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Ko . 383 , JULY 25 , 1857 . ] _ 1 ** 1 L ^ AP -- - _ . ____ M _
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creating law , not quoting it , and laying down judgments which , we fully believe , the opinion of any competent constitutional lawyer would reverse . Lord Haeeowbt chooses to sneer at < Lord Coke , and all other sorts of antiquarian la . \ r ; ' but upon such stands the constitution of England . Lord Habbowby violated charters and acts of parliament , and chooses to despise them ; he claims , m the words of his Vice-Chancellor and Attorney-General , ' autocratic power' in the Duchy , acts aloue and without Ills Council , debars the Auditor from the performance of his functions , dismisses him illegally , and when the statutes are referred to , jests at them as
' antiquarian . Upon public grounds Mr . BertoT ; ACCI was appointed . Upon public grounds lie came before the Committee for justice . His statement is met by assertions unsupported by evidence , and by a tangleinent of quibbles . Thus , General Fox says , " Mr . Bebtoxacci stated that my father appointed me 3 £ eceiver-General , which is so far true that he did appoint me , " and then he weaves a complaint against ' the gist of that assertion . ' The Receiver-General adds that , when Mr . Hawker was nominated Auditor , he had no
knowledge that this Mr . Hawker was his own nephew . From Mr . Danveks—who was frequently compelled to correct his own statements—was extorted this testimony " Under the head 'Puchy of Lancaster , Rents received from the Newcastle-under-Lyne Mines for ten years from Michaelmas , 1846 , to Michaelmas , 1856 , ' what alterations would be necessary to make the account correspond with the fact ?" " It would be sufficient to leave out the word received . " Now , is this not a justification of all that has been urged ?
There was one important word in tlie account , and that was false . If it be added that , by the admission of the officials , Mr . Bjebtoi . acoi ' s suggestions were frequently of great value , we do not . see what is wanting to complete his case . He was appointed upon public grounds for public services ; he discovered mismanagement and endeavoured to remedy it ; he was obstructed ; he was
deprived of his functional authority . ; he was insulted ; he was illegally superseded ; he has proved that the accounts of the Duchy had been systematically tampered with , and that Lord GnANViiiiiE held an improper position , and what remains ? It remains to be shown that the Duchy of Lancaster has been converted into an engine- for party purposesbut that is not an auditor's affair .
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THE NATIONAL GALLERY . The affirmation of the vote of 23 , 000 / . for the establishment and expenses of the National Gallery , three weeks since , was a dereliction of duty on the part of the Commons . Lord Elojio deserves great credit for the manner in which he stood out to explain the absolute necessity of withholding a part of that vote . It comprises the expenses and salary of a Secretary and a travelling ageut , and the price of an ill-selected picture . Now
there can be no desire on the part of Lord Eloho , or of any who think with him , of stinting the reward for any public officer engaged in the formation and custody of the National Gallery . But it was shown , unanswerably , that the present servants of the public do not fulfil their duties ; that , on the contrary , both high and low , they sacrifice the public interests to personal objects , For the Secretary , 7502 . a year is paid—a comparatively large sum . For the travellingagent , a low salary , but ) 650 ? . under the name ojf ' travelling expenses . ' And how do these
persons perform their duty ? The travelling agent , the officers of the National Gallery , and the Director , are chargeable witli two of the last purchases that have been made ^ if not for something more ; we refer to the two pictures by Paux Veronese , the 'Adoration of the Magi' purchased for 15771 ., and the picture from the Pisani Palace , purchased for 13 , 650 / . But how is that money laid out ? Here is the account : —
The money given to Count Pisani was 12 , 360 / . ; banking commission to Mr . Valentine at £ per cent ., 70 ? Commissions on the picture—1 , Signor Enrico Dubois , banker ( son-in-law of Pisani ) , 621 . 10 s . ; 2 , Carlo Dubois ( banker ) , G 21 . 10 s . ; 3 , Caterino Zen , Pisani ' s steward , 3001 . ; 4 , Pietro Dezan , 2 nd idem , 2711 . 10 s . ; 5 , Dr . Monterumici , lawyer , 27 U 10 s . ; 6 , Paolo Fabris , restorer , 200 / . ; 7 , Giuseppe Conurato , Pisani ' s valet , 121 . ; 8 , Caterina Rini , camereira ( chambermaid ) , 101 . ; 9 , Pietro Galperti , gondoliere , 61 . ; 10 , Angelina Comini , idem , 61 . ; 11 , Riccardo de Sandre , cook , 61 . ( laughter ); 12 , Pietro Dorigo , porter , 6 / . ; 13 , Angela Dorigo , porter ' s wife , 61 . " Sir Chaeles Eastlake confirmed the
purchase of that picture . The travelling agent was Mr . Otto M / craDLER . Mr . Utjskin says that one third more might have been given without exceeding the market price ; but even if that were true , which is doubtful , there are many circumstances that render the purchase an entire breach of duty . If the picture were a fine one- — -and the highest authorities say that it i 3 not—it would still be objectionable . We already had pictures by Patjx Veronese ; he is not a master of the
highest rank ; his anatomy is not very striking , the expression is not remarkable , his power of telling a story is weak—in fact he seldom attempts a stoiy . He has some faculty for painting costume , he is a colorist of the second rank , and that is saying much . ^ But while our National Gallery is so small , it was not very requisite that we should have further specimens of this painter . "We are exceedingly poor in specimens of much higher masters ,- -of Titian , for instance , and still more of IIai'HAEL . And while we have
thousands of pounds to lay out , the object of any honest or intelligent public servant would be to secure those pictures in which we are poor , and thus to give us our money ' s worth . Mr . Wilson , Mr . La . tjottchere , aud after him Lord Paj / MEKSTon , opposed the amendments suggested by Lord Eloho , which would have reduced the vote by about 6500 L , as a refusal so far to ratify that bad bargain . The officials gave no facts to combat those stated on the other side , they only gave authorities , and those authorities bad . Principally they
were the very persons impugned , such as Sir Charles Eastxake . But the strongest point rested on the personal ground . Mr . Labouchere ' regretted these " personal attacks upon Sir Chakles Eastjgake . ' Now Sir OuAitLES is personally answerable , and he has before been condemned . It was he who made tlie purchase of that ' Holbein , ' which was no sooner oxposed on the walls of the Gallery than the merest tyros in painting at ouoe pronounced it to be spurious , and it was withdrawn . While he was ICueper , the « Youthful Saviour , l ) y Guido , wap _ purchased , Guido being a painter of the third or fourth rank ; and thia picture—a design
entirely without moaning—one of the very worst from his pencil . Sir Cuables connived at tho flaying of the pictures under the name of ' cleaning . ' Hia administration , in fact , occasioned such an outcry on tho part of the public , that he was compelled to resign . But lie then became connected with a clique in itself very highly connected ; ho became professionally related , it may be said , to Germany . Dr . Waagen is an authority for Sir Ojiaiclbb Eastlake ; if Sir Charles is attacked the Doctor will com © forward « nd attack his assailants . TUo same system has been carried on in Berlin that we have
witnessed in London , and a somewhat similar circumstance is related in a pamphlet called " The Picture Baptism of Dr . Waagen , ' publish e d atXeipsrig in 1832 , read by Mr . ConiNGKAM in the recent debate : — " Tbe State having purchased that enormous quantity of Mr . Solly ' s pictures , there was a great mystery about them . It was considered a rare favour to have a loot at them ; perhaps they feared public opinion , and wished to make everything fine and shiny by restoration and varnish , in order to deceive the public . Berlin painters consequently were not just wished for to do this work oi restoration ; the workmen were sent for from abroad , and
especially by Dr . Waagen , who had made proper acquaintances at Munich while he lived there . If any offer Was made to a Berlin artist , the pay was so paltrj * that the man could not but refuse . Now , restoration began to be carried on on a grand scale , a quantity of pictures were transformed into the style of famous painters and their pupils , and enormous sums—for which real old original pictures might have been boughtwere thus spent . In Mr . Solly ' s collection were a great many which could not be exhibited without undergoing very important restorations . For this purpose there arrived , first , a Mr . Horack from Saxony , who had been a tailor , but then felt inspired to restore old pictures . nd
With pompous words he praised his own skill , a assured them that he was able to take off pictures from wormeaten wood and . draw them over new wood or anvas . He , moreover , pretended to possess a water to wash with and clean pictures without washing them away . This master tailor , after having spoiled a number of pictures entrusted to him by private persons , was engaged "by the committee of the Museum , and received a large picture from the Solly collection to take it oft from the wood . Horack asked for an advance , and obtained the money . Somewhat later he asked for another advance , and obtained it . Now he went On working a few days longerthen he shut up his abode and
disap-, peared from Berlin . The committee finding the door locked , and obtaining no answer to their rappings ordered the door to be opened , and satisfied themselves that their artist had bolted with the money , but left them the corpse of the picture to bury . Au eternal silence , of course , is kept about the fate of this picture . Meanwhile Dr . Waagen had carried out his plan . For a high annual salary , the restorators , his old connexions , were appointed—namely , Mr . Schlesinger , Mr . Koester , and Mr . Xler . Now , the high synedrium was complete , a Restoration-atelier was arranged , and all the pictures of the State entrusted to it to be sentenced to life or death . "
Like Waagen like Eastiake . Sir Charles , who frequents good society , is , says Lord Palmerston , ' an amiable , accomplished , and distinguished man . ' Lord PalmJebston cannot abide this kind of fuss , which compels puhlic servants to account . Mr . Coningkam having brought forward these facts as a public duty , the noble Premier presumes that it is simply the indulgence of a personal feeling . He hopes that ' now they have had their swing on the favourite topic , ' the business of the evening will proceed . In fact , the object is to have a Gallery—no matter what is in it . Not that
the public servants understand anything about pictures , or know how to choose the best ; but as a gentleman must Lave a collection , so the nation must have a collection , estimated by its high prices . A . s there is tlie National Gallery , there must be offices for it ; a charming opportunity for putting in ' an amiable , accomplished , and distinguished man , ' who has the personal acquaintance of noblemen in authority ; or for giving Travelling Commissions to Jfavourite Germans . And as large sums must bo paid for—pictures which are estimated by their price—there is a still more charming opportunity of handing
over the distribution ol gold , with little addenda in the name of ' travelling expenses , ' to the favourite Germans and their friende . Questions of this kind nro nocessarilv matter of fact . If a committee of iive members of the House of Commons had boon appointed to oxamino the accounts and to compare twenty characteristic pictures , all in this country , all , perhaps , in London , they could have formed a distinct judgment , and they would have ratifiocl the amendment , cutting down tho vote . But the House of Commons will not take the trouble , to loolc into facts : it takes jjhp pjcplanfttjpne on ? nwl > .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 25, 1857, page 709, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2202/page/13/
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