struck his pocket-book and glanced off, when Mery, one of the
seconds, exclaimed, "That was money well invested!" and there the
matter ended.

Another event, which occurred several years previous, has a certain
psychological significance. One evening Charles Blanc was visiting a
friend who resided a distance of one hundred and fifty miles from Paris.
In the midst of conversation, he suddenly grew pale and exclaimed that
he had received a shock, adding that something must have happened to
Louis. The next day his fears were confirmed by the receipt of a letter,
telling him that the latter had been knocked down in the streets of
Paris by a blow across the forehead. When Dumas pere heard of this
coincidence, he utilized it in his 'Corsican Brothers.'

Notwithstanding his fine record as an administrator and his
encouragement of talent, Blanc was sacrificed to the spirit of reaction
which set in about 1850. His removal displeased the entire art world,
so highly was he esteemed for his integrity, his progressive ideas, and
his unerring taste. On his return to private life he resumed his
'History of the Painters.' 'L'Oeuvres de Rembrandt' (1853 to 1863),
containing also a life of the artist, was illustrated by the first
photographic plates which ever appeared in a book.

The name 'Peintres des Fetes Galantes' was derived by Blanc from the
title conferred on Watteau by the French Academy. Of the artists therein
mentioned, Watteau occupied the realm of poetry; Lancret that of the
conventional, the fashionable; Pater that of vulgar, jovial reality;
Boucher, the most distinctively French of artists, that of brilliancy,
dash, and vivacity. These painters are a curious study for the historian
interested in the external forms of things.

With the exception of Dupre, Blanc knew all the painters of whom he
writes in the 'Artistes de mon Temps' (Artists of My Time). The work is
therefore replete with personal recollections. Here again the general
interest is deepened by the warm interest which the author takes in the
men and events of the time. There are many charming pages devoted to
Felix Duban, Delacroix, and Calamatta; to the contemporary medallions of
David d'Angers; to Henri Leys, Chenavard, and Troyon; to Corot, the
lover of nature who saw her through a veil of poetry; to Jules Dupre and
Rousseau, who saw the poetry innate in her. He introduces us to the
caricaturists Grandville and Gavarni; to Barye's lifelike animals. On
rea