ull swing.

VII

Only one thing more was needed: material expression must be given to
the new ideals and the new forces so that they might stand revealed, in
visible glory, before the eyes of an astonished world. It was for Albert
to supply this want. He mused, and was inspired: the Great Exhibition
came into his head.

Without consulting anyone, he thought out the details of his conception
with the minutest care. There had been exhibitions before in the world,
but this should surpass them all. It should contain specimens of
what every country could produce in raw materials, in machinery and
mechanical inventions, in manufactures, and in the applied and plastic
arts. It should not be merely useful and ornamental; it should teach
a high moral lesson. It should be an international monument to those
supreme blessings of civilisation--peace, progress, and prosperity. For
some time past the Prince had been devoting much of his attention to the
problems of commerce and industry. He had a taste for machinery of every
kind, and his sharp eye had more than once detected, with the precision
of an expert, a missing cog-wheel in some vast and complicated engine. A
visit to Liverpool, where he opened the Albert Dock, impressed upon his
mind the immensity of modern industrial forces, though in a letter
to Victoria describing his experiences, he was careful to retain his
customary lightness of touch. "As I write," he playfully remarked,
"you will be making your evening toilette, and not be ready in time for
dinner. I must set about the same task, and not, let me hope, with the
same result... The loyalty and enthusiasm of the inhabitants are great;
but the heat is greater still. I am satisfied that if the population of
Liverpool had been weighed this morning, and were to be weighed again
now, they would be found many degrees lighter. The docks are wonderful,
and the mass of shipping incredible." In art and science he had been
deeply interested since boyhood; his reform of the household had put
his talent for organisation beyond a doubt; and thus from every point
of view the Prince was well qualified for his task. Having matured his
plans, he summoned a small committee and laid an outline of his scheme
before it. The committee approved, and the great undertaking was set on
foot without delay.

Two years, however, passed before it was completed. For two years the
Prince laboured with extraordinary and incessant energy. At first all