The Sun.
London, England, 1856-05-15 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENINO. MAY 15, 18

them as for one of her own Governments.
ILEXANBER and NICHOLAS were alike in one
Cling, in perfect contempt of Prussia.--we must
ldd in contempt of common honesty and veracity
also.

his matured powers—he had reached the culmi-
nating point of his reputation. He had painted
his grand fresco of the " Last Supper." Carlo
Amoretti, in his lifemorie Storiche su 1a vita di
Lionardo, relates that in 1506, Da Vinci visited
France, a statement adopted by Mr. John Brown,
Leonardo's English biographer. Considerable
doubt, by the way, has been thrown upon the
reported visit of the great Florentine to Rome
in 1514—but, very little, indeed, upon this visit
of his to France in 1506, a visit, as we said,
mentionPel by Amoretti, and accepted as a fact
by th, E iglish biographer. Whereas in regard
to the Ro uan journey of Leonardo in 1514, while
it is spoken of by Vasari, by Fabroni, by Ma-
riette, by Du Fresnoy, and by Amoretti, it is
not mentioned at all by Roscoe, by Sereno, by
Borghini, or by Baldassare ! Added to all which,
are incontrovertible proofs of a reciprocation of
kindly feeling between Louis XIT. and Leonardo.
Louis bestowed a pension upon Leonardo, and
besides this, gave the latter certain rights in the
canals of Martesana—public works the artist him-
self had aided so largely in improving. Leonardo,
on the other hand, soon after Louis XII. had
taken forcible possession of the Duchy of Milan,
and had incarcerated Ludovico it Moro in the
Chateau de Loches, in Touraine, had gratified the
French monarch by presenting to him the por-
traits of two virgins, painted as then Da Vinci
alone could paint them—and, besides this, had
flattered the King most memorably by the fabri-
cation of his celebrated lion automaton ! Nothing
could be more consonant, therefore, with all this,
than that Leonardo should in 1506 (the date of
his first visit to France) have yet further grati-
fied Louis XII., by introducing that monarch's
portrait in the benevolent features of Joseph of
Arimathea, as well as the likeness of his Queen
Anne, of Brittany, in the beautiful countenance
of Mary Magdalene, humbly portraying himself
at the feet of the Lord in the kneeling form of
Nicodemus. Henceforth, therefore—coupling
these discovered portraits with the detected data,
initials, and monogram—we cannot but regard as
an undoubtedly authentic Leonardo da
this remarkable painting of the " Preparation for
the Entombment."

THE TRUE STORY OF THE SILENCING

OE THE BANDS.

All the world knows the story of Sir Walter Raleigh,
how, finding himself unable to get at the rights of a row
beneath hie prison window, he began to moralise on the
presumption of men's pretending to write the history of
distant ages. The moral of this anecdote is, that every
one ought to exert himself to let the exact truth be
known regarding important incidents in contemporary
history. Under this impression we beg to offer a con-
tribution to the veritable history of the great contro-
verily about the Sunday bands in the Parks. Lord
Shaftesbury, with more regard to msthetical propriety
than exact truthfulness, has attributed to the Archbishop
of Canterbury the honour of converting Lord Palmerston
from the error of his ways. Now, in the eyes of Lord
Shaftesbury and his friends, this appears, no doubt, to
redound exclusively to the honour and glory of the
Archbishop. But when society is nearly equally divided
in opinion, such apotheoses have their inconveniences.
Malcontents are muttering satirical scoffs at the penitent
prostration of Henry IX. before the successor of Thomas
a'BecKett. Now, Lord Palmerston's reply some time
ago to the Presbytery of Edinburgh shows that he is
not the man to submit tamely to clerical dictation ;
and all who know the Archbishop of Canterbury
are aware that be is not likely to presume over-much
upon his sacerdotal authority. It may somewhat
spoil the romance of tho story, but truth compels us to
state that the mild and gentlemanly appeal to the Pre-
mier which importunities extorted from the Primate bad
comparatively little to do with the ultimate decision of
the former respecting the bands. A much more power-
ful engine was brought into play. It is matter of noto-
riety that in the present nearly balanced state of parties
in the House of Commons, the votes of the friendly Scotch
members are indispensable to Lord Palmerston. And it
so happens tbat in the beginning of the week an irrup-
tion of the aggregate Scotch representation into the pre-
sence of the badgered and baited Premier was headed
by that most solemn of the Free Kirk leaders, the Lord
Advocate. From the solemnity of these legislative sages
it was obvious that, for a moment, the souls of Knox
and Cameron were burning with►n them ; that they
were a resuscitated " Westminster assembly of divines."
Lord Palmerston, it seems, was bluntly told that un-
less he immediately commanded Sir Benjamin Hall to
silence his bands, be could no longer count on a single
Scotch vote. The Premier ini4ht have defied the Arch-
bishop as he did the Presbytery, but to be left in a mi-
nority in the house of Commons was a much more serious
matter than clerical censures, and he yielded with as
good a grace as he could. We put this fact upon record
simply from an abstract lore of truth. We doubt whether
Londoners will be reconciled to the loss of their music by
learning that it has been suppressed at the dictate of a
class of theologians who will not tolerate an organ in
their churches either on Sunday or on week days. In
fact, the movement against the hands begins to wear the
appearance of a:crusade against the art of music. In the
dreary lay sermon which has been put forth by Mr. Ed-
ward Baines, the arguments against musical perform-
ances for the delectation of numerous assemblies, if they
are of any weight at all, tell as conclusively against the
practice on any day of the week as on Sundays.

ROYAL THAHES YACHT CLUB.

COURT CIRCULAR.

OSBORNE, MAT 14.

Prince Albert embarked on board the Fairy yesterday
morning, attended by Captain Du Plat, and visited the
forts at Hurst Castle, Sconce Point, and Freshwater.
The Prince returned at half-past four o'clock.
The Queen and Prince rode out on horseback in the
afternoon.

Vice-Admiral Sir George Seymour arrived yesterday
on a visit, and had the honour of dining with her Ma-
jesty.

The Duchess of Kent visited the Duchess of Glou-
cester yesterday, at Gloucester house.
Mons. Tricoupi, the Greek Minister, transacted busi-
ness yesterday at the Foreign-office.
Mr. John Wood, Chairman of the Board of Inland
Revenue, had an interview with the Chancellor of the
Exchequer on Tuesday, at his official residence in Down-
ing-street.

Despatches from the Governors of New South Wales,
Victoria, Ceylon, Mauritius, and Malta were received
yesterday at the Colonial•office. Despatches were also
received from the Lord High Commissioner of the lonian
Islands.

TEE NATIONAL GALLERY JOB.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR, --The thanks of every true lover of art are due to
you for the uncompromising manner in which you de-
nounce the flagrant mismanagement of the National
Gallery. I read with great interest your very vigorous
leader of to day on the subject. Will you permit me,
however, to correct one or two trifling inaccuracies in it.
You say, " Mr. Moore is a connoisseur of paintings, pos-
sessing, in London at least, a very considerable and ex-
tended reputation." Now Mr. Morris Moore's reputa-
tion as a profound connoisseur is, perhaps, more widely
known on the Continent than in London. He studied
many years in Italy, and his name, especially in connec-
tion with the National Gallery, is familiar to all the art
circles of France aid Germany. No Englishman,
indeed, has so great a reputation on the Conti-
nent for connoisseurship. " Besides this, it is
observable that Mr. Moore was about the most impor-
tant witness examined before Lord Elcho's select com-
mittee in 1853." Mr. Morris Moore was, in fact, by
far the moot important witness examined by the com-
mittee. Had it not been for him the committee probably
would not have been formed. He held, as it were, the
pest of public prosecutor. The committee adjourned to
the National Gallery, for the express purpose that he
might point out on the pictures themselves the injuries
they had received. He was the only witness so exa-
mined. And his evidence it was that convicted the
Vandal Eastlake. I was at Venice in 1851, and several
times saw the original drawing by Raphael of Mr.
Moore's picture, "The Apollo and Marsyas," in the
Accademia, delle Belli Arti. This, however, was before
it was smuggled into the private room of the director.
—I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
May 14. AN ARTIST.