"The great importance attached to the objects of this Exhibition was evidenced by the striking manner in which it was visited by the public. You will have seen by the Report that it was attended by no fewer than 5,550,745 persons. Of this number, a large proportion were admitted under schemes in which I took a deep personal interest, by means of which admission was granted to provincial and metropolitan artisans, with their wives and families, at greatly reduced rates. "It may safely be asserted that a vast amount of public good has arisen from the holding of this Exhibition. No one can have failed to notice the earnest attention paid by all classes of the visitors to the contents of the Exhibition; and the instruction which was derived from an examination of the varied objects displayed therein cannot but tend to a better knowledge of the outlying portions of the Empire, among the inhabitants of the mother country. "At a previous Meeting I referred to the appointment of the Finance Committee, to its enlargement, and to the manner in which its labours were being conducted, and I would now specially draw your attention to the Report they have presented to me. The accounts now before you, which have been circulated for your information, have been subject to a continuous and careful audit. They have been made up at the earliest possible day consistent with the proper realization of the assets belonging to the Royal Commission, and with the settlement of the many and varied claims presented after the close of the Exhibition, and which the Finance Committee had necessarily to adjust. You will see that the fullest information in ample detail is given under appropriate heads of the entire receipts and expenditure of the Royal Commission up to the 23rd April, and I am sure that you will share my satisfaction at the gratifying result of a substantial surplus of £35,235 7_s._ 8_d._ remaining in the hands of the Royal Commission. "I am anxious that the appropriation of this surplus, and the objects to which it should be devoted, should be in harmony with the wishes of the entire body of the Royal Commission. I desire, therefore, to draw your attention to a paragraph in the Report of the Finance Committee, to the effect that in view of the fact that this Exhibition, and those which preceded it, have to a certain extent been considered as one series, consideration might be given to the requirements of any former Exhibition, the financial results of which have been less satisfactory than those of the present undertaking. In this recommendation I entirely concur, and a Resolution in that sense will be submitted for your approval.