The Sun.
London, England, 1851-05-02 00:00:00

prevailing pi; it of the emsele (1 yesterday, Uwe do 2nt de-
tec,, ,11 ail s isilsiss and cher:T.lu' of often
superior dailies oa ;esdect and admiration success-
fully preferred by the fel-sign exhibitors. Again: he must
" have a heart very dry and tough"- as one or old has it-to
whom this salutary rtib-:ction did not present itself, that the
h we
great sight of yesterday can never be one of unmixed satiskao.
tion. The unsubstantial character of the building in which
and our guests were assembled conveys its own uniniatakes
able lesson. It must soon perish-so must its gay and gor.
geous contents ; but the great powers of thought end intelli-
gence which produced these *ill far ',outlive the• frail} glask•i_
and iron which enshrines them ; and if England shall. follow „,
the course of her engines and her implements, the memory. ,
of her great and happy attempt. to communicate to all, the,
blessings of an' intercommuniOn of progress and .intelligence
will at least be undying. It will ever be estimated...o at
least a goodly object which. arrayed together so vesti sad
comprehensive a series of facts; the gathering of ;the day
will be at least a help to many a problem, ethnological, so. -
cial, and industrial; nor will it be withotit its purpose te'.. -A
group together the existence of parallel, but varylog, typos._ t
of skill and thought, and to assemble under one roof thnza, .
living embodiments of media:Tel traditions, anti the practical
economy of those, railroads and those Mighty cylinderit,-;*
of the press which are fast ohliterating the narrow
prejudices of race, and of a sordid and exclusive spirit •i
of nationality. Neither are we prepared to allow the sup- ,
posed anti-religious character of the Exhibition.: In these
columns we shall scarcely be suspected of accepting it as at •
indirectly,t o our national
to
fo
rrc/i
instalment of some universal brotherhood of creads.
are not asked to view it as an indication of any " Church of
the Future." In this sense it will not weaken our allegiance
shofallrelsei serves however , •
eg‘i-rn-retlirtagnbt' fiforitms
earnest-
ness better to understand and better to appreciate each other, • ,
we are not disposed to reject whatever serves to disarm pre-
judice, ".
or to compel charity. Anyhow, though we are re-
mincled tbet another great gathering and federation-to •
which this has been, not without some shade of profanity
paralleled- only served in the counsels of God to introduce
contusion, we cannot forget that the Gospel itself was inane '
gurated by a higher display of morals and of providential
goodness; that the narrowness of a chosen race was dia-
placed by the universality of the Catholic faith; and that . •
Babel had its counterpoise in Pentecost. Far are •
we from saying that
.this is any new Pente- •
cost : were such its claims, we shßsilcl abhor and .
reject them. All that we ask to , protest against •
is the bigoted and confined range of
.thought which .
can see, in so great a congregation of the gifts of 'God, any., ;
thing inconsistent with that larger dispensation which fri:St •
heard all strangers speaking in all tongues " the wonderful: •
works of God." But we pause from these high them
which, however congenial to our own feelings, are scarcely
suitable to this place. We may be satisfied with recom.s
mending the Great Exhibition on lower grounds-it is
enough to insist that the religious sentiment shall not be in..
voiced for all-it against it. For ourselves-indeed ~has
t
other and sufficiently solid. materials of respec .
That it
tends to the great cause of peace and order-that it is a
step towards communicating to ourselves and to others-to
the poor equally with the wealthy--4he econornical arts of ,
life, as well as the beauties of taste and refinement-this is -
enough to say ; and in this reflection, as philanthropists and .
humble agents of social amelioration, we may take an un-..
mixed satisfaction and pleasure in viewing so vast an aggro' '
gate of human power and of natural wealth. We rejoice be-
cause the world-wide energy of production has reason to re!,
joice in all its realms,
"Jamque suum volvens audax Industrie mundum
Gaudet -."