The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-01 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JUNE 1, 1863.

work that is vital to the interests of many to be
settled in a laudable spirit of:fair play and mutual

concessions.

The defenders of Ludgate-bill have not yet aban-
doned hope, and until the ground required is fairly
in the possession of the company, and the dreaded
viaduct is actually above their heads, they will not
seemingly relax their efforts. At the last meeting
of the Metropolitan Board of Works, a deputation
attended from the committee for the preservation
of Ludgate-hill, with the object of obtaining the
assistance of the surveyor of the Board of Works.
They stated they had already obtained the opinion
of several competent engineers on the matter, who
thought that a tunnel would be far better than a
viaduct for the passage of the railway across
Ludgate-hill, as they would then have the platform
in Farringdon.street on the ground instead of on
stilts. This would be a sensible advantage to the
railway company themselves, and should induce
them to look with some favour on the proposal.
The deputation, therefore, desired to have the
opinion of the Board of Works surveyor upon the
two plane, and in the event of its coinciding with
their wishes they hoped the Board would act upon
it. It was then moved by one of the members
present that the memorial should be referred to
the Thames Embankment Committee for conside-
ration and report, and it was suggested that the
Embankment Committee should be requested
to report upon it immediately in order that the
Board might lose no time in endeavouring
to come to an arrangement with the Company on
the matter. We sincerely hope that by some
means or other the affair will be satisfactorily
settled by the adoption of the proposed alteration.
There can surely be no wish on the part of the rail-
way company to disfigure one of our leading
thoroughfares by an unsightly structure, which
would block up still further the view of that noble
pile, already too much shut in by the accident of
its situation. Neither can the difficulty of the task
be a consideration. The marvellous course of the
Underground Railway forbids English engineers to
talk of difficulty.

The Company have already obtained the neces-
sary powers, " and nothing," said a speaker, at the
meeting referred to, " can stop their proceedings
but the intervention of Parliament." We should
hope, however, that some compromise may be come
to without such extreme measures. The Company
will certainly hear reason, and have, probably, no
desire to oppose the wishes of the general public.
If it can be shown to them that the tunnel has
equal, or even superior advantages to the viaduct,
they will scarcely refuse to relinquish their
rights in favour of the desired substitution.
London possesses already but few claims to
architectural beauty, and we should be careful how,
in our eagerness for rapid locomotion and business
convenience, we disfigure it needlessly. Of course,
where the interests of the public are really at stake,
questions of art and taste must stand aside in a vast
commercial community like our own, but where
there is happily a very feasible alternative, it
should surely have the preference. We trust, if the
report of the surveyor be favourable to the wishes
of the committee, the Board of 'Works will at once
take up the affair, and endeavour to come to an
arrangement with the railway company, who on
their part will do well to consult the general feeling
of the public on a public matter.

We see that the Volunteers are organising an
active opposition to the new Bill, or rather to those
clauses of it which threaten the independence and
liberty of members. The Bill itself is received with
favour, but the clauses 21 and 24, which are cer-
tainly highly objectionable, are exciting the greatest
indignation. A committee has been formed by
some members of the various metropolitan corps for
the purpose of obtaining some alteration in these
sections of the measure, while petitions are being
got up for signature by officers and men, who are
alike concerned in the invidious clause 21, which
places the power of summary dismissal from the
regiment in the hands of the commanding officer.
The Bill will come on before the House to-night
for consideration in committee, when we should
certainly anticipate a strong opposition on these
points. Several notices of amendments are down,
and we should hope that the framers of the measure,
who can certainly have no wish to disgust the
Volunteers with their self•chosen duties, would be
glad to take the opportunity of introducing some
modifications. It is perfectly incomprehensible
how such clauses should ever have been inserted,
investing the commanding officer of a Volunteer
Corps with arbitrary powers never bestowed on
officers of the regular army. We shall expect to
see these offensive clauses, which, in the opinion of
the Committee, threaten the very existence of the
Volunteer Movement, entirely altered or else re.
moved from the measure.

THE WEATHER AND THE CROPS IN CAMBRIDGE-
SHIRE.--Rain is again very much required, and
husbandmen generally are looking for it roost anxiously.
The wheats, with their long fibrous roots, obtain moisture
and are looking well, with every indication of a splendid
crop, but barley, clover, grass, mangolds, &c„ are suffering
immensely, and of hay it is feared there will be Ilene,
although a copious rain would no doubt produce effects the
most beneficial. The cold frosty nights have been very pre-
judicial to the apple crop, and of that useful fruit there
will be a short crop ; pears are rather more abundant. The
little green caterpillars have not made such havoc with the
gooseberry trees this years as they did in the last and former
years, and there is a pretty good crop, and also of cherries
and apricots ; but currants, plums, and damsons appear to
be thin upon the trees. Lawns are parched for want of
moisture, and the ground is as hard and as hot as the sunny
aide of Fleet-street.—Cambridge independent.
ANCIENT PICTURE OF THE B. VIRGIN AND
CHILD.—A curious old picture, alleged to have
been painted by St. Luke, is now on view at 230, Regent-
street, the proceeds of its exhibition being devoted to the
funds for the relief of the sick and wounded Poles, With-
out expressing any opinion as to the extreme antiquity
claimed by M. Szerelemy for his picture, or as to the indi-
vidual by whom it is alleged to be painted, there is still
sufficient of interest in the picture to repay an examination.
That it is a very old work there does not appear much doubt,
and it is contended that the inscriptions upon the front, as
well as upon the back, afford evidence for testing its authen-
ticity. The statement that St. Luke, although a physician,
had a knowledge of and practised painting, is founded upon
a passage in St. Metaph to the effect that, in addition to his
medical labours, St. Luke had acquired uncommon pro-
ficiency in the art of painting. Evidence of the antiquity
of the picture, and of its existence at a time coeval with the
Evangelist, is sought to be established from the existence
that
:ft latter, ue
skr
features
t Sophia,
with
of the inscription round the head of female figure—
" Jeaus Maria Hodegedria, give strength to thy servant
Luke to proclaim thy name." This inscription is said to be
in the ancient Chaldaic character, of which only a few spe-
cimens are now extant, and those in some bowls discovered
by Mr. Layard at Nineveh. The owner also relies upon
the writings of Nicophorus (61, ix., Derebus Livra)—the
history of the cathedral of St. Sophia—tho former stating
t o
painted a picture, the Jesus Maria Hodegedria;
the
that
such
Furthera picture
evidence wasis sought
n h
thet
the cathe-
dral
afact
that
tohfe dtheesßeripVtiiorgning,ivaesn of
showthnemin
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correspond
r'l stlie opinionTauhtehentic iauthenticity
of the
of Cardinal
picture.Nf e z z of a
Othern t i iscitedauthorities in surpepl
relied
of
upon are-1 Historian Ecclesiastics Scriptures Eusebius
Panaphilius, Socrates (scolasticus), Hermias Someenus
Theodoritus (Episcop. Cyri). 2. Excerpta Ecclesiast.icre
Histories Theodosi Lectoris ; auctor, Nicephoro
.Carlisto
Azaleat,Qa :
theatiPe
sinEit
oci c Ifielsi i°a' s t tomeic i ; a uiicit'Or,PC. mssoa9; i eßxorolirobre°o, Per:171'7383:
ofit:31111). 512. 4. The History of the Decline and Fall
dup. ix. 4 Empire, by Edward Gibbon ; London, 1781;
Ma Biat..,. i.P.,281.- Theodosius 11., Emperor of the East ;
PaPow. 31e8zhi-albeited:Z:::.ibs Wn_ife Eudocia, AD. 421-460,
carded rabyannyetPeY its
antiquarian interest. . .
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