The Express.
London, England, 1855-07-26 00:00:00

BUILDERS' BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION.

Yesterday the eighth annual meeting of the friends
of this institution was held at the London Tavern ; W.
Ls', Seq., M.P., in the chair.
Mr. A.O. Hauls (secretary) read the report,wbicb stated
that during the past year then had been two elections of
pensionerskan! the member now receiving the benefit of the
charity u 20—vin , 16 males end 13 females. The aunt
paid to pensioners since the establishment of the inatitution
amounts to 1,9741. 131. 4d. The annual ball, under the
superintendence of Mr. Joseph Bird, has realised to the
funds 741.145. 6d. The 'mho:lotions and donations re-
wired in the last year amount to 1,226/ 95., and 4001.
stock has been added to the amounts funded—vie., 2001.
stook to Use relief, and 2001. to the building, fund, aiding
the total amount invested in the Three per Cent. Consols
4,7601—via., 3,2501. to the relief fend and 1,0001• to the
building fund, with a balance in band of 3381.25. llfd.
After calling upon their friends for increased support to
enable the directors to take in the unsuccessful candidates,
the report concluded by stating that C. Lucas, Esq., had
consented to accept the presidentship for the year ensuing.
Mr. J. Blue moved the adoption of the report, and ROD.
gratuleted the meeting upon the success which had attended
the inatitution during the past year.
Mr. G. BIRD (treasurer) seconded the motion, and maid
there wee a time when more persons were in wattof
the benefits of this institution than the present. He did
not know that they were all of the proper age to be ad-
mitted; but if they had subscribed more liberally in their
days of prosperity, and he called the attention of the meet-
, iog and the colleoors particularly to that fact, the directors
would have bees enabled to place a larger number upon the
list for election. In conclusion, he trusted that the tiniudere
would support their new president at the dinner in October
neat.

The report was carried.
Mr. LIM M.P., in reply to a vote of thanks, said ha had
done his best to serve the charity, which he considered a
very excellent one, and was only sorry he had not done
MOM He regretted that his suggestion with regard to the
amalgamation of tilers and bricklayers' almshouses bad not
been adopted, but be trusted that it would yet take plans.
He should be master of the Bricklayers' Company t►is
year, and if he could :ben or at any other time serve them
he should be most happy to do so.
Votes of thanks to Mr. G. Bird (the treasurer). to the
honorary 'mastery of the ball, to the trustees, &c., having
been passed, the meeting separated.

SUPPLEMENTARY ORDNANCE ESTIMATE.—This
tanning the aupplementary estimate was Issued as follow;
—No. 6. Wages—Woolwich Storekeepers' department
(including 2,8861. for addition to the police force), 16,6371.;
laboratory department, 48,0081 ; carriage department,
6,8114 ; Tower, 3,2501.. Supplemental to Vote 6 of the
Ordnance Estimates, 185568, 74,6061. No. B—Stores : For
the supply of iron ordnance, shot, shells, lte., 300,0001.;
for the purchase of ordnance stores, as under, viz.—Wool-
wich : Laboratory department, 140,0001. ; carriage depart-
ment, 37,0001.; machinery for gun factories, 36,0001.; for
buts for the Crimea, 140,0001. ; for the supply of waggon.,
harness, &c., for the Land Transport Corps, 114,6321. Sop-
*mental to Vote 6 of the Ordnance Estimate., 1855 66,
768,8321.; total, 841,1381. In addition to the above, there
has yet to be voted a postponed estimate aaeountio/1 to
73,7191. for the ezpensev of the Ordnance-aloe in Pall-mall.

To-morrow evening Lord Elcho will ask the First
Mid of the Treasury if the intention of instituting a new
Order of Meet for distinguished services in the field, which
was publicly announced by the Duke of Newcastle, in the
month of December, bey been abandoned, and if not, when
it is probable that I: will be instituted and ready for dutri•
bation. _ . _

Mr. Vincent Scully intends asking the First Lnrd
of the Treasury, tomorrow evening, whether, „haying
regard to the gallant conduct of Irish soldiers in the Crimes,
her Majesty's Gsvernment will recommend that a Royal
Regiment of Queen's Irish Guards shall be embodied, with
privileges Similar to those enjoyed by the English and
Scotch Regiments of Grenadier, Coldstream, and Fusilier
Guards•"

An advertisement in the New York journals men-
noes the lst of September as the day on whisk bldi4e.;)
Bead will make her first appearance thateify,„-A
Letters from Naples report that tl'
be vidted the capital so rarely sines 1848,
the occasion of the late MM. Through the
sif the peke, sermons losoriptioce to the
were eabibited in one of the fauboarge—'
absolute Kim!"

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int expreoo.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Watiessmis ftisseird kw " The ilyros," Undo& &falai ism
oast be at the 0111% 11. Isaisibmittest, by 'No Velma ea Oa
deg a pelisadis.

HIGH WATIN AT LONDON BRIDGIL
TE. OAT-714orsiag.1111. fin Atiorsees. 111. Ma
So aossow—Monlag. Ob. O.

LONDON, THURSDAY, JULY 26.

Tat remind "hundred peasants" are now in
the Baltic. The Hoglish have 86 vessels of war withl
2,098 guns; the French 18 vessels of war with 408
gums. In the combined fleet there are 23 line-of-
baffle ships with 1,893 pea; 31 frigates and corvettes
with 694 pus; 29 smeller steamers and pc-boats
with 78 guns; 18 mortar-boats and other craft with
21 guns—in all 101 vessels and 2,508 guns. What
is to be done with this new "invincible armada!"
At the doss of last year's campaign Sir Cwasute
Nerves was ordered to "strike his flag and come

ashore," with lees courtesy than a private gen-
tleman would use in dismissing a luy valet.
The reason sniped for this unprecedented course
wee, that Bir Quitse had not accomplished
all that might have been expected, or that he had
been ordered to do, with the fleet under his command.
Sir CHARLES had with him 19 ship-of-the-line, 12

frigate', 17 corvettes, eight smaller steamers, and an
hospital ship. The combined naval force of the
Allies now in the Baltic is nearly double that which
was placed at the disposal of Sir CHARMS NAPIER—
when the floating batteries arrive it will be rather
more than double. The present Admiral has the
advantage of all the soundings and reconnaissances
of last year; and yet it cannot be said that
more enterprise or activity bee as yet been dis-
played in 1866 than was evinced in 1864. The
coast blockade is not more strictly enforced. The
desultory duhes at villages and telegraph stations
along the onset are not more important or decisive
than those of lest year. We bear of no operation
during the present campaign that can take rank with
the destruction of Boma:sued, which was effected
before this time last year. In 1864 we were
told that nothing could be accomplished till late in
the season, for want of land forces to %ropiest' with
the ships. It is true that little or no use was made
of the land forces after they were sent out ; but in
1856 there is no appearance of preparations being
Made to send any. The few brief summer mondial
of the Baltic are rapidly slipping away: is it in-
tended that the campaign of 1855 in these waters
shall, after all the boastful note of preparation we
have heard, be u muffins as that of 1864 P
We are not asking in ignorant impatience for
dazzling exploits at any cost. It is possible that
nature and art have so strengthened the Russian
coasts in the Baltic, that the enemy have only to re-
main ensconced behind their defences to baffle all
that mere human power can accomplish in the way
of assault. It may be sound policy, as some main-
tain, to attempt nothing in the Baltic, but to con-
centrate all our energies in the Euxine, where Russia
may be more vulnerable. But, if this be so,
why the vain parade of so expensive a naval
armament in the Baltic? Last year, a fleet
of half the strength of that which the Allies now
maintain in these waters sufficed to keep
Russia as anxiously paralysed as the immense
armament of the present year has succeeded
in doing. Are the resources of France and England
so inexhaustible that money can be squandered on a

surplusage of men, shim and guns, maintained for

mere ostentatious show and bravado? The war be-
• fore Sebastopol is starved; there are not troops enough
there to invest the fortress, and the weight of our
battering trains barely equals that of the ordnance
employed in the defence; and yet an expensive fleet
is maintained in the Baltic, simply it would appear
to show the Russians how many ships of war France
and England can fit out.
There is infinite danger in this idle ostentation.
We can afford to laugh at our human enemies. Were
the Russian fleet to venture out from its skulking
place, it would only be to be captured. But there
are such things as wind', and waves, and rocks;
and the larger the naval force we keep at sea,
and the longer we keep it there, the more we 11
are exposed to casualties from the elements. Not-
withstanding the gallantry of the brave English
mariners who fought with DRAKE, the destruction of

the Spanish Armada was more the work of tempests
than of human skill and daring. The dilatory manner
in which the war is now waged in the Baltic almost
looks like a wanton tempting of PRovintuvcs to dis-
perse and scatter our Armada by the same means.
If any disaster should happen to our ships from
storms, the Russian men of war are ready in their
harbour to take advantage of it and pounce upon the
dispersed and dismantled vessels. Common prudence
would seem to dictate the striking of some decisive
blow without toss of time in order to avert the pos-
sibility of such a humiliating disaster.
It is to be hoped that Parliament will not be
allowed to separate without some explanation being
demanded of Ministers on this head. We are well
aware what will be the stereotyped answer to
any such question. Ministers will say that to re-
veal their intentions beforehand would be to give
the enemy warning and place him on his
guard. Even if this were true we have only a choice
of difficulties. By letting the enemy know what he
his to expect, we may better his means of defence ;
but by allowing Ministers to remain in their unac-
countable state of inaction without any explanation,
we run the risk of seeing this year's armament return
as ingloriously as its predecessor. One great source
of the superiority of a free over an enslaved nation
in war, is the power which exists in the former of
bringing public opinion to bear upon an inert and in-
capable government. It is true that this cannot be
done without letting the enemy at the same time,
in some measure, into our councils ; but
if our opportunities of striking unforeseen
blows are thew abridged, the disadvantage
is more than compensated for by the greater weight
and energy that is imparted to our open assaults.
When we speak of demanding an explanation from
Ministers, we do not mean that they should be called
upon to reveal when, where, or how they intend to
assail the foe• We merely point to the expediency
of extorting from them some reasonable assurance
that they are not neglecting the great business they
have in hand ; of reminding them that the eyes of
the nation are upon them, and that a strict amount
will hereafter be exacted for all their shortcomings.

. visit of MO*. ROSA Bosun to Lat-
han fixed in many minds tbs floating
t has existed for some time gut that
foreign artists sliculd know one smsdlee,
_ acquainted with one another's woo bp
hap-hasard way than hitherto. Thy I.
efforts, vigorous, but too arduous to he so.:
• individuals, we hove far some years bow
in London a good many weeks of Bomb

land Osman

tions are mafioso

llama of

1 meets we

association which would chugs itself with procuring
an annual Wallin in London of the works of
artists of all nations.

Many of our readers no doubt remember the sensa-
tion excited in Londosi—drat, among artists, and
then in the public—by Bran's piston of "A Slave
Ship on the Aldan Coast." That lurid and terrible 1
picture mode snob an impression on artiste and con-
noisseurs that they were heard to say that, whatever
was BIARD'S intention, his picture would haves social
operation which fine pictures have long to wait for, if
they ever obtain it. They said it would do more
towards negro emancipation than the acts of CLAM-
sox and the silver speech of Wmaxeroics. The
human interest, of which good hearts might form
some conception, was so enhanced and vivified by the
tree presentment of Emery and climate, that the
careless and the " bored" about anti-slavery, and the
devoted abolitionist, familiar with the topic, were
alike moved and amazed at the spectacle of the slave
trade in 'igloo. How many of the English in Paris
now are longing that every body belonging to them
could me BSION'S little picture of an "internment
dans lie Vosges." It would be a fine thing if all
Paris could see MILLAIS' " Order of Release;" and it
would be a See thing if all London could see that
most touching mountain funeral, where the coffin
is drawn on a little hand-sledge down the
difficult path, encumbered with snow, and the
blast catches the white cotton pall, and the
weeping women are knee-deep in the snow; and
the little child carries the wooden Gross; and a
friendly group looks on mournfully from the cottage
garden on the steep. And who doss not wish that
to see Rona BoNnzun's pictures, present and to come,
should be the common privilege of both nations P And
who that met her last week does not wish that the
mind and conversation of distinguished artists should
be reciprocated like their productions P

The literature of art ham been reciprocated freely
enough. There is plenty of talk and books about it.
Even the Americans find they can talk about it, by
following the lead of Clikrus ; and practical artists in
our own country are quite sufficiently annoyed by
the discourses of pedants who never drew a line, but
who have been to Munich, or Dresden, or Dussel-
dorf, and have picked rip, or made up theories of
art which, arising in a metaphysical and critical
age, can afford no true account of the paintings
of an anterior period, or any guidance as to the
genius of a corning time. In the midst of the
'esthetic babble of pedants, masculine and feminine,
up rises Ross BOSHEUE to strike them dumb. Some
may murmur that hers is not high art; but there
will be a general consent that we have got hold of a
treasure of true art, and that we may well be thank-
ful for what we have got. We shall obtain no high
art by imitating the ancient, or by calling out for it.
The faculty will find its own way of manifesting
iteelf—a new and fresh way—which there is no use
in guessing at beforehand. Meantime here is, in
Ross Bonn:sun and her works, something new,
fresh, strong, and capital; and our business is to be
thankful for what we have seen, and to see as much
more as we can.

This dieeinguished woman is an agreeable subject
d andowidsdia ia ovary way. She is good and wise,
hadtby sad bappy, beloved and cherished by family
and friends, and with every prospect of a long career,
enviable for better things than the fame which will ao-
company it. No one can look at such work' as hers—
paused beam she had passed her thirtieth year—
and doubt her industry. They are the results of genuine
study of nature—close, prolonged, and animated. Yet
has she neglected no duty, domestic or social, for the
indulgence of her own tastes. She is one of the
happy

would become unlimited, if
education were what it ought to be—whose
chief pleasure happens to be also their first
duty. Her father was an artist ; and she
studied under him, till she was qualified to fill
his place in hie home, and support and educate
the family he left. Simply and nobly she did that
duty; and now, at thirty-one, she has achieved fame
and pecuniary ease, and may cultivate and exercise
her genius according to her bent. Thou who saw
her in London must have been struck with the
heart's content in her countenance, mingled with Da
bright expression of exhilaration. Courage is exhila-
ration and peace in one; and what her courage is,
her countenance and her pictures show. The Nubian
and treatment of her "Horses-fair" is such a proof ai
courage as is not often afforded by men. In a woman
it takes the world by storm, as the artist world of
London saw last week.

Without touching on the old question of the comps-
reties intellectual ability of women and mem, and the
dispute uto the causes of the acknowledged infe-
riority of women in the department of art, we
may point out that Roes Bonnura has brought up a
new phase of that old question. The French call
her their PAIILIIII POTTER, and insist on her
equality with Elam. We hope she has many years
before her to ascertain the scope and power of her
genius ; but meantime, whatever may be the place
finally assigned her, we know to a certainty that it
is by her power of toil that she has reached her
present eminence. There is genius in the concep-
tion and endurance of such toil as she has undergone,
and out of which she oomes with an overgrowing
strength and freshness. Those who see her
in her own home see what her power of study
is. She has, because she must have, a
house of her own in Paris, on account of the neces-
sity, not only of the ordinary requisites of light,
spoor, itc., but of room for her curious happy family
of animals, of which a splendid goat is the most
conspicuous member. There are no women like the
French for the free exercise of industry and ability ;
and Ross Borst= has been working like a French-
wo.nan in a department open to all, while women
elsewhere--and men, too—have been talking, or
trying, by means of books, to enter into other folks'
labours.

A good many English in Paris are now with
amazement gazing at her great new picture—" The
Hayfield." It is badly hung, in a bad light, and un-
favourably surrounded; but it is the picture which
fixes all eyes. No part of that picture could have
proceeded from anything but the labour of her own
senses, ministering to her intellect. It comes out of
the hayfield, without any intervention but Roez's
own mind. Everybody starts at the oxen—those
live creatures looking at you and breathing on you
as they stand out from the canvas. When you come
to consider, think of the boldness of taking noon
for the time—with its pale hot sky, and its
deficiency of shadow. You see at a glance what the
heat is, and how much wind there is to relive it. If
the Hors►fair amazes London by its daring and its
power, it will be a grievous pity if London cannot
see the Hayfield, which hes equal daring, power, and
wonderful vitality, and a rural freshness and charm
besides, which declare the advent of a new genius.
If the picture should be isacoreeible (and it
was immediately mold), there will be small
consolation in looking at the excellent litho-
graph of it, which must tantalise as much as 'it
can gratify. We must have an annual exhibition of

THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY

artist& Art in an

different digests following pigt4hieal divisions, it
is evident that the thing wanted is freer intercoms,
like that which we desire to lees established.: ---

; and it we find

LATEST FROM ABROAD.

OFFICIAL DESPATCHT

--~_

WAR DEPARTRIINT, Jinx 26. 1855.

Lard Panmare has received the following own-
munication from the Crimes, dated July 25, 5 pm. :

" Cholera has not increased eines my hat report,
and the Army continua in eatidaotory health."

NEW MINISTRY IN HANOVER.

--•--
OM MIMIC TILIGRAPIa
(MK OWL OWN 0011210.0111D1131111
HANOVER, Jinx 25.
The whole CabizetZezoepthig the Waal Minister,
hays rsoignseLlWisar Ministry has bun swortan, as
&Rows :--Cirincrlialmanisigge, Pinions and Royal
Ho-iitshold y Count Platen Ha anorsign •
fairs ; Volt Borrien, litortVon Der ---11n7
tic. i and Von Bothnia., Publics Instrootion and
Religion.

A Ministerial President has not been :ap-
pointed. The King will preside hinuelL

TIM BALTIC.
ELSINORE, Jett 35.
The Centaur has arrived.

Tin abort •
dos mast la
duke which
Begliali and
and booms a
a Lai hap-h
partial effort
• waived of Ind
•
alia to moo is
•
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. _.
..r, an artists. Bat the plisillush 21110 S 5 0240 D, ultil elsedliellis ensong"
tremulous ; and it is really ilsesible dial ' widen% ,mhateeet noir boson* of the
enterprise should resin! iworksideise orned ignds sad their goverlanetts. The sight of
yor isopootiony,4Unged.the bantsillite.inv the sordid Intim:am between Ihrtrin LAMM
' Rom Bounzo* iirsolliiit'end irldab end seta MUMS, Made Mit Attu last week i and
believe it would not be difficult to fora en the league must extend till it sitcom all true
_ _ _ _ __ . .