neighbours eyed me closely and with jealous looks, especially as an English lady was leaning on my arm.  But their sneering looks did not disturb me in the least.  I remained the longer in their department, and criticised the bad appearance of their goods the more.  Indeed, the Americans, as far as appearance goes, are behind every other country in the Exhibition.  The “Greek Slave” is the only production of Art which the United States has sent.  And it would have been more to their credit had they kept that at home.  In so vast a place as the Great Exhibition one scarcely knows what to visit first, or what to look upon last.  After wandering about through the building for five hours, I sat down in one of the galleries and looked at the fine marble statue of Virginius, with the knife in his hand and about to take the life of his beloved and beautiful daughter, to save her from the hands of Appius Claudius.  The admirer of genius will linger for hours among the great variety of statues in the long avenue.  Large statues of Lords Eldon and Stowell, carved out of solid marble, each weighing above twenty tons, are among the most gigantic in the building.

I was sitting with my 400 paged guide-book before me, and looking down upon the moving mass, when my attention was called to a small group of gentlemen standing near the statue of Shakspere, one of whom wore a white coat and hat, and had flaxen hair, and trousers rather short in the legs.  The lady by my side, and who had called my attention to the group, asked if I could tell what country this odd-looking gentleman was from?  Not wishing to run the risk of a mistake, I was about declining to venture an opinion, when the reflection of the sun against a mirror, on the opposite side, threw a brilliant light upon the group, and especially on the face of the gentleman in the white coat, and I immediately recognized under the brim of the white hat, the features of Horace Greeley, Esq., of the New York “Tribune.”  His general appearance was as much out of the English style as that of the Turk whom I had seen but a moment before—­in his bag-like trousers, shuffling along in his slippers.  But oddness in dress, is one of the characteristics of the Great Exhibition.

Among the many things in the Crystal Palace, there are some which receive greater attention than others, around which may always be seen large groups of the visitors.  The first of these is the Koh-i-noor, the “Mountain of Light.”  This is the largest and most valuable diamond in the world, said to be worth L2,000,000 sterling.  It is indeed a great source of attraction to those who go to the Exhibition for the first time, but it is doubtful whether it obtains such admiration afterwards.  We saw more than one spectator turn away with the idea that after all it was only a piece of glass.  After some jamming, I got a look at the precious jewel, and although in a brass-grated cage, strong enough to hold a lion, I found it to be no larger than the third of a hen’s egg.  Two policemen remain by its side day and night.