The Sun.
London, England, 1870-05-18 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 1870.

times from the otherwise imminent peril of being
misapplied moat perniciously. According to the tradi-
tional policy of both the Executive anetLegislature,the
Government of this country is altogether debarred
from participation in any way in an enterprize
partaking to the smallest extent of a commercial
character. Precluded by their, no doubt, conscien-
tious regard for this refined theory of governmental
non-interferenCe, her MAJESTY'S Ministers have, 're-
gretfully it may be, but very firmly and- inexor-
ably, resolved upon abandoning the Alexandra
property to its fate. A decision, in its tam,
immediately involving a really momentous alterna-
tive—so far as good or evil may be thereby applied to
the myriad Londoners destined to be drawn in that
direction by futuie allurements. Enormous good or
enormous evil—in a manner must by necessity—
spring from the decision arrived at, and this forth-
with, in regard to the destination of this once propi-
tious but now most serious'•y imperilled enterprise.
Precisely at this turning point in its history, there
is opportunely set forth by. Mr. FRANCIS FULLER a
propositien of a most ingenious character for the orga-
nisation of an Alexandra Park Tontine and Art Union •
whereby the misapplication t 3 the property of the
most baneful influences may be effectually guarded
against, the beneficial design of the original projec-
tors being more than merely confirmed, being deve-
loped and expanded far beyond their earlier aspi-
rations. What constitutes the chief attraction and
the substantial security of the project thus submitted
to public consideration, is the fact that to every
member of the projected Alexandra Park Tontine
will be secured immediate advantages and privileges
of a kind most acceptable to persons of t tete and in-
telligence, as well as the prospect—the reasonable, it
might be said the c..Ttain prospect - of very consider-
able benefits of a pecuniary character accruing, after
a very moderate lapse of years, the number of
which admits of being very accurately defined. For
the purchase of the property, consisting of exactly
four hundred acres, crowned by the palatial edifice
now adorning the centre of the Park on Muswell
Hill, a sum of £850,000 is now required. That
amount, it is suggested, might be very readily raised
by means of a Tontine, consisting of £l, of £5, and
of £lO shares respectively, so that, in the carrying
out of the projected enterprize, all classes of the com-
munity might he intimately associated together. At
the close of a period of twenty-one years the Park and
the Palace, with all their contents and appurtenances
it is further proposed, shall rest absolutely in
those who shall then, in 1891, be members of the
Tontine—the original members, of course, having by
that time, in the natural course of things, been very
considerably diminished. Remembering that in the
the immediate neighbourhood of the Crystal
Palace, land that, prior to the erection of that
structure, was worth no more than £2OO
an acre, and knowing that that same land now
fetches £3,000 per acre—it cannot, in reason, be
regarded as an exaggerated anticipatory salon-
lation, in regard to the Alexandra Estate, ♦alued
now at £850,000 that in twenty-one years hence
under the like l rospering influences, it will
be worth, at the very least, £2,000,000 ster-
ling! Into the details of Mr. FULLER'S
proposition, we do not feel here, in any way, called
upon to enter—regarding that proposition as a purely
commercial enterprize. Bad we space for the consi-
deration of several of the projector's more original
schemes for the enhancement of the value of the col-
lection intended to be brought together under the
domed roof of the Alexandra Palace, we should be
tempted, however, to expatiate upon their
extraordinary attractiveness, and upon the cer-
tain combination in several of them of in-
struction and entertainment. Instance, for ex_
ample,the intended collection of " British Birds, male
and female, with nest and eggs, and divided into
classes setting forth the friends and foes of the gar-
den and the farm, and the insects on which the insec-
tiverous classes feed, the nature and form of those in-
sects in their various stages of development, and
the plants, fruits, and flowers, which they des' roy !"
Instance, the collection of accurate representatives
of a male and female in the present costume of man
different countries, each pair surrounded by the
ordinary household implements ! Instance another
collection of male and female costumes in England
and other countries, at various periods down to
the present century ! Everything considered, it
will be simply lamentable, if what may thus be
directed wisely to the popular advantage, instruction
and amusement., should bepermitted, through culpal•le
negligence on the part of the very community it is
designed to benefit, to sink into a mere tawdry arena
(upon a gigantic scale) of frivolous and meretricious
entertainments. The Alexandra Palace on Muswell
Hill ought to be a worthypendant, in the North of
London, to that cynosure of the South of Londo 1,
the Crystal Palace at Sydenham.

Yesterday we had convincing proof that all the
utilitarianism of this our iron age, has not rendered
us insensible to the refining influences of ta..te and
knowledge. The attendance at the rooms of the
Society of Arts, under the presidency of Lord HALI-
FAX, showed that the advantages of familiarising the
public with the chefs d'oeuvre of art and
science, are becoming more and more widely
appreciated. The truth is recognised that if our
skilled workmen are to compete successfully
with the dexterous craftsmen of the Continent they
must not be unduly weighted in the race. We pro-
claim with reason the benefits of Free Trade, and
we declare that all England needs in the great com-
petition of nations is a fair field and no favour; but
we forget that too often our workmen do not sturt
fair. • They are weighted by the long accumulated
ignorance and prejudice of their class, the want of
observation, the uncultivated eye, the slow intelli-
gence which belong to those who for generation after
generation plod on with scarcely a thought or in-
terest beyond their daily bread. We cannot cure this
evil by putting on prohibitory duties, or by
withdrawing altogethtr from the competition
in, artistic manufacture and works of taste.
Rather we should endeavour by degrees to refine the
taste and extend the knowledge of our craftsmen,
to educate them, not by book and treatise only, but
by lecture, by illustration, by every means of popu-
lar enlightenment. English men and women are
not naturally deficient in the power of appreciating
beauty in art. For many a long year the dogma
that "The English are rot a musical nation" was
accepted resignedly, but there are probably few
who would venture to repeat this after visiting our
popular concert robins, or standing among the
throngs which fill Exeter Hall on the night of a
favourite oratorio. In the same way the other arts,
and branches of art, which are applicable to indus-
try, only need to be better understood and more

familiarly known-to be prized and cultivated by the
people.
Lord HALIFAX, in his yesterday's address, observed
that the great International Exhibitions of which
1851 was the precursor,
~had assisted materially in
developing the industry of the great prcducing
countries. If those exhibitions had a fault it was
their extent, which bewildered the visitor by the
multiplicity of objects. It had been determined,
the' efore, to have annual international exhibitions of
selected works of fine and industrial art and scien-
tific productions. The first of these is to be held
next spring, and it is, according to the programme
of Lord HALIFAX, to consist of an exhibition of
pottery, woollen fabrics, and educational appliances.
It is intended to alternate in these Exhibitions be-
tween fine arts, applied or not applied to works of
utility, and the several branches of Industrial Art,
until each branch shall have the opportunity cf exhi-
biting its produce. This programme, though less
dazzling than many of its predecessors, is sensible
and practical, and will tend, we may hope, to a dis-
semination of that kind of knowledge of which we
as a nation never admitted the utility until we
recognised the vacuum it left.

THE Government has at length resolved to give
New Zealand some assistance. The Times states
that an
.arrangement has been come to between
the Government and the delegates from
New Zealand, by which Parliament will be asked
to guarantee a loan of £1,000,000, to be raised
by the colony for the purpose of employing
the friendly Maories in road-making and other public
works, and for the promotion of emigration. How-
ever reluctant Earl Granville may be to confess it,
this concession amounts to a decided change of policy.
Hitherto the Colonial Office has refused every request
for assistance from the settlers in New Zealand.
They asked for British troops to beat off the
Maories, for the retention of the single regiment then
in the colony, for a British guarantee on a loan of two
millions—and in all cases Earl Granville's answer has
been the same. The colony, he said, voluntarily
chose self-government, and it must abide by its
decision. Self-government is incompatible with the
active intervention of the Home authorities : if, for
instance, t':e Colonial office despatched troops to
New Zealand, it could not entrust the control of such
a force to the Colonial Ministry, whilst on the other
hand divided authority mustmean ruin ; and if the Eng-
lish Parliament were asked to guarantee a loan, where
would such a principle end ? But these arguments,
however theoretically sound, have given way before
the practical necessity of the case. Earl Granville
now agrees to give half the assistance which,
a little while ago, he ostentatiously refused.
He was asked to guarantee two millions, and
he consents to request Parliament to guarantee
one. The concession will undoubtedly be beneficial
to the colony, and there can be little doubt that the
English Minister is right in making it. It will be
beneficial because the English guarantee will enable
the New Zealanders to borrow at a low rate, whereas
with their own security only they must have 'paid
very high interest. It is perhaps questionable whether
this loan will prove of so much advantage as the re-
tention of the 18th Regiment might have been ; but
the colony is undoubtedly poor, and any gain in the
way of economy must be felt as a substantial
assistance.

Equally clear is it that the Government
has done well in yielding this guarantee.
In the strictly logical sense the former argu-
ments of the Colonial Secretary were, it is true,
quite accurate. The colony had of its own motion
chosen to govern itself, and if it selected the pleasures,
it must also take the responsibilities of self-rule ;
to have a Ministry, a Parliament, a budget, and the
other paraphernalia, whilst England found troops to
carry on war, and guaranteed loans to pay expenses,
would be a wretched farce. Such a division could
never be tolerated. Earl Granville was right in in-
sisting that the transfer of authority should be com-
plete, but he was wrong in demanding that it
should also be sudden. A. time of trouble is
not favourable for developing changes according
to strict rule. Logic and strict right must give way
sometimes before the pressure of actual necessity.
In this case the colonists found themselves in real
danger from a war with a powerful adversary. The
colonial forces had experienced reverses; massacres
had taken place. The local Government felt itself
unequal to the task of restoring peace, and,
with a full confession of previous sins,
it asked the English Ministry for aid. No
doubt it was correct enough of Earl Granville to
answer this appeal by telling the New Zealanders
that they had made their own bed, and must lie on
it ; but the answer was not a generous one. The
more friendly course would have been that which
Earl Granville has now adopted : to meet the
immediate necessity of the case, to help the colonists
out of their peessing needs, and then, when the
young State was in a position to care for itself,
the stricter rule, so pitilessly enfigeed in his lordship's
despatches, would have been quite appropriate.
Unless it is designed to sever the connection with
the colonies altogether, alienate kindred populations,
and create hostile States where now exist friendly
dependencies, it will not do to push on these consti-
tutional changes in such hot haste, and at such
dangerous times.

In the House of Commons yesterday the unsatis-
factory system of marine communication between
France and England was brought forward by Sir
William Gallwey, and gave rise to a short but in-
teresting discussion. The hon. baronet described the
miseries attendant upon the passsage of the Channel,
strongly urged the necessity of obtaining the co-
operation of the French Government, with the view
of mitigating the discomforts and hardships of the
voyage. The motion was withdrawn after Mr.
Lefevre had shown that the Government had not been
indifferent to the importance of the subject. The
next question which came under the notice of the
House was a remarkably interesting one, namely, the
proposed introduction of the commercial element
into the Indian Council of State. Strong
representations were made as to the necessity of ad-
mitting commercial men into that body, in order to
develope the material resources of the empire. On
the other hand, Government, whilst recognising the
feeling of the House on the subject, pointed out that,
by confining the selection of representatives of the
commercial interest to those who were practically
acquainted with Indian trade and commerce, it would
embarrass the choice of the Secretary. of State for
India. The motion was withdrawn, and at ten
minutes to nine the
,House was counted out, a cir
cumstance which hasonly occurred once before dur-
ing the present session.

An exchange of livings has been effected between
the Rev. H. F. Seymour, M.A., rector of Barking,
Essex, and the Rev. H. W. Jermyn, rector of Nettle-
come, Somerset.

The Italian Government will next month des-
patch tAngland a transport for conveying to Naples,
free of all charge, the objects selected for the Maritime
Exhibition.

Miss Annie Machellish, daughter of the Procura-
tor-Fiscal of Argylshire, has been drowned while bathing in
the sea. Her friends were on the beach but unable to
rescue her.

A .report was issued yesierday of the select
committee who have directed their attention to the plaUs
prepared by direction of the House of Commons with a
view to provide additional dining accommodation for
members of that House.

~`C ~ ?

LITERATURE.

Eliza Cook's Poetical Works. Popular edition. Frederick

Warne and Co.

The poetical works of Eliza Cook have at
last been brought within reach of the l_whole circle
of her readers, the million ! Thanks to the enterprise of
the Messrs. Warne and Co., we have them here in the
form of a handsome volume of 624 pages, bound in crimson
and gold, gilt-edged and admirably printed. Comprised
within it, for a really trivial amount, is a complete edition
of Melaia, and of all the lovely lyrics that she more even than
Melaia has built up Eliza Cook's reputation. Her note,
she herself compares in her charming preface (all too
modestly) to the whistle of the woodland robin.
Wherever heard it is certainly as welcome—whether
near the window-sill of the poor town artizan, or
near the hedgerow, or hard by the sylvan path of the
humble cottager. Many and many of her songs are
known by heart, and are sung, and are listened to with
tearful eyes, far and wide throughout the British
dominions. Among patriotic songs there is not one more
inspiriting—we will not except even Thomson's " Rule
Britannia"—than her noble choral chaunt of " The Eng-
lishman." Among songs of the purest home affection,
there is none more exquisite or more heart-stirring in its
tender beauty than hec world famous song• of
songs in celebration of " The Old Arm Chair."
Her " Old Dobbin" and " Old Pincher" are as immortal
as Mary Mitford's "Mayflower," or as William Cowper's
" Puss" and "Tiny." Nothing is too lowly or common, too
trivial, or too terrible for celebration by her in harmo-
nious stanzas—the old farm gate, and the surgeon's knif
the acorn and the cricket, buttercups and daisies, th
grandfather's stick and the greenwood faggot, her old
straw hat or her new red shoes, the dew-drop and the
dead leaves—she can extract sweetness from them, one
and all, with a ready alchemy, like that which enables
the bee to draw honey alike from the cactus bloom and the
nettle blossom. Remembering all which, those among
her readers who have been unable until now to treat
themselves to a complete edition of their favourite
songstress will gladly and gratefully avail themselves of
the present opportunity—with this dainty volume at once
gladdening their homes and adorning their bookshelves.
The Photographic Art Journal.—We have received the
first three numbers of this journal, which is especially de-
voted to the photographic interest, and we doubt not that
much good may be effected by its affording a means of
noting all improvements in the science in a descrip-
tive and instructive manner. Each number con-
tains three engravings of a very superior character,
illustrating new methods of photography, of which
able notes are given. There are also interesting
articles on other matters connected with the art. The
introduction of this new journal is a step in the right
direction, and from the manifest ability, conciseness,
and neatness with which it is compiled, we should anti-
cipate that it will speedily establish itself in a high position
as a special periodical.