NEw posTaGE ENVELOPE.
TILE Penny Potage, in addition to its other benefits, will be the means of disser.inating a taste for art. The ornamental envelopes, nearly ready to be isueti, are attractive to time eye; the design is pertinent, and suggestive to the mind ; and the circulation of them by hundreds Of milli p:s will tend to ,,et. people thinking on the value of' an art that even on the cover of a letter ean open up a little world of fhaey. The design extends across the top of the direction part of the enve- lope, and down the side, leaving a space for the address. In the mare of the pietere, Britannia, scared on her island throne, with the IS mi lion crouched at her filet, despatches winged messengers to the four quarters of the glohe : on either hand, are ranged the people and pro- ducts ,f the Eastern and Western hemispheres, the flindoos, with ele- phants, the Eey pti an s with camels, and the Chinese without opium- Pilse,, on W.,: 5..ide--the Americans and Red Indians, the Planter arid his Negroes, on the other : below, on either side, are two groups exem- plifying the bley,ings of elmap postage ; a ick man listens with grate- ful anxiety to tidings from his distant friends, met a mother is reading a letter from an ;Absent husband, surrounded by her children eager to know its con tent C. 1,imple touches of' nature are sufficiently indicative of the poetry a the soliket, and make the sentiment intelli- F ible to the most casual olp:errer : they are more than one bargains for in arm official stamp.
The design is by Mt:Lai:Ater, and it has raised even his high retalia- tion by its beauty and appropriateness : he has beta equally happy in
its conception and delineation. The style is picturesque outline. the forms are correctly and gracefully drawn ; and the pencilling is free and elegant, with nothing like the coldness and formality of seulp. turesque outline. The engraving is executed by JOHN TM:UPSON, the eminent wood-engraver, in metallic relief; that is, the design is cut in brass after the manner of cutting in wood, the raised lines yielding the impressions, which are taken by the letterpress printing-machine. This, we understand, is the largest design engraved in this manner ; it eer. tainly is the finest of its kind; and admirable for the union of force, delicacy, and sharpness in the outline : considering the minute scale of the figures, the expression of the faces is given by two or three touches with surprising distinctness ; and in the proof before us the ,gradations of strength in the lines indicate effects of light and shade and peespes,, tive, as far as can be accomplished by linear drawing. In fine, the Postage Envelope reflects credit on all concerned in its production, ma is honourable to the arts of the country.
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