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PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT AED THE FREER COLLECTION 
I happened to come across in T, Confessions in 
Art,” by Harrison S. Morris, an account of the acceptance 
of the Freer Collection by the Regents of the Institution. 
Mr. Morris confirms my impression of the Presidents part 
in deciding the question of acceptance. Mr. Morris 1 
account, it seems, was reported to him by Mr. Fischer. 
Tf But to resume, Mr. Fischer's experiences with 
President Roosevelt were many and memorable, but to me 
the most interesting was the part he took in the con¬ 
ferences over the acceptance of the Freer Collection. 
T, I had known Mr. Freer, as all of us did in 
his day, and my intercourse with him was rather 
pleasant. He lent us a group of Whistler's paintings 
for one of the annual shows of the Academy; and he 
followed this up by paying me a visit. He was nice 
enough until he went upstairs to the gallery and saw 
his pictures, small and not important, hung in a group 
beside one of the entrances in the main gallery. Then 
he showed particular pique and broke out in quite un¬ 
necessary blague. I told him the canvases had been 
hung by Whistler's devoted friend, J. Alden Weir, and 
that they thus occupied a place of honor. He would 
