came trustees for buying aud selling the land, about 12 acres of which they have disposed of very profitably in building leases. Nearly doubling their original capital by the above speculation, they next let the upper part of the great centre square, about 22 acres, to the Horticultural Society. The commissioners have expended about £50,000 in building arcades in the new gardens; and the society have expended an equal amount in terraces, fountains, conservatories, and in laying out the grounds. The Society of Arts, impressed with the importance of international exhibitions, proposed to repeat the great exhibition of 1851, but the commissioners had not sufficient funds for the undertaking, nor did they think that the scheme would be profitable. But a new commission was organized, and a plan was submitted by Capt. Fowke, R. E., and adopted. The commissioners informed the Society of Arts that they would grant, rent free, until the 31st of December, 1862, for the purposes of the exhibition of 1862, the use of the whole of the land on the main square of their estate lying on the south side of the Horticultural Society's gardens, estimated at 16 acres, on the understanding that all the buildings to be erected for the exhibition, whether permanent or temporary in their character, should be subject to their approval, and that all the temporary buildings should be removed within six months after the close of the exhibition, if required; the trustees of the exhibition being at liberty, on the other hand, to remove the buildings termed permanent if the exhibition should be attended with pecuniary loss. They further expressed their readiness to grant to the society a lease for 99 years at a moderate ground rent of those permanent buildings if retained, on condition of not less than the sum of £50,000 being expended on them by the trustees, and of their not covering more than one acre of ground; and also on condition of their being used solely for holding exhibitions and for purposes connected with the promotion of arts and manufactures. They said "we would undertake, in the event of the payment to us of the sum of £10,000 out of the profits (if any) of the exhibition of 1862, to reserve for the purposes of another international exhibition in 1872, to be conducted by such body as might be approved by us, the remainder of the land now proposed to be lent by us for the exhibition of 1862 that was not covered by the permanent buildings already referred to, such reservation not interfering in any way with the free use by us of that land in the intervening period." The Society of Arts accepted these terms. Of the tenders sent in, that furnished by Mr. Kelk and the Brothers Lucas, being the lowest, was accepted. For the rent of the building a sum of £200,000 was absolutely guaranteed; if the receipts exceeded £400,000, the contractors were to be paid £100,000 more for rent; and they were bound, if required, to sell the whole for a further sum of £130,000, thus mak ing the whole cost £430,000. The commissioners for 1851 are the legal proprietors of the site, but have agreed to reserve about 16 acres of it for the 1872 exhibition, receiving £10,000 as a sort of ground rent. It is already agreed that the Society of Arts, Adelphi, will be granted the lease of the central portion of the picture gallery, one acre in extent, along the Cromwell road, for 99 years, on payment of a ground rent, and that it be given up unreservedly for the use of the 1872 exhibition. Laying out of the Works.-The laying out of the works was commenced on 9th March, 1861, by three independent agencies-Mr. Marshall on the part of the contractors, while Mr. Wakeford and Sergeant Harkin, R. E., acted for the commissioners. About two weeks were occupied in making the measurements, so that the building may be said to have been actually commenced in the beginning of April, 1861, and to have been practically finished about the beginning of April, 1862. There were 7,000,000 bricks used; of cast iron there are upward of 4,000 tons in the building; and to show what care had been taken with the castings, only four girders proved defective, by breaking in the proof. There are upward of 820 columns, of 25 feet, equal in length to 4 miles; and if the 1,266 girders used were placed end to end, they would reach a distance of 6 miles. The total quantity of wrought iron used was 12,000 tons. Upward of 1,000,000 superficial feet of floor was laid. To cover the roofs 486,886 square feet of felt were used, equal to 11 acres; and to complete the whole of the glazing required 353,000 superficial feet of glass, which weighed 247 tons, and would cover 12 acres. Progress of the Building.-On the completion of the building the floors and staircases were submitted to the following tests: A large body of men, about 400 in number, were closely packed upon a space 25 feet by 25 feet on one lay of flooring; they were then moved in step, and afterward made to run over the different galleries, and down each staircase; at the same time the deflections of the girders carrying these floors were carefully noted at several places, and in each case the deflections were very nearly the same. The cast iron girders, with 25 feet bearings, deflected only one eighth of an inch at the centre, and the timber-trussed beams of the same bearing placed between these girders deflected half an inch at the centre. In every instance the girders and trusses recovered their original position immediately on the removal of the load. The Exhibition Building.-The internal space is entirely covered in by roofs of various heights, and is divided into nave, transepts, aisles, and open courts; the latter are roofed with glass, as in 1851, but the other parts have windows. The South Front, in Cromwell road, 1,150 feet long and 55 feet high in the brickwork, has two projecting towers at each end, rising 16 feet above the general outline, and a larger tower in the centre, in which latter is the main entrance to the Picture Galleries; being about as long as the gallery of the Louvre, in Paris. The exterior is chiefly brickwork, relieved with semicircular-headed panels, separated by pilasters, and between the arches are circular niches; in the lower portion of each panel being a window, to admit light and air to the ground floor, and to ventilate the Picture Gallery above. The panels are plastered in cement, and it is proposed to ornament them with English mosaics, dependent on the funds. The East and West Fronts, though differing from the South, are not less imposing. They are, in all respects, similar to each other in their general aspect. Here the huge domes, rising to a height of 260 feet, show to most advantage, and the transept roof, with its lofty clerestory windows, is in full view. To the observer below, the form of each dome appears nearly that of a semicircle; this effect is obtained by making its height 11 feet more than its semi-diameter, which fully allows for the loss by prospective diminution. From the crown of each dome rises the pinnacle to the height of 55 feet. Each dome is in the middle of each façade; its centre is the point formed by the intersection of the centre lines of the nave and transept, and the front of the building is advanced from it 108 feet. Under each noble arched recess is the main entrance to the Industrial Courts, the effect of which forms one of the most pleasing exterior parts of the building. Each of the porches contains a deep semicircular arched recess, 68 feet span and 80 feet high, in the tympan of which is the great rosewindow, visible from end to end within. The window is one closing the vista as the spectator looks from a standing point beneath the other. At the extreme north and south are two auxiliary picture galleries, each 247 feet long. The main and auxiliary picture galleries afford available wall space covered by pictures, equal to 7,600 square yards, or about one and a half acres. The two duodecagonal domes are of glass, with an outer and inner gallery, 160 feet in diameter, and 250 feet high. The dome of the Pantheon is 142 feet in diameter and 70 feet high; the dome in the Baths of Caracalla was 111 feet; Brunelleschi's, at Florence, is 139 feet in diameter and 133 feet high; the dome of St. Peter's is 158 feet in diameter, and 263 feet high from the external plinth; the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral is 112 feet in diameter, and 215 feet high. The Annexes are engineering works of great merit. The western Annexe is 975 feet long, and 200 feet and 150 feet wide. The east side is enclosed by the back wall of the west arcade of the Gardens, and the west side, which adjoins the road, has a plain lath-and-plaster front. It is covered by a ridge-and-valley roof, sup The dome of the old Halle au Blé, at Paris, of timber, was 200 feet diameter; and after its destruction by fire was replaced by the wrought iron and zine dome, still in exis tence, of the same dimensions. ported on light wooden ribs, similar in construction to those of the nave; that is, they are formed of planks nailed together. The circular portion springs at ten feet above the ground line. Its elevation is nearly half of a regular polygon, described about a semicircle whose diameter is 50 feet; it consists of three planks nailed together. The principal rafters, which are composed of two inch planks, rise from a point 28 feet above the ground, and meet above the curved ribs, so as to make the ridge five feet above the crown of the arch. The upright, which has its foot mortised into a sleeper resting on piles, is formed of 11 inch centre plank, with a 4 inch plank on each side, having a strengthening piece four inches by three inches spiked to it on either side to prevent its bending. The principal rafter and upright are connected with the curved rib by radial pieces of 1 inch plank, which are brought rather below the inner line of the curve, and finished off, for the sake of ornament, by s spear head. The roof frames are therefore merely planks nailed together, and so disposed that the weight comes on their edge. One half of the roof is covered with boards and felt; and the other half has a glazed skylight, with louvres for ventilation throughout the whole length. The western Annexe, is devoted to the exhibition of machinery in motion, for which purpose steam pipes, water pipes, and shafting are led through it. Its superficial extent is about four and a half acres. The entrance is through the north end of the west transept, from which point the ribs of the roof are seen from end to end in fine perspective. The eastern Annexe is exactly similar to the western in its construction; but it is 200 feet shorter. The Interior. Entering east or west, the ascent is by two steps until the level of the dais under each dome is reached. From either point the interior of the whole building may be seen in one view, at 6 feet above the rest of the floor. Thence three flights of steps, 80 feet wide, lead into the nave and transept on either side. The supports on either side of the nave (800 feet long and 100 feet high) consist of square and round cast iron columns, coupled together; the former carry the gallery floor, and the latter, advancing into the nave, receive the principals of the roof. From the capitals of the columns spring the roof frames, which consist of three thicknesses of plank, from 18 inches to 2 feet 6 inches deep, firmly nailed and bolted together, and so arranged that their ends break joint. The centre plank is 4 inches thick, and each of the outer ones is 3 inches; the lower edges are tangents to an imaginary semicircle, round which they form half of a nearly regular polygon. From the springing rise the posts of the clerestory windows, 25 feet high. The principal rafters of the roof frames rise from the top of these posts, and are carried up, after passing a tangent, to the back of the arch, to meet at the ridge in a point 25 feet above the top of the clerestory. The angles over the haunches and crown of the arch are firmly braced together, so as to reduce the thrust as much as possible. The rib is repeated thirty times in the length of the nave, and from its graceful curve and lightness it produces a fine effect. Between every roof principal is a clerestory light 25 feet high, consisting of three arches springing from intermediate mullions. The roof is covered with felt and zinc on 13-inch planks. The transepts run from each end of the nave, at right angles to it, and extend north and south 650 feet; they are the same width and height as the nave, and the ribs of its roof are of the same construction. Construction. The principals were placed in the nave roof. This was done by a huge moveable scaffold. One half of a rib was first hoisted to its place; when in position, the other half was raised; and as soon as both were fixed true, they were joined together by completing the arch and bracing over its crown. The hoisting was all done by a hoist, connected with a portable steam engine. The galleries form an abutment to the nave and transept roof. As the roof thrusting out ward tends to throw the columns out of the perpendicular, this is counteracted by strong iron braces anchored to the foundation of the inner column, and carried up to the top of the opposite outer column. Another bracing, anchored to the footing of the outer column, is carried up to the top of the inner column, to secure it from being acted on by the force of the wind. This vertical cross-bracing is repeated at every hundred feet, or every fourth bay, and by introducing horizontal diagonal bracing under the roof flats, they are turned as it were into a deep horizontal girder, supported at two ends by the columns vertically braced as just described. This horizontal girder therefore takes the thrust of the three intervening ribs. The whole structure may be separated into three classes of work-that which is meant to be permanent, viz., the front façade and the narrow strips of brick buildings at both wings running north and south; that which is quasi permanent, viz., the naves, transepts, domes, and covered courts and galleries; and that which is absolutely ephemeral, in the Annexes, and the refreshment rooms over the arcades at the south end of the Horticultural Garden. Standing at the centre of the front in Cromwell road, we have the front building of 1150 feet 9 inches extreme length stretching right and left, with a general width of 50 feet, and two stories in height. At the centre are the grand entrance hall, vestibule, and within these, to the right and left, the grand staircases leading to the higher floor; returning southward we enter a hall of 150 feet in length, for sculpture chiefly, and as a vestibule to the great ranges of picture galleries to the east and west, and extending on into the wing tower buildings to a total length of about 500 feet each way. The appropriation of the several portions of the building is briefly thus:-the nave, transepts, galleries, and courts for the display of general industrial productions; the brick building on the north, inclosing the narrower courts, for refreshments; the grand picture gallery extends along the south, and has auxiliary wings in front of the east and west transepts extending their whole length; these picture galleries requiring to be lighted from the top, are placed above the entrances, which on the south side stretch to either hand for the display of carriages, &c. Decoration of the Building. This cannot be better described than by Mr. Crace, who, in April, 1862, read before the Society of Arts a paper in which he informs us that it was the 23d January last when he received his authority to proceed with the decoration, and it was to be all completed by March; that is to saysome twenty acres decoratively painted in about eight weeks. "After careful consideration I decided that the general tone of the roof must be light, and that the best color would be a warm pale gray; that the arched principals must be made to stand out clear from the roof; that they must look well in a perspective of 800 feet; and that they must not look heavy or confused as they approached each other in the distance. The form of these is polygonal, and in three thick nesses, the centres of the outer planks covering the joints of the inner ones. "I therefore decided on following the form of the construction, and adopted panellings of blue and red alternately, relieved by colored lines, intersected at the joints by circles of black on which are gold stars, and from these spring ornaments in vellum color with green in the filling, to make the construction evident, and I therefore colored the two outer edges in chequers of black and vellum color, and the centre edge full red. As to the bracings above the polygonal arches I colored them the warmwood color, with red or blue colored lines on the face, and the under thicknesses red. "I decided on warm gray for the roof of the nave to give space and lightness; and on its surface I introduced an upright scroll ornament in red, with gold, star-like rosettes, sparingly introduced. My object in this ornament was to raise the apparent pitch of the roof, and to relieve and warm the effect of the gray. The horizontal purlins, on the contrary, I kept purposely light, so as not to depress the rise of the roof, or interfere with or confuse the effect of the principals. The ridge piece of the roof, in itself comparatively small, I marked as strongly as possible, as the apex, in black and vellum white, en chevronné; on each side I colored a margin of maroon red, and a little below that a bordering of very warm green, shaped to accord with the top scrolls of the red vertical ornament, the green being relieved with rosettes of gold color. At the base of the slope of roof this green is again introduced in much the same way, and the band of maroon also. Below this are the clerestory windows. "The next important features in the nave are the iron columns, supporting the principals as well as the galleries, painted pale bronze color, relieved with gold color vertical lines. The capitals are gilt; the grounds of the ornaments being picked in rich red or blue alternately; the centre blocks of the columns are also colored red, with bands of blue, or, vice versa, the mouldings being gilt, and the same style of color is continued to the bases. The top plate above the columns is painted bronze color, relieved with light gold color ornament on the upper part, and a Vitruvian scroll in gold color, with a maroon red base on the lower part. "The gallery railings are light bronze color, the rose, shamrock, and thistle ornaments being partly gilt, and the whole backed with deep red cloth. The plate under the gallery is painted oak color, relieved with deep brown interlaced ornaments. "I have kept the part below the line of arches purposely quiet in color, in order that the brilliancy and richness of the various articles exhibited may not be interfered with. The roof, on the contrary, is rather vivid in color, to carry up, as it were, in some degree, the gayety of the scene below; and this will be still further sustained by a series of banners of the various countries whose products are assembled in this International Exhibition. "In the roof of the Upper church of Assisi, in the chapel of St. Corporale, of Orvieto, in the choir of Santa Croce at Florence, and in the Palazzo Spinola, examples are to be found of counterchanging of coloring, and in the roof of the cathedral of Lucca, of the chevroneze of black and gold. "Those decorations, so beautiful, so interesting, rich, glowing in color, full of fancy and taste in the ornament, the masses well arranged, show the most perfect harmony everywhere, and are dignified by often acting as the framework of the highest gems of art. "My principal difficulty in carrying out the decoration of the domes was, that I could see nothing of them. The scaffold formed a series of solid stages or floors, through which it was impossible to view anything; and I confess I never could mount the ladders above one hundred feet; but even there the scaffolding was so thick that I could see nothing of the top, and very little of the cornice, facia, and walls. "At last, Mr. Ashton, the engineer, contrived to get for me an open square box, into which I got, and I was drawn up by means of his beautiful little engine very pleasantly to the top; yet when I got there the ceiling almost touched my head, so that I had no opportunity of judging beforehand of the effect of distance and light upon my coloring, and I knew well that they were very formidable elements for consideration. The knowledge that the scaf fold would be taken down before I could pos sibly judge of the effect, and that when once down, I could never hope to touch my decoration again, caused me many an anxious thought. "In coloring the top of the domes, the main ribs are painted bright red, with spaced black and white at the edges, and a fine gold line up the centre spreads at intervals of about four feet into lozenges and circles containing g stars on a blue ground; where the main rings reach the ring plate I carry round the red, marking the points of intersection with black and white; thence the eight main ribs are painted deep blue, relieved with red, gold, and black, until they meet in the centre pipe or pendant, which is gilt bordered with red. The shaped covering, or umbrella, as I am aceas tomed to call it, is painted light blue; gl color and gilt rays diverging from the centre and streaming a considerable way down the blue, the shaped outline of which is bordered with red and gold ornament. "In decorating the walls of the domes, the solid parts between the arches, and the spring ing of the roof, it was necessary to consider the probable effect of the great mass of light above. On the one hand it was desirable to sustain it with sufficient strength of color, on the other it would be dangerous to make it too heavy. "The moulding of the cornice and facia are painted vellum color, very slightly relieved by gilding; the trusses are gold color; the facia between them is red, with a vellum patera; the soffit is green. The broad facia below is painted blue, and on it is inscribed in gold letters, three feet high, the exordium of David in the 29th chapter of the first Book of Chronicles, 'Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and the earth is thine;' and, 'O Lord, both riches and honor come. of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might, and in thine hand it is to make great.' "The large iron columns, which rise nearly one hundred feet high, are painted dark maroon color, their capitals being richly gilt. The panelling between the arches and the frieze is painted in shades of red, relieved by colored lines; in the four broad compartments are inscribed, on dark green panels, Europe, Asia, Africa, and America; below, on a circle, are the initials of those so beloved by us all, Victoria and Albert. On the eight spandrils to the four main arches, are medallions, eight feet diameter, by Mr. Burchett, of the Kensington school of art, emblematic of manufactures, commerce, and the various arts and sciences which lend their aid. Around the red panelling is a broad margin of sage green, on which are stencilled pateras. The moulding of the arches is painted vellum color, the top fillet being gilt; and the face of them ornamented with Vitruvian scroll in dark color. "The walls at the gable end of the nave and transept are treated so as to recall the arched form of the principals. Under these a sonicircular panel is formed of warm brown color, bordered by a broad blue margin, on which are gold stars. Inside the panels are written the following sentences: "On the east end of nave "The wise and their works are in the hands of God.' -ECCLESIASTES, ix, 1. "On the east end of transept"Alternately the Nations learn and teach.'-Cowper. "On the southeast end of transept"Each climate needs what other climes produce.'-Cowper. "On the west end of the building the sentences are in Latin, being the part occupied by foreign exhibitors. At the end of nave is written: "Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax.' "At the northwest end of the transept"Domini est terra, et plenitudo ejus.' "At the southwest end of transept"'Deus in terram respexit, et implevit illam bonis suis.' "Inside these semicircular panels are a series of radiating panels, painted maroon, and bearing the names of the various sciences and arts which have affinity with the objects exhibited." The Exhibition Opened. By a wonderful effort of labor, the executive staff of the International Exhibition were enabled to keep their VOL. II-27 promise to the public, and open the grand display, with all befitting ceremony, and even with more than hoped-for success, on Monday, May 1, 1862. The day, indeed, had one dark shadow. Of the hundreds of thousands who lined the streets and thronged the building, few forgot the Prince by whom the great work of the day was encouraged and helped on. The absence of the Queen, and the cause of that absence, marred the state pageant, and produced a partial gloom which an impressive and imposing ceremonial could not wholly dispel. The Duke of Cambridge represented her Majesty and received the address of the Commissioners, to which he made a reply. Earl Granville then, on the part of the Commissioners of the Exhibition, presented to his Royal Highness the "key," technically so called, of the Exhibition. This is, in fact, a master key (manufactured by Messrs. Chubb), and which opens the entire number of the different suites of locks on all the doors of the buildings. It is beautifully wrought entirely by hand out of a solid piece of steel, and was inclosed in a crimson velvet bag. This concluded that part of the ceremonial which took place under the western dome, and before the throne; and the procession, being re-formed, proceeded in the same order along the north side of the nave to a large platform under the eastern, dome, immediately in front of the gigantic orchestra, consisting of two thousand voices and four hundred instrumentalists. It commenced with a grand overture by Meyerbeer, comprising a triumphal march, a sacred march, and a quick march, and an embodiment of "Rule Britannia; "9 then Dr. Sterndale Bennett's chorale, which had been composed for the words of the ode written by the Poet Laureate Tennyson, as follows: Uplift a thousand voices full and sweet, In this wide hall with Earth's invention stored, And praise th' invisible universal Lord, Who lets once more in peace the nations meet, Where science, art, and labor have outpour'd Their myriad horns of plenty at our feet. O silent father of our Kings to be, Mourn'd in this golden hour of jubilee, Ah, the goal is far away, How far is it? who can say, |