There is not SO m uch beauty to be found in American cities as in Oxford，Cambridge，Salisbury of Winchester，where are lovely relics of a beautiful age；but still there is a good deal of beauty to be seen in them now and then，but only where the American has not attempted to create it．Where the Americans have attempted to produce beauty they have signally failed．A remarkable characteristic of the Americans is the manner in which they have applied science to modem life． This is apparent in the most cursory stroll through New York．InEngland an inventor is regarded almost as a crazy man，and in too manyinstances invention ends in disappointment and poverty．In America aninventor is honoured，help is forthcoming，and the exercise of ingenuity，the application of science to the work of man，is there the shortest road towealth．There is no country in the world where machinery is SO lovely asin America． I have always wished to believe that the line of strength and the lineof beauty are one．That wish was realised when I contemplated Americanmachinery．It was not until I had seen the water—works at Chicago that Irealised the wonders of machinery；the rise and fall of the steel rods，thesymmetrical motion of the great wheels is the most beautifully rhythmicthin I have ever seen．One is impressed in America，but not favourablyimpressed，by the inordinate size of everything．The country seems to tryto bully one into a belief in its power by its impressive bigness． 1 was disappointed with Niagara--most people must be disappointedwith Niagara．Every American bride is taken be one of the earliest，ifnot the keenest．disappointments in American married life．One sees itunder bad conditions，very far away，the point of view not showing thesplendour of the water．To appreciate it really one has to see it fromunderneath the fall，and to do that it is necessary to be dressed in a yellowoil-skin，which is as ugly as a mackintosh--and I hope none of you everwears one．It is a consolation to know，however，that such an artist asMadame Bernhardt has not only won that yellow，ugly dress，but has beenphotographed in it．