There seems grave reason to fear that Mr. Tate's splendidly
generous offer of his collection of modern pictures, to form the nucleus of an. English Luxembourg, and.of £80,000 to build a gallery to house them, over which the Treasury has been negotiating for about a year, will come to nothing, Mr. Tate's offer was conditional on a proper site for the gallery being provided by the Government. One had at last been found at South Kensington whieh he considered suitable, and which the Government, who originally chose it, were quite willing to give. At the last moment, however, the men of science intervened, and declared that the reversion of the pro- posed site belonged to them, and that it must not be given up to art. Not Mr. Tate refuses to give up the site which was offered to him, and to which there is no alternative that he considers possible; and he has informed the Govern- ment that unless they now close with his offer, he must with- draw it. The question, then, is : Are the scientific authorities to be allowed to prevent—what all artists agree in dechiring a serious want in England—the creation of a gallery where the modern English school can be seen and studied P We trust that the country will support Mr. Goschen in accepting Mr. Tate's offer. It is monstrous that a man who makes an offer like Mr. Tate's should be treated as if he were a criminal, with Burglarious designs on the national property.
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