Italian and Dutch masters had the immense advantage of belonging to nations that excited no political jealousy. If Titian and Correggio belonged to the Italy of to-day, the Italy that has a fleet and an army, and a place in the councils of Europe, they would be judged in the same hostile spirit as the English. In like manner it was an advantage for Italian musical composers, as to their fame in France, that they belonged to feeble principalities. No English musical composer has a chance of recognition in France. When Germany was feeble her music was judged on its own merits; since she became strong it has been found impossible to represent the works of her most recent musical genius on the French stage; and when an attempt was made to do so there was almost an _émeute_, whilst his talents and even his morals became objects of violent attacks in the French press. [Sidenote: French Patriotic Bias.] The powerful effects of the French patriotic bias have been noticed already by Herbert Spencer. He observed, as examples, that in the picture by Ingres of the “Crowning of Homer” French poets are conspicuous in the foreground, while the figure of Shakespeare in one corner is half in and half out of the picture, and the name of Newton is conspicuous by its absence from those of great men on the string-course of the _Palais de l’Industrie_, though many unfamiliar French names are engraved upon it. [Sidenote: Prejudice diminishes with the Dignity of the Work.] The intensity of these prejudices always diminishes with the dignity of the work to be judged. As the French admit the superior quality of English varnishes for carriages (their coach-builders will use no other), so they appreciate English cutlery and broadcloth, they even go so far as to copy English fashions in masculine dress. Most of the agricultural machines employed in France are of British make. The horses that run on French racecourses are of English blood, and English grooms attend to the best French stables. The British, on their side, know the merits of French gloves, silks, and champagne, and the French cook is as much a recognised personage in England as the English groom in France. [Sidenote: Effect of the Houses of Parliament on Foreigners.] [Sidenote: The House of Lords.] [Sidenote: The House of Commons.]