The Express.
London, England, 1863-07-02 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 2, 1863.

new dress home in time for the Drawing-room or
the Court ball ; and then sentimental enthusiasts
hysterically exclaim in prose or verse that Society
is a Moloch and Fashion • vampire. Society, how-'
ever, is really nothing of the kind. The truth is,
as the gentle-hearted writer of "The Song of the
" Shirt " declared, it is want of thought, not want
of heart, of which Society is guilty. Competition,
the law and destiny of civilirstion,whether in • West-
end drawing-room or a West-end workroom, is no
respecter of persons, and sends the weakest to the
wall. Here the dowerless and the ill-favoured pine
unsought; there the friendlesaand thepennideiss work
their fingers to the bone, and sit out the sun and
the stars till their blood is palsied in
the very sources and centres of life, and
they fall from their chairs into a sleep
that has no awaking, that dowagers may
spread magnificent toilettes, and that daughters
may draw wealthy admirers into marriage nets.
How, then, are these social laws and social desti-
nies to be altered or amended I Not, we think,
by explosions of sentimental fury, of " gushing"
declamation, or splutte-ing philanthropy. Somc-
thing, no doubt, by authoritative sanitary super-
vision, perhaps even by provisional legislative in-
teifereuce ;—provisional, because we must hope
that sound economical theories and common
humanity will some day be reconciled. Much, 11
and more than all, by Society ceasing to hide its I
shame in cant, and learning the rudiments of
Christian charity.
Let us not be unjust. There never was a time,
when charitable balls and charitable private
theatricals were more in vogue, or more bril-
-1 handy successful. There never was • time in
England, since England became a land of heretics,
when institutions of holy women, in the meekest
and most devout of clothing, were so flourish'ng.
So far as all the upholstery of religion and all the
haberdashery of good works are concerned,
English Society was never better pleased with
itself than now. Ecclesiastical architecture and

ecclesiastical charity are becoming recreations o:
religious epicures and dilettanti. But with all
these tricks, and condiments, and antics, is the
spirit of charity as strong among us as it was some
twenty years ago ? Are we not all so conservative
and so nice now-a-days that a " Song of the
" Shirt " would be denounced as an offen..e
against good manners f In spite of all our pro-
gress in religious and charitable mummeries, it
appears that fourteen years ago Society actually
made an effort to treat its sempetresses as humanely
as its horses and its dogs, and that in this present
year it is content to acknowledge that the effort
was a failure.

Int Court.

WINDSOR CASTLE, Jinx I.

The Queen, accompanied by the Princess
Beatrice and attended by Lady Augusta Bruce, walked and
drove in the ground, this morning.
The Princess Helena and Princess Louise, attended by
Lady Caroline Barrington and the Hon. M. Saekville Welk
went to London this morning, and visited the Horticultural
Exhibition at Kensington.
Their royal highnesses returned to Windsor Castle at
half-past one.
The Queen of Prussia, attended by the Countess Schulen-
boarg and Countess Schwerin, also visited the Horticultural
Exhibition.

Count and Counter Bernstorff arrived at the Castle, and
had the honour of an interview with her Majesty.
Lord Alfred Paget and Colonel Hon. A. Hardinge have
succeeded Major-General Hon. A. N. Hood and Lieut.-
Colonel Hon. I). de Rog u Equerries in Waiting.

The Prises of Wales went to Hew yesterday, and visited
I the Duchess of Cambridge. His Royal Meurer was at-
tended by Lieut.-General Rooßye and Captain Grey.
The Princess of Wales, attended by the Marchioness of
Carmerthen, took a drive in an open carriage.
De-patches were received yesterday at the Colonial-office
from the Governors of Hong Kong, Ceylon, Gibraltar, Malta,
and the Lord High Commissioner of the lonian Islands.
Despatches were sent to the Governors of the West
edis Islands, British Columbia, and Bermuda.

UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION IN PARIS
FOR 1867.

The Moniteur of yesterday contains a decree
signed by the Emperor 3lapoleon, announcing
that a universal exhibition of agricultural and in-
dustrial products is to take place in Paris from the
let of Bray 1867, to the 30th of the following Sep-1
tember. The decree is preceded by a report from'
M. Rouher, who says :
The commission which met on the sth of June w►s
unanimously of opinion that the industrial sad moral ad-
vantages of universal exhibitions are becoming more and
move evident. Producers have derived much practical
utility from them, end their foremen and workmen alio.
They have learnt to improve their systems of manufacture,
and to extend the circle of their commercial operations.
The mavens and artiste who form the international jury
generally agree in considering that these competitions
stimulate the progress of science and ark Moreover, if this
exhibition is arranged so as to attract a large number of our
countrymen and foreigners, it will be a considerable
source of profit to the city of Paris, while at the
same time it will favour the influence of the
French nation, and the development of its rel►tions
of all kincla. The commission was of opinion that a feel-
ing of just emulation ought to urge France after the Exhi-
bition of 1862 as of that of 1851, to follow England, and
attempt for the second time this great undertaking. In
addition to there general advantagee, there are others which
the presence of the amuse and industrials of every country
enables us to obtain. Thus the International Commission
of Weights and Measures, instituted in 1855, in connexion
with the Universal Exhibition, contributed by its labours
to propagate in Europe the metrical system. Important
questions of =lance, commerce, and finance might also be
usefully discussed in similar conferences.
M. Rouher, in conclusion, proposes that the
Exhibition of 1867 should be "more thoroughly
universal" than its predecessors, and that to this
end it should embrace, as far as possible, the indus-
trial products of all countries, as exemplified in
every branch of human activity. He recommends
the immediate publication of his report, in order
that the most distant nations may make their pre-
parations in time. A Fine Art Exhibition is to
take place at the same time as the Industrial Exhi-
bition.

MUSIC.