NORTHUMBERLAND-HOUSE.-We ...
The Times, 1824-05-22T00:00:00

No FTHUMfl EXR LA ND-H0OUSa.--Ve iveru yesterday favoured with a view of one wing (the east) of Northumberland-house, for our leisure did not allow us to inspect the remaining part of this ca- pacious fabrie. The greatentrancehall and staircase aredistilnguish- ed by a chasenet richness of effect, and a classical elegance of de. sign. The basement, thestaircae, and the floors of the adjacent galleries are entirely of white marble; and columns and pediments of coloured marble ustai, a light elliptical roof, highly worked and ornamented. At the foot of the staircase on either side, stands a massive and lofty candlelabrum, of the roost beautiful tonn and ela- borate workmanship; the stock being serrated, so as to resemble in same sort the stem of a palm-tree. These, together with a superb lamp suspended from the pediment over the approach to the stair. case, are executed in Grecian metal, as it is called-a manufacture, we suspect, as beautiful as the Corintbian brass of the ancients. In t>.e same material is executed the running scroll which sup- plits the place of the balustrade, and of wlhichi the eftect is perfectly delightful. The pattern . 0so continuous, that not a joint nor a screw can be detected, from its cemmencement to the point at whichl it terminates in the Dacal Coronet, surmounted by the crest of etse Dukes of Northunberland-the ,ion of Brabant. The walls of the hall-staircase are of a beautiful Scagliala, which is as higlhly coloured and as fine as the marble of Syene that it sup- plies the place of. Of the chambers in this wing, the most beauti- ful are the aute chamber and the saloon. Curtains and hangings of damasked velret, silks of the most sitperb texture and colour-all of them the productions of the looms of Spitalfields,attest at once the superiority of English workmanship, and the patriotic discernment OMis Grace's patronage. The cabinet work. whicli is also executed by Englimh ardsts, displays the niost exqtuisite forms of couches, chairs. &c., which even the classical research of M1lr. Mloser has col- lected in his " Outlines ;" and the beautifill coiceptions of Grecian and Roman design derive from the variegated huesof the Woods that they are embodied in, a magnificence of effect,unknown, most likely, to the palaces esen of antient Greece. Surrounded by these compa- triot productions, we gazed with more than our accustomed pleasure on the curious labourn of foreign art-the Indian cabinets, and mosaic-work excrutoires-that, by the side of the fiirniture we speak of, had little more than their grotesqueness and their antiquity to plead against the equity of an immediate ejectment. The walls of these apartments are clothed with pIictures, for the most part so ex- cellent-that-it would be-superfluons-here to praise themn. Vasdykely and Sneyders. in particular, are, however, great detractors from the grandeur of effect wvhich all that opulence anti good taste have here asliieved might justly be supposed to produce; for where their spells are cast, who cnn willingly step out of the charmed circle to contemplate any thing else? The lamps, all of them composed of the same Grecian metal, are, in the strictest sense of the word, su- perb, and reflect the highesL crelit tipol the able artist by whom they were made-Air. Collins, in the Strand. We eannot but con- gratulatethenoble Daleupon the becoming splendour and unaffected taste with which he has aderned a mansion that is now trulv a palace, and a residence vforthy of one of the highest rank in tie English peerage. INSTITUTION OP (IVIL ENGINEERsS.-This Society ce- lebrated its anniversary dinner yesterday at the London Coffee- house. The attendance was extremely numerous, and highly re- spectable. Mlr. Telford presided. After the preliminary toasts were drunk, Mr. Palmer read a short address, containing a descrip- tion of the origin anti progress of the institution down to tEle present time; its object being the mutual promotion of science amongst the members of the society. Several speeches were maO.e in the course of the evening, none of which excited more applause than those of one or two foreign members present. The whole of the members seemed very much gratified at the progressive success of the institu- tion ; and one or two allusions to the present redundancv of capital, with an accompanyin5 bint that the aid of the gentlemeni of this pro- fession vould be Tequired to set it afloat, were received with marked good humour. LAdvertisement l-LTERABAY CURIOSITY.-Among the con- tents of the Litera- Gazette of this day, 22d May, is3 afac sifliik of the Extraordinary Greek Gazettc, issued upon Lord Byron's deaith, an original sketch of his life, interesting extracts fromn lis priyate correspondence, and an accoant of his hlS. auto-biography given to Mr. loore. Ourika, the so popular Tale bv the Daichess of Duras, is also in this Number; and a Sight of St. James's Pa- lace before the Drawing-Toom, with a detailed account of the sew Pictures and superb Supper-room, &c. Published every Saturday, by V. A. Scripps, 362, (Exeter 'Change,) Strand, price Sd.; or stamped for countrv circulation by post, orice Is. [Advertisement.1-The follow ing inteiesting works are just pub- lished by ir. COLRuN, New Burlington-street:-_. Alemoirs of ffoethe,thle celebrated author of Werter, &c., written bv hiniself, 2 vols. 2. The lHighlanders, a Tale, by the autisor of tlie Hermit in London, Abroad, &c., 3 vols.- 3. t}odwin's History of the Com- -monwealth, 8vo. 4. The Life and Times of Salvator Rosa, by Lady Mlorgan, vols. . Sayings and Doings, or Sketcbes from Life, 3d edition, 3 vols. 6. Cowper's Private Correspondence, 2 vols. 7. Memoirs of the Duke of Itevigo and Count Hulin, rela- tive to the Duke d' Enghien, 1 vol.; and 8. Sismondi's History of the Literature of the South of Europe, with Notes, byRoscoe, 4 vols.