§ VISCOUNT HARDINGEwished to put a Question to the noble Duke opposite regarding the state of the frescoes in the Royal Gallery. When a year ago he asked a similar Question the noble Duke (the Duke of St. Albans) replied that the attention of the Chief Commissioner had been for some time directed to the decay which was manifesting itself in some of these frescoes, and he said, that an inquiry was then going on to ascertain how that decay could be arrested. But a year had now elapsed, and no Report had yet been laid on the Table. He did not blame the noble Duke, for he hardly considered him responsible for the Acts of the First Commissioner; but it must be borne in mind that the decay in the 1870 frescoes, which last year was comparatively small, had now very much extended, and he was not aware that anything had been done to arrest it in the interim. He was aware that the chemist of the War Department, associated with another eminent chemist, had been making experiments with what was called Wright's process, and he thought he had reason to complain that as yet no Report had been laid on the Table. His Question was, whether any Report has been drawn up as to the condition of the frescoes in the Royal Gallery?
THE DUKE OF ST. ALBANSsaid, it was not from any discourtesy that the Report had not been presented but because the chemist who had been employed on this subject was waiting for some information which had not yet been supplied to him by Mr. Wright, whose plan had been tried on the frescoes in the corridors between the two Houses of Parliament. His plan had also been tried on a certain portion of Maclise's fresco of Waterloo, in the Queen's Gallery, and as far as they were able to judge those experiments showed well. At the same time, they were novel experiments, and of course required time to test their efficacy. Mr. Wright's plan had been recommended by the Committee of Artists in 1871, and was being tried on various frescoes. Professor Abel was as yet unable to express any decided opinion; but when his Report had been received it would be submitted to the House.
§ THE DUKE OF RICHMONDexpressed a hope that the chemists employed might be enabled very soon, if not to make a definite Report, to state what progress had been made in this matter.
§ THE MARQUESS OF RIPONsaid, he had no doubt the conversation on the subject would tend to expedite matters.
§ House adjourned at a quarter before Nine o'clock, to Thursday next, Half-past Ten o'clock,