The Sun.
London, England, 1846-07-07 00:00:00

OF PICTURES.

The sale of the fine collection of pictures by the old mas-
ters, the property of Mr. W. Buchanan, took place yester-
day, at the rooms of Messrs. Christie and Manson. The col-
lection consisted of 67 subjects, mostly of gallery size, of
which the following were considered the finest specimens,
and were eagerly competed for :—" Christ curing the blind,"
by Ludovico Caracci, and its companion, " Christ raising the
widow's son," by Agostino Caracci, were sold for 4,000
guineas. These splendid pictures were painted for the Gins-
tiniani palace at Rome, where they remained until 1806,
when they were purchased for a large sum by Lucien Bo-
naparte; they were subsequently sold by him to the ex-
Queen of Etruria, from whose son, the Duke ofLucca, Mr. Bu-
chanan purchased them. The " Noli me Tangere," ofFrederico
Baroccio, well known throughout Europe, from the engrav-
ing by Raphael Moyhen, sold for 560 guineas. The portrait
of Justus Lipsias, painted by Rembrandt in 1644, the same
year in which he painted his celebrated picture of the Syn-
dics at Amsterdam, and the best period of the master, sold
for 700 guineas. The " Massacre of the Innocents," painted
by Nicholas Poussin, for the Borghese palace at Rome, and
subsequently in Lucien Bonaparte's collection, sold for 320
guineas. The " Return from Egypt," painted by P. P.
Rubens for the Jesuits' church at Antwerp, and one of
the few pictures that escaped the fire by lightning, which
destroyed the roof of that church, sold for 360 guineas.
This picture was formerly in the possession of M. Danoot,
banker at Brussels, at whose sale it fetched 20,000
francs. " St. John and the Lamb," a small picture by
Murillo, recently brought from Spain, fetched 240 gui-
neas ; and another by the same master, painted for the
Franciscan Convent at Seville, representing monks visiting
Pope Gregory IX., 285 guineas. An Italian Landscape,
full of character, painted by Sir Nicholas Bercham for
Sir Kenelm Digby, a well-known patron of the tine arts in
the time of Charles 1., sold for 420 guineas. The portrait of
Madame Jacondi, of Florence, by Leonardo da Vinci, for-
merly in the collection of Sir T. Baring, and well known in
this country as " Leonardo's Flora," sold for 640 guineas.
The Holy Family, with Elizabeth and St. John, a beautiful
composition, painted a tempera by Bernardino Luini, and
formerly in the Zanini Collection at Milan, sold for 510
guineas. " Early Morning," a fine landscape by Gainsbo-
rough, 360 guineas. An Interior, by Adrian Ostade, with
two groups of card players and smokers, 560 guineas. "La
Vierge aux Roses," the well-known picture by Titian, for-
merly in the collection of Mr. W. Y. Ottley, and purchased
by him in Italy, whilst the French army was at Rome, 240
guineas. An Alpine pass, with figures and cattle, by Ni-
cholas Bercham, 330 guineas. A " Bouquet of Flowers,"
finely painted by Jan Van Huysum, 145 guineas. A portrait
by Titian of Henry 111. of France, at the time of his visit
to Venice, 140 guineas. St. Nicholas-day, by Jan Steen,
formerly in the collection of Mr. Walsh Porter, sold for 190
guineas. The other pictures fetched equally high prices.

JOHN TAWELL'S CONFESSION.

- - -
It will be recollected that John Tawell was executed for
the murder of Sarah Hart, of Salt-hill, at Aylesbury, now
nearly eighteen months ago, and that the subject of the con•
fession of the murderer, which was placed in the hands of
the Rev. Mr. Cox, the chaplain of the county gaol, just be-
fore his execution, and which the Rev. Gentleman has con-
tinually refused to lay before the magistrates of the county,
has been brought before the bench at every subsequent
quarter sessions. Various efforts have been made to induce
Mr. Cox to lay the document in question before the magis-
trates, but without success. At the last Easter sessions the
following resolution, upon the motion of Dr. Lee, seconded
by Mr. J. P. Derrin, was carried by a majority of exactly
two to one :—" That the chaplain be required to lay on the
table at the next (Midsummer) quarter sessions, any
written document received from John Tawell previously
to his execution." The chaplain, who was present
during the discussion which then took place, admitted
that a solemn promise had been made by him to
John Tawell not to give up possession of the document
in question ' • and further assured the magistrates that,
" whatever the consequences might be, nothing on earth
should ever induce him to part with the statement." At the
Midsummer Sessions, which were held on Thursday last,
the subject was again introduced, by Dr. Lee inquiring
of Mr. Acton Tindal, the clerk of the peace for the
county, if the Rev. Mr. Coi. had laid the document upon
the table, relating to John Tawell, agreeably to the
resolution which was carried in April last. Mr. Tindal
having replied in the negative, Dr. Lee strongly ani-
madverted upon the uncourteous conduct of the chap-
lain, expressing his determination to propose a mo-
tion for the purpose of bringing the subject to a
final issue at the next sessions. It having been
elicited, however, that Mr. Tindal, as clerk to the
magistrates, had not officially communicated the nature of
the resolution to Mr. Cox, in consequence of instructions to
that effect not having been given to him by the bench, Dr.
Lee then gave notice that he should submit the following
motion at the ensuing Michaelmas Sessions, in September
next :—" That the clerk of the peace be instructed to com-
municate to the Rev. Mr. Cox the decision of the magistrates
upon his conduct with reference w the statement delivered
by John Tawell to Mr. Sheriff, the gaoler; and by Mr.
Sheriff to the Rev. Mr. Cox, the chaplain of the gaol, that
the magistrates fully expected that the Rev. Mr. Cox would
in consequence of
have delivered up this statement to them,
the request, or decision, to that effect, as made by the ma-
jority of the magistrates present at the Easter Quarter-Ses-
sions; and that they consider his conduct, in still with-
holding that document, has been uncourteous and even con-
tumacious towards them." It is not expected that the Rev.
Mr. Cox, who was not present on Thursday last, will consent
to give up the document, after his determined and emphatic
refusal to do so at the Easter county sessions, held in April
last. Hovvaver, thus the affair rests for the present.

ST. MAEYLEIIONE BANK FOR SAVINGS, 76, WELLUECK.
STREET.—Established July 5, 1830.—Comparative State-
ment of progress, at specified periods, during the last seven
years.

Open Deposit
Accounts.

Sums iuvested with Na-
ItionalDebteonimissioners

On July 5, 1840 ...
„ „ 1841 ...
„ „ 1842 ...

77 77 1843 ...

It 1844 ...I
f 9
~ „ 1845 ...

1846 ...

12,445
12,881
13,100
13,820
14,638
15,724
16,729
J. FINNEY, Se,

£243,469
260,852
275,072
305,383
340,509
356,265
346,977
;retary and Actuary.

A SHOWER OF FROGS !—During the heavy thunder-
storm of last week a shower of frogs fell from one of the sur-
charged clouds over the Humber; several dropped on the
decks of vessels navigating the river, and a portion of the
coast near Killingholme Lights was, for a time, covered by
myriads of these strange arrivals.—Hull Packet.
THE LIVERPOOL BANKS.—The dividends of the Liver-
pool banks are as follows ;—Liverpool Banking Company, for
the half-year ending the 30th ult., 7/. per cent. per annum ;
Union, at the rate of eight per cent. per annum ; Royal
Bank, 5/. per flare.

MALT DUTY.
The following are extracts from the evidence giv 911
by Charles Barclay, Esq., before the Select CommittAV
of the House of Lords, appointed to inquire into the'
burthens affecting real property (which evidence has;
just been issued by order of Parwtment):—
" Charles Barclay, Esq., called in and exa mined.
" You are well. acquainted with that open ation of the
malt duty?—l am.
g:eat dimi
- eu
"Do you think the malt duty causes a
ba 7
Lion in or restricts very much the demand tor . rley
the
To a Email degree, I presume, it must, by incre.lsing
price.
" Supposing the malt duty to be entirely talk.'n off,
could you give any idea of the diminution in the prlt.'e of
, beer that would be produced?—Yes, it would be a bt4ll.-
penny a quart; a quart now'sellingfor
" You are speaking of a particular kind of beer ?•-•
Yes, porter ; it is the common drink of London.
" Beer, of course, almost amounts to a necessity with
the mass of the population 7—The common (Irak of
London is porter, which is sold at 3id. a quart.
" In consequence of the reduction pf a halfpenny Rey'
quart, you imagine there would be a eGnsiderably i.ri"
creased consumption of porter ?—I should not call it
considerable, there would be an increase.
" Can you give any idea what that increase would
amount to? No; but it may be estimated, because, in
the year 1829, the beer duty was taken off of 10s. a
barrel, and there,was a considerable increase upon that
occasion in the consumption in London.
" What was the diminution per barrel when the duty
was taken off ? It was 12s. ; the duty had been only

103., and we took off 12s.
"What would that be in the quart ?--A penny.
" That was in the year 1829 ?—Yes.
" It came into operation in the year 1830 ?—Yes.
" Was there any great difference in the consumption
between the year 1829 and the year 1830 ?—I cannot;
tell you upon any great scale. I can tell you as far as
my own brewhouse is concerned ; I think it was one-
third more.

" Therefore do you draw the conclusion, that if the
reduction of a penny per quart increased the demand
by one-third, a reduction of a half-penny would increase
it one-sixth ?—lt is a lair inference ; but when I look at
the return of the malt duty Ido not see how that increase
could be made up.
" Are you not aware that the malt duty has not in-
creased in proportion to the general increase of the
population?—lt is worse than that, because I hold in
my hand a return of the malt duty since 1837; and I
see the duty charged was 5,500,000 quarters in 1837;
and in 1844 it is only 4,600,000 quarters.
" To what do you attribute the falling off of the malt
duty 7—First of all, beer is almost entirely exploded
from the tables of gentlemen's families. I remember
30 years since there was strong ale and bottled stoat at
dinner, and now it is hardly ever seen, and there is no
3,000 or 4,000 gallons of October ale brought into our
cellars. I have a cellar made for that purpose, but there
are now only three or four barrels of beer in it, and
little porter. Then another thing is the price of wine.
I was talking to a person who is a great maltster, and he
was speaking of the custom of his family, whiclilis very
general ; they drink wine instead of beer—Marsala, and
all those cheap wines. Then there is coffee ; and the:e
is in every public-house now soda-water and ginger-beer.
andvarious other liquids. The people are certainly a so-
berer set, take them altogether. They do not drink so much
beer; they drink other things. I do not know whether your
lordships were aware of the extra tax thatwas laid on
barley at one time, in the year 1803, when the malt duty
was put on the last time. Every quarter of malt paid
a duty of 345. Bd., from which three barrels and a half
of beer were brewed, paying a duty of 10s. per barrel.
Thus the whole duty of malt and beer on a quarter of'
barley up to the year 1816 was 31. 9s. Bd. per quarter.
" Then the present duty is about one-third the ante-
cedent duty, taking the beer and malt together ?—Yee,
it is now 21s. Bd.
" But the consumption, instead of keeping pace with
the reduction of the duty, on the contrary, has rather
diminished ; and that, you think, has been from the
causes you have stated ?—I imagine those to be the
causes. Mr. Goulburn has often asked me about it, and
I never could account for it in any other way.
"In your opinion, who pays the malt duty ? Does it
fall solely on the consumer of beer, or does it fall upon
the brewer and the farmer ?—I should imagine upon tile
consumer of beer.

" Entirely ?—Yes, I think so.
" You said that if foreign barley were admitted you
should make use of it ; why would you make use of it ?
—Because I imagine we should get it cheaper.
" Have you made any calculation to what extent you
would be likely to get foreign barley, of the same
quality, at a cheaper rate ?—I have not. I have upon
wheat imagined the difference, but not barley, but I
should say, 3s. or 4s.
" Of the same quality ?—Yes, I should think so ; be-
cause my calculation is, that wheat will be about 7s. a
quarter cheaper in consequence of the alteration of
the law.

" You are aware that the proposed alteration is a re-
duced duty for the next three years, and perfectly free
trade afterwards ; do you apply your observation to the
perfectly free trade or the intermediate stage ?—Per-
fectly free trade.
" What do you call the present price of wheat ?--4
believe it is about 58s.

" Then it might come down to about 51s. ?—Yes.
" Can you state at all what are the relative qualities
of foreign barley and of the barley which you at present
buy for the use of your house ?—I have seen it; but my
son, who is now the manager of the brewery, spoke of it
as being quite as good as some of the home-grown
samples.
" You are aware that maltsters giving bond for the
paysnent of their duties are allowed eighteen months'
credit now for those duties ; in the event of their selling
within eighteen months, do they not obtain a supposed
return of the duty which they have not paid?—A great
portion of the maltsters are supplied with capital from
that cause.

" That is, in fact, an introduction of so much Govern,
went capital in aid of the private capital of those indi-
viduals?—Yes. _ _

•
" Your great establishment is insured is it not?—Yes.
" Have you any objection to state to what amount?--
I suppose about 300,0001. or 400,000/.
" Do you think that the great London brewers would
be benefited, or otherwise, by a repeal of the malt duty ?
—I should think they would not be benefited, because we
must lower our prices; and, as a matter of trade, you.
take everything at a per tentage; therefore, if we are to
sell a barrel of beer for 275. instead of 335., it would be
no benefit to us.
" Would it not let in a large competition of smaller
dealers ?—No ; they cannot beat us. At the time that
the duty was taken off beer, when Mr. Goulburn brought
in a Bill to throw the trade open, I believe my, neigh-
bours hardly believed me in the House when .1 got up
and expressed my satisfaction at the measure, and said
that we were not at•all afraid of those beer-shops. The
effect of it was with us comparatively trifling. Titre
was a sum of money lost, but nothing to signify.
" How would it be with the great maltsters; would it
be for their interest to repeal the whole of the duty?—l
do not know that it would. The reason I should give
is this—That the duty increasing the price of the malt
gives a greater power to the great capitalist. There-
fore, the little maltsters would lose the benefit which
has been mentioned, of having capital supplied them by
the duty; and the great maltsters would not have the
advantage which they get from their capital.
" You are of opinion that repealing the malt duty
would be a great loss to the revenue, and that that lose
would not be compensated by a sufficient advantage to
the consumers of beer in the country ?—That is my de-
cided opinion.
" Do you generally purchase the barley, and turn it
into malt, or do you allow your maltster to purchase for
you ?—We use about 120,000 quarters of malt, rather
more, and we buy above 30,000 in the market ; all the
rest is made by our agents, and we have persons in
various parts of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Hertfordshire, to
purchase barley and to make malt.
" Do they buy barley for you, subject to your ap-
proval ?--Ne ; we trust to our agents. They buy the
very best description they can get. They have a com-
mission of 2s. a quarter for making and for their at•
tendance.

The only barley that comes at all for consumption
into the great breweries is the best class barley ?—I
think generally so.
" Is that owing mainly to tho amount of the duty
which is paid upon malt, which would press so muck
more heavily on the inferior kind than upon the better
kind ?—Yes. I have stated, and I believe it to be so,
that inferior barley would not bear a heavier duty."

HERTFORD.—A NEW USE HAS BEEN SUGGESTED FOS
THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.—A child was accidentally
drowned in the New River at Ware on Wednesday, and oit
the body being recovered the usual means were employed tc
restore animation. The little sufferer was revived sufficiently
to recognise his friends, hut soon afterwards expired. lii
reference to this a correspondent of the local paper sug-
gests that " had the surgeon been called earlier the chances
of perfect restoration of the patient would of course have
been proportionately increased ; but the purpose of my ad-
dressing you, Mr. Editor, is to call the attention of :the
faculty to a resource of the highest importance in all cases
of suspended animation from drowning, apoplexy,° or
phisaxation, which is that of properly-directed cur-
rents of galvanism, easily to be derived from the tele-
graphic conductors at every station, if persons attached to
the establishment would humanely consent. Dr. Boditl, of
Paris, has by recent trials of galvanism restored persons pro-
nounced by the most intelligent medical men perfectly deed;
all previous attempts at resuscitation—such as warmth, fric-
tion, the appropriate administration of carbonate of ammo-
nia (a most efficient stimulus in such cases) proving ineffec-
tual. It is, therefore, desirable that our medical professors
take a note of this discovery, and lose no time in endeavour-
ing to arrange with the telegraphic directors, that they shall
be at liberty at each station to have the conducting wires,
and apply them to patients in cases requiring this kind of
electricity. Such an applicaticu of the telegraphs will far
exceed iu utility the working of the pendulums, and 'add
another triumph to the discover of the important means o
transmitting to an immeasurable distance with the velocity
of lightning, thus verifying the observation of Dr. Franklin,
when asked the utility of a new discovery—" What dollyou
expect from a new born child ?"

A CAB-DRIVER KlLLED.—Yesterday morning, about
two o'clock, a cab was overturned in the Hampstead-road
near Chalk Farm-lane, by running on a bank by the road..
side, and the cab-driver was pitched from his seat into the,
road, and killed instantaneously. The poor fellow was found
lying with the shaft of the cab resting upon him, and he di&
not move after be was discovered. it is supposed that ho
was returning from setting down a fare at Hampstead, =ft
that having fallen asleep, the horse, which was a blind one,
ran Oa to the bank.
FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE LEEDS AND THIRSK
ws.v.-On-Tuesday morning a man named Russell web timid
dentally killed by a fall of earth at Kirskill, where a 1ar.50
hill is being removed, to make the embankment across MO
valley of the Whade. A great number of men are agog,
on the spot, -but no one else suffered serious injury but
ceased, who was so much bruised by the falling eartirtbat he,
survived only a few moments. Russell was 4,113.1d09-as
man and manned.—Lieds inteiligosar.