se to the Duke of Wellington, to
Nelson, to Lord Cornwallis, to Sir Charles Napier, to Sir William Jones,
the Oriental scholar, and numerous others.
Crystal Palace,
which is outside of the city, is perhaps the grandest Exposition Building
in the world, and possibly the only structure of the kind in existence,
since the destruction, by fire, of Crystal Palace, in New York. This Great
Exhibition Building was first built upon Hyde Park, covering nearly
nineteen acres of ground. It was visited by upwards of 6,000,000 persons
during the twenty-four weeks that it was open, or about 40,000 persons
daily. The receipts amounted to over $2,000,000.
It was re-erected and enlarged at Sydenham, in Kent, 1853-4, at a cost of
over $7,000,000.
It must be over a quarter of a mile long, and about one-fourth as wide.
The entire sides and the whole of the immense arched roof are of glass,
admitting all the light except what little is intercepted by the sashes,
thus affording an illumination quite equal to that outside, under the
clear canopy of heaven.
The exterior gardens and water-works are magnificent. Among the
attractions about the yard, is a glass tower about forty-five or fifty
feet in diameter and over 200 feet high. Beautiful indeed is this
magnificent crystal tower.
A clock with sixty-nine faces shows the times of so many different places
on our planet. For the accommodation of such as are astronomically
inclined, I render the following record as I entered it upon my diary,
July 16th: Civil Middle Time, 12:40 p.m.; Astronomical Middle Time, 12:391/2
p.m.; Sidereal Time, 19:493/4; True Time, 12:381/2 p.m.
Around its great organ, there is seating accommodation for a choir of
2,000 singers.
For seeing the building only, one could well afford to go a great
distance; but there are also constantly on exhibition a large collection
of curiosities of every description, while extensive bazars expose for
sale the richest and finest goods and wares of all kinds, and from the
stores of every quarter of the globe.
There is also on exposition a large collection of plants, and a
magnificent art gallery of paintings, sculpture, &c. Concert every day.
London has much fog and rain. I had but two fair days out of the eight I
spent there. One very rainy morning I started out to see the Houses of
Parliament. On my way thither I came to Trafalgar Square. In the center
stands the magnificent Nelson Column, surrounded by statu
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