The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-16 00:00:00

Among the exhibitors to the Water Colour Society,
which opens on the 26th, will be Mr. Richardson and Mr.
Gastineau, who, though not far short of 80 years of age,
sends, I believe, nearly a dozen pictures. Mr. Yeames sends
a picture to the Academy in which one of the figures is a
portrait of his wife. The Water Colour Institute has its
private view on Saturday. Mr. Holman Hunt has, I be-
lieve, at last left Florence for the Holy Land. He has
been detained in the Italian capital a year while superin-
tending the erection of a memorial to his wife. He is
likely to spend several years in Palestine. Visitors to
London may like to be informed that his " Christ in the
Temple" and " Isabella and the Pot of Basil" will be on
view during the season at Messrs. Gambart's, to whom both
works belong. Mr. Hunt has recently somewhat touched up
the former work by softening the red tint of our Lord's
hair, and also by restoring the right-hand portion of the
picture, which was injured by a fire that nearly des-
troyed this great work.
There has been a great gathering of amateurs at
Christie's to-day. They were attracted by the announce-
ment that the Turners belonging to Mr. Ruskin were
for sale. The room was densely crowded, and the
competition very keen. Turner's " Slave Ship "
went for 1,945 guineas ; " The Lake of Lu-
cerne " for 980 ; " The Lake of Brientz " for 312.
The sale is continuing as I write. Of other pic-
tures also disposed of, 'l'ayler's " The Keeper's Daughter"
was knocked down for 290 guineas, Copley Fielding's
" Scene between King's House and Inverary" for 440,
and the same artist's " Off Portsmouth " for 460. Brett's
" Vat D'Aosta " went for 245 guineas.

The Siamese Twins are the peg upon which a good many
jokes are hung just now. There is one story to the effect
that a certain gentleman, well known in club land for
the weakness of being supposed to know everybody, was
asked if he had seen the Siamese Twins, and replied,
"Oh yes, I met one of them in the Park yesterday."
Still better is the remark said to have been made in all
seriousness by a gentleman, who certainly was not born
on the eastern shore of St. George's channel—" It is
fortunate that the twins know each other well ; it might
have been very awkward if they had been strangers."
Persons accustomed to pass through Trafalgar-square
will have noticed from time to time a sturdy disreputable
beggar, who is blind in both eyes. This man is a notorious
scoundrel. He is no other than Hare, the associate of
Burke in the Edinburgh murders, which originated the
term " Burking, " forty-one years ago. Hare turned
Queen's evidence, and so saved his own neck from the
gallows. Subsequently he went to work under an assumed
name, but his fellow-workmen, discovering who he was,
threw him into a lime pit, and there his eyes were burnt
out. He now appeals to the charity of the public, who
have, of course, no idea who he is.

At length Mr. Murray is able to announce definitely
Mr. John Forster's long-expected life of Walter Savage
Landor. It is to appear on May 3, almost simul-
taneously with the diary of his old friend, Henry Crabbe
Robinson, which is being published by Macmillan.
Sir John Taylor Coleridge is adding considerably to
his Life of Keble, which will probably appear in
two volumes. Miss Yonge, the novelist, is writing
her Recollections of Keble. Messrs. Bell and Daldy have
purchased the copyright of Charles Knight's " Pictorial
History of England," and Messrs. Hogg that of the
" Directorium Anglicanum." Another item of literary
news is that Dr. William Smith (author of the Classical
Dictionaries), having undertaken the editorship of the
Quarterly Review, will not offer himself for re-election as
classical examiner of the London University.

The Pall Mall Ga.:ette has thought proper to give a notice
of the proceedings in reference to the British Lying-in
Hospital, which conveys about as incorrect a notion of the
actual facts as it was possible to give in the space
devoted to the notice. Dr. Edmonds, one of
the physicians of the hospital, is accused of very
strong language to Dr. Beck, but it is not
mentioned that Dr. Beck committed an assault on Dr.
Edmonds so serious that the assailant was fined five
pounds by a magistrate. Dr. Edmonds is represented as
having threatened Mr. Hoare and others with contempt
of court if they " continued their investigation." The
fact is, that by the advice of counsel they
were informed of the pending action, in order
that they might not commit a contempt of court by
repeating defamatory statements. A full investigation
did take place, and it was continued until Mr. Hoare
himself proposed the following resolution :—" That the
board, having investigated the more important of the
charges conveyed in the printed evidence, and having
found them entirely unsubstantiated, think it unnecessary
to go further into the inquiry, and acquit Dr. Edmonds
of any unprofessional conduct as physician to this
hospital." After having proposed this resolution, Mr.
professes s spe sr.t bd emsoini rdpsritsoe d
resin,tllat thaen
dbo ahrads have
dn oat
b callediare
general meeting, at which he proposed that Dr. Edmonds
should:be dismissed if lie did not resign. An amendment,
proposed by Canon Nisbet to Mr. Hoare's resolution,
again exonerated Dr. Edmonds from all charges, but
requested him to resign, in order to promote the peace of
the h3spital. This amendment was carried, but it was
thought by many of Dr. Edmonds's friends that as he
was entirely acquitted of the charges, his accusers, and
not Dr. Edmonds, ought to be called upon to take that
step.

Du;qvir,T.}: and Co., Belfast, are the largest
holders of Whisky in the worid. Their Old Irish Whisky is ra
commended by the medical -profession in preference to French
Brandy- supplied in casks and cases for home use or exports
tion. Quotations on appUcation 'to Messrs. Denville and Co.,
Belfast; or 4, Beaufort-buildings, Strand, London, W.O
vertisent cut .