Itttrso to tO Etitur.
THE NATIONAL GALLERY: THE LAST PURCHASE.
remptown, 20th February 1856. I have seen today, for the first time, the new picture in the National Gallery, attributed to Paul Veronese.
As one of the witnesses examined by the " Select Committee on the Na- tional Gallery " of 1853, and as one of those who in 1855 signed the " pro- test and counter-statement " against the report of that Committee, I now protest against the purchase, at any price, of a picture so bad, and so scoured and repainted, as the one in question. To expend public money upon so worthless a picture, is not only a gross misapplication of the revenue, but it is also calculated to bring the nation into contempt, as establishing, pre- sumptively, that works of the lowest type are the most congenial to us, and that in selecting even these we are incompetent to distinguish the spurious from the genuine. It has been stated officially, that one thousand nine hundred and seventy- seven pounds were paid for this picture. I will venture to assert, that no picture-valuer worthy of credit would appraise it at one-tenth of that sum; but I repeat, that at no pries ought it to have been purchased. Even as a gift, it would not be worthy of the space it occupies in the National Gal-
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