THE EXPOSITION

OF

1851,

LONDON:

R. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL.

OF

1851;

OR,

VIEWS OF THE INDUSTRY,

THE SCIENCE, AND THE GOVERNMENT,

OF ENGLAND.

BY

CHARLES BABBAGE, ESQ.

CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY OF MORAL SCIENCES

OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE.

SECOND EDITION, WITH ADDITIONS.

LONDON:

JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.

1851.

232. a. 73.

PREFACE

TO THE FIRST EDITION.

ENGLAND has invited the civilized world to meet in its great commercial centre; asking it, in friendly rivalry, to display for the common advantage of all, those objects which each country derives from the gifts of nature, and on which it confers additional utility by processes of industrial art.

This invitation, universally accepted, will bring from every quarter a multitude of people greater than has yet assembled in any western city: these welcome visitors will enjoy more time and opportunity for observation than has ever been afforded on any previous occasion. The statesman and the philosopher, the manufacturer and the merchant, and all enlightened observers of human nature, may avail themselves of the opportunity afforded by their visit to this Diorama of the Peaceful Arts,