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

THE CRYSTAL PALACE.
(From the Derbyshire Courier.)
The recent vote of the House of Commons will,
probably, lead to the adoption of as judicious an ar-
rangement with respect to this edifice as could, under
all circumstances, be desired. It is evidently better
to allow a little time before the ultimate destiny of
the Crystal Palace is decided on. Once removed,
like a gigantic oak, it cannot be replaced. Try,
we say, the effects of its remaining as it is.
If it should be found to produce serious incon-
venience to the courtly inhabitants of the district—if
it cannot be made to resist " the winter's flaw"—if it
is not appreciated or frequented by the numerous class
for whose recreation and advantage we would princi-
pally retain it—then pull it do. And what makes
us more inclined to suggest that the Crystal Palace
should, at least, have a fair trial, is, that never, we
think we may affirm within our recollection, have
prognostications of evil been so entirely falsified as
those which only a few months since were confidently
uttered by some of those very parties who now op-
pose the continuance of this magnificent edifice.
We might fill our paper with a list of the evils which
we were told must inevitably result from the Great
Exhibition. Plague, pestilence, and famine were to
attend its inauguration; revolution was to "dog its
end ;" that portentous enemy of the British agri-
culturists, " the foreigner," after having ruined
our own people by sending us too much fool,
was about to break out in a new line of mis-
anthropic ferocity, and breed a famine in the
land by his voracious capacities of consumption. But
" the foreigner" was not only to deprive us of the
food which he had previously, with malice prepense to
ruin our agriculture, sent us, but he was also to im-
port (duty free) all kinds of unknown and unheard-of
diseases, of which Milton's self was ignorant when he
described the fall as entailing on man—
" Convulsions, epilepsies, fierce catarrhs,
Intestine stone and ulcer, colic pangs,
Demoniac phreuzy, moaping melancholy,
And moon-struck madness, pining atrophy,
Msrasrnus, and wide-spreading pestilence."
These, alas ! we have known and felt, but nameless
horrors and revolting maladies such only as " fo-
reigners " are subject to, were to invade, for the first
time, our shores. And then cur principles ! The
food which our children should eat might be snatched
from their lips, our bodies might be racked with un-
heard-of maladies, but, retaining our integrity, we
might still be a happy people. But here were myriads of
dark, designing democrats, full of "treasons, strata-
gems, and wiles," coming from every remote asylum of
conspiracy to seduce the loyalty of the British public,
and corrupt the social and political principles of
Finsbury and the Tower Hamlets! Now, gentlemen
alarmists, what has really happened? We have re-
cently made a pilgrimage to the Great Exhibition, to
judge for ourselves. Of course we husbanded our
scanty resources for the occasion, in fearful anticipa-
tion of the extraordinary outlay. But our fears have
subsided. Our beef-steak and accompaniments,
with bread at discretion, can—as we have great
pleasure in assuring those of our friends who have
not yet visited the World's Fair—be obtained for the
customary half-crown. The " foreigners," it is true,
wear beards to an awful extent, but though, in our
opinion, not so well-looking as ourselves, they ap-
pear in tolerably good condition. The health of
the metropolis has not deteriorated—the fees of the
physicans remain as they were. At this pre-
sent time of writing there is no apparent symp-
tom of a revolution. In fact, just now, there is less
talk about politics than usual. Well-conducted, plea-
sure-seeking, and pleasure-finding crowds, among
whom the foreigners" are almost lost, frequent the
Great Exhibition day by day. Sir Robert Inglis
candidly admits that his fears have not been
realised, though Colonel Sibthorp, like a consistent,
high-principled statesman as he is, magnanimously
refuses to be convinced. In the meantime, it
is our conviction that the Exhibition has fully an-
swered the expectation of its most sanguine promoters.
It has promoted much good feeling between distant
nations. It has taught some lessons of kindliness
to all. It has afforded to artizans and manufac-
turers many means of improvement in their several
occupations. We shall learn much from our foreign
friends; let us hope that they also may learn
something from us. And last, not least, the " harm-
less amusement of the nation," which Dr. Johnson
did not think a thing of small account, has been
perhaps more extensively promoted than has ever
before been known. We return, then, to the point
from which we started, and say,—The Exhibition has
had its trial and has succeeded, allow the Exhibition
House its trial also. Festina lente.

iMPO7ITANT CASE IN THE SCOTTISH
COURTS.--TILE' VELASQUEZ PORTRAI7'.

COURT OF SESSION, EDINBURGH, FIRST

SNARE V. THE EARL Or FIFE'S TRUSTS.

This case, which was a claim for damages at the
instance of Mr. Snare against the trustees cf the
Earl of Fife, relative to the celebrated portrait of
Charles 1., by Velasquez, came on for trial before
Lord Cowan and a jury on Saturday, and was con-
tinued on Monday last.
In the summons it is stated, on behalf of Mr.
Snare, who is a bookseller in Reading, that he pur-
chased tha pfcture at the sale of Mr. Benjamin
Kent, Radley Hall, near Oxford, in October, 1845 ;
that he bad exhibited it publicly in Reading and
London, and that he had commenced exhibiting
it publicly in Edinburgh, on the 15th of
January, 1849, and continued the exhibition
till the 31st of that month. At that pe-
riod a petition was presented to the sheriff
substitute, at the instance of the trustees of the late
Earl of Fife, praying his Lordship to grant a war-
rant to the clerk of the court to take possession of
the picture, and retain the same until the right of
property thereto was determined, on the ground, as
they alleged, that it had been stolen or surreptitiously
abstracted. On the same day on which the petition
was presented, the sheriff substitute ex parte,
without affording the pursuers an opportunity of
being heard, pronounced a deliverance, prdering the
petition and deliverance to be served on the pursuer,
and in the meantime granting warrant to the clerk of
court to take possession of the picture, according to
the prayer of the petition. The sheriff clerk ac-
cordingly took possession of the picture. Imme-
diately thereafter the pursuer lodged a minute to
the sheriff, craving him to appoint a hearing of parties,
that the pursuer might have an opportunity of
satisfying him that no grounds existed for so un-
warrantable a step, and also lodged answers to the
petition. The pursuer also caused a protest to be
served on the trustees. On the 26th February the
sheriff, after hearing parties, recalled the interlo-
cutor of his substitute, and appointed the picture to
be restored to the pursuer. The trustees afterwards
presented a petition to the sheriff, praying him to
grant them leave to advocate his judgment ; but this
was refused, and he issued another interlocutor on the
ai of March, appointing the picture to be restored.
After this the trustees presented a note of suspension
and interdict to the Lord Ordinary on the bills late on
the evening of the 2d of March, 1849, in which, " con-
cealing the important fact that they had applied to
the sheriff fur leave to advocate his judgment of the
26th February last, and that such leave had been re-
fused, they falsely asserted that the sheriff had granted
possession ad interim, pending the advocation." The
Lord Ordinary, ,Aitliout hearing the pursuer, granted
interdict to a limited extent ; but afterwards, when
parties were heard, he recalled the interdict. The trus-
tees next raised a summons of multiplepoinding in the
ame of the sheriff clerk, which was executed against
the pursuer. These proceedings being persevered in,
and the pursuer still deprived of the possession and use
of his lawful property, his agent addressed a letter to
the agents for the trustees on
'the 2nd March, warn-
ingpursuers
them that if the property was to he
longer withheld from him, on any pretext or denial
whatever, he would hold them responsible for the full
value of the picture, as the same should be fixed by
him. Notwithstanding this warning, however, the
trustees still continued their attempts to prevent the
pursuer from obtaining possession of the picture till
the 17th of March, when it was restored to him. au
these circumstances, the pursuer claimed damages for
the loss
1111jAStelfidetebf
he had sustainedb those unwarrantable,
le, and illegal proceedings.
fences cee'dera, after stating some preliminary de-
that the 131:12 that they bad every reason to believe,
Fife, and in re was the property of James Earl of
his possession at the time of his death;
that it
phased,
their with the other effects of the trust
estate, into
possessien as trustees under
the trust disposition
James Earl
of Fife and
deed of settlement of
bee__abstracted knowledge or consent, and was without their
or stolen. The ,
Picture may have
but their attention was onnl
.exhibited in London,
by its exhibition in EaTnattrraicted to the matter
tive declaration that the ;
P-eolreghl' and the posi-
collection of James Earl of pile,aaabcllonged to the
ns
belonged to them, as they had never
pacrotedequen consequently
or any other pictures belonging to the estate. with it,
tine appears in a catalogue preparedand
printeedpifc-
the E trl of Fife himself the year 1807, as being or
Fife-house. After the Earl's death Fife-house inat
Whitehall, with everything. therein containe
including the picture in question, was taken
possession of by the defenders. Fife-11mm
V 7,14 thereafter sold by them in the sear
1812. Immediately before the sale orders were given
by them to pack up the picture in question, along
with the other pictures, plate, and wines, and trans-
mit them to Duff-house, in Banffshire, and other
hour s in Scotland belonging to, though not inhabited
bk`,. (ha 440ftiers.i.Itinust hare been about this time
,v." dirt.,46-thOtroftlief tfeture was effected, for although
-it
„ p_rov that the picture wese
in Cafe-house, at
4ub.lecivant to the 'late Earl's death, no trace can
be
-6,:gted Of its having been ever seen in this coun-
'!` daftgdpra dal that cu tha Ficezaga•

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