The Press.
London, England, 1855-04-07 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

PATRIOTIC FUND.—EXHIBITION OF WATER-
COLOUR DRAWINGS AND PAINTINGS.
Am exceedingly interesting exhibition has been
opened at 121, Pall mall in aid of the Patriotic Fund
for the relief of the widows and orphans of the
British officers who fall in the war. The contribu
Lions are all gratuitous, and the proceeds of their
sale and of the exhibition are to be devoted to the
fund mentioned. The donations have been sent in
so rapidly, and the number of works now so far ex-
ceeds anything that was contemplated, that much
difficulty is found in obtaining space in the small
room which has been engaged. Bearing in mind
that the works are purely those of amateur artists, •
remarkable facility of execution and correctness
of drawing is in general displayed, while many
works are characterised by the most refined
feeling, power of colour, and considerable skill in
detail. The juvenile and other members of the
Royal Family exhibit productions which possess a
special interest, but the Prinzess Royal in her
"Battle Field "—a wife lamenting over the dead body
of her soldier-husband—baa certainly carried away
the palm from her royal competitors. We have not
space to enter into the varied excellencies of the other
works exhibited, but Nos. 103, " Villa of Mectenas,"
by Miss Blake ; 163, " Cathedral at Ulm," by the
Countess of Clarendon ; 698, "The Red Cloak," by
Miss Severn ; and 692, " Mouth of the Bosphorus,"
by Lady Clementine Villiers, display remarkable
talent. The gem of the exhibition, however, is a
framed series of six etchings by Miss Fraser, pur-
chased by her Majesty. The exquisite delicacy of
touch, the intense feeling expressed, and the genius
displayed in the composition, undoubtedly render
this work worthy the special honour it has achieved.
Among other contributors we must not omit
to mention a patriotic cabman, who zealously sent
an oil sketch of his own cab horse, priced at two
guineas ; nor among the clever and apropos drawings
neglect to call attention to No. 1,000, two sketches of
a " Cavalry Officer in the Crimea," the wretched
horses here shown being those of General Torrens,
sketched on the spot. Her Majesty and Prince
Albert visited the exhibition at an early hour
yesterday morning and made several purchases.
During the day, we need hardly observe, the room is
crowded with all the rank and fashion ,of the metro
polio.

THE REV. J.W.WEEKS, incumbent of St. Thomas's
Church,Waterloo-road, Lambeth, has been appointed
by her Majesty's Government to the bishopric of
Sierra Leone, rendered vacant by the death of Dr.
Owen Emeric Vidal. The diocese consists of the
coast between twenty degrees north and twenty de-
grees south latitude, comprising the colonies of the
Gambia, Sierra Leone, and the Gold Coast. The
annual allowance to the bishop is 900/. a year, namely,
5001. a year as colonial chaplain, and 4001. from
funded property. The new bishop belongs to the
Evangelical party. The bishopric was promised to
him by Mr. Sidney Herbert during the short time he
held the seals of the Colonial office, and the appoint-
ment has been ratified by the present Secretary of
State for the Colonies.
Tun Boat]) OF TRADE RETURNS for the month
ending the sth of March furnish the strongest
evidence yet presented of the rapid contraction of
business throughout the country. As compared
with the corresponding month of last year, the
declared value of our exports shows a falling off to
the almost unprecedented extent of 2,470,4961., the
aggregate not having been more than two-thirds of
what it was at that period. The exportations for
the first two months of the present year amount to
10,197,4601., against 12,480,5261. in the correspond-
ing period of 1854, showing a diminution of
2,698,242/.

THE Government Ordnance Factory for the manu-
facture of muskets and small arms at Enfield Lock
having been found very inadequate to the extensive
supply at present required, is about being increased
to a very considerable extent. In consequence of
the large number of workmen now employed, the
Eastern Counties Railway Company have estab•
lished a new station about a quarter of a mile from
the factory, thereby saving the workmen a walk of
at least two miles.

THE Sherborne Journal corrects a paragraph
which has been going the rounds of the papers re-
garding Lady Charlotte Guest's marriage :—" Mr.
Schreiber (not Rev.), the intended bridegroom of
Lady Charlotte Guest, is her junior by sixteen years.
He is not in holy orders, but till within the last few
months has been tutor to the present baronet, Sir
Ivor Guest. Mr. Schreiber is 27; Lady Charlotte,
43. Sir Ivor Guest is 20 next August, and not 21,
as stated in the papers. The marriage is to take
place on the 10th."
THE LORDS OF THE ADMIRALTY have decided that
entries of foreign seamen for a continuous service of
ten years in the navy shall for the future be discon-
tinued. They will, however, be permitted to volun-
teer for short periods of six or twelve months to
serve in the Baltic and White Sea fleets.