Notices on the Northern Capitals of Europe, by FRANK HALL
STANDISH, Esq. The principal topic of Mr. STANDISH'S book is the collections of paintings in the different cities he visited, from Amsterdam to St. Petersburg; relieved by notes upon such other points as struck his fancy, and by such digressive remarks as jumped with his humour. His observations on art are those of an amateur, not a critic : he gives the impression a work pro- duced without troubling himself to analyze the causes. Bieck* scriptions and remarks are those of a gentleman,—clear, agree- able, and sometimes lively, but superficial if not shallow, and the result of opinions taken up, rather than views arrived at by rea- son. Sometimes, however, he hits off an obvious absurdity or weakness happily, as in this passage- " The prudish English attach an air of mystery to their habitations. They surround them with trees ; the young ladies fly round a wood at the approsesk of a strange carriage or a strange person ; and sometimes an unwelcome masa will spring fruit' his kennel in an overgrown laurel or holly-bush, and assail the unlucky stranger. The impenetrable barrier of a seraglio, in Venetian blinds, conceals the blue eves which timidly peep from between them: the whole household rethe at the front-door knock or ring ; the servants are marshilled- the visiter announced—the master informed—his lady summoned—the (laugh. tets introduced—and time visit wound up by a formai lunch and cerenanniOut leave-taking. On the Continent, they advance to welcome the guest; the proprietor of the domain is not on a rack of agony lest John Footman should not present himself iu his best attire, or should smell of the stable ;.they art kind in their manners, and consequently easy; they do not deal out civility t,), graius, for fear of giving over-weight ; ' being natural, they naturally plea-
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