CHAPTER III.
THE GREAT EXHIBITION OF 1851.
"Anon, out of the earth a fabric huge
Rose like an exhalation."—Milton.
Previous Exhibitions of a somewhat similar Character—The Marquis d'Aveze's projected Exhibition—Various French Expositions—Competitive
Exhibitions in England—Prince Albert's Proposal for holding an Industrial Exhibition of All Nations—His Royal Highness becomes
Chairman of the Royal Commission—Banquet at the Mansion House—Lecturers and Agents sent all over the Country, to Explain the
Objects of the Exhibition—Reception of Plans and Designs—Mr. Paxton's Design accepted—Realisation of one of the Earliest Poetical
Dreams in the English Language—General Description of the Building—Opening of the Exhibition by Her Majesty—Number of
Visitors—Removal of the Building—The National Albert Memorial.
That portion of Hyde Park, between Prince's Gate
and the Serpentine, running parallel with the main
road through Knightsbridge and Kensington, is
memorable as having been the site of the great
Industrial Exhibition of 1851, wherein were brought
together, for the first time, under one spacious roof,
for the purposes of competition, the various productions of the inventive genius and industry of
nearly all the nations of the earth.
Before proceeding with a description of the building and an epitome of its principal contents, it may
not be out of place to take a brief glance at some
previous exhibitions of a similar character, which
had been held in France, at various times, within
the preceding hundred years. As far back as the
year 1756—about the same time that our Royal
Academy opened to the public its galleries of
painting, engraving, and sculpture—the productions
of art and skill were collected and displayed in
London, for the purpose of stimulating public
industry and inventiveness; and although these
exhibitions were, to a certain extent, nothing more
than would now be termed "bazaars," they were
found to answer so successfully the ends for which
they were instituted, that the plan was adopted in
France, and there continued, with the happiest
results, even long after it had been abandoned
in England. When the first French Revolution was at its height, the Marquis d'Aveze projected an exhibition of tapestry and porcelain, as a
means of raising funds for relieving the distress
then existing among the workers in those trades.
Before, however, he could complete his arrangements, he was denounced, and on the very day
on which his exhibition was to have been opened,
he was compelled to fly from the vengeance of the
Directory. So firm a hold, however, had the idea
taken on the public mind, that it was not allowed
to die out. A few years afterwards, on his return
to Paris, the marquis resumed his labours, and in
1798 actually succeeded in opening a National
Exposition in the house and gardens of the Maison
d'Orsay. The people flocked in great numbers
to view the show, which altogether proved a complete success. In that same year, too, the French
Government organised its first official Exposition
of national manufacture and the works of industry.
It was held on the Champ de Mars, in a building
constructed for the purpose, called the Temple of
Industry. Three years later a second Exposition
took place, and more than two hundred exhibitors
competed for the prizes offered for excellence. In
the following year a third Exposition was held on
the same spot, the number of exhibitors increasing
to upwards of four hundred. So great was the
success of these several shows, that out of them arose
an institution similar to our Society of Arts, called
the Société d'Encouragement, a society to which the
working classes of France are largely indebted for
the taste which they have acquired for the beautiful
in art, and for the cultivation of science as a handmaid to industry. In 1806 the fourth French Exposition was held in a building erected in front of
the Hôpital des Invalides; this was even more
successful than its predecessors; for while the previous Expositions had each remained open only
about a week, this one was kept open for twenty-four days, and was visited by many thousands of
people. The number of exhibitors rose from
about five hundred to nearly fifteen hundred, and
nearly every department of French industry was
represented. At different periods between the
years 1819 and 1849, seven other Expositions were
held in France, the last of which was restricted to
national products. The Industrial Show of 1855,
however, was, like our own Great Exhibition of
1851, international.
During all this time there had grown up in England exhibitions, consisting chiefly of agricultural
implements and cattle, together with local exhibitions of arts and manufactures. In Birmingham,
Leeds, Manchester, Dublin, and other great centres
of industry, bazaars, after the French pattern, had
been successfully held from time to time. The one
which most nearly approached the idea of the
French Exposition, in the variety and extent of the
national productions displayed, was the Free Trade
Bazaar, held for twelve days, in 1845, in Covent
Garden Theatre—an exhibition which excited considerable public interest, and doubtless did much
to make the London public acquainted with many
arts and manufactures of which they had hitherto
had but a very confused and imperfect knowledge.
Roused from their remissness by the success that
had attended the various French Expositions, the
English people, during the years 1847 and 1848,
re-opened their exhibitions, chiefly at the instigation
and by the aid of the Society of Arts, by whom
the plan had been revived. So great was now the
importance of these industrial displays, that they
became a subject of national consideration; but it
was felt that something more was necessary than
France or England had as yet attempted to give
them their proper development and effect.
At this point, an idea was entertained by the late
Prince Consort of gathering together into one place
the best specimens of contemporary art and skill,
and the natural productions of every soil and
climate, instead of the mere local or national productions of France and England. "It was to be a
whole world of nature and art collected at the call
of the queen of cities—a competition in which
every country might have a place, and every variety
of intellect its claim and chance of distinction.
Nothing great, or beautiful, or useful, be its native
home where it might; not a discovery or invention,
however humble or obscure; not a candidate, however lowly his rank, but would obtain admission,
and be estimated to the full amount of genuine
worth. It was to be to the nineteenth what the
tournament had been to the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries—a challenge at once and welcome to all
comers, and to which every land could send, not its
brightest dame and bravest lance, as of yore, but its
best produce and happiest device for the promotion
of universal happiness and brotherhood." (fn. 1)
The undertaking received Her Majesty's royal
sanction on the 3rd of January, 1850; on the 11th
of the same month the Royal Commissioners held
their first meeting; and on the 14th of February
Prince Albert sat as Chairman of the Commission.
On the 21st of March the Lord Mayor of London
invited the mayors of nearly all the cities, boroughs,
and towns of the United Kingdom to a banquet at
the Mansion House to meet the Prince, and upon
that occasion his Royal Highness lucidly explained
the object of the proposed undertaking.
COURT-YARD OF THE "ROSE AND CROWN," 1820.
The Exhibition, it was announced, was to belong
exclusively to the people themselves of every nation,
instead of being supported and controlled by their
respective governments; and in order that nothing
might be wanting in its character as a great competitive trial, the sum of £20,000 was set apart for
the expense of prizes, which were to be awarded
to the successful competitors. At first, the real
magnitude and the great difficulties of the project
were not fully perceived; and the proposal was
scarcely made public by the Society of Arts, of
which Prince Albert was at the head, before impediments began to rise up in their way, and for
more than a year they were beset with difficulties.
At first, many manufacturers and merchants in
foreign countries were exceedingly averse to the
proposed Exhibition; but, as was the case with
those at home, discussion and better information
led to more enlightened views. Prince Albert, in
his speech at a banquet held at York, said, in the
name of the Royal Commission:—"Although we
perceive in some countries an apprehension that
the advantages to be derived from the Exhibition
will be mainly reaped by England, and a consequent distrust in the effects of our scheme upon
their own interests, we must, at the same time,
freely and gratefully acknowledge, that our invitation has been received by all nations, with whom
communication was possible, in that spirit of
liberality and friendship in which it was tendered,
and that they are making great exertions, and
incurring great expenses, in order to meet our
plans." Upon the same occasion, Lord Carlisle,
one of the most enlightened men of the age,
expressed a hope that "the promoters of this
Exhibition were giving a new impulse to civilisation, and bestowing an additional reward upon
industry, and supplying a fresh guarantee to the
amity of nations. Yes, the nations were stirring
at their call, but not as the trumpet sounds to
battle; they were summoning them to the peaceful
field of a nobler competition; not to build the
superiority or predominance of one country on
the depression and prostration of another, but
where all might strive who could do most to
embellish, improve, and elevate their common
humanity."
EXTERIOR OF THE GREAT EXHIBITION OF 1851.
At a meeting held in Birmingham, Mr. Cobden,
in speaking of the advantages that might be
expected to flow from this Exhibition, said, "We
shall by that means break down the barriers that
have separated the people of different nations, and
witness one universal republic; the year 1851 will
be a memorable one, indeed: it will witness a
triumph of industry instead of a triumph of arms.
We shall not witness the reception of the allied
sovereigns after some fearful conflict, men bowing
their heads in submission; but, instead, thousands
and tens of thousands will cross the Channel, to
whom we will give the right hand of fellowship,
with the fullest conviction that war, rather than
a national aggrandisement, has been the curse and
the evil which has retarded the progress of liberty
and of virtue; and we shall show to them that
the people of England—not a section of them, but
hundreds of thousands—are ready to sign a treaty
of amity with all the nations on the face of the
earth."
Lecturers and competent agents were now sent
throughout the country to explain the objects of
the Exhibition, and the advantages likely to arise
from it; besides which, the subject had been proclaimed in every country far and wide—in fact, a
challenge had been given, such as men had never
heard, to an enterprise in which every nation might
hope to be the victor. It was arranged that the
great competition should be opened in London
on the 1st of May, 1851; but as yet a place for
the accommodation of the specimens and the
spectators had to be erected. The directors of the
Exhibition were for a time perplexed, for they
found, on calculation, that no building on earth
would be sufficiently large to contain a tithe of its
contents. After many expedients had been proposed and rejected, Mr. (afterwards Sir Joseph)
Paxton, the celebrated horticulturist at Chatsworth,
came forward with a simple plan, which effectually
solved all the difficulty.
The number of plans and designs sent in to the
Committee appointed by the Royal Commission
amounted to nearly two hundred and fifty, including several foreigners; but none of these
appeared to be satisfactory. Accordingly, the
Committee set to work and perfected a design for
themselves, from the various suggestions afforded
by the competing architects, adding, as a contribution "entirely their own," a dome of gigantic
proportions. This dome at once became so unpopular with the public, and the contest about
its site grew so fierce, that the whole scheme of
the Exhibition seemed at one time likely to have
collapsed. At "the eleventh hour," however, Mr.
Paxton, as we have stated above, came forward
with a plan, which he considered would meet all
the requirements of the Committee, and avoid all
the objections of the public. "It was not," said
Mr. Paxton himself, at a meeting of the Derby
Institute, "until one morning, when I was present
with my friend, Mr. Ellis, at an early sitting in the
House of Commons, that the idea of sending in a
design occurred to me. A conversation took place
between us, with reference to the construction of
the new House of Commons, in the course of
which I observed, that I was afraid they would
also commit a blunder in the building for the
Industrial Exhibition; I told him that I had a
notion in my head, and that if he would accompany
me to the Board of Trade I would ascertain
whether it was too late to send in a design. I
asked the Executive Committee whether they were
so far committed to the plans as to be precluded
from receiving another; the reply was, 'Certainly
not; the specifications will be out in a fortnight,.
but there is no reason why a clause should not be
introduced, allowing of the reception of another
design.' I said, 'Well, if you will introduce such
a clause, I will go home, and, in nine days hence,
I will bring you my plans all complete.' No
doubt the Executive thought me a conceited
fellow, and that what I had said was nearer akin
to romance than to common sense. Well, this
was on Friday, the 11th of June. From London
I went to the Menai Straits, to see the third tube
of the Britannia Bridge placed, and on my return
to Derby I had to attend to some business at the
Board Room, during which time, however, my
whole mind was devoted to this project; and
whilst the business proceeded, I sketched the
outline of my design on a large sheet of blottingpaper. Well, having sketched this design, I sat
up all night, until I had worked it out to my own
satisfaction; and, by the aid of my friend Mr.
Barlow, on the 15th, I was enabled to complete
the whole of the plans by the Saturday following,
on which day I left Rowsley for London. On
arriving at the Derby station, I met Mr. Robert
Stephenson, a member of the Building Committee,
who was also on his way to the metropolis. Mr.
Stephenson minutely examined the plans, and
became thoroughly engrossed with them, until at
length he exclaimed that the design was just the
thing, and he only wished it had been submitted to the Committee in time. Mr. Stephenson,
however, laid the plans before the Committee, and
at first the idea was rather pooh-poohed; but the
plans gradually grew in favour, and by publishing
the design in the Illustrated London News, and
showing the advantage of such an erection over
one composed of fifteen millions of bricks and
other materials, which would have to be removed
at a great loss, the Committee did, in the end,
reject the abortion of a child of their own, and
unanimously recommended my bantling. I am
bound to say that I have been treated by the
Committee with great fairness. Mr. Brunel, the
author of the great dome, I believe, was at first so
wedded to his own plan that he would hardly look
at mine. But Mr. Brunel was a gentleman and a
man of fairness, and listened with every attention
to all that could be urged in favour of my plans.
As an instance of that gentleman's very creditable
conduct, I will mention that a difficulty presented
itself to the Committee as to what was to be done
with the large trees, and it was gravely suggested
that they should be walled in. I remarked that I
could cover the trees without any difficulty; when
Mr. Brunel asked, 'Do you know their height?'
I acknowledged that I did not. On the following
morning Mr. Brunel called at Devonshire House,
and gave me the measurement of the trees, which
he had taken early in the morning, adding—'Although I mean to try to win with my own
plan, I will give you all the information I can.'
Having given this preliminary explanation of the
origin and execution of my design, I will pass over
the question of merit, leaving that to be discussed
and decided by others when the whole shall have
been completed."
Notwithstanding that Sir Robert Peel and Prince
Albert strongly favoured Mr. Paxton's scheme, it
was at first but coldly received by the Building
Committee, who still clung to their own plan.
Nothing daunted, Mr. Paxton appealed to the
British public; and this he did by the aid of
the woodcuts and pages of the Illustrated London
News. Everybody but the Committee was at
once convinced of the practicability, simplicity,
and beauty of Mr. Paxton's plan, which, in fact,
was but a vast expansion of a conservatory design,
built by him at Chatsworth for the flowering of
the Victoria Lily. The people and the Prince
were heartily with him; and, thus encouraged,
Mr. Paxton resolved to make another effort with
the Building Committee. It happened that the
Committee had invited candidates for raising their
edifice to suggest any improvements in it that
might occur to them. This opened a crevice for
the tender of Mr. Paxton's plan as an "improvement" on that of the Committee. After some
discussion, the result was that the glazed "palace"
was chosen unanimously, not only by the Building
Committee, but by the Royal Commissioners also.
Mr. Paxton's design, as everybody knows, was
that of a huge building in the style of a garden
conservatory, in which iron and glass should be
almost the sole materials, wood being introduced
only in the fittings. This method was at once
adopted, and the result was a building in Hyde
Park, nearly twice the breadth and fully four times
the length of St. Paul's Cathedral. The edifice—which was appropriately called the "Crystal
Palace"—covered nearly twenty acres of ground,
and contained eight miles of tables. It was
erected and finished in the short space of seven
months. "With its iron framework, that rose
towards the sky in dark slender lines, and its
walls of glittering crystal, that seemed to float
in mid-air like a vapour, it appeared, indeed, an
exhalation which a breath of wind might disperse—a fata morgana that would disappear with a sudden
shift of sunshine. But on looking more nearly it
was seen to be a solid edifice, the iron pillars of
which were rooted deep in the earth; while within
the combination of light and lofty arches, with ribs
forming a graceful metallic net-work, gave strength
and security to the edifice." It is a curious fact
that the edifice realised the conceptions of one
of the earliest poetical dreams in the English
language; and one would almost believe that
when Chaucer, four centuries and a half ago,
wrote the following lines in his "House of Fame,"
he was endowed with a prophetic as well as a
poetic faculty:—
"I dreamt I was
Within a temple made of glass,
In which there were more images
Of gold standing in sundry stages,
In more rich tabernacles,
And with jewels, more pinnacles,
And more curious portraitures,
And quaint manner of figures
Of gold-work than I saw ever.
* * * * *
"Then saw I stand on either side
Straight down to the doors wide
From the daïs many a pillar
Of metal that shone out full clear.
* * * * *
"Then gan I look about and see
That there came ent'ring in the hall,
A right great company withal,
And that of sundry regions
Of all kinds of conditions,
That dwell in earth beneath the moon,
Poor and rich.
* * * * *
"Such a great congregation
Of folks as I saw roam about,
Some within and some without,
Was never seen or shall be more!"
The superintendence of the construction of the
building was entrusted to Mr. (afterwards Sir)
Matthew Digby Wyatt, and the construction itself
was undertaken by Messrs. Fox, Henderson, and Co.,
of Birmingham. The ground-plan of the building
was a parallelogram, 1,851 feet long—a fact worthy
of mention, seeing that the number corresponds with
the date of the year in which the Exhibition was
held—by 456 feet wide in the broadest part, with
a transept upwards of 400 feet long and 72 feet
wide intersecting the building at right angles in
the middle. The side walls rose in three stages:
the outer wall rising from the ground twenty-four
feet, the second twenty feet higher, and the third
twenty feet higher still, or sixty-four feet from the
bottom of its supporting pillars, giving within the
building a great central avenue or nave seventytwo feet wide, and on each side of it three avenues
twenty-four feet wide, and two of forty-eight feet;
the transept, having a semi-circular roof, being
108 feet high, to give ample room for three or
four trees in the Park which remained enclosed
under it. The edifice was a trifle longer than
Portland Place. "I walked out one evening,"
says Sir Charles Fox, "and there setting out the
1,848 feet upon the pavement, found it the same
length within a few yards; and then considered
that the Great Exhibition building would be three
times the width of that fine street, and the nave as
high as the houses on either side."
As no brick and mortar were used, and all the
proportions of the building depended upon its iron
pillars and girders, nearly all the materials arrived
on the spot ready to be placed and secured in
their destined positions. Yet vast operations were
necessary even then in its construction, and called
forth the most admirable display of scientific
ingenuity, systematic arrangements, and great
energy. Hardly any scaffolding was used, the
columns, as they were set up, answering their
purpose. Machines for performing all the preparatory operations required to be done on the
spot were introduced in the building, and some of
them invented for the occasion; such, for instance,
as the sash-bar machine, gutter-machine, mortisingmachine, painting-machine, glazing-machine, and
other ingenious contrivances for economising
labour.
Throughout the progress of the building it was
visited by many of the most distinguished persons
in the country; and the contractors finding that
the numbers who flocked to it impeded in some
degree their operations, determined to make a
charge of five shillings for admission, the proceeds
of which were to constitute an accident-relief fund
for the workmen. A very considerable sum was
thus raised, though the number of accidents was
very small, and the nature of the accidents not at
all serious. During the months of December and
January upwards of 2,000 persons were employed
upon the building.
Whatever wonders the Exhibition was to contain,
the building itself, when completed, was looked
upon as the greatest wonder of all. Shortly before
it was opened to the public, the Times observed
that, "Not the least wonderful part of the Exhibition
will be the edifice within which the specimens of
the industry of all nations are to be collected. Its
magnitude, the celerity with which it is to be
constructed, and the materials of which it is to
be composed, all combine to ensure for it a large
share of that attention which the Exhibition is likely
to attract, and to render its progress a matter of
great public interest. A building designed to
cover 753,984 superficial feet, and to have an
exhibiting surface of about twenty-one acres, to be
roofed in, and handed over to the Commissioners
within little more than three months from its
commencement; to be constructed almost entirely
of glass and iron, the most fragile and the strongest
of working materials; to combine the lightness of
a conservatory with the stability of our most permanent structures—such a building will naturally
excite much curiosity as to the mode in which the
works connected with it are conducted, and the
advances which are made towards its completion.
Enchanted palaces that grow up in a night are
confined to fairy-land, and in this material world
of ours the labours of the bricklayer and the
carpenter are notoriously never-ending. It took
300 years to build St. Peter's at Rome, and
thirty-five to complete our own St. Paul's. The
New Palace of Westminster has already been
fifteen years in hand, and still is unfinished. We
run up houses, it is true, quickly enough in this
country; but if there be a touch of magic in the
time occupied, there is none in the appearance of
so much stucco and brick-work as our streets
exhibit. Something very different from this was
promised for the great edifice in Hyde Park. Not
only was it to rise with extraordinary rapidity,
but in every other respect is to be suggestive of
'Arabian Nights' remembrances."
The decoration of the building, both in design
and in execution, was entrusted to Mr. Owen
Jones', about 500 painters being employed upon
the work. The under sides of the girders were
painted red, the round portions of the columns
yellow, and the hollows of the capitals blue, in due
proportions. All the stalls were covered with red
cloth, or pink calico; by which means not only
was the unsightly woodwork concealed, but a
warmth of colouring was given to the whole
ground area of the building, which, combined with
the mass of blue overhead, and the yellow stripes
of the columns, produced a most harmonious effect,
which was further softened by covering the roof
and south side with unbleached calico, to prevent
the glare of light which would necessarily take
place in a building whose roof and sides were
chiefly of glass. Mr. Jones also displayed great
knowledge in his profession by the judicious distribution of various large articles and groups of
articles, with a view to their effect upon the general
internal aspect of the Exhibition.
The first column of the edifice was fixed on the
26th of September, 1850, and by the middle of
January, 1851, notwithstanding various alterations
in some of the details of the plan, little of the
exterior of the vast structure remained to be
finished, and by the 1st of May everything was
complete; the contributions from all nations were
in their places; and the Exhibition was opened by
Her Majesty Queen Victoria in person, attended
by her Royal Consort, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Her Majesty's ministers and great officers of
state, the foreign ambassadors and ministers, the
Royal Commissioners, &c. The opening ceremony
took place with a punctuality which was the source
of much congratulation. A chair of state had
been placed upon a daïs of three steps, on the
north of the centre facing the south transept, and
over it was suspended, by invisible rods, a canopy
of blue and silver. In front, in the centre of the
transept, was a large glass fountain, and on either
side, a little in the rear, were equestrian statues of
Her Majesty and the Prince Consort. The doors
of the "Crystal Palace" were opened on the
morning of that eventful day at nine o'clock for
the admission of the purchasers of season tickets,
of which about 20,000 had been sold. The
visitors were so judiciously sprinkled over the
different parts of the building, by the tickets
assigning to every person the staircase or section
he was to repair to, that there was nothing like
crushing in any part of the building, with one
temporary exception of a rush of persons beyond
the barriers before the platform, which was soon
set right by a party of sappers. The following
particulars of the opening ceremony we here quote
from the Gentleman's Magazine:—"The Queen
left Buckingham Palace in state at twenty minutes
before twelve, accompanied by Prince Albert and
their two eldest children, the Prince and Princess
of Prussia, Prince Frederick William of Prussia,
and their respective suites. They were conveyed
in nine carriages. Some time before Her Majesty
entered, the heralds in their tabards, the officers
of state, Her Majesty's ministers, the foreign
ambassadors, and the officers of the household
troops, in their full costumes, with the Executive
Committee and other functionaries of the Exhibition, the architect and contractors in court
dresses, and the Lord Mayor and Aldermen in
their robes, had assembled round the platform,
and the 'beef-eaters' were ranged behind. At
length a flourish of trumpets announced the Queen's
arrival at the north door of the building, and Her
Majesty and her Royal Consort, leading by the
hand the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal,
appeared before the vast assemblage of her subjects, and 'the crystal bow' rang with enthusiastic
shouts, overpowering the sound of the cannon
discharged on the other side of the Serpentine.
It was a moment of intense excitement. In the
midst of the grandest temple ever raised to the
peaceful arts, surrounded by thousands of her
subjects and men of all nations, was the ruler of
this realm and its vast dependencies, herself the
centre of the great undertaking. Her emotions, as
she gracefully and repeatedly acknowledged her
people's gratulations, were very evident. The
Prince Consort having conducted Her Majesty to
the throne, the National Anthem was sung by
a choir of near a thousand voices, accompanied
by the organ of Messrs. Gray and Davidson."
Prince Albert then quitted the Queen's side, and,
advancing at the head of the Royal Commissioners,
over whose deliberations he had indefatigably presided, delivered in an emphatic tone of voice the
report of the completion of their labours, from
which it appears that the number of exhibitors
whose productions it had been found possible
to accommodate was about 15,000, of whom
nearly one-half were British. The remainder
represented the productions of more than forty
foreign countries, comprising almost the whole of
the civilised nations of the globe. In arranging
the space allotted to each, the report stated that
the Commissioners had taken into consideration
both the nature of its productions and the facilities
of access to this country afforded by its geographical
position. The productions of Great Britain and
her dependencies were arranged in the western
portion of the building, and those of foreign
countries in the eastern. The Exhibition was
divided into four great classes, viz.:—1. Raw
Materials; 2. Machinery; 3. Manufactures; 4.
Sculpture and the Fine Arts. With regard to the
distribution of rewards to deserving exhibitors, the
report went on to state that the Commissioner
had decided that they should be given in the form
of medals, not with reference to merely individual
competition, but as rewards for excellence, in
whatever shape it might present itself. The
selection of the persons to be so rewarded was
entrusted to juries, composed equally of British
subjects and of foreigners, many of whose names
were a guarantee of the impartiality with which the
rewards would be assigned. Her Majesty's reply
to the address was followed by a prayer, offered
up by the Archbishop of Canterbury; and that
finished, the majestic "Hallelujah Chorus" burst
forth, its strains reverberating through the arched
transept and "long-drawn aisles" of the building.
"The state procession was then formed, and
passed down the northern avenue of the west
nave. The spectators were arranged on either
side, and as Her Majesty passed along, the cheers
were taken up in succession by the whole of the
long array, and seconded with waving of hats and
handkerchiefs from the galleries. Her Majesty
and the Prince acknowledged these gratulations
by continual bowing. The various objects of
interest around were for a time almost disregarded,
but the effect of the whole upon the eye, as the
Sovereign and her attendants threaded their way
between the living throng, and the lines of statuary
and other works of art, and the rich assemblage
of the products of industry, was exceedingly
impressive; and the ovation of industry far outshone all the splendours of old Rome, with no
fettered captives in the rear, or wailing widows
and orphans at home to dim its lustre. The Duke
of Wellington and the Marquis of Anglesey (who
joined the procession as Commander-in-Chief and
Master-General of the Ordnance), united arm-inarm in this triumph of peace, were the objects of
much attraction. When the procession reached
the west end, the magnificent organ by Mr. Willis,
with its 4,700 pipes, commenced playing the
National Anthem, which was heard to the remotest end of the building. The procession
returned by the south side to the transept, round
the southern part of which it passed, amidst the
cheers of the people, the peals of two organs, and
the voices of 700 choristers, to the eastern or
foreign division of the nave, where the French
organ took up the strain, and the delicate lady,
whose tempered sway is owned by a hundred
millions of men, pursued her course amongst the
contributions of all the civilised world. As she
passed the gigantic equestrian figure of Godfrey de
Bouillon, by the Belgian sculptor, Simonis, which
seems the very impersonation of physical strength,
we could not but be struck by the contrast, and by
the reflection how far the prowess of the crusader
is transcended by the power of well-defined liberty
and constitutional law. The brilliant train having
at length made the complete circuit of the building,
Her Majesty again ascended the throne, and pronounced the Exhibition opened. The announcement was repeated by the Marquis of Breadalbane
as Lord Steward, followed immediately by a burst
of acclamations, the bray of trumpets, and a royal
salute across the Serpentine. The royal party
then withdrew; the National Anthem was again
repeated; and the visitors dispersed themselves
through the building, to gratify their curiosity
without restraint."
NAVE OF THE GREAT EXHIBITION OF 1851.
THE ALBERT MEMORIAL.
It would be impossible, and indeed superfluous,
within the space at our command, to attempt to
give anything even like a résumé of the multifarious
articles here brought together; suffice it to say,
that the Exhibition comprised most of the best
productions in the different branches of art, manufactures, &c., from all parts of the civilised globe,
and that it became properly enough called the
"World's Fair," for it attracted visitors from all
parts of the world. We have already mentioned
the glass fountain in the transept; that object, from
its central position, was invariably fixed upon as
the rendezvous, or meeting-place, by family groups
or parties of visitors, in case of their losing sight of
one another in the labyrinth of tables and articles
which thronged the building. Another object,
which we cannot well pass over, was the famous
Koh-i-noor, or "Mountain of Light," which had
been specially lent by Her Majesty. This royal
gem—the value of which has been variously stated
at from £1,500,000 to £3,000,000—appeared to
be one of the greatest curiosities of the Exhibition,
judging from the numbers congregated around it
during the day. The Exhibition was open for 144
days, being closed on the 11th of October. The
entire number of visitors was above 6,170,000,
averaging 43,536 per day. The largest number
of visitors in one day was 109,760, on the 8th
of October; and at two o'clock on the previous
day 93,000 persons were present at one time.
The entire money drawn for tickets of admission
amounted to £506,100; and after all expenses
were defrayed, a balance of £213,300 was left
over, to be applied to the promotion of industrial
art.
At the time when the Exhibition was over, so
firm a hold had the fairy-like palace obtained upon
the good opinion of the public, that a general desire
for its preservation sprung up. Application was
made to Government that it should be purchased
and become the property of the nation; but it was
ruled otherwise. The building was, however, not
doomed to disappear altogether, for a few enterprising gentlemen having stepped forward, it was
rescued from destruction. It was decided that the
building should be removed to some convenient
place within an easy distance of London, and accordingly it was transferred to Sydenham, where a
fine estate of three hundred acres had been purchased, on which the edifice was raised again in
increased grandeur and beauty, and where, under
the name of the Crystal Palace, it soon became
one of the most popular places of recreation in or
near the metropolis.
The whole building was removed from Hyde
Park before the close of 1852; and in the following year it was proposed to place upon the site
a memorial of the Exhibition, to include a statue
of Prince Albert—the originator of this display of
the industry of all nations. The spot ultimately
chosen for the memorial, however, is somewhat to
the west of the ground covered by the Exhibition
building; in fact, it is just within the southeastern enclosure of Kensington Gardens, directly
opposite the centre of the Horticultural Gardens,
and looking upon the South Kensington establishments, in the promotion of which the Prince
Consort always took so deep an interest. The
memorial, which took upwards of twenty years
before it was completed, and cost upwards of
£130,000, was erected from the designs of Sir
Gilbert Scott. It consists of a lofty and widespreading pyramid of three quadrangular ranges
of steps, forming, as it were, the base of the
monument, which may be described as a colossal
statue of the Prince, placed beneath a vast and
gorgeous Gothic canopy, about thirty feet square,
supported at the angles by groups of columns of
polished granite, and "surrounded by works of
sculpture, illustrating those arts and sciences which
he fostered, and the great undertakings which he
originated." The memorial partakes somewhat,
in the richness of its colours, decorations, and
mosaics, of the Renaissance Gothic style; and its
whole height from the roadway is 176 feet. The
first flight of granite steps, forming the basement,
is 212 feet wide, with massive abutments of solid
granite. At the four corners of the second flight
of steps are gigantic square masses of carved
granite, occupied with colossal groups of marble
statuary, emblematical of Europe, Asia, Africa, and
America, and executed respectively by Messrs.
Macdowell, Foley, Theed, and Bell. Above the
topmost flight of steps rises the memorial itself,
the podium or pedestal of which is carved with
nearly 200 figures, life-size, and all more or less
in high relief. They are all portrait-statues of
celebrities in the different walks of art, literature,
science, &c. At the four corners of this, again,
as on the base below, are allegorical groups of
statuary—one of Commerce, by Thornycroft; one
of Manufactures, by Weekes; one of Agriculture, by Marshall; and one of Engineering, by
Lawlor. The statue of the Prince—which was
not completed till early in the year 1876—is
richly gilt, and rests upon a pedestal fifteen feet
high; it represents the Prince sitting on a chair
of state, and attired in his regal-looking robes
as a Knight of the Garter. This great work was
entrusted to Mr. Foley. The roof of the canopy
is decorated with mosaics, representing the royal
arms and those of the Prince on a ground of blue
and gold. At the angles of the four arches above
the canopy are marble figures, life-size. The
spandrils of the arches above the trefoil are filled
in with rich and elaborate glass mosaics on a gilt
ground, portraying Poetry, Painting, Sculpture,
and Architecture. One of the main features of
the whole design is the beautiful spire, in which
every portion of the metal surface is covered with
ornament; the surface in many parts is coated
with colours in enamel, with coloured marbles and
imitation gem-work; and up to the very cross itself,
which surmounts the whole, there is the same
amount of extraordinary detail and finish, as if
each part were meant for the most minute and
close inspection.