The Sun.
London, England, 1858-08-03 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 3, 1858

during their own lifetime, supposing them to be
themselves in any necessitous plight, these authors,
artists, and scientific professors may reasonably hope

.o secure the timely and beneficent interposition in

their favour of the resources to this very end placed
at the disposal of the Chief of the Government.
Had the humane act by which this generous dis-
tribution is authorised been earlier in existence—the

author of HUDIBRAS need not have died in penury

-OTWAY might not have been strangled by the
crust devoured too hastily in the agonies of starva-
tion—BoYcE would not have been left to shiver in
his blanket—SAVAGE, perhaps, might not have ex-
pired prematurely in the debtors' prison at Bristol—
perchance young CUATTERTON himself might have
been snatched from the despair driving him to
suicide in his Brooke-street garret before attaining

the mature age of eighteen.
It is a narrow sum enough at the best, this annual
amount of 1,2001., yet, in the name of common sense
and of common humanity, let us "take it at the best ;"
let us, in plain words, make the best of it, as it
is. Setting aside the immediate hope of making the
annual sum larger, let us take it for as much as it is,
namely, just one thousand two hundred pounds
sterling. But, while doing so, let us be sure that it
is distributable year after year in the way the
act intends it to be distributed—or, in other words,
for the better encouragemeut of the deserving culti-

vators of art, science, and literature. Now what we have
long complained of in regard to these list pensions—
the very evil in their regard to which we would first
earnestly direct the attention of her Majesty's pre-

sent Government is this—that the civil list pensions
year after year are not so distributed !
Look at the latest catalogue, the one recording
the distribution of these twelve hundred pounds
between the 20th June, 1857, and the 20th June,
1858—look at this example of the system by way of
illustration. There is the widow of a great wit—

the widow of DOUGLAS JERROLD—to whom a hun-
dred a-year has been awarded. There is the widow
of the late Rev. ROBERT MONTGOMERY, who is
granted 501. per annum. There is the daughter of
JAmEs HOOO, the Ettrick Shepherd, who—now
twenty-three long years after her gifted father's
death—is allowed henceforth to count upon receiving
the wretched pittance of 401, a-year. There are a
few other literary pensions, of no particular note.
specified upon the catalogue—the most interesting
among these being 40/. a year to EDWARD CArEnN,
the poetical postman of Devonshire. The largest
amount of all for purely literary purposes in this
way being the one solitary item of 1001. per annum
(not quite 21. ayeek), awarded to Mrs. MARY JER-
ROLD as before mentioned.
But—in direct contrast to all this—we find in this
brief catalogue the record oftwo pensions,which alone
of themselves swallow up at once a whole third of the
entire amount set apart yearly for the encourage-
ment (in this way) of art, science, and literature.
One whale third of the amount, 1,2001., absorbed in
two pensions, not in any way tending to the en•
couragement of art, of science, or of literature. In
effect-4001. set aside upon the Civil List Pensions
for the solace of ladies who are the widows of gene-
ral officers.

There is the pension of 2001., awarded to
"Dame ISABELLA BARNARD, in consideration of the
services (the military services) of her husband, the
late Major-General BARNARD, K.C.8., who died in
command of the army at the siege of Delhi."
There is the other pension of 2001. a-year to the
' Hon. ELIZABETH A RABELLA ANSON, in considera-
tion of the services (the military services) of her
husband, the late General the Hon. GEORGE ANSON,
Commander-in-Chief of her MAJESTY'S Forces in
India, who died of disease when in active service."
The former of these two pensions being left in
trust to Major-General CRAWFORD and L. ANrao-
nus, Esq., the latter in trust to Lord FORESTER
and the Earl of CHESTERFIELD.
Now, we do not object for one single instant
to the awarding of pensions of 2001. a-year each
to the relicts of those brave soldiers dying
nobly in the service of their country. But we
do insist upon the filet of the extraordinary
injustice of subtracting these 4001. from the already
insufficiently narrow sum of 1,2001. per annum set
apart for the very different purposes of the Civil List
pensions—particularly when we find upon the same
catalogue inscribed the names of poor Miss JESSIE
HOGG, daughter of that true poet and true-hearted
man, the Ettrick Shepherd—with the wretched little
item of 401. a year set down after her name, as we
have said, just three and twenty long years since her
remarkable father breathed his last. We say
that these things are monstrous and cruel anomalies,
and we most ardently hope that Her MAJESTY'S
new Prime Minister, Lord DERBY, will look to it
generously now betimes, not only with a ♦iew to
avoid its repetition for the year 1858-1859, but to
the end that that repetition be rendered a matter of
impossibility hereafter.

The Prorogation of Parliament yesterday, by the
Royal Commissioners, was rendered remarkable
among events of the like kind, by the delivery of a
Speech from the Throne, in the name and on the
part of the Sovereign, remarkable for inasmuch as
it closed a stormy and interrupted session by the
commemoration of so many ministerial achieve-
ments. Foremost among them, of course, the
elaborated measure re-organising the whole machi-
nery of our Anglo-Indian Government. In spite
of so many obstacles to its accomplishment—in
spite of so many torturing postponements
that at least has been so far satisfactorily accom-
plished. And following rapidly in the wake of that
grand innovation, how many extraordinary and
hitherto almost unhoped-for changes! The abroga-
gation of the property qualification—literally one of
the points of the Charter ! The admission, it is true as
by a wide door, and one, moreover, opened by an im-
promptu compromise—the ultimate admission, after
such manifold ineffectual efforts to the same end, of
a Hebrew M.P. to a seat in our Christian Legislature.
The guarantee of some early change for the better
in regard to the main-drainage of the metropolis,
—though the further delay of the ultimately inevitable
settlement of that long-vexed question had become,
for that matter it must be admitted, almost impos-
sible in a Parliament, the members of which have
been nearly suffocated by the poisonous atmo-
sphere reeking about them from what is at once the
immediate
cause and effect of our long-cherished systemd of
Dirty Cleanliness. Together with these imme
or prospictive modifications in our complex
maze of political, social, and sanitary ar
succe
s-
ments—there has been one grea and
ful effort at construction, attributable, as it happens,
to the very Minister who was, but yesterday, con-
spicuous amongst his colleagues as the latest ac-
cession to the Cabinet of Lord DERBY. Sir
EDWARALYTTON haslinaugurated his administrative
career by creating a colony which will of itself serve
to perpetuate the remembrance of his Colonial
Secretaryship. The opportune discovery of gold upon
the banks of Frazer's river has been sagaciously
seized by her Majesty's Secretary of State for the
Colonies as a pretext for the introduction of what is
popularly known as the small-end-of-the-wedge—
inserting that magical "power" precisely at the
right point, at the happy moment, and under the
most propitious circumstances : and forthwith
driving it home with dexterous rapidity. No
wonder the Royal Speech makes particular mention
of an enactment imparting unexpected lustre
to the close of an otherwise fruitful and
notable session of the Imperial Legislature ! Our
most sanguine hopes in regard to the auspicious in-
fluences of this brilliant measure receive distinct and
explicit encouragement from the paragraph in which
Her MAJESTY, through her Commissioners, makes
allusion to its accomplishment. After observing that
" The act to which Her MAJESTY has assented for
the establishment of the colony of British Columbia
was urgently required, in consequence of the recent
discoveries of gold in that district," the Royal Speech
goes on to say, pointedly and deliberately—"But Her
MAJESTY hopes that this new colony on the Pacific may
be but one step in the career of steady progress by
which her MAJESTY'S dominions in North America
may be ultimately peopled in an unbroken chain
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, by a loyal and in-
dustrious population of subjects of the British
Crown." That is the auguryuttered vicariously by the
thel golden and happy augury
ft r this, not very re-
forlips t ohfe thel t
eSr
oNr-
mote realization of our long-cherisheditaßnldG,Ns'ure y a e
hopes in re-
gard to the gigantic territory of our North American

dominions. Long years ago we insisted strenuously
in these columns upon the advisaoility, upon the
absolute necessity, sooner or later, of constructing a
grand trunk railway between the seaboard of North
America on the Pacific and on the Atlantic—chang-
ing a howling wilderness into a populous continent,
peopled ever hundreds upon hundreds of square miles
with a race endowed with the blessings of civilisation.
If for nothing else, for that one augury, the
Speech from the Throne on the prorogation of Par-
liament has this year been remarkable. If for
nothing else, by reason of this one enactment the
late session would have been one entitled to especial
remembrance. It is but a single measure, how-
beit, among all the numerous measures of
advancement and improvement, passed through
the Imperial Legislature. It is but one sentence—
but that the most interesting sentence—in a Royal
Speech replete, from first to last, with allusions
and records of auspicious significance.

CANADA.

TORONTO, JULY 15.
Last night the Opposition took the bold step of
moving " That an address be presented to his Ex-
cellency the Governor-General, setting forth that
his Excellency's advisers in the Provincial Cabinet
do not possess the confidence of the representatives
of the people of Upper Canada in this house, and
respectfully entreating his Excellency that, until he
shall be enabled to summon to his council men on
whose judgment and political principles the Upper
Canadian members of the house can rely, his Ex-
cellency will be graciously pleased to withhold the
exercise of his undoubted prerogative in all appoint-
ments to places of trust and emolument, which are
now vacant or may become vacant in Upper Canada,
until such time as he can receive advice concerning
the same from members of au Administration
which shall faithfully represent the well understood
wishes and interests of both sections of the
province." The Opposition are somewhat unfor-
tunate in bringing forward their want of confidence
motion at the present time, for within a very few
weeks two of this party have been lost to them—one
by death, and the other having just been unseated
by a committee of the house. The Government can
therefore hardly entertain fears of the result, even as
regards the Upper Canada section of the house, as,
at the best (except in the instance of a late vote on
the " Representation by Population" question, when
only 10 Upper Canadian representatives were found
voting against the principle, and upwards of 40 in
its favour, including a Cabinet Minister, Mr. Sidney
Smith, Postmaster-General), the Opposition majo-
rity in Upper Canada has seldom reached beyond
some five or six. The loss of two of their
partisans upon whose votes they could with confi-
dence rely, and the probability that one or two
others, although generally opposed to the Govern-
ment, do not at present desire to see this country left
without an Administration, must occasion to the
Opposition great chagrin that the motion was not
before brought forward, and make them exceedingly
uneasy as to the fate of their grand and, perhaps,
last effort to storm the Government benches. On
the other hand, should the Government, indepen-
dently of their large Lower Canada majority, be sus-
tained by a majority of even one in the Upper Canada
section of the house, the circumstance will have a most
favourable effect as regards the Administration, and
from that time it may even be anticipated with rea-
son that additions to their ranks will continue to be
made, which will give them an undeniable majority
in both sections of the province. It is quite clear
the Government have no apprehensions with regard
to the vote"; indeed the Attorney-General was
anxious that a vote should have been taken last
evening, and certainly delay can only tend to assist
the object which the opponents of the Government
have at heart. No doubt a great many members
feel very much disposed to quarrel with the
present condition of public affairs, but they
do not pretend to hold the Government respon-
sible for them, neither do they believe that, were
the Cabinet broken up to-morrow, a more capable
one could be manufactured out f the materials
afforded by the present house. Changes have been
of late frequently alluded to, and by more than one
of the Government papers ; but it is generally be-
lieved that the present Cabinet will, unless defeated,
remain intact, at least until the close of the present
long session. The names of Mr. Galt and Major
Campbell have been mentioned in connection with
the rumoured changes in the Government, to replace
the present Inspector-General, Mr. Cayley, and the
Hon. Mr. Cartier, who, it is said, is about to be pro-
moted to the bench of Lower Canada. In the latter
case the present able and hardworking Solicitor-
General, Rose, will probably become Attorney-Gene-
ral. As to Major Campbell, who is a retired hussar
officer and formerly Civil Secretary, he has a large
stake in the country, being married to a French
Canadian lady, and being also the fortunate posses-
sor of a splendid estate in the neighbourhood of
Montreal, in the management of which he has shown
great skill as an agriculturist, and set an admirable
example to all around. The gallant major, who is
exceedingly popular, has abilities of a high order,
and he would bring a considerable accession of
strength to the Government.
I can hardly credit the rumour of Mr. Cayley's
retirement, that gentleman having, against enormous
difficulties and a tierce opposition, at length succeeded
in getting this scheme for the amelioration oft he present
financial condition of the province adopted by Par-
liament. The resolutions embodying the new tariff
were nearly all carried without much discussion ;
but on one or two items parties immediately inte-
rested in the proposed alterations uttered their com-
plaints. The increased tax upon cordage, of course,
found little favour in the eyes of members connected
with the shipping interest, but the Inspector-General
explained that it was done with a view to encourage
home manufactures. Cordage for ship-building
purposes he intimated was to be free, but for all
other purposes there would be a duty of five per
cent. The item respecting printing paper—as might
be supposed, in an assembly which counts a dozen
proprietors or editors of newspapers, amongst
its members occasioned a lively discussion ;
but Mr. Cayley told the house that the duty of 15
per cent., which he proposed to put upon the article,
was intended purely as a measure of protection to
the several paper manufactories throughout the pro-
vince. No doubt this branch of industry is well
adapted to both Upper and Lower Canada ; but par-
ticularly the latter, where there is such splendid
water power and every requisite for manufacturing
enterprise, and where also the raw material in the
shape of the wild flower, popularly known as the
" everlasting," is found in great abundance. Paper
made of this material is very good and strong, and
I believe several of our provincial journals are
printed upon it. It has been ascertained that there
are 13 paper mills in Canada, employing 150 men
and 400 women.
We hope shortly to hear news of the reception of
the Canadian regiment in England, which, no doubt,
will:be worthy of the occasion. The colonel (Baron
de Rottenburg) has long been known as an able
drill, and as possessing splendid soldierly qualities.
No doubt he will soon bring the Canadian raw
material into fine shape, and then be proud to ex-
hibit his Royal Canadians to the criticism of the
English public. By the way, it appears strange that
the Canadian section of officers should have remained
so long ungazetted. His Royal Highness the Com-
mander-in-Chief, it is said, has witten out to congra-
tulate Canadians and the officers of the 100th for their
expedition in raising the men. Why, then, is it that
theye t
exertedrl
ea
s rte
aeivre
obligedkeg
dse themselvesnt
oht lree mrtoone
commissions,
n live
nywhei hap oobw
hooaan
tnrvi
dide:
a,
rraenrsmudollapwrmln
manner,
yysymsneeedntel, wellafewonrni
mlse
having
alei
atknow,nnroyggt
duties,
neuctbeieiaved up to the present moment not a farthing of
pay ? This is a serious matter, perhaps, to some of
the junior officers ; at any rate, it does not seem to
be a just course of action on the part of the Depart-
ment of War. Red tape, perhaps, is still the fashion.
But no. There must be some mistake somewhere,
which, no doubt, will be quickly remedied.
As an indication of the feeling of the house in
regard to the Hudson's Bay question, it may be
mentioned that the bill incorporating the North-
West Transportation Company has unanimously
passed its second reading, after having been sub-
mitted to a scrutiny by the committee, and the third
reading will take place in a day or two. The parties
interested are already prepared to send up a brigade
of canoes, to open the route into the great North-
West; and the recent gold discoveries in Fraser's and
Thompson's Rivers—fresh news of which we obtain
nearly daily—will, has, in fact, stimulated the enter-
prise of hundreds of our population, who are pre-
paring to start across country for the diggings. Seve-
ral French Canadians, members of Parliament, have
joined the direction of the North-West Transporta-
tion Company, and but one feeling exists throughout
Canada in regard to the policy which should be
adopted on the Hudson's Bay question ; all monopoly
must cease, if not by legal enactment or Govern-
mental arrangement, by the force of the popular
will, which generally governs on this continent.
Here we are all anxiety about the Ocean Tele-
graph ; doubts of its success are very prevalent.
The weather is maanificent, and the crops gene-
lrda::alltylryuachrteaivveee qually fine ;6but from one or two localities
comeinsect tidings
the
weevil.of t he r e ariphpee a
damage,r a nce ofthatt is
hoped, will not be great. At present there is every
ndication in all parts of an abundant harvest.

BELGIUM.

BRUSSELS, JULY 29.
His Royal Highness Frederick William Prince of
Prussia, accompanied by M. de Manteuffel, head of
the Prussian Cabinet, and a numerous suite, have
just arrived at Ostend from Berlin.

It is understood here that his Royal Highness will
remain in the Belgian port until the arrival of
Queen Victoria, who, after her visit to the Emperor
at Cherbourg, will proceed to Ostend en route on a
visit to her daughter the Princess William Frederick
of Prussia. Prince Leopold and the royal family of
Belgium will also be in waiting to receive her Bri-
tannic Majesty on landing. It is not, however, quite
certain whether Ostend or Antwerp is to be honoured
as the place of her Majesty's debarkation. The Bth
of August is named as the day on which her Majesty
will land upon the Belgian territory.
The Courier de la Dyle says:--
" The tempest of Sunday last has committed fearfu
ravage in the arrondissement of Nivelles. A. vast quantity
of corn has been blown down by the wind, and in many
fields the damage occasioned is valued at from 100 to 130
francs the hectare. The oats especially, which are very
oripe, havestalks
suffered considerably.been so
o
t is
thecalcwuliantr
as
to
that
havethe
corn
have
shed one-half of the grain—in fact, that about one-half of
the corn is completely lost."

The discussion relative to the proposed fortifica-
tions in Antwerp still continues in the Chamber of
Representatives. The following is a summary of
the proceedings yesterday :
M. de Luesemans (Louvain) stated that he would
vote for the adoption of the Government proposi-
tion, not as a question of confidence in the Ministry
or of triumph to a particular party, but simply as a
question of patriotism and of good government. He
considered this project as one in accordance with
the spirit of the resolutions taken by the Conferences
of London to guarantee the nationality of Bel-
gium.
Gen. Renard, the Government Commissioner, who
made on Tuesday a brilliant speech in favour f the
proposed fortifications, then proceeded to reply to
the arguments used by M. Vervoort, the repre-
sentative of Antwerp, in opposition, on Wednesday.
The general defended the scheme in a strategical
point of' view.
Gra'. Goblet, reporter of the central section, com-
bated the opinions expressed by Gen. Renard.
M. Frere, the Minister of Finance, followed, and
defended the frojet de loi in a financial point of view.
Having sketched the history of the question, the
Minister reminded the Chamber that, in 1856, the
Government proposed to complete the works neces-
sary for the defences of the country for a sum of
5,400,000 francs. The city of Antwerp then asked
but one favour, that was—the power of constructing
works in the fifth section. Subsequently, it de-
manded a partial extension of the northern side. To-
day it is said there must be a general enlarge-
ment. The city of Antwerp had never made any
serious propositions to the Government of partici-
pating in the expense of the completion of the
works which it now appeared to desire so much.
The offer of treating with the Government for the
cession of the lands occupied by the fortifications
was an illusory proposition. The Government
never wanted to sell those lands away from the city
of Antwerp.
After M. Frere's speech, the debate was again
adjourned to this day.
By a telegraphic despatch received here from
Hamburg, dated yesterday, we learn that the follow-
ing modifications have just taken place in the Danish
Ministry :
" The Ministry of the Interior for Ordinary Affairs is
suppressed, such a irs to be administered by the Minister
of the Finances, ,1. Krieger. M. Unsgaard to be the
Minister of the Interior for the kingdom of Denmark. The
Councillor of Legation, Skrike, to be Director-General of
the Colonies; Professor Wedel to be bead of the depart-
ment for Foreign Affairs."
The official Gazette of Milan of the 24th inst. pub-
lishes the following letter addressed by the Emperor
Francis Joseph to his brother the Governor-General
of the kingdom cf Venetian Lombardy :
" Dear Brothel Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian,

" By my motu proprio of the 28th February, 1857,
recommended you to inform yourself of the wants of the
country in everytting which concerned intellectual and
material development, and opportunity to take with firm-
ness the initiation, eo that the effects of your measures, and
the institutions themselves, shall be such as to give satis-
faction to the country.
" In consequenee of the propositions you have made me,
in order to fulfil scrupulously your duty, I have resolved
upon the following
Claims having been put forward in reference to the
impot Foncier in the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, founded
upon a comparison with those which exist in the German
and Sclave States of the monarchy, I order that there shall
be instituted a special commission for the purpose of
thoroughly and conscientiously investigating whether,
under the motu proprio of the 23d December, 1817, there
had been established a lust proPi.tihn between the
Lombardo-Venetian kingdom and the said States in the
fixing of this impost, making allowance for the difference of
the existing registered value of lands in the one country
and the other. That special commission, of which the
Lieutenant of Lombardy, Baron de Burger, will take the
presidentship, will be composed of three delegates, to be
elected by each of the central congregations amongst their
members, and of others who will be appointed by my Minister
of Finances.
" That commission will be authorised, with the view to
the faithful execution of its task, to avail itself of the co-
operation of those experienced functionaries who are ac-
customed to the examinations of witnesses, and if it be
necessary, they may apply to you for your authorisation so
as to proceed with new valuations. The results of those
labours, and the recommendations that may be made in
connection with them, to be subject to my decision.
" The fiscal privilege which, in virtue of the laws of the
17th July, 1805, and the 17th April, 1806, extends to all
kinds of treasury property, will henceforward be confined
within certain limits. A law to be immediately promul-
gated will determine the mode of executing my present
sovereign will.
" Considering the special interests of the Fine Arts in
Italy I approve of a plan by which the academies of Milan
and of Venice would be converted into sections of institutes,
of sciences, letters, and arts, which are established there.
The organisation of those new sections of institutes, being
subject to my sovereign decision, must be adapted to the
organisation of the two institutes. They will have a
president, an adequate number of effective members (half
of whom to receive emoluments, the other half to be without
emoluments) together with honorary members and asso-
ciates of art. It will be the duty of those sections generally,
as authorities in regard to the progress of the Fine Arts, to
apply their mental energies so as to give a natural impulse
to the revival of the old glories of Italy—they shall direct
the programmes of the courses to be competed for for the
prizes, and shall publish the works which may be presented
for competition. They shall also give notice of the artis-
tical works to be executed, and they shall propose to you
to allow certain rewards to the most deserving of the
students.
The elementary studies should for the future take place
in the royal schools; but as regards the superior instruc-
tion, the young students shall be allowed to finish it with
the masters of their choice. The wants felt in regard to
architectural education will be satisfied by means of special
organisation for instruction in that branch of art.
This reform of the academies will not occasion any
prejudice,. for whosoever seeks to enjoy emoluments can
only obtain them by virtue of his definitive nomination to a
certain department of business. I intend that the saving
effected by those new measures will be dedicated to the en-
couragement of works of art, illustrating the history of the
empire and of the country, and conducive to the honour and
the profit of many Lombardo-Venetian artists.
" In order to improve the condition of the medical sciences
I approve of the propositions which you have submitted to
me, and I leave to you the task of regulating by special
ordinance those measures conformably to the principles I
have sanctioned.
" I wish, in regard to the contingent of recruits assigned
to the Lombardo-Venetian region for the year 1858, that the
calling out of the remainder of the contingent still due shall
be delayed—that there shall take place a reverse io
venn ofthose the
lists of the conscription for the current year,
which had been already ordained.
"Up to the promulgation of a new law of the conscrip-
tion, it shall be lawful to you to dispense from military ser-
vice the students who from year to year will have been
reported to you by the rectors of the two universities of the
Lombardo-Venetian kingdom -as the most distinguished by
their talent, their zeal, their generous nformation
judgm, aentnd theyouir
good conduct, or those whom, in y own ,
you shall deem worthy of this exemption.
"FRANCIS JOSEPH.
"Laxenburg, July 16, 1858."

ENLARGEMENT OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM.—The
question of an enormous enlargement of the present edifice
of the British Museum, or of a scientific separation of the
contents, is one that warmly presses for solution. Each
department is full to bursting, and many of the choicest
treasures are lost to the public for lack of space. For ex-
ample, not one-half of the collection of natural history is
exhibited to the public, and a great deal of it is rotting in
cellars. A large collection of antiquities, including coins
and medals is not shown for want of room. At the present
moment both these two great departments, antiquities and
natural history, require more than double the space they now
occupy; and yet we are spending more public money in the
Levant, in the East, and in Africal(very wisely spending it)
in collecting more antiquities, plants, animals, and rocks.
Then again, we have in the useum one of the noblest col-
lections of prints and drawings in Europe—collections admi-
rably kept under lock and key in drawer and chest—but
perfectly invisible to the public. Only fancy a collection of
drawings that cannot be seen ? How many of our readers
know where to find the print room ? Yet this obscure de-
partment, now scarcely used by a dozen persons a month,
might be one of the most attractive in the place. Give Mr.
Carpenter wall room, and in one year, we answer for it, the
general public wbo now crowd the Grenville and King's
Libraries, merely to look at the outsides of books, will show
how far they can enjoy original drawings by Raphael and
Rubens—old prints of London and our great seaports and
inland cities—views of our abbeys and cathedrals—portraits
of our heroes, statesmen, and poets. The room which the de-
partment occupies should paint visibly to the eyes of eager
learners the history of England, the progress of architecture,
the mysteries of art. Yield it space, and it will enlarge
from its present obscure condition into one of our national
glories. We have not one word to say against dead croco-
diles, dried ferns, or impaled butterflies; they have their
uses and their beauties • and while there is life in the world
there will be sympathy whatever bas once lived. But
we are not willing to see Rubens and Raphael locked in
cupboards,
and plans and charts hidden iu drawers, in order
that a stuffed giraffe may enjoy the freedom of our national
library. Everything in its place; and while we feel sure
that the proper
sureethqeuaplrloyperplace for charts and drawings is the room
adjoining that which contains the book collections, we feel
home
that,
for apart
the
preserved even fro
specimens
e question onatural
space,
his-
tory is that of the living collections. Kew for plants
Dloomsbury for books.—Athenteum.