27 DECEMBER 1919, Page 13

A SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY EXAMPLE. [To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."]

Sta, All lovers of our galleries and museums will thank you for your article in support of the National Art-Collections Fund. Might the attention of private owners be drawn to the example of Benjamin Newbold, who bought the famous bronze statues of James I. and Charles I., evicted from Winchester Cathedral in the days of the Great Rebellion, and in 1660 sold them for £100 to Brian Duppa, Bishop of Winchester? The Bishop, in restoring them to the Dean and Chapter, commends Newbold to them warmly on the ground that "he might have made, as I am informed, a much greater advantage, if he would have sold them heretofore to aliens."—I am, Sir, &c..

G. H. B.