The Press.
London, England, 1858-05-01 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

OF INDIA.

On the motion that the Speaker do leave the chair
to enable the house to go into committee on resolu-
tions on the Government of India,
Lord H. VANE rose to move by way of amendment,
" Tbat the change of circumstances since the first
proposal by her Majesty's late advisers to transfer
the government of India from the East India Corn-
pany to the Crown, lenders it inexpedient to proceed
further with legislation on the subject during the
present session."
Mr. GREGORY rose to second the resolution. He
said he had, in deference to the wishes of the house,
withdrawn the amendment on this subject, which be
brought forward the other night in the hope that, on
the present occasion, this question might be ado-
wed by some member of far higher standing and
position in the house than himself, and in that hope
he bad been gratified by the noble lord who had just
sat down.

The resolution having been put by the SPEAKER.
Mr. A. Mims, who rose amidst renewed cries of
"Divide," felt it his duty to oppose the motion.
Sir F. Befulto thought that any one who had
listened to the speech of his noble friend must be
satisfied that the motion wasinot brought forward in
any spirit of party or faction—at least that was the
conviction of his noble friend himself and many
other members; but at any rate it was a subject of
serious consideration whether it was advisable that
the house should proceed with this great question.
Mr. M. GIBSON said he had not heard one argu-
ment in favour of the proposition.
Lord PALMERSTON said—l presume, as those who
sit upon this bench had the honour of first intro-
ducing a bill on this question, those who sat on the
opposite side will think that they ought, as they were
the first in the proposal, to be the first in the expres-
sion of their opinion on this motion. I can have no
hesitation whatever in stating that it is my intention
to oppose the motion of my noble friend. I entirely
agree with the hon. member that it would be inuon-
sistent, not only with the interests of the country, but
with the honour and dignity of the house, if we were to
retrace our steps, and to determine on doing nothing.
Concurring entirelj with my right hon. friend in the
hope and belief that the house is prepared to come to
an early decision, I shall be only happy to hear that the
Government share in the opinions which I have just
expressed, and that they are prepared to stand by
their own measure, to resist the motion of my
noble friend, and go into committee to consider the
resolutions.
Lord STANLEY considered himself bound, on the
part of the Government, to acknowledge the perfect
fairness and the great candour with which this sub
Joel bad been brought before the house by the Roble
• lord, It was evideat to every one who had heard

him that he felt the importance of the subject, and
the grave considerations which were involved in the

question—the safety of an empire. He could-not
appreciate, however, the value or the weight of the
arguments employed by the noble lord. He under.
stood the arguments of the right hon. gentle.
man the member for Portsmouth (Sir F. BarinO,
who bad told the house in express terms that
it was unfit to legislate fur India. (Hear, bear.)
The house must look a little at the state of the
country and of the house, in considering what was
the best time at which to introduce so large an act
of legislation as this. They were still at a
comparatively early period of the session ; it was
now six weeks earlier in the session than when the
right hon. gentleman who five years ago was Pre.
sident of the Board of Control introduced his India
Bill. If the Government had considered their

own ease, if they had tried simply to save thet;
selves the trouble, the difficulty, and the embarrass-
ment which must naturally attend carrying such a
measure as this through the house, their plain and
obvious course would have been to have accepted
the resolutions of the noble lord, and thus to have
relieved themselves from the responsibility which,
be it observed, they bad not taken upon themselves,
but which they had inherited from their predecessors.
We did not, continued the noble lord, take that
course. We thought that we had a duty lo discharge,
and that a responsibility devolved upon us, from
which we bad neither the right nor the power to
relieve ourselves. Having undertaken that responsi-
bility we will endeavour to discharge ourselves of it,
with the help of this house, to the best of our ability.
The amendment was then put from the Chair, and
the house divided :

The numbers were—
A•

447

Ayes
Noes

Majority for going into committee .. 390
The house then went into committee, Mr. Drum
in the chair.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the first
resolution which he had to propose to the committee
was expressed thus That as the territories under
the government of the East India Company are by
law to remain under such government only until
Parliament shall otherwise provide, this house is of
opinion that it is expedient that the transfer of such
government to the Crown should now take place, in
order that the direct superintendence of the whole
empire may be placed under one executive autbo•
rity."
Mr. MANGLES opposed the resolution.
Sir E. COLEBROOILE also opposed the resolution.
Sir G. C. Lewis supported the resolution, which
was opposed by Mr. LINDSAY.
Mr. Honsmae, in opposing the motion, insisted
upon the inexpediency of effecting at the present
moment so complete a change in the administrative
system of the Indian empire.
Colonel SYKES energetically resisted the proposal
to transfer the Indian Government to the Crown.
The proceeding was, he maintained, momentous and
perilous, inexpedient in point of time, and urged
under a false assumption that the Company's admi-
nistration had broken down.
Mr. GLADSTONE subjected the forms and expressions
of tl e resolution to a minute criticism, dwelling
especially upon the vague use of the term "Govern.
went," and the inaccurate recital of facts which it
contained. Adverting to the financial question, he
observed, that the nature of the security on which
fifty millions of Indian debt had been contracted
would be considerably changed without the
creditors' consent. This transaction would give the
lenders a moral, if not legal claim upon the Conso-
lidated Fund.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER replied, briefly
noticing the various comments and objections that
had been advanced during the course of the debate.
To Mr. Gladstone's verbal criticism he observed
that the resolution was not intended to have legal
effect. It merely indicated a principle which might
hereafter be embodied in a bill, and its clauses were
therefore necessarily couched in somewhat vague
and abstract terms. He denied also that the secu-
rity given to the Indian creditors were to be in the
slightest degree affected. They would still hold a
lien on the revenue and territory of India. Admitting
the intimate connection of Indian and English
finances, he insisted that nothing which the Govern-
ment proposed to do would at all no-Jesse the re-
sponsibility of the country for the debts or expendi•
ture of the eastern empire. The resolution, as he
believed, expressed an opinion on which the house
wan agreed. and he hoped that it would be adopted.
After a few words from Mr. lABOUCHEIit,,
The resolution was agreed to without a division.
On the second resolution being put, Mr. lloeitocK,
adverting to the advanced hour, moved that the
chairman should report Progress.
After some emanation this motion woo scrod
to, sod the debate was adjoinied,
The remaisies business being &poled di shi
house Adjourned it heityset one olloolk

tint ,rts

THE ROYAL ACADEMY.
Tex exhibition of the Royal Academy opens on
Monday next. The private view took place yester-
day, and, as far as we can judge from our first rapid
examination, the collection of pictures is fully equal
to those of the last few years. There is a variety of
subject and a variety of talent, which make the ex-
hibition this year, perhaps, more than usually in-
teresting; and, among the younger artists especially,
we are glad to observe signs of steady progress. We
shall reserve all detailed criticism for another time,
and content ourselves at present with a slight sketch
of some of the principal features. The list of de-
faultem is rather heavy ; we miss front the catalogue
the names of Herbert., Eastlake, Maclise, Lee, Dyce,
Goodall, Millais, and Holman Hunt. Mulready
sends only one small drawing, Redgrave one small
landscape, and a little picture of " Zephyr and
Aurora" is the only contribution of' Frost.. Leslie has
forsaken the Spectator and " Don Quixote " for the
present, and sends a Scripture-piece," What is it, that
ye disputed among yourselves by the way ?"—not a
success by any means. " The Maid and the Mag-
pie," by Sir Edwin Landseer, is rather a feeble
example of the painter's style ; and his " Deerstalk-
ing," a large drawing in crayons, is more remarkable
for the novelty of the medium than for anything else.
But the greatest failures of all are Mr. Ward's long-
talked-of pictures painted for the Queen—" The
Emperor of the French Receiving the Order o f the
Garter," , and " The Visit of Queen Victoria to the
Tomb of Napoleon." Anything more utterly disgrace.
ful to a member of the Royal Academy than these two
miserable productions we never recollect. The por-
traits are bad, the colour false, and the drawing fla-
grantly incorrect ; among the thousand pictures which
cover the walls of these rooms it would
be hard to find anything worse. Mr. Ward
also exhibits his original design for the fresco
of " Alice Lisle," which he has just completed in one
of the corridors of the Houses of Parliament.
Frith's large picture of the "Derby-day," upon which
he has been occupied for the last two years, is one
of the greatest points of attraction in the large room.
It contains an astonishing number of figures, all of
which have been studied with the greatest care, and
are grouped with admirable skill. One may spend a
long time in examining the endless variety of costume
and character which he hats crowded upon his can-
vas. Creswick sends four of his English landscapes ;
Roberta has been busy upon Venice, and has pro-
duced a view of the Ducal Palace and the interior of
the churches of San Giorgio Maggiore and San
Giovanni e Paolo; also a large view of the Basilica of
San Lorenzo. Stanfield has four sea-pieces,
so much like all his former works that
no one can possibly be sure whether he has seen
them before or not'; In fact, to all intents and
purposes, we have all seen theni many times before.
" Summer," " Sunday Evening," and " Grace before
Meat," are three of Webster's usual rustic subjects,
all pleasing, but not remarkably new. Cope's
"Upward Gazing " is far better than his " Stepping
Stones," in which his style is hardly recognizable.
Elmore and F. R. Pickersgill, the new Academicians,
exhibit their " diploma-pictures,"—the former a sub-
ject from The Two Gentlemen of Verona, the
latter a composition entitled "The Bribe," a lady
buying her way into a prism with a pearl necklace.
Mr. Elmore has also given us "An Incident in the
Life of Dante ;" he has got the features pretty
well and the sarcastic expression, but there is
hardly dignity enough about "the man who descends
to the infernal regions, and comes away when he
likes, and then writes what be has seen." " The dismay
of Athaliah," by Hart, will probably be applauded by
all who relish that artist's works, and a similar circle
three
will perhaps admire the landscapes of Wither-
ington. O'Neil's " Eastward Ho " is a most touch-
ing picture of the troops embarking for the East, and
bidding farewell to their wives and children—a fine
subject finely treated. Egg's triple picture, without
a title, is one of the most powerful and one of the
most mournful in the room ; the subjects are sad
enough in themselves three scenes from the his-
tory of an unfaithful wife. Mr. Egg has also a
Painting from " Esmond," not very unlike the
One he exhibited last
tures by Wallis, s. year. Of the three pic-
trWalter Raleigh in the Tower"
is perhaps the 3C but all of them will add to his
rapidly rising reputation.irsiti Horsley has a fine picture,
ntwaloledpi:tFuriceiweeirrigons inf Town and Country," or rather
new rank as Associateft. Phillip celebrates his
ppairodntuecdnonDs—anbtl erby sending no less than seven
Spanish subjects, and all admirably
Denby sends three of his "imaginative
landscape, ;,, and Hook is still busy with his sailors
and
Pastorals from real life. J. F. Lewis has
several of his minutely-finished studies of Eastern
drirank_d_ Leighton,, who raised expectation by his
"Orpheus 7".. in 1855, and disappointed it by his
in 1858, reappears after his absence of

THE PRESS, MAY 1, 1858.

last year with two pictures, one of " Juliet" and the
other of " The Syren and the Fisherman." There is
cleverness in both; but they will not place hiin in
the rank ho was expected to have taken. Solomon
has two lively pictures ; Linnell, Boddington, and
Linton send landscapes in their usual manner ;
Lance is still supreme in fruit, and Cooke in the
minute delineation of a seashore. The portraits are
as numerous as ever; and the names of Grant, Watson
Gordon, Pickersgill, Knight, and Richmond, occupy
their usual space in the catalogue. The sculpture-
room is as chilly as usual ; but those who have
courage to venture in will find something to repay
them. Belly's statue of Turner, Theed's Burke,
Calder Marshall's Oph'lia, and Mrs. Thornycroft's
bust of the Princess Royal, are all worth looking at.
When will the poor sculptors meet with better treat-
ment ?

THE SOCIETY OF PAINTERS IN
WATER COLOURS.
This society's exhibition is always one of the plea-
santest of the season. We know pretty well before.
hand what we have to expect, and the rule which
admits only the works of members, if it produces a
certain sameness in the annual collections, secures
also an average excellence. The number of pictures
is not so large as to make an examination laborious,
and there is very little rubbish. We do not look for
productions of a highly intellectual order—we go for
enjoyment rather than study ; we du not expect, and
we do not want, to be put to the trouble of thinking
much—we should almost complain that the exhibi -
tion bad lost its character if we were. We know we
shall find nothing to pain ns—no scenes of grief, no
suffering, no tragedy. Everything will smile upon
us. There will be beautiful fruit and beautiful
flowers ; happy-looking faces, pleasant passages of com
mon life, landscapes from England, Wales, Scotland.
France, Italy—every place that can furnish some,
thing charming, something pretty. What a strange-
feature this is in our national character ! We like to
be called rough, honest folk, with more strength than
polish—a common-sense, matter-of-fact people, having
rather a contempt for airs and graces; and yet we
find that to the majority of our artists the object of
pursuit is prettiness, and feebleness their besetting
sin. There is even more of these than usual in the
exhibition of this year, for Mr. Lewis has withdrawn
and Mr. Burton has sent nothing. And now, if we
look round the room and ask which artist displays
most strength—who draws most firmly, who colours
most boldly, who shows most mastery,' most confi-
dence—there can be but one answer, it is the
foreigner, Carl Haag. It is a pity this clever painter
confines himself so closely to the class of subjects
he has chosen. Cannot he turn to some higher
account his endless studies from nature? He
is not a mere mechanical draughtsman ; he
does not make dead transcripts of persons and
things, but puts something of himself into all his
works. There is feeling in everything he does, and
if expression is wanted, he can give that too. What
a simple, natural picture of rustic courtship is his
" Tyrolese Huntsman and Mountain Girl ;" but if
the two had a history and we knew it, how much
longer we should look at them ! If all that wonder-
fully painted detail were a part of the history, what
•alue would it have, bow much more attention would
it gain! That "Burgomaster's Daughter" has a
sweet face, but we cannot tell who she is.l If we
knew all about her and what she is thinking of, we
should care for her much more. It seems to us that
Carl Haag is quite able to take this step forward;
that he can paint people, not merely standing for
their portraits, but living their lives. Of course
there is danger that if he begins to think and to set
other people thinking, he will end by fcllowing Mr.
Lewis out of the room ; but we must be prepared for
that. Mr. Gilbert sends but one picture this year
—a scene from The Two Gentlemen of Verona, which
has already appeared as a woodcut among his illus-
trations of Shakespeare. It has much of his usual
merit and all his usual mannerism. Mr. Topham's
two subjects are from the Basses Pyrenees; a group
of "Devotees" before a cross, and a group of vil-
lagers round a fountain. Both are picturesque and
pleasant examples of his light, sketchy style. The
new president, Mr. F. Tayler, contributes six pic-
tures of Highland life and Highland sport, very
much like his previous works, and very much like
one another. They are not wanting in life and
character, but there is a flimsiness of execution
about them that detracts very much from their value.
Mr. Goodall's "Coming through the Rye" is clever
and spirited, and the action of the figures in " Going to
Market" is animated and forcible, but the drawing
of the disturbed water is very poor, and the calf has
no hair on his back. Mr. Oakley's pictures are not
open to the charge of prettiness ; he has very little
eye for colour, and his tints are either dead and
muddy, or glaring and discordant. The " Gipsy " is
an ugly woman, not at all sunburnt, dressed in silks
and gay ribands, and with a pack of cards on her lap.
A more ungraceful and uninteresting subject we can

423

hardly imagine. There is some little humour in
Mr. Riviere's Irish sketches ; the queer sheepish
look of the lad in " The First Offer " is well con-

trasted with the quiet self-possession of the girl.
Mr. Allred Fripp's and Mr. Jenkins' studies of the
Italian and French peasantry are pretty enough in
themselves, but rather overpowered by the superior
force of Carl Haag, whose subjects they too much
resemble. "The Red Cross Knight in the Cavern
of Despair,* by Miss Gillies, is the only imaginative
picture at all worth notice. It was a hold thing for
a lady to attempt, and the smallest success is credit-
able. The figure of Una is a total failure, but the
face of the knight is rather striking. The expres-
sion is that of listless despondency, rather than of
despair ; it is not painted with much power, but it is
good as far as it goes. This lady, we are afraid, does
not study much from nature, or studies always from
the same model ; at least we know no other way of
accounting for the continual recurrence in her
pictures of the same very unpleasant female face.
Among the landscape painters, Mr. David Cox still
excites the admiration of those who have long
memories, and the wonder of those who have not.
He sends this year several of those strange mixtures
of green and grey, from which those who remember
his pictures of past years can gather a meaning,
but which seem to all others scarcely more intel-
ligible than Mr. Pringle's photograph at mid-
night. " Snowdon from Capel Curig "is perhaps
one of the finest, and also one of the most
easily appreciated. Mr. Richardson is still repro-
ducing his Scotch torrents and Italian bays ; if it
were not for his little sketch of the "Coast of St.
Leonards," which is new and full of life, we should
fancy he had resolved,to shut his eyes for the future,
and paint from the mere force of habit. Mr. Bran-
white, with all his talent, is making no progress ; he
is working from old observations instead of making
new ones, and his execution, far from improving, is
becoming more coarse and untruthful every year.
He will soon be a painter ruined by his own 'success.
" Beilstein on the Moselle," the only contribution of
Mr. Harding, is a fair specimen of that artist's
effective but rather artificial style. Mr. Collingwood
Smith and Mr. George Fripp are as prolific as usual,
and though their range of subjects is more than or-
dinarily extensive, the former remains true to his
blue lakes, and the latter still pursues his golden
sunsets. Mr. Davidson has some carefully-studied

spring landscapes, and Mr. Andrews devote; himself
to the barges and fishing-boats which haunt the
mouth of the Thames. " Carting Ice," by Mr. Dun-
can, is a picturesque subject and a good design, but
the figures are feeble and scarcely well drawn. The
ice itself might have claimed, one would have
thought, a little more care; it wants both sharpness
and transparency. "The Morning after the Gale "
has the same merits and the same faults; it is an
excellent composition injured by the feebleness and
careless treatment of the details. Mr. Newton's
"View in Argyllshire" will considerably raise his
reputation; it is one of the finest landscapes in the
room. The force of the picture lies altogether in the
distant mountain, and perhaps with a view to increase
this force, the foreground is 11- ft meagre and unfinished.
This mode of treatment, though once commonly em-
ployed, is now scarcely looked upon as legitimate.
It generally gives the picture an artificial look, and
in this case produces a worse result; for the moun-
tain and the pool at its foot, although admirably
painted in themselves, do not keep their proper
places. A more natural foreground would have
given a better idea of distance, and made a finer and
truer picture ; though, perhaps, one less striking at
first sight. We are sorry to find that Mr. Jackson
has not been improving during the past year;
though one of the youngest members of the society,
he has already fallen into a manner, and is already
repeating himself, and it is easy to see why. We
have only to look round the room and count eight
large pictures, and we need not be surprised to find
that every one distinguishes them at the first
glance, and hardly stays to give them a second.
If he will present us next year with only two or
three, and spend upon them as much time and care
as these eight have cost him, the few will be worth
much more than the many. " The Dead Calm "is
the best of these facile sketches; if more study and
eiaboration had been bestowed upon it, it would have
been a fine picture. Mr. Callow's architectural
studies are as free and bold as aver, and Mr. Coiling-
wood's old rooms at Yarmouth and Cotele, the old
seat of the Earls of Mount Edgecumbe, are painted
with his usual care and finish. The cold correct-
ness of Mr. Nash's views in Canterbury Cathedral
contrasts strongly with the brilliant effect and rich
colouring of Mr. Read's " Church of St. Lorenzo" at
Genoa. A small study of the Apprentice's Column
in Roslyn Chapel by Mr. Read is a capital
example of picturesque effect without exaggera-
tion ; and we must not omit to notice a land-
scape " from the Sabine Hills," by Carl Haag,
which will repay the closest examination. The
form and colour of the distat t mountains, the ad-
mirable drawing of the group of peasants and of the
shrine by the wayside before which they are kneeling,