A unanimous, graceful and cordial bow of acceptance having thus swept round the globe in response to the invitation of the youngest member of the family, let us glance at the preparations made for the comfortable entertainment of so august an assemblage.  An impression that its host was not yet fully out of the woods, that the chestnut-burs were still sticking in his hair, and that the wolf, the buffalo and the Indian were among his intimate daily chums, may have tended to modify its anticipations of a stylish reception.  The rough but hearty ways of a country cousin who wished to retaliate for city hospitalities probably limited the calculations of the expectant world.  This afforded the cousin aforesaid opportunity for a new surprise, of which he fully determined to avail himself.  It is not his habit to aim too low, and that was not his failing in the present instance.

[Illustration:  Hon.  Joseph R. Hawley, president of the Centennial commission.]

The edifices, according to the original plan, were to excel their European exemplars not less in elegance and elaboration than in completeness for their practical purposes, in adaptation and in capacity.  The uncertainty, however, of success in raising the necessary funds in time enforced the abandonment of much that was merely ornate—­a circumstance which was proved fortunate by the excess in the demands of exhibitors over all calculations, since the means it was at first proposed to bestow upon the artistic finish of the buildings were needed to provide additional space.  As it is, the architectural results actually attained are above the average of such structures in general effect.  The Main Building strikes the eye, at an angle of vision proper to its extent, more pleasingly than either of the English or French structures; while for the massiveness and dignity unattainable by glass and iron Memorial Hall has no rival among them, and its facade is inferior chiefly in richness of detail to the main entrance at Vienna.  Were it otherwise, some shortcoming in point of external beauty might be pardoned in erections which are meant to stand but for a few months, and which can have no pretensions to the monumental character belonging to true architecture.  Suitability to their transient purpose is the great thing to be considered; and their merit in that regard is amply established.  Mr. P. Cunliffe Owen, familiar with all the minutiae of previous expositions, declares them supreme “in thoroughness of plan and energy of construction”—­a judgment designed to coyer the whole conception and administration of the exhibition, and one which, coming from a disinterested and competent foreign observer, may be cited as an amply expressive tribute to the zeal and fidelity of those in control.  Ex-Governor Hawley of Connecticut, president of the commission, is a native of North Carolina, and brings to the cause a combination of Southern ardor with Northern tenacity.