The Sun.
London, England, 1852-04-30 00:00:00

In their professions of friendship, then, they were only Pay"
ing an empty compliment to the foreigner. He would nye
have done so. If he thought a man was a rogue or enemy
he would have said so. He hoped, then, the Crystal Palace,
as it was called, would be removed, and the sooner the
better. Lord Brougham, Lord Campbell, and Mr. Justice
Cresewell had declared that they had no more right to take
possession of any part of the park than a Member of tla!
House would have to take away the mace from the table. liecertainly would not sanction the appointment of a Committee,
and he would oppose the motion.
Lord J. MANNERS said, the Hon. and Gallant Member
who had just sat down would excuse him if on this occasion,
he declined to enter on the merits of the Great Esenibition,
and he had also no doubt that the Hon. Member for 310,11-
trose would not feel offended if he did not follow him in tee
review of the earlier acts of his public life, and his endea-
vours to promote public education—endeavours which
which the House knew so well—and f.fr
been so successful,
which the country at large was so grateful and appreciaee
so highly. His object was simply to state the reasons
.rn
the Government thought that the agreements under whit
se
the building was erected, and under which it was to bar ref
moved, should be adhered to.—(Hear, hear.) The firs for
these reasons was, the notorious fact that had it not bee‘n,his
the strength, he might also say the solemn nature
engagement, the great probability was, that the bueUr
never would have been erected at all.--(Hear, ethe
Hon. Gentlemen had been so carried away b that
great and almost unexpected success of the enterprise, e,ch
they were very apt to forget the powerful obstacles wleeof
opposed the project at the outset. He spoke in the presencf....e
a member of the Royal Commission, who knew well the narts',
and magnitude of these obstructions; and he had no hes for
tion in saying, in his presence, that if it had not beeneeto
those solemn engagements these difficulties and obstrecii".......
would have been enormously, and even fatally increasee_e,
(Hear, hear.) Now, what were the terms of these en_gil'ile
raents ? He found in the royal warrant, dated thenien-
July, that it was distinctly stated that the buildinge—e all
tioned, and all other buildings that might be erected, am and
materials wanted for that purpose, should be taken down the
tbe
carried away by the Ist of June, 1852, and further, that S'
surface of the site where it stood should be restored at the
pense of the Commissioners to its former condition- "g
deed and covenant subsequently entered into for carry.
out the undertaking, there was a clause by which thise and
gagement was most stringently and strictly enforce"'eeri
the Commission was especially bound to renctove e ar
portion of the building, and restore the surface of therriPebe
before the Ist of June, 1852. Nor was that an- 7.90
preliminary arrangements between the Royal Cornalzreess
and the First Commissioner of Woods and Works std ondistinctly stipulated that the Exhibition should, e-efter-
the let of November, 1851, and that itnMediatANY
wards all the materials and objects comprising it down,
be removed ; that the building itself should be takeariia- ent
and the park restored to its former state, to the dePg'e-f the
of Woods and Works seven months after the closing :teed-
Exhibition.—( Hear, hear.) So strong was the undere-after
ing at the time, that the building should be removed tied,
the temporary purpose for which it was intended was sedated
that the Secretary of the Royal Commission, in a letter „lace
the 27th of June, 1850, in reply to a proposal to intr-t the
more stringent words into the contract for carrying ?Is itio!
intention, replied, on the part of the Commission, that.eet een
notorious the building was to be removed atter teoa'
served its merely temporary purposes; that its strietlYt one
porary character had been distinctly stated throughece°ll e'etter
that the Commissioners hoped and believed that no oeeToted-
would prevent them from removing it at the time aPPg'eacto
Such were the distinct engagements, and the notorionsio.
of the case which they were now called upon to rerce,ll3.
Pal which
admitting that the retention of the Crystal r
its present site, might be advantageous for the object eve
the Hon. Mover had in view, he contended that- titielfr
which would result from so manifest and flagrant- a ight
tion of public faith would overbalance any good that,e-ie it
result from it. Occasion might again arise on "Isetno
might be thought proper to alienate for a short I;inlenejece
other portion of the royal domains, and would the he
tions that might be raised in such alienation be streamo
ened or diminished, if the House were to take the test
to which it was now invited? He was prepared to saY the
the advantage to the working classes of retainineefel-
Crystal Palace in its present site would be VttrY 5(09
He grounded his opinion on two reasons. The
derived from the nature and character of the builetegreete
self—the second from the site which it oecupied. et de to
admitted on all hands—and no one was more res' ed'
admit it than he himself—that the building itself Wee
mirably adapted to .the purpose for which it was eireseeteee
A very strong a priori argument would thence be ee- est
as to its permanent character. He held it to be the iroe
short-sighted, and, in the long run, extravagant policy' svetiee'
would say, "Here we have a building erected for a Paleent,
lar purpose, let us see if we cannot make it serve a Perre-tetl•
object, totally different from that for which it was ere :ton
It was admitted by all the witnesses examined last gliecet
who were favourable to the retention of the Crystal P be
that many and essential alterations should be neceeoarYeese•
wu
setr er
etfoe r bt
he e
madadaptedto
teov
da
ennye
ep e rgmi
vaenner te e
Hrneadwe'ouiflditj
look at that given by Sir Charles Fox. In
roof an a new
question he said that, in his opinion, a new root sil-manent
floor would be essential if it were to be made a Pere-oda'
building. If it were to be converted into a winterZetieee
he said that it would be necessary to make great a"`"Dreeted,
in the floors and galleries—the timbers of which, he suga f,
might be sold for a considerable sum. For the .r should
advised several alterations—among others, that
.ilteeeing
be newly glazed, which amounted pretty nearly the a new roof altogether. Mr. Dilke was anxious for
tention of the Crystal Palace in its present site. Het eor
that there must be a new roof, and that with 200"e:clot-
-30,000/. the building might be made wind and wateg%tore
The successful designer of the building, Sir Joseph erect e
himself, did not disguise his opinion that if asked to would
building for purposes similar to those proposed, tin
tbs t
erect one totally different from and better than neesent
Hyde-park. He too was of opinion that if tile
,;
building was retained a new roof would be necessary'
if he were to make a new one he would make a 111 u", ell
more elegant, more appropriate and superior bilild''se" as to
respects for 25,000/. Mr. Hawkins, in his evid
enlonse gf
the practicability of placi in the Crystal Pa'ace 'Ol it
those curious works of art for the exhibition cef Whin the
was complained that there was not room elsewher-e enslieg
metropolis, stated as his decided opinion that the %%glen
was not suited to such purposes. In answer to licototri,
541, he said, " I cannot believe that it would save tion
a single sixpence in expense to make an adal)'-0 to
it; in fact, believe it would be as costly to do a
satbo-
make an entirely new building." To quote anothereee DO'
ritv in favour of the retention of the Crystal Paes-ra'ight
Cole was of opinion that for a temporary purpose it .ebien
be made of great use in stowing away works for ebeieg
they had not sufficient space elsewhere; but on old,
asked if it would be of use for permanent pserpostidive
" I would not have it supposed that the present le cola
is an appropriate place.' On further inquiry, P4r.evollid
seemed to think that the want of accommodation that se
be found if the Crystal Palace were to be converted mines'
exhibition of works of art would be advantageoue,:sed
much as it would arouse public attention to the facteeere
might induce them to erect a,proper structure some
else. So at least he (Lord J. Manners) interpreted the 13-1,
swer to question 612. From all this evidence, he thetebebe
rp beforeose s iwt
hcioeuhl could
the
ee converted emr toedveririo
°lied
mpue to consider what these Pude use
Cherymstiaglhptaflasierelywaesrseumstewthhaast tthoernenadtuerremannsclt celassaernateitaerl
00!?eise
necessaryethcea
were, and what the purposes were which had been °liar agi-
bti
ntavl aienbwgs.ol ultsuitablevelhye When he
t ho
of at public meetings in order to stimulate the Pque-da over-
contradictory
tation on this subject, he felt totally submerged a— ter.--
whelmed by their variety and ebarac- palace
(Hear, hear.) It had been proposed to convert the
into a ball-room.—(Cries of Ne no," and laugibbteene
Hon. Members might cry "No," buts he could assured wet
that be had taken a great interest in this subject en.etion•
read the speeches made out of doors in that very Pr°l3°-4ir d•
Nay, the distinguished architect of the building, ifith
Paxton, himself, was more delighted than any One o°loll.
the idea of converting the Exhibiting Building int°,,,aerar
room, and when speaking on the subject, broke out Inn -vier
turous expression of delight when he contemplated t"'e tbe
sure lie should have in giving a glorious hearty dances,,oed.
people of England in the building which he had de tiebee at
He said, " Well lit up, it would be an enchanting I,3...`e'reell
night; all the statuary and plants would show off ex illusion
well; it would be most perfect; it would become en eive a
almost. I only wish you would let me have it toefeees-
ball in aid of the funds of the charities of the InetilSo
-
You would see how I should light it,"—(Laugh!erfjoiored,
we must not only have the building new-roofed and as pro'
but illuminated also! He repeated, then, that it Wat
posed to turn the building into a ball-room, and 13,.e01n, g
that—it was to be made a covered drive, a lecturee-sd last'
'
statue gallery, a garden by day, a casino by seght--ellweelo
but by no means least, it was, on the only day of the wee it
when the working classes of, the metropolis' could euee
to themselves, it was prosed to be converted into
a gallery of churches, inwhichof denel:oo'
persons .
tions could find an appropriate place of worship---(a fee'
tinned laughter.) In a very able speech made, ralacei
days ago in favour of the retention of the Crystal eteiele
it was propounded that if the building were to be re ere
it might be opened to the people on a Sandal's. ion
by breaking down the rules which had hitherto beeleeot on
tamed to close our public buildings and institutions; yr. and
condition that the Liturgy should be read in one corneae
every class of Dissenters in the metropolis should. n,;10/010t
appropriate place in another corner. This was an elen;o3bere
view of the question, and he begged Honourable otee on
to make up their minds whether it was to be oPer7tncle°
Sunday or not. If it be shut, then he argued and coots was
that they closed it upon the only day when Hydeli
open to the working classes. If it were to be °Peoiehb.4l3
Sunday, they took the first step, and it was a srelle coal/a
might call a stride, towards introducing into ti-" Slit, coo
the continental method of spending the Sunday
not magnify too much the importance of that seivelos oe' ,
said, therefore, that the site in Hyde-park
; cotletcrel;
efficacious for benefiting the working classes of th-senytheei
and he put it to the experience of those who knew es of t.,
of the localities and habits of the working classee,
suburbs of the metropolis, whether they really etod'oepart
themselves of the walks and pleasure-grounds of 11400troge
on any day except Sunday? The lion. Member for eLeodo.':
had said very truly that the working population .°f
were caged from early on Monday morning rii' wesrli
Saturday night. What chance had they of toiling
eio ang
through all the miles of hot, dusty streets betweeneeteee?
the extreme west end of London in search of pleas tot'
e
they were to retain the Crystal Palace, with referenc jos of
gratification of the lords and ladies inhabiting the reefeellened
Tyburnia and Belgravia, Hyde-park would be ane'etsiowZ
site. But he estimated far above the advantage °'
elesee-0
a public place of amusement for the upper and middleeet te
the necessity of providing some means of entertelneers- I
the hard-toiling artisans of the metropolis metro;
Great efforts had been made to induce the public of t..h cryota
polis to believe, that between the retention of a
th
ee wag
Palace on its present site and its total destruction themmate-
no middle course.—(flear, hear.) This was a most been
ha" to
rial departure from the truth. Whilst he „long
considering this question he had naturally been nisei, to
discover what site would be more accese ise,etenisig
the working classes on half-holidays and surarnerconceniet'e
t
The first element in such a consideration was the
transit. What facility did Hyde-park afford to ~,eboa.t
population of the suburbs? The distance by eter(oute,s!
from Lambeth-stairs to Battersea was just Itesrtle
from Blackfriars 34 minutes ; from Sou hes A.
50
minutes ; from London-bridge 40 minut pose'The sto
from the Thames- tunnel, 50 minutes. „hem
ot.
tions contained inside and surrounding L"
elation hock immense proportion of the working
vec _
the metropolis.—( Hear, hear.) If they took 7,u if a 01°
Woolwich, he would as more uge;
Limehouse, Deptford, and
the river would not he earls •
immediately contiguous to
than gYde-erger
ful and acceptable to the working classes
the Pass-beat
a proof of how great was
—(Cheers.) As
on® stea ear
trellis on the river, he might mention thatt _ last y
company carried between London-bridge and le-ew
six millions of passengers.—(Hear, hear.) be inatte"
about to
also allude to the new parks he thou
that
arts of the metropolis, and tit
on-
in other p
money that would be required se aeon
that the
Crystal Palace for permanency might be more
for the evore-1
ng
tageously expended in providing attractions
ti
.e.eee OA
clashes in their own neighboudyncit They 9 guill
..•
LA,' '