to the building we were anxious to secure three principal points: -1. The convenience and confidence of proprietors. 2. The safety of the works themselves. 3. Their arrival in sufficient time to enable the different committees to complete their arrangements before the 1st of May. In certain districts, where the number of proprietors seemed to render this course expedient, agents were appointed to collect, pack, and transmit the paintings placed at our disposal; but it was invariably left to the proprietor's option to make the necessary arrangements for the transmission of his contributions, in accordance with certain printed instructions with which we furnished him. The expenses were in all cases defrayed by us. With regard to the other classes, as their contents (with the exception of some pieces of sculpture) were not so widely scattered, it was not necessary to employ any special agencies. In closing this part of our report, we cannot refrain from expressing our belief that this, the first International Exhibition of art undertaken in England, will be productive of very beneficial results. That the galleries were one of the chief attractions of the Exhibition none can doubt who mixed in the crowds that thronged them, often to inconvenience. And this, it may be remarked, was not the case only on days when the charges for admission were highest, and when the more educated classes may chiefly be supposed to have been present. Nor, can we doubt, that by a large number of those who visited the galleries, they will be remembered, not merely as a great sight or an agreeable lounge, but as the place where they increased their knowledge, improved their taste, and stored up recollections of much that is beautiful and attractive in the domain of art. The fame of great masters, both dead and living, was confirmed and strengthened; the merits of others, hitherto comparatively overlooked, were recognized; and the anticipation is a reasonable one, that to the place their works so worthily occupied in the Exhibition, and the admiring notice they received, some of our younger and less known artists, may hereafter ascribe much of their distinction and success. While Englishmen surveyed the works of their own countrymen with feelings of justifiable pride and satisfaction, they fully appreciated the varied excellences of the foreign schools, and readily acknowledged the honourable rivalry maintained by artists, who, while differing from us in habits, and language, are animated by a love of art as great as our own, and ennobled by equal success in its exercise. To our foreign visitors, and particularly to those among them who were able to form a competent judgment, the display of British art must have revealed a power and variety they had not hitherto had the opportunity of realizing; and if we have learnt better to appreciate the productions of continental schools, and to satisfy ourselves by careful comparison that there is room both for us to take a lesson and for them to profit by our example, it cannot be doubted that foreign artists have derived similar conclusions from their examination of the British gallery. DIVISION OF SPACE. The total area of the Exhibition building was 1,291,827 square feet; of this space 147,700 square feet were taken up by refreshment rooms, offices, entrances, and staircases, leaving 1,144,127 feet available for exhibiting * The total area roofed in was 988,000 square feet. The building in 1851 covered 799,000 square feet; the Paris building 953,000 square feet, of which 600,000 were in the annexes. purposes. This space was obtained in the different buildings of the Exhibition in the following proportions, namely:-MAIN BUILDING.-Ground Floor.-Nave and transept, 178,450 square feet; glass courts, 178,887; under galleries, 203,160; south horticultural arcade, 32,700; under south picture galleries, 49,300; offices, lobbies, &c., 27,600; Cromwell Road entrance and staircase, 17,300. Gallery Floor.-Galleries, 208,360; refreshment rooms, 27,800. Picture Galleries.-South picture gallery and staircase, 63,920; east and west picture galleries, 27,000. Annexes.-Western or machinery annexe, 182,500; eastern annexe (covered space), 94,850. Total, 1,291,827. In dividing this space, the rule now generally recognized of giving to the country holding the Exhibition one-half of the net space, was adhered to, so far as the main building and picture galleries were concerned, the western half being given to foreign manufactures and fine arts, and the eastern half to the productions of Great Britain and her dependencies. At the time when the original allotments of space were made to foreign nations, the erection of the eastern annexe had not been contemplated, but at a later date the pressure for more space, both from abroad and from our home manufacturers, became so great, that it was determined to increase the exhibiting space by the construction of a supplementary building, afterwards known as the Eastern Annexe. The open court in the centre of this building, covering an area of 35,000 square feet, was also made available for exhibiting purposes, and was allotted to both foreign and British exhibitors for the display of such articles as would not be injured by exposure to the atmosphere. Having decided on the total amount of space to be given for the display of foreign productions, the next step was to divide it among the various countries that had expressed their intention of exhibiting, in such proportion as would fairly represent the magnitude of the countries and the commercial importance of their various industries, due consideration being given to their geographical positions, and the difficulties of transport to this country. A notification of the space thus allotted, both in the fine art and industrial sections of the Exhibition, together with a plan of its form and position in the building, was forwarded to each of the foreign commissions, the subdivision of such space among intending exhibitors being left entirely to themselves. The rule laid down in 1851, that no foreign goods should be admitted for exhibition without the sanction of the commission of the nation to which the exhibitor belonged, was adopted on this occasion. The division of space among our dependencies was conducted on the same principle as that to foreign countries, due regard being paid to the importance and variety of the natural productions, which, with few exceptions, form the leading features in the contributions from our colonies. The allotments to foreign nations and the colonies having been completed, we next proceeded to divide the remaining space among the British exhibitors. The number of demands sent in amounted to upwards of 8000, and the accommodation applied for to 963,750 square feet of horizontal (floor or counter) space. The space thus asked being many times greater than that at our disposal, it became necessary to determine in what manner we could reduce the space demanded within the available limits. We therefore ascertained the amount of space that had been applied for by the exhibitors in each class; and with this information to guide us (which was useful as showing the directions in which the industry of the country was developing itself) after striking out or greatly reducing some extravagant, and, in several instances, preposterous demands, we determined the amount of space that could be assigned to each class, according to its importance, and the nature of the objects to be exhibited in it; this space, divided by the number of exhibitors in the class, gave the average allotment to each applicant in that class. We then placed at the disposal of each of the various national, local, and trade committees, an amount of space corresponding to the number of the exhibitors which they respectively represented; and we requested each committee to investigate the demands of its own exhibitors with a view to such a treatment of them as would do credit to the present state of national or local industry, and bring them within the limits of the space assigned to the committee. The committees were requested to report to us by the 1st December, 1861, their recommendations as to the amount of space (if any) to be assigned to each of the applicants, but to abstain from making those recommendations public till they had been considered and confirmed. It was our wish not to interfere with the action of the committees, in this or any other part of their duties, but, on examining the returns of proposed allotments, we found that very different views had been taken by different committees, some of which wished to assign space to every exhibitor who had applied for it, without regard to the nature of his claims (thereby reducing the amount of space that could be given to the exhibitors of real merit), while others had exercised a wise discretion in the selection of exhibitors, or of objects likely to do credit to our national industry. It, therefore, became necessary for us to institute, with the assistance of the superintendents, a final revision of the proceedings of the different committees, with the view of rectifying some glaring discrepancies which had attracted our attention, before the amount of space eventually awarded was communicated by us to every exhibitor whose claim was admitted. The exact amount of space which had been given to the exhibitors in each class having been calculated, a ground plan of the general arrangement was prepared, and a plan of the portion assigned to each class given to the class superintendent, whose duty it was to sub-divide the space among the committee, to whom they furnished plans of the portions allotted to them, such space being again sub-divided by the committees amongst the individual exhibitors, according to the amount previously determined. The names of the exhibitors, and the size of their allotments, were marked by the committees on the plans, which were then returned to us. From these returns were prepared a general plan of the Exhibition, showing the exact space and situation in the building of every British exhibitor's allotment. This plan was subsequently traced on the floor of the Exhibition building. Finally, every exhibitor was supplied with a plan of his allotment, showing the direction of the passages, the length and width of the space, and the height to which he might carry his fittings or cases. We had intended, while preserving as much as possible the national features of the groups of objects contributed by each country, to adopt the principle of local classification in the building, which was, to a certain extent, successfully carried out at Paris; and, as a general rule, to keep distinct each of the four great sections of the Exhibition. That is to say, we wished to place all the classes of articles exhibited in the section of raw produce in one division of the building; classes relating to machinery in a second division; manufactures in a third; and the section of fine arts in a distinct and special building. Reception of Goods.-The day fixed for the commencement of the reception of articles was the 14th of February, 1862, and the first packages that arrived were received on the 15th of that month. All packages on delivery at the building were numbered in rotation, and entered in a register, with the names of the senders, the class to which they belonged, and the date of their arrival; they were then deposited in the Exhibition as near as practicable to the situation allotted to receive them. Summary of the Receipts of British and Foreign Goods.-British packages, 38,123; articles not packed, 12,994; foreign packages, 28,779: total, 79,896. Pieces of fittings and cases consisting of wood, iron, and glass: English, 41,635; foreign, 4,113: total, 45,748.* In addition to the above, about 20,000 bricks, 50 bags of cement, and several loads of sand and mortar, for foundations, came in on the British side. The extraordinary increase in the number and weight of the packages over previous exhibitions is mainly to be attributed, in the first place, to the more commercial character of the display on this occasion, the goods being (as a rule) much crowded on the counters, and even stored away underneath them; and secondly, to the advance made in the production of machine tools, particularly those used in the working of metal for marine and military purposes. THE EXHIBITION. The Exhibition was opened on the 1st of May, 1862, agreeably to the original announcement made in the month of March, 1861. The inaugural ceremony, owing to the grievous affliction which had so recently fallen upon her Majesty and the whole people of this realm, lacked that crowning proof of her Majesty's approval, to which we had so fondly looked forward, in her gracious presence on the occasion, as the highest reward of our labours. But we have to tender to her Majesty our most dutiful acknowledgments for the interest which, in the midst of her great sorrow, her Majesty displayed in the proceedings of a day which must have revived so many painful, though brilliant, memories, by making known her wish that the opening of the Exhibition should bear, as much as possible, the character of a national ceremony, and by appointing H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge, K.G., his Grace the (late) Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord High Chancellor, the Earl Derby, K.G., the Lord Chamberlain, Viscount Palmerston, K.G., G.C.B., and the Speaker of the House of Commons to be her representatives to conduct it in her name. In the presence of H.R.H. the Crown Prince of Prussia, who, with H.R.H. Prince Oscar of Sweden, came to England for the purpose of taking part in the ceremony, we were happy to recognize a cordial deference to the wishes of her Majesty, as well as a tribute of respectful affection to the memory of his illustrious father-in-law. It had been originally announced by the Society of Arts to be the intention of the promoters of the Exhibition that music, as well as painting and her sister Arts, should form a prominent feature in the arrangements for the year. * The following is the return for 1851 :-British packages, 16,305; articles not packed, 3757; foreign and colonial packages, 12,550: total, 32,612. The heaviest piece of machinery received in 1851 weighed 9 tons; in 1862, one piece weighel 35 tons, and a large number weighed from 12 to 20 tons each. In the early stage of our inquiries we accordingly paid particular attention to the subject, and put ourselves in communication with Mr. Costa, by whose advice we resolved to be guided in our musical arrangements. The great hall, which formed part of the first design for the building, was intended to be made available for this branch of the original scheme. But we found that it would be impossible, without sacrificing more valuable exhibiting space than our site would allow, to make the special preparations required by any attempt to illustrate the present state of musical art among the different nations of the world, on a scale worthy of the occasion. The overpowering pressure upon the accommodation which we were able to give to the industrial department eventually satisfied us that we had arrived at a correct conclusion on this point. Having abandoned the idea of introducing a general Exhibition of music throughout the Exhibition, we resolved to make music a special feature upon the occasion of the great ceremonials; and for that of the opening day, at the suggestion of Mr. H. F. Chorley, we invited the assistance of Professor Sterndale Bennett, M. Auber, M. Meyerbeer, and Signor Rossini, as representatives respectively of England, France, Germany, and Italy. We requested Dr. Bennett to compose a chorale, the words of which the Poet Laureate was good enough to undertake to write for the occasion. M. Auber was asked to supply a march for wind instruments, M. Meyerbeer an anthem, and Signor Rossini a triumphal military march. Our best thanks are due to these eminent composers for the cordial manner in which they received our application, M. Meyerbeer merely requesting that he might be permitted to furnish us with an overture, instead of an anthem. We feel sure that no one who was present at the opening of the Exhibition, or who has since heard the three works which were produced for the first time on that occasion, the great merits of which have led to their frequent repetition in all parts of the country, will be disposed to question the satisfaction which we felt at the result of our efforts in this matter. Nor may we omit to express our obligation to the Poet Laureate for the pure and noble song which he composed in honour of the day. We are glad to * * ODE BY ALFRED TENNYSON, POET LAUREATE. UPLIFT a thousand voices full and sweet, In this wide hall with earth's invention stored, Who lets once more in peace the nations meet, O, silent father of our kings to be, Mourn'd in this golden hour of jubilee, For this, for all, we weep our thanks to thee! The world-compelling plan was thine, And, lo! the long laborious miles Of palace; lo! the giant aisles, Rich in model and design; Harvest-tool and husbandry, Loom and wheel and engin'ry, Steel and gold, and corn and wine, Sunny tokens of the Line, Polar marvels, and a feast Of wonder, out of west and east, And shapes and hues of art divine; [All |