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the honour of belonging to this body, will,
nevertheless, enable us to maintain the accus-
tomed brilliancy of our Exhibitions, and, con.-4
sequently, to secure to us the approbation of a
liberal and judicious public:
" The Exhibitions are of the greatest import-
ance to this Institution; and the Institution is
become of great importance to the country.-
Here ingenious youth are instructed in the
art of design; and the instruction acquired in
this place, has spread itself through the various
manufactures of this country, to which it has-
given a taste that is able to convert the most
common and simple materials into-4 rare and
valuable articles of commerce. Those articles
the British merchant sends forth into all the
quarters of the world, where they stand pre-
eminent over the productions of other nations.
" But important as this is, there is another
consequence of a- more exalted. kind; I mean,
the cultivating of those higher excellences in
refined art, which have never failed to secure-
to nations, and tot the individua.lsA who have;