The Sun.
London, England, 1833-10-31 00:00:00

FINE ARTS.

VALPY'S NATIONAL GALLERY.
PARTS 11., 111, IV. LONDON, 1833.

The conception of this work is admirable,
and, so far as it has yet proceeded, is worthily
executed. Engravings from original paintings,
by some of the greatest masters that ancient or
modern art can boast, figure in the collection,
and to these engravings brief explanatory
notices, half-critical, half-biographical, are at-
tached, just sufficient to give the novice
in matters of art a fair insight into the
peculiar merits of each design. The en-
graving,, we should observe, are little more
than outlines ; nevertheless, they convey a pretty
accurate idea of the original ; and to those who
have visited, or who have vet to visit, the
National Gallery, will teem with interest. The
price of this ingenious production is such as to
render it accessible to all parties. Among the
most carefully finished of the engravings, which
are all executed on steel by approved artists, we
may mention the Market Cart of Gainsnorough;
the Road Scene, with shepherd and sheep, of
Gaspar Pous,in ; and the two numbers of the
Marriage a-la-mode of Hogarth.

We are happy to perceive that the spirit of
reform and economy is every where at work.
At a meeting of the subscribers to Lloyds,
which took place yesterday, the proposed allow-
ance of 500/. to the Committee was refused, and
a resolution carried to the effect that the services
of the Committee ought to be gratuitous. Car-
ried by a majority of seventy-two to thirty-nine.
Who could the thirty-nine have been ?
The cholera has reached Malaga, and great
alarm prevailed. The mortality had been great at Seville,
but its violence bad decreased. The mortality had less
affected the lower clams than any other, in consequence
of their using less vegetables in their lood. The middle
classes had been the chief sufferers, and the town wore a
very melancholy appearance.

INSOLVENT COURT.-(THIS DAY.)

(Before the Chief Coronahoiioner.)

Several unopposed insolvents were declared entitled to
the benefit of the Act, and ordered to be discharged.
Robert Roper, who described himself as a chymist and
druggist, was brought up on his petition to be discharged.
The insolvent, who was unopposed, underwent a severe
examination by the Learned Chief Commissioner, from
which it appeared that, for a contempt of the Court of
Chancery, he was incarcerated in the Fleet, and that five
months previous to clearing that contempt, a creditor
lodged a detainer against him, which compelled him to
apply for his discharge from the Court. After several
questions from the Learned Commissioner, as to the nature
of the insolvent's contempt of the Court of Chancery, the
following dialogue took place between the Court and the
insolvent :

The CHIEF COMMISSIONER—Who is Mr. Jacob from
whom you state you borrowed 401. ? Insolvent—A fel-
low-prisoner with me in the Fleet.
The CHIEF CommrssloNEß—Have you paid him that
money ? Insolvent—l have.
The CHIEF COMMISSIONER—Why did you not give up
your property and apply to this Court sooner for your dis-
charge? Insolvent—l did not know that I could do so.
The CHIEF COMMISSIONER..-d do not believe it, Sir;

I will not believe that any person who has been in the
Fleet can be ignorant of the manner in which he ought to
proceed. The law provides and invites every debtor to
put himself immediately under the jurisdiction of this
Court, in order that he may speedily regain his liberty;
but it does not authorise him to adopt the course you appear
to have pursued, namely, to sell part of your property,
spend the proceeds, and remain in prison till that money
has been melted away. Insolvent—That is not my case.
The CHIEF COMMISSIONER Not your case, Sir ;
pray, who gave directions to the auctioneer to sell part of
your property ? Insolvent—l did.
The CHIEF COMMISSIONER—In what manner? In-
solvent—By letter.
The CHIEF COMMISSIONER—What did that property
fetch ? Insolvent—Upwards of 137/.
The CHIEF COMMISSIONER—What have you done
with the money ? Insolvent—lt's all gone.
The CHIEF COMMISSIONER—AII gone ! How have you
got rid of it ? Insolvent—l did not receive it all ; there
was the auctioneer's expenses, rent, and 401. I paid to
Jacob; the re.t I have spent.
The CHIEF COMMISSIONER—Spent ! But if you had
applied, as you ought to have done, to this Court at an
rearlier period, that money would have gone for the benefit
of your creditors. 'What induced you to give directions
for the sale of part of your property? Insolvent—l bad
no money, and a person could not starve.
The CHIEF COMMISSIONER—Your conduct has been
anything but what it ought to have been. Had you ap-
plied to this Court at the proper period, and gave up
your property, the Court would have taken care that you
had a sufficient allowance to have kept you comfortable
in prison. You must be sworn to your schedule, after
which you shall hear my opinion of your conduct, Sir.
In giving judgment, the CHIEF COMMISSIONER said,
that the principle on which this Act was trained was that
insolvents should be speedily discharged, but it required
that they should act wiih justice to their creditors ; the
insolvent had net done so in the present case, he had
chosen not to become a petitioner till he had squandered
the whole property of his creditors. Under such circum-
stances the Court, exercising the discretion vested in it by
Act of Parliament, would order the insolvent to six
months' imprisonment.

PALACE COURT.-(THIS DAY.)