The Sun.
London, England, 1851-10-15 00:00:00

S
- OCTOBER 15, 1851.
7

Mr. BARTON seconded it.
Mr. LEWIN agreed with the resolution, but he could
not wholly coincide iu,some of the points which had
been pressed by the mover and by the chairman of
the meeting. It appeared to him that they had im-
properly confounded' he commercial line of transit
and the line of personal and postal -communication,
though nothing could be more distinct. If this con-
fusion were insisted on both ;motions would be con-
founded, whereas one might be maintained indepen-
dent of the other. ...If the _postal and personal line
was to be maintained he. was of opinion that the com-
mercial line should not be mixed up with it. To do
so would be likely to lead to a real quarrel, and so
stop the communication altogether. As a shareholder
in the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Company he
should deprecate such a result or any course that
could lead to it.

The Cnatamxir said the two interests were sepa-
rated in the observations that had been made. The
immediate order of the Sultan was to suspend the con-
struction of the railroad, and in so doing the question
of interference i❑ the internal affairs of Egypt on this
point was raised, which if permitted might be carried
to any possible extent.
The resolution was then agreed to unanimously.
Mr. ANDERSON, M.P., moved the second resolu-
tion, which was to the effect :
".That the interference of the Ottoman Porte in the
internal administration of Egypt, as recently manifested
by its assumption of the power to prevent the construc-
tion of the Egyptian Railway, and to divest the Pacha of
Egypt of the necessary authority to maintain order in
that country, is calculated to injure the important British
interests involved in the facility and safety of the transit
through Egypt of the mails, passengers, and goods to and
from the East. That it is, therefore, expedient to press
upon her Majeso Government the necessity of a
prompt and active interposition to prevent the Porte from
proceeding further in the course which she has in this
respect pursued; and with this view the memorial to the
Prime Minister now read he adopted, and put in course
of signature."

[The Hon. Gentleman then read the memorial, which
was addressed to Lord J. Russell, and which was to the
same purpose as the resolution.]
In asking the meeting to assent to this resolution and
adopt the memorial it was necessary to occupy their'
attention for a few moments. On the importance of
the transit through Egypt there could be only one
opinion. A passage, however, in a recently-published
pamphlet, entitled "The Present Crisis in Egypt,"
placed it in a very startling light. The
writer, of whose name he was ignorant, said—
" We can think of no one event capable of
causing so great a sensation in the_ City, at the
India House, and throughout the kingdom generally,
as an announcement in one of the morning jour-
nals, with this or a similar heading in portentous
capitals—' STOPPAGE OF THE OVERLAND COMMUNI-
CATION WITH. INDIA ;' and yet how little pains hive
we taken, during the ten years these communica-
tions have been ie activity, to prevent such a disas-
trous occurrence ! Nay, more, we have looked pas-
sively on what means have been organised which at
any time may be brought to bear in that sense."
That meeting was called chiefly, if not entirely, for
a commercial object, and therefore it was not his (Mr.
Anderson's) intention to go further into the question
of politics than was absolutely necessary to elucidate
the propositions he had laid down. • But as British iu-
terests to a very large extent and great amount were
involved in the questions pending at this moment es
between the Pacha of Egypt and the Porte, it was
requisite that politics should be alluded to, at least to
some extent, to understand the real nature and bear-
ings of the subject. The two questions at issue be-
tween the Porte and the Pacha were the construction
of the Suez Railway and the introduction of what
was called in Turkey the Tanzimet. The Porte
contended that the Pacha had no right to construct
the railway through any part of Egypt, notwithstand-
ing the treaty of 1841, which guaranteed the internal
independence of the Pacha.; and because the Pacha
did not ask the permission of the Porte in the first
instance, the Porte threatened to.annul the arrange-
ments that had been entered into by tthe Pacha for
the purpose. To understand the bearings of the
question the meeting must gp back to the period of
the battle of Nezeb, wheei,Miehemet Ali, through the
victory of his son. Ibrahim ,Pacha, had the whole of
the East at his feet. Had, not the European powers
interfered at that moment there was nothing to stop
Mehemet Ali from occupying Constantinople itself,
and either annihilating the, dynasty of the Sultan, or
dictating a treaty by which the Pacha would have
become sovereign pararnoutit'of Egypt. The European
powers interfered, and the consequence was that the
Pacha was obliged to retire upon Egypt; but ulti-
mately it was agreed that he should have vested in
himself and family the hereditary government of the
pachalic. To this agreement the condition was at-
tached that the Pacha should, observe the treaties of the
Porte with other countries; that he should not levy
any higher duties; and that he should' have the dis-
posal of the revenues of Egypt, after paying 60,000
purses, equal to 300,0001. sterling, as a sort of com-
mutation ; and under this arrangement it was certainly
competent for the Pacha, out of the surplus revenues
of Egypt, to carry out such an undertaking as the
projected railroad.---(Hear, hear.) But the Sublime
Porte said—" This is so important a work that we
want you not only to ask our permission, but to
send us your accounts, and to inform us of the
state of your revenue, lest you lay out so much
money on this railway as to prevent your paying the
tribute, or compel you tdesontract foreign loans. In
his (Mr. Anderson's) opinion the Porte had no right
whatever to assume such a peeition as that. In the
treaty which Lord Palmerston had concluded with
the Sultan the right of the Pacha to construct such a
work as this railway out of his own means was clearly
admitted. It was said, howeVer, that the firman of
the Sultan which 'settled the hereditary government
of Egypt in the family of Mehexnet Ali was very
vegeely expressed. Undoubtedly it was so, as was
the case with most Oriental documents. But if it
were vague on the, one side it was equally vague on
the other ; and where, in these circumstances, should
they look for the best translation of its provisions ?
Surely to that which had been done by the two parties
during the ten years in which it had been in force.
Now, during that period,Mehemet Ali had laid out
considerable sums of money, in' constructing the bar-
rage of the Nile—an important work, estimated to
cost a million sterling—and the Porte did not inter-
fere with it—(Hear, hear.) lie had fortified the city
of Alexandria, a work more important still, and one
that might have been turned against the Sultan him-
self; yet the Porte did not interfere with it!—(Hear.)
Further, in the year 1841, Mehemet Ali concluded
an agreement with the Peninsular and Oriental
Steam Packet Company, by which he gave that
company the right of navigating the internal
waters of the pachalic—namely, the river Nile, with
boats sailing under British cyloure,—(Cheers.) He
also authorised the company to establish' conveyances
over any part of Egypt that they might think proper,
and swept away the old trettfejt 'duty of 3 per cent. on
everything that passed throYigh Egypt, and brought
the duty down to one-half per cent. only—but for
which measure the present means of transit could not
have been perpetuated as they had been.—(Hear.)
All this had been done without the interference of the
Sultan. Why, therefore, should the Porte interfere
now ? For his (Mr. Anderson's) part he thought it
had no right whatever to interfere.--e(Cheers.) The
next disputed point was that of the tanzimat—a code
of laws that had been published by the Porte, and by
which all power of life and death, and of inflicting
other corporal punishments was concentrated in the
divan or council at Constantinople, and the governors
of provinces were 'deprived of . the powers they had
~
exercised previously. The Pacha of Egypt said that
this regulation was not applicable to the condition of
his pachalic, though he was ready to apply the tanzimat
as far as it was applicable, and did not deprive him of
mtheentof h
powerste
country. whichputting this tanzimat in force in Egypt at the present
Anderson
moment was, he (Mr.— ) thought, a very
.were
The necessity which existed for
necessary for the good govern-
difficult thing to explain. To benevolent minds the
measure of the Sultan would appear to be a very hu-
mane one. But let it.be borne in remembrance that
in Egypt, a' country with a population of about
3,000,000, the whole!.
comber of capital punishments
inflicted during the lestefive years was only three.—
(Loud cheers.) This fact alone sufficed to show that
there was no very great necessity for the:, Porte in-
sisting on depriving the Pacha of a POWEIT, "the pos-
session of which armed him with a certain prestige in
governing a country like that.—(Hear.) It also
showed that there was some other motive than that
of mere humanity at the bottom of the opposition
raised to the construction of the Egyptian Railway.
—(Hear.) If this power were taken from the Pacha
it would be impossible for him to keep the country
in order; and we should soon have Egypt In the
same state in which it wee formerly, when no person
could travel in safety, and the land swarmed with
robbers instead of being in its present hopeful condi-
tion, to give an-idea of which he might state that
during the last twelve months 2,500,000/. worth 0;
British property was conveyed.through that country
without the hiss of a single sixpence.
The CHAIRMAN-170. and 7VithOßt e‘cort.
Mr. .ANnr,FcsoN did not think they could say ,t 4
mach 5. the rven for EoitTl bray ) lie
weal scoaer insure the trensit frein Alexandria. to
Suez, than from London to Southampton by railway.

But all This security would be at an end were the
Porte to persist in depriving the Pacha of the power
alluded to. He (Mr. Anderson) had had experience
both in Turkey and Egypt, and he could assert this as
a fact, which he might produce instances within his
own personal knowledge and observation to establish,
that in the endeavour to attain any practical object at
Constantinople they would meet with nothing but in-•
trigue, chicanery, and extortion; whereas, if they
came with a practical object to Egypt they would
find a prompt and reasonable consideration bestowed
upon it, and if adopted, the adoption of it be accdm-
panied by a regard for all interests concerned. They
had heard what Lord Palmerston had stated in the
House of Commons a few months since, but it was
clear that the policy indicated by the Noble Lord had
not been followed out with the vigour which was ex-
pected, and that the Pacha of Egypt was now left
without the support which he ought reasonably to
have 'received from this country.—(Hear.) The
Pacha had brought all his present difficulties upon
him by the efforts he had made to facilitate the
transit through Egypt, and by identifying himself so
closely with British interests. He bad reduced his
fleet and army, and diverted the hands which those
services formerly employed to agriculture, consider-
ing that the support of Great Britain was far more
valuable to him than either armies or fleets, and that
he adopted the wisest policy when he determined to
throw himself upon that support. In breaking up his
military establishments, however, he was obliged to
discharge a host of French employes, and this circuin-
stance had'had, no doubt, great influence in the in-
trigues against him at the Porte. It was also not

very difficult to imagine that it would be much more
agreeable to the Divan at Constantinople to have Mr.
Stephenson applying to them, instead of the Pacha,
for ffilnans, and making contracts with them, instead
of the Pacha, for the construction of a railway
through Egypt.—(Hear, hear.) Let the object of
our Foreign-office in withholding its support from
the Pacha be what it might, the merchants and com-
mercial men who were interested would plainly express
their opinion on the subject, and not hesitate to insist
that the Egyptian ruler, who had done so much for

them, should be left to be crushed by a superior
power ; and that alike in interest and in honour
they were bound to take means for expressing their
opinions and giving him all the moral support they
could command.— (Loud cheers.) Whatever jea-
lousies other countries might entertain on the ques-
tion, he trusted that Great Britain was not yet fallen
quite so low that she could not take her own part in
a question where her interests were so extensively
involved.—(Renewed cheering.)
Mr. LARKING seconded the resolution, and said
that the " tanzimat" which the Porte was so desirous
of enforcing in Egypt, was the Turkish name for a
code of laws which was introduced about ten or
twelve years ago, with a view to give greater security
to life and property in the Turkish provinces. These
laws in themselves were good, and if properly exe-
cuted, would tend greatly to the improvement of the
condition of the people, but.there was much fault in
their administration. Now, by a clause in the firman
already referred to, it was provided that the laws and
regulations of Turkey should have equal force in
Egypt, but modified to meet the local and peculiar
circumstances and position of the Egyptians. Lately,
however, the Porte had put forth a pretension to
the effect that those laws should have force in
lEgypt, without regard to such modification. It had
also claimed a right to interfere in the administration
of the laws in Egypt. Thus there was a direct viola-
tion of the condition of the firman, and on that ground
the tanzitnat was resisted by the Pacha. In fact, if
the right set up by the Porte were admitted, the
power of the Pacha would be totally and entirely an-
nihilated ; and that was certainly not the intention of
those who framed and guaranteed the firman. In
giving to the Pacha the government of the country,
they did not intend to deprive him of the power of
governing ; though that would be the inevitable con-
sequence if the Porte were allowed to persist in its
pretensions.—(Hear, hear.) But whilst discussing
thematerial interests involved in this question, let
them bear in mind other considerations of a still
higher nature—considerations for the philanthropist,
the moralist, and the Christian. Civilisation had of
late years made great progress in Egypt, but it
was not yet sufficiently developed there to stand
by itself; it must ho upheld by a strong arm.—
(Hear, hear.) It was the. genius of Mehemet Ali
which first gave it an impulse, which first taught the
nomades of the desert that the law protected as well as
punished, and that no distinction was to be made
between the disciples of Christ and the followers of
Mahomed.—(Hear.) As a proof of this, let them
look at the Protestant Church of St. Mark's, erected
on one of the finest sites in Alexandria, on a plot of
ground given for that purpose by Mehemet Ali, and
which stands as a lasting monument to the spirit of
religious tolerance displayed by that great and en-
lightened man.—(Cheers.) These reforms were of
recent date, and Egypt was indebted to them for her
tranquillity, whilst to that tranquillity England was
indebted for the safety of her passengers, her mails,
and her specie.—(Loud cheers.) Enjoying therefore
the full advantage of this security, surely it would be
most unjust in this country to withhold her due share
towards its maintenance. Let that share be the co-
operation of England in support of those rights
which were guaranteed to the Pacha by the firman
of 1841. It was all he required, and all that was ne-
cessary to secure the accomplishment of the most de.
sirable object—the construction of a line of railway
through the pachalic of.Egypt.—(Loud cheers.)
The resolution was put from the chair, and carried
unanimously.
Mr. POSTER, Member of Council at Port Philip,
moved the third resolution, as follows :
"That a committee, to consist of tt,e following gentle-
men, with power to add to their number, viz.:—Mr.
Samuel Gregeon, Mr. Arthur Anderson, M.l'.; Mr.
Samuel Vriggs, Mr. H. Lindsay, Mr. T. Larking, Mr.
Alexander Mattheson, M.P.; Mr. Raikes Currie, M.P.;
Mr. J. M Gregor, M.P.- Mr. J. F. Foster, and Mr. G.
G. Barton, be appointed, and be requested to act, to
procure signatures to the memorial and to present it
when signed; to communicate personally, or otherwise,
with her Majesty's Government relative to :the subject
of it; to invite and promote the co-operation of parties
in other parts of the kingdom in the object of it, and
that they be requested to convene another public meet-
ing, in order to lay before it a report of their pro-
ceedings."
In moving this resolution he would not enter on the
political considerations which had been so ably
handled by the gentlemen who had already spoken.
He fully concurred in what had fallen from the
chairman as to the importance of the interests at
stake, the importance of maintaining rapid and con-
tinuous communication with India. But the interests
of the Australian colonies, with which he had been
connected for years, were also at stake.--(Bear,
hear.) Those interests had attained an importance
which had been anticipated by few, but which was
likely to be increased. Later accounts of what had
recently been occurring in Australia had been received
in England by this very route; and when steam com-
munication existed through there would be most
rapid means of transit. He had very little doubt
that Australia was as much interested in the present
question as Hindostan.

Mr. APGREGOII, M.P., rose to move the fourth
resolution, which was as follows
" That this meeting desire to convey to his Highness
Abbas-Vacha, Viceroy of Egypt, the assurance of their
sympathy and of their support by every legitimate means
in the present position of his affairs; a sympathy and a
support which they consider be has fully earned by the
liberal, active, and judicious manner in which he has
devoted, and proposes to devote, his resources to the im-
provement and security of the transit of the mails, tra-
vellers, and property, to and from the East. That Et'
copy of this resolution be transmitted or presented to his
Highness in such manner as the committee before named
may think proper."
He. said he had had the honour of being entrusted
with a resolution which related to the present ruler of
Egypt, and he trusted that he would be allowed to
take advantige of the opportunity for making a few
observations. He thought the meeting of the greatest
importance. Ho trusted that its expression of opinion
would bo responded to by all commercial communities
in the leingdom. lie might be considered as having
something like a personal interest in the question,
inasmuch as he represented a great community deeply
and seriously connected . with the commerce of the
Indian and Australian portions of the British empire.
(Hear, hear.) He had al ways thought, and he be-
lieved that no one could deny the fact, that the history
of commerce was the history of civilization, and that
any obstruction to the transit of the commerce of
the world was au obstruction to its civilization—
(Hear, hear)—and the remark could be
borne out that those who were opposed
to the construction and completion of this rail-
way in Egypt were perhaps unconsciously opposed to
the progress of civilization. Coming to the question
immediately before the meeting, namely, the inter-
ference of the Sublime Porte with the construction of
this railway, and referring to the intentions of the
Porte to introduce its own code of laws or institutes
into Egypt, he (Mr. M`Gregor) could say, that
having been at the Board of Trade for many years,
lni when this trcat lr nPZotiatol—(Herx, hear)—
y
having Iwl !lo whole commercial interests of the
W
British empire pernstuAllv under his view, anti having
1 Ind cognizinee espccidly of all treaties which might
interfere' with the Ilene' channels of British trade and

navigation, it was his opinion, it was the opinion of
the Government which succeeded the Government
that ratified the treaty to which reference had been
made, that the Porte had no right whatever to inter-
fere with the internal affairs of Egypt--(Hear, hear)
—that the treaty of 1841 merely demanded as a quid
pro quo that the hereditary rulers of Egypt should
pay out of their revenue a certain sum to
the Porte, thereby acknowledging their vas-
salage, but not for one moment admitting the right
of the Porte to interfere with the internal affairs of
the Vice-royalty of Egypt.—(Hear, hear.) That was
his decided opinion, and he was much mistaken if it
wag not the opinion of Lord Palmerston, not only
now, but also at the time when he ratified the treaty.
—(Hear, hear.) Nearly 12 years had elapsed, and,
as his friend the Member for Orkney had stated, that
which had been done in practice became right by
usage, and showed what the intent of the treaty was.
—(Hear, hear.) Nay, more, he believed that this
movement did not emanate.from the Porte.—(Cheers.)
He believed it emanated from a source not friendly
to British commerce and navigation.—[A Voice. _
"The Greek and Catholic Church has done it."]—
(Laughter.) This was a question of the greatest import-
ance to the merchants, the manufacturers, the ship-
owners, and indeed all classes of the British commu-
nity, and he hoped they would not cease till they had
impressed upon the Government and sent forth to the
whole world their determination to allow no other
power to interfere with the regular channels of their
commerce, or with those arrangements they had made
with other states. He believed they bad only to express
this opinion strongly to be heard not only in the
Cabinet, but in the British Parliament, and that they
would at the same time command the respect of all
foreign nations, and teach them that their intrigues
would not prevent the people of this country from
following up their just rights.—(Hear.) He would
ask no exclusive privileges whatever for England.
Whatever privilege of transit and intercourse might
be obtained through Egypt, he asked not for England
exclusively—he wished the whole commercial in-
terests of the globe to be bound up in one community
of friendship.—(Hear.) He could not help saying a
word or two on the manner in which British shippers
and British travellers had been treated by the rulers
of Egypt. At a period when we were acting offen-
sively against Mehemet Ali we had an intercourse
through Egypt of the utmost importance—(Hear)—
and if Mehemet Ali had not observed the Christian
principle of doing to others as we would wish others
to do to us, the English transit through his dominions
would have been destroyed, as it would have been a
matter easy of accomplishment to expose it to the at-
tacks of robbers and desperadoes.—(Hear, hear.) He
had acted in a spirit of kindness towards the interests
of this conutry, and his successors had shown them-
selves equally worthy of our gratitude and admira-
tion.—(Hear, hear.)
General BarGcs seconded the resolution. At a
period when England was acting in a hostile manner
towards the late Mehemet Ali, at Acre, that great
Sovereign evinced the generosity of his soul, and the
nobleness of his character, by not for a single moment
interrupting the communication through Egypt to
the East. Nay, more, he actually did all in his
power to promote its success, and that too at a moment
when the interests of England and India were actually
involved in the rapidity of that communication.—
(Hear.) The subject of a railroad in Egypt was not
a novelty. In 1836 he (General Briggs) saw in
Liverpool the surveys and sections of a line from
Alexandria to Cairo, which was to be continued to
Suez. On that occasion no objection was made by
the Porte to the proposal for its construction, and the
proposal was only not carried out because of other
reasons. The Pacha's independence was not, it would
be remembered, even guaranteed at that period.
Subsequent, however, to 1841, when that indepen-
dence was fully recognised by treaty with the four
powers, the Pacha had constructed a most formidable
series of fortifications at Alexandria, which would
take 40,000 men to defend, and the Porte had raised
no objection to the proceeding.—(Hear, hear.) It
could not, therefore, be tolerated now that the ruler of
Egypt should be stopped short in the career of legiti-
mate and peaceful improvement which he had set on
foot for the promotion of the best interests of his
country ; and the commercial interest of England,
which was so much indebted to him in this respect,
ought not to stand by quietly and see such a man
crushed.—(Hear.) The tendency of the Egyptian
Government was clearly to progress. Ibrahim Pacha
had himself personally examined the improvements in
England, and had returned to his own country more
firmly resolved than ever to cement those friendly re-
lations which existed between England and Egypt.
In this policy he was succeeded by the present ruler,
Abbas Pacha— who fully entered into his views, and
set about carrying them into execution. He it was
who had established no fewer than 16 steamers on the
Nile—who Macadamised the road from Cairo to Suez
—who had organised a service of 100 vans and 700
horses to cross the desert—and who had opened com-
modious hotels and resting-places on the various points
of that route. It had been objected that the railway
was to be constructed out of the revenues of Egypt.
But that was not the fact; it was to be constructed
out of the balance of the public funds which re-
mained after the Pacha had paid tribute to the Porte,
and was therefore to be constructed out of what in
despotic countries like Egypt might be considered as
part of the Pacha's own private revenue. After all
that had been done by Abbas Pacha and his predeces-
sors, in the face of the disposition they had always
shown to stand well with England, he (General
Briggs) concurred with a preceding speaker that
this country would be disgraced for ever if it suffered
that poor man to be crushed by the Porte.
The resolution was agreed to nem. con.

A vote of thanks was, then proposed to the Chair-
man by Mr. Aglionby, M.P., and carried by accla-
mation.

The meeting then separated.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

Admiral Deans Dundas, C. 8., and the Hon. W.
Cowper have returned, to the Admiralty from the
Continent. The Chief Secretary, Mr. Parker, is
expected to return to-clay. Admiral the Hon. F. P.
Berkeley, C. 8., has left town for Berkeley Cottage,
Chichester, for a few dais.
The Mediterranean:fleet, under the command in
chief of Admiral Sir William Parker, Bart., G.C.8.,
arrived at the port of Rosas on the 30th ult., and
remained there till the Ist of October. The Albion,
90, Captain Hope Johnstone, had sprung some of
her spars, and was ordered to Malta to refit.
THE EXHIBITION AND THE ARCTIC CREWS.—We
regret to find that so few of Captain Austin's expedi-
tion have availed themselves of the offer of the Ex-
cutive Committee to visit the Crystal P.ilace. In the
first place,. the offer would have been more timely, if
not more liberal, if the men bad received the offer of
the Committee before they were paid off ; and, se-
condly, many more would have availed themselves of
the permission of the authorities had the orders for
the admission been sent to Woolwich from the
Admiralty.

TILE GREAT EXHIBITION.
, Her Majesty, accompanied by the Prince, came
/again to the building yesterday morning, and made
the round of the galleries. There they were presented
by Mr. Henry Spicer and Mr. George Clowes with
handsomely bound copies of that valuable work, the
" Official Illustrated Catalogue," which has at length
been completed. The Queen then visited portions of
the United States, Russian, and Belgian displays, and
in taking her departure shortly before 12 o'clock,
with her usual kindness and condescension took notice
of the old Cornish pedestrian ifisherwoman, who had
been placed in her way, and with hearty emphasis
said, " God bless your Majesty." The rumour that
the Queen was to be present to-day turns out to be
unfounded, and the last observances connected with
the Great Exhibition will pass off ungraced by the
personal attendance of the Sovereign. Were her
Majesty less popular or less beloved alb she is, her
absence would be less severely felt, but remembering
the extraordinary marks of favour which she has con-
ferred upon this undertaking, and the persevering
energy with which she has explored the wonders of the
Crystal Palace, we believe we are only echoing the
sentiments of every exhibitor therein when we say
that the proceedings of this day lose half their attrac-
tions since she is not to be present. Why or bow it
is that so much pains should have been taken to baulk
public enthusiasm, and to disappoint the national ex-
pectations to which such an occasion gives rise, we
are quite at a loss to conjecture, but there cannot be
a doubt that a complete disregard of popular feeling
has been shown by the Commission in the mode
which they have adopted for closing the Exhibition.
They have studiously thrown cold water upon their
own enterprise when it had attained the height of
success, and instead of sending exhibitors away from
Hyde-park gratified by the splendour of a closing cere-
monial, they dismiss them with a frigid and meagre ac-
knowledgment, to receive and digest as they may
awards which are not very likely, from all that we can
hear, to give public satisfaction. The Prince Consort,
great as his merits have been in connexion with this
undertaking, would be seen terminating its labours
far more advantageously in the presence of her
Majesty than acting on his own strength; nor is it
forgotten that at an early stage of the history of the
Great Exhibition the high honour of rewards received
from the hand of the Sovereign was held out as one
of the strongest inducements for the industrial com-
munity to give it their support. As matters stand;
after months of excitement and a career of unex-
ampled success, the vast display in Hyde-park reaches,
by the confessed act of the Commission itself, a tame
and awkward conclusion. A list of prizes is an-
nounced, of the merits of which it cannot speak with
confidence. The public wthusiasm is drowned in the
noise of gongs and belle, find exhibitors, foreign com-
missioners, local committeemen, and jurors are all
taken leave of with a degree of haste and a want of
ceremonious and dignified observance which contrasted
cannot fail to cause umbrage and
dwiistahp
p theoin openingtme nt.
It is now unfortunately too late to
alter existing arrangements, and we can only express
a hope that the best may be made to-day of a bald
and unpromising programme.
The attendance of exhibitors and their friends yes-
terday was much more numerous than on Monday,
but still the interior was by no means inconveniently
crowded. The preparations for the final ceremonial
were in rapid progress, and among the visitors a
painful sensation was experienced in finding that the
Crystal Fountain, that favourite rendezvous, that
central attraction of the building, had been entirely
removed during the preceding night. This was a
necessary step, and Mr. Osier submitted to it with a
cheerfulness worthy of the highest praise. Mr.
Paxton was less resigned, naturally regarding the
clearing away of the fountain as the first of a series
of destructive acts which might terminate in the en-
tire demolition of his fairy design. We trust that
his fears upon this subject are groundless, and we
are not without hope that the Crystal Fountain may
yet be restored to a position where it has excited so
much admiration, and to which„ if the building stands,
it has a strong priority of claim. Messrs. Keith and
Co.'s Spitalfields trophy is also, we hear, doomed,
that firm having liberally consented to its removal in
order to facilitate the arrangements for to-day. But
the clearing-out process is not confined to the two ob-
jects named, for the portions both of India and China
which look into the transept have lepen already
swept away, and we have no doubt that this morn-
ing still more extensive clearances will be made
manifest.
The following liberal and highly praiseworthy cir-
cular to British exhibitors has just been issued by the
Royal Commission
" Many of the Foreign Acting Commissioners having
represented that international advantages would bo
likely to arise if their countries possessed a collection of
specimens of raw materials and produce, and patterns of
some classes of manufactures shown by British eihi-
bitora, together with the wholesale prices of them, and
having expressed a desire that such collections should
be formed, her Majesty's Commissioners have au-
thorized the Ex.eiutive Committee to assist in forming
them.
" British exhibitors who may be willing to present
specimens and patterns for this purpose are requested to
communicate immediately with Lieutenant Tyler, but in
those cases where they may not consider such presenta-
tion to bo a sufficient commercial advantage to them-
selves, the Executive Committee are authorized to treat
for the purchase of the necessary quantities, and exhi-
bitors are requested to forward ther terms for the pur-
chase to Lieutenant Tyler before removing their ar-
ticles from the building.

" M.DIGBY WYATT, Sec.

"Exhibition Building. Oct. 14."
At the close of the Exhibition this document has
a peculiar significance, and is, we trust, the har-
binger of other international acts of courtesy and
mutual accommodation which may tend to cement
into one harmonitus system the industrial energies of
the whole world.

As an example of the extensive sales at present in
progress in the Exhibition, we may state that Mr.
Fothergill, a well-known consulting engineer, at
Manchester, purchased on commission, and for the
most part yesterday, the following objects:—Craw-
hall's rope-making machine ; the whole woollen
machinery shown by Mason, of Rochester ; Ryder's
forging machine ; Schlesinger's paging machine ; a
French circular weaving machine by Matthieu ;
Sewell's lace-making machine, for plain and figured
work; a brick-tile and pipe machine, from Randell
and Saunders; a drain-pipe and tile machine by
Whitehead; a !coin warping machine and dressing
machine by Kenworthy ; Warns by Harrison and
Bullough ; two looms by Mark Smith ; and one of
B.irlow's improved jacquards. We may also men-
tion that the splendid collection of tools shown by
Whitworth has been bought by the Austrian Go-
vernment.

THE WEATHER.—SuN OFFICE, OCTOBER 15.
THERMOMETER, IX THIS SHADE.
56—highest since noon yesterday.
51—lowest this morning and during the night.
50—this day, at noon.

BAROMETER, 29'-16.
WLND W.—heavy rain.

DAILY WEATHER TABLE.

State of the Wind and Weather at each of the following
places at Nine o'clock yesterday morning.—The stations
pre arranged in order of latitude. a
B ami-rros—Wind W., calm—overcast.
titsnsosi—Wind W., gentle breeze—overcast.
Soun-wrFrozz—Wind S.W., gentle breeze—overcast.
FOLKESTONE—Wind S.W., gentle breeze—overcast.
TUNBRIDGE—Wind S.W.. gentle breeze--partially cloudy.
B C4ISMSTOICE-- Wind S. W., gentle breeze—Overcast.
GREENWICH—Wind S.W., gentle breeze—partially cloudy.
CowirEsrEa—Wind W., gentle breeze—partially cloudy.
CA.SI 3RTDGE —Wind W., gentle breeze—overcast.
YARmoms—Wind W., calm—cloudlesss.

The returns from the following places indicate the state of
the wind and weather on Monday morning at nine
o'clock :
LinapTck—Wind S.W., calm—heavy rain.
-.....kaLow—Wind S.W., gentle breeze—rain.
Nlti.taNGAtt.—Wind W., gentle breeze—rain.
PooLa—Wind S.W., hard wind—overcast.
Bp-carrox—Wind S.W., strong breeze—overcast.
HASTINGd—Wind W.S.W., gentle breeze—overcast.

At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean height
of the barometer in the week was 9.743 in. The mean
reading of Saturday was 30.10 in. The mean temperature
of the week was 51'6°. The daily mean rose from 51° on
Wednesday and Thursday to 61° and 19° on Friday and
Saturday. On the first five days it was near the average of
corresponding clays in ton years, but on Friday it rose 100
above it. The, wind blew from the south-west during
nearly the whole week.

TO CORRE6pONDENTS
No communication c-tn he attended to unless authen-
ticated by the name and address of the writer.
Rejected communications cannot bs returned.