The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-11 00:00:00

M. MANSION'S WAX PAINTINGS.

The art of wax painting was well known to the
ancients, and, as a proof of its superiority over every
other species of paintings in point of durability, 'lse
.may mention the fact,- that .while the frescos of Ra-
phael and Leonardo da Vinci are falling into decay,'
the wax paintingg on the walls of Herculaneum are
still to be seen in all their primitive freshness. The
art of wax painting was lost for centuries, but itaivas
re-discovered some.tive or six years back by a French
artist. The frescos in the -gallery of Henry 11., at-
Fontainbleau, have been restored in wax, and several
pictures, on a large scale, have recently been placed
in the church of La Madeleine. The subject has re-
cently attracted much attention among artists, and
one of the successful competitors of the Cartoon ex-
hibition of last year is at present in Paris, engaged in
the execution of a large wax picture, the sue ject vt
which is the Fates spinning the thread of destiny,
which will probably be exhibited 'durin,r the month.
of June among the fresco paintings in Westminster
Hall. We yesterday were delighted by a view of
three specimens of wax paintings, by, M. Mansion,
which are at present exhibiting at Mr. Barber's, 60,
Regent Quadrant, being, we believe, the first paint•
ings of the sort ever exhibited in England. They
are exceedingly beautiful, poSsesSing all the finish
and brilliancy of the most. exquisite water-colour
drawing, with all the depth of tone of the finest oil
painting. M. Mansion, who was. in attendance, ex-
plained the process, from which it appears that
colours which in oil paintings take months to dry
become dry in wax paintings in the course of . a few
hours ; while, instead of having to wait for months
and perhaps years, for the completion of a picture,
which is the case in fresco painting, the artist can
finish his•picture at once if he works in wax instead
of oil. At a time when the decoration of the new
Houses of Parliament occupies to so large an extent -
the public attention the claims of the wax painting
are well worthy attentive consideration .; and we
trust the Commissioners will come to ,no final deci-
sion on the subject of those decorations uLtil thee
have attentively and carefully investigated the claims
of this new branch of art. In, the incantinme we
would urge all artists and all lovers of art to visit this
exhibition and judge fir themselves.

THE PENDING POST•OFFICE
CHANGES.

For sotne time past arrangements hare been in the
course of preparation for the purpose of •inereasing the
number of deliveries in the London District Deprtinent
.of the general Po,t, which, by summand of, the Noble
-EArl :it the head of the establishment, has been S,l*
so that the " Two-penny Post-office" is now no loty"tr
officially known.

The merchants, and others of the metrepolis having
extensive correspondence, have long eomplaii ed of the
delay which, under. the old system, nt cessarily took pace
in the delivery of letters which arrived at the Gene' a!
Post office, after the morning dispatch of letters by the
General l'ost letter-carriers. To remedy this evil it
was suggeted that more frequent, indeed, hourly de-
liveries should take place after the arrival of the mid-
day mails, so that these mails, and any other arrivals,
either front India, liamburgh,. Holland, or elst where,
might he forwarded •to the persons for whotn thee wet.,
directed without delay. The-officers of the district de- •
partment, whose duty would be principally aff.cted by
the proposed change, were consequently called upon t.l -
report upon the practicability of the measure, when it
was urged that such a proposition, if adopted, would in-
volve an outlay to a considerable amount, 111 addition to
the present cost of the establishment as, in order to
effect the change, upwards of 150 extra officers must he
oppointed, and other sorting-houses taken and fitted up
for the purpose of facilitating the delivery. The prov-
sition, however, was acceded to, anil the following are
the benefits which the public, Will realise from the opera-
tion of the new arrangements.:L-•
Ten deliveries of London lOcal letters per- diem., at the
following hours :-8 and 10ii.M. ;,12 at noun ; 2,3, 4,
5,6, 7, and 8 p.m. All letter's will be dispatched from
the General Post-office as soon as possible after they
arrive through the channel thus provided. -
To effect this, upwards of 100 letter-carriers have al-
ready received appointments ; abio two infpcetors of
letter7carriers ; and several sub-sorters and stompers
sufficient to meet the anticipated extra ditty. Addi-
tional letter-carriers are being brought in daily. The
total will be about 150. _ .

—....
So great a change as the above has not taken place in
this department of the public
.service for many years.
At the corner of Old-street-road a sorting-office has
been fitted up, and another one is being prepared as
rapidly as possible in Sidmotith-street, Grays Inn•road;
the former for the purpose of eNpediting the preparation
of letters for delivery in Shoreditch, Dals'on, And Kinp-
land ; the latter for the districts in the vicinity- of Regent.,
Brunswick, and TaVistock-squares.
A day mail to Wooilf.;rd and bank .from the General
Post-office is also .established.. This is well appointed,
as it will not onls' convey correspondence baclew aret and
forward, but also affiird an additional conveyance fur
passengers, having the adiantage of punctuality.
The necessity for the above) arrangements become
daily more apparent. On Tuesday morning, in addi-
tionthe d;spatch from India, via
to the - ordinary number of letters brought by the
Ititere, The moil to India, rig Southampton, was also'
dt that a thetppiTtri
toujdeett.,e)rd
made iip ; there acre Si (WM s
MS:trilt4llll:titii::' Dititimu.baer:fe'd 32 boxes, containing 27,000
and 30,000 lettere, ex.'
teeeleb. improvements mill. be
elusive of .
ration of Iv.**
Majesty's birth, which,
co!:pilse
teexbpyeettiettei
it Was announced II -'.
-
yesters.ay to
the officers of the Post-otfi - Id ' ce, Aou be hxul three iretks
earlier than usual. .

FATAL
COACH Acclin:NT.----Yesterday afternoon
Mr. Baker held an inquest at the London Hospital, on
the body of James Dotioughongh, aged 6 t. a dustman, in
the employ of Messrs. Sinnott anti Co., of Wapping, the
contractors, who was killed under the following- cirt!urn-
stances : —.From the evidence of Taylor, the street-
keeper, of Whitechapel, it appears- that the ee eased had
been out with the cart collecting dust, on Saturday after-
noon, and as it was turninVrut of o:borne-street into
Whitevhapel High-street, on its return home loaded, he
attempted to get something .oiut 'olthe fore part of the
cart by jamping on to the shafts, in doing 'which he un-.
fixtunately reeled backwards ...and tell under the cart.
The horse was instantly stopped, when the wheel was
found to-be resting on the unfortunate man', body, and
the vehicle Was obliged to be hacked before he could be
extricated: On that being 41011 P he Wa,,, with All speed,
removed to the abet in,titution, where he died in the
course c f two hour, iifter‘‘ a rill, ;rom aserefe fraoure of
the pelvis and other internal injuries. There Wog no
Mame -to the vat-man a vet I Ikt Aecidintal -deatP.
Was rt'corded.
Yesterday a ballot =wits taken at the East India
Hott,e. for the election of six Director.,', in the room of Major;
Generid Sir James Law Lushington; 6 C.n., 4.,6r0n Lye,
Esq., M.P., Elliot Thicnagliteo. , John Petty Muspratt,
Martin Tucker Snot li. 1:-1.. tin(' W rpm, EFT,
who •4I but I t rutatit,n..lt six o'clock the ght,sen were
closed, and delivered to the -,rutineers, who reported that
Esq., M.P., Hon. Hugh Lindsay, Major-General
the election had fallen on Sir Ilobert Campbell, ,
riart., James
,\%Vrte..ilrlitiipa7,l'-gitobertson, Lieutenant-Colonel S 1 illiam Henry
Sykes, and Sir Henry E.L.S.
Yesterday a court Directors was held at the
East India House, when the thanks of the Court were Toted
unanimously to John Cotton, Esq., Chairman, and John
shepherd, Disci., Deputy-Chairman, tier their great appliCa-
tion ard attention to the affairs of the East India Company
during the past year,
Thalberg was expected' to arrive yesterday at Parisi
he passed through Home without giving a concert there.
The, great-pianist will yisit London,in the coarse-el the-sea •
son, and then proceed to Vienna. -
Liszt, after giving several concerts in 'Berlin,
Dresden, and Hanover, is daily expected to arrive at Parks.