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former ducal residence of the famous Geraldine family . Thus , therefore , the stranger from England , who comes incommoded with luggage , can walk , in about five minutes' time , from the place of his outshooting from the railway carriage right into this really glorious shop , paying , of course , his single shilling for th 6 admission ,. for here , in Dublin , as was before in London , the shilling seems to haves become the one unaltered price at these Exhibitions . Yet there are extreme differences to be observed , in
many things , between the two scenes , as a whole—the Exhibition of London and this one of Dublin ; and thus I would caution my reader not to be in an over hurry to accompany me through the entire interior of the place , but to have a little patience , and , ere he has passed the unreturnable shilling-paying Carrier , to make a trifling delay in examination of the state of matters in the immediate neighbourhood of the building , as also of the appearance which the building itself makes in its outward character . The building , however , shall be honoured with the priority in this notice .
In passing along Mernon-street , either from the northern or southern quarters of the city , the square , which bears the same name , opens grandly before the eye , as you come directly upon it , at the close of your advances . There are none of the London squares so extensive in area as is this one of Merrion ; and Stephen ' s-green , another of the Dublin quarters of the wealthy and the f a shionable , is even much larger , although the space inclosed on the estate under notice , is said to be upward of twelve acres , the footway surrounding the railing being , as I should suppose , full
fifteen feet wide , and the road itself some fifty or sixty feet ; three sides of the space so inclosed—beautiful with trees , shrubs , flowers , and exquisite patches of grass—flanked by lofty and cleanfaced houses , and the remaining side adorned with the one paramount erection of this young Ireland ' s most praiseworthy industrial endeavour ; for paramount it is , indeed , beyond comparison to any other structure in the country . And yet what is it ? A something which neither looks human habitation-like , nor church-like , nor theatrelike , with big outjutting and rounded centre part , and a lesser and still Jesser likeness of the same feature on
each side , just as one may imagine of a hen with an equal number of chickens , Tmd placed in a similar mode , but magnified a , million-million fold , as regards herself and brood . There she immovably sits , or squats , that mighty bird , or something else , with her four young counterparts , two on each side , not hid beneath her wings , but pressing up against them , and uncaring to move away from such endeared protection .
Very remarkable altogether is this building , but only , as described , when you have fairly come upon its presence , and then but by taking the trouble to cross over to the railing of the opposite square for the sake of the broader view , the Crystal Palace of Hyde Vark catching and entrancing the eye at a "very long distance , whereas in the present instance the thing is very different , and even then you only can see its forward parts , the bulgy breast of the great hen accompanied by her little ones .
Another similitude may bo trace d , that of an immense Bteam-boiler , with two other boilers of a graduated undergrowth placed on each side , and the colour dark , as is commonly the case with such articles , the whole five overlookin g , in their different degrees , tho fragile-liko incase of wood which forms tho outside of the structure , the lower story of thi « casing being perforated with a main central place of entrance , and others on each the wings , and no windows anywJioro to be Keen , so that one is at a loss to know how the inner portions are lighted . Y « t , as we are [ perfectly aware that the interior lias an ' abundance of light , because otherwise tho purpose of tho
placo could not be fulfilled , ho thero is no disappointment , the stranger merely holding his expectation in nbeyaneo until lie has discovered the cumim" by which this principal object is effected . But if there i « an absence of tho observable in window ( bore is n fully recompensing plenitude of outside gallery as may be seen by tho many people who are "njoynigly walking to and fro on the railed-in platform winch may bo considered jih the divisional marking of the Kecond story of the building , while another piece of HimiJarly rail-protected footway , but of diminished proportions , marks a higher ntory , and then thero is
nnothor at the extreme ( op , though it is but rarely ( bat any person is observed making use of those higher esplanades . Doubtless , however , on the visits of the Queen , there was not an inch of standing-room unoccupied throughout * the whole extent of t . ucne outside galleries—a . scene which iaunt have been extremel y inipoHing , the royal party nppronching in all the gorgeous gaiety of Much a moment , imd thousands of unoovcrod and bonneted heads lookin /^ eagorly down on the Hpleiulid cavalcade which whs thero presented before the gaze of nil who wore ranged along thoao rmllerioH . *
AH tln ' H , however , had passed away Jit tho time of my firnt , vimt to the mune building ; for now the whole hcoiio wan comparatively quiet , though , porhapn , the early hour of the day at which I made thiu visit had
something to do in such result , where the contrast with what I had previously witnessed at Hyde-park was extreme indeed . But then , there is no London but one •—nor never was , nor possibly will ever be again , after the decline of this marvellous modern Babylon—should such a terrible decadence ever come about ; and hence the astounding lifeftiiness of London is not to be found , in the close neighbourhood of this Dublin Exhibition ^ as was the case near the Crystal Palace of 1851—that
unceasing , bustling , driving in Upon it which was there so observable , crowds on crowds during all parts of the early and middle-day , hurrying onward to , and onward through , the Park in all directions , from the higher or Oxford-street side , from the lower or Kensington-road , or the still lower Chelsea , Pimlico , and Brompton avenues , and thicker—far thicker still—from the great Piccadilly thoroughfare , and angle-ways , on and on , through the nearer parks of Sfe . James ' s and the Green Park .
And then the very manner of this crowding was alike marvellous—in coach , gig , omnibus , cab ,, market-cart , as well as on the two flesh-covered feet , of every perfect-footed pedestrian , and on the one leg of many a veteran pensioner from the far Greenwich and the nearer Chelsea , or , occasionally , on the no leg at all of certain of these war-worsted old sailors and soldiers , and so they came stumping it along—plump ! plump ! on flag or other pathway , everything and everybody pushing vigorously onward , horse aud donkey , manhood and womanhood , and boys and girls , toward the one great goal of attraction—that wonderful House of Glass , of which the world will never have done hearng .
In Dublin the contrast in this matter struck me most forcibly , even although I had endeavoured to prepare my mind for some such difference in the appearance of the two scenes ; but still there arose a feeling of damaging comparison as relative to the potency of London over ! Dublin—of the Saxon and the Celtic element ; for however I might endeavour to reason on the thing , or to make out the best possible cause in excuse , still the fact itself was a stern one , and had a somewhat saddening influence over me-at the moment of such reflection . At the London Exhibition the stream of human life '"came onward by thousands , here but by tens , just as if a comparison were drawn between the thick hurrying to and fro over London-bridge and the much attenuated numbers who make use of such a
bridge as Putney , or the halfpenny toned bridge which here crosses the Liffey . Still there was a crowding , an undeniable crowding , to this Dublin Exhibition ; a crowding such as , to Merrion-square—as I have been told , and can well believe—is quite unusual ; for even in this square , magnificent as it is from general grandeur of outline , an awful number of houses were untennntcd antecedent to the Exhibition ; but now everything of this deplorable unsightliness has disappeared —of those horribly ugly announcements in such a beautiful quarter , as " This house to be let , " and so on , in the windows perhaps of every third or fourth mansion .
This fact has been stated to moon reliable authority ; but now it is the fact no more ; either the native gentry of Ireland or the stranger gentry having thought proper to take to those houses in < the way mentioned ; and not only is it thus to Merrion-squaro alone , but in every other of the lately so melancholy , house-letting quarter of Dublin . And various other advantages have also arisen from this Exhibition to Dublin , for even the very flag-ways of the fine squaro near which it is placed have been widened , levelled , and lowered ; every broken stone replaced by a perfect one , and the utmost cleanliness commanded and bestowed .
And , generally , the like spirit of renovation has taken effect—as all about tho Hank , College-green , in the broad Dame-strcot , aud other places , testify ; wherever , in fact , finch care seemed needful ; a circumstance which tho stranger is made rarely cognizant of , because his inquiries may neither lie in this'way , nor any one think it worth while to give him such information . But it is now full time to bo doing Homething more than thus wearying the render by these prefatory . sentences ; and as then ; is no inconvenient crowding about the several doors of inlot to tho Groat Shop which I came all the wn . y from London to inspect , ho
now , with the usual ( shilling holtl between my lingers , I pmiH comfortably forward to the wlieel-enink of one of tho money-fakers of the place , drop my bit of rounded silver in t , h < . proper method before- him , push gently a ^ aintst tho firs t fan of . the wheol which pre-Hentu itwdf , 1 im > 1 tho hindering catch in immediately taken away , und next moment 1 am within , free to range whensoever 1 like—look at all 1 like " best to look ad take poncilled notes of whatever I mayehooso more carefully to examine than usual , and thus in my own fashion to secure the worth of my fih ill ing , as jiIko the utmost share of reoompenco for tho oxp . en . so of journeying to Dublin .
And , reader , now that I havo arrived at tho inside , I feel there in no longor any fstraugo similitude to bo drawn between thin building mid either of the other objects to which I havo already roforrod , but that tho
whole of what I see makes even a glorious spectacle Spacious , and widening out to the fright and left into still greater spaciousness , with the chastened sunshine streaming in upon all—upon every visitor and every article tbere to be seen , in a manner which showed that , the one oblong-. roof window now discernable rendered any other description of window useless , the light being at once so abundant and exquisitely softened . This Benson building , then , has much of both a high and pure splendour to recommend it to eyes like mine—eyes in no way skilled , certainl y , in a knowledge of the perfect in architecture , but yet having a capacity to enjoy , in some degree , the elegant and gorgeous ; and elegance united with gorgeousnesa is assuredly fully present in the novel construction of this marvellous shop .
Ireland ' s mud and cmnmeyless cabins , and this brilliant building on the lawn of the Royal Dublin Society ' s premises , formerly the frontage of Kildare House ! Could there be two things more dissimilar than these associations in the one thought—the idea of rags and hunger , and every conceivable discomfort , contrasted with a scene like the one under notice- —the projected , and alimented , and nursed into vigorous maturity by a Dargan , and which has but just received the deservingly bestowed visit of the Queen of wide-spread millions , her own palace offering no single ensemble of such profuse enrichment as that which she had thus come to witness ia Ireland—that Ireland which , as Erin ' s own beloved poet has pictured her , has never yet had a smile in her eye unaccompanied by a tear .
Really , as every true Irishman must say in his heart , in the presence of this building , " that Dagan must be the delight of a fellow ; " a very favourite mode of Irish gratulatory expression , this prefix of " delight , " and assuredly it could never be better bestowed than in the present instance . Dargan , indeed ^ is altogether a splendid specimen of the true man ; and that fond Irish expression is apt and deserved by the man whose present position in riches and honour has been really self-won ; therefore do I , whose line of life has , been cast among the lowly toilers of this world , feel a glowing pride in offering this recognition of my homage- —not having
the least envy of sucli success , as one who has neither achieved fame nor wealth ; and yet am I proud for those of the class of the toiler , who occasionally override all obstacles , and come forth before every eye in excelling brightness and goodness conjoined , no jealousy being able to eclipse the glory nor cast a doubt upon the reality of such virtue . And how wonderful is the magic of this high , and pure , and far-spread reputation of the man Dahgan ! I am at work at a lo \ v-pnid trade in London , and on my hearing of the great doing which Dargan is
workin g for the future good of Ireland , and how the Queen herself , as the newspaper sheets tells me , wont over to Ireland in consequence of what Dargan has already done there , so , at all hazards , I scramble , like many more of my own class , a pound or two together , and off I am by rail and steam-ship to get to Dublin also ; and now the thing is accomplished , and I am pleasurably gazing within this munificent p ile of a Dargan and a Benson ' s joint creative and sustaining power—a conception mid an achievement of the largest promise as regards the hitherto so deeply distracted Ireland , but now tho truly hopeful and cheerful . Oh
Still one must not bo over sanguine , even now . , no ! for , as before hinted , Dublin is not London- — Ireland not England ; and perhaps no severer proof of the truth of such remark can be oftbrod than that which the very first visit to this Exhibition affords . And why so ? Simply because now that I am within tho building—within tliis shop for the display of all kinds of work , useful and ornate—I do not find that among the many spectators which I see around me— - and the number is really large : not less , I ahonld suppose , than tan or twelvo thousand—I do not find that there aro the proper mustering of the Irish working classes here—of thoso men who havo to make everything of the makeable . , and superintend ovcrythmg ,
every procoss of the growable , be it potato or csibuu # « > common as theso . articles may bo considered . 1 <> l > - Horvo , in short , scarcely n real frieze coat upon tlw bark of any of my ' companions in this place , wlici ' ' ! ' * as I remember at tho Jlyde-park ' gathering of l" > h there was not a day on which I visited that scene , bun a goodly sprinkling of tho wnock-frock of the lunfiUM pennant , might be traced , many of these muni "" worthies having been afforded tho means of thejoiirnj . y hv
by the landlords ; under whom tUey ^ w < - w " hom they toiled . Generosity , I should ( suppose , « this kind , " in not unknown in Ireland ; but ho tlio " appeared on tho day I H |> eak of ; while , fihonltl uyiu J chance what I am thus Buying come to the lieanuo the Irish landlord intern ^ , and the Irwli ei > ntup generally , I hope the proper hint will be take , as thus thrown out by ouo , who , in rfch t of ln » <>* " I' ™ tion in life has often known what it in to Jiftvo . i i . b desire to bo informed of some particular ol hji >< ¦ service to himself , and yut to be wholly vowo . ru . hj wards satisfying Mich < 1 < buo , for the want oi « ^ dispensable and all-poworful liolp- umto—the «><> ' 3 to meet tho oxponeo .
Untitled Article
944 THE LEA DEB . LSatttr » jly ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 1, 1853, page 944, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2006/page/8/
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