Star.
London, England, 1822-04-01 00:00:00

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PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS.

HOUSE OF LORDS, MARCH so.

Their Lordships met at fifteen minutes before four o'clock.
Mr. Beam= and other Memben of the House of Commons
brougitt up the Irish The per Cent. Annuities Reduction BM,
Go Dublin Fever Hospital BM, and the Receivers of Stolen
Goods Amendment 13111. They sled homy* or the Admiralty
Quorum HO, with a musings that the ROW of Commons had
agreed to it without any qtr—Adjournedto Monday.

MONUMENT TO HIS LATE MAJESTY.

At throb o'clok on Saturday last a Meeting of the
Subscribers to Mr.Witarr's Design for a Monument
to commemorate the virtues of his late Majesty,
King GEORGE the THIRD, was held at the Thatched
House Tavern, St. James's-street ; the Earl of HAII
RINGTON in the Chair, supported by the Marquis of
LOTHIAN, the Earl of BLESINTON Lord KENYON,
the Lord Bishop of SALISBURY, and several other
Personages of rank.
The object of the Meeting was to consider the
question of throwing open the Monumental Design
for general competition, instead of letting the work
rest altogether with Mr. WYATT, who was the ori-
ginator of it.
A letter was addressed to the Chairman of the Spe-
cial Committee from the Earl of LIVERPOOL, regret-
ing that any particular public business prevented his
Lordship attending.
The Earl of BLESINTON then opened the business
•cf the Meeting, by reading the following document,
explanatory of the proceedings of the Committee t

• REPORT.
" The Special Committee (nominated by the F..atl of Liverpool)
for the purpose of pointing out the best course to be adopted in
order to carry into effect the wishes of the Subscribers to the
National Monument) assembled on Saturday, March 16, and
proceeded to examine the documents, resolutions, &c. contained
in the books of the Secretary.
" It appears that Mr. M. Wyatt, on the 3d of June, 1820, sub-
mitted a specific plan to his Royal highness the Duke of York,
which, on the 21st of June, 1820, his Royal Highness consented
to patronize. Mrs Wyatt then applied to the other branches of
the Royal Family, to many Noblemen and Gentlemen, who con-
sented to be mentbers of the General Committee. Previously to
submitting the plan to the Public, Mr. Wyatt, on the 7th uf Oc-
tober, obtained, through the friendly assistance of a warm sup-
porter of it, the sanction of his Majesty.
" It appears that the sketch designed by Mr. Wyatt was ap-
proved at a Meeting of the Committee, on January 27, the Mar-
quis of Donegal in the Chair.
" The Sub-Committee, consisting of persons conversant in
various branches of art, was instructed to facilitate the execution
of the plan, and at the same time protect the interest of the sub-
scribers. It has been very erroneously supposed that the Sub-Com-
mince was formed of personal friends of Mr. Wyatt, for the
sole purpose of advancing the interests of their friend. The
Members of that Committee were induced to act from various
motives ; but, generally speaking, the great inducement was an
affectionate recollection of the private virtues of King keorge
the 'third, and a just appreciation of the zeal and intrepidity of
Mr. Wyatt, which were sufficient to inspire him with hopes of
patronage. and confidence of success.
"''he first Resolution published in the different Newspapers,
established a subscription for the plan, which, on the 13th of
February, was publicly announced u designed and to be exe-
cuted by Mr. Wyatt.
" The first document that appears on the books as an impedi-
ment is a letter from his Royal Highness the Patron, stating,
that a strong opposition had been created, and that he consi-
dered it advisable to make new arrangements.' To this letter
the Sub-Committee respectfully replied, arguing, that the plan
was Mr. M. Wyatt's; that he had long laboured and arduously
exerted himself to further its sneers+ ; that be had devntesl much
time and incurred much expense, and that his reputation was
now intimately connected with it.'
" The Special Committee took these circumstances into con-
sideration, and it was argued on the one side, that the Members
of the Committee were pledged to Mr. M. Wyatt and his plan;
n.r the other side it was contended, that the Subscribers were

n hound to adopt the plan, nor compelled to confine the Na.
ti a! ‘lonument to any particular Artist. The result of the de•
base was, • That a Deputation was directed to wait on the Illus.
trious Patron, to ascertain his oi.inion whether Mr. M. Wyatt
was or nut to be the artist employed?' By the report of that
mission, his Royal Ilightizsio sentiments appeared to continue fa-
vourable to competition, though not unfavourable to Mr. Wyatt
or his plan. It may not be considered improper to mention the
Cenotaph to the memory of her Royal Highness the Princess
Chatliate. One of the objections to Mr. M. Wyatt was, that
the Cenotaph was not finislmd ; but that objection must now
cease, as the nine figures are casmpleted. For this work there
was no competition.
" 'rite figure to be erected in honour of the Duke of Welling-
ton is not the fruit of competition ; and here it may be observed,
in opposition to one of the objections to the National Monument
(viz. that it is an inappropriate record of the private virtues of
his Majesty George II I.) that Mr. M. Wyatt wished to include
the glories of the Regency in the monumental record of the reign
of King George 111. What allusion more appropriate than on
the design of Mr. M. Wyatt does there appear in a bronze figure
of a Castor, a Pollux, or an Alexander, brought from .Monte
Cavallo, without his horse, to stand in naked and classic beauty,
as an emblem of the valour, the wisdom, and the perat verance of
a Wellington ? The statue to the memory of President West
is the proposi:ion of an individual. The monument to Lord
Nelson, at Liverpool, was competed for, and the prize gained by
Mr. M. Wyatt ; but in this case the money was raised, and the
plan advertised for. In tkepreaent case the plait was proposed
by an individual, and approved of by a Committee, which Com-
mittee advertised for subscriptions to carry it into execution.—
Th. se observations hive been made in order to give the sub-
scribers an accurate view of the situation in which they are
placed, not with the intent of giving any unfair bias to their de-
cision. The Special Committee is anxious to appeal to the sub-
scribers, trusting that the great object in view, viz. a splendid
monumental record of the reign of King George 111. will, by
their decision, be effectually attained.
(Signed) " B LES INTO N,
" March 50, lin. Chairmen of the Special Committee."
Mr. Kenn, M.P. considered that nothing could be
more unjust to Mr. Wyatt, than to throw open the
work which had cost him such labour to general com-
petition. Mr. Wyatt wan the person from whom the
design originated ; and had it not been for his indefa-
tigAble exertions, probably the erection of a monument
would not have been undertaken at all. The model

was now completed, and he trusted the Committee
ould continue their support to an artist in every way
so entitled t 3 their confidence.

The Rev. Mr. CROLY addressed the Meeting at
considerable length in support of Mr. Wyatt's plan.
Nothing could be more absurd or malicious than an
assertion which had been so sedulously, and, no doubt,
injuriously circulated, that the erection of a tnonu-
ment to the memory of our lamented Monarch, had
been converted into a " job" by the subscribers, for
the benefit of Mr. Wyatt. He had no doubt what-
ever, that the impediments thrown in the way of the
subscriptions were occasioned by the attempt to de-
prive Mr. Wyatt of the rewards of his labour, and to
throw open to competition.a woi k which might be al-
, considered complete. If competition were in-
tended, it should have originated before Mr. Wyatt had
',xished his truly elegant and classic design, which had
'ins so much time and money to execute. Let no
suppose that the subscriptions had languished
any want of public confidepce in the talents ofthe
The fact was quite the reverse, and these very
,ns who were most anxious for competition could
withhold their admiration of his transcendent

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merit. But thel=atere of the undertaking ac-
counted fbr the increase of subscriptions. It
could mot be supposed 'there wasuay want of ardour
or attachment to the memory of our late Sovereign.
But the circumstances of the times had materially
obstructed the channel of benevolence. This was not
a fund for the relief of actual misery pining in dis-
tress ; it was not a fund for the compensation of the
widows and orphans of those braie heroes who had
so nobly shed their blood in fighting the battles of
their country. No, it was the silent ttibute of the
good and loyal, paid into the unrefunding treasury
of the grave, to commemorate the virtues of one of
the best of Kings—(Hear, heir).—But still it must be
remembered, that however worthy the object, it was
that kind of moral excitement, whose importance and
value was recommended to the mind by slow degrees,
and was not elicited bythe enthusiasm of the moment.
Had it not been for the unfortunate doubt which
existed as to Mr. Wyatt's right to be the artist, a very
large sum of money would have been collected last
June, at the dinner given at the Freemasons Tavern.
He the more lamented that any obstruction should
arise in the undertaking from a desire of competition,
because he knew if it were thrown open to-morrow,
no respectable artist would offer himself a candidate;
for artists of eminence were afraid of competition,
'not on account of the wisdom, but ignorance of their
judges; and he could not bring his mind to believe
that any man of real genius would come forward in
so iniquitous a transaction, and endeavour to raise his
own fame upon the ruins of another. You might,
indeed, get the striplings and apprentices of the'school,
who would bring forward their crude conceptions
from their copy-books; but depend upon it, no man
of eminence would venture to subject himself to the
universal indignation with which he would be justly
overwhelmed. He therefore called upon all those
present to persevere in their exertions to have the
monument completed. The subscriptions had been
given for the specific work of a specific artist, and
they could not now throw the door open to cotnpeti-
tion without dishonour to the members, and ruin to
the fame and fortune of that unrivalled artist.
Mr. Lowniss said, that on general principles, he
was an advocate for competition, but it would not be
common justice to Mr. Wyatt, after all his labour and
complete success, to allow competition.
The Marquis of LOTHIAN admired as much as any
man the talents of Mr. Wyatt, but he was always a
friend to competition, and would remain so.
Colonel TRENCH, M.P. strongly deprecated the in-
justice of admitting others to a competition with Mr.
Wyatt, after he had completed hisdesign,which gave
universal satisfaction.
Lord Krayost was deeply impressed with a sense
of Mr. Wyatt's merit, but he thought his friends acted
injudiciously in opposing a competition. For he
thought if a Committee of taste were appointed, and.
the designs of various artists were submitted to their
inspection, it would be ten times more creditable to
Mr. Wyatt if his model were approved by them,
which he thought extremely probable. For his part
he was a decided friend to competition, and should
therefore propose that a Committee be appointed to
inspect whatever models should be submitted to them
for a Monument to the Memory of George 111.
Dr. BUTLER was of opinion that the present plan
had been already tried and had failed, and if the
doors were thrown open to competition, he had no
doubt a flood of sold would pour in.
Lord KENVON's Resolution was then put and ne-
gatived by a large majority.
hr. Jan: A ai.i N.ible Lord and the Gentle-
man who seconded his resolution, had spoken of the
subscription as if it wa. extinct ; but it was still alive,
and was only kept in its present languid condition by
the fears and indecision of those who had it in their
power, by adopting a plan for the Nlonun.ent, to give
the public some assurance that one would be erected.
Various Resolutions, declaring that Mr. Wyarr
should have the undivided support of the subscribers,
were then proposed and carried by acclamation.
Thanks were then proposed to the Noble Chair-
man, who expressed hi; hearty concurrence in the
course which had been ultimately adopted.

The Meeting then separated evidently well pleased
with the result, which must be extremely gratifying
to the feelings of Mr. WIiATT, on account of the high
eulogiums pronounced upon his private and profes-
sional character, by individuals whose opinions must
always carry such weight and influence.

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