The Sun.
London, England, 1842-07-15 00:00:00

ttiti
• °n, and who could neither read nor write. He be-
,se:ed it would be found that the character of
nation was formed by its public institutions.
kiplought on this account he might claim the attention
•thttnind inigence of the House. He could not do better
that Zier to the Report of ths Committee of 1841. Upon
Tataittee were the' present Chancellor of the
hasaaller and the Right Hon. Member for Notting-
took DlnA.e' and in that Committee only one division
That',,i—e, and that was respecting three ,words only,
lestittWe'tion was merely as to whether the public
He bell should be opened on Sunday or not.
hare leved that the adoption of the practice would
If the ta°at beneficial effect upon the working classes.
to th w°rking classes and their wives were admitted
csh: Xational Gallery, the British Museum, and
and Public institutions, not only would gratification
Islttl4llllllsetnent be afforded to the whole family,
the ale-
hoe, would at the same time be kept from
1100, where too often he spent his money,
tlcleontracted the most injurious habits. There was
the (141,1!trY where the people were more attentive to
in thell,"es of religion than the people of Holland, yet
of 1„" country all the public institutions, collections
klays-14,tings and museums were thrown open on Sun-
be" „ de therefore thought that greater facilities should
ptibi.ierded to the people of this country to visit the
wouil,,e institutions. He wished Hon. Gentlemen
the," visit the Regent's-park on Sundays, and
i 044 Would see it crowded with families en-
Nei)! ,tilemselves in its healthy atmosphere so
hanae Defter than what they could have at
hal, in their cellars and rooms. But he
tee not be satisfied with that, for he wished to
tste wita also pass through the halls of the Museum,
°111(1
1:1 every object which presented itself to themtOqu• b
e one of instruction, or would lead to further
Woure
•This was a religious question in his view, and he
view Press it on the attention of the House in that
p? 1"t, He hoped that, as the inhabitants of other
!stab.°T the town had opportunities of recreation, the
area •Itanta near the Victoria Park would have an
in it fer,aMusement, and that similar opportunities
llil:1 be provided for the inhabitants of Lambeth and
piae °ridSey. And if there were no Crown lands in those
I',oWes an exchange might be made. The evidence of C 01.
._
ofs:',l before the Committee, showed the advantage.
pro,„en places in the decrease of crime, and in the im-
-1/40,;,ed habits of the people, and that, in con-
Cenee of them, one policeman was now suffi-
Itts'• Where ten were required before.—(Hear, hear.)
,wish was that children and all other parties
it,"4'd have admission to the British Museum, to
ql;lll,Pkton Court, and to the National Gallery. He
eas,‘"ought that an end should be put to the present
in 7°lll of requiring one member of each party enter-
itt,""e Museum to write his name in a book. Much
1q ;livenience was created by the practice, and it led
the ?beneficial result. It was seventeen years since
fe'ltiOnal Gallery was established, but it was only
lie, %vicars ago since it was thrown open to the pub-
had ~s• Since this latter period the number of visitors
lr n,'ereased daily. On Easter Monday last between
ii"° and 16,000 persons had visited the National
nstheLrY'• In the course of the year 1841 the
ati of persons who had passed through the
1842 pal Gallery was 538,331, and up to June,
the number for the half year was 370,105.
'2s - respect to the Tower, when the admission was
:
te,„,Y 800 visited it in a year, while after the
the "on to 6d., the number who visited it during
Rrueale period was upwards of 2,674. The de-
to ...),"04 of the whole Armory had been supposed
lio the
taken place, such, however, was
and "e case ; the ancient Armory still existed,
that the
open to the public. He trusted
ore, tlie hurried manner in which persons were taken
rest, le Tower would be put a stop to. With re-
kart to the Crown jewels the admission to them
been originally two shillings ; it had since
reduced to sixpence, and the result
IS4B
toonithat the number of persons visiting the Jewel-
hsd bewas greatly increased. Since Hampton Court
of en thrown open, free of expense, the number
visitors to that Palace had greatly increased.
11," that period upwards of 3,000 persons had
through that palace in one day. The open-
-1,41 of Hampton Court Palace had been of great
k It to the metropolis. In order to make
eaell'sit, the poor people collected a shilling
tain, and they formed a party in a waggon, con-
k, Ing i 0 or 60 persons; and 15, 20, and even
hap Waggons went of a day, accompanied by
kip
of music. Thus the people of Spital-
j„`'s had a day's pleasure and recreation
10a shilling. Ile would hastily mention Greenwich
Pital. At the time the Committee sat, Greenwich
,s,::pital was shut to every body but soldiers.
'tsiers were excluded from the Hall, and it
qt, by his (Mr. Hume's) writing to the
wk,3ernor that they were admitted. There
the one more point to which he wished to call
th attention of the House, namely, the admission of
Ne Public to the cathedrals. The Committee had
',,tnileuded, that for one or two hours in every day
Erse "•,• TA L., +hrovvp onen to the public
oth,r° ' all charge. Mr. Cunningham and several
br 1.0 gentlemen, who were thoroughly competent
fouupins an opinion, had stated that they had not
the visZe leash disposition to mischief on the part of
The -"ts to Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's.
Were cathedrals of Norwich, Bath, and York
he believed, already open to the public
Witt;'-',+, Certain hours of the day.—(Hear, hear.)
tiot icht`loe exceptions, he regretted to say that he did
ts)"Olv of any others that had changed their system.
4111 -"'s of visitors were excluded from the cathedrals,
1)413' who were desirous of seeing those cathedrals
tO
~t° send for a person to show the place
Nlic",e,ni, and if they did not pay them libe-
Lule persons who showed the cathedrals behaved
4 14-en• a manner as to give to strangers anything but
thijotirable opinion of the manner in which these
• ItiDl,s Were conducted in this country. He hoped the
ofTil't lion. Baronet and the Right Hon. the Chancellor
th,net Exchequer, would use their influence with the
thj,`„eta to prevent these abuses. It had been
th;;;ue, d to him that he would turn the cathedrals into
th4c.'neuses. The fact was the present system did
4/,;' It turned them into show-houses for money. The
hisheum at the East India House had been opened
Ilade Public once a week. The Society of Arts
thrownbt open their museum, and many other in-
!lir-,‘".18, both in town and country, had also been
4:1,44 open. In Newcastle, the institution had
meat thrown open to the public with the
Piet hest advantage. There was a gallery of
the *'s at Dulwich, which had been left to
bet tPublic. He was sorry to say that he had
t Peen able to induce the Warden' of that College
• to thr
air °w the gallery open to the public. Persons de-
tiek"' of seeing the gallery, were obliged to procure
poor is from some booksellers in London ; and many
sorts Persons were unable to procure admittance, in
th:equence of being obliged to obtain these tickets.
natfr°e was the Royal Academy, which had cost the
]ret]returna large sum of money, and it did nothing in
the for the people. They ought to recollect that
they had the means of supporting that institution from
hot si?..e.°llle, and he would only ask whether it was
kit `4,:r that the people should share the benefit?
he asked was that the public should have
trl,_l( to see the Institution, or one day in the week
it).llat purpose. He had patiently and persever-
VY brought' this subject before the House, and
11,, Would continue to do so till he succeeded.
is; was glad that in several parts of the country
Thtitutions and museums were springing up.
ns,irilon. Member concluded by moving " An humble
• esi to her Majesty, praying that she will be gra-
°usl}.
pleased to give directions to the Trustees of the
tiro .I'n Museum and of the National Gallery, to the au-
ti,les having charge of the armories and jewels of
rower of London, to the Commissioners of Green-
ish
bran hospital, and to all other persons having the
agement or direction of public edifices and cathe-
-181 for the adopticfn of those facilities and improve-
tits recommended in that Report."
e
liadkj• MART seconded the motion. A Commission
and be appointed in France, by M. Guizot, to inspect
th;rePort upon national monuments; he was of opinion
;, such a Commission would be very advan-
isf,Lena to this country. Every national menu-
kr,-,.1"' presented a spectacle at once interesting
f`4l, useful to the historical student. On the tomb
cirativvard the Confessor were facts which had been
ser4ticeed by no historical writer. He was glad to ob-
AZ that the monuments and statues in Westminster
beep `3' Were much more carefully kept than they had
/1,0 formerly. He thought they were called on now,
cords than at any time, to regard with attention these re-
hls former days. In addition to the suggestions of
had ,rn• Friend, he (Mr. Ewart) begged to suggest, as
the ueell Proposed by the Committee in 1836, that on
ceNue'
Pietures in the National Gallery, and other re-
na e e 3 for national works of art, should be fixed such
nape: planation as to the nature of the picture, with the
of of the painter, when he was born, and the school
pinting in which he studied.
thathe CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said,
,wilen he saw the motion which the Hon. Gentle-
obs' ou the paper he was prepared to anticipate the
the rations which the Hon. Gentleman would make on
lastsr uhJeet, as he (Mr. Hume) had in the Committee
had ear brought forward all those topics into which he
1,, entered largely, and which had been met with per-
Cro cellor ncurrence as to their general principles. tie (the
ropeof the Echequer) bad, therefore, no diffe-
eoure,.°F , opinion with the Hon. Gentleman upon the
teehn: " Was pursuing, which was one of a mere
the jeal nature, and would not lead to any difference in
ter "I.t4rnate course which might be pursued in this mat-
the O one Enure cordially concurred than he did in
the ti—,itnents expressed by the Hon. Gentleman as to
hihitre essity of throwing open to the public all those ex-
elj„ers 'which tended to elevate their thoughts to higher
Prove and all those works of art which tended to ira-
Prnve t, .
em taste, and, by improving their taste, to im-
asntio
vi as 'eir minds. The only question between them,
aceera
the mode in which this object could be best
oPiaior spied. He agreed with the Hon. Gentleman in
froni
on, that great advantage was derivable to the people
The alerting the parks in the neighbourhood of London.
by the ;antage thus conferred was enjoyed not merely
tie 4 141,1'°''''er orders of society, but by those in a posi-
wove them. With respect to opening the National