244 [Assembly 



ables the sportsman to fire as rapidly as he can load his gun, and 

 for forty or more shots, without the affixing of a single cap to the 

 cone of his fowling piece or rifle, and w'ithout exposure of his 

 priming to moisture or accident. So far as war can be rendered 

 less frequent by augmenting its terrors, and in making weapons 

 more destructive, this new method of gun priming will have an 

 influence not to be misunderstood or undervalued. 



Shall I attempt to pourtray the beauty of your New- York tap- 

 estry carpets, and those most perfect imitations of Gobeline tapes- 

 try pictures, which adorn the walls of Castle Garden, or to 

 describe those beautiful fabrics and fine work placed by fair 

 hands in your halls, or expatiate upon the delicacy, fineness, and 

 silks which lay in such profusion on your tables, or call your 

 attention to the newly introduced manufacture of linen thread, 

 which I at first mistook for silk, so even in its fibre and so glossy 

 on its surface, or express my conviction of the superiority of linen 

 thread over cotton, or even silk, in making firm and substantial 

 work,aud in afiixing the buttons on our shirts and coats,! should 

 but repeat thoughts that passed through many a mind as the 

 objects in your exhibition met our view. 



I cannot, however, pass by the model of the American yacht 

 that stands proudly over the splendid Victoria silver vase won 

 by an American sailing craft upon English waters, in her contest 

 •with all the clippers that the former, though not now only mis- 

 tress of the seas, was able to bring to the race, without feeling 

 proud of the achievements of my countrymen and of their efforts 

 at the World's Fair, and at the same time a respect for the mag- 

 nanimity of Mother England, in her noble acknowledgment of 

 her defeat in an art for which she has so long been justly 

 renowned. 



What shall I say more ? — Dazzled and bewildered in your 

 labyrinthine alleys of tables, crowded on all sides by the beau- 

 tiful and useful products of American art, now meeting a tower 

 of beautiful gilded porcelain and stone ware, next bending over 



