common consent business was to be suspended. As the day approached,
it became obvious, from the enormous demand for the tickets, that the
attendance would far exceed the expectations of the most sanguine.
Another 25,000 tickets were ordered from the printer, by telegraph.
The refreshment contractors were advised of the vastly increased
number of hungry customers they might expect. Bakers were set to work
to provide hundreds of additional loaves. Orders were given for an
extra ton or two of sandwiches. Scores more barrels of ale and porter
came slowly into the park, where, within fenced enclosures, they
were piled, two or three high, in double lines. Crates upon crates of
tumblers, earthenware mugs, and plates arrived. Soda water, lemonade,
and ginger beer were provided in countless grosses, and in fact
everything for the comfort and convenience of visitors that the most
careful forethought could suggest, was provided in the most lavish
profusion.

At length the day arrived. The weather was delightfully fine. The
village of Aston was gaily decorated; the Royal Standard floated from
the steeple, and the bells chimed out in joyous melody. The quaint
Elizabethan gateway to the park was gay with unaccustomed bunting.
The sober old Hall had a sudden eruption of colour, such as it had
probably never known before. Flags of all colours, and with strange
devices, met the eye at every turn. Waggon after waggon, laden with
comestibles, filed slowly into the park. The rushing to and fro of
waiters and other attendants showed that they expected a busy day
of it. As noon approached, train after train deposited at the Aston
station hundreds and thousands of gaily-attired Black Country people.
Special trains ran from New Street as fast as they could be got
in order; all the approaches to the park were crammed with serried
lines--three or four abreast--of omnibuses, waggons, cabs, carts, and
every other imaginable vehicle; whilst thousands upon thousands of
dusty pedestrians jostled each other in the crowded roads. Fast as
the ticket and money collectors could pass them through the gates,
continuous streams poured on for hours, until at length the number
of persons within the grounds exceeded the enormous total of fifty
thousands!

The old Hall was thrown open, and hundreds of people strolled through
its quaint rooms and noble galleries. The formal gardens were
noisy with unaccustomed merriment. From the terrace one looked
upon prep