Possibly, he If some one of those, who, a few years ago, broken in fortune and bankrupt in hope, had fled from the famine, and the pestilence, and the poverty, which, like dark spirits, brooded over this his native land; if some such one were now suddenly to return from a distant clime, and find himself placed on the western side of Merrion-square, we can fancy many of the sensations which he would experience. would first rub his eyes, and give him. self a shake or two in order to discover whether he was in a state of wakefulness or somnambulism. Then, finding that he was really awake, the thought would, for a moment, cross his bewildered imagination, that, like Rip Van Winkle, he had been reposing in some "sleepy hollow" for half a century or so, and had now opened his eyes upon a world that had played him a trick in his sleep, and gone a-head of him and his generation. But this phantasy, too, would quickly pass away, for he sees much around him just as he left them: the houses do not look an hour older, nay, he thinks they look a year or two younger and smarter; the windows are all particularly bright and cheery, and have quite a wide-awake air; the wood-work has the cleanly look of recent painting; and the whole external appearance is very much that of a man who has just got a suit of new clothes, which he is ostentatiously ventilating in public. And the people themselves are dressed much in the same fashion as when last he was in the metropolis; neither do they look upon him, as they pass with ill-suppressed astonishment, nor put their hands to their chins and stroke down imaginary beards. But his per VOL. XLI.-NO. CCXLVI. plexity would not, for all this, be a whit the less, nay, it would be the greater, as he misses many a familiar object. Where is the pleasant solitude of the thoroughfare, wherein he used to enjoy, undisturbed, his own sombre thoughts? Where is the luxuriant spring of tender grass-blades that, in this sweet month of May, was wont to shoot up between the pavement, checquering its whiteness with a refreshing green, and making the walk along the iron paling look like mosaic work? Where is the shabby dwarf wall that fenced in the fine lawn of the Royal Dublin Society, by the side of which, in by-gone days, the old blind clarionet player, so often wearily marched to and fro, performing some incomprehensible melody, every note of which his asthmatic breath converted into a spasmodic shriek, and his trembling fingers into an endless shake? Where is the little old man, with the white apron and the tray of oranges, whose voice, as he proclaimed his merchandise to the half dozen people who thronged the neighbourhood, was "Vor clamantis in desertis," as the voice of one crying in the wilderness? Where, oh! where, above all, is that stately and classic building, fronted by its ample verdant lawn that building, of which every Irishman, and, above all, every Dubliner, was justly proud-the House of the Royal Dublin Society? Gone, all gone! At least, so far as the eye can discover, And what sees he in their place? A vast pile of building, novel in its character, having little in common with the longestablished styles of old-world architecture, yet not without a beauty of its own, and a magnificent lightness that savours 2 Y somewhat of Orientalism. His eye first runs along the light arcade which, in alternating straight lines and curves, forms the basement front, thence he looks upwards and traces the outline of a large and lofty dome, standing out against the sky, and hiding from the view every object beyond it; this is flanked, at either side, by a dome of similar structure and smaller dimensions; beyond, are other domes, rising in depressed gradations, while from the summit of the central dome, a gay flag streams upon the air. Again, his attention is turned eastward, and he sees a busy festive throng pressing into the interior, through numerous doors, while hundreds loiter outside, gazing and gaping, like himself, at this unwonted spectacle, At length he espies in the crowd some old familiar face; he precipitates himself upon the body to which the face belongs; he clutches him by a projecting button of his coat; he stoppeth him, as did "The Ancient Mariner" stop "one of three." How impatiently the arrested man turns round and demands "Now wherefore stopp'st thou me ? "The entrance door is opened wide, And I must get within; The Marshal's there, and the Lord Mayor- But the new-arrived is not to be so easily shaken off— "He holds him with his skinny hand." He points in speechless wonder at the scene before him; he looks with an air of bewildered inquisitiveness into the face of his friend, who at length begins to have an inkling of what the other would be at, and so he exclaims— "God save thee, ancient comrade mine, Why look'st thou so? Pray, don't you know Yes, the transition within the last few years has been rapid and gratifying in Ireland. She has indeed rebounded from beneath the pressure which crushed her down to the dust, with an elasticity that is at least characteristic of the genius of her people, who step from beside the corpse in the wakehouse to dance in the outer chamberthat resembles her changeful skies, where tearful clouds are so often dissipated by the laughing sunshine. Yes, the transition has been great and fills us with hope for the future; for we confess we are of those who hope much for the future of Ireland, and who can see, in the pestilence and famine, the ultimate purifier and regenerator. And here is an evidence to our minds that the recuperative process has set in strongly in Ireland. Five short years since and we had great temporary buildings erected in this our city, even as we have to day, but they were the fever-sheds and the soup-kitchens. The structure which has, within the last few months, sprung up, like the palaces of Eastern fiction at the bidding of the magician, is that which one, who may fitly be called the high-priest of INDUSTRY, has raised as a temple in which all nations may minister to her. It is quite true that the Great Industrial Exhibition of 1853 is the achievement of an individual, and as such may afford no true test of the improvement of the country, inasmuch as individual wealth is quite consistent with national poverty. Nevertheless, as nations are composed of individuals, the riches, the virtues, the public spirit of the individual, to some extent, more or less as the case may be, affects the state. Besides, in an instance such as the present, we doubt that the wealth or the exertions of any individual could bring an undertaking of the kind to a successful issue, if there were not a full response on the part of the nation at large-if the national pulse was not again beating with somewhat of its former health, and the spirit of trade and enterprise were not again renascent. And thus we feel that we are justified in saying that this Great Industrial Exposition is an evidence of national improvement. Perhaps there is no fact of modern times that more emphatically exhibits the marvellous resources and progress of the age, than these great worldmarts which Britain alone has as yet been able to establish, though to another state is due the honour of first conceiving the idea. With all the wealth which the ancient dynasties of the earth-Egypt and Babylon, Persia and Greece, and Rome-each in their turn possessed; with their myriad vassals, their extended territories, their absolute power, how impossible would it have been to accomplish in years what we now see done in months!_nay, before the era of steam-power, and the establishment of railways, how vain and chimerical would it have been to attempt to bring together, as has been recently done in London, and is now doing in our own metropolis, the products, and the works, and the sciences of the world; and to congregate the denizens of every land, at a remote insular city, that they might interchange knowledge and thought, each learning something, each teaching something! What a glorious idea in the abstract is this great cosmopolitan congress of men and things. What a mighty traveller! what a centenarian in years is he who visits and ponders over a scene such as this!ay, travelled as none could have been a generation ago, and aged as was never an antedeluvian, although he may not have come a day's journey to our city, or counted a score years since his nativity. He has now practically traversed all the regions of the earth; he has compassed the wide world; examined all its productions in their natural state; inspected the arts and machinery by which these productions are modified and utilised. He has conversed with the people of every land, and made himself acquainted with the physical condition of every region; and so he has practically journeyed thousands of leagues, and seen and learned the sights and the knowledge which a patriarchial life could not have attained to. The conception of these great cosmopolitan exhibitions was undoubtedly one of the most enlarged, as it was one of the most important of the age. To execute that conception, and carry it out in all its completeness and entirety, in its generalities and its details, as we have since seen it executed and carried out in London, may well be deemed a marvel-the triumph of industry, and art, and science, all acting in the most harmonious and energetic concert. The spirit evoked, then, has not passed away, and it is a subject of no small or unjustifiable pride for Irishmen, that amidst the difficulties and depression from which our country was only then emerging, one of our own provincial cities, in the following year, got up an exhibition of arts, manufactures, and materials, which, though limited to Ireland, was nevertheless a highly creditable display of native industry; and now Ireland endeavours to follow the great example of the sister country, and institute an Industrial Exhibition, to which she invites the contributions of all countries. It may be as well that we should briefly state the circumstances from which the present Exhibition originated. The Royal Dublin Society has, as is well known, been for more than a century the active and earnest promoter of the objects for which it was established, previous to the existence of any similar institution in the empire" the improvement of husbandry, manufactures, and other useful arts and sciences." Amongst other means of promoting those objects, the Society has for the last twenty-five years held Triennial Exhibitions of Manufactures, which were productive of the most beneficial results. This year would, in due course, have been that for a similar exhibition, but one of the members of the Society conceived the great idea which he has carried out, and made the following proposition in June last: "Mr. Dargan understanding that the year 1853 will be the year for holding the Triennial Exhibition of Manufactures of the Royal Dublin Society, and being desirous of giving such Exhibition a character of more than usual prominence, and to render it available for the manufactures of the three kingdoms, proposes to place the sum of £20,000 in the hands of a Special Executive Committee, on the following conditions." The first of these conditions was, "that a suitable building should be erected on the lawn of the Royal Dublin Society." The last, that if the proceeds of the Exhibition should not amount to £20,000, and interest at 5 per cent., Mr. Dargan should receive the proceeds, less all expenses incurred, while any surplus over the expenses and interest should be at the disposal of the committee-a disinterested and generous proposal, by which he might lose, but could not gain. This proposal was cordially accepted by the Royal Dublin Society, and that body referred it to their council to take the necessary steps, in conjunction with Mr. Dargan or his appointees, to carry out the views contained in his letter. The design of Sir John Benson was adopted the building commenced in September; but during its progress the views of the committee were enlarging. From an imperial, it was determined to make the Exhibition one for the contributions of all nations. More funds were continually required, and instantly supplied from the same mu - nificient source, till at length the structure, such as we now see it, was opened at an expenditure, by Mr. Dargan, of over £50,000—an expenditure which must necessarily be still further largely added to. That we should, upon the whole, be able to present to the world a display such as that which was, in the year 1851, exhibited to mankind, could not for a moment be expected. Neither our resources nor our position render that possible; nevertheless, we have followed, with no laggard steps: and in some respects we have even outstripped our elder and wealthier sister. We have, for instance, brought together, in the fine-arts hall, collections of pictures, both of ancient and modern European schools, such as we dare confidently affirm were never before seen in one apartment; and he who now visits our Exhibition, will be able to inspect and study the works of art from the era of the ancient school of Byzantium, to the modern schools of France and Belgium; of Prussia, and Germany, and England, In this respect, as we have said, Ireland has gone a step beyond England, and in our judgment that step has been taken in the right direction. The Directory of the Great Exhibition of 1851, considering that their relations were far more extensive with the industrial occupations and products of mankind than with the fine arts, circumscribed the latter within very narrow limits. In their introductory observations to the fine arts class, 30, they make the following statement :— "Those departments of art which are, in a degree, connected with the mechanical processes which relate to working in metals, wood, or marble, and those mechanical processes which are applicable to the arts, but which, notwithstanding this, still preserve their mechanical character, as printing in colours, come properly within this class. Paintings, as works of art, are excluded; but as exhibiting any improvements in colours, they become admissible. When admitted, they are to be regarded not so much as examples of the skill of the artist, as of that of the preparer of colours." The consequence of this rule of exclusion was, that very few paintings indeed found a place in the Crystal Palace, and those were necessarily only very modern, and, as paintings, of only secondary merit. The Executive Com mittee of our Industrial Exhibition of 1853 have taken a different view of the matter; and, while they admit that the primary objects are those of a utilitarian character, they have admitted the fine arts, both of sculpture and painting, into the Exposition to an extent not before conceded to them. The Committee have stated the reasons that induced them to take this step, and we think those reasons are abundantly satisfactory : — The "It has not been without consideration," say they, in the introductory remarks prefixed to the Fine Arts' Catalogue, “it has not been without consideration that the claims of the fine arts, in their abstract character, and viewed apart from utilitarian industry (if, indeed, they can ever be justly so viewed), have been recognised. difficulty of exclusion appeared at the least as great as of admission. It is not easy often to draw the line of demarcation between objects which come within the strict limits of the fine arts, and those arts which are purely utilitarian in their character. There are few of the latter which do not, to a greater or less extent, include or intimately ally themselves to the former; and, therefore, were the boundary to be deaned with a scrupulous determination to exclude every article whose object is solely utilitarian, the result would be to reject from the Exhibition much that now finds a place within it. When the mere necessities of life have been satisfied, civilisation superadds to the useful the ornamental, and soon learns to recognise it as a necessity of life also; for the perception of the beautiful is innate to the mind of man, and when the useful has been achieved, the cravings for the beautiful will seek to be satisfied. Hence sculpture, in the most extended acceptation of that term, enters into the composition of a vast proportion of the articles designed for utilitarian purposes. The same may be said of painting. In truth it is difficult, when once we have emerged from the rudest and most elementary state of society, to deny that the fine arts are themselves utilitarian. The desires of the eye for that which is beautiful in form and colour, if not essential to mere existence, assuredly are so to the enjoyment of life; and hence sculpture and painting, in the abstract, may, it is presumed, be fitly exhibited without transgressing the strict limits which should be assigned to an Industrial Exhibition. "Under this conviction, the committee have admitted works of fine art which are not utilitarian, in the ordinary sense of the word; and they have done so the rather that the study of sculpture and painting is essential to the ornamentation of almost every thing in ordinary use. Nor let it be forgotten, as one of the uses of the fine arts unconnected with industrial objects, that the statuary and the painter contribute to the pages of history as well as the scribe or the printer. The former perpetuates and diffuses the forms and the character of historical persons and events of natural history, and scenery, and costume, as the latter cannot do.' In our judgment, the committee have taken a very just view of the subject, and we believe the public will be of the same opinion. Indeed it is not easy to understand how, in the Crystal Palace, casts of many of the finest works were admitted pretty freely as specimens of "plastic art," while pictures were excluded, though one would think they might be considered as specimens of the art of colouring. The former, as every one knows, and the Directory themselves admitted, "greatly tended to relieve the general aspect of the Exhibition, and their happy and judicious arrangement in the great structure formed one of its most interesting features." The latter, we believe, especially with our present experience, would have been a feature equally interesting, and highly instructive. Certainly, in traversing our own halls, one cannot but be struck with the fine effect on the one hand of the paintings, classed in the several apartments allotted to them, and on the other, of the enlivening relief of the sculpture which everywhere meets the eye, and contrasts most agreeably with the various industrial objects near which they are placed. Indeed, It is not our intention to enter into the details of the Exhibition. as yet, the arrangements are not sufficiently complete to enable us to do this even if were we so disposed. Whoever has been present at the Great Exposition in Hyde Park-and who has not?-will comprehend readily the general disposition and classification of objects under their different heads of raw materials, manufactures, machinery, and fine arts. For ourselves, we prefer to record the feelings with which a first view of the interior inspired us, as we believe it must inspire every one who is in the habit of reflecting upon what he sees. Whatever difference of opinion may exist as to the architectural effect of the building, as seen from without, there is but one estimate of the interior. Every person whom we have heard, competent to pronounce upon it, admits that it is not only artistically fine, but admirably suited for its purposes. And it would be difficult to accord too much praise to the genius and ability of its architect, Sir John Benson, who has carried out in its integrity his original design, varied only by such additions as the increasing exigencies of the Committee required with the enlargement of their views. The central hall is a noble apartment, longer and wider than the transept of the Crystal Palace, and but two feet less in height. The roof springs from coupled pillars, and spans the room in a semicircular arch. From the top flows in, through fluted glass, faintly tinged with green, a cool, mellow light in an abundance amply sufficient for the full display of every object, and yet so admirably toned, that the most delicate fabrics will not suffer from exposure to its influence. In nothing does the building in Dublin more strongly contrast with the Crystal Palace, than in the quantity of light admitted. And, though the effect of the latter may have been more gorgeous, the former is, on the whole, preferable. Entering through the eastern extremity, let us pause for a moment as our eyes traverse the vast range presented to them. On either side run light galleries over the aisles that separate the great hall from the smaller ones, and through many a graceful shaft and light lattice-work the vision penetrates north and south far away into aisles more distant still. In the far front, stands within the apsis, the noble organ; and all around are banners and escutcheons charged with heraldic devices. And now turn from the survey of the halls, to a contemplation of the objects that fill them. Do not at first endeavour to fix your attention upon any solitary subjectlet not statue, or fabric, or rich ta. pestry, or glittering jewellery engross you, but take in the mass as a whole, as you would take in the expanse of some fine diversified landscape without lingering to count the hills, or make acquaintance with each individual tree. Then will you feel an emotion at once sublime and solemn. You will feel that you are in a great and noble templeone of the greatest and noblest that man can rear-a temple of INDUSTRY; and you will know that she, the divi |