442 SUNDRY JOURNEYS AND EXPERIENCES -IV 



which I had myself been a commissioner. Then all la 

 mented and apologized for the condition of the Ameri 

 can Art Gallery ; now there was no need either of lamen 

 tation or apology, for there, in all their beauty, were 

 portraits by Sargent, and Gari Melchers s picture of &quot;A 

 Communion Day in Holland&quot; the latter touching the 

 deep places of the human heart. As I was sitting before 

 it one day, an English gentleman came with his wife and 

 sat beside me. Presently I heard him say: &quot;Of all the 

 pictures in the entire exposition, this takes the strongest 

 hold upon me.&quot; Many other American pictures were 

 also objects of pride to us. I found our minister, Mr. 

 Whitelaw Eeid, very hospitable, and at his house became 

 acquainted with various interesting Americans. At 

 President Carnot s reception at the palace of the Elysee 

 I also met several personages worth knowing, and 

 among them, to my great satisfaction, Senator John 

 Sherman. 



During this stay in Paris I took part in two commem 

 orations. First came the Fourth of July, when, in obe 

 dience to the old custom which I had known so well 

 in my student days, the American colony visited the 

 cemetery of the Rue Picpus and laid wreaths upon the 

 tomb of Lafayette, the American band performing a 

 dirge, and our marines on duty firing a farewell volley. 

 It was in every way a warm and hearty tribute. A week 

 later was the unveiling of the statue of Canaille Desmou- 

 lins in the garden of the Palais Royal, this being the 

 one-hundredth anniversary of the day on which, in that 

 garden, and, indeed, on that spot, before the Cafe Foy, 

 he had roused the mob which destroyed the Bastille and 

 begun the whirlwind which finally swept away so much 

 and so many, including himself and his beloved Lucille. 

 Poor Camille, orating, gesticulating, and looking for a 

 new heaven and a new earth, was one of the little great 

 men so important at the beginning of revolutions and 

 so insignificant afterward. It was evident that, in spite 

 of the old legends regarding him, the French had ceased 



