Biblical or British history, or of the work of a British author, nineteen sets were received, from which the committee selected a series from the "Revelations of St. John," afterwards found to be by Mr. George Elgar Hicks, of Lymington, Hampshire, as entitled to the reward. Considering that much talent was displayed by some of the competitors, they further awarded honorary premiums of 201. each to Mr. G. E. Sintzenick, Mr. W. Cave Thomas, and Mr. G. Scharf, jun.

With the view of inducing the production of finer and more elaborate works in lithography than are now general in this country, the committee some time ago placed in the hands of Mr. Templeton, Mr. E. M. Ward's excellent picture, "La Fleur's Departure" (selected by a prizeholder in the last distribution), to be executed on stone of a large size. This will form part of next year's arrangements.

In continuation of the society's endeavours to encourage the production of bronzes, Mr. John Bell's statue of the

Eagle Slayer," exhibited in Westminster Hall last year, has been reduced by Mr. Edward Wyon, and twenty copies, in bronze, prepared for this year's distribution. For the ensuing year Mr. Foley's statue, The Boy at the Stream," has been reduced by Mr. Cleverton's machinery, and will be produced in bronze by Mr. Foley himself.

The committee propose to reduce a statue to a convenient size, and to issue a certain number of copies in porcelain. Mr. Gibson, R.A., when in England, kindly offered the use of any of his works for this purpose, and the committee have determined on adopting "The Narcissus " for the first experiment, his diploma piece at the Royal Academy. The work will be proceeded with immediately by Messrs. Copeland and Garrett.

Mr. A. J. Stothard has completed a medal commemorative of Sir Joshua Rey. nolds, of which thirty impressions in silver were distributed as prizes, and any subscriber may have a copy in bronze, in lieu of the engraving for the present year.

From the want of encouragement in the art of gem engraving it has been shown that we have now no artists in that department capable of engraving a figure

equal to those which were produced in England only a few years ago, and the committee draw public attention to the fact.

The amount set apart for the purchase of works of art was 96507. and the total number of prizes was 330.

The following is a list of the principal prizeholders:-Lord F. Beauclerk, 68, Grosvenor-street; Sir E. Perry, Bombay, ---each 3007. Rev. A. R. Lloyd, Whittington, Owstery; Mrs. A. Packe, Claythorpe rectory, Grantham,-each 2007. J. Jarman, Half-Moon-street, Bishopsgate; G. Twiss, Cambridge; W. F. Watson. Chelsea,-each 1507. C. Claydon, Cambridge; W. Gow, Hungerford Wharf; W. M'Donald, Queen-street, Glasgow; H. S. J. Medley, Farringdon; Lady A. Paget, 1, Old Burlington-street; E. Shepheard, Coventry,-each 1007. A prize of 401. was drawn by Sir M. A. Shee, Pres. R.A.

PANORAMA OF NANKING.

Mr. Burford has opened a panoramic view of Nanking, one of the most important cities of the Chinese empire. It stands in the midst of a vast plain, terminated by hills of peculiar and picturesque forms, and presenting a landscape of great beauty. The city is of immense extent, and said to contain a million of inhabitants. It is surrounded by walls of great height and substance, but without either towers or bastions: they are now estimated at 21 or 22 miles in circumference, but are said to have formerly extended to more than sixty miles. Outside the wall, in front of the picture, stands the long-famed porce lain pagoda, which yet exists in all its original beauty. The country immediately around the city is generally flat and well watered, and occupied by paddy fields. The whole panorama is beautifully painted, and the foreground is enlivened by a group presenting full-length portraits of Sir Henry Pottinger, Sir Hugh Gough, Sir W. Parker, Lord Saltoun, and Major Anstruther; and of the Chinese commissioners, Eleepoo, Whang, Ke-Ying, and other persons of note. They are represented discussing the terms of the treaty, in a public garden of greater natural beauty than the eye is accustomed to expect from the native landscapes of China,

ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH
ARCHITECTS.

Feb. 24. Mr. Matthew Habershon exhibited a Doric capital, and other architectural remnants, found at Mount Sion, Jerusalem, 30 or 40 feet below the sur.

face, when excavating for a church, which is about to be erected there. Mr. Scoles remarked that the capital resembled those he had seen in the valley of Jehosophat, and was probably not older than the time of our Saviour. The echinus was pecu.

liarly straight. These relics are the only fragments connected with Jerusalem in this country.

The hon. sec. Mr. Bailey read the report of the council on the essays submitted in competition for the Institute medal. From this it appeared that three had been received, and that the council considered one of them sufficiently meritorious, as a careful compilation, to deserve the offered reward. One of the three was a verbal transcript from an enclyclopædia! For the Soane medallion no designs had been received in time. The selected essay was then read. It gave the derivation and nature of slate, and traced its introduction and increased use in England. The author is Mr. S. J. Nicholl, of Argyll-place.

March 10. Mr. R. W. Billings read a paper on the carving machine patented by Mr. Samuel Pratt, and exhibited a number of specimens executed by it. It was announced that the medals of the institute would be awarded next year to the authors of the best essays on the following subjects:-1. On the adaptation and modification of the orders of the Greeks by the Romans and moderns. 2. On the history and manufacture of bricks.-And that the Soane medallion would be awarded to the best design for a Royal Chapel, with seats for five hundred persons, inclusive of the suite, attendants, and choir; the building to be detached, and in a classic Roman, or Italian style.

March 31. Mr. Donaldson presented from Mr. W. Hamilton, F.R.S. part of a wooden pin, which formerly held together, as a dowell, the frustra of one of the colums of an Athenian temple. It was at first said to be from the Parthenon, but Mr. Geering, who had been written to on the subject, said there were no wooden pins in this latter building, and that it was probably from the Propylæum.

A letter was read from Mons. L. Serrure, of Antwerp, announcing the death of his father, who was a corresponding member, and offering his services to such members of the institute as might visit Antwerp. The late M. Serrure is best known in this country by a drawing of the Antwerp spire on a very large scale, which is engraved.

A communication was read from Mr. Thomas Cubitt, illustrated by a model, descriptive of the chimney recently erected on Mr. Cubitt's premises at Thames Bank, and some observations on the expansion of the brickwork by heat.

Mr. Edward l'Anson, jun. read a paper "On the Architecture of the Renaissance, in France," in the course of which he described at considerable length the Chateau of Fontainbleau,

April 14. A paper was read "On the formation of a Museum of Casts, illustrative of the Architecture of Antiquity and of the Middle Ages," by C. H. Wilson, esq. Director of the Government School of Design. In this essay Mr. Wilson cited the casts belonging to the Royal Society of Arts at Edinburgh, as a model for similar collections, which might be established in various localities throughout the kingdom with great advantage to the public taste, and consequently to the general promotion of the Fine Arts. With reference to architecture there were dif. ficulties to be overcome, since the true mode of making architectural casts really available for study, would be to set up the orders of antiquity, and even the façades of whole buildings, entire, instead of keeping them in fragments, and for this purpose space would be required which it might not be easy to obtain. This plan has been carried into effect at the Ecole des Beaux Arts at Paris. Some observations followed on the true advantage to be drawn from collections of works of art of different styles and periods, which were too generally used as mere objects of imitation, instead of being made available as a study of the resources of art, under various circumstances and contingencies;--that there is one standard of beauty and taste, must be inferred from the fact, that all schools of art, whatever modifications their practice may exhibit, have agreed unanimously in their admiration of the works of the Greeks. In the present day, the arts, and especially architecture and decoration, are too much confined to imitation, both in England and France. The Germans are struggling, and not unsuccessfully, to unique beauty of proportion and form, with a style bearing the impress of a national character. Mr. Wilson observed, that much bad art was perpetrated in this country upon the pretence of carrying out the style of the Middle Ages-a very convenient doctrine to those who find it difficult to draw or design. Mr. Donaldson, considering synchronism and uniformity of character to be essential in the reproduction of various styles of art, thought that collec tions of the works of all periods could not be too much extended, or too assiduously studied. He deprecated the study of art of any exclusive character.

BRISTOL ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY.

April 11.-The General Meeting of the Bristol Agricultural Society was held in the theatre of the Philosophical Institution. From the Report of the Committee, it appeared that the Society had carried its

usefulness during the past year far more extensively than in any preceding.

It has largely assisted, both by advice and pecuniary aid, towards the works just finished in the church of St. John the

Baptist, Bristol. The repairs made in Slimbridge Church were but slightly noticed, as a detailed account of this beautiful structure, illustrated with numerous plates, is about to be published in connection with the Society. No one who has visited St. George's, Kingswood, can fail to join in the wish expressed, that it may be speedily supplanted by a more ecclesiastical building. The Society are auxious to raise a special subscription towards the completion of a very beautiful design for the east window. The church of Othery, Somersetshire, is about to be brought back as near as possible to its original state, through the zeal of one of the Society's members, the Rev. Dr. Shipton.

Two papers were read, the first by S. C. Fripp, esq. on the different styles of English Ecclesiastical Architecture, the second by R. S. Wasbrough, esq. on the Reliefs of an ancient Altar Tomb in Ennis Abbey, Ireland. The Rev. H. T. Ellacombe exhibited "a rubbing" of a very highly ornamented monumental brass lately executed by Messrs. J. G. and L. A. B. Waller, of London, to the memory of the Rev. Christopher Parkins and his wife (1843), in Gressford Church, Denbighshire,

cost 601.

April 8. The new district church of All Saints, for Stanway and Lexden, near Colchester, was consecrated by the Bishop of London. The architect is Mr. George Russell French. Its architecture is that of the middle of the fourteenth century, when the Decorated style is considered to have reached its height of purity-a style, it is believed, as suitable to small country churches as to a vast cathedral, and admitting of great variety of detail: thus, in All Saints' Church there are not less than seven different patterns of windows, and four of gable crosses, yet all agreeing with each other. In order to make the period chosen appear with the more certainty, portraits (taken from their sepulchral effi

gies) of Edward III. his queen Philippa, and their son, the Black Prince, are introduced among the heads which support the labels on the north side, as is that of Bishop Wykeham, at the east end. The series of heads on the north side is chosen to illustrate that passage in the 148th Psalm, Kings of the earth and all people, princes and all judges of the earth, young men and maidens, old men and children, praise the name of the Lord." The font, of Caen stone (in which material all the external decorations of the church are executed), has been much admired. It is octagon' having on each side of the bowl varied tracery, within which are symbols of the Trinity-the dove, the cross, and monograms of the Saviour's name; the pedestal is carved in tracery panels, and the ballflower is introduced in the cornice. The font is lined with lead, and has a drain. It is also raised on a platform of Chamberlain's encaustic tiles, the four Evangelists being at the corners, and the riser is formed of glazed tiles, which bear the text-IN:

THE NAME: OF: THE: FATHER: AND OF: THE SON AND OF: THE HOLY: GHOST.

In a small transept (built for an organ) is a triangular gable-light filled with stainedglass, the gift of Mrs. John Papillon; and in the chancel is a single-light window, presented by the architect, having a ruby border enriched with the vine-leaf, and the text in old English letters, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven;" being the first of the beaittudes occurring in the gospel appointed for All Saint's day. The pulpit, which projects from the wall, and is approached from the chancel and vestry, is of Caen stone, having highly enriched tracery panels, the cornices filled with the ball-flower and the four-leaved flower, and the lower spandrils having palm-branches and crowns carved thereon. The seats are of oak, with low backs; the bench ends in the nave having buttresses, low doors marking the appropriated seats; the ends of the seats in the chancel and of the reading desk have carved finials. The roofs are open to the ridges, showing the entire construction of the timbers and boarding. A view of this church has been published in "The Builder."

BOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION AND DESCRIPTION OF FRENCH HISTORICAL MONUMENTS.

June and the seven or eight immediately succeeding days, are these: viz.

1. Where, in the Departments of the North and the Pas-de-Calais, or in the neighbouring Belgic provinces, are any Celtic monuments, either entire or in ruin? Of what kind are they, and what popular traditions are attached to them?

2. What were the boundaries of the districts inhabited by the Nervii, the Atrebates, the Morini, and the Menapii?

3. Have any new facts been ascertained as to the precise locality on which Julius Cæsar overcame the Nervii?"

4. What new facts can be adduced as to any Roman Roads in the districts above named, or the connection of such roads with known Roman camps and Mansiones? What are their materials and mode of construction, and what changes have they undergone?

5. Do any other kinds of Gallo-Roman monuments exist in the districts now under consideration?

6. What objects of real archæological import have been found in the several excavations at Bavai, Famars, and Cassel, or other Roman stations? To what class of monuments do such belong, and in what museums or private collections are they?

7. Has the situation of the Hermoniacum of Peutinger's Chart been accurately determined?

8. The territory now surrounding the city of Lille not being noticed either in the chart of Peutinger or the Itinerary of Antoninus-it is desirable to ascertain whether the opinion, derived from this circumstance, that the Romans never had any establishment in this part of Belgic Gaul, be well or ill founded.

9. What was in Roman times the language spoken in the Belgic provinces, and by what was it replaced?

10. At what epoch were the rules of this newer language introduced and fixed, and what were the works, whether of prose, or of poetry, or official documents, wherein it was first employed?

11. Can we determine, from any peculiarity in the formation of the vast subterraneous caverns so common in Flanders, Artois, and Picardy, their several uses and architectural epochs?

12. Has any recent information been acquired relative to the coining of Roman money in the countries of the Nervii, or of the Atrebates, the Morini, and the Menapii ?

13. What were the boundaries of the different "Pagi majores et minores" into which the ancient county of Flanders was divided?

15. In what originated the jurisdiction of the several law Courts at Valenciennes known as the "Salle de Lille," the "Salle de Phalempin," and the "Salle le Comte?"

16. What was the nature and organisation of the aristocracy in Flanders, Artois, the Cambresis, and Hainault; and when was it first instituted?

17. What was the constitution of those feudal Courts called " Perrons," such as the "Perron de Cassel," the "Perron of Audenarde, &c.?"

18. In what towns did the larger courts exist, and how and by whom were they held? What are the oldest written public acts constituting the respective rights and duties of seigneurs and vassals in the county of Flanders?

19. What were the limits of the princi. pal dioceses in the north of Gaul, and by whom and how were bishops nominated, from the tenth to the eleventh century?

20. What was the political or feudal authority of the Prince over the Church and clergy, and what connection was there between Church and State?

21. What authority had bishops over the monasteries, whether of men or women, and how were such monasteries organized? What were their dignities, and by whom were they conferred? What monasteries contained persons of both sexes, and what was the discipline of such houses?

22. When was the organization of communes (properly so called) first brought about in Flanders, Hainault, and other parts of modern Belgium? How do their institutions of the present day differ from their ancient municipalities, or Germanic guilds, or from those communes of the interior of France which arose in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries?

23. To what epoch can be traced the establishment of the provincial states, and when was the tiers-état admitted.

24. Was it the Roman law which was observed in Flanders and its vicinity before the twelfth century; and if so, at what period was it most in force?

25. Of what dates are the earliest written custumals of the countries above-named?> 26. Why was feudal tenure more extensive and more completely developed in Hainault than in Flanders.

27. With respect to Monuments of the middle ages, is there any remarkable difference between the architecture of the north of France and that of the south of Belgium, or of the seventeen Belgic provinces; and have the architectonic types of East and West Flanders, Hainault, the

France, or from the great monuments of

the most northern of these provinces, or from Germany? And what are the differences and the analogies of other contemporary works of art in those countries?

28. As it does not appear that either in French Flanders, or French Hainault, or the Cambresis were ever any such vast Basilical churches with statuary fronts as still exist in the countries adjacent to them, it is desirable to seek the cause of this almost total absence of statuary decoration, which renders the study of Iconography in the provinces above-named so difficult.

29. It being generally thought that the new styles of gothic architecture were but slowly adopted in French Flanders,-can this opinion be supported by any monuments of well attested date, which were constructed according to the styles of periods preceding their erection?

30. As several religious edifices which have nothing remarkable in their architec ture, contain very interesting pulpits, stalls, confessionals, reliquaries, tabernacles, shrines, fonts, processional crosses, and bas-reliefs, &c., a description of such objects may enable the Congress to ascertain the state of fine art in those provinces now under consideration, during the middle ages.

31. Does it appear that Spanish dominion exercised any influence on the architecture of Flanders and Artois? Were all the buildings attributed to the Spaniards, such as belfries and town-halls, &c. really constructed by them, and what are the peculiarities of that architecture of which the towns of Lille and Arras afford so many examples.

32. Can it be proved that any Romanesque churches with large courts before them ever existed in the northern provinces of ancient Gaul?

33. Are there in other parts of ancient Gaul any churches of Romanesque architecture, which have never had any other than flat ceilings of wood?

34. Are there any existing apsidal ends or other parts of Romanesque churches of octagonal form?

35. Are there any specimens of pointed vaulting put up after the completion of edifices of pure Romanesque style?

36. What churches are there of a transitional epoch from the semicircular to the pointed styles, which are exteriorly Romanesque, and interiorly pointed? and, where such exist, has not the interior been added when a vaulted ceiling may have been put up?

37. How, in the north of France, during the above-named epoch, are the two architectural styles generally combined?

38. Did the several people of GerGent. Mag. Vol. XXIII,

manic origin similarly adopt the different changes in architectural style ?

39. Are there any crypts under the churches of Belgium and the northern provinces of France in those styles prevalent from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries.

40. What was the ancient destination of crypts, or subterranean churches, and what peculiar ceremonies were therein celebrated?

41. To what epoch may we refer the introduction of zodiacal signs in monuments consecrated to Christian worship, and are they frequently employed on their walls or pavements in the north?

42. Are there any church pavements formed of stones sculptured in low relief, having in their cavities a coloured cement? 43. Are there any mosaic pavements in churches of the pointed style?

44. What examples are there of that peculiar kind of pavement called labyrinths, or roads to Jerusalem, sometimes seen in the pavements of middle-age buildings? and to what epoch may we refer their introduction?

45. How happens it that there are so many large religious edifices of the first and second styles of pointed architecture still existing in those provinces on this side of the river Loire, formerly called the country of the Langue d'oïl, compared to the small number of religious edifices of the same epochs in the provinces south of the Loire, and which is called the country of the Langue d'oc?

46. Do Belgium and the northern provinces of France afford any examples of Romanesque churches paved with glass?

Gentlemen proposing to attend the discussion of the above-stated questions are cordially invited by the authorities of Lille to its grand "Fêtes Patronales," which will take place on the first, second, and third days of June, and during which there will be several opportunities of observing the ancient manners and usages of Flanders, as exhibited at its "Kermesses" and other assemblies. The admission card to the Congress, which costs but ten francs, including the privilege of partaking of a banquet to be given by the city of Tournay, may be procured on arrival at Lille from Mons. de Contencin, to whom, or to M. de Caumont, the Director of the Society, the writer of this notice will be happy to make known any person who may be desirous of joining him at Lille, and which by steam to Ostend, and thence by railroad, may be reached from London in sixteen or eighteen hours.

Athenæum Club House.

3 Y

W. BROMIT.