The Express.
London, England, 1851-04-12 00:00:00

In a little mare than a fortnight the Glass Palace
is to be opened and its treasures displayed.
The continuous exertions of *en thousand indi-
viduals who have been employed tinily during the
pot week to tarry forward the various depart-
ments of labour in the building have produced
a striking change in the aspect of the into
The enormous scaffoldings which were erected
fur the purpose oe facilieuting. the aiutiug of_ tlen
roof have been 'Cleared awny,,sunkilfwvisitar oar nowt
-sew the decorations of the bonding, without inter-
ruption. from one end to the other. A vast quantity
of rubbish, consisting of the exterior coverings in
which packages were enveloped in their transit from
distant places, has NAAR reniuml, and much of the diffi-
culty in getting from one point to another in the
building has disappeared with it. Fittings of all
kiln's, glass-eases. pedestals for statues, excavations for
fountains. foundations for machines, counters, par-
Wiwi,. and tallies, appear with marvellous rapidity in
spots which only an hour or two previously were
vacant. The arrivals of goods are now " few and
far !situ-ctn." and the ondividtst energies of the cre-
liblis in the building are concentrated upon the
rompletion of the arrangements for the display of
the mass of materials already received. The fittings
in malty of the compartments are already complete,
and the eases which contain the goods for whose
neeption they have been ereeted, are disposed ton-
venientlY at hand, needing but the application of a
ripping-chisel to compel them to disclose their con-
tents.
The energy of individuals who believe that their
reputatior. and future prospects will be influenced by
the success nr failure of their efforts to assume a
crslitable position in the coming exhibition, is now
hmnght to bear upon the progress of et-try branch
of labour in the building; and the chaotic, and hetero-
geneous assemblage of materials which etteumbcred
its flow a week ago is begi • g to assume a ten-
dency towards tinter, classification. and e plcte-
now. In the large space devoted to machinery the
progress hits lieu well-marked and rapid during the
week ; and the brasses and white surfirces of most
of the flutelike,' have received the brilliant polish
which tells of u near approach to completion.
In many of the slows assigiwil to manufactures
the work yet to he done by each knot of exhibitors
will amount to little more than what is renWird

every morning —in the year in any extensive metro-
politan shop. The floor of the building is now
finished in every part ; the pipes for the supply of
water 01111 gas are laid down; the arrangements for
securing a control over the ventilation arc nearly
complettsh and the (lamas (soiling has been
stretched over some acres of the roof. In
the hoardings of the foreign nations, a
ceaseless bustle 101 W contrasts pleasantly with
the apathetic quietude which characterised them
a fort night ago. The preparations in the
French Noma arc alnaily in a state of great for-
wartime.. Long ranges of glass cases and stalls,
the graceful forms and tasteful ornamentation of
which elicit unqualified admiration from all visitors,
are either completed or in process of erection, and
not a feu of them contain a copious display of small
manufactured articles. large asseniblage of ma-
ebinery. ineluding beautifully finished cotton and
paper-making machines. is }slog rapidly set up in
the sane quarter. In the Austrian compart-
ments u suite of rooms have been erected
tonanls the embellishment of which a group
of exhibitors have contributesl a quantity of fur-
niture of the most magnitieent description. Indeed
in all the foreign compartments which we have en-
tered g.ssl taste presides over the arrangements,
and in the selection of materials for the fittings, as
well us in their disposit ion and decoration, the cha-
racter of the building itself has been steadily kept
in eiew. In the great central avenue. on the fo-
reign side. the tsputstrian group in zinc bronzed, by
Kiss of Berlin. has been completed during the week.
A rolossal statue. representing a limited crusader
about to charge his files. and several other eques-
trian groups. have bleu also erected. On one
bide of the transept numerous additions to the
trophies in the central passage have been nuide.
They consist of a bronze, by Wyatt ; a horse con-
tending with a driegsoi; two portrait statues, in
nutrble. of laird Eldon and his brother, Lord
Stowell; a eolltytion of different kinds of Canadian
timber; a statue of Shakspeare in plaster. and the
Colebrook.dale bronze custiutn. The great organ in
the' west end gallery is nearly finished. and the same
observation applies* to several other organs of inferior
dimensions in other parts of the buildings. To-
day the opening of the news hi which the goods
bocce INVII hitherto lql\vloped eon flees, and all
parkitigaases must be removed foum the building on
or before the 31st inst.

The antiviNtions of the Ist of May hare, like all
other things. their shadowed side. As the intensity
of public curiosity increases. so those sorry persons
who ,ipptair to look uhroud upon the world only
through smoked glass, raise their dismal notes of
disappointment. Some of them have the must au-
thentic reason to believed that the first of May will
usher in a revolution, others look suspiciou;ly at
any foreigner they meet in the streets, to trace, if
possible, under his jaunty, careless manner, the
sinister amiss.' of the spy and the conspirator.
Otlwni of the dismal band watch the records of
military .cmcnts with breathless interest, and
regard. every concentration of the soldiery in the
metropolitan county as a certain indication of ex-
pected strife. Rumours are spread about that cer-
tain denuigogues have been holding secret Sunday
meetings that the foreign refugees located in the
metropolis are already a formidable band; and that
the government heartily wish that the Great Ex-
hibition had never been heard of.
Every melaticholr tradesman believes that his
trade will sutler by the opening ut the Exhibition;
though every sanguine shopkeeper dreams nightly
of an Utopia. where endless pounds of sugar and tea
will be consumed. 'These rival prophets and specu-
lators who predicts on the one hand, that political
chaos is at hand, and on the other that a commercial
millenium is dawning. publish their respective crivils
in forms so amusing that a stroll about London
streets ut the present time has become a must instruc-
tive ocenpution. The speculators and suggestors
whom we have already had occasion to notice are
still increasing in nunihers. The number of Vital
pinta" and ** important considerations" which, ac-
cording to these sagacious gentlemen, the Exhibition
comuussioners had unhappily neglected, might be
classed into an extensive catidogue. One suggestor is
anxious to know how the Ist of May is
to be kept. After putriutie allusions to the
sweeps, the Duke of Wellington, and Prince
Arthur. the titiggrstor in question pro-
etuds to lay before the country the idea of a national
holiday to be heralded by royal proclamation. Mr.
Chart's Cochrane, still busily employed wielding the
destinies of the ragged mfiltitude he lures to Leices-
ter-square by promises of matutimil soup, appears
also to have adapted his schemes to the exigencies
of the approaching summer by equipping a number
of burs in scarlet costumes and arming them with
brushes. that they may "polish off" visitors at the
doors of the Wise Palace. "An artist" is in the
rinks of the suagestors. with an intimation of an