of this talent, he was obliged to
relinquish it, with the expectation of returning to his old trade. But
happily he was induced to try his skill at modelling in clay, and then
he discovered what was in him. Taking his little girl for a model, he
produced a bust, styled the 'Infant Ceres,' which, when finished in
marble, immediately took rank as one of the gems of art. The sweet
_naivete_ of budding childhood, the timid eyes and dimpled cheek, all
refined and sublimated by the ideal graces added by the magic wand of
genius, combined to make this earliest bust of our sculptor one of the
most felicitous products of his chisel.

Soon after this satisfactory experiment, Palmer removed to the city of
Albany, where he has since remained and won his well-deserved fame. His
two allegorical pieces, 'Resignation' and 'Spring,' we cannot forbear to
describe, familiar as they are to the _virtuoso_ of art, and well known
even to the great public.

The latter is a female bust, her hair bound with a fillet of grass and
half-developed grain, her face wearing an expression of modest coquetry,
quite in keeping with the capricious, 'celestial maid;' while the gently
swelling bosom suggests the latent forces of nature which only reach
their fulness in the summer sun. And about the eyes there is a look of
joy and freshness in which you fancy you can see

'the flowers begin to spring,
The skies to brighten, and the birds to sing.'

The 'Resignation' represents the refined voluptuousness of riper
womanhood. The features are exquisitely cut, and represent a type of
beauty fit for angelic spheres. The head, so finely proportioned, and
crowned with luxuriant, waving hair, inclines gracefully to one side, as
in submission to the chastenings of Providence. But in the downcast,
sorrowful eyes, there is an expression of mingled hope and patient
endurance such as Mary might have worn at the foot of the cross. The
marble is eloquent of that Christian sentiment: 'He doeth all things
well.' The religious feeling of the sixteenth century, which gave to art
both its inspiration and theme, never found so fair a mould as in this
bust of 'Resignation.'

Both of these works are entirely free from all explanatory accessories,
and interpret themselves to the most sluggish soul.

Another of Palmer's compositions, and one of the most purely ideal, is
the 'Dream of the Spirit's Flight.' This is a large bas-relief, executed
in medallion style.