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me, to offer to the Executive Committee my hearty con- 

 gratulations on the splendid success of this Exhibition, 

 which owes so much to their unselfish and ceaseless labours, 

 ably and wisely directed, and for which they will find their 

 best reward in the good they have accomplished. But 

 self-denying and effective though their labours have been, 

 they will be the first to recognise the leading importance 

 of the influence of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, by which 

 the people were drawn into co-operation with, and support 

 of this great undertaking. Here we cannot fail to think 

 regretfully of the great and good Prince Consort, with 

 whom these international assemblies had their origin, and 

 the grandeur of whose broad and well-balanced intelligence 

 was but imperfectly known to the world until after the end 

 of his pure and earnest existence. His daily life showed 

 how royalty could find its highest uses in sympathetic and 

 thoughtful endeavours to mitigate the trials and brighten 

 the lives of those whose lot it is to toil ; and H.R.H. the 

 Prince of Wales has worthily accepted the inheritance in 

 his devotion to works like the present, which aim at the 

 broadest diffusion of welfare and happiness. In this noble 

 exercise of his influence he is laying broad and deep the 

 foundations of his exalted position in the hearts and con- 

 victions of the people, and presenting a spectacle that all 

 well-wishers for the permanence of our matchless institu- 

 tions must regard with feelings of gratified assurance and 

 profound satisfaction. 



