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THE EXHIBITION OF 1862. 
F EW of our readers who visited tlie Great Exhibition of 1851 
will have forgotten the first effect produced upon their 
minds by the beautiful crystal edifice and its contents. 
Strong men wept, they knew not wherefore; some were 
completely bewildered with the surrounding scene ; and all 
who trod the maze of courts and avenues were glad, after a 
brief space of time, to seek some quiet corner and rest their 
wearied minds and bodies ; for the multiplicity of novel objects, 
the varied costumes of the visitors, the grand arching roof of 
crystal overhead, the sweet-scented flowers and still sweeter 
strains of music, the wide-spreading trees in full leaf, crystal 
fountains, silent statues, sparkling jewels, and a thousand 
other attractions, riveted the attention by turns, drawing it 
first to this side and then to that, until the spectator walked as in 
a dream, and, unable longer to appreciate the wonders around 
him, sank down exhausted and satiated with the feast of beauty, 
grace, and novelty. 
Since then we have had, and still retain, the Crystal Palace 
of Sydenham, far eclipsing that of 1851 in external beauty, and 
furnished with all the attractions of art and nature within and 
without its walls of crystal; the “ Exposition ” of Paris, con- 
centrating within its precincts all the works of art and industry 
of which the Continent could boast. Manchester, Dublin, and 
other cities have followed in the wake; and now, after a lapse 
of eleven years, we are again called to the metropolis of Great 
Britain to witness the progress of the industry of mankind in a 
second “World's Fair.” 
But, alas ! the fairy tale of childhood has lost its charm. The 
light Crystal Palace has given place to the solid edifice of brick 
and stone, and the directors of this new enterprise say to us, as 
plaiuly as they can speak through their brick walls : “ You have 
been humoured and indulged in the fancy, now you must descend 
to the fact. Formerly we found it necessary to lure you through 
the senses, but now you are no longer children. A decade of 
years has changed the wants and tastes of your race, and you 
must therefore accommodate yourselves to circumstances, and 
be content to study the material progress of a utilitarian age." 
no. iv. 2 v 
