The Sun.
London, England, 1828-11-06 00:00:00

COMMON COUNCIL.-(THIS DAY.)

thilt Special Court of Common Council was held
ci mmiting, for the purpose of receiving the report
_the Committee, relative to the office of Secondary
lud othe, business.
After the minutes of the last Court had been read,
MI:. Alderman WOOD said he had to prevent a
Petition from the ticket-porters of London. The
Petitioe was then read. It set forth the various
„.Vileees that had from time to time been granted
m by acts of the Common Council, and prayed
that the Court would protect them in the mainte-
tililee of those privileges; but that they had of late
lien much infringed by many wharfingers and others
tilPl°Yjog other persons, not regularly admitted by
aMuster and Rulers of the" Tackle House,'.' and
enot put a stop to, the petitioners would not be
4ble to maintain their families, who were depending
IPon their labour far support.
Mv- Alden:Mß WooD then moved that the peti- '
,/,2tl be referred to the Committee of General Par- ,
re% : he thought the Corporation were bound to
Acid the rights and privileges of the City of
4.oltdoe.
Mr. TAYLOR opposed the petition. The peti-
Zrers claimed the right of loading and unloading
vessels arriving or departing from the port of
117,htion, a thing which it would be utterly impos-
,
„_'• for them to accomplish ; he should therefore
''Oset to its being sent to a Committee.
r v. Alderman WooD thought it unnecessary to
PAY at length, as he did not expect any opposition,
`'t otherwise he could convince the Court that the
0o et porters were quite able to perform all the
work to which they were entitled.
of The
petition was then referred to the Committee
General Purposes.
tt___r. Alderman WooD had to present another peti-
t7o, which he hoped would meet with that attention
° Which the unfortunate petitioner was entitled.
;titvraa the petition of Thomas Bell, son of the late
4_olloTur to
Thomas Bell (Hear, hear), who with so much
himself filled the office of Sheriff; it
44E41, that ever since the death of his father in the
/ear 1824, he had been in the most distressed cir-
,,Tostancee, not having been able to obtain any per-
Zetnent employment, and having a wife and family
,_ '
Pe4ding upon him for support, he trusted that in
'oeideration of the services of hie late father, they
1
ti,..Quid appoint him to some situation in the gift of
L'"' Court. The worthy Alderman said, he. could
testimony to the seal and ability with which
tr Thomas Bell filled the office of Sheriff, and he
,14Ped they would think the son entitled to one of the
`Any places they had at their disposal, the petitioner
Ss a man of unimpeachable character, of sound
'figment,,_ and good education, but by a series of mits-
'whines; had been brought into the most abject
oats of poverty ; he thought the Court might ap-
int him to the situation of Deputy Sea-coal Meter.
qa moved that the petition be referred to the Com-
14ittea of General Purposes.
Deputy ROUTH seconded the motion from
feelings of compassion to the poor man. He had
rin-ccasTonally employed him, and found in him a (Treat
,741 of zeal and industry ;he was confident that he
'?'4ld fill with credit any situation to which he
fillt. be appointed.
, • SAIRUEL DIXON—My Lord Mayor, without
Y hostile feelings to the petitioner, I shall more as
41-"
I. !Intendment that the petition be laid on the table.
the
th prayer was granted, every person who had had
boo ambition (and he knew many who had) to aspire
hrgh offices in the Corporation, should they be-
+e unfortunate, would think themselves or their
dies entitled to be provided for by this Court.
M. Alderman WOOD trusted the Court would
..
be guided by such considerations as those !nen-
-711. od by the worthy Member; they need not be
41t1 of any such applications. Here vas a man
r°l4essed of great knowledge, master of several lan-
-14, 'Rea, and good moral character; he therefore
.3`4(1 hope that he would not suffer by such a consi-
gyration.
Or. DIXON could find no case where the parties
been brought to a similar state of destitution
qlrough their ambition.
A long conversation here ensued. It was at last
4Seed that the petition should be referred to the
''"vvt and coal committee.
voThe Court was proceeding with another petition
°au eta Reporter left.

,
; TIIE MARKETS.-(TIUS DAY.)
HAY MARKET:3--(At per Lqod of li Trux3e,3.)
E". helayy Lowlau,l XIST.!(.I.wA)IIaEyS''I. .42 15 to ..f..3 0
ii-7 'iNvf Meadow Hay 3 5 3IC
tZIV Upland -Meadow and Rye-grass Hay...... 3 15 4 15
tli7t 4 Hay 315 0 0
:or. .1:1 h. to A.:l 161 Wheat Straw 1 16 2 0
A ,(., d supply, and a dull trade ; prloes ai last clucked.
t' SMITHFIELD.
i,;,-?`" so heavy Lowland Meadow Hay ...............:f2 10 t 3 ..t3 0
IZc... New 51e dow Ray 0 5 3 10
i,," Uuland Meadow and Rye-gras,a Hay 3 10 s 10
t, -ver IL,y (extra tine?.. i 5 1(1 ... Generally S 15 5 5
4 Straw £l 12 to £1 M--Wheat 'traw 1 113 9 ei
.-apply limited, trade dull, and prices a.s on Tuesday.

-----
The French Ambassador held a very long
ktference on Tuesday evening with the Earl of AIFIi-
4"N'y at the office of the Secretary of state fur Foreign
~"kirs, understood to be in consequenee of a cocninunica-
``% from the Duke of Vt'srAnicTow. His Excellency
interyiews with bis Lordship yesterday, at the Foreign
`ll4ce. aud ,Lfterwarda lieu; off despatches to his Govern-
'tent.

t The Spanish Minister Om a special mission),
Brazilian Minister, and the Neapolitan► iNfinister, had
'4'*rviews With the Earl of AIItRDEEW yesterday.

The Marquis DE RIENZI left town on 'rues-
4ight for Falmouth, where it was expected the Mar-
'%.l4 would embark on hie retnrn to the 13razile.
tte,The LORD MAYOR transacted busine,ss yes-
ci4Y at the Home Office-

bevatches were received yesterday at the
frc'u the Canadso.
Mr. SHEIL ha: received an invitation to din-
Zfrom the Roman Catholics of Preston, which his pro-
litinual engagements in Dublin obliged him to decline.—
/ Nland ett town Last evening for Liverpool, on his way to
itiWe believe there is no reason to doubt that
q 1418te Vs have it in contemplation to concede the Claims
-11,111.1 e Catholics next Seesien, accompanied, however, with
frictions and cenditiors which may probably cause the
c4ll:"lirs to reject the loon. We need scarcely Ray that
Ouke cf WM.LINGTON is not a man to throw the Pro-
`fttt Clintch, without itcurity, into the hands of its
11t4i,"; and us the Afsociation have already declared their
10,,",fY to ought hut ooquedified ounce-,.ton, we may not
‘vuoonably anticipate the result we have stated. Other
14e4",1re9 will also be adopted, ~uch as the cffectrtal sup-
(ln of the Catholic Association, and (we believe) the
;n ianchivment of the forty-shilling fi-eoliolders tvhich
4ti'ga to• to remove the sting of "Agitation," and which
dauzlttte.
lL'fact to have been resorted to long ago.---,Bric/acit

LITER ATTIRE.

NOLT,EKV..Vt
Ises.

- Notwithstanding that England, from tiwe iiu.
memorial, has been considered on the Conti-
neat as a mere nation of shopkeepers, wealthy,
indeed, but semi-barbarous, -as regards the ele-
gancies of civilization ; there are few countries to
be found, not even among those who most zea-
loUsly profess their scorn, capable of competing
with her, whenever in art or science (with the
single exception of .music) she chooses to put
forth her. energies. She has but .to desire ad-
vancement, to obtain it ; to wish to become diss
tinguished in the Fine Arts, to be so.. In sculp-
She stands nearly, if not quite,
ture, especially,
unrivalled. -Italy has had her Canova, superior
certainly to any single artist that England has
yet produced : but this latter has had, and still
has, a galaxy ofgenius, while the former boasts
(we refer only to modern times) but the solitary
sculptor of Venice. Men, suck as Nollekens,
Flaxman, Chantrey, Westmacott, Sievier, most
of whom are yet alive, do honour to the name
of England ; they serve to refine, elevate, and
purify her taste, and prove of what flights of ge-
nius she is capable, .when circumstances call
forth their display. To Nollekens, the eccentric
subject of the present desultory and diverting me-
moirs, a high rank must be assigned among modern
artists. He was the Opie of sculpture, full of in-
vention and power,but harsh, rude, and unpolished.
In his busto-s (so he loves to call them) he gave
nature, mere nature, as he witnessed it, in all its
shivering nakedness ;. he resorted to no embel-
lishments of fancy or refinement ; was incompe-
tent to the delineation of dignity, if not palpably
visible before him, and even then was some-
times at fault ; but confined himself exclusively
to the vulgar and striking parts of portraiture.
In a word, his intellect, though vigorous, was
essentially plebeian, and stands *out in some-
what grotesque contrast to the numerous aristo-
cratic busts by which it rose to eminence.
Flaxman, by far the loftiest name in English
sculpture, possessed a mind replete with gran-
deur and sublimity. Every part of the human
figure, of which he had the same idea as Chan-
trey of the bust, glows in his hands with intellect
and action. His groupings and compositions
from Homer, )Eschylus, &c. are among the
choicest creations of genius ; nor is it too much
to assert that his shield of Achilles is equal to
any thing produced by the Greeks. His chief,
indeed his only defect, is his execution in the
marble ; it is slovenly, at times capricious, and
gives us the idea that Flaxman, in his sympathy
with the sublime qualities of. his art, looked
down with scorn upon its mechanism.
Chantrey, unrivalled in his busts, gives to
the human countenance all the intellect of which
it is susceptible. He selects the finer parts of
expression with consummate tact, judiciously
softens down the rough, refines the coarse, and
thus imparts dignity and even sensibility to his
productions. His monumental figures are
simple and unadorned, his draperies broad and
flowing, and the figure is distinctly preserved
beneath them. There is a sensitive and eleva-
ting tone of poetry about all Chantrey's produc-
tions, which itv impossible to mistake. He
witnesses-nature; as Euripides is commonly said
to have delineated man, not as he is, but "as he
ought to be.; hence no one inspires us with such
pure, filling, and satisfactory admiration.
Westmacott is a well-educated sculptor, of
great taste, but not much originality ; his designs
in marble are almost invariably well executed,
and his judgment, though not brilliant, is un-
doubted.

Sievier has much tenderness and delicacy in his
production ; a voluptuous, but at the same time a
fancy chastened by discernment, and a natu-
rally refined apprehension of the beautiful. He
is a severe observer of nature, as in the bust of
Lord Eldon, and not without power, as in his
" Christ on the Cross ;" but delicacy and sweet-
ness and pathos are his fortes. Of Rossi, we
have not much to say, he is hard and clumsy,
and his works bear about them au elaborate and
plodding impress.
Having thus sketched the leading charac-
teristics of some of our most eminent modern
sculptors, we come once again to the subject of
the present memoirs, the heartless—avaricious
semi-idiotic—semi-barbarous Nollekens. The
volumes throughout teem with animated sketches
of his own and his wife's (herself a nondescript
in her way) character. IN ithout pretending to any
very considerable reach of biographic ability, they
just possess sufficient distinctness and power
of individualizing character, to enable us to
recognize Nollekens, when his mind was
in desabille. But we must not, in read-
ing the work, overlook the animus that per-
vades every page, and points every anecdote.
Mr. Smith, it seems, expected, and with great
justice, a legacy from his old friend and patron.
lie was disappointed, and the result of that dis-
appointment is, we think, clearly manifest in
every paragraph of the work before us. It is
not our intention to go systematically through
it ; indeed, its very rambling incohetent charac-
ter would effectually prevent us, were we so
inclined ; but simply to cull here and there an
extract, without the slightest attention to regu-
larity in our selection. The following are
among the most amusing specimens of th© vo-
lumes. In the first it is Bannister who speaks :
,4 Did you ever, L,y good fellow, hear of Ned Shuter's
imitation of the London cries? He was the most famous
chap at that sort of thing ; indeed, so fond of it, that he
Wculd frequently follow people for hours together to get
their cries correctly. I recollect a story which he used to
tell of his following a man who had a peculiar cry, up one
street and down another, nearly a whole day, to get his
cry, but the man never once cried ; at last, beiiig quite out
of temper, he went up to the fellow, and said, You don't
cry; why the - don't you cry The?" man answered
in a piteous tone, Cry! Lord Mese your heart, Sir, I
can't cry ; my life's dead; she died this morning.' "

• . .
.
" Those who recollect the figure of Dr. Wolcot in his
robust upright state, anJ the diminutive appearance of Air.
Nollekens, can readily picture to themselves their extreme
contrast, when the former accosted the latter one evening at
his gate in Titchfie!d-street, nearly in the following man-
ner:—` Why,
NolWrens, von never speak to me now ;
pray what is the reason 71—Nolle4cris 4 Why, you have
published such lire of the King, and had the impudence to
Fcnci them to me ; but -Mre. Nollekens burnt them, and 1

Amire you'll send as mote; the Royal ast very good
to me, and are great friends to all the artists, and I don't
like to hear any body.say. any thing against them.' ifprm..
which the Doctor put his ..aue upon the sculptor'ashouldec,
and exclaimed, Well ia.;4, little Sollv I like the man
who sticks to his friend ; you shall make a bust of roe for
that.' I'll see you -- first!' answered liollekens, and
I can tell you this bitsidee, no Jean
.in the Royal Academy
but Opie would have paitu-ed your picture, and you richly
deserved the broken head yon got from Gifford in Wright's
shop; Mr. Cook, of Bedford-square, showed me his hand-
kerchief, dipped in your blood; and so now you know ow
mind. Come in, my Cerherus, come in.' liis dog then
followed him in, and he left the Doctor at the gate, which
he barred up for the. night.".

The subjoined sketch or Mr. and Mrs. Nol-
lekens, when their domestic sensibilities were ra-
ther below zero—a circumstance which, as En-
field's Speaker happily observes, " will occur iu
the best regohited families,"—is richly Comic.
It sheiidestt'fiOWerful indricementto matrimony;

" One day Bronze heard a more violent disputation than
tn... 111 between her master and mistress ' What !' cried 14r,
what ! Madam, you're at our old tricks again ? twopence,
indeed ! I say 1 paid yoti the twopence for the lettrt, and
I'il take my 'davy of it Very well, Sir ; very well :
mighty well, perfectly correct, and perfectly just, Mr.
Positive, I dare say,' retorted Mrs. Nollekens; " you shall
see, Sir, from this very moment I will never pay for a let-
ter of your's again 'Then, after a pause, her bit of slate
was thrown on the floor, and the lady in a whining tene,
which convinced Bronze she was wound up to the highest
pitch, cried with a half-stifled sob, ' You know---you
know—you vile little thing! you paid me only two shil-
lings and sevenpence on last Thursday's account.'—' I tell
you this, and now mind what I say,' replied Nollekens,
that if it was so, it was your own fault ; for I never will
pay a farthing more when you have once smeared the slate :
that I tell you.' A knock at the door insured Bronze to go
in and say, Flush ! hush ! there's a knock at the street-
door.' I don't care,' exclaimed the sculptor, she shan't
colly-wabble me : go and see who it Want any fish
to-day?' asked an Irish fishwoman ; 'it's Friday, .bless
ye I don't care for Friday. I've had dinner enough,
quite enough,' answered Nollekens, who walked out of the
room with only one slipper on. Betty ! Betty! shut the
door, it is very odd that people will not take an answer,'
rejoined Mrs. Nollekens.'"

Mrs. Angelica kauffinan, who, by the way,
married a footman in mistake for a peer, in imi-
tation, we presume, of Master Slender who
married a post-boy, is a name well known in the
annals of the Fine Arts ; it is not, however,
equally well known, that she Was a finished
coquette : we extract therefore a superb specimen
of her abilities in that line :
" The reader will probably recollect the manner in
which Angelica Kauffroann was imposed upon by a gentle.
man's servant, who married her under the name of Count
Horn, and the way in which his treachery was discovered,
as related in the early part of the present volume. Angelica,
however, was universally considered as a coquette, so that
we cannot deeply sympathise in her disappointment; and
as a proof how justly she deserved that character, I shall
give an anecdote which I have often heard Mr. Nollekens
relate. When Angelica was at Rome, previously to her
marriage, she was ridiculously fond of displaying her per-
son, and being admired ; for which purpose sht one evening
took her station in one of the most conspicuous boxes in the
theatre, accompanied by Nathaniel Dance and another
artist, both of whom, as well as many others, were despe-
rately enamoured of her. Angelica, perhaps, might have
recollected the remonstrance of Mrs. Peachum, where she
says--

. Oh, Polly ! you might have toy'd and kited ;
By keeping men off you keep than on :'
However, while she was standing between her two beaux,
and finding an arm of each meet lovingly embracing her
waist, she contrived, whilst her arms were folded before
her on the front of the box over which she was leaning, to
spleen the band of both, so that each lover concluded hint-
self beyond all doubt the man of her choice."

The following is worthy of the author of the
Lord Mayor's Voyage to Oxford," who has
already celebrated in that unequalled production,
the sylvan graces of Paddington, Uxbridge, and
Brentford Butts. He will here find a rival.
" I ought to have noticed in a former page, that when it
was customary for so mnrh company to visit Uxbridge by
the barges.drawn by horses gaily sleeked out with ribauds,
Mr. and Mrs. Nollekens, with all the gaiety of youthful
extravagance, embarked on board, and actually dined out
on that„pla-day at their own expence. The sights
they saw on this memorable aquatic excursion afforded
them mutual conversation for several weeks ; and Mrs.
Nollekens actually tired her friends with letters upon their
aanal adventures from Paddington to Uxbridge, and from
Uxbridge to Paddington. In these epistles she most
poetically expatiated upon the clearness of the water, the
fragrance of the flowers, the nut-brown tints of the wavy
corn, and the ruddy and healthful complexions of the sot.
tagers' children, who waited anxiously to see the vessel ap-
proach their native shores. The only fatigue was the
hasty walk from Mortimer-street to Paddington, and the
loitering return froni Paddiugton to Mortmer-street, where,
soon after their arrival, they refreshed themselves with an
additional cup of tea, and for that evening indulged in going
to bed before sun-set."

" Nolleken's old coal-box was of a square shape ; it had
been a lawyer's wig-box, that had been sent with a bar-
rister's wig to be modelled from. The box had been mended
with bits of tin, which he had picked up of a morning near
the dust-heaps in the fields; but his house contained nei-
ther coal-hods nor scoops; nor any thing like the splen-
dour of a certain eteattd Lord, who had his coronet painted
upon his coal-scuttles.-
" Nollakens o'o-u baited his rat-trap with an unusual
quantity of cheese, thinking to catch all the vermin at once,
nevar dreaming that when one was caught the trap would
shut the rest out, an that the solitary visitof would eat up
whole. Why the rats infested his house, Bronze de.
Llama she never could make out. Food they certainly had
not ; and an old rat might have said to Nollekens, when he
was busy in setting his trap,
• Fear not, old fellow ! for your hoard ;
I come to lodge, and not to board.'

" A lady of high fashion once brought her child to have
her beautiful arm moulded. Mr. Nollekens, who, as
usual upon such occasions, began with to the
chid, What a pretty handy-dandy !' was requested by
the lady not to utter such nonsense, but to proceed with his
task ; adding, that her child's nurse was a wellteducceel
woman."

We might add a hundred other extracts,
equally amusing and characteristic ; but enough
has been already given to sc:t forth both the ec-
centricities of Nollekens, and the spirit of his
biographer. Mr. Smith has raked together with
singular diligence every thing that could possibly
tend to depreciate the great sculptor ; truth, how-
ever, is apparent throughout ; the only ques-
tion, therefore, that remains to be consi-
dered is, how far he has exceeded the
usual license of biography. We rather
incline to the opinion that he has kept within
the limits ; for, as Nollekens was a man of little
or no sensibility, whether public or private, we
do not see why he should not be described as
such. With regard to the literary department
of the work, it is beneath contempt ; there is no
effort at criticism, no analysis of the sculptors of the
day, no enlarged delineation of character ; nothing
to make us feel that we are standing in the presence
of genius—the voiume.i, from first to last, are
mere gossip ; a collection of old wives' talcs, the
facts alone of which are related, while the reader
must himself draw the proper inferences.

We are informed that the KING Ivill not take
possession of his apartments at Windsor Castle, this year.
His late indisposition, and his present delicate state of
are ntentiim4 its the rea.sor.l.--Moruiv

BOLIVAR MINING SCHEME.— A nominally
public and general Meeting of the afinc-sairl Mining Scheme
took place yesterday at the Office, in Gveat Yirinclitater-
t.treet, Old Broad-street, but for reasons best known to the
parties theingelves, the Reporters of Papers were r fused ad-
mittance, uules,L= they proved theimelves sb-arebolderx