The Paris Exhibition, though still not complete, is suffi- ciently
so for the critics who are daily publishing their impressions, sometimes, we fear, with a strong wish to con- ciliate individual exhibitors. Corrupt or honest, able or foolish, they all, however, concur in two judgments. One is, that the Exhibition is too big, that- the variety of displays is too distracting, and that visitors are bewildered by the difficulty of finding their way about. Even the crowds are too great, and with 370,000 visitors in one day, there may at some unlucky moment be a catastrophe. The second judgment is, that the Exhibition contains nothing absolutely original, no new invention of moment, no entirely novel application of thought even to design. The best of everything is there, and of course educates those who observe closely ; but there is nothing, not even a machine, which will forward the cause of human pro- gress. The huge show is, in fact, a museum of the things of the day, which may be useful, but is not stimulating. As a speculation, however, the affair will succeed, the crowd of persons with cheque-books drawn to Paris to enjoy themselves or to purchase being far beyond the highest expectation, and including not only all peoples of Europe and America, but of Asia.
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