DESCRIPTION of the FRONTISPIECE. CORREGIO'S MADONNA AND CHILD. This splendid Picture, from which we are the first to present the Public with a British engraving, has recently been purchased by the Government Commissioners, at the price of THREE Thousand Eight Hundred Guineas, of M. Niewenhauys, and is said to have originally graced the Royal Cabinet at Madrid'. The incorporation of such a treasure of art into our National Collection must be hailed as most auspicious to the improving taste, patronage, and culture of the Fine Arts by the English Nation. . Corregio is known to have excelled in sentiment, composition, colour, and execution; and even Mengs, who was by no means his eulogist, confesses, in his controversy with Algarotti, that 'All his women were divine, and all his children so many exquisite portraits of love.' In design, he has not the exalted character of Michael Angelo, but he has all the sweetness of expression which distinguishes the works of Albano, with the heavenly inspiration of art that captivates in the magical performances of Raffaelle. The smiling elegance that pervades the Madonna and Child' would alone seem to warrant the splendid eulogies of the Caracci, who, fifty years after his death, speaking of the Gran Maestro,' describe his pencil as one always ready dipped in sunny thoughts." 6 There is a story in circulation respecting this Picture,—that it is the same which some years since was offered to the present Marquis of Stafford for sixteen hundred pounds by Mr. Grignion, at whose death it was sold under the hammer for thirty guineas; that it was afterwards found on the Continent by Mr. Woodburn, who mentioned it to the Rev. Holwell Carr, a well known connoisseur, and offered it for fourteen hundred. This gentleman, thinking to save the commission, went abroad to purchase it; but in the interim Woodburn bought it, and resold it to a Paris Banker, M. La Perriere, from whom it was repurchased by the British Commissioners for the abovenamed sum. Now all this may be very true, and yet the Picture be, as I have no doubt it is, the genuine work of Corregio. iv The composition of this celebrated picture is simple, but the conception vigorous; and its great beauties are, the magnificence of the drawing, the magical effect of foreshortening, which the Italians distinguish by the name of di sotto in su, and the delicacy of its execution. To describe the subject here is unnecessary, the Engraver having most faithfully copied and reduced the picture; but we cannot refrain from drawing the attention of our readers to the disposition of the Madonna's drapery, and the fore-shortening of the Infant's right leg-than which there can be nothing more exquisite in art. Then, too, the expressive maternal fondness of the Madonna, and the tender solicitude depicted in her beautiful face, has an illusive effect that might inspire a poet with the truest feelings for sacred verse. The Infant Jesus is round and fleshy, full of infantine fondness and simplicity, looking like an immortal cherub, a superior being, the chosen of Heaven; bright in the purity of innocence, and transcendent as an incarnation of beauty. The colouring is rich, warm, clear, and fleshy in tone; yet so equally subdued, that it cheers the eye and captivates the soul, like the setting of a Summer's sun before the shadows of the evening have begun to creep over the face of Heaven and of Nature; or the cool breezes of the night to murmur on the Poet's ear. It has been contended that the price given for the picture greatly exceeds its actual value; but who shall determine the intrinsic or actual value of choice works of Art? If we intend to have a NATIONAL GALLERY worthy the wealthiest land on earth, we must be liberal in our purchases, and we shall thus be sure to have the best opportunities afforded us of increasing our Collection. C. M. W. **A few Proofs of this splendid Print have been taken off on India Paper for the portfolios of the Connoisseur, and may be obtained of the Publishers of this volume. 'WITHOUT attempting those expensive ornaments and that external appearance which distinguish some of its contemporaries, the utility and various intelligence of Time's Telescope, aided by the contributions of Poetry, Natural History, and other judicious concomitants to Almanack lore, have placed it high in the scale of popularity. It has thus become so well known to the public, that it would be superfluous to describe the present annual volume. Suffice it to say, that it equals its precursors, and is full of miscellaneous and entertaining notices, adapted to almost every day of the coming year.'-Literary Gazette, Nov. 27, 1824. This publication, since first it challenged public attention, has gradually increased in its powers of pleasing: it mingles the useful with the agreeable so tastefully, that it is a gift equally acceptable to youth, manhood, and old age. The volume before us, besides presenting to the view much new information (of a biographical and historical nature), abounds in apposite quotations from esteemed authors, together with much that is original and beautiful; and throughout the work are scattered, with no sparing hand, "gems of poesy," some light and imaginative, others clad in the garb of "sober sadness," but placed with such discernment, that each forms a contrast to the other.'-European Magazine, Dec. 1824. 'Time's Telescope has this great advantage over all the annual volumes to which its example has given rise, that it is not a book to be read during the holidays and laid aside on Twelfth Day: its excellent plan, which, as we have frequently had occasion to say, is followed up with the utmost skill, provides something for almost every day in the year, which cannot be so well read upon any other, and thus economises through the year a rich fund of delightful recreation.'-St. James's Chronicle, Jan. 6, 1825. 'The caution with which the Editor guards against the introduction of any matter that may be injurious to morality, and the judgment with which he selects his subjects, entitle him to public respect, and his work to public patronage. There is, indeed, amusement of all kinds, and for all ages, in this Annual Repository. The testimonies of the several Reviews, Magazines, and Public Journals, in favour of the former volumes, are equally applicable to the present. Time's Telescope is indeed, as stated, A GUIDE TO THE ALMANACK, and every thing relating to each month of the year is introduced to illustrate every important circumstance or character with which each month is respectively connected.'-Sun, Jan. 1825. This work is really what it has been pronounced to be, a “felicitous conception;" and, notwithstanding the pretensions of its more showy competitors for public favour, most of whom have taken a few lenses from Time's Telescope to fit up their instruments with, it holds a distinguished place among the various Etrennes of the New Year. It happily combines the useful with the agreeable, and is well fitted to assist in forming the taste and guiding the conduct of youth of both sexes, as well as to instruct and amuse those of maturer years.'-New Monthly Mag., Dec. 1824. 'Time's Telescope for 1825 is, in all respects, worthy a niche be side its highly patronized ancestors. The philosopher of nature will here behold the shifting scenery of earth's fair form delightfully pictured before him. He may be led, month by month, through the delightful changes of the seasons, even by his fire-side; and when he is roaming through the real beauties of existence, he will find it a most valuable vade-mecum and instructor. The horticulturist will realize much gratification, if not instruction, in perusing a new feature of this production, namely, a "Treatise on Culinary Vegetables," SO ably and judiciously written as to render it peculiarly interesting to every one who either delights to convert his little garden into an Eden of promise and fruitfulness, or who prides himself in the choice vegetable viands of his table. The florist, likewise, may turn to its pages for amusement and profit, and that not in vain; indeed, it were a matter of some labour to prove to whom the work would not be nteresting, beneficial, and companionable. The account of the various fasts and festivals of the church, and the explanation of old manners and customs, must be peculiarly interesting to all classes of readers.'-Suffolk Chronicle, Jan. 4, 1825. This volume must be seen and perused before it can be duly appreciated. It is a publication which youth will peruse with delight, reaping at the same time lasting advantage; while mature years will refer to it with pleasure, either to refresh the memory, in quest of new information, or as the means of awakening agreeable recollections; and we do with confidence state, that, at present, we do not recollect a production of the press, of equal size, in which the utile and the dulce are more agreeably and judiciously blended. We do, therefore, most sincerely and heartily recommend TIME'S TELESCOPE; not only to parents, guardians, and instructors of youth, but also as a proper volume for the family parlour, and the gentleman's library.'-Stirling Journal, March 24, 1825. Notices of Time's Telescope for 1824. 'We do not hesitate to pronounce the plan of this work a "felicitous conception;" but as it is much easier to plan than to execute, we must do the Editor the justice to say, that he deserves unqualified praise for industrious research and judicious selection. The numerous poetical flowers, with which it is both ornamented and enriched, evince the purity of his literary and moral taste Like the bee, he has roved abroad and at home, collecting his treasures from the rich blossoms in the cultivated garden, and the wild flowers in the pathless desert; always, with becoming candour and modesty, acknowledging the field from whence he culled his sweets; by which, those who are pleased with his banquet, know the sources from which he catered. He deserves still higher praise, for the pure and exalted strain of rational piety which pervades the work; the sublime notions of the Great First Cause, which are every where inculcated; and throughout the whole an obvious tendency to render the wisdom and goodness of the Deity conspicuous, in his works of creation and providence. 'To decorate the path which leads to the Temple of Knowledge with evergreen shrubs, and amaranthine flowers, of endless variety, |