the center of an eager circle to-day, and if five hundred of the former
were to be had here, they would all be bought within a month. There is
to be another public trial, merely to place beyond doubt its capacity to
cut dry and ripe grain as well as green and wet; but those who have seen
it work in the States will not care much for that.[C]

Mr. Hobbs, of the American Bank Lock Company, has had a recent trial of
the Chubb Lock, so long deemed invincible here, and consumed twenty-four
minutes and a half in picking it, under the supervision of judges of
unquestionable ability and impartiality. He then re-locked it without
disturbing the "Detector," and left it as when it was set before him. He
has now to try his skill on the "Bramah" lock under the challenge for
L200; and, should he be able to open it, he says he shall there rest the
case.[D] He has been sent for by the Governor of the Bank of England,
and will respond to the invitation. His operations have of course
excited some feeling among those whose interests were affected by them;
yet it is manifestly proper and important, if the locks relied on by
banks and other depositories of treasure here are not secure against
burglary, that the fact should be known. Unless I err as to his success
at the forthcoming trial with the Bramah lock, British locksmiths must
commence at once to learn their business over again under Yankee
tuition.

I might give other facts in support of my judgment that our Country has
not been and will not be _disgraced_ by her share in this Exhibition,
but I forbear. Had we declined altogether the invitation to participate
in this show, we certainly would have been discredited in the world's
opinion, however unjustly; had we attempted to rival the costly tissues,
dainty carvings, rich mosaics, and innumerable gewgaws of Europe, we
should have shown equal bad taste and unsound judgment, and would have
deservedly been laughed at. Our real error consists, not in neglecting
to send articles to rival the rich fabrics and wares of this Continent,
but in sending too few of those homely but most important products in
which we unquestionably lead the world. We have a good many such here
now, but we should have had many more. One such plain, odd-looking
concern as McCormick's Reaper, though it makes no figure in the eyes of
mere sight-seers in comparison with an inlaid Table or a case of Paris
Bonnets, is of more practical account than a Crystal Palace full