THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF SIR JOHN EVERETT MIL12MS J-G MIL_AIS V9L Ex Libris C. K. OGDEN THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF SIR JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF SIR JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY BY HIS SON JOHN GUILLE MILLAIS WITH 319 ILLUSTRATIONS INCLUDING NINE PHOTOGRAVURES VOL. I. METHUEN & CO. 36 ESSEX STREET, W.C. LONDON 1899 I'KINTKI) I1Y W. HKKNIION AND SON PLYMOUTH Annex Vp TO THE MEMORY OF MY DEAR FATHER AND MOTHER I DEDICATE THESE VOLUMES PREFACE r I ^ H E task of selecting from such a vast mass of material JL as has been kindly placed at my disposal by friends and relatives has been no easy one, and I venture to hope that, so far as I may have exceeded my duty as a biographer, the interest of the extraneous matter may, in some measure at least, atone for its admission. I cannot adequately thank the many friends who have so generously helped me with contributions, or in allowing me the free use of their pictures for these pages. To Messrs. Graves and Son, Thomas Agnew and Sons, Arthur Tooth and Sons, Thomas McLean and Sons, and the Fine Art Society my special thanks are due for liberty to avail myself of their copyrights ; but most of all am I indebted to my father-in-law, Mr. P. G. Skipwith, for his invaluable assistance in preparing this work for the press. JOHN GUILLE MILLAIS MELWOOD, HORSHAM, July, 1899 CONTENTS CHAPTER I. PAGE The birth of Millais His parents Early days in St. Heliers A mother who educates and helps him School a failure The Lemprieres First efforts in Art The family move to Dinan The Drum-major's portrait Return to St. Heliers Millais goes to London with his mother Sir Martin Shee's advice Millais enters Mr. Sass's school, and gains the silver medal of the Society of Arts His love of fishing Original amusement He enters the Royal Academy Early successes Anecdotes of the poet Rogers William Wordsworth Oxford's attempt on the Queen's life Millais as an Academy student General Arthur Lempriere on Millais as a boy Poem on students' life Sergeant Thomas First visit to Oxford Mr. Wyatt Mr. Drury " Cymon and Iphigenia"- " Grandfather and Child" . . . i CHAPTER II. PRE-RAPHAELITISM : ITS MEANING AND ITS HISTORY First meeting of Hunt and Millais The Pedantry of Art Hunt admitted to the R.A. They work together in Millais' studio Reciprocal relief The birth of Pre-Raphaelitism The name chosen The meeting of Hunt and D. G. Rossetti First gathering of the Brotherhood The so-called influence of Rossetti Millais explains The critics at sea D. G. Rossetti Ruskin Max Nordau The aims of Pre-Raphaelitism Cyclographic Club Madox Brown "The Germ" Millais' story . . 43 CHAPTER III. "Lorenzo and Isabella" A prime joke "Christ in the home of His parents " The onslaught of the critics Charles Dickens unfavourable Millais at work The newspapers send him to Australia The P.R.B. draw each other for Woolner The bricklayer's opinion The elusive nugget " Ferdinand lured by Ariel" The ultra-cautious dealer Millais at the theatre painting portraits His sale of " Ferdinand" Mr. Stephens tells of his sittings for "Ferdinand's" head Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Combe Their kindness to Millais Millais' letter to the Combes His life in London The Collins family Letters about "The Woodman's Daughter" and "The Flood' 1 "Mariana" An obliging mouse "The Woodman's Daughter" William Millais on the picture The artist's devotion to truth Ruskin on the Pre-Raphaelites He champions their cause His unreliability as a critic . . . . 69 x CONTENTS CHAPTER IV. PAGE Millais commences^" Ophelia" Holman Hunt, Charles Collins, William and John Millais paint at Worcester Park Farm Further letters to the Combes Millais thinks of going to the East Commencement of diary and "The Huguenot" Hunt at work on "The Light of the World" and "The Hireling Shepherd" Collins' last picture Millais' idea for "The Huguenot" He argues it out with Hunt Meets an old sweetheart Returns to Gower Street Miss Siddal's sufferings as model for "Ophelia" Success of "Ophelia" Arthur Hughes and Millais Critics of 1852 Woman in Art General Lempriere on his sittings for "The Huguenot'' Miss Ryan Miller, of Preston Letters from Gower Street 1 15 CHAPTER V. 1852-1853 The Volunteer movement Reminiscences of Turner Meeting with Thackeray Millais proposes to paint "Romeo and Juliet" Goes to "George Inn" at Hayes Begins painting "The Proscribed Royalist "- Arthur Hughes on his sittings Millais in the hunting field "The Order of Release " Models for this picture Funeral of the Duke of Wellington Amusing letter to Mr. Hodgkinson Millais' first expedition to Scotland With the Ruskins to Northumberland and thence to Callander Their life in the North Discussion on architecture Dr. Acland The Free Kirk in 1852 Meeting with Gambart and Rosa Bonheur Millais' comic sketch-book He is slighted by the Academy Foreboding on the election day He is made an A. R. A. . . . . . 152 CHAPTER VI. 1853-1855 End of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood Walter Deverell His illness and death Holman Hunt in the East Letters from him "The Scapegoat" "The Blind Girl" and " L'Enfant du Regiment" Winchelsea Thackeray writes whilst Millais paints An eccentric vicar Success of "The Blind Girl" Ruskin's description of it John Luard Millais in Scotland with Halliday, Luard, and Charles Collins Paris Exhibition of 1855 The English school at last recognised How "The Rescue" came to be painted Letters from Dickens Models for "The Rescue" and criticisms on it Appreciation by Thomas Spencer Baynes Millais loses his temper and speaks out Beneficial result Firemen at work Letters from William Allingham Frederick Leighton . ... 222 CHAPTER VII. LEECH, THACKERAY, WILKIE COLLINS, AND ANTHONY TROLLOPE Millais' affection for Leech His first top-boots "Mr. Tom Noddy "- Millais introduces "Mr. Briggs" to the delight of salmon fishing The Duke of Athol and Leech Letters from Leech- The ghost of Cowdray Hall Death of Leech His funeral The pension for Leech's family Letter from Charles Dickens Thackeray The littleness of earthly fame Wilkie Collins True origin of The Woman in White Anthony Trollope Letters from him . . . ... 261 CONTENTS xi CHAPTER VIII. PAGE Millais' marriage Life in Scotland First visitors A poaching keeper "Peace Concluded" "Autumn Leaves" Millais' life in chambers Serious war with the critics He is attacked on all sides The Times tramples upon him The public support him Marochetti Millais on Press criticism Charles Reade Birth of a son "Pot-pourri" The advantages of being punctual "Sir Isumbras" received with abuse Sandys' clever skit Sale of "Sir Isumbras" Letters from Charles Reade "Escape of the Heretic" "The Crusader's Return" "The Vale of Rest" The artist's difficulties overcome Anecdotes of "The Vale of Rest "and "The Love of James I." . . . 287 CHAPTER IX. The struggle of 1859 Millais seriously feels the attacks made upon him, but determines to fight Insulted at every turn Origin of " The Vale of Rest" The fight for independence "The Black Brunswicker" Millais describes it Dickens' daughter sits for the lady Mrs. Perugini describes her sittings Faint praise from the Press Great success of the picture Holman Hunt likewise successful Millais' black-and-white work Letters to his wife Lady Waterford . . . . . . 335 CHAPTER X. 1861-1867 A holiday in Sutherlandshire "The Eve of St. Agnes" Comfortless surroundings Death of Thackeray His funeral " My First Sermon " Pictures of 1863 Paints Tom Taylor's son Letter from Tom Taylor " Esther " Gordon's yellow jacket " The Romans Leaving Britain " Letter from Anne Thackeray Ritchie "Waking" In Scotland with Sir William Harcourt and Mr. Reginald Cholmondeley Meeting with Dr. Livingstone Livingstone in pursuit of salmon Millais goes abroad with his wife, Sir William Harcourt, and Sir Henry Layard He buys Michael Angelo's " Leda and the Swan " Memorable evening at " Villa Spence" Adelina Patti as a dancer Makes the acquaintance of Liszt They travel with Mario " Waking " The Callander shootings Amusing Letter from Sir William Harcourt Letter to William Fenn A deer drive in Glen Artney . . . . . . 3^7 CHAPTER XI. HOLMAN HUNT A great friendship, and a spur to noble ambition Cairo in 1854 The donkey and the buffalo A human parallel The Jewish model, a shy bird The difficulties and dangers of life in and around Jerusalem in 1854 Adventure at the Brook Kerith Reflections on life Millais must put forth all his strength A final tribute . ... 402 xii CONTENTS CHAPTER XII. 1865-1880 PAGE Three historic gatherings The parties at Strawberry Hill Millais' personal friends Letters from D'Epine", Luder Barnay, and Jan van Beers Mrs. Jopling Rowe's recollections of Millais O'Neil, painter and poet Fred Walker Professor Owen Robert Browning Browning on the art of poetry Visit to Marochetti . . . . 417 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PHOTOGRAVURES SIR JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS, Bart., P.R.A. (from the autograph portrait in the Uffizzi Gallery) ..... Frontispiece L'EXFANT DU REGIMENT ... To face page 240 THE VALE OF REST .... ,, 332 THE KNIGHT ERRANT .... ,, 390 ILLUSTRATIONS I'AGE Captain Edward Millais. 1760 . . . ... 2 John William Millais . . . . ... 3 John Evamy . . . . . ... 4 Mary Millais (Millais' mother) . . . ... 5 Shakespearian Character . . . . ... 8 Hogarthian Characters in a Witness-box . . ... 9 Mele"e in a Banqueting-hall . . . . . . . 10 Scene from " Peveril of the Peak" . . . . . . u Portrait of an Old Gentleman . . . . . . 13 Millais, by John Phillip, R.A. . . . . ... 15 Hunting Scene i . . . .. . . . 17 Lovers under a Tree . . . ... 19 Sketches made at Lord's . . . . ... 22 The Benjamites Seizing their Brides . . . ... 23 Cupid Crowned with Flowers . . . . 24 Mary Hodgkinson . , . . . .- . . 26 Hatfield House . . . . . ... 29 View from Millais' Home, near St. Heliers . . ... 30 Cover of Millais' Book on Armour. 1845 . . . . . 31 A Page from Millais' Book on Armour . . . ... 32 A Page from Millais' Book on Armour . . . 33 Photograph of the first Cheque received by Millais . . 35 Emily Millais (afterwards Mrs. Wallack) . . ... 36 Title-page of a Book of Poems . . . 37 Pizarro Seizing the Inca of Peru . . . ... 39 Mr. Drury and Millais take the Air ; . . ... 41 Study of an Actor . . ' . ... 42 Childhood . . . . ... 44 Youth . .... 44 Manhood . . . . ... 45 Age . . . 45 Cynion and Iphigenia . ... 47 Sketch for Pre-Raphaelite Etching . . . .' . . 51 xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Mr. Wyatt and his Grandchild . . . 53 Pre-Raphaelite Sketch . . . . ... 58 Canterbury Pilgrims . . . . ... 59 The Disentombment of Queen Matilda . . ... 63 Drawing for The Germ . . . . ... 65 Pencil-drawing- for Etching, intended to have been used in The Germ . . 67 Head of D. G. Rossetti . . . ... 70 Lorenzo and Isabella . . . , . . . . 71 Original design for " Christ in the House of His Parents" . 76 Design for "Christ in the House of His Parents" . . 77 Christ in the House of His Parents . . . ... 79 First sketch for " Ferdinand Lured by Ariel " . . ... 84 Ferdinand Lured by Ariel . . . . ... 85 Pencil design for "The Woodman's Daughter" . . ... 92 Design for a picture, "The Deluge" . . . ... 95 Sketch for "Mariana" . . . . ... 104 Sketches for " Mariana " and " The Return of the Dove " . . . 105 Mariana . . . . ... 107 The Woodman's Daughter . . . . ... 113 Ophelia . . . . . . 117 Design for a picture of " Romeo and Juliet " . . ... 120 The Last Scene, " Romeo and Juliet " . . . . 121 The Huguenot. First idea . . . . ... 130 The Huguenot. Second idea . . . . 131 The Huguenot. Third idea. . . . . ... 136 The Huguenot. Fourth idea . . . . . 137 The Huguenot. Fifth idea . . . . ... 138 The Huguenot . . . . . ... 139 The Race-meeting . . . . . ... 153 Study for " The Royalist " . . . . ... 156 Millais on the way to paint " The Royalist." By W. Millais . . . 157 Millais at Dinner. By W. Millais . . . . . . 158 Millais painting the background of " The Royalist " . ... 160 Dinner at "The George Inn," Hayes. By W. Millais . ... 161 " Millais' Oak," Hayes, Kent . . . ... 166 Tourists at the Inn . . . . . ... 167 Sketch for " The Order of Release" . . . ... 169 Further sketch for " The Order of Release " . . ... 170 The Royalist . . . . . ... 173 Head of a Girl . . . . . ... 175 Robert Bruce and the Spider . . . . ... 176 Black Agnes dusting Dunbar Castle . . . . 177 Imitations of Velasquez . . . . ... 179 The Order of Release . . . . ... 181 Lord James Douglas provides for the Royal Household . . 183 Bruce at the Siege of Acre . . . . ... 184 Enter Lord and Lady Fiddledidee . . . . . . 185 Accepted . . . . . ... 187 The Blind Man . . . . . ... 193 Crossing the Border. By W. Millais . . . . 195 Close Quarters . . . . . ... 196 The Tourist's Highland Reel . . . . ... 197 Fishing in Loch Achray . . . . ... 198 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xv PAGE The Romans Leaving- Britain. Line and Sepia drawing- . . . . 199 Sir Thomas Acland . . . .. . .- 202 A Wet Day's Pastime . . . . '. 203 Design for a Gothic Window . . . . ... 204 William Millais at Work . . . . ... 205 The Idle and the Industrious Painter . . . ... 206 The Dying- Man . . . . . ... 207 Kirk . . . . . ... 210 The Best Day's Sketching- . . . . ... 211 The Countess as Barber . . . . ...212 Virtue and Vice . . . . . ... 213 Wayside Refreshment . . . . . . . 215 Sir Thomas Acland assists a certain Lady . . . .* . 216 A certain Lady Painting- . . . . . . . 217 Away-ye-ga . . . . . . . . 218 Euphemia Chalmers Gray . . . . .- . . 219 Waiting- . . . . . ... 223, Retribution . . . . .... 227 Prince Charlie in a Hig-hland Farmhouse . . . , . 229 The Prisoner's Wife . . . . ..>'.. 231 The Ghost . . . ... . , 233 Mike in Shirt plying- his Needle . . . .... 237 The Start to Aytoun . . . . ... 238 Our kind Host enters in his Dressing-gown . . . . . 239 Catastrophes during Day's Sport . . .' ... 240 How instantly the A.R.A. outwalked his Companion . ... 241 How the Representative of R.A. was embarrassed with Straps . . . 242 How we took a Dog--cart . . . . ... 243. The Newly-painted Door . . . . ... 244 How the Wind distressed the Two Travellers . . ... 246- How C. C. gave out . . . . - f 247 Long- John enters into Conversation . . . ... 248 Ho\v Long- John makes another Long John partake of "overproof" Whiskey . 2^0 How C. C. forgot himself and Craves for Salmon-fishing- . ... 2^1 How on the top of the Coach the Weather was unfavourable . . . 252 How we Warmed Ourselves at the Steamer Stove . ... 253 St. Agnes . . . 255 Rejected . . ,. . ... 258 John Leech. Pencil sketch . . '. . . . . 262 John Leech . . . . . . - . . 263 Millais Hunting-. By Leech . . .' . ( . 266 Millais Fishing-. By Leech . . . , . :. . 267 The Duke of Wellington. By Leech . . . ... 271 Part of a Letter from Leech to Millais . . '.{ ... 273. Wilkie Collins . . . . ." ... 279 Euphemia Chalmers Gray (afterwards Lady Millais). Water-colour . . 286 Bell in Winterton Church. By John Luard . . . 288 Winterton Church Bells. By John Luard . . ... 289 Studies for " Edward Gray " . . . ... 292 Alice Gray . . . . . ... 293 Study for Tennyson Illustrations . . . ... 298 Study for Tennyson Illustrations . . . ... 299 The Rescue . . . . . ... 301 xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Sketch for Tennyson Illustrations . . . ... 304 Sketch for St. Agnes . . . . ... 305 The Blind Girl . . . . . ... 307 Roswell . . . . . ... 309 First sketch for " Peace Concluded " . - . . . . . 310 Sketch for " The Crusaders " . . . . . 311 First sketch for " Sir Isumbras " . , . . . . 312 Sir Isumbras ~. . . . . ... 315 Mother and Child . . . . . . . 317 Study of a Child . . . . . ... 318 Sketch for Tennyson Illustrations . . . ... 320 Skit on " Sir Isumbras." By Fred. Sandys . . . . . 321 Apple Blossoms . . . . . . . . 325 Sketch for " Ruth " . . . . . ... 327 Sketch for Illustration .* . . ... . . 330 Sketch for Illustration . . . . ... 331 Sophia Gray . . . . . . . . 334 The Bride . . . . . ... 337 Sketch for " The Black Brunswicker " . . . . . . 339 Sketch for " The Black Brunswicker " . . . . . 341 Sketch of Miss Kate Dickens . . . ... 346 Sketch of Miss Kate Dickens . . . ... 347 The Black Brunswicker . . . . ... 351 Old Wall of Balhousie Castle, Perth . . . . 361 Design for "The Ransom" . . . . ... 364 "Swallow! Swallow!" . . . . ... 369 Sketch for " The Eve of St. Ag-nes " . . . ... 373 The Eve of St. Agnes . . . . ... 375 My Second Sermon . . . . . ... 380 Leisure Hours . . . . . ... 381 The Romans leaving Britain . . . . ... 387 Sleeping , . 393 Waking . , . / . . . . . . 399 The Parable of the Sower . . . . ... 403 Sketch for " The Parable of the Good Samaritan " . ... 405 The Parable of the Good Samaritan . . . ... 406 The Evil One Sowing Tares . . . . ... 407 The Parable of the Prodigal Son . . . ... 409 The Parable of the Unjust Judge . . . . . . 411 Greenwich Pensioners at the Tomb of Nelson . . . 413 Sketches for " The Crown of Love " . . . ... 418 The Minuet . . . . . . . 419 The Widow's Mite . . . . . ... 425 Studies of Frogs . . ..... 427 The Gambler's Wife . . . . . ... 431 Mrs. Heugh . . . . . ... 437 Mrs. Jopling . . . . . . . . 441 THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF SIR JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS CHAPTER I. The birth of Millais His parents Early days in St. Heliers A mother who educates and helps him School a failure The Lemprieres First efforts in Art The family move to Dinan The Drum-major's portrait Return to St. Heliers Millais goes to London with his mother Sir Martin Shee's advice Millais enters Mr. Sass' school, and gains the silver medal of the Society of Arts His love of fishing Original amusement He enters the Royal Academy Early successes Anecdotes of the poet Rogers William Wordsworth Oxford's attempt on the Queen's life Millais as an Academy student General Arthur Lempriere on Millais as a boy Poem on students' life Sergeant Thomas First visit to Oxford Mr. Wyatt Mr. Drury " Cymon and Iphigenia" "Grandfather and Child." IT was at Southampton on the 8th of June, 1829, that the late Sir J. E. Millais made his first appearance in the world as the youngest son of Mr. John William Millais, the descendant of an old Norman family resident in Jersey, where for many years he held a commission in the Island Militia. There, according to local tradition, John William Millais and his ancestors had been settled ever since the time of the Conquest. He was a man of fine presence and undeniable talent, being not only a very fair artist but an excellent musician, with command of four or five different instruments. But with all his shifts he was a man of no ambition save where his children were concerned, and desired nothing more than the life he led as a quiet country gentle- man. My uncle, William Millais, describes him as a typical old troubadour, who won all hearts by his good looks and charming manners, and was known in his younger days as the handsomest man in the island. i. i JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1833- When quite a young man he chanced to meet an English- woman of gentle birth and great natural wit and cleverness, whose maiden name was Evamy, but who was then the widow of a Mr. Hodgkinson ; and, falling in love with each other at first sight, they soon afterwards married. Mrs. Hodgkinson had two sons by her first husband- Henry, who lived a quiet life, and recently left to the nation two of my father's best works ; and Clement, who greatly dis- tinguished himself as an explorer in the wilds of Australia. In the old days Clement was the principal A.D.C. of Sir Thomas Mitchell, and himself discovered several gold-fields in Northern Australia. My grandparents, John \Yilliam and Emily Mary Millais, at first settled at " Le Quaihouse," just out of St. Heliers, where their daughter Emily Mary was born ; but later on they re- moved to Southampton, where my uncle William Henry, and afterwards my father, were added to the family. They presently, however, returned to Jersey, where, at the age of four years, my father's inborn love of Natural History a love that lasted his lifetime found means of develop- ment. At St. Heliers some choice sand-eels offered an easy capture. The rocks too abounded with novelties in the shape of " slow, sly things with circumspective eyes " ; and at the pier-head no end of little fish were waiting to be caught. Here, then, was Elysium to the young naturalist. To one or other of these places he sped away whenever he could escape from parental control, regardless of the admonitions of his mother, whose anxiety on these occasions was hardly compensated by the treasures of the beach with which he stocked all the baths and basins of the household, or by the advance in learning he displayed in naming correctly every- thing in his collection. There too, at St. Heliers, his taste for drawing began to show itself. Encouraged by his mother, who quickly CAPTAIN EDWARD MILLAIS, 1760 (MILLAIS' GRANDFATHER) From a miniature i8 35 ] FIRST EFFORTS IN ART 3 discerned the boy's special gift, he devoted much of his time to sketching, and was never more happy than when his pencil was thus engaged. Birds and butterflies proved a great attraction, but it mattered little to him what was the object so long as he could express it on paper. Draw he must, and did at every spare moment. In his maternal grandfather, John Evamy a dear old man whom he greatly admired, mainly because of his skill as a fisherman he found a delightful companion ; and one JOHN WILLIAM MILLAIS (MILLAIS' FATHER) In fancy dress. Circ. 1870 of his earliest sketches, done in pencil at eight years of age, gives an excellent idea of this old gentleman engrossed in his favourite pursuit. But Millais' truest and most helpful friend was his mother, whose love and foresight did so much to advance his aims o and ambition, putting him in the right path from the very outset. She herself undertook the greater part of his educa- tion, and, being more gifted than most women, grounded him in history, poetry, literature, etc., knowledge of costume and armour, all of which was of the greatest use to him in his career ; indeed, my father used often to say to us in after years, " I owe everything to my mother." JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1833- One attempt was made to send him to school, but it ended in miserable iailure. Throughout his life restrictions of any sort were hateful to him what he would not do for love he would not do at all so when, after two days at school, the master tried to thrash him for disobedience, the boy turned and bit his hand severely a misdemeanour for which he was JOHN EVAMY (MILLAIS' MATERNAL UNCLE) Drawn from life at the age of eight immediately expelled. A happy day this for him, for his mother then resumed her work of tuition, and her method of teaching, in opposition to that of the old dry-as-dust schools, led the child to love his lessons instead of hating them. My uncle William made an excellent water-colour portrait of his mother, which I am enabled to give here. The reader will see at a glance her strong resemblance to her boy John Everett, presenting the same clever, determined mouth, and MARY MILLAIS (MILLAIS' MOTHER) From a water-colour by William Millais, executed about the year 1869 i8 35 ] EARLY DAYS 7 the same observant eyes. Nor did the resemblance end here, for she had also the same great love of painting and music. Others beside his mother very soon began to see that little John Everett possessed real genius, not mere ordinary talent; and one of his uncles was so much impressed with this idea that he used frequently to say to his children, " Mark my words, that boy will be a very great man some day, if he lives." My father never forgot the good friends of his early days in jersev, but cherished a lasting" affection and regard for J J ' O O them. Amongst those most anxious to help in the early cultivation of his talent was a charming family named Lempriere, then resident in the island. Philip Raoul Lempriere, the head of the house and Seigneur of Roselle Manor, was a man whose personality made itself felt by everyone with whom he came into contact, his strikingly handsome appearance being enhanced by the dignity and kindliness of his manner ; and the same might be said in degree of every member of his family. To know them intimately was an education in itself; and, happily for my father, they took a great fancy to him, making him ever welcome at the house. There, then, he spent much of his time, and, as I have heard him say, learned unconsciously to appreciate the beauties of Nature and Art. General Lempriere, one of the grandsons of the Seigneur, I may add, figures as "the Huguenot" in the famous picture of that name, painted in 1852. Roselle, in a word, proved an endless source of interest and amusement to the juvenile artist. He could fish when he liked in ponds well stocked with perch and tench, and in the park was a fine herd of fallow deer, in which he took great delight. A drawing of his perhaps his best at that date represents the tragic end of one of those beautiful creatures that he happened to witness. The circumstance impressed him deeply and, as he often remarked in after life, aroused in him the spirit of the chase, even in those early days and amidst such calm surroundings. My father's cousin, Miss Benest a wonderful old lady of eighty writes : " When he was only four he was con- tinually at work with pencil and paper, and generally lay on the floor covering sheets with all sorts of figures." She also mentions, as significant of the frank and open mind and the zeal for truth that he retained to the end of 8 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1833- his days, that "when he did anything on a larger scale he used to come to my father, throwing his arms round his neck in his affectionate manner, saying, ' Uncle, you do not always praise me as the others do ; you show me the faults! ' His brother William was exceedingly clever, but without SHAKESPEARIAN CHARACTER Original drawing by Millais at the age of yj years the same application and industry. As a young man he possessed a remarkably fine tenor voice, and a good tenor being as rare in those days as it is now, Mario, after hearing him sing, urged him strongly to go on the stage, saying he would make his fortune. But this was far from his idea of a happy life. He had no ambition to walk the boards, but sang because he loved it, and painted for the same reason, i8 3S ] REMOVAL TO DINAN 9 becoming ultimately well known as a water-colour landscape artist. His unselfish admiration for my father knew no bounds ; he was always helping and taking care of his younger and more delicate brother, and did much by his cheery optimism and consummate tact to alleviate the hard knocks and petty worries that assailed the young painter whilst struggling to make a name. In 1835 the family removed to Dinan, in Brittany, where a new r interest awaited the budding artist, then in his seventh HOGARTHIAN CHARACTERS IN A WITNESS-BOX Original study of expression. The writing on the drawing is that of the artist's mother. year. The poetry of the place, as expressed in its fine mediaeval architecture and interpreted by a loving mother, took a great hold upon his imagination, setting his pencil to work at once ; but joy of joys to the juvenile mind were the gorgeous uniforms of the French officers stationed in the neighbourhood. Of this period William Millais sends me some interesting notes. He says : " I well remember the time we spent together at Dinan, where our parents resided for two years. We were little boys and quite inseparable, he six years old and I two years his senior. Our greatest delight was to watch the entry of regiments as they passed 10 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1835- through the town to and from Brest, and these occasions were of frequent occurrence. The roll-call generally took place in the Place aux Chaines, and each soldier on being disbanded was presented with a loaf of black bread, which he stuck on the point of his bayonet and then shouldered his rifle. We usually sat under the tilleuls of the Place du Guesclin, on a bench overlooking the soldiers and away from the crowd. On one occasion we noticed an enormous tambour-majeur, literally burnished with gold trappings, wear- ing a tall bear-skin and flourishing a huge gold-headed cane, MELEE IN A BANQUETING- HALL. 1838. to the delight of a lot of little gamins. Jack at once pro- duced his sketch-book and pencil, and proceeded to jot down the giant into his book. Whilst this was going on we were not aware that two officers were silently creeping towards us, and we were quite awed when they suddenly uttered loud ejaculations of astonishment at what they had seen, for they had evidently been witnesses of the last touch made upon the drum-major. They patted the little artist on the back, gave him some money, and asked me where we lived. Our house was only a stone's-throw off, so we took them up into the drawing-room, and they talked for some time with my father and mother, urging them most seriously to send the child at once to Paris, to be educated in the Arts. 1837] RETURN TO ST. HELIERS 1 1 "The officers took the sketch back to barracks with them, and showed it in the mess to their brothers in arms. None of them could believe that it was the work of a boy of six, so bets were taken all round ; and one of them went to fetch little Millais, to prove their words. In fear and trembling he came, and soon showed that he really had done the drawing by making, then and there, a still more excellent sketch of the colonel smoking a cigar. Those who lost had to give the others a dinner." SCENE FROM "PEVERIL OF THE PEAK." 1841 This is the most elaborate work of Millais' early years Leaving Dinan in 1837, the family again went back to St. Heliers for two or three years, where Millais received his first instructions in art from a Mr. Bessel, the best drawing- master in the island. Art was not taught then as it is now, so the boy's originality was curbed for the while by having to copy Julien's life-sized heads. In a very short time, however, the drawing-master told his parents that he could teach their boy nothing more ; the spontaneity of his work was so marked that it was a sin to restrain it, and that they ought to take him at once to London and give him the very best tuition to be had there. To this excellent counsel was added that of the Lemprieres and Sir Hillgrove-Turner, 12 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [,8 3 8- then governor of the island. Next year, therefore, they started for London armed with an introduction to Sir Martin Archer Shee, P.R.A., and coaching from Southampton they fell in with Mr. Paxton (afterwards Sir Joseph Paxton), of whom William Millais writes : "During the journey Mr. Paxton fell asleep, and Jack at once went for him and got him into his book. Just as he had finished the sketch Paxton awoke, and, seeing what had been done, was so astonished that he entered into conversation with my mother, which resulted in a letter of introduction to the President of the Society of Arts, Adelphi, where my brother afterwards went." Their first visit in London was naturally to Sir Martin Archer Shee, and this is what they heard from him the moment they explained the object of their call : " Better make him a chimney-sweep than an artist ! " But Sir Martin had not then seen the boy's drawings. When these were produced he opened his eyes in astonishment, and could hardly believe that they were the production of so childish a hand. At last his doubts were set at rest by little Millais sitting down and drawing the Fight of Hector and Achilles ; and then with equal emphasis he recalled his first remark, and declared that it was the plain duty of the parents to fit the boy for the vocation for which Nature had evidently intended him. That settled the matter. To the lad's great delight leave was obtained for him to sketch in the British Museum, where for several hours a day he diligently drew from the cast ; and in the winter of 1838-39 a vacancy was found for him in the best Art academy of the time a preparatory school at Bloomsbury, kept by an old gentleman named Henry Sass, a portrait painter of repute, but whose works had failed to catch the fancy of the public. Several of Millais' school- fellows there are still living, and remember him as a small, delicate-looking boy, with a holland blouse and belt and a turn-down collar. Here he was in his element, drawing and painting most of the day, and spending all the time he could spare in outdoor pursuits. At Mr. Sass', as at most of the schools of that day, a good deal of bullying went on, and one of the students (a big, hulking, lazy fellow, whose name I suppress for reasons which will presently appear) took a special delight in making the boy's life a burden to him. This state of things reached 1 839] A RIVAL'S REVENGE a climax when, at the age of nine, young Millais gained the silver medal of the Society of Arts, for which this youth had also competed. The day following the presentation Millais turned up as usual at Mr. Sass', and after the morning's work was over, H. (the bully), with the help of two other small boys whom he had compelled to remain, hung him head . I PORTRAIT OF AN OLD GENTLEMAN Drawn at the age of nine downwards out of the window, tying his legs up to the iron of the window-guards with scarves and strings. There he hung over the street in a position which shortly made him unconscious, and the end might have been fatal had not some passers-by, seeing the position of the child, rung the i 4 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [,8 39 door-bell and secured his immediate release. Almost imme- diately after this H. left the school possibly to avoid expul- sion and failing as an artist, but being strong and of good physique, he became a professional model, and, curiously enough, in after years sat to my father for several of his pictures. Eventually, however, he took to drink and came to a miserable end, leaving a wife and several children abso- lutely destitute. Of the occasion on which Millais received his first medal, William Millais, who was present, says : " I shall never forget the Prize-day at the Society of Arts when my brother had won the silver medal for a large drawing of ' The Battle of Bannockburn.' He was then between nine and ten years of age, and the dress the little fellow wore is vividly before me as I write. He had on a white plaid tunic, with black belt and buckle ; short white frilled trousers, showing bare legs, with white socks and patent leather shoes; a large w r hite frilled collar, a bright necktie, and his hair in golden curls. "When the Secretary, Mr. Cocking, called out 'Mr. John Everett Millais,' the little lad walked up unseen by his Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, who was giving the prizes, and stood at his raised desk. After a time the Duke observed that ' the gentleman was a long time coming up,' to which the Secretary replied, 'He is here, your Royal Highness.' The Duke then stood up and saw the boy, and, giving him his stool to stand upon, the pretty little golden head appeared above the desk. " Unfortunately the Duke, being weak as to his eyesight, could make nothing of the drawing when it was held up to him, in spite of trying various glasses ; but he was assured that it was a marvellous performance. He patted my brother's head and wished him every success in his profes- sion, at the same time kindly begging him to remember that if at any time he could be of service to him he must not hesitate to write and say so. It so happened that Jack did avail himself of this kind offer. We had been in the habit of fishing every year in the Serpentine and Round Pond by means of tickets given to us by Sir Frederick Pollock, then Chief Baron ; but a day came when this permission was withheld from everyone, and then my brother wrote to the Duke's private secretary, and we were again allowed to fish there. "In those days the Round Pond at Kensington was a MILLAIS, BY JOHN PHILLIP, R.A. 1841 1 839] HOME LIFE favourite resort of ours. It was not then, as we see it now, arranged in a circle, and tricked out with all the finery of a London lake. The shores were fringed with flags and rushes, and here and there were little bays with water-lilies. There was plenty of honest English mud too, in which the juvenile angler could wade to his heart's content, and had to do so in order to get his line clear of the surrounding reeds. \Ve used to tramp to and from the neighbourhood of Bedford Square, buying our fresh bait at the " Golden Perch," in Oxford Street, on the way. We were keen sportsmen, HUNTING SCENE. and probably the pleasure we took in it was not lessened by the envy of other little boys to w T hom the privilege was denied. As the result of these expeditions many fine carp, perch, and roach w r ere captured at least they appeared so to us in those early days." My uncle goes on to tell of their home life and the amuse- ments in which he and his brother indulged. They were fond of "playing at National Galleries." ''In 1838-39 we were living in Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square. I went to a private tutor in the neighbourhood, but my brother never went to school at all. He was very delicate as a child, and was still being entirely educated by my mother, who was an exceptionally clever woman and a great reader. I. 2 1 8 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1839- " We were both of us mad upon Art, and we knew every picture in the National Gallery by heart. In our leisure moments we resolved to start a National Gallery of our own, and we worked daily upon pictures for it. I generally undertook the landscape department, and coined no end of Hoppners, Ruysdaels, Turners, etc., whilst the Titians. Rubens, Paul Veroneses, Correggios, and Rembrandts fell to my brother's share. I made all the frames out of tinsel off crackers, and we varnished our specimens to give them the appearance of works in oil. " The pictures varied in size from a visiting-card to a large envelope. We took off the lid of a large deal box, and pre- pared the three sides to receive our precious works. There was a dado, a carpet, and seats, and to imitate the real Gallery a curtain ran across the opening. ' What joy it was to us when we thought we had done something wonderful ! I remember how we gloated over our Cuyp ; a Rembrandt too was my brother's masterpiece, and the use of burnt lucifer matches in the darker parts was most effective, and certainly original. When anyone called to see us it was our greatest pride to exhibit our National Gallery." At the age of ten Millais was admitted a student of the Royal Academy, the youngest student who ever found entrance within its walls, and during his six years there he carried off in turn every honour the Academy had to bestow. At thirteen he won a medal for a drawing from the antique, at fourteen he began to paint, and at seventeen, after taking the "gold medal" for an oil painting called "The Benjamites Seizing their Brides," he contributed to the annual exhibition a canvas which was placed by a French critic on a level with the best historical work of the year. It was the picture of " Pizarro Seizing the Inca of Peru," and was exhibited some few years ago in the galleries at South Kensington, where it attracted marked attention as the production of so young an artist.* At the Academy, where he was well treated and became a general favourite, they nicknamed him " The Child," a name that stuck to him for the rest of his life at the Garrick Club. He worked unceasingly, and was universally recognised as a * William Millais says: "James Wallack, the celebrated comedian, whose portrait Sir Charles Eastlake, P.R.A., painted in ' The Brigand,' and who afterwards married my sister, was the model for ' Pizarro.' My father was the priest, and also sat for other figures in the picture." i8 4 5] AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY youthful genius from whom great things were to be expected; but, as the smallest and youngest member of the community, he had to "fag," for all that, and was generally told off to fetch pies and stout for his fellow-students whilst they were at work.* When he received the gold medal of the Royal Academy many famous men took notice of him, and notably Rogers, the poet, whose brilliant breakfast-parties are now matters of LOVE SCENE. Water-colour. 1840 history. All the literary lions of the day were to be met there, and at that time things were very different from what they are now. Young men listened respectfully, as they were taught to do, when older and wiser men held forth. Rogers, I have heard my father say, would speak learnedly on some subject for perhaps five minutes, and then, after a pause, would say : " Now, Mr. Macaulay, kindly favour us with * " I was told off," said Millais, " by the other students to obtain their lunch for them. I had to collect 40 or 50 pence from my companions, and go with that hoard to a neighbouring baker's and purchase the same number of buns. It generally happened that I got a bun myself by way of 'commission.'" 20 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1839- your opinion of the subject," whereupon Macaulay would square up and "orate." While he was talking Rogers, who was a confirmed invalid, would gradually slip down into his chair, his servant having to pull him up by the collar when he wished to speak again. He was extremely kind, though pompous in manner, and with little or no sense of humour. If a stranger arrived he would say to his servant, " Thomas, bring down that volume of my celebrated poems" He took an almost parental interest in Millais, though occasionally treating him with a severity that bordered on the comic. My father hated sugar in his tea, and on more than one occasion openly expressed his dislike. " Thomas," the poet would say, "put three lumps of sugar in Mr. Millais' tea ; he ought to like sugar. He is too thin." Rogers had an MS. missal of great value, of which he was vastly proud. One day little Millais picked it up to show it to a young lady. " Boy," roared Rogers from the other end of the room, almost suffocating himself as he slipped down into his chair, " can't you speak about a book without fingering it? How dare you touch my missal ! " One day a poor-looking man, apparently a country clergy- man, dressed in a shabby tail-coat, came to thank Rogers for hospitality before leaving town. As the departing guest vanished through the door, after shaking hands with the little artist, the poet turned to Millais, who was standing near, and said in solemn tones, " Boy, do you know who that was ? Some day you will be proud to say that you once met William Wordsworth." In 1895 Mr. Gladstone and my father were the only sur- vivors of these famous parties. A singular circumstance was that though my mother, who was then a young girl, used frequently to breakfast at Rogers' house, yet she and my father never met there. Referring to these early days, William Millais says : " We were brought up as very loyal subjects, and our chief delight was to go to Buckingham Palace to see the Queen and the Prince Consort start off up Constitution Hill for their daily drive. On one memorable occasion, when we were the only people on the footpath, and had just taken off our caps as the Royal carriage passed, feeling proudly happy that her Majesty had actually bowed to us, a sudden explosion was heard, and then another. My father, who had seen what had caused them, immediately rushed away from us and seized i8 45 ] HIS LOVE OF FISHING 21 a man who was just inside the railings of the park, and held him till some of the mounted escort came to his assistance. This man was Oxford, who had fired at the Queen, and after- wards proved to be a lunatic. Of course we went immedi- ately to examine the wall, and there saw the marks of the two bullets, which in a few r days, with the aid of sticks and umbrellas, had multiplied considerably." As a boy Millais was extremely delicate, and only by slow degrees and constant attention to the laws of health did he build up the robust constitution it was his privilege to enjoy in the later years of his life. It was part of his creed a creed he lost no opportunity for impressing upon younger or less experienced artists that good health is the first neces- sity for a man who would distinguish himself in any walk of life, and that that can only be had by periodical holidays, in which all thought of business affairs is resolutely cast aside. To him the breezy uplands of the North, where with rod and gun he could indulge his love of open-air pursuits, offered the greatest attraction. Every year, therefore, as soon as he could afford it, he took a shooting or a fishing in Scotland, and (except on rare occasions) in the first week of August oft he went for a three months' holiday, no matter how important the work then in hand, or how tempting any commission that would interfere with his plan. One instance of this I well remember. Towards the close of a season of exceptionally hard work he got a letter from an American millionaire offer- ing him a small fortune if he would cross the Atlantic in August and paint the writer, his wife, and three children life- size on one canvas. But he declined at once, remarking privately that the subjects were not interesting enough to induce him to give up his holiday. But to trace his history as a sportsman I must go back to the days of his pupilage, when during the summer holidays he and my uncle William (himself an expert fisherman) often started at daybreak and walked all the way to Hornsey and back for a day's fishing in the New River. Cricket too was a great delight, and though the latitude of Gower Street did not lend itself to progress in the art, they practised after a fashion, played when they could, and assiduously studied the game at Lord's every Saturday in the season. That was in the days when the top-hat affliction permeated even the cricket field, as shown in a sheet of my father's sketches made on the ground about this time. Lillywhite is seen 22 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [.839-1845 there in all his glory as the first cricketer of the day, his amazing" head-gear possibly adding to the awe and admiration with which he was regarded by young and aspiring players. A letter from William Millais is perhaps worth quoting as showing the straits to which he and his brother were put in their determination to master " England's game," and how they encountered and overcame them. He says : " We used to have fictitious matches under the studio in Gower Street. vr^i SKETCHES MADE AT LORD'S, 1843 With portraits of the famous cricketers, Lillywhite and Minns where there was a sort of small fives-court, by the light of a feeble gas-burner. We imitated the style of the great bowlers and batters of that day. If the ball hit certain parts of the wall it was a catch, and certain other parts denoted a number of runs. \Ve kept a perfect score, and alternately batted and bowled. These matches used to last three or four days; it was great fun. Our cricket enthusiasm took us to Lord's two or three times a week, and we knew the style of every player." JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS ['839- On this period of Millais' life an old fellow-student is good enough to send me the following note: "The Sir John E. Millais of Presidential days was a very different person from the lad of thirteen whom, in the autumn of 1843, I encountered CUPID CROWNED WITH FLOWERS. Millais' first picture in oils at the Royal Academy, when, with a host of probationers (that is, students of the Academy on trial), I entered the Antique School, and was greeted with shouts of ' Hallo ! Millais ; here is another fellow in a collar.' These cries came from the older students "assembled and drawing from the statues, busts, and what not. Their occasion was myself, then just i8 45 ] AS AN ACADEMY STUDENT 25 upon fifteen years old, who it was my mother's pleasure should wear on the shoulders of his short jacket a white falling collar some four inches wide. It so happened that Millais' mother had a similar fancy, and that being younger and much smaller than I his collar had a goffered edging, which, with his boyish features, light, long, and curling hair, made him appear even younger than he was. Upon the cries ceasing, there arose from the semicircle of students a lightly and elegantly-made youngster wearing such a collar as I have described, a jacket gathered at the waist with a cloth belt, and its clasp in front. With an assured air he crossed the room to where I was standing among the arrivals. He walked round me, inspected me from head to foot, turned on his heel without a word, stepped back to his seat, and went on with his drawing. It so happened that the ever- diligent Millais, though much further advanced in the Academy, and a student in the Life and Painting, conde- scended from time to time to work among the tyros from the Antique, such as I was. At that time he was exceedingly like the portrait which was painted of him about the date in question, by (I think) Sir E. Landseer;* but there was more ' devil ' and less sentiment in the expression of his features. After being inspected, I settled to my work, and forgot all about that ordeal till I found Millais, who was then not more than five feet two inches tall, standing at my side, and, with an air of infinite superiority, looking at my drawing, which he greeted in an undertone as ' Not at all bad.' With such humility as became me I asked his advice about it, and he frankly gave me some good counsel. I ought to have said that, long before this, I had heard of his extraordinary techni- cal skill in drawing and painting, and I reverenced him as the winner of that silver medal which (the first of his Academical honours) had fallen to his lot not long before ; but he being a pupil in Sass's school and I a student in the British Museum, or ' Museumite,' so called, I had not come across the P. R.A. to-be. " Abounding in animal spirits and not without a playful impishness, being very light and small even for his age, Millais was the lively comrade I had almost said plaything of the bigger and older students, some of whom had, even in 1843-44, reached full.. manhood. One of . the latter was 4 Jacx Harris,' a burly and robust personage, a leader in all * The painter was John Phillip, R.A. 26 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1839- the feats of strength which then obtained in the schools, and the same who sat to Millais in 1848-49 for his exact portrait as the elder brother who kicks the dog in the picture of 'Isabella' now at Liverpool. Profoundly contrasted as in every respect their characters were, Millais and ' Jack Harris ' were comrades and playfellows of the closest order at the Academy. For example, 1 remember how, because some MARY HODGKIXSOX Wife of the artist's half-brother. Circ. 1843 workmen had left a tall ladder against the wall of the school, nothing would do but on one occasion Harris must carry Millais, clinging round his neck, to the top of this ladder. It so happened that just at the moment the door of the room slowly opened, while no less a person than the keeper entered and took up his duties by teaching the student nearest the entrance. Discipline and respect for Mr. George Jones [the master at that time] forbade Harris to come down the ladder, i8 45 ] POEM ON STUDENTS' LIFE 27 and his safety forbade Millais from letting go his hold. Doubtless the keeper saw the dilemma, for, without noticing the culprits, he hastened his progress round the room and left it as soon as might be, but not before Millais was tired of his lofty position." The following lines (discovered amongst my father's papers) afford an amusing insight into the ways and doings of Academy students at that period. The writer's name unfortunately does not appear. Mr. Jones, it must be observed, delighted in aping the appearance of the Duke of Wellington as far as he possibly could.* " Remember you the Antique School, And eke the Academic Stool, Under the tutorship and rule Of dear old Jones, Our aged military keeper And medal-distribution weeper, For whom respect could not be deeper In human bones ; " Whose great ambition was to look As near as might be like ' the Book,' With somewhat less of nasal hook, And doubtless brains ; Who, I imagine, still delights To try and look the ghost, o' nights, Of him who fought a hundred fights The Duke's remains ? " But to return to go on talking Of those young days when we were walking Towards the never-ending chalking From casts, or life Days of charcoal stumps, and crumbs, ' Double Elephant,' and ' Plumbs,' Within the sound of barrack drums And shrilly fifes ; * " I may say of Mr. Jones that he was chiefly known as a painter of military pictures, and in dress and person he so much resembled the great Duke of Wellington that, to his extreme delight, he was often mistaken for that hero, and saluted accordingly. On this coming to the ears of the Duke, he said, 'Dear me ! Mistaken for me, is he? That's strange, for no one ever mistakes me for Mr. Jones.' " My Autobiography and Reminiscences, by W. P. FRITH, R.A. 28 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [,s 39 - " Now in the circle gathered round To hear the learned youth expound Anatomy, the most profound Our Private Green ; Now in the Library's retreat, Upon a fine morocco seat, .And in a comfortable heat, A gent, I ween ; " Tracing armour, and trunk hose, Legs in tights, with pointed toes ; Meyrick, Bouner, with set chose, To parleyvoo ; Studying now and then a print, An old Sir Joshua Mezzotint, Or portrait which affords a hint Of something new. " In silence let us gently sneak Towards the door devoid of creak, Which leads us back to that Antique, Where youth still plods. For now, behold, the gas is lit, And nigh a hundred brows are knit, Where miserable heathens sit, Before their gods. " There from the Premier Charley Fox That party with the greasy locks, Who vainly calls on long-tongued Knox To hold his jawings Every back is archly bending, For the Silver Prize contending, This the latest night for sending In the drawings. "Another minute give them ten To cut these from the boards ; and then, ' Past eight o'clock, please, gentlemen,' Shouts little Bob. And in the Folio (very cheap !) The work of months is in a heap, Not worth the wages of a sweep For one small job. " But now to times a little later, When first we drew upstairs from Natur', When we were passing that equator Of days scholastic ; When we were, nightly, stew'd or fried With bald-pates glistening by our side, And felt ourselves, with conscious pride, Beyond the Plastic. 1845] AS A BOY 29 '&W WOVBE -A, **, .1 uU JM/UROf SS HATFIELD HOUSE. 1844 "We saw the graceful Wild recline Exclaiming, ' Oh ! by George, how fine,' And with the thumb describe a line In aerial wave The right and proper thing to do, It mattered not whate'er we drew Her, or the sad Cymmon Meudoo, As captive slave. " Enough ! I feel I 'm going astray From dear old Mrs. Grundy's way ; And what her followers may say I take to heart. Yet, should these lines provoke a smile A moment of the day beguile I '11 maybe send you, in this style, A second part." With so much work to do the little artist had hardly time to make any new acquaintances outside of those whom he met daily at the Academy ; nevertheless he managed to occasionally see his two Jersey friends. Arthur and Harry Lempriere, for they were at school at Brighton, and fre- quently visited London during their holidays. To Arthur now Major-General Arthur Lempriere I am indebted for the following note of his recollections of Millais as a boy : 3 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1839-1845 " I remember Sir J. E. Millais when I was quite a small boy at school at Brighton, where he used to write to me and my brother Harry most beautiful letters, all illustrated and the words in different coloured inks. One of those letters began, ' My little dears' ; but instead of writing the word ' dears,' a number of deer were drawn, and so on through the whole of a Christmas story, in which he intro- duced coloured drawings of coaches and horses, travellers, games, etc.* VIEW FROM MILLAIS' FORMER HOME, NEAR ST. HELIERS, JERSEY Water-colour, executed during a visit in 1844 "We always called him ' Johnny,' and he constantly spent the holidays with us at our home at Ewell, Surrey. My father and mother and all our family were very fond of him, as well as he of us. " He seemed always, when indoors, to have a pen, pencil, or brush in his hand, rattling off some amusing caricature or other drawing. He was very active and strong, and blessed with a most pleasing, good-tempered, and gentle- manly manner. During the many years I knew him I never once recollect his losing his temper or saying an unkind * This letter, illustrated with little water-colours, was exhibited in the Millais Exhibition, 1898. 3 2 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS ['839- word to anyone, and we all really looked upon him quite as a brother. " I have heard my father say that my uncle, Mr. Philip Lempriere, of Royal Jersey, gave Sir J. E. Millais his first colour-box. " It was in 1847 tnat I remember his drawing all the Lempriere family at Ewell standing round a table in the A PAGE FROM MILLAIS' BOOK OF ARMOUR. 1844 drawing-room, and watching eagerly a Twelfth-cake being cut by my eldest sister. It was all so cleverly grouped, and included my father and mother, my five brothers, seven sisters, myself, and himself. It was a picture we all greatly valued, as, in addition to the clever grouping, the likenesses were so excellent. " Millais' power of observation, even when a boy, was marvellous. After walking out with him and meeting people i8 4 5] SERJEANT THOMAS 33 he would come home and draw an exact likeness of almost anyone he happened to have met. He was also well up in the anatomy of a horse, and knew exactly where every vein and bone should be, and was very fond of drawing them." In 1845 Millais happened to become acquainted with a certain Serjeant Thomas, a retired lawyer given to trading A LEAF FROM MILLAIS' BOOK OF ARMOUR. 1844 in works of art. Recognising his genius, and knowing that he was very poor, Thomas offered him 100 a year to come to his house every Saturday and paint small pictures or backgrounds as might be required. The terms seemed fair enough, and in the end a contract was drawn up by the lawyer and duly signed, binding Millais to serve in this way for two years. Little did he know or think of the galling yoke that was now hung upon his neck. Thomas, who as a picture-dealer got about cent, per cent, profit out of his ! 3 34 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1845 work, worried him beyond measure by his constant inter- ference, his restrictive rules, and his general insolence of manner. At last long before the two years were over- things came to a crisis. One Saturday morning not quite for the first time Millais came to his work some ten minutes late, when Thomas attacked him furiously, winding up a long harangue with a personal remark that stung him to the quick. He had just arranged his palette with fresh oil- colours, and in a moment it was sent flying at his employer's head. Happily for the head it was a bad shot ; the palette struck against the wall, and then slowly descended to the floor. A violent slamming of the door announced Millais' departure and his determination never to enter the house again. They made it up, however, later on. Thomas agreed to increase the pay to ^150 a year, and for a short time longer Millais continued his work. Finally, however, he gave it up, though offered far higher terms as an induce- ment to stay. Some forty years passed away, and one Sunday morning, after a long walk with Mr. Henry Wells, R.A., Millais accompanied him to his studio in Stratford Place. Noticing a peculiar expression in his face, Mr. Wells said, '' What are you looking at? You seem to know the place." "Know it!" said Millais, after a long pause, "I should think I do. Why, this is the very room in which Serjeant Thomas sweated me, and over there (pointing to one end of the studio) I still seem to see the palette I threw at his head, with the paint-mark it left on the wall paper as it slid slowly down to the floor." One of the most interesting relics of this period is the first cheque that the young artist received. It is for ^5 (" Pay to Master Millais for a sketch "), and signed by Serjeant Ralph Thomas, dated February 28th, 1846. The recipient seems to have been so delighted with this sudden acquisition of wealth that, instead of cashing the cheque at once, he sat down and made a sketch of himself in his painting dress on the back of it. It is now in the possession of Mr. Standen, the owner of " Cymon and Iphigenia." It was in the summer of 1846 that Millais first travelled down to Oxford, where he stayed with his half-brother, Henry Hodgkinson, who lived in that town. One of the people whose acquaintance he made there was a dealer in works of art named Wyatt a remarkable man in many 1846] MR. WYATT 35 ways, and one of nature's gentlemen. He took an imme- diate fancy to "Johnny Millais," and between the years 1846 and 1849 the young artist made frequent visits to Oxford as his guest. In a wing of his house was a certain room that Millais used to occupy, and on the glass window may still be seen two designs he made in oils, one representing " The Queen of / / -*v ^; 1562 ./,:./,.,,. 4/l_ 'u A. PHOTOGRAPH OF THE FIRST CHEQUE RECEIVED BY MILLAIS The young artist was so delighted at receiving this reward that he at once sat down and made the above sketch of himself on the back of the cheque Beauty," and the other " The Victorious Knight." At this period it seems he had quite a mania for drawing ; even at the dinner table he could not remain idle. When no one was looking he would take out a pencil and begin making sketches on whatever was nearest to his hand. " Take a piece of paper, Johnny," Mr. Wyatt would say, "take a piece of paper. We cannot have the tablecloth spoiled." "Johnny" was accordingly handed paper to relieve his superfluous energy, and the number of sketches done at table, and now in the possession of Mr. Standen (who 36 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS married Mr. Wyatt's granddaughter), bears witness to his ceaseless industry. Here, too, in 1846 he made the acquaintance of Mr. Drury, of Shotover, a quaint, benevolent old gentleman, who loved the fine arts and everything connected with them. He made a great pet of the young artist, and insisted on his accompanying him wherever he went in his pony-cart, EMILY MILLAIS (AFTERWARDS MRS. WALLACK). Circ. 1844 for being a huge man and a martyr to gout he could not move without his "trap." Nothing could exceed his kind- ness to Millais. He gave him a gun, and allowed him to shoot over his property and to make the place his home whenever he cared to come. There are several sketches by Millais of old Mr. Drury and himself taking their toddles together done just in a few lines, but (I am told by those who saw them at the time) highly characteristic. William Millais tells us something of Mr. Drury and 1846] MR. DRURY 37 his peculiar ways. He says, " My brother often went to stay at Shotover Park, and on one occasion I was invited there too for a fortnight. There was no one with Mr. Drury in the huge mansion except his niece, and we boys had the run of the place to our hearts' content, fishing and shooting wherever we liked. "It is not easy to forget my first impressions there. I TITLE-PAGE OF A BOOK OF POEMS. 1845 was informed by a stately old butler that ' Master Millais was engaged just then with the master.' I entered a darkened room, where the old invalid could just be seen sitting up in bed with a tallow dip in one hand and a square of glass in the other. He was moving the flame of the candle all over the under side of the greased surface of the glass, which was gradually becoming black with smoke ; on this sheet of glass my brother had drawn figures of angels in 38 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [.8 4 6- all positions. I had evidently entered at the supreme moment, for our host, catching sight of me, cried out, 'Ah, ah! we've got it ; you are just in time to see the New Jerusalem.' Upon examination, there really was a certain fascination about the appearance of this extraordinary ' Kalotype,' as he called it, but which might more appropriately have been called a 'tallow-type.' " The dear old man was under the morbid impression that all his relatives wished him dead, so as to inherit his fortune, and for this reason he made a large ' Kalotype ' of the sub- ject, which was most ghastly. I cannot describe it exactly, but remember that a coffin occupied the centre of the picture, whilst a regular scrimmage was going on all round. This design was carried out by mv brother under his directions. o J * I shall never forget Mr. Drury's kindness to us boys. He completely spoilt us. I used to sing a great deal, and he expressed the greatest delight at listening whilst I accom- panied myself on the organ in the large hall, where the gruesome 'Kalotype' occupied a conspicuous place." In 1847, competition being invited for cartoons for the decoration of Westminster Hall, Millais sent in a huge canvas which he called " The Widow's Mite." Except " Pizarro," it was the only picture that he ever executed on conventional lines, the figures in shadow being piled and grouped up to the culminating point, where Christ stands against a blaze of light, and addressing Himself to St. John, calls his attention to the woman's act of unselfishness. It was, however, voted " intellectually deficient, lacking the true note of grandeur when Millais was left to himself." This big canvas, which monopolised all the available space in his studio and occupied the young artist the greater part of the year, had as competitors the works of older and stronger men of the day G. F. Watts, Cope, Armitage, Sir John Tenniel, and others ; and I am told by a distinguished artist that " because she [the widow] holds by the hand a little nude child, it set the critics somewhat against the work, as displaying such ' bad taste.' ' For some years it was ex- hibited in the Pantheon in Oxford Street. Ten feet seven by fourteen feet three was not quite the thing for the "show parlours " of the day, so it was cut up and sold in bits. Mr. Spielmann says that one of these sections is now at Tynemouth and the other in the United States, but I have since heard that it was distributed in still smaller pieces. o w a >. H * O 1 Z . N a 1 8 4 9] SOME EARLY PICTURES 4 1 " Cymon and Iphigenia" (painted in 1847) was purchased by Mr. Wyatt in 1848, and the dealer was so pleased with it that he asked Millais to come down in the following year and paint a portrait of himself and his grandchild. This was accordingly done, and the portrait is now in the posses- sion of Mr. James Wyatt. * The picture, " Grandfather and Child," is interesting as showing the artist's transition from the technique of "Cymon" of the previous year to the more distinctly Pre-Raphaelite MR. DRURY AND MILLAIS TAKE THE AIR. 1848 and technically correct " Woodman's Daughter." A critic says of it : " The infinite patience and imitative skill in draughtsmanship, the brilliancy of execution, and the power of reproducing the brightness of sunlight, have manifestly been acquired before the lesson had been learned ot har- monious effect and of subordinating the parts to the whole. This portrait of Mr. Wyatt, the print and picture dealer and frame-maker of Oxford, who died in 1853. is unflinchingly true and as matter-of-fact, despite its character, as the flowers in the room and in the garden, or the family china in the * An excellent copy of this work, now in the possession of Mr. Standen, was made in 1850 by William Millais. Millais also painted Mrs. Wyatt and her child, and (in 1877) Mr. James Wyatt. JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1849 case behind him. It has all been set down with pitiless and remorseless solicitude. The quaint little Dutch doll-like child has received the painter's most earnest attention, and the head of Mr. Wyatt has been stippled up as carefully as that of Mr. Combe, at Oxford." Mr. Spielmann's account of the " Cymon " is not quite cor- rect, either as to its subject or its history. As to its subject, it is certainly not a " riotous dance," and its actual history is as follows: In the spring of 1852, when it was still in Mr. Wyatt's possession, Millais saw it and suggested some improvements, which the owner willingly allowed him to carry out. He took it back, therefore, to Gower Street, and having (as he says in a letter) "repainted the sky and touched up the grass and foliage, draperies and ef- fects," he returned it to Mr. Wyatt in the follow- ing December. For its subsequent history I am indebted to a letter from Mr. Standen, the present owner, who says : " When Mr. Wyatt died, in 1853, the best of his pictures and effects were sold at Christie's on July 4th, 1853, your father's picture of 'Cymon' figuring' largely in the catalogue. Mr. George Wyatt. the second son, bought it for himself, and gave 350 guineas for it. The picture was then taken to Newport, Isle of Wight, where he lived, and it remained there unseen till he died, in 1892. He left it to me by his will, together with many other interesting works." STUDY OF AN ACTOR Executed in Sadler's Wells Theatre, 1845 CHAPTER II. PRE-RAPHAEL1TISM : ITS MEANING AND ITS HISTORY First meeting of Hunt and Millais The pedantry of Art Hunt admitted to the R.A. They work together in Millais' studio Reciprocal relief The birth of Pre-Raphaelitism The name chosen The meeting of Hunt and D. G. Rossetti First gathering of the Brotherhood The so-called influence of Rossetti Millais explains The critics at sea D. G. Rossetti Ruskin Max Nordau The aims of Pre-Raphaelitism Cyclographic Club Madox Brown "The Germ " Millais' story. IN this chapter I propose to devote myself exclusively to the history and progress of the Pre-Raphaelite move- ment, with which Millais was so intimately connected in the early years of his life. Those therefore who are not interested in this subject will do well to pass on at once to Chapter III. In the art history of this century probably no movement has created so great a sensation as that which is commonly known as Pre-Raphaelitism. For years it was on every- body's tongue and in every newspaper of the day, and after the excitement it occasioned had died out numerous pens were engaged in tracing its history according to their lights ; but to this day the actual facts are known but to very few. I have them from the best possible authority the originators themselves, my father and Mr. Holman Hunt. How these two men first came together was graphically described to me in a long talk I had with Mr. Hunt shortly after my father's death. He said, "The first time I saw Millais was at the prize-giving at the R.A. in 1838. There was much speculation amongst the students as to who would gain the gold medal for a series of drawings from the antique, and it was generally considered that a man, thirty years of age, named Fox, would be the successful competitor. All voices were hushed when Mr. Jones mounted the steps and read out the name of 43 44 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1848- John Everett Millais. Immense cheering followed, and little Millais was lifted up at the back of the auditorium and carried on the shoulders of the students to the receiving desk. Fox, who only got the third prize, refused to get up when his name was called ; but the CHILDHOOD. 1845 YOUTH. 1845 students would not allow this : they made him go up and receive his medal." Later on Mr. Holman Hunt, who, though he had worked very hard, had failed to get into the Royal Academy, was drawing one day in the East Room by himself. " Suddenly," said he, "the doors opened, and a curly-headed lad came in and began skipping about the room ; by-and-by he 1852] PRE-RAPHAELITISM 45 danced round until he was behind me, looked at my drawing for a minute, and then skipped off again. About a week later I found the same boy drawing from a cast in another room, and returned the compliment by staring at Iiis drawing. Millais, who of course it was, turned round MANHOOD. 1845 suddenly and said, 'Oh, I say. you're the chap that was working in No. 12 the other day. You ought to be in the Academy.' "This led to a long talk, during which Millais said that he was much struck by the drawing which he had seen me working at, and that there was not the least doubt that if a drawing or two like that were shown for probationer- 46 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1848- ship, I should be admitted at once. When I asked what he thought was the best way of doing the drawings, he replied, ' Oh, I always do mine in line and stump, although it isn't conventional.' ' After this the two boys fell into a discussion on the conventionality and pedantry of art as displayed in the paintings of the day, aiid it was evident that in both their minds had sprung up a sense of dissatisfaction and the idea of rejecting what they considered to be false and stunted. A year went by. Mr. Hunt was admitted to the Royal Academy, and then had frequent opportunities for talking to his friend Millais. One evening, some two years later, it came out in the course of conversation that while Millais was painting the " Pizarro," already referred to, Mr. Hunt was engaged at home on a picture for exhibition at the British Institution a notable incident as marking the first occasion on which either artist painted a picture for exhibition. Another year passed, and the young artists were in the full swing of their work, Mr. Hunt painting hard at his "Por- phyro," and Millais at " Cymon and Iphigenia," a picture in which he seems to have been much influenced by Etty, the only man of the old school whom he really admired. After one of their many talks on originality in art, or rather the absence of it at that time, Millais said to Mr. Hunt, " It is quite impossible to get our pictures done in time for the Royal Academy, unless we sit up and work all night in the last week Let us paint together in my studio, and then we can encourage each other and talk over our ambitions." This was agreed upon, and from that time the two boys began to study side by side. How tremendously in earnest they were may be gathered from the fact that it was no un- common thing for them to work on far into the night, sometimes even till four or five in the morning ; this, too, night after night till the sending-in day. There are always some parts of a picture that an artist hates doing. After a month or two Millais got quite sick of painting the draperies of the girls in his picture ; so one evening he turned to his companion and said, " If you will do some of these beastly draperies for me, I '11 paint a head or two in your picture for you "-an offer that was at once accepted. In this way they relieved each other upon occasion, and it is curious to notice how alike their work was in those days; so much so, that when Hunt examined 3 3 HH ^ i8 5 2] PRE-RAPHAELITISM 49 the picture in the Millais Exhibition of 1898 he could not distinguish the parts he had painted. It was from these evening stances, and the confidence engendered by the free interchange of thought, that sprang the determination of these youths to leave the beaten track of art and strike out a new line for themselves. Raphael, the idol of the art world, they dared to think, was not altogether free from imperfections. His Cartoons showed this, and his " Transfiguration " still further betrayed the falsity of his methods. They must go back to earlier times for examples of sound and satisfactory work, and, rejecting the teaching of the day that blindly followed in his footsteps, must take Nature as their only guide. They would go to her, and her alone, for inspiration ; and, hoping that others would be tempted to join in their crusade against conventionality, they selected as their distinctive title the term " Pre-Raphaelites." " Each for the joy of the working, and each in his separate star, Shall draw the Thing as he sees It for the God of Things as They Are." " It was in the beginning of the year 1848," says Mr. Holman Hunt, "that your father and I determined to adopt a style of absolute independence as to art-dogma and con- vention : this we called ' Pre-Raphaelitism.' D. G. Rossetti was already my pupil, and it seemed certain that he also, in time, would work on the same principles. He had declared his intention of doing so, and there was beginning to be some talk of other artists joining us, although in fact some were only in the most primitive stages of art, such as William Rossetti, who was not even a student. " Meanwhile, D. G. Rossetti, himself a beginner, had not got over the habit (acquired from Madox Brown) of calling our art ' Early Christian ' ; so one day, in my studio, some time after our first meeting, I protested, saying that the term would confuse us with the German Ouattro Centists. I went on to convince him that our real name was ' Pre- Raphaelites,' a name which we had already so far revealed in frequent argument that we had been taunted as holding opinions abominable enough to deserve burning at the stake. He thereupon, with a pet scheme of an extended co-operation still in mind, amended my previous sugges- tion by adding to our title of ' Pre-Raphaelite ' the word ' Brotherhood.' ' i. 4 5 o JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1848 Hunt, it should be explained, first met Rossetti in the Royal Academy schools, where as fellow-students they occasionally talked together. Rossetti, however, was an intermittent attendant rather than a methodical student, and presently, wearying of the work, he gave it up and took to literature, hoping to make a living by his pen. Here again he was disappointed. His poems, charming as many of them were, did not meet with the wide acceptance he had hoped for, and in a fit of despondency he came to Hunt and begged him to take him into his studio. But Holman Hunt could not do this he was far too busy working for a livelihood, with little time to spare for the indulgence of his own taste as an artist ; but he laid down a plan of work to be followed by Rossetti in his own home, and promised to visit him there and give him all the help he could. Not satisfied with this, Rossetti betook himself to Maclox Brown, whose style of painting he admired, and who, he hoped, would teach him the technicalities of his art, while allowing him free play in all his fancies. Madox Brown, however, had been through the mill himself, and knew there was no short cut to success. So, much to the disgust of Rossetti, he set him to paint studies of still-life, such as pots, jugs, etc. By-and-by this became intolerable to a man of Rossetti's temperament, so he once more returned to Hunt, and begged him to take compassion on him ; and at last, moved by his appeal, Hunt consented. These are Hunt's words on the subject: "When D. G. Rossetti came to me he talked about his hopes and ideals, or rather his despair, at ever being able to paint. I, how- ever, encouraged him, and told him of the compact that Millais and I had made, and the confidence others had in our system. Rossetti was a man who enthusiastically took up an idea, and he went about disseminating our programme as one to be carried out by numbers. He offered himself first, as he knew that Millais had admired his pen-and-ink drawings. He then suggested as converts Collinson, his own brother William, who intended to take up art, and Woolner, the sculptor. Stephens should also be tried, and it struck him that others who had never done anything yet to prove their fitness for art reformation, or even for art at all, were to be taken on trust. Your father then invited us all to spend the evening in his studio, where he showed us engravings from the Campo Santo, and other PRE-RAPHAELITISM somewhat archaic designs. These being admired much by the new candidates, we agreed that it might be safe to accept the additional four members on probation ; but, in fact, it really never came to anything." The first meeting, at which terms of co-operation were seriously discussed, was held on a certain night in 1848, at Millais' home in Gower Street, where the young artist exhibited, as examples of sound work, some volumes of engravings from the frescoes of Benozzo Gozzoli, Orcagua, and others now in the Campo Santo at Pisa. " Now, look here, ' said Millais, speaking for himself and Hunt, who were both jealous of others joining them without a distinct understanding O of their object, " this is what the Pre-Raphaelite clique should follow." The idea was eagerly taken up, and then, or shortly afterwards, William Rossetti, Woolner, F. G. Stephens (now an Art critic), and James Collin- son joined the Brotherhood the P.-R. B., as it was now called. Arthur Hughes, Frederic Sandys, Noel Paton, Charles Collins, and Walter Deverell also sympathised with their aims, and were more or less working on the same lines. Coventry Patmore, the poet, although in close association with many of the Brotherhood, was not himself a mem- ber, as the association was strictly limited to working artists. Writing On this SUbjeCt in the Intended for The Germ. 1849 Contemporary Review of May, 1880, Mr. Holman Hunt says : " Outside of the enrolled body [the P.-R. B.] were several artists of real calibre and en- thusiasm, who were working diligently with our views guiding them. W. H. Deverell, Charles Collins, and Arthur Hughes may be named. It was a question whether any of them should be elected. It was already evident that to have authority to put the mystic monogram upon PENCIL DESIGN FOR PRE-RAPHAELITE ETCHING 52 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS 1848- their paintings could confer no benefit on men striving- to earn a position. We ourselves even determined for a time to discontinue the floating of this red rag before the eyes of infuriated John Bull, and we decided it was better to let our converts be known only by their works, and so nominally Pre-Raphaelitism ceased to be. We agreed to resume the open profession of it later, but the time had not yet come. I often read in print that I am now the only Pre-Raphaelite; yet I can't use the distinguishing letters, for I have no Brotherhood." And now perhaps I may as well give my father's version of the matter as gathered from his own lips in 1896, the year when he was elected as President of the Royal Academy. At that time the papers, of course, had much to say about his art life ; and, finding that some of them referred pointedly to D. G. Rossetti's influence on the style and character of his work, I asked him to tell me exactly what were his relations with Rossetti, and how far these comments were correct. "I doubt very much," he said, "whether any man ever gets the credit of being quite square and above-board about his life and work. The public are like sheep. They follow each other in admiring what they don't understand \Onnie ionotuni pro magnifico\, and rarely take a man at what he is worth. If you affect a mysterious air, and are clever enough to conceal your ignorance, you stand a fair chance of being taken for a wiser man than you are ; but if you talk frankly and freely of yourself and your work, as you know I do, the odds are that any silly rumour you may fail to contradict will be accepted as true. That is just what has happened to me. The papers are good enough to speak of me as a typical English artist ; but because in my early days I saw a good deal of Rossetti the mysterious and un-English Rossetti they assume that my Pre-Raphaelite impulses in pursuit of light and truth were due to him. All nonsense ! My pictures would have been exactly the same if I had never seen or heard of Rossetti. I liked him very much when we first met, believing him to be (as perhaps he was) sincere in his desire to further our aims Hunt's and mine but I always liked his brother William much better. D. G. Rossetti, you must understand, was a queer fellow, and impossible as a boon companion so dogmatic and so irritable when opposed. His aims and 2* o i8 5 2] PRE-RAPHAELITISM 55 ideals in art were also widely different from ours, and it was not long before he drifted away from us to follow his own peculiar fancies. What they were may be seen from his subsequent works. They were highly imaginative and original, and not without elements of beauty, but they were not Nature. At last, when he presented for our admiration the young women which have since become the type of Rossettianism, the public opened their eyes in amazement. 'And this,' they said, 'is Pre-Raphaelitism ! ' It was nothing of the sort. The Pre-Raphaelites had but one idea to present on canvas what they saw in Nature ; and such productions as these were absolutely foreign to the spirit of their work. "The only one of my pictures that I can think of as showing what is called the influence of Rossetti is the ' Isabella,' in which some of the vestments were worked out in accordance with a book of mediaeval costumes which he was kind enough to lend me. It was Hunt not Rossetti whom I habitually consulted in case of doubt. He was my intimate friend and companion ; and though, at the time I am speaking of, all my religious subjects were chosen and composed by myself, I was always glad to hear what he had to say about them, and not infrequently to act upon his suggestions. We were working together then, and constantly criticised each other's pictures." The friendly intercourse between Millais and D. G. Rossetti lasted but four years, from 1848 to 1852. From 1852 to 1854 they met occasionally, but alter that they rarely came into contact, and in 1856 even these casual meet- ings came to an end. One reads then with a smile such observations as this in Mr. Spielmann's Millais and his Works (1898) : "This is no time to examine the principles and the bearings of this oft-discussed mission of eclectics ; but it may at least be pointed out how clear a proof of what can be done by co-operation, even in art, are the achieve- ments of the school. Millais' great pictures of that period in many qualities really great are certainly the com- bination of the influence of others' powers besides his own. His is the wonderful execution, the brilliant drawing; but Dante Rossetti's perfervid imagination was on one side of him, and Holman Hunt's powerful intellect and resolution were on the other ; while, perhaps, the analytical mind of Mr. William Rossetti and the literarv outlook of Mr. 56 JOHN EVERETT MILLA1S [1848- F. G. Stephens were not without influence upon his work. In a few short years these supports w r ere withdrawn from Millais' art, in which we find the execution still, but where at least in tke same degree the intellect or the imagination ? ' The "supports," as Mr. Spielmann calls them, never exist- ed; and as to "intellect" and "imagination," is there nothing of these in "Ferdinand lured by Ariel," "Mariana," "The Blind Girl," " L'Enfant du Regiment," or " The Woodman's Daughter," with none of which had Rossetti any concern ? Indeed, as to the three last-named pictures, I think I am right in saying that Rossetti never saw them until they were hung on the Academy walls. The " Huguenot," too, and the " Ophelia " were seen but once by him when the paintings were in process, and that was at Worcester Park Farm, when he and Madox Brown called and expressed their approval. And now I leave it to my readers to say whether the "Isabella" (the only pure mediaeval subject) surpasses in point of design, execution, or sentiment such of Millais' later works as " The Rescue," " The Order of Release," " The Proscribed Royalist," or fifty others that could be named. My father hated humbug ; and if Rossetti had been the guiding spirit of his works, as certain critics represent, he would have been the first to acknowledge it.* It was the poetry of Nature that appealed to him the love, hope, sweetness, and purity that he found there and it was the passionate desire to express what he felt so deeply that spurred him on from the beginning to the end of his art life. The distinguishing characteristics of Pre - Raphaelite workers are well set forth by Mr. Kennedy in a recent article in that excellent magazine The Artist. He says, " The three chief members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brother- hood Rossetti, Millais, and Holman Hunt were men of personalities and endowments that were striking in the extreme born makers of epochs, men who, whatever the vocation that they had elected to follow, would undoubtedly have left shaping traces of their individualities upon it. " And, to set themselves to work in triple harness, they were a trio of a singular diversity of aims and of gifts ; one may add of destinies. Quite extraordinary was the dis- similarity between the kinds of success attained by each of them. Millais trod swiftly and straightly the path of popular * It is a significant fact that in my fathers letters of this period (1849-1853), the name of D. G. Rossetti is hardly ever mentioned. i8 5 2] PRE-RAPHAELITISM 57 approbation and academic honours, culminating finally in the highest dignity that the Royal Academy has to bestow. Rossetti and Holman Hunt, after the first, held themselves completely aloof from the Academy and all its works. Alike in this, how different were their fames in all else. During the larger portion of his working life Rossetti's achievements in painting were absolutely undreamed of by the larger public, were accessible only sparsely and with difficulty to his admirers even outside of a limited circle of patrons and private friends. To a good many, I fancy, Mr. Swinburne's Notes upon the Academy of 1865, de- scribing, amongst others, Sandys' ' Medea ' and Rossetti's ' Lilith,' contained the first intimation that Rossetti the poet was also Rossetti the painter. Holman Hunt, upon the other hand, had at one time a popular vogue at least as great as that of Millais, and his painted work excited emotions and enthusiasms of a more decided intensity. Those whose memories can be made to extend back to the period when ' The Finding of our Saviour in the Temple ' was being exhibited in the provinces, will recall the vividness of the impression that it made upon the religious public of its day. . . . They found in Holman Hunt's paintings something of a revelation. Its obvious sincerity, its intensity of conviction, its determined realisa- 'tion of the scene in every minutest detail of its setting, affected profoundly all who were capable of being deeply stirred by the subject depicted. " Millais was gifted with a sense of sight of crystalline clear- ness to which Nature made a perpetual and brilliant appeal ; he had a hand that, even in childhood, was singularly skilful to record the impressions of the eye. And his hand had been severely trained, first by the prescribed academic methods, and later by the minutely elaborate labour of his Pre-Raphaelite work, until it set down facts almost with the facility with which the eye perceived them. What, then, w r as Millais the Pre-Raphaelite doing in that particular galere ? How came this straightforward depictor of what he saw before him to link himself with idealists and dreamers of dreams ? It was probably the earnestness and the devotion to the nature of the movement that attracted the youthful Millais, and also the scope that its conscientious minuteness of finish afforded him for the display of his even then astonishing technical powers." JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1848- As to Rossetti, the fact is he was never a Pre-Raphaelite at heart. Himself a man of great originality, and a free- thinker in matters of Art, he was captivated by the inde- pendent spirit of the Brotherhood, and readily cast in his lot with them. But it was only for a time. By degrees their methods palled upon his taste, and not caring any longer to uphold them before the public, he broke away from his old associates, determined to follow the peculiar bent of his genius, which taught him not to go to Nature for his inspira- tions, but to follow rather the flights of his own fancy. His subsequent career is sufficient evidence of that. Only two PRE-RAPHAELITE SKETCH. 1850. Probably the artist's first idea of " Apple Blossoms " years after he first joined the Brotherhood, Mr. Hunt, who taught him all the technique he ever knew, got him to come down to Knole to paint a background straight from Nature whilst he overlooked and helped him. After two days, how- ever, Rossetti was heartily sick of Nature, and bolted back to London and its artificial life. In course of time the instruction he had received from Hunt began to bear fruit one sees this in his picture called "The Girlhood of the Virgin" and with further practice his art improved rapidly, and continued to do so as years went on. The great mistake that nearly all the critics make is in confounding Rossetti's later w r ork, which is imaginative, sincere, and entirely of his own conception, with his Pre- DESIGN OF A PICTURE OF "THE CANTERBURY PILGRIMS." 1850 ,8 5 2] PRE-RAPHAELITISM 61 Raphaelite work, of which he really did very little. They call his pictures such as "La bella mano," "Proserpine," "Venus Verticordia," "Dante and Beatrice," Pre-Raphaelite, which they are not in the very least. They belong to an entirely different school, which he himself founded, and which has since had such able exponents as Mr. Strudwick and Sir Edward Burne-Jones. A common mistake that critics make is in assuming that the Pre-Raphaelite movement owed its origin to Mr. Ruskin. Amongst other writers on the subject is Max Nordau, and his statements are for the most part entirely wrong. He attributes the origin of the Brotherhood to the teachings of Ruskin, but Holman Hunt and Millais were Pre-Raphaelites before Ruskin ever wrote a line on the subject. At the Academy one of Mr. Ruskin's admirers lent Hunt a copy of Modern Painters, and Hunt read it with enthusiasm, as partially embodying his own preconceived ideal of art. Millais, however, when asked to read the work, resolutely refused to do so, saying he had his own ideas, and, convinced of their absolute soundness, he should carry them out regard- less of what any man might say. He would look neither to the right nor to the left, but pursue unflinchingly the course he had marked out for himself. And so he did. Besides what my father has told me over and over again, I have it from Mr. Holman Hunt, his life-long friend, that he was never for a moment influenced by Ruskin's teachings. Mr. Ruskin, it is true, held Millais up as the shining light of the Pre-Raphaelites, and explained his pictures to the multitude according to his own ideas ; but that of course proves no more than that he admired my father's work, and approved what he believed to be the object of his aim. Probably no artist in England ever read less on art or on his own doings than did Millais. On rare occasions criticisms were forced upon his notice, and he read them ; but faith in himself and his own opinions was his only guide in determining what was good or bad in a picture, whether his own or that of another artist. When his work was done he banished all thought of it as far as possible, and when by chance his friend Ur. Urquhart, of Perth, called his attention to Max Nordau's statement that Ruskin was the originator and moving spirit of the Pre-Raphaelites in their early days, he indignantly denied it ; and, after reading the passages the next day, he wrote to Mrs. Urquhart a letter in which he 62 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [.8 4 s- gave a rough history of Pre-Raphaelitism, and characterised Nordau's remarks as " twaddling rubbish on a subject of which he knows absolutely nothing." Mr. Ruskin held that Art should be a great moral teacher, with religion as its basis and mainspring; but Millais, while agreeing with much of that critic's writings,* was never quite at one with him on this point. He certainly held that Art should have a great and abiding purpose, giving all its strength to the beautifying or ennoblement of whatever subject it touched, either sacred or secular ; but though himself at heart a truly religious man, he could not harp on one string alone, nor would his impulsive originality, absolutely untrammelled by the opinions of others, allow him to paint pictures in which he had no heart at the dictation of any man, however eminent. Holman Hunt, too, painted his religious pictures on the Ruskin lines really as the outcome of the high ideals he had set up for himself from the outset. " Truth and the free field of unadulterated Nature" was the motto of these originators. As Pope says, they "looked through Nature up to Nature's God," being sincere in their art, and reso- lutely determined to pursue it to its highest ends. In saying this I by no means lose sight of the fact that the Pre-Raphaelites one and all owed much to Mr. Ruskin for his championship of their cause when he came to the know- ledge of what they were striving to achieve. With an elo- quence to which probably no equal can be found in the annals of art criticism, he explained to an unsympathetic public the aim and objects of the Brotherhood, and it goes without saying that they were highly gratified by his championship. When too, later on, he turned round and abused some of Millais' best works as heartily as he had praised some others, the circumstance was regarded by Millais amongst others as merely one of the inconsistencies into which genius is apt to fall. No one ever doubted the sincerity of his motive. He expressed only what he believed to be right, and in so far as he was wrong he helped rather than injured the painter's fame. Before the Brotherhood was formally constituted, another association, called "The Cyclographic Club," came into existence, its object being to establish and circulate amongst * Millais knew nothing of Ruskin's writings until 1851, when a letter of his appeared in the Times. O- 3 jj '* ~ o 1 c a 06 ~ PH s o H Z H v. I8 5 2] PRE-RAPHAELITISM the members a kind of portfolio of art and criticism. Each member had to contribute once a month a black-and-white drawing, on the back of which the other members were to write critiques. This club, if it may be so called, was founded by N. E. Green, Burchell, and Deverell, and was afterwards joined by Millais, Hunt, Rossetti, and Arthur Hughes. In a contribution to The Letttrs of D. G. Rossetti to William Allingham Mr. Hughes says, " Millais, who was the only man amongst us who had any money, provided a nice green portfolio with a lock in which to keep the drawings. Millais did his drawing, and one or two others did theirs. Then the 'Folio' came to Rossetti, where it PRE-RAPHAELITE DRAWING FOR HIS "GERM." (Not used) stuck for ever. It never reached me. According to his wont, he (Rossetti) had at first been most enthusiastic over the scheme, and had so infected Millais witk his enthusiasm that he had at once ordered the case."* On this subject Mr. Hughes sends me the following note : " In connection with the circulating folio for designs, a few members of the Brotherhood met one evening at Rossetti's rooms at Chatham Placet Rossetti, Deverell, and myself * Mr. Holman Hunt says his "influence" is purely imaginary. Millais had the "enthusiasm" for designs in pen-and-ink, and liked to see what others did. Some of the drawings were in colour. He adds, " I don't think we ever had any meeting, and after about four peregrinations we (Millais, Hunt, and Rossetti) seceded, because the contributions were so poor and the portfolio never arrived." t This, I think, is a mistake, as Rossetti did not go to Chatham Place till 1853, when the Cyclographic Club had ceased to exist. Perhaps Mr. Hughes was thinking of the club which Lady Waterford and E. V. B. tried to organise. '5 66 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1848- and one other, perhaps, but I cannot remember. When Millais came in he asked if the folio had arrived from him. Yes, there it was. Then if Madox Brown had agreed to o join, and Rossetti told him that he resisted all persuasion, and would not. ; What a peevish old chap he is ! ' cried Millais. A little later he noticed that Deverell was smoking a cigarette, and earnestly exhorted him to give it up. Don't, Deverell, don't take to smoking ; it is frightfully injurious, it palls the faculties.' He himself succumbed later on ! " The Brotherhood, it may be mentioned, neither smoked, drank, nor swore, and that at a period when, as Thackeray has shown us, all Bohemia was saturated with tobacco, spirits, and quaint oaths. Millais, however, after attaining his " artistic puberty," as he called it, came to regard the pipe of peace as a friend and consoler when (as he some- times was) well-nigh distraught with his work. Out of the seven Pre-Raphaelite Brothers five were good men with their pens, and the Brotherhood being eager to defend the position they had taken up, were only too glad when, in 1849, it was proposed to start a magazine in support of their common creed. In the autumn of that year they met together in Mr. Hunt's room, in Cleveland Street, to arrange preliminaries with a view to early publication, when various plans and names for the magazine were discussed, and at last, on the suggestion of Mr. William Cave Thomas, it was decided to call it The Germ. Arrangements were then made with a publisher, pens and pencils were set agoing, and in 1849 the first number of the periodical appeared in print. Millais' share in this seems to have been limited to two or three illustrations, which are now in my possession. He took, however, a great interest in the work, and subsequently wrote a complete story for publication ; but, alas ! before the time for this arrived the magazine came to an end for lack of funds to keep it alive. Only four numbers ever appeared, and these are now so scarce that at a recent sale by auction a complete set fetched 100. I give here an illustration that was done by Millais for one of Rossetti's stories in this paper, but it was never published. In the Idler of March, 1898, Mr. Ernest Radford has some interesting notes on The Germ " the respiratory 1852] PRE-RAPHAELITISM 67 organ of the Brethren,"^ as he humorously calls it. It was edited, he tells us, by Mr. W. M. Rossetti, and printed by a Mr. G. F. Tupper, on whose suggestion the title was changed in the third number to the more common- place one of Art and Poetry ; and, besides many valuable illustrations, it comprised contributions in prose and poetry by the Rossettis (Christina and her two brothers), Madox Brown, F. G. Stephens, Coventry Patmore, Thomas Woolner, and various smaller lights. Millais, he says, "who never practised an art without mastering it . . . etched one plate in illustration of a poem by Rossetti, which DRAWING IN PENCIL Intended to illustrate a story by D. G. Rossetti in the fifth number of The Germ. This drawing Millais afterwards etched, and a few copies of the plate are in existence was to have graced the fifth number," but both etching and poem have disappeared. The drawing for the etching is, I fancy, amongst those in my possession. He also wrote a story for the paper, which would have appeared in the fifth number had the periodical survived so long. The following is a brief outline of the tale : A knight is in love with the daughter of a king who lived in a moated castle. His affection is returned, but the king swears to kill him if he attempts to see his lady-love. The lovers sigh for each other, but there is no opportunity for meeting till the winter comes and the moat is frozen over. * It was not of the "Brethren" only, others who were in sympathy with them also took part in the publication. 68 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1848-1852 The knight then passes over the ice, and, scaling the walls of the castle, carries off the lady. As they rush across the ice sounds of alarm are heard within, and at that moment the surface gives way, and they are seen no more in life. The old king is inconsolable. Years pass by, and the moat is drained ; the skeletons of the two lovers are then found locked in each other's arms, the water-worn muslin of the lady's dress still clinging to the points of the knight's armour. It seems from a letter of Rossetti's to W. B. Scott that, after the Cyclographic Club and The Germ had come to an end, Millais tried to found amongst the Pre-Raphaelite Brothers and their allies a sketching club, which would also include two ladies, namely, the beautiful Marchioness of Waterford and the Honourable Mrs. Boyle (then known as E. V. B.), both these ladies being promising artists, above the rank of amateurs ; but this scheme also fell through. CHAPTER III. "Lorenzo and Isabella" A prime joke "Christ in the home of His parents "- The onslaught of the critics Charles Dickens unfavourable Millais at work The newspapers send him to Australia The P.R.B. draw each other for Woolner The bricklayer's opinion The elusive nugget ''Ferdinand lured by Ariel" The ultra-cautious dealer Millais at the theatre painting portraits His sale of "Ferdinand" Mr. Stephens tells of his sittings for " Ferdinand's" head Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Combe Their kindness to Millais Millais' letters to the Combes His life in London The Collins family Letters about "The Woodman's Daughter" and "The Flood" ''Mariana" An obliging mouse -"The Woodman's Daughter" William Millais on the picture The artist's devotion to truth Ruskin on the Pre-Raphaelites He champions their cause His unreliability as a critic. MILLAIS' first big work in which he threw down the gauntlet to the critics, marking his picture with the hated P.R.B. signature, was "Lorenzo and Isabella," the subject being taken from Keats' paraphrase of Boccaccio's story : " Fair Isabel, poor simple Isabel ! Lorenzo, a young palmer in Love's eye. They could not in the self-same mansion dwell Without some stir of heart, some malady ; They could not sit at meals but feel how well It soothed each to be the other by ; They could not, sure, beneath the same roof sleep, But to each other dream and nightly weep." All the figures were painted from the artist's own friends and relations. Mrs. Hodgkinson (wife of Millais' half- brother) sat for Isabella ; Millais' father, shorn of his beard, sat for the man wiping his lips with a napkin ; William Rossetti sat for Lorenzo ; Mr. Hugh Fen is paring an apple ; and D. G. Rossetti is seen at the end of the table drinking from a long glass ; whilst the brother, spitefully kicking the clog, in the foreground, was Mr. Wright, an architect ; and a student named Harris. Mr. F. G. Stephens is supposed to have sat for the head which appears between the watching brother and his wineglass ; and a student 69 7 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1848 named Plass stood for the serving - man. Poor Walter Deverell is also there. Millais planned this work as late as November, 1848, and carried it on, as Mr. Holman Hunt says, "at a pace beyond all calculation," producing in the end "the most wonderful picture in the world for a lad of twenty." DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI Study for " Lorenzo and Isabella." 1848 And now let us see what the critics had to say about it. Frasers Magazine of July, 1849, was. to say the least, encouraging; witness the following critique: "Among the multitude of minor pictures at the Academy, nearly all of which, we are bound to say, exhibit more than an average degree of excellence, one stands out distinguished from the rest. It is the work of a vounor artist named Millais. whose * j ,8 49 ] "LORENZO AND ISABELLA" 73 name we do not remember to have seen before. The subject is taken from Keats' quaint, charming and pathetic poem, ' Isabella.' The whole family are seated at a table ; Lorenzo is speaking with timid adoration to Isabella, the conscious- ness of dependency and of the contempt in which he is held by her brothers being stamped on his countenance. The figures of the brothers, especially of him who sits nearest to the front, are drawn and coloured with remarkable power. The attitude of this brother, as his leg- is stretched out to kick O Isabella's dog, is vigorous and original. The colour of the picture is very delicate and beautiful. Like Mr. [Ford Madox] Brown, however, this young artist, although ex- hibiting unquestionable genius, is evidently enslaved by preference for a false style. There is too much mannerism in the picture ; but the talent of the artist will, we doubt not, break through it." And Mr. Stephens was still more complimentary. In the Grosvenor Gallery catalogue of the year 1886 he wrote : " Every detail, tint, surface texture, and substance, all the flesh, all the minutiae of the accessories were offered to the exquisitely keen sight, indefatigable fingers, unchangeable skill, and indomitable patience of one of the most energetic of painters. Such tenacity and technical powers were never, since the German followers of Durer adopted Italian prin- ciples of working, exercised on a single picture. Van Eyck did not study details of ' the life ' more unflinchingly than Millais in this case. The flesh of some of the heads, except so far as the face of ' Ferdinand ' and some parts of Holman Hunt's contemporaneous ' Rienzi,' were concerned, remained beyond comparison in finish and solidity until Millais painted the hands in ' The Return of the Dove to the Ark." But the critics were not all of this mind ; there was con- siderable diversity of opinion amongst them. Some were simply silent ; but of those who noticed the work at all the majority spoke of it in terms of qualified approval, regarding it rather as a tentative departure from the beaten track of Art than as the fruit of long and earnest conviction. By the general public it was looked upon as a prime joke, only surpassing in absurdity Mr. Holman Hunt's " Rienzi," which was exhibited at the same time, and was equally be- yond their comprehension. With a plentiful lack of wit, they greeted it with loud laughter or supercilious smiles, and in 74 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [,8 49 some instances even the proud Press descended to insults of the most personal kind. This, however, only stiffened Millais' resolution to proceed on his own lines, and to defend against all comers the principles on which the Brotherhood was founded. The picture was bought of the artist by three combined amateur dealers, who sold it to Mr. \Yindus, of Tottenham. After remaining with him some ten or twelve years Gambart bought it, and again sold it to Woolner, R.A. It is now in the possession of the Corporation of Liverpool. In the following year was exhibited the picture commonly known as "Christ in the Home of His Parents," but with no other title than the following quotation from Zechariah xiii. 6 : " And one shall say unto Him, What are these wounds in Thine hands? Then He shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends." It was painted on precisely the same principle as was that which had called forth the derision of the multitude, and as both Rossetti and Mr. Hunt exhibited at the same time important pictures of the same school, there could no longer be any doubt as to the serious meaning of the movement. Then, with one accord, their opponents fell upon Millais as the prime mover in the rebellion against established precedent. In the words of a latter-day critic, " Men who knew nothing of Art reviled Millais because he was not of the art, artistic. Dilettanti who could not draw a finger-tip scolded one of the most accomplished draughtsmen of the age because he delineated what he saw. Cognoscenti who could not paint rebuktcl the most brilliant gold medal student of the Royal Academy on account of his technical proceedings. Critics of the most rigid views belaboured and shrieked at an original genius, whose struggles and whose efforts they could not understand. Intolerant and tyrannical commentators condemned the youth of twenty because he dared to think for himself; and, to sum up the burden of the chorus of shame and false judgment, there was hardly a whisper of faith or hope, or even of charity nay, not a sound of the commonest and poorest courtesy vouchsafed to the painter of ' The Carpenter's Shop,' as, in utter scorn, this picture was originally and contumeliously called." What the Academy thought of it may be gathered from the words of the late F. B. Barwell : "I well remember Mulready, U.A., alluding to the picture some two years after its exhibition. He said that it had few admirers inside the i8 49 ] ONSLAUGHT OF THE CRITICS 75 Royal Academy Council, and that he himself and Maclise alone supported its claims to a favourable consideration." The picture itself, devotional and symbolic in intent, is too well known to need any description. The child Christ is seen in His father's workshop with blood flowing from His hand, the result of a recent wound, while His mother waits upon Him with loving sympathy. That is the main subject. And now let us see how it was treated by the Press. Blackwoods Magazine dealt with it in this wise : "We can hardly imagine anything more ugly, graceless, and unpleasant than Mr. Millais' picture of ' Christ in the Carpenter's Shop.' Such a collection of splay feet, puffed joints, and misshapen limbs was assuredly never before made within so small a compass. We have great difficulty in believing a report that this unpleasing and atrociously affecte-l picture has found a purchaser at a high price. Another specimen from the same brush inspires rather laughter than disgust." That was pretty strong ; but, not to be left behind in the race to accomplish the painter's ruin, a leading literary journal, whose Art critic, by the way, was a Royal Acade- mician, delivered itself in the following terms : " Mr. Millais in his picture without a name. (518), which represents a holy family in the interior of a carpenter's shop, has been most successful in the least dignified features of his presentment, and in giving to the higher forms, characters, and meanings a circumstantial art language from which we recoil with loath- ing and disgust. There are many to whom his work will seem a pictorial blasphemy. Great imaginative talents have here been perverted to the use of an eccentricity both lament- able and revolting." Another critic, bent on displaying his wit at the expense of the artist, said : " Mr. Millais' picture looks as if it had passed through a mangle. " And even Charles Dickens, who in o L> later years was a firm friend of Millais and a great admirer of his works, denounced the picture in a leading article in Household Words as "mean, odious, revolting, and repulsive." But perhaps the most unreasonable notice of all was the following, which appeared in the Times: "Mr. Millais' principal picture is, to speak plainly, revolting. The attempt to associate the holy family with the meanest details of a carpenter's shop, with no conceivable omission of misery, of dirt, of even disease, all finished with the same loathsome minuteness, is disgusting ; and with a surprising power of 7 6 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1849 imitation, this picture serves to show how far mere imitation may fall short, by dryness and conceit, of all dignity and truth." From these extracts it is easy to see what criticism was a generation ago. As Mr. Walter Armstrong says, " Not the faintest attempt is made to divine the artist's standpoint, and to look at the theme from his side. The writer does not accept the Pre-Raphaelite idea even provisionally, and as a means of testing the efficiency of the work it leads to. He merely lays down its creations upon his own procrustean bed, and condemns them en bloc because they cannot be made to fit. And this article in the Times is a fair example ORIGINAL DESIGN FOR "CHRIST IN THE HOUSE OF HIS PARENTS. (Four figures only) of the general welcome the picture met with. . . . Such criticism is mere scolding. When an artist of ability denies and contemns your canvas, to call him names is to confess their futility." In an interesting note on this picture Mr. Edward Benest (Millais' cousin) says, "During the three years I was working in London I was a frequent visitor to the Gower Street house. . . . From the intellectual point of view this picture may be said to be the outcome of the combined brains of the Millais family. Every little portion of the whole canvas was discussed, considered, and settled upon by the father, mother, and Johnnie (the artist) before a touch was placed on the canvas, although sketches had been made. Of course, coming frequently, I used to criticise too ; and if I suggested 1 849] MILLAIS AT WORK 77 any alteration, Johnnie used to say in his determined way, ' No, Ned ; that has been all settled by us, and I shan't alter it.' " Everything in that house was characteristic of the great devotion of all to the young artist ; and yet he was in no way spoilt. Whilst he was at work his father and mother sat beside him most of the time, the mother constantly reading to him on every imaginable subject that interested SKETCH FOR "CHRIST IN THE HOUSE OF HIS PARENTS" the boy, or stopping to discuss matters with him. The boy himself, whilst working, joined freely and cleverly in any conversation that was going on ; and once when I asked him how he could possibly paint and talk at the same time, and throw such energy into both, he said, tapping his fore- head, ' Oh, that 's all right. I have painted every touch in my head, as it were, long ago, and have now only to transfer it to canvas.' The father a perfect optimist when unable to help in any other way, would occupy himself by 78 JOHN EVERETT M1LLAIS [,849 pointing all Johnnie's pencils or playing whole operas on the flute. This instrument he played almost as well as any professional. " The principal point of discussion with regard to the ' Carpenter's Shop ' related to the head of the Virgin Mary. At first, as his sketches show, she was represented as being kissed by the child Christ ; but this idea was presently altered to the present position of the figures, and the mother is now shown embracing her Son. These two figures were constantly painted and repainted in various attitudes, and finished only a short time before the picture was exhibited. The figure, too, of St. John carrying a bowl of water was inserted at the last moment." The picture, when finished (not before), was sold for ^150 to a dealer named Farrer, whose confidence in the young artist was amusingly displayed by pasting on the back of it all the adverse criticisms that appeared. The models for this picture were as follows : the Virgin Mary, Mrs. Henry Hodgkinson, the Christ, Noel Humphreys (son of an architect), John the Baptist, Edwin Everett (an adopted child of the Mr. Everett who married Millais' aunt), and the apprentice H. St. Ledger. In painting it, Millais was so determined to be accurate in every detail, that he used to take the canvas down to a carpenter's shop and paint the interior direct from what he saw there. The figure of Joseph he took from the carpenter himself, saying that it was " the only way to get the development of the muscles right"; but the head was painted from Millais' father. His great difficulty was with the sheep, for there were no flocks within miles of Gower Street. At last, only a few days before the picture had to be sent in to the Royal Academy, he went to a neighbouring butcher's, where he bought two sheep's heads with the wool on, and from these he painted the flock. There is a good story about these Pre-Raphaelite days that I am tempted to introduce here in contrast with the graver portion of this chapter. Gold-digging is hardly an adventure in which I should have expected my father to engage ; but the papers, of course, must be right, and in 1886 one of them (an Edinburgh evening journal) announced that at a certain period in the fifties Millais was travellino- in Australia in company with Woolner, the sculptor, and the present Prime Minister of E no-land, and for some time ,8 49 ] THE BRICKLAYER'S OPINION 81 worked with his own hands in the Bendigo gold-diggings. None of us at home had even heard of this before ; but there it was in print, and presently every tit-bitty paper in the country repeated the tale with all the rhetorical adorn- ment at the command of the writer. " The frenzied energy of gold-seekers " was one of the phrases that specially pleased us, and we never failed to throw it at my father's head whenever he was in a bit of a hurry. And still the tale goes on. Quite recently the familiar old story appeared again in an Australian paper, the writer observing that no biography of the deceased artist would be complete without an account of his experiences in the southern goldfields. It seems a pity to prick this pretty bubble ; but as a matter of fact my father was never in the goldfields, and through the fifties he was hard at work at home. It was Woolner alone who went in search of the elusive nugget, but presently returned to his art work in England, richer rather in experience than in solid gold. Of one of the evening meetings in Woolner's absence Mr. Arthur Hughes obliges me with the followino- note: O O Z3 "\Yhile Woolner was in Australia his Pre-Raphaelite Brothers agreed to draw one another and send the draw- ings out to him ; and one day, when two or three of them were about this at Millais' house, Alexander Munro, the sculptor, chanced to call. Millais, having finished his Pre- Raphaelite Brotherhood subject, got Munro to sit, and drew him, and afterwards accompanied him to the door with the drawing in his hand, to which Munro was making some critical objection that Millais did not agree with. There happened to be passing at the time a couple of rough brick- layers, fresh from their work short pipes and all. To them Millais suddenly reached out from the doorstep and seized one, to his great surprise, and there and then con- stituted them judges to decide upon the merits of the likeness, while Munro, rather disconcerted, had to stand in the street with his hat off for identification. A most amusing scene ! " Mr. F. G. Stephens tells us something further about these portraits and the final Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood meetings. He writes : "It was in the Gower Street studio that in 1853 the variously described meeting of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood then in London occurred in order that the artists present might send as souvenirs to Woolner, then i. 6 82 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [,8 49 - in Australia, their portraits, each drawn by another. Millais fell to me to be drawn, and to him I fell as his subject. Unhappily for me, I was so ill at that time that it was with the greatest difficulty I could drag myself to Gower Street ; more than that, it was but the day before the entire ruin of my family, then long impending and long struggled against in vain, w r as consummated. I was utterly unable to continue the sketch I began. I gave it up, and Mr. Holman Hunt, who had had D. G. Rossetti for his vis-a-vis and sitter, took my place and drew Millais' head. The head which Millais drew of me is now in my possession, the gift of Woolner, to whom it was, with the others, sent to Sydney, whence he brought the whole of the portraits back to England. My portrait, which by the way is a good deal out of drawing, attests painfully enough the state of health and sore trouble in which I then was. This meeting was one of the latest "functions" of the Pre- Raphaelite Brotherhood in its original state. Collinson had seceded, and Woolner emigrated to the " diggings " in search of the gold he did not find. Up to that time the old affectionate conditions still existed among the Brothers, but their end was near. Millais was shooting on ahead; Mr. o Holman Hunt was surely, though slowly, following his path towards fortune ; D. G. Rossetti had retired within himself, and made no sign before the world ; W. M. Rossetti was rising in Her Majesty's service ; and I was being continuedly drawn towards that literary work which brought me bread. None of the six had, however, departed from the essentials of the Pre-Raphaelite faith which was in him." " Ferdinand lured by Ariel," painted in 1849, was another important picture that warred with the prevailing sentiment of the day, its high finish in every detail and the distinctly original treatment of the subject tending only to kindle anew the animosity of the critics against Millais and the principles he represented. Even the dealer for whom it was painted as a commission for ^100 refused to take it, and when, later on, it was exhibited at the Academy (now the National Gallery), it was ignominiously placed low down in a corner of one of the loner rooms. ^> This shameless breach of contract on the part of the dealer was a bitter disappointment to the young artist, for he could ill afford to keep his pictures long in hand. His parents, never well off, had given up everything for is 5 o] SALE OF "FERDINAND" 83 "Jack," and determined that he should lack for nothing that could in anywise tend to his advancement, and for the last four years ever since he was sixteen years of age he had striven hard to requite their kindness, supplying, as he did from the profits of his work, the greater part of the household expenses at Gower Street. To eke out his precarious income he often went to theatres, where he could earn small sums by making sketches of the actors and actresses ; but as he seldom got more than a couple of sovereigns for a finished portrait, this loss of ^100 was a matter of no small moment to his family as well as himself. But now another chance for the sale of " Ferdinand " presented itself. Mr. Frankum, an appreciative friend, brought to the studio a stranger who admired it greatly, and made so many encouraging remarks that Millais felt sure he would buy it. To his disappointment, however, no offer was made. The visitors went away, and he dole- fully took up the picture to put it back in its accustomed place, when, to his joy and amazement, he found underneath it a cheque for ^"150! It was Mr. Richard Ellison, of Sudbrook Holme, Lincolnshire, a well-known connoisseur, whom Mr. Frankum had brought with him, and he had quietly slipped in this cheque unperceived by the artist. The picture has since been successively in the hands of Mr. Wyatt, of Oxford, Mr. Woolner, K.A. (who made quite a little fortune by buying and selling the Pre-Raphaelite pictures), and Mr. A. C. Allen, and is now in the possession of Mr. Henry Makins. From one of his letters to Mr. Wyatt (December, 1850) it seems that Millais made some slight alterations in, or additions to, the work after it had been sold to Mr. Ellison, for he took it again down to Oxford and worked once more upon the background, leaving it to dry the while in the possession of his friend Mr. Wyatt. As to its merits, I need only quote the opinion of Mr. Stephens, who sat for " Ferdinand." In a recent notice of the work he says : " Although the face is a marvel of finish, and unchangeable in its technique, it was begun and com- pleted in one sitting. Having made a very careful drawing in pencil on the previous day, and transferred it to the picture, Millais, almost without stopping to exchange a word with his sitter, worked for about five hours, put clown his brushes, and never touched the face again. In execution it 8 4 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1849- is exhaustive and faultless. Six-and-thirty years have not harmed it." In a letter to me Mr. Stephens gives some further details about the picture and his sittings for it. He says : " My intimacy with Millais, of course, took a new form with this brotherly agreement [of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood], and it was probably in consequence of this that I sat to him for the head of the Prince in the little picture of ' Ferdinand lured by Ariel,' which, being painted in 1849- 50, was at the Academy in 1850, and is the leading example of Pre- Raphaelitism. "According to Millais, each Brother worked according to his own lights and the general views of the Brother- hood at that time. Such being the case, I may describe the manner of the artist in this par- ticular instance. In the summer and autumn of 1849 he executed the whole of that wonderful background, the de- lightful figures of the elves and Ariel, and he sketched in the Prince himself. The whole was done upon a pure white ground, so as to obtain the greatest brilliancy of the pigments. Later on my turn came, and in one lengthy sitting Millais drew my most un-Ferclinand- like features with a pencil upon white paper, making, as it was. a most exquisite drawing of the highest finish and exact fidelity. In these respects nothing could surpass this jewel of its kind. Something like it, but softer and not quite so sculpturesque, exists in the similar study Millais FIRST SKETCH FOR "FERDINAND LURED BY ARIEL." 1850 " FERDINAND LURED BY ARIEL" 18 By permission of Mr. Henry Makins. i8 5 o] MR. STEPHENS AS "FERDINAND" 87 made in pencil for the head of Ophelia, which I saw not long ago, and which Sir W. Bowman lent to the Grosvenor Gallery in 1888. " My portrait was completely modelled in all respects of form and light and shade, so as to be a perfect study for the head thereafter to be painted. The day after it was executed Millais repeated the study in a less finished manner upon the panel, and on the day following that I went again to the studio in Gower Street, where ' Isabella ' and similar pictures were painted. From ten o'clock to nearly five the sitting continued without a stop, and with scarcely a word between the painter and his model. The clicking of his brushes when they were shifted in his palette, the sliding of his foot upon the easel, and an occasional sigh marked the hours, while, strained to the utmost, Millais worked this extraordinary fine face. At last he said, ' There, old fellow, it is done ! ' Thus it remains as perfectly pure and as brilliant as then- fifty years ago and it now remains unchanged. For me, still leaning on a stick and in the required posture, I had become quite unable to move, rise upright, or stir a limb till, much as if I were a stiffened lay- figure, Millais lifted me up and carried me bodily to the dining-room, where some dinner and wine put me on my feet again. Later the till then unpainted parts of the figure of Ferdinand were added from the model and a lay-figure. "It was in the Gower Street studio that Millais was wont, when time did not allow of outdoor exercises, to perform surprising feats of agility and strength. He had, since we first met at Trafalgar Square, so greatly developed in tallness, bulk, and manliness that no one was surprised at his progress in these respects. He was great in leaping, and I well re- member how in the studio he was wont to clear my arm outstretched from the shoulder that is, about five feet from the ground- at one spring. The studio measures nineteen feet six inches by twenty feet, thus giving him not more than fourteen feet run. Many similar feats attested the strength and energy of the artist." And now I must introduce two old friends of my father, whose kindness and generosity to him in his younger days made a deep and lasting impression upon his life. In 1848, when he first became acquainted with them, Mr. Thomas Combe was the Superintendent of the Clarendon Press at Oxford a man of the most cultivated tastes, and highly 88 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [.8 49 respected and beloved by every member of the University with whom he came into contact and his w r ife was a very counterpart of himself. Millais was staying at Oxford at the time, engaged in painting the picture of Mr. Wyatt and his granddaughter referred to in an earlier portion of this chapter, and the Combes, who were among the first to recognise and encourage the efforts of the Pre-Raphaelite School, took him under their wing, treating him with almost parental consideration. In 1849 he returned to Oxford, and stayed with them while painting Mr. Combe's portrait, and from that time they became familiar friends, to whom it was always a pleasure to write. The following letters, kindly placed at my disposal by Mrs. Combe, serve to illustrate his life at this period. Mr. Combe, it must be understood, Millais commonly referred to as "The Early Christian"; Mrs. Combe he addressed as " Mrs. Pat." To Mrs. Combe. " 17, HANOVER TERRACE, REGENT'S PARK, "November i^th, 1850. " MY DEAR MRS. PAT, Our departure was so velocitous that I had no time or spirits to express my thanks to you before leaving for your immense kindness and endurance of all whimsicalities attached to my nature. I scribble this at Collins' house, being totally incapable of remaining at my own residence after the night's rest and morning's ' heavy blow ' of breakfast. The Clarendonian visit, the Bottleyonian privations, and Oxonian martyrdoms have wrought in us (Collins and myself) such a similar feeling that it is quite impracticable to separate. I had to go through the exceedingly difficult task of performing the dramatic traveller's return to his home embracing fero- ciously and otherwise exulting in the restoration to the bosom of my family. I say I had to ' perform ' this part, because the detestation I hold London in surpasses all expression, and prevents the possibility of my being pleased to return to anybody at such a place. Mind, I am not abusing the society, but the filth of the metropolis. " Now for a catalogue of words to express my thanks to you and Mr. Combe. I have not got Johnson's dictionary ,8 5 o] CORRESPONDENCE 89 near me, so I am at a loss. Your kindness has defeated the possibility of ever adequately thanking you, so I will con- clude with rendering- my mother's grateful acknowledgments. " Remember me to all my friends, and believe me, "Yours most sincerely, "JOHN E. MlLLAIS." Note. The " Bottleyonian privations" refer to the hard fare on which Millais and Charles Collins subsisted at the cottage of Mrs. King, at Botley, whilst the former was painting " The Woodman's Daughter." Mrs. Combe's motherly kindness to the two young artists is thus referred to by Dr. Birkbeck Hill in his book on the Rossetti letters : " I have heard Mrs. Combe relate a story how Millais and Collins, when very young men, once lodged in a cottage nearly opposite the entrance of Lord Abingdon's park close to Oxford. She learnt from them that they got but poor fare, so soon afterwards she drove over in her carriage, and left for them a large meat-pie. Millais, she added, one day said to Mr Combe, ' People had better buy my pictures now, when I am working for fame, than a few years later, when I shall be married and working for a wife and children.' It was in these later years that old Linnell exclaimed to him, ' Ah, Mr. Millais, you have left your first love, you have left your first love ! ' ' To the same. " 83. GOWER STREET, BEDFORD SQUARE, "December 2nd, 1850. " MY DEAR MRS. PAT, First I thank you most intensely for the Church Service. The night of its arrival I read the marriage ceremony for the first time in my life, and shall look upon every espoused man with awe. " I am delighted to hear that you are likely to visit Mrs. Collins during the 1851 Exhibition, as you will meet with a most welcome reception from that lady, who is all lovingkindness. "My parents are likely to be out of town at that time. My mother, not having left London for some years, prefers visiting friends in Jersey and in familiar localities in France to remaining in the metropolis during the tumult and excite- 9 o JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1850 ment of 1851. I hope, however, on another occasion you will have the opportunity of knowing them, in case they should be gone before you are here. " Every Sunday since I left Oxford Collins and I have spent together, attending Wells Street Church. I think you will admit (when in town) that the service there is better performed than any other you have ever attended. \\Y met there yesterday morning a University man of our acquaintance who admitted its superiority over Oxford or Cambridge I am ashamed to say that late hours at night and ditto in the morning are creeping again on us. Now and then I make a desperate resolution to plunge out of bed when called, which ends in passively lying down again. A late breakfast (I won't mention the hour) and my lay- figure [artist's dummy] stares at me in reproving astonish- ment as I enter my study. During all this time I am so powerlessly cold that 1 am like a moving automaton. The first impulse is to sit by my stove, which emits a delicious, genial, unwholesome, feverish heat, and the natural course of things brings on total incapacity to work and absolute laziness. In spite of this I manage to paint three hairs on the woodman's little o-irl's head or two freckles on her face ; o and so lags the day till dark, by which time the room is so hot, and the glue in the furniture therein so softened by the warmth, that the chairs and tables are in peril of falling to pieces before my lace. . . . But I, like the rest of the furniture, am in too delicate a state to be moved when the call for dinner awakens the last effort but one in removing my body to the table, where the last effort of all is required to eat. " This revives just strength enough to walk to Hanover Terrace in a night so cold that horses should wear great- coats. Upon arriving there I embrace Collins, and vice versa; Mrs. Collins makes the tea, and we drink it; we then adjourn upstairs to his room and converse till about twelve, when we say good-night, and again poor wretched 'Malay' [he was always called 'Mr. Malay' wherever he went] risks his life in the London Polar voyage, meeting no human beings but metropolitan policemen, to whom he has an obscure intention of giving a feast of tea and thicker bread and butter than that given by Mr. Hales, of Oxford, in acknowledgment of his high esteem of their services. At one o'clock in the morning it is too severely cold for anything i8 5 o] CORRESPONDENCE 91 to be out but a lamp-post, and I am one of that body. [An occult reference to his slim ness.] " Respecting my promised visit at Christmas, if nothing happens to prevent me I shall certainly be with you then. Shall probably come the night before, and leave the night after. "I have entirely settled my composition of "The Flood," and shall commence it this week. I have also commenced the child's head in the wood scene. " I have, as usual, plenty of invitations out, all of which I have declined, caring no more for such amusements. It is useless to tell you that I am miserable, as this letter gives you my everyday life. " Remember me to Mr. Combe most sincerely, and to all about you, and believe me to remain, " Ever your affectionate friend, "JoHN EVERETT MILLAIS." In these days he frequently referred to and made fun of his extreme slimness, as to which William Millais writes : " My brother, up to the a^e of twenty-four, was very slight in figure, and his height of six feet tended to exaggerate the tenuity of his appearance. He took pleasure in weighing himself, and was delighted with any increase of weight. I remember when he went to Winchelsea in 1854 to paint the background for the ' Blind Girl/ whilst waiting for a fly at the railway station we were weighed. I just turned twelve stone, and when my brother went into the scales the porter was quite dumbfoundered when three stone had to be ab- stracted before the proper balance was arrived at. ' Ah ! you may well look, my man,' said my brother ; ' I ought to be going about in a menagerie as a specimen of a living paper- knife.' We all know how that state of things was altered in after years ; he might have gone back to his menagerie as a specimen of fine manly vigour and physique." 7o Mr. Combe. " 83, GOWER STREET, BEDFORD SQUARE, "December \6th, 1850. " DEAR EARLY CHRISTIAN, I w r as extremely surprised and delio-hted at your letter. The kind wish therein that I might th, 1850. " MY DEAR MRS. COMBE, The last return was more hurried than the first. I found my portmanteau, when at the station, unstrapped and undirected. We, however, got over those difficulties, and arrived safely. I recollect now that we did not say a farewell word to Mr. Hackman ; also forgot to ask you and Mr. Combe to give a small portion of your hair for the rings, there being a place for that purpose. Pray send some for both. " It is needless to say our relatives are somewhat surprised at your kind presents. They are universally admired. I am 94 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1851 deep in the mystery of purchasing velvets and silk draperies for my pictures [' Mariana ' and ' the Woodman's Daughter ' The shopman simpers with astonishment at the request coming from a male biped. I begin to long for these toil- some three months to pass over; I am sure, except on Sundays, never to go out in the daylight again for that time. " I have seen Charley Collins every night since, and see him again to-night/ We go to a dancing party to- morrow : at least it is his desire, not mine. The days draw- in so early now that it is insanity to stay up late at night, and get up at eleven or twelve the next morning. I wish you were here to read to me. None of my family will do that. [In those days he liked being read to whilst at his work, his mother having done so for years.] "Get the Early Christian, in his idle moments, to design the monastery and draw up the rules . . . and believe me always Your affectionate friend, "Jonx EVERETT MILLAIS." To the same. " 83, GOWER STREET, "January \*>th, 1851. " MY DEAR MRS. PAT, I have been so. much engaged since I received your letter that I had no time to write to you. ... I saw Carlo last night, who has been very lucky in persuading a very beautiful young lady to sit for the head of ' The Nun.' She was at his house when I called, and I also endeavoured to obtain a sitting, but was unfortunate, as she leaves London next Saturday. " I have progressed a little with both my pictures, and completed a very small picture of a bridesmaid who is passing the wedding-cake through the ring nine times.* I have not yet commenced 'The Flood,' but shall do so this week for certain. " Believe me, wishing a happy new year to both of you, " Yours most affectionately, "JoHN EVERETT MILLAIS." * "The Bridesmaid," now in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. i8 5 i] CORRESPONDENCE 97 The folio winor letter is characteristic as showing- Millais' careful regard to details. The materials asked for were for use in painting " The Woodman's Daughter." To Mr. Combe. " 83, GOWER STREET, "January 2%th, 1851. " MY DEAR MR. COMBE, You have doubtless wondered at not hearing from me, but want of^ subject must be my excuse. " I have got a little commission for you to execute for me. You recollect the lodge at the entrance of Lord Abingdon's house, where I used to leave my picture of the Wood [' The Woodman's Daughter ']. Well, in the first cottage L, j _J ^5 there is a little girl named Esther ; would you ask the mother to let you have a pair of her old walking-boots ? I require them sent on to me, as I wish to paint them in the wood. I do not care how old they are ; they are, of course, no use without having been worn. Will you please supply the child with money to purchase a new pair ? I shall settle with you when I see you in the spring. If you should see a country-child with a bright lilac pinafore on, lay strong hands on the same, and send it with the boots. It must be long, that is, covering the whole underdress from the neck. I do not wish it new, but clean, with some little pattern pink spots, or anything of that kind. If you have not time for this task, do not scruple to tell me so. " ' The Flood ' subject I have given up for this year, and have substituted a smaller composition a little larger than the Wood. The subject is quite new and, I think, fortunate ; it is the dove returning to the Ark with the olive-branch. I shall have three figures Noah praying, with the olive-branch in his hand, and the dove in the breast of a young girl who is looking at Noah. The other figure will be kissing the bird's breast. The background will be very novel, as I shall paint several birds and animals one of which now forms the prey to the other. " It is quite impossible to explain one's intentions in a letter ; so do not raise objections in your mind till you see it finished. I have a horrible influenza, which, however, has ! 7 98 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [,s 5 i not deterred me from the usual % heavy blow ' walks with Fra Carlo. ... I thought I had forgotten something the shields which you most kindly offered to do for me. I was not joking when I hinted to you that I should like to have them. If you are in earnest I shall be only too glad to hang them round my room, for I like them so much better than any paper, that when I have a house of my own you shall see every room decorated in that way. . . . "Yours devotedly, "JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS." " The Flood " subject (a subject altogether different from that of another picture called "A Flood," painted by the artist in 1870) was never completed as an oil picture, although he made a finished drawing of it, which is now in my possession, having been given to me by my mother. As will be seen from his letter to Mr. Combe, " The Return of the Dove to the Ark" (otherwise known as "The Daughters of Noah," or "The Wives of the Sons of Noah") had the first place in his mind, and eventually he painted it at the house in Gower Street. It represents two girls (supposed to be inmates of the Ark) clad in simple garments of green and white, and caressing the dove. The picture was shown in the Academy of 1851, along with "The Wood- man's Daughter" and "Mariana," and was next exhibited in Paris in 1855 with "The Order of Release" and " Ophelia," when, says Mr. Stephens, " the three works attracted much attention and sharp discussion, which greatly extended Millais' reputation." It was again shown in the International Exhibition of 1862, as were also "Apple Blossoms," " The Order of Release," and " The Vale of Rest " ; and by Mr. Combe's will it has now become the property of the University of Oxford. On this subject my uncle, William Millais, writes : " The unbiased critic must be constrained to admit that if there is one thing to criticise in the paintings in these days of his glorious youth, it is the inelegance of one or two of the figures. The girls in ' The Return of the Dove ' and ' Mariana ' are the two most noticeable examples, and I have heard the artist admit as much himself. The head of the little girl in ' The Woodman's Daughter,' which was altered after many years much for the worse, was in its original state i8 S i] CORRESPONDENCE 99 distinctly charming, although rustic. It was only at the instance of the owner, his half-brother Henry Hodgkinson, that he at last consented to repaint (and spoil) to a con- siderable extent the whole picture for a slight inaccuracy in the drawing of one head and the arm and boots of the girl. It was a very great misfortune, for the work of the two periods has not ' blended ' as they have done so successfully in ' Sir Isumbras.' ' Millais' life in 1851, his hopes and ambitions, the pictures he painted, what was said of them and what became of them, are perhaps best related by himself in the following letters: To Mrs. Combe. "83, GOWER STREET, BEDFORD SQUARE, "February io//z, 1851. " MY DEAR MRS. PAT, The brevity with which my troublesome request was executed astonished me, and I return you all the thanks due to so kind an attention. The pinafore will do beautifully, as also the boots. The ' Lyra Innocentium " I brought from Oxford at Christmas-time. I have given Collins the one directed for him. To-night I commence for the first time this year evening work which lasts till twelve, and which will continue for the next few months. I am now progressing rapidly ; the ' Mariana ' is nearly completed, and, as I expected, the gentleman to whom I promised the first refusal has purchased it. The Wood scene is likewise far advanced, and I hope to commence the Noah the latter part of this week. " I have had lately an order to paint St. George and the Dragon for next year. It is a curious subject, but I like it much, as it is the badge of this country. " I see Charley every night, and we dine alternate Sundays at each other's houses. To-night he comes to cheer me in my solitude. I give up all invitations, and scarcely ever see anybody. Have still got my cold, and do not expect that tenacious friend will take any notice of the lozenge warnings. . . . There is at this moment such a dreadful fog that I cannot see to paint, so I devote this leisure hour to you. Remember me affectionately to the Early Christian, and believe me most affectionately yours, "JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS." ioo JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [,8 5 i To Mr. Combe. " 83, GOWER STREET, "April ist, 1851. " MY DEAR MR. COMBE, I am sure you will never have cause to regret purchasing ' The Dove.' It is considered the best picture of the three by all the artists, and is preferred for the subject as well. It will be highly finished to the corners, and I shall design (when it returns from the Academy) a frame suitable to the subject olive leaves, and a dove at each corner holding the branch in its mouth. " I have designed a frame for Charles' painting of ' Lilies,' which, I expect, will be acknowledged to be the best frame in England. To get ' The Dove ' as good as possible, I shall have a frame made to my own design. " With regard to your remark on the payment, rest assured that when it suits you it suits me. If you had not got the picture a gentleman from Birmingham had decided on having it. One of the connoisseurs has made an offer to Mr. Farrer for the ' Mariana,' which he has declined, being determined to keep my paintings. This from such a dealer as Farrer, the first judge of art in England, proves the investment on such pictures to be pretty safe. " As soon as the pictures get into the Academy I shall be at leisure to give an account to Mrs. Pat of my later struggles. " Believe me, very sincerely yours, "JoHN EVERETT MILLAIS." To the same. " 83, GOWER STREET, "April \yh, 1851. " MY DEAR MR. COMBE, You must be prepared to see an immense literary assault on my works ; but I fancy some papers will give me all the credit the others withhold. To tell you the truth, artists know not what course to follow whether to acknowledge the truth of our style, or to stand out against it. Many of the most important have already (before me) admitted themselves in the wrong men whose reputation would suffer at the mention of their names ! i8 S .] CORRESPONDENCE 101 " I would not ask anything for the copyright, as the en- graving will cost nearly five hundred pounds. That in itself is a great risk, particularly as it is the first I shall have en- graved. I shall not permit it to be published unless perfectly satisfied with the capabilities of the etcher. It is to be done entirely in line, without mezzotint. I am myself confident of its success ; but it is natural that men without the slightest knowledge should be a little shy of giving money for the copyright. * "It was very unfortunate that Charley [Collins] could not complete the second picture for the Exhibition. I tried all the encouraging persuasions in my power ; but he was beaten by a silk dress, which he had not yet finished. I have ordered another canvas to begin again next week, intending to take a holiday when the warmth conies. Such a quantity of loathsome foreigners stroll about the principal streets that they incline one to take up a residence in Sweden, outside of the fumes of their tobacco. I expect all respectable families will leave London after the first month of the Exhibition, it will be so crowded with the lowest rabble of all the countries in Europe. "Say all the kind things from me you, as a husband, may think fit to deliver to Mrs. Pat, and believe me, " Ever yours affectionately, "JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS." To the same. " 83, GOWER STREET, "May gtJi, 1851. " MY DEAR MR. COMBE, I received the shields this morning, and hasten to thank you most heartily. I hope to see them ranged round my studio next week. No doubt you have seen the violent abuse of my pictures in the Times, which I believe has sold itself to destroy us. That, however, is quite an absurd mistake of theirs, for, in spite of their denouncing my pictures as unworthy to hang on any walls, the famous critic, Mr. Ruskin, has written offering to purchase your picture of ' The Return of the Dove to the Ark.' I received his letter this morning, and have this * The picture ("The Dove") was never engraved, the woodcut only appearing in The Illustrated London News. 102 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [,8 5 i evening made him aware of the previous sale. I have had more than one application for it, and you could, I have little doubt, sell it for as much again as I shall ask you. " There are few papers that speak favourably of me, as they principally follow the Times. For once in a way that great leader of public opinion will be slightly out in its conjectures. There are articles in the Spectator and Daily Neivs as great in praise as the others are in abuse. " Where are you, in London or Oxford ? Mrs. Pat's letter did not specify the locality. Remember me affec- tionately to her, and believe me, " Ever sincerely yours, "JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS." To the same. " 83, GOWER STREET, "May io///, 1851. " MY DEAR MR. COMBE, I think if your friend admires Charley's sketch he would be particularly charmed with the picture, and would never regret its purchase, as a work so elaborately studied would always (after the present panic) command its price, ^150. " Most men look back upon their early paintings for which they have received but poor remuneration as the principal instruments of their after wealth. For one great instance, see Wilkie's ' Blind Fiddler/ sold for ,20, now worth more than ^1000! Early works are also generally .the standard specimens of artists, as great success blunts enthusiasm, and little by little men get into carelessness, which is construed by idiotic critics into a nobler handling. Putting aside the good work of purchasing from those who require encouragement, such patrons will be respected afterwards as wise and useful men amongst knavish fools, who should be destroyed in their revolting attempts to crush us attempts so obviously malicious as to prove our rapid ascendancy. It is no credit to a man to purchase from those who are opulent and acknowledged by the world, so your friend has an opportunity for becoming one of the first-named wise patrons who shall, if we live, be extolled as having assisted in our (I hope) final success. " Hunt will, I think, sell his ; there is a man about it, i8 5 i] CORRESPONDENCE 103 and it is a very fine picture. My somewhat showmanlike recommendation of Collins' ' Nun ' is a pure matter of conscience, and I hope it will prove not altogether faulty. "Very sincerely yours, '' JOHN E. MILLAIS. " Hunt wants ,300 for his picture." To Mrs. Combe. " 83, GOWER STREET, 1851. "MY DEAR MRS. COMBE, I feel it a duty to render you my most heartfelt thanks for the noble appreciation of my dear friend Collins' work and character. I include character, for I cannot help believing, from the evident good feeling evinced in your letter, that you have thought more of the beneficial results the purchase may occasion him than of your personal gratification at possessing the picture. "You are not mistaken in thus believing him worthy of your kindest interests, for there are few so devotedly directed to the one thought of some day (through the medium of his art) turning the minds of men to good reflections and so heightening the profession as one of unworldly usefulness to mankind. j " This is our great object in painting, for the thought of simply pleasing the senses would drive us to other pursuits requiring less of that unceasing attention so neces- sary to the completion of a perfect work. " I shall endeavour in the picture I have in contemplation ' For as in the Days that were Before the Flood,' etc., etc. to affect those who may look on it with the awful uncertainty of life and the necessity of always being pre- pared for death. My intention is to lay the scene at the marriage feast. The bride, elated by her happiness, will be playfully showing her w r edding-ring to a young girl, who will be in the act of plighting her troth to a man wholly engrossed in his love, the parents of each uniting in con- gratulation at the consummation of their own and their children's happiness. A drunkard will be railing boisterously at another, less intoxicated, for his cowardice in being some- what appalled at the view the open window presents flats of glistening water, revealing but the summits of mountains 104 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1851 and crests of poplars. The rain will be beating in the face of the terrified attendant who is holding out the shutter, wall-stained and running down with the wet, but slightly as yet inundating the floor. There will also be the glutton quietly indulging in his weakness, unheeding the sagacity of his grateful dog, who, thrusting his head under his hands to attract attention, instinctively feels the coming ruin. Then a woman (typical of worldly vanity) apparelled in sumptuous . attire, withholding her robes from the contamination of his dripping hide. In short, all deaf to the prophecy of the Deluge which is swelling before their eyes all but one figure in their midst, who, upright with closed eyes, prays for mercy for those around her, a patient ex- ample of belief standing with, but far from, them placidly awaiting God's will. " I hope, by this great con- trast, to excite a reflection on the probable way in which sinners would meet the coming death all on shore hurrying from height to height as the sea increases ; the wretched self- conoratulations of the bachelor o who, having but himself to save, believes in the prospect of escape ; the awful feelings of the husband who sees his wife and children looking in his face for support, and presently disappearing one by one in the pitiless flood as he miserably thinks of his folly in not having taught them to look to God for help in times of trouble ; the rich man who, with his boat laden with wealth and provisions, sinks in sight of his fellow- creatures with their last curse on his head for his selfishness ; the strong man's strength failing gradually as he clings to some fragment floating away on the waste of water ; and other great sufferers miserably perishing in their sins. " I have enlarged on this subject and the feelings that I hope will arise from the picture, as I know you will be SKETCH FOR "MARIANA." 1850 1851] CORRESPONDENCE 105 interested in it. One great encouragement to me is the certainty of its having this one advantage over a sermon, that it will be all at once put before the spectator without that trouble of realisation often lost in the effort of reading or listening. 4< My pleasure in having indirectly assisted two friends in the disposal of their pictures is enhanced by the assurance that you estimate their merits. It is with extreme pleasure SKETCHES FOR "MARIANA" AND "THE RETURN OF THE DOVE." 1850 that I received that letter from Mr. Combe in which he approves of his picture of ' The Return of the Dove to the Ark,' universally acknowledged to be my best work, parts of which I feel incapable of surpassing. When you come to town I will show you many letters from strangers desirous of purchasing it, which is the best proof of its value in their eyes. The price I have fixed on my picture is a hundred and fifty guineas ; and I hope some day you will let me paint you, as a companion, "The Dove's First Flight," which would make a beautiful pendant. " Ever yours affectionately, "JoHN EVERETT MILLAIS." io6 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [,8 5 . " Mariana in the Moated Grange" was exhibited this year with the following quotation from Tennyson's well-known poem : " She only said, ' My life is dreary He cometh not,' she said : She said, ' I am aweary, aweary I would that I were dead.'" The picture represents Mariana rising to her full height and bending backwards, with half-closed eyes. She is weary of all things, including the embroidery-frame which stands before her. Her dress of deep rich blue contrasts with the red-orange colour of the seat beside which she stands. In the front of the figure is a window of stained glass, through which may be seen a sunlit garden beyond ; and in contrast with this is seen, on the right of the picture, an oratory, in the dark shadow of which a lamp is burning. Spielmann's observations on this work are not quite easy to understand. He says the subject is a " Rossettian one, without the Rossettian emotion." If so, the lack of emotion must be due rather to the poet than to the painter, for, referring to this picture in the Magazine of Art of September, 1896, he speaks of Millais' "artistic expression being more keenly sensitive to the highest forms of written poetry than any other painter of his eminence who ever appeared in England." He thinks, too, that the colour is too strong and gay to be quite in harmony with the subject, though immediately afterwards he quotes the particular lines which Millais souo-fit to illustrate : o "... But most she loathed the hour When the thick-moated sunbeam lay Athwart the chambers, and the day Was sloping towards his Western bovver." The sun, then, was shining in all its splendour, and though poor Mariana loathed the sight, the objects it illuminated were none the less brilliant in colour. And so they appear in the picture. The shadows, too, are there in happy con- trast, and every object is seen in its true atmosphere, without any clashing of values. In the Times of May i3th, 1851, Ruskin noticed the picture in his characteristic manner. He was glad to see that Millais' " Lady in blue is heartily tired of painted fr The critic, too, seems to forget that all Rossetti's emotional subjects were painted years later. "MARIANA." 1851 By permission of Mr. Henry Makins i8 5 i] AN OBLIGING MOUSE 109 windows and idolatrous toilet-table," but maintained generally that since the days of Albert Durer no studies of draperies and details, nothing so earnest and complete, had been achieved in art a judgment which, says Spielmann, "as regards execution, will hardly be reversed to-day." With delightful inconsequence, Ruskin afterwards added that, had Millais "painted Mariana at work in an unmoated grange, instead of idle in a moated one, it had been more to the purpose, whether of art or life." The picture was sold to Mr. Farrer, the dealer, for one hundred and fifty pounds, and after passing successively through the hands of Mr. B. Windus and Mr. J. M. Dunlop, it now rests with Mr. Henry Makins, who also owns "Ferdinand" and "For the Squire." During the execution of this work Millais came down one day and found that things were at a standstill owing to the want of a model to paint from. He naturally disliked being stopped in his work in this way, and the only thing he could think of was to sketch in the mouse that " Behind the mouldering wainscot shrieked, Or from the crevice peer'd about." But where was the mouse to paint from? Millais' father, who had just come in, thought of scouring the country in search of one, but at that moment an obliging mouse ran across the floor and hid behind a portfolio. Quick as lightning Millais gave the portfolio a kick, and on removing it the poor mouse was found quite dead in the best possible position for drawing it.* The window in the background of "Mariana" was taken from one in Merton Chapel, Oxford. The ceiling of the chapel was being painted, and scaffolding was of course put up, and this Millais made use of whilst working. The scene outside was painted in the Combes' garden, just outside their windows. Of all the pictures ever painted, there is probably none more truly Pre-Raphaelite in character than one I have already mentioned '' The Woodman's Daughter." It was painted in 1850 in a wood near Oxford, and was exhibited in 1851. Every blade of grass, every leaf and branch, and * A similar incident, in which the wished-for model actually appeared at the very moment when its presence was most desired, occurred some years later, when a collie dog suddenly turned up to serve as a model in " Blow, blow, thou Winter Wind." no JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1851 every shadow that they cast in the sunny wood is presented here with unflinching realism and infinite delicacy of detail. Yet the figures are in no way swamped by their surroundings, every accessory taking its proper place, in subordination to the figures and the tale they have to tell. The contrast between the boy the personification of aristocratic refine- ment and the untutored child of nature is very striking, as was no doubt intended by Mr. Coventry Patmore, whose poem, "The Tale of Poor Maud," daughter of Gerald the woodman, the picture was intended to illustrate. " Her tale is this : In the sweet age, When Heaven 's our side the lark, She used to go with Gerald where He work'd from morn to dark, For months, to thin the crowded groves Of the ancient manor park. " She went with him to think she help'd ; And whilst he hack'd and saw'd The rich Squire's son, a young boy then, Whole mornings, as if awed, Stood silent by, and gazed in turn At Gerald and on Maud. " And sometimes, in a sullen tone, He 'd offer fruits, and she Received them always with an air So unreserved and free, That shame-faced distance soon became Familiarity." William Millais contributes the following note on this painting : " I think, perhaps, the most beautiful background ever painted by my brother is to be found in his picture of ' The Woodman's Daughter' a copse of young oaks standing in a tangle of bracken and untrodden underwood, every plant graceful in its virgin splendour. " Notice the exquisitely tender greys in the bark of the young oak in the foreground, against which the brilliantly clothed lordling is leaning. Every touch in the fretwork tracery all about it has been caressed by a true lover of his art, for in these his glorious early days one can see that not an iota was slurred over, but that every beauty in nature met with its due appreciation at his hands. " Eye cannot follow the mysterious interlacing of all the wonderful green things that spring up all about, where every kind of woodgrowth seems to be striving to get the upper ,8 5 i] "THE WOODMAN'S DAUGHTER" in hand and to reach the sunlight first, where every leaf and tendril stands out in bold relief. "This background was painted near Oxford, in a most secluded spot, and yet my brother had a daily visitor ' a noble lord of high degree ' who used to watch him w r ork for a minute or two, make one remark, ' Well, you are getting on ; you 've plenty of room yet,' and then silently disappear. After a time these visits ceased, and upon their renewal my brother had in the interim almost finished the background. The visitor, on seeing his work, exclaimed, ' Why, after all, you 've not got it in ! ' My brother asked what it was. ' Why, Oxford, of course ! You should have put it in.' Millais, who had his back to the town, explained that al- though Art could do wonders, it had never yet been able to paint all round the compass." To be near his work on this picture Millais stayed in the cottage of a Mrs. King, at Botley, Lord Abingdon's park, where he was joined by his friend Charles Collins. Mr. Arthur Hughes writes : " F. G. Stephens has de- scribed to me how he was with Millais in the country when painting ' The Woodman's Daughter ' (the subject from Coventry Patmore), and how Millais was painting a small feather dropped from a bird in the immediate foreground ; how he stamped and cursed over it, and then scraped it out and swore he would get it right and did. " The strawberries which appear in the picture, as pre- sented by the young aristocrat, were bought in Covent Garden in March. ' I had to pay five-and-sixpence for the four a vast sum for me in those days, but necessary ' I have heard him say, 'and Charlie Collins and I ate them afterwards with a thankful heart.' " It was in this year (1851) that Ruskin took up arms in defence of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and no more earnest or more eloquent advocate could they have desired. In the first volume of Modern Painters he insisted that " that only is a complete picture which has both the general wholeness and effect of Nature and the inexhaustible per- fection of Nature's details " ; and, pointing to " the admirable, though strange pictures of Mr. Millais and Mr. Hoi man Hunt" as examples of progress in this direction, he added, "they are endeavouring to paint, with the highest possible degree of completion, what they see in Nature, without refer- ence to conventional or established rules ; but bv no means ii2 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [185. to imitate the style of any past epoch. Their works are, in finish of drawing and in splendour of colour, the best in the Royal Academy, and I have great hope that they may become the foundation of a more earnest and able school of Art than we have seen for centuries." Here was a heavy blow to the Philistines of the Press ; for at this time Ruskin was all but universally accepted as the final authority in matters of Art. But a heavier yet was in store for them. In an addendum to one of his published Lectures on Architecture and Painting lectures delivered at Edinburgh in November, 1853 he declared that " the very faithfulness of the Pre-Raphaelites arises from the redundance of their imaginative power. Not only can all the members of the [Pre-Raphaelite] School compose a thousand times better than the men who pretend to look down upon them, but I question whether even the greatest men of old times possessed more exhaustless invention than either Millais or Rossetti. . . . As I w r as copying this sentence a pamphlet was put into my hand, written by a clergyman, denouncing, ' Woe, woe, woe, to exceedingly young men of stubborn instincts calling themselves Pre- Raphaelites.' I thank God that the Pre-Raphaelites are young, and that strength is still with them, and life, with all the war of it, still in front of them. Yet Everett Millais, in this year, is of the exact age at which Raphael painted the ' Disputa,' his greatest work ; Rossetti and Hunt are both of them older still ; nor is there one member so young as Giotto when he was chosen from among the painters to decorate the Vaticum of Italy. But Italy, in her great period, knew her great men, and did not despise their youth. It is reserved for England to insult the strength of her noblest children, to wither their warm enthusiasm early into the bitterness of patient battle, and to leave to those whom she should have cherished and aided no hope but in resolution, no refuge but in disdain." Thus spoke the oracle in 1853, nor (as will presently appear) was his zeal abated in 1855, when "The Rescue" was exhibited, or in 1856, when "Peace Concluded" ap- peared on the Academy walls. But, strange to say, after that period works of Millais, executed with equal care and with the same fastidious regard for details (the lovely " Vale of Rest " and " Sir Isumbras " for instance), were condemned by him in unmeasured terms. THE WOODMAN'S DAUGHTER. 1849 I. 8 CHAPTER IV. Millais commences "Ophelia" Holman Hunt, Charles Collins, William and John Millais paint at Worcester Park Farm Further letters to the Combes Millais thinks of going to the East Commencement of diary and "The Huguenot" Hunt at work on "The Light of the World" and "The Hireling Shepherd" Collins' last picture Millais' idea for "The Huguenot" He argues it out with Hunt Meets an old sweetheart Returns to Gower Street Miss Siddal's sufferings as model for "Ophelia" Success of "Ophelia" Arthur Hughes and Millais Critics of 1852 Woman in art General Lempriere on his sittings for "The Huguenot" Miss Ryan Miller, of Preston Letters from Gower Street. OPHELIA" and "The Huguenot," both of which Millais painted during the autumn and winter of 1851, are so familiar in every English home that I need not attempt to describe them here. The tragic end of "Hamlet's" unhappy love had long been in his mind as a subject he should like to paint ; and now while the idea was strong upon him he determined to illustrate on canvas the lines in which she is presented as floating down the stream singing her last song : " There on the pendent boughs her coronet of weeds Clamb'ring to hang, an envious sliver broke ; When down the weedy trophies and herself Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide, And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up ; Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes, As one incapable of her own distress, Or like a creature native and indued Unto that element ; but long it could not be, Till that her garments, heavy with their drink, Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay To muddy death."* Near Kingston, and close to the home of his friends the Lemprieres, is a sweet little river called the Ewell, which flows into the Thames. Here, under some willows by the side of a hayfielcl, the artist found a spot that was in every * Hamlet, act iv. "5 n6 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [,8 5 . way suitable for the background of his picture, in the month of July, when the river flowers and water- weeds were in full bloom. Having selected his site, the next thing" was to obtain lodgings within easy distance, and these he secured in a cottage near Kingston, with his friend Holman Hunt as a companion. They were not there very long, however, for presently came into the neighbourhood two other members of the Pre-Raphaelite fraternity, bent on working together ; and, uniting with them, the two moved into Worcester Park Farm, O where an old garden wall happily served as a background for the " Huo-uenot," at which Millais could now work O alternately with the "Ophelia." It was a jolly bachelor party that now assembled in the farmhouse Holman Hunt, Charlie Collins, William and John Millais all determined to work in earnest ; Holman Hunt on his famous " Light of the World " and " The Hire- ling Shepherd," Charlie Collins at a background, William Millais on water-colour landscapes, and my father on the backgrounds for the two pictures he had then in hand. From ten in the morning till dark the artists saw little of each other, but when the evenings " brought all things home " they assembled to talk deeply on Art, drink strong tea, and discuss and criticise each other's pictures. Fortunately a record of these interesting days is preserved to us in Millais' letters to Mr. and Mrs. Combe, and his diary the only one he ever kept which was written at this time, and retained by my uncle William, who has kindly placed it at my disposal. Here are some of his letters the first of which I would commend to the attention of Max Nordau, referring as it does to Ruskin, whom Millais met for the first time in the summer of this year. It was written from the cottage near Kingston before Millais and Hunt removed to Worcester Park Farm. To Mrs. Combe. " SURBITON HILL, KINGSTON, "July 2nd, 1851. " MY DEAR MRS. COMBE, I have dined and taken breakfast with Ruskin, and we are such good friends that he wishes me to accompany him to Switzerland this summer. . . . We are as yet singularly at variance in our opinions upon Art. i8 S i] CORRESPONDENCE 119 One of our differences is about Turner. He believes that I shall be converted on further acquaintance with his works, and I that he will gradually slacken in his admiration. "You will see that I am writing this from Kingston, where I am stopping, it being near to a river that I am painting for 'Ophelia.' We get up (Hunt is with me) at six in the morning, and are at work by eight, returning home at seven in the evening. The lodgings we have are somewhat better than Mistress King's at Botley, but are, of course, horribly uncomfortable. We have had for dinner chops and suite of peas, potatoes, and gooseberry tart four days running. We spoke not about it, believing in the certainty of some change taking place ; but in private we protest against the adage that ' you can never have too much of a good thing.' The countryfolk here are a shade more civil than those of Oxfordshire, but similarly given to that wondering stare, as though we were as strange a sight as the hippo- potamus. * ''My martyrdom is more trying than any I have hitherto experienced. The flies of Surrey are more muscular, and have a still greater propensity for probing human flesh. Our first difficulty was ... to acquire rooms. Those we now have are nearly four miles from Hunt's spot and two from mine, so we arrive jaded and slightly above that temperature necessary to make a cool commencement. I sit tailor-fashion under an umbrella throwing a shadow scarcely larger than a halfpenny for eleven hours, with a child's mug within reach to satisfy my thirst from the running stream beside me. I am threatened with a notice to appear before a magistrate for trespassing in a field and destroying the hay ; likewise by the admission of a bull in the same field after the said hay be cut ; am also in danger of being blown by the wind into the water, and becoming intimate with the feelings of Ophelia when that lady sank to muddy death, together with the (less likely) total disappearance, through the voracity of the flies. There are two swans who not a little add to my misery by persisting in watching me from the exact spot I wish to paint, occasionally destroying every water-weed within their * It was in this year, 1850, that the first specimen of the hippopotamus was seen in London. MMlais seems to have been of the same opinion as Lord Macaulay, who says : " I have seen the hippopotamus, both asleep and awake ; and I can assure you that, awake or asleep, he is the ugliest of the works of God." 120 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [.851 DESIGN FOR A PICTURE OF "ROMEO AND JULIET." 1852 reach. My sudden perilous evolutions on the extreme bank, to persuade them to evacuate their position, have the effect of entirely deranging my temper, my picture, brushes, and palette ; but, on the other hand, they cause those birds to look most benignly upon me with an expression that seems to advocate greater patience. Certainly the painting of a picture under such circumstances would be a greater punish- ment to a murderer than hanging. " I have read the Sheep/olds, but cannot give an opinion is 5 i] CORRESPONDENCE 121 upon it yet. I feel it very lonely here. Please write before my next. " My love to the Early Christian and remembrances to friends. Very affectionately yours, "JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS." THE LAST SCENE, "ROMEO AND JULIET." 1848 To Mrs. Coinbe. "SuRBiTON HILL, KINGSTON, "July, 1851. " MY DEAR MRS. PAT, I have taken such an aversion to sheep, from so frequently having- mutton chops for dinner, that I feel my very feet revolt at the proximity of woollen socks. Your letter received to-day was so entertaining that I (reading and eating alternately) nearly forgot what I was devouring. This statement will, I hope, induce Mr. Combe to write to me as a relish to the inevitable chops. The steaks of Surrey are tougher than Brussels carpets, so they are out of the question. " We are getting on very soberly, but have some suspicions that the sudden decrease of our bread and butter is occasioned by the C - family (under momentary aber- ration) mistaking our fresh butter for their briny. To ascertain the truth, we intend bringing our artistic capacity to bear upon the eatables in question by taking a careful 122 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [.s 5 i drawing of their outline. Upon their reappearance we shall refer to the portraits, and thereby discover whether the steel of Sheffield has shaven their features. [This they did and made sketches of the butter.] Hunt is writing beside me the description of (his) your picture. He has read Ruskin's pamphlet, and with me is anxious to read Dyce's reply, which I thank you for ordering. In the field where I am painting there is hay-making going on ; so at times I am surrounded by women and men, the latter of which remark that mine is a tedious job, that theirs is very warm work, that it thundered somewhere yesterday, that it is likely we shall have rain, and that they feel thirsty, very thirsty. An uneasiness immediately comes over me ; my fingers tingle to bestow a British coin upon the honest yoemen to get rid of them ; but no, I shall not indulge the scoundrels after their rude and greedy applications. Finding hints move me not, they boldly ask for money for a drop of drink. In the attitude of Napoleon commanding his troops over the Alps, I desire them to behold the river, the which I drink. Then comes a shout of what some writers would call honest country laughter, and I, coarse brutality. Almost every morning Hunt and I give money to children ; so all the mothers send their offspring (amounting by appearance to twelve each) in the line of our road ; and in rank and file they stand curtsying with flattened palms ready to receive the copper donation. This I like ; but men with arms larger round than my body hinting at money disgusts me so much that I shall paint some day (I hope) a picture laudatory of Free Trade. " Good-night to yourself and Mr. Combe ; and believe that I shall ever remain "Most faithfully yours, "JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS." To Mrs. Combe. " KINGSTON, "July 2Wi, 1851. " MY DEAR MRS. COMBE, Many thanks for Dyce's answer, which I received yesterday, and as yet have read but little, and that little imperfectly understand. " In answer to your botanical inquiries, the flowering rush i8 5 i] CORRESPONDENCE 123 grows most luxuriantly along the banks of the river here, and I shall paint it in the picture ['Ophelia']. The other plant named I am not sufficiently learned in flowers to know. There is the dog-rose, river-daisy, forget-me-not, and a kind of soft, straw-coloured blossom (with the word ' sweet ' in its name) also growing on the bank ; I think it is called meadow-sweet. " I am nightly working my brains for a subject. Some incident to illustrate patience I have a desire to paint. When I catch one I shall write you the description. ' : I enclose Hunt's key to the missionary picture, with apologies from him for not having sooner prepared it. Begging you to receive his thanks for your kind invitation, believe me, with affectionate regards to Mr. Combe, " Most truly yours, "JoHN EVERETT MILLAIS." To Mrs. Combe. "WORCESTER PARK FARM, NEAR CHEAM, SURREY. "September, 1851. " MY DEAR MRS. COMBE, You will see by the direction that we have changed our spot, and much for the better. Nothing can exceed the comfort of this new place. Little to write about except mishaps that have occurred to me. " I have broken the nail of the left-hand little finger off at the root ; the accident happened in catching a ball at cricket. I thought at first the bone was broken, so I moved off at once to a doctor, who cut something, and said I should lose the nail. I have been also bedridden three days from a bilious attack, from which, through many drugs, I am recovered. " We all three live together as happily as ancient monastic brethren. Charley [Collins] has immensely altered, scarcely indulging in an observation. I believe he inwardly thinks that carefulness of himself is better for his soul. Outwardly it goes far to destroy his society, which now, when it happens that I am alone with him, is intolerably unsym- pathetic. I wish you could see this farm, situated on one of the highest hills in this county. In front of the house there is one of the finest avenues of elm trees I ever saw. "We live almost entirely on the produce of the farm, 124 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1851 which supplies every necessary. Collins scarcely ever eats pastry ; he abstains, I fancy, on religious principles. '' Remember me affectionately to the mother who pampers him, and believe me " Most affectionately yours, U ]OHN MILLAIS." 70 Mr. Combe. " WORCESTER PARK FARM, " October i$th, 1851. " MY DEAR MR. COMBE, You must have felt sometimes quite incapable of answering a letter. Such has been my state. I have made two fruitless attempts, and shudder for the end of this. Hunt and self are both delighted by your letter, detecting in it a serious intent to behold us plant the artistic umbrella on the sands of Asia. He has read one of the travels you sent us, The Camp and the Caravan, and considers the obstacles as trifling and easy to be overcome by three determined men, two of whom will have the aspect of ferocity, being bearded like the pard. Hunt can testify to the fertility of my upper lip, which augurs well for the under soil. It therefore (under a tropical sun) may arrive at a Druidical excellence. " Two of the children belonging to the house have come in and will not be turned out. I play with them till dinner and resume work again afterwards. The weather to-day has prevented my painting out of doors, so I comfortably painted from some flowers in the dining-room. Hunt walked to his spot, but returned disconsolate and wet through. Collins worked in his shed and looked most miserable ; he is at this moment cleaning his palette. Hunt is smoking a vulgar pipe. He will have the better of us in the Holy Land, as a hookah goes with the costume. I like not the prospect of scorpions and snakes, with which I foresee we shall get closely intimate. Painting on the river's bank (Nile or Jordan) as I have done here will be next to throwing oneself into the alligators' jaws, so all water- sketching is put aside. Forgive this nonsensible scribble. I am only capable of writing my very kindest remembrances to Mrs. Pat, in which Charley and Hunt join. " Most faithfully yours, "JoHN EVERETT MILLAIS." i8 5 i] EXTRACTS FROM DIARY 125 At this time Millais had serious thoughts of going- to the East with Hunt, but eventually gave up the idea. And now commences the diary, written closely and care- fully on sheets of notepaper. The style savours somewhat of the conversation of Mr. Jingle ; but, as in that gentle- man's short and pithy sentences, the substance is clear. EXTRACTS FROM DIARY. " I am advised by Coventry Patmore to keep a diary. Commence one forthwith. To-day, October \6tk, 1851, worked on my picture ['The Huguenot']; painted nastur- tiums ; saw a stoat run into a hole in the garden wall ; went up to it and endeavoured to lure the little beast out by mimicking a rat's or mouse's squeak not particular which. Succeeded, to my astonishment. He came half out of the hole and looked in my face, within easy reach. " Lavinia (little daughter of landlady) I allowed to sit behind me on the box border and watch me paint, on promise of keeping excessively quiet ; she complained that her seat struck very cold. In the adjoining orchard, boy and family knocking down apples ; youngest sister but one screaming. Mother remarked, ' I wish you were in Heaven, my child ; you are always crying ' ; and a little voice behind me chimed in, 'Heaven! where God lives?' and (turning to me) ' You can't see God.' Eldest sister, Fanny, came and looked on too. Told me her mother says, about a quarter to six, 'There's Long-limbs (J. E. M.) whistling for his dinner; be quick and get it ready.' Played with children en masse in the parlour before their bedtime. Hunt just come in. ... Sat up till past twelve and discovered first- rate story for my present picture. "October \*]th. Beautiful morning: frost on the barn roofs and the green before the houses. Played with the children after breakfast, and began painting about nine. Baby screaming commenced about ten o'clock. Exhibition of devilish passion, from which it more particularly occurred to me that we are born in sin. Family crying continually, with slight intermission to recover strength. Lavinia beaten and put under the garden clothes-pole for being naughty, to stay there until more composed. Perceiving that to be an uncertain period, I kissed her wet eyes and released her from her position and sat her by me. Quite dumb for some iz6 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1851 time ; suddenly tremendously talkative. These are some of her observations : ' We haven't killed little Betsy (the pig) yet ; she means to have little pigs herself. Ann (the servant) says she is going to be your servant, and me your cook, when you get married.' Upon asking her whether she could cook, she answered, ' Not like the cooks do.' At five gave up painting. Bitter cold. Children screaming again. " October i%t/i. Fine sunny morning. Ate grapes. Little Fanny worked at a doll's calico petticoat on a chair beside me. Driven in by drizzling weather, I work in the parlour ; Fanny, my companion, rather troublesome. Coaxed her out. Roars of laughter outside the window F. flattening her nose against the pane. Mrs. Stapleton called, with married son and daughter, and admired my pictures ecstatically. Collins gone ; went home after dinner. Sat with Hunt in the evening ; pelted at a candle outside with little white balls that grow on a shrub. Composed design of ' Repentant Sinner laying his head in Christ's bosom.' 4 " October igtk (Sunday). Expected Rossetti, who never came. Governor [his father] spent the day with us, saw Hunt's picture and mine, and was delighted with them. Went to church. Capital sermon. Poor Mr. Lewis felt very gloomy all the day ; supposed it to be the weather, that being dull and drizzling. . . . Found two servants of Captain Shepherd both very pretty one of whom I thought of getting to sit for my picture. Traversing the same road home, entered into conversation with them. Both perfectly willing to sit, and evidently expecting it to be an affair of a moment- one suggesting a pencil-scratch from which the two heads in our pictures could be painted ! Bade them good-night, feeling certain they will come to the farm to-morrow for eggs or cream. Went out to meet Collins, but found we were too early, so came home and had tea. I (too tired to go out again) sit down and write this, whilst Hunt sets out once more with a large horn-lantern. Despair of ever gaining my right position, owing to hearing this day that the Committee of Judgment of the Great Exhibition have awarded a bronze medal in approbation of the most sickening horror ever produced, 'The Greek. Slave.' Collins returned with his hair cut as close as a man in a House of Correction. * This sketch, now in my possession, was never transferred to canvas. i8 5 i] EXTRACTS FROM DIARY 127 " October 2Qth. Finished flowers after breakfast, after which went out to bottom of garden and commenced brick wall. Received letter from James Michael complimentary, as containing a prediction that I shall be the greatest painter England ever produced. Felt languid all day. Finished work about five and went out to see Charley. Walked on afterwards to meet Hunt, and waited for him. In opening the gate entering the farm, met the two girls. Spoke further with one on the matter of sitting. "October 2\st. Painted from the wall and got on a great deal. Bees' nest in the planks at the side of the house, laid open by the removal of one of them for the purpose of smoking the inmates at night and getting the honey. Was induced by the carpenter to go up on the ladder to see what he called a curiosity. Did so, and got stung on the chin. ... I walked on to meet Hunt with Collins. Met him, with two Tuppers, who dined with us off hare. All afterwards saw the burning of the bees, and tasted the honey. . . . Read songs in the Princess. Have greater (if possible) veneration for Tennyson. " October 22nd. Worked in the warren opposite the wall, and got on well, though teased, while painting, by little Fanny, who persisted in what she called ' tittling ' me. . . . Hunt proposed painting, 'for a lark,' the door of a cupboard beside the fireplace. Mentioned it to the landlady, who gave permission, with the assurance that if she did not approve of it she should scrub it out. Completed it jointly about two o'clock in the morning. . . . " October 2$rd. Our landlady's marriage anniversary. Was asked by her some days back for the loan of our apart- ments to celebrate the event. ' If we were not too high they would be glad to see us.' " Painted on the wall ; the day very dull. A few trees shedding leaves behind me, spiders determinedly spinning webs between my nose and chin. . . . Joined the farmers and their wives. Two of them spoke about cattle and the new reaping-machine, complaining, between times, about the state of affairs. Supped with them ; derived some knowledge of carving a chicken from watching one do so. Went to bed rather late, and read In Memoriam, which produced a refining melancholy. Landlady pleased with painting on cupboard." Of this painting, by the way, my uncle, William Millais, i 2 8 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [,s 5 i has another and somewhat different tale to tell. He says : "Our landlady, Mrs. B., held artists to be of little account, and my brother exasperated her to a degree on one occasion. The day had been a soaking wet one. None of us had gone out, and we were at our wits' end to know what to do. Jack, at Hunt's suggestion, thought it would be a good joke to paint on one of the cupboard doors. There were two one on either side of the fireplace. Mrs. B. had gone to market. On coming into the room on her return, and seeing what had been done a picture painted on the cupboard door she was furious ; the door had only lately been ' so beautifully grained and varnished.' Hunt in vain tried to appease her. She bounced out of the room, saying she w r ould make them pay for it. ' ; It happened on the following day that the Vicar and a lady called upon the young painters ; and on being shown into the sitting-room, Mrs. B. apologised for the ' horrid mess ' (as she called it) on the cupboard door. They inquired who had done it, and on being told that Mr. Millais was the culprit, the lady said she would give Mrs. B. in exchange for the door the lovely Indian shawl she had on ; so when the painters came in from their work, Mrs. B. came up cringingly to my brother and said the only thing he could do was to paint the other cupboard! He didn't paint the other door, but I believe Mrs. B. had the shawl." And now, in continuation of the " Diary," we read : " October 2^th. Another day, exactly similar to the previous. Felt disinclined to work. Walked with Hunt to his place, returned home about eleven, and commenced work myself, but did very little. Read Tennyson and Pat- more. The spot very damp. Walked to see Charlie about four, and part of the way to meet Hunt, feeling very depressed. After dinner had a good nap, after which read Coleridge -some horrible sonnets. In his Life they speak ironically of ' Christabel,' and highly of rubbish, calling it Pantomime. " October 2$th. Much like the preceding day. All went to Town after dinner ; called at Rossetti's and saw Madox Brown's picture ' Pretty Baa-lambs.' which is very beautiful. Rossetti low-spirited ; sat with him. " October 2bth, Sunday. Walked out with Hunt. Called upon Woolner and upon Mrs. Collins to get her to come is 5 i] EXTRACTS FROM DIARY 129 and dine with us ; unwell, so unsuccessful. Felt very cross and disputable. Charlie called in the evening ; took tea, and then all three off to the country seat. " October 2jth. Dry day. Rose later than the others, and had breakfast by myself. Painted on the wall, but not so well ; felt uncomfortable all day. . . . " October 2$t/i. My man, Young, brought me a rat after breakfast. Began painting it swimming, when the governor made his appearance, bringing money, and sat with me whilst at work. After four hours rat looked exactly like a drowned kitten. Felt discontented. Walked with parent out to see Collins painting on the hill, and on, afterwards, to Young's house. He had just shot another rat and brought it up to the house. Again painted upon the head, and much improved. . . . My father and myself walked on to see Hunt, whose picture looks sweet beyond mention. " October 29^/2. Cleaned out the rat, which looked like a lion, and enlarged picture. After breakfast began ivy on the wall ; very cold, and my feet wet through ; at inter- vals came indoors and warmed them at the kitchen fire. Worked till half-past four ; brought all the traps in and read In Memoriam. " October $o/i. Felt uneasy ; could not paint out of doors, so dug up a weed in the garden path and painted it in the corner. . . . Went to bed early, leaving Hunt up reading Hooker. '''October ^\st. Splendid morning. . . . Painted ivy on the wall, and got on a great deal. After tea, about half- past ten, went to see powder-mill man (Young's) to com- mission him to fetch Hunt's picture home. Sat in their watch-house with him and his brother, who eulogised a cat, lying before the fire, for its uncommon predilection to fasten on dogs' backs, also great ratting qualities. Returned home about eleven and read In Memoriam. Left Hunt up reading Hooker. "November /\tk. Frightfully cold morning; snowing. Determined to build up some kind of protection against the weather wherein to paint. After breakfast superintended in person the construction of my hut made of four hurdles, like a sentry-box, covered outside with straw. Felt a ' Robinson Crusoe ' inside it, and delightfully sheltered from the wind, though rather inconvenienced at first by the straw, dust, and husks flying about my picture. Landlady came down to see i. 9 3 o JOHN E\ r ERETT MILLAIS [1851 me, and brought some hot wine. Hunt painting obstinate sheep within call. . . . This evening walked out in the orchard (beautiful moonlight night, but fearfully cold) with a lantern for Hunt to see effect before finishing background, which he intends doing by moonlight. "-November ^th. Painted in my shed from ivy. Hunt at the sheep again. My man Young, who brought another rat caught in the gin and little disfigured, was employed by Hunt to hold down a wretched sheep, whose head was very unsatisfactorily painted, after the most tantalising exhibition of obstinacy. Evening passed off much as others. Read Browning's tragedy, Blot on the Scutcheon, and was astonished at its faithfulness to Nature and Shakespearian perfectness. Mr. Lewis, the clergyman of the adjoining parish, called, and kindly gave us an invitation to his place when we liked. Had met him at dinner at our parish curate's, Mr. Stapleton. "November 6///. Beautiful morning ; much warmer than yesterday. Was advised by Hunt to paint the rat, but felt disinclined. After much inward argument took the large box containing Ophelia's background out beside Hunt, who again was to paint the sheep. By lunch time had nearly finished rat most successfully. Hunt employed small im- pudent boy to hold down sheep. Boy not being strong enough, required my assistance to make the animal lie down. Imitated Young's manner of doing so, by raising it up off the ground and dropping it suddenly down. Pulled an awful quantity of wool out in the operation. Also painted ivy in the other picture. "November jt/i. After breakfast examined the rat [in the painting]. From some doubtful feeling as to its perfect portraiture determined to retouch it. Young made his ap- "THE HUGUENOT." 1852 First idea i8 5 i] EXTRACTS FROM DIARY pearance apropos, with another rat, and (for Hunt) a new canvas from the carrier at Kingston. Worked very care- fully at the rat, and finally succeeded to my own and everyone's taste. Hunt was painting in a cattle-shed from a sheep. Letters came for him about three. In opening one we were most surprised and delighted to find the Liverpool Academy (where his ' Two Gentlemen of Verona ' picture is) sensible enough to award him the annual prize of 50. He read the good news and painted on unruffled. The man Young, holding a most amicable sheep, expressed surprising pleasure at the for- tunate circumstance. He said he had seen robins in the spring of the year fight so fiercely that they had allowed him to take them up in his hands, hanging on to each other. During the day Hunt had a straw hut similar to mine built, to paint a moon- light background to the fresh canvas. Twelve o'clock. Have this moment left him in it, cheerfully working by a lantern from some contorted apple tree trunks, washed with the phosphor light of a perfect moon the shadows of the branches stained upon the sward. Steady sparks of moon- struck dew. Went to bed at two o'clock. "November %th. Got up before Hunt, who never went to bed till after three. Painted in my hut, from the ivy, all day. After dinner Collins went off to town. Hunt again painting out of doors. Very little of moonshine for him. . . . Advised H. to rub out part of background, which he did. "November qt/t, Sunday. Whilst dressing in the morning saw F. M. Brown and William Rossetti coming to us in the avenue. They spent the day with us. All disgusted with the Royal Academy election. . . . They left us for the train, 'THE HUGUENOT." 1852 Second idea 132 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [,8 5 , for which they were too late, and returned to sleep here. Further chatted and went to bed. ''November \ \tti. Lay thinking in bed until eleven o'clock. Painted ivy. Worked well ; Hunt painting in the same field ; sheep held down by Young. " November \6th, Sunday. To church with Collins ; Hunt, having sat up all night painting out of doors, in bed. After church found him still in his room ; awoke him and had breakfast with him, having gone without mine almost entirely, feeling obliged to leave it for church. Hunt and self went out to meet brother William, whom we expected to dinner. Met him in the park. He saw Hunt's picture for the first time, and was boundless in admiration ; also equally eulogised my ivy-covered wall. All three walked out before dinner. . . . In what they called the Round-house saw a chicken clogged in a small tank of oil. Young extricated it, and, together with engine-driver's daughter, endeavoured (fruit- lessly) to get the oil off. Left them washing fowl, and strolled home. ''November i /th. Small stray cat found by one of the men, starved and almost frozen to death. Saw Mrs. Barnes nursing it and a consumptive chicken ; feeding the cat with milk. Painted at the ivy. Evening same as usual." Some further details are supplied in the following letter : To Mr. Combe. " WORCESTER PARK FARM, "November 17 tk, 1851. " MY DEAR COMBE, Doubtless you have been wondering whether it is my intention ever to let you have your own property [' The Dove ' picture]. We hope to return almost immediately, when I shall touch that which requires a little addition, and directly send it on to you, a letter preceding it to let you know. Hunt has gained the prize at Liverpool for the best picture in the exhibition there. The cold has become so intense that we fear it is impossible to further paint in the open air. We have had little straw huts built, which protect us somewhat from the wind, and therein till to-day have courageously braved the weather. "Carlo is still daily labouring at the shed, Hunt nightly working out of doors in an orchard painting moonlight i8 5 i] COLLINS' LAST PICTURE 133 (employed also in the daytime on another picture), and myself engaged in finishing another background (an ivy-covered wall). There is one consolation which strengthens our powers of endurance necessary for the next week. It is to behold the array of cases, which are the barns of our summer harvest, standing in our entrance hall. . . . " Very faithfully yours, " JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS." At this time Charles Collins was engaged on the back- ground for a picture, the subject of which he had not yet settled upon. He got as far as placing upon the canvas an old shed with broken roof and sides, through which the sunlight streamed ; with a peep outside at leaves glittering in the summer breeze ; and at this he worked week after week with ever varying ideas as to the subject he should ultimately select. At last he found a beautiful one in the legend of a French peasant, who, with his family, outcast and starving, had taken refuge in the ruined hut and were ministered to by a saint. The picture, however, was never finished. Poor Collins gave up painting in despair and drifted into literature;* and when the end came, Holman Hunt, who was called in to make a sketch of his friend, was much touched to find this very canvas (then taken off the strainers) lying on the bed beside the dead man. The tragedy of vanished hopes! But I must now return to the " Diary." "November i8t/i. Little cat died in the night, also chicken. Painted ivy. In the afternoon walked to Ewell to procure writing-paper ; chopped wood for our fire, and found it warming exercise. "November i^tJi. Fearfully cold. Landscape trees upon my window-panes. After breakfast chopped wood, and after that painted ivy. . . . See symptoms of a speedy finish to my background. After lunch pelted down some remaining apples in the orchard. Read Tennyson and the Thirty-nine Articles. Discoursed on reliction. o "November 2oth. Worked at the wall; weather rather warmer. . . . Evening much as usual. * Charles Collins was a regular contributor to Household Words, but is chiefly known by his Cruise on Wheels, a work which met with success. 1 34 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [.85. "November 2\st. Change in the weather cloudy and drizzling. All three began work after breakfast. Brother William came about one o'clock. After lunch found some- thing for him to paint. Left him to begin, and painted till four, very satisfactorily. "November 22nd. All four began work early. William left at five, promising to come again on Monday. . . . After dinner Hunt and Collins left for London, the former about some inquiries respecting an appointment to draw for Layard, the Nineveh discoverer. After they were gone, I wrote a very long letter to Mrs. Combe." The letter is perhaps worth insertion here, as showing the writer's attitude towards Romanism, which at that time he was supposed to favour, and as an indication of the general design of his picture, "The Huguenot." It ran thus : To Mrs. Combe. " WORCESTER PARK FARM, " November 22nd, 1851. " MY DEAR MRS. COMBE, My two friends have just gone to town, leaving me here all alone. I dine to-morrow (Sunday) with a very old friend of mine Colonel Lempriere resident in the neighbourhood, or else should go with them. Mr. Combe's letter reached me as mine left for Oxford. Assure him our conversation as often reverts to him as his thoughts turn to us in pacing the quad. The associates he derides have but little more capacity for painting than as many policemen taken promiscuously out of a division. " I have no Academy news to tell him, and but little for you from home. Layard, the winged-bull discoverer, requires an artist with him (salary two hundred a year) and has applied for one at the School of Design, Somerset House. Hunt is going to-night to see about it, as, should there be intervals of time at his disposal for painting pictures, he would not dislike the notion. One inducement to him would be that there, as at Jerusalem, he could illustrate Biblical history. Should the appointment require immediate filling, he could not take it, as the work he is now about cannot be finished till March. " My brother was with us to-day, and tolcl me that Dr. i8 5 i] "THE HUGUENOT' 135 Hesse, of Leyton College, understood that I was a Roman Catholic (having been told so), and that my picture of ' The Return of the Dove to the Ark ' was emblematical of the return of all of us to that religion a very convenient construction to put upon it ! I have no doubt that likewise they will turn the subject I am at present about to their advantage. It is a scene supposed to take place (as doubt- less it did) on the eve of the massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day. I shall have two lovers in the act of parting, the woman a Papist and the man a Protestant. The badge worn to distinguish the former from the latter was a white scarf on the left arm. Many were base enough to escape murder by wearing it. The girl will be endeavouring to tie the handkerchief round the man's arm, so to save him ; but he, holding his faith above his greatest worldly love, will be softly preventing her. I am in high spirits about the subject, as it is entirely my own, and I think contains the highest moral. It will be very quiet, and but slightly suggest the horror of a massacre. The figures will be talking against a secret-looking garden wall, which I have painted here. " Hunt's moonlight design is from the Revelation of St. John, chapter iii., 2Oth verse, ' Behold, I stand at the door and knock : if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.' It is entirely typical, as the above. A figure of our Saviour in an orchard abundant in fruit, holding in one hand a light (further to illustrate the passage ' I am the Light of the world '), and the other hand knocking at a door all overgrown by vine branches and briars, which will show how rarely it has been opened. I intend painting a pendant from the latter part of the same, 'And will sup with him, and he with Me.' It is quite impossible to describe the treatment I purpose, so will leave you to surmise. " Now to other topics. We are occasionally visited by the clergyman of the adjoining parish, a Mr. Lewis. He was at Oriel, and knows Mr. Church, Marriot, and others that I have met. He is a most delightful man and a really sound preacher, and a great admirer and deplorer of Newman. "I cannot accompany 'The Dove' to the 'Clarendon,' as I have un-get-off-ably promised to spend Xmas with the family I feast with to-morrow. Captain Lempriere's. He is from Jersey, and knew me when living there, and I would not offend him. 136 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [.85. " Our avenue trees snow down leaves all day long, and begin to show plainly the branches. Collins still fags at the shed, Hunt at the orchard, and I at the wall. Right glad we shall all be when we are having our harvest home at Hanover Terrace, which we hope to do next Tuesday week. " Yours most faithfully " (at twelve o'clock), "JoHN EVERETT MILLAIS. " Please send me a letter, or else I shall be jealous." Millais having in this letter stated his conception of " The Huguenot," it may be as well, perhaps, to describe here its actual o-enesis. fj After finishing the back- ground for "Ophelia," he began making sketches of a pair of lovers whispering by a wall, and having announced his in- tention of utilising them in a picture, he at once commenced painting the background, mere- ly leaving spaces for the figures. As may be gathered from what has been already said, both he and Hunt discussed together every picture which either of them had in contemplation ; and, discoursing on the new subject one evening in Septem- ber, Millais showed his pencil- drawings to Hunt, who strongly objected to his choice, saying that a simple pair of lovers without any powerful story, dramatic or historical, attaching to the meeting was not sufficiently important. It was hackneyed and wanting in general interest. "Besides," he quietly added, "it has always struck me as being the lovers' own private affair, and I feel as if we were intruding on so delicate an occasion by even looking at the picture. I protest against that kind of Art." Millais, however, was unconvinced, and stuck to his point, saying the subject would do quite well ; at any rate, he should go on working at "his wall." "THE HUGUENOT." 1852 Third idea i8 5 i] COLLINS' ASCETICISM In the evening, when the three friends were gathered together, poor Charlie Collins came in for more "chaff" than his sensitive nature could stand. He had refused some blackberry tart which had been served at dinner, and Millais, knowing that he was very fond of this dish, ridiculed his "mortifying the flesh" and becoming so much of an ascetic. It was bad for him, he said, and his health was suffering- in o consequence ; to which he humorously added, that he thought Collins kept a whip upstairs and indulged in private flagel- lations. At last Collins re- treated to his room, and Millais, turning to Hunt, who had been quietly sketching the while, said, " Why didn't you back me up ? You know these un- healthy views of religion are very bad for him. We must try and get him out of them." l! I intend to leave them alone," replied the peaceful Hunt; "there's no necessity for us to copy him." A pause. "Well," said Millais, "what have you been doing all this time while I have been pitching into Charlie ?" Hunt showed him some rough sketches he had been making some of them being the first ideas for his famous picture, " The Light of the World." Millais was delighted with the subject, and looking at some other loose sheets on which sketches had been made, asked what they were for. "Well," replied Hunt, producing a drawing, "you will see now what I mean with regard to the lack of interest in a O picture that tells only of the meeting or parting of two lovers. This incident is supposed to have taken place during the W T ars of the Roses. The lady, belonging to the Red Roses, is within her castle ; the lover, from the opposite camp, has scaled the walls, and is persuading her to fly with him. She is to be represented as hesitating between love and duty. 'THE HUGUENOT." 1852 Fourth idea JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1851 You have then got an interesting subject, and I would paint it with an evening sky as a background." "Oh," exclaimed Millais, delighted, "that's the very thing for me ! I have got the wall already painted, and need only put in the figures." "But," said Hunt, "this is a castle wall. Your back- ground won't do." " That doesn't matter," replied Millais, " I shall make one of the lovers belonging to the Red and the other to the White Rose faction ; or one must be a supporter of King Charles and the other a Puritan." After much discussion Millais suddenly remembered the opera of The Huguenots, and be- thought him that a most dramatic scene could be made from the parting of the two lovers. He immediately began to make small sketches for the grouping of the figures, and wrote to his mother to go at once to the British Mu- seum to look up the costumes. Probably more sketches were made for this picture and for the " Black Brunswicker" than for any others of his works. I have now a number of them in my possession, and there must have been many more. They show that his first idea was to place other figures in the picture two priests holding up the crucifix to the Huguenot, whose sweetheart likewise adds her persuasions. Again, other drawings show a priest on either side of the lovers, holding up one of the great candles of the Roman Catholic Church, and the Protestant waving them back with a gesture of disapproval. These ideas, however, were happily discarded probably as savour- ing too much of the wholly obvious -and the artist wisely trusted to the simplicity of the pathos which marked the character of his final decision. "THE HUGUENOT." 1852 Fifth and final composition for the picture "THE HUGUENOT." 1852 By permission of H. Graves and Son is 5 i] EXTRACTS FROM DIARY 141 It will be seen then that the picture was not (as has been publicly stated) the outcome of a visit to Meyerbeer's opera of The Hug2ienots ; though some time after Millais' decision he and Hunt went to the opera to study the pose and costumes of the figures. And now for some final extracts from the " Diary." " November 2$rd, Sunday.- Went to morning church ; felt disgusted with the world, and all longing for worldly glory going fast out of me. Walked, miserable, to Ewell to spend the day with my old friends the Lemprieres, who were at Sir John Reid's, opposite. Called there, and was received most kindly. From there went on to afternoon church. On our way met Mr. and Mrs. B , my old flame. Wished myself anywhere but there ; all seemed so horribly changed ; the girl 1 knew so well calling me 'Mr. Millais' instead of 'John,' and I addressing 'Fanny' as 'Mrs. B .' She married a man old enough to be her father ; he, trying to look the young man, with a light cane in his hand. Walked over his grounds (which are very beautiful) and on to the new church, wherein the captain joined us, and shook hands most cordially with me. A most melancholy service over, all walked home. Mrs. B - distant, and with her mother. Mr. B - did not accompany us ; found him at the captain's house an apparently stupid man, plain and bald. Was perfectly stupefied by surprise at Mrs. B - asking me to make a little sketch of her ugly old husband. They left, she making, at parting, a bungling expression of gladness at having met me. Walked over the house and gardens (Ewell), where I had spent so many happy months. . . . Had a quiet dinner the captain, Mrs., Miss and Harry. In the evening drew Lifeguard on horseback [' Shaw, the Life- guardsman,' shown at the 1898 Exhibition] for little Herbert, and something for Emily. Left them with a lantern (the night being dark) to meet my companions at the station. Got there too early, and paced the platform, ruminating sorrowfully on the changes since I was there last. . . . Reached home wet through. Good fire, dry shoes, and bed. " November i<\th. Painted on brick wall. Mr. Taylor and his son (an old acquaintance of mine at Ewell), in the army, and six feet, came to see me. Both he and his father got double barrels ; pheasant in son's pocket. They saw my pictures, expressed pleasure, and in leaving presented me with cock bird. Lemprieres came. The parents and Miss 142 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1851 thought my pictures beautiful. I walked with them to the gate at the bottom of the park, and there met Emma and Mrs. B out of breath. They had driven after the captain, also to see my landscape. Offered to show them again, but the father would not permit the trouble. Parted, promising to spend Christmas with them. Tried to resume painting. All then took usual walk. Hunt, during day, had a letter containing offer for his picture of ' Proteus.' He w T rote accepting it. ... "November I'&th. William came and w r orked at his sketch, and Sir John Reid called to see my pictures. Were both highly pleased. Took them to see Hunt's and Collins'. Mr. B - officious and revelling in snobbiness at having such distinguished persons at the farm. ''November 2qt/i. All painted after breakfast Hunt at grass ; myself, having nearly finished the wall, went on to complete stalk and lower leaves of Canterbury-bell in the corner. Young, who was with Hunt, said he heard the stag- hounds out ; went to discover, and came running in in a state of frenzied excitement for us to see the hunt. Saw r about fifty riders after the hounds, but missed seeing the stag, it having got some distance ahead. Moralised afterwards, thinking it a savage and uncivilised sport. " November $ot/i, Sunday. All rose early to get in time for train at Ewell, to spend the day at Waddon. Were too late, so walked into Epsom, expecting there to meet a train. Found nothing before past one. Walked towards the downs, and to church at eleven, where heard very good sermon. Collins so pious in actions that he was watched by kind- looking man opposite. Very wealthy congregation. . . . Walked afterwards to Mrs. Hodgkinson's, but found she was too unwell to sit with us, so dined with her husband ; capital dinner. Sat with Mrs. H - in her bedroom, leaving them smoking downstairs, and took leave about half-past nine, Mr. Hodgkinson walking with us to station. 'December ist. All worked ; bitter cold. William left us after dinner. Hunt read a letter from purchaser of his picture ; some money in advance enclosed in the same, and an abusive fragment of a note upon our abilities. Felt stupidly ruffled and bad-tempered. . . . "December yd. Hunt . . . painted indoors, and from the window worked at some sheep driven opposite ; I still at dandelions and groundsel. Kitten most playful about me ; i8 5 i] EXTRACTS FROM DIARY 143 laid in my lap whilst painting, but was aroused by a little field-mouse rustling near the box. Made a pounce upon, but failed in catching it. A drizzling rain part of the day. Cut a great deal of wood, to get warm. . . . Returned, and found a clerk from Chancery Lane lawyers in waiting upon me, who came to induce me to attend chambers and swear to my own signature upon Mr. Drury's will. Told him I could not attend earlier than next week. "December 4^/2. Painted the ground. Hunt expected Sir George Glynn (to see the pictures), who came, accompanied by his curate and another gentleman, about the middle of the day, and admired them much. Suggested curious altera- tions to both Collins' and Hunt's ; that C. should make the 'Two Women Grinding at the Mill' in an Arabian tent, evidently supposing that the subject was biblical instead of in futurity. After they were gone Hunt's uncle and aunt came, both of whom understood most gratifyingly every object except my water-rat, which the male relation (when invited to guess at it) eagerly pronounced to be a hare. Perceiving by our smile that he had made a mistake, a rabbit w r as next hazarded, after which I have a faint recollection of a dog or cat being mentioned by the spouse, who had brought with her a sponge-cake and bottle of sherry, of which we partook at luncheon. Mutual success and unblemished happiness was whispered over the wine, soon after which they departed in a pony-chaise. Laughed greatly over the day, H. and self. . . . " December $t/i. This clay hope to entirely finish my ivy background. Went down to the wall to give a last look. The day mild as summer ; raining began about twelve. Young came with a present of a bottle of catsup. William made his appearance about the same time, and told us of the brutal murdering going on again in Paris. He did not paint. Young brought a dead mole that was ploughed up in the field I paint in. Though somewhat acquainted with the form of the animal, was much surprised at the size and strength of its fore-hands. Finished, and chopped wood. ... In the evening Will slept, H. wrote letters, C. read the Bible, and self Shakespeare ; and, later, walked out with H. in the garden, it being such a calm, warm night. Requested landlady to send in bill, intending to leave to- morrow. Had much consultation about the amount neces- sary for her, in consideration of the many friends entertained i 4 4 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [1852 by us. Felt, with Collins, a desire to sink into the earth and come up with pictures in our respective London studios." On the following day Millais returned to Gower Street, his backgrounds being now completed ; set to work at once on the figures in the two pictures, Miss Siddal (afterwards Mrs. D. G. Rossetti) posing as the model for " Ophelia." Mr. Arthur Hughes has an interesting note about this lady in The Letters of D. G. Rossetti to II illiaiu Alliughaiu. He says : " Deverell accompanied his mother one day to a milliner's. Through an open door he saw a girl working with her needle : he got his mother to ask her to sit to him. She was the future Mrs. Rossetti. Millais painted her for his 'Ophelia' wonderfully like her. She was tall and slender, with red, coppery hair and bright consumptive complexion, though in these early years she had no striking signs of ill-health. She had read Tennyson, having first come to know something about him by finding one or two of his poems on a piece of paper which she brought home to her mother wrapped round a pat of butter. Rossetti taught her to draw; she used to be drawing while sitting to him. Her drawings were beautiful, but without force. They were feminine likenesses of his own." Miss Siddal had a trying experience whilst acting as a model for "Ophelia." In order that the artist might get the proper set of the garments in water and the right atmosphere and aqueous effects, she had to lie in a large bath filled with water, which was kept at an even temperature by lamps placed beneath. One day, just as the picture was nearly finished, the lamps went out unnoticed by the artist, who was so intenselv absorbed in his work that he thought J O of nothing else, and the poor lady was kept floating in the cold water till she was quite benumbed. She herself never complained of this, but the result was that she contracted a severe cold, and her father (an auctioneer at Oxford) wrote to Millais, threatening him with an action for ^50 damages for his carelessness. Eventually the matter was satisfactorily compromised. Millais paid the doctor's bill; and Miss Siddal, quickly recovering, was none the worse for her cold bath. D. G. Rossetti had already fallen in love with her, struck with her "unworldly simplicity and purity of aspect" qualities which, as those who knew her bear witness, Millais succeeded in conveying to the canvas but it was not until 1 860 that they married. i8 5 i] SUCCESS OF "OPHELIA" 145 About the year 1873 "Ophelia" was exhibited at South Kensington ; and Millais, going one day to have a look at it, noticed at once that several of the colours he had used in 1851 had gone wrong notably the vivid green in the water- weed and the colouring of the face of the figure. He therefore had the picture back in his studio, and in a short time made it bloom again, as we see it to-day, as brilliant and fresh as when first painted. This is one of the great triumphs of his Pre-Raphaelite days. The colour, substance, and surface of his pictures have remained as perfect as the day they were put on. Nothing in recent Art, I venture to say, exceeds the richness, yet perfect harmony, of the colours of Nature in "Ophelia" and " The Blind Girl"; and the same thing may be said of "The Proscribed Royalist," "The Black Brunswicker," and the women's skirts in "The Order of Release"; whilst the man's doublet in "The Huguenot" and the woman's dress in "Mariana" are perhaps the most daring things of the kind ever attempted. Perhaps the greatest compliment ever paid to " Ophelia," as regards its truthfulness to Nature, is the fact that a certain Professor of Botany, being unable to take his class into the country and lecture from the objects before him, took them to the Guildhall, where this work was being exhibited, and discoursed to them upon the -flowers and plants before them, which were, he said, as instructive as Nature herself. Mr Spielmann is enthusiastic in his praise of the picture. He speaks of it as "one of the greatest of Millais' concep- tions, as well as one of the most marvellously and completely accurate and elaborate studies of Nature ever made by the hand of man. . . . The robin whistles on the branch, while the distraught Ophelia sings her own death-dirge, just as she sinks beneath the water with eyes wide open, unconscious of the danger and all else. It is one of the proofs of the greatness of this picture that, despite all elaboration, less worthy though still superb of execution, the brilliancy of colour, diligence of microscopic research, and masterly handling, it is Ophelia's face that holds the spectator, rivets his attention, and stirs his emotion." The picture passed successively through the hands of Mr. Farrer, Mr. B. Windus, and Mr. Fuller Maitland, before it came into the possession of Mr. Henry Tate, to whose generosity the public are indebted for its addition to the I. 10 146 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [185. National Gallery of British Art. It was exceedingly well engraved by Mr. I. Stevenson in 1866. In the 1852 Exhibition, when both the "Ophelia" and "The Huguenot" were exhibited, there was another beautiful "Ophelia" by Millais' friend, Arthur Hughes, who is good enough to send me the following note about the two pictures : "One of the nicest things that I remember is connected with an ' Ophelia ' I painted, that was exhibited in the Academy at the same time as his [Millais'] own most beautiful and wonderful picture of that subject. Mine met its fate high up in the little octagon room ;* but on the morning of the varnishing, as I was going through the first room, before I knew where I was, Millais met me, saying, ' Aren't you he they call Cherry ? ' (my name in the school). I said I was. Then he said he had just been up a ladder looking at my picture, and that it gave him more pleasure than any picture there, but adding also very truly that I had not painted the right kind of stream. He had just passed out of the Schools when I beo-an in them, and I had a most o enormous admiration for him, and he always looked so beautiful tall, slender, but strong, crowned with an ideal head, and (as Rossetti said) 'with the face of an angel.' He could not have done a kinder thing, for he knew 1 should be disappointed at the place my picture had." "The Huguenot" was exhibited with the following title and quotation in the catalogue : " A Huguenot, on St. Bartholomew's Day, refusing to shield himself from danger by wearing the Roman Catholic badge. (See The Protestant Reformation in France, vol. ii., p. 352.) When the clock of the Palais de Justice shall sound upon the great bell at daybreak, then each good Catholic must bind a strip of white linen round his arm and place a fair white cross in his cap." (The Order of the Due de Guise.) Mr. Stephens says: "When 'A Huguenot' was exhibited at the Royal Academy, crowds stood before it all day long. Men lingered there for hours, and went away but to return. It had clothed the old feelings of men in a new garment, and its pathos found almost universal acceptance. This was the picture which brought Millais to the height of his reputation. Nevertheless, even ' A Huguenot ' did not silence all challengers. There were critics who said that * Commonly known to artists of the period as " The Condemned Cell." is 5 i] WOMAN IN ART 147 the man's arm coulcl not reach so far round the lady's neck, and there were others, knowing little of the South, who carped at the presence of nasturtiums in August. It was on the whole, however, admitted that the artist had at last conquered his public, and must henceforth educate them." The picture is said to have been painted under a com- mission from a Mr. White (a dealer) for ^150; but, as a fact, Millais received ^250 for it, which was paid to him in instalments, and in course of time the buyer gave him ^50 more, because he had profited much by the sale of the engraving. The dealers no doubt made immense sums out of the copyrights alone of "The Huguenot," "The Black Brunswicker," and " The Order of Release " ; while as to "The Huguenot" at least the poor artist had to wait many months for his money and to listen meanwhile to a chorus of fault-finding from the pens of carping scribblers, whose criticism, as is now patent to all the world, proved only their ignorance of the subject on which they were writing. In turn, every detail of the picture was objected to on one score or another, even the lady herself being remarked upon as "very plain." No paper, except Punch and the Spectator [William Rossetti], showed the slightest glimmering of comprehension as to its pathos and beauty, or foresaw the hold that it eventually obtained on the heart of the people. But Tom Taylor, the Art critic of Pimch at that time, had something more than an inkling of this, as may be seen in his boldly-expressed critique in Punch, vol. i. of 1852, pp. 216, 217. The women in "Ophelia" and "The Huguenot" were essentially characteristic of Millais' Art, showing his ideal of womankind as gentle, lovable creatures ; and, whatever Art critics may say to the contrary, this aim the portrayal of woman at her best is one distinctly of our own national school. As Millais himself once said, " It is only since Watteau and Gainsborough that woman has won her right place in Art. The Dutch had no love for women, and the Italians were as bad. The women's pictures by Titian, Raphael, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, and Velasquez are magnificent as works of Art ; but who would care to kiss such women ? Watteau, Gainsborough, and Reynolds were needed to show us how to do justice to woman and to reflect her sweetness." A sweeping statement like this is, of course, open to 148 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS [.8 5 , exceptions there are many notable examples in both French and Italian Art in which woman receives her due but in the main it is undoubtedly true. " The Huguenot" was the first of a series of four pictures embracing " The Proscribed Royalist," " The Order of Release," and "The Black Brunswicker," each of which represents a more or less unfinished story of unselfish love, in which the sweetness of woman shines conspicuous. The figure of the Huguenot (as I have said before) was painted for the most part from Mr. Arthur (now General) Lempriere an old friend of the family and afterwards completed with the aid of a model. Of his sittings to Millais during 1853, Major-General Lempriere kindly sends me the following: " It was a short time before I got my commission in the Royal Engineers in the year 1853 (when I was about eighteen years old) that I had the honour of sitting for his famous picture of ' The Huguenot.' If I remember right, he was then living with his father and mother in Bloomsbury Square. I used to go up there pretty often and occasionally stopped there. His father and mother were always most kind. " After several sittings I remember he was not satisfied with what he had put on the canvas, and he took a knife and scraped my head out of the picture, and did it all again. He always talked in the most cheery way all the time he was painting, and made it impossible for one to feel dull or tired. I little thought what an honour was being con- ferred on me, and at the time did not appreciate it, as I have always since. " I remember, however, so well his kindness in giving me, for having sat, a canary-bird and cage, and also a water-colour drawing from his portfolio ('Attack on Kenil- worth Castle '), which, with several others of his early sketches which I have, were exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts after his death. " I was abroad, off and on, for some thirty years after I got my commission, and almost lost sight of my dear old friend. He, in the meantime, had risen so high in his profession that I felt almost afraid of calling on him. One morning, however, being near Palace Gate, I plucked up courage, and went to the house and gave my card to the butler, and asked him to take it in to Sir John, which he did ; and you can imagine my delight when Sir John i8 5 i] A PATRON OF ART 149 almost immediately came out of his studio in his shirt- sleeves, straight to the front door, and greeted me most heartily. " I was most deeply touched, about a fortnight before he died, at his asking to see me, and when I went to his bed- side at his putting his arms round my neck and kissing me." A lovely woman (Miss Ryan) sat for the lady in "The Huguenot," Mrs. George Hodgkinson, the artist's cousin, taking her place upon occasion as a model for the left arm of the figure. Alas for Miss Ryan ! her beauty proved a fatal gift : she married an ostler, and her later history is a sad one. My father was always reluctant to speak of it, feeling perhaps that the publicity he had given to her beauty might in some small measure have helped (as the saying is) to turn her head. The picture was the first of many engraved by his old friend, Mr. T. O. Barlow, R.A., and exceedingly well it was done. It eventually became the property of Mr. Miller, of Preston, and now belongs to his son. As this orentleman c> O bought several of my father's works, and is so frequently mentioned hereafter, the description of him by Madox Brown in D. G. Rossetti's Letters may be of interest : "This Miller is a jolly, kind old man, with streaming white hair, fine features, and a beautiful keen eye like Mulready's. A rich brogue (he was Scotch, not Irish), a pipe of Cavendish, and a smart rejoinder, with a pleasant word for every man, woman, and child he met, are characteristic of him. His house is full of pictures, even to the kitchen. Many pictures he has at all his friends' houses, and his house at Bute is also filled with his inferior ones. His hospitality is some- what peculiar of its kind. His dinner, which is at six, is of one joint and vegetables, without pudding. Bottled beer for drink. I never saw any wine. After dinner he instantly hurries you off to tea, and then back again to smoke. He calls it meat-tea, and boasts that few people who have ever dined with him come back again." Mr. W. M. Rossetti describes him as '" one of the most cordial, large-hearted and lovable men I ever knew. He was so strong in belief as to be a sceptic as regards the absence of belief. I once heard him say, in his strong Scotch accent, 'An atheist, if such an animal ever really existed.' What the supposititious animal would do, I foro-et."