The Express.
London, England, 1855-02-05 00:00:00

THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

The attractions of the Crystal Palace have, during
the past week, bid • nallset defiance to the dreadful
weather, and seen day has exhibited a respectable return
a emote, whore curiosity must indeed have been strong
to induce them to take a journey of six or seven miles into
the country in the face of an easterly wind, and with the
thermometer almost at Zero. Toe effect of tios building,
when partially covered with snow and glittering with frost,
was singularly beautiful ; and the visit Jr well up in fairy
tales might have easily imagined it to be the dwelling of
some giant enchanter, the antediluvian family of Mr.
Waterhouse Hawkins being the dragons perpetually on
guard at the entrance. The artificial water wee daring the
week covered with ice, and formed a safe skating ground. This
was soon found out by t ie London parineurs, great numbers
of whom finked daily to Sydenham, to enjoy, on so favour-
able a site, their exciting sport.
King Frost has, however, now gone, and taken with him
all his brilliant icicles; but it is to ba hoped he has left the
ground in a fit state to throw up the bloom of the large
stock of the camellia japonica with which the gardens are
ornamented. The interior of the building looks compara-
tively solitary, and the large screens bane up at each end,
to keep the heat round the palms and orange trees, do not
improve the general effect ; but the enclosures thus formed
afford comfortable accommodation to the band and the
limited salaams; and the latter daily enjoy • select con-
cert from the newly introduced reed instruments
which are universally admitted to be • great im-
provement on the sounding brass and tinkling cymbals
of former times. The courts for exhibitors are
rapidly approaching completion, and really look
very gay and attractive, all that is necessary to complete
the effect being a number of well arranged stalls covered
with tastefully selected goods. The Sheffield wart,
although of nondescript design, is as brilliant as a scene in
a pantomime, and will, in consequence of the mirrors with
which it is surrousdsd, be no doubt a popular lounge with
the fairer portion of the visitors. The other trading courts
are also nearly finished, and will, if properly managed, stand
a good chance of becoming at length a source of profit to the
company. In the end of the palace devoted to the fine-art
courts all labour has long °eased, and it is only in
the Alhambra that a mysterious•looking red cur-
tain conceals a still unfinished portion of the de-
sign. Here the artistic student and visitor of taste
may now revel amongst the chefrd'cesetv of soulpturs
end architecture undisturbed by the idle crowd, and
unjostled by the provision baskets of the skimmer visitors•
The various objects of art can now be seen and studied at
leisure, and many of the smaller treasures will be noticed,
which in more crowded times would not have been observed-
Amongst these latter, attention cannot be too strongly di-
rected to the beautiful collection of cabinet pictures in
water-colours, the work of Mr. Vest, and painted by that
gentlemen to the order of the Crystal Palace directory.
They are one hundred and thirty or forty in number, and
are the traits of a tour through all the great ocatineutal
galleries. They comprise copies of all the great Beh-
eads, Titian', Habeas, Ole., in Europe, and in every case a
very successful attempt is made to communicate • satisfactory
idea of the style, drawing, and colouring of the master. To
those who only know the great galleries by the descriptions
of the hand books, a careful inspection of this elegant little
collection will be invaluable, while the more travelled
visitor cannot fail to acknowledge their great artistic merit
and fidelity. Might we suggest to Mr. Digby Wyatt, who
rules supreme in this department, that a splendid work in
chromo-lithography might be compiled from even a selec-
tion of Mr. West's drawings ? A beginning has already
been made in the fine-art campaign, by the publication of a
most attractive *sties of coloured lithographic views of the
interior, under the inspection of Mr. Wyatt, and the skilful
manipulation of Messrs. Day and Sons ; and should this first
attempt be as saceeestal as it deserves to be, encouragement
will be gives for the more ambitious publication we have
suggested. Turning from the fine to the industrial arts,
there is something immediately within the southern entrance
well deserving the visitor's attention. This is • Crimean
tent, furnished with the admirable little stove which the
Patriotism of the Belmont Candle Company has contrived
for our poor soldiers in the Bast. It appears to be admirably
adapted for its purpose, and has that first desideratum in
camp furniture—great portability. The invention eonsists

of a small iron bon stove, end its peculiar advantage is that
it can be heated by candle flame. To obtain this in sufficient
quantity, flat cakes of cocoa steering are provided, each
of which contains sin wicks, of which the whole or part
may be illuminated according to the quantity of hest re
quired. The cost, where only one cake of fuel is required.
will be a penny en hour; whoa two, twopence, and so on.
If the stoves be fed once in eight hours an even heat will
be obtained throughout the twenty-four hours of greater
or less degree according to the quantity of feel employed.
This wonderful little stove will boil, bake, or stew; while
all the time it warms the hands and dries the clothes of the
trench-weary soldier, so that it is hardly possible to imagine
a greater boon for our troops before Sebastopol. It is
gratifying to be able to add that government have
in this instance accepted the proffered usistance of
practical men, and that lugs numbers of these
stoves have been order. d, the contractors liberally
supplying them at cost price, without a farthing profit-
From these useful revolutions in ankieg there is a natural
and easy transition to the refreshment department of the
Crystal Palace—of which the directors have, it appears, had
enough, although the receipts during the past season
reached the enormous total of fifty thousand pounds. Tire
whole has new been handed over, under an equitable
arrangement, to Misers. Staples, of the Albion, and the
name of that eminent firm is a sufficient guarantee that this
all-important department will be properly organised and
amply supplied. One thing, however, the contractors
must recollect—and that is, that it is from the shilling

and sixpenny customers the great balk of the receipts
must come, and th►t therefore it will he for their
interest to provide for the working elassee, who will no
doubt flock to the building in the fine weather holidays,
good wholesome and palatable refreshment on the most
moderate possible terms. It will not do to exile the men in
moleskin and their families is gloomy wildernesses under
ground, there to eat the scrape that fall from the rich man's
table above stairs. Attention must be paid not only to their
appetites, but their feelings ; and if this be done, there is
every reason to believe that Messrs. Staples will have no
reason to repent of their contract. It must never be for-
gotten that all the great commercial nemeses of the present
century have been achieved by well-directed appeals to the
great shilling public.

The Right Honourable the Speaker entertained
the following gentlemen at his first parliamentary dinner
on Saturday : The Rt. Hon. Viscount Palmerston, G.C.8.,
the Rt. Hon. Earl of Mulgrave, the Rt. Hon. Viscount
Drumlaurig, Lord Elcho, the Rt. Hon. Lord Ernest Brace,
Lord Alfred Hervey, Right Hon. Sir George Grey, G C.B.i
the Secretary at War, the Judge Advocate, the Rt. Hon. H.
F. Cowper, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt. Hon.
Sir Charles Wood, Rt. Hon. H. G. Hayter, Rt. Hon. Sir
William Moleeworth, Rt. Hon. Edward Cardwell, Rt. Boa.
Sir John Young, Hon. Henry Mtn, Rt. Hon. Sir Begja
. . _

min Hall, the Attorney-General, the policitor-General, Mr.
Peel, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Chichester Porteseue, Admiral Berke-
ley, C B , Mr. Grenville Berkeley, Mr. Lowe. The Rev. Mr.
Gaoler and the Secretary were present. The following
gentlemen were unable to be present: The President of
the Poor Law Board, the SJlicitor General for Ireland, the
Lord Advocate of Scotland, and Mr. Bernal Osborne,

The Leeds subscriptions to the Patriotic Fund
aow amount to 12,3001.

PRIVATE VIEW OF THE EXHIBITION OP
THE BRITISH INSTITUTION.

The spring campaign of the fine arts has
as usual, in the salons of the British Institution.
Pall-mall; and after as careful a consideration as a
half-day divided among 560 works would admit
we are disposed to consider that its prospects are good,
that there is a decided tendency to progress en the
part of exhibitors, and that the dilettanti conductors
of this gallery may be allowed the flattering unction
that for the season they are assisting " the promotion
of the fine arts in the United Kingdom," thus carry.
ing out the object of their incorporation.
At the poet of honour in the north room we find
our old familiars Sidney Cooper and Creswit.k. The
one presents an unexceptionable cow and some fresh,
crisp, very woolly sheep ; the other a charming
English "Cottage Home." These works of the
admirable artists evince, we are pleased to say, that
they have not yet passed the apex of that "Montague
Busse" one elope of which is toil and study, tho
other carelessness and decay. •
Mr. Bouvier's picture, " The Changeling" (4)--
perhaps a commission from a decorative potter—is
unworthy of his excellent bit of sentiment, the
" Thorny Path" (261). J. Wilson, jun., gives to
" A fresh Breeze off Broadstairs" (40), and " The
South Foreland" (311). The treatment of Mr.
Wilson's subjects is never faulty; hie seas are all
dancing and sparkling in the light ; for uur mere
vocation's sake we might suggest a little more definite
geology, and another key of colour as a change
occasionally. " A Watering Place" (26), the joint
production of F. R. Lee, KA., and 1. S. Cooper,
A.R.A. is a bad whole, and unworthy of both; Irbil.
Mr. Lee in his Scotch landscape (34) has very truth-
fully rendered the hard, chilly, leaden mountain
atmosphere. The involuntary shiver of the spectator
bears witness to the clever hit of the artist, who has,
however, thrown away no time on the production.
T. Denby's " Ladies of the Woods" are anatomi-
cally correct and very nicely painted, but the lady.
like birch trees are too spare to be agreeable objects.
Mr. G. Jones, R.A., must have some secret power
over the honourable proprietors of the gallery to
have procured the prominent intrusion of his fright-
' ful sketch, No. 45, into its present position,
' " Free Sittings" (56), a careful church interior,
and the " Wheatsheat" (80), by F. Underhill, exhibit
great breadth and power of colour, with unmistake
able "intention" and nerve. We fancy the drawing
of the arm of the little one under the wheat-shock w
slightly defective. The joint may be out of order, or
the shade misplaced, but when pictures are found
aloft that are worthy of all the "lines" in Christen.
dom, artists must forgive us, and once for all we
claim this grace, if our eyesight betrays us into error.
Mr. Dawson's " Brocas Clump" (57) is a rich toned
cork ; its outlines most correct, and there is no
timidity in the master's hand. Perhaps the haze
which pervades the picture is a trifle too heavy.
No. 62 we consider perhaps the best of the Mews.
Williams' productions. It has a merit common to
L the works of this artistic family. It is of a pleasing
i class—we fear of too saleable a class to allow a/
much hope of material improvement here.
"Hear Thou in heaven thy dwelling-place" (63
by Mr. Sant, is a fine work ,of the Lawrence school.
The drapery is rich, the painting of the hands firm
; and good, and the devotional expression perfect.
, "The Road to the Homestead " (64), by Mr. J. S.
Raven, we may set down as a masterly landscape,
. daring and successful. We have fine tree anatomy,
a curious semi-opaque screen of dark green trees, a
. "sunbeam that has lost its way," some solid, freely
painted, leafless stumps—in fact, all the accessories of
a woodland scene, depicted with great spirit and
truth.

Mr. G. E. Hering's great picture of the Lego
Maggiore (69) is a line, evenly painted panorama,
and the aerial perspective successfully bears the eye
to an almost illimitable distance.

" Clovelly " (81), by S. P. Jackson, is a free and bold
coast scene of the Stanfield school. The stonework
of the pier is very carefully studied. We would
suggest to the spectator that a focal length of 10 or
12 feet be taken as the point of view for this picture.
Mr. Dearle exhibits two good and clever pieme—.
the " Salmon Trap" (No. 46), and a " Welsh River—.
Evening" (85). Both were evidently painted on the
spot, and evince • feeling for nature and successful
study; but it seems to us the colouring of the trees,
in No. 85 especially, is feeble, and lacks decision.
The " Cottage Door" (84), by Mr. Cobbett, is a de.
lightful piece of the true English school. All that is
excellent and artistically useful among the fancies el
the pre-Raphaelite school has been adopted by Mr.
Cobbett, and grafted on to his style with much tests
and success.

In Mr. Cooke's " Venice" (108) he is himself, and,
for the sake of the " Trabacolo •round," we excess
the presence of his Zuyder Zee (7)
We never saw a more charming performance of Mr.
Goodall in his own peculiar line than the "Interior'
(113), and felicitate him on his undiminished power of
handling and of interesting.
Mr. T. Earl (130) and Mr. T. Hill (131) exhibit
interesting and clever interiors; the former is a little
too solid, perhaps because out of his own domain;
but his talented confrere of Suffolk-street has quite
spiritualised the little Irish cabin.
Mr. Barraud's Evangeline is rightfully and ten-
derly conceived. There is much good treatment, bat
the tone altogether is too flat and chalky.
We must notice Mr. Joy's historical picture at
another opportunity, and pass to Copley Field-
log, who has a Southdown view (No. 148), a
Seaside piece (223), and four others. We believe
it would be as flat heresy not to admire Copley
Fielding as it would be uncongenial. He is alwayrs
true to nature—broad and expressive. We would
now and then prefer certain of his subjects to have
been in water colours, but there is no bit of moor.
land fell, or reach of stormy waters of his painting
that an observer may not have set n the double of in
nature. This is the great secret ot a painter's sue-
cess, that he should force upon us the pleasures of
memory, and flatter our taste by giving embodied
form to what were but our crude recollections.

"The Sybil," by Mr. Desanges (153), is a most
anmystic sybil in good sooth. She is a charming
thing of every-day flesh and blood, soft eyes, round
face, and beautiful hands. She is well painted, and
her features recal some well-remembered aid popular
French lithographs; but we must protest in her own
sweet name against her great brawdy shoulders.
Mr. H. Selou's "Od Bias" (155) is hard, as are
his works in general. The buoyant flippancy of t►e
hero is well made out in pose, face, and figure, while
the choking of the obese licentiate is most unpleasiugly
natural.

Mr. T. Danby a " Trophies of Youth" (161) is,
perhaps, the landscape of the Exhibition. There is a
religious repose about the deep emb-somed pool,
broken only by the simple and interebting figures,
that will not fail to stay the steps of all, and make
many a passer-by wish he could linger and medi-
tate in a scene so fall of poetry.
Hard by is Mr. Branwhite's " Winter's Afternoon •
(175), a work wot thily as the above admitted to the
honour and profit of the " Line." The only objection
to this picture be, that ;the spectator cannot teel the
wintry chill he ought. There is a rich warm glow
over all—perhaps a thought too bright ; but again,
allowance must be made for the fall in the tone
which must soon ensue. The work is hard, dashing,
and elaborate ; the rugged, leafless boughs are en-
twined uncompromisingly, yet naturally; the dis-
tances are • xtensive, and well kept. The poor cattle
cleverly dashed in on the margin of the frozen pool
mutely illustrate their own disappointment and
despair.
Lance and his Fruit are here in force. A wondrous
pile of comestibles scatters gold and blushes over a
large caabas (168). Not to admit them as the no
plus ultra in this walk of art would be arrogant
hypercriticism indeed. And who that ever liked a
" little doggy " can fail to covet our little pet by
Keyl (182). For ourselves, we were minded to call
him out of his frame, and pat him, then and there.
Here we must pause at present, but there is matter
in reserve for another article.—Daily Netee.