among his brother artists. Indeed, few if any painters left a stronger
mark on the art of the second half of the nineteenth century than he
did, even though the school, which he suggested rather than
established, lapsed largely into mere impressionism--a term, by the
way, which he himself coined already in 1858; for it is an error to
attribute it--as is often done--to his friend and junior, Claude
Monet.

It was at the time of the Salon of 1866 that M. Zola, who criticised
that exhibition in the _Evenement_ newspaper,* first came to the front
as an art critic, slashing out, to right and left, with all the vigour
of a born combatant, and championing M. Manet--whom he did not as yet
know personally--with a fervour born of the strongest convictions. He
had come to the conclusion that the derided painter was being treated
with injustice, and that opinion sufficed to throw him into the fray;
even as, in more recent years, the belief that Captain Dreyfus was
innocent impelled him in like manner to plead that unfortunate
officer's cause. When M. Zola first championed Manet and his disciples
he was only twenty-six years old, yet he did not hesitate to pit
himself against men who were regarded as the most eminent painters and
critics of France; and although (even as in the Dreyfus case) the only
immediate result of his campaign was to bring him hatred and
contumely, time, which always has its revenges, has long since shown
how right he was in forecasting the ultimate victory of Manet and his
principal methods.

* Some of the articles will be found in the volume of his
miscellaneous writings entitled _Mes Haines_.

In those days M. Zola's most intimate friend--a companion of his