The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-24 00:00:00

TIIE I.NTERNATiONAL EXHIBITION.

The aspect of the interior yesterday went far to
encourage the belief that the fashionable world,
considerate of the convenience of the half-holiday
millions of the great metropolis, mean for the
future to make Friday their great gathering day.
The nave and principal courts were crowded with
beauty and fashion indeed the former was almost
impassable, not, as of old, from trophies, but from
the number of promenaders. It is certainly won-
derful to observe what a very few days of energetic
action, directed by proper taste and judgment, have
done in transforming this main artery of the build-
ing from a chaotic curiosity shop into a noble pro-
menade, open from end to end, and ornamented at
the sides with rare trees or noble sculpture. For-
merly a progress through the nave was something
like a steam voyage from London to Greenwich.
First, we bad to face the " Pool," with its coal ships,
ballast barges, ferry boats, and all other imaginable
obstructions. This was worthily :represented by
the English end until Mr. Cole took it in hand.
Then we came to Limehouse Reach—clear, open,
and cheerful. This was the French portion, which
the exhibitors took into their own hands, and ar-
ranged with their traditional taste. Now, from the
moment we descend the steps of the eastern plat-
form we are in open water, and can make a plea-
sant and prosperous voyage to the opposite end of
the building. Salvini's beautiful statue, " The
Daughter of Zion," is now placed where it can be
seen, and hundreds stop to admire it. The Bradford
Trophy is, in a better position, rather an addition
than a defect ; and the magnificent bronzes of El-
kington are an unceasing source of attraction, as
well as their service of silver plate for the Due de
Brabant, which is to be seen close at hand. Some
of the offending trophies still remain, and one of the
most conspicuous is most harshly criticised by the
Visitors, not only for its bulk and intrinsic ugliness,
but because its proprietor evades one of the most
stringent rules of the Exhibition by affixing the
price "in plain figures" to each article. This
" trophy," as it is called, is in fact a shop, and as
such looks very much out of place in its present
position.
The departments most thronged continue to be
the jewel courts and the Italian department; in
the former the constables placed to protect the
Koh-i-noor have a hard struggle between their duty
and their gallantry, in keeping the ladies at any_
thing like a reasonable distance; and at Mr. Han-
cock's case we thought that at one portion of the
day the Riot Act would have had to he read, so
great was the excitement caused by the debut of a
n ovelty in necklaces, in which diamonds were set
upon amethysts, and both consisted of gems of ex-
traordinary beauty. We noticed also a rather
crowded levee gathered round the tasteful and well_
arranged case of Mappin Brothers, which stands
between the depository of the Koh-i-noor and that
of the Devonshire gems, and is well worthy of such
distinguished company. From the jewels the com-
pany seem naturally to drop into the Italian Court,
in which the superiority of the famed home of art
is perhaps more triumphantly manifested than at
any former time in the present century. The sculp-
ture gallery is frequently at a dead lock ; but yes-
terday much of the interest was transferred to the
neighbouring court,
where the marvellous " Lege-
trice" of Magni has just been uncovered. To criti-
cise this statue would be to "paint the rose."
People stop as they pass it, as if under a spell ; they
see the whole story in a moment, and could almost
weep in sympathy with the innocent girl, who is
so moved with the perusal of the open book before
her. The marble is positively alive, and seems in •
stinet with living emotion. The spectators yester-
day, when they had taken one glance, ran to bring
their friends to share their enjoyment, and those
who had before seen the statue in Florence pro-
posed to get up a memorial to the Commissioners
on the spot to remove it to a more public and fitting
locality.

We have to correct an error into which we fell

in writin 2; the last notice of the Exhibition, respect-
ing the number of tickets purchased by the Bank
of England directors for this establishment. We
should have stated £l5O worth instead of 150 tickets,

and we are happy to add that the directors sent

down for the same quantity yesterday, intimating

that they should want a still further supply. An
order for tickets was also received from the Charter

House. A still more formidable proposal came up
in the course of the day from the Ancient Order of

Foresters at Birmingham, who wrote to know whe-
ther there would be any abatement in the price on

an order for 50,000 tickets. We believe that a dis-

count of 2* per cent. was offered, but the Foresters
are of opinion that they should have the same
allowance as the trade. So far as the half. crown

tickets are concerned, the demand has already been
so great that the supply on hand is exhausted, and
intending purchasers will have to wait for a further

supply until to-day. It may be a convenience to
intending visitors to be informed that Herr Pauer's

pianoforte performance will take place between

2 anti 4 n'elnnlr the western platform.
The number of visitors admitted yesterday was
as follows :—Season tickets, 5,985 ; on payment of
2s. 6d., 12,120; total, 18,105. Among them were

Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar, Duke and Duchess

of Manche.,ster, Lord Ranelagh, the Earl of Essex,
Lady Heathcote, Lady Dillon, and the Hon. Mrs.
Villiers.

STRANGE ATTACK IN A RAILWAY CARRIAGE.—
A strange occurrence took place in the train which left
Paris for Rouen the evening before last. A young trades-
man r eliding at Caen entered a carriage at Mantes, a young
man, and a young woman, were already seated, and, after
a few words exchanged with! his :fellow travellers, fell
asleep. He was shortly awakened by a sharp pain in the
the neck, from a stab given him by the man of 45, who had
his arm raised to strike a second time. The young trades-
man, with the assistance of the other man and the young
woman, secured the man and attempted to alarm the guard,
but their efforts were for a long time fruitless. The un-
pleasant situation lasted for a considerable time, the
wounded man becoming gradually weaker from loss of
blood, and the young man and the girl fearing to be left
alone with the assailant. At length the train stopped, and
assistance was obtained. The man turned out to bo a na-
tive of the Grisons, in Switzerland, under whose care the
young woman, also, a native of Switzerland, was on their
way to New York, to bo married to a Swiss settled there.
The two young men having entered into conversation with
his charge, who is of remarkable beauty) excited in him
such an ungovernzble fit of anger tnat in a moment of
temporary insanity he seized a penknife which the young
tradesman had left on the seat after paring his nails, and
made the attack. Happily the wound inflicted is not of a
serious nature.—Galignani.
RAILWAY PROGRESS IN THE EAST.—The require-
ments of the Board of Trade having been complied with, a
further portion of the Colney Valley Railway will be
opened for traffic between Castle Hedingham and Yeldham
on Monday. The company will then have 13 miles of line
in operation. The Rumsey Railway is about to be at once
proceeded with. Sir Charles Fox is engineer, and Mr.
Simpson has contracted for the works, which are of a light
s►ud easy character.