And now, Mr. De Forrest, there is a celebrated and greatly admired
picture in a certain gallery, representing a scene from the Roman
Saturnalia. You do not object to that, with its classic accessories,
as a work of art?"

"Not at all."

"And yet it portrays a corruption that does in truth 'offend heaven.'
Your muck-heap, which did not enter my thought at all, and would
not have been in my picture, could I paint one, would have been
wholesome in comparison. Have I made a point, Judge Marsden?"

"I think you have."

"Finally, Mr. De Forrest, what are we to do with the fact that some
of the greatest painters in the world have employed their brushes
upon just such scenes as these, which perhaps offend your nose
and taste more than they do heaven, and that pictures such as that
farm-yard would suggest adorn the best galleries of Europe?"

"What artists of note have painted barn-yard scenes?" asked De
Forrest, in some confusion.

"Well, there is Herring, the famous English artist, for one."

"'Herring' indeed. You are evidently telling a fish Story," said
De Forrest, contemptuously.

"No, he is not," said Lottie. "Herring is a famous painter, I am
told, and we have some engravings of his works."