CLOSING ADDRESS 



DELIVERED AT THE TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL FAIR OF THE AMERICAN 

 INSTITUTE, AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE, NOVEMBER 10, 1855. 



[By D. Meredith Reese, M.D., LL.D., Vice-President of the Institute.] 



Ladies and Gentlemen — The illness of oiir worthy President; 

 Eobert L. Pell, Esq., has deprived us, dui'ing this entire exhi- 

 bition, of his invaluable services; and the same cause devolves 

 the duty upon me, to close this Twenty-seventh Annual Fair of 

 the American Institute. 



It is now nearly six weeks since our Eoard of Managers ven- 

 tured upon the experiment of opening our usual annual exhibition, 

 in this spacious and splendid edifice. Hitherto we had occupied 

 for our successive fairs, the Masonic Hall, Niblo's Saloon, and, 

 more recently. Castle Garden, until the latter building was trans- 

 ferred by the city authorities to the Commissioners of Emigration, 

 who have converted it into a depot for their beneficiaries. In the 

 absence of any other location, our managers have leased for the 

 purpose the temporary occupancy of this building, which, as you 

 all know, was erected for kindred purposes, and known as the 

 Crystal Palace, in imitation of that of London, and for the exhi- 

 bition of the industry of all nations, by a World's Fair. The dis- 

 astrous experience of the association, in the financial department, 

 notwithstanding their successful and useful exhibition, having 

 brought this edifice into the hands of a receiver for the benefit 

 of its creditors and mortgagees, our attempt to resuscitate this 

 Crystal Palace, and renew and even excel its former attractions, 

 was regarded by many as presumptuous, and amid a multitude of 

 predictions of its failure, our managers resolved upon the experi- 

 ment. 



Their reliance for success was upon the multitude of contribu- 

 tors, from the agriculturists, manufacturers, mechanics, and ar- 

 tizans of our own comitry, whom the well-earned popularity of 

 the American Institute had never failed to call forth, in response 

 to their generous and patriotic appeals. And they presumed, 



