Lectures on Art
Upon the death of Mr. Allston, it was determined, by those who had charge of his papers, to prepare his biography and correspondence, and publish them with his writings in prose and verse; a work which would have occupied two volumes of about the same size with the present. A delay has unfortunately occurred in the preparation of the biography and correspondence; and, as there have been frequent calls for a publication of his poems, and of the Lectures on Art he is known to have written, it has been thought best to give them to the public in the present form, without awaiting the completion of the whole design. It may be understood, however, that, when the biography and correspondence are published, it will be in a volume precisely corresponding with the present, so as to carry out the original design. I will not anticipate the duty of the biographer by an extended notice of the life of Mr. Allston; but it may be interesting to some readers to know the outline of his life, and the different circumstances under which the several pieces in this volume were written. WASHINGTON ALLSTON was born at Charleston, in South Carolina, on the 5th of November, 1779, of a family distinguished in the history of
"Oh, yes; I know her. I called on her, in fact, night before last, at
Scarborough."
He whistled a moment, then broke into an imbecile laugh. "My gum," he
cried; "this IS a start, this is! You don't mean to tell me YOU are the
other Johnnie."
"What other Johnnie?" I asked, feeling we were getting near it.
He leaned back and laughed again. "Well, you know that girl Sissie,
she's a clever one, she is," he went on after a minute, staring at me.
"She's a regular clinker! Got two strings to her bow; that's where the
trouble comes in. Me and another fellow. She likes me for love and the
other fellow for money. Now, don't you come and tell me that YOU are the
other fellow."
"I have certainly never aspired to the young lady's hand," I answered,
cautiously. "But don't you know your rival's name, then?"
"That's Sissie's blooming cleverness. She's a caulker, Sissie is; you
don't take a rise out of Sissie in a hurry. She knows that if I knew who
the other bloke was, I'd blow upon her little game to him and put him
off her. And I WOULD, s'ep me taters; for I'm nuts on that girl. I tell
you, Cumberledge, she IS a clinker!"
Upon the death of Mr. Allston, it was determined, by those who had charge of his papers, to prepare his biography and correspondence, and publish them with his writings in prose and verse; a work which would have occupied two volumes of about the same size with the present. A delay has unfortunately occurred in the preparation of the biography and correspondence; and, as there have been frequent calls for a publication of his poems, and of the Lectures on Art he is known to have written, it has been thought best to give them to the public in the present form, without awaiting the completion of the whole design. It may be understood, however, that, when the biography and correspondence are published, it will be in a volume precisely corresponding with the present, so as to carry out the original design. I will not anticipate the duty of the biographer by an extended notice of the life of Mr. Allston; but it may be interesting to some readers to know the outline of his life, and the different circumstances under which the several pieces in this volume were written. WASHINGTON ALLSTON was born at Charleston, in South Carolina, on the 5th of November, 1779, of a family distinguished in the history of