Another picture, illustrative of the spirit and character of the
Cove- nanters, painted by GEORGE HA R vEv, of the Scottish Academy, has just been engraved by WAGsrArr. It is intended to represent the battle of Drumclog ; and portrays the martial energies of the persecuted Presby- terians, as the " Preaching" and " Baptism of the Covenanters" do their religious rites and devotional fervour. The fight has more the appearance of a skirmish with a party of troopers by a handful of men lying in ambush, than a pitched battle ; though the engagement at bruntelon• was the only one in which the Covenanters were successful against the Royal troops. It is, however, a very characteristic scene of a mo16e, in which men driven to wield the sword in defence of their rights are contending aping a regular military force ; and, motley as is the array of ,,lw and bare heads of men on foot 'tea
grey coats, wort, 1,,
opposed to mounted troopers with steel cors',1e"t.g and helmets aree„1 boots, it serves to show the courage and determination of the enthusi- astic zealots who fought for a cause they held sacred. The leaders of the Presbyterians, as they kneel to take deadly aim, seem as if success depended on their individual efforts ; their fixedness of purpose con- trasting with the bewildered looks of the farm-servants in the rear with pitchforks, &c., who appear uncertain how to act. The venerable preacher, Thomas Douglas, wavine.b his followers on with his Bible, and the women and children in the background, proclaim the nature of the struggle.
The painter has thrown a good deal of homely vigour into the pic- ture; and the hard-featured faces, furious eyes, and uncouth style, are in keeping with the subject. As a work of art, it is wholly devoid of elevation and grandeur ; and, assuming it to be a correct representation, it bears the same relation to historical painting which a contemporary account of an event does to history. The engraving is in mezzotint, heightened with etching and some touches of the graver ; and though of a heavy and monotonous black- ness, it is not wanting in force or definition.
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