The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-02 00:00:00

'THE- WHIT,

HOLIDAYS.

Yesterday the holiday folks bad no room ft ,r
complaint against the English clithate. A more
brilliant day was never seen. The sun was resplen-
dent, but a gentle 'south-east wind tempered its
fierceness. The consequence was that the number
of holiday-makers. was immense, and the steam-
boab piers and railway stations were crowded
throughout the day. Train after train, and boat
after boat, left filled to repletion. Gravesend,
Greenwich, Kew, Wandsworth, Riehmond, liamp-
st.!ad, Highgate, &e,, were thronged all day. In
Greenwich Park, by the kind permission of Lord
Aberiean, the ranger, and General-Sir W..
liams, ,eommandant •at Woolwich, also of Colonel
Bloomfield and. Colonel Browne, the Royal Artil-
lery and Royal Marines' band played for the grati-
fication of the people, and will also do so to-day.
London was, neverthele4; not deserted, and the
various places of amusement within its circle were
resorted to by thousands Of the holiday folk.
Hereunder we notice some of the' principal eihi-
bitions and, places of amusement, Atc.

CRYSTAL PALACE.
We may imagine, but can faintly describe, the horror
with which an exquisite, whose acquaintance with the
Crystal Palace had previously extended no further than
its floral fetes, its grand concerts, and Saturday pro-
menades, must have looked upon the scene it presented
yesterday—that is, supposing he could have brought
himself to do anything so vulgar as to drop in there on
a Whit Monday ; and in truth be would have had some
reaso❑ on his side, for the contrast was most striking.
On the days on which the palace and grounds are conse-
crated to aristocratic visitors from the regions of Mayfair
and Belgravia, and those well-to-do people, with aristo-
cratic pretensions and decidedly plebeian names, who
figure most numerously on the season-ticket list, an air
of exclusiveness seems to pervade the building through-
out. Sedateness and propriety are supreme ; hoops and
crinoline, patent leather boots and se bite kids are in the
ascendant. Drill 'would dineelt must be on the tender
capon—or tough as it may chance to be—the 'delicate
neat's tongue, and the daintiest of salads ; your liquor a
bottle of the brightestchampagne or most sparkling hock.
Everything, in short, is eolnine it fact, and our City
friends, the Smiths and tbe Browns, can at the close of
the day retire to their hones with the pleasing fact im-
pressed upon their minds that for once at least they have
moved in the higher circles of society, rubbed skirts with
my Lord This and my Lady That, and perhaps taken up
and restored the Hon. and beautiful Miss Blank's fan.
Monday comes, and what a change ! St. James has-dis-
appeared ; it is now theadvent of St. Giles. The puffing
and snorting of the engine are heard, and almost imme-
diately the doors are thrown wide open, and as rapidly
as dexterous money-takers and busy ticket-markers can
turn the tables, an irruption of men, women, and
children takes place—a process which is repeated at
very short intervals until the day is pretty far ad-
vanced, when the living . tide ebbs, and all hie
homeward. The gasses have possession of both
palace and park, aed the old habitue is not per-
mitted to remain in any doubt about the matter.
There they are swarming the nave and transepts, climb-
ing to the topmost galleries, diving into the courts, wan-
dering into all sortsof out-of-the-way nooks and corners,
in and out of the building. Soon tiring of their mental
feast—and it is astonishing how soon, for in this respect
" the appetite grows not with what it feeds upon"—their
next care is to prcvide for more material and grosser
wants, and to this end they distribute themselves in
groups about the lark and grounds wherever the site is
most inviting; and there, hidden amidst the flowering
rhododendrons, or under the more umbrageous foliage of
some lofty tree, thty dine al fresco. From baskets innu-
merable—and almost everybody carries a basket—heaps
of suteitantial viasda are drawn ferth,—which spread out
upon the board thich nature and art combine to fur•
nish, and flanked by foaming tankards of the liquor
which Englishmen like best—the brown and the heavy—
are partaken of frith a heartiness that makes one hope a
good digestion waits upon good appetite, for the con-
sumption is enormous, both of solids and fluids, and
suggests that a siesta should most naturally follow. But
there is little time to waste. " Music hath charms to
soothe," &c.—we will not offend by completing the line
and applying it more pointedly. The performances of the
Crystal Palace band and of the band of the Grenadier
Guards demani a share of attention ; the display of
fountains must also be witnessed ; and the archery and
cricket grounds, too, are also to be visited. In this man-,
ner the hours steal away until the lengthening shadows.
remind the visitors—their own tired limbs failing to do
so —that the time was arrtvau Lor cut, roturu uvula. ouuu
is a day at the Crystal Palace, as spent by the working
classes on a Whit Monday, in the view of one who
is not too curious, and has not, therefore, cared
to thread the mazes and penetrate the mysteries
of those lower regions deep down in the crypt
which are sacred to that portion of the public who
are described as the " third class," and from which
astonishing tales sometimes come with regard to the
mountains of beef, pile a of bread, and oceans of porter,
which are there disposed of. We are content with
having once scented the locality from afar. Inconti-
nently we retreated, and have never approached it since.
The weather being all th'at heart could desire, it is
scarcely necessary to add that the people enjoyed them-
selves to the full. Of noise and mirth, rollicking fun,
and boisterous laughter there was enough, and to spare;
but it is with pleasure we record the fact, that although
upwards of 25,000 persons were congregated in and
around the palace during the day, we never saw or heard
of a single instance of misconduct or disorder.

ROYAL CRENIORNE GARDENS.

The visitors to these popular gardens were con
siderably more numerous than is usually the case
in the holiday seasons. This fact may be accounted
for by the extreme fineness of the day and the
unusually attractive gala programme announced by the
proprietor. Even at a very early hour in the after-
noon steamer after steamer kept discharging its holiday
freight at the river entrance. and the investiture of the
gardens was rendered complete by a most formidable
array of pedestrians and patronisera of the various lines
of " busses" who besieged the door in the King's-road.
The gardens were certainly in a most favourable c)n-
dition for a visit. The thousands of d,rvers and flower-
ing shrubs which adorn every partion of the grounds
being for the most pert in bloom, formed an attraction
themselves, and by no means the least telling attraction
either. It is not only the lovers of horticultural pur-
suits whose tastes are catered for by the proprietors.
The re decoration . of the Great Oriental or crystal
dancing platform holds a prominent position in the an-
nouncements, and no doubt an equally important one
in the minds of the visitors. In real artistic lightness
and beauty of decoration it may certainly vie with any-
thing of the kind ever exhibited in the metropolis. Tae
inauguration of Royal Marionettes in.the new theatre
a'so formed a conspicuous item in the programme of yes-
terday, and the general rush to be the first in the new
edifice (as yet incomplete) was one of the most exciting
episodes in the• proceeding:3-ot the. day, though by no
weans the most pleasant for those who occupied the
centre of the crowd. A. witty and very clever address
by Mr Henry Brown was received with much applause.
The performances in the circus were as pleasing and
attractive to the audience as heretofore, notwithstanding
the absence, of the principal female artiste, Mrs. Charles
Aelatissi who met with a Plight accident during the
rehearsal in the daytime, which prevented her from
making her appearance as advertised. The characters
pourtrayed by Mr. Charles Adams are deserving of
especial notice. We Would not omit to notice the capi-
tal comic ballet, "The Gipsy Girl ;" nor refrain from
awarding our praise to BOSiiio'3 excellent music,
and Miss L. Lecle.rec's spirited dancing. The display
of firework", under the superintendence of Chevalier
Mortrarn, were of the usual brilliant character, and the
whole entertainment was of the most successful de-
scription.

BEITISEE MUSEUM. --, MAIILBOROUGH-EtOUSE. Pro-
bably in consequence of the extremely fine weather yes-
terday the out-door attractions for the holiday-folks were
stronger than ordinary, which accounts for the fact that
there were a less number of visitors both at the Vernon
Gallery and the British Museum than is usually the case
on Whit-Monday. Groups, however, of country friends
visited Marlborough-hottse at an early hour, and kept
dropping in throughout the day, so that in the end the
numbers amounted t) about 3,000. At the British
Museum the number w 45 very much larger, attributable,
no doubt, to the greater extent, as well as the wirier
fame, of this national tollection of curiosities. From
first to last visitors to the number of 15,000 were pre-
sent, and the eagerness kith which they viewed the vari-
ous objects at once maged them as more than ordinary
imingers.
Tsu COLOSSEIIII.--This magnificent place of public

instruction and entertainment was crowded, both day

and evening. Of the herits of the Colosseum it is un-
necessary 'that we shoild say much. They are well
known ; and, under br. Bachhoffoer's management,
where the various departments may be seen at the charge