THE LAST PLEA FOR TRENCH'S FOLLY.
A RIDICULOUS sublimity clothes Mr. Wyatt's Hyde Park Corner image with greatness. It is very big. Its casting is the subject of Turner's last and most extravagant picture. It is systematically lauded by an able contemporary ; from whose approval we infer that in politics Mr. Wyatt is a stanch Church-and-State man. It has been the subject of a hoax upon the nation ; for, after all, the Sub-Committee do not take it down, but Parliament is to be at the expense. And it is said that the Duke of Wellington has chosen it, as it were, for his palladium—the image on which de- pend his safety and honour ! The last fact was brought to light by a conversation in the House of Commons on Wednesday. Lord George Bentinck ap- peared as the champion of the statue, and asked Lord John Rus- sell if he had not reason to know that the Duke of Wellington would regard the removal as an indignity ? The question looks like a joke ; and one is somewhat surprised to read Lord John's grave reply- " I certainly received some information on this subject from a gentleman who called upon main Downing Street. He informed me that the Duke of Wellington had expressed by letter an opinion that the removal of the statue would be con- sidered by others as being injurious to his reputation, or words somewhat to that effect. This letter was written a long time ago; I believe in the month of February. Since that time, her Majesty has been graciously pleased to order, not only that a mere fitting pedestal should be erected for the statue, if the House would give funds for that purpose, but, also, if the House would grant a vote of money, it was intended to ornament it with military trophies as was formerly the case with triumphant arches, in commemoration of the deeds of the Duke of Wellington. Under these circumstances, it could not be supposed that the Doko of Wellington could any longer entertain such feelings on the matter as had been alluded to."
The Duke of Wellington is a great captain,'a judicious though not a theoretical statesman, and an hereditary musician : he can therefore afford to waive a reputation for taste in art; otherwise his friends would do well to conceal his confessions on the score of the statue. But how he ever conceived the notion that his reputation could in any way or in any degree hang upon Mr. Wyatt's production, is not the least of the mysteries that cling tb the brazen image.
Nor is this all. Mr. Wakley comes forth as another champion. He says that he is much in communication with "the public," and knows its mind very well ; and that the public feeling is that the statue should remain where it is. To remove it, will be offensive to the Duke, says the Tribune of the People of Fins- bury ; to pay for the removal, offensive to the public. The worthy Coroner, we suppose, has been sitting with his juries on the very dead body of Mr. Wyatt's sculpture; and their verdict is, that it is a good statue. We presume that Mr. Wakley's estimate of manufacturing statues is correlative to his estimate of making poetry : but the idea of referring these matters to coroners' juriei along with dead bodies is novel.
To crown the lengthened string of absurdities, Ministers should yield to Coroner Wakley's judgment.
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