Not only does the exhibition of paintings in the world's fair
make one very hopeful of the future artistic development of this
continent, but the beauty of the architectural design of the noble
buildings which contain the treasures of art and industry, and
of the decorative figures and groups of statuary that embellish
these buildings and the surrounding grounds, is a remarkable
illustration of the artistic genius that has produced so exquisite
an effect in general, whatever defects there may be in minor
details. A critic in the July number of the * Quarterly Review,'
while writing " in the presence of these lovely temples, domes,
and colonnades under the burning American sky which adds a
light and a transparency to all it rests upon," cannot help echo-
ing the regret that this vision of beauty is but for a season, and



INTELLEOTUAL STRENGTH AND WEAKNi^SS. 5 iT

expressing the hope that some one of the American money kings
" may perpetuate his name on marble, by restoring, on the edge
of this immense capital, amid parks and waters, that great central
square which, were it only built of enduring materials, would
stand without a rival in modern architecture." Perhaps the j&ne
arts in the Dominion — where sculpture would be hardly heard
of were it not for the French Canadian H6bert — may themselves
even gain some stimulus from the examples of a higher conception
of artistic achievement that is shown by this exhibition to exist
in a country where a spirit of materialism has obtained the mas-
tery so long. Canadian architecture hitherto has not been dis-
tinguished for originality of design — much more than art it has
been imitative. In Montreal and Quebec the old buildings which
represent the past have no architectural beauty, however inter-
esting they may be to the antiquarian or the historian, and how-
ever well many of them harmonize with the heights of pictur-
esque Quebec. Montreal is assuredly the most interesting city
from an architectural point of view in Canada, simply for the
reason that its architects have, as a rule, studied that effect of
solidity and simplicity of design most in keeping with the grand
mountain and the natural scenery that give such picturesqueness
to an exceptionally noble site. 