Majesty, the latter took her seat, and Mr. Samuel
Laing, M. P., chairman of the company, advanced to
the foot of the throne, and in an address of considerable
length, in which, after referring to the exhibition of
1851, and the effects it had produced, he proceeded to
explain the views which had led to the present
undertaking, and the objects it was intended to accomplish,
"Such, may it please your Majesty," he said in
conclusion, "is a brief outline of the objects which the
promoters of this undertaking have proposed to realise.
It will be apparent that the comprehensiveness of the
plan precludes the idea of absolute completeness. The
colossal scale of the proposed system of waterworks
makes another year requisite to ensure their proper
display. The industrial department, being of a permanent
character, cannot, as in the case of a temporary
exhibition, be finished by a given day. The plants and
flowers, which will form such a main feature of
attraction, require time for their growth. The educational
scheme is purposely traced so as to leave room for future
development. Under these circumstances, the directors
have considered it their duty to throw the palace and
park open to the public, as soon as they are sufficiently
completed to enable a fair judgment to be formed how
far the undertaking deserves success, and how far it has
achieved it. Your Majesty has heard the statement of
the motives in which this enterprise originated, and of
the principles on which it has been conducted; it rests
with your Majesty now to judge whether the performance
equals the promise, and whether the palace and
park, with their varied contents which surround us, are
worthy to be considered—what the directors, whose organ
I am, would think their highest praise—a legitimate
offspring of the Great Exhibition of 1851, and an appropriate
development of one of the noblest ideas of modern
civilisation." At the conclusion of the address, her Majesty
graciously replied: "I receive with much pleasure the
loyal and dutiful address which you have presented to me
upon the present occasion. It is a source of the highest
gratification to myself and to the Prince, my Consort, to
find that the Great Exhibition of 1851, which was so
happily inaugurated under our auspices, suggested the
idea of this magnificent undertaking, which has produced
so noble a monument of the genius, science, and
enterprise of my subjects. It is my earnest wish and
hope that the bright anticipations which have been
formed as to its future destiny, may, under the blessing
of Divine Providence, be completely realised; and that
this wonderful structure, and the treasures of art and
knowledge which it contains, may long continue to
elevate and instruct, as well as to delight and amuse, the
minds of all classes of my people." Mr. Laing then
introduced Mr. Fuller, the managing director, who
presented to the Queen a series of medals struck to
commemorate the opening of the Crystal Palace; Sir
Joseph Paxton, who presented a copy of the general
handbook; Mr. Owen Jones, who presented his handbooks,
describing the Egyptian, the Greek, the Roman,
and the Alhambra Courts, and the Courts of Modern
Sculpture, executed under his superintendence; Mr.
Digby Wyatt, who presented his series of handbooks of
the works executed by him; Mr. Samuel Phillips, who
presented the remainder of the series of general
handbooks; Mr. Ferguson, who presented the handbook of
Assyrian Antiquities written by Mr. Layard; Professor
Owen, Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins, Dr. Latham, and
Professor Forbes, who presented handbooks belonging
to their various branches of science. These gentlemen
were all received with dignified courtesy, but to Sir
Joseph Paxton the royal reception was so warm,
kind, and particular, as to be noticed by all within
view of the dais, and to elicit a general cheer from the
company.—The Queen then descended from the throne,
leaning on the arm of Prince Albert; and a procession
was formed, consisting of her Majesty and the royal
visitors with their suites, the Archbishop of Canterbury,
the cabinet ministers, the foreign diplomatists, with
the heads of the different departments connected with
the Crystal Palace; who walked slowly through the
principal parts of the building. The Queen retained
Sir Joseph Paxton almost constantly by her side, asking
him repeated questions as each object attracted
her notice, and evidently taking a deep interest in
everything she witnessed. The circuit being completed, her
Majesty again took her seat on the dais; the ministers,
ambassadors, &c, fell into their places, and the
orchestra commenced the Old Hundredth psalm. The
effect of this sublime music so performed, it would be
impossible to describe. At the conclusion of the psalm
the Archbishop of Canterbury offered up an eloquent
prayer, beseeching the Almighty to bless the work
which his creatures had accomplished, and
concluding with the Lord's Prayer. The orchestra
then performed the Hallelujah Chorus with
immense effect, and, when it had ceased, Her
Majesty, through her lord chamberlain, the Marquis
of Breadalbane, declared the Crystal Palace open.
Once more the notes of the national anthem swelled
through the building, and then the Queen retired,
followed by the cheers of thousands of her subjects.
The barriers which had kept the nave and transept
clear having been thrown open, the public were allowed
to circulate freely throughout the palace and park, and
of this privilege a large proportion of those present
availed themselves, for it was late, and evening was
closing in before all had departed.

The following will give some idea of the magnitude and
construction of this unparalleled edifice:—The Crystal
Palace stands nearly north and south, in a conspicuous
situation. Its length is 1068 feet, its greatest breadth
at the central transept 384, and at the smaller transepts
336 feet. The general width of the body of the
building between the transepts, including the glazed
and open corridors, is 312 feet. The ground upon
which the building stands, slopes very much towards
the park, and rows of brick piers are run up to support
the front rows of columns. The nave consists of a
grand avenue, nearly double the width of the nave of
St. Paul's Cathedral, and more than three times its
length; it is 72 feet wide, and 1608 feet long, and crosses
the transepts at right angles. At the height of 68 feet
from the floor there springs a semicylindrical vault 72
feet in diameter, which stretches away from one end of
the nave to the other. The central transept has a
vaulted roof of 120 feet span, extending for a length of
384 feet. The span of this arch is about twenty feet
larger than that of St. Peter's at Rome, and nearly
forty feet greater than that of St. Paul's, in London.
The space covered by this colossal vault is considerably
larger than the whole Minster at York. The walls of
St. Paul's Cathedral are fourteen feet thick—those of
the Crystal Palace eight inches; St. Paul's was thirty-
five years in building—the People's Palace has been
constructed in little more than twice as many weeks.
At a distance of 528 feet on each side of the central transept,
the nave is intersected by the two smaller transepts,
each of which is, however, of the same dimensions as that
which formed the great feature of the late Exhibition
building. They are 72 feet in diameter, and spring from
the same height as the vaulted roof of the nave—that is,
68 feet. At the point of intersection of the nave with the
end transepts, the roof is flat, and forms a parallelogram
of 72 feet square. On each side of the nave is an aisle
of 24 feet in width, formed by the columns which support
a portion of the building. Beyond these first aisles, and
parallel with them at a distance of 48 feet, are second
aisles, 43 feet in height; and, again beyond these, and at
the same distance, are third aisles, of the same width
and height. At alternate distances of 72 feet and 24 feet,
columns project 8 feet into the nave, which, continued
up nearly to the roof, support an upper gallery, which
runs completely round the building, and sustain also the
arched girders which carry the semicircular roof of the
nave. A gallery, 24 feet in width, runs entirely round
the building on the sides nearest the exterior, and round
the four courts, 48 by 120 feet, which abut on the central
transept. This lower gallery is reached by eight double
staircases, four being placed at each portion of the
building, divided by the central transept. From the first, or
lower gallery, access is obtained to the upper 8-feet
gallery, by 8 spiral staircases, one being placed at each end
of the three transepts, and one at each end of the building.
The second tier of columns supports in the transepts
only a platform, or landing-place, 24 feet in width,
and 72 feet in length, with the exception of the larger
one in the centre, the length of which is 120 feet, and,