The Express.
London, England, 1851-05-03 00:00:00

No. 1,463.] [No. 19, EXHIBITION EXPRESS.]

THE

EXHIBITION
EXPRESS,

FOlt THE WEEK ENDING
SATURDAY, MAY 3.

ltiell' oar Ist of May, which 'Ante gentlemen I
would 11-1-.. e it was to turn out to be our " Ides of
March," has come—and passed. The Exhibition is
opened. The Queen was there ; an unparalleled
assemblage of people swanned is: the west of Lon-
don ; everything was done according to the pre-
concerted arrangements ; and everything went off
well. Cp to the lust moment the Crystal Palace was
neither banned by water, nor the Thames by firs.
There was, to be sure, an " alarmist " cloud visible
now and then in the sky, but nothing came of it.
The weather generally was es quiet as the gigantic
tranquillity of the proceedings, and the entire May-
day was a felicitous and decorous Sabbath of labour.
111th a success which has favoured the project
front the beginning, the inauguration of it was
triumplrint ; and the industrious masses of the
world now enjoy the real benefit of the building
—the opportunity of seeing as Beauty and Order
what has too long been only known to them as the
fruit of severe Ted. We have now a national recog-
ItitiOn of what is attasctive and majestic in the work
et the world; wo have eflootineol Mow with recrea-
tion, gaity and friendly communion. It has been
shown that gold may proiluce nationality ;—delight as
well as profit —al among the ancients the dwelling
of the Ilesperides--wns a garden.

The difficulty would be to say who was first up in
London on Thursday morning. The mass, ap-
parently. had breakfasted ts..fore the usual time when
the milk" goes its rounds. The town had got the
start of the sun. Everybody seemed to have agreed
with Juliet, and insisted that the nightingale was
officiating instead of the lurk. At eight o'clock
swarms of carriages were pouring down towards
the Exhibition. Fair-haired peeresses, and ela-
borate dandies, and portly dowagers, were all
abroad by nine—and from that time there
were continual streams of vehicles setting westward
in order. There was a throng all round Apsley-
gate—backwards and onwards, as far as the eve
could see—down Constitution-hill, and far over the
Park. Omnibuses were crammed, and cabs every
now and then got stuck together like a bundle of
weeds in the tide. There was laughing and hurrying
everywhere. All the motion of life set in the
direction of the Crystal Palace, where the Hags were
dangling like ships Hugs over the sea of glass-roof.
By ten o'clock all London seemed to be swarming
round it : and as the carriages came up from all
quarters, with gaily arrayed ladies towards it,
the whole scene, at that early hour for Lon-
don, looked like the assemblage of an opera-
night—p/os a holiday and a fair! Those old
trees on the Serpentine side of the building, had
each two or three adventurous youths perched in
them; the Serpentine itself had its banks crowded
like Lethe's in Virgil. That well-known building,
the house opposite to Mr. Hudson's, had been turned
to commercial use, and balconies and roofs were
crowded with gazers. Policemen with ornate staves
officiated with considerable activity and conscience ;
and stout old inspectors gnllopped about with ca-
valry swords dangling by their sides. Long before
noon, indeed, there were traces of weariness here and
there on the part of enthusiastic individuals who had
begun their day's amusements at an extremely
early hour. But a sight of her Majesty's proces-
sion seemed to repay all. She was to leave Buck-
ingham Palace at eleven o'clock, a long time before
which the Green Park was swarming; Buckingham
Palace was surrounded; and all along Constitution
Hill there were two lines of people—between whom
the road looked as if it had been cut like a trench.
The Guards were stationed in couples here and
there, keeping the lines. Every now and then a
peer's or ambassador's carriage flashed down the way,
watched by eager eyes; or a knot of Guards clattered
along; or a lady's flowing riding dress waved by.
At last, there was a distant rolling cloud of cheering
drifted along; the helmets of the Guards gleamed
through the green leaves in the distance—and on
came the procession.

The numbers of people went on increasing during
the afternoon. While her Majesty was in the build-
ing (she was cheered all the way there and back) the
crowd in Hyde-park swelled. The windows and
roofs of houses were crowded all the afternoon, from
Apsley-house to the Exhibition; and as the after-
noon advanced a greater freedom and jollity pre-
vailed among the sight-seers generally. Knots of
them were gathered outside the various inns, resting
themselves in the hot sun, under waving Hags. The
parks were still swarmed with parties, chatting, run-
ning, sauntering, or lying down in groups. But the
mw great feature of the day was, that the amusements
were all marked by good nature and decorum.
With these preliminary words let us turn to an
exact account of the memorable event :

nature of things their arrangements were defective as
regarded the carriages, the very number of which
necessitated confusion, delay, and dissatisfaction with
all who, unrewarded for early rising, found it out of
the question to mach the scene of the dads fete at
any greater pace than that of a yard an hOur. But
the pedestrian public, more flexible, was quite go-
vernable and was well governed. It should be un-
derstood that there was no " mob." There was the
metropolitan democracy present to its lowest strata.
There were, however, also well-dressed ladies and
gentlemen who might have been counted by the
thousands ; and among all, on all hands, the greatest
good humour and best holiday disposition prevailed.
The female put of the crowd received an amount of
attention honourable to our national politives.s.
While the precession was awaited and in pr arcs,
the weaker eex were in front of " the line, and
everywhere got the best places. The dise.av of I
parasoLs was, of course, enormous; and as they
waved over the hutted roof stretching out around
them, the parti-colours gave the appearance of
glaring shut silk screens. There were not so many
foreigners mixed among the multitude as might
have been expected ; or, more properly speak-
ing, the British thee and tourhare were in
such majorities, that our cunt inental visitors
were too exceptional to become prominent, otherwise
than as scattered groups. Hundreds of foreigners'
there were, however; and the greater number of
these were clothed in a manner to suggest but a
slight connexion with the poor and refugee class of
whom some alarmists have so loudly warned us.
The Queen is always punctual; and, precisely at
the time appointed for her setting oaL lurlf-port 11
—the Horse Guards widened the path, and the Ina-
gilded band of the household troops within the quad-
rangle was heard to play God Save the Queen."
At this moment the new front of the palace was put
to a use never contemplated by those who have been
so eager in their denunciation of the architect. The
many windows gave to her Majesty's household the
opportunity they never before enjoyed be perfectly of
seeing a state procession. The balcony over the
centre bronzed gateway was occupied by a must
in-
teresting party- -the younger children of the royal
family, attended by several ladies.

The royal procession was not a state-procession,
such as we are familiar with on the occasions of
opening or proroguing a session of parliament. The
carriages were nut the state carriages; and they
were all, even her Majesty's, draw❑ by single pairs
of horses. The carriages were driven at a rather
smart trot along the route, and thus curiosity was'
not so perfectly satisfied as at other times, when
royalty in state presents itself in public.
The Queen and Prince Albert were warmly cheered
as they passed from their palace into the park. To
the I'rmts•, us the hero of the day, there was
throughout an obvious desire to do due honour. Iler
Majesty and her consort received the welcome of the
people in a manner intimating undisguised satisfac-
tion.

The mvul rorttlye pasaid in an avenue of human
beings along the whole route. 11cr :Majesty never
heard more loud and lengthened chem.. Half a
million of voices must have convinced her of her
popularity.

THE BUILDLNG AM) THE CEREMONIAL
The note of preparation might he heard in all
quarters of the building at a very early hour in the
morning ; and indications of the coining festival
were most perceptible in the centre of the tran-
sept. A phittbrm had been constructed, occupy-
ing its whole extent, and covered with crimson
cloth; and at its southern end was a dais, upon
which her Majesty was to sit enthroned, while
receiving the addresses of her subjects. High
up in air a tasteful octagonal canopy surmounted the
whole, its interior formed of blue silk, to harmonise
with the several decorations, and its upper surface
ornamented at all the angles with the heraldic plume
of the heir apparent. In front, the splendid glass
fountain contributed by Mr. Oder, of Birmingham,
although as yet giving no touch of its quality, formed
a conspicuous ornament, while the background was
filled up with the equestrian statues of the Queen
and Prime Albert, the bronze gates which form the
entrance to the south transept, and one of the gi-
gantic geinini, the elm trees, now in full leaf. Meet
foot-cloth for royal feet, the dais was covered with
ithe beautiful carpet, already known as the contribu-
tion of one hundred and fifty ladies, and which we
may here mention was, at a subsequent period of the
day, a marvellous centre• of attraction for all the fair
visitors. Heedless of Sappers, and despising police-
men, they continued to crowd upon it, to the utter
prevention of all efforts for its removal, until at last,
whether by accident or design we know not, a gentle
spray began to descend from the crystal fountain,
and a general clearance was the immediate and sa-
tisfactory !vault. The noticeable features in the im-
mediate neighbourhood of the royal circle were, on
one side, a lofty trophy of Spitabields silks in all
the colours of the rainbow, and on the other, the
far-famed Koh-i-noor in its gilded cage, and looking
to the uninitiated observer, a very inadequate
representative of two millions of money. The
great value of this gain invents it with
an almost mysterious sanctity. A strong
iron house has been constructed for its permanent
residence, and a gilded grating surmounts the top,
far within which a glass frame keeps off all intru-
ders. No human hand must touch this wonder of
the east. A spring, communicating with the out-
side of its house, shoots it up upon its purple velvet
cushion in the morning, and another draws it down
when it is time to retire for the night. The coup tr(eil
of all these congregated attractions was very strik-
ing, and only wanted the animation that DOW sur-
rounded them, to make these attractions perfect. The
desert was first invaded by strong bodies of police,
from all the letters of the alphabet, and subsequently
the smart and intelligent Sappers mustered strong,
and took upon themselves the duty of guarding the
royal platform. Various official uniforms began to
drop in and flit across the scene, and soon the plat-
form became studded with foreigners of every clime,
in all sorts of picturesque dresses, not the least con-
spicuous of which was a Chinese mandarin, who
rolled about with a dignity that showed him conscious
that on his shoulders rested the duty of represent-
ing three hundred millions of people. Squadrons
of ladies, privileged to an early enter, now
began to hurry along the avenues, and at last
the ninth hour came round, and with its last stroke
there surged in such a mob of well-dressed ladies
and gentlemen as it would not be possible to collect
in any other quarter of the globe. if we consider
that every gentleman paid three guineas and every
lade two, for the privilege of getting into that whirl-
pool, the enormous numbers must strike as a won-
derful indication of the money-spending pewers of
the country. From nine o'clock until half-past In
the torrent rolled on without interruption. Elderly
gentlemen might be seen helplessly eddying round
with hands upraised, a collapsed campstoor in one
hand and a packet of sandwiches in the other. Brave
youths sought to do their th roil* by protecting the
fair damsels committed to their charge, but all in
vain—the whole mass drifted helplessly on, and the
pressure from behind seemed momentarily to increase.
At last, partly from the slackening of the pressure
outside, and partly from the exertions of the police
within, who behaved with great moderation and
tact. free circulation was restored, the eager crowd
found ample accommodation, and a company of about
23,000 of the id, of English society sat down pa-
tiently to await the arrival of her Majesty.
_ .

At flee minutes before 12 the gentlemen-at-arms,
in their splendid uniforms, marched in and sur-
rounded the dais ; and precisely as the clock struck
a flourish of trumpets announced that her Majesty,
with her usual punctuality, was at the gates. Then
came on a moment of extraordinary bustle. The
loyal shouts of the people, by whom the park out-
siae was covered, came rolling in, and blent magni-
ficently with the tones of the great organ, which
had already struck up the national =them. The