But, as we have noted elsewhere, it was the Exhibition of 1851 which, more than anything else, tended to enhance the Prince's repute and popularity. It was a great and fruitful idea--and the Prince was its only begetter. The speech of the Prince Consort in explaining the significance of the Exhibition as the realizing of the solidarity of the world, Thackeray's May Day Ode, which appeared in _The Times_, and other utterances in the Press show, as Professor Bury points out in _The Idea of Progress_, that "the Exhibition was, at the time, optimistically regarded not merely as a record of material achievement and technical progress, but as a demonstration that humanity was at last on its way to a better and happier state.... A vista was suggested, at the end of which far-sighted people might think they discerned Tennyson's 'Federation of the World.'" _Punch_ never failed to give the Prince the credit of initiating the scheme, and, after a little wavering, gave it his enthusiastic support. The change in public opinion towards the Prince is well reflected in the frank but friendly palinode which appeared in the issue of November 26, 1853, as a result of the suggestion made by City magnates to erect a statue to the Prince in Hyde Park:-- PRINCE _PUNCH_ TO PRINCE ALBERT Illustrious and excellent brother, Don't consider me rude or unkind, If, as from one Prince to another, I give you a bit of my mind-- And I do so with all the more roundness, As your conduct amongst us has shown A propriety, judgment and soundness Of taste, not surpassed by my own. You've respected John Bull's little oddities, Never trod on the old fellow's corns; Chose his pictures and statues--commodities Wherein his own blunders he mourns. And if you're a leetle more German In these than I'd have you--what is't Beyond what a critic may term an Educational bias or twist? * * * * * You have never pressed forward unbidden; When called on you've never shown shame, Not paraded, nor prudishly hidden Your person, your purse, or your name; You've lent no man occasion to call you Intruder, intriguer, or fool; Even I've not had often to haul you O'er the coals, or to take you to school. All this, my dear Prince, gives me boldness-- Which, _au reste_, our positions allow-- For a hint (which you'll not charge to coldness, After all I have written just now): Which is to put down certain flunkies, Who by flatt'ry your favour would earn, Pelting praise at your head, as at monkeys Tars throw stones--to get nuts in return. * * * * *