DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1311#0193
OF THE WORLD'S INDUSTRY. 161
for converting the latter into steel, gave, at an early epoch, to this branch of \ts
manufactures, remarkable energy and importance. Its steel wares had a wide-spread
reputation even in the middle ages. The authority of Chaucer assures us that, in the
fourteenth century, the " Sheffield whittle" was an article of choice estimation; and,
within their respective sphere, the blades of Toledo and Damascus were scarcely more
valued than the more homely cutlery of England. This pre-eminence, the jury had
no hesitation in pronouncing, she retained to a very remarkable degree in the late
exhibition; though the general statement must now admit of modification, and it
would be untrue and unfair to make it without adding, that she had, in certain
branches of the manufacture, .some formidable rivals. Still, the long-established trade
of this country in steel goods of every description, and her ancient practice of forging
them for the supply of all markets, were shown in the great variety, as well as excellence,
of her contributions, which comprised specimens of almost every conceivable article of this
description. But in other countries, where the manufacture has been of more recent
growth, it is evident that the energies of their artizans have been directed, by a natural
consequence, to the production of those particular articles more especially called for by
their individual position or exigencies. One of the chief objects of the German Cus-
toms' Union, for instance, has been to encourage the supply from their own workshops of
those commodities of general and ordinary use, which were formerly in great part derived
from importation. From the Zollverein states, accordingly, we found a mixed collection
of that character, together with some few objects of the plainer kind for certain foreign
markets, From Austria, where the mines and manufactures are in the immediate
neighbourhood of a large agricultural and pastoral population, it was observed that the
collection consisted chiefly of scythes, sickles, and the simpler implements of husbandry.
In Switzerland, the traditional manufacture of fine watch-work renders delicate files a
matter of primary necessity, and there was, therefore, a predominance of these among
the better articles in that department, The Belgian collection was distinguished by "spiral
cutters" of superior quality, required in the finishing of the woollen fabrics for which
that country has long been famous. In France, we of course found a very miscellaneous
collection; but it displayed, in a marked manner, productions, indicating on the one
hand the highest scale of social civilization and of manufacturing skill in certain spheres
and localities; and, on the other, the simplest wants of a primitive provincial population;
while in the United States and Canada, where the occupation of the population is an
incessant war upon the forest, the manufacture of axes and woodmen's implements
assumes an importance which has raised them to the highest perfection, and which ren-
dered this class the most perfect part of the transatlantic exhibition. But it appears
advisable to add some more precise notices of the peculiar contents of each national col-
lection ; and for this purpose it will be most convenient to take the two great divisions in
the order adopted in the official catalogue.
First, then, with respect to the United Kingdom, we found that articles in the class
of cutlery and edge-tools had been sent from a great variety of places. In England, from
London, Sheffield, Birmingham, "Warrington, Stourbridge, and a few other towns of less
note; from Glasgow and Edinburgh, but chiefly from the former, in Scotlandj and from
Cork, Clomnel, and Limerick, in Ireland. Among these seats of the manufacture there
was none, as might naturally be expected, which for extent, variety, and excellence of
collection, could compare with Sheffield—its most ancient home. We here found every
article, from the most exquisite i*azor down to the plainest pocket-knife, and from the
finest saw or file to the most ordinary chisel displayed—with various degrees of merit, it
is true, but with a large proportion of the highest. From this collection, the jury thought
themselves justified in awarding, for one remarkable object, a council medal. Messrs.
VOL. II. 2 T
for converting the latter into steel, gave, at an early epoch, to this branch of \ts
manufactures, remarkable energy and importance. Its steel wares had a wide-spread
reputation even in the middle ages. The authority of Chaucer assures us that, in the
fourteenth century, the " Sheffield whittle" was an article of choice estimation; and,
within their respective sphere, the blades of Toledo and Damascus were scarcely more
valued than the more homely cutlery of England. This pre-eminence, the jury had
no hesitation in pronouncing, she retained to a very remarkable degree in the late
exhibition; though the general statement must now admit of modification, and it
would be untrue and unfair to make it without adding, that she had, in certain
branches of the manufacture, .some formidable rivals. Still, the long-established trade
of this country in steel goods of every description, and her ancient practice of forging
them for the supply of all markets, were shown in the great variety, as well as excellence,
of her contributions, which comprised specimens of almost every conceivable article of this
description. But in other countries, where the manufacture has been of more recent
growth, it is evident that the energies of their artizans have been directed, by a natural
consequence, to the production of those particular articles more especially called for by
their individual position or exigencies. One of the chief objects of the German Cus-
toms' Union, for instance, has been to encourage the supply from their own workshops of
those commodities of general and ordinary use, which were formerly in great part derived
from importation. From the Zollverein states, accordingly, we found a mixed collection
of that character, together with some few objects of the plainer kind for certain foreign
markets, From Austria, where the mines and manufactures are in the immediate
neighbourhood of a large agricultural and pastoral population, it was observed that the
collection consisted chiefly of scythes, sickles, and the simpler implements of husbandry.
In Switzerland, the traditional manufacture of fine watch-work renders delicate files a
matter of primary necessity, and there was, therefore, a predominance of these among
the better articles in that department, The Belgian collection was distinguished by "spiral
cutters" of superior quality, required in the finishing of the woollen fabrics for which
that country has long been famous. In France, we of course found a very miscellaneous
collection; but it displayed, in a marked manner, productions, indicating on the one
hand the highest scale of social civilization and of manufacturing skill in certain spheres
and localities; and, on the other, the simplest wants of a primitive provincial population;
while in the United States and Canada, where the occupation of the population is an
incessant war upon the forest, the manufacture of axes and woodmen's implements
assumes an importance which has raised them to the highest perfection, and which ren-
dered this class the most perfect part of the transatlantic exhibition. But it appears
advisable to add some more precise notices of the peculiar contents of each national col-
lection ; and for this purpose it will be most convenient to take the two great divisions in
the order adopted in the official catalogue.
First, then, with respect to the United Kingdom, we found that articles in the class
of cutlery and edge-tools had been sent from a great variety of places. In England, from
London, Sheffield, Birmingham, "Warrington, Stourbridge, and a few other towns of less
note; from Glasgow and Edinburgh, but chiefly from the former, in Scotlandj and from
Cork, Clomnel, and Limerick, in Ireland. Among these seats of the manufacture there
was none, as might naturally be expected, which for extent, variety, and excellence of
collection, could compare with Sheffield—its most ancient home. We here found every
article, from the most exquisite i*azor down to the plainest pocket-knife, and from the
finest saw or file to the most ordinary chisel displayed—with various degrees of merit, it
is true, but with a large proportion of the highest. From this collection, the jury thought
themselves justified in awarding, for one remarkable object, a council medal. Messrs.
VOL. II. 2 T