* There was a notable gathering of leading artists, authors,
scientists, journalists, lawyer, clergymen and other
professional men at Sherry's last evening. The occasion was
a dinner tendered to Mr. F. B. Carpenter, the famous
portrait and portrait group artist, by his immediate friends
to celebrate the completion of his new historical painting,
entitled "International Arbitration," which is to be sent to
Queen Victoria next week as the gift of a wealthy American
lady. No such tribute has ever been paid before to an artist
of-this country. Let us hope that the extraordinary
attention thus paid to Mr. Carpenter will give our "English
cousins" some idea of how he is prized and his work indorsed
at home. The dinner to Mr. Carpenter was a great success--
most enjoyable in every way. The table was laid in the form
ol a horse shoe with a train of smilax, and sweet flowers
extending the entire length of the table, amid pots of
chrysanthemums and roses. Ex-Minister Andrew D White
presided in the absence of John Russell
Young..........Mr. White said: "During the entire course of
these proceedings we have been endeavoring to find a
representative of the great Fourth Estate who would present
its claims in relation to arbitration on this occasion.
There are present men whose names are household words in
connection with the press throughout this land. There is
certainly one distinguished as orator: there is another
distinguished as a scholar. But they prefer to be silent. We
will therefore consider that the toast of 'The Press in
Connection with War and Peace' has been duly honored
although it has not been responded to, and now there is one
subject which I think you will consider as coming strangely
at this late hour. It is a renewal of the subject with which
we began, and I am to ask to speak to it a man who is
admired and feared throughout the country. At one moment he
smashes the most cherished convictions of the country, and
at another he raises our highest aspirations for the future
of humanity.
"It happened several years ago that I was crossing the
Atlantic, and when I had sufficiently recovered from
seasickness to sit out on the deck I came across Colonel
Ingersoll, and of all subjects of discussion you can imagine
we fell upon the subject of art, and we went at it hot and
heavy. So I said to him to-night that I had a rod in pickle
for him and that he was not to know anything about it until
it was displayed.
"I now call upon him to talk to us about art, and if he
talks now as he talked on the deck of the steamer I do not
know whether it would clear the room, but it would make a
sensation in this State and country. I have great pleasure
in announcing Colonel Ingersoll, to speak on the subject of
art--or on any other subject, for no matter upon what he
speaks his words are always welcome."
New York Press, December 2, 1891.