Meissonier, his life and his art . ved him with all my heart. I my-self stood near Meissonier inthe little churchyard at LaCelle. After I had spokenthe farewell words in thename of the French Aca-demy, which I represented,he came to me with his eyesfull of tears ; it was all hecould do to control he loved, he lovedwith no half-hearted affec-tion. If, as a philosopher hassaid, we may judge betterof a man by what he saysof others than by what theysay of him, Meissonier de-serves that the tributes heoffered at various times tohis contemporaries shouldbe collected. Although hehad lit
Meissonier, his life and his art . ved him with all my heart. I my-self stood near Meissonier inthe little churchyard at LaCelle. After I had spokenthe farewell words in thename of the French Aca-demy, which I represented,he came to me with his eyesfull of tears ; it was all hecould do to control he loved, he lovedwith no half-hearted affec-tion. If, as a philosopher hassaid, we may judge betterof a man by what he saysof others than by what theysay of him, Meissonier de-serves that the tributes heoffered at various times tohis contemporaries shouldbe collected. Although hehad little in common withthe masters of the Restora-tion, he was able to appreciate them. Rudes Gcnic dc la Guerre{The Genius of ]Var) inflamed his heart with fury. ProfessorGros, too, was a great man ! he cried before Les Pestifdrds de Jaffa(The Plague-stricken at Jaffa). I think it hardly possible to con-ceive of anything finer in the way of mise-en-sccne and organisationthan this picture ! The Emperors gesture is magnificent, his hand. COSTUME FOR LAvciiUiricrc.(Drawing in Mme. Augiers collection.) THE MAN 103 superb ! And these men once set the standard of excellence atexhibitions ! Though he thought Paul Delaroche over-rated, thoughhe criticised his superficial and anecdotic conception of history, hegreatly admired La Mart dn Due de Guise (The Death of Guise),more particularly the impressive balance of the composition, inwhich the corpse, stretchedat full length at the foot ofthe bed, is opposed to thegroup of retreating con-spirators. We shall not besurprised to find him moresevere in his treatment ofIngres. When he gave reinin the least deafree to hispassion, it carried him away:Monsieur Ingres! Goodheavens ! when shall we bedelivered from MonsieurIngres! (1S74.) And soon. He atoned tor thisasperity by his admirationfor Delacroix. He talkedof him while he was stillliving in terms usually re-served for the dead. Hedeclared he had never seenfiner decoration than theceilinsfs in t
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