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846 THE LEADEB, [No. 439, August 21 I85f...
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CRYSTAL PALACE. The unceasing activity o...
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BIRMINGHAM MUSICAL FEST1TAL. Dorikg the ...
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Mr. jlkd Mrs. German Reed announce the f...
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(To the Editor of the Leadet'.) SiK,—-As...
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The New Gold Diggings.—Advices from Amer...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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9 A Mtjuiliio? Before Tlie Last Hundred ...
perfect justice ascribed to this much esteemed Master , being an undeniable original , but the beauty and the richness 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 Mundler -never \ fas 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 doubt that the same questions will mentally arise in their minds as did in ours : Ai * e these letters genuine ? and , if so , were they written about this picture in Henrietta-street ?
846 The Leadeb, [No. 439, August 21 I85f...
846 THE LEADEB , [ No . 439 , August 21 I 85 fi
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 be pursued with the discrimination and 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 Mr . Bowley's appointment , the advice of the long-headed class of observers and critics Who were consulted on
the subject of its financial prospects ; and how that Mr . Bowley has brought to bear long and intimate knowledge of amusement-catering on 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 and 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 speckled Hamburg and the Bramahpootra . We object 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 be better acquainted . "We delight , but only atrticipatively , 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 slightest 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 , and thorough masters of , the science . These byeentertainments succeed one another with such rapidity
tnat , wevewe to attempt to chronicle them , we should be under the necessity of establishing a special reporter on the premises , and of appending a Crystal Palace supplement to our already teeming columns . On the same day as the private view of the Poultry 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 afance was the transposed version of "Deli vieni a la finestra , " the ever charming serenade from H Don Giovanni , This Signer Mario sang with such refinement as—all adveTse criticism , about heresy and so forth notwithstanding—to enrapture the majority of his audience . Bonconi was no less successful in " Largo el factotum" than were Grisi and Mario in the duet , «• Un wmero core , " from Roberto Devereua . The Board of . Management of the Burly Closing Association , whose
exertions in the 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 arc 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 , " plioto-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 Koyal Academy—may , through the enlightened alliance of the Crystal Palace with the great photographers , wake some morning and find himself as immortal as the fugitive tints of the imprisoned ray will admit of . Honour , in fact , may now be had at Sydenhanv without the previous necessity of having died o' Wednesday . 3 ? or 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 ef the Crystal Palace of the likenesses of the good , the wise , and the witty . No senates or 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 lie 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 staff , 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 and animated busts of the departed .
Birmingham Musical Fest1tal. Dorikg The ...
BIRMINGHAM MUSICAL FEST 1 TAL . Dorikg 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-pationts , received the benofits of the institution . In the last twenty years Birmingham and the immediately adjacent districts have doubled their inhabitants—new and extensive factories havo been
established—a net-work of railways has been laid down— and , as a consequent result , a teeming and annually increasing population , engaged in manufacturing pursuits , often rendered hazardous from tho machinery employed , has been brought into contact with the charity . To meet the- demands of the hospital , it has been found necossary to erect an additional wing , thereby providing another ward , containing twenty beds for in-patients , and affording also the means of supplying better accommodation for the treatment and relief of the numerous out-patients . The institution derives its
re-venues from endowments , subscriptions dnnnt- " ^ legacies , and the profits arising front tho -T ' bration of the triennial musical festivals Tl penditure of the year ending in June , 1857 " was IaSS Notwithstanding that the pecuniary aid recoivii from another source since the * Festival of 18 r < > i mainly aided tlie enlargement and improvements » ferredto , the expenditure of the hospital conS " to exceed the fixed income , in a manner S creates an anxious feeling as to the possibility ? f keeping up the usefulness of the institution « 2 Treasurer ' s account being overdrawn nearly 200 $ and the payments for . the current quarter having- m to be provided for . Under such circumstances 85
Festival Committee appeal to the benevolent thl philanthropic , and the public generally , for tiw support to the Festival , which is to take place in . th * Town Hall , on the 31 st inst ., and on the 1 st " n < j and 3 rd of September . The principal vocalists " an ' nounced are Mesdaines Alborii , Clara Novello Castel Ian , and Viardot-Gareia ; Mesdemoiselles Balfe and Dolby . Messrs . Sims Reeves , Montem Smith , and Weiss ; Signon Belletti , Konconi , and Tarabeilik Mr . Costa is to conduct a band and chorus of ave hundred performers ; and the principal works announced are the Messiali , Jb'lijah , Ads and Galct ea Beethoven ' s Service in C , Mendelssohn ' s Cantatas To the Sons of Art and Lauda JSion , Mr . Costa's
serenata The Dream , and Mr . Henry Leslie's oratorio Judith . Miscellaneous concerts are to le given on each day , and the festival is to conclude with a Dress Ball at the Town Hall on the evening of Triday , the 3 rd proximo , conducted by Mr . Weippeit . 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. Jlkd Mrs. German Reed Announce The F...
Mr . jlkd Mrs . German Reed announce the finish of their very successful season positively next Saturday .
(To The Editor Of The Leadet'.) Sik,—-As...
( To the Editor of the Leadet' . ) SiK , — -As I find that my correspondence with Miss Bnrdett Coutts on the picture " Home and the Homeless , " referred to by Lord Lyridhurst iri 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 . I am an artist , not a writer ; . my pictures w € re painted for publicity , my-letters were not written for publicity ; I would appeal , therefore , to nay works as my justification , and as soou as the two works can be obtained , I will place them in a public gallery , and invite the public and the profession to j udge whether they justify the allusions and the controversies wliich have gathered about them . They will , I trust , be ready for exhibition in a few days . I am , Sir , your obedient servant , Thomas Faed .
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 lias not diminished . All the places in the Moses Taylor are taken up , and two steamers were announced for the Panama route on the 20 th \ inst . Even the Canadians arc said tc be organising companies . From the interior the routes which Lord Bury described so clearly in his speech , on the Hudson ' s Buy question will be traversed by emigrants of the Iforth-Western States ; and from California w « still have news of the migration of the entire floating mining population . Wages have
consequently risen for those who havo the good sense to staj at home , affecting thus the steady production of golc from the quartz mines , as well as all tho other braudie ! of Culifornian industry . The wages of the persons employed on board tho groat steamship , for instance , hav < advanced more than a hundred per cent . Tho sccom assistant-engineers are getting 200 dollars a month ; th third assistant-engineers 176 dollars a month ; th water-tenders and the firemen each 150 dollars a month and the eoal-passers 100 dollars a month . Is not thn a paradise for a- working man , where an uncducntc Irishman can get his 100 dollars a month and his tour for passing coal into an engine-room ? No mine in Culi fornia or New Caledonia will make him such a rcturi
as that . Sunday Bands in tiik Parks . —Tho Regent ' s-pnrl committee havo brought tho season to a close ono wed earlier than usmil . Tliia praiseworthy undertaking , w are happy to say , has been more successful during th present than any former season . Tub Entkntb Cokdialb . —At tho dinner-fart : given at tho French Embassy in celebration of th French ffitos , it seems thut tho Due do Malukoff , ii giving tho health of tho Quoon , spoke of the alliance a dternellc , by whioh wo hope Iiq meant the everlaHtinj observance of ponco between tho two countries . Lon Derby wan , they aay , equnlly ardent in tho expression o a similar hope .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 21, 1858, page 846, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/ldr_21081858/page/22/
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