enced, and finally she subscribed to a magazine devoted to such matter. It was suddenly revealed to her that the mistresses had been reading these things all the time, while those who were in far greater need of instruction never had an opportunity to improve their minds. This literature had not the sudden success of a Virginia authoress' novel, but in course of time the gay bindings and pictures attracted attention, and the book-shelf got patronage. The effect was not long in appearing. The magazine was looked forward to and read with interest, and a thousand new suggestions as to possible ways of doing and improving their work were gathered and acted upon.-Harper's Bazaar.

All nations, colors, barbarisms, civilizations, languages,

All identities that have existed or may exist, on this globe or any globe, All lives and deaths-all of past, present, future,

This vast similitude spans them, and always has spanned, and shall forever span them, and compactly hold them.-Walt Whitman.

"The masterpiece should appear as the flower to the painter-perfect in its bud as in its bloom, with no reason to explain its presence, no mission to fulfil-a joy to the artist, a delusion to the philanthropist, a puzzle to the botanist, an accident of sentiment and alliteration to the literary man."- Whistler.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE PEACOCK DINING-ROOM.

Foreign palaces and American homes-How houses should be decorated-The colors used should harmonize with the complexion of the hostess—Bric-à brac must be selected carefully and not merely because it is pretty-Choosing pictures-Some famous

rooms.

AMERICAN homes, considered from an artistic point of view, are superior to those of England and France.

Edmund Russell, the art critic and lecturer, is authority for this statement. He declares that no matter how much we imitate English manners and customs, our homes show a higher grade of decorative art than those of our cousins across the sea. In a chat with a Mail and Express reporter Mr. Russell said:

"Nowhere is such good modern decorative art found as in America. The old palaces of England

with their striking crimson curtains suspended from glaring gilt cornices, their landscape carpets and crimson and gold furniture, are trying to the eye. They are stiff and uncomfortable, but to change them would be considered sacrilege. In this country better taste is displayed in the ornamentation of the home, whether it be that of the millionaire or of a clerk in his employ. The test of decorative art taste is not a house on Fifth Avenue, but that of the average resident. Wherever you go in America you will see evidences of good art taste. In a street-car your eye will fall upon a silver-handled umbrella, or a Japanese leather pocketbook that harmonizes with the owner's costume.

"The show-windows and ceilings of our barbershops, cigar stores, and drinking-saloons even display excellent taste. The entrance to some of our office buildings and apartment houses are finer than those of many of the palaces of the Old World. Yet, while we have made great progress, there is still much to learn."

"Is there not much poor taste used in furnishing houses? ”

"Yes. Many people's rooms are a collection of unrelated objects. They see an article of furniture, a beautiful vase or a picture that looks well in a shop-window, and they order it sent home without any regard for the place it is to occupy or the effect it will produce. The main thing in

the decoration and arrangement of a room is harmony. There should be harmony of design as well as harmony of color. As an example of what may be done I will instance a room that Whistler did in Leyland House, at Queen's Gate, South Kensington, for which he received $20,000. It is known as the 'peacock dining-room,' and you sometimes hear it spoken of as the room in which two peacocks have had a fight. It is one of the most wonderful pieces of decoration I have ever seen, and is a strong illustration of Whistler's versatility and power. The room is remarkable for the manner in which it shows the magnificent collection of ceramics belonging to the master of the house. It is exceedingly difficult to arrange a collection so that the general effect is good. Either the owner is an enthusiast on one kind of art, and keeps on collecting until he turns his house into a museum, or the different pieces have no relation to each other, and the effect of the whole is inharmonious.

"Whistler covered one whole side of the peacock dining-room with cabinet work, forming niches and recesses for the beautiful specimens of blue and white Nankin china. The woodwork was ornamented with Japanese carving and colored a greenish-bronze. Each niche is architecturally designed to suit the shape of the piece of china intended for it. The lines of the carving harmonize with the general design of the room,

and the collection of china, softened by being half in shadow, becomes subordinate and does not obtrude itself as a series of blue and white spots.

"The walls of the room were originally covered with magnificent antique Cordova leather, precious and rare; but Whistler dared to subordinate even this to the general scheme of color. While many London artists wrung their hands with horror, Whistler painted the Cordova hangings a dull greenish-blue, with here and there a scalelike conventionalization in greenish-bronze of overlapping peacock feathers. The general harmony of the room is of a greenish-bronze and peacock blue.

"All the woodwork is in greenish-bronze, the panels occasionally marked with a conventionalization of peacock feathers. The entire wall space of one side of the room has a Japanesque decoration of two peacocks in outline. The whole is done with that masterly stroke of Whistler's, suggesting so much force, boldness, and enthusiasm, and yet calculated with so much study and patience.

"It is a mistaken idea that Whistler is a quick painter. He thinks and studies a great deal before every brush-mark, but the stroke itself is made with great dexterity. The ceiling of the room is a marvel. It was shaped like a waterspout and carved in whorls of peacock's feathers, terminating in Oriental lamps of iridescent glass."