acres, or sixty-two square miles, and yielding £42,478. Sir George Gipps states that the demand for labour in New South Wales cannot be supplied by the importation of less than 3,000 labourers per annum. Adding an equal number of females, and the usual proportion of children, he estimates the necessary immigration at 12,500 persons per annum, and the cost of taking them out at £250,000. It is proposed to apply the land fund to this object, either directly, or as security for a loan. Fine Arts. NEW PICTURE GALLERIES AT HAMPTON COURT PALACE. THE two large apartments, and an anteroom, which have just been opened to the public at Hampton-Court Palace, occupy the north side of the third quadrangle, or Fountain Court, built by Wren, and facing the Cartoon Gallery. The company enter from "the Queen's Staircase," painted by Kent, first to "the Queen's Guard Chamber." The pictures in this apartment are forty-seven in number, and are as varied in subject as in grades of merit. Among them are: Christ in the House of Mary and Martha, a curious picture, by Vriese; an old View of Windsor Castle, by Griffier; Gainsborough's Portraits of Fisher the Composer, and Colonel St. Leger, the latter a fine production. Hoppner's Comic Muse; an Incantation, by J. Bos, whence a property-man might improve the Freischutz chaos; two Portraits of Holbein, one by himself; Portraits of Raphael, Titian, and Giorgione; the two latter by themselves. There are, likewise, a few mythological paintings of moderate merit. Next is a small ante-room, containing eight naval pictures; including a pair representing Sir Charles Knowles's Actions in St. Domingo, and in Cuba, in the year 1748. Here, also, are one of a series of our dockyards-Deptford, by Paton; and three of a series of Hulls, (two sixth-rates, and one Sloop) by Marshall; the details of which are very minutely painted. In the third room, "the Queen's Presence Chamber," are about fifty pictures, some of them of large size, and all naval subjects; by Serres, Pocock, Vandevilde, Marshall, Paton, and others. Over the doors are four pictures_representing George III. reviewing the Fleet at Portsmouth, by D. Serres, recalling the good old days of the wooden walls." Next is an interesting pair-Actions of Sir Richard Strachan, and Sir Robert Calder, in the year 1805. Vandevilde's pictures are very interesting. Marshall's Hulls are continued from the ante-room; as are, also, Here, Paton's Dockyards-as Portsmouth, Sheerness, Chatham, and Woolwich. also, are Serres's well-known picture of Lord Duncan's victory at Camperdown, and Huggins's three pictures of Trafalgar, painted for William the Fourth; namely, the Battle, the Close of the Action, and the Day after the Battle. The enthusiasm of the sailor-king, in presenting these. pictures to the nation, is truly characteristic of his love of the navy; for, in his reign, it could no longer be sung: "The king is all for the land-service, Forgetting Nelson, Duncan, Howe, and Jervis." Altogether, the addition of the pictures in these rooms, to the already numerous collection at Hampton-Court, is a welcome extension of the public enjoyment. The apartments have been merely cleaned, if we except the black and gold in the ceilings, which is in very questionable taste. It may be remarked, that in the whole collection, the finest pictures occupy the earliest rooms in the suite; and the further the visitor advances, the less would he be repaid for his walk, were it not for the Cartoons, which occupy the last apartment but five. It is still to be regretted, that the Great Hall is not shewn it must, surely, be in good condition, only twenty years having elapsed since the restoration of the roof. By the way, a visit to Hampton-Court is now one of the most delightful treats which Londoners can enjoy at a small cost, as they emerge from "the high brick-built channels, called streets." From the heart of London, you may steam it, by a fourpenny bateau, to the railway station at Nine Elms, and thence to the Ditton Marsh station, or the Esher and Hampton-Court station, as it is now termed. Unless you prefer being mewed up in an omnibus, you may enjoy a charming walk of somewhat less than two miles to the Palace, through a country rich in associations of "the angle." The winding, leafy lane; the village hard by, with its tiny church spire peeping from among the trees; the living streams, the roadside cottages, the neat villas, and the almost aboriginal bridge,-will reduce the two miles to a street's length. On reaching the Palace, you will be struck with the fine keeping of the structure, and its truly royal gardens. The old system of being locked from one room into the * We may notice, here, the recent publication of a pamphlet, containing much interesting information, concerning these splendid masterpieces of genius. It is entitled" Raphael Vindicated; by a Comparison between the original Tapestries (now in London) and the Cartoons at Hampton-Court, as repaired by Cooke. With brief Historical and Artistical Remarks upon the whole series." By W. Trull. Hookham: 1840. We especially recommend this pamphlet to the attention of every admirer of the Cartoons. next, by a gabbling cicerone, is discarded; all the doors are thrown open, and not closed during the day, and the visitor is allowed to walk, at his own pace, through the entire suite; though, sorry are we to add, it has been found expedient that the company should not be unattended. Still, the surveillance is as respectful as it well can be; the "shabby shilling" is dispensed with; and the time is gained. We were, by chance, the first visitors of the week, and enjoyed the refreshing coolness of the rooms, before they had been heated by crowds of visitors. The lofty windows were thrown open, and the music of the birds, and gushing water in the gardens, aided the fascination of the whole scene; whilst its delights and facilities recalled to our memory Skelton's satirical lines: "The kynge's court Should have the excellence! But Hampton-Court Hath the pre-eminence." THE NELSON MONUMENT. (From the John Bull, May 11, 1840.) THE circumstance of the commencement of the Nelson Monument (in Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross,) induces us to give to our readers some lines written fourand-thirty years since, by an eminent person, whose official services in that department of the State with which the glories of NELSON were more particularly connected, are well known and appreciated, and who is perfectly unconscious, perhaps, of their existence-but certainly of our possessing them-but who has taken an active part in carrying into effect the object of which, so long ago, he so ably wrote. Rear high the monumental stone! Not to a petty point of time Or space, but wide to every clime And age, his glorious fall bequeaths The rude, but pious care of yore, Heap'd o'er the brave the mounded shore; And still the mounded shore can tell Where HECTOR and PELIDES fell. There, over Glory's earthly bed, When many a wasting age had fled, The world's great Victor poured his prayers For fame-and monuments like theirs. Happy the Brave! whose sacred tomb Itself averts oblivion's doom, Bears on its breast unfading bays, And gives eternity of praise. High then the monumental pile Rear the tall shaft on some bold steep, Such let it be-as o'er the bed Thither, as through the deep below, Thither shall youthful heroes climb, Of NELSON of the cloud-capped Isle, Scientific Facts. ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAY. ABOUT a year and a half since, some experiments were made by Mr. Clegg, in Southwark, on the mode of propelling carriages by means of exhausting a pipe, or tube, with which the carriages were connected, and then admitting the atmospheric air, and, as it were, forcing the carriages, or train, along; and thus superseding the necessity of steam, or any other power, for the conveyance of a train along a rail or tram road. On the 11th instant, these experiments were repeated on a large scale, on a railroad which connects, or is intended to connect, the Birmingham, the Bristol, and the Thames Junction lines, commencing within a short distance from Shepherd's Bush, and running in a westerly direction for about three quarters of a mile. The carriage put in motion, with the persons on it, did not weigh much less than twelve tons, but it travelled with great ease at the rate of twenty-five miles an hour. The exhausted pipe, or tube, laid down, which was not the propelling agent, but the means of its development, was about nine inches in diameter. The engine by which it was exhausted, namely, a pump worked by steam, rendered it fit for the operations required in about two minutes and a half; and from the index, that is, quicksilver, employed at the termini, it was ascertained that the operation was performed simultaneously at both ends of the line. There was no noise, no smoke, and, what is better, no danger of explosion, or of a power which could not be governed. In short, the experiment shewed that the agency of steam is not a sine quá non on railroads. This power may be applied to any line at a saving of about seventy per cent.; it is of sufficient force to preclude the necessity of tunnelling; and is applicable to almost any gradients.-Abridged from the Times. [Is not this railway system the same with "the Pneumatic Railway," invented and patented by Mr. H. Pinkus, in the year 1835, and detailed in the Railway Magazine, Nos. 3 and 4; the Literary Gazette, No. 965; and the Arcana of Science and Art, 1836, p. 22? Among the eminent scientific men who have examined this system, and reported favourably of its practicability, are Prof. Faraday and Dr. Lardner. "The whole secret of the Pneumatic System of Railway is in the means by which the power obtainable within a close tube, or tunnel, by the rarefaction of the inclosed column of air, is communicated to a train of carriages on the outside, throughout its longitudinal [IN the present work, it must be allowed that the Author has "Trollopized" two volumes of interesting incident, and pleasant gossip, about a country with which the English reader is imperfectly acquainted, but which possesses historical associations of a very attractive order. "The inhabitants of this remote province," (of France, before the revolution,) prefaces the Author, "though certainly not the only remaining lineal descendants of the ancient Celtic race, yet are by far the most perfectly preserved specimen of it. To the student of man, and his history, the Breton peasantry present an object of observation as interesting and as suggestive as the fossilized remains of extinct races of organized beings can to the physiologist.' This enthusiasm for the subject is promising; though Mr. Trollope has not carried out, to his own satisfaction, his object in writing this work-to present to his reader a full-length portrait of the Breton peasant, in all his different varieties, and marked by all those peculiarities of habits, manners, modes of thinking, dress, &c., which distinguish him from the peasants of any other race. The mode in which our author collected his information, bespeaks confidence in its accuracy. Britanny has been very little visited less, perhaps, than any other part of France. Thither Mr. Trollope roamed in the year 1837; and a six weeks' ramble convinced him that the above neglect of the country had been caused by its remote and isolated position, rather than from any lack of objects of great and varied interest to the tourist.] d; Its population is by far the most perfectly preserved specimen which remains to us of that old Celtic race, which once possessed the whole of Western Europe; and the inhabitants of its remote towns and secluded villages are not only remarkable from the singular degree in which they have preserved their primeval manners, habits, superstitions, and modes of thought, unchanged by contact with another race, but are, to us especially, interesting from the very curious connexion, in many respects, which exists between them and the inhabitants of our own western and southern coasts. The sombre and romantic character, too, of the country itself, the traditions of its gloomy and legend-stored history, and the mysterious interest which attaches itself to those stupendous, though barbaric, monuments, so frequent throughout the lower province, all conspire to arouse curiosity and excite the imagination. [In the summer months of 1839, Mr. Trollope again visited Britanny,] discarding all other equipage than the staff and knapsack. This humble, but independent, mode of travelling is, in truth, the only means of becoming really acquainted with any country. But it is more especially the case in one where communications are unfrequent and imperfect, and where the grand routes and great towns are very far from affording a true specimen of the real mass of the population. [With the materials thus collected, and aided by the editorial eye of the Mrs. Trollope, author of the Domestic Manners of the Americans, &c., an entertaining work has been constructed, and "a mingled yarn spun, with considerable attractions for the author's "ubiquitous countrymen, who are every year in search of some new touring-ground." We shall not be expected to follow the author in his pedestrian route, but rather quote a few of the best specimens of his amusing volumes.] Castle of Falaise. The inhabitants of Falaise are well aware that their great lion is William the Conqueror; and, for a dead lion, they certainly make the most of him. All the world knows the story of Arlette, the tanner's pretty daughter, and the ugly derivative from her pretty name. We were led to the window in the ruins of the keep, from which, as tradition says, Duke Robert saw and became enamoured of the future mother of the Conqueror. And, in truth, with the trifling difference in the dramatis personæ, arising from my not being Duke Robert, and the girl who was drawing water below being the daughter of some modern tanner, the whole scene was precisely the same as it must have been when his highness looked out of the window eight hundred years ago. There were the tan-yards and the tanners; and there was the same bright fountain sparkling in the sun, from which Arlette was filling her pitcher when Robert saw her, all immediately below the castle walls. It must, however, be permitted me to observe, with all due reverence for the superior knowledge of the Falaisians on the subject, and the infallibility of their tradition, that Duke Robert must have had a most remarkably sharp eye for a pretty face and form; for the united height of the donjon walls and the rock on which the castle stands is so great, that I could not have distinguished a Medusa from a Venus in the valley beneath. But, perhaps, his highness had his opera-glass. A very small vaulted chamber is shewn adjoining that in which the storied window is situated; and this is said to have been Robert's bed-chamber. An arched recess, at one end, is pointed out as the place for the bed; and on the opposite side is one very small window. The housemaids at Chatsworth would have thought it an exceedingly strange place for a ducal bedroom; but, at all events, it had all the recommendations which immense strength and security could give it. The Bayeux Tapestry. There are two objects which attract travellers to Bayeux-the far-famed tapestry and the cathedral; and we accordingly paid our respects to both. We greatly admired the tall, rigid, cylindrical gentlemen in chain-armour and conical helmets, and were enchanted with the horses, and their alternate green and yellow legs, in Matilda's royal sampler. I would not, for the world, be deemed insensible to their merits. Yet it is my intention, nevertheless, to indulge in the eccentricity of not publishing a dissertation thereon. I have no objection, however, to admit, candidly, that I do not know, with any degree of certainty, whether Matilda or the Empress Maud were the real author of the work in question. But, to induce the antiquaries to pardon so singular and gross a piece of ignorance, I will, for their sakes, echo the warning Mr. Turner gives in his notice of the tapestry. It is, in its present keeping, rapidly hastening to its destruction. An old woman takes the precious roll out of a cupboard, in an apartment of the Hotel de Ville, and, placing it on one side of a large round table, flings it out, by long arm-lengths, for the inspection of visitors, as a draper would measure broad-cloth. The worsted is already frayed in many places; and, unless it be speedily committed to the keeping of some more careful and responsible guardian, this most interesting relic, which has survived the ignorant neglect of eight hundred years, will perish by the learned curiosity of this most superlatively enlightened nineteenth century. One of the subjects immortalized by Matilda's needle, in the Bayeux tapestry, is Harold pulling out some soldiers of Duke William's army, who had fallen among the quicksands of the river Couesnon, on their way to chastise the revolt of Conan, Duke of Britanny: so that the dangers of these sands were well known eight hundred years ago. Painting on Glass. As I was quitting the cathedral, (at Treguier,) I met a jolly-looking fellow, who, seeing I was a stranger, seemed inclined to enter into conversation with me. He told me that he was one of the chanters of the church, and kept a bookbinder's shop in the town. He seemed to be an intelligent sort of fellow, and professed himself a dabbler in antiquarianism. After we had talked awhile about various parts of the church, he told me, with an air of no small mystery, that he had discovered an important secret, which had hitherto been deemed lost for ever. This turned out to be nothing less than the ancient manner of colouring glass. He had found, he said, a few years ago, in an old house in Treguier, a MS. in Gothic character, professing to be written by a certain Jesuit, which he had read, after much difficulty, and found to be a treatise perfectly explanatory of the whole art of painting on glass. He had made, he said, many experiments, the result of which had, in every case, proved the correctness of the directions given by the MS. He intended, after making some more experiments on a somewhat larger scale, to take out a patent, and hoped to turn his discovery to profit. He said that he had been offered large sums for the MS., but would not part with it. [The work is somewhat too thickly embellished with Catholic legends to suit all tastes. The following account of a superstition, which, a few years since, lingered in our own country, is very picturesque.] Bonfires on St. John's Eve. The practice of lighting bonfires on St. John's eve was once universal throughout France, as well as in some other parts of Europe. In Britanny, the custom is still as prevalent as ever. There are many reasons for believing that the practice has descended from the times of Paganism; and many superstitions are yet received by the people with regard to it. There are few villages or hamlets in Britanny that have not their bonfire on the eve of St. John; but, of course, in the village, (St. Jean,) under his peculiar patronage, and in the presence of hundreds of pilgrims, assembled for his express honour, the rite is solemnized with especial pomp and circumstance, and the blaze is a glorious one. At the top of a little eminence, from which you look down upon the church and village nestling around it, and may catch a peep of the sea between the hills beyond it, there is a fountain, close to which the bonfire was prepared. It could hardly be expected that the waters of this fountain could flow so near a spot sanctified by such a miracle, and the presence of such a relic, without catching the contagion of sanctity. Accordingly, the fountain has ever since been deemed holy, and its waters are held to possess miraculous virtues. The pilgrims never fail to wash their eyes with it, and most of them carry away with them a bottle of it. A To this spot the solemn train proceeded. hollow way led up the side of the hill, and in some degree compelled, by its narrowness, the immense crowd to keep behind the procession. We, however, climbed up the steep side of this ravine, and thus, high above the heads of the crowd, looked down upon the assembled multitude. The coup d'oeil was certainly a very striking one. The processional pomp, examined in detail, was, of course, mean and ridiculous. But the general aspect of the prodigious multitude assembled from so many distant homes, their deep seriousness, and evident devotion, as, with bare heads, and long locks streaming in the wind, they raised the burthen of their solemn chant, could not fail to affect powerfully the imagination. It was excited, moreover, by the thought that, at the same hour of the same day, for several hundred years, a multitude, similar in appearance, habits, and feelings, had pursued the same path for the same purpose. And the reflection, that, in all probability, at a period, since which empires have risen and fallen, and the prospects of the entire human race have been changed, the ancestors of these people were offering their homage to similar created objects, with ideas and notions but too slightly differing from those of their descendants, on whom we were gazing, imparted a solemn and almost awful interest to the scene. At length the living mass reached the top of the hill, and arranged itself in a vast circle around the huge stack of dry broom and furze, which was destined to the flames. Some fireworks were to be let off first; and when this had been done, the firing of a cannon gave the signal that the bonfire was about to be lighted. This, however, was to be accomplished in no ordinary way, but by fire from heaven, or by a contrivance intended to resemble it in effect, as nearly as might be. A long rope was attached to the top of the church tower, the other end of which communicated with the fuel. Along this a feu d'artifice, in the form of a dove, was to be launched, which was to run along the line, and ignite the dry brushwood. Great is the importance attached to this feat of ingenuity, and long is the sight looked forward to by the admiring peasants. Down shot the fiery dove at the |