. . And this in spite of words which were
spoken by one whose office it was to speak them, as the
representative of the highest and most sacred personage in these
realms; words which deserve to be written in letters of gold on the
high places of this city; in which he spoke of this Exhibition as an
"approach to a more complete fulfilment of the great and sacred
mission which man has to perform in the world;" when he told the
English people that "man's reason being created in the image of God,
he has to discover the laws by which Almighty God governs His
creations, and by making these laws the standard of his action, to
conquer nature to his use, himself a divine instrument;" when he
spoke of "thankfulness to Almighty God for what he has already
GIVEN," as the first feeling which that Exhibition ought to excite in
us; and as the second, "the deep conviction that those blessings can
only be realised in proportion to"--not, as some would have it, the
rivalry and selfish competition--but "in proportion to the HELP which
we are prepared to render to each other; and, therefore, by peace,
love, and ready assistance, not only between individuals, but between
all nations of the earth." We read those great words; but in the
hearts of how few, alas! to judge from our modern creed on such
matters, must the really important and distinctive points of them
find an echo! To how few does this whole Exhibition seem to have
been anything but a matter of personal gain or curiosity, for
national aggrandisement, insular self-glorification, and selfish--I
had almost said, treacherous--rivalry with the very foreigners whom
we invited as our guests?
And so, too, with our cures of diseases.
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