parts of the building.

The Horticultural Gardens, which the Imperial Institute superseded, were
taken by the Society in 1861, in addition to its then existing gardens
at Chiswick. They were laid out in a very artificial and formal style,
and were mocked in a contemporary article in the _Quarterly Review_: "So
the brave old trees which skirted the paddock of Gore House were felled,
little ramps were raised, and little slopes sliced off with a fiddling
nicety of touch which would have delighted the imperial grandeur of the
summer palace, and the tiny declivities thus manufactured were tortured
into curvilinear patterns, where sea-sand, chopped coal, and powdered
bricks atoned for the absence of flower or shrub." Every vestige of this
has, of course, now vanished, and a new road has been driven past the
front of the Institute.

The Albert Hall was opened by Queen Victoria in 1871, and, like the
other buildings already mentioned, is closely associated with the
earlier half of her reign. The idea was due to Prince Albert, who wished
to have a large hall for musical and oratorical performances. It is in
the form of a gigantic ellipse covered by a dome, and the external walls
are decorated by a frieze. The effect is hardly commendable, and the
whole has been compared to a huge bandbox. However, it answers the
purpose for which it was designed, having good acoustic properties, and
its concerts, especially the cheap ones on Sunday afternoons, are always
well attended. The organ is worked by steam, and is one of the largest
in the world, having close on 9,000 pipes. The hall stands on the site
of Gore House, in its time a rendezvous for all the men and women of
intellect and brilliancy in England. It was occupied by Wilberforce from
1808 to 1821. He came to it after his illness at Clapham, which had made
him feel the necessity of moving nearer to London, that he might
discharge his Parliamentary duties more easily. His Bill for the
Abolition of Slavery had become law shortly before, and he was at the
time a popular idol. His house was thronged with visitors, among whom
were his associates, Clarkson, Zachary Macaulay, and Romilly. What
charmed him most in his new residence was the garden "full of lilacs,
laburnum, nightingales, and swallows." He writes:

"We are just one mile from the turnpike at Hyde Park Corner, having
about 3 acres of pleasure-ground around our house, or rather behind
it, and several old trees,