The Sun.
London, England, 1851-08-05 00:00:00

FRASE R.

By far the best article which has yet appeared on
the subject of the Great Exhibition is the opening
paper of Fraser for August, entitled " Memorabilia
of the Exhibition Season." Fraser, we are glad to
find, "pronounces" in favour of the preservation of the
Crystal Palace, and of its conversion into a winter
garden. "Chamois Hunting," which follows, is an
interesting narrative of the wild sports of the Tyrol;
this is followed by a review of the Opera and Concert
season. The review of the life of Wordsworth is con-
cluded, and we must enter our protest against this re-
newed attempt to " write up" Wordsworth. By an im-
pudent use of barefaced camaraderie, a little knot of
third-rate men, managed, by their personal influence
with certain periodicals, to work themselves into some
sort of notoriety, and among these men thus puffed up
into notice, the least worthy of fame was Wordsworth
—Wordsworth, who affected to despise Goethe!, end
depreciated Scott. Now to bring this matter to the
test of experience, we will at once ask who has not
read Goethe, who has not read Byron, who has not
read Scott', and who ever has read Words-
worth through? The stanzas of Byron and
of Scott are " familiar in our mouths as
household words " whilst of IVostdsworth one
sonnet and two single lines are all that are remem-
bered. Notwithstanding all the efforts of the
camaraderie, Wordsworth is not destined to take a
place among the great English poets of the 19th
century. In an admirable article on the Bridgewater
Gallery, the writer thus commemorates the perverse
ingenuity of the Gothic Mr. Barry, the architect of
the New Palace at 'Westminster and of Bridgewater
House— -

" His talents as a draughtsman, which are undoubt-
edly high, charmed the Government of the day into
erecting the New Palace of Westminster in the style of
all others the most ill-suited to the Exchequer, the occa-
sion, the site, and the age. He then constructed a cou-
ple of chambers for the purpose s of legislative debate, i❑
which no man could hear, and one of which was too
small to contain the number of persons whose duty it is
to sit therein. Passing with the facility of genius to an-
other field, this great artist has now lodged the finest
collection of pictures that England can boast in a gal-
lery where no man can see. He deserves the greater
credit for this achievement, because there is really no
lack of light, and we can only suppose it to be the re-
sult of deep study and many experiments, that the sup-
ply is thrown entirely upon the floor, so that the spec-
tators may distinctly recognise their friends, and that
the artist of Mr. Punch may sketch, if he pleases, the
uneasy attitudes and whimsical collisions of those who
are endeavouring to form an acquaintance with the pic-
tures. Perhaps the gallery might be made available for
sculpture, and we are sure that it would make a noble
show-room for the carpets of Mr. Lapworth, or the
buhl tables of Mr. Forrest. As it is, it will never do
for pictures; and we must therefore hope that Mr. Barry
has carried his cross-purpose principle into effect in other
parts of the house, and that, pending necessary altera-
tions, favourable sites may bo found for the &dads in
the servants' hall or in the cellar."

We can from our own experience corroborate the
truth of everything that is asserted in the above ex-
tract, as to the ingeniously defective manner in
which Mr. Barry has managed to distribute the light
in the Bridgewater Gallery. An interesting review
of several recently published books of travel con-
cludes the number of Fraser.