The Press.
London, England, 1857-05-09 00:00:00

NOTICEi OF MOTION.

Mr. Dtmervr, for Tuesday, the 1•1 th of May, for a Bill to
repeal the Aot 10 h sn I 17th of Victoria, to make provision for
the protection of wo•nen and children, and to prevent delay and
expense in the admlnlatration of certain parts of the criminal
law.

Mr. POEBUCk, of the following resolution far that day fort-
rihh :—That in the opinion of this house the representation of
the people is not in a satisfactory condition, and therefore 'hat
the at.ention or Parliament ought, on the lirst practicable
opportunity. to he applie I to the subject, for the purpose of
rendering this tionso a correct representative of the feelings
an hiteresta of the people."

- -
Mr. LOCKE KlNG—that on Tuesday week he should move for
leave to bring in a bill to extend the borough franchibe to
r. ttities.

Mr. H. BERRZLEV—that he should, on an early day, call the
attention cf the house to the question of the ballot.
Lord Ti. Cacti—that on an early day he should move to in-
troduce a bill, emroweiing the taking of votes iu counties and
universities by voting-papers.

The funeral of the Duchess of Gloucester took
place yester,lay, when the remains of her Royal
Highness were removed and placed in the royal
vaults of S. George's Chapel, Windsor. Their
Royal Highnesses Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales,
and. the Duke of Cambridge attended.

THE PRESS.

THE MANCHESTER EXHIBITION.

TIIE Exhibition of Art Treasures was formally
opened on Tuesday by his Poyal Highness the
Prince Consort.

The whole of the previous night workmen had
been employed concluding and perfecting the
arrangements, and by six o'clock in the morning
Manchester was astir for the day's proceedings.
The Prince Consort, attended by Visconnt
Torrington, Major-General the Hon. C. Grey,
Colonel Francis Seymour, C. 8., and Lieut. Colonel
Ponsonby, had left Buckingham Palace at half-past
six a.m., and a little after seven had started by
train from the Enston station for Manchester. The
royal train arrived at Cheadle at twenty-fivo minutes
past eleven, and Prince Albert descended amid the
enthusiastic cheering of an immense crowd. His
Royal Highness was immediately conducted by Mr.
Watts, the Mayor of Manchester, to the carriage in
waiting for him, the suite following. The carriages
were at once formed in procession, and started off at
a rapid pace. A number of vehicles followed to the
Mayor's residence, Abney hall, a little beyond
Cheadle, where Prince Albert was to remain about
an hour for rest and refreshment.

The preparations made for the ceremony within
the Exhibition building were of the simplest kind.
A dais, six steps from the floor, and covered with
red cloth, was erected in the transept immediately
in front of the orchestra. On the top was a square
piece of rich tapestry, and there stood the chair of
state in crimson velvet and gold used by Prince
Albert during the ceremony. A tall Venetian mast
rose or. either side, from the point of which
depended a banner, on the one of yellow and on the
other of blue silk, and bearing the arms respectively
of England and Gotha, with the mo;teea, " Dieu et
mon droit," and " Treu and Fest." The tin;on
Jack was displayed at various points in and near
the transept, while at the back of the dais were seen
the banners of different countries, with tie names
of great painters emblazoned on them. Behind the
chair of State, and nearly on the same level with it,
a number of benches, covered with green cloth and
decorated with fringes, were arranged in a semi-
circle and reserved for the use of the more
distinguished among the spectators. For the
accommadation of the mass the whole of the central
hall, with the exception of a passage in the centre,
the galleries round the transept, and the two limbs
of the transept itself, was furnished with rows of
benches and chairs. A broad strip of scarlet cloth
ran up the centre of the great hall and heightened
the effect of the white marble statues on either
hand, throwing them out in beautiful relief.
Eleven o'clock was the time fixed for opening the
doors to the public, but long before that hour all the
entrances were besieged by a large number of the
rank, fashion, and beauty of Manchester and its
vicinity. The doors were opened gently to avoid a
rush, and with oft-reiterated cautions from the inside
for every one to take plenty of time. To such
advice, of course, no one paid the slightest regard.
There was a good deal of pushing, and ladies
scarcely got that room to which they seemed to think
their capacious skirts entitled them. Same insisted
on trying to move the turnstiles the wrong way, while
others in their anxiety to get good places would not
go right, no matter what amount of pains were taken
to guide them in their curse. But after the first
rush all went as smoothly as could be wished, and
showed the arrangements to have been well planned
and executed. From the moment the doors were
opened, the steady influx of visitors never ceased or
slackened. Among the occupants of the green
benches behind the dais were many members of both
Houses of Parliament. Lord Broughton, Lord
Wrottesley, the Marquis of Clanricarde, Earl Powio,
the Marquis of Stafford, the Earl of Burlington,
Lord Eleho, and Mr. Beresford Hope were all pre-
sent. The American, Belgian, and Haytian Ministers
were the only members of the corps diplomatique
present. The corporate authorities of London,
Dublin, Edinburgh, and the immediate
all in their crimson robes, and attended by their
servants in gorgeous liveries, formed indeed not the
least brilliant part of the spectacle. At one o'clock
the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, accompanied by his
staff, entered the building, and after that hour but
few visitors of note arrived. The Palace was crowded
in every nook, and it may well be supposed that the
scene was most animated and magnificent. Many of
the gentlemen were in uniform or Court dress, while
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed with more
taste and splendour than some of the ladies. Their
dresses, of the richest stuffs, vied with the colours of
the rainbow in variety and brilliancy, making the
ornaments of the walls look mean and dull by com-
parison. The elegant proportions of the building
itself, its chaste and beautiful decorations, the mas-
terpieces of art scattered in rich profusion on every
hand, the presence of 10,000 persons gaily attired,
and the display of silken banners and standards,

449

combined to form a picture such as has rarely been
witnessed even in the metropolis.
Immediately after lunch his 13,Pyal Highness the
Prince left Abney-hall for the Exhibition, accom-
panied by a brilliant suite, and attended by a guard
of honour from the 7th Dragoons, under Colonel
Bentinck. Flags and banners, and triumphal arches
of evergreens, decorated the reed from Abney-hall to
Manchester boundar;es. From Grosvenor-square
to Old Trafford—a straight line of road of consider-
ably more than a mile in extent—the immense
crowds of people who lined each side of the way,
leaving only a narrow passage in the centre, rendered
locomotion exceedingly difficult and dangerous, and
the cortege thence proceeded at little more than a
walking pa„e. At various points along the Stretford-
road were stationed large bodies from the societies of
0 ld Fellows, Druids, and Foresters, who contributed
materially towards'preserving the lines unbroken, and
keeping the passage clear. The cheerin2, the waving
of hats and handkerchiefs, the banners and other
decorations, the crowds on roofs and balconies, and
immense wooden platforms erected on patches of
ground otherwise unoccupied, formed an offering of
hearty welcome such as has been seldom surpassed.
All the avenues leading to the Exhioition building
were closely blocked; various open spaees in the
neighbourhood were completely covered with masses
of human beings, and the enthusiastic cheering of
the populace when Prince Albert at length arrived
at the Palace certified the public approbation of
the important duty which had brought bim to Man.
c h ester.

Precisely at two o'clock a royal salute, and the
cheers of 20,000 persons within the inelosnre,
announced the arrival of the Prince at the Exhibi-
t on gates.
Lord Overstane, the Peesi lent of the General
Council of the Exhibition ; accompanied by Mr.
Thomas Fairhairn, the Chairman of the Committee ;
Mr. J. C. Deane, the General Commissioner; the
Mayor of Manchester and the members of the cor-
poration in their robes of office, met his R )yal
Highness at the principal entrance, and conducted
him to the state reception-roam. His Royal High-
ness shortly- afterwards made his appearance in the
grand nave, and was escorted to the dais, near the
entrance, where a group having been formed,
The Mayor approached and read the Corporation
Address, which, attributing the main success of the
Exhibition to the zealous patronage graciously ex-
tended by the Queen, anticipated a visit from her
Majesty with the greatest joy and satisfaction :
We specially rejoice in the hope of this ever.t as afford
inst another opportunity of evincing the deep and universal-
feeling of loyalty and attac!iment to her Majesty's person
which prevails within and arlund this city, an 1 the pro-
found sense of gratitude which exists for the care and soli-
citude very graciously manifested by our beloved Queen in
favour of whatever is calculated to secure and promote the
improvement and happiness of her Majesty's subjects.
His Royal Highness in the course of a gracious
reply observed :

The Queen will, I am confident, le glad ag tin to visit
Manchester, nutonly to mark, by her presence, her approval
of the object and sitccsaftil execution of this great under-
taking which we have this day to celehrate, hut from a
recollection of the enthusiastic loyalty exhibited when she
had formerly an opportunity of visiting this great centre of
industry.

A procession was then formed, and his Royal
Highness proceeded up the central hall to the dais
prepared for his reception in the transept. As the
corte..re moved up the middle avenue of the central
ball, the orchestra performed the National Anthem,
and the whole company rose en mrsse, and greeted
the Prince with cordial acclamations. His Royal
Highness having taken his place on the dais, the
scene presented to the view was eminently p ic-
turesque and striking.
What a sight (writes one correspondent) met the
gaze of the Prince as he walked slowly up the central
hall ! Not to speak of the living crowd by which he
was so heartily welcomed, he was surrotmded on
every side by the portraits of all the most celebrated
characters in British history. On the right the
heavy-browed, swarthy portrait of Charles
aspect the very reverse of a merry monarch—seemed
as if about to step from its frame and join in the
ceremonial. Around him were grouped the frail
beauties of his Court, to whom Lely and D.! Grain-
mont have given a questionable renown. Thera was
the Duchess of Cleveland, the founder of Marlbo•
rough's fortunes. By her side was Madame
"Carwell," as the Londoners of that day called the
lovely niece of Mazarin, arrayed in a dress which
even improved her beauty. Near her hung the por-
traits of Nell Gwynne and a host of other less
famous, or rather infamous, enamorata, with Gram-
mont himself, poor Catherine, and the execrable
Countess of Shrewsbury. Glaring from the opposite
walls—grim, stern, and dangerous•looking men—
were the leaders of the Commonwealth, scowling
upon the seductive beauties of Whitehall. The pro-
cession passed the Meseu►n of Art, with all its rare
treasures of gold and silver work, antique carvings,
gems, and porcelains. Next in order same the

45G

Armoury Court, grim with the ponderous figures of
men and heroes of all climes and ages. Some hotted
monstrously grotesque, others were bright, shining,
and handsome as in the story-books; some were of
very coarse manufacture—a mere panoply of common
ironwork,—while the suits from Venice and Milan
were exquisitely tempered, and inlaid with the finest
arabesque designs in gold. On the right was the
complete suit of armour for man and horse which
was formerly worn at coronations by Dymoke, the
hereditary champion. It is the finest suit of harness
in the court. The Prince, too, must have been
astonished at the extent and beauty of the collection
of English sculpture which adorns the central hall.
Here, on one hand, is Marshall's " Ophelia," and, on
the other, Spencer's " High:and Mary." Beyond is
Bailey's " Eve at the Fountain," the most beautiful
and widely-known of all his works. Gibson's
'• Hunter" faces it, and seems in the very act of
slipping the leash that his hound may bound forward
on the game, so full are both of energy and vigour.
Next comes J. Westmacott's " Peri," a perfect embo-
diment of immortal grief. The "Greek Slave,"
that cold prodigy of Hiram Powers, which so narrowly
escaped being the first work of the age, again greets
the visitor. " Eve startled at the sight of Death,"
one of the most touching groups in the building, is
on the right; and on the left is Westmacott's
" Euphrosyne," so light and airy that it seems ready
to soar aloft."

Arrived at the trarsept, his Royal Highness took
his place on the dais, looking down the avenue up
which he had advanced, and, his suite having formed
a brilliant semicircle round him, the orchestra per-
formed the National Anthem vocally, Mme. Clara
Noveilo singing the solo, Dlr. Sims Reeves and Mr.
Weiss also taking parts. The anthem having been
concluded, Lord Overstone advanced, and in the
name of the general council read a brief address, to
which the Prince repliAl. Mr. Fairbairn, the chair•
man of the executive committee, then advanced and
read a lengthened ad tress detailing the crigin of the
Exhibition of Art Treasures:—

The project of a purely fine•art exhibition on a great
scale appeared at tirst sight, to s.ry the least of it, some-
what problematical as regards its financial success. But
when the subject was silted, when it was found how com-
prehensive were its details, how wonderfully rich our
happy country ( untrodden for many a century by any
foreign invader) unquestionably is in all that unequalled
wealth and civilisation could accumulate, and how much
positive and immediate good was likely to result from the
bringing together or the eager and inquiring minds of our
time with the realisations of the genius of past ages an,l
other cimntries—the project assumed a proportion of
importance which at once commanded attention and cried
aloud for fulfilment.

The tirst suggestion of the Art• Treasures Exhibition was
submitted by Mr. Deane, the General Commissioner of the
Exhibition, to au inatienti .I meeting of Manchester
gentlemen, on the 211th day of March, Isso. The scheme
was favourably received, awl, dependent upon the success
of the application for public support in the way of sub-
scription, was voted into existence. An 1 here we would
request your Royal Highness's speoial attention to a
remarkable feature in the history of this undertaking.
Without any public appal, without even a general local
canvass, contributions to a guarantee fund amounting to
not less than 74,0001. were raised in this city within a
period of three weeks. From this fact we would draw the
inference that the promoters of all schemes professing to
commend themselves by their intrinsic merits to public
approval need not and onght nut to be deterred from pro-
mulgating their patriotic efforts by the lack of positive
money gifts, but would rather do well to test the sterling
value of their conceptions by this form of appeal for the
guarantee of the whole expenditure required.
The address then expressed the warmest gratitude
for the patronage and liberality with which the
proposal had been met by her Majesty and the
principal nobility and gentry of the United King-
dom, and concluded with a tribute to the memory of
the late Earl of Ellesmere.

The address having been presented to his Royal
Highness, and also an elegantly-bound copy of the
catalogue, Prince Albert replied as follows :
Gentlemen of the Executive Commi►tee,—l thank you
most sincerely for your kind address. The expressions of
loyalty and attachment to the Queen which it conveys will,
I feel certain, be most gratifying to her. I have with
pleasure accepted your invitation to preside at the inau-
gural ceremony of an undertaking which I have watched
with the deepest interest from its first conception ; and I
may now be allowed to congratulate you upon the success
which Las so far crowned your labours.

The building in which we are assembled, and the
wonderful collection of these treasures of art, as you so
justly term them, which it displays, reflect the highest
credit upon you. They must strike the beholder with
grateful admiration not only of the wealth and spirit of
enterprise of this couniry, bat also of that generous feeling
of mutual confidence and goodwill between the different
classes of society within it, of which it affords so gratifying
a proof.
We loekild a feast which the rich of this country have
set before those to whom fortune has denied the higher
luxuries of life—bringing forth from the innermost
recesses of their private dwellings their choicest and most
cherished treasures, amid intrusting them to your care, in
• order to gratify the nation at large ; and this, too, unhesita-
tingly—at your mere request. —satisfied that your plans were

THE PRESS.

disinterested and well 'natured, and that they had the good
of the country for their object.
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This is a gratifyin,4 sight, and blessed is the country in
which it is witnessed! But not less so is the fact which
has bhowu itself in this as in other instances, that the great
and noble of the land look to their Sovereign to head and
lead them in such patriotic undertakings; and when they
see that the Sovereign has come forward to give her coon-
tenance and assistance to the work, they feel it a pleasure
to co-operate with her, and not to leave her without their
support—emulating thus, in works of peace, the chivalric
spirit which animated their forefathers in the warlike times
of old.

Yon have done well not to aim at a mere accumulation
of works of art and objects of general interest, but to give
to your collection, by a scientific and historical arrange•
meta, an educational character—thus not losing the oppor-
tunity of teaching the mind as well as gratifying the
senses—and manifold are the lessons which it will present
to us. If art is the purest expression of the state of
mental and religious culture and of general civilisation of
any age or people, an historical and chronological review
given at one glance cannot fail to impress as with a just
appreciation of the peculiar characteristics of the different
periods and countries, the works of which at•e here ex-
hibited to us, and of the influence which they have exer-
cised upon each other.

Tn comparing those works with those of our own age
and country, while we may well he proud of the immense
development of knowledge and power of production which
we possess, we have reason also for humility in contem-
plating the refinement of feeling and intensity of thought
manifested in the works of the older schools.

I trust that you may reap, in the approbation of the
public at large and in the remunerative conconrse of the
people, the immediate reward of your labours; and that,
like the Exhibition of 1851 to which you so flatteringly
allude, you may thus also find the means of closing your
operations without having recourse to the guarantee fund
which this district has so generously put at your disposal.
Beyond this, however, I trust that the beneficial effects
upon the progress of art and taste in our country which we
may confidently look to may be a lasting memorial of your
vast enterprise.

The orchestra of six hundred voices then performed
Haydn's hymn, " The heavens are telling," after which
the Lord Bishop of Manchester offered up prayer;
at the conclusion of which a brilliant procession
was formed, preceding and surrounding the Prince
Consort, and moved through the different galleries
amidst a magnificent performance of the march from
Athalie and the prolonged cheers of the spectators.
The return of the procession was hailed with loud
cheers, when his Royal Highness, standing iii front
of the Chair of State, formally declared the Exhibi-
tion open. The orchestra concluded the stale cere
monial by performing the " Hallelujah Chorus."
Prince Albert then proceeded to inspect in a morn
careful manner than before the several departments
of the Exhibition, and whea he left each gallery or
court the barriers separating it from the central hall
were removed and the public allowed to enter. His
Royal Highness left the palace before five o'clock,
and at once drove to Abney-hall, where he was to
pass the night.
His Royal Highness did not, according to the
programme, attend the evening concert at the Free-
trade Hall. He passed the evening privately at
Abney-hall, and at an early hour on Wednesday
morning left the hall to attend the inauguration of
the statue of the Queen in Peel-park. His Royal
Highness and suite arrived on the ground soon after
half-past nine, and, amidst the enthusiastic cheers
of thousands of spectators, alighted at the main
entrance of the Library and Museum. Conducted to
the reading.room, his Royal Highness received and
replied to the address of the corporation of Salford :
It is with pleasure (said the Prince) that I comply with
your request to inaugurate the statue which loyalty has
erected on the spot where the Queen met for the first time
your body, in the presence of 140,000 children enjoying the
blessings of school tuition. That they may grow up an
addition to the active powers arid strength of their country
is my anxious wish ; and many succeeding generations,
seeing the Queen's statue in the midst of this park, find
in its c.internplation an assurance that when loyalty and
attachment to the Sovereign, as the representative of the
institutions of the country, are linked to en ardent love of
progress, founded upon self-reliance and self-improvement,
the country cannot fail to prosper under the favour of the
Almighty.

The Bishop of Manchester then presented an address
from the Lancashire and Cheshire Mechanics' In•
stitntions, after which the Prince, attended by a
brilliant suite, inspected the Museum and Local Arts
Collection. The attention of his Royal Highness
was much attracted by the many fine oil and water-
colour works of the local artists. The inspection of
the Local Arts Exhibition being over, the Royal
party proceeded through the Museum to Peel-park
to inaugurate the statue of her Most Gracious Ma-
jesty. The statue is erected upon the spot from
which, when in 1851 the Queen visited Manchester
and Peel-park, she saw an assemblage of no less
than 80.900 children from the Manchester and
Salford Free Schocls. The statue is placed to com-
memorate this event, and, as the inscription on its
pedestal stags, a large portion of the expenses con-
nected with its erection weie met by penny contri-
butions from the little children themselves. The

SATURDAY,

cause and manner of its erection render it one of the
most touching memorials in the kingdom, and one
of which both the people of Manchester and their
Sovereign may well leel proud, and look upon with
feelings of no ordinary emotion. _

As the Prince emerged from the Museum he was
met with enthusiastic cheers from the thousands as-
sembled in the park. A canopied platform, covered
with scarlet cloth, was erected in front of the statue
for the royal party, and the Prince Consort having
taken his place und'r the canopy, the Mayor of
Salford, in a brief address, reminded his Royal High-
ness of the event the statue was intended to com-
memorate, viz., the visit of her Majesty to this place
in October, 1851, and her reception on that occasion
by some 80,000 Sunday school teachers and
scholars :

Many of these (said the Mayor) are now here present,
and lam sure they join with me in fervent prayer and
cordial wish that this may long remsin a statue to our
Sovereign's honour; living as she does in the hearts of her
affectionate subjects, and that she may long continue to
reign over a prosperous, united, and loyal people.
Prince Albert bowed in acknowledgment of
these few remarks, and giving the signal, the figure
was instantly unveiled, and, amid a royal salute from
artillery and the tremendous cheers or a loyal people,
a noble figure of the Queen was displayed. The
statue is one of the best of the many of her Majesty.
It stands about nine feet high, and represents the
Queen in her robes of state, and in the bloom of
womanhood. The likeness is perfect, and its attitude
portrays with surpassing fidelity that calm and
unaffected dignity which so distinguishes the
Sovereign. _

The ceremony having been concluded, the Prince,
accompanied by the Mayors of Salford and Man-
chester, and attended by the 7th Dragoon Guards,
quitted the park for the North-Western Railway
station amid the deafening cheers of the people.
Indeed, the cordiality of his Royal Highness's recep-
tion was marked. Precisely at twelve o'clock the
Prince left for London, and at twenty minutes past
five p.m. reached Buckingham Palace in safety
The first few days have dispelled any fears for the
success of the Exhibition ; upwards of 10,000 visitors
have daily been present in the building. The period
for her Majesty's vLsit has not yet been fixed, but we
believe it will take place towards the close of July.
Her Majesty during her visit will remain at Trent-
ham, the seat of the Duke of Sutherland.