1851. London built of Marble.- The Jury Reports. 585 ' and time. Regent Street, and several of the aristocratic 'quarters west of it, are in good part built of this marble; but one of the finest, freshest specimens of it is St. George's Hospital, Piccadilly, which, to my eye, is among the most tasteful edifices in London. If (as I apprehend) St. Paul's 'Church, Somerset House, and the similarly smoke-stained 'dwellings around Finsbury Oval, were built of this same 'marble, then the murky skies of London have much to answer 'for.' Whilst revelling in the anticipation of the effect of such statements as the foregoing, our feelings were doomed to experience a rude shock. A communication in the same journal some days later, from an envious New York citizen, stated, on the authority of a ten years' residence in London, that the fine white 'marble, with the soft creamy appearance,' of the Hon. Chairman, was, in reality, but mud painted. We have looked for the editorial rejoinder, but we regret to say, in vain. Such isolated instances of human fallibility, though they teach the great lesson of humility, can never shake our faith in the old Gothic axiom of our ancestors: to whomsoever God giveth an office, to the same doth He give the necessary measure of wisdom;' and we shall look with the same reverence on the Institutes, Pandects, and Novels of Physical Law, when once promulgated by the Council of Chairmen in the collective Reports of the Jurors, as we have been long habituated to regard the digested labours of the old Byzantine Jurists embodied in the Justinian code. It is also right to bear in mind, that from the frequency of Industrial Exhibitions in recent times, there is a regular class of practised Judges rapidly forming,-men who derive as much advantage from this practical acquaintance with the subjects of their theoretic studies, as they confer benefit on industrial science, by the loftiness of their views and the wide range of knowledge which they bring to bear on the problems of commercial life. We cannot help regarding this circumstance as of the highest importance, since it has the twofold effect of enabling them to readily distinguish what is really new, and rapidly circulate a knowledge of all that is valuable in such discoveries. We have now reached the 1st of May. On that day the Royal Commission redeemed their pledge, and reaped the welldeserved reward of all their cares and anxieties. We must leave it to the memory or the imagination to paint the splendours of a pageant more brilliant than any spectacle of modern times. The effect of the dazzling scene was rather heightened than diminished by the mystery that still hung round several of the Foreign departments. America had unfolded her homely VOL. XCIV. NO. CXCII. Q Q storesso rude and practical that no aid of decoration could or need impart much external attraction. And here let us do an act of justice by stating, that the apparently disproportionate space occupied by the United States, which has been the subject of so much raillery, had been spontaneously assigned, not demanded. France was much in arrear; but France has never known the art of colonisation. One of her Commissioners remarked on the day of the inauguration: You, English'people, have succeeded because you are without experience; you do what is necessary we, what we have done before.' Much painful anxiety had been felt by Lieut. Colonel Reid, as Commander-in-chief of the allied forces, from the tardy movements of the Zollverein, but M. Consul-General Hebeler and his Prussians succeeded, like Blücher, in arriving in time. Russia had not yet opened her rich malachite portals to the public gaze; nor had the Odessa contributor quite succeeded to his own satisfaction in developing his capillary attractions; but even the empty pedestals gave promise, and the rich velvet draperies of the Imperial Chamber spoke of the splendours to come. Hamburg and Switzerland exhibited the punctuality and business-habits of their commercial populations, equally with our own exhibitors; and the other Foreign States were in very tolerable order, Every road leads to Rome: - but we must not dwell on the crowds nor the wonders that attract them. The commercial value of the latter is less than the fears of our London shopkeepers represented them. You could buy all Prussia for about 45,000l.; Saxony for 30,000l.; the whole Zollverein for 100,000l.; and America and Russia for about 36,000l. each! Leaving to some future Hesiod to chronicle the 'Huépai kai 'Epyá, we shall introduce a few statistical tables illustrative of the most striking peculiarities of the undertaking. The most singular feature in the internal economy of the Hyde Park structure is the number of its different Departments, and the magnitude to which each has swelled. Within its walls we have had a constant population equal to that of a populous city. It has its post-office-its branch bank — its telegraph its miniature railroad· its little army its police. Its cafes and table d'hôtes provide for the wants of its local and wayfaring inhabitants. It has made other adequate arrangements for decency and health, of which the great neighbouring metropolis is so glaringly neglectful. The following Table shows the numbers and occupations of the ordinary local popu lation: -- 1851. The Hyde Park City. - Sights and Sightseers. Correspondence Finance 729 Brought over Superintendents, Clerks, The Admittance Department. &c. Classmen The above table exhibits the comparatively small amount of the force employed in the attainment of results, the magnitude of which incurs no risk of not being duly appreciated by the five million of visitors. We have no room for various statistical tables illustrative of the many curious results which the concentration of seductions so powerful as those of the Crystal Palace produce on our social economy. They are in several respects both novel and interesting. One of the most responsible and difficult duties of the Executive Committee was the effort to evolve from preexistent sources, some approximate estimate, whereby to guard, as far as human foresight could, against dangerous contingencies. The industry of one of this Executive Committee, Mr. Wentworth Dilke, succeeded in obtaining a vast collection of statistical details as to the numbers, conduct, and habits, of the visitors to the most frequented of our public sights. We are indebted to the painstaking researches of this gentleman for the following figures, which we throw into a tabular form to facilitate comparison. Greatest number of Visitors on any one day at following places: It will be observed that none of the above can be regarded as quite analogous to the Hyde Park Exhibition. As an instance of the importance which matters apparently trivial attained on this occasion, it will be observed, that the daily receipts from the custody of umbrellas, walking-sticks, and wearing apparel, although conducted on the voluntary system, amounted frequently to 251., although the charge was as low as two-pence. The following Table shows the actual receipts to the 25th of Sept. inclusive: £ s. d. 67,205 8 10 67,610 14 0 304,018 12 6 3,200 0 0 5,500 0 0 2,104 5 10 396 2 2 573 17 6 658 15 10 558 451,273 2 4 The highest amount received at the doors was on Saturday, the 24th May, the last five shilling day prior to the commencement of the shilling days, being 50781. The lowest amount received on any day, except the two 17. days, was on the first shilling day, being only 9207. The largest amount received in shillings was 35021., on Tuesday, 15th July (St. Swithin's Day). On the Friday of the same week 37621. was taken in half-crowns, being the highest amount after the commencement of the shilling days. The following are the highest amounts received: The amounts received each day at the retiring rooms vary from 31., 7., and 81., to 287. Receipts for taking charge of umbrellas, &c., from 9s. to 25l. In the absence of reliable data to guide their conduct, the 1851. The People their own Police.-War and Commerce. 589 Committee seem to have adopted the principle of leaving the public at large, in a great measure, to consult for their own safety; and the result has fully justified the propriety of this course. The number of daily visitors has been subject to far less violent fluctuation than could have been expected; and the daily returns appear to indicate, as a law, that the maximum power of any Exhibition with us to attract shilling visitors must be somewhat about 50,000 daily. But, perhaps, the most remarkable, as it is the most satisfactory feature in connexion with these large bodies of people, is the fact that on no occasion was the slightest tendency to disorder perceptible, and that not one single instance of wilful damage to any of the articles exhibited has been reported to the Committee. Incidental to this great occasion, it is very satisfactory to reflect, that owing to the adoption of a happy suggestion of the Prussian Minister, Chevalier Bunsen, very simple and adequate arrangements were made to enable the subjects of Foreign States to examine our great national monuments and public 'establishments without confusion or difficulty. Each Embassy issued cards, on which the leading objects of attraction were marked upon a miniature chart, together with the rules to be observed in visiting them. It is also well deserving of the highest praise, that foreigners were admitted to view our great private industrial establishments with a degree of liberality and courtesy that has much elevated our national character in the eyes of the world. We have, in a measure, to thank this Exposition for our being no longer regarded as a nation of boutiquiers. The conduct of the Police has been the subject of well-merited encomium. We have heard a distinguished Foreigner declare, that the civility and intelligence of our police, and the number. of our water-omnibusses (river-steamboats) were the objects that most excited his surprise. A plan had been discussed by the Foreign Commissioners of opening a penny subscription among their countrymen to mark the universal sense of all foreigners of the exemplary conduct of our constables; nothing but the formal difficulties prevented, as we believe, the realization of this idea. The primary characteristic of this great enterprise has been the comprehensiveness of the scheme and the world-embracing character of its appeal to the industrial energy of nations. We have been compelled to allude to the melancholy political complications which, occurring at a juncture so critical, had nearly compromised its realisation; but it would be wrong to omit observing, that it found everywhere throughout the civilised world a degree of favour, on its very first promulgation, and |