The Preservation of London’s Beauty

TREASURE IN THE CITY—
The top row of pictures represents doorways and fire-places about to be removed from houses in the neighbourhood of Crutched Friars and Trinity Square to make way for the new home of the
Port of London Authority.
The interests of ancient London are manifold. For instance, a number of buildings in the neighbourhood of Trinity Square and Crutched Friars are about to be demolished to make way for the new Port of London Authority, and that department,
taking a unified point of view which a public body more readily assumes
than the private owner, is offering for sale some beautiful old Adam doors and fire-places, which will be removed from the houses. Every lover of London knows the charm of wandering
—ABOUT TO VANISH
From left to right the pictures show: A Corinthian portico in Catherine Court; an enriched Adam fire-place with Guilloche frieze; an Eighteenth Century fire-place in Muscovy Court; and the
doorway of No. 3, Savage Gardens.
We have frequently
maintained in these pages that amid our destructions of old institutions there is a growing interest in the preservation of the material past as it has come down to us in old buildings, in pictorial
art and the like. This interest has received a great fillip in the estab
lishment of the London Society, to which Lord
Curzon gave an eloquent blessing at the Mansion
House on Monday. No one is better worth listen
ing to in this matter. He
has already shown us when he was in India, especially in his delimitat
ing the Black Hole, how
deeply the past interests him, and elsewhere in this issue are shown some of the archaeological treasures which have been rescued owing to his initiative. He has also shown us his sense of discrimination in his admirable letters to the Times on the Banbury Room; so that one
listens with the deepest respect to what he has to say on Art matters.
Lord Curzon pointed out
that the beautification of London would, in many cases, treble and even quadruple the value of the property dealt with,
and he believes that a good
deal of the improvement will be paid for by in
creased land values which it will create. He knows that London is never to the Londoner what Paris is to the Frenchman, or Berlin to the German, but he sees clearly that this is changing, and the London Society is a sure proof that the sense of unity of purpose is dawning on us.
round some of the streets where these old
doorways exist, notably in Great Ormond Street,
Queen Anne Street, the Adelphi and many lesser - known places of London, and it is most heartening to feel that these little gems are no longer left to the whims of the “ house-breaker ”— who too often does not belie his name so far as art is concerned.
Pictorial art also keeps
pace with this instinct for preservation, for the National Art Collec

tions Fund has presented

to the National Gallery Sir George Hay ter s famous picture represent
ing the House of Lords in August, 1820, during the discussion of the Bill to dissolve the marriage between George IV and Queen Caroline. Com
pleted in 1823 for Mr. Agar - Ellis, afterwards Lord Dover, it was lent for eighteen years by Lord Annaly to the National Portrait Gallery. The in
cident represented is the cross- examination of
Majocchi, the Italian witness, by Lord Grey.
The Queen is seated at the table within the bar, out
side of which are her three counsel—Brougham,
Lushington and Denman —while the counsel for the Crown, Copley and Gifford, arc seated on the left.
Among the spectators are nearly 180 of the most prominent men of the time. How interesting the late Mr. J. B. Atlay could make this scene for the general Gallery visitor! The picture has been tem
porarily placed in Room XXXIII near the entrance.
DISCOVERED IN FINLAND: A FORGOTTEN MASTERPIECE BY RUBENS
The latest Rubens find has been brought to light in the town of Kotko, Finland. Only a few years ago it changed hands for £4.
It has now been sold for £10. 000.
FOR THE NATIONAL GALLERY: THE TRIAL OF QUEEN CAROLINE
Sir George Hnyter s famous picture which has teen presented to the Nation by the National Art Collections Fund.