The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-22 00:00:00

THE PRINCE CONSORT UEMORIAL.

ABANDONMENT OF THE OBELISK SCHEME.
The committee of noblemen. and gentlemen re-
;so ently nominated by the Queen to advise her Majes-
ty in the choice and mode of execution of a design
for a national memorial to the late Prince Consort
have just presented a -report upon the subject, a
copy of which is subj2ined, as is also the reply of
her'Majesty, throw.gh General Grey, addressed to
Sir Charles EaAt'Le.ke, the President of the Royal
Academy. Pa will be recollected that the committee.
-was compoF,ed of the Earl of Derby, the Earl of
Clarendor.l, Mr. Cubitt, the Lord Mayor, an'l4 Sir
Chexlea Eastlake. The following is the rer,ort
THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MakJESTY.
We, the members of the cotnro;:cteP, appointed by
your Majesty to coraider the best means of giving
effect to your Majesty's',fishes in respect to a me-
morial to P..oyal Highness the Prince Consort,
humbly 'beg leave to report to your Majesty the
result of our preliminary proceedings with reference
to the matter committed to us.
Fr am a letter dated Feb. 19th last, addressed by
L'iwat.,-General the Hon. C. Grey to the Right Hon.
W. Cubitt, the Lord Mayor, we learned that your
Najesty had come to the conelir.ilon that nothing
-would be more appropriate, provided it be on a
settle of sufficient grandeur, than an obelisk, to be
erected in Hyde-pteck, on the site of the Great Ex-
hibition of 1851., or on some spot immediately con-
tiguous to it ; and that there would also be this ad-
vantage inn monument of this nature—that several
of'the first artists of the day might take part in its
execntiran, for there would be room at the base of the
obeli:37s for various fine groups of statuary, each of
WhirJh might be entrusted to a different artist.
Tin accordance with the views thus expressed we
c onsidered the condition of magnitude in the obe-
' tisk to be indispensable.
We could not but be apprehensive that considerable
difficulties., -would have to be encountered in the ul-
terior arrangement of sculpture round the base,
I"ethe .r near or at some distance—bearing in mind
the in' Aportance of giving the necessary prominence,
in Pr Aition and effect, to the statue of his Royal
/F.ghness the Prince Consort. We resolved, how-
cArer, without entering on the consideration of this
point, to confine our attention, exclusively, at first,
to the question of the possibility of finding in the
United Kingdom a monolith of sufficient dimensions
combining with an approved colour the important
condition of durability.
Our attention has, for these reasons, been re-
atricted to granites. In our inquiries we have de-
rived great assistance from the director-general of
the geological survey, Sir R. Murchison, through
whom, with the aid of his correspondents at the
qdarries at present worked, we have received accu-
rate information on the points to which our
-attention was chiefly directed. But we regret
to say that in most instances the granite rocks so
described te, us, even when unobjectionable on ac-
count of the tint or reputed durability of the
material, hare not been found capable of furnish-
ing a monolith of sufficient length. We have also
to acknowledge liberal offers of materials in com-
parati unexplored localities; but the coat of ex-
Peri'mental excavations and the uncertainty of the
rerJult have deterred us from advising such under-
4zakings.
The only case that has come under our notice in
which the various requisites above enumerated may
possibly be found to be combined, together with vi-
cinity to the sea and comparative facility of trans-
port, is that a mass of granite of a light red tint in
the Island of Mull, on land belonging to the Duke
of Argyll, who with great liberality has placed all
ench materials on his estate at the disposal of the
committee. Our investigations have been for some
time confined to this locality ; and we have to ex-
press our thanks to the Ross of Mull Granite Com-
pany, for the important assistance they have ren-
dered us in enabling US to form an opinion respecting
the fitness of the block in question. The length,
which in the excavated portion already exceeds 115
feet, would, we consider, suffice for the intended
obelisk. There appears, however, to be reason to
apprehend that the width of the stone near the
centre would be insufficient, according to the pro-
portions of the most approved ancient examples, to
be consistent with that height. It is also by no
mearu, certain that the block referred to has the ne-
cessary thickness is those ?crawls w Web are nut yet
cleared. An experienced contractor who has exa-
mined it has stated that nothing can be affirmed
respecting the fitness of the stone " until it be raised
and turned out from its present bed." For such
operations a large outlay would be required, and we
cannot but hesitate to recommend such outlay while
we have no absolute certainty of a satisfactory
result.

Although we have considered it on many accounts
desirable that a monolith of the required dimen-
sions should be obtained from some part of the
United Kingdom, we have not omitted to make
inquiries elsewhere. Knowing that large masses
of granite of good colour can be procured in
Russian Finland, as evinced by various remark-
able specimens in St. Petersburgh, we have con-
sulted competent authorities respecting the fitness
of that material. The replies we have received
cannot be regarded as satisfactory, since it appears
that the granites in question, however well
adapted for interior decoration, have not the repu-
tation of being durable in the open air.
With regard to the important point of expendi-
ture (assuming a monolith to be found in our own
country), we consider that from the variety of esti-
mates we have privately received, the novelty of
the undertaking probably rendering any approach
to accuracy difficult, we are by no means in a posi-
tion to name a sum that would represent the ulti-
mate cost; more especially as it is the opinion of
many that the obelisk would present an incomplete
appearance unless the surface were enriched with
incised sculpture, on the principle of execution
(however different from the representations) adopted
on Egyptian obelisks. Without, however, ventur-
ing to assign a limit to the entire cost, we coneeive
we are justified in expressing our opinion that the
whole of the sum already subscribed would be ab-
sorbed by the obelisk alone.
While, therefore, we see no reason to conclude
that success is absolutely unattainable, we believe
that it would be accompanied by difficulties and by
expenditure at present wholly incalculable; nor can
we refrain from expressing our serious doubts whe-
ther, even if the mere enterprise were successful,
the ultimate effect would be such as to realise your
Majesty's just and natural expectations.
Having laid fully before your Majesty the infor-
mation which we have received and the inferences
we have drawn, we humbly await the signification
of your Majesty's pleasure as to prosecuting our
present inquiries or directing them to some other
mode of meeting the great object in view.
DERBY.

CLARENDON.

WILLIAM CUBITT.
West WILLIAM
April 14. C. L. EASTLAKE.
To thin report General Grey has sent the follow-
ing reply

Osborne, April 19.
My dear Sir Charles,—The Queen commands me
to acknowledge the
receipt of the report from the
committee named by her Majesty to advise her
on the subject of theproposed national memorial to
the Prince Consort.
Her Majesty cannot retae, her assent to the rea-
sons so clearly and strongly
forward in the the comatutt
re-
port which induce Lee to doubt the ex-
pediency of any further attempts
to find a mono-
lith that would fulfil the condition, tat
obelisk which her
Majesty's choice of an
characteristic of the proposed monument
mainlgy
depended.`'
Her Majesty sees, therefore, no alternativabm
"
acquiesce in the abandonment of the idea of an obe-
lisk, and to request the committee to turn their at.
tent ion to the possibility of finding some other mode
in which the great object in view may be most
satisfactorily effected.
Her Majesty's wish is to leave the committee quite
free to recommend whatever may appear to them to
afford the best hope of a satisfactory result ; and she
isould merely throw out as a suggestion whether
the opinions of some of the foremost architects of
the day might not be advantageously taken as to
means of combining