The Sun.
London, England, 1844-06-29 00:00:00

FINE ARTS.

BXHIBITION OF CARTOONS, &c.,
WESTMINSTER lIALL.—(THIS DAY.)

We this morning attended a private view of an ex-
hibition
of cartoons, pieces of sculpture, &c., which
have been sent in to Westminster Hall, pursuant to
the notices issued by her Majesty's Commissioners on
the Fine Arts. The array of cartoons is a very im-
posing one, and completely fills the walls of this mag-
nificent hall, while the statues and groups in marble
and clay are ranged on tables in the centre, which
run the entire length of the building. The exhibition,
we understand, will be opened to the public on
Monday next, and meanwhile we will just bestow
a few words on some of the works of art which most
attracted our attention in the hurried survey we
took of them. No. 1, Encounter between Ccesar and
Cassivilaunus on the Banks of the Thames, is a battle
scene by Melling full of spirit and action. The
Roman leader and the British King are of course the
principal figures in the piece, but the expression in
the countenance of the latter is too exaggerated,
being less that of a stern, patriotic hero, than of a
raging maniac whose eyes, which glow like hot coals,
indicate the fire of insanity. No. 12, Fair Rosamond
in Woodstock Park, awaiting the arrival of Henry the
Second, is by Edward Corbould. The listening,
anxious attitude and demeanour of the mistress of this
enamoured monarch, are well delineated, but there is
too much of sternness and severity in the countenance
to realise our notions of Rosamond. No. 14, The
Overthrow of the Druids, represents the Roman Ge-
neral, Suetonius Paulinus, making his last fatal attack
on the British priests in their strong-hold in the
island of Mona. There is considerable vigour in this
sketch. No. 15 is a representation of Milton's famous
scene in Paradise Lost, where he describes the fallen
angels lamenting their fate in a " silent valley." The
chief defect of this sketch is a want of appropriate
expression. No one would ever imagine, without
the aid of the explanatory catalogue, that the singers
were other than a group of enamoured men, bewailing
either the coldness or the death of their respective
mistresses. Their grief wants dignity, elevation, and
intensity. No. 19, Discovering the Body qf Harold.
This is one of the most correct, skilful, and natural
designs in the whole exhibition. Two Saxon monks,
assisted in their search by the deceased monarch's
mistress, Edith, have just succeeded in discovering his
body amidst a heap of slain. One of the monks is
kneeling down, and raising the royal corpse reverently
in his arms ; the other is standing erect
holding in his hand a lighted torch which
casts a lurid light over the whole fore-
ground. To the right of the spectator appears
the figure of Edith, whose attitude and manner—
though her countenance is averted from us—expresses
a world of heart-felt grief. Nothing can be simpler
and more intelligible than the design of this study in
oil for fresco. It is full of expression, animated, yet
wholly devoid of exaggeration, and one reads it with
the same interest which one would read some touch-
ing episode in a work of fiction. The grouping of
this clever sketch is not among its least recom-
mendations. It is replete with easy beauty and pro-
priety. No. 21, Scene from the Tempest, is chiefly
deserving of praise for the single figure of Caliban,
which goes far to realise our notions of this ma-
lignant, ill-favoured imp. No. 24, Sampson, with the
Jaw-bone of an Ass in his hand, is a striking display
of prodigious physical energy. No. 25, Council qf
Ancient Britons, shows an aboriginal British Chief
listening to the counsels of an aged Druid adviser.
The scene is a wood, and the Chief is seated under
the shadow of a branching oak, with a youth, his
armour-bearer, reclining at his feet. The sub-
ject is well chosen, but the execution is not re-
markable for spirit or character. No. 30, The
Signing of Magna Charta, by Douglas Guest, is
another well selected theme. The best sketch in the
groupe is that of King John, who is seated in a
Gothic chair, and whose action expresses just that de-
gree of indecision and apprehension which might be
anticipated from the distrustful usurper at such a
crisis. N 0.33, King Henry the Fifth praying before the
Batik' )f Agincourt, possesses a deep historical interest
which will be sure to attract notice to it ; but there is
a most singular discrepancy between the figure
of the monarch, which is that of a full-
grown man, apparently past his five-and-
twentieth year, and that of his face, which
is that of a mere boy, not more than sixteen or seven-
teen years of age. No. 46, The Fates, contains one
expressive figure—namely, that of Atropos, who is
cutting the thread of destiny, and whose countenance
indicates a mingled sternness and melancholy. It is
shown in profile, and has a very striking effect.
No. 47, [Vat Tyler, is a design much too crowded
with figures. No. 49, A Bohemian Fortune-Teller,
is cleverly-executed, and the features of the Bohemian
the principal figure in the piece, teem with shrewd
inquisitive expression. No. 80, Luna and Endymion
is a very sweet, poetic sketch, though too deficient
in breadth, we fear, for the purposes for which it was
designed. Among the clay models and pieces of
sculpture, which are as numerous as they are varied,
we may single out for praise No. 90, a full length
figure of Captain Cooke,—another, of Geoffrey
Chaucer, the poet, and a portrait statue of his
late Majesty, William the Fourth. No. 105, So-
phronia and Olinda at the Stake, is a beautifu
groupe in marble by Retchie, and merits
high praise, if only for the exquisite tenderness
which the sculptor has contrived to throw into the

countenance of the female martyr. No. 112 is a very
indifferent statue of George the Fourth—a worse than
indifferent monarch. His Majesty looks as sour as
vinegar, and .displays no more dignity than a King
in a penny puppet-show. No. 142 is a striking full-
length likeness of the Marquis of Wellesley, represent-
ing him at that period of his life when he was Governor-
General of India. No. 153, The Burial of the Princes in
the Tower is a skilful and naturally disposed groupe.
No. 110, Hesitation of Pandora, is an elegant and
symmetrical female figure, with the exception of the
neck, which is too lean and scraggy for our ideas of
feminine beauty. At some more leisure opportunity
we may possibly return to the subject of this exhibi-
i on, which will, no doubt, attract crowds during the
season.

MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT AT THE FALLS OF CLYDE.
—On Saturday last, a most melancholy accident took
place near the Falls of Clyde. On the morning of that
day a small party of' friends left Glasgow for the pur-
pose of visiting the Falls and spending a holiday,
among whom were Mr. and Mrs. Walter Baxter, of
Buchanan-strcet. After having seen the two lower
Falls, the party separated, one portion proceeding up-
wards to visit the Bonnington Fall, while Mr. and Mrs.
Baxter and a friend remained behind. They seated
themselves on the banks of the river, waiting the return
of their friends, when Mrs. Baxter expressed a wish to
see Wallace's cave, which was below, and in the imme-
diate vicinity. She accordingly went to the spot, accom-
panied by the friend already alluded to, and having sur.
veyed the locality, requested that he would call her hus-
band to participate in the sight. Leaving Mrs. Baxter
seated by the river's brink, the gentleman retired a few
paces to call her husband, and, on his return, he found
that in the very brief interval that had elapsed, Mrs.
Baxter had disappeared. Whether the unfortunate lady
had fainted and unconsciously fallen from the top of the
rock, or whether she had risen and approached too near
the brink and fallen into the flood, must for ever remain
a mystery—for the only trace left behind her was
her handkerchief, lying upon the rocky seat which
she had occupied when her friend proceeded to call her
husband. A search was immediately made for the body
which was not, however, discovered till early the follow-
ing (Sunday) morning, and within a few yards of the
place where the accident happened. Mr. Baxter had
been married only nine months before.
THE LATE MR. BECKFORD.—The curious and
highly interesting personal reminiscences of the cele-
brated author of " Vathek," which appeared in the June
number of the New Monthly Magazine, will, we under-
stand, be continued in the forthcoming number for July,
and will include topics of a still more attractive and ex-
citing character ; such, for example, as Mr. Beckford's
own personal recollections, given in his own words, of
the great Lord Chatham, of Lord Camden, of Mr.
Wilkes, of William Pitt, of " Anastasius" Hope, of
Horace Walpole, of Strawberry-hill, of Beckfurd's own
father, the celebrated Alderman Beckford, of the
"bonny" Duchess of Gordon, of Madam de Steel in her
early youth, and, among more modern people, of Bul-
wer, Lockhart, Theodore Hook, Sir Robert Peel, &c.
A number of fowls are kept in the stable-yard of
the Royal Hotel, the hens depositing their eggs in
various nests upon the premises, It is customary, when-
ever eggs are found, to take them out of each nest, except
one which is left behind. Some weeks ago, two of the
hens who were accustomed to lay their begs in the same
nest, became what is called broody, and alternately sat upon
the only egg that was in the nest ; whenever one left
the nest the other regularly took her place, and in the due
time fur incubation the solitary chicken was"hatched. Both
hens kindly and carefully perform the duties of a mother,
without any animosity appearing between them, and
whenever one broods over the chicken, the other lays
herself down close by her side, and spreads her wing
over the back of the other hen. It is an old saying that
a consequential person " struts about like a hen with
one chick," but there may be seen a petted chicken strut-
ting about between -two mothers, showing no decided
prefcmee to either.--Plymouth Journal.