The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-10-26 00:00:00

DISTRIBUTION OF THE PARIS
EXHIBITION PRIZES.

The distribution of prizes in connection with the
Paris Exhibition took place on Monday. The cere-
mony was a very great success, and it was admitted by
everybody to have been the grandest pageant of the
kind ever witnessed in Paris. The arrangements were
admirably organised, and not a hitch or an accident
of any sort occurred during the whole ceremony.
Marshal MacMahon, in conferring the awards obtained
at the Exhibition, read his speech as follows :
" Gentlemen,—l am here to-day to confer solemnly,
in behalf of France, the rewards obtained by the ex-
hibitors of all nations in the great competition to
which our country had invited them. First, I wish
to thank the Princes and representatives of all the
Powers for the support and the splendour they
have given by their presence to the Paris
Exhibition. I wish to thank the Govern-
ments and the peoples for the trust they have
reposed in us and for the empressement with which
they have taken part in it. If the success of the Ex-
hibition has fulfilled their expectations and our own
let the honour of it be given where it is due, to the
eminent organisers of this great undertaking and to
their more modest co-operators. All have vied with
each other by their zeal and intelligence in the
fulfilment of the difficult and manifold duties
which they had accepted. When the Govern.
ment of the Republic invited the savants, the
artists, and the working men of all nations to meet in
our capital France had just passed through a painful
ordeal, - and her industry had not escaped the
effects of that vast commercial crisis which already
affected the whole world; and yet the Exhibition
of 1878 equalled, if not surpassed, its predecessors.
Let us thank Almighty God, who, to console
our country, has permitted that this great and
pacific glory should be granted to it. We re-
cord with all the greater satisfaction these happy
results that in our opinion the success of the
International Exhibition could not but redound
to the honour of France. The question for us was not
merely to encourage art and to take note of the im-
provements effected in all branches of art and manu-
facture. We had above all at heart to demonstrate
what seven years spent in communing with ourselves
(,-ecueiVement) and devoted to labour had ac-
complished towards retrieving the most terrible
disasters. It has been made evident that the
solidity of our credit, the abundance of our
resources, the peace ani order of our cities, the
calm bearing of our populations, the high training
and discipline of our army, now reconstructed,
testify to an organisation which, I am convinced, will
be fruitful and lasting. Our national ambition shall
net stop there. If we have become more provident
and more industrious we will also owe it to the recol-
lection of our misfortunes to maintain and develops
amongst ourselves the spirit of concord, the absolute
respect of our institutions and our laws, and the ardent
and disinterested love of our mother country."
The Paris newspapers of all political opinions agree
in expressing approval of the above speech,

There was a pleasant gathering at the British Em-
bassy in Paris on Tuesday, when the jurors and ex-
hibitors at the Exhibition presented an address to the
Prince of Wales, thanking him for his exertion as
President of the Royal Commission. His Royal High-
ness expressed his gratification at the compliment
that was paid to him, spoke of the cordial co-opera-
tion he had received from the French authorities, and
expressed his conviction that the result of the Exhibi-
tion would be to knit still more firmly the bonds of
friendship between England and France. In the
evening there was a grand fete in the Park at Ver-
sailles, and later in the evening a ball was given in the
rooms of the Palace, at which representatives of the
principal European States were present.