The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-03 00:00:00

THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.

The Exhibition was the sole great object of attrac-
tion yesterday. Of course the attendance was not
equal to that at the great opening ceremony, which
will be so long remembered with pleasure by all who
were fortunate enough to witness it, but still the
number of visitors was very large. Every part of
the ground-floor and annexes was tolerably well
filled, and throughout the day there were probably
not less than from 15,000 to 18,000 season-ticket
visitors who entered tne building. This, considering
the number of season tickets sold, is just about the
attendance that might have been an ticipated ; btt
what was not so confidently expected was, that
there was a fair proportion of visitors yesterday
who paid their sovereign for entrance at the doors.
In our account of the opening ceremony we rather
under-estimated the number of visitors in the build-
ing on that occasion. The returns given from the
entrances show that the admissions on that day
amounted to upwards of 32,000 visitors; and when
it is remembered that there were probably 1,500 or
2,000 favoured persons in the building before it was
opened to the public, that there were upwards of
2,000 persons in the orchestra, and a very large staff
of officials, police, &c., it is calculated that the total
number in the interior on Thursday was not much
short of 37,000 in all. Under any circumstances
this would have been a very large number to ac-
commodate, but to do so in such a way as to give
entire satisfaction to everybody was more difficult
still. Yet on Thursday this appears to have been
done, Of course, among such a number there must
be some who have their individual grievances and
complaints, but these have not yet come to light,
though, on the other hand, praises and congratula-
tions on the perfection of the arrangements have
come in from all sides. The police—high authori-
ties on these matters—state that they never had a
great public ceremonial which gave them less trouble
or went more smoothly from first to last. It was
emphatically a great success, and, as being on the
greatest scale which has yet been attempted in this
country, we may reasonably be proud of it. Not-
withstanding this very great number and the im-
mense concourse of carriages, the building was
empty before dusk, and with nightfall labour again
commenced in the interior, under the superintend-
ence of such few members of the Staff as had had a
night's rest this week. That there was a great deal
to do, and that a great deal was done, could be seen
at a glance when the building opened at 12 o'clock
yesterday. The magnificent orchestra was almost
completely down, and the last of its massive timbers
were to be carried out last night. The rapidity
with which this huge fabric has been removed seems
almost magical. When it was built Kelk and Lucas
undertook to have it down again within three days,
but in this, as in many other more important matters,
they have never hesitated to depart from the mere

letter of their contract when the interests of the
Exhibition could be advanced by its infraction, even

though at their own cost. In addition to this work
all the temporary barriers had been removed, the
seats arranged and distributed (there are seats for
30,000, so that this distribution was in itself a heavy

labour), and the building was thrown open and clear
from end to end. Visitors were admitted at the
time we have stated, and from that hour till past 4

they continued to pour in rapidly. As might be
expected, the picture galleries were the chief objects
of attraction. These were crowded, the English
gallery especially so, The visitors preferred this
gallery, partly because it was finished and clean,
and the cocoanut matting which is laid along it
at least diminishes the dust. In the foreign gallery,
on the contrary, the pictures are not all hung,

_
rently not swept; and such a dust is caused by
the presence of even a few visitors as effectually
deters many from entering, and all from remain-
ing long. If not for the sake of the public, at least
to preserve the pictures, this nuisance should be
abolished at once. Except in these galleries there
was no particular crowd anywhere. Visitors went
where they listed, and found something to admire
at all points. Yesterday the Koh-i-Noor made

its appearance for the first time. It attracted round
it almost the same crowd of visitors that used
to throng about the case on shilling days in '5l.
But the Koh-i-Noor will not be alone in its glory
this time, for a great rival, exhibited by M. Cos-
ter, and said to be worth a million sterling, has

come in from Amsterdam, and also made its appear-
ance yesterday. This is " the Star of the South," a

single brilliant of immense size, and weighing no

less than 125 carats. It is set in the centre of a

magnificent star of brilliants, each of which, though
large and valuable, is a mere foil to the glittering

centre stone. Its colour, however, is by no means

so good as that of the famous eastern war prize.
- -

Around the stand on which " the Star of the South"

is shown is a most interesting connection of dia•

monde from various mines, in every stage of pro

gress, from the rough stone to the finished brilliant,
and a brief printed description at the foot of each

makes the whole method of cutting and polishing

as clear as if the process, now only practised at
Amsterdam, took place before the eyes of the visi-
tor. But the whole Exhibition is most unusually
_ _ _

rich in precious stones. Emanuel shows an enor-
mous emerald set in diamonds, a noble cross cut from

a solid topaz, mounted in gold and enamel with other
costly jewelry. But the great blaze of gems comes

from Hancock's case,where the Devonshire emerald

:the largest in the world), and the Devonshire
jewels, said to be the rarest and most artistio col-

Lection of antique gems in the world, are shown

amid a perfect crowd of pearls, opals, rubies, bril-
liants, and topazes. In this case are jewels to the
value of £300,000 sterling, and, as a matter of

course, it is thronged round about with ladies all
day. Close by this fine show Hunt and Roskell con-

tribute a collection of silver trophies which rival

everything in the building for perfection of work-
manship, and quite eclipse the less artistic display
of the same kind by Garrard. The Roman Court,

filled with its exquisite statues and mosaics, was
crowded to inconvenience yesterday. Storey's two

great works, the Sybil and Cleopatra, are exciting
_ _ _ _ _

a sensation infinitely greater and infinitely better
deserved than that so suddenly awarded in '5l
to Power's nude figure. In the Glass Court
some wonderfully fine specimens of household glass
ware are shown by Pellat. Cups, tumblers, and
jugs of the most beautiful forms, and covered with
a perfect embroidery of exquisite engraved designs,
are exhibited. Some of these articles deserve the
very highest praise, and there really is nothing in
the building, English or foreign, which can com-
pete with them. But the great ornaments of this
Court—the colossal chandelier and candelabrum
exhibited by Defrics and Sons—are still unfinished.
The former is being slowly built downwards from
its massive frame in huge prisms and lustres three
feet long; but the candelabrum, which is to be 20
feet high and for 160 lights, has hardly been com-
menced. These when finished will be the gems of
glass work in the court, and perhaps excepting
Oslur's great crystal fountain for '5l are the largest
structures, if we may so call them, that have ever
been executed in glass in this country. Beneath
the chandelier is one of the lofty concave prismatic
mirrors, 10 of which were manufactured by Defries
for the alcoves in the drawing room of the Sultan's
summer palace on the Bosphorus. They are ex-
ceedingly
richin effect, but rather too glittering to
please anywhere but in the East. Among other
objects of interest the Armstrong guns almost
rivalled the Koo_i-Noor in the crowds they brought

about them. An attendant from Woolwich was

with them to open and shut the breech and explain

that most simple of all processes, how to load and

fire them. These guns, and the Naval and Military
Court generally, attract immense amount of atten
tion, though not more than the objects in them

really merit.

On the north side, the courts which are allotted