Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-16

to the Forty ImmortaIs" But the latter
day duke In France shows. as a rule, more
interest In breeding. race horses than In
contributing TO French literature
chance OF finding academiciaas in the sa-
cred College than In the ".Almanach de
Gotha. All the same, IL Is difficult to ex-
plain the claims OF Cardinal Matthew to
SIT beneath the cupola of the Palais Maza-
rim He Is one of the most amiable and
diplomatic Of prelates He has climbed
the usually thorny path OF the hierarchy
to the red hat without once showing mill
tant qualities. He Is essentially the schol-
ariy priest But at the same time the
man in the street would be soreiy puz-
zied to mention the name of q single book
from his eminence's1 pen which could be
described as a contribution to French lit
erature.
The real truth is that the French Acadl-
envy has been becoming more and more
political in its composition. Take. for TIT
stance. NJ. de Freycinet or IA. Ribot- Both
men OF exceptional intelligence, but
their baggage litteraire. formerly the only
passport to one of the forty fauteuils. Is
conspicuous by Its absence The same even
holds good OF NJ. Paul Deschanel, though
in his case at a pinch ono might accept
his newspaper articles as contributions to
literature. Even the recent election Of AL
Maurice Barres was really more due to the
fact that he In q member Of the reactionary
party in the chamber than to his literary
ability. great though Il II. But when an
Alphonse Daudst and an Emile lola were
rejected by tho Forty Immortals' the
literary men OF leading can console them
selves. In the estimation OF the public
they occupy the ''forty-nrst fauteuif' Inn
mortalized in the bitter irony OF Arseue
Houssaye.
81
Mr.. Luke Fildes knighthood conferred in
yesterdays honor list on the occasion of
the kings "officiar' birthday Is considered
almost overdue. Among English artists he
may be termed the chief court painter.
his great commission being the state por-
traits Of the king and queen in their coro-
nation robes. 1t Is said that the queen
considers Mr.. Luke Fildes' portrait the
best that has been painted of her. 1t can
not be said that he Is among the outstand-
Ing painters of his time. but. after MT
Firth, he Is perhaps the most popular Eng
lsh painter. He carried on the tradition
of dramatic contemporary pictures begun
by the elder painter, and one would not
be surprised to learn that the prints after
The Doctor were as numerous as those
after THE Derby Day" Since the decline
of the 'anecdote picture he has con1neo
himself generally to costume portraits or
great ladies' In his early days he Illus
trated Dickens Edwin Brood, and Is I'M
derstood to hold the key Of the mystery
The knighthood bestowed on Carruthers
Gould. the cartoonist of the Westminster
Gazette. is. however. quite exceptional the
only precedent being that of Sir John rem
MEL whose party POSitich ihohSo Inv
case little different. 1t is exceptional
but what can be done with so exceptional
a person as a carica turist who Is now peins
as warmly congratulated from the one side
as the other?
Intending pilgrims to Holland next month
for the Rembrandt tercentenary celebra-
lions will be interested to hear that one
of the minor ceremonies will be the opening
of an annex to the Ryksmuseum at Am
sterdam, which has been built to house In
solitary state the picture called THE Night
Watch" The reason for this Is rather
curious. At a Rembrandt exhibition the
picture was hung without any particular
intention SO as to be lit from a side WIN
dow. and 1t was discovered that the hsnto
ing was that obviously intended by the
painter The new room has been arranged
to give certain exact effect OF light Untii
the Rembrandt exhibition the picture. It Is
said had never properly been seen. Or
course until 1850, when 1t was cleaned by
Hopman with such delightful results. II
was another sort OF thing altogether II
was removed from the Hall OF the MUS
keteers in 1715 to the town hail or Am
sterdam, where deposits of dirt and smoke
between strata of varnish so obliterated
the painting that the sunlit view OF
Sortie of Company OF Amsterdam MUS
kateers'' became The Night Watch and,
according to Reynolds, who visited Amster-
dam in 1871, the picture was hardly recog-
nizable. Its position IN the Ryksmuseum In
close proximity to other pictures Is men
toned regretfully by Michel in his Well
known monograph
One of the few London houses which may
be regarded as the home of Lord Nelson
during the later portion of his career is
to be sold by auction. From the beginning
of 1904 until the end of 1906 Lady Hamilton
occupied No. IL Charges street. Mayfair
and the house still contains many OF me
features introduced by her and Lord Nell
son during her tenancy 1t was here also
that his brother and heir, William Nelson
was at dinner with Lady Hamilton, after
Lord Nelson's death, when the news was
brought to him that parliament had voted
him grant of G120,000. l.. H. MOORE.
LASTS ABOUT FIVE YEARS.