The Sun.
London, England, 1848-01-20 00:00:00

SOCIETY OF ARTS.

The seventh ordinary meeting of the Society of
Arts was held yesterday evening. W. F. Cooke,
Esq., vice-president in rotation. The proceedings
were more than usually interesting, as a large and
valuable collection of ancient Greek vases, the property
of Dr. Harding, was exhibited.

Mr. SCOTT-RUSSELL, the secretary, read a paper
from Dr. Harding, giving an account of the discovery
of the vases. They were all excavated in the year
1846, from tombs near Hexamili, a village situated
between Corinth and its ancient port of Cenchroe, and
within three miles of the spot where the Ismean
games were celebrated. The mode of operation was
as follows : the ground within the site of
the ancient cemetery was bored at random
with augurs seven feet in length, and when
the covering of a tomb was reached, the su-
perincumbent soil was removed, and a hole made in
the sandstone flag covering the chamber, and the con-
tents extracted. The tombs were from four to six
feet beneath the surface, and the greatest number of
vases found in any one of them was fourteen.
Mr. Bitten, of the British Museum, made some
interesting remarks on the vases exhibited. He
divided them into different classes, according to their
antiquity. The most ancient were of a light yellow
clay, with the figures painted in a maroon colour, and
the accessories occasionally marked with a crimson
pigment. These when found in Italy were usually
called Egyptian, Carthaginian, or Phoenician ; and it
was interesting to trace them in the present instance
to a Corinthian origin. They were probably about
660 8.C., and it was remarkable that in that year two
artists flying from Corinth introduced the picture art
into Tuscany. The second class, which would also, if
found in Italy, be classed as Egyptian, was of a pale
red clay, with the figures in black and the accessories
in purple, the details being scratched in with a graver;
the age probably-'rota the fifth to the middle of the
fourth century bu'ore Christ. In the third class
the figures were of the red colour of the clay, the
back ground being filled un in black. This style
continued to be Prttetised among the Greeks of Italy
until about the second century before Christ, and
coeval with it there existed in Athens another
kind of vase, in which a white paint, probably car-
bonate of lime, was made use of. These Corinthian
vases differed from the Italian in their extreme
lightness, great antiquity,
and beauty of shape, but
they were inferior in workmanship to the Etruscan
vases.
After some discussion, in which Mr. Varley, Mr.
W. Harding., Mr. Russell, Mr. Newton, and Dr.
Harding took part, the subject was adjourned until
the next meeting, when it was hoped that Mr.
Wright, Mr. Crofton Croke; and other gentlemen of
the Archaeological Society, familiar with the subject,
would attend.
A vote of thanks was passed to Dr. Harding for his
communication, and also for consenting to place such
of the rases ss the council might select in their mu-
seum as models for manufacturers.
The meeting then separated.

AFFRAY WITH POACHERS,--A, inquest was held
bn Monday last, before Mr. Reed, the coroner for
Northumberland,; at Morpeth, on the body: of Philip
Wallis, who died in Iforp?th Gaol, on the preceding
day, in consequence of injuries received tinder the follow-
ing circumstances:—It appeared that on Christmas-eve
the deceased with some other persona were out poaching
near Bywell, :when they were observed by one of the
gamekeepers, who set his dog at them. The dog being
a strong furious animal, rushed at the poachers, who
were armed with guns, when one of the poachers fired
at the dog, which alarmed the other,
regular affray keepers on the
estate, who hastened to the spot, and
commenced. Intimately the keepers succeeded in taking
two of the poachers into custody, and the others ran off.
The two who were captured were taken before the
magistrate and committed to Morpeth gaol, where one
of them (Wallis) died from the effect of the injuries he
had received i the
desperate encounter. The jury,
after a long investigation, returned a verdict against
George Thompson, the other poacher, of " Man-
slaughter."
RANCIS SHERLOCK, K. 11.—
DEATH OF COI4OI4EL
This gallant officer expired on Saturday morning, at
Southwell, Notts, after a short illness, at the ripo age of
seventy-one years. He hat] been in the army above
fifty-five years, and had seen conaiderable service. In
1794 and the following year he served with the Bth
Light Dragoons in Flanders, Holland, and Germany,
and took part in the attack of Bousbeque; all the out-
post affairs on the retreat from Ostend, particularly at
Alort and t DuiTeldt; action at Boxtel, where his horse
was killed under him, and the retreat from the Rhine.
In August, 1811, he proceeded to the Peninsula, in the
command of the 4th Dragoon Guards, and served with
that corns till May, 1813. His commission bore date as
`allow.:—Cornet, Aug. 31, 173; lieutenant, Dec. 19,
1793 ; captain, Dec. 22, 1793; major, June 4, 1801;
lieutenant-colonel, April 25, 1808; and colonel, June
4, 1814.
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