the fountain in the center is the Koh-i-Noir, or Mountain of Light, contributed by the queen. The value of this trinket is estimated at two million pounds, and came into the possession of the English by the annexation of Lahore to the Indian territories of that kingdom. It was discovered in the mines of Golconda, about three hundred years ago, and was for a long time the property of the Mogul emperors. It has changed hands several times, and been the cause of war and bloodshed, until it is now sent by a Christian queen to grace the congress of art and industry. It weighed, before being cut, eight hundred carats; but a clumsy operator reduced its weight to two hundred and seventy-nine carats; and yet, with this reduction, it is the largest diamond in the world. It is covered by a strong iron cage, and at night is lowered down into the base of an iron pedestal on which it lies. A writer in a British journal says, "A good general idea may be formed of its shape and size by conceiving it as the pointed half of a small hen's egg.' Around this jewel a crowd of persons is constantly collected, eager to obtain a view of a gem of such great value.

The British contributions are, of course, the most numerous, and occupy very prominent positions. Every inducement has been given to the English artists to send the products of their skill into this great exhibition, and they have nobly responded to the call. Among their works were several fine models of towns, churches, and public buildings. A complete model of Liverpool, showing its streets, houses, churches, docks, and shipping, drew much attention. It was on a large scale, and was a most perfect thing in its way. The model of the great sepulchral pyramid, which is proposed to be erected in Surrey, is here. It is to be nine hundred

feet high, and to contain catacombs capable of entombing five millions of bodies. It is designed to be an imitation of the pyramidal tombs of Egypt, and to stand through all time - a vast monument of human mortality and frailty, speaking alike of the goodness and the depravity of man. If this pyramid shall ever be erected, and rise to its contemplated hight, it will, in time, become an object of more interest to the nation than Westminster Abbey. Other beautiful models are brought forward to attest the high state of art, which win admiration from all beholders.

Among articles interesting to the ladies may be mentioned a very fine quilt, wrought by knitting-pins, not a needle stitch being found in it. In the middle is a fine figure, and the corners are filled up with flowers. The whole design is exceedingly beautiful, and worked by the wife of a mechanic without guide or pattern, except such as originated in her own mind. The wife of a clergyman exhibited a scarf, which was manufactured by herself from silk produced by silkworms of her own raising, and which she procured to teach her children the habits of these wonderful little insects. Thus she taught her children habits of industry, and gave them lessons such as they never could forget, and, at the same time, wrought a most beautiful fabric, which, amid the articles in that great assemblage, the stranger found time to stop and admire. A journeyman tailor presents a quilt about ten feet square, made up of forty-five hundred pieces of cloth, the whole of which is wrought with the needle. The center piece represents Britannia ruling the waves, while the borders and corners are filled up with fine designs and exquisite workmanship. It has engaged the leisure time of the tailor ten years. A carpet, valued at eight

hundred pounds, and manufactured for Victoria by several of her lady subjects, drew much attention from those interested in such work. Each lady had the pattern, and a square of two feet, for which she paid one pound. Into this square she crowded her work, and on it displayed her skill; and when the whole were finished, they were framed into one beautiful fabric for the use of royalty. About three hundred persons were employed in its completion.

Machinery was contributed in great abundance, from a little tiny model to the huge locomotive ready to start off on its fiery passage. Among other articles, descriptions of which you have read long ere this, are the electric clocks of Mr. Shepherd; a new pump, by which the water, instead of being raised by rod, cylinder, and piston, is brought up by the "centrifugal force," and flows in one continuous stream—it is designed for draining marshes, and similar purposes, and a machine ten feet in diameter will pump one hundred and forty thousand gallons per minute; a lifeboat of gutta percha, most admirably constructed for its purpose, which may be folded up into a compass of twenty feet long, and two or three feet wide. When in the water, it will hold one hundred men, with provision and baggage. There are also marquees for all the different kinds of manufactures, displayed to the best possible advantage.

Of carved work there was a great variety, from a wooden bowl to a splendid pulpit; from a child's toy to a colossal statue. Bronze, glass, and brass work was found in great abundance, and of great value. The immense quantities of rich goods, and the great value of the articles, can hardly be estimated. One firm had over one million dollars' worth of silver

and gold electro plate work, of all forms and patterns; and you may walk along for hours by the most extensive and valuable assortments of goods ever collected on earth, increasing your admiration at every step.

But the chief object of interest in the English department, to me, and I think to every other Christian, was the exhibition of Bibles, made by the British and Foreign Bible Society. They have here displayed the sacred volume in one hundred and thirty different languages, into which they have translated it for the use of the darkened nations of the earth. Day after day, I wandered to this section of the building to admire this evidence of the missionary spirit of English Christians. There was no day on which I visited the Crystal Palace, when I did not leave the crowded nave, the departments of art and skill, Turkish tents of ease and pleasure, the dazzling display of gold and gems, to find in a somewhat obscure location the Bible exhibition, which in its moral grandeur outshone the brilliant Koh-i-Noir, and surpassed the magnificence of the Crystal Palace itself. There, crowded out, and concealed behind the array of fashion, art, and beauty, it stood, that same Bible exhibition, a "Mountain of Light,” reflecting its beams over all nations.

The French department was well filled, with more showy but less substantial articles than were contributed by the English. The Parisian manufacturers and salesmen have sent over the gaudy productions of their gay land, and here we found them much admired. The French people claim that the idea of the great exhibition originated with them; and it is true that a fair of an inferior character was held in Paris nearly a half century ago, and which in subsequent years was repeated. But the true idea of a world's exhibition, a