,,the ,,life ,,of ,,john ,,ruskin by ,w4 ,g4 ,,collingwood ,m4,a41 ,f4,s4,a41 ,late ,professor of ,fine ,art1 ,university ,college1 ,reading #aiaa ,,preface ,,to ,,the ,,seventh ,,edition ,this book in its first form was written nearly twenty years ago with the intention of contributing a volume to a series of ,university ,extension ,manuals4 ,for that purpose it included a sketch of ,ruskin's ,work1 with some attempt to describe the continuous development of his thought4 ,it had the advantage--and the disadvantage--of being written under his eye2 that is to say1 he saw as much of it as his health allowed2 and it received his general approval4 ,to explain my venturing upon the subject at all1 ,i may perhaps be allowed to state that ,i became his pupil in #ahgb 7having seen him earlier71 and continued to be in some relation to him--as visitor1 resident assistant1 or near neighbour--until his death4 ,after his death the biographical part of my book was enlarged at the expense of the description of his writings2 and in revising once more ,i have thrown out much relating to his works1 chiefly because they are now accessible as they were not formerly4 ,w4,g4,c4 ,,coniston1 ,may #aiaa ,,contents ,,book ,i ,,the ,,boy ,,poet 7#ahai-ahdb7 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,his ,,ancestors ,,ii4 ,,the ,,father ,,of ,,the ,,man 7#ahai-ahbe7 ,,iii4 ,,perfervidum ,,ingenium 7#ahbf-ahcj7 ,,iv4 ,,mountain-,,worship 7#ahcj-ahce7 ,v4 ,,the ,,germ ,,of ,,modern ,,painters 7#ahcf7 ,,vi4 ,a ,,love-,,story 7#ahcf-ahci7 ,,vii4 ,,kata ,,phusin 7#ahcg-ahch7 ,,viii4 ,,sir ,,roger ,,newdigate',s ,,prize 7#ahcg-ahci7 ,,ix4 ,,the ,,broken ,,chain 7#ahdj-ahda7 ,x4 ,,the ,,graduate ,,of ,,oxford 7#ahda-ahdb7 ,,book ,,ii ,,the ,,art ,,critic 7#ahdb-ahfj7 ,i4 ,,turner ,,and ,,the ,,ancients 7#ahdb-ahdd7 ,,ii4 ,,christian ,,art 7#ahde-ahdg7 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,seven ,,lamps 7#ahdg-ahdi7 ,,iv4 ,,stones ,,of ,,venice 7#ahdi-ahea7 ,v4 ,,pre-,,raphaelitism 7#ahea-ahec7 ,,vi4 ,,the ,,edinburgh ,,lectures 7#ahec-ahed7 ,,vii4 ,,the ,,working ,,men',s ,,college 7#ahed-ahee7 ,,viii4 ,,modern ,,painters ,,continued 7#ahee-ahef7 ,,ix4 ,,the ,,political ,,economy ,,of ,,art 7#aheg-aheh7 ,x4 ,,modern ,,painters ,,concluded 7#aheh-ahfj7 ,,book ,,iii ,,hermit ,,and ,,heretic 7#ahfj-ahgj7 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,unto ,,this ,,last 7#ahfj-ahfa7 ,,ii4 ,,munera ,,pulveris 7#ahfb7 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,limestone ,,alps 7#ahfc7 ,,iv4 ,,sesame ,,and ,,lilies 7#ahfd7 ,v4 ,,ethics ,,of ,,the ,,dust 7#ahfe7 ,,vi4 ,,the ,,crown ,,of ,,wild ,,olive 7#ahfe-ahff7 ,,vii4 ,,time ,,and ,,tide 7#ahfg7 ,,viii4 ,,agates1 ,,and ,,abbeville 7#ahfh7 ,,ix4 ,,the ,,queen ,,of ,,the ,,air 7#ahfi7 ,x4 ,,verona ,,and ,,oxford 7#ahfi-ahgj7 ,,book ,,iv ,,professor ,,and ,,prophet 7#ahgj-aijj7 ,i4 ,,first ,,oxford ,,lectures 7#ahgj-ahga7 ,,ii4 ,,fors ,,begun 7#ahga-ahgb7 ,,iii4 ,,oxford ,,teaching 7#ahgb-ahge7 ,,iv4 ,,st4 ,,george ,,and ,,st4 ,,mark 7#ahge-ahgg7 ,v4 ,,deucalion ,,and ,,proserpina 7#ahgg-ahgi7 ,,vi4 ,,the ,,diversions ,,of ,,brantwood 7#ahgi-ahha7 ,,vii4 ,,fors ,,resumed 7#ahhj-ahha7 ,,viii4 ,,the ,,recall ,,to ,,oxford 7#ahhb-ahhc7 ,,ix4 ,,the ,,storm-,,cloud 7#ahhd-ahhh7 ,x4 ,,datur ,,hora ,,quieti 7#ahhi-aijj7 ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,john ,,ruskin ,,book ,i ,,the ,,boy ,,poet 7#ahai-ahdb7 ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,john ,,ruskin ,,chapter ,i ,,his ,,ancestors ,if origin1 if early training and habits of life1 if tastes1 and character1 and associations1 fix a man's nationality1 then ,john ,ruskin must be reckoned a ,scotsman4 ,he was born in ,london1 but his family was from ,scotland4 ,he was brought up in ,england1 but the friends and teachers1 the standards and influences of his early life1 were chiefly ,scottish4 ,the writers who directed him into the main lines of his thought and work were ,scotsmen--from ,sir ,walter and ,lord ,lindsay and ,principal ,forbes to the master of his later studies of men and the means of life1 ,thomas ,carlyle4 ,the religious instinct so conspicuous in him was a heritage from ,scotland2 thence the combination of shrewd common-sense and romantic sentiment2 the oscillation between levity and dignity1 from caustic jest to tender earnest2 the restlessness1 the fervour1 the impetuosity--all these are the tokens of a ,scotsman of parts1 and were highly developed in ,john ,ruskin4 ,in the days of auld lang syne the ,rhynns of ,galloway--that hammer-headed promontory of ,scotland which looks towards ,belfast ,lough--was the home of two great families1 the ,agnews and the ,adairs4 ,the ,agnews1 of ,norman race1 occupied the northern half1 centring about their island-fortress of ,lochnaw1 where they became celebrated for a long line of hereditary sheriffs and baronets who have played no inconsiderable part in public affairs4 ,the southern half1 from ,portpatrick to the ,mull of ,galloway1 was held by the ,adairs 7or1 as formerly spelt1 ,edzears7 who took their name from ,edgar1 son of ,dovenald1 one of the two ,galloway leaders at the ,battle of the ,standard4 ,three hundred years later ,robert ,edzear--who does not know his descendant and namesake1 ,robin ,adair8--settled at ,gainoch1 near the head of ,luce ,bay2 and for another space of #cjj years his children kept the same estate1 in spite of private feud1 and civil war1 and religious persecution1 of which they had more than their share4 ,at the beginning of the eighteenth century1 ,john ,adair1 the laird of ,little ,genoch1 was married to ,mary ,agnew1 a near kinswoman of the celebrated ,sir ,andrew1 colonel of the ,scots ,fusiliers at ,dettingen4 ,the exact relationship of ,mary ,agnew to the bravest man in the ,british army remains undecided1 but letters still extant from the ,lady ,agnew of the day address her as ,dear ,molly1 and end1 ,your affectionate cousin or kinswoman4 ,her son ,thomas succeeded his father in #agba1 and1 retiring with his captaincy1 settled on the estate4 ,he married ,jean1 daughter of ,andrew ,ross of ,balsarroch and ,balkail1 a lady noted for her beauty1 her wit1 and her ,latin scholarship1 and a member of a family which has given many distinguished men to the army and navy4 ,among them ,admiral ,sir ,john ,ross1 the ,arctic explorer1 ,sir ,hew ,dalrymple1 and ,field-,marshal ,sir ,hew ,dalrymple ,ross1 were all her great-nephews1 and her son1 ,dr4 ,john ,adair1 was the man in whose arms ,wolfe died at the taking of ,quebec2 it is he who is shown in ,benjamin ,west's picture supporting the ,general4 ,dr4 ,adair's sister ,catherine1 the daughter of ,thomas ,adair and ,jean ,ross1 married the ,rev4 ,james ,tweddale1 minister of ,glenluce from #ageh to #aggh1 representative of an old ,covenanting family1 and holder of the original ,covenant1 which had been confided to the care of his great-aunt ,catherine by ,baillie of ,jarviswood on his way to execution in the killing time4 ,the document was sold with his library at his death1 his children being then under age1 and is now in the ,glasgow ,museum4 ,one of these children1 ,catherine1 married a ,john ,ruskin4 ,the origin of the name of ,ruskin is ,english1 dating from the middle ages4 ,soon after the dissolution of ,furness ,abbey1 ,richerde ,ruskyn and his family were land-owners at ,dalton-in-,furness4 ,one branch1 and that with which we are especially concerned1 settled in ,edinburgh4 ,john ,ruskin--our subject's grandfather--when he ran away with ,catherine ,tweddale in #agha1 was a handsome lad of twenty4 ,his portrait as a child proves his looks1 and he evidently had some charm of character or promise of power1 for the escapade did not lose him the friendship of the lady's family4 ,major ,ross1 her uncle and guardian1 remained a good friend to the young couple4 ,she herself was only sixteen at her marriage--a bright and animated brunette1 as her miniature shows1 in later years ripening to a woman of uncommon strength1 with old-fashioned piety of a robust1 practical type1 and a spirit which the trials of her after-life--and they were many--could not subdue4 ,her husband set up in the wine trade in ,edinburgh4 ,for many years they lived in the ,old ,town1 then a respectable neighbourhood1 among a cultivated and well-bred society1 in which they moved as equals1 entertaining1 with others1 such a man as ,dr4 ,thomas ,brown1 the professor of philosophy1 a great light in his own day1 and still conspicuous in the constellation of ,scotch metaphysicians4 ,,john ,,adair1 ,,mary1 cousin of ,sir ,andrew ,agnew1 of ,lochnaw1 of ,little ,genoch4 hereditary ,sheriff of ,wigtownshire4 ,capt4 ,thomas ,adair1 ,jean ,ross1 of ,balsarroch1 great-aunt of ,sir of ,little ,genoch4 ,john ,ross1 the ,arctic explorer1 of ,sir ,hew ,dalrymple1 and of ,sir ,hew ,dalrymple ,ross4 ----------------------- ,rev4 ,isobel ,dr4 ,mrs4 ,cath4 ,rev4 ,john ,andrew ,mc,douall1 ,adair1 ,maitland ,adair ,james ,ruskin ,adair1 of of grand- ,twaddle1 7#agcb- ,minister ,logan ,quebec mother of #aghj7 of and of ,glen- ,whithorn ,london ,j4,e4 luce ,maitland of ,kenmure ,castle --------- -------------- ,cath4 ,james ,cath4 ,john ,margt4 ,capt4 ,other ,mactaggart ,tweddale1 ,tweddale ,ruskin ,ruskin ,cox issue 7aunt of of 7#agfe- of 7b4 #agef7 of ,sir ,john ,glen- #aha87 ,edinburgh ,yarmouth ,joseph ,mactaggart1 laggan 7#agfa- 7#ageg- ,severn ,bart41 ,m4,p41 #ahab87 #aghi87 of of ,rome ,ardwell7 - ---- ---- --- ,george ,cath4 ,peter ,jessie ,j4,j4 ,margaret ,bridget ,mr4 ,agnew1 ,tweddale ,richard- ,ruskin ,ruskin1 ,cox ,cox ,richard- hered- son1 of 7#agha- son itary ---- of ,billiter #ahga7 of ,sheriff- ,bridgend1 ,street ,market clerk ,other ,perth and ,street1 of isssue ,denmark ,croydon ,wigtown ,hill 7#aghe- #ahfd7 ------- ------------- ------ ---- ,other ,arthur ,joan ,other ,james ,john ,john 7d4 issue ,severn1 ,ruskin issue 7d4 young71 ,ruskin in ,r4,i41 ,agnew ,john1 of 7b4 #ahai7 ,australia71 of ,glasgow1 ,william ,hearne ,william1 ,m4,d41 ,george 7of ,hill 7,tunbridge ,croydon7 ,wells71 ,charles --- ,andrew 7d4 in 7drowned ,australia71 #ahcd7 ,lily ,catherine ,margaret ,arthur 7d4 young71 ,bridget ,agnew ,margaret and ,violet ,peter ,herbert 7d4 young7 ,mary 7#ahae-ahdi71 ,jessie 7#ahah-ahbg7 ,their son1 ,john ,james ,ruskin 7born ,may #aj1 #aghe71 was sent to the famous ,high ,school of ,edinburgh1 under ,dr4 ,adam1 the most renowned of ,scottish head-masters1 and there he received the sound old-fashioned classical education4 ,before he was sixteen1 his sister ,jessie was already married at ,perth to ,peter ,richardson1 a tanner living at ,bridge ,end1 by the ,tay2 and so his cousin1 ,margaret ,cox1 was sent for to fill the vacant place4 ,she was a daughter of old ,mr4 ,ruskin's sister1 who had married a ,captain ,cox1 sailing from ,yarmouth for the herring fishery4 ,he had died in #aghi1 or thereabouts1 from the results of an accident while riding homewards to his family after one of his voyages1 and his widow maintained herself in comfort by keeping the old ,king's ,head ,inn at ,croydon ,market-place4 ,of her two daughters the younger married another ,mr4 ,richardson1 a baker at ,croydon1 so that1 by an odd coincidence1 there were two families of ,richardsons1 unconnected with one another except through their relationship to the ,ruskins4 ,margaret1 the elder daughter1 who came to keep house for her uncle in ,edinburgh1 was then nearly twenty years of age4 ,she had been the model pupil at her ,croydon day-school2 tall and handsome1 pious and practical1 she was just the girl to become the confidante and adviser of her dark-eyed1 active1 and romantic young cousin4 ,some time before the beginning of #ahjg1 ,john ,james1 having finished his education at the ,high ,school1 went to ,london1 where a place had been found for him by his uncle's brother-in-law1 ,mr4 ,mac,taggart4 ,he was followed by a kind letter from ,dr4 ,thomas ,brown1 who advised him to keep up his ,latin1 and to study political economy1 for the ,professor looked upon him as a young man of unusual promise and power4 ,during some two years1 he worked as a clerk in the house of ,sir ,william ,gordon1 ,murphy and ,co41 where he made friends1 and laid the foundation of his prosperity2 for along with him at the office there was a ,mr4 ,peter ,domecq1 owner of the ,spanish vineyards of ,macharnudo1 learning the commercial part of his business in ,london1 the headquarters of the sherry trade4 ,he admired his fellow-clerk's capacity so much as to offer him the ,london agency of his family business4 ,mr4 ,mac,taggart found the capital in consideration of their taking his relative1 ,mr4 ,telford1 into the concern4 ,and so they entered into partnership1 about #ahji1 as ,ruskin1 ,telford and ,domecq3 ,domecq contributing the sherry1 ,mr4 ,henry ,telford the capital1 and ,ruskin the brains4 ,how he came by his business capacity may be understood--and in some measure1 perhaps1 how his son came by his flexible and forcible style--from a letter of ,mrs4 ,catherine ,ruskin1 written about this time2 in which1 moreover1 there are a few details of family circumstances and character1 not without interest4 ,john ,james ,ruskin had been protesting that he was never going to marry1 but meant to devote himself to his mother2 she replied3 444 ,but my son an old ,batchelor--believe me my beloved ,child ,i feel the full force and value of that affection that could prompt to such a plan--dear as your society is to me it would then become the misery of my existence--could ,i see my ,child so formed for domestick happiness deprived of every blessing on my account4 ,no my ,dr ,john ,i do not know a more unhappy being than an old ,batchelor 444 may ,god preserve my ,child from realizing the dreary picture--as soon as you can keep a ,wife you must ,marry with all possible speed--that is as soon as you find a very ,amiable woman4 ,she must be a good daughter and fond of ,domestick life--and pious1 without ostentation1 for remember no ,woman without the fear of ,god1 can either make a good ,wife or a good ,mother--freethinking ,men are shocking to nature1 but from an ,infidel ,woman ,good ,lord deliver us4 ,i have thought more of it than you have done--for ,i have two or three presents carefully laid by for her1 and ,i have also been so foresightly as to purchase two ,dutch toys for your ,children in case you might marry before we had free intercourse with that country4444 ,who can say what ,i can say 'here is my ,son--a hansome accomplished young man of three and twenty--he will not ,marry that he may take care of his ,mother--here is my ,dr ,margaret1 hansome1 ,amiable and good and she would not leave her ,ant 7,i mean ,aunt7 for any ,man on ,earth4' ,ah ,my ,dear and valuable children1 dear is your affection to my heart1 but ,i will never make so base a use of it4 ,i entreat my ,dr ,john that you will not give yourself one moment's uneasiness about me--,i will at all events have #hf a year for life that your ,father cannot deprive me of1 and tho' ,i could not live very splendidly in a ,town on this1 yet with a neat little ,house and ,garden in the country1 it would afford all the means of life in fullness to ,meggy myself and our servant4 ,you forget1 my ,dr how much a woman can do without in domestick affairs to save ,money--a ,woman that has any management at all can live with more comfort on #ej a year than a ,man could do on two hundred4 ,there was a year of my life that ,i maintained myself and two children on twenty pound1 the bread too was #a_/b the loave that year3 we did not indeed live very sumptuously nor shall ,i say our strength improved much but ,i did not contract one farthing of debt and that to me supplyed the want of luxuries4 ,now my ,dr ,john let me never hear a fear expressed on my account2 there is no fear of me2 make yourself happy and all will be well1 and for ,god sake my beloved ,boy take care of your health1 take a good drink of porter to dinner and supper and a little ,wine now and then1 and tell me particularly about yr new ,lodgings1 etc4 ,he returned home to ,edinburgh on a visit and arranged a marriage with his cousin ,margaret1 if she would wait for him until he was safely established2 and then he set to work at the responsibilities of creating a new business4 ,it was a severer task than he had anticipated1 for his father's brain and business1 as the above letter hints1 had both gone wrong2 he left ,edinburgh and settled at ,bower's ,well1 ,perth1 ended tragically1 and left a load of debt behind him1 which the son1 sensitive to the family honour1 undertook to pay before laying by a penny for himself4 ,it took nine years of assiduous labour and economy4 ,he worked the business entirely by himself4 ,the various departments that most men entrust to others he filled in person4 ,he managed the correspondence1 he travelled for orders1 he arranged the importation1 he directed the growers out in ,spain1 and gradually built up a great business1 paid off his father's creditors1 and secured his own competence4 ,this was not done without sacrifice of health1 which he never recovered1 nor without forming habits of over-anxiety and toilsome minuteness which lasted his life long4 ,but his business cares were relieved by cultured tastes4 ,he loved art1 painted in water-colours in the old style1 and knew a good picture when he saw it4 ,he loved literature1 and read aloud finely all the old standard authors1 though he was not too old-fashioned to admire ,pickwick and the ,noctes ,ambrosian when they appeared4 ,he loved the scenery and architecture among which he had travelled in ,scotland and ,spain2 but he could find interest in almost any place and any subject2 an alert man1 in whom practical judgment was joined to a romantic temperament1 strong feelings and opinions to extended sympathies4 ,his letters1 of which there are many preserved1 bear witness to his character1 taste1 and intellect1 curiously anticipating1 on some points1 those of his son4 ,his portraits give the idea of an expressive face1 sensitive1 refined1 every feature a gentleman's4 ,so1 after those nine years of work and waiting1 he went to ,perth to claim his cousin's hand4 ,she was for further delay2 but with the minister's help he persuaded her one evening into a prompt marriage in the ,scotch fashion1 drove off with her next morning to ,edinburgh1 and on to the home he had prepared in ,london at #ed1 ,hunter ,street1 ,brunswick ,square 7,february #bg1 #ahah74 ,the heroine of this little drama was no ordinary bride4 ,at ,edinburgh she had found herself1 though well brought up for ,croydon1 inferior to the society of the ,modern ,athens4 ,as the affianced of a man of ability1 she felt it her duty to make herself his match in mental culture1 as she was already in her own department of practical matters4 ,under ,dr4 ,brown's direction1 and stimulated by his notice1 she soon became--not a blue-stocking--but well-read1 well-informed above the average4 ,she was one of those persons who set themselves a very high standard1 and resolve to drag both themselves and their neighbours up to it4 ,but1 as the process is difficult1 so it is disappointing4 ,people became rather shy of ,mrs4 ,ruskin1 and she of them1 so that her life was solitary and her household quiet4 ,it was not merely from narrow ,puritanism that she made so few friends2 her morality and her piety1 strict as they were within their own lines1 permitted her most of the enjoyments and amusements of life2 still less was there any cynicism or misanthropy4 ,but she devoted herself to her husband and son4 ,she was too proud to court those above her in worldly rank1 and she was not easily approached except by people fully equal to her in strength of character1 of whom there could never be many4 ,the few who made their way to her friendship found her a true and valuable friend4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,father ,,of ,,the ,,man 7#ahai-ahbe7 ,into this family ,john ,ruskin was born on ,february #h1 #ahai1 at half-past seven in the morning4 ,he was baptised on the twentieth by the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,boyd4 ,the first account of him in writing is in a letter from his mother when he was six weeks old4 ,she chronicles--not without a touch of superstition--the breaking of a looking-glass1 and continues3 ,john grows finely2 he is just now on my knees sleeping and looking so sweetly2 ,i hope ,i shall not get proud of him4 ,he was a fine healthy baby1 and at four months was beginning to give more decided proofs that he knows what he wants1 and will have it if crying and passion will get it4 ,at a year his mother resolves that this will be cured by a good whipping when he can understand what it is1 and we know that she carried out her ,spartan resolve4 ,this1 and the story in ,arachne1 how she let him touch the tea-kettle2 and the reminiscences in ,prterita of playthings locked up1 and a lone little boy staring at the water-cart and the pattern on the carpet--all these give a gloomy impression of his mother1 against which we must set the proofs of affection and kindliness shown in her letters4 ,in these we can see her anxiously nursing him through childish ailments1 taking him out for his daily walk to ,duppas ,hill with a captain's biscuit in her muff1 for fear he should be hungry by the way2 we hear her teaching him his first lessons1 with astonishment at his wonderful memory1 and glorying with ,nurse ,anne over his behaviour in church2 and all these things she retails in gossiping letters to her husband1 while ,mr4 ,richard ,gray gives two-year-old ,john his first lesson on the flute1 both sitting on the drawing-room floor1 very deeply engaged4 ,i am sure1 she says1 there is no other love1 no other feeling1 like a mother's towards her first boy when she loves his father2 and her pride in his looks1 and precocity1 and docility--,i never met with a child of his age so sensible to praise or blame--found a justification in his passionate devotion to the man who was so dear to them both4 ,though he was born in the thick of ,london1 he was not ,city-bred4 ,his first three summers were spent in lodgings in ,hampstead or ,dulwich1 then the country4 ,so early as his fourth summer he was taken to ,scotland by sea to stay with his aunt ,jessie1 ,mrs4 ,richardson of ,perth4 ,there he found cousins to play with1 especially one1 little ,jessie1 of nearly his own age2 he found a river with deep swirling pools1 that impressed him more than the sea1 and he found the mountains4 ,coming home in the autumn1 he sat for his full-length portrait to ,james ,northcote1 ,r4,a41 and being asked what he would choose for background1 he replied1 ,blue hills4 ,northcote had painted ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,ruskin1 and1 as they were fond of artistic company1 remained their friend4 ,a certain friendship too1 was struck up between the old ,academician1 then in his seventy-seventh year1 the acknowledged cynic and satirist1 and the little wise boy who asked shrewd questions1 and could sit still to be painted2 who1 moreover1 had a face worth painting1 not unlike the model from whom ,northcote's master1 the great ,sir ,joshua1 had painted his famous cherubs4 ,the painter asked him to come again1 and sit as the hero of a fancy picture1 bought at the ,academy by the flattered parents4 ,there is a grove1 a flock of toy sheep1 drapery in the grand style1 a mahogany ,satyr taking a thorn out of the little pink foot of a conventional nudity--poor survivals of the ,titianesque4 ,but the head is an obvious portrait1 and a happy one2 far more like the real boy1 so tradition says1 than the generalized chubbiness of the commissioned picture4 ,in the next year 7#ahbc7 they quitted the town for a suburban home4 ,the spot they chose was in rural ,dulwich1 on ,herne ,hill1 a long offshoot of the ,surrey downs2 low1 and yet commanding green fields and scattered houses in the foreground1 with rich undulating country to the south1 and looking across ,london toward ,windsor and ,harrow4 ,it is all built up now2 but their house 7later ,no4 #bh7 must have been as secluded as any in a country village4 ,there were ample gardens front and rear1 well stocked with fruit and flowers--quite an ,eden for a little boy1 and all the more that the fruit of it was forbidden4 ,it was here that all his years of youth were spent4 ,here1 under his parents' roof1 he wrote his earlier works1 as far as vol4 i4 of ,modern ,painters4 ,to the adjoining house1 as his own separate home1 he returned for a period of his middle life2 and in the old home1 handed over to his adopted daughter1 he still used to find his own rooms ready when he cared to visit ,london4 ,so he was brought up almost as a country boy1 though near enough to town to get the benefit of it1 and far enough from the more exciting scenes of landscape nature to find them ever fresh1 when summer after summer he revisited the river scenery of the ,west or the mountains of the ,north4 ,for by a neat arrangement1 and one fortunate for his education1 the summer tours were continued yearly4 ,mr4 ,john ,james ,ruskin still travelled for the business1 then greatly extending4 ,strange1 he writes on one occasion1 that ,watson his right-hand man went this journey without getting one order1 and everyone gives me an order directly4 ,in return for these services to the firm1 ,mr4 ,telford1 the capitalist partner1 took the vacant chair at the office1 and even lent his carriage for the journeys4 ,there was room for two1 so ,mrs4 ,ruskin accompanied her husband1 whose indifferent health gave her and his friends constant anxiety during long separations4 ,and the boy could easily be packed in1 sitting on his little portmanteau1 and playing horses with his father's knees2 the nurse riding on the dickey behind4 ,they started usually after the great family anniversary1 the father's birthday1 on ,may #aj1 and journeyed by easy stages through the ,south of ,england1 working up the west to the north1 and then home by the east-central route1 zigzagging from one provincial town to another1 calling at the great country seats1 to leave no customer or possible customer unvisited2 and in the intervals of business seeing all the sights of the places they passed through--colleges and churches1 galleries and parks1 ruins1 castles1 caves1 lakes1 and mountains--and seeing them all1 not listlessly1 but with keen interest1 noting everything1 inquiring for local information1 looking up books of reference1 setting down the results1 as if they had been meaning to write a guide-book and gazetteer of ,great ,britain4 ,they1 ,i say1 did all this1 for as soon as the boy could write1 he was only imitating his father in keeping his little journal of the tours1 so that all he learned stayed by him1 and the habit of descriptive writing was formed4 ,in #ahbc they seem to have travelled only through the south and south-west2 in #ahbd they pushed north to the lakes1 stayed awhile at ,keswick1 and while the father went about his business1 the child was rambling with his nurse on ,friar's ,crag1 among the steep rocks and gnarled roots1 which suggested1 even at that age1 the feelings expressed in one of the notable passages in ,modern ,painters4 ,thence they went on to ,scotland1 and revisited their relatives at ,perth4 ,in #ahbe they took a more extended tour1 and spent a few weeks in ,paris1 partly for the festivities at the coronation of ,charles ,x41 partly for business conference with ,mr4 ,domecq1 who had just been appointed wine-merchant to the ,king of ,spain4 ,thence they went to ,brussels and the field of ,waterloo1 of greater interest than the sights of ,paris to six-year-old ,john1 who often during his boyhood celebrated the battle1 and the heroes of the battle1 in verse4 ,before he was quite three he used to climb into a chair and preach4 ,there is nothing so uncommon in that4 ,of ,robert ,browning1 his neighbour and seven-years-older contemporary1 the same tale is told4 ,but while the incident that marks the baby ,browning is the aside1 propos of a whimpering sister1 ,pew-opener1 remove that child1 the baby ,ruskin is seen in his sermon3 ,people1 be dood4 ,if you are dood1 ,dod will love you2 if you are not dood1 ,dod will not love you4 ,people1 be dood4 ,at the age of four he had begun to read and write1 refusing to be taught in the orthodox way--this is so accurately characteristic--by syllabic spelling and copy-book pothooks4 ,he preferred to find a method out for himself1 and he found out how to read whole words at a time by the look of them1 and to write in vertical characters like book-print1 just as the latest improved theories of education suggest4 ,his first letter may be quoted as illustrating his own account of his childhood1 and as proving how entirely ,scotch was the atmosphere in which he was brought up4 ,the postmark gives the date ,march #ae1 #ahbc4 ,mrs4 ,ruskin premises that ,john was scribbling on a paper from which he proceeded to read what she writes down 7,i omit certain details about the whip73 ,,my ,,dear ,,papa1 ,i love you4 ,i have got new things4 ,waterloo ,bridge--,aunt ,bridget brought me it4 ,john and ,aunt helped to put it up1 but the pillars they did not put right1 upside down4 ,instead of a book bring me a whip1 coloured red and black4444 ,to-morrow is ,sabbath4 ,tuesday ,i go to ,croydon4 ,i am going to take my boats and my ship to ,croydon4 ,i'll sail them on the pond near the burn which the bridge is over4 ,i will be very glad to see my cousins4 ,i was very happy when ,i saw ,aunt come from ,croydon4 ,i love ,mrs4 ,gray and ,i love ,mr4 ,gray4 ,i would like you to come home1 and my kiss and my love4 ,first autograph in straggling capitals ,,john ,,ruskin ,when once he could read1 thenceforward his mother gave him regular morning lessons in ,bible-reading and in reciting the ,scotch paraphrases of the ,psalms and other verse1 which for his good memory was an easy task4 ,he made rhymes before he could write them1 of course4 ,at five he was a bookworm1 and the books he read fixed him in certain grooves of thought1 or1 rather1 say they were chosen as favourites from an especial interest in their subjects--an interest which arose from his character of mind1 and displayed it4 ,but with all this precocity1 he was no milksop or weakling2 he was a bright1 active lad1 full of fun and pranks1 not without companions1 though solitary when at home1 and kept precisely1 in the hope of guarding him from every danger4 ,he was so little afraid of animals--a great test of a child's nerves--that about this time he must needs meddle with their fierce ,newfoundland dog1 ,lion1 which bit him in the mouth1 and spoiled his looks4 ,another time he showed some address in extricating himself from the water-butt--a common child-trap4 ,he did not fear ghosts or thunder2 instead of that1 his early-developed landscape feeling showed itself in dread of foxglove dells and dark pools of water1 in coiling roots of trees--things that to the average ,english fancy have no significance whatever4 ,at seven he began to imitate the books he was reading1 to write books himself4 ,he had found out how to print1 as children do2 and it was his ambition to make real books1 with title-pages and illustrations1 not only books1 indeed1 but sets of volumes1 a complete library of his whole works4 ,but in a letter of ,march #d1 #ahbi1 his mother says to his father3 ,if you think of writing ,john1 would you impress on him the propriety of not beginning too eagerly and becoming careless towards the end of his works1 as he calls them8 ,i think in a letter from you it would have great weight4 ,he is never idle1 and he is even uncommonly persevering for a child of his age2 but he often spoils a good beginning by not taking the trouble to think1 and concluding in a hurry4 ,the first of these sets was imitated in style from ,miss ,edgeworth2 he called it1 ,harry and ,lucy ,concluded2 or1 ,early ,lessons4 ,didactic he was from the beginning4 ,it was to be in four volumes1 uniform in red leather1 with proper title1 frontispiece1 and copper-plates1 printed and composed by a little boy1 and also drawn4 ,it was begun in #ahbf1 and continued at intervals until #ahbi4 ,it was all done laboriously in imitation of print1 and1 to complete the illusion1 contained a page of errata4 ,this great work was1 of course1 never completed1 though he laboured through three volumes2 but when he tired of it1 he would turn his book upside down1 and begin at the other end with other matters2 so that the red books contain all sorts of notes on his minerals and travels1 reports of sermons1 and miscellaneous information1 besides their professed contents2 in this respect also being very like his later works4 ,there you have our author ready made1 with his ever-fresh interest in everything1 and all-attempting eagerness1 out of which the first thing that crystallizes into any definite shape is the verse-writing4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,perfervidum ,,ingenium 7#ahbf-ahcj7 ,the first dated poem was written a month before little ,john ,ruskin reached the age of seven4 ,it is a tale of a mouse1 in seven octosyllabic couplets1 ,the ,needless ,alarm1 remarkable only for an unexpected correctness in rhyme1 rhythm1 and reason4 ,his early verse owes much to the summer tours1 which were prolific in notes2 everything was observed and turned into verse4 ,the other inspiring source was his father--the household deity of both wife and child1 whose chief delight was in his daily return from the city1 and in his reading to them in the drawing-room at ,herne ,hill4 ,john was packed into a recess1 where he was out of the way and the draught2 he was barricaded by a little table that held his own materials for amusement1 and if he liked to listen to the reading1 he had the chance of hearing good literature1 the chance sometimes of hearing passages from ,byron and ,christopher ,north and ,cervantes1 rather beyond his comprehension1 for his parents were not of the shockable sort3 with all their religion and strict ,scotch morality1 they could laugh at a broad jest1 as old-fashioned people could4 ,so he associated his father and his father's readings with the poetry of reflection1 as he associated the regular summer round with the poetry of description4 ,as every summer brought its crop of description1 so against the ,new ,year 7for1 being ,scotch1 they did not then keep our ,christmas7 and against his father's birthday in ,may he used always to prepare some little drama or story or address of a reflective nature1 beginning with the verses on ,time1 written for ,new ,year's ,day1 #ahbg4 ,that year they were again at ,perth1 and on their way home some early morning frost suggested the not ungraceful verses on the icicles at ,glenfarg4 ,by a childish misconception1 the little boy seems to have confused the real valley that interested him so with ,scott's ideal ,glendearg1 and1 partly for this reason1 to have found a greater pleasure in ,the ,monastery1 which he thereupon undertook to paraphrase in verse4 ,there remain some hundreds of doggerel rhymes2 but his affection for that particular novel survived the fatal facility of his octosyllabics1 and reappears time after time in his later writings4 ,next year1 #ahbh1 their tour was stopped at ,plymouth by the painful news of the death of his aunt ,jessie1 to whom they were on their way4 ,it was hardly a year since the bright little cousin1 ,jessie of ,perth1 had died of water on the brain4 ,she had been ,john's especial pet and playfellow1 clever1 like him1 and precocious2 and her death must have come to his parents as a warning1 if they needed it1 to keep their own child's brain from over-pressure4 ,it is evident that they did their best to keep him back2 they did not send him to school for fear of the excitement of competitive study4 ,his mother put him through the ,latin grammar herself1 using the old ,adam's manual which his father had used at ,edinburgh ,high ,school4 ,even this old grammar became a sort of sacred book to him2 and when at last he went to school1 and his ,english master threw the book back to him1 saying1 that's a ,scotch thing1 the boy was shocked and affronted1 as which of us would be at a criticism on our first instrument of torture8 ,he remembered the incident all his life1 and pilloried the want of tact with acerbity in his reminiscences4 ,they could keep him from school1 but they did not keep him from study4 ,the year #ahbh saw the beginning of another great work1 ,eudosia1 a ,poem on the ,universe2 it was printed with even greater neatness and labour2 but this1 too1 after being toiled at during the winter months1 was dropped in the middle of its second book4 ,it was not idleness that made him break off such plans1 but just the reverse--a too great activity of brain4 ,his parents seem to have thought that there was no harm in this apparently quiet reading and writing4 ,they were extremely energetic themselves1 and hated idleness4 ,they appear to have held a theory that their little boy was safe so long as he was not obviously excited2 and to have thought that the proper way of giving children pocket-money was to let them earn it4 ,so they used to pay him for his literary labours2 ,homer was one shilling a page2 ,composition1 one penny for twenty lines2 ,mineralogy1 one penny an article4 ,the death of his aunt ,jessie left a large family of boys and one girl to the care of their widowed father1 and the ,ruskins felt it their duty to help4 ,they fetched ,mary ,richardson away1 and brought her up as a sister to their solitary son4 ,she was not so beloved as ,jessie had been1 but a good girl and a nice girl1 four years older than ,john1 and able to be a companion to him in his lessons and travels4 ,there was no sentimentality about his attachment to her1 but a steady fraternal relationship1 he1 of course1 being the little lord and master2 but she was not without spirit1 which enabled her to hold her own1 and perseverance1 which sometimes helped her to eclipse1 for the moment1 his brilliancy4 ,they learnt together1 wrote their journals together1 and shared alike with the scrupulous fairness which ,mrs4 ,ruskin's sensible nature felt called on to show4 ,and so she remained his sister1 and not quite his sister1 until she married1 and after a very short married life died4 ,another accession to the family took place in the same year 7#ahbh72 the ,croydon aunt1 too1 had died1 and left a dear dog1 ,dash1 a brown and white spaniel1 which at first refused to leave her coffin1 but was coaxed away1 and found a happy home at ,herne ,hill1 and frequent celebration in his young master's verses4 ,so the family was now complete--papa and mamma1 ,mary and ,john and ,dash4 ,one other figure must not be forgotten1 ,nurse ,anne1 who had come from the ,edinburgh home1 and remained always with them1 ,john's nurse and then ,mrs4 ,ruskin's attendant1 as devoted and as censorious as any old-style ,scotch servant in a story-book4 ,the year #ahbi marked an advance in poetical composition4 ,for his father's birthday he made a book more elaborate than any1 sixteen pages in a red cover1 with a title-page quite like print3 ,battle of ,waterloo a play in two acts with other small ,poems dedicated to his father by ,john ,ruskin #ahbi ,hernhill 7sic7 ,dulwich4 ,to this are appended1 among other pieces1 fair copies of ,skiddaw1 and ,derwentwater4 ,a recast of these1 touched up by some older hand1 and printed in ,the ,spiritual ,times for ,february1 #ahcj1 may be called his first appearance in type4 ,an illness of his postponed their tour for #ahbi1 until it was too late for more than a little journey in ,kent4 ,he has referred his earliest sketching to this occasion1 but it seems likely that the drawings attributed to this year were done in #ahca4 ,he was1 however1 busy writing poetry4 ,at ,tunbridge1 for example1 he wrote that fragment ,on ,happiness which catches so cleverly the tones of ,young--a writer whose orthodox moralizing suited with the creed in which ,john ,ruskin was brought up1 alternating1 be it remembered1 with ,don ,quixote4 ,coming home1 he began a new edition of his verses1 on a more pretentious scale than the old red books1 in a fine bound volume1 exquisitely printed1 with the poems dated4 ,this new energy seems to have been roused by the gift from his ,croydon cousin ,charles1 a clerk in the publishing house of ,smith1 ,elder1 and ,co41 of their annual ,friendship's ,offering4 ,mrs4 ,ruskin1 in a letter of ,october #ca1 #ahbi1 finds the poetry very so-so2 but ,john evidently made the book his model4 ,he was now growing out of his mother's tutorship1 and during this autumn he was put under the care of ,dr4 ,andrews for his ,latin4 ,he relates the introduction in ,prterita1 and1 more circumstantially1 in a letter of the time1 to ,mrs4 ,monro1 the mother of his charming ,mrs4 ,richard ,gray1 the indulgent neighbour who used to pamper the little gourmand with delicacies unknown in severe ,mrs4 ,ruskin's dining-room4 ,he says in the letter--this is at ten years old3 ,well1 papa1 seeing how fond ,i was of the doctor1 and knowing him to be an excellent ,latin scholar1 got him for me as a tutor1 and every lesson ,i get ,i like him better and better1 for he makes me laugh 'almost1 if not quite'--to use one of his own expressions--the whole time4 ,he is so funny1 comparing ,neptune's lifting up the wrecked ships of neas with his trident to my lifting up a potato with a fork1 or taking a piece of bread out of a bowl of milk with a spoon6 ,and as he is always saying things of that kind1 or relating some droll anecdote1 or explaining the part of ,virgil 7the book which ,i am in7 very nicely1 ,i am always delighted when ,mondays1 ,wednesdays1 and ,fridays are come4 ,dr4 ,andrews was no doubt a genial teacher1 and had been a scholar of some distinction in his ,university of ,glasgow2 but ,mrs4 ,ruskin thought him flighty1 as well she might1 when1 after six months' ,greek1 he proposed 7in ,march1 #ahca7 to begin ,hebrew with ,john4 ,it was a great misfortune for the young genius that he was not more sternly drilled at the outset1 and he suffered for it through many a long year of struggles with deficient scholarship4 ,the ,doctor had a large family and pretty daughters4 ,one1 who wrote verses in ,john's note-book1 and sang ,tambourgi1 ,mrs4 ,orme1 lived until #ahib in ,bedford ,park2 the other lives in ,coventry ,patmore's ,angel in the ,house4 ,when ,ruskin1 thirty years later1 wrote of that doubtfully-received poem1 that it was the sweetest analysis we possess of quiet1 modern1 domestic feeling1 few of his readers could have known all the grounds of his appreciation1 or suspected the weight of meaning in the words4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,mountain-,,worship 7#ahcj-ahce7 ,critics who are least disposed to give ,ruskin credit for his artistic doctrines or economical theories unite in allowing that he taught his generation to look at ,nature1 and especially at the sublime in ,nature--at storms and sunrises1 and the forests and snows of the ,alps4 ,this mission of mountain-worship was the outcome of a passion beside which the other interests and occupations of his youth were only toys4 ,he could take up his mineralogy and his moralizing and lay them down1 but the love of mountain scenery was something beyond his control4 ,we have seen him leave his heart in the ,highlands at three years old2 we have now to follow his passionate pilgrimages to ,skiddaw and ,snowdon1 to the ,jungfrau and ,mont ,blanc4 ,they had planned a great tour through the ,lakes and the ,north two years before1 but were stopped at ,plymouth by the news of ,mrs4 ,richardson's death4 ,at last the plan was carried out4 ,a prose diary was written alternately by ,john and ,mary1 one carrying it on when the other tired1 with rather curious effect of unequally-yoked collaboration4 ,we read how they set off from ,london at seven o'clock on ,tuesday morning1 the #ahth ,may1 and thenceforward we are spared no detail3 the furniture of the inns2 the bills of fare2 when they got out of the carriage and walked2 how they lost their luggage2 what they thought of colleges and chapels1 music and ,may races at ,oxford1 of ,shakespeare's tomb1 and the pin-factory at ,birmingham2 we have a complete guide-book to ,blenheim and ,warwick ,castle1 to ,haddon and ,chatsworth1 and the full itinerary of ,derbyshire4 ,matlock ,bath1 we read1 is a most delightful place2 but after an enthusiastic description of ,high ,tor1 ,john reacts into bathos with a minute description of wetting their shoes in a puddle4 ,the cavern with a ,bengal light was fairyland to him1 and among the minerals he was quite at home4 ,then they hurried north to ,windermere4 ,once at ,lowwood1 the excitement thickens1 with storms and rainbows1 mountains and waterfalls1 boats on the lake and coaching on the steep roads4 ,this journey through ,lakeland is described in the galloping anapsts of the ,iteriad1 which was simply the prose journal versified on his return1 one of the few enterprises of the sort which were really completed4 ,to readers who know the country it is interesting as giving a detailed account in the days when this nook of ,english ground was secure from rash assault4 ,one learns that1 even then1 there were jarring sights at ,bowness ,bay and along ,derwentwater shore1 elements unkind and bills exorbitant4 ,coniston especially was dreary with rain1 and its inn--the old ,waterhead1 now destroyed--extravagantly dear2 but1 says ,john1 with his eye for mineral specimens1 it contains several rich coppermines4 ,an interesting touch is the hero-worship with which they went reverently to peep at ,southey and ,wordsworth in church2 too humble to dream of an introduction1 and too polite to besiege the poets in their homes1 but independent enough to form their own opinions on the personality of the heroes4 ,they did not like the look of ,wordsworth at all2 ,southey they adored4 ,the dominant note of the tour is1 however1 an ecstatic delight in the mountain scenery2 on ,skiddaw and ,helvellyn all the gamut of admiration is lavished4 ,on returning home1 ,john began ,greek under ,dr4 ,andrews1 and was soon versifying ,anacreontics in his notebooks4 ,he began to read ,byron for himself1 with what result we shall see before long2 but the most important new departure was the attempt to copy ,cruikshank's etchings to ,grimm's fairy tales1 his real beginning at art4 ,from this practice he learnt the value of the pure1 clean line that expresses form4 ,it is a good instance of the authority of these early years over ,ruskin's whole life and teaching that in his ,elements of ,drawing he advised young artists to begin with ,cruikshank1 as he began1 and that he wrote appreciatively both of the stories and the etchings so many decades afterwards in the preface to a reprint by ,j4,c4 ,hotten4 ,his cousin-sister ,mary had been sent to a day-school when ,mrs4 ,ruskin's lessons were superseded by ,dr4 ,andrews1 and she had learnt enough drawing to attempt a view of the hotel at ,matlock1 a thing which ,john could not do4 ,so1 now that he too showed some power of neat draughtsmanship1 it was felt that he ought to have her advantages4 ,they got ,mr4 ,runciman the drawing-master1 chosen1 it may be1 as a relative of the well-known ,edinburgh artist of the same name1 to give him lessons1 in the early part of #ahca4 ,his teaching was of the kind which preceded the ,hardingesque3 it aimed at a bold use of the soft pencil1 with a certain roundness of composition and richness of texture1 a conventional right way of drawing anything4 ,this was hardly what ,john wanted2 but1 not to be beaten1 he facsimiled the master's freehand in a sort of engraver's stipple1 which his habitual neatness helped him to do in perfection4 ,runciman soon put a stop to that1 and took pains with a pupil who took such pains with himself--taught him1 at any rate1 the principles of perspective1 and remained his only drawing-master for several years4 ,a sample of ,john ,ruskin's early lessons in drawing1 described by him in letters to his father1 may be not without interest4 ,on ,february #bj1 #ahcb1 he writes3 444 ,you saw the two models that were last sent1 before you went away4 ,well1 ,i took my paper1 and ,i fixed my points1 and ,i drew my perspective1 and then1 as ,mr4 ,runciman told me1 ,i began to invent a scene4 ,you remember the cottage that we saw as we went to ,rhaidyr ,dhu 7sic71 near ,maentwrog1 where the old woman lived whose grandson went with us to the fall1 so very silently8 ,i thought my model resembled that2 so ,i drew a tree--such a tree1 such an enormous fellow--and ,i sketched the waterfall1 with its dark rocks1 and its luxuriant wood1 and its high mountains2 and then ,i examined one of ,mary's pictures to see how the rocks were done1 and another to see how the woods were done1 and another to see how the mountains were done1 and another to see how the cottages were done1 and ,i patched them all together1 and ,i made such a lovely scene--oh1 ,i should get such a scold from ,mr4 ,runciman 7that is1 if he ever scolded76 ,after the next lesson he wrote1 ,february #bg1 #ahcb3 ,you know the beautiful model drawing that ,i gave you an account of in my last4 ,i showed it to ,mr4 ,runciman4 ,he contemplated it for a moment in silence1 and then1 turning1 asked me if ,i had copied4 ,i told him how ,i had patched it up2 but he said that that was not copying1 and although he was not satisfied with the picture1 he said there was something in it that would make him totally change the method he had hitherto pursued with me4 ,he then asked ,mary for some gray paper1 which was produced2 then inquired if ,i had a colour-box2 ,i produced the one you gave me1 and he then told me he should begin with a few of the simplest colours1 in order to teach me better the effects of light and shade4 ,he should then proceed to teach me water-colour painting1 but the latter only as a basis for oil2 this last1 however1 to use his own words1 all in due time4444 ,oh1 if ,i could paint well before we went to ,dover6 ,i should have such sea-pieces4444 ,in ,march #ahcd1 ,runciman was encouraging him in his oil-painting2 but a year later he wrote to his father3 ,i cannot bear to paint in oil1 ,c4 ,fielding's tints alone for me6 ,the other costs me double toil1 ,and wants some fifty coats to be ,splashed on each spot successively4 ,faugh1 wie es stinckt6 ,i can't bring out1 ,with all1 a picture fit to see4 ,my bladders burst2 my oils are out-- ,and then1 what's all the work about8 ,after a few lessons he could rival ,mary when they went for their summer excursion4 ,he set to work at once at ,sevenoaks to draw cottages2 at ,dover and ,battle he attempted castles4 ,it may be that these first sketches are of the pre-,runciman period2 but the ,ruskins made the round of ,kent in #ahca1 and though the drawings are by no means in the master's style1 they show some practice in using the pencil4 ,the journey was extended by the old route1 conditioned by business as before1 round the ,south ,coast to the ,west of ,england1 and then into ,wales4 ,there his powers of drawing failed him2 moonlight on ,snowdon was too vague a subject for the blacklead point but a hint of it could be conveyed in rhyme3 ,folding like an airy vest1 ,the very clouds had sunk to rest2 ,light gilds the rugged mountain's breast1 ,calmly as they lay below2 ,every hill seemed topped with snow1 ,as the flowing tide of light ,broke the slumbers of the night4 ,harlech ,castle was too sublime for a sketch1 but it was painted with the pen3 ,so mighty1 so majestic1 and so lone2 ,and all thy music1 now1 the ocean's murmuring4 ,and the enthusiasm of mountain glory1 a sort of ecstacy of uncontrollable passion1 strives for articulate deliverance in the climbing song1 ,i love ye1 ye eternal hills4 ,it was hard to come back to the daily round1 the common task1 especially when1 in this autumn of #ahca1 to ,dr4 ,andrews' ,latin and ,greek1 the ,french grammar and ,euclid were added1 under ,mr4 ,rowbotham4 ,and the new tutor had no funny stories to tell2 he was not so engaging a man as the dear ,doctor1 and his memory was not sweet to his wayward pupil4 ,but the parents had chosen for the work one who was favourably known by his manuals1 and capable of interesting even a budding poet in the mathematics2 for our author tells that at ,oxford1 and ever after1 he knew his ,euclid without the figures1 and that he spent all his spare time in trying to trisect an angle4 ,an old letter from ,rowbotham informs ,mr4 ,j4,j4 ,ruskin that an eminent mathematician had seen ,john's attempt1 and had said that it was the cleverest he knew4 ,in ,french1 too1 he progressed enough to be able to find his way alone in ,paris two years later4 ,and however the saucy boy may have satirized his tutor in the droll verses on ,bedtime1 ,mr4 ,rowbotham always remembered him with affection1 and spoke of him with respect4 ,in spite of these tedious tutorships1 he managed to scribble energetically all this winter1 writing with amazing rapidity1 as his mother notes3 attempts at ,waverley novels1 which never got beyond the first chapter1 imitations of ,childe ,harold and ,don ,juan and scraps in the style of everybody in turn4 ,no wonder his mother sent him to bed at nine punctually1 and kept him from school1 in vain efforts to quiet his brain4 ,the lack of companions was made up to him in the friendship of ,richard ,fall1 son of a neighbour on the ,hill1 a boy without affectation or morbidity of disposition whose complementary character suited him well4 ,an affectionate comradeship sprang up between the two lads1 and lasted1 until in middle life they drifted apart1 in no ill-will1 but each going on his own course to his own destiny4 ,some real advance was made this winter 7#ahca-cb7 with his ,shelleyan ,sonnet to a ,cloud and his imitations of ,byron's ,hebrew ,melodies1 from which he learnt how to concentrate expression1 and to use rich vowel-sounds and liquid consonants with rolling effect4 ,a deeper and more serious turn of thought1 that gradually usurped the place of the first boyish effervescence1 has been traced by him to the influence of ,byron1 in whom1 while others saw nothing more than wit and passion1 ,ruskin perceived an earnest mind and a sound judgment4 ,but the most sincere poem--if sincerity be marked by unstudied phrase and neglected rhyme--the most genuine lyrical cry of this period1 is that song in which our boy-poet poured forth his longing for the blue hills he had loved as a baby1 and for those ,coniston crags over which1 when he became old and sorely stricken1 he was still to see the morning break4 ,when he wrote these verses he was nearly fourteen1 or just past his birthday4 ,it had been eighteen months since he had been in ,wales1 and all the weary while he had seen no mountains2 but in his regrets he goes back a year farther still1 to fix upon the ,lakeland hills1 less majestic than ,snowdon1 but more endeared1 and he describes his sensations on approaching the beloved objects in the very terms that ,dante uses for his first sight of ,beatrice3 ,i weary for the fountain foaming1 ,for shady holm and hill2 ,my mind is on the mountain roaming1 ,my spirit's voice is still4 ,the crags are lone on ,coniston ,and ,glaramara's dell2 ,and dreary on the mighty one1 ,the cloud-enwreathed ,sea-fell4444 ,there is a thrill of strange delight ,that passes quivering o'er me1 ,when blue hills rise upon the sight1 ,like summer clouds before me4 ,judge1 then1 of the delight with which he turned over the pages of a new book1 given him this birthday by the kind ,mr4 ,telford1 in whose carriage he had first seen those blue hills--a book in which all his mountain ideals1 and more1 were caught and kept enshrined--visions still1 and of mightier peaks and ampler valleys1 romantically tost and sublimely lost1 as he had so often written in his favourite rhymes4 ,in the vignettes to ,rogers' ,italy1 ,turner had touched the chord for which ,john ,ruskin had been feeling all these years4 ,no wonder that he took ,turner for his leader and master1 and fondly tried to copy the wonderful ,alps at ,daybreak to begin with1 and then to imitate this new-found magic art with his own subjects and finally to come boldly before the world in passionate defence of a man who had done such great things for him4 ,this mountain-worship was not inherited from his father1 who never was enthusiastic about peaks and clouds and glaciers1 though he was interested in all travelling in a general way4 ,so that it was not ,rogers' ,italy that sent the family off to the ,alps that summer2 but1 fortunately for ,john1 his father's eye was caught by the romantic architecture of ,prout's ,sketches in ,flanders and ,germany1 when it came out in ,april1 #ahec1 and his mother proposed to make both of them happy in a tour on the ,continent4 ,the business-round was abandoned1 but they could see ,mr4 ,domecq on their way back through ,paris1 and not wholly lose the time4 ,they waited to keep papa's birthday on ,may #aj1 and early next morning drove off--father and mother1 ,john and ,mary1 ,nurse ,anne1 and the courier ,salvador4 ,they crossed to ,calais1 and posted1 as people did in the old times1 slowly from point to point2 starting betimes1 halting at the roadside inns1 where ,john tried to snatch a sketch1 reaching their destination early enough to investigate the cathedral or the citadel1 monuments of antiquity or achievements of modern civilisation1 with impartial eagerness2 and before bedtime ,john would write up his journal and work up his sketches just as if he were at home4 ,so they went through ,flanders and ,germany1 following ,prout's lead by the castles of the ,rhine2 but at last1 at ,schaffhausen one ,sunday evening--suddenly--behold--beyond6--they had seen the ,alps4 ,thenceforward ,turner was their guide as they crossed the ,splgen1 sailed the ,italian lakes1 wondered at ,milan ,cathedral1 and the ,mediterranean at ,genoa1 and then roamed through the ,oberland and back to ,chamouni4 ,all this while a great plan shaped itself in the boy's head1 no less than to make a ,rogers' ,italy for himself1 just as he tried to make a ,harry and ,lucy or a ,dictionary of ,minerals4 ,on every place they passed he would write verses and prose sketches1 to give respectively the romance and the reality or ridicule2 for he saw the comic side of it all1 keenly2 and he would illustrate the series with ,turneresque vignettes1 drawn with the finest crowquill pen1 to imitate the delicate engravings4 ,by this he learnt more drawing in two or three years than most amateur students do in seven4 ,for the first year he had the ,watchtower of ,andernach and the ,jungfrau from ,interlaken to show1 with others of similar style1 and thenceforward alternated between ,turner and ,prout1 until he settled into something different from either4 ,but ,turner and ,prout were not the only artists he knew2 at ,paris he found his way into the ,louvre1 and got leave from the directors1 though he was under the age required1 to copy4 ,the picture he chose was a ,rembrandt4 ,between this foreign tour and the next1 his amusement was to draw these vignettes1 and to write the poems suggested by the scenes he had visited4 ,he had outgrown the evening lessons with ,dr4 ,andrews1 and as he was fifteen1 it was time to think more seriously of preparing him for ,oxford1 where his name was put down at ,christ ,church4 ,his father hoped he would go into the ,church1 and eventually turn out a combination of a ,byron and a bishop--something like ,dean ,milman1 only better4 ,for this1 college was a necessary preliminary2 for college1 some little schooling4 ,so they picked the best day-school in the neighbourhood1 that of the ,rev4 ,thomas ,dale 7afterwards ,dean of ,rochester71 in ,grove ,lane1 ,peckham4 ,john ,ruskin worked there rather less than two years4 ,in #ahce he was taken from school in consequence of an attack of pleurisy1 and lost the rest of that year from regular studies4 ,more interesting to him than school was the ,british ,museum collection of minerals1 where he worked occasionally with his ,jamieson's ,dictionary4 ,by this time he had a fair student's collection of his own1 and he increased it by picking up specimens at ,matlock1 or ,clifton1 or in the ,alps1 wherever he went1 for he was not short of pocket-money4 ,he took the greatest pains over his catalogues1 and wrote elaborate accounts of the various minerals in a shorthand he invented out of ,greek letters and crystal forms4 ,grafted on this mineralogy1 and stimulated by the ,swiss tour1 was a new interest in physical geology1 which his father so far approved as to give him ,saussure's ,voyages dans les ,alpes for his birthday in #ahcd4 ,in this book he found the complement of ,turner's vignettes1 something like a key to the reason why of all the wonderful forms and marvellous mountain-architecture of the ,alps4 ,he soon wrote a short essay on the subject1 and had the pleasure of seeing it in print1 in ,loudon's ,magazine of ,natural ,history for ,march1 #ahcd1 along with another bit of his writing1 asking for information on the cause of the colour of the ,rhine-water4 ,he had already some acquaintance with ,j4,c4 ,loudon1 ,f4,l4,s41 ,h4,s41 etc41 and he was on the staff of that versatile editor not long afterwards1 and took a lion's share of the writing in the ,magazine of ,architecture4 ,meanwhile he had been introduced to another editor1 and to the publishers with whom he did business for many a year to come4 ,the acquaintance was made in a curious1 accidental manner4 ,his cousin ,charles ,richardson1 clerk to ,smith1 ,elder1 and ,co41 had the opportunity of mentioning the young poet's name to ,thomas ,pringle1 editor of the ,friendship's ,offering which ,john had admired and imitated4 ,mr4 ,pringle came out to ,herne ,hill1 and was hospitably entertained as a brother ,scot1 as not only an editor1 but a poet himself--not only a poet1 but a man of respectability and piety1 who had been a missionary in ,south ,africa4 ,in return for this hospitality he gave a good report of ,john's verses1 and1 after getting him to re-write two of the best passages in the last tour1 carried them off for insertion in his forthcoming number4 ,he did more3 he carried ,john to see the actual ,samuel ,rogers1 whose verses had been adorned by the great ,turner's vignettes4 ,after the pleurisy of ,april1 #ahce1 his parents took him abroad again1 and he made great preparations to use the opportunity to the utmost4 ,he would study geology in the field1 and took ,saussure in his trunk he would note meteorology3 he made a cyanometer--a scale of blue to measure the depth of tone1 the colour whether of ,rhine-water or of ,alpine skies4 ,he would sketch4 ,by now he had abandoned the desire to make ,,ms4 albums1 after seeing himself in print1 and so chose rather to imitate the imitable1 and to follow ,prout1 this time with careful outlines on the spot1 than to idealize his notes in mimic ,turnerism4 ,he kept a prose journal1 chiefly of geology and scenery1 as well as a versified description1 written in a metre imitated from ,don ,juan1 but more elaborate1 and somewhat of a tour de force in rhyming4 ,but that poetical journal was dropped after he had carried it through ,france1 across the ,jura1 and to ,chamouni4 ,the drawing crowded it out1 and for the first time he found himself as ready with his pencil as he had been with his pen4 ,his route is marked by the drawings of that year1 from ,chamouni to the ,st4 ,bernard and ,aosta1 back to the ,oberland and up the ,st4 ,gothard2 then back again to ,lucerne and round by the ,stelvio to ,venice and ,verona1 and finally through the ,tyrol and ,germany homewards4 ,the ascent of the ,st4 ,bernard was told in a dramatic sketch of great humour and power of characterization1 and a letter to ,richard ,fall records the night on the ,rigi1 when he saw the splendid sequence of storm1 sunset1 moonlight1 and daybreak1 which forms the subject of one of the most impressive passages of ,modern ,painters4 ,it happened that ,pringle had a plate of ,salzburg which he wanted to print in order to make up the volume of ,friendship's ,offering for the next ,christmas4 ,he seems to have asked ,john ,ruskin to furnish a copy of verses for the picture1 and at ,salzburg1 accordingly1 a bit of rhymed description was written and re-written1 and sent home to the editor4 ,early in ,december the ,ruskins returned1 and at ,christmas there came to ,herne ,hill a gorgeous gilt morocco volume1 ,to ,john ,ruskin1 from the ,publishers4 ,on opening it there were his ,andernach and ,st4 ,goar1 and his ,salzburg opposite a beautifully-engraved plate1 all hills1 towers1 boats1 and figures moving picturesquely under the sunset1 in ,turner's manner more or less1 ,engraved by ,e4 ,goodall from a drawing by ,w4 ,purser4 ,it was almost like being ,mr4 ,rogers himself4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,germ ,,of ,,modern ,,painters 7#ahcf7 ,he was now close upon seventeen1 and it was time to think seriously of his future4 ,his father went to ,oxford early in the year to consult the authorities about matriculation4 ,meantime they sent him to ,mr4 ,dale for some private lessons1 and for the lectures on logic1 ,english literature1 and translation1 which were given on ,tuesdays1 ,thursdays1 and ,fridays at ,king's ,college1 ,london4 ,john enjoyed his new circumstances heartily4 ,from voluminous letters1 it is evident that he was in high spirits and in pleasant company4 ,he was a thorough boy among boys--,matson1 ,willoughby1 ,tom ,dale and the rest4 ,he joined in their pranks1 and contributed to their amusement with his ready good-humour and unflagging drollery4 ,mr4 ,dale told him there was plenty of time before ,october1 and no fear about his passing1 if he worked hard4 ,he found the work easy1 except epigram-writing1 which he thought excessively stupid and laborious1 but helped himself out1 when scholarship failed1 with native wit4 ,some of his exercises remain1 not very brilliant ,latinity2 some he saucily evaded1 thus3 ,subject3 ,non sapere maximum est malum4 ,non sapere est grave2 sed1 cum dura epigrammata oportet ,scribere1 tunc sentis prcipue esse malum4 ,in ,switzerland and ,italy1 during the autumn of #ahce1 he had made a great many drawings1 carefully outlined in pencil or pen on gray paper1 and sparsely touched with body colour1 in direct imitation of the ,prout lithographs4 ,prout's original coloured sketches he had seen1 no doubt1 in the exhibition2 but he does not seem to have thought of imitating them1 for his work in this kind was all intended to be for illustration and not for framing4 ,the ,italy vignettes likewise1 with all their inspiration1 suggested to him only pen-etching2 he was hardly conscious that somewhere there existed the tiny1 coloured pictures that ,turner had made for the engraver4 ,still1 now that he could draw really well1 his father1 who painted in water-colours himself1 complied with the demand for better teaching than ,runciman's1 went straight to the ,president of the ,old ,water-,colour ,society1 and engaged him for the usual course of half a dozen lessons at a guinea a piece4 ,copley ,fielding could draw mountains as nobody else but ,turner could1 in water-colour2 he had enough mystery and poetry to interest the younger ,ruskin1 and enough resemblance to ordinary views of ,nature to please the elder4 ,so they both went to ,newman ,street to his painting-room1 and ,john worked through the course1 and a few extra lessons1 but1 after all1 found ,fielding's art was not what he wanted4 ,some sketches exist1 showing the influence of the spongy style2 but his characteristic way of work remained for him to devise for himself4 ,at the ,royal ,academy ,exhibition of #ahcf ,turner showed the first striking examples of his later style in ,juliet and her ,nurse1 ,mercury and ,argus1 and ,rome from ,mount ,aventine4 ,the strange idealism1 the unusualness1 the mystery1 of these pictures1 united with evidence of intense significance and subtle observation1 appealed to young ,ruskin as it appealed to few other spectators4 ,public opinion regretted this change in its old favourite1 the draughtsman of ,oxford colleges1 the painter of shipwrecks and castles4 ,and ,blackwood's ,magazine1 which the ,ruskins1 as ,edinburgh people and admirers of ,christopher ,north1 read with respect1 spoke about ,turner1 in a review of the picture-season1 with that freedom of speech which ,scotch reviewers claim as a heritage from the days of ,jeffrey4 ,young ,ruskin at once dashed off an answer4 ,the critic had found that ,turner was out of nature2 ,ruskin tried to show that the pictures were full of facts1 but treated with poetical license4 ,the critic pronounced ,turner's colour bad1 his execution neglected1 and his chiaroscuro childish2 in answer to which ,ruskin explained that ,turner's reasoned system was to represent light and shade by the contrast of warm and cold colour1 rather than by the opposition of white and black which other painters used4 ,he denied that his execution was other than his aims necessitated1 and maintained that the critic had no right to force his cut-and-dried academic rules of composition on a great genius2 at the same time admitting that3 ,the faults of ,turner are numerous1 and perhaps more egregious than those of any other great existing artist2 but if he has greater faults1 he has also greater beauties4 ,his imagination is ,shakespearian in its mightiness4 ,had the scene of ',juliet and her ,nurse' risen up before the mind of a poet1 and been described in 'words that burn1' it had been the admiration of the world4444 ,many-coloured mists are floating above the distant city1 but such mists as you might imagine to be ethereal spirits1 souls of the mighty dead breathed out of the tombs of ,italy into the blue of her bright heaven1 and wandering in vague and infinite glory around the earth that they have loved4 ,instinct with the beauty of uncertain light1 they move and mingle among the pale stars1 and rise up into the brightness of the illimitable heaven1 whose soft1 sad blue eye gazes down into the deep waters of the sea for ever--that sea whose motionless and silent transparency is beaming with phosphor light1 that emanates out of its sapphire serenity like bright dreams breathed into the spirit of a deep sleep4 ,and the spires of the glorious city rise indistinctly bright into those living mists1 like pyramids of pale fire from some vast altar2 and amidst the glory of the dream there is1 as it were1 the voice of a multitude entering by the eye1 arising from the stillness of the city like the summer wind passing over the leaves of the forest1 when a murmur is heard amidst their multitudes4 ,this1 ,o ,maga1 is the picture which your critic has pronounced to be 'like models of different parts of ,venice1 streaked blue and white1 and thrown into a flour-tub'6 ,before sending his reply to the editor of ,blackwood1 as had been intended1 it was thought only right that ,turner should be consulted4 ,the ,,ms4 was enclosed to his address in ,london1 with a courteous note from ,mr4 ,john ,james ,ruskin1 asking his permission to publish4 ,turner replied1 expressing the scorn he felt for anonymous attacks1 and jestingly hinting that the art-critics of the old ,scotch school found their meal-tub in danger from his flour-tub2 but he never moved in such matters1 so he sent on the ,,ms4 to ,mr4 ,munro of ,novar1 who had bought the picture4 ,ten days or so after this episode ,john ,ruskin was matriculated at ,oxford 7,october #ah1 #ahcf74 ,he told the story of his first appearance as a gownsman in one of his gossiping letters in verse3 ,a night1 a day past o'er--the time drew near-- ,the morning came--,i felt a little queer2 ,came to the push2 paid some tremendous fees2 ,past2 and was capped and gowned with marvellous ease4 ,then went to the ,vice-,chancellor to swear ,not to wear boots1 nor cut or comb my hair ,fantastically--to shun all such sins ,as playing marbles or frequenting inns2 ,always to walk with breeches black or brown on2 ,when ,i go out1 to put my cap and gown on2 ,with other regulations of the sort1 meant ,for the just ordering of my comportment4 ,which done1 in less time than ,i can rehearse it1 ,i ,found myself member of the ,university6 ,in pursuance of his plan for getting the best of everything1 his father had chosen the best college1 as far as he knew1 that in which social and scholastic advantages were believed to be found in pre-eminent combination1 and he had chosen what was thought to be the best position in the college2 so that it was as gentleman-commoner of ,christ ,church that ,john ,ruskin made his entrance into the academic world4 ,after matriculation1 the ,ruskins made a fortnight's tour to ,southampton and the coast1 and returned to ,herne ,hill4 ,john went back to ,king's ,college1 and in ,december was examined in the subjects of his lectures4 ,he wrote to his father on ,christmas ,eve about the examination in ,english literature3 ,the students were numerous1 and so were the questions2 the room was hot1 the papers long1 the pens bad1 the ink pale1 and the interrogations difficult4 ,it lasted only three hours4 ,i wrote answers in very magnificent style to all the questions except three or four2 gave in my paper and heard no more of the matter3 sic transeunt bore-ia mundi4 ,he went on to mention his very longitudinal essay1 which1 since no other essays are reported in his letters about ,king's ,college1 must be the paper published in #ahic1 in answer to the question4 ,does the perusal of works of fiction act favourably or unfavourably on the moral character8 ,at his farewell interview with ,mr4 ,dale he was asked1 as he writes to his father1 what books he had read1 and replied with a pretty long list1 including ,quintilian and ,grotius4 ,mr4 ,dale inquired what light books he was taking to ,oxford3 ,saussure1 ,humboldt1 and other works on natural philosophy and geology1 he answered4 ,then he asked if ,i ever read any of the modern fashionable novels2 on this point ,i thought he began to look positive1 so ,i gave him a negative1 with the exception of ,bulwer's1 and now and then a laughable one of the ,theodore ,hook's or ,captain ,marryat's4 ,and so1 with much excellent advice about exercise and sleep1 and the way to win the ,newdigate1 he parted from ,mr4 ,dale4 ,this ,christmas was marked by his first introduction to the scientific world4 ,mr4 ,charlesworth1 of the ,british ,museum1 invited him to a meeting of the ,geological ,society 7,january #d1 #ahcg71 with promise of introduction to ,buckland and ,lyell4 ,the meeting1 as he wrote1 was amusing and interesting1 and very comfortable for frosty weather1 as ,mr4 ,murchison got warm and ,mr4 ,greenau 7sic7 witty4 ,the warmth1 however1 got the better of the wit4 ,the ,meteorological ,society also claimed his attention1 and in this month he contributed a paper which ,richard ,fall says will frighten them out of their meteorological wits1 containing six close-written folio pages1 and having1 at its conclusion1 a sting in its tail1 the very agreeable announcement that it only commences the subject4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,a ,,love-,,story 7#ahcf-ahci7 ,early in #ahcf the quiet of ,herne ,hill was fluttered by a long-promised1 long-postponed visit4 ,mr4 ,domecq at last brought his four younger daughters to make the acquaintance of their ,english friends4 ,the eldest sister had lately been married to a ,count ,maison1 heir to a peer of ,france2 for ,mr4 ,domecq1 thanks in great measure to his partner's energy and talents1 was prosperous and wealthy1 and moved in the enchanted circles of ,parisian society4 ,to a romantic schoolboy in a ,london suburb the apparition was dazzling4 ,any of the sisters would have charmed him1 but the eldest of the four1 ,adle ,clotilde1 bewitched him at once with her graceful figure and that oval face which was so admired in those times4 ,she was fair1 too--another recommendation4 ,he was on the brink of seventeen1 at the ripe moment1 and he fell passionately in love with her4 ,she was only fifteen1 and did not understand this adoration1 unspoken and unexpressed except by intensified shyness2 for he was a very shy boy in the drawing-room1 though brimming over with life and fun among his schoolfellows4 ,his mother's ideals of education did not include ,french gallantry2 he felt at a loss before these ,paris-bred1 ,paris-dressed young ladies1 and encumbered by the very strength of his new-found passion4 ,and yet he possessed advantages1 if he had known how to use them4 ,he was tall and active1 light and lithe in gesture1 not a clumsy hobbledehoy4 ,he had the face that caught the eye1 in ,rome a few years later1 of ,keats' ,severn1 no mean judge1 surely1 of faces and poet's faces4 ,he was undeniably clever2 he knew all about minerals and mountains2 he was quite an artist1 and a printed poet4 ,but these things weigh little with a girl of fifteen who wants to be amused2 and so she only laughed at ,john4 ,he tried to amuse her1 but he tried too seriously4 ,he wrote a story to read her1 ,leoni1 a ,legend of ,italy1 for of course she understood enough ,english to be read to1 no doubt to be wooed in1 seeing her mother was ,english4 ,the story was of brigands and true lovers1 the thing that was popular in the romantic period4 ,the costumery and mannerisms of the little romance are out of date now1 and seem ridiculous1 though ,mr4 ,pringle and the public were pleased with it then1 when it was printed in ,friendship's ,offering4 ,but the girl of fifteen only laughed the more4 ,when they left1 he had no interest in his tour-book2 even the mountains1 for the time1 had lost their power1 and all his plans of great works were dropped for a new style of verse--the love-poems of #ahcf4 ,his father1 from whom he kept nothing1 approved the verses1 and did not disapprove his views on the young lady4 ,indeed1 it is quite plain1 from the correspondence of the two gentlemen1 that ,mr4 ,domecq intended his friend and partner's son to become his own son-in-law4 ,he had the greatest respect for the ,ruskins1 and every reason for desiring to link their fortunes still more closely with those of his own family4 ,but to ,mrs4 ,ruskin1 with her religious feelings1 it was intolerable1 unbelievable1 that the son whom she had brought up in the nurture and admonition of the strictest ,protestantism should fix his heart on an alien in race and creed4 ,the wonder is that their relations were not more strained2 there are few young men who would have kept unbroken allegiance to a mother whose sympathy failed them at such a crisis4 ,as the year went on his passion seemed to grow in the absence of the beloved object4 ,his only plan of winning her was to win his spurs first2 but as what8 ,clearly his forte1 it seemed1 was in writing4 ,if he could be a successful writer of romances1 of songs1 of plays1 surely she would not refuse him4 ,and so he began another romantic story1 ,velasquez1 the ,novice1 opening with the ,monks of ,st4 ,bernard1 among whom had been1 so the tale ran1 a mysterious member1 whose papers1 when discovered1 made him out the hero of adventures in ,venice4 ,he began a play1 which was to be another great work1 ,marcolini4 ,he had no playwright's eye for situations1 but the conversation is animated1 and the characters finely drawn1 with more discrimination than one would expect from so young an author4 ,this work was interrupted at the end of ,act ,,iii4 by pressing calls to other studies4 ,but it was not that he had forgotten ,adle4 ,from time to time he wrote verses to her or about her2 and as in #ahch she was sent to school with her sisters at ,newhall1 near ,chelmsford1 to finish her in ,english1 in that ,august he saw her again4 ,she had lost some of her first girlish prettiness1 but that made no difference4 ,and when the ,domecqs came to ,herne ,hill at ,christmas1 he was as deeply in love as ever4 ,but she still laughed at him4 ,his father was fond of her1 liked all the sisters1 and thought much of them as girls of fine character1 but he liked ,adle best4 ,he seems to have been fond of his partner1 too1 worked very hard in his interests1 and behaved very well to his heirs afterwards through many years of responsible and difficult management of their business4 ,and at this time1 when he went down to the convent school in ,essex1 as he often did1 he must have had opportunities for seeing how hopeless the case was4 ,mr4 ,domecq recognised it1 too1 but thought1 it seems 7they manage these things differently in ,france71 that any of his daughters would do as well1 and early in #ahci entertained an offer from ,baron ,duquesne1 a rich and handsome young ,frenchman4 ,they kept this from ,john1 fearing he would break down at the news1 so fully did they recognise the importance of the affair4 ,they even threw other girls in his way4 ,it was not difficult1 for by now he had made some mark in magazine literature1 and was a steady1 rising young man1 with considerable expectations4 ,but he could not think of any other girl4 ,in ,february or ,march1 #ahci1 ,mr4 ,domecq died4 ,the ,maisons came to ,england1 and the marriage was proposed4 ,adle stayed at ,chelmsford until ,september1 when he wrote the long poem of ,farewell1 dated the eve of their last meeting and parting4 ,at twenty young men do not die of love2 but ,i find that a fortnight after writing this he was taken seriously ill4 ,during the winter of #ahci-dj the negotiations for the marriage in ,paris went on4 ,it took place in ,march4 ,they kept the news from him as long as they could1 for he was in the schools next ,easter term1 and ,mr4 ,brown 7his college tutor7 had seemed to hope he would get a ,first1 so his mother wrote to her husband4 ,in ,may he was pronounced consumptive1 and had to give up ,oxford1 and all hope of the distinction for which he had laboured1 and with that any plans that might have been entertained for his distinction in the ,church4 ,and his parents' letters of the period put it beyond a doubt that this first great calamity of his life was the direct consequence of that unfortunate matchmaking4 ,for nearly two years he was dragged about from place to place1 and from doctor to doctor1 in search of health4 ,thanks partly to wise treatment1 more to new faces1 and most to a plucky determination to employ himself usefully with his pen and his pencil1 he gradually freed himself from the spell1 and fifty years afterwards could look back upon the story as a pretty comedy of his youthful days4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,kata ,,phusin 7#ahcg-ahch7 ,devoted as she was to her husband1 ,mrs4 ,ruskin felt bound to watch over her son at ,oxford4 ,it was his health she was always anxious about2 doctoring was her forte4 ,he had suffered from pleurisy2 caught cold easily2 was feared to be weak in the lungs2 and nobody but his mother understood him4 ,so taking ,mary ,richardson1 she went up with him 7,january1 #ahcg71 and settled in lodgings at ,adams' in the ,high4 ,her plan was to make no intrusion on his college life1 but to require him to report himself every day to her4 ,she would not be dull2 she could drive about and see the country1 and to that end took her own carriage to ,oxford1 the fly which had been set up two years before4 ,john had been rather sarcastic about its genteel appearance4 ,no one1 he said1 would sit down to draw the form of it4 ,however1 she and ,mary drove to ,oxford1 and reckoned that it would only mean fifteen months' absence from home altogether1 great part of which deserted papa would spend in travelling4 ,john went into residence in ,peckwater4 ,at first he spent every evening with his mother and went to bed1 as ,mr4 ,dale had told him1 at ten4 ,after a few days ,professor ,powell asked him to a musical evening2 he excused himself1 and explained why4 ,the ,professor asked to be introduced1 whereupon says his mother1 ,i shall return the call1 but make no visiting acquaintances4 ,the early-to-bed plan was also impracticable4 ,it was not long before somebody came hammering at his oak just as he was getting to sleep1 and next morning he told his mother that he really ought to have a glass of wine to give4 ,so she sent him a couple of bottles over1 and that very night ,mr4 ,liddell and ,mr4 ,gaisford 7junior7 turned up4 ,john was glad he had wine to offer1 but they would not take any2 they had come to see sketches4 ,john says ,mr4 ,liddell looked at them with the eye of a judge and the delight of an artist1 and swore they were the best sketches he had ever seen4 ,john accused him of quizzing1 but he answered that he really thought them excellent4 ,john said that it was the scenes which made the pictures2 ,mr4 ,liddell knew better1 and spread the fame of them over the college4 ,next morning ,lord ,emlyn and ,lord ,ward called to look at the sketches1 and when the undergraduates had dropped in one after another1 the ,dean himself1 even the terrible ,gaisford1 sent for the portfolio1 and returned it with august approval4 ,liddell1 afterwards ,dean of ,christ ,church2 ,newton1 afterwards ,sir ,charles1 of the ,british ,museum2 ,acland1 afterwards ,sir ,henry1 the ,professor of ,medicine1 thus became ,john ,ruskin's friends3 the first disputing with him on the burning question of ,raphael's art1 but from the outset an admirer of ,modern ,painters1 and always an advocate of its author2 the second differing from him on the claims of ,greek archology1 but nevertheless a close acquaintance through many long years2 and the third for half a century the best of friends and counsellors4 ,the dons of his college he was less likely to attract4 ,dr4 ,buckland1 the famous geologist1 and still more famous lecturer and talker1 took notice of him and employed him in drawing diagrams for lectures4 ,the ,rev4 ,walter ,brown1 his college tutor1 afterwards ,rector of ,wendlebury1 won his good-will and remained his friend4 ,his private tutor1 the ,rev4 ,osborne ,gordon1 was always regarded with affectionate respect4 ,but the rest seem to have looked upon him as a somewhat desultory and erratic young genius1 who might or might not turn out well4 ,for their immediate purpose1 the ,schools1 and ,church or ,state preferment1 he seemed hardly the fittest man4 ,the gentlemen-commoners of ,christ ,church were a puzzle to ,mrs4 ,ruskin2 noblemen of sporting tastes1 who rode and betted and drank1 and got their impositions written by men attached to the ,university for the purpose1 at #as4#f;d4 to #bs4#f;d41 so you have only to reckon how much you will give to avoid chapel4 ,and yet they were very nice fellows4 ,if they began by riding on ,john's back round the quad1 they did not give him the cold shoulder--quite the reverse4 ,he was asked everywhere to wine2 he beat them all at chess2 and they invaded him at all hours4 ,it does little good sporting his oak1 wrote his mother1 describing how ,lord ,desart and ,grimston climbed in through his window while he was hard at work4 ,they say midshipmen and ,oxonians have more lives than a cat1 and they have need of them if they run such risks4 ,once1 but once only1 he was guilty1 as an innocent freshman1 of a breach of the laws of his order4 ,he wrote too good an essay4 ,he tells his father3 ,,oxford1 ,february1 #ahcg4 ,yesterday 7,saturday7 forenoon the ,sub-dean sent for me1 took me up into his study1 sat down with me1 and read over my essay1 pointing out a few verbal alterations and suggesting improvements2 ,i1 of course1 expressed myself highly grateful for his condescension4 ,going out1 ,i met ,strangeways4 ',so you're going to read out to-day1 ,ruskin4 ,do go it at a good rate1 my good fellow4 ,why do you write such devilish good ones8' ,went a little farther and met ,march4 ',mind you stand on the top of the desk1 ,ruskin2 gentlemen-commoners never stand on the steps4' ,i asked him whether it would look more dignified to stand head or heels uppermost4 ,he advised heels4 ,then met ,desart4 ',we must have a grand supper after this1 ,ruskin2 gentlemen-commoners always have a flare-up after reading their themes4' ,i told him ,i supposed he wanted to 'pison my rum-and-water4' ,and though they teased him unmercifully1 he seems to have given as good as he got4 ,at a big wine after the event1 they asked him whether his essay cost #bs4#f;d4 or #es4 ,what he answered is not reported2 but they proceeded to make a bonfire in ,peckwater1 while he judiciously escaped to bed4 ,so for a home-bred boy1 thrown into rather difficult surroundings1 his first appearance at ,christ ,church was distinctly a success4 ,collections in ,march1 #ahcg1 went off creditably for him4 ,hussey1 ,kynaston and the ,dean said he had taken great pains with his work1 and had been a pattern of regularity2 and he ended his first term very well pleased with his college and with himself4 ,in his second term he had the honour of being elected to the ,christ ,church ,club1 a very small and very exclusive society of the best men in the college3 ,simeon1 ,acland1 and ,mr4 ,denison proposed him2 ,lord ,carew and ,broadhurst supported4 ,and he had the opportunity of meeting men of mark1 as the following letter recounts4 ,he writes on ,april #bb1 #ahcg3 ,my ,dearest ,father1 ,when ,i returned from hall yesterday--where a servitor read1 or pretended to read1 and ,decanus growled at him1 ',speak out6'--,i found a note on my table from ,dr4 ,buckland1 requesting the pleasure of my company to dinner1 at six1 to meet two celebrated geologists1 ,lord ,cole and ,sir ,philip ,egerton4 ,i immediately sent a note of thanks and acceptance1 dressed1 and was there a minute after the last stroke of ,tom4 ,alone for five minutes in ,dr4 ,b4's drawing-room1 who soon afterwards came in with ,lord ,cole1 introduced me1 and said that as we were both geologists he did not hesitate to leave us together while he did what he certainly very much required--brushed up a little4 ,lord ,cole and ,i were talking about some fossils newly arrived from ,india4 ,he remarked in the course of conversation that his friend ,dr4 ,b4's room was cleaner and in better order than he remembered ever to have seen it4 ,there was not a chair fit to sit upon1 all covered with dust1 broken alabaster candlesticks1 withered flower-leaves1 frogs cut out of serpentine1 broken models of fallen temples1 torn papers1 old manuscripts1 stuffed reptiles1 deal boxes1 brown paper1 wool1 tow and cotton1 and a considerable variety of other articles4 ,in came ,mrs4 ,buckland1 then ,sir ,philip ,egerton and his brother1 whom ,i had seen at ,dr4 ,b4's lecture1 though he is not an undergraduate4 ,i was talking to him till dinner-time4 ,while we were sitting over our wine after dinner1 in came ,dr4 ,daubeny1 one of the most celebrated geologists of the day--a curious little animal1 looking through its spectacles with an air very distingue--and ,mr4 ,darwin1 whom ,i had heard read a paper at the ,geological ,society4 ,he and ,i got together1 and talked all the evening4 ,the long vacation of #ahcg was passed in a tour through the ,north1 during which his advanced knowledge of art was shown in a series of admirable drawings4 ,their subjects are chiefly architectural1 though a few mountain drawings are found in his sketch-book for that summer4 ,the interest in ancient and picturesque buildings was no new thing1 and it seems to have been the branch of art-study which was chiefly encouraged by his father4 ,during this tour among ,cumberland cottages and ,yorkshire abbeys1 a plan was formed for a series of papers on architecture1 perhaps in answer to an invitation from his friend ,mr4 ,loudon1 who had started an architectural magazine4 ,in the summer he began to write ,the ,poetry of ,architecture2 or1 ,the ,architecture of the ,nations of ,europe considered in its ,association with ,natural ,scenery and ,national ,character1 and the papers were worked off month by month from ,oxford1 or wherever he might be1 only terminating with the termination of the magazine in ,january1 #ahci4 ,they parade a good deal of classical learning and travelled experience2 readers of the magazine took their author for some dilettante ,don at ,oxford4 ,the editor did not wish the illusion to be dispelled1 so ,john ,ruskin had to choose a nom de plume4 ,he called himself ,kata ,phusin 7according to nature71 for he had begun to read some ,aristotle4 ,no phrase would have better expressed his point of view1 that of commonsense extended by experience1 and confirmed by the appeal to matters of fact1 rather than to any authority1 or tradition1 or committee of taste1 or abstract principles4 ,while these papers were in process of publication ,kata ,phusin plunged into his first controversy1 as an opponent of ,parsey's ,convergence of ,perpendiculars1 according to which vertical lines should have a vanishing point1 even though they are assumed to be parallel to the plane of the picture4 ,during this controversy1 and just before the summer tour of #ahch to ,scotland1 ,john ,ruskin was introduced to ,miss ,charlotte ,withers1 a young lady who was as fond of music as he was of drawing4 ,they discussed their favourite studies with eagerness1 and1 to settle the matter1 he wrote a long essay on ,the ,comparative ,advantages of the ,studies of ,music and ,painting1 in which he set painting as a means of recreation and of education far above music4 ,already at nineteen1 then1 we see him a writer on art1 not full-fledged1 but attracting some notice4 ,towards the end of #ahch a question arose as to the best site for the proposed ,scott memorial at ,edinburgh1 and a writer in the ,architectural ,magazine quoted ,kata ,phusin as the authority in such matters1 saying that it was obvious1 after those papers of his1 that design and site should be simultaneously considered2 on which the editor begs the favour of ',kata ,phusin' to let our readers have his opinion on the subject1 which we certainly think of considerable importance4 ,so he discussed the question of monuments in general1 and of this one in particular1 in a long paper1 coming to no very decided opinion1 but preferring1 on the whole1 a statue group with a colossal ,scott on a rough pedestal1 to be placed on ,salisbury ,crags1 where the range gets low and broken towards the north at about the height of ,st4 ,anthony's ,chapel4 ,his paper did not influence the ,edinburgh ,committee1 but it was not without effect1 as the following extract shows4 ,,bayswater1 ,november #cj1 #ahch4 ,,dear ,,sir1--444 ,your son is certainly the greatest natural genius that ever it has been my fortune to become acquainted with1 and ,i cannot but feel proud to think that at some future period1 when both you and ,i are under the turf1 it will be stated in the literary history of your son's life that the first article of his which was published was in ,london's ,magazine of ,natural ,history4--,yours very sincerely1 ,j4,c4 ,,loudon ,,chapter ,,viii ,,sir ,,roger ,,newdigate',s ,,prize 7#ahcg-ahci7 ,of all the prizes which ,oxford could bestow1 the ,newdigate used to be the most popular4 ,its fortunate winner was an admitted poet in an age when poetry was read1 and he appeared in his glory at ,commemoration1 speaking what the ladies could understand and admire4 ,the honour was attainable without skill in ,greek particles or in logarithms2 and yet it had a real value to an intending preacher1 for the successful reciter might be felt to have put his foot on the pulpit stairs4 ,john ,ruskin was definitely meant for the ,church1 and he went to ,oxford in the avowed hope of getting the ,newdigate1 if nothing else4 ,his last talk with ,mr4 ,dale was chiefly about ways and means to this end2 and before he went up he had begun ,the ,gipsies for ,march1 #ahcg4 ,the prize was won that year by ,arthur ,penrhyn ,stanley1 afterwards ,dean of ,westminster4 ,our candidate and his old schoolfellow1 ,henry ,dart1 of ,exeter ,college1 set to work on the next subject1 ,the ,exile of ,st4 ,helena1 and after the long vacation read their work to each other1 accepting the hints and corrections of a friendly rivalry4 ,meantime his old nurse ,anne 7it is trivial1 but a touch of nature71 being at ,oxford in attendance on the ladies1 and keen1 as she always was1 for ,master ,john's success1 heard from the keeper of the ,reading-room of criticisms on his published verses4 ,she brought the news to his delighted mother4 ,he was pleased1 she writes1 but says that he forms his own estimate of his poems1 and reviews don't alter it2 but ',how my father will be delighted6 ,how he will crow6' ,which historiette repeated itself many a time in the family annals4 ,in ,lent term1 #ahch1 he was hard at work on the new poem4 ,he wrote3 ,i must give an immense time every day to the ,newdigate1 which ,i must have1 if study will get it4 ,i have much to revise4 ,you find many faults1 but there are hundreds which have escaped your notice1 and many lines must go out altogether which you and ,i should wish to stay in4 ,the thing must be remodelled1 and ,i must finish it while it has a freshness on it1 otherwise it will not be written well4 ,the old lines are hackneyed in my ears1 even as a very soft ,orleans plum1 which your ,jewess has wiped and re-wiped with the corner of her apron1 till its polish is perfect1 and its temperature elevated4 ,in this ,march he got through his ,smalls4 ,nice thing to get over2 quite a joke1 as everybody says when they've got through with the feathers on4 ,it's a kind of emancipation from freshness--a thing unpleasant in an egg1 but dignified in an ,oxonian--very4 ,lowe very kind2 ,kynaston ditto--nice fellows--urbane4 ,how they do frighten people6 ,there was one man all but crying with mere fear4 ,kynaston had to coax him like a child4 ,poor fellow6 he had some reason to be afraid2 did his logic shockingly4 ,people always take up logic because they fancy it doesn't require a good memory1 and there is nothing half so productive of pluck2 they never know it4 ,i was very cool when ,i got into it2 found the degree of excitement agreeable2 nibbled the end of my pen and grinned at ,kynaston over the table as if ,i had been going to pluck him4 ,they always smile when they mean pluck4 ,the ,newdigate for #ahch1 for all his care and pains1 was won by ,dart4 ,he was1 at any rate1 beaten by a friend1 and with a poem which his own honourable sympathy and assistance had helped to perfect4 ,another trifling incident lets us get a glimpse of the family life of our young poet4 ,the ,queen's coronation in ,june1 #ahch1 was a great event to all the world1 and ,mr4 ,ruskin was anxious for his son to see it4 ,much correspondence ensued between the parents1 arranging everything for him1 as they always did--which of the available tickets should be accepted1 and whether he could stand the fatigue of the long waiting1 and so forth4 ,mrs4 ,ruskin did not like the notion of her boy sitting perched on rickety scaffolding at dizzy altitudes in the ,abbey4 ,mr4 ,ruskin1 evidently determined to carry his point1 went to ,westminster1 bribed the carpenters1 climbed the structure1 and reported all safe to stand a century1 though1 said he1 the gold and scarlet of the decorations appeared very paltry compared with the ,wengern ,alp4 ,but he could not find ,no4 #ddg1 and wrote to the ,heralds' ,office to know if it was a place from which a good view could be got4 ,blue-mantle replied that it was a very good place1 and ,lord ,brownlow had just taken tickets for his sons close by4 ,then there was the great question of dress4 ,he went to ,owen's and ordered a white satin waistcoat with gold sprigs1 and a high dress-coat with bright buttons1 and asked his wife to see about white gloves at ,oxford--a ,court white neck-cloth or a black satin would do4 ,picture1 then1 the young ,ruskin in those dressy days4 ,a portrait was once sent to ,brantwood of a dandy in a green coat of wonderful cut1 supposed to represent him in his youth1 but suggesting ,lord ,lytton's ,pelham rather than the homespun-suited seer of ,coniston4 ,did you ever wear a coat like that8 ,i asked4 ,i'm not so sure that ,i didn't1 said he4 ,after that1 they went to ,scotland and the ,north of ,england for the summer1 and more fine sketches were made1 some of which hang now in his drawing-room1 and compare not unfavourably with the ,prouts beside them4 ,in firmness of line and fulness of insight they are masterly1 and mark a rapid progress1 all the more astonishing when it is recollected how little time could have been spared for practice4 ,the subjects are chiefly architectural--castles and churches and ,gothic details--and one is not surprised to find him soon concerned with the ,oxford ,society for ,promoting the ,study of ,gothic ,architecture4 ,they were all reverends1 says a letter of the time1 and wanted somebody to rouse them4 ,science1 too1 progressed this year4 ,we read of geological excursions to ,shotover with ,lord ,carew and ,lord ,kildare--one carrying the hammer and another the umbrella--and actual discoveries of saurian remains2 and many a merry meeting at ,dr4 ,buckland's1 in which1 at intervals of scientific talk1 ,john romped with the youngsters of the family4 ,after a while the ,dean took the opportunity of a walk through ,oxford to the ,clarendon to warn him not to spend too much time on science4 ,it did not pay in the ,schools nor in the ,church1 and he had too many irons in the fire4 ,drawing1 and science1 and the prose essays mentioned in the last chapter1 and poetry1 all these were his by-play4 ,of the poetry1 the ,newdigate was but a little part4 ,in ,friendship's ,offering this autumn he published ,remembrance1 one of many poems to ,adle1 ,christ ,church1 and the ,scythian ,grave4 ,in this last he gave free rein to the morbid imaginations to which his unhappy affaire de coeur and the mental excitement of the period predisposed him4 ,harrison1 his literary ,mentor1 approved these poems1 and inserted them in ,friendship's ,offering1 along with love-songs and other exercises in verse4 ,one had a great success and was freely copied--the sincerest flattery--and the preface to the annual for #ahdj publicly thanked the gifted writer for his valuable aid4 ,at the beginning of #ahci he went into new rooms vacated by ,mr4 ,meux1 and set to work finally on ,salsette and ,elephanta4 ,he ransacked all sources of information1 coached himself in ,eastern scenery and mythology1 threw in the ,aristotelian ingredients of terror and pity1 and wound up with an appeal to the orthodoxy of the examiners1 of whom ,keble was the chief1 by prophesying the prompt extermination of ,brahminism under the teaching of the missionaries4 ,this third try won the prize4 ,keble sent for him1 to make the usual emendations before the great work could be given to the world with the seal of ,oxford upon it4 ,john ,ruskin seems to have been somewhat refractory under ,keble's hands1 though he would let his fellow-students1 or his father1 or ,harrison1 work their will on his ,,mss4 or proofs2 being always easier to lead than to drive4 ,somehow he came to terms with the ,professor1 and then the ,dean1 taking an unexpected interest1 was at pains to see that his printed copy was flawless1 and to coach him for the recitation of it at the great day in the ,sheldonian 7,june #ab1 #ahci74 ,and now that friends and strangers1 publishers in ,london and professors in ,oxford1 concurred in their applause1 it surely seemed that he had found his vocation1 and was well on the high-road to fame as a poet4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,broken ,,chain 7#ahdj-ahda7 ,that #hth of ,february1 #ahdj1 when ,john ,ruskin came of age1 it seemed as though all the gifts of fortune had been poured into his lap4 ,what his father's wealth and influence could do for him had been supplemented by a personal charm1 which found him friends among the best men of the best ranks4 ,what his mother's care had done in fortifying his health and forming his character1 native energy had turned to advantage4 ,he had won a reputation already much wider and more appreciable1 as an artist and student of science1 and as a writer of prose and verse1 than undergraduates are entitled to expect2 and1 for crowning mercy1 his head was not turned4 ,he was reading extremely hard--in for his degree examination next ,easter term4 ,his college tutor hoped he would get a ,first4 ,from that it was an easy step to ,holy ,orders1 and with his opportunities preferment was certain4 ,on his twenty-first birthday1 his father1 who had sympathized with his admiration for ,turner enough to buy two pictures--the ,richmond ,bridge and the ,gosport--for their ,herne ,hill drawing-room1 now gave him a picture all to himself for his new rooms in ,st4 ,aldate's--the ,winchelsea1 and settled on him a handsome allowance of pocket-money4 ,the first use he made of his wealth was to buy another ,turner4 ,in the ,easter vacation he met ,mr4 ,griffith1 the dealer1 at the private view of the old ,water-colour ,society1 and hearing that the ,harlech ,castle was for sale1 he bought it there and then1 with the characteristic disregard for money which has always made the vendors of pictures and books and minerals find him extremely pleasant to deal with4 ,but as his love-affair had shown his mother how little he had taken to heart her chiefest care for him1 so this first business transaction was a painful awakening to his father1 the canny ,scotch merchant1 who had heaped up riches hoping that his son would gather them4 ,this ,harlech ,castle transaction1 however1 was not altogether unlucky4 ,it brought him an introduction to the painter1 whom he met when he was next in town1 at ,mr4 ,griffith's house4 ,he knew well enough the popular idea of ,turner as a morose and niggardly1 inexplicable man4 ,as he had seen faults in ,turner's painting1 so he was ready to acknowledge the faults in his character4 ,but while the rest of the world1 with a very few exceptions1 dwelt upon the faults1 ,ruskin had penetration to discern the virtues which they hid4 ,few passages in his autobiography are more striking than the transcript from his journal of the same evening1 recording his first impression3 ',i found in him a somewhat eccentric1 keen-mannered1 matter-of-fact1 ,english-minded--gentleman2 good-natured evidently1 bad-tempered evidently1 hating humbug of all sorts1 shrewd1 perhaps a little selfish1 highly intellectual1 the powers of the mind not brought out with any delight in their manifestation1 or intention of display1 but flashing out occasionally in a word or a look4' ,pretty close that1 he adds later1 and full1 to be set down at the first glimpse1 and set down the same evening4 ,turner was not a man to make an intimate of1 all at once2 the acquaintanceship continued1 and it ripened into as close a confidence as the eccentric painter's habits of life permitted4 ,he seems to have been more at home with the father than with the son2 but even when the young man took to writing books about him1 he did not1 as ,carlyle is reported to have done in a parallel case1 show his exponent to the door4 ,the occasion of ,john ,ruskin's coming to town this time was not a pleasant one--nothing less than the complete breakdown of his health4 ,it is true that he was working very hard during this spring2 but hard reading does not of itself kill people1 only when it is combined with real and prolonged mental distress1 acting upon a sensitive temperament4 ,the case was thought serious2 reading was stopped1 and the patient was ordered abroad for the winter4 ,for that summer there was no hurry to be gone2 rest was more needed than change1 at first4 ,late in ,september the same family-party crossed the sea to ,calais4 ,how different a voyage for them all from the merry departures of bygone ,maytides6 ,which way should they turn8 ,not to ,paris1 for there was the cause of all these ills2 so they went straight southwards1 through ,normandy to the ,loire1 and saw the chteaux and churches from ,orleans to ,tours1 famous for their ,renaissance architecture and for the romance of their chivalric history4 ,amboise especially made a strong impression upon the languid and unwilling invalid4 ,it stirred him up to write1 in easy verse1 the tale of love and death that his own situation too readily suggested4 ,in ,the ,broken ,chain he indulged his gloomy fancy1 turning1 as it was sure to do1 into a morbid nightmare of mysterious horror1 not without reminiscence of ,coleridge's ,christabel4 ,but through it all he preserved1 so to speak1 his dramatic incognito2 his own disappointment and his own anticipated death were the motives of the tale1 but treated in such a manner as not to betray his secret1 nor even to wound the feelings of the lady who now was beyond appeal from an honourable lover--taking his punishment like a man4 ,this poem lasted him1 for private writing1 all through that journey--a fit emblem of the broken life which it records4 ,a healthier source of distraction was his drawing1 in which he had received a fresh impetus from the exhibition of ,david ,roberts' sketches in the ,east4 ,more delicate than ,prout's work1 entering into the detail of architectural form more thoroughly1 and yet suggesting chiaroscuro with broad washes of quiet tone and touches of light1 cleverly introduced--that marvellous pop of light across the foreground1 ,harding said of the picture of the ,great ,pyramid--these drawings were a mean between the limited manner of ,prout and the inimitable fulness of ,turner ,ruskin took up the fine pencil and the broad brush1 and1 with that blessed habit of industry which has helped so many a one through times of trial1 made sketch after sketch on the half-imperial board1 finished just so far as his strength and time allowed1 as they passed from the ,loire to the mountains of ,auvergne2 and to the valley of the ,rhone1 and thence slowly round the ,riviera to ,pisa and ,florence and ,rome4 ,he was not in a mood to sympathize readily with the enthusiasms of other people4 ,they expected him to be delighted with the scenery1 the buildings1 the picture-galleries of ,italy1 and to forget himself in admiration4 ,he did admire ,michelangelo2 and he was interested in the back-streets and slums of the cities4 ,something piquant was needed to arouse him2 the mild ecstasies of common connoisseurship hardly appeal to a young man between life and death4 ,he met the friends to whom he had brought introductions--,mr4 ,joseph ,severn1 who had been ,keats' companion1 and was afterwards to be the genial ,consul at ,rome1 and the two ,messrs4 ,richmond1 then studying art in the regular professional way2 one of them to become a celebrated portrait-painter1 and the father of men of mark4 ,but his views on art were not theirs2 he was already too independent and outspoken in praise of his own heroes1 and too sick in mind and body to be patient and to learn4 ,they had not been a month in ,rome before he took the fever4 ,as soon as he was recovered1 they went still farther ,south1 and loitered for a couple of months in the neighbourhood of ,naples1 visiting the various scenes of interest--,sorrento1 ,amalfi1 ,salerno4 ,the adventures of this journey are partly told in letters to ,mr4 ,dale1 and in the ,letters addressed to a ,college ,friend4 ,on the way to ,naples he had noted and sketched the winter scene at ,la ,riccia1 which he afterwards used for a glowing passage in ,modern ,painters2 and he had ventured into a village of brigands to draw such a castle as he had once imagined in his ,leoni4 ,from ,naples he wrote an account of a landslip near ,giagnano1 and sent it home to the ,ashmolean ,society4 ,he seemed better2 they turned homewards1 when suddenly he was seized with all the old symptoms worse than ever4 ,after another month at ,rome1 they travelled slowly northwards from town to town2 spent ten days of ,may at ,venice1 and passed through ,milan and ,turin1 and over the ,mont ,cenis to ,geneva4 ,at last he was among the mountains again--the ,alps that he loved4 ,it was not only that the air of the ,alps braced him1 but the spirit of mountain-worship stirred him as nothing else could4 ,at last he seemed himself1 after more than a year of intense depression2 and he records that one day1 in church at ,geneva1 he resolved to do something1 to be something useful4 ,that he could make such a resolve was a sign of returning health2 but if1 as ,i find1 he had just been reading ,carlyle's lately-published lectures on ,heroes1 though he did not then accept ,carlyle's conclusions nor admire his style1 might he not1 in spite of his criticism1 have been spurred the more into energy by that enthusiastic gospel of action8 ,they travelled home by ,basle and ,laon2 but ,london in ,august1 and the premature attempt to be energetic1 brought on a recurrence of the symptoms of consumption1 as it was called4 ,he wished to try the mountain-cure again1 and set out with his friend ,richard ,fall for a tour in ,wales4 ,but his father recalled him to ,leamington to try iron and dieting under ,dr4 ,jephson1 who1 if he was called a quack1 was a sensible one1 and successful in subduing for several years to come the more serious phases of the disease4 ,the patient was not cured2 he suffered from time to time from his chest1 and still more from a weakness of the spine1 which during all the period of his early manhood gave him trouble1 and finished by bending his tall and lithe figure into something that1 were it not for his face1 would be deformity4 ,in #ahdg he was again at ,leamington under ,jephson1 in consequence of a relapse into the consumptive symptoms1 after which we hear no more of it4 ,he outgrew the tendency1 as so many do4 ,but nevertheless the alarm had been justifiable1 and the malady had left traces which1 in one way and another1 haunted him ever after2 for one of the worst effects of illness is to be marked down as an invalid4 ,at ,leamington1 then1 in ,september1 #ahda1 he was finding a new life under the doctor's dieting1 and new aims in life1 which were eventually to resolder for a while the broken chain4 ,among the ,scotch friends of the ,ruskins there was a family at ,perth whose daughter came to visit at ,herne ,hill--the ,effie ,gray whom afterwards he married4 ,she challenged the melancholy ,john1 engrossed in his drawing and geology1 to write a fairytale1 as the least likely task for him to fulfil4 ,upon which he produced1 at a couple of sittings1 ,the ,king of the ,golden ,river1 a pretty medley of ,grimm's grotesque and ,dickens' kindliness and the true ,ruskinian ecstasy of the ,alps4 ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,graduate ,,of ,,oxford 7#ahda-ahdb7 ,ready for work again1 and in reasonable health of mind and body1 ,john ,ruskin sat down in his little study at ,herne ,hill in ,november1 #ahda1 with his private tutor1 ,osborne ,gordon4 ,there was eighteen months' leeway to make up1 and the dates of ancient history1 the details of schematized ,aristotelianism1 soon slip out of mind when one is sketching in ,italy4 ,but he was more serious now about his work1 and aware of his deficiencies4 ,to be useful in the world1 is it not necessary first to understand all possible ,greek constructions8 ,so said the voice of ,oxford2 but our undergraduate was saved1 both now and afterwards1 from this vain ambition4 ,i think it would hardly be worth your while1 said ,gordon4 ,he could not now go in for honours1 for the lost year had superannuated him4 ,so in ,april he went up for a pass4 ,in those times1 when a pass-man showed unusual powers1 they could give him an honorary class2 not a high class1 because the range of the examination was less than in the honour-school4 ,this candidate wrote a poor ,latin prose1 it seems2 but his divinity1 philosophy1 and mathematics were so good that they gave him the best they could--an honorary double fourth--upon which he took his ,b4,a4 degree1 and could describe himself as ,a ,graduate of ,oxford4 ,the continued weakness of his health kept him from taking steps to enter the ,church2 and his real interest in art was not crowded out even by the last studies for his examination4 ,while he was working with ,gordon1 in the autumn of #ahda1 he was also taking lessons from ,j4,d4 ,harding2 and the famous study of ivy1 his first naturalistic sketching1 to which we must revert1 must have been done a week or two before going up for his examination4 ,the lessons from ,harding were a useful counter-stroke to the excessive and exaggerated ,turnerism in which he had been indulging through his illness4 ,the drawings of ,amboise1 the coast of ,genoa1 and the ,glacier des ,bois1 though published later1 were made before he had exchanged fancy for fact2 and they bear1 on the face of them1 the obvious marks of an unhealthy state of mind4 ,harding1 whose robust common-sense and breezy mannerism endeared him to the ,british amateur of his generation1 was just the man to correct any morbid tendency4 ,he had religious views in sympathy with his pupil1 and he soon inoculated ,ruskin with his contempt for the minor ,dutch school--those bituminous landscapes1 so unlike the sparkling freshness that ,harding's own water-colour illustrated1 and those vulgar tavern scenes1 painted1 he declared1 by sots who disgraced art alike in their works and in their lives4 ,until this epoch1 ,john ,ruskin had found much that interested him in the ,dutch and ,flemish painters of the seventeenth century4 ,he had classed them all together as the school of which ,rubens1 ,vandyck and ,rembrandt were the chief masters1 and those as names to rank with ,raphael and ,michelangelo and ,velasquez4 ,he was a humorist1 not without boyish delight in a good ,sam-,wellerism1 and so could be amused with the drolls1 until ,harding appealed to his religion and morality against them4 ,he was a chiaroscurist1 and not naturally offended by their violent light and shade1 until ,george ,richmond showed him the more excellent way in colour1 the glow of ,venice1 first hinting it at ,rome in #ahdj1 and then proving it in ,london in the spring of #ahdb from ,samuel ,rogers' treasures1 of which the chief 7now in the ,national ,gallery7 was the ,christ appearing to the ,magdalen4 ,much as the author of ,modern ,painters owed to these friends and teachers1 and to the advantages of his varied training1 he would never have written his great work without a further inspiration4 ,harding's especial forte was his method of drawing trees4 ,he looked at ,nature with an eye which1 for his period1 was singularly fresh and unprejudiced2 he had a strong feeling for truth of structure as well as for picturesque effect1 and he taught his pupils to observe as well as to draw4 ,but in his own practice he rested too much on having observed2 formed a style1 and copied himself if he did not copy the old masters2 ,hence he held to rules of composition and conscious graces of arrangement2 and while he taught naturalism in study1 he followed it up with teaching artifice in practice4 ,turner1 who was not a drawing-master1 lay under no necessity to formulate his principles and stick to them4 ,on the contrary1 his style developed like a kaleidoscope4 ,he had been in ,switzerland and on the ,rhine in #ahda1 painting his impressions1 making water-colour notes from memory of effects that had struck him4 ,from one of these1 ,splgen1 he had made a finished picture1 and now wished to get commissions for more of the same class4 ,ruskin was greatly interested in this series1 because they were not landscapes of the ordinary type1 scenes from ,nature squeezed into the mould of recognised artistic composition1 nor1 on the other hand1 mere photographic transcripts2 but dreams1 as it were1 of the mountains and sunsets1 in which ,turner's wealth of detail was suggested1 and his knowledge of form expressed1 together with the unity which comes of the faithful record of a single impression4 ,the lesson was soon enforced upon ,ruskin's mind by example4 ,one day1 while taking his student's constitutional1 he noticed a tree-stem with ivy upon it1 which seemed not ungraceful1 and invited a sketch4 ,as he drew he fell into the spirit of its natural arrangement1 and soon perceived how much finer it was as a piece of design than any conventional rearrangement would be4 ,harding had tried to show him how to generalize foliage2 but in this example he saw that not generalization was needed to get its beauty1 but truth4 ,at ,fontainebleau soon after1 in much the same circumstances1 a study of an aspen-tree1 idly begun1 but carried out with interest and patience1 confirmed the principle4 ,at ,geneva1 once more in the church where he had formed such resolutions the year before1 the desire came over him with renewed force2 now not only to be definitely employed1 but to be employed in the service of a definite mission1 which was1 in art1 exactly what ,carlyle had preached in every other sphere of life in that book of ,heroes3 the gospel of sincerity4 ,the design took shape4 ,at ,chamouni he studied plants and rocks and clouds1 not as an artist to make pictures out of them1 nor as a scientist to class them and analyze them2 but to learn their aspects and enter into the spirit of their growth and structure4 ,and though on his way home through ,switzerland and down the ,rhine he made a few drawings in his old style for admiring friends1 they were the last of the kind that he attempted4 ,thenceforward his path was marked out2 he had found a new vocation4 ,he was not to be a poet--that was too definitely bound up with the past which he wanted to forget1 and with conventionalities which he wished to shake off2 not to be an artist1 strugging with the rest to please a public which he felt himself called upon to teach2 not a man of science1 for his botany and geology were to be the means1 and not the ends1 of his teaching2 but the mission was laid upon him to tell the world that ,art1 no less than other spheres of life1 had its ,heroes2 that the mainspring of their energy was ,sincerity1 and the burden of their utterance1 ,truth4 ,,book ,,ii ,,the ,,art ,,critic 7#ahdb-ahfj7 ,,chapter ,i ,,turner ,,and ,,the ,,ancients 7#ahdb-ahdd7 ,the neighbour1 or the ,oxonian friend1 who climbed the steps of the ,herne ,hill house and called upon ,mrs4 ,ruskin1 in the autumn and winter of #ahdb1 would learn that ,mr4 ,john was hard at work in his own study overhead4 ,those were its windows1 on the second-floor1 looking out upon the front-garden2 the big dormer-window above was his bedroom1 from which he had his grand view of lowland1 and far horizon1 and unconfined sky1 comparatively clear of ,london smoke4 ,in the study itself1 screened from the road by russet foliage and thick evergreens1 great things were going on4 ,but ,mr4 ,john could be interrupted1 would come running lightly downstairs1 with both hands out to greet the visitor2 would show the pictures1 eagerly demonstrating the beauties of the last new ,turners1 ,ehrenbreitstein and ,lucerne1 just acquired1 and anticipating the sunset glories and mountain gloom of the ,goldau and ,dazio ,grande1 which the great artist was realizing for him from sketches he had chosen at ,queen ,anne ,street4 ,he was very busy--but never too busy to see his friends--writing a book4 ,and1 the visitor gone1 he would run up to his room and his writing4 ,in the afternoon his careful mother would turn him out for a tramp round the ,norwood lanes2 he might look in at the ,poussins and ,claudes of the ,dulwich ,gallery1 or1 for a longer excursion1 go over to ,mr4 ,windus1 and his roomful of ,turner drawings1 or sit to ,george ,richmond for the portrait at full length with desk and portfolio1 and ,mont ,blanc in the background4 ,dinner over1 another hour or two's writing1 and early to bed1 after finishing his chapter with a flourish of eloquence1 to be read next morning at breakfast to father and mother and ,mary4 ,the vivid descriptions of scenes yet fresh in their memory1 or of pictures they treasured1 the thoughts as they used to be called1 allusions to sincere beliefs and cherished hopes1 never failed to win the praise that pleased the young writer most1 in happy tears of unrestrained emotion4 ,these old-fashioned folk had not learnt the trick of nil admirari4 ,quite honestly they would say1 with the ,german musician1 ,when ,i hear good music1 then must ,i always weep4 ,we can look into the little study and see what this writing was that went on so busily and steadily4 ,it was the long-meditated defence of ,turner1 provoked by ,blackwood's ,magazine six years before1 encouraged by ,carlyle's ,heroes1 and necessitated by the silence1 on this topic1 of the more enlightened leaders of thought in an age of connoisseurship and cant4 ,and as the winter ran out1 he was ending his work1 happy in the applause of his little domestic circle1 and conscious that he was preaching the crusade of ,sincerity1 the cause of justice for the greatest landscape artist of any age1 and justice1 at the hands of a heedless public1 for the glorious works of the supreme ,artist of the universe4 ,let our young painters1 he concluded1 go humbly to ,nature1 rejecting nothing1 selecting nothing1 and scorning nothing1 in spite of ,academic theorists1 and in time we should have a school of landscape worthy of the inspiration they would find4 ,there was his book2 the title of it1 ,turner and the ,ancients4 ,before publishing1 to get more experienced criticism than that of the breakfast-table1 he submitted it to his friend1 ,w4,h4 ,harrison4 ,the title1 it seemed1 was not explicit enough1 and after debate they substituted ,modern ,painters3 their ,superiority in the ,art of ,landscape ,painting to all the ,ancient ,masters proved by ,examples of the ,true1 the ,beautiful1 and the ,intellectual1 from the ,works of ,modern ,artists1 especially from those of ,j4,m4,w4 ,turner1 ,esq41 ,r4,a4 ,and as the severe tone of many remarks was felt to be hardly supported by the age and standing of so young an author1 he was content to sign himself ,a ,graduate of ,oxford4 ,the book was spoken of1 but no part of the copy shown1 to ,john ,murray1 who said he would prefer something about ,german art4 ,it found immediate acceptance with ,messrs4 ,smith and ,elder4 ,young ,ruskin had been doing business for seven years past with that firm2 he was well known to them as one of the most rising youths of the time1 and their own literary editor1 ,mr4 ,harrison1 was his private ,mentor1 who revised his proofs and inserted the punctuation1 which he usually indicated only by dashes4 ,his dealings with the publishers were generally conducted through his father1 who made very fair terms for him1 as things went then4 ,in ,may1 #ahdc1 ,modern ,painters1 vol4 i41 was published1 and it was soon the talk of the art-world4 ,it was meant to be audacious1 and naturally created a storm4 ,the free criticisms of public favourites made an impression1 not because they were put into strong language1 for the tone of the press was stronger then than it is now1 as a whole1 but because they were backed up by illustration and argument4 ,it was evident that the author knew something of his subject1 even if he were all wrong in his conclusions4 ,he could not be neglected1 though he might be protested against1 decried1 controverted4 ,artists especially1 who do not usually see their works as others see them1 and are not accustomed to think of themselves and their school as mere dots and spangles in a perspective of history1 could not be entirely content to be classed as ,turner's satellites4 ,and while the book contained something that promised to suit every kind of reader everyone found something to shock him4 ,critics were scandalized at the depreciation of ,claude2 the religious were outraged at the comparison of ,turner1 in a passage omitted from later editions1 to the ,angel of the ,sun in the ,apocalypse4 ,but the descriptive passages were such as had never appeared before in prose2 and the obvious usefulness of the analyses of natural form and effect made many an artist read on1 while he shook his head4 ,some readily owned their obligation to the new teacher4 ,holland1 for one1 wrote to ,harrison that he meant to paint the better for the snubbing he had got4 ,of such as reviewed the book adversely in ,blackwood and the ,athenum1 not one undertook to refute it seriously4 ,they merely attacked a detail here and there1 which the author discussed in two or three replies1 with a patience that showed how confident he was in his position4 ,he had the good word of some of the best judges of literature4 ,modern ,painters lay on ,rogers' table2 and ,tennyson1 who a few years before had beaten young ,ruskin out of the field of poetry1 was so taken with it that he wrote to his publisher to borrow it for him1 as he longed very much to see it1 but could not afford to buy it4 ,sir ,henry ,taylor wrote to ,aubrey de ,vere1 the poet1 begging him to read3 ,a book which seems to me to be far more deeply founded in its criticism of art than any other that ,i have met with 444 written with great power and eloquence1 and a spirit of the most diligent investigation4444 ,i am told that the author's name is ,ruskin1 and that he was considered at college as an odd sort of man who would never do anything4 ,a second edition appeared within #ab months4 ,when the secret of the ,oxford ,graduate leaked out1 as it did very soon1 through the proud father1 ,mr4 ,john was lionized4 ,during the winter of #ahdc he met celebrities at fashionable dinner-tables2 and now that his parents were established in their grander house on ,denmark ,hill1#a they could duly return the hospitalities of the great world4 ,footnote #a3 ,to which they removed in ,october1 #ahdb4 ,it was one very satisfactory result of the success that the father was more or less converted to ,turnerism1 and lined his walls with ,turner drawings1 which became the great attraction of the house1 far outshining its seven acres of garden and orchard and shrubbery1 and the ampler air of cultured ease4 ,for a gift to his son he bought ,the ,slave ,ship1 one of ,turner's latest and most disputed works2 and he was all eagerness to see the next volume in preparation4 ,it was intended to carry on the discussion of ,truth1 with further illustrations of mountain-form1 trees and skies4 ,and so in ,may1 #ahdd1 they all went away again1 that the artist-author might prepare drawings for his plates4 ,he was going to begin with the geology and botany of ,chamouni1 and work through the ,alps1 eastward4 ,at ,chamouni they had the good fortune to meet with ,joseph ,coutet1 a superannuated guide1 whom they engaged to accompany the eager but inexperienced mountaineer4 ,coutet was one of those men of natural ability and kindliness whose friendship is worth more than much intercourse with worldly celebrities1 and for many years afterwards ,ruskin had the advantage of his care--of something more than mere attendance4 ,at any rate1 under such guidance1 he could climb where he pleased1 free from the feeling that people at home were anxious about him4 ,he was not unadventurous in his scramblings1 but with no ambition to get to the top of everything4 ,he wanted to observe the aspects of mountain-form2 and his careful outlines1 slightly coloured1 as his manner then was1 and never aiming at picturesque treatment1 record the structure of the rocks and the state of the snow with more than photographic accuracy4 ,a photograph often confuses the eye with unnecessary detail2 these drawings seized the leading lines1 the important features1 the interesting points4 ,for example1 in his ,matterhorn 7a drawing of #ahdi71 as ,whymper remarks in ,scrambles among the ,alps1 there are particulars noted which the mere sketcher neglects1 but the climber finds out1 on closer intercourse1 to be the essential facts of the mountain's anatomy4 ,all this is not picture-making1 but it is a valuable contribution and preliminary to criticism4 ,from ,chamouni this year they went to ,simplon1 and met ,j4,d4 ,forbes1 the geologist1 whose viscous theory of glaciers ,ruskin adopted and defended with warmth later on1 and to the ,bell' ,alp1 long before it had been made a place of popular resort by ,professor ,tyndall's notice4 ,the ,panorama of the ,simplon from the ,bell' ,alp is to be found in the ,st4 ,george's 7,ruskin7 ,museum at ,sheffield1 as a record of his draughtsmanship in this period4 ,thence to ,zermatt with ,osborne ,gordon2 ,zermatt1 too1 unknown to the fashionable tourist1 and innocent of hotel luxuries4 ,it is curious that1 at first sight1 he did not care for the ,matterhorn4 ,it was entirely unlike his ideal of mountains4 ,it was not at all like ,cumberland4 ,but in a very few years he had come to love the ,alps for their own sake1 and we find him regretting at ,ambleside the colour and light of ,switzerland1 the mountain glory which our humbler scenery cannot match4 ,and yet he came back to it for a home1 not ill-content4 ,after another visit to ,chamouni1 he crossed ,france to ,paris1 where something awaited him that upset all his plans1 and turned his energies into an unexpected channel4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,christian ,,art 7#ahde-ahdg7 ,at ,paris1 on the way heme in #ahdd1 he had spent some days in studying ,titian and ,bellini and ,perugino4 ,they were not new to him2 but now that he was an art-critic1 it behoved him to improve his acquaintance with the old masters4 ,to admire the works of ,pietro ,perugino was one thing2 but to understand them was another1 a thing which was hardly attempted by the ,landscape ,artists of ,england to whom the author of ,modern ,painters had so far dedicated his services4 ,he had been extolling modernism1 and depreciating the ,ancients because they could not draw rocks and clouds and trees2 and he was fresh from his scientific sketching in the happy hunting-ground of the modern world4 ,a few days in the ,louvre made him the devotee of ancient art1 and taught him to lay aside his geology for history4 ,in one way the development was easy4 ,the patient attempt to copy mountain-form had made him sensitive to harmony of line2 and in the great composers of ,florence and ,venice he found a quality of abstract design which tallied with his experience of what was beautiful in ,nature4 ,aiguilles and glaciers1 drawn as he drew them1 and the figure-subjects of severe ,italian draughtsmen1 are beautiful by the same laws of composition1 however different the associations they suggest4 ,but he had been learning these laws of beauty from ,turner and from the ,alps2 how did the ancients come by them8 ,this could be found only in a thorough study of their lives and times1 to begin with1 to which he devoted his winter1 with ,rio and ,lord ,lindsay and ,mrs4 ,jameson for his authorities4 ,he found that his foes1 ,caspar ,poussin and ,canaletto1 and the ,dutch landscapists1 were not the real old masters2 that there had been a great age of art before the era of ,vandyck and ,rubens--even before ,michelangelo and ,raphael2 and that1 towards setting up as a critic of the present1 he must understand the past out of which it had grown4 ,so he determined to go to ,florence and ,venice1 and to study the religious painters at first hand4 ,mountain-study and ,turner were not to be dropped4 ,for example1 to explain the obvious and notorious licences which ,turner took with topography1 it was necessary to see in what these licences consisted4 ,of the later ,swiss drawings1 one of the wildest and most impressive was the ,st4 ,gothard2 ,ruskin wanted to find ,turner's point of view1 and to see what alterations he had made4 ,he told ,turner so1 and the artist1 who knew that his picture had been realized from a very slight sketch1 was naturally rather opposed to this test1 as being1 from his point of view1 merely a waste of time and trouble4 ,he tried to persuade the ,ruskins that the ,swiss ,sonderbund war1 then going on1 made travelling unsafe1 and so forth4 ,but in vain4 ,mr4 ,john was allowed to go1 for the first time alone1 without his parents1 taking only a servant1 and meeting the trustworthy ,coutet at ,geneva4 ,with seven months at his own disposal1 he did a vast amount of work1 especially in drawing4 ,the studies of mountain-form and ,italian design1 in the year before1 had given him a greater interest in the ,liber ,studiorum1 ,turner's early book of ,essays in ,composition4 ,he found there that use of the pure line1 about which he has since said so much1 together with a thoughtfully devised scheme of light-and-shade in mezzotint1 devoted to the treatment of landscape in the same spirit as that in which the ,italian masters treated figure-subjects in their pen-and-bistre studies4 ,and just as he had imitated the ,rogers vignettes in his boyhood1 now in his youth he tried to emulate the fine abstract flow and searching expressiveness of the etched line1 and the studied breadth of shade1 by using the quill-pen with washes4 ,at first he kept pretty closely to monochrome4 ,his object was form1 and his special talent was for draughtsmanship rather than for colour4 ,but it was this winter's study of the ,liber ,studiorum that started him on his own characteristic course2 and while we have no pen-and-wash work of his before #ahde 7except a few experiments after ,prout71 we find him now using the pen continually during the ,modern ,painters period4 ,on reaching the ,lake of ,geneva he wrote1 or sketched1 one of his best-known pieces of verse1 ,mont ,blanc ,revisited1 and a few other poems followed1 the last of the long series which had once been his chief interest and aim in life4 ,with this lonely journey there came new and deeper feelings2 with his increased literary power1 fresh resources of diction2 and he was never so near being a poet as when he gave up writing verse4 ,too condensed to be easily understood1 too solemn in their movement to be trippingly read1 the lines on ,the ,arve at ,cluse1 on ,mont ,blanc1 and ,the ,glacier1 should not be passed over as merely rhetorical4 ,and the reflections on the loungers at ,conflans 7,why ,stand ye here all the ,day ,idle87 are full of the spirit in which he was gradually approaching the great problems of his life1 to pass through art into the earnest study of human conduct and its final cause4 ,he was still deeply religious--more deeply so than before1 and found the echo of his own thoughts in ,george ,herbert1 with whom he communed in spirit while he travelled through the ,alps4 ,but the forms of outward religion were losing their hold over him in proportion as his inward religion became more real and intense4 ,it was only a few days after writing these lines that he broke the ,sabbath for the first time in his life1 by climbing a hill after church4 ,that was the first shot fired in a war1 in one of the strangest and saddest wars between conscience and reason that biography records2 strange because the opposing forces were so nearly matched1 and sad because the struggle lasted until their field of battle was desolated before either won a victory4 ,later on we have to tell how he dwelt in ,doubting ,castle1 and how he escaped4 ,but the pilgrim had not yet met ,giant ,despair2 and his progress was very pleasant in that spring of #ahde1 the year of fine weather1 as he drove round the ,riviera1 and the cities of ,tuscany opened out their treasures to him4 ,there was ,lucca1 with ,san ,frediano and the glories of ,romanesque architecture2 ,fra ,bartolommeo's picture of the ,madonna with the ,magdalen and ,st4 ,catherine of ,siena1 his initiation into the significance of early religious painting3 and1 taking hold of his imagination1 in her marble sleep1 more powerfully than any flesh and blood1 the dead lady of ,st4 ,martin's ,church1 ,ilaria di ,caretto4 ,there was ,pisa1 with the ,campo ,santo and the jewel shrine of ,sta4 ,maria della ,spina1 then undestroyed2 the excitement of street sketching among a sympathetic crowd of fraternizing ,italians2 the ,abb ,rosini1 ,professor of ,fine ,arts1 whom he made friends with1 endured as lecturer1 and persuaded into scaffold-building in the ,campo ,santo for study of the frescoes4 ,and there was ,florence1 with ,giotto's campanile and ,santa ,maria ,novella1 where the young ,protestant frequented monasteries1 made hay with monks1 sketched with his new-found friends ,rudolf ,durheim of ,berne and ,dieudonn the ,french purist2 and spent long days copying ,angelico and annotating ,ghirlandajo1 fevered with the sun of ,italy at its strongest1 and with the rapture of discovery1 which turns the unaccustomed head like ,chianti wine4 ,coutet got him away1 at last1 to the ,alps2 worn out and in despondent reaction after all this excitement4 ,he spent a month at ,macugnaga1 reading ,shakespeare and trying to draw boulders2 drifting gradually back into strength enough to attack the next piece of work1 the study of ,turner sites on the ,st4 ,gothard1 where he made the drawings afterwards engraved in ,modern ,painters4 ,in ,august1 ,j4,d4 ,harding was going to ,venice1 and arranged for a meeting at ,baveno1 on the ,lago ,maggiore4 ,gossip had credited him with a share in ,modern ,painters2 now the tables were turned1 and ,griffith1 the picture-dealer1 wanted to know if it was true that ,john ,ruskin had helped ,harding with his new book1 just out4 ,they sketched together1 ,ruskin perhaps emulating his friend's slap-dash style in the ,sunset reproduced in his ,poems1 and illustrating his own in the ,water-mill4 ,and so they drove together to ,verona and thence to ,venice4 ,at ,venice they stayed in ,danieli's ,hotel1 on the ,riva dei ,schiavoni1 and began by studying picturesque canal-life4 ,mr4 ,boxall1 ,r4,a41 and ,mrs4 ,jameson1 the historian of ,sacred and ,legendary ,art1 were their companions4 ,another old friend1 ,joseph ,severn1 had in #ahdc gained one of the prizes at the ,westminster ,hall ,cartoons ,competition2 and a letter from ,ruskin1 referring to the work there1 shows how he still pondered on the subject that had been haunting him in the ,alps3 ,with your hopes for the elevation of ,english art by means of fresco ,i cannot sympathize4444 ,it is not the material nor the space that can give us thoughts1 passions1 or power4 ,i see on our ,academy walls nothing but what is ignoble in small pictures1 and would be disgusting in large ones4444 ,it is not the love of fresco that we want2 it is the love of ,god and ,his creatures2 it is humility1 and charity1 and self-denial1 and fasting1 and prayer2 it is a total change of character4 ,we want more faith and less reasoning1 less strength and more trust4 ,you want neither walls1 nor plaster1 nor colours--a ne fait rien l'affaire2 it is ,giotto1 and ,ghirlandajo1 and ,angelico that you want1 and that you will and must want until this disgusting nineteenth century has--,i can't say breathed1 but steamed its last4 ,so early he had taken up and wrapped round him the mantle of ,cassandra4 ,but he was suddenly to find the sincerity of ,ghirlandajo and the religious significance of ,angelico united with the matured power of art4 ,without knowing what they were to meet1 ,harding and he found themselves one day in the ,scuola di ,s4 ,rocco1 and face to face with ,tintoret4 ,it was the fashion earlier1 and it has been the fashion since1 to undervalue ,tintoret4 ,he is not pious enough for the purists1 nor decorative enough for the ,pre-,raphaelites4 ,the ruin or the restoration of almost all his pictures makes it impossible for the ordinary amateur to judge them2 they need reconstruction in the mind's eye1 and that is a dangerous process4 ,ruskin himself1 as he grew older1 found more interest in the playful industry of ,carpaccio than in the laborious games1 the stupendous ,titan feats of ,tintoret4 ,but at this moment1 solemnized before the problems of life1 he found these problems hinted in the mystic symbolism of the ,school of ,s4 ,rocco2 with eyes now opened to pre-,reformation ,christianity1 he found its completed outcome in ,tintoret's interpretation of the life of ,christ and the types of the ,old ,testament2 fresh from the stormy grandeur of the ,st4 ,gothard1 he found the lurid skies and looming giants of the ,visitation1 or the ,baptism1 or the ,crucifixion1 re-echoing the subjects of ,turner as deep answering to deep2 and1 with ,harding of the ,broad ,brush1 he recognised the mastery of landscape execution in the ,flight into ,egypt1 and the ,st4 ,mary in the ,desert4 ,he devoted the rest of his time chiefly to cataloguing and copying ,tintoret4 ,the catalogue appeared in ,stones of ,venice1 which was suggested by this visit1 and begun by some sketches of architectural detail1 and the acquisition of daguerreotypes--a new invention which delighted him immensely1 as it had delighted ,turner1 with trustworthy records of detail which sometimes eluded even his industry and accuracy4 ,at last his friends were gone2 and1 left alone1 he overworked himself1 as usual1 before leaving ,venice with crammed portfolios and closely-written notebooks4 ,at ,padua he was stopped by a fever2 all through ,france he was pursued by what1 from his account1 appears to have been some form of diphtheria1 averted only1 as he believed1 in direct answer to earnest prayer4 ,at last his eventful pilgrimage was ended1 and he was restored to his home and his parents4 ,it was not long before he was at work again in his new study1 looking out upon the quiet meadow and grazing cows of ,denmark ,hill1 and rapidly throwing into form the fresh impressions of the summer4 ,he was strongly influenced by the sermons of ,canon ,melvill--the same preacher whom ,browning in his youth admired--a good orator and sound analytic expositor1 though not a great or independent thinker4 ,osborne ,gordon had recommended him to read ,hooker1 and he caught the tone and style of the ,ecclesiastical ,polity only too readily1 so that much of his work of that winter1 the more philosophical part of vol4 ii41 was damaged by inversions1 and ,elizabethan quaintness as of ruff and train1 long epexegetical sentences1 and far-sought pomposity of diction4 ,it was only when he had waded through the chaos which he set himself to survey1 that he could lay aside his borrowed stilts1 and stand on his own feet in the ,tintoret descriptions--rather stiff1 yet1 from foregone efforts4 ,this volume1 like the first1 was completed in the winter1 in one long spell of hard work1 broken only by a visit to ,oxford in ,january as the guest of ,dr4 ,greswell1 ,head of ,worcester1 at a conference for the promotion of art4 ,smith and ,elder accepted the book on ,mr4 ,j4,j4 ,ruskin's terms 7so his wife wrote71 for they had already reported it as called for by the public4 ,the first volume was going into a third edition4 ,when his book came out he was away again in ,italy1 trying to show his father all that he had seen in the ,campo ,santo and ,giotto's ,tower1 and to explain why it more than startled him4 ,the good man hardly felt the force of it all at once4 ,and there were little passages of arms and some heart-quaking and head-shaking1 until ,mr4 ,dale1 the old schoolmaster1 wrote that he had heard no less a man than ,sydney ,smith mention the new book in public1 in the presence of distinguished literary characters1 as a work of transcendent talent1 presenting the most original views1 in the most elegant and powerful language1 which would work a complete revolution in the world of taste4 ,when he returned home it was to find a respectful welcome4 ,his word on matters of ,art was now really worth something1 and before long it was called for4 ,the ,national ,gallery was comparatively in its infancy4 ,it had been established less than twenty-five years1 and its manager1 ,mr4 ,eastlake 7afterwards ,sir ,charles71 had his hands full1 what with rascally dealers in forged old masters1 and incompetent picture-cleaners2 and an economical ,government1 and a public that neither knew its own mind nor trusted his judgment4 ,a great outcry was set up against him for buying bad works1 and spoiling the best by restoration4 ,ruskin wrote very temperately to ,the ,times1 pointing out that the damage had been slight compared with what was being done everywhere else1 and suggesting that1 prevention being better than cure1 the pictures should be put under glass1 for then they would not need the recurring attentions of the restorer4 ,but he blamed the management for spending large sums on added examples of ,guido and ,rubens1 while they had no ,angelico1 no ,ghirlandajo1 no good ,perugino1 only one ,bellini1 and1 in a word1 left his new friends1 the early ,christian artists1 unrepresented4 ,he suggested that pictures might be picked up for next to nothing in ,italy2 and he begged that the collection might be made historical and educational by being fully representative1 and chronologically arranged4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,seven ,,lamps ,have you read an ,oxford ,graduate's letters on art8 wrote ,miss ,mitford1 of ,our ,village1 on ,january #bg1 #ahdg4 ,the author1 ,mr4 ,ruskin1 was here last week1 and is certainly the most charming person that ,i have ever known4 ,the friendship thus begun lasted until her death4 ,she encouraged him in his work2 she delighted in his success2 and1 in the grave reverses which were to befall him1 he found her his most faithful supporter and most sympathetic consoler4 ,in return1 his kindness cheered her closing days2 he sent her every book that would interest and every delicacy that would strengthen her1 attentions which will not surprise those who have heard of his large and thoughtful generosity4#b ,footnote #b3 ,the ,friendships of ,mary ,russell ,mitford1 edited by the ,rev4 ,a4,g4 ,l',estrange4 ,it was natural that a rising man1 so closely connected with ,scotland1 should be welcomed by the leaders of the ,scottish school of literature4 ,sydney ,smith1 a former ,edinburgh professor1 had praised the new volume4 ,john ,murray1 as it seems from letters of the period1 made overtures to secure the author as a contributor to his ,italian guide-books4 ,lockhart employed him to write for the ,quarterly ,review4 ,lockhart was a person of great interest for young ,ruskin1 who worshipped ,scott2 and ,lockhart's daughter1 even without her personal charm1 would have attracted him as the actual grandchild of the great ,sir ,walter4 ,it was for her sake1 he says1 rather than for the honour of writing in the famous ,quarterly1 that he undertook to review ,lord ,lindsay's ,christian ,art4 ,he was known to be a suitor for ,miss ,lockhart's hand4 ,his father1 in view of the success he desired1 had been in ,february looking out for a house in the ,lake ,district2 hoping1 no doubt1 to see him settled there as a sort of successor to ,wordsworth and ,christopher ,north4 ,in ,march1 ,john ,ruskin betook himself to the ,salutation at ,ambleside1 with his constant attendant and amanuensis ,george1 for quiet after a tiring winter in ,london society1 and for his new labour of reviewing4 ,but he did not find himself so fond of the ,lakes as of old4 ,he wrote to his mother 7,sunday1 ,march #bh1 #ahdg73 ,i finished--and sealed up--and addressed--my last bit of work1 last night by ten o'clock--ready to send by to-day's post--so that my father should receive it with this4 ,i could not at all have done it had ,i stayed at home3 for even with all the quiet here1 ,i have had no more time than was necessary4 ,for exercise1 ,i find the rowing very useful1 though it makes me melancholy with thinking of #ahch1--;and the lake1 when it is quite calm1 is wonderfully sad and quiet3--no bright colours--no snowy peaks4 ,black water--as still as death2--lonely1 rocky islets--leafless woods1--or worse than leafless--the brown oak foliage hanging dead upon them2 gray sky2--far-off1 wild1 dark1 dismal moorlands2 no sound except the rustling of the boat among the reeds4 ,one o'clock4--,i have your kind note and my father's1 and am very thankful that you like what ,i have written1 for ,i did not at all know myself whether it were good or bad4 ,in the early summer he went to ,oxford1 for a meeting of the ,british ,association4 ,he said 7,june #bg1 #ahdg73 ,i am not able to write a full account of all ,i see1 to amuse you1 for ,i find it necessary to keep as quiet as ,i can1 and ,i fear it would only annoy you to be told of all the invitations ,i refuse1 and all the interesting matters in which ,i take no part4 ,there is nothing for it but throwing one's self into the stream1 and going down with one's arms under water1 ready to be carried anywhere1 or do anything4 ,my friends are all busy1 and tired to death4 ,all the members of my section1 but especially 7,edward7 ,forbes1 ,sedgwick1 ,murchison1 and ,lord ,northampton--and of course ,buckland1 are as kind to me as men can be2 but ,i am tormented by the perpetual sense of my unmitigated ignorance1 for ,i know no more now than ,i did when a boy1 and ,i have only one perpetual feeling of being in everybody's way4 ,the recollections of the place1 too1 and the being in my old rooms1 make me very miserable4 ,i have not one moment of profitably spent time to look back to while ,i was here1 and much useless labour and disappointed hope2 and ,i can neither bear the excitement of being in the society where the play of mind is constant1 and rolls over me like heavy wheels1 nor the pain of being alone4 ,i get away in the evenings into the hayfields about ,cumnor1 and rest2 but then my failing sight plagues me4 ,i cannot look at anything as ,i used to do1 and the evening sky is covered with swimming strings and eels4 ,my best time is while ,i am in the ,section room1 for though it is hot1 and sometimes wearisome1 yet ,i have nothing to say1--little to do1--nothing to look at1 and as much as ,i like to hear4 ,he had to undergo a second disappointment in love2 his health broke down again1 and he was sent to ,leamington to his former doctor1 ,jephson1 once more a consumptive patient4 ,dieted into health1 he went to ,scotland with a new-found friend1 ,william ,macdonald ,macdonald of ,crossmount4 ,but he had no taste for sport1 and could make little use of his opportunities for distraction and relaxation4 ,one battue was enough for him1 and the rest of the visit was spent in morbid despondency1 digging thistles1 and brooding over the significance of the curse of ,eden1 so strangely now interwoven with his own life--,thorns a also and ,thistles4 ,at ,bower's ,well1 ,perth1 where his grandparents had spent their later years1 and where his parents had been married1 lived ,mr4 ,george ,gray1 a lawyer1 and an old acquaintance of the ,ruskin family4 ,his daughter ,euphemia used to visit at ,denmark ,hill4 ,it was for her that1 some years earlier1 ,the ,king of the ,golden ,river had been written4 ,she had grown up into a perfect ,scotch beauty1 with every gift of health and spirits which would compensate--the old folk thought--for his retiring and morbid nature4 ,they were anxious1 now more than ever1 to see him settled4 ,they pressed him1 in letters still extant1 to propose4 ,we have seen how he was situated1 and can understand how he persuaded himself that fortune1 after all1 was about to smile upon him4 ,her family had their own reasons for promoting the match1 and all united in hastening on the event4 ,in the ,notes to ,exhibitions added to a new edition of ,modern ,painters1 then in the ,press1 the author mentions a hurried visit to ,scotland in the spring of #ahdh4 ,this was the occasion of his marriage at ,perth1 on ,april #aj4 ,the young couple spent rather more than a fortnight on the way ,south1 among ,scotch and ,english lakes1 intending to make a more extended tour in the summer to the cathedrals and abbeys4 ,the pilgrimage began with ,salisbury1 where a few days' sketching in the damp and draughts of the cathedral laid the bridegroom low1 and brought the tour to an untimely end4 ,in ,august1 the young people were seen safely off to ,normandy1 where they went by easy stages from town to town1 studying the remains of ,gothic building4 ,in ,october they returned and settled in a house of their own1 at #ca1 ,park ,street1 where during the winter he wrote ,the ,seven ,lamps of ,architecture1 and1 as a bit of by-work1 a notice of ,samuel ,prout for the ,art ,journal4 ,this was ,ruskin's first illustrated volume4 ,the plates were engraved by himself in soft-ground etching1 such as ,prout had used1 from drawings he had made in #ahdf and #ahdh4 ,some are scrappy combinations of various detail1 but others1 such as the ,byzantine capital1 the window in ,giotto's ,campanile1 the arches from ,st4 ,lo in ,normandy1 from ,st4 ,michele at ,lucca1 and from the ,ca' ,foscari at ,venice1 are effective studies of the actual look of old buildings1 seen as they are shown us in ,nature1 with her light and the shade added to all the facts of form1 and her own last touches in the way of weather-softening1 and settling-faults1 and tufted1 nestling plants4 ,revisiting the ,htel de la ,cloche at ,dijon in later years1 ,ruskin showed me the room where he had bitten the last plate in his wash-hand basin1 as a careless makeshift for the regular etcher's bath4 ,he was not dissatisfied with his work himself2 the public of the day wanted something more finished4 ,so the second edition appeared with the subjects elaborately popularized in fashionable engraving4 ,more recently they have undergone reduction for a cheap issue4 ,but any book lover knows the value of the original ,seven ,lamps with its ,san ,miniato cover and autograph plates4 ,as to its reception1 or at least the anticipation of it4 ,charlotte ,bronte bears witness in a letter to the publishers4 ,i congratulate you on the approaching publication of ,mr4 ,ruskin's new work4 ,if ',the ,seven ,lamps of ,architecture' resemble their predecessor1 ',modern ,painters1' they will be no lamps at all1 but a new constellation1--seven bright stars1 for whose rising the reading world ought to be anxiously agape4 ,the book was announced for his father's birthday1 ,may #aj1 #ahdi1 and it appeared while they were among the ,alps4 ,the earlier part of this tour is pretty fully described in ,prterita1 ,,ii4 xi41 and ,fors1 letter xc41 and so the visit of ,richard ,fall1 the meeting with ,sibylla ,dowie1 and the death of cousin ,mary need not be dwelt on here4 ,from the letters that passed between father and son we find that ,mr4 ,john had been given a month's leave from ,july #bf to explore the ,higher ,alps1 with ,coutet his guide and ,george his valet4 ,the old people stayed at the ,htel des ,bergues1 and thought of little else but their son and his affairs1 looking eagerly from day to day for the last news1 both of him and of his book4 ,mr4 ,ruskin1 senior1 writes from ,geneva on ,july #bi3 ,miss ,tweddale says your book has made a great sensation4 ,on ,august #d3 ,the ,spectator1 which ,smith sets great value on1 has an elaborate favourable notice on ',seven ,lamps1' only ascribing an infirmity of temper1 quoting railroad passage in proof4 ,anne was told by ,american family servant that you were in ,american ,paper1 and got it for us1 the ,new ,york ,tribune of ,july #ac2 first article is your book4 ,they say they are willing to be learners from1 rather than critics of1 such a book1 etc4 ,the ,daily ,news 7some of the ,punch people's paper7 has a capital notice4 ,it begins3 ',this is a masked battery of seven pieces1 which blaze away to the total extinction of the small architectural lights we may boast of1 etc41 etc4' ,on ,august #e3 ,i have1 at a shameful charge of ten francs1 got ,august magazine and ,dickens1 quite a prohibition for parcels from ,england4 ,in ,british ,quarterly1 under sthetics of ,gothic architecture they take four works1 you first4444 ,as a critic they almost rank you with ,goethe and ,coleridge1 and in style with ,jeremy ,taylor4 ,the qualified encouragement of these remarks was further qualified with detailed advice about health2 and warnings against the perils of the way1 to which ,mr4 ,john used to answer on this wise3 ,,cormayeur1 ,sunday afternoon 7,july #bi1 #ahdi74 ,,my ,,dearest ,,father1 7,put the three sheets in order first1 #a1 #b1 #c1 then read this1 front and back1 and then #b1 and then #c1 front and back47 ,you and my mother were doubtless very happy when you saw the day clear up as you left ,st4 ,martin's4 ,truly it was impossible that any day could be more perfect towards its close4 ,we reached ,nant ,bourant at twelve o'clock1 or a little before1 and ,coutet having given his sanction to my wish to get on1 we started again soon after one--and reached the top of the ,col de ,bonhomme about five4 ,you would have been delighted with that view--it is one upon those lovely seas of blue mountain1 one behind the other1 of which one never tires--this1 fortunately1 westward--so that all the blue ridges and ranges above ,conflans and ,beaufort were dark against the afternoon sky1 though misty with its light2 while eastward a range of snowy crests1 of which the most important was the ,mont ,iseran1 caught the sunlight full upon them4 ,the sun was as warm1 and the air as mild1 on the place where the ,english travellers sank and perished1 as in our garden at ,denmark ,hill on the summer evenings4 ,there is1 however1 no small excuse for a man's losing courage on that pass1 if the weather were foul4 ,i never saw one so literally pathless--so void of all guide and help from the lie of the ground--so embarrassing from the distance which one has to wind round mere brows of craggy precipice without knowing the direction in which one is moving1 while the path is perpetually lost in heaps of shale or among clusters of crags1 even when it is free of snow4 ,all1 however1 when ,i passed was serene1 and even beautiful--owing to the glow which the red rocks had in the sun4 ,we got down to ,chapiu about seven--itself one of the most desolately-placed villages ,i ever saw in the ,alps4 ,scotland is in no place that ,i have seen1 so barren or so lonely4 ,ever since ,i passed ,shapfells1 when a child1 ,i have had an excessive love for this kind of desolation1 and ,i enjoyed my little square chalet window and my chalet supper exceedingly 7mutton with garlic74 ,he then confesses that he woke in the night with a sore throat1 but struggled on next day down the ,alle ,blanche to ,cormayeur4 ,i never saw such a mighty heap of stones and dust4 ,the glacier itself is quite invisible from the road 7and ,i had no mind for extra work or scrambling71 except just at the bottom1 where the ice appears in one or two places1 being exactly of the colour of the heaps of waste coal at the ,newcastle pits1 and admirably adapted therefore to realize one's brightest anticipations of the character and style of the ,alle ,blanche4 ,the heap of its moraine conceals1 for the two miles of its extent1 the entire range of ,mont ,blanc from the eye4 ,at last you weather the mighty promontory1 cross the torrent which issues from its base1 and find yourself suddenly at the very foot of the vast slope of torn granite1 which from a point not #bjj feet lower than the summit of ,mont ,blanc1 sweeps down into the valley of ,cormayeur4 ,i am quite unable to speak with justice--or think with clearness--of this marvellous view4 ,one is so unused to see a mass like that of ,mont ,blanc without any snow that all my ideas and modes of estimating size were at fault4 ,i only felt overpowered by it1 and that--as with the porch of ,rouen ,cathedral--look as ,i would1 ,i could not see it4 ,i had not mind enough to grasp it or meet it4 ,i tried in vain to fix some of its main features on my memory2 then set the mules to graze again1 and took my sketch-book1 and marked the outlines--but where is the use of marking contours of a mass of endless--countless--fantastic rock--#ab1jjj feet sheer above the valley8 ,besides1 one cannot have sharp sore-throat for twelve hours without its bringing on some slight feverishness2 and the scorching ,alpine sun to which we had been exposed without an instant's cessation from the height of the col till now--i4e41 from half-past ten to three--had not mended the matter2 my pulse was now beginning slightly to quicken and my head slightly to ache--and my impression of the scene is feverish and somewhat painful2 ,i should think like yours of the valley of ,sixt4 ,so he finished his drawing1 tramped down the valley after his mule1 in dutiful fear of increasing his cold1 and found ,cormayeur crowded1 only an attic au quatrime to be had4 ,after trying to doctor himself with gray pill1 kali1 and senna1 ,coutet cured his throat with an alum gargle1 and they went over the ,col ,ferret4 ,the courier ,pfister had been sent to meet him at ,martigny1 and bring latest news and personal report1 on the strength of which several days passed without letters1 but not without a remonstrance from headquarters4 ,on ,august #h he writes from ,zermatt3 ,i have your three letters1 with pleasant accounts of critiques1 etc41 and painful accounts of your anxieties4 ,i certainly never thought of putting in a letter at ,sion1 as ,i arrived there about three hours after ,fister left me1 it being only two stages from ,martigny2 and besides1 ,i had enough to do that morning in thinking what ,i should want at ,zermatt1 and was engaged at ,sion1 while we changed horses1 in buying wax candles and rice4 ,it was unlucky that ,i lost post at ,visp1 etc4 ,a few days later he says3 ,on ,friday ,i had such a day as ,i have only once or twice had the like of among the ,alps4 ,i got up to a promontory projecting from the foot of the ,matterhorn1 and lay on the rocks and drew it at my ease4 ,i was about three hours at work as quietly as if in my study at ,denmark ,hill1 though on a peak of barren crag above a glacier1 and at least #i1jjj feet above sea4 ,but the ,matterhorn1 after all1 is not so fine a thing as the aiguille ,dru1 nor as any one of the aiguilles of ,chamouni3 for one thing1 it is all of secondary rock in horizontal beds1 quite rotten and shaly2 but there are other causes of difference in impressiveness which ,i am endeavouring to analyze1 but find considerable embarrassment in doing so4 ,there seems no sufficient reason why an isolated obelisk1 one-fourth higher than any of them1 should not be at least as sublime as they in their dependent grouping2 but it assuredly is not4 ,for this reason1 as well as because ,i have not found here the near studies of primitive rock ,i expected1--for to my great surprise1 ,i find the whole group of mountains1 mighty as they are1 except the inaccessible ,monte ,rosa1 of secondary limestones or slates1--,i should like1 if it were possible1 to spend a couple of days more on the ,montanvert1 and at the bases of the ,chamouni aiguilles1 sleeping at the ,montanvert4 ,and so on1 apologetically begging 7as other sons beg money7 for time1 to gather the material of ,modern ,painters1 volume iv4 ,i hope you will think whether the objects you are after are worth risks of sore throats or lungs1 replied his father1 for he had personified a perpetual influenza until they got him to ,switzerland1 and they were very anxious2 indeed1 ,pfister's news from ,martigny had scared his mother--not very well herself--into wild plans for recapturing him4 ,however1 ,osborne ,gordon was going to ,chamouni with ,mr4 ,pritchard1 and so they gave him a little longer2 and he made the best use of his time3 ,monday evening 7,august #bj1 #ahdi74 ,,my ,,dearest ,,father1 ,i have to-night a packet of back letters from ,vige 444 but ,i have really hardly time to read them to-night1 ,i had so many notes to secure when ,i came from the hills4 ,i walk up every day to the base of the aiguilles without the slightest sense of fatigue2 work there all day hammering and sketching2 and down in the evening4 ,as far as days by myself can be happy they are so1 for ,i love the place with all my heart4 ,i have no over-fatigue or labour1 and plenty of time4 ,by-the-by1 though in most respects they are incapable of improvement1 ,i recollect that ,i thought to-day1 as ,i was breaking last night's ice away from the rocks of which ,i wanted a specimen1 with a sharpish wind and small pepper and salt-like sleet beating in my face1 that a hot chop and a glass of sherry1 if they were to be had round the corner1 would make the thing more perfect4 ,there was however nothing to be had round the corner but some ,iceland moss1 which belonged to the chamois1 and an extra allowance of north wind4 ,this next is scribbled on a tiny scrap of paper3 ,,glacier or ,,greppond1 ,august #ba4 ,,my ,,dearest ,,father1 ,i am sitting on a gray stone in the middle of the glacier1 waiting till the fog goes away4 ,i believe ,i may wait4 ,i write this line in my pocket-book to thank my mother for hers which ,i did not acknowledge last night4 ,i am glad and sorry that she depends so much on my letters for her comfort4 ,i am sending them now every day by the people who go down1 for the diligence is stopped4 ,you may run the chance of missing one or two therefore4 ,i am quite well1 and very comfortable--sitting on ,joseph's knapsack laid on the stone4 ,the fog is about as thick as that of ,london in ,november1--only white2 and ,i see nothing near me but fields of dampish snow with black stones in it4 ,and then3 ,,montanvert1 ,august #bb4 ,i cannot say that on the whole the aiguilles have treated me well4 ,i went up ,saturday1 ,monday and ,tuesday to their feet1 and never obtained audience until to-day1 and then they retired at twelve o'clock2 but ,i have got a most valuable memorandum4 ,the parental view was put thus3 ,,geneva1 ,monday1 ,august #bj1 #ahdi4 ,,my ,,dearest ,,john1 ,i do not know if you have got all my letters1 fully explaining to you in what way the want of a single letter1 on two occasions1 did so much mischief--made such havoc in our peace4 ,i think my last ,thursday's letter entered on it4 ,we are grateful for many letters--that have come4 ,it was merely the accident of the moment when first by illness and then by precipices we were most anxious--being exactly the moment the letters took it into their heads to be not forthcoming4 ,not writing so often would only keep us more in the dark1 with little less anxiety4 ,please say if you get a letter every day4444 ,space can hardly be afforded for more than samples of this voluminous correspondence1 or interesting quotations might be given about the ghost-hunt yesterday and a crystal-hunt to-day1 and life at the ,montanvert1 until at last 7,august #bh73 ,i have taken my place in diligence for ,thursday1 and hope to be with you in good time4 ,but ,i quite feel as if ,i were leaving home to go on a journey4 ,i shall not be melancholy1 however1 for ,i have really had a good spell of it4444 ,dearest love to my mother4 ,i don't intend to write again4 ,ever1 my dearest father1 ,your most affectionate son1 ,j4 ,,ruskin4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,stones ,,of ,,venice 7#ahdi-ahea7 ,a book about ,venice had been planned in #ahde1 during ,ruskin's first long working visit4 ,he had made so many notes and sketches both of architecture and painting that the material seemed ready to hand2 another visit would fill up the gaps in his information2 and two or three months' hard writing would work the subject off1 and set him free to continue ,modern ,painters4 ,so before leaving home in #ahdi1 he had made up his mind that the next work would be ,the ,stones of ,venice1 which1 on the appearance of ,the ,seven ,lamps1 was announced by the publishers as in preparation4 ,he left home again early in ,october2 by the end of ,november he was settled with his wife at ,htel ,danieli1 ,venice1 for the winter4 ,he expected to find without much trouble all the information he wanted as to the dates1 styles and history of ,venetian buildings2 but after consulting and comparing all the native writers1 it appeared that the questions he asked of them were just the questions they were unprepared to answer1 and that he must go into the whole matter afresh4 ,so he laid himself out that winter for a thorough examination of ,st4 ,mark's and the ,ducal ,palace and the other remains--drawing1 and measuring1 and comparing their details4 ,his father had gone back to ,england in ,september out of health1 and the letters from home did not report improvement4 ,his mother1 too1 was beginning to fear the loss of her sight2 and he could not stay away from them any longer4 ,in ,february1 #ahej1 he broke off his work in the middle of it1 and returned to ,london4 ,the rest of the year he spent in writing the first volume of ,stones of ,venice1 and in preparing the illustrations1 together with ,examples of the ,architecture of ,venice1 a portfolio of large lithographs and engravings in mezzotint and line1 to accompany the work4 ,it was most fortunate for ,ruskin that his drawings could be interpreted by such men as ,armytage and ,cousen1 ,cuff and ,le ,keux1 ,boys and ,lupton1 and not without advantage to them that their masterpieces should be preserved in his works1 and praised as they deserved in his prefaces4 ,but these plates for ,stones of ,venice were in advance of the times4 ,the publisher thought them caviare to the general1 so ,mr4 ,j4,j4 ,ruskin told his son2 but gave it as his own belief that some dealers in ,ruskins and ,turners in #ahij will get great prices for what at present will not sell4 ,early in #ahej1 his father1 at his mother's desire1 and with the help of ,w4,h4 ,harrison1 collected and printed his poems1 with a number of pieces that still remained in ,,ms41 the author taking no part in this revival of bygones1 which1 for the sake of their associations1 he was not anxious to recall--though his father still believed that he might have been a poet1 and ought to have been one4 ,this is the volume of ,poems ,j4,r41 #ahej1 so highly valued by collectors4 ,another resurrection was ,the ,king of the ,golden ,river1 which had lain hidden for the nine years of the ,ars ,poetica4 ,he allowed it to be published1 with woodcuts by the famous ,dicky ,doyle4 ,the little book ran through three editions that year4 ,the first issue must have been torn to rags in the nurseries of the last generation1 since copies are so rare as to have brought ten guineas apiece instead of the six shillings at which they were advertised in #ahej4 ,a couple of extracts from letters of #ahej will give some idea of ,ruskin's impressions of ,london society and the ,drawing ,room3 ,,my ,,dearest ,,mother1 ,horrible party last night--stiff--large--dull--fidgety--stra nge1 --run-against-everybody-know-nobody sort of party4 ,naval people4 ,young lady claims acquaintance with me--,i know as much of her as of ,queen ,pomare--,talk3 get away as soon as ,i can--ask who she is--,lady 7----72--as wise as ,i was before4 ,introduced to a black man with chin in collar4 ,black man condescending--,i abuse different things to black man3 chiefly the ,house of ,lords4 ,black man says he lives in it--asks where ,i live--don't want to tell him--obliged--go away and ask who he is--7----72 as wise as ,i was before4 ,introduced to a young lady--young lady asks if ,i like drawing--so away and ask who she is--,lady7----74 ,keep away1 with back to wall and look at watch4 ,get away at last4 ,very sulky this morning--hope my father better--dearest love to you both4 ,,park ,,street1 #d o'clock1 7,may1 #ahej74 ,,my ,,dearest ,,father1 ,we got through gloriously1 though at one place there was the most awkward crush ,i ever saw in my life--the pit at the ,surrey1 which ,i never saw1 may perhaps show the like--nothing else4 ,the floor was covered with the ruins of ladies' dresses1 torn lace and fallen flowers4 ,but ,effie was luckily out of it1 and got through unscathed--and heard people saying ',what a beautiful dress6' just as she got up to the ,queen4 ,it was fatiguing enough but not so awkward as ,i expected4444 ,the ,queen looked much younger and prettier than ,i expected--very like her pictures1 even like those which are thought to flatter most--but ,i only saw the profile--,i could not see the front face as ,i knelt to her1 at least without an upturning of the eyes which ,i thought would be unseemly--and there were but some two or three seconds allowed for the whole affair4444 ,the ,queen gave her hand very graciously3 but looked bored2 poor thing1 well she might be1 with about a quarter of a mile square of people to bow to4 ,i met two people whom ,i have not seen for many a day1 ,kildare and ,scott ,murray--had a chat with the former and a word with ,murray1 but nothing of interest4444 ,as one of the chief literary figures of the day1 ,ruskin could not avoid society1 and1 as he tells in ,prterita1 he was rewarded for the reluctant performance of his duties by meeting with several who became his lifelong friends4 ,chief among these he mentions ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,cowper-,temple1 afterwards ,lord and ,lady ,mount ,temple4 ,the acquaintance with ,samuel ,rogers1 inauspiciously begun many years before1 now ripened into something like friendship2 ,monckton ,milnes 7,lord ,houghton7 and other men of letters were met at ,rogers' breakfasts4 ,a little later a visit to the ,master of ,trinity1 ,whewell1 at ,cambridge1 brought him into contact with ,professer ,willis1 the authority on ,gothic architecture1 and other notabilities of the sister ,university4 ,there also he met ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,marshall of ,leeds 7and ,coniston72 and he pursued his journey to ,lincoln1 with ,mr4 ,simpson1 whom he had met at ,lady ,davy's1 and to ,farnley for a visit to ,mr4 ,f4,h4 ,fawkes1 the owner of the celebrated collection of ,turners 7,april1 #ahea74 ,in ,london he was acquainted with many of the leading artists and persons interested in art4 ,of the teachers of the day he was known to men so diverse as ,carlyle--and ,maurice1 with whom he corresponded in #ahae about his ,notes on ,sheepfolds--and ,c4,h4 ,spurgeon1 to whom his mother was devoted4 ,he was as yet neither a hermit1 nor a heretic3 but mixed freely with all sorts and conditions1 with one exception1 for ,puseyites and ,romanists were yet as heathen men and publicans to him2 and he noted with interest1 while writing his review of ,venetian history1 that the strength of ,venice was distinctly ,anti-,papal1 and her virtues ,christian but not ,roman4 ,reflections on this subject were to have formed part of his great work1 but the first volume was taken up with the priori development of architectural forms2 and the treatment in especial of ,venetian matters had to be indefinitely postponed1 until another visit had given him the opportunity of gathering his material4 ,meanwhile1 his wide sympathy had turned his mind toward a subject which then had received little attention1 though since then loudly discussed--the reunion of 7,protestant7 ,christians4 ,he put together his thoughts in a pamphlet on the text ,there shall be one fold and one ,shepherd1 calling it1 in allusion to his architectural studies1 ,notes on the ,construction of ,sheepfolds4 ,he proposed a compromise1 trying to prove that the pretensions to priesthood on the high ,anglican side1 and the objections to episcopacy on the ,presbyterian1 were alike untenable2 and hoped that1 when once these differences--such little things he thought them--were arranged1 a united ,church of ,england might become the nucleus of a world-wide federation of ,protestants1 a civitas ,dei1 a ,new ,jerusalem4 ,there were many who agreed with his aspirations3 he received shoals of letters from sympathizing readers1 most of them praising his aims and criticising his means4 ,others objected rather to his manner than to his matter2 the title savoured of levity1 and an art-critic writing on theology was supposed to be wandering out of his province4 ,tradition says that the ,notes were freely bought by ,border farmers under a rather laughable mistake2 but surely it was no new thing for a ,scotch reader to find a religious tract under a catching title4 ,there were a few replies2 one by ,mr4 ,dyce1 who defended the ,anglican view with mild persiflage and the usual commonplaces4 ,and there the matter ended1 for the public4 ,for ,ruskin1 it was the beginning of a train of thought which led him far4 ,he gradually learnt that his error was not in asking too much1 but in asking too little4 ,he wished for a union of ,protestants1 forgetting the sheep that are not of that fold1 and little dreaming of the answer he got1 after many days1 in ,christ's ,folk in the ,apennine4 ,meanwhile the first volume of ,stones of ,venice had appeared1 ,march1 #ahea4 ,its reception was indirectly described in a pamphlet entitled ,something on ,ruskinism1 with a ',vestibule' in ,rhyme1 by an ,architect complaining bitterly of the ecstasies of rapture into which the newspapers had been thrown by the new work3 ,your book--since reviewers so swear--may be rational1 ,still1 'tis certainly not either loyal or national2 for it did not join in the chorus of congratulation to ,prince ,albert and the ,british public on the ,great ,exhibition of #ahea1 the apotheosis of trade and machinery4 ,the ,architect finds also--what may surprise the modern reader who has not noticed that many an able work has been thought unreadable on its first appearance--that he cannot understand the language and ideas3 ,your style is so soaring--and some it makes sore-- ,that plain folks can't make out your strange mystical lore4 ,he will allow the author to be quite right1 when he finds something to agree upon2 but the moment a sore point is touched1 then ,ruskin is insane4 ,in one respect the ,architect hit the nail on the head3 ,readers who are not reviewers by profession can hardly fail to perceive that ,ruskinism is violently inimical to sundry existing interests4 ,the best men1 we said1 were the first to recognise ,ruskin's genius4 ,let us throw into the opposite scale an opinion of more weight than the ,architect's1 in a transcript of the original letter from ,carlyle4 ,,chelsea1 ,march #i1 #ahea4 ,,dear ,,ruskin1 ,i did not know yesterday till your servant was gone that there was any note in the parcel2 nor at all what a feat you had done6 ,a loan of the gallant young man's ,memoirs was what ,i expected2 and here1 in the most chivalrous style1 comes a gift of them4 ,this1 ,i think1 must be in the style prior to the ,renaissance6 ,what can ,i do but accept your kindness with pleasure and gratitude1 though it is far beyond my deserts8 ,perhaps the next man ,i meet will use me as much below them2 and so bring matters straight again6 ,truly ,i am much obliged1 and return you many hearty thanks4 ,i was already deep in the ',stones'2 and clearly purpose to hold on there4 ,a strange1 unexpected1 and ,i believe1 most true and excellent ,sermon in ,stones--as well as the best piece of schoolmastering in ,architectonics2 from which ,i hope to learn much in a great many ways4 ,the spirit and purport of these critical studies of yours are a singular sign of the times to me1 and a very gratifying one4 ,right good speed to you1 and victorious arrival on the farther shore6 ,it is a quite new ',renaissance1' ,i believe1 we are getting into just now3 either towards new1 wider manhood1 high again as the eternal stars2 or else into final death1 and the 7marsh87 of ,gehenna for evermore6 ,a dreadful process1 but a needful and inevitable one2 nor do ,i doubt at all which way the issue will be1 though which of the extant nations are to get included in it1 and which is to be trampled out and abolished in the process1 may be very doubtful4 ,god is great3 and sure enough1 the changes in the ',construction of ,sheepfolds' as well as in other things1 will require to be very considerable4 ,we are still labouring under the foul kind of influenza here1 ,i not far from emancipated1 my poor wife still deep in the business1 though ,i hope past the deepest4 ,am ,i to understand that you too are seized8 ,in a day or two ,i hope to ascertain that you are well again4 ,adieu2 here is an interruption1 here also is the end of the paper4 ,with many thanks and regards4 ,signature cut away4 ,as soon as the first volume of ,stones of ,venice and the ,notes on the ,construction of ,sheepfolds were published1 ,ruskin took a short ,easter holiday at ,matlock1 and set to work at a new edition of ,modern ,painters4 ,this was the fifth reprint of the first volume1 and the third of vol4 ii4 ,they were carefully and conscientiously revised1 and the ,postscript indulged in a little triumph at the changed tone of public criticism upon ,turner4 ,but it was too late to have been much service to the great artist himself4 ,in #ahde--;after saying good-bye and ,why will you go to ,switzerland8 there will be such a fidge about you when you're gone--,turner lost his health1 and was never himself again4 ,the last drawings he did for ,ruskin 7,january1 #ahdh71 the ,brnig and the ,descent from the ,st4 ,gothard to ,airolo1 showed his condition unmistakably2 and the lonely restlessness of the last1 disappointing years were1 for all his friends1 a melancholy ending to a brilliant career4 ,ruskin wrote3 ,this year 7#ahea7 he has no picture on the walls of the ,academy2 and the ,times of ,may #c says3 ',we miss those works of ,,inspiration'6 ,we miss6 ,who misses8 ,the populace of ,england rolls by to weary itself in the great bazaar of ,kensington1#c little thinking that a day will come when those veiled vestals and prancing amazons1 and goodly merchandise of precious stones and gold1 will all be forgotten as though they had not been2 but that the light which has faded from the walls of the ,academy is one which a million ,koh-i-noors could not rekindle2 and that the year #ahea will1 in the far future1 be remembered less for what it has displayed1 than for what it has withdrawn4 ,footnote #c3 ,the ,great ,exhibition in ,hyde ,park4 ,,chapter ,v ,,pre-,,raphaelitism 7#ahea-ahec7 ,the ,times1 in ,may #ahea1 missed those works of inspiration1 as ,ruskin had at last taught people to call ,turner's pictures4 ,but the acknowledged mouthpiece of public opinion found consolation in castigating a school of young artists who had unfortunately become notorious by addicting themselves to an antiquated style and an affected simplicity in painting4444 ,we can extend no toleration to a mere servile imitation of the cramped style1 false perspective1 and crude colour of remote antiquity4 ,we want not to see what ,fuseli termed drapery 'snapped instead of folded'2 faces bloated into apoplexy1 or extenuated into skeletons2 colour borrowed from the jars in a druggist's shop1 and expression forced into caricature4444 ,that morbid infatuation which sacrifices truth1 beauty1 and genuine feeling to mere eccentricity deserves no quarter at the hands of the public4 ,ruskin knew nothing personally of these young innovators1 and had not at first sight wholly approved of the apparently ,puseyite tendency of ,rossetti's ,ecce ,ancilla ,domini1 ,millais' ,carpenter's ,shop1 and ,holman ,hunt's ,early ,christian ,missionary1 exhibited the year before4 ,all these months he had been closely kept to his ,sheepfolds and ,stones of ,venice2 but now he was correcting the proofs of ,modern ,painters1 vol4 i41 as thus3 ,chapter the last1 section #ba3 ,the duty and after privileges of all students4444 ,go to ,nature in all singleness of heart1 and walk with her laboriously and trustingly1 having no other thoughts but how best to penetrate her meaning1 and remember her instruction2 rejecting nothing1 selecting nothing1 and scorning nothing2 believing all things to be right and good1 and rejoicing always in the truth4 ,and at ,coventry ,patmore's request he went to the ,academy to look at the pictures in question4 ,yes2 the faces were ugly3 ,millais' ,mariana was a piece of idolatrous ,papistry1 and there was a mistake in the perspective4 ,collins' ,convent ,thoughts--more ,popery2 but very careful--the tadpole too small for its age2 but what studies of plants6 ,and there was his own ,alisma ,plantago1 which he had been drawing for ,stones of ,venice 7vol4 i41 plate #g7 and describing3 ,the lines through its body1 which are of peculiar beauty1 mark the different expansions of its fibres1 and are1 ,i think1 exactly the same as those which would be traced by the currents of a river entering a lake of the shape of the leaf1 at the end where the stalk is1 and passing out at its point4 ,curvature was one of the special subjects of ,ruskin1 the one he found most neglected by ordinary artists4 ,the ,alisma was a test of observation and draughtsmanship4 ,he had never seen it so thoroughly or so well drawn1 and heartily wished the study were his4 ,looking again at the other works of the school1 he found that the one mistake in the ,mariana was the only error in perspective in the whole series of pictures2 which could not be said of any twelve works1 containing architecture1 by popular artists in the exhibition2 and that1 as studies both of drapery and of every other minor detail1 there had been nothing in art so earnest or so complete as these pictures since the days of ,albert ,drer4 ,he went home1 and wrote his verdict in a letter to ,the ,times 7,may #i1 #ahea74 ,next day he asked the price of ,hunt's ,two ,gentlemen of ,verona1 and ,millais' ,return of the ,dove4 ,on the #acth his letter appeared in ,the ,times1 and on the #bfth he wrote again1 pointing out beauties1 and indications of power in conception1 and observation of ,nature1 and handling1 where at first he1 like the rest of the public1 had been repelled by the wilful ugliness of the faces4 ,meanwhile the ,pre-,raphaelites wrote to tell him that they were neither ,papists nor ,puseyites4 ,the day after his second letter was published he received an ill-spelt missive1 anonymously abusing them4 ,this was the sort of thing to interest his love of poetical justice4 ,he made the acquaintance of several of the ,brethren4 ,charley ,collins1 as his friends affectionately called him1 was the son of a respected ,r4,a41 and the brother of ,wilkie ,collins2 himself afterwards the author of a delightful book of travel in ,france1 ,a ,cruise upon ,wheels4 ,millais turned out to be the most gifted1 charming and handsome of young artists4 ,holman ,hunt was already a ,ruskin-reader1 and a seeker after truth1 serious and earnest in his religious nature as in his painting4 ,the ,pre-,raphaelites were not1 originally1 ,ruskin's pupils1 nor was their movement1 directly1 of his creation4 ,but it was the outcome of a general tendency which he1 more than any man1 had helped to set in motion2 and it was the fulfilment1 though in a way he had not expected1 of his wishes4 ,his attraction to ,pre-,raphaelitism was none the less real because it was sudden1 and brought about partly by personal influence4 ,and in re-arranging his art-theory to take them in1 he had before his mind rather what he hoped they would become than what they were4 ,for a time1 his influence over them was great2 their first three years were their own2 their next three years were practically his2 and some of them1 the weaker brethren1 leaned upon him until they lost the command of their own powers4 ,no artist can afford to use another man's eyes2 still less1 another man's brain and heart4 ,ruskin1 great as an exponent1 was in no sense a master of artists2 and if he cheered on the men1 who1 he believed1 were the best of the time1 it did not follow that he should be saddled with the responsibility of directing them4 ,the famous pamphlet on ,pre-,raphaelitism of ,august1 #ahea1 showed that the same motives of ,sincerity impelled both the ,pre-,raphaelite ,brethren and ,turner and1 in a degree1 men so different as ,prout1 old ,hunt1 and ,lewis4 ,all these were opposed to the ,academical ,school who worked by rule of thumb2 and they differed among one another only in differences of physical power and moral aim4 ,which was all perfectly true1 and much truer than the cheap criticism which could not see beyond superficial differences1 or the fossil theories of the old school4 ,but ,pre-,raphaelitism was an unstable compound1 liable to explode upon the experimenter1 and its component parts to return to their old antithesis of crude naturalism on the one hand1 and affectation of piety or poetry or antiquarianism1 on the other4 ,and that their new champion did not then foresee4 ,all he knew was that1 just when he was sadly leaving the scene1 ,turner gone and night coming on1 new lights arose4 ,it was really far more noteworthy that ,millais and ,rossetti and ,hunt were men of genius1 than that the principles they tried to illustrate were sound1 and that ,ruskin divined their power1 and generously applauded them4 ,immediately after finishing the pamphlet on ,pre-,raphaelitism1 he left for the ,continent with his wife and friends1 the ,rev4 and ,mrs4 ,daniel ,moore2 spent a fortnight in his beloved ,savoy1 with the ,pritchards2 and then crossed the ,alps with ,charles ,newton4 ,on the #ast of ,september he was at ,venice1 for a final spell of labour on the palaces and churches4 ,after spending a week with ,rawdon ,brown he settled at ,casa ,wetzler1 ,campo ,sta4 ,maria ,zobenigo1 and during the autumn and winter not only worked extremely hard at his architecture1 but went with his wife into ,austrian and ,italian society and saw many distinguished visitors4 ,one of them1 whom he lectured on the shortcomings of the ,renaissance1 was ,dean ,milman4 ,i am amused at your mode of ciceronizing the ,dean of ,st4 ,paul's1 wrote his father1 who kept up the usual close correspondence1 and made himself useful in looking up books of reference and consulting authorities like ,mr4 ,james ,fergusson--for these chapters of easy eloquence were not written without a world of pains4 ,the engravers and the business department of the new publications also required his co-operation1 for they were now becoming large ventures4 ,during the three and a half years preceding the summer of #ahea ,ruskin seems to have spent #a1fhj of profits from his books1 making by his writings at this period only about a third of his annual outlay2 so that the estimated cost of these great illustrated volumes1 some #a1bjj1 was a matter of anxiety to his father1 who1 together with the publisher1 deprecated large plates and technical details1 and expressed some impatience to see results from this visit to ,venice4 ,he looked eagerly for every new chapter or drawing as it was sent home for criticism4 ,some passages1 such as the description of the ,calle ,san ,moise 7,stones of ,venice1 ,,ii4 iv17 were unfavourably received by him4 ,another time he says1 ,you have a very great difficulty now in writing any more1 which is to write up to yourself3 or again1--,smith reports slow sale of ',stones of ,venice' 7vol4 ,i47 and ',pre-,raphaelitism4' ,the times are sorely against you4 ,the ,exhibition has impoverished the country1 and literature of a saleable character seems chiefly confined to shilling books in green paper1 to be had at railway stations4 ,smith will have an account against us4 ,he always sent adverse press-notices1 on the principle that it was good for ,john3 and every little discouragement or annoyance was discussed in full4 ,the most serious news1 threatening complete interruption of the work rapidly progressing in spite of all1 was of ,turner's death 7,december #ai1 #ahea74 ,old ,mr4 ,ruskin heard of it on the #bast1 a dismal day to him1 spent in sad contemplation of the pictures his son had taught him to love4 ,soon it came out that ,john ,ruskin was one of the executors named in the will1 with a legacy of #bj for a mourning ring3--,nobody can say you were paid to praise1 says his father4 ,it was gossipped that he was expected to write ,turner's biography--five years' work for you1 says the old man1 full of plans for gathering material4 ,but when one scandal after another reached his ears1 he changed his tone1 and suggested dropping personal details1 and giving a ,life of his ,art1 in the intended third and final volume of ,modern ,painters4 ,something of the sort was done in the ,edinburgh ,lectures and at the close of vol4 v4 of ,modern ,painters3 and the official life was left to ,walter ,thornbury1 with which ,mr4 ,ruskin perhaps did not wish to interfere4 ,but he collected a mass of then unpublished material about ,turner1 which goes far to prove that the kindly view he took of the strange man's morbid and unhappy life was not without justification4 ,at the time1 so many legal complications developed that ,ruskin was advised to resign his executorship2 later on he was able to fulfil its duties as he conceived them1 in arranging ,turner's sketches for the ,national ,gallery4 ,others of his old artist-friends were now passing away4 ,early in ,january ,mr4 ,j4,j4 ,ruskin called on ,william ,hunt and found him feeble3 ,i like the little ,elshie1 he says1 nicknaming him after the ,black ,dwarf1 for ,hunt was somewhat deformed3 ,he is softened and humanized4 ,there is a gentleness and a greater bonhomie--less reserve4 ,i had sent him ',pre-,raphaelitism4' ,he had marked it very much with pencil4 ,he greatly likes your notice of people not keeping to their last4 ,so many clever artists1 he says1 have been ruined by not acting on your principles4 ,i got a piece of advice from ,hunt1--never to commission a picture4 ,he could not have done my pigeon so well had he felt he was doing it for anybody4 ,the pigeon was a drawing he had just bought2 in later years at ,brantwood4 ,in ,february #aheb a dinner-party was given to celebrate in his absence ,john ,ruskin's thirty-third birthday4 ,on ,monday1 #ith1 we had ,oldfield 7,newton was in ,wales71 ,harrison1 ,george ,richmond1 ,tom1 ,dr4 ,grant1 and ,samuel ,prout4 ,the latter ,i never saw in such spirits1 and he went away much satisfied4 ,yesterday at church we were told that he came home very happy1 ascended to his painting-room1 and in a quarter of an hour from his leaving our cheerful house was a corpse1 from apoplexy4 ,he never spoke after the fit came on4 ,he had always wished for a sudden death4 ,next year1 in ,november1 #ahec1 he tells of a visit paid1 by ,john's request1 to ,w4,h4 ,deverell1 the young ,pre-,raphaelite1 whom he found in squalor and sickness--with his ,bible open--and not long to live--while ,howard abuses his picture at ,liverpool4 ,early in #aheb ,charles ,newton was going to ,greece on a voyage of discovery1 and wanted ,john ,ruskin to go with him4 ,but the parents would not hear of his adventuring himself at sea in those engine-vessels4 ,so ,newton went alone1 and dug up loads of ,phoenician antiquities4 ,one cannot help regretting that ,ruskin lost this opportunity of familiarizing himself with the early ,greek art which1 twenty years later he tried to expound4 ,for the time he was well enough employed on the ,stones of ,venice4 ,he tells the story of this ten months' stay in a letter to his venerable friend ,rogers the poet1 dated ,june #bc 7#aheb74 ,i was out of health and out of heart when ,i first got here4 ,there came much painful news from home1 and then such a determined course of bad weather1 and every other kind of annoyance1 that ,i never was in a temper fit to write to anyone3 the worst of it was that ,i lost all feeling of ,venice1 and this was the reason both of my not writing to you and of my thinking of you so often4 ,for whenever ,i found myself getting utterly hard and indifferent ,i used to read over a little bit of the ',venice' in the ',italy' and it put me always into the right tone of thought again1 and for this ,i cannot be enough grateful to you4 ,for though ,i believe that in the summer1 when ,venice is indeed lovely1 when pomegranate blossoms hang over every garden-wall1 and green sunlight shoots through every wave1 custom will not destroy1 or even weaken1 the impression conveyed at first2 it is far otherwise in the length and bitterness of the ,venetian winters4 ,fighting with frosty winds at every turn of the canals takes away all the old feelings of peace and stillness2 the protracted cold makes the dash of the water on the walls a sound of simple discomfort1 and some wild and dark day in ,february one starts to find oneself actually balancing in one's mind the relative advantages of land and water carriage1 comparing the ,canal with ,piccadilly1 and even hesitating whether for the rest of one's life one would rather have a gondola within call or a hansom4 ,he then goes on to lament the decay of ,venice1 the idleness and dissipation of the populace1 the lottery gambling2 and to forebode the destruction of old buildings and erection of new changing the place into a modern town--a bad imitation of ,paris4 ,better than that he thinks would be utter neglect2 ,st4 ,mark's ,place would again be1 what it was in the early ages1 a green field1 and the front of the ,ducal ,palace and the marble shafts of ,st4 ,mark's would be rooted in wild violets and wreathed with vines3 ,she will be beautiful again then1 and ,i could almost wish that the time might come quickly1 were it not that so many noble pictures must be destroyed first4444 ,i love ,venetian pictures more and more1 and wonder at them every day with greater wonder2 compared with all other paintings they are so easy1 so instinctive1 so natural2 everything that the men of other schools did by rule and called composition1 done here by instinct and only called truth4 ,i don't know when ,i have envied anybody more than ,i did the other day the directors and clerks of the ,zecca4 ,there they sit at inky deal desks1 counting out rolls of money1 and curiously weighing the irregular and battered coinage of which ,venice boasts2 and just over their heads1 occupying the place which in a ,london countinghouse would be occupied by a commercial almanack1 a glorious ,bonifazio--',solomon and the ,queen of ,sheba'2 and in a less honourable corner three old directors of the ,zecca1 very mercantile-looking men indeed1 counting money also1 like the living ones1 only a little more living1 painted by ,tintoret2 not to speak of the scattered ,palma ,vecchios1 and a lovely ,benedetto ,diana which no one ever looks at4 ,i wonder when the ,european mind will again awake to the great fact that a noble picture was not painted to be hung1 but to be seen8 ,i only saw these by accident1 having been detained in ,venice by soma obliging person who abstracted some of his wife's jewels and brought me thereby into various relations with the respectable body of people who live at the wrong end of the ,bridge of ,sighs--the police1 whom1 in spite of traditions of terror1 ,i would very willingly have changed for some of those their predecessors whom you have honoured by a note in the ',italy4' ,the present police appear to act on exactly contrary principles2 yours found the purse and banished the loser2 these don't find the jewels1 and won't let me go away4 ,i am afraid no punishment is appointed in ,venetian law for people who steal time4 ,mr4 ,ruskin returned to ,england in ,july1 #aheb1 and settled next door to his old home on ,herne ,hill4 ,he said he could not live any more in ,park ,street1 with a dead brick wall opposite his windows4 ,and so1 under the roof where he wrote the first volume of ,modern ,painters1 he finished ,stones of ,venice4 ,these latter volumes give an account of ,st4 ,mark's and the ,ducal ,palace and other ancient buildings2 a complete catalogue of ,tintoret's pictures--the list he had begun in #ahde2 and a history of the successive styles of architecture1 ,byzantine1 ,gothic1 and ,renaissance1 interweaving illustrations of the human life and character that made the art what it was4 ,the kernel of the work was the chapter on the ,nature of ,gothic2 in which he showed1 more distinctly than in the ,seven ,lamps1 and connected with a wider range of thought1 suggested by ,pre-,raphaelitism1 the doctrine that art cannot be produced except by artists2 that architecture1 in so far as it is an art1 does not mean mechanical execution1 by unintelligent workmen1 from the vapid working-drawings of an architect's office2 and1 just as ,socrates postponed the day of justice until philosophers should be kings and kings philosophers1 so ,ruskin postponed the reign of art until workmen should be artists1 and artists workmen4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,edinburgh ,,lectures 7#ahec-ahed7 ,by the end of ,june1 #ahec1 ,stones of ,venice was finished1 as well as a description of ,giotto's works at ,padua1 written for the ,arundel ,society4 ,the social duties of the season were over2 ,ruskin and his wife went north to spend a well-earned holiday4 ,at ,wallington in ,northumberland1 staying with ,sir ,walter and ,lady ,trevelyan1 he met ,dr4 ,john ,brown at ,edinburgh1 author of ,pet ,marjorie and other well-known works1 who became his lifelong friend4 ,ruskin invited ,millais1 by this time an intimate and heartily-admired friend1#d to join them at ,glenfinlas4 ,ruskin devoted himself first to foreground studies1 and made careful drawings of rock-detail2 and then1 being asked to give a course of lectures before the ,philosophical ,society of ,edinburgh1 he was soon busy writing once more1 and preparing the cartoon-sketches1 diagrams as he called them1 to illustrate his subjects4 ,dr4 ,acland had joined the party2 and he asked ,millais to sketch their host as he stood contemplatively on the rocks with the torrent thundering beside him4 ,the picture with additional work in the following winter1 became the well-known portrait in the possession of ,sir ,henry ,acland1 much the best likeness of this early period4 ,footnote #d3 ,what a beauty of a man he is6 wrote old ,mr4 ,ruskin1 and high in intellect4444 ,millais' sketches are 'prodigious'6 ,millais is the painter of the age4 ,capable1 it seems to me1 of almost everything1 if his life and strength be spared1 said the younger ,ruskin to ,miss ,mitford4 ,another portrait was painted--in words--by one of his audience at ,edinburgh on ,november #a1 when he gave the opening lecture of his course1 his first appearance on the platform4 ,the account is extracted from the ,edinburgh ,guardian of ,november #ai1 #ahec3 ,before you can see the lecturer1 however1 you must get into the hall1 and that is not an easy matter1 for1 long before the doors are opened1 the fortunate holders of season tickets begin to assemble1 so that the crowd not only fills the passage1 but occupies the pavement in front of the entrance and overflows into the road4 ,at length the doors open1 and you are carried through the passage into the hall1 where you take up1 of course1 the best available position for seeing and hearing4444 ,after waiting a weary time 444 the door by the side of the platform opens1 and a thin gentleman with light hair1 a stiff white cravat1 dark overcoat with velvet collar1 walking1 too with a slight stoop1 goes up to the desk1 and looking round with a self-possessed and somewhat formal air1 proceeds to take off his great-coat1 revealing thereby1 in addition to the orthodox white cravat1 the most orthodox of white waistcoats4444 ',dark hair1 pale face1 and massive marble brow--that is my ideal of ,mr4 ,ruskin1' said a young lady near us4 ,this proved to be quite a fancy portrait1 as unlike the reality as could well be imagined1 ,mr4 ,ruskin has light sand-coloured hair2 his face is more red than pale2 the mouth well-cut1 with a good deal of decision in its curve1 though somewhat wanting in sustained dignity and strength2 an aquiline nose2 his forehead by no means broad or massive1 but the brows full and well bound together2 the eye we could not see1 in consequence of the shadows that fell upon his countenance from the lights overhead1 but we are sure it must be soft and luminous1 and that the poetry and passion we looked for almost in vain in other features must be concentrated there4#e ,after sitting for a moment or two1 and glancing round at the sheets on the wall as he takes off his gloves1 he rises1 and leaning slightly over the desk1 with his hands folded across1 begins at once1--',you are proud of your good city of ,edinburgh1' etc4 ,footnote #e3 ,mary ,russell ,mitford found him as a young man 'very eloquent and distinguished-looking1 tall1 fair1 and slender1 with a gentle playfulness1 and a sort of pretty waywardness that was quite charming4' ,sydney ,dobell1 again1 in #aheb1 discovered an earnestness pervading every feature1 giving power to a face that otherwise would be merely lovable for its gentleness4 ,and1 finally1 one who visited him at ,denmark ,hill characterized him as emotional and nervous1 with a soft1 genial eye1 a mouth 'thin and severe1' and a voice that1 though rich and sweet1 yet had a tendency to sink into a plaintive and hopeless tone1--,literary ,world1 ,may #ai1 #ahic4 ,and now for the style of the lecture4444 ,properly speaking1 there were two styles essentially distinct1 and not well blended1--a speaking and a writing style2 the former colloquial and spoken off-hand2 the latter rhetorical and carefully read in quite a different voice1--we had almost said intoned4444 ,he has a difficulty in sounding the letter 'r'2 and there is a peculiar tone in the rising and falling of his voice at measured intervals1 in a way scarcely ever heard except in the public lection of the service appointed to be read in churches4 ,these are the two things with which1 perhaps you are most surprised1--his dress and manner of speaking--both of which 7the white waistcoat notwithstanding7 are eminently clerical4 ,you naturally expect1 in one so independent1 a manner free from conventional restraint1 and an utterance1 whatever may be the power of voice1 at least expressive of a strong individuality2 and you find instead a ,christ ,church man of ten years' standing1 who has not yet taken orders2 his dress and manner derived from his college tutor1 and his elocution from the chapel-reader4 ,the lectures were a summing up1 in popular form1 of the chief topics of ,ruskin's thought during the last two years4 ,the first 7,november #a7 stated1 with more decision and warmth than part of his audience approved1 his plea for the ,gothic ,revival1 for the use of ,gothic as a domestic style4 ,the next lecture1 given three days later1 went on to contrast the wealth of ornament in medival buildings with the poor survivals of conventionalized patterns which did duty for decoration in nineteenth-century ,greek architecture2 and he raised a laugh by comparing a typical stonemason's lion with a real tiger's head1 drawn in the ,edinburgh zoological gardens by ,mr4 ,millais4 ,the last two lectures1 on ,november #ae and #ah1 were on ,painting2 briefly reviewing the history of landscape and the life and aims of ,turner2 and finally1 ,christian art and ,sincerity in imagination1 which was now put forth as the guiding principle of ,pre-,raphaelitism4 ,public opinion was violently divided over these lectures2 and they were the cause of much trouble at home4 ,the fact of his lecturing at all aroused strong opposition from his friends and remonstrances from his parents4 ,before the event his mother wrote3 ,i cannot reconcile myself to the thought of your bringing yourself personally before the world till you are somewhat older and stronger4 ,afterwards1 his father1 while apologizing for the word degrading1 is disgusted at his exposing himself to such an interruption as occurred1 and to newspaper comments and personal references4 ,the notion of an itinerant lecturer scandalizes him4 ,he hears from ,harrison and ,holding that ,john is to lecture even at their very doors--in ,camberwell4 ,i see small bills up1 he writes1 with the lecturers' names2 among them ,mr4 ---- who gets your old clothes6 ,and he bids him write to the committee that his parents object to his fulfilling the engagement4 ,he postponed his lecture--for ten years2 but accepted the ,presidency of the ,camberwell ,institute1 which enabled him to appear at their meetings without offence to any4 ,while staying at ,edinburgh1 ,mr4 ,ruskin met the various celebrities of modern ,athens1 some of them at the table of his former fellow-traveller in ,venice1 ,mrs4 ,jameson4 ,he then returned home to prepare the lectures for printing4 ,these lectures as published in ,april1 #ahed were fiercely assailed by the old school2 but a more serious blow fell on him before that month was out4 ,his wife returned to her parents and instituted a suit against him1 to which he made no answer4 ,the marriage was annulled in ,july4 ,a year later she married ,millais4 ,in ,may 7#ahed7 the ,pre-,raphaelites again needed his defence4 ,mr4 ,holman ,hunt exhibited the ,light of the ,world and the ,awakening ,conscience4 ,ruskin made them the theme of two more letters to ,the ,times2 mentioning1 by the way1 the spurious imitations of ,pre-,raphaelite work which were already becoming common4 ,starting for his summer tour on the ,continent1 in the ,simmenthal he wrote a pamphlet on the opening of the ,crystal ,palace4 ,there had been much rejoicing over the new style of architecture in glass and iron1 and its purpose as a palace of art4 ,ruskin who had declined1 in the last chapter of the ,seven ,lamps1 to join in the cry for a new style1 was not at all ready to accept this as any real artistic advance2 and took the opportunity to plead again for the great buildings of the past1 which were being destroyed or neglected1 while the ,british public was glorifying its gigantic greenhouse4 ,the pamphlet practically suggested the establishment of the ,society for the preservation of ancient buildings1 which has since come into operation4 ,this summer of #ahed he projected a study of ,swiss history3 to tell the tale of six chief towns--,geneva1 ,fribourg1 ,basle1 ,thun1 ,baden and ,schaffhausen1 to which in #aheh he added ,rheinfelden and ,bellinzona4 ,he intended to illustrate the work with pictures of the places described4 ,he began with his drawing of ,thun1 a large bird's-eye view of the town with its river and bridges1 roofs and towers1 all exquisitely defined with the pen1 and broadly coloured in fluctuating tints that seem to melt always into the same aerial blue2 the blue1 high up the picture1 beyond the plain1 deepening into distant mountains4 ,but his father wanted to see ,modern ,painters completed1 and so he began his third volume at ,vevey1 with the discussion of the grand style1 in which he at last broke loose from ,reynolds1 as was inevitable1 after his study of ,pre-,raphaelitism1 and all the varied experiences of the last ten years4 ,the lesson of the ,tulse ,hill ivy had been brought home to him in many ways3 he had found it to be more and more true that ,nature is1 after all1 the criterion of art1 and that the greatest painters were always those whose aim1 so far as they were conscious of an aim1 was to take fact for their starting-point4 ,idealism1 beauty1 imagination1 and the rest1 though necessary to art1 could not1 he felt1 be made the object of study2 they were the gift of heredity1 of circumstances1 of national aspirations and virtues2 not to be produced by the best of rules1 or achieved by the best of intentions4 ,what his own view of his own work was can be gathered from a letter to an ,edinburgh student1 written on ,august #f1 #ahed3 ,i am sure ,i never said anything to dissuade you from trying to excel or to do great things4 ,i only wanted you to be sure that your efforts were made with a substantial basis1 so that just in the moment of push your footing might not give way beneath you2 and also ,i wanted you to feel that long and steady effort made in a contented way does more than violent effort made from some strong motive and under some enthusiastic impulse4 ,and ,i repeat--for of this ,i am perfectly sure--that the best things are only to be done in this way4 ,it is very difficult thoroughly to understand the difference between indolence and reserve of strength1 between apathy and severity1 between palsy and patience2 but there is all the difference in the world2 and nearly as many men are ruined by inconsiderate exertions as by idleness itself4 ,to do as much as you can heartily and happily do each day in a well-determined direction1 with a view to far-off results1 with present enjoyment of one's work1 is the only proper1 the only essentially profitable way4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,the ,,working ,,men',s ,,college 7#ahed-ahee7 ,philanthropic instincts1 and a growing sense of the necessity for social reform1 had led ,ruskin for some years past towards a group of liberal thinkers with whom he had little otherwise in common4 ,at ,venice1 in #aheb1 he had written several articles on education1 taxation1 and so forth1 with which he intended to plunge into active politics4 ,his father1 like a cautious man of business who knew his son's powers and thought he knew their limitations1 was strongly opposed to this attempt1 and used every argument against it4 ,he appealed to his son's sensitiveness1 and assured him that he would be flayed unless he wrapped himself in the hide of a rhinoceros4 ,he assured him that1 without being on the spot to follow the discussions of politicians1 it was useless to offer them any opinions whatsoever4 ,and he ended by declaring that it would be the ruin of his business and of his peace of mind if the name of ,ruskin were mixed up with ,radical electioneering3 not that he was unwilling to suffer martyrdom for a cause in which he believed1 but he did not believe in the movements afoot--neither the ,tailors' ,cooperative ,society1 in which their friend ,f4,j4 ,furnivall was interested1 nor in any outcome of ,chartism or ,chartist principles4 ,and so for a time the matter dropped4 ,in #ahed1 the ,rev4 ,f4,d4 ,maurice founded the ,working ,men's ,college4 ,mr4 ,furnivall sent the circulars to ,john ,ruskin2 who thereupon wrote to ,maurice1 and offered his services4 ,at the opening lecture on ,october #ca1 #ahed1 at ,st4 ,martin's ,hall1 ,long ,acre1 ,furnivall distributed to all comers a reprint of the chapter ,on the ,nature of ,gothic1 which we have already noticed as a statement of the conclusions drawn from the study of art respecting the conditions under which the life of the workman should be regulated4 ,ruskin thus appeared as contributing1 so to say1 the manifesto of the movement4 ,he took charge from the commencement of the drawing-classes--first at #ca ,red ,lion ,square1 and afterwards at ,great ,ormond ,street2 also super-intending classes taught by ,messrs4 ,jeffery and ,e4 ,cooke at the ,working ,women's 7afterwards the ,working ,men and ,women's7 ,college1 ,queen ,square4 ,in this labour he had two allies2 one a friend of ,maurice's1 ,lowes ,dickinson1 the well-known artist1 whose portrait of ,maurice was mentioned with honour in the ,notes on the ,academy2 his portrait of ,kingsley hangs in the hall of the novelist-professor's college at ,cambridge4 ,the other helper was new friend4 ,to people who know him only as the elegant theorist of art1 sentimental and egotistic1 as they will have it1 there must be something strange1 almost irreconcilable1 in his devotion1 week after week and year after year1 to these night-classes4 ,still more must it astonish them to find the mystic author of the ,blessed ,damozel1 the passionate painter of the ,venus ,verticordia1 working by ,ruskin's side in this rough navvy-labour of philanthropy4 ,it was early in #ahed that a drawing of ,d4,g4 ,rossetti was sent to ,ruskin by a friend of the painter's4 ,the critic already knew ,millais and ,hunt personally1 but not ,rossetti4 ,he wrote kindly1 signing himself yours respectfully1 which amused the young painter4 ,he made acquaintance1 and in the appendix to his ,edinburgh ,lectures placed ,rossetti's name with those of ,millais and ,hunt1 especially praising their imaginative power1 as rivalling that of the greatest of the old masters4 ,he did more than this4 ,he agreed to buy1 up to a certain sum every year1 any drawings that ,rossetti brought him1 at their market price2 and his standard of money-value for works of art has never been niggardly4 ,this sort of help1 the encouragement to work1 is exactly what makes progress possible to a young and independent artist2 it is better for him than fortuitous exhibition triumphs--much better than the hack-work which many have to undertake1 to eke out their livelihood4 ,and the mere fact of being bought by the eminent art-critic was enough to encourage other patrons4 ,he seems in a mood to make my fortune1 said ,rossetti in the spring of #ahed2 and early in #ahee ,ruskin wrote3 ,it seems to me that1 of all the painters ,i know1 you on the whole have the greatest genius2 and you appear to me also to be--as far as ,i can make out--a very good sort of person1 ,i see that you are unhappy1 and that you can't bring out your genius as you should4 ,it seems to me then the proper and necessary thing1 if ,i can1 to make you more happy2 and that ,i shall be more really useful in enabling you to paint properly1 and keep your room in order1 than in any other way4 ,he did his best to keep that room in order in every sense4 ,anxious to promote the painter's marriage with ,miss ,siddal--,princess ,ida1 as ,ruskin called her--he offered a similar arrangement to that which he had made with ,rossetti2 and began in #ahee to give her #aej a year in exchange for drawings up to that value4 ,rossetti's poems also found a warm admirer and advocate4 ,in #ahef1 ,the ,burden of ,nineveh was published anonymously in the ,oxford and ,cambridge ,magazine2 ,ruskin wrote to ,rossetti that it was glorious and that he wanted to know who was the author1--perhaps not without a suspicion that he was addressing the man who could tell4 ,in #ahfa he guaranteed1 or advanced1 the cost of ,the ,early ,italian ,poets1 up to #ajj1 with ,smith and ,elder2 and endeavoured1 but unsuccessfully1 to induce ,thackeray to find a place for other poems in ,the ,cornhill ,magazine4 ,mr4 ,w4,m4 ,rossetti1 in his book on his brother as ,designer and ,writer and in his ,family ,letters1 draws a pleasant picture of the intimacy between the artist and the critic4 ,at one time1 he says1 ,i am sure they even loved one another4 ,but in #ahfe ,rossetti1 never very tolerant of criticism and patronage1 took in bad part his friend's remonstrances about the details of ,venus ,verticordia4 ,eighteen months later1 ,ruskin tried to renew the old acquaintance4 ,rossetti did not return his call2 and further efforts on ,ruskin's part1 up to #ahgj1 met with little response4 ,but the lecture on ,rossetti in ,the ,art of ,england shows that on one side at least their parting1 as ,mr4 ,w4,m4 ,rossetti says1 was not in anger2 and the portrait of #ahfa1 now in the ,oxford ,university ,galleries1 will remain as a memorial of the ten years' friendship of the two famous men4 ,at ,red ,lion ,square1 during ,lent term1 #ahee1 the three teachers worked together every ,thursday evening4 ,with the beginning of the third term1 ,march #bi1 the increase of the class made it more convenient to divide their forces4 ,rossetti thenceforward taught the figure on another night of the week2 while the elementary and landscape class continued to meet on ,thursdays under ,ruskin and ,lowes ,dickinson4 ,in #ahef the elementary and landscape class was further divided1 ,mr4 ,dickinson taking ,tuesday evenings1 and ,ruskin continuing the ,thursday class1 with the help of ,william ,ward as under-master4 ,later on1 ,g4 ,allen1 ,j4 ,bunney1 and ,w4 ,jeffrey were teachers4 ,burne-,jones1 met in #ahef at ,rossetti's studio1 was also pressed into the service for a time4 ,there were four terms in the ,working ,men's ,college year1 the only vacation1 except for the fortnight at ,christmas1 being from the beginning of ,august to the end of ,october4 ,ruskin did not always attend throughout the summer term1 though sometimes his class came down to him into the country to sketch4 ,he kept up the work without other intermission until ,may1 #aheh1 after which the completion of ,modern ,painters and many lecture-engagements took him away for a time4 ,in the spring of #ahfj he was back at his old post for a term2 but after that he discontinued regular attendance1 and went to the ,working ,men's ,college only at intervals1 to give addresses or informal lectures to students and friends4 ,on such occasions the drawing-room or first floor of the house in which the ,college was held would be always crowded1 with an audience who heard the lecturer at his best2 speaking freely among friends out of a full treasure-house things new and old--accounts of recent travel1 lately-discovered glories of art1 and the growing burden of the prophecy that in those years was beginning to take more definite shape in his mind4 ,as a teacher1 ,ruskin spared no pains to make the work interesting4 ,he provided--,mr4 ,e4 ,cooke informs me that he was the first to provide--casts from natural leaves and fruit in place of the ordinary conventional ornament2 and he sent a tree to be fixed in a corner of the class-room for light and shade studies4 ,mr4 ,w4 ,ward in the preface to the volume of letters already quoted says that he used to bring his minerals and shells1 and rare engravings and drawings1 to show them4 ,his delightful way of talking about these things afforded us most valuable lessons4 ,to give an example3 he one evening took for his subject a cap1 and with pen and ink showed us how ,rembrandt would have etched1 and ,albert ,drer engraved it4 ,this at once explained to us the different ideas and methods of the two masters4 ,on another evening he would take a subject from ,turner's ',liber ,studiorum1' and with a large sheet of paper and some charcoal1 gradually block in the subject1 explaining at the same time the value and effect of the lines and masses4 ,and for sketching from nature he would take his class out into the country1 and wind up with tea and talk4 ,it was a treat to hear and see him with his men1 writes ,dr4 ,furnivall4 ,his object in the work1 as he said before the ,royal ,commission on ,national ,institutions1 was not to make artists1 but to make the workmen better men1 to develop their powers and feelings1--to educate them1 in short4 ,he always has urged young people intending to study art as a profession to enter the ,academy ,schools1 as ,turner and the ,pre-,raphaelites did1 or to take up whatever other serious course of practical discipline was open to them4 ,but he held very strongly that everybody could learn drawing1 that their eyes could be brightened and their hands steadied1 and that they could be taught to appreciate the great works of nature and of art1 without wanting to make pictures or to exhibit and sell them4 ,it was with this intention that he wrote the ,elements of ,drawing in #ahef1 supplemented by the ,elements of ,perspective in #ahei2 the illustrations for the book were characteristic sketches by the author1 beautifully cut by his pupil1 ,w4,h4 ,hooper1 who was one of a band of engravers and copyists formed by these classes at the ,working ,men's ,college4 ,in spite of the intention not to make artists by his teaching1 ,ruskin could not prevent some of his pupils from taking up art as a profession2 and those who did so became1 in their way1 first-rate men4 ,george ,allen as a mezzotint engraver1 ,arthur ,burgess as a draughtsman and wood-cutter1 ,john ,bunney as a painter of architectural detail1 ,w4 ,jeffery as an artistic photographer1 ,e4 ,cooke as a teacher1 ,william ,ward as a facsimile copyist1 have all done work whose value deserves acknowledgment1 all the more because it was not aimed at popular effect1 but at the severe standard of the greater schools4 ,but these men were only the side issue of the ,working ,men's ,college enterprise4 ,its real result was in the proof that the labouring classes could be interested in ,art2 and that the capacity shown by the ,gothic workman had not entirely died out of the nation1 in spite of the interregnum1 for a full century1 of manufacture4 ,and the experience led ,ruskin forward to wider views on the nature of the arts1 and on the duties of philanthropic effort and social economy4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,modern ,,painters ,,continued 7#ahee-ahef7 ,it was in the year #ahee that ,ruskin first published ,notes on the ,royal ,academy and other ,exhibitions4 ,he had been so often called upon to write his opinion of ,pre-,raphaelite pictures1 either privately or to the newspapers1 or to mark his friends' catalogues1 that he found at last less trouble in printing his notes once for all4 ,the new plan was immediately popular2 three editions of the pamphlet were called for between ,june #a and ,july #a4 ,next year he repeated the ,notes and six editions were sold4 ,in spite of a dissentient voice here and there1 he was really by that time recognised as the leading authority upon taste in painting4 ,he was trusted by a great section of the public1 who had not failed to notice how completely he and his friends were winning the day4 ,the proof of it was in the fact that they were being imitated on all sides2 ,ruskinism in writing and ,pre-,raphaelitism in painting were becoming fashionable4 ,but at the same time the movement gave rise to the ,naturalist-landscape school1 a group of painters who threw overboard the traditions of ,turner and ,prout1 ,constable and ,harding1 and the rest1 just as the ,pre-,raphaelite ,brethren threw over the ,academical masters4 ,for such men their study was their picture2 they devised tents and huts in wild glens and upon waste moors1 and spent weeks in elaborating their details directly from nature1 instead of painting at home from sketches on the spot4 ,this was the fulfilment of his advice to young artists2 and so far as young artists worked in this way1 for purposes of study1 he encouraged them4 ,but he did not fail to point out that this was not all that could be required of them4 ,even such a work as ,brett's ,val d',aosta1 marvellous as it was in observation and finish1 was only the beginning of a new era1 not its consummation4 ,it was not the painting of detail that could make a great artist2 but the knowledge of it1 and the masterly use of such knowledge4 ,a great landscapist would know the facts and effects of nature1 just as ,tintoret knew the form of the human figure2 and he would treat them with the same freedom1 as the means of expressing great ideas1 of affording by the imagination noble grounds for noble emotion1 which1 as ,ruskin had been writing at ,vevey in #ahed1 was poetry4 ,meanwhile the public and the critic ought to become familiar with the aspects of nature1 in order to recognise the difference between the true poetry of painting1 and the mere empty sentimentalism which was only the rant and bombast of landscape art4 ,with such feelings as these he wrote the third and fourth volumes of ,modern ,painters1 7published respectively ,january #ae and ,april #ad1 #ahef74 ,the work was afterwards interrupted only by a recurrence of his old cough1 in the exceptionally cold summer of #ahee4 ,he went down to ,tunbridge ,wells1 where his cousin1 ,william ,richardson of ,perth1 was practising as a doctor2 it was not long before the cough gave way to treatment1 and he was as busy as ever4 ,about ,october of that year he wrote to ,mrs4 ,carlyle as follows1 in a letter printed by ,professor ,c4,e4 ,norton1 conveniently summing up his year3 ,not that ,i have not been busy--and very busy1 too4 ,i have written1 since ,may1 good six hundred pages1 had them rewritten1 cut up1 corrected1 and got fairly ready for press--and am going to press with the first of them on ,gunpowder ,plot day1 with a great hope of disturbing the ,public ,peace in various directions4 ,also1 ,i have prepared above thirty drawings for engravers this year1 retouched the engravings 7generally the worst part of the business71 and etched some on steel myself4 ,in the course of the six hundred pages ,i have had to make various remarks on ,german ,metaphysics1 on ,poetry1 ,political ,economy1 ,cookery1 ,music1 ,geology1 ,dress1 ,agriculture1 ,horticulture1 and ,navigation1#f all of which subjects ,i have had to 'read up' accordingly1 and this takes time4 ,moreover1 ,i have had my class of workmen out sketching every week in the fields during the summer2 and have been studying ,spanish proverbs with my father's partner1 who came over from ,spain to see the ,great ,exhibition4 ,i have also designed and drawn a window for the ,museum at ,oxford2 and have every now and then had to look over a parcel of five or six new designs for fronts and backs to the said ,museum4 ,footnote #f3 ,most of these subjects will be easily recognised in ,modern ,painters1 ,vols4 ,,iii4 and ,,iv4 ,the ,navigation refers to the ,harbours of ,england4 ,during my above-mentioned studies of horticulture1 ,i became dissatisfied with the ,linnan1 ,jussieuan1 and ,everybody-elseian arrangement of plants1 and have accordingly arranged a system of my own2 and unbound my botanical book1 and rebound it in brighter green1 with all the pages through-other1 and backside foremost--so as to cut off all the old paging numerals2 and am now printing my new arrangement in a legible manner1 on interleaved foolscap4 ,i consider this arrangement one of my great achievements of the year4 ,my studies of political economy have induced me to think also that nobody knows anything about that2 and ,i am at present engaged in an investigation1 on independent principles1 of the natures of money1 rent1 and taxes1 in an abstract form1 which sometimes keeps me awake all night4 ,my studies of ,german metaphysics have also induced me to think that the ,germans don't know anything about them2 and to engage in a serious enquiry into the meaning of ,bunsen's great sentence in the beginning of the second volume of the ',hippolytus1' about the ,finite realization of ,infinity2 which has given me some trouble4 ,the course of my studies of ,navigation necessitated my going to ,deal to look at the ,deal boats2 and those of geology to rearrange all my minerals 7and wash a good many1 which1 ,i am sorry to say1 ,i found wanted it74 ,i have also several pupils1 far and near1 in the art of illumination2 an ,american young lady to direct in the study of landscape painting1 and a ,yorkshire young lady to direct in the purchase of ,turners1--and various little bye things besides4 ,but ,i am coming to see you4 ,the tone of humorous exaggeration of his discoveries and occupations was very characteristic4 ,but he was then growing into the habit of leaving the matter in hand1 as he often did afterwards1 to follow side issues1 and to take up new studies with a hasty and divided attention2 the result of which was seen in his sub-title for the third volume of ,modern ,painters--,of ,many ,things2 which amused his readers not a little4 ,but that he still had time for his friends is seen in the account of a visit to ,denmark ,hill1 written this year by ,james ,smetham4 ,i walked there through the wintry weather1 and got in about dusk4 ,one or two gossiping details will interest you before ,i give you what ,i care for2 and so ,i will tell you that he has a large house with a lodge1 and a valet and footman and coachman1 and grand rooms glittering with pictures1 chiefly ,turner's1 and that his father and mother live with him1 or he with them4444 ,his father is a fine old gentleman1 who has a lot of bushy gray hair1 and eyebrows sticking up all rough and knowing1 with a comfortable way of coming up to you with his hands in his pockets1 and making you comfortable1 and saying1 in answer to your remark1 that ',john's' prose works are pretty good4 ,his mother is a ruddy1 dignified1 richly dressed old gentlewoman of seventy-five1 who knows ,chamonix better than ,camberwell2 evidently a good old lady1 with the ',christian ,treasury'tossing about on the table4 ,she puts ',john' down1 and holds her own opinions1 and flatly contradicts him2 and he receives all her opinions with a soft reverence and gentleness that is pleasant to witness4444 ,i wish ,i could reproduce a good impression of ',john' for you1 to give you the notion of his 'perfect gentleness and lowlihood4' ,he certainly bursts out with a remark1 and in a contradictious way1 but only because he believes it1 with no air of dogmatism or conceit4 ,he is different at home from that which he is in a lecture before a mixed audience1 and there is a spiritual sweetness in the half-timid expression of his eyes2 and in bowing to you1 as in taking wine1 with 7if ,i heard aright7 ',i drink to thee1' he had a look that has followed me1 a look bordering on tearful4 ,he spent some time in this way4 ,unhanging a ,turner from the wall of a distant room1 he brought it to the table and put it in my hands2 then we talked2 then he went up into his study to fetch down some illustrative print or drawing2 in one case1 a literal view which he had travelled fifty miles to make1 in order to compare with the picture4 ,and so he kept on gliding all over the house1 hanging and unhanging1 and stopping a few minutes to talk4 ,and yet there were many with whom he had to deal who did not look at things in his light2 who took his criticism as personal attack1 and resented it with bitterness4 ,there is a story told 7but not by himself7 about one of the ,notes on the ,academy1 which he was then publishing--how he wrote to an artist therein mentioned that he regretted he could not speak more favourably of his picture1 but he hoped it would make no difference in their friendship4 ,the artist replied 7so they say7 in these terms3 ,dear ,ruskin1--,next time ,i meet you1 ,i shall knock you down2 but ,i hope it will make no difference in our friendship4 ,damn the fellow6 why doesn't he stand up for his friends8 said another disappointed acquaintance4 ,perhaps ,ruskin1 secure in his house with a lodge1 and a valet and footman and coachman1 hardly realized that a cold word from his pen sometimes meant the failure of an important ,academy picture1 and serious loss of income--that there was bitter truth underlying ,punch's complaint of the ,academician3 ,i paints and paints4 ,hears no complaints1 ,and sells before ,i'm dry2 ,till savage ,ruskin ,sticks his tusk in1 ,and nobody will buy4 ,against these incidents should be set such an anecdote as the following1 told by ,mr4 ,j4,j4 ,ruskin in a letter of ,june #c1 #aheh3 ,vokins wished me to name to you that ,carrick1 when he read your criticism on ',weary ,life1' came to him with the cheque ,vokins had given1 and said your remarks were all right1 and that he could not take the price paid by ,vokins the buyer2 he would alter the picture4 ,vokins took back the money1 only agreeing to see the picture when it was done4 ,john ,ruskin in reply said he did not see why ,carrick should have returned the cheque4 ,a letter from ,mrs4 ,browning describes a visit to ,denmark ,hill1 and ends1--,i like ,mr4 ,ruskin very much1 and so does ,robert2 very gentle1 yet earnest--refined and truthful4 ,i like him very much4 ,we count him one among the valuable acquaintances made this year in ,england4 ,this has been dated #ahee2 but ,ruskin1 writing to ,miss ,mitford from ,glenfinlas1 #agth ,august1 #ahec1 says1 ,i had the pleasure this spring1 of being made acquainted with your dear ,elizabeth ,browning1 as well as with her husband4 ,i was of course prepared to like her1 but ,i did not expect to like him as much as ,i did4 ,i think he is really a very fine fellow1 and she is the only sensible woman ,i have yet met with on the subject of ,italian politics4 ,evidently a noble creature in all things4 ,in ,june1 #ahej1 he had met ,robert ,browning1 on the invitation of ,coventry ,patmore1 and said3 ,he is the only person whom ,i have ever heard talk ration-ally about the ,italians1 though on the ,liberal side4 ,in these volumes of ,modern ,painters he had to discuss the ,medival and ,renaissance spirit in its relation to art1 and to illustrate from ,browning's poetry1 unerring in every sentence he writes of the ,middle ,ages1 always vital and right and profound2 so that in the matter of art there is hardly a principle connected with the medival temper that he has not struck upon in those seemingly careless and too rugged lines of his4 ,this was written twenty-five years before the ,browning ,society was heard of1 and at a time when the style of ,browning was an offence to most people4 ,to ,ruskin1 also1 it had been some1 thing of a puzzle2 and he wrote to the poet1 asking him to explain himself2 which the poet accordingly did4 ,that ,ruskin was open to conviction and conversion could be shown from the difference in his tone of thought about poetry before and after this period2 that he was the best of friends with the man who took him to task for narrowness1 may be seen from the following letter1 written on the next ,christmas ,eve3 ,,my ,,dear ,,mr4 ,,ruskin1 ,your note having just arrived1 ,robert deputes me to write for him while he dresses to go out on an engagement4 ,it is the evening4 ,all the hours are wasted1 since the morning1 through our not being found at the ,rue de ,grenelle1 but here--and our instinct of self-preservation or self-satisfaction insists on our not losing a moment more by our own fault4 ,thank you1 thank you for sending us your book1 and also for writing my husband's name in it4 ,it will be the same thing as if you had written mine--except for the pleasure1 as you say1 which is greater so4 ,how good and kind you are6 ,and not well4 ,that is worst4 ,surely you would be better if you had the summer in winter we have here4 ,but ,i was to write only a word--,let it say how affectionately we regard you4 ,,elizabeth ,,barrett ,,browning #c1 ,,rue ,,du ,,colys,e1 ,thursday ,evening1 #bdth 7,december1 #ahee74 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,political ,,economy ,,of ,,art 7#aheg-aheh7 ,the humble work of the drawing-classes at ,great ,ormond ,street was teaching ,ruskin even more than he taught his pupils4 ,it was showing him how far his plans were practicable2 how they should be modified2 how they might be improved2 and especially what more1 beside drawing-classes1 was needed to realize his ideal4 ,he was anxiously willing to co-operate with every movement1 to join hands with any kind of man1 to go anywhere1 do anything that might promote the cause he had at heart4 ,already at the end of #ahed he had given three lectures1 his second course1 at the ,architectural ,museum1 specially addressed to workmen in the decorative trades4 ,his subjects were design and colour1 and his illustrations were chiefly drawn from medival illumination1 which he had long been studying4 ,these were informal1 quasi-private affairs1 which nevertheless attracted notice owing to the celebrity of the speaker4 ,it would have been better if his addresses had been carefully prepared and authentically published2 for a chance word here and there raised replies about matters of detail in which his critics thought they had gained a technical advantage1 adding weight to his father's desire not to see him expose himself in this way4 ,there were no more lectures until the beginning of #aheg4 ,on ,january #bcrd1 #aheg1 he spoke before the ,architectural ,association upon ,the ,influence of ,imagination in ,architecture1 repeating and amplifying what he had said at ,edinburgh about the subordinate value of proportion1 and the importance of sculptured ornament based on natural forms4 ,this of course would involve the creation of a class of stone-carvers who could be trusted with the execution of such work4 ,once grant the value of it1 and public demand would encourage the supply1 and the workmen would raise themselves in the effort4 ,a louder note was sounded in an address at the ,st4 ,martin's ,school of ,art1 ,castle ,street1 ,long ,acre 7,april #crd1 #aheg71 where1 speaking after ,george ,cruikshank1 his old friend--practically his first master--and an enthusiastic philanthropist and temperance advocate1 ,ruskin gave his audience a wider view of art than they had known before3 the kind of painting they most wanted in ,london was painting cheeks red with health4 ,this was anticipating the standpoint of the ,oxford ,lectures1 and showed how the inquiry was beginning to take a much broader aspect4 ,another work in a similar spirit1 the ,north ,london ,school of ,design1 had been prosperously started by a circle of men under ,pre-,raphaelite influence1 and led by ,thomas ,seddon4 ,he had given up historical and poetic painting for naturalistic landscape1 and had returned from the ,east with the most valuable studies completed1 only to break down and die prematurely4 ,his friends1 among them ,holman ,hunt1 were collecting money to buy from the widow his picture of ,jerusalem from the ,mount of ,olives1 to present it to the ,national ,gallery as a memorial of him2 and at a meeting for the purpose1 ,ruskin spoke warmly of his labours in the cause of the working classes4 ,in the summer of #aheg the ,art ,treasures ,exhibition was held at ,manchester1 and ,ruskin was invited to lecture4 ,the theme he chose was ,the ,political ,economy of ,art4 ,he had been studying political economy for some time back1 but1 as we saw from his letter to ,carlyle1 he had found no answer in the ordinary text-books for the questions he tried to put4 ,he wanted to know what ,bentham and ,ricardo and ,mill1 the great authorities1 would advise him as to the best way of employing artists1 of educating workmen1 of elevating public taste1 of regulating patronage2 but these subjects were not in their programme4 ,and so he put together his own thoughts into two lectures upon ,art considered as ,wealth3 first1 how to get it2 next1 how to use it4#g ,footnote #g3 ,july #aj and #ac1 #aheg4 ,he went to ,manchester from ,oxford1 where he had been staying with the ,liddells1 writing enthusiastically of the beauty of their children and the charm of their domestic life4 ,there were very few points in these lectures that were not vigorously contested at the moment1 and conceded in the sequel--in some form or other4 ,the paternal function of government1 the right of the state to interfere in matters beyond its traditional range1 its duty with regard to education--all this was quite contrary to the prevailing habits of thought of the time1 especially at ,manchester1 the headquarters of the laissez faire school2 but to ,ruskin1 who1 curiously enough1 had just then been referring sarcastically to ,german philosophy1 knowing it only at second-hand1 and unaware of ,hegel's political work--to him this ,platonic conception of the state was the only possible one1 as it is to most people nowadays4 ,in the same way1 his practical advice has been accepted1 perhaps unwittingly1 by our times4 ,we do now understand the difference between artistic decoration and machine-made wares2 we do now try to preserve ancient monuments1 and to use art as a means of education4 ,and we are in a fair way1 it seems1 of lowering the price of modern pictures1 as he bids us1 to not more than #ejj for an oil picture and #ajj for a water-colour4 ,after a visit to the ,trevelyans at ,wallington he went with his parents to ,scotland2 for his mother1 now beginning to grow old1 wanted to revisit the scenes of her youth4 ,they went to the ,highlands and as far north as the ,bay of ,cromarty1 and then returned by way of the ,abbeys of the ,lowlands1 to look up ,turner sites1 as he had done in #ahde on the ,st4 ,gothard4 ,from the enjoyment of this holiday he was recalled to ,london by a letter from ,mr4 ,wornum saying that he could arrange the ,turner drawings at the ,national ,gallery4 ,his first letter on the ,national ,gallery1 in #ahdg1 has been noticed4 ,he had written again to ,the ,times 7,december #bith1 #aheb71 pressing the same point--namely1 that if the pictures were put under glass no cleaning nor restoring would be needed2 and that the ,gallery ought not to be considered as a grand hall1 decorated with pictures1 but as a convenient museum1 with a chronological sequence of the best works of all schools1--every picture hung on the line and accompanied by studies for it1 if procurable1 and engravings from it4 ,now--in #aheg--question was raised of removing the ,national ,gallery from ,trafalgar ,square4 ,the ,south ,kensington ,museum was being formed1 and the whole business of arranging the national art treasures was gone into by a ,royal ,commission1 consisting of ,lord ,broughton 7in the chair71 ,dean ,milman1 ,prof4 ,faraday1 ,prof4 ,cockerell1 and ,george ,richmond4 ,ruskin was examined before them on ,april #fth1 and re-stated the opinions he had written to ,the ,times1 adding that he would like to see two ,national ,galleries--one of popular interest1 containing such works as would catch the public eye and enlist the sympathy of the untaught2 and another containing only the cream of the collections1 in pictures1 sculpture and the decorative crafts1 arranged for purposes of study4 ,this was suggested as an ideal2 of course1 it would involve more outlay1 and less display1 than any ,parliamentary vote would sanction1 or party leader risk4 ,another question of importance was the disposal of the pictures and sketches which ,turner had left to the nation4 ,ruskin was one of the executors under the will2 but1 on finding that1 though ,turner's intention was plain1 there were technical informalities which would make the administration anything but easy1 he declined to act4 ,it was not until #ahef that the litigation was concluded1 and ,turner's pictures and sketches were handed to the ,trustees of the ,national ,gallery4 ,ruskin1 whose want of legal knowledge had made his services useless before1 now felt that he could carry out the spirit of ,turner's will by offering to arrange the sketches2 which were in such a state of confusion that only some person with knowledge of the artist's habits of work and subjects could1 so to speak1 edit them2 and the editor would need no ordinary skill1 patience and judgment1 into the bargain4 ,meanwhile1 for that winter 7#ahef-g7 a preliminary exhibition was held of ,turner's oil-paintings1 with a few water-colours1 at ,marlborough ,house1 then the headquarters of the ,department of ,science and ,art1 soon afterwards removed to ,south ,kensington4 ,ruskin wrote a catalogue1 with analysis of ,turner's periods of development and characteristics2 which made the collection intelligible and interesting to curious sight-seers4 ,they showed their appreciation by taking up five editions in rapid succession4 ,just before lecturing at ,manchester1 he wrote again on the subject to ,the ,times2 and in ,september his friend ,r4,n4 ,wornum1 ,director of the ,national ,gallery in succession to ,eastlake and ,uwins1 wrote--as we saw--that he might arrange the sketches as he pleased4 ,he returned from ,scotland1 and set to work on ,october #gth4 ,it was strange employment for a man of his powers2 almost as removed from the ,epicurean ,olympus of cultured ease popularly assigned to him1 as night-school teaching and lecturing to workmen4 ,but1 beside that it was the carrying out of ,turner's wishes1 he always had a certain love for experimenting in manual toil2 and this was work in which his extreme neatness and deftness of hand was needed1 no less than his knowledge and judgment4 ,during the winter for full six months1 he and his two assistants worked1 all day and every day1 among the masses of precious rubbish that had been removed from ,queen ,anne ,street to the ,national ,gallery4 ,mr4 ,j4,j4 ,ruskin wrote1 on ,february #ai and #ba1 #aheb3 ,i have just been through ,turner's house with ,griffith4 ,his labour is more astonishing than his genius4 ,there are #hj1jjj of oil pictures done and undone--,boxes half as big as your ,study ,table1 filled with ,drawings and ,sketches4 ,there are ,copies of ,liber ,studiorum to fill all your ,drawers and more1 and ,house ,walls of proof plates in ,reams--they may go at #a_/-;each4444 ,nothing since ,pompeii so impressed me as the interior of ,turner's house2 the accumulated dust of #dj years partially cleared off2 ,daylight for the first time admitted by opening a window on the finest productions of art buried for #dj years4 ,the ,drawing ,room has1 it is reckoned1 #be1jjj worth of proofs1 and sketches1 and ,drawings1 and ,prints4 ,it is amusing to hear ,dealers saying there can be no ,liber ,studiorums--when ,i saw neatly packed and well labelled as many ,bundles of ,liber ,studiorum as would fill your entire ,bookcase1 and ,england and ,wales proofs in packed and labelled ,bundles like ,reams of paper1 as ,i told you1 piled nearly to ,ceiling 444 ,the house must be dry as a ,bone--the parcels were apparently quite uninjured4 ,the very large pictures were spotted1 but not much4 ,they stood leaning against another in the large low ,rooms4 ,some finished go to ,nation1 many unfinished not3 no frames4 ,two are given unconditional of ,gallery ,building--very fine3 if 7and this is a condition7 placed beside ,claude4 ,the style much like the laying on in ,windmill ,lock in ,dealer's hands1 which1 now it is cleaned1 comes out a real ,beauty4 ,i believe ,turner loved it4 ,the will desires all to be framed and repaired and put into the best showing state2 as if he could not release his money to do this till he was dead4 ,the ,top of his ,gallery is one ruin of ,glass and patches of paper1 now only just made weather-proof 444 ,i saw in ,turner's ,rooms1 ,geo4 ,morlands and ,wilsons and ,claudes and portraits in various stiles all by ,turner4 ,he copied every man1 was every man first1 and took up his own style1 casting all others away4 ,it seems to me you may keep your money and revel for ever and for nothing among ,turner's ,works4 ,among the quantities so recklessly thrown aside for dust1 damp1 soot1 mice and worms to destroy--some #ae1jjj ,ruskin reckoned at first1 #ai1jjj later on--there were many fine drawings1 which had been used by the engravers1 and vast numbers of interesting and valuable studies in colour and in pencil4 ,four hundred of these were extricated from the chaos1 and with infinite pains cleaned1 flattened1 mounted1 dated and described1 and placed in sliding frames in cabinets devised by ,ruskin1 or else in swivel frames1 to let both sides of the paper be seen4 ,the first results of the work were shown in an ,exhibition at ,marlborough ,house during the winter1 for which he wrote another catalogue4 ,of the whole collection he began a more complete account1 which was too elaborate to be finished in that form2 but in #ahha he published a ,catalogue of the ,drawings and ,sketches of ,j ,m4,w4 ,turner1 ,r4,a41 at present exhibited in the ,national ,gallery1 so that his plan was practically fulfilled4 ,during #aheh ,ruskin continued to lecture at various places on subjects connected with his ,manchester addresses--the relation of art to manufacture1 and especially the dependence of all great architectural design upon sculpture or painting of organic form4 ,the first of the series was given at the opening of the ,architectural ,museum at ,south ,kensington1 ,january #acth1 #aheh1 entitled ,the ,deteriorative ,power of ,conventional ,art over ,nations2 in which he showed that naturalism1 as opposed to meaningless pattern-making1 was always a sign of life4 ,for example1 the strength of the ,greek1 ,florentine and ,venetian art arose out of the search for truth1 not1 as it is often supposed1 out of striving after an ideal of beauty2 and as soon as nature was superseded by recipe1 the greatest schools hastened to their fall4 ,from which he concluded that modern design should always be founded on natural form1 rather than upon the traditional patterns of the east or of the medivals4 ,on ,february #afth he spoke on ,the ,work of ,iron1 in ,nature1 ,art and ,policy1 at ,tunbridge ,wells2 a subject similar to that of his address to the ,st4 ,martin's ,school of the year before1 but amplified into a plea for the use of wrought-iron ornament1 as in the new ,oxford ,museum1 then building1 and on ,april #beth he again addressed ,st4 ,martin's ,school4 ,the ,oxford ,museum was an experiment in the true ,gothic revival4 ,the architects1 ,sir ,thomas ,deane and ,benjamin ,woodward1 had allowed their workmen to design parts of the detail1 such as capitals and spandrils1 quite in the spirit of ,ruskin's teaching1 and the work was accordingly of deep interest to him4 ,so far back as ,april1 #ahef1 he had given an address to the men employed at the ,museum1 whom he met1 on ,dr4 ,acland's invitation1 at the ,workmen's ,reading ,rooms4 ,he said that his object was not to give some labouring men the chance of becoming masters of other labouring men1 and to help the few at the expense of the many1 but to lead them to those sources of pleasure1 and power over their own minds and hands1 that more educated people possess4 ,he did not sympathize with the socialism that had been creeping into vogue since #ahdh4 ,he thought existing social arrangements good1 and he agreed with his friends1 the ,carlyles1 who had found that it was only the incapable who could not get work4 ,but it was the fault of the wealthy and educated that working people were not better trained2 it was not the working-men's fault1 at bottom4 ,the modern architect used his workman as a mere tool2 while the ,gothic spirit set him free as an original designer1 to gain--not more wages and higher social rank1 but pleasure and instruction1 the true happiness that lies in good work well done4 ,to explain the design of the ,oxford ,museum and to enlist support1 he wrote two letters to ,dr4 ,acland 7,may #beth1 #aheh1 and ,january #bjth1 #ahei71 which formed part of a small book1 reporting its aims and progress1 illustrated with an engraving of one of the workmen's capitals4 ,ruskin himself contributed both time and money to the work1 and his assistance was not unrecognised4 ,in #aheh ,honorary ,studentships 7i4e41 fellowships7 were created at ,christ ,church by the ,commissioners' ordinances4 ,at the first election held1 ,december #fth1 #aheh1 there were chosen for the compliment ,ruskin1 ,gladstone1 ,sir ,g4 ,cornewall ,lewis1 ,dr4 7,sir7 ,h4,w4 ,acland1 and ,sir ,f4,h4 ,gore ,ouseley4 ,at the second1 ,december #aeth1 #aheh1 were elected ,henry ,hallam1 the ,earl of ,stanhope1 the ,earl of ,elgin1 the ,marquis of ,dalhousie and ,viscount ,canning4 ,parallel with this movement for educating the working-class1 there was the scheme for the improvement of middle-class education1 which was then going on at ,oxford--the beginning of ,university ,extension--supported by the ,rev4 ,f4 ,temple 7later ,archbishop of ,canterbury71 and ,mr4 7afterwards ,sir7 ,thomas ,dyke ,acland4 ,ruskin was heartily for them2 and in a letter on the subject1 he tried to show how the teaching of ,art might be made to work in with the scheme4 ,he did not think that in this plan1 any more than at the ,working ,men's ,college1 there need be an attempt to teach drawing with a view to forming artists2 but there were three objects they might hold in view3 the first1 to give every student the advantage of the happiness and knowledge which the study of ,art conveys2 the next1 to enforce some knowledge of ,art amongst those who were likely to become patrons or critics2 and the last1 to leave no ,giotto lost among hill shepherds4 ,,chapter ,x ,,modern ,,painters ,,concluded 7#ahch-ahfj7 ,oxford and old friends did not monopolise ,ruskin's attention3 he was soon seen at ,cambridge--on the same platform with ,richard ,redgrave1 ,r4,a41 the representative of ,academicism and officialism--at the opening of the ,school of ,art for workmen on ,october #bith1 #aheh4 ,his ,inaugural ,address struck a deeper note1 a wider chord1 than previous essays2 it was the forecast of the last volume of ,modern ,painters1 and it sketched the train of thought into which he had been led during his tour abroad1 that summer4 ,the battles between faith and criticism1 between the historical and the scientific attitudes1 which had been going on in his mind1 were taking a new form4 ,at the outset1 we saw1 naturalism overpowered respect for tradition--in the first volume of ,modern ,painters2 then the historical tendency won the day1 in the second volume4 ,since that time1 the critical side had been gathering strength1 by his alliance with liberal movements and by his gradual detachment from associations that held him to the older order of thought4 ,as in his lonely journey of #ahde he first took independent ground upon questions of religion and social life1 so in #aheh1 once more travelling alone1 he was led by his meditations1--freed from the restraining presence of his parents--to conclusions which he had been all these years evading1 yet finding at last inevitable4 ,he went abroad for a third attempt to write and illustrate his ,history of ,swiss ,towns4 ,he spent part of ,may on the ,upper ,rhine between ,basle and ,schaffhausen1 ,june and half of ,july on the ,st4 ,gothard route and at ,bellinzona4 ,in reflecting over the sources of ,swiss character1 as connected with the question of the nature of art and its origin in morality1 he was struck with the fact that all the virtues of the ,swiss did not make them artistic4 ,compared with most nations they were as children in painting1 music and poetry4 ,and1 indeed1 they ranked with the early phases of many great nations--the period of pristine simplicity uncorrupted by the arts4 ,from ,bellinzona he went to ,turin on his way to the ,vaudois ,valleys1 where he meant to compare the ,waldensian ,protestants with the ,swiss4 ,accidentally he saw ,paul ,veronese's ,queen of ,sheba and other ,venetian pictures2 and so fell to comparing a period of fully ripened art with one of artlessness2 discovering that the mature art1 while it appeared at the same time with decay in morals1 did not spring from that decay1 but was rooted in the virtues of the earlier age4 ,he grasped a clue to the puzzle1 in the generalisation that ,art is the product of human happiness2 it is contrary to asceticism2 it is the expression of pleasure4 ,but when the turning point of national progress is once reached1 and art is regarded as the laborious incitement to pleasure1--no longer the spontaneous blossom and fruit of it1--the decay sets in for art as for morality4 ,art1 in short1 is created by pleasure1 not for pleasure4 ,the standard of thought1 the attitude of mind1 of the ,waldensians1 he now perceived to be quite impossible for himself4 ,he could not look upon every one outside their fold as heathens and publicans2 he could not believe that the pictures of ,paul ,veronese were works of iniquity1 nor that the motives of great deeds in earlier ages were lying superstitions4 ,he took courage to own to himself and others that it was no longer any use trying to identify his point of view with that of ,protestantism4 ,he saw both ,protestants and ,roman ,catholics1 in the perspective of history1 converging into a primitive1 far distant1 ideal unity of ,christianity1 in which he still believed2 but he could take neither side1 after this4 ,the first statement of the new point of view was1 as we said1 the ,inaugural ,lecture of the ,cambridge ,school of ,art4 ,the next important utterance was at ,manchester1 ,february #bbnd1 #ahei1 where he spoke on the ,unity of ,art1 by which he meant--not the fraternity of handicrafts with painting1 as the term is used nowadays--but that1 in whatever branch of ,art1 the spirit of ,truth or ,sincerity is the same4 ,in this lecture there is a very important passage showing how he had at last got upon firm ground in the question of art and morality3 ,i do ,,not say in the least that in order to be a good painter you must be a good man2 but ,i do say that in order to be a good natural painter there must be strong elements of good in the mind1 however warped by other parts of the character4 ,so emphatic a statement deserves more attention than it has received from readers and writers who assume to judge ,ruskin's views after a slight acquaintance with his earlier works4 ,he was well aware himself that his mind had been gradually enlarging1 and his thoughts changing2 and he soon saw as great a difference between himself at forty and at twenty-five1 as he had formerly seen between the ,boy poet and the ,art critic4 ,he became as anxious to forget his earlier books1 as he had been to forget his verse-writing2 and when he came to collect his ,works1 these lectures1 under the title of ,the ,two ,paths1 were 7with ,the ,political ,economy of ,art7 the earliest admitted into the library4 ,after this ,manchester lecture he took a driving tour in ,yorkshire--posting in the old-fashioned way--halting at ,bradford for the lecture on ,modern ,manufacture and ,design 7,march #ast71 and ending with a visit to the school at ,winnington1 of which more in a later chapter4 ,in #ahei the last ,academy ,notes1 for the time being1 were published4 ,the ,pre-,raphaelite cause had been fully successful1 and the new school of naturalist landscape was rapidly asserting itself4 ,old friends were failing1 such as ,stanfield1 ,lewis1 and ,roberts3 but new men were growing up1 among whom ,ruskin welcomed ,g4,d4 ,leslie1 ,f4 ,goodall1 ,j4,c4 ,hook1--who had come out of his ,pre-,raphaelite measles into the healthy naturalism of ,luff ,boy6--,clarence ,whaite1 ,henry ,holiday1 and ,john ,brett1 who showed the ,val d',aosta4 ,millais' ,vale of ,rest was the picture which attracted most notice3 something of the old rancour against the school was revived in the ,morning ,herald1 which called his works impertinences1 contemptible1 indelible disgrace1 and so on4 ,it was the beginning of a transition from the delicacy of the ,pre-,raphaelite ,millais to his later style2 and as such the preacher of ,all great art is delicate could not entirely defend it4 ,but the serious strength of the imagination and the power of the execution he praised with unexpected warmth4 ,he then started on the last tour abroad with his parents4 ,he had been asked1 rather pointedly1 by the ,national ,gallery ,commission1 whether he had seen the great ,german museums1 and had been obliged to reply that he had not4 ,perhaps it occurred to him or to his father that he ought to see the pictures at ,berlin and ,dresden and ,munich1 even though he heartily disliked the ,germans with their art and their language and everything that belonged to them1--except ,holbein and ,drer4 ,by the end of ,july the travellers were in ,north ,switzerland2 and they spent ,september in ,savoy1 returning home by ,october #gth4 ,old ,mr4 ,ruskin was now in his seventy-fifth year and his desire was to see the great work finished before he died4 ,there had been some attempt to write this last volume of ,modern ,painters in the previous winter1 but it had been put off until after the visit to ,germany had completed a study of the great ,venetian painters--especially ,titian and ,veronese4 ,now at last1 in the autumn of #ahei1 he finally set to work on the writing4 ,the assertion of ,turner's genius had been necessary in #ahdc1 but ,turner was long since dead2 his fame was thoroughly vindicated2 his bequest to the nation dealt with1 so far as possible4 ,early ,christian ,art was recognised--almost beyond its claims4 ,the ,pre-,raphaelites and naturalistic landscapists no longer needed the hand which ,modern ,painters had held out to them by the way4 ,of the great triad of ,venice1 ,tintoret had been expounded1 ,veronese and ,titian were now taken up and treated with tardy1 but ample recognition4 ,and now1 after twenty years of labour1 ,ruskin had established himself as the recognised leader of criticism and the exponent of painting and architecture4 ,he had created a department of literature all his own4 ,he had enriched the art of ,england with examples of a new and beautiful draughtsmanship1 and the language with passages of poetic description and eloquent declamation1 quite1 in their way1 unrivalled4 ,he had built up a theory of art1 so far uncontested2 and thrown new light on the ,middle ,ages and ,renaissance1 illustrating1 in a way then novel1 their chronicles by their remains4 ,he had beaten down opposition1 risen above detraction1 and won the prize of honour--only to realise1 as he received it1 that the fight had been but a pastime tournament1 after all2 and to hear1 through the applause1 the enemy's trumpet sounding to battle4 ,for now1 without the camp1 there were realities to face2 as to ,art--the best in this kind are but shadows4 ,,book ,,iii ,,hermit ,,and ,,heretic 7#ahfj-ahgj7 ,,chapter ,i ,,unto ,,this ,,last 7#ahfj-ahfa7 ,at forty years of age ,ruskin finished ,modern ,painters4 ,from that time art was sometimes his text1 rarely his theme4 ,he used it as the opportunity1 the vehicle1 so to say1 for teachings of wider range and deeper import2 teachings about life as a whole1 conclusions in ethics and economics and religion1 to which he sought to lead others1 as he was led1 by the way of art4 ,during the time when he was preaching his later doctrines1 he wished to suppress the interfering evidences of the earlier4 ,he let his works on art run out of print1 not for the benefit of second-hand booksellers1 but in the hope that he could fix his audience upon the burden of his prophecy for the time being4 ,but the youthful works were still read2 high prices were paid for them1 or they were smuggled in from ,america4 ,and when the epoch of ,fors had passed1 he agreed to the reprinting of all that early material4 ,he called it obsolete and trivial2 others find it interestingly biographical--perhaps even classical4 ,this year1 then1 #ahfj1 the year of the ,italian ,kingdom1 of ,garibaldi1 and of the beginning of the ,american war1 marks his turning point1 from the early work1 summed up in the old ,selections1 to the later work4 ,until he was forty1 ,mr4 ,ruskin was a writer on art2 after that his art was secondary to ethics4 ,until he was forty he was a believer in ,english ,protestantism2 afterwards he could not reconcile current beliefs with the facts of life as he saw them1 and had to reconstruct his creed from the foundations4 ,until he was forty he was a philanthropist1 working heartily with others in a definite cause1 and hoping for the amendment of wrongs1 without a social upheaval4 ,even in the beginning of #ahfj1 in his evidence before the ,house of ,commons ,select ,committee on ,public ,institutions1 he was ready with plans for amusing and instructing the labouring classes1 and noting in them a thirsty desire for improvement4 ,but while his readiness to make any personal sacrifice1 in the way of social and philanthropic experiment1 and his interest in the question were increasing1 he became less and less sanguine about the value of such efforts as the ,working ,men's ,college1 and less and less ready to co-operate with others in their schemes4 ,he began to see that no tinkering at social breakages was really worth while2 that far more extensive repairs were needed to make the old ship seaworthy4 ,so he set himself1 by himself1 to sketch the plans for the repairs4 ,naturally sociable1 and accustomed to the friendly give-and-take of a wide acquaintance1 he withdrew from the busy world into a busier solitude4 ,during the next few years he lived much alone among the ,alps1 or at home1 thinking out the problem2 sometimes feeling1 far more acutely than was good for clear thought1 the burden of the mission that was laid upon him4 ,in ,march1 #ahfc1 he wrote from his retreat at ,mornex to ,norton3 ,the loneliness is very great1 and the peace in which ,i am at present is only as if ,i had buried myself in a tuft of grass on a battlefield wet with blood--for the cry of the earth about me is in my ears continually1 if ,i do not lay my head to the very ground4 ,and a few months later3 ,i am still very unwell1 and tormented between the longing for rest and lovely life1 and the sense of this terrific call of human crime for resistance and of human misery for help1 though it seems to me as the voice of a river of blood which can but sweep me down in the midst of its black clots1 helpless4 ,sentences like these1 passages here and there in the last volume of ,modern ,painters1 and still more1 certain passages omitted from that volume1 show that about #ahfj something of a cloud had been settling over him1--a sense of the evil of the world1 a horror of great darkness4 ,in his earlier years1 his intense emotion and vivid imagination had enabled him to read into pictures of ,tintoret or ,turner1 into scenes of nature and sayings of great books1 a meaning or a moral which he so vividly communicated to the reader as to make it thenceforward part and parcel of the subject1 however it came there to begin with4 ,it is useless to wonder whether ,turner1 for instance1 consciously meant what ,ruskin found in his works4 ,a great painter does not paint without thought1 and such thought is apt to show itself whether he will or no4 ,but it needs imaginative sympathy to detect and describe the thought4 ,and when that sympathy was given to suffering1 to widespread misery1 to crying wrongs2 joined also with an intense passion for justice1 which had already shown itself in the defence of slighted genius and neglected art2 and to the ,celtic temperament of some highstrung seer and trance-prophesying bard2 it was no wonder that ,ruskin became like one of the hermits of old1 who retreated from the world to return upon it with stormy messages of awakening and flashes of truth more impressive1 more illuminating than the logic of schoolmen and the state-craft of the wise4 ,and then he began to take up an attitude of antagonism to the world1 he who had been the kindly helper and minister of delightful art4 ,he began to call upon those who had ears to hear to come out and be separate from the ease and hypocrisy of ,vanity ,fair4 ,its respectabilities1 its orthodoxies1 he could no longer abide4 ,orthodox religion1 orthodox morals and politics1 orthodox art and science1 alike he rejected2 and was rejected by each of them as a brawler1 a babbler1 a fanatic1 a heretic4 ,and even when kindly ,oxford gave him a quasi-academical position1 it did not bring him1 as it brings many a heretic1 back to the fold4 ,in this period of storm and stress he stood alone4 ,the old friends of his youth were one by one passing away1 if not from intercourse1 still from full sympathy with him in his new mood4 ,his parents were no longer the guides and companions they had been2 they did not understand the business he was about4 ,and so he was left to new associates1 for he could not live without some one to love1--that was the nature of the man1 however lonely in his work and wanderings4 ,the new friends of this period were1 at first1 ,americans2 as the chief new friends of his latest period 7the ,alexanders7 were ,american1 too4 ,charles ,eliot ,norton1 after being introduced to him in ,london in #ahee1 met him again by accident on the ,lake of ,geneva--the story is prettily told in ,prterita4 ,ruskin adds3 ,norton saw all my weaknesses1 measured all my narrownesses1 and1 from the first1 took serenely1 and as it seemed of necessity1 a kind of paternal authority over me1 and a right of guidance4444 ,i was entirely conscious of his rectorial power1 and affectionately submissive to it1 so that he might have done anything with me1 but for the unhappy difference in our innate1 and unchangeable1 political faiths4 ,so1 after all1 he stood alone4 ,another friend about this time was ,mrs4 ,h4 ,beecher ,stowe1 to whom he wrote on ,june #ahth1 #ahfj1 from ,geneva3 ,it takes a great deal1 when ,i am at ,geneva1 to make me wish myself anywhere else1 and1 of all places else1 in ,london2 nevertheless1 ,i very heartily wish at this moment that ,i were looking out on the ,norwood ,hills1 and were expecting you and the children to breakfast to-morrow4 ,i had very serious thoughts1 when ,i received your note1 of running home2 but ,i expected that very day an ,american friend1 ,mr4 ,stillman1 who1 ,i thought1 would miss me more here than you in ,london1 so ,i stayed4 ,what a dreadful thing it is that people should have to go to ,america again1 after coming to ,europe6 ,it seems to me an inversion of the order of nature4 ,i think ,america is a sort of ',united' ,states of ,probation1 out of which all wise people1 being once delivered1 and having obtained entrance into this better world1 should never be expected to return 7sentence irremediably ungrammatical71 particularly when they have been making themselves cruelly pleasant to friends here4 ,my friend ,norton1 whom ,i met first on this very blue lake water1 had no business to go back to ,boston again1 any more than you4444 ,so you have been seeing the ,pope and all his ,easter performances6 ,i congratulate you1 for ,i suppose it is something like ',positively the last appearance on any stage4' ,what was the use of thinking about him8 ,you should have had your own thoughts about what was to come after him4 ,i don't mean that ,roman ,catholicism will die out so quickly4 ,it will last pretty nearly as long as ,protestantism1 which keeps it up2 but ,i wonder what is to come next4 ,that is the main question just now for everybody4 ,w4,j4 ,stillman had been a correspondent about #ahea1--;involved in mystical speculations1 partly growing out of the second volume of ',modern ,painters1' as he said of himself in an article on ,john ,ruskin in the ,century ,magazine 7,january1 #ahhh74 ,with him ,ruskin spent ,july and ,august of #ahfj at ,chamouni4 ,he did but little drawing1 and in the few sketches that remain of that summer there is evidence that his mind was far away from its old love of mountains and of streamlets4 ,his lonely walks in the pinewoods of the ,arveron were given to meditation on a great problem which had been set1 as it seemed1 for him to solve1 ever since he had written that chapter on ,the ,nature of ,gothic4 ,now at last1 in the solitude of the ,alps1 he could grapple with the questions he had raised2 and the outcome of the struggle was ,unto this ,last4 ,the year before1 from ,thun and ,bonneville and ,lausanne 7,august and ,september1 #ahei7 he had written letters to ,e4,s4 ,dallas1 suggested by the strikes in the ,london building trade4 ,in these he appears to have sketched the outline of a new conception of social science1 which he was now elaborating with more attempt at system and brevity than he had been accustomed to use4 ,these new papers1 painfully thought out and carefully set down in his room at the ,htel de l',union1 he used--as long before he read his daily chapter to the breakfast party at ,herne ,hill--to read to ,stillman3 and he sent them to the ,cornhill ,magazine1 started the year before by ,smith and ,elder4 ,ruskin had already contributed to it a paper on ,sir ,joshua and ,holbein1 a stray chapter from ,vol4 ,v41 ,modern ,painters4 ,his reputation as a writer and philanthropist1 together with the friendliness of editor and publisher1 secured the insertion of the first three1--from ,august to ,october4 ,the editor then wrote to say that they were so unanimously condemned and disliked1 that1 with all apologies1 he could only admit one more4 ,the series was brought hastily to a conclusion in ,november3 and the author1 beaten back as he had never been beaten before1 dropped the subject1 and sulked1 so he called it1 all the winter4 ,it is pleasant to notice that neither ,thackeray1 the editor nor ,smith1 the publisher quarrelled with the author who had laid them open to the censure of their public1--nor he with them4 ,on ,december #bast1 he wrote to ,thackeray1 in answer apparently1 to a letter about lecturing for a charitable purpose3 and continued3 ,the mode in which you direct your charity puts me in mind of a matter that has lain long on my mind1 though ,i never have had the time or face to talk to you of it4 ,in somebody's drawing-room1 ages ago1 you were speaking accidentally of ,m4 de ,marvy4#h ,i expressed my great obligation to him2 on which you said that ,i could prove my gratitude1 if ,i chose1 to his widow1--which choice ,i then not accepting1 have ever since remembered the circumstance as one peculiarly likely to add1 so far as it went1 to the general impression on your mind of the hollowness of people's sayings and hardness of their hearts4 ,the fact is1 ,i give what ,i give almost in an opposite way to yours4 ,i think there are many people who will relieve hopeless distress for one who will help at a hopeful pinch2 and when ,i have the choice ,i nearly always give where ,i think the money will be fruitful rather than merely helpful4 ,i would lecture for a school when ,i would not for a distressed author2 and would have helped ,de ,marvy to perfect his invention1 but not--unless ,i had no other object--his widow after he was gone4 ,in a word1 ,i like to prop the falling more than to feed the fallen4 ,footnote #h3 ,louis ,marvy1 an engraver1 and political refugee after the ,french ,revolution of #ahdh4 ,he produced the plates1 and ,thackeray the text1 of ,landscape ,painters of ,england1 in a series of steel engravings1 with short ,notices4 ,the winter passed without any great undertaking4 ,g4,f4 ,watts proposed to add ,ruskin's portrait to his gallery of celebrities2 but he was in no mood to sit4 ,rossetti did1 however1 sketch him this year4 ,in ,march he presented eighty-three ,turner drawings to ,oxford1 and twenty-five to ,cambridge4 ,the address of thanks with the great seal of ,oxford ,university is dated ,march #bcrd1 #ahfa2 the ,catalogue of the ,cambridge collection is dated ,may #bhth4 ,on ,april #bnd he addressed the ,st4 ,george's ,mission ,working ,men's ,institute1 and shortly afterwards1 though at this time in a much enfeebled state of health1 gave a lecture before a most brilliant audience1 as the ,london ,review reported1 at the ,royal ,institution 7,april #aith1 #ahfa74 ,carlyle wrote to his brother ,john3 ,friday last ,i was persuaded--in fact had inwardly compelled myself as it were--to a lecture of ,ruskin's at the ,institution1 ,albemarle ,street1 ,lecture on ,tree ,leaves as physiological1 pictorial1 moral1 symbolical objects4 ,a crammed house1 but tolerable even to me in the gallery4 ,the lecture was thought to 'break down1' and indeed it quite did 'as a lecture'2 but only did from embarras de richesses--a rare case4 ,ruskin did blow asunder as by gunpowder explosions his leaf notions1 which were manifold1 curious1 genial2 and in fact1 ,i do not recollect to have heard in that place any neatest thing ,i liked so well as this chaotic one4 ,papers on ,illuminated ,manuscripts 7read before the ,society of ,antiquaries on ,june #fth7 and on ,the ,preservation of ,ancient ,buildings 7read to the ,ecclesiological ,society a fortnight later7 show that old interests were not wholly forgotten1 even in the stress of new pursuits1 by this man of many-sided activity4 ,during ,may1 #ahfa1 he paid a visit to the school girls at ,winnington1 in ,june and ,july he took a holiday at ,boulogne with the fisher folk1 in ,august he went to ,ireland as guest of the ,latouches of ,harristown1 ,county ,kildare1 and in ,september he returned to the ,alps1 spending the rest of the year at ,bonneville and ,lucerne4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,munera ,,pulveris 7#ahfb7 ,after an autumn among the ,alps1 hearing that the ,turner drawings in the ,national ,gallery had been mildewed1 he ran home to see about them in ,january #ahfb2 and was kept until the end of ,may4 ,he found that his political economy work was not such a total failure as it had seemed4 ,froude1 then editor of ,fraser's ,magazine1 thought there was something in it1 and would give him another chance4 ,so1 by way of a fresh start1 he had his four ,cornhill articles published in book form2 and almost simultaneously1 in ,june #ahfb the first of the new series appeared4 ,the author had then returned to ,lucerne with ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,burne-,jones1 with whom he crossed the ,st4 ,gothard to ,milan1 where he tried to forget the harrowing of hell in a close study of ,luini1 and in copying the ,st4 ,catherine now at ,oxford4 ,ruskin has never said so much about ,luini as1 perhaps1 he intended4 ,a short notice in the ,cestus of ,aglaia1 and occasional references scattered up and down his later works1 hardly give the prominence in his writings that the painter held in his thoughts4 ,it was about this time that he was made an ,hon4 ,member of the ,florentine ,academy4 ,he re-crossed the ,alps1 and settled to his work on political economy at ,mornex1 where he spent the winter except for a short run home1 which gave him the opportunity of addressing the ,working ,men's ,college on ,november #bi4 ,his retreat is described in one of his letters home3 ,,mornex1 ,august #ca 7#ahfb74 ,,my ,,dearest ,,mother1 ,this ought to arrive on the evening before your birthday3 it is not possible to reach you in the morning1 not even by telegraph as ,i once did from ,mont ,cenis1 for--7may ,heaven be devoutly thanked therefore7--there are yet on ,mont ,salve neither rails nor wires4444 ,the place ,i have got to is at the end of all carriage-roads1 and ,i am not yet strong enough to get farther1 on foot1 than a five or six miles' circle1 within which is assuredly no house to my mind4 ,i cast1 at first1 somewhat longing eyes on a true ,savoyard chteau--notable for its lovely garden and orchard--and its unspoiled1 unrestored1 arched gateway between two round turrets1 and ,gothic-windowed keep4 ,but on examination of the interior--finding the walls1 though six feet thick1 rent to the foundation--and as cold as rocks1 and the floors all sodden through with walnut oil and rotten-apple juice--heaps of the farm stores having been left to decay in the ci-devant drawing room1 ,i gave up all medieval ideas1 for which the long-legged black pigs who lived like gentlemen at ease in the passage1 and the bats and spiders who divided between them the corners of the turret-stair1 have reason--if they knew it--to be thankful4 ,the worst of it is that ,i never had the gift1 nor have ,i now the energy1 to make anything of a place2 so that ,i shall have to put up with almost anything ,i can find that is healthily habitable in a good situation4 ,meantime1 the air here being delicious and the rooms good enough for use and comfort1 ,i am not troubling myself much1 but trying to put myself into better health and humour2 in which ,i have already a little succeeded4 ,after describing the flowers of the ,salve he continues3 ,my ,father would be quite wild at the 'view' from the garden terrace--but he would be disgusted at the shut in feeling of the house1 which is in fact as much shut in as our old ,herne ,hill one2 only to get the 'view' ,i have but to go as far down the garden as to our old 'mulberry tree4' ,by the way there's a magnificent mulberry tree1 as big as a common walnut1 covered with black and red fruit on the other side of the road4 ,coutet and ,allen are very anxious to do all they can now that ,crawley is away2 and ,i don't think ,i shall manage very badly1 etc4 ,a little later he took in addition a cottage in which the ,empress of ,russia had once stayed3 it commanded a finer view than the larger house1 which has since been turned into a hotel 7,htel et ,pension des ,glycines74 ,this place was for some time the hermitage in which he wrote his political economy4 ,of his lonely rambles he wrote later on3 ,if ,i have a definite point to reach1 and common work to do at it--,i take people--anybody--with me2 but all my best mental work is necessarily done alone2 whenever ,i wanted to think1 in ,savoy1 ,i used to leave ,coutet at home4 ,constantly ,i have been alone on the ,glacier des ,bois--and far among the loneliest aiguille recesses4 ,i found the path up the ,brezon above ,bonneville in a lonely walk one ,sunday2 ,i saw the grandest view of the ,alps of ,savoy ,i ever gained1 on the #bnd of ,january1 #ahfb1 alone among the snow wreaths on the summit of the ,salve4 ,you need not fear for me on ',langdale ,pikes' after that4 ,in ,september the second article appeared in ,fraser4 ,only a genius like ,mr4 ,ruskin could have produced such hopeless rubbish1 says a newspaper of the period4 ,far worse than any newspaper criticism was the condemnation of ,denmark ,hill4 ,his father1 whose eyes had glistened over early poems and prose eloquence1 strongly disapproved of this heretical economy4 ,it was a bitter thing that his son should become prodigal of a hardly earned reputation1 and be pointed at for a fool4 ,and it was intensely painful for a son who had never given his father a pang that could be avoided1 as old ,mr4 ,ruskin had once written1 to find his father1 with one foot in the grave1 turning against him4 ,in ,december the third paper appeared4 ,history repeated itself1 and with the fourth paper the heretic was gagged4 ,a year after1 his father died2 and these ,fraser articles were laid aside until the end of #ahga1 when they were taken up again1 and published on ,new ,year's ,day #ahgb1 as ,munera ,pulveris4 ,from the outset1 however1 he was not without supporters4 ,carlyle wrote on ,june #cj1 #ahfb3 ,i have read1 a month ago1 your ,first in ,fraser1 and ever since have had a wish to say to it and you1 ,euge macte nova virtute4 ,i approved in every particular2 calm1 definite1 clear2 rising into the sphere of ,plato 7our almost best71 wh'h in exchange for the sphere of ,macculloch1 ,mill and ,co4 is a mighty improvement6 ,since that1 ,i have seen the little green book1 too2 reprint of your ,cornhill operations1--about #b_/c of wh'h was read to me 7known only from what the contradict'n of sinners had told me of it72--in every part of wh'h ,i find a high and noble sort of truth1 not one doctrine that ,i can intrinsically dissent from1 or count other than salutary in the extreme1 and pressingly needed in ,engl'd above all4 ,erskine of ,linlathen wrote to ,carlyle1 ,august #gth1 #ahfb3 ,i am thankful for any unveiling of the so-called science of political economy1 according to which1 avowed selfishness is the ,rule of the ,world4 ,it is indeed most important preaching--to preach that there is not one ,god for religion and another ,god for human fellowship--and another ,god for buying and selling--that pestilent polytheism has been largely and confidently preached in our time1 and blessed are those who can detect its mendacities1 and help to disenchant the brethren of their power4444 ,j4,a4 ,froude1 then editor of ,fraser1 and to his dying day ,mr4 ,ruskin's intimate and affectionate friend1 wrote to him on ,october #bd 7#ahfb873 ,the world talks of the article in its usual way4 ,i was at ,carlyle's last night4444 ,he said that in writing to your father as to subject he had told him that when ,solomon's temple was building it was credibly reported that at least #aj1jjj sparrows sitting on the trees round declared that it was entirely wrong--quite contrary to received opinion--hopelessly condemned by public opinion1 etc4 ,nevertheless it got finished and the sparrows flew away and began to chirp in the same note about something else4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,limestone ,,alps 7#ahfc7 ,our hermit among the ,alps of ,savoy differed in one respect from his predecessors4 ,they1 for the most part1 saw nothing in the rocks and stones around them except the prison walls of their seclusion2 he could not be within constant sight of the mountains without thinking over the wonders of their scenery and structure4 ,and it was well for him that it could be so4 ,the terrible depression of mind which his social and philanthropic work had brought on1 found a relief in the renewal of his old mountain-worship4 ,after sending off the last of his ,fraser papers1 in which1 when the verdict had twice gone against him1 he tried to show cause why sentence should not be passed1 the strain was at its severest4 ,he felt1 as few others not directly interested felt1 the sufferings of the outcast in ,english slums and ,savoyard hovels2 and heard the cry of the oppressed in ,poland and in ,italy3 and he had been silenced4 ,what could he do but1 as he said in the letters to ,norton1 lay his head to the very ground1 and try to forget it all among the stones and the snows8 ,he wandered about geologizing1 and spent a while at ,talloires on the ,lake of ,annecy1 where the old ,abbey had been turned into an inn1 and one slept in a monk's cell and meditated in the cloister of the monastery1 ,st4 ,bernard of ,menthon's memory haunting the place1 and ,st4 ,germain's cave close by in the rocks above4 ,at the end of ,may he came back to ,england1 and was invited to lecture again at the ,royal ,institution4 ,the subject he chose was ,the ,stratified ,alps of ,savoy4 ,at that time many distinguished foreign geologists were working at the ,alps2 but little of conclusive importance had been published1 except in papers embedded in ,transactions of various societies4 ,professor ,alphonse ,favre's great work did not appear until #ahfg1 and the ,mechanismus der ,gebirgsbildung of ,professor ,heim not till #ahgh2 so that for an ,english public the subject was a fresh one4 ,to ,ruskin it was familiar3 he had been elected a ,fellow of the ,geological ,society in #ahdj1 at the age of twenty-one2 he had worked through ,savoy with his ,saussure in hand nearly thirty years before1 and1 many a time since that1 had spent the intervals of literary business in rambling and climbing with the hammer and note-book4 ,in the field he had compared ,studer's meagre sections1 and consulted the available authorities on physical geology1 though he had never entered upon the more popular sister-science of palaeontology4 ,he left the determination of strata to specialists3 his interest was fixed on the structure of mountains--the relation of geology to scenery2 a question upon which he had some right to be heard1 as knowing more about scenery than most geologists1 and more about geology than most artists4 ,as examples of ,savoy mountains this lecture described in detail the ,salve1 on which he had been living for two winters1 and the ,brezon1 the top of which he had tried to buy from the commune of ,bonneville--one of his many plans for settling among the ,alps4 ,the commune thought he had found a gold-mine up there1 and raised the price out of all reason4 ,other attempts to make a home in the chteaux or chalets of ,savoy were foiled1 or abandoned1 like his earlier idea to live in ,venice4 ,but his scrambles on the ,salve led him to hesitate in accepting the explanation given by ,alphonse ,favre of the curious north-west face of steeply inclined vertical slabs1 which he suspected to be created by cleavage1 on the analogy of other ,jurassic precipices4 ,the ,brezon--brisant1 breaking wave--he took as type of the billowy form of limestone ,alps in general1 and his analysis of it was serviceable and substantially correct4 ,this lecture was followed in #ahfd by desultory correspondence with ,mr4 ,jukes and others in ,the ,reader1 in which he merely restated his conclusions1 too slightly to convince4 ,had he devoted himself to a thorough examination of the subject--but this is in the region of what might have been4 ,he was more seriously engaged in other pursuits1 of more immediate importance4 ,three days after his lecture he was being examined before the ,royal ,academy ,commission1 and after a short summer visit to various friends in the north of ,england1 he set out again for the ,alps1 partly to study the geology of ,chamouni and ,north ,switzerland1 partly to continue his drawings of ,swiss towns at ,baden and ,lauffenburg1 with his pupil ,john ,bunney4 ,but even there the burden of his real mission could not be shaken off1 and though again seeking health and a quiet mind1 he could not quite keep silence1 but wrote letters to ,english newspapers on the depreciation of gold 7repeating his theory of currency71 and on the wrongs of ,poland and ,italy2 and he put together more papers1 not then published1 in continuation of his ,munera ,pulveris4 ,since about #ahej1 ,carlyle had been gradually becoming more and more friendly with ,john ,ruskin2 and now that this social and economical work had been taken up1 he began to have a real esteem for him1 though always with a patronizing tone1 which the younger man's open and confessed discipleship accepted and encouraged4 ,this letter especially shows both men in an unaccustomed light3 ,ruskin1 hating tobacco1 sends his master cigars2 ,carlyle1 hating cant1 replies rather in the tone of the temperance advocate1 taking a little wine for his stomach's sake3 ,,chelsea1 #bb ,feby1 #ahfe ,,dear ,,ruskin1 ,you have sent me a munificent ,box of ,cigars2 for wh'h what can ,i say in ans'r8 ,it makes me both sad and glad4 ,ay de mi4 ,we are such stuff1 ,gone with a puff--,then think1 and smoke ,tobacco6' ,the ,wife also has had her ,flowers2 and a letter wh'h has charmed the female mind4 ,you forgot only the first chapter of ',aglaia'2--don't forget2 and be a good boy for the future4 ,the ,geology ,book wasn't ,jukes2 ,i found it again in the ,magazine1--reviewed there3 ',phillips1'#i is there such a name8 ,it has ag'n escaped me4 ,i have a notion to come out actually some day soon2 and take a serious ,lecture from you on what you really know1 and can give me some intelligible outline of1 ab't the ,rocks1--bones of our poor old ,mother2 wh'h have always been venerable and strange to me4 ,next to nothing of rational could ,i ever learn of the subject4444 ,footnote #i3 ,jukes1--,mr4 ,j4,b4 ,jukes1 ,f4,r4,s41 with whom ,ruskin had been discussing in ,the ,reader4 ,phillips1 the ,oxford ,professor of ,geology1 and a friend of ,ruskin's4 ,yours ever1 ,t4 ,,carlyle4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,sesame ,,and ,,lilies 7#ahfd7 ,wider aims and weaker health had not put an end to ,ruskin's connection with the ,working ,men's ,college1 though he did not now teach a drawing-class regularly4 ,he had1 as he said1 the satisfaction of knowing that they had very good masters in ,messrs4 ,lowes ,dickinson1 ,jeffery and ,cave ,thomas1 and his work was elsewhere4 ,he was to have lectured there on ,december #aith1 #ahfc2 but he did not reach home until about ,christmas2 better than he had been2 and ready to give the promised address on ,january #cjth1 #ahfd4 ,beside which he used to visit the place occasionally of an evening to take note of progress1 and some of his pupils were now more directly under his care4 ,it was from one of these visits to the ,college1 on ,february #bgth1 that he returned1 past midnight1 and found his father waiting up for him1 to read some letters he had written4 ,next morning the old man1 close upon seventy-nine years of age1 was struck with his last illness2 and died on ,march #crd4 ,he was buried at ,shirley ,church1 near ,addington1 in ,surrey1 not far from ,croydon2 and the legend on his tomb records3 ,he was an entirely honest merchant1 and his memory is1 to all who keep it1 dear and helpful4 ,his son1 whom he loved to the uttermost1 and taught to speak truth1 says this of him4 ,mr4 ,john ,james ,ruskin1 like many other of our successful merchants1 had been an open-handed patron of art1 and a cheerful giver1 not only to needy friends and relatives1 but also to various charities4 ,for example1 as a kind of personal tribute to ,osborne ,gordon1 his son's tutor1 he gave #e1jjj toward the augmentation of poor ,christ-,church livings4 ,his son's open-handed way with dependants and servants was learned from the old merchant1 who1 unlike many hard-working money-makers1 was always ready to give1 though he could not bear to lose4 ,in spite of which he left a considerable fortune behind him1--considerable when it is understood to be the earnings of his single-handed industry and steady sagacity in legitimate business1 without indulgence in speculation4 ,he left #abj1jjj with various other property1 to his son4 ,to his wife he left his house and #cg1jjj1 and a void which it seemed at first nothing could fill4 ,for of late years the son had drifted out of their horizon1 with ideas on religion and the ordering of life so very different from theirs2 and had been much away from home--he sometimes said1 selfishly1 but not without the greatest of all excuses1 necessity4 ,and so the two old people had been brought closer than ever together2 and she had lived entirely for her husband4 ,but1 as ,browning said1--,put a stick in anywhere1 and she will run up it--so the brave old lady did not faint under the blow1 and fade away1 but transferred her affections and interests to her son4 ,before his father's death the difference of feeling between them1 arising out of the heretical economy1 had been healed4 ,old ,mr4 ,ruskin's will treated his son with all confidence in spite of his unorthodox views and unbusiness-like ways4 ,and for nearly eight years longer his mother lived on1 to see him pass through his probation-period into such recognition as an ,oxford ,professorship implied1 and to find in her last years his later books becoming more and more what they always ought to have been to her4 ,at the same time1 her failing sight and strength needed a constant household companion4 ,her son1 though he did not leave home yet awhile for any long journeys1 could not be always with her4 ,only six weeks after the funeral he was called away for a time to fulfil a lecture-engagement at ,bradford4 ,before going he brought his pretty young ,scotch cousin4 ,miss ,joanna ,ruskin ,agnew1 to ,denmark ,hill for a week's visit4 ,she recommended herself at once to the old lady1 and to ,carlyle1 who happened to call1 by her frank good-nature and unquenchable spirits2 and her visit lasted seven years1 until she was married to ,arthur ,severn1 son of the ,ruskins' old friend1 ,joseph ,severn1 ,british ,consul at ,rome4 ,even then she was not allowed far out of their sight1 but settled in the old house at ,herne ,hill3 nor virtually1 said ,ruskin in the last chapter of ,prterita1 have she and ,i ever parted since4 ,all through that year he remained at home1 except for short necessary visits1 and frequent evenings with ,carlyle4 ,and when1 in ,december1 he gave those lectures in ,manchester which afterwards1 as ,sesame and ,lilies1 became his most popular work1 we can trace his better health of mind and body in the brighter tone of his thought4 ,we can hear the echo of ,carlyle's talk in the heroic1 aristocratic1 ,stoic ideals1 and in the insistence on the value of books and free public libraries1#aj--;,carlyle being the founder of the ,london ,library4 ,and we may suspect that his thoughts on women's influence and education had been not a little directed by those months in the company of the dear old lady and ditto young to whom ,carlyle used to send his love4 ,footnote #aj3 ,the first lecture1 ,of ,kings' ,treasuries1 was given1 ,december #fth1 #ahfd1 at ,rusholme ,town ,hall1 ,manchester1 in aid of a library fund for the ,rusholme ,institute4 ,the second1 ,queens' ,gardens1 was given ,december #adth1 at the ,town ,hall1 ,king ,street1 now the ,free ,reference ,library1 ,manchester1 in aid of schools for ,ancoats4 ,in #ahfd a new series of papers on ,art was begun1 the only published work upon ,art of all these ten years4 ,the papers ran in ,the ,art ,journal from ,january to ,july1 #ahfe1 and from ,january to ,april4 #ahff1 under the title of ,the ,cestus of ,aglaia1 by which was meant the ,girdle1 or restraining law1 of ,beauty1 as personified in the wife of ,hephaestus1 the ,lord of ,labour4 ,their intention was to suggest1 and to evoke by correspondence1 some laws for present practice of art in our schools1 which may be admitted1 if not with absolute1 at least with a sufficient consent1 by leading artists4 ,as a first step the author asked for the elementary rules of drawing4 ,for his own contribution he showed the value of the pure line1 such as he had used in his own early drawings4 ,later on1 he had adopted a looser and more picturesque style of handling the point2 and in the ,elements of ,drawing he had taught his readers to take ,rembrandt's etchings as exemplary4 ,but now he felt that this evasive manner1 as he called it1 had its dangers4 ,and so these papers attempted to supersede the amateurish object lesson of the earlier work by stricter rules for a severer style2 prematurely1 as it proved1 for the chapters came to an end before the promised code was formulated4 ,the same work was taken up again in ,the ,laws of ,fsole2 but the use of the pure line1 which ,ruskin's precepts failed to enforce1 was1 in the end1 taught to the public by the charming practice of ,mr4 ,walter ,crane and ,miss ,greenaway4 ,a lecture at the ,camberwell ,working ,men's ,institute on ,work and ,play was given on ,january #bdth1 #ahfe2 which1 as it was printed in ,the ,crown of ,wild ,olive1 we will notice further on4 ,various letters and papers on political and social economy and other subjects hardly call for separate notice3 with the exception of one very important address to the ,royal ,institution of ,british ,architects1 given ,may #aeth1 ,on the ,study of ,architecture in our ,schools4 ,,chapter ,v ,,ethics ,,of ,,the ,,dust 7#ahfe7 ,writing to his father from ,manchester about the lecture of ,february #bb1 #ahei--,the ,unity of ,art--,ruskin mentions1 among various people of interest whom he was meeting1 such as ,sir ,elkanah ,armitage and ,mrs4 ,gaskell1 how ,miss ,bell and four young ladies came from ,chester to hear me1 and ,i promised to pay them a visit on my way home1 to their apparent great contentment4 ,the visit was paid on his way back from ,yorkshire4 ,he wrote3 ,,winnington1 ,,northwich1 ,,cheshire4 #ab ,march1 #ahei4 ,this is such a nice place that ,i am going to stay till ,monday3 an enormous old-fashioned house--full of galleries and up and down stairs--but with magnificently large rooms where wanted3 the drawing-room is a huge octagon--,i suppose at least forty feet high--like the tower of a castle 7hung half way up all round with large and beautiful ,turner and ,raphael engravings7 and with a baronial fireplace3--and in the evening1 brightly lighted1 with the groups of girls scattered round it1 it is a quite beautiful scene in its way4 ,their morning chapel1 too1 is very interesting3--though only a large room1 it is nicely fitted with reading desk and seats like a college chapel1 and two pretty and rich stained-glass windows--and well-toned organ4 ,they have morning prayers with only one of the lessons--and without the psalms3 but singing the ,te ,deum or the other hymn--and other choral parts3 and as out of the thirty-five or forty girls perhaps twenty-five or thirty have really available voices1 well trained and divided1 it was infinitely more beautiful than any ordinary church service--like the ,trinita di ,monte ,convent service more than anything else1 and must be very good for them1 quite different in its effect on their minds from our wretched penance of college chapel4 ,the house stands in a superb park1 full of old trees and sloping down to the river2 with a steep bank of trees on the other side2 just the kind of thing ,mrs4 ,sherwood likes to describe2--and the girls look all healthy and happy as can be1 down to the little six-years-old ones1 who ,i find know me by the fairy tale as the others do by my large books3--so ,i am quite at home4 ,they have my portrait in the library with three others--,maurice1 the ,bp4 of ,oxford1 and ,archdeacon ,hare1--so that ,i can't but stay with them over the ,sunday4 ,the principles of ,winnington were advanced2 the theology--,bishop ,colenso's daughter was among the pupils2 the ,bishop of ,oxford had introduced ,ruskin to the managers1 who were pleased to invite the celebrated art-critic to visit whenever he travelled that way1 whether to lecture at provincial towns1 or to see his friends in the north1 as he often used4 ,and so between ,march #ahei and ,may #ahfh1 after which the school was removed1 he was a frequent visitor2 and not only he1 but other lions whom the ladies entrapped3--mention has been made in print 7in ,the ,queen of the ,air7 of ,charles ,halle1 whom ,ruskin met there in #ahfc1 and greatly admired4 ,i like ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,halle so very much1 he wrote home1 and am entirely glad to know so great a musician and evidently so good and wise a man4 ,he was very happy yesterday evening1 and actually sat down and played quadrilles for us to dance to--which is1 in its way1 something like ,titian sketching patterns for ball-dresses4 ,but afterwards he played ,home1 sweet ,home1 with three variations--quite the most wonderful thing ,i have ever heard in music4 ,though ,i was close to the piano1 the motion of the fingers was entirely invisible--a mere mist of rapidity2 the hands moving slowly and softly1 and the variation1 in the ear1 like a murmur of a light fountain1 far away4 ,it was beautiful too to see the girls' faces round1 the eyes all wet with feeling1 and the little coral mouths fixed into little half open gaps with utter intensity of astonishment4 ,ruskin could not be idle on his visits2 and as he was never so happy as when he was teaching somebody1 he improved the opportunity by experiments in education permitted there for his sake4 ,among other things1 he devised singing dances for a select dozen of the girls1 with verses of his own writing2 one1 a maze to the theme of ,twist ye1 twine ye1 based upon the song in ,guy ,mannering1 but going far beyond the original motive in its variations weighted with allegoric thought4 ,deep as the feeling of this little poem is1 there is a nobler chord struck in the ,song of ,peace1 the battle-cry of the good time coming2 in the faith--who else has found it8--that looks forward to no selfish victory of narrow aims1 but to the full reconciliation of hostile interests and the blind internecine struggle of this perverse world1 in the clearer light of the millennial morning4 ,ruskin's method of teaching1 as illustrated in ,ethics of the ,dust1 has been variously pooh-poohed by his critics4 ,it has seemed to some absurd to mix up ,theology1 and ,crystallography1 and ,political ,economy1 and ,mythology1 and ,moral ,philosophy1 with the chatter of school-girls and the romps of the playground4 ,but it should be understood1 before reading this book1 which is practically the report of these ,wilmington talks1 that it is printed as an illustration of a method4 ,it showed that play-lessons need not want either depth or accuracy2 and that the requirement was simply capacity on the part of the teacher4 ,the following letter from ,carlyle was written in acknowledgment of an early copy of the book1 of which the preface is dated ,christmas1 #ahfe4 ,,chelsea1 #bj ,decr1 #ahfe4 ,the ',ethics of the ,dust1' wh'h ,i devoured with't pause1 and intend to look at ag'n1 is a most shining ,performance6 ,not for a long while have ,i read anything tenth-part so radiant with talent1 ingenuity1 lambent fire 7sheet--and other lightnings7 of all commendable kinds6 ,never was such a lecture on ,crystallography before1 had there been nothing else in it1--and there are all manner of things4 ,in power of expression ,i pronounce it to be supreme2 never did anybody who had such things to explain explain them better4 ,and the bit of ,egypt'n mythology1 the cunning ,dreams ab't ,pthah1 ,neith1 etc41 apart from their elucidative quality1 wh'h is exquisite1 have in them a poetry that might fill any ,tennyson with despair4 ,you are very dramatic too2 nothing wanting in the stage-direct'ns1 in the pretty little indicat'ns3 a very pretty stage and dramatis person altogeth'r4 ,such is my first feeling ab't y'r ,book1 dear ,r4--,come soon1 and ,i will tell you all the faults of it1 if ,i gradually discover a great many4 ,in fact1 come at any rate6 ,y'rs ever1 ,t4 ,,carlyle4 ,the ,real ,little ,housewives1 to whom the book was dedicated1 were not quite delighted--at least1 they said they were not--at the portraits drawn of them1 in their pinafores1 so to speak1 with some little hints at failings and faults which they recognised through the mask of dramatis person4 ,miss ,kathleen disclaimed the singing of ,vilikins and his ,dinah1 and so on4 ,it is difficult to please everybody4 ,the public did not care about the book2 the publisher hoped ,mr4 ,ruskin would write no more dialogues3 and so it remained1 little noticed1 for twelve years4 ,in #ahgg it was republished and found to be interesting1 and in #aije the #cast thousand 7authorised ,english edition7 had been issued4 ,at that time1 however1 ,sesame and ,lilies had run to #afj1jjj copies4 ,winnington ,hall1 the scene of these pastimes1 is now1 ,i understand1 used by ,messrs4 ,brunner1 ,mond ,co4 as a commonroom or clubhouse for the staff in their great scientific industry4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,crown ,,of ,,wild ,,olive 7#ahfe-ahff7 ,mention has been made of an address to working men at the ,camberwell ,institute1 ,january #bdth1 #ahfe4 ,this lecture was published in #ahff1 together with two others1#aa under the title of ,the ,crown of ,wild ,olive--that is to say1 the reward of human work1 a reward which should have been of gold1 had not ,jupiter been so poor1 as ,aristophanes said4 ,footnote #aa3 ,republished in #ahgc1 with a fourth lecture added1 and a ,preface and notes on the political growth of ,prussia1 from ,carlyle's ,frederick4 ,true work1 he said1 meant the production 7taking the word production in a broad sense7 of the means of life2 every one ought to take some share in it1 according to his powers3 some working with the head1 some with the hands2 but all acknowledging idleness and slavery to be alike immoral4 ,and1 as to the remuneration1 he said1 as he had said before in ,unto this ,last1 ,justice demands that equal energy expended should bring equal reward4 ,he did not consider it justice to cry out for the equalization of incomes1 for some are sure to be more diligent and saving than others2 some work involves a great preliminary expenditure of energy in qualifying the worker1 as contrasted with unskilled labour4 ,but he did not allow that the possession of capital entitled a man to unearned increment2 and he thought that1 in a community where a truly civilized morality was highly developed1 the general sense of society would recognise an average standard of work and an average standard of pay for each class4 ,in the next two lectures he spoke of the two great forms of ,play1 the great ,games of ,money-making and ,war4 ,he had been invited to lecture at ,bradford1 in the hope that he would give some useful advice towards the design of a new ,exchange which was to be built2 in curious forgetfulness1 it would appear1 of his work during the past ten years and more4 ,indeed1 the picture he drew them of an ideal ,temple to the ,goddess of ,getting-on was as daring a sermon as ever prophet preached4 ,but when he came to tell them that the employers of labour might be true captains and kings1 the leaders and the helpers of their fellow-men1 and that the function of commerce was not to prey upon society but to provide for it1 there were many of his hearers whose hearts told them that he was right1 and whose lives have shown1 in some measure1 that he did not speak in vain4 ,still stranger1 to hearers who had not noted the conclusion of his third volume of ,modern ,painters1 was his view of war1 in the address to the ,royal ,military ,academy at ,woolwich1 in ,december #ahfe4 ,the common view of war as destroyer of arts and enemy of morality1 the easy acceptance of the doctrine that peace is an unqualified blessing1 the obvious evils of battle and rapine and the waste of resources and life throughout so many ages1 have blinded less clear-sighted and less widely-experienced thinkers to another side of the teaching of history1 which ,ruskin dwelt upon with unexpected emphasis4 ,but modern war1 horrible1 not from its scale1 but from the spirit in which the upper classes set the lower to fight like gladiators in the arena1 he denounced2 and called upon the women of ,england1 with whom1 he said1 the real power of life and death lay1 to mend it into some semblance of antique chivalry1 or to end it in the name of religion and humanity4 ,in the ,new ,review for ,march #ahib1 there appeared a series of ,letters of ,john ,ruskin to his ,secretary1 which1 as the anonymous contributor remarked1 illustrate ,ruskin the worker1 as he acts away from the eyes of the world2 ,ruskin the epistolographer1 when the eventuality of the printing-press is not for the moment before him ,ruskin the good ,samaritan1 ever gentle and open-handed when true need and a good cause make appeal to his tender heart2 ,ruskin the employer1 considerate1 generous--an ideal master4 ,charles ,augustus ,howell became known to ,ruskin 7in #ahfd or #ahfe7 through the circle of the ,pre-,raphaelites2 and1 as the editor of the letters puts it1 by his talents and assiduity became the too-trusted friend and protg of ,ruskin1 ,rossetti and others of their acquaintance4 ,it was he who proposed and carried out the exhumation1 reluctantly consented to1 of ,rossetti's manuscript poems from his wife's grave1 in ,october1 #ahfi2 for which curious service to literature let him have the thanks of posterity4 ,but he was hardly the man to carry out ,ruskin's secret charities1 and long before he had lost ,rossetti's confidence#ab he had ceased to act as ,ruskin's secretary4 ,footnote #ab3 ,in the manner described by ,mr4 ,w4,m4 ,rossetti at p4 #cea1 ,vol4 ,i41 of ,d4,g4 ,rossetti1 his family letters1 to which the reader is referred4 ,from these letters1 however1 several interesting traits and incidents may be gleaned1 such as anecdotes about the canary which was anonymously bought at the ,crystal ,palace ,bird ,show 7,february #ahff7 for the owner's benefit3 about the shopboy whom ,ruskin was going to train as an artist2 and about the kindly proposal to employ the aged and impoverished ,cruikshank upon a new book of fairy tales1 and the struggle between admiration for the man and admission of his loss of power1 ending in the free gift of the hundred pounds promised4 ,in ,april1 #ahff1 after writing the ,preface to ,the ,crown of ,wild ,olive1 and preparing the book for publication1 ,ruskin was carried off to the ,continent for a holiday with ,sir ,walter and ,lady ,trevelyan1 her niece ,miss ,constance ,hilliard 7,mrs4 ,churchill71 and ,miss ,agnew 7,mrs4 ,severn71 for a thorough rest and change after three years of unintermitting work in ,england4 ,they intended to spend a couple of months in ,italy4 ,on the day of starting1 ,ruskin called at ,cheyne ,walk with the usual bouquet for ,mrs4 ,carlyle1 to learn that she had just met with her death1 in trying to save her little dog1 the gift of ,lady ,trevelyan4 ,he rejoined his friends1 and they crossed the ,channel gaily1 in spite of what they thought was rather a cloud over him4 ,at ,paris they read the news4 ,yes1 he said1 ,i knew4 ,but there was no reason why ,i should spoil your pleasure by telling you4 ,on his arrival at ,dijon he wrote to ,carlyle1 who in answer after giving way to his grief--my life all laid in ruins1 and the one light of it as if gone out1--continued3--,come and see me when you get home2 come oftener and see me1 and speak more frankly to me 7for ,i am very true to y'r highest interests and you7 while ,i still remain here4 ,you can do nothing for me in ,italy2 except come home improved4 ,but before this letter reached ,ruskin1 he too had been in the presence of death1 and had lost one of his most valued friends4 ,their journey to ,italy had been undertaken chiefly for the sake of ,lady ,trevelyan's health1 as the following extracts indicate3 ,,paris1 #bnd ,may1 #ahff4 ,lady ,trevelyan is much better to-day1 but it is not safe to move her yet--till to-morrow4 ,so ,i'm going to take the children to look at ,chartres cathedral--we can get three hours there1 and be back to seven o'clock dinner4 ,we drove round by ,st4 ,cloud and ,svres yesterday2 the blossomed trees being glorious by the ,seine1--the children in high spirits4 ,it reminds me always too much of ,turner--every bend of these rivers is haunted by him4 ,,dijon1 ,sunday1 #fth ,may1 #ahff4 ,lady ,trevelyan is much better1 and we hope all to get on to ,neufchatel to-morrow4 ,the weather is quite fine again though not warm2 and yesterday ,i took the children for a drive up the little valley which we used to drive through on leaving ,dijon for ,paris4 ,there are wooded hills on each side1 and we got into a sweet valley1 as full of nightingales as our garden is of thrushes1 and with slopes of broken rocky ground above1 covered with the lovely blue milk-wort1 and purple columbines1 and geranium1 and wild strawberry-flowers4 ,the children were intensely delighted1 and ,i took great care that ,constance should not run about so as to heat herself1 and we got up a considerable bit of hill quite nicely1 and with greatly increased appetite for tea1 and general mischief4 ,they have such appetites that ,i generally call them 'my two little pigs4' ,there is a delightful ,french waiting-maid at dinner here--who says they are both 'charmantes1' but highly approves of my title for them nevertheless4 ,,neufchatel1 #ajth ,may1 #ahff4 ,lady ,trevelyan is still too weak to move4 ,we had 7the children and ,i7 a delightful day yesterday at the ,pierre ,bot1 gathering vetches and lilies of the valley in the woods1 and picnic afterwards on the lovely mossy grass1 in view of all the ,alps--,jungfrau1 ,eiger1 ,blumlis ,alp1 ,altels1 and the rest1 with intermediate lake and farmsteads and apple-blossom--very heavenly4 ,here1 within a few days1 ,lady ,trevelyan died4 ,throughout her illness she had been following the progress of the new notes on wild-flowers 7afterwards to be ,proserpina7 with keen interest1 and ,sir ,walter lent the help of botanical science to ,ruskin's more poetical and artistic observations4 ,for the sake of this work1 and for the children1 and with a wise purpose of bearing up under the heavy blow that had fallen1 the two friends continued their journey for a while among the mountains4 ,from ,thun they went to ,interlachen and the ,giessbach4 ,ruskin occupied himself closely in tracing ,studer's sections across the great lake-furrow of central ,switzerland--something craggy for his mind to break upon1 as ,byron said when he was in trouble4 ,at the ,giessbach there was not only geology and divine scenery1 enjoyable in lovely weather1 but an interesting figure in the foreground1 the widowed daughter of the hotel landlord1 beautiful and consumptive1 but brave as a ,swiss girl should be4 ,they all seem to have fallen in love with her1 so to speak the young ,english girls as much as the impressionable art-critic3 and the new human interest in her ,alpine tragedy relieved1 as such interests do1 the painfulness of the circumstances through which they had been passing4 ,her sister ,marie was like an ,allegra to this ,penserosa2 bright and brilliant in native genius4 ,she played piano-duets with the young ladies2 taught ,alpine botany to the savants2 guided them to the secret dells and unknown points of view2 and with a sympathy unexpected in a stranger1 beguiled them out of their grief1 and won their admiration and gratitude4 ,marie of the ,giessbach was often referred to in letters of the time1 and for many years after1 with warmly affectionate remembrances4 ,a few bits from his letters to his mother1 which ,i have been permitted to copy1 will indicate the impressions of this summer's tour4 ,h,,tel ,,du ,,giesbach1 #fth ,june1 #ahff1 ,,my ,,dearest ,,mother1 ,can you at all fancy walking out in the morning in a garden full of lilacs just in rich bloom1 and pink hawthorn in masses2 and along a little terrace with lovely pinks coming into cluster of colour all over the low wall beside it2 and a sloping bank of green sward from it--and below that1 the ,giesbach6 ,fancy having a real ,alpine waterfall in one's garden1--seven hundred feet high4 ,you see1 we are just in time for the spring1 here1 and the strawberries are ripening on the rocks4 ,joan and ,constance have been just scrambling about and gathering them for me4 ,then there's the blue-green lake below1 and ,interlaken and the lake of ,thun in the distance4 ,i think ,i never saw anything so beautiful4 ,joan will write to you about the people1 whom she has made great friends with1 already4 #gth ,june1 #ahff4 ,i cannot tell you how much ,i am struck with the beauty of this fall3 it is different from everything ,i have ever seen in torrents4 ,there are so many places where one gets near it without being wet1 for one thing2 for the falls are1 mostly1 not vertical so as to fly into mere spray1 but over broken rock1 which crushes the water into a kind of sugar-candy-like foam1 white as snow1 yet glittering2 and composed1 not of bubbles1 but of broken-up water4 ,then ,i had forgotten that it plunged straight into the lake2 ,i got down to the lake shore on the other side of it yesterday1 and to see it plunge clear into the blue water1 with the lovely mossy rocks for its flank1 and for the lake edge1 was an unbelievable kind of thing2 it is all as one would fancy cascades in fairyland4 ,i do not often endure with patience any cockneyisms or showings off at these lovely places4 ,but they do one thing here so interesting that ,i can forgive it4 ,one of the chief cascades 7about midway up the hill7 falls over a projecting rock1 so that one can walk under the torrent as it comes over4 ,it leaps so clear that one is hardly splashed1 except at one place4 ,well1 when it gets dark1 they burn1 for five minutes1 one of the strongest steady fireworks of a crimson colour1 behind the fall4 ,the red light shines right through1 turning the whole waterfall into a torrent of fire4 #aath ,june1 #ahff4 ,we leave1 according to our programme1 for ,interlachen to-day1--with great regret1 for the peace and sweetness of this place are wonderful and the people are good2 and though there is much drinking and quarrelling among the younger men1 there appears to be neither distressful poverty1 nor deliberate crime3 so that there is more of the sense ,i need1 and long for1 of fellowship with human creatures1 than in any place ,i have been at for years4 ,i believe they don't so much as lock the house-doors at night2 and the faces of the older peasantry are really very beautiful4 ,i have done a good deal of botany1 and find that wild-flower botany is more or less inexhaustible1 but the cultivated flowers are infinite in their caprice4 ,the forget-me-nots and milkworts are singularly beautiful here1 but there is quite as much variety in ,english fields as in these1 as long as one does not climb much--and ,i'm very lazy1 compared to what ,i used to be1 ,,lauterbrunnen1 #acth ,june1 #ahff4 ,we had a lovely evening here yesterday1 and the children enjoyed and understood it better than anything they have yet seen among the ,alps4 ,constance was in great glory in a little walk ,i took her in the twilight through the upper meadows3 the ,staubbach seen only as a grey veil suspended from its rock1 and the great ,alps pale above on the dark sky4 ,she condescended nevertheless to gather a great bunch of the white catchfly1--to make 'pops' with1--her friend ,marie at the ,giesbach having shown her how a startling detonation may be obtained1 by skilful management1 out of its globular calyx4 ,this morning is not so promising1--one of the provoking ones which will neither let you stay at home with resignation1 nor go anywhere with pleasure4 ,i'm going to take the children for a little quiet exploration of the ,wengern path1 to see how they like it1 and if the weather betters--we may go on4 ,at all events ,i hope to find an ,alpine rose or two4 ,in ,june1 #ahff1 the ,professorship of ,poetry at ,oxford was vacant2 and ,ruskin's friends were anxious to see him take the post4 ,he1 however1 felt no especial fitness or inclination for it1 and did not stand4 ,three years later he was elected to a ,professorship that at this time had not been founded4 ,after spending ,june in the ,oberland1 he went homewards through ,berne1 ,vevey and ,geneva1 to find his private secretary with a bundle of begging letters1 and his friend ,carlyle busy with the defence of ,governor ,eyre4 ,in #ahfe an insurrection of negroes at ,morant ,bay1 ,jamaica1 had threatened to take the most serious shape1 when it was stamped out by the high-handed measures of ,mr4 ,eyre4 ,after the first congratulations were over another side to the question called for a hearing4 ,the ,baptist missionaries declared that among the negroes who were shot and hanged in terrorem were peaceable subjects1 respectable members of their own native congregations1 for whose character they could vouch2 they added that the gravity of the situation had been exaggerated by private enmity and jealousy of their work and creed4 ,a strong committee was formed under ,liberal auspices1 supported by such men as ,john ,stuart ,mill and ,thomas ,hughes1 the author of ,tom ,brown's ,schooldays--men whose motive was above suspicion--to bring ,mr4 ,eyre to account4 ,carlyle1 who admired the strong hand1 and had no interest in ,baptist missionaries1 accepted ,mr4 ,eyre as the saviour of society in his ,west ,indian sphere2 and there were many1 both in ,jamaica and at home1 who believed that1 but for his prompt action1 the white population would have been massacred with all the horrors of a savage rebellion4 ,ruskin had been for many years the ally of the ,broad ,church and ,liberal party4 ,but he was now coming more and more under the personal influence of ,carlyle2 and when it came to the point of choosing sides1 declared himself1 in a letter to the ,daily ,telegraph 7,december #bjth1 #ahfe71 a ,conservative and a supporter of order2 and joined the ,eyre ,defence ,committee with a subscription of #ajj4 ,the prominent part he took1 for example1 in the meeting of ,september1 #ahff1 was no doubt forced upon him by his desire to save ,carlyle1 whose recent loss and shaken nerves made such business especially trying to him4 ,letters of this period remain1 in which ,carlyle begs ,ruskin to be diligent1 ,i bid you6--and so on1 adding1 ,i must absolutely shut up in that direction1 to save my sanity4 ,and so it fell to the younger man to work through piles of pamphlets and newspaper correspondence1 to interview politicians and men of business1 and--what was so very foreign to his habits--to take a leading share in a party agitation4 ,but in all this he was true to his ,jacobite instincts4 ,he had been brought up a ,tory2 and though he had drifted into an alliance with the ,broad ,church and philosophical ,liberals1 he was never one of them4 ,now that his father was gone1 perhaps he felt a sort of duty to own himself his father's son2 and the failure of liberal philanthropy to realise his ideals1 and of liberal philosophy to rise to his economic standards1 combined with ,carlyle to induce him to label himself ,conservative4 ,but his conservatism could not be accepted by the party so called4 ,fortunately1 he did not need or ask their recognition4 ,he took no interest in party politics1 and never in his life voted at a ,parliamentary election4 ,he only meant to state in the shortest terms that he stood for loyalty and order4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,time ,,and ,,tide 7#ahfg7 ,the series of letters published as ,time and ,tide by ,weare and ,tyne were addressed#ac to ,thomas ,dixon1 a working cork-cutter of ,sunderland1 whose portrait by ,professor ,legros is familiar to visitors at the ,south ,kensington ,museum4 ,he was one of those thoughtful1 self-educated working men in whom1 as a class1 ,ruskin had been taking a deep interest for the past twelve years1 an interest which had purchased him a practical insight into their various capacities and aims1 and the right to speak without fear or favour4 ,at this time there was an agitation for ,parliamentary reform1 and the better representation of the working classes2 and it was on this topic that the letters were begun1 though the writer went on to criticise the various social ideals then popular1 and to propose his own4 ,he had already done something of the sort in ,unto this ,last2 but ,time and ,tide is much more complete1 and the result of seven years' further thought and experience4 ,his ,fors ,clavigera is a continuation of these letters1 but written at a time when other work and ill health broke in upon his strength4 ,time and ,tide is not only the statement of his social scheme as he saw it in his central period1 but1 written as these letters were--at a stroke1 so to speak--condensed in exposition and simple in language1 they deserve the most careful reading by the student of ,ruskin4 ,footnote #ac3 ,during ,february1 ,march and ,april1 #ahfg1 and published in the ,manchester ,examiner and ,leeds ,mercury4 ,before this work was ended1 ,carlyle had come back from ,mentone to ,chelsea1 and was begging his friend1 in the warmest terms1 to come and see him4 ,shortly afterward1 a passage which ,ruskin would not retract gave offence to ,carlyle4 ,but the difference was healed1 and later years reveal the sage of ,chelsea as kindly and affectionate as ever4 ,this friendship between the two greatest writers of their age1 between two men of vigorous individuality1 outspoken opinions1 and widely different tastes and sympathies1 is a fine episode in the history of both4 ,in ,may1 ,ruskin was invited to ,cambridge to receive the honorary degree of ,,ll4,d41 and to deliver the ,rede ,lecture4 ,the ,cambridge ,chronicle of ,may #bdth1 #ahfg1 says3 ,the body of the ,senate ,house was quite filled with ,m4,a4's and ladies1 principally the latter1 whilst there was a large attendance of undergraduates in the galleries1 who gave the lecturer a most enthusiastic reception4 ,a brief report of the lecture was printed in the newspaper2 but it was not otherwise published1 and the manuscript seems to have been mislaid for thirty years4 ,i take the liberty of copying the opening sentences as a specimen of that ,academical oratory which ,mr4 ,ruskin then adopted1 and used habitually in his earlier lectures at ,oxford4 ,the title of the discourse was ,the ,relation of ,national ,ethics to ,national ,arts4 ,in entering on the duty to-day entrusted to me1 ,i should hold it little respectful to my audience if ,i disturbed them by expression of the diffidence which they know that ,i must feel in first speaking in this ,senate ,house2 diffidence which might well have prevented me from accepting such duty1 but ought not to interfere with my endeavour simply to fulfil it4 ,nevertheless1 lest the direction which ,i have been led to give to my discourse1 and the narrow limits within which ,i am compelled to confine the treatment of its subject may seem in anywise inconsistent with the purpose of the founder of this ,lecture--or with the expectations of those by whose authority ,i am appointed to deliver it1 let me at once say that ,i obeyed their command1 not thinking myself able to teach any dogma in the philosophy of the arts1 which could be of any new interest to the members of this ,university3 but only that ,i might obtain the sanction of their audience1 for the enforcement upon other minds of the truth1 which--after thirty years spent in the study of art1 not dishonestly1 however feebly--is manifest to me as the clearest of all that ,i have learned1 and urged upon me as the most vital of all ,i have to declare4 ,he then distinguished between true and false art1 the true depending upon sincerity1 whether in literature1 music or the formative arts3 he reinforced his old doctrine of the dignity of true imagination as the attribute of healthy and earnest minds2 and energetically attacked the commercial art-world of the day1 and the notion that drawing-schools were to be supported for the sake of the gain they would bring to our manufacturers4 ,in this lecture we see the germ of the ideas1 as well as the beginning of the style1 of the ,oxford ,inaugural course1 and the ,eagle's ,nest2 something quite different in type from the style and teaching of the addresses to working men1 or to mixed popular audiences at ,edinburgh or ,manchester1 or even at the ,royal ,institution4 ,at this latter place1 on ,june #dth1 ,sir ,henry ,holland in the chair1 he lectured on ,the ,present ,state of ,modern ,art1 with reference to advisable arrangement of the ,national ,gallery1 repeating much of what he had said in ,time and ,tide about the taste for the horrible and absence of true feeling for pure and dignified art in the theatrical shows of the day1 and in the admiration for ,gustave ,dor1 then a new fashion4 ,mr4 ,ruskin could never endure that the man who had illustrated ,balzac's ,contes ,drlatiques should be chosen by the religious public of ,england as the exponent of their sacred ideals4 ,in ,july after a short visit to ,huntly ,burn near ,abbotsford1 he went to ,keswick for a few weeks1 from whence he wrote the rhymed letters to his cousin at home1 quoted 7with the date wrongly given as #aheg7 in ,prterita to illustrate his heraldic character of ,little ,pigs and to shock exoteric admirers4 ,like1 for example1 ,rossetti and ,carlyle1 ,ruskin was fond of playful nicknames and grotesque terms of endearment4 ,he never stood upon his dignity with intimates2 and was ready to allow the liberties he took1 much to the surprise of strangers4 ,he reached ,keswick by ,july #d1 and spent his time chiefly in walks upon the hills1 staying at the ,derwentwater ,hotel4 ,he wrote3 ,keswick1 #aith ,july1 '#fg1 ,afternoon1 #a_/b past #c4 ,my dearest ,mother1 ,as this is the last post before ,sunday ,i send one more line to say ,i've had a delightful forenoon's walk--since #a_/b past ten--by ,st4 ,john's ,vale1 and had pleasant thoughts1 and found one of the most variedly beautiful torrent beds ,i ever saw in my life2 and ,i feel that ,i gain strength1 slowly but certainly1 every day4 ,the great good of the place is that ,i can be content without going on great excursions which fatigue and do me harm 7or else worry me with problems27--,i am content here with the roadside hedges and streams2 and this contentment is the great thing for health1--and there is hardly anything to annoy me of absurd or calamitous human doing2 but still this ancient cottage life--very rude and miserable enough in its torpor--but clean1 and calm1 not a vile cholera and plague of bestirred pollution1 like back streets in ,london4 ,there is also much more real and deep beauty than ,i expected to find1 in some of the minor pieces of scenery1 and in the cloud effects4 ,july #af4 ,i have the secret of extracting sadness from all things1 instead of joy1 which is no enviable talisman4 ,forgive me if ,i ever write in a way that may pain you4 ,it is best that you should know1 when ,i write cheerfully1 it is no pretended cheerfulness2 so when ,i am sad--,i think it right to confess it4 #cjth ,july4 ,downes#ad arrived yesterday quite comfortably and in fine weather4 ,it is not bad this morning1 and ,i hope to take him for a walk up ,saddleback1 which1 after all1 is the finest1 to my mind1 of all the ,cumberland hills--though that is not saying much2 for they are much lower in effect1 in proportion to their real height1 than ,i had expected4 ,the beauty of the country is in its quiet roadside bits1 and rusticity of cottage life and shepherd labour4 ,its mountains are sorrowfully melted away from my old dreams of them4 ,footnote #ad3 ,the gardener at ,denmark ,hill4 ,next day he went straight up the steep front of ,saddleback by the central ridge to the summit4 ,it is the finest thing ,i've yet seen1 there being several bits of real crag-work1 and a fine view at the top over the great plains of ,penrith on one side1 and the ,cumberland hills1 as a chain1 on the other4 ,fine fresh wind blowing1 and plenty of crows4 ,do you remember poor papa's favourite story about the ,quaker whom the crows ate on ,saddleback8 ,there were some of the biggest and hoarsest-voiced ones about the cliff that ,i've ever had sympathetic croaks from2--and one on the top1 or near it1 so big that ,downes and ,crawley1 having ,austrian tendencies in politics1 took it for a 'black eagle4' ,downes went up capitally1 though ,i couldn't get him down again1 because he would stop to gather ferns4 ,however1 we did it all and came down to ,threlkeld--of the ,bridal of ,triermain1 ',the ,king his way pursued ,by lonely ,threlkeld's waste and wood1' in good time for me to dress and1 for a wonder1 go out to dinner with ,acland's friends the ,butlers4 ,as an episode in this visit to ,keswick1 ten days were given to the neighbourhood of ,ambleside1 to show ,downes ,windermere4 ,waterhead1 ,windermere1 #ajth ,august1 #ahfg1 ,evening4 ,i was at ,coniston to-day4 ,our old ,waterhead ,inn1 where ,i was so happy playing in the boats1 exists no more4--,its place is grown over with smooth ,park grass--the very site of it forgotten6 and1 a quarter of a mile down the lake1 a vast hotel built in the railroad station style--making up1 ,i suppose1 its fifty or eighty beds1 with coffee-room--smoking-room--and every pestilent and devilish ,yankeeism that money can buy1 or speculation plan4 ,the depression1 whatever its cause1 does not affect my strength4 ,i walked up a long hill on the road to ,coniston to-day 7gathering wild raspberries7--then from this new ,inn1 two miles to the foot of ,coniston ,old ,man2 up it2 down again--7necessarily67--and back to dinner1 without so much as warming myself--not that there was much danger of doing that at the top2 for a keen west wind was blowing drifts of cloud by at a great pace1 and one was glad of the shelter of the pile of stones1 the largest and oldest ,i ever saw on a mountain top4 ,i suppose the whole mountain is named from it4 ,it is of the shape of a beehive1 strongly built1 about #ae feet high 7so that ,i made ,downes follow me up it before ,i would allow he had been at the top of the ,old ,man7 and covered with lichen and short moss4 ,lancaster sands and the ,irish sea were very beautiful1 and so also the two lakes of ,coniston and ,windermere1 lying in the vastest space of sweet cultivated country ,i have ever looked over1--a great part of the view from the ,rigi being merely over black pine forest1 even on the plains4 ,well1 after dinner1 the evening was very beautiful1 and ,i walked up the long hill on the road back from ,coniston--and kept ahead of the carriage for two miles3 ,i was sadly vexed when ,i had to get in3 and now--,i don't feel as if ,i had been walking at all--and shall probably lie awake for an hour or two--and feeling as if ,i had not had exercise enough to send me to sleep4 ,,langdale1 #acth ,august1 ,evening4 ,it is perfectly calm to-night1 not painfully hot--and the full moon shining over the mountains1 opposite my window1 which are the scene of ,wordsworth's ',excursion4' ,it was terribly hot in the earlier day1 and ,i did not leave the house till five o'clock4 ,then ,i went out1 and in the heart of ,langdale ,pikes found the loveliest rock-scenery1 chased with silver waterfalls1 that ,i ever set foot or heart upon4 ,the ,swiss torrent-beds are always more or less savage1 and ruinous1 with a terrible sense of overpowering strength and danger1 lulled4 ,but here1 the sweet heather and ferns and star mosses nestled in close to the dashing of the narrow streams2--while every cranny of crag held its own little placid lake of amber1 trembling with falling drops--but quietly trembling--not troubled into ridgy wave or foam--the rocks themselves1 ideal rock1 as hard as iron--no--not quite that1 but so hard that after breaking some of it1 breaking solid white quartz seemed like smashing brittle loaf sugar1 in comparison--and cloven into the most noble masses2 not grotesque1 but majestic and full of harmony with the larger mountain mass of which they formed a part4 ,fancy what a place6 for a hot afternoon after five1 with no wind--and absolute solitude2 no creature--except a lamb or two--to mix any ruder sound or voice with the plash of the innumerable streamlets4 ,it was during this tour that he looked at a site on the hill above ,bowness-on-,windermere1 where ,mr4 ,t4 ,richmond1 the owner1 proposed building him a house4 ,he liked the view1 but found it too near the railway station4 ,after spending ,september with his mother at ,norwood under the care of ,dr4 ,powell1 he was able to return home1 prepare ,time and ,tide for publication1 and write the preface on ,dec4 #adth4 ,on the #aith the book was out1 and immediately bought up4 ,a month later the second edition was issued4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,agates1 ,,and ,,abbeville 7#ahfh7 ,of less interest to the general reader1 though too important a part of ,ruskin's life and work to be passed over without mention1 are his studies in ,mineralogy4 ,we have heard of his early interest in spars and ores2 of his juvenile dictionary in forgotten hieroglyphics2 and of his studies in the field and at the ,british ,museum4 ,he had made a splendid collection1 and knew the various museums of ,europe as familiarly as he knew the picture-galleries4 ,in the ,ethics of the ,dust he had chosen ,crystallography as the subject in which to exemplify his method of education2 and in #ahfg1 after finishing the letters to ,thomas ,dixon1 he took refuge1 as before1 among the stones1 from the stress of more agitating problems4 ,in the lecture on the ,savoy ,alps in #ahfc he had referred to a hint of ,saussure's that the contorted beds of the limestones might possibly be due to some sort of internal action1 resembling on a large scale that separation into concentric or curved bands which is seen in calcareous deposits4 ,the contortions of gneiss were similarly analogous1 it was suggested1 to those of the various forms of silica4 ,ruskin did not adopt the theory1 but put it by for examination in contrast with the usual explanation of these phenomena1 as the simple mechanical thrust of the contracting surface of the earth4 ,in #ahfc and #ahff he had been among the ,nagelflh of ,northern ,switzerland1 studying the puddingstones and breccias4 ,he saw that the difference between these formations1 in their structural aspect1 and the hand-specimens in his collection of pisolitic and brecciated minerals was chiefly a matter of size2 and that the resemblances in form were very close4 ,and so he concluded that if the structure of the minerals could be fully understood a clue might be found to the very puzzling question of the origin of mountain structure4 ,hence his attempt to analyze the structure of agates and similar banded and brecciated minerals1 in the series of papers in the ,geological ,magazine2#ae an attempt which though it was never properly completed1 and fails to come to any general conclusion1 is extremely interesting as an account of beautiful and curious natural forms till then little noticed by mineralogists4 ,footnote #ae3 ,august and ,november1 #ahfg1 ,january1 ,april and ,may1 #ahfh1 ,december1 #ahfi1 and ,january1 #ahgj1 illustrated with very fine mezzotint plates and woodcuts4 ,a characteristic anecdote of this period is preserved in ,arrows of the ,chace4 ,the ,daily ,telegraph of ,january #bast1 #ahfh1 contained a leading article upon the following facts4 ,it appeared that a girl1 named ,matilda ,griggs1 had been nearly murdered by her seducer1 who1 after stabbing her in no less than thirteen places1 had then left her for dead4 ,she had1 however1 still strength enough to crawl into a field close by1 and there swooned4 ,the assistance she met with in this plight was of a rare kind4 ,two calves came up to her1 and disposing themselves on either side of her bleeding body1 thus kept her warm and partly sheltered from cold and rain4 ,temporarily preserved1 the girl eventually recovered1 and entered into recognizances1 under a sum of forty pounds1 to prosecute her murderous lover4 ,but 'she loved much1' and failing to prosecute1 forfeited her recognizances1 and was imprisoned by the ,chancellor of the ,exchequer for her debt4 ',pity the poor debtor1' wrote the ,daily ,telegraph1 and in the next day's issue appeared the following letter1 probably not intended for the publication accorded to it4 ',sir1--,except in ',gil ,blas1' ,i never read of anything ,astran on the earth so perfect as the story in your fourth article to-day4 ,i send you a cheque for the ,chancellor4 ,if forty1 in legal terms1 means four hundred1 you must explain the farther requirements to your impulsive public4 ',i am1 ,sir1 your faithful servant1 ',j4 ,,ruskin4' ,the writer of letters like this naturally had a large correspondence1 beside that which a circle of private friends and numberless admirers and readers elicited4 ,about this time it grew to such a pitch that he was obliged to print a form excusing him from letter-writing on the ground of stress of work4 ,and indeed1 this year1 though he did not publish his annual volume1 as usual1 he was fully occupied with frequent letters to newspapers1 several lectures and addresses1 a preface to the reprint of his old friend ,cruikshank's ,grimm1 and the beginning of a new botanical work1 ,proserpina1 in addition to the mineralogy1 and a renewed interest in classical studies4 ,of the public addresses the most important was that on ,the ,mystery of ,life and its ,arts1 delivered in the theatre of the ,royal ,college of ,science1 ,dublin 7,may #acth71 and printed in ,sesame and ,lilies4 ,after this visit to ,ireland he spent a few days at ,winnington2 and late in ,august crossed the ,channel1 for rest and change at ,abbeville4 ,for the past five years he had found too little time for drawing2 it was twenty years since his last sketching of ,french ,gothic1 except for a study 7now at ,oxford71 of the porch at ,amiens1 in #ahef4 ,he took up the old work where he had left it1 after writing the ,seven ,lamps1 with fresh interest and more advanced powers of draughtsmanship as shown in the pencil study of the ,place ,amiral ,courbet1 now in the drawing school at ,oxford4 ,the following are extracts from the usual budget of home letters2 readers of ,fors will need no further introduction to their old acquaintance1 the tallow-chandler4 ,,abbeville1 ,friday1 #ahth ,sept41 #ahfh ,you seem to have a most uncomfortable time of it1 with the disturbance of the house4 ,however1 ,i can only leave you to manage these things as you think best--or feel pleasantest to yourself4 ,i am saddened by another kind of disorder1 ,france is in everything so fallen back1 so desolate and comfortless1 compared to what it was twenty years ago--the people so much rougher1 clumsier1 more uncivil--everything they do1 vulgar and base4 ,remnants of the old nature come out when they begin to know you4 ,i am drawing at a nice tallow-chandler's door1 and to-day1 for the first time had to go inside for rain4 ,he was very courteous and nice1 and warned me against running against the candle-ends--or bottoms1 as they were piled on the shelves1 saying--',you must take care1 you see1 not to steal any of my candles'--or 'steal from my candles1' meaning not to rub them off on my coat4 ,he has a beautiful family of cats--papa and mamma and two superb kittens--half ,angora4 #bbnd ,sept4 ,i am going to my cats and tallow-chandler4444 ,i was very much struck by the superiority of manner both in him and in his two daughters who serve at the counter1 to persons of the same class in ,england4 ,when the girls have weighed out their candles1 or written down the orders that are sent in1 they instantly sit down to their needlework behind the counter1 and are always busy1 yet always quiet2 and their father1 though of course there may be vulgar idioms in his language which ,i do not recognize1 has entirely the manners of a gentleman4 #cjth ,sept4 ,i have the advantage here ,i had not counted on4 ,i see by the papers that the weather in ,england is very stormy and bad4 ,now1 though it is showery here1 and breezy1 it has always allowed me at some time of the day to draw4 ,the air is tender and soft1 invariably--even when blowing with force2 and to-day1 ,i have seen quite the loveliest sunset ,i ever yet saw1--one at ,boulogne in '#fa was richer2 but for delicacy and loveliness nothing of past sight ever came near this4 ,earlier on the same day he had written3 ,i am well satisfied with the work ,i am doing1 and even with my own power of doing it1 if only ,i can keep myself from avariciously trying to do too much1 and working hurriedly4 ,but ,i can do very little quite well1 each day3 with that however it is my bounden duty to be content4 ,and now ,i have a little piece of news for you4 ,our old ,herne ,hill house being now tenantless1 and requiring some repairs before ,i can get a tenant1 ,i have resolved to keep it for myself1 for my rougher mineral work and mass of collection2 keeping only my finest specimens at ,denmark ,hill4 ,my first reason for this1 is affection for the old house3--my second1 want of room2--my third1 the incompatibility of hammering1 washing1 and experimenting on stones with cleanliness in my stores of drawings4 ,and my fourth is the power ,i shall have1 when ,i want to do anything very quietly1 of going up the hill and thinking it out in the old garden1 where your greenhouse still stands1 and the aviary--without fear of interruption from callers4 ,it may perhaps amuse you1 in hours which otherwise would be listless1 to think over what may be done with the old house4 ,i have ordered it at once to be put in proper repair by ,mr4 ,snell2 but for the furnishing1 ,i can give no directions at present3 it is to be very simple1 at all events1 and calculated chiefly for museum work and for stores of stones and books3 and you really must not set your heart on having it furnished like ,buckingham ,palace4 ,i have bought to-day1 for five pounds1 the front of the porch of the ,church of ,st4 ,james4 ,it was going to be entirely destroyed4 ,it is worn away1 and has little of its old beauty2 but as a remnant of the ,gothic of ,abbeville--as ,i happen to be here--and as the church was dedicated to my father's patron saint 7as distinct from mine7 ,i'm glad to have got it4 ,it is a low arch--with tracery and niches1 which ivy1 and the ,erba della ,madonna1 will grow over beautifully1 wherever ,i rebuild it4 ,at ,abbeville he had with him as usual his valet ,crawley2 and as before he sent for ,downes the gardener1 to give him a holiday1 and to enjoy his raptures over every new sight4 ,c4,e4 ,norton came on a short visit1 and ,ruskin followed him to ,paris1 where he met the poet ,longfellow 7,october #g74 ,at last on ,monday1 #aith ,october1 he wrote3 ,only a line to-day1 for ,i am getting things together1 and am a little tired1 but very well1 and glad to come home1 though much mortified at having failed in half my plans1 and done nothing compared to what ,i expected4 ,but it is better than if ,i were displeased with all ,i had done4 ,it isn't ,turner--and it isn't ,correggio--it isn't even ,prout--but it isn't bad4 ,returning home1 he gave an account of his autumn's work in the lecture at the ,royal ,institution1 ,january #bith1 #ahfi1 on the ,flamboyant ,architecture of the ,valley of the ,somme4 ,this lecture was not then published in full3 but part of the original text is printed in the third chapter of the work we have next to notice1 ,the ,queen of the ,air4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,queen ,,of ,,the ,,air 7#ahfi7 ,in spite of a classical education and the influence of ,aristotle upon the immature art-theories of his earlier works1 ,ruskin was known1 in his younger days1 as a ,goth1 and the enemy of the ,greeks4 ,when he began life1 his sense of justice made him take the side of ,modern ,painters against classical tradition4 ,later on1 when considering the great questions of education and the aims of life1 he entirely set aside the common routine of ,greek and ,latin grammar as the all-in-all of culture4 ,but this was not because he shared ,carlyle's contempt for classical studies4 ,in ,modern ,painters1 ,vol4 ,,iii41 he had followed out the indications of nature-worship1 and tried to analyse in general terms the attitude of the ,greek spirit towards landscape scenery1 as betrayed in ,homer and ,aristophanes and the poets usually read4 ,since that time his interest in ,greek literature had been gradually increasing4 ,he had made efforts to improve his knowledge of the language2 and he had spent many days in sketching and studying the terra-cottas and vases and coins at the ,british ,museum4 ,he had also taken up some study of ,egyptology1 through ,champollion1 ,bunsen and ,birch1 in the hope of tracing the origin of ,greek decorative art4 ,comparative mythology1 at that time1 was a department of philology1 introduced to the ,english public chiefly by ,max ,mller4 ,under his influence ,ruskin entered step by step upon an inquiry which afterwards became of singular importance in his life and thought4 ,in #ahfe he had told his hearers at ,bradford that ,greek ,religion was not1 as commonly supposed1 the worship of ,beauty1 but of ,wisdom and ,power4 ,they did not1 in their great age1 worship ,venus1 but ,apollo and ,athena4 ,and he regarded their mythology as a sincere tradition1 effective in forming a high moral type1 and a great school of art4 ,in the ,ethics of the ,dust he had explained the myth of ,athena as parallel to that of ,neith in ,egypt2 and in his fable of ,neith and ,st4 ,barbara he had hinted at a comparison1 on equal terms1 of ,ancient and ,medival mythology4 ,he ended by saying that1 though he would not have his young hearers believe that the ,greeks were better than we1 and that their gods were real angels1 yet their art and morals were in some respects greater1 and their beliefs were worth respectful and sympathetic study4 ,the ,queen of the ,air is his contribution to this study4 ,on ,march #ith1 #ahfi1 his lecture at ,university ,college1 ,london1 on ,greek ,myths of ,cloud and ,storm1 began with an attempt to explain in popular terms how a myth differs from mere fiction on the one hand and from allegory on the other1 being not conceived didactically1 but didactic in its essence1 as all good art is4 ,he showed that ,greek poetry dealt with the series of ,nature-myths with which were interwoven ethical suggestions2 that these were connected with ,egyptian beliefs1 but that the full force of them was only developed in the central period of ,greek history1 and their interpretation was to be read in a sympathetic analysis of the spirit of men like ,pindar and schylus4 ,the great question1 he said1 in reading a story is1 always1 not what wild hunter dreamed1 or what childish race first dreaded it2 but what wise man first perfectly told1 and what strong people first perfectly lived by it4 ,and the real meaning of any myth is that which it has at the noblest age of the nation among whom it was current4 ,in the next chapter he worked out1 as a sequel to his lecture1 two groups of ,animal-myths2 those connected with birds1 and especially the dove1 as type of ,spirit1 and those connected with the serpent in its various significances4 ,these two studies were continued1 more or less1 in ,love's ,meinie and in the lecture printed in ,deucalion1 as the third group1 that of ,plant-myths1 was carried on in ,proserpina4 ,the volume contained also extracts from the lecture on the ,architecture of the ,valley of the ,somme1 and two numbers of the ,cestus of ,aglaia1 and closed with a paper on ,the ,hercules of ,camarina1 read to the ,south ,lambeth ,art ,school on ,march #aeth4 ,this study of a ,greek coin had already formed the subject of an address at the ,working ,men's ,college1 and anticipated the second course of ,oxford ,lectures4 ,for the rest1 ,the ,queen of the ,air is marked by its statement1 more clearly than before in ,ruskin's writing1 of the dependence of moral upon physical life1 and of physical upon moral science4 ,he speaks with respect of the work of ,darwin and ,tyndall2 but as formerly in the ,rede ,lecture1 and afterwards in the ,eagle's ,nest1 he claims that natural science should not be pursued as an end in itself1 paramount to all other conclusions and considerations2 but as a department of study subordinate to ethics1 with a view to utility and instruction4 ,before this book was quite ready for publication1 and after a sale of some of his less treasured pictures at ,christie's he left home for a journey to ,italy1 to revisit the subjects of ,stones of ,venice1 as in #ahfh he had revisited those of the ,seven ,lamps4 ,at ,vevey1 on the way1 he wrote his preface 7,may #ast74 ,by quiet stages he passed the ,simplon1 writing from ,domo d',ossola1 #eth ,may1 #ahfi3 ,i never yet had so beautiful a day for the ,simplon as this has been2 though the skin of my face is burning now all over--to keep me well in mind of its sunshine4 ,i left ,brieg at #f exactly--light clouds breaking away into perfect calm of blue4 ,heavy snow on the col--about a league--with the wreaths in many places higher than the carriage4 ,then1 white crocus all over the fields1 with ,soldanelle and ,primula farinosa4 ,i walked about three miles up1 and seven down1 with great contentment2 the waterfalls being all in rainbows1 and one beyond anything ,i ever yet saw2 for it fell in a pillar of spray against shadow behind1 and became rainbow altogether4 ,i was just near enough to get the belt broad1 and the down part of the arch3 and the whole fall became orange and violet against deep shade4 ,to-morrow ,i hope to get news of you all1 at ,baveno4 ,,baveno1 ,thursday1 #fth ,may1 #ahfi4 ,it is wet this morning1 and very dismal1 for we are in a ghastly new ,inn1 the old one being shut up2 and there is always a re-action after a strong excitement like the beauty of the ,simplon yesterday1 which leaves one very dull4 ,but it is of no use growling or mewing4 ,i hope to be at ,milan to-morrow--at ,verona for ,sunday4 ,i have been reading ,dean ,swift's life1 and ',gulliver's ,travels' again4 ,putting the delight in dirt1 which is a mere disease1 aside1 ,swift is very like me1 in most things3--in opinions exactly the same4 ,at ,milan1 next day1 he went to see the ,st4 ,catherine of ,luini which he had copied1 and found it wantonly damaged by the carelessness of masons who put their ladders up against it1 just as if it were a bit of common whitewashed wall4 ,on the #hth he reached ,verona after seventeen years' absence1 and on the #ajth he was in ,venice4 ,there1 looking at the works of the old painters with a fresh eye1 and with feelings and thoughts far different from those with which he had viewed them as a young man1 in #ahde1 he saw beauties he had passed over before1 in the works of a painter till then little regarded by connoisseurs1 and entirely neglected by the public4 ,historians of art like ,crowe and ,cavalcaselle#af had indeed examined ,carpaccio's works and investigated his life1 along with the lives and works of many another obscure master3 artists like ,hook and ,burne-,jones had admired his pictures2 ,ruskin had mentioned his backgrounds twice or thrice in ,stones of ,venice4 ,but no writer had noticed his extraordinary interest as an exponent of the mythology of the ,middle ,ages1 as the illustrator of poetical folk-lore derived from those antique myths of ,greece1 and newly presented by the genius of ,christianity4 ,footnote #af3 ,their ,history of ,painting in ,north ,italy1 containing a detailed account of ,carpaccio1 was published in #ahga4 ,this was a discovery for which ,ruskin was now ripe1 ,he saw at once that he had found a treasure-house of things new and old4 ,he fell in love with ,st4 ,ursula as1 twenty-four years earlier1 he had fallen in love with the statue of ,ilaria at ,lucca2 and she became1 as time after time he revisited ,venice for her sake1 a personality1 a spiritual presence1 a living ideal1 exactly as the ,queen of the ,air might have been to the sincere ,athenian in the pagan age of faith4 ,the story of her life and death became an example1 the conception of her character1 as read in ,carpaccio's picture1 became a standard for his own life and action in many a time of distress and discouragement4 ,the thought of ,what would ,st4 ,ursula say8 led him--not always1 but far more often than his correspondents knew--to burn the letter of sharp retort upon stupidity and impertinence1 and to force the wearied brain and overstrung nerves into patience and a kindly answer4 ,and later on1 the playful credence which he accorded to the myth deepened into a renewed sense of the possibility of spiritual realities1 when he learnt to look1 with those medival believers2 once more as a little child upon the unfathomable mysteries of life4 ,but this anticipates the story2 at the time1 he found in ,carpaccio the man who had touched the full chord of his feelings and his thoughts1 just as1 in his boyhood1 ,turner had led him1 marvelling1 through the fire and cloud to the mountain-altar2 and as1 in his youth1 ,tintoret had interpreted the storm and stress of a mind awakening to the terrible realities of the world4 ,it was no caprice of a changeful taste1 nor love of startling paradox1 that brought him to discover ,carpaccio2 it was the logical sequence of his studies1 and widening interests1 and a view of art embracing far broader issues than the connoisseurship of ,modern ,painters1 or the didacticism of ,seven ,lamps1 or the historical research of ,stones of ,venice4 ,soon after the ,queen of the ,air was published ,carlyle wrote3 ,last week ,i got y'r ',queen of the ,air1' and read it4 ,euge1 ,ettge4 ,no such ,book have ,i met with for long years past4 ,the one soul now in the world who seems to feel as ,i do on the highest matters1 and speaks mir aus dem ,herzen1 exactly what ,i wanted to hear6-,as to the natural history of those old myths ,i remained here and there a little uncert'n2 but as to the meanings you put into them1 never anywhere4 ,all these things ,i not only 'agree' with1 but w'd use ,thor's ,hammer1 if ,i had it1 to enforce and put in action on this rotten world4 ,well done1 well done6--and pluck up a heart1 and continue ag'n and ag'n4 ,and don't say 'most g't tho'ts are dressed in shrouds'3 many1 many are the ,phoebus ,apollo celestial arrows you still have to shoot into the foul ,pythons1 and poisonous abominable ,megatheriums and ,plesiosaurians that go staggering ab't1 large as cathedrals1 in our sunk ,epoch ag'n4444 ,,chapter ,x ,,verona ,,and ,,oxford 7#ahfi-ahgj7 ,the main object of this journey was1 however1 not to study mythology1 but to continue the revision of old estimates of architecture1 and after seventeen years to look with a fresh eye at the subjects of ,stones of ,venice4 ,the churches and monuments of ,verona had been less thoroughly studied than those of ,venice1 and now they were threatened with imminent restoration4 ,on ,may #beth he wrote3--,it is very strange that ,i have just been in time--after #ag years' delay--to get the remainder of what ,i wanted from the red tomb of which my old drawing hangs in the passage--7the ,castelbarco monument74 ,to-morrow they put up scaffolding to retouch1 and ,i doubt not1 spoil it for evermore4 ,he succeeded in getting a delay of ten days1 to enable him to paint the tomb in its original state2 but before he went home it had its new white cap on and looked like a ,venetian gentleman in a pantaloon's mask4 ,he brought away one of the actual stones of the old roof4 ,on ,june #c he wrote3 ,i am getting on well with all my own work2 and much pleased with some that ,mr4 ,bunney is doing for me2 so that really ,i expect to carry off a great deal of ,verona4444 ,the only mischief of the place is its being too rich4 ,stones1 flowers1 mountains--all equally asking one to look at them2 a history to every foot of ground1 and a picture on every foot of wall2 frescoes fading away in the neglected streets--like the colours of the dolphin4 ,as assistants in this enterprise of recording the monuments of ,venice and ,verona1 and of recording them more fully and in a more interesting way than by photography1 he took with him ,arthur ,burgess and ,john ,bunney1 his former pupils4 ,mr4 ,burgess was the subject of a memoir by ,ruskin in the ,century ,guild ,hobby ,horse 7,april1 #ahhg71 appreciating his talents and lamenting his loss4 ,mr4 ,bunney1 who had travelled with ,ruskin in ,switzerland in #ahfc1 and had lately lived near ,florence1 thenceforward settled in ,venice1 where he died in #ahhb1 after completing his great work1 the ,st4 ,mark's now in the ,ruskin ,museum at ,sheffield4 ,a memoir of him by ,mr4 ,wedderburn appeared in the catalogue of the ,venice ,exhibition1 at the ,fine ,art ,society's ,gallery in ,november1 #ahhb4 ,at ,venice ,ruskin had met his old friend ,rawdon ,brown#ag1 and ,count ,giberto ,borromeo1 whom he visited at ,milan on his way home1 with deep interest in the ,luinis and in the authentic bust of ,st4 ,carlo2 so closely resembling ,ruskin himself4 ,another noteworthy encounter is recorded in a letter of ,may #dth4#ah ,footnote #ag3 ,whose book on the ,english in ,italy 7from ,venetian documents7 was shortly to be published1 with funds supplied by ,ruskin4 ,footnote #ah3 ,this date ought to be ,june #dth1 as ,mr4 ,e4,t4 ,cook notices 7,library ,edn4 ,,xix41 p4 liv474 ,as ,i was drawing in the square this morning1 in a lovely1 quiet1 ,italian1 light1 there came up the poet ,longfellow with his little daughter--a girl of #ab1 or #ac1 with springy-curled flaxen hair1--curls1 or waves1 that wouldn't come out in damp1 ,i mean4 ,they stayed talking beside me some time4 ,i don't think it was a very vain thought that came over me1 that if a photograph could have been taken of the beautiful square of ,verona1 in that soft light1 with ,longfellow and his daughter talking to me at my work--some people both in ,england and ,america would have liked copies of it4 ,readers of ,fors will recognise an incident noted on the #ahth of ,june4 ,yesterday1 it being quite cool1 ,i went for a walk2 and as ,i came down from a rather quiet hillside1 a mile or two out of town1 ,i past a house where the women were at work spinning the silk off the cocoons4 ,there was a sort of whirring sound as in an ,english mill2 but at intervals they sang a long sweet chant1 all together1 lasting about two minutes--then pausing a minute and then beginning again4 ,it was good and tender music1 and the multitude of voices prevented any sense of failure1 so that it was very lovely and sweet1 and like the things that ,i mean to try to bring to pass4 ,for he was already meditating on the thoughts that issued in the proposals of ,st4 ,george's ,guild1 and the daily letters of this summer are full of allusions to a scheme for a great social movement1 as well as to his plans for the control of ,alpine torrents and the better irrigation of their valleys4 ,on the #bnd of ,june he wrote3--,i see more and more clearly every day my power of showing how the ,alpine torrents may be--not subdued--but 'educated4' ,a torrent is just like a human creature4 ,left to gain full strength in wantonness and rage1 no power can any more redeem it3 but watch the channels of every early impulse1 and fence them1 and your torrent becomes the gentlest and most blessing of servants4 ,his mother was anxious for him to come home1 being persuaded that he was overworking himself in the continued heat which his letters reported4 ,but he was loath to leave ,italy1 in which1 he said1 his work for the future lay4 ,he made two more visits to ,venice1 to draw some of the sculptured details1 now quickly perishing1 and to make studies of ,tintoret and ,carpaccio4 ,among other friends who met him there was ,mr4 ,holman ,hunt1 with whom he went round his favourite ,scuola di ,san ,rocco 7#ast ,july74 ,two days later he wrote3 ,you will never believe it2 but ,i have actually been trying to draw--a baby4 ,the baby which the priest is holding in the little copy of ,tintoret by ,edward ,jones which my father liked so much1 over the basin stand in his bedroom4#ai ,all the knowledge ,i have gained in these #ag years only makes me more full of awe and wonder at ,tintoret4 ,but it is so sad--so sad2--no one to care for him but me1 and all going so fast to ruin4 ,he has done that infant ,christ in about five minutes--and ,i worked for two hours in vain1 and could not tell why in vain--the mystery of his touch is so great4 ,footnote #ai3 ,mr4 and ,mrs ,burne-,jones had been in ,venice in ,june1 #ahfb2 the artist1 then young and comparatively unknown1 with a commission to copy for ,ruskin4 ,final farewell was said to ,verona on the #ajth ,august1 for the homeward journey by the ,st4 ,gothard1 and ,giessbach1 where he found the young friend of #ahff now near her end--and ,thun1 where he met ,professor ,c4,e4 ,norton4 ,on the way he wrote3 ,lugano1 ,saturday1 #adth ,august1 #ahfi4 ,my ,dearest ,mother1 ,yesterday--exactly three months from the day on which ,i entered ,verona to begin work1 ,i made a concluding sketch of the old ,broletto of ,como1 which ,i drew first for the #g lamps#bj--;,i know not how many years ago1--and left ,italy1 for this time--having been entirely well and strong every day of my quarter of a year's sojourn there4 ,footnote #bj3 ,stones of ,venice1 ,vol4 ,i41 plate #e4 ,this morning1 before breakfast1 ,i was sitting for the first time before ,luini's ,crucifixion3 for all religious-art qualities the greatest picture south of the ,alps--or rather1 in ,europe4 ,and just after breakfast ,i got a telegram from my cousin ,george announcing that ,i am ,professor of ,art--the first--at the ,university of ,oxford4 ,which will give me as much power as ,i can well use--and would have given pleasure to my poor father--and therefore to me--once4444 ,it will make no difference in my general plans1 about travel1 etc4 ,i shall think quietly of it as ,i drive up towards ,st4 ,gothard to-day4 ,ever1 my dearest mother1 ever your loving son1 ,j4 ,ruskin4 ,six years earlier1 while being examined before the ,royal ,academy commission1 he had been asked3 ,has it ever struck you that it would be advantageous to art if there were at the universities professors of art who might give lectures and give instruction to young men who might desire to avail themselves of it1 as you have lectures on geology and botany8 ,to which he had replied3 ,yes1 assuredly4 ,the want of interest on the part of the upper classes in art has been very much at the bottom of the abuses which have crept into all systems of education connected with it4 ,if the upper classes could only be interested in it by being led into it when young1 a great improvement might be looked for1 therefore ,i feel the expediency of such an addition to the education of our universities4 ,his interest in the first phase of ,university ,extension1 and his gifts of ,turners to ,oxford and ,cambridge1 had shown that he was ready to go out of his way to help in the cause he had promoted4 ,his former works on art1 and reputation as a critic1 pointed to him as the best qualified man in the country for such a post4 ,he had been asked by his ,oxford friends1 who were many and influential1 to stand for the ,professorship of ,poetry1 three years earlier4 ,there was no doubt that the election would be a popular one1 and creditable to the ,university4 ,on the other hand1 ,ruskin as ,professor would have a certain sanction for his teaching1 he believed2 the title and the salary of #ceh a year were hardly an object to him2 but the position1 as accredited lecturer and authorised instructor of youth1 opened up new vistas of usefulness1 new worlds of work to conquer2 and he accepted the invitation4 ,on ,august #ajth he was elected ,slade ,professor4 ,he returned home by the end of ,august to prepare himself for his new duties4 ,during the last period he had been giving1 on an average1 half a dozen lectures a year1 which amply filled his annual volume4 ,twelve lectures were required of the professor4 ,many another man would have read his twelve lectures and gone his way2 but he was not going to work in that perfunctory manner4 ,he undertook to revise his whole teaching2 to write for his hearers a completely new series of treatises on art1 beginning with first principles and broad generalisations1 and proceeding to the different departments of sculpture1 engraving1 landscape-painting and so on2 then taking up the history of art3--an encyclopdic scheme4 ,he took this ,oxford work not as a substitute for other occupation1 exonerating him from further claims upon his energy and time2 nor as a bye-play that could be slurred4 ,he tried to do it thoroughly1 and to do it in addition to the various work already in hand1 under which1 as it was1 he used to break down1 yearly1 after each climax of effort4 ,this autumn and winter1 with his first and most important course in preparation1 he was still writing letters to the ,daily ,telegraph2 being begged by ,carlyle to come--the sight of your face will be a comfort1 says the poor old man--and undertaking lectures at the ,royal ,artillery ,institution1 ,woolwich1 and at the ,royal ,institution1 ,london4 ,the ,woolwich lecture1 given on ,december #adth1 was that added to later editions of the ,crown of ,wild ,olive1 under the title of ,the ,future of ,england4 ,the other1 ,february #dth1 #ahgj1 on ,verona and its ,rivers1 involved not only a lecture on art and history and contemporary political economy1 but an exhibition of the drawings which he and his assistants had made during the preceding summer4 ,four days later he opened a new period in his career with his inaugural ,lecture in the ,sheldonian ,theatre at ,oxford4 ,,book ,,iv ,,professor ,,and ,,prophet 7#ahgj-aijj7 ,,chapter ,i ,,first ,,oxford ,,lectures 7#ahgj-ahga7 ,on ,tuesday1 #hth ,february1 #ahgj1 the ,slade ,professor's lecture-room was crowded to over-flowing with members of the ,university1 old and young1 and their friends1 who flocked to hear1 and to see1 the author of ,modern ,painters4 ,the place was densely packed long before the time2 the ante-rooms were filled with personal friends1 hoping for some corner to be found them at the eleventh hour2 the doors were blocked open1 and besieged outside by a disappointed multitude4 ,professorial lectures are not usually matters of great excitement3 it does not often happen that the accommodation is found inadequate4 ,after some hasty arrangements ,sir ,henry ,acland pushed his way to the table1 announced that it was impossible for the lecture to be held in that place1 and begged the audience to adjourn to the ,sheldonian ,theatre4 ,at last1 welcomed by all ,oxford1 the ,slade ,professor appeared1 to deliver his inaugural address4#ba ,footnote #ba3 ,the inaugural course was given ,feb4 #h1 #af1 #bc2 ,march #c1 #i1 #af and #bc1 #ahgj4 ,it was not strictly academic1 the way he used to come in1 with a little following of familiars and assistants1--exchange recognition with friends in the audience1 arrange the objects he had brought to show1--fling off his long sleeved ,master's gown1 and plunge into his discourse4 ,his manner of delivery had not altered much since the time of the ,edinburgh ,lectures4 ,he used to begin by reading1 in his curious intonation1 the carefully-written passages of rhetoric1 which usually occupied only about the half of his hour4 ,by-and-by he would break off1 and with quite another air extemporise the liveliest interpolations1 describing his diagrams or specimens1 restating his arguments1 re-enforcing his appeal4 ,his voice1 till then artificially cadenced1 suddenly became vivacious2 his gestures1 at first constrained1 became dramatic4 ,he used to act his subject1 apparently without premeditated art1 in the liveliest pantomime4 ,he had no power of voice-mimicry1 and none of the ordinary gifts of the actor4 ,a tall and slim figure1 not yet shortened from its five feet ten or eleven by the habitual stoop1 which ten years later brought him down to less than middle height2 a stiff1 blue frock-coat2 prominent1 half-starched wristbands1 and tall collars of the ,gladstonian type2 and the bright blue stock which every one knows for his heraldic bearing3 no rings or gewgaws1 but a long thin gold chain to his watch3--plain old-,english gentleman1 neither fashionable bourgeois nor artistic mountebank4 ,but he gave himself over to his subject with such unreserved intensity of imaginative power1 he felt so vividly and spoke so from the heart1 that he became whatever he talked about1 never heeding his professorial dignity1 and never doubting the sympathy of his audience4 ,lecturing on birds1 he strutted like the chough1 made himself wings like the swallow2 he was for the moment a cat1 when he explained 7not in scorn7 that engraving was the art of scratch4 ,if it had been an affectation of theatric display1 we emancipated school-boys1 as the ,master of ,university used to call us1 would have seen through it at once1 and scorned him4 ,but it was so evidently the expression of his intense eagerness for his subject1 so palpably true to his purpose1 and he so carried his hearers with him1 that one saw in the grotesque of the performance only the guarantee of sincerity4 ,if one wanted more proof of that1 there was his face1 still young-looking and beardless2 made for expression1 and sensitive to every change of emotion4 ,a long head1 with enormous capacity of brain1 veiled by thick wavy hair1 not affectedly lengthy but as abundant as ever1 and darkened into a deep brown1 without a trace of grey2 and short1 light whiskers growing high over his cheeks4 ,a forehead not on the model of the heroic type1 but as if the sculptor had heaped his clay in handfuls over the eyebrows1 and then heaped more4 ,a big nose1 aquiline1 and broad at the base1 with great thoroughbred nostrils and the septum between them thin and deeply depressed2 and there was a turn down at the corners of the mouth1 and a breadth of lower lip1 that reminded one of his ,verona griffin1 half eagle1 half lion2 ,scotch in original type1 and suggesting a side to his character not all milk and roses4 ,and under shaggy eyebrows1 ever so far behind1 the fieriest blue eyes1 that changed with changing expression1 from grave to gay1 from lively to severe2 that riveted you1 magnetised you1 seemed to look through you and read your soul2 and indeed1 when they lighted on you1 you felt you had a soul of a sort4 ,what they really saw is a mystery4 ,some who had not persuaded them to see as others see1 maintained that they only saw what they looked for2 others1 who had successfully deceived them1 that they saw nothing4 ,no doubt they might be deceived2 but ,i know now that they often took far shrewder measurements of men--,i do not say of women--than anybody suspected4 ,for the ,inaugural ,course1 he was1 so to speak1 on his best behaviour1 guarding against too hasty expression of individuality4 ,he read careful orations1 stating his maturest views on the general theory of art1 in picked language1 suited to the academic position4 ,the little volume is not discursive or entertaining1 like ,modern ,painters1 and contains no pictures either with pen or pencil2 but it is crammed full of thought1 and of the results of thought4 ,the ,slade ,professor was also expected to organise and superintend the teaching of drawing2 and his first words in the first lecture expressed the hope that he would be able to introduce some serious study of ,art into the ,university1 which1 he thought1 would be a step towards realising some of his ideals of education4 ,he had long felt that mere talking about ,art was a makeshift1 and that no real insight could be got into the subject without actual and practical dealing with it4 ,he found a ,south ,kensington ,school in existence at ,oxford1 with an able master1 ,mr4 ,alexander ,macdonald2 and though he did not entirely approve of the methods in use1 tried to make the best of the materials to his hand1 accepting but enlarging the scope of the system4 ,the ,south ,kensington method had been devised for industrial designing1 primarily2 ,ruskin's desire was to get undergraduates to take up a wider subject1 to familiarise themselves with the technical excellences of the great masters1 to study nature1 and the different processes of art1--drawing1 painting and some forms of decorative work1 such as1 in especial1 goldsmiths' work1 out of which the ,florentine school had sprung4 ,he did not wish to train artists1 but1 as before in the ,working ,men's ,college1 to cultivate the habit of mind that looks at nature and life1 not analytically1 as science does1 but for the sake of external aspect and expression4 ,by these means he hoped to breed a race of judicious patrons and critics1 the best service any man can render to the cause of art4 ,and so he got together a mass of examples in addition to the ,turners which he had already given to the ,university galleries4 ,he placed in the school a few pictures by ,tintoret1 some drawings by ,rossetti1 ,holman ,hunt1 and ,burne-,jones1 and a great number of fine casts and engravings4 ,he arranged a series of studies by himself and others1 as copies1 fitted1 like the ,turners in the ,national ,gallery1 with sliding frames in cabinets for convenient reference and removal4 ,after spending most of his first ,lent ,term in this work1 he went home for a month to prepare a catalogue1 which was published the same year3 the school not being finally opened until ,october1 #ahga4 ,during these first visits to ,oxford he was the guest of ,sir ,henry ,acland2 on ,april #bi1 #ahga1 ,professor ,ruskin1 already honorary student of ,christ ,church1 was elected to an honorary fellowship at ,corpus1 and enabled to occupy rooms1 vacated by the ,rev4 ,henry ,furneaux1 who gave up his fellowship on marrying ,mr4 ,arthur ,severn's twin-sister4#bb ,footnote #bb3 ,his rooms were in ,fellows' buildings1 ,no4 #b staircase1 first floor right4 ,after this work well begun1 he went abroad for a vacation tour with a party of friends--as in #ahff2 ,lady ,trevelyan's sister1 ,mrs4 ,hilliard1 to chaperone the same young ladies1 and three servants with them4 ,they started on ,april #bgth2 stayed awhile at ,meurice's to see ,paris2 and at ,geneva1 to go up the ,salve1 twice1 in bitter black east wind4 ,then across the ,simplon to ,milan4 ,after a month at ,venice and ,verona1 where he recurred to his scheme against inundation1 then ridiculed by ,punch1 but afterwards taken up seriously by the ,italians1 they went to ,florence1 and met ,professor ,norton4 ,in the end of ,june they turned homewards1 by ,pisa and ,lucca1 ,milan and ,como1 and went to visit their friend ,marie of the ,giessbach4 ,at the ,giessbach they spent a fortnight1 enjoying the ,july weather and glorious walks1 in the middle of which war was suddenly declared between ,germany and ,france4 ,the summons of their ,german waiter to join his regiment brought the news home to them1 as such personal examples do1 more than columns of newspaper print2 and as hostilities were rapidly beginning1 ,ruskin1 with the gloomiest forebodings for the beautiful country he loved1 took his party home straight across ,france1 before the ways should be closed4 ,august was a month of feverish suspense to everybody2 to no one more than to ,ruskin1 who watched the progress of the armies while he worked day by day at the ,british ,museum preparing lectures for next term4 ,this was the course on ,greek relief-sculpture1 published as ,aratra ,pentelici4#bc ,it was a happy thought to illustrate his subject from coins1 rather than from disputed and mutilated fragments2 and he worked into it his revised theory of the origin of art--not ,schiller's nor ,herbert ,spencer's1 and yet akin to theirs of the ,spieltrieb1--involving the notion of doll-play2--man as a child1 re-creating himself1 in a double sense2 imitating the creation of the world and really creating a sort of secondary life in his art1 to play with1 or to worship4 ,in the last lecture of the series 7published separately7 the ,professor compared--as the outcome of classic art in ,renaissance times--,michelangelo and ,tintoret1 greatly to the disadvantage of ,michelangelo4 ,this heresy against a popular creed served as text for some severe criticism2 but as he said in a prefatory note to the pamphlet1 readers must observe that its business is only to point out what is to be blamed in ,michael ,angelo1 and that it assumes the fact of his power to be generally known1 and he referred to ,mr4 ,tyrwhitt's ,lectures on ,christian ,art for the opposite side of the question4 ,footnote #bc3 ,delivered ,nov4 #bd1 #bf1 ,dec4 #a1 #c1 #h and #aj1 #ahgj4 ,meanwhile the war was raging4 ,ruskin was asked by his friends to raise his voice against the ravage of ,france2 but he replied that it was inevitable4 ,at last1 in ,october1 he read how ,rosa ,bonheur and ,edouard ,frre had been permitted to pass through the ,german lines1 and next day came the news of the bombardment of ,strasburg1 with anticipations of the destruction of the ,cathedral1 library1 and picture galleries1 foretelling1 as it seemed1 the more terrible and irreparable ruin of the treasure-houses of art in ,paris4 ,his heart was with the ,french1 and he broke silence in the bitterness of his spirit1 upbraiding their disorder and showing how the ,german success was the victory of one of the truest monarchies and schools of honour and obedience yet organised under heaven4 ,he hoped that ,germany1 now that she had shown her power1 would withdraw1 and demand no indemnity4 ,but that was too much to ask4 ,before long ,paris itself became the scene of action1 and in ,january #ahga was besieged and bombarded4 ,so much of ,ruskin's work and affection had been given to ,french ,gothic that he could not endure to think of his beloved ,sainte ,chapelle as being actually under fire--to say nothing of the horror of human suffering in a siege4 ,he joined ,cardinal 7then ,archbishop7 ,manning1 ,professor ,huxley1 ,sir ,john ,lubbock and ,james ,knowles in forming a ,paris ,food ,fund1 which shortly united with the ,lord ,mayor's committee for the general relief of the besieged4 ,the day after writing on the ,sainte ,chapelle he attended the meeting of the ,mansion ,house1 and gave a subscription of #ej4 ,he followed events anxiously through the storm of the ,commune and its fearful ending1 angered at the fratricide and anarchy which no ,mansion ,house help could avert or repair4 ,it was no time for talking on art1 he felt3 instead of the full course1 he could only manage three lectures on landscape1 and these not so completely prepared as to make them ready for printing4 ,before ,christmas he had been once more to ,woolwich1 where ,colonel ,brackenbury invited him to address the cadets at the prize-giving of the ,science and ,art ,department1 ,december #ac1 #ahgj1 in which the ,rev4 ,w4 ,kingsley1 an old friend of ,ruskin's and of ,turner's1 was one of the masters4 ,two of the lectures of the ,crown of ,wild ,olive had been given there1 with more than usual animation1 and enthusiastically received by crowded and distinguished audiences1 among whom was ,prince ,arthur 7the ,duke of ,connaught71 then at the ,royal ,military ,academy4 ,this time it was the ,story of ,arachne1 an address on education and aims in life2 opening with reminiscences of his own childhood1 and pleasantly telling the ,greek myths of the spider and the ant1 with interpretations for the times4 ,in the three lectures on landscape1 given ,january #bj1 ,february #i and #bc1 #ahga1 he dwelt on the necessity of human and historic interest in scenery2 and compared ,greek solidity and veracity with ,gothic spirituality and mendacity1 ,greek chiaroscuro and tranquil activity with ,gothic colour and passionate rest4 ,botticelli's ,nativity 7now in the ,national ,gallery7 was then being shown at the ,old ,master's ,exhibition1 and ,ruskin took it1 along with the works of ,cima1 as a type of one form of ,greek ,art4 ,in ,april1 #ahga1 his cousin1 ,miss ,agnew1 who had been seven years at ,denmark ,hill1 was married to ,mr4 ,arthur ,severn4 ,ruskin1 who had added to his other work the additional labour of ,fors ,clavigera1 went for a summer's change to ,matlock4 ,july opened with cold1 dry1 dark weather1 dangerous for out-of-door sketching4 ,one morning early--for he was always an early riser--he took a chill while painting a spray of wild roses before breakfast 7the drawing now in the ,oxford ,schools74 ,he was already overworked1 and it ended in a severe attack of internal inflammation1 which nearly cost him his life4 ,he was a difficult patient to deal with4 ,the local practitioner who attended him used to tell how he refused remedies1 and in the height of the disease asked what would be worst for him4 ,he took it2 and to everybody's surprise1 recovered4#bd ,footnote #bd3 ,mrs4 ,arthur ,severn1 in a note on the proof1 says3 ,it was a slice of cold roast beef he hungered for1 at ,matlock 7to our horror1 and dear ,lady ,mount ,temple's1 who were nursing him73 there was none in the hotel1 and it was late at night2 and ,albert ,goodwin went off to get some1 somewhere1 or anywhere4 ,all the hotels were closed2 but at last1 at an eating-house in ,matlock ,bath1 he discovered some1 and came back triumphant with it1 wrapped up in paper2 and ,j4,r4 enjoyed his late supper thoroughly2 and though we all waited anxiously till the morning for the result1 it had done no harm6 ,and when he was told pepper was bad for him1 he dredged it freely over his food in defiance6 ,it was directly after our return to ,denmark ,hill he got ,linton's letter offering him this place 7,brantwood74 ,there are1 ,i believe1 ten acres of moor belonging to ,brantwood4 ,mr4 ,albert ,goodwin1 ,r4,w4,s41 the landscape painter1 travelled1 about this time1 in ,italy with ,ruskin4 ,during the illness at ,matlock his thoughts reverted to the old ,iteriad times of forty years before1 when he had travelled with his parents and cousin ,mary from that same ,new ,bath ,hotel1 where he was now lying1 to the ,lakes2 and again he wearied for the heights that look adown upon the dale4 ,the crags are lone on ,coniston4 ,if he could only lie down there1 he said1 he should get well again4 ,he had not fully recovered before he heard that ,w4,j4 ,linton1 the poet and wood-engraver1 wished to sell a house and land at the very place3 #a1ejj1 and it could be his4 ,without question asked he bought it at once2 and as it would be impossible to lecture at ,oxford so soon after his illness1 he set off1 before the middle of ,september1 with his friends the ,hilliards to visit his new possession4 ,they found a rough-cast country cottage1 old1 damp1 decayed2 smoky chimneyed and rat-riddled2 but five acres of rock and moor and streamlet2 and1 he wrote1 ,i think the finest view ,i know in ,cumberland or ,lancashire1 with the sunset visible over the same4 ,the spot was not1 even then1 without its associations3 ,gerald ,massey the poet1 ,linton1 and his wife ,mrs4 ,lynn ,linton the novelist1 ,dr4 ,g4,w4 ,kitchin 7,dean of ,durham7 had lived and worked there1 and ,linton had adorned it outside with revolutionary mottoes--,god and the people1 and so on4 ,it had been a favourite point of view of ,wordsworth's2 his seat was pointed out in the grounds4 ,tennyson had lived for a while close by3 his seat1 too1 was on the hill above ,lanehead4 ,but the cottage needed thorough repair1 and that cost more than rebuilding1 not to speak of the additions of later years1 which have ended by making it into a mansion surrounded by a hamlet4 ,and there was the furnishing2 for ,denmark ,hill1 where his mother lived1 was still to be headquarters4 ,ruskin gave carte-blanche to the ,london upholsterer with whom he had been accustomed to deal2 and such expensive articles were sent that when he came down for a month next autumn1 he reckoned that1 all included1 his country cottage had cost him not less than #d1jjj4 ,but he was not the man to spend on himself without sharing his wealth with others4 ,on ,november #bbnd1 ,convocation accepted a gift from the ,slade ,professor of #e1jjj to endow a mastership of drawing at ,oxford1 in addition to the pictures and copies placed in the schools2 he had set up a relative in business with #ae1jjj1 which was unfortunately lost2 and at ,christmas he gave #g1jjj1 the tithe of his remaining capital1 to the ,st4 ,george's ,fund2 of which more hereafter4 ,on ,november #bcrd he was elected ,lord ,rector of ,st4 ,andrew's ,university1 by #hf votes against #gi for ,lord ,lytton4 ,after the election it was discovered that1 by the ,scottish ,universities ,act of #aheh1 no one holding a professorship at a ,british ,university was eligible4 ,professor ,ruskin was disqualified1 and gave no address2 and ,lord ,neaves was chosen in his place4 ,mrs4 ,ruskin was now ninety years of age2 her sight was nearly gone1 but she still retained her powers of mind1 and ruled with severe kindliness her household and her son4 ,her old servant ,anne had died in ,march4 ,anne had nursed ,john ,ruskin as a baby1 and had lived with the family ever since1 devoted to them1 and ready for any disagreeable task-- ,so that she was never quite in her glory1 ,prterita says1 unless some of us were ill4 ,she had also some parallel speciality for saying disagreeable things1 and might be relied upon to give the extremely darkest view of any subject1 before proceeding to ameliorative action upon it4 ,and she had a very creditable and republican aversion to doing immediately1 or in set terms1 as she was bid2 so that when my mother and she got old together1 and my mother became very imperative and particular about having her teacup set on one side of her little round table1 ,anne would observantly and punctiliously put it always on the other3 which caused my mother to state to me1 every morning after breakfast1 gravely1 that if ever a woman in this world was possessed by the ,devil1 ,anne was that woman4 ,but this gloomy ,calvinism was tempered with a benevolence quite as uncommon4 ,it was from his parents that ,ruskin learned never to turn off a servant1 and the ,denmark ,hill household was as easy-going as the legendary baronial retinue of the good old times4 ,a young friend asked ,mrs4 ,ruskin1 in a moment of indiscretion1 what such a one of the ancient maids did--for there were several without apparent occupation about the house4 ,mrs4 ,ruskin drew herself up and said1 ,she1 my dear1 puts out the dessert4 ,and yet1 in her blindness1 she could read character unhesitatingly4 ,that was1 no doubt1 why people feared her4 ,when ,mr4 ,secretary ,howell1 in the days when he was still the oracle of the ,ruskin-,rossetti circle1 had been regaling them with his wonderful tales1 after dinner1 she would throw her netting down and say1 ,how can you two sit there and listen to such a pack of lies8 ,she objected strongly1 in these later years1 to the theatre2 and when sometimes her son would wish to take a party into town to see the last new piece1 her permission had to be asked1 and was not readily granted1 unless to ,miss ,agnew1 who was the ambassadress in such affairs of diplomacy4 ,but while disapproving of some of his worldly ways1 and convinced that she had too much indulged his childhood1 the old lady loved him with all the intensity of the strange fierce lioness nature1 which only one or two had ever had a glimpse of4 ,and when 7,december #eth1 #ahga7 she died1 trusting to see her husband again--not to be near him1 not to be so high in heaven but content if she might only see him1 she said--her son was left with a surprising sense of loneliness4 ,he had loved her truly1 obeyed her strictly and tended her faithfully2 and even yet hardly realized how much she had been to him4 ,he buried her in his father's grave1 and wrote upon it1 ,here beside my father's body ,i have laid my mother's3 nor was dearer earth ever returned to earth1 nor purer life recorded in heaven4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,fors ,,begun 7#ahga-ahgb7 ,on ,january #ast1 #ahga1 was issued a small pamphlet1 headed ,fors ,clavigera1 in the form of a letter to the working men and labourers of ,england1 dated from ,denmark ,hill1 and signed ,john ,ruskin4 ,it was not published in the usual way1 but sold by the author's engraver1 ,mr4 ,george ,allen1 at ,heathfield ,cottage1 ,keston1 ,kent4 ,it was not advertised2 press-copies were sent to the leading papers2 and of course the author's acquaintance knew of its publication4 ,strangers1 who heard of this curious proceeding1 spread the report that in order to get ,ruskin's latest1 you had to travel into the country1 with your sevenpence in your hand1 and transact your business among ,mr4 ,allen's beehives4 ,so you had1 if you wanted to see what you were buying2 for no arrangements were made for its sale by the booksellers3 sevenpence a copy1 carriage paid1 no discount1 and no abatement on taking a quantity4 ,by such pilgrimages1 but more easily through the post1 the new work filtered out1 in monthly instalments1 to a limited number of buyers4 ,after three years the price was raised to tenpence4 ,in #ahge the first thousands of the earlier numbers were sold3 the public has a very long nose1 ,mr4 ,ruskin once said1 and scents out what it wants1 sooner or later4 ,a second edition was issued1 bound up into yearly volumes1 of which eight were ultimately completed4 ,meanwhile the work went on1 something in the style of the old ,addison ,spectator2 each part containing twenty pages1 more or less1 by ,ruskin1 with added contributions from various correspondents4 ,the charm of ,fors is neither in epigram nor in anecdote1 but in the sustained vivacity that runs through the texture of the work2 the reappearance of golden threads of thought1 glittering in new figures1 and among new colours2 and throughout all the variety of subject a unity of style unlike the style of his earlier works1 where flowery rhetorical passages are tagged to less interesting chapters1 separately studied sermonettes interposed among the geology1 and ,johnson1 ,locke1 ,hooker1 ,carlyle--or whoever happened to be the author he was reading at the time--frankly imitated4 ,it was always clever1 but often artificial2 like the composition of a ,renaissance painter who inserts his bel corpo ignudo to catch the eye4 ,in ,fors1 however1 the web is of a piece1 all sparkling with the same life2 though as it is gradually unwound from the loom it is hard to judge the design4 ,that can only be done when it is reviewed as a whole4 ,at the time1 his mingling of jest and earnest was misunderstood even by friends4 ,the author learnt too painfully the danger of seeming to trifle with cherished beliefs4 ,he forswore levity1 but soon relapsed into the old style1 out of sheer sincerity3 for he was too much in earnest not to be frankly himself in his utterances1 without writing up to1 or down to1 any other person's standard4 ,ruskin did not wish to lead a colony or to head a revolution4 ,he had been pondering for fifteen years the cause of poverty and crime1 and the conviction had grown upon him that modern commercialism was at the root of it all4 ,but his attacks on commercialism--his analysis of its bad influence on all sections of society--were too vigorous and uncompromising for the newspaper editors who received ,fors1 and even for most of his private friends4 ,there were1 however1 some who saw what he was aiming at3 and let it be remarked that his first encouragement came from the highest quarters4 ,just as ,sydney ,smith1 the chief critic of earlier days1 had been the first to praise ,modern ,painters1 in the teeth of vulgar opinion1 so now ,carlyle spoke for ,fors4 #e1 ,cheyne ,row1 ,chelsea1 ,april #cjth1 #ahga4 ,dear ,ruskin1 ,this ',fors ,clavigera1' ,letter #eth1 which ,i have just finished reading1 is incomparable2 a quasi-sacred consolation to me1 which almost brings tears into my eyes6 ,every word of it is as if spoken1 not out of my poor heart only1 but out of the eternal skies2 words winged with ,empyrean wisdom1 piercing as lightning1--and which ,i really do not remember to have heard the like of4 ,continue1 while you have such utterances in you1 to give them voice4 ,they will find and force entrance into human hearts1 whatever the 'angle of incidence' may be2 that is to say1 whether1 for the degraded and in human ,blockheadism we1 so-called 'men1' have mostly now become1 you come in upon them at the broadside1 at the top1 or even at the bottom4 ,euge1 ,euge6--,yours ever1 ,t4 ,carlyle4 ,others1 like ,sir ,arthur ,helps1 joined in this encouragement4 ,but the old struggle with the newspapers began over again4 ,they united in considering the whole business insane1 though they did not doubt his sincerity when ,ruskin put down his own money1 the tenth of what he had1 as he recommended his adherents to do4 ,by the end of the year he had set aside #g1jjj toward establishing a company to be called of ,st4 ,george1 as representing at once ,england and agriculture4 ,sir ,thomas ,dyke ,acland and the ,right ,hon4 ,w4 ,cowper-,temple 7afterwards ,lord ,mount ,temple71 though not pledging themselves to approval of the scheme1 undertook the trusteeship of the fund4 ,a few friends subscribed2 in ,june1 #ahgb1 after a year and a half of ,fors1 the first stranger sent in his contribution1 and at the end of three years #bcf #acs4 were collected1 to add to his #g1jjj1 and a few acres of land were given4 ,meanwhile ,ruskin practised what he preached4 ,he did not preach renunciation2 he was not a ,pessimist any more than an ,optimist4 ,sometimes he felt he was not doing enough2 he knew very well that others thought so4 ,i remember his saying1 in his rooms at ,oxford in one of those years3 ,here ,i am1 trying to reform the world1 and ,i suppose ,i ought to begin with myself1 ,i am trying to do ,st4 ,benedict's work1 and ,i ought to be a saint4 ,and yet ,i am living between a ,turkey carpet and a ,titian1 and drinking as much tea--taking his second cup--as ,i can swig6 ,that was the way he put it to an undergraduate2 to a lady friend he wrote later on1 ,i'm reading history of early saints1 too1 for my ,amiens book1 and feel that ,i ought to be scratched1 or starved1 or boiled1 or something unpleasant2 and ,i don't know if ,i'm a saint or a sinner in the least1 in medival language4 ,how did the saints feel themselves1 ,i wonder1 about their saintship6 ,if he had forsaken all and followed the vocation of ,st4 ,francis1--he has discussed the question candidly in ,fors for ,may1 #ahgd--would not his work have been more effectual1 his example more inspiring8 ,conceivably3 but that was not his mission4 ,his gospel was not one of asceticism2 it called upon no one for any sort of suicide1 or even martyrdom4 ,he required of his followers that they should live their lives to the full in ,admiration1 ,hope and ,love3 and not that they should sacrifice themselves in fasting and wearing of camels'-hair coats4 ,he wished them to work1 to be honest1 and just1 in all things immediately attainable4 ,he asked the tenth of their living--not the widow's two mites2 and it was deeply painful to him to find1 sometimes1 that they had so interpreted his teaching3 as when he wrote1 later1 to ,miss ,beever3 ,one of my poor ',companions of ,st4 ,george' who has sent me1 not a widow's but a parlour-maid's 7an old schoolmistress7 'all her living1' and whom ,i found last night1 dying1 slowly and quietly1 in a damp room1 just the size of your study 7which her landlord won't mend the roof of71 by the light of a single tallow candle1--dying1 ,i say1 slowly of consumption1 not yet near the end1 but contemplating it with sorrow1 mixed partly with fear lest she should not have done all she could for her children6 ,the sight of this and my own shameful comforts1 three wax candles and blazing fire and dry roof1 and ,susie and ,joanie for friends6 ,oh me1 ,susie1 what is to become of me in the next world1 who have in this life all my good things6 ,after carrying on ,fors for some time his attention was drawn by ,mr4 ,w4,c4 ,sillar to the question of ,usury4 ,at first he had seen no crying sin in ,interest4 ,he had held that the rights of capital were visionary1 and that the tools should belong to him that can handle them1 in a perfect state of society2 but he thought that the existing system was no worse in this respect than in others1 and his expectation of reform in the plan of investment went hand-in-hand with his hope of a good time coming in everything else4 ,so he quietly accepted his rents1 as he accepted his ,professorship1 for example1 thinking it his business to be a good landlord and spend his money generously1 just as he thought it his business to retain the existing ,south ,kensington drawing school1 and the ,oxford system of education--not at all his ideal--and to make the best use of them4 ,a lady who was his pupil in drawing1 and a believer in his ideals of philanthropy1 ,miss ,octavia ,hill1 undertook to help him in #ahfd in efforts to reclaim part--though a very small part--of the lower-class dwellings of ,london4 ,half a dozen houses in ,marylebone left by ,ruskin's father1 to which he added three more in ,paradise ,place1 as it was euphemistically named1 were the subjects of their experiment4 ,they were ridiculed at first2 but by the noblest endeavour they succeeded1 and set an example which has been followed in many of our towns with great results4 ,they showed what a wise and kind landlord could do by caring for tenants1 by giving them habitable dwellings1 recreation ground and fixity of tenure1 and requiring in return a reasonable and moderate rent4 ,he got five per cent4 for his capital1 instead of twelve or more1 which such property generally returns1 or at that time returned4 ,but when he began to write against rent and interest there were plenty of critics ready to cite this and other investments as a damning inconsistency4 ,he was not the man to offer explanations at any time4 ,it was no defence to say that he took less and did more than other landlords4 ,and so he was glad to part with the whole to ,miss ,hill2 nor did he care to spend upon himself the #c1ejj1 which ,i believe was the price4 ,it went right and left in gifts2 till one day he cheerfully remarked3 ,it's a' gane awa' ,like snaw aff a wa'4 ,is there really nothing to show for it8 he was asked4 ,nothing1 he said1 except this new silk umbrella4 ,he had talked so much of the possibility of carrying on honest and honourable retail trade1 that he felt bound to exemplify his principles4 ,he took a house ,no4 #ai1 ,paddington ,street1 with a corner shop1 near his ,marylebone property1 and set himself up in business as a teaman4 ,mr4 ,arthur ,severn painted the sign1 in neat blue letters2 the window was decked with fine old china1 bought from a ,cavaliere near ,siena1 whose unique collection had been introduced to notice by ,professor ,norton2 and ,miss ,harrie ,tovey1 an old servant of ,denmark ,hill1 was established there1 like ,miss ,mattie in ,cranford1 or rather like one of the salaried officials of ,time and ,tide1 to dispense the unadulterated leaf to all comers4 ,no advertisements1 no self-recommendation1 no catchpenny tricks of trade were allowed2 and yet the business went on1 and1 ,i am assured1 prospered with legitimate profits4 ,at first1 various kinds of the best tea only were sold2 but it seemed to the tenant of the shop that coffee and sugar ought to be included in the list4 ,this was not at all in ,ruskin's programme1 and there were great debates at home about it4 ,at last he gave way1 on the understanding that the shop was to be responsible for the proper roasting of the coffee according to the best recipe4 ,after some time ,miss ,tovey died4 ,and when1 in the autumn of #ahgf1 ,miss ,octavia ,hill proposed to take the house and business over and work it with the rest of the ,marylebone property1 the offer was thankfully accepted4 ,another of his principles was cleanliness2 the speedy abolition of all abolishable filth is the first process of education4 ,he undertook to keep certain streets1 not crossings only1 cleaner than the public seemed to care for1 between the ,british ,museum and ,st4 ,giles'4 ,he took the broom himself1 for a start1 put on his gardener1 ,downes1 as foreman of the job1 and engaged a small staff of helpers4 ,the work began1 as he promised1 in a humorous letter to the ,pall ,matt ,gazette upon ,new ,year's ,day1 #ahgb1 and he kept his three sweepers at work for eight hours daily to show a bit of our ,london streets kept as clean as the deck of a ship of the line4 ,there were some difficulties1 too4 ,one of the staff was an extremely handsome and lively shoeblack1 picked up in ,st4 ,giles'4 ,it turned out that he was not unknown to the world3 he had sat to artists--to ,mr4 ,edward ,clifford1 to ,mr4 ,severn2 and went by the name of ,cheeky4 ,every now and then ,ruskin and party drove round to inspect the works4 ,downes could not be everywhere at once3 and ,cheeky used to be caught at pitch and toss or marbles in unswept ,museum ,street4 ,ruskin rarely1 if ever1 dismissed a servant2 but street sweeping was not good enough for ,cheeky1 and so he enlisted4 ,the army was not good enough1 and so he deserted2 and was last seen disappearing into the darkness1 after calling a cab for his old friends one night at the ,albert ,hall4 ,one more escapade of this most unpractical man1 as they called him4 ,since his fortune was rapidly melting away1 he had to look to his works as an ultimate resource3 they eventually became his only means of livelihood4 ,one might suppose that he would be anxious to put his publishing business on the most secure and satisfactory footing2 to facilitate sale1 and to ensure profit4 ,but he had views4 ,he objected to advertising2 though he thought that in his ,st4 ,george's ,scheme he would have a yearly ,book ,gazette drawn up by responsible authorities1 indicating the best works4 ,he distrusted the system of unacknowledged profits and percentages1 though he fully agreed that the retailer should be paid for his work1 and wished1 in an ideal state1 to see the shopkeeper a salaried official4 ,he disliked the bad print and paper of the cheap literature of that day1 and knew that people valued more highly what they did not get so easily4 ,he had changed his mind with regard to one or two things--religion and glaciers chiefly--about which he had written at length in earlier works4 ,so he withdrew his most popular books--,modern ,painters and the rest--from circulation1 though he was persuaded by the publisher to reprint ,modern ,painters and ,stones of ,venice once more--positively for the last time1 as they said the plates would give no more good impressions4 ,he had his later writings printed in a rather expensive style2 at first through ,smith ,elder1 after two years by ,messrs4 ,watson ,hazell 7later ,hazell1 ,watson ,viney1 ,ltd471 and the method of publication is illustrated in the history of ,sesame and ,lilies1 the first volume of these collected works4 ,it was issued by ,smith ,elder1 ,may1 #ahga1 at #gs41 to the trade only1 leaving the retailer to fix the price to the public4 ,in ,september1 #ahgb1 the work was also supplied by ,mr4 ,george ,allen1 and the price raised to #is4#f;d41 7carriage paid7 to trade and public alike1 with the idea that an extra shilling1 or nearly ten per cent41 might be added by the bookseller for his trouble in ordering the work4 ,if he did not add the commission1 that was his own affair2 though with postage of order and payment1 when only one or two copies at a time were asked for1 this did not leave much margin4 ,so it was doubled1 by the simple expedient of doubling the price6--or1 to be accurate1 raising it to #ahs4 7carriage paid7 for #bjs4 over the counter4 ,it was freely prophesied by business men that this would not do3 however1 at the end of fifteen years the sixth edition of this work in this form was being sold1 in spite of the fact that1 five years before1 a smaller reprint of the same book had been brought out at #es41 and was then in its fourth edition of #c1jjj copies each4 ,compared with the enormous sale of sensational novels and school books1 this is no great matter2 but for a didactic work1 offered to the public without advertisement1 and in the face of the almost universal opposition of the book-selling trade1 it means not only that1 as an author1 ,ruskin had made a secure reputation1 but also that he deserved the curious tribute once paid him by the journal of a big modern shop 7,compton ,house1 ,liverpool7 as a great tradesman4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,oxford ,,teaching 7#ahgb-ahge7 ,early in #ahgb1 after bringing out ,munera ,pulveris1 the essays he had written ten years before for ,fraser on economy2 after getting those street-sweepers to work near the ,british ,museum where he was making studies of animals and ,greek sculpture2 and after once more addressing the ,woolwich cadets1 this time#be on the ,bird of ,calm 7the mythology of the ,halcyon71 ,professor ,ruskin went to ,oxford to give a course of ten lectures#bf on the ,relation of ,natural ,science to ,art1 afterwards published under the title of ,the ,eagle's ,nest4 ,he wrote to ,professor ,norton3 ,footnote #be3 ,january #ac1 #ahgb4 ,footnote #bf3 ,feb4 #h1 #aj1 #ae1 #ag1 #bb1 #bd4 #bi2 ,march #b1 #g1 and #i4 ,i am1 as usual1 unusually busy4 ,when ,i get fairly into my lecture work at ,oxford ,i always find the lecture would come better some other way1 just before it is given1 and so work from hand to mouth4 ,i am always unhappy1 and see no good in saying so4 ,but ,i am settling to my work here--recklessly--to do my best with it3 feeling quite sure that it is talking at hazard for what chance good may come4 ,but ,i attend regularly in the schools as mere drawing-master1 and the men begin to come in one by one1 about fifteen or twenty already2 several worth having as pupils in any way1 being of temper to make good growth of4 ,why was he always unhappy8 ,it was not that ,mr4 ,w4,b4 ,scott criticised ,ruskin's influence in that ,march2 or that by ,easter he had to say farewell to his old home on ,denmark ,hill1 and settle for good at ,brantwood4 ,nor that he could go abroad again for a long summer in ,italy with ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,severn and the ,hilliards and ,mr4 ,albert ,goodwin4 ,they started about the middle of ,april1 and on the journey out he wrote1 beside his ,fors which always went on1 a preface to the ,rev4 ,r4 ,st4 ,john ,tyrwhitt's ,christian ,art and ,symbolism4 ,he drew the ,apse at ,pisa1 half-amused and half-worried by the little ragamuffin who varied the tedium of watching his work by doing horizontal-bar tricks on the railings of the ,cathedral green4 ,then to ,lucca1 where1 to show his friends something of ,italian landscape1 he took them for rambles through the olive farms and chestnut woods1 among which ,miss ,hilliard lost her jewelled cross4 ,greatly to ,ruskin's delight1 as a firm believer in ,italian peasant-virtue1 it was found and returned without hint of reward4 ,at ,rome they visited old ,mr4 ,severn1 and then went homeward by way of ,verona1 where ,ruskin wrote an account of the ,cavalli monuments for the ,arundel society1 and ,venice1 where he returned to the study of ,carpaccio4 ,at ,rome he had been once more to the ,sistine1 and found that on earlier visits the ceiling and the ,last ,judgment had taken his attention too exclusively4 ,now that he could look away from ,michelangelo he become conscious of the claims of ,botticelli's frescoes1 which represent1 in the ,florentine school1 somewhat the same kind of interest that he had found in ,carpaccio4 ,he became enamoured of ,botticelli's ,zipporah1 and resolved to study the master more closely4 ,on reaching home he had to prepare ,the ,eagle's ,nest for publication2 in the preface he gave special importance to ,botticelli1 and amplified it in lectures on early engraving1 that ,autumn2#bg in which ,i remember his quoting with appreciation the passage on the ,venus ,anadyomene from ,pater's ,studies in the ,renaissance just published4 ,footnote #bg3 ,ariadne ,florentina1 delivered on ,nov4 #b1 #i1 #af1 #bc1 #cj1 and ,dec4 #g1 and repeated on the following ,thursdays4 ,ruskin's first mention of ,botticelli was in the course on ,landscape1 ,lent ,term1 #ahga4 ,this sudden enthusiasm about an unknown painter amused the ,oxford public3 and it became a standing joke among the profane to ask who was ,ruskin's last great man4 ,it was in answer to that1 and in expression of a truer understanding than most ,oxford pupils attained1 that ,bourdillon of ,worcester wrote on the ,ethereal ,ruskin1--that was ,carlyle's name for him3-- ,to us this star or that seems bright1 ,and oft some headlong meteor's flight ,holds for awhile our raptured sight4 ,but he discerns each noble star2 ,the least is only the most far1 ,whose worlds1 may be1 the mightiest are4 ,the critical value of this course however1 to a student of art-history1 is impaired by his using as illustrations of ,botticelli1 and of the manner of engraving which he took for standard1 certain plates which were erroneously attributed to the artist4 ,it is strange1 he wrote in despair to ,professor ,norton1 that ,i hardly ever get anything stated without some grave mistake1 however true in my main discourse4 ,but in this case a fate stronger than he had taken him unawares4 ,the circumstances do not extenuate the error of the ,professor1 but they explain the difficulties under which his work was done4 ,the cloud that rested on his own life was the result of a strange and wholly unexpected tragedy in another's4 ,it was an open secret--his attachment to a lady1 who had been his pupil1 and was now generally understood to be his fiance4 ,she was far younger than he2 but at fifty-three he was not an old man2 and the friends who fully knew and understood the affair favoured his intentions and joined in the hope1 and in auguries for the happiness for which he had been so long waiting4 ,but now that it came to the point the lady finally decided that it was impossible4 ,he was not at one with her in religious matters4 ,he could speak lightly of her evangelical creed--it seemed he scoffed in ,fors at her faith4 ,she could not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever4 ,to her1 the alternative was plain2 the choice was terrible3 yet1 having once seen her path1 she turned resolutely away4#bh ,footnote #bh3 ,in former editions the following sentence was added3 ,three years after1 as she lay dying1 he begged to see her once more4 ,she sent to ask whether he could yet say that he loved ,god better than he loved her2 and when he said ',no1' her door was closed upon him for ever4 ,the statement was suggested by information from ,ruskin in later days4 ,i must1 however1 have misrepresented the facts1 as the lady's mother has left it in writing that no such incident occurred4 ,meanwhile1 in the bitterest despair he sought refuge as he had done before1 in his work4 ,he accepted the lesson1 though he1 too1 could not recant2 still he tried to correct his apparent levity in the renewed seriousness and more earnest tone of ,fors1 speaking more plainly and more simply1 but without concession4 ,he wrote on the next ,christmas ,eve to an ,aberdeen ,bible-class teacher3 ,if you care to give your class a word directly from me1 say to them that they will find it well1 throughout life1 never to trouble themselves about what they ought not to do1 but about what they ought to do4 ,the condemnation given from the ,judgment ,throne--most solemnly described--is all for the undones and not for the dones4 ,people are perpetually afraid of doing wrong2 but unless they are doing its reverse energetically1 they do it all day long1 and the degree does not matter4 ,make your young hearers resolve to be honest in their work in this life4 ,heaven will take care of them for the other4 ,that was all he could say3 he did not know there was another life3 he hoped there was3 and yet1 if he were not a saint or a ,christian1 was there any man in the world who was nearer to the kingdom of ,heaven than this stubborn heretic8 ,his heretical attitude was singular4 ,he was just as far removed from adopting the easy antagonism of science to religion as from siding with religion against science4 ,in a paper singularly interesting--and in his biography important--on the ,nature and ,authority of ,miracle1 read to the ,metaphysical ,society 7,february #aa1 #ahgc71 he tried to clear up his position and to state a qualified belief in the supernatural4 ,with that year expired the term for which he had been elected to the ,slade ,professorship1 and in ,january #ahgc he was re-elected4 ,in his first three years he had given five courses of lectures designed to introduce an encyclopdic review and reconstruction of all he had to say upon art4 ,beginning with general principles1 he had proceeded to their application in history1 by tracing certain phases of ,greek sculpture1 and by contrasting the ,greek and the ,gothic spirit as shown in the treatment of landscape1 from which he went on to the study of early engraving4 ,the application of his principles to theory was made in the course on ,science and ,art 7,the ,eagle's ,nest74 ,now1 on his re-election1 he proceeded to take up these two sides of his subject1 and to illustrate this view of the right way to apply science to art1 by a course on ,birds1 in ,nature1 ,art and ,mythology1 and next year by a study of ,alpine forms4 ,the historical side was continued with lectures on ,niccola ,pisano and early ,tuscan sculpture1 and in #ahgd with an important1 though unpublished1 course on ,florentine ,art4 ,it is to this cycle of lectures that we must look for that matured ,ruskinian theory of art which his early works do not reach2 and which his writings between #ahfj and #ahgj do not touch4 ,though the ,oxford lectures are only a fragment of what he ought to have done1 they should be sufficient to a careful reader2 though their expression is sometimes obscured by diffuse treatment1 they contain the root of the matter1 thought out for fifteen years since the close of the more brilliant1 but less profound1 period of ,modern ,painters4 ,the course on ,birds#bi was given in the drawing school at the ,university ,galleries4 ,the room was not large enough for the numbers that crowded to hear ,professor ,ruskin1 and each of these lectures1 like the previous and the following courses1 had to be repeated to a second audience4 ,great pains had been given to their preparation--much greater than the easy utterance and free treatment of his theme led his hearers to believe4 ,for these lectures and their sequel1 published as ,love's ,meinie1 he collected an enormous number of skins--to compare the plumage and wings of different species2 for his work was with the outside aspect and structure of birds1 not with their anatomy4 ,he had models made1 as large as swords1 of the different quill-feathers1 to experiment on their action and resistance to the air4 ,he got a valuable series of drawings by ,h4,s4 ,marks1 ,r4,a41 and made many careful and beautiful studies himself of feathers and of birds at the ,zoological ,gardens1 and the ,british ,museum2 and after all1 he had to conclude his work saying1 ,it has been throughout my trust that if death should write on these1 ',what this man began to build1 he was not able to finish1' ,god may also write on them1 not in anger1 but in aid1 ',a stronger than he cometh4' ,footnote #bi3 ,march #ae1 ,may #b and #i2 repeated ,march #ai1 ,may #e1 and #ab1 #ahgc4 ,two of the lectures on birds were repeated at ,eton#cj before the boys' ,literary and ,scientific ,society and their friends2 and between this and #ahhj ,ruskin often went to address the same audience1 with the same interest in young people that had taken him in earlier years to ,woolwich4 ,footnote #cj3 ,may #aj and #ag4 ,after a long vacation at ,brantwood1 the first spent there1 he went up to give his course on ,early ,tuscan ,art 7,val d',arno7#ca4 ,the lectures were printed separately and sold at the conclusion and the first numbers were sent to ,carlyle1 whose unabated interest in his friend's work was shown in his letter of ,oct4 #cast3 ,perge1 perge2--and1 as the ,irish say1 'more power to your elbow6' ,i have yet read this ',val d',arno' only once4 ,froude snatched it away from me yesterday2 and it has then to go to my brother at ,dumfries4 ,after that ,i shall have it back4444 ,footnote #ca3 ,on ,mondays and ,thursdays1 ,oct4 #ba1 #bc1 #bg1 #cj1 ,nov4 #c1 #f1 #aj1 #ac1 #ag1 #bj2 repeated on the ,wednesdays and ,fridays following4 ,during that summer and autumn ,ruskin suffered from nights of sleeplessness or unnaturally vivid dreams and days of unrest and feverish energy1 alternating with intense fatigue4 ,the eighteen lectures in less than six weeks1 a combination of prophecy and play-acting1 as ,carlyle had called it in his own case1 and the unfortunate discussion with an old-fashioned economist who undertook to demolish ,ruskinism without understanding it1 added to the causes of which we are already aware1 brought him to ,new ,year1 #ahgd1 in failing strength1 care1 and hope4 ,he sought quiet at the seaside1 but found modern hotel-life intolerable2 he went back to town and tried the pantomimes for distraction1--saw ,kate ,vaughan in ,cinderella1 and ,violet ,cameron in ,jack in the ,box1 over and over again1 and found himself3 ,now hopelessly a man of the world6--of that woeful outside one1 ,i mean4 ,it is now ,sunday2 half-past eleven in the morning4 ,everybody else is gone to church--and ,i am left alone with the cat1 in the world of sin4 ,thinking himself better1 he went to ,oxford1 and announced a course on ,alpine form2 but after a week was obliged to retreat and go home to ,coniston1 still hoping to return and give his lectures4 ,but it was no use4 ,the gloom without deepened the gloom within2 and he took the wisest course in trying ,italy1 alone this time with his old servant ,crawley4 ,the greater part of #ahgd was spent abroad--first travelling through ,savoy and by the ,riviera to ,assisi1 where he wrote to ,miss ,s4 ,beever3 ,the ,sacristan gives me my coffee for lunch in his own little cell1 looking out on the olive woods2 then he tells me stories of conversions and miracles1 and then perhaps we go into the sacristy and have a reverent little poke-out of relics4 ,fancy a great carved cupboard in a vaulted chamber full of most precious things 7the box which the ,holy ,virgin's veil used to be kept in1 to begin with71 and leave to rummage in it at will6 ,things that are only shown twice in the year or so1 with fumigation6 all the congregation on their knees--and the sacristan and ,i having a great heap of them on the table at once1 like a dinner service4 ,i really looked with great respect on ,st4 ,francis's old camel-hair dress4 ,thence he went to visit ,colonel and ,mrs4 ,yule at ,palermo1 deeply interested in ,scylla and ,charybdis1 ,etna and the metopes of ,selinus4 ,his interest in ,greek art had been shown1 not only in a course of lectures1 but in active support to archological explorations4 ,he said once1 ,i believe heartily in diggings1 of all sorts4 ,meeting ,general ,l4,p4 di ,cesnola and hearing of the wealth of ancient remains in ,cyprus then newly discovered1 ,mr4 ,ruskin placed #a1jjj at his disposal4 ,general di ,cesnola was able1 in ,april1 #ahge1 to announce that in spite of the confiscation of half the treasure-trove by the local ,government1 he had shipped a cargo of antiquities1 including many vases1 terra-cottas1 and fragments of sculpture4 ,whence1 precisely1 these relics came is now doubtful4 ,the landscape of ,theocritus and the remains of ancient glories roused him to energetic sketching--a sign of returning strength1 which continued when he reached ,rome1 and enabled him to make a very fine copy of ,botticelli's ,zipporah1 and other details of the ,sistine frescoes4 ,late in ,october he reached ,england1 just able to give the promised ,lectures on ,alpine forms1#cb--;,i remember his curious attempt to illustrate the nv-masses by pouring flour on a model2--and a second course on the sthetic and ,mathematic schools of ,florence2#cc and a lecture on ,botticelli at ,eton1 of which the ,literary and ,scientific ,society's minute-book contains the following report3 ,footnote #cb3 ,oct4 #bg1 #cj2 ,nov4 #c and #f1 #ahgd4 ,footnote #cc3 ,nov4 #aj1 #ac1 #ag1 #bj1 #bd1 #bg2 ,dec4 #a and #d1 #ahgd4 ,on ,saturday1 ,dec4 #abth 7#ahgd71 ,professor ,ruskin lectured before a crowded1 influential and excited audience1 which comprised our noble ,society and a hundred and thirty gentlemen and ladies1 who eagerly accepted an invitation to hear ,professor ,ruskin 'talk' to us on ,botticelli4 ,it is utterly impossible for the unfortunate secretary of the ,society to transmit to writing even an abstract of this address2 and it is some apology for him when beauty of expression1 sweetness of voice1 and elegance in imagery defy the utmost efforts of the pen4 ,just before leaving for ,italy he had been told that the ,royal ,institute of ,british ,architects intended to present him with their ,gold ,medal in acknowledgment of his services to the cause of architecture2 and during his journey official announcement of the award reached him4 ,he dictated from ,assisi 7,june #ab1 #ahgd7 a letter to ,sir ,gilbert ,scott1 explaining why he declined the honour intended him4 ,he said in effect that if it had been offered at a time when he had been writing on architecture it would have been welcome2 but it was not so now that he felt all his efforts to have been in vain and the profession as a body engaged in work--such as the restoration of ancient buildings--with which he had no sympathy4 ,it had been represented to him that his refusal to accept a ,royal ,medal would be a reflection upon the ,royal donor4 ,to which he replied3 ,having entirely loyal feelings towards the ,queen1 ,i will trust to her ,majesty's true interpretation of my conduct2 but if formal justification of it be necessary for the public1 would plead that if a ,peerage or ,knighthood may without disloyalty be refused1 surely much more the minor grace proceeding from the monarch may be without impropriety declined by any of her ,majesty's subjects who wish to serve her without reward1 under the exigency of peculiar circumstances4 ,it was only the term before that ,prince ,leopold had been at ,oxford1 a constant attendant on ,ruskin's lectures1 and a visitor to his drawing school4 ,the gentle prince1 with his instinct for philanthropy1 was not to be deterred by the utterances of ,fors from respecting the genius of the ,professor2 and the ,professor1 with his old-world1 cavalier loyalty1 readily returned the esteem and affection of his new pupil4 ,a sincere friendship was formed1 lasting until the ,prince's death4 ,in ,june1 #ahge1 ,princess ,alice and her husband1 with ,prince ,arthur and ,prince ,leopold1 were at ,oxford4 ,ruskin had just made arrangements completing his gifts to the ,university galleries and schools4 ,the ,royal party showed great interest in the ,professor and his work4 ,the ,princess1 the ,grand ,duke of ,hesse1 and ,prince ,leopold acted as witnesses to the deed of gift1 and ,prince ,arthur and ,prince ,leopold accepted the trusteeship4 ,with all the ,slade ,professor's generosity1 the ,ruskin drawing school1 founded in these fine galleries to which he had so largely contributed1 in a palatial hall handsomely furnished1 and hung with ,tintoret and ,luini1 ,burne-,jones and ,rossetti1 and other rare masters1 ancient and modern2 with the most interesting examples to copy--at the most convenient of desks1 we may add--yet in spite of it all1 the drawing school was not a popular institution4 ,when the ,professor was personally teaching1 he got some fifteen or twenty--if not to attend1 at any rate to join4 ,but whenever the chief attraction could not be counted on1 the attendance sank to an average of two or three4 ,the cause was simple4 ,an undergraduate is supposed to spend his morning in lectures1 his afternoon in taking exercise1 and his evening in college4 ,there is simply no time in his scheme for going to a drawing school4 ,if it were recognised as part of the curriculum1 if it counted in any way along with other studies1 or contributed to a school akin to that of music1 practical art might become teachable at ,oxford2 and ,professor ,ruskin's gifts and endowments--to say nothing of his hopes and plans--would not be wholly in vain4 ,as he could not make the undergraduates draw1 he made them dig4 ,he had noticed a very bad bit of road on the ,hinksey side1 and heard that it was nobody's business to mend it3 meanwhile the farmers' carts and casual pedestrians were bemired4 ,he sent for his gardener ,downes1 who had been foreman of the street-sweepers2 laid in a stock of picks and shovels2 took lessons in stone-breaking himself1 and called on his friends to spend their recreation times in doing something useful4 ,many of the disciples met at the weekly open breakfasts at the ,professor's rooms in ,corpus2 and he was glad of a talk to them on other things beside drawing and digging4 ,some were attracted chiefly by the celebrity of the man1 or by the curiosity of his humorous discourse2 but there were a few who partly grasped one side or other of his mission and character4 ,the most brilliant undergraduate of the time1 seen at this breakfast table1 but not one of the diggers1 was ,w4,h4 ,mallock1 afterwards widely known as the author of ,is ,life ,worth ,living8 ,he was the only man4 ,professor ,ruskin said1 who really understood him--referring to ,the ,new ,republic4 ,but while ,mallock saw the reactionary and pessimistic side of his ,oxford teacher1 there was a progressist and optimistic side which does not appear in his ,mr4 ,herbert4 ,that was discovered by another man whose career1 short as it was1 proved even more influential4 ,arnold ,toynbee was one of the ,professor's warmest admirers and ablest pupils3 and in his philanthropic work the teaching of ,unto this ,last and ,fors was illustrated--not exclusively--but truly4 ,no true disciple of mine will ever be a ,ruskinian 7to quote ,st4 ,mark's ,rest72 he will follow1 not me1 but the instincts of his own soul1 and the guidance of its ,creator4 ,like all energetic men1 ,ruskin was fond of setting other people to work4 ,one of his plans was to form a little library of standard books 7,bibliotheca ,pastorum7 suitable for the kind of people who1 he hoped1 would join or work under his ,st4 ,george's ,company4 ,the first book he chose was the ,economist of ,xenophon1 which he asked two of his young friends to translate4 ,to them and their work he would give his afternoons in the rooms at ,corpus1 with curious patience in the midst of pre-occupying labour and severest trial2 for just then he was lecturing at the ,london ,institution on the ,alps#cd--reading a paper to the ,metaphysical ,society#ce--writing the ,academy ,notes of #ahge1 and ,proserpina1 etc4--as well as his regular work at ,fors1 and the ,st4 ,george's ,company was then taking definite form2--and all the while the lady of his love was dying under the most tragic circumstances1 and he forbidden to approach her4 ,footnote #cd3 ,the ,simple ,dynamic ,conditions of ,glacial ,action among the ,alps1 ,march #aa1 #ahge4 ,footnote #ce3 ,social ,policy based on ,natural ,selection1 ,may #aa4 ,at the end of ,may she died4 ,on the #ast of ,june the ,royal party honoured the ,slade ,professor with their visit--little knowing how valueless to him such honours had become4 ,he went north#cf and met his translators at ,brantwood to finish the ,xenophon1--and to help dig his harbour and cut coppice in his wood4 ,he prepared a preface2 but the next term was one of greater pressure1 with the twelve lectures on ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds to deliver4 ,he wrote1 after ,christmas3 ,footnote #cf3 ,on a posting tour through ,yorkshire4 ,he made three such tours in #ahge--southward in ,january1 northward in ,june and ,july1 and southward in ,september3 and another northward in ,april and ,may1 #ahgf4 ,now that ,i have got my head fairly into this ,xenophon business1 it has expanded into a new light altogether2 and ,i think it would be absurd in me to slur over the life in one paragraph4 ,a hundred things have come into my head as ,i arrange the dates1 and ,i think ,i can make a much better thing of it--with a couple of days' work4 ,my head would not work in town--merely turned from side to side--never nodded 7except sleepily74 ,i send you the proofs just to show you ,i'm at work4 ,i'm going to translate all the story of ,delphic answer before ,anabasis3 and his speech after the sleepless night4 ,delphic answers--for he was then again brought into contact with spiritualism2 and sleepless nights--for the excitement of overwork was telling upon him--were becoming too frequent in his own experience2 and yet the lectures on ,reynolds went off with success4#cg ,the magic of his oratory transmuted the scribbled jottings of his ,,ms4 into a magnificent flow of rolling paragraph and rounded argument that thrilled a captious audience with unwonted emotion1 and almost persuaded many a hearer to accept the gospel of the ,ethereal ,ruskin4 ,in spite of a sense of antagonism to his surroundings1 he did useful work which none other could do in the ,university4 ,that this was acknowledged was proved by his re-election1 early in #ahgf3 but his third term of three years was a time of weakened health4 ,repeated absence from his post and inability to fulfil his duties made it obviously his wisest course1 at the end of that term1 to resign the ,slade ,professorship4 ,footnote #cg3 ,nov4 #b1 #d1 #f1 #i1 #aa1 #ac1 #af1 #ah1 #bj1 #bc1 #be1 and #bg2 #ahge4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,st4 ,,george ,,and ,,st4 ,,mark 7#ahge-ahgg7 ,in the book his ,bertha of ,canterbury was reading at twilight on the ,eve of ,st4 ,mark1 ,keats might have been describing ,fors4 ,among its pages1 fascinating with their golden broideries of romance and wit1 perplexing with mystic vials of wrath as well as all the ,seven ,lamps and ,shekinah of old and new ,covenants commingled1 there was gradually unfolded the plan of ,st4 ,george's ,work4 ,the scheme was not easy to apprehend2 it was essentially different from anything then known1 though superficially like several bankrupt ,utopias4 ,ruskin did not want to found a phalanstery1 or to imitate ,robert ,owen or the ,shakers4 ,that would have been practicable--and useless4 ,he wanted much more4 ,he aimed at the gradual introduction of higher aims into ordinary life3 it giving true refinement to the lower classes1 true simplicity to the upper4 ,he proposed that idle hands should reclaim waste lands2 that healthy work and country homes should be offered to townsfolk who would come out of the gutter4 ,he asked land-owners and employers to furnish opportunities for such reforms2--which would involve no elaborate organization nor unelastic rules2--simply the one thing needful1 the refusal of ,commercialism4 ,as before1 he scorned the idea that real good could be done by political agitation4 ,any government would work1 he said1 if it were an efficient government4 ,no government was efficient unless it saw that every one had the necessaries of life1 for body and soul2 and that every one earned them by some work or other4 ,capital--that is1 the means and material of labour1 should therefore be in the hands of the ,government1 not in the hands of individuals3 this reform would result easily and necessarily from the forbidding of loans on interest4 ,personal property would still be in private hands2 but as it could not be invested and turned into capital1 it would necessarily be restricted to its actual use1 and great accumulation would be valueless4 ,this is1 of course1 a very sketchy statement of the ground-work of ,fors1 but to most readers nowadays as comprehensible as1 at the time of its publication1 it was incomprehensible4 ,for when1 long after ,fors had been written1 ,ruskin found other writers advocating the same principles and calling themselves ,socialists1 he said that he too was a ,socialist4 ,but the ,socialists of various sects have complicated1 and sometimes confused1 their simple fundamental principles with various ways and means2 to which he could not agree4 ,he had his own ways and means4 ,he had his private ideals of life1 which he expounded1 along with his main doctrine4 ,he thought1 justifiably1 that theory was useless without practical example2 and so he founded ,st4 ,george's ,company 7in #ahgg called ,st4 ,george's ,guild7 as his illustration4 ,the ,guild grew out of his call1 in #ahga1 for adherents3 and by #ahge began to take definite form4 ,its objects were to set the example of a common capital as opposed to a ,national debt1 and of co-operative labour as opposed to competitive struggle for life4 ,each member was required to do some work for his living--without too strict limits as to the kind--and to practice certain precepts of religion and morality1 broad enough for general acceptance4 ,he was also required to obey the authority of the ,guild1 and to contribute a tithe of his income to a common fund1 for various objects4 ,these objects were--first3 to buy land for the agricultural members to cultivate1 paying their rent1 not to the other members1 but to the company2 not refusing machinery1 but preferring manual labour4 ,next1 to buy mills and factories1 to be likewise owned by the ,guild and worked by members--using water power in preference to steam 7steam at first not forbidden7--and making the lives of the people employed as well spent as might be1 with a fair wage1 healthy work1 and so forth4 ,the loss on starting was to be made up from the ,guild store1 but it was anticipated that the honesty of the goods turned out would ultimately make such enterprises pay1 even in a commercial world4 ,then1 for the people employed and their families1 there would be places of recreation and instruction1 supplied by the ,guild1 and intended to give the agricultural labourer or mill-hand1 trained from infancy in ,guild schools1 some insight into ,literature1 ,science and ,art--and tastes which his easy position would leave him free to cultivate4 ,so far the plan was simple4 ,it was not a colony--but merely the working of existing industries in a certain way4 ,anticipating further development of the scheme1 ,ruskin looked forward to a guild coinage1 as pretty as the ,florentines had2 a costume as becoming as the ,swiss3 and other ,platonically devised details1 which were not the essentials of the proposal1 and never came into operation4 ,but some of his plans were actually realised4 ,the chief objects of ,st4 ,george come under three heads1 as we have just noticed3 agricultural1 industrial1 and educational4 ,the actual schools would not be needed until the farms and mills had been so far established as to secure a permanent attendance4 ,but meanwhile provision was being made for them1 both in literature and in art4 ,the ,bibliotheca ,pastorum1 was to be a comprehensive little library--far less than the #ajj books of the ,pall ,mall ,gazette--and yet bringing before the ,st4 ,george's workman standard and serious writing of all times4 ,it was to include1 in separate volumes1 the ,books of ,moses and the ,psalms of ,david and the ,revelation of ,st4 ,john4 ,of ,greek1 the ,economist of ,xenophon1 and ,hesiod1 which ,ruskin undertook to translate into prose4 ,of ,latin the first two ,georgics and sixth neid of ,virgil1 in ,gawain ,douglas' translation4 ,dante2 ,chaucer1 excluding the ,canterbury ,tales--but including the ,romance of the ,rose2 ,gotthelf's ,ulric the ,farmer1 from the ,french version which ,ruskin had loved ever since his father used to read it him on their first tours in ,switzerland2 and an early ,english history by an ,oxford friend4 ,later were published ,sir ,philip ,sidney's psalter1 and ,ruskin's own biography of ,sir ,herbert ,edwardes1 under the title of ,a ,knight's ,faith4 ,these books were for the home library2 reference works were bought to be deposited in central libraries1 along with objects of art and science4 ,it was not intended to keep the ,guild property centralised2 but rather to spread it1 as its other work was spread1 broad-cast4 ,a number of books and other objects were bought with the ,guild money1 and lent or given to various schools and colleges and institutions where work akin to the objects of the ,guild was being done4 ,but for the time ,ruskin fixed upon ,sheffield as the place of his first ,guild ,museum--being the home of the typical ,english industry--central to all parts of ,england1 near beautiful hill-country1 and yet not far from a number of manufacturing towns in which1 if ,st4 ,george's work went on1 supporters and recruits might be found4 ,the people of ,sheffield were already1 in #ahge1 building a museum of their own1 and naturally thought that the two might be conveniently worked together4 ,but that was not at all what ,ruskin wished4 ,not only was his museum to be primarily the storehouse of the ,guild1 rather than one among many means of popular education2 but the objects which he intended to place there were not such as the public expected to see4 ,he had no interest in a vast accumulation of articles of all kinds4 ,he wanted to provide for his friends' common treasury a few definitely valuable and interesting examples--interesting to the sort of people that he hoped would join the ,guild or be bred up in it2 and valuable according to his own standard and experience4 ,in ,september #ahge1 ,ruskin stayed a couple of days at ,sheffield to inspect a cottage at ,walkley1 in the outskirts of the town1 and to make arrangements for founding the museum--humbly to begin with1 but hoping for speedy increase4 ,he engaged as curator1 at a salary of #dj a year and free lodging on the premises1 his former pupil at the ,working ,men's ,college1 ,henry ,swan1 who had done occasional work for him in drawing and engraving4 ,swan was a ,quaker1 and a remarkable man in his way2 enthusiastic in his new vocation1 and interested in the social questions which were being discussed in ,fors4 ,under his care the ,museum remained at ,walkley1 accumulating material in the tiny and hardly accessible cottage--being so to speak in embryo1 until the way should be clear for its removal or enlargement1 which took place in #ahij4 ,when ,ruskin came back on his posting tour of ,april #ahgf1 he stayed again at ,sheffield1 to meet a few friends of ,swan's--,secularists1 ,unitarians1 and ,quakers1 who professed ,communism4 ,they had an interview 7reported in the ,sheffield ,daily ,telegraph1 ,april #bhth1 #ahgf71 which brought out rather curiously the points of difference between their opinions and his4 ,they refused to join the ,guild because they would not promise obedience1 and help in its objects4 ,ruskin1 however1 was willing to advance theirs4 ,a few weeks afterwards he invited them to choose a piece of ground for their ,communist experiment4 ,they chose a farm of over thirteen acres at ,abbeydale1 which the ,guild bought in #ahgg at a cost of #b1bhg #afs4#f;d4 for their use--the communists agreeing to pay the money back in instalments1 without interest1 by the end of seven years3 when the farm should be their own4 ,when it was actually in their hands they found that they knew nothing of farming--and besides1 were making money at trades they did not really care to abandon4 ,they engaged a man to work the farm for them3 and then another4 ,they were told that the land they had chosen was--for farming purposes--worthless4 ,their capital ran short2 and they tried to make money by keeping a tea-garden4 ,the original proposer of the scheme wrote to ,ruskin1 who sent #ajj3--the others returned the money4 ,ruskin declined to take it back1 and began to perceive that the ,communists were trifling4 ,they had made no attempt to found the sort of community they had talked about2 neither their plans nor his were being carried out4 ,so when the original proposer and a friend of his named ,riley approached ,ruskin again1 they found little difficulty in persuading him to try them as managers4 ,the rest1 finding themselves turned out by ,riley1 vainly demanded explanations from ,ruskin1 who then was drifting into his first attack of brain fever4 ,so they declined further connection with the farm2 the ,guild accepted their resignation1 and undertook for the time nothing more than to get the land into good condition again4 ,this was not the only land held by the ,st4 ,george's ,guild4 ,it acquired the acre of ground on which the ,sheffield ,museum stood1 and a cottage with a couple of acres near ,scarborough4 ,two acres of rock and moor at ,barmouth had been given by ,mrs4 ,talbot in #ahgb2 and in #ahgg ,mr4 ,george ,baker1 then ,mayor of ,birmingham1 gave twenty acres of woodland at ,bewdley in ,worcestershire1 to which at one time ,mr4 ,ruskin thought of moving the museum1 before the present building was found for it by the ,sheffield ,corporation at ,meersbrook ,park4 ,on the resignation of the original ,trustees1 in #ahgg1 ,mr4 ,q4 ,talbot and ,mr4 ,baker were offered the trust3 and on the death of ,mr4 ,talbot the trust was accepted by ,mr4 ,john ,henry ,chamberlain4 ,after he died it was taken by ,mr4 ,george ,thomson of ,huddersfield1 whose woollen mills1 transformed into a co-operative concern1 though not directly in connection with the ,guild1 have given a widely known example of the working of principles advocated in ,fors4 ,in the middle of #ahgf1 ,egbert ,rydings1 the auditor of the accounts which1 in accordance with his principles of glass pockets1 ,ruskin published in ,fors1 proposed to start a homespun woollen industry at ,laxey1 in the ,isle of ,man1 where the old women who formerly spun with the wheel had been driven by failure of custom to work in the mines4 ,the ,guild built him a water mill1 and in a few years the demand for a pure1 rough1 durable cloth1 created by this and kindred attempts1 justified the enterprise4 ,ruskin set the example1 and had his own grey clothes made of ,laxey stuffs--whose chief drawback was that they never wore out4 ,a little later a similar work was done1 with even greater success1 by ,mr4 ,albert ,fleming1 another member of the ,guild2 who introduced old-fashioned spinning and hand-loom weaving at ,langdale4 ,the story of ,ruskin's posting tour was told many years afterwards1 at the opening of the new ,sheffield museum1 by ,mr4 ,arthur ,severn1 a famous raconteur1 whose description of the adventures of their cruise upon wheels includes so bright a picture of ,ruskin1 that ,i must use his words as they were reported on the occasion in the magazine ,igdrasil3 444 ,with the ,professor1 who dislikes railways very much1 it was not a question of travelling by rail4 ,he said1 ',i will take you in a carriage and with horses1 and we will drive the whole way from ,london to the ,north of ,england4 ,and ,i will not only do that1 but ,i will do the best in my power to get a postilion to ride1 and we will go quite in the old-fashioned way 444' ,the ,professor went so far that he actually built a carriage for this drive4 ,it was a regular posting carriage1 with good strong wheels1 a place behind for the luggage1 and cunning drawers inside it for all kinds of things that we might require on the journey4 ,we started off one fine morning from ,london--,i must say without a postilion--but when we arrived at the next town1 about twenty miles off1 having telegraphed beforehand that we were coming1 there was a gorgeous postilion ready with the fresh horses1 and we started off in a right style1 according to the ,professor's wishes4 ,after many pleasant days of travelling1 we at last arrived at ,sheffield1 and ,i well remember that we created no small sensation as we clattered up to the old posting inn4 ,i think it was the ,king's ,head4 ,we stayed a few days1 and visited the old ,museum at ,walkley2 and ,i remember the look of regret on the ,professor's face when he saw how cramped the space was there for the things he had to show4 ,however1 with his usual kindliness1 he did not say much about it at the time1 and he did not complain of the considerable amount of room it was necessary for the curator and his family to take up in that place4 ,we stayed about two days looking at the beautiful country1--and ,i am glad to say there was a good deal still left1--and then the ,professor gave orders that the carriage should be got ready to take us on our journey1 and that a postilion should be forthcoming1 if possible4 ,i remember leaving the luncheon table and going outside to see if the necessary arrangements were complete4 ,sure enough1 there was the carriage at the door1 and a still more gorgeous postilion than any we had had so far on our journey4 ,his riding breeches were of the tightest and whitest ,i ever saw2 his horses were an admirable pair1 and looked like going4 ,a very large crowd had assembled outside the inn1 to see what extraordinary kind of mortals could be going to travel in such a way4 ,i went to the room where the ,professor was still at luncheon1 and told him that everything was ready1 but that there was a very large crowd at the door4 ,he seemed rather amused2 and ,i said1 ',you know1 ,professor1 ,i really don't know what the people expect--whether it is a bride and bridegroom1 or what4' ,he said1 ',well1 ,arthur1 you and ,joan shall play at being bride and bridegroom inside the carriage1 and ,i will get on the box4' ,he got ,mrs4 ,severn on his arm1 and had to hold her pretty tightly as he left the door1 because when she saw the crowd outside she tried to beat a retreat4 ,at last he got her into the carriage1 ,i was put in afterwards1 and he jumped up on the box4 ,the crowd closed in1 and looked at us as if we were a sort of menagerie4 ,i was much amused when ,i thought how little these eager people knew that the real attraction was on the box2 ,i felt inclined to put my head out of the window1 and say1 ',my good people1 there is the man you should look at1--not us4' ,i did not like to do so2 and the ,professor gave the word to be off1 the postilion cracked his whip1 and we went off in grand style1 amidst the cheers of the crowd4444 ,on one of these posting excursions1 they came to ,hardraw2 ,mrs4 ,alfred ,hunt tells the story in her edition of ,turner's ,richmondshire2 ,mr4 ,severn's account is somewhat different4 ,after examining the ,fall1 ,mrs4 ,severn and ,mr4 ,ruskin left ,mr4 ,severn to sketch1 and went away to ,hawes to order their tea4 ,when they were gone1 a man who had been standing by came up and asked if that were ,professor ,ruskin4 ,yes1 said ,mr4 ,severn1 it was2 he is very fond of the ,fall1 and much puzzled to know why the edge of the cliff is not worn away by the water1 as he expected to find it after so many years4 ,oh1 said the other1 there are twelve feet of masonry up there to protect the rock4 ,i'm a native of the place1 and know all about it4 ,i wish1 said ,mr4 ,severn1 absently1 as he went on drawing1 ,mr4 ,ruskin knew that2 he would be so interested4 ,and the stranger ran off4 ,when the sketcher came in to tea he felt there was something wrong4 ,you're in for it6 said his wife4 ,let us look at his sketch first1 said ,mr4 ,ruskin2 and luckily it was a very good one4 ,by and by it all came out2--how the ,yorkshireman had caught the ,professor1 and eagerly described the horrible ,vandalism1 receiving in reply some very emphatic language4 ,upon which he took off his hat and bowed low3 ,but1 sir1 he faltered1 the gentleman up there said ,i was to tell you1 and you would be so interested6 ,the ,professor1 suddenly mollified1 took off his hat in turn1 and apologised for his reception of the news3 but1 said he1 ,i shall never care for ,hardraw ,waterfall again4 ,the ,professor1 said ,mr4 ,severn1 dislikes railways very much3 and on his arrival at ,brantwood after that posting journey he wrote a preface to ,a ,protest against the ,extension of ,railways in the ,lake ,district1 by ,mr4 ,robert ,somervell4 ,ruskin's dislike of railways has been the text of a great deal of misrepresentation1 and his use of them1 at all1 has been often quoted as an inconsistency4 ,as a matter of fact1 he never objected to main lines of railway communication2 but he strongly objected1 in common with a vast number of people1 to the introduction of railways into districts whose chief interest is in their scenery2 especially where1 as in the ,english ,lake district1 the scenery is in miniature1 easily spoiled by embankments and viaducts1 and by the rows of ugly buildings which usually grow up round a station2 and where the beauty of the landscape can only be felt in quiet walks or drives through it4 ,many years later1 after he had said all he had to say on the subject again and again1 and was on the brink of one of his illnesses1 he wrote in violent language to a correspondent who tried to draw him on the subject of another proposed railway to ,ambleside4 ,but his real opinions were simple enough1 and consistent with a practicable scheme of life4 ,in ,august #ahgf he left ,england for ,italy4 ,he travelled alone1 accompanied only by his new servant ,baxter1 who had lately taken the place vacated by ,crawley1 ,mr4 ,ruskin's former valet of twenty years' service4 ,he crossed the ,simplon to ,venice1 where he was welcomed by an old friend1 ,rawdon ,brown1 and a new friend1 ,prof4 ,c4,h4 ,moore1 of ,harvard4 ,he met two ,oxford pupils1 ,mr4 ,j4 ,reddie ,anderson1 whom he set to work on ,carpaccio2 and ,mr4 ,whitehead--,so much nicer they all are1 he wrote in a private letter1 than ,i was at their age2--also his pupil ,mr4 ,bunney1 at work on copies of pictures and records of architecture1 the legacy of ,st4 ,mark to ,st4 ,george4 ,two young artists were brought into his circle1 during that winter--both ,venetians1 and both singularly interesting men3 ,giacomo ,boni1 now a celebrated antiquary1 then capo d'opera of the ,ducal ,palace1 and doing his best to preserve1 instead of restoring1 the ancient sculptures2 and ,angelo ,alessandri1 a painter of more than usual seriousness of aim and sympathy with the fine qualities of the old masters4 ,ruskin had been engaged on a manual of drawing for his ,oxford schools1 which he now meant to complete in two parts3 ,the ,laws of ,fsole--teaching the principles of ,florentine draughtsmanship2 and ,the ,laws of ,rivo ,alto--about ,venetian colour4 ,passages for this second part were written4 ,but he found himself so deeply interested in the evolution of ,venetian art1 and in tracing the spirit of the people as shown by the mythology illustrated in the pictures and sculptures1 that his practical manual became a sketch of art history1 ,st4 ,mark's ,rest--as a sort of companion to ,mornings in ,florence1 which he had been working at during his last visit to ,italy4 ,his intention was to supersede ,stones of ,venice by a smaller book1 giving more prominence to the ethical side of history1 which should illustrate ,carpaccio as the most important figure of the transition period1 and do away with the exclusive ,protestantism of his earlier work4 ,he set himself to this task1 with ,tintoret's motto--,sempre si fa il mare maggiore1 and worked with feverish energy1 recording his progress in letters home4 #ac ,nov4--,i never was yet1 in my life1 in such a state of hopeless confusion of letters1 drawings1 and work3 chiefly because1 of course1 when one is old1 one's done work seems all to tumble in upon one1 and want rearranging1 and everything brings a thousand old as well as new thoughts4 ,my head seems less capable of accounts every year4 ,i can't fix my mind on a sum in addition--it goes off1 between seven and nine1 into a speculation on the seven deadly sins or the nine muses4 ,my table is heaped with unanswered letters1--,,ms4 of four or five different books at six or seven different parts of each1--sketches getting rubbed out1--others getting smudged in1--parcels from ,mr4 ,brown unopened1 parcels for ,mr4 ,moore unsent2 my inkstand in one place1--too probably upset1--my pen in another2 my paper under a pile of books1 and my last carefully written note thrown into the waste-paper basket4 #c ,dec4--,i'm having nasty foggy weather just now1--but it's better than fog in ,london1--and ,i'm really resting a little1 and trying not to be so jealous of the flying days4 ,i've a most cumfy room at the ,grand ,hotel--,i've gone out of the very expensive one1 and only pay twelve francs a day2 and ,i've two windows1 one with open balcony and the other covered in with glass4 ,it spoils the look of the window dreadfully1 but gives me a view right away to ,lido1 and of the whole sunrise4 ,then the bed is curtained off from rest of room like that sketch of window and room with fine flourishing white and gold pillars--and the black place is where one goes out of the room beside the bed4 #i ,dec4--,i hope to send home a sketch or two which will show ,i'm not quite losing my head yet4444 ,i must show at ,oxford some reason for my staying so long in ,venice4 ,beside studies in the ,chapel of ,st4 ,george1 he copied ,carpaccio's ,dream of ,st4 ,ursula which was taken down--it had been skied at the ,academy until then--and placed in the sculpture gallery2 and be laboured to produce a facsimile4 #bd ,dec4--,i do think ,st4 ,ursula's lips are coming pretty--and her eyelids--but oh me1 her hair4 ,toni1 ,mr4 ,brown's gondolier1 says she's all right--and he's a grave and close looking judge1 you know4 ,christmas ,day was a crisis in his life4 ,he was attacked by illness2 severe pain1 followed by a dreamy state in which the vividly realized presence of ,st4 ,ursula mingled with memories of his dead lady1 whose spirit had been shown him a year before by a medium met at a country house4 ,since then he had watched eagerly for evidences of another life3 and the sense of its conceivability grew upon him1 in spite of the doubts which he had entertained of the immortality of the soul4 ,at last1 after a year's earnest desire for some such assurance1 it seemed to come to him4 ,what others call coincidences1 and accidents1 and states of mind flashed1 for him1 into importance2 times and seasons1 names and symbols1 took a vivid meaning4 ,his intense despondency changed for a while into a singular happiness--it seemed a renewed health and strength3 and instead of despair1 he rejoiced in the conviction of guarding ,providences and helpful influences4 ,readers of ,fors had traced for some years back the re-awakening of a religious tone1 now culminating in a pronounced mysticism which they could not understand1 and in a recantation of the sceptical judgments of his middle period4 ,he found1 now1 new excellences in the early ,christian painting2 he depreciated ,turner and ,tintoret1 and denounced the frivolous art of the day4 ,he searched the ,bible more diligently than ever for its hidden meanings2 and in proportion as he felt its inspiration1 he recoiled from the conclusions of modern science1 and wrapped the prophet's mantle more closely round him1 as he denounced with growing fervour the crimes of our unbelieving age4 ,,chapter ,v ,,deucalion ,,and ,,proserpina 7#ahgg-ahgi7 ,in the summer of #ahge1 ,ruskin had written3 ,i begin to ask myself1 with somewhat pressing arithmetic1 how much time is likely to be left me1 at the age of fifty-six1 to complete the various designs for which1 until past fifty1 ,i was merely collecting material4 ,of these materials ,i have now enough by me for a most interesting 7in my own opinion7 history of fifteenth century ,florentine ,art1 in six octavo volumes2 an analysis of the ,attic art of the fifth century ,b4,c4 in three volumes2 an exhaustive history of northern thirteenth-century art1 in ten volumes2 a life of ,sir ,walter ,scott1 with analysis of modern epic art1 in seven volumes2 a life of ,xenophon1 with analysis of the general principles of education1 in ten volumes2 a commentary on ,hesiod1 with final analysis of the principles of ,political ,economy1 in nine volumes2 and a general description of the geology and botany of the ,alps1 in twenty-four volumes4 ,the estimate of volumes was--perhaps--in jest2 but the plans for harvesting his material were in earnest4 ,proserpina--so named from the ,flora of the ,greeks1 the daughter of ,demeter1 ,mother ,earth--grew out of notes already begun in #ahff4 ,it was little like an ordinary botany book2--that was to be expected4 ,it did not dissect plants2 it did not give chemical or histological analysis3 but with bright and curious fancy1 with the most ingenious diagrams and perfect drawings--beautifully engraved by ,burgess and ,allen--illustrated the mystery of growth in plants and the tender beauty of their form4 ,though this was not science1 in strict terms it was a field of work which no one but ,ruskin had cultivated4 ,he was helped by a few scientific men like ,professor ,oliver1 who saw a value in his line of thought1 and showed a kindly interest in it4 ,deucalion--from the mythical creator of human life out of stones--was begun as a companion work3 to be published in parts1 as the repertory of ,oxford lectures on ,alpine form1 and notes on all kinds of kindred subjects4 ,for instance1 before that hasty journey to ,sheffield he gave a lecture at the ,london ,institution on ,precious ,stones 7,february #agth1 repeated ,march #bhth1 #ahgf4 ,a lecture on a similar subject was given to the boys of ,christ's ,hospital on ,april #aeth74 ,this lecture1 called ,the ,iris of the ,earth1 stood first in ,part ,,iii4 of ,deucalion3 and the work went on1 in studies of the forms of silica1 on the lines marked out ten years before in the papers on ,banded and ,brecciated ,concretions2 now carried forward with much kind help from the ,rev4 ,j4 ,clifton ,ward1 of the ,geological ,survey1 and ,mr4 ,henry ,willett1 ,f4,g4,s41 of ,brighton4 ,on the way home over the ,simplon in ,may and ,june1 #ahgg1 travelling first with ,signor ,alessandri1 and then with ,mr4 ,g4 ,allen1 ,professor ,ruskin continued his studies of ,alpine flowers for ,proserpina4 ,in the autumn he gave a lecture at ,kendal 7,oct4 #ast1 repeated at ,eton ,college ,dec4 #hth7 on ,yewdale and its ,streamlets4 ,yewdale--reprinted as ,part ,v4 of ,deucalion--took an unusual importance in his own mind1 not only because it was a great success as a lecture--though some ,kendalians complained that there was not enough information in it3--but because it was the first given since that ,christmas at ,venice1 when a new insight had been granted him1 as he felt1 into spiritual things1 and a new burden laid on him1 to withstand the rash conclusions of science falsely so called1 and to preach in their place the presence of ,god in nature and in man4 ,writing to ,miss ,beever about his ,oxford course of that autumn1 ,readings in ,modern ,painters1 #ch he said1 on the #bnd ,december3 ,footnote #ch3 ,nov4 #f1 #h1 #aj1 #ac1 #ae1 #ag1 #bj1 #bb1 #bd1 #bg1 #bi and ,dec4 #a1 #ahgg4 ,these lectures were never prepared for publication as a course2 the last lecture was printed in the ,nineteenth ,century for ,january1 #ahgh4 ,i gave yesterday the twelfth and last of my course of lectures this term1 to a room crowded by six hundred people1 two-thirds members of the ,university1 and with its door wedged open by those who could not get in2 this interest of theirs being granted to me1 ,i doubt not1 because for the first time in ,oxford ,i have been able to speak to them boldly of immortal life4 ,i intended when ,i began the course only to have read ',modern ,painters' to them2 but when ,i began1 some of your favourite bits#ci interested the men so much1 and brought so much larger a proportion of undergraduates than usual1 that ,i took pains to re-inforce and press them home2 and people say ,i have never given so useful a course yet4 ,but it has taken all my time and strength4 ,footnote #ci3 ,miss ,beever had published early in #ahge the extracts from ,modern ,painters1 so widely known as ,frondes ,agrestes4 ,he wrote again1 on ,dec4 #afth1 from ,herne ,hill3 ,it is a long while since ,i've felt so good-for-nothing as ,i do this morning4 ,my very wristbands curl up in a dog's-eared and disconsolate manner2 my little room is all a heap of disorder4 ,i've got a hoarseness and wheezing and sneezing and coughing and choking4 ,i can't speak and ,i can't think2 ,i'm miserable in bed and useless out of it2 and it seems to me as if ,i could never venture to open a window or go out of a door any more4 ,i have the dimmest sort of diabolical pleasure in thinking how miserable ,i shall make ,susie by telling her all this2 but in other respects ,i seem entirely devoid of all moral sentiments4 ,i have arrived at this state of things1 first by catching cold1 and since trying to 'amuse myself' for three days4 ,he goes on to give a list of his amusements--,pickwick1 chivalric romances1 the ,daily ,telegraph1 ,staunton's games of chess1 and finally analysis of the ,dock ,company's bill of charges on a box from ,venice4 ,ten days after he wrote from ,oxford1 in his whimsical style3 ,yesterday ,i had two lovely services in my own cathedral4 ,you know the ,cathedral of ,oxford is the chapel of ,christ ,church ,college1 and ,i have my high seat in the chancel1 as an honorary student1 besides being bred there1 and so one is ever so proud and ever so pious all at once1 which is ever so nice you know3 and my own dean1 that's the ,dean of ,christ ,church1 who is as big as any bishop1 read the services1 and the psalms and anthems were lovely2 and then ,i dined with ,henry ,acland and his family 444 but ,i do wish ,i could be at ,brantwood too4 ,next day it was ,cold quite gone4 ,but he was not to be quit so easily this time of the results of overwork and worry4 ,he had been passing through the unpleasant experience of a misunderstanding with one of his most trusted friends and helpers4 ,his work on behalf of the ,st4 ,george's ,guild had been energetic and sincere3 and he had received the support of a number of strangers1 among whom were people of responsible station and position4 ,but he was surprised to find that many of his personal friends held aloof4 ,he was still more surprised to learn1 on returning from ,venice1 full of new hope and stronger convictions in his mission1 that the caution of one upon whom he had counted as a firm ally had dissuaded an intending adherent from joining in the work4 ,a man of the world1 accustomed to overreach and to be overreached1 would have taken the discovery coolly1 and accepted an explanation4 ,but ,ruskin was never a man of the world2 and now1 much less than ever4 ,he took it as treason to the great work of which he felt himself to be the missionary4 ,throughout the autumn and winter the discovery rankled1 and preyed on his mind4 ,as for the sake of absolute candour he had published in ,fors everything that related to the ,guild work1--even his own private affairs and confessions1 whatever they risked1--he felt that this too must out2 in order that his supporters might judge of his conduct and that nothing affecting the enterprise might be kept back4 ,and so1 at ,christmas1 he sent the correspondence to his printers4 ,years afterwards1 by the intervention of friends1 this breach was healed3 but what suffering it cost can be learnt from the sequel4 ,to ,ruskin it was the beginning of the end4 ,his ,aberdeen correspondent asked just then for the usual ,christmas message to the ,bible class3 and instead of the cheery words of bygone years1 received the couplet from ,horace3 ,inter spem curamque1 timores inter et iras1 ,omnem crede diem tibi diluxisse supremum4 ,amid hope and sorrow1 amid fear and wrath1 believe every day that has dawned on thee to be thy last4 ,from ,oxford1 early in ,january1 #ahgh1 he went on a visit to ,windsor ,castle1 whence he wrote3 ,i came to see ,prince ,leopold1 who has been a prisoner to his sofa lately1 but ,i trust he is better2 he is very bright and gentle under severe and almost continual pain4 ,no less gentle1 in spite of the severe justice he was inflicting upon himself even more than upon his friend1 was the author of ,fors1 as the letters of the time to his invalid neighbour in ,hortus ,inclusus show4 ,how ready to own himself in the wrong1--at that very moment when he was being pointed at as the most obstinate and egotistic of men--how placable he really was and open to rebuke1 he showed1 when1 from ,windsor1 he went to ,hawarden4 ,nearly three years before he had written roughly of ,mr4 ,gladstone2 as a ,conservative1 he was not predisposed in favour of the leader of the party to whom he attributed most of the evils he was combating4 ,mr4 ,gladstone and he had often met1 and by no means agreed together in conversation4 ,but this visit convinced him that he had misjudged ,mr4 ,gladstone2 and he promptly made the fullest apology in the current number of ,fors1 saying that he had written under a complete misconception of his character4 ,in reprinting the old pages he not only cancelled the offending passage1 but he left the place blank1 with a note in the middle of it1 as a memorial of rash judgment4 ,he went slowly northward1 seeking rest at ,ingleton2 whence he wrote1 ,january #ag3--;,i've got nothing done all the time ,i've been away but a few mathematical figures crystallography1 no doubt1 for ',deucalion1' and the less ,i do the less ,i find ,i can do it2 and yesterday1 for the first time these twenty years1 ,i hadn't so much as a 'plan' in my head all day4 ,arrived at ,brantwood1 as rest was useless1 he tried work4 ,mr4 ,willett had asked him to reprint ,the ,two ,paths1 and he got that ready for press1 and wrote a short preface4 ,at ,venice1 ,mr4 ,j4,r4 ,anderson had been working out for him the myths illustrated by ,carpaccio in the ,chapel of ,s4 ,giorgio de' ,schiavoni2 and the book had been waiting for ,ruskin's introduction until he was surprised by the publication of an almost identical inquiry by ,m4 ,clermont-,ganneau4 ,he tried to fulfil his duty to his pupil by writing the preface immediately2 most sorrowfully feeling the inadequacy of his strength for the tasks he had laid upon it4 ,he wrote3 ,my own feeling1 now1 is that everything which has hitherto happened to me1 and been done by me1 whether well or ill1 has been fitting me to take greater fortune more prudently1 and to do better work more thoroughly4 ,and just when ,i seem to be coming out of school1--very sorry to have been such a foolish boy1 yet having taken a prize or two1 and expecting now to enter upon some more serious business than cricket1--,i am dismissed by the ,master ,i hoped to serve1 with a--',that's all ,i want of you1 sir4' ,in such times he found relief by reverting to the past4 ,he wrote in the beginning of ,february a paper for the ,university ,magazine on ,my ,first ,editor1 ,w4,h4 ,harrison1 and forgot himself--almost--in bright reminiscences of youthful days and early associations4 ,next1 as ,mr4 ,marcus ,huish1 who had shown great friendliness and generosity in providing prints for the ,sheffield museum1 was now proposing to hold an ,exhibition of ,mr4 ,ruskin's ,turners at the ,fine ,art ,galleries in ,new ,bond ,street1 it was necessary to arrange the exhibits and to prepare the catalogue4 ,for the next fortnight he struggled on with this labour1 and with his last ,fors--the last he was to write in the long series of more than seven years4#dj ,how little the thousands who read the preface to his catalogue1 with its sad sketch of ,turner's fate1 and what they supposed to be its customary burst of terminal eloquence1 understood that it was indeed the cry of one who had been wounded in the house of his friends1 and was now believing every day that dawned on him to be his last4 ,he told of ,turner's youthful picture of the ,coniston ,fells and its invocation to the mists of morning1 bidding them in honour to the world's great ,author1 rise1--and then how ,turner's health1 and with it in great degree his mind1 failed suddenly with a snap of some vital chord1 after the sunset splendours of his last1 dazzling efforts4444 ,footnote #dj3 ,fors was taken up again1 at intervals1 later on2 but never with the same purpose and continuity4 ,morning breaks1 as ,i write1 along those ,coniston ,fells1 and the level mists1 motionless and grey beneath the rose of the moorlands1 veil the lower woods1 and the sleeping village1 and the long lawns by the lake-shore4 ,oh that some one had but told me1 in my youth1 when all my heart seemed to be set on these colours and clouds1 that appear for a little while and then vanish away1 how little my love of them would serve me1 when the silence of lawn and wood in the dews of morning should be completed2 and all my thoughts should be of those whom1 by neither1 ,i was to meet more6 ,the catalogue was finished1 and hurried off to the printers4 ,a week of agitating suspense at home1 and then it could no longer be concealed4 ,friends and foes alike were startled and saddened with the news of his sudden and dangerous illness1--some form of inflammation of the brain--the result of overwork1 but still more immediately of the emotional strain from which he had been suffering4 ,on ,march #dth1 the ,turner ,exhibition opened1 and day by day the bulletins from ,brantwood announcing his condition were read by multitudes of visitors with eager and sorrowful interest4 ,newspapers all the world over copied the daily reports3 in the ,far ,west of ,america the same telegrams were posted1 and they say even a more demonstrative sympathy was shown4 ,nor was the feeling confined to the ,english speaking public4 ,the ,oxford ,proctor in ,convocation of ,april #bdth1 when the patient1 after the first burst of the storm was slowly drifting back into calmer waters1 thought it worth while1 in the course of his speech1 to mention that in ,italy1 where he had lately been on an ,easter vacation tour1 he had witnessed a widespread anxiety about ,ruskin1 and prayers put up for his recovery4 ,by ,may #ajth he was so much better that he could complete the catalogue with some gossip about those ,alpine drawings of #ahdb which he regarded as the climax of ,turner's work4 ,the first--and best in some ways--of the series was the ,splgen4 ,without any word to him1 the diligence of kind friends and the help of a wide circle of admirers traced the drawing1 and subscribed its price--#a1jjj guineas1 to which ,mr4 ,agnew generously added his commission--and it was presented to ,mr4 ,ruskin as a token of sympathy and respect4 ,he was not insensible to the personal compliment implied1 and by way of some answer he spent the first few days of his convalescence in arranging and annotating a series of drawings by himself1 and engravings1 illustrating the ,turners1 to add to his show during the remainder of the season4 ,when they were sent off 7early in ,june7 to ,bond ,street1 he left home with the ,severns to complete his recovery at ,malham4 ,there was another reason why that spontaneous testimonial was welcome at the moment1 for a curious and unaccustomed ordeal was impending for his claims as an art critic4 ,on his return from ,venice after months of intercourse with the great ,old ,masters1 he found the ,grosvenor ,gallery just opened for the first time1 with its memorable exhibition of the different extra-academical schools4 ,it placed before the public1 in sharp contrast1 the final outcome of the ,pre-,raphaelitism for which he had fought many a year before1 and samples of the last new fashion from ,paris4 ,the maturer works of ,burne-,jones had been practically unseen by the public1 and ,ruskin took the opportunity of their exhibition to write his praise of the youngest of the ,old ,masters in the current numbers of ,fors1 and afterwards in two papers on the ,three ,colours of ,pre-,raphaelitism 7,nineteenth ,century ,magazine1 ,november and ,december1 #ahgh74 ,but in the same ,fors he dismissed with half a paragraph of contempt ,mr4 ,whistler's eccentric sketch of ,fireworks at ,cremorne4 ,long before1 in #ahfc1 when he was working with various artists connected with the ,pre-,raphaelite circle1 ,mr4 ,whistler had made overtures to the great critic through ,mr4 ,swinburne the poet2 but he had not been taken seriously4 ,now he had become the missionary in ,england of the new ,french gospel of impressionism1 which to ,ruskin was one of those half-truths which are ever the worst of heresies4 ,mr4 ,whistler appealed to the law4 ,he brought an action for libel1 which was tried on ,november #beth and #bfth before ,baron ,huddleston1 and recovered a farthing damages4 ,ruskin's costs--amounting to #chf #abs4 #d;d4--were paid by a public subscription to which one hundred and twenty persons1 including many strangers1 contributed4 ,by that time he was fully recovering from his illness1 back at ,coniston1 after a short visit to ,liverpool4 ,it was forbidden to him to attempt any exciting work4 ,he had given up ,fors and ,oxford lecturing1 and was devoting himself again to quiet studies for ,proserpina and ,deucalion4 ,on the first day of the trial the ,st4 ,george's ,guild was registered as a ,company2 on the second day he wrote to ,miss ,beever3 ,i have entirely resigned all hope of ever thanking you rightly for bread1 sweet odours1 roses and pearls1 and must just allow myself to be fed1 scented1 rose-garlanded and be-pearled1 as if ,i were a poor little pet dog1 or pet pig4 ,but my cold is better1 and ,i am getting on with this botany2 but it is really too important a work to be pushed for a week or fortnight4 ,early in #ahgi his resignation of the ,slade ,professorship was announced2 followed by what was virtually his election to an honorary doctor's degree2 or1 as officially worded--the ,hebdomadal ,council resolved on ,june #i1 #ahgi1 to propose to ,convocation to confer the degree of ,d4,c4,l4 honoris causa upon ,john ,ruskin1 ,m4,a41 of ,ch4 ,ch41 at the ennia of that year2 but the proposal1 though notified in the ,gazette of ,june #aj1 was not submitted to vote owing to the inability of ,mr4 ,ruskin to be present at the encnia4 ,the degree was conferred1 in his absence1 in #ahic4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,diversions ,,of ,,brantwood 7#ahgi-ahha7 ,sixty years of one of the busiest lives on record were beginning to tell upon ,ruskin4 ,he would not confess to old age1 but his recent illness had shaken him severely4 ,the next three years were spent chiefly at ,coniston1 in comparative retirement2 but neither in despair1 nor idleness1 nor loneliness4 ,he had always lived a sort of dual life1 solitary in his thoughts1 but social in his habits2 liking company1 especially of young people2 ready1 in the intervals of work1 to enter into their employments and amusements1 and curiously able to forget his cares in hours of relaxation4 ,sometimes1 when earnest admirers made the pilgrimage to their ,mecca--holy ,brantwood as a scoffing poet called it--they were surprised and even shocked1 to find the prophet of ,fors at the head of a merry dinner-table1 and the ,professor of ,art among surroundings which a ,london or a ,boston sthete would have ruled to be in very poor taste4 ,shall ,i take you for a visit there1--to ,brantwood as it was in those old times8 ,it is a weary way to ,coniston1 whatever road you choose4 ,the inconvenience of the railway route was perhaps one reason of ,ruskin's preference for driving on so many occasions4 ,after changing and changing trains1 and stopping at many a roadside station1 at last you see1 suddenly1 over the wild undulating country1 the ,coniston ,old ,man and its crags1 abrupt on the left1 and the lake1 long and narrow1 on the right4 ,across the water1 tiny in the distance and quite alone amongst forests and moors1 there is ,brantwood2 and beyond it everything seems uncultivated1 uninhabited1 except for one grey farmhouse high on the fell1 where gaps in the ragged larches show how bleak and storm-swept a spot it is4 ,to come out of the station after long travel is to find yourself face to face with magnificent rocks1 and white cottages among the fir-trees4 ,as you are whirled down through the straggling village1 and along the shore round the head of the lake1 the panorama1 though not ,alpine in magnitude1 is almost ,alpine in character4 ,the valley1 too1 is not yet built up2 it is still the old-fashioned lake country1 almost as it was in the days of the ,iteriad4 ,you drive up and down a narrow1 hilly lane1 catching peeps of mountains and sunset1 through thick1 overhanging trees2 you turn sharp up through a gate under dark firs and larches1 and the carriage stops in what seems in the twilight a sort of court1--a gravelled space1 one side formed by a rough stone wall crowned with laurels and almost precipitous coppice1 the brant 7or steep7 wood above1 and the rest is ,brantwood1 with a capital ,b4#da ,footnote #da3 ,the archway supporting a great pile of new buildings did not exist in the time when this visit is supposed to be made4 ,since that time new stables and greenhouses also have been built2 with other additions somewhat altering the cottage-like house of ,ruskin's working days4 ,you expect that ,gothic porch you have read of in ,lectures on ,architecture and ,painting1 and you are surprised to find a stucco classic portico in the corner1 painted and grained1 and heaped around with lucky horseshoes1 brightly blackleaded1 and mysterious rows of large blocks of slate and basalt and trap--a complete museum of local geology1 if only you knew it--very unlike an ideal entrance2 still more unlike an ordinary one4 ,while you wait you can see through the glass door a roomy hall1 lit with candles1 and hung with large drawings by ,burne-,jones and by the master of the house4 ,his soft hat1 and thick gloves1 and chopper1 lying on the marble table1 show that he has come in from his afternoon's woodcutting4 ,but if you are expected you will hardly have time to look round1 for ,brantwood is nothing if not hospitable4 ,the honoured guest--and all guests are honoured there--after welcome1 is ushered up a narrow stair1 which betrays the original cottage1 into the turret room4 ,it had been the ,professor's until after his illness1 and he papered it with naturalistic pansies1 to his own taste1 and built out at one corner a projecting turret to command the view on all sides1 with windows strongly latticed to resist the storms4 ,there is old-fashioned solid comfort in the way of furniture2 and pictures1--a ,drer engraving1 some ,prouts and ,turners1 a couple of old ,venetian heads1 and ,meissonier's ,napoleon1 over the fireplace--a picture which ,ruskin bought for one thousand guineas1 showed for a time at ,oxford1 and hung up here in a shabby little frame to be out of the way4#db ,footnote #db3 ,sold in #ahhb for #e1ijj guineas4 ,if you are a man1 you are told not to dress2 if you are a lady1 you may put on your prettiest gown4 ,they dine in the new room1 for the old dining-room was so small that the waitress could not get round the table4 ,the new room is spacious and lofty compared with the rest of the house2 it has a long window with thick red sandstone mullions--there at last is a touch of ,gothicism--to look down the lake1 and a bay window open on the narrow lawn sloping steeply down to the road in front1 and the view of the ,old ,man4 ,the walls1 painted duck egg1 are hung with old pictures2 the ,doge ,gritti1 a bit saved from the great ,titian that was burnt in the fire at the ,ducal ,palace in #aegd2 a couple of ,tintorets2 ,turner and ,reynolds1 each painted by himself in youth2 ,raphael by a pupil1 so it is said2 portraits of old ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,ruskin1 and little ,john and his boo hills4 ,there he sits1 no longer little1 opposite3 and you can trace the same curve and droop of the eyebrows prefigured in the young face and preserved in the old1 and a certain family likeness to his handsome young father4 ,since ,mr4 ,ruskin's illness his cousin1 ,mrs4 ,arthur ,severn1 has become more and more indispensable to him3 she sits at the head of the table and calls him the coz4 ,an eminent visitor was once put greatly out of countenance by this apparent irreverence4 ,after obvious embarrassment1 light dawned upon him towards the close of the meal4 ,oh6 said he1 it's 'the coz' you call ,mr4 ,ruskin4 ,i thought you were saying' the cuss6' ,there are generally two or three young people staying in the house1 salaried assistants#dc or amateur1 occasional helpers2 but though there is a succession of visitors from a distance1 there is not very frequent entertainment of neighbours4 ,footnote #dc3 ,the face most familiar at ,brantwood in those times was ,laurie's4 ,a strange1 bright1 gifted boy--admirable draughtsman1 ingenious mechanician1 marvellous actor2 the imaginer of the quaintest and drollest humours that ever entered the head of man2 devoted to boats and boating1 but unselfishly ready to share all labours and contribute to all diversions2 painstaking and perfect in his work1 and brilliant in his wit1--,laurence ,hilliard was dearly loved by his friends1 and is still loved by them dearly4 ,he was ,ruskin's chief secretary at ,brantwood from ,jan41 #ahgf to #ahhb1 when the death of his father1 and ill-health1 led him to resign the post1 which was then filled by ,miss ,sara ,d4 ,anderson4 ,hilliard continued to live at ,coniston1 and was just beginning to succeed as a painter of still life and landscape when he died of pleurisy on board a friend's yacht in the ,aegean1 ,april #aath1 #ahhg1 aged thirty-two4 ,a ,brantwood dinner is always ample2 there is no asceticism about the place2 nor is there any affectation of intensity or of conversational cleverness4 ,the neat things you meant to say are forgotten--you must be hardened indeed to say them to ,mr4 ,ruskin's face2 but if you were shy1 you soon feel that there was no need for shyness2 you have fallen among friends2 and before dessert comes in1 with fine old sherry--the pride of your host1 as he explains--you feel that nobody understands you so well1 and that all his books are nothing to himself4 ,they don't sit over their wine1 and smoking is not allowed4 ,ruskin goes off to his study after dinner--it is believed for a nap1 for he was at work early and has been out all the afternoon4 ,in the drawing-room you see pictures--water-colours by ,turner and ,hunt1 drawings by ,prout and ,ruskin1 an early ,burne-,jones1 a sketch in oil by ,gainsborough4 ,the furniture is the old mahogany of ,mr4 ,ruskin's childhood1 with rare things interspersed--like the cloisonn vases on the mantelpiece4 ,soon after nine ,ruskin comes in with an armful of things that are going to the ,sheffield museum1 and while his cousin makes his tea and salted toast1 he explains his last acquirements in minerals or missals1 eager that you should see the interest of them2 or displays the last studies of ,mr4 ,rooke or ,mr4 ,fairfax ,murray1 copies from ,carpaccio or bits of ,gothic architecture4 ,then1 sitting in the chair in which he preached his baby-sermon1 he reads aloud a few chapters of ,scott or ,miss ,edgeworth1 or1 with judicious omissions1 one of the older novelists2 or translates1 with admirable facility1 a scene of ,scribe or ,george ,sand4 ,when his next work comes out you will recognise this evening's reading in his allusions and quotations1 perhaps even in the subjects of his writing1 for at this time he is busy on the articles of ,fiction1 ,fair and ,foul4 ,after the reading1 music2 a bit of his own composition1 ,old ,aegina's ,rock1 or ,cockle-hat and ,staff2 his cousin's ,scotch ballads or ,christy ,minstrel songs2 and if you can sing a new ditty1 fresh from ,london1 now is your chance4 ,you are surprised to see the ,prophet clapping his hands to ,camptown ,races1 or the ,hundred ,pipers--chorus given with the whole strength of the company2 but you are in a house of strange meetings4 ,by about half-past ten his day is over2 a busy day1 that has left him tired out4 ,you will not easily forget the way he lit his candle--no lamps allowed1 and no gas--and gave a last look lovingly at a pet picture or two1 slanting his candlestick and shading the light with his hand1 before he went slowly upstairs to his own little room1 literally lined with the ,turner drawings you have read about in ,modern ,painters4 ,you may be waked by a knock at the door1 and ,are you looking out8 ,and pulling up the blind1 there is one of our ,coniston mornings1 with the whole range of mountains in one quiet glow above the cool mist of the valley and lake4 ,going down at length on a voyage of exploration1 and turning in perhaps at the first door1 you intrude upon the ,professor at work in his study1 half sitting1 half kneeling at his round table in the bay window1 with the early cup of coffee1 and the cat in his crimson arm-chair4 ,there he has been working since dawn1 perhaps1 or on dark mornings by candlelight4 ,and he does not seem to mind the interruption2 after a welcome he asks you to look round while he finishes his paragraph1 and writes away composedly4 ,a long1 low room1 evidently two old cottage-rooms thrown into one2 papered with a pattern specially copied from ,marco ,marziale's ,circumcision in the ,national ,gallery2 and hung with ,turners4 ,a great early ,turner#dd of the ,lake of ,geneva is over the fireplace4 ,you are tempted to make a mental inventory4 ,polished steel fender1 very unsthetic2 curious shovel--his design1 he will stop to remark1 and forged by the village smith4 ,red mahogany furniture1 with startling shiny emerald leather chair-cushions2 red carpet and green curtains4 ,most of the room crowded with bookcases and cabinets for minerals4 ,scales in a glass case2 heaps of mineral specimens2 books on the floor2 rolls of diagrams2 early ,greek pots from ,cyprus2 a great litter of things and yet not disorderly nor dusty4 ,i don't understand1 he once said1 why you ladies are always complaining about the dust2 my bookcases are never dusty6 ,the truth being that1 though he rose early1 the housemaid rose earlier4 ,footnote #dd3 ,since sold1 and replaced by a della ,robbia ,madonna4 ,before you have finished your inventory he breaks off work to show you a drawer or two of minerals1 fairy-land in a cupboard2 or some of his missals1 ,king ,hakon's ,bible1 or the original ,,ms4 of the ,scott he was reading last night2 or1 opening a door in a sort of secrtaire1 pulls out of their sliding cases frame after frame of ,turners--the ,bridge of ,narni1 the ,falls of ,terni1 ,florence1 or ,rome1 and many more--to hold in your hand1 and take to the light1 and look into with a lens--quite a different thing from seeing pictures in a gallery4 ,at breakfast1 when you see the post-bag brought in1 you understand why he tries to get his bit of writing done early4 ,the letters and parcels are piled in the study1 and after breakfast1 at which1 as in old times1 he reads his last-written passages--how much more interesting they will always look to you in print6--after breakfast he is closeted with an assistant1 and they work through the heap4 ,private friends1 known by handwriting1 he puts aside2 most of the morning will go in answering them4 ,business he talks over1 and gives brief directions4 ,but the bulk of the correspondence is from strangers in all parts of the world--admirers' flattery2 students' questions2 begging-letters for money1 books1 influence1 advice1 autographs1 criticism on enclosed ,,ms4 or accompanying picture2 remonstrance or abuse from dissatisfied readers1 or people who object to his method of publication1 or wish to convert him to their own religion4 ,and so the heap is gradually cleared1 with the help of the waste-paper basket2 the secretary's work cut out1 his own arranged2 and by noon a long row of letters and envelopes have been set out to dry--,mr4 ,ruskin uses no blotting-paper1 and1 as he dislikes the vulgar method of fastening envelopes1 the secretary's work will be to seal them all with red wax1 and the seal with the motto ,to-day cut in the apex of a big specimen of chalcedony4 ,if you take1 as many do1 an interest in the minuti of portrait painting1 and think the picture more finished for its details1 you may notice that he writes on the flat table1 not on a desk2 that he uses a cork penholder and a fine steel pen1 though he is not at all a slave to his tools1 and differs from others rather in the absence of the sine qu non from his conditions4 ,he can write anywhere1 on anything1 with anything2 wants no pen-wiper1 no special form of paper1 or other fad4 ,much of his work is written in bound notebooks1 especially when he is abroad1 to prevent the loss and disorder of multitudinous foolscap4 ,he generally makes a rough syllabus of his subject1 in addition to copious notes and extracts from authorities1 and then writes straight off2 not without a noticeable hesitation and revision1 even in his letters4 ,his rough copy is transcribed by an assistant1 and he often does not see it again until it is in proof4#de ,footnote #de3 ,in later years he sometimes had his copy type-written4 ,printers' proofs are always a trial1 and he is glad to shift the work on to an assistant's shoulders1 such as ,mr4 ,harrison was1 who saw all his early works through the press4 ,but he is extremely particular about certain matters1 such as the choice of type and arrangements of the page2 though his taste does not coincide with that of the leaders of recent fashions4 ,mr4 ,jowett 7of ,messrs4 ,hazell1 ,watson ,viney1 ,limited7 said in ,hazell's ,magazine for ,september2 #ahib1 that ,ruskin made the size of the page a careful study1 though he adopted many varieties4 ,the ,fors page is different from1 and not so symmetrical as that of the octavo ,works ,series1 although both are printed on the same sized paper--medium #hvo4 ,then there is the ,knight's ,faith and ,ulric1 in both of which the type 7pica modern--this delightful type1 wrote ,ruskin7 and the size of the page are different from any other2 yet both were his choice4 ,the ,ulric page was imitated from an old edition of ,miss ,edgeworth4 ,the first proof he criticised thus3 ,don't you think a quarter inch off this page1 as enclosed1 would look better8 ,the type is very nice4 ,how delicious a bit of ,miss ,edgeworth's is1 like this6 ,ida was another page of his choice1 and greatly approved4 ,his title pages1 too1 were arranged with great care2 he used to draw them out in pen and ink1 indicating the size and position of the lines and letters4 ,he objected to ornaments and to anything like blackness and heaviness1 but he was very particular about proportions and spacing1 and about the division of words4 ,in the morning everybody is busy4 ,there are drawings and diagrams to be made1 ,,ms4 to copy1 references to look up1 parcels to pack and unpack4 ,someone is told off to take you round1 and you visit the various rooms and see the treasures1 inspect the outhouse with its workshop for carpentry1 framing and mounting1 casting leaves and modelling2 one work or another is sure to be going on2 perhaps one of the various sculptors who have made ,ruskin's bust is busy there4 ,down at the ,lodge1 a miniature ,brantwood1 turret and all1 the ,severn children live when they are at ,coniston4 ,then there are the gardens1 terraced in the steep1 rocky slope1 and some small hot-houses1 which ,ruskin thinks a superfluity1 except that they provide grapes for sick neighbours4 ,below the gardens a path across a field takes you to the harbour1 begun in play by the ,xenophon translators and finished by the village mason1 with its fleet of boats--chief of them the ,jumping ,jenny 7called after ,nanty ,ewart's boat in ,redgauntlet71 ,ruskin's own design and special private water-carriage4 ,outside the harbour the sail-boats are moored1 ,mr4 ,severn's ,lily of ,brantwood4 ,milliard's boat1 and his ,snail1 an unfortunate craft brought from ,morecambe ,bay with great expectations that were never realized2 though ,ruskin always professed to believe in her1 as a real sea-boat 7see ,harbours of ,england7 such as he used to steer with his friend ,huret1 the ,boulogne fisherman1 in the days when he1 too1 was smitten with sea-fever4 ,after luncheon1 if letters are done1 all hands are piped to the moor4 ,with billhooks and choppers the party winds up the wood paths1 the ,professor first1 walking slowly1 and pointing out to you his pet bits of rock-cleavage1 or ivied trunk1 or nest of wild strawberry plants4 ,you see1 perhaps1 the ice-house--tunnelled at vast expense into the rock and filled at more expense with the best ice2 opened at last with great expectations and the most charitable intent--for it was planned to supply invalids in the neighbourhood with ice1 as the1 hothouses supplied them with grapes2 and revealing1 after all1 nothing but a puddle of dirty water4 ,you see more successful works--the ,professor's little private garden1 which he is supposed to cultivate with his own hands2 various little wells and watercourses among the rocks1 moss-grown and fern-embowered2 and so you come out on the moor4 ,there great works go on4 ,juniper is being rooted up2 boggy patches drained and cultivated cranberries are being planted1 and oats grown2 paths engineered to the best points of view2 rocks bared to examine the geology--though you cannot get the ,professor to agree that every inch of his territory has been glaciated4 ,these diversions have their serious side1 for he is really experimenting on the possibility of reclaiming waste land2 perhaps too sanguine1 you think1 and not counting the cost4 ,to which he replies that1 as long as there are hands unemployed and misemployed1 a government such as he would see need never be at a loss for labourers4 ,if corn can be made to grow where juniper grew before1 the benefit is a positive one1 the expense only comparative4 ,and so you take your pick with the rest1 and are almost persuaded to become a companion of ,st4 ,george4 ,not to tire a new comer1 he takes you away after a while to a fine heathery promontory1 where you sit before a most glorious view of lake and mountains4 ,this1 he says1 is his ,naboth's vineyard2#df he would like to own so fine a point of vantage4 ,but he is happy in his country retreat1 far happier than you thought him2 and the secret of his happiness is that he has sympathy with all around him1 and hearty interest in everything1 from the least to the greatest4 ,footnote #df3 ,since then become part of the ,brantwood estate4 ,coming down from the moor after the round1 when you reach the front door you must see the performance of the waterfall3 everybody must see that4 ,on the moor a reservoir has been dug and dammed1 with ingenious flood-gates--,ruskin's device1 of course--and a channel led down through the wood to a rustic bridge in the rock4 ,some one has stayed behind to let out the water1 and down it comes2 first a black stream and then a white one1 as it gradually clears2 and the rocky wall at the entrance becomes for ten minutes a cascade4 ,this too has it uses2 not only is there a supply of water in case of fire 7the exact utilisation of which is yet undecided71 but it illustrates one of his doctrines about the simplicity with which works of irrigation could be carried out among the hills of ,italy4 ,and so you go in to tea and chess1 for he loves a good game of chess with all his heart4 ,he loves many things1 you have found4 ,he is different from other men you know1 by the breadth and vividness of his sympathies1 by power of living as few other men can live1 in ,admiration1 ,hope and ,love4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,fors ,,resumed 7#ahhj-ahha7 ,retirement at ,brantwood was only partial4 ,ruskin's habits of life made it impossible for him to be idle1 much as he acknowledged the need of thorough rest4 ,he could not be wholly ignorant of the world outside ,coniston2 though sometimes for weeks together he tried to ignore it1 and refused to read a newspaper4 ,the time when ,general ,gordon went out to ,khartoum was one of these periods of abstraction1 devoted to medival study4 ,somebody talked one morning at breakfast about the ,soudan4 ,and who is the ,soudan8 he earnestly inquired1 connecting the name1 as it seemed1 with the ,soldan of ,babylon1 in crusading romance4 ,don't you know1 he wrote to a friend 7,january #hth1 #ahhj73 ,that ,i am entirely with you in this ,irish misery1 and have been these thirty years8--only one can't speak plain without distinctly becoming a leader of ,revolution8 ,i know that ,revolution must come in all the world--but ,i can't act with ,dan ton or ,robespierre1 nor with the modern ,french ,republican or ,italian one4 ,i could with you and your ,irish1 but you are only at the beginning of the end4 ,i have spoken1--and plainly too1--for all who have ears1 and hear4 ,the author of ,fors had tried to show that the nineteenth-century commercialist spirit was not new2 that the tyranny of capital was the old sin of usury over again2 and he asked why preachers of religion did not denounce it--why1 for example1 the ,bishop of ,manchester did not1 on simply religious grounds1 oppose the teaching of the ,manchester ,school1 who were the chief supporters of the commercialist economy4 ,not until the end of #ahgi had ,dr4 ,fraser been aware of the challenge2 but at length he wrote1 justifying his attitude4 ,the popular and able bishop had much to say on the expediency of the commercial system and the error of taking the ,bible literally2 but he seemed unaware of the revolution in economical thought which ,unto this ,last and ,fors had been pioneering4 ,i'm not gone to ,venice yet1 wrote ,ruskin to ,miss ,beever1 but thinking of it hourly4 ,i'm very nearly done with toasting my bishop2 he just wants another turn or two1 and then a little butter4 ,the toasting and the buttering appeared in the ,contemporary ,review for ,february #ahhj2 and this incident led him to feel that the mission of ,fors was not finished4 ,if bishops were still unenlightened1 there was yet work to do4 ,he gave up ,venice1 and resumed his crusade4 ,brantwood life was occasionally interrupted by short excursions to ,london or elsewhere4 ,in the autumn he had heard ,professor ,huxley on the evolution of reptiles2 and this suggested another treatment of the subject1 from his own artistic and ethical point of view1 in a lecture oddly called ,a ,caution to ,snakes1 given at the ,london ,institution1 ,march #agth1 #ahhj 7repeated ,march #bcrd1 and printed in ,deucalion74 ,he was not merely an amateur zoologist and ,f4,z4,s41 but a devoted lover and keen observer of animals4 ,it would take long to tell the story of all his dogs1 from the spaniel ,dash1 commemorated in his earliest poems1 and ,wisie1 whose sagacity is related in ,prterita1 down through the long line of bulldogs1 ,st4 ,bernards1 and collies1 to ,bramble1 the reigning favourite2 and all the cats who made his study their home1 or were flirted with abroad4 ,to ,miss ,beever1 from ,bolton ,abbey 7,january #bdth1 #ahge7 he describes the ,wharfe in flood1 and then continues3 ,i came home 7to the hotel7 to quiet tea1 and a black kitten called ,sweep1 who lapped half my cream-jugful 7and yet ,i had plenty71 sitting on my shoulder4 ,grip1 the pet rook at ,denmark ,hill1 is mentioned in ,my ,first ,editor1 as celebrated in verse by ,mr4 ,w4,h4 ,harrison4 ,ruskin had not ,thoreau's intimate acquaintance with the details of wild life1 but his attitude towards animals and plants was the same2 hating the science that murders to dissect2 resigning his ,professorship at ,oxford1 finally1 because vivisection was introduced into the ,university2 and supporting the ,society for the ,prevention of ,cruelty to ,animals with all his heart4 ,but1 as he said at the ,annual ,meeting in #ahgg1 he objected to the sentimental fiction and exaggerated statements which some of its members circulated4 ,they had endeavoured to prevent cruelty to animals1 he said1 but they had not enough endeavoured to promote affection for animals4 ,he trusted to the pets of children for their education1 just as much as to their tutors4 ,it was to carry out this idea 7to anticipate a little7 that he founded the ,society of ,friends of ,living ,creatures1 which he addressed1 ,may #bcrd1 #ahhe1 at the club1 ,bedford ,park1 in his capacity of--not president--but papa4 ,the members1 boys and girls from seven to fifteen1 promised not to kill nor hurt any animal for sport1 nor tease creatures2 but to make friends of their pets and watch their habits1 and collect facts about natural history4 ,i remember1 on one of the rambles at ,coniston in the early days1 how we found a wounded buzzard--one of the few creatures of the eagle kind that our ,english mountains still breed4 ,the rest of us were not very ready to go near the beak and talons of the fierce-looking1 and1 as we supposed1 desperate bird4 ,ruskin quietly took it up in his arms1 felt it over to find the hurt1 and carried it1 quite unresistingly1 out of the way of dogs and passers-by1 to a place where it might die in solitude or recover in safety4 ,he often told his ,oxford hearers that he would rather they learned to love birds than to shoot them2 and his wood and moor were harbours of refuge for hunted game or vermin2 and his windows the rendezvous of the little birds4 ,he had not been abroad since the spring of #ahgg1 and in ,august #ahhj felt able to travel again4 ,he went for a tour among the northern ,french cathedrals1 staying at old haunts1--,abbeville1 ,amiens1 ,beauvais1 ,chartres1 ,rouen1--and then returned with ,mr4 ,a4 ,severn and ,mr4 ,brabazon to ,amiens1 where he spent the greater part of ,october4 ,he was writing a new book--the ,bible of ,amiens--which was to be to the ,seven ,lamps what ,st4 ,mark's ,rest was to ,stones of ,venice4 ,before he returned1 the secretary of the ,chesterfield ,art ,school had written to ask him to address the students4 ,mr4 ,ruskin1 travelling without a secretary1 and in the flush of new work and thronging ideas1 put the letter aside2 he carried his letters about in bundles in his portmanteau1 as he said in his apology1 and looked at them as ,ulysses at the bags of ,aeolus4 ,some wag had the impudence to forge a reply1 which was actually read at the meeting in spite of its obviously fictitious style and statements3 ,,harlesden7671 ,,london1 ,friday4 ,,my ,,dear ,,sir1 ,your letter reaches me here4 ,have just returned commercial ,english1 not ,ruskin from ,venice where he had meant to go1 but did not go where ,i have ruminated767 in the pasturages of the home of art7672 the loveliest and holiest of lovely and holy cities1 where the very stones cry out1 eloquent in the elegancies of iambics 7667--and so forth4 ,however1 it deceived the newspapers1 and there was a fine storm1 which ,mr4 ,ruskin rather enjoyed4 ,for though the forgery was clumsy enough1 it embodied some apt plagiarism from a letter to the ,mansfield ,art ,school on a similar occasion4 ,not long before1 a forgery of a more serious kind had been committed by one of the people connected with ,st4 ,george's ,guild1 who had put ,mr4 ,ruskin's name to cheques4 ,the bank authorities were long in tracing the crime4 ,they even sent a detective to ,brantwood to watch one of the assistants1 who never knew--nor will ever know--that he was honoured with such attentions2 and none of his friends for a moment believed him guilty4 ,he had sometimes imitated ,mr4 ,ruskin's hand2 a dangerous jest4 ,the real culprit was discovered at last1 and ,mr4 ,ruskin had to go to ,london as a witness for the prosecution4 ,being in very weak health1 the ,times report said 7,april #ast1 #ahgi71 he was allowed to give evidence from the bench4 ,he had told the ,sheffield communists that he thought so strongly on the subject of the repression of crime that he dare not give expression to his ideas for fear of being charged with cruelty2 but no sooner was the prisoner released than he gave the help needed to start him again in a better career4 ,though he did not feel able to lecture to strangers at ,chesterfield1 he visited old friends at ,eton1 on ,november #fth1 #ahhj1 to give an address on ,amiens4 ,for once he forgot his ,,ms41 but the lecture was no less brilliant and interesting4 ,it was practically the first chapter of his new work1 the ,bible of ,amiens1--itself intended as the first volume of ,our ,fathers have ,told us3 ,sketches of the ,history of ,christendom1 for ,boys and ,girls who have been held at its ,fonts4 ,the distinctly religious tone of the work was noticed as marking1 if not a change1 a strong development of a tendency which had been strengthening for some time past4 ,early in #ahgi the ,rev4 ,f4,a4 ,malleson1 vicar of ,broughton1 near ,coniston1 had asked him to write1 for the ,furness ,clerical ,society's ,meetings1 a series of letters on the ,lord's ,prayer4 ,in them he dwelt upon the need of living faith in the ,fatherhood of ,god1 and childlike obedience to the commands of old-fashioned religion and morality4 ,he criticised the ,english liturgy as compared with medival forms of prayer2 and pressed upon his hearers the strongest warnings against evasion1 or explaining away of stern duties and simple faiths4 ,he concluded3 ,no man more than ,i has ever loved the place where ,god's honour dwells1 or yielded truer allegiance to the teaching of ,his evident servants4 ,no man at this time grieves more for the damage of the ,church which supposes him her enemy1 while she whispers procrastinating pax vobiscum in answer to the spurious kiss of those who would fain toll curfew over the last fires of ,english faith1 and watch the sparrows find nest where she may lay her young1 around the altars of the ,lord4 ,but if the ,anglican ,church refused him1 the ,roman ,church was eager to claim him4 ,his interest in medivalism seemed to point him out as ripe for conversion4 ,cardinal ,manning1 an old acquaintance1 showed him special attention1 and invited him to charming tte--tte luncheons4 ,it was commonly reported that he had gone over1 or was going4 ,but two letters 7of a later date7 show that he was not to be caught4 ,to a ,glasgow correspondent he wrote in #ahhg3 ,i shall be entirely grateful to you if you will take the trouble to contradict any news gossip of this kind1 which may be disturbing the minds of any of my ,scottish friends4 ,i was1 am1 and can be1 only a ,christian ,catholic in the wide and eternal sense4 ,i have been that these five-and-twenty years at least4 ,heaven keep me from being less as ,i grow older6 ,but ,i am no more likely to become a ,roman ,catholic than a ,quaker1 ,evangelical1 or ,turk4 ,to another1 next year1 he wrote3 ,i fear you have scarcely read enough of ',fors' to know the breadth of my own creed or communion4 ,i gladly take the bread1 water1 wine1 or meat of the ,lord's ,supper with members of my own family or nation who obey ,him1 and should be equally sure it was ,his giving1 if ,i were myself worthy to receive it1 whether the intermediate mortal hand were the ,pope's1 the ,queen's1 or a hedge-side gipsy's4 ,at ,coniston he was on friendly terms with ,father ,gibson1 the ,roman ,catholic priest1 and gave a window to the chapel1 which several of the ,brantwood household attended4 ,but though he did not go to ,church1 he contributed largely to the increase of the poorly-endowed curacy1 and to the charities of the parish4 ,the religious society of the neighbourhood was hardly of a kind to attract him1 unless among the religious society should be included the ,thwaite1 where lived the survivors of a family long settled at ,coniston--,miss ,mary ,beever1 scientific and political2 and ,miss ,susanna1 who won ,mr4 ,ruskin's admiration and affection by an interest akin to his own in nature and in poetry1 and by her love for animals1 and bright1 unfailing wit4 ,both ladies were examples of sincerely religious life1 at once sources and loadstones of all good to the village1 as he wrote in the preface to ,hortus ,inclusus1 the collection of his letters to them since first acquaintance in the autumn of #ahgc4 ,the elder ,miss ,beever died at an advanced age on the last day of #ahhc2 ,miss ,susanna survived until ,october1 #bi1 #ahic4 ,in children he took a warm and openly-expressed interest4 ,he used to visit the school often1 and delighted to give them a treat4 ,on ,january #acth1 #ahha1 he gave a dinner to #cae ,coniston youngsters1 and the tone of his address to his young guests is noteworthy as taken in connection with the drift of his religious tendency during this period4 ,he dwelt on a verse of the ,sunday ,school hymn they had been singing3 ,jesu1 here from sin deliver4 ,that is what we want1 he said2 to be delivered from our sins4 ,we must look to the ,saviour to deliver us from our sin4 ,it is right we should be punished for the sins which we have done2 but ,god loves us1 and wishes to be kind to us1 and to help us1 that we may not wilfully sin4 ,at this time he used to take the family prayers himself at ,brantwood3 preparing careful notes for a ,bible-reading1 which sometimes1 indeed1 lasted longer than was convenient to the household2 and writing collects for the occasion1 still existing in manuscript1 and deeply interesting as the prayers of a man who had passed through so many wildernesses of thought and doubt1 and had returned at last--not to the fold of the ,church1 but to the footstool of the ,father4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,the ,,recall ,,to ,,oxford 7#ahhb-ahhc7 ,this ,brantwood life came to an end with the end of #ahha4 ,early in the next year he went for change of scene to stay with the ,severns at his old home on ,herne ,hill4 ,he seemed much better1 and ventured to reappear in public4 ,on ,march #crd he went to the ,national ,gallery to sketch ,turner's ,python4 ,on the unfinished drawing is written3 ,bothered away from it1 and never went again4 ,no light to work by in the next month4 ,an artist in the ,gallery had been taking notes of him for a surreptitious portrait--an embarrassing form of flattery4 ,he wrote3 ,no--,i won't believe any stories about overwork4 ,it's impossible1 when one's in good heart and at really pleasant things4 ,i've a lot of nice things to do1 but the heart fails--after lunch1 particularly6 ,heart and head did1 however1 fail again2 and another attack of brain fever followed4 ,sir ,william ,gull brought him through1 and won his praise as a doctor and esteem as a friend4 ,ruskin took it as a great compliment when ,sir ,william1 in acknowledging his fee1 wrote that he should keep the cheque as an autograph4 ,by ,easter ,monday the patient was better again1 and plunging into work in spite of everybody4 ,he wrote3 ,i was not at all sure1 myself1 till yesterday1 whether ,i would go abroad2 also ,i should have told you before4 ,but as you have had the 7sorrowful87 news broken to you--and as ,i find ,sir ,william ,gull perfectly fixed in his opinion1 ,i obey him1 and reserve only some liberty of choice to myself--respecting1 not only climate1--but the general appearance of the--inhabitants1 of the localities1 where for antiquarian or scientific research ,i may be induced to prolong my sojourn4--,meantime ,i send you--to show you ,i haven't come to town for nothing1 my last bargain in beryls1 with a little topaz besides4444 ,but the journey was put off week after week4 ,there was so much to do1 buying diamonds for ,sheffield museum1 and planning a collection of models to show the normal forms of crystals1 and to illustrate a subject which he thought many people would find interesting1 if they could be got over its first difficulties4 ,not only ,sheffield was to receive these gifts and helps3 ,ruskin had become acquainted with the ,rev4 ,j4,p4 ,faunthorpe1 ,principal of ,whitelands ,college for ,pupil ,teachers1 and had given various books and collections to illustrate the artistic side of education4 ,now he instituted there the ,may ,queen ,festival1 in some sort carrying out his old suggestion in ,time and ,tide4 ,mr4 ,a4 ,severn designed a gold cross1 and it was presented1 with a set of volumes of ,ruskin's works1 sumptuously bound1 to the ,may ,queen and her maidens4 ,the pretty festival became a popular feature of the school1 patronised by royalty1 and ,ruskin continued his annual gift to ,whitelands1 and kept up a similar institution at the ,high ,school at ,cork4 ,at last1 in ,august1 he started for the ,continent and stayed a while at ,avallon in central ,france1 a district new to him4 ,there he met ,mr4 ,frank ,randal1 one of the artists working for ,st4 ,george's ,guild1 and explored the scenery and antiquities of a most interesting neighbourhood4 ,he drove over the ,jura in the old style1 revisited ,savoy1 and after weeks of bitter bise and dark weather1 a splendid sunset cleared the hills4 ,he wrote to ,miss ,beever3--,i saw ,mont ,blanc again to-day1 unseen since #ahgg2 and was very thankful4 ,it is a sight that always redeems me to what ,i am capable of at my poor little best1 and to what loves and memories are most precious to me4 ,at ,annecy he was pleased to find the waiter at the ,htel ,verdun remembered his visit twenty years before2--everywhere he met old friends1 and saw old scenes that he had feared he never would revisit4 ,after crossing the ,cenis and hastening through ,turin and ,genoa1 he reached ,lucca1 to be awaited at the ,albergo ,reale dell' ,universo by a crowd1 every one anxious to shake hands with ,signor ,ruskin4 ,no wonder6--for instead of allowing himself to be a mere ,number-so-and-so in a hotel1 wherever he felt comfortable--and that was everywhere except at pretentious modern hotels--he made friends with the waiter1 chatted with the landlord1 found his way into the kitchen to compliment the cook1 and forgot nobody in the establishment--not only in tips1 but in a frank and sympathetic address which must have contrasted curiously1 in their minds1 with the reserve and indifference of other ,english tourists4 ,at ,florence he met ,mr4 ,henry ,roderick ,newman1 an ,american artist who had been at ,coniston and was working for the ,guild4 ,he introduced ,ruskin to ,mrs4 and ,miss ,alexander4 ,in these ladies' home he found his own aims1 in religion1 philanthropy1 and art1 realised in an unexpected way4 ,miss ,alexander's drawing at first struck him by its sincerity4 ,not only did she draw beautifully1 but she also wrote a beautiful hand2 and it had been one of his old sayings that missal-writing1 rather than missal-painting1 was the admirable thing in medival art4 ,the legends illustrated by her drawings were collected by herself1 through an intimate acquaintance with ,italians of all classes1 from the nobles to the peasantry1 whom she understood and loved1 and by whom she was loved and understood4 ,by such intercourse she had learned to look beneath the surface4 ,in religious matters her ,american common-sense saw through her neighbours--saw the good in them as well as the weakness--and she was as friendly1 not only in social intercourse1 but in spiritual things1 with the worthy village priest as with ,t4,p4 ,rossetti1#dg the leader of the ,protestant ,brethren1 whom she called her pastor4 ,and ,ruskin1 who had been driven away from ,protestantism by the poor ,waldensian at ,turin1 and had wandered through many realms of doubt and voyaged through strange seas of thought1 alone1 found harbour at last with the disciple of a modern evangelist1 the frequenter of the little meeting-house of outcast ,italian ,protestants4 ,footnote #dg3 ,a cousin of the artist1 and in his way no less remarkable a man4 ,a short account of his life is given in ,d4,g4 ,rossetti1 his family letters1 ,vol4 ,i41 p4 #cd4 ,the circumstances of his death are touchingly related by ,miss ,alexander in ,christ's ,folk2 in the ,apennine4 ,one evening before dinner he brought back to the hotel at ,florence a drawing of a lovely girl lying dead in the sunset2 and a little note-book4 ,i want you to look over this1 he said1 in the way1 but not quite in the tone1 with which the usual ,,ms4 submitted for criticism was tossed to a secretary to taste4 ,it was ,the ,true ,story of ,ida2 written by her ,friend4 ,an appointment to meet ,mr4 ,e4,r4 ,robson1 who was making plans for an intended ,sheffield museum1 took him back to ,lucca1 to discuss ,romanesque mouldings and marble facings4 ,mr4 ,charles ,fairfax ,murray also came to ,lucca with drawings commissioned for ,st4 ,george's ,guild4 ,but ,ruskin soon returned to his new friends1 and did not leave ,florence finally until he had purchased the wonderful collection of #aaj drawings1 with beautifully written text1 in which ,miss ,alexander had enshrined ,the ,roadside ,songs of ,tuscany4 ,returning homewards by the ,mont ,cenis he stayed a while at ,talloires1 a favourite haunt1 extremely content to be among romantic scenery1 and able to work steadily at a new edition of his books in a much cheaper form1 of which the first volumes were at this time in hand4 ,he had been making further studies also1 in history and ,alpine geology2 but at last the snow drove him away from the mountains4 ,so he handed over the geology to his assistant1 who compiled ,the ,limestone ,alps of ,savoy 7supplementary to ,deucalion7 as he could1 not as he would1 while ,ruskin wrote out the new ideas suggested by his visit to ,cteaux and ,st4 ,bernard's birthplace4 ,these notes he completed on the journey home1 and gave as a lecture on ,cistercian ,architecture 7,london ,institution1 ,december #dth1 #ahhb71 in place of the previously advertised lecture on crystallography4 ,he seemed now to have quite recovered his health1 and to be ready for re-entry into public life4 ,what was more1 he had many new things to say4 ,the attacks of brain fever had passed over him like passing storms1 leaving a clear sky4 ,after his retirement from the ,oxford ,professorship1 a subscription had been opened for a bust by ,sir ,edgar ,boehm1 in memorial of a ,university benefactor2 and the model 7now in the ,sheffield ,museum7 was placed in the ,drawing ,school pending the collection of the necessary #bbj4 ,the ,oxford ,university ,herald1 in its article of ,june #eth1 #ahhj1 no doubt expressed the general feeling in reciting his benefactions to the ,university with becoming appreciation4 ,it was natural1 therefore1 that on recovering his health he should resume his post4 ,professor 7now ,sir7 ,w4,b4 ,richmond1 the son of his old friend ,mr4 ,george ,richmond1 gracefully retired1 and the ,oxford ,university ,gazette of ,january #afth1 #ahhc1 announced the re-election4 ,on ,march #bnd he wrote that he was up the ,old ,man yesterday2 as much as to say that he defied catechism1 now1 about his health2 and a week later he gave his first lecture4 ,the ,st4 ,james's ,budget of ,march #afth gave an account of it in these terms3 ,mr4 ,ruskin's first lecture at ,oxford attracted so large an audience that1 half-an-hour before the time fixed for its delivery1 a greater number of persons were collected about the doors than the lecture-room could hold4 ,immediately after the doors were opened the room was so densely packed that some undergraduates found it convenient to climb into the windows and on to the cupboards4 ,the audience was composed almost equally of undergraduates and ladies2 with the exception of the vice-chancellor1 heads of houses1 fellows1 and tutors were chiefly conspicuous by their absence4 ,i omit an abstract of the lecture1 which can be read in full in the ,art of ,england4 ,the reporter continued3 ,he had made some discoveries3 two lads and two lasses1 who#dh 444 could draw in a way to please even him4 ,he used to say that1 except in a pretty graceful way1 no woman can draw2 he had now almost come to think that no one else can4 7,this statement the undergraduates received with gallant1 if undiscriminating1 applause47 ,to many of his prejudices1 ,mr4 ,ruskin said1 in the last few years the axe had been laid4 ,he had positively found an ,american1 a young lady1 whose life and drawing were in every way admirable4 7,again great and generous applause on the part of the undergraduates1 stimulated1 no doubt1 by the knowledge that there were then in the room two fair ,americans1 who have lately graced ,oxford by their presence47 ,at the end of his lecture ,mr4 ,ruskin committed himself to a somewhat perilous statement4 ,he had found two young ,italian artists in whom the true spirit of old ,italian art had yet lived4 ,no hand like theirs had been put to paper since ,lippi and ,leonardo4 ,footnote #dh3 ,referring to ,misses ,alexander and ,greenaway1 and ,messrs4 ,boni and ,alessandri4 ,three more lectures of the course were given in ,may1 and each repeated to a second audience4 ,coming to ,london1 he gave a private lecture on ,june #eth to some two hundred hearers at the house of ,mrs4 ,w4,h4 ,bishop1 in ,kensington1 on ,miss ,kate ,greenaway and ,miss ,alexander4 ,the ,spectator shared his enthusiasm for the pen and ink drawings of ,miss ,alexander's ,roadside ,songs of ,tuscany1 and concluded a glowing account of the lecture by saying3 ,all ,professor ,ruskin's friends must be glad to see how well his ,oxford work has agreed with him4 ,he has gifts of insight and power of reaching the best feelings and highest hopes of our too indifferent generation which are very rare4 ,with much encouragement in his work1 he returned to ,brantwood for the summer1 and resolved upon another visit to ,savoy for more geology1 and another breath of health-giving ,alpine air4 ,but he found time only for a short tour in ,scotland before returning to ,oxford to complete the series of lectures on recent ,english ,art4 ,during this term he was prevailed upon to allow himself to be nominated as a candidate for the ,rectorship of the ,university of ,glasgow4 ,he had been asked to stand in the ,conservative interest in #ahhj1 and he had been worried into a rather rough reply to the ,liberal party1 when after some correspondence they asked him whether he sympathised with ,lord ,beaconsfield or ,mr4 ,gladstone4 ,what1 in the devil's name1 he exclaimed1 have you to do with either ,mr4 ,d',israeli or ,mr4 ,gladstone8 ,you are students at the ,university1 and have no more business with politics than you have with rat-catching4 ,had you ever read ten words of mine with understanding1 you would have known that ,i care no more either for ,mr4 ,d',israeli or ,mr4 ,gladstone than for two old bagpipes with the drones going by steam1 but that ,i hate all ,liberalism as ,i do ,beelzebub1 and that1 with ,carlyle1 ,i stand1 we two alone now in ,england1 for ,god and the ,queen4 ,after that1 though he might explain#di that he never under any conditions of provocation or haste1 would have said that he hated ,liberalism as he did ,mammon1 or ,belial1 or ,moloch2 that he chose the milder fiend of ,ekron as the true exponent and patron of ,liberty1 the ,god of ,flies1 still the matter-of-fact ,glaswegians were minded to give the scoffer a wide berth4 ,he was put up as an independent candidate in the three-cornered duel2 and1 as such candidates usually fare1 he fared badly4 ,the only wonder is that three hundred and nineteen students were found to vote for him1 instead of siding1 in political orthodoxy1 with ,mr4 ,fawcett or the ,marquis of ,bute4 ,footnote #di3 ,epilogue to ,arrows of the ,chace4 ,at last a busy and eventful year came to a close at ,coniston1 with a lecture at the village ,institute on his old friend ,sir ,herbert ,edwardes 7,december #bbnd74 ,his interest in the school and the schoolchildren was unabated1 and he was always planning new treats for them1 or new helps to their lessons4 ,he had set one of the assistants to make a large hollow globe1 inside of which one could sit and see the stars as luminous points pricked through the mimic vault of heaven1 painted blue and figured with the constellations4 ,by a simple arrangement of cogs and rollers the globe revolved1 the stars rose and set1 and the position of any star at any hour of the year could be roughly fixed4 ,but the inclement climate of ,coniston1 and the natural roughness of children1 soon wrecked the new toy4 ,about this time he was anxious to get the village children taught music with more accuracy of tune and time than the ordinary singing-lessons enforced4 ,he made many experiments with different simple instruments1 and fixed at last upon a set of bells1 which he wanted to introduce into the school4 ,but it was difficult to interfere with the routine of studies prescribed by the ,code4 ,considering that he scorned the three ,r's1 a school after his own heart would have been a very different place from any that earns the ,government grant2 and he very strongly believed that if a village child learnt the rudiments of religion and morality1 sound rules of health and manners1 and a habit of using its eyes and ears in the practice of some good handicraft or art and simple music1 and in natural philosophy1 taught by object lessons--then book-learning would either come of itself1 or be passed aside as unnecessary or superfluous4 ,this was his motive in a well-known incident which has sometimes puzzled his public4 ,once1 when new buildings were going on1 the mason wanted an advance of money1 which ,mr4 ,ruskin gave him1 and then held out the paper for him to sign the receipt4 ,a great deal of hesitation and embarrassment ensued1 somewhat to ,mr4 ,ruskin's surprise1 as he knows a north-country-man a great deal too well to expect embarrassment from him4 ,at last the man said1 in dialect3 ',ah mun put ma mark6' ,he could not write4 ,mr4 ,ruskin rose at once1 stretched out both hands to the astonished rustic1 with the words3 ',i am proud to know you4 ,now ,i understand why you are such an entirely good workman4' ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,storm-,,cloud 7#ahhd-ahhh7 ,the sky had been a favourite subject of study with the author of ,modern ,painters4 ,his journals for fifty years past had kept careful account of the weather1 and effects of cloud4 ,he had noticed since #ahga a prevalence of chilly1 dark bise1 as it would be called in ,france2 but different in its phenomena from anything of his earlier days4 ,the plague wind1 so he named it--tremulous1 intermittent1 blighting grass and trees--blew from no fixed point of the compass1 but always brought the same dirty sky in place of the healthy rain-cloud of normal summers2 and the very thunder-storms seemed to be altered by its influence into foul and powerless abortions of tempest4 ,we should now be disposed to call this simply the smoke nuisance1 but feeling as he did the weight of human wrong against which it was his mission to prophesy1 believing in a ,divine government of the world in all its literalness1 he had the courage to appear before a ,london audience1#ej like any seer of old1 and to tell them that this eclipse of heaven was--if not a judgment--at all events a symbol of the moral darkness of a nation that had blasphemed the name of ,god deliberately and openly2 and had done iniquity by proclamation1 every man doing as much injustice to his brother as it was in his power to do4 ,footnote #ej3 ,the ,storm-,cloud of the ,nineteenth ,century1 ,london ,institution1 ,february #dth1 #ahhd2 repeated with variations and additions a week later4 ,in the autumn1 at ,oxford1 he took up his parable again4 ,his lectures on ,the ,pleasures of ,england he intended as a sketch of the main stream of history from his own religious standpoint4 ,it was a noble theme1 and one which his breadth of outlook and detailed experience would have fitted him to handle2 but he was already nearing the limit of his vital powers4 ,he had been suffering from depression throughout the summer1 unrelieved by the energetic work for ,st4 ,george's ,museum1 which in other days might have been a relaxation from more serious thought4 ,he had been editing ,miss ,alexander's ,roadside ,songs of ,tuscany1 and recasting earlier works of his own1 incessantly busy2 presuming upon the health he had enjoyed1 and taking no hints nor advice from anxious friends1 who would have been glad to have seen the summer spent in change of scene and holiday-making4 ,at ,oxford he was watched with concern--restless and excited1 too absorbed in his crusade against the tendencies of the modern scientific party1 too vehement and unguarded in his denunciations of colleagues1 too bitter against the new order of things which1 to his horror1 was introducing vivisection in the place of the old-fashioned natural history he loved1 and speculative criticism instead of religious and useful learning4 ,he was persuaded to cancel his last three attacks on modern life and thought--,the ,pleasures of ,truth1 of ,sense1 and of ,nonsense--and to substitute readings from earlier works1 hastily arranged and re-written2 and his friends breathed more freely when he left ,oxford without another serious attack of brain-disease4 ,he wrote on ,december #ast1 #ahhd1 to ,miss ,beever3 ,i gave my fourteenth1 and last for this year1 lecture with vigour and effect1 and am safe and well 7,d4,g47 after such a spell of work as ,i never did before4 ,to another correspondent1 a few days later3 ,here are two lovely little songs for you to put tunes to1 and sing to me4 ,you'll have both to be ever so good to me1 for ,i've been dreadfully bothered and battered here4 ,i've bothered other people a little1 too1--which is some comfort6 ,but in spite of everything1 the vote was passed to establish a physiological laboratory at the museum2 to endow vivisection--which to him meant not only cruelty to animals1 but a complete misunderstanding of the purpose of science1 and defiance of the moral law4 ,he resigned his ,professorship1 with the sense that all his work had been in vain1 that he was completely out of touch with the age1 and that he had best give up the unequal fight4 ,in former times when he had found himself beaten in his struggles with the world1 he had turned to geology for a resource and a relief2 but geology1 too1 was part of the field of battle now4 ,the memories of his early youth and the bright days of his boyhood came back to him as the only antidote to the distress and disappointments of his age1 and he strove to forget everything in bygones--,prterita4 ,it was ,professor ,norton who had suggested that he should write his own life4 ,he had begun to tell the story1 bit by bit1 in ,fors4 ,on the journey of #ahhb he made a point of revisiting most of the scenes of youthful work and travel1 to revive his impressions2 but the meeting with ,miss ,alexander gave him new interests1 and his return to ,oxford put the autobiography into the background4 ,now1 at last he collected the scattered notes1 and completed his first volume1 which brings the account up to the time of his coming of age4 ,it is not a connected and systematic biography2 it omits many points of interest1 especially the steps of his early successes and mental development2 but it is the brightest conceivable picture of himself and his surroundings--scenes and thoughts perhaps worthy of memory1 as the title modestly puts it--told with inimitable ease and graphic power4 ,we have traced a life which was--even more than might be gathered from ,prterita--a battle with adversities from the beginning4 ,not to discuss the influences of heredity1 there was over-stimulus in childhood2 intense application to work in youth and middle-age1 under conditions of discouragement1 both public and private1 which would have been fatal to many another man2 and this1 too1 not merely hard work1 but work of an intense emotional nature1 involving--in his view at least--wide issues of life and death1 in which he was another ,jacob wrestling with the angel in the wilderness1 another ,savonarola imploring reconciliation between ,god and man4 ,without a life of singular temperance1 without unusual moral principle and self-command1 he would long ago have fallen like other men of genius of his passionate type4 ,he outlived consumptive tendencies in youth2 and the repeated indications of over-strain in later life1 up to the time of his first serious break-down in #ahgh1 had issued in nothing more than the depression and fatigue with which most busy men are familiar4 ,he had been accustomed to hear himself called mad--the defence of ,turner was thought by the dilettanti of the time to be possible only to a lunatic2 the author of ,stones of ,venice1 we saw1 was insane in the eyes of his critic1 the architect2 it was seriously whispered when he wrote on ,political ,economy that ,ruskin was out of his mind2 and so on4 ,every new thing he put forward made ,quintilian stare and gasp1 and soi-disant friends shake their heads1 until a still newer nine-days' wonder appeared from his pen4 ,the break-down of #ahgh1 so difficult to explain to his public1 made it appear that the common reproach might after all be coming true4 ,the recurrence of a similar illness in #ahha and #ahhb made it still more to be feared4 ,it seemed as though his life's work was to be invalidated by his age's failure2 it seemed that the stale1 shallow reproach might only too easily be justifiable4 ,these attacks of mental disease1 which at his recall to ,oxford seemed to have been safely distanced1 after his resignation began again at more and more frequent intervals4 ,crash after crash of tempest fell upon him--clearing away for a while only to return with fiercer fury1 until they left him beaten down and helpless at last1 to learn that he must accept the lesson and bow before the storm4 ,like another prophet who had been very jealous for the ,lord ,god of ,hosts1 he was to feel tempest and earthquake and fire pass over him1 before hearing the still small voice that bade him once more take courage1 and live in quietness and in confidence1 for the sake of those whom he had forgotten1 when he cried1 ,i1 even ,i only1 am left4 ,from one who has been out in the storm the reader will not expect a cool recital of its effects4 ,the delirium of brain-fever brings strange things to pass2 and1 no doubt1 afforded ground for the painful gossip1 of which there has been more than enough--much of it absurdly untrue1 the romancing of ingenious newspaper-correspondents2 some of it1 the lie that is half a truth4 ,for in these times there were not wanting parasites such as always prey upon creatures in disease1 as well as weak admirers who misunderstood their hero's natural character1 and entirely failed to grasp his situation4 ,let such troubles of the past be forgotten3 all that ,i now remember of many a weary night and day is the vision of a great soul in torment1 and through purgatorial fires the ineffable tenderness of the real man emerging1 with his passionate appeal to justice and baffled desire for truth4 ,to those who could not follow the wanderings of the wearied brain it was nothing but a horrible or a grotesque nightmare4 ,some1 in those trials1 learnt as they could not otherwise have learnt to know him1 and to love him as never before4 ,there were many periods of health1 or comparative health1 even in those years4 ,while convalescent from the illness of #ahhe he continued ,prterita and ,dilecta1 the series of notes and letters illustrating his life4 ,in connection with early reminiscences1 he amused himself by reproducing his favourite old nursery book1 ,dame ,wiggins of ,lee4 ,he edited the works of one or two friends1 wrote occasionally to newspapers--notably on books and reading1 to the ,pall ,mall ,gazette1 in the ,symposium on the best hundred books4 ,he continued his arrangements for the ,museum1 and held an exhibition 7,june1 #ahhf7 of the drawings made under his direction for the ,guild4 ,he was already drifting into another illness when he sent the famous reply to an appeal for help to pay off the debt on a chapel at ,richmond4 ,the letter is often misquoted for the sake of raising a laugh1 so that it is not out of place to reprint it as a specimen of the more vehement expressions of this period4 ,the reader of his life must surely see1 through the violence of the wording1 a perfectly consistent and reasonable expression of ,mr4 ,ruskin's views3-- ,,brantwood1 ,,coniston1 ,,lancashire4 ,may #aith1 #ahhf4 ,,sir1 ,i am scornfully amused at your appeal to me1 of all people in the world the precisely least likely to give you a farthing6 ,my first word to all men and boys who care to hear me is ',don't get into debt4 ,starve and go to heaven--but don't borrow4 ,try first begging1--,i don't mind1 if it's really needful1 stealing6 ,but don't buy things you can't pay for6' ,and of all manner of debtors1 pious people building churches they can't pay for are the most detestable nonsense to me4 ,can't you preach and pray behind the hedges--or in a sandpit--or a coal-hole--first8 ,and of all manner of churches thus idiotically built iron churches are the damnablest to me4 ,and of all the sects of believers in any ruling spirit--,hindoos1 ,turks1 ,feather ,idolaters1 and ,mumbo ,jumbo1 ,log and ,fire worshippers1 who want churches1 your modern ,english ,evangelical sect is the most absurd1 and entirely objectionable and unendurable to me6 ,all which they might very easily have found out from my books--any other sort of sect would6--before bothering me to write it to them4 ,ever1 nevertheless1 and in all this saying1 your faithful servant1 ,,john ,,ruskin4 ,the recipient of the letter promptly sold it4 ,only three days later1 ,ruskin was writing one of the most striking passages in ,prterita 7vol4 ii41 chap4 #e7--;indeed1 one of the daintiest landscape pieces in all his works1 describing the blue ,rhone as it flows under the bridges of ,geneva4 ,this energetic letter-writing made people stare2 but a more serious result of these periods between strength and helplessness was the tendency to misunderstanding with old friends4 ,ruskin had spoiled many of them1 if ,i may say so1 by too uniform forbearance and unselfishness3 and now that he was not always strong enough to be patient1 difficulties ensued which they had not always the tact to avert4 ,the moment ,i have to scold people they say ,i'm crazy1 he said1 piteously1 one day4 ,and so1 one hardly knows how1 he found himself at strife on all sides4 ,before he was fully recovered from the attack of #ahhf there were troubles about the ,oxford drawing school2 and he withdrew most of the pictures he had there on loan4 ,how little animosity he really felt against ,oxford is shown from the fact that early in the next year 7,february1 #ahhg7 he was planning with his cousin1 ,wm4 ,richardson1 to give #e1jjj to the drawing school1 as a joint gift in memory of their two mothers4 ,mr4 ,richardson's death1 and ,ruskin's want of means--for he had already spent all his capital--put an end to the scheme4 ,but the remaining loans1 including important and valuable drawings by himself1 he did not withdraw1 and it is to be hoped they may stay there to show not only the artist's hand but the friendly heart of the founder and benefactor4 ,in ,april1 #ahhg1 came the news of ,laurence ,hilliard's death in the ,aegean1 with a shock that intensified the tendency to another recurrence of illness4 ,for months the situation caused great anxiety4 ,in ,august he posted with ,mrs4 ,a4 ,severn towards the south1 and took up his quarters at ,folkestone1 moving soon after to ,sandgate1 where he remained1 with short visits to town1 until the following summer--better1 or worse1 from week to week--sometimes writing a little for ,prterita1 or preparing material for the continuation of unfinished books2 but bringing on his malady with each new effort4 ,in ,june1 #ahhh1 he went with ,mr4 ,arthur ,severn to ,abbeville1 and made his headquarters for nearly a month at the ,tte de ,boeuf4 ,here he was arrested for sketching the fortifications and examined at the police station1 much to his amusement4 ,at ,abbeville1 too1 he met ,mr4 ,detmar ,blow1 a young architect1 whom he asked to accompany him to ,italy4 ,they stayed awhile at ,paris1--drove1 as in #ahhb1 over the ,jura1 and up to ,chamouni1 where ,ruskin wrote the epilogue to the reprint of ,modern ,painters2 then1 by ,martigny and the ,simplon1 they went to visit ,mrs4 and ,miss ,alexander at ,bassano2 and thence to ,venice4 ,they returned by the ,st4 ,gothard1 reaching ,herne ,hill early in ,december4 ,but this journey did not1 as it had been hoped1 put him in possession of his strength like the journey of #ahhb4 ,then1 he had returned to public life with new vigour2 now1 his best hours were hours of feebleness and depression2 and he came home to ,brantwood in the last days of the year1 wearied to death1 to wait for the end4 ,,chapter ,x ,,datur ,,hora ,,quieti 7#ahhi-aijj7 ,in the summer of #ahhi1 at ,seascale1 on the ,cumberland coast1 ,ruskin was still busy upon ,prterita4 ,he had his task planned out to the finish3 in nine more chapters he meant to conclude his third volume with a review of the leading memories of his life1 down to the year #ahge1 when the story was to close4 ,passages here and there were written1 material collected from old letters and journals1 and the contents and titles of the chapters arranged2 but the intervals of strength had become fewer and shorter1 and at last1 in spite of all his courage and energy1 he was brought face to face with the fact that his powers were ebbing away1 and that head and hand would do their work no more4 ,he could not finish ,prterita2 but he could not leave it without record of one companionship of his life1 which was1 it seemed1 all that was left to him of the old times and the old folks at home4 ,and so1 setting aside the plans he had made1 he devoted the last chapter1 as his forebodings told him it must be1 to his cousin1 ,mrs4 ,arthur ,severn1 and wrote the story of ,joanna's ,care4 ,in his bedroom at ,seascale1 morning after morning1 he still worked1 or tried to work1 as he had been used to do on journeys farther afield in brighter days4 ,but now he seemed lost among the papers scattered on his table2 he could not fix his mind upon them1 and turned from one subject to another in despair2 and yet patient1 and kindly to those with him whose help he could no longer use1 and who dared not show--though he could not but guess--how heart-breaking it was4 ,they put the best face upon it1 of course3 drove in the afternoons about the country--to ,muncaster ,castle1 to ,calder ,abbey1 where he tried to sketch once more2 and when the proofs of ,joanna's ,care were finally revised1 to ,wastwater4 ,but travelling now was no longer restorative4 ,it added not a little to the misfortunes of the time that two of his best friends in the outside world were disputing over a third4 ,by nobody was ,carlyle's reputation more valued1 and yet he acknowledged that ,froude was but telling the truth in the revelations which so surprised the public2 and much as he admired ,norton1 he deprecated the attack on ,carlyle's literary executor1 whose motives he understood and approved4 ,in ,august1 after his return to ,coniston1 the storm-cloud came down upon him once more4 ,it was only in the summer of #ahij that he was able to get about4 ,but firmly convinced that his one chance lay in absolute rest and quiet1 he wisely refused any sort of exertion1 and was rewarded by a temporary improvement in health and strength4 ,in the meantime he was obliged to hand over to others such parts of his work as others could do4 ,the ,st4 ,george's ,guild still continued in existence1 though it naturally lost much of its interest1 and the whole of its distinctive mission1 when he ceased to be able to direct it4 ,the ,museum had quite outgrown its cottage at ,walkley1 never intended for more than temporary premises2 and for ten years there had been talk of new buildings1 at first on the spot1 then on the ,guild's ground at ,bewdley1 where1 at one time1 ,ruskin planned a fairy palace in the woods1 with cloistered hostelries for the wandering student4 ,such schemes were stopped less by his illness than by want of means4 ,sheffield1 however1 did not wish to lose the ,museum1 and offered to house it if the ,guild would present it to the town4 ,that was1 of course1 out of the question4 ,but a new offer to take over the collection on loan1 the ,guild paying a curator1 was another matter1 and was thankfully accepted4 ,the ,corporation fulfilled their share of the bargain with generosity4 ,an admirable site was assigned at ,meersbrook ,park1 in a fine old hall surrounded with trees1 and overlooking a broad view of the town and country4 ,on ,april #aeth1 #ahij1 the ,museum was opened by the ,earl of ,carlisle1 in presence of the ,corporation1 the ,trustees of the ,guild1 and a large assembly of friends and ,sheffield townspeople4 ,since then the attendance of visitors and students shows that the collection is appreciated by the public2 and it is to be hoped that though nominally a loan it will remain there in perpetuity1 and that it will be maintained and used with due regard to the intentions of the founder4 ,many other plans had to be modified1 as he found himself less able to work1 and was obliged to hand over his business to others4 ,with his early books he had been dissatisfied1 as expressing immature views4 ,the ,stones of ,venice had been recast into two small volumes1 and ,st4 ,mark's ,rest written in the attempt to supplement and correct it4 ,but the original book was obviously in demand1 and a new edition was brought out in #ahhf4 ,modern ,painters had been also on the condemned list4 ,the aggressive ,protestantism and the geological theories involved in his description of mountains he condemned as errors2 moreover1 at the time of the last edition published by ,messrs4 ,smith ,elder 7#ahgc71 he had been told that the plates1 which he considered a very important part of the work1 would not stand another impression2 and so he destroyed nine of them1 in order that no subsequent edition might be brought out in the original form4 ,he reprinted vol4 ii4 in a cheap edition1 and began to recast the rest1 with annotations and additions1 as ,in ,montibus ,sanctis1 and ,coeli ,enarrant1 while ,miss ,s4 ,beever's selections 7,frondes ,agrestes7 found a ready sale4 ,but this did not satisfy the public1 and there was a continual cry for a reprint1 to which1 at last1 he yielded4 ,early in #ahhi the ,complete ,edition appeared2 with the cancelled plates reproduced4 ,he had always felt it a grievance that the enormous popularity of his works in ,america meant an enormous piracy4 ,towards the end of the ,fifties1 ,mr4 ,wiley of ,new ,york had begun to print cheap ,ruskins2 not1 indeed1 illegally1 but without proper acknowledgment to the author1 and without any reference to the author's wishes as to form and style of production4 ,an artist and writer on art1 insisting on delicacy and refinement as the first necessity of draughtsmanship1 and himself sparing no trouble or expense in the illustrations of his own works1 was naturally dissatisfied with the wretched ,artotypes with which the ,american editions caricatured his beautiful plates4 ,not only that1 but it was a common practice to smuggle these editions1 recommended by their cheapness1 into other countries4 ,mr4 ,wiley sent1 on an average1 five hundred sets of ,modern ,painters to ,europe every year1 the greater number to ,england4 ,his example was followed by other ,american publishers1 so that in ,new ,york alone there came to be half a dozen houses advertising ,ruskin's works1 and many more throughout the cities of the ,states4 ,mr4 ,wiley1 the first in the field1 proposed to pay up a royalty upon all the copies he had sold if ,ruskin would recognise him as accredited publisher in ,america4 ,the offer of so large a sum would have been tempting1 had it not meant that ,ruskin must condone what he had for years denounced1 and sanction what he strongly disapproved4 ,the case would have been different if proposals had been made to reproduce his books in his own style1 under competent supervision4 ,this was done in #ahij1 when arrangements were made with ,messrs4 ,charles ,e4 ,merrill ,co41 of ,new ,york1 to bring out the ,brantwood edition of ,ruskin1 under the editorship of ,professor ,c4,e4 ,norton4 ,though the sale of ,ruskin's books in ,america had never1 until so recently1 brought him any profit1 his own business in ,england1 started in #ahga with the monthly pamphlet of ,fors1 and in #ahgb with the volume of ,sesame and ,lilies1 prospered singularly4 ,mr4 ,george ,allen1 who1 while building up an independent connection1 still remained the sole publisher of ,mr4 ,ruskin's works1 said that the venture was successful from its earliest years4 ,it was found that the booksellers were not indispensable1 and that business could be done through the post as well as over the counter4 ,in spite of occasional difficulties1 such as the bringing out of works in parts1 appearing irregularly or stopping outright at the author's illnesses1 there was a steady increase of profit1 rising in the author's later years 7according to ,mr4 ,allen7 to an average of #d1jjj4 ,fortunate it was that this bold attempt succeeded4 ,the #bjj1jjj he inherited from his parents had gone1--chiefly in gifts and in attempts to do good4 ,the interest he used to spend on himself2 the capital he gave away until it totally disappeared1 except what is represented by the house he lived in and its contents4 ,the sale of his books was his only income1 and a great part of that went to pensioners to whom in the days of his wealth he pledged himself1 to relatives and friends1 discharged servants1 institutions in which he took an interest at one time or other4 ,but he had sufficient for his wants1 and no need to fear poverty in his old age4 ,in this quiet retreat at ,brantwood the echoes of the outer world did not sound very loudly4 ,ruskin had been too highly praised and too roundly abused1 during fifty years of public life1 to care what magazine critics and journalists said of him4 ,other men of his standing could solace themselves1 if it be solace1 in the consciousness that a grateful country has recognised their talents or their services4 ,but civic and academic honours were not likely to be showered on a man who had spent his life in strenuous opposition to academicism in art and letters1 and in vigorous attacks upon both political parties1 and upon the established order of things4 ,and yet ,oxford and ,cambridge awarded him the highest honours in their gift4 ,in #ahgc the ,royal ,society of ,painters in ,watercolours voted him honorary member1 a recognition which gave him great pleasure at the time4 ,at different dates he was elected to various societies--,geological1 ,zoological1 ,architectural1 ,horticultural1 ,historical1 ,anthropological1 ,metaphysical2 and to the ,athenum and ,alpine ,clubs4 ,he was elected ,hon4 ,member of the ,academy of ,florence in #ahfb1 of the ,academy of ,venice1 #ahgg1 of the ,royal ,academies of ,antwerp and ,brussels in #ahib2 and was also an ,hon4 ,member of the ,american ,academy4 ,but he did not seek distinctions1 and he even declined them1 as in the case of the medal of the ,royal ,institute of ,british ,architects4 ,a more striking form of distinction than such titles is the fact that he was the first writer whose contemporaries1 during his lifetime1 formed societies to study his work4 ,the first ,ruskin ,society was founded in #ahgi at ,manchester1 and was followed by the ,societies of ,london1 ,glasgow and ,liverpool4 ,in #ahhg the ,ruskin ,reading ,guild was formed in ,scotland1 with many local branches in ,england and ,ireland1 and a journal1 subsequently re-named ,igdrasil1 to promote study of literary and social subjects in ,ruskin1 and in writers like ,carlyle and ,tolstoi taking a standpoint similar to his4 ,in #ahif1 ,ruskin ,societies were formed at ,birmingham and in the ,isle of ,man4 ,many classes and clubs for the study of ,ruskin were also in operation throughout ,america during his lifetime4 ,his eightieth birthday was the signal for an outburst of congratulations almost greater than even admirers had expected4 ,the post came late and loaded with flowers and letters1 and all day long telegrams arrived from all parts of the world1 until they lay in heaps1 unopened for the time being4 ,a great address had been prepared1 with costly illumination on vellum1 and binding by ,mr4 ,cobden ,sanderson4 ,year by year1 it said1 in ever widening extent1 there is an increasing trust in your teaching1 an increasing desire to realize the noble ideals you have set before mankind in words which we feel have brought nearer to our hearts the kingdom of ,god upon earth4 ,it is our hope and prayer that the joy and peace you have brought to others may return in full measure to your own heart filling it with the peace which comes from the love of ,god and the knowledge of the love of your fellow-men4 ,among those who subscribed to these sentiments were various people of importance1 such as ,royal ,academicians1 the ,royal ,society of ,painters in ,watercolours1 the ,trustees of the ,british ,museum and of the ,national ,gallery1 the ,st4 ,george's ,guild and ,ruskin ,societies1 with many others2 and the address was presented by a deputation who reported that they had found him looking well and extremely happy4 ,a similar illuminated address from the ,university of ,oxford ran thus3 ,we venture to send you1 as you begin your eighty-first year1 these few words of greeting and good-will1 to make you sure that in ,oxford the gratitude and reverence with which men think of you is ever fresh4 ,you have helped many to find in life more happiness than they thought it held2 and we trust there is happiness in the latter years of your long life4 ,you have taught many to see the wealth of beauty in nature and in art1 prizing the remembrance of it2 and we trust that the sights you have best loved come back to your memory with unfading beauty4 ,you have encouraged many to keep a good heart through dark days1 and we trust that the courage of a constant hope is yours4 ,the ,london ,ruskin ,society sent a separate address2 and to show that if not a prophet in his own country he was at any rate a valued friend1 the ,coniston ,parish ,council resolved and carried unanimously1 says the local journal1 with applause1 ,that the congratulations of this council be offered to ,mr4 ,john ,ruskin1 on the occasion of his eightieth birthday1 together with the warm thanks which they and all their neighbours feel for the kindness he has shown1 and the many generous acts he has done to them and theirs during twenty-seven years of residence at ,coniston1 where his presence is most truly appreciated1 and his name will always be most gratefully remembered4 ,but as the year went on he did not regain his usual summer strength4 ,walking out had become a greater weariness to him1 and he had to submit to the humiliation of a bath-chair4 ,to save himself even the labour of creeping down to his study1 he sat usually in the turret-room upstairs1 next to his bed-chamber1 but still with the look of health in his face1 and the fire in his eyes quite unconquered4 ,he would listen while ,baxter read the news to him1 following public events with interest1 or while ,mrs4 ,severn or ,miss ,severn read stories1 novel after novel2 but always liking old favourities best1 and never anything that was unhappy4 ,some pet books he would pore over1 or drowse over by the hour4 ,the last of these was one in which he had a double interest1 for it was about ships of war1 and it was written by the kinsman of a dear friend4 ,some of the artists he had loved and helped had failed him or left him1 but ,burne-,jones was always true4 ,one night1 going up to bed1 the old man stopped long to look at the photograph from ,philip ,burne-,jones's portrait of his father4 ,that's my dear brother1 ,ned1 he said1 nodding good-bye to the picture as he went4 ,next night the great artist died1 and of all the many losses of these later years this one was the hardest to bear4 ,so when a little boy lent him ,a ,fleet in ,being he read and re-read it2 then got a copy for himself1 and might have learnt it by heart1 so long he pored over it4 ,but when the little boy or his sisters went to visit the ,di ,pa 7,dear ,papa71 as he liked children to call their old friend1 he had now scarcely anything to talk about4 ,he just looked at us1 and smiled1 they would report2 and we couldn't think what to say4 ,he had his bright days1 when he would hear business discussed1 though a very little of it was wearisome4 ,it was impossible to bring before him half the wants and wishes of his correspondents1 who could not yet realise his weakness1 and besought the notice they fancied so easily given4 ,yet in that weakness one could trace no delusions1 none of the mental break-down which was taken for granted4 ,if he gave an opinion it was clear and sound enough2 of course with the old ,ruskinian waywardness of idea which always puzzled his public4 ,but he knew what he was about1 and knew what was going on4 ,he was like the aged ,queen ,aud in the saga1 who rose late and went to bed early1 and if anyone asked after her health she answered sharply4 ,but all the love and care spent on him could not keep him with us4 ,there came the ,green ,yule that makes a fat kirkyard1 and in ,january of #aijj hardly a house in the neighbourhood was free from the plague of influenza4 ,in spite of strictest precautions it invaded ,brantwood4 ,on the #ahth of ,january he was remarkably well1 as people often are before an illness--fey1 as the old ,northern folk-lore has it4 ,towards evening1 when ,mrs4 ,severn went to him for the usual reading--it was ,edna ,lyall's ,in the ,golden ,days--his throat was irritable and he ached all over4 ,they put him to bed and sent for ,dr4 ,parsons1 his constant medical attendant1 who found his temperature as high as #ajb1 and feared the consequences4 ,but the patient1 as he always did1 refused to be considered ill1 and ate his dinner1 and seemed next day to be really better4 ,there was no great cause for alarm1 though naturally some for anxiety2 and in reasonable hopes of amendment1 the slight attack was not made public4 ,on ,saturday morning1 the #bjth1 all appeared to be going well until about half-past ten4 ,suddenly he collapsed and became unconscious4 ,it was the dreaded failure of heart after influenza4 ,his breathing weakened1 and through the morning and through the afternoon in that historic little room1 lined with his ,turners1 he lay1 falling softly asleep4 ,no efforts could revive him4 ,there was no struggle2 there were no words4 ,the bitterness of death was spared him4 ,and when it was all over1 and those who had watched through the day turned at last from his bedside1 sunset and evening star shone bright above the heavenly lake and the clear-cut blue of ,coniston fells4 ,next morning brought messages of hurried condolence1 and the ,monday such a chorus from the press as made all the praises of his lifetime seem trifling and all its blame forgotten4 ,if only1 in his years of struggle and despair1 he had known the place he should win6 ,on the ,tuesday came a telegram offering a grave in ,westminster ,abbey1 the highest honour our nation can give to its dead4 ,but his own mind had long since been made plain on that point1 and his wishes had not been forgotten4 ,if ,i die here1 he used to say1 bury me at ,coniston4 ,i should have liked1 if it happened at ,herne ,hill1 to lie with my father and mother in ,shirley churchyard1 as ,i should have wished1 if ,i died among the ,alps1 to be buried in the snow4 ,we carried him on ,monday night down from his bed-chamber and laid him in the study4 ,there was a pane of glass let into the coffin-lid1 so that the face might be kept in sight2 and there it lay1 among lilies of the valley1 and framed in the wreath sent by ,mr4 ,watts1 the great painter1 a wreath of the true ,greek laurel1 the victor's crown1 from the tree growing in his garden1 cut only thrice before1 for ,tennyson and ,leighton and ,burne-,jones4 ,it would be too long to tell of all such tokens of affection and respect that were heaped upon the coffin1--from the wreath of the ,princess ,louise down to the tributes of humble dependants1--above a hundred and twenty-five1 we counted2 some of them the costliest money could buy1 some valued no less for the feeling they expressed4 ,i am not sure that the most striking was not the village tailor's1 with this on its label--,there was a man sent from ,god1 and his name was ,john4 ,on the ,wednesday we made our sad procession to the church1 through storm and flood4 ,the village was in mourning1 and round the churchyard gates men1 women1 and children stood in throngs4 ,the coffin was carried in by eight of those who had been in his employ1 and the church filled noiselessly with neighbours and friends1 who after a hymn1 and the ,lord's prayer1 and a long silence1 passed up the aisles for their last look1 and to heap more offerings of wreaths and flowers around the bier4 ,at dusk tall candles were lit1 and so through the winter's night watch was kept4 ,thursday1 the #beth1 brought together a great assembly1 great for the remoteness of the place and the inclemency of the weather4 ,the country folk have a saying ,happy is the dead that the rain rains on2 and the fells were darkly clouded and the beck roared by1 swollen to a torrent4 ,the church was far too small to hold the congregation1 which included most of his personal friends and the representatives of many public bodies4 ,a crowd stood outside in the storm while the service went on4 ,it began with a hymn written for the occasion by ,canon ,rawnsley who with the ,vicar of ,hawkshead1 ,brantwood's parish church1 read the ,psalms4 ,a hymn1 ,comes at times a stillness as of even1 was sung by his friend ,miss ,wakefield2 and the lesson read by ,canon ,richmond1 arrived officially to represent the ,bishop of ,carlisle1 but to most of us representing old times and the comradeships of his youth and early manhood4 ,the ,vicar of ,coniston and the ,rev4 ,reginald ,meister1 on behalf of the ,dean of ,christ ,church1 also took part in the service4 ,when the ,dead ,march sounded the coffin was covered with a pall given by the ,ruskin ,linen ,industry of ,keswick1 lined with bright crimson silk1 and embroidered with the motto1 ,unto ,this ,last1 and with his favourite wild roses showered over the gray field1 just as they fall in the ,primavera of ,botticelli4 ,there was no black about his burying1 except what we wore for our own sorrow2 it was remembered how he hated black1 so much that he would even have his mother's coffin painted blue2 and among the white and green and violet of the wreaths that filled the chancel1 none was more significant in its sympathy than ,mrs4 ,severn's great cross of red roses4 ,as we carried him down the churchyard path1 a drop or two fell from the boughs1 but a gleam of sunshine1 the first after many days1 shot along the crags from under the cloud1 and the wind paused4 ,standing there by the graveside1 who could help being thankful that he had found so lovely a resting-place after so tranquil a falling to sleep8 ,at his feet1 parted only by the fence and the garden1 is the village school2 and who does not know how he loved the children of ,coniston8 ,at his right hand are the graves of the ,beevers2 his last old friend1 ,miss ,susan ,beever1 lies next to him4 ,over the spot hang the thick boughs of a fir-tree--who does not know what he has written of his favourite mountain-pine8 ,and behind the church1 shut in with its dark yews'1 rise the crags of ,coniston1 those that he wearied for in his boyhood1 beneath which he prayed1 in sickness1 to lie down and rest4 ,the crags are lone on ,coniston4 ,,index ,abbeville1 ,acland1 ,sir ,h4,w41 ,m4,d41 ,acland1 ,sir ,t4,d41 ,adairs and ,agnews1 ,agnew1 ,miss ,joan ,ruskin1 and see ,severn1 ,mrs4 ,a4 ,alessandri1 ,angelo1 ,alexander1 ,mrs4 and ,miss ,francesca1 ,alice1 ,princess1 ,allen1 ,mr4 ,george1 ,amiens1 ,the ,bible of1 ,anderson1 ,mr4 ,j4,r41 ,anderson1 ,miss ,s4,d41 ,andrews1 ,dr4 and family1 ,animals1 ,ruskin and1 ,anne1 ,nurse1 ,arachne1 ,aratra ,pentelici1 ,architects1 ,royal ,institute1 ,architectural ,association1 lecture to1 ,architecture1 the ,poetry of1 ,architecture1 the ,seven ,lamps of1 ,ariadne ,florentina1 ,armytage1 ,j4,c41 ,arthur1 ,prince1 ,assisi1 ,avallon1 ,baker1 ,mr4 ,george1 ,baxter1 ,mr4 ,peter1 ,beever1 ,miss ,mary1 ,miss ,susanna1 #b ,bibliotheca ,pastorum1 ,bishop1 ,mrs4 ,w4,h41 ,blow1 ,mr4 ,detmar ,j41 ,boehm1 ,sir ,edgar1 ,boni1 ,commendatore ,g41 ,botticelli1 ,bourdillon1 ,mr4 ,f4,w41 ,boys1 ,t41 ,bradford lectures1 ,brantwood1 ,brown1 ,dr4 ,john1 ,prof4 ,thomas1 ,rawdon1 ,rev4 ,walter1 ,browning1 ,robert and ,mrs41 ,buckland1 ,dr41 ,bunney1 ,j4,w41 ,burgess1 ,arthur1 ,burne-,jones1 ,sir ,edward1 ,camberwell lectures1 ,cambridge lectures1 ,carlyle1 ,thomas1 ,mrs41 ,carpaccio1 ,carrick and ,vokins1 ,cesnola1 ,general ,l4,p4 di1 ,cestus of ,aglaia1 ,chamberlain1 ,john ,henry1 ,chamouni1 ,christ's ,hospital lecture1 ,collins1 ,charley1 ,coniston1 lecture1 ,cooke1 ,mr4 ,e41 ,cousen1 ,j41 ,coutet1 ,joseph1 ,cowper-,temple1 ,mr4 and ,mrs4 7,lord and ,lady ,mount ,temple71 ,crown of ,wild ,olive1 ,croydon1 ,cruikshank1 ,george1 ,cutt1 ,r4,p41 ,cyanometer1 ,dale1 ,rev4 ,t41 ,dart1 ,henry1 ,darwin1 ,charles1 ,denmark ,hill1 ,deucalion1 ,deverell1 ,w4,h41 ,dickinson1 ,lowes1 ,dixon1 ,thomas1 ,domecq1 ,adle1 ,peter1 ,downes1 ,david1 ,dublin lecture1 ,eagle's ,nest1 ,edinburgh lectures1 ,edwardes1 ,sir ,herbert1 ,elements of ,drawing1 ,ethics of the ,dust1 ,eton lectures1 ,eyre1 ,governor1 ,fall1 ,richard1 ,faunthorpe1 ,rev4 ,j4,p41 ,fielding1 ,copley1 ,fleming1 ,mr4 ,a41 ,florence1 ,forbes1 ,principal ,j4,d41 ,forgeries of ,ruskin1 ,fors ,clavigera1 ,friendship's ,offering1 ,friends of ,living ,creatures1 ,society of1 ,froude1 ,j4,a41 ,furnivall1 ,f4,j41 ,geneva1 ,geology1 and see ,deucalion1 ,minerals ,giessbach1 ,gladstone1 ,w4,e41 ,glasgow ,rectorship1 ,glenfarg1 ,glenfinlas1 ,goodwin1 ,mr4 ,albert1 ,r4,w4,s41 ,gordon1 ,rev4 ,osborne1 ,gothic ,revival1 ,gray1 ,euphemia 7,effie71 ,mr4 ,george1 of ,perth1 ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,richard1 ,greenaway1 ,kate1 ,gull1 ,sir ,wm41 ,m4,d41 ,halle1 ,sir ,charles1 ,harding1 ,j4,d41 ,hardraw ,fall1 ,harrison1 ,w4,h41 ,harry and ,lucy ,concluded1 ,helps1 ,sir ,arthur1 ,herne ,hill1 ,hill1 ,miss ,octavia1 ,hilliard1 ,mrs41 ,miss1 ,laurence ,jermyn1 ,hooper1 ,w4,h41 ,howell1 ,charles ,augustus1 ,hunt1 ,w4 ,holman1 ,hunt1 ,old ,william1 ,ilaria di ,caretto1 ,jameson1 ,mrs41 ,jeffery1 ,w41 ,jephson1 ,dr41 of ,leamington1 ,jowett1 ,h4 7of ,hazell1 ,watson and ,viney71 ,kata ,phusin1 ,keble1 ,kendal lecture1 ,keswick1 ,king of the ,golden ,river1 ,king's ,college1 ,london1 ,kingsley1 ,rev4 ,w41 ,langdale ,linen ,industry1 ,laws of ,fsole1 ,le ,keux1 ,j4,h41 ,leoni1 ,leopold1 ,prince1 ,lewis1 ,j4,f41 ,r4,a41 ,liddell1 ,dean1 ,lockhart1 ,j4,g41 ,london ,institution lectures1 ,longfellow1 ,lord's ,prayer1 ,letters on the1 ,loudon's ,magazines1 ,love's ,meinie1 ,lucca1 ,luini1 ,lupton1 ,thomas1 ,macdonald1 ,mr4 ,alex41 ,w4,m41 of ,crossmount1 ,mallock1 ,mr4 ,w4,h41 ,manchester lectures1 ,manning1 ,cardinal1 ,marcolini1 ,marks1 ,h4,s41 ,r4,a41 ,matlock1 ,matterhorn1 ,maurice1 ,rev4 ,f4,d41 ,may ,queens1 ,meissonier's ,napoleon1 ,metaphysical ,society1 ,meteorological ,society1 ,millais1 ,sir ,j4,e41 ,milman1 ,dean1 ,minerals and ,crystals1 ,mitford1 ,miss1 ,modern ,painters1 ,moore1 ,prof4 ,c4,h41 ,rev4 ,daniel1 ,mornex1 ,mornings in ,florence1 ,munera ,pulveris1 ,munro of ,novar1 ,murray1 ,mr4 ,c4 ,fairfax1 ,mythology1 ,national ,gallery1 ,newman1 ,mr4 ,h4,r41 ,newton1 ,sir ,charles1 ,northcote1 ,james1 ,r4,a41 ,norton1 ,prof4 ,c4,e41 ,oliver1 ,prof41 ,oxford3 ,ruskin as under graduate1 as graduate1 as ,professor1 his lectures1 his drawing school1 his ,hinksey diggings1 ,oxford ,museum1 ,palermo1 ,paris1 ,patmore1 ,coventry1 ,pedigree of ,ruskin1 ,perth1 ,photography1 ,ruskin's early use of1 ,pisa1 ,plague wind1 ,poems1 ,political ,economy of ,art1 ,politics1 ,ruskin's attitude1 ,portraits of ,ruskin1 by ,northcote1 ,richmond1 ,rossetti1 ,boehm1 ,posting-tours1 ,prterita1 ,pre-,raphaelitism1 ,pringle1 ,thomas1 ,proserpina1 ,prout1 ,samuel1 ,publishing arrangements1 ,ruskin's1 ,queen of the ,air1 ,queen ,victoria1 ,railways1 ,ruskin's attitude toward1 ,randal1 ,mr4 ,frank1 ,religion1 ,ruskin's development1 ,reynolds1 lectures on1 ,richardson families1 ,charles1 ,jessie1 ,mary 7,mrs4 ,bolding71 ,dr4 ,william1 ,mr4 ,william1 and see pedigree1 ,richmond1 ,george1 ,r4,a41 ,sir ,william ,b41 ,r4,a41 ,roberts1 ,david1 ,r4,a41 ,robson1 ,mr4 ,e4,r41 ,rogers1 ,samuel1 ,rome1 ,rooke1 ,mr4 ,t4,m41 ,r4,w4,s41 ,rossetti1 ,d4,g41 ,t4,p41 ,rowbotham1 ,mr41 ,royal ,academy1 ,notes on the1 ,royal ,institution lectures1 ,runciman1 ,mr41 ,ruskin family1 ,john ,james1 ,mrs4 7,margaret ,cox1 ,john ,ruskin's mother71 ,st4 ,andrews ,rectorship1 ,st4 ,george's ,guild1 ,st4 ,mark's ,rest1 ,st4 ,ursula1 ,sandgate1 ,saussure1 ,seascale1 ,seddon1 ,thomas1 ,sesame and ,lilies1 ,severn1 ,mr4 ,arthur1 ,r4,i4 ,mrs4 ,arthur1 and see ,agnew1 ,miss ,sheepfolds1 ,notes on the ,construction of1 ,sheffield communists1 ,museum 7,st4 ,george's now ,ruskin71 ,sillar1 ,w4,c41 ,smetham1 ,james1 ,smith1 ,elder ,co41 ,smith1 ,sydney1 ,socialism1 ,ruskin's attitude1 ,somervell1 ,mr4 ,r41 ,south ,kensington ,museum lecture1 ,spurgeon1 ,c4,h41 ,stanfield1 ,c41 ,r4,a41 ,stillman1 ,w4,j41 ,stones of ,venice1 ,stowe1 ,mrs4 ,h4,b41 ,street-sweeping1 ,swan1 ,henry1 ,swiss towns1 intended history1 ,talbot1 ,mrs41 and ,mr4 ,q41 ,talloires1 ,taylor1 ,sir ,henry1 ,tea-shop1 ,ruskin's1 ,telford1 ,henry1 ,tennyson1 ,thackeray1 ,thomson1 ,mr4 ,george1 ,time and ,tide1 ,tintoret1 ,toynbee1 ,arnold1 ,trevelyan1 ,sir ,walter and ,lady1 ,tunbridge ,wells1 lecture at1 ,turner1 ,j4,m4,w41 ,two ,paths1 ,tyrwhitt1 ,rev4 ,r1 ,st4 ,j4 ,university ,college1 ,london1 lecture at1 ,unto this last1 ,val d',arno1 ,venice1 ,vere1 ,aubrey de1 ,verona1 ,waldensians1 ,ward1 ,rev4 ,j4 ,clifton1 ,william1 ,watts1 ,g4,f41 ,r4,a41 ,wedderburn1 ,mr4 ,a41 ,k4,c41 ,whistler1 ,j4 ,mc,n41 ,willett1 ,henry1 ,f4,g4,s41 ,windus1 ,g41 ,winnington school1 ,withers1 ,charlotte1 ,woodward1 ,benjamin1 ,woolwich lectures1 ,working ,men's ,college1 ,wornum1 ,r4,n41 ,xenophon's ,economist1 ,yewdale and its streamlets1 ,yule1 ,colonel and ,mrs41 ,zermatt1