[William Haig Miller], A Walk through the Crystal Palace ([1851])

On the 20th of June, 1814, had a stranger been passing through Hyde Park, he would have found assembled within it a vast multitude of eager spectators. The occasion which drew them together was a remarkable one. They crowded to gaze on the allied sovereigns of Europe, who were then on a visit to the English metropolis. The Crystal Palace to which we have thus alluded will doubtless be visited by millions of spectators, each of whom will regard the structure and its objects in different lights. The statesman will view it in its political aspects, the philosopher in its moral or scientific bearing, the merchant will trace its relations to commerce, while the idler and the man of pleasure will see in it little more than the means of gratifying an unreflecting curiosity. This chapter invites the readers to join in walking through the building and viewing the novel scene in some of its plain and obviously religious bearings.