eets were filled with a dense throng. Richard
Henry Lee, grandson of the mover of the Declaration of Independence,
came to the front with the original document in his hands. At sight of
that yellow and wrinkled paper, the vast audience burst forth into
prolonged cheering. Mr. Lee then read the Declaration. The recitation of
an ode by Bayard Taylor and the delivery of an oration by Hon. William
M. Evarts were the other main features of the exercises.

Through the early fall the interest in the Exposition spread farther and
farther over the land, and the attendance steadily increased. On
September 28th, Pennsylvania day, 275,000 persons passed through the
gates. During October, the visitors numbered over 2,500,000. From May
10th to November 10th, the total admissions were 9,900,000; 8,000,000
admission fees were collected, amounting to $3,800,000. The fair was
brought to an end on November 10th. After brief closing exercises,
President Grant gave the signal to stop the Corliss engine. The giant
slowly came to a standstill, the hum of the machinery died away, and the
International Exhibition of 1876 was closed.

The Centennial Exposition was not a complete financial success. After
returning the United States loan of $1,500,000, the stockholders could
not be paid in full. The attendance was, however, larger in the
aggregate than at any previous international exhibition, except that of
Paris in 1867. The admissions there reached 10,200,000, but the gates
were open fifty-one days longer than at Philadelphia. At Vienna, in
1873, there were but 7,255,000 admissions in 186 days against 159 days
at Philadelphia.

The larger and more important results of this exposition cannot be
measured with precision. A thousand silent influences were set at work
upon our social, intellectual, and political life, which operated in
secret for years afterward. The most obvious, and perhaps the most
important, effect was the broadening of sympathies and mental outlook.
Visitors to Philadelphia got something of the benefit of foreign travel.
Local prejudices were broken down. New ideas of life and civilization
were planted in hitherto sterile minds. The plodding Eastern farmer
caught something of the Westerner's dash and swing. North and South,
East and West, drew nearer together. A narrow patriotism caught glimpses
of a great and noble world without.

These influences touched the most careless observer. Special classes
derived each a peculiar