HOW TO READ THE RYPOSITION.
" Toniormsprets, that is our motto," says M. Jules Janin, speaking of the French; and he appeals to the Exposition for his proof. What peculiar views people may take ! He visits the Crystal Pa- lace and notices the sudden growth of "the crop of splendid works, swathed but a few moments back in the holland and brown paper of the bale-maker "—
" It is the effect of a magician's wand, and the French portion is espe- cially remarkable for the ease and rapidity with which the wand is obeyed. The space, which but now was empty, when you pass a second time you find filled by France. She waited till the last moment—her invariable cus- tom—and then went ahead. At this very moment—and I have just left the spot—nothing is done on our side, nothing is ready, and yet nobody appears anxious, so certain is it that we shall be ready tomorrow. This is our strength. And it is our motto, Toujours prate "
Now, ever-promptitude was certainly not the quality displayed by M. Janin's countrymen at the Exposition. Taste they have dis- played, ingenuity, variety, activity, anything but punctuality. So far from being ready " tomorrow," they were many days afterwards still beginning some parts of their preparations. According to M. Janin, they displayed a very striking reliance on that nonexistent punctuality ; and in his person a very characteristic satisfaction with the degree of accomplishment. For him " tomorrow " was a fait accompli ; and probably his satisfaction was not at all di- minished when he saw the other side of tomorrow.
Equally singular is his view of the United States— e most complete branch of the Exhibition at the present moment is the American ; it is complete ; it is largely and solidly established. Order reigns in the American exhibition ; but it is open to one objection—namely, the want of objects to exhibit. The Americans have sent, among other pro- ductions, (I don't speak of raw productions, foreertain reasons,) a great num- ber of wigs and of beaver-hats ; among other hats were shown those of the famous hatter Genin, celebrated throughout the universe for having pur- chased at the highestpossible price the first ticket for the first concert of Jenny Lind. Such is glory—the greatness of a name ! To purchase a great name for 1200 francs—such is happiness."
Strange, that what was " solidly established" on the Wednes- day should be in great part void and nonapparent on the Thurs- day ! It would seem, however, that the French writer accepts what he sees at the Exposition as a fair representation of Anglo- Saxon America. The Union, no doubt, has mapped out for itself a large region at the Crystal Palace, with compartments for the separate States—" New 1 ork," " Pennsylvania," " Alabama," Sze.; and if several of these compartments are empty, N. Janin infers, with truly Gallic rapidity of perception, that he only product of those States must be voidness, that another is adequately repre- sented by a packing-case, and that the Union at large such is the logical sequence of ideas—is mainly distinguished among nations for its photographs, hats, wigs, and carpet-brooms. Accepting this representation as complete, he must ignore Lowell. It is ob- served also, that no State has sent any specimens of one species of property which, according to English writers, forms a large part of speculative industry and accumulated wealth—Negro slaves. Comprehensive as the Expositon is, indeed, very erroneous con- ceptions might be formed as to the genius and achievements of the communities represented there, if we look no further than our eyes. It is remarked that some of the still barbarous communi- ties, those which are most backward, or those which are youngest in time, are the most perfect in setting themselves out. India, for example, has taken great pains, and you see her in many phases, from her industry to her war and her favourite games. Distant India was quite ready ; slow Turkey was on the spot ; neighbour- ing France, " toujours prate," was to be complete "tomorrow." The backward Canadians wholly distanced in completeness, general and particular, the go-ahead Yankees. Infant South Australia could exhibit her arts, her geography, the variedproducts of her soil and industry, the surpassing mineral wealth of her mines and her corn—the first in the world though the last.born of Ceres ; witness the specimens displayed among the imports of Hull. In truth, the selection of representative specimens sent to this vast international exhibition, the first in the history of mankind, necessarily depended in a great degree upon chance,—even upon such casualties as the ambition or intelligence of individual contri- butors, as well as in a no less degree upon what happened to be predominant feelings for the day among the communities repre- sented. France, for example, desired to show off the perfect man- ner in which she is " toujours prate." The Anglo-Americans, filled with the idea that anything American is excellent, supreme, " thrashes the world," is glorious to look upon, all-sufficient, hold that her carpet-brooms command the worship of the globe : " Eu- rope is her washpot, and over England will she cast out her shoe."
Van Diemen's Land, on the contrary, has a sense of being grievously underrated, and accordingly vindicates, not only her pro- ductiveness but her civilization, by showing that she does possess the means of furnishing a house and supplying families with all domestic appliances. In the comparison, you would think New South Wales, with its single chiffonier, an uncivilized wilderness, "without a thing to be had." Yet we all know that Sydney is an emporium of luxury, even to high rents and gas. But the New South Welsh mind is governed by certain leading ideas, simple enough to be represented, though truly gigantic in their material form and ultimate significance : the stockman is a great fact, and the simple pair of shoes, which at the first glance suggest such dis- paraging ideas of the Australian Hoby, are also a great fact : it is thus that Anglo-Saxon first walks the wilds of that island-conti- nent ; the very footing on which he stands, here before you stands. The tallow of New South Wales is a gigantic fact, coordinate with her wool,—those barrels and those bags are " samples," eloquent
it
with future history. New South Wales needs not viiksltetalscp ohairs and tables : her very woolgathering is practicalag her tallow an imperial institution—and here they are-
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