The Sun.
London, England, 1853-05-02 00:00:00

LON DON, MONDAY EVENING, MAY 2, 1853.

THE PROVIDENT CLERKS' MUTUAL
A. LIFE ASSURANCE ASSOCIATION and BENEVOLENT
FUND, No. 42, Moorgate-street, London.
ELECTION OF ANNUITANTS.
JOHN ABEL SMITH, Esq., M.P., Treasurer of the Fund,
in the Chair.
Notice is Hereby Given, That a SPECIAT. MEETIS'd of the Mem-
bers; of the Benevolent Department of the Provident Clerks' Asso-
ciation will be held at the LoncLu Tavern, Bishopsgate-street, on
WEDNEsDAY, the 18th May, at on re
e o'c'ock pcisely, to consider
a proposition from the Managers, to increase, front 125/. to 1451.,
the amount to be granted in annuities for t-e ) ear 1853.
Notice is also Given, That the MEETING for the ELECTION of
ANNUITANTS will be held at the same place, immediately after
the conclusion of the Special Meeting. Annui.ies will be granted to
Two Clerks and Five Widows of Cleiks.
Idy order of the Board.
PHILIP I.IENRY BYRNE, Secy.
—AiitS-30; 1863..

CONTRACT FOR BARRACK STORES FOR THE ROYAL
MARINES.
Department of the Comptroller for Victualling and
Transport' Services,
Somerset place, 30th April, 1853.
THE Commissioners for Executing the Office of
Lord lligh Admiral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, do Hereby Give Notice, that on THURSDAY, the 12th
May next, at One o'clock, they will be ready to treat with such
persons as may be willing to Contract for supplying and dellYering
into her Majesty's Victualling Stores at Deptford sundry articles of
BARRACK STORES,

for the use of the Royal Marines, consisting of Brooms, Brushes.
M ,ps, Coal IlasketP, Sec., under a Contract for twelve months certain,
and afterwards until the expiration of three months' notice.
atterns of the articles ant the conditions of the Contracts may be
seen at the said Office, between the hours of Eleven or 'Two.
No Tender will be received after One o'clock on the day of Treaty,
nor any noticed, unless the party attends, or an agent for him, duly
authorised in writing.
Every Tender must be addressed to the Secretary of the Admi-
ralty, and bear in the left-hand corner the words, " Tender for
B irrack Stores," and must also be delivered at Somerset-place,
accompanied by a letter signed by a responsible person, engaging to
become bound, with the person tendering, In the sum of 300 for
the due performance of the Contract.

hung behind the President,—The Victory towed into
Gibraltar. (Cheers.) With the feeling of one greatly in-
debted to artists, he begged to tender his grateful
acknowledgments. (Hear, hear.)
Sir J. GRAHAM lied not expected to return thanks for
the navy, and was sorry that there was no officer of
that distinguished profession present ; it was in the
absence of any such officer that the duty devolved upon
him. It was only for the passing moment that the
maintenance of the discipline of that great service was
intrusted to him and his colleagues ; the fame and glory
of that profession was in safer hands. It was intrusted
to the officers of that gallant profession. It was safe in
their hands—(hear, hear)—and, thanks to the art which
could immortalise, there were those present which would
transmit to posterity the lineaments of the men who,
if occasion called for it, would maintain its renown.
(Cheers.) •
The PRESIDENT had Lest to propose " The health of
the Foreign Ministers who had honoured the Academy
with their presence on this occasion." (Hear, hear.) The
present Exhibition contained specimens from Germany,
France, Italy, America ; and many of our own artists
had represented scenes in other lands, which would be
regarded with special interest by those to whom such
scenes had been familiar. (Hear.) The Academy was
honoured on this occasion with the presence of the Cava-
lidre Massimo d'Azeglio ; as he considered that he spoke
English imperfectly, and might be unwilling to address the
company in another language, he would perhaps be excused
from replying, if such should be his wish, but that need not
deprive them of the pleasure of paying him a tribute of
respect. (Hear, hear.) When he (the President) first had
the honour of knowing him in Rome, many years simile
he was devoted to the fine arts, and produced pictures
which bore the stamp of genius. (Hear, hear.) He
subsequently earned a Eurovan reputation as the author
of various works connected. .v.ft art and- poetry..- In the
war in Italy, in 1848, he w:a severely wounded.
Honoured by his country, and by his sovereign, the
King of Sardinia, he afterwards filled important offices
in the State, and finally became Prime Minister, remain-
ing so for nearly three years. (Hear, hear.) After
having filled every office he undertook with honour,
having now retired from political cares, he was visiting
this country as a professor of painting. (Hear, hear.)
It was unnecessary to make any comment on a career so
remarkable and so interesting. (Cheers.)
His Excellency the Chevalier BUNSEN, who was very
cordially welcomed, acknowledged the toast. He said—
In rising to return thanks for the honour you have done
to members of the diplomatic body here p'resent, I ex-
press not only my own personal feelings but also those
of my excellent friend and colleague opposite, the Mar-
quis d'Azeglio, Sardinian Envoy, and of his illustrious
relative on my right, to whom you, sir, have so nobly
alluded—that illustrious and successful statesman of a
country dear to all here present, to all friends of huma-
nity and of the fine arts—the noble patriot and the fa-
vourite son of all the muses. (Cheers.) During the
many years that I have enjoyed the privilege of spending
some happy hours within these sacred precincts of the
muses, breathing the genial air of humanity and of peace,
I have had a growing conviction that art, as art, is be-
coming more and more appreciated in this country, and
that the standard of art has been rising both among
artists and the public in a most striking manner. (Hear.)
All I have seen to-day has confirmed me in this convic-
tion, and I wish you, and the Royal Academy, and the
country joy for it—(hear, hear)—particularly because I
believe that this rising appreciation of art has a very
sound foundation--(hear, hear)—that is, it rests upon a
greater and more general acknowledgment of the real
basis of all genuine feeling for art : that art must be
true—that is, must not spring from fashion or from cer-
tain conventional rules—that every work of art must
be produced and admired for its own sake. (Hear, hear.)
The necessary consequence of such a growing general
feeling must be that a greater liberty is granted by the
public to the artist in'expressine his artistic thought.
(Hear.) And, indeed, if the artist is led by this princi-
ple, he will steer his way between the conflicting cries—
' "Imitate nature," and " Imitate the old masters." There
is no absolute truth in either of these maxims. First,
as to the imitation of nature. Well, the sun does that
in our photography ; but what a poor artist lie has
turned out to be. (Hear, hear.) Whenever lie is bid
to reproduce the noblest object of art, the human face,
lie fails—the life is wanting ; he only succeeds when the
human face has passed through the creative mind of the
artist. (Hear, hear,) He can copy a work of art, but
not artistically reproduce a work of nature. And now
as to the old masters ; if those of classical antique art
are meant, they are undoubtedly the models for all ages ;
but have we not proofs without end that they may be
copied without life and spirit ? Again, as to the masters
of the great historical school of painting, which begins
with Giotto and ends with Raphael, is it not still more
the same case with them ? Imitate the one model as
well as the other, so far as you feel them your own,
with truthfulness, and you will . work in their spirit.
(Hear, hear.) To enter into their unaffected simplicity,
into the purity of expression, the grandeur of composi-
tion—that is what Raphael did, and even Michael An-
gelo, that Titanic, original genius. (Hear, hear.) It
is because I perceive a marked progress in that direction
that I am particularly delighted with the present mail-
bition. There is evidently a wider range of style, of
manner, of execution. (Hear, hear.) I delight in be-
holding to my left a masterpiece of Friedrich Overbeck„
the father of the school of resuscitated historical paint-
ing, representing Christ with the Apostle Thomas ; and
I see with no less delight, on my right, the same sub-
ject treated by a highly accomplished member of the
Royal Academy. (Hear, hear.) Cannot I admire the
one without depreciating the other ? (Hear, hear.) I
may prefer one, you the other ; but, could we admire
either if Overbeck had composed like Knight, or Knight
like Overbeck ? (Hear, hear.) It is truth which we
admire in either. (Hear.) The same may be said of all
the eminent historical pictures in this splendid hall.
(Hear.) Under these circumstances I foresee a constant
solid progress, from a national and from a general point
of view. And this is the more consoling to me, if I
consider what a heavy struggle art has to fight in this
our age with industrial civilisation. There is, in ages
like ours, a great lever to be found in industry if it enno-
bles its works by going to school at the fine arts ; but
industry becomes a curse if it succeeds in influencing
art. (Hear.) Do not we see in other countries and
ages painful proofs of that ? Let me name, as an instance,
the art of the Byzantine empire. There you have a
highly civilised art without artistic life ; grand ideal fea-
tures (the heir-loom of Grecian genius), but no soul to
fill them. The consequence is, that soon the power of
drawing vanishes—not one good portrait, but glossy
surfaces with fanciful forms, almost as bad as modern
pigtail art and rococo. And why ? Because there is no
truth left in those works of art. They are only pro-
duced because luxury and fashion required and conven-
tionalism commanded it so. (Hear.) Now, lam sure
English art will always keep out of that danger of con-
ventionalism, because its main national spring is .Anglo-
Saxon
gave(Much
,Tchhee cheering.)
ienagl
t.
joymtd‘wviniiesTtticniheii\o,lVuetaltirtanhiphsel
their
Ritasir;lvGlseoplsedrlDrpnnkeEetysts
speaking
oeekohTnmfi
eetntaleali
gn:rece, t
n.
Saxon honesty and truth ; and for that I beg to wish it
n
accidental
wdf itani oirb:
eai
d.at
oi dßfs
competitorst
eiehnyxogni
uoi obil
sdui
htsri
e,en
anatrtnhht
one
their
artists
c oawoosdff hi
soei ye
g
rivals, and remarked that in so doing these distinguished
artists contended anew for the prize they had already
his
won. (Hear.] So, if the illustration
)11 of the Noble-
might be per'
witted, the higher classes in this country appeared to
regard the advantages of their station as if they were
still to be acquired, or at least to be deserved. (Hear.)
Possessed of rank, of influence, and the respect of their
inferiors, their honourable exertions were often such as
would befit those who sought to earn those distinctions
—(hear, hear)--so that, in the spirit of the words just
quoted, they seemed to contend anew for the prize
which was already theirs. (Hear.) It was a fact truly
characteristic of this country that those who had it in
their power to reward labour themselves set the ex-
ample of labour. (Hear, hear.) With regard to the
encouragement of art, such was the wide-spread libe-
rality not only of wealthy noblemen, but of princely
merchants and manufacturers, that a plea was no longer
needed for this most essential means of encouraging the
fine arts--(hear—and whatever might be the occasional
advantages, in a commercial point of view, of the
possessors of works of art, in consequence of the in-
creased and increasing demand for those works, their
best reward would be the conviction of having given a
stimulus to the English school, the effects of whic were
apparent in the conscientiousness and earnestness which
distinguished the more recent productions not only of
the young, but of established professors. (Hear, hear.)
The LORD CHANCELLOR said, he had not the good for-
tune of one of the most distinguished of his more imme-
diate predecessors, upon a similar occasion, when he
could boast that he rose to address the Academy the son
of an artist of no mean celebrity—(cheers)—neither could
he attribute to himself that which many on whose behalf
he had to say these few words could appropriate—that
with the art which the
patronage intimately connected
circumstances had
members of this society adorned ;but
they were, either by the possession of galleries,. or by
fell to him
the honour done to the
ac-
cording to usage to acknowledge
hear) din •
—an doing
noblemen and gentlemen present-7
( that upon
placed him in the situation in which €l
so he wished to express his opinioni
ibno pre-
of those who
calcu-
lated to call forth the admirationhan
p pridee
we wished to
were present. (Cheers.)
Pearrt,ait 'might be well that
appreciate the advantages of
vious occasion had there been an exhibition ition more
Academy ; for we should very
turn these thanks to the .
them advantages we confined to
little appreciate those .
us of pictures in their own
those who possessed collections
) Lltivation of art was ono
one not connected with art should be the person to re-
hear.) We were accused
vating the mind.
Elation of shopkeepers, and
if sometimes of being a
that we were a nation
ths4 was meant
by d whose object it was to cultivate and
omfailtlt"ms'ost(Heeffiarcient_emaera, means of humanising and ele-
whose p
commodities, by industry and commerce,
interchange of
but ought
need not shrink from the appellation;
we this—that: the t pursm owe ee ,
not to overlook t .
lose sight of nobler
danger that we might
improve the material welfare of the community, by the
there was a
interests. The poet had ' Saida
1 WI es ; late and soon
i
,f The world s too mile l
Cie4l".% 411 d spending we lay waste
by whom pre-emi.
waste our pow'rs."
-,
If, therefore, there was any Watson

nently the nobler pursuits of literature and art ought to
be cultivated, it was that to which the appellation just
alluded to applied—(hear, hear)—and it was with the
most unfeigned satisfaction we should leain that the
patronage of art was not now confined to monarchs and
to nobles,, but that the manufacturers of Manchester
and Glasgow, the merchants of Liverpool and Belfast,
felt as deep an interest in, and contributed as largely to,
the patronage of works such as adorned those walls, as
the highest in the land. (Cheers.) He felt sure, that
in rendering the thanks of those who had been invited to
that assembly, he might express the hope of all, that
this exhibition, eminent as it was, might yet be but the
precursor of others that might rival, and in time outvie
it—(hear)--and that so, rising as this country had in
commerce, it might not be behind hand in art—(hear,
hear)—a result which would be mainly assisted by that
institution, the prosperity of which he would take the
honour of proposing —namely, " The Royal Academy of
Arts." (Cheers.)
The PRESIDENT, in returning the respectful thanks of
the members of the Academy, would take the opportu-
nity of expressing their acknowledgments, and those of
the professors of the fine arts generally, upon another
ground—acknowledgments due, next to her Majesty, to
more than one enlightened Government. In November
last her Majesty, in the speech from the throne,
addressing the House of Commons, was pleased to
say that the advancement of the fine arts and of
practical science would be readily recognised by the
house as worthy of the attention of a great and
enlightened nation. (Hear, hear.) As this gracious
recommendation was understood to have reference to a
scheme yet to be considered by Parliament, he need not
advert to it further, except to congratulate the friends of
art on so distinct a recognition of its national value and
importance. (Hear, hear,) In connexion with .this
sixb-
ject he now begged to propose the health" Of the noble-
man at the head of her Majesty's Government. (Cheers.)
He presumed not to speak of the consistent public
career in which that noble earl had been so long dis-
tinguished—(hear, hear)—hut he would remind the
assembly that the name of the Earl of Aberdeen had
been quite as familiar to the lovers of art as to the politi-
cal world—(hear, hear)—and that even in early life his
lordship already occupied a prominent place among those
to whom we were indebted for a just appreciation of
Grecian architecture. (Cheers.)
The Earl of ABERDEEN, who was received with much
cheering and with great respect, sai I,—ln acknowledging
the honour which you have conferred upon me, perhaps
I may venture on this occasion to remark that it has
been my happiness for a great many years—very nearly,
indeed, for half a century—to attend these meetings
with scarcely the intermission of a single year. (Hear.)
During a great portion of that period it was my duty
and pleasure annually to return thanks for distinctions
conferred from that chair upon societies over which I
then had the honour to preside ; and, after resigning the
direction of those societies to younger and more compe-
tent hands, I very little expected to be again called upon
to perform this duty in the position in which I am now
placed. (Hear, hear.) Sir, I can only trust that the
interests of art will not suffer in the hands of my
colleagues and myself. (Hear, hear.) On the contrary,
we may perhaps hope, that by our earnest endeavours
we may be enabled to contribute somewhat to assist its
progress. (Hear, hear.) A good beginning has already
been made, to which you have referred; and we have
only to continue in the same course. (Hear, hear.)
I think it is a circumstance full of hope and encourage-
ment, that for .several years the public of this country,
in their appreciation of art, have advanced more rapidly
than the Government and the Parliament itself. (Hear,
hear.) I beg to thank you for the honour which you
have conferred upon me. (Cheers.)
The PRESIDENT next gave the toast of "Success to
the Dublin Exhibition." It would contain many novel-
ties as compared with the Great Exhibition •f 1851 ;
among others a gallery of pictures by the old masters,
including many perhaps but little known. (Hear, hear.)
The committee appointed to superintend the Dublin
Exhibition were probably aware that there was in Ire-
land a small marble statue by Raphael. It was brought
to Ireland by the Earl of Bristol, Bishop of Perry, and
was (at least a few years since) in the collection at
Down-hill. The subject, taken from Allan, was a child
borne
best judges
e s bya dolphin.
tola
1 Twove bn
ee statues
executedonl eitherwer
woy
admittedll by
the or
in part by the hand of Raphael, —one was the Jonah in
a church in Rome, the other was the statue just men-
tioned. A cast of this statue existed at Dresden, where
it was preserved with great care, as it was supposed that
the original was lost ; but the original was still, he be-
lieved, safe in Ireland—(hear)—and it would, he hoped,
form a part of the Dublin Exhibition. (Cheers.)
Lord DIIFFERIN acknowledged the toast, and said he
had every reason to believe that the expectations of the
success of this undertaking would be fully realised.
(Cheers.) He believed that, if possible, even greater
exertions had been made by foreign countries than in the
former instance to contribute to such a successful issue
—(cheers)—and to exhibit so unaccustomed a spectacle
as the wealth of the whole world collected together on
:the Irish soil. (Cheers.)
The toast of "The City of London and the health of
the Lord Mayor" followed, and was duly acknowledged,
the President taking-the opportunity of expressing the
great satisfaction with which the Academy learnt that
it was the intention of the city authorities to adorn the
splendid hall of the Mansion-house with statues by some
of our principal sculptors.
The PRESIDENT next proposed " The Interests of Li-
terature," and selected for the representatives of the
world f letters the Dean of St. Paul's and Mr. C.
Dickens.

The Dean of ST. PAUL'S was ashamed to hear himself
announced as the representative of the literature of the
country in the presence of so many gentlemen of the
highest literary distinction. He could only say, that if
others had reaped greater rewards of fame and distinc-
tion, and the gratitude and admiration of their country,
he could vie with them in the true and genuine love of
letters, which had been to him its own sufficient reward.
(Cheers.) With the love of letters he had ever associ-
ated that of art ; and, if he might presume to speak of
himself, he might say that the first time he fuund him-
self in print was as venturing on a poetical description
of one of the noblest works of Grecian art. (Hear.) It
was his privilege to live under the shadow, and be the
guardian of the greatest work of the greatest master of
the fine arts—helmeant the great work of Sir Christopher
Wren. (Hear.) He was sure he spoke the feeling of
all present in any way connected with literature when he
expressed the hope that the intimate connection, the
friendship, the brotherhood of letters and arts, might
ever be maintained. (Hear.) They had much by which
they could mutually benefit each other--reciprocal coun-
sel and advantage which they might bestow upon each
other. (Hear.) There were certain branches of letters,
all the imaginative branches, in which no one would
succeed who had not—he would not say some faculty,
but some high feeling for art. Without the faculty of
painting by words, striking out in full form the great
scenes of history, Mr. Macaulay would not have been so
great an historian ; and, if their friend opposite (Mr.
Justice Talfourd), and if Bulwer Lytton and Dickens
had not a feeling for art, they would not have written
such tragedies and such novels as they had. (Hear.)
On the other hand, art might, and did, learn a great
deal from literature. It had the noble forms of poetry
to reproduce in colour, the great scenes of history to re-
present in form ; and it had that one great book, which
was the true source and origin of all art, and which the
President had in this exhibition done his part in show-
ing to be inexhaustible. (Hear, hear.) He begged to
return the thanks of those included in the toast, and to
make over to Mr. Dickens the further execution of the
task. (Cheers.)
Mr. DICKENS then addressed the President, who, it
should be mentioned, occupied a largo and handsome
chair, the back covered with crimson velvet, placed just
before Stanfield's picture of the Victory. Mr. Dickens,
after tendering his acknowledgments of the toast, and
the honour done him in associating his name with it,
said that those acknowledgments were not the less heart-
felt because he was unable to recognise in this toast the
president's usual disinterestedness, since English litera-
ture could scarcely be remembered in any place, and
certainly not in a school of art, without a very distinct
remembrance of his own tasteful writings—(cheers)—to
say nothing of that other and better part of himself,
which unfortunately was not visible upon these occasions.
(Renewed cheers.) If, like 'lithe noble Ford the Com-
mander-in-Chief, he (Mr. Dickens) might venture to
illustrate his brief thanks with one word of reference to
the noble picture painted by a very dear friend of his,
which was a little eclipsed that evening by the radiant
and rubicund chair, which the president now so happily
toned down--(laughter)—he would beg leave to say
that, as literature could nowhere be more appropriately
honoured than in that place, so he thought she could
nowhere feel a higher gratification in the ties that bound
her to the sister arts. He ever felt in that place that
literature found, through their instrumentality, always a
new expression, and in a universal language. (Cheers.)
The toast of " The Interests of Science and the Royal
uS
dent
unc
rti ec
ofthy s"
theofollowedn. see ; e
t ya,nt dh
ew
Earla s ac k
of
fo wR g 3 da
nb
dy tbhye
Sir
rr e
Rei
Honour was then done to "The Society of Antique-
tr
hi eeTs
The
a'
next
udt
oti
oft sat
shPtarwte
was
issds,eo,nuTti
a,hteLi
oßourr.di
British
IhnostMan,it
uMt eion," on:
he rendered
the Marquis of Lansdowne responded.
The health of the noblemen and gentlemen who occa-
sionally open their galleries and works of art to the
public was then given as the last toast ; but
The Earl ofldAEwEinanh
drinking the health of the President. (Cheers.) His
profound learning and critical knowledge of art must be
leaveand
the h e
table was swuirteho the
u
t
company would EEnNotrotsoe,
valued
demandheidghall
cheers.)
phepinsrteo.
sesc(eLadsain
buo
yd
ye
• by
re caol iat
inodn andhs uar cbka nn twy eodng
the part of a so
tThheelaPmßeESTlDylirt:ussa_idwhheo
was
sousgolmi euwnahbalteointto enact well
this unexpectedldhieornoluiirm.
seiTthewreaswsatsilal
aploloeltveodf atnotiqpulaitcye
himself in the van of the Spartan armies, and by the
spirit which he infused into them he more than once led
them to victory. In zeal and in the desire to see others
successful, he would willingly resemble Tyrt=s. (Much
cheering.)

After ihis toast, thus acknowledged, the party broke
up.