EXHIBITION OF 1862. 
161 
by displays of paper, printing, book-binding, fabrics of wool, 
cotton, hemp, flax and silk, and by lace, hosiery, thread, car¬ 
pets, clothing, dressing-cases, philosophical and surgical instru¬ 
ments, &c.; while the closed galleries, next the outer walls, on 
Cromwell and Exhibition roads, were devoted to what is said 
to have been the finest exhibition of works of art ever made 
by British artists. 
In the central avenue, to which I have already several times 
referred, as being at the same time the dividing line be¬ 
tween Great Britain and her colonies and the rest of the exhibi¬ 
tion, and between the east and west halves of the palace proper, 
there were still other objects of British origin and of notable 
character—Durham’s statue of the Queen, Jones’ Greek tem¬ 
ple, with Gibson’s tinted statue of Yenus, Benson’s immense 
and wonderful clock, a statue of Shakspeare and an extensive 
case with a complete collection of samples of Liverpool im¬ 
ports being the most important. 
Beyond the central avenue, I encountered the courts of 
OTitEK COUNTRIES. 
First, upon the left of the nave, Italy, with a beautiful display 
of the products of her mines and her agriculture, carved woods, 
decorative furniture, saddlery, cases of furs, velvets, silks, straw 
manufactures, flowers, I’lorentine mosaics, bronzes, statuettes ; 
Kome, with her splendid collection of statues, and paint¬ 
ings, inlaid and other mosaics, cameos and bronzes, together 
with a variety of textile fabrics and porcelain manufactures; 
Portugal, with her show of vegetable productions, wines and 
oils, shawls, silk and cotton fabrics, straw manufactures, corks 
and cork manufactures; and Spain, displaying cases of figs, 
olives, raisins, wines and oils, together with numerous products 
of her quarries and mines. 
Then came the empire of brilliant, glory-loving France ; 
occupying one grand open court more than ten times as large 
as these, and the most tastefully arranged and magnificent 
one in the whole palace, and presenting to the admiring 
gaze of the multitudes who thronged about her 
11 Ag. Ttans. 
