DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1311#0141
OF THE WORLD'S INDUSTRY. 113
sented the exterior of the Exhibition; the second, its interior; the third, the grand open-
ing to all nations; and the fourth, the distribution of prizes. These compartments were
intended to be twice the size of those on the base of the Nelson column in Trafalgar-
square, and to have sculptured figures in niches, on either side, to give the subjects
of the castings in an emblematic sense, showing the noble intention of His Royal High-
ness relative to each; and at the extreme angles of the base, carried out as abutments,
were sculptured blocks, upon which were illustrated the emblems of royalty and peace.
Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, as emblematic figures, were seated at the four angles
of the base; above which the globe of the earth was represented in polished granite, on
which was placed a marble statue of the prince, in a metal temple, gilt, and dedicated to
Prosperity and Eame, with the crown of England above, to denote the royal auspices
under which the Great Exhibition had been so successfully accomplished.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE GENERAL BEARING OF THE GREAT EXHIBITION ON THE PROGRESS OF ART
AND SCIENCE.
PUOEESSOE WHEWELL—CRITICISM APTEE POETRY—POETRY 01" THE GEEAT EXHIBITION—OBJECT
OF CRITICISM—XjIEEEEENCE BETVJEEN THE ARTS IN ORIENTAL AND EUROPEAN COUNTRIES—
CLASSIFICATION, ETC., ETC.
We extract the following able remarks from the Inaugural Lecture, delivered by the
learned and philosophic Dr. "Whewell, at the request of the Council of the Society of Arts,
on " The general bearing of the Great Exhibition on the progress of Art and Science."
" It seems to me," observes the modest, though talented lecturer, " as if I were
one of the persons who have the least right of any to address an audience like this
on the subject of the Great Exhibition of the Art and Industry of All Nations, of
which the doors have so lately closed ; inasmuch as I have had no connexion with that
great event, nor relation to it, except that of a mere spectator—one of the many millions
there. The eminent and zealous men in whose wide views it originated, by whose
indomitable energy and perseverance the great thought of such a spectacle was
embodied in a visible, material shape; those who, from our own countries or from
foreign lands, supplied it with the treasures and wonders of art; those who, with
scrutinizing eye a-nd judicial mind, compared those treasures and those wonders, and
stamped their approval on the worthiest; these who can point to the glories of the
Exhibition, and say, quorum pars magna fui;—those persons may well be considered
as having a right to express to you the thoughts which have been suggested by
the scenes in which they have thus had to live; but of these, I am not one. I have
been in the Exhibition, as I have said, a mere spectator. Nevertheless, the Council
of the Society of Arts have done me the honour to express a wish that I should offer to
you such reflections as the spectacle of the Great Exhibition has suggested to me; and,
in deference to their wishes, and especially as a token of my admiration of the truly
royal mind, which saw clearly, in despite of the maxims of antiquity, that there was
such a royal road to knowledge, I shall venture to offer you a few remarks—which,
precisely on account of the circumstances I have stated, may be considered as rep re
senting the views of an unconnected spectator of the great spectacle.
VOL. II. 2 G
sented the exterior of the Exhibition; the second, its interior; the third, the grand open-
ing to all nations; and the fourth, the distribution of prizes. These compartments were
intended to be twice the size of those on the base of the Nelson column in Trafalgar-
square, and to have sculptured figures in niches, on either side, to give the subjects
of the castings in an emblematic sense, showing the noble intention of His Royal High-
ness relative to each; and at the extreme angles of the base, carried out as abutments,
were sculptured blocks, upon which were illustrated the emblems of royalty and peace.
Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, as emblematic figures, were seated at the four angles
of the base; above which the globe of the earth was represented in polished granite, on
which was placed a marble statue of the prince, in a metal temple, gilt, and dedicated to
Prosperity and Eame, with the crown of England above, to denote the royal auspices
under which the Great Exhibition had been so successfully accomplished.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE GENERAL BEARING OF THE GREAT EXHIBITION ON THE PROGRESS OF ART
AND SCIENCE.
PUOEESSOE WHEWELL—CRITICISM APTEE POETRY—POETRY 01" THE GEEAT EXHIBITION—OBJECT
OF CRITICISM—XjIEEEEENCE BETVJEEN THE ARTS IN ORIENTAL AND EUROPEAN COUNTRIES—
CLASSIFICATION, ETC., ETC.
We extract the following able remarks from the Inaugural Lecture, delivered by the
learned and philosophic Dr. "Whewell, at the request of the Council of the Society of Arts,
on " The general bearing of the Great Exhibition on the progress of Art and Science."
" It seems to me," observes the modest, though talented lecturer, " as if I were
one of the persons who have the least right of any to address an audience like this
on the subject of the Great Exhibition of the Art and Industry of All Nations, of
which the doors have so lately closed ; inasmuch as I have had no connexion with that
great event, nor relation to it, except that of a mere spectator—one of the many millions
there. The eminent and zealous men in whose wide views it originated, by whose
indomitable energy and perseverance the great thought of such a spectacle was
embodied in a visible, material shape; those who, from our own countries or from
foreign lands, supplied it with the treasures and wonders of art; those who, with
scrutinizing eye a-nd judicial mind, compared those treasures and those wonders, and
stamped their approval on the worthiest; these who can point to the glories of the
Exhibition, and say, quorum pars magna fui;—those persons may well be considered
as having a right to express to you the thoughts which have been suggested by
the scenes in which they have thus had to live; but of these, I am not one. I have
been in the Exhibition, as I have said, a mere spectator. Nevertheless, the Council
of the Society of Arts have done me the honour to express a wish that I should offer to
you such reflections as the spectacle of the Great Exhibition has suggested to me; and,
in deference to their wishes, and especially as a token of my admiration of the truly
royal mind, which saw clearly, in despite of the maxims of antiquity, that there was
such a royal road to knowledge, I shall venture to offer you a few remarks—which,
precisely on account of the circumstances I have stated, may be considered as rep re
senting the views of an unconnected spectator of the great spectacle.
VOL. II. 2 G