The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-03 00:00:00

THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION

On Saturday the public were admitted for the
last time to the international Exhibition of 1862.
Already, as an exhibition, it is a thing of the past.
Those who visit it to-day in the character of buyers
will find the Picture Galleries and Machinery
Annexe closed, cranes erecting at the British and
foreign entrances, and busy hands removing the
articles that have been sold, or arranging for the
disposal of the small amount that still remains with-
out purchasers. From this day forward the work
of dismantling, whether by sales or removal, will
go steadily forward till but little will remain for
the vans and cranes to do. All things considered,
the closing has not come a day too soon. We have
eked out our fiction of an English summer to its
latest breath, and made believe in holidays when
the building was filled with a grimy fog and the
outer darkness of November days stole down soon
after noon, To prolong the time of opening fur-
ther would have been to court a failure and dim the
eclat of a great success by a most lame and impo-
tent conclusion. It has already exceeded the span
allotted to our former Exhibition by seventeen days.
Foreigners, who have made enormous profits on
their goods, and taken orders for ten times more
than they have shown, were anxious to go away
and " realise," and for the same reasons, though
with perhaps more cause, our own countrymen have
looked wistfully to the day of departure. Later
than this month it could not have been delayed
with safety to its popularity at home or satisfaction
to those whom we have invited from all parts of the
world, and whom oourtesy compelled to stay until
we, as hosts, had given the signal of departure.
This farewell signal was given on Saturday, and
before the close of this day hundreds of exhibitors
will have taken advantage of it, and bid adieu to
what has been a scene of triumph and a source of
honourable profit to so many. The few days that
have yet to run are emphatically days of sale only,
for the Exhibition closed on Saturday last.

Beyond the simple ceremonial of singing our
national hymn no formality of any kind marked the
occasion. There were crowds of visitors, though
neither more nor less than might have been ex-
pected on such a miserable day. The familiar faces
of aristocratic and distinguished visitors again
thronged the nave, though this time it was not the
only promenade, for the side courts, galleries, an-
nexes—all were full of eager groups, traversing the
building in every direction, visiting and inspecting
their favourite courts and classes for Vie last time.
Their Imperial Highnesses the Prince and Princess
Napoleon were there, with the Prince and Princess
Edward of Saxe Weimar, the Duke of Cambridge,
the Princess Amalie of Schleswig-Holstein-Augus-
tenbourg, the Dowager Duchess of Sutherland, the
Duke and Duchess of Buckingham, Lord and Lady
,
1 Ashburnham, Viscount Sidney,Viscount Torrington,
Viscount Chelsea, &c. •
At 3 o'clock the building seemed more full than
it has ever been, save on the occasion of the two
memorable State days, when so much was expected
and so very little seen. Some little excitement was
caused at this time by the premature and entirely
unexpected strains of the organ at the west end,
commencing with the National Anthem, which led
the visitors pell mell back to that part of the build-
ing. This false note of termination, however, was
soon checked, and popular confidence so far restored
in the integrity of the simple programme that every
one contentedly stood or sat round the west dome till
galleries, side courts, and every place from which
anything could be seen or heard, and very many from
which little could be heard, and nothing seen at all,
was thronged with thousands of visitors.
The members of the Sacred Harmonic Society
were partly in the west gallery, by the side of
Messrs. Walker and Mr. Hedgeland's organ, among
the finest and richest toned in all the building, and
partly also round the dais, under the west dome,
used at the opening on the Ist of May. The Duke of
Buckingham, Sir Wentworth Dilke, Mr. Fairbairn,
Mr. Sandford, and Mr. Lindon, with a number of
• ladies anftentlemen, were also near the dais, around
and about which, as we have said, nearly 40,000
visitors were collected.
our National Anthem were begun, at first with
ndAs the clock struck four the well-known words of
dif-
fidence, but gradually swelling out into
least
its clear, solemn tones up the nave, bringing which, if it did not fill the building, at
hurrying
toge-
ther the scattered groups from all parts,ist . y
their
down on tiptoe and bareheaded, to
is
sss b
deragi taas i
ns close saennand
almost a reli-
giouspresence at what to all Engli.shmetne
listened with
mass of quiet, upturned faces as
• and reverence to
• of pride
that peculiar mingling
strain—listened with an earnest-
nessevery note of the
attentionstrain— the great
not common even in
ceremony. It was curious
of feeling and
few
this country. For
:d then, as at a signal, a loud
there was a pause,
and
clapping of hands and way-
cheer broke forth, with
handkerchiefs, which w
ing of
"one cheer more" led to another and a
again, and
was no method of restoring• silence
louder, till there moanis ernentsewafet
~ Partant pour la Syrie."
but by singing To
this
I
compliment to our foreign visitors the same respect.
they
wy etch