The republic., 1851-10-29
From the Charlottesville va } Aduoeais, Oct. %.
Letter from MIR. Rivcs.

| fARIHj sept. 3O, 1901.
MY DEAR Having a week or two at my
disposal during the last days of the summer, de-
termined TO go over the channel and see for my
self that of which the d0cription had filled so
many mouths and newspapers for the last four or
five months-the Great Exhibition, or what the
French more appropriately call it, the Exposition
tniv9sele. not prepared to say with the
Queen of Sheba, after her inspection of the riches
of Solomon, ''the half was not told me;" but on
| the contrary, making some deduction from the
oriental extravaganza with which this tDondsr Of The
age has been celebrated by both pen and tongue,
| am yet free TO say enough remained TO make it
object of just aud rational curiosity to all who
were in circumstances to visit it.
| A visit to the Crystal Palace is in truth a sort
| of fgurative voyage of circumnavi CATION, by
which, within the limits of comparatively small
space, and by few days industrious observa.
| ton, you traverse successfully the various quar-.
ters of the globe, and before you the produc.
tons, the arts, the riches, and in degree the
| respective national manners and customs of them
! all. And yet this is so contrved TO leave upon
the mind of the beholder strong Impression of the
material superiority, if not supremacy, of one of
| these nations all the rest England has the
vast advantage in the Exhibition of being at home.
One full half of the fairy building is allotted to the
display of her riohG4and resources, her in
| dustry and power--in which her vast tributary
| possessions in the East and the West (India,
| Canada, and the isles of the ocean all gilt
tering with barbaric pomp, are made to revolve in
their due order around the central orb, dazzling
| by the splendor Of her own accumulated and gor
| geous wealth. The mind is so acted upon by this
studious display of boundless dominion and riches
and power in the hands of a single nation that it
hardly RECEIVERS from the impression in passing
| through the successive departments allotted to
| other nations; for, however we'll filled many of
them are with the choicest productions of exquisite
taste and superior skill, they all seem dtcarfed in
comparison with the gigantic development of Eng.
land at home In this state of exhibited inferiorty
these nations may legitimatey take to themselves
the consolation of the lion PROSTATE beneath the
man in the paintng-that the man and not the
| lion was the painter.
If France, which originated the idea of an exh-
btion OF the products of the arts and industry of
all nations, had been permitted by her internal
condition to carry it into execution and Paris in
stead OF London had been the scene of its presena
ton, very great difference would, doubtless have
been made III the relative position and appearance
| of the competing nations. In that case the advan-
| tage OF being chez soi, concurring with her unri
vailed taste and artistic science, and the wonder
ful resources Of her national genius and industry
would have assigned to her the rank ofprlnacy which
1 n
| Nor would the other nations have had reason to
complain of the change of venue The bright eli
mate of France and the cordial and genial temper
of her people, readily fraternizng with the otb
| families of mankind, would have made Of what has
| been stern and somewhat Jealous encounter Of
rival pretensions real jubilee of the heart and
senses, marking AT in the social intercourse and
happiness of nations, well as in their industrial
| progress. As it is, the Exhibition has mainly the
character Of a highly successful spec ulaton yery
sagacously managed, on British account.
You Will wish to know what sort of figure we Of
the United States have made in this great interna-
lonal congress OF industry and the arts. The OBJ.
Jects which occupy much the largest space in the
Exhibition, and which have been the chief points,
indeed, OF popular attraction, objects luxury
and ornament, exceedingly costly both in their
material and workmanship, and intended to min
lister to the factitious wants Of overgrown wealth
In the British department alone counted not less
than twenty large rooms, with the inscription in
| glaring capitals above them of the adored "rre-
c'ous metals" The same general character of
costly magnfcence, varying only in the details
predomin ated in all the rest of the European de-
partments fr0aathe exquisite mosaics of Italy and
the rich silks and porcelains and ewery of France
| to the beautiful and elaborate maachites of Russia
and was conspicuous even in the ''barbaric pearl
and gold'' OF the Asiatic and African contribu-
tions.
IN entering into competition of SO much gor-
geousness as this, 1t hardly to be expected that
SO young and simple and republican people as
that of the United States would NAL Ike very bril-
liant debut. always regretted therefore, that we
entered the lists as general competitors If we had
| gone in simply and avowedly to show the nations
of the old world some of the most valuable i'm
provements we had made in those manly and use
| ful arts adapted TO our circumstances and vipor
Gus youth, and had contented ourselves with an
allotment OF space proportioned to that object, we
should have avoided some notification at first to
our national pride. A large space however was
demanded in the outset for the display of Ameri-
can contributions which, after successive retrepch.
mens, remained very lnperfectly filed and the
cftl how N pnorla Il
and colossal proportions, was conspcuously in
stalled above the whole The Times, the Corv-
! ph9us of the English press, Immediately seized
upon these circumstances with its ed mo-
levolcnce towards the United States taunting ~,
with ''the solitude in the CRYSTAL Palace over
| which the American eagle stretched its mighty
Yings," and representing 'sthe space we had
grasPed in the Exhibition as being as inperfectlv
occupied as our vast continent
! In spite OF these mistakes of our own, and the
i'll natured use made of them TO our disadvantage
by the crltcs the solid and intrinsic merit of the
! American part OF the Exhibition finally made it.
self felt and appreciated by all, and il is now
think universally admitted, even in England, where
so many jealousies and prejudices are to be over
come that, IN an Industrial and useful point of
view, no nation contributed more to the Exhibi.
| tion than the United States am most bappv
| to be able to say to you that nothing has had SO
| powerful an agency in working out this honor
able result tor our national reputation as Iir.
| ginidn invention, of which you were one of the
earliest patrons, and which has received the high
| est honors at the Exhibition, and is now max
ing a sort of triumphal progress through Eng
land--I mean McCormick's reaping machine Il
was the successful trial of this machine on the
| farm of MIR. Mechi, at Tip Tree, on the Goth of
July last, elictiDg it did the wonder and admi-
ration of all who Witnessed it, that commenced the
reaction in favor of American contributions to the
| Exhibition. The English people began then to
think that some "good thing might come out Of
our transatlantic Nagareth," !" aud from time 10
time they bestowed something more than a pass
ing, supercilious glance at the American de.
| partment of the Crystal Palace, and found in
it ott or products of American genius and skill
which convinced them that, in this age of pro.
gress and invention, stimulated TO extraordi.
nary fecundity in the world there are not
few things they may learn with advantage Of
younger nations than themselves.
OF these other achievements or American inge-
nuity have not the time to speak You have
seen them all noticed in the newspaper reports of
the Exhibition. They have, the greater part of
them undoubtedly, very high order of merit;
but think am not misled by natural partiality
| for invention of my own State when say that
the reaping machine has done most of all to re.
| deem the honor Of our country in the trying and
to for time, apparently hopeless contests Of the
Exhibition In proof OF this, il is sufficient to men
ton the fact that il is invariably placed at the head