The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-09-30 00:00:00

FOURTH NOTICE

NO. 45. Claudio deliberating the terms of the pardon
.offered through his sister Isabella. W. Holman Hunt.
Claudio. " Death is a fearful thing "
Isabella "And shamed life a hateful !"

Want of space in our last notice prevented our animad-
verting on the subject of the prize picture,-, and we now re-
turn to it ; but before doing so, hope those of our readers
who are visitors to the exhibition, and who are at all anxious
to understand this picture, will read carefully Shakespear's
play of "Measure for Measure," and then regard the illustra-
tion of its most important point with an unprejudiced eye.
They will then perceive with what firmness, and yet with
what delicacy it is drawn. How Claudio restless, and with
begrimed visage, and matted hair, is playing with one of
his fetters, while Isabella, with intense eaniestness, is
looking into his eyes as though she would like to pierce his
soul. He, fearful of death, has just resolved, that it were
better for his sister to sacrifice her honour than his life !
In her face we see depicted the earnestness of a virtuous
purpose, and in the firmness of her gaze can almost detect
signs of the coming storm of scorn and indignation with
which she greets him. There is a high moral feeling per-
vading the work, and it is a step in the right direction.
For some years prior to the appearance of the Pre-Raphael
Brethren, we were inundated with bituminous and umber
back-grounds, and in fact, some of the pictures were com-
posed of a sort of Mezzotint, which gave artists a license
to be careless. But with the new school there can be no
shirking of any part, but a close attention to the most
minute particulars is closely insisted upon. The picture in
question is the property of Mr. A Egg, the artist, and if
there is one compliment more welcome than another, it is
for one artist to purchase the work of another. We cannot
help regretting that there was not another picture of the
same class to compete with this one for the prize, but being
none, the academy have done right in awarding the fifty
pounds to it.

No. 47. The Day after a Storm ; Wreck of an East
Indianian, C. Stanfield. This truly magnificent picture,
is by one of our best sea-coast delineators. The scene is
bustling and animated, and the battered form of the disabled
vessel, with the various portions of wreck lying about, shown
how violent the storm has been.

42 and 56. Two very charming female portraits, by J.
Robertson, the first of which occupied a prominent position
on the walls of the Royal Academy this year.

51. Green Corn. r It. Tongs (a y Liverpool artist),
whose pictures of last year were much better than those of
the present. The picture in question is, however, a very
modestly painted piece of nature.

52. Tlie Unnatural Mother, in the Judgment of Solomon.
A study for a fresco for the new House of Lords, 'Westmin-
ster. J. R. Herbert, R.A. The head, so heroic in
character, and so fine in expression, is the only contribution
by this celebrated artist to the present exhibition; he is at
present engaged in painting the frescoes which decorate the
walls of the Houses of Parliament. We have had great
pleasure in seeing two very fine landscapes by him, which
are in the possession of his brother, Mr. Herbert, of
Renshaw-street.

HINTS FOR EMIGRANTS—We extract the following
from a letter received from Melbourne, dated, June, 1853.
"My dear Brother.—l have come out to Melbourne to be
the happiest of the happy. Since my arrival I have been
married; I have met with one of the kindest of husbands.
He has succeeded in obtaining an excellent situation, worth
£4OO a year, together with fire, water, and candles, which,
with a house rent free, is worth £4 or £5 per week. Hero
everything is very expensive ; wood, £5 for a small dray-
load ; water, 15s. to 20s. per half-hogshead ; coal is aw-
fully expensive; bread, ls. 6d. per quartern loaf; salt but-
ter, 3s. 6d., fresh, ditto, 7s. per pound; currants, 2s. per
lb. ; potatoes 3d. per lb. ; turnips, 6d. for a small bunch of
two or three ; meat is the same as with you, with the excep-
tion of pork, which is ls. 3d. per lb.; veal, 9d. per lb. ; ham,
2s. 9d. to 3s. 6d. per lb. ; cheese, 3s. 6d. per lb. ; clothes and
shoes are dreadfully expensive ; wines, from 7s. 6d. to 10s.
bottle. I must not forget to tell you that house rents are
awfully high, and yet they are building as fast as they can.
The houses are all wooden ones, and only one story high,
but there are miles of tents. Of course, in Melbourne,
there are also some nice houses and shops, but the streets
are perfect mud, and not any pavement. The churches fill
to suffocation, they pay £8 per quarter for a pew; there
are several churches, and a cathedral, and the Bishop goes
now and then to the diggings, but I know not what
success he meets with there. The diggings are still all the
rage, a new one having been discovered at the Mac'lvor,
and very a good one too. Gold is, I believe, found in
abundance near the surface of the earth. I landed on the
27th of April, and was married on the 3d of May. I like
Melbourne ; here we are free, we care not how we dress.
The gentlemen's dress consists of a wide-awake hat, a
jumper, with a belt round the waist, a pair of boots to go
higher than •the knees. The ladies here dress very plain,
dresses short, as the mud is up to our ancles. We fre-
quently see 16 or 18 bullocks drawing a dray. Horses are
very expensive, se are cows ; the milk here is Is. per pint,
most of which tt t's. There are a great number of rob-
beries here La treets ; the streets are lighted with oil,
and the lamett., out half a mile apart, so that if a per-
son does m*'- • his way perfectly he gets 'stuck up,' a
colonial exp. it robbing."
BANKRU IURT,—IN RE THOS. CASSON. A
second class was yesterday granted in this case:
the bankru oach builder in this town.