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" ^ ~^ THE MANCHESTER MAN AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE . My Dear Shuttle worth , —I have just returned from the great cosmopolitan bazaar , af te r spending a ¦ whole day in the building , and now sit dow n to ¦ write you a few lines regarding what I saw . I prom ised to give you a complete descri ption of wh a t seemed most remarkable in the whole Exhibition , but I was wrong to make any such promise , as you will at once perceive when you come to examine it yourself . As for describing the wonders of either one department or another in a sing le letter , the attempt would be absurd . All I can pretend to do U to note down a few of the impressions produced by the whole affair .
After passing throug h a pair of ornamental iron gates at the southern entrance , I found myself in the transept , of which I had heard so much without being able to form any adequate conception of its beant y and grandeur . Though not much of a connoisseur , I Btood here a long time admiring the wonderful scene around me . But the day was rap idl y passing , my time was limited , and I found that 1 could not afford to spend much of it in admiring beautiful statues and works of art . My present visit " was chiefl y to see what was useful , and wi t h that object in view I at once turned my steps to the foreign department . I wished to examine the goods
exhibited by France and Germany , our two most s u cce s sful rivals in the manufacture of many kinds o f t ex tile fabrics . The Prench department will fri ghten many of our manufacturers , not so much , p e rhaps , from the superior excellence of the goods themselves as from the way in which they are displayed . The elegant mode in which the richly embroidered velvets , figured poplins , s ilk furnit u re s tuffs , printed and fi gured Cashmere shawls , damasked gau z e , printed mousselines de laine , and other productions of the loom , have been arranged by the manufacturers and merchants of Paris and L yons , disp lays everything to the best possible advantage . Passing from France to Germany and the Zollverein States , I found less to admire in the display of s howy goods , but quite as much to excite alarm
among those of our manufacturers who depend upon the export trade . The beautiful broad and narrow cloths , and many other kinds of woollen and worsted goods , from Austria , Bohemia , Belgium and Moravia , seem quite equal to the best productions of Yorkshire and the west of England . Whether the continental manufacturer can afford to sell them as cheap as Eng lish goods of the same descri ption is another question . I tried to obtain information on that point at several of the foreign stalls , but without success . T he bearded gentlemen who kept watch over them seemed unwilling to advertise the prices of their goods ; and this most untradesmanlike reserve I at once set down to their dread of Eng lish cheapness , which would naturally render them unwilling to assist in promoting any comparison of prices .
As I felt a little anxious to know what kind of exhibition the Americans had m& ^ e in certain descriptions of cotton goods , I passed rapidl y along to the south-east corner of the building , leaving on each iide many an interesting region unexplored till another day . The United States part of the Exhibition is a complete failure in itself , thoug h useful as a foil to some of the neighbouring districts . Jonathan has evidently exercised the same grasp ing disposition here , in asking for too m u ch space , as he does at home with his Texas and Oregon annexations . Onefourth of the apace devoted to the United States would easily have contained all that it has to exhibit .
And yet I could not help fancying that , after all , whether intentional or not , there is something exceeding l y characteristic of a young half-peopled country in the sparse distribution of goods throug hout the extensive , but waste-looking , territory of Yankeedom . Many of the articles they have sent art also singularly in keeping with that character . Huge bales of raw cotton , just as it arrives in Liverpool ; samples of leaf tobacco ; barrels of Genessee buckwheat and flour ; maple sugar ; heaps of Indian corn , on the stalk , in the ear , and after its conversion into homminy and corn meal ; —these , along- " with a host of other farm products , iilled one large section of the Union . In a neighbouring division I found a number of samples of manufactured goods , but
nothing deserving of any special notice . It certainly is not from that quarter of the world that Lancashire and Yorkshire have anything to fear in the meantime . I rnuut confess , however , that I felt considerably disappointed at the very poor display they have made ; nor can they be half pleased themaolves . I saw a good number of Americans in other parts of the Palace , but very few of them near their own territory . The truth is , that the manufacturers of the United States do not seem to have looked upon the Exhibition with much interest . Perhaps they took their notion of what it would bo from the New York . Herald , which lately tried to show that the whole affair wn « a complete humbug , clovised by Prince Albert to make hinwolf popular with the shopkueping and lodg ing hou »« keeuing intore&u of London .
W hile examining a sample of th e most beautiful Sea Island cotton I ever saw ; such a staple as would probabl y bring 3 s . 6 d . per pound , I was accosted by F . M ., an old London friend , who , ever since he read " Mary Barton , " has been trying all he can to understand Lancashire and the factory system . He had just entered jthe Palace , and it being his first visit , he was at a loss where to go in search of the greatest wonders . My advice was , that he should accompany me to the machinery , and according ly , after a few inquiries , we found our way to Class 6 , a portion of which has been fitted up as a sp inning and weaving factory . The sudden change from the brilliant P alace , full of be a utiful statuary , rare and costly greenhouse plants , sparkling fountains , rich
drapery , and gorgeous furniture , to the bare walls , oleaginous odours , a nd incessant whirr of the homel ylooking machine-room , had a most singular effect . S uch a shock mi ght well make any man thoughtful . Fancy yourself transported at once from the dress circle of her Majesty ' s T heatre , with which you are pretty familiar , to the carding-room in one of your own mills , and you will understand what I mean . I spent nearly two hours in this interesting region , first of all in e x p laining the machinery to F . M ., and then in trying to make him understand what the dail y life of a factory operative consists of , and wherein it chiefly differs from that of an ordinarv
artizan , or an agricultural labourer . In answer to his inquiry regarding the ordinary rate of wages , I rather startled him b y stating , that many of our Lancashire operatives actuall y receive as hi g h mone y wages in 1851 , as the y did in 184 7 and 1848 , when food was nearly 100 per cent , dearer than it is at present . But although . I succeeded in putting him ri g ht on this point , I found it utterly hopeless to attempt to persuade Mm that the healthy-looking girls who attend the machiner y in H y de-park factory , are fair average samples , as far as regards health , of the women emp loyed in the factories of Lancashire . In vain did I ask him to make a tour in the manufacturing districts and judge for himself . In spite of all that I had
said about the rate of wages , and the excellent opportunit y of saving money which an industrious well-edu ~ cated famil y , in full employment , may now have , he persisted in asserting that the persons employed in such work , in so hi g h a temperature , could not enjoy good health , under any possible circumstances , nor did he think it at all probable that many of them would ever acquire habits of thrift and economy in the expenditure of their large wages . I gave him a few instances which have come under my own observation , in order to show him what can be done b y a good earl y education , and succeeded at last in making him promise to pay us a visit next autumn , in order that he may study the factory question on the spot , instead of taking his notions of it from books .
After parting with M— I took a hasty survey of the textile manufactures of the United Kingdom , beginning with the beautiful illustration of cottonspinning , in its various stages , from the raw material till it has been transformed into all kinds of cotton goods , —coarse rugs , ordinary printers ' , book muslins , and bobbin net . The most marvellous thing in this department is the specimen of what Mr . Houlds worth ' s men and machinery can do in the spinning of line yarn . A few weeks ago we were told that they had succeeded in reaching 140 O ' s , the greatest feat ever performed in that line . Since thut time they have made several other attempts , and the result of their
ingenuity is now seen here in two samples which surpass the finest yarn ever twined by the delicate ringers of the women of Dacca , from which the celebrated gossamer muslins of that region are fabricated . The one specimen is called 1800 ' s and the other 2150 ' s What think you of that as a sample of what machinery and clever hands can do ? If Ilouldsworth's 700 's yarn sells for £ 30 per lb ., what would a pound of 2150 ' s weft be worth , supposing you could find a weaver able to convert it into cloth ? Upon the whole , however , I must say that the cotton
department forms a very insignificant part of the Exhibition , considering how large a place it fills in our export trade . But the importance of Lancashire is not measurable by the show of goods produced . Any Londoner looking at the rich and beautiful plain and figured silks in the Dublin department , the work of some 200 or 300 poplin weavers , will be far more struck with them , as a brunch of our national industry , than with our plain array of T cloths , domestics , Madapollains , jacconets , and printed goods , which furnish employment and subsistence to more than a million of the population .
How many thousand thoughts crowded through my brain as I paused and repassed . along the stately avenues ami spacious giuleiies of that magnificent temp le of industry ! What a glorious school it must furnish for that aristocracy whom Carlyle describes us sitting idle aloft , " like living statues , like absurd KpicuruB-gods , in pampered isolation , in exclusion from the glorious , fateful battle-field of this ( loci ' s world !" llichurd Kcnnody , whom I mot in one of tho galleries , taking a on refill inventory of the whole Exposition , in his usual accurate calculating style , hud cometo the conclusion that tho wealth there collected could not bo bought for lewa than £ 26 , , 000 .
" Only think of th a t , " said he . " Translate thote figures into Yankee currency , and you hav e 100 , 000 , 000 dollars worth of goods ; or into French money , and it amounts to the startling sum of 637 , 000 , 000 francs . " Now that is certainl y a huge ransom ; and yet we all know that mueh larger sums than that have been wasted by Government , without the sli ghtest complaint on the part of the public , simp ly because few people can realize in their minds the real magnitude of the sums thrown away . At the very moment when I was listening to your friend Kennedy ' s calculations regarding the value of the Crystal Palace and its contents , I happened to see art
old military officer contemplating the Koh-i-noor , a small bit of crystallized carbon , which is valued at £ 2 , 000 , 000 , thoug h not half so large as your thumb . T he si ght of that old man in his military costume , so much out of place in that peaceful congress , reminded me of the mountains of gold , or its equivalent , which have been wasted by war during the last hundred years ; and I could not help thinking that Prince Albert , in devising the Industrial Exhibition , has been fighting under the banner of Richard Cobden rather than under that of Field Marshal the Duke of
Wellington . I have long been , as you are aware , an ardent apostle of the peace doctrines , and I am consequently familiar with all that has been said about the monstrous waste of money caused by war . And yet , my dear Shuttleworth , after all that I have read and heard and spoken on that branch of the question , I feel as if I never had understood it at all till now . The truth is , that men are not much better than children in their use of figures . They talk g libl y enoug h about millions and tens of millions sterling , but without ever attaching a single idea to what they say . There is nothing like a little acquaintance with
real quantities for correcting this defect , and I would recommend a visit to the Crystal Palace as one of the b e st p laces in the world for enabling a man to substitute a knowledge of things for that barren knowled ge of mere words , which is so common and so tiresome even in Manchester . But a truce to lecturing . What I wanted to say on this point simply is , that a sing le year of European war , such as we have witnessed during the present century , would cost as much for powder and scarlet cloth as would build some four or five Crystal Palaces , as large and as richly furnished as the one in Hyde Park .
There is a hint for honest , indefatigable , warmhearted Joseph Crosfield , out of which he will be able to make something in his untiring crusade against the iniquities of the war system . After seeing what the Exhibition reall y consists of , I feel more and more convinced that it will do much good to England . Tlie real ocular demonstration of what foreigners can do in the various branches of human industry , will have more effect in stimulating our artizans , operatives , and manufacturers , to improvement in their severul departments , than a whole army of lecturers and " able editors" can effect , by all their speeches and leading articles on the progress of foreign manufactures .
But I must bring this rambling letter to a close . I have many things yet to say regarding the Palace , its visitors , and the lessons we ought to learn from such a sig ht , but must reserve them till we meet , I am , dear Shuttleworth , Yours faithfully , Tavistock Hotel , May 10 , 1851 . T . B . W .
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The Queen paid a visit to the Exhibition on Monday morning , and again on Wednesday . On the latter occasion the Queen , Prince Albert , and the Itoyal guests at the Palace , were at the building by nine o ' clock . They remained for more than an hour , and were principally engaged in examining tlie objects on the north side of the nave in the British division , especially the " leather , " " paper , " and mineral manufactures , sections , and the Fine Arts Court . It rained heavily during Monday afternoon , and so unfavourable 4 vas the state of the weather that one would have naturally expected to find the Crystal Palace half deserted . Public curiosity has , however , great perueverance when once fairl v excited , and notwithstanding ao formidable a drawback , £ 1000 waa taken in 5 s . payments at the door . The sale of kcuroii tickets also
experienced a decline , but not so great as might have been expected , for nearly £ 750 waa collected in this way —the average having for some days past considerably exceeded £ 800 . At a meeting of the Corporation of London , held in the Guildhall on Saturday , it was resolved that an entertainment or entcrtainmentB hIiouIiI he given to the distinguished foreigners who have visited the metropolis upon the occasion of the Great . Mxhihition of all NatioUH , and a committee was appointed to coruudcr and report upon tlie moHt eligible nieana of accoinplinhing that object in the Guildhall . Wo are ^ iven to under-Htaiid that the plan will be upon flic rnowt magnificent aealo , and in every respect worthy of the Corporation and the remarkable occasion ; and that , in the arrangements , it will not be forgotten that the firHt meeting to receive and carry out the mngnifhient project of Prince Albert took placo at the residence of the chief
magistrate . The Clothworkers' Company , of which the Lord Mayor w a member , are about to invite a number of the most dinti » K «» mhed forei ^ nera who are now in this country to a banquet at their hospitable board , on an early day . It in said that the other companies are preparing to plum tho ( spirit with which they cau bub-
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Untitled Article
May 17 , 1851 . ] 1 £ t > t ILtfa&fr * 455
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 17, 1851, page 455, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1883/page/3/
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