manency admitted; and secondly, that the mode of disposal was the subject of so much variety of opinion, that it was most important that it should be thoroughly grappled with at the present crisis. Thus, for example, the Times says, that the most formidable missile yet discharged against the "winter garden" is that supplied by the Quarterly, which agrees with us in denouncing "a showy, steamy, suffocating jardin d'hiver, as a capital thing for apothecaries." But Mr. Paxton himself has in his petition, presented to the House of Lords by Lord Brougham, somewhat modified his original views upon that subject; and while he has adhered to the obnoxious passage in reference to " fragrant trees and Southern Italy," he has expressed himself more concisely that a temperate climate was all that was intended, and that while due regard was paid to the deterioration of air which took place under the old system of building conservatories, and to avoid the warm and humid atmosphere of the Palm-House at Kew, climate would be the principal thing studied in the Crystal Palace, which by its size is admirably adapted for the proposed improvements. "Let Mr. Paxton's plan," says the Times, commenting on Lord Campbell's opposition, "be understood before it be rejected. He does not propose a palm-house or a hot-house of the common kind. He proposes to keep the temperature of the Crystal Palace just high enough for the preservation of some garden shrubs and flowers through the winter, and for the comfort of the visitors." If this is really all that Mr. Paxton demands he ought to have been more explicit at the onset, and we should have heard nothing of the dangers of sudden change, for conservatory plants cannot be preserved through the winter in our climate without some artificial heat. We should, however, still object, notwithstanding the example of the Botanic Gardens, to any part of the Crystal Palace being raised to so high a temperature as to preserve exotics. Such are not wanted in a promenade garden.

As to the opposition of the titled inhabitants of Kensington-road, the same authority has summarily disposed of them by stating that the public will put its own construction on such hostility to the Crystal Palace. The opposition of the clergy of the same district grieves us more, for the exponents of education and morality should be the last to throw difficulties in the way of encouraging both. "The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge," said Lord Brougham, "regard the Crystal Palace as an ally of their friend the schoolmaster, and backed it against all the gin palaces in the land. The delight which people of late years had been taking in innocent amusements had drawn tens and hundreds of thousands to contemplate the stores of instruction which were congregated in that beautiful structure-stores which would be remembered with enthusiasm even when they were withdrawn from their sight."

The rev. author of the Great Exhibition Prize Essay* has said:

Everything which tends to the well-being of man must tend to the honour of Him who made him, and who placed him upon a world which He considered suitable to his bodily and mental constitution, and able to supply all his wants; and thus, as far as his body is concerned, to make him happy. He who can prove that

*The Great Exhibition Prize Essay. By the Rev. J. C. Whish, M.A. Adjudicators: the Rev. Richard Michell, B.B., Public Orator of the University of Oxford; the Rev. Robert Walker, M.A., F.R.S., Reader of Experimental Philosophy, Oxford. Donor: the Rev. J. A. Emerton, D.D., Hanwell College, Middlesex. Longman and Co.

there need not, and ought not, to be any such thing as unsatisfied hunger or shivering nakedness, that even though we should work but little, yet if we would all work wisely, there would be no lack of necessary comforts-he who proves this would, indeed, be rightly called a benefactor to his race; yet his highest praise would be, that he had performed a religious action, that he had justified the ways of God towards man, and helped to clear away the mists which prevented their seeing the extent of that Divine benevolence which has been actually exercised towards them.

The Rev. J. A. Emerton also, in his "Moral and Religious Guide to the Great Exhibition," says: "Let it be man's to render the glory and the praise where it is due; no fitter opening could there be for the Nations' Peace-Temple than its blessing and its dedication to God. banners of war are blessed; surely, then, the shrine of peace is self-consecrated in its fulfilments and its objects."

The

A building and object of which such things, and others of a far more zealous character, have been said, and which at its opening was consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury in presence of royalty, was scarcely a fitting object for attacks on the ground of public morality. If the cultivation of taste, the improvement of the mind, the refinement of manners, and the widening of sympathies are subversive of public morality, then let the Crystal Palace be razed to the ground. But let such a result be made clear and manifest first in the face of the hundreds of thousands who have witnessed that glorious Exhibition, and who have returned from it wiser and better persons.

Whether the temptation of meandering walks in a winter garden and reclining among fragrant trees may threaten public morality, we are not prepared to say; but even Lord Campbell himself admitted that all the apprehensions which some persons had entertained-in his opinion very unreasonably-about the occurrence of riot and disorder during the Exhibition, had turned out to be false and groundless; and we venture to say the same thing will occur of the "British Conservatory;" and if not, the same efficient means that were put in force to prevent disorder at the Exhibition, could be easily brought to bear on a smaller and yet equally effective scale in the winter garden. But why should the Crystal Palace in every form that is proposed to it, be so continually obnoxious to public morality? Why not the British Museum, the Zoological or Botanical Gardens, or any other place of resort? Simply because it suits a purpose to prove the Crystal Palace to be a nuisance, and those who repair there disorderly people. It is not, however, before such a phantom cry that men of comprehensive intelligence and wide-embracing sympathies will retreat from a good work.

We have before discussed the financial part of the question, and, although Lord Campbell dwelt chiefly upon the fact that money was to be taken at the doors to defray the expenses, and people could not be admitted without paying some small sum-say 6d.--for each admission, then the poor would be excluded, we cannot help remarking that this would bear upon the other objection of danger to public morality, for a certain degree of exclusion would be observed; but the fact is, that the middle classes would as willingly spend 3d. or 6d. upon a British Conservatory as they have done one shilling upon a National Exhibition.

Another objection frequently urged and much dwelt upon is the perishableness of the structure; but the fact is, that the chief materials and main construction of the Crystal Palace are as durable as any other

structure in the metropolis, and as for the fitting up, the sash bars and the ornamental work, particularly the wooden pillars and girders, introduced for uniformity, they will not require more painting or more frequent repairs than any common dwelling-house in London. These repairs, it has also been justly remarked, are peculiarly accessible to painters and glaziers. Point out a defect, and it can be set right in ten minutes anywhere about the building. There is no need of a hunt in the dark through the timbers of a roof; no necessity to rip off all the tiles in order to find the peccant member, or to erect lofty scaffolding merely to repair a water stain. It is all light as day, and accessible to the hand as well as to the eye.

Lord Campbell had been misinformed when he stated that only onethird of the uprights which support the Crystal Palace are of iron, and that two-thirds of them are of wood. The fact is, that the entire framework is composed of wrought and cast-iron, fixed securely together, and firmly bedded in a concrete foundation; and with ordinary attention to the painting, this, the most important part of the edifice, will last for ages to come, with but little repairs of any kind being necessary. Every column on which the house rests is made of iron; the intermediate ones in the exterior row being merely placed there for effect, and to divide the sashes, but have nothing to do with the support or stability of the building. All the girders which form part of the framework and security of the structure, are also composed of wrought and cast-iron. There are some wooden girders, but they are only introduced for effect. Mr. Paxton, in his letter to Lord Campbell, dated July 14th, says: "Of the permanence of wooden sashes and other wood-work, if kept properly painted and attended to, we have sufficient experience to be able to form a good opinion; there are some hot-house lights at Chatsworth which have at least been in constant use for upwards of 100 years, and appears likely to endure for a time to come. My estimate of the duration for the sash and glass-work of the Crystal Palace is fifty years; but, in my statement of expenditure, provision was made for a renewal every twenty-five years; however, with care and attention, my belief is that 100 years would be nearer the reality. The duration of wood-work depends very much upon its position, and the attention paid to it. We must not forget that many of our most enduring public buildings have wooden roofs; for instance, Westminster Hall, Lincoln's Inn Hall, and the dome of St. Paul's, all of which are in excellent preservation."

The whole of the objections which have as yet been brought against the permanency of the Crystal Palace, except that of the understanding upon which it was first permitted to be erected, may be truly said to be of the most insignificant and, in some instances, ridiculous character; and as public opinion is so strongly in favour of the permanency of so great an addition to the intellectual and recreative resources of the metropolis, and the preservation of so elegant a structure, it is sincerely to be hoped that, upon a question not so much of business, but of contributing to the gratification and improvement of all classes of her Majesty's subjects, the peers of the realm will make a graceful concession to public taste and public feeling. Lord Brougham, who originally opposed the erection of the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, now thinks that nothing could be more useful to this great metropolis than to retain the same building as a great horticultural garden for the recreation of the

people. "He implored their lordships to protect the Crystal Palace from destruction, and, from what was tantamount to it-removal. After this Exhibition had succeeded beyond any man's expectation, and after the public had become absolutely enamoured of the building, he must say, that if it (the public) were to turn round and cry out, Let us have it removed, break it up, smash it to pieces,' it would give to the world an exhibition of fickleness which would exceed that even of the Athenians themselves."

6

Mr. Paxton, in his petition to the House of Lords, called for immediate decision upon this question; but as there may be some difficulty arising out of the pledge given by the Royal Commissioners of Woods and Forests that it should be removed within a certain given time, it is better that preliminary inquiry should be instituted and a first grace obtained. Lord Brougham said that he thought that it would not be difficult for one branch of the government to procure from another a release from that pledge. We hope it may be so; but we feel confident, that if only the grace of a preliminary inquiry and delay be granted, that such inquiry will end to the satisfaction of the public in preserving for them one of the greatest ornaments of the metropolis, and obtaining for them an institution which, having in view the improvement of the intellect and the cultivation of taste, combined with innocent recreation, cannot but tend to the welfare of all, and the progress instead of the decay of public morality.

TO EMERSON.

BY CAROLINE de cresPIGNY.

THOU dost thy mission well! As to the star
That shone upon the Babe of Bethlehem

I look to thee; and, gazing from afar,

Scarce dare in thought to touch thy garment's hem.
Whether thy theme be "Self-reliance," "Faith,"
"The laws that do our inmost being move,"
"Heroism," or " Friendship," or " Divine Love,"
"Art," "Intellect," "God," or " Man," or "Life," or "Death,"
Philosopher, and moralist, and sage!

Thou hast made real the visions of my youth;

For while I pore on thine immortal page,

Whose system-Nature; guide-the Word of Truth,

Thy logic rivets, and thy language warms;

And verse itself with less attraction charms.

HESTER SOMERSET.

BY NICHOLAS MICHELL.

BOOK II.

CHAPTER XXII.

THE MEETING IN BARTHOLOMEW-CLOSE-THE WEB IS WEAVING MORE

CLOSELY AROUND HESTER.

MR. PIKE and Flemming met by appointment the next day in the small square north of Christ-Church Hospital, known by the name of Bartholomew-Close. The attorney was all energy, good-humour, and buoyancy of spirits, but the hunchback was reserved, stern, and silent.

"How is it with thee, my dear young friend? you look pale, and your manner is disordered; but take courage-yes, courage is the noblest attribute of man; without it we can achieve nothing great, nothing worthy of our destiny."

"And nothing stupendously wicked," added Flemming.

"That which constitutes wickedness is a matter of opinion-quite a matter of opinion. Some call Alexander, Cæsar, and Napoleon wicked; others hail them as heroes and demi-gods. To pluck the flower of beauty, to bear away the goddess of your worship-this is not wickedness. You do but follow the great examples of the worthies of old: the names of Paris and Theseus are crowned with the deathless bays of poetry for the abductions they made. That which French and other European kings, enjoying every gratification beside, did not scruple to do, surely a subject, whose means of pleasure are so contracted, may well be excused in performing. But we must descend from the classical and the past to the life of the present hour. Ah! my friend, this existence of ours is lamentably short; let us enjoy the dream while it is in our power; let us not dash away the cup of rapture when offered to our lips!"

"A truce to this philosophy!" exclaimed Flemming, impatiently; "you are a man of letters, Mr. Jones, and I am a devotee of music; we cannot, therefore, exactly understand each other."

"Speak not so, my adopted son; I wish our sentiments to be in harmony, and our esteem and love to be mutual. But how say you? will you possess the being of your heart, or will you renounce her? Will you render yourself and her happy, or will you be content to be lonely and miserable? What determination have you formed?"

"The struggle is over-passion has triumphed-hell has prevailed,' said Flemming, groaning inwardly.

Mr. Pike seized his hand, and cordially shook it. The little smiling visage of the lawyer offered, indeed, a striking contrast to the countenance of the other, which was livid, and had a ghastly expression.

"Right, my dear friend, right; your decision is that of a man of sense and of courage. But, out on you, boy! you are always dreaming of the bugbear crime. Had you lived as long, and studied as much as I, these mists which now float around your intellect would have vanished, and in the pure sunshine you would behold the sublime forms of Reason and

Truth."

"To business, Mr. Jones. What now is your advice ?"

"Yes, certainly, to business. I have got up the programme of that