604 



Fairs are in harmony with the practical teachings of the age, and ai-o 

 among its prominent characteristics. The Exhibition of the Industry 

 of all Nations, which is now attracting vast numbers to the commercial 

 metropolis of the Union, is a noble tribute to human skill and labor. 

 Applying to this Exhibition the utilitarian tests, and regarding it sun- 

 ply as an aid to science and labor, and the best of it — incomparably 

 the best — is that portion of it which was contributed by American art 

 and American industry. The Crystal Palace itself, the most beautiful 

 and complete structure of the kind ever yet erected, is all our own, and 

 will do honor to any people. View the building from any approach, 

 and its perfect proportion and architectural beauty will be apparent. 

 Upon entering, the interior arrangements strike the mind as more per- 

 fect and faultless, if possible, than its exterior. The distribution of its 

 ample space — its various compartments — its galleries, and their con 

 nection with each other, and the first floor, are all so complete, that its 

 thronging crowds can all be accommodated with the greatest ease. 

 When lit up at evening, with its many thousand flashing lights, it calls 

 to mind those illuminated halls of Moore — 



" Where at once the glittering saloon 



Bursts on the sight, boundless and bright as noon." 



It is then more like some fanciful palace, built by the genii, than a real- 

 ity, which is dedicated to toil, art and science. 



Among the first articles on exhibition that attract an admiring atten- 

 tion is Powers' Greek Slave, Eve, and the Fisher Boy. These unri 

 vailed works of genius, are convincing proofs that we outstrip the Old 

 World, even in the higher walks of the fine arts. As we proceed, iu 

 every direction is a maze of beauty. We wander from object to ob- 

 ject, each and all testifying to the exquisite and perfect skill — the re- 

 fined an artistic taste — of the nations of the earth. On every side aU 

 is curious, costly and rare — the offspring of luxury and a fastidious re- 

 finement. 



One hastens on as a butterfly speeds from flower to flower, to admire 

 some new beauty or elegance ; ;ind j'et, though all is charming, it pro- 

 duces an unsatisfactory effect upon the mind. When at length the 

 American department ia reached, wo examine the many evidences of 

 American ingenutity and invention with a feeling of relief and appro- 

 bation. The reason is simply this : we Americans are a practical peo- 

 ple. Whatever tends to develop and promote the practical arts — tho«e 



