ent and not the lawyer who 'puts his foot into it!' . . . We have
commenced in the present, and shall conclude in our next number, a
'_Legend of the Conquest of Spain_,' by WASHINGTON IRVING. We derive it
from the same source whence we received the 'Legend of Don RODERICK,'
lately published in these pages. We commend its graphic limnings and
stirring incidents to the admiration of our readers. . . . A FRIEND and
correspondent in a sister city dashes in with a rich brush, in one of his
familiar letters to us, a sketch of a boss-painter, who was renovating the
writer's house with sundry pots of paint; a conceited, half-informed prig,
who having grown rich, talks of 'going to Europe in the steam-boat,' and
has a huge fancy for seeing Italy. 'Yes,' said the house-and-sign RAPHAEL,
'I must see Rome and Athens; them Romans allers made a great impression on
me; the land of APELLES and XERXES; ah! that must be worth travelling
for.' 'Would you not rather run over England?' I asked; but the ass
_poohed_ at England, and on the strength of his daubing our house-blinds,
claimed an interest in the Fine Arts abroad: 'No, Sir, give me Italy--the
Loover and the Vattykin; them's the places for my money! Gods! how I
should like to rummage over them old-masters! They beat _us_ all
hollow--that's a fact. I'll give in to them. There never was such painters
before, nor never will be. I want to study 'em.' 'Yes,' I rejoined;
''twould interest you, doubtless; and after having studied the great
painters in Italy, you might return by way of Switzerland, and scrape
acquaintance with the _glaciers_.' The booby did not _take_, but only
stared and said: 'Oh, they're famous for glass-work there, be they?' This
lover of the Fine Arts had a counterpart in the man who having 'made as
much money as he wanted by tradin' in Boston,' went 'a-travelling abroad;'
and while in Florence, called on POWERS the sculptor, with a design to
'patronize' him a little. After looking at his 'Greek Slave,' his 'Eve,'
and other gems of art, he remarked that he 'thought they'd look a good
'eal better if they had some clothes on. I'm pretty well off,' he
continued, 'and ha'n't a chick nor child in the world; and I thought I'd
price a _statty_ or two. What's the damage, now, for that one you're
peckin' at?' 'It should be worth from four to five thousand dollars, I
think,' answered POWERS. 'What! five thousand dollars for _that 'are_! I
cal'lated to buy me a piece of _stattyary_