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EXPOSITION AT VIENNA.
consider how far, as a nation becomes richer, it is necessary to elevate the tastes, and to furnish new and high interests to the people, if we should prevent them from degenerating into luxury and dissipation. Our State has taken its position in this matter, by introducing drawing into the public, schools, and by the encouragement of artistic study in the schools of technology ; and it only remains to push on the work as vigorously as possible. The encouragement of museums is certainly one of the most direct and effective means of so doing, and, great as is their influence in Europe, they would be much more powerful here. Indeed, something of the kind is essential to our art-education. Students and the public in Europe have the great advantage over us of living in countries where they are continually in presence of art-work. With us, who have not this inspiration, there remains only the influence of museums, as a means of cultivating an artistic taste in the community. The writer believes that with us the natural taste is better than in most European countries, and that, with proper effort, our people can be educated to take high rank as artistic producers ; and it is not impossible that when we do acquire an artistic skill, our work will be found to be more original and more beautiful than that of many people now far in advance of us in this department.
Some consideration was given by the writer at Vienna to the question of the value of, Expositions—which may be considered as a species of temporary museum—as a means of developing industry, both of a practical and an artistic character. In the United States, particularly, there has been a tendency to think lightly of them. It is believed that this is a mistaken view. In respect to the international exhibitions, held in foreign countries lately, it has been felt that, as an immediate means of advertising our productions, they were of no use to us, on account of the higher range of prices prevailing in the United States. In this there is less difference than is commonly supposed ; and there is an advantage in many classes of our productions—in point of convenience, adaptability, or amount of work they will perform, or that they will endure—which would more than outweigh this difference, were their quality and character better understood abroad.