"The American is, I believe, on the road to the possession of all that can contribute to the well-being and success of a nation, but he seems to me to have missed the path that leads to real happiness. To live in a whirl is not to live well. The little French shopkeeper who locks his shop-door from half-past one, so as not to be disturbed while he is having his dinner with his wife and family, has come nearer to solving the great problem of life, 'How to be happy,' than the American who sticks on his door: 'Gone to dinner, shall be back in five minutes.' You eat too fast, and I understand why your antidyspeptic pill-makers cover your walls, your forests even, with their advertisements." And I named the firm of pill-makers. The letter is from them. They offer me $1000 if I will repeat the phrase at every lecture I give during my tour in the United States. [Illustration: WHERE INDIGESTION IS MANUFACTURED.] You may imagine if I will be careful to abstain in the future. * * * * * I lectured to-night before the members of the Thursday Club--a small, but very select audience, gathered in the drawing-room of one of the members. The lecture was followed by a _conversazione_. A very pleasant evening. I left the house at half-past eleven. The night was beautiful. I walked to the hotel, along Fifth Avenue to Madison Square, and along Broadway to Union Square. What a contrast to the great thoroughfares of London! Thousands of people here returning from the theaters and enjoying their walks, instead of being obliged to rush into vehicles to escape the sights presented at night by the West End streets of London. Here you can walk at night with your wife and daughter, without the least fear of their coming into contact with flaunting vice. * * * * * Excuse a reflection on a subject of a very domestic character. My clothes have come from the laundress with the bill. Now let me give you a sound piece of advice. When you go to America, bring with you a dozen shirts. No more. When these are soiled, buy a new dozen, and so on. You will thus get a supply of linen for many years to come, and save your washing bills in America, where the price of a shirt is much the same as the cost of washing it. * * * * * _January 10._