But what they really gain by working here is not easily written down, nor to be explained to others; nor is it all at once discovered by themselves. It has not been dinned into their ears by rote, or by rule, but rather inhaled, and (if we may so express it) taken in with the atmosphere they breathe. If they have not produced anything great or noble, they have at least infused more light and nature into their work, and have done something to counteract the tendency to that sickly sentimentality and artificialism, that is the curse of modern schools.
We have been led to insist, perhaps a little too earnestly, on the good effects of sound work on a painter's mind, by the thought of what some of our foremost artists are doing at the present time. When painters of the highest aim and most refined intelligence, seem tending towards a system of mere decorative art; when Millais paints children, apparently, to display their dress, and devotes his great powers as a colourist almost exclusively to imitative work; when Leighton cultivates a style of refined Platonism which is not Attic and is sometimes scarcely human; when other painters of celebrity, that we need scarcely name spend their lives upon the working out of effective details; when the modern development of what is called Præ-Raphaelitism, seems to remove us farther than ever from what should be the aim of a great painter, we may be pardoned for insisting upon the benefits of change of air and change of scene.
But not only to artists and amateurs—to those fortunate people whose time and means are as as much at their own disposal as the genii of Aladdin's lamp; to those who can get 'ordered abroad' at the season when it is most pleasant to go; to those who live at high pressure for half the year, and need a change—not so much perhaps, from winter's gloom—as from the 'clouds that linger on the mind's horizon;' to all who seek a 'new sensation,' we would say, once more—pay a visit to the 'city of pirates,' to the 'diamond set in emeralds,' on the African shore.
POSTSCRIPT TO SECOND EDITION.
We have been requested by several readers to state, in a New Edition, the readiest and cheapest method of reaching Algeria from England.
There is no quicker or cheaper way than to go through France to Marseilles, and thence by steamer direct to Algiers. The cost of the journey from London to Algiers varies from to £10, according to 'class.' The steamers from Marseilles leave on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, at mid-day: the cheapest boats leave on Thursdays, their first-class fare, including living, being about £3 3s. All other information respecting this journey, can be obtained by reference to Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide.
The best months for a visit to Algeria are from November to April.
Travellers should obtain the French 'Guide de l'Algerie,' published by Hachette, Paris; also 'Last Winter in Algeria,' by Mrs. Evans, a most useful book for visitors.