The Express.
London, England, 1862-05-19 00:00:00

THE SPECIAL EXHIBITION SERVICES.

Yesterday many aai•dces speoisll* eanneeted
with the Exhibition took place in various pasts of Loudon,
and others ware largely attended by foreigners now in the
metropolis for the purpose of visiting South Kensington. At
the German Chapel, in St. James's-pork, the service was
conducted end the mum preached by the Rev. Dr. Krum-
reacher, while at the Royal Military Chapel, in Birdcage-
walk, there was a French service.with sermon, conducted by
the Rev. MerleD'Aubigne, the historian of the Reformation.
At the Regent's-parkehapel,of which the Itev.W.Landele
minister, therm was a special service for the benefit of
Preach vititon, with • sermon, conducted by the Rev.
G. G. Dangers, pastor of the French Protestant Church of
London, St. Martin's-le-Grand. It was announced that
these services, which will be continued on many successive
Sundays, are in connection with the preaching in foreign
languages In the parks, the French services in
Orange-street Chapel, Leicester-square, and elsewhere,
end are organised by the committee of the Society for the
Evangelisation of Foreigners in London. In the French
protestant church in Bloomsbary, there were three ser-
vices, to be continued every Sunday during the Exhibition,
conducted by the Rev. Jean Mildly, the minister, and the
Rev. Walton Bitching, MA., of St. John's College, Cam-
At Craven-hill Chapel, Weetbourne-terrace, there
was • French service, conducted by the Rev. J. Du Paget.
In " La Chapelle Evangelique," Newman-street, there was
• French service at ten o'clock a.m., and a German service
at half-put five p.m., both of which were well attended. It
was announced that on every Thursday evening throe will
be, " une reunion de pasteurs, d'Evangelistes et de Clue-
tiens Anglia' et Strangers." At Oraoge-.treet Independent
Chapel, Leicester-square, M. Deegan, the French pastor,
preached in the evening. St. James's Hall was three times
thrown open for special services, and was on each occasion
densely crowded. The sermon in the morning was preached
by the Rev. Hoary Allot), independent minister of Isling-
ton; that in the afternoon by the Rev. William
Landels, and that in the evening by the Rev. H.
Wilkes, AD., of Montreal. A Scotch presbyterian service
was performed is the large hall, Holland-street, Kensing-
ton. At St. Paul's Cathedral the principal service was
attended by a vast number of peewee who ware evidently
strangers to the cathedral customs of England. Full choral
service was performed, and a sermon preached by the Rev.
W. W. Champneys, M.A., vicar of St. ADCIIIII, the 0111011
in residence. The spacial evening service at Westminster
Abbey excited still larger numbers, who were evidently
deeply impressed with the musical portion of the ceremony.
The sermon wan preached by the Rev. T. L. Claughton,
M.A., vicar of Kiddermiuster mid canon of Worcester. The
sermon next Sunday evening will be preached by the Right
Rev. Dr. Chas. Wordsworth, Bishop .of St. Andrew's. The
council of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
have placed at the disposal of the Bishop of Loudon the sum
of Mt. for the purpose of providing special services in the
metropolis for the benefit of foreign and other visitors,
during the Exhibition.

THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.

The assemblage of Saturday last at the Interna-
tional Exhibition was at once the most numerous
and the most brilliant that has been witnessed
since the opening. The morning was rather gloomy,
and during the earlier hours no symptoms of a
more than ordinary attendance were perceptible.
As usual, the nave and leading avenues were filled
with workmen sedulously engaged in taking down
and removing various erections, the construction of
which had kept them equally busy previous to the
opening. In the nave men were busy with bricks
and mortar, the passage was obstructed by huge
telescopes and similar matters, which lay scattered
about, and at each end of the building other parties
were to be seen pulling down and running up
gigantic awnings, or unpacking parcels of newly-
arrived goods, with which the floor was covered in
every direction. In one place the Austrians were
throwing up strong entrenchments, in another
some Hamburg purveyor of walking-sticks had
" pitched" an edifioe, which looked exceedingly like
"the house that Jack built," aud, generally speaking,
there appeared to ua to be a fixed determination
to spoil the dome platforms in revenge for having
been expelled from the nave. If this should be
allowed to go on there will be to be solved after
the lst of June, the problem of where to put the
people, as somehow or other, notwithstanding the
enormous increase of auperficies, there is infinitely
leas room for the circulation of a crowd than there
was in 1851. One great mistake bas been the con-
centration of so many of the most attractive objects
in the centre of the building. The precious metals,
the jewellery, the French and Italian courts, and
the music are all huddled together, and, except the
pictures, which will attract their own public, the
galleries have little in them to attract the mere
sight-seekers, of whom the majority of the visitors
will be composed. The fact is, that the whole in-
terior is a vast chaos, a world without a plan, and
will require the most skilfully devised and promptly
executed measures to make it fit for the reception
of the great popular influx which is expected.
None of these defects? however, prevented the
three-guinea and five-shilling public from flowing
in in battalions from four o clock until nearly Oil
on Saturday evening. Both the Albert and Kahl
-
bition roads were thronged with fashionable equi-
pages, and the Pariahs who came in omnibuaes,and
who were obliged to alight at a distance of nearly a
quarter of a mile, ran imminent risk of life or limb,
whilst threading their way amongst rolling vehicles
and prancing horses with which the crfene de le crime
had been permitted to surround all the entrances tol
the building. Either all vehicles should be made
to stop at the Bell and Horns, the present boun-
dary of plebeian vehicular intrusion, or all should
be permitted to drive up to the doors. At present,
where the omnibus passengers alightthereas a most
dangerous crossing, and another quite as bad at the
corner facing the south-east tower, so that it re-
quires all the vigilance of the police to protect the
old and the feeble from beia4 run over at both
places. The aristocratic carriages are not even
noticed to drive slowly round the corner, but turn
sharp at full speed, scattering the frightened foot-
passengers in every direction. Then there is the
rain of which we had so much lately, to be consi-
dered. In a heavy shower a person would
get wet to the akin before he could reach
the lie Men's Land in which the omnibuses ere
obliged to draw up, nnlest ChM' to submit to
an amount of extortion from a cabman for whose
esOecial advantage the present police regulations
appear to have been framed. However, we derive
some comfort from having seen members of par-
liament, portly aldermen, and baronets of ancient
family travelling by the 'bus. Perhaps when a few
persons of that status have been run over and sent
to St. George's Hospital the Chief Commissioner
may be induced to revise his regulations. Nothing
in the world would be easier, as the 'buses might
set down on one side of the building and take up
at the other, and they would be no more in the way
than the long line which every one found so con-
venient in 186 L
We were not able, of course, to note down the
names of one-half of the notabilities who attended,
but amongst them we recognised the ex-Queen of
France, acoompenied by some ladies and gentlemen
of her Majesty's suite, Lord Torrington, Lady
Moleswortb, Count Szechenyi, Mr. and Mrs.
Brassey, Mr. and Mrs. Fowler, Duke of Grafton,
lifiarl of Euston, Lord C. Fitzroy, Colonel and Lady
Louisa Pennant, &c. The commissioners, Sir Went-
worth Dilke and Mr. Fairbeirn,were in attendance to
1 bear complaints and redress grievances, and Mr. Cole
was indefatigable in his engineering operations for,
clearing the nave. At one period of the day there 11
was a trial of the pianos of the principal makers,
the performer being Herr Derfells, when the extra-
ordinary brilliancy and power of Collard's "grands"
attracted the most general and favourable notice.
Amongst the novelties which caught our eye were
a beautiful folding screen from Berlin, painted to
represent malachite, and with central panels beauti-
fully painted with Venetian subjects. These fold-'
ing screens, which are indispensable in large apart-
ments, admit of a great variety of decoration, and
this one struck us as being a novelty well worthy
the attention of our own manufacturers. Our notice
of the Hungarian department has attracted nu-
merous visitors to the western transept, which is
nearly wholly occupied with Austrian and Hun-
garian articles. The arrangement of Hungarian
natural products, which we have been informed on
competent authority is most valuable and instruc-
tive, and visitors were also pleased to examine
the pictures placed over the specimens of each
district, representing the peasants of the district in
their national holiday costume, the whole forming
I a very interesting national portrait gallery. In the
nave one of the Swiss watchmakers had a constant
audience listening to his extraordinary mechanical
piping bullfinch, which jumps out of a box, flutters
its wings, and sings in wonderfully close imitation
of nature. The price of each box is 341., and the
spectators were warned that there was only one
family in Geneva that had the secret for construct-
ing these boxes, that they were dying out fast, and
that the survivors had come to an agreement
amongst themselves that the secret should die with
them. The probability is, as he informed us, that
before the next decennial exhibition the mecha-
nical bird-box will, like the Venetian glass or the
Greek fire, be little more than a puzzle for antiqua-
rians. Another object of very great interest was the
rare and valuable sardonyx, exquisitely cut on both
sides, with portrait heads in intaglio, and which was
bequeathed by Queen Hortense to Sir Hamilton
Seymour. Sir Hamilton obligingly contributes the
gem to the attractions of the Exhibition, and it is to
be seen in the jewel-case of Mr. Hancock.
We have been requested to notice the great an-
noyance which is created by the frequent tolling of
an enormous peal of bells, situated in one of the
transepts. These bells are often seized with tin-
tinabulary convulsions, in the middle of some grand
sonata on the pianoforte in which a performeris at once
making his reputation and delighting his audience.
The noise also causes considerable alarm amongst
the exhibitors of the Zollverein, in many of whose
towns the tolling of a bell is the signal that a fire
has broken out. Unacquainted with our customs,
these primitive people imagine, when they hear
those dreadful bells, that the building is in flames,
and commence packing up and making every
arrangement for a sudden flight. Seeing that
"Big Ben" so seriously disconcerted the House of
Commons that Lord Palmerston ordered him to be
silenced, it is not to be wondered at that the Exhi-
bition bells should be to many a cause of annoy-
ance. A good many difficulties of one kind
or another have occurred since the opening
with respect to season tickets, but perhaps
the most amusing one was the case of consciesos
raised by an old Scotch lady, who, having purchased

her season ticket, wait in to see the show. Aol
sooner, however' had she deciphered the Scripture
texts which are inscribed es venom, places, than
she rushed back to Mr. Mayo in evident horror and
alarm, and peremptorily demanded that her money
should be returned. There could be no luck, she
said, about a piece in which God sea Mammon
were so irreverently mixed up together. We have
not heard that the old lady's conscienee was tep-
peered by the Morn of the pries of her ticket. The
numbers admitted on Saturday were, season tickets,
10,212 ; payment, 4,802 ; total, 15,014. Total ad-
missions for the week, 61,577 ; total for the cone-
sponding week in 1851, 140,386.