Aye vow and protest that ye care na for me, The Scots language is peculiarly rich in those forms of expression which are suited to a familiar and half-playful tenderness. In an epistle to Dr. Blacklock, Burns could have a stanza like that we are about to quote, and yet not come within the least approach to vulgarity : "My compliments to sister Beckie; And eke the same to honest Luckie, An' gratefully, my guid auld cockie, The home-spun warmth and playfulness of language like this is a testimony, in its way, to the natural disposition of the people. The temptation to swell our pages with specimens of this branch of the Scottish minstrelsy is great. But we must confine ourselves now to remarking one singularly wholesome and promising thing about it, which, is, that the faculty for creating new and popular songs-songs really accepted by THE PEOPLE seems to exist in Scotland with a vigour and permanence which sets at defiance the caprices of fashion and the decay of ancient customs, and which we sincerely hope may long contribute to the vigour of the national character. Few things are oftener remarked in England than the want of new songs which might enliven the labour and illumine the life of the working-classes. Our eminent living poets do not fulfil this office, whatever their other merits; and our poetasters do it so badly, that it would be almost better if they did nothing at all. Yet Scotland-though she is worse off at this moment than formerly-has certainly given birth to more good and popular songs within the last half-century than her sister-kingdom of the south. The names of Hogg, Tannahill, Joannie Baillie, Lady Nairn, Lady Anne Lindsay, all recall to memory lyrics rich in every variety of lyrical beauty, so excellent is the operation on a country of a traditionary minstrelsy perpetually inspiring rivalry, and perpetually training the public to add to the ancient store. The Modern Scottish Minstrel' of Mr. Rogers deserves recognition, as embodying the best of these later songs, and gratifying a natural curiosity about the lives of their authors. At the same time, we must frankly confess that the work falls off both in interest and value in the later later volumes. The very existence of a minstrelsy so copious as that of Scotland tends to breed poetasters; and a delusive idea has prevailed north of the Tweed, that, as a certain great poet was once a ploughboy, he was so because he was a ploughboy, and not in spite of that circumstance. Mr. Rogers too much encourages such error by sweeping into his work all sorts of indifferent verses from the pens of men who should rather have confined themselves to cheering with the music of their elders and betters the ordinary useful occupations of life. We cannot dismiss the subject without advising our readers— north of the Tweed and south of it-to put the minstrelsy of Scotland to its proper use in education while amusing themselves with it in mature age. The ballads especially have an attraction for children at a very early age; they form a healthy, noble, and inspiring kind of literature for youth-a literature which has a direct tendency to foster in our British youngsters sound historical ideas, generosity of sentiment, and manliness of character. ART. III.—1. Report of the National Gallery Site Commission presented to both Houses of Parliament. 1857. 2. Catalogues of the Pictures in the National Gallery, with Biographical Notices of the deceased Painters (Foreign and English Schools). By Ralph N. Wornum; revised by Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, P.R.A. 1858. 3. Copy of a Report of the Keeper of the Department of Antiquities to the Trustees of the British Museum respecting the want of accommodation for that department, dated 7th July, 1858. Presented to the House of Commons, 4. Copy of Communications made by the Officers and Architect of the British Museum to the Trustees respecting want of Space, &c. Presented to the House of Commons March, 1859. MA ANY of our readers will remember the birth of The National Gallery, in the dull and dingy rooms of a private dwelling in Pall Mall, and how, as it advanced in years though scarcely in size, it was removed to the even darker regions of Marlborough House, where until very lately a grateful country kept the works of her greatest painters, which for the most part had been generously bequeathed to her. As we have recently given a sketch of the history of the British Museum, we now propose to devote a few pages to the history, condition, and prospects of our national collection of pictures. * Quarterly Review for July, 1858, No. 207. 2A2 A picture A picture gallery, specially set apart or exhibited for public amusement and instruction, is but a recent institution in this country. Whilst nearly every European state has for generations possessed such a collection, and has recognised its importance to art and to the cultivation of public taste, it was not until the year 1824 that the National Gallery was founded in England. On the death about that time of an eminent connoisseur, Mr. Angerstein, it was suggested that the valuable pictures he had collected should be purchased for the nation. Parliament was induced to grant 57,000l. for this purpose, and an additional sum of 30007. for the expenses of exhibition and preservation. The number of paintings thus acquired was not large, but it included several of the highest merit-such as 'The Raising of Lazarus,' by Sebastian del Piombo, probably the most precious in money value we possess; four fine Claudes; and Rembrandt's 'Woman taken in Adultery;' together with nine admirable specimens of the English school, comprising the portrait of Lord Heathfield, by Sir Joshua Reynolds; his own portrait, and the 'Marriage à la Mode,' by Hogarth; and Wilkie's 'Village Festival.' During the following ten years only four pictures were added by purchase, amongst them, however, the excellent Bacchus and Ariadne' of Titian; but thirty were presented to the nation, sixteen having been bequeathed by Sir G. Beaumont to the trustees of the British Museum, who deposited them in the National Gallery. Within the next ten years fifteen were bought, comprising several very important works, such as Correggio's 'Mercury instructing Cupid,' Raphael's 'St. Catherine,' and the great altar-piece in two divisions, by Francia. During the same period one hundred were presented and bequeathed, including the collections of the Rev. W. H. Carr, Col. Ollney, and Lord Farnborough, the greater part being pictures by the old masters. A National Gallery having thus been founded, the duty devolved upon the Government of providing for its proper administration. On the purchase of the Angerstein collection the Board of Treasury, to which by a strange inconsistency the artistic education of the country had been confided, appointed for the purpose a 'keeper,' whose duty it was to take charge of the pictures, to negotiate for such as might be selected for purchase, and to regulate the admission of students and the public to the Gallery. A committee of six gentlemen was named to undertake the general superintendence. Subsequently this committee was changed into a trust; the number of trustees was increased to seventeen; and the First Lord of the Treasury and the Chancellor of the Exchequer became ex officio members of the board. The The inconvenience attending this system of administration, the incompetence of the trustees to deal with the interests confided to them, and their want of the requisite experience and knowledge, which led to the loss of some of the best opportunities ever offered to this country of acquiring valuable pictures, and to the serious injury of those committed to their charge, were so generally recognised, that the House of Commons appointed a select committee in 1853 to inquire into the management of the National Gallery.* The Committee recommended, amongst other things, that a board of trustees should be continued, but without ex officio members; that its numbers, which were then thirteen, should be reduced as vacancies occurred; that the office of keeper should be abolished, and a salaried director appointed instead, who should recommend the purchase of pictures; and that a sum should be annually voted in the estimates, to be placed at the disposal of the trustees for the purpose of adding to the collection. The Board of Treasury, acting upon these recommendations, limited the number of trustees to six. They appointed a director invested with sufficient power and authority for five years with a salary of 1000l. a-year, selecting for the office the President of the Royal Academy, Sir Charles Eastlake, a gentleman admirably qualified in every respect to discharge the duties assigned to him. They further named Mr. Wornum keeper and secretary, with a salary of 750l. a-year and a residence, confiding to him the actual custody of all the works of art comprised in the National Gallery, the compilation of the catalogues, and the duties of secretary to the Board of Trustees. M. Otto Mündler became travelling agent, at a salary of 3007. a-year, and travelling expenses. His duty was to ascertain and describe the contents of private and other collections abroad, and to obtain the earliest information of any intended sale. Sixteen subordinate attendants completed the establishment. Such, with one exception, which we shall presently notice, is the actual constitution of the National Gallery. But a question no less important than the improved system of management had previously presented itself. Where was the national collection to be exhibited? It had rapidly outgrown the space originally allotted to it, and required a building expressly constructed for its reception. It was at length determined to raise a suitable edifice, and Government chose for this purpose 'the finest site in Europe,' which had been recently cleared to Charing *It appeared from the evidence given before this Committee that during one whole year no meeting of the trustees had been held; in other years only one, or at the most two. Cross. Cross. In 1832 Mr. W. Wilkins, the architect selected, commenced his work: six years after, it was opened to the public. The architectural features of this building have been unmercifully criticised, whilst its failure, as regards the specific object for which it was intended, has been generally admitted. Few will be found to deny that the edifice is unworthy of the site it occupies, and that a gallery could scarcely be devised more mean in its proportions, and less calculated to exhibit a collection of pictures even of moderate extent. In fairness, however, to the architect, it must not be forgotten that he had no ordinary difficulties to contend with-that he was cramped for space, and fettered by the exigencies of a style then popular. At the very outset a grave mistake was committed-that of consigning half the building to the Royal Academy, a private association of living artists, who, whatever their claims may have been upon the Government, should not have received for the exhibition of their works any part of the space intended for the national collection. In consequence of this division, it was found that only the pictures by the old masters could be exhibited with tolerable light and convenience. The collection of English pictures had been increased by the munificent bequest of Mr. Vernon, consisting of no less than 147 works of the best painters of the modern English school. It was consigned to the basement floor, and condemned for want of room to the dark chambers known as the cellars. In consequence of a general outcry at this unworthy treatment, it was removed to Marlborough House, and then commenced that series of shifts and expedients which has never ceased. As in the case of the British Museum, the evil was one that might have been foreseen by any man of common sense, and might have been avoided in the first instance. It has long reached that point at which every one joins in the cry that 'something must be done.' When the new building was opened in 1838, the collection of ancient masters comprised 110 pictures-about the number the rooms allotted to them could conveniently hold, if paintings are hung to be seen, and not as mere furniture to cover the nakedness of the walls. It has now increased to above 350. To the collection of modern pictures of the English school have been added the Vernon Gallery; and Turner has bequeathed no less than 282 pictures and 19,331 water-colour drawings and sketches by his own hand, to the nation, on the condition that a room or rooms be expressly provided for their reception. The entire number of paintings, ancient and modern, now forming the National Gallery, without including the National Portrait Gallery, exceeds 600. It is almost daily increasing, through fresh purchases, donations, and |