REOPENING OF THE CHINESE COLLECTION.
This magnificent assemblage of Chinese curiosities, having been closed for a short time, during which it has undergone a thorough cleansing and furbishing, was exhibited privately today, and is to be re- opened on Monday, with the price of admission reduced from half-a- crown to a shilling. Such a concession on the part of the proprietor to the custom of this country in regard to exhibitions of a popular kind, will be duly appreciated by the public ; and we have great pleasure in making the announcement—not because we ourselves at first suggested its expediency, but on account of the number of persons whom this reduc- tion will induce to visit one of the most beautiful and interesting sights in the Metropolis. A few hours spent in examining the thousands of oljects of art and nature arranged in this superb museum will convey more lively ideas of the civilization of the Chinese empire than can be gained by any other means, short of a voyage to China. A walk through the gallery, with its glass rooms filled with groups of figures the size of life, clad in every variety of costume, and seemingly engaged in the various pursuits of life, is like having a peep into one of the streets of Canton. We see the shopkeeper serving his customers, the mandarin receiving his guests at home, lord going in his sedan to pay a visit—a company of actors performing on the stage, a party of ladies enjoying music and tea, and a knot of literati discussing the merits of an author— the barber and the blacksmith, the cobler and the juggler, each pursuing his avocations—beggars and boatwomen, priests and soldiers, swelling the throng. Nor are these figures mere dolls; but lively effigies of particular individuals, characteristic of the class to which they belong, and expressive of the occupathais in which they are engaged. The gorgeous lanterns that hang from the roof are lighted with gas in the evening ; and the scene by night is extremely brilliant.
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