Catalogue, so that the whole number of Exhibitors cannot be less than
Ten Thousand, and is probably nearer Fifteen Thousand; and as two
articles from each would be a low estimate, I think the number of
distinct articles already on exhibition cannot fall below Thirty
Thousand, counting all of any class which may be entered by a single
exhibitor as one article. Great Britain fills 136 pages of the
Catalogue; her Colonies and Foreign possessions 48 more; Austria 16;
Belgium 8, China 2, Denmark 1, Egypt 2 1/2, France and Algiers 35, Prussia
and the Zoll Verein States 19; Bavaria 2, Saxony 5, Wirtemburg 2, Hesse,
Nassau and Luxemburg 3, Greece 1, Hamburgh 1, Holland 2, Portugal 3 1/2;
Madeira 1, Papal State 1/2, Russia 5, Sardinia 1 1/2, Spain 5, Sweden and
Norway 1, Switzerland 5, Tunis 2 1/2, Tuscany 2, United States 8 1/2. So the
United States stands fifth on the list of contributing Countries,
ranking next after Great Britain herself, France, Austria, and Prussian
Germany, and far ahead of Holland and Switzerland, which have long been
held up as triumphant examples of Industrial progress and thrift under
Free Trade; and these, with all the countries which show more than we
do, are close at hand, while our country is on the average more than
4,000 miles off.--I am confirmed in my view that the cavils at the
meagerness of our contribution are not well grounded.
III.
THE GREAT EXHIBITION.
LONDON, Thursday, May 6th, 1851.
"The World's Fair," as we Americans have been accustomed to call it, has
now been open five days, but is not yet in complete order, nor anything
like it. The sound of the saw and the hammer salutes the visiter from
every side, and I think not less than five hundred carpenters and other
artisans are busy in the building to-day. The week will probably close
before the fixtures will have all been put up and the articles duly
arranged for exhibition. As yet, a great many remain in their
transportation boxes, while others are covered with canvas, though many
more have been put in order within the last two days. Through the great
center aisle very little remains unaccomplished; but on the sides, in
the galleries, and in the department of British Machinery, there is yet
work to do which another week will hardly see concluded. Meantime, the
throng of visiters is immense, though the unexampled extent of the
People's Palace prevents any crush or inconvenience. I think there
cannot have been less than Ten Thousand visiters in the building to-day.
Of course, any attempt to specify, or to set forth the merits or defects
of particular articles, must here be futile. Such a universe of
materials, inventions and fabrics defies that mode of treatment. But I
will endeavor to give some general idea of the Exhibition.
If you enter the building at the East, you are in the midst of the
American contributions, to which a great space has been allotted, which
they meagerly fill. Passing westward down the aisle, our next neighbor
is Russia, who had not an eighth of our space allotted to her, and has
filled that little far less thoroughly and creditably than we have. It
is said that the greater part of the Russian articles intended for the
Fair are yet ice-bound in the Baltic. France, Austria, Switzerland,
Prussia and other German States succeed her; the French contributions
being equal (I think) in value, if not in extent and variety, to those
of all the rest of the Continent. Bohemia has sent some admirable
Glassware; Austria a suit of apartments thoroughly and sumptuously
furnished, which wins much regard and some admiration. There is of
course a great array of tasteful design and exquisite workmanship from
France, though I do not just now call to mind any article of transcendent
merit.
The main aisle is very wide, forming a broad promenade on each side with
a collection of Sculpture, Statuary, Casts, &c. &c. between them.
Foremost among these is Powers's Greek Slave, never seen to better
advantage; and I should say there are from fifty to a hundred other
works of Art--mainly in Marble or Bronze.--Some of them have great
merit. Having passed down this avenue several hundred Feet, you reach
the Transept, where the great diamond "Koh-i-Noor" (Mountain of Light)
with other royal contributions, have place. Here, in the exact center of
the Exhibition, is a beautiful Fountain (nearly all glass but the
water,) which has rarely been excelled in design or effect. The fluid is
projected to a height of some thirty feet, falling thence into a
succession of regularly enlarging glass basins, and finally reaching in
streams and spray the reservoir below. A hundred feet or more on either
side stand two stately, graceful trees, entirely included in the
building, whose roof of glass rises clear above them, seeming a nearer
sky. These trees (elms, I believe) are fuller and fresher in leaf than
those outside, having been shielded from the chilling air and warmed by
the genial roof. Nature's contribution to the Great Exhibition is
certainly a very admirable one, and fairly entitles her to a first-class
Medal.
The other half of the main aisle is externally a duplicate of that
already described, but is somewhat differently filled. This is the
British end of the Exhibition, containing far more in quantity than all
the rest put together. The finest and costliest fabrics are ranged on
either side of this end of the grand aisle.
The show of Colonial products is not vast but comprehensive, giving a
vivid idea of the wide extent and various climates of Britain's
dependencies. Corn, Wheat, &c., from the Canadas; Sugar and Coffee from
the West Indies; fine Wood from Australia; Rice, Cotton, &c., from
India; with the diversified products of Asia, Africa and America, fill
this department. Manufactured textile fabrics from Sydney, from India,
and from Upper Canada, are here very near each other; while Minerals,
Woods, &c., from every land and every clime are nearly in contact. I
apprehend John Bull, whatever else he may learn, will not be taught
meekness by this Exhibition.
The Mineral department of the British display is situated on the south
side. I think it can hardly be less than five hundred feet long by over
one hundred wide, and it is doubtless the most complete ever thus set
before the public. Here are shown every variety and condition of Coal,
and of Iron, Copper, Lead, Tin, &c. Of Gold there is little, and of
Silver, Zinc, Quicksilver, &c., not a great deal. But not only are the
Ores of the metals first named varied and abundant, with Native Copper,
Silver, &c., but the metals are also shown in every stage of their
progress, from the rude elements just wrenched from the earth to the
most refined and perfect bars or ingots. This department will richly
reward the study of the mineralogists, present and future.
Directly opposite, on the North side of the British half of the main
avenue, is the British exhibition of Machinery, occupying even more
space than the Minerals. I never saw one-fourth as much Machinery
together before; I do not expect ever to see so much again. Almost every
thing that a Briton has ever invented, improved or patented in the way
of Machinery is here brought together. The great Cylinder Press on which
_The Times_ is printed (not the individual, but the kind) may here be
seen in operation; the cylinders revolve horizontally as ours do
vertically; and though something is gained in security by the British
press, more must be lost in speed. Hoe's last has not yet been equaled
on this island. But in Spinning, Weaving, and the subsidiary arts there
are some things here, to me novelties, which our manufacturers must
borrow or surpass; though I doubt whether spinning, on the whole, is
effected with less labor in Great Britain than in the United States.
There are many recent improvements here, but I observe none of absorbing
interest. However, I have much yet to see and more to comprehend in this
department. I saw one loom weaving Lace of a width which seemed at least
three yards; a Pump that would throw very nearly water enough to run a
grist-mill, &c. &c. I think the American genius is quicker, more
wide-awake, more fertile than the British; I think that if our
manufactures were as extensive and firmly established as the British, we
should invent and improve machinery much faster than they do; but I do
not wish to deny that this is quite a considerable country.
Wednesday, May 7--4 P. M.
I have just returned from another and my seventh daily visit to the
Great Exhibition. I believe I have thus far been among the most
industrious visitors, and yet I have not yet even glanced at one-half
the articles exhibited, while I have _only_ glanced at most of those I
have seen. Of course, I am in no condition to pronounce judgments, and
any opinion I may express must be taken subject to future revisal and
modification.
I know well that so large and diversified a show of Machinery could not
be made up in the United States as is here presented in behalf of
British Invention; yet I think a strictly American Fair might be got up
which would evince more originality of creation or design. If I am wrong
in this, I shall cheerfully say so when convinced of it. Many of these
machines are very good of their kind without involving any novel
principle or important adaptation. With regard to Flax-Dressing, for
example, I find less here than I had hoped to see; and though what I
have seen appears to do its work well and with commendable economy of
material, I think there are more efficient and rapid Flax-Dressers in
the United States than are contained in this Exhibition. I have not yet
examined the machinery for Spinning and Weaving the dressed Flax fiber,
but am glad to see that it is in operation. The report that the
experiments in Flax-Cotton have "failed" does not in the least
discourage me. Who ever heard of a great economical discovery or
invention that had not been repeatedly pronounced a failure before it
ultimately and indubitably succeeded?
I found one promising invention in the British department to-day, viz:
Henley's Magnetic Telegraph, or rather, the generator of its power. The
magnet, I was assured, _did not require nor consume any substance
whatever_, but generated its electricity spontaneously, and in equal
measure in all varieties of weather, so that the wildest storm of
lightning, hail, snow or rain makes no difference in the working of the
Telegraph. If such be the fact, the invention is one of great merit and
value, and must be speedily adopted in our country, where the liability
of Telegraphs to be interrupted by storms is a crying evil. I trust it
is now near its end.
Switzerland has a very fine show of Fabrics in the Fair--I think more in
proportion to her numbers than any other Foreign Nation. Of Silks she
displays a great amount, and they are mainly of excellent quality. She
shows Shawls, Ginghams, Woolens, &c., beside, as well as Watches and
Jewelry; but her Silk is her best point. The Chinese, Australian,
Egyptian and Mexican contributions are quite interesting, but they
suggest little or nothing, unless it be the stolidity of their
contrivers.
I see that _Punch_ this week reiterates _The Times's_ slurs at the
meagerness and poverty of the American contribution. This is meanly
invidious and undeserved. The inventors, artisans and other producers of
our Country who did not see fit to incur the heavy expense of sending
their most valuable products to a fair held three to five thousand miles
away are unaffected by this studied disparagement, and those who _have_
sent certainly do not deserve it. They are in no manner responsible for
the setting apart for American contributions of more space than they
fill; they have rather deserved consideration and kind treatment on the
part of the London Press. Beside, the value of their contributions is
not at all gauged by the space they fill nor by the impression they make
on the wondering gaze; articles of great merit and utility often making
no figure at all compared with a case of figured silks or mantel
ornaments which answer no purpose here but the owner's. And when it is
considered that the manufacturers of France, Germany and Switzerland, as
well as England, are here displaying their wares and fabrics before the
eyes of thousands and tens of thousands of their customers--that their
cases in the Crystal Palace are in fact so many gigantic advertisements,
read and admired by myriads of merchants and other buyers from all parts
of the world, the unfairness of the comparison instituted by the London
Press becomes apparent. Our exhibitors can derive no such advantage from
the Fair--certainly not to any such extent. The "Bay State Mills," for
example, has a good display of Shawls here, hardly surpassed, considering
quality and price, by any other; yet nobody but Americans will thereby be
tempted to give them orders; while a British, Scotch, French or Swiss
shawl-manufacturer exhibiting just such a case, is morally certain of
gaining customers thereby in all parts of the world. But enough on this
head.
I may add that many Americans have been deterred from sending by an
impression that nothing would be admitted that was not sent out in the
St. Lawrence, or at all events unless received early in April. But
articles are still acceptable, at least in our department; and I venture
to say that any invention, model, machine or fabric of decided merit
which may reach our Commissioner free of charge before the end of June
will have a place assigned it, although it will probably be too late to
have a chance for the prizes.
These are to be mainly Medals of the finest Bronze, to cost $25, $12
and $5 respectively. Probably about one thousand of the first class,
two thousand of the second and five thousand of the third will be
distributed. But they are not to be given for different grades of
excellence in the same field of exertion, but for radically diverse
merits. The first class will be mainly if not wholly given for
Inventions, Discoveries or Original Designs of rare excellence; the
second class for novel applications or combinations of principles
already known so as to produce articles of signal utility, cheapness or
beauty; the third class will be given for decided excellence of quality
or workmanship without regard to originality. By this course, it is
hoped that personal heart-burnings and invidious rivalries among
exhibitors may to a great extent be avoided.
I cannot close without a word of acknowledgment to our Embassador, Hon.
Abbott Lawrence, for the interest he has taken and the labor he has
cheerfully performed in order that our Country should be creditably
represented in this Exhibition. For many months, the entire burthen of
correspondence, &c., fell on his shoulders; and I doubt whether the Fair
will have cost him less than five thousand dollars when it closes. That
he has exerted himself in every way in behalf of his countrymen
attending the Exhibition is no more than all who knew him anticipated;
and his convenient location, his wide acquaintance and marked popularity
here have enabled him to do a great deal. Every American voice is loud
in his praise.
I walked through a good part of the galleries of the Crystal Palace this
morning, with attention divided between the costly and dazzling wares
and fabrics around me and the grand panorama below. Ten thousand men and
women were moving from case to case, from one theme of admiration to
another, in that magnificent temple of Art, so vast in its proportions
that these thousands no where crowded or jostled each other; and as many
more might have gazed and enjoyed in like manner without incommoding
these in the least. And these added thousands will come, when the
Palace, which is still a laboratory or workshop, shall have become what
it aims to be, and when the charge for daily admission shall have been
still farther reduced from five shillings (sterling) to one. Then will
the artisans, the cultivators, the laborers, not of London only, but to
a considerable extent of Great Britain, flock hither by tens of
thousands to gaze on this marvellous achievement of Human Genius, Skill,
Taste, and Industry, and be strengthened in heart and hope by its
contemplation. And as they observe and rejoice over these trophies of
Labor's might and beneficence, shall they not also perceive foreshadowed
here that fairer, grander, gladder Future for them and theirs, whereof
this show is a prelude and a prediction--wherein Labor shall build,
replenish and adorn mansions as stately, as graceful, as commodious as
this, not for others' delight and wonder, but for its own use and
enjoyment--for the life-long homes of the builders, their wives and
their children, who shall find within its walls not Subsistence merely,
but Education, Refinement, Mental Culture, Employment and seasonable
Pastime as well? Such is the vista which this edifice with its contents
opens and brightens before me. Heaven hasten the day when it shall be no
longer a prospect but a benignant and sure realization!
IV.
ENGLAND--HAMPTON COURT.
LONDON, Tuesday, May 6, 1851.
I have seen little yet of England, and do not choose to deal in
generalities with regard to it until my ignorance has lost something of
its density. Liverpool impressed me unfavorably, but I scarcely saw it.
The working class seemed exceedingly ill dressed, stolid, abject and
hopeless. Extortion and beggary appeared very prevalent. I must look
over that city again if I have time.
We came up to London by the "Trent Valley Railroad," through Crewe,
Rugby, Tamworth, &c., avoiding all the great towns and traversing (I am
told) one of the finest Agricultural districts of England. The distance
is two hundred miles. The Railroads we traveled in no place cross a road
or street on its own level, but are invariably carried under or over
each highway, no matter at what cost; the face of the country is
generally level; hills are visible at intervals, but nothing fairly
entitled to the designation of mountain. I was assured that very little
of the land I saw could be bought for $300, while much of it is held at
$500 or more per acre. Of course it is good land, well cultivated, and
very productive. Vegetation was probably more advanced here than in
Westchester Co. N. Y., or Morris Co. N. J., though not in every respect.
I estimated that two-thirds of the land I saw was in Grass, one-sixth in
Wheat, and the residue devoted to Gardens, Trees, Oats or Barley, &c.
There are few or no forests, properly so called, but many copses,
fringes and clumps of wood and shrubbery, which agreeably diversify the
prospect as we are whirled rapidly along. Still, nearly all the wooded
grounds I saw looked meager and scanty, as though trees grew less
luxuriantly here than with us, or (more probably) the best are cut out
and sold as fast as they arrive at maturity. Friends at home! I charge
you to spare, preserve and cherish some portion of your primitive
forests; for when these are cut away I apprehend they will not easily be
replaced. A second growth of trees is better than none; but it cannot
rival the unconscious magnificence and stately grace of the Red Man's
lost hunting grounds, at least for many generations. Traversing this
comparatively treeless region carried my thoughts back to the glorious
magnificence and beauty of the still unscathed forests of Western
New-York, Ohio, and a good part of Michigan, which I had long ago
rejoiced in, but which I never before prized so highly. Some portions of
these fast falling monuments of other days ought to be rescued by public
forecast from the pioneer's, the woodman's merciless axe, and preserved
for the admiration and enjoyment of future ages. Rochester, Buffalo,
Erie, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, &c., should each purchase for
preservation a tract of one to five hundred acres of the best forest
land still accessible (say within ten miles of their respective
centers), and gradually convert it into walks, drives, arbors, &c., for
the recreation and solace of their citizens through all succeeding time.
Should a portion be needed for cemetery or other utilitarian purposes,
it may be set off when wanted; and ultimately a railroad will afford the
poor the means of going thither and returning at a small expense. If
something of this sort is ever to be done, it cannot be done too soon;
for the forests are annually disappearing and the price of wood near our
cities and business towns rapidly rising.
I meant to have remarked ere this the scarcity of Fruit throughout this
region. I think there are fewer fruit-trees in sight on the two hundred
miles of railway between Liverpool and London, than on the forty miles
of Harlem Railroad directly north of White Plains. I presume from
various indications that the Apple and Peach do not thrive here; and I
judge that the English make less account of Fruit than we do, though we
use it too sparingly and fitfully. If their climate is unfavorable to
its abundant and perfect production, they have more excuse than we for
their neglect of one of Heaven's choicest bounties.
The approach to London from the West by the Trent Valley Railroad is
unlike anything else in my experience. Usually, your proximity to a
great city is indicated by a succession of villages and hamlets which
may be designated as more or less shabby miniatures of the metropolis
they surround. The City maybe radiant with palaces, but its satellites
are sure to be made up in good part of rookeries and hovels. But we were
still passing through a highly cultivated and not over-peopled rural
district, when lo! there gleamed on our sight an array of stately,
graceful mansions, the seeming abodes of Art, Taste and Abundance; we
doubted that this could be London; but in the course of a few moments
some two or three miles of it rose upon the vision, and we could doubt
no longer. Soon our road, which had avoided the costly contact as long
as possible, took a shear to the right, and charged boldly upon this
grand array of masonry, and in an instant we were passing under some
blocks of stately edifices and between others like them. Some mile or
two of this brought us to the "Euston-square Station," where our
Railroad terminates, and we were in London. Of course, this is not "the
City," specially so called, or ancient London, but a modern and
well-built addition, distinguished as Camden-town. We were about three
miles from the Bank, Post-Office, St. Paul's Church, &c., situated in
the heart of the City proper, though nearer the East end of it.
I shall not attempt to speak directly of London. The subject is too
vast, and my knowledge of it too raw and scanty. I choose rather to give
some account of an excursion I have made to the royal palace at Hampton
Court, situated fifteen miles West of the City, where the Thames, which
runs through the grounds adjacent, has shrunk to the size of the Mohawk
at Schenectady, and I think even less. A very small steamboat sometimes
runs up as high as this point, but not regularly, and for all practical
purposes the navigation terminates at Richmond, four or five miles
below.
Leaving the City by Temple Bar, you pass through the Strand, Charing
Cross, the Haymarket, Pall Mall and part of Regent-street into
Piccadilly, where you take an omnibus at "the White Horse Cellar" (I
give these names because they will be familiar to many if not most
American readers), and proceed down Piccadilly, passing St. James's Park
on the left, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens on the right, and so by
Kensington Road to a fine suspension bridge over the Thames; you cross,
and have passed westerly out of London. You traverse some two miles of
very rich gardens, meadows, &c., and thence through the village of
Barnes, composed mainly of some two or three hundred of the oldest,
shabbiest tumble-down apologies for human habitations that I ever saw so
close together. Thence you proceed through a rich, thoroughly cultivated
garden district, containing several fine country seats, to Richmond, a
smart, showy village ten miles above London, and a popular resort for
holiday pleasure-seekers from the great city, whether by steamboat,
railway, omnibus or private conveyance. Here is a fleet of rowboats kept
for hire, while "the Star and Garter" inn has a wide reputation for
dinners, and the scene from its second-story bow window is pronounced
one of the finest in the kingdom. It certainly does not compare with
that from the Catskill Mountain House and many others in our State, but
it is a good thing in another way--a lovely blending of wood, water and
sky, with gardens, edifices and other pleasing evidences of man's
handiwork. Pope's residence at Twickenham, and Walpole's Strawberry Hill
are near Richmond.
Proceeding, we drove through a portion of Bushy Park, the royal
residence of the late Queen Dowager Adelaide, widow of William IV., who
here manages, having house, grounds, &c. thrown in, to support existence
on an allowance of only $500,000 a year. The Park is a noble one, about
half covered with ancient, stately trees, among which large herds of
tame, portly deer are seen quietly feeding. A mile or two further
brought us to the grounds and palace of Hampton Court, the end and aim
of our journey.