One note of discord, and one only, was heard; rather, one note necessary to make the complete harmony was silent. It would have fulfilled the international character of the Exhibition and emphasised it as an echo of the message of peace on earth and goodwill towards men had the Corps Diplomatique availed themselves of Prince Albert's invitation to present an address to the Queen. But, strangely as it may sound at the present day, most of the great Continental rulers held severely aloof from the whole project of the Exhibition. They were apprehensive of the effect which contact with English institutions, so dangerously liberal, might have on their own subjects, and the foreign Ambassadors agreed, by a majority of three, to decline to present an address. [Sidenote: Its Success and Close.] The success of the opening ceremony attended the Exhibition to its close on October 15. Between six and seven millions of persons visited it, and the surplus funds accruing to the Commissioners, amounting to upwards of £200,000, were afterwards applied, on Prince Albert's suggestion, to the purchase of the South Kensington estate, now occupied by various institutions for the encouragement of Science and Art. As inaugurating an era of universal peace, which its most enthusiastic supporters expected it to do, the Great Exhibition of 1851 proved a failure; but as a means of diffusing among the people of Great Britain views about foreigners more enlightened than those they entertained before, as an impetus to commerce and manufacture and a stimulus to artistic production, the "Crystal Palace" has fully fulfilled the most sanguine anticipation. [Illustration: _W. L. Wyllie, A.R.A._} THE WHITE STAR LINE R.M.S. "TEUTONIC" AS AN ARMED CRUISER AT THE NAVAL REVIEW, August 4, 1889. Addressing the members of the Institute of Naval Architects on March 30, 1887, upon the "Merchant Service and the Royal Navy," Sir N. Barnaby, late Director of Naval Construction, referred to the arrangements which had then recently been completed between the Admiralty and the White Star and other Companies for the retention of their steamers for war purposes, and pointed out that "this seed, for which we have to thank Mr. Ismay, was planted at the Admiralty nine years ago; ... the outcome of proposals made by Mr. Ismay as far back as 1878," when he urged upon the attention of the Admiralty that a fast mail or passenger steamer might be as efficient a factor in a naval war as an ordinary war cruiser, and offered to make an agreement to hold at the disposal of the Admiralty, upon terms then specified, certain ships for the purposes of the State in time of war.] [Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Frith & Co._ BUCKINGHAM PALACE.