The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-20 00:00:00

THE sON LONDON, THURSDAY EvEriir4o) mAßcti 20, 1856.

LINES L gASED s T FIXED KENYA LS.

MAUNDAY THURSDAY.

PRISONERS FOR DEBT.

s.6lT.'.*'s TR ~

L•t
CompAn

C ar.n
this day

qrsinoss
this ,tay.

To-day the ceremony of distributing the ancient and
royal charities took p'aeo at the Chapel Royal, White-
hall.

A remarkable return to an order of the Hausa of Com-
mons was delivered yesterday, being a statement of the
number of persons confined for debt or contempt of court
in the United Kingdom ; giving the length of time of ha-
nrisonment, distinguishing those detained for an indefinite,
from those remanded by adjildication for a fixed period ;
specifying the amount of debt in each case, and, where
practicable, the amount of costs ; also, the nge of each pri-
soner, and whether transferred from other prisons ; and,
where practicable, the terms of confinement in them, and
what are the chief impediments to an early release.
The returns, which are in the form of tables, cover 39
pages. Some of the replies to the question, " What is the
chief impediment to an early release ?" deserve notice.
One man, confined in Berks county gaol, owed 13/. debt
and costs ; he had been in prison 12 weeks, but was waiting
to receive the proceeds of sale of some property; the sale
had taken place, bat the cash was not to be handed over
till the expiry of a month. Another man, owing 301.,
had an annuity of 12s. per week, but refused to assign a
portion over weekly for the benefit of his creditors. A
person imprisoned in Chester gaol, owing 571. debt and
costs, and having been in prison five years, filed his peti-
tion several years- since, but will net file his echedulo. He
states that he will have the sum of 2101. at the death of an
aged lady, which interest he will not. assign. From the
house of Correction, Kuntsford, a very naive and general
answer to the quest ion is forwarded : "The chief impedi-
ment to a release is the inability of prisoners to pay their
debts." At Bodmin a person owing 1311/. has been in pri-
son two years • he states that his affairs are in the hands of
his attorney, (roar whom he can get no information. In
Devon county prison, a parson, whose initials are given
53 V. 8., and who owes 75).., has been in prison 33 years.
In a return from Durham county gaol, the chief , impedi-
ment to the release of E. T. is said to be " Commissioner
of the Bankruptcy Court, Newcastle upon-Tyne." The
governor of the Somerset county gaol reports the follow-
isg case:—" J. H. is 94 years of age, and has been in the
gaol 12 months, at the writ of his own son ; sent by him
apparently to avoid his maintenance, and that he may be
buried at the cost of the county. Application was made to
the son, and his friends, to obtain his release, without ef-
fect, and the excellent Society in London for Relief of
Poor Debtors caused the necessary documents to be pre-
pare.l to procure his discharge, through the Insolvent Court;
bat the wretched old man, knowing that this treatment
under the gaol regulations is better than he would receive
if discharged, refuses to sign his petition, which, under
the existing law, is the only other means to bring him be-
fore the court."

Bedford and
Buckgharneli.
Cl y dead al e
Col. Stour Vy.
Sud. and flal.
E. Lin. f.r. 6 tie
E. Un. 11. Sli.
Glas. Barr. &
Neut. Direct
Do. New..-.
Mgr.& Dn.. Fr
Hrtlpl. Dlr. &
Railway
Hull & Solby
Do. Share:.
Do. Shares.
Lon.&Greouw
Do.Preferen:ie
Lon., TH., &S.
Lowestoft gr.
4 per cent.
Do. 6 per et.
Manch. Bxtn.
and Matlock
vflidle6bro'
Itedear

Lon,ion
N. \\req.
L. &N. W.
Cal don...
E. Un. 6
E. C .....
„it.Nrtfin.
E. Count.
ICaldanisa

94 - 96
94 - 8

This year the recipients amounted to 37, the number
corresponding with her Majesty's age.
A procession, consisting of a Yeoman Usher and 12
Yeomen of the Guard (one carrying the alms), ker Ma-
jesty's sub-almoner, the secretary and yeoman, the
assistant, and the choristers baying been formed, and
the clergy and officers having taken their respective
seats, the service commenced.
Exhortation, Confession, Absolution.
414 Psalm (the grand chaunt).
First Lesson—St. Matthew xxv., v. 14.
First Anthem, 41st Psalm.

11 - 13

4i ... 41

••• "."' ..

Do
(.It. ^ ostr
Yk. Now.
& Berry.
Y.&NAI
Do
Do
S. Easton
Peto & Co

103 - 105

12i -
231 -
107 i - 1126

" Blessed is he that considereth the poor and needy,
the Lord shall deliver him in time of trouble."
It. 1.5 i.. distributed to each woman.
Tu each man shoes and stockings.
The second anthem was then sung, and at its termi-
nation woollen and linen clothes were distributed.
After this ceremony had concluded the third anthem
was given, and then the purses containing the Maunday
money were distributed to each recipient.
Two prayers, composed for the occasion, having been
read, the ceremony concluded.

Do
1...& N. W
& Ifidld.
itekton Fi
Darlingt.

2} - 2i

9i --
vs

MirW. Bradt"
Newmarket.
Bury E. G.spc
N.& Est.s p.c.
Do. 6 ct.
Do. Fixeds p c
Prest. y:
Do. R ars. A
Royitn.& Hit.
Shef. Roth.a.n.
Gooleg.s p.c
Shrews. &Her
S. Staffordsh.
Wear Valley
6 per cent
Do

Coun.
T., Cont.
De

P in
55 L 7

L.& N.W.
D 0...

The Bishop of Oxford, High Almoner, having to
attend for the Bishop of Londoa at the Confirmation of
the Princess Royal, the Sub-Almoner, Dr. Jelf, officiated
for his Grace.

132 - 131

Cat North')
Lancash
Yorksh.
P. Brassoy
MClean
itockt &
Darlingt
)o

7i 71
3_ 2d

There was a very full attendance of the clergy, and
also of the nobility and gentry on the occasion.

3i - ?3
84 - 86

Merchant's and Tradesman's Mutual

Wilts&'•'omrst

ItWostu.

Life Assurance,Society.

PREFERENCE BHAR

Aberdeen
Do. N 0.2, 7 p. 0...
Do. Debentures
Myth andTym, 10 pc,
C. pref. (issd..., t 50/
Orbs. & Ex. 4 p. c. St,
Do. 4 p. 0. Shares
Caledonian £lO
Ches. & Flo. Gn. 5i p(
Do. do. Pref. No. 2.
Do. do. Prof. No. 2
Cork &Bandonsip.o
Dun.Prth.6r.Al,or.l.
E. Anglian els. A Sl)
Do. do. Cls. B S p. c.
Do. do Cis. C 7 p. c.
Efts. Co. ,spc No
Do. No. 2 .....

114 - 117
111 - 116
82 - 86

The annual meeting of this society was held this after-
noon at the society's offices, Cannon•street ; Mr. S.
How in the chair.

... -- ...
92 - 94

The MANAGER (Mr. Thompson) read the report,
which was considered highly satisfactory. It stated
that the current assurances amounted- to 642,1471., the
number of policies 2,468, an& the present income of the
society 20,0481. 16s. id. Claims is respect of deaths,
with bonus addtt one, amounting to 4,2951. 4s. 10d., had
been discharged. The bonus now recommended averaged
upwards of 14 per cent. per annum on the account
assured being equal to a cash bonus of nearly 25 per
cent, on the amount of premiums paid. The balance-
sheet showed the value of claims on the society on 9th
March, 1855, 234,9181. 2s. ; balance in favour of the
society, 40,9781. 6s. 3d. ; value of annuities to the
same period, 256,746/. 2s. ; and value of securities,
19,1501. 6s. 31 •

07 - 99
iii - 16

= 6

9; - 101
79 - 83

i
k -

!Do. New 6 F. e. Si
Rest Un., G. 6 p. c
'Do. 5/,, 10 per cent
Do. 10/. Deb.-ntr.Sh.
Do. do. 4 per cent.
Fact Lan c ash. 6 p. et,
York. J. sth•
Edin. & Gl. 5 p.c. sh
'l4;d. Prth.&l)un..4p.c
Furness

The CIIAIRMAII, after some remarks, proposed the
reception and adoption of the report.
Mr. NEvILLE seconded tbo motion, which was car•
ried unanimously.

(41as. & 5.W.0.5
Groat Northu. 5 p. c
Do. 5 p. c. Redeem
at 10 p. c. prom...
no. 41 p. c_ -

Dr. Bentham, Mr. C. Sneevin, and Mr. J. Turnley,
the retiring directors, were re-elected. Two vacancies
had occurred by the death of Mr. J. Smith, and the re•
tirement of Mr. C. J. Fose, which were pulled up by
the election of Mr. L. Myerq, of Leadenball street, and
Mr. J. Black, of the London and Eastern Banking Cor-
poration, Canon-street. _

Do. 5 p. c. Scrip, Red
I.t 5 p. c. pm...
(R. N. of Scot. let Pre

qt. S. W. (Troia tul
Do. 4per 0. Pr: f. S

c. w.tp. 2ii.Exspc
)o. con. red. 4,; p.c.
01. con. rod. 4 p.c.
Do. irrod. 4p. c.
Do. 5 p. c. ted. prof

The retiring auditors, Mr. J. Hall, Mr. B. Hooper,
and Mr. R. G. Cooper, were re-elected.
After the disposal of other business the meeting
separated.

Do. - go. do.
Do. Bina. Pref. sb..
Do. Chester 8 p. c. P.S

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.—(This Day.)

N. do. 5 p. c. do

Do. Burin. Gua. Sac
Do. Ches. Gua.. Sh..
Do. do. do
Do. do. d 0.........
Lem. & York. F. XS
p. c. Stuck
• r.on.&nrigh.o.sp
Pref., 5 p. e. St
00. New Gnar.6 p.
Do. do. 5 per cent •
rion. &N. W., Cov. ;
Inner:ton 5 p. et
14e4.& S.W. 7 per at
r.,ondy. & Coler. 511
'.ow y. &Ennis.
hp. V%

amyl t.&C3,11.1p
h>. 43 per cent

id. Consol.B

Do, Con„l.lr.Pr. flp(
Do. 4i p. C. Pref.
'
Prer. 4 k per cc,
iDo. 5/. 4 p. c.
Ditto L.& 11. Prof. S
New., Ater., &c., pr,
15 p. c. red. 5 p c, pm
Dot.ootm.,

Do. Prof. 51p. c. St cl,
Do. 5 p.c. Ext
D.J. 54 per ct. prof..
Do. Wray. Val. 5 /3 c
'North British

IN. E. Berw. 4 p.c. P
:Do. do. do

De Leeds 6 p.e %No.'
iDe. do. Quarters
Do:York St q.
North Staffordshire.
Wo Mr lei p
'
Do R. Prof. 101. Sh
Soot. Cont. ,Now Pre
i:oath Devon

Do, fixed, 4k per eon
Eastern (iteadi
ken.) of ill Os.
,Do. 412 per cent....
IDo. Fixed 4i p
'S. Wales Gnu. 4 p. c.
IDo. do. 4. p. 0....
S.Yorksli.4p.c.Ounr.
Igtock.& Dar., 5 p. c.
Do. do. do
,Stock. & Hart). g. FI
p. a. till July 1,'511
,W stertd. & Kilk. 6 pc

TILE NATIONAL (MU ERY-MR. OT WAY

AND MR. WILSON,

TO THE FDITOR OF THE SUN.

"My lord,; propose to appoint a direcior of the Na-
tional Gallery, with a Fa!ary of 1,0001 per annum, such
appointmett to be for a term of five year. but the
director to be eligible for re appointment, which appoint-
ment, however, ma' be at any time reCoked by the 7rea-
sury."—Treasury Minute, March 27, 1855.
SIR,-Yesterday evening Mr. Wihmn, the Secretary
of the Treasury, stated, in reply to Mr. Otway, that
" 1,977/. was the whole sum which the `Adoration ~f
the Magi' would cost, with the exception of 12/. 251. 23.
paid foe-Sts carriii:c from Paris. All other expenees
were paid by the, seller."

Last auto nn, immediately after their appaistcnent t 3
the National Gallery, Sir C. Eastlake and the•"
ling agent," Herr Otto Mund male a tour of several
weeks on the continent. One result of this tcur is the
production under consideration. Does Mr. Wilson
mean us to believe that the "seller" paid also for the
" carriage" of S r C. Eestlak-e and Herr Mundler, or of
either of them, daring their excursion ? If the "sel-
ler" did not pay for such "carriage," Mr. Wilson's
12/. 2s. 2d., to say nothing of at least eight months'
salary to three notoriously incapable officers, is not "the
whole sum" which the "Adoration of the Magi" has
cost, beyond the 1,9771.
To another clause of Mr. Otway's question, Mr. Wil.
eon, with ewageering emphasis, replied, that " what-
ever difference of opinion there might he as to the value
of tke picture, there could be none, he thought, as to
its authenticity, for it stood in the position of being,
perhaps, the best authenticated picture of the kind in
the world." The obvious absurdity and falsity of such
an assertion exempt it from comment, hut they remind
me of another judgment delivered by Mr. Wilson.
On the Ist of last August. on the vote of 17,696/.
being put for the National Gallery, Mr. Otway "moved
the reduction of that vote by the amount of 300/ , pro-
posed as the salary of a travelling agent, and 1,1551 4s.
as incidental and travelling expenses-. for such agent."
Who can forget the insult which Mr. Wilson truculently
flung in our faces on that occasion ? "It is, of course,
perfectly useless," raid he, "to vote money for the pur-
chase of pictures for the National Gallery unless means
are taken to secure valuable pictures whenever they
tray be offered for sale. Herr Mundler is the most com-
petent person to discharge the duties of the office. Un-
doubtedly if any Eeglishinan bad been equally eligible
he would have had a prior claim ; but there is no Eng-
lishman a match for our German intelligence and know-
ledge of art. Lord Aberdeen said so, tooisbefore he
went out of office." This is substantially, and almost
verbatim, what Mr. Wilson said. Yet that very Ger-
man's connection with the English nation had already
been inaugurated by an attempt to sell us a bedaubed
and supposititious Corregio of his own, now, or recently,
at Grove's, the fishmonger, -in Bond-street. The gods
had decreed that this Aberdeen-Wilson German, " most
competent and eligible," should be lured to Venice.
There, in the shape of Toffoli, the "seller," was Nemesis
waiting to avenge us.
With regard to Mr. Wilson's stupendous argument,
that "in the British Museum there is a print of the
`Adoration of the Magi,' which was engraved in the
yenr 1649," I might be suspected of trifling with your
readers were I to de mere than glance at it. Mr. Wilson
will find it but a sorry help towards establishing his
grandiloquent dictum, that "the 'Adoration of the
Magi' stands in the position of being the best authenti-
cated picture of the kind in the world." Innumerable
are the instances of false attribution by prints. One will
suffice. The little " Knight in Armour," bequeathed
by Mr. Rogers, has been engraved as a Raphael. Are
we, therefore, and ,in the teeth of evidence directly con-
tradictory in the picture itself, are we to admit that as
any reason for attributing it to Raphael ?
The information vouchsafed by Mr. Wilson, that Sir
C. Eastlake is responsible' for the purchase of the
Adoration of the Magi," we already possessed ; also
that the same Sir C. Eastlake is strictly responsible for
the purchase of those other bad and spurious or doubtful
pictures, the mock Holbein, the two "Guides," the
"Infant Christ embracing St. John," and the " Su-
senna and the Elders," the " Paechierotto," the " A
Durer" portrait, the Titian Tribute Money," and that
three thousand pounds' worth, the sixty items, entitled
the " Minden Collection. "• 01 these last, the seventeen
abortions which hang in the Canaletti room are an-
noutaced as the cream. Tao remaining forty-three
have been condemned as unfit to be seen.

It is unaccountable how Mr. Otway, with his expe-
rience of Mr. Wilson, should have been satisfied with
asking so feeble and pointles a question. Had he
taken the precaution to consult some one competent to
advise him, he might have made his question the means
of conveying valuable information. He might hate
told the Government, and the public, what I now ad-
visedly state, namely, that our leading connoisseurs,
both amateurs and professional, to a man, condemn the
Eastlake, Wornuna-Mtindler, Paolo Veronese, as an
extremely damaged, vamped up, and, originally, bad
picture, and, consequently, as unworthy of a place in
the national collection ; as not worth for that collec-
tion even the last item of "the surn paid for its car-
t iage from Paris"—i e., twopence; and he rn.„,,i,,ht further
have told them that our most experienced picture valuers
have appraised that picture at barely 2001.—that is to
say, if to the 1,077/. paid to Toffoli, the " seller," we
add the " travelling expenses" of Sir C. EAstlakc and of
the German • "travelling agent," or either, through
Italy, to "secure" it—at less than a tenth of the money
it has cost the nation.—l remain, sir, yours obediently,
N. T. WALTER.
27, Goswell-road, Islington, March 15.

THE PORTLAND GALLERY.