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

" Dear Brother Archduke Ferdinand IVlaxmilian,

" By my mote proprio of the 28th Februr-y, 1857, I
recommended you to inform yourself of the wants of the
country in evelitl•ing which concerned intellectual and
material development, rnd opportunity to take mlth f -m-
-ne:-9 the initiation, so that the effects of your measures, and
the institutions themselves, shall be such as to give satis-
faction to the country.
" In consequeree of the propositions you have turtle me,
in order to :affil scrupulously your duty, I have hieslved
upon the following :
" Clrims having been put forward in reference to the
input Fonder in the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, founded
upon a comparison with those which exist in the German
and Move States of the monarchy, I order that there shag
be instituted a special commission for the purpose of
thoroughly r-id conscientiously investigating whether,
under the m3tu proprio of the 23d December, 1817, there
had been established a jest proportion between the
' Lombardo-Venetian kingdom • and the arid States in the
fixing of this impost, mak'ng 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, Be oa de Burger, 11:11 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 kithful 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
es to proceed with new va'uat!ons. The results of those
labours, end the recommendations that may be made in
connection with them, to be subject tomy decision.
" The fiscal privilege which, in virtue of the laws of the
17th July, 1805, and the 17th Apii, 1806, extends to all
kinds of treasury property, will henceforward b 3 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 time 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
emolument) 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 he 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 w:11 be satisfied by means of special
organisation for instruction in that branch of art.
" This reform of the academies will not occrsion any
prejudice, for whosoever seeks to enjoy emoluments can
only obtain them by virtue of his definitive nomination to a
certa'n department of business. I intend that the saving
effected by those new measures will he 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
he delayed—that there shall take place a reversion of the
lists of the conscription for the current year, even those
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 general information, and their
good conduct, or those whom, in your own judgment, you
you shr'l deem worthy of this exemption.
" FRANCIS JOSEPH.

" Laxenburg, July 16, 1858."

ENLARGEMENT OF TILE 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 fell to bursting, and many of the choicest
treesures 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 Museum 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 who 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
Wand 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 for whatever has once lived. But
we are not willing to see Roberts and Raphael locked in
cupboards, and plans and charts hidden in 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 place for charts and drawings is the room
adjoining that which contains the book collections, we feel
equally sure that, apart even from the question of space,
the proper home for the preserved specimens of natural his-
tory is that of the living collections. Kew for plants
Bloomsbury for books.—Athenaeum.