374 
PAEIS UNIYEESAL 
their appropriate decoration. The morning brought the sun¬ 
shine, soft air and freshness appropriate to the opening of the. 
spring-time—welcome auguries of the future of the Great Ex¬ 
hibition of the Industry of all Nations, this time to be inau¬ 
gurated simply by the visit of the Emperor and Empress, with 
the French Ministers of State and other dignitaries, amid the 
booming of cannon and the shouts of the hundred thousand 
or more people who cheered the royal cortege and joined 
in the celebration of the great event. 
There was less glitter and pomp than in 1862—the imperial 
party appearing in plain citizen’s dress, and no set speeches be¬ 
ing made—but really more of a certain quiet dignity that did 
honor to the Arts of Peace, and, in view of all the circum¬ 
stances, eminently befitted the occasion. 
THE EXPOSITION ITSELF. 
By a regulation which seems to me to have been seriously 
faulty, the Juries were required to complete their work of in¬ 
spection by the 14th of April, only two weeks after the date of 
formal Opening. Under any circumstances, so brief a time 
would be too limited for so extensive and difficult a work; 
and in the present case it was totally impracticable for them to 
conclude their work before the 1st of May. Even then many 
articles, detained on the way to Paris, or, for a time, after arri¬ 
val, lost in the mountains of boxes that filled the annexes, or 
by mistake of the distributor, delivered at the wrong court, 
were either never seen by the Juries at all, or if seen, not until 
after their decisions had been made and were irrecoverably in 
the hands of the Imperial Commission. Accordingly, passing 
over the month of continued confusion and severe labor that 
intervened between the opening and the 1st of May, when the 
work of preparation may be said to have been at last finished 
—a period which few who shared in its vexations will vol¬ 
untarily recall—I propose to enter at once upon the practical 
study and discussion of the Exposition, in such of its several 
departments as promise to be of most value to the industry of 
our own country. It is hardly necessary to premise by calling 
