being defrayed from the funds of the
Exhibition, thus leaving all the responsibility of the attempt,
pecuniary or other, with the commissioners themselves.

The subsequent history of the "rise and progress" of the undertaking;
the promptitude with which the requisite funds were subscribed by
private generosity; the selection of Hyde Park as the site of the
projected Industrial Palace; the various plans proposed for the
building, and the final adoption of the design of Mr. Paxton, after the
model of a conservatory by him erected for the Duke of Devonshire; the
admirable manner in which this design has been carried out by the
architects, Messrs. Fox & Henderson; the cordial response with which
England's friendly challenge has been answered by all the peoples of the
globe, from her next-door neighbors across the channel, to the far-off
denizens of Orient, and remote islands of sunny southern seas; the
imposing ceremonial which, on the appointed day, threw open the vast
Museum to the gaze of an impatient public; the crowds of titled dames
and potent seigneurs, of the "wealth, beauty and fashion" of the
aristocratic world, that fill, day after day, the immense area,
wandering from one magnificent display to another, and marvelling at the
richness, perfection, and variety of the countless objects that meet
their eyes at every turn; the probability of a somewhat formidable
thronging of less elegant, but equally interested visitors, when the
"shilling days" begin; the fabulous wealth flowing, week after week,
into the treasury of the royal commissioners at the various entrances of
the buildings; and the growing desire on the part of the public, that
the funds, thus arising from the Exhibition itself, should be
appropriated to the formation of a "Permanent Museum of the Art and
Industry of all Nations;" all this is too well known to call for further
comment.

The first impression created by the interior aspect of the Crystal
Palace, is one of admiration. Magnificent indeed is the lofty dome of
the transept, arching over glorious old trees, oriental shrubbery,
statuary, fountains, and masses of gorgeous flowers; the brilliant
perspective of the central aisle, with its double lines of galleries,
stretching away on either hand, and traversed by countless avenues,
every point of the vast expanse presenting its own special subject of
interest, and challenging the beholder's gaze. But so extensive and
various is this great collectio