San Francisco is a really beautiful city．China Town，peopled by Chinese labourers，is the most artistic town I have ever come across．The people--strange，melancholy Orientals，whom many people wouldcall common，and they are certainly very poor--have determined thatthey will have nothing about them that is not beautiful．In the Chineserestaurant，where these navies meet to have supper in the evening，I foundtern drinking tea out of china cups as delicate as the petals of a roseleaf，whereas at the gaudy hotels 1 was supplied with a delf cup an inch and ahalf thick．When the Chinese bill was presented it was made out on ricepaper，the account being done in Indian ink as fantastically as if an artisthad been etching little birds on a fan． Salt Lake City contains only two buildings of note，the chief beingthe Tabernacle，which iS in the shape of a soup—kettle．It is decorated bythe only native artist，and he has treated religious subjects in the *****spirit of the early Florentine painters，representing people of our own dayin the dress of the period side by side with people of Biblical history whoare clothed in some romantic costume． The building next in importance is called the Amelia Palace，inhonour of one of Brigham Young’S wives．When he died the presentpresident of the Mormons stood up in the Tabernacle and said that it hadbeen revealed to him that he was to have the Amelia Palace，and that onthis subject there were to be no more revelations of any kind！ From Salt Lake City one travels over the Great Plains of Coloradoand up the Rocky Mountains，on the top of which is Leadville，the richestcity in the world．It has also got the reputation of being the roughest，andevery man carries a revolver．1 was told that if 1 went there they wouldbe sure to shoot me or my traveling manager．1 wrote and told them thatnothing that they could do to my traveling manager would intimidate me．They are miners—men working in metals，SO I lectured on the Ethics of Art．I read them passages from the autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini and they seemed much delighted．1 was reproved by my hearers for not having brought him with me．I explained that he had been dead for some little time which elicited the enquiry“Who shot him？”They afterwards took me to a dancing saloon where I saw the only rational method of art criticism I have ever come across．Over the piano was printed a notice：
PLEASE DO NOT SHOOT THE
PIANIST．
HE IS DOING HIS BEST．
The mortality among pianists in that place is marvellous．Then they asked me to supper，and having accepted，I had to descend a mine in a rickety bucket in which it was impossible to be graceful．Having got into the heart of the mountain I had supper，the first course being whisky，the second whisky and the third whisky．
1 went to the Theatre to lecture and 1 was informed thatjust before 1 went there two men had been seized for committing a murder，and in that theatre they had been brought on to the stage at eight O’clock in the evening，and then and there tried and executed before a crowded audience．But I found these miners very charming and not at all rough．
Among the more elderly inhabitants of the South I found a melancholy tendency date every event of importance by the late war． “How beautiful the moon is tonight，’’I once remarked to a gentleman who was standing next to me．“Yes，”was his reply，“but you should have seen it before the War．’’
So infinitesimal did I find the knowledge of Art，west of the Rocky Mountains，that an art patron--one who in his day had been a miner— actually sued the railroad company for damages because the plaster cast of Venus of Milo，which he had imported from Pads，had been delivered minus the arms．And，what is more surprising still，he gained his case and the damages．
Pennsylvania，with its rocky gorges and woodland scenery，reminded me of Switzerland．The prairie reminded me of a piece of blotting-paper． The Spanish and French have left behind them memorials in thebeauty of their names．All the cities that have beautiful names derivethem from the Spanish or the French．The English people give intenselyugly names to places．One place had such an ugly name that I refusedto lecture there．It was called Grigsville．Supposing I had founded aschool of Art there--fancy“Early Grigsville”．Imagine a School of Artteaching“Grigsville Renaissance”． As for slang I did not hear much ofit，though a young lady who hadchanged her clothes after an afternoon dance did say that“after the heelbck she shifted her day goods”． American youths are pale and precocious，or sallow and supercilious，but American girls are pretty and charming little oases of pretty unreasonableness in a vast desert of practical common sense． Every American girl is entitled to have twelve young men devotedto her．They remain her slaves and she rules them with charming nonchalance． The men are entirely given to business；they have，as they say，their brains in front of their heads．They are also exceedingly acceptive of newideas．Their education iS practical．We base the education of children entirely on books，but we must give a child a mind before we can instructthe mind．Children have a natural；antipathy to books—handicraft should be the basis of education．Boys and girls should be taught to use their hands to make something，and they would be less apt tO destroy and be mischievOus．
In going to America one learns that poverty is not a necessary accompaniment to civilization．There at any rate is a country that has rio trappings，no pageants and no gorgeous ceremonies．I saw only tWO processions—one was the Fire Brigade preceded by the Police，the other was the Police preceded by the Fire Brigade． Every man when he gets to the age of twenty-one is allowed to vote，and thereby immediately acquires his political education．The Americans are the best politically educated people in the world．It is well worth one’S while to go a country which can teach llS the beauty of the word FREEDOM and the value of the thing LIBERTY．Elysium n．极乐世界；至福之境characteristic n．特性，特色，特征
aaj．特有的；典型的；表示特性的mackintosh n．橡皮布，雨衣，橡皮布防水衣disastrous adj．损失惨重的；悲伤的whereas conj．然而；鉴于；反之autobiography n．自传melancholy n．忧郁，愁思，悲哀antipathy n．憎恶，反感