390 BY ORDER OF THE CZAR.
brought his models straight to his studio, lodging them close by ; finding vent for his feelings and direction for his art in subjects of modern Russian history, not painted with ostentatious political point, as might have been expected from his somewhat fanatical impulse, but with a pathetic fervor that permitted a margin even for the tremendous difficulties that belong to the Russian political situation. These studies, however, represent pictures yet to come ; and it is not within the space of this present chronicle to do more than forecast the future of -Philip Forsyth from the standpoint of his remarkable work, " The Road to Siberia," which has sufficiently impressed the fathers of the Royal Academy to secure for its painter the first step to honors which he neither desires nor resents.
Once in a way he will stroll into the Arts Club, or the Hogarth, of an evening, and take a quiet, sober part in the social life of these pleasant establishments. Occa- sionally throwing off the shadow which has fallen upon his young life, there is no assumption of undue though tfulness or gloomy manner; it is quite natural to him, and is accompanied with a certain unconsciousness of singularity which disarms the personal affront of unsympathetic criticism. He has rivals in his art, and critics in the press entirely ignorant of his antecedents, who credit him with intentional airs of eccentricity, and characterize both his manner and his work as commercial and shoppy. But Philip has suffered, and is strong, and once a week when he goes to his mother's to spend Sunday and accompany her to the little Catholic chapel round the corner, Lady Forsyth finds a new pleasure and satisfaction in his com- panionship, which is restful, quiet, non-argumentative, and affectionate. He has a wholesome sympathy for the suffering, and even in his criticisms of the Russian rule, there is an appreciative sentiment of the obstacles which
