General Talmadge, on the part of the American Institute, offered the managers of the Crystal Palace his warmest congratulations upon the raising of the first pillar of their edifice, and that, too, under such auspicious circumstances. The American Institute (he said) was glad to find such worthy comrades co-operating with them to advance the general prosperity of the country.

Appropriate airs were then played by the band, and the “large assemblage” shortly afterward went their way rejoicing in the event of the day, with hearty wishes for the successful completion of the New York Crystal Palace. Such was the first formal celebration of what seemed to its projectors a most stupendous enterprise. But the next year saw a much more imposing demonstration, when, on July 14th, 1853, the nearly completed building was formally inaugurated. The President of the United States traveled from Washington to New York to take part in the august ceremonial, his deliberate progress of several days, by coach, boat, and train, being the theme of many columns of patriotic chronicles in the daily press. Here is a leading journal’s account of the opening exercises:

“The 14th of July, 1853, will henceforward rank in our history as a great day. Then was consecrated unto Art and Industry a building novel and splendid, as regards architecture, and containing productions from all parts of the earth. The Crystal Palace is far more beautiful than its original in London, though much inferior in size. It covers, however, five acres. Its sides are composed of glass, supported by iron. Its dome is truly magnificent, and is a triumph of art. The prevailing colors of the ceiling are blue, red, and cream color. The single fault we find with the colors of the other portions of the building is that the supporting pillars are of the same color with the other solid works, while, if they were bronzed, a certain sameness would be avoided.

“Notwithstanding the immense confusion of the Palace on the day preceding the inauguration, we were surprised, on entering it yesterday morning, to find the dome completed and glorious in its artistic beauty; the stairways arrayed with their crimson and gold, and many of the divisions elaborate in their ornamentation, completely arranged, and containing their various contributions.

“The vastness of the City of New York was strikingly illustrated by the weather of yesterday. The President and his suite were caught in a heavy rain in the lower part of the city, lasting an hour, while the early visitors at the Palace were ignorant of the circumstance, the atmosphere being dry and the sun bright in that quarter.

“The approaches to the Palace were very much crowded as we proceeded there about eleven o’clock. The thickly-studded drinking-shops were flaunting in their intemperate seductions. The various shows of monsters, mountebanks, and animals, numerous as the jubilee-days of the Champs Élysées, opened wide their attractions to simple folk. Little speculators in meats, fruits, and drinks had their tables and stalls al fresco. A rush and whirl of omnibuses, coaches, and pedestrians encircled the place. But amid all this was plainly discernable the excellent provisions of the police to maintain order. The entrances to the Palace were kept clear, and no disturbance manifested itself through the day. Different colored tickets admitted the visitors at three different sides of the Palace, the fourth closing up against the giant Croton Water Reservoir.

“There were two platforms partially under the dome, the centre point under which being occupied by Baron Marochetti’s exceedingly absurd statue of Washington, with Carew’s indescribably absurd statue of Webster—the worst calumny on that great man ever yet perpetrated, or that can be perpetrated—standing behind it. One of these platforms was toward Forty-second Street, or the north nave; the other toward the Croton Water Reservoir, on the east nave. According to the programme, they were filled by the following classes of persons:

ON NORTH NAVE PLATFORM.
General Franklin Pierce, President of the United States.
MEMBERS OF THE CABINET.
Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War.
James Guthrie, Secretary of the Treasury.
Caleb Cushing, Attorney-General.
SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.
Salmon P. Chase, U. S. Senator from Ohio.
Richard Brodhead, Jr., U. S. Senator from Pennsylvania.
OFFICERS OF THE ARMY.
Major-General Winfield Scott, Commander-in-Chief.
Major-General John E. Wool, and a few others.
OFFICERS OF THE NAVY.
Commodore James Stewart.
Commodore Boorman, of the Navy Yard.
There were several other naval and military officers present, but their names are not recollected.
GOVERNORS OF VARIOUS STATES.
Horatio Seymour, Governor of the State of New York.
George F. Fort, Governor of the State of New Jersey.
Howell Cobb, Governor of the State of Georgia.
THE CLERGY.
Rt. Rev. Jonathan M. Wainright, D. D., Provisional Bishop of New York.
Most Rev. John Hughes, D. D., Archbishop of New York.
Rt. Rev. Henry J. Whitehouse, D. D., Bishop of Illinois.
Gardiner Spring, D.D., William Adams, D.D., and others.
THE JUDICIARY.
Judge Betts, Judge Edmonds, Judge Oakley, Judge Roosevelt, Judge
Sandford, Judge Emmett, etc.
MILITARY, ETC.
Major-General Sandford, Brigadier-General Hall, Brigadier-General
Morris, with the Staff of the Major-General.
FOREIGN COMMISSIONERS.
Messrs. Whitworth and Wallace of the English Commission, were present. Lord Ellesmere we did not see; he had not arrived in town at ten o’clock. Lady Ellesmere and daughters were present.
FOREIGN MINISTERS, ETC.
General Almonte, Minister Plenipotentiary from Mexico.
M. De Sartiges, Minister Plenipotentiary from France.
M. De Osma, Minister Plenipotentiary from Peru.
ON THE EAST PLATFORM.
Officers of the Army and Navy, a considerable number.
Officers of the “Leander.” (We are not sure that any were present—the ship is not here.)
Foreign Consuls resident in the City—a number present.
Judiciary of the Southern District of New York.
Jacob A. Westervelt, Mayor of New York.
Francis R. Tillon, Recorder of the City of New York.
Richard T. Compton, President of the Board of Aldermen.
Jonathan Trotter, President of the Board of Assistants.
The Common Council were rather thinly represented in numbers.
Isaac V. Fowler, Postmaster at New York.
Rev. Dr. Ferris, Chancellor of the University.
Charles King, LL. D., President of Columbia College.
Members of the Press, the Clergy, Officers of the American Institute, etc., etc.

“We believe there was no Foreign Commissioner, who came from Europe to be present at the Exhibition, but the Earl of Ellesmere. The absence of this Commissioner yesterday was much to be regretted, the more so as he was prevented from coming by indisposition. Lady Ellesmere and her two daughters were present, however.

“There were two military bands—Dodsworth, stationed in the west gallery; Bloomfield’s U. S. Band, in the south gallery, and an orchestra, with Noll’s Military Band, and a grand chorus, accompanied also by an organ, in the east gallery.