New-York tribune., 1910-12-09
B|GELOW TO '|MMORTALS'
Venerable American First Speak
er at First Meeting.
PAPER is "A RETROSPECT"
Eeminisces Glibly of Days When
His White Haired Listeners
Were Mere Boys.

svnbolically enough. the "Trmortsis'' of
On. American Academy of Arts and Letters
srrro5uoed as the FIRST speaker At their
meeting Yesterday John Rigeio~. the near
est phvsicsl approach TO immortality in
--an 70 apoear OF a public stage Mr. Bige-
low. at the age " ninety-three years. read
rs address in person with a clear voice,
.hs+ penetrated 70 the recesses Of The New
Theatre
Ills wfr MS reasoning and the human
srte-asr OF his remarks were no less con-
--ircsnzfv vout1ful. Few of the favored
ro-1narv 7ho heard him will forget the
distinguished presence OF this venerable
.7-7A-ican. whose "reminiscences OF Dumas.
dating back forry-sevsn years. dealt with
rs owl maturity as United States Minister
- France al = time when the rest OF
-be white headed artists and writer's pres
ert we're mere, boys
TIE occasion was a JOINT meeting. the
yer nrs-- Of the American Academy o.
ATS iand Letters and the National Insti-
tute o. Arts and Letters 10 confer the gold
medal offered every year by the institute
% him who rad distinguished himself in
p given line OF intellectual or artistic &C
-fvI1v
Last wear, scuiptors alone being eligible
for TIE honor the medal went TO the late
Augustus -. Gardens. This year. II being
-he turn Of the historians. the recipient was
James Ford Rhodes. Of Boston. whose
History Of the United States" was ac-
clai1Ted the greatest American achieve
1neBt Of the year in its line
7 was considered only natural that the
writer's and artists belonging 10 the two
organizations should desire this oppoT-
7uniry 70 relieve themselves of some OF
the surface Of ~ ternperanlental brain.
20. two DAYS yesterday and Today were
set aside ii celebration Of the medal award
n ne devoted 10 public utterauce.
Bigelovv INDUCES in "A Retrospect"
yesterday morning John Rigelow, intro
,zuced by William Dean fIowells tho presi
dent Of the academy. INDUCED il A Ret
respect followed bv William CraTy
13rovneII with 3 PAPER on criticism: 10y
Nicholas Murray Butler, who spoke on
The Revolt Of the Unfit: Reflections on
the Doctrine Of Evolution.' and by Henry
Mills Alien the Whirmsnesq1e sage Of
she academy. whose ESSAY The Living
Past IN the Living Present" was read for
him nv William N. sloane the scademy's
chancellor
The morning session which began at n
~
noon. beginning a. ?. presided over hy
Henry van Dyke president If the Ma
-ianal Institute. Walter pamrosch opened
the formal progra Tme with an address on
Music and the Americans Percy Mac
Kaye spoke Of The Worker In Poetry;
TTar1lin Garland emphasized Local Color
SIS the Vital Element Of American Fiction
and dorado Taft outlined Some Reeent
Tendencies II Sculpture
This morning - Il o'clock Horace How
ard Furness vii give a reading from
Srakespeara's Henry y and in the
afternoon -he Mayor and Mrs. C-avnor xiii
held q reception fer rhe members Of the
academy and 1ne institute at tbs Len5x
Ti5rarv-
All -IA members of The academy are
members = rhe institute. but this is one of
those rules which doesn't work both 7-ays.
The acadeniE contains only ffry OF all
those painters. writer's. ecuIpters- rn7Isi-
clans and architects Vho make up the ar
ristic life NJ rne country. The institute
harbcrs Just fTve Iir1es ss many
As regards the average sEe Of its mem
hers. therefore The institute = the
younger. I~. van Dyke pointed this out in
his opening remarks yesterday afternoon.
B-t n point of existence the institute Is
-he older organic Ization of the two, since its
members elected from their ranks the first
se-en members Of the academy. 0f the
latter only William Dean Howels survives
Dr. vsn Dyke who is a member of the
more select academy. though president of
;he institute. said the two organizations
7eserhed in no way the French Academy
ana Institute Of France. For points Of
difference" said he. u refer you 70 the
documents and 20 the investment account.
Neither he academy or the institute
should rs taken as 4 self-chosen a-istoc-
TaCy. no member cf either having had
fne inestirna bic privilege - voting for Inn
self. Nor are they mutual admiration So
cie+ies- J VIII tell YOU in strict couf-
5ence. the kind which lends itself ro public
anuouncern=rr. that both are composed of
bitter rivals"