Show OS A parji it the a ballon not bbown to be greedy of praise and ambitious of superiority in everything which man dues or says he comparin compari 1 con drawn by a correspondent between our exhibit and that of the other nations at tharzia tha ruia hespos alon would bo amply gratifying to our national pride this critic proceeds to stale two conclusions which liis observation ober prompts him to draw first that in ingenious and useful mechanism america leads the world and second that in decoration and taste almost eiery oilier nation surpasses ua the first proposition it while to ii estion from alie beginning yankee indention lias been a ake subject to every style of variation the oilier hemisphere has bad ita hausli at our wooden nutmeg and thick bottomed fi box peculiarities in connection with all this however it lias not been elow to recognize the scores and hundreds of laborsaving labor saving devices which the busy brain ot its youthful cousin lias ut to practical use in a word it admits that while we may indulge in lucli trickery which we call pt in the main the claim advanced by the correspondent haa passed beyond the need of argument though this would he praise enough for a loss exacting competitor than jonathan since excellence cel lence in the useful arts is always preferred to preeminence pre eminence in the merely beautiful there will still be ft feeling eliat full justice lias not been done us in the oilier decision there may be good reason for aliis from the fact that in bis first conclusion alie correspondent could bo governed only by standards which all would accept in the other the grages of merit are ficele and at best largely arbitrary any man 0 sense is able to recognize a useful when be sees it but when his sense of the beautiful is appealed to he may regard as elegant that which others pronounce grotesque or may sneer at as inartistic productions which others praise as ideal the of one man may incline to atio light and graceful in decoration another may look upon bubli work as unsightly frippery some admira the stately grandeur of the english and german designs others are pleased with the elaborately decorated french interiors who think alie queen anno stylo of buildings with seelem corners alie essence of beauty are not apt to rave over alie simple savle of the massive pile which impresses by its very solidity and what is true of buildings may also bo said of art in all its department it is not easy therefore to say aliat shall be the criterion of good taste in art and decoration these are matters of tradition and education they arc subject to peculiarly individual definitions and distinctions and have almost as many interpretations as there are judges cerui uly as many as there are nations if the correspondent has assumed to take the french taste as the correct ono and to judge the american taste by it we can understand why he regards m as illiterate though we may resent liia premises and if he takes european taste for liis standard we will leavo time to make lucli progress while waiting without imp atenco until 1 l on an ideal from alie various nations of that continent eif ting up a pattern for ours |