One most characteristic feature of the Queen's reign was the inauguration,
in 1851, of that system of International Exhibitions which has infused a
new and larger spirit into commerce, and whose influence as yet only
begins to work. The idea came from the Prince-Consort, and was carried out
by his unfailing industry, energy, and perseverance. Sir Joseph Paxton's
genius raised a palace of crystal in Hyde Park, inclosing within it some
of the magnificent trees, few, if any, of which were destroyed by the
undertaking. As Thackeray wrote:

A blazing arch of lucid glass
Leaps like a fountain from the grass
To meet the sun.

The Queen took the greatest interest in the work, which she felt was her
husband's. She visited it almost daily, entering into interested
conversation with the manufacturers who had brought their wares for
display. The building was opened on the 1st of May, which the Queen names
in her diary as 'a day which makes my heart swell with pride and glory and
thankfulness.' She dwells lovingly on 'the tremendous cheers, the joy
expressed in every face,' adding, 'We feel happy--so full of thankfulness.
God is indeed our kind and merciful Father.'

After the building had served its purpose, the exhibition building was
removed to Sydenham, a London suburb then almost in the country, and
opened by the Queen, 10th June 1854. Under its new name of the 'Crystal
Palace' it has since been the resort of millions of pleasure-seekers. It
was fondly hoped by its promoters that the Great Exhibition would knit the
nations together in friendship, and 'inaugurate a long reign of peace.'
Yet the year 1851 was not out before Louis Napoleon overthrew the new