Algernon, Duke Of Northumberland, K.G., In Connection With Art.

upon-Tyne , Avhen his Grace received a large number of the members at Alnwick Castle . For this occasion he ordered a complete investigation to be made of the station of Bremenium ,. which was accordingly excavated and surveyed , and made the subject of a communication to the

society by Dr . Bruce . The Duke also assisted with his open purse the publication of the work on the Roman Wall , by the same hand , copiously illustrated bv Mr . Mossmaii ; and a further Avork on Roman Remains is approaching completion , by his liberal aid and stanch encouragement . He

caused , too , a survey of the Roman Avail and roads in Northumberland to be made by Mr . H . Maclauchlan , whom he afterwards deputed to make a chart of the county , showing the numerous British camps , and consequent points of occupation by our pre-historic predecessors—a task not yet

completed . The late MY . Archer , as Ave recently mentioned , enjoyed a permanent commission to draw other antiquities in the count } ' -. The Duke had a few Mediaeval predilections . As in an antique torso restored by modern skill , there is a

great gap m the periods of art Avith which his memory Avill be associated . Familiar with the household gods of the Egyptians ; Avhen Joseph presided over Pharaoh ' s house , and Avith the evidences the Roman emperors left of their dominion in our isle , his mind spanned the long interval to

delight in modern knowledge and progress . This break is apparent in his disregard of the Mediaeval associations of Alnwick Castle , aiid in his Avide patronage of classic art generally . But the authorisation of the handsome quarto , printed for private distribution , illustrating the architecture of

Alnwick , Prudhoe , and Warkworth Castles , by Jewett , Le Keux , and Delamotte , is a departure from these preferences ; and the elaboration of the slight papers read by the Rev . 0 . H . Hartshorne at the meeting of the Archaeological Institute referred to aboveinto a portlvolume" On the

, y , Military and Feudal Architecture of Northumberland , " full of illustrations , showing the peculiarities of Northumbrian castles and peles , all at the cost of his Grace , is another exception . These two volumes , aiming at fulness of detail in a few edifices

rather than at generalities concerning many , stand apart as the most ample authority upon castellated architecture yet issued . As an instance of his perception of the obligations of his station as Border chief , and of his acquiescence in their necessities , rather than as a specimen of his literary

sympathies , we may add that the duke incurred a large outlay , about six years ago , on the publication of a gorgeous edition of the poems of Robert Story , a Northumbrian peasant . Soon after his accession to the dukedom , the Duke proposed to put one of his principal seats

into the sumptuous and artistic condition befitting the residence of a noble of his rank . To this end he commissioned three architects to prepare him three designs , showing the extent of the

capabilities of the seats assigned to each to reach the elegance and fitness required . He apportioned Sion House to Mr . Dechnus Burton , Northumberland House to Sir Charles Barry , and Alnwick Castle to Mr . Salvin . He ultimately selected Akrwick Castle , the seat Avhich is most completely

identified with the Percy race , as the scene of his proposed building operations . His grandfather ,, about a century before , had made the same selection when he was created first Duke of Northumberland . The letters of Horace Walpole make , frequent allusion to the progress of the Avorks at .

Alnwick , which fulfilled many of the conditions .-observed by his own taste at StraAvberry Hill .. When the Avork then executed Avas pulled down , in 1854 , Avith all its intricate plaster mouldings , fan-traceries , and lace-like vagaries , from among the debris there spoke two voices of this Walpolian

era -. first , a piece of parchment Avas found , corked ' up in a bottle , on Avhich the master-masons had . written the exaggerated statement that they had " built this castle ; " and , by-and-by , when tho restorers moved a marble sarcophagus placed in the chapel to the memory of the Avife of the first

Duke , there lay mouldering there a bundle of old love love-letters written by the duchess to her husband ; her diary too , some sihver coins , silver medals struck in commemoration of the restoration ofthe castle , Avith views of it upon them , and some intaglio portraits of the Duke and Duchess , It Avas considered a difficult question how theso

decorations should be replaced . Professor Donaldson related in a paper read to the Institute of Architect the various considerations that arose , and how the Duke's long stay in Rome made him at last decide in favour of Italian embellishments , for which the Commendatore Canina furnished him

Avith designs moulded upon existing works of the Cinque-cento period . As the Avorks proceeded , the advice of the late Professor Cockerell and of Professor Donaldson Avas obtained . How the Commendatore despatched a small staff of efficient artistsMontiroliarchitectMantovanipainter

, , , , , and Bulletti , sculptor in wood , to Akrwick ; IIOAV he ultimately journeyed to look upon this work of transplantation himself , and died on his road heme , we have already told . But we may add , as an instance of the dnke's kindly interest in those of his fellow men associated Avith him in any

undertaking , that he arranged that the Italian architect , Montiroli , should see our national sights inthe provinces as Avell as in the metropolis , such as the manufactories and architectural lions of Edinburgh , NeAYcastle , Birmingham , Manchester , and Liverpool ; and , in reverse , sent the resident

architect , Mr . F . R . Wilson , to Rome , that he might have the advantage of seeing , in situ , the art reproduced under his care . The Avorkmen , numbering some hundreds , Avere the frequent objects of his thought . On each anniversary of the day on which the Duchess laid the foundation-stone of the Prudhoe keep tower they were all invited ,