OR

THE SPIRIT

OF THE

GREAT INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION,

1851.

А РОЕМ,

BY MR. ISAAC REEVE, M.C.P.,

AUTHOR OF "THE OLIVE BRANCH," "NOT ONE LASH,'

WOMAN," ETC.

"Leaving its shell, all beautiful,

" "INTELLECT OF

Let us consider what the SPIRIT is,
That reigns within and consecrates its walls."

See Page 31.

"Most earthly monarchs think that they do well,
When their own subjects' welfare they consult;
But he, who, with his people's good, connects
Th' amelioration of the world at large,
Approaches nearest to the attributes,
The loveliest attributes of Deity."

See Page 43.

Κλῦτε φίλοι θεῖός μοι ἐνύπνιον ἦλθεν Ονειρος.

Published by

Ιλιάδος, β 56.

HOULSTON AND STONEMAN, PATERNOSTER ROW;

TO BE HAD OF ALL BOOKSELLERS,

Or of Mr. Reeve, Chase Lodge, Hounslow.

1857. 280.5.159.

INTRODUCTION.

IN this little Poem, the Author has not attempted to give any description of the specimens displayed in the Great Exhibition;-because he felt persuaded that 'although he could employ the fiery diction of Demosthenes, or the more artful rhetoric of Tully, or even if he could unite in his style the majesty and sublimity of Homer, with the sweetness and elegance of Virgil,-yet the reader would collect, in one minute's glance at the Exhibition itself, more numerous and more correct images, than could be conveyed in a thousand of the most elaborate lines that language can produce.

His object is a different and a far higher one. As it is the duty of religious instructors to bid their auditors look, from the glorious beauties of nature, up to the still more glorious GOD of -so it has been the Author's wish to induce all who visit the Crystal Palace, while their eyes are dazzled with the radiance, and surprised by the ingenuity, delighted with the elaborate art,

nature ;

Said, "Mortal, dost thou ask, why Heaven and Earth
Should be this day lit up with brightest joy?
Art thou a Briton, yet thy heart bounds not,
As if 'twould burst its narrow prison-house,
At very thought of this all-glorious day,
This day of days, appointed by thy Prince,
My own disciple and my fav'rite son?

Look yonder to the right; and tell me what
Thou there behold'st."-" I see a mount," said I,
"Like island floating between heaven and earth;
And on it is a noble company

Of superhuman forms." "You're right," he said,
"It is Olympus, and great Jupiter

Has bidden the celestials thither come,
To view the Exhibition of the Arts,
Which man, in every country, every clime,
Has yet invented or improved.-Observe,
With what intensity, their wondering eyes
Are fixed upon that radiant spot of earth,
Whence crystal walls fling back my brightest beams
With lib'ral interest."

A voice was heard,

Whose accents spake supreme authority

And conscious power.-I looked; and from her throne

Of state, the queen of gods and men had risen,
Th' imperial and imperious Juno, proud,

And thus her lofty sentiments she spoke :
66 Certes, this Albert is a noble prince,

And he alone was worthy of the choice

Of Britain's matchless Queen; but yet we think,
He doth not well to stoop and mix himself
With merchants upon 'change, knights of the loom,
Spinners of twist, mechanics, and the like.

Such men, 'tis true, are useful in their place;
There let them keep; but let them not presume
To be compeers with men whose veins are fraught
With genuine streams, derived from regal hearts:
Familiarity begets contempt,

And leads to anarchy and rebel deeds.

Harry the Eighth, who ruled yon sea-girt land,
Knew well to keep his sovereign state,

And hold ambition's crew at distance meet.
His daughter too, Elizabeth, pursued
His steps with spirit and with kindred pride;
Yet she sometimes relaxed the cautious rein,
T'admit her subjects to more free converse,-
And found her condescension was repaid
With insult and ingratitude.-Oh! no-(a)
A monarch must not stoop to be a friend,