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OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
period of the year, in the Free-Trade Hall, in Manchester. There were aggregated those ladies who, for seventeen days, had devoted their time, their toil, and, we fear, their health, with unwearied assiduity, to advance the great cause of humanity and justice; ladies who had manifested an intelligence, tact, and spirit of self sacrifice which cannot be too highly estimated, or too gratefully remembered. They were not conscious of the capabilities they possessed until they found them developed in action by the force of circumstances. Everybody was willing to concede to everybody; and there was no need for administrative functions when all minds were animated by the same feelings, guided by the same principles, and directed to the same obejct. Collected together from all parts of the British islands, those who had never seen or heard of each other in their lives found themselves encircled by friends though surrounded by strangers, community of feeling becoming the basis for community of affection. Never was there such a perfect illustration of the Sallustian rule, 'Idem velle atque idem nolle, ea demum firma amicitia est'—(To like the and to dislike the same thing that indeed is firm friendship); for the best feelings of the heart were at once called into warm action by the mere force of association in the same glorious cause. No one could gaze, as we have done for hours together, on the continuous stream in which the crowd flowed through the Hall, without being deeply impressed by the order, the forbearance, and the conciliatory demeanour of every individual in the vast multitude; women went about fearless of insult, and children without danger of injury. It was a striking evidence of the improved culture and higher tone of moral feeling which the discussions and instructions of the League have infused into the public mind. It was a manifestation of the intellectual and ethical character which a great political movement assumes when kept free from the exacerbations of party. All who visited the hall, whatever their former opinions may have been, left it with a conviction that the objects of the League are neither selfish nor partial, but tend equally to raise the physical comfort and the spiritual character of the British nation. It has been officially announced that the artistic character of the Exhibition will be discussed in the Art-Union, by the gentleman who wrote the account of the Paris Exposition for that journal; and that two eminent artists have been engaged to prepare drawings, illustrating the most important articles of manufacture that have been displayed. We shall not interfere with this part of the subject further than to say that, if the Bazaar answered no other purpose than showing the great advance which British artists and artisans have made in design within the last few years, it would have been worth ten times the cost and trouble of its preparation. But it subserved higher purposes even in relation to art: it showed manufacturers how
