Part 5 (1/2)

Well, on we go,--driving across what you would call impa.s.sable streets, and lo! we are wedged up in a crowd,--and such a crowd,--a crowd of all nations.

At length we reach the palace gates; and there, who can tell the press and strife for entrance. Long and n.o.bly did the police struggle and resist, but at length the outward pressure was omnipotent, and the full tide of lucky ones with season tickets gained, entrance into, not the palace, but the enclosure. Then came order,--breathing s.p.a.ce,--tickets were examined, and places a.s.signed on cards, given as we entered into the palace itself. We all obtained good positions--very good ones. This was at eleven o'clock. At about a quarter to twelve, one standing near to us remarked, ”She will be to her time; she always is.” And he was right; for scarcely had he prophesied before a prolonged shouting told that the queen was coming. ”Plumes in the light wind dancing” were the outward and visible signs of the Life Guards, who came gently trotting up. Then came four carriages,--the coachmen and footmen of which were so disguised with gold lace, and wigs, and hair powder, that their mothers wouldn't have known them,--and then the queen--not robed and tricked out like the queens in children's story books, so dreadful as to resemble thunderbolts in petticoats; not hooped, and furbelowed, and stomachered, and embroidered all over, as was Elizabeth; nor with a cap, like Mary, Queen of Scots; not with eight horses prancing before the queen's carriage, but in her private carriage, drawn by two horses. Off went all hats. I wish you could have heard the cheering as the queen entered the wondrous building. O, it was like ”the voice of many waters.” Such deep, prolonged, hearty cheering I never, heard. As Victoria entered, up went the standard of England, and never before did its folds wave over such a scene. The entrance of majesty was the signal for the organ to play; the vitreous roof vibrates as the sounds fly along the transparent aisles; and we had musical gla.s.ses on a large scale. It would require the pen of our favorite Christopher North to describe the magnificent scene when the queen ascended the throne, surrounded by all the elegance and n.o.bility of her kingdom. Her husband reads an address; she replies; the venerable archbishop dedicates the Temple of Industry. The queen declares the palace opened, and the procession is formed to walk through its aisles. No small task this; but then thirty thousand persons are waiting to gaze on the queen and her court. A ludicrous sight it was to see two of England's proudest peers walking backward before the queen. The Marquis of Westminster and Earl of Breadalbane performed this feat, and glad enough must they have been when they received their dismission. The heralds, some twelve or fourteen, in black velvet, looked finely. The queen walked like a queen, and bore herself n.o.bly and womanly. She is a small figure, fair face, light hair, large, full, blue eyes, plump cheek, and remarkably fine neck and bust. She leaned upon her husband's right arm, holding in her hand the Prince of Wales, while Prince Albert led the princess royal. I was sadly disappointed in the appearance of the Prince of Wales. He is altogether a feeble-looking child, and cannot have much mental force.

The princess is a fine, energetic-looking girl. We stood within a yard of the royal party as it pa.s.sed bowing along. Then came the members of the royal family; and then visitors from Prussia and Holland; the ladies and gentlemen of the queen's household; the cabinet ministers; the foreign ministers; the archbishop in his robe, and the members of the royal commission; the lord mayor of London, and the aldermen. There, too, was Paxton, the architect of this great wonder. It was his day of triumph, and every one seemed to be glad for his fortune. All these were in gorgeous court dresses. I have seen all sorts and kinds of show, but never did I witness such a spectacle as was this day afforded to the congress of the world. The Duke of Wellington, and his companion in arms, the Marquis of Anglesea, walked arm in arm, ”par n.o.bilis fratrum.”

It was Wellington's birthday. He is eighty-two, and Anglesea eighty-one.

The Marquis walks well for a man of his age, and who has to avail himself of an artificial leg. They were most enthusiastically cheered in all parts of the house. In the diplomatic corps there was great splendor of costume, but no man carried himself more stately than did Mr.

Lawrence, whose fine, manly figure admirably becomes a court dress. I do not think that I ever saw a collection of ladies so plain and homely as the court ladies of Queen Victoria, who walked behind her in procession.

The d.u.c.h.ess of Sutherland has been renowned for her majestic beauty; but she is _pa.s.se_, and her friends are, I think, matchless for entire dest.i.tution of personal charms. But there was enough present to atone for the want of this in the royal circle. Some of the most exquisite faces I ever saw were there in those galleries, and forms of beauty that can hardly be surpa.s.sed. I was much surprised at noticing in the vast crowd, known to be about thirty thousand, that there were so few lads. I do not believe there were more than ten or fifteen in the palace; and, as we have already said, the absence of lads is owing to their all being at boarding-schools. Our boys, you may well suppose, are greatly pleased with having witnessed the greatest pageant of the age, and one that can never be surpa.s.sed. We shall soon be at the exhibition again, and apply ourselves to a careful survey of its interesting contents.

Yours affectionately,

J.O.C.

Letter 16.

LONDON.

DEAR CHARLEY:--

Now that the excitement consequent on the opening of the Crystal Palace has in some degree subsided and curiosity to a certain extent satisfied, we are enabled to obtain more lucid ideas of this extraordinary building and its wondrous contents. The admission for several days was one pound, and at this high price the visitors were of the most fas.h.i.+onable character. We have been much pleased in looking at the very fine equipages that throng the roads around the park. The carriages, horses, end liveries are in the best possible taste. When we entered, the palace was no longer heightened in splendor by the presence of the sovereign and her brilliant court. The superb canopy which overshadowed the _dais_ on which the gorgeous chair had stood, alone remained to indicate that there England's queen had performed the inaugural rites; but the great facts of the exhibition remained. The crystal fountain still played, the magnificent elms appeared in their spring garniture of delicate green beneath the lofty transept, and the myriad works of skill, art, and science lay around, above, and beneath us. I entered the building by its eastern door, and, immediately on pa.s.sing the screen which interposes between the ticket offices and the interior, the whole extent of the palace of gla.s.s lay before me. Fancy yourself standing at the end of a broad avenue, eighteen hundred and fifty feet in length, roofed with gla.s.s, and bounded laterally by gayly-decorated, slender pillars. The effect was surpa.s.singly beautiful. Right and left of this splendid nave were other avenues, into which the eyes wandered at will; for no walls, no barriers are to be found in the whole building; all is open, from floor to roof, and from side to side, and from the eastern to the western extremity.

Proceeding westward, I saw the compartments allotted to our own country.

The first thing I noticed was a piece of sculpture,--the dying Indian,--a fine production, though perhaps a trifle overdone. Then came an American bridge, which painters were still at work upon; and then, backed by drapery of crimson cloth, that splendid creation of genius, the Greek Slave, which will immortalize the name of Hiram Powers. I shall not, I think, be accused of national partiality when I a.s.sert that this statue is, in sculpture, one of the two gems of the exhibition. Perhaps, if I were not from the United States, I should say it was ”_the gem_.” When I come to tell you of the Italian marbles, I shall refer to that production of art which can alone be thought to dispute the palm of superiority with it. Every one expresses the highest admiration at the Slave, and a crowd is constantly around the spot. One old gentleman, who was in an ecstasy over the sculpture, very sharply rebuked a person complaining of the paucity of the American productions, with ”Fie, _there_ is one thing America has sent, that all Europe may admire, and no one in Europe can equal.” Turning aside from this ”breathing marble,” I examined the American exhibition of products and manufactures. I confess to you I felt mortified with the comparative meagreness of our show, because it contrasts poorly with the abundance exhibited by nations far inferior to us in skill and enterprise. Still, we have much to show; but the useful prevails over the beautiful. I am quite sure, too, that there are things here which will compel attention, and carry away calm, dispa.s.sionate approbation from the jurors. The United States exhibits numerous specimens of tools, cordage, cotton and woolen fabrics, shawls, colors, prints, daguerreo-types, silver and gold plate, pianos, musical instruments, harnesses, saddlery, trunks, bookbinding, paper hangings, buggies, wagons, carriages, carpetings, bedsteads, boots and shoes, sculls, boats, furs, hair manufactures, lithographs, perfumery, soaps, surgical instruments, cutlery, dentistry, locks, India rubber goods, machinery, agricultural implements, stoves, kitchen ranges, safes, sleighs, maps, globes, philosophical instruments, grates, furnaces, fire-arms of all descriptions, models of railroads, locomotives, &c. You may add to these fine specimens of all our produce, as cotton, sugar, tobacco, hemp, and the mineral ores--iron, lead, zinc, plumbago, tin, and copper, coals of all kinds, preserved meats, &c., &c.

I wish, Charley, you could go with me into a door south of the transept, over which, in oddly-shaped letters, are the words ”MEDIaeVAL COURT.” The very name reminds one of Popery, Puseyism, and Pugin.

This mediaeval court absolutely dazzles one's eyes with its splendors.

Auriferous draperies line the walls; from the ceiling hang gold and silver lamps--such lamps as are to be seen in Romish chapels before the statues of the Virgin; huge candlesticks, in which are placed enormous candles; Gothic canopies and richly-carved stalls; images of he and she saints of every degree; crucifixes and crosiers; copes and mitres; embroideries, of richest character, are all here--things which the mother of harlots prizes as the chosen instruments by which she deceives the nations. And truly beautiful are many of these things as works of art; but it is only as works of art that any Christian can admire them. As I gazed on the rich tissues and golden insignia, I mourned for poor corrupt human nature, to which alone such gewgaws could be acceptable. How would Paul or Peter have stared, had they been required to don such glittering pontificals as are here to be seen!

While I feel great respect for Pugin's ability as an architect and designer, I have profound pity for those who are deluded by these gorgeous symbols of a gloomy, cruel, and heartless creed.

There is a large golden cage, not altogether unlike a parrot's; and there is a press, indeed. What calls such attention from the mult.i.tude?

I join the gazers, and see what at first appears to be three pieces of irregularly-shaped gla.s.s, white and glittering; one large piece, about the size of a walnut, and two others a little larger than marbles. What renders that bit of gla.s.s so attractive? Gla.s.s! no; it is ”a gem of purest ray serene”--a diamond--the diamond of diamonds--the largest in the world. In short, it is the Kohinoor; or, as the Orientals poetically called it, ”the mountain of light.” Its estimated value is two millions sterling--enough to buy the Crystal Palace itself, nine times over. The history of this precious gem is romantically curious. It belonged to Runjeet Sindjb and is now an English trophy.

Let us enter that partially-darkened chamber, and stand before a painted gla.s.s window, the production of Bertini, of Milan. I can't describe this extraordinary production. It is ill.u.s.trative of Dante, and, for brilliancy of color and harmony of combination, it is not surpa.s.sed by the much-vaunted specimens of past ages.

”From the sublime to the ridiculous,” said Burke, ”there is but a step;”

and at not much greater distance from this Dantean window is a German toy stand. It is amusing to observe a big, ”Tenbroek” sort of son of Allemagne, arranging tiny children's toys. The contrast between the German giant and the petty fabrics he is setting off to the best advantage, provokes a smile.

Let us join the throng rus.h.i.+ng into the suite of rooms furnished by the upholsterers of Vienna. These rooms are indeed magnificent, and must afford a high treat to the lovers of wood carving. There is a bookcase, which is almost a miracle of art; the flowers seem to wave, and the leaves to tremble, so nearly do they approach the perfection of nature.

Then there is, it is said by judges, the most superb bed in the world; it is literally covered with carvings of the most costly and delicate description. Since the time of the famous Grinling Gibbons, the English carver, nothing has been seen like it. These Austrian rooms are among the great guns of the show, and will repay repeated visits.

Here stands the glorious Amazon of Kiss, of Berlin. This group, of colossal proportions, represents a female on horseback, in the act of launching a javelin at a tiger which has sprung on the fore quarter of her affrighted steed. This is a wonderful work of art, and places its author in the first rank of sculptors. Nothing can surpa.s.s the lifelike character of the Amazon's horse and the ferocious beast. As a tribute to the genius of Kiss, a grand banquet is to be given to him by the sculptors and artists of England. Well does he deserve such an honor.

Close by the Amazon is a colossal lion in bronze. This is the softest piece of casting I ever saw; the catlike motion of the paw is perfectly lifelike. I turn back again to that Amazon. I could gaze on the agony of that horse for hours, and think I should continue to discover new beauties.

The Crusader, a colossal equestrian statue of G.o.dfrey of Bouillon, is also very imposing. The entire floor is covered in the centre of the avenue, from east to west, with beautiful statues, models, &c.