He ought, first, to have taken the elementary precaution of being born in the United States.

He ought, after having refused all interviews for months, to have ultimately granted a special one to a newspaper with the largest circulation.

He ought to have returned to England, grown a mane and a tufted tail, and become the king of beasts; or at least to have made a speech at a banquet about the noble and purifying mission of art.

Assuredly he ought to have painted the portrait of his father or grandfather as an artisan, to prove that he was not a snob.

But no! Not content with making each of his pictures utterly different from all the others, he neglected all the above formalities--and yet managed to pile triumph on triumph.