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    out of doors or m ; but in either case the impression is one of a subdued gaiety , like tlie shadow of flowers . Especially magical is the effect of the blue painting from the highest eastern gallery , where it seems to melt into the sky . From this point , also , which commands the whole building , stretches away a mag nificent , and altogether indescribable , prospect . The vastness here is apparent , and the thirty thousand present on Thursday found that it was real . Entering the south portal of the Exposition and passing through a pair of bronze gates , richly ornamented , the first object which irresistibly attracts the eye is the crystal fountain , with its streams of flowing , dropping , and sparkling water . Around are grouped colossal statues from the studios of British

    artists . On the left the riches of the East Indies , from countries whose names are romances , Cachmere , Delhi , Benares , Mirzapore , Gyah , consisting of lovely shawls , muslins worked in silk and gold , carpets in whose downy surfaces the footfall noiselessly sinks , exquisite mats , and metal manufactures , besides a variety of intoxicating drinks , fragrant woods , perfumes , gums , cereals , earths , and dried fruits . On the right the stalls of Tunis display figured satins , riding hats of circular form and vast diameter , rich horse-trappings , morocco boot 3 and slippers , and dates in great quantities . Brazil has a fine show of elegant woods and mineral -wealth ; and China sets out its gaudy , fantastic , but beautiful porcelain and other manufactures . When these wonders are

    passed by , and the fountain is approached , the lengthened nave on either hand , unfolds its thousand glories . In the centre of the transept are arranged groups of colossal statues . To the west the wealth of Britain and her dependencies ; to the east the products of foreign lands . Walking through the eastern division of the nave first come China , Tunis , Brazil ; then Switzerland , exhibiting her manufactures and her thousands of yards of streaming and rainbow-hued ribbons . France adjoins this compartment , brilliant with indescribable products of Parisian art , and her textiles , jewellery , goldsmith ' s work , guns , cannons , carriages , carpets , and ploughs .

    Then Belgium shows forth her ornamental glass , her carved furniture , musical instruments , a whole armoury of weapons , and lace—lace , ladies , in abundance—especially to be noted a large shawl of black point lace of great value , which occupied thirty women eight months in its manufacture . On the borders of Belgium is Austria rich in meerschaums , preparations of hair , dominoes , chessmen , time-pieces , and parasols ; a palace of toys , crested with helmets and breastplates , and other defensive armour ; grotesque automata , iron stoves , boots , shoes , and slippers , gloves from Prague , medallion portraits and crockery . Behind Austria is the Zollverein . Eastward of Austria , North Germany , Norway , Sweden , and Russia , muffled in rare furs . On either extremity of the end of the eastern nave , surmounted by a broad

    starred and striped banner , and huge eagle , stretch the confines of America . Brother Jonathan has facetiously spread out a very odd collection , consisting , among other things , of wooden pails , mineral teeth , carpet bags , a geographical clock , no end of daguerreotypes , and magic-lantern slides ; but he is great in harness and vehicles . Again , on the north side of the eastern nave are Denmark , Germany , the Zollverein , and Austria ; the last containing a magnificent suite of Austrian rooms , fitted up by Liestler , of Vienna . The range westward in this north side extends through Holland , Belgium , France , Italy , Spain and Portugal , Greece , Egypt , Turkey , Persia , and Arabia ; and , issuing from the courts and avenues , the eye surveys the crystal fountain , the giant Bculptures , the flowers and shrubs , and the vast perspectives disclosed by all points of the compass .

    The western nuve contains the contributions of Britain and her dependencies . The walk , in and out of the avenues on the northern side , towards the west , leads through Ceylon , Malta , the Ionian Islands and other British possessions , to the section devoted to mnchinery . Hero are placed hydraulic machines , including the monster press which raised the Britannia tubes , Nasmyth ' s steam-hammer , the beautiful marine engines of Boulton and Watt , Perm , and others ; then carriage courts , containing specimens of locomotives and railway carriages . And here iiIho is the section of machinery in motion . The . se machines are arranged according to their respective characters ; Hteam-cngincs occupy one portion , mills another , lathcH and tools a third , and printing machines a

    fourth . The machinery devoted to textile manufactures ia classified according to the several branches to which it is adapted . Parsing from cast to went , firs t come the silk and lace machinery ; next to that follows ilux , and adjoining it is the woollen machinery . Ueyond thin , and to the extremity of the building , is the valuable collection of cotton machinery , aent b y the manufacturers of Manchester and Oidhmn . 'lho widen or walls of the space dovoted to muchincry arc occupied by manufactured goods produced from the several eludes of machinery . Nearly the whole of thin machinery i » shown in motion . From the space occupied by the cotton machinery of Manchester there in un entrance into the third-class refreshment court , and Home open courts » 1 bo ocoupied by trees .

    The steam was turned into the building on Tuesday , and the whole of the machinery set in motion with perfect success . The entire range of steam pipe , including the ramifications to the various engines , is nearly 3000 feet , which is , probably , a greater length than has ever yet been successfully applied . The steam is supplied from five boilers , placed in an isolated building at the west end of the Exhibition . Four of these boilers are multitubular , upon a somewhat novel construction , by Messrs . W . G . Armstrong and Co ., of JVewcastle-upon-T yne , and the fifth is a double-furnace boiler , by Messrs . Galloway , of Manchester . These boilers collectively

    are equal to 150-horse power , and the steam is carried from them into the building by a pipe of nine inches diameter , thickly coated with felt . This pipe , which may be compared to the main artery of a human body , gradually diminishes in size as it extends through the building , and along its entire range receivers of a peculiar construction are placed , which arrest the water produced by condensation , and suffer the pure steam to flow onwards . After passing through the engines the exhausted

    steam enters another system of pipes , by which it is conveyed into a tunnel outside of the building , and both systems of pipes are placed beneath the floor , where they are entirely out of sight . The whole arrangement of the steam pipes , with their connected apparatus , have been carried out by Messrs . W . G . Armstrong and Co ., under the direction of Mr . W . Cubitt , one of the royal commissioners , who more immediately presides over the mechanical department , and of Mr . Hensman , the superintendent of that class .

    _ In order from the western extremity of the northern side of the nave cotton goods , leather and furs , manufactures from minerals , the furniture court and fine arts , find a place . On the southern side walking westward are the East Indies , Canada , Australia , Cape of Good Hope , St . Helena , the Mauritius , Tobago , &c , and the classes of British manufacture in the following order—hardware , furniture , woollen and mixed fabrics , flax and printed goods . Behind these several classes of manufacture is the large space occupied by agricultural implements , and upon the extreme south side the interesting collection of British minerals , mining , and metallurgy . On this side , also , is the seulpture-room , leading into a court set apart for the marvels of mediaeval architecture and antiquities .

    Upstairs the variety is wonderful . In the south gallery of the western nave are a collection of chemical manufactures and productions , substances used as food , vegetable and animal substances , guns , and naval architecture and models . The central south gallery is occupied by philosophical instruments , precious metals , tapestry , ribbons of Coventry and other places , and Spitalfields silks ; shawls , clothing , and hosiery of all kinds ; and upon the east side of the transept , the silks of Lyons , a German organ , the straw work of Switzerland , the cottons of

    Massachusetts , and other articles belonging generally to those foreign countries which occupy the space beneath them , upon the ground floor . The central north galleries , contain exquisite specimens of Brussels and French lace , and other lighter articles of foreign production . A portion of the north gallery in blazoned with painted glass of all nations ; in the central north gallery , are pottery , glass , surgical , musical , and philosophical instruments , with the great organ of Mr . Willis at the western and . There is an excellent collection of models , and in the north gallery , civil engineering , a fourth collection of"

    surgical instruments , some cutlery , and manufactures from animal and vegetable substances . Such is a rapid survey of the contents of the Exposition .

    On the whole the array of contributions present themselves to the mind in three groups : steammaehinery , statues and models , and furniture . The machine * arc a type of Power , the art-models and the best statuary , Imaginative Beauty ; and the furniture —at once so gay and grand , so elegant and substantial—the gleaming glass fountains , gorgeous carpets , handsome carved bedsteads with embroidered curtains , inlaid tables , endless variety of clmir and bo fa , works in bronze , ormolu , gold , silver , and precious stones , textile manufactures , cloth , linens , laces , 8 tufl ' n , silks , ribbons , autius , velvets , furs and leathers

    , mirrors and porcelain vessels , even the pictures exhibited—all , in fact , that may be comprehended under the the term Furniture , convey that idea of Use to the mind for which Englishmen have a peculiar affection . And thus we have symbols of power , and beauty , and usefulness , the elements of civilization . I n the display of Power , England reign * supreme . There in the might and symmetry of iron and Hleel , and brass , stand the giant steam-engines which have won far us by their speed , and power and immensity of production , the palms of commercial conquest in all the regions , and over all the seas of the globe .

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    An interesting visit was paid , by the sanction of tin- commi « Hioners , at nn early hour on Tue . sdny Mrs . Chisholm , the r « at piitroiu' » H and guide of vnil griition , interested herself to obtain the admission of

    a number of British emigrants , amounting to nearly 200 . There are two official catalogues of the Exhibition , one a sort of handbook , which may be had for a shilling ; the other an elaborate account of the whole progress of this undertaking from the first , together with a special explanatory account of each article or class of articles . Alexis Soyer , at Gore-house , is one of the wonders which Exposition year brings us . The mighty gastronome has made arrangements for dining ' all nations . " He has converted the mansion of Lady Blessington into a vast hotel , fitted up the apartments with great splendour , painted , and gilded , and papered , until the whole house is entirely changed . For instance , what was once the Blessington library is now La Salle die Parnasse , that is , a large diningroom , decorated in gold and white ; and what was the boudoir of Lady Blessington is now La Cabinet rfe la Pompadour , a small dining-room embellished with " flutings of white and pink , and a triumphal arch of roses and foliage . " M . Soyer has been lavish of titles for his chambers . Here are a few : — Vestibule de la Fille de V Or age , Salle des Noces de Danae , L' Atelier de Michel Ange , Avenue des Amours , Pagode du Cheval de Brofize , and Le Pavilion Monstre d'Ampkytrion ! Soyer has written a book of the Symposium , in which he triumphantly asks , " Who can

    view with callous eye and more callous heart the apotheosis of gastronomy progressing beneath the roof ? Dinner in the Temple of Danae , lunch in the vintage chamber , supper within the domains of the ice king , eating and drinking everywhere ! Why , the sight is enough to turn a heart of stone , enough to make a hermit relinquish his roots and black bread , and a teatotaller break his pledge all to fragments . " The kitchen apparatus is a magnificent industrial exposition in itself , the dining accommodation is for fabulous numbers ; in short , to give at once a complete idea of the magnitude of the scale on which things are to be done at the Symposium , every day at a given hour an entire ox will be roasted in the open air !

    Mr . Batty is building aJHippodrome on a plot of land at the corner of the Victoria-road , Kensington , of an oval shape , called 500 feet by 400 feet , to accommodate 14 , 000 persons . The seats , six or seven . deep , are roofed over . The enclosed area is open to the sky ; the sides as well as the roof of the building are slated , and the colours used for decoration are blue and white . The horse entrance is at the south end ; and the public entrance by a compoed archway of three openings , formed in the Kensington-road , which has in the frieze some small llonum figures on horseback , and is otherwise adorned with flying horses . Another novelty was the great fair which was held on Thursday in Kensington , near the Kensal New Town .

    len new omnibuses commenced running from Kennington-gate to the Exhibition , on Sunday , charging no more than 2 d . for each passenger for the entire distance , taking the route by Kenningtongreen , Walcot-place , over Westminster-bridge , to Charing-cross , and thence to Piccadilly , &c . A similar number , upon the same terms , will be placed on this line in a few days , and a like number , it is understood , will also start from Cainberwell-gate , at the same economic rate .

    The Emperor of Kussia has decided that a commission of manufacturers and men of science , under the presidency of Count Klemmichel , director-general of public works , shall be went to the Exhibition at London , and shall visit France to examine the principal manufacturing establishments . The Emperor luia also decided that such of his subjects as may visit Ldiuln m ; iy p : iss through France on undergoing certain formalities .

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    I he Exhibition is producing effects even in Spain , the papers of which are filled with English advertisements addressed to Exhibition visitors . A Spanish steamer has been put on to run from Santander to Southampton , for the Exhibition . She is called the M . A . Heredia , and makes her first trip to-day 'Hie fares are £ (> l () s . and £ 5 10 s . She is to return from Southampton by Havre to Santander , and , as passengers can join at Havre , they am , if they like , make a stay of a fortnight in London , and return by the same steamer .

    I he Times reports the following military and police preparations for the Exposition as resulting from rlu Duke and Kir George Grey : —At the Cavalry liarracks , Knight . sbridge , they have allotted a certain portion of the building for the reception of t . he 2 nd battalion of the Grenadier Guards . A portion of the 1 st . battalion of the Rifle Itrigade ( now quartered at Dover ) will march to Woolwich , and the other to the Tower of London , where the necessary

    preparations have been made for them . The First Royal Dragoons from Nottingham , and the Eighth IIuhhuih from llrighton , will be stationed in half billets at llampstead anil I li c hgate . The Fourth Li"ht Dragoons from Dublin , will be quartered iu i \ l ( i U 7 irrackH nt ( Oxbridge . The following will Ue the nt . ntionn of the oav . ilry :- First Life Guards , Regent ' sparh , and a portion of t he Royal Horse ( i u ' anls ( IHue from Windsor ); Second Life Guards , Knightsbridi / o

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    May 3 , 1851 . ] % , % t 'fL tHHtt . 407

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), May 3, 1851, page 407, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1881/page/3/