TO THE

BRITISH AND FOREIGN VISITORS

OF THE

GREAT EXHIBITION.

As the Olympic Games of Greece, the Military Triumphs of Rome, and the Religious Pilgrimages of the Christian, Mohammedan, and Pagan nations, of the Eastern and Western World, in past ages, drew vast multitudes, from the most distant quarters of the globe, to participate in the objects which these great gatherings were severally intended to accomplish: so, in the year 1851, London is become the great focus of attraction, drawing together, by its "Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations," a larger number of human beings, and in far greater diversity of complexions, creeds, occupations, tastes, and languages, than were ever assembled together, perhaps, since the dispersion at the building of Babel.

Amidst the infinite variety of interests involved in the success or failure of this great undertaking,

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from which some augur a large amount of evil, but from which a still greater number anticipate incalculable good, there is one consideration which can hardly fail to hold deserved prominence in the public mind namely, that the very foundation of this magnificent scheme is based on the idea of "human brotherhood," and on the conviction, that in the true interests of humanity all distinctions of race, country, and faith should give way before the Gospel doctrine, of the equality of Mankind in the eyes of their Creator, as preached by Paul, in his Discourse on Mars' Hill, to the Athenians, to whom he declared that "God hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth for we are all his offspring."

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The period seems to have arrived, indeed, which was foretold by the prophet Daniel, when he wrote, that towards the latter days "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." The progressive and successive developments and discoveries in the various branches of art and science during the last and present century, all seem to point to such a period. The gradual breaking down of the barriers of prejudice, which separated nations from each other who ought to have been united-the growing conviction that every country has an interest in the prosperity of every other, instead of in its destruction-the wider spread of intelligence among all ranks and conditions of men-the increased facilities of travel by land and sea, and the consequent personal inspection of foreign nations,

and intercourse with divers races and peoples rarely visited before-the declining disposition for War, and the general estimation of Peace-the removal of restrictions on Commerce-the invention of the electric telegraph-all these, and many other characteristics of the present age, appear but as progressive links in one great chain which seems destined to encircle the Earth, and ultimately bind all its inhabitants in the bonds of fellowship and good-will-as the harbinger of that happy day when the "lion shall lie down with the lamb "-when

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men shall beat their spears into pruning-hooks, and their swords into plough-shares"-when "every man shall sit under his vine and his fig-tree, with none to make him afraid"-when "the nations shall not learn war any more"-when Justice and Peace shall establish their dominion - - and Truth and Righteousness shall triumph over Error and Sin.

To hasten the arrival of this happy period by the removal of every obstacle that can obstruct its progress, must be clearly the duty of all who acknowledge the doctrine of human brotherhood, and who love their neighbours as themselves: and, therefore, in the performance of this duty we desire, in the spirit of Christian love and charity, to draw the attention of all those Visitors to the Great Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations-whether they come from the provinces of our own country, or from more distant lands-to what we deem the Giant Evil of Britain at least, and, though perhaps in a

less degree, the chief obstacle to financial, sanitary, political, moral, and religious improvement, in every other country of Christendom.

Amidst the wonders of artistic skill and the marvels of human invention, with which the Crystal. Palace abounds, no man can doubt of the amazing progress made by the civilized nations of the world, in mechanical and manufacturing industry, and in the rich and varied products of the different zones and climes of the globe; while no one can fail to perceive, and to be grateful for the perception, that the bounty of the Creator is infinite, in the riches and abundance with which he has blessed the globe we inhabit, and the convertibility of all this wealth of the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms to the comfort, and enjoyment of his

creatures.

In the splendid public buildings, and sumptuous private mansions of the Metropolis-in the rich Galleries of Art, the noble National Museum-the docks, with their forests of masts-the rail-roads with their crowds of passengers-the warehouses bending beneath the weight of their valuable contents—the flourishing state of the public revenue— the high price of the public funds-the luxurious enjoyments of the wealthy, in the theatres, operas, concerts, balls, dinners, and entertainments of all kinds the throng of gorgeous equipages and prancing horses that crowd our streets and parkswith a hundred other similar indications of increased material wealth-every visitor to London must per

ceive undoubted proofs of the general opulence of the nation, if he conceives the Metropolis to be a fair indication of the actual condition of the country; and if he travelled through the provinces, he would find, in Edinburgh and Glasgow, Dublin and Belfast, Liverpool and Manchester, and many other provincial towns and cities, an equally proportionate number of opulent individuals, and colossal establishments of manufacturing industry, through which a large portion of this general wealth is produced.

In the formation of the globe, as the intended habitation of man, the all-wise and benevolent Creator provided it with every requisite for health, happiness, and enjoyment. And when man himself was created, his Maker endowed him with all the faculties necessary for the right direction of his conduct, and for the fit and proper appropriation of whatever the Earth might yield or produce, to those ends which should afford the greatest amount of good to the greatest number of created beings, and be the most innocent, and most enduring.

Thus, in the gift of inflammable materials, such as wood and coals, though both are most valuable gifts of the Creator, yet each may be appropriated to a bad as well as to a good purpose,-either to construct comfortable dwellings, and forge useful metals, or to destroy cities and people by widespread conflagration. The metals themselves, as iron for example, may be converted into the plough, for the cultivation of the earth, and tools for works of utility and enjoyment—or be wrought upon into