The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1876-05-10
The Opening Of the Centennial Ex-
hfbiti0n.

This morning, amid the ringing Of bells,
the thunder Of cannon, the blare Of trum-
pets, the military display of regiments OF
soldiery and the enthusiasm Of . great
city, the Centennial Exhibition will be for
mally opened by the President of the United
States. All the high officers of the govern
ment, the President and his Cabinet, the
Senate, House and Supreme Court, the
foreign Ministers, the Governors OF various
States, will take part in the ceremonies
And, as if to add to the historical signifi-
canoe of the day, the Emperor of Brazil will
show by his presence his friendship for our
people and his interest in this international
fair. The American character of the Gen.
tennial Exhibition is seen in the interesting
fact that the rulers of the two great Ameri-
can nations will take part in the dedication.
The interest felt in the Exhibition by New
York will be shown by the presence of Gov
ernor Tilden, Mayor Wickham and many OF
our best citizens. Altogether if the weather
is propitious and no unforeseen calamity
occurs to mar the festival, this 10th OF May
will be historic day, even in this historic
centennial year.
If the Centennial Exhibition were simply
a show of wares and fabrics it would be USE
full. Civilization becomes more and more
question of peace, and peace is confirmed by
nothing SO much as these comparisons of
national industry and skill. In the olden
times the comfy Of nations was shown in the
interchange Of princely visits, the retinue OF
one sovereign displaying its splendors at the
court of another. All that the people saw Of
their neighbors was an occasional pageant.
But in our days the people, who are sover-
eigns, exchange these visits. Instead of
royal meeting on the Field of the Cloth OF
Gold, where rival princes We'd with each
other in the brilliancy of their trsppings,
instead of q sumptuous carousal at Hampton
Court, or a tournament at Whitehall, We
have the artifcers of England and France, OF
Russia and Spain, nay, even of far China and
Japan, coming to the graceful palace on the
woody Schuylkill banks to exchange rivalries,
to show mankind how far they have failed or
succeeded in the development of civilization !;
for those men whose works will to-day be
spread before us in the Centennial Exhibi-
ton arc the true kings. To them we owe
the comfort and repose four daily existence.
They have torn out the depths of the earth,
they have pierced the subtle mysteries of the
skies, they have traced paths in the midst
of the sea and over the mountain submits;
they have put the universe under discipline,
hot a or1 uant1ar life
When we compare their achievements, which
find expression in hundred forms in the
life Of the humblest, with the glowing deeds
which historians record and which some
foolish painter emblazons on canvas, how
much higher they are! We are not indulg-
ing illusions as to this exhibition being 50
harbinger of universal peace" We wish it
could be. The skill which built it, and
which fashioned its millions Of objects, may
60 ont to battle again, for there are
many questions, unhappily, awaiting battle.
But every such display is another
step to peace. These friendly contests
will determine new friendships and
strengthen old ones, and bind the nations
closer and closer together. Take, for in
stance, countries like Japan and China, who
are here in fervent competition with our
own laborers, and the fact is full of en-
phasis. This Japan, which twenty years
ago was only geographical name about
which lowered dark memories of cruelty
and superstition-this Japan, for instance,
which at the time of the English Fair was
only pale, sinister star in the galaxy of
nationalities, is seen to be refulgent,
glorious planet, worthy to rank with the
brightest of them all
And SO we might continue this thought,
deducing the lessons that intelligent minds
will see in the presence of nations like
Brazil and Peru, of colonies like those of
England and the Netherlands, of civiliza-
tions Us venerable as those of India and
Egypt. If the imagination is strongly
moved by trophies which tell Of the glory Of
Sesostris and Alexander, by remnants of ages
and races which have faded from the
memory Of man, it is no less impressed by the
fresh glory of countries like Australia and
Canada and California, only yesterday the
home Of the savage and to-day standing
breast to breast with US in all the essentials
of refined civilization. Which lesson will
be the most.instructive to the philosopher?
That which he learns within the gloomy
portals Of the Khedive's palace, over which
the brooding Sphinx sits in sad, questioning
silence, or that which young Australia OBJ
trudes upon him in the mountain Of gold
which tells Of her wealth or the photo
graphic panorama which tells Of the won
ders Of her new world I? For the Centennial
Exhibition has high use in this, that
within the four walls of its main palace We
have every phase of civilization. 1t is the
nineteenth century, with its past and the
promises Of its future. As the mind follows
the flags of the great nations of Europe it
! recalls the hundred battles in which, even
during our centenary, they have waved