AMERICAN INSTITUTE. ' 89 



excites such strange emotions in the soul — by those Caryatides, 

 who bear so wearily the massive architecture of the solemn tem- 

 ple. The light Grecian fane, with its gilded magnificence within, 

 and its wealth of beauty in marble within and without; the 

 Roman temple and the Roman dwelling; the Pompeian house, 

 recreated as by the touch of Bulwer's magic wand, its domestic 

 life and its hospitality are there. The Alhambra is reproduced, 

 with its Court of Lions; the gorgeous mediaeval cathedral of the 

 Continent is there, with its luxury of carving, and stained glass, 

 and pictures, and relics. The English cathedral, with its tombs 

 of warriors and ladies, statesmen and churchmen; the old English 

 house, with its rush-strewed floor, and its dais and ample board 

 above and below the salt, for gentle and for simple; the collec- 

 tions of modern comfort and luxury — of glass, china, carpets, 

 tiling, carriages, of machinery, always in motion, and weaving 

 the most delicate as well as the commonest of fabrics. One passes 

 visibly in a day through all the progress of the world in its cen- 

 turies, acquiring through sight, definite and all-enduring ideas of 

 times past, and their order and succession. Enclosed under acres 

 of glass roof, whose iron girders, colored by the hand of Owen 

 James, seem like a fairy network against the sky, this building 

 itself, one of the wonders of the world, gives .the last, greatest 

 idea of all — that, in this present time and place, such a wonder 

 could be realized. 



American Exhibiticns. 



What if the Mechanics of America of 50 years ago could awake to 

 visit the halls of our Crystal Palace ! How would Rob't Fulton and 

 John and Rob't L. Stevens glow with enthusiasm as they saw those 

 steam engines moving so noiselessly in theii' power, any one of which 

 would have ensured the success of their early experiments. Oliver 

 Evans would see that his ideas of the locomotive have been more 

 than realized; while a simplicity in mechanism, for which he ar- 

 dently panted, had been fully attained. Rumsey and Fitch would 

 see that the seed which they had planted was not wasted, but had 

 yielded many hundred fold. 



It is certain from the repeated results of the Fairs at Boston, 

 New- York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, that these exhibitions 



