It was headed by a succession of emblematic chariots, the first devoted to minerals, with the motto "Every day Science discovers new products herein." The second contained petrifactions from Verona, representing the works of the World's antiquity; then followed cars allotted to seeds, plants of the tropics, and animals of various climes, where, if the lion did not precisely lie down with the lamb, a Swiss bear was shown in juxta-position to two dromedaries, and a couple of lions were led captive by the side of two chamois. Agriculture was represented by an array of agricultural implements from Italy, with the inscription "Ceres smiles at our trophies," which is probably more than might have been said of the original proprietors, and thus was Industry honoured.

Then Literature received due recognition in allegorical tableaux, in which old Greece and modern France received their full share, or perhaps rather more, of blazon; and, did the procession end here, the two first divisions at this distance of time would not deserve to be chronicled, but the third section stands out as unique as the fame of the man to whom they all owed their presence.

Well might these twenty-nine chariots be preceded by a banner bearing the line "Flock hither, Artists, your Masters are here," for when and where was Art so fully represented. From St. Mark at Venice came the famous Bronze Gilt Horses; the Laocoön, the Belvidere Apollo and Mercury, the Nine Muses, the Dying Gladiator, the Antinous and the Venus of the Capitol met together in captivity; the masterpieces of Domenichino, of Titian, and Paul Veronese were flaunted before the faces of a Parisian mob, and last and greatest of all followed the most glorious and last work of Raffaelle, that deemed worthy of the post of honour at the head of his bier, his superb "Transfiguration." Such was the first Art Exhibition of Napoléon.

The Directorate had merged into the Consulate and the times were unquiet, but the master mind of the First Consul had fully realized the great advantages likely to accrue, not merely to manufacturers but to the country at large from comparison and competition, and the Minister of the Interior was therefore instructed to issue circulars inviting contributions for a second exhibition; and special committees of experts were formed in each department to select exhibits and to examine into the merits of inventions. The appeal was so far successful, that 229 exhibitors (more than double the number in 1798) answered to the call, and the Second Official Exhibition was held in 1801 in the Grand Court of the Louvre. The report of the jury, composed exclusively

of practical men, contains one sentence almost prophetic in its truth, and fully confirmed by the experience of all subsequent exhibitions. "There is not an "artist or inventor who, once obtaining thus a public recognition of his "ability, has not found his reputation and business largely increased." In proportioning the awards, the jurors paid likewise special attention to the cost of each article, and to the best means of diminishing that cost, to the advantage alike of consumer and producer.

A further proof of the advantages Napoléon discerned in securing the coöperation of the industrial section of the country is manifest in the fact that the recipients of the "gold medal" were invited by him to dinner in his capacity of First Consul; and this, trivial as it may appear, and though it may recall to some minds the jest of witty Canon Smith anent ourselves, “that were an earthquake to engulph England, the survivors would celebrate the " occasion by a banquet," was in reality the first recognition in France of the great bone and sinew of every country-the middle class.

The Third Exhibition was also held in temporary buildings in the court. yard of the Louvre, and so great had been the success of the second in stimulating trade and alleviating the distress of the artisans, that only the short breathing space of one year was allowed to elapse, the time selected being the Fructidor of the next year 1802 (the year X. of the Republic).

The catalogue, in 48 small pages, styled this display "Exposition Publique des Produits de l'Industrie Française," and shows the number of exhibitors to have increased to 540, amongst whom are to be noted the names of Montgolfier, the proto-aëronaut; Vaucanson, the inventor of the mechanical Duck and the Flute Player (those Wandering Jews of Continental fairs); and Jacquard; and it was from a machine exhibited by the great mechanician at this very Exhibition that Jacquard drew the first inspiration for his famous. loom.

Four years passed away, Napoléon had become Emperor, before the Fourth Exhibition (the first and last duing the Empire) was held on the Esplanade of the Hôtel des Invalides, with a total number of 1,422 exhibitors. Then the toga gave way to the sword, then came Moscow, Leipzig, Fontainebleau, Elba, Saint Jean, and Saint Helena, and the Bourbons reigned, but not till 1819 was the idea resuscitated in the courtyard of the Louvre, the bede roll of exhibitors, 1,662, showing in 13 years for the Fifth Exhibition but a meagre increase of 240; it has been said, however, though the quantity of the exhibitors stood comparatively still, the quality of the exhibits had rapidly progressed.

1823 and 1827 completed the series of Quadrennial Expositions (taking 1814 as the basis, and allowing for the interval of "The Hundred Days"), both held as before in the Louvre, the first showing 1,648 (a slight decrease) and the latter within five of 1,800 exhibitors.

The Fourth Quadrennial never saw the light, but in 1827, the year of the Seventh French Exposition, the Royal Dublin Society inaugurated the series of Triennial Exhibitions in their grounds-better known to Dubliners as the Duke of Leinster's Lawn-which worked so well and did so much to promote and encourage Irish industries, and which were presented in regular succession until the last, in 1850, served as the forerunner, and was fused into the mass of International Exhibitions.

To continue the series of French Expositions, the eighth changing the venue, was held in four pavilions in the Place de la Concorde in 1834, counting no less than 2,447 exhibitors, with a still more marked progress amongst the articles displayed. 3,281 exhibitors were massed together in 1839 at the Ninth Exposition; and in 1844, the Tenth, 3,960 (of whom no less than 3,253 received awards) in temporary buildings in the Carré de Marigny off the Champs Elysées, the site subsequently of the Exposition Universelle of 1855 The Eleventh and last purely French gathering took place in the year 1849 in the Champs Elysées, with a splendid collection of machinery, and a total of 4,500 (within six) exponents. It may also be stated here that throughout France, in her cities and towns, no fewer than 53 provincial and special exhibitions have been held between the years 1803, the year subsequent to the third purely French display, and the year 1866, the year prior to the second and for the present, the last French International Exposition.

Before entering into the long detail of the National Exhibitions, held in every Capital in Europe, and in almost every Arch-Duchy, Duchy, Principality, Electorate, Margravate, Landgravate, and Hans Town of the Fatherland, it is worth harking back to the year 1828, and "The National Repository for the "Exhibition of Specimens of New and Improved Productions of the Artisans "and Manufacturers of the United Kingdom, Royal Mews, Charing Cross."

Opened on Monday the 23rd of June 1828, the "National Repository," as it was speedily called, the original name being too lengthy for a business people to whom time is an object, ranged itself into three grand divisions : First, "Entirely new and ingenious constructions where a new principle is discovered, or one before known, but never practically adopted, is brought " into operation ;"—this, in other words, embraces inventions, or such clever

contrivances as the machine for separating postage stamps, "a principle known" to every schoolboy that ever pin-holed his primer, but never put into practice till utilized by the decidedly clever man who in doing so reaped a harvest of 4,000l. Secondly, "any new adaptation of some known principle, but in a manner essentially different from all that has been done before in that line of manufacture or mechanical workmanship," this might possibly include all the manifold varieties of sewing machine based on the invention of Howe. Thirdly, "all improvements upon a discovery already made by which "the preparation of any article is facilitated, or its utility increased;"—this would seem to take in such productions as Autotypes owing their existence to the previous discovery of photography. In this third class were included. all articles highly finished, "distinguished by exquisite taste, or which, though "manifesting art tendencies," could not fit into the narrow boundaries that marked the art (?) of those days; in fact here one finds the ancestor of "The Good Taste Medal" of the Vienna Exhibition.

The rules governing the selection of articles were admirable, and as complete as the administrative machinery of the times allowed, the Presidents, Vice-Presidents, and Secretaries of the various Mechanics Institutes throughout the Kingdom being invited to form a Committee of Inspection, with Dr. Birkbeck, the founder of these same Mechanics Institutions, for the Chairman of the Committee.

Space was not to be charged for, and no objects were to be removed till the close of the Exhibition, when they were to be returned to the owners, “unless "sold by request, in which case the exhibitor received his money in place of

his goods." The building was opened on the appointed day and crowds of people of every rank thronged to the King's Mews, whilst that "those who ran might read," descriptive labels were attached to the various exhibits. From Mr. Hollingshead's able analysis of the contents we learn the variety of the display, how there were "models of looms and bridges," "the model of a chapel and of a new number of weavers in the act of weaving a piece of Gros "de Naples," "beautifully executed works in chasing and cutlery," "weaving of "silks in remarkable patterns," "models of engines and machinery for many purposes," "little known manufactures," and "a multitude of curiosities," in fact all that goes to make up an Industrial Exhibition of the present day. But the National Repository was before its time. Nothing is so easy as ridicule, yet "ridicule kills." It was called "a toy-shop," visitors grew scarce, exhibitors waxed languid, and it lingered out its existence till on the demolition of the

King's Mews in 1833, it was removed for a brief space to Leicester Square, where it soon died of inanition. All this was not the fault of the poor Repository; the blame rests with an age incapable of comprehending its merits, or understanding its future results; and, indeed, what more could be expected from a time whose fashions were absurdities, whose manners were affectations, and whose buildings were architectural abortions.

Turning now to the Continent, we find ourselves in a vortex of Exhibitions and a mass of figures, some displays purely local, others more catholic and comprehensive, but all strictly national.

Austria, in the year 1820, started a series of local Exhibitions; at Prague, Brünn, Gratz, Klagenfurt, Laibach, and other places, but it was not till 1835 that the first National Exhibition for the whole Empire was held in Vienna with 594 exhibitors, to be repeated in 1839 with 732 exponents; and again in 1845 with no less than 1,865. Prussia called together a meeting of her exhibitors at Berlin in 1822 and 1827, to which, in the first instance 176, and the next 208 responded; from that date up to 1844 migratory parades of industry were held at Königsberg, Görlitz, Breslau, Magdeburg, Herschberg, Coblentz, Düsseldorf, Halberstadt, Cologne, Aix-la Chapelle or Aächen, Liegnitz, Grüneberg, Erfurt, Bunzlau, Oëls, Warmbrunn, and other places until they culminated at Berlin in 1844 in the great Teuton display, a pageant in which all the Fatherland took part, 3,040 exhibitors assisting, 1,932 being from Prussia, and 75 from Austria. Saxony started her Exhibitions in 1824, continuing them in 1831, with 169; 1834, with 786; 1837, with 364; 1840, 323; and finally 1845, with 683 exhibitors.

The Exhibition at the Easter Fair in Leipzig in 1850, counting 1,494 Exhibitors, though held on Saxon territory was a German gathering, and thus a sequel to the Berlin Exhibition of some six years previously.

Hanover exhibited once whilst under British rule in 1835, having 381 exhibitors, her four subsequent Exhibitions taking place in 1837, 1840, 1844, and 1850, the total of Exhibitors in each instance being, 385, 258, 348, and 255. Such up to 1851 (subsequent Exhibitions shall be dealt with subsequently) was the industrial contingent of the Kingdom of the White Horse.

Bavaria early followed the example of France, by Exhibitions at Munich in 1818 and 1819, but the results were not encouraging as neither were the displays of 1821, '22, '23, and '27. One would not, however, have to look far for the cause of failure; annual Exhibitions never have and possibly never

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