The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-18 00:00:00

and most enterprising mariners, and, despite 1
any fleet raised by the proposed penny
farthing rate, would sweep the seas of their t mid
enemies, and indemnify themselves there for losses
wholly beyond their power to prevent on land.
The Danes, however, may think fit not to wait for
Germany to build a fleet. They may insist on a
final and satisfactory settlement at onee, or war at
once. They have a perfect right to do so. They
have borne the bullying of Prussia and her satellites
long enough ; and they may, if they think it best,
tell the German Confederation that unless it will
come to terms, and agree to leave their King and
his Schleswig-Holsteiners to themselves, they shall
declare war on the Confederation, and take their
chance. Woe be then to the German commeacial
marine ; and, as to the present German navy, we
dos not know of a single vessel worth notice beyond
the old frigate which we sold so cheap to Prussia.

Now that the last quarter of 1861 is beginning
to run out very rapidly, it is gratifying to know
that every reasonable effort is being made so that
the Exhibition Building for 1882 may be finished
in time. We all recollect the sinister predictions
that were afloat in the winter of 1850-51 in respect
to the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park. It could not
possibly, it was said, be anything like completed
by May ! And certainly, those who strolled down
by Knightsbridge and Kensington Gore long after
spring time had begun in that year of the Great
Exhibition, must have felt disposed to believe that
the prophets of disappointment were only too much
in the right. Valentine's day passed by—the
March winds blew—April sunshine and April
showers chequered whatever of green turf there
was left in Hyde Park : but alas ! May
was already approaching when the Crystal
Palace was still a chaos of iron girders, and
glass, and tarpaulin—the purlieus, within and with-
out, were littered with an appalling confusion of
packing cases containing the treasures brought from
all parts of the world for exhibition. To complete
every element of distraction and almost of despair,
there was added to all the rest of these chaotic in-
fluences—a Confusion of Tongues, such as had not
been heard since the dispersion of mankind at the
Tower of Babel !

Yet—we all know it, we all remember it with
delight—(it was among not the least of the wonders
crowded into that really wonderful year)—the
work was really done and finished quite up to
time ! The contractors duly fulfilled their engage-
ment ! The beautiful daydream of the designer
of the edifice, Sir JOSEPH PAXTON, was magnifi-
cently realised upon May Day ! There—according
to promise—upon that let of May, 1851—glittering
in the sunlight, fluttering all over, from end to end,
with the Flags of all Nations, resounding with
music, filled with the productions of human art,
and science, and industry, appeared THE CRYSTAL
PALACE—literally—
" One entire and perfect chrysolite !"

After that remarkable experience, we can have
no return here in London of the old fears as to the
impossibility of finishing the Exhibition Building
in time. True, we have already passed the middle
of the month of October. True, that to any chance
observer of what is now going on at South Ken-
sington, the work there really appears to be little
better than only just commenced. Still, when 1
the facts are looked into a little more closely—
when dates are compared and statistics are put
together, the probabilities begin to look not simply
far from hopeless, but absolutely full of encourage-
ment. Recollect, for one thing—there are at the
present moment nearly one thousand workmen ac-
tively employed upon the very site of the Exhibi-
tion, to say nothing of those who are engaged in
its behalf elsewhere. At one part of the structure
the scaffolding has already risen to the height of
five stories. Not only, again, are all the huge
iron columns supporting the Picture Galleries raised
and secured, but even many of the compartments
marked out for the top-lights are being rapidly
glazed in. As many as ten, moreover, of the gigan-
tic ribs of the roof for the nave have hem slung up
each to its appointed place—two have been raised in
the north-eastern aisle—eight in the south-eastern.
The designing and nomenclature of the edifice
appearing in many respects to be quite of an eccle-
siastical character, we are not much surprised to
learn after this, that eight of the clerestory win-
dows already adorn the nave, where much even of
the roofing has been done or commenced.
Apart from the building itself the arrangements
for the Exhibition of 1862 appear to be making
very satisfactory progress. In testimony of which,
it is now stated that very recently there have been
added to the local committees at home those of
Arbroath, Aylesbury, Carnarvon, Dublin, Dun-
fermline, Elgin, Exeter, Leeds, Leek, Macclesfield,
Neath, Newton-Abbot, Redruth, and others: to
the colonial list, Prince Edward's Island, Bermuda,
' Barbadoes, Jamaica, St. Helena, Ceylon, Mauritius,
and Hong Kong : to the catalogue of foreign Com-
missioners, those of Costa Rica, Ecuador, Holstein,
Uruguay, and Venezuela. The applications for
space still flowing in wonderfully, from all
classes of would-be exhibitors. Here, in 1862,
as formerly in 1851, there is likely to be rather
an embarras des richesses than an insufficiency.
Already the toil is more one of selection than of
accumulation. It is amusing to learn that among
the crowd of miscellaneous applicants for space are
many who would appear to be ambitious of rivalling
the renowned American Showman, Mr. BARNUMt
Individuals who are desirous, that is, of "being
allowed to exhibit monsters real or sham, and
more or less disgusting." So that the end would
be—were notions like there carried out—that
under the same roof-tree would probably have to
be displayed to the astonishment of nations—
specimens from Madame TUBSAUD'S Waxworks
side by side with the pick of the
ELGIN marbles, horrid exemplars from Dr.
KAHN'S Musuem cheek by jowl with
bottled curiosities of morbid anatomy from
the Hunterian Collection, one or two of M. DU
CHAILLU'S stuffed gorillas, and a few of the choicest
spotted boys, and pink-eyed Albinos, culled from
tke wandering booths from the country fairs—the
restless ghosts, or troubled spirits, we presume,
haunting the world since the dettruction of
Old Bartlemy ! Steadily and resolutely, out of all
these busy efforts, good, bad, and indifferent in the
way of preparation for the Exhibition of 1862,
there are rising brighter and brighter hopes,
hcaoompnoesiosa;brcloaotbhLleoon mof pleasure and of profit, for a very
Londoners
lf our industrious population of

For what we know,agood large-winged butterfly
purpose to show
may
waytellwhich
etitohil:
wind
the blows
as the old test—straws.
A ofbwsserve our Papillon, at least, must
Con-
servative gale, in the Bo
the County of Essex—in regardroughofColchester and
our old friend—W. B. at Derby—Major
torbm the
14 latter, indeed
ajor
—EIIESF ORD
in Essex—promises something more explicit, in a
day or two. We must be on our
guard, however,
on that oacasion, for he means to play the Apollo of
Essex Conservatism, and threatens us with the
Well-kept contents of " his quiver."
The Papillon of Colchester indicated the direc-
tion of the Conservative breeze at present, chiefly by
its direction last session. He exulted beyond