The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-31 00:00:00

to the records of the Guild will here suffice at any rate

to recall the salient facts of those same records to the

recollection of the generality. For the establishment
of this Guild, the means taken to raise the necessary
funds were of the very simplest character. [Sir
Edward Lytton gave some acres of land on his
estate near Stevenage, in llertfordshire, as a site for
a proposed Guild Institution. Besides which, the
Right Hon. Baronet wrote, expressly in furtherance
of the pecuniary interests of the Guild, a five-act
drama, entitled, " Not so Bad as We Seem, or
Many Sides to a Character." A drama that, not-
withstanding the good-humoured pleasantry—one
that the dramatist himself must surely have been

fain not only to have forgiven but even to have
laughed at (if it ever came to his knowledge)— with
which it was spoken of by a famous wit long
since dead and gone, namely, to the effect that—

" Not So Bad As We Seem is not so good

as we expected !"--ran a radiant career first of
all in the metropolis and afterwards through-
out the provinces, acted as it was by a dra-
matic company comprising among its members
many literary men and artists of distinguished re-
putation. The profits derived from the representa-
tion of this play, were intended from the outset to be
devoted, with such subscriptions as might be re-
ceived from professional and honorary members,
to the erection and endowment of " the Guild

Institution," which was designed to consist of several
residences to be occupied by members elected on

the foundation. The objects of the proposed Guild

as stated in one of the original prospectuses

were, briefly, these—To encourage life and annuity

assurance among its members on more favour

able terms than such insurers could obtain without
its aid ; to assist its members in temporary distress
to pay their premiums when they become due ; to
establish a provident sickness fund ; to endow an
institution which shall have at its disposal certain re-
sidences and annuities, to which only members and
(as to annuities only) the widows of members Ethan
be eligible to be elected, which shall not be an in-
stitution of an eleemosynary character, but with
which some popular service shall be associated, and
from which the public shall derive some educational
advantages. Towards the furtherance of this gene-
rous design, and by the means already related, a
fund of some Four Thousand Pounds was collected
together, chiefly through the performance of Sir
Bulwer Lytton's brilliant Gift Comedy, exquisitely
performed, as that Comedy was, to crowded
houses throughout the country by Mr. Charles
Dickens and his Amateur Company of Comedians.
The acting and publishing copyright of the play
was, we aro informed, afterwards sold to Mr. B.
Webster and others, thereby producing a supple-
mentary £550 sterling. In addition to these sums,
the Queen and the late Prince Consort sent a dona-
tion of £l5O. Mr. Charles Dickens gave fifty guineas,
Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton promised two acres of
land on his estate at Stevenage, in Hertfordshire,
and the then Mayor of Manchester (the town in which
some of the most profitable performances were
given), Sir Charles Eastlake, Mr. J. W. Gilbert,
Mr. Henry Hallam, Lady Chantrey, Sir William
Hamilton, the Mayor of Liverpool, " Barry Corn-
wall," Miss Martineau, Sir Fitzroy and Lady Kelly,
Samuel Rogers, together with about 50 other ladies
and gentlemen sent other large and small subscrip-
tionx and donations. Before anything could be
done, however, with the four thousand pounds
thus collected to carry out the design of Mr. Charles
Dickens and his friends, it was found necessary to
get the legal sanction of a charter. When the char-
ter was obtained another difficulty arose. It was
found that the bye-laws, prepared under what ap-
peared to be the best legal and professional advice,
compelled the council to leave the Guild Institution
Fund—the four thousand pounds—untouched for a
period of not less than seven years, so that they could,
after all, only invest this money in Consols, and
quietly bide their time! The investment was made
at an unfavourable period, when the Three
per Cents. stood at a considerable premium,
the interest on the original capital being
in consequence partially lost when the day came for
selling out and Consols stood at a considerable dis-
count. During this seven years' trance the apathy of
the literary and artistic class was not the only thing
which the promoters of the Guild had to contend
against. The usual amiability and thoughtless jocu-
larity of the literary profession were exercised to in-
vent stories to account for the presumed disappear-
ance of the £4,000 sterling, and the severest critics
were those who had taken no share in the labour of
getting this sum together. The seven years expired
at last in 1861, and the critics and opposition cliques
found that the money had neither been fraudulently
nor unwisely squandered, but had been merely para-
lysed by the perverse operation of the law. At length,
after the lapse of all these years, during which inter-
val the generous scheme of the original projectors of
the Guild has been lying thus compulsorily in
abeyance, the task—never once abandoned by
them as hopeless, but simply laid aside—
has been brought to a happy comple-
tion! The Guild Institution has been actually
built, and built too at once substantially and pic-
turesquely. Three handsome residences in the
Gothic style have been erected on the allotted
ground, the structure fronting the high road, at the
distance of about a quarter of a mile from the plea-
sant town of Stevenage. The situation is an ad-
mirable one. The site is elevated, and commands
an extensive view of a fine country. Near to the
residences are a number of curious tumuli close to
each other, popularly known as the Seven Hills of
Stevenage. Nearly three miles distant from
this point, in a southerly direction, is situated Kneb-
worth, the seat of Sir Edward Lytton, the
green woods of the Park bounding the undu-
lating corn-fields which intervene. The residences,
designed by Mr. 11. A. Darbyshire, honorary
architect to the Guild, are exceedingly picturesque
in appearance, and are constructed with a due
regard to the convenience and comfort of the occu-
pants. The building is approached by an ample
carriage-sweep. The two end houses, which are larger
than the centre one, are winged, with pointed gables,
the windows of the apartments in the upper story
being bayed. An open corridor, carried on arches
resting on pillars, stretches from wing to wing, and
the entrance to each dwelling is beneath this. Over
the central door, the stone arch of which bears the
inscription, " Institution of the Guild of Literature
and Art, Anno Domini, 1865," there is a fine oval
window. The building is of red brick, with stone
draping% Each residence contains three sitting
rooms, together with bed-rooms, dressing-rooms,
and well-arranged offices. There are also
spacious gardens, pleasantly bounded by fertile
fields and green plantations. A roadside
public-house and tea-garden, laid out with
much care and taste, and furnished with something
between a village skittleground and an American
bowling-alley, has sprung up, it may here be remarked,
nearly opposite the future homo of distressed men
of learning and genius. To give this little tavern
a yet stronger claim upon the custom of these said
authors, artists, and their friends, it has been called
(by permission of Mr. Charles Dickens) " Our
Mutual Friend"--a capital title by the way for any
good ale-house.
On Saturday afternoon, the building being com-
pleted, the Vice-President of the Guild, Mr. Charles
Dickens, accompanied by nearly thirty of that same
literary and artistic Brotherhood, went down to
inspect (and so far to invigorate) the Guild Institu-
tion—afterwards driving over to Knebworth,there to
partake of the hospitality of the President of the
Guild, Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton.
The Flownr in the Morning Star, speaking of
himself and his brothers who were thus assembled
together on Saturday, writes as follows :—" We
were men who were earning our living by the
pursuit of literature, journalism, and art ; novel-