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Leader (1850-1860), 21st August 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 22, to this much esteemed Master 846 THE LEA...

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      _„ A≫P( Hopes And Drivams

      perfect justice ascribed , teing an undeniable original , but the beauty and the r ichness of the composition , the charms of form , and the expression of heavenly ecstasy , the brightness of its lustre , the delicacy of the aerial tints , and its rare state of preservation , render it -worthy of a distinguished place among the -works of this Master of the School of Seville . In more than one respect it will bear a favourable comparison with the celebrated picture of the same subject in the Louvre ; in point of preservation , indeed , it even surpasses it , -while in splendour of colouring and power of chiaroscuro it does not come up to it . " On the best authority we can state that Mr . Otto Miindler never was expert in . the Louvre .

      Now , first , let us ask our readers to compare these three letters one with another , the statements in . them ¦ 'with the picture itself , and then we have no doubfc that the same questions will mentally arise in . their minds as did in ours : Axe these letters genuine ? and , if so , were they written about this picture in Henrietta-street ?

      To This Much Esteemed Master 846 The Lea...

      to this much esteemed Master 846 THE LEADEB . [ No . 439 , ATOTJST jla 85 R

      Crystal Palace. The Unceasing Activity O...

      CRYSTAL PALACE . The unceasing activity of Mr . Bowley continues to provide such a numerous and interesting and describable succession of amusements for Crystal Palace visitors , that : to do them anything like justice in the limited space we have at our disposal is utterly out of the question . The management are obviously determined to " make hay while the sun shines . " Hardly a summer day passes without some major attraction being offered ; and if the system lie pursued with the discrimination arid energy now applied to it , the public , feeling sure of finding some attraction beyond the aesthetic glories of the place , must sooner or later respond . *«

      Popularise your palace and park" was ever , until > Ir . Bowley ' b appointment , the advice of the long-headed class of observers and critics-who "were consulted on the subject of its financial prospects ; and now that Mr . Bowley has brought to bear long and intimate knowledge of amusement-catering ou the grand scale with a view to popularisation , we must not hark back to high art and sestheticism generally , but hold out every encouragement to those of the directors and the officers who are straining every nerve to redeem the fortunes of the undertaking . Their mainspring must be , unquestionably , the reimbursement , by dividends , of the shareholders ; ours , the preservation to the public

      enjoyment and instruction of an edifice and garden whose conception and execution should be one of England ' s glories , and whose ruin or appropriation to other purposes would be a national disgrace . It should be the part of the public press , then , in the matter of the Crystal Palace , to support the efforts of the management to attract the people , without the snappish application of elevated canons of taste to entertainments which , if not of a high class , are yet popular , and the shillings of whose votaries outnumber by ten to one those of the fastidious dilettanti .

      We have heard exception taken to the so-called desecration of this beautiful place by the association of rabbit-hutches and poultry-baskets with its glories . But seeing that the amateurs of the Dorking t « nd the Lop-ear are as the sands of the sea beside those of the Italian school of painting , we conceive that these bird and beast shows are judiciously used as a form of invitation to the public . Our own editorial mind is a perfect blank about the Bpeckled Hamburg and the Bramahpootra . We objecb to the Cochin China as a camel of a fowl in

      appearance and no treat at table , while we sympathise with the progress of the Turkey poult with whom we may some day he better acquainted . We delight , but only anticipatedy , in the noble capon , and we regard the high-bred English game as the fairest of the fowl tribe . Were we to pretend to the lightest atom of poultryological taste or knowledge we should be gross impostors , but we were somewhat astonished last week to observe how many persons could be collected together who were enthusiasts in , « nd thorough masters of , the science . These byeentertafcnmenta succeed one anotherwith such rapidity that , were we to attempt to chronicle them , we should Im under the necessity of establishing a special reporter on the promises , and of appending a Crystal Palace to the the

      supplement our already teeminaj columns . On the S ? 1 ^ ! 11 ^ as PTi ™ te * iew of P oultry and Babbit Show , there took place the last , for the season , of Mr . Gye ' s Italian Opera Concerts , supported by all the talents of the Covent Garden company . The gem of the eiance was the transposed version of " Deh vieni a la flnestra , " the ever charming serenade from II Don Giovanni . This Signor Mario sang with such refinement as—all ad-Terse criticism about heresy and so forth notwithstanding—to enrapture the majority of his audience , iconcon ! was no less successful in " Largo el factotum than were Grisi and Mario in . the duet , " Un tenero core , " from Roberto J > evereva . The Board of Management of the Early Closing Association , whose

      exertions in tlie abridgment of the hours of labour in all departments of industrial life have ever met with our warmest support , have announced a series of three fetes for the benefit of their funds . The last of these takes place to-day , when all the great fountains are announced to play , and military games , buffo entertainments , and athletic sports will afford abundant amusement to the many friends whom the committee expect to gather round them . The Crystal Palace Picture Gallery was formerly situated , as some few of our readers may , perhaps , be aware , in the north wing of the building , nearly on a level with the park , a long way from the grand

      entrance , and half an hour ' s walk from the refreshment department . It has recently been determined by the directors to afford it greater prominence , with the double view of contributing to the attractions of the first-floor gallery of the building and of increasing their rental derived from exhibiting British and foreign works of art , as well as the commission derived from sales effected . The splendid series of historical busts has been removed from the nave to the same gallery . The study of these , and a very large collection of the most beautiful works of photography , may prove exceedingly attractive to winter visitors , and to all the holders of season tickets who cannot

      be expected for ever to find new enjoyment in the out-door promenade or in the interior courts , charming as these are . We must mention , before we quit the subject for the present , that Mr . Herbert Watkins , who is , to our thinking , the most generally successful of photographic portrait artists , or , to hazard a new word , " photo-physiognomers , " has added an extensive collection of popular living people ' s heads . And thus many a sweet and honest soul , who , though a benefactor of men , may never attain the tardy honours of Westminster Abbey or the National Gallery through the difficult avenues of the battle , the senate , or the forum—or to whom the possession of wealth beyond his fellows will never

      perhaps permit the accident of a six months' suspension upon the walls of the Royal Academy— -may , through the enlightened allianceof the Cry staiPalace with the great photographers , wake some morning and find himself as immortal as the fugitive tints of the imprisoned ray will admit of . Honour , irk fact , may now be had at Sydenham without the previous necessity of having died o' Wednesday . For ourselves , we were common-place enough to derive more pleasure from the study of the men of our own time , arrayed in the photographic department of the Crystal Palace , than from that of the reductions to ordinary dimensions , in the shape of portrait busts , of images that the poet's song , the

      historian s pen , and the imagination of the people have expanded from age to age into heroic proportions . Ourselves even may perchance be there , and who shall say how far our self-complacency may not be responsible for our remarks ? . Be that as it may , there is a goodly gathering on the screens of the Crystal Palace of the likenesses of the good , the wise , and the witty . No senates qr chief commissioners , or gold snobs in waiting " have voted or jobbed over their admission . No economists have carped at the cost of the honour . Men of the people have thought them worth a place in the people's palace , and , to garble the words of Sterne , " let the herald ' s officer turn them out if he dare . " In this

      respect—reserving at the same time our right to that fair criticism upon exhibited works of art which the management invite — we consider that no small praise is due to the members of the direction and the Btaff , who , descending from the realms of officialism , are now labouring zealously to popularise the fine art department of the Crystal Palace . As much healthy stimulus may be ministered to the praiseworthy ambition , of the young especially , by the portraits of living successes and celebrities , as by the storied urns nud animated busts of the departed .

      Birmingham Musical Festival. Drmiko The ...

      BIRMINGHAM MUSICAL FESTIVAL . DrmiKO the last three-quarters of a century the Birmingham General Hospital has ministered to the medical and surgical requirements of no less than 424 , 605 poor patients , of which number 96 , 442 have been admitted as in-patients . In the year ending midsummer , 1857 , 19 , 045 patients , of whom 2525 were in-patients , received the benefits of the institution . In the last twenty years Birmingham and the immediately adjacent districts have doubled their inhabitants—new and extensive factories have been established—a net-work of railways has been laid down—and , ds a consequent result , a teeming and annually increasing population , engaged Ln manufacturing pursuits , often rendered hazardous from tho machinery employed , has been brought into contact with the charity . To meet tho demands of tho hospital , it has Leen found necessary to erect an additional wing , thereby providing another ward , containing twenty beds for in-patients , and uflbrding also tho means of supplying better accommodation for tho treatment and rolief of the numerous out-patients . The institution derives its

      revenues from endowments , subscriptions , donationT legacies , and the profits arising from the oT ' bration of the triennial musical festivals Tho penditure of the year ending in June , 1857 " was Uw Notwithstanding that the pecuniary aid recoil from another source since the Festival of 1855 hi mainly aided the enlargement and improvement ' s » ferred to the expenditure of the hospital continues to exceed the fixed income , in a manner which creates an anxious feeling as to the possibility of keeping up the usefulness of the institution tl £ Treasurer ' s account being overdrawn nearly 2000 !

      n Tiff 4 " 1 * A »¦> # » Yr * V % *\ w % 4- n ^ r ^ v * ^ lin ntmnnH L ^ __* . * .. ' ' "'*•• and the payments for the current quarter having vet to be provided for . "Under such circumstances the Festival Committee appeal to the benevolent tha philanthropic , and the public generally , for their support to the Festival , which is to take place in the Town Hall , on the 31 st iust ., and on the 1 st on j and 3 rd of September . The principal vocalist ' saanounced are Mesdames Alboni , Clara Novello , Castel Ian , and Viardot-Garcia ; Mesdemoiselles Balfe and Dolby ; Messrs . Sims Reeves , Montem Smith and Weiss ; Signori Belletti , Ronconi , and Tatnberlik

      Mr . Costa is to conduct a baud and chorus of five hundred performers ; and the principal works announced are the Messiah , Elijah , Ads and Galatea Beethoven ' s Service in C , Mendelssohn's Cantatas To the Sons of Art and Lauda Sion , Mr . Costa ' sserenata The Dream , and Mr . Henry Leslie ' s oratorio Judith . Miscellaneous concerts are to be given on each day , and the Festival is to conclude ' with , a Dress Ball at the Town Hall on the evening of Friday , the 3 rd proximo , conducted by Mr . Weippert . We need hardly add that the list of patrons , headed by her Majesty , is an imposing one , or that a vast gathering of amateurs from , all parts of the country is fully expected .

      Mr. And Mrs. German Heed Announce Thefin...

      Mr . and Mrs . German Heed announce thefinish of their very successful season positively next Saturday .

      (To The Editor Of The Leader.) ; Sir,—As...

      ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) ; Sir , —As I find that my correspondence with Miss Burdett Coutts on the picture " Home and the Homeless , " referred to by Lord Lyndhurst in his recent speech in the House of Lords , and remarked upon in various journals , is still a subject of some misunderstanding in artistic and other circles , I propose to appeal from explanations to facts—to the only evidence , indeed , that can be perfectly satisfactory to all parties , that of the picture and the sketch themselves . lam an artist , not a writer

      my pictures were painted far publicity , my letters were not written for publicity ; I would , appeal , therefore , to my works as my justification , and as soon as the two works can be obtained , I -will place them in a . public gallery , and invite the public and the profession to judge whether they justify the allusions and the controversies which have gathered about them * They will , I trust , be ready for exhibition in a few days . I am , Sir , your oiedient servant , Thomas Faet > .

      Cavendish-road , St . John s Wood , August 20 th , 1858 .

      The New Gold Diggings.—Advices From Amer...

      The New Gold Diggings . —Advices from America state the emigration to Frazer ' s River has not diminished . All the places in tlie Moses Tuy lor are taken up , and two steamers were announced for the Panama route on tho 20 th inst . Even the Canadians arc said to bo organising companies . From the interior tho route * which Lord Bury described so clearly in his speech on the Hudson ' s Bay question will be traversed by emigrants of the North-Western States ; and from California we still have news of the migration of the entire floating- mining population . " Wages have

      consequently riseu for those who have the good sense to stay at home , affecting thus the steady production of gold from the quartz mines , as well as all tlie other branches of Culifornian industry . The -wages of the persons employed on board tho great steamship , for instanoo , have advanced more than a hundred per cent . The second assistant-engineers aro getting 200 dollars a month ; the third assistant-engineers 175 . dollars a month ; tho water-tenders and tho firemen each 150 dollars a month ; and the coal-passers 100 dollars a month . Ie not that a paradise for a working man , where an uneducated Irishman can get his 100 dollars a month and his bonul for passinff cool into an engine-room ? No mine in California or New Caledonia will make liim such a return

      as that . Suni > a . y Banks in thic Points . —Tho Regcnt ' s-park committee have brought tho season to a close- 0110 week earlier than usual . This praiseworthy undertaking , tvo nro happy to say , has been more successful during the present than any former season . This Entkntb Cokjhalk . —At tlie dinner-party given at tho French Embassy in celebration of tho French fetes , it seems that tho Due do Malakoll' , in giving tho health of tho Quean , spoke of tho alliunco as dterndlc , by which wo hope ho meant tho everlasting observance of peace between tho two countries . -l ' ~ Derby was , they say , equally ardent in tho expression of a similar hope .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 21, 1858, page 22, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21081858/page/22/