The Express.
London, England, 1867-03-08 00:00:00

ESTIMATES TOR THE CIVIL SERVICE.

This morning were issued, stitched together in
one large five shilling volume, the estimates for civil ger.
Moes, classes 1 to 7, for the year ending 31st March, 18&8.
. . .

As compared with the votes taken on the estimates
originally presented in 1868, the estimates for 1867-8,
which amount to 8,202,953/., show en increase of
408,117/.; compared with the sums included in the Ap-
propriation of 1666 an increase of 304,4971. The sums re-
quired for the various classes are as follows:
Public works and buildings, 842.,:i35/. ; salaries and
expenses of public departments. 1,703,230/. ; law and
justice, 3,026,942/. ; education, science, and art,
1,487,5 W. ; colonial, consular, and other foreign services,
499,280/. ; superannuation and retired allowances, and
gratuities for charitable and other purposes, 359,5ZA/. ;
miscellaneous, special, and temporary objects, 183,854/.
These classes do not include the sum of 860,0001., granted
in 1866-7, to enable the Treasury to make advances for
providing new courts of justice ; these advances being re-
payable out of the Surplus Interest Fund of the Court of
Chancery.

THE NEW NATIONAL GALLERY.

REPORT OF THE JUDGES.

This morning we have a copy of the report of the
judges appointed to consider the designs of a new National
Gallery. With much regret they state that they have
unanimously come to the conclusion that they are not
prepared to recommend any one individual design
for adoption. At the same time they think it
doe to the competitors to point to the design
for a new national gallery by Mr. Edward Barry,
and to that for the adaptation of the existing gallery by
Mr. Murray, as exhibiting the greatest amount of archi-
tectural merit. The judges then submit various sugges-
tions as to what they consider to be desiderata in the erec-
tion of a gallery suitable for the reception of the national
pictures. The competing architects having heard a rumour
of the intention of the judges, wrote to Lord J. Manner,,
stating that they agreed to enter the competition on the
distinct understanding with his lordship's predecessor
(Mr. Cowper) that one of the competing architects would
be selected for employment. A contrary course, they re-
present, would be a breach of faith, and would
confer a lasting injury on every one of the competitors. In
appears they are supported by Mr. Cowper himself,
but Lord J. Manners says that no record exists in the
office of any such understanding, and that he must abide
by the original instruction to the architects, which ab-
solved the government from any undertaking of the kind,
and not by a private understanding of which be knew
nothing. Mr. Cowper says that the engagement of the
architect whose design had the award of
the first place is quite independent of the
adoption of the particular design. Lord J. Manners
says that by his instructions he conceive* the judges are
quite at liberty to refrain from recommending any one of
the competing designs for adoption by the government,
and yet fulfil the expectations of the competitors by recom-
mending that one of the competing architects should be
selected for employment. This, however, the judges
cannot be considered to have done.

A meeting of the Digest of Law Commission
was held on Wednesday. There were present : Lord
Cranworth, Lord Westbury, Lord Cairns, Sir J. P. Wilde,
Mr. Lowe, Vice-Chancellor Wood. Sir O. Bowyer, Sir
John O. Shaw Lefevre, Sir T. Erskine May, Mr. Daniel,
Mr. Thring, and Mr. Reilly.
The death is announced of the Rev. Dr. George
Oliver, a gentlenian who has devoted many years of his
life to the advancement of the principles of Freemasonry,
and who has at various times held high office Mite ranks.