CLOSE OF THE GREAT EXHIBITION. [From the Times.] [From the Standard.] [From the Britannia.]

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 617, 13 March 1852, Page 3

CLOSE OF THE GREAT EXHIBITION.

[From the Times.]

[From the Standard.]

[From the Britannia.]

In looking back over the career of the vast enterprise which has thus auspiciously been terminated, the consideration which first and most strongly impresses itself on the mind is the unprecedented popularity which it has attracted. Of this we quote some striking facts as illustrations. In the month of May; 734,782 visits were paid to the building; in June, 1,133,116; in July, 1,314,176; in August, 1,023,435; in September, 3,155,240; and in the first eleven days in October, 841,107. These figures give a total of 6,201,856 as the sum of visits to the Exhibition. Every one will calculate according to his particular fancy the proportion between visits and visitors, but at least it is obrious that several millions of people have had their minds enlarged, and their respect for industrial pursuits increased, by a portion of their time, more or less considerable, being spent in the Crystal Palace. The greatest number of people ascertained to have been in the building at any one time, was at two o'clock on Tuesday last, when 92,000 persons were present. On the same day the number of visitors reached its maximum, and was 109,915. Between 11 and 12 o'clock on Monday last, 28,853 persons entered the building in one hour. When it is remembered that these extraordinary figures, which can be thoroughly relied on for accuracy, illustrate popular movements that only a few years ago would have been pronounced, on the highest authority, most dangerous to the safety of the State, we have the more reason to' wonder that they should have taken place not only without disorder, but also almost without crime. The total number of charges made at the police

btafon at the Prince of Wales' Gate, relating to ofFences within the building, is, we are informed, twenly-fi\p, of which nine were for picking pockets, six for attempts to do so, and ten for petty larcenies at stalls. Such facts speak for themselves, and certainly constitute it' as one of the proudest boasts connected with the Exhibition, that property worth millions of money bbould have been inspected during nearly half a year by millions of people belonging to every class and grade of society, with only a few trifling crimes, involving no article of any value. From this agreeable feature connected with the popularity of the Crystal Palace, we pass to another still more so. Shortly after the opening, the Executive Committee had the question of admitting charitable institutions gratuitously pressed upon their notice, and they decided not to do so, upon grounds which perhaps at the time were thought bard and unfeeling. What was the result ? An immense spring of private benevolence, which has not been confined to the metropolis or its neighbourhood, but has extended to every part of England, and tbe influence of which, passing from the very poor to the struggling independence of the country, has induced masters to send their servants, manufacturers their bands, bankers and merchants their clerks, tradesmen tbeir apprentices, railway companies their men ; and last, most wanted and most common of all, induced the owners and occupiers of tbe soil to send up, by subscription among them, their agricultural labourers. From a return with which we have been favoured by Mr. W. Murray, we extract some remarkable facts with reference to the attendance of charity and other schools at the Exhibition :—lt: — It appears that up to the 9th July, when he took charge of that department, no record was kept of the schools that came, and Mr. Muiray can only ascertain an authentic list of 21, giving a total of 4,093 children. By the return, 466 schools have visited tbe building, and of these Christ's Hospital have sent the largest number, amounting to 900. On the I4tb of July there were 15 schools present, and 1,300 children ; on the 30th, 13, and on tbe 6th of August, 19 ; on the 21st, 15 schools and 4,022 children ; on the 18th of September, 33 schools and 2,729 children ; on the 25th, 18 schools and 1,-374 children ; on the 28th of October, 25 schools and 1,427 children ; on the 2nd of October, 23 schools and 1,312 children. The return includes a list of 23 parties, chiefly agricultural labourers, and including 7,758 persona sent up from the country by private benevolence. Such results are exceedingly gratifying, and will throw an additional lustre round the memory of the Great Exhibition. Looking at tbe popularity of the undertaking in a monetary point of view, the facts are equally extraordinary. The largest amount taken at the doors on any of the fiveshilling days, was i? 5,078, on the 24th of May. The greatest half-crown day was Saturday last, when 4,845/. 12s. 6d. was received. The greatest shilling day was Tuesday last, when the sum taken amounted to £5,283 3s. In May the highest receipts were on the 24th, when upwards of „£5,000 was taken, the lowest being tbe pound days. In June the greatest was a shilling day, when upwards of £3,000 was taken — the lowest being the first shilling day. In July, the highest (a halfcrown day) was the 18th, when nearly was received — the lowest being tbe 19th, a five-shilling day. During the month of August the harvest operations told visibly on the receipts, the greatest bei»g~on the sth, a shilling day, when more tha» £3jOQO was taken, and the lowest being on the 2nd'and the 30th. During the month of Spptember the average take was still smaller, but the 29th and 30th weie great shilling days, and brought in £3,000 each. These data satisfactonly establish not only the vast success of the Exhibition, iv a pecuniary point of view, but the constant and untiring assiduity with which the country, nccoiding to its ability, bas come to visit and be instructed by the great spectacle. It is curious to lemark that, whether the admission fee was 55., 2s. o'd., or Is., while the number of visitors fluctuated accordingly, the actual sums taken under encumstances of similar excitement, were nearly equal. This, if it pioves nothing else, seems to indicate that the Royal Commission adopted a judicious scale of charges. From the facts thus recorded the popularity of the Exhibition is placed in a position beyond dispute or question : the people flocked to it with an enthusiasm unprecedented in the annals of public spectacles; and, besides contributing toils grandeur by their presence, they have thrown around its brief but brilliant career the halo of an extended benevolence and the chaim of a singular immunity from crime. While they have thus rendered homage at the shrine of industry, it is satisfactory to think that no means have been neglected for preserving and rendering permanent the lessons of experience which the Exhibition teaches — the lights for future guidance which it discloses—the wants which it developes, and the theoretic truths which it illus'iates. Of ho public event that has ever happened do such complete records exist. — From these, speculative minds will hereafter be able to abstract their full significance* but it is now, while curiosity and inteiest are still awuke on the whole subject, and while the closing stimulates these faculties in an unwonted degiep, that tbe full importance is appreciated of giving a practical aim and direction to those vague impressions of wonder which the survey of so many objects leaves behind. Men, in this country at i least, do not rest satisfied with sentimental results, and '• if tbe doctrines of universal brotherhood and of a new starting-point to industry were the only general conclusions that th^y had to fall back upon, we tear that they might come in a very short time to think lightly enough of the Great Exhibition. The two great issues raised by the evpnt which has just terminated may bo briefly stated thus :—ln: — In what direction, as an industrial community, should we henceforth travel, and by what means should we proceed ? Should we, yielding to those tastes for tbe splendid, which the possession of great wealth promotes, dedicate our efforts to the costly j and the beautiful in production — or should our course be still guided by those* unpretending and material influences which have already raised us to such a pitch of prosperity and power 1 Standing between the civilization of the New World and that of the Old, should we raise our manufactures to the highest European and Oriental standards of taste ; or should we still struggle chiefly to extend their boundaries and to command, by the element of price, the markets of the world ? That is one issue, and is already receiving a solution by which we may hopp in time to secure both tbe alternatives suggested, and to show that practically they may be united in the same industrial system. The reports of the Juries, the association of such men as Mr. Redgiave, Mr. Cole, Mr. Owen Jones, and Mr. Pugin, for the selection of objects on which to found a pure school of design ; the labours of Mr. Digby Wyatt and others in the same direction; and above all the project of the Society of Arts for the establishment of elementary drawing-schools — these and other influences, added to the impetus which the public mind bas already received on the subject, mu6t tend greatly to raise the character of our art manufactures. On the other band, the mortifying but useful defeats | which we have received from our children Across the Atlantic, the wide publicity given to new materials, machines and processes, the certainty of an improved patent law in the next Session of Parliament, and above all, tbe opportunities which (notwithstanding an unfortunate decision of tbe Royal Commission) have been afforded by the display just terminated for observing how far price affects the prosperity of trade : these and other considerations will keep our manufactures utilitarian in their character, and strengthen vastly the mechanical and inventive genius of the country. — Tbe second issue which the Exhibition rises, viz., how best we should proceed in the industrial career which lies before us, bas hitherto been chiefly dealt with in the various schemes for the appropriation of the surplus. Some think that we must affect a radical change in our educational system — that we must substitute living science for dead literature, and distribute the honors and rewards of life in channels where they may fructify to the use of the commonwealth, instead of ..being limited to the learned professions, the military and naval services, and the residents of our Universities, To others, this seems a slow and a doubtful process : they advocate, therefore, the principle of association, as the best for securing industrial progress. They say, bring the leading men in manufactures, commerce, and science into close and intimate communication with each other — establish an intelligent supervision of every branch of production by those most interested and likely to be best informed — have annual reports made in each department, and let the whole world be invited to assist in carrying forward the vast •cheme of human labour, which bas hitherto been prosecuted at random and without any knowledge or appreciation of the system which pervaded it. The public must eventually decide this contest of opinions ; and their verdict, whichever alternative it inclines to, or whether or not it embraces both, n ill not only determine one of the most important questions that the Exhibition has raised, but prove fraught with the gravest consequences to the welfare of this country and of mankind at large.

Tbe Exhibition closed to-day —an experiment more successful than we anticipated ; and in the more interesting and important view of it, highly honorable to the character of our countrymen. We allude to the

perfi ct good order with which the millions, in crowds unexampled in their daily numbers, have d \y by day assembled and dispersed. We arc not aw,»e thnt a single act of serious violence has been charged, or a single accident occurred since the Ist of May, the day upon which the Exhibition opened. We believe that such a constant observance of good order, so long and so perfectly maintained, in circumstances at all sinwl.ir, is without example in the histoiy ot the woild. We say in ciicumstances ut till s'milnr, for certainly nothing coming up to a complete binnlar case is loronled m> having been displayed in any country. The noble phenomenon of its peaceable career and termination is, therefoie the moie rema< liable, and the more justly an occasion of exultation, that much smaller collections of mankind, continued for a much shorter period, have been too geneially disgraced by tumult. We are, in the first place, bound to be thankful to the Giver of all Good for the happy distinction ; but looking to human means, we have to acknowledge the good disposition of our people, the prudence of the arrangements made, and the exertions of our admirable Police. It is calculated there will remain after the payment of all expenses, asm plus of some hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The Crystal Palace is Ci.osid. — Before Christmas it will haidly form a passing topic of conversation, aid the events of the next Spring will consign it to the tomb of all the Capulets. If it is remembered, it will be far more by the injury it has worked to our manufacturers and tradebmen than by its glories — by the breaches of faith committed by its managers, rather than by its attractiveness as the loadstone of sightseers. The distribution of the prizes may perhaps keep alive the recollection of the injustice and partiality of the decisions; and the conversion of. its surplus gain to some useful purpose, afford fruitful subjpcts of contention and irritation, if not eventual employment for the gentlemen of the long robe. With the able organ of the Radical party, the Daily News, " we must confes.B to feeling glad that it is over : it was certainly a great interruption of ordinary habits, interest, and business ; It had its effect upon the humblest industry as upon the highest efforts of thought, tuining the one into new ways and channels, and suspending the other. It hung up philosophy, bade poets be dumb, and hinted to ihe anmul novelists that he or she might for the nonce cease their vocation. Booksellers' >hops it closed, and a great many other shops beside ; and even Parliament was one of the shops of which it well nigh put up the shutters ; nor could, any power except the stalwart sinews and activity of Cardinal Wiseman, have kept it open." — They who have shared in it begin to count their gains, and to r< prospect," as the Yankees say, on their next move. Its two monopolies have worked with very diff rent results. Success has attended the culinary contract, and loss been the result of the literary patent. The stale-bun and chicory privilege rewarded its fortunate holder many fold ; the catalogue grant brought a loss on its spirited patentees. Whil&t the youths of the eating department proceed to raise a testimonial to their employer, and to record in frosted silver the success of their'" blaster's" jce-monopoly, the catalogue proprietors sue for a remission of the royalty theyjeJQgaged to pay, and sigh over the thousands they have thrown on the venture. The truth is,' the monopoly of a necessary of life must answer — people must eat, despite 9lale pies and dear sandwiches ; they need not, however, a catalogue. A bed is a bed, and a chair a chair, and all the description in the world will not make them anything moie. Of four-fifths of the articles, their genus and species was equally clear to the meanest intelligence. The catalogue, therefore, if correct, was unnecessary, and being incorrect, it was just wa&te paper and a bore. We may regret the losses of individuals, but that it has met the fate all which monopolies deserve, is matter for congratulation. Statistics of the Receipts at hie Great Exni« bition. — The following statistics of the Great Exhibition will, we doubt not, be found interesting: — The income of this establishment has been as follows up to present date. Public subscriptions, £64,344 ; privilege of printing, i? 3,20 0; privilege of supplying refreshments, £5,500 ; amount received for season tickets up to Ist May, o £4G,000; royalty of Yd. per copy on catalogues Total funds in hand on the Ist of May, ,-6113,044. Amount received at the doors up to August 30, £252,141 9a. 6d.; ditto up to the end of September £62,007" 12s; ditto up to Saturday, October 4, £12,158 Os. 6d. Grand total, £439,321 2s. The liabilili ies incurred, so far as they have been at present ascertained, are as follow.:— To Messrs. Fox and Henderson, for the building, .£"79,800 ; to Messrs Munday for rescinding of contract, ,£5,000 ; extra galleries, counters, and fittings, £35,000; management, including printing, &c, up to May 1, £29,943 ; police force £10,000; puze fund, £20,000. Total, £107,743. It is understood that the royalty to be paid-by Messrs. Spicer and Clowes will not be enfoiced, in consequence of the sale of the catalogues not having been so profitable as was anticipated. The expenses of management, gas, water, &c, will probably amount to £50,000 and the sum likely to be received this week for admission will be at least £20.000, This would bring the total income up to £460,000 and the total liabilities to about £220,000 K-aving the very handsome balance in hand of £240,000 or nearly a quarter of a million sterling. The total number of visitors up to Saturday was 5,547,238. A curious feature in the statistics of the Crystal Palace is tbe amount daily received at the umbrella stand. Since the rainy season has set in, the receipts have exceeded £20 a-day, and £30 might be obtained, but that the accommodation does not admit of so great an extentension of the trade.

THE CLOSE OF THE GREAT EXHIBITION. Glory to the God of Heaven, Peace on earth tow'rds men good will ! Now shall honours due be given To the best of human skill ; Always will we deal with others As we would they dtalt with ua, And rejoice as men and brothers To befriend each other thus ! Nobly hast thou fruited, Lnbour ! Brightly hast thou flowered, Art! Well has England hailed as neighbour Every nation to her heart 1 Yes — for all on earth are brothers High and low, and far and near, And the more we see of others All the more we hold them dear ! Narrow liking and disliking, Prejudice hath died away; Hand in hand together striking, Man with man is link'd to-day; While we feel that all are brothers, Children dear of One above— And the more we know of others All the more we live in lo*e. For it is a glorious teaching, Albert, thou hast taugbj mankind, Gieatly to perfection reaching, And enlarging heart and mind j Stirring us, and stirring others Thus to do the best we can, And with all the zeal of brothers Help the Family of Man, God be thank'd, that thus united All the world for once has been, Crowding welome and delighted Round the throne of England's Queen j God be thank'd that we and others, England, with the World around, Thus have sought to love as brothers, And the good we sought, have found ! Albury, Guild ford.

Maiitin F. Tujter.