tient. The Prince stood up in the
carriage, and put on an overcoat. Still the Mayor didn't come. At
length it oozed out that he had lost his hat. A dozen hats were
offered at once on loan; but the Mayor's head was a large one, and it
was long before a hat sufficiently capacious could be found. It came
at last, however, and the Mayor, in a borrowed hat, came rushing
out, much disconcerted, and full, evidently, of apologies, which the
Prince, with much good nature, laughingly accepted.

The next time he came to Birmingham was in 1849. At this time the area
from Broad Street to Cambridge Street in one direction, and in the
other from King Edward's to King Alfred's Place, now covered with
buildings, was enclosed on all sides by a brick wall some ten feet
high. Inside this wall there was a belt of trees all round, and a
few "ancestral elms" were dotted here and there within the enclosure.
About a hundred yards from the Broad Street wall stood a square house
of red brick, built in the style of architecture current in the days
of Queen Anne. It was known as Bingley House. Not far from the spot
where the house now occupied by Mr. Mann, the surgeon, stands, was a
carriage gate, leading to the dwelling. The grounds were laid out in
park-like fashion, and so late as 1847 were abundantly tenanted by
wild rabbits. The house had been occupied for a generation or two
by the Lloyd family, but about 1846 or 1847 they removed, and it
was understood that the ground was shortly to be devoted to building
purposes.

In 1848, an exhibition of Birmingham manufactures was projected: the
idea, I believe, originating with the late Mr. Aitken. It was received
with considerable favour, and a strong committee being formed, a plan
was soon matured for carrying it into effect. Negotiations resulted in
the tenancy, for the purpose, of Bingley House and grounds. Very soon
a substantial timber building was seen rising within the wall, near
the corner of King Alfred's Place. In a few weeks it was covered in; a
broad corridor connected it with the old mansion; and early in 1849
an exhibition, most interesting in its details, and artistic in its
arrangement, was opened. The larger articles were displayed in the
temporary building; flat exhibits covered the walls of the corridor;
and smaller matters were arranged, with great judgment, in the
old-fashioned rooms of the house itself.

The exhibition opened with great _eclat_. The buildings were thronged
fr