DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1312#0124
OF THE WORLD'S INDUSTRY. 73
England' walked along the main avenues of the Crystal Palace on that glorious 1st of
May, and then the shout of exultation when she declared the Exhibition open, con-
template the amount of lese majesty and the depth of ignominy which would have been
involved in denying her Majesty and her loyal subjects and foreign guests the heartfelt
pride and satisfaction of that day's ceremonial! The other error of the executive, at
this time, when it was determined that the public should be admitted, was the attempt
to make a show of royalty, by raising the price of season-tickets—an attempt which,
as soon as it came to the knowledge of the Prince President of the commission, he
very promptly reprobated and prohibited.
" The exclusion of exhibitors was au error—a serious error, as regarded the enjoyment
of the public, the results of the Exhibition, and the interests of the exhibitors. And
this injustice, this stupid blunder, was perpetrated and persisted in, in the same paltrv
spirit which devised the idea of setting a premium upon the gracious smiles of our Queen';
which farmed out the responsibility and privileges connected with the publication of the
catalogue as a property, instead of working upon it as a labour of love tending to the
honour and usefulness of the whole undertaking; the same spirit of penury which farmed
the monopoly of retailing tea, coffee, ices, and 'other light refreshments/ at heavy rates
of charge, and to caterers who insisted upon demanding a penny for a glass of ficed
water' to wash down a thimblefull of ice, in face of the announcement that e water is
given away' (water uniced being never to be had); the same spirit of penury in which,
up to the last day, a deaf ear was turned to all suggestions for an abandonment of,
or even a reduction upon the absolute shilling, on behalf of numerous industrious classes—
as policemen, omnibus-drivers, public schools, &c.—who had but few opportunities of
participating in the intellectual enjoyments of their fellow-citizens; the same spirit of
penury and pence-gathering which originated many a little job, to the disparagement of
the pubic interests, the lessening of their enjoyment of their own Exhibition—for was
not the Exhibition the public's own, when it was made up of voluntary contributions from
the manufacturing community, stored in a house built upon public property, and rescued
from all risk of failure by the shillings of the multitude ? All that the commissioners
can lay claim to is the glass-house—and that they only had through a happy accident;
and that they wanted to get off their hands before the time arrived for opening its doors.
The bare walls were thrown open to the public, and the public provided the entertain-
ment, and found the company and the money. How little the commissioners have done
to reciprocate the liberal spirit of the public—to promote the interests of exhibitors, which
was a secondary inducement—and the interests of science and knowledge, which was the
paramount inducement to the undertaking—are questions which are very fairly debatable
by public journalists.
" In assembling together the richest assortment of natural products and manufactured
wares, of machinery and philosophical instruments, from all quarters of the globe, which
the world ever saw collected together, the first step was taken to the acquirement of a
full knowledge of the state of human science and industry over the whole face of the
globe; and the materials so obtained, if properly made use of, would have formed a com-
plete stox'e of practical knowledge, a perfect encyclopaedia of human intelligence, which
would have been invaluable as an authority—a starting-point for the future. But how, if
half these productions were promiscuously thrown together, badly classified, and therefore
unattainable without guides or direction-posts ?—how, if many of them were so enclosed
under glass cases that it became impossible to examine their properties?—and how, it
the peculiarities of nine-tenths of them were unintelligible to the general observer without
explanation from the owner or producer ?—and how, if the owner or producer was excluded
from the privilege of presiding over the portion of the intellectual banquet which he had
England' walked along the main avenues of the Crystal Palace on that glorious 1st of
May, and then the shout of exultation when she declared the Exhibition open, con-
template the amount of lese majesty and the depth of ignominy which would have been
involved in denying her Majesty and her loyal subjects and foreign guests the heartfelt
pride and satisfaction of that day's ceremonial! The other error of the executive, at
this time, when it was determined that the public should be admitted, was the attempt
to make a show of royalty, by raising the price of season-tickets—an attempt which,
as soon as it came to the knowledge of the Prince President of the commission, he
very promptly reprobated and prohibited.
" The exclusion of exhibitors was au error—a serious error, as regarded the enjoyment
of the public, the results of the Exhibition, and the interests of the exhibitors. And
this injustice, this stupid blunder, was perpetrated and persisted in, in the same paltrv
spirit which devised the idea of setting a premium upon the gracious smiles of our Queen';
which farmed out the responsibility and privileges connected with the publication of the
catalogue as a property, instead of working upon it as a labour of love tending to the
honour and usefulness of the whole undertaking; the same spirit of penury which farmed
the monopoly of retailing tea, coffee, ices, and 'other light refreshments/ at heavy rates
of charge, and to caterers who insisted upon demanding a penny for a glass of ficed
water' to wash down a thimblefull of ice, in face of the announcement that e water is
given away' (water uniced being never to be had); the same spirit of penury in which,
up to the last day, a deaf ear was turned to all suggestions for an abandonment of,
or even a reduction upon the absolute shilling, on behalf of numerous industrious classes—
as policemen, omnibus-drivers, public schools, &c.—who had but few opportunities of
participating in the intellectual enjoyments of their fellow-citizens; the same spirit of
penury and pence-gathering which originated many a little job, to the disparagement of
the pubic interests, the lessening of their enjoyment of their own Exhibition—for was
not the Exhibition the public's own, when it was made up of voluntary contributions from
the manufacturing community, stored in a house built upon public property, and rescued
from all risk of failure by the shillings of the multitude ? All that the commissioners
can lay claim to is the glass-house—and that they only had through a happy accident;
and that they wanted to get off their hands before the time arrived for opening its doors.
The bare walls were thrown open to the public, and the public provided the entertain-
ment, and found the company and the money. How little the commissioners have done
to reciprocate the liberal spirit of the public—to promote the interests of exhibitors, which
was a secondary inducement—and the interests of science and knowledge, which was the
paramount inducement to the undertaking—are questions which are very fairly debatable
by public journalists.
" In assembling together the richest assortment of natural products and manufactured
wares, of machinery and philosophical instruments, from all quarters of the globe, which
the world ever saw collected together, the first step was taken to the acquirement of a
full knowledge of the state of human science and industry over the whole face of the
globe; and the materials so obtained, if properly made use of, would have formed a com-
plete stox'e of practical knowledge, a perfect encyclopaedia of human intelligence, which
would have been invaluable as an authority—a starting-point for the future. But how, if
half these productions were promiscuously thrown together, badly classified, and therefore
unattainable without guides or direction-posts ?—how, if many of them were so enclosed
under glass cases that it became impossible to examine their properties?—and how, it
the peculiarities of nine-tenths of them were unintelligible to the general observer without
explanation from the owner or producer ?—and how, if the owner or producer was excluded
from the privilege of presiding over the portion of the intellectual banquet which he had