Paris in 1855. There were 1,700 French exhibitors at London in 1851, and 2,500 English exhibitors at Paris in 1855. Although she has received the lion's share of space, France is reported to be dissatisfied with her allotment. Something like 132,000 square feet has, I believe, been assigned to our neighbour, against 119,000 feet in 1851; but in these details I must be understood not to speak with any official precision, as the exact apportionment has scarcely yet transpired. There have been nearly 9,000 French applicants for exhibiting space on this occasion, of whom 5,000 were from the Departments, 3,200 from Paris, and the remainder from Algeria. These, however, have been gradually reduced down to about 3,500. There is one satisfactory feature with regard to the French department, and that is that the exhibitors are likely to be ready in time on the present occasion, instead of being about two months in arrear as in 1851 and 1855. The Emperor Napoleon expressed the strongest wish to send over the most celebrated pictures from the Louvre for the Fine Arts Department, and when he found that the early closing of the lists, and the large applications for space prevented their being received, he determined to hang the walls of the French Department at least with some of the finest paintings. Among the pictures coming from France will be that of the Battle of Solferino, by Horace Vernet.

With the space at her command, and the energy, skill, and funds necessary for the purpose, France will, no doubt, make a most creditable home and colonial display. She will gather together the best and most varied specimens from her numerous outlying dependencies, which, exclusive of Algeria, contain a population of one million souls; from her Pacific possessions, the Marquesas, Society Islands, and New Caledonia; from her Indian dependencies, Cochin China, and Reunion; from her African settlements, and from her American Colonies, Guiana, Guadaloupe, Martinique, St. Pierre and Miquelon.

The States of the Zollverein that exhibited in 1851 were 25 in number, namely, the kingdoms of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, and Wurtemburg, the Grand Duchies of Baden, Hess, Saxe-Weimar, and Luxembourg, Electoral Hesse, the Duchies of Brunswick, Nassau, Saxe Altenburg, Saxe Meiningen, Saxe Cobourg, Saxe Gotha, Anhalt-Dessau, Anhalt Kathen, Anhalt Bernburg, the City of Frankfort, Principalities of Reuss, elder and younger, Lippe-Biesterfeld, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.

In 1854 the second of the quinquennial exhibitions of the produce and manufactures of the States composing the German Customs Union was held at Munich, and a report thereon, by Mr. Consul-General Ward, was published in the 3rd vol. of the Society's Journal.

Austria (whose commercial relations with the Union had been drawn closer by the treaty of February, 1853), as well as the several States in the North which are not members of the Union, were invited to contribute. This proposal was accepted by Austria, the Principality of Lichtenstein, the Hanseatic Towns, and the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, but Mecklenburg-Schwerin did not exhibit. Of the 33 contributing States 26 were members of the Customs Union. The only foreign countries which took part were the non-German dominions of Austria, it being contrary to the principles of the German Customs Union to invite foreign countries generally.

There were about 7,000 exhibitors, of whom 2,200 were in textile manufactures, 1,100 in metal manufactures, and 809 in porcelain, glass, &c. According to Mr. Ward's report, "This exhibition was rather a display of the industrial powers of Southern Germany than of those of the entire country. Austria was glad to seize the opportunity of taking part for the first time in an exhibition of industry of the German Customs Union. She made great exertions to be well represented, and was not altogether unsuccessful. The Austrian Government, which ardently desires the incorporation of the whole of Germany into a General Customs Union, was desirous of showing that the

Austrian manufacturers were making steady progress, and were, in some respects, already qualified to compete with the industry of the North and West."

The textile manufactures, Mr. Ward considered, had not made much progress. In machinery, and the working of metallic substances, there were more signs of inprovement, and in articles of an artistic character, whether belonging to the department of the Fine Arts, or of a mixed nature, combining beauty of form with subserviency to practical utility, there were many models well worthy of our notice and imitation.

The production of fine wools in Germany seems to be on the decline, partly, perhaps, owing to the increasing importation of the wools of Australia into Europe. The entire stock of sheep in the States of the German Union is scarcely more now than it was twenty years ago, being set down at 22,000,000 head, a number nearly equalled by the British colonies in Australia, and from whence we are at present supplied with about 60,000,000lbs. of colonial wool annually. The woollen manufacture is undoubtedly still one of the most flourishing branches of German industry. Wool has, in many articles, taken the place of cotton for female dresses, light woollens and worsteds being generally preferred.

From the commonest blankets to the finest cassimeres and woollen velvets, specimens were displayed at Munich, and the Austrian broadcloths from Bohemia and Moravia gave evidence of having arrived at a high degree of perfection. The Austrian velvets, plush, and embroidered stuffs, were generally good, but in plain silks and ribbons she stood below the Zollverein. A silver table service, made for the Crown Prince of Saxony, from the designs of Professor Reitschel, possessed much artistic merit. The marbles, porphyries, and mosaics formed some of the most striking objects of the Exhibition, and in many of them a great deal of artistic beauty was observable. The Great Exhibition of 1851 gave Germany the spur in some branches of her industry, and the French Exhibition in 1855 had a similar effect.

In Prussia, there are already about 500 inten ling exhibitors announced as prepared to take part in sending contributions. The pictures from the Royal Palace will alone occupy 1,000 feet in the Fine Arts Gallery, and the magnificent service of plate presented by the City of Berlin to the Crown.Prince on his marriage, will form an attractive feature. The "true and veritable" manufacturer of eau de Cologne, M. Jean Maria Farina, intends keeping a fountain of this perfume playing during the whole term of the Exhibition, no doubt to the great delectation of the ladies. Recently, the Secretary of the Prussian Legation, and two of the Prussian Commissioners, have had personal interviews with Her Majesty's Commissioners, arranging details and announcing results accomplished.

The States of Northern Germany, not belonging to the Zollverein, which took part in the Great Exhibition of 1851, were the kingdom of Hanover, the Grand Duchies of Oldenberg, Mecklenberg Schwerin, and MecklenburgStrelitz, the Duchy of Holstein, and the free cities of Hamburg and Lubeck.

The President of the Polytechnic Society of Leipsic has issued a circular to the Governments of Germany, earnestly entreating that measures may be taken for causing the productions of the country to be properly represented in 1862. Kaulbach's 10yal portraits, and the bronzes and medals from Hanover, will possess considerable interest.

The empire of Austria will be represented by about 1,800 exhibitors, from Austria Proper, Hungary, Croatia, and Transylvania. Austria will be particularly strong in agricultural and mineral products. The Commune of Vienna has voted 10,000 florins to assist such exhibitors as are not able to defray the transmission charges. The Emperor will send the best fine art treasures from all his palaces, to Paris he only sent those from the Belvedere. The oil paintings will date from 1781, commencing with the works of the great master, Heinrich Fuger.

Foreign shipping, 1851 and 1861 being exceptional years, which can scarcely be fairly contrasted, even were the statistical returus for the present year complete; and moreover the subject has been pre-engaged. I have, however, opened to you a few pages from the national ledger, which will serve to show what has been the industrial progress at home, and I have also told you something of what has been done abroad. I have gone over the foreign data of the Exhibition of 1851, endeavoured to trace some of its results, and shadowed forth in outline the steps already taken by the principal countries in order to be fitly represented in the forthcoming Exhibition. To have done this fully for all would have been impossible in the time allotted here. But I trust it has enabled the members to obtain some little insight into the great exertions making, and that it will lead to much additional information being furnished in the course of the discussion, by many who are much better informed on special details than I can be.

It results from the course cf our inquiry that we shall have represented next year in London the best products, art, and industry of Foreign Countries, having an aggregate population of over 900 millions of people, besides evidences of the scientific research, taste, manufactures, industry, and wealth of the large population of the United Kingdom and its dependencies. The contributions from foreign countries will be far more extensive and universal than in 1851, and the countries unrepresented will be very few and unimportant. That the International Exhibition of 1862 will be a great success, is now beyond a doubt. Everything thus far has tended to favour it. Foreign governments and private exhibitors have extended to the undertaking the warmest support. honorary and pecuniary, and all have worked zealously, energetically, and systematically.

The results of these collective and combined endeavours cannot fail to be advantageous hereafter to Great Britain and the world at large.

DISCUSSION.

The CHAIRMAN, in inviting discussion, said he saw at the table one of the Vice-Presidents who had recently returned from Florence, where he had been representing the Society, at the request of the Council, and he (the Chairman) hoped he would be induced to favour the Society with a few remarks.

Mr. WINKWORTH said that he cheerfully responded to the invitation of the Chairman, but as he had only arrived in London the previous day, he feared that anything he could say on the subject before the meeting would be of rather a miscellaneous than concise character. He had accepted the invitation of the Council to become one of a deputation to the Florence Exhibition, and had been appointed to report specially on the department in which his previous experience as juror and reporter in 1851 and 1855, might be supposed to have in some measure qualified him, viz., silk, raw, thrown, and manufactured. In the discharge of the duty thus entrusted to him, he was brought into juxtaposition with many jurors and others competent to assist him, and the circumstances to which he had just alluded gave him a position of which he was not slow to avail himself. The results of his mission he should take occasion to embody in a report to the Council, as soon as he was able to arrange the materials he had collected. In the meantime, it would be agreeable to them to know that Mr. Simmonds (who never touched upon any subject, whether at a long or a short notice, without exhausting it, much to the advantage of those who heard him) had by no means exaggerated the expectations that had been formed as to the manner in which foreign countries, especially those of France and Italy, would respond to the invitations given to them. He had had the opportunity, within the last few days, whilst in Paris, of consulting with some of the most eminent dealers in silk goods, and he knew it was the intention of

ex

the manufacturers of Lyons and St. Etienne, not only to exhibit largely, but to exhibit more specially than they had done before. They knew that in the Exhibition of 1851, many silk goods were exhibited which had, in fact, been manufactured some years previously, and were culled from the best specimens they had been able to produce in that country; but on the ensuing occasion they intended to exhibit their very latest and best productions. In point of fact, this they must do, for the late commercial treaty would expose them to a measure of competition with English silks which they had not perienced before, but which he hoped they would find to be really a trial of skill as producers, in which, paradoxical as it might appear, both parties would be gainers. The truth was there were classes of goods which they could produce with greater facility and excellence than could be done in this country. On the other hand, they had candidly admitted that they had no conception we could produce anything so well made as many of the specimens he had shown them from England. To go back to Italy, without anticipating what his friends Mr. Digby Wyatt and Mr. Foster might have to say of the departments on which they had undertaken to report, he might state that the Exhibition at Florence was a highly creditable one, considering it was purely national, and that it was the first attempt of a new nation which had been heretofore split into small and separate governments, in many instances fettered by vexatious fiscal impediments, which had, of course, exercised a deleterious influence over their productions. It was now a large and almost complete kingdom, and considering they had only three months' notice that this National Exhibition was to be opened, they had collected a most creditable display of their ability as producers, but which, as far as time would permit, would be surpassed by the specimens they intended to send over to this country next year. In the department of silk, raw and thrown, the Exhibition at Florence far excelled those of 1851 and 1855; and they had told him that on the ensuing occasion their display would be greater in quantity, and, if possible, better even in quality. He might add that there were one or two departments of manufactures in Italy in which they had exhibited considerable progress, and from which they intended to make a selection for the Exhibition in this country next year. These were particularly sculpture and mosaics. With respect to the statistics to which Mr. Simmonds had drawn their attention, they knew that the kingdom of Italy being really a new one, it was very difficult to obtain correc,t figures and details, but, as far as practicable, Mr. Siminonds appeared to have obtained correct information and to have made good use of it. He had only to say, in conclusion, that altogether he must confirm, as far as his opportunities of observation and information went, the opinion which Mr. Simmonds had so well expressed, viz., that the ensuing display of progress made in Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, since 1851, would fully justify the Society in the measures they had successfully adopted to inaugurate another International Exhibition.

The CHAIRMAN said it had been intimated to him that there were probably some gentlemen present representing foreign countries as Commissioners for the Exhibition. If there were he should not only be glad to hear their remarks, but also to hold out to then the right-hand of fellowship on this occasion.

Mr. MANLY HOPKINS (Commissioner for the Sandwich Islands) said the king of the country which he had the honour to represent had warmly responded to the call to contribute to the forthcoming Exhibition. That country had recently undergone a transition, and had been thrown very much upon its own natural resources. Amongst its products he had no doubt would be exhibited sugar and coffee as fine as were produced in any part of the world. They would also exhibit a new description of lichen, which was now used in the States for the purpose of making stuffing for bedding and pillows, and which ha

believed would eventually be used for those purposes in this country. The people of the Sandwich Islands were now growing wool, but their manufactures at present were few and small. They were, however, a nation bursting rapidly into civilized life, and accepted all European traditions of civilization very readily indeed. He hoped in the course of a few months to produce a volume on the subject of the Sandwich Islands, which he believed would throw some light upon the history of a people of whom hitherto very little had been known, and who had been lost sight of in the great mass of mankind. He added that with a view to the improvement of the breed of sheep in that country, the Emperor of the French had sent out four of his beautiful flock as a present to the king.

Mr. HEMMING (Commissioner for Venezuela) said, 'at the present moment he could add but little to the information which had been given in the paper with respect to Venezuela. From the time when the notices were first issued by Her Majesty's commissioners, inviting foreign countries to contribute to the Exhibition, he had urged upon the government of Venezuela, the necessity of sending, as far as they could, the best samples of the various productions of the country, many of which they had in great perfection. The meeting was no doubt aware, that for a long time past, that part of the world had been politically in a disturbed state, which had prevented exertions being made to develope the resources of the country; but in a letter which he had received by the last mail from the foreign secretary, a hope was expressed that they were so far settling down, that they would be able to give some attention to the carrying out of these objects, which he had no doubt would advance the commercial intercouse between that country and England. There was one subject which was at the present moment of universal interest-that was the growth of cotton. It had long been known that Venezuela produced some of the finest cotton in the world; but in proportion as progress was made in the cultivation of cotton in the Southern States of America, so much capital being embarked there and machinery imported, in like proportion were the cotton growers of Venezuela discouraged, not possessing such advantages, and the result had been that for some years past they had given their attention more to the cultivation of coffee, cocoa, and sugar, all of which they produced in the greatest perfection. It happened, however, that the exports of those commodities had been principally to Spain and Hamburg, and he had had little opportunity of judging of their quality in this country. In April last he sent to Venezuela a list of productions for which that country was most famous, urging them to send over samples, and assuring them that, to the best of his humble abilities, they should be properly displayed in the approaching Exhibition. He was quite convinced that, with the favourable climate and great fertility of the soil of that country, a large number of products likely to attract favourable notice here would be sent. At the present time they were large customers to England; and in a period of three months they took from Liverpool manufactured goods to the amount of 600,000 dollars, without having returned to this country a shilling's-worth of the productions of their own soil. His great object was, that there should be an interchange of their valuable productions in return for the manufactured goods which they took from England; and if they sent us cotton and took back our manufactures, it would be an immense advantage to both countries.

The CHAIRMAN remarked that it was of great importance that they should send samples of their cotton.

Mr. HEMMING added that he had obtained samples of the latest exportations of cotton from Venezuela to Hamburg. At a time when the cotton of Louisiana was bringing 6d. per pound, that from Venezuela was fetching 7. per pound. The merchant by whom the cotton was shipped had told him this article paid him better than any other description of goods he exported.

Mr. GEBALD RALSTON (Commissioner for Liberia) anticipated that a goodly number of articles would be sent from the country which he represented. He was happy to say the English Government had favoured them by ordering the Royal Mail steamer to call there in January to bring over the articles for the Exhibition in May. Those articles would consist of coffee, sugar, camwood, ivory, gold dust, cotton, ground nuts, and a great many other productions, and he believed the specimens of cotton exhibited would not be the least interesting amongst them. Mr. Thomas Clegg, of Manchester, who had devoted so much attentien to the procuring of cotton on the West Coast of Africa, had informed him that the specimens sent from Liberia to the Cotton Supply Association of Manchester were decidedly excellent, and were better than any received from the Southern States of America, excepting the Sea Island cotton. Unfortunately the Liberians had not hitherto devoted themselves to the production of cotton, because they had found it more profitable to cultivate sugar. But he thought it would be worth their while to devote more attention to cotton, and he hadno doubt their exports of that article would soon be very largely increased.

Mr. MORGAN said he did not come within the category of those who had previously addressed the meeting, as the official representative of any foreign country, although he aspired to represent every one of them. He had set on foot a scheme to assist the exhibitors in the foreign departments, and he fully endorsed all that had fallen from Mr. Simmonds that evening. What that gentleman had stated was, no doubt, in a great measure derived from official sources, whilst his (Mr. Morgan's) information was obtained from private sources. He had sent out representatives to Spain, Portugal, France, and British North America, and another was just about to start for Berlin; and from all the information he had received, he quite coincided with the statements Mr. Simmonds had made. Not having been present during the reading of the early part of the paper he was not aware whether Mr. Simmonds had referred to the fact that there was an intention on the part of the French workpeople to visit the Exhibition in large numbers. When he was last in Paris, measures were being taken for organising the visit of large numbers of the ouvriers of that city. He believed there would be no difficulty in effecting that, but the difficulty would be in providing for such masses of people when they arrived. It had been matter of discussion in this room that there should be a reduction in the entrance fee to the Exhibition to the working classes, and he hoped that subject would not be lost sight of. With regard to Canada, it appeared from the latest letters he had received, that nothing definite had yet been done there with regard to contributions to the Exhibition. The authorities had refused to advance any money towards the fund. Private exhibitors were anxious to come forward, but were holding back to hear the ultimate decision of the government with regard to the aid they would grant in promoting this object.

The CHAIRMAN said upon him now devolved the easy and grateful task of moving a vote of thanks to Mr. Simmonds for the facts so industriously collected, and he believed so accurately laid before them-facts which would not cease to be of value when this meeting terminated, but which they would afterwards consult in print with satisfaction, and he had no doubt with profit. Mr. Simmonds had made one remark, which was at the bottom of the whole of the case-that was that it was for the interest of every country to communicate and transact business with every other country; that each country produced something peculiar to itself and valuable in its nature, which it could exchange with other countries with profit to both. There were some countries on the earth which had been peculiarly the fields or theatres of the great wars that had taken place-the Netherlands might be mentioned as one instance. It happened at the present time to be the good