BOSTON TO WASHINGTON 133 



graph at the end I pointed out the great imperfections of the 

 work, due to the absence of any attempt to weld the mass of 

 heterogeneous matter into a consistent whole. 



In the other article (The Independent, March 17, 1887) I 

 presented my readers with a severe, but, I think, perfectly 

 fair criticism, pointing out the extraordinary incongruity of 

 the materials, the numerous repetitions, the illustrations with- 

 out explanation on the plates or any reference to them in the 

 text, and many other deficiencies. I showed how contemp- 

 tuously he spoke of Darwin as a mere compiler of facts which 

 every one knew, and the inventor of a theory that proved 

 nothing, until he himself had now supplied the missing link — 

 the new conception which cleared up everything! Then I 

 dealt with his own supposed discoveries, his growth-force, his 

 law of acceleration and retardation, and other such matters, 

 showing that, so far as they were intelligible, they were all 

 included in Darwin's writings; and I concluded by express- 

 ing regret that the talented author should have issued so in- 

 complete a work. I do not think that any of my friends in 

 Washington suspected that I was the author of either of the 

 articles, which I heard spoken of as fair criticisms. 



Before I left Washington, Judge Holman took me one morn- 

 ing to call upon the president, Mr. Cleveland. The judge 

 told him I was going to visit California, and that turned the 

 conversation on wine, raisins, etc., which did not at all interest 

 me. There was no ceremony whatever, but, of course, I had 

 nothing special to say to him, and he had nothing special to 

 say to me, the result being that we were both rather bored, and 

 glad to get it over as soon as we could. I then went to see 

 the White House, some of the reception rooms being very 

 fine, but there was a great absence of works of art, the only 

 painting I saw being portraits of Washington and his wife. 



Washington itself is a very fine and even picturesque city, 

 owing to its designer having departed from the rigid rectangu- 

 larly of most American cities by the addition of a number of 

 broad diagonal avenues crossing the rectangles at different 

 angles, and varying from one to four miles long. The broad- 



