The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-03 00:00:00

3PLEAN'S PICTURE GALLERY, HAYMARKET.

Mr. Bierstadt's magnificent picture, " A Storm in the
Rocky Mountains," and its companionp " The Rocky
Mountains"—the great attractions of the late Paris Exhi-
bition, are now on view at Mr. M'Lean's Picture Gallery,
o. 7, Haymarket, previous to.their reproduction in chromo
lithography. Mr. Bierstadt's first large picture of the
"Rocky Mountains" was thought by many to be the per-
fection of landscape painting ; but his present picture sur-
passes all his former efforts in tenderness and grandeur of
expression. The "Storm in the Rocky Mountains" is in
truth and in fact a noble picture. The quiet landscapes,
lying in the mellow sunlight, its towering moun-
tains wrapped in storm clouds, and from the silent
and icy fastnesses of which torrents bursts forth, and roll
thundering down into the valleys, portray in a masterly
manner the power and majesty of a coming storm. The
picture represents a scene in the Rocky Mountains, in
Colorado Territory, about eighty miles from Denver City.
The snow peak, of which two spurs are seen rising above
the clouds, is Mount Rosalie. The central foreground of
the picture is a wooded bluff, looking down into a sun-
lighted and shadowy valley, with a broad stream winding
through it, giving graceful outlines to the meadow lands,
on which are scattered, here and there, wigwams and.
groups of Indians. Further on, a broad lake, reflecting
the tall hills surrounding it, lies silent and dark under the
shadow of the coming storm. At the left, grey granite
cliffs rise perpendicularly, three thousand feet, into the
air; their sides scarred by the lightning and the
storm; masses of fallen rock, torn off by the tempest, lie in
confusion at their base. From their summit a torrent,
rolling and foaming in its course, leaps from ledge to lodge,
and finally falls, in feathery spray, into the glassy lake at
their feet. At the right of the hike, rocky hills, piled one
upon another, lift themselves into the clouds, their tops
hidden from sight. The sunshine lies warmly upon them,
and passing shadows flit wildly across their face. In the
centre, beyond the lake, a gorge opens between rocky
headlands, and winds into the distance until abruptly
brought to a close by a towering cliff barring its pro-
gress. Over this cliff, from a lake , still beyond,
a stream of water descends in a thin, misty veil,
and creeps downward through the gorge int) the lake
in the foreground. The farther lake spreads out, black
and cheerless, under the pall -of heavy thunder clouds,
which roll and toss above it. The effect of distance, in
this portion of the picture, is marvellously wrought, and
• the character of these masses of clouds, wind-tossed and
big with thunder, is something wonderful. The idea of
motion conveyed in them is skilfully represented ; they
seem to surge and swirl before the sight, idi•aft over and
over in massive forms, and rock to and fro like ships at
sea. One of the most remarkable portions of this picture
is the clouds which roll down over the surface of the distant
lake. Their rounded forms, too, are strikingly portrayed,
and the idea of height and distance in the snow peaks is
admirably conveyed. M. Bierstadt has had the honour
of receiving her Majesty's commands to attend with his
pictures at Osborne, on which occasion her Majesty, after
contemplating for some time the extreme beauty of the
paintings, personally complimented the artist oia the great
merit of Lis work.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, THURSDAY. r%fl. 2.

The day after a holiday is proverbially dull, but I never
remember Parisian scciety less lively than it is to-day.
We are thoroughly wearied, and to add to our want of
vitality we are entirely without news. Not even the
Moniteur is published. As to the reception of the Diplo-
matic Corps, next to nothing is known. The Emperor's
replies to the Papal Nuncio and to the Archbishop of
Paris have been sent you by telegraph. To the infornaa.
tion thus conveyed I can add that I have good grouncs
for believing that none of the representatives of foreign
Powers were absent except M. de Budberg, the Russian
Ambassador, who is at present at St. Petersburg.
The weather is already bitterly cold, and the Seine is
frozen over, as are also the lakes in the Bois de Boulogne.
Already the Skating Club is hard at work, and . some
little cheerfulness will be afforded by tie fête which it
purposes holding. The Princess Metternich and the
Duchess of Mouchy have accepted invitations.
Thiers has at length broken silence, a silence which
1f not painful has been at least irritating, seeing that
everyone has been on the qui Dive to know his sentiments
onthe army scheme at present before the Corps L6gislatif.
He has now made a long speech strongly against the bill.
In the course of his address, which was replied to by
Marshal Niel, M. Thiers remarked : " I Oink that war,
once declared, should be pushed forward vigorously, and
carried into the enemy's country. A defensive war begins
when one has been unfortunate. I add that it is little in
accordance with our national character. But to hear
certain arguments one would imagine that we have only
the National Garde Mobile. What, then, would he the
good of that admirable army which costs us more than 400
millions a-year ? Does the idea exist that it would
be beaten ? Ido not say that you distrust it, but your
hypothesis necessarily supposes that this army will have
been unfortunate. You have been told of the immense
forces of Russia, Prussia, and Italy. Those figures are
chimerical. During the war in the Crimea the first could
only put on foot 300,000 men. In Bohemia, where, how-
ever, the struggle was decisive, Prussia had only 380,000,
and Italy at Custoza only 150,000. That phantasmagoria
of figures must not be believed in ; they are fables ! In
1814, Napoleon—l know well that his person was worth
100,000 men—Napoleon, with hardly 80,000, defended
France against the coalition with 280,000. Well, with an
army of 840,000 or 860,000, whatever may happen, France
could find time to organise her National Garde Mobile.
France apparently is as military as Italy. Well, the
latter was able rapidly to form 20 or 30 battalions of
Garde Mobile, and send them into the south of the king-
aom. If you wish to make of this force a real army, you
must give it cadres, and then it will cost you 20 or 30
millions, and that sum could be better applied in improving
and equipping the active army." After a passage
of arms with Marshal Niel, who held to the necesssity of
thoroughly revising the old law, M. Thiers continued : " You,
the Government, were wrong to insist on nine years' service,
itgainst the opinion of those most conversant with Military
matters, and at a time when the term is being reduced in
foreign armies ; and you have lost more 143 j extending, as a
compensation, the period in which the b 21.11: may marry
than you have gained by the additional year's service. And
in the division into active army and reserve yoU will find
interminable obstacles. Certainly, let us be ready, but let
it be with the permanent army; and for this purpose 3ou
must expend more on your forces during peace—at least
40 or 50 millions yearly. That is the truth, and the
Minister of War knows it. Is the National. Garde Mobile
an essential force? No. Strengthen the active army, which
have to win the first battle, and, as everyone knows,
the first battle won decides all. A Mobile Guard can be
organised in a very short time, as e-perience has shewn. It
has been done recently in Italy, and to say that it cannot
equally be accomplished in France is an inadmissible hypo-
thesis. I have spoken as a Frenchman; and I refer the
question to Providence and to you, sir, the Minister of
War."

The clause embodying the Mobile Guard system, as pro-
posed by Government, was carried by 210 against 44
votes.

The post of Lady of Honour to the Empress, which was
held by the Duchess of Bassano until the time of her
death, has been conferred on the wife of Count Montebello,
one of the Emperor's aides-de-camp.

SINGULAR DEATH OF A LICENSED VICTUALLER.
—On Thursday afternoon an inquest was held at the East
India Arms, Naval-row, Poplar, on the body of William
Henry Sharpe, aged 32. It appeared from the testimony
of his wife that the deceased was a licensed victualler
and landlord of the East India Arms. On Monday morn-
ing he kissed his wife and left the room. He had been up
all night. Sometime afterwards she went into the yard, and
saw the deceased in the water butt, into which he must have
got by himself, as he was standing up in the water. He was
quite dead, but it was evident that he had not drowned
himself, as his hair and the upper part of his body were
quite dry. It further appeared that the deceased had
latterly been attacked with a fit of delirium tremens, con-
sequent on excessive drinking, to which he was much ad-
dicted. A post-mortem examination of the body was made,
and it proved that the liver was so much swollen through
drink that the heart and lungs were displaced by it. The
cause of death was shock to the system, consequent upon
the immersion. The jury returned a verdict of "Suicide
while in a state of insanity."
SHIPBUILDING ON THE WEAR.—On the 31st of
December, 1867, 85 ships were building on the Wear ; 33
of the number were sold, and 52 unsold. Fifteen of the
vessels in course of construction are of iron, five composite,
of wood and iron, and the remainder of timber. The
largest iron vessel is a steamer of 1,100 tons, and the se-
cond in point of tonnage is a composite ship of 1,040 tons.
Of the 15 iron vessels in course of construction Wee are
crews.