The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-12 00:00:00

Death of Mr. William Hunt.

Mr. William Hnnt, the well known painter in
water colours, died at his residence, Stnhope•street,
Hampstead-road, on Wednesday, aged 74. Mr.
Hunt has exhibited in the gallery of the Society of
Painters in Water Colours, since 1824. His works
have latterly formed one of the chief attractions of
the annual exhibitions, and their absence will create
a void that the society will not easily be able to fill.
His exquisite colour and delicate manipulation were
not more conspicuous than his intense perception of
the beauties of those objects of still life which he so
loved to paint. Nor were his powers limited to the
faithful reproduction of fruit and flowers. As a

painter of flesh he was, perhaps, unequalled, and his
rendering of humorous phases of rustic life alone
was sufficient to win his an enduring reputation.
His studies of landscape, sea, and sky, reveal to the
instructed eye a capacity for this branch of art equal
to those by which he is more popularly known.
Mr. Hunt was an honorary member of the Acatiemy
of Amsterdam in addition to being a member of the
Water colour Society. Although of late his in-
firmity has been greatly increased, Mr. Hunt has
never relinquished work, except under temporary
access of indisposition. Debarred in a great mea
sure from the pleasures of society, almost his sole
delight was in his work. He may be said to have
died in harness, for so lately as last Saturday, he
was at his easel until mid-day, and only left it to
visit the Gallery in Suffolk-street, where the com-
petition pictures of the caididates for essociateships
of the Water-colour Society were exhibited. Pro.
bably the last act of his life was sending hisproxies
for some of the competitors. During the night
between Sunday and Monday, an attack of paralysis
supervened upon the indisposition which had mani-
fested itself soon after returning home from the
Gallery. There was no return of consciousness,
and shortly after 8 o'clock onWednesday morning
he expired.
The following notice of the deceased is taken
from " Men of the Time." William Hunt was born
in Belton-street (since calved Endell-street), Long
Acre, in 1790 :—" He first exhibited, as a member
of the Old Society of Painters in Water Colours, in
1824. Of the multitude who, from this painter's
modest pieces of nature and truth scattered through
each exhibition of the Water Colour Society, have
received annually fresh enjoyment, comparatively
few, perhaps, have suspected that those delight-
ful and unpretending little bits of paper contained
truer art, witnessed an eye for nature rarer and
more penetrating—nay, even technical gifts of
immeasurably finer quality—than are shown
amid acres of ambitious and clever oil-paintings
at Trafalgar - square pictures commanding
prices ten times higher than a mere water-
colour drawing can ever challenge. Who shall ex-
plain the secret of those magical effects of colour,
light and shade, and composition? Why do those
modest groups of ' primrose pale,' or blooming peach
and gleaming grape—that broken branch of lilac or
of May—that wonderful bird's nest with its deli-
cately-tinted contents, or the familiar-looking inte-
rior of a commonplace English room, with its com-
monplace chairs and tables—why does this consum-
mate mimicry affect us with so vivid and so poetic
a delight? We may look upon actual primroses
by a river's brim, and be as little reminded of toil
or drudgery in the production,' as when we gaze
on those of Mr. Hunt. But, in nine cases out
of ten—unless, in fact, we bring the. seeing
eye with us, which we cannot all command,
or at all times—we do not while we look
feel as Mr. Hunt makes us feel. Whoever shall ac-
count for this will do something to explain some of
the shyest secrets of Art and its perennial spell—
nay of external nature herself. For one thing,
Mr. Hunt is not only a masterly artist, but a poet.
By an over mastering sympathy (the poet's prero-
gative), the objects he paints are seen and felt by
him as they exist, and conveyed by
.a mystery of art
with which we are wholly unacquainted,' writes a
critic worth hearing, which we are at a loss how
to define by any of the known results of genius and
practice.' People have wondered why so gifted an
an artist should perpetually repeat what often
seems identically the same subject. But, in fact,
it is only superficially the same_ Because of his
deep sympathy with objects as they exist,' he
sees endless varieties in them; end delights
to exhaust every phase of effect, of colour, light
and shade, and grouping. As to the technical part
of his art, pre-lt,iphaelite painters might learn a
lesson from one whose practice implies and tran-
scends their principles. These inobtrusive bits of
nature present the perfection of finish—a perfec-
tion, however, not attained by elaboration. A
degree of slightness of execution, or muzziness, it
you will, appears to he an element in the process,
elaborators, admirable in other respects, have
neglected or overstriven to avoid.' Forty years'
practice have brought this about, this marriage
of finish and freedom—the lust and iinos
difficult of technical achievements, result-
ing in images of Nature wholly, not partially,
accurate rind consistent. As for his composition,
light and shade, colour, these are as quite in their
truth as complete. As a colourist, no loss a critic
than Mr. Ruskin loves to speak of him as among
the greatest in a school (the English) rife with great,
colourists. From the very nature of his,trt arm of
his subject, Hunt cannot be engreved. 'hose spe-
cimens of printing in colours which seem to repro-
duce his effects so well, only seem to do no. The
difference is subtile, but complete. Mechanism
cannot give us the results of a hand such as his."

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

LREUTER'S TELEGRAMS.]

AU STRIA.

FURTHER DESPATCH OF AUSTRIAN
TROOPS TO SCHLESWIG.

BRESLAU, FEB. 12.

Accordiug to a telegram received here a body of
Austrian troops numbering 3,400 men will arrive
in this city in a few days on their way to Schles-
wig. They will be conveyed by eight special trains,
and will be quartered here for the night.
A meeting of the directors of the railway took
place at Cassel yesterday.

CLOSING OF THE AUSTRIAN REICHSRATH.
The Session of the Reichsrath will be closed in
state on Monday next by a speech from the throne.
The Emperor will give a soiree to-morrow to all the
members of the Reichsrath.

The new lottery loan of 40 million florins was
negotiated yesterday evening at 96 per cent.

The Austrian Credit Mobilier takes 15 millions,
Messrs. Rothschild 14 millions, and Baron Wodi-
aner 131 millions. All the other competitors for
the loan joined these capitalists.
Large offers for the loan were made to the
Government both by foreign and home capitalists.

FRANCE.

PARIS, FEB. 12.

At a dinner given yesterday evening to celebrate
the Suez canal undertaking, Prince Napoleon made
a speech which was loudly cheered.
His Imperial Highness retraced the history of
the enterprise, dwelt upon its grandeur and utility,
and paid a tribute of praise to all who had parti-
cipated in the undertaking.
M. de Lesseps replied.

BOURSE, Feb. 11.—The arrival of the English
funds with higher prices, and the reduction of the
rate of discount by the Bank of England, have
given firmness to this market, and prices show an
advance. Threes, for the Account, are now at 66f.
45c. Mobilier have improved to 1,122 f. 50c. Rail-
way Market not very animated, but previous quo-
tations pretty well maintained. The market closed
as follows :-
41 per Cents. 95 20
00. ead month....

Italian Loan 6B
Do. end month —
New ditto
Do. end month....
Russian
Austrian
Spanish Threes 5(l
Rome Debt ..
Deferred
RAIL WAYS.
Cash. Account.
Orleans lOOO .. 997 50
Northern
New ditto —
Lyons and Mediterranean 935
New, ditto
Southern
Western
Eastern •• • a
Sardinian
Austrian
Lombard
North of Spain
Saragossa ..
Ditto to Barcelona

3 per Cents
Co. end month 66 50
Credit Mobilier 1020
Do, end month 1022 50
Bank Shares 3300
Credit lonoier 1240
Roman —

.. 935 -

• • 665 ---

612 50 ..
482 60 .. 480 -
330 - - -
400 - 403 75
520 - .. 518 75
490 - .. 490 -
577 50 .. 675 -
298 75 .. 305 -

AMERICA.

(Per Etna, via Crookhaven, Feb. 11.)

NEW YORK, Jan. 29.

The contaadictory reports which have been re-
ceived during the two past weeks from Knoxville
have been reduced to intelligibility.

A letter from the correspondent of the Cincinnati
Gazette states that skirmishing between the forces
of Generals Longstreet and Foster commenced on
the 15th, and continued until the 20th, when the
Federals fell back to Knoxville, having lost upwards
of 250 men.

A great battle was considered imminent, and
much anxiety was felt in Knoxville for the result.
Cairo despatches report that the Confederates,
under Generals Marmaduke, Shelby, and Fagan,
were advancing upon Pine Bluff, Arkansas, on
the 22d.

An attack upon Marmaduke by Lieutenant Payst
had been repulsed ; the other columns were skir-
mishing with the Federals under Clayton.
The same despatches state that guerilla firing
upon the Mississippi steamers had been resumed
at Milliken's Bend.

Despatches from General Thomas to the 27th do
not confirm the reported failing back of General
Johnston from Dalton.

Charleston telegrams of the 23d, via Richmond,
announce that the bombardment of the city was
almost suspended. The Courier of the 26th states
that trifling damage has been done by the Federal
shells.