52 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



other utensils for table use, set with precious stones. Tunics of 

 gold cloth exquisitely worked, rich carpets with figures of ani- 

 mals admirably executed, Hangings and stuffs representing, in 

 the style of the Gobelin tapestry, fabulous or historical scenes, 

 precious vases, collections of pictures and statues and other triumphs 

 of Egyptian art. Such a spectacle, the expense of which was 

 paid from the King's treasury, was certainly a remarkable display 

 of the industrial arts, though expended in the production of things 

 of useless magnificence. 



In Venice, at the installation of a Doge, it was the custom of the 

 merchants to add to the magnificence of the spectacle, by making 

 a display in front of their warehouses of their most costly goods, 

 and though but an occasional exhibition and at remote intervals, 

 it could not be without its effect in a city as celebrated for the ex- 

 cellence and variety of its manufactures, as for the great extent of 

 its maritime commerce. 



We come now to the first attempts to aid the industrial arts by 

 the co-operative efforts of individuals organized in societies. In 

 the year 1721 three letters were published in England, recommend- 

 ing the establishment of a chamber of arts, for the preservation and 

 improvement of operative knowledge, the mechanical arts, inven- 

 tions and manufactures ; but nothing came of this suggestion. 

 Who the anonymous writer of these letters was, is unknown. It 

 is frequently so with those who make first suggestions. The Erie 

 canal was originally suggested and its feasibility, probable cost, 

 and prospective advantage pointed out by an anonymous writer in 

 a country newspaper. 



In 1743, twenty-one years after these three letters appeared, 

 Benjamin Franklin put forth, under his own name, a printed pamph- 

 let, proposing a plan for the establishment, in Philadelphia, of a 

 society for promoting useful knowledge in the British plantations in 

 America. Like everything proceeding from that remarkable man, 

 it bore the impress of his original and practical mind, and had in 

 it the germs of numerous institutions now existing in this country 

 and in Europe. The details of his plan are too long to present 

 them here. The leading object was to obtain suggestions upon a 

 variety of subjects, hints, observations and experiments, that they 

 might be examined, discussed, and the knowledge of them extended, 

 "with the view of leading to important discoveries. This was to 

 be accomplished by the establishment of an extensive system of 

 correspondence, and by the holding of monthly meetings in Phila- 

 delphia, at which all matters communicated might be made knoAvn, 

 examined, discussed and published. How much was compre? 



