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ever, who expect to die, who do not love their children, or who have some other reason for wishing to realize quickly on their investments. And as these people are in the majority, we shall probably devote most of our space to their problems.

First, then, let us warn them against the critics, whose opinions are not at all sound financially. Ordinary advertisements are a much better guide to the value of a product than most critical articles. Criticism, in fact, is only a shady form of advertising. The critic does the advertiser's dirty work. No advertiser, for instance, considers it professional etiquette to abuse his rivals openly in an advertisement. He can do no more than warn against imitations. When he wants to say something really mean he gets a critic to do it for him. We do not wish to imply that all the critics are for sale; with the exception of the musical critics they are scarcely sensible enough. But the simple fellows can easily be got round by a little flattery, and can be persuaded not only to run down competitors, but to sing the product's praise as well, and in terms the diffident advertising man would blush to employ!

The idea, however, that the critics set the pace of the market is ridiculous. A few, a very few, anticipate the fashion; the majority can scarcely keep abreast of it.

Perhaps the best criterion for placing a critic is the language he uses. If he is still talking about plein air, if he still condemns arms because they are like bananas and praises them because they are like arms, if he quotes Tennyson or Huysmans or Oscar Wilde or George Moore, you may be sure that he is not on. -The artists of the coming mode are painting with entirely different intentions, and how on earth is he going to guess which one is going to succeed? . . . But more of this later.