The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-20 00:00:00

EVEN] NG, DI;CEMBER 20, 1845.

HISTORICAL MUSEUM OF
VERSAILLES.
(From the Moniteur des Arts.)

This gigantic work is nearly finished, and now that we
may judge it both in its ensemble and in its details, now
that we may follow in all its developments the grand con-
ceptions of which it is the imposing expression, we may
do justice to the patriotic and liberal feeling that presided
at its birth, to that lofty sentiment, that rising superior
to the selfish exigencies of political opinions, seemed to
have in view but one object, that of bringing together
a vast collection of historical monuments, clas,ed in clear
and progressive ordei. In 1832 the Chamber of De-
puties was near depriving the Crown of the Palace of
Versailles, and the classic souvenirs of the age of Louis
XIV. were to be effaced, to satisfy a feeling of hostile
jealousy, or a sordid calculation that would add a few ad-
ditional millions to the treasury. A majority of seven
votes saved France the shame of seeing one of its finest
monuments razed to the ground. The princely habita-
tion where genius and talent so eft received the honours
of noble hospitality was saved from the hammer of the
auctioneer, and Europe rejoices at a victory thus ob-
tained by civilisation over barbarity. Those who from
a narrow-minded motive would have sacrificed one of
the proudest monuments of France, will find some con-
solation in the reflection that fifteen millions of francs
have been circulated by the Museum of Versailles. Every
one is now aware of the motive of the King in forming
the Museum ; the object is evident, and the execution
nobly answers the intention, and may be read in the
motto inscribed on the front of the Palace, "A toutes les
gloires de la France." It would be unjust to attribute to
the French Monarch anything like an exclusive 'feeling,
and we must confess that no Prince would have under-
taken what he has so generously done. Had Louis
XIV. or Napoleon conceived a project, the fame of which
will live in after ages as one of the proudest titles of
Louis Philippe to the gratitude of a nation, they would have
suppressed more than one fact, and effaced the image of
mere than one man ; the King banished from this classic
sanctuary only what might call up the recollection of
misfortune or of crime. We perceive a strong proof of
rare impartiality, a feeling of enlightened liberality, in
opening the Museum to men, his personal enemies, but
who have played a certain part in some of the important
scenes of the political drama that has been acted for the
last fifteen years seemed entitled to a place in a work
intended to represent the history of the country.
Party feeling was more than once invoked to assail this
national institution, which in their eyes was either de-
mocratical and revolutionary in the extreme, or leaned
so strongly to monarchical principles that tyranny
seemed to receive a sanction in lauding the splendid
vanity of the past. To please the one, the history of
Versailles should not have descended below 1788, and to
satisfy the other the'rOyal decree should have blotted out
all that preceded 1789, and all that succeeded 1831. The
restoration that effaced from the monuments raised by
the empire, the symbols engraven upon them by the Em-
peror ; the Republic that would destroy the traces of the
ancient grandeur of France, both found it difficul t to pardon
the King his noble moderation, his steady and exem-
plary justice ; but the country and Europe have under-
stood all that is great and royal in so much equity and
moderation. Abstracting from political feelings the
Museum has been the object of satire and unjust criti-
cism, and, strange to say, even from artists. It is true
there are many pictlires that have no claims to excel-
lence—some that may be considered bad. It would be
to be wished that .all were of the first order, both in
point of compositioh and execution ; but where are
two thousand masterpieces of art to be found ? Where
could the King have got them, where have found artists
to paint them ? But this is not the question ; even
though there was not a single master-piece, the Museum
would still be a national monument. Painting in this case
is not to be considered as the end, it is only the means. A
picture at Versailles must not be considered exclusively
as an object of art ; it is above all a page placed be-
side another, to help to form a volume of history. The
Museum may be considered an illustrated work, and as
such will produce a sure effect on the majority of readers.
Local memory being the one by which we best remember
facts, in order to impress those facts more forcibly on
the minds of the people for whom the Museum was in-
tended, what more rational line of conduct could the
King have adopted than to bring together a long series
of images more or less striking by. the composition of
the subjects, the variety of the episodes, and the bril-
liancy of the colouring ? Art must necessarily have
been but a secondary consideration, and yet it is easy
to perceive his Majesty did not neglect it. The royal
" Chateaux," the stores of the Louvre gave in their
large contributions ; the " liste civile " opened its
treasures to swell the number of this vast historic
collection. Among those numerous pictures, busts,
and statues, there were some of a high order of merit,
whiCh in themselves would have formed a valuable
museum. There were those of Van der Meulen and of
Philippe de Champaigne, master-pieces of David and of
Gros ; the Battle of'Austerlitz, the Entry of Henry IV.
into Paris, and Philip V. of Gerard, which, in my
opinion, cannot be placed in the same line as the
" Sacre " Aboukir, and the Pestiferes de Jaffa, but
which in the esteem of the critics of the Empire and of
the Restoration were works of rare merit. Martin was
not, it is true, a great painter, but, like Van der Men-
len, he painted contemporary facts under the eye and
dictation of the heroes who performed them. Battles
painted by Parrocel, a few official pages by Lebuen, a
few pictures by Guy Halle, Antoins Dieu, Antoine Pezy,
Rodolphe limber, Dumenil, Charles and Ignace Par-
rocel, Pierre Leupant, Segua, Lapson. Those pro-
ductions would unqriestionably be misplaced in a gal-
lery composed exclusively with a view to art, but how
could they have been rejected in a collection of paint-
ings representing hiitorical facts, and executed by artists
who were almost contemporary with those facts. Con-
sidered in another point of view, they possess a certain
value in a Museum like that of Versailles ; they are the
record of the history of the second order of painting
during the reign of Louis XIV., a history which is
nowhere to be found. Pictures during the Empire re-
presenting military feats, scenes of the interior of the
palace, are, with few exceptions, but very indifferent, so
much so indeed, that it is hard to imagine they were
dune at a moment when David was painting the Ther-
mopylae, the Portrait of the Pope and the Sacre (conse-
cration) ; when Gros was rising to immortal fame by
productions that, tOth those of his illustrious master, will
suffice to class the' French school from the beginning of
the nineteenth century among the great schools of paint-
ing, where Guerine, Girodot, and Gerard gave to the
world productions inferior to those of David ansl of Gros,
but of a very high order, when Prudhoe claimed the
place of a fine, soft, end delicate colourist. Weak,
nay bad, as those productions may be, it is well they
have been grouped and brought together, because with
those of the masters who come immediately after David,
they form a history of the art during the Empire both
curious and instructive. All, or almost all, the pictures
were ordered by Napoleon, and it would be unfair to ac-
cuse him of want of taste in refusing to limit his choice
to the small number of artists whose talents placed them

in the highest rank of art. A monarch, were he con.
noisseur, and did'lie feel a repugnance for what in art
is without grandeur or excellence, would, however, be
obliged to make a sacrifice of his taste, and confide to
mediocrity a portion of the monuments he wishes to
rai.e. His taste might be shocked by the necessity
of consulting more than one interest, and extending his
choice to those who have but slight claims to excellence.
Thss consideration, and the laudable desire of encouraging
every talent, however humble, influenced Napoleon in the
choice of his artists. When Denote advised him to confide
to such or such an artist a work destined for one of his
palaces, he replied, "As Emperor, I am not free to
choose; were I in another station in life—were I even
but a Royal Highness, I should have my own artists,
but in the station. in which I am phccd, whilst reward-
ing those who by their talents honour their country, I
cannot forget that there are others of inferior merit, who
have a claim on my protection." Louis XIV. yielded
to the same motives. Leburn was his artist, and through
him came a swarm of artists of the second and third
order ; so much was to be done, and in a limited space
of time, that it was necessary to have a whole legion of
artists. Leburn was commander of that numerous host,
and taught them discipline, and so skilful was the direc-
tion given that the numerous productions seemed
to be the work of one band. Thus were
trained those artists whose productions live un-
consecrated by a name, and thus the works
of the sellers whic,,h, strike the eye so agreeably when
viewed from the terrace of Versailles, near the bason of
Laton, have beere. ascribed to Coysevox, of whose
pompous 'styles they seem the correct representation.
A nearer inspection, however, tells us that those pro-
ductions remarkable for the majesty of the positions,
the grace and variety of the details, belong to Hungre,
Magnier, Le Regbandeir, Baptiste Juby, P. Le Gros,
Run, or some other artist, to whose name and fame we
are equally strangers. Napoleon was not so successful
as Louis XIV. The works of his secondary artists
possessed neither, • the intrinsic merit nor fine ap-
pearance of those . of Martin, Raon, Jubez, and
others ; be was however, obliged to accept such
productions, which were but! poor ornaments for his
imperial castles. It is true the defects of those
works were not Oilways discriminated by a man whose
knowledge of the 'art was rather limited, equally unable
to appreciate the distinguishing beauties of the Sabrina,
or the splendid colouring of the plague of Jaffe, the battles
of Aboukir and Nazareth. He was more engrossed with
the subject than the style or tone of the painting, and
providing the artist was faithful in recording historical
truth in the material part of the details, he cared little
about the truth of the colouring, the grandeur or simpli-
city of the composition. The King had undertaken a
mighty task, and 'expedition was necessary, that time
might remain for' other important works, such as the
completing of the Louvre, which, vk e trust, his Majesty
will execute in spite of the narrow-minded feeling of poli-
tical approbation ,so unjustly raised against an under-
taking worthy of a Prince, the enlightened patron of
civil institutions.'.: ARTHUR DAVITT,
Professor of Modern Literature.

FRIGHTFUL p EATlL—Yesterday Mr. William
Payne held an inquest in the board-room of Guy's Hospital,
on the body of John I,laylis, aged 47 years, lately in the ser-
ice of Messrs. Randall and Ca., the proprietors of the ex-
tensive malt-mills at south Lambeth. James Hill, an en-
gineer, deposed that it was deceased's duty to clean the ma-
chinery every morning before it was put in motion. On
Thursday morning;-..between six and seven o'clock, witness
had lighted the fire, and got the steam up ready for work,
The engine was put in motion, but was not performing its
usual work, consequently it was travelling at full speed.
When witness saws the deceased last he was standing in a
small space, between the wall and shaft, in a leaning position,
cleaning the machinery. Witness left the room for a minute,
when he was suddenly alarmed by hearing loud screams for
assistance. Witness ran to the spot, and found that Baylis
had been drawn in Among the machinery. The engine was
stopped by witness,who, after a few seconds, found the de-
ceased apparently lifeless. His left leg was completely torn
from his body above the knee joint. The right leg was also
seriously injured. lie was carried to the above hospital,
where he died in thqee hours after his ashuiatou. Verdict—
Actifttal &attic".

LORD YIORPETH for YORKSHIRE.
At a juncture like the present, a Parliamentary election is
regarded with more than ordinary interest, as affording an
opportunity to. the expression of popular sentiments, and the
manifestation of the popular will on a subject which has de-
stoyed one Cabinet, and may be doomed to destroy another.
We do not speak of elections which are decided by the fiat
of an individual—where venal or vassal constituents are
transferred from one political cipher to another by the com-
mand of a petty autocrat, or at the bidding of a wealthypar-
renu—but where men intelligent enough to think, and inde-
pendent enough to act, for themselves, are called upon to ex-
ercise the constitutional right of sending a representative of
their opinions and interests into Parliament. An opportu-
nity of this kind has just occurred. The death of Lord
Wharnclifre makes the representation of the Westßiding va-
cant by the succession of his son to the peerage. To
no constituency could an appeal be made which would
provoke so important or so decisive an adjudi-
cation. Superior in superficial extent to many counties, the
West Riding of Yorkshire exceeds every county but one in
the wealth of its inhabitants, and the numerous sources of
that wealth. Combining :in its population the representa-
tives of the oldest families among the landed aristocracy, as
well as the most opulent of the manufacturing classes, it
sends to the hustings the interpreters of every opinion and
the adherents of every party. On one side may be seen ranged
the champions of the Dukery and that older nobilty which
dates its title to hereditary distinction from an epoch long
antecedent to the English peerage ; on the other the deni-
zens of Leeds, Barnsley, and Seffield—men wbo have
grown rich in the routine of mechanic toil, and the acquisi-
tion of industrial wealth. On no hustings, perhaps, in all
England can ideas so opposite, habits so diverse, and
opinions so conflicting, be pitted against one another as
on those of Wakefield. The creed of an old school, the
theories of a new—the sober dogmatism of hereditary rank,
the adventurous speculation of a new-born fortune—the
prejudices of the peerage, the longings of the people—
all here meet with a numerical and dynamical force that no
other polling-place in England can parallel. It must indeed
be a season of profound tranquillity and of political apathy,
in which the candidate of any side can centre in himself the
suffrages of a constituency so heterogeneous and divided.
And it must at all times be a subject of proud reflection to
the man who has won the prize of its representation. For
whether it be the genius of a Conservative or the spirit of a
Liberal policy which triumphs on these hustings, one thing
is tolerably certain—that no ignoble drudge of a party, no
insignificant or unintelligent herald, will now be sent to Par-
liament to interpret the wishes or protect the interests of the
West Riding. It was no vain or commonplace compliment
which Lord Morpeth uttered in his farewell address at Wake-
field in 1841, when he expressed his determination to seek
or accept the suffrages of no other constituency than that
which had formerly elected him its Member, and had
only then deprived him of its confidence. He appreciated
the honour of his former position teo highly not to feel
its loss acutely; he valued it too dearly not to hope for its
restitution. That time has now come. The representation
of the West Riding is again vacant. He has another oppor-
tunity of soliciting the support of those whose favour he
values, and of testing their devotion to principles which he
has consistently advocated. He carries with him the recom-
mendations of private character and public distinction. He
adds to these the influence of high birth and ancestral con-
nexion. His qualifications are such as would earn for him
the unanimous approval of men whe were influenced by per-
sonal rather than party views; they would guarantee to him
the enthusiastic assistance of any party with which lie might
profess to act. The Liberals would support a man whose
rank and intelligence reflected honour on their side ; the
strongest Tory would reluctantly oppose one who, though
brought into daily and official contact with the pitch of Whig
jobbery and Irish debasement, came out with his word un-
doubted and his purity unsullied. But it will not be on per-
sonal grounds that Lord Morpeth will stand for the West
Riding, nor on these grounds that he can hope to succeed.
A great principle is at stake—a principle to which the
electors of the West Riding are not indifferent. Lord
Morpeth will appear before them as the champion of free
trade. In this character he will be supported; in this cha-
racter he will be assailed. Viewed in this light, the election
for the West Riding becomes a matter of grave import and
anxious consideration. The hustings at Wakefield are the
first great battle-field, whereon the contest between free
trade and its antagonist is to be fairly waged. It is of no
slight import which side secures the superiority in the first
engagement ; for the first fair omen of a contest is half the
victory. It is against no trivial or contemptible foe that he
may have to contend. His adversaries can send into the
field wealth, numbers, intelligence, and that stubborn energy
which elen insures success when every other qualification
fails. That they will forbear such a contest, and that they
will forbear to set the manufacturers of Yorkshire in array
against its landowners, is a thing much to be hoped, but
hardly to be expected. Party feeling is too strong, the ex-
citement of the two opposing classes is too vehement, to ad-
mit of the supposition that the representation of the West
Riding can be won without a fight. We hope, therefore, that
the men of Yorkshire will be true to the cause of free trade,
and restore Lord Morpeth to the honour which he lost with
so much regret and so much grace.—Times:-

THE MINISTERIAL CRISIS.
(From the Times.)
We yesterday announced that the interregnum had termi-
nated, and that Lord John Russell had accepted from her
Majesty the task of forming an Administration. His Lord-
ship, as we then explained, entered upon his office with the
utmost hesitation, and only assumed the responsibilities of a
Minister when he found that Sir R. Peel declined to return
to power—at least until his rival had experienced the diffi-
culties of the crisis and failed in surmounting them. If we
are rightly informed, it is by no means improbable that Sir
R. Peel will have an opportunity of resuming office even
upon these terms. Lord John Russell has found the difficul-
ties of his position greater than, even after a week's consi-
deration, he had anticipated. At a meeting yesterday,
at which all the chiefs of his party were present, so much dis-
union prevailed, and so much doubt as to the ultimate suc-
cess of an Administration which would have at the outset to
encounter in the House of Commons an immense adverse
majority, 'with the assistance only of the precarious support
which 'Sir R. Peel could afford, that it remains until this
morning in doubt whether or not Lord John Russell will,
after a more exact calculation of his strength, persevere in
the task he has undertaken, or resign the trust once more into
the hands of her Majesty. We should de Lord John Russell in-
justice if we did not except him from those among whom
any doubt or hesitation prevails. His Lordship has been
anxious to emancipate himself from the prudery of faction,
and to construct his Cabinet on the widest possible basis, so
that it might be in every respect equal to the emergency, and
might possess a large share of the national confidence. Like
Sir H. Peel, however, he has had to encounter among his pro-
posed colleagues every variety of disappointment, from direct
opposition to lukewarm support; and, although himself hope-
ful of success, and willing bp adventure upon his great enter-
prise, the reluctance of some among his political friends to
engage in a struggle from which Sir R. Peel, with his ma-
jerity of 90 in the House of Commons, and his great advan-
tage in the Upper House, has been compelled to withdraw,
may induce him to give way, and to throw upon Sir R. Peel
the full responsibility of the crisis he has created.
(From the Morning Chronicle.)
From our first announcement of the resignation of Sir R.
Peel we have not ceased to impress upon the public how
many and how serious were the obstacles to the formation of
a Liberal Government. In the face of them, nothing less
than the absolute necessities of the public service could
justify Lord John Russell in undertaking the task. Unless
he could calculate upon the cordial support of the heads of
the late Government, and upon the hearty and generous co-
operation of the whole of his own party, it was obvious that
he could not so much as entertain the subject of forming an
Administration; and even with such support as this, it must
still be a matter of grave doubt whether his Lordship had
such reasonable prospect of success as could alone warrant
him in encountering the difficulties of the present crisis.
It is only as the formation of a Cabinet progresses
that these difficulties come to be fully developed ;
and it is altogether uncertain whether they may not even yet
terminate in Lord John Russell's abandoning the task upon
which lie hail already entered. In a merely party view we
confess we should not regret this result. While the great
object upon which the heart of the people is fixed would
perhaps be more surely and more thoroughly accomplished
by a little delay and the wreck of another Administration,
the position of the Liberal party would be greatly
strengthened by throwing back the Government upon those
who have fled from its responsibilities. But this this is not
a time for the playing of party tricks, or for the stiff assertion
of peculiar views. At what time during the last few years
have we had more need of the care and watchfulness of a
strong Government than at present ? If the country will
require to be told why, at such a time, Sir Robert Peel broke

up'his strong Government, depend upon it, it will also require
to be told why Lord John Rus4ell has not been able—if un-
happily he shall not be able--to form any Government.

„,
THE IV EATHER AT LIVERPOOL.—The weather
still continues boisterous, and our dispatches of yesterday
state, that since the memorable storm of January, 1839, the
barometer has never fallen so low.

ARAB VENGEANCE.—The following appears in an
Algiers journal of the 2d :—" A Frenchman, named Justine,
was living in a small house near the copper mines if Mou-
zaia, with his family, when on the 19th ult. he was shot by
an Arab, the ball entering between the shoulders. On his
dropping, a party of the marauders entered the cottage and
assailed the three children who were in it, a girl about 15, and
two boys, one eight and the other four years old. The girl,
though stabbed in 12 places, had sufficient strength left to
escape, and go to Medeah and give the alarm. The com-
mandant immediately mounted his horse, and, followed by a
picket of men, hastened to the scene of murder. The Arabs
were gone, leaving Justine still living, but weltering in his
blood, with his feet in a fire, to which he had been dragged
by the Arabs, who had laid upon him the bodies of his two
younger children. They were immediately carried to the
hospital, where the daughter had been already placed, and
where she and her younger brother are still living, but the
father and the elder boy expired the next day. Madame
Justine, the wife and mother of these victims of barbarity,
was absent from the scene of blood, having gone to Medeah
with a still younger child. During the night of the same
day, two men, named Blache and Levy Joseph, belonging to
the same copper mines, disappeared. They had gone to the
market of Arba Djendel, both armed, Blache taking with him
900 f. in silver. They had two dogs with them, both of which
were covered with blood, which circumstance leads to a belief
that another murder has been committed."
DISTRESSING CASE Or ATTEMPTED SUICIDE IN
ST. JAMES'S PARK.—Thursday morning, about ten o'clock, as
one of the keepers of St. James's-park was passing along the
northern bank of the ornamental waters, he observed a female
suddenly plungain and disappear. He made an alarm, and
two gentlemen came up, when it was resolved, as neither of
the persons present could swim, that each individual should
grasp the other's hard, and thus proceed into the water,
Walker taking the lead, followed by one of the gentlemen,
whilst the friend of the latter held 'firmly by a projection in
the bank, for the purpose of endeavouring to rescue the
drowning woman, and by these humane and intrepid exer-
tions the keeper succeeded in catching hold of the female by
the hand as she was sinking for the third time. Assisted by
another park-keeper, named Farrar, Walker hastened with
his charge to the Westminster Hospital, where, by means of
hot baths and other remedies, she was in the course of an
hour enabled to state that her name was Charlotte Ash, 18
years of age; that. she had been a servant, but having for
some time past been out of a situation, she had been
obliged to part with almost every article of clothing she
possessed, and had suffered the greatest privations, fre-
quentl) going without food for days together. She had that
morninglgefh-rtioln, Chelsea,
lodgings at No. 8, Cumberland-place,
ifor the purpose of proceeding to
3atlbc,
reuher mother, who is also a servant, but, on passing through the
Park, she suddenly made up her mind to put an end to her
miserable existence. She remains in the hospital in an ex..
tremely low and weak state.
Low TlDE.—Yesterday, about noon, the river
between Blackfriars-bridge and Somerset-house presented an
extraordinary appearance, in consequence of the tide, which
fell unusually low, causing the greatest inconvenience in the
navigation of steam-boats and other craft, especially above
bridge, where several were aground for some time.
An Envoy Extraordinary, says the Constibtionnel,
is expected in Paris from the republic of Mexico, to treat for
the establishment of friendly relations between France and
the republic.-- Galiontat