ROUTLEDGE'S

GUIDE TO THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

THE GREAT EXHIBITION OF 1851:

ITS FACTS AND RESULTS.

As the idea of permanently establishing a source of amusement and instruction acceptable to the masses of the population, and of so valuable and extensive a character as that of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, owed its origin, mainly, to the unprecedented success of the Great Exhibition of 1851, it will not be out of place, if the reader is put in possession of a few facts mainly derived from official sources, in connection with the progress and results of that great enterprise. The first great practical step connected with the Great Exhibition was taken on the 3rd of January 1850, when her Majesty, by a Royal Commission, addressed to "Our most dearly beloved consort, his Royal Highness Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emanuel, Duke of Saxony, Prince of Saxe Coburg and Gotha, Knight of our most noble Order of the Garter, FieldMarshal in our Army; our right trusty and right entirely beloved cousin and councillor Walter Francis, Duke of Buccleugh and Queensbury, Knight of our most noble Order of the Garter; our right trusty and right well beloved cousin William, Earl of Rosse, Knight of our most illustrious Order of Saint Patrick; our righttrusty and right well beloved cousin and councillor Granville George, Earl Granville; and Francis, Earl of Ellesmere; our right trusty and well beloved councillors John Russell (commonly called Lord John Russell), Sir Robert Peel, Bart., Henry Labouchere, and William Ewart Gladstone; our trusty and well-beloved Sir Archibald Galloway, Knight Commander of our most honourable Order of the Bath, and Major-General in our army in the East Indies, Chairman of the Court of Directors of the East India Company; Sir Richard Westmacott, Sir Charles Lyell, Thomas Baring, Esq., Charles Barry, Esq., Thomas Bazley, Esq., Richard Cobden, Esq., William Cubitt, Esq., Charles Lock Eastlake, Esq., Thomas Field Gibson, Esq., John Gott, Esq., Samuel Jones Loyd, Esq., Philip Pusey, Esq., and William Thompson, Esq.," stated her

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earnest desire to promote the success of the proposed Exhibition, which was calculated to be of great benefit to Arts, Agriculture, Manufactures, and Commerce; and reposing great trust and confidence in their fidelity, discretion, and integrity, authorized and appointed these noblemen and gentlemen "to make full and diligent inquiry into the best mode by which the productions of our Colonies and of Foreign Countries may be introduced into our kingdom; as respects the most suitable site for the said Exhibition, the general conduct of the said Exhibition, and also into the best mode of determining the nature of the prizes, and of securing the most impartial distribution of them." An executive committee was also appointed, to which was intrusted the duty of carrying out the details of the regulations to be decided upon by the Commissioners. The earliest resolutions decided upon by the directing body of Commissioners were, that the Exhibition should be entirely independent of all Government assistance; that it should be a national movement, and should depend for its success upon the voluntary contributions and assistance of the people; that no charge should be made for the admission of goods into the building; and that the task of selecting the articles for exhibition should in the first instance be confided to local committees, a power of revision being vested in the Commissioners. The support of foreign countries was warmly given to the undertaking; and but a few weeks had elapsed before contributions of so varied and so valuable a character were promised from all parts of the world, as fully to justify the application to the proposed scheme of the title of An Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations." After some ineffectual opposition, a site upon which to erect the building was granted by the Crown, in Hyde Park-the Commissioners stipulating to render up possession of the land within a certain specified time. A Building Committee was in the next instance appointed, for the purpose of deciding upon the general arrangement of the buildings and premises which would be required. The first act of this Committee was a public intimation of its readiness to receive plans, designs, or suggestions for the proposed building. So great was the amount of interest felt on the subject, that within one month from the first announcement, not less than 233 designs were sent in, many of them of an elaborate architectural character. 128 of these designs were received from London and its vicinity, 27 from France, 2 from Belgium, 3 from Holland, 7 from Hanover, 1 from Naples, 2 from Switzerland, 1 from Hamburgh, and 1 from Prussia. The Committee appeared to have been overwhelmed by the task of selecting from the vast quantity of materials submitted to them, and they were unable to select any one design as combining all the requisites which were considered essential; but, freely availing themselves of the suggestions offered in their plans, the Committee prepared a new design for the proposed building. There is a homely adage with respect to the injurious effects, in culinary operations, of the employment of too many professional hands; and the design

for the proposed building furnished a strong confirmatory proof of the mischief caused by "too many cooks," even in the architectural profession. The concentrated wisdom of the Building Committee resulted in the recommendation of an impossible plan, and one wholly unsuited to the circumstances under which it was to be erected, and the temporary character of the edifice. The centre of the building was to be occupied by an immense rotunda, 200 feet in circumference, with a cupola rising to the height of 160 feet, exceeding by 61 feet the span of St. Peter's at Rome, and by 88 feet that of the dome of St. Paul's in London. This colossal dome was to consist of wrought iron ribs, resting upon an immense "drum" of brickwork, raised 60 feet in height. It need not excite surprise that a design of this character met with considerable objec tion. Some persons supposed that it would be impracticable to complete such an enormous dome as that suggested within the time required-the opening of the Exhibition having been fixed for the 1st of May 1851, and not more than ten months remained to complete the building. Other persons complained that the cost of the erection would be considerably more than would be justified in a temporary building; and that having expended so large a sum on the building, there was a greater probability that it would not be removed within the time appointed. At this moment, the inventive genius of Sir Joseph Paxton came to the rescue, and the Illustrated News gave to the world his plan for the proposed building; a plan admirably adapted for the purposes required, and which consisted simply of an extension of the principles recently adopted by Sir Joseph in the construction of a Victoria Regia house at Chatsworth, the princely seat of the Duke of Devonshire, and which have been closely adhered to in the New Crystal Palace.

Owing to the untiring energy of Messrs. Fox, Henderson, and Company, the extensive use of machinery, and the employment of large bodies of workmen, to whose active industry and generous enthusiasm the greatest praise is due, a building was erected within the short space of seven months, entirely novel in its construction, covering a space of nearly 19 acres, measuring 1,848 feet in length, and 456 feet in extreme width, capable of containing at one time upwards of 93,000 persons, and affording a frontage for the exhibition of goods of more than ten miles in extent. In the construction of this extraordinary edifice, 3,800 tons of cast iron, 700 tons of wrought iron, 600,000 cubic feet of timber, 896,000 square feet of glass, weighing 400 tons, were placed within 400 miles of grooves of sash-bars; and the rain which fell upon these nineteen acres of glass was conveyed away by channels and gutters 24 miles in length. The building stood upon 3,300 iron columns, of 19 and 17 feet in height; the galleries and roof were supported, and the columns made rigid, by 2,522 iron girders, of 24, 48, and 72 feet in length, and of 3 and 6 feet in depth. During the short period of seven months, the whole of this immense quantity of material was collected together from all parts of the country; and 136,665 separate picces

of cast, and 400,417 pieces of wrought iron, were put together and secured in their places with scarcely a single serious accident, and a sum of 58,2387. was paid in wages at Hyde Park, exclusive of the large sums which must have been paid in various parts of the country for iron castings, glass-making, and other things. The sum paid by the Commissioners for the erection and use of the building and fittings was 169,9987., the original tender having been 79,000/

On the 1st of May 1851 the Exhibition was opened in state by her Majesty and Prince Albert. The ceremony of opening was imposing in its appearance, and admirably adapted to the character of the occasion. Eight carriages conveyed the illustrious party from Buckingham Palace to the Exhibition Building in Hyde Park. The costly and splendid ivory chair sent by the Rajah of Travancore as a present to her Majesty, and afterwards exhibited in the India courts, placed upon a raised dais, over which was suspended a rich canopy, served as a chair of state for her Majesty. A band of professional singers of the highest talent from her Majesty's Theatre and the Royal Italian Opera, from the Royal Academy, the choirs of St. Paul's, Westminster Abbey, St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and the Chapel Royal, the Sacred Harmonic Society, and two military bands, amounting in all to not less than 829 persons, joined with wonderful effect in the "National Anthem" on the entrance of the Queen into the building. When her Majesty was seated, and the strains of music had ceased, Prince Albert advanced at the head of the Commissioners, and read to her Majesty a report of the proceedings of the Commission, a copy of which he handed to her together with a catalogue of the articles exhibited. Her Majesty replied to the address in the following words:

"I receive with the greatest satisfaction the address which you have presented to me on the opening of the Exhibition.

"I have observed with a warm and increasing interest the progress of your proceedings in the execution of the duties entrusted to you by the Royal Commission; and it affords me sincere gratification to witness the successful result of your judicious and unremitting exertions in the splendid spectacle by which I am this day surrounded.

"I cordially concur with you in the prayer that, by God's blessing, this undertaking may conduce to the welfare of my people, and to the common interests of the human race, by encouraging the arts of peace and industry, strengthening the bonds of union among the nations of the earth, and promoting riendly and honourable rivalry in the useful exercise of those aculties which have been conferred by a beneficent Providence for the good and the happiness of mankind."

The Archbishop of Canterbury then offered a prayer_for_the success of the undertaking, and the procession was formed. First came the superintendents of the works, Mr. C. H. Wild and Mr.

Owen Jones; then followed the financial officer, Mr. Carpenter, and Mr. I. K. Brunel as one of the members of the Building Committee; then came the members of the Executive Committee, followed by the foreign acting Commissioners; next, the Royal Commissioners and Foreign Ambassadors; and next, the members of the Government, and high officers of state, immediately preceding her Majesty and Prince Albert, the Prince of Prussia and Duchess of Kent, Prince Henry of the Netherlands and the Princess of Prussia, Prince Frederick William of Prussia and the Princess Mary of Cambridge, Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar and the Duke of Cambridge. After these all the officers of the household of the Queen, and lords and ladies in attendance on the royal personages. The procession made the entire circuit of the building, the large organs playing as the cortége approached. Returning to the centre of the transept her Majesty ascended the dais, and, gracefully waving her hand, declared "the Exhibition open." A flourish of trumpets in the building, and the firing of a royal salute from guns in the Park, told to hundreds of thousands that the august ceremony was concluded, and that a new era in industrial progress had been inaugurated.

On the two subsequent days after the opening, the price of admission was 17., and 1,042 persons visited the Exhibition upon these terms. For the next eighteen days the price of admission was 5s., and the number of persons who paid that sum for admission was 183,336. Holders of season tickets were admitted on each of the days, and they were the only class of visitors on the day of the opening. 318,000 holders of season tickets had visited the Building by the 24th of May. On the 26th, the people were to enter their palace. King Mob," it was sneeringly said, was to have his opening day. It is amusing to remember the precautions of the Executive Committee to avert all evil consequences of over-crowding, or other injuries. The police force was doubled, and considerable increase made to the strength of the military; huge placards were printed and deposited in all parts of the metropolis, ready on a given signal to be posted over the walls, or carried through the principal streets, bearing the words THE EXHIBITION IS FULL." To the surprise of all, none but a few orderly persons assembled at the doors prior to the opening of the building, and, during the entire day, only 18,402 persons visited the building, several thousands less than the number of those who on previous days had paid 5s. for admission. The number of shilling visitors afterwards increased to a daily average of 55,493, the aggregate number of admissions on payment of one shilling being 4,439,419. During the twenty Mondays that the rate of admission was one shilling, the number of visitors was 1,195,679, or a daily average of 59,783; on twenty Tuesdays, the number was 1,244,014, daily average, 62,200; twenty Wednesdays, 1,101,225, daily average, 55,061; twenty Thursdays, 1,137,665, daily average, 56,883. Tuesdays, therefore, were the days upon which there

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