The Sun.
London, England, 1868-04-30 00:00:00

'HIE ALEXANDRA PALACE AND PARK.

—_,c. —_
On Saturday a largo party of gentlemen con-
nected witli the fine arts, the press, and architecture
were invited to inspect the splendid property of the
company. After a short but pleasant trip to Mood-
green station by railway the party alighted close
to the park, and at once proceeded to the palace,
which occupies a mo=t commanding site, and is sur-
rounded by some of the most lovely scenery in
England. The palace itself is in the Italian style,
and is erected principally from the material of the
tri:nlarloour
Great Exhibition building of '62, at Kensington.
Though outwardly it is deficient iu theloftiness which
characterises the Sydenham Palace, its light and
spacious interior is truly beautiful from every point of
view. Its general plan consists of a nave 200 feet long
and 85 feet wide; a centre transept 430 feet long, and
the same width as the nave ; and two shorter tran-
septs,-each 320 feet long, the same width also as
the nave. The centre has erected ou it a great
dome, one Of the two employed in the National
Exhibition of 1862, but so elevated and altered as
to render it 'one of the most perfect and beautifully
constructed domes ever erected.- This dome is 170
feet in diameter and 220 feet high in the interior,
appropriately pannelle I and decorated; the summit
Of azure blue, with stars, the light being admitted
near the top, and by lunette windows near the sides.
tr- ffreol:se-eeo- -
At the intersections of the shorter transepts there
rwniantnieo:ts, transeptss:
are oetogon cupolas, lighted by windows on the
g:iradenet,
lyw terminates lesotiiir a t
ee,d,e,ihhdr
oloaufr:glihe iiioct!
decorated with stained glass. The interior is ele-
gantly
the light is pleasantly subdued by the character
of the buildings.
The Alexandra Park racecourse
is formed at the
foot of the hill, leading to the
Palace
at its southern
side, on a slightly undulating
ground. It commences
near the Wood Green railway
well drained and levelled throughout, the turf hav-
ing been taken up and carefully relaid on a
ballast to improve its Oasticity' • .
The
T.Y.C., or
five-furlong course, is 30 yards •in • width, and nearly
straight. The one mile
and
a quarter course com-
mences near the Grand Stand and joins the five-
furlong course by an easy
curve. The one mile and
three-quarters and other longer courses will com-
mence at the Grand Stand and
be continued round
the cricket-ground for
the
required distances,
finishing over the last part of the five-furlong
course. All the running ground
has been enclosed
with posts and rails, will and 'll be seen from the
Grand Stand.

The Grand Stand, which is without doubt one of

the most commodious in the kingdom, is situate at
the west end of the five-furlong course, and on the
edge of the rising ground leading up to the Palace.
The saloon is of noble proportions, being 130 feet
by 24 feet. It is situate on the first floor, and di-
vided into private boxes and stewards' compart-
ment, adjoining which are the ladies' refreshment
rooms, &c. The whole of this floor is connected with
the lawn by a graduated terrace or step standings,
from whence every one will have a full view of the
races. Above the Grand Stand Room is a gradu-
ated lead roof of the same dimensions, 130 by 25
feet.

The Alexandra Park Races are to commence 011
the 30th June, and continue on the Ist July, under
the most distinguished patronage ; and there is
every reason to believe, from the excellent charac-
ter of the course, its close proximity to London, and
the value of the stakes in the respective races, that
the Alexandra Park Races will quite equal, if they
do not eclipse, in point of popularity and the num-
ber of visitors, even the Derby itself. _ _

The inspection concluded, the party partook of
luncheon with the chairman (Mr. William Hawes),
the directors, the general manager (Mr. Ferrer),
and secretary (Mr. Thomas Dixon). The seat of
honour on the right hand of the chairman was occu-
pied by Mr. Benedict, a very pleasing circumstance
to those interested in music, as it is not too much to
infer that the direction of that most important
attraction is to be placed under the direction of one
of the soundest and best musicians in the country.
The success 'of the undertaking was pledged in
bumpers of chaMpagne, and altogether a more pro-
pitious visit of inspection we cannot recollect.

NATIONAL CHORAL SOClETY.—Mendelssohn's
" Hymn of Praise" (Lobgesang) and " The First
Walpurgis Night" constituted Mr. G. W. Martin's pro-
gramme last evening at Exeter Hall. There was an au-
dience which filled every part of the building, and the per-
formance, and very fine one throughout, gave infinite satis-
faction. In the "Hymn of Praise," the principal recita-
tives and airs were given by Madame Florence Lancia, Miss
Lucy Franklein, and Mr. Wilford Morgan ; Mr. Renwick
was the additional soloist iu the " The First Walpurgis
Night." All these artists exerted themselves with great
success to render the Mendelssohn selection an interest.
ing event in the history of the National Choral Society's
reunions. Brilliant execution and sympathetic expression
constitute tho criticism on their exertions ; and the
"choruses, remarkable for their beauty and sublimity, were
given with groat effect. There was about them a steadi-
ness and earnestness that can only be acquired by a large
number of executants, under admirable discipline, after
many repetitions. Amid a good deal of enthusiasm, "God
save the Queen" was given Wore the Mendelssohn music,
the National Choral Society, throngh their conductor,
wishing to participate in the general rejoicings at the
escape from the assassin's hand of the Sovereign's son.
TIIE DUKE OF EDINBURGII.—A special Court of
Common Council has been convened for to-morrow at
Guildhall to agree to an address to her Majesty the Queen
in reference to the recent attempt to assassinate his Royal
Highness the Duke of Edinburgh. The Lieutenancy of
the City of London will also meet for a similar purpose on
Monday next.

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THE LATE DR. HAMPDEN.

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The death of Dr. Hainpden, Bishop of Here-
ford, says a contempor,lly--a long forgotten
name—has awakened memories of stirring times
and of a strangely altered state of things. In
those days a charge of heresy against an Anglican
divine sounded strange and startling. The re:i-
gious public in Protestant England have since be-
come accustomed or indifferent to such a lapse on
the part of its accredited teachers. 'A guiph
seems to separate our times from those when the
Hampden controversy first agitated Oxford and
aroused the religious energies of England. His
life spans the whole period of the religious revival

—the rise of the Tractarian school, its immense
results in favour of Catholicism, and of the in-
auguration and triumph of neology in the Angli-
can Church, before the errors of which the semi-
Arianism of Dr. Hampden dwindles into insignifi-
cance. To recall to mind the resistance which his
nomination by Lord Melbourne to the chair of
Regius Professor of Divinity provoked in Oxford,
the agitation which it excited throughout the
country, and the solemn censure which by a large
majority was pronounced upon him by Convoca-
tion, is no easy task for the younger generation
which has succeeded but not inherited the
zealous
,faith of that which Dr. Hampden
so mortally offended. With what ease
world not. Dr. Hampden ,pass muster now
at Oxford. Contemporary of Arnold, who
was his staunch supporter, of Coplestone, of
IVhately, of Pusey, of Newman, who was then
forming the Tractarian movement, and who a few
years later was his s'renuous and successful op-
ponent, Dr. Hampden delivered those Bamptou
lectures of 1832-33, which became so notorious
at the time he was forced upon Oxford as a teacher
of Divinity. Dr. Newman exposed 'the errors
which were contained in these lectures, and suc-
ceeded in uniting both Tractarians and Evangelicals
against their author, so as to bring down upon his
,head, the formal censure of Convocation. This
was the first of those great collisions which in
succession have been so rich in results to the Ca,
tholic Church. The condemnation of Tract 90,
the Jerusalem Bishopric, the Gorhan decision, and
Dr. Lushington's judgments, have all served to
show the true character of the Anglican Church,
and to lead multitudes of men back to the Catholic
Church. Dr. Hampden's appointment to the Bishop-
ric of Hereford by Lord John Russell, in 1817,
revived opposition against installing a " heretic "
on the episcopal bench ; -but the force of the oppo-
sition was not like that which he had experienced
in 1836, for the strength of the Tractarian move-
ment was broken by the great exodus of 1845. His
great opponents had passed out of a Church where
error and truth are forced to sit side by side, and
where it is now at last considered a great boon, if
truth be allowed an equal latitude with error.
They had already safely entered that Church where
they had no longer jealously to guard against the
intrusion of an heretical bishop. Anglicanism in
1847 had grown weaker and Protestantism stronger,
so after a futile attempt of. Dean Merewether, of
Hereford, who had 'been promised the next succes-
sion to the see, and of the remnant of the high
Church party, Dr. Hampden was installed in the
Anglican episcopate, and his name, which was
famous in a great
,controversy that agitated half
England, has never since been heard of. In Dr.
Hampden's time events moved with rapid strides,
and a few years changed the face of things.