The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-02 00:00:00

THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD.

Mr. LESLIE moved, pursuant to notice--" That
the time now wasted in reading the minutes be
saved to the board and the public, and that the
bye-law of the board No. 6, relating to the minutes
of the proceedings of the board, be varied accord-
ingly." He said that the practice was now really
adopted, as every member received a copy of the
printed minutes on the day before the board meet-
ing, which made them more conversant with the
business done than by hearing them read by the
clerk, especially as no one listened to him.
Mr. BURSLEM seconded the motion, which was
unanimously agreed to.
Mr. LESLIE then moved—" That the hour of
meeting for the future be eleven o'clock instead of
twelve, and that the bye-law of the board No. 1,
relating to ordinary meetings of the board, be
altered accordingly." In support of this motion he
judges,eAlinl ates and other persons were in
ten o'clock, but as he stha said
habitthat of m
be-
lieved that some opposition would be offered to that
hour, he had sought to make a compromise by pro-
posing that they should meet at eleven o'clock. If
the business was to begin at that hour it would
enable the members of Parliament who were mem-
bers of the board to attend without interference
with their parliamentary duties.
The CLIAIRMAN said a great deal of the difficulty
which at present prevented the attendance of mem-
bers of Parliament would be avoided as soon as the
business of the office was removed to Berkeley
House. As regarded the hour of meeting, he ac-
knowledged the value of meeting early; but
although he was at the office by nine o'clock in the
morning, there would be a difficulty in getting rid
of the letters and other matters by eleven o'clock,
and therefore, for the few months that they would
have to remain in Greek-street he would suggest
that their hour of meeting should continue as here-
tofore.

Mr. LESLIE then, by consent, withdrew his
motion.

NAMES OF STREETS.

On the recommendation of the Works and Gene-
ral Purposes Committee, it was agre.ed—" That the
plates for the names of streets patented by Messrs.
Skinner and Whalley be used,-the ground being
white, with black flush letters." '
Some uninteresting routine matters were then
disposed of, and the board adjourned.

The great faction fight has terminated. The
anti-Ministerial Coalition has triumphed, for
the time being ! The ingenious device for cap-
turing stray votes has collected a motley and
heterogeneous mass, amongst whom, as will
appear from an inspection of the division list,
there is no principle of cohesion ! Who will
oe prepared to attach any confidence in any
Government that can be formed should Lord
DEBBY unfortunately resign without giving the
nation the right of expressing in the clearest and
most unequivocal terms its sense of the conduct
of those who, with Reform on their lips, detest it
in their hearts, and adopted a course calculated to
shelve it for the present session, if not for a series
of years !

It is quite manifest that neither Lord JOHN
RUSSELL nor Lord PALMERSTON could hold
office for any protracted term. Their immediate
followers are far less numerous than those of Lord
DERBY, who leads the largest of any of the parties
into which the House is divided. The course lately
adopted, and which was a different portion of the
same system of tactics which dictated the CARD-
WELL resolution of last session, will, if persisted in,
inevitably render it impossible to carry on any
Government, and lead to Ministerial crises every
few weeks or months at the farthest. Happy will
be the Ministers who come into office on the eve of
the long vacation, for that will be the sole chance
of retaining office during a single year!
It appears from a carefully prepared analysis of
the division list, that no less than 259 Ministerialists
voted for the second reading of the Bill. There were
also the tellers and two pairs. Seven absentees—
it is but justice to say that their absence was occa-
sioned, in every instance, either by ill-health or
being' abtoagl—and three who, although general
supporters of Lord DERBY, on this occasion voted
against his Government. We thus, find that the
party of which the noble Premier is the acknow-
ledged head, numbering no less than 273 members,
quite sufficient to carry any question which could
not collect so many extraordinary auxiliaries under
the same standard. Could the Whig phalanxes
present anything like an equal force, even though
Lord PALMERSTON and Lord JOHN RUSSELL
should remain united, and consent, like the twin
kings of Brentford, " to smell at the same nosegay,"
or to take the Premiership alternately, on the old
principle of "ride and tie," for stipulated periods ?
We fancy not ! and, moreover, we do firmly
believe that Lord DEBBY WOUIO, as a general rule,
receive more support from the hide' e ident Libe-
rals thin eider or both of the noble lords,

What, then, will be the course adopted by the
Premier ? Whatever, it may be, we may rest satis-
fied that it will be such as duty and honour dictate
that there will be no unworthy compromise, but that
it will be be at once kefitting his ancient name, and
unblemished reputation as a political champion,
sans peur et sans reproche. Many rumours have
been circulated, but, in almost every instance, "the

wish was father tothe thought." We now find that '
there cannot have been the slightest foundation for
any of them, that no explanation will or can be
given before Monday evening. Lord DERBY ex-
plained last night in the House of Lords that, after
consulting his colleagues at an early hour, he had
an audience with Her MAJESTY, but that he had not
her MAJESTY'S sanction for making any communi-
cation on the subject. Besides that, the statements
respecting the Ministerial intentions should be laid
simultaneously before both branches of the Legis-
lature. It would be a disrespect to the iepresenta-
tiv e one to act otherwise.

According to our judgment, there is not the
slightest necessity for their resigning office under
existing circumstances. They owe it to them-
selves, to their supporters, and, above all,
to the community at large, to, appeal to
the country in the first instance. There are
many reasons for such a course. It must be
borne in mind that the last general election did not
take place under their auspices, but under that of
their opponents. This simple fact invariably makes
a decided difference in the balance of parties. It
also occurred under peculiar and very exciting
circumstances ; when the feelings of the people
were greatly excited, and the star of PALMERSTON
was in the ascendant. It is true that within a single
year he contrived to alienate many who would
otherwise have given him a liberal and independent
support. The hauteui• with which he answered the
interrogatories of private members ; the arrogance
with which he attempted to ride rough-shod over
the House, combined to produce the effects that
might have been anticipated, and led to a change
of Ministry. We need not put forward a single
argument to show the difficulties that beset Lord
DERBY; when, yielding to the commands of his
SOVEREIGN, he reluctantly undertook the arduous
duty of forming an Administration—nor is it ne-
cessary to speak of the manner in which the difficult
task has been performed. These matters have been
clearly and truthfully explained by the Chancellor
of the Exchequer so as to bring conviction to every
unprejudiced mind, and we have no hesitation in
saying that they would produce an impression
on every liberal and unprejudiced constituency
throughout the length and breadth of the land.
Nor is there any necessity for an immediate dis-
solution. There are matters before the House that
must be carried, otherwise the most serious in-
jury will be inflicted on the public interests. We
cannot believe that even Lord PALMERSTON would
go such a length, notwithstanding the jokes in
which he permitted himself to indulge during the
debate. He should be the last man to do so, for
he himself received a similar concession when
rhe resolved to appeal to the country two years
since. Indeed, if he attempted to do so he might
learn a painful but salutary lesson as to how
scanty was his personal following.
But, independent of the necessary measures,
there are several others containing no party
element, the utility whereof is universally ad-
mitted ; surely it would be worth while passing
them, so that they might forthwith be acted 9n.
This would occasion but trivial delay—a month or
six weeks at the outside would suffice for every
purpose, and it would give time for intending can-
didates to select suitable constituencies, and the
independent electors to decide on congenial repre-
sentatives. This is the course that ought to be
taken. Until Monday evening, however, nothing
certain can be known ; and until that time we must
restrain our laudable curiosity.

It was unfortunate that under the peculiar cir-
cumstances of the case the hon. gentleman the
member for Brighton was constrained to put that
question on the 25th inst., somewhat ambiguously,
to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. There are
reports at least to the effect that the authorities of
the National Gallery have expressed their willing-
ness to give a large sum for apicture by RAFAELLE.
There is undoubtedly in the possession of Mortals
MOORE, Esq., that famous picture, by the greatest
of the world's painters, " The Apollo and Marsyas,"
the original drawing of which picture• is pre-
served to this day in the Venetian academy:
It is equally undeniable that Mr. MooRE,
the possessor of this remarkable and renowned
work of art, has been impoverished by his
endeavours to advance the interests of art in
this country, and that he may, therefore, be said to
have earned a distinct claim to at least some degree
of consideration. Earnestly do we trust that the
plight to which Mr. MooRE has been reduced in
the course of these arduous but, for the most part,
hitherto futile endeavours to . advance the in -
terests of high art in England, was very greatly
exaggerated in the description given of it on Friday
week in the House of Commons by Mr. CONINGHAM.
According to that hon. gentleman the possession of
the chef d'oeuvre of RAFAELLE, " The Apollo
and Marsyas," has been actually reduced to a
state leaving him no alternative but suicide or
starvation ! The services of MORRIS MOORE, Esq.,
are in no way imaginary or conjectural. They are
notorious. They are capable of demonstration
from printed pamphlets and from the records even
of Parliamentary inquiries. Here is a man wbo
has striven zealously to effect a high and pure
object, who, if not driven to the frightful alternative
above specified is at any rate lamentably im-
poverished. His last provision—the honourable
fruit of his own rare discernment—may at the
eleventh hour yet redeem the fortunes of this able
but hitherto ill-fated Art-Reformer. Mr. CON-
INGHAM bears out the report now currently
credited, namely, as we have said, that
the authorities at the National Gallery have
intimated their readiness to give a large sum for a
picture, of course for an authentic picture. by
RAFAELLE. Mr. CONINGHAM knows that Mr.
MORRIS MOORE has in his possession what is gene-
rally believed to be the celebrated painting by
RAFAELLE of " The Apollo and Marsyas." Mr
CONINGHAM hearing the one thing and knowing
the other, asks—lf the report be true, is it not
advisable that the picture should be purchased ?
Mr. DISRAELI answered, thereupon, no less rea-
sonably—that he had never heard of the report,
and that he had never seen the picture, and that he
was therefore called upon to deal, at the same time,
with two of the most difficult things with which any
one could deal, namely—a hypothesis and a contin-
gency. At this, of course everybody laughed. It was
a ludicrous position most humorously defined. But
all the while the House of Commons is laughing,
the ill-fated Art:Reformer may say with truth—
What is fun to you, is death to me. The actual
position, apart from its ludicrous aspect, has been
already here explained. And supposing even, to
begin with, that the report alluded to be altogether
erroneous—supposing the authorities at the Na-
tional Gallery never gave utterance to any such
expression, never announced their readiness to buy
for a considerable amount some great picture—any
great picture—by RAFAELLE ; there undeniably is
the need of such a picture in the national collec-
tion ! Recollect that even that fragment of a great
design from the hand of RAFAELLE hitherto
in the national collection, " The Massacre
of the Innocents" has now been returned to the
institution by which it has hitherto been only lent
to the nation—not given, but lent. The British Na-

THE

wr•Z-.A.Th

tional Gallery—without a great picture by RAF-
FAELE—iS certainlythe triumphal procession without
the bust of BRIJTUS—the :play of "Hamlet" with the
character of HAMLET left out. A hiatus so glaring
must be filled up at the earliest opportunity.
Here, in the instance of the " Apollo and Marsyas,"
is. the opportunity made to
_hancl._ And, at the
very time that, by purchasing such a picture, we
should be enriching the nation, we should be re-
compensing at last an unfortunate gentleman who
has hitherto only suffered for his strenuous efforts
to promote the interests of high art to the national
advantage. While, therefore, the House of Com-
mons may laugh on to its heart's content at the
double-barrelled poser thus fired off on Friday
week at the Chancellor of the Exchequer, we
earnestly hope that the trustees of the National
Gallery will well weigh—no matter how serio-
comic the air with which it may be tendered—the
wise advice offered to them at the same time by
that right hon. gentleman, viz., that when they
purchased pictures they should purchase them of
the highest class, and that if they did not, they
incur a very grave responsibility.

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THE SUN.
SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 1859.