The Sun.
London, England, 1869-05-03 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, MAY 3, 1869,

for the President's response, it was, in its artistic
retrospect, in the highest degree graceful besides being
appropriate to the occasion, that, namely, as -we have•
already said of inaugurating the Royal Academy
new home and its second centenary together. The
Academy, he reminded his hearers, commenced its
career under the auspices of [as he said very ex-
extravagantly] a Great King, and [as he said by
no means extravagantly] a great painter—
GEORGE 111. and Sir JOSHUA REYNOLDS. The glories
of the Academy he indicated succinctly enough
by enumerating sixteen names of artists dead and
gone—such as those of NOLLEKENS, BARRY, COPLEY,
BANKS, SMIRKE, STOTIIARD, LAWRENCE, HOPNER.
FLAXMAN, TURNER, CALCOT, WILKIE, MULREADY.
LESLIE, ETTY,NEWTON, and CONSTABLE—particularis-
ing among their living successors of eminence but on,
only—the illustrious name of the veteran Sir EDWIN
LANDSEER. After honouring the American Ambas
sador with a toast all to himself—a toast almost as ii
happens of farewell, seeing that Mr. REVERDY JOHN-
SON is immediately to be replaced by Mr. MOTLEY, tht
historian of the Dutch Republic, the Lords and
Commons were pledged together by the President.
the Lords coupled with the name of that Last of the
Barons Lord LAWRENCE, the House of Com-
mons (as Sir FRANCIS GRANT observed, amidst
the applause of the distinguished assemblage) 66 with
the name of one of its greatest orators and
most distinguished Statesmen," Mr. DISRAELI, the
ex-Premier, and now Leader of the Opposition.
After Mr. DISRAELI'S response, the rest of the toasts
were little less than formal—the Lord Mayor ac-
knowledging that of the City of London, General
SABINE that]of the Royal Society, and the Dean of
Westminster that of the Interests of Literature—
Literature, oddly enough, being pledged the last of
all by the Royal Academicians !

LORD STANLEY made a speech on Friday evening
which makes us regret more than ever that he speaks
so seldom. It was eminently wise, temperate, and
statesmanlike. It was so different from the speech
which almost immediately followed it, that it is well-
nigh impossible to believe that they were made in
the same assembly, or on the same evening.
Lord STANLEY expressly exonerated the Govern-
ment for not bringing in a land bill this
session. He considered that to pass two such measures
as that and the Irish Church Bill in the same
year is impossible ; and thus he had the frank-
ness to say openly what Mr. DISRAELI admits tacitly.
At the same time he contended that the Government
ought to give some general intimation of their policy,
so as to allay the excitement and the wild expectations
which prevail in Ireland with respect to the land. On
the other hand, Lord CLAUDE HAMILTON made such
a fierce attack upon Mr. BRIGHT that it drewfrom Mr.
TORRENS a vehement protest, from the SPEAKER-AR
expression of "regret," and from Serjeant DOWSF.
the humorous suggestion that the MAYOR of CORK
should, as the heaviest punishment that could be
inflicted upon him, be shut up for a whole day with
the member for Tyrone. Mr. BRIGHT, in his reply,
made one unlucky mistake. He spoke in the
first person singular, and said that he was
prepared to bring in a measure to put
greater numbers of people in possession of land than
now hold it. The mistake was not unnatural in the
case of a man of Mr. BRIGHT'S antecedents. He
has been for so many years standing alone, warring
alone, that he forgets that he now has allies, and is
under the command of a superior officer. Of course
the Opposition were keen to mark the blunder; all
the keener because they connected it with certain
proposals made by Mr. BRIGHT on a former occasion,
which, it is understood, the Liberal party generally,
and Mr. GLADSTONE in particular, are not prepared to
accept. But the debate that followed was not with-
out use. It set forth pretty clearly the principles of
the Government policy, though whether it would
not have been better to be still more precise is a
matter fairly open to question.
The principles of the intended Ministerial measure
are clearly these : that there shall be compensation
to tenants for unexhausted improvements, and that
facilities shall be offered for converting tenants int(
owners. To the first principle both sides of tilt
House are already committed. The Conservatives
unhappily compelled the RussELL-GLADSTONI
Ministry to abandon their Tenant Right Bill in 1866.
just as it was compelled to give up its Reform Bill.
We know what happened. With regard to the
second matter, we know that the limited extension
rejected in 1866 brought about household suffrage in
1867; and so it will be with regard to the first. The
day is gone by, we fear, for any measure so mode-
rate as the Irish Land Bill of 1866 to suffice.
We must have that and something more.
Fortunately that something more is offered
by the Irish Church Bill. A large quantity of land
will come more or less under the control of the
Government, and we have no doubt that it is with
this Mr. GLADSTONE and Mr. BRIGHT are prepared
to deal. There will be no " confiscation." The
lands will not be taken from the Church in order to
tfoor
thtehe
prpeusercuhtasteensouf t them
class.
be given to the peasantry. But every facility
w iTllh
usbe a
ltohffoeurgedh
the Government wisely decline to introduce their
land bill this session, they might, we think, state
with greater precision the intentions which are to be
inferred from, rather than were expressed in, the
Ministerial statements on Friday night. In the
meanwhile, if Mr. BRIGHT'S former speeches have
led to any extravagant expectations on the part of the
Irish people, he has done his best to dissipate them
by his explicit disavowal of the projects which are
imputed to him.

LITERATURE.

Imitations of George Cruikshank.

German Popular Stories. By the Brothers Grimm.
Two Series. With Illustrations. After the

Original Designs by George Cruikshank. One
Vol., pp. 335. J. C. Hotten.
Under the most alluring guise, shining radiantly
in apple-green and gold, there comes back to us, in
the shape of this goodly volume, one of our old
especial favourites. And what a book it is ! A
fairy-tale book among fairy-tale books—a collection
of apologues among a collection of apologues! Hans
in Luck and Tom Thumb•—The Jew in the Bush
and King Grisly-beard—Rumpel-Stilts-kin and
Cherry or the Frog Bride—The Salad, the Goose-
girl, The Turnip, The Juniper Tree, the Three
Sluggards, the Seven Ravens, and The Nose !
rSrit, fun, wiadom, absurdity, conceits the wildest,
;oinicality the most extravagant, fable, allegory,
irollery and diablerie
Sport that wrinkled care derides,
And laughter holding both his sides►

•illausm'archen" is the name of it—being (as it is) a
eathering together of the German Popular Stories by
he Brothers Grimm. The elder of these two brothers
wing Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm, born in 1785 at
lanau. The younger, Wilhelm Carl Grimm, born
1786 at Hanover. Like Dr. Johnson, they are
&flown and honoured among lexicographers. But,
,core effectively than the author of Rasselas, they
weilded the pen of the fabulist. One of them, Jacob,
writing of his literary association with his brother
Wilhelm, said, "We lived, from our youth up, in
brotherly community of goods—money, books, and
collectanea belonging to us in common :" so that, as
ne adds, " it was natural to combine our labours."
And, in this way, they worked together. Earlier
than we can by any possibility recall to our remem-
brance, in point of fact before we were born, a trans-
lation of these famous GermanPopularStories, of the
renowned " HausmUrchen" was given to the English
public—this was 'in 1823—by Mr. Edgar Taylor
Lad his partner, Mr. Roscoe,then practising as soli-
citors in the Temple. The first volume was
published by Charles Baldwyn, of Newgate-street,
tad the second by James Robins, of Ivy-lane The
Jtc:iings—the wonderful etchings—illustrating the
Seaglish version of the Stories, were by George Cruik-
shank. Forty odd years have flown by since then ;
and the work we are here referring to, after having
passed through a greatnumber of editions, has long
eeen regarded as a choice rarity—whenever they
lave been fortunate enough to light upon a stray
copy of it—by the collectors of the vast multitude
if scattered works produced by the etching-needle
if George Cruikshank. According to a statement
.nade in the " Advertisement" prefixed to the
volume now under notice—a statement made on
she authority of its publisher, Mr. Hotten, of Pic-
iadilly—the original issue of Edgar Taylor's and
ltoscoe's English version of the " Hausrnarchen"of
Brothers Grimm, embellished by the hand of George
Cruikshank, sold at the time of its first publication
at six shillings the volume, that is for twelve ehi.-
,inge the two volumes—those two volumes being
,ow, according to Mr. Hotten, worth, at the least,
£5 or £6 sterling. Now, it is this book which, iu
sae form, as nearly as possible, of a facsimile, has
.iere, in this attractive shape, bean reproduced.
fhe title-page is frank enough where it speaks of the
illustrations as " A fter the Designs of George
Cruikshank." Otherwise, as it status to us, the
work—intentionally or unintentionally—is decep-
..ive. And, it is so, or at any rate it strikes us as so,
.or this reason, that externally—as though the
iook were his, or were duly authorized by him—
here is emblazoned the well-known autograph of
the great artist : while, internally, there is
perfectly legible, under each seeming replica of the
aeginal etchings either G. Cruikshank fecit,
or, at any rate, his initials. Over and above
ill which, in the course of a charming
introduction to this Edition (written expressly
for the volume under notice) Mr. Ruskin him-
;elf writes, among other things, the words im-
mediately following—" These copies" have been so
;arefully executed that at first I was deceived by
.hem, and supposed them to be late impressions
from the plates (and what is more I believe the
.naster himself was deceived by them, and sup-
posed them to be his own)"—aud so on. Now the
words italicized in parenthesis wa have it.ilic:zed
purposely-- for inasmuch as thereby hangs (if not
tale, at any rate) an explanation. Aud the
xplanatioa is simply this, thitt it was at the
irst glance, but at the first glance only, that the
nester was for a passing moment, deceived. Re-
nember, that forty-six years ago these famous etch-
uga from his hand—from his master-hand—were
irst produced. They are among his masterpieces.
t'wo or three of them, are all but his masterpieces.
['hough, to accord them the palm, off-hand, as such,
would require some courage, recollecting the vast
multitude of etchings this incomparable master of
Lhat exquisite art has in his time with affluent
genius and marvellous industry—stroke upon
stroke, touch upon
touch, with the needle's point—
produced. One Cruiksbankian Collector alone
awns to the possession of Sixteen Thousand original
etchings from that deft, and agile, and laborious
hand I Reverting, however, to these particular
etchings in illustration of the German Stories, by
the Brothers Grimm, they were daintily scratched
an the varnish, and bitten by the acid into the
metal, as we have said some six and forty years
ago. Thirty years ago, however, the very plates
themselves were suddenly missing. For sixteen
years they had served their purpose, but then—
nearly a whole generation back—they somehow
went astray. Aud for thirty years they were
supposed to have been lost, or stolen, or destroyed.
Several months since—this being the actual state
of things in regard to the original plates—a friend
calling in upon him, related of George Cruikshank's,
how he had been told that these very plates had
then recently been discovered, and had been, there-
upon, purchased by Mr. Hotten, the publisher, of
Piccadilly—Cruikshank's friend shewing to the
artist, at the same moment a couple of proofs which
re held out to him with this inquiry—" Are
these your etchings ?" Then, it was. at the first
superficial glance—more particularly seeing his name
written (one might almost say forged) under each
subject—George Cruikshank thought for the moment
they were his owe—answering his querist, haphazard,
Yee." Looking at them directly afterwards, how-
aver, a little more carefully—asecond glance showed
nim at once that they were copies. Examining them
through the very same magnifying glass, with the
lid of which, nearly half a. century before he had
produced the original etchings—the fact glared
ipon recognition that they were not Cruikshank's
['rue, no doubt, that when scanned with the naked eye
these copies appear to have been cleverly imitated.
But the master himself protests to us —and we don't
wonder at it—that he should be very sorry in-
deed if his own work, more particularly the
faces, were not better ! "At a distance," as he says,
" they may pass ; but a comparison, particularly
through a magnifying glass, will detect the differ-
ence in an instant !" Not a doubt of it Conse-
quent upon the recognition of which fact, we
cannot wonder in the least to know that George
Cruikshank has objected, in the strongest
manner possible, to having his name or his
initials even placed under what, at the best, were
only extremely good copies, or that he has requested
-.he publisher of this otherwise most acceptable
volume to have written under each subject, "Copied
from George Cruikshank's original designs and etch-
ings." So also in regard to the external emblazoning
upon the book of the famous Autograph. Naturally
enough the owner of that autograph regards as "an
in warrantable liberty," the use of a name which
ne is very comprehensibly desirous of retaining
to distinguish exclusively as his, works of his
own actual production, and his own actual pro
perty. It cannot but be interesting to a Id, here
for the information of Air. It'iskia as the
author of the introduction, of gr. Hotten, as the
publisher of the volume, and of every purchaser
~f the book itself in its present guise—that, by the
oddest coincidence, the hitherto missing Copper
Plates, with George Cruikshank's original etchings
upon them—have been recently found, and are now
in the possession of a friend of the artist. The plates
so long lying perdu were formerly the property
of the late Dir, Robins, of Tooley-street, in the

Borough, shortly after whose death these identical
plates were discovered, among a mass of
old rubbish, buried away in a cellar, the whole
stock, rubbish and all, being thereupon sold off,
and the etched copper- plates eagerly bought up by
this friend of George Cruikshank's. Reverting,
however, from the Originals to the exceedingly in-
genious Imitations here under review, we cannot
but commend, even in these sha,do wy reflections from
the etched copper-plates, as they came, six and forty
years ago, from the hand of George Cruikshank—the
consummate art with which an almost microscopic
line or two, the faintest scratch, the merest dot,
serves to indicate a whole world of character. Look
at that grotesque procession of the Golden Goose.
opposite p. 124, with Dummling, staff in hand,
followed (one after another) by the three sisters, by
the parson, by the clerk, by the two labourers—all
treading on one another's heels ! Look at the Elves
capering with their (literally) small-clothes opposite
p. 96—watched, from behind the curtain, by the
grinning shoemaker! Look at the ursine smirk upon
Bruin's face, or muzzle rather, opposite D. 192,
where he is dancing a pas soil to the sound of the
fiddle ! Look at the " Heads Off" opposite p. 120 in
the embellishment to the King of the Golden Moun-
tain ! But—for that matter—we might run through
them all seriatim. For, they are, certainly, all of
them, deliciously humorous by reason of the same
subtle touches of droll extravagance. Our only regret,
and (as far as that goes) our principal wonder in re-
gard to this revival, or reissue, or republication of
Cruikshank's Grimm, is that—the artist being, still,
as he indubitably is, in the fullness of his powers,
and, that, too, alike in his manipulative skill, and
in the grotesque sprightliness of his imagination—
our one regret, our sole wonder, is that George
Cruikshank himself was not employed to make
copies of his own etchings ! It would at the least
have been judicious. For, certainly, in his instance
—" none but himself can be his parallel."

George Cruikshank's Omnibus. New Edition. One
Vol., pp. 300. Bell and Daldy.

Another old favourite, here, claims our attention.
Twenty years and more have sped by since it began
running. And, nevertheless, here it is once more
upon the road—true to time- up to time—and
ready for all corners. Lamau Blanchard was
originally its Conductor. The Proprietor of the
" Omnibus" the driver of the team, an admirable
Whip, master of the iibbous—George Cruikshank
himself—is still happily amongst us, though his con-
frere the Conductor has years since passed away. And
•‘ 1 he Omnibus" appears in its new aspect under its
projector's own direction. Republished in a single
volume, fhe work is really worthy of preservation.
In its way, it is a comic classic. And, this we say,
with an eye at once to the letterpress and the illus-
trations. Who that knows the book at all, can fail
to boar in recollection the serial story of " Frank
I feartwell; or, Fifty Years Ago," by Bowman Tiller
--whoever he was. An enthralling narrative of
adventures ashore and afloat, embellished by a suc-
cession of charming etchings from the masterhand
George Cruikshank—some of them finished pictures,
if regarded purely as works of art? Then, again, the
very exordium, or introduction, or prologue, or
however you may please to call it—George Cruik-
shank's illustrated fragment of Autobiography !
With the revelation of his first sense of pictorial
fun—his casual limning of a chance-seen bust of
Shakspere with a clay pipe stuck in its mouth !
The portrait of the artist prefixed to this fragment
of his autobiography is, if possible, more interest-
ing even than it was of old, now that we glance atits
truthful delineation of him, as he looked then,
more than a quarter of a century ago—and, yet,
in spite of the lapse of time since then, in the
expression of it—the very man himself, as he is
now, with the keen bright blue eyes, the acquiline
(and, as the French would call it, " pronounced")
nose, the half moustache from the corners
of the kindly, vigorous mouth, the tag of hair trail-
ing sideways down the forehead!! Among the tid-
bits that may still be relished with a gusto scattered
up and down the volume, maybe particularised that
wonderfully droll story about Little Spitz, told by
Michael Angelo Titmarsh, and pencilled by
George Cruikshank. That same M. A. Titinarsh
who was afterwards to drop his puesodnym and
appear in the world of letters under his own proper
title as W. M. Thackeray—and who was to write
in succession " Vanity Fair " and " Pen'lennis,"
and " The Newcornes," and " Philip," and " The
Virginians," and what not. But, already, there,
in Cruikshank's Omnibus, even in that preposter-
ous story about " Little Spitz," he was giving
evidence of his extraordinary powers as a humorist
—evidence so unmistakeable that we have known
a reader of the tale [query, tail `E] cry with laugh-
ing over the comicality of that same whimsical little
story. Then, moreover, one might ask the readers of
"The Omnibus" when it first came out and appeared
from month to month among the magazines—have
they not still to this day (we have) the most vivid
recollection of Mrs. 7'.? Mrs. I'., with her "little
bit black legs," and her " coal-scuttle bonnet," and
her apparently determined attempt at suicide—
and all the rest of it ! Why—we used to look
out for her, with indescribable eagerness in
the successive numbers—as the " Omnibus" drove
on from stage to stage—and we used to dread the
appearance of a number without her putting
in an appearance ! Altogether the book is full
of fun, frolic, and fascetiousness, open it where you
will. Say, at." Ghosts," or at " Frights," or at the
pictorial jest on Homes apathy, or on Photography,
or on any of the then new wonders of the hour. As
an amusing miscellany we don't know any volume of
equal bulk to compare with this one of Cruikshank's
" Omnibus," a work produced by our great artist
when he was iu the prime of his life and in the
fullness of his powers—the peerless master of tha
art of etching and the prince of comic illustrators.

THE MAYOR OF CORK AND HIS COL-
LEAGUES ON THE BENCH.

The Pall Mall Gazette correspondent at Cork telegraphs
tbat at the Police-office, on Saturday, Mr. Pollock, one
of the Conservative magistrates of the city, re-
fused to permit the mayor to take the charge-
sheet as chairman. A struggle for possession of
the document occurred, and the sheet was torn. Of course
there was "a scene in court"—a scandalous scene, the
despatch says.
The magistrates held a meeting to consider the mayor's
conduct.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS.

The committee on the Irish Church Bill is to be resumed
to-night, the first amendment to it on the paper being by
Mr. Gregory, who wishes to change the expression "private"
endowments in the bill into "reserved" endowments. But
the tug of war will probably come upon the thirty-second
clause. This relates to the tithe rent charge, and provides
that the charge may be sold to the owner of the land at
twenty-two and a half times its amount. Mr. Fawcett
moves the omission of the clause altogether, and failing
to carry his motion, will endeavour to substitute for
" twenty-two and half times its amount" the words
" equal to such an amount of consols as will annually
yield the amount of such rent charge." Mr.
Disraeli wants the money paid to be the average
market price of the charge, and Mr. Henry
Herbert would have it to be eighteen times its
value. The clause goes on to provide that the purchase-
money and the interest may be discharged by payment of
4i per cent. of the total amount annually for forty-five
years. On this Mr. Gladstone moves the substitution of
"fifty-two" for "forty-five," and Mr. Morrison of
"al" instead of "4." But it would be wearisome
to go down over the amendments seriatim. There are
nearly a dozen pages of them. For the same night
Committees of Supply and of Ways and Means are
appointed, and Committee on the Contagious Diseases
Animals Bill. Among the questions is one by Mr.
Dawson, referring to the conduct of the Mayor of
Cork, and asking whether he will be allowed to
maintain his position. Mr. Baines inquires whether
the Postmaster could reduce the charge for money
orders to one penny for each order below twenty shillings.
Mr. Pemberton wants to know what the Lord Chancellor
thinks of the law courts, and will ask the First Com-
missioner of Works. Mr. Stevenson demands of the
Postmaster-General whether the West India mails can-
not be despatched on fixed days of the week ; and Mr.
Whalley is anxinbs to know what the Government intend
to do about the turnpikes.

To-morrow Sir Robert Anstruther will ask whether
branding has been forbidden in the army. Mr. Headlam
moves the abolition of light dues, it being unworthy of this
nation to charge upon the shipping of other countries the
maintenance of the lights, &c., on our coasts when our
own ships are afforded the lights of other countries free of
expense. Mr. Seely also moves his resolution on the
mail contracts. He asks the House to demand
that mail contracts should be submitted to it early in the
session ; to declare that those with the United States
should not be made for longer than three years, and that
payment to the carrying companies should be made
according to the letters, &c., sent ; and that a penny
postage should be negotiated. The Libel Bill is
down for committee, but Mr. Newdegate will
move an adverse amendment. The Marriage
with Deceased Wife's Sister Bill is down for com-
mittee. Mr. Collins will more as an instruction to
the committee that they have power to make provision
for a woman to marry her deceased husband's brother.
The University Tests Bill is down for Wednesday
afternoon. Mr. Bentinck will oppose its going into com-
mittee.

On Thursday Miners' Regulations and the Customs
and Inland Revenue Duties Bills are down for second
reading.

Mr. Gregory apropos to the Irish land laws, will, on
Friday call the attention of the House to the management
of their estates in the west of Ireland by the Law Life
Insurance Society. The affairs of Central Asia will be
discoursed upon by Mr. Eastwick. A neat point
is raised by Sir Lawrence Palk, who will call the
attention of the Government to the Acts passed in Queen
Anne's reign prohibiting Government pensioners from
sitting in the House of Commons, and ask if, having
clue regard to these statutes, a recipient of a yearly
allowance from the Treasury, in consequence of abolition
of office, but under the age of 60, and liable to serve again,
is dirqiutlified from sitting and voting as a memberof Par.
liament. Mr. Fowler will again raise the western mail
question, and move a resolution declaratory of the advan•
taxes of landing mails at a western port.