The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-17 00:00:00

TIIL ROYAL PANOPPICON.

The vast Mcorish bui,ding which occupies the eastern
side of Leicester-square, and respecting the purport of
which there has been so much speculation and inquiry,
is on the eve of being opened to the public —its secrets
divulged, and its peaceful mission explained. In plan and
object the Panopticon is something akin to the Polytechnic
Institution. It aspires to be a school for the instruction of
the community in matters scientific and artistic, to gratify
the eye by the grace and variety of its resources, and at the
same time afford the more solid benefits deducible from
practical investigation in all the branches of knowledge
connected with the ordinary pursuits of life. Though
popular in aspect, the character of the instruction we
believe will be of an elevated kind. The daily lectures
will, of course, be suited to the tastes of miscellaneous
assemblages ; but others are contemplated in which the
public upon the payment of small fees may pass through
elaborate courses of study, under the direction of
lecturers of the highest standing. But the little
hand book published by the oouncil describes more
specifically the objects of the Panopticon, and the
void which it is its mission to fill up. The writer of
the introduction, in alluding to the insLitaitions of a lite-
rary and scientific nature already in existence, observes,
that "some are encompassed with a degree of exclusive-
ness which prevents the full development of their
powers and capabilities ; others, professing to perpetuate
and extend a taste for purely intellectual enjoyment,
appear frequently to wax lukewarm, and no longer pos-
sessing novelty, or the yet keener stimulus of example
from kindred establishments, become indifferent to the
hopes and expectations which their origin encouraged."
To meet the exigencies of such a state of things as this,
the Royal Panopticon of Science and Art has been in-
stituted.

The Panopticon owes its origin to one individual, Mr.
Edward Marmaduke Clarke, who, alive to the defi-
ciencies complained of above, not •nly conceived the
idea of an entirely new institution, but succeeded in
enlisting the co-operation of a number of influential in-
dividuals similarly influenced in opinion, who, in con-
junction with himself, took the necessary measures to
secure certain privileges under Royal charter. This her
Majesty was pleased to grant in February, 1850. The
claims of Mr. Clarke to the honour of being the original
projector and promoter of this association are expressly
set forth in the charter to which her Majesty has placed
her hand. This gentleman is now the managing director

—an office to which he is no less entitled ori the score of
past service during the gestation and initiatory progress
of the institution, than on the score of wide and general
experience in such matters. "In the year 1826, and at
a very early period of his life, he was on the committee,
and took an energetic part in the formation of the first
tnecna,iies' institution established In the metropolis of
his native c aintry—lreland. He occupied a prominent
position at the science and art exhibition in the King's-
mews, now the site of the Royal Academy, in 1830. He
was also lectorer at the Exhibition of Arts and Sciences
at Edinburgh in 1839 and 1840 ; and lastly, he estab-
hake i the London Electrical Society, the early meetings
of which were held at his residence." These are
officially advanced as his credentials to the respon-
sible office which he no s holds. That he has well
e.ar,•edl it cannot" be denied, and we trust he will
be rewarded in wr nessing the fruition of the vast
and costly experiment in which he is now so promi-
nently engaged, and which promises to be productive
of so much practical good to the community at large.
The enterprise which has been the foundation of this
undertaking is strikingly manifested in the edifice itself,
furnishing, as it d .es, a very fine specimen of the Sara-
cenic style of architecture, derived chiefly from the Al-
hambra and other remains of the Moorish rule in Spain.
Here is a very interesting novelty to begin with, for the
building presents us with a perfect reflex of the style in
questi.m, planned upon an enormous scale, and carried
out with a degree of elaboration which has evidently set
cost at defiance. When the spectator passes from the
dingy square through the elegant porch, and under the
massive portcullis into the rotunda, his eye meets a
structure that gratifies him at once by its elegant sta-
bility, its graceful grandeur, and its dazzling em-
bellishment. The guide-book claims for the rotun-
da that it is "the most splendid room ever ap-
propriated to scientific and artistic purposes."
There is certainly nothing like it in England. The
chamber towers up, supported by elegant tapering
ilurnas, close upon a hundred feet, where a beautiful
circular skylight terminates the view ; and round the
dome are sixteen star-shaped lights. The roof, the
mo.lem imitation of the blue sky, is fretted with a
thousand golden stars ; and downwards the arches,
pillars, and walls are gilt and coloured with that rich-
ness and effect that are now only beginning to be made
familiar to the English by the genius of Mr. Owen
Jones, and also, we may now say, of Mr. Lewis and
Mr. Fisher, who have superintended and designed the
decorations of this building. Immediately beneath the
central light in the dome is an enamelled fountain, with
a centre jet that can throw up its water to the very sky-
light, a hundred feet. It is surrounded by eight minor
jets, each playing forty feet, and forming a dome of
water playing round the central jet. The tesselation of
this fountain is most elaborate and beautiful, and in sum-
mer time it will impart a delicious coolness to the
building.
" There are three galleries, the one over the other.
Two traverse the circle of the building ; the third only
occupies the western side. These galleries are occupied
by stalls, after the fashion of the Great Exhibition, and

in them numerous patentees present various processes
in weaving, carving, lithography, distilling, turning,
shipbuilding, &c. Here almost every process that adds
to our comforts, or supplies us with the infinitude of in-
ventions cultivated society demands, may be seen, in
their latest and most efficient state. _

Leading off the grand central chamber are several
other apartments devoted to the purposes of the institu-
tion ; such as a laboratory, and the apparatus rooms,
and two handsome theatres ; the one decorated with
paintings for lectures connected with art and literature,
and the other for scientific discourses and exemplifica-
tions.
Toe first object that attracts attention is the monster
electrical machine, constructed by Nlr. Clarke, the
largest ver made. Its plate is 10 feet in diameter,
and weighs about eighteen hundred weight. The brass
pear-shaped conductor is 6 feet long, and respectively
at each extremity 4 feet and 2 feet in diameter. The
Leyden battery is of correspoding size, being composed
of 24 glasses, each presenting 12 feet surface of tin foil.
The next tjrand object is the magnificent organ built by
Hill and Co. It is 48 feet high, 36 feet wide and 28
deep. It has 4,004 pipes and 7 bellows, worked by a
steam-engine, 1 crescendo pedal, 10 composition pedals,
7 c!inplirs, a, id 60 stops. It far exceeds in tone and
compass the great organs at York and Birmingham, and
any in the metropolis.
Photography has of course its repre-ientative, and you
may either wend your way up the interminable stairs
which lead to the domains of the artist, or avail your-
self of an ascending carriage which takes you by a coun-
terpoise process from the pavement of the rotunda, and
deposits you quietly and gently in the regions above.
The private view yesterday was attended by persons
of repute of all classes ; and the entire number who en-
tered from 12 to 4 was upwards of 8,000. The expres-
sion generally uttered was one of great satisfaction.
The baud of the Orford Blues played several airs; and the
mighty organ pealed forth its tones with great sweetness
as well as power ' • and the building was pronounced to
be well adapted for musical demonstrations.
It may be truly said that the reality surpassed the
expectation, and when got into perfect order, there can
be no doubt it will become one of the most popular, as
it is one of the most interesting of exhibitions.

Amongst the persons of distinction present we noticed
the following Lord John Russell, Lord Lyndhurst ;
Earl of Mulgrave, and Earl Devon ; Viscount Camp-
den, Lord Cawdor, Sir George Hayter, Lord Cot-
tenham, Earl of Besborough, Earl Grey, Lord Dynevor,
Lord Tenterden, Earl of Denbigh, Lord Newark, the
Bishop of Lincoln, Duke of Argyll, Lord Seymour, Sir
James Stephens, Lord Cranworth, Duke of Richmond,
the Duchess of Sutherland, Lady Palmerston, Sir
Emerson and Lady Tennent, Lord Ernest Bruce, Lady
Raffles, Lord Palmerston, Viscount Brackley, Lord
Holland, Ic., and also a great number of distinguished
literary and scientific men.