DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1312#0156
OF THE WORLD'S INDUSTRY. 103
veneration for the character and person of our beloved Queen and her illustrious
consort and family. Towards the creation of this happy feeling, I believe no incident
has contributed in a more marked degree than the Great Exhibition of 1851. None of
us will ever forget to whose comprehensive and philosophic mind we are indebted for
the original idea of that transcendant Exhibition ; and to whose courage, resolution, and
business aptitude we owe the prosecution of that idea to a successful conclusion, amidst
all manner of doubts and difficulties. Nor shall we hastily forget the affable and con-
descending manner in which our gracious Queen, surrounded by her family, mixed there
day after day, in free and unreserved intercourse with her subjects, setting an example
by which all, from high to low, might profit, of enlightened interest in worthy objects,
and unaffected sympathy with the tastes and enjoyments of her people. With these
recollections fresh in our minds, I must confess it has been an inspiriting idea with us
that in perpetuating an enduring memorial of that great and glorious Exhibition, and
in expanding the noble and philanthropic idea of Prince Albert into fresh developments,
we should be at the same time rearing a monument, perhaps not altogether inap-
propriate or unworthy of the reign under which we have the happy privilege to live.
X feel that you all respond to this sentiment; and that, in calling on you now to join with
me in celebrating the act of laying the foundation-stone of the People's Palace, I cannot
suggest a better mode of expressing our common feeling, than by asking you to unite in
one loud and hearty acclamation of ( God save the People's Queen !'"
Thus, amidst joyous anticipations, was the first column of the new palace raised; after
the completion of which ceremony, the visitors proceeded to share the hospitality of the
contractors, Messrs. Fox, Henderson, and Co., in a sumptuous banquet, which was spread
out for them beneath the ample shelter of a large marquee on the summit of the hill.
After this auspicious day, the progress of the work, both with respect to the erection,
building, and the laying out of the grounds (under the direction of Sir Joseph. Paxton),
proceeded with all possible celerity; and it was indeed imagined that the New Crystal
Palace would have been opened to the public in the month of May, 1853. But the
unfavourable state of the weather considerably retarded the work; and to add to the
misfortunes of storms and wind, a disastrous catastrophe occurred, attended with the
loss of fifteen lives, and the risk of destruction to a great portion of the building, in
consequence of the falling of the scaffolding in the central transept, which occasioned
a further delay of more than three months in the progress of the works.
In the meanwhile, to diversify their labours, amusements were not wanting, neither were
the interests of science neglected. On the last day of the old year (1853), a curious
banquet was given by Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins, in a portion of the grounds which he
was preparing for the reception of a series of extinct animals. In the body of one of
the restored antediluvian monsters the repast was spread, twenty-one guests were assem-
bled around the festive board, at the head of which, within the skull of the huge animal,
presided Professor Owen, who from that locality delivered an appropriate address on
the value of the labours in the wide field of geology and palaeontology of such men as
Cuvier, Hunter, and Conybeare. The beast in which he was then speaking (the Igua-
nodon), had once roamed through the vast forests of Sussex, and had probably perished
there through some great convulsion of nature. Many appropriate toasts, and much
suitable hilarity beguiled the hours until near midnight, when the gratified guests
departed to their several homes.
The Crystal Palace of 1851 was the astonishment and delight of the millions who
visited it, and long will the recollection of its glories remain impressed upon their
minds. But the new Palace of Glass—the Palace of the People—has, to an immeasurable
extent, increased the attractions and advantages that belonged to its predecessor,
VOL. III. 2 D
veneration for the character and person of our beloved Queen and her illustrious
consort and family. Towards the creation of this happy feeling, I believe no incident
has contributed in a more marked degree than the Great Exhibition of 1851. None of
us will ever forget to whose comprehensive and philosophic mind we are indebted for
the original idea of that transcendant Exhibition ; and to whose courage, resolution, and
business aptitude we owe the prosecution of that idea to a successful conclusion, amidst
all manner of doubts and difficulties. Nor shall we hastily forget the affable and con-
descending manner in which our gracious Queen, surrounded by her family, mixed there
day after day, in free and unreserved intercourse with her subjects, setting an example
by which all, from high to low, might profit, of enlightened interest in worthy objects,
and unaffected sympathy with the tastes and enjoyments of her people. With these
recollections fresh in our minds, I must confess it has been an inspiriting idea with us
that in perpetuating an enduring memorial of that great and glorious Exhibition, and
in expanding the noble and philanthropic idea of Prince Albert into fresh developments,
we should be at the same time rearing a monument, perhaps not altogether inap-
propriate or unworthy of the reign under which we have the happy privilege to live.
X feel that you all respond to this sentiment; and that, in calling on you now to join with
me in celebrating the act of laying the foundation-stone of the People's Palace, I cannot
suggest a better mode of expressing our common feeling, than by asking you to unite in
one loud and hearty acclamation of ( God save the People's Queen !'"
Thus, amidst joyous anticipations, was the first column of the new palace raised; after
the completion of which ceremony, the visitors proceeded to share the hospitality of the
contractors, Messrs. Fox, Henderson, and Co., in a sumptuous banquet, which was spread
out for them beneath the ample shelter of a large marquee on the summit of the hill.
After this auspicious day, the progress of the work, both with respect to the erection,
building, and the laying out of the grounds (under the direction of Sir Joseph. Paxton),
proceeded with all possible celerity; and it was indeed imagined that the New Crystal
Palace would have been opened to the public in the month of May, 1853. But the
unfavourable state of the weather considerably retarded the work; and to add to the
misfortunes of storms and wind, a disastrous catastrophe occurred, attended with the
loss of fifteen lives, and the risk of destruction to a great portion of the building, in
consequence of the falling of the scaffolding in the central transept, which occasioned
a further delay of more than three months in the progress of the works.
In the meanwhile, to diversify their labours, amusements were not wanting, neither were
the interests of science neglected. On the last day of the old year (1853), a curious
banquet was given by Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins, in a portion of the grounds which he
was preparing for the reception of a series of extinct animals. In the body of one of
the restored antediluvian monsters the repast was spread, twenty-one guests were assem-
bled around the festive board, at the head of which, within the skull of the huge animal,
presided Professor Owen, who from that locality delivered an appropriate address on
the value of the labours in the wide field of geology and palaeontology of such men as
Cuvier, Hunter, and Conybeare. The beast in which he was then speaking (the Igua-
nodon), had once roamed through the vast forests of Sussex, and had probably perished
there through some great convulsion of nature. Many appropriate toasts, and much
suitable hilarity beguiled the hours until near midnight, when the gratified guests
departed to their several homes.
The Crystal Palace of 1851 was the astonishment and delight of the millions who
visited it, and long will the recollection of its glories remain impressed upon their
minds. But the new Palace of Glass—the Palace of the People—has, to an immeasurable
extent, increased the attractions and advantages that belonged to its predecessor,
VOL. III. 2 D