26 



to those which have been so long in successful operation in 

 France and Germany, and those which, more recently, have 

 been springing up in Great Britain, under the pressure of her 

 well-known bitter disappointment and mortification at the 

 results of the Exhibition of 1851. 



These considerations turn mainly on the present condition of 

 the country in respect to its several industries, and the rapid- 

 ity of its growth in population and wealth. The industrial 

 arts in this country have, in the main, overtaken those of Eu- 

 rope, and in some departments surpassed them. The same 

 may be said of the sciences. There are few things, from a pin 

 to a piano, or a telescope, for which we are now compelled to 

 cross the Atlantic. The tide has even set the other way. We 

 now make telescopes for the most eminent of English astrono- 

 mers, pianos for the star-musicians of Europe, rifles and loco- 

 motives for the Czar of all the Kussias, Dunderbergs for 

 Louis Napoleon, and crinoline for his Empress. Our clocks 

 tick in every land, our revolvers and repeaters enforce every- 

 where respect and admiration, our commerce in india-rubber 

 fabrics has stretched itself to the ends of the earth. Our man- 

 ufacturers are no longer compelled to label their sewing silks 

 Italian, or their ivory combs British, or their porcelain and 

 broadcloths French, to give them currency in our own market. 

 At the world's grand pageant in Paris, the other day, American 

 art was complimented with gold medals from imperial hands, 

 for eclipsing the world in pianos, sewing machines, telegraphic 

 apparatus, reaping and mowing machines, steam-engines, and 

 other products of inventive genius and mechanical skill. And 

 the aggregate products of our arts and manufactures, as well 

 as of our agriculture, are rapidly increasing from year to year, 

 and increasing in a much higher ratio than our population ; 

 and that is increasing at a rate that startles us with the aggre- 



