of waters can equal the sea; but in the endless variety of outline and effect, the river Thames is perhaps unrivalled. Here you have all the stores of architecture added to those of navigation; the productions of human industry joined to those of natural fertility; a busy and luxurious capital, rich and populous fields, a majestic river pouring down from its source, or driven backward by its tide, a grove of masts, a countless multitude of small shipping, barges, boats, and wherries; the grandeur of vast permanent objects;

and the liveliness of incessant bustle and business. The immensity of the greatest creations of art, indeed, vanishes before the far mightier works of nature, and the wonder excited by the former is nothing, when compared with the severe delight, the transporting awe, inspired by the latter; but he who has seen the one without emotion must never flatter himself that he will acquire taste from the other. The young student too often neglects the lessons, which are within his reach; he is not aware, that the beauty and sublimity of the country exist in the town, those of the inland parts upon the coast; and that, however they may differ in degree, they are still the same in kind.

Sea-painting has usually been made a distinct branch of the art, and confined too much to the mere delineation of shipping; but Vernet, and even Claude, have shown how well it may be combined with land views; how good a fore-ground is formed by nautical objects; and how effectually they contrast with, and relieve the architectural forms, and terrestrial masses. My companion was so much struck with this idea, that, in the few minutes preparatory to sailing, he made a slight sketch of the objects before us, which, as they were thrown together by

chance, formed a very interesting composition. Close to us was a vessel, whose stern, with its tackling, boats, buoys, &c. filled a sufficient space in the eye to throw into their proper distances the other parts of the view, including the Tower with its four turrets, the cupola of St. Paul's, and the far-off crowd of vessels whose reed-like masts seemed to bristle London bridge; the continual mist of the City enveloped that part of the picture in a general, but not unpleasing obscurity, illuminated as the whole piece was by the bright sunshine of mid-day; and subordinate accidental effects were here and there introduced, by smoke arising from glass-houses, or from operations on board of different vessels.

It is not only in the mechanism of his art, the forms, and colours, and lights, and shades, that the painter will derive instruction from studying a sea-port. All these have, indeed, a strong connexion with human feelings; but feelings are yet more powerfully touched by the incidents of human action, which give a life and a spirit to the scene around them, and when they are appropriately and originally introduced, bespeak the true artist. A sea-port supplies them in abundant variety, and with all their characteristic peculiarities: it is true, they should