The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-05 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 5, 1866.

elusion of that beautiful chapter from the Corinthians,
which has , filled so many generations of *Christian
mourners with comfort and hope, the coffin was
raised and the procession formed. The pall bearers
were the Earl of Northesk, M. Schnetz (the Director
of the French Academy of Arts), M. Dessoulavy,
M. Wolfi (the distinguished Prussian sculptor), Mr.
Coleman (landscape painter, and Secretary of the
British Academy of Arts), M. Bravo (Danish Con-
sul), M. Saulini (the celebrated cameist), and M.
D'Epinay, the very rising young sculptor from the
Mauritius.

The chief mourners were Mr. Penryn Williams,
the old and beloved friend of Gibson, and one of
his. Roman executors, Mr. Odo Russell, Mr. Web-
ster, R.A., and Mr. Severn, her Majesty's consul.
Mr. Spence, the friend, pupil, and almost son of
Gibson, was prohibited by his medical man from
following, and remained in the chapel. The French
company of soldiers formed behind, and then, two
and two, came the long line of friends, acquaint-
ances, and admirers. As it moved slowly on, and up
the steep ascent, the muffled drums of the soldiers,
which were covered with crape, added to the solem-
nity of the ceremony; the groups above all gathered
together and formed a semicircle round the upper
part of the grave, while on the lower part were those
who had joined the procession. As the coffin, on
which lay the decoration of the Legion of Honour,
was lowered into the vault, a military salute was
fired, and then, amid the most impressive silence,
the concluding part of the service was read.

The will of Gibson, of which I am in a position to
send you the details, forms an interesting portion of
the history of his life, and shows what persevering
labour and industry can effect. The following are
the bequests of one who earlyin life copied drawings
in the shop windows, and sold them for a fewpence :
—By a will made and signed May 25, 1855, he left
Penryn Williams £5OO ; Mr. Theed, £4OO ; Benja-
min Gibson, his cousin, £2OO ; Mr. de Soullavy,
£lOO ; Signor Giuseppe Incoronata, of London,
£lOO ; Signor Giuseppe Bonomi, £2OO ; Mrs. Anna
Jameson, £2OO ; Mr. Solomon Gibson, his brother,
£lOO. His books and prints, with their frames, he
left to Mr. Spence, the son of his fellow-workman,
and now the eminent sculptor. His own or other
drawings were left to the Royal Academy. By a
codicil added May 26, 1865, he bequeathed to the
Royal Academy his group in marble of the wounded
warrior supported by a female figure, then nearly
finished ; all his works in marble not sold at the
time of his death—models in Gesso of his works in
marble not sold, except the models of such works as
have been presented in marble ; all his models in
Gesso not executed ; the first cast of Venus de
Medicis, which was sent to Canova to be executed
in marble, and which, when executed, was to replace
the noble statue carried off to Paris. Moreover, he
bequeathed to the Royal Academy £32,000, free of
testamentary tax, on the following conditions
space sufficient for their reception, and easy accom-
modation is to be provided for his works, which are
to be open to the use of the students of the Royal
Academy, and to be exposed to the public, accord-
ing to such regulations as to the council should seem
best. Legacies of £lOO were left to his executors
in England, the President, Treasurer, and the Sec-
retary of the Royal Academy for the time being, and
who were then Sir Charles Eastlake, Mr. Boxall,
and Mr. Hardwick, " who will prove my will."
By another codicil made, I believe, since his late
illness, Gibson left £2OO each to his devoted and
affectionate attendants, Mrs. Spence and Miss
Lloyd ; the same sum to a female servant who had
been long in his service, and a similar sum to each
of his two workmen.

Railway and other Companies.

o--

LONDONDERRY AND ENNISKILLEN.

The report of the directors states that the rent of
the railway for the six months (£13,000) had been
received from the Irish North Western Company by
weekly payments, less income tax. Such moneys
as were immediately required for the use of the
company were placed to a deposit account, the in-
terest of which amounted to £Bl. The transfer for
fees amounted to £3, and balance from last account
to £2Ol, making the total £13,283. From this was
deducted £4,018 for interest on loans from Govern-
ment and on debentures, and for legal, office, and
other expenses, leaving a disposable balance of
£9,257 towards the payment of dividends and
arrears. The directors recommended that dividends
at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum to the 31st of
Dec. last be declared and paid on the 19th inst., on
the £3,062 stock B, described as 245 half shares,
standing in certain names ; also. the dividends,- at
the rate of 6 per cent. per annum, on the £39,850
stock A ; also the dividends, at the rate of 5 per
cent., together with 1i per cent., on .account of
arrears, making 6i per cent. per annum on £247,737
stock B. After the payment of those dividends and
arrears there would remain a balance of £lB4. The
capital account sho' ed that £708,933 had been ex-
pended.

was no authority for the contract between the
Atlantic and Great Western Railway Company and
the Catawissa Railroad Company. He then adverted
to the agreement with the Reading Railroad Com-
pany in order to show that this and the Atlantic
and Great Western Company were managed by
London capitalists.
On the adjournment of the Court it was under-
stood that Mr. Cuyler would conclude the case on
behalf of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, but
it was thought the Court would take some time
before it decided the question.

gratify our "conscience" and feelings of "honesty"
by paying off the principal of the debt, but whether
we could be quite sure of being always ready to pay
the interest.

That we should now, after such experience, enter-
tain a proposal to change our course and abandon a
system which, mainly inaugurated by Sir Robert
Peel, has been at the root of all our tremendous
growth in prosperity, and which has likewise made
us, more than any other nation, the apostles of peace
and good-will, is one of the most marvellous in-
stances of the way in which men may shut their eyes
to the teaching of all that has been taking place
under their immediate view. But there are yet other
considerations that make the affair more surprising.
Thirty years ago not only was the annual burden
of the debt much greater, the relief in the reductions
of interest which our prosperity has subsequently
enabled us to effect having been very considerable,
but there was actually at that time a tendency to an
advance in the value of gold which would cause the
pressure of a fixed debt to become more severe with
every year of its continuance. From this state of
affairs a wonderful revulsion has been in progress
more than 16 years, and is still steadily in operation.
The gold discoveries in California and Australia
have already produced their expected results. It
may safely be said that from this cause alone the
weight of the National Debt has been reduced 10 or
15 per cent.—a result which is practically the same
as if eighty or a hundred millions of it had been
paid off. Coincidentally there has been, and will
still continue to be, a large yearly increase of popu-
lation, so that the annual charge to be met is les-
sened to every individual by its wider extension.