The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-21 00:00:00

ARTISTS' BENEVOLENT FUND.

The anniversary festival of the Artists' Benevolent
Fund was held on Saturday at the Freemasons' Tavern,
Great Queen-street. It was announced thai the chair
would be taken by the Earl of Yarborough, but his
lordship was obliged to leave town on business of im-
portance, and at the last moment Mr. Rowland G. Al-
ston, late M.P. for Hertfordshire, undertook the duties of
chairman. The Artists' Benevolent Fund was established
in 1810, and obtained a royal charter of incorporation
in 1827. It consists of two separate and distinct
branches—the Artists' Annuity Fund and the Artists'
Benevolent Fund, the latter of which extends relief to
the widows and orphans of artists. During the past
year a sum of 7231. 15s. has been paid to forty-nine
widows ,of artists, and a further sum of 1471. 10s. to
thirty-one orphans. The total receipts for the past year,
arising from subscriptions, donations, and the dividend
upon 21,0001. stock, amounted to 1,4381. 17s. 3d., and
after all disbursements a balance of about 2501. remained
in the hands of the bankers. The company present
comprised Sir W. C. Ross, R.A. ; Messrs. David Ro-
berts, R.A. ; Richard H. Solly, F.R.S. ; George Dodd,
M.P. ; E. W. Cooke, A.R.A. ; Henry Weekes, A.R.A.;
J. F. Willmore, A.R.A. ; Captain S. H. Lee i • Messrs.
W. F. Beadon, J. Henderson, J. H. Mann, John Dick-
enson, John Auldjo, H. Twining; Dr. Thompson, Dr.
Rewland, &c., and about 80 other gentlemen. The enter-
tainment and wines appeared to give general satisfaction.
A musical party, under the direction of Mr. J. L. Hat-
ton, gave zest and variety to the festive assemblage, and
the duties of toastmaster were, as usual, efficiently dis.
charged by. Mr. Harker. In proposing the usual intro-
ductory toasts, the Chairman paid a well-merited and
happily-timed compliment to the Prince Consort, for his
judicious and liberal patronage of the arts in this country,
and was induced to augur well from this circumstance
for the future prosperity and encouragement of native
talent. The Chairman then gave the toast of the even-
ing, "Prosperity to the Artists' Benevolent Fund." He
believed there was no institution of the metropolis more
peculiarly deserving of the pahterze and support of all
w heh
a the claimsn
w tohfe artistshonour u p
upon
loversadvocating. o ar t thanlndependently that
fwthelle kweno°rldnf
tahtueidriesduptphoerisitot was well
rs
back, that the more the arts by all those who had
the more the people were r
civilized,eortaoh rnmdeoethepromoted
thousandumaazfeods
,ynt
fostered
d
elevated, and the more the interests of society in ge
re
ad
the promoted. The Secretary Mr. Thistleton,
the list of Contributions.
.received during the. evening' which, includingguineas, amounted to 3501. Some other,"
toasts the sum of .
the,
were afterwards given from the chair, and
her Majest 's annual donation of 100
company separated about eleven o'clock.

THE CERTIFICATE DIITY.—On Saturday the bill "No.
to repeal the certificate duty of attorneys, &c., was
Printed. It is proposed to have a registry of attorneys,
and for giving a false address or acting without a certi-
ficate to rule an offender 501.

-~----~J

FIRE AT WINDSOR CASTLE.

WINDSOR, SUNDAY Evmaim.
Late last night a fire of the most alarming character
broke out in Windsor Castle, the residence, at this mo-
ment, of her Majesty, his Royal Highness the .Prince
Consort, and the royal children, which at one time
threatened to involve in one common ruin the whole of
that ancient and majestic edifice and its vast and varied
interior appointments and decorations, all of them of
singular interest and magnificence, and which, as it is,
has resulted in the partial destruction of a valuable por-
tion of it.
The part of the structure destroyed forms the north.
eastern angle of the castle, and is known as the Prince
of Wales's Tower, which commands an extensive view
for:many miles round of the richly diversified landscape,
extending beyond and including the Home Park, the
Slopes, and the terraces, gardens, and pleasure grounds
to the east, in which the Royal Family are wont to take
daily exercise and recreation during their residence here.
This tower consists of a low basement story, and im-
mediately above that the royal dining-room, an apart-
ment of elegant and lofty proportions, and decorated in
a style of unusual magnificence. This room is flanked
on the one hand by an apartment of an octagonal form
- constituting the principal part of the Brunswick Tower
—and on the other by the Red Drawing-room, all on
the same floor. Immediately over the royal dining-room
is a small suite of apartments, consisting of a sitting and
two bed rooms, which have been hitherto occupied by
Mr. Norton, the clerk of the kitchen, and one of his as-
sistants, and it was in the vicinity of one of these rooms,
if not in one of them, that the fire first manifested itself:
The Queen, His Royal Highness Prince Albert, ac-
companied by their Royal Highnesses the Prince of
Wales, the Princess Royal, Prince Alfred, the Princesses
.Alice, Helena, and Louisa, and Prince Arthur, arid their
suite, left Buckingham Palace yesterday afternoon,
about half-past three o'clock, for Windsor Castle, which
they reached within an hour afterwards, travelling by
the Great Western Railway. The Duchess of Welling-
ton, Lady Caroline Barrington, the Hon. Eleanor Stan-
ley, the Hon. Beatrice Byng, Lord CaMoys, Colonel
Grey, Major-General terkeley Drummond, Colonel
Bouverie, the Hon. Captain de Ros, and Mr. Gibbs,
composed the royal suite on the occasion.
About half-past nine o'clock, Colonel Biddulph, the
Master of the Household, and some of the ladies and
gentlemen of the Court, who had dined in the octagonal
room in the Brunswick Tower, observed smoke issuing
from the walls in the vicinity of the fire-place, accom-
panied by a peculiar crackling noise._ An alarm was in-
stantly given, and Mr. Turnbull, the clerk of the works,
and several officers and 'servants of the household, im-
mediately summoned to the spot. On proceeding to the
floor over the dining-room they observed masses of smoke
issuingfrom the floor andskirting-boards of one of the bed-
rooms occupied by Mr. Norton, which in a few moments
more became so intolerably dense and suffocating that
they were unable to remain. They then retired into a
large square lobby, on the same floor, and immediately
contiguous, from whence also they were soon driven
by the immense volume of smoke which now poured
out of the rooms leading into it, and circulated through
all the adjacent apartments. It ought to be here stated
that a series of fire-pipes, constantly charged with a
plentiful supply of water, are stationed at frequent
intervals, all round the various lobbies and stair-
cases throughout the interior of the Castle. The water
for this service is derived exclusively from a large tank
or reservoir, capable of holding a million gallons, which
was erected for this special purpose a few years ago on
the top of Cranburne-hill, about four miles from the
Castle, and 1w kept constantly supplied by means of a
large steam engine, which raises the water from the
Thames at a place called Datchet-lane.
The next step taken was to connect the hose with the
various fire pipes in and about the Prince of Wales'
Tower, which was promptly done, and a volume of
water was poured into the rooms from which the smoke
was seen to issue. On ascending to the floor immediately
over that occupied by Mr. Norton, and which consisted
of a series of small rooms, also used as dormitories by
some of the servants of the household, all access to the
several apartments was wholly impossible, so completely
were they enveloped in the thick cloud of smoke which
had found its way from below. Up to this time no
flame had been observed; but shortly afterwards a small
volume was seen issuing from a short narrow passage
leading from the smaller of the bedrooms occupied by
Mr. Norton, and which for a long time maintained a
complete mastery over all the efforts made to subdue it.
The officers and soldiers of the second Life Guards, and
of the first battalion of Scotch Fusiliers, stationed Wind-
sor, now appeared, and with the whole available force of
the Windsor police, under the direction of Mr. Superinten-
dent Eager, and the local fire brigade, lent the most valu-
able assistance in subduing the conflagration which threa-
tened destruction to all around. His Royal Highness
Prince Albert had been early apprised of the catastrophe,
and was immediately in attendance consulting with Col.
Biddulph, Col. Phipps, and other officers of the house-
hold, as to the best means of averting the impending de-
struction. Finding that the interior and exterior appli-
ances for mastering the fire were wholly unequal to the
task, it was deemed advisable to dispatch a telegraphic
message to Mr. Braidwood, of the London Fire Brigade
to command his immediate attendance with a number of
engines and men proportioned to the emergency. Im-
mediately on the arrival of this communication, that
active and experienced officer started for the Waterloo
terminus of the South-Western Railway with two pow-
erful engines, one from the Watling-street, and the other
from the Farringdon-street stations, with ten men, five
to each engine, selected from the London Fire
.Brigade.

There they forind that a serious delay would arise before
the necessary arrangements could be made for dispatch-
ing a train with them to Windsor, and they pushed on

to the Nine Elms station, whence after some little time,
they were conveyed by a pilot engine at the greatest
possible speed to their destination, which they reached
about two o'clock. • By this time, the fire which had
been rapidly circulating through the various floors in
each of the stories from the dining-rooms upwards, had
reached the ceiling immediately below the roof, and was
• .

blazing out of some of the windows in the adjoining
rooms. It had also communicated with the splendid
ceiling of the royal dining-room from the floor above, of
which it was making appalling havoc. By a dexterous
movement on the part of the London fire brigade, and
immediately on their arrival, the burning ceiling of the
upper story was effectually cut away, by which means
the roof was wholly preserved, and the flames kept
within the walls. The windows in many places were
now broken by stones purposely thrown from without
to admit the hose of the engines, which had been

drawn up outside, and by dint of exertions on the
part of the metropolitan and local firemen; and an
abundant supply of water, the flames were gra-
dually got under, but not before a considerable portion
of the ceiling of the dining room, and the floors,
ceiling, and furniture of the apartments above had been
destroyed. All communication with the adjacent parts
of the Castle was also effectually cut off, by tearing up
the floors and removing the furniture, a service in which
the officers and soldiers of the Life Guards and Fusiliers

engaged with the most praiseworthy zeal and effect, and
by this means the conflagration was strictly confined to
a comparatively narrow circle in the extreme corner of
the building in which it originated.
It has been said that shortly after the discovery of
the fire her Majesty left the Castle and proceeded to
Frogmore, her Majesty, however, did not leave
the Castle. On the contrary, she remained there during
the whole of the night, and, though she could not but
feel considerable alarm on such occasion, it is stated that

she evinced throughout the same remarkable presence of
mind and courage which she has more than once shown
in the presence of danger.
The origin of the disaster is as yet wholly matter of
conjecture ; but it is most generally assigned, by those
competent to form a judgment in such a case, from their
experience and professional pursuits, to the overheating
of a flue. At all events, that it had its rise in accident

is undoubted. At present it would be idle to attempt
to form anything like an accurate estimate of the damage
done. It may be sufficient to state that it will amount to
nothing like between 80,000/. and 100,000/., the sum stated
in the newspapers of to-day. The whole of the magnificent

furniture in the royal dining-room was removed without

o rto
fi oona
ko f
etl
ah
be
ocr
ae i
tl ceiling
doefe
otrhaatte
da part_
wood and mortar on the floor beneath, whilst the water
gminojelurnd,tyihw;ashbiufcahtllarnianirsngisaedPnd lies a shapeless mass of charred
poured into the apartments above, for the purpose of
extinguishing the flames, has continued percolating
through the remainder of the ceiling in showers during
the day. The exterior walls of the tower, however, re-
main perfectly intact, and any person looking at that
part of the structure from without to-day can discover
little or no trace of the conflagration which raged within
for eight hours during the previous night.
Happily, the accident originated in an extreme corner
of the stately edifice. Had it been otherwise, the result
must have been melancholy and diastrous in the
extreme.

occurred at Almondbur
story. It appears.
theiobeautiful
iPyEplewhat remarkable character
last an elopement of aso I.•—vn Sunday evening
shire domesticated Y. Miss Fanny Battye, aged 22,
Batty; Esq. , J.p
,accomPlished daughter of B. N. R.
of Fenay Lodge, is the heroine of the
that Miss Fanny, who real York-
is a
as well as accomplished lady, occa-
these ()ma • Huddersfield a shopping• On one of
happened to
occasions towards the close of last summer, she
visit the Joseph Brook,
shop of Mr.
book-
seller and
b stationer, in Westgate, where she was served
ila young shopman whose name is Charles Edward
Heymoux'. Being leap year, rumour states that she
availed herself of the traditional privilege of her sex, and
cast a " sheep's eyes" at our Adonis, which was followed
by the "accidental squeezing of his hand as he gave
her a packet of envelopes. Young Charles immediately
detected, and as promptly reciprocated these telegraphic
indications of love. Miss Fanny's visits at the shop
from thence became more frequent until at length suapi•
cions were entertained by the other shopmen, which
were embodied in whispers that ultimately reached the
councils at Fenay Lodge, and the result was that young
' Seymour was removed to Fa shop in London. Time
rolled on, and it was thought that the intimacy, which
appeared' to have been ripening into love, had been
finally broken off. On Sunday evening last, there being
ili
I INN en Tt
andtE N,,,,
~
no evening service in Almondbury parish church, Miss
Fanny proceeded as usual on foot to her devotions at
the workhouse, where the vicar holds an evening sir•
vice. After service was over she returned by a rather
ddredoveo
circuitous route homewards. On arriving at Fenay
, Bridge, a cab was standing, a mysterious-looking person
thopeendedoerthweasdocolro,s?Md,isasnFd atnhneypabrory
dersfield Railway Station, where young
awaiting her arrival. - The party then Charles vras
to Leeds, and from thence by the 2.3 intoi
tt
oh et b-vehicle
e ud:
proceededli by train
train on the Midland line to London.°liclaYmnrnffhl
the metropolis they proceeded to On
arriving
i
where a clergyman in St. Pancras Church,
was attendance,who immediate)
united them together for ,4 be
better and for worse."

V--- '---,---C,'Z--1-..-s'---- - G7c---=-------c___
-••-s.

,-'

DAILY WEATHER TABLE.

MONDAY, MARCH 21, 1853.

State of the wind and weather at each of the following
places at nine o'clock on Saturday morning. The stations
are arranged in order of latitude.
LIMERICK—E.,_ calm—cloudless. frost.
MULLINGAR— E. gentle breeze—partially cloudy.
HASTINGS—N.E_,_. fresh breeze—partially cloudy.
SOUTHAMPTON—N., strong breeze—.cloudless.
FOLKESTONE—N., fresh breeze—overcast.
T UNBRlDGE—N._,_calm—partially cloudy.
13 ASINGSTOKE—N.W., gentle breeze—partially. cloudy.
GREENWICH—N.E., gentle breeze— partially cloudy.
STnooD—N.E., gentle breeze—partially cloudy.
SWINDON—S.., fresh breeze—cloudless.
CAMBRIDGE—N., gentle breeze—partially cloudy.
Yitrocourir - W., gentle breeze—snow.
The returns from the follo'wing places indicate the state
Qf the weather on Friday morning at nine o'clock : •
SOUTHAMPTON—N., strong breeze—overcast.