DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1327#0332
THE CRYSTAL PALACE AND ITS CONTENTS;
when v
iota
itieh, again, of manual dexterity, acquired by long aud
;iee, mid oven so, Jiofc easy ! And then, again, not only
arc these worts of art to the mere needs of life, but how
, of prettiness, even of beauty, do they often possess, even
f savage hands ! So that man is naturally, us 1 have said,
an artificer, but an artist. Even we, while we look down fr<
lofty summit of civilised and inecbaui
art, may often leani from them lessons of
ollectuaily has Providence planted in man the
to Ms destination,.....iiis destination, which is, te
into such forms as utility demands, and to s
mere utility he cannot he content. And when
red art—to the works of nations long
the infancy of
lo wonderfully and
ivhich urges him on
lie bounty of nature
my step that with
to tho higher stages
ilised, though infer
i progressive civilisation and mechanical power, how
much do we iiiid in their works which we must, admire, which we might
envy, which, indeed, might, drive us to despair! Even still, the tissues and
ornamental works of Persia and of India have beauties which we. with all
our appliances and means, cannot surpass. The gorgeous East showers its
barbaric pearl and gob! into iis magnificent textures. 1 hit is there really any-
thing barbaric in the skill r.ud taste which tfi<:y display ! Does the Oriental
prince or monarch, even if he confine his magnificence to native manufac-
tures, present himself to tiie eyes of his slaves in a less splendid or less
elegant attire than the nobles and the sovereigns of this our Western world,
more- highly civilised as we nevertheless deem it 1 Pew persons, I think,
would answer in tho affirmative. Tho silks and shawls, the embroidery
and jewellery, the moulding and carving, which those cuuntries can produce,
and which decorate their palaces and their dwellers in palaces, arc even
now such as we cannot excel. Oriental magnificence is still aprorerbia]
mode of describing a degree of splendour and artisiteal richness which is
net found among ourselves.
What, then, shall we say of ourselves ? "Wherein is our superiority ? In
what do we see the effect, the realisation, of that more advanced stage of
art which we conceive ourselves to have attained '. What advantage do we
derive from the immense accumulated resources of skill and capital—of
mechanical ingenuity and mechanical power—which wo possess'! Surely
our imagined superiority is not all imaginary : surely wc really are more
advanced than they, and this term ■■advanced" has a moaning; surely that
mighty thought of a progress in the life of nations is not an empty dream;
and surely our progress has carried us beyond them. Where, then, is the
import of the idea in this case! What is the leading and characteristic
difference between them and us, as to this matter! What is the broad and
predominant distinction between the arts of nations rich, but in a condition
of nearly stationary civilisation, like Oriental nations, and nations which
have felt the full iuthienee of progress like ourselves?
If I am not mistaken, llie difference may be briefly expressed thus:—
That in those countries the arts arc mainly exercised to gratify the tastes
of the few; with us, to supply ihe wants of the many. There, the wealth
of a province is absorbed in the dress of a mighty warrior ; here, the gigantic
we:tp»ns of ihe peaceful potentate are used to provide clothing tor the world.
For that which makes it suitable that, machinery, constructed on a vast
scale, and embodying enormous capital, should be used in manufacture, is
that the wares produced should be very great in quantity, so that the
smallest advantage in the power of working, being multiplied a million
fold, shall turn the scale of profit; And thus such machinery is applied
when wares are manufactured for a vast population ;—when millions upon
millions have to be clothed, or fed, or ornamented, or pleased, with the
things so produced. I have heard one Bay, .who had extensively and carefully
studied the manufacturing establishments of this country, that when he
began Ids survey he expected to find the most subtle and refined machinery
applied to the most delicate and beautiful kind of work—to gold and silver,
jewels, and embroidery : but that when he came to examine, he found that
theso works were mainly executed by hand, arid that tho most exquisite
and the most expensive machinery was brought into play where operations
on the most common materials were to be performed, because these were
to bo executed on the widest scale. And this is when coarse and ordinary
wares arc maun lac tured for the many. This, therefore, is the meaning of
the vast and astonishing prevalence of machine-work in this Country :—that
the machine with its million fingers works for millions of purchasers; while
in remote countries, where magnificence and savagery stand side by side,
tens of thousands work for one. There Art labours for the rich alone;
here she works for the poor ho less. There the multitude produce only
;
to give splendour and grace to tl
e despo
or the warrior, whose slaves they
are, and whom they enrich ; hei
the mc
u who is powerful in the weapons
of peace, capital and machinery,
m to give comfort and enjoyment
to the public, whoso servant he i
others with his goods. If this b
ie relation between the condition
of the arts of life in this count
a those others, may wo not with
reason and with gratitude say th
t we'ha
e, indeed, reached a point beyond
theirs in the social progress of u
After describing the principle
s upon
vhich tho 'classification of objects
was carried out, which he thud
• an ha,
rovement upon the whole of that
turer illustrates his position with
hoiild wish to make, suggested by
Hi.- .■'.a-si'h'a'.mr. ■ i -he o-.vcls .
'IhcMx
ubiUe-u; or, rather, a remark which
it is possible to express, only b
e have such a classification"b'Sforo
,
™-ni""i—to
set of a
right classification, that it makes
general propositions possible; n maxim which w
grounded, since it has been delivered indepen
less different from one another than Cuvier nntt Jcrem
in «ccovcla„co with this »«im, I »-oul,l mmA. fat' Co «, »**.
reflections appropriate, to several ol the divisions into which the lixn*
is by its classification distributed. For example: let us compare th r^
Class, Mining and Mineral Product:--, with the Second Class a -
Processes and Prod-acts. In looking at these two classes, wo may feSV&H
remarkable contrasts between them. The first class of arts, those 4?!
arc employed in obtaining and working the metals, are among tlij ■
ancient; the second, the arts of manufacturing chemical products on !"*'
scale, are among the most modern which exist. In the former -class °*^
havo said. Art existed before Science; men could shape, and inch' i
purify, and combine the metals for their practical purposes, before p
knew anything of the chemistry of metals; before they knew that to nti ?
them was to expel oxygen or sulphur; the combination may be definite
indefinite. Tubal-Caiu, in the first ages of the world, was ' the instrueU
of every artificer in brass and iron;' but it was very long before there catm
an instructor to tench what was the philosophical import of the MtiiW'
practices. In this case, as I have already said, Art preceded Science" U
even now Science has overtaken Art; if even now Science can tell us4»
the Swedish steel is still unmatched, or to what peculiar- composition Us
Toledo blado owes its flue temper, which allows it to coil itself up fo j!"
sheath when its rigid thrust is not needed. Here Art has preceded Science.
aud Science has barely overtaken Art. But in the second class, SeiencolS
not only overtaken Art, but is the whole foundation, the entire creator of
the art. Hero Art is the daughter of Science. The great chemical manu-
factories which have sprung up at Liverpool, at Newcastle, at Glasgow om
their existence entirely to a profound and scientific knowledge of ckemistn
These arts never could have existed if there had not been a science of
chemistry ; and that, an exact and philosophical science. These manufb
tones now are on a scale at least equal to the largest establishments whi&
existamongthesucccssoi'sot'Tubil-Uain. They oecuny spaces not smaller than
thatgreatbuildingiti which the productions of all the arts ofall the world tcks
gathered, aud where we so often wandered till our feet were weary. Tdet
employ, some of them, five or six largo steam-engines: they shoot up th
obelisks which convey away their smoke and fumes to the height of t:
highest steeples in the world; they occupy a population equal to that of i
town, whose streets gather round the wall of the mighty workshop. Ye:
these processes aro all derived from the chemical theories of the last and
the present century ; from the investigations carried on in ilie lab oratories ol
Scheele aud Jtirwan, Berfiliollet aud Lavoisier. So rapidly in this case Ins
the tree of Art blossomed from the root of Science: upon sogigauiics
scale havo the truths of Science been embodied in the domain of Art.
Again, there is another remark which we may make in comparing the
First Class, Minerals, with the Third Class, or rather with the Fourth,
Voidable and Animal Substances^ wed in manufactures, or as implements m
ornaments. And I wish to speak especially of vegetable substances. In tbc
class of Minerals, all the great members of the class are still what tlieywew
in ancient times. No doubt a number of new metals and mineral substance
have been discovered ; and these have their use; and of those the Exhibition
presented fine examples. But still, their use is upon a small scale. Gold
andiron, at the present day, as in ancient times, arc the rulers of the world;
and the great events in the world of mineral art are not the discovery o
new substances, but of new and rich localities of old ones,—the openingoi
the treasures of tho earth in Mexico and Peru in the sixteentli century, is
California and Australia iii our own day. But in the vegetable world tin
case is different; there, we havo not only a constant accumulation and repw-
duction, but also a constantly growing variety of objects, fitted to the news
and uses of man. Tea, coffee, tobacco, sugar, cotton, havo made mans hie,
aud the arts which sustain it, very different from what they were in anc:o"-
times. And no one, I think, can have looked at the vegetable treasures*
the Crystal Palace without seeing that the various wealth of the vegetate
world is far from yet exhausted. The Liverpool Local Committee 1m<^
enabled us to take a starting-point for such a survey by sending to a
Exhibition a noble collection of specimens of every kind of import of .;
great emporium; among which, as might bo expected, the vane tics
vegetable produce are the most numerous. But thafj objects should w
reckoned among imports, implies that already they arc extensively u^
If wc look at tho multiplied collections of objects of the same kffi*.*J3
from various countries, not as wares to a known market, but as Bp^jjg
aud suggestions of unexplored wealth, we can Lave no doubt that W _
of imports will hereafter, with great advantage, be enlarged. Who ku
what beautiful materials for the makers of furniture are to bo iomid in ,
collections of woods from the various forests of the Indian Archipelago, °
Australia, or of Tasmania, or of Xew Zealand ! Who knows what ««•*»*
hereafter discover to have been collected of fruits and oils, and 'f^'z
aud dyes; of threads and cordage, as we bad here from Kow Zea o»" _
from China examples of such novelties; of gums and vegetable suosia^.
which may, in some unforeseen manner, promote and facilitate the P° ^j
of art? How recent is the application of caoutchouc to general pU'P -^
Yet wc know now—and on this occasion America would have tang ■ ^
we had not known—that there is scarcely any use to which it niaj -n,;
applied with advantage. If atcacher in imrtimowere to constructn - .
like those of the son ol'Sirneh in the ancient Jewish times—like him" '-^
(Ecclus. .xxxix. 26), ' Tim principal thirds for the whole use of maUSi .,
water, fire, iron, and salt, flour of wheat, honey, milk, aud the bloou
file; o'1' nU
Vious and i
grtld.to
Vloefove
L tl» »»;
,jiclii»»»a
, view tbis
vWee to >»»
,„i'V v.rym;
d'ffhich so
i, tell, arc i
"delight m
„ir, iUKl of ^
,; delighted
when v
iota
itieh, again, of manual dexterity, acquired by long aud
;iee, mid oven so, Jiofc easy ! And then, again, not only
arc these worts of art to the mere needs of life, but how
, of prettiness, even of beauty, do they often possess, even
f savage hands ! So that man is naturally, us 1 have said,
an artificer, but an artist. Even we, while we look down fr<
lofty summit of civilised and inecbaui
art, may often leani from them lessons of
ollectuaily has Providence planted in man the
to Ms destination,.....iiis destination, which is, te
into such forms as utility demands, and to s
mere utility he cannot he content. And when
red art—to the works of nations long
the infancy of
lo wonderfully and
ivhich urges him on
lie bounty of nature
my step that with
to tho higher stages
ilised, though infer
i progressive civilisation and mechanical power, how
much do we iiiid in their works which we must, admire, which we might
envy, which, indeed, might, drive us to despair! Even still, the tissues and
ornamental works of Persia and of India have beauties which we. with all
our appliances and means, cannot surpass. The gorgeous East showers its
barbaric pearl and gob! into iis magnificent textures. 1 hit is there really any-
thing barbaric in the skill r.ud taste which tfi<:y display ! Does the Oriental
prince or monarch, even if he confine his magnificence to native manufac-
tures, present himself to tiie eyes of his slaves in a less splendid or less
elegant attire than the nobles and the sovereigns of this our Western world,
more- highly civilised as we nevertheless deem it 1 Pew persons, I think,
would answer in tho affirmative. Tho silks and shawls, the embroidery
and jewellery, the moulding and carving, which those cuuntries can produce,
and which decorate their palaces and their dwellers in palaces, arc even
now such as we cannot excel. Oriental magnificence is still aprorerbia]
mode of describing a degree of splendour and artisiteal richness which is
net found among ourselves.
What, then, shall we say of ourselves ? "Wherein is our superiority ? In
what do we see the effect, the realisation, of that more advanced stage of
art which we conceive ourselves to have attained '. What advantage do we
derive from the immense accumulated resources of skill and capital—of
mechanical ingenuity and mechanical power—which wo possess'! Surely
our imagined superiority is not all imaginary : surely wc really are more
advanced than they, and this term ■■advanced" has a moaning; surely that
mighty thought of a progress in the life of nations is not an empty dream;
and surely our progress has carried us beyond them. Where, then, is the
import of the idea in this case! What is the leading and characteristic
difference between them and us, as to this matter! What is the broad and
predominant distinction between the arts of nations rich, but in a condition
of nearly stationary civilisation, like Oriental nations, and nations which
have felt the full iuthienee of progress like ourselves?
If I am not mistaken, llie difference may be briefly expressed thus:—
That in those countries the arts arc mainly exercised to gratify the tastes
of the few; with us, to supply ihe wants of the many. There, the wealth
of a province is absorbed in the dress of a mighty warrior ; here, the gigantic
we:tp»ns of ihe peaceful potentate are used to provide clothing tor the world.
For that which makes it suitable that, machinery, constructed on a vast
scale, and embodying enormous capital, should be used in manufacture, is
that the wares produced should be very great in quantity, so that the
smallest advantage in the power of working, being multiplied a million
fold, shall turn the scale of profit; And thus such machinery is applied
when wares are manufactured for a vast population ;—when millions upon
millions have to be clothed, or fed, or ornamented, or pleased, with the
things so produced. I have heard one Bay, .who had extensively and carefully
studied the manufacturing establishments of this country, that when he
began Ids survey he expected to find the most subtle and refined machinery
applied to the most delicate and beautiful kind of work—to gold and silver,
jewels, and embroidery : but that when he came to examine, he found that
theso works were mainly executed by hand, arid that tho most exquisite
and the most expensive machinery was brought into play where operations
on the most common materials were to be performed, because these were
to bo executed on the widest scale. And this is when coarse and ordinary
wares arc maun lac tured for the many. This, therefore, is the meaning of
the vast and astonishing prevalence of machine-work in this Country :—that
the machine with its million fingers works for millions of purchasers; while
in remote countries, where magnificence and savagery stand side by side,
tens of thousands work for one. There Art labours for the rich alone;
here she works for the poor ho less. There the multitude produce only
;
to give splendour and grace to tl
e despo
or the warrior, whose slaves they
are, and whom they enrich ; hei
the mc
u who is powerful in the weapons
of peace, capital and machinery,
m to give comfort and enjoyment
to the public, whoso servant he i
others with his goods. If this b
ie relation between the condition
of the arts of life in this count
a those others, may wo not with
reason and with gratitude say th
t we'ha
e, indeed, reached a point beyond
theirs in the social progress of u
After describing the principle
s upon
vhich tho 'classification of objects
was carried out, which he thud
• an ha,
rovement upon the whole of that
turer illustrates his position with
hoiild wish to make, suggested by
Hi.- .■'.a-si'h'a'.mr. ■ i -he o-.vcls .
'IhcMx
ubiUe-u; or, rather, a remark which
it is possible to express, only b
e have such a classification"b'Sforo
,
™-ni""i—to
set of a
right classification, that it makes
general propositions possible; n maxim which w
grounded, since it has been delivered indepen
less different from one another than Cuvier nntt Jcrem
in «ccovcla„co with this »«im, I »-oul,l mmA. fat' Co «, »**.
reflections appropriate, to several ol the divisions into which the lixn*
is by its classification distributed. For example: let us compare th r^
Class, Mining and Mineral Product:--, with the Second Class a -
Processes and Prod-acts. In looking at these two classes, wo may feSV&H
remarkable contrasts between them. The first class of arts, those 4?!
arc employed in obtaining and working the metals, are among tlij ■
ancient; the second, the arts of manufacturing chemical products on !"*'
scale, are among the most modern which exist. In the former -class °*^
havo said. Art existed before Science; men could shape, and inch' i
purify, and combine the metals for their practical purposes, before p
knew anything of the chemistry of metals; before they knew that to nti ?
them was to expel oxygen or sulphur; the combination may be definite
indefinite. Tubal-Caiu, in the first ages of the world, was ' the instrueU
of every artificer in brass and iron;' but it was very long before there catm
an instructor to tench what was the philosophical import of the MtiiW'
practices. In this case, as I have already said, Art preceded Science" U
even now Science has overtaken Art; if even now Science can tell us4»
the Swedish steel is still unmatched, or to what peculiar- composition Us
Toledo blado owes its flue temper, which allows it to coil itself up fo j!"
sheath when its rigid thrust is not needed. Here Art has preceded Science.
aud Science has barely overtaken Art. But in the second class, SeiencolS
not only overtaken Art, but is the whole foundation, the entire creator of
the art. Hero Art is the daughter of Science. The great chemical manu-
factories which have sprung up at Liverpool, at Newcastle, at Glasgow om
their existence entirely to a profound and scientific knowledge of ckemistn
These arts never could have existed if there had not been a science of
chemistry ; and that, an exact and philosophical science. These manufb
tones now are on a scale at least equal to the largest establishments whi&
existamongthesucccssoi'sot'Tubil-Uain. They oecuny spaces not smaller than
thatgreatbuildingiti which the productions of all the arts ofall the world tcks
gathered, aud where we so often wandered till our feet were weary. Tdet
employ, some of them, five or six largo steam-engines: they shoot up th
obelisks which convey away their smoke and fumes to the height of t:
highest steeples in the world; they occupy a population equal to that of i
town, whose streets gather round the wall of the mighty workshop. Ye:
these processes aro all derived from the chemical theories of the last and
the present century ; from the investigations carried on in ilie lab oratories ol
Scheele aud Jtirwan, Berfiliollet aud Lavoisier. So rapidly in this case Ins
the tree of Art blossomed from the root of Science: upon sogigauiics
scale havo the truths of Science been embodied in the domain of Art.
Again, there is another remark which we may make in comparing the
First Class, Minerals, with the Third Class, or rather with the Fourth,
Voidable and Animal Substances^ wed in manufactures, or as implements m
ornaments. And I wish to speak especially of vegetable substances. In tbc
class of Minerals, all the great members of the class are still what tlieywew
in ancient times. No doubt a number of new metals and mineral substance
have been discovered ; and these have their use; and of those the Exhibition
presented fine examples. But still, their use is upon a small scale. Gold
andiron, at the present day, as in ancient times, arc the rulers of the world;
and the great events in the world of mineral art are not the discovery o
new substances, but of new and rich localities of old ones,—the openingoi
the treasures of tho earth in Mexico and Peru in the sixteentli century, is
California and Australia iii our own day. But in the vegetable world tin
case is different; there, we havo not only a constant accumulation and repw-
duction, but also a constantly growing variety of objects, fitted to the news
and uses of man. Tea, coffee, tobacco, sugar, cotton, havo made mans hie,
aud the arts which sustain it, very different from what they were in anc:o"-
times. And no one, I think, can have looked at the vegetable treasures*
the Crystal Palace without seeing that the various wealth of the vegetate
world is far from yet exhausted. The Liverpool Local Committee 1m<^
enabled us to take a starting-point for such a survey by sending to a
Exhibition a noble collection of specimens of every kind of import of .;
great emporium; among which, as might bo expected, the vane tics
vegetable produce are the most numerous. But thafj objects should w
reckoned among imports, implies that already they arc extensively u^
If wc look at tho multiplied collections of objects of the same kffi*.*J3
from various countries, not as wares to a known market, but as Bp^jjg
aud suggestions of unexplored wealth, we can Lave no doubt that W _
of imports will hereafter, with great advantage, be enlarged. Who ku
what beautiful materials for the makers of furniture are to bo iomid in ,
collections of woods from the various forests of the Indian Archipelago, °
Australia, or of Tasmania, or of Xew Zealand ! Who knows what ««•*»*
hereafter discover to have been collected of fruits and oils, and 'f^'z
aud dyes; of threads and cordage, as we bad here from Kow Zea o»" _
from China examples of such novelties; of gums and vegetable suosia^.
which may, in some unforeseen manner, promote and facilitate the P° ^j
of art? How recent is the application of caoutchouc to general pU'P -^
Yet wc know now—and on this occasion America would have tang ■ ^
we had not known—that there is scarcely any use to which it niaj -n,;
applied with advantage. If atcacher in imrtimowere to constructn - .
like those of the son ol'Sirneh in the ancient Jewish times—like him" '-^
(Ecclus. .xxxix. 26), ' Tim principal thirds for the whole use of maUSi .,
water, fire, iron, and salt, flour of wheat, honey, milk, aud the bloou
file; o'1' nU
Vious and i
grtld.to
Vloefove
L tl» »»;
,jiclii»»»a
, view tbis
vWee to >»»
,„i'V v.rym;
d'ffhich so
i, tell, arc i
"delight m
„ir, iUKl of ^
,; delighted