The Great Exhibition. [From the London 'Post,' April 28.]

Daily Southern Cross, Volume VI, Issue 434, 26 August 1851, Page 4

The Great Exhibition. [From the London 'Post,' April 28.]

Fifteen thousand leason tickets for the Geeat Exhibition had been sold np to yesterday, ' and the announcement that the commissioners had prudently suspended the iuue was met by England, openmouthed, aiking for more. Here ii a very pretty specimen of the working of indirect taxation. [From the London • Times,' April 28.3 But all this is a digression, and we return to the spectacle of labour which the interior of tbebui'ding presents. It forms, altogether, a grand and edifying sight. Everybody seems busy about what most concerns himself, and there is, in the manner and movements of all that throng, a certain driviog energy of character wbioh is particularly impressive. Then there is the hum of mingled sounds which strikes upon and fills the ear, which indicates the gigantic labor in progress, and reminds one, as it swells and gathers in rolume, of a mighty task rapidly approaching its successful completion. In our own half of the Exhibition the dm and turmoil are fastest and most furious. People move about thsre like bees in a hive the cells of which they are engaged in constructing. Nothing stops them. They whip about ponderous masses of machinery as if they were children's toys. — Packages and contributions, that had remained carefully and modestly swarthed in paper or canvas, they b-gin to strip of every covering and disguise. The great bronze statue of the Duke of Rutland niighc be seen on Satut day, removed by them from its former position, near Osier's fountain, and swinging by the neck at the foot of one of the staircases. Under their coa'inuous labours, every part of our native Exhibition assumes shape and consistency. Mr. Hensman has got the steam up for the working machinery. All the courts and stall* are filled with contributions which a few hours would suffice to set in order. The nave has its full compliment of trophies, which are in process of arrangement. The galleries filled with th a . lighter products of British skill and industry! Wherever the eye turns, a hundred different labors approach tbeir successful termination, an'd from the whole scene it gathered the comforting assurance that, whatever other country tn>»y be behindhand, at !ea*t our reputation for punctually will be preserved. Next to ourselves, France makes the greatest show in respect of bustle and apparent effort, yet her prepaiaHons continue far in arrear, and it seems utrerly impossible that her division ca<i be ready in time for the opening It limy be in part, perhaps, and we trust that those portiom nearest the tra.nept will be pushed forward and completed before the Ist of May. Switzerland, the Zolvert-in, Austria, Amerro, Hollanß, the

Northern States if Germany Spain, Italy, Chin», and Tunis, ar« all in an advanced state of preparation. Belgium, Russia, ami Tuikey h>ve along arretr of work to bring up, and little time to do it in. Beyond all question our half of the exhibition is much more nearly finished than the other ; and, 10 far, at the onJs*-t, contributors from abroad will be at a disadvantage as compared *»'th uc ; yet they will probably recover, in (üblic estimation, 'he ground they thus lose, by the fuperior attractiveness of the objects which they have grouped around and within the nave. In the meantime they seem bent on making a great effort to be in time, and certninly, now Lhat they have set to work in earnest, they m>ike astonishing progress. They are more accustomed to that tort of thing than we are, and get through it with lens bustle and a smaller number of hands. While the labors of exhibitors tLus approach a close, th^se of the contractor have not yet ceased. They are now actively engaged in two great operations — the one is that of covering the roof of the building with calicn ; the other consists in erecting around the centre aitle a double row of seats for ladies present at the state opening. These seals are so constructed as to form an effectual barrier against pressure d tiling the progress of ibe ceremony, and to offer no obstacle whatever to the free circulation of spectators whrn her Majesty withdraws. As to the ralico covering, the effect of it upon the internal decoration will, in a remarkable manner, verify the accuracy of the anticeptive s'te'ches which Owen Jones months ago laid before | the Commissioners. In gloomy dark days, the brilliant appearance of the structure will be somewhat impaired but when the weather is fine, the shade trill nrOTfi rrfreahinor nnrl »n »«»>►»— * _«~...1 dm ui/W, portion of the Turkey red cloth used in the lining of stalls, and as a back grcund for the gallery railing!, has been placed, and this, combined with the masses of brilliant colors beginning to show all over the nrta of the building, tells with the best effect upon the general aspect of the interior. It now gradually expands, and warms into a perfect picture, the tints of which *re most harmonioutly blended, and the coup d'csil surprisingly beautiful. We turn from (be scene of bustle and preparation which the building presents to matters of interest c mnected with the ceremonial of the opening. In the first place, thrn, the sale of season tickets has been stopped, upwards of 15,000 having been disposed of It is not yet certain that a new issue maj not take place after the meeting of the Royal Commission to-morrow afternoon ; but much will, of course, depend on the way in which they dispose of the claim for admission put forward by a large body of exhibitors. For the »me meeting is re-. i s-rred the final adjustment of a more extended' programme connected with the state opening. That ceremony promises to be a most imposing one ; Her Majesty's entrance into the building is to be announced by a flourish of trumpe's, the " National Anthem" it to be sung by a choir of from 300 to 5 '0, inc'uding the choristers of St Paul's West* m rister Abbey, and the Chapel Royal, Windsor, mid some of the pupi'.s of the Royal Academy of Music. They will occupy the northern gallery of the transept, and will be accompanied by the organ there, played jointly by Messrs. Gon and Turtle, the whole performince being presided over by Sir G. Smart. After the An hbishop of Canterbury has offered up a prayer, the Hallelojrih chorus of Handel's Messiah will be performed under the direction of Sir H. Bishop, accompanied on the organ by Dr. Elvey and Dr. W. Wilde. The royal procession will move around the building in due order, Mr, Paxion, as architect, taking the lead, and after him Messrs Fox and Henderson, the contractors. Then will probably come Mr. Or. en Jonrs. Mr Digby Wyatt, and Mr. Wylde, the officers of the Execu tive Committee, who have had most to do with the building. To these will succeed the Executive Committee, then ths Foreign Comm-ssioners, then the Royal Commissioner*, preceded by their Secretaries and Her Majesty and the Court. As the Queen passes, the vast assemblage will rise to receive her, and the eight great organs, six British, aud two foreign, which the edifice contains, will in succession peal forth their notes of welcome. The present intention appears to be that the royal procession should move westward, first L into the Britith department of the exhibition. It has been suggested, very properly as we think, that the foreign contributors, as strangers, invited among ut, should be visited before our own people. With their quick warm feelings they would readily appreciate such • compliment.

FOREIGN. COLONIAL. Belgium 1,050 Australian Colonies :— Brazil ........ 1 New South Wales 12 China 238 South Australia . . 29 Denmark 63 Y. Diemen's Land 80 Egypt 49 New Zealand... . 42 France 3,329 Bermuda 4 Germany : Austria 638 Canada 345 North: HanoTer . II C*peof Good Hope 37 11 Hamburg. 125 Oylon 9 " Lubeck.. 3 Hong-Kong .... 19 " Oldenburg 3 India 446 Zollverein :— Malta 49 " Bavaria 83 Mauritiu 1 -"Baden 2 Nova Scotia .... 35 "Hesie 101 St. Helena 4 "Nassau ' 14 W. Indie*: Antigua 1 "Prussia...... 1,072 »• Bahamas .... 9 " Sixony 144 " Barbadoes .. 5 11 SaseMemingen. 5 •• British Guiana 16 " Wurtemberg.. 137 " Grenada ....^ 1 "Frankfort.... 38 "Jamaica .... 3 Greece 18 " Monsterrat .. 2 Holland 226 "Trinidad.... 21 Italy: Naples .. 3 , •» Rome .... 27 Total 1,172 " Sardinia .. 87 — — " Tuscany .. 90 Channel Islands :—: — Mexico 4 Guernsey .... 10 New Granada .. ,1 Jeney 23 Peru 4 ' Persia „ 1 Total ........ 33 Portugal IC9 , — — - Russia ........ 25 1 abstract. Spain 233 Foreign 9,437 Sweden & Norway 29 Colonial.. 1,172 Swi zerland .... • 153 Channel Islands.. 33 Tunis 203 Turkey 3 Total 10,678 United States .. 9j7 Customs rotat'n 10,142 W. Africa 9 Executive CommitHuyti 2 tie rotation, or Society Islands . . 1 duty paid & free 536 Total 9 473 Total 10.678

The following is a return of foreign and colonial goods receired up to the 20th April incluiiTC :—