60 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE, 



his shoulders and uttered, what to him, was au unanswerable argu* 

 ment, "Why should I pay to see what I see every day for nothing in 

 the Bazaars." The exhibitors, moreover, looked upon it as a fair, to 

 which they sent their goods, expecting to sell them ; and as the 

 government unwisely undertook to derive a revenue from their sale, 

 and fixed an arbitrary price upon each article, the result was a pe- 

 cuniary loss to both the exhibitors and the company. Still, a begin- 

 ning was made, which is a great thing in Turkey, and one of the 

 results of it has been a resolution on the part of the Pacha of Egypt 

 to have an exhibition of the kind at Alexandria next year, of the 

 industrial products of Egypt. 



In 1763 the London Society of Arts extended its offers of pre- 

 miums to the British colonies in North America, and this led, in 

 1764, to the formation of a society in the city of New York, called 

 The Society for -promoting Arts, JJgriculture and Economy in the PrO' 

 vince of JVew York, in JVort/i America. It engaged to act for those 

 desirous of competing for the premiums offered by the London So- 

 ciety, but in addition offered premiums on its own part, with a libe- 

 rality exceeding anything that has ever been done in this country. 

 In the second year of its existence it bestowed X600, in premiums 

 — a very large amount compared with the present value of money. 

 These premiums were for the dressing and spinning of flax, the 

 manufacture of linen and woolen cloth, felt hats, silk thread, the tan- 

 ning of leather, slate and tiles for roofs, whale oil and agricultural 

 products. The society was composed of the most influential men 

 of that day, and in addition to offering large premiums annually, 

 — one of which was as high as ^100 — it maintained a linen factory 

 in the city by a subscription among its members, and in some cases 

 awarded medals as an especial mark of distinction. A writer in 

 the New York Mercury of 1767, thus speaks of it "It has proved 

 much, and was encouraged by all the most eminent and best friends 

 of the country, and you can scarcely believe how it cheered us in 

 our distress. We must acknowledge that it has done signal service 

 among us by introducing not only the spinning and raising of flax, 

 but in encouraging many other useful manufactures and growths 

 among us." Economy, as well as the encouragement of agriculture 

 and the arts, was among itsobjects, and itm.aybe interesting to quote 

 one of its resolves upon this subject : "No member of the society will 

 put himself in mourning, and to retrench the ill-timed and expensive 

 charges of our funerals ; no member shall give any scarfs, except to 

 the clergy, nor any hot wiyie to any person." This society ceased in 

 1774, in consequence of the disturbed state of things immediately 

 preceding the revolution. 



