he white trunks that catch and hold the light so lovingly. That
broken canoe has a stranger tale to tell than any ruined arch or fallen
column of the Old World: the one speaks of some empire passed away, the
other of the gradual extinction of an entire type of human beings, a
race of men who seem to have accomplished the work assigned them, and
who die rather than abandon their native instincts and habits of thought
and life. The fortunate possessor of the 'Old Hunting Grounds,' when
shut up within the confined streets and dreary walls of a city, need
only lift his eyes to the picture to dream dreams of the freshness and
freedom of the wild woods, of the scented breeze snuffed by the browsing
deer, of the rocking branches glimmering gold and green against the
clear summer sky. Mr. Whittredge's picture is suggestive and harmonious
as nature itself, and one could never weary of it, as one infallibly
must of weaker and more conventional productions, often highly prized by
frequenters of galleries.

No. 153, 'The Iron-Bound Coast of Maine,' by W. S. Haseltine, N. A., has
the freshness, brightness, and mistiness of such a shore. We have heard
Mr. Haseltine's rocks complained of as too yellow; but, in the absence
of knowledge, are content to presume he painted them as he saw them. The
action of the dashing surf in washing away the lower strata, and
strewing the beach with fragments, is one token, among many, of an
actual observation of facts.

No. 236, 'An Artist's Studio,' and No. 131, 'Christmas Eve,' are by J.
F. Weir. Both are well conceived and executed, the latter being
especially interesting. The old wall, the great bell, the moonlight, and
the elves set the fancy musing over many things in heaven and earth
rarely dreamed of in our philosophy.

No. 12, 'The Argument,' is one of W. H. Beard's excellent fables. The
attitudes of the two bears in discussion, of the sober-minded listener
leaning with crossed paws upon the tree, and of the self-sufficient old
fellow with his paw upon his breast, may read to many a good lesson,
especially during the coming Presidential struggle, when the charities
and _bienseances_ of life will doubtless be but too often outraged. We
have been surprised and pained to see attacks upon the works of this
gentleman, coming from opposite quarters, said strictures being, in our
opinion, unjust and uncalled for. If behind the animal form we see
proof of more than animal intellect, let us not quarr