The Sun.
London, England, 1851-09-29 00:00:00

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LONDON. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1851

Considerable doubt seems to be entertained as to
the preservation of the Crystal Palace until the
meeting of the Parliament in February. Should
the edifice be dismantled before then, we are bold
to aver that its demolition will be directly opposed
to the wishes of the population. The public will
have been dealt with unfairly, and this merely in
compliance with a ridiculous punctilio. Much as we
shall regret this in reference to the credit of the
Royal Commissioners, we shall do so yet more in
reference to the comfort of the inhabitants of our
metropolis ; because recently these latter have confi-
dently looked forward to the completion of the Great
Exhibition as to the commencement of a winter gar-
land, calculated to affect at once their health and con-
venience very advantageously. Petitions, it may also
be remembered, flocked in from all quarters imme-
diately anterior to the close of the past session, the
prayer of those petitions being almost unani-
mously in favour of the purchase of the
Crystal Palace as an adornment to the capi-
tal. In answer to those documents, moreover,
it is well known that the House of Commons ex-
pressed itself somewhat favourably, insomuch that
the majority out of doors began to anticipate a
direct interposition on the part of the Legislature in
behalf of the very curious and beautiful structure,
raised by the united ingenuity of Messrs. PAXTON,
Fox, and HENDERSON. Contrary to these hopes,
however, the building seems positively to be doomed
to destruction. The fairy-like fabric, which like the
palace of ALADDIN, or like the mysterious fane of
Pandemonium, rose so miraculously from the green
sward in Hyde-park, will, in all likelihood, disappear
as rapidly as it was constructed, and be remembered
only as the evanescent produce of an unsubstantial but
important enterprise. Its peculiarities will be borne in
recollection for a few years, together with the
• splendour and profusion of the artistic and indus-
trial exhibition it contained, melting away gra-
dually to a dim and fluctuating tradition, the
emphatic eulogiurns comprised in which will pro•
bably be regarded by posterity as marked by a
very extravagant exaggeration. For these reasons,
therefore, it is a matter of serious regret that the
Crystal Palace itself should not be preserved as a
glaring testimony of that pomp, and the glory of that
memorable May-day which witnessed the ceremony
of its inauguration. At the very least, it cannot be
al!owed that without any very enormous extension
of their powers, the Commissioners of Woods and
Forests might agree with the Commissioners of the
Exhibition to permit the building to remain untouched
for yet a few months longer, until such time, in short,
as the Legislature itself might pronounce decidedly
for or against its permanent preservation. By such a
moderate arrangement as the one here indicated sufe
ficient time would be allowed for debating as to the
advisability or non-advisability of the proceeding
specified—the approaching winter having aided con-
siderably in bringing the matter to a satisfactory
conclusion.

Nevertheless, while the reasonableness of all this
must be edmitted, the authorities above mentioned
appear to be resolute in preventing the possibility of
a happy issue to a subject, in the proper settlement of
which the public are so peculiarly and notoriously
interested. Instead of recognizing the force of the
considerations here succinctly pointed out by them-
selves, they seem to ha obstinate in shutting their
eyes to all rational arguments, bent as they are upon
carrying out their original agreement in a spirit un-
compromisingly dogged and intolerably inflexible .
Ipse dixit they would have applied to every Commis-
sioner, and we doubt not they would exclaim each
man amongst them, but for a possible accusatio❑ of
profanity, quod scripsi scripsi, determined as they are,
like SIITLOCR, to act only in accordance with the
stipulations of the " bond." Pluming themselves,
doubtless, upon the merit of consulting, by so doing,
the best interests of the community, they are, on the
contrary, running counter to public opinion, and se-
curing to themselves an inevitable unpopularity.

In reference to the conduct of the Exhibition
itself—and not to restrict our remarks exclusively to
the palace in which it is displayed—we may observe
that nothing could reflect more honourably upon the
sagacious forethought and untiring vigilance of the
Commissioners. While the visitors still continue to
throng the transepts to the daily average of 60,000
souls, almost every spectator's curiosity is gratified
without the slightest inconvenience. Such, at least,
are the merits of the general arrangements throughout
the majority of the hours of exposition. Towards the
close of the day, it is true, that here and there a little
annoying precipitation in covering up the various
articles is shown by the attendants—a subject of com-
plaint that might readily be obviated ; but, otherwise,
the frequenters of the structure have cause solely to com-
mend the management of the whole undertaking, con-
sidering the unparalleled magnitude of the enterprise, its
novelty, and its intricacy. This is assuredly much to
the credit of the parties entrusted with the labours of
organization, and it appears to us but right that the
circumstance should be recorded in some terms of
commendation by the public journalist. As Lord
PALMERSTON observed the other day at Tiverton, the
marvel is that so many thousands of persons, col-
lected together from all parts of the world, should be
congregating day after day upon the same spot with
such a perfect maintenance of order, with such admi-
rable sobriety, and without the display of the faintest
inclination to violate the public peace on the part of a
single individual—this, moreover, with the attendance of
a few policemen armed, not with pistols or cutlasses,
but with a little stick, at one extremity of which is
revealed the symbol of authority, the symbol de-
rided as a bauble by his Highness the LORD Pao-
TECTOR. Foreigners will narrate these particulars, we
doubt not, with as much admiration as they can
feel for the Exhibition itself, and they will not fail,
we are satisfied, to recount the aspect of the multitude
in England when they return to their respective
countries in either hemisphere. If the glorious en-
terprise now rapidly approaching its termination be
productive of no other advantage, it will prove emi-
nently beneficial in regard to this rather important
particular, it will d;ffuse over the globe a respect for
the social and political condition of Englishmen? and
a sentiment of homage consequently in reference to
our monarchical institutions.

On Saturday we alluded to the magnificent de-
monstration of the friends of Parliamentary and Fi-
nancial Reform, which had just taken place at the
Free Trade Hall, Manchester. It was impossible,
however, to comprise within the limits of a single
notice the various observations befitting the occasion.
Considering, then, the vast importance of the subject,
we may be excused for again recurring to those
highly interesting proceedings, and the effect which
they mur:t necessarily have on the future legislation
of the country. The Whigi are proverbially "
squeezab:e" party, and the pressure from without,
when enforced by so potent , a screw as that just sp.
plied by the men of Manchester, must be productive
of r?sulis of no trivial m.,3nitride.
On the abolition of the property qualification the
Pueurea and the meeting, and indeed the entire body of
Reformers throughout the length and breadth of the
land, agree with unparalleled unanimity. The difficulty
for any aspiring politician is to gain the confidence of
a duly qualified constituency, to meet the demands on
his purse of lawyers and publicans, and not to obtain
thepossession—for a " nominal possession"
is all
nominalba s required—of 300/. or 6001. per annum,
as the case PAY be. Any kw that can be success.