any other claim but her own perfection, and it may be that the
artist, desiring merely to contemplate and to create, is wise in
not busying himself about change in others: yet wisdom is not
always the best; there are times when she sinks to the level of
common-sense; and from the passionate folly of those--and there are
many--who desire that Beauty shall be confined no longer to the
bric-a-brac of the collector and the dust of the museum, but shall
be, as it should be, the natural and national inheritance of all,--
from this noble unwisdom, I say, who knows what new loveliness
shall be given to life, and, under these more exquisite conditions,
what perfect artist born? Le milieu se renouvelant, l'art se
renouvelle.



THE AMERICAN INVASION



A terrible danger is hanging over the Americans in London. Their
future and their reputation this season depend entirely on the
success of Buffalo Bill and Mrs. Brown-Potter. The former is
certain to draw; for English people are far more interested in
American barbarism than they are in American civilization. When
they sight Sandy Hook they look to their rifles and ammunition;
and, after dining once at Delmonico's, start off for Colorado or
California, for Montana or the Yellow Stone Park. Rocky Mountains
charm them more than riotous millionaires; they have been known to
prefer buffaloes to Boston. Why should they not? The cities of
America are inexpressibly tedious. The Bostonians take their