DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1310#0081
60 THE GREAT EXHIBITION
THE CRYSTAL PALACE BY MOONLIGHT.
To those who had seen the interior daring the daytime, filled with, thousands of specta-
tors, and agitated by all the bustle of sight-seeing, it was difficult to realize the aspect
which the same presented when the crowds had departed, when the gates were closed,
and the police had taken under their entire control that vast collection of the trophies
of human industry. One could scarcely comprehend the strength of that confidence in
the law and in the security of property which reconciled 15,000 exhibitors, gathered
from every civilized country in the world, speaking different languages, and brought up
under different forms of government, to trust the most valued evidences of their skill,
their wealth, their enterprise, night after night, to a body of about fifty policemen, paid
little above the ordinary wages of labour, and armed against dangers from without with
no weapon more formidable than a baton. A Russian jeweller was the only person we
heard of as showing any uneasiness in the exercise of this confidence. He wanted to be
convinced that his diamonds were safe, and accordingly he applied for an order to visit
them by night. His request was granted, and he soon had a practical test of the watchful
care taken of his property. Standing in front of his glass case, and satisfying himself
that all was safe, he happened to turn round, and there to his astonishment he found
that he had a constable at either elbow, superintending his movements, and by no means
disposed, from their looks, to take his honesty for granted. We visited the Crystal
Palace ourselves, but in a less sceptical spirit than the Russian jeweller, and for a
different purpose. We wished to see the aspect of the interior under the influence
of a fine clear moonlight, to observe how each object of interest varied in expression
when looked at through a new medium, to contrast with the bustle and thronging excite-
ment of the day the effects of silence, solitude, and darkness. Let the reader accompany
us in our survey, and share in the impressions which it produced. In the centre every-
thing was plainly revealed; the pinnacles of the crystal fountain appeared tipped with
silver, and in the basin below, the ribs and sash-bars overhead and the sky beyond them,
and portions of the adjacent galleries, and the occasional glimmer of gas-lights, were all
reflected with marvellous distinctness. An air of solemn repose pervaded the vast area;
the very statues seemed to rest from the excitement of the day, and to slumber peaceably
on their pedestals. Some were enveloped in white coverings, which in the doubtful
light gave them a ghostly appearance; others remained unprotected from the night air,
and braved exposure to cold as they had already done to criticism. At one point of
intersection between the nave and transept, Virginias under the flare of a gas-lamp from
the China compartment, brandished the knife with which he had sacrificed his daughter.
At another corner, and under a similar dispensation of light from Persia, a cavalier
leaned upon his sword, and appeared to be calculating the number of people that had
passed him during the day. Of Turkey and Egypt we could see only at the entrance
the faint glitter of Damascus blades and of brocaded muslins and trappings. All beyond
was buried in darkness and mystery. The shades of night, too, fell heavily upon Greece,
Spain, and Italy, though behind them, through the open girders, gleams of unexplained
light were seen rising. The zinc statue of the queen rested in grateful obscurity, and
Lemonniere's jewel-case had cautiously been stripped of its attractions. On the metal
pipes of Ducroquet's organ some struggling moonbeams played, though without evoking
any sound. The colossal group of " Cain and his Family" looked well in a gloom which
seemed suited to his expression of guilt qualified by the traces of human affection. So it
was all down the eastern nave. The shadows of night, which fell heavily on some
points, were strangely relieved at intervals by gas, which carried the eye forward over
intervening objects to those immediately around it. Instead of looking at those things
THE CRYSTAL PALACE BY MOONLIGHT.
To those who had seen the interior daring the daytime, filled with, thousands of specta-
tors, and agitated by all the bustle of sight-seeing, it was difficult to realize the aspect
which the same presented when the crowds had departed, when the gates were closed,
and the police had taken under their entire control that vast collection of the trophies
of human industry. One could scarcely comprehend the strength of that confidence in
the law and in the security of property which reconciled 15,000 exhibitors, gathered
from every civilized country in the world, speaking different languages, and brought up
under different forms of government, to trust the most valued evidences of their skill,
their wealth, their enterprise, night after night, to a body of about fifty policemen, paid
little above the ordinary wages of labour, and armed against dangers from without with
no weapon more formidable than a baton. A Russian jeweller was the only person we
heard of as showing any uneasiness in the exercise of this confidence. He wanted to be
convinced that his diamonds were safe, and accordingly he applied for an order to visit
them by night. His request was granted, and he soon had a practical test of the watchful
care taken of his property. Standing in front of his glass case, and satisfying himself
that all was safe, he happened to turn round, and there to his astonishment he found
that he had a constable at either elbow, superintending his movements, and by no means
disposed, from their looks, to take his honesty for granted. We visited the Crystal
Palace ourselves, but in a less sceptical spirit than the Russian jeweller, and for a
different purpose. We wished to see the aspect of the interior under the influence
of a fine clear moonlight, to observe how each object of interest varied in expression
when looked at through a new medium, to contrast with the bustle and thronging excite-
ment of the day the effects of silence, solitude, and darkness. Let the reader accompany
us in our survey, and share in the impressions which it produced. In the centre every-
thing was plainly revealed; the pinnacles of the crystal fountain appeared tipped with
silver, and in the basin below, the ribs and sash-bars overhead and the sky beyond them,
and portions of the adjacent galleries, and the occasional glimmer of gas-lights, were all
reflected with marvellous distinctness. An air of solemn repose pervaded the vast area;
the very statues seemed to rest from the excitement of the day, and to slumber peaceably
on their pedestals. Some were enveloped in white coverings, which in the doubtful
light gave them a ghostly appearance; others remained unprotected from the night air,
and braved exposure to cold as they had already done to criticism. At one point of
intersection between the nave and transept, Virginias under the flare of a gas-lamp from
the China compartment, brandished the knife with which he had sacrificed his daughter.
At another corner, and under a similar dispensation of light from Persia, a cavalier
leaned upon his sword, and appeared to be calculating the number of people that had
passed him during the day. Of Turkey and Egypt we could see only at the entrance
the faint glitter of Damascus blades and of brocaded muslins and trappings. All beyond
was buried in darkness and mystery. The shades of night, too, fell heavily upon Greece,
Spain, and Italy, though behind them, through the open girders, gleams of unexplained
light were seen rising. The zinc statue of the queen rested in grateful obscurity, and
Lemonniere's jewel-case had cautiously been stripped of its attractions. On the metal
pipes of Ducroquet's organ some struggling moonbeams played, though without evoking
any sound. The colossal group of " Cain and his Family" looked well in a gloom which
seemed suited to his expression of guilt qualified by the traces of human affection. So it
was all down the eastern nave. The shadows of night, which fell heavily on some
points, were strangely relieved at intervals by gas, which carried the eye forward over
intervening objects to those immediately around it. Instead of looking at those things