The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-09-25 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

Madona, which is borne by a group of handsome and elegantly-
attired young men. This, which forms the principal and
central group of the picture, is preceded by a band of singers
and musicians; and is followed by a train of celebrated men
assembled to do honour to the genius of Cimibuie and his
divine art. Among these are Arnolfo di Lapo, Gaddo Gaddi,
Andrea Tafi, Nicola, Pisano, Buffalmacco, and Simone Memmi,
, the illustrious author of the "Diving Comedia," Dante, occupy-
ing a conspicuous place in the corner. The drawing and paint-
ing of the respective figures are in general forcible, truthful, and
pleasing ; the heads are expressive, and the draperies rich in
texture and brilliant in colour, while the costume appears
accurate, and it is generally suggestive of minute study and
careful finish. The action represented is simple and subdued,
and though rendered with fine artistic feeling and regulated with
the nicest eye to a balanced composition of lines and colour, it
does not suggest the idea of dignity, and though solemn, stately,
and measured, it is deficient in earnestness, and lacks that ap-
pearance of life and animation which constitute the charm of
historical representation. The spectator feels impressed with
the conviction that he is looking on a picture. The artist and
his art is everywhere presented to his eye, and forced upon his
understanding. The subject and the mode in which it is
treated appeals more to the critic than to the general public ;
and the result of such an appeal is that of wonder and admi-
ration, but it stirs no chord of sympathy, awakens no emotion.
It is beautiful in parts, and pleasing as a whole; but at the
same time it is eminently suggestive of the poet's exclamation,
How vain is learning, and how empty art,
Save where't improves the mind or mends the heart.
In Mr. Leighton's cleverly-executed picture we have good
and skilfully-executed drawing, well-studied composition,
admirable colouring and bold manipulation ; yet all of these
fail to interest in any high degree, from the absence of that
everyday sentiment which could induce the spectator to become
more than a mere looker-on at such a pageant.
No. 62. " The Rosicrucians," by W. Douglas, R.S.A., is a
clever picture of a class in a great degree peculiar to the
Scottish school. Some dozen years ago or more, one of the
most gifted members of the Scottish Academy, the late amiable
David Scott, painted an admirable though somewhat outré
picture of an alchemyst, Paracelsus, in his study. This singu-
lar but powerful picture combined many of the higher attri-
bute's of genius, varied character and powerful expression,
learned composition and brilliant colour, with quaint represen-
tations of eccentric vessels of different material, which gave to
the artist a wonderful command of prismatic colour. This
picture was admired by many and abused by some ; but on the
whole it appears to have taken an immense hold on the mind
of Scottish artists, for no exhibition has been opened in the
Scottish metropolis since poor David Scott's Paracelsus, which
has not been enriched by some representation of alehemycal
operations. Some of these have been good, many indifferent,.
and a large number of them very bad. The one before ur
seems to occupy a portion of the debateable land between the
good. and the indifferent. It is rich in its ample variety of
colour and texture, is pleasing in general tone, and without
reaching the dignity of "high art" will constitute an agreeable
and interesting cabinet decoration.

No. 166. " The Ten Virgins," by James Eckford Lauder,
R.S.A., is a pleasing as well as an ambitious picture. It
represents themoment of the parable, when, at the approach
of the bridegroom, the five wise virgins having their lamps in
order, are about to set out to meet and hail his coming, while
the foolish virgins have their lamps to trim, The story is
fairly told, and the incidents are significantly set forth in this
small but excellent picture ; which is liable to the objection,
however, of being exceedingly like a reduced duplicate of the
larger picture painted several years ago by the same artist,
and purchased by the Royal Association for the Promotion of
the Fine Arts in Scotland, by the committee of which Asso-
ciation it was engraved and distributed among their sub-
scribers-. The picture now before us presents many of the
excellences for which the pictures of Mr. James Lauder are
remarkable. It is rich and pulpy in colour, pleasing. in
general arrangement, and it possesses great power of light and
shadow.

- No. 'ft. "Portrait~ of a Lady," by W. Huggins, is a very'
favourable specimen of titisartist's capabilities-. It is life-like,.
:and unaffected in style. Rich and pulpy in colour, and soft
as well as delicate in handling. It bears, in these respects; as,
well as in the warmth and solidity of its tone; a favourable
resemblancr to the portraits executed by Wilkie,-in what were'
called his. later or Spanish style.
No. 79. " Portrait of a- Lady," by W. Bexall,A,R.A:, is a'
picture of a different class frotn, that last named. It is-lower
in tone, yet sweet and pleasing in effect. The head is-grace-
ful, and is paintod with much delicacy and beauty.
No. 75. "Portrait of Hugh Pierce, Esq.," and No. &O, "Por-
trait of Joseph Habback, Esq.," both by J. Robertson, are admi-
rable specimens of the artist's bold and vigorous style. They are
both well drawn, and painted with' ease and freedom. There
is a general air of ease-and•nature in, these two pictures; the
heals are firmly and well- painted;. and in both there` is a
combination of richness without' oatOntation, and of vigour
and- boldness without' vulgarity, if we eicept the somewhat
questionable disposal of Mr. Pierce's . right hand.
Nc4.157. "Cattle on the Banks of aoßiver," by F. R. Lee,
R.A.,and T. S. Cooper, A.R.A. The combination of ta=ent
and- skill. bestowed on this picture bee.. resulted in a happy
display of natural effect. As -a bright summer sunny land-
scape the subject is charming in the highest degree. The
earth, the air, the water, and the trees, are bathed in balmy
sunshine-;, and the cattle are drawn and, painted in sweet
harmony with the pleasingscene.

1
No. 106"..."L0ch Ranza, ble of Arran—Morning mist clear-1
ing away,"'hy J: W. Oakes, is a 'very favourable specimen of
Mr. Oakes' talents as a lartdscape painter.. The sterile yet
picturesquvbeanty of the scene depicted is reproduced with
praiseworthy.fidelity, and the atmospheric et.'ets so peculiar
to the scenery of the rugged yet lovely Isle- of Arran have
moved the artist. with telling inSpiration,, which he has
cleverly transferred to his can7o.s.

tirr.E.RPOot.COUltr OFIBANXIMPTCY,

OsVednestlity, before Mr. Commissioner Perry, there was
an' adjourned certificate meetincs, in the case of J.. P.'Hall.
The bankrupt was, lately a merchant and •-shipowner in Liver-
pool; he was also interested in some chemical works -at St.
Helens.- The chief ground of opposition urgeil against the
bankrupt was, that he had continued trading long.-after he
must have known that he was insolvent. After an argument
which lasted upwardeof three hours and a-half, the case was
adjourned for judgment tilt Thursday, when Mr.. Commis-
sioner Perry said, the-allowance of the -certificate tad been
opposed by. Mr. Townsend, the solicitor of the trade, assignees,
upon several grounds. First, that thd bankrupt continued
to trade when he must have knoww:that he was-insolvent.
Secondly, that he made large- purchases of goods, which
he is -alleged and, has admitted to. -have obtained. advances
upon, nearly to the, extent of thein,Talue shortly, after the
receipt of the invcices, in the months of. November, Decem-
ber

January, and.: February, £B9X 'of which goods were
obtained in February, in which last' month he, an. the 17th,
gave notice to his weditors -of his hailing stopped, payment.
Thirdly, that he had. made 'payments.-,to Mrs., Righam. to the
extent of £l,lBo' and upwards, sueh.payments being in the
nature of fraudulent -preferences. Fourth, that on the 17th
of February, the day of notice of" his having stopped, pay-
ment,. he made a mortgage of a ship, the Lord; -Riversdale,
to.a, creditor for an, antecedent debt;: and .a further. objection
was .founded upounsaks made in February last. treditors
from, whom no money was receivectifor the goods,. transactions
which were also urged as assuming: the character of illegal pre-
ferences. He was of opinion that the first objection had been
established, and that the bankrupt had failed in Ida duty to-
wards his creditors in this respect- As to the second objection,
the obtaining advances -to such ast extent as has,,been shown
-appal goods not paid. for, was one.of, the grounds of the deci-
sions in experite•Manaco, (3, De Gex M'lsTaghten and Gor-
don's Reports, "602;) It was urged that:he hactonly pursued
what he alleges,to be a common practice in, Liverpool- It ap-
pears to me, however, that unlssathe,court is-to adept a code
of commercial morality for Liverpool different from that which,
is acted upon elsewhere, it must visit; with its severe censure•
the pledging of goods unpaid for to the extent of nearly their
value when it takes place on the part of a trader in a state of
tins insolvency,
inar
encys,
whqeutthpeorerobiyiasleear,s bills a
vesthes lh
vendors e o
ofulxlea meansgoodsof p
to look
ov-:
meat. With regard to the third objection, which relates to
the payments to Mrs. Bighaxo, it appears. by the bankrupt's
'examination of: the 7th of Augnet that repeated promises of
payment had ,been made by him, and, theeefore, it must be
taken that application hadheen made by that lady for tha debt
due to her, One such application is in,terras stated to, have
been made by Mrs. Bigham about the 2ndor 3rd of February. As
to the.fourth objection, the mortgage, of the Lord Riversdale
must, for the present purpose at least, be taken to have been
made ill pursuance of a. previous promise, and so thus. far
under- that amount of,- pressure which would avail to sustain
the transaction. The other objection urged was not strongly
pressed against the bankrupt. I. Wok that the delivery of the
freight-note for the-sugar of lead tothe amount of £374175. 9d.
to, Messrs. Fitzsimmons, Applebee, and Co., creditors of the,
bankrupt, on the I,3th of February last, without any previous
contract note which could have been enforced against either
Marty, was a reprehensible act on the part of the bankrupt ;,
but with that observation. I shall dismiss that part of the case.
Upon the case, then, as it rests-upon the first and second heads
of objection to the certificate, and considering the large amount
of liabilities, the court feels itself bound to order that the
allowance of the certificate be suspended for, two years, and
that the protection be withheld for six months. With, respect
to the class, of certificate, as there is no doubt some- of the
losses have been unavoidable, and as it appears that, with the
exception, of an, entry in a fictitious name, which must always
call for some observation, but which entry does not appear to
have been made with any fraudulent intention, the books of
the bankrupt appear to have been well kept. The certificate
to be granted will be of the second class. Subsequently an
appeal was lodged against the judgment. The appeal will be
heard by the Lords Justices in Lonclon,.ancl pending the appeal
the commissioner has granted protection to the bankrupt.
On Wednesday, before Mr. Commissioner Stevenson, J. C.
Gresty, who lately carried on business as a tobacconist in
Liverpool, passed his adjourned last examination unopposed,
and the 18th of October was fixed for the certificate meeting.
RR J: G. CLAUS.—Wednesday was fixed for the certificate
meeting in the case of this bankrupt, who lately carried on,
business as a shipowner and merchant in Liverpool. The as-
signees opposed the allowance of the certificate on the follow-
ing grounds :—First, wilfully bad bookkeeping for fraudulent
purposes ; second, dealing extensively in accommodation bills ;
third, fraudulent preferences ; fourth, prevarication in his exa-
mination in reference to the true state of his affairs ; and for
conduct coming under the 124th section of the Bankruptcy
Act, in having his letters directed to other persons in order
not to afford the assignees the necessary information as to the
state of his property; fabricating debts which never had any
existence for the purpose of fraud; mutiltating, altering, and
falsifying his books of accounts, and concealing property; and
obtaining money in one instance by means of bills and a bill
of lading for goods not then shipped, and afterwards be-
having improperly in preventing them from being shipped.
In reply to his solicitor, the bankrupt stated that there would
be a surplus over and above his liabilities of £8,434 14s. 2d.,
besides a balance due on several debts that might be recovers].
He (bankrupt) attributed his difficulties to the failure of a
house in Italy indebted to the amount of £6,000 or £7,000.
The hearing was adjourned until Friday, when Mr. Evans was
occupied, on behalf of the bankrupt, in replying to the charges
made against Mr. Claus. He proved that the bills, which had
been termed accommodation bills, were bond fide transactions,
and that a misunderstanding had arisen in consequence of a
misapprehension of the term "accommodation bills," as ap-
plied by the bankrupt. The case was then further adjourned
to the 9th of October, when judgment will be given.
In the matter of W. and E. Latham, the last examination
passed on Friday, without opposition, and the certificate meet-
ing was fixed for the 18th of October.

LIVERPOOL CELEBRATION OF THE

CRIMEAN VICTORIES.

Ox Thursday last the " good old town" of Liverpool appeared
decked out in all its gayest hues, and was musical till " echo
rang again," in honour of the victories which have crowned the
allied arms in the. Crimea. The news of the fall of Sebastopol,
although received with a joy which diffused itself rapidly
through all classes of the inhabitants, and which penetrated
into every nook and cranny of this gigantic town, had, never-
theless, received no public and official recognition, and the ac-
knowledgment of the victory was consequently felt to be
imperfect. A generally-understood rather than directly-ex-
pressed opinion to this effect being widely spread, his worship
the Mayor embraced the opportunity of requesting his
fellow-townsmen to join with him in a public demon-
stration of rejoicing in commemoration of the great vic-
tories we have won in the Crimea ; fixing on Thursday
last, the anniversary of the battle of the Alma, the first of
those victories, as the day. The request of the Mayor was
followed by such a cordiality of aid on the'part of the inhabi-
tants as proved at once the intensity of feeling by which the
public was pervaded. The various committees of the Council

lent their Trilling and efficient assistance, and through their
means the leading features of the day's rejoicing were speedily
arranged ; but to the zeal and energy of the inhabitants them-
selves the entire success of the display was mainly attributable.
Each locality vied with its neighbour in giving expression to
the feeling of triumph which animated all. At early morn
the royal standard was run up in front of the Town Hall ;
flags were displayed on the various Church towers and public
edifices ; and the bells rang merry peals throughout the day.
St. George's Hall was thrown open to the public, and at noon
a series of performances was given by Mr. Best upon the mag-
nificent organ. The Hall was densely crowded, and as the
strains of the national anthem, of " Partant pour la Syrie," and
of " See the Conquering hero," pealed through the noble
edifice, the admiring audience expressed their sympathy and
delight by loud and enthusiastic shouts of joyous aclammation•
The organ performances were repeated in the evening to if
possible a still greater crowd, which abated no jot of enthusi-
asm as compared with that which had been evinced earlier in
the day, In the evening the Mayor gave an "Alma Banquet "
in the Town Hall, which was attended by most of the military
and naval officers resident in Liverpool and its vicinity.
Ae• was to be expected in a community so eminently mari-
time as that of Liverpool, the general demonstration assumed
an aspect in unison with the forms of joyful demonstration
usually adopted by the gallant sons of Neptune. All the
principal streets were literally radiant with the gay hues of
flags, banners,.and streamers, which fluttered joyfully in. the
breeze. Festoons- of brilliant flags spanned Lord-street, Castle-
street, (north and south,) Church-street, Dale-streets Water-
street, Hanover-street, James'-street, Park-lane, and indeed• all
the streets and thoroughfares of the town, even back courts'
and alleys displaying tasteful exhibitions of decorative bunt-
ing. Many of these'displays indicated rich fancy and good•
taste, the prevailing devices bekig modifications of the Union.
Jack, together with, the national. emblems of the Allied,
Powers, interming,led.here and there with the symbolic flags-
of different trading companies, the whole forming a combi—
nation of dazzling brilliancy and varying forms.
The vast outstretching line of docks.and its myriad hosts of
shipping, formed a delightfully varied picture, which, in the
radiance of its aspect, mocked the rainbow's varying hue. The
dense forest of tall an& stately masts literally streamed and
fluttered with emblematic-figures of rejoicing peculiar to nearly
every nation on the face of the earth. Added to these were
also 'the countless array of signal-flags which streamed and
&Tinted on the summer gale; rendering, the-scene as joyful as
it was-many-hued.

Military and other bands perambulated the- town through-
out thelay, performing martial and other appropriate airs.
The streets, particularly during the afternoon, were crowded
by dense•masses of people—pleased-spectators ef'the general
jubilee. Royal salutes were firedlrom various private batteries
in honour of the occasion, and atone o'clock a salvoof twenty-
one guns was fired from the North Fort. As nightfclosed in,
bonfires were kindled in different localities within the town,
and also on, the outskirts. From most of these points- there
were also brilliant displays of fireworks ; and, in short, from
morning •tanight —and late in the-night too—the° Spirit of
rejoicing and-merriment prevailed throughout the town..