SYMBOLICAL PRODUCTS.

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philosophic would naturally contemplate with the highest interest.

There were many articles of luxury which attracted great attention on account of their skilful, delicate, and elaborate workmanship, which nevertheless were symbols of human degradation. There were others plain and homely, and yet they were symbols of progress, power, prosperity, and happiness. The cloth of gold and the Cashmere shawls of India belong to the former; the American plough belongs to the latter.

When the sword and the spear shall cease among men, then the ploughshare and the pruning-hook will abound. The arts of industry are the arts of peace, when they are arts to bless the many and not the few. Those arts which minister merely to the luxurious refinements of artificial wants, consist with a state of society which embraces but two classes, the highest and the lowest. But the triumph of the plough is the triumph of that industry which gives abundance of food to all, and brings in its train the social and moral elevation of the race.

The American compartment was sparsely furnished, and gave by no means an adequate representation of the manufacturing skill and productive energy of our country; but the specimens which were found there consisted of some of the finest works both of the beautiful and the useful, and accorded well with the spirit of a country which opens a wide field to the independent march of genius, and calls forth every benign effort for the promotion of general happiness.

The part which England bore in the Great Exhibition was

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COMPETITION OF NATIONS.

of course pre-eminent. Made upon her own soil, she could not be unjust to herself. With her vast empire, and the multiplicity and perfection of her manufactures, triumph was certain. The Crystal Palace itself, which she had planned and erected, was a symbol of her splendor and greatness.

France, the ancient rival of England, was only second to her. And all the great nations had something remarkable to exhibit.

The justice and generosity of England were conspicuous too in the graceful manner in which she yielded to the supremacy of the American yacht, and in the praises which she accorded to the American mowing-machine.

In fine, it was an occasion of noble competition and of general good feeling; and worthy to be held in remembrance, no less for its harmonizing and humanizing influences, than for the impulse which it gave to industry and art.

The Royalty, Nobility, and People of England.

UNINDSOR CASTLE, commenced by William

the Conqueror, almost entirely rebuilt by Edward III., both embellished and disfigured by Charles II., has really been finished only in our own times. It is now perhaps the noblest specimen of a castellated palace in the world. As seen from different points of view, it presents an extremely massive and majestic, and yet elegant appearance. It combines strength and beauty, the venerable air of antiquity, and the gracefulness and comfort of modern life. No other castle or palace is so closely associated with the royalty of England, and no other possesses in an equal degree the fitting qualities of a royal residence. In times of war it might be a secure fortress, as in times of peace it is a tasteful and luxurious retreat.

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WINDSOR CASTLE.

Its historical associations are rich, but are too familiar to every reader of English history to justify any attempt to expatiate upon them. It is enough to remark that its history is identified with the history of the kingdom from the time of William the Conqueror. Upon entering Windsor Castle, one experiences a mingled emotion of awe and grandeur, and the dead past seems to start to life again. While the Tower has been the prison-house of monarchs, Windsor Castle has been and is still their residence.

We first visited St. George's Chapel. This was erected by Edward IV., and stands within the precincts of the Castle, or in what is called the lower ward. It is considered a very fine specimen of the Perpendicular, or Florid, or Tudor style of Gothic architecture-a style distinguished by the perpendicular lines which prevail throughout the tracery work, and by other peculiarities of ornament, and by the loftiness of the windows.

It has many chapels filled with the monuments of royal and noble personages. In one of these is the cenotaph of the Princess Charlotte. This monument is affecting, but inferior as a work of art. The ascending figure of the princess

is the only agreeable part.

At the east end of the chapel is the Royal Tomb House erected by Henry VII. as the sepulchre of the royal family. Here the three last kings of England are buried.

The choir contains the stalls of the Knights of the Garter arranged on either side against the wall. These stalls appear like richly carved chairs, with brass plates on their backs containing the names of the knights who have occupied them.

STATE APARTMENTS.

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Above them hang the knightly banners. It is here that the ceremony of installation takes place. This order is a singular illustration of the illusive dignity of antiquity, the power of association, and the magic of a name.

The upper ward, which contains the royal apartments, or the palace proper, crowns the summit of the hill. The state apartments are numerous and magnificent, but far inferior to those of Versailles. But I prefer Windsor Castle to Versailles as a royal palace, because it is less extensive and magnificent. Windsor Castle commends itself by its fitness; Versailles appears like an excessive and unpardonable luxury.

The paintings of the State Apartments are numerous, and many possess distinguished merit. It could not be otherwise where Rubens, Vandyke, Holbein, Rembrandt, Poussin, Claude, Corregio, and other great artists have employed their pencils. The rapid manner however in which we were compelled to pass through, enabled us only to obtain general and confused impressions. It was not like Versailles and the Louvre, where the visitors can wander leisurely for hours; but then Versailles and the Louvre are not royal residences, but grand public exhibitions.

Through some misunderstanding, I had failed to obtain a special order for seeing the private apartments. These would have been interesting no doubt, as giving some insight into the domestic economy of the royal family. I presume, however, that kings and queens in private must be a good deal like the rest of mankind, except in those uninteresting traits which are the result of a constrained and unnatural education.

The broad terraces of the Castle afford an enchanting