386 Scientific Aspect of tlie International Exhibition. "July, 



find everywhere audiences not few but fit. In the Australian 

 sheep-walk, amid the tropical glories of Jamaican scenery, 

 in the glowing valleys of the Polynesian islands, east, west, 

 north, or south, we find the restless energetic Englishman. 

 It is not a thing to be lightly thought of, this wide extension 

 of our English tongue. 



Our language is a beautiful casket, shining with gold and 

 glittering with gems, and enclosing still more precious, 

 still more costly jewels. Wherever the Englishman goes 

 he carries with him the energy, the love of order, 

 the purity of home-life, the independence, the freedom of 

 thought, of speech, of action, which have made England 

 not only great and prosperous, but the " august mother of 

 free nations." The language is the best test of national 

 capacity. It expresses not only the exact extent of the 

 nation's knowledge, but also its spiritual condition and moral 

 aspirations. Apart from all national vanity, we may rejoice 

 that Shakspere's language is going forth to the ends of the 

 earth. It bears with it the science of Newton and the 

 politics of Adam Smith. It bears with all that is purest 

 and best in the teachings of the ancient world. It bears 

 with it countless memories of heroic deeds. It bears with 

 it those aspirations after Liberty and Right which are the 

 most precious possession of our race. May it go forward 

 conquering and to conquer, resistless in its power and 

 majesty, until it becomes a new bond of peace and brother- 

 hood amongst all the nations, until earth's fertile valleys 

 shall glow with fruits and flowers, and " the desert shall 

 rejoice and blossom as the rose." 



i 



IX. THE SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF THE 

 INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, 1873. 



tHE exhibitions at South Kensington, in their annual 

 occurrence, are losing much of their novelty, and are 

 assuming that business character which must be 

 essential to their wholesome effect upon the national in- 

 dustry. An Englishman in all he does is always very much 

 in earnest, and our exhibitions have been characterised 

 throughout by a determination not " to play at work." In 

 " going to the Exhibition " there is something indicative 

 of real work, very different to the idea that obtained with 

 the "World's Show" of 1851, As a record of progress, 



