arbarians which did not find relief in an
extravagant sentimentality, and Chicago, in its hours of ease, is an
enthusiastic patron of the higher life. As I have said, in culture it is
fast outstripping Boston itself. It boasts more societies whose object
is "the promotion of serious thought upon art, science, and literature"
than any other city in the world. The clubs which it has established
for the proper study of Ibsen and Browning are without number, It is as
eager for the enlightenment of women as for sending up or down the price
of corn. The craze, which is the mark of a crude society, will pass like
many others, and, though it may appear sincere while it lasts, it is not
characteristic. The one triumph of Chicago is its slang. It has invented
a lingo more various and fuller of fancy than any known to man, and if
it will forget Ibsen and exercise its invention after its own
fashion, why should it not invent a new literature? Mr George Ade, the
Shakespeare of Chicago, has already shown us what can be done with the
new speech in his masterly 'Fables in Slang,' to read which is almost as
good as a journey to the West; and there is no reason why he should not
found a school.

Yet with all its faults and absurdities upon its face, Chicago is the
happiest city in America. It is protected by the triple brass of pride
against all the assaults of its enemies. Never in history was so sublime
a vanity revealed; and it is hard for a stranger to understand upon what
it is based. Chicago is Chicago--that is what its citizens say, with a
flattered smile, which makes argument useless. Its dirt and dust do not
disconcert its self-esteem. The oversized ugliness of its buildings are
no disappointment to its candid soul, and if its peculiar virtue escape
your observation, so much the worse for you. "The marvellous city of the
West"--that is its own name, and it lives up to it without an effort.
Its history, as composed by its own citizens, is one long paean of
praise. One chronicler, to whose unconscious humour I am infinitely
indebted, dedicates his work to "the children of Chicago, who, if the
Lord spares them until they shall have attained the allotted span of
life, will see this city the greatest metropolis on the globe." That
is a modest estimate, and it makes us feel the inadequacy of our poor
speech to hymn the glories of Chicago. And if you suggest a fault, its
panegyrists are always ready with a counterstroke. Having no taste