Birmingham state herald., 1896-02-07
OUR SOCIAL WORLD

(All items of social interest will be gladly noted in these columns if sent to Mrs. George c. Ball, Nineteenth street, between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, South High lands. Telephone 9SS)
 When a man like Lord Leighton-Sir Frederick Leighton-dies and is buried with all the ceremonial and pomp that a grateful nation can confer, one is bound to admit that this is not altogether a sor- did age, a period indifferent to the achievements of genius. The honors be- slowed upon this great artist while he lived and the homage paid his memory by the English people of all classes Is a direct denial of any such limited view of life and its possibilities. The impress sion produced by his death, the eulogies which have filled the pages of the Eng fish and American journals and the cere- monies which attended his funeral are incentives to the living. teaching that well directed and cultivated talent genius, in other words--can make for It's possessor a place in the annals of history and in the hearts of his fellow men which can be reached in no other way. Money has always exerted in all ages Of the world a certain and powerful infiu- ence in shaping the affairs of life and 1t will continue so to do as long as hu- manity lives. This is natural and right
  character, force and intellect of its pos sessor and has been perhaps acquired by the exercise of the highest and best men, tai and physical attributes of strong, honest man. That this is not universally the case should not cause us to detract from the superior qualities of very many successful men. These men have 1t with in their power to accomplish a vast deal of good for their fellow creatures, and be 1t said to the credit of some of the richest men of this generation. they have built for themselves imperishable monu- ments in immense donations to universi- ties hospitals, etc. But when man like Sir Frederick Leighton dies. the glory of mental achievement arrests the attention of the world. for he Is honored almost as a king because of his intellectual and artistic attainments, and not because his wealth has cast a glamour about him. A critic in reviewing his life and labors, has this to say of his art:
 "He moved on a high plane. He strived to realize noble conception. No mod ern artist has endeavored more stead fastly to make his work a tribute to beauty in the fullest sense of the word, for he puts his uplifting forms and in- ventions at the service of an unlifting idea.
 "Sir Frederick Leighton had the power to exert far-off. idealistic spell. to bring upon his cautious canvas the delightful characteristics of dream. Choose the Hercules of 1871. The Summer Moon of the following year, the magnificent composition entitled 'Daphnephoria,' which appeared in 1878. or. making long jump, come to the Perseus and An dromeda' of 1891. or the 'Rizpah' of still later date. You may say that they all lack spontanety, swing, inspiration. and that the color In them Is uniformly so sweet and pretty that 1t seems incred- ible You wonder how the painter who could handle such forms as these could be so trivial a colorist. But you come back to the conviction that some poetry has been arrested upon these stately can vases, that because he worked with so serenely elevated an ideal their author achieved what more remarkable paint er would get in the mere natural ex- pression of his essential qualities. You begin by feeling that Sir Frederick was chiefly a technician of extraordinary accomplishment. You end by recogniz- ing the misrepresentation of his technique by uncommon elements of mind feeling, taste The academy may seem to have gotten the upper hand of the artist, but that is a temporary impression. It is ob- yious that after all the academy had in Sir Frederick Leighton not slave to it's procedure, but an individuality in tune with it's highest ideals and capable of ex- tracting from those ideals the charm which minor talent invariably misses.
 "Sir Frederick Leighton was. then, an academician with more than mere dry academic characteristics. That much may be said of him as an artist. Regard ed as the official leader of the academic body. he was one of the most remarkable men who have ever held such an office in any country. He was cultured to his finger-tips, a linguist, a diplomat"
 
 The Atlanta Journal of Monday an- pounces the withdrawal of Miss Corinne Stocker from the woman's department of that paper. Miss Stocker will continue her work, but after this chiefly with northern periodicals. The Journal pays her a merited tribute in referring to her retirement from its editorial staff. Miss Stocker has accomplised much in her de- pertinent of newspaper work, and she made her columns very bright and at- tractive to her readers She Is still young woman, and what she has already accomplished will no doubt prove an in-