The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-12 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING MAY 12, 1862.

THE FRENCH PRESS AND THE
EXHIBITION.

Among the persons appointed to give an account
of the Great Exhibition in the Parisian press is M.
Alfred Assolant. He acts on this occasion as special
correspondent for the Courrier du Einaanche, to
which he has been for some time a contributor. M.
Assolant no doubt performs his duties to the com-
plete satisfaction of his principals, for we find the
same tendency to caricature which marks his ordi-
nary lucubrations in the same journal. As it is to
all appearance the first time M. Assolant has visited
London, one must make allowance for the views he
takes of men and things, as for the absence of any
valuable information. " Decidedly," he begins,—

" The opening of the Exhibition was very badly
conducted. Such is the opinion of every one. The
English understand everything except organization.
The art of administering brought to such perfection
among us (a little too much so), is absolutely
unknown to them. Every one goes on wildly, lives
as he can, works where he can, and spends prodi-
gious force with very little result. Though I was
by chance and by my own exertions one of the
best placed for seeing the cortege and the whole
ceremony, I hardly heard any of the music, and the
speaking not at all. I did not even see the speakers.
A mass of trophies and ornaments, very much out
of place on such an occasion, concealed from every
eye half the gallery, There remained, it is true,
the spectacle of the assembly, which interested me
more than the official speeches. This is not the way
things are done in Paris, and, in my opinion, we
succeed much better. In Paris, at least, the whole
of the spectators can hear and see the principal
personage."
M. Assolant has a very mean opinion of Lon.
don :

"It is far inferior to Paris or New York. Lon-
don is not even a capital. It is an immense
and monstrous assemblage of big towns, which
chance and the requirements of trade have brought
together. As there was a river, people gathered on
its banks. As the river was navigable, seamen
from all countries met there. As there were no
natural limits of mountains or hills, people spread
out in all directions. As the inhabitants on the
banks were Anglo-Saxons—that is to say, naturally
laborious, intrepid, intelligent, and voracious, they
hungered for other people's property, and went to
seek their fortune in foreign countries. As an
entrepot was wanted to contain the wealth which
they acquired, by force or by labour, they pitched
upon London, which was near enough to the sea to
have a pert, and inland enough to be easily pro-
tected from invasion. As they were rich, they
wished to be free—for liberty is an advantage in-
dispensable to the man who possesses all other
advantages, and the rich man is always prouder
than the poor man. They have had freedom. As
the King was an inconvenience to them, they cut
his head off. As they like old things, old traditions,
old rubbish, and all that reminds them of their
ancestors, they keep to the name of Royalty, but
have kept to themselves its real power. As their
country is full of fogs and wet (at least so it is pre-
tended, but for the last three days the 'sun is as
bright in London as in Paris), they go to breathe
fresh air in Jamaica, Canada, India, the Cape, Aus-
tralia, Malta, Gibraltar, the lonian Islands, and
Ceylon, which has given them occasion to found a
great empire, and to levy everywhere great tribute,
the primary cause of every war and of every domi-
nation. As they are masters of a great empire, and
intermeddle in all the affairs of the terrestrial globe,
they think they are gods ; they give their unasked-
for advice on the conduct of Peter and Paul, of
James and Philip. King Otho is a driveller, who
violates the constitution, and will get himself
turned out of the city of Pericles. Francis Joseph
displeases the Venetians, and does not please the
Hungarians. Alexander charges the Poles with
his Cossacks, and sends too many people to Siberia.
William wants to handle Prussia as he would a re-
giment, and will get himself into trouble. Our
Holy Father the Pope ought to put himself at
board and lodging at Victor Emmanuel's. The
English being quite safe in their island, encircled
with ships, from the 20,000 portholes of which issue
as many Armstrong guns, they now and then defy
some invisible enemy, and promise to grind them
to powder. As the invisible enemy answers them
in a friendly manner, they go through the military
exercise, and proudly march past before the Queen.
As the military uniform has ever been dear to the
ladies, they are greatly applauded ; and, finally,
as they are all heretics, except a few Irish, who
piously read the works of M. Coquelle, they will go
one day to the Devil—at least I firmly hope so."
M. Assolant says he rather likes English society
when once the " cold envelope" it is wrapped in is
thrown off. He must, however, be greatly bewil-
dered when he walks abroad :

" London is too big; it is an immense defect,
which people have already begun to perceive. The
distances are twice or thrice those of Paris. The
communications are very difficult. The streets of
the city are encumbered with carriages, foot pas-
sengers, and merchandise. It is a wonder that there
are not more accidents, Is it not dangerous for a
country that its capital should be so large, and so
prodigiously peopled P Three millions of men for
a nation of 30 millions ! It is the tenth part,
or three times too much. So big a head on a
body relatively so little crushes it. All the ideas,
all *the sentiments, all the wealth of a nation
-crewd to the centre, and the rest of the country
looks a desert. Hence the languor of the provinces,
the want of hands in the country, the low tone of
the mind, the disgust of public affairs, and gradu-
ally the reduction cf the nation to servitude. Be but
master of the capital, and you are master of all."
The English, M. Assolant thinks, will be so struck
with the beauty and regularity of Paris that " they
will have in their turn in 10 years—in 20 years,
perhoa
prgs—anie,asPrefect of London of their own, who
will
administer, cut through, and build
just like the Prefect of Paris. That day every mu-
nicipal liberty will be in pearl. May Heaven keep
our friends the English from it, for they would re-
pent of it for ever."
M. Assolant has seen but one fine thing in Lon-
don, though be adds that he has as yet hardly seen
one-fourth of it, and that is the parks.

"The Luxembourg and the Tnilleries do not ap-
proach them. They are vast prairies, where you
Pell well among women
see flocks of sheep browsing
and children, who are lying down on the grass, or
playing on it. In this consists the real superiority
of London, and I must admit that Paris has nothing
like it."

He is not so satisfied with the large squares,
which it seems nobody but their inhabitants is
thinallowed to enter i Thesaidsquares—
" Are very sad lookin
forbidden to the public—a cireuingsB; the entrants is
ane i e quite worthy
t n
of an aristocratic nation, where each
individual eats
apart, shut up in his bos'iat the eating-house
vicious horses in a stable. The P ' like
T oprietors near
the square alone have the right to walk in them,
and to all appearance do not much use the r . cm'
ight.
At least, I have seen no one there."
M. Assolant then alludes to the public amuse-
meats in London, such as music hall, concert cafe,'
&c., all of which, " excepting the great playhouses,
which I have not yet seen," he pronunces
" miserable."
You will be surprised to learn how hard-hearted
you all are, for M. Assolant affirms that " gentle-
ness and
sympathy. towards each other are virtues
which seem to be unknown in this country." He
quotes
forthwith an instance of which it seems he
was an eye-witness :___

"This morning
__.
I met a mountebank who, with
his face all painted, attracted the public with his
jokes and tumbled in the middle of the street. While
he perceived a
g
tumbling young girl, poorly but
He gave her a hard
rd,:yceinngtlyhicinlad,oing along the pathway without
any
attention.
kick, which made about a hundred people who were
standing by laugh. The young woman, surprised
and frightened, tried to run away weeping, but the
mountebank, (ncouraged by the applause of the
crowd, and laughing at what he did, redoubled his
tumbling, and pursued her with more kicks.: The
public kept on laughing and applauding. I don't
know whether such things are common in London,

but I think that brutality of the kind would not be
left unpunished either in Paris or New York,"
The conclusion drawn by M. Assolant from what
he has seen is, that

" The:Englfshman is brutal, and that this is his
chief defect. The English workman is far inferior
in appearance—and also perhaps in heart—to the
French workman. Those one sees in the streets
look soured and brutalised by ceaseless and hopeless
misery. In France the workman is a man who
esteems himself, and feels himself respected. He is
poor, but always proud. He neither lowers himself,
nor asks for alms. His grandfather was a soldier
in the First Republic. He has entered as a master
the capitals of Europe, and has seen more than once
the backs of Kings. His father was at Austerlitz.
He himself has burnt a cartridge in Africa. He
knows that he is the equal of any one. He has
seen the Revolution of 1830, and that of 1848. He
is a man and a citizen, and if he still wants several
things he knows that he shall have them sooner
or later."

I give the following extract from the correspon-
dence in the Opinion Nationale, with all the more
pleasure as the Opinion Nationals is not habitually
friendly to the English. After some preliminary
observations, in which the writer regrets that the
cotton manufacturers of Alsace and Normandy have
abstained from competing with other nations, the
correspondent continues :

" The course of events is never stopped by refus-
ing to join in them. But although appearance,
grandeur, power, and energy in every article are
incontestably the character of the English, our ex-
hibitors have given proofs of invention and origi-
nality much greater. Everything which our neigh-
bours possess shows the accumulation of capital—
the employment of force—the will to arrive at the
object by the ordinary road at any cost. With us
difficulties are turned by the most ingenious plans ;
we expend more ingenuity and less money. For
that reason our Exhibition, even in machinery, pre-
sents more novelties—more problems resolved.
Nevertheless, we say it without hesitation, we see
there the works of a great nation, which deserves
respect and approbation. It has been said, and
repeated in every tone, that the palace of the Exhi-
bition of 1862 seen from without is clumsy and
inferior to the Crystal Palace of 1851. Ido not say
the contrary, but when one has penetrated under
the domes which cross each other—under all the
galleries annexed—when one has walked for hours
without passing before more than a quarter of the
stalls, one is forced to admit that neither in London
in 1851 nor in Paris in 1855 did anybody see any-
thing like this. Taken altogether, it is magnificent
—splendid ! One's eyes are dazzled and one's senses
filled with admiration. The palace of the Exhibi-
tion looks upon the gardens of the Royal Horticul-
tural Society, which are not yet quite finished. But
although workmen are still employed in planting
green turf, in laying out flower beds, in levelling
the walks, in placing monumental fountains from
the founderies of MM. Barbazet and Durenne, the
effect is grand and fairy-like. Nothing like it was
ever seen in France nor even in Oriental or Chinese
palaces. It cannot be asserted that everything is
yet arranged with that perfect familiarity with the
requirements of human life which the English so very
well understand. The installation is scarcely com-
menced, and yet the refreshment department is esta-
blished on a colossal scale. The world is convoked
to the repast of Gargantua. Sideboards, which pre-
sent a surface of more than half a mile, ere loaded
with provisions of every kind and suited to every
purse, as well as to every palate, and for all classes
of society. They are served ,by about 200 young
women, whose places, it is said, were set up to a
sort of competition. More than 5,000 candidates
presented themselves. Young women with black
eyes and black hair were chosen in the proportion
of 90 to the 100. The Commissioners were deter-
mined to give a contradiction to the opinion that
all Englishwomen are fair. • But black is so re-
markable here that a fair daughter of Albion ex-
claimed, " Oh, they are painted."

THE GBEAT INTERNATIONAL CdT7LE

SHOW IN BATTERSEA PARK.

The Royal Agricultural Society of England are
making extensive preparations for the International
Cattle Show to be held in Battersea-park during the
ensuing month. The ground on which the show is
to take place is already staked out to the extent of
some 25 or 26 acres, and workmen are engaged in
making the necessary drainage and other require-
ments for so extensive an exhibition. Nor is it in-
tended that the exhibition of this year shall be
merely confined to the cattle show and stationary
engines to be exhibited at Battersea-park. The
council of the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng-
land have secured 200 acres of land in the vicinity
of the Farningham station of the Londcn, Chatham,
and Dover Railway, where there will be a public ex-
hibition of every description of steam cultivators in
action. In order to render it more attractive, ar-
rangements have been made by the council with
the London, Chatham, and Dover Company to run
frequent trains, at merely nominal charges, between
Victoria station and Farningham. The programme
of the arrangements for the forthcoming exhibition
are as follows :—Monday, the 23d June, is fixed for
the opening of the show. The Ist of May was the
last day of entry, and the number of entries is very
large. The Right Hon. Lord Portman is the pre-
sident of the year. Stewards of live stock :—The
Hon. W. Cavendish, M.P., Mr. Pain, and Mr. Mil-
ward. Foreign stock : Mr. Fisher Hobbs. Imple•
meats : Lord Lf gh, the Hon. A. Vernon, Mr. Torr,
and steward elect, Sir E. Kerrison, Bart., M.P.
Other portions of the management devolve on the
Hon. Col. A. Nelson Hood, Mr. Barnett, the Hon.
A. Vernon, Mr. W. Fisher Hobbs, Mr. C. Wren
Hoslryns, Mr. Milward, Mr. Torr, Mr. H. Wilson,
Mr. Bramston, M.P„ Mr. Cantrill, Mr. Druce, Mr.
Pope, Mr. Barrett, and Mr. Wells; whilst the
general arrangements of the show are entrusted to
Mr. Brandreth Gibbs, the well-known and efficient
honorary secretary of the Smithfield Cattle Club,
and Mr. H. Hall Dare, the secretary of the Royal
Agricultural Society. The principle upon which
the exhibition will be opened to the various classes
of the public will be on the graduated scale, varying
from the sum of one sovereign down to ls. Gover-
nors and members of the society are to be n dmitted
to the show yards without payment, by tickets
issued by the society, but which are not transfer-
able; and members of the Highland and Agricul-
tural Societies of Scotland are to be admitted upon
the same terms as members of the society. The
show of implements will commence on Monday, the
23d, and continue open Tuesday, the 24th, and
Wednesday, the 25th of June exclusively, from 8 in
the morning till 8 in the evening. Wednesday.
the 25th, is also appointed as the day for the preli-
minary inspection of the cattle and live stock, and
for the judges' examination and awards. The cattle,
for which prizes are awarded by the Royal Agri-
cultral Society of England, amounting to the sum
of £1,152, aro divided into 11 sections, comprising
63 classes, ciz., short-horned, Hereford, Devon,
Sussex, long-horned, Norfolk, and Suffolk polled,
North Wales, South Wales, Irish (Kerry), Channel
Island~—Alderney and Guernsey. The horses are
divided into seven sections and 26 classes as follows
—hunter, carriage, roadster, Suffolk, agricultural,
dray, asd ponies. The prizes awarded for horses
amount to £865, and for the beat stud thorough
horse, which, in the opinion of the judges, is most
calculated to improve and perpetuate the breed of
the sound thorough-bred horse for general stud
purposes, a prize of £lOO and gold medal is appro-
priated, and a prize of £25 for the second. The
sheep are to be divided into 12 sections and 36
classes, namely,Kentish, or Romney Marsh, long-woolled, Irish—
pure native lon Leicester, Lincoln, Cotswold,
g-woolled breads, South Down,Shrop-
shire, Hampshire, and West Coun try Down, Oxford-
shire Down, Dorset, and Mountain. The aggregate
amount of money prizes awarded in the sheep classes
reaches £1,095. The Pigs are divided into 15 classes,
and money prizes are offered in these classes of £225.
The prizes offered for foreign specimens amount to
£750. Thus, in addition to eight gold medals and
valious valuable prizes for improvements in agricul-
tural implements alone, the prizes to be awarded by
the Royal Agricultural Society of England for the
various descriptions of stock exhibited under their
auspices arc—For cattle, £1,152; horses, £865;
sheep, £1,095 ; pigs, £225; and for foreign compe-

tition, £750; making-a total of £4,087 in money.
The cattle to be exhibited under the auspices of the
Highland and Agricultural Societies of Scotland
consist of 24 classes divided into four sections, viz.,
polled (Aberdeen and Angus), polled (Galloway),
Highland, and Ayrshire ; money prizes, 468,
Horses—Clydesdale, divided into five classes; prizes
in money £144, and five silver medals. Sheep
(eight classes in two sections) : Blackfaced and
Cheviot; money prizes £lOB and eight silver medals.
The gross amount of prizes given by the Highland
and Agricultural Societies of Scotland being 38
silver medals and £720 in money, this makes a
gross amount of money prizes in cattle and live
stock alone of £4,807, or with gold and silver
medals a sum little short of £5,000

L iTV INTELLIGENCE.—May 10.

EQUITY COURTS.
(Before Vice-Chancellor Sir W. P. Wood.)
WINDHAM V. GIUBILEI.

This was a petition presented by Mr. Windham,
of Felbrigg Hall, praying that the receiver might
be ordered to give him possession, and that it might
be declared that he was absolutely entitled to cer-
tain furniture, &c., at Felbrigg Hall, which were
bequeathed by the testator as heirlooms. It was
contended on the part of Gen. Windham that this
furniture was to go with the estate, and that the
petitioner was consequently not entitled to it as his
own absolute property.
Mr. Rolt and Mr. Bedwell were for Gen. Wind-
ham ; Mr. Giffard, Mr. Field, and Mr. Jervis were
on the other side.

The Vice -Chancellor said that the intention of
the testator had no doubt been to settle this pro-
perty so as to go with the real estate. In fact,
however, he had so expressed himself that by a rule
of law they became the property, absolutely, of the
first taker. The petitioner was therefore abso-
lutely entitled.

BAIL COURT.

Sittings in Banco—(Before Mr. Justice Wightman.

EX PARTE REED-ARTICLES OF CLERKSHIP.

Mr. Dowdeswell applied on behalf of Mr. T. B.
Reed, that a preliminary examination now neces-
sary before:" a person could enter into articles of
clerkship as an attorney, might be postponed with
regard to one portion of it. By the late statute the
Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, the Lord
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, the Lord Chief
Baron, and the Master of the Rolls, were authorised
to make regulations for the examination of persons
previously to their entering into articles of clerk-
ship in the curriculum laid down. _ _

Mr. justice Wightman—l don't understand that
as signifying a legal term.
Mr. Dowdeswell—No, my lord; but your lord
ship will see that it has reference to an elementary
knowledge of Latin, Greek, French, German,
Spanish, or Italian. It laid down that an elemen-
tary knowledge in one of the abovo languages was
requisite, and that an examination should be gone
through previous to persons entering into articles
of clerkship. The applicant was for some years
clerk to Mr. Bevan, solicitor, Cowbridge, who was
so much pleased with him that ho recommended
him to another solicitor. He had discharged his
duties so satisfactorily that the latter offered him
his articles of clerkship, which were accepted and
executed without Mr. Reed having gone through
the required preliminary examination. Mr. Reed
was not an educated man, but he was capable of
passing a satisfactory examination in all except the
Latin language, and he asked that that part might
be postponed to enable him to acquire it. Had a
knowledge of Welsh been required Mr. Reed could
have passed it.

Mr: Justice Wightman—lt is important that he
should know the English language.
Mr. Dowdeswell—He is perfect in that.
Mr. Justice Wightman said it was necessary that
a person should pass the examination previous to
his entering into articles of clerkship, but in this
case Mr. Reed had executed the articles first, and
had then come to this court for a dispensation. He
would defer his judgment till Monday (this day).
Judgment deferred.

handkerchiefs, quilted petticoats, dresses—no end
of them—handsome black Cashmere shawls, ele-
gantly trimmed with lace, pearl -white silk stockings,
embroidered chemises, richly trimmed night-
dresses and,garters. The learned counsel said he
should be able to prove the delivery of all the articles,
and that they ,were supplied at moderate and rea-
sonable charges, considering the expensive charac-
ter of the materials supplied.
Mrs. Ablett was called—She proved having sold
to the defendant most of the articles in question,
amongst others a steel petticoat for 255. ; gilt
buckles, at 6s. 6d. each; cambric handkerchiefs
trimmed with Valenciennes lace, 38s. ; an extra
rich ditto, 755. ; a rich silk quilted petticoat, 41
guineas; opera glass, £3 13s. 6d. ; a black Cash-
mere shawl, 3 guineas ; muslin steel petticoat 255. ;
a black Cashmere shawl, richly embroidered and
trimmed with lace, £25. Witness saw the defend-
ant about three weeks or a month since, when she
said that if time were given her she would settle the
account.

Mr, Baron Martin suggested, as a verdict must
go against the defendant, whether it was not best
to settle the matter by giving her time.
The learned counsel having consulted together, it
was arranged to take a verdict for the amount
claimed and costs, to be paid by four equal instal-
ments of three months each, execution to issue in
the event of default.
Verdict for the plaintiff accordingly.