THE PARIS EXHIBITION.
A circular has reached us containing a resolution passed by the British Jurors of the Exhibition, on the 2d instant—" That it is desirable an early intimation should be given to the British public of the great excellence of the Exhibition, and of its marked advance in the objects exhibited over that of 1851"; and "that it is eminently worthy of the attention of artists, of manufacturers and their workmen, and of all classes in the United Kingdom." So ample an acknowledgment of the value of the Exhibition, coming from so influential and well-informed a quarter, is highly satisfactory. Nevertheless, this kind of appeal for visitors looks like another indication of what seems to be but too generally understood—that the Paris Exhi- bition, far dissimilar from its London forerunner, is not a commercial success. We have heard, indeed, that so strong is the feeling of this fact among the Parisians, that recently, on the first Sunday when the great display was thrown open to them gratis, no crowds flocked to it, but, ani- mated by a laudable sensitiveness for the national credit, the holiday- makers preferred resorting to their ordinary places of amusement, as if there would be indecent haste in seeing gratis at the first opportunity that which would have been benefited had they paid earlier to see it. Another point suggested by the Jurors' circular, and specially affecting the possible English visitor, is the apparent want of any organization on a large scale for cheapening or otherwise facilitating the means of trans- it. We hear of no reduced fares, no monster excursions, no allurements in the way of moderate-priced lodgings or gregarious accommodation. Perhaps the railways and steamers and lodginghouse-keepers are pont- poning their attractions till the visit of Queen Victoria shall draw in its train its shoals of loyal Britons—wide-eyed and gaping : but the policy of deferring any such arrangements till so late a period as the middle of August, if that be really the appointed time for the Royal avatar, may be questioned.
Meanwhile, even irrespectively of the more iniec4.11ancous contents of the Petals de l'Exposition and the machinery building, and before the confirmation of personal inspection, one cannot be wrong in saying that such a collectiozt as that which Paris now contains of the general body of European art, must assuredly warrant the Jurors in their address to artists and public ; a collection in which Englishmen may be gratified to remem- ber that they outnumber-not to hint of outshining-united Germany, and that their artists have at length succeeded, if accounts be true, in convincing sceptical and supercilious Paris that they have men to show besides the traditional triad of Hogarth, Reynolds, and Martin.
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