Chapter II: Part 2

If, finding himself ill received or ill understood, he has to say, "You cannot understand me," he must also say, "I did not understand myself and you, to whom I speak, sufficiently well to make you understand me."

There could be no better illustration of all this than that Mr. Whistler has suggested of Balaam's ass. _For the Ass was right_, although, nay, because he was an ass. "What have I done unto thee," said he, "that thou hast smitten me these three times?" "Because thou hast mocked me," replies Balaam--Whistler; whereupon the Angel of the Lord rebukes him and says, "_The ass saw me_," so that Balaam is constrained to bow his head and fall flat on his face. And thus indeed it is. The ass sees the Angel of the Lord there where the wise prophet sees nothing, and, by her seeing, saves the life of the very master who, for reward, smites her grievously and wishes he had a sword that he might kill her.

Let Balaam not forget that after all he rides upon the ass, that she has served him well ever since she was his until this day, and that even now he is on his way with her to be promoted unto very great honour by the Princes of Balak. And let him remember that whatever can speak may at any moment have a word to say to him which it were best he should hear.

RASPER.

_The Point acknowledged_

[Sidenote: _Vanity Fair_, Jan. 18, 1879.]

Well hit! my dear _Vanity_, and I find, on searching again, that historically you are right.

The fact, doubtless, explains the conviction of the race in their mission, but I fancy you will admit that this is the _only Ass on record_ who ever _did_ "see the Angel of the Lord!" and that we are past the age of miracles.

Yours always,

THE WHITE HOUSE,
Jan. 11, 1879.

_Critic's Analysis_

[Sidenote: _The Saturday Review_, June 1, 1867. P. G.
Hamerton.]

In the "Symphony in White No. III." by Mr. Whistler there are many dainty varieties of tint, but it is not precisely a symphony in white. One lady has a yellowish dress and brown hair and a bit of blue ribbon, the other has a red fan, and there are flowers and green leaves. There is a girl in white on a white sofa, but even this girl has reddish hair; and of course there is the flesh colour of the complexions.

_The Critic's Mind Considered_

How pleasing that such profound prattle should inevitably find its place in print! "Not precisely a symphony in white ... for there is a yellowish dress ... brown hair, etc.... another with reddish hair ... and of course there is the flesh colour of the complexions."

_Bon Dieu!_ did this wise person expect white hair and chalked faces? And does he then, in his astounding consequence, believe that a symphony in F contains no other note, but shall be a continued repetition of F, F, F.?... Fool!

Chelsea,
June 1867.

_A Troubled One_

[Sidenote: _The World_, July 3, 1878.]

The "Season Number" of _Vanity Fair_ contains ... Mr. Whistler's etching of "St. James's Street" is sadly disappointing.

_Full Absolution_

[Sidenote: _The World_, July 10, 1878.]

Dear _World_--Atlas, overburdened with the world and its sins, may well be relieved from the weight of one wee error--a sort of last straw that bothers his back. The impression in _Vanity Fair_ that disappoints him is not an etching at all, but a reproduction for that paper by some transfer process.

Atlas has the wisdom of ages, and need not grieve himself with mere matters of art. "Il n'est pas nécessaire que vous sachiez ces choses-là, mon révérend père!"

Chelsea.

_"Confidences" with an Editor_

_TO THE EDITOR OF THE "HOUR."_

Sir,--I have read the intelligent remarks of your critic upon my pictures, and am happy to be able to remove, I think, the "melancholy" impression left upon his mind by the supposition that "the best works are not of recent date." Permit me to reassure him, for the paintings he speaks of in glowing terms--notably "the full-length portrait of a young girl," which he overwhelms me by comparing to Velasquez, as well as the two life-size portraits in black, "in which there is an almost entire negation of colour" (though I, who am, he says, a colourist, did not know it)--are my latest works, and but just completed.

May I still farther correct a misconception? The etchings and dry-points in the gallery do not form a complete set. There are only fifty exhibited, making about half the number I have executed.

Again, it was from no feeling that "my works were not seen to advantage when placed in juxtaposition with those of an essentially different kind," that I "determined to have an exhibition of my own, where no discordant elements should distract the spectator's attention." It is true that occasionally it has been borne in upon my mind that those whose "works are of an essentially different kind," are unwilling to place mine in juxtaposition with their own.

My wish has been, though, to prove that the place in which works of art are shown may be made as free from "discordant elements which distract the spectators' attention" as the works themselves.

Marvelling greatly that the "principle" that has led me (in his eyes at least) to paint so that he speaks of me in the same breath with Velasquez, should be "founded on fallacy,"--I remain, sir, your obedient servant,

June 10, 1874.

_Critics "Copy"_

[Sidenote: _The World_, Dec. 8, 1880.]

At the Gallery of the Fine Art Society in New Bond Street, an exhibition has been opened of the etchings of Venice, executed by Mr. Whistler. Exhibitions are sometimes of slender constitution nowadays. Mr. Whistler's etchings are twelve in number, of unimportant dimensions, and of the slightest workmanship. They convey a certain sense of distance and atmosphere, otherwise it cannot be said that they are of particular value or originality. They rather resemble vague first intentions, or memoranda for future use, than designs completely carried out. Probably every artist coming from Venice brings with him some such outlines as these in his sketch-books. Apparently, so far as his twelve etchings are to be considered as evidence in the matter, Venice has not deeply stirred either Mr. Whistler or his art.

_A Proposal_

[Sidenote: _The World_, Dec. 29, 1880.]

Atlas, _mon bon, méfiez-vous de vos gens!_ Your art gentleman says that Mr. Whistler exhibits twelve etchings, "slight in execution and unimportant in size." Now the private assassin you keep, for us, need not be hampered by mere connoisseurship in the perpetration of his duty--therefore, _passe_, for the execution--but he should not compromise his master's reputation for brilliancy, and print things that he who runs may scoff at.

Seriously, then, my Atlas, an etching does not depend, for its importance, upon its size. "I am not arguing with you--I am telling you." As well speak of one of your own charming _mots_ as unimportant in length!

Look to it, Atlas. Be severe with your man. Tell him his "job" should be "neatly done." I could cut my own throat better; and if need be, in case of his dismissal, I offer my services.

Meanwhile, yours joyously,

_The Painter-Etcher Papers_

[Sidenote: "A Storm in an Æsthetic Teapot."

_The Cuckoo_, April 11, 1881.]

The exhibition of etchings at the Hanover Gallery has been the occasion of one of those squabbles which amuse everybody--perhaps, even including the quarrellers themselves. Some etchings, exceedingly like Mr. Whistler's in manner, but signed "Frank Duveneck," were sent to the Painter-Etchers' Exhibition from Venice. The Painter-Etchers appear to have suspected for a moment that the works were really Mr. Whistler's; and, not desiring to be the victims of an easy hoax on the part of that gentleman, three of their members--Dr. Seymour Haden, Dr. Hamilton, and Mr. Legros--went to the Fine Art Society's Gallery, in New Bond Street, and asked one of the assistants there to show them some of Mr. Whistler's Venetian plates. From this assistant they learned that Mr. Whistler was under an arrangement to exhibit and sell his Venetian etchings only at the Fine Art Society's Gallery; but, even if these Painter-Etchers really believed that "Frank Duveneck" was only another name for James Whistler, this information about the Fine Art Society's arrangement with him need not have shaken that belief, for the _nom de plume_ might easily have been adopted with the concurrence of the society's leading spirits. Nor is it altogether certain that the Painter-Etchers did anything more than compare, for their own satisfaction as connoisseurs, the works of Mr. Whistler and "Frank Duveneck." The motive of their doing so may have been misunderstood by the Fine Art Society's assistant with whom they conferred.

Be that as it may, this assistant thought fit to repeat to Mr. Whistler what had passed, and also his own impressions as to the motive of the comparison and the inquiries which the Painter-Etchers had instituted. Whereupon Mr. Whistler has addressed a letter to Mr. Seymour Haden (who is, by the way, _his brother-in-law_), of which all that need be here said, is that it is extremely characteristic of Mr. Whistler.

_Later_

[Sidenote: _The Cuckoo_, April 30, 1881.]

Some time ago I referred to a storm in an "æsthetic tea-pot" that was brewed and had burst in the Fine Art Society's Gallery, in Bond Street, in _re_ Mr. Whistler's Venice Etchings. It seems to me that Mr. Seymour Haden, Mr. Legros, and Mr. Hamilton stumbled on an artistic mare's nest, that they rashly suggested that Mr. Whistler had been guilty of gross misfeasance in publishing etchings in an assumed name, and that they are now trying to get out of the scrape as best they may. This is, however, simply an opinion formed on perusal of the following documents, which I here present to my readers to judge of:

The following paragraph was some time ago sent to me with this letter:--

"If the Editor of the '_Cuckoo_' should see his way to the
publication of the accompanying paragraph as it stands, twenty
copies may be sent, for circulation among the Council of the
Society of Painter-Etchers, to Mr. Piker, newsvendor, Shepherd's
Market."

"MR. WHISTLER AND THE PAINTER-ETCHERS.--Our explanation of this
'Storm in a Tea-pot' turns out to have been in the main correct.
It appears that not only were the three gentlemen who went to the
Fine Art Society's Gallery to look at Mr. Whistler's etchings
guiltless of offence, but that the object of their going there
was actually less to show that Mr. Whistler _was_ than that he
was _not_ the author of the etchings which for a moment had
puzzled them.

"For this, indeed, they seem to have given each other--in the
presence of the blundering assistant, of course--three very
distinct reasons.

"Firstly, that, as already stated, Mr. Seymour Haden had quite
seriously written to Mr. Duveneck to buy the etchings.

"Secondly, that they at once accepted as satisfactory and
sufficient the explanation given them of Mr. Whistler's
obligations to the Fine Art Society; and, thirdly, though this
count appears to have somehow slipped altogether out of the
indictment--they were one and all of opinion that, taken all
round, the Duveneck etchings were the _best of the two (sic)_!!!

"It is a pity a clever man like Mr. Whistler is yet not clever
enough to see that while habitual public attacks on a _near
relative_ cannot fail to be, to the majority of people,
unpalatable, they are likely to be, when directed against a
brother etcher, even _suspecte_."

I did not at the time "see my way" to publishing the paragraph "as it stands," but, having subsequently received the following correspondence, I think it only right to give Mr. Piker's paragraph publicity, along with the letters subjoined:--

"THE FINE ART SOCIETY,"
148 NEW BOND STREET.
March 18, 1881.

[Sidenote: Letter from Mr. Huish to Mr. Haden.]

"To Seymour Haden, Esq.--My dear Sir,--Mr. Whistler has called upon me respecting your visit here yesterday with Mr. Legros and Dr. Hamilton, the purport of which had been communicated to him by Mr. Brown."

"He is naturally indignant that, knowing, as you apparently did, that he was under an engagement not to publish for a certain time any etchings of Venice except those issued by us, you should suggest that they were his work, and had been sent in by him under a _nom de plume_."

"He considers that it is damaging to his reputation in connection with us, and he requests me to write and ask you whether you adhere to your opinion or retract it."

"Believe me to remain, yours faithfully,

"MARCUS B. HUISH."

"38 HERTFORD STREET, MAYFAIR, W.
March 21, 1881.

[Sidenote: Letter from Mr. Haden to Mr. Huish.]

"To M. Huish, Esq.--Dear Sir,--I am in receipt of a letter from you, dated the 18th inst., in which you first impute to me an opinion which I have never held, and then call me to account for that opinion. To a peremptory letter so framed, I shall not be misunderstood if I simply decline to plead."

"Meanwhile, that I was _not_ of opinion that the etchings in our hands were by Mr. Whistler is conclusively proved by the fact that on the day after their reception I had written to Mr. Duveneck to arrange for their purchase!"

"Be this, however, as it may, I can have no hesitation on the part both of myself and of the gentlemen engaged with me in a necessary duty, in expressing our sincere regret if, by a mistaken representation of our proceedings, Mr. Whistler has been led to believe that we had said or implied anything which could give him pain or reflect in any way on his reputation either with you or your directors."

"Faithfully yours,
"F. SEYMOUR HADEN."

"ARTS CLUB,"
HANOVER SQUARE.

[Sidenote: Letter from J. M'N. Whistler to Mr. Haden.
March 29, 1881.]

"To Seymour Haden, Esq.--Sir--Mr. Huish handed me your letter of the 21st inst., since when I have waited in vain for the true version that, I doubted not, would follow the 'mistaken representation' you regret I should have received."

"Now I must ask that you will, if possible, without further delay, give me a thorough explanation of your visit to the Fine Art Society's Gallery on Friday evening, the 17th inst.,--involving, as it did, a discussion of my private affairs."

"Did you, accompanied by M. Legros and Dr. Hamilton, call at the Fine Art Society's rooms on that date, and ask to see Mr. Whistler's etchings?"

"Did you there proceed to make a careful and minute examination of these, and then ask Mr. Brown if Mr. Whistler had done other etchings of Venice?"

"Upon his answer in the affirmative, did you ask Mr. Brown if any of the other plates were large ones, and, notably, whether Mr. Whistler had done any other plate of the subject called 'The Riva'?"

"Did you ask to see the early states of Mr. Whistler's etchings?"

"Did you say to Mr. Brown, 'Now, is not Mr. Whistler under an engagement with the Fine Art Society to publish no Venice etchings for a year?' or words to that effect? and upon Mr. Brown's assurance that such was the case, did you request him to go with you to the Hanover Gallery?"

"Did you there produce for his inspection three large Venice etchings, and among them the 'Riva' subject?"

"Did you then incite Mr. Brown to detect, in these works, the hand of Mr. Whistler?"

"Did you point out details of execution which, in your opinion, betrayed Mr. Whistler's manner?"

"Did you say, 'You see these etchings are signed "Frank Duveneck," and I have written to that name and address for their purchase, but I don't believe in the existence of such a person,' or words to that effect?"

"If this be not so,

"Why did you take Mr. Brown over to the Hanover Gallery?"

"Why did you show him Mr. Duveneck's Venice etchings?"

"Why did you question him about my engagement with the Fine Art Society?"

"Is it officially, as the Painter-Etchers' President, that you pry about the town?"

"Does the Committee sanction your suggestions? and have you permitted yourself these 'proceedings' with the full knowledge and approval of the 'dozen or more distinguished men seated in serious council,' as described by yourself in the _Pall Mall Gazette_?"

"Of what nature, pray, is the 'necessary duty' that has led two medical men and a Slade Professor to fail as connoisseurs, and blunder as detectives?"

"'Vat shall de honest man do in my closet? Dere is no honest man dat shall come in my closet!'"

"Copies of this correspondence will be sent to members of your Committee."

To this last letter, Mr. Seymour Haden has not as yet sent any answer, and here the matter rests. As requested, we have sent Mr. Piker the copies he requires for distribution.

THE EDITOR OF THE "CUCKOO."

_La Suite_

"ARTS CLUB,"
May 10, 1881.

To the Committee of the Painter-Etchers' Society:

[Sidenote: Letter to the Committee of "Painter-Etchers'
Society."]

Gentlemen,--I have hitherto, in vain, written to Sir William Drake, as secretary of the Painter-Etchers' Society, and feeling convinced that his elaborate silence cannot possibly be the expression of any intended discourtesy on the part of the Committee, as a body, but that it would rather indicate that they had not been consulted in the matter at all, I now address myself to you, and beg that you will kindly inform me whether the Committee, as represented by their officers, endorse the late acts of their President, or whether they intend taking any steps towards refusing to share the shame and ridicule that have accrued from certain "proceedings" described by Mr. Haden as a "necessary duty," in the exercise of which he was officially engaged in conjunction with Dr. Hamilton and M. Legros.

That you may clearly see how current the matter has become, I have the honour, Gentlemen, to send you herewith, for your serious consideration, extracts from the daily press, and thus, as you will read, carry out myself the first intention of a certain speculative Piker, newsvendor, Shepherd's Market, who had purposed circulating among you "twenty copies" of the enclosed literary venture--curtailed, it is true, to the original "Piker paragraph," and unaccompanied by the Piker twenty-penny prospect; the printing of which may--who knows?--have caused a wavering on the part of Piker, and have left you deprived of his labour after all.

Piker offers matter with authority--and here I would point out the _close proximity of Shepherd's Market to Hertford Street, Mayfair_!--most suggestive is such contiguity. The newsvendor's stall and the doctor's office within hail of each other!

Surely I may, without indiscretion, congratulate the President upon Piker's English and also upon the Pecksniffian whine about the "brother-in-law"--rather telling in its way--but shallow! shallow!--for after all, Gentlemen, a brother-in-law is _not_ a connection calling for sentiment--in the abstract, rather an intruder than "a near relation"--indeed, "near relation" is mere swagger!

Meanwhile, the insinuation of jealousy of the "brother-etcher" is, as Piker puts it, "_suspecte_"--very!--and modest!--and transparent!

To the last paper I have added the cutting from the former _Cuckoo_ (Piker's earlier effort) so that you have the occasion of perceiving how the progressive Piker party have gained in courage--until, in direct contradiction to their first anxiety and hesitation, we reach the final _overwhelming certainty_ of the three representative gentlemen, whose visit to the Fine Art Society's rooms, it would _now_ appear, was absolutely to prove to the "blundering assistant" that some etchings he had never seen, and, consequently never had questioned;--of the very existence of which, in short, he was utterly unconscious,--were by a Mr. Duveneck, of whom he had never heard, and _not_ by Mr. Whistler!--a fact that in his whole life he had never been in a position to dispute--and of which _the three Painter-Etchers themselves were the only people_ who had ever had any doubt!

Really, they either doubted Duveneck, or they didn't doubt Duveneck!--Now, if the Piker party didn't doubt Duveneck, who the devil did the Piker party doubt? And why, may I ask, does Mr. Haden, _two days after_ the disastrous blunder in Bond Street, _volunteer_ the following note of explanation to Mr. Brown, the assistant?--

(COPY.)

"38 HERTFORD STREET, MAYFAIR, W.
March 19, 1881.

"To Ernest Brown, Esq.--Dear Sir,--We know all about Mr. Frank
Duveneck, and are delighted to have his etchings.--Yours
faithfully,"

"F. SEYMOUR HADEN."

It will be remembered that the little expedition to the Fine Art Society's Gallery took place on _Thursday evening, the 17th_ of March. On Friday, the 18th, Mr. Huish wrote to Mr. Haden demanding an explanation; and on _Saturday, the 19th_, this over-diplomatic and criminating note was sent to Mr. Brown,--altogether unasked for, and curiously difficult to excuse!--"Methinks, he doth protest too much!"

Further comment I believe to be unnecessary.

I refer you, Gentlemen, to my letter of March 29th, which Mr. Haden has never been able to answer--and merely point out that, the "blundering assistant" was the only one who did not blunder at all--since he alone, refrained from folly, and, notwithstanding all exhortation, steadily refused, in the presence of cunning connoisseurs, to mistake the work of one man for that of another.

I have, Gentlemen, the honour to be,
Your obedient servant,
J. MCNEILL WHISTLER.

May 18, 1881.

TO THE COMMITTEE OF
THE PAINTER-ETCHERS' SOCIETY.

May I, without impertinence, ask what really does constitute the "Painter-Etcher" "all round," as Piker has it?--for, of these three gentlemen who have so markedly distinguished themselves in that character, two certainly are not painters--and one doesn't etch!

_A Correction_

[Sidenote: _The World_, Nov. 14, 1883.]

A supposititious conversation in _Punch_ brought about the following interchange of telegrams:--

From Oscar Wilde, Exeter, to J. McNeill Whistler, Tite Street.--_Punch_ too ridiculous--when you and I are together we never talk about anything except ourselves.

From Whistler, Tite Street, to Oscar Wilde, Exeter.--No, no, Oscar, you forget--when you and I are together, we never talk about anything except me.

_A Warning_

[Sidenote: _The World_, June 1, 1881.]

[Sidenote: _REFLECTION:_

"A foolish man's foot is soon in his neighbour's house;
but a man of experience is ashamed of him."

]

My dear James,--I see from a weekly paper that your late residence, the White House, in Tite Street, is now occupied by Mr. Harry Quilter, "the excellent art critic and writer on art," or words to that effect. This is the great man who has succeeded Mr. Tom Taylor on the _Times_, and whose vagaries in art criticism you and I, my dear James, have previously noticed....

ATLAS.

_Naïf Enfant_

[Sidenote: _The Times_, May 2, 1881.]

Close to this is another portrait of extreme interest, and, though of another kind, it is not inappropriately near Mr. Hunt's work. This is Mr. John Ruskin, painted by Mr. Herkomer. It is difficult to dissociate this picture, as regards the merit of its painting, from the interest which attaches to it as being the first oil portrait we have ever seen of our great art critic.... The picture remains a singularly fine one, and is, in our opinion, Mr. Herkomer's best portrait.

_A Straight Tip_

[Sidenote: _The World_, May 18, 1881.]

"Ne pas confondre intelligence avec gendarmes"--but surely, dear Atlas, when the art critic of the _Times_, suffering possibly from chronic catarrh, is wafted in at the Grosvenor without guide or compass, and cannot by mere sense of smell distinguish between oil and water colour, he ought, like Mark Twain, "to inquire."

Had he asked the guardian or the fireman in the gallery, either might have told him not to say that one of the chief interests of Mr. Herkomer's large water-colour drawing of Mr. Ruskin "attaches to it as being _the first oil portrait_ we have ever seen of our great art critic"! Adieu.

_An Eager Authority_

[Sidenote: _The World_, Feb. 9, 1881.]

Mr. Whistler knows how to defend himself so perkily that it is a pleasure to attack him. I hasten, therefore, with joy, to submit to you, dear Atlas, who are growing so very clever at your languages, the following crotchets and quavers--shall I call them? for Mr. Whistler is just now full of "notes"--in American-Italian; they are from his delightful brown-paper catalogue. To begin with, "Santa Margharita" is wrong; it must be either Margarita or Margherita; the other is impossible Italian. Then who or what is "San Giovanni _Apostolo et Evangelistæ_"? Does the sprightly and shrill McNeill mean this for Latin? And is the "Café Orientale" intended to be French or Italian? It has an _e_ too many for French, and an _f_ too few for Italian. "Piazetta," furthermore, does duty for "Piazzetta." Finally I give up "Campo Sta. Martin." I don't know what that can be. The Italian Calendar has a San Martino and a Santa Martina, but Sta. Martin is very curious. The catalogue is exceedingly short, but a few of the names are right.

_An Admission_

[Sidenote: _The World_, Feb. 16, 1881]

Touché!--and my compliments to your "Correspondent," Atlas, _chéri_--far from me to justify spelling of my own! But who could possibly have supposed an orthographer loose! Evidently too "ung vieulx qui a moult roulé en Palestine et aultres lieux!"

What it is to be prepared, though! Atlas, _mon pauvre ami_, you know the story of the witness who, when asked how far he stood from the spot where the deed was done, answered unhesitatingly--"Sixty-three feet seven inches!" "How, sir," cried the prosecuting lawyer--"how can you possibly pretend to such accuracy?" "Well," returned the man in the box, "you see I thought some d----d fool would be sure to ask me, and so I measured."

_'Arry in the Grosvenor_

Atlas--In spite of the Kyrle Society, I don't appeal to the middle classes; for I read in the _Times_ that 'Arry won't have me. I am ranked with the _caviare_ of his betters, and add not to the relish of his winkles and tea.

Also, why troubles he about many things?

[Sidenote: _The World_, May 17, 1882.]

But, alas! as is aptly remarked in one of the weekly papers, "'Arry has taken to going to the Grosvenor;" and "ce n'est pas tout que d'être honnête," he says, lightly paraphrasing Alfred de Musset, "il faut être joli garçon!"

And so he blooms into an æsthete of his own order. To have seen him, O my wise Atlas, was my privilege and my misery; for he stood under one of my own "harmonies"--already with difficulty gasping its gentle breath--himself an amazing "arrangement" in strong mustard-and-cress, with bird's-eye belcher of Reckitt's blue; and then and there destroyed absolutely, unintentionally, and once for all, my year's work!

Atlas, shall these things be?

_Encouragement_

_TO OSCAR ON HIS "TOUR."_

[Sidenote: _The World_, Feb. 15, 1882.]

Oscar--We, of Tite Street and Beaufort Gardens, joy in your triumphs and delight in your success; but we are of opinion that, with the exception of your epigrams, you talk like "S---- C---- in the provinces"; and that, with the exception of your knee-breeches, you dress like 'Arry Quilter.

Chelsea.

_A Remonstrance_

Atlas, how could you!

[Sidenote: _The World_, Feb. 22, 1882.]

I know you carry the _World_ on your back, and am not surprised that my note to Oscar, on its way, should have fallen from your shoulders into your dainty fingers; but why present it in the state of puzzle?

Besides, your caution is one-sided and unfair; for if you print S---- C----, why not A---- Q----? Why not X Y Z at once?

And how unlike me! Instead of the frank recklessness which has unfortunately become a characteristic, I am, for the first time, disguised in careful timidity, and discharge my insinuating initials from the ambush of innuendo.

My dear Atlas, if I may not always call a spade a spade, may I not call a Slade Professor, Sidney Colvin?

_Propositions_

[Sidenote: With compliments to the Committee of the
"Hoboken" Etching Club upon the occasion of receiving an
invitation to compete in an etching tourney whose first
condition was that the plate should be at least two feet
by three.

]

I. That in Art, it is criminal to go beyond the means used in its exercise.

II. That the space to be covered should always be in proper relation to the means used for covering it.

III. That in etching, the means used, or instrument employed, being the finest possible point, the space to be covered should be small in proportion.

IV. That all attempts to overstep the limits insisted upon by such proportion, are inartistic thoroughly, and tend to reveal the paucity of the means used, instead of concealing the same, as required by Art in its refinement.

V. That the huge plate, therefore, is an offence--its undertaking an unbecoming display of determination and ignorance--its accomplishment a triumph of unthinking earnestness and uncontrolled energy--endowments of the "duffer."

VI. That the custom of "Remarque" emanates from the amateur, and reflects his foolish facility beyond the border of his picture, thus testifying to his unscientific sense of its dignity.

VII. That it is odious.

VIII. That, indeed, there should be no margin on the proof to receive such "Remarque."

IX. That the habit of margin, again, dates from the outsider, and continues with the collector in his unreasoning connoisseurship--taking curious pleasure in the quantity of paper.

X. That the picture ending where the frame begins, and, in the case of the etching, the white mount, being inevitably, because of its colour, the frame, the picture thus extends itself irrelevantly through the margin to the mount.

XI. That wit of this kind would leave six inches of raw canvas between the painting and its gold frame, to delight the purchaser with the quality of the cloth.

_An Unanswered Letter_

PRÉ CHARMOY, AUTUN,
SAÔNE ET LOIRE, FRANCE,
Sept. 13, 1867.

Sir--I am at present engaged upon a book on etching and should be glad to give a full account of what you have done, but find a difficulty, which is that, although I have seen many of your etchings, I have not fully and fairly studied them. I wonder whether you would object to lend me a set of proofs for a few weeks. As the book is already advanced, I should be glad of an early reply. My opinion of your work is, _on the whole, so favourable that your reputation could only gain_ by your affording me the opportunity of speaking of your work at length.

I remain, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
P. G. HAMERTON.

JAMES WHISTLER, Esq.

_Inconsequences_

[Sidenote: The "book on etching."]

James Whistler is of American extraction, and studied painting in France. As a student he was capricious and irregular, and did not leave the impression amongst his fellow-pupils that his future would be in any way distinguished ... his artistic education seems to have been mainly acquired by private and independent study....

Mr. Whistler seems to be aware that etchings are usually sought as much for their rarity as their excellence, and to have determined that his own plates shall be rare already.

I have been told that, if application is made by letter to Mr. Whistler for a set of his etchings, he may, perhaps, if he chooses to answer the letter, do the applicant the favour to let him have a copy for about the price of a good horse....

Whistler's etchings are not generally remarkable for poetical feeling....

P. G. HAMERTON,[20]
_Etching and Etchers_.

[Note 20: "If beauty were the only province of art,
neither painters nor etchers would find anything to
occupy them in the foul stream that washes the London
wharfs"--P. G. HAMERTON, _Etching and Etchers_.]

_Uncovered Opinions_

Mr. Whistler's famous "Woman in White" is amongst the rejected pictures.... The hangers must have thought her particularly ugly, for they have given her a sort of place of honour, before an opening through which all pass, so that nobody misses her.

I watched several parties, to see the impression the "Woman in White" made on them. They all stopped instantly, struck with amazement. This for two or three seconds; then they always looked at each other and laughed.

Here, for once, I have the happiness to be quite of the popular way of thinking.

[21]P. G. HAMERTON,
_Fine Arts Quarterly_.

[Note 21: "Corot is one of the most celebrated
landscape painters in France. The first impression of an
Englishman, on looking at his works, is that they are
the sketches of an amateur; it is difficult at first
sight to consider them the serious performances of an
artist.... I _understand Corot now_, and think his
reputation, if not well deserved, at least easily
accounted for.... Corot must be an early riser."--P. G.
HAMERTON, _Fine Arts Quarterly_.]

[Note 21: "Doré (Gustave Paul).... He is a great and
marvellous genius--a poet such as a nation produces once
in a thousand years. He is the most imaginative, the
profoundest, the most productive poet that has ever
sprung from the French race."--P. G. HAMERTON, _Fine
Arts Quarterly_.]

[Note 21: "Daubigny (Charles François).--If
landscape can be satisfactorily painted without either
drawing or colour--Daubigny is the man to do it."--P. G.
HAMERTON, _Fine Arts Quarterly_.]

[Note 21: "M. Courbet is looked upon as the
representative of Realism in France. The truth is that
Edouard Frère, the Bonheurs, and many others are to the
full as realistic as Courbet but they produce beautiful
pictures.... It is difficult to speak of Courbet,
without losing patience. Everything he touches becomes
unpleasant."--P. G. HAMERTON, _Fine Arts Quarterly_.]

_The Fate of an Anecdote_

_TO THE EDITOR:_

[Sidenote: _New York Tribune_, Sept. 12, 1880]

Sir--In _Scribner's Magazine_ for this month there appears an article on Mr. Seymour Haden, the eminent surgeon etcher, by a Mr. Hamerton, and in this article I have stumbled upon a curious statement concerning, strangely enough, my own affairs, offered pleasantly in the disguise of an anecdote habitually "narrated" by the Doctor himself, and printed effectively in inverted commas, as here shown:

... "A parallel anecdote is narrated by Mr. Haden: 'The most exquisite series of plates which Whistler ever did--his sixteen Thames subjects--were originally printed by a steel-plate printer, and so badly that the owner thought the plates were worn out, and sold them for a small sum in comparison to their real worth. The purchaser took them to Goulding, the best printer of etchings in England, and it was found that they were not only perfect, but that they produced impressions which had never before been approached even by Delatre.'"

Putting gently aside the question of these plates being superior to all previous or subsequent work, and dealing merely with facts, I have to say that they were _not_ "originally printed by a steel-plate printer"; that the impressions were _not_ so bad that the owner thought the plates worn out; and, flattering as is the supposition that they were sold for a small sum in comparison to their real worth, I am obliged to reject even this palatable assertion, as I received for the plates the price that I asked, knowing full well their exact condition.

Instead of the "steel-plate printer," Delatre, then at his prime, had himself printed these etchings--a fact which, amusingly enough, Mr. Haden admits further on, in direct contradiction to his first broad statement. Moreover, I had myself pulled proofs of them all; indeed, one in the set of sixteen plates, a drypoint, called "The Forge" (for by the way they were not all of the Thames), I alone printed. When the plates left my hands they were _not_ "taken to Goulding," who at that moment had, I fancy, barely begun his career as "the best printer of etchings in England" (and a capital printer he certainly is); and it was _not_ "found that they produced impressions never before approached even by Delatre"--here we have the contradiction alluded to--no! this theatrical denouement I must also put aside with sorrow.

The plates were brought out by Messrs. Ellis, who had them printed by some one in London, whose work was certainly not to be compared to that of Delatre, whom I should undoubtedly have recommended; so that _it was only long after the sale had been completed and the plates had ceased to be in my possession_, that inferior impressions were produced.

The understanding on my part with those publishers was that the plates were to be destroyed after one hundred impressions had been taken, but very recently they reappeared, and were sold to their present possessors, who _did_ take them to Mr. Goulding. And here I am obliged to explain away the last element of astonishment, for Mr. Goulding naturally found the etchings in their original perfect condition simply because I had had them steeled in their full bloom when I had satisfied myself by my own proofs.

Goulding's impressions of these plates are very excellent, but to say they were quite unapproached by Delatre is not only needless exaggeration, but an unkindness to Mr. Goulding.

Surely there must be some misunderstanding between Mr. Haden and his biographer--a misdeal of data--an accident with the anecdotes--because no one was more keenly alive to all relating to these plates and their various states than Mr. Haden himself, whose strong sense of the importance of printing was acquired while watching the progress of these same plates, and the previous French set, as they were proved by me and printed by Delatre, to whom I introduced him.

Far from me to spoil a good story; but for the life of me I cannot see what any sympathizing _raconteur_ will regret in the destruction of this mere jumble of statistics that Mr. Hamerton calls "Mr. Haden's anecdote."

VENICE, Aug. 16, 1880.

_In Excelsis_

Mr. Hamerton presents his compliments to Mr. Whistler, and begs to inform him that he has read Mr. Whistler's very unbecoming and improper letter in the _New York Tribune_.

Mr. Hamerton in his article in _Scribner's Monthly_ simply quoted a passage from one of Mr. Haden's lectures on Etching, published in Cassell's _Magazine of Art_; consequently Mr. Hamerton did not offer matter to his readers under any disguise whatever. Mr. Hamerton has answered Mr. Whistler's letter in the same journal in which it appeared.

PRÉ CHARMOY, AUTUN, SAÔNE ET LOIRE,
Sept. 28, 1880.

_A Suspicion_

It is possibly too much to expect--upon the principle of "trumps not turning up twice"--but Mr. Whistler does hope that Mr. Hamerton's letter to the _New York Tribune_ will be as funny as his note to Mr. Whistler, which has just been forwarded from London.

VENICE, Oct. 7.
CAFÉ FLORIAN, PLACE SAN MARC.

Pardon! Is Mr. Whistler right in supposing, from the droll little irritation shown in Mr. Hamerton's note, that Mr. Hamerton is perhaps--another "Art Critic"?

_Conviction_

_TO THE EDITOR:_

[Sidenote: _New York Tribune_, Oct. 11, 1880.]

Sir--A friend in America has sent me the letter from Mr. Whistler which refers to my article in _Scribner_ on Mr. Haden's etchings. The letter begins as follows:

In _Scribner's Magazine_ for this month there appears an article on Mr. Seymour Haden, the eminent surgeon etcher by a Mr. Hamerton, and in this article I have stumbled upon a curious statement concerning--strangely enough--my own affairs, offered pleasantly in the disguise of an anecdote habitually 'narrated' by the Doctor himself, and printed effectively in inverted commas, as here shown.

Here Mr. Whistler accuses me of disguising something which I chose to tell, as if it came from Mr. Haden, by printing it in inverted commas. The statement is "offered pleasantly in the disguise of an anecdote," and "printed effectively in inverted commas." I used inverted commas because it is the custom to do so when making a quotation. I quoted Mr. Haden's own words from one of his lectures on etching, and they will be found printed, as I quoted them, in Cassell's _Magazine of Art_. I beg to be permitted to observe that a writer who quotes a passage, as I did, in perfect good faith, ought not to be accused of offering matter in disguise. There was no disguise about it. Mr. Haden's words may be compared with my quotation. Again, to prevent any possible inaccuracy, a proof of the article in _Scribner_ was sent to Mr. Haden before it was published.[22] It is scarcely necessary that I should allude to Mr. Whistler's studied discourtesy in calling me "a Mr. Hamerton." It does me no harm, but it is a breach of ordinary good manners in speaking of a well-known writer!

[Note 22: _REFLECTION:_

Queen's evidence.]

[Sidenote: _REFLECTION:_

Q. E. D.

]

Yours obediently,
P. G. HAMERTON.
AUTUN, Sept. 29, 1880.

_MR. WHISTLER
AND
HIS CRITICS_

_A CATALOGUE_

"Out of their own mouths shall ye judge them."

"Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?"

_Etchings and Dry-points_

"His pictures form a dangerous precedent."

* * * * *

VENICE.

"Another crop of Mr. Whistler's little jokes."

_Truth._

1.--MURANO--GLASS FURNACE.

"Criticism is powerless here."--_Knowledge._

2.--DOORWAY AND VINE.

"He must not attempt to palm off his deficiencies upon us as manifestations of power."

_Daily Telegraph._

3.--WHEELWRIGHT.

"Their charm depends not at all upon the technical qualities so striking in his earlier work."

_St. James's Gazette._

4.--SAN BIAGIO.

"So far removed from any accepted canons of art as to be beyond the understanding of an ordinary mortal."--_Observer._

5.--BEAD STRINGERS.

[Sidenote: _REFLECTION:_

"Et voilà comme on écrit l'histoire."

]

"'Impressionistes,' _and of these the various schools are represented by_ Mr. Whistler, Mr. Spencer Stanhope, Mr. Walter Crane, and Mr. Strudwick."

6.--FISH SHOP.

"Those who feel painfully the absence in these works of any feeling for the past glories of Venice."

_'Arry in the Spectator._

"Whistler is eminently vulgar."--_Glasgow Herald._

7.--TURKEYS.

"They say very little to the mind."--_F. Wedmore._

"It is the artist's pleasure to have them there, and we can't help it."--_Edinburgh Courant._

8.--NOCTURNE RIVA.

"The Nocturne is intended to convey an impression of night."--_P. G. Hamerton._

"The subject did not admit of any drawing."

_P. G. Hamerton._

"We have seen a great many representations of Venetian skies, but never saw one before consisting of brown smoke with clots of ink in diagonal lines."

9.--FRUIT STALL.

"The historical or poetical associations of cities have little charm for Mr. Whistler and no place in his art."

10.--SAN GIORGIO.

"An artist of incomplete performance."

_F. Wedmore._

11.--THE DYER.

"By having as little to do as possible with tone and light and shade, Mr. Whistler evades great difficulties."--_P. G. Hamerton._

"All those theoretical principles of the art, of which we have heard so much from Messrs. Haden, Hamerton(?)[23] and Lalauze, are abandoned."

_St. James's Gazette._

[Note 23: "Calling me 'a Mr. Hamerton' does me no
harm--but it is a breach of ordinary good manners in
speaking of a well-known writer."

Yours obediently, P. G. HAMERTON.

Sept. 29, 1880. To the Editor of the _New York
Tribune_.]

12.--NOCTURNE PALACES.

"Pictures in darkness are contradictions in terms."

_Literary World._

13.--THE DOORWAY.

"There is seldom in his Etchings any large arrangement of light and shade."--_P. G. Hamerton._

"Short, scratchy lines."--_St. James's Gazette._

"The architectural ornaments and the interlacing bars of the gratings are suggested rather than drawn."

_St. James's Gazette._

"Amateur prodige."--_Saturday Review._

14.--LONG LAGOON.

"We think that London fogs and the muddy old Thames supply Mr. Whistler's needle with subjects more congenial than do the Venetian palaces and lagoons."--_Daily News._

15.--TEMPLE.

"The work does not feel much."--_Times._

16.--LITTLE SALUTE.--(DRY-POINT.)

"As for the lucubrations of Mr. Whistler, they come like shadows and will so depart, _and it is unnecessary to disquiet one's self about them_."

17.--THE BRIDGE.

"These works have been done with a swiftness and dash that precludes anything like care and finish."

"These Etchings of Mr. Whistler's are nothing like so satisfactory as his earlier Chelsea ones; they neither convey the idea of space nor have they the delicacy of handling and treatment which we see in those."

"He looked at Venice never in detail."

_F. Wedmore._

18.--WOOL CARDERS.

"They have a merit of their own, and I do not wish to understand it."[24]--_F. Wedmore._

[Note 24: Mr. Wedmore is the lucky discoverer of the
following:--

"Vigour and exquisiteness are denied--are they
not?--even to a Velasquez"!]

19.--UPRIGHT VENICE.

"Little to recommend them save the eccentricity of their titles."

20.--LITTLE VENICE.

"The Little Venice is one of the slightest of the series."--_St. James's Gazette._

"In the Little Venice and the Little Lagoon Mr. Whistler has attempted to convey impressions by lines far too few for his purposes."--_Daily News._

"Our river is naturally full of effects in _black and white and bistre_. Venetian skies and marbles have colour you cannot suggest with a point and some printer's ink."--_Daily News._

"It is not the Venice of a maiden's fancies."--_'Arry._

21.--LITTLE COURT.

"Merely technical triumphs."--_Standard._

22.--REGENT'S QUADRANT.

"There may be a few who find genius in insanity."

23.--LOBSTER POTS.

"So little in them."[25]--_P. G. Hamerton._

[Note 25: The same Critic holds:

"The Thames is beautiful from Maidenhead to Kew, but not
from Battersea to Sheerness."]

24.--RIVA No. 2.

"In all his former Etchings he was careful to give a strong foundation of firm drawing. In these plates, however, he has cast aside this painstaking method."

_St. James's Gazette._

25.--ISLANDS.

"An artist who has never mastered the subtleties of accurate form."[26]--_F. Wedmore._

[Note 26: Elsewhere Mr. Wedmore is inspired to say--

"The true collector must _gradually_ and _painfully_
acquire the eye to judge of the impression."]

[Sidenote: _REFLECTION:_

_This_ is possibly the process through which the
preacher is passing.

]

26.--THE LITTLE LAGOON.

"Well, little new came of it, in etching; nothing new that was beautiful."--_F. Wedmore._

27.--NOCTURNE SHIPPING.

[Sidenote: "Amazing!"

]

"This Archimago of the iconographic aoraton, or graphiology of the Hidden."--_Daily Telegraph._

"Popularity is the only insult that has not yet been offered to Mr. Whistler."--_Oscar Wilde._

28.--TWO DOORWAYS.

"It is trying to any sketch without tone to be hung upon a wall as these have been."--_P. G. Hamerton._

29.--OLD WOMEN.

"He is never literary."--_P. G. Hamerton._

30.--RIVA.

[Sidenote: _REFLECTION:_

Like Eno's Fruit Salt or the "Anti-mal-de-Mer."

]

"He took from London to Venice his happy fashion of suggesting lapping water."--_F. Wedmore._

"Even such a well-worn subject as the Riva degli Schiavoni is made original (?) by being taken from a high point of view, and looked at lengthwise, instead of from the canal."

31.--DRURY LANE.

"In Mr. Whistler's productions one might safely say that there is no culture."--_Athenæum._

32.--THE BALCONY.

"His colour is subversive."--_Russian Press._

33.--ALDERNEY STREET.

"The best art may be produced with trouble."

_F. Wedmore._[27]

[Note 27: "I am not a Mede nor a Persian."--F.
WEDMORE.]

34.--THE SMITHY.

"They produce a disappointing impression."

"His Etchings seem weak when framed."[28]

_P. G. Hamerton._

[Note 28: Mr. Hamerton does also say:

"Indifference to beauty is however compatible with
splendid success in etching, as the career of Rembrandt
proved."--_Etching and Etchers._]

35.--STABLES.

"An unpleasing thing, and framed in Mr. Whistler's odd fashion."--_City Press._

36.--THE MAST.

[Sidenote: _REFLECTION:_

At the service of critics of unequal sizes.

]

"The Mast and the Little Mast are dependent for much of their interest, on the drawing of festoons of cord hanging from unequal heights."

_P. G. Hamerton._

37.--TRAGHETTO.

"The artist's present principles seem to deny him any effective chiaroscuro."--_P. G. Hamerton._

[Sidenote: _REFLECTION:_

"Sometimes generally always."

]

"Mr. Whistler's figure drawings, generally defective and always incomplete."

38.--FISHING BOAT.

"Subjects unimportant in themselves."

_P. G. Hamerton._

39.--PONTE PIOVAN.

"Want of variety in the handling."

_St. James's Gazette._

40.--GARDEN.

"An art which is happier in the gloom of a doorway than in the glow of the sunshine, and turns with a pleasant blindness from whatsoever in Nature or Man is of perfect beauty or noble thought."--_'Arry._

41.--THE RIALTO.

"Mr. Whistler has etched too much for his reputation."--_F. Wedmore._

[Sidenote: _REFLECTION:_

This critic, true, is a Slade Professor.

]

"Scampering caprice."--_S. Colvin._

"Mr. Whistler's drawing, which is sometimes that of a very slovenly master."

42.--LONG VENICE.

"After all, there are certain accepted canons about what constitutes good drawing, good colour, and good painting; and when an artist deliberately sets himself to ignore or violate all of these, it is desirable that his work should not be classed with that of ordinary artists."--_'Arry._

43.--NOCTURNE SALUTE.

"The utter absence, as far as my eye[29] may be trusted, of gradation."--_F. Wedmore._

[Note 29:?

]

"There are many things in a painter's art which even a photographer cannot understand."

_Laudatory notice in Provincial Press._

44.--FURNACE NOCTURNE.

"There is no moral element in his chiaroscuro."

_Richmond Eagle._

45.--PIAZETTA.

"Whistler does not take much pains with his work."

_New York Paper._

"A sort of transatlantic impudence in his cleverness."

"His pictures do not claim to be accurate."

46.--THE LITTLE MAST.

"Form and line are of little account to him."

47.--QUIET CANAL.

"Herr Whistler stellt ganz wunderbare Productionen aus, die auf Gesetze der Form und der Farbe gegründet scheinen, die dem Uneingeweihten unverständlich sind."--_Wiener Presse._

"This new manner of Mr. Whistler's is no improvement upon that which helped him to win his fame in this field of art."

48.--PALACES.

"The absence, seemingly, of any power of drawing the forms of water."[30]--_F. Wedmore._

[Note 30: See No. 30, _The Riva_.]

"He has never, so far as we know, attempted to transfer to copper any of the more ambitious works of the architect."--_Pall Mall Gazette._

"He has been content to show us what his eyes can see, and not what his hand can do."

_St. James's Gazette._

49.--SALUTE DAWN.

"Too sensational."--_Athenæum._

"Pushing a single artistic principle to the verge of affectation."--_Sidney Colvin._

50.--BEGGARS.

"In the character of humanity he has not time to be interested."--_Standard._

"General absence of tone."--_P. G. Hamerton._

51.--LAGOON: NOON.

"Years ago James Whistler was a person of high promise."--_F. Wedmore._

"What the art of Mr. Whistler yields is a tertium quid."[31]--_Sidney Colvin._

[Note 31: _REFLECTION:_

The quid of sweet and bitter fancy.

]

"All of which gems, I am sincerely thankful to say, I cannot appreciate."

"As we have hinted, the series does not represent any Venice that we much care to remember; for who wants to remember the degradation of what has been noble, the foulness of what has been fair?"

_'Arry[32] in the "Times."_

[Note 32: _REFLECTION:_

The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them
because he knoweth not how to go to the City.

]

"Disastrous failures."--_F. Wedmore._

"Failures that are complete and failures that are partial."--_F. Wedmore._

"A publicity rarely bestowed upon failures at all."

_F. Wedmore, Nineteenth Century._

[Sidenote:

_"Voilà ce que l'on dit de moi
Dans la Gazette de Hollande."_]

"Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us. We wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness."

"We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noonday as in the night."

"We roar all like bears."

_Taking the Bait_

[Sidenote: _The Academy_, Feb. 24, 1883.]

By the simple process of applying snippets of published sentences to works of art to which the original comments were never meant to have reference, and sometimes, too, by lively misquotation--as when a writer who "did not wish to understate" Mr. Whistler's merit is made to say he "did not wish to understand" it, Mr. Whistler has counted on good-humouredly confounding criticism. He has entertained but not persuaded; and if his literary efforts with the scissors and the paste-pot might be taken with any seriousness we should have to rebuke him for his feat. But we are far from doing so. He desired, it seems, to say that he and Velasquez were both above criticism. An artist in literature would have said it in fewer words; but indulgence may fairly be granted to the less assured methods of an amateur in authorship.

F. WEDMORE.

_An Apology_

[Sidenote: _The World_, Feb. 28, 1883.]

Atlas--There are those, they tell me, who have the approval of the people--and live! For them the _succès d'estime_; for me, O Atlas, the _succès d'exécration_--the only tribute possible from the Mob to the Master! This I have now nobly achieved. _Glissons!_ In the hour of my triumph let me not neglect my ambulance.

Mr. Frederick Wedmore--a critic--one of the wounded--complains that by dexterously substituting "understand" for "understate," I have dealt unfairly by him, and wrongly rendered his writing. Let me hasten to acknowledge the error, and apologise. My carelessness is culpable, and the misprint without excuse; for naturally I have all along known, and the typographer should have been duly warned, that with Mr. Wedmore, as with his brethren, it is always a matter of understating, and not at all one of understanding.

_Quant aux autres_--well, with the exception of "'Arry," who really is dead, they will recover. Scalped and disfigured, they are not mortally hurt; and--would you believe it?--possessed with an infinite capacity for continuing, they have already returned, nothing doubting, to their limited literature, of which I have exhausted the stock.--Yours, _en passant_,

Chelsea.

_"Jeux Innocents" in Tite Street_

[Sidenote: _The World_, Dec. 26, 1883.]

Mr. Whistler's final breakfast of the year was given on Sunday last. The hospitable master has fresh wonders in store for his friends in the new year; for, not content with treating his next-door critic after the manner that Portuguese sailors treat the Apostle Judas at Easter-tide, he is said to have perfected a new instrument of torture. This invention is of the nature of a camera obscura, whereby, by a crafty "arrangement" of reflectors, he promises to display in his own studio, to his friends, "'Arry at the White House," under all the appropriate circumstances that might be expected of a "Celebrity at Home."

ATLAS.

_A Line from the Lands End_

[Sidenote: _The World_, Jan. 2, 1884.]