The Press. — London, England, 1855-08-11 00:00:00

75 each case lie on the surface; and, warned by past errors' it will be the fault of the management alone if the speculation be not as successful financially as it has been in magnificence of design and excellence of execution. It is beyond compare the finest ornament of the metropolis we have, and the most attractive place of public resort any capital in the world can boast of. Looking at the points of success and failure, as far as they can be brought out in a balance-sheet, We find that, if not just such as might have been antici pated, they are just such as were deserved. It was an error of the first magnitude in the Directors to attempt to tarn such a building into a vast bazaar, where every person might hire a space for the sale of the most trivial commodities. The revenue de rived from letting off space for such purposes must have been gained at the expense of the general attractiveness and character of the building. Lowther arcade, with its toys, cheap jewellery, and china, is very well in its way, but we do not want to see it trans ported to the Crystal Palace ; a stall for dolls and Noah's Arks next door to the Nineveh Court; cheap perfumery in the midst of Grecian statues, and flash boating-shirts and neck-ties at the very entrance of the Alhambra. Such a plan was unfair to the shop keepers of London, and showed a grasping, sordid spirit in the management, most ridiculously at variance with its claims to public spirit. The public must rejoice that this part of the speculation, though at first it looked promising, has broken down. The rental for space from the opening to the 30th December la.st reached 17,7381., but from the commencement of the present year to the 30th June last only 4,3111. "With regard to the rentals "for space in the building," said Mr. Laing at the meeting on Thursday, " that source had en " tirely failed." Many persons who were willing to try the experiment in the first instance have found it answer so poorly that they have given up their stalls and removed their goods. Empty courts and dismantled walls attest in all directions the failure of this shopkeeping scheme, and detract sadly from the beauty of the interior. The stalls which remain are mostly out of character with surrounding objects. You pass, for instance, from the German Court, with its noble forms and historical recollections, to a stall occupied with little machines for making sausages, and from the Pompeian Court— one of the prettiest and most perfect spectacles in the whole Palace—into a 111 ar tof modern upholstery, with carpets ticketed at so much per yard, and American rocking-chairs recommended as marvels of cheapness. If the enterprise is to thrive, all hope of reaping profit from such tradesmenlike devices must be abandoned. It is only by making the Palace as attractive as possible, and by concentrating in and about the building whatever is most wonderful in nature and beautiful in art, and curious and instrue tive in industry, that people dill 'be drawn in suffi cient 'numbers to make the 'scheme commercially prosperous. It is to the sums received from season tickets and entrance money that the Directors must look for revenue. We venture to predict that the Exhibition will rise immeasurably in estimation and revenue as soon as the paltry notion of deriving profit from letting stalls and shops is discarded. The Directors would then have ample space at their command for exhibi ting—as was done in the Hyde park building—what ever might be deserving special notice from novelty in design, rarity in material, or superiority in work' nianship. Whatever was shown should have some defined title to distinction ; nothing commonplace should be admitted; the productions of modern in dustry should vie in merit with those of ancient art; and the peculiar characteriFtties of the time in which we live, our triumphs in science, in physical invention, in mechanical skill, and in manufacturing art, be re presented on at least equal terms with the great remains of countries which are now but a name, and of ages with whose labours, undertaken with no reference to utility, we can scarcely sympathise. If the Directors were to throw open the building to merit alone, the public would have some sort of guarantee that nothing would be exhibited which was not for sumo reason or other worth looking at, and tLe ugly appearance of bare walls and naked space would soon be remedied. The more varied and curious the contents of the building were made, the more frequently would persons repeat their visits to it. Now the appearance of the interior is spotted—in some parts magnificent, in others mean; the galleries empty, and many courts quite unoccupied. On another point the Directors have been led astray by a commendable but still vulgar misconcep tion. They seem to have thought that it was part of their mission, not only to attract, but to instruct the people. Hence some part of the splendid interior has been made to resemble those provincial mu seums which we recollect in our youth, where hideous images in wood end waxwork were varied with stuffed figures of beasts and reptiles. All those groups of naked negroes and Indians should bo THE PRESS. swept away. They are calculated to excite only terror or disgust. The sylva of different regions of the globe is living and blooming, and may be gazed on with delight, but it is far otherwise with the painted plaster which is made to pass muster for the fauna. Such representations may have their use, as anatomical museums, with their preservations in spirits, have theirs, but they are manifestly out of place in a temple which should be dedicatd to the Beautiful, and to the highest manifestations of genius. In the wide domain of Art and Industry, the Directors may find an amply sufficient dal fbr their exertions to please without trenching on the peculiar ground of zoological gardens and of waxwork shows. Separate spaces might also with advantage be devoted to re freshments, instead of hating stalls and tables with porter-bottles and coffee cups, bread and cheese and pastry, scattered over the whole building. ' - : • It is by steadily keeping in view the one principle that the building should contain whatever is most worthy of being seen and studied, that the manage ment may most rationally look for success. To elevate the mind is really to educate it, but when the whole community is in question it is unwise to make a profession of teaching. They teach themselves best when 'they are unconscious of effort, and when their intellect is roused by the pleasing stimulus affottled to their senses. At present' the commercial prospects of the Com pany are not cheering, though their works have been executed with remarkable fidelity. The building itself is complete, and the grounds already rich in floricultural beauty. So far success has been com plete, and to this success the public have given their applause and patronage. But very much remains to be done to complete the interior of the building, and, with the exercise of all possible economy, a further sum might advantageously be expended for this purpose. If thrown open, however, to merit, as we venture to recommend, the public themselves would probably contribute to the Exhibition its most attrac tive features. Not till the whole vast space inade quately filled with rare and beautiful productions, exhibiting the triumphs of human ingenuity in their endlessly-varied forms, and as manifested in all ages, will the work of the Directors be complete ; and when they have accomplished so much we believe that they will be able to rest on their oars, and securely trust to the tide of public favour for reward. One experiment would be worth trying to give to their enterprise a really national character. The opening of the Exhibition on Sunday has been much discussed, but to such a step there are obvious objec tions, one of the greatest being that it would sanc tion the principle of opening for profit places of amusement. Perhaps the building itself would not be the 'fittest place for Sabbath musings, or for the bodily recreation so much needed by those who have passed the other six days in toil. What our labour. ing classes need on the Sunday is fresh air and some taste of the beauties of nature. No place so well calculated to satisfy these wants can be found within a moderate distance of London as the beautiful grounds of the Crystal Palace. Why might not the Company throw them open gratuitously during the Sunday afternoon ? Their ordinary attendants would suffice to preserve order, or an arrangement might be made for the attendance of a sufficient number of policemen. The constitution of the charterwould not, we imagine, present any difficulties which might not be easily removed. We do not think the Company would lose anything by their liberality. Perhaps it might tend to attract the labouring classes in larger num bers to the interior of the Palace at other times. At any rate those poor toilers in our metropolis whose pleasures are so rare, and their hours of recreation so scant, would have opened to them on their sole day of leisure a garden of surpassing beauty, where they might refresh their senses by a scene of almost fabulous splendour, behold the beauty of Nature in harmony with the creations of Art, learn how natural to the mind is the love of elegance and order, and be the wiser and better for their cheerful, innocent, healthful excursion. Such a step would raise the Company above a mere trading body, and give it some title to expect assist ance from the State, should such assistance ever be needed. THE HANOO MASSACRE. THE letter of Lieutenant GENESTE is conclusive. His evidence was alone wanting to decide the truth or falsity of the Seaman 3;taowN's tale, and in every important particular Lieutenant GENESTE fully cor roborates the statements of the wounded sailor, and controverts the assertions of the Russian officers. The boat, carrying a flag of truce, approached the pier, upon which one or two women only were seen— the three prisoners were landed—and Lieutenant GENESTE and Dr. EASTON, accompanied by the stewards, one of whom carried the flag of truce, approached the telegraph-house in order to commu- SATURDAY, ' nicate with the officer of the station, if he were there—when suddenly Russian soldiers, concealed behind the rocks and houses, rose and fired or them and on the boat, killing and wounding several of the crew, and bayoneting one. Surrounded on all sides, and seeing the utter inutility of resistance, not a shot was fired in return ; the remainder of the boat's crew surrendered at discretion, and were imme. diately packed off to Eckness in carriages ready at band. Such is a summary of Lieutenant GENESTE'S lefter. But one inference can be drawn from this state ment—that the act was deliberately planned by the Russians. The concealment of the troops, the car riages ready at hand, the sudden and hasty fireng upon the boat's crew without giving them one moment to parley, bespeak a premeditated plan to capture or kill the party at all hazards. Prince DOLGOROIMI contends, in his letter to Admiral Dusnas, that it was the duty of Lieutenant GENESTE to avoid approaching within gunshot until the flag of truce had been recognised or refused. Upon this point there does not appear to be any clear understanding between Admiral DONDAS and Prince DoLoosouxt. The question to be decided is, whether a belligerent is compelled to ackno,lledge a flag of truce either by refusal or acceptance. such flag is a sign of amity. Has an enemy the right, if he pleases, to pay no attention to it, and thus, by giving the party who bear it 'reason to think that there is no armed force at hand, lead them into an ambuscade and insure their destruction? Prince DoLooftotrar appears to argue that a flag of truce is to be no protection unless it be in some way recog nised. To recognise it is not necessarily to allow it; and is it not utterly barbarous and contrary to usage among civilised natilms to refuse to recognise it? If the position of the Russian Minister of War be correct we may not be able to claim the release of the prisoners as a right. But be seems afraid to urge this defence boldly ; he will not allow that the flag of truce was intentionally fired on, though he must know that it is vain to contend it was not seen. Prince Doicionouxf observes that there must be a limit to the stratagems of war. He is right. We desire only to know whether that limit is to include ambuscades for flags of truce. If such stratagems are to be deemed lawful our commanders will be on their guard; but' that no question of the kind has previously been mooted, so far as we can recollect, is some kind of presumption that a flag of truce has ever heretofore been deemed inviolable except when warning has' been 'given that it would not he received. • A Pears correspondint of the Indipendence Belge says, that as the moment of Queen Victoria's visit to Paris draws near, crowds of English from all parts of the globe are pouring into Paris. " The streets, gardens, cafes, squares, museums, are thronged with Englishmen. Englishmen take possession of the orchestra stalls and the restaurants, and it is almost impossible to find any one you can speak to in the inidst of this frightful dash of English, Scotch, and Irish patois ; the jargon or the Welsh mixing with the broken gibberish of the people from London. Upon the walls you see nothing bat English bills posted up English spoken here ;' there's not a shop where you don't read this charitable notice. You enter, and find that they speak English by signs! London is no longer in Hyde-park, in Regent-street, in Belgrave-square, nor Greenwich, but at the Tuileries, upon the boulevards, and at the Champs Elysees." THE PERIODICAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF PATENTS has l 4 n issued, from which it appeiLti that the number o: aptilications for provisional regis tration recorded within the year 1854 was 2,784, the number of patents passed thereon was 1,876, the number of specifications filed in pursuance thereof was 1,828, and - the number of applications lapsed or forfeited, the applicants having neglected to proceed for their patents within the six months of provisional protection, was 888. The balance sheet of the commissioners shows an expenditure of 42,2021. 6s. 9d. on acccount of printing and lithographic drawing, as compared to 10,831/. 10s. 2d. in 1853. he expenditure for the current year is estimated at 30,0001., of which sum it is calm': lated not more than 12,0001. will be expended in printing the specifications, indexes, &c., of the Tear, leaving 18,030/. to be expended in printing tt.B specifications enrolled previous to the act of 1852: The salaries paid in the year amounted to 3,8,864 the fees to law officers to 8,849/., the compensating to 4 5371.. and the current and incidental expenat 8 to 3,3421. The stamp duties paid upon pa tl g patents in the year amounted to 53,0301. in, le was a surplus of 10,6721. on the expenditure of the year.