May 22 . 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
12 7 
and some old notions have been revived and discarded 
again, so that we really hardly know in what wav to 
recognise anything like a fixed opinion on any one 
point; but 1 may here bo allowed to attach another 
much-cherished opinion of “the advantages of an 
eastern aspect.” “ The morning sun ” has something 
poetic in it which it is almost sedition to disparage. 
Yet, somehow, this morning sun has its disadvantages, 
as well as its advantages The Kentish fruit-growers 
are not generally in love with it, as they prefer a 
western aspect to an eastern one for early-blossoming 
fruits—as Plums and Gooseberries, and as they plant 
extensively, their opinion is not to be despised, especially 
as their object is a very rational one; and it is this— 
spring frosts are very detrimental to such fruits; and a 
situation that will partly allow the gradual thawiug of 
the frozen blossoms, is not likely to be so fatal to their 
existence as when that process is done hastily, as it 
would be if the sun shone direct upon them early in 
the morning; and we all know the sun usually rises early 
on a frosty morning; and that the evils which it brings 
with it are more increased on an eastern aspect than 
on the western one. But some assert that the morning’s 
sun contains within itself something more congenial to 
vegetation than it docs at other parts of the day. This, 
possibly, may be; certainly it removes the dew sooner, 
and may warm the earth a little more, but that it is 
more powerful in the afternoon must be admitted by all, 
when we consider that about two o’clock in the after¬ 
noon is usually the hottest part of the day, and the 
shrewd husbandman in the far north sets up his shocks 
of corn, in harvest time, in lines pointing to the one 
o’clock’s sun, rightly judging that there was as much 
to be gained alter that time as before. But there 
may be an advantage in having some hothouses and 
other structures facing the south east rather than the 
south-west, as they may thereby receive the reviving 
influences of the sun earlier in the day, and their 
artificial condition enables that to be kept up by mecha¬ 
nical means; but in a general way, an-eastern aspect is 
not so very desirable in spring; though I have no doubt 
it has its advantages afterwards; its defects being, 
as 1 say, the facility it gives to a bright sun injuring 
so many things after a frosty night. This is often 
manifest by the blackened appearances some trees will 
have afterwards on that side, and hedges are often so; 
aud I have seen the young, tender shoots of box 
edgiug look as if they had been scalded all along their 
eastern side, while the opposite side was unhurt. 
I find I have occupied all my allotted space in ex¬ 
plaining my reasons for not agreeing with the public at 
large on the supposed advantages of south and eastern 
aspects, but let it be fully borne in mind, that I do not 
undervalue them, though I do not give them so much 
credit as they receive from others, and those having 
scites of the opposite direction may rest consoled that 
their positions are not .altogether without their merits, 
for in the spring the eastern one is especially liable to 
objection, while the supposed earliness of the southern 
one is often more of opinion than of reality, the dif¬ 
ference between that and the opposite side being (as 
stated above) much less than is often believed. Nature 
here, as in many other instances, lends her kind hand 
to balance apparent differences with good effect. 
J. Robson. 
OPENING OF THE PARIS EXHIBITION. 
The inauguration of the Great Paris Exhibition took 
place on Tuesday, the loth instant. The spectacle was sadly 
marred by the unpropitious state of the weather, as well as 
by the incompleteness of the arrangements. A wet and 
drizzly morning—cold enough in May to have been mistaken 
for February—was of itself a sufficient damper to en¬ 
thusiasm ; and the process of nearly an hour’s waiting en 
queue before admission completed the disenchantment of 
those who hastened with hopes of pleasure to the scene. 
Ten o’clock was the time officially announced for the doors 
being opened ; and as only two hours were allowed for filling 
the building, most persons thought it necessary to be punctual 
in presenting themselves. The Moniteur was particular in 
requesting gentlemen to attire themselves in tail-coats. 
Alas ! great-coats were a much more suitable appendage; 
and these, with a melancholy file of umbrellas, might be 
seen for along hour shivering before the doors of the Palace. 
The workmen employed in getting the building into decent 
condition for the occasion did not, it appears, finally cease 
their labours until half-past nine. The last process of 
sweeping only commenced at that hour, and it was therefore 
on the strike of eleven before admittance could be given to 
the crowd who waited outside. 
The change to shelter and comparative warmth inside was 
very agreeable; and, considering the scene which the 
interior presented only a few days back, the arrangements 
were as complete as could be reasonably expected. The 
nave alone had been prepared for the occasion; the re¬ 
mainder of the ground floor, with all save the fronts of the 
galleries, presented merely a confused assemblage of packing- 
cases and half-arranged stalls. Though short, the nave 
looked of handsome dimensions, chiefly owing to the wide 
span of its vault. It was gaily decorated with a triple row 
of colours—one along the front of the galleries in'the form 
of trophies, with the arms of the different countries, 
marking the space they each occupied; another above, 
where hung the grand national flags; and a third of long 
pennons suspended from the dome itself, and inscribed with j 
the names of all the cities which exhibited. These lines of 
bright colour, running, as it were, into the brilliant painted 
glass which lills either end of the nave, produced an effect 
at once rich and cheerful. The floor of the nave presented 
a sort of pays commitn, in which every country was represented 
by some characteristic production or trophy. Amongst the 
most striking objects which it contained were the stupendous 
sheet of plate glass from St. Gobain, upwards of six yards 
in height, and of a superficies of twenty yards ; eandelabras 
of gigantic dimensions, bronze imitations of tropical plants 
and foliage, lighthouses, naval trophies, a knight and his 
steed in full panoply, with a vast variety of rich and curious 
productions. The effect, looking down from the galleries, 
was graceful and elegant rather than imposing; the com¬ 
paratively diminutive size recalling too much, perhaps, the 
arrangement and dimensions of a bazaar. A throne 
was erected opposite the grand entrance; but, instead 
of being in the centre of the nave, it was placed with 
its back against one of the side galleries, and was thus 
half concealed from the view of a large portion of 
the assembly. The assemblage of people was by no 
means what it might have been, or what might have 
been expected. From the great width of the galleries, , 
only a few rows of persons in front could he accommodated 
with seats from whence a view into the nave was gained. 1 
The nave itself was almost empty at either end, and full only j 
near where the ceremony of the opening was to take place. 
On a platform covered with rich carpets, and between the 
spaces set apart for the products of the United States and I 
Belgium, and in the middle of the transept, were placed two f 
fauteuils covered with crimson velvet, adorned with gold j 
fringe and embroidery, and surmounted with the Imperial 
Crown; and in the interior of the rich canopy glittered the 
Imperial arms with the sceptre and hand of justice. To the 
right and left, clusters of flags with the eagle on the top 
completed the ornaments of the Throne. On the left were 
folding chairs ( pliants) for the accommodation of the princes 
and princesses of the Imperial family. In the front of the 
Throne, and within the space marked off by balustrades, 
were rows of benches; those on the right destined for the 
members of the diplomatic corps, and on the left for the 
grand officers of the Crown and the Imperial household. 
Further down on the right were the seats for the Senate, 
the Legislative Corps, the Council of State, the clergy, the 
army, and the judges; and on the left for the other con¬ 
stituted bodies of the State. The galleries of the transept 
had been formed into tribunes; the space immediately above 
