148 
LONDON INTEKNATIONAL 
philanthropy and easily turned to good account. Two at¬ 
tempts had already been made—the first at New York, in 
1853, and the second at Paris, in 1855—neither of which ap¬ 
proached their great prototype in any respect. Then, after a 
lapse of eleven years, during which great progress had been 
made in science and the arts, it was resolved by the same noble 
Prince that there should be another Dniversal Exhibition on 
the very spot where the first experiment was so eminently suc¬ 
cessful ; and which, by comparison therewith, should help the 
world to know what progress it is really making. 
The Exhibition of 1862 is, then, a sort of second mile-stone, 
set up by the nations on the great highway of human progress. 
In it all thoughtful individuals and civilized nations have 
found direct interest. To the laborer it has brought rest and 
added powers—to the philosopher, a rich store ot material for 
study—to the philanthropist, comforting assurances of the 
final escape of even the masses from enslavement to the pri¬ 
mary necessities of man—to the nations, the brighter h<ope of 
universal peace and brotherhood. 
In reporting upon this Exhibition, I shall observe the natu¬ 
ral order of considering, first, the connection of our own coun¬ 
try with it, secondly, the general character of the Exhibition 
as a whole, thirdly, the part taken in it by the various countries 
respectively, fourthly, the conclusions deducible as to the rela¬ 
tive progress of the nations represented. 
CONNECTION OF THIS COUNTHY WITH THE EXHIBITION. 
The isolated geographical position of the United States, as 
one of the great powers, affords at once a reason why we 
should not, and yet should, take prominent part in all really 
international industrial exhibitions. We may excuse our¬ 
selves, in some measure, from making a thorough representa¬ 
tion of our resources and industry across the water, because of 
our immense distance from the present great centres of civili¬ 
zation, where the exhibitions, in order to be international, must^ 
of necessity, be held. But, after all, this reason is rather s|)e- 
