The Sun.
London, England, 1862-03-22 00:00:00

TILE PRINCE CONSORT MEMO.RIA.L.

Yesterday, at three o'clock, the committee re-
cently nominated by the Queen to advise her
Majesty in reference to the design and mote of
execution of the national memorial of the late Prince
Consort proposed to be erected is the metropolis,
nerd another meeting on the subjeut in the Council
Chamber of the Fine Arts Commission in the Palace
of Westminster. The members were all present—
namely, the Earl of Derby, the Earl of Clarendon,
Mr. Cubitt, the Lord Mayor, and Sir Charles East-
lake, the President of the Royal Academy.
Desirous of carrying out the wish of the Queen
that the intended monument should be an obelisk,
provided it be of sufficient grandeur, and that it
should be erected on or near the site of the Exhibi-

tion of 1851, the consideration of the committee
yesterday, as from the first, was principally directed
to the probability of obtaining a monolith of ade-
quate dimensions, and, if possible, within her Ma-
jesty's own dominions, As yet no stone has appeared
to them more suitable for the purpose in all respects
than that which lies in a granite quarry of the
Duke of Argyll, in the Island of Mull, to which
public reference has of late been made, though they
have arrived at no decision on the subject, their
primary object being to obtain a monolith which
shall satisfy the condition on which her Majesty
elected in favour of that form of monument, and
which, with the artistic adjuncts that are contem-
plated as portions of the general design, shall be
alike worthy of the country and the age, and best
calculated to perpetuate the illustrious dead.
They were informed yesterday that since their last
meeting workmen have been busily engaged in un-
covering more of the stone at Mull than had been
previously revealed, that they have now dug round
one of the extremities, and that though the other is
still uncovered, this block of granite is now cleared
to the length of 115 feet, or eight or ten feet longer
than it was supposed to be. The committee were
further informed that all practical men on the spot
concurred in the belief that the stone is sound and
perfect, but that no absolute opinion could be pro-
nounced until it shall have been wholly detached
and carefully sounded all round and throughout its
entire length, which will be a work of time. A
rough specimen, broken from the block itself, has
been received in London, and is about to be polished
in order that a better judgment of its quality may
be arrived at. Within the last few days a letter
has been received from the proprietor of a granite
quarry at Balmoral, stating that it contains a single
stone about 100 ft. in length, and nearly bOft. broad.
The letter a as accompanied by a polished specimen,
but the colour is not thought to be so agreeable as
that of the Mull granite, while the cost of convey-
ing it to the coast, it is said, would be incalculably
greater than that of removing the block at Mull,
which is distant about 500 yards from the sea.
Some conception may be formed of the magnitude
of the work now in contemplation from the fact that
in the partly analogous case of the Luxor, in Paris,
upwards of five years elapsed in taking it down
from its ancient site at Thebes, transporting it to
Paris, and erecting it °Oho Place de la Concorde.
The total amount of subscriptions received at the
Mansion-house up to last evening in aid of the fund
is £42,000.

THE INTERNATION4L EXBIBITION.

Nothing positively decisive with regard to the
opening ceremony has yet been arranged beyond
that the Prince of Wales will not be present. His
absence, though much to be regretted on this great
occasion, appears now to be unavoidable, and it
will rest with the five Royal Commissioners who
are to be nominated to act for her Majesty on the

Ist of May to make up for this loss by invitations to
illustrious personages from abroad. There is no
doubt but that all the most distinguished Presidents
of foreign Commissions will be invited, and that
very many will come, including Prince Napoleon
and the Crown Prince of Prussia. It would be
premature just now to mention other names,
though we think there is very little doubt that the
efforts of the Commissioners will secure a most
distinguished assemblage from all parts of Europe.
There appears to be such a general and almost
unanimous wish on the part of the season ticket-
holders that there should be reserved seats at the
opening to be given to the holders, as we before
stated, in accordance with the order of priority in
which the tickets were purchased, that it has been
decided to adopt this course. In coming to this de-
cision the Commissioners have been guided solely
by the wishes of the season ticketholders them-
selves, and by their desire to promote to the ut-
most the convenience of visitors and the good order
of the ceremony on the Ist of May. As far as the
Commissioners themselves are concerned, there is
no doubt they would gladly dispense with reserved
seats if they could, inasmuch as providing them and
making their arrangements is addinga great deal to
their trouble and expenses. But after long consi•
deration they have come to the conclusion that
they cannot do without them with safety to the
convenience, good order, and comfort of the large
concourse expected in the building on its opening.

The wet and severe weather of this week has not
been without its advantages, as affording unmis-
takeable proofs of there being places in the roofs of
the glass courts which were not water-tight ; many
such unpleasant, though, as it turned out, beneficial
discoveries were made during the heavy rain of
Monday last. In nearly all cases they were found
to proceed from hurried and ill-finished glazing, or
from gutters and columns being choked with shav-
ings, dirt, and bits of wood. A thorough overhaul
of the roofs was therefore made on Tuesday, and all
these slight, though annoying defects, were made
good. Now a system has been arranged by which
every column is lettered and numbered, so that on
the first discovery of any leakage, however trifling,
a report is at once made and the plumbers stop it
in an hour, though with the care that has recently
been taken and the probable approach of better
weather no future trouble is apprehended on this
score. All the rest of the building is being rapidly
finished as far as regards the interior of the main
structure itself. The present great obstacles to pro-
gress are the huge dome scaffolds, which will not be
entirely removed before the end of this month. Mr.
Crace must hurry forward the decoration of the
n in-
teor belt of the western dome as much as possible
if he does not wish any delay which may arise in
the removal of the frameworks to be attributed to
him. The foreign courts, except the French, are half
filled with goods and cases, and in this respect offer
a marked
contrast to the huge empty expanse of floor
allotted to English exhibitors, which is only dotted
up as advertisements, and containing no
here and
goods what-
there with a few show cases, apparently put
ever.► We have received letters from some British ex-