The Sun.
London, England, 1853-06-13 00:00:00

M. PULSZKY'S LECTURES.

An intelligent and fashionable audience among
whom we recognised his Excellency the Hungarian
Liberator, and the honourable member for the West
aiding of Yorkshire--assembled at Willis's-rooms on
Saturday aaernoon, for the purpose of hearing the first
of a series of eight lectures by Francis Pulszky on "The
History of Ancient Art," and, generally speaking, on
Archaeology. The welcome accorded to the distinguished
lecturer was such as we rejoice to be the means of noti-
fying. It was a tribute eminently well. deserved by that
gifted patriot, that cultivated man of letters, and
that skilful diplomatist, who first became known
to the people of England as the authorised
representative of the Free Hungarian Government.
If the audience of Saturday might have been more
numerous, it could not well have been more atten-
tive. And its attention to the discourse delivered by
M. Pulszky was admirably repaid by a store of curious
and recondite information—the fruits, evidently, of no
merely recent and superficial information. The subject
chosen by the lecturer to be that of his introductory dis-
sertation was the enthralling study of Egyptian Art and
its History. From the printed syllabus it appears that
the whole course will be illustrative of the Fejervary
Museum, now on exhibition at the Archzeological Insti-
tute. In the collection of this singular and attractive
museum, Francis Pulszky has shown an uncommon
amount of energy, and a more than ordinary degree of
intelligence. He has evidently dedicated to the subject,
upon which he is now expatiating with so much zest and
with such evidently unaffected enthusiasm, the best
years of his manhood, the whole force of his in-
tellect, the whole scope of his ripe and instructed judg-
ment. It was not difficult to recognise these truths
from the thoughtful and original lecture to which we
had the gratification of lending our attentive hearing on
Saturday. From it we cannot but augur excellently
for the rest of the remaining seven, which, we observe,
according to the syllabus, are to be delivered every
Wednesday and Saturday until their completion. It
may here be remarked, that the second will have re-
ference to the Monuments of Nineveh, Babylon, and
Persepolis ; the third, to the Sculpture of the Hindoos
and Chinese • the fourth, to Etruscan Antiquities ; the
fifth, to Greek and Roman bas-reliefs ; the sixth, to the
Grecian and Roman statues in bronze and marble ; the
seventh, to gems, terra cottas, vases, ivories, and paint-
ings ; the eighth, embracing a general view of the de-
velopment and relation of the different branches of Plastic
Art, and thus sequentially bringing the whole course to its
conclusion. When completed, we hope to welcome the
series of these eight remarkable lectures in a different
form, namely, on their appearance as a collected publi-
cation. From the specimen presented to the public at
Willis's Rooms on Saturday, we may already aver,
without anything like idle precipitation, that M. Francis
Pulszky has revealed even now his skill as a lecturer,
and we rest assured that in that new capacity he will
enhance the reputation previously acquired by him, both
as an author and- as a diplomatist—in the former in-
stance through his various writings, and in the latter
through his conduct at London as Hungarian Ambas-
sador during the glorious interval of the Magyar War of
Independence.
Besides M. Kossuth and Mr. Cobden, we noticed
several other men of note in attendance at Willis's
Rooms, during the delivery of M. Pulszky's lecture on
Saturday.

ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS.

To JOHN PRESCOTT KNIGHT, ESQ R.A., SECRETARY

TO THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS.

SIR,—As you "do not doubt being able to answer my
various queries, and give me such, useful information into
the bargain as will save me from again hazarding in-
genious speculations and statements which are not strictly
according to facts," " provided T. S. comes from
behind his anonyme," the proposition is too good
not to be accepted. But in thus throwing off
my incognito, I must premise that, as I am personally
unacquainted with any member of the Royal Academy,
I beg to be understood that, in presuming to " summon
the secretary of that body before the bar o: public
opinion," I am less actuated by personality than a feel-
ing of obligation to contribute my quota towards getting
at the root of those heart-burnings which ever and anon
proceed from the management of the National Gallery,
especially the eastern portion of it. Why I have pre-
ferred the medium of a public journal to convey to you
my inquiry, is, because I do not assume to be the
only artist outside the Royal Academy pale, whose
performance has been, this season, so unceremoniously
rejected. And being fully aware how inconvenient it
would be for a secretary whose time is valuable, to reply
personally or by letter to every grumbler disposed to
demand why his individual production should be
amongst the rejected. Therefore, to save unnecessary
trouble, I deem a personal application inexpedient,—
being persuaded, that from the description I gave of the
"Rejected Miniature" in The Sun of last Monday, you
would be able to inform me, and those whom the matter
concerned—the reason of the rejection, which, if
satisfactory to myself, I did not doubt would be
equally satisfactory to those artists who had been
suhjectod to a similar disappointment. Though flat-
tered by your polite-offer to gratify me with a per-
sonal interview, I must decline the honour, so long as
"The mysterious four seals" may not be broken. But
with reference to my "hazarding ingenious speculations
and statements which are not strictly according to
facts," I beg, in one respect, to plead guilty. In con-
trasting the management of the two National Exhibi-
tions of England and France, I believe I conveyed an
impression that the Exhibition of the latter was still
held in the Palais of the Louvre. The mistake was not
perceived until it was printed ; but though I could not
avoid regretting the lapsu,s, I did not think it of suffi•
cient importance to substantially affect nay state-
ment ; but having my veracity called into question,
I hasten to correct the unintentional error.
After the Revolution of 1848, the National Exhibition
of Works of Art was removed from the Louvre to the
Palais Royal, and thence to the "Menus Plaisirs," Rue
Faubourg Poissoniere. With this correction I feel guilt-
less of any other misstatement, unless the hypothesis, that
" the council, whose decision is final "—(in the absence
of any information to be met with in the catalogue)
assumed to be composed of R.A.'s, be a misstatement ;
but allowing myself an equal latitude to make inferences
with that which enabled you so ingeniously to discover
that T. S. was the " Nettle," I did come to the conclu-
sion that " the inquisition" of Trafalgar-square—the
"terribly mysterious council"—was composed of mem-
bers
of the Royal Academy. But should it turn out that
this " council whose decision is final" is neither more nor
less than her Majesty's Privy Council, I beg to assure you,
Mr. Secretary, that, thenceforth, I will be moi.e cautions
about " hazarding ingenious speculations" for the future.
Meanwhile, I must throw myself upon your generosity
for enlightenment on this point as well as on others in
which I may nnwittingly have, erred, albeit, at present,
1 be unable to avail myself of a personal interview.—l
am, sir, your obedient servant,

THOMAS SKAIFE.

Vanbrugh-house, Blackheath,
13th June, 1853.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.
(THIS DAY.)

The June sessions of the Central Criminal Court com-
menced this morning. The number of prisoners for
trial is ninety-three. The jedges who are to preside are
the Chief Baron (Sir F. Pollock), Mr. Justice Maule,
and Mr. Justice Erie - and the aldermen who are upon
the rota to attend to form a coin t are Sir P. Paurie, Sir
G. Carroll, Sir J. Musgrove, Finnis, and Cubitt.
Tue grand jury having been sworn,
The Recorder proceeded to deliver the usual charge.
It was gratifying to find that there were no cases of great
brutality on the calendar. The first case to which he
would direct attention was one against a gentleman of a
learned profession for procuring abortion. If they attached
credit to the depositions which would be laid before
them, it would be their duty to find a true bill against
' the person indicted. With regard to the other persons
implicated in the affair, though it did not appear that
any one had been present except the principal offender
when he used the instrument, yet if the grand jury
thought that they were aware of the purpose for which
he visited the young lady in question, and concurred in
that object, then that would be felony. The next case
was that of a person, who, having taken a letter of
credit for a small amount on a banker in this country,
and then proceeding abroad, by altering the amount,
had obtained large sums on account of it from conti-
nental bankers, much exceeding that for which it was
originally obtained. If the offence had been committed
in this country, it would have amounted to forgery,
but as it was committed out of the jurisdiction of the
tribunals of this country, there would, no doubt, be con-
siderable technical di4ficulty in proving the case, and the
course which he would advise them to pursue would be,
if they found the main facts proved, to find a true bill
and leave the technicalities to be disposed of by her
Majesty's Judges, who would have to try the case.
The learned Recorder then proceeded to direct the atten-
tion of the grand jury to the case of the attempted ex-
tortion of money from the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
which he described as of great importance to social
morality. It was a case which might happen to any
individual, it was as such serious from the nature of the
charges, and it was only a man of unblemished reputation
and moral character who would be able completely to
escape the effect of it. Neither was it every man who
had strength of mind to biing such an offender before
the public.

The Grand Jury having retired, several true bills
were immediately returned, and the trials were pro-
ceeded with.

DESPERATE SUICIDE FROM BLACKFRIARS-BRIDGE.—
At a late hour on Saturday night an elderly female,
name at present unknown, caused a considerable deal of
excitement amongst the numerous persons passing over
Blackfriars-bridge, owing to her mounting the steps of
one of the recesses, and deliberately plunging head fore-
most towards the bed of the river. In her attempt her
head came in contact with one of the piers of
the bridge, which broke the frontal bone, and other .
wise so injured her that there is no doubt she was
killed before she reached the water. A man named
Copeland succeeded in bringing the poor female ashore,
and she was conveyed, in the first instance, to the
Christ Church dead-house, when Mr. Kibblewhite, the
beadle, had her taken to the Angel Inn, in Upper
Ground-street ; but, in spite of the most strenuous exer-
tions of all present, it was impossible to do the least
good, as the vital spark had fled. The inquest, it is ex-
pected, will be held to-morrow (Tuesday),