The poise of the great man is not at all disturbed by the eccentric and the bizarre; on the contrary he looks with a curious eye to see if something of value may not be found. Whistler would not have painted Cubist pictures, but having known the man I can say that nothing there may be of good in Cubism would have gotten by the penetrating vision of that great painter. It is characteristic of the little man to ridicule or resent everything he does not understand; it is characteristic of the great man to be silent in the presence of what he does not understand. * * * * * Just now the older men are violently opposed to the newer; there is no attempt at understanding and there is abundant ridicule instead of sympathy. [Illustration: SOUSA CARDOZA Marine] This is inevitable and quite in accord with human nature, but it is a pity. The old and the new are not rivals; the new is simply a departure from the old, simply an attempt to do something different with line and color. The older men should watch the younger with keenest interest; they may feel sure the new is foredoomed to failure, but that is no cause for rejoicing; on the contrary the older man should always be sorry to see the soaring flights of youth come to grief. * * * * * Because a man buys a few Cubist pictures it must not be assumed he is a believer in Cubism. Because a man has a few books on socialism or anarchism in his library we do not assume he is a socialist, or an anarchist; on the contrary it is commonly assumed he is simply broadly and sanely interested in social and political theories. The radical may not convince me he is right, but he may show me I am wrong. The man who flies into a passion at pictures because they are not like the pictures he owns is on a par with the man who flies into a passion at books because they are not like the books he owns--the world is filled with such men, unreceptive, unresponsive; many intelligent in their narrow way, but bigoted. To most men a new idea is a greater shock than a cold plunge in winter. Personally I have no more interest in Cubism than in any other “ism,” but failure to react to new impressions is a sure sign of age. I would hate to be so old that a new picture or a new idea would frighten me. I would like to own Raphaels and Titians and Rembrandts and Velasquezes, but I can’t afford it. I say I would like to _own_ them; no, I would not, for I have the conviction that no man has _the right_ to appropriate to himself the work of the great masters. Their paintings belong to the world and should be in public places for the enjoyment and instruction of _all_.