170 TRA.XSArTIOS.S OF THE Am ERIC AX IXSTFrUTE. 



EVIDENCES OF PROGRESS AT THE EXHIBITION, 



By F. a. p. Barnard, LL. D., President of Columbia College, who was U. 

 Commissioner at tiie Paris International Exposition of 1867. 



Mr. President, and meinhers of the AnieAcan Ind'ttute.^—ln 

 presence of the multitude of interesting objects gathered here 

 together, many of them remarkable for their beauty, all of them, 

 in their several ways, for their utilit}', it seems to me unnecessary 

 to offer you any congratulations on the flourishing condition of your 

 association, or on the encouraging success which has attended your 

 laudable efforts to promote the interests of American industry. The 

 scene in the midst of which we are assembled, speaks to this purpose 

 a thousand times more impressively than I could do ; for, whichever 

 way we turn, it addresses itself in endlessly varied forms of enaphatic 

 significance directly to the sight. At the same time, I have no pur- 

 pose to attempt here any systematic survey of the history of industry, 

 or to draw a parallel between our own and foreign countries, as to 

 their relative degrees of industrial advancement. I make this state- 

 ment in the outset, because I have noticed a public announcement 

 that such would be my theme. The topic .suggested would be one 

 more suitable to a meeting limited to the members of your own insti- 

 tute, than to a popular gathering like that which I see before me. 

 But I may remark in passing, that from the comparisons which I was 

 enabled to make in the Universal Exposition of 1867, the position 

 occupied l)}^ our country in the general industrial field, is one emi- 

 nently honorable to the skill of our constructors, and to the enterprise 

 of our manufacturers. There are certain classes of productions indeed, 

 in which foreign artizans have attained a higher degree of excellence 

 than our own ; for there are certain industries which are the growth 

 of centuries in Europe, while with us they are only the creations of 

 yesterday. Jhit in regard to the vast multitude of objects which are 

 must directly applicable to the every day uses of life, and which con- 

 tribute in the higl)cst degree to human comfort and enjoyment, the 

 industry of our country may challenge comparison with that of 



