The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-17 00:00:00

Grand Universal Bazaar.

The above is' the ,title of a very grand bazaar, which
commenced yesterday, and continues every day during
the week, in St. James's Hall. Bazaars have hitherto
been held for the benefit of one particular charity,
but the Grand Universal Bazaar puts forward its appeal
for the following distinct objects, and a more cosmopo-
litan affair has perhaps never been known in this coun-
try before, for contributions from many a distant country
have been sent in the laudable desire that by their sale
some one asylum or institution would be enabled to con-
tinue in its beneficent course, and would be helped for-
ward in its career of usefulness :—The Infant Asylum
and Orphanage of the Sisters of Charity, the House of Re-
fuge for Female Prisoners, the French Schools of Sisters
of Charity, the Servants' Home, St. Edward's Convent,
Blandford-square, the Italian Church and Charities, the
New Church, Kensington, the Little Sisters of the Poor,
the Hospital of St. John and St. Elizabeth, the New
Schools, Warwick-street, Golden-square, the German
Church and Charities, the Orphanage, Vicarage-place,
Kensington, the St. Nicholas Industrial School, Waltham-
stow, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and others. What
potent spell but that of charity could possibly have united
so many institutions in a joint effort to promote the wel-
fare of each and all; and what other influence could have
induced so many high-born ladies to undertake the labour
of love in which they were yesterday engaged, and in which
they will continue for some days yet ? An enumeration of
the various aims and objects sought to be accomplished by
the institutions mentioned would occupy a lengthened
space, but the philanthropist will know how many wretched
applicants are daily seeking shelter in some of them,
how deserving of support are the good Little Sisters of
the Poor in their efforts to soothe the last hours of the
aged whom they tend, how many discharged prisoners are
afforded refuge and assistance, how many neglected souls
are cared for, how many poor children of many nations are
rescued from the streets and alleys of this huge metropolis
and trained in paths of usefulness, how many poor servants
out of place are received in the charitable asylums named,
and protected from temptation and want until new situa-
tions are found them; and, lastly, how all this is accom-
plished by the self-denying exertions of those who take
an active part in the labours involved in the conduct of so
many charitable institutions.
The interior of the building yesterday presented a scene
as curious as pleasing. The stalls were arranged on either
side the entire length of the great hall, and in the centre
was another large block of entrepots, on which was dis-
played painting, sculpture, dresses, feathers, embroidery,
engravings, photographs, gold and silver ware, lace,
autographs, pipes, cigars, flowers, artificial and natural,
and graceful cases revealing female treasures of
Lawn as white as driven snow,
Cyprus black as e'er was crow,
Gloves as sweet as damask roses,
Masks for faces and for noses,
Bugle bracelet, necklace amber,
Perfume for a lady's chamber,
and an endless variety of indescribable but useful luxu-
ries. Presents had also been sent to the bazaar by the
Empress Eugenie, Queen Marie Amelie, the Countess
d'Eu, and the Comte de Chambord, the first mentioned
being a pair of splendid Sevres vases, exhibited
on the stall of the Marchioness of Londonderry,
and valued at 300 guineas. Even the raised platform of
the orchestra was converted into a fancy bazaar for the oc:-
casion, and instead of hearing there the dulcet tones of
songstresses warbling their enchanting solos and duets,
the ear was charmed by the seductive voices of ladies,
young and handsome, who, in a manner which could
not be resisted, sought to procure a goodly list of sub-
scribers for some pretty object which had been entrusted
to their care to dispoie of to the best advan-
tage. In the body of tho hall was heard a very
Babel of tongues, for many nations had theirfair emissaries,
who were indefatigable in their exertions to emulate each
other ; and hard and obdurate must have been the heart of
him who could resist the inducement to purchase a small
bouquet, abrilliant piece of music by Kuhe, offered with so
much grace, or to invest a shilling or half-a-crown, as the
case might be, in a scheme the result of which might be
that the investor might become the possessor of a gorgeous
smoking cap or a clock-work monkey.
Amongst the ladies who so kindly lent their valuable aid
in the disposal of the large stock of articles contributed by
the charitable were the Countess Apponyi, the Marchioness
of Londonderry, the Dowager Marchioness of Lothian, the
Countess of Newburgh, the Dowager Countess of Buchan,
Viscountess Norreys, Lady Edward Fitzalan Howard, Lady
William Hervey, Lady Georgiana, Fullerton, Lady Arundel
of Wardour, Baroness Marochetti, Hon. Mrs. More O'Fer-
rall, Hon. Mrs. Henry Petre, Hon. Mrs. Charles Petre,
Lady Blount, Lady Bedingfeld, Lady Chichester, Lady
Clifford, Madame A. Deveaux, Madame Gueneau de
Mussy, and many others. Lady Georgiana Fullerton was
also assisted by the Princesses Blanche and Marguerite,
the daughters of the Duke and Duchess de Nemours. His
royal highness was present during the day, as were also
the Duchess of Newcastle, the Duke de Sotomayor, the
Earl and Countess of Fife, Lady Taunton and Hon. Miss
Labouchere, Lord Herries, Lord and Lady Petre, Lady
Arthur Lennox, Lady Caroline Towneley, Baroness Lionel
de Rothschild, Hon. Charles Langdale, Hon. Henry Petro,
Hon. Thomas Stonor, Sir Charles Clifford, Sir Charles
Winston Barron, Sir Reginald Barnewall, Madame de
Lizardi, &c.

CALCINED FLINT.—In 1720, during one of his
journeys to London, the horse Astbury rode be-
came affected with a disorder in one of its oyes ; he there-
fore, upon arriving at Banbury, consulted the ostler of the
inn at which he stayed. The man, well skilled in simple
remedies, fetched a nodule of the flint common in the neigh-
bourhood, burnt it to a red heat in the fire of the room in
which the traveller sat, and after plunging it into water,
reduced it easily into a fine powder. A portion of this he
blew into the horse's eyes, to their immediate relief and
present cure. Astbury watched this process ; and being
attracted by the whiteness of the calcined flint, and the
easy method by which it had been reduced to powder, it
occurred to him, by one of those happy inferences which,
empirical as they are, have been so fruitful of results in
relation to scientific advance, that the same substance
might be found useful as a material in pottery. Willing to
try the experiment, he had some flints collected and for-
warded by waggon to Shelton, where upon his return they
were fired in a kilne aftere the ware was baked, and then
pulverised in a mortar. This powder he mixed with pipe-
clay and water, and tried it as a wash for hollow ware.
The result exceeded his expectations ; he eventually intro-
duced calcined flint into the body of his white ware, with
the best possible effect, both as regarded a larger amount
of vitrification and a purer colour.—ifeteyard's Life of
Wedgwood.