The Sun. — London, England, 1857-07-03 00:00:00

350,000 persons had visited the Museum during the year which was a proof bow fully the public availed them selves of its advantsge. A question bad also been rare d whether it should not be open on the Sou , lay. ( H ear.) The house, however, had oecided in the negative by a very large majority, and the tru;tees ha I nothing to do but to carry out their decision. The Museum la:1 bee: very much increased by amateurs from time to time The late Sir W. Temple, our minister at Naples, a mar , of, great taste and intelligence, made a I irge collection of Greek and Roman antiquities, for which he bad pecu liar facilities, and bad left the entire to the Museum. (Hear.) He did not think it was necessary for hire. to trouble the house further, but he would be:ready to give any explanation which might be required. It would be only fair to mention that some complaint had been made that the subordinate officials were not paid in the same manner as in other similar establishments. The trustees had requested the Treasury to send some persons to in vestigate the subject, The gentlemen appointed had 'held the inquiry, but had not yet made their report. Until that was done the trustees could take no step, and the persons lately engaged were paid on the old scale. In conclusion he begged to move the vote. Mr. W. WILLIAMS observed that a large balance was carried over every year; he wished to know whether that remained in the Treasury or was drawn out and placed at the disposal of the trustees ; be complained that the Museum was only open three days in a week ; it ought to he open every day. (Hear, heir.) Mr. B. WILLIAMS objected to the item of 5,0001. for gilding the dome of the New Reading Room. If the dome was so magnificent as stated by the noble lord, it ought not to require any gilding. • Mr. M. MILNES admitted that great accommodation was now afforded to students, but unless something more was done a large number of persons woul I be deprived of the benefits of the institution, as there were many persons of high distinction in literature who could not bring themselves to study in a public room. Under the former arrangement no accommodation was provided for such persons, but he hop-d that the trustees would now take such steps as would afford the requisite convenience for at least a small number of these persons ; in every foreign country these conveniences were provided. He had still to complain that no arrangements were made for lending out books at this or any other of our public libraries. Mr. LOCKE had, on the occasion of the discu.sion on the Kensington Museum, complained that the work- ins classes had no facilities for visiting these institutions, as they were all shut on Sunday. The hon. member for Hertford (Mr. Cowper) met the objection with regard to the exhibition at Kensington by stating it was open in the evening three times a week. He (Mr. Locke) gam no reason why the same rule should not be applied to the Museum. (Hear, hear.) There were some diffi caltles in doing so with regard to the library, but under the present system it was only those who devoted themselves to literature as a pursuit, or who had the day at their disposal, who could enjoy any of its ad vantage. With regard to other portions of the Mu seum, there was no reason why they should net be opee in the evening ; but even if that were done, it would be no great boon to the working cla-see to open it to them when they were exhausted by the toils of teeday. To give them the full benefit of the institution it should be open ed on Sunday, at such hours as would not interfere with divine service. (Hear, bear.) It was a fa.lacy to suppose such a step would necessitate the employment of any great number of persons on Sunday ; he was informed twenty would be the outside number. At present the working classes were put to considerable expense to get to any of the public places which were open on Sundays, as they were all out of town, and their travelling re• quired the employment of a very considerable number. If the noble lord would promise to turn his attention to this matter a great step in advance would be made. Mr. CHILD i'Ve no advocate for opening the Mu seum on Sunday, but it ought to be accessible to the public in the evening. He wished to suggest to the noble lord that means should be devised to enable the public generally to view the cake ion of prints and en gravings. They were now in pertfolioe, and could not be seen without a special order ; if room was wanted for displaying them, they might be placed in the portion of the National Gallery now occupied by the Royal Ace dewy. Sir J. TRELAWNY suggested that members of the Jewish persuasion should be engaged as attendants on Sued iys, Mr. BAXTER wished to remind the committee that the Museum was now open on Saturday. With regard to opening it on Sundae, the house had decided the point last year by a great majority. The present was not a proper occa-ion to raise a discussion on a question in which the feelings of the country were so deeply in terested. If hon. members wished to t eit the feelings of the new House of Commons, they ought to bring for ward a substantive motion. Mr. STEu.ARr was glad to see a disposition evinced to shorten the hours of labour by what was termed the Saturday half-holiday movement, and would he sorry to see any change at the British Museum which would tend to interfere with that movement. Stilt more should he regret to see the MUSellirl opened on Sunday. Sir H. VERNEY behoved that nothing would tend more to the injury of the working classes than the dese cration of the I,,rd's day ; and those who felt most in terested in thes,r welfare were most anxious to preserve it for them. Mr. INGRXII. thought that before they talked of opening the British Mu9eual on Sunday they should en de ;your to secure the opening of some portion of it every day in the week. Mr. JOHN LOCKE said the hon. member opposite (Mr. Steuart) had talked about a working man's halt holiday. Until he could show that the eaeloy - ers. of the metropolis were prepared to pay a full day's wages for half a dey's work the less he said about the matter the better. Another hon. member (Sir H. Verney) hail talked about the desecration ef the Sabbath. There were two opinions as to what constituted a desecration of the Sabbath. He himself considered that it was no de•:,e oration for a working man to walk into a place like the British Museum and 1 els at the words of art which it contained. The Ninevite remains constituted a better commentary on the Bible than many of the comment), ries in writing, and great benefit was derivable from the study of the works of art generally, and from the natural productions which were to be seen in the Museum. S.r H. - VERNEY thought there could be no question that if there were no Sunday at ell the working claims would not get one farthing more for their labour than they do at present. An HON. MEMBER recommended that the British Mu seum sheted he e,pencti in the evenings during the week. Mr. STEUART said, in reply to the challenge of the hop. member opposite (Mr. Locke), ho would observe that the grants for general education, and for education in the fine arts, which bad been increasing from year to year, were based on the principle that skilled labour was more valuable than uroltil , ed ; and, believing the' 55 hours of the former are at least equal to CO hours of the latter, he thought that it a Saturday half hol day should hereafter become general, wages would not be „lowered in consequence. Leal J. RUSSELL said that the whole question of thriving open the Museum, as far as practicable, had (coupled the attention of the trustees since the discu-- sion of the question last ysar in this boos. Oa that oc casion he stated what were the days on which the Museum was open, namely on Mondays, AVednEs lays, and Thursday, and on Tuesdays and Fridays to those who wished not to view, but to study works of art or to make:copies of them. After the discussion which took place last year, be, being one of the trustees, sliced be fore the committee a proposal with regard to those days on which the trustees might, of their own authority, throw open the Museum, and they were quite uneri. moui that if the Museum was thrown open to the general public on Tuesdays and Thursdays it would he tVreme`y useful for thieo who attended the Museum for the purpose of study. That wes the opinion of the trustees ; and not satisfied with that, it was decided that the opireoo of the officsra of the Museum should be obtained. That was done, and it was in accordance •with that of the trustees. Upon the question of open ing the Museum in the evening with regard to which the • hon. member for Sheffiel I made a suggestion last year, the trustees were of opinion that there was so much danger from fire,. that, considering the valuable contents of the building they were not justified in introducing gas or any other light into it. With respect to the number of days, he expressed great doubts whether, even if it were open every day in the week, those persons who could not find time to visit it on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, would be abie to do so on the ether three days of the week. The trustees did not consider the question of opening the Museum on Sunday was one for their consideration, but for that of Parliament, and of course it was competent for any hon. gentleman to bring forward a motion upon the subject, but the cone mitte must be aware a discussion could nut be attended with any result taken on this vote ;it mu-t be by a sub tantive reso l ution. Fer himself he was entirely satisfied with th e reasons which te noble lord at the head of the Gover nment • gave last year against t h e open in' of the buildings on Sundays, end therefore it was ri , st necessary that he should go iiito the question now. The boo. member for Pontefr ac t had said that it was very hard that persons eminent in literature, who wished to study, in privacy, should be obliged to g o into a room in which, perhaps, 250 persons were reading, and be ex pressed an opinion that there ou g ht t o be a separate room. He confessed he thought, with the trustees that there would be a difficulty in drawing the line (Laughter.) After referring to the gild e d dome, about which a question had been asked, and which he observed was considered a great improvement, he concluded by saying that it was the wish of the trustees to make the building as accessible as possible to the working classes, and nothing could give them greater satisfaction than to see it well frequented by them. Colonel SYKES entirely concurred that the build inn should be as accessible as possible to the masses, and referring to the Louvre, expressed an opinion that per sons who went to th e Museum to stud y for the advance ment of their own interests, ought to do so while the public were admitted. At all events, if days were to be set apart for them, there ought to be souse system established whereby foreigners visiting England, or per sons from the. country visiting Loudon for a day or two, should be - admitted 012 application. The vete was then a.reed to. On the vote of 23,0001. for the National Gallery of paintings. Lord ELCRO drew the attention of the house to the items for secretary and travelling agent. Last ye ar a motion was made to reduce the es of the travel ling agent, but unsuccessfully, upon the subject in 1.853 recommendappointment 71 1 :e ees committee who sat of a director, and that he shou ldracei t v h e e a ha . ndson" salary ; but not a word was said about the a ppointment of a secretary, and yet a secretary had the a ppoiritnielit of a secretary, and yet a secretary had be appointed. with a salary of 7501. a-year, which h e „annsd,red ex cessive, seeing the very light duties be had top r wish form ; and as for the travelling agent, h e should to see that office abolished altogether, f or i t not only led to - an increased payment of pictures, but actually pre, IiFIC SUN, -LONDON , FRIDAY EVENI:NO, JULY a. 1857 - 1853 thee pictlike: was valued at 12,000/ , which sum the 'wrier set lterant it, en whic , the trustee- , reconinetided .ehe.g.wee.r onieiet to give 10.5001.. he eotly eayeng at the sair 4einee . thht it was worth 12,0001. Now that was a '•e ir foos be n y of eking busines'. (Hear.) In his ( Ar. Henley's o pinion, if they thought a, man use asking a :Air price for an article it was better to give him his own money, for if they a tempted to take him down they were sure to make him raise his price. This bad been theca.° .sit h this pictu ere. Tee price asked for it in 1843 was 12, 0001, but the t orice paid for it in 1853 was 13,6501. That was what was g, et by offerirg 10,0001. for a work of art admitted to be w ,'irth 12 0001. (Hear.) Then came the question how this vote was to be dealt with. The amount by which it was pro Posed to be reduced was larger than he could approve of, - Net if the proposition was to reduce it by the aunt overpay , ' last year, he should be glad to give it his support, upon the ground that if the house agreed to give 10,0001. a -year for picturee,it was a pretty clear indication that they did not mean the Government should go and spend 15,000/. (Cheers.) To the amend ment Po altered he sheul I be happy to give his assent. Mr. LABOUC HERE deprecated the violent and in temperate language which head been imported into the discussion ; for about matters' of taste gentlemen might proverbially differ, and that without imputations of in capacity, much less of jobbery and dishonesty, being cast upon any one. (Cheers.) He was surprised at hearing the objection of Mr. Henley that the Govern ment had spent 5,000/. more than the amount granted — as if they must confine themselves within a limited sum, whatever the opportunities which presented themselves of purchasing valuable works of art. With regard to this particular picture, he bad never heard till then the expression of a single doubt as to its being a work of as established a European reputation as' any picture that could be mentioned. But he should not have risen on this occasion 11 it were not to do justice, not so much to a distinguished Dian, as to his own feelings. He regretted that they could not discuss a question of this kind with out going into personal attacks. He bad had the honour of the acquaintance ,of Sir C. Eastlake for many years, and he was confident I;bere was not a man of higher in tegrity, purer character, and a more accomplished mind in the country. Indeed, he believed him to be one of the most accomplished artiste the nation possessed. He was sorry to hear his hon. friend (Mr. Coaingham), than whom there could be no better judge of art, indulge in personal attacks upon Sir C. Eastlake. His hon. friend said Sir C. Eastlake had shown his incapacity by the mode in which he managed the National Gallery, and overlooked the cleaning and preservation of the pictures. He appealed from his hon. friend, however, to his noble friend who had introduced this ques ion first. He had stated truly that there .. as not a great public collection in Europe which was not far worse treated than the National Gallery—daughter)—and be (Mr. Labouchere) would refer especially to the two most celebrated—the one at Madrid, pereaps, the noblest collection of pictures in the world, and the other the great gallery at Dresden, in both of which some of the Ibest works had suffered in the greatest degree from the system of cleaning that hied been adopted. He believed that Sir Charles Eas lake deeerved the credit of being a most careful director of the National Gallery alike in the cleaning and in the restoration of pictures. True, there might have been cases of i, judicioue cleaning ; but, taken as a whole, he thought they had reason to rejoice at the care, vigilance, and caution exercised. Feel ng confident, then, that they were safe in the hands of a man of the high honour and integrity, pure and en lightened taste and judgment of Sir Charles Ea Make, he should deeply regret if the house did not support the vote. Mr. STIRLING did not think that if the vote were wisely and properly administered 23,0001 a year was too much. As to the suggestion that agents should be employed all over the Continent, hew did they suppose that would work ?, He believed the , r finery per ten tage which a picture dealer expected fur undertaking a commission of the kind was 10 per cent. Now, as 13,0001. had been expended on the Pisani picture alone, the commission would have amounted to 18001., or con siderably more than had been paid for the whole year. His hon. friend (Mr. Coniugharn) had reflected with seine asperity on the National Gallery; but what was his main accusation against the director of that institu tion ? The " head and front" of Sir Charles Eastlake's " offending," as stated ey his hon. friend, amounted to this, that having in the purchase of some picture made a mistake, he ha I had the candour and the manliness to own it—(cheer:)—and on several occasions to ex press considerable diffidence in his own judgment. Well, these were two errors into which collectors of pictures were not very apt to fall—(a laugh)—and he rou=t say that his hon. friend (Mr. Conine ham), and his noble friend (Lord Elcho) had never to his knowledge done so. (Laughter.) He beggeu to ask the Secretary to the Treasury by whose advice the purchase of the Kruger collection was made for the National Gallery ? Mr. WILSON—That collection was purchased in 1853, and paid for in 1854 ; but in consequence of the absence of his right hon. friend (Mr. Gladstone) he was unable to state upon whose advice—professional advice —the purchase was made. It was certainly not bought by the trustees of the National Gallery. Lord ELCEIO said if the G ivernment had been offered 4001. for their bargain of the Paul Veronese, he thought the best thing they could do would be to acoept the offer. i The defence of his hon. friend reminded hint (Lord Elcho) of' a joke of the Secretary to the Admiralty last year, who said, when the discussion on this picture was goin g on, that he did not believe it to be a Paul Vero nesebut a Wilson. (Laughter.) Be (Lord Etchoe dia. claimed any intention of disparaging Sir C. Eastlake ; he believed him to be a thorough gentleman and an ac complished man, but his perfict fitness fur the situation which he Leld was another question. He (Lord Elcho) suegested that the hon. gentleman should limit his um thin to the re ucti , n of 5,0001 for civil cot tingenciee. The C fl ANGEL LOR of the EXCHEQUER maid it was admitted that it was a mat ter of national policy that there should be a National Gallery, and Parliament bad not only provide I a place for the reception of pictures pre sented to the nation, but had acted on the principle that pictures should be purchased to add to this collection from time to time. 10,0001, a year was placed for that purpose at the disposal of the Government, eho were ad vised in their disposal of it by the board of trustees of the National Gel:ery, composed of noblemen and gentlemen well acquainted. with art, whose names were before the public, and by the eecreeary of that beard, who was likewise the president of the Royal Academy, a first rate artist, and moreover a historian of art, Usti mately acquainted with the Italian schools. If the Government could not act on such authority their functions in regard to the disposal of the sums voted by Parliament would be complet: ly paralysed, as it wasimpossible that any Government as such could have special knowledge on the subject of art, more than on Mr. SPOONER and Mr. Cox, medical or a or fe o w th w er or s d u s lj f e r.o et ni e. . The motion was withdrawn accordingly ; and another motien was put that the vote should be reduced to 16 6041. Mr. CONINGHAM denied having made any attack on Sir C. EAS!lake's character ; he simply impugned the judgment of that gentleman ; and he suemitted that he ha I established his case. The committee came to no other conclusion than that the sum paid for the Paul Veronese was in •netrous and extravagane and he hoped the hou e w“uld COME) to the same conclusion. Lord PALMERSTON said that the contrast between this discussion and the scene he had just left produced a painful impression on his mind. He had just come from the city of Manchester, where the voluntary contribu tions of a set of enlightened merchants, at the expen se of 100,0001., had procur e d for the peopl e of that neigh bourhood, and for the people who chose to come there from other parts of the world, the temporary gratification of witnessing a magnificent collection of pictures; and he came to that house, where lee found the representatives of the United Kingdom haggling and squabbling about a matter of 13,000/., and censuring the Government for having gia en what his noble friend thought an excessive amount for a picture, which the Secretary for the Colo peg national Ilc u e n Veronesenroe, tnotlir i ac e no i li klwol b ensa e coe r s. Colo nies and the Secretary for the Treasury had properly de- nominated a picture of world-wide reputation. It was all which cal: very hrinilgath well ttwo, arn sot oot eminentlyrr true the deserved el etol setaeitrt) rhsv sat n .v. ehth o e eodtth) But value,ot r e aaauul ott l sw,s o el amtoha r n d eta dehs a ati n etnt d rh i t smi It Paulhei works ks w instructive could asnotb be placed p n p a l l y a i n c t a e e d r g s; n e in pointcolourist,high some l i Ut onema composition,s collection where instruction as well as gratification was the oeject. And now that the house had had the amusement of tee levities of the noble lord the member for Haddingtonshire, and of the personalities of the hon member for Brighton, who had probably now vented that long stored up spleen by which he was sorry to say he was animated against that amiable, accom plished, and distinguished man, Sir C. Eastlake, he hoped that after they bad bad their swing on their favou rite topics, the house would come gravely and seriously to the de , cussion of the - question before them ; and if they thought that it was proper and right that this country should be in possession of a gallery of pictures worthy of its reputation ' and that Parliament was right in placing at the disposal of the Government a sum for that purpose, he trusted they would remember that the picture now in question was one of great value, that it had long been an object of attention to everyboey in the country where it was placed ; that it was one that the Government of the country was very much indisposed to part with, and the possession of which would be honour able to this country, and conduce to the objects of a national gallery so desirable, and for whioh it was useful that Par iarneet should vote money. The question really involved in this vote was whether the country should have a national gallery or not, and whether Par !lament would continue the policy it had for a long tune pursued ; or whether there should be a total change of system, and that henceforth there should be no addition made to the national gallery of pictures that we possessed. (Cheers ) The house then divided, when there were— For the amendment B9 Agaiest it Maj irity Lord ELCHO was sorry to trouble the house to di vile again, but the last was not the question on which he wished to take their opinion. His motion spec:ally referred to the salary of the secretary and travelling agent. He thought that the salary of the secretary was ' n o high when fixed at 7501., and should be reduced to 500/ , and that the appointment of the travelling agent was altogether vicious in principle, and that the amount of his salary should therefore be struck out of the vote altogether. In order to carry out that view, and to effect the reductions which he thought desirable, he would therefore move that the vote be reduced to 22,616/. The comrnittse divided again, when there were— Fer the amendment e 128 Against • Majority -- -38 • 5001. for the Geographical Society was agreed to. The CHAIRMAN announced some other votes in a vented the nation from getting valeable pictures in cen esquer c of the squabbles arid differences of opinion la - twee!' the direct .r and the trove ling aeenteee . Meertitt9. l t• recel , cted toe b:un.ier made last year in theVerie.hte Paul Veronese, which war worth about 3701, but which travelling agent thought proper to Jetty ler 1,9701,, and he need not go into that. ; but the house Would be urpriined that in the Austrian Official Gazette it was ac tuaty stated that when the church from which it wa taken was restored all the pictures were taken down, and permission was obtained from the Pope to sell them to assist in paying the expense of the restoration. After the sale there remained some paintings, and among them this very Paul Veronese, which was appraised by the official officer at 3001 That was the picture which the travelling agent gave 1,9701. for. He admitted that they bad bought a better Perugino, but the result of the outcry against the Paul Veronese was that they were deter mined to rectify the mistake next year, so they went to Venice, where it was known to all the world that there was another Paul Veronese in the Pisani palace, which they determined to get at any price, and for that picture they paid what 1 Why, no less than 13,6501., a price per fectly ridiculous for a Paul Veronese, who, in the first place, was not a first rate painter, and the picture itself not beingone of his best. Well, the coneequence was, that by giving this enormous sum they exceeded the an nual grant of 10,000/. forthe purchase of pictures, and now an extra 5,0001., which was obtained from the civil con tingency list, was charged in the estimates. He really thought the house ought to refuse to vote that 5,0001 , which would, perhaps, teach these gentlemen better. The noble lord read a list of the items paid on the purchase of the picture for the National Gallery, alleged to be a Paul Veronese, as the chambermaid 101., the cook 61. Such was the way in which the money was expended. Now as to the picture itself. Sir C. Eastlake said in his report that sovereigns had contested its possession, but his (Lord Elcho's) opinion was that Sir C. Eastlake had been ' foolishly, wastefully extravagant. (Hear.) When at Ve i nice he heard that the seller bad refused to part with the frame to Pisani, which it turned out exactly fitted a picture retained by the seller. Our agent having beard this, of course suspected that the picture retained was the original by Paul Veronese. (Laughter.) The noble lord then went on to propose to reduce the vote, He did not object to travelling expenses, but the director should be his own collector and traveller; and there need be no travelling agents. During the London season the best place to collect pictures was London, at the sales of the great l.icture auctioneers, Messrs. Christie or Foster. (Hear.) Then after the season the director should travel in a private manner—(hear)--as it was our travelling agent had spoiled the market by raising the prices. (Hear.) Why the Austrian government had actually for bidden his admission into public places. (A. laugh ) The sum charged for expenses was hi g h, mad ought not to he allowed as compensation far a poor salary. (Hear.) If the salary was too low it should be raised ; but the director should be the traveller. On the whole he moved that the vote be reduced from 23,1501 to 22,6151. ; that is to say reducing the salary of the secretary from 7501. to 5001., &c. The noble lord added an observation directed against the removal of pictures to Ireland. If they were bad, we ought not to have them ; if good, we should not lose them. Irish memb re would not approve of making the Dublin Gallery a refuge for the refuse of the National Ga lery. (Hear.) Mr. COX denounced the whole system of the National Gallery purchases as a system of jobbery so gross that he would not be content with the amendment of the noble lord, and be should be prepared to refuse the vote alto gether for that head. He disapproved altogether of a tra velling agent, and of travelling expenses. He objected, above all, to the grant of 10,0001. for the purchase of pic tures. The case of the picture in question was truly ruon s•rous. Why, from inftraiation he bad received (which was confirmed by the noble lord's statement), he bel eyed that the picture was only a copy. (Hear.) Such was the fooliill way in which the public money was expended He should oppose the vote, and moved that the vote be reduced to 4 9001. Mr. J. WILSON said the statements made as to the picture in question were a tissue of misrepresentations. Many months before the purchase the consul was em ployed through the Foreign-office for the purchaee. Therefore the responsibility rested upon the Government. Marl years ago the picture had attracted the attention of Lard Aberdeen, and offers had been made and refused until 12,0001. had been demanded for it, with the addi tion of compensation for the loss of money which might have been received by its exhibition. The total price, therefore, was 13,6501 , and as to the distribution of the money, it was a matter with which we had no concern. The agents of our Government had no negotiation with any one but the owner. As to the value of the picture, it would be more satisfactorily discussed after it bad been exiiihited in a gallery. (Hear.) It was of world-wide celebrity, and would give a character to any gallery. . Oue gentleman had declared it worth 20,0001., and when the Government ha i purchased it, that very gentleman was the first to accuse them of extravagance. (Name.) As the gentleman was not a member of the house, be would not name him. As to the constitution of the Na tional Gallery, it was settled when the noble lord (Elcho) was a member of the Government. Lord ELC/10 —I had no concern in it, and knew nothing of it. Mr. WILSON went on to declare that there was great advantage in having a travelling agent. As to the secretary, he was also keeper, and made a great sacri fice of income on accepting the appointment. That gentleman was now u-etally oceupied on an historical cateloeue of the pictures in the gaqory. There was no i divided responsibility, and the travelling agent had no power to purchase pictures. The subject had been abun dantly discussed last year, and as to the picture particu larly in question, the Government accepted Its rasp tnsi• bility for its purchase. The reduction of the vote now proposed would include the price of the picture and that cattld not be withdrawn, although a vote of censure might be moved. If the grant for the present fear were with drawn many important purchases would be interfered with, and he ( en Wieoo) htptel that hen. members who were anxious for a pod National Gallery would not sup port the amendment. Tne lion, member said the picture was a copy, but nothing could be more groundless. Oar agent had seen the copy, and it was a perleet wreck—a stretched performance of a wretched artist, and utterly spoiled, such as it was. With respect to travelling ex penses, the director travelled yearly to confirm or to make purchases, the agent not being authorised to per chne e pictures. The expenses were regulated by the Trea sury and anti - ter] by the dir,ctore. Mr. CONINGHAM admired the cmrage of the hon. member for endorsing the acts of Sir C Eastlake and the directors of the National Gallery. Sir C Eastlake was clearly responsible tor the purchase of the pictures. With regard to having a purchaser abroad, if the Eaelish Go verimasht only wade it known that they would purchase first rate works of art, they woul I soon have good pic tures sent to this country from ell parts of the world. Whil-t Sir C. Eastlake flied the keepership of the Na t:anal Gallery a number of works of art were purchased, one of the first being a portrait of a medical gentlemen, by H , lbein, for 6301. This was a spurious daub. Another libel on a great ma-ter was what was called "The Youth ful Saviour," by Guido. Sir C. Eo-tlake after wards be came trustee ; in that capacity he made the signal mis take of purchasing " The Tribute Money," by Titian, from Marshal Soult's col ection—a picture pronounced to be spurious by the most competent judges in Europe, but for which Sir C. Eastlake paid a sum of 3 683'. 3,. 2d. He (qr. Coningham) would not dwell on the spurious Albert Durer. (Hear, hear.) He did- not knew how far Sir C Eastlake was reepoesible for the purchase of the Kruger collection ; bat who ever was retpoesible for it seas responsible for the pur chase of one of the worst c dlections that could have been precured. (Hear.) It consisted of some sixty pictures; the purchase money was 2,9151 ; and a considerable portion of this collection was sold at Messrs. Ceriotie's at an average of about 3/. a pic ore. (Laughter.) Toe minimum sum obtained at the auction was 2/. 10a. and the maximum 201. (Hear.) With the picture cleaning in the National Gallery the house was familar. (dear ) It appeared to him that the National Gallery was a nest of a number of intrigues ; who pulled the wires was a mat ter which it would be difficult to discover. (Cheers.) " The Adoration of the Magi," by Paul Veronese, was one of the most recent purchases made ,by Sir C. East lake ; but it was not necessary to say much about it or the price for it. (Hear) The system of purchasing col lections, and selling off the more villanous of i hem, was a plan imported from Berlin. He (Mr. Coningliam) would, in purchasing for the nation, wish to go heck to the good models of the 15th and 16th centuries. (Hear ) It was quality and not quantity they ought to lay before the people in exhibitions of the fine arts. (Hear ) (Mr. HENLEY said that, as he understood it, three objections had been taken on the present vote. First, as to the selections that had been made in the purchase of pictures ; secondly, as to the employment of the tra velling agent ; and, thirdly, as to the spending of money without the authority of Parliament. (Hear.) He should say that the explanation of the Secretary for the Treasury, in answer to those objections, was rather an alarming one. (Hear.) The vote was objectionable enough as it stood in the estimates ; but the e xelanation given of it made the mater of serious cone-gueace to the house. (Hear.) A. good deal had been said about the increase in the civil service estimates ; but let the COM• mittee consider for a moment the vote now before them in comparison with what it was in former years. In 1848 the estimate for the NationalGaliery paintings was 5,0021. From that amount it had i , ceased till in 1854- 55 it was 6,600/. ; in 1855-56, 16,000/ ; in 1856-57, 12,000/. ; and this year it assumed the moderate pro portion of 23,0001. (Hear, hear.) From this it appeared that the estimate was going on at a very comfortable rate, to say the least of it. (Hear , and lau g ht er.) It could not be said that in this respect art was neglected in En gland. But the most alarming feature in the busi nesswas that 60001. h a d been paid without the sanction o't parliament. (Hear.) The Secretary for the Tree. sury said it was quite a mistake to suppose that that payment was not sanctioned by arliament, and added, went. The argumentu that parliament, could, it it wished,censure the Govern bands of the government 100, upon the fact the House steheoon. g entleman was based ex , gencies ; but if this argutnertt6emfradwm.hiatttewdetrhee ' s one placed in the 0001. (Hear.) He though the cas might next year be called upon s t7o grant a sum of 123, c h a o l u le s d e tto broad a way by the government.e was iu rather In t ent had them see how what was called the t worked. They bad been told that the agent been rabbling at, a certain picture since 1853r.n very clear from the negotiations carried on in respe c t seenaed of that picture that the country bad Lot derived much ad vantage from this travelling agent on that ground, groave?lingNo w let un less the advance of price which was the necessary con sequence of that nibbling process could be called at, advantage. (Laughter.) They were informed that the picture in question had more than a European—that it h a d a ten( rld-wide reputation; that everybody who had been anywhere bad seen it. If so, it could scare ly have been necestary to have a travelling agent at 6001 a year, with travelling exeences, " nibbling" at it for (Hear.) It appeared that so far back as four years. tone of voice which 5v', , ,14,4t(' 1 5 1 init:n4itthr,in the izeiterrii. , _ as well as to-Many aiemberi flt th ea' is his iminedia,te neigiii,ourfto.?d, al...yrilaraii.tfr)tp the ob servation of - . -; Mr. WILLIAMS'. who cpinflained berg utterly una; 1-, to bear Mr. Fi . zroy, Irma the maner - .in which be put the ipestions. The CHAIRMAN then endeavoured to improve his enut,ciation, but was a second time invited by the hon member for Lambeth to rai , e his voice. A. vote of 3,5411. wa , voted to cetray the charges of tloii Indian department of Canada The CHAIRMAN then reported progress, The Attorneys' and Solicitors' Colonial Courts Bill was read a second time. The Summary Proceedings before Justices of the Peace Bill was read a second time. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL for IRELAND an nounced that in committee he should move the bill be extended to Ireland. The Municipal Corporations Bill was read a second AS'FLETS ROYAL AM Pfl TH FiIATRE. Lessee and Manager, Mr. W Cooke. Under the patronage of Fler Majesty and His Royal highness Prince .‘ 'bort. Recommencement of the Dramatic Season. Mr. William Cooke begs to announce the Revival, f r the Midsummer Scholastic Vacation, MAZEPPA and RICHARD 111. on alternate nights. Engagement of Madlle. Mililos, the celebrated Parisian Equestrienne. THIS EVENING (Friday), Lord Byron's MAZEPPA AND THE WILD HORSE. time. The Constabularly Forces (Ireland) Bill passed through committee ; as did also the Probates and Letters of Ad ministration (Stamps) Bill. The Enclosures Act Amendment Bill was read a third time and passed. THE WARE EIA.M ELECTION PETITION. Mr. GASKELL announced, as the decision of the select committee, that John Hales CalcraU, Esq., was duly elected to sit in Parliament for this borough. NEW ZEALAND. TO-MORROW (Saturday, July 4), RICHARD 111 , with Equestrian Illustrations, introducing Mr. W. Cooke's stud of highly trained Horses. Mazeppa and Richard ILI., Mr. James Holloway. The entertainments terminating with a brilliant and match less display of incomparable SCENES in the AREN X, intro ducing the wondrous performance of the Broilyws Francisco on La Perche, and Madlle. }Afflicts ; with a variety of other novelties. Commence at seven o'clock. Dress %ICS. 4s. ; Upper Boxes, 35.; Private Boxes, from 2 Is., no charge for booking; Pit, 2s. ; Gallery, I.s. ; Upper Gallery, 6d. H df-price at balf-past Eight. Box-office open from Eleven till Four. Stage Manager, Kr. W. West. Equestrian Director, Mr. W. Cooke, jun. On the motion of Mr. LA BOUC HERE, a select com mittee was ordered to be appointed to inquire into the expediency of guaranteeing by Act of Parliament the liquidation of a loan to be contracted in pursuance of an act passed b 5 the legislature of New Zealand, for de fraying the debt of the colony to the New Zealand Com pany, toward extinguishing the native tit 'e to lands in certain portions of the colony, and for other purposes. CALEDONIAN AND CRINAN CANALS. Mr. WILSON obtained leave to bring in a bill to amend the acts relating to the Caledonian and Crinan Canals, and to make further provision for the accommo• dation of the traffic thereon, The house adjourned at five minutes to 1 o'clock. During the Midsummer Holidays there will he Three Grand Morning Performances, viz., Saturday, July 11, is, and 25, at Two o'clock each day. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRT DUE. MIS DAY—Korn. 53 min. aft.lo —Even. 27 404. 11 To . 1 ORROW—Morn. 0 min. aft. o—Even., 58 n .f - 11 fp R MAJESTY'S THEATRE. I PURITAN'. Ortolani, Giuglini, Beneventano, Belletti. TO-MORROW EVENING, SATURDAY, JULY 3, I PURITANI. Elvira, Madlle. Ortolani ; Ricardo, Signor Beneventano ; Giorgio, S g. Belletti ; Arturo, Sig. Giuglini. After which, will be produced the entirely New Ballet Divertissement, by M. Massot. entitled T,ES ROSES. Principal dancers—Madlle. Boschetti, Afescilles, Salvioni, Mollacchi, Karliski, P.squali, and Signor Boretti: For particulars, see bills. A limited number of Boxes in the Half-circle Tier have been specially reserved for the public, and mey be had on applica tion at the Box-office. at the Theatre Colonnade, Haymarket. Price One Guinea and One Guinea and a Half each. On Tuesday will be produced a new Ballet, in which Mdle. Rosati will make her first appearance this season. BENEDICT'S LAST GRAND MORNING CONCERT, at her Majf-ty's Theatre, on WEDNESDAY, July B.—Rossith's STABAI MATER, by Madlles. Piccolomini, Spezia, Ortolani, and Madame Alboni ; Sigs. Giuglini, Berralt, Beiehardt, Charles Braham, Benevon tano, Corsi, Vialetti, and Belletti, The " Brousil Family" will perform `• Vi,uxtemps Fantasie Caprice." A Solo, by Madlle. Eloise d'Herbil. A MISCELLANEOUS CONCERT, in which Madlle. Piccolomini will sing Benedict's English Ballet, " I am thine. only thine." To conclude with the Lesson Scene of " II Barbiere di Seviglia." Rosina Mme Alboni, who will sing Rode's Variations, "Il dolce canto ;" Bartolo, Sig. Rossi ; II Conte d'Alma, viva, SI. Bottardi; Basilio, Sig. Vialetti ; and Figaro, Sig. Belletti. Boxes, 2,3, and 4 guineas ; pit stalls, V. ls. ; pit, 7s. ; gallery stalls, ss. ; can be obtained at Mr. Benedict's, 2, Manchester-square ;or at the Box-offi •e at the Theatre. The Programme will be published this ITER MAJESTY'S THEATRE Mad.lle. piccoLomf NI Has the honour to inform the Nobility, Subscribers, and the Public that her BENEFIT will take place on MONDAY EVENING, JULY 6th, The Entertainments will comprise the Second Act of LA EMMA DEL REGGINIENTO. Maria Mdlle. Piccolomini. La Marchesa Mdlle. Poma. Tonio Signor Belart. Sergente Sulpizio The Last Act of IL TROVATORE. Leonora M ille. Spezia. Azucena . _Madame Alboni. Il Conte di Luno Signor Beneventanto. Ferrando Si nor Vialetti. Mamie() Signor Giuglini. The Last Act of Verdi's Opera, LA TRAVIATA. Violetta Mdlle. Piccolomini. Germont Georgio Signor Beneventanto. Alfredo Signor Giuglini. For the First Time, the Last Act of Donizetti's Opera, I MARTIRI, Including the grand duo, "II suon dell' Arpo Angeliclte." Pauline Mdlle. Piecelomini. Poliuto g lici. With various entertainments in the BALLET DEPARTMENT, embracing the talents of MADAME ROSATI, • MDLLE. BOSCHE MDLLE KATRINE, MESDLLES. PASQUALE, MORLACCHI, AND MADAME PEREA NENA. Applications for 13oses, Stalls, and Tickets, to be made al the Box-office of the Theatre. y ES BOUFFES PARISIENS—St. JAMES'S THE xTRE. Triumphant Success of tht FRENCH PLAYS. THIS EVENING, FRIDAY, July 3, the entertain ments will commence, at half-pist eight preci ely, the performance of Opera-Comictue, en un acte, L'OPERA AUX PE NET RE -3. M. Leonce, M. Tayau, M. Charles Petit, and Mdlle. Dalmont. After which (3d time) Opera-Bouffe, moyen age, en un acte, CR )QUEFER ; on, Le Dernier des Paladins. To conclude with Operettc-Bouffo, ea an aete, LES PANTINS DE VIOLETTE. The Orchestra of the Theatre des Bouffes will accom pany these Repr e sentations, under the direction of the eomposcr, M. Offenbach. Boxes, stalls, anil tickets may be engaged at M r . Mit c h e ll' s Royal Library, 33, Ol d Bond-street. T FIE AT R, 0Y A 1,, DRURY-LANE. Lessee, Mr. E. T. Smith. OPEN EVERY EVENING, GREAT EQUESTRIAN AMERICAN and CONTINENTAL COMPANY, under the direction of Miss Ella. Prices—Pit and Promenade, Is ; Boxes, 2s. 6(1 , 25., and ls 64. ; Galleries, 6d. Doors open at half-past 7. Commence Li. Petite Wells, Signora Delavanti, at 8. First Equestrian Artistes in the .Wells, Mdlles. Flora, Fabia, an,. World : —Madame Schap aananiddn ;ICM° Newsome, MissesNewsome, Moffatt, Delavanti, Potter. Jen nines ; the Manchester Boy, Masters J. Wells, A Wells, E. Moffatt, Ilenrico and Carlo DeNvanti, Sig. Felix Delavanti, Mons. Becq, Mons. Ferdinand, Mons. Eugene, Mr. Tom Swann, Mr. B. Fuller, Mr. W. Fuller, and the great Shaks p,-,-ian Cl o wn, Wallctt, will appear each evening in a series of Performances, original and unapproachable. Director—Mr. Stokes, Acting }tanager—Mr.. E. Stirling. OY AL 'PRINCESS'S THEATRE, THIS EVENING will be performed ShalresPere's Play of THE TEMPEST. Preceded by A GAME OF ROMPS. S THEATRE ROYAL, HAYMARKET Lessee—Mr. J. B. Buckstone. THIS EVENING, to commonce at Seven o'clock. with tke new drama in two periods, entitled THE HUSBAND OF AN HOUR. Mr. Buckstone, Miss Reynolds, &c. Yollowed by THE FIR ST AND SECOND FLOOR. After which the successfut Classical Love Story, un der the Apple-fation of A rAL ANTA ; or, The Three Golden Apples : in which Miss M. Oliver will appear; also Miss M. Wilton, and Miss Ellen Ternan. TELE WEATHER—SUN OPEIOE, JULY 3. THERMOMETER. IN THE SHADE. 65 —highest since noon yesterday. 58 —lowest this morning and during the night . 66 —this day at noon. BAROMETER, 30.07. WIND, S.W. ; light, with dull cloudy weather, inclin ng to rain. In future the prices will be Orchestra Stalls (which may be retained the whole of the evening), Cs. each. (No charge for booking.) First Price, s. d. Second price, s. d Dress Boxes,,, 5 0 Dress Boxes 3 0 Upper Boxes '''' 3 0 Upper 80xe5.....••• Pit ..•.. 2 0 Pit 1 0 Lower Gallery '''' . 1 0 Lower Gallery 0 6 Upper Gallery 0 6No half-price to Upper Gallery. T HEATRE ROYAL, A DELPHI. Less ee Mr, Ben. Webster. THIS EVENING, will be performed IRELAND AS IT WAS ; or, The Middleman. Mr. and Mrs. Barney Williams Followed by a n ew farce, L ATEST FROM NEW YORK. Mr and Mrs. B arney Williams. To conclude with IRISH ASSURANCE AND YANKEE MODESTY. STRAND TELE kT RE. —Leisee, Mr. T. Payne. —THIS EVENING will he Perforine , i Douglas Jerrold's drama of THE RENT DAY. Messrs, Stuart, Kinloch, dle., Miss Craven a nd Mrs. Weston. After which, THE COMET will appear. To conclude with TWO HEADS BETTER TH ONE. Commence at half-past Seven. Stalls, 3s. ;B AN s 2s. Pit, is. ; , iallery, 6d. GREAT NATIONAL STANDARD TIIEATRE. Proprietor Mr. John Dow , las. —lmmense Success, THIS EVENING . Professor ANDERSON, the Great Wizard of the N ort h:i n hi s en tirely New Magical Dra ma, A !LIGHT IN WONDER-WORLD ; or, Magic , Mirth, and Mystery. The Wit c h' s C o ff ee -pot. A cup of coffee for everybody, mad e b y mag i c and by invisi ble fin g ers. The Superhuman Boy, who has the streng th of a thousand men, is the most astonishing phenomenon ever presented on the stage. Presents for everybody. -t)I C-7'N) el A NTERBII tY HALL, Westminster-road. — OPEN EVERY EVENING. —The follow lig' company of Vocalists are engag ed for the p erformance of elections from all the popular Ope ras, Madrigals, Choruses, ;lees, Duets, dtc., S!iss Brunell, Miss Summers, and Madame Marietta ; 1 Mr. J. viz.: Miss E. Pearce, Mrs. J. Caulfield, Herr F. Jonghmans, R. Grover, T. Ferrara, S. It o )ec, J. B ar k v , W. Melling, P. Corti, Senor Antonio M. le Solla, and E. L. Him° • Masters Bennett and Corri ; Mews. Sa m and E. Mackney. Pianoforte, Mr. Cecil Hicks harmonium, J Caulfield, jun.; . iirector, Mr. J. Caulfield. C om mence at' Seven ,o'clock : precisely. suppers, dtc., until twelve o'clock 113 OY A L OLYM P IC THEATR E. Academy President. " Amiable " We are Lessee, Mr.:' Alfred Wigan. dot to •absoltitely to be quite sick of the TFIIS 'EVENING „will be. revived Murphy's corn. dy . of ALL IN TUE Robsol. is is draved in so incessantly and incipigruottly To conclude with tbne) - au o iginal Extravaganza, by' in the way of deprecviet?. Jmi.Jible . 1 " A It. B. Brcrgh, Esq., eAlle.l MAS,OIIELLO. Messrs, Rob eon, Gioke, Danvers, dac ; Svrauborougb, Thirlwall, General wastes a evelplign, ruins an ;rimy, causes )3romley, and Mrs. M6lfont. Commence at lia'f-bast Seven. it to be decimated frightfully by cold, and diseisir, and famine—and then we are told to hold our lzcanse, f irsooth ! he is to very " !" A Fide-Arts Doec. r squanders tie pub lic moni-y up in a parcel of daub, , , and v s aro bid not to complain by one syllable —for precisely the irrelevant reason—be cause, forsooth, he is so very " Amiable !" It was so with L ird RAGLAN. It is so with Sir CHARLES EASTLAKE. When are we to have an end of these "Amiable" Bunglers? Amiable, ! We actually begin to long at last for a perfectly new race of Clever Curmudgeons ! Last week the Times hoped that tho Bank Charter Committee "would not break up until ,hey had given ample latitude to every gentleman anxious to unfold any idea on the subject l" We cordially concur in the desire. Many intelligent and clear headed men, whose views were at least enti‘led to respectful consideration, were abso lutely refused a hearing by the Select Committee of the C )morons of 1848. Seventeen witnesses only were examined, and of these, no less than thirteen were opposed to the Act of 1844. Among the number was the late SAMUEL GURNEY, whose great experience and sound practicAl com- mon sense entitled any opinion of his to the utmost weight, and with him were Mr. GEORGE CARR GLYNN, and many others of the most eminent merchants and bankers, including Mr. BIRKBECK, of the Craven Bank, Yorkshire, who appeared as the delegate and representative of a large number of Provincial bankers ! Against their powerful testimony there were only four persons—three directors of the Bank of England, who were directly interested in maintaining the existing monopoly- 7 -mid Mr. SAMUEL JONES LOYD, now Lord OVERSTONE; the putative parent of that most unjust and impolitic me tsure. It could not for a moment be doubted as to the pr,- ponderauce of the evidence. Bat, notsvii•hstand iag the convincing t7stimony advan,tetl, the 00ill mittee decided by a very numerous majority that "it was not expedient to make any alteration in the provisions of th Act." In fact, it signifit'd little whet facto arid arguments might have been ad duce,d, when the report was "a foregone conclu sion," the nature of which might have been prt.- dicted the day the committee was app ;toted. Even Sir CHARLES WOOD himself made au unfor tunate admission for his party, which clearly developed the nature of the "d Age" resorted t declaring that the Government would be culptble in appointing any committee unless they were previously certain as to the nature of their re port. We cannot conclude without noticing the fact that there has been no reduction in the minimum rate of discount, although, as the Times admits, " the stock of bullion and the reserve of Doles are very much beyond the amounts at which they stood in 1850, when the rate %v.'s 5 per cent." It is clear that " the oil Ltdy" is striving to make the utmost of her oppoi tunities. She sees that they wit nut continue long, and must there fore turn them to the best account during the brief harvest-time that still remains at her disposal. W 0 earnestly invite a , cention to a very able letter, signed "M.P.," which will be found in another part of this day's impression. We fully concur in the views and opinions so clearly put forward by the talented writer, and have already so recently commented on the existing state of affairs that it is not necessary to repeat our argu ments at any length. The salient points are, Ist, that from various closes, partly the results of religious views, but. s t i ll more from specious pretexts founded ou these views, a considerable portion of On the other hand, the Lords' committee unequivocally condemned the act, stating " that the recent panic was materially aggravated by the operation of that statute, and by the proceedings of the B ink itself ;" adding, "This effect may- be traced directly to the Act of 1844, in the legislative restrictions imposed on the means of accommodation, whilst a large amount of bullion was held in the c offers of the bank, and during the time of favourable ex changes, and it may be traced to the same cause, indirectly, as a consequence of great fluctuations in the rate of discount, and of c ipital previously advanced at an unusually low rate of discount !" The Act, too, has been virtually condemned, from the mere fact of its suspension—au imperative necessity—for as the Committee declared, "Un less a step invelvieg such extraordinary responsi bility, and so undisguised a departure from the were indispensable, it could not be justified. l's absolute necessity was its sole justification !" In support of that opinion Mr. G. C. GLYN declared that " the letter of the G wernment stopped the crisis, and abrogated the act," while Mr. BROWNE, the distinguished representative of Seu:ll Lan cashire, considered that the letter " virtually con demned, and annul ;d the law of 1844." But still the well selected C eiamittee of the Ceininons, " after a careful review of all the evidence," thought it not expedient to mike any alteration in the provisions of the Bill ! Under such circumstances there was, at all events, a subst tab.! question at issue. The de /lesion, in which the Ltirds Committee, ten out of twenty-t vo of the Cemminis Ceinintee, and 17 out of 21 of " the greatest adepts" that could be produced as witnesses, participated, mast have at at lea,t some better f madation ti to " the belief in witchcraft," to which the bul.ienist org In is this day pleased to assiind tt . 3 ir. Toe " sewer," is however a favourite practice of the Times, usually adopted as a dernier ressort. Never did it so perseveringly'strive to ridicule the profess re of any creed, as the opponents of the war 9,1., on the eve of the last session, and its present spasmodic effort, to laugh, or rat ier ti cough, down, the opponents of the Bank Oearter Act—" whose name is L-igion”—is of a similar character, and may possibly meet wide a similar fate —when, doubtless, the Times, as is its wont, will " con gratulate itself and the community on the auspi cious results produced by its labours" ! 1 ! It has, however, made another awkward ad mission ! It states that. " a correspondent evidently a man of education, : and probably a sound and intelligent man, in other respects— writes to protest against his exclusion," or in other words, against the refusal of a hearing by the committee, and that, although his opinions were put forward through one of their number. It is, therefore, manifest that the blue book will not contain " the whole arguments of the vari ous sehoels ;" but that, according to custom, only those will be examined, whose views have already been ascertained. We may then an ticipate numerous " breaches of privilege," the publication of evidence that ought to have I been received, but was rejected, and which will be brought before the public iu some form or another ! LONDON, FRIDAY, JULY 3, '857. Yesterday, in the House of Commons, the National Gallery Question was -duly Tenti!ated ! Not, observe, the Old question as to the New site of it 1 for that problem has already been solved, and solved, we rejoiced to think, most satisfactorily. But the still Older question as to the mismanagement of the National Gallery. And that, unfortunately, has decidedly not been satled yet ! In fact, it was not even prospectively in terfered with, much less immediately mitigated in the smallest particular last evening. But at any rate it was—in Parliamentary slang—ven tilated 1 And that, though very little, is at least —something ! If it does nothing better it, at least serves to keep the public mind alert as to the otherwise snug and secret peccadilloes of an exceed ingly Close Corporation. It lots a ray of light into the darkness, from time to time, most opportunely. It gives us a glimpso or two of the mysterious doings behind the scenes of the dramatis personce in that grand, interminable, tedious, tantalizing Fine Arts Mtsque of " The National Gallery." The Travelling Agent—by Herr OTTO MUNDLER. [Or, as the Hon. Gentle man the Member for Finsbury called him last night—cribbing a very old joke of our own in saying it—Herr MUDDLER !] The Secretary—by Mr. RALPH WORNUM. The Director-General, or, " Lord of Misrule"—by Sir CHARLES EASTLAKE. The whole—as the Play-bills have it—By PARTI CULAR DESIRE. That one inconsiderable star first mentioned (Herr MUNDLER, or " MUDDLER" tO wit) being secured at an annual stipend of 750/. and a Commission 1 Really and truly the thing has long been getting far advanced indeed beyond a joke. More . especially when we have witnessed the jobbery going on behind those ricketty scenes, behind those inefficient screens in the "darkness visible" of that same unfortunate National Gallery. People have turned restive at last—and no wonder—when they have observed thousands upon thousands of the public money thrown away in the purchase of pieces of tawdry rubbish called Great Pictures! Reputed Originals, that have no sooner been bought than they hive oroved on examination to be no originals at all— but, in lieu of that, merely vamped-up copies by unknown and ungifted hands,•spurions works and such lite trumpery ! Now, these things we main tain have long been notorious. They have not only been notorious, but—worse than that—they have been reiterated ! Nevertheless, while the " facts" of the case have long been thus, and, for hat matter, are still thus undeniably—nobody is to presume to raise a whisper against their coati- nuance I Sir CHARLES EASTLAKE is still to be allowed an almost irresponsible authority in a matter in which, notwithstanding all his un doubted ability, he has proved Im - itself again a'id again to be wholly incompetent ! Herr MIINDLER and Mn. \VORNUM are still t) ba highly Leonine rated, each in his respective capacity—for what ? For assisting in squandering the public money i n - he purchase of daubs, some of them even tiorse than worthless—daubs that aro monuments of our want of taste, and attestations of our lack of dis cernment ! Nay, if my Lord EtcHo, for exampl e , presumes to raise his voice against these in the most good-humoured way in the world, in expostulation—the Prime Minister (vide his speech last evening) "listens to the levities of his noble friend" with astonishment The Prime Minister even will not tolerate the motion of that same "noble friend," the member for Had dingtonshire venturing upon the temerity of denying the first rank in art to an eminent Painter, but certainly not one of the most eini- nont of Painters—PAULO VERONES3 ! No —the fact being that a very dubious specimen by that master had been snapped up by us for close upan 2,0001. (viz. just I,977l.) • although it had been valued at something under 4001. (viz. at 3701.), by its proprietors—PAUL VERONESE must needs be vaunted to the skies by, our indignant Prime Minister as apparently quite upon a par with MICHAEL ANGELO, and DA VINCI, and TITIAN, and RAFFAELLE ! " His pictures," exclaims Lord PALMERSTON, " are master-pieces of composition, as well as excellent examples of colouring." Good—but that patched, and botched, and cob bled daub of his in the National Gallery is certainly at the same time not worth close upon two thousand guineas I L )rd ELuao may surely be permitted to express that as his Opinion with out necessarily implying thereby that he gainsays the glory of the great Venetian ar isp, whether in regard to colour, or in regard to compositi°n. Again—when the Noble Lord the Prime Minister forgets himself so far as to talk (as he did talk last evening) of " the long stored-up -pleeu of the hen. Member for Brighton against, that amialie at.d distinguished man Sir C. EASTLASE"—we don't wonder in the least that the remark was greeted in the House of CoMmong with "bud laughter." Of courae—it was greeted with loud laughter. The notion is alt .gt Vier prep sterous —the notion of this "long stored-up sp eeu" of Mr. CONINGHAM. W e repudiate V ie NIA Est idea of having the slightest particle of " spleen" against Sir C HALLES EASTLAIia -- the notion of our having thi s " spleen " wou ld be simply ridiculous ! Yet we are to the full as indignant as either Mr. CONNINGHAM or Lord ELCIIO can be with the bungles and blunders of " that amiable and distinguished roan," the Royal the sep, -, y force is in a normal state of d &et . ot , , and cannot be relivd upon ; that. a favour& le opportunity has arisen t.y. wens of the ecait meeting, for elinlinating fzoin the Indian Army the dangerous eleine,ts which .annot safely be retidued. The simple fact that the rin,Jeaders are mainly Maliornmedans, who cahoot possitq he infitieecA by these affected set uples, proves beyont toe y of doubt th,►t the disease is mere deeply seated than may be supposed, en a mere superficial t x,minadon. There is wide spread discontent, and we piaci arms in the hands of men, who may, on an emergency, turn them against -ourselves. We organise and discipline those who may prove our most virulent opponents. Surely the Anglo- Indian Government should not rest tranquilly on the edge of the volcano that may burst forth into activity at any moment, and in its eruption sweep away all the established landmarks. There ought unquestionably to be an infusion of new blood. A large proportion of European soldiers should be mingled with the old regiments. With proper encouragement there would be no difficulty in obtaining suitable recruits for the Indian army from the United Kingdom. There might be a little additional Expense in the first instance, but if we desire permanently to retain our Eastern empire that expense should be set at nought, and everything disregarded but the means by which we may increase the stability of the Government of India. We have rendered ourselves indepen dent of foreign aggression. We should now di rect attention to the measures necessary to guard against domestic disturbance— should obtain guards who do not themselves require vigilant watching! YIUSIC-HALL, STORE-STREET, BEDFORD- SQ I IA RE. Mr. Ellis Roberts gave his annual conceit at this hall ltst night. Mr. Roberts is a ell known as an aecomplislied harpist, and he displayed his powers t, unu ual a vantage on th's occas i on . Hi s fi rs t p-rfor wince was a '' harp so'o on t wo W e l s h ai r s, an'l he also played the graceful acconiptniment to St-Then Grove, 's ftviiuritS c , vatina—" Tile Blind Girl t,T her Harp." In the st conil pat he pl ,y, d his own areang, meet of " Tha Rising of the L irk" and " Liy,,n Ow, n," an , 1 on beng encored he substituted a piece repre ,t•ntl ng a mil taiy laud round a hill. This very clever piece, wh ch Mr. Roberts played with sk 11 and t :s' e, was loudly applauded. The manner in wilich the dist tilt music, now swelling, now sin' , iter, "WAS imitated on ha h adinirtble. M s Aftss Llscelles, Miss fleywo nl, and Mss Httgi,es wire the la iy v c mists, an atypiitte i beusel %es with credit. Mr. Frank 11.dda a,niised The audience iu s, , ve al comic s•n :s. Or of Simile' Lover's was esp eially succe-sfill. Mr. R 'bents had also the a ivaricage 4 being d by Mr. Briuley Richards 4 , n the pianof vv. He played some •of his own arrangements ~ f tiopul r airs w.t'l taste and execu tion. The hall was crowd.ld, an 1 the audience soelued big ily gratified wita thtir evening's enter tainmei.t. FIFTY MARKT AG BA B LE PRI NC ASSES. The Siecle publishes the following article, which it Leads "Fifty Marriageable Princesses :" " A. German newspaper, the Brunswick Gazette, states in a late number that thereex sts at tire present moment —not in the whole world, not even in Europe, bqt is Germany 1 me—fifty princesses of an age t marry. The above journal does not say whether there are as equal number of marriageat,l4 princes, and our know ledge of reigning families is too limited to enlighten us on this point ; but a person who is well up in his manac de Gotha' assures us that the number of princes is far inferior to that of princesses, and that not more than 20 princes of Europe have attained or surpassed their 18th yell-. We thus behold sortie 30 young, and doubt less beautiful, princesses, with inure or less Royal blood flu in g in their veins, placed in the cruel alternative of remaining ,1.1 maids or of marrying plain nobles or country squirts. For some time past we have remarked t - 7at the daughters of nobles and country squires do not fear cornmi,ting a misalliance by marrying enriched parvenues ; and we inquire with horror if the princelf and aristocratic races are thus to lose tOemselves, and become coif iunded in the great dernOcritic whirivVind which invades modern society like a spring tide. W. det• •-., in the fact of 50 marria:feabls princesies existing alone in Germany a syrnptomu of decline which we hula' bly submit to the attention of persons who dream of re' or:4a , ising society on its ancie::t basis, and who wish to re-establish the right of primogeniture, &•,. It out of 5 0 princes-es t'rere are 30 who run the risk of marrying simple mortals, what becomes of the good of I prinni; pies! Are the privileges of birth about to disappear May the 11-avens preserve Germany from so proforma an evil ! In orler, theref wre, to cojure the latter, We beg to acquaint all the princes of the universe that 6v German princeves are of an age to marry." COUBP CIRCULAR. The Queen and the Prince C ,nsort returnA to BoelC' itigham Pa,ace, front WorqPy Hail, near Manchester , at 20 iniautes before three o'clock yegerday afternoon' Her ‘leje,ty and his royal bightiess were accompanied by the Prince of %Vales, the Princess Royal, Prink Alfred, the Princess Alice, rnd Prince Frederick liarn of Prussia. Io attendanea were Lady Churchill, the Hon. Eleaeot S , a• ley, the Lori Cl,a nberlain, C .lootl the Hon. C. . 0 ' Phipp4, bl.aj r-General the Hon. C. Grey, Colonel 0 ' H. Seymour, Baron de Moltke, Mr. Gibbs, and Lieu' tenant Cowt The royal party proceeded from the Euston-grinar. Terminus of the L mdor, and North \Vtstern Railwei in , everal of the green's carriages, and escorted by detachment of Light Dragoons, to Buckingham Palaces where the Queen and the Prince Consort were received by the Lord Steward, the Master of the Horse, tb s Pice•Chamberlain, Sir F. Stovin, and Colonel F. Set rnour, C.B. VicL;untess Jocelyn has succeeded Lady Churchill 0 Lady iu Waiting to her *:%j- sty. Lord Byron, Lord in Waiting to the Queen, and CslY tau. the Hon. Div' de Ro., Equerry to the Prif have London left fir Dover, to receive tlle King of O . Belgians on his arrival from the continent. TIIE ART TREASURES EXHIBITION• VISIT OF THE EMPEROR AND EMPRESS or THE FitENCH. We believe we are justified in making the announce' went that it is the intention of the Emperor and Stl v press of the French to visit the Art Treasures Exhibi' tion in the course of the next six weeks. The Count 136 Nieuerkerke, having received the instructions of the Emperor to at'end the Exhibition and report upon it g content 4, was specially admitted on Wednesday, durie% the visit of her Majesty and the Royal family, and eV preaied himself extremely satisfied with the result. lb ° Emperor and Empress will probably sojourn in MO' cheater two days. The Rev. Dr. B )06, F.R.S., has been elected chair' man of the Council of the Society of Arts for the ensuing year. The Earl an 1 Countess of Fingall have left Edward. Mae!, George•Oreet, for Harrogate. Viscount Palmerston returned to London, yesterdals from Mai•chest,r. L. - .r.1 and Lady Da Lisle and Dudley have left the St" Gi.orgi,'s Hotel for Penshurht, Kent. T., Baroness Nioulay has left to vn for the eontv' nent. Tue Hon Mrs. Bisville has arrived at the St. George' Hotel. DEATH OF THE EARL OP MORNINGTON.—ADOLh ° peer has passed from the scene on which he Wall a btOf a"tor some years since. 141 rd Mornington died yesfer day, after a brief illness, at his residence in London. ge ,sas the son of the third earl, and was born in 1788. INTENDED MARRIAGE IN HIGH ,LIFE.—We uo de._ l : staid that Lord Ashley, M.P. for H u ll, the elde st son of the Earl of Shaftesbury, is about to be mar' rigid to Lady Harriet Cnichester, only child o f the Yarqu s and Marchioness of Donegal. HER MAJEBTY . 2.THEATRE.—Li e r Reyal Highness th e Duchess of Cambridge and her Royal Highness th e Princess Mary honoured the performances at he r Miij-sty's Tro-stre with their presence yesterday (TheO f i dly) evening. Their Royal Highnesses were attend ° by klaj •r Home Puree s . The Marchioness o f WO' chester, Lao) , Geraldine So . -rer-et, Mrs. Home Purvt Marehiir was of Win c h es t er , an d his Excellency th e Count de Vitzdium d'Enk.tadt (the Saxon Minister) nail the honour of accompa. o their Riy a l pli g h nes see; Amongst the not is and distinguished indivifinals a l ° imnoured her Majesty's Theatre with their pre ence "., this occasion we obs-ived—bii Grace the Duke Cleveland and Lady Augustus raultit, the E of Lour ale, the C,,ui.tess (Dowagei) of Harrington, the Cill ti ; ess of Ntoui , teharies, the C Caroline Bell,w• t h e marl of Cardigan, the E ril of Mooritcharles, the N ri4* Jount Cumin ' Lady Ct e m en ti na V il li ers, L a d y Elio beth Gordon, Lady Blaney, Lord H. Seymour, &c. See tha int arr by the to ex goi of ha` whi mai per , wot re-c also arrE Rej iig I. Ime put Tun atta Nea sons lanC Cagl bane TI land ber. boar gelid dispi der i i ionE share In le: of