THE FINE ARTS IN AMERICA.

Some time ago. a correspondent took the trouble to transcribe from the New York Mirror a comment on a paragraph that appeared in the Spectator more than a twelvemonth before, containing a small modicum of information respecting WASHINGTON A LISTON, A. R. A., furnished by Mr. HATDON, in reply to our inquiry respecting him.

We reprint the extract, with the remarks of our Transatlantic con- temporary; and beg to return his compliment by observing that they are truly characteristic of the American people.

" WASHINGTON ALSTON.

"The following, from the London Spectator, is truly characteristic of the English people, and of that obscurity in which America is shrouded from the view of Europeans.

'Oar bigotry respcting Alston, an Associate of the Academy, who has not been heard of in this country for several years past, has been thus characteristically se. mined by Mr. Hayden, who knew him Intimately. •• Alston was a painter of greet genius.•Ilia graud work was a picture of' Bones reviving the Dead M. lie also painted is poetical picture of • Jacob's Dream which was bought by Egremont. Ile drew with grest knowledge tnil anatomical skill. Ile was shampoo', treated by the British Institution and the Royal Academy. He went to America; and the Academy then elected him au Associate, and sent his diploma after him—he might to have returned it. Ile was modest, unassuming. nod unfortunate. Ile fell a victim to Ills accursed system that kIIk4 Hussey, ruined Barry, insulted Reynolds. degraded Wilkie, and brought me four times to a prison, Ile was the friend of Coleridge, - Wordsworth. Sir George Beaumont, Wilkie," &c.

" Thus we see our illustrious countryman, whose pencil is adorning the cabi. nets of our most enlightened men of taste, and whose biography and letters enrich the ' history of the rise and progress of the fine arts in the United States,' has not been heard of in England for years : although the cherished and admired of millions in America, he is lamented as the ' unfortunate.' He is represented, by one who ' knew him intimately,' as a victim ' to the jealousy or neglect of English painters. We could tell the people of England, if it were possible for our feeble voice to reach them, that Alston is nourishing among those wha admire his genius—that the demand for his invaluable pictures is such that, when selected by the Congress of the United States of America to decorate the Capitol of the nation with paintings illustrative of the history of his country, his engagements induced him to decline thehonourable task ; which has in consequence been divided among four American artists °Eminent talents. We could tell our Transatlantic brethren, that Washington Alston was not 'shamefully treated ' by the British Institute, and that he was beloved and ho. floured by the most worthy of the English artists ; but still is content to be I unheard of' in England, while enjoying the fame which belongs to the greatest painter of a great republic, whose institutions he loves, and whose citizens ap. preciate his virtues and his talents."

What a noble burst of patriotic indignation ! To think of our knowing so little of an Associate of our own Royal Academy, who, though he has neither been in this country, nor exhibited a picture here these twenty years, is so extensively patronized in America! But how much more humiliating is it to be obliged to confess, that we are wholly unacquainted with the American school of painting—that we are merely aware of the fact that there are public exhibitions of works of art in the United States ! Never having had the good fortune to visit " the cabinets of the most enlightened men of taste" in

America, or to see or even hear of the productions that adorn them, we are not only unacquainted with the "invaluable pictures " of Ar.sToN, (who, though aneAmerican citizen, we humbly suggest is a painter of the English school,) but we are positively ignorant of the • RAPHAELS, and TITIAN% and VANDYKES of the American school.... Goths that we are !

We are most anxious to repair our deficiencies, however, and shall diligently search for engravings of their pictures. Doubtless there will be found in the British Museum or the Library of the Royal Academythat "The Gallery of American Pairaing and Sculpture." A. nation can boast its " History of the Rise and Progress of the Fine Arts " in the fifty-fifth year of its political independence, cannot surely be without such a collection of specimens of its genius !

We poor islanders, whose school of art is about four times as old as

the American republic, and who ought therefore by this time to be evoking the mind of another GIBBON to chronicle its "decline and fall," cannot boast of a history even of its "rise and progress." But as it is with old towns, so it is with old countries : a place of great anti. quity, memorable for the characters that have lived or the events that have occurred in it, allows its archives to remain sealed to the world, while every new watering-place can boast of its "history and antiqui. ties."

But it what if we should be obliged to proclaim to the world the astounding fact, that the " History of the Riser nd Progress of the Fine

Arts in the United States" is not known in this country ? How can we explain away the disgrace of being ignorant of those ponderous tomes that record the names and achievements of the long line of illustrious painters and sculptors—to say nothing of engravers—that enrich the annals of America ? How can we account for the mysterious silence of the numerous tourists, from !Worms BIIIKBECK to HAR-

RIET MARTINEAU, on this point? Early writers may have the excuse of haste arid the business-like nature of their objects and Mrs. TROLLOPE'S silence is not surprising ; but for Miss itlart. TINEAU, who visited the States for the express purpose of record. ing her impressions of what she saw, to omit all mention of the American school of art, seems indeed inexplicable. Can it be that jealousy of the superiority of the Transatlantic artists has induced this silence ? We are loth to plead guilty to such an envious feeling; yet the lofty tone of surprise in which our contemporary writes, in- duces us to infer that he regards it as being the cause. With the ma.

desty of true greatness, he doubts if his "feeble voice" will reach U3: now that it has, how powerful will be the effect of his hypothetical rebuke ! WASHINGTON ALSTON may well be content to be " un- heard of" in England, when such is "the demand for his invaluable pictures," that he is obliged to decline the service of his country and the decoration of the Capitol, lest he should be torn to pieces by the citi- zens, whose commissions he would thus be prevented from executing. What a contrast to the state of the fine arts in this country ! But ex. tremes meet : here the best artists are not employed by the country, because we do not decorate our public buildings : in America, they cannot work for the state, because of the immense demand for their

works by the citizens. In this respect, the United States surpass Italy. RAPHAEL and MICHAEL ANGELO were employed to decorate the Vatican and St. Peter's : those great artists did not dare refuse their services to the Sovereign Pontiff, as ALSTON has done to Con. gress, in favour of the Medieis of America. But Italy was not "a land of liberty, where every man may larrup his own nigger."