Excerpt from Address, Delivered Before the American Academy of Fine Arts Mr. Vice President and Gentlemen of the Academy, We have all of us, Gentlemen, very much to regret that our venerable President has been compelled by domestic calamity to relinquish the performance of that duty, which, at our request, he had taken upon himself. If he could have addressed you, as was his intention, you might have received from one who unites the character of a distinguished artist to that of a man of letters, those views of the philosophy and the history of his profession, which can only be given by one who combines practical skill with extensive and critical observation. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.