EXPOSITION", PARIS. 



295 



them was more than filled by younger houses 

 seeking to push their trade, and by the intro- 

 ducers of novelties, by the young and outlying 

 nations who are striving for a larger share in 

 the world's commerce and a market for their 

 products, many .of which are strange and new. 

 More prominent features in the exhibition of 

 1878, and those which immediately preceded it, 

 are the displays of fine arts, literature, mechan- 

 ical improvements, and national institutions, 

 governmental, educational, etc., into which all 

 the chief nations enter with a generous emula- 

 tion, and which must serve in no insignificant 

 measure to preserve an entente cordiale between 

 the peoples, if not between the governments. 



The increasing magnitude of the successive in- 

 ternational exhibitions is indicated by the num- 

 bers of exhibitors at each. There were some- 

 thing over 13,000 exhibitors in the original 

 exhibition at London in 1851 ; at Paris in 1855 

 there were over 20,000. The London exhibi- 

 tion of 1862 showed a large increase of exhib- 

 itors. (See EXHIBITION, BRITISH INDUSTRIAL, 

 in "Annual Cyclopaedia" for 1862.) The 

 French exhibition of 1867 (sae "Annual Cy- 

 clopedia" for 1867, under FRENCH EXHIBI- 

 TION) attracted as many as 42,000 exhibitors. 

 The Vienna exhibition of 1873 (see in the "An- 

 nual Cyclopaedia" for that year a brief ac- 

 count under AUSTRO- HUNGARIAN MONARCHY) 

 attracted many exhibitors from the far East. 

 The exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876 (see 

 EXHIBITION, CENTENNIAL, in "Annual Cyclo- 

 paedia" for 1876) was in magnitude and com- 

 pleteness a further advance. The French exhi- 

 bition of 1878 was a still grander success ; the 

 number of exhibitors mounted up to double the 

 number in the great exhibition of 1867. Al- 

 though the hopes of the promoters of the ex- 

 hibition of 1851, that it would inaugurate the 

 reign of peace among civilized nations, have 

 been sadly deceived for these international 

 fairs have been held in the intervals of gigantic 

 wars between some of the most prominent of 

 the national participants yet the history of 

 their progress proves that they do answer some 

 very useful and elevating purposes, and have be- 

 come a settled cosmopolitan festival, for whose 

 celebration the capitals of the world eagerly vie 

 with each other. The inhabitants of the cities 

 in which the different exhibitions take place 

 endeavor, with varying success, to recover their 

 outlay in preparing for the exhibitions, and 

 draw a profit from the influx of visitors ; and 

 the exhibitors in like manner generally look to 

 the sales of the exhibits and the extension of 

 their trade to redeem the expenses of shipment 

 and exhibition. Yet the prevailing animus is 

 anything but purely mercantile, nor do the 

 international exhibitions as commercial fairs 

 rival or supplant in any degree those which are 

 held at Leipsic, Frankfort, Novgorod, Bagdad, 

 and other commercial centers, nor affect mate- 

 rially the business customs of the commercial 

 community. Since the Austrian exhibition the 

 Oriental nations have contributed their arts 



and products for comparison with those of the 

 Western world, while every remote land and 

 colony which has or hopes for commercial re- 

 lations with Europe now endeavors to exhibit 

 some of its peculiar products. The comparison 

 of national styles of architecture instituted at 

 Philadelphia has been given still greater prom- 

 inence in the French Exposition ; and the great 

 distinguishing characteristic of the Centennial, 

 the extensive exhibition of machinery and im- 

 plements, has not been suffered to relapse, but 

 was made by the contributions of American, 

 English, Belgian, and other exhibitors, and the 

 complete exhibition of French machinery, per- 

 haps the most important and interesting de- 

 partment in the exposition. The French Ex- 

 position therefore embraced all the round of 

 human art, industry, and science, as developed 

 and practiced in all the four quarters of the 

 globe, and was not less scientific and methodi- 

 cal in its arrangement than comprehensive in 

 its scope. It seems likely, from all the circum- 

 stances attending this exhibition, that, although 

 it will probably be succeeded by many others 

 of like character, none of them will excel it in 

 universality or completeness, nor perhaps in 

 extent. 



The German Government refused to take 

 part in the International Exposition, as Prince 

 Bismarck feared that the display of the prod- 

 ucts of Alsace among the German exhibits 

 would arouse bitter and discordant emotions. 

 At a late moment, however, the Government 

 gave permission to German artists to send their 

 works to the exhibition, with the exclusion of 

 all martial subjects. This was in response to a 

 courteous invitation. Before the answer came 

 the apace had been disposed of ; but room was 

 made, by contracting the space devoted to 

 French art and diminishing the neighboring 

 Belgian gallery, to receive the large contribu- 

 tion of German paintings. These were not en- 

 tered for the prizes, as the German artists had 

 not prepared for the competition. 



The Superior Commission for International 

 Exhibitions issued proposals to the French ar- 

 chitects for a competition of designs : ninety- 

 four were received, to none of which were 

 awarded the prizes ; but from a dozen of them 

 were selected the characters and details adopt- 

 ed in the buildings and arrangements for the 

 exhibition. Of the many sites proposed, the 

 Champ de Mars, where the exposition of 1867 

 was held, was again chosen; but instead of 

 removing the annexes to Billancourt, it was 

 decided to place them on the heights of the 

 Trocadero directly across the river. By a vote 

 of the Chambers a credit of 35,313,000 francs 

 was extended by the Treasury for the expenses 

 of the exhibition. A supplementary grant of 

 9,482,000 francs was made in the following 

 year, 1877, while, by a convention between the 

 Government and the city of Paris, the hall of 

 ceremonies on the Trocade*ro was to be made 

 a permanent and monumental edifice. 



The administrative corps of the Exposition 



