As to the shock
which the sight would have caused the painter, were he alive to-day,
the pen prefers to say little. Even with three patriotic motives to
control him--for he was American by birth, French by sympathy, and
English by residence--WHISTLER must have delivered his mind. That he
would consider this anything but a gentle art of breaking enemies, is
certain; nor can I see him holding his peace about it.
[Illustration: "These good dogs would prefer WAR BONDS to a bone."]
Personally, however, I got over my own sense of the outrage very
quickly. For the new War Bonds must succeed, and the end justifies the
means, however desperate--that is how I looked at it, and therefore,
instead of maintaining an attitude of preciosity, I began to wonder
how I could assist the authorities (who had dared to bend the
Butterfly to their purpose) to further useful acts of vandalism.
Nothing should, I determined, stand in my way. Where they were merely
"hairy," I would be absolutely bald-headed. Hence, if there is
anything in the suggestions that follow which may set the teeth of
the reverent on edge, it must be attributed to honest zeal. All that
I want is for the Kennedy-Jones of the movement to lift Art from her
pedestal for a few days only--in the interests of the Allies and to
the lasting detriment of Germany--and then replace her. But there is
no need to trouble about the replacing.
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