Speaking of pictures, the miniature of Anne of Cleves
is here, on the faith of which Henry VIII. married her; also, the picture
of the Infanta of Spain, which Buckingham brought over to Charles I.
while Prince of Wales. This has a delicate, rosy prettiness.
One rather interesting portion of the Exhibition is the Refreshment-room,
or rather rooms; for very much space is allowed both to the first and
second classes. I have looked most at the latter, because there John
Ball and his wife may be seen in full gulp aid guzzle, swallowing vast
quantities of cold boiled beef, thoroughly moistened with porter or
bitter ale; and very good meat and drink it is.
At my last visit, on Friday, I met Judge Pollock of Liverpool, who
introduced me to a gentleman in a gray slouched hat as Mr. Du Val, an
artist, resident in Manchester; and Mr. Du Val invited me to dine with
him at six o'clock. So I went to Carlton Grove, his residence, and found
it a very pretty house, with its own lawn and shrubbery about it. . . . .
There was a mellow fire in the grate, which made the drawing-room very
cosey and pleasant, as the dusk came on before dinner. Mr. Du Val looked
like an artist, and like a remarkable man. . . . . We had very good talk,
chiefly about the Exhibition, and Du Val spoke generously and
intelligently of his brother-artists. He says that England might furnish
five exhibitions, each one as rich as the present. I find that the most
famous picture here is one that I have hardly looked at, "The Three
Marys," by Annibal Caracci.
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