be really represented; that is, provided the plaster come from a mould fashioned on the original marble itself. There is, perhaps, no such school of drawing as a collection of really fine casts from the greater works of the antique, if they receive proper attention and care. The exquisite casts by Canova, at the Cork Institution (the fact cannot be too often repeated as an example), have been the instructors of most of our best draughtsmen, from Maclise down; and yet in Cork there was no Gallery of Pictures, and no regular means of study were available for the student. In a good collection of casts from the finer Greek marbles, the general public, too, would find an amount of intellectual instruction, perhaps, surpassing anything to be learned from existing pictures; and in those pure and ideal forms, types as they are of but mere human feelings, passions, and powers, will be found some of the highest representatives of beauty, purity, and truth, that have been imagined by the mind of man.

If we admit the great importance of the considerations suggested in favour of the establishment of such an institution as a National Gallery, or (in a provincial city) a permanent public Exhibition of the same nature, the practicability and means of establishing it become the only questions for society to solve. And it has been found by experience that such institutions may, with little exertion, be very widely diffused over a country by local energy alone. In France, where the Fine Arts have long commanded the closest attention as an important branch of general education (a subject upon which, on another occasion, we shall have to take an opportunity of considering in detail), a great number of provincial Galleries of Painting and of Sculpture exist throughout the whole country. These have been very generally the result of local exertion alone-some by subscription, as the Gallery of Casts at Boulogne-some by grants from the Municipality, as (we believe) the Galleries of Marseilles and Lyonsand some by such grants in aid of subscriptions, and finally assisted by the state, as in the instance of the magnificent Musée of Havre.

In Havre the collection of pictures (which is considerable, and includes several valuable works) and casts was gradually, we believe, amassed by the Municipality, and the town possessing, as usual in France, a good public Library, and a very respectable Museum of Natural History, a building formed the only desideratum. To accomplish this, as well as to complete the Galleries of Art, the town lately subscribed about £1,600 English; and as the Government had not for a considerable time devoted public money to the improvement of a city so important, a corresponding sum was obtained from the National Treasury. The result has been the construction of one of the most magnificent buildings for the purpose in any provincial city in Europe; outside, too, with the graceful feeling of which the French are so full in recognizing the merits and honouring the memory of their distinguished men in every department, adorned with two fine colossal statues in bronze of the two literary celebrities which the nation owes to Havre-Bernardin de St. Pierre, the novelist and essayist, and the poet Casimer Delavigne.

In our own country hitherto almost nothing has been done in this direction; and in the improvement of the cities of Ireland it is not the practice

In

of the English Government to permit any expenditure of public money, though so much of it is drawn from Ireland in the shape of tax-tribute, and so much is lavishly expended every year upon London, and in short upon every English establishment that requires and demands it. Scotland (to which the English Parliament accords occasionally a modicum of her proportion of the general funds) a successful movement has been made. There the Royal Scottish Academy had for a long time been forced to depend on the liberality of another institution for Exhibition-rooms, and only a short time since they found it necessary to provide themselves with an independent building. They had long been engaged in collecting pictures to serve as examples in their school of painting, and were possessed of several of no small value, in fact of the nucleus (as we are informed) of a very good collection. It was accordingly resolved that the new building should serve at once for the Annual Exhibitions of the Academy, and as a receptacle for the growing National Gallery; and after a little exertion Scotland obtained, without any difficulty, during the last Session of Parliament, a grant of £15,000 towards its erection. In Ireland, especially after the splendid Exhibition which private enterprise and liberality lately afforded us, we are well entitled to have all facilities accorded for the same purpose, at the expense of the State.* But to be "entitled" to a thing is not in the case of Ireland enough at any time; it never can be, in the relative position of Ireland to its neighbours; and we should probably be the last in Ireland to condescend to beg a portion of what has long been due to us. For public grants for that, as for many other things, we are content to wait till other times (perhaps not so far off either) shall have elevated, or rather restored, this nation to her just place in the community of mankind; and we hail with peculiar satisfaction the independent course taken by the founders of the new IRISH INSTITUTION, the body to which we have made allusion, because it is dignified as well as prudent, and likely to reflect credit on the country by the manner, as well as the matter, of their undertaking.

The example offered by the IRISH INSTITUTION is full of instruction for those who may be desirous to establish anything similar in other places. A few gentlemen, having agreed to something like a general plan, grew into a large and imposing, but very practical, committee, which was established on the 4th November, 1853, under the presidence of the venerable EARL OF CHARLEMONT, "for the Promotion of Art in Ireland by the formation of a permanent Exhibition in Dublin, and eventually of an Irish National Gallery." The nature of the Institution, and the reasons which led to its establishment, are set out in a printed statement, which we shall allow to speak for itself:

"The establishment of a Gallery of Works of Art, including Sculpture and Paintings, (especially those of the best Old Masters,) in Dublin, is not only most

It is worthy of remark, too, that the buildings and exhibition apartments of the Royal Hibernian Academy were also due to the private spirit of one of its own members. They were erected, and presented to the Academy, by the late Francis Johnstone, P.R.H.A., and largely extended at the expense of his widow.

desirable for the improvement of general taste in a city of its size and population, but it is even essential to the permanent success of Schools of Art in Ireland. It is not probable, however, that any exertions could procure a sufficient sum of money for the immediate purchase of a collection of such excellence and variety as would be required in such a Gallery, though by degrees occasional purchases might be made, and though, if a permanent institution of the kind were once founded, many donations and bequests would probably enrich it in the course of years.

"The liberality of so many noblemen and gentlemen, (and not only here but also even in England), in lending some of their finest specimens of Art, has enabled the managers of the Great Industrial Exhibition to offer to public view, during those months in which it has been open, a very fine gallery of the Old Masters and many gems of the Modern Schools; and from similar liberality it may be hoped that an excellent substitute for the National Galleries of more favoured countries may be provided, until in better times we shall find means to form an independent public collection.

"A great many noblemen and gentlemen in Ireland, or immediately connected with it, possess fine collections of Paintings, of Statues, and other antique Works of Art, and of the earlier Engravings, and many more have each one or two works of so high a class as to be well suited to a first-rate public collection. If a considerable number of these gentlemen could be induced to lend a certain portion of their paintings and other Works of Art of a high class, for a fixed period, (substituting one for another from time to time, so as not to trespass too largely on their collections at any one moment,) a valuable Gallery might be formed, which would at all times supply students with worthy subjects for study, the public with an exhibition calculated to purify and educate taste, and artists themselves with examples for emulation, in the absence of which it is to be feared may be found the reason that many, of high promise in their profession, have produced so little that is really high and able in proportion to the expectations formed of them.

"The annual exhibitions of the British Institution in London show that this plan is capable of being successfully worked, and with the utmost regularity. Artists, students, and the public in London have been long familiar with the advantages, in every point of view, of these exhibitions.

"When it is remembered that Dublin, that Ireland, has no public collection of pictures that nevertheless striking proofs so frequently offer themselves of the peculiar aptitude of the Irish mind for Art and, lastly, that the impulse given by the establishment of Drawing Schools, in connection with the Government, is likely to call out and cultivate more than ever before the instincts of the people in this direction, the present seems to be the most suitable moment for the establishlishment of a Gallery of Art, to remain constantly open to the public. And the close of the Great Exhibition presents, perhaps, the very best opportunity for making a commencement; for not only has its splendid Fine Arts Halls already filled the public mind with a new necessity, and strikingly proved what may be done by the well-timed liberality of the owners of the treasures there shared with the public, but those noblemen and gentlemen—or at least no small proportion of their number-may easily be induced (and several of them have already cordially consented) to leave still in Dublin a portion of the works they have lent to the Great Exhibition during six months of the present year. Placed in a safe and suitable building-of a more secure nature than the temporary Exhibition Hall— no risk can be incurred, and permitted to remain there in proper custody for a certain term to come, a commencement may thus be made much more easily than if this opportunity had not occurred so much in season.

"Such a house or houses as would be suitable for the purpose, pending the arrangements for the ultimate erection of a permanent Gallery, might be had for a rent (including taxes) of from £150 to £200 a-year at the utmost. The expense of repairs, of servants, and of heating (which should be accomplished with the utmost care), would be about a £100 a-year more; another £100 a-year would probably cover the cost of insurance, and of the removal of pictures; and, finally, another £100 a-year, at least, would be required to afford a salary to a proper responsible curator of the Gallery. These sums would reach £500 a-year,

and might be paid from income of two sorts:-1st, The voluntary subscriptions of those who would be willing to pay a guinea a-year for the support of such an institution; and 2nd, The produce of a small rate charged for admission. Artists and students should have exclusive admission for certain hours of every day; subscribers, however, of a guinea a-year, donors of ten guineas, or of valuable Works of Art, and owners of Works of Art lent to the Gallery, so long as they should remain there, being always entitled to enter.

"Eventually it would become necessary to build a permanent Gallery, for there is no perfectly suitable building in Dublin. The expense of a proper erection would be considerable; and perhaps on principle it would be better not to devote private contributions to that purpose, but to apply them to the purchase of valuable Works of Art towards the completion of an Independent Public National Gallery. There are, however, two other ways in which funds might be obtained: the one, by a parliamentary grant; the other, by a borough rate of one halfpenny in the pound, to be imposed by the Corporation under Wyse's Act (amended by the 13th & 14th Vict. c. lxv., called the "Public Libraries Act, 1850,") a statute which gave such powers several years ago, but which in Ireland has not yet been turned to account. In either of these ways-even should it become possible by private exertions to raise the amount necessary for the indispensable buildings connected with a Gallery, which must, in the first instance, be altogether without external ornament or pretension-the completion and full architectural decoration of a Gallery really National, may be effected at a future period.

"A permanent National Gallery once established-or even certain to be established contributions would gradually accumulate, by bequests and donations, of individual Works of Art, in the course of years, and sometimes perhaps of sums of money sufficient to purchase specimens of Art as yet unknown in Ireland. The necessity for having an institution of this kind, in which donors may find a suitable receptacle for their treasures, has been frequently felt, and this consideration appears to furnish au additional reason for taking advantage of the immediate opportunity."

The Committee have already met with the greatest success in their labours. The Royal Hibernian Academy have placed their Exhibition Rooms at the disposal of the Institution during the winter, and the first Exhibition of the Institution (consisting of a very noble gallery of ancient art) will have been opened to the public before these sheets are out of the printer's hands. Not only Lord Charlemont, with a great number of other noblemen and gentlemen in Ireland, but also Lord Ward and Lord Yarborough, as well as other gentlemen in England and Scotland, have lent some of their most valuable gems of art to the new Committee; and the King of the Belgians and M. Van den Berg, of Brussels (a well-known collector) have acted with equal liberality and spirit. But more than this has been done, for a Building Fund has been set on foot, with a view to raise the necessary amount in £25 shares (upon which £1 1s. a year interest will be paid out of the annual income of the Institution), to be

A note at the end of this statement informs us that "The committee have appointed Lord Talbot de Malahide honorary treasurer, in whose name an account has been opened at the Royal Bank, Foster-place, Dublin, where subscriptions (£1 Is. a-year), and donations (which, by a resolution of the committee, will be reserved, unless otherwise ordered by the donors, for the purchase of Works of Art for the National Gallery) will be received. Ladies, as well as gentlemen, are admissable as subscribers to the institution. Subscriptions will also be received by Messrs. Cranfield, Grafton-street, Hodges and Smith, Grafton-street, Le Sage, Sackville-street, Stark, Sackville-street, as well as by any member of the committee, and communications are to be addressed to the honorary secretaries, George F. Mulvany, R.H. A., and J. Calvert Stronge, Esqs., at Charlemont House, Dublin.

gradually bought up by the Committee out of the surplus of the annual income derived from subscriptions and admissions to the Exhibition. And the finest site in Dublin is likely to be occupied by the proposed erection; that of Leinster Lawn, the scene of the Great Exhibition, in Merrion-square. For this purpose, the Council of the Royal Dublin Society, which rents the lawn from the Right Hon. Sidney Herbert, have resolved, with great good sense and public spirit, to facilitate the lease of the necessary portion of that ground from Mr. Herbert to the trustees of the institution, at a proportionate rent, and they have entered into this resolution without making any reservation or condition whatsoever.

Thus in perfect harmony, and in the most businesslike manner have arrangements of the most effective character been all but brought to a conclusion, so far as Dublin is concerned, for the present. Similar exertions may produce similar results elsewhere, and for the reasons which we have attempted to express, or rather to suggest, in the present paper, we should joyfully contemplate the establishment of such a Gallery in every considerable town. In Cork for one reason, in Belfast for another, in Limerick, Waterford, Clonmel, and Kilkenny, in Drogheda, in Derry, and in Galway, we should be delighted to see a Gallery of Art even beginning with such a one (of casts) as that of Boulogne. But for the present we should not divide our strength: for the present one such establishment in Ireland will occupy our best energies. A temporary Exhibition of borrowed pictures is not a National Gallery, and though it will, please God, lead to one in the end, (and already several valuable works have been presented to become public property,) still our progress towards such a consummation must in the nature of things be very gradual, and until that is achieved all Ireland should heartily assist in it with all her strength and sympathy.

We have however preferred to treat this subject generally, because upon Art we would write for America, for Scotland, aud for England, as well as for our own country. The cause of Art is universal to all Humanity, and exertions in that cause should go on every where in harmony. For us Irishmen a noble mission may perhaps be specially reserved by Providence, to the recognition of which these very exertions may happily lead us. We among the Celtic nations, (whose peculiar bent for Art, for all that is Spiritual, for all that is Abstract, is every where recognized), we alone are powerless in the world for many generations, and in the dark web of European politics it may be for some years useless for us to seek to track out the Future. But in the mean time we have duties ever attending on our powers, and it may be that in the cultivation of high Art among a yet faithful people a weapon may be found more powerful than the Sword, more influential than Fleets, pregnant with grander and happier fruits than those of Wealth, of Commerce, or of Diplomacy, that weapon of civilization which so long made fallen Italy still the mistress of the world, which produces and goes on producing great and the greatest effects even to the end of time, and which in the fame and respect and influence it reflects upon a Nation, may secure too the most powerful encouragement and assistance in the fulfilment of all her earthly Hopes. It is a blessed Dream: may it become one day a Reality!