AREOWS OF THE OH ACE. Tils {'■^-y l^ritisli Frrns. \RPiO\VS OF THE I'UACE A COLLECTIOX OF SCATTERED LETTERS PUBLISHED CHIEFLY IX THE DAILY NEWSPAPERS 1 840 - 1 880. BY JOHN RUSKII^, LL.D., D.O.L., HONORARY STUDENT OF CHRIST CHURCH, AND HONORARY FELLOW OF CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE. OXFORD, AND NOW EDITED BY An Oxford Pupil. with preface by the author. vol i -letters on art and science. NEW YORK : JOHN WILEY & SONS, 15 ASTOR PLACE. 1881. "I NE\^R WROTE A LETTER IN MY UFE WHICH ALL THE WORLD ARE NOT WELCOME TO READ IF THEY WILL." '^ ' 1 '^ ^ Fora Clavigera, Letter 59, 1875. S. W. Gbekn's Son, Electrotyper, Printer and BInclei> 74 Beekman Street, 2s'ew York. CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. PAGE Author's Preface ix Editor's Preface xiii Cbuionological List of the Letters in Volume I - - - xviii Letters on Art : I. Art Criticism and Art Education. "Modern Painters;" a Reply. 1843 3 Art Criticism. 1843 10 The Arts as a Branch of Education. 18")7 - - - - 24 Art-Teaching by Correspondence. 1860 . . . . 32 n. Public Institutions and the National Gallery. Danger to tlie National Gallery. 1847 37 The National Gallery. 1852 45 The British Museum. 1866 52 On the Purchase of Pictures. 1880 55 IIL Pre-Raphaelitism, ^ The Pre-Raphaelite Brethren, 1851 (May 13) . . - 59 The Pre-Raphaelite Brethren. 1851 (May 80) - - - - 63 VI CONTENTS. "The Light of the World," Holman Hunt. 1854 "The Awakening Conscience," Holman Hunt. 1854 Pre-Raphaelitism in Liverpool. 1858 Generalization and the Scotch Pre-Raphaelites. 1858 PAGE 67 . 71 73 . 74 lY. Turner. The Turner Bequest. 1856 - - - . [Turner's Sketch Book. 1858 - . . The Turner Bequest and the National Galler}', The Turner Sketches and Drawings. 1858 [The Liber Studiorura. 1858 The Turner Gallery at Kensington. 1859 Turner's Drawings. 1876 (July 5) Turner's Drawings. 1876 (July 19) Copies of Turner's Drawings. 1876 [Copies of Turner's Drawings — Extract. 1857 [Copy of Turner's Fluelen . - - . "Turners," False and True. 1871. - The Character of Turner. 1857. - [Thornbury's Life of Turner. 1861. 1851 81 I, note] 97, note] - 98 100 - 104 105 105, note] ibid.] 106 107 108] V. Pictures and Astists. John Leech's Outlines. 1872. Ernest George's Etchings. 1873. The Frederick Walker Exhibition. 187( 111 113 116 VI. Architecture and Restoration. Gothic Architecture and the Oxford Museum. 1858. Gothic Architecture and the Oxford Museum. 1859. The Castle Rock (Edinburgh). 1857 (Sept. 14) Edinburgh Castle. 1857 (Sept. 27) - Castles and Kennels. 1871 (Dec. 22) - - - 125 131 145 147 151 CONTENTS. Vll PAGE Verona v. Warwick. 1871 (Dec. 24) .... 150 Notre Darae de Paris. 1871 153 Mr. Raskin's Influence — A Defence. 1872 (March 15) 154 Mr. Ruskin's Influence — A Rejoinder. 1872 (March 21) - loO Modern Restorations. 1877 157 Ribbesford Church. 1877 158 Circular relating to St. Mark's, Venice. 1879. - 159 [Letters relating to St. Mark's, Venice. 1879. - - 169, note.] Letters on Science: I. Geological. The Conformation of the Alps. 1864 - Concerning Glaciers. 1864. English versus Alpine Greology. 1864 - Concerning Hydrostatics. 1864 James David Forbes: His Real Greatness. 1874. 173 175 181 185 187 H. Miscellaneous. On Reflections in Water. 1844 On the Reflection of Rainbows. 1861 A Landslip Near Giagnano. 1841 On the Gentian. 1857 . . . . On the Study of Natural History (undated) 191 201 202 204 204 AUTHOE'S PEEFACE. My good Editor insists that this book must have an Author's Preface ; and insists further that it shall not contain compliments to him on the editorship. I must leave, there- fore, any readers who care for the book, and comprehend the trouble that has been spent on it, to pay him their own com- pliments, as the successive service of his notes may call for them : but my obedience to his order, not in itself easy to me, doubles the difficulty I have in doing what nevertheless, I am resolved to do — pay, that is to say, several extremely fine compliments to myself, upon the quality of the text. For of course I have read none of these letters since they were first printed : of half of them I had forgotten the con- tents, of some, the existence ; all come fresh to me ; and here in Rouen, where I thought nothing could possibly have kept me from drawing all I could of the remnants of the old town, I find myself, instead, lying in bed in tlie morning, reading these remnants of my old self — and that with much content- ment and thankful applause. For here are a series of letters ranging over a period of, broadly, forty years of my life ; most of them written hastily, and all in hours snatched from heavier work : and in the X AUTHOR S PREFACE. entire mass of them there is not a word I wish to change, not a statement I have to retract, and, I believe, few pieces of advice, which the reader will not iind it for his good to act npon. With which brief preface I am, for my own part, content ; l)ut as it is one of an unusual tenor, and may be thought by some of my friends, and all my foes, more candid than graceful, I permit myself the apologetic egotism of enforcing one or two of the points in which I find these letters so well worth — their author's — reading. In the building of a large book, there are always places where an indulged diffuseness weakens the fancy, and pro- longed strain subdues the energy : when we have time to say all we wish, we usually wish to say more than enough ; and there are few subjects we can have the pride of exhausting, without wearying the listener. But all these letters were wi'itten with fully provoked zeal, under strict allowance of space and time: they contain the choicest and most needful things I could within narrow limits say, out of many con- tending to be said; expressed with deliberate precision; and recommended by the best art I had in illustration or emphasis. At the time of my life in which most of them were composed, T was fonder of metaphor, and more fertile in simile, than I am now; and I employed both with franker trust in the reader's intelligence. Carefully chosen, they are always a powerful means of concentration ; and I could then dismiss ill six words, " thistledown without seeds, and bubbles without color," forms of art on which I should now perhaps spend half a page of analytic vituperation ; and represent, with a pleasant accuracy which my best methods of outline and exposition could now no more achieve, the entire system of modern plutocratic ])olicy, under the luckily remembered AUTHOR S PREFACE. XI image of the Arabian bridegroom, bewitched with his heels uppermost. It is to be remembered also that many of the subjects handled can be more conveniently treated controversially than directly ; the answer to a single question may be made clearer than a statement which endeavors to anticipate many ; and the crystalline vigor of a truth is often best seen in the course of its serene collision with a trembling and dissolving fallacy. But there is a deeper reason than any such accidental ones for the quality of this book. Since the letters cost me, as aforesaid, much trouble; since they interrupted me in pleasant work which was usually liable to take harm by interruption ; and since they were likely almost, in the degree of their force, to be refused by the editors of the adverse journals, I never was tempted into w^riting a word for the public press, unless con- cerning matters w^hich I had much at heart. And the issue is, therefore, that the two following volumes contain very nearly the indices of everyt^iing I have deeply cared for during the last forty years ; while not a few of their political notices relate to events of more profound historical impor- tance than any others that have occurred during the period they cover ; and it has not been an uneventful one. !N"or have the events been w^ithout gravity ; the greater, because they have all been inconclusive. Their tnie conclu- sions are perhaps nearer than any of us apprehend ; and the pai-t I may be forced to take in them, though I am old, — perhaps I should rather say, hecause I am old, — will, as far as I can either judge or resolve, be not merely literary. Whether I am spared to put into act anything here designed for my country's help, or am shielded by death from the sight of her remediless sorrow, I have already done for her as much service as she has will to receive, by laying before her facts Xll vital to her existence, and unalterable by her power, in words of wliicli not one has been warped by interest nor weakened by fear ; and which are as pure from selfish passion as if they were spoken already out of another world. J. RusKm. Rouen, St. Firmin's Day, 1880. i EDITOR'S PREFACE. Some words are needed by way of a general note to the present volumes in explanation of the principles upon which they have been edited. It is, however, first due to the com- piler of the Bibliography of Mr. Ruskiu's writings,"^ to state in what measure this book has been prompted and assisted by his previous labors. Already acquainted with some few of the letters which Mr. Ruskiu had addressed at various times to the different organs of the daily press, or which had indirectly found their way there, it was not until I came across the Bibliography that I was encouraged to complete and arrange a collection of these scattered portions of his thought. When I had done this, I ventured to submit the whole number of the letters to their author, and to ask him if, after taking two or three of tliem as examples of the rest, he would not consider the advisability of himself republishing, if not all, at least a selected few. In reply, he was good enough to put me in communication with his publisher, and to request me to edit any or all of the letters without further reference to him. I have, therefore, to point out that except for that request, or rather sanction ; for the preface which he has promised to *"The Bibliography of Ruskin: a bibliographical list, arranged in chronological order, of the published writings of John Ruskin, M.A. (From 1834 to 1879.)" By Ricli.ird ITcrne Shepherd. xiv editor's preface. add after my work upon the volumes is finished ; and for the title which it bears, Mr. Kuskin is in no way responsible for this edition of his letters. I knew, indeed, from the words of " Fors Clavigera" which are printed as a motto to the book, that I ran little risk of his disapproval in determining to print, not a selection, but the whole number of letters in question ; and I felt certain that the completeness of the collection would be considered a first essential by most of its readers, who are thus assured that the present volumes contain, with but two exceptions, every letter mentioned in the last edition of the bibliography, and some few more beside, which have been either printed or discovered since its publication. The two exceptions are, first, the series of letters on the Lord's Prayer which appeared in the pages of the Contem- porary Revieic last December; and, secondly, some half-dozen upon "A Museum or Picture Gallery," printed in the Ai't Journal of last June and August. It seemed that both these sets of letters were really more akin to review articles cast in an epistolary form, and would thus find fitter place in a collec- tion of such papers than in the present volumes ; and for the omission of the second set there was a still further reason in the fact that the series is not yet completed.* On the other hand, the recent circular on the proposed interference with St. Mark's, Venice, is included in the first, and one or two * The letter out of which it took its rise, however, will be found on the 82d page of the first volume ; and with regard to it, and especially to the mention of Mr. Frith's picture in it, reference should be made to part of a further letter in the Art Journal of this month. " I owe some apology, by the way, to Mr. Frith, for the way I spoke of his picture in ray letter to the Leicester committee, not intended for publi- cation, though I never write what I would not allow to be published, and was glad that they asked leave to print it." {Art Journal, August, 1880, where this sentence is further explained.) EDITOR S PREFACE. XV other extraneous matters in the t^ecoiul vohiine, for reasons which their connection witli the letter.s amongst which they are placed will make sufficiently clear. The letters are reprinted word fur word, and almost stop for stop, from the newspapers and other pages in which they first appeared. To ensure this accuracy was not an easy mat- ter, and to it there are a few intentional exceptions. A few misprints have been corrected, such as that of " Fat Bard " for Fort Bard" (vol i. p. IttT) ; and now and then the punctua- tion has been changed, as on the 256th page of the same volume, where a comma, placed in the original print of the letter between the words " visibly" and '" owing," quite con- fused the sentence. To these slight alterations may be added others still less important, such as the commencement of a fresh paragraph, or the closing up of an existing one, to suit the composition of the type, which the number of notes ren- dered unusually tiresome. The title of a letter, too, is not always that provided it by the newspaper ; in some cases it seemed well to rechristen, in others it was necessary to christen a letter, though the former has never been done where it was at all possible that the existing title (for which reference can always be made to the bibliography) was one given to it by Mr. Ruskin himself. The classification of the letters is well enough shown by the tables of contents. The advantages of a topical over a chrono- logical arrangement appeared beyond all doubt ; whilst the addition to each volume of a chronological list of the letters contained in it, and the further addition to the second volume of a similar list of all the letters contained in the book, and of a full index, will, it is hoped, increase the usefulness of the work. The beautiful engraving which forms the frontispiece of xvi editor's preface. the first volume originally formed that of " The Oxford Museum." The plate was but little used in the apparently small edition of that book, and was thus found to be in excel- lent state for further use here. The woodcut of the chestnut spandril (vol. i. p. 144) is copied from one which may also be found in " The Oxford Museum." The facsimile of part of one of the letters is not quite satisfactory, the lines being some- what thicker than they should be, but it answers its present purpose. Lastly, the chief difficulty of editing these letters has been in regard to the notes, and has lain not so much in obtaining the necessary information as in deciding w^hat use to make of it when obtained. The first point was, of course, to put the reader of the present volumes in possession of every fact which would have been common knowledge at the time when such and such a letter was written ; but beyond this there were various allusions, which might be thought to need explanation ; quotations, the exact reference to which might be convenient ; and so forth. Some notes, therefore, of this character have been also added ; whilst some few which were omitted, either intentionally or by accident, from the body of the work, may be found on reference to the index.* The effort to make the book complete has induced the notice of slight variations of text in one or two cases, especially in the reprint of the St. Mark's Circular. The space occupied by such notes is small, the interest which a few students take in the facts they notice really great, and the appearance of pedantry to some readers is thus risked in order to meet the * Some of the notes, it will be remarked, are in larger type than the rest; these are Mr. Ruskin's original notes to the letters as first published, and are in fact part of them; and they are so printed to distinguish them from the other notes, for \vliicli I am responsible. EDITOR S PREFACE. Xvii special wish of othei-s. The same effort will account for the reappearance of one or two really unimportant letters in the Appendix to the second volume, which contains also some few letters the nature of which is rather personal than public. I have asked Mr. Ruskin to state in his preface to the book the value he may set upon it in relation to his other and more connected work ; and for the rest, I have only to add that the editing of it has been the pleasant labor of my leisure for moi-e than two years past, and to express my hope that these scattered arrows, some from the bow of ''An Oxford Graduate," some from that of an Oxford Professor, may not have been vainly winged anew by An Oxford Pupil. October, 1880. OimONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE LETTERS Note. — In the second and tliird columns the l/racTceted woi'ds and figures are dating of TiTiiK OF Letter. Where Written. A Landslip near Giagnano . Modern Painters: a Reply . Art Criticism On Reflections in Water Danger to the National Gallery Tiie Pre-Raphaelite Brethren, 1. The Pre-Raphaelite Brethren, II. The National Gallery .... " The Light op the World" . " The Awakening Conscience" The Turner Bequest .... On the Gentian The Turner Bequest & National Gallery The Castle Rock (Edinburgh) The Arts as a Branch of Education. . Edinburgh Castle The Character of Turner . Pre-Raph.\elitism in Liverpool . Generalization & Scotch Pre-Raphaelites Gothic Architecture & Oxford Museum, I. The Turner Sketches and Drawings . Turner's Sketch Book (extract) . The Liber Studiorum (extract) . Gothic Architecture and Oxford Mus., II The Turner Gallery at Kensington . Mr: Thornbury's " Life of Turner" (extract) Art Teaching by Correspondence On the Reflection of Rainbows . The Conformation of the Alps . Concerning Glaciers .... English versus Alpine Geology Concerning Hydrostatics The British Museu-^i .... Copies of Turner's Drawings (extract) Notre Dame de Paris .... " Turners" False AND True . Castles and Kennels .... Verona v, Warwick Mr. Ruskin's Influence : a Defence Mr. Ruskin's Influence: a Rejoinder . John Leech's Outlines .... Ernest George's Etchings James David Forbes: his Real Greatness The Frederick Walker Exhibition Copies of Turner's Drawings Turner's Drawings, I Turner's Drawings, II Modern Restoration Ribbesford Church St. Mark's Venice — Circular RELATiNfi to St. Mark's Venice — Letters . On the Purchase of Pictures Copy OF Turner's " Fluelen" The Study of Natural History . Naples . Denmark Hill Denmark Hill Denmark Hill Denmark Hill] . Denmark Hill Denmark Hill Heme Hill, Dulwich Denmark Hill [Denmark Hill . Denmark Hill Denmark Hill [Denmark Hill Dunbar Penrith Penrith Denmark Hill Lucerne Denmark Hill t S. E. enmark Hill Denmark Hill Denmark Hill Norwich Denmark Hill ! Denmark Hill )enmark Hill Denmark Hill Denmark Hill, Denmark Hill Denmark Hill Denmark Hill Peterborough • . Brantwood . Brantwood, Coniston, Lancashire Venice . Brantwood, Coniston, Lancashire "Brantwood . Brantwood . _B rant wood . L.ondon [ ] CONTAINED IN THE FIKST A^OLUME. more or less certainly conjectured ; ^chiht those unbracketed give tJie actual the letter. Whzn Wrtttkn. February 7, 1841 , About Sept. 17, 1843] December. 1843] . January, 1844] . ^ Jauuarv 6 [1847] . May 9 [iSol] May 26 [1851] . December 27 [1852] May 4 [1854] May 24 [1854] . October 27 [1856] February 10 [1857] July 8, 1857] 14th September, 1857 September 25, 1857 27tli September [1857] 1857] January, 1858] March, 1858] June, 1858] . November. 1858] . 1858 . 1858 . January 20, 1859 . October 20 [1859] December 2, 1861 November. 1860 . 7th .Alay, 1861 10th November, 1864 November 21 [1864] 29th November [1864] 5th December [1864] Jan. 26 [1866] ] 1867 . January 18, 1871 January 23 [1871 December 20 [1871] . 24th (for 25th) Dec. [1871] March 15 [1872] March 21 [1872" 1872' December, 1873] 1874] January, 1876] April 23 [1876] July 3 [1876] July 16 [1876] 15th April, 1877 July 24, 1877 Winter 1879] Winter 1879] January, 18807 20th March, 1880. Uodated Where and when first Pt^ushed. Proceedings of the Ashmolean Society The Weekly Chronicle, Sept. 23, 1843 T?ie Artist and Amateur's Magazine, 1844 The Artist and Amateur's Magazine, 1844 rA« r/wd5, January 7, 1847 The Times, May 13, 1851 . The Times, May 30, 1851 . The Times, December 29, 1852 . The Times, :May 15, 1854 . . - . The Times, :\Iay 25, 1854 . The Times, October 28, 1856 . The Athena am, February 14, 1857 . The Times, July 9. 1857 . The Witness (Edinburgh), Sept. 16, 1857 "New Oxford Examinations, etc.," 1858 The Witness (Edinburgh), Sept. 30, 1857 Thornbury's Life of Turner. Preface, 1861 1 he Liverpool Albion, January 11, 1858 . The Witness (Edinburgh). :March 27, 1858 "The Oxford Museum," 1859 . The Literary Gazette, Nov. 13, 1858 List of Turner's Drawings, Boston, 1874 . List of Turner's Drawings, Boston, 1874 . "The Oxford Museum," 1859 . The Times, October 21, 1859 . Thornbury's Life of Turner. Ed. 2, Prcf. Nature and Art, December 1, 1866 . The London Review, ]\[af 16, 1861 . The Reader, November 12, 1864 The Reader, November 26, 1864 The Reader, December 3, 1864 The Reader, December 10. 1864 The Times, January 27, 1866 . List of Turner's Drawings, Boston, 1874 . The Daily Telegraph, January 19, 1871 . The Times, January 24, 1871 . The Daily Telegraph, December 22, 1871 . The Daily Telegraph, December 25. 1871 . The Fall Mall Gazette, March 16, 1872 . The Pall Mall Gazette, March 21, 1872 . The Catalogue to the Exhibition, 1872 The Architect, Bccemher 27, 1873 . " Rendu's Glaciers of Savoy," 1874. The Times, January 20, 1876 . The Tinus, April 25. 1876 The Daily Telegraph, July 5, 1876 . TJte Daily Telegraph, July 19, 1876 . The Liverpool Daily Post, June 9, 1877 . The Kidderminster Times, July 28, 1877 . Page. ;202 I 3 10 191 37 59 63 45 67 71 81 204 86 145 • 24 147 107 73 74 125 I 88 mil. I 97 n. 131 98 108 1 32 ,201 173 175 181 185 I 52 ;i05n. |l53 [106 151 152 154 156 111 113 187 '116 105 ;100 104 157 158 See the Circular 159 Birmingham Daily MaiK Nov. 27. 1879 . 169 Leicester Chronicle, January 31, 1880 55 Lithograph copy issued by Mr. Ward. 1H80 105 n. Letter to Adam White [unknown]. . 204 LETTERS ON ART. L ART CRITICISM AND ART EDUCATION. "Modern Painters"; A Reply. 1843. Art Criticism. 1843. The Arts as a Branch of Education. 1857. Art Teaching by Correspondence. 1860, ARROWS OJUIHE CHACE. ART CRITICISM AJND ART EDUCATION. [From " The Weekly Chronicle," September ^i, 1843.] ''MODERN PA JNTEBS"; A REPLY. To the Editor of The Weekly Chronicler Sir : I was mucli gratified by reading in your columns of the 15tli"" instant a piece of close, candid, and artistical criticism on my work entitled "Modern Painters." Serious and well-based criticism is at the present day so rare, and our periodicals are tilled so universally with the splenetic jargon or meaningless praise of ignorance, that it is no small pleasure to an author to meet either with praise which he can view with patience, or censure which he can regard with respect. I sel- dom, therefore, read, and have never for an instant thought of noticing, the ordinary animadversions of the press ; but the critique on '* Modern Painters " in your pages is evidently the work of a man both of knowledge and feeling ; and is at once so candid and so keen, so honest and so subtle, that I am desirous of offering a few remarks on the points on which it principally touches — they are of importance to art ; and I feci convinced that the writer is desirous only of elucidating tnith, not of upholding a favorite error. With respect first to Gaspar's painting of the " Sacrifice of Isaac." It is not on the faith of any shujie shadow that I have pronounced the time intended to * It should be 16lh, the criticism having appeared in the precediug weekly issue. 4 LETTERS OJ?" ART. [1843, be near noon * — though the shadow of the two figures being very short, and csistf ro?n the spectator, is in itself conclusive. The whole system of chiaroscuro of the picture is lateral ; and the light is expressly shown not to come from the distance by its breaking brightly on the bit of rock and waterfall on the left, from which the high copse wood altogether intercepts the rays proceeding from the horizon. There are multitudes of pictures by Gaspar with this same effect — leaving no doubt whatever on my mind that they are all manufactured by the same approved recipe, probably given him by Nicholas, but worked out by Gaspar with the clumsiness and vulgarity which are invariably attendant on the efforts of an inferior mind to realize the ideas of a greater. The Italian masters universally make the horizon the chief light of their picture, whether the effect intended be of noon or evening. Gaspar, to save him- self the trouble of graduation, washes his sky half blue and half yellow, and separates the two colors by a line of cloud. In order to get liis light conspicuous and clear, he washes the rest of his sky of a dark deep blue, without any thoughts about time of day or elevation of sun, or any such minutiae ; finally, having frequently found the convenience of a black foreground, with a bit of light coming in round the corner, and probably having no conception of the possibility of painting a foreground on any other principle, he naturally falls into the usual method — blackens it all over, touches in a few rays of lateral light, and turns out a very respectable article ; for in such language only should we express the completion of a picture painted through- out on conventional principles, without one reference to nature, and witliout one idea of the painter's own. With respect to Salvator's " Mercury and the AVoodman," f your critic has not * See "Modern Painters," vol. i. p. 159 (Pt. II. § 2, cap. 2. § 5). " Again, take any important group of trees, I do not care whose, — Claude's, Salvator's, or Poussin's, — with lateral light (that in the Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca, or Caspar's Sacrifice of Isaac, for instance); can it be supposed that those murky browns and melancholy greens are representative of the tints of leaves under full noonday sun?" The picture in question is, it need hardly be said, in the National Gallery (No. 31). + See " Modern Painters," vol. i. pp. 157-8 (Pt. II. § ii., cap. 2, § 4). The 1843.] ''MODERN painters"; A KEI'LY. 5 allowed for the effect of time on its blues. They are now, in deed, sobered and brought down, as is every other color in the picture, until it is scarcely possible to distinguish any of the details in its darker parts; but they have been pure and clean, and the mountain is absolutely the same color as the open part of the sky. When I say it is ''in full light,'' I do not mean that it is the highest light of the picture (for no distant mountain can be so, when compared with bright earth or white clouds), but that no accidental shadow is cast upon it ; that it is under open sky, and so illumined that there must necessarily 1)0 a dilference in hue between its light and dark sides, at which Salvator has not even hinted. Again, with respect to the Cjuestion of focal distances,"^ your critic, in common witli many very elever people to whom I have spoken on the subject, has confused the obscurity of objects which are laterally out of the focal range, with that of objects which are directly out of the focal distance. If all objects in a landscape were in the same plane, they should be represented on the plane of the canvas with equal distinct- ness, because the eye has no greater lateral range on the canvas than in the landscape, and can only command a point in each. But this point in the landscape may present an intersection of lines belono^ing: to different distances — as when a branch of a critic of the Chronicle had written that the rocky mountains in this picture " are /lo^ sky-blue, neither are they near enough for detail of crag to be seen, neither are they in full light, but are quite as indistinct as they would be in nature, and just the color." The picture is No. 84 in the National Gallery. * See " Modern Painters," vol. i. p. 184 (Pt. II. § ii., cap. 4. § G). " Turner introduced a new era in landscape art, by showing that the foreground might be sunk for the distance, and that it was possible to express immediate proximity to the spectator, without giving anything like completeness to the forms of the near objects. This, observe, is not done by slurred or soft lines (always the sign of vice in art), but by a decisive imperfection, a firm but partial assertion of form, which the eye feels indeed to be close home to it, and yet cannot rest upon, nor cling to, nor entirely understand, and from which it is driven away of necessity to those parts of distance on which it is intended to repose." To this the critic of the Chmmde had objected, attempting ta show that it would result in Nature lieing " represented wiih just half the quantity of light and color that she possesses." 6 LETTERS ON ART. [1843. tree, or tuft of grass, cuts against the horizon : and yet these different distances cannot be discerned together : we lose one if we look at the other, so that no painful intersection of lines is ever felt. But on the canvas, as the lines of foreground and of distance are on the same plane, they will be seen together whenever they intersect, painfully and distinctly ; and, there- fore, unless we make one series, whether near or distant, obscure and indefinite, we shall always represent as visible at once that which the eye can only perceive by two separate acts of seeing. Hold up your finger before this page, six inches from it. If you look at the edge of your finger, you cannot see the letters ; if you look at the letters, you cannot see the edge of your finger, but as a confused, double, misty line. Hence in painting, you must either take for your subject the finger or the letters ; you cannot paint both distinctly without violation of truth. It is of no consequence how quick the change of the eye may be ; it is not one whit quicker than its change from one part of the horizon to another, nor are the two intersecting distances more visible at the same time than two opposite portions of a landscape to which it passes in suc- cession. Whenever, therefore, in a landscape, we look from the foreground to the distance, the foreground is subjected to two degrees of indistinctness : the first, that of an object laterally out of the focus of the eye ; and the second^ that of an object directly out of the focus of the eye ; being too near to be seen with the focus adapted to the distance. In the pic- ture, when we look from the foreground to the distance, the foreground is subjected only to one degree of indistinctness, that of being out of the lateral range ; for as both the painting of the distance and of the foreground are on the same plane, they are seen together with the same focus. Hence we must supply the second degree of indistinctness by slurring with the brush, or we shall have a severe and painful intersection of near and distant lines, impossible in nature. Finally, a very false principle is implied by part of what is advanced by your critic — which has led to infinite error in art, and should there- fore be instantly combated whenever it were hinted — that the 1843.] " MODERN painters"; a reply. 7 ideal is different from the true. It is, on the contrary, only the perfection of truth. The Apollo is not a false representa- tion of man, but the most perfect representation of all that is constant and essential in man — free from the accidents and evils which corrupt the truth of his nature."^ Supposing we are describing to a naturalist some animal he does not know, and we tell him we saw one with a hump on its back, and another with strange bends in its legs, and another with a long tail, and another with no tail, he will ask us directly. But what is its true form, what is its real form ? This truth, this reality, which he requires of us, is the ideal form, that which is hinted at by all the individuals — aimed at, but not arrived at. But never let it be said that, when a painter is defying the principles of nature at every roll of his brush, as I have shown that Gaspar does, when, instead of working out the essential characters of specific form, and raising those to their highest degree of nobility and beauty, he is casting all charac- ter aside, and carrying out imperfection and accident ; never let it be said, in excuse for such degradation of nature, that it is done in pursuit of the ideal. As well might this be said in defence of the promising sketch of the human form pasted on the wainscot behind the hope of the family — artist and musician of equal power — in the " Blind Fiddler.-' f Ideal beauty is the generalization of consummate knowledge, the concentration of perfect truth — not the abortive vision of ignorance in its study. Nor was there ever yet one conception of the human mind beautiful, but as it was based on truth. When- * The passage in the Chronicle ran thus: " The Apollo is but an ideal of the human form; no figure ever moulded of flesh and blood was like it." With the objection to this criticism we may compare "Modern Painters" fvol. i. p. 27), where the ideal is defined as "the utmost degree of beauty of which the species is capable." See also vol. ii. p. 99: "The perfect idea of the form and condition in which all the properties of the species are fully developed is called the Ideal of the species;" and "That unfortunate dis tinctness between Idealism and Realism which leads most people to imagine that the Ideal is opposed to the Real, and therefore false." I This picture of Sir David Wilkie's was presented to the National Gallery (No. 99) by Sir George Beaumont, in 1826. It 8 LETTERS ON" ART. [1843. ever we leave nature, we fall immeasurably beneath her. So, again, I find fault with the " ropy wreath" of Gaspar,* not because he chose massy cloud instead of light cloud; but because he has drawn his massy cloud falsely^ making it look tough and powerless, like a chain of Bologna sausages, instead of gifting it with the frangible and elastic vastness of nature's mountain vapor. Finally, Sir, why must it be only " when he is gone from us" t that the power of our greatest English landscape painter is to be acknowledged \ It cannot, indeed, be fully understood until the current of years has swept away the minor hghts which stand around it, and left it burning alone ; but at least the scoff and the sneer might be lashed into silence, if those only did their duty by whom it is already perceived. And let us not think that our unworthiness has no effect on the work of the master. I could be patient if I thought that no effect was wrought on his noble mind by the cry of the populace ; but, scorn it as he may^ and does, it is yet impossible for any human mind to hold on its course, with the same energy and life, through the oppression of a perpetual hissing, as when it is cheered on by the quick sympathy of its fellow-men. It is not in art as in matters of political duty, where the path is clear and the end visible. The springs of feeling may be oppressed or sealed by the want of an answer in other bosoms, though the sense of principle cannot be blunted except by the indi- vidual's oxDYi error ; and though the knowledge of what is right, and the love of what is beautiful, may still support our great painter through the languor of age— and Heaven grant it may for years to come— yet we cannot hope that he will ever cast liis spirit upon the canvas with the same freedom and fire as if *Tlie bank of cloud in the " Sacrifice of Isaac" is spoken of in "Modern Painters" (vol. i. p. 227, Pt. II,. giii., cap. 3, §7), as "a ropy, tough-looking wreath." On this the reviewer commented. t "We agree," wrote the Chronicle, "with the writer in almost every word lie says about this great artist; and we have no doubt that, when he is gone from among us, his memory will receive the honor due to his living genius." See also the postscript to the first volume of "Modern Painters" (pp. 422-3), written in June. 1851. \ 1843.] "MODERN" PAINTERS*'; A REPLY. 9 he felt that the voice of its inspiration was waited for among men, and dwelt npon with devotion. Once, in ruder times, tlie work of a great painter * was waited for tlirougli days at his door, and attended to its place of deposition by the enthu- siasm of a hundred cities ; and painting rose from that time, a rainbow upon the Seven Ilijls, and on the eypressed heights of Fiesole, guiding them and lighting them forever, even in the stillness of their decay. How can we liope tliat Enghmd will ever win for herself such a crown, while the works of her highest intellects are set for the pointing of the finger and the sarcasm of the tongue, and the sole reward for the deep, earnest, holy labor of a devoted life, is the weight of stone upon the trampled grave, where the vain and idle crowd will come to wonder how the brushes are mimicked in the marble above the dust of him who wielded them in vain ? I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient servant. The Author of ''Modern Painters." * Cimabue. The quarter of the town is yet named, from the rejoicing of that day, Borgo Allegri.* {Original Twte to tJie letter: see editor's preface.) * The picture thus honored was that of the Virgin, painted for the Church of Santa Maria Novella, where it now hangs in the Rucellai Chapel. "This work was an object of so much admiration to the people, . . . that it was carried in solemn procession, with the sound of triunpets and other festal demonstrations, from the house of Cima- bue to the church, he himself being highlj' rewarded and honored for it. It is further reported, and may be read in certain records of old painters, that whilst Cima- bue was painting this picture in a garden near the gate of San Pietro, King Charles tlic Elder, of Anjou, passed through Florence, and the authorities of the city, among othtr marks of respect, conducted him to see the picture of Cimabue. When this work was shown to the king, it had not before been seen by any one; wherefore all the men ami women of Florence hastened in great crowds to admire it, making all possible demon- strations of delight. The inhabitants of the neighborhood, rejoicing in this occurrence, ever afterwards called that place Borgo Allegri ; and this name it has since retaineV ith regard, however, to the above-named picture, it may be remember^^d that MnRuskin has himself instanced it as one of the marine pictures which Turner spoiled by imitation of Yandevelde ("Pre-Raphaelitism," p. 45). 1843.] ART CRITICISM. 13 the painting-room instead of in tlie iields. No authority is more incontrovertible in all questions of the genuineness of old pictures. He has at least the merit — not common among those wlio talk most of the old masters^of knowing what he does admire, and will not fall into the same raptures before an exe- crable copy as before the original. If, then, we find a man of this real judgment in those matters to whicli his attention has been directed, entirely incapable, owing to his ignorance of nature, of estimating a modern picture, what can we hope from those lower critics who are unacquainted even with those technical characters which they have opportunities of learning i What, for instance, are we to anticipate from the sapient lucu- brations of the critic — for some years back the disgrace of the pages of " Blackwood " — who in one breath displays his knowl- edge of nature, by styling a painting of a furze bush in the bed of a mountain torrent a specimen of the " high pastoral," and in the next his knowledge of Art, by informing us that Mr. Lee '' reminds him of Gainsborough's best manner, but is inferior to him in composition "! * We do not mean to say anything against Mr. Lee ; but can we forbear to smile at the hopeless innocence of the man's novitiate, who could be reminded by them of landscapes powerful enough in color to take their place beside those of Rembrandt or Rubens ? A little attention will soon convince your correspondent of the utter futility or falsehood of the ordinary critiques of the press ; and there could, I believe, even at present, be little doubt in her mind as to the fitting answer to the question, whether we are to take the opinion of the accomplished artist or of the common news- monger, were it not for a misgiving which, be she conscious of it or not, is probably floating in her mind — whether that can really be great Art which has no influence whatsoever on the multitude, and is appreciable only by the initiated few. And this is the real question of diflftculty. It is easy to prove that such and such a critic is wrong ; but not so, to prove that what everybody dislikes is right. It is fitting to pay respect to Sir *See the Preface to the second edition of "Modern Painters" (vol. i. p. xix., etc.) Frederick Richard Lee, R.A., died in June. 1879. 14 LETTEK3 ON AKT. [1843. Augustus Callcott, but is it so to take his word against all the world ? This inquiry requires to be followed with peculiar caution ; for by setting at defiance the judgment of the public, we in some sort may appear to justify that host of petty scribblers, and contemptible painters, who in all time have used the same plea in defence of their rejected works, and have received in consequence merciless chastisement from contemporary and powerful authors or painters, whose reputation was as universal as it was just. " Mes ouvrages," said Eubens to his challenger, Abraham Janssens, "out ete exposes en Italic, et en Espagne, sans que j'aie regu la nouvelle de leur condamnation. Yous n'avez qu'a soumettre les votres a la meme epreuve." * " Je detie," says Boileau, " tons les amateurs les plus mecontents du public, de me citer un bon livre que le public ait jamais rebute, a moins qu'ils ne mettent en ce rang leur ecrits, de la bonte desquels eux seuls sont persuades." Now the fact is, that the whole difficulty of the question is caused by the ambiguity of this word — the " public." Whom does it include? People continually forget that there is a separate public for every picture, and for every book. Appealed to with reference to any particular work, the public is that class of persons who possess the knowledge which it presup- ])Oses, and the faculties to which it is addressed. With reference to a new edition of Newton's Principia, the " public" means little more than the Royal Society. With reference to one of Wordsworth's poems, it means all who have hearts. With reference to one of Moore's, all who have passions. AVith reference to the works of Hogarth, it means those who have worldly knowledge — to the works of Giotto, those who luive religious faith. Each work must be tested exclusively by * AbralKun Janssens, in his jealousy of Rubens, proposed to him that they should each paint a picture, and submit the rival works to the decision ()/ the public. ^Ir. Iluskin gives Rubens' reply, the tenor of which may be found in any life of the artist. Sec Hasselt's " Histoire de Rubens" (Brus- sels, 1840), p. 48, from which Mr. Ruskin quotes; Descamps, vol. i. p. 304; Walpole's "Anecdotes of Painting," Bohn's octavo edition, p. 306. 1843.] ART CRITICISM. 15 the iiat of the partieitlar public to wliuin it is addressed. We will listen to no comments on Newton from people who have no mathematical knowledge ; to none on Wordsworth from tliose who have no hearts ; to none on Giotto from tliose who have no religion. Therefore, when we have to form a judgment of any new work, the question '' What do the public say to it ?" is indeed of vital importance ; but we must always inquire, first, who are its public i We must not sub- mit a treatise on moral philosophy to a conclave of horse- jockeys, nor a work of deej) artistical research to the writers for the Art Union. The public, then, vre repeat, when referred to with respect to a particular work, consist only of those who have knowledge of its subject, and are possessed of the faculties to which it is addressed. If it fail of touching thi'se^ the work is a bad one ; but it in no degree militates against it that it is rejected by those to whom it does not appeal. To whom, then, let us ask, and to what public do the works of Turner appeal i To those only we reply, who have profound and disciplined acquaintance with nature, ardent poetical feeling, and keen eye for color (a faculty far more rare than an ear for music). They are deeply-toned poems, intended for all who love poetry, but not for those who deli^i^ht in mimickries of wine-fi^lasses and nutshells. They are deep treatises on natural phenomena, intended for all who are acquainted with such phenomena, but not for tliose who, like the painter Barry, are amazed at find- ing the realities of the Alps grander than the imaginations of Salvator, and assert that they saw the moon from the Mont C'enis four times as big as usual, " from being so much nearer to it" ! * And they are studied melodies of exquisite color, * This is a singular instance of the profound ignorance of huidscapc in which great and intellectual painters of tlie human form may remain; an ignorance, which commonly renders their remarks on landscape paint ing nugatory, if not false. f + The amazement of the painter is underrated: " You will believe me much nearet heaven upon Mount Cenis than I was before, or shall proba»)ly beapain for some time. We passed this mountain on Sunday last, and about seven in the moniing were near 16 LETTERS ON ART. [184S. intended for those who liave perception of color; not for those wlio fancy that all trees are Prussian green. Then comes the question, Were the works of Turner ever rejected by any person possessing even partially these qualifications? We answer boldly, never. On the contrary, they are universally hailed by tlds public with an enthusiasm not undeserving in ap})earance — at least to those who are debarred from sharing in it, of its usual soubriquet — the Turner mania. Is, then, the number of those who are acquainted with the truth of nature so limited ? So it has been asserted by one who knew nnich both of Art and Nature, and both were glorious in his country."'^ ''7/7. Ov i-iEvroi fia^Oadiv avBpGOTtoi ovoi^id^eiv ovtooZ. ^Dj. Uorepov, co ' Ircma, oi lidorei rj oi /irj eidoTEi; in. ( Oi TioXXoi. 2n. El6i 5' ovToi oi aidores rdXr^Bei, oi noXXoi; in. Ov d?}ra.^^ HiPPiAs Major. Now, we are not inclined to go quite so far as this. There are many subjects with respect to which the multitude are cognizant of truth, or at least of so?ne truth ; and those sub- jects may be generally characterized as everything which materially concerns themselves or their interests. The public are acquainted with the nature of their own passions, and the point of their own calamities — can laugh at the weakness they * Plato. — " Ilippias. Men do not commonly say so. Socrates. Who do not say so — those who know, or those who do not know ? Hippias. The multitude. Socrates. Are then the multitude acquainted with truth? IJippias. Certainly not.'" The answer is put into the mouth of the sophist; but put as an estab- lished fact, which he cannot possibly deny.f the top of the road over it, on both sides of which the mountain rises to a very great height, yet so high were we in the valley between them that the moon, which was above tlie liorizon of the mountains, appeared at least five times as big as usual, and much more distinctly marked than I ever saw it through some ver)' good telescopes."— Letter to Edmnnd Burke, dated Turin, Sept. 24, 1766. Works of James Barrj', R.A., 2 vols., quarto (London. IROO), vol i. p. r)8. He died in 1806. t Plato : Hippias Major, 28?^ E. Steph. 1843.] ART CRITICISM. 1')' feel, and weep at the miseries they liave experienced ; but all the sagacity they possess, be it how great soever, will nut enable them to judge of likeness to that which they have never seen, nor to acknowledge principles on which they have never reflected. Of a comedy or a drama, an epigram or a ballad, they are judges from whom there is no appeal ; but not of the representation of facts which they have never examined, of beauties which they have never loved. It is not suflicient that the facts or the features of nature be around us, while they are not within us. We may walk day by day through grove and meadow, and scarcely know more concerning them than is known by bird and beast, that the one has shade for the head, and the other softness for the foot. It is not true that "the eye, it cannot choose but see," unless we obey the following condition, and go forth "in a wise passiveness,"* free from that plague of our own hearts which brings the shadow of ourselves, and the tumult of our petty interests and impatient passions, across the light and calm of Xature. We do not sit at the feet of our mistress to listen to her teaching ; but we seek her only to drag from her that which may suit our purpose, to see in her the confirmation of a theory, or find in her fuel for our pride. Nay, do we often go to her even thus ? Have we not rather cause to take to ourselves the full weight of Wordswoi-th's noble appeal — " VaiQ pleasures of luxurious life! Forever with yourselves at strife, Through town and country, both deranged By affections interchanged, And all the perishable gauds That heaven-deserted man applauds. When will your hapless patrons learn To watch and ponder, to discern The freshness, the eternal youth Of admiration, sprung from truth, From beauty infinitely growing Upon a mind with love o'erflowing: * "Wordsworth. "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection, " i. "Expostulation and Reply." 18 LETTERS 01^ ART. [1843. To sound the depths of every art That seeks its wisdom through the heart?" * When will they learn it? Hardly, we fear, in this age of steam and iron, luxury and seliishness. We grow more and more artificial day by day, and see less and less worthiness in those pleasures which bring with them no morbid excitement, m that knowledge which affords us no opportuuity of display.' Your correspondent may rest assured that those who do not care for nature, who do not love her, cannot see her. A few of her phenomena lie on the surface; the nobler number lie deep, and are the reward of watching and of thought. The artist may choose which he will render: no human art can render both. If he paint the surface, he will catch the crowd ; if he paint the depth, he will be admired only— but with how deep and fervent admiration, none but they who feel it can tell— by the thoughtful and observant few. There are some admirable observations on this subject in your December number ("An Evening's Gossip with a Famter" f) ; but there is one circumstance with respect to the works of Turner which yet further limits the number of their admirers. They are not prosaic statements of the phenomena ot nature-tliey are statements of them under the influence of ardent feeling; they are, in a word, the most fervent and real poetry which the English nation is at present producing Kow not only is this proverbially an age in which poetry is little cared for; but even with those who have most love of it and most need of it, it requires, especially if high and philosophi- cal, an attuned, quiet, and exalted frame of mind for its * -Memorials of a Tour in Scotland. 1814. iii. Effusion " t bee the Artist and Amateurs Magazine, p. 248. The article named ponts out to his companion " Chatworthy," who represents the genera untaintod ) ' n'' '^ ^'^ '/'^^^ "^^^^^"^^^^ ^" ^'' -' "- P-e, n'aturd untainted, highly educated, and intelligent /...." The argument is con^ tmued over some pages, but although the Magazine is not now readily accessible to the ordinary reader, it will not be thought necessary to go further into the discussion. J' ^ S'J 43.] ART CRITICISM. 1^ lioyment; and if dragged into the midst of the noisy terests of every-day life, may easily be made ridiculous or iensive. Wordsworth recited, by Mr. Wakley, in the House I Commons, in the middle of a tiuaucial debate, would sound, , all probability, very like Mr. Wakley's>=- own verses. iTordsworth, read in the stillness of a mountain hollow, has le force of the mountain waters. What would be the effect fa passage of Milton recited in the middle of a pantomime, or f a dreainy stanza of Shelley upon the Stock Exchange ? Are ^e to judge of the nightingale by hearing it sing in broad day- aht in Cheapside ? For just such a judgment do we form of ^urner by standing before his pictures in the Koyal Academy, "t is a strange thing that the public never seem to suspect that here mav be a poetry in painting, to meet which, some jreparatiJn of sympathy, some harmony of circumstance, is squired ; and that it is just as impossible to see half a dozen n-eat pictures as to read half a dozen great poems at the same ime if their tendencies or their tones of feeling be contrary or liscordant. Let us imagine what would be the effect on the nind of any man of feeling, to whom an eager friend, desirous B)f impressing upon him the merit of different poets, should read successively, and without a pause, the following passages, in which lie something of the prevailing character of the works of six of our greatest modern artists : Landseer. " His hair, his size, his mouth, his lugs, Sliow'd he was nane o' Scotland's dougs, But whalpit some place far abroad What sailors gang to fish for cod." t * Mr Thomas Wakley, at this time M.P. for Finsbury, and coroner for AliddleV^ He was the founder of the Dtnce,. and took a deep mteres ^n to'L, which he at one time practised. I do not ""d, '.o-v.r^th^ he published any volume of poems, though he -y -•=" ""^ "f^^J'^ author, as the letter seems to imply, of some occasional verses. He died ^^+' The references to this and the five passages following are (1) Rums ..T,eT:vaDogs.,- (2) Milton, .- Paradise Lo.t,"vi 79., («> B-ns, ^^ Dc^ and Doctor Hornbook," (4) Byron, •' Hebrew Melod.es, Oh. snatched .. t ^0 LETTERS ON ART. Martin. " Far in the horizon to the north appear'd, From skirt to sliirt, a fiery region, stretched In battailous aspect, and nearer view Bristled with upright beams innumerable Of rigid spears, and helmets throng'd, and shields Various, with boastful argument portray 'd." WiLKIE. " The risin' moon began to glowr The distant Cumnock hills out owre ; To count her horns, wi' a' my pow'r, I set mysel' ; But whether she had three or fowr, I couldua tell." Eastlake. " And thou, who tell'st me to forget, Thy looks are wan, thine eyes are wet." Stanfield. " Ye mariners of England, Who guard our native seas. Whose flag has braved a thousand years The battle and the breeze." Turner. " The point of one white star is quivering still, Deep in the orange light of widening dawn. Beyond the purple mountains. Through a chasm Of wind-divided mist the darker lake j Reflects it, now it fades: it gleams again, t As the waves fall, and as the burning threads j Of woven cloud unravel in pale air, I 'Tis lost! and through yon peaks of cloudlike snow \ The roseate sunlight quivers." j Precisely to such advantage as the above passages, so placed,*! appear, are tlie works of any painter of mind seen in tlie away in beauty's bloom;" (5) Campbell; and (6) Shelley, "Prometheus! Unbound," Act ii. sc. 1. | * It will be felt at once that the more serious and higher passages! generally suffer most. But Stanfield, little as it may be thought, suffers' grievously m the Academy, just as the fine passage from Campbell is; rumed by its position between the perfect tenderness of Byron and Shelley.' The more vulgar a picture is, the better it bears the Academy. if I Ijl AKT CRITICISM. 21 Mdemy. None suffer more than Turner's, ^'liich are not oy interfered with by the prosaic pictures around them, but n itralize each other. Two works of his, side by side, destroy e;h other to a dead certainty, for each is so vast, so com- pte, 60 demandant of every power, so sufficient for every ,i ire of the mind, that it is utterly impossible for two to be c nprehended together. Each must have the undivided in- tilect, and each is destroyed by the attraction of the other ; a 1 it is the chief power and might of these pictures, that • V are works for the closet and the heart— works to be dwelt u separately and devotedly, and then chietiy when the d is in its highest tone, and desirous of a beauty which 1 A- be food for its immortality. It is the very stamp and t,ence of the purest poetry, that it can only be so met and vderstood; and that the clash of common interests, and t3 roar of the selfish world, must be hushed about the heart, [fore it can hear the still, small voice, wherein rests the power (ramunicated from the Holiest.* Can, then,— will be, if I mistake not, the final inquiry of '.ur correspondent,— can, then, we ordinary mortals,— can I, "^10 am not Sir Augustus Callcott, nor Sir Francis Chantrey, ^L'r derive any pleasure from works of this lofty character? ,eaven forbid,* we reply, that it should be otherwise. Nothing lore is necessary for the appreciation of them, than that which necessary for the appreciation of any great writer— the liet study of him with an humble heart. There are, indeed, '•hnical qualities, difficulties overcome and principles devel- - "Although it is in verse that the most consummate skill in com- -ition is to be looked for, and all the artifices of language displayed, yet ,is in verse only that we throw off the yoke of the world, and are, as it [ere, privileged to utter our deepest and holiest feelings. Poetry m this '^' [spect mav be called the salt of the earth. We express in it, and receive in it. intiments'for which, were it not for this permitted medium, the usages of the ^ orld would neither allow utterance nor acceptance."— .^'o''^/i<7/« Colloquies* 1^^' ich allowance is never made to the painter. In him, inspiration is called ^"' (sanity— in him, the sacred fire, possession. * "Sir Thomas More; or. Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Sopiety." ^Uoquy xiv. (vol. ii. p. 399, in Murray's edition, 1829). 22 LETTERS OX ART. [184^- oped, which are reserved for the enjoyment of the artist ; bu these do not add to tlie influence of the picture. On the con trary, we nnist break through its charm, before we can com: prehend its means, and "murder to dissect." The picture i intended, not for artists alone, but for all who love what i portrays ; and so little doubt have we of the capacity of all t( understand the w^orks in question, that we have the most con fident expectation, within the next fifty years, of seeing thi name of Turner jjlaced on the same impregnable height witl that of Shakespeare." Both have committed errors of taste and judgment. In both it is, or will be, heresy even to fee those errors, so entirely are they overbalanced by the giganti( powers of whose impetuosity they are the result. So soon a; the public are convinced, by the maintained testimony of higl authority, that Turner is wortli understanding, they will try t( understand him ; and if they try, they can. Xor are they now, as is commonly thought, despised or defied by him. H( has too much respect for them to endeavor to please them b} falsehood. lie will not win for himself a hearing by tlu betrayal of his message. Finally, then, we would recommend your correspondent first, to divest herself of every atom of lingering respect oi regard for the common criticism of the press, and to hold* fast * " This Turner, of whom you have known so little while he was living among you, will one day take his place beside Shakespeare and Verulani, in the annals of the light of England. "Yes: beside Shakspeare and Yerulam, a third star in that central con stellation, round which, in the astronomy of intellect, all other stars mak( their circuit. By Shakespeare, humanity was unsealed to you ; by Verulaili the principles oi nature; and by Turner, her aspect. All tiiese w^ere sent to unlock one of the gates of light, and to unlock it for the lirst time. But of all the three, though not the greatest, Turner was the most unprecedented in his work. Bacon did what Aristotle had attempted; Shakespeare did perfectly what uEschylus did partially; but none before Turner had lifted the veil from the face of nature; the majesty of the hills and forests had received no interpretation, and the clouds passed unrecorded from the face of the heavens which they adorned, and of the earth to which they ministered." — " Lectures on Architecture and Painting," by John Ruskin: published 1854; pp. 180, 181. 1843.1 ART CRITICISM. 23 by the authority of Callcott, Chantrey, Landseer, and Stantield ; and this, not because we would have her slaA)ishly subject to any authority but that of her own eyes and reason, but because we would not have her blown about with every wind of doctrine, before she has convinced her reason or learned to use her eyes. And if she can draw at all, let her make careful studies of any natural objects that may happen to come in her way, — sticks, leaves, or stones, — and of distant atmospheric effects on groups of objects; not for the sake of the drawing itself, but for the sake of the powers of attention and accurate observation which thus only can be cultivated. And let her make the study, not thinking of this artist or of that ; not conjecturing what Harding would have done, or Stanfield, or Callcott, with her subject ; not trying to draw in a bold style, or a free style, or any other style ; but drawing all she sees^ as far as may be in her power, earnestly, faithfully, unselectingly ; and, which is perhaps the more difficult task of the two, not drawing what she does not see. Oh, if people did but know how many lines nature suggests without shmchig, what differ- ent art should we have ! And let her never be discouraged by ill success. She will seldom have gained more knowledge than when slie most feels her failure. Let her use every oppor- tunity of examining the works of Turner ; let her try to copy them, then try to copy some one else's, and observe which presents most of that kind of difficulty which she found in copying nature. Let her, if possible, extend her acquaintance with wild natural scenery of every kind and character, endeav- oring in each species of scenery to distinguish those features which are expressive and harmonious from those which are unaffecting or incongruous ; and after a year or two of such discipline as this, let her judge for herself. No authority need then, or can then, be very' influential with her. Her own pleasure in works of true greatness* will be too real, too * We have not siiflBciently expressed our concurrence in the opinion of her friend, that Turner's modern works are his greatest. His early ones are nothing but amplifications of what others have done, or hard studies of every-day truth. His later works no one but himself could have con- 24 LETTEES ON ART. [1857. instinctive, to be persuaded or lauglied out of her. We bid her, therefore, heartily good-speed, with this final warning: Let her beware, in going to nature, of taking with her the commonplace dogmas or dicta of art. Let her not look for what is like Titian or like Claude, for composed form or arranged chiaroscuro ; but believe that everything which God has made is beautiful, and that everything which nature teaches is tnie. Let her beware, above everything, of that wicked pride which makes man think he can dignify God's glorious creations, or exalt the majesty of his universe. Let her be humble, we repeat, and earnest. Truth was never sealed, if so sought. And once more we bid her good-speed in the words of our poet-moralist : "Enough of Science and of Art: Seal up these barren leaves; Come forth, and bring with you a heart That -watches, and receives."* I have the honor to be, Sir, Your obedient humble servant The Author of " Modekn Painters." [From " Some Account of the Origin and Objects of the New Oxford Examinations for the Title of Associate in Arts and Certificates," by T. D. Acland, late Fellow of All Souls' College, Oxford,t 1858, pp. 54-60.] THE ARTS AS A BRANCH OF EDUCATION. Penrith, Sept. 25, 1857. My dear Sir : I liave just received your most interesting letter, and will try to answer as shortly as I can, saying nothing of what I feel, and what you must well know I should feel, ceived: thej' are the result of the most exalted imagination, acting with the knowledge acquired by means of his former works. ♦Wordsworth. "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection." ii. "The Tables Turned " (1798), being tlie companion poem to that quoted ante, p. 17. Tlie second line should read, " Close up these barren leaves." \ This work related to University co-operation with schemes for middle- class education, and included letters from various authorities, amongst 1857. J THE ARTS AS A BKAXCII OF EDUCATION. 25 respecting the difficulty of the questions and their importance ; except only this, that I should not have had the boldness to answer your letter by return of post, unless, in consequence of conversations on this subject with Mr. Acland and Dr. Acland, two months ago, I had been lately thinking of it more than of any other.* Your questions fall under two heads : (1) The range which an art examination can take ; (2) The connection in which it should be placed witli other examinations. I think the art examination should have three objects : (1) To put the haj^piness and knowledge which the study of art conveys within the conception of the youth, so that he may in after-life pursue them, if he has the gift. (2) To enforce, as far as possible, such knowledge of art among those who are likely to become its patrons, or the guar- dians of its works, as may enable them usefully to fuliil those duties. (3) To distinguish pre-eminent gift foi- the production of works of art, so as to get hold of all the good artistical faculty I born in the country, and leave no Giotto lost among hill-shcp- j herds, t others one from Mr. Hullah on Music. The present letter was addressed to the Rev. F. Temple (now Bishop of Exeter), and was written in reply to a statement of certain points in debate between him and Mr. (now Sir i Thomas) Acland. In forwarding it to his opponent, Mr. Temple wrote as I follows. " The liberal arts are supreme over their sciences. Instead of the } rules being despotic, the great artist usually proves his greatness by rightly ' setting aside rules; and the great critic is he who, while he knows the rule, can appreciate the ' law within the law ' which overrides the rule. In no j other way does Ruskin so fully show his greatness in criticism as in that I fine inconsistency for which he has been so often attacked by men who do not see the real consistency that lies beneath." * In the following year Mr. Ruskin wrote a paper for the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science, on "Education in Art" ] (Transactions, 1858, pp. 811-316), now reprinted in the eleventh volume of I Mr. Ruskin 's works, " A Joy for Ever," p. 185. To this paper the reader of the present letter is referred. f " Giotto passed tlie first ten years of his life, a shepherd-boy. among these hills (of Ficsole); was found by Cimabue, near his native vilhige, drawing one of his sheep upon a smooth stone; was yielded up by his 26 LETJEKS OX ART. [1857. In order to accomplisli the first object, I think that, accord- ing to Mr. Acland's proposal, preliminary knowledge of draw- ing and innsic slionld Ije asked for, in connection with writing and arithmetic ; l)ut not, in the preliminary examination, made to count towards distinction in other schools. I think drawing is a necessary means of the expression of certain facts of form and means of acquaintance with them, as arithmetic is the means of acrpiaintance with facts of number. I think the facts which an elementary knowledge of drawing enables a man to observe and note are often of as much importance to him as those which he can describe in words or calculate in numbers. And I think the cases in which mental deficiency would prevent the acquirement of a serviceable power of drawing would be found as rare as those in which no progress could be made in ai'ithmetic. I would not desire this elemen- tary knowledge to extend far, but the limits which I would ]M-opose are not here in question. While I feel the force of all the admirable observations of Mr. Hnllah on the use of the study of music, I imagine that the cases of physical incapacity of distinguishing sounds would be too frequent to admit of musical knowledge being made a requirement ; I would ash for it, in Mr. Acland's sense ; but the drawing might, I think, be required, as arithmetic would be. 2. To accomplish the second ol)ject is the main difficulty. Touching which I venture positively to state : First. That sound criticism of art is im|)ossible to young men, for it consists principally, and in a far more exclusive sense than has yet been felt, in the recognition of the facts represented by the art. A great artist represents many and abstruse facts ; it is necessary, in order to judge of his works, that all those facts should be experimentally (not by hearsay) known to the observer; whose recognition of them constitutes his approving judgment. A young man cannot know them. father, 'a simple person, a laborer of the earth,' to the guardianship of the painter, who, bj^ his own work, had already made the streets of Florence ring with joy; attended him to Florence, and became his disciple." — "Giotto and his Works in Padua," by John Buskin, 1854, p. 12. j 1857. THE AKTS AS A BKAXCH OF EDU( ATIOX. '^7 Criticism of art ])y youiiiz: men must, therefore, eoiK>ist eitlier in the more or less apt retailing and application uf received opinions, or in a more or less immediate and dextrous use of the knowledge they already possess, so as to be able to assert of given works of ai-t that they are true up to a certain point; the probability being then that thoy are true farther than the young man sees. The first kind of criticism is, in general, useless, if not harmful ; the second is that which the youths will em])loy who are capable of becoming critics in after years, Secondly. All criticism of art, at whatever period of life, nnist be partial ; wai'ped more or less by the feelings of the person endeavoring to judge. Certain merits of art (as energy, for instance) are pleasant only to certain temperaments; and certain tendencies of art (as, for instance, to religious sentiment) can only be sympathized with by one order of minds. It is almost impossible to conceive of any mode of examination which would set the students on anything like equitable foot- ing in such respects ; but their sensibility to art may be gen- erally tested. Thirdly. The history of art, or the study, in your accurate words, '' ahout the subject," is in nowise directly connected witli the studies which promote or detect art-capacity or art- judgment. It is quite possible to acquire the most extensive and useful knowledge of the forms of art existing in different ages, and among diiferent nations, without thereby acquiring any power whatsoever of determining respecting any of them (much less respecting a modern work of art) whether it is good or bad. These three facts being so, we had perhaps best consider, first, wdiat direction the art studies of the youth should take, as that will at once regulate the mode of examination. First. He should be encouraged to carry forward the prac- tical power of drawing he has acquired in the elementary school. This should be done chiefly by using that ]Knvcr as a help in other work : precision of touch should be cultivated by map-drawing in his geography class; taste in form by flower- 28 LETTERS OX ART. [1857. drawing in tlie botanical schools ; and bone and limo drawing in the physiological schools. Ilis art, kept thus to practical service, will always be right as far as it goes ; there will be no affectation or shallowness in it. The work of the drawing- master would be at first little more than the exhibition of the best means and enforcement of the most perfect results in the collateral studies of form. Secondly. His critical power should be developed by the presence around him of the best models, into the excellence of which his hioioledge jmrmits him to enter. He should be encouraged, above all things, to foim and express judgment of his own ; not as if his judgment were of any importance as related to the excellence of the thing, but that both his master and he may know precisely in wliat state his mind is. He should be told of an Albert Diirer engraving, " That is good, whether you like it or not ; but be sure to determine ichether you do or do not, and why." All formal expressions of reasons for opinion, such as a boy could catch up and repeat, should be withheld like poison ; and all models which are too good for him should be kept out of his way. Contemplation of works of art without understanding them jades the faculties and enslaves the intelligence. A Eembrandt etching is a better example to a boy than a finished Titian, and a cast from a leaf than one of the Elgin marbles. Thirdly. I would no more involve the art-schools in the study of the history of art than surgical schools in that of the history of surgery. But a general idea of the influence of art on the human mind ought to be given by the study of history in the historical schools ; the effect of a picture, and power of a painter, being examined just as carefully (in relation to its extent) as tlie effect of a battle and the power of a general. History, in its full sense, involves subordinate knowledge of all that influences the acts of mankind ; it has hardly yet been written at all, owing to the want of such subordinate knowl- edge in the historians ; it has been confined either to the rela- tion of events by eye-witnesses (the only valuable form of it), or the more or less ingenious collation of such relations. And 1857.] THE ARTS AS A BRANCH OF EDUCATIOX. 29 it is especially desirable to give history a more arcliicologieal range at this period, so that the class of iiiaTiiifactnres produced by a city at a given date should be made of more importance in the student's mind than the humors of the factions that governed, or details of the accidents that preserved it, because every day renders the destruction of liistorical memorials more complete in Europe owing to the total want of interest in them felt by its upper and middle classes. Fourthly. Where the faculty for art was special, it ought to be carried forward to the study of design, first in practical application to manufacture, then in higher branches of com- position. The general principles of the application of art .to manufacture should be explained in all cases, whether of special or limited faculty. Under this head we may at once get rid of the third question stated iu the first page — how to detect special gift. The power of drawing from a given form accurately would not be enough to prove this : the additional power of design, w-ith that of eye for color, which could be tested in the class concerned with manufacture, would justify the master in advising and encouraging the youth to undertake special pursuit of art as an object of life. It seems easy, on the supposition of such a course of study, to conceive a mode of examination which would test relative excellence. I cannot suggest the kind of questions which ought to be put to the class occupied with sculpture ; but in my own business of painting, I should put, in general, such tasks and questions as these : (1) " Sketch such and such an object •' (given a difficult one. as a bird, complicated piece of drapery, or foliage) '' as com- pletely as you can in light and shade in half an hour." (2) " Finish such and such a portion of it " (given a very small portion) "as perfectly as you can, irrespective of time." (3) " Sketch it in color in half an hour." (•i) " Design an ornament for a given place and purpose." (5) " Sketch a picture of a given historic^il event in pen and ink." (6) "Sketch it in colors." 30 LETTERS OiC ART. [1857. (7) " Name the picture yoii were most interested in in the Koyal Academy Exhibition of this year. State in writing what you suppose to be its principal merits — fauUs — the reasons of the interest you took in it." I think it is only the fourth of these questions which would admit of much change ; and the seventh, in the name of the exhibition ; the question being asked, without previous knowl- edge by the students, respecting some one of four or live given exhibitions which should be visited before the Exami- nation. This being my general notion of what an Art-Examination should be, the second great question remains of the division of schools and connection of studies. Now I have not yet considered — I have not, indeed, knowl- edge enough to enable me to consider — what the practical convenience or results of given arrangements would be. But the logical and harmonious arrangement is surely a simple one ; and it seems to me as if it would not be inconvenient, namely (requiring elementary drawing with arithmetic in the prelimi- nary Examination), that there should then be three advanced schools : A. The School of Literature (occupied chiefly in the study of human emotion and history). B. The School of Science (occupied chiefly in the study of external facts and existences of constant kind). c. The School of Art (occupied in the development of active and productive human faculties). In the school a, I would include Composition in all lan- guages, Poetry, History, Archaeology, Ethics. In the school b, Mathematics, Political Economy, the Physi- cal Sciences (including Geography and Medicine). In the school c, Painting, Sculpture, including Architecture, Agriculture, Manufacture, War, Music, Bodily Exercises (Navi- gation in seaport schools), including laws of health. I should require, for a first class, proficiency in two schools ; not, of course, in all the subjects of each chosen school, but in a well-chosen and combined group of them. Tims, I should 1857.] THE ARTS AS A BRANCH OF EDUCATION. 31 call a very good first-class man one who had got some snch range of subjects, and snch proiiciency in each, as this : English, Greek, and Mediieval-Italian Literature High. English and French History, and Archajology Average. Conic Sections Thorough, as far as learnt. Political Economy Thorough, as far as learnt. Botany, or Chemistry, or Physiology High. Painting Average. Music Average. Bodily Exercises High. I have written you a sadly long letter, but I could not manage to get it shorter. Believe me, my dear Sir, Yery faithfully and respectfully yours, J. KUSKIN. Rev. F. Temple. Perhaps I had better add what to you, but not to every one who considers such a scheme of education, would be palpable — that the main value of it v\^ould be brought out by judicious involution of its studies. This, for instance, would be the kind of Examination Paper I should hope for in the Botaniciil Class : 1. State the habit of such and such a plant. 2. Sketch its leaf, and a portion of its ramifications (memory). 3. Explain the mathematical laws of its growth and struc- ture. 4. Give the composition of its juices in different seasons. 5. Its uses ? Its relations to other families of plants, and conceivable uses beyond those known ? 6. Its commercial value in London ? Mode of cultivation ? 7. Its mythological meaning? The commonest or most beautiful fables respecting it? 8. Quote any important references to it by great poets. 9. Time of its introduction. 10. Describe its consequent inflnence on eivihzation. '^"^ LETTERS OX ART. [1866. Of all these ten questions, there is not one which does not test the student in other studies than botany. Thus, 1, Geog- raphy ; 2, Drawing ; 3, Mathematics ; 4, 5, Chemistry • 6,' Politi- cal Economy ; 7, 8, 9, 10, Literature. Of course the plants required to be thus studied could be but few, and would rationally be chosen from the most useful of foreign plants, and those common and indigenous in Eng- land. All sciences should, I think, be taught more for the sake of tlieir facts, and less for that of their system, than here- tofore. Comprehensive and connected views are impossible to most men ; the systems they learn are nothing but skeletons to them ; but nearly all men can understand the relations of a few facts bearing on daily business, and to be exemplified in common substances. And science will soon be so vast that the most com])rehensive men will still be narrow, and we shall see tlie fitness of rather teaching our youth to concentrate their general intelligence highly on given points than scatter it towards an infinite horizon from which they can fetch nothing, and to which they can carry nothing. iFrom " Nature and Art," December 1, 1866.1 AMT-TEAGHING BY CORRESPONDENCE. Dear Mr. Williams:* I like your plan of teaching by letter exceedmgly : and not only so, but have myself adopted it largely, with the help of an intelligent under-master, whose operations however, so far from interfering with, you will much facilitate, if you can bring tliis literary way of teaching mto more accepted practice. I wish we had more drawing- masters who were able to give instruction definite enough to liamV/ol'snnn/'''; ^V^P^T' "'^^'"""^ ^^^resse^ to an artist. Mr. Wil- liams (of Southampton), and was then printed, some years la er in the number of Nature and Art above referred to 1866.] ART-TEACHING BY CORRESPONDENCE. 33 be expressed in writing : many can teach nothing but a few tricks of the brush, and have nothing to write, because nothing to tell. With every wish for your success,— a wish which I make quite as much in your pupils' interest as in your own,— Believe me, always faithfully yours, J. IIUSKIN. Denmark Hill, November, 1860. I LETTERS ON AET. II. PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS AND THE NATIONAL GALLERY. Danger to the National Gallery. 1847. The National Gallery. 1852. The British Museum. 1866. On the Purchase of Pictures. 1880. 11. PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS AND THE NATIONAL GALLERY. [From "The Times,"' January 7, 1847.] DANGER TO THE NATIONAL OALLERT* To tJie Editor o/ " The Times." Sir : As I am sincerely desirous that a stop may be put to the dangerous process of cleaning lately begun in our National Gallery, and as I believe that what is right is most effectively when most kindly advocated, and what is true most convinc- ingly when least passionately asserted, I was grieved to see tho violent attack upon Mr. Eastlake in your columns of Friday la§t ; yet not less surprised at the attempted defence which appeared in them yesterday.f The outcry which has arisen * Some words are necessary to explain this and the following letter. In the autumn of 1846 a correspondence was opened in the columns of The Times on the subject of the cleaning and restoration of the national pictures during the previous vacation. Mr. (afterwards Sir Charles) Eastlake was at this time Keeper of the Gallery, though he resigned office soon after this letter was written, partly in consequence of the attacks which had been made upon him. He was blamed, not only for restoring good pictures, but also for buying bad ones, and in particular the purchase of a " libel on Holbein" was quoted against him. The attack was led by the picture-dealer, and at one time artist, Mr. Morris ]\[oore, writing at first under the pseu- donym of " Verax," and afterwards m his own name. He continued his opposition through several years, especially during 1850 and 1852. He also published some pamphlets on the subject, amongst them one entitled " The Revival of Vandalism at the National Gallery, a reply to John Riiskin and others" (London, Ollivier, 1853). The whole discussion may be gatliered in all its details from the Parliamentary Report of the Select Conunittee on the National Gallery in 1853. f The "violent attack" alludes to a letter of "Verax" in TJie Times of Thursday (not Friday), December 31, 1846. and the " attempted defence" to another letter signed "A. G." in The Times of January 4, two days (not (ht day) before Mr. Ruskin wrote the present letter. i 38 LETTEHS OX ART. [1847. upon tills subject has been just, but it lias been too loud ; the injury done is neither so great nor so wilful as has been asserted, and I fear that the resj^ect which might have been paid' to remonstrance may be refused to clamor. I was inclined at first to join as loudly as any in the hue and cry. Accustomed, as I have been, to look to England as the refuge of the pictorial as of all other distress, and to hope that, having no high art of her own, she would at least protect what she could not produce, and respect what she could not restore, I could not but look upon the attack which has been made upon the pictures in question as on the vio- lation of a sanctuary. I had seen in Yenice the noblest works of Veronese painted over with flake-white with a brush fit for tarring ships ; ^ had seen in Florence Angelico's highest inspiration rotted and seared into fragments of old wood, burnt into blisters, or blotted into glutinous maps of iftildew ; - I had seen in Paris Kaphael restored by David and Yernet ; and I returned to England in the one last trust that, though her National Gallery was an European jest, her art a shadow, and her connoisseurship an hypocrisy, though she neither knew how to cherish nor how to choose, and lay ex- posed to the cheats of every vender of old canvas — yet that such good pictures as through chance or oversight miglit find their way beneath that preposterous portico, and into those melancholy and miserable rooms, were at least to be vindicated thenceforward from the mercy of republican, priest, or painter, safe alike from musketry, monkery, and manipulation. But whatever pain I may feel at the dissipation of this dream, I am not disposed altogether to deny the necessity of some illuminatory process with respect to pictures exposed to a London atmosphere and populace. Dust an inch thick, accu- mulated upon the panes in the course of the day, and darkness closing over the canvas like a curtain, attest too forcibly the influence on floor and air of the '' mutable, rank-scented, many." * "The Crucifixion, or Adoration of the Cross," in the church of San Marco. An engraving of this picture may be found in Mrs. Jameson's "History of our Lord," V(l. i. p. 180. k 1847.] DANGER TO THE XATIOXAI, GALLERY. 39 It is of little use to be over-anxious for the preservation of pictm-es wliicli we cannot see ; the only question is, whether in the present instance the process may not have been carried perilously far, and whether in future simpler and safer means may not be adopted to remove the coat of dust and smoke, without alfecting either the glazing of the picture, or, what is almost as precious, the mellow tone left by time. As regards the '* Peace and War," * I have no hesitation in asserting that for the present it is utterly and forever partiallv destroyed. I am not disposed lightly to impugn the judgment of Mr. Eastlake, but this was indisputably of all the pictures in the Gallery that which least required, and least could endure, the process of cleaning. It was in the most advantageous condition under which a work of Rubens can be seen ; mel- lowed by time into more perfect harmony than when it left the easel, enriched and warmed, without losing any of its freshness or energy. The execution of the master is always so bold and frank as to be completely, perhaps even most agree- ably, seen under circumstances of obscurity, which would be injurious to pictures of greater refinement ; and, though this was, indeed, one of his most highly finished and careful works (to my mind, before it suffered this recent injury, far superior to everything at Antwerp, Malines, or Cologne), this was a more Aveighty reason for caution than for interference. Some portions of color have been exhibited which were formerly untraceable ; but even these have lost in power what they have gained in definiteness — the majesty and preciousness of all the tones are departed, the balance of distances lost. Time may perhaps restore something of the glow, but never the subordina tion ; and the more delicate portions of flesh tint, especially the back of the female figure on the left, and of the boy in the centre, are destroyed forever. The large Cuypf is, I think, nearly uninjured. Many * No. 46 in the National Gallery. f "Landscape, with Cattle and Figures— Evening" (No. 53). Since the bequest of the somewhat higher " large Dorfin 1876 (No. 961), it has ceased to be "the large Cuyp." 40 LETTERS ON ART. [1847. portions of the foreground painting have been revealed, which were before only to be traced painfully, if at all. The dis- tance has indeed lost the appearance of sunny haze, which was its chief charm, but this I have little doubt it originally did not possess, and in process of time may recover. The " Bacchus and Ariadne" " of Titian has escaped so scot free that, not knowing it had been cleaned, I passed it without noticing any change. I observed only that the blue of the distance was more intense than I had previously thought it, though, four years ago, I said of that distance that it was " difficult to imagine anything more magnificently impossible, not from its vividness, but because it is not faint and aerial enough, to account for its purity of color. There is so total a want of atmosphere in it, that but for the difference of form it would be impossible to distinguish the mountains from the robe of x\riadne." f Your correspondent is alike unacquainted with the previous condition of this picture, and with the character of Titian dis- tances in general, when he complains of a loss of aerial quality resulting in the present case from cleaning. I unfortunately did not see the new Yelasquez % until it had undergone its discipline ; but I have seldom met with an example of the master which gave me more delight, or which I believe to be in more genuine or perfect condition. I saw no traces of the retouching which is hinted at by your corre- spondent " Yerax," nor are the touches on that canvas such as to admit of very easy or untraceable interpolation of meaner handling. His complaint of loss of substance in the figures of the foreground is, I have no doubt, altogether groundless. He has seen little southern scenery if he supposes that the brilliancy and apparent nearness of the silver clouds is in the slightest degree overcharged ; and shows little appreciation of Yelasquez t '' Modern Painters," vol. i. p. 146. * No. 35 in the National Gallery. This and the two pictures already men- tioned -were the typical instances of "spoilt pictures," quoted by " Verax." X "Philip IV. of Spain, hunting the Wild Boar" (No. 197), purchased in 1846. 1847.J DAXGEIl TO THE NATIONAL GALLEIIY. 41 in sii])po.siiig liiiii to have sucriticed the suleiiiiiity and might of sucli a distance to the inferior interest of tlie tigures in the foreground. Had he studied the picture attentively, he might have observed that the position of the horizon suggests, and the lateral extent of the foreground jjrovest^ such a distance between the spectator and even its nearest Hgures as may well justify the slightness of their execution. Ev^en granting that some of the upj^er glazings of tlie figures had been removed, the tone of the whole picture is so light, gray, and glittering, and the dependence on the power of its whites so absolute, that I think the process hardly to be regretted which has left these in lustre so precious, and restored to a brilliancy which a comparison with any mo^ ART. [1847. they are not ; if tliey liad been genuine and untouched works, even though feeble, winch they are not ; if, thougli false and retouched remnants of a feeble and fallen school, they had been eudurably decent or elementarily instructive — some con- ceivable excuse might perhaps have been by ingenuity forged, and by impudence uttered, for their introduction into a gal- lery where we previously possessed two good Guidos,* and no Perugino (for the attribution to him of the w^retched panel which now bears his name is a mere insult), no Angelico, no Fra Bartolomeo, no Albertinelli, no Ghirlandajo, no Verrochio, no Lorenzo di Credi — (what shall I more say, for the time would fail me i) But now, Sir, what vestige of apology remains for the cumbering our walls with pictui-es that have no single virtue, no color, no drawing, no character, no history, no thought ? Yet 2,000 guineas were, I believe, given for one of those encumbrances, and 5,000 for the coarse and unneces- sary E.ubens,f added to a room half filled with Eubens before, while a mighty and perfect work of Angelico was sold from Cardinal Fesch's collection for 1,5004 I do not speak of the * The "two good Guidos" previously possessed are the " St. Jerome" (No. 11) and the " Magdalen" (No, 177). The "wretched panel" is No. 181, " The Virgin and Infant Christ with St. John." For the rest, the gal- lery now includes two other Peruginos, ' ' The Virgin adoring the Infant Christ, the Archangel Michael, the Archangel Raphael and Tobias" (No. 288), three panels, purchased in 1856, and the very recent (1879) purchase of the "Virgin and Child with St. Jerome and St. Francis" (No. 1075). It boasts also two Angelicos — "The Adoration of the Magi" (No. 582) and "Christ amid the Blessed" (No. 663), purchased in 1857 and 1860 ; one Albertinelli, "Virgin and Child "(No. 645), also purchased in 1860; and two Lorenzo di Credis, both of the "Virgin and Child " (Nos. 593 and 648), purchased in 1857 and 1865. But it still possesses no Fra Bartolomeo, no Ghirlandajo, and no Verrochio. \ "The Judgment of Paris" (No. 194), purchased from Mr. Penrice's collection in 1846. X "The Last Judgment;" its purchaser was the Earl of Dudley, in whose possession the picture, now hanging at Dudley House in London, has ever since remained. An engraving of this work (pronounced the finest of Angelico's four representations of this subject), may be found in Mrs. Jameson's "History of our Lord," vol. ii. p. 414. Cardinal Fesch w'as Archbishop of Lyons, and the uncle of Napoleon Buonaparte. His gallery contained in its time the finest private collection of pictures in Rome. 1852.] THE NATIONAL GALLERY. 46 spurious Holbeiu,* for though the veriest tyro might well he ashamed of such a purchase, it would have been a judicious addition had it been genuine ; so was the John Dellini, so was the Yan Eyek; but the mighty Venetian master, who alone of all the painters of Italy united purity of religious aim with perfection of artistical power, is p(^orly re2)resented l»y a single head ;t and I ask, in the name of the earnest students of Eng- land, that the funds set a])art for her gallery may no longer be played with like pebbles in London auction-rooms. Let agents be seiit to all the cities of Italy ; let the noble ])ictures which are perishing there be rescued from the invisibility and ill- treatment which their position too commonly implies, and let us have a national collection which, however imperfect, shall be orderly and continuous, and shall exhibit with something like relative candor and justice the claims to our reverence of those great and ancient builders, whose mighty foundation has been for two centuries concealed by wood, and hay, and stub- ble, the distorted growing, and thin gleaning of vain men in blasted fields. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your obedient servant, The Author of " Modekn Paintees." January 6. [From " The Times.' December 29, 1852.1 THE NATIONAL GALLERY. To the Editor of " The Times." SiK : I trust that the excitement which has been caused by the alleged destruction of some of the most important pictures in the National Gallery will not be without results, whatever may * The "libel on Holbein" was bought as an original, from Mr, Hodiard. in 1845. It now figures in the National Gallery as " A Medical Professor, — artist unknown" (Xo. 195). t The Bellini is the "Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredano" (No. 189). purchased in 1844: four more examples (Xos. 280, 726, 808, 812) of llic 4:6 LETTERS OX ART. [1852. be tlie facts of the case with respect to the works in question. Under the name of " restoration," the ruin of the noblest arcliitecture and painting is constant throughout Europe. AVe shall show ourselves wiser than our neighbors if the loss of two Claudes and the injury of a Paul Veronese* induce us to pay so much attention to the preservation of ancient art as may prevent it from becoming a disputed question in future whether they are indeed pictures which we possess or their skeletons. As to the facts in the present instance, I can give no opinion. Sir Charles Eastlake and Mr. Uwinsf know more than 1 of oil paintings in general, and have far more profound respect for those of Claude in particular. I do not suppose they would have taken from him his golden armor that Turner might bear away a dishonorable victory m the noble passage of arms to which he has challenged his rival from the grave.:}; Nor can the public suppose that the Curators of the National Gallery have any interest in destroying the works with which they are intrusted. If, acting to the best of their judgment, I The public may not, perhaps, be generally aware that the con- dition by which the nation retains the two pictures bequeathed to it by Turner, and now in the National Gallery, is that *^they shall be hung beside Claude's." § same "mighty Venetian master" have since been introduced, so that he is DO longer "poorly represented by a single head." The Van Eyck is the " Portrait of Jean Arnolfini and his Wife" (No. 186), purchased in 1842. * Claude's "Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca" (No. 12), and his "Queen of Sheba" picture (No. 14, Seaport, with figures). The only pictures of Veronese which the Gallery at this time contained, were the " Consecration of St. Nicholas" (No. 26), and the " Rape of Europa" (No. 97). It is the former of these two that is here spoken of as injured (see the Report of the National Gallery Committee in 1853). fMr. Thomas Uwins, R.A., had succeeded Sir Charles Eastlake as Keeper of the National Gallery in 1847; and resigned, for a similar reason, in 1855. § " Dido building Carthage" (No. 498), and " The Sun rising in a Mist" (No. 479). The actual wording of Turner's will on the matter ran thus: " I direct that the said pictures, or paintings, shall be hung, kept, and placed, that is to sa^^ always between the two pictures painted by Claude, the Seaport and the Mill." Accordingly they now hang side by side with these two pictures (Nos.' 5 and 12) in the National Gallery. 1853.] THE XATIOXAL GALLERY. 47 tliev liave done harm, to wliuiii are we to look for irreuter ])ruerty to ^[r. Morris Moore, or to any of the artists and amateurs who have iniiamed the sheets of The Times with their indiii^nation ? Is it not evident that the only security which the nation can j^ossess for its pictures must be found in taking such measures {:s may in future prevent the necessity of their being- touched at all ? For this is very certain, that all question respecting the effects of cleaning is merely one of the amount of injury. Every picture which has undergone more friction than is necessary at intervals for the removal of dust or dirt, has sutfered injury to some extent. The last touches of the master leave thesm-face of the color with a certain substantial texture, the bloom of which, if once reached under the varnish, nmst inevitably be more or less removed by friction of any kind — how much more by friction aided ' by solvents ? I am well assured that every possessor of pictures who truly loves them, would keep — if it might be — their surf aces from being so touch as breathed upon, which may, indeed, be done, and done easily. Every stranger who enters our Xational Gallery, if he be a thoughtful person, must assuredly put to himself a curious question. Perceiving that certain pictui-es — namely, three Correggios, two Eaphaels and a John Bellini — are put under glass,"" and that all the others are left exposed, as oil pictures are in ireneral, he nmst ask himself, " Is it an ascertained fact that glass preserves pictures ; and are none of the pictures here thought worth a pane of glass but these five ? f Or is it unascertained whether glass is beneficial or injurious, and have the Raphaels and Correggios been selected for the trial — ' Fi pictures are mentioned. 48 LETTERS ON ART. [1853. years : they are as f resli and lovely as when they were first enclosed ; they need no cleaning, and will need none for half a century to come ; and it must be, therefore, that the rest of the pictures are left exposed to the London atmosphere, and to the operations which its influence renders necessary, simply because they are not thought worth a -pane of plate glass. No : there is yet one other possible answer — that many of them are hung so high, or in such lights, that they could not be seen if they were glazed. Is it then absolutely necessary that they should be hung so high ? AYe are about to build a new National Gal- lery ; may it not be so arranged as that the pictures we place therein may at once be safe and visible ? I know that this has never yet been done in any gallery "in Europe, for the European public have never yet reflected that a picture which was worth buying was also worth seeing.. Some time or other they will assuredly awake to the perception of this wonderful truth, and it would be some credit to our English connnon-sense if we were the first to act upon it. I say that a picture which is worth buying is also worth seeing ; that is, worth so much room of ground and wall as shall enable us to see it to the best advantage. It is not commonly so understood. Nations, like individuals, buy their ])ictures in mere ostentation ; and are content, so that their ^possessions are acknowledged, that they should be lumg in any dark or out-of-the-way corners which their frames will fit. Or, at best, the popular idea of a national gallery is that of a mag- 'nificent palace, whose Avails must be decorated with colored panels, every one of which shall cost £1,000, and be discernible, thi'ough a telescope, for the work of a mighty hand. I have no doubt that in a few years more there will be a change of feeling in this matter, and that men will begin to perceive, what is indeed the truth — that every noble picture is a manuscript book, of which only one copy exists, or ever can exist ; that a national gallery is a great library,"^" of which the * " The Art of a nation is, I think, one of the most important points of its histor}', and a part Avhich, if once destro3'ed. no history will ever supply the place of; and the first, idea of a National Gallery is that it should be a 1852.] THE XATIOXAL GALLERY. 49 books must be read upon their shelves ; that every manuscript ought, therefore, to be phiced where it cau be read most easily ; and that the style of the architecture and the effect of the saloons are matters of no importance whatsoever, but that our solicitude ought to begin and end in the two imperative recpiirements — that every picture in the gallery should be per- fectly seen and perfectly safe ; that none should be thrust up, or down, or aside, to make room for more important ones ; that all should be in a good light, all on a level with the eye, and all secure from damp, cold, impurity of atmosphere, and every other avoidable cause of deterioration. These are the things to be accomplished ; and if we set ourselves to do these in our new" Xational Gallery,^' we shall have made a greater step in art-teaching than if we had built a new Parthenon. 1 know that it will be a strange idea to most of us that Titians and Tintorets ought, indeed, all to have places upon " the line," as well as the annual productions of our Royal Academicians ; and I know that the coup d\iil of the Gallery must be entirely destroyed by such an arrangement. But great pictures ought not to be subjects of '^ coup^ (Twliy In the last arrangement of the Louvre, under the Eepublic, all the noble pictures in the gallery were brought into one room, with a Xajjoleon-like resolution to produce effect by concen- tration of force ; and, indeed, I w^ould not part willingly with the memory of that saloon, whose obscurest shadows were full of Correggio ; in whose out-of-the-way angles one forgot, here and there, a Raphael ; and in which the best Tintoret on this side of the Alps w^as hung sixty feet from the ground ! f But Library of Art, in which the rudest efforts are, in some cases, hardly less important than the noblest." — National Gallery Commission, 1857: Mr. Ruskin's evidence. * It was.at this time proposed to remove the national pictures from Tra- falgar Square to some new buildiug to be erected for them elsewhere. This proposal was, however, negatived by the commission ultimately appointed (1857) to consider the matter, and to some extent rendered unnecessary by the enlargement of the gallery, decided upon in 1866. •j-The galleries of the Louvic wore reorganized on their being declared national instead of crown property, after the Revolution of 1848; and the 50 LETTERS ON ART. [1852. Cleopatra dissolving the pearl was nothing to this ; and I trust that, in our own Gallery, our poverty, if not our will, may consent to a more modest and less lavish manner of displaying such treasures as are intrusted to us ; and that the very limita- tion of our possessions may induce us to make that the object of our care which can hardly be a ground of ostentation. It might, indeed, be a matter of some difficulty to conceive an arrano-ement of the collections in the Louvre or the Florence Gallery which should admit of every picture being hung upon the line. But the works in our own, including tlie Vernon and Turner bequests,* present no obstacle in their number to our making the building which shall receive them a perfect model of what a National Gallery ought to be. And the conditions of this perfection are so simple that if we only turn our atten- tion to these main points it will need no great architectural ingenuity to attain all that is recpiired. It is evident, in the first place, that the building ought to consist of a series of chambers or galleries lighted from above, and built with such reference to the pictures they are to con- tain, as that opposite a large jHcture room enough should be allowed for the spectator to retire to the utmost distance at which it can ever be desirable that its effect should be seen ; but, as economy of space would become a most important object when every picture was to be hung on a level with the eye, smaller apartments might open from the larger ones for the reception of smaller pictures, one condition being, however, made imperative, whatever space was sacrificed to it — namely, that the works of every master should be collected together, either in the same apartment or in contiguous ones. Nothing has so nmch retarded the advance of art as our miserable habit clioicest pictures were then collected together in the " grand salon carre," -which, although since rearranged, still contains a similar selection. The "best Tintoret on this side of the Alps" is the " Susannah and the Llders," now No. 349 in that room. * The (jift of Mr. Robert Vernon, in 1847, consisted of 157 pictures, all of them, with two exceptions only, of the British school. The Turner bequest included 105 finished oil paintings, in addition to the numerous sketches and drawings. 1852.] THE NATIONAL GALLKKY. 51 of mixing the works of every master and of every centnrv. More would be leiiriied by an ordinarily intelligent observer in simply passing from ii room in whicli there were only Titians, to another in which there were only Caraccis, than by readini,^ a volume of lectures on color. Few minds are strong enough first to abstract and then to generalize the characters of paint- ings hung at random. Few minds are so dull as not at once ti) perceive the points of difference, were the works of each painter set by themselves. The fatigue of which most persons com- plain in passing through a picture gallery, as at present arranged, is indeed partly caused by the straining effort to see what is out of sight, but not less by the continual change of temper and of tone of thought, demanded in passing from the work of one master to that of another. The works of eacli being, therefore, set by themselves," and the whole collection arrano-ed in chronoloijical andethnoloirical o o o order, let apartments be designed for each group large enough to admit of the increase of the existing collection to any proba- ble amount. The whole gallery would thus become of great length, but might be adapted to any form of ground-plan by disj^osing the whole in a labyrinthine chain, returning upon itself. Its chronological arrangement would necessitate its being continuous, rather than divided into many branches or sections. Being lighted from above, it must be all on the same floor, but ought at least to be raised one story above the ground, and might admit any number of keepers' apartments, or of schools, beneath ; though it would be better to make it quite independent of these, in order to diminish the risk of Are. Its walls ought on every side to be surrounded by coi-ridors, so that the interior temperature might be kept equal, and no outer surface of wall on whicli pictures were hung exjiosed to the weather. Every picture should be glazed, and the horizon *An example of a cognate school might, however, be occa- sionally introduced for the sake of direct comparison, as in one instance would be necessitated by the condition above mentioned attached to part of tlic Turner bequest. 52 LETTERS Ois- ART. [1866. wliicli the painter had given to it placed on a level with the eye. Lastly, opposite each picture should be a table, containing, under glass, every engraving that had ever been made from it, and any studies for it, by the master's own hand, that remained, or were obtainable. The values of the study and of the picture are reciprocally increased — of the former more than doubled — by their being seen together ; and if this system were once adopted, the keepers of the various galleries of Europe would doubtless consent to such exchanges of the sketches in their possession as would render all their collections more interesting. I trust. Sir, that the importance of this subject will excuse the extent of my trespass upon your columns, and that the simplicity and self-evident desirableness of the arrangement I have described may vindicate my proposal of it from the charge of presumption. I have the honor to be. Sir, Your obedient servant. The Author of " Modern Painters." Herne Hill, Dulwich, Dec. 27. [From •' The Times," January 27, 1866.] THE BRITISH MUSEUM. To the Editor of " The Times." Sir : As I see in your impression of yesterday that my name was introduced in support of some remarks made, at the meet- ing of the Society of Arts, on the management of the British Museum,"^" and as the tendency of the remarks I refer to was * At the meeting of the Society, in the Hall, Adelphi, Lord Henry Lennox read u paper on " The Uses of National Museums to Local Insti- tutions," in which he spoke of Mr. Ruskin's suggestions "adopted and recommended to Parliament in annual reports, and in obedience to distinct Commissions," as having been unwarrantably disregarded since 1858. See Mr. Ruskin's official report on the Turner Bequest, printed in the " Report of the Director of the National Gallery to the Lords of the Treasury, 1858," Appendix vii. 1866.] THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 53 depreciatory of the efforts and aims of several officers of the Museuin — more especially of tlie work done on the collection of minerals by my friend Mr. Nevil S. Maskelyne* — yon will, I hope, permit me. not having been present at the meeting, to express my feeling on the subject brielly in your columns. There is a confused notion in the existing public mind tliat the British Museum is partly a parish school, partly a circu- lating library, and partly a place for Christmas entertainments. It is none of the three, and, I hope, will never be made any of the three. But especially and most distinctly it is not a *' preparatory school," nor even an '' academy for young gentlemen," nor even a " working-men's college." A national museum is one thing, a national place of education another; and the more sternl}^ and unequivocally they are separated, the better will each perform its office — the one of treasuring and the other of teaching. I heartily wish that there were already, as one day there must be, lai-ge educational museums in every district of London, freely open every day, and well lighted and warmed at night, with all furniture of comfort, and full aids for tlie use of their contents by all classes. But you might just as rationally send the British public to the Tower to study mineralogy upon the Crown jewels as make the unique pieces of a worthy national collection (such as, owing mainly to the exertions of its maligned officers, that of our British Museum has recently become) the means of ele- mentary public instruction. After men have learnt their science or their art, at least so far as to know a common and a rare example in either, a national museum is useful, and ought to be easily accessible to them; but until then, unique or selected specimens in natural history are without interest to t^em, and the best art is as useless as a blank wall. For all those who can use the existing national collection to any pur- pose, the Catalogue as it now stands is amply sufficient : it would be difficult to conceive a more serviceable one. But the rapidly progressive state of (especially mineralogicali * Professor Nevil Story -Maskelyne (now M.P. for Cricklade) was then, and till his recent resignation, Keeper of Mineralogy at the Museum. 54 LETTERS 01^ ART. [1866. science, renders it impossible for the Curators to make their arrangements in all points satisfactory, or for long periods permanent. It is just because Mr. Maskelyne is doing more active, continual, and careful work than, as far as I know, is at present done in any national museum in Europe — because he is completing gaps in the present series by the intercala- tion of carefully sought specimens, and accurately reforming its classification by recently corrected analyses — that the col- lection cannot yet fall into the formal and placid order in which an indolent Curator would speedily arrange and will- ingly leave it. I am glad that Lord H. Lennox referred to the passage in my report on the Turner Collection in which I recommended that cei'tain portions of that great series should be distributed, for permanence, among our leading provincial towns.* But I had rather see the whole Turner Collection buried, not merely in the cellars of the National Gallery, but with Prosperous staff fathoms in the earth, than that it should be the means of inaugurating the fatal custom of carrying great works of art al)Out the roads for a show. If you mtist make them educational to the public, hang Titian's Bacchus up for a vintners sign, and give Henry YI.'s Psalter f for a *In ]Mr. Ruskin's official report already mentioned, and Avhicli was made at the close of his labors in arranging the Turner drav.'ings, and dated March 27, 1858, he divided the collection into three classes, of which the third consisted of drawings available for distribution among provincial Schools of Art. The passage of the report referred to is as follows: " The remainder of the collection consists of drawings of miscellaneous character, from which many might be spared with little loss to the collection in Lon- don, and great advantage to students in the provinces. Five or six collec- tions, each completely illustrative of Turner's modes of study, and succes- sions of practice, might easily be prepared for the academies of Edinburgh, Dublin, and the principal English manufacturing towns." — See also the similar recommendation with regard to the "Outlines of John Leech," in the letter on that subject. f Titian's "Bacchus and Ariadne"— already mentioned, p. 40. Henry VL's Psalter is in the British Museum (" Domitian A. 17," in the Cottonian Catalogue). It is of early tifteenth century work, and was executed in England by a French artist for the then youthful king, from whom it takes its name. 1880.] ON THE PURCHASE OF PICTURES. 55 spelling-book to the Bliiecoat School ; but, at least, hang the one from a permanent post, and chain the other to the bovs' desks, and do not send them about in caravans to every auuual Bartholomew Fair. I am. Sir, your obedieiii >L-r\aJit, J. RUSKIN. Denmark Hlll. Jan. 26. [From "The Leicester Chronicle and Mercury," January 31, and reprinted in "The Times," February 2, 1880.] ON THE PURCHASE OF PICTURES* Dear Sir : Your letter is deeply interesting to me, but what use is there in my telling you what to do i The mob won't let you do it. It is fatally true that no one nowadays can appreciate pictures by the Old Masters! and that every one can understand Frith's " Derby Day" — that is to say, everybody is interested in jockeys, harlots, mountebanks, and men about town ; but nobody in saints, heroes, kings, or wise men — either from the east or west. What can you do ? If your Committee is strong enough to carry such a resolution as the appointment of any singly responsible person, any well- informed gentleman of taste in your neighborhood, to buy for the Leicester public just what he would buy for himself — that is to say, himself and his family — children being the really most important of the untaught ])ublic — and to answer simply to all accusation — that is, a good and worthy piece of art (past or present, no matter which) — make the most and best you can of it. That method so long as tenable will be useful. 1 know of no other. Faithfully yours, J. ItusKix. * This letter was written in reply to one requestin«T Mr. Ruskin's views on the best means of formiuL^ :i imhlic Gallery at Leicester. LETTERS ON ART. TIL PRE-RAPHAELITISM. The Pre-Raphaelite Brethren. 1851 (May 9). The Pre-Raphaelite Brethren. 1851 ("May '26). "The Light of the World," Holman Hunt. 1854. "The Awakening Conscience," Holman Hunt. 1854. Pre-Raphaelitism in Liverpool. 1858. Generalization and the Scotch Pre-Kapuaelites. 1858 y^ CK Till! '^^ NIVERSITY III. PEE-EAPHAELITISM. [From •' The Times," May 13, 1851.] TIIE PRE-RAPHAELITE BRETUREN. To the Editor of ''Tlie Times:' Sir : Your usual liberality will, I trust, give a place in your columns to this expression of my regret that the tone of the critique which appeared in The Times of Wednesday last on the works of Mr. Millais and Mr. Hunt, now in the Itoyal Academy, should have been scornful as well as severe.* I regret it, first, because the mere labor bestowed on those works, and their fidelity to a certain order of truth (labor and fidelity which are altogether indisputable), ought at once to have placed them above the level of mere contempt; and, secondly, because I believe these young artists to be at a most critical period of their career — at a turaing-point, from which they may either sink into nothingness or rise to very real greatness ; and I believe also, that whether they choose the upward or the downward path, may in no small degree depend * That the critique was sufRcientlj'' bitter, may be gathered from the following portions of it: " These young artists have unfortunately become notorious by addicting themselves to an antiquated style and an affected simplicity in painting. . . . We can extend no toleration to a mere senile imitation of the cramped style, false perspective, and crude color of remote auti(iuity. We want not to see what Fuseli termed drapery ' snapped instead of folded; ' faces bloated into apoplexy, or extenuated to skeletons; color borrowed from the jars in a druggist's shop, and expression forced into caricature. . . . That morbid infatuation which sacrifices truth, beauty, and genuine fecliiiLr to mere eccentricity, deserves no quarter at the hands of the pnl-;;'- " 60 LETTERS OK ART. [1851. upon the clmracter of the criticism which their works have to sustain. I do not wish in any way to dispute or invalidate the general truth of your criticpe on the Royal Academy ; nor am I surprised at tlje estimate which the writer formed of the pictures in question when rapidly compared with works of totally different style and aim ; nay, when I first saw the chief picture by Millais in the Exhibition of last year,* I had nearly come to the same conclusion myself. But I ask your per- mission, in justice to artists who have at least given much time and toil to their pictures, to institute some more serious inquiry into their merits and faults than your general notice of the Academy could possibly have admitted. Let me state, in the first place, that I have no acquaint- ance with any of these artists, and very imperfect sympathy with them. Iso one who has met with any of my writings will suspect me of desiring to encourage them in their Roman- ist and Tractarian tendencies.f I am glad to see that Mr. Millais' lady in blue if is heartily tired of her painted windoAv * A sacred picture (No. 518) upon the text, "And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in tliine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends" (Zechariah xiii. 6). He had two other pictures in the xlcademy of 1850, namely, "Portrait of a gentleman and his grandchild" (No. 439), and " Ferdinand lured by Ariel " (No. 504)— Shakespeare, " Tempest," Act ii. sc. 2. f See the next letter, p. 96. With regard to the religious tone of some parts of Mr. Ruskin's early writings, it is worth noting that in the recent reissue (1880) of the "Seven Lamps of Architecture," "some pieces of rabid and utterly false Protestantism . . . are cut from text and appendix alike." — (Preface, p. 1; and see the note on one such omission on p. 19.) So again in the preface to the final edition of " Modern Painters," issued in 1873, Mr. Ruskin stated that his objection to republishing unrevised the first two volumes of that work was that " they are written in a narrow enthusi- asm, and the substance of their metaphysical and religious speculation is only justifiable on the ground of its absolute sincerity."— See also "Sesame and Lilies," 1871 ed., Preface, p. 2. X The pre-Raphaelite pictures exhibited in the Academy of this year, and referred to here and in the following letter, were the "Mariana" (No. 561) of Millais, " The Return of the Dove to the Ark" (No. 651), and " The Woodman's Daughter" (No. 799), (see Coventry Patmore's Poems, vol. i. p. 184—4 vol. ed., 1879), both also by Millais; the "Valentine receiving (rescuing?) Sylvia from Proteus" (No. 594), of llolman Hunt; 1851.] THE PKE-ilAPIIAKTJTE BRETIIllKX. 6l and idolatrous toilut table ; and I have no particular respect for Mr. Collins' lady in white, because her sympathies are limited by a dead wall, or divided between some gold lish and a tadpole — (the latter Mr. Collins may, })i.'rhaps, permit me to sugp:cst en passant, as he is already half a frog, is rather too small for his age). But I happen to have a special acMpiaint- anee Avith the water plant, Alisnia Pla)ita(j<)^ among wliich the said gold fish are swimming ; and as I never saw it so thoroughly or so well drawn, 1 must take leave to remonstrate with you, when ycju say sweepingly that these men "sacrifice trutli as well as feelinc^ to eccentricitv." For as a mere l)otanical study of the water-lily and Alisma, as well as of the common lily and several other garden flowers, this picture would be invaluable to me, and I heartily wish it were mine. But, before entering into such particulars, let me coi*rect an impression which your article is likely to induce in most minds, and which is altogether false. These pre-llaphaelites (I caimot compliment them on common-sense in choice of a nam de guerre) do not desire nor pretend in any way to imitate antique painting as such. They know very little of ancient paintings who suppose the works of these young artists to i-e^^emble them." As far as I can judge of their aim — for, as I and the "Convent Thoughts" (Xo. 493) of ]\[r. C. Collins, to which were tiffixed the lines from ' ' Midsummer Night's Dream" (Act i. sc. 1), *' Thrice blessed they, that master so their blood To undergo such maiden pilgrimage;" and the verse (Psalm cxliii. o), "I meditate on all Thy works; I muse on the work of Thy hands." The last-named artist also had a portrait of ]Mr. AVilliam Bennett (Xo. 718) in the Exhibition — not, however, alluded to in this letter. Mr. Charles Allston Collins, who was the son of William Collins, K.A., and the younger brother of Mr. Wilkie Collins, subsctiuently turned his attention to literature, and may l)e remembered as the author of •' A Cruise upon Wheels," " The Eye- Witness," and other writings. * Compare "Modern Painters," vol. i. p. 415, note, where allusion is made to the painters of a society which "unfortunately, or rather un- wisely, has given it.self the name of 'Pre-Raphaelite;' unfortunately, because the principles on which its members are working are neither pn-- nor post-Raphaelite, but everlasting. They are endeavoring to paint wiili 62 LETTEES OK ART. [1851. said, I do not know the men themselves — the pre-Raphaelites intend to surrender no advantage which the knowledge or inventions of the present time can afford to their art. They intend to return to early days in this one point only — that, as far as in them lies, they will draw either what they see, or what they suppose might have been the actual facts of the scene they desire to represent, irrespective of any conven- tional rules of picture-making; and they have chosen their unfortunate though not inaccurate name because all artists did this before KaphaeFs time, and after EaphaePs time did not this, but sought to paint fair pictures, rather than rej^re- sent stern facts ; of which the consequence has been that, from Raphael's time to this day, historical art has been in acknowledged decadence. IS^ow, sir, presupposing that the intention of these men was to return to archaic art instead of to archaic honesty^ your critic borrows Fuseli's expression respecting- ancient draperies "snaj^ped instead of folded," and asserts that in these pictures there is a '' servile imitation oi false perspec- tive.'' To w^hich I have just this to answer : That there is not one single error in perspective in four out of the five 23ictures in question ; and that in Millais' "Mariana" there is but this one — that the top of the green curtain in the distant window has too low a vanishing-jDoint ; and that I ^dll undertake, if need be, to point out and prove a dozen worse erroi's in perspective in any twelve pictures, containing architecture, taken at random from among the works of the popular painters of the day. Secondly : that, putting aside the small Mulready, and the works of Thorburn and Sir W. Eoss, and perhaps some others of those in the miniature room which I have not examined, tliere is not a single study of drapery in the whole Academy, 1)0 it in large works or small, which for perfect truth, power, and finish could be compared for an instant with the black the highest possible degree of completion, what they see in nature, without reference to conventional established rules; but by no means to imitate the style of any past epoch." 1851.] THE PRE-RAPIIAELITE BRETHREN. 63 sleeve of the Julia, or with the velvet on the breast and the chain mail of the Valentine, of Mr. Hunt's picture ; or with the white draperies on the table of Mr. Millais' '' Mariana," and of the right-hand figure in the same painter's " Dove j-eturninii; to the Ark." And further : that as studies both of drapery and of every minor detail, there has been nothing in art so earnest or so complete as these pictures since the days of Albert Durer. This I assert generally and fearlessly. On the other hand, I am perfectly ready to admit that Mr. Hunt's " Sylvia" is nut a person whom Proteus or any one else would have been likely to fall in love with at lirst sight ; and that one cannot feel very sincere delight that Mr. Millais' ''Wives of the Sons of Noah" should have escaped the Deluge ; with many other faults besides, on which I will not enlarge at present, because I have already occupied too much of your valuable space, and I hope to enter into more special criticism in a future letter. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your obedient servant. The AmnoR of "Modern Painters.*' Dexmark Hill, May 9. L LFrom "The Times," May 30, 1851.] THE PRE-RAPHAELITE BRETHREN. To the Editor of " The Times:' Sir : Your obliging insertion of my former letter encour- ages me to trouble you with one or two further notes respect- ing the pre-Raphaelite pictures. I had intended, in continuation of my first letter, to institute as close an inquiry as I could into the character of the morbid tendencies which prevent these works from favorably arresting the attention of the pu])lic \ but I believe there are so few pictures in the Academy whose 64 LETTERS OK ART. [1851. reputation would not be grievously diminished by a deliberate inventory of their errors, that I am disinclined to undertake so ungracious a task with respect to this or -that particular work. These jDoints, however, may be noted, partly for the consideration of the painters themselves, partly that forgive- ness of them may be asked from the public in consideration of high merits in other resj^ects. The most painful of these defects is unhappily also the most prominent — the commonness of feature in many of the principal ligures. In Mr. Hunt's " Yalentine defending Syl- via," this is, indeed, almost the only fault. Further examina- tion of this picture has even raised the estimate I had pre- viously formed of its marvellous truth in detail and splendor in color ; nor is its general conception less deserving of praise : the action of Yalentine, his arm thrown round Sylvia, and his hand clasping hers at the same instant as she falls at his feet, is most faithful and beautiful, nor less so the contending of doubt and distress with awakening hope in the half-shadowed, half -sunlit countenance of Julia. I^ay, even the momentary struggle of Proteus with Sylvia just past, is indicated by the trodden grass and broken fungi of the foreground. But all this thoughtful conception, and absolutely inimitable execu- tion, fail in making immediate appeal to the feelings, owing to the unfortunate type chosen for the face of Sylvia. Certainly this cannot be she whose lover was ' As rich in having such a jewel, As twenty seas, if all their sands were pearl."* [N'or is it, perhaps, less to be regretted that, while in Shak- speare's play there are nominally '' Two Gentlemen," in Mr. Hunt's picture there should only be one — at least, the kneeling figure on the right has by no means the look of a gentleman. But this may be on purpose, for any one who remembers the conduct of Proteus throughout the previous scenes will, I think, * "Two Gentlemen of Verona," Act ii. sc. 4. The scene of the picture was taken from Act v. sc. 4. 1851.] THE PRE-RAPHAELITE BRETHREN. 65 be disposed to consider tliiit the error lies more in Shakspeare's nomenclature than in Mr, Hunt's ideal. No defence can, however, be offered for the choice of feat- ures in the left-hand tii!;ure of Mr. Millais' '* Dove returniuir to the Ark." I cannot understand how a ])ainter so sensible of the utmost refinement of beauty in other objects should deliberately choose for his model a type far inferior to that of average humanity, and unredeemed by any expression save that of dull self-complacency. Yet, let the spectator who desires to be just turn away from this head, and contemplate rather the tender and beautiful expression of the stooping figure, and the intense harmony of color in the exquisitely fin- ished draperies; let him note also the ruffling of the phnnage of the wearied dove, one of its feathers falling on the arm of the figure which holds it, and another to the ground, where, by the bye, the hay is painted not only elaborately, but with the most perfect ease of touch and mastery of effect, especially to be observed because this freedom of execution is a modern excellence, which it has been inaccurately stated that these painters despise, but which, in reality, is one of the remarkable distinctions between their painting and that of Van Eyck or Ilemling, which caused me to say in my first letter that " those knew little of ancient painting who supposed the works of these men to resemble it." Next to this false choice of feature, and in connection with it, is to be noted the defect in the coloi'ing of the flesh. The hands, at least in the pictures in Millais, are almost always ill painted, and the flesh tint in general is wrought out of crude purples and dusky yellows. It appears just possible that nnich of this evil may arise from the attempt to ol)tain too much transparency — an attempt which has injured also not a few of the best w^orks of Mulready. I believe it will be generally found that close study of minor details is unfavorable to flesh painting; it was noticed of the drawing by John Lewis, in the old water-color exhibition of 1850 * (a work which, as regards * "The Hhareem" (Xo. 147), noticed, partly to tlie above cfTcct, in The Times, Ma}^ 1, 1850. It will be remembered that Johu Lewis is, with 66 LETTERS ON ART. [1851. its treatment of detail, may be ranged in the same class with the pre-Raphaelite pictures), that the faces were the worst painted portions of the whole. The apparent want of shade is, however, perhaps the fault which most hurts the general eye. The fact is, nevertheless, that the fault is far more in the other pictures of the Academy than in the pre-Raphaelite ones. It is the former that are false, not the latter, except so far as every picture must be false which endeavors to I'^present living sunlight with dead pigments. I think Mr. Hunt has a slight tendency to exagger- ate reflected lights ; and if Mr. Millais has ever been near a piece of good painted glass, he ought to have known that its tone is more dusky and sober than that of his Mariana's win- dow. But for the most part these pictures are rashly con- demned because the only light which we are accustomed to see represented is that which falls on the artist's model in his dim painting room, not that of sunshine in the fields. I do not think I can go much further in fault-finding. I had, indeed, something to urge respecting what I supposed to be the Romanizing tendencies of the painters ; but I have received a letter assuring me that I was wrong in attributing to them anything of the kind ; whereupon, all that I can say is that, instead of the "pilgrimage" of Mr. Collins' maiden over a plank and round a fish-pond, that old pilgrimage of Christiana and her children towards the place where they should " look the Fountain of Mercy in the face," would have been more to the purpose in these times. And so I wish them all heartily good-speed, believing in sincerity that if they tem- per the courage and energy which they have shown in the adoption of their systems with patience and discretion in fram- ing it, and if they do not suffer themselves to be driven by harsh or careless criticism into rejection of the ordinary means of obtaining influence over the minds of others, they may, as they gain experience, lay in our England the foundations of a Turner, Millais, Prout, Mulready, and Edwin Landseer, one of the artists particularly mentioned in Mr. Ruskin's pamphlet on " Pre-Raphaelitism" (1851), p. 33; and see also "Academy Notes," III., 1857, p. 48. I I 1854.] '-THE LIGHT OF THE WOKLD.'' 67 gchool of art nobler tlian the world has seen for three hundred St I years.* I have the honor to be, Sir, Your obedient seyvant, The Autuok of ''Modekn Paintees." Denmark Hill, Mai/ 26, IFrom " The Times," May 5, 1851.] THB LIGHT OF THE WOULD:* ByHoLMAN Hunt. To the Editor of " The Tuimr Sir : I trust that, with your usual kindness and liberality, you will give me room in your columns for a few words re- specting the principal prse-Kaphaelite picture in the Exhibition of the Royal Academy this year. Its painter is travelling in the Holy Land, and can neither suffer nor benefit by criticism. But I am solicitous that justice should be done to his wurk, not for his sake, but for that of the large number of persons who, during the year, will have an opportunity .of seeing it, and on whom, if rightly understood, it may make an impres- sion for which they will ever afterwards be grateful. -f I speak of the picture called " the Light of the World," by Mr. Holman Hunt. Standing by it yesterday for upwards of an hour, I watched the effect it produced u})on the passei*s- * " 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." — " Modern Painters," vol. i, p. 415, note. t Of the two pictures described in this and the following letter, ''The Light of the World " is well known from the engraving of it by W. II, Simmons. It was originally purchased by Mr. Thomas Combe, of Oxford, whose widow has recently presented it to Kuble College, where it now hangs, in the library. The subject of the second picture, whicli is less well known, and which has never been engraved, sufficiently appears from the letter describing it. 68 LETTERS ON ART. [1854. by. Few stopped to look at it, and those wlio did almost invariably with some contemptuous expression, founded on what appeared to them the absurdity of representing the Saviour with a lantern in his hand. Now, it ought to be remembered that, whatever may be the faults of a prse- Raphaelite picture, it must at least have taken much time ; and therefore it may not unwarrantably be presumed that concep- tions which are to be laboriously realized are not adopted in the first instance without some reflection. So that the spectator may surely question with himself whether the objections which now strike every one in a moment might not possibly have occurred to the painter himself, either during the time devoted to the design of the pictui-e, or the months of labor required for its execution ; and whether, therefore, there may not be some reason for his persistence in such an idea, not discoverable at the first glance. Mr. Hunt ha9 never explained his work to me. I give what appears to me its palpable interpretation. The legend beneath it is the beautiful 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." — Rev. iii. 20. On the left-hand side of the picture is seen this door of the human soul. It is fast barred : its bars and nails are rusty; it is knitted and bound to its stanchions by creeping tendrils of ivy, showing that it has never been opened. A bat hovers about it ; its threshold is overgrown with brambles, nettles, and fruitless corn — the wild grass " whereof the mower filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth the sheaves his bosom." Christ approaches it in the night-time — Christ, in his everlasting offices of prophet, priest, and king. He wears the white robe, representing the power of the Spirit upon him ; the jewelled robe and breast-plate, representing the sacerdotal investiture ; the rayed crown of gold, inwoven with the crown of thorns ; not dead thorns, but now bearing soft leaves, for the healing of the nations. !N"ow, when Christ enters any human heart, he bears with him a twofold light : first, the light of conscience, which displays 1854.] "THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD." 69 past sin, and afterwards the light of ])eace, the hope of salva- tion. The lantern, carried in Christ's left hand, is tliis lii^dit of conscience. Its lire is red and fierce ; it falls only on the closed door, on the weeds which encnmber it, and on an apple shaken from one of the trees of the orchard, thus marking that the entire awakening of the conscience is nut nu-rrlv to com- mitted, but to hereditary guilt. The light is suspended by a chain, wrapt about the wri&t of the ligure, showing that the light which reveals sin appears to the sinner also to chain the hand of Christ. The light which proceeds from the head of the figure, on the contrary, is that of the hope of salvation ; it springs from the crown of thorns, and, though itself sad, subdued, and full of softness, is yet so powerful that it entirely melts into the glow of it the forms of the leaves and bonghs, which it crosses, showing that every earthly object must be hidden by this light, where its sphere extends. I believe there are very few persons on whom the picture, thus justly understood, \vi\\ not produce a deep impression. For my own part, I think it one of the very noblest works of sacred art ever produced in this or any other age. It may, ])erhaps, be answered, that works of art ought not to stand in need of interpretation of this kind. Indeed, we have been so long accustomed to see pictures painted without any purpose or intention whatsoever, that the unexpected existence of meaning in a work of art may very naturally at first appear to us an unkind demand on the spectator's under- standing. But in a few years more I hope the English public may be convinced of the simple truth, that neither a great fact, nor a great man, nor a great poem, nor a great ])icture, nor any other great thing, can be fathomed to the very bottom in a moment of time ; and that no high enjoyment, either in picture-seeing or any other occupation, is consistent with a total lethargy of the powers of the understanding. As far as regards the technical qualities of Mr. Hunt's painting, I would only ask the spectator to observe this differ- ence between true prcC-Raphaelite work and its imitations. 70 LETTEES 01s ART. [1854. The true work represents all objects exactly as they would appear in nature in the position and at tiie distances which the arrangement of the picture supposes. The false work repre- sents them with all their details, as if seen through a microscope. Examine closely the ivy on the door in Mr. Hunt's picture, and there will not be found in it a single clear outline. All is the most exquisite mystery of color ; becoming reality at its due distance. In like manner examine the small gems on the robe of the figure. ]Xot one will be made out in form, and yet there is not one of all those minute points of green color, but it has two or three distinctly varied shades of green in it, giving it mysterious value and lustre. The spurious imitations of pr[ie-Ilaphaelite work represent the most minute leaves and other objects with sharp outlines, but with no variety of color, and with none of the concealment, none of the infinity of nature. With this spurious work the walls of the Academy are half covered ; of the true school one vei-y small exam2:)le may be pointed out, being hung so low that it might otherwise escape attention. It is not by any means perfect, but still very lovely — the study of a calm pool in a mountain brook, by Mr. J. Dearie, l^o. 191, " Evening, on the Marchno, North AYales." * I have the honor to be. Sir, Your obedient servant. The Author of ''Modern Painters." Denmark Hill, May 4. * Mr. Dearie informs me that this picture was bought from the walls of the Academy by a prize-holder in the Art Union of London. He adds lliat the purchaser resided iu either America or Australia, and that the picture is now, therefore, presumably in one or other of those countries. 1854.] *'THE AWAKENING CONSCIENCE." 71 [From "The Times," May 25, 1854.] " THE AWAKENING CONSCIENCE." By Holman Hunt. To the Editor of " The Times" Sir: Your kind insertion of my notes on Mr. Hunt's principal picture encourages me to hope that you may yet allow me room in your columns for a few words respecting his second work in the Koyal Academy, the "Awakening Con- science." Xot that this picture is obscure, or its story feebly told. I am at a loss to know how its meaning could be rendered more distinctly, but assuredly it is not understood. People gaze at it in a blank wonder, and leave it hopelessly ; so that, though it is almost an insult to the painter to explain his thoughts in this instance, I cannot persuade myself to leave it thus misunderstood. The poor girl has been sitting singing with her seducer ; some chance words of the song, " Oft in the stilly night," have struck upon tlie numbed places of her heart ; she has started up in agony ; he, not seeing her face, goes on sing- ing, striking the keys carelessly witli his gloved hand. I suppose that no one possessing the slightest knowledge of expression could remain untouched by the countenance of the lost girl, rent from its beauty into sudden horror ; the lips half open, indistinct in their purple quivering ; the teeth set hard ; the eyes filled with the fearful light of futurity, and with teai-s of ancient days. But I can easily understand that to many persons the careful rendering of the inferior details in this picture cannot but be at first offensive, as calling their attention away from the principal subject. It is true that detail of this kind has long been so carelessly rendered, that the perfect finishing of it becomes a matter of curiosity, and therefore an interruption to serious thought. But, without entering into the question of the general propriety of such treatment, I would only observe that, at least in this instance, it is based f»n 72 LETTEKS OK ART. [1854. a truer principle of the pathetic than any of the common artistical expedients of the schools. Nothing is more notable than the way in which even the most trivial objects force themselves upon the attention of a mind which has been fevered by violent and distressful excitement. They thrust themselves forward with a ghastly and unendurable distinctness, as if they would compel the sufferer to count, or measure, or learn them by heart. Even to the mere spectator a strange interest exalts the accessories of a scene in which he bears witness to human soiTow. There is not a single object in all that room — com- mon, modern, vulgar (in the vulgar sense, as it may be), but it becomes tragical, if rightly read. Tliat furniture so carefully painted, even to the last vein of the rosewood — is there nothing to be learnt from that terrible lustre of it, from its fatal newness ; nothing there that has the old thoughts of home upon it, or that is ever to become^ a j^art of home 'i Those embossed books, vain and useless, — they also new, — marked with no happy wearing of beloved leaves; the torn and dying bird upon the floor; the gilded tapestry, with the fowls of the air feeding on the ripened corn ; the picture above the fireplace, with its single drooping figure — tlie woman taken in adulteiy ; nay, the very hem of the poor girl's dress, i\t which the painter has labored so closely, thread by thread, has story in it, if we think how soon its pure whiteness may be soiled with dust and rain, her outcast feet failing in the street; and the fair garden flowers, seen in that reflected sunshine of the mirror — these also have their language — " Hope not to find delight in us, tliey say, For we are spotless, Jessy — we are pure."* I surely need not go on. Examine the whole range of the walls of the Academy, — nay, examine those of all our public '^ Slieustone: Elegy xxvi. The subject of the poem is that of the picture described here. The girl speaks — " If through the garden's flowery tribes I stray, Where bloom the jasmines that could once allure, Hope not," etc. 1858.] PKE-KAPHAELITISM IK LIVERPOOL. - 73 and private galleries, — and while pictures will be met with by the thousand which literally tempt to evil, by the thousand which are directed to the meanest trivialities of incident or emotion, by the thousand to the delicate fancies of inactive relii^ion, there will not be found one })o\VL'rful as this to meet full in the front the moral evil of the age in which it is painted ; to waken into mercy the cruel thoughtlessness of youth, and subdue the severities of judgment into the sanctity of com- passion. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your obedient servant, The Author of "Modern Pmnters." Denmabk Hill. [From '* The Liverpool Albion," January 11, 1858.] PRE-RAPHAELiriSM IN LIVERPOOL* I believe the Liverpool Academy has, in its decisions of late years, given almost the first instance on record of the entirely just and beneficial working of academical system. Usually such systems have degenerated into the application of formal rules, or the giving partial votes, or the distribution of a partial patronage ; but the Liverpool awards have indicated at once the keen perception of new forms of excellence, and the frank honesty by which alone such new forms can be con- fessed and accepted. I do not, however, wonder at the outcry. * The prize of the Liverpool Academy was awarded in 1858 to ^lillais's "Blind Girl," Popular feeling, however, favored another picture, the " "Waiting for the Verdict" of A. Solomon, and a good deal of discussion arose as to whether the prize had been rightly awarded. As one of the judges, and as a member of the Academy, Mr. Alfred Hunt aiidresscd a letter on the matter to Mr. Ruskin, the main portion of whose reply was gent by him to the Liverpool Albion and is now reprinted here. Mr. Solo- mon's picture had been exhibited in the Royal Academy of 1857 (No. 662), and is mentioned iu Mr. Ruskin'.s Notes to the pictures of that year (p. 32). 74 LETTERS ON ART. [1858. People who suppose the pre-Raphaelite work to be only a con- dition of meritorious eccentricity, naturally suppose, also, that the consistent preference of it can only be owing to clique. Most people look upon paintings as they do on plants or minerals, and think they ought to have in their collections specimens of everybody's work, as they have specimens of all earths or flowers. They have no conception that there is such a thing as a real right and wrong, a real bad and good, in the question. However, you need not, I think, much mind. Let the Academy be broken up on the quarrel ; let the Liverpool people buy whatever rubbish they have a mind to ; and when they see, as in time they will, that it is rubbish, and find, as find they will, every pre-Rahpaelite picture gradually advance in influence and in value, you will be acknowledged to have borne a witness all the more noble and useful, because it seemed to end in discomfiture ; though it will not end in dis- comfiture. I suppose I need hardly say anything of my own estimate of the two pictures on which the arbitrement has arisen. I have surely said often enough, in good black type already, wliat I thought of pre-Eaphaelite works, and of other modern ones. Since Turners death I consider that any average work from the hand of any of the four leaders of pre-'Raphaelitism (Rosetti, Millais, Hunt, John Lewis) is, singly, worth at least th?'ee of any other pictures whatever by living artists. John Ruskin. [From " The Witness" (Edinburgh), March 27, 1858.1 GENEBALIZATION AND THE SCOTCH PBE-MAPHAELITES. To tJie Editor of " The Witness." I was very glad to see that good and firm defence of the pre-Raj^haelite Brothers in the Wit7iess ^ the other day ; only, " The defence was made iu a second notice (March 6, 1858) of the Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy, then open to the public. The picture of Mr. Waller Patou (now U.S.A.) alluded to here was entitled "AVild Water, Inveruglass" (161); he also exhibited one of "Arrochar 1858.] THE SCOTCH PRE-RAPHAELITES. 75 my dciir Editor, it appears to me tliut you t:ike too miu-h trouble in the mutter. Such a lovely picture as that of Waller Patou's must either speak for itself, or nobody can speak for it. If you Scotch people don't know a bit of your own country when you see it, who is to help you to know it ( If, in that mighty wise town of Edinburgh, everybody still likes flourishes of brush better than ferns, and dots of paint better than birclf leaves, surely there is nothing for it but to leave them in quietude of devotion to dot and faith in flourish. At least I can see no other way of dealing. All those j)lati- tudes from the Scotsmaii^ which you took the pains to answer, have been answered ten thousand times already, without the smallest effect — the kind of people who utter them being always too misty in their notions ever to feel or catch an answer. You may as well speak to the air, or rather to a Scotch mist. The oddest part of the business is, that all those wretched fallacies about generalization might be quashed or crushed in an instant, by reference to any given picture of any great master who ever lived. There never was anybody who generalized, since paint was first ground, except Opie, and Benjamin West, and Fuseli, and one or two other such modern stars — in their own estimates, — night-lights, in fact, extinguishing themselves, not odoriferously at daybreak, in a sputter in the saucer. Titian, Giorgione, Yeronese, Tintoret, Raphael, Leonardo, Correggio — never any of them dreamt of generalization, and would have rejected the dream as having come by the horn gate,'^ if they had. The only difference between them and the pre-Raphaelites is, that the latter love nature better, and don't yet know their artist's business so well, having everything to find out for themselves athwart all sorts of contradiction, poor fellows ; so they are apt to jnit too Road, Tarbet " (314). The platitudes of the Srofsman against the i>n'- Kaphaelites were contained in its second notice of the Exhibition (Fc hru- ary 20. 1858). * Tliere must be some error here, as it is tlie true dreams that come through the horn gate, while the fruitless ones pass througli the gale of ivoi-i/. The allusion is to Homer (Odyssey, xix. o62). 76 LETTEKS OX ART. [1858. much into their pictures — for love's sake, and then not to bring this much into perfect harmony ; not yet being able to bridle their thoughts entirely with tlie master's hand. I don't say therefore — I never have said — that their pictures are faultless — many of them have gross faults ; but the modern pictures of the generalist school, which are opposed to them, have nothing else but faults : they are not pictures at all, but pure daubs and perfect blunders ; nay, they have never had aim enough to be called anything so honorable as blunders ; they are mere emptinesses and idlenesses — thistledown with- out seeds, and bubbles without color ; whereas the worst pre- Kaphaelite picture has something in it ; and the great ones, such as Windus's " Burd Helen," ^ will hold their own with the most noble pictures of all time. • Always faithfully yours, J. RUSKIN. By the way, what ails you at our pre-Raphaelite Brothers' conceits ? Windus's heart's-ease might have been a better * In illustration of the old Scottish ballad of "Burd Helen," who, fear- ing her lover's desertion, followed him, dressed as a foot-page, through flood, if not through fire — " Lord John he rode, Burd Helen ran, The live-lang sumer's day, Until they cam' to Clyde's Water, Was filled frae bank to brae, " ' See'st thou yon water, Helen,' quoth he, ' That flows frae bank to brim? ' ' I trust to God, Lord John,' she said, ' You ne'er will see me swim.' " This picture (No. 141 in the Edinburgh Exhibition of 1858) was first exhibited in the Royal Academy of 1856. In the postscript to his Academy Notes of that year, Mr. Ruskin, after commenting on the " crying error of putting it nearly out of sight," so that he had at first hardly noticed it, estimates this picture as second only to the "Autumn Leaves" of Mr. Mil- lais in that exhibition. The following is a portion of his comment on it: "I see just enough of the figures to make me sure that tlie work is thoughtful and intense in the highest degree. The pressure of the girl's hand on her side; her wild, firm, desolate look at the stream — she not rais- ing her eyes as she makes her appeal, for fear of the greater mercllessness J 1858.] THE SCOTCH PRE-RAPHAELITES. 77 conceit, I grant yIarch. 1880.— The copy of Turner's drawing of * Fluclen,' which has been just completed 106 LETTERS OK AKT. [1871. You observe in the course of your article that " surely such attempts could not gratify any one who had a true. insight for Mr. Turner's works ?" But the reason that the drawings now at 148 Kew Bond Street are not for sale is that they do gratify me^ and are among my extremely valued possessions ; and if among the art critics on your staff there be, indeed, any one whose " insight for Mr. Turner's work" you suppose to be greater than mine, I shall have much pleasure in receiving any instructions with w^liich he may favor me, at the National Gallery, on the points either in which Mr. Ward's work may be im23roved, or on those in which Turner is so superior to Titian and Correggio, that while the public maintain, in Italy, a nation of copyists of these second-rate masters, they are not justified in hoping any success whatever in representing the w^ork of the Londoner, whom, while he was alive, I was always called mad for praising. I am. Sir, your obedient servant, John Russm. Peterborough, A-gril 23. [From " The Times," January 24, 1871.] "TURNERS;' FALSE AND TRUE. To the Editor of " The Times." Sir: I have refused until now to express any opinion respecting the picture N'o. 40 ^ in the Exhibition of the Old by Mr. Ward, and shown to me to-day, is beyond my best hopes in every desirable quality of execution; and is certainly as good as it is possible for care and skill to make it. I am so entirely satisfied with it that, for my own personal 2'>l<^asure — irrespective of pride, I should feel scarcely any loss in taking it home with me instead of the original; and for all uses of artistic example or instruction, it is absolutely as good as the original. — John Rus- KiN." — The copy in question is from a drawing in the possession of Mr. Ruskin (see the Turner Notes, 1878, No. 70), and was executed for its present proprietor, Mr. T. S. Kennedy, of Meanwoods, Leeds. * "Italy," a reputed Turner, lent by the late Mr. Wynn Ellis. No. 235 was "A Landscape," with Cattle, in the possession of Lord Leconfield. 1857.] THE CHARACTER OF TURNER. 107 Masters, feeling extreme reluctance to say anything wliicli its kind owner, to whom the Exhibition owes so much, might deem discourteous. But I did not suppose it was possible any doubt could lono* exist among artists as to the character of the work in question ; and, as I find its authenticity still in some quarters maintained, 1 think no other course is open to me than to state that the picture is not by Turner, nor even by an imitator of Turner acquainted with the essential qualities of the master. I am able to assert this on internal evidence only. I never saw the picture before, nor do I know anything of the channels through which it came into the possession of its present pro- prietor. 1^0. 235 is, on the contrary, one of the most consummate and majestic works that ever came irom the artist's hand, and it is one of the very few now remaining which have not been injured by subsequent treatment. I am, Sir, your obedient seiwant, John Euskin. Denmark Hill, Ja?i. 23. CFrom "The Life of Tvimer," by Walter Thombury.] TEB CHARACTER OF TURNER* [The following admonition, sent by Mr. Ruskin in 1857 to Mr. Thornbury, and coupled witli the advice that for the biographer of Turner there was no time to be lost, '* for those wlio knew him when young are dying daily," forms a fit conclusion to this division of the letters.] * See also "M(xlcrn Painters," vol. v. pp. 345-347, and "Lectures on Architecture and Painting," pp. 181-188, where the character of Turner is further explained, and various anecdotes given in special illustration of his truth, generosity, and kindness of heart. 108 LETTERS ON^ ART. [1857. Fix at the beffinnino: the f olio win o: main characteristics of Turner in your mind, as the keys to the secret of all he said and did • Uprightness, Generosity. Tenderness of heart (extreme). Sensuality. Obstinacy (extreme). Irritability Infidelity. And be sure that he knew his own power, and felt himself utterly alone in the world from its not being understood. Don't try to mask the dark side. . . . Yours most truly, J. RUSKIN. [See the preface to the first edition of the '^ Life of Turner;" that to the second contains the following estimate of Mr. Thorn- bary's book:* ^'Lucerne, Dec. 2, 1861. — I have just received and am reading your book with deep interest. I am much grati- fied by the view you have taken and give of Turner. It is quite what I hoped. What beautiful things you have discovered about him! Thank you for your courteous and far too flattering refer- ences to me."] * The book was also referred to in " Modern Painters," vol. v. p. 344, where Mr. Ruskin speaks of this " Life of Turner," then still unpublished, as being written "by a biographer, who will, 1 believe, spare no pains in collecting the few scattered records which exist of a career so uneventful and secluded." LETTERS ON ART. V. PICTUEES AND ARTISTS. John Leech's Outlines. 1872. Ernest George's Etchings. 1873. The FliEDERiCK Walker Exhibition. 1876. PICTURES AKD ARTISTS. [From tlie "Catalogue of tlie Exhibition of Outlines by the late John Leech, at the Gallery, 9 Conduit Street, Regent Street." 187:2.*] JOHN LEECirS OUTLINES. I AM honored by the request of the sister of John Leech that I should give some account of the drawings of her brother, which remain in her possession ; and I am able to fulfil her request without departing from the rule which has always bound me, not to allow any private interest to weigh with me in s])eaking of matters which concern the public. It is merely and simply a matter of public concern that the value of these drawings should be known and measures taken for their acqui- sition, or, at least, for obtaining a characteristic selection from them, as a National property. It cannot be necessary for me, or for any one, now to praise the work of John Leech. xVdmit- tedly it contains the finest definition and natural history of the classes of our society, the kindest and subtlest analysis of its foibles, the tenderest flattery of its pretty and well-bred ways, with which the modesty of subservient genius ever amused or immortalized careless masters. But it is not generally known how much more valuable, as art, the first sketches for the woodcuts were than the finished drawings, even before those drawings sustained any loss in engraving. John Leech was an absolute master of the elements of character, — but not by any means of those of chiaroscuro^ — and the admirableness of his work diminished as it became elaborate. The first few lines in which he sets down his pur- * Nearly eight years after Leech's deatli on October 29, 1864. 112 LETTERS ON ART. [1872. pose are invariably of all drawing that I know the most won- derful in their accurate felicity and prosperous haste. It is true that the best possible drawing, whether slight or elabo- rate, is never hurried. Holbein or Titian, if they lay only a couple of lines, yet lay them quietly, and leave them entirely right. But it needs a certain sternness of temper to do this. Most, in the prettiest sense of the word, gentle artists indulge themselves in the ease, and even trust to the felicity of rapid — and even in a measure inconsiderate — work in sketch- ing, so that the beauty of a sketch is understood to be consist- ent with what is partly unintentional. There is, however, one condition of extreme and exquisite skill in which haste may become unerring. It cannot be obtained in completely finished work ; but the hands of Gains- borough, Reynolds, or Tintoret often nearly approach comple- tion at full speed, and the pencil sketches of Turner are expressive almost in the direct ratio of their rapidity. But of all rapid and condensed realization ever accom- plished by the pencil, John Leech's is the most dainty, and the least fallible, in the subjects of which he was cognizant. Not merely right in the traits which he seizes, but refined in the sacrifice of what he refuses. The drawing becomes slight through fastidiousness not indolence, and the finest discretion has left its touches rare. In flexibility and lightness of pencilling, nothing but the best outlines of Italian masters with the silver point can be compared to them. That Leech sketched English squires in- stead of saints, and their daughters instead of martyrs, does not in the least aifect the question respecting skill of pencilling ; and I repeat deliberately that nothing but the best work of sixteenth century Italy with the silver point exists in art, which in rapid refinement these playful English drawings do not excel. There are too many of them (fortunately) to be rightly exemplary — I want to see the collection divided, dated carefully, and selected portions placed in good light, in a quite permanent arrangement in each of our great towns in connec- tion with their drawing schools. 1873.] ERNEST GEORGE'S ETCHINGS. 113 I will not indeed have any in Oxford %vliile I am there, be- cause I am afraid that mj pupils should think too lightly of their drawing as compared with their other studies, and I doubt their studying anything else but John Leech if they had him to study. Ihit in our servile schools of mechanical drawing, to see wliat drawing was indeed, which could represent something better than machines, and could not be mimicked by any nuichinery, would ])ut more life into them than any other teaching I can conceive. It is, therefore, with the greatest pleasure that I accept the honor of having my name placed on the committee for obtain- ing funds for the purchase of these drawings ; and I trust that the respect of the English public for the gentle character of the master, and their gratitude for the amusement with which he has brightened so nuyiy of their days, will be expressed in the only way in which expression is yet possible by due care and wise use of the precious possessions he has left to them. (Signed) J. Euskin. [Frona " The Architect," December 27, 1873.] ERNEST GEORGES ETCHINGS. To the Editor of " The Architect." My dear Sir : I am entirely glad you had permission to publish some of Mr. Ernest George's etchings ; * they are the most precious pieces of work I have seen for many a day, though they are still, like nearly everything the English do *The number of the Architect in which this letter was printed contained two sketches from Mr. George's "Etchings on the Mosel " — those, viz., of the Elector's Palace, Coblentz, and of the interior of Metz Cathedral. The intention of the Architect to reproduce these etchings had apparently been previously communicated to ^Ir. Iluskin, who wrote the present letter for the issue in which the etchings were to be given. Mr. George has since published other works of the same kind — e.r/., " Etchings iu Belgium. " " Etchings on the Loire" (see Mr. Kuskiu's advice to him at the end of this letter, p. 116). 114 LETTERS ON ART. [1873. best in art, fanltful in matters wliicli might have been easily conquered, and not a little wasteful, sometimes of means and time ; I should be glad, therefore, of space enough in your columns to state, with reference to these sketches, some of the principles of etching which I had not time to define in the lectures on engraving I gave this year, at Oxford,^ and which are too often forgotten even by our best draughtsmen. I call Mr. George's work precious, chiefly because it indi- cates an intense perception of points of character in architec- ture, and a sincere enjoyment of them for their own sake. His drawings are not accumulative of material for future use ; still less are they vain exhibitions of his own skill. He draws the scene in all its true relations, because it delights him, and he perceives what is permanently and altogether characteristic in it. As opposed to such frank and j(f)^f ul work, most modern architectural drawings are mere diagi-am or exercise. I call them precious, in the second place, because they show very great powers of true composition. All their subjects are made delightful more by skill of arrangement than by any dexterities of execution ; and this faculty is very rare amongst landscape painters and architects, because nearly every man who has any glimmering of it naturally takes to figure paint- ing — not that the ambition to paint figures is any sign of the faculty, but that, when people have the faculty, they nearly always have also the ambition. And, indeed, this is quite right, if they would not forsake their architecture afterwards, but apply their power of figure design, when gained, to the decoration of their buildings. To return to Mr. George's work. It is precious, lastly, in its fine sense of serene light and shade, as opposed to the coruscations and horrors of modern attempts in that direction. But it is a pity — and this is the first grand principle of etching * The reference must, I think, be to " Ariadne Florentina: Six Lectures on Wood and Metal Engraving given before the University of Oxford, Michaelmas Term, 1873," and afterwards published, 1873-6. The lectures given in the year 1873 were upon Tuscan Art, now published in "Val d'Arno." 1873.] ERNEST GEORGE's ETCHINGS. 115 which I feel it necessary to affirm — ^vlien the instinct of chia- roscuro leads the artist to spend time in prodncini^ texture on his phite which cannot be ultimately perfect, however labored. All the common raptures concerning blots, burr, delicate bitimj^, and the other tricks of the etching trade, merely indi- cate imperfect feeling for shadow. The proper instrument of chiaroscuro is the brush ; a wash of sepia, rightly managed, will do more in ten minutes than Kembrandt himself could do in ten days of the most ingenious scratching, or blurt out by the most happy mixtures of art and accident.* As soon as Mr. George has learned what true light and shade is (and a few careful studies with brush or chalk would enable him to do so), he will not labor his etched sub- jects in vain. The virtue of an etching, in this respect, is to express perfectly harmonious sense of light and shade, but not to realize it. All fine etchings are done with few lines. Secondly — and this is a still more important general prin- ciple (I must let myself fall into dictatorial terms for brevity's sake) — Let your few lines be sternly clear, however delicate, or however dark. All burr and botch is child's play, and a true draughtsman must never be at the mercy of his copper and ink. Drive your line well and fairly home ; don't scrawl or zigzag ; know where your hand is going, and what it is doing, to a hairbreadth ; then bite clear and clean, and let the last impression be as good as the first. When it begins to fail break your plate. Third general principle. Don't depend nmch on various biting. For a true master, and a great purpose, even one biting is enough. By no flux or dilution of acid can you ever etch a curl of hair or a cloud ; and if you think you can etch the gradations of coarser things, * The value of Rembrandt's etchings is always in the inverse ratio of the labor bestowed on them after his first thoughts have been decisively expressed; and even the best of his chiaroscuros (the spotted shell, for instance) are mere child's play compared to the disciplined light and shade of Italian masters. 116 LETTERS Oiq^ ART. . [1876. it is only because you have never seen them. Try, at your leisure, to etch a teacup or a tallow candle, of their real size ; see what you can make of the gradations of those familiar articles ; if you succeed to your mind, you may try something more difficult afterwards. Lastly. For all definite shades of architectural detail, use pencil or charcoal, or the brush, never the pen point. You can draw a leaf surface rightly in a minute or two with these — with the pen point, never, to all eternity. And on you know- ing what the surface of a form is depends your entire power of recognizing good work. The difference between thirteenth- century work, wholly beautiful, and a cheap imitation of it, wholly damnable, lies in gradation of surface as subtle as those of a rose-leaf, and which are, to modern sculpture, what singing is to a steam- whistle. For the rest, the limitation of etched work to few lines enables the sketcher to multiply his subjects, and make his time infinitely more useful to himself and others. I would most humbly solicit, in conclusion, such advantageous use of his gifts from Mr. George. He might etch a little summer tour for us every year, and give permanent and exquisiterecord of a score of scenes, rich in historical interest, with no more pains than he has spent on one or two of these plates in drawing the dark sides of a wall. Yours faithfully, John Ruskin. [From "The Times," January 20, 1876.] THE FREDERICK WALKER EXHIBITION. Dear Mr. Marks :^ You ask me to say what I feel of Frederick Walker's work, now seen in some collective mass, as * This letter was written to Mr. H. Stacy Marks, A.RA., in answer to a request that Mr. Ruskin would in some way record his impression of tLe Frederick Walker Exhibition, then open to the public. Frederick Walker died in June, 1875, at the early age of thirty-five, only four years after having been elected an Associate of the Royal Academy. 1876.J THE FREDERICK WALKER EXHIBITION'. 117 far as anything can be seen in l)lack-veik'(l London. You have long known my admiration of his genius, my deliglit in many passages of his art. Tiiese, while he lived, were all I cared to express. If yuu will have me speak of liim now, I will speak the whole truth of what I feel — namely, that every soul in London interested in art ought to go to see that Exhibition, and, amid all the beauty and the sadness of it, very diligently to try and examine themselves as to the share they have had, in their own busy modern life, in arresting the power of this man at the point where it stayed. Very chief share they have had, assuredly. But he himself, in the hberal and radical temper of modern youth, has had his own part in casting down his strength, following wantonly or obstinately his own fancies wherever they led him. For instance, it being Nature's opinion that sky should usually be blue, and it being Mr. Walker's opinion that it should be the color of buff plaster, he resolutely makes it so, for his own isolated satisfaction, partly in affectation also, buff skies being considered by the public more sentimental than blue ones. Again, the laws of all good painting having been long ago determined by absolute masters, whose work cannot be bettered nor departed from — Titian having determined forever what oil-painting is, Angelico what tempera-painting is, Perugino what fresco-painting is, two hundred years of noble miniature-painting what minutest work on ivory is, and, in modern times, a score of entirely skilful and disciplined draughtsmen what pure water-color and pure body-color painting on paper are (Turner's Yorkshire drawing of Hornby Castle, now at Kensington, and John Lewis's "Encampment under Sinai,"* being namable at once as unsurpassable standards), here is Mr. AYalker refusing to learn anything from any of those schools or masters, but inventing a semi-miniature, quarter fresco, quarter wash man- ner of his own — exquisitely clever, and reaching, under such * The "Hornby Castle" was executed, together with tlie rest of the " great Yorkshire series," for Whitaker's "History of Hichmondshire" (Longman, 1823).— The picture of John Lewis liere alhided to is described in Mr. Ruskin's "Academy Notes," 1856, No. H., p. 37. 118 LETTERS ON" ART. [1876. clever management, delightfullest results here and there, but which betrays his genius into perpetual experiment instead of achievement, and his life into woful vacillation between the good, old, quiet room of the Water-Color Society, and your labyrinthine magnificence at Burlington House. Lastly, and in worst error, the libraries of England being full of true and noble books — her annals of true and noble history, and her traditions of beautiful and noble — in these scientific times I must say, I suppose, "mythology" — not religion — from all these elements of mental education and sub- jects of serviceable art, he turns recklessly away to enrich the advertisements of the circulating library, to sketch whatever pleases his fancy, barefooted, or in dainty boots, of modern beggary and fashion, and enforce, with laboriously symbolical pathos, his adherence to Justice Shallow's sublime theology that " all shall die." That theology has indeed been preached by stronger men, again and again, from Horace's days to our own, but never to so little i^urpose. " Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die," said wisely in his way, the Latin farmer : ate his beans and bacon in comfort, had his suppers of the gods on the fair earth, with his servants jesting, round the table, and left eternal monuments of earthly wisdom and of cricket-song. " Let us labor and be just, for to-morrow we die, and after death the Judgment," said Holbein and Durer, and left eternal monuments of upright human toil and honorable gloom of godly fear. " Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, for to- morrow we die, and shall be with God," said Angelico and Giotto, and left eternal monuments of divinely-blazoned heraldry of Heaven. "Let us smoke pipes, make money, read bad novels, walk in bad air, and say sentimentally how sick we are in the afternoon, for to-morrow we die, and shall be made ourselves clay pipes," says the modern world, and drags this poor bright painter down into the abyss with it, vainly clutching at a handful or two of scent and flowers in the May gardens; Under which sorrowful terms, being told also by your 1876.] THE FREDERICK WALKER EXHIBITION. 119 grand Acadeiinciaiis that he should paint tlie nude, and, ac- cordingly, wasting a year or two of his life in trying to paint schoolboys' backs and legs without their shirts or breeches, and with such other magazine material as he can pick up of sick gypsies, faded gentlewomen, pretty girls disguised as paupers, and the red-roofed or gray remnants of old English villages and manor-house, last wrecks of the country's peace and honor, remaining yet visible among the black ravages of its ruin, he supplies the demands of his temporary public, scarcely patient, even now that he has gone, to pause beside his delicate tulips or under his sharp-leaved willows, and repent for the passing tints and fallen petals of the life that might have been so precious, and, perhaps, in better days, prolonged. That is the main moral of the Exhibition, Of the beauty of the drawings, accepting them for what they aim at being, there is little need that I should add anything to what has been already said rightly by the chief organs of the London Press. Nothing can go beyond them in subtlety of exhibited touch (to be distinguished, however, observe always from the serene completion of master's work, disdaining the applause to be gained by its manifestation); their harmonies of amber- color and purple are full of exquisite beauty in their chosen key ; their composition always graceful, often admirable, and the sympathy they express with all conditions of human life most kind and true ; not without power of rendering charac- ter which would have been more ' recognized in an inferior artist, because it would have been less restrained by the love of beauty. I might, perhaps, in my days of youth and good fortune, have written wdiat the pul)lic would have called " eloquent passages" on the subjects of the Almshouse and the Old Gate f being now myself old and decrepit (besides being much * The following are the pictures, as catalogued, mentioned here: 1. "The Almshouse"— No. 52— called "The House of Refuge." Oil on canvas. A garden and terrace in quadrangle of almshouses; on loft an old woman and girl; on right a mower cutting grass, Exhihited R. A. 1872. 3. " The Old Gate"— No. 48— oil on canvas. Lady in black and servant 120 LETTERS 0:^- ART. [1876. bothered with beggars, and in perpetual feud with parish offi- cers), and having seen every building I cared for in the world ruined, I pass these two pictures somewhat hastily by, and try to enjoy myself a little in the cottage gardens. Only one of them, however, — No. 71, — has right sunshine in it, and that is with basket coming through the gate of old mansion ; four children at play at foot of steps; two villagers and dog in foreground. Exhibited R. A. 1869. 3. "The Cottage Gardens"— No. 71, "The Spring of Life." Water- color. Lady in a garden with two children and a lamb ; a cherry tree in blossom. Exhibited at the Water-Color Society, Winter 1866-7. See also Nos. 14 and 21. 4. "Ladies and Lilies" — No. 37, "A Lady in a Garden, Perthshire." Water-color. A lady seated on a knoll on which is a sun-dial; greyhound on left; background, old manor-house. No. 67, "Lilies." Water-color. Lady in a garden watering flowers, chiefly lilies. Exhibited at the Water- Color Society, Winter 1869-70 and 1868-9 respectively. 5. " The Chaplain's Daughter" — No. 20, subject from Miss Thackeray's "Jack the Giant-killer." Exhibited at the Water-Color Society, Summer 1868. 6. "Daughter of Heth," by W. Black. No. 87. "Do ye no ken this is the Sabbath?" Young lady at piano; servant enters hurriedly. (Study in black and white, executed in 1872.) — [See vol. i. p. 41. " * Preserve us a', lassie, do ye ken what ye're doing ? Do ye no ken that this is the Sabbath, and that you're in a respectable house? ' The girl turned round with more wonder than alarm in her face : ' Is it not right to play music on Sunday? ' "] — (No. 131. Three more studies for the same novel.) 7. " The Old Farm Garden"— No. 33— Water-color. A girl, with cat on lawn, knitting; garden path bordered by tulips; farm buildings in back- ground. Painted in 1871. 8. "Salmon-fishers" — No. 47 — "Fisherman and Boy" — Water-color. Keeper and boy on bank of river. Glen Spean. Salmon in foreground. Exhibited at the Water-Color Society, Summer 1867. 9. Mushrooms and Fungi — No. 41 — Water-color. Painted in 1873. 10. "Fishmonger's Stalls"— Nos. 9 and 62 (not 952)— viz.. No. 9, " A Fishmonger's Shop." Water-color. Painted in 1873; and No. 62, also "A Fishmonger's Shop." Water-color. Fishmongers selling fish; lady and boy in costumes of about 1800. Exhibited at Water-Color Society, Winter 1872-3. (The "Tobias" of Perugino has been already alluded to, p. 44, note.) 11. No. 68. "The Ferry." Water-color. Sight size, llf X 18 in. A ferry boat, in which are two figures, a boatman and a lady, approaching a landing-place ; on the bank figures of villagers, and children feeding swans. Exhibited at Water-Color Society, Winter 1870-71. 1876.] THE FREDERICK WALKER EXHIBITIOX. 1*H a sort of walled paddock where I begin directly to feel nnconi- fortable about the lamb, lest, perchance, some front shop in the cottages belong to a bntcher. If only it and I could get away to a bit of thymy hill-side, we should be so much happier, leaving the luminous — perhaps too ideally luminous — child to adorn the pathetic paddock. I am too shy to speak to either of those two beautiful ladies among the lilies (37, GT), and take refuge among the shy children before the "Chaplain's Daugh- ter" (20) — delightfullest, it seems to me, of the minor designs, and a piece of most true and wise satire. The sketches of the " Daughter of Heth" go far to tempt me to read the novel ; and, ashamed of this weakness, I retreat resolutely to the side of the exemplary young girl knitting in the " Old Farm Garden" (33), and would instantly pick up her ball of worsted for her, but that I wouldn't for the world disappoint the cat. No drawing in the I'oom is more delicately completed than this unpretending subject, and the flower-painting in it, for instan- taneous grace of creative touch, cannot l)e rivalled ; it is worth all the Dutch flo^ver-pieces in the world. Much instructed, and more humiliated, by passage after passage of its rapidly-grouped color, I get Anally away into the comfortable corner beside the salmon-fishers and the mush- rooms ; and the last-named drawing, despise me who may, keeps me till Tve no more time to stay, for it entirely beats my dear old William Hunt in the simplicity of its execution, and rivals him in the subtlest truth. I say nothing of the " Fishmonger's Stalls" (952), though there are qualities of the same kind in these also, for they somewhat provoke me by their waste of time — the labor spent on one of them would have painted twenty instructive studies of fish of their real size. And it is well for artists in creneral to observe that when they do condescend to paint still life care- fully — whether fruit, fungi, or fish — it must at least be of the real size. The portrait of a man or woman is only justifiably made small that it may be portable, and nobody wants to carry about the miniature of a cod ; and if the reader will waste five minutes of his season in London in the National Gallery, he 122 LETTERS ON ART. [1876. may see in the hand of Perugino's Tobias a fish worth all these on the boards together. Some blame of the same kind attaches to the marvellous drawing No. 6S. It is all very well for a young artist to show how much woi'k he can put into an inch, but very painful for an old gentleman of fifty-seven to have to make out all the groups through a magnifying-glass. I could say something malicious about the boat, in consequence of the effect of this exertion on my temper, but will not, and leave with unqualified praise the remainder of the lesser drawings to the attention which each will variously reward. Nor, in what I have already, it may be thought, too bluntly said, ought the friends of the noble artist to feel that I am unkind. It is because I know his real power more deeply than any of the admirers who give him indiscriminate applause, that I think it right distinctly to mark the causes which pre- vented his reaching heights they did not conceive, and ended by placing one more tablet in the street of tombs, which the passionate folly and uninstructed confusion of modern Eng- lish society prolong into dark perspective above the graves of its youth. I am, dear Marks, always very faithfully yours, J. EUSKIN. LETTERS ON ART. VI. ARCHITECTURE. Gothic Akchitecture and the Oxford Museum. 1858. Gothic Architecture and the Oxford Museum. 1859. The Castle Rock (Edinburgh). 1857 (Sept. 14). Edinburgh Castle. 1857 (Sept. 17). Castles and Kennels. 1871 (Dec. 22). Verona v. Warwick. 1871 (Dec. 24). Notre Dame de Paris. 1871. Mr. Ruskin's Influence — A Defence. 1872 (March 15). Mr. Ruskin's Influence— A Rejoinder. 1872 (March 21). Modern Restoration. 1877. Rlbbesford Chltich. 1877. Circular relating to St. IMark's. Venice. 1879. YI. AEGIIITECTUEE. [From "The Oxford Museum," by H. W. Acland and J. Raskin. 1859. pp. 44-50. J GOTniC ARCHITECTURE AND THE OXFORD MUSEUM* Dear Acland : I have been very anxious, since I last heard from yon, respecting the progress of the woi-ks at tlie Museum, as I thought I could trace in your expressions some doubt of an entirely satisfactory issue. Entirely satisfactory very few issues are, or can be; and when the enterprise, as in this instance, involves the develop- * In 1858 the Oxford Museum was in course of building, its architects being Sir Thomas Deane and Mr. Woodward, and its st3ie modern Gothic, whilst amongst those chiefly interested in it were Dr. Acland (the Regius Professor of Medicine) and Mr. Ruskin. The present letter, written in June, 1858, was read by Dr. Acland at a lecture given by him in that sum- mer "to the members of the Architectural Societies that met in Oxford " at that time. I am permitted to reprint the following passage from Dr. Acland's preface to the printed lecture, as well as one or two passages from the lecture itself (see below, pp. 130 and 133): "Many have yet to learn the apparently simple truth, that to an Artist his Art is his means of proba- tion in this life; and that, whatever it may have of frivolity to us, to him it is as the two or the five talents, to be accounted for hereafter. I might .'^ay much on this point, for the full scope of the word Art seems by some to be even now unrecognized. Before the period of printing, Art was the largest mode of permanently recording human thought; it was spoken in every epoch, in all countries, and delivered in almost every material. In build- ings, on medals and coins, in porcelain and earthenware, on wood, ivory, parchment, paper and canvas, the graver or the pencil has recorded the ideas of every form of society, of every variety of race and of every character. What wonder that the Artist is jealous of his craft, and proud of his brotherhood ?"— See "The Oxford Museum," p. 4. The reader is also referred to " Sesame and Lilies," 1871 ed., §§ 103-4. 126 LETTERS OX AET. [1859. merit of many new and progressive principles, we must always be prepared for a due measure of disappointment, — due partly to human weakness, and partly to what the ancients would have called fate, — and we may, j^erhaps, most wisely call the law of trial, Avhich forbids any great good being usually accomplished without various compensations and deductions, probably not a little humiliating. Perhaps in writing to you what seems to me to be the bearing of matters respecting your Museum, I may be answer- ing a few of the doubts of others, as well as fears of your own. I am quite sure tliat when you first used your influence to advocate the claims of a Gothic design, you did so under the conviction, shared by all the seriously-purposed defenders of the Gothic style, that the essence and power of Gothic, properly so called, lay in its adaptability to all need ; in that perfect and unlimited flexibility which would enable the architect to j)rovide all that was required, in the simplest and most convenient way ; and to give you the best oflices, the best lecture-rooms, laboratories, and museums, which could be provided with the sum of money at his disposal. So far as the architect has failed in doing this ; so far as you find yourself, with the other j)rofessors, in anywise incon- venienced by forms of architecture ; so far as pillars or j^iers come in your way, when you have to point, or vaults in the way of your voice, when you have to speak, or muUions in the way of your light, when you want to see — just so far the architect has failed in expressing his own principles, or those of pure Gothic art. I do not suppose that such failure has taken place to any considerable extent ; but so far as it has taken place, it cannot in justice be laid to the score of the style, since precedent has shown sufliciently, that very uncomfortable and useless rooms may be provided in all other styles as well as in Gothic ; and I think if, in a building arranged for many objects of various kinds, at a time when the practice of archi- tecture has been somewhat confused by the inventions of modern science, and is hardly yet organized completely with respect to the new means at his disposal ; if, under such 1859.] THE OXFORD MUSEUM. 1'^; circumstances, and with somewhat limited funds, you liuvf vct obtained a building in all main points properly fultlllinc- its requirements, you have, I think, as much as could be hoped from the adoption of any style whatsoever. But I am much more anxious al)out thi' decoration of the building; for I fear that it will be hurried in complutinn, and that, partly in haste and partly in mi^itinled efonomy, a great opportunity may be lost of advancing the best interest of architectural, and in that, uf all other arts. For the principles of Gothic decoration, in themselves as simple and beautiful as those of Gothic construction, are far less understood, as yet, by the English pul)lic, and it is little likely that any effective measures can be taken to carry them out. You know as well as I, what those principles are; yet it may be convenient to you that I should here state them briefly as I accept them myself, and have reason to suppose they are accepted by the principal promoters of the Gothic revival. I. The first principle of Gothic decoration is that a given cpiantity of good art will be more generally useful when exhibited on a large scale, and forming part of a connected system, than when it is small and separated. That is to say, a piece of sculpture or painting, of a certain allowed merit, will be more usefiil when seen on the front of a building, or at the end of a room, and therefore by many persons, than if it be so small as to be only capable of being seen by one or two at a time ; and it will be more useful when so combined with other work as to produce that kind of imj^ression usually termed " sublime," — as it is felt on looking at any great series of fixed paintings, or at the front of a cathedral, — than if it be so separated as to excite only a special wonder or admiration, such as we feel for a jewel in a cabinet. The paintings by Meissonier in the French Exhibition of this year were bought, I believe, before the Exhibition opened, for 250 guineas each. They each represented one figure, about six inches high — one, a student reading; the other, a courtier standing in a dress-coat. Neither of these paintings conveyed any information, or produced any enu.ttion whatever. 138 LETTERS OX ART. [1859. except that of surprise at their minute and dextrous execution. Thej will be placed by their possessors on the walls of small private apartments, where they will probably, once or twice a week, form the subject of five minutes' conversation while people drink their coffee after dinner. The sum^ expended on these toys would have been amply sufficient to cover a large building with noble frescos, appealing to every passer-by, and representing a large portion of the history of any given period. But the general tendency of the European patrons of art is to grudge all sums spent in a way thus calculated to confer benefit on the public, and to grudge none for minute treasures of which the principal advantage is that a lock and key can always render them invisible. I have no hesitation in saying that an acquisitive selfishness, rejoicing somewhat even in the sensation of possessing what can NOT be seen by others, is at the root of this art-pat i-on age. It is, of course, coupled with a sense of securer and more con- venient investment in what may be easily protected and easily carried from place to place, than in large and immovable works ; and also with a vulgar delight in the minute curiosities of productive art, rather than in the exercise of inventive genius, or the expression of great facts or emotions. The first aim of the Gothic Revivalists is to counteract, as far as possible, this feeling on all its three grounds. We desire (a) to make art large and publicly beneficial, instead of small and privately engrossed or secluded ; (b) to make art fixed instead of portable, associating it with local character and historical memory; (c) to make art expressive instead of curious, valuable for its suggestions and teachings, more than for the mode of its manufacture. 11. The second great principle of the Gothic Eevivalists is that all art em])loyed in decoration should be informative, con- veying truthful statements about natural facts, if it conveys any statement. It may sometimes merely compose its decora- tions of mosaics, checkers, bosses, or other meaningless orna- ments : but if it represents organic form (and in all important places it will represent it), it will give that form truthfully, 1859.] THE OXFORD MUSEUM. 129 with as much resemblance to nature as the necessary treatment of the piece of ornament in question will admit of. This principle is more disputed than the lirst among the Gothic Revivalists themselves. I, however, huld it simj)ly and entirely, believing that ornamentation is always, cceter is pari- bus^ most valuable and beautiful when it is founded on the most extended knowledge of natural forms, and conveys con- tinually such knowledge to the spectator.'"' III. The third great princii)le of the (lothic Kevival is that all architectural ornamentation slioukl be executed by the men who design it, and should be of various degrees of excellence, admitting, and therefore exciting, the intelligent co-oi)eration of various classes of workmen ; and that a great public ediiice should be, in sculpture and painting, somewhat the same as a great chorus of music, in which, while, perhaps, there may be only one or two voices perfectly trained, and of perfect sweet- ness (the rest being in various degrees weaker and less culti- vated), yet all being ruled in harmony, and each sustaining a part consistent with its strength, the body of sound is sublime, in spite of individual weaknesses. The Museum at Oxford was," I know, intended by its designer to exhibit in its decoration the working of these three principles ; but in the very fact of its doing so, it becomes exposed to chances of occasional failure, or even to serious dis- comfitures, such as would not at all have attended the adoption of an established mode of modern work. It is easy to carve capitals on models known for four thousand years, and impos- sible to fail in the application of mechanical methods and for- malized rules. But it is not possible to appeal vigorously to new canons of judgment without the chance of giving olfence ; nor to summon into service the various phases of human tem- per and intelligence, without occasionally finding the tempers rough and the intelligence feeble. The Oxford Museum is, I believe, the first building in this country which has had its ornamentation, in any telling parts, trusted to the invention of * See next letter, pp. 131 seqq. 130 LETTERS OK ART. [1859. the workman : tlie result is highly satisfactory, the projecting windows of the staircases being as beautiful in effect as any- thing I know in civil Gothic : but far more may be accom- plished for the building if the completion of its carving be not hastened ; many men of high artistic power might be brought to take an interest in it, and various lessons and suggestions given to the workmen which w^ould matei'ially advantage the hnal decoration of leading features. No very great Gothic building, so far as I know, was ever yet completed without some of this wise deliberation and fruitful patience. I was in hopes from the beginning that the sculpture might have been rendered typically illustrative of the English Flora : how far this idea has been as yet carried out I do not know ; but I know that it cannot be properly carried out without a careful examination of the available character of the principal genera, such as architects have not hitherto undertaken. The proposal which I heard advanced the other day, of adding a bold entrance-porch to the facade, appeared to me every way full of advantage, the blankness of the facade having been, to my mind, from the first, a serious fault in the design. If a sub- scription were opened for the purpose of erecting one, I should think there were few persons interested in modern art who would not be glad to join in forwarding such an object. I think I could answer for some portions of the design being superintended by the best of our modern sculptors and painters ; and I believe that, if so superintended, the porch might and would become the crowning beauty of the building, and make all the difference between its being only a satisfactory and meritorious work, or a most lovely and impressive one. The interior decoration is a matter of much greater diffi.- culty; perhaps you will allow me to defer the few words I have to say about it till 1 have time for another letter : which, however, I hope to find speedily. Believe me, my dear Acland, ever affectionately yours, J. RUSKIN.* * After reading this letter to his audience, Dr. Acland thus continued : "The principles thus clearly enumerated by Mr. Ruskin are, on the 1859.] THE OXl'OKD MUSEUM. 131 [From " The Oxford Museum," pp. 00-90.] GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE AND THE OXFORD MUSEUM. January 20, 1859. Mv DKAR AcLAXD : 1 was not able to write, as I had hoped, from Switzerland, for I found it impossible to lay down any prin- ciples respecting the decoration of the Museum which did not in one way or other involve disputed points, too many, and too subtle, to be discussed in a letter. Nor do I feel the difficulty less in writing to you now. so far as regards the question occurring in our late conversations, respecting tho best mode of completing these interior decorations. Yet I nmst write, if only to ask that I may be in some way associated with you in what you are now doing to bring the Museum more definitely before tlu? public mind — that I may be associated at least in the expression of my deep sense of the noble purpose of the building — of tlie noble sincerity of effort in its architect — of the endless good which the teachings to which it will be devoted must, in their ultimate issue, accomplish for mankind. How vast the range of that issue, you have shown in the lecture which I have just read, in which you have so admirably traced the chain of the physical sciences as it encompasses the great concords of this main, tho.?o that animate the earnest student of Gothic. It is not for me especially to advocate Gothic Art, but only to urge, that if called into life, it should be in conformity to its own proper laws of vitality. If week after week, in my youth, with fresh senses and a docile spirit, I have drank in each golden glow that is poured by a Mediterranean sun from over the blue -^goDan upon the Athenian Parthenon, — if, day by day, sitting on 3Iars* Hill, I have watched each purple shadow, as the temple darkened in majesty against the evening sky,— if so, it has been to teach me, as the alphabet of all Art, to love all truth and to hate all falsehood, and to kiss the hand of every blaster who has brought down, under whatever circum- stance, and in whatever age, one spark of teue light from the Beauty and the subtle Law, which stamps the meanest work of the Ever-living, Ever- working Artist."—" The Oxford Mu.«le j and that any effort to introduce classical types of form into these laboratories and museums must have ended in ludicrous discomliture. But the building has now reached a point of crisis, and it depends upon the treatment which its rooms now receive in completion, whether the facts of their propriety and utility be acknowledged by the public, or lost sight of in the distraction of their atten- tion to matters wholly external. So strongly I feel this, that, whatever means of decoration had been at your disposal, I should have been inclined to recommend an exceeding reserve in that matter. Pei-haps I should even have desired such reserve on abstract grounds of feeling. The study of x^atural History is one eminently ad- dressed to the active energies of body and mind. Xothing is to be got out of it by dreaming, not always much by thinking — everything by seeking and seeing. It is Avork for the hills and fields, — work of foot and hand, knife and hammer, — so far as it is to be afterwards carried on in the house, the more active and workmanlike our proceedings the better, fresh aii' bl(.)wing in from the windows, and nothing interfering with the free space for our shelves and insti-uments on the walls. I am not sure that much interior imagery or color, or other exciting ad- dress to any of the observant faculties, would be dcsiral)le under 136 LETTERS 0]S" ART. [1859. sucli circumstances. Yon know best ; but I should no more think of painting in bright colors beside you, while you were dissecting or analyzing, than of entertaining you by a concert of fifes and cymbals. But farther : Do you suppose Gothic decoration is an easy thing, or that it is to be carried out with a certainty of success at the first trial, under new and difilcult conditions? The system of the Gothic decorations took eight hundred years to mature, gathering its power by undivided inheritance of traditional method, and unbroken accession of systematic jDOwer ; from its culminating point in the Sainte Cbapelle, it faded through four hundred years of splendid decline ; now for two centuries it has lain dead — and more than so — buried ; and more than so, forgotten, as a dead man out of mind ; do you expect to revive it out of those retorts and furnaces of yours, as the cloud-spirit of the Arabian sea rose from beneatli the seals of Solomon ? Perhaps I have been myself faultfully answerable for this too eager hope in your mind (as well as in that of others) by what I have urged so often respecting the duty of bringing out the power of subordinate workmen in decorative design. But do you think I meant workmen trained (or untrained) in the way that ours have been until lately, and then cast loose on a sudden, into unassisted conten- tions with unknown elements of style ? I meant the precise contrary of this ; I meant workmen as we have yet to create them : men inheriting the instincts of their craft through many generations, rigidly trained in every mechanical art that bears on their materials, and familiarized from infancy with every condition of their beautiful and perfect treatment ; informed and refined in manhood, by constant observation of all natural fact and form ; then classed, according to their proved capaci- ties, in ordered companies, in which every man shall know his part, and take it calmly and w^ithout effort or doubt, — indisput- ably well, unaccusabJy accomplished, — mailed and weaponed cajp-d-jne for his place and function. Can you lay your hand on such men ? or do you think that mere natural good-will and good-feeling can at once supply their place ? Not so : and the 1859.] THE OXFORD MUSEUM. 137 more faithful and earnest the minds you liave to deal witli, the more careful you should be not to urge them towards fields of effort, in which, too early committed, they can only be put to unserviceable defeat. Nor can you hope to accomplish by rule or system what cannot be done by individual taste. The laws of color are de- finable up to certain limits, but they are not yet defined. So far are they from definition, that the last, and, on the whole, best work on the subject (Sir Gardner Wilkinson's) declares the " color concords'- of preceding authors to be discords, and vice versa* Much, therefore, as I love color decoration when it is rightly given, and essential as it has been felt by the great architects of all periods to the completion of their work, I would not, in your place, endeavor to carry out such decora- tion at present, in any elaborate degree, in the interior of the Museum. Leave it for future thought ; above all, try no experiments. Let small drawings be made of the proposed arrangements of color in every room ; have them altered on the paper till you feel they are right ; then carry them out firmly and simply; but, observe, with as delicate execution as possible. Rough work is good in its place, three hundred feet above the eye, on a cathedral front, but not in the interior of rooms, devoted to studies in which everything depends upon accuracy of touch and keenness of sight. With respect to this finishing, by the last touches l)estowed on the sculpture of the building, I feel painfully the harmful- ness of any ill-advised parsimony at this moment. For it may, perhaps, be alleged by the advocates of retrenchment, that so long as the building is fit for its uses (and your report is con- clusive as to its being so), economy in treattnent of external feature is perfectly allowable, and will in nowise diminish the serviceableness of the building in the great objects which its designs regarded. To a certain extent this is true. You have comfortable rooms, I hope sufficient apparatus ; and it now * Sir Gardner Wilkinson's book " On Color and the Diffusion of Taste" was published in 1858. 138 LETTERS ON ART. [1859. clej)eiids miicli more on the professors than on the ornament: of the l)uilding, whether or not it is to become a bright oi^ obscure centre of public instruction. Yet there are other points to be considered. As the building stands at present, there is a discouraging aspect of parsimony about it. One sees that the architect ]ias done the utmost he could with the means at his disposal, and that just at the point of reaching what was right, he has been stopped for want of funds. This is visible in almost every stone of the edifice. It separates it with broad distinctiveness from all the other buildings in the University. It may be seen at once that our other public institutions, and all our colleges — though some of them simply designed — are yet richly built, never pinchingly. Pieces of princely costli- ness, every here and there, mingle among the simplicities or severities of the student's life. What practical need, for instance, have we at Christchurch of the beautiful fan-vaulting under which we ascend to dine? We might have as easily achieved the eminence of our banquets under a plain vault. What need have the readers in the Bodleian of the ribbed traceries which decorate its external walls? Yet, which of those readers would not think that learning was insulted by their removal ? And are there any of the students of Balliol devoid of gratitude for the kindly munificence of the man who gave them the beautiful sculptured brackets of their oriel window, when three massy projecting stones would have answered the purpose just as well ? In these and also other regarded and pleasant portions of our colleges, we find always a wealthy and worthy completion of all appointed features, which I believe is not without strong, though untraced effect, on the minds of the j^ounger scholars, giving them respect for the branches of learning which these buildings are intended to honor, and increasing, in a certain degree, that sense of the value of delicacy and accuracy which is the first condition of advance in those branches of learning themselves. Your Museum, if you now bring it to hurried completion, will convey an impression directly the reverse of this. It will have the look of a j)lace, not where a revered system of instruc- 1859.] THE OXFOFU) ML'SKIM. 139 "''Oil is established, but mIrtc an unadvised experiment is being 'lisadvantageously attempted. It is yet in yuur power to avoid tliis, and to make the edifice as noble in aspect as in function. AVhatever chance there may be of failure in interior work, rich ornamentation may be given, without any chance of failure, to just that portion of the exterior which will give pleasure to every passer-by, and express the meaning of the building best to the eyes of strangers. There is, I repeat, no chance of serious failure in this external decoration, because your architect has at his command the aid of men, such as worked with the architects of past times. Not only has the art of Gothic scul])ture in part remained, though that of Gothic color has been long lost, but the unselfish — and, I regret to say, in part self-saci-ilicing — zeal of two lirst-rate sculptors, Mr. Munro and Mr. AVoolrier, which has already given you a series of noble statues, is still at your disposal, to head and systematize the efforts of inferior workmen. I do not know if you will attribute it to a higher estimate than yours of the genius of the O'Shea family," or to a lower estimate of what they have as yet accomplished, that I believe tliey will, as they proceed, produce much better ornamental sculpture than any at present completed in the Museum. It is also to be remembered that sculptors are able to work for us with a directness of meaning which none of our painters could bring to their task, even were they disposed to help us. A painter is scarcely excited to his strength, but by subjects full of circumstance, such as it would be ditficult to suggest appro- priately in the present building ; but a sculptor has room enough for his full power in the portrait statues, which are necessarily the leading features of good Gothic decoration. Let me pray you, therefore, so far as you have influence with the delegacy, to entreat their favorable consideration of the project stated in Mr. GreswelTs appeal — the enrichment of the doorway, and the completion of the sculpture of the AVest Front. There is a reason for desiring such a plan to be carried * See note to p. 142. 140 LETTEKS ON ART. [1859. out, of wider reach than any bearing on the interests of the Museum itself. I believe that the elevation of all arts in Eno:- land to their true dignity, depends principally on our recover- ing that unity of purpose in sculptors and architects, which characterized the designers of all great Christian buildings. Sculpture, separated from architecture, always degenerates into effeminacies and conceits ; architecture, stripped of sculp- ture, is at best a convenient arrangement of dead walls; associated, they not only adorn, but reciprocally exalt each other, and give to all the arts of the country in which they thus exist, a correspondent tone of majesty. But I would plead for the enrichment of this doorway by portrait sculpture, not so much even on any of these important grounds, as' because it would be the first example in modern English architecture of the real value and right place of commemorative statues. We seem never to know at present where to put such statues. In the midst of the blighted trees of desolate squares, or at the crossings of confused streets, or balanced on the pinnacles of pillars, or riding across the tops of triumphal arches, or blocking up the aisles of cathedrals — in none of these positions, I think, does the portrait statue answer its purpose. It may be a question whether the erection of such statues is honorable to the erectors, but assuredly it is not honorable to the persons whom it pretends to commemorate ; nor is it any wise matter of exultation to a man who has deserved well of his country to reflect that he may one day encumber a crossing, or disfigure a park gate. But there is no man of worth or heart who would not feel it a high and price- less reward that his statue should be placed where it might remind the youth of England of what had been exemplary in his life, or useful in his labors, and might be regarded with no empty reverence, no fruitless pensiveness, but with the emula- tive, eager, unstinted passionateness of honor, which youth pays to the dead leaders of the cause it loves, or discoverers of the light by which it lives. To be buried under weight of marble, or with splendor of ceremonial, is still no more than burial ; but to be remembered daily, with profitable tenderness, by the activest intelligences of the nation we have served, and 1859.] THE OXFORD MUSEUM. 141 to have power granted even to the sliadows of the poor feat- ures, sunk into dust, still to warn, to animate, to command, as the father's brow i-ules and exalts the toil of his children. This is not burial, but immortality. There is, however, another kind of portraiture, already richly introduced in the works of the Museum ; the portraiture, namely, of flowers and animals, respecting which I must ask you to let me say a few selfish, no less than congratulatory words — selfish, inasmuch as they bear on this visible exposition of a principle which it has long been one of my most earnest aims to maintain. We English call ourselves a practical people ; but, nevertheless, there are some of our best and most general instincts which it takes us half-centuries to put into practice. Probably no educated Englishman or Englishwoman has ever, for the last forty years, visited Scotland, with leisure on their hands, Avithout making a pilgrimage to Melrose ; nor have they ever, I suppose, accomplished the pilgrimage with out singing to themselves the burden of Scott's description of the Abbey. Xor in that description (may it not also be con- jectured ?) do they usually feel any couplets more deeply than the— ' * Spreading herbs and flowerets bright Glistened with the dew of night. No herb nor floweret glistened there But was carved in the cloister arches as fair." And yet, though we are raising every year in England new examples of every kind of costly and variously intended build- ings, — ecclesiastical, civil, and domestic, — none of us, through all that period, had boldness enough to put the pretty couplets into simple practice. We wxnt on, even in the best Gothic work we attempted, clumsily copying the rudest ornaments of previous buildings ; we never so much as dreamed of learning from the monks of Melrose, and seeking for help beneath the dew that sparkled on their "gude kail" garden.''^ * " The monks of Melrose made good kail On Friday, when they fasted." The kail leaf is the one principal!}' employed in the decorations of the abbey. (Original note to "The Oxford Museum," p. 83.) 142 LETTERS OK AET. [1859. Your Museum at Oxford is literally the first building raised in England since the close of the fifteenth century, which has fearlessly put to new trial this old faith in nature, and in the genius of the unassisted workman, who gathered out of nature the materials he needed. I am entirely glad, therefore, that you have decided on engraving for pubhcation one of O'Shea's capitals ;^ it will be a complete type of the whole work, in its inner meaning, and far better to show one of them in its com- pleteness than to give any reduced sketch of the building. Kevertheless, beautiful as that capital is, and as all the rest of O'Shea's work is likely to be, it is not yet perfect Gothic sculpture ; and it might give rise to dangerous error, if the admiration given to these carvings were unqualified. I cannot, of course, enter in this letter into any discussion of the question, more and more vexed among us daily, respect- ing the due meaning and scope of conventionalism in treat- ment of natural form ; but I may state briefly what, I trust, will be the conclusion to which all this '' vexing" will at last lead our best architects. The highest art in all kinds is that which conveys the most truth ; and the best ornamentation possible would be the paint- ing of interior walls with frescos by Titian, representing perfect Humanity in color; and the sculpture of exterior walls by Phidias, representing perfect Humanity in form. Titian and Phidias are precisely alike in their conception and treat- ment of nature — everlasting standards of the right. Beneath ornamentation, such as men like these could bestow, falls in various rank, according to its subordination to vulgar uses or inferior places, what is commonly conceived as ornamental art. The lower its office, and the less tractable its material, the less of nature it should contain, until a zigzag * This engraving, which formed the frontispiece of " The Oxford Museum," will be found facing the title-page of the present volume, the original plate having proved m excellent condition. O'Shea was, together with others of his name and family, amongst the principal workmen on the building. The capital represents the following ferns: the common hart's-tongue (scolopendrium vulgare), the northern hard-fern (blechnum boreale), and the male fern (tilix mas). 1859.] THE OXFORD MUSEUM. U3 becomes the best ornament for the hem of a robe, and a mosaic of bits of glass the best design for a colored window. But all these forms of lower art are to be conventional only because they are subordinate — not because conventionalism is in itself a good or desirable thing. All right conventionalism is a wise acceptance of, and com))liance with, conditions of restraint or inferiority ; it may be inferiority of our knowledge or power, as in the art of a semi-savage nation ; or restraint by reason of material, as in the way the glass painter should restrict himself to transparent hue, and a sculptor deny himself the eyelash and the film of flowino: hair, which he cannot cut in nuirble : but in all cases whatever, right conventionalism is either a wise acceptance of an inferior place, or a noble display of power under accepted limitation ; it is not an improvement of natural form into something better or purer than Nature herself. Now this great and most precious principle may be compro- mised in two quite opposite wa^'s. It is compromised on one side when men suppose that the degradation of a natural form which fits it for some subordinate place is an improvement of it ; and that a black profile on a red ground, because it is proper on a water-jug, is therefore an idealization of Humanity, and nobler art than a picture of Titian. And it is compromised equally gravely on the opposite side, when men refuse to sub- mit to the limitation of material and the fitnesses of office — when they try to produce finished pictures in colored glass, or substitute the inconsiderate imitation of natural objects for the perfcctness of adapted and disciplined design. There is a tendency in the work of the Oxford Museum to err on this last side ; unavoidable, indeed, in the present state of our art-knowledge — and less to be regretted in a building devoted to natural science than in any other : nevertheless, I cannot close this letter without pointing it out, and warning the general reader against supposing that the ornamentation of the Museum is, or can be as yet, a representation of what Gothic work will be, when its revival is complete. Far more severe, yet more perfect and lovely, that work will involve, under sterner conventional restraint, the expression not only of natu- 144 LETTERS ON ART. [1859. ral form, but of all vital and noble natural law. For the truth of decoration is never to be measured by its imitative power, but by its suggestive and informative power. In the annexed [From •' The Oxford Museum," p. 89.1 spandril of the iron-work of our roof, for instance, the horse- chestnut leaf and nut are used as the principal elements of form ; they are not ill-arranged, and produce a more agreeable 1857.] THE CASTLE ROCK. 145 effect than convolutions of tlie iron could have given, unhclped by any reference to natural objects. Xevertheless, I do not call it an absolutely good design ; for it would have been pos- sible, with far severer conventional treatment of the iron bars, and stronger constructive an-angement of them, to have given vigorous expression, not of the shapes of leaves and nuts only, but of their peculiar radiant or fanned expansion, and other conditions of group and growth in the tree ; which would have been just the more beautiful and interesting, as they would have arisen from deeper research into nature, and more adaptive modifying power in the designer's mind, than the mere leaf termination of a riveted scroll. I am compelled to name these deliciencies, in order to pre- vent misconception of the principles we are endeavoring to enforce ; but I do not name them as at present to be avoided, or even much to be regretted. They are not chargeable either on the architect, or on the subordinate workmen ; but only on the system which has for three centuries withheld all of us from healthy study ; and although I doubt not that lovelier and juster expressions of the Gothic principle will be ultimately aimed at by us, than any which are possible in the Oxford Museum, its builders will never lose their claim to our chief gratitude, as the lirst guides in a right direction ; and the build- ing itself — the first exponent of the recovered truth — will only be the more venerated the more it is excelled. Believe me, my dear Acland, Ever affectionately yours, J. RUSKIN. [From "The Wi'ness" (Edinburgh), September 16, 1857.] THE CASTLE ROCK. Dunbar, \4ith September, 1857. To the Editor of " TJie Witneisa." My dear Sir: As I was leaving Edinburgh this morning, I heard a report which gave me more concern than I can easily 146 LETTERS OX ART. [1857. express, and very sufficiently spoiled the pleasure of my drive here. If there be no truth in the said report, of course take no notice of this letter ; but if there be real ground for my fears, I trust you will allow me space in your columns for a few words on the subject. The whisper — I hope I may say, the calumny — regarded certain proceedings which are taking place at the Castle. It was said to be the architect's intention to cut down into the brow of the Castle rock, in order to afford secure foundation for some new buildings."^ Now, the Castle rock of Edinburgh is, as far as I know, simply the noblest in Scotland conveniently approachable by any creatures but sea-gulls or peewits. Ailsa and the Bass are of course more wonderful ; and, I suppose, in the West High- lands there are masses of crag more wild and fantastic ; but people only go to see these once or twice in their lives, while the Castle rock has a daily influence in forming the taste, or kindling the imagination, of every promising youth in Edin- burgh. Even irrespectively of its position, it is a mass of singular importance among the rocks of Scotland. It is not easy to find among your mountains a " craig" of so definite a iovrn, and on so magnificent a scale. Among the central hills of Scotland, from Ben Wyvis to the Lammermuirs, I know of none comparable to it ; while, besides being bold and vast, its bars of basalt are so nobly arranged, and form a series of curves at once so majestic and harmonious, from the turf at their base to the roots of the bastions, that, as long as your artists have that crag to study, I do not see that they need casts from Michael Angelo, or any one else, to teach them the laws of composition or the sources of sublimity. But if you once cut into the brow of it, all is over. Dis- turb, in any single point, the simple lines in w^hich the walls now advance and recede upon the tufted grass of its summit, and you may as well make a quarry of it at once, and blast away rock, Castle, and all. It admits of some question whether * A new armory ^Yas to be added to the Castle. 1857.] EDINBURGH CASTLE. 147 the changes made in the architecture of jour city of late yeai-s are in every case improvements ; but very certainly you cannot improve the architecture of your volcanic crags hy any exi)lo- sive retouches. And your error will be wholly irremediable. You may restore Trinity Chapel, or repudiate its restoration, at your pleasure, but there will be no need to repudiate restoration of the Castle rock. You cannot re-face nor re-rivet that, nor order another in a "similar style." It is a dangerous kind of engraving which you practise on so large a jewel. But I trust I am wasting: mv time in writino- of this : I cannot believe the 1-eport, nor think that the people of Edinburgh, usually so proud of their city, are yet so unaware of what constitutes its chief nobleness, and so utterly careless of the very features of its scenei-y, which have been the means of the highest and puivst education to their greatest men, as to allow this rock to be touched. If the works are confined to the inside of the wall, no harm will be done ; but let a single buttress, or a single cleft, encumber or divide its outer brow, and there is not a man of sensibility or sense in Edinburgh who will not blush and grieve for it as long as he lives. Believe me, my dear Sir, very faithfully yours, J. RUSKIN. IFrom " The Witness" (Edinburgh), September 30, 1857.] EDINBURGH CASTLE. Penrith, 27th September. To the Editor of " The Witness:' My dear Sir: I see by some remarks in the Literary Gazdte'^ on the letter of mine to which you gave a place in your columns of the lOth, that the design of the proposed additions to Edinburgh Castle is receiving really serious consideration. * The Literary Gazette of September 26. 1857, after quoting a great part of the previous letter, stated that the new armory was not to be built with- out all due regard to the preservation of the rock, and that there was there- fore no real cause for alarm. 148 LETTERS OK ART. [1857. Perhaps, therefore, a few words respecting the popular but usually unprofitable business of castle-building may be of some interest to your readers. We are often a little confused in our ideas respecting the nature of a castle — properly so called. A "castle" is a fortified dwelling-house containing accommodation for as many retainers as are needed completely to defend its position. A "fortress" is a fortified military position, gen- erally understood to be extensive enough to contain large bodies of troops. And a " citadel," a fortified mihtary position connected with a fortified town, and capable of holding out even if the town were taken. It is as well to be clear on these points : for certain condi- tions of architecture are applicable and beautiful in each case, according to the use and character of the building ; and certain other conditions are in like manner inapplicable and ugly, because contrary to its character, and unhelpful to its use. IS'ow this helpfulness and unhelpfulness in architectural features depends, of course, primarily on the military practice of the time ; so that forms which were grand, because rational, before gunpowder was invented, are ignoble, because ridiculous, in days of shell and shot. The very idea and possibility of the castle proper have passed away with the arms of the middle ages. A man's house might be defended by his servants against a troop of cavalry, if its doors were solid and its battlements pierced. But it cannot be defended against a couple of field-pieces, what- ever the thickness of its oak, or number of its arrow-slits. I regret, as much as any one can regret, the loss of castel- lated architecture properly so called. Nothing can be more noble or interesting than the true thirteenth or fourteenth cen- tury castle, when built in a difficult position, its builder taking advantage of every inch of ground to gain more room, and of every irregularity of surface for purposes of outlook and defence ; so that the castle sate its rock as a strong rider sits his horse — fitting its limbs to every writhe of the flint beneath it ; and fringing the mountain promontory far into the sky with the wild crests of its fantastic battlements. Of such castles w^e can see no more ; and it is just because I know them well and 1S57.] EDINBURGH CASTLE. 140 love them deeply that I say so. I know that their power and dignity consists, just as a soldier's consists, in their knowing and doing their work thoroughly; in their being advanced on edge or lifted on peak of crag, not for show nor pride, but for due guard and outlook ; and that all their beautiful irregulari- ties and apparent caprices of form are in reality their fullil- ments of need, made beautiful by their compelled association with the wild strength and grace of the natural rock. All attempts to imitate them now are useless — mere girl's play. Mind, T like girl's play, and child's play, in its place, but not in the planning of military buildings. Child's play in many cases is the truest wisdom. I accept to the full the truth of those verses of Wordsworth's'- l)egiiming — " Who fancied -svhat a pretty sight This rock would be, if edged around With living snowdrops? — circlet bright! How glorious to this orchard ground I Was it the humor of a child?" etc. But I cannot apply the same principles to more serious matters, and vary the reading of the verses into application to the works on Edinburgh Castle, thus : " Who fancied what a pretty sight This rock would be, if edged around With tiny turrets, pierced and light. How glorious to this warlike ground!" Therefore, though I do not know exactly what you have got to do in Edinburgh Castle, whatever it may be, I am certain the only right way to do it is the plain way. Build what is needed — chapel, barracks, or dwelling-house — in the best places, in a military point of view, of dark stone, and bomb-proof, keeping them low, and within the existing line of ramparts. * "Poems of the Fancy," xiv. (1803). The quotation omits two lines after the fourth: " Who loved the Uttle rock, and set Upon its head this coronet!'" The second stanza then begins: "Was it the humor of a child?" etc. 160 LETTERS OK ART. 1857. That is the rational thing to do ; and the inliabitants of Edin- burgh will find it in the end the picturesque thing. It would be so under any circumstances ; but it is esj^ecially so in this instance ; for the grandeur of Edinburgh Castle depends emi- nently on the great, unbroken, yet beautifully varied parabolic curve in which it descends from the Round Tower on the Castle Hill to the terminating piece of impendent precipice on the north. It is the last grand feature of Edinburgh left as yet uninjured. You have filled up your valley with a large chim- ney, a mound, and an Institution ; broken in upon the Old Town with a Bank, a College, and several fires ; dwarfed the whole of Princes Street by the Scott Monument ; and cut Arthur's Seat in half by the Queen's Drive. It only remains for you to spoil the curve of your Castle, and your illustrations of the artistic principle of breadth will be complete. It may appear at first that I depart from the rule of use- fulness I have proj)Osed, in entreating for the confinement of all buildings undertaken within the existing ramparts, in order to preserve the contour of the outside rock. But I presume that in the present state of military science, and of European politics, Edinburgh Castle is not a very important military position ; and that to make it a serviceable fortress or citadel, many additional works would be required, seriously interfering with the convenience of the inhabitants of the New Town, and with the arrangements of the Railroad Company. And, as long as these subordinate works are not carried out, I do not see any use in destroying your beautiful rock, merely to bring another gun to bear, or give accommodation to another com- pany. But I both see, and would earnestly endeavor to advo- cate, the propriety of keeping the architecture of the building within those ramparts masculine and simple in style, and of not allowing a mistaken conception of picturesqueness to make a noble fortress look like a child's toy. Believe me, my dear Sir, very faithfully yours, J. RUSKIN. 1871. J CASTLES AND KENNELS. 151 [From "The Daily Telegraph," December 22, 1871.] CASTLES AXD KENNELS To the Editor of " The Daih/ Tilcyniph." Sir : I was astonished the otlier day by your article on taverns, but never yet in my life was so much astonished by anything in print as by your to-day's article on castles. - I am a castle-lover of the truest sort. I do not suppose anv man alive has felt anvthinor like the sorrow or answer with which I have watched the modern destruction by railroad and manufacture, lielped by the wicked improvidence of our great families, of half the national memorials of England, either actually or in effect and power of association — as Conway, for instance, now vibrating to ruin over a railroad station. For Warwick Castle, 1 named it in my letter of last October, in '* Fors Clavigera,"t as a type of the architectural treasures of * The article on taverns occurred in the Daily Telegraph of the 8th December, and commented on a recent meeting of the Licensed Victual- lers' Protection Society. There was also a short article upon drunkenness as a cause of crime in the Daili/ Telegraph of December 9 — referred to by Mr. Ruskin in a letter which will be found in the second volume of this book. The article on castles concluded with an appeal for public sub- scriptions towards the restoration of Warwick Castle, then recently destroyed by fire. f The passage alluded to is partly as follows. " It happened also, which was the real cause of my bias in after-life, that my father had a real love of pictures. . . . Accordingly, wherever there was a gallery to be seen, we stopped at the nearest town for the night; and in reverentcst manner I thus saw nearly all the noblemen's houses in England; not indeed myself at that age caring for the pictures, but much for castles and ruins, feeling more and more, as I grew older, the healthy delight of uncovetous admira- tion, and perceiving, as soon as I could perceive any political truth at all, that it was probably much happier to live in a small house and have "War- wick Castle to be astonished at, than to live in Warwick Castle, and have nothing to be astonished at ; and that, at all events, it would not make Brunswick Square in the least more pleasantly habitable to pull Warwick Castle down. And, at this day, though I have kind invitations enough to visit America, I could not, even for a couple of mouths, live in a country so miserable »s to possess no castles." 152 LETTERS OX ART. [1871. this England of ours known to me and beloved from childhood to this hour. But, Sir, I am at this hour endeavoring to find work and food for a boy of seventeen, one of eight people — two married couples, a woman and her daughter, and this boy and his sister — who all sleep together in one room, some 18 ft. square, in the heart of London ; and you call upon me for a subscription to help to rebuild Warwick Castle. Sir, I am an old and thoroughbred Tory, and as such I say, ^' If a noble family cannot rebuild their own castle, in God's name let them live in the nearest ditch till they can." I am, Sir, your faithful servant, J. RUSKIN. Denmark Hill, Dec. 20. [From " The Daily Telegraph," December 25, 1871.] VERONA V. WABWICK. To the Editor of " The Daily Telegraph:' Sir : Of lodging for poor and rich you will perhaps permit a further word or two from me, even in your close columns for Christmas morning. You think me inconsistent because I wanted to buy Yerona, and do not want to restore Warwick."^ I wanted, and still want, to buy Yerona. I would give half my fortune to buy it for England, if any other people would help me. But I would buy it, that what is left of it might not be burned, and what is lost of it not restored. It would indeed be very pleasant — not to me only, but to many other sorrowful persons — if things could be restored when we chose. I would subscribe willingly to restore, for instance, the manger wherein the King of Judah lay cradled this day some * In a second article upon the same subject the Daily Telegraph had expressed surprise at Mr. Ruskin's former letter. "Who does not remem- ber," it wrote, "his proposal to buy Verona, so as to secure from decay the glorious monuments in it?" 1871.] NOTRE DAME DE PARIS. 153 years since, and not unwillingly to restore tlie poorer cradle of our English King-maker, were it possible. But for the making of a new manger, to be exhibited for the edification of the religious Britisli })ublic, I will not su])scribe. Xo ; nor for the building of mock castles, or mock cathedrals, or mocks of any- thing. And the sum of what I have to say in this present matter may be put in few words. As an antiquary — wliicli, tliank Heaven, I am — I say, '' Part of Warwick Castle is burnt — 'tis pity. Take better care of the rest.'' As an old Tory — which, thank Heaven, I am — I say, "Lord Warwick's house is burned. Let Lord Warwick build a better if he can — a worse if he must ; but in any case, let him neither beg nor borrow." As a modern renovator and Liberal — which, thank Heaven, I am not — I would say, " By all means let the public subscribe to build a spick-and-span new Warwick Castle, and let the pic- tures be touched up, and exhibited by gaslight ; let the family live in the back rooms, and let there be a table cVhote in the great hall at two and six every day, 26\ 6(Z. a head, and let us have Guy's bowl for a dinner bell." I am, Sir, your faithful servant, John Ruskin. Denmark Hill, S.E,, 24ih (for 25^/0 December. [From " The Daily Telegraph," January 19, 1871.] "XOTBE DAME DE PARISH To the Editor of " The Daily Telegraph." Sir: It may perhaps be interesting to some of your readers, in the present posture of affairs round Paris, to know, as far as I am able to tell them, the rank which the Church of Xotre Dame holds among architectural and historical monuments. Xearly every great church in France has some merit special 154 LETTERS ON ART. [1872. to itself ; in other countries, one style is common to many dis- tricts; in France, nearly every province has its unique and precious monument. But of thirteenth-century Gothic — the most perfect archi- tectural style north of the Alps — there is, both in historical interest, and in accomplished perfectness of art, one unique monument — the Sainte Chapelle of Paris. As examples of Gothic, ranging from the twelfth to the fourteenth century, the cathedrals of Chartres, Rouen, Amiens, Rheims, and Bourges, form a kind of cinque-foil round Notre Dame of Paris, of which it is imjDOssible to say which is the more precious petal ; but any of those leaves would be worth a complete rose of any other country's work except Italy's. ISTothing else in art, on the surface of the round earth, could represent any one of them, if destroyed, or be named as of any equivalent value. Central among these, as in jDosition, so in its school of sculpture ; unequalled in that sj)ecialty but by the porch of the north transept of Pouen, and, in a somewhat later school, by the western porches of Bourges ; absolutely unreplaceable as a pure and lovely source of art instruction by any future energy or ingenuity, stands — perhaps, this morning, I ought rather to write, stood * — IsTotre Dame of Paris. I am, Sir, your faithful servant, J. RUSKIN. [From "The Pall Mall Gazette," March 16, 1872.] MB, BUSKIN'S INFLUENCE: A DEFENCE. To the Editor of " The Pall Mall Gazette." Sir : I receive many letters just now requesting me to take notice of the new theory respecting Turner's work put forward by Dr. Liebreich in his i-ecent lecture at the Poyal Institu- * This letter, it will be noticed, was written during the bombardment and a few days before the capitulation of Paris in 1871. 1873.] MR. ruskin's influence. 155 tion." Will you peniiir mo to observe in your columns, once for all, that I have no time for the contradiction of the various foolish opinions and assertions which from time to time are put forward respecting Turner or his pictures? All that is necessary for any person generally interested in the arts to know about Turner was clearly stated in '' Modern Painters" twenty years ago, and I do not mean to state it again, nor to contradict any contradictions of it. Dr. Liebreich is an ingen- ious and zealous scientilic person. The public may derive nmch beneiit from consulting him on the subject of spectacles — not on that of art. As I am under the necessity of writing to you at any rate, may I say further that I wish your critic of Mi*. Eastlake's book f on the Gothic revival would explain what he means by * Ou Friday, March 8, 1872, entitled "Turner and Mulready— On the Effect of certain Faults of Vision on Painting, with especial reference to their Works." The argument of the lecturer, and distinguished oculist, was that the change of style in the pictures of Turner was due to a change in his eyes which developed itself during the last twenty years of his life. (See "Proceedings of the Royal Institution," 1872, vol. vi., p. 450.) t "AHistory of the Gothic Revival." By Charles L. Eastlake, F.R.I.B.A. London, Longman and Co., 1872. — In this work Mr. Eastlake had estimated very highly Mr. Ruskin's influence on modern architecture, whilst his reviewer was "disposed to say that Mr. Ruskin's direct and immediate influences had almost alw^ays been in the wrong; and his more indirect influences as often in the right." It is upon these words that Mr. Ruskin comments here, and to this comment the critic replied in a letter which appeared in the Pall Mall Gazette of the 20th inst. The main portion of his reply was as follow^s : "The direct influences, then, which I had prin- cipally in my mind were those wliich had resulted in a preference for Venetian over English Gothic, in the underrating of expressional character in architecture, and the overrating of sculptured ornament, especially of a naturalistic and imitative character, and more generally in an exclusiveness which limited the due influence of some, as I think, noble styles of archi- tecture. By the indirect influences I meant the habit of looking at ques- tions of architectural art in the light of imaginative ideas; the recognition of the vital importance of such questions even in their least important details ; and generall}' an enthusiasm and activity which could have resulted from no less a force than Mr. Ruskin's wondrously suggestive genius." To this explanation Mr. Ruskin replied in his second letter on the subject. 156 LETTEKS o:n" ART. [1872. saying that my direct influence on architecture is always wrong, and my indirect influence right ; because, if that be so, I will try to exercise only indirect influence on my Oxford pupils. But the fact to my own notion is otherwise. I am proud enough to hope, for instance, that I have had some direct influence on Mr. Street ; and I do not doubt but that the public will have more satisfaction from his Law Courts * than they have had from anything built within fifty years. But I have had indirect influence on nearly every cheap villa- builder between this f and Bromley ; and there is scarcely a public-house near the Crystal Palace but sells its gin and bit- ters under pseudo-Yenetian capitals copied from the Church of the Madonna of Health or of Miracles. And one of my principal notions for leaving my present house is that it is surrounded everywhere by the accursed Frankenstein monsters of, mdirectly, my own making. I am. Sir, your obedient servant, John Kuskin. Mmch 15. [From •' The Pall Mall Gazette," March 21, 1872.] MB. RUSKI^'S INFLUENCE: A REJOINDER. To fhe Editor of " The Pall Mall Gazette." Sir : I am obliged by your critic's reply to my question, but beg to observe that, meaning what he explains himself to have meant, he should simply have said that my influence on temper was right, and on taste wrong; the influence being in both cases equally " direct." On questions of taste I Avill not venture into discussion with him, but must be perinitted to * Mr. Street's design for the New Law Courts was, after much discus- sion, selected, May 30, 1868, and approved by commission, August, 1870. The building was not, however, begun till February, 1874, and the hope expressed in this letter is therefore, unfortunately, no expression of opinion on the work itself. t Denmark Hill. 1877.] MODERN RKSTORATIOX. 157 correct liis statement that I have persuaded any one to prefer Venetian to English Gothic. I have stated that Italian — chiefly Pisan and Florentine — Gothic is the noblest school of Gothic hitherto existent, which is true ; and that one form of Venetian Gothic deserves singular respect for the manner of its development. I gave the mouldings and shaft measure- ments of that form,* and to so little purpose, that I challenge your critic to find in London, or within twenty miles of it, a single Venetian casement built on the sections which I gave as normal. For Venetian architecture developed out of British moral consciousness I decline to be answerable. His accusation that I induced architects to study sculpture more, and what he is pleased to call " expressional character'' less, I admit. I should be glad if he would tell me what, Ijefore my baneful influence began to be felt, the expressional character of our building was; and I will reconsider my principles if he can point out to me, on any modern building either in London or, as aforesaid, within twenty miles round, a single piece of good sculpture of which the architect repents, or the public com- plains. I am, Sir, your faithful servant, J. EusKm. March 21. LFrom "The Liverpool Daily Post," June 9, 1877.] MODERN RESTORATION^ Venice, loth April, 1877. My dear Sir : It is impossible for any one to know the horror and contempt with which I regard modern restoration * See "Arabian Windows in the Campo Santa Maria, Mater Domini." Plate ii. of the "Examples of the Architecture of Venice," selected and drawn to measurement from the edifice, 1851. And see, too, "Stones of Venice," vol. ii., chap, vii., Gothic Palaces. f This letter was originally received by "a Liverpool gentleman." and sent inclosed in a long letter signed "An Antiquarian," to the Livcrpixd Daily Post. 158 LETTERS ON ART. [1877. — but it is so great tliat it simply paralyzes me in despair, — and in the sense of sucli difference in all thought and feeling between me and the people I live in the midst of, almost makes it useless for me to talk to them. Of course all restoration is accursed architect's jobbery, and will go on as long as they can get their filthy bread by such business. But things are worse here than in England : you have little there left to lose — here, every hour is ruining buildings of inestimable beauty and his- torical value — simply to keep stone-lawyers " at work. I am obliged to hide my face from it all, and work at other things, or I should die of mere indignation and disgust. Ever truly yours, J. KUSKIN. [From "The Kidderminster Times," July 28, 1877.] RIBBESFOBD CHURCH. Brantwood, Coniston, Lancashire, July 24, 1877. To the Editor of " The Kidderminster Times." Sir : It chanced that, on the morning of the Sunday, when the appearances of danger in the walls of Ribbesford Church ])egan seriously to manifest themselves (according to the report in your columns of the 21st inst.),t I was standing outside of the church, listening to the singing of the last hymn as the sound came through the open door (with the Archer Knight sculptured above it), and showing to the friend who had brought me to the lovely place the extreme interest of the old perpen- dicular traceries in the freehand working of the apertures. * An obvious misprint for "stone-layers." f Ribbesford Church was finally closed after the morning service on Sunday, July 15, 1877, It was then restored, and was reopened and reconsecrated on June 15, 1879. The Kidderminster Times of the 21st inst. contained an account of a meeting of the Ribbesford parishioners to con- sider the restoration of the church. Hence the allusions in this letter to "copying" the traceries. 1879.] ST. mark's, VENICE. 159 Peniiit me to say, with reference to the proposed restoration of the church, that no modern architect, no mason either, can, or woukl if they coiikl, " copy" those traceries. They will assuredly put up wnth geometrical models in their place, which will be no more like the old traceries than a Kensington paper pattern is like a living flower. Whatever else is added or removed, those traceries should be rei)laccd as they are, and left in reverence until they moulder away. If they are already too nnich decayed to hold the glass safely (which I do not believe), any framework which may be necessary can be arranged to hold the casements within them, leaving their bars entirely disengaged, and merely kej^t from falling by iron supports. But if these are to be " copied," why in the world cannot the congregation pay for a new and original church, to display the genius and wealth of the nineteenth century somewhere else, and leave the dear old ruin to grow gray by Severn side in peace ''( I am, Sir, yoiu' faithful servant, J. KUSKIN. CIRCULARS RESPECTING MEMORIAL STUDIES OF ST. MARK'S, VENICE, NOW IN PROGRESS UNDER MR. RUSKINS DI- RECTION. This circular will he given to visitors to the Old Water-color Society's Exhibi- tion, Pall Mall East, or on application to tlie Fine Art Society, 148 New Bond Street. My friends have expressed much surprise at my absence from the public meetings called in defence of St. Mark's. They cannot, however, be too clearly certified that I am now entirely unable to take part in exciting business, or even, without grave * This circular, whicli was distributed as above noted during the winter of 1879-80, is here reprinted by Mr. Kuskin's permission, in connection with the preceding letters upon restoration in architecture. See the Notes on Prout and Hunt, 1879-80, p. 71. 160 LETTERS ON ART. [1879. danger, to allow my mind to dwell on the subjects which, having once been dearest to it, are now the sources of acutest pain. The illness which all but killed me two years ago * was not brought on by overwork, but by grief at the course of public affairs in England, and of affairs, public and private alike, in Venice; the distress of many an old and deeply regarded friend there among the humbler classes of the city being as necessary a consequence of the modern system of centralization, as the destruction of her ancient civil and religious buildings. How far forces of this national momentum may be arrested by protest, or mollified by petition, I know not ; what in either kind I have felt myself able to do has been done two years since, in conjunction with one of the few remaining repre- sentatives of the old Venetian noblesse.f All that now remains for me is to use what time may be yet granted for such record as hand and heart can make of the most precious buikling in Europe, standing yet in the eyes of men and the sunshine of heaven. The drawing of the first two arches of the west front, now under threat of restoration, which, as an honorary member of the Old Water-color Society, I have the privilege of exhibiting in its rooms this year, shows with sufficient accuracy the actual state of the building, and the peculiar qualities of its architec- ture. J The j)rinciples of that architecture are analyzed at length in the second volume of the " Stones of Venice," and the whole facade described there with the best care I could, in hope of directing the attention of English architects to the forms of Greek sculpture which enrich it.§ The words have been occasionally read for the sound of them ; and perhaps, *In February, 1878; seethe " Turner Notes" of that year, and "Fors Clavigera," New Series — Letter the Fourth, March, 1880. f Count Alvise Piero Zorzi, the author of an admirable and authoritative essay on the restoration of St. Mark's (Venice, 1877). :j:Tliis drawing (No. 28 in the Exhibition) was of a small portion of the w^est front. § " Stones of Venice," vol. ii., chapter 4, of original edition, and vol. i., chapter 4, of the smaller edition for the use of travellers. 1879.] ST. mark's, VENICE. l6l when the building is destroyed, may be some day, with amaze- ment, perceived to have been true. In the mean time, the drawing just referred to, every toncli of it made from the building, and left as the color dried in the spring mornings of 1877, will make clear some of the points chiefly insisted on in the '' Stones of Venice," and which are of yet more importance now."^ Of these, the first and main ones are the exquisite delicacy of the work and perfection of its preservation to this time. It seems to me that the English visitor never realizes thoroughly what it is that he looks at in the St. Mark's porches : its glittering confusion in a style unexampled, its bright colors, its mingled marbles, produce on him no real impression of age, and its diminutive size scarcely anv of grandeur. It looks to him almost like a stao^e scene, got lip solidly for some sudden festa. Xo mere guide-book's passing assertion of date — this century or the other — can in the least make him even conceive, and far less feel, that he is actually standing before the very shafts and stones that were set on their foundations here while Harold the Saxon stood by the grave of the Confessor under the fresh-raised vaults of the first Norman Westminster Abbey, of which now a single arch only remains standing. He cannot, by any effort, hnagine that those exquisite and lace-like sculptures of twined acanthus — every leaf -edge as sharp and fine as if they were green weeds fresh springing in the dew, by the Pan-droseion f — were, indeed, cut and finished to their perfect grace while the IS^orman axes were hewing out rough zigzags and dentils round the aisles of Durham and Lindisfarne. Or nearer, in what is left of our own Canterbury — it is but an hour's journey in pleasant Kent — you may compare, almost as if you looked from one to the other, the grim grotesque of the block capitals in the crypt with the foliage of these flexile ones, and with their marble * In the first edition of this circular this sentence ran as follows: " In the mean time, with the aid of the drawing just referred to, every touch of it from the building, and left, as the color dried in the morning light of the lOlh May, 1877, some of the points chiefly insisted on in the ' Stones of Venice,' are of importance now." t Printed " Pan-chorcion" in the first edition. 162 LETTEUS OK ART. [1879. cloves — scarcely distinguishable from the living birds that nestle between them. Or, going down two centuries (for the :ffllings of the portico arches wei-e not completed till after 1204), what thirteenth-century work among our gray limestone walls can be thought of as wrought in the same hour with that wreath of intertwined white marble, relieved by gold, of which the tenderest and sharpest lines of the pencil cannot finely enough express the surfaces and undulations? For indeed, without and within, St. Mark's is not, in the real nature of it, a piece of architecture, but a jewelled casket and painted reliquary, chief of the treasures in w^hat were once the world's treasuries of sacred things, the kingdoms of Christendom. A jewelled casket, every jewel of which was itself sacred. Not a slab of it, nor a shaft, but has been brought from the churches descendants of the great Seven of Asia, or from the Christian-Greek of Corinth, Crete, and Thrace, or the Chris- tian-Israelite in Palestine — the central archivolt copied from that of the church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the opposing lions or phoenixes of its sculptures from the treasury of Atreus and the citadel of Tyre. Thus, beyond all measure of value as a treasury of art, it is also, beyond all other volumes, venerable as a codex of religion. Just as the white foliage and birds on their golden ground are descendants, in direct line, from the ivory and gold of Phidias, so the Greek pictures and inscriptions, whether in mosaic or sculpture, throughout the building, record the unbroken unity of spiritual influence from the Father of light — or the races w^hose own poets had said '' We also are his offspring" — down to the day when all their gods, not slain, but changed into new creatures, became the types to them of the mightier Chris- tian spirits; and Perseus became St. George, and Mars St. Michael, and Athena the Madonna, and Zeus their revealed Father in Heaven. In all the history of human mind, there is nothing so won- derful, nothing so eventful, as this spiritual change. So inex- tricably is it interwoven with the most divine, the most distant threads of human thought and effort, that while none of the 379.] ST. MARK'S, VENICE. 163 lioughts of St. Paul or the visions of St. John can be iinder- tood without our understanding lirst the imagery familiar to he Pagan worship of the Greeks; on the other hand, no iiiderstanding of the real purport of Greek religion can be ecurely reached without watching the translation of its myths nto the messai::e of Christianitv. Both by the natural temper of my mind, and by the la])or )f forty years given to this subject in its practical issues on he present state "^^ of Christendom, I have become, in some neasure, able both to show and to interpret these most precious sculptures ; and my healtli has been so far given back to me that if I am at this moment aided, it will, so far as I can judge, be easily possil:»le for me to complete the work so long in Dreparation. There will yet, I doubt not, be tune to obtain 'perfect record of all that is to be destroyed. I have entirely honest and able draughtsmen at my command ; my o^vn resig- nation f of my Oxford Professorship has given me leisure ; and all that I want from the antiquarian sympathy of England is so much instant help as may permit me, while yet in avail- able vigor of body and mind, to get the records made under my own overseership, and registered for sufficient and true. The casts and drawings which I mean to have made will be preserved in a consistent series in my Museum at Sheffield, where I have freehold ground enough to build a perfectly lighted gallery for their reception. I have used the words " I want," as if praying this thing for myself. It is not so. If only some other person could and would undertake all this, Heaven knows how gladly I would leave the task to him. But there is no one else at present able to do it : if not now by me, it can never be done more. And so I leave it to the readei-'s grace. J. Ruskin. All subscriptions to be sent to Mr. G. Allen, Sunnyside, Orpington, Kent. * For " state," the first edition reads " mind," and for " have become, in some measure, able," it lias " have qualified myself." So again for " am at this moment aided," it reads "am asked, and enabled to do so." t Early in 1879. 164 LETTEKS ON AKT. [1879 ( POSTSCEIPT.* By the kindness of the Society of Painters in Water-colors I ^ am permitted this year, in view of the crisis of the fate of the fa9ade of St. Mark's, to place in the Exhibition-room of the Society ten photographs, illustrative of its past and present state. I have already made use of them, both in my lectures at Oxford and in the parts of Fors Clavigera intended for Art-teaching at my Sheffield Museum ; and all but the eighth are obtainable from my assistant, Mr. Ward (2 Church Terrace, Eichmond), who is my general agent for photographs, either taken under my direction (as here, Nos. 4, 9, and 10), or specially chosen by me for purposes of Art Education. The series of views here shown are all perfectly taken, with great clearness, from the most important points, and give, consecutively, complete evidence respecting the fa9ade. They are arranged in the following order : 1. The Central Porch. ) 2. The Two Northern Porches. [ ^'''"''/XV*'' '''' 3. The Two Southern Porches. ) 4. The Northern Portico. 5. The Southern Portico. Before restoration. 6. The West Front, in Perspective. Seen from the North. 7. The West Front, in Perspective. Seen from the South. 8. The South Side. Before restoration. 9. Detail of Central Archiyolt. 10. The Cross of the Merchants of Venice. This last photograph is not of St. Mark's, but is of the inscrip- tion which I discovered, in 1877, on the Church of St. James of the Rialto. It is of the 9th or 10th century (according to the best antiquarians of Venice), and is given in this series, first, to confirm the closing paragraph in my notes on the Prout draw- * Printed in the second edition only. ^m 879.] ST. mark's, VENICE. 1G5 ngs in Bond Street ;* and secondly, to show the jierfect preser- vation even of the hair-strokes in letters carved in the Istrian narble used at Venice a thousand years ago. The inscription )n the cross is — " Sit crux vera salus liuic twu Christc loco." (Be Thy Cross, O Christ, the true safety of this place.) * A.nd on the band beneath — " Hoc circa tcmplum sit jus mcrcantibus a?quum, Pondera nee vergant nee sit conventio prava." (Around this temple let the merchants' law be just. Their weights true, and their contracts fair.) The bearing of this inscription on the relations of Antonio to Shylock may perhaps not be perceived by a public which now — )![|Consistently and naturally enough, but ominously — considers (JShylock a victim to the support of the principles of legitimate trade, and Antonio a ^* speculator and sentimentalist." From the series of photographs of St. Mark's itself, I cannot but think even the least attentive observer must receive one strong impres- sion — that of the singular preservation of the minutest details in its sculpture. Observe, this is a quite separate question from the st (thill ty of the fabric. In our northern cathedrals the stone, for the most part, moulders away; and the restorer usually replaces it by fresh sculpture, on the faces of walls of which the mass is perfectly secure. Here, at St. Mark's, on the contrary, the only possible pretence for restoration has been, and is, the * The reference is to the closing paragraph of the Preface to the Notes, which runs as follows: " Athena, observe, of the Agora, or Market Place. And St. James of the Deep Stream or ^Market Rii-er. The Angels of Hon- est Sale and Honest Porterage; such honest porterage being the grandeur of the Grand Canal, and of all other canals, rivers, sounds, and seas that ever moved in wavering morris under the night. And the eternally electric light of the embankment of that Rialto stream was shed upon it by the Cross— know you that for certain, you dwellers by high embanked and steamer-bi^rdened Thames. And learn from your poor wandering painter this lesson — for the sum of the best he had to give you (it is the Alpha of the Laws of true human life) — that no city is prosperous in the sight of Heaven, unless the peasant sells in its market— adding tliis lesson of Gentile Bellini's for the Omega, that no city is ever righteous in the Sight of Heaven unless the Noble walks in its street."— Notes on Prout and Hunt, p. 44. 166 LETTERS OX ART. [187^ alleged insecurity of the masses of inner wall — the external sculpJ tures remaining in faultless perfection, so far as unaffected by' direct human violence. Both the Greek and Istrian marbles used at Venice are absolutely defiant of hypaethral influences, and the ' edges of their delicatest sculpture remain to this day more sharp than if they had been cut in steel — for then they would have rusted away. It is especially, for example, of this quality that I have painted the ornament of the St. Jean d'Acre pillars, Ko. 107, which the reader may at once compare with the daguerreo- type (No. 108) beside it, which are exhibited, with the Prout and Hunt drawings, at the Fine Art Society's rooms.* These pillars are known to be not later than the sixth century, yet wherever external violence has spared their decoration it is sharp as a fresh- growing thistle. Thoughout the whole faQade of St. Mark's, the capitals have only here and there by casualty lost so much as a volute or an acanthus leaf, and whatever remains is perfect as on the day it was set in its place, mellowed and subdued only in color by time, but white still, clearly white; and gray, still softly gray; its porphyry purple as an Orleans plum, and the serpen- tine as green as a greengage. Note also, that in this through- out perfect decorated surface there is not a loose joint. The appearances of dislocation, which here and there look like yield- ing of masonry, are merely carelessness in the rej)lacing or reset- ting of the marble armor at the different times when the front has been retouched — in several cases quite wilful freaks of arrange- ment. The slope of the porphyry shaft, for instance," on the angle at the left of my drawing, looks like dilapidation. Were it really so, the building would be a heap of ruins in twenty-four hours. These porches sustain no weight above — their pillars carry merely an open gallery; and the inclination of the red marble pilasters at the angle is not yielding at all, but an origi- nally capricious adjustment of the marble armor. It will be seen that the investing marbles between the arch and pilaster are cut to the intended inclination, which brings the latter nearly into contact with the upper archivolt; the appearance of actual contact being caused by the projection of the dripstone. There are, indeed, one or two leaning towers in Venice whose founda- * See the " Notes on Prout and Hunt," p. 78. 1879.] ST. mark's, VENICE. 167 tions have partly yielded; but if anything were in danger on St. Mark's Place, it would be the campanile — three hundred feet high — and not the little shafts and galleries within reach — too easy reach — of the gaslighter's ladder. And the only dilapida- tions I have myself seen on this porch, since I first drew it forty- six years ago, have been, first, those caused by the insertion of the lamps themselves, and then the breaking away of the marble network of the main capital by the habitual clattering of the said gaslighter's ladder against it. A piece of it which I saw so broken off, and made an oration over to the passers-by in no less broken Italian, is in my mineral cabinet at Brantwood. Before leaving this subject of the inclined angle, let me note — usefully, though not to my present purpose — that the entire beauty of St. Mark's campanile depends on this structure, there definitely seen to be one of real safety. This grace and apparent strength of the whole mass would be destroyed if the sides of it were made vertical. In Gothic towers, the same effect is obtained by the retiring of the angle buttresses, without actual inclination of any but the coping lines. In the Photograph Xo. 5 the slope of the angles in the corre- spondent portico, as it stood before restoration, is easily visible and measurable, the difference being, even on so small a scale, full the twentieth of an inch between the breadth at base and top, at the angles, while the lines bearing the inner arch are per- fectly vertical. There was, indeed, as will be seen at a glance, some displace- ment of the pillars dividing the great window above, immediately to the right of the portico. But these pillars were exactly the part of the south front which carried no weight. The arch above them is burdened only by its own fringes of sculpture; and the pillars carried only the bit of decorated panelling, which is now bent — not outwards, as it would have been by pressure, but inwards. The arch has not subsided; it was always of the same height as the one to the right of it (the Byzantine builders throw- ing their arches always in whatever lines they chose); nor is there a single crack or displacement in the sculpture of the investing fringe. In No. 3 (to the right hand in the frame) there is dilapida- tion and danger enough certainly; but that is wholly caused by 168 . LETTERS OX ART. [1879. the savage and brutal carelessness with which the restored parts are joined to the old. The photograph bears deadly and per- petual witness against the system of " making work," too well known now among English as well as Italian operatives; but it bears witness, as deadly, against the alleged accuracy of the res- toration itself. The ancient dentils are bold, broad, and cut with the free hand, as all good Greek work is; the new ones, little more than half their size, are cut with the servile and hor- rible rigidity of the modern mechanic. This quality is what M. Meduna, in the passage quoted from his defence of himself^ in the Standard, has at once the dul- ness and the audacity actually to boast of as '^ plus exacte"! Imagine a Kensington student set to copy a picture by Velas- quez, and substituting a Nottingham lace pattern, traced with absolute exactness, for the painter's sjoarkle and flow and flame, and boasting of his improvements as "plus exacte'\f That im- precisely what the Italian restorer does for his original; but, ajas! he has the inestimable privilege also of destroying the original as he works, and putting his student's caricature in its place I Nor are any words bitter or contemptuous enough to describe the bestial stupidities w^hich have thus already rei)]accd the floor of the church, in my early days the loveliest in Italy, and the most sacred. In the Photograph No. 7 there is, and there only, one piece of real dilapidation — the nodding pinnacle propped on the right. Those pinnacles stand over the roof gutters, and their bracket supports are, of course, liable to displacement, if th^ p-utters get choked by frost or otherwise neglected. The pinnacle is not ten feet high, and can be replaced and secured as easily as the cowl on a chimney-pot. The timbers underneath were left there merely to give the wished-for appearance of repairs going on. They defaced the church front through the whole winter of 187G. I copied the bills stuck on them one Sunday, and they are printed in the 78th number of Fors Clavigera, the first being the an- nouncement of the Reunited agencies for information on all matters of commercial enterprise and speculation, and the last the announcement of the loss of a cinnamon-colored little bitch, * See the Standard (Dec. 3. 1879). :M. Meduna was the architect who carried out the " restoration" of the south fa9acle of the Cathedral. 1879.] • ST. MARK S, VENICE. 1G9 with rather long ears (colV orecchie piiitosto Juiujhe). I waited through the winter to see how much the Venetians really cared for the look of their church; but lodged a formal remonstrance in March with one of the more reasonable civic authorities, who presently had them removed. The remonstrance ought, of course, to have come from the clergy; but they contented them- selves with cutting flower-wreaths on paper to hang over the central door at Christmas-time. For the rest, the i)retence of rottenness in tlie walls is really too gross to be answered. 'J'here are brick buildings in Italy by tens of thousands, Roman, Lom- bardic, Gothic, on all scales and in all exposures. Which of them has rotted or fallen, but by violence? Shall the tower of Garisenda stand, and the Campanile of Verona, and the tower of St. Mark's, and, forsooth, this little fifty feet of unweighted wall be rotten and dangerous? Much more I could say, and show; but the certainty of the ruin of poor Bedlamite Venice is in her own evil will, and not to be averted by any human help or pleading. Her Sahba delle streghe has truly come; and in her own words (see Fors, letter 77th): **Finalmente la Piazza di S. Marco sara invasa e com- pletamente illuminata dalle Fiamme di Belzebu. Perche il Sahba possa riuscire piu complete, si raccomanda a tutti gli spettatori di fischiare durante le fiamme come anime dannate." Meantime, in what Saturday pause may be before this Witches' Sabbath, if I have, indeed, any English friends, let them now help me, and my fellow-workers, to get such casts, and colorings, and measurings, as may be of use in time to come. I am not used to the begging tone, and will not say more than that what is given me will go in mere daily bread to the workers, and that next year, if I live, there shall be some exposition of what we have got done, with the best account I can render of its parts and pieces. Fragmentary enough they must be, — poor fallen plumes of the winged lion's wings, — yet I think I can plume a true shaft or two with them yet. Some copies of the second edition of this circular had printed at the top of its last and otherwise blank page the words, " Present Stute of SubsnHp- tion Listis: — ," a printer's error, mistaken by some readers for a piece of dry humor. Subscriptions were collected by ^Mr. G. Allen, as above intimated, and 170 LETTERS ON ART. [1879. also by Mr. F. W. Pullen, secretary to the Ruskin Society of Manchester, under the authority of the following letter, which was printed and dis- tributed by him: ''November 29, 1879. — Dear Mr. Pullen: I am very glad to have your most satisfactory letter, and as gladly give you authority to receive subscriptions for drawings and sculptures of St. Mark's. Mr. Bun- ney's large painting of the whole west facade, ordered by me a year and a half ago, and in steady progress ever since, is to be completed this spring. It was a £500 commission for the Guild, but I don't w^ant to have to pay it with Guild capital. I have the power of getting casts, also, in places where nobody else can, and have now energy enough to give directions, but can no more pay for them out of my own pocket. Ever gratefully yours, J. R. As a formal authority, this had better have my full signature — John Rus- kin." In a further letter to Manchester on the subject, Mr. Ruskin wrote as follows: "It is wholly impossible for me at present to take any part in the defence — at last, though far too late — undertaken by the true artists and scholars of England — of the most precious Christian building in Europe;' . . . nor is there any occasion that I should, if only those who care for me will refer to what I have already written, and will accept from me the full ratification of all that was said by the various speakers, all without excep- tion men of the most accurate judgment and true feeling, at the meetmg held in Oxford. All that I think it necessary for you to lay, directly from myself, before the meeting you are about to hold, is the explicit statement of two facts of which I am more distinctly cognizant from my long rcsi dences in Italy at different periods, and in Venice during these last years, than any other person can be — namely, the Infidel — (malignantly and scorn- fully Infidel and anti-religionist) aim of Italian ' restoration '—and the totality of the destruction it involves, of wiiatever it touches." So again, in a second and despairing letter, he WTote: " You cannot be too strongl}'- assured of the total destruction involved, in the restoration of St. Mark's. . . . Then the plague of it all is. What can you do? Nothing would be effectual, but the appointment of a Procurator of St. Mark's, with an cnoi'- mous salary, dependent on the Church's being let alone. What you can do by a meeting at Manchester, I have no notion. The only really prac- tical thing that I can think of would be sending me lots of money to spend in getting all the drawings I can of the old thing before it goes. I don't believe we can save it by any protests." See the Birmingham Daily Mail, Nov. 27, 1879. The reader is also referred to " Fors Clavigera," New Series, Letter the Fourth, pp. 125-6. The meeting in Oxford alluded to above was held in the Sheldonian Theatre on November 15, 1879. Amongst the principal speakers were the Dean of Christ Church (in the chair). Dr. Acland, the Professor of Fine Art (Mr. W. B. Richmond), Mr. Street, Mr. William Morris, and Mr. Burne Jones. LETTERS ON SCIENCE, I. GEOLOGICAL. Thk Conformation of the Alps. 1864. Concerning Glaciers. 1864. English versi/s Alpine Geology. 1864. Concerning Hydrostatics. 1864. James David Forbes : His Real Greatness. 1874. II. MISCELLANEOUS. On Reflections in Water. 1844. On the Reflection of Rainbows. 1861. A Landslip nt:ar Giagnano. 1841. On the Gentian. 1857. On the Study of Natural History. (Undated.) I. GEOLOGICAL. [From "The Reader," November 12, ISM.] THE CONFORMATION OF THE ALPS. Denmark Hill, IQth Naveinber, 1864. My attention has but now been directed to tlie letters in your October numbers on the subject of the forms of the Alps."^ I have, perhaps, some claim to be heard on this ques- tion, having spent, out of a somewhat busy life, eleven summers and two winters (the winter work being especially useful, owinor to the definition of inaccessible ledo-es of strata by new-fallen snow) in researches among the Alps, directed solely to the questions of their external form and its mechani- cal causes ; while I left to other geologists the more disputable and ditficult problems of relative ages of beds. I say "more disputable" because, however complex tlie phases of mechanical action, its general nature admits, among the Alps, of no question. The forms of the Alps are quite vi-nbly owing to the action (how gradual or prolonged cannot yet be determined) of elevatory, contractile, and expansive forces, followed by that of currents of water at various temperatures, and of prolonged disintegration — ice having had small share in modif3^ing even the higher ridges, and none in causing or forming the valleys. * The Radcr of October IT) contained an article " On the Conformation of the Alps," to which in the following issue of the journal (October 22) Sir Roderick Murchison replied in a letter dated "Torquay, 16th October," and entitled "On the Excavation of Lake-Basins in solid rocks by Glaciers," the possibility of which he altogether denied. 17-i LETTERS ON SCIENCE. [1864. The reason of the extreme difficulty in tracing the com- bination of these several operative causes in any given instance, is that the effective and destructive drainage by no means follows the leading fissures, but tells fearfully on the softer rocks, sweeping away inconceivable volumes of these, while fissures or faults in the harder rocks of quite primal structural importance may be little deepened or widened, often even unindicated, by subsequent aqueous action. I have, however, described at some length the commonest structural and sculp- tural phenomena in the fourth volume of " Modern Painters," and I gave a general sketch of the subject last year in my lecture"^ at the Koyal Institution (fully reported in the Journal de Geneve of 2d September, 1863), but I have not yet thrown together the mass of material in my possession, because our leading chemists are only now on the point of obtaining some data for the analysis of the most important of all forces — that of the consolidation and crystallization of the metamorphic rocks, causing them to alter their bulk and exercise irresistible and irregular pressures on neighboring or incumbent beds. But, even on existing data, the idea of the excavation of valleys by ice has become one of quite ludicrous untenableness. At this moment, the principal glacier in Chamouni pours itself down a slope of twenty degrees or more over a rock tw^o thou- sand feet in vertical height ; and just at the bottom of this ice- cataract, where a water-cataract of equal power would have excavated an almost fathomless pool, the ice simply accumu- lates a heap of stones, on the top of which it rests. The lakes of any hill country lie in what are the isolated lowest (as its summits are the isolated highest) portions of its broken surface, and ice no more engraves the one than it builds the other. But how these hollows were indeed first dug, * "On the Forms of the Stratified Alps of Savoy," delivered on June 5, 1863. The subject was treated under three heads. 1. The material of the Savoy Alps. 2. The mode of their formation. 3. The mode of their subsequent sculpture. (See the report of the lecture in the "Proceedings of the Royal Institution," 1863, vol. iv., p. 142. It was also printed by the Institution in a separate form, p. 4.) 1864.] CONCERNING GLACIERS. lYS we know as yet no more than how the Athintic was dug ; and the hasty expression by geologists of their fancies in such mat- ters cannot be too much deprecated, because it deprives their science of the i-espect really due to it in the minds of a lai'ge portion of the public, who know, and can know, nothing of its established principles, while they can easily detect its specula- tive vanity. There is plenty of work for us all to do, without losing time in speculation ; and when we have got good sec- tions across the entire chain of the Alps, at intervals of twenty miles apart, from Nice to Innspruch, and exhaustive maps and sections of the lake-basins of Lucerne, Annecy, Como, and Garda, we shall have won the leisure, and may assume the right, to try our w4ts on the formative question. J. RUSKJN.* [From "The Reader," November 26, 1864.] CONCERN ma GLACIERS. Denmark Hill, November 21. I AM obliged to your Scottish correspondent for the courtesy with which he expresses himself towards me ; and, as his letter refers to several points still (to my no little surprise) in dis- pute among geologists, you will perhaps allow me to occupy, in reply, somewhat more of your valuable space than I had intended to ask for. I say " to my no little surprise," because the great prin- ciples of glacial action have been so clearly stated by their discoverer, Forbes, and its minor phenomena (though in an envious temper, which, by its bitterness, as a pillar of salt, has *In reply to this letter, the Reader oi November 19, 1864, published one from a Scottish correspondent, signed "Tain Caimbeul," the writer of which declared that, whilst he looked on Mr. Ruskin "as a thoroughly reliable guide in all that relates to the external aspects of the Alps," he could not " accept his leadership in questions of political economy or the mechanics of glacier motion." 176 LETTERS OX SCIENCE. [1864. become the sorrowful monument of the discovery it denies) * so carefully described by Agassiz, that I never thought there would be occasion for nmcli talk on the subject henceforward. As much as seems now necessary to be said I will say as briefly as I can. What a river carries fast at the bottom of it, a glacier carries slowly at the top of it. This is the main distinction between their agencies. A piece of rock which, falling into a strong torrent, would be perhaps swept down half a mile in twenty minutes, delivering blows on the rocks at the bottom audible like distant heavy cannon,f and at last dashed into fragments, which in a little while will be rounded pebbles (having done enough damage to everything it has touched in its course) — this same rock, I say, falling on a glacier, lies on the top of it, and is thereon carried down, if at fullest speed, at the rate of three yards in a week, doing usually damage to nothing at all. That is the primal difference between the work of water and ice ; these further differences, however, follow from this first one. Though a glacier never rolls its moraine into pebbles, as a torrent does its shingle, it torments and teases the said moraine vei-y sufficiently, and without intermission. It is always mov- ing it on, and melting from under it, and one stone is always toppling, or tilting, or sliding over another, and one company of stones crashing over another, with staggering shift of heap behind. Now, leaving out of all account the pulverulent effect of original precipitation to glacier level from two or three thousand feet above, let the reader imagine a mass of sharp granite road-metal and paving-stones, mixed up with boulders of any size he can think of, and with wreck of softer rocks (micaceous schists in quantities, usually), the whole, say, t Even in lower Apennine, ^' Dat sonitum saxis, et torto ver- tice torrens."J: * See below, "Forbes: his real greatness," pp. 187 seqq., and the references given in the notes there. X Virgil, ^neid, vii. 567. 1864.] CONCERNING GLACIERS. ITT half a quarter of a niilo wide, and of variable tliickness, from mere skin-deep mock moraine on mounds of unsuspected ice — treacherous, shadow-begotten — to a railroad embankment, passe ?ifft/'-eiuhi\nkuient, one oternnl collapse of unconditional ruin, rotten to its heart with frost and thaw (in regions on the edge of each), and withering sun and waste of oozing ice ; fancy all this heaved and shovelled, slowly, by a gang of a thousand Irish laborers, twenty miles downhill. You will conjecture there may be some dust developed on the w^ay ? — some at the hill bottom i Yet thus you will have but a dim idea of the daily and linal results of the movements of glacier moraines — beautiful result in granite and slate dust, delivered by the torrent at last in banks of black and white slime, recov- ering itself, far away, into fruitful fields, and level floor for human life. Xow all this is utterly independent of any action what- soever by the ice on its sustaining rocks. It has an action on these indeed ; but of this limited nature as compared with that of water. A stone at the bottom of a stream, or deep-sea cur- rent, necessarily and always presses on the bottom with the weight of the column of water above it — plus the excess of its own weight above that of a bulk of water equal to its own ; but a stone under a glacier may be hitched or suspended in the ice itself for long spaces, not touching bottom at all. AVhen di'0})ped at last, the weight of ice may not come upon it for years, for that weight is only carried on certain spaces of the rock bed ; and in those very spaces the utmost a stone can do is to press on the bottom with the force necessary to driv^e the given stone into ice of a given density (usually porous) ; and, with this maximum pressure, to move at the maximum rate of about a third of an inch in a quarter of an hour I Try to saw a piece of marble through (with edge of iron, not of soppy ice, for saw\ and with shar]) flint sand for felspar slime), and move your saw at the rate of an inch in three-quarters of an Innir, and see what lively and progressive work you will make of it! I say " a piece of marble ;" but your permanent glaoiei-- 178 LETTERS OX SCIEXCE. [18B4. bottom is rarely so soft — for a glacier, though it acts slowly by friction, can act vigorously by dead-weight on a soft rock, and (with fall previously provided for it) can clear masses of that out of the way, to some purpose. There is a notable instance of this in the rock of which your correspondent speaks, under the Glacier des Bois. His idea, that the glacier is deep above and thins out below, is a curious instance of the misconception of glacier nature, from which all that Forbes has done cannot yet quite clear the public mind, nor even the geological mind. A glacier never, in a large sense, thins out at all as it expires. It flows level everywhere for its own part, and never slopes but down a slope, as a rapid in water. Pour out a pot of the thickest old white candied, but still fluent, honey you can buy, over a heap of stones, arranged as you like, to imitate rocks." Whatever the honey does on a small scale, the glacier does on a large ; and you may thus study the glacier phenomena of current — though, of course, not those of structure or fissure — at your ease. But note this specially : When the honey is at last at rest, in whatever form it has taken, you will see it terminates in tongues with low rounded edges. The possible height of these edges, in any fluid, varies as its viscosity ; it is some quarter of an inch or so in water on dry ground ; the most fluent ice will stand at about a hundred feet. Next, from this outer edge of the stagnant honey, delicately skim or thin off a little at the top, and see what it will do. It will not stand in an inclined plane, but fill itself up again to a level from behind. Glacier ice does exactly the same thing; and this filling in from behind is done so subtly and delicately, that, every ^vinter, the whole glacier surface rises to replace the summer's waste, not with progressive wave, as " twice a day the Severn fills ;" but with silent, level insurrection, as of ocean-tide, the gray sea-crystal passes by. And all the struc- tural phenomena of the ice are modified by this mysterious action. Your correspondent is also not aware that the Glacier des *See " Deucalion," vol. i. p. 93. 1864.] CONCERXIXG GLACIERS. 179 Bois gives a very practical and outspoken proof of its shallow- ness opposite the Montanvert. Very often its torrent, under wilful touch of Lucina-sceptre, leaps to the light at the top of the rocks instead of their base."^ That fiery Arveron, some- times, hearing from reconnoitring streamlets of a nearer way down to the valley than the rounded ice-curve under the Chapeau, fairly takes bit in teeth, and flings itself out over the brow of the rocks, and down a ravine in them, in the wildest cataract of white thunder-clouds (endless in thunder, and with quiet fragments of rainbow for lightning), that I have ever blinded myself in the skirts of. These bare rocks, over which the main river sometimes falls (and outlying streamlets always) are of firm-grained, massively rounded gneiss. Above them, I have no douljt, once extended the upper covering of fibrous and amianthoidal schist, which forms the greater part of the south-eastern flank of the valley of Chamouni. The schistose gneiss is continuous in direction of bed, with the harder gneiss below. But the outer portion is soft, the inner hard, and more granitic. This outer portion the descending glaciers have always stripped right off down to the hard gneiss below, and in places, as immediately above the Montanvert (and elsewhere at the brows of the valley), the beds of schistose gneiss are crushed and bent outwards in a mass (I believe) by the weight of the old glacier, for some fifty feet within their surface. This looks like work ; and work of this sort, when it had to be done, the glaciers were well up to, bearing down such soft masses as a strong man bends a poplar sapling ; but by steady push far more than by friction. You may bend or break your sapling with bare hands, but try to rub its bark off with your bare hands ! When once the icQ,tvit/i strength always dejpendent on pre- ♦There twice a day the Severn fills; The salt sea-water passes by, And hushes half the babbling Wye, And makes a silence in the hills. Tennyson, " In Memoriam," xix. 180 LETTERS 01^ SCIENCE. [1864. existent jyTecipice, lias cleared such obstacles out of its way, and made its bed to its liking, there is an end to its manifest and effectively sculptural power. I do not believe the Glacier des Bois has done more against some of the granite surfaces beneath it, for these four thousand years, than the drifts of desert sand have done on Sinai. Be that as it may, its power of excavation on a level is proved, as I showed in my last letter, to be zero. Your correspondent thinks the glacier power vanishes towards the extremity ; but as long as the ice exists, it has the same progressive energy, and, indeed, some- times, with the quite terminal nose of it, will plough a piece of ground scientifically enough ; but it never digs a hole : the stream ahvays comes from under it full speed downhill. IS'ow, whatever the dimensions of a glacier, if it dug a big hole, like the Lake of Geneva, when it was big, it would dig a little hole when it was little — (not that this is ahvays safe logic, for a little stone will dig in a glacier, and a large one build ; but it is safe within general limits) — which it never does, nor can, biit subsides gladly into any hole prepared for it in a quite placid manner, for all its fierce looks. I find it difficult to stop, for your correspondent, little as he thinks it, has put me on my ow^n ground. I was foiled to wi-ite upon Art by an accident (the public abuse of Turner) when I was two-and-twenty ; but I had written a " Minera- logical Dictionary'' as far as C, and invented a shorthand symbolism for crystalline forms, before 1 was fourteen : and have been at stony work ever since, as I could find time, silently, not caring to speak much till the chemists had given me more help.* For, indeed, I strive, as far as may be, not to speak of anything till I know it ; and in that matter of Political Economy also (though forced in like manner to write of that by unendurable circumfluent fallacy), I know^ my ground ; and if your present correspondent, or any other, will meet me fairly, I w^ill give them uttermost satisfaction upon any point they doubt. There is free challenge : and in the * See "Deucalion," vol. i. p. 3 (Introduction). 1864.J ENGLISH VS. ALl'INK GEOLOGY. 181 kniglit of Snowdouirs vows (looking tirst curefully to see that the rock be not a glacier boulder), " This rock shall fy From its firm base, as soou as I.' J. KUSKIN.* [From "The Reader," December 3, 1864.] ENGLISH VERSUS ALPINE GEOLOGY. Denmark Hill, 2^th Nov. I SCARCELY know what reply to make, or whether it is neces- sary to reply at all, to the letter of Mr. Jukes in your last number. There is no antagonism between his views and mine, though he seems henrtily to desire that there should be, and with no conceivable motive but to obtain some appearance of it suppresses the latter half of the sentence he quotes from my letter.+ It is true that he writes in willing ignorance of the Alps, and I in unwilling ignorance of the Wicklow hills ; but the only consequent discrepancy of thought or of impression between us is, that Mr. Jukes, examining (by his own account) very old hills, which have been all but washed away to nothing, naturally, and rightly, attributes their present form, or want of form, to their prolonged ablutions, while I, examining new and lofty hills, of which, though much has been carried away, much is still left, as naturallv and rifi^htlv ascribe a 2:reat part * Following this letter in the same number of the Binder was one from the well-known geologist Mr. Joseph Beete Jukes, F.R.S., who, writing from " Selly Oak, Birmingham, Nov. 22," described as "the originator of the discussion." He therefore was no doubt the author of the article in the Reader alluded to above (p. 173, note), ^[r. Jukes died in 1869. f The following is the sentence from Mr. Jukes' letter alluded to; "Therefore when Mr. Ruskin says that ' the forms of the Alps are quite visibly owing to the action of elevatory, contractile, and expansive forces,' I would entreat him to listen to those who have had their vision corrected by the laborious use of chain and theodolite and protractor for many toil- some years over similar forms." 182 LETTERS ON SCIENCE. [1864. of their aspect to the modes of their elevation. Tlie Alp-bred geologist has, however, this advantage, that (especially if he happen at spare times to have been interested in manual arts) he can hardly overlook the effects of denudation on a moun- tain-chain which sustains Venice on the delta of one of its torrents, and Antwerp on that of another ; but the English geologist, however practised in the detection and measurement of faults filled in by cubes of fluor, may be pardoned for dimly appreciating the structure of a district in which a people strong enough to lay the foundation of the liberties of Europe in a single battle,"^ was educated in a fissure of the Lower Chalk. I think, however, that, if Mr. Jukes can succeed in allaying his feverish thirst for battle, he will wish to withdraw the fourth paragraph of his letter,t and, as a general formula, even the scheme which it introduces. That scheme, sufiiciently accurate as an expression of one cycle of geological action, con- tains little more than was known to all leading geologists five-, and-twenty years ago, when I was w^orking hard under Dr. Buckland at Oxford ; ^ and it is so curiously unworthy of the present state of geological science, that I believe its author, in his calmer moments, will not wish to attach his name to an attempt at generalization at once so narrow, and so audacious. My experience of mountain-foi-m is probably as much more extended than his, as my disposition to generalize respecting it is less ; § and, although indeed the apparent limitation of the * The Battle of Sempach (?). See the letters on " The Italian Question," at the beginning of the second volume. f To the effect that "the form of the ground is the result wholl}' of denudation." For the "scheme," consisting of ten articles, see the note § below. t Dr. William Buckland, the geologist, and at one time Dean of West- minster. He died in 1856. See "Fors Clavigera," 1873, Letter 34, p. 19. § This and the following sentences allude to parts of the above-men- tioned scheme. "The whole question," wrote Mr. Jukes, "depends on the relative dates of production of the lithological composition, the petro- logical structure, and the form of the surface." The scheme then attempts to sketch the "order of the processes which formed these three things," in ten articles, of which the following are specially referred to by Mr, Rus- kin: "1. The formation of a great series of stratified rocks on tlie bed of 1864.] ENGLISH VS. ALPINE GEOLOGY. 183 statement wliicli he half quotes (probably owinii: to his general love of denudation) from my last letter, to the ehain of the Alps, was intended only to attach to the words ''(piite visibly," yet, had I myself expanded that statement, I >hould not liave assumed the existence of a sea, to relieve me from the ditliculty of accountino: for the existence of a lake ; I should not have assumed that all mountain-formations of investiture were marine ; nor claimed the possession of a great series of stratified rocks without inquiring where they were to come from. I should not have thought " even more than one" an adequate expression for the possible number of elevations and depressions which may have taken place since the beginning of time on the mountain-chains of the world ; nor thought myself capable of compressing into Ten Articles, or even into Thirty-nine, my conceptions of the working of the Power which led forth the little hills like lambs, while it rent or established the founda- tions of the earth ; and set their birth-seal on the forehead of each in the inlinitudes of aspect and of function which range between the violet-dyed banks of Thames and Seine, and the vexed Fury-Tower of Cotopaxi. Xot but that large generalizations are, indeed, possible with respect to the diluvial phenomena, among which my antagonist has pursued his — (scarcely amphibious?) — investigations. The effects of denudation and deposition are unvarying everywhere, and have been watched with terror and gratitude in all ages. In physical mythology they gave tusk to the Grteae, claw to the Gorgons, bull's frontlet to the floods of Aufldus and Po. They gave weapons to the wars of Titans against Gods, and lifeless seed of life into the hand of Deucalion. Herodotus " rightly spelled" of them, where the lotus rose from the dust of Nile and leaned upon its dew ; Plato rightly dreamed of them in his great vision of the disrobing of the Acropolis to its naked marble ; the keen eye of Horace, half poet's, half farm- a sea. ... 3. The possible intrusion of great masses of granitic rock" in more or less fluent state; and 6, 7, 8, 9, which dealt with alternate ele- vation and depression, of which there might be "even more than one repetition." ^'S4: LETTERS Oif SCIENCE. [1864. er's (albeit unaided by theodolite), recognized tliem alike wliere the risen brooks of YuUombrosa, anddst the mountain-clamors, tossed their cliamped shingle to the Etrurian sea, and in the uncoveted wealth of the pastures, "Quae Liris quiets Mordet aqu^, taciturnus amnis."* But the inner structure of the mountain-chains is as varied as tlieir substance ; and to this day, in some of its mightier develop- ments, so little understood, that my Neptunian opponent him- self, in his address delivered at Cambi'idge in 1862, speaks of an arrangement of strata which it is difficult to traverse ten miles of Alpine limestone without finding an example of, as beyond the limits of theoretical imagination.f I feel tempted to say more ; but I have at present little time even for useful, and none for wanton, controversy. Whatever information Mr. Jukes can afford me on these sub- jects (and I do not doubt he can afford me much), I am ready to receive, not only without need of his entreaty, but with sincere thanks. If he likes to try his powers of sight, "as corrected by the laborious use of the protractor," against mine, I will in humility abide the issue. But at present the question before the house is, as I understand it, simply whether glaciers excavate lake-basins or not. That, in spite of measurement and survey, here or elsewhere, seems to remain a question. May we answer the iirst, if answeraljle ? That determined, I think I might furnish some other grounds of debate in this notable cause of Peebles against Plainstanes, pi-ovided that Mr. Jukes will not in future think his seniority gives him the right to answer me with disparagement instead of instruction, and will bear with the English " student's" Aveakness, which induces * See Herodotus, ii. 92; Plato, Critias, 112; and Horace, Od. i. 31. f The address was delivered by Mr. Jukes as President of the Geological Section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, which met in 1862 at Cambridge. (See the Report of the Association, vol. xxxii. p. 54.) 1864.] COXCERNIXG HYDROSTATICS. 185 me, usually, to wish rather to begin by shooting my elephant than end by describing it out of my moral consciousness.* J. liuSKIN. [From " The Reader," December 10, 1864,] CONCERN' IXG HYDROSTATICS. Norwich, oth December. Your pages are not, I presume, intended for the dissemina- tion of the elements of physical science. Your correspondent "M. A. C." has a good wit, and, by purchasing any common treatise on the barometer, may discover the propriety of exer- cising it on subjects with which he is acquainted. " G. M." deserves more attention, the confusion in his mind between increase of j^ressure and increase of density being a very com- mon one.f It may be enough to note for him, and for those of your readers whom his letter may have eml)arrassed, that in any incompressible liquid a body of greater specific gravity than the liquid will sink to any depth, because the column which it forms, together with the vertical column of the liquid above it, always exceeds in total weight the column formed by the equal bulk of the liquid at its side, and the vertical column of liquid above that. Deep-sea soundings would be otherwise impossible. " G .M." may find the explanation of the other phenomena to which he alludes in any elementary work on * Mr. Jukes' letter bad concluded by recommending Englisb geologists to pursue tbeir studies at borne, on tbe ground tliat " a student, commcnc ing to learn comparative anatomy, does not tliink it necessary to go to Africa and kill an elepbant." In the following number of the Reader (Dec. 10) Mr. Jukes wrote, in answer to tbe present letter, that he had not intended to imply any hostility towards Mr. Ruskin, with whose next letter the dis- cussion ended. f " M. A. C." wrote "Concerning Stones," and dealt — or attempted to deal — with "atmospheric pressure" in addition to the pressure of water alluded to in ;Mr. Ruskin's letter of November 26. The letter signed "G. M." was entitled " ^Ir. Ruskin on Glaciers;" see next note. Both letters appeared in the Reader of December 3, 1864. 186 LETTERS ON SCIENCE. [1864. hydrostatics, and will discover on a little reflection that the statement in my last letter ^ is simply true. Expanded, it is merely that, when we throw a stone into water, we substitute pressure of stone-surface for pressure of water-surface through- out the area of horizontal contact of the stone with the ground, and add the excess of the stone's weight over that of an equal bulk of water. It is, however, very difficult for me to understand how any person so totally ignorant of every circumstance of glacial locality and action, as " G. M." shows himself to be in the para- graph beginning "It is very evident," could have had the courage to write a syllable on the subject. I w^ill waste no time in reply, but will only assure him (with reference to his asser- tion that I "get rid of the rooks," etc.), that I never desire to get rid of anything but error, and that I should be the last person to desire to get rid of the glacial agency by friction, as I was, I believe, the first to reduce to a diagram the probable stages of its operation on the bases of the higher Alpine aiguilles, t Permit me to add, in conclusion, that in future I can take no notice of any letters to which the writers do not think fit to attach their names. There can be no need of initials in sci- entific discussion^ except to shield incompetence or license discourtesy. J. RrSKDi. * Not in the "last letter," but in the last but one — see ante, p. 177, "A stone at the bottom of a stream," etc. The parts of " G. M.'s" letter specially alluded to by Mr. Ruskin are as follows ; " It is very evident that the nearer the source of the glacier, the steeper will be the angle at which it advances from above, and the greater its power of excavation. . . . Mr. Ruskin gets rid of the rocks and debris on the under side of the glacier by supposing that they are pressed beyond the range of action in the solid body of the ice; but there must be a limit to this, however soft the matrix." t See " Modern Pamters," Part v., chap. 13, " On the Sculpture Moun- tains," vol. IV. p. 174. 1874] JAMES DAVID FORBES. 187 [From " Rendu's Theory of the Glaciers of Savoy," Macmillan, 1874.] JAMES DAVID FORBES: HIS REAL GREATNESS* The incidental passage in '' Fors," hastily written, on a con- temptible issue, does not in the least indicate my sense of the real position of James Forbes among the men of his day. I have asked his son's f permission to add a few words expressive of my deeper feelings. For indeed it seems to me that all these questions as to priority of ideas or observ^ations are beneath debate among noble persons. What a man like Forbes first noticed, or demonstrated, is of no real moment to his memory. What he was, and how he taught, is of consummate moment. The actuality of his personal power, the sincerity and wisdom of his constant teach- ing, need no applause from the love they justly gained, and can sustain no diminution from hostility ; for their proper honor is in their usefulness. To a man of no essential power, the acci- dent of a discovery is apotheosis ; to him, the former knowl- edge of all the sages of earth is as though it were not ; he calls the ants of his own generation round him, to observe how he flourishes in his tiny forceps the grain of sand he has imposed upon Pelion. But from all such vindication of the claims of Forbes to mere discovery, I, his friend, would, for my * In connection with the question of glacier-motion, Mr. Ruskin's esti- mate of Professor Forbes and his work is here reprinted from Rendu's " Glaciers of Savoy" (Macmillan, 1874). pp. 205-207. For a passage on the same subject which was reprinted in the " Glaciers of Savoy," in addition to the new matter republished here, and for a statement of the course of glacier-science, and the relation of Forbes to Agassiz, the reader is referred to "Fors Clavigera." 1873. Letter 34, pp. 17-26. The "incidental passage" consists of a review of Professor Tyndall's "Forms of Water" (London, 1872), and the "contemptible issue" was that of his position and Forbes amongst geological discoverers. f George Forbes, B.A., Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Ander- sonian University, Gla.sgow, and editor of " The Glaciers of Savoy." 188 LETTERS OK SCIEXCE. [1874. own part, proudly abstain. I do not in the slightest degree care whether he was the first to see this, or the first to say that, or how many common persons had seen or said as mnch before. "What I rejoice in knowing of him is that he had clear eyes and open heart for all things and deeds appertaining to his life ; that whatever he discerned, was discerned impartially ; what he said, was said securely ; and that in all functions of thouo^ht, experiment, or communication, he w^as sure to be eventually right, and serviceable to mankind, whether out of the treasury of eternal knowledge he brought forth things new or old. This is the essential diffei-ence between the work of men of true genius and the agitation of temporary and popular power. The first root of their usefulness is in subjectiofl of their vanity to their purpose. It is not in calibre or range of intellect that men vitally differ ; every phase of mental character has honora- ble office ; but the vital difference between the strong and the weak — or let me say rather, between the availing and valueless intelligence — is in the relation of the love of self to the love of the subject or occupation. Many an Alpine traveller, many a busy man of science, volubly rej^resent to us their pleasure in the Alps ; but I scarcely recognize one who would not willingly see them all ground down into gravel, on condition of his being the first to exhibit a pebble of it at the Eoyal Institution. "Whereas it may be felt in any single page of Forbes' writing, or De Saussure's, that they love crag and glacier for their own sake's sake ; that they question their secrets in reverent and solemn thirst : not at all that they may connnunicate them at breakfast to the readers of the Daily Xews — and that, although there were no news, no institutions, no leading articles, no medals, no money, and no mob, in the world, these men would still labor, and be glad, though all their knowledge was to rest with them at last in the silence of the snows, or only to be taught to peasant children sitting in the shade of pines. And whatever Forbes did or spoke during liis noble life was in this manner patiently and permanently true. The pas- sage of his lectures in which he shows the folly of Macaulay's assertion that " The giants of one generation are the pigmies of 1874] JAMES DAVID FORBES. lb\) the next,"* beautiful in itself, is more interesting yet in the indication it gives of the general grasp and melodious tone of Forbes' revetment intellect, as opposed to the discordant inso- lence of modernism. His mind grew and took color like an Alpine flower, rooted on rock, and perennial in tiower ; wliile Macaulay's swelled like a]nill'-l)all in an unwholesome pasture, and projected itself far round in deleterious dust. *This saying of Macaulay's occurred iu an address which, as M.P. for that city, he delivered at the opening of the Edinburgh Philosophical Insti- tution, iu 1846 (Xov. 4). Forbes' criticism of it and of the whole address may be found in a lecture introductory to a course on Natural Philosophy, delivered before the University of Edinburgh (Nov, 1 and 2, 1S48), and entitled " The Danger of Superficial Knowledge;" under which title it was afterwards printed,, together with a newspaper report of INIacaulay's address (London and Edinburgh, 1849). In the edition of Macaulay*s speeches revised by himself, the sentence in question is omitted, though others of a like nature, such as "The profundity of one age is the shallowness of the next," are retained, and the whole argument of the address remains the same. (See Macaulay's Works, 8 vol. ed., Longmans, 1866. Vol. viii. p. 880, "The Literature of Great Britain.") For a second mention of this saying by Mr. Kuskin, see also " Remarks addressed to the ]\Iansfield Art Night Class," 1873, now reprinted in " A Joy for Ever ' (Ruskin's Works, vol. xi. p. 201). The following are parts of the passage (extending over some pages) in Forbes' lecture alluded to by Mr. Ruskin: "How false, then, as well as arrogant, is the self-gratulation of those, ■who, forgetful of the struggles and painful efforts by which knowledge is i increased, would place themselves, by virtue of their borrowed acquire- i ments, in the same elevated position with their great teachers — nay, who, ' perceiving the dimness of light and feebleness of grasp, with which, often I at first, great truths have been perceived and held, find food for pride in ' the superior clearness of their vision and tenacity of their apprehension!" Then, after quoting some words from Dr. Whewell's "Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences," vol. ii. p. 525, and after some further remarks, the lecturer thus continued: " The activity of mind, the earnestness, the strug- gle after truth, the hopeless perplexity breaking up gradually into the fulness of perfect apprehension, — the dread of error, the victory over the imagination in discarding hypotheses, the sense of weakness and humility arising from repeated disappointments, the yearnings after a fuller revela- tion, and the sure conviction which attends the final advent of knowledge sought amidst difficulties and disappointments, — these are the lessons and the rewards of the discoverers who first put truth within our reach, but of which we who receive it at second-hand can form but a faint and lifeless I conception." (See pp. 39-41 of " The Danger of Superficial Knowledge.") 190 LETTERS OX SCIENCE. ' [1874. I had intended saying a few words more touching the dif- ference in temper, and probity of heart, between Foi'bes and Agassiz, as manifested in the documents now * laid before the public. And as far as my own feehngs are concerned, the death of Agassiz f would not have caused my withholding a i word. For in all utterance of blame or praise, I have striven always to be kind to the living — just to the dead. But in deference to the wish of the son of Forbes, I keep silence : I willingly leave sentence to be pronounced by time, above their two graves. John Euskin. The following letters,:]: one from Forbes to myself, written ten years ago, and the other from one of his pupils, received by me a few weeks since, must, however, take their due place among the other evidence on which such judgment is to be given. J. R. * In the edition of Rendu's "Glaciers of Savoy" already alluded to. f Forbes died Dec. 31, 1868 ; Agassiz in 1873 ; and De Saussure in 1845. X The letter from Forbes to Mr. Ruskin (dated December 2, 1864) was presumably elicited by the allusions to Forbes in Mr. Ruskin's letter to the Reader of November 26, 1874 (see ante, pp. 259 and 263). "Advancing j-'ears and permanently depressed state of health," ran the letter, "have taken the edge off the bitterness which the injustice I have experienced caused me during many years. But . . . the old fire revives within me when I see any one willing and courageous, like you, to remember an old friend, and to show that you do so." — The second letter speaks of the writer's " boyisJi enthusiasm" for Agassiz, an expression to which Mr. Ruskin appends this note: " The italics are mine. I think this incidental and naive proof of the way in which Forbes had spoken of Agassiz to his class, of the greatest value and beautiful interest. — J. R." II. MISCELLANEOUS. [From "The Artist and Amateur's Magazine" (edited by E. V. Rippingille), February, 1844, pp. 314-319.1 REFLECTIONS IN WATER* To the Editor of " The Artist and Amateufs Magazine." Sir : The phenomena of light and shade, rendered to the eye by the surface or substance of water, are so intricate and so multitudinous, that had I wished fully to investigate, or even fully to state them, a volume instead of a page would have been required for the task. In the paragraphs f which I devoted to the subject I expressed, as briefly as possible, the laws which are of most general application — with which artists are indeed 60 universally familiar, that I conceived it altogether unneces- sary to prove or support them : but since I have expressed them in as few words as possible, I cannot afford to have any of those * In the first edition of "Modern Painters" (vol. i. p. 330) it was stated that "the horizontal lines cast by clouds upon the sea are not shadows, but reflections;" and that "on clear water near the eye there can never be even the appearance of shadow." This statement being questioned in a letter to the Art Union Journal (November, 1843), and that letter being itself criticised in a review of "Modern Painters" in the Artist and Ania- te^ir's Magazine, p. 263 (December, 1843). there appeared in the last-named periodical two letters upon the subject, of which one was from J. H. Maw, the correspondent of the Art Union, and the other — that reprinted here — a reply from "The Author of 'Modern Painters.'" t The passages in "Modern Painters" referred to in this letter were considerably altered and enlarged in later editions of the work, and the exact words quoted are not to be found in it as finally revised. The reader is, however, referred to vol. i., part ii., § v., chap, i., "Of Water as painted by the Ancients," in whatever edition of the book he may chance to meet with or possess. 192 LETTEKS 02^ SCIEN-CE. [1844. words missed or disregarded ; and therefore when I say that ^f on clear water, ?iear the eye, there is no shadow, I must not be ^^: understood to mean that on muddy water, /b^/* from the eye, ^ there is no shadow. As, however, your correspondent appears '"'! to deny my position in toto, and as many persons, on their first '"" glance at the subject, might be inclined to do the same, you will ^^' perhaps excuse me for occupying a page or two with a more '^ explicit statement, both of facts and principles, than my limits *''' admitted in the " Modern Painters." ^" First, for the experimental proof of my assertion that " on *' clear water, near the eye, there is no shadow." Your corre- ^, spondent's trial with the tub is somewhat cumbrous and incon- ^ venient ; * a far more simple experiment wdll settle the matter. ^ Fill a tumbler with water; throw into it a narrow strip of white ^ paper ; put the tumbler into sunshine ; dip your finger into ^ the water between the paper and the sun, so as to throw a ^ shadow across the paper and on the water. The shadow will of course be distinct on the paper, but on the water absolutely ^ and totally invisible. | ^ This simple trial of the fact, and your explanation of the principle given in your ninth number,f are suflicient proof and explanation of my assertion; and if your correspondent requires authority as well as ocular demonstration, he has only to ask Stanfield or Copley Fielding, or any other good painter of sea ; the latter, indeed, was the person who first pointed out the fact to me when a boy. What then, it remains to be determined, are those lights and shades on the sea, which, for the sake of clearness, and because they appear such to the ordinary observer, I have spoken of as " horizontal lines," and which have every * See the ArtiM and Amateur'' 8 Magazine, p. 313, where the author of the letter, to which this is a reply, adduced in support of his views the follow- ing experiment, viz. : to put a tub filled with clear water in the sunlight, and then taking an opaque screen with a hole cut in it, to place the same in such a position as to intercept the light falling upon the tub. Then, he argued, cover the hole over, and the tub will be in shadow ; uncover it again, and a patch of light will fall on the water, proving that water is not "insusceptible of light as well as shadow." f In the review of "Modern Painters" mentioned above. \ 1844.] REFLECTIONS IX WATER. 193 appearance of being ca^t by the clouds like real shadows i I imagined that I had been suthciently explicit on this subject both at pages 33U and 363 :* but your correspondent appeai-s to have confused himself by inaccurately receiving the term shadow as if it meant darkness of any kind ; whereas my second sentence — "every darkness on water is reflection, not shadow" — might have show^n him that 1 used it in its particular sense, as meaning the absence of positive light on a visible surface. Thus, in endeavoring to support his assertion that the shadows on the sea are as distinct as on a grass fleld, he says tlmt they are so by contrast with the '' liglit reflected from its polished surface ;" thus showing at once that he has been speaking and thinking all along, not of shadow, but of the absence of reflected light — an absence which is no more shadow than the absence of the image of a piece of w^iite paper in a mirror is shadow^ on the mii-ror. The question, therefore, is one of terms rather than of things ; and before proceeding it will be necessary for me to make your correspondent understand thoroughly what is meant by the term shadow as opposed to that of reflection. Let us stand on the sea-shore on a cloudless ni^ht, with a full moon over the sea, and a swell on the water. Of course a long line of splendor will be seen on the waves under the moon, reaching from the horizon to our very feet. But are those waves between the moon ^wdiw^ actually movQ illuminated than any other part of the sea ? Not one whit. The whole surface of the sea is under the same full liglit, but the weaves between the moon and us are the only ones which are in a position to reflect that light to our eyes. The sea on both sides of that path of light is in perfect darkness — almost black. But is it so from shadow ? Not so, for there is nothing to intercept the moonlight from it : it is so from position, because it cannot reflect any of the rays which fall on it to our eyes, but reflects instead the dark vault of the night sky. Both the darkness * Of The first edition of the first volume of "Modern Painters." The size of the book (and consequently the paging) was afterwards altered to suit the engravings contained in the last tliree volumes 194 LETTERS ON" SCIENCE. [1844. , and the light on it, therefore — and they are as violently contrasted as may well be — are nothing but reflections, the whole surface of the water being under one blaze of moon- light, entirely unshaded by any intervening object whatso- ever.* Now, then, we can understand the cause of the chiaro-scuro of the sea by daylight with lateral sun. AVhere the sunlight reaches the water, every ripple, wave, or swell reflects to the eye from some of its planes either the image of the sun oi- some portion of the neighboring bright sky. "Where the cloud interposes between the sun and sea, all these luminous reflec- tions are prevented, and the raised planes of the waves reflect only the dark under-surface of the cloud ; and hence, by the multiplication of the images, spaces of light and shade are pro- duced, which lie on the sea precisely in the position of real or positive lights and shadows — corresponding to the outlines of the clouds — laterally cast, and therefore seen in addition to, and at the same time with, the ordinary or direct reflection, vigorously contrasted, the lights being often a blaze of gold, and the shadows a dark leaden gray ; and yet, I repeat, they are no more real lights, or real shadows, on the sea, than the image of a black coat is a shadow on a mirror, or the image of white paper a light upon it. Are there, then, no shadows whatsoever upon the sea? IS'ot so. My assertion is simply that there are none on clear water near the eye. I shall briefly state a few of the circum- stances which give rise to real shadow^ in distant effect. I. Any admixture of opaque coloring matter, as of mud, chalk, or powdered granite renders w^ater capable of distinct shadow, which is cast on the earthy and solid particles sus- pended in the liquid. l!^one of the seas on our south-eastern coast are so clear as to be absolutely incapable of shade ; and the faint tint, though scarcely perceptible to a near ob- * It may be worth noting that the optical delusion above explained is described at some length by Mr. Herbert Spencer (" The Study of Sociol- ogy," p. 191, London, 1874) as one of the commonest instances of popular iiinorance. 844.1 REFLECTIONS IN WATER. 15J5 erver," is sufficiently manifest when seen in large extent from distance, especially when contrasted, as yuiir correspondent ays, with reflected lights. This was one reason fur my intro- ucing the words — '* near the eye.'' There is, however, a peculiarity in the appearances of such ihadows which requires especial notice. It is not merely the :ransparency of water, but its polished surface, and consequent •eflective power, which render it incapable of shadow. A per- Ifectly opaque body, if its power of reflection be perfect, I'c- beives no shadow (this I shall presently prove; ; and therefore, in any lustrous body, tlie incapability of shadow is in propor- tion to the power of reflection. Now the power of reflection in water varies with the angle of the impinging ray, being of coui*se greatest when that angle is least : and thus, when we look along the water at a low angle, its power of reflection maintains its incapability of shadow to a considerable extent, in spite of its containing suspended opaque matter ; whereas, \\ hen we look down upon water from a height, as we then receive from it only rays which have fallen on it at a large angle, a great number of those rays are unreflected from the surface, but penetrate beneath the surface, and are then re- } fleeted f from the suspended opa(pie matter : thus rendering Mi loot * Of course, if water be jierfectly foul, like that of the Rhine or Arve, it receives a shadow nearly as well as mud. Yet tlie succeeding observations on its reflective power are applicable to it, even in this state. t It must always be remembered that there are two kinds of reflection, — one from polished bodies, giving back rays of light unaltered; the other from unpolished bodies, giving back rays of light altered. By the one reflection we see the images of other objects on the surface of the reflecting object; by the other we arc made aware of that surface itself. The diiference between J these two kinds of reflection has not been well worked by writers jl on optics; but the great distinction between them is, that the rough body reflects most rays when the angle at which the rays impinge is largest, and the i)olished body when the angle is i smallest. It is the reflection from polished bodies exclusively J 96 LETTERS ON SCIENCE. [184l.i sliadows clearly visible wliicli, at a small angle, would have been altogether unperceived. II. But it is not merely the presence of opaque matter which renders shadows visible on the sea seen from a heisfht. The eye, when elevated above the water, receives rays reflected from the bottom, of which, when near the water, it is insensi- ble. I have seen the bottom at seven fathoms, so that I could count its pebbles, from the cliffs of the Cornish coast ; and the broad effect of the light and shade of the bottom is discernible at enormous depths. In fact, it is difficult to say at what depth the rays returned from the bottom become absolutely ineffective — perhaps not until we get fairly out into blue water. Hence, with a w^hite or sandy shore, shadows forcible enough to afford conspicuous variety of color may be seen from a height of two or three hundred feet. III. The actual color of the sea itself is an important cause of shadow in distant effect. Of the ultimate causes of local color in water I am not ashamed to confess my total ignorance, for I believe Sir David Brewster himself has not elucidated'} themo Every river in Switzerland has a different hue. The ji lake of Geneva, commonly blue, appears, under a fresh breeze, f striped with blue and bright red ; and the hues of coast-sea are | which I usually indicate by the term; and that from rough bodies I commonly distinguish as ''positive light;" but as I have here used the term in its general sense, the explanation of j ,11 the distinction becomes necessary. All light and shade on ; ' I matter is caused by reflection of some kind; and the distinction made throughout this paper between reflected and positive light, and between real and pseudo shadow, is nothing more than the distinction between two kinds of reflection. I believe some of Bouguer's * experiments have been rendered inaccurate — not in their general result, nor in ratio of quanti- , ties, but in the quantities themselves — by the difficulty of distin- guishing between the two kinds of reflected rays. * Pierre Bouguer, author of, amongst other works, the *' Traite d'Optique sur la Gradation de la Lumi^re." He was born in 1698, and died in 1758. k. J44.] REFLECTIONS IN WATER. 197 IS various as those of a doli)hin ; luit, whatever be the cause of ;heir variety, their intensity is, of course, dependent on the Dresence of sun-light. The sea under shade is commonly of II cold gray hue ; in sun-light it is susceptible of vivid and Bxquisite coloring : and thus the forms of clouds are traced on its sui'face, not by light and shade, but by variation of color by grays opj^osed to greens, blues to rose-tints, etc. All such phenomena are chielly visible from a height and a distance ; and thus furnished me with additional reasons for introducing the words — '* near the eye." IV. Local color is, however, the cause of one beautiful kind of chiaro-scuro, visible when we are close to the water — shadows cast, not on the weaves, but through them, as through misty air. When a wave is raised so as to let the sun-light through a portion of its body, the contrast of the transparent chrysoprase green of the illuminated parts with the darkness of the shadowed is exquisitely beautiful. Hitherto, however, I have been speaking chiefly of the Tansjparency of water as the source of its incapability of shadow. I have still to demonstrate the effect of its polished surface. Let your correspondent |x>ur an ounce or two of quicksilver into a flat white saucer, and, throwing a strip of white paper into the middle of the mercmy, as before into the water, inter- pose an upright bit of stick between it and the sun : he will then have the pleasure of seeing the shadow of the stick sharply defined on the paper and the edge of the saucer, while on the intermediate portion of mercury it will be totally invisible." Mercury is a perfectly opaque body, and its incapability of shadow is entirely owing to the perfection of its polished sur- face. Thus, then, whether water be considered as transparent or reflective (and according to its position it is one or the other, or partially both — for in the exact degree that it is the one, it is not the other), it is equally incapable of shadow. But as on distant water, so also on near water, when broken, pseudo * The mercury must of course be perfectly clean. 198 LETTERS ON SCIEKCE. [1844. shadows take place, which are in reality nothing more than th aggregates of reflections. In the illuminated space of the wave, from every plane turned towards the sun there flashes an imag< of the sun ; in the ^/^/i-illuminated space there is seen on every such plane only the dark image of the interposed body. Every wreath of the foam, every jet of the spray, reflects in the sun- i light a thousand diminished suns, and refracts their rays into a thousand colors ; while in the shadowed parts the same broken parts of the wave appear only in dead, cold white ; and thus pseudo shadows are caused, occupying the position of real shadows, deflned in portions of their edge with equal sharp- ness ; and yet, I repeat, they are no more real shadows than the image of a piece of black cloth is a shadow on a mirror. But your correspondent will say, " What does it matter to me, or to the artist, whether they are shadows or not? They are darkness, and they supply the place of shadows, and that it is all I contend for." Not so. They do not supply the place of shadows ; they are divided from them by this broad dis- tinction, that while shadow causes uniform deepening of thai ground-tint in the objects which it affects, these pseudo shad- ows are merely portions of that ground-tint itself undeepened, but cut out and rendered conspicuous by flashes of light irregu- larly disposed around it. The ground-tint both of shadowedl and illumined parts is precisely the same — a pure pale gray,! catching as it moves the hues of the sky and clouds ; but on this, in the illumined spaces, there fall touches and flashes of intense reflected light, which are absent in the shadow. If, for the sake of illustration, we consider the wave as hung with a certain quantity of lamps, irregularly disposed, the shape and extent of a shadow on that wave will be marked by the lamps being all put out within its influence, while the tint of the water itself is entirely unaffected by it. The works of Stanfield will supply your correspondent with perfect and admirable illustrations of this principle. His water-tint is equally clear and luminous whether in sunshine or shade ; but the whole lustre of the illumined parts is attained by bright isolated touches of reflected light. 1844.] REFLECTIONS IX WATER. 199 The works of Turner will supply us with still more striking examples, especially in cases where slanting sunbeams are cast from a low sun along breakers, when the shadows will be found in a state of perpetual transition, now defined for an instant on a mass of foam, then lost in an interval of smooth water, then coming through the body of a transparent wave, then passing olf into the air upon the dust of the spray — sup- plying, as they do in nature, exhaustless combinations of ethe- real beauty. From Turner's habit of choosing for his subjects sea much broken with foam, the shadows in his works are more conspicuous than in Stanfield's, and may be studied to greater advantage. To the works of these great painters, those of Yandevelde may be opposed for instances of the impossible. The black shadows of this latter painter's near waves supply us with innumerable and most illustrative examples of every- thing which sea shadows are not. Finally, let me recommend your correspondent, if he wishes to obtain perfect know^ledge of the effects of shadow on water, whether calm or agitated, to go through a systematic examina- tion of the works of Turner. He will find evenj phenomenon of this kind noted in them with the most exquisite fidelity. The Alnwick Castle, with the shadow of the bridge cast on the dull surface of the moat, and mixing with the reflection, is the most finished piece of water-painting with which I am acquainted. Some of the recent Yenices have afforded exquis- ite instances of the change of color in water caused by shadow, the illumined water being transparent and green, while in the shade it loses its own color, and takes the blue of the sky. But I have already. Sir, occupied far too many of your valuable pages, and I must close the subject, although hun- dreds of points occur to me which I have not yet illustrated.^ The discussion respecting the Grotto of Capri is somewhat * Among other points, I have not explained why water, though it has no shadow, has a dark side. The cause of this is the New- tonian law noticed below, that water weakens the rays passing through its mass, though it reflects none; and, also, that it reflects rays from both surfaces. •200 LETTERS OJs^ SCIEXCE. [1844. irrelevant, and I will not enter upon it, as thousands of laws respecting light and color are there brought into play, in addi- tion to the water's incapability of shadow.^ But it is some- what singular that the Newtonian principle, which your cor- respondent enunciates in conclusion, is the vert/ cause oi the incapability of shadow which he disputes. I am not, however, writing a treatise on optics, and therefore can at present do no more than simply explain what the jS^ewtonian law actually signifies, since, by your correspondent's enunciation of it, " pel- lucid substances reflect light only from their surfaces," an inexperienced reader might be led to conclude that opaque bodies reflected light from something else than their surfaces. The law is, that whatever number of rays escape reflection at the surface of water, pass through its body without further reflection, being therein weakened, but not reflected ; but that, . where they pass out of the water again, as, for instance, if there be air-bubbles at the bottom, giving an under-surface to the water, there a number of rays are reflected from that under- surface, and do 7iot pass out of the water, but return to the eye ; thus causing the bright luminosity of the under bubbles. Thus water reflects from both its surfaces — it reflects it when passing out as well as when entering; but it reflects none whatever from its own interior mass. If it did, it would be capable of shadow. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient servant. The Author of "Modern Painters." * The review of "Modern Painters" had mentioned the Grotto of Capri, near Naples, as "a very beautiful illustration of the great quantity of light admitted or contained in water," and on this Mr. J. H. Maw had commented. 1861.] REFLECTION OF KAIXBOWS IN WATER. 201 [From " The London Review," May 16, 1861.] THE REFLECTION OF RAINBOWS IN WATER* To the Editor of ' ' The London Review." Sir : 1 do not think there is much difficulty in the rainbow business. We cannot see the reflection of the same rainbow which we behold in tlie sky, but we see the reflection of another invisible one within it. Suppose a and b, Fig. 1, are two falling raindrops, and the spectator is at s, and x y is the water surface. If r a s be a sun ray giving, we will say, tlie Fig. 1. red ray in the visible rainbow, the ray, b c s, will give the same red ray, reflected from the water at c. It is rather a long business to examine the lateral angles, and I have not time to do it ; but I presume the result would be, that if a m h, Fig. 2, be the visible rainbow, and x y the water horizon, the reflection will be the dotted line c e dj reflecting, that is to say, the invisible bow, c n d\ thus, the * The London Reneio of May 4 contained a critique of the Exhibition of the Society of AVater-colors, which included a notice of Mr. Duncan's "Shiplake, on the Thames" (No. 52). In this picture the artist had painted a rainbow reflected in the water, the truth of which to nature was ques- tioned by some of his critics. Mr. Ruskin's w^as not the only letter in sup- port of the picture's truth. 202 LETTERS OK SCIEKCE. [1841. terminations of the arcs of the visible and reflected bows do not coincide. Fig. 2. The interval, m n^ depends on the position of the spectator with respect to the water surface. The thing can hardly ever be seen in nature, for if there be rain enough to carry the bow to the water surface, that surface will be ruffled by the drops, and incapable of reflection. Whenever I have seen a rainbow over water (sea, mostly), it has stood on it reflectionless ; but interrupted conditions of rain might be imagined wliich would present reflection on near surfaces. Always very truly yours, J. EUSKIN. nth May, 1861. [From •♦ The Proceedings of the Ashmolean Society," May 10, 1841.] A LANDSLIP NEAR OIAQNANO. " The Secretary read a letter * from J. Euskin, Esq., of Christ Church, dated Naples, February 7, 1841 , and addressed to Dr. Buckland,f giving a description of a recent landslip near * The present letter is the earliest in date of any in these volumes, f See note to p. 183. 1841.] A LANDSLIP KEAR GIAGNANO. 203 that place, which had occasioned a great loss of life : it occurred at the village of Giagnano, near Castel-a-mare, on the 22d of January last. The village is situated on the slope of a conical hill of limestone, not less than 1400 feet in height, and composed of thin beds similar to those which form the greater part of the range of Sorrento. The hill in question is nearly isolated, though forming part of the range, the slope of its sides uniform, and inclined at not less than 40°. Assisted by projecting ledges of the beds of rock, a soil has accumulated on this slope three or four feet in depth, rendering it quite smooth and uniform. The higher parts are covered in many places with bmshwood, the lower with vines trellised over old mulberry trees. There are slight evidences of recent aqueous action on the sides of the hill, a few gullies descending towards the east side of the village. After two days of heavy rain, on the evening of January 22, a torrent of water burst do\\Ti on the village to the west of these gullies, and the soil accumulated on the side of the hill gave way in a wedge-shaped mass, the highest point being about 600 feet above the houses, and slid down, leaving the rocks perfectly bare. It buried the nearest group of cottages, and remained heaped up in longitudinal layers above them, whilst the water ran in torrents over the edge towards the plain, sweeping away many more houses in its course. To the westward of this point another slip took place of smaller dimensions than the first, but coming on a more crowded part of the village, overwhelmed it completely, occasioning the loss of 116 lives." 204 LETTERS ON SCIENCE. [IBS'?. [From " The Athenaeum," February 14, 1857.] THE GENTIAN."^ Denmakk Hill, Feb. 10. If jour correspondent " Y. L. Y." will take a little trouble in inquiring into the history of the gentian, he will find that, as is the case with most other flowers, there are many species of it. He knows the dark blue gentian {Gentiana acaulis) because it grows, under proper cultivation, as healthily in England as on the Alps. And he has not seen the pale blue gentian {Gentiana verna) shaped like a star, and of the color of the sky, because that flower grows unwillingly, if at all, except on its native rocks. I consider it, therefore, as specially characteristic of Alpine scenery, while its beauty, to my mind, far exceeds that of the darker species. I have, etc., J. KUSKIN. [Date and place of original publication unknown.] OK THE STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. To Adam '[y kite, of Edinburgh. It would be pleasing alike to my personal vanity and to the instinct of making myself serviceable, which I will fearlessly say is as strong in me as vanity, if I could think that any letter of mine would be helpful to you in the recommendation of the * In the " Notes on the Turner Grallery at Marlborough House," 1856 (p. 23), Mr. Ruskin speaks of the "pale ineffable azure" of the gentian. The present letter was written in reply to one signed " Y. L. Y." in the Athenmim of February 7, 1857, in which this expression was criticised. In a subsequent issue of the same journal (February 21) Mr, Ruskin's querist denied the ignorance imputed to him, and still questioned the propriety of calling the gentian " pale," without at the same time distinguishing the two species. THE STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 205 study of natural liistory, as one of the best elements of early as of late education. I believe there is no child so dull or so indolent but it may be roused to wholesome exertion by putting some practical and personal work on natural history within its range of daily occupation ; and, once aroused, few pleasures are so innocent, and none so constant. I have often been unable, through sickness or anxiety, to follow my own art work, but I have never found natural history fail me, either as a delight or a medicine. But for children it must be curtly and wisely taught. "We must show them things, not tell them names. A deal chest of drawers is worth many books to them, and a well-guided country walk worth a hundred lectures. I heartily wish you, not only for your sake, but for that of the young thistle buds of Edinburgh, success in promulgating your views and putting them in practice. Always believe mc faithfully yours, J. EUSKIN. END OF VOLUME I. ARROWS OF THE CHACE. ARROWS OF THE ClIACE A COLLECTIOX OF S(\\TTEUKI) LKTTERS PUBLISHED CHIEFLY IX THE DAILY NEAVSl'Al'KIJS 1840 — 1880. BY JOH^^ ErSKIX, LL.D., D.C.L., HONORARY STUDENT OF CHRIST CHURCH, AND HONORARY FEIJ.( tW OF CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, OXFORD, AND NOW EDITED BY Ax Oxford Pupil. WITH ]*REFArp: ]iY THE AUTHOR. YOLUME II.-I.ETTEIIS ON POLrnCS. ECONOMY, AND MISCELLANEOUS MAHERS. M NEW YORK : JOHN WILEY & SOXS, 15 ASTOR PLACE. 1881. " I NEVER WROTE A LETTER IN MY LIFE WHICH ALL THE WORLD ARE NOT WELCOME TO READ IF THEY WILL." Fors Clavigera, Letter 59, 1875. S. W. Geken's Son, Klectrotyper, Printer and Binder, 74 Beekman Street, New York. COXTEXTS OF VOLUME 11. PAGE CnRONOLOGICAL LlST OF THE LETTERS CONTAINED IN VOL. II - X Letters on Politics and War: The Italian Question. 1859. Three letters : June 6 3 June 15 8 August 1 13 The Foreign Policy of England. 1863 15 The Position of Denmark. 1864 17 The Jamaica Insurrection. 1865 ----- 20 The Franco-Prussian War. 1870. Two letters : October 6 22 October 7 25 Modern Warfare. 1876 29 Letters on Political Economy: The Depreciation of Gold. 1863 37 The Law of Supply and Demand. 1864. Three letters : October 26 39 October 29 ... ... 40 November 2 4'.] VI CONTENTS. VAGE Mr. Ruskin and Professor Hodgson. 1873. Two letters : November 8 44 November 15 46 Strikes t\ Arbitration. 1865 48 Work and Wages. 1865. Five letters : April 20 April 22 --....- April 29 - - - May 4 ------- May 20 ------- - The Standard of Wages. 1867 How the Rich spend their Money. 1873. Three letters : January 23 January 28 January 30 Commercial Morality. 1875 ------ The Definition of Wealth. 1875 ---.'.. The Principles of Property. 1877 On Co- operation. 1879-80. Two letters : August, 1879 73 April 12, 1880 73 Miscellaneous Letteks. I. The Management op Railways. Is England Big Enough? 1868 - 79 The Ownership of Railways. 1868 -.--.- 81 Railway Economy. 1868 83 CONTENTS. Vii PAGE Our Railway System. 1865 88 Railway Safety. 1870 89 II. Servants and Houses. Domestic Servants— Mastership. 1865 93 Domestic Servants — Experieuce. 1865 ----- 95 Domestic Servants — Sonship and Slavery. 1865 - - - 90 Modern Houses. 1865 104 III. Roman Inundations. A King's First Duty. 1871 Ill A Nation's Defences. 1871 113 The Waters of Comfort. 1871 11.5 The Streams of Italy. 1871 116 The Streets of London. 1871 119 IV. Education for Rich and Poor. True Education. 1868 '123 The Value of Lectures. 1874 124 The Cradle of Art! 1876 125 St. George's Museum. 1875 126 The Morality of Field Sports. 1870 127 Drunkenness and Crime. 1871 - 129 Madness and Crime. 1872 130 Employment for the Destitute Poor and Criminal Classes. 1808 131 Notes on the General Principles of Employment for the Destitute and Criminal Classes (a Pamplilet). 1868 - - - - 132 Vm CONTENTS. PAca| -< ' Blindness and Sight. 1879 ". . I . - - . 139 The Eagle's Nest. 1879 ..--.-.- 140 Politics in Youth. 1879 - 141 "Act, Act in the Living Present." 1873 - - - - 141 " Laborare est Orare." 1874 143 A Pagan Message. 1878 143 The Foundations of Chivalry. 1877-8. Five letters. February 8, 1877 - - - - - - 143 February 10, 1877 145 February 11, 1877 146 February 12, 1877 147 July 3, 1878 148 V. Women: Their Work and their Dress. Woman's Work. 1873 153 Female Franchise. 1870 154 Proverbs on Right Dress. 1862 - - - 154 Sad-colored Costumes. 1870 - 156 Oak Silkworms. 1862 _ - 158 VI, Literary Criticism The Publication of Books. 1875 163 A Mistaken Review. 1875 - - 165 The Position of Critics. 1875 167 Coventry Patmore's '• Faithful for Ever. " 1860 - - 168 " The Queen of the Air. " 1871 171 The Animals of Scripture ; a Review, 1856 .... 172 CONTEXTS. IX PAOE "Limner" and Illumination. 1854 174 Notes on a "Word in Shakespeare. 1878. Two letters : September 170 September 29 177 "TheMerchant of Venice." 1880 179 Recitations. 1880 - 186 Appendix. Letter to W. C. Bennett, LL.D. 1852 183 Letter to Thomas Guthrie, D.D. 1853 184 The Sale of Mr. Windus' Pictures. 1859 185 At the Play. 1867 - - 185 An Object of Charity. 1868 ------- 186 Excuses from Correspondence. 1868 ----- 186 Letter-to the Author of a Review. 1872 ----- 187 An Oxford Protest. 1874 188 Mr. Ruskin and Mr. Lowe. 1877 189 The Bibliography of Ruskin. 1878. Two letters : September 30 190 October 23 190 The Society of the Rose. 1879 ----- 191 Letter to W. H. Harrison. 1865 192 Dramatic Reform. 1880. (Two letters) - - - - 193 The Lord Rectorship of Glasgow University. 1880. (Five letters) 195 Epilogue 201 Chiionologic-\l List of the Letters contained in Both Volumes 204 Ln-dex 213 NOTE TO THE SECOND VOLUTVIE. The letters relating to Mr. Raakliis candidature for the Ijord Rectorship of Glasgoic Unicemtifi/ were published when this volume was almost out of the printers' h it a 1 O'*''^ lot I The Standard, August 28, 1877 The Socialist, November, 1877 . New Year's Address, etc., 1878 Th^ Times, February 12, 1878 . "The Science of Life" (second edit.), New Shakspere Soc. Trans. 1878-9 . 1877 1878 "Bibliography of Dickens" (advt.), 1880 . Report of Ruskin Soc, Manchester, 1880 The T. M. A. Magazine, Sept., 1879 October, 1879 . TU Christiath Life, December 20. 1879 . The Y. M. A. Magazine, Nov., 1879 The Theatre, March, 1880 Circular printed by Mr. R. T. "NVebling . List of Mr. Ruskiii's Writings, IMar., 1880 TJie Daily News, June 19, 1880 The Glasgow Herald, Oct. 7, 1880 . " • " Oct. 7, 1880 . Oct. 7, 1880 . Oct. 12, 1880 . Journal of Dramatic Reform, Nov., 1880 . The Glasgow Herald, Oct. 7, 1880 . Journal of Dramatic Reform, Nov., 1880 Paok. "i 129 119 130 187 il41 I 60 67 I 68 153 I 44 ' 46 142 124 188 165 167 ■ 70 163 126 I 71 ,125 I 29 143 145 146 147 189 ; 71 143 jl24n. 148 176 177 190 '190 |191 139 140 I '3 il41 ,179 !l80 186//. 73 |195 195 196 196 !l93 |197 .193 LETTEES ON POLITICS AND WAR. The Italian Question. 1859. (Three letters: June 6, June 15, udcI August 1.) The Foreign Policy of England. 1863. The Position of Denmark. 1864. The Jamaica Insurrection. 1865. The Franco-Prussian War. 1870. (Two letters : October 6 and 7.) Modern Warfare. 1876. AREOWS OF THE CHACE. LETTERS ON POLITICS AND WAR. [From " The Scotsman," July 20, 1S59.] THE ITALIAN QUESTION* Berlln, June 6, 1859. I HAVE been thinking of sending a few lines about what I liave seen of Anstrians and Italians ; but every time I took my pen and turned from my own work about clouds and leafage to think for a few minutes concerning political clouds and thickets, I sank into a state of amazement which reduced me to helpless silence. I will try and send you an incoherent line to- day ; for the smallest endeavor at coherence will bring me nto that atmosphere of astonishment again, in which I find no expression. You northern Protestant people are always overrating the value of Protestantism as such. Your poetical clergymen make sentimental tours in the Yaudois country, as if there were no worthy jDeople in the Alps but the Yaudois. Did the enlightened Edinburgh evangelicals never take any interest in the freedom of the Swiss, nor hear of s.uch people as Wink- eh-ied or Tell? Not but that there is some chance of Tell disappearing one of these days under acutest historical investi- * This and the two following letters deal, it will be seen, with "the Italian question" in 1859, when the peace of Europe was disturbed by the combined action of France and Sardinia .against Austria in the cause of Italian independence. Of these three letters the first was written two days after the defeat of the Austriansat Magenta, followed by the entrance into Milan of the French, and the second a few days before the similar victory of the French and Sardinian armies at Solferino. 4 LETTERS ON POLITICS AND WAR. [1859. gation. Still, he, or somebody else, verily got Switzerland rid of much evil, and made it capable of much good ; and if you examine the influence of the battles of Morgarten and Sempach on European history, you will find they were good and true pieces of God's work.* Do people suppose they were done by Protestants ? Switzerland owes all that she is — all that she is ever likely to be — to her stout and stern Eoman Catholics, faithful to their faith to this day — they, and the Tyrolese, about the truest Eoman Catholics in Christendom and certainly among its worthiest people, though they laid your Zuingh and a good deal of ranting Protestantism which Zuingli in vain tried to make either rational or charitable, dead together on the green meadows of Cappel, and though the Tyrolese marksmen at this moment are following up their rifle practice to good pur- pose, and with good will, with your Yaudois hearts for targets. The amazement atmosjDhere keeps floating with its edges about me, though I write on as fast as I can in hopes of keep- ing out of it. You Scotch, and we English ! ! to keep up the miserable hypocrisy of calling ourselves Protestants ! And here have been two of the most powerful protests (sealed with quite as much blood as is usually needed for such documents) that ever were made against the Papacy — one in 184:8,t and * Few readers need be reminded of the position of Tell in the list of Swiss patriots {pace the "acutest historical investigation," which puts him in the list of mythical personages) in the early part of the fourteenth cen- tury; of Arnold von Winkelried who met the heroic death, by which he secured his country's freedom, at Sempach in 1386; or of Ulrich Zuingli, the Swiss Protestant leader of his time, who fell at Cappel, in the war of the Reformed against the Romish cantons, in 1531. At the battle of Mor- garten, in 1315, twenty thousand Austrians were defeated by no more than thirteen hundred Swiss, with such valor that the name of the victors' canton was thereupon extended to the whole country, thenceforth called Switzerland. It may be further noted that Arnold of Sempach is, with Leonidas, Curtius, and Sir Richard Greuville, named amongst the types of "the divinest of sacrifices, that of the patriot for his country," in Mr. Ruskin"s Preface, "Bibliotheca Pastorum," Vol. i. p. xxxiii. f The year of the Lombard insurrection, when Radetzky, the Austrian field-marshal, defeated the insurgents at Custozza near Verona. Radetzky died in 1858. 1859.] THE ITALIAN QUESTION. one now — twenty thousand men or thereabouts lying, at this time being, in the form of torn flesh and shattered bones, among the rice marshes of the Novarrese, and not one jot of our precious Protestant blood gone to the signature. Not so much as one noble flush of it, that I can see, on our clay cheeks, besmirched, as they are, with sweat and smoke ; but all for gold, and out of chimneys. Of sweat for bread that perishes not, or of the old Sinai smoke for honor of God's law, and revelation thereof — no drop nor shadow. Not so much as a coroner's inquest on those dead bodies in the rice fields — dead men who must have been murdered by somebody. If a drunken man falls in a ditch, you will have your Dogberry and Verges talk over him by way of doing justice ; but your twenty thousand — not drunken, hut honest, respectable, well- meaning, and seiwiceable men — are made rice manure of, and you think it is all right. We Protestants indeed ! The Italians are Protestants, and in a measure the French — nay, even the Austrians (at all events those conical-hatted mountaineers), according to their understanding of the matter. What we are, Moloch or Mammon, or the Protestant devil made up of both, perhaps knows. Do not think I dislike the Austrians. I have great respect and affection for them, and 1 have seen more of them in familiar intercourse than most Englishmen. One of my best friends in Venice in the winter of 1849-50 was the Artillery officer who had directed the fire on the side of Mestre in IS-iS. I have never known a nobler person. Brave, kind, and gay — as gentle as a lamb, as playful as a kitten — knightly in cour- tesy and in all tones of thought — ready at any instant to lay down his life for his country or his Emperor. He was by no means a rare instance either of gentleness or of virtue among the men whom the Liberal portion of our English press repre- sent as only tyrants and barbarians. Radetzky hunself was one of the kindest of men — his habitual expression was one of overflowing honhonlmie^ or of fatherly regard for the welfare of all around him. All who knew him loved him. In little things his kffidness was almost ludicrous. I saw him at Verona 6 LETTERS 02n POLITICS AND WAR. [1859: run out of his own supper-room and return with a plate of soup in his hand, the waiters (his youngest aides-de-camp) not serving his lady guests fast enough to please him ; yet they were nimble enough, as I knew in a race with two of them among the fire-flies by the Mincio, only the evening before. For a long time I regarded the Austrians as the only protec- tion of Italy from utter dissolution (such as that which, I see to-day, it is reported that the Tuscan army has fallen into, left for five weeks to itself), and I should have looked upon them as such still, if the Sardinian Government had not shown itself fit to take their place. And the moment that any Italian Government was able to take their place, the Austrians neces- sarily became an obstacle to Italian progress, for all their virtues are incomprehensible to the Italians, and useless to them. Unselfish individually, the Austrians are nationally entirely selfish, and in this consists, so far as it is truly alleged against them, their barbarism. These men of whom I have been speaking would have given, any of them, life and fortune unhesitatingly at their Emperor's bidding, but their magnan- imity was precisely that of the Highlander or the Indian, incognizant of any principle of action but that of devotion to his chief or nation. All abstract grounds of conscience, all universal and human hopes, were inconceivable by them. Such men are at present capable of no feeling towards Italy but scorn ; their power was like a bituminous cerecloth wrapping her corpse — it saved her from the rottenness of revolution ; but it must be unwound, if the time has come for her resurrection. I do not know if that time has come, or can come. Italy's true oppression is all her own. Spain is oppressed by the Spaniard, not by the Austrian. Greece needs but to be saved from the Greeks. 'No Fi'ench Emperor, however mighty his arm or sound his faith, can give Italy freedom. "A gift of that which is not to be given By all the associate powers of earth and heaven." But the time is come at least to bid her be free, if she has the 1859.] THE ITALIAN QUESTION. 7 power of freedom. It is not England, certainly, who slionld forbid her. I believe that is what it will come to, however — not so nnich because we are afraid of Xapoleon, as because we are jealous of him. But of him and us 1 have something more to say than there is time for to-night. These good, stupid, alfectionate, faithful Germans, too (grand fellows under arms; I never imagined so magnilicent a soldiery as 15,000 of them which I made a shift to see, through sand clouds, march past the Prince Frederick AVilliam^^' on Saturday morning last). But to hear them fretting and foaming at the French getting into Milan I — they having absolutely no other idea on all this complicated business than that French are lighting Germans I Wrong or right, why or wherefore, matters not a jot to them. French are lighting Germans — somehow, somewhere, for some reason — and beer and Yaterland are in peril, and the English in fault, as we are assuredly, but not on that side, for I believe it to be quite true which a French friend, high in position, says in a letter this moruing — " If the English had not sympathized with the Austrians there would have been no Avar." By way of keeping up the character of incoherence to which I have vowed myself, I may tell you that before that French letter came, I received another from a very sagacious Scotch friend (belonging, as I suppose most Scotch people do, to the class of persons who call themselves " religious"), containing this mar- vellous enunciation of moral principle, to be acted npon in difficult circumstances, " Mind your own business." It is a serviceable principle enough for men of the world, but a sur- prising one in the mouth of a person who professes to be a Bible obeyer. For, as far as I remember the tone of that obsolete book, " our ow^n" is precisely the last business which it ever tells us to mind. It tells us often to mind God's busi- ness, often to mind other people's business ; our own, in any eager or earnest way, not at all. '' What thy hand lindeth to * The Prince Frederick William, now Emperor of Germany (having succeeded his brother Frederick William IV. in January, 1861), was at the date of this letter Regent of Prussia, and Commander-in-Chief of the Prus- sian forces. 8 LETTERS ON POLITICS AN"D WAR. [1859. do." Yes ; but in God's fields, not ours. One can imagine the wiser fisliermen of the Galilean lake objecting to Peter and Andrew that they were not minding their business, much more the commercial friends of Levi speaking with gentle pity of him about the receij^t of Custom. " A bad man of business always — see what has come of it — quite mad at last." And my astonishing friend w^ent on to say that this was to be our principle of action "where the path was not quite clear" — as if any path ever was clear till you got to the end of it, or saw it a long way off ; as if all human possibility of path was not among clouds and brambles — often cold, always thorny — misty with roses occasionally, or dim with dew, often also with shadow of Death — misty, more particularly in England just now, with shadow of that commercially and otherwise voluable smoke before spoken of. However, if the path is not to be seen, it may be felt, or at least tumbled off, witjiout any particular difficulty. This latter course of proceeding is our probablest, of course. — But I can't write any more to-night. I am, etc., J. EUSKIN. Note to p. 6.— The lines quoted are from Wordsworth's "Poems dedi- cated to National Independence and Liberty," Part II., Sonnet i. The second line should read, "By all the blended powers of earth and heaven." [From " The Scotsman," July 23, 1859.] THE ITALIAN QUESTION Berlin, June 15. You would have had this second letter sooner, had I not lost myself, after despatching the first, in farther consideration of the theory of Non-intervention, or minding one's own busi- ness. What, in logical terms, is the theory? If one sees a costermongor wringing his donkey's tail, is it proper to "inter- vene" ? and if one sees an Emperor or a System wringhig a nation's neck, is it improper to intervene? Or is the Interven- 1859. J THE ITALIAN (QUESTION. 9 tion allowable only- in the case of hides, i\ot of souls? for even so, I think you might iiiid among modern Italians many quite as deserving of intervention as the donkey. Or is interference allowable when one person does one wrong to another person, but not when two pei*sons do two wrongs to two, or three to three, or a multitude to a multitude ; and is there any algebraic work on these square and cube roots of morality wherein 1 may lind how many coadjutors or commissions any given[ crooked requires to niake it straight i Or is it a geographical question; and may one advisably interfere at Berwick but not at Haddington ? Or is there any graduated scale of interven- tion, practicable according to the longitude ? I see my way less clearly, because the illustrations of the theory of Non-Interven- tion are as obscure as its statement. The French are at present happy and prosperous; content with their ruler and them- selves ; their trade increasing, and their science and art advanc- ing ; their feelings towards other nations becoming every day more just. Under which circumstances we English non-inter- ventionalists consider it our duty to use every means in our ])ower of making the ruler suspected by the nation, and the nation unmanageable by the ruler. We call both all manner of names ; exhaust every term of impertinence and every method of disturbance; and do our best, in indirect and underhand ways, to bring about revolution, assassination, or any other close of the existing system likely to be satisfactoiy to Royals * in general. This is your non-intervention when a nation is pros- perous. On the other hand, the Italian nation is unhappy and unprosperous ; its trade annihilated, its arts and sciences retro- grade, its nerve and moral sense prostrated together; it is capable only of calling to you for help, and you will not help it. The man you have been calling names, with his unruly colonels, undertakes to help it, and Christian England, with secret hope that, in order to satisfy her spite against the unruly colonels, the French army may be beaten, and the Papacy fully * A misprint for " Rogues." See ne.M letter, p. 13. 10 LETTERS ON POLITICS AND WAR. [1859. establislied over tlie whole of Italy — Christian EnglaDd, I say, with this spiteful jealousy for one of her motives, and a dim, stupid, short-sighted, sluggisli horror of interruption of business for the other, takes, declaratively and ostensibly, this highly Christian position. " Let who will prosper or perish, die or live — let what will be declared or believed — let whatsoever iniquity be done, whatsoever tyranny be triumphant, how many soever of faithful or fiery soldiery be laid in new embankments of dead bodies along those old embankments of Mincio and Brenta; yet will we English drive our looms, cast up our accounts, and bet on the Derby, in peace and gladness ; our business is only therewith ; for us there is no book of fate, only ledgers and betting-books ; for us there is no call to meddle in far-away business. See ye to it. We wash our hands of it in that sea-foam of ours ; surely the English Channel is better than Abana and Pharpar, or than the silver basin which Pilate made use of, and our soap is of the best almond-cake." I hear the Derby was great this year.^ I wonder, some- times, whether anybody has ever calculated, in England, how much taxation the nation pays annually for the maintenance of that great national institution. Observe — what I say of the spirit in which the English bear themselves at present, is founded on wdiat I myself have seen and heard, not on what I read in journals. I read them little at home — here I hardly see them. I have no doubt that in the Liberal papers one might find much mouthing about liberty, as in the Conserva- tive much about order, it being neither liberty nor order which is wanted, but Justice. You may have Freedom of all Abomi- nation, and Order of all Iniquity — if you look for Forms instead of Facts. Look for the facts first — the doing of justice howso- ever and by whatsoever forms or informalities. And the forms will come — shapely enough, and sightly enough, afterwards. Yet, perhaps, not till long afterwards. Earnest as I am for the freedom of Italy, no one can hope less from it, for many a year * "Magnificent weather and excellent sport made the great people's meeting pass off with great eclat." ("Annual Register" for 1859, p. 78.) The race was won by Sir J. Hawley's Musjid. 1859.] THE ITALIAN QUESTION. 11 to come. Even those Yaudois, whom you Presb}i;erians admire 80 much, have made as yet no great show of fruit out of their religious freedom. I went up from Turin to Turre di Lnceriui tu look at them last year. I have seldom slept in a dirtier inn, seldom seen peasants' cottages so ill built, and never yet in my life saw anywhere paths so full of nettles. The faces of the people are interesting, and their voices sweet, except in bowl- ings on Sunday evening, which they performed to a very dis- quieting extent in the street till about half-past ten, waking me afterwards between twelve and one with another " catch," and a dance through the village of the liveliest character. Protes- tantism is apt sometimes to take a gayer character abroad than with us. Geneva has an especially disreputable look on Sun- day evenings, and at Hanover I see the shops are as wide open on Sunday as Saturday ; here, however, in Berlin, they shut up as close as you do at Edinburgh. I think the thing that an- noyed me most at La Tour, however, was the intense sectarian- ism of the Protestant dogs. I can make friends generally, fast enough, with any canine or feline creature ; but I could make nothing of those evangelical brutes, and there was as much snarling and yelping that afternoon before I got past the farm- houses to the open hill-side, as in any of your Free Church discussions. It contrasted very painfully with the behavior of such Roman Catholic dogs as I happen to know — St. Bernard's and others — who make it their business to entertain strangers. But the hill-side was worth reaching — for though that Lucerna valley is one of the least interesting I ever saw in the Alps, there is a craggy ridge on the north of it which commands a notable view. In about an hour and a half's walking you may get up to the top of a green, saddle-shaped hill, which separates the Lucerna valley from that of Angrogna ; if then, turning to the left (westward), you take the steepest way you can find up the hill, another couple of hours will bring you to a cone of stones which the shepherds have built on the ridge, and there you may see all the historical sites of the valley of Angrogna as in a map — and as much of Monte Yiso and Piedmont as clouds will let you. I wish I could draw you a map of Pied- 12 LETTERS ON POLITICS AND WAR. [1859. mont as I saw it that afternoon. The air was half full of white cumulus clouds, lying nearly level about fifteen hundred feet under the ridge ; and through every gap of them a piece of Piedmont with a city or two. Turin, twenty-eight miles away as the bird flies, shows through one cloud-opening like a hand- ful of golden sand in a pool of blue sea. I've no time to write any more to-day, for I've been to Charlottenburg, out of love for Queen Louise. "^ I can't see a good painting of her anywhere, and they show her tomb by blue light, like the nun scene in Robert le Diable. A German woman's face, if beautiful at all, is exquisitely beautiful ; but it depends mainly on the thoughtfulness of the eyes, and the bright hair. It rarely depends much upon the nose, which has perhaps a tendency to be — if anything — a little too broad- ish and flattish— perhaps one might even say in some cases, knobbish. (The Hartz mountains, I see, looking at them from Brunswick, have similar tendencies, less excusably and more decidedly.) So when the eyes are closed — and for the soft hair one has only furrowed marble — and the nose to its natural disadvantages adds that of being seen under blue light, the general effect is disappointing. Frederick the Great's celebrated statue is at the least ten yards too high f from the ground to be of any use ; one sees nothing but the edges of the cloak he never wore, the soles of his boots, and, in a redundant manner, his horse's tail. Under * The mother of the present Emperor, whose treatment by Napoleon I., and whose own admirable qualities, have won for her the tender and affec- tionate memory of her people. She died in 1810. Her tomb at Charlot- tenburg is the work of the German sculptor. Christian Ranch. f The full height of this statue (also the work of Ranch) is, inclusive of the pedestal somewhat over forty-tw^o feet from the ground. One of the bas-relief tablets which flank the pedestal represents the Apotheosis of the monarch. The visitor to Berlin may recall August Kiss's bronze group, representing the combat of an Amazon with a tiger, on the right side of the Old Museum steps; and Holbein's portrait of George Gyzen, a mer- chant of London, is No. 586 in the picture galleries of the Museum. It is described by Mr. Ruskin in his article on "Sir Joshua and Holbein" in the CornMll Maf/azine of March, 1860, and also in Wornum's "Life and Works of Holbein,'' p. 260 (London, 1867). 1859.] THE ITALIAN QUESTION. 13 which vertically is liis Apotheosis. In wliidi process he sits upon tlie back of an eagle, and waves a pahn, with appearance of satisfaction to himself, and it is to be hoped no danger of any damage to three stars -in the neighborhood. Kiss's Amazon, make^ a good grotesque for the side of the Musemn steps ; it was seen to disadvantage in London. The interior of the gallery is very beautiful in many ways ; and Holbein's portrait of 'George Gyzen is worth coming all the way from England to see only ten minutes. I never saw so nuble a piece of work of its kind in my life. Believe me, etc., J. RCSKIN. [From "The Scotsman,*' August 6, 1859.] THE ITALIAN QUESTION. ScHAFFHAUSKN, Aiigust 1, 1859. Letter to the Editor {of " The Scotsman"). Sir: I have just received the number of the Scotsman containing my second letter from Berlin, in which there is rather an awkward misprint of "royals" for "rogues," which must have puzzled some of your readers, no less than the general tone of the letter, written as it was for publication at another time, and as one of a series begun in another journal. I am obliged by the admission of the letter into your columns ; and I should have been glad to continue in those columns the series I intended, had not the refusal of this letter by the Witness'^ shown me the liability to misapprehension under * After a careful and repeated search iu the columns of the Witness, I am still unable to certainly exphiin these allusions. It seems, however, that the two preceding letters had been sent to the Witness^, which printed the first and refused to print the second. The Scotsman printed both under the titles of "Mr, Ruskin on the Italian Question," and "^Ir. Ruskin on Foreign Politics," whilst it distinguished this third letter by the additional heading of "Letter to the Editor." It may be conjecturi-d. therefore, that 14 LETTERS OK POLITICS AKD WAR. [1859. which I should be writing. I had thought that, seeing for these twenty years I have been more or less conversant with Italy and the Italians, a few familiar letters written to a per- sonal friend, at snch times as I could win from my own work, might not have been uninteresting to Scottish readers, even though my opinions might occasionally differ sharply from theirs, or be expressed in such rough way as strong opinions nmst be, when one has no time to polish them into more pleas- ing presentability. The refusal of the letter by the Wit7iess showed me that this was not so ; and as I have no leisure to take up the subject methodically, I must leave what I have written in its present imperfect form. It is indeed not mainly a question of time, which I would spend gladly, though to liandle the subject of the present state of Italy with any com- pleteness would involve a total abandonment of other work for some weeks. But I feel too deeply in this matter to allow myself to think of it continuously. To me, the state of the modern jDolitical mind, which hangs the slaughter of twenty thousand men, and the destinies of twenty myriads of human souls, on the trick that transforms a Ministry, or the chances of an enlarged or diminished interest in trade, is something so horrible that I find no utterance wherewith to characterize it — nor any courage wherewith to face the continued thought of it, unless I had clear expectation of doing good by the effort — expectation which the mere existence of the fact forbids. I leave therefore the words 1 have written to such work as they may ; hoping, indeed, nothing from any words ; thankful if a few people here and there understand and sympatliize in the feelings with which they were written ; and thankful, if none so sympathize, that I am abb at least to claim some share in tlie first two letters were reprinted by the Scotsman from another paper, and that, in receiving the number of the Scotsman containing the second, Mr. Raskin did not know that it had reprinted the first also. As to the "series begun m another journal," it is, I think, clear that it had not been long continued, as the letter dated "June 15," sent to and refused by it, is spoken of as "the second letter," so that that dated "June 6" must have been the first, as this was unquestionably the last of the series. I 1863.] THE FOREIGN POLICY OF ENGLAND. 15 the sadness, though not in the triumph, of the words of Fari- nata — " Fu' io sol cola, dove sofferto Fu per ciascun di torre via Fiorenza, Colui che la difcse a vise aperto." * I am, etc., J. Ruszm. [From "The Liverpool Albion," November 2, 1863.] THE FOREIGN POLICY OF ENGLAND.\ Zurich, Oct. 25th, 1863. Sir : I beg to acknowledge jour favor of the 20th of Octo- ber. My health does not now admit of my taking part fre- quently in public business ; yet I should have held it a duty to accept the invitation of the directors of the Liverpool Institute, but that, for the time being, my temper is at fault, as well as my health ; and I am wholly unable to go on with any of my proper work, owing to the horror and shame with which I regard the political position taken, or rather sunk into, by * " But singly there I stood, when, by consent Of all, Florence had to the ground been razed. The one who openly forbade the deed." Gary's Dante—" L'Infemo," x. 11. 90-93. Farinata degli Uberti was a noble Florentine, and the leader of the Ghibelline faction, when they obtained a signal victory over the Guelfi at Montaperto, near the river Arbia. Machiavelli calls him "a man of exalted soul, and great military talents" (Hist, of Florence, Bk. ii.). Subsequently, when it was proposed that, in order to maintain the ascendency of the Ghibelline faction in Tuscany, Florence should be destroyed, Farinata alone of all 'the Council opposed the measure, declaring that he had endured every hardship with no other view than that of being able to pass his days in liis own country. (See Gary's notes to Canto x.) t This letter was written in answer to a request that Mr. Ruskin would come and preside at the distribution of prizes among the .'students in the Science and Art Department of the Liverpool Institute, on Saturday, Oct. 31, 186:3. It was subsequently read on the occasion of distribution, in accordance with the wish expressed towards the end of the letter. 16 LETTERS OX POLITICS AND WAR. [1863. England in her foreign relations — especially in the affairs of Italy and Poland." What these matters have to do with Art may not at first be clear, bnt I can perhaps make it so by a shoi-t similitude. Suppose I had been engaged by an English gentle- man to give lectures on Art to his son. Matters at first go smoothly, and I am diligent in my definitions of line and color, until, one Sunday morning, at breakfast time, a ticket-of -leave man takes a fancy to murder a girl in the road leading round the lawn, before the house- windows. My patron, hearing the screams, puts down his paper, adjusts his spectacles, slowly apprehends what is going on, and rings the bell for his smallest footman. " John, take my card and compliments to that gen- tleman outside the hedge, and tell him that his proceedings are abnormal, and, I may add, to me personally — offensive. Had that road passed through my property, I should have felt it my duty to interfere." John takes the card, and returns with it ; the ticket-of -leave man finishes his work at his leisure ; but, tlie screams ceasing as he fills the girl's mouth with clay, the Eng- lish gentleman returns to his muffins, and congratulates him- self on having " kept out of that mess.'' Presently afterwards he sends for me to know if I shall be ready to lecture on Mon- day. I am somewhat nervous, and answer — I fear rudely — " Sir, your son is a good lad ; I hope he will grow to be a man — but, for the present, I cannot teach him anything. I should like, indeed, to teach you something, but have no words for the lesson." Which indeed I have not. If I say any words on such matters, people ask me, " Would I have the country go to war ? do I know how dreadful a thing war is ?" Yes, truly, I know it. I like war as ill as most people — so ill, that I would not spend twenty millions a year in making machines for it, neither my holidays and pocket money in playing at it ; yet I would have the country go to war, with haste, in a good quar rel ; and, which is perhaps eccentric in me, rather in another's quarrel than in her own. We say of ourselves complacently that we will not go to war for an idea ; but the phrase inter- * See the preceding and the following letter. This one was, it will be seen, written in the year of flio last great struggle of Poland against Russia. 1864.J THE POSITION OF DENMARK. H preted means only, that we will go to war for a bale of goods, but not for justice nor for mercy ; ancf I would ask you to favor me so far as to read this letter to the students at your meeting, and say to them that I heartilj^ wish them well ; but for the present I am too sad to be of any ser%^ice to them ; that our wars in China and Japan * are not likely to furnish guotl subjects for historical pictures ; that " ideas" happen, unfortu- nately, to be, in Art, the principal things; and that a country which will not light for its ideas is not likely to have anything worth painting. I have the honor to be, Sir, your faithful servant, J. RUSKIN. The Secretary of the Liverpool Institute. [From " The Morning Post," July 7, 1864.1 THE POSITION OF DENMARK. To the Editor of" The Morning Postr Sir : Will you allow me, in fewest words, to say how deeply I concur in all that is said in that noble letter of Lord Towns- hend's published in your columns this morning — except only in its last sentence, " It is time to protest." f Alas ! if protests were of any use, men with hearts and lips would have protested * The expedition of the English and French against China was begun in the August of 1860; the war in Japan in the summer of 1863. I Lord Townshend's letter was upon "The Circassian Exodus," and pointed out that a committee appointed in 1862 with the object of aiding the tribes of the Caucasus against Russia had failed in obtaining subscrip- tions, whilst that of 1864, for relieving the sufferers when resistance had become impossible, was more successful. " The few bestowed their sym- pathy upon the straggle for life; the many reserved theirs for the agonies of death To which side, I would ask, do reason and justice incline?" After commenting on the "tardy consolation for an evil which we have neglected to avert," and after remarking that "in the national point of view the case of Poland is an exact counterpart to that of Circas- sia," the letter thus concluded: " Against such a state of things it is surely time for all who feel as I do to protest." 18 LETTERS ON POLITICS AND WAR. [1864. enough by this time. But they are of none, and can be of none. What true words are worth any man's utterance, while it is possible for such debates as last Monday's to be, and two English gentlemen cau stand up before the English Commons to quote Yirgil at each other, and round sentences, and show their fineness of wrist in their pretty little venomous carte and tierce of personality, while, even as they speak, the everlasting silence is wra japing the brave massacred Danes ? * I do not know, never shall know, how this is possible. If a cannon shot carried off their usher's head, nay, carried off but his rod's head, at tlieir room door, they would not roimd their sentences, I fancy, in asking where the shot came from ; but because these infinite masses of advancing slaughter are a few hundred miles distant from them, they can speak their stage speeches out in content. Mr. Gladstone must go to places, it seems, l)efore he can feel! Let him go to Alsen, as he went to Xaples,t and quote Yirgil to the Prussian army. The English mind, judging by your leaders, seems divided between the German-cannon nuisance and the Savoyard street-organ nuis- ance ; but was there ever hurdy-gurdy like this dissonance of eternal talk ? ^ The Savoyard at least grinds his handle one * The debate (July 4, 1864) was upon the Danish question and the policy of the Government, and took place just after the end of a temporary armis- tice and the resumption of hostilities by the bombardment of Alsen, in the Dano-Prussian war. Alsen was taken two days after the publication of this letter. The "two English gentlemen" were Mr. Disraeli and Mr. Gladstone (at this time Chancellor of the Exchequer), the latter of whom had quoted the lines from. the sixth ^Eneid (11. 489-491): " At Danaum proceres Agamennoniseque phalanges Ut videre virum f ulgentiaque arma per umbras Ingenti tripedare metu." f In 1850, when, being at Naples, Mr. Gladstone interested himself deeply in the cause and miserable condition of the political prisoners, and subsequently addressed two letters on the subject to Lord Aberdeen (see " Letters to Lord Aberdeen on the prisoners of the Neapolitan Govern- ment:" Murray, 1851). . X The Mornim/ Post of July 6 contained amongst its leaders one on Den- mark and Germany, and another on London street-organs, the nuisance of which had been recently brought before the House of Commons by Mr. M. T. Bass (M.P. for Derby). 1864.] THE POSITION OF DENMARK. 19 way, but these classical discords on the double pipe, like Mr. Kinglake's two tunes — past and present^ — on Savoy and Den- mark, need stricter police interference, it seems to me ! The cession of Savoy was the peaceful present of a few crags, goats, and goatherds by one king to another ; it was also fair pay for fair work, and, in the profoundest sense, no business of ours. Whereupon Mr. Kinglake mewed like a moonstruck cat going to be made a mummy of for Bubastis. But we saw the nol)le Circassian nation murdered, and never uttered word for them. We saw^ the noble Polish nation sent to pine in ice, and never struck blow for them. !N'ow the nation of our future Queen calls to us for help in its last agony, and we round sentences and turn our backs. Sir, I have no words for these things, because I have no hope. It is not these squeaking puppets who play before us whom we have to accuse ; it is not by cut- ting the strings of them that w^e can redeem our deadly error. We English, as a nation, know not, and care not to know, a single broad oinBasic~principle of human justice. We have only our Tnstmcfs" to guide "ifsr We will hit anybody again who hits us. We will take care of our own fandlies and our own pockets ; and we are characterized in our present phase of enlightenment mainly by rage in speculation, lavish expendi- ture on suspicion or panic, generosity whereon generosity is useless, anxiety for the souls of savages, regardlessness of those of civilized nations, enthusiasm for liberation of blacks, apathy to enslavement of whites, proper horror of regicide, polite respect fur populicide, sympathy with those whom we can no longer serve, and reverence for the dead, wdiom we have our- selves delivered to death. I am. Sir, your faithful servant, J. KUSKIN. Denmark Hill, July 6, * Mr. Alexander William Kinglake, M.P. for Bridgewater. He spoke at the above-mentioned debate, and had also taken strong interest and part in the cession of Savoy to France by Sardinia in 1860. 20 LETTERS OK POLITICS AKD WAB. [1865. [From " The Daily Telegraph," December 20, 1865.] TEE JAMAICA IN8UBBEGTI0N.'' To the Editor of " The Daily Telegraph," Sir : Will you allow me, in tliis informal manner, to express what I should have wished to express by signature of tlie memorial you publish to-day from Huddersfield \ respecting tlie Jamaica insurrection, and to thank you for your excellent article of the 15th December on the same subject. I am com- pelled to make this request, because I see my friend Mr. Thomas Hughes has been abetting the Radical movement against Governor Eyre ; and as I employed what little influence I have with the London workmen to aid the return of Mr. Hughes for Lambeth, I may perhaps be thought to concur with him in every line of action he may see fit subsequently to adopt. Permit me, then, once for all, through your widely- read columns, to say that I did what I could towards the return both of Mr. J. S. Mill and of Mr. Hughes,:^ not because I held with them in all their opinions, or even in the main principle of their opinions, but because I knew they had a principle of opinions; that they were honest, thoughtful, and benevolent men ; and far worthier to be in Parliament (even though it might be in opposition to many causes I had at heart) than any other candidates I knew. They are my opponents in many things, though I thought better of them both than that they would countenance this fatuous outcry against Governor * The outcry against Governor Eyre for the course he took in suppress- ing the negro insurrection at Morant Bay, Jamaica, in 1865, is still within the memory of the general public. Mr. Ruskin attended and spoke at the meetings of the Eyre Defence Fund, to which Mr. Carlyle (see note at the end of this letter) gave his warm support. Amongst those who most strongly deprecated the course taken by Governor Eyre were, as this letter implies, Mr. John Stuart Mill (Chairman of the Jamaica Committee) and Mr. Thomas Hughes. f Signed by 273 persons resident in and near Huddersfield. {Daily Tele- graph, December 19, 1865.) X Mr. Mill had been recently returned for Westminster, and Mr. Hughes for Lambeth. 1865. J THE JAMAICA 1NSURRECTI0^^ 21 Eyre. But in most directions of thought and action they are for Liberty, and I am for Lordship ; they are Molj's men and I am a King's man. Yes, sir, I am one of those ahnost for- gotten creatures who shrivel under your daily scorn ; I am a "Conservative," and hope forever to be a Conservative in tJie deepest sense — a Re-former, not a De-former. Xot that T like slavery, or object to the emancipation of any kind or number of blacks in due place and time. But I understand something more by " slavery" than either Mr. J. S. Mill or Mr. Hughes ; and believe that white emancipation not only ought to precede, but nnist by law of all fate precede, black emancipation. I much dislike the slavery, to man, of an African laborer, with a spade on his shoulder ; but I more dislike the slavery, to the devil, of a Calabrian robber with a gun on his shoulder. I dis- like the American serf-economy, whicli separates, occasionally, man and wife: but I more dislike the Eno-lish serf-economv, which prevents men from being able to have wives at all. I dislike the slavery which obliges women (if it does) to carry their children over frozen rivers ; but I more dislike the slavery which makes them throw their children into wells. I would willingly hinder the selling of girls on the Gold Coast; but primarily, if I might, would hinder the selling of them in Mayfair. And, finally, while I regret the need that may exist amono; savas^es in a distant island for their crovernor to do his work sharply and suddenly on them, I far more regret the need among men of race and capacity for the work of governois when they have no governor to give it them. Of all dishoimi-- able and impious captivities of this age, the darkest was that of England to Bussia, by which she was compelled to refuse to give Greece a King when Greece besought one from her, and to permit that there should be set on the Acropolis throne no Governor Eyre, nor anything like him, but such a shadow of King as the black fates cast upon a nation for a curse, saying, " Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child !" * * The present king of Greece was only eighteen years of age when, after the protocol of England, Kussia, and France on the preceding day, he accepted, June 6, 1863, the crown of Greece. 32 LETTERS ON POLITICS AIS'D WAK. [1870. Let the men who would now deserve well of England reserve their impeachments, or turn them from those among us who have saved colonies to those who have destroyed nations. I am, Sir, yours, etc., J. KUSKIN.* Denmark Hill, Dec. 19. [From " The Daily Telegraph," October 7, .1870.] TEE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR. To the Editm- of " The Daily Telegraph. " Sib : My friends ask me why I speak no word about this war, supposing — like vain friends as they are — that I might have some poor influence of intercession for filigree-work, French clocks, and other tender articles of vertii, felt at this moment to be in grave danger. But, in the first place, I know that the just Fates will reward no intercession, either for human life or chinaware, until their will has been accomplished upon all of us. In the second, I know also that the German armies will spare what they can, and think they ought, without taking advice of me. In the third, I have said long ago — no one listening — the best I had to say on these niatters. But, after your notice to-day of the escape of M. Edouard * It is of interest to remark that Mr. Carlyle, in a letter to Mr. Hamilton Hume, Hon. Sec. of the "Eyre Defence Fund" (published in the Daily Telegraph of September 13, 1866), expressed himself as follows: "The clamor raised against Governor Eyre appears to me to be disgraceful to the good sense of England; . . . penalty and clamor are not the things this Governor merits from any of us, but honor and thanks, and wise imitation. . . . The whole weight of my conviction and good wishes is with you." Mr. Carlyle was, with Sir Roderick Murchison, one of the two vice-presidents of the Defence Committee. (See "The History of the Jamaica Case," by G. W. Finlason : London, 1869, p. 369.) 1870.] THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR. 23 Fivre,"^ whose gentle power I was, I believe, the first to recog- nize publicly in England, it is possible that some of your i-eaders may care to look back at what I wrote of modern war four years ago, and to know the aspect it takes to me, now that it has come to pass. If you will reprint these few following sentences for me from the ** Crown of Wild Olive," f I shall be able to-morrow to put what I would add to them briefly enough to claim little space in your columns : If you have to take away masses of men from all industrial employment — to feed -them by the labor of others — to move them, and provide them with destructive machines, varied daily in national rivalship of inventive cost ; if you have to ravage the country which you attack — to destroy, for a score of future years, its roads, its woods, its cities, and its harbors ; and if, finally, ha-s^ing brought masses of men, counted by hundreds of thousands, face to face, you tear those masses to pieces with jagged shot, and leave fragments of living creatures, countlessly beyond all help of surgery, to starve and parch, through days of torture, down into clots of clay — what book of accounts shall record the cost of your work — what book of judgment sentence the guilt of it ? That, I say, is modern war — scientific war — chemical and mechanical war — worse even than the savage's poisoned arrow. And yet you will tell me, perhaps, that any other war than this * M. Edouard Frere and Mdlle. Rosa Bonlicur were allowed to leave Paris and pass the lines of tiie Prussian army after the blockade of the French capital had been begun. For Mr. Ruskiu's early recognition of M. Frere's power, see the "Academy Notes," No. II. (ISoC), p. 47, where some "cottage studies" are spoken of as "quite unequalled in sincerity and truth of conception, though somewhat dimly painted;" — No. III. (1857), p. 58, where his pictures are said to " unite the depth of Wordsworth, the grace of Reynolds, and the holiness of Angelico;" — and No. IV. (1858), p. 33, where this last expression of praise is emphasized and at some length explained. f See for the first two paragraphs of extracts following pp. 170, 171 of the original, and §§102-3 of the 1873 edition of the "Crown of Wild Olive;" for the third paragrapli, pp. 116-118, and § 74; and for the last two paragraphs, pp. 186, 187, and 5^ 113,J14, respectively, of those two editions. 24 LETTERS 02^ POLITICS AND WAR. [1870. is impossible now. It may be so ; the progress of science can- not, perhaps, be otherwise registered than by new facilities of destruction; and the brotherly love of our enlarging Christianity be only proved by multiplication of murder. But the wonder has always been great to me that heroism has never been supposed consistent with the practice of supply- ing people with food, or clothes, but only with that of quartering one's self upon them for food, and stripping them of their clothes. Spoiling of armor is an heroic deed in all ages ; but the selling of clothes, old or new, has never takeu any color of magnanim- ity. Yet one does not see why feeding the hungry and clothing the naked should ever become base businesses even when engaged in on a large scale. If one could contrive to attach the notion of conquest to tliem anyhow? so that, supposing there were any- where an obstinate race, who refused to be comforted, one might take some pride in giving them compulsory comfort, and, as it were, ^^ occupying a country" w^ith one's gifts, instead of one's armies ? If one could only consider it as much a victory to get a barren field sown as to an eared field stripped; and contend who should build villages, instead of who should ^^ carry" them? Are not all forms of heroism conceivable in doing these service- able deeds ? You doubt who is strongest ? It might be ascer- tained by push of spade as well as push of sword. Who is wisest ? There are witty things to be thought of in planning other business than campaigns. Who is bravest ? There are always the elements to fight with, stronger than men ; and nearly as merciless. And, then, observe farther, this true power, the power of saving, depends neither on multitude of men, nor on extent of territory. We are continually assuming that nations become strong according to their numbers. They indeed become so, if those numbers can be made of one mind. But how are you sure you can stay them in one mind, and keep them from having north and south minds ? Grant them unanimous, how know you they will be unanimous in right ? If they are unanimous in wrong, the more they are, essentially the weaker they are. Or, suppose that they can neither be of one mind, nor of two minds, but can only be of no mind? Suppose they are a mere helpless mob, tottering into precipitant catastrophe, like a 1870.] THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR. 26 wagon-load of stones when the wheel comes off ? Dangerous enough for their neighbors certainly, but not ** powerful.'' Neither docs strength depend on extent of territory, any more than upon number of population. Take up your masses, ])ut the cluster of the British Isles beside the mass of South America, and then consider whether any race of men need con- sider how much gi-ound they stand upon. The strength is in the men, and in their unity and virtue, not in their standing- room. A little group of wise hearts is better than a wilderness full of fools ; and only that nation gains true territory which gains itself. I am, Sir, your faithful servant, J. KUSKIN. Denmark Hill, S.E,, Oct. 6. [From "The Daily Telegraph," Octobers, 1870.] THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR. To the Editor o/ " The DaUy Telegraph.'' Sir : As I am always blamed if I approach my subject on any but its picturesque side, it is well for me that in to-day's Times I find it announced that at Strasburg the Picture Gal- lery — with the pictures in it? — the Library — with the books in it ? — and the Theatre, with certainly two hundred persons in it, have been burnt to the ground under an auxiliary can- nonade, the flames at night being '* a tempting target." It is true that in your columns I find the consolatory news that the Parisians are repairing those losses by casting a bronze Stras- burg;- but if, as a poor art "professor, I may venture an opinion, I w'ould fain suggest to them that if their own picture gallery, with the pictures and bits of marble in it — Yenus of * The Daily Telegraph of Oct. 7 contained amongst its Paris news tliat of the decision of the Government of National Defence to cast a statue of the city of Strasburg in bronze, in memory of its " heroic resistance to the enemy during a murderous siege of fifty days." 26 LETTERS OX POLITICS AN"D WAR. [1870. Melos and the like — and their own Library — Eoval, Imperiale, Rationale, or whatever they now call it — should presently become tempting targets also by the light of their own flames, the casting of a bronze Paris, in even the most imposing of attitudes, will scarcely redeem their loss, were it but to the admiring eyes of Paris herself. There is yet another letter in the Times,^ of more impor- tance than the one from Strasburg. It is headed, " The Difficulties of IS'eutrality," dated Bonn, and anticipates part of what I was going to say ; for the rest, the lessons of the war, as I read them, are briefly these. As to its cause, neither the French nation nor their Empe- ror brought on war by any present will of their own. Is^either of them were capable of a will at all — far less of executing it. The nation has since declared, by submission, with acclaim, to a change of Government which for the time renders all politi- cal treaty with it practically impossible, that during the last twenty years it has been deceived or subdued into obedience to a man for whom it had no respect, and who had no heredi- tary claim to the throne. What " will " or responsibility of action can be expected from a nation which confesses this of itself ? On the other hand, the Emperor, be his motives never so selfish, could only have hoped to save his dynasty by com- pliance with the passions of a populace which he knew would overthrow it in the first hour of their mortification. It is in these vain passions and the falsehoods on which they have fed that we must look for the deep roots of all this misery. Since the days of the First Empire, no cottage in France has been without its ISTapoleonic picture and legend, fostering one and the same faith in the heart of every peasant boy, that there is * This letter M^as signed " W. C. P.," who, after stating himself to be an English resident in Germany, proceeded to lament the changed position of England in the opinion of foreign nations, and especially in that of the Germans, who no longer spoke of her, as formerly, "with affectionate admiration or even envious respect." "And I must confess," concluded the letter, "that I find it difficult to answer them; for it seems to me that we have already good reason to say, in reference to the present struggle, ' All is lost save money.' " — Times, October 7, 1870. 1870.] THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR. 27 no glory but in battle ; and since the founding of the Second Empire no street of any city has risen into its foolish niagniti- cence without collateral proclamation that there was no pleas- ure but in vice. Then, secondly, for the actual question of the war : it is a simple and testing struggle between pure Republicanism on the one side, expressed in the most exquisite, tinished, and exenqjlary anarchy, yet achieved under — earth — and one of the truest Monarchies and schools of honor and obedience yet organized under heaven. And the secret of its strength, we have to note, is essentially pacific ; for all the wars of the Great Friedrich would have passed away resultless — as great wars usually do — had it not been for this pregnant fact at the end of them: "All his artillery horses are parted into plough-teams, and given to those who otherwise can get none" (Carlyle, vol. vi., first edition, p. 350) — that 21st book on the repair of Prussia being of extant literature the most important piece for us to read and digest in these days of '" raising the poor without gifts" — never asking who first let them fall — and of turning workmen out of dockyards, without any con- sciousness that, of all the stores in the yard, the men were exactly the most precious. You expressed, Sir, in your article on the loss of the Captain,* a feeling common, I suppose, for once, to all of us, that the principal loss was not the iron of the ship, but the ^ve hundred men in her. Perhaps, had she been of gold instead of iron plate, public mourning might have inclined itself to the side of the metal. But how if the whole British public should be itself at this instant afloat in a captainless Captain, built of somewhat dirty yet substantial gold, and in extremest peril of turning bottom upwards I Which will be the end, indeed, unless the said public quickly perceive that their hope must be, not in docks nor ships, but in men. They, and they only, are our guarantee for territory. Prussia herself seems as simple as the rest of us in her talk of * The turret ship " Captain" foundered off Cape Fiuistcrre ou Septem- ber 7, 1870. For the articles alluded to, see the Daily Tdifjmph of Septem- ber 12 and following days. 28 LETTEES OJ?" POLITICS AKD WAR. [1870. '^ guarantees." Alsace and Lorraine, if dishonestly come by, may be honestly retaken ; bnt if for " guarantee," why these only ? Why not Burgundy and Anjou — Auvergne and the Limousin ? Let France lose what she may, if she can but find a Charles and Eoland among her children, she will recover her empire, though she had been beaten back to the Breche ; and if she find them not Germany has all the guarantee she needs in her own name, and in her own right hand. Let her look to it, now, that her fame be not sullied. She is pressing her victory too far — dangerously far, as uselessly. The E^emesis of battle may indeed be near her ; greater glory she cannot win by the taking of Paris, nor the overrunning of provinces — she only prolongs suffering, redoubles death, extends loss, incalculable and irremediable. But let her now give unconditional armistice, and offer terms that France can accept with honor, and she will bear such rank among the nations as never yet shone on Christian history. For us, we ought to help France now, if w^e ever did any- thing, but of course there remains for us only neutrality — sell- ing of coke, and silence (if we have grace enough left to keep it). I have only broken mine to say that I am ashamed to speak as being one of a nation regardless of its honor alike in trade and policy ; poor, yet not careful to keep even the trea- sure of probity — and rich, without being able to afford itself the luxury of courage. I am, Sii', your faithful servant, J. ErsKiN. Oct, 7. 1876.] MODERIT WARFARE 29 [From " Eraser's Magazine," July, 1876, pp. 121-123.1 MODERN WARFARE. To the Editor of " Eraser's Magaziiu\" Sir : The article on inodeni warfare in your last June number ^ contains statements of so great importance to public interests, that I do not hesitate to ask you to spare me space for a question or two respecting it, which hy answering, your contributor may make the facts he has brought forward more valuable for practical issues. The statistics f given in the second column of page 695, on which P. S. C. rests his " incontestable" conclusion that '* battles are less sanguinary than they were," are incomplete in this vital respect, that they furnish us only with the propor- tion, and not with the total number, of combatants slain. A barricade fight between a mob of rioters a thousand strong, and a battery of artillery, in which fifty reformers get shot, is not " less sanguinary" than a street quarrel between three topers, of whom one gets knocked on the head with a pewter pot : though no more than the twentieth part of tlie forces on one side fall in the first case, and a third of the total forces enofaijed, in the second. Xor could it be proved by the exhibition of these proportions uf loss, that the substitution of explosive shells, as offensive weapons, for pewter pots, rendered wounds less painful, or war more humane. Xow, the practical diiference between ancient and modern war, as carried on by civilized nations, is, broadly, of this kind. Formerly, the persons who had quan-elled settled their differ- ences by the strength of their own arms, at the head of their retainers, with comparatively inexpensive weapons such as they * "Remarks on Modern Warfare." By a Military Officer. The article was signed "P. S. C." f See the tables given in this letter (pp. 30 and 31). 30 LETTEllS OX POLITICS AI^D WAR. [1876. could conveniently -wield ; weapons wliicli tliey had paid for out of their own pockets, and with which they struck only the people they meant to strike : while, nowadays, persons who quarrel fight at a distance, wdth mechanical apparatus, for the manufacture of which they have taxed the public, and which will kill anybody who happens to be in the way ; gathering at the same time, to put into the way of them, as large a quantity of senseless and innocent mob as can be beguiled, or compelled, to the slaughter. So that, in the words of your contributor, " Modern armies are not now small fractions of the population whence they are drawn ; they represent — in fact are — whole nations in arms." I have only to correct this somewhat vague and rhetorical statement by pointing out that the persons in arms, led out for mutual destruction, are by no means " the whole nation" on either side, but only the individuals of it who are able-bodied, honest, and brave, selected to be shot, from among its invalids, rogues, and cowards. The deficiencies in your contributor's evidence as to the totality of loss do not, however, invalidate his conclusion that, out of given numbers engaged, the mitrailleuse kills fewer than the musket,^ It is, nevertheless, a very startling conclusion, and one not to be accepted without closer examination of the statistics on wliich it is based. I will, therefore, tabulate them in a simpler form, which the eye can catch easily, omitting only one or two instances which add nothing to the force of the evidence. In the six under-named battles of bygone times, there fell, according to your contributor's estimate, out of the total combatants — At Austerlitz 1/7 Jena 1/6 Waterloo 1/5 Marengo 1/4 Salamanca 1/3 Eylau 1/3.^ * "The proportion of killed and wounded," wrote P. S. C, "was far greater with the old-fashioned weapons than it is at the present day." 1876.] MODERN WARFARE. 31 wliile in tlie under-named iive recent l);ittl(',< tlie proportion of loss was — At Koniggratz 1/15 Gravelotte 1/12 Solferiuo 1/11 Worth 1/11 Sedan 1/10 Now, there is a very important difference in the eliaracter iA the battles named in these two lists. Every one of the lirst six was decisive, and both sides knew that it must be so when the engagement began, and did their best to win. But K()nig- gratz was only decisive by sudden and appalling demonstration of the power of a new weapon. Solferino was only half fought, and not followed up because the French Emperor had exhausted his co?ips cf elite at Magenta, and could not (or, at least, so it is reported) depend on his troops of the line. Worth was an experiment ; Sedan a discouraged ruin ; Gravelotte was, I believe, well contested, but I do not know on what extent of the line, and we have no real evidence as to the power of modern mechanics for death, until the proportions are calculated, not from the numbers engaged, but from those under fire for equal times. Xow, in all the upper list of battles, probably every man of both armies was under fire, and some of the regiments under fire for half the day ; while in the lower list of battles, only fragments of the line were hotly engaged, and the dispute on any point reaching its intensity would be ended in half an hour. That the close of contest is so rapid may indeed be one of the conditions of improvement in our military system alleged by your correspondent; and the statistics he has brought foi-ward do indeed clearly prove one of two things — either that modern weapons do not kill, or that modern soldiers do not fight as effectually as in old times. I do not know if this is thought a desirable change in military circles ; but I, as a poor civilian, beg to express my strong objection to being taxed six times over what I used to be, either for the equipment of fioldiers who rarely fight, or the manufacture of weapons which 32 LETTERS OK POLITICS AND WAE. [1876. rarely kill. It maj be perfectly true that our last cruise on the Baltic was " less sanguinary" than that which concluded in Copenhagen. But we shook hands with the Danes after fighting them, and the differences between us were ended; while our expensive contemplation of the defences of Cronstadt leaves us still in daily dread of an inspection by the Kussian of those of Calcutta. It is true that the ingenuity of our inventors is far from being exhausted, and that in a few years more we may be able to destroy a regiment round a corner and bombard a fleet over the horizon ; but I believe the effective result of these crowning scientific successes will only be to confirm the at present partial impression on the minds of military and naval officers, that their duty is rather to take care of their weapons than to use them. " England will expect" of her generals and admirals to maintain a dignified moral position as far as possible out of the enemy's sight : and in a perfectly scientific era of seamanship we shall see two adverse fleets affected by a constant law of mutual repulsion at distances of two or three hundred miles ; while in either squadron, an occasional collision between the leading ships, or inexplicable foundering of the last imjiroved ones, will make these prudential manoeuvres on the whole as destructive of the force, and about ten times more costly to the pocket, of the nation, than the ancient, and, perhaps, more honorable tactics of poorly-armed pugnacity. There is, however, one point touched upon in P. S. C's letter, to me the most interesting of all, with respect to which the data for accurate comparison of our former and present systems are especially desirable, though it never seems to have occurred to your corresj)ondent to collect them — the estimates, namely, of the relative destruction of civil property; Of wilful destruction, I most thankfully acknowledge the cessation in Christian warfare ; and in the great change between the day of the sack of Magdeburg and that of the march into Paris, recognize a true sign of the apj^roach of the reign of national peace. But of inevitable destruction — of loss inflicted on the peasant by the merely imperative requirements and 1876.] MODEllX WARFARE. 33 operations of contending urniies — it will materially liasten the advent of such peace, if we ascertain the increasing pressure during our nominally mollilied and merciful. war. The agri- cultural losses sustained by France in one year are estimated by your correspondent at one hundred and seventy millions of pounds. Let him add to this sum the agricultural loss neces- sitated in the same year throughout Germany, through the withdrawal of capital from productive industry, for the main- tenance of her armies ; and of labor from it by their composi- tion ; and, for third item, add the total cost of weapons, horses, and amnnmition on both sides ; and let him then inform us whether the cost, thus summed, of a year's actual war between two European States, is supposed by military authorities to be fairly representative of that which the settlement of political dis- pute between any two such Powers, with modern instruments of battle, will on an average, in future, involve. If so, I will only venture further to suggest that the nations minded thus to try their quarrel should at least raise the stakes for their match before they make the ring, instead of drawing bills for them upon futurity. For that the money-lenders whose pockets are filled, while everybody else's are emptied, by recent military finance, should occultly exercise irresistible influence, not only on the development of our^according to your contributor — " daily more harmless armaments, but also on the deliberation of Cabinets, and passions of the populace, is me\^table under present circumstances ; and the exercise of such influence, how- ever advantageous to contractors and projectors, can scarcely be held consistent either with the honor of a Senate or the safety of a State. I am. Sir, Your faithful servant, J. RUSKIN. P. S. — I wish I could get a broad approximate estimate of the expenditure in money, and loss of men by France and Prussia in the respective years of Jena and Sedan, and by France and Austria in the respective years of Areola and Solferino. I LETTERS ON POLITICAL ECONOMY. The Depreciation of Gold. 1863. The Law of Supply and Demand. 1864. • (Three letters: October 26 and 29, and November 2.) Mr. Ruskin and Professor Hodgson. 1873. (Two letters: November 8 and 15.) Strikes i\ Arbitration. 1865. Work and Wages. 1865. (Five letters: April 20, 22, and 29, and May 4 and 20.) The Standard of Wages. 1867. How the Rich Spend their Money. 1873. (Three letters: January 23, 28, and 30.) Commercial Morality. 1875. The Definition of Wealth. 1875. The Principles of Property. 1877. On Co-operation. (Two letters.) 1879-80. LETTERS ON POLITICAL ECONOMY [From '• The Times," October 8, 1863.1 THE DEPRECIATION OF GOLD. To the Editor of " The Times." Sir: Being out of the way of my letters, I did not, till now, see your excellent article of the 23d September on the depreciation of gold.^ Will 3'ou allow me, thus late, a very few words in confirmation of your statement of the insufficiency of the evidence hitherto offered on that subject ? The market value of " a pound" depends less on the supply of gold than on the extravagance or economy of the persons holding documentary currency (that is to say, claim to goods). Suppose, for instance, that I hold stock to the value of £500 a year ; — if I live on a hundred a year, and lay by four hundred, I (for the time) keep down the prices of all goods to the dis- tributed amount of £100 a year, or, in other words, neutralize the effect on the market of 400 pounds in gold imported annually from xVustralia. If, instead of laying by this sum in paper, I choose to throw it into bullion (whether gold-plate or coin does not matter), I not only keep down the price of goods, but raise the price of gold as a commodity, and neutralize 800 pounds' worth of imported gold. But if T annually spend my entire 500 (unproductively) I annually raise the price of goods by that amount, and neutralize a correspondent diminu- * See one of the leading articles in The Times of Sept. 23, 1863, upon the then panic as to the depreciation of gold, excited by the considerable fresh discoveries of the precious metal in California and Australia. 38 liETTERS Ois" POLITICAL ECONOMY. [1863. tion in the supply of gold. If I spend my 500 productively, that is to say, so as to produce as much as, or more than I con- sume, I either leave the market as I find it, or by the excess of production increase the value of gold. Similarly, whatever I lay by will, as it is ultimately spent by my successors, productively or unproductively, in that degree (cceteris lyarilnis) increase or lower the value of gold. These agencies of daily economy have so much more power over the market than the supply from the mine that no statis- tics of which we are yet in possession are (at least in their existing form) sufiicient to prove the dependence of any given phenomena of the market on the rate of metallic supply. The destruction of property in the American war and our European amusements in the manufacture of monster guns and steel " backings" lower the value of money far more surely and fatally than an increased supply of bullion, for the latter may very possibly excite parallel force of productive industry. But the lowered value of money is often (and this is a very curious case of economical back current) indicated, not so much by a rise in the price of goods, as by a fall in that of labor. The household lives as comfortably as it did on a hundred a year, but the master has to work half as hard again to get it. This increase of toil is to an active nation often a kind of play ; men go into it as into a violent game ; fathers of families die quicker, and the gates of orphan asylums are choked with applicants ; distress and crime spread and fester through a thousand silent channels ; but there is no commer- cial or elementary convulsion ; no chasm opens into the abyss through the London clay ; no gilded victim is asked of the Guards : the Stock-Exchange falls into no hysterics ; and the old lady of Threadneedle Street does not so much as ask for "My fan, Peter." I am. Sir, your obedient servant, J. Rtjskin. Chamounix, Oct. 3. 1864.] THE LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAliD. 39 [From "The Daily Telegraph," October 28, 18&4.] THE LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND. To the Editor of " The Daily Tekgraph." Sir : In jour valuable article of to-day on the strike of the colliers, while you lay down the true and just law* respecting all such combinations, you take your stand, in the outset, on a maxim of ])olitical economy, which, however trite, stands yet — if I am not deceived — in need of much examination and qualification. "Labor," you say, like every other vendible commodity, " depends for its value on the relation of supply to demand." But, Sir, might it not be asked by any simple antl practical person, who liad heard this assertion for the first time — as I hope all practical persons will some day hear it for the last time — " Yes ; but what does demand depend upon, and what does supply depend upon V If, for instance, all death- beds came to resemble that so forcibly depicted in your next following article, and, in consequence, the demand for gin were unlimitedly increased towards the close of human life,t would this demand necessitate, or indicate, a relative increase in the " value" of gin as a necessary article of national wealth, and liquid foundation of national prosperity ? Or might we not advisably make some steady and generally understood dis- tinction between the terms " value" and " price," and determine at once whether there be, or be not, such a thing as intrinsic " value" or goodness in some things, and as intrinsic unvalue or badness in other things ; and as value extrinsic, or according to use, in all things ? and whether a demand for intrinsically good things, and a corresponding knowledge of their use, be not conditions likely, on the whole, to tend towards national * The strike was amongst the South Staffordshire colliers: the law laid down in the article that of free trade. f Upon the then recent and miserable death of an Irish gentleman, who had been an habitual hard-drinker. 40 LETTERS ON POLITICAL ECOXOMT. [1864. wealth? and whether a demand for intrinsically bad things, and relative experience in their use, be not conditions likely to lead to quite the reverse of national wealth, in exact pro- portion to tlie facility of the supply of the said bad tilings ? I should be entirely grateful to you. Sir, or to any of your cor- respondents, if you or they would answer these short questions clearly for me. I am, Sir, yours, etc., J. KUSKLN.* Denmark Hill, Oct. 26. [From "The Daily Telegraph," October 31, 1864.] THE LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND To tJie Editor of " The Daily Telegraph:' Sir : I am grateful to your correspondent " Economist " for trying his hand on me, and will be a docile pupil ; but I hope his hand is not quite untried hitherto, for it ^Vould waste your space, and my time, and your readers' patience, if he taught me what I had afterwards to unlearn. But I think none of these will be wasted if he answers my questions clearly ; there are, I am sure, many innocent persons who, like myself, will be glad of the information. 1. He tells me, then, in the outset, " The intrinsic value of commodities is a question outside political economy." Is that an axiom for all political economists ? and may I put it down for future reference ? I particularly wish to be assured of this. 2. Assuming, for the present, that I may so set it down, and that exchangeable value is the only subject of politico- economical inquiry, I proceed to my informant's following statement : * To this letter an answer {Daily Telegraph, October 29) was attempted by "Economist," writing from "Lloyds, Oct. 28," stating that "Value in political economy means exchangeable value, not intrinsic value." The rest of his letter is given in Mr. Ruskin's reply to it. 1864. j THE LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND. 41 '' Tlie" (question) "of intrinsic value belongs to the domain of pliilusupliy, morals, or statecraft. The intrinsic value of anything depends on its (puilities ; the exchangeable value depends on how much there is of it, and how much people want it." (This " want" of it never, of course, in anywise depending on its qualities.) May Oar CO. Accordingly, in that ancient and rashly-specu- lative adage, " Venture a sprat to catch a herring," it is only assumed that people will always want herrings rather than sprats, and that there will always be fewer of them. No reference is involved, according to economists, to the relative sizes of a sprat and herring. Farther : Were a fashionable doctor to write an essay on sprats, and increase their display at West-end tables to that extent that unseasonable sprats became worth a guinea a head, while herrings remained at the old nursery rate of one and a half for three-halfpence, would my " recognition" of the value of sprats in paying a guinea for one enable me to dine off it better than I should off that mysterious eleven-pennyworth of herrine: ? Or to take a more elevated instance. There is now on my room wall a water-color drawing, which was once bought for £30, and for which any dealer would to-morrow give me £300. The drawing is intrinsically worth about one- tenth of what it was when bought for £30, the sky having faded out of it, and many colors having changed elsewhere. But men's minds have changed like the colors, and Lord A. or Sir John B. are now ready to give me £300 instead of £30 for it. Now, I want to know what it matters to " Economist," or to the Economical Society he (as I understand) represents, or to the British nation generally, whether Lord A. has the bit of colored paper and I the £300, or Lord A. the £300 and I the bit of paper. The pounds are there, and the paper is there : what does it nittionally matter which of us have which ? Farther : What does it nationally matter whether Lord A. gives me £30 or £300 on the exchange ? (Mind, I do not saj 42 LETTERS ON POLITICAL ECONOMY. [1864. it does not matter — I only want '' Economist" to tell me if it does, and how it does.) In one case my lord has £270 more to spend ; in the other I have. What does it signify which of US has ? Farther : To ns, the exchangers, of w^hat use is " Econo- mist's" information that the rate of exchange depends on the "demand and supply" of colored paper and ponnds? No ghost need come from the grave to tell us that. But if any economical ghost would tell my lord how to get more ponnds, or me how to get more drawings, it might be to the purpose. But yet farther, passing from specialties to generals : Let the entire property of the nation be enumerated in the several articles of which it consists — a^ &, c, d, etc. ; we will say only three, for convenience sake. Then all the national property consists oi a-\-h-\-c. I ask, first, what a is worth. " Economist" answers (suppose) 2 h. I ask, next, what h is worth. " Economist" answers (suppose) 3 c. I ask, next, what c is worth. " Economist" answers — -^. Many thanks. That is certainly Cocker's view of it. I ask, finally. What is it all worth ? " Economist" answers. If a, or 3J Z>, or 10 c. Thanks again. But now, intrinsic value not being in " Economist's" domain, but — if I chance to be a philosopher — in mine, I may any day discover any given intrinsic value to belong to any one of these articles. Suppose I find, for instance, the value of c to be intrinsi- cally zero, then the entire national property = 10 c = intrin- sically 0. Shall I be justified in this conclusion ? 3. In relation to the question of strikes, the difiiculty, you told me yourself, Mr. Editor * (and doubtless " Economist" will tell me also), dej^ends simply on supply and demand : that * See ante, p. 39. 1864.] THE LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND. 43 is to say, on an iindcr-supply of wages and an over-supply of laborers. Profoiuidest thanks again ; but I, poor blundering, thick-headed collier, feel disposed further to ask, "On what do this underness and overness of supply depend ?" Have they any remote connection with marriage, or with improvidence, or with avarice, or with accumulativeness, or any other human weaknesses out of the ken of political economy ? And, what- ever they arise from, how are they to be dealt with? It appears to me, poor simple collier, that the shortest way of dealing with this " darned " supply of laborers will be by knocking some of them down, or otherwise disabling them for the present. Why is this mode of regulating the supply inter- dicted to me? and what have Economists to do with the morality of any proceeding whatever? and, in t.ie name of economy generally, what else can I do ? * I am, Sir, yours, etc., J. RusKm. Denmark Hill, Oct. 29. [Monday.] [From " The Daily Telegraph," Novembers, 1864.] THE LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND. lo the Editor of " The Daily Telegraph^ Sir : Having, unfortunately, occupation enough in my own business for all hours of the day, I cannot undertake to reply to the general correspondence which might, in large supply to my limited demand, propose itself in your columns. If my first respondent, " Economist," or any other person learned in his science, will give me direct answers to the direct questions asked in my JVIonday's letter, I may, with your permission, * " Economist" does not seem to have continued his argument. A reply to this letter was however attempted by "John Phimmer," writing from Kettering, and dealing with the over-supply of laborers and under-supply of wages, and Mr. Ruskin's possible views on the matter. The next letter ended the correspondence. 44 LETTERS OX POLITICAL ECONOMY, [1873. follow tlie points at issue farther ; if not, I will trouble jon no more. Your corresp'ondent of to-day, Mr. Plumnier, may ascertain whether I confuse the terms "value" and "price" by reference to the bottom of the second column in page 787 of " Frascr's Magazine" for June, 1862. Of my opinions respect- ing the treatment of the Avorking classes he knows nothing, and can guess nothing.''^ I am, Sir, yours, etc., J. KUSKLN^. Denmark Hill, Nov. 2 [From "The Scotsman," November 10, 1873.] MB. BUSKIN AND PBOFESSOR HODGSON. Corpus Christi College, Oxford, Nov. Sth, 1873. To the Editor of " The Scotsman." SiK : In your impression of the 6th inst. I find a report of a lecture delivered by Professor Hodgson in the University of Edinburgh on the subject of " Supply and Demand," in which the Professor speaks of my " denunciations" of the principles he had expounded. Permit me, in a matter respecting which accuracy is of more importance to others than to myself, to correct the Professor's expression. I have never " denounced " the principles expounded by the Professor. I have simply stated that no such principles exist; that no "law of supply and demand," as expounded by Professor Hodgson and modern economists, ever did or can exist. Professor Hodgson, as reported in your columns, states that * In the "Essays on Political Economy," since reprinted as " IMnnera Pulveris." See p. 10, § 12 of that book, where the passage is printed in italics: "The reader must, by anticipation, be warned against confusing value with cost, or with price. Value is the life-giving power of anything; cost, the quantity of labor required to produce it; price, the quantity of labor which its possessor will take in exchange for it." 1873.] MR. RU.SKIN AND PliOl-KSSOR IIODGSOX. 45 " demand regulates supply.*' lie does not appear to entertain the incomparably more important economical question, "What regulates demand f But without pressing upon him that first (piestion of all, I am content absolutely to contradict and to challenge him before the University of Edinburgh to maintain his statement that " demand regulates supply," and together with it (if he has ventured to advance it) the correlative propo- sition, '' supply regulates demand." A. Demand does not regulate supply. For instance — there is at this moment a larger demand for champagne wine in England and Scotland than there was ten years ago ; and a much more limited supj^ly of champagne wine. B. Supply does not regulate demand. For instance — I can name many districts is Scotland where the supply of pure water is larger than in other namable locali- ties, but where the inhabitants drink less water and more whiskey than in other namable localities. I do not therefore denounce the so-called law of supply and demand, but I absolutely deny the existence of such law ; and I do in the very strongest terms denounce the assertion of the existence of such a law before the University of Edinburgh as disgraceful both to its assertor and to the University, unless immediate steps be taken to define, in scientific terms, the limi tations under which such statement is to be understood. I am, etc., Jonx Tii-sKiN."^ * To this letter Professor Hodgson replied by one printed in the Scots- man of November 1-4. 46 LETTERS Oiq^ POLITICAL ECONOMY. [1873. [From " The Scotsman," November 18, 1873.] MR. RUSKIN AND PROFESSOR HODGSON. Oxford, November 15, 1873. To the Editor of " The Scotsman." Sir : For Professor Hodgson's " undue encroachments on your space and his own time," I leave you to answer to your readers, and the Professor to console his class. To his criti- cisms on my language and temper I bow, their defence being irrelevant to the matter in hand. Of his harmless confusion of the word " correlative" with the word " consequent" I take no notice; and his promise of a sifting examination of my economic teaching I anticipate with grateful a-we.^^ But there is one sentence in his letter of real significance, and to that alone I reply. The Professor ventured (he says) to suggest that possibly I with others ^' believe that economists confused existing demand with wise and beneficial demand, and existing supply with wise and beneficial supply." I do believe this. I have written all my books on political economy in such belief. And the entire gist of them is the assertion that a real law of relation holds between the non- existent wise demand and the non-existent beneficial supply, but that no real law of relation holds between the existent foolish demand and the existent mischievous supply. That is to say (to follow Professor Hodgson with greater accuracy into his lunar illustrations), if you ask for the moon, it does not follow that you will get it ; nor is your satisfaction more secure if you ask for sixpence from a Poor-Law guardian ; but if you limit your demand to an honest penny, and endeavor to turn it by honest work, the divine law of supply will, in the plurality of cases, answer that rational and therefore divine demand. * "I hereby promise Mr. Ruskin that ere very many months are over he shall have in print a sifting examination of his economic teaching." I do not find, however, that Professor Hodgson fulfilled his promise. 1873.] MR. RL-SKIX AND PROFKSSOU HODGSON. 47 Xow, Professor Hodgson's stateincnt, as reported in your columns, was that *' denuind regulates supply." If bis asser- tion, in his lecture, was the qualitied one, or that '' wise demand regulates beneficial supply," your reporter is much to be blamed, the Professor's chiss profoundly to be congratulated, and this correspondence is at an end ; while I look forward with deepest interest to the necessary elucidations by the Professor of the nature of wisdom and benefit ; neither of these ideas havintr o been yet familiar ones in common economical treatises. But I wrote under the impression that the Professor dealt hitherto, as it has been the boast of economists to deal, with thinors existent, and not theoretical (and assuredly the practical men of this country expect their children to be instructed by him in the laws which govern existing tilings); and it is therefore only in the name of your practical readers that I challenged him, and to-day repeat my challenge, in terms from which I trust he will not again attempt to escape by circumambient criticism of my works,* to define, in scientific terms, the limits under which his general statement that "supply regulates demand " is to be understood. That is to say, whether he, as Professor of Political Economy, is about to explain the rela- tions (a) of rational and satiable demand with beneficial and benevolently-directed supply ; or (b) of irrational and insatiable demand with mischievous and malevolently-directed supply; or (c) of a demand of which he cannot explain the character with a supply of which he cannot predict the consequence ? I am, etc., J. KUSKIN. * Professor Hodgson's letter had quoted, with criticism, several passages from "Fors Clavigera," "Munera Pulveris," and "Time and Tide." 48 LETIEKS 02^ POLITICAL ECONOMY. [1865. [From " The PaU MaU Gazette," April 18, 1865.] STRIKES V. ARBITRATION. To the Editor of " The PaU Mall Gazette." Sir : I read jour Gazette so attentively that I am always falling into arrears, and have only to-day arrived at your last week's articles on strikes, arbitration, etc., which afford me the greatest satisfaction, but nevertheless embarrass me somewhat. Will you permit me to ask for a word or two of further eluci- dation ? I am an entirely selfish person, and having the means of indulging myself (in moderation), should, I believe, have led a comfortable life, had it not been for occasional fits and twinges of conscience, to which I inherit some family predisposition, and from which I suffer great uneasiness in cloudy weather. Articles like yours of Wednesday,* on i\\Q proper attention to one's own interests, are very comforting and helpful to me ; but, as I said, there are yet some })oints in them I do not under- stand. Of course it is right to arrange all one's business with refer- ence to one's own interest ; but what will the practical differ- ence be ultimately between such arrangement and the old and simple conscientious one ? In those bygone days, I remember, one endeavored, with such rough estimate as could be quickly made, to give one's Roland for one's Oliver ; if a man did you a service, you tried in return to do as much for him ; if he * The articles alluded to were, one upon "Strikes and Arbitration Courts," in the Gazette of Wednesday, the 12th, and one on "The Times on Trade Arbitration," in the Gazette of Thursday, the 13th. The former dealt with the proposal to decide questions raised by strikes by reference to courts of arl)itration. Amongst the sentences contained in it, and alluded to by Mr. Ruskin, were the following: " Phrases about the ' princi- ples of right and justice' are always suspicious and generally fallacious." "The rate of wages is determined exclusively by self-interest." "There is no such thing as a ' fair ' rate of wages or a ' just ' rate of wages." 1865.] STKIKES V. ARBITRATION. 49 broke your head, yoii bi'oke liis, sliook hands, and were both tlie better for it. Contrariwise, on this modern principle of self-interest, I understand very well that if a man does me a service, I am always to do the least I can in return for it; but I don't see how I am always to get more out of him than he gets out of me. I dislike any references to abstract justice as much as you do, but I cannot see my way to keepin<;- this injus- tice always in my own favor ; and if 1 cannot, it seems to me the matter may as well be settled at first, as it must come to be settled at last, in that disagreeably just way. Thus, for instance, in producing a piece of iron for the mar- ket, one man digs it, another smelts it, another puddles it, and I sell it. We get so much between us four ; and I suppose your conscientious people would say that the division of the pay should have some reference to the hardness of the work, and the time spent in it. It is true that by encouraging the diggers and puddlers to spend all they get in drink, and by turning them olf as soon as I hear they are laying by money, it may yet be possible to get them for some time to take less than I suppose they should have; but I cannot hide from my- self that the men are beginning to understand the game a little themselves ; and if they should, with the help of those con- founded — (I beg pardon! I forgot that one does not print such expressions in Pall Mall) — education-mongers, learn to be men, and to look after their own business as I do mine, what am I to do? Even at present I don't feel easy in telling them that I ought to have more money than they because I know better how to spend it, for even this involves a distant reference to notions of propriety and principle which I would gladly avoid. Will you kindly tell me what is best to be done (or said) ? I am, Sir, your obliged servant, John Rusein. Easier Monday, 1865. 50 LETTERS OX POLITICAL ECONOMY. [1865. [From the " Pall Mall Gazette," April 21, 1865.] WORK AND WAGES. To the Editor of " TJie Pall Mall Gazette." Sir : I am not iisnally unready for controversy, but I dis- like it in spring, as I do the east wind {j^ace Mr. Kingsley), and I both regret having given occasion to the only dull leader which has yet * appeared in the Pall Mall Gazette^ and the necessity I am involved in of dissecting the same, instead of a violet, on which I was about this morning to begin operations.' But I see. Sir, that you mean fairly, and that you have careful thinkers and writers on your staff. And I will accept your battle, if you will light with short swords, which is clearly your interest, for such another article would sink the Gazette j and mine, for I have no time to answer s]3eculations on what you writers suppose my opinions may be, ^' if we understand " them. You shall understand them utterly, as I already understand yours. I will not call yours "fallacies" a priori ; you shall not call mine so. I will not tell you of your " unconscious" meanings ; you shall not tell me of mine.f But I will ask you the plainest questions, and make to you the plainest answers my English will admit of, on one point at a time only, expecting you also to ask or answer as briefly, without divergence or deprecation. And twenty lines will always contain all I would say, at any intervals of time you choose. * The Gazette was at this time of little more than eight weeks' standing. The dull leader was that in the Gazette of April 19, entitled " Masters and Men," and dealt entirely with Mr. Ruskin's letter on strikes. The ''pace Mr. Kingsley" alludes, of course, to his " Ode to the North-East Wind." f The leader had hegun by speaking of Mr. Ruskin's previous letter as " embodying fallacies, pernicious in the highest degree," and concluded by remarking how "easily and unconsciously he glided into the true result of his principles." 1865.] WORK AND WAGES. 51 For example : I said I must " dissect" your leader, meaning that I should have to take a piece of it, as I would of my flower, and deal with that first ; then with its sequences. I take this sentence then : " lie (Mr. R.) seems to think that apart from the question of the powers of the parties, there is some such thing as a just rate of wages. He seems to be under the impression that the wages ought to be propor- tioned, not to the supply and demand of labor and capital, but * to the hardship of the work and the time spent in it.' " Yes, Sir, I am decisively under that impression — as deci- sively as ever Greek coin was under its impression. You will beat me out of all shape, if you can beat me out of this. Will you join issue on it, and are these following statements clear enough for you, either to accept or deny, in as positive terms? — I. A man should in justice be paid for two hours' work twice as much as for one hour's work, and for n hours' work n times as much, if the effort be similar and continuous. II. A man should in justice be paid for difficult or danger- ous work proportionately more than for easy and safe work, supposing the other conditions of the work similar. III. (And now look out, for this proposition involves the ultimate principle of all just wages.) If a man does a given quantity of work for me, I am bound in justice to do, or pro- cure to be done, a precisely equal cjuantity of work for him ; and just trade in labor is the exchange of equivalent quantities of labor of different kinds. If you pause at this word " equivalent," you shall have definition of it in my next letter. I am sure you will in fair- ness insert this challenge, whether you accept it or decline. I am, Sir, your obliged servant, John Ruskin.* Denmark Hill, Thursday, April 20. * In reply, the Gazette denied "each of the three propositions to be true," on grounds shown in the quotations given in the following letter. 52 LETTEKS ON POLITICAL ECOKOMY. [1865. [From " The Pall Mall Gazette," April 25, 1865.] WOBK AND WAGES. To the Editor of " The Pall Mall Gazette." SiK : I accept your terms, and reply in the fewest words I can. I. You " see no injustice in hiring a fly for ^s. 6d. for the first hour and 1^. 6d. for each succeeding one." Nor I either ; so far from it, that I never give a cabman less than a shilling; which I doubt not is j^our practice also, and a very proper one. The cabmen make no objection, and you could not have given a neater instance of the proportion of payment to labor which you deny. You pay in the first hour for the various trouble involved in taking the man off his stand, and for a proportion of the time during which he has waited for the chance of your custom. That paid, you hire him by the formula which I state, and you deny. II. " Danger and diflSculty have attractions for some men." They have, and if, under the influence of those attractions, they choose to make you a present of their labor, for love (in your own terms,^ " as you give a penny to a beggar"), you may accept the gift as the beggar does, without question of justice. But if they do not choose to give it you, they have a right to higher payment. My guide may perhaps, for love, play at climbing Mont Blanc with me ; if he will not, he has a right to be paid more than for climbing the Breven. III. "Mr. Ruskin can define justice, or any other word, as he chooses." It is a gracious permission ; but suppose justice be some- thing more than a word ! When you derived it iromjussmyi-f (falsely, for it is not derived iromjussum, but from the root of * These "terms" were simply that the Gazette should have the right of determining how much of the proposed controversy was worth its space, t In the article of April 12. 1865.] WORK AXD WAGES. 53 jiingo)^ you forgot, or ignored, that tlie Saxons had also a word for it, by which the English workman still pleads for it ; that the Greeks had a word for it, by which Plato and St. Paul reasoned of it ; and that the Powers of Heaven have, presum- ably, an idea of it with which it may be well for '' our interests" that your definition, as well as mine, should ultimately corre- spond, since their ''detinitions" are commonly not by a word but a blow. But accepting for the nonce your own conception of it as "the fulfilment of a compulsory agreement" ("the wages" you say ''which yoM force the men to take, and they c'^.\\ force you to pay"), allow me to ask your definition of force, or com- pulsion. As thus: {Case 1.) I agree with my friend that we will pay a visit to Mr. A. at two in the morning. My friend agrees with me that he will hold a pistol to Mr. A.'s head. Under those circumstances, I agree with Mr. A. that I shall remove his plate without expression of objection on his part. Is this agreement, in your sense, "• jussum^''\ {Case 2.) Mr. B. goes half through the ice into the canal on a frosty morning. I, on the shore, agree with Mr. B. that I shall have a hundred pounds for throwing him a rope. Is this agreement validly ^^jussurrC^ ? The first of these cases expresses in small compass the general nature of arrangements under compulsory circum- stances over which one of the parties has entire control. The second, that of arrangements made under circumstances acci- dentally compulsory, when the capital is in one party's hands exclusively. For you will observe Mr. B. has no right what- ever to the use of my rope : and that capital (though it would probably have been only the final result of my operations with respect to Mr. A.) makes me completely master of the situation with reference to Mr. B. I am, Sir, your obliged servant, John Kuskin.* Denmark Hill, Saturday, Apnl 22, 1865. * For the Oazette's reply to this, see the notes to the following letter. 54 LETTERS OX POLITICAL ECOKOMY. [1865. [From " The Pall Mall Gazette," May 2, 1885.] WORK AND WAQE8. To fhe Editor of " Tlie Pall Mall Gazette." Sir : I have not hastened my reply to your last letter, think- ing that your space at present would be otherwise occupied ; having also my own thoughts busied in various directions, such as you may fancy ; yet busied chiefly in a sad wonder, which perhaps you would not fancy. I mourn for Mr. Lincoln,"^ as man should mourn the fate of man, w4ien it is sudden and supreme. I hate regicide as I do populicide — deeply, if frenzied ; more deeply, if deliberate. But my w^onder is in remembering the tone of the English people and press respecting this man during his life ; and in comparing it with their sayings of him in his death. They caricatured and reviled him when his cause was poised in deadly balance — when their praise would have been grateful to him, and their help priceless. They now declare his cause to have been just, when it needs no aid ; and his purposes to have been noble, when all human thoughts of them have become vanity, and will never so much as mix their murmurs in his ears with the sentence of the Tribunal which has summoned him to receive a juster praise and tenderer blame than ours. I have twice (I see) used the word " just " inadvertently, forgetting that it has no meaning, or may mean (you tell me) quite what we choose ; and that so far as it has a meaning, "the important question is not whether the action is just." Indeed w^hen I read this curious sentence in your reply on Tuesday last, " Justice, as we use it, implies merely the con- * President Lincoln was shot while in his private box at Ford's Theatre, Washington, on the night of April 14, 1865, and died early the next morning. His assassin, J. Wilkes Booth, was pursued to Caroline County, Virginia, where he was fired on by the soldiery and killed. A letter was found upon him ascribing his conduct to his devotion to the Southern States. 1865.] WORK AND WAGES. 55 formitj of an action to any rules wliatever, good or bad," I had nearly closed the discussion by telling you that there remained no ground on which we could meet, for the English workmen, in whose name I wrote to you, asked, not for con- formity with bad rules, but enactment of good ones. But I will not pounce upon these careless sentences, which you are forced to write in all haste, and at all disadvantage, while I have the definitions and results determined through years of quiet labor, lying ready at my hand. You never meant what you wrote (when I said I would not tell you of unconscious meanings, I did not promise not to tell you of unconscious wants of meanings) ; but it is for you to tell me what you mean by a bad rule, and what by a good one. Of the law of the Eternal Lawgiver, it is dictated that " the commandment is holy, and just, and good." ]N'ot merely that it is a law ; but that it is such and such a law. Are these terms senseless to you ? or do you understand by them only that the observance of that law is generally conducive to our interests ? And if so, what are our interests ? Have we ever an interest in heing some- thing, as well as in getting something ; may not even all getting be at last summed in being ? is it not the uttermost of inter- ests to be just rather than unjust? Let us' leave catching at phrases, and try to look in each other's faces and hearts ; so define our thoughts ; then reason from them. [See below.] - Yet, lest you say I evade you in generalities, here is present answer point by point. I. " The fare has nothing to do with the labor in preparing the fly for being hired." — Nor, of course, the price of any article with the labor expended in preparing it for being sold ? This will be a useful note to the next edition of " Kicardo." [The price depends on the relative forces of the buyer and the seller. The price asked by the seller no doubt depends on the labor expended. The price given by the buyer depends on the degree in which he desires to possess the thing sold, which has nothing to do with the labor laid out on it.] * The bracketed [sic] interpolations are the remarks of the Gazette, 66 LETTERS ON POLITICAL ECONOMY. [1865. The answer to your instances* is that all just price involves an allowance for average necessary, not for unnecessary, labor. The just price of coals at Newcastle does not involve an allow- ance for their carriage to Newcastle. But the just price of a cab at a stand involves an allowance to the cabman for having stood there. [Why ? who is to determine what is necessary ?] II. " This admits the principle of Bargaining." No, Sir ; it only admits the principle of Begging. If you like to ask your guide to give you his legs for nothing, or your work- man his arms for nothing, or your shopkeeper his goods for nothing, and they consent, for love, or for play — you are doubtless both dignified and fortunate ; but there is no question of trade in the matters ; only of Alms. [AYe mean by Alms money or goods given merely from motives of benevo- lence, and without return. In the case supposed the guide goes one mile to please himself, and ten more for hire, which satisfies him. How does he give Alms? He goes for less money than he otherwise would require, because he likes the job, not because his employer likes it. The Alms are thus given by himself to himself.] III. It is true that " every one can affix to words any sense he chooses." * But if I pay for a yard of broadcloth, and the shopman cuts me three-quarters, I shall not put uj:* with my loss more patiently on being informed that Bishop Butler meant by justice something quite different from what Bentham meant by it, or that to give for every yard three-quarters, is the rule of that establishment. [If the word "yard" were as ambiguous as the word "justice," Mr. Ruskin ought to be much obliged to the shopman for defining his sense of it, especially if he gave you full notice before he cut the cloth.] Further, it is easy to ascertain the uses of words by the best scholars — [Nothing is more difficult. To ascertain what Locke meant by an " idea," or Sir W. Hamilton by the word " incon- * One of the instances given by the Gazette on this point was that a sov- ereign made of Californian gold will not buy more wool at Sydnej^ than a sovereign made of Australian gold, although far more labor will have been expended in bringing it to Sydney. 1865] WORK AND WAGES. 57 ceivable," is no easy task.] — and well to adopt them, because they are sure to he founded on the feehngs of gentlemen. — • [Different gentlemen feel and think in very different ways. Though we differ from Mr. Ruskin, we hope he will not deny this.] Thus, when Horace couples his tenaceni propositi with Justufn, he means to assert tliat the tenacity is only noble which is justilied by uprightness, and shows itself by insuffer- ance of the jussa ^' prava juhentiumy And although Portia does indeed accept your delinition of justice from the lips of Shylock, changing the divine, " who sweareth to his own hurt, and changetli not '' into the somewhat less divine '' who swear- eth to his neighbor's liurt and changeth not ;'' and though she carries out his and your conception of such justice to the utter- most, the result is not, even in Shylock's view of it, " for the interest of both parties." lY. To your two final questions "exhausting" (by no means, my dear Sir, I assure you) '• the points at issue," * I * The Gazette's criticism on the previous letter had conchided thus: The following questions exhaust the points at issue between Mr. Ruskin and ourselves: Is every man bound to purchase any service or any goods offered him at a "just" price, he having the money? If yes, there is an end of private property. If no, the purchaser must be at liberty to refuse to buy if it suits his interest to do so. Suppose he does refuse, and thereupon the seller offers to lower his price, it being his interest to do so, is the purchaser at liberty to accept that offer? If yes, the whole principle of bargaining is admitted, and the "justice" of the price becomes immaterial. If no, each party of the supposition is compelled by justice to sacrifice their interest. Why should they do so? The following is an example: The "just" price of a guide up Mont Blanc is (suppose) 100 francs. I have only 50 francs to spare. May I with out injustice offer the 50 francs to a guide, who would otherwise get nothing, and may he without injustice accept my offer? If not, I lose my excursion, and he loses his opportunity of earning 50 francs. Why should this be? In addition to the above interpolations, the Gazette appended a note to this letter, in which it declared its definition of justice to be a quotation from memory of Austin's definition adopted by him from Ilobbes, and after referring Mr. Ruskin to Austin for the mnraf bearings of the question, con- 58 LETTERS ON POLITICAL ECONOMY. [1865. reply in both cases, " No." And to your plaintive ^' why should they do so ?" while, observe, I do not admit it to be a monstrous requirement of men that they should sometimes sacrifice their own interests, I would for the present merely answer that I have never found my own interests seriously compromised by my practice, which is, when I cannot get the fair price of a thing, not to sell it, and when I cannot give the fair price of a thing, not to buy it. The other day, a dealer in want of money oifered me a series of Hartz minerals for two- thirds of their value. I knew their value, but did not care to spend the entire sum which would have covered it. I there- fore chose forty specimens out of the seventy, and gave the dealer what he asked for the whole. In the example you give, it is not the interest of the guide to take his fifty francs rather than nothing ; because all future travellers, though they could afford the hundred, would then say, '' You went for fifty ; we will give you no more." [Does a man say to a broker, " You sold stock yesterday at 90 ; I will pay no more to-day" ?] And for me, if I am not able to pay my hundred francs, I either forego Mont Blanc, or climb alone ; and keep my fifty francs to pay at another time, for a less service, some man who also would have got nothing other- wise, and who will be honestly paid by what I give him, for what I ask of him. I am, Sir, your obliged servant, John Ruskin, Saturday, 29th April, 1865. eluded by summing up its views, which it doubted if Mr. Ruskin under- stood, and insisting on the definition of " justice" as " conformity with any rule whatever, good or bad," and on that of good rules as "those which promote the general happiness of those whom they affect." (See the next letter.) 1865.J WOKK AxND WAGES. OU [From " The Pall Mall Gazette," May 9, 1865.] WOIiK AM) WAGES. To the Editor of " T7ie Pall Mall Gazette. " ' Sir : I am under the impression tliat we are botli gcttini^ prosy, or, at all events, that no one will read either my last letter, or your comments upon it, in the places in which you have so gracefully introduced them. For which I am sorry, and you, I imagine, are not. It is true that differences of feeling may exist among gentlemen ; yet I think that gentlemen of all countries agree that it is rude to interru23t your opponent while he is speaking ; for a futile answer gains no real force by becoming an inter- jection ; and a strong one can abide its time. I will therefore pray you, in future, if you publish my letters at all, to practice towards them so much of old English manners as may yet be found lingering round some old English dinner- tables ; where, though we may be compelled by fashion to turn the room into a green-house, and serve everything cold, the pieces de resistance are still presented whole, and carved afterwards. Of course it is open to you to reply that I dislike close argument. Which little flourish being executed, and if you are well breathed — en (jarde^ if you ])lease. I. Your original position was that wages (or price) bear no relation to hardship of work. On that I asked you to join issue. You now admit, though with apparent reluctance, that '' the price asked by the seller, no doubt, depends on the labor expended." The price asked by the seller has, I believe, in respectable commercial houses, and respectable shops, very approximate relation to the price paid by the buyer. I do not know if yon are in the habit of asking, from your ^vine-merchant or tailor, reduction of price on the ground that the sum remitted will be " alms to themselves ;" but, having been myself in some- 60 LETTERS ON" POLITICAL ECOi^^OMY. [1865. what intimate connection with a house of business in the City,* not dishonorably accounted of during the last forty years, I know enough of their correspondents in every important town in the United Kingdom to be sure that they will bear me witness that the difference between the prices asked and the prices taken was always a very "imagi- nary" quantity. But urging this no farther for the present, and marking, for gained ground, only your admission that " the price asked depends on the labor expended," will you farther tell me, wliether that dependence is constant, or variable ? If constant, under what law ; if variable, within what limits ? II. " The alms are thus given by himself to himself." I never said they were not. 1 said it was a question of alms, not of trade. And if your original leader had only been an exhortation to English workmen to consider every diminution of their pay, in the picturesque though perhaps somewhat dim, religious liglit of alms paid by themselves to themselves, I never should have troubled you with a letter on the subject. For, singular enough, Sir, this is not one of the passages of your let- ters, however apparently indefensible, which I care to attack. So far from it, in my own serious writings I have always maintained that the best work is done, and can only be done, for love.f But the point at issue between us is not whether there should be charity, but whether there can be trade ; not whether men may give away their labor, but whether, if they do not choose to do so, there is such a thing as a price for it. And my statement, as opposed to yours, is briefly this — that for all laboi*, there is, under given circumstances, a just price approximately determinable ; that every conscious deflection from this price towards zero is either gift on the part of the * That of Messrs. Ruskin, Telford Domecq, in which Mr. Ruskin's father, "who began life as a wine-merchant" ("Fors Clavigera," Letter 10, p. 5, 1871), had been a partner. t See § 41 of "The Crown of Wild Olive," p. 50 of the 1873 edition. "None of the best head-work in art, literature, or science, is ever paid for. . . . It is indeed very clear that God means all ihorouglily good work and talk to be done for nothin<>." 1865.J WORK AXD WAGES. 61 laborer, or theft on the part of the employer; and that all payment in conscious excess of this price is either theft on the part of the laborer, or gift on that of the employer. III. If you wish to substitute the w^ord '' moral " for "just" in the above statement, I am prepared to allow the substitution ; only, as you, not I, introduced this new word, I must pray for your definition of it first, whether remembered from Mr. Hobbes, or original. lY. I am sorry you doubt my understanding your views ; but, in that case, it may be well to ask for a word or two of farther elucidation. " Justice," you say, is " conformity with any nile Avhatever, good or bad." And " good rules are rules which promote the general happiness of those whom they affect." And bad rules are (therefore) rules wdiicli promote the general misery of those whom they affect i Justice, therefore, may as often as not promote the general misery of those who practice it ? Do you intend this ? * Again : " Good rules are rules which promote the general happiness of those whom they affect." But "the greatest happiness of the greatest number is best secured by laying down no rule at all" (as to the price of "labor"). Do you propose this as a sequitur ? for if not, it is merely a petitio princiini^ and a somewhat w^ide one. Before, there- fore, we branch into poetical questions concerning happiness, we will, with your permission, and according to my original stipulation, that we should dispute only of one point at a time, determine the matters already -at issue. To which end, also, I leave without reply some parts of your last letter ; not without a little strain on the '^'pno^ oSovtodv^ for which I think. Sir, you may give me openly, credit, if not tacitly, thanks, I am. Sir, your obliged servant, JOHX RUSKIN. Denmark Hill, May 4. * " Yes. But, generally speaking, rules are beneficial ; hence, generally speaking, justice is a good thing in fact. A state of society might be imagined in which it would be u hideously bad thing." — (Foot-note answer of the Gazette.) LETTEKS OK POLITICAL ECONOMY. [1865. [From " The Pall Mall Gazette," May 22, 1865.] WOBK AND WAGES. To the Editor of " The Pall Mall Gazette:' Sir : I have long delayed my reply to yoiir notes on my last letter ; partly being otherwise busy — partly in a pause of surprise and doubt how low in the elements of ethics we were to descend. Let me, however, first assure you that I heartily concur in your opening remarks, and shall be glad to spare useless and avoid discourteous w^ords. When you said, in your first reply to me, that my letter embodied fallacies which appeared to you pernicious in the highest degree, /also ''could not consider this sort of language well judged." When you called one of your own questions an answer, and declared it to be " simple and perfectly conclusive," I thought the flourish might have been spared ; and for having accused you of writing carelessly, I must hope your pardon ; for the discourtesy, in my mind, Avould have been in imagining you to be writing with care. For instance, I should hold it discourteous to suppose you unaware of the ordinary distinction betw^een law and equity : yet no consciousness of such a distinction appears in your articles. I should hold it discourteous to doubt your acquaint- ance with the elementary principles laid down by the great jurists of all nations respecting Divine and Human law ; yet such a doubt forces itself on me if I consider your replies as deliberate. And I should decline to continue the discussion with an opponent who could conceive of justice as (under any circumstances) '' an hideously bad thing," if I did not suppose him to have mistaken the hideousness of justice, in certain phases, to certain persons, for its ultimate nature and power. There may be question respecting these inaccuracies of thouglit ' tliere can be none respecting the carelessness of 1865.] ' WORK AND WAGES. 63 expression which causes the phrases '' are" and " ought to be" to alternate in your articles as if they were alike in meaning. i have permitted this, that I miglit see the course of your argument in vour own terms, but it is now needful that the confusion should cease. That wages are determined by supply and demand is no proof that under any circumstances they must be — still less that under all circumstances they ought to be. Permit me, therefore, to know the sense in which you use the word '' ought " in your paragraph lettered J, page 832* (second column), and to ask whether the words "due," "duty," "devoir," and other such, connected in idea with the first and third of the " prrecepta juris" of Justinian, quoted by Black- stone as a summary of the whole doctrine of law {honeste vivere^ — alter um noii Imlere^ — suicmqve cuique trihuere)^ are without meaning to you except as conditions of agreement ? f Whether, in fact, there be, in your \'iew, any hono^^ absolutely ; or whether we are to launch out into an historical investigation of the several kinds of happiness enjoyed in lives of rapine, of selfish trade, and of unselfish citizenship, and to decide only upon evidence whether we will live as pirates, as pedlers, or as gentlemen i If so, while I shall be glad to see you undertake, independently, so interesting an inquiry, I must reserve my comments on it until its close. But if you admit an absolute idea of a " devoir " of one man to another, and of every honorable man to himself, teU me why you dissent from my statement of the terms of that debt in the opening of this discussion. Observe, I asked for no evangelical virtue of returning good for evil : I asked only for the Sinaitic equity of return in good for good, as for Sinaitic equity of return in evil for evil. " Eye for eye," " tooth for * Viz., "Wages ought to be proportioned to the supply and demand of labor and capital, and not to the hardship of the work and the time spent on it." t "Justitia est constans et perpetua voluntas suum cuique tribuendi .... Jurisprudcntia est divinarum atquc humanarum rerum notitia, justi atque injusti scientia." The third precept is given above. Justinian, "Inst." i. 1-3; and see Blackstone, vol. i. sectiou 2, "Of the Nature of Laws in General." Gi LETTERS OX POLITICAL ECOXOMY. . [1865. tooth" — be it so ; but will you thus pray according to the lex talionis and not according to the lex gratice f Your debt is on both sides. Does a man take of your life, you take also of his. Shall he give you of his life, and will you not give him also of yours ? If this be not your law of duty to him, tell me what other there is, or if you verily believe there is none. But you ask of such repayment, "Who shall determine how much ?" * I took no notice of the question, irrelevant when you asked it ; but in its broad bearing it is the one imperative question of national economy. Of old, as at bridge- foot of Florence, men regulated their revenge by the law of demand and supply, and asked in measureless anger, "Who shall determine how much ?" with economy of blood, such as we know. That "much" is now, with some approximate equity, determined at the judgment-seat, but for the other debt, the debt of love, we have no law but that of the wolf, and the locust, and the " fishes of the sea, which have no ruler over them." The workmen of England — of the world, ask for the return — as of w^rath, so of reward by law ; and for blood reso- lutely spent, as for that recklessly shed; for life devoted through its duration, as for that untimely cast away; they require from you to determine, in judgment, the equities of ''Human Retribution." I am, Sir, your faithful servant, J. EuSKIN.f May 20, 1865. * See ante, second interpolation of tlie Gazette, on p. 54. f The discussion was not continued beyond this letter, the Oazette judging any continuance useless, the difference between Mr. Ruskin and themselves being "one of first principles." 1867.J THE STAXDAIiD Of WAGES. G5 [From "The Pall Mall Gazette," May 1, 18«7. Reprinted also, with slight alterations, in " Time and Tide," App. vii.) TJIE STANDARD OF WAGES. To the Editor of " The Pall Mall Gazette:' Sir : In the course of jour yesterday's article on strikes * you liave very neatly and tei*sely expressed the primal fallacy of modern political economy — to wit, that the value of any piece of labor cannot be detined ; and that *' all that can be ascertained is simply whether any man can be got to do it for a certain sum.'- Now, Sir, the '' value'' of any piece of labor (/should have written " price," not " value,'' but it is no matter) — that is to say, the quantity of food and air which will enable a man to perform it without eventually losing any of his tiesh or nervous energy, is as absolutely fixed a quantity as the weight of powder necessary to carry a given ball a given distance. And within limits varying by exceedingly minor and unimportant circum- stances, it is an ascertainable quantity. 1 told the public this five years ago, and — under pardon of your politico-economical contributor, it is not a sentimental, but a chemical, fact. Let any half-dozen London physicians of recognized standing state in precise terms the quantity and kind of food, and space of lodging, they consider approximately necessary for the healthy life of a laborer in any given manufacture, and the number of " As regards "strikes," it is of interest to note the following amend nient proposed by Mr. Ruskin at a special meeting of the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science on the subject, held in 1868: " That, in the opinion of this meeting, the interests of workmen and their employers are at present opposed, and can only become identical when all are equally employed in defined labor and recognized duty, and all, from the highest to the lowest, are paid fixed salaries, proportioned to the value of their services and sufficient for their honorable maintenance in the situations of life properly occupied by them." — Diiily Telegraph, .July 16, 1868. 66 LETTERS ON POLITICAL ECOKOMY. [1873. hours lie may, without shortening his life, work at such busi- ness daily, if in such manner he be sustained. Let all masters be bound to give their men a choice between an order for that quantity of food and space of lodging, or the market wages for that specified number of hours of work. Proper laws for the maintenance of families would require further concession ; but in the outset, let but this law of wages be established, and if tlien we have more strikes, you may denounce them without one word of remonstrance either from sense or sensibility. I am, Sir, with sentiments of great respect, Your faithful servant, John Ruskin. Denmark Hill, April 30, 1867. [From "The Pall Mall Gazette," January 24, 1873.] HOW THE RICH SPEND THEIR MONET. To the Editor of ''The Pall Mall Gazette:' Sir: Here among the hills, I read little, and withstand, sometimes for a fortnight together, even the attractions of my Pall Mall Gazette. A friend, however, sent me, two days ago, your article signed W. R. Gr. on spending of money (January 13),* which, as I happened to have over-eaten myself the day before, and taken perhaps a glass too much besides of quite priceless port (Quarles Harris, twenty years in bottle), * The article, or rather letter, dealt with a paper on "The Labor Move- ment " by Mr. Goldwin Smith in the Contemporary Revieic of December, 1872, and especially with the following sentences in it : " When did wealth rear such enchanted pahices of luxury as it is rearing in England at the present day ? Well do I remember one of those palaces, the most con- spicuous object for miles round. Its lord was, I dare say, consuming the income of some hundreds of the poor laboring families around him. The thought that you are spending on yourself annually the income of six hun- dred laboring families seems to me as much as a man with a heart and a brain can bear." W. R G.'s letter argued that this " heartless expenditure all goes into the pockets" of the poor families, who are thus benefited by the selfish luxuries of the lord in his palace. 1873.] HOW THE RICH SPEND THEIR MOKEY. 6t would have been a great coiafort to my mind, showing me that if I had done some harm to myself, I had at least conferred benefit upon the poor by tliese excesses, had I not been left in some painful doubt, even at the end of W. R. G.'s most intel- ligent illustrations, whether I ought nut to have exerted myself further in the cause of humanity, and by the use of some catliartic process, such as appears to have been without incon- venience practised by the ancients, enabled myself to eat two dinners instead of one. But I write to you to-day, because if I were a poor man, instead of a (moderately) rich one, I am nearly certain that W. R. G.'s paper would suggest to me a question, which I am sure he will kindly answer in your columns, namely, " These means of living, which this generous and useful gentleman is so fortunately disposed to bestow on me — where does he get them himself f I am. Sir, your faithful servant, J. RusKix. Brantwood, Coniston, Jan. 23. [From " The Pall Mall Gazette," January 29, 1873.] HOW rilE RICH SPEND THEIR MONEY. To tlie Editor of " The Pall Mall Gazette." Sir : I am disappointed of my Gazette to-day, and shall be gi'ievously busy to-morrow. I think it better, therefore, to follow up my own letter, if you will permit me, with a simple and brief statement of the facts, than to wait till I see your correspondent W. R. G.'s reply, if he has vouchsafed me one. These are the facts. The laborious poor produce "the means of life" by their labor. Rich persons possess themselves by various expedients of a right to dispense these " means of life," and keeping as much means as they want of it for them- selves, and rather more, dispense the rest, usually only in return for more labor from the poor, expended in producing various 68 LETTEES ON POLITICAL ECONOMY. [1878. delights for the rich dispenser. The idea is now gradually entering poor men's minds, that they may as well keep in their own hands the right of distributing " the means of life'' they produce ; and employ themselves, so far as they need extra occupation, for their own entertainment or benefit, rather than that of other people. There is something to be said, neverthe- less, in favor of the present arrangement, but it cannot be defended in disguise ; and it is impossible to do more harm to the cause of order, or the rights of property, than by endeavors, such as that of your correspondent, to revive the absurd and, among all vigorous thinkers, long since exploded notion of the dependence of the poor upon the rich. I am. Sir, your obedient servant, J. EUSKIN. January 28. [From " The Pall Mall Gazette," January 31, 1873.] HOW THE RICH SPEND THEIR MONEY. To the Editor of " The Pall Mall GazetU." Sir : I have my Pall Mall Gazette of the 28th to-day, and must at once, with your permission, solemnly deny the insidi- osity of my question, " Where does the rich man get his means of living ?" I don't myself see how a more straigiit forward question could be put ! So straightforward indeed that I particularly dislike making a martyr of myself in answering it, as I must this blessed day — a martyr, at least, in the way of witness ; for if we rich people don't begin to speak honestly with our tongues, we shall, some day soon, lose them and our heads together, having for some time back, most of us, made false use of the one and none of the other. Well, for the point in question then, as to means of living : the most exem- plary manner of answer is simply to state how I got my own, or rather how my father got them for me. He and his partners entered into what your correspondent mellifluously 1873.] HOW THE RICH SPEXD THEIR MONEY. 69 styles " a mutually beneficent partnersliip,"'- with certain laborers in Spain. These laborers produced from the earth annually a certain number of bottles of wine. These produc- tions were sold by my father and his partners, who kept nine- tenths, or thereabouts, of the price themselves, and gave one-tenth, or thereabouts, to the laborers. In which state of mutual benelicence my father and his partners naturally became rich, and the laborers as naturally remained poor. Then my good father gave all his money to me (who never did a stroke of work in my life worth my salt, not to mention my dinner), and so far from finding his money ''grow" in my hands, I never try to buy anything with it ; but people tell me " money isn't what it was in your father's time, everything is so much dearer." I should be heartily glad to learn fi'om your corre- spondent as much pecuniary botany as will enable me to set my money a-growing ; and in the mean time, as I have thus given a quite indubitable instance of my notions of the way money is made, will he be so kind as to give us, not an heraldic example in the dark ages (though I suspect I know more of the pedigree of money, if he comes to that, than he does),t but a living example of a rich gentleman who has made his money l)y saving an equal portion of profit in some mutually beneficent partnership with his laborers ? I am, Sir, your obedient servant, J. RUSKIN. Brantwood, Coniston, King Charles the Martyr, 1873. P.S.— I see by Christie & Manson's advertisement that * W. R. G. had declared that the rich man (or his ancestors) got the money "by co-operation with the poor ... by, in fact, entering into a mutually beneficent partnership with them, and advancing them their share of the joint profits . . . paying them beforehand, in a word." f W. R. G. had written: "In nine cases out of ten, in the ca.se of acquired wealth, we should probably find, were the pedigi-ee traced fairly and far back enough, that the original difference between the now rich man and the now poor man was, that the latter habitually spent all his earnings, and the former habitually saved a portion of his in order that it might accumu- late and fructify." 70 LETTERS ON POLITICAL ECOKOMY. [1873. some of tlie best bits of work of a good laborer I once knew, J. M. W. Turner (the original plates namely of the " Liber Stiidiorum"), are just going to be destroyed by some of his affectionate relations. May I beg your correspondent to explain, for your readers' benefit, this charming case of hered- itary accumulation ? [Date and place of publication unknown.] COMMERCIAL MORALITY* My dear Sir : Mr. Johnson's speech in the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, which you favor me by sending, appears to me the most important event that has occurred in relation to the true interests of the country during my lifetime. It begins an era of true civilization. I shall allude to it in the " Fors" of March, and make it the chief subject of the one following (the matter of this being already prepared). f It goes far beyond what I had even hoped to hear admitted — how much less enforced so gravely and weightily in the com- mercial world. Believe me, faithfully yours, J. EUSKIN. * This letter was received from Mr. Ruskin by a gentleman in Man- chester, who had forwarded to him a copy of the speech made by Mr. Richard Johnson (President) at the fifty-fourth annual meeting of the ^Manchester Chamber of Commerce, Feb. 1, 1875. Mr. Johnson's address dealt with the immorality of cheapness, the duties of merchants and manu- facturers as public servants, and the nobility of trade as a profession which, when rightly and unselfishly conducted, would yield to no other "in the dignity of its nature and in the employment that it offers to the highest faculties of man." f In " Fors Clavigera," March, 1875, Mr. Johnson's speech is named (p. 54) as "the first living words respecting commerce which I have ever known to be spoken in England, in my time," but the discussion of it is postponed. 1877.] THE PRINCIPLES OF PROPERTY. 71 [From " The Monetary ami Mining Gazette," November 13, 1875.] TUE DEFINITION OF WEALTH. Corpus Ciikisti College, Oxford, 9^A Nocembcr, 1875. To the Editor of " i?ie Monetary Gazette:' Sir: I congratulate you with all my mind on the sense, and with all my heart on the courage, of your last Saturday's leading article, which I have just seen.* You have asserted in it the two vital principles of economy, that society cannot exist by i-eciprocal pilfering, but must produce wealth if it would have it ; and that money must not be lent, but administered by its masters. You have not yet, however, defined wealth itself, or told the ingenuity of the public what it is to produce. I have never been able to obtain this definition from economists ;t perhaps, under the pressure of facts, they may at last discover some meaning in mine at the tenth and eleventh pages of " Munera Pulveris." 1 am. Sir, your obedient servant, J. KUSKIN. [From "The Socialist," an Advocate of Love, Truth, Justice, etc. etc. Printed and Published by the Proprietor, W. Freeland, 52 Scotland Street, Sheffield, November. 1877.] THE PRINCIPLES OF PROPERTY. \m Oct., 1877. To the Editor of " The Social." Sir: Some Shefiield friend has sent me your fourth number, in the general teaching of which I am thankful to * The article was entitled, " What shall we do with it?" f At the meeting of the Social Science Association already alluded to (p. 4, note), Mr. Ruskin said that in 1858 he had in vain challenged Mr. Mill to define wealth. The passages referred to in " Muucra Pulveris" consist of the statement and explanation of the definition of Value. See ante, p. 63, note. 72 LETTERS ON POLITICAL ECONOMY. [1877. be able to concur without qualification : but let me earnestly beg of you not to confuse the discussion of the principles of Property in Earth, Air, or Water, with the discussion of principles of Property in general.^ The things which, being our neighbor's, the Mosaic Law commands us not to covet, are by the most solemn Natural Laws, indeed our neighbor's " property," and any attempts to communize these have always ended, and will always end, in ruin and shame. ' Do not attempt to learn from America. An Englishman has brains enough to discover for himself wliat is good for England ; and should learn, when he is to be taught anything, from his Fathers, not from his children. _ I observe in the first column of your 15tli page the asser- tion by your correspondent of his definition of money as if different from mine. He only weakens my definition with a '' certificate of credit " instead of a " promise to pay." What is the use of giving a man " credit " — if you don't engage to pay him ? But I observe that nearly all my readers stop at this more or less metaphysical definition, which I give in " Unto this Last," instead of going on to the practical statement of imme- diate need made in " Munera Pulveris." f The promise to find Labor is one which meets general demand ; but the promise to find Bread is the answer needed to immediate demand ; and the only sound bases of National Currency are shown both in "Munera Pulveris," and " Fors Clavigera," to be bread, fuel, and clothing material, of cer- tified quality. I am, Sir, your faithful servant, J. KUSKIN. * The references in the letter are to an article on Property entitled "What should be done?" f See "Unto this Last," p. 53, note. "The final and best definition of money is that it is a documentary promise ratified and guaranteed l\y the nation, to give or find a certain quantity of labor on demand." See also "Munera Pulveris," ^S 21-25. 1880.] ON CO-OPERATION. 73 [From " The Christian Life," December 20, 1879.] ON COOPERATION* Brantwood, Coniston, Lancashire. Dear Mr. Holyoake : I am not able to write you a pretty letter to-day, being sadly tired, but am very heartily glad to be remembered by you. But it utterly silences me that you should waste your time and energy in writing '* Histories of Co-operation" anywhere as yet. My dear Sir, you might as well write the history of the yellow spot in an egg — in two volumes. Co-operation is as yet — in any true sense — as impos- sible as the crystallization of Thames mud. Ever faithfully yours, J. RusKm. [From "The Daily News," June 19, 1880.] ON CO-OPERATION Brantwood, Coniston, Lancashire, April 12, 1880. Dear Mr. Holyoake : I am very glad that you are safe back in England, and am not a little grateful for your kind reference to me while in America, and for your letter about Sheffield Museum.-f But let me pray for another interpreta- * Tills letter, whicli was reprinted in tlie Coventry Co-operative Recmd of January, 1880, was written, some time in August, 1879, to Mr. George Jacob Holyoake, whio liad sent Mr. Ruskin liis "History of Co-operation: its Literature and its Advocates," 2 vols. Loudon and Manchester. 1875-7. f The "kind reference to Mr. Ruskin while in America" alludes to a public speech made by ^Ir. Holyoake during his stay in that country. The "letter about Sheffield >[useum," was one in high praise of it, written by Mr. Holyoake to the editor of the Sheffield Independent, ia which paper it was printed (March 8, 1880). 74 LETTERS OK POLITICAL ECOKOMY. [1880. tion of my former letter than mere Utopianism. The one calamity which I perceive or dread for an Englishman is his becoming a rascal, and co-operation among rascals — if it were possible — would bring a curse. Every year sees our workmen more eager to do bad work and rob their customers on the sly. All political movement among such animals I call essentially fermentation and putrefaction — not co-operation. Ever affectionately yours, J. KUSKIN. MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. L The Management of Railways. IL Servants and Houses. III. Roman Inundations. IV. Education, for Rich and Poor. V. Women: Their Work and their Dress. VI. Literary Criticism. £ I MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. I. THE MANAGEMENT OF RAILWAYS. Is England Big Enough ? 1868. The Owntership of Railways. 1868. Railway Economy. 1868. OuK Railway System. 1865. Railway S.\fety. 1870. I. THE MANAGEMENT OF RAILWAYS. [From "The Daily Telegraph, ' July 31, 1868.] JS ENGLAND BIG ENOUGH? To the Editor of " The Daily Telegraph." Sir : You terminate to-day a discussion which seems to have been greatly interesting to your readers, by telling them the '* broad fact, that England is no longer big enough for her inhabitants." "'^ Miglit you not, in the leisure of the recess, open with advantage a discussion likely to be no less interesting, and much more useful — namely, how big England may be made for economical inhabitants, and how little she may be made for wasteful ones ? Might you not invite letters on this quite radical and essential question — how money is truly made, and how it is truly lost, not by one person or another, but by the whole nation ? For, practically, people's eyes are so intensely fixed on the immediate operation of money as it changes hands, that they hardly ever reflect on its first origin or final disappearance. They are always considering how to get it from somebody else, but never how to get it where that somebody else got it. * The discussion had been carried on in a series of letters from a great number of correspondents under the heading of "Marriage or Celibacy," its subject being the pecuniary difficulties in the way of early marriage. The Daily Telegraph of July 30 concluded the discussion with a leading article, in which it characterized the general nature of the correspondence, and of which the final words were those quoted by Mr. Ruskin. 80 miscella:n^eous letters. [1868. Also, they very naturally motirn over their loss of it to other people, without reflecting that, if not lost altogether, it may still be of some reflective advantage to them. Whereas, the real national question is not who is losing or gaining money, but who is making and who destroying it. I do not of course mean making money, in the sense of printing notes or finding gold. True money cannot be so made. When an island is too small for its inhabitants, it would not help them to one ounce of bread more to have the entire island turned into one nugget, or to find bank notes growing by its rivulets instead of fern leaves. E'either, by destroying money, do I mean burning notes, or throwing gold away. If I burn a five- pound note, or throw five sovereigns into the sea, I hurt no one but myself; nay, I benefit others, for everybody with a pound in his pocket is richer by the withdrawal of my com- petition in the market. But what I want you to make your readers discover is how the true money is made that will get them houses and dinners ; and on the other hand how money is truly lost, or so diminished in value that all they can get in a year will not buy them comfortable houses, nor satisfactory dinners. Surely this is a question which people would like to have clearly answered for them, and it might lead to some impor- tant results if the answer were acted upon. The riband- makers at Coventry, starving, invite the ladies of England to wear ribands. The compassionate ladies of England invest themselves in rainbows, and admiring economists declare the nation to be benefited. No one asks where the ladies got the money to spend in rainbows (which is the first question in the business), nor whether the money once so spent will ever return again, or has really faded with the faded ribands and disappeared forever. Again, honest people every day lose quantities of money to dishonest people. But that is merely a change of hands much to be regretted ; but the money is not therefore itself lost ; the dishonest people must spend it at last somehow. A youth at college loses his year's income to a Jew. But the Jew must spend it instead of him. Miser or 1868.] LETTERS ON RAILWAYS. 81 not, the day must come wlieii liis hands relax. A railroad shareholder loses his money to a director; but the director must some day spend it instead uf him. That is not — at least in the first fact of it — natio}i(d loss. But what the public need to know is, how a final and perfect loss of money takes place, so that the whole nation, instead of being rich, shall be getting gradually poor. And then, indeed, if one man in spending his money destroys it, and another in spending it makes more of it, it becomes a grave cpiestion in whose hands it is, and whether honest or dishonest people are likely to spend it to the best purpose. Will you permit me. Sir, to lay this not unprofitable subject of inquiry before your readers, while, to the very best purpose, they are investing a little money in sea air ? Yery sincerely yours, J. KUSKIN. Denmark Hill, July 30. [From "The Daily Telegraph," August 6, 1868.] THE OWNERSHIP OF BAILWAYS* To the Editor of The Daily Telegraph:' Sir : The ingenious British public seems to be discovering, to its cost, that the beautiful law of supply and demand does not apply in a pleasant manner to railroad transit. But if they are prepared to submit patiently to the " natural " laws of * In the Daily Telegraph of August 3 appeared eight letters, all of which, under the heading of "Increased Railway Fares," complained of the price of tickets on various lines having been suddenly raised. In the issue of August 4 eighteen letters appeared on the subject, whilst in that of the 5th there were again eight letters. Mr. Ruskin's letter was one of four in the issue of the 6tli. It has, it will be seen, no direct connection with that one entitled "Is England Big Enough?" which precedes it in these volumes owing to the allusions to it in one of these railway letters (p. 86). 82 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. [1868. political economy, what right have they to complain ? The railroad belongs to the shareholders ; and has not everybody a right to ask the highest price he can get for his wares ? The public have a perfect right to walk, or to make other opposi- tion railroads for themselves, if they please, but not to abuse the shareholders for asking as much as they think they can get. Will you allow me to put the real rights of the matter before them in a few words ? Neither the roads nor the railroads of any nation should belong to any private persons. All means of public transit should be provided at public expense, by public determination where such means are needed, and the public should be its own " shareholder." Neither road, nor railroad, nor canal should ever pay divi- dends to anybody. They should pay their working expenses, and no more. All dividends are simply a tax on the traveller and the goods, levied by the person to whom the road or canal belongs, for the right of passing over his property. And this right should at once be purchased by the nation, and the original cost of the roadway — be it of gravel, iron, or adamant — at once defrayed by the nation, and then the whole work of the carriage of persons or goods done for ascertained prices, by salaried officers, as the carriage of letters is done now. I believe, if the votes of the proprietors of all the railroads in the kingdom were taken en viasse, it would be found that the majority would gladly receive back their original capital, and cede their right of '^ revising" prices of railway tickets. And if railway property is a good and wise investment of capital, the public need not shrink from taking the whole off tlieir hands. Let the public take it. (I, for one, who never held a rag of railroad scrip in my life, nor ever willingly trav- elled behind an engine where a horse could pull me, will most gladly subscribe my proper share for such purchase according to my income.) Then let them examine what lines pay their working expenses and what lines do not, and boldly leave the unpaying embankments to be white over with sheep, like 1868.] LETTERS ON EAILWAYS. 83 Eoman camps, take up the working lines on sound principles, pay their drivers and pointsmen well, keep their carriages clean and in good repair, and make it as wonderful a thing for a train, as for an old mail-coach, to be behind its time ; and the sagacious British public will very soon lind its puckct heavier, its heart lighter, and its '' passages" pleasanter, than any of the three have been, for many a day. I am, Sir, always faithfully yours, J. liUSKIN. Denmark Hill, Aug. 5. [From "The Daily Telegraph," August 10, 1868.] RAILWAY ECONOMY. To the Editor of " The Daily Telegraph.'' Sir : I had not intended again to trespass on your space until I could obtain a general idea of the views of your corre- spondents on tlie questions you permitted me to lay before them in my letters of the 31st July and 5th inst. ; but I must ask you to allow me to correct an impression likely to be created by your reference to that second letter in your inter- esting article on the Great Eastern Ilailway, and to reply briefly to the question of your correspondent " S." on the same subject.* * The Daily Telegraph of Saturday. August 8, contained an article on the "iDcreased Railway Fares," in which, commenting on Mr. Ruskin's statement that, given the law of political economy, the railways might ask as much as they could get, it said that Mr. Ruskin mistook "the charge against the companies. While they neglected the 'law of supply and demand,' they suffered: no\v that they obey that law, they prosper." The latter part of the article dealt with a long letter signed "Fair Play." which was printed in the Daily Tehgraph of the same day. "To Mr. Ruskin, who laughs at Political Economy." concluded the article; "and to 'Fair Play,' who thinks that Parliament is at the l)ottom of all the mischief, we commend a significant fact. An agitation is now on foot in Brighton to Lave a second railway direct to London. What is the cause of this? Not 84 ~ MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. [1868. You say that I mistook the cliarge against the railway com- panies in taunting my unfortunate neighbors at Sydenham ^ with their complaints against the operation of the law of supply and demand, and that it was because the companies neglected that law that they suffered. But, Sir, the law of supj^ly and demand, as behaved in by the British public under the guidance of their economists, is a natural law regulating prices, which it is not at all in their option to ''neglect." And it is precisely because I have always declared that there is no such natural law, but that prices can be, and ought to be, regulated by laws of expediency and justice, that political economists have thought I did not understand their science, and you now say I laugh at it. 'No, Sir, I laughed only at what was clearly no science, but vain endeavor to allege as irresistible natural law^, what is indeed a too easily resisted prudential law, rewarding and chastising us according to our obedience. So far from despising true politi- cal economy, based on such prudential law, I have for years been chiefly occupied in defending its conclusions, having given this definition of it in 1862. ''Political Economy is 'neither an art nor a science ; but a system of conduct and legislature founded on the sciences, including the arts, and impossible except under certain conditions of moral culture." + And, Sir, nothing could better show the evil of competi- tion as opposed to the equitable regulation of prices than the instance to which you refer your correspondent " Fair Play" — the agitation in Brighton for a second railway. True pru- the Legislature, but the conduct of the Brighton company in raising its fares. That board, by acting in the spirit of a monopoly, has provoked retaliation, and the public now seeks to protect itself by tlie aid of a com- peting line." The letter of the correspondent " S." (also in the Daily Telegraph of August 8) began by asking " what the capitalist is to do with his money, if the Government works the railways on the principle of the Post Office." * Several of the letters had been written by residents in the neighbor- hood of Sydenham. f "Essays on Political Economy" (Fmser's Mar/azine, June, 1862, p. 784), now reprinted in " Munera Pulvcris," p. 1, § 1. 1868.] LETTERS OX RAILWAYS. 85 deiitial law would make one railway serve it thoroughly, and Hx tlie fares necessary to pay for thorough service. Competi- tion will make two railways (sinking twice the capital really recjuiredj ; then, if the two companies combine, they can oppress the public as elfectively as one could ; if they do not, they will keej) the said public in dirty carriages and in danger of its life, by lowering the working expenses to a mininnim in their antagonism. Xext, to the question of your correspondent "S.," '' what I expect the capitalist to do with his money," so far as it is asked in good faith I gladly reply, that no one's " expectations" are in this matter of the slightest consequence ; but that the moral laws which properly regulate the disposition of revenue, and the physical laws which determine returns proportioned to the wisdom of its employment, are of the greatest consequence; and these may be briefly stated as follows : 1. All capital is justly and rationally invested which sup- ports productive labor (that is to say, labor directly producing or distributing good food, clothes, lodging, or fuel) ; so long as it renders to the possessor of the capital, and to those whom he employs, only such gain as shall justly remunerate the super- intendence and labor given to the business, and maintain both master and operative happily in the positions of life involved by their several functions. And it is highly advantageous for the nation that wise superintendence and honest labor should both be highly rewarded. But all rates of interest or modes of profit on capital, which render possible the rapid accumulation of fortunes, are simply forms of taxation, by individuals, on lal)or, purchase, or transport ; and are highly detrimental to the national interests, being, indeed, no means of national gain, but only the abstraction of small gains from many to form the large gain of one. For, though inequality of fortune is not in itself an evil, but in many respects desirable, it is always an evil when unjustly or stealthily obtained, since the men who desire to make fortunes by large interest are precisely those who will make the worst use of their wealth. 2. Capital sunk in the production of objects which do not 86 MlSCELLANEOlb LETTEKS. [1868. immediately support life (as statues, pictures, architecture, books, garden-flowers, and the like) is benelicially sunk if the things thus produced are good of their kind, and honestly desired by the nation for their own sake ; but it is sunk ruin- ously if they are bad of their kind, or desired only for pride or gain. Neither can good art be produced as an " investment." You cannot build a good cathedral if you only build it that you may charge sixpence for entrance. 3. " Private enterprise" should never be interfered ^vith, but, on the contrary, much encouraged, so long as it is indeed " enterprise" (the exercise of individual ingenuity and audacity in new fields of true labor), and so long as it is indeed " pri- vate," paying its way at its own cost, and in no wise harmfully affecting public comforts or interests. But " private enter- prise" w^hich poisons its neighborhood, or speculates for indi- vidual gain at connnon risk, is very shar|)ly to be interfered with. 4. All enterprise, constantly and demonstrably profitable on ascertained conditions, should be made public enterprise, under Government administration and security ; and the funds now innocently contiibuted, and too often far from innocently absorbed, in vain speculation, as noted in your correspondent ^' Fair Play's" excellent letter,* ought to be received by Gov- ernment, employed by it, not in casting guns, but in grownng corn and feeding cattle, and the largest possible legitimate interest returned without risk to these small and variously occu- pied capitalists, who cannot look after their own money. We should need another kind of Government to do this for us, it is true ; also it is true that we can get it, if we choose ; but we must recognize the duties of governors before we can elect the men fit to perform them. The benefit of these several modes of right investment of capital would be quickly felt by the nation, not in the increase of isolated or nominal wealth, but in steady lowering of the * "Fair Play's" letter noted the result of investments made in bubble railways, generally by "honest country folks" or " poor clergymen and widows." 1868.] LErrERS ox railways. 87 prices of all the necessaries and innocent luxuries of life, and in the disciplined, orderly, and in that degree educational employment of every able-bodied person. For, Sir (again with your pardon), my question ''Is England big enough?" was not answered by the sad experience of the artisans of Poplar. Had they been employed in earthbuilding instead of in shii)- building, and heaped the Isle of Dogs itself into half as much space of good land, capable of growing corn instead uf musqui- toes, they would actually have made habitable England a little bigger by this time;* and if the first principle of economy in employment were understood among us — namely, always to use whatever vital power of breath and muscle you have got in the country before you use the artificial power of steam and iron for what living arms can do, and never plough by steam while you forward your ploughman to Quebec — those old familiar faces need not yet have looked their last at each other from the deck of the St. Lawrence. But on this subject I will ask your permission to write you in a few days some further words, t I am, Sir, your faithful servant, J. RUSKIN. Denmark Hill, Aug. 9. * Alluding to an article in the Daily Telegraph of August 8, headed "East-End Emigrants," which, after remarking that "Mr. Ruskin's ques- tion, Is England big enough?" had been just answered rather sadly by a number of Poplar artisans, described the emigration to Quebec on board the St. Lawrence of tbese inhabitants of the Isle of Dogs, and how, as the ship left the dock, "there were many tears shed, as old, familiar faces looked on each other for the last time." f Never, it seems, written. 88 MISCELLANEOUS LETTEfiS. [1865. [From " The Daily Telegraph," December 8, 1865.] OUR RAILWAY SYSTEM. To the Editor of " The Daily Telegraph." Sir : Will joii allow me a few words with reference to your excellent article of to-day on railroads."^ All yon say is true. But of what use is it to tell the public this ? Of all the economical stupidities of the public — and they are many — the out-and-out stupidest is underpaying their pointsmen ; but if the said public choose always to leave their lines in the hands of companies — that is to say, practically, of engineers and lawyers — the money they pay for fares will always go, most of it, into the engineers' and lawyers' pockets. It will be spent in decorating railroad stations with black and blue bricks, and in fighting bills for branch lines. I hear there are more bills for new lines to be brought forward this year than at any previous session. But, Sir, it might do some little good if you were to put it into the engineers' and law^yers' heads that they might for some time to come get as much money for themselves (and a little more safety for the public) by bringing in bills for doubling laterally the present lines as for ramifying them ; and if you were also to explain to the shareholders that it -would be wiser to spend their capital in preventing accidents attended by costly damages, than in running trains at a loss on opposition branches. It is little business of mine — for I am not a railroad traveller usually more than twice in the year; but I don't like to hear of peo- ple's being smashed, even when it is all their fault ; so I will ask you merely to reprint this passage from my article on Political Economy in Fraser'^s Magazine for April, 1863, and so leave the matter to your handling : "Had the money spent in local mistakes and vain private * An article which, dealing directly with some recent railwa}^ accidents, commented especially on the overcrowding of the lines. 1870.] LETTERS ON RAILWAYS. 89 litigation on the railroads of England been laid out, instead, under proper Government restraint, on really useful railroad work, and had no absurd expense been incurred in ornament, ing stations, we might already have had — what ultimately it will be found we must have — quadruple rails, two for passen- gers and two for traffic, on every great line, and we might have been carried in swift safety, and watched and warded by well- paid pointsmen, for half the present fares." * I am, Sir, your faithful servant, J. KCSKIN. Denmark Hill, Dec. 7. [From "The Daily Telegraph," November 30, 1870.] RAILWAY SAFETY.\ To the Editor of" Tlie Baihj Telegraph:' Sir : I am very busy, and have not time to write new phrases. Would you mind again reprinting (as you were good enough to do a few days ago:}:) a sentence from one of the books of mine which everybody said were frantic when I wrote them? You see the date — 1863. I am, Sir, your faithful sei-vant, J. KUSKIN. Denmark Hill, Nov. 29.. 1870. I have underlined the words I want to be noticed, but, as you see, made no change in a syllable. * "Essays on Political Economy" (Eraser's Magazine, April, 1863, p. 449); "MuneraPulvcris," p. 137, ^128. f This letter was elicited by a leading article in the Daf/y Telegraph of November 29, 1870, upon railway accidents, and the means of their pre- vention, a propos of two recent accidents which had occurred, both on the same day (November 26, 1870) on the London and North-Western Railway. Jin the first letter on the Franco-Prussian War, a?2/d, p.^. {Daily Telegraph, Oct. 7, 1870.) 90 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. [1870. Already the Goyernment, not unapproved, carries letters and parcels for us. Larger packages may in time follow — even general merchandise ; why not, at last, ourselves? Had the money spent in local mistakes and vain private litigations on the rail- roads of England been laid out, instead, under proper Govern- ment restraint, on really useful railroad work, and had no absurd expense been i7icurred in ornamenting stations, we might already have had — what ultimately it will be found we must have — quadruple rails, two for passengers, and tioo for traffic, on every great line; and we might have been carried in swift safety, and watched and warded by well-paid pointsmen, for half the present fares. MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. II. SERVANTS AND HOUSES. JVIastership. 1865 Experience. 1865 SoNSHip AND Slavery 1865. Modern Houses. 1865. n. SERVANTS AND HOUSES. [From " The Daily Telegraph," September 5, 1865.] DOMESTIC SERVANTS— MASTERSHIP. To the Editor v /f ^f^ TUB ^^/\ " This man, who while he lived w1as"ir6e only iu his hody, Jias now found captivity for that also." '; • _>^. / I will not pass without notice — for it bears also on wide interests — your correspondent's question, how my principles dif- fer from the ordinary economist's view of supply and demand. + Simply in that the economy I have taught, in opposition to the popular view, is the science which not merely ascertains the relations of existing demand and supply, but determines what ought to be demanded and what can be supplied. A child demands the moon, and, the supply not being in this case equal to the demand, is wisely accommodated with a rattle; a footpad demand your purse, and is supplied according to the less or more rational economy of the State, with that or a halter; a foolish nation, not able to get into its head that free trade does indeed mean the removal of taxation from its im- ports, but not of supervision from them, demands unlimited foreign beef, and is supplied with the cattle murrain and the * The leader in the ^W-,7i!d, and doing therefore double the quantity of work that would be enough for his own needs, it is only a matter of pure justice to compel the idle person to work for his maintenance himself. The conscription has been used in many countries Im take away laborers who supported their families from their u>eful work, and maintain them for purposes chiefly of mili- tary display at public expense. Since this had been long endured by the most civilized nations, let it not be thought that they would not much more gladly endure a conscription which should seize only the vicious and idle already living by criminal procedures at the public expense, and which should discipline and educate them to labor, which would not only 138 MISCELLANEOUS LETTEKS. [186S. maintain themselves, but be serviceable to the commonwealth. The question is simj^ly this : we must feed the drunkard, vagabond, and thief. But shall we do so by letting them rob us of their food, and do no work for it ; or shall we give them their food in appointed quantity, and enforce their doing work which shall be worth it, and wdiich, in process of time, will redeem their own characters, and make them happy and ser- viceable members of society ? * The different classes of work for which bodies of men could be consistently organized might ultimately become numerous ; these following divisions of occupation may at once be suggested. 1. Road -making. — Good roads to be made wdierever needed, and kept in constant repair; and the annual loss on unfrequented roads in spoiled horses, strained wheels, and time, done away with. 2. Bringing in of Waste Land. — All waste lands not neces- sary for public health, to be made accessible and gradually re- claimed. 3. Harbor-Making. — The deficiencies of safe or convenient harborage in our smaller ports to be remedied ; other harbors built at dangerous points of coast, and a disciphned body of men always kept in connection with the pilot and lifeboat ser- vices. There is room for every order of intelligence in this work, and for a large body of superior officers. 4. Porterage. — All heavy goods not requiring speed in transit, to be carried (under preventive duty on transit by rail- road) by canal boats, employing men for draught, and the merchant shipping service extended by sea ; so that no ships may be wrecked for want of hands, while there are idle ones in mischief on shore. 5. Repair of Buildings. — A body of men in various trades to be kept at the disposal of the authorities in every large town for consistent repair of buildings, especially the houses of the poorer orders, who, if no such provision were made, * Here the first edition of the pamphlet ends; the remaining sentences being contained in the second edition only. 1879. J LETTERS ON EDUCATION. 130 could not employ workmen on their own houses, but wuuld simply live with rent walls and roofs. 6. Dress-making. — Substantial dress, of standard material and kind, strong shoes, and stout bedding, to be manufactured for the poor, so as to render it unnecessary for them, unless by extremity of improvidence, to wear cast clothes, or be with- out sutiiciency of clothing. 7. Works of Art. — Schools to be established on thoroughly sound principles of manufacture and use of materials, and with simple and, for given periods, unalterable modes of work ; first in ])ottery, and embracing gradually metal work, sculi> ture, and decorative painting ; the two points insisted upon, in distinction from ordinary connnercial establishments, being perfectness of material to the utmost attainable degree; and the production of everything by hand-work, for the special purpose of developing personal power and skill in the work- man. The two last departments, and some subordinate branches of the others, would include the service of women and children. [From "The Y. M. A. Magazine," conducted by the Young Men's Association, Clapham Congregational Church. September, 1879. Vol. iii.. No. 12, p. 242.] BLINDNESS AND SIGHT* Brantwood, Contston, Lancashire, \Sth July, 1879. My dear Sir : The reason I never answered was — I now find — the difficulty of explaining my fixed principle never to join in any invalid charities. All the foolish world is ready to help in theia ; and will spend large incomes in trying to make idiots think, and the blind read, but will leave the nol)lest intellects to go to the Devil, and the brightest eyes to remain * This letter was sent by Mr. Ruskin to the Secretary of tlie Protestant Blind Pension Society in answer to an application for subscriptions which Mr. Ruskin had mislaid, and thus left unanswered. 140 MISCELLAIfEOUS LETTERS. [1879. spiritually blind forever ! All my work is to help those who have eves and see not. Ever faithfully yours, J. Kuskin. Tnos. PococK, Esq. I must add that, to my mind, the prefix of " Protestant " to your society's name indicates far stonier blindness than any it will relieve. [From "The Y. M. A. Magazine," October, 1879, Vol. iv., No. 1, p. 12.] THE EAGLE'S NEST* To the Editor of " The T. M. A. Magazine:' My DE^it Sm : There is a mass of letters on my table this morning, and 1 am not quite sure if the "Y. M. A. Magazine," among them, is -the magazine which yours of the 15th speaks of as " enclosed ;" but you are entirely welcome to print my letter about BHnd Asylums anywhere, and if in the " Y. M. A." I should be glad to convey to its editor, at the same time, my thanks for the article on " Growing Old," Vvhich has not a little comforted me this inorning — and my modest recommendation that, by way of antidote to the No. III. paper on the Sun, he should reproduce the 104th, 115th, and llGth paragraphs of my " Eagle's Nest," closing them with this following sentence from the 12th Book of the Laws of Plato, dictating the due time for the sittings of a Parliament seeking righteous policy (and composed, they may note farther, for such search, of Young Men and Old) : ixddrt/'^ jLiev rjudpai 6vXXey6f.iBvo^ ic, dvdyK7}Z dit ofjOpov jile'xpi 7t£p dv ?'/XiorA^''s Work. 1873. Female Franchise. 1870. Proverbs on Right Dress Sad-Colored Costumes. 1870. Oak Silkworms. 1862. WOMEN: THEIK WORK AND TIIEIB DRESS. [From " L'Esp6rance, Joumel Mensuel, orgrane de I'Association des Femmes.'/ Geneve, le 8 Mai, 1873.1 WOMAN'S WOBK Lettre d la Presidente* Ma chere Madame : Je vous remercie de votre lettre si interessante, car je sympathise de tout mon coeur avec la plupart des sentiments et des souhaits que vous y exprimez. Mais arriver a rendre des femmes plus nobles et plus sages est une chose; les elever de fagon a ce qu'elles entretiennent leurs maris est une autre ! Je ne puis trouver des termes assez forts pour exprimer la haine et le mepris que je ressens pour I'idee moderne qu'une femme doit cesser d'etre mere, fiile, ou femme pour qu'elle puisse devenir commis ou ingenieur. Yous etes toutes entierement sottes dans cette matiere. Le devoir d'un homme est d'entretenir sa femme et ses enfants, celui d'une femme est de le rendre heureux chez lui, et d'elever ses enfants sagement. Aucune femme n'est capable de faire plus que cela. Aucune femme ne doit faire moins, et un homme qui ne peut pas nourrir sa femme, et desire qu'elle travaille pour lui, merite d'etre pendu au-dessus de sa porte. Je suis, Madame, fidelement a vous, J. RUSKIN. *I have been unable to get access to the paper from which tliis letter is taken, and must therefore leave without explanation the fortunately un- important references in its first paragraph. 154 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. [1862. [Date and place of publication unknown.] FEMALE FBANGHISE. Venice, 29<^ May, 1870. Sir: I am obliged by your note. I have no time for private correspondence at present, but you are quite right in your supposition as to my views respecting female franchise. So far from wishing to give votes to women, I would fain take them away from most men."^ Very sincerely yours, J. EUSKEN. [From " The Monthly Packet," November, 1863, p. 556.] PROVERBS ON RIGHT DRESS. \ Geneva, October 20th, 1862. My dear Sir : I am much obliged by your letter : pardon me if for brevity's sake I answer with appearance of dogma- tism. You will see the subject treated as fully as I am able in the course of the papers on political economy, of which the tw^o first have already appeared in Fraser's Magazine.ij: / The man and woman are meant by God to be perfectly *So also in writing an excuse for absence from a lecture upon "Woman's Work and Woman's Sphere," given on behalf of the French female refugees by Miss Emily Faithfull in February, 1871, Mr. Ruskin said: " I most heartily sympathize with you in your purpose of defining woman's work and sphere. It is as refreshing as the dew's, and as defined as the moon's, but it is not the rain's nor the sun's." {Daily Telegraph, Feb. 21, 1871.) f The preceding numbers of the Monthly Packet had contained various letters upon dress, and the present one was thf^n s^-^ o the Editor by the person to whom it was originally addressed. X In June and September, 1863. See tl^ j chapters of " Munera Pulveris." jy • ] LETTERS ON WOMAN'S WORK AND DRESS. 155 noble and beautiful in each other's eyes. The dress is right which makes them so. The best dress is that which is beauti- ful in the eyes of noble and wise persons. Riirht dress is therefore that which is tit for the station in life, and the work to be done in it ; and which is otherwise graceful — becoming — lasting — healthful — and easy ; on occa- sion, splendid ; always as beautiful as possible. Eight dress is therefore strong — simple — radiantly clean — carefully put on — carefully kept. Cheap dress, bought for cheapness sake, and costly dress bought for costliness sake, are hoth abominations. Eight dress is bought for its worth, and at its worth ; and bought only when wanted. Beautiful dress is chiefly beautiful in color — in harmony of parts — and in mode of putting on and wearing. Eightness of mind is in nothing more shown than in the mode of wear- ing simple dress. Ornamentation involving design, such as embroidery, etc., produced solely by industry of hand^ is highly desirable in the state dresses of all classes, down to the lowest peasantry. National costume, wisely adopted and consistently worn, is not only desirable but necessary in riMit national oro:anization. Obeying fashion is a great folly, and a greater crime ; but gradual changes in dress properly accompany a healthful national development. The Scriptural authority for dress is centralized by Proverbs xxxi. 21, 22 ; and by 1 Samuel i. 24 ; the latter especially indicating the duty of the king or governor of the state ; as the former the duty of the housewife. It is necessary for the complete understanding of those passages, that the reader should know that " scarlet" means intense central radiance of pure color ; it is the type of purest color — between pale and dark — between sad and gay. It was therefore used with hyssop as a type of purification. There are many stronger passages, such a^^^^^'n xlv. 13, 14; but as some people read them under the ii; .... ;]^ of their being figurative, I need not refer to them. •-, passages in the Prophecies and 156 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. [1870. Epistles against dress apply only to its abuses. Dress worn for the sake of vanity, or coveted in jealousy, is as evil as any- thing else similarly so abused. A woman should earnestly desire to be beautiful, as she should desire to be intelligent ; her dress should be as studied as her words ; but if the one is worn or the other spoken in vanity or insolence, both are equally criminal. I have not time, and there is no need, to refer you to the scattered notices of dress in my books: the most important is rather near the beginning of my Political Economy of Art ; * but I have not the book by me : if you make any use of this letter (you may make any you please), I should like you to add that passage to it, as it refers to the more inmiediate need of economy in dress, when the modes of its manufacture are irregular, and cause distress to the operative. Believe me, my dear Sir, very faithfully yours, J. KUSKIN. [From " Macmillan's Magazine," November, 1870, p. 80.] SAD-COLORED COSTUMES. Denmark Hill, S.E., \Uh Oct., 1870. To the Editor of "Macmillan's Magazine." • ^^^H Sir : At p. 423 of your current number, Mr. Stopford ^^ Brooke states that it is a proposal of mine for regenerating the country, that the poor should be "dressed all in one sad- colored costume." f It is, indeed, too probable that one sad-colored costume *See pp. 67-75 of the original, and 50-55 of the new edition ("A Joy for Ever"). f Mr. Stopford Brooke's article was a review of Mr, Ruskin's "Lectures on Art " delivered at Oxford, and then recently published. In a note to the present letter the Editor of the Magazine stated Mr. Brooke's regret "at having been led by a slip of memory into making an inaccurate state- ment."^ 1870.] LETTERS ON WOMAX'S WORK AND DRESS. 157 may soon be "your only wear," instead of the present motley — for both poor and rich. But the attainment of tliis monotony was never a proposition of mine; and as I am well aware Mr. Brooke would not have been guilty of misrepresentation, if he Lad had time to read the books he was speaking of, I am sure he will concur in my request that you would print in full the passages to which he imagined himself to be referring. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, John Ruskin. 1. ^^ You ladies like to lead the fashion: by all means lead it. Lead it thoroughly. Lead it far enough. Dress yourselves nicely, and dress everybody else nicely. Lead the fashions for the poor first; make them look well, and you yourselves will look — in ways of which you have at present no conception — all the hQtiev:'— Crown of Wild Olive (186G), p. 18.* 2. " In the simplest and clearest definition of it, economy, whether public or private, means the wise management of labor; and it means this mainly in three senses: namely, first, applying your labor rationally; secondly, preserving its produce carefully; lastly, distributing its produce seasonably. **I say first, applying your labor rationally; that is, so as to obtain the most precious things you can, and the most lasting things by it: not- growing oats in land where you can grow wheat, nor putting fine embroidery on a stuff that will not wear. Secondly, preserving its produce carefully; that is to say, laying up your wheat wisely in storehouses for the time of famine, and keeping your embroidery watchfully from the moth; and lastl}^ distributing its produce seasonably; that is to say, being able to carry your corn at once to the place where the people are hungry, and your embroideries to the places where they are gay; so fulfilling in all ways the wise man's description, whether of the qiTeenly housewife or queenly nation: ' She riseth while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry, her clothing is silk and purple. Strength and honor are in her clothing, and she shall rejoice in time to come.' * See the 1873 edition of the " Crown of Wild Olive," p. 30, § 27. 158 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. [1862. '^ Now yon will observe that in this description of the perfect economist, or mistress of a household, there is a studied expres- sion of the balanced division of her care between the two great objects of utility and splendor: in her right hand, food and flax, for life and clothing; in her left hand, the purple and the needlework, for honor and for beauty. . . . And in private and household economy you may always judge of its perfectness by its fair balance between the use and the pleasure of its posses- sions: you will see the wise cottager's garden trimly divided between its well-set vegetables and its fragrant flowers: you will see the good housewife taking pride in her pretty tablecloth and her glittering shelves, no less than in her well-dressed dish and full store-room: the care will alternate with gayety; and though you will reverence her in her seriousness, you will know her best by her smile."— ''Political Economy of Ai't"(1857), pp. 10-13.* ]From " The Times," October 24, 1862.] OAK SILKWORMS. To the Editor of ' ' The Times. " Sir : In your excellent article of October 17, on possible substitutes for cotton, you say " it is very doubtful whether we could introduce the silkworm with profit." The silkworm of the mulberry tree, indeed, requires a warmer climate than ours, but has attention yet been directed to the silkworm of the oak ? A day or two ago a physician of European reputa- tion, Dr. L. A. Gosse, w-as speaking to me of the experiments recently made in France in its acclimatization. He stated to me that the only real diflSculty was temporary — namely, in the importation of the eggs, which are prematurely hatched as they are brought through warm latitudes. A few only have reached Europe, and their multiplication is slow, but once let them be obtained in quantity and the stripping of an oak * See "A Joy for Ever" (1880), pp. 7-9. 1862.] LETTERS ON WOMAN'S WOKK AND DRESS. lo9 coppice is both robe and revenue. The silk is stronger than that of the mulberry tree, and the stuff woven* of it more healthy than cotton stuffs for the wearer ; it also wears twice as long. This is Dr. Gosse's report — likely to be a trust- worthy one — at all events, it seems to me worth sending you. I remain your obedient servant, J. RuriKIN. Geneva, Oct. 20^^. MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. VI. LITERARY CRITICISM. The Publication of Books. 1875. A Mistaken Review. 1875. The Position op Critics. 1875. Coventry Patmore's "Faithful for Ever." 1860. "The Queen of the Air." 1871. The Animals of Scripture: A Review. 1856. "Limner" AND "Illumination." 1854. Notes on a Word in Shakespeare. 1878. (Two Letters.) The Merchant of Venice. 1880. Recitations. 1880. YI. LITERARY CRITICISM. [From "The World," June 9, 1875.] THE PUBLICATION^ OF BOOKS* Corpus Christi College, Oxford, June 6, 1875. To the Editor of " The World." Sir : I am very grateful for the attention and candor witli which you have noticed my effort to introduce a new metliod of pubHshing. Will you allow me to explain one or two points in which I am generally ndsunderstood ? I meant to have asked your leave to do so at some length, but have been entirely busy, *This letter refers to an article on Mr. Ruskin's peculiar method of pub- lication which appeared in the World of May 26, 1875. It was entitled "Ruskin to the Rescue," and with the criticism to which !Mr. Ruskin alludes, strongly approved the idea of some reform being attempted in the matter of the publication of books. Mr. Ruskin began the still continued method of publishing his works in 1871; and the following advertisement, inserted in the earlier copies of the first book thus published— " Sesame and Lilies" — will give the reader further information on the matter. "It has long been in my mind to make some small beginning of resistance to the existing system of irregular discount in the bookselling trade— not in hostility to booksellers, but, as I think they will find eventu- ally, with a just regard to their interest, as well as to that of authors. Every volume of this series of my collected works will be sold to the trade without any discount or allowance on quantity, at such a fixed price as will allow both author and publisher a moderate profit on each volume. It will be sold to the trade only; who can then fix such further profit on it as they deem fitting, for retail. " Every volume will be clearly printed, and thoroughly well bound: on 164 MISCELLANEOUS LETTEllS. [1875. and can only say, respecting two of your questions, what in my own mind are tlie answers. I. " How many authors are strong enough to do without advertisements ?" None: while advertisement is the practice. But let it become the fashion to announce books once for all in a monthly circular (pubhslier's, for instance), and the public will simply refer to that for all they want to know. Such advertisement I use now, and always would. II. " Why has he determined to be his own publisher?" 1 wish entirely to resist the practice of writing for money early in life. I think an author's business requires as much training as a musician's, and that, as soon as he can write really well, there would always, for a man of worth and sense, be found capital enough to enable him to be able to print, say, a hundi-ed pages of his cai-ef ul work ; which, if the public were pleased with, they would soon enable him to print more. ' I do not think young men should rush into print, nor old ones modify their books to please publishers. III. And it seems to me, considering that the existing excellent books in the world would — if they were heaped together in great towns — overtop their cathedrals, that at any age a man should think long before he invites his neighbors to listen to his sayings on any subject whatever. What I do, therefore, is done only in the conviction, fool- ish, egotistic, whatever you like to call it, but firm, that I am writing what is needful and useful for my fellow-creatures ; that if it is so, they will in due time discover it, and that before due time I do not want it discovered. And it seems to such conditions the price to the public, allowing full profit to the retailer, may sometimes reach, but ought never to exceed, half a guinea, nor do I wish it to be less. I will fully state my reasons for this procedure in the June number of Fors CUivicjera. " The price of this first volume to the trade is seven shillings." In subsequent similar notices, some parts of this plan, especially as regarded purchasers and price, were altered; the trade not accepting the offer of sale to them only, and the "trouble and difficulty of revising text and preparing phites" proving much greater than I\Ir. Ruskin had expected. 1875.] LETTERS ON CRITICISM. 1G5 me that no sound scliolar or true well-wislier to the people about him would write in any other temper. I mean to be ])aid for my work, if it is worth payment. Not otherwise. And it seems to me my mode of publication is the proper method of ascertaining that fact. I had much more to say, but have no more time, and am, sir, very respectfully yours, JOUN RUSKIN. [From " The Pall Mall Gazette," January 11, 1875.] A MISTAKEN REVIEW* To the Editor of " The Pall Mall Gazette." Sir : The excellent letters and notes which nave recently appeared in your columns on the subject of reviewing lead me to think that you will give me space for the statement of one or two things which I believe it is right the public should know respecting the review which appeared in the Examiner of the 2d of this month (but which I did not see till yester- day), by Mr. W. B. Scott, of Mr. St. J. Tyrrwhitt's "Letters on Landscape Art." 1. Mr. Scott is one of the rather numerous class of artists of whose works I have never taken any public notice, and who attribute my silence to my inherent stupidity of disposition. 2. Mr. Scott is also one of the more limited and peculiarly unfortunate class of artists who suppose themselves to have great native genius, dislike being told to learn perspective, and prefer the first volume of " Modern Painters," which praises * Of this review nothing need be said beyond what is stated in this letter. The full title of the book which it so harshly treated is "Our Sketching Club. Letters and Studies on Land.scape Art." By the Rev. R. St. John Tyrrwhitt, M.A. With an authorized reproduction of the le.'^.'^ons and woodcuts in Professor Ruskin's " Elements of Drawing." Macmillan, 1874, The "letters and notes" refer especially to one signed "K" in the Gazette of January 1, and another signed "A Young Author" in that of January 4. The principal complaint of both these letters was that reviewers seldom master, and sometimes do not even read the books they criticise. 166 MISCELLAN-EOUS LETTEES. [1875. many third-rate painters, and teaches none, to the following volumes, which praise none but good painters, and sometimes admit the weakness of advising bad ones. 3. My first acquaintance with Mr. Scott was at the house of a gentleman whose interior walls he was decorating with historic frescos, and whose patronage I (rightly or wrongly) imagined at that time to be of importance to him. I was then more good-natured and less conscientious than I am now, and my host and hostess attached weight to my opinions. I said all the good I truly could of the frescos, and no harm ; painted a corn-cockle on the walls myself, in reverent sub- ordination to them ; got out of the house as soon afterwards as I could, and never since sought Mr. Scott's acquaintance further (though, to my regret, he was once photographed in the same plate with Mr. Eosetti and me). Mr. Scott is an honest man, and naturally thinks me a hypocrite and turncoat as well as a fool. 4. The honestest man in writing a review is apt sometimes to give obscure statements of facts which ought to have been clearly stated to make the review entirely fair. Permit me to state in very few words those which I think the review in question does not clearly represent. My " Elements of Draw- ing" were out of print, and sometimes asked for ; I wished to rewrite them, but had not time, and knew that my friend and pupil, Mr. Tyrrwhitt, was better acquainted than I myself with some processes of water-color sketching, and was perfectly acquainted with and heartily acceptant of the principles which I have taught to be essential in all art. I knew he could write, and I therefore asked him to write, a book of his own to take the place of the "Elements," and authorized him to make arrangements with my former publisher for my wood- blocks, mostly drawn on the wood by myself. The book is his own, not mine, else it would have been published as mine, not his. I have not read it all, and do not answer for it all. But when I wrote the " Elements" I be- lieved conscientiously that book of mine to be the best then attainable by the public on the subject of elementary drawing. 1875.] LETTERS OX CRITICISM. 167 I think Mr. Tyrrwliitt's a better book, know it to be a more interesting one, and believe it to be, in like manner, the best now attainable by the British pul)lic on elementary practice of art. I am, Sir, your faithful servant, John Ruskin. Brantwood, Jan. 10. [From "The Pall Mall Gazette," January 19, 1875.] THE POSITION OF CRITICS. To the Editor of The Pall Mall Gazette." Sir : I see you are writing of criticism ; "^ some of your readers may, perhaps, be interested in hearing the notions of a man who has dabbled in it a good many years. I believe, in a word, that criticism is as impertinent in the world as it is in a drawing-room. In a kindly and well-bred company, if any- body tries to please them, they try to be pleased; if anybody tries to astonish them, they have the courtesy to be astonished ; if people become tiresome, they ask somebody else to play, or sing, or what not, but they don't criticise. For the rest, a bad critic is probably the most mischievous person in the world (Swift's Goddess of Criticism in the *' Tale of a Tub " seems what need be represented, on that subject f), and a good one the most helpless and unhappy : the more he knows, the less he is trusted, and it is too likely he may become morose in his unacknowledged power. A good executant, in any art, gives pleasure to multitudes, and breathes an atmosphere of praise, but a strong critic is every man's adversary — men feel that he knows their foibles, and cannot conceive that he knows more. * Since the correspondence already mentioned, the Gazette of January 14 and 18 had contained two long letters on the subject from " A Reviewer." \ The Goddess of Criticism, with Ignorance and Pride for her parents, Opinion for her sister, and for her children Noise and Impudence, Dulness and Vanity, Positiveness, Pedantry, and Ill-manners, is described in the " Battle of the Books" — the paper which follows, and is a companion to the "Tale of a Tub." 168 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. [I860- His praise, to be acceptable, must be always unqualified ; his equity is an oiTence instead of a virtue ; and the art of correc- tion, which he has learned so laboriously, only fills his hearers with disgust. I am, Sir, your faithful servant, John Eusxm. BraisTWOOD, Jan. 18. [From " The Critic," October 27, I860.] COVENTRY PxiTMORE'S "FAITHFUL FOR EVER." To the Editor of " The Critic.'' Sir : I do not doubt, from what I have observed of the general tone of the criticisms in your columns, that, in candor and courtesy, you will allow me to enter protest, bearing such worth as private opinion may, against the estimate expressed in your last number of the merits of Mr. C. Patmore's new poem.^ It seems to me that you have read it hastily ; and that you have taken such view of it as on a first reading almost every reader of good but impatient judgment would be but too apt to concur with you in adopting — one, nevertheless, which, if you examine the poem with care, you will, I think, both for your readers' sake and Mr. Patmore's, regret having expressed so decidedly. Tlie poem is, to the best of my perception and belief, a singularly perfect piece of art ; containing, as all good art does, many very curious shortcomings (to appearance), and places of rest, or of dead color, or of intended harshness, which, if they are seen or quoted without the parts of the piece to which they relate, are of course absurd enough, pre- cisely as the discords in a fine piece of music would be if you played them without their resolutions. You have quoted separately Mr. Patmore's discords; you might by the same * The tone of the criticism is sufRcientlj'- explained in this letter. I860.] LETTERS ON CRITICISM. 169 system of examination have made Mozart or Mendelssohn a])pear to be no musicians, as you liave probably convinced your quick readei-s that Mr. Patmore is no poet. I will not beg of you so much space as would be necessary to analyze the poem, but I hope you will let me — once for all — protest against the method of criticism which assumes that entire familiarity and simplicity in certain portions of a great N\ ork destroy its dignity. Simple things ought to be simply >aid, and truly poetical diction is nothing more nor less than light diction; the incident being itself poetical or not, accord- ing to its relations and the feelings which it is intended to manifest — not according to its own nature merely. To take a >ingle instance out of Homer bearing on that same simple household work which you are so shocked at Mr. Patmore's taking notice of, Homer describes the business of a family washing, when it comes into his poem, in the most accurate terms he can find. " They took the clothes in their hands ; and poured on the clean water; and trod them in trenches thoroughly, trying who could do it best; and when they had ^vashed them and got off all the dirt, they spread them out nu the sea-beach, where the sea had blanched the shingle cleanest."* * See Homer, Odyssey, vi. 90. Etuara x^P^^^ eXovro xal Idcpopeov /.leXav vdoopy "SrETfSov S^v ft60po-i6i Oocoay all that may be in one's mind. And if expressions, limited, if not even somewhat exaggerated, by courtesy, be afterwards quoted as a total and carefully-expressed criticism, the general reader will be — or may be easily — much misled. I did and do much admire Mr. Irving's own acting of Shylock. I'ut I entirely dissent (and indignantly as well as entirely) from his general reading and treatment of the play. And I tliink that a modem audience will invariably be not only wrong, but diametrically and with polar accuracy opposite to, the real view of any great author in the moulding of his work. So far as I could in kindness venture, I expressed my feel- * The circumstances connected with the present letter, or rather extract troin one, are as follows: After witnessing the performance of " The Mer- < lumt of Venice" at the Lyceum Theatre, ^Fr. Ruskin had some conversation \\ ith Mr. Irving on the subject. In the Theatre of January- 1880 — p. 6^3 — .il)peared a paragraph which stated that at the interview named Mr. Ruskin li;i(l declared Mr. Irving's " Shylock" to be " noble, tender, and true," and ii is to that statement that the present letter, which appeared in the 3Iarch number of the Theatre, relates. With reference to the letter privately addressed to Mr. Irving, the Theatre of April (p. 249) had a note to the ilTect that Mr. Irving had, for excellent and commendable reasons, pre- ferred it not being made public. For a full statement of Mr. Ruskin's views of " The Merchant of Venice," see " Munera Pulveris," p. 102. 180 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. [1880. ings to that effect, in a letter which I wrote to Mr. Irving on the day after I saw the play; and I should be sincerely obliged to him, under the existing circumstances, if he would publish THE WHOLE of that letter. RECITATIONS. Sheffield, Wh February, 1880. My dear Sir :* I am most happy to assure you, in reply to your interesting letter of the 12th, that I heard your daugh- ters' recitations in London last autumn, with quite unmixed pleasure and the sincerest admiration — nor merely that, but with grave cliange in my opinions of the general value of recitations as a means of popular instruction. Usually, I like better to hear beautiful poetry read quietly than recited with action. But I felt, in hearing Shelley's "Cloud" recited (I think it was by Miss Josephine) that I also was " one of the jDcople," and understood the poem better than ever before, though I am by way of knowing something about clouds, too. I also know the " Jackdaw of Eheims" pretty nearly by heart ; but I would gladly come to London straightway, had I the time, to hear Miss Peggy speak it again. And — in fine — I have not seen any public entertainment — for many a long year — at once so sweet, so innocent, and so helpful, as that which your children can give to all the gentle and simple in mind and heart. — Believe me, my dear Sir, faithfully, and with all felicitation, yours, J. KUSKIN. *This letter was addressed to Mr. R. T. Webling, by whom it was afterwards printed as a testimonial of the interest and success of his daughters' recitations. It was reprinted in the Daily News (Feb. 18, 1880). APPENDIX. Letter to W. C. Bennett, LL.D. 1852. Letter to Thomas Guthrie, D.D. 1853. Mr. Windus' Sale of Pictures. 1859. At the Play. 1867. An Object of Charity. 1868. Excuses prom Correspondence. 1868. Letter to the Author of a TJeview. 1872. An Oxford Protest. 1875. Mr. Ruskin and Mji. Lowe. 1877. The Bibliography of Buskin. 1878. (Two Letters: September 30, and October 23.) The Society of the Rose. 1879. APPENDIX. [From the " Testimonials" of W. C. Bemiett, LL.D. 1871; p. 22.] LETTER TO W. C. BEXNETT, LL.D.* Herne Hill, Dulwich, December 28th, 1852. Dear Mr. Be5?"NETT: I hope this line will arrive in time to wish you and yours a happy New Year, and to assure you of the great pleasure I had in receiving your poems from you, and of the continual pleasure I shall have m possessing them. I deferred writing to you in order that I might tell you how I liked those which were new to me, but Christmas, and certain little "pattering pairs of restless shoes" which have somehow or another got into the house in his train, have hitherto prevented me from settling myself for a quiet read. In fact, I am terribly afraid of being quite turned upside down when I do, so as to lose my own identity, for you have already nearhj made me like babies, and I see an ode further on to another antipathy of mine — the only one I have in the kingdom of flowers — the chry- santhemum. However, I am sure you will be well pleased if you can cure me of all dislikes. I should write to you now more cheerfully, but that I am anxious for the person who, of all I know, has fewest dislikes and warmest likings — for Miss Mitford. *The present letter is from the " Testimonials of W. C. Bennett, LL D., Candidate for the Clerkship of the London School Board." The pamphlet consists of "letters from distinguished men of the time." and includes some from Mr. Carlyle, Mr. Tennyson, Mr. Browning, Charles Dickens, and others. Mr. Ruskin's letter was originally addressed to ^Ir. Bennett in thanks for a copy of his " Poems" (Chapman and Hall. 1850). The poems specially allued to are "Toddling May" (from which Mr. Riiskin quotes), "Baby May," and another, "To the Chrysanthemum." The book is dedi- cated to Miss Mitford. 184 APPEKDIX. [1853. I trust she is better, and that she may be spared for many years to come. I don't know if England has such another warm heart. I hope I may have the pleasure of seeing you here in case your occasions should at any time bring you to London, and I remain, with much respect, most truly yours, J. RusKiiq^. [Trom the •' Memoir of Thomas Guthrie, D.D." Vol. ii. pp. 321-2 (1875).] LETTER TO DM. GUTHBIE* Saturday, 2Qth, 1853. I found a little difficulty in writing the words on the first page, wondering whether you would think the " affectionate" misused or insincere. But I made up my mind at last to write what I felt; believing that you must be accustomed to people's getting very seriously and truly attached to you, almost at first sight, and therefore would believe me. You asked me, the other evening, some kind questions about my father. He was an Edinburgh boy, and in answer to some account by me of the pleasure I had had in hearing you, and the privilege of knowing you, as also of your exertions in the cause of the Edinburgh poor, he desires to send you the enclosed, to be applied by you in such manner as you may think fittest for the good of his native city. I have added slightly to my father's trust. I wish I could have done so more largely, but my pro- fession of fault-finding with the world in general is not a lucra- tive one. Always respectfully and affectionately yours, J. EUSKIN. * This letter accompanied the gift of a copy of " The Stones of Venice," sent to Dr. Gutlirie by IMr. Ruskin, who, while residing in Edinburgh during the whiter of 1853, '* was to be found each Sunday afternoon in St. John's Free Church." I 1867.J APPENDIX. 186 [From " The Times," March 89, 1869.] THE SALE OF MR. WINBUS' PICTUBES. "o the EdiUyr of " TJie Tiiius." Sir: Will you oblige me by correcting an error in your ccoiint given this morning of the sale of Mr. Windus' pictures n Saturday,* in which the purchase of Mr. Millais's picture ' Pot Pourri" is attributed to me ? I neither purchased Mr. Mil- iis's picture, nor any other picture at that sale. I have the honor to be, Sir, your obedient servant, J. RUSKIK. Denmark Hill, March 28. [From " The PaU MaU Gazette," March 1, 1867.] AT THE PLAY. |1> the Editor of " The PaU Mall Gazette." Sir: I am writing a series of private letters on matters of olitical economy to a working man in Newcastle, without objecting to his printing them, but writing just as I should if liey were for his eye only. I necessarily take copies of them for Inference, and the one I sent him last Monday seems to me not nlikely to interest some of yaur readers who care about modem rama. So I send you the copy of it to use if you like.f Truly yours, J. RUSKIN. Denmauk Hill, Feb. 28, 1867. * The collection of pictures belonc:ing to Mr. B. G. Windus was sold by [essrs. Christie and Manson on March 26, 1859. fThe enclosed letter is " Letter V." of " Time and Tide." 186 APPENDIX. [From " The Daily Telegraph," January 22, 1868.] AN OBJECT OF CHARITY* To the Editor of " The Daily Telegraph.'' Sir: Except in *^ Gil Bias," I never read of anything Astraean on the earth so perfect as the story in your fourth article to-day. I send you a check for the Chancellor. If 40, in legal terms, means 400, you must explain the further requirements to your impulsive public. I am. Sir, your faithful servant, J. KUSKIN^. Denmark Hill, S., Jan. 21, 1868. EXCUSES FROM CORRESPONDENCE. Denmark Hill, S., 2d February, 1868. I am about to enter on some work which cannot be well done or even approximately well, unless without interruption, and it would be desirable for me, were it in my power, to leave home *Tlie Daily Telegraph of January 21, 1868, contained a leading article upon the following facts. It appeared that a girl, named Matilda Griggs, had been nearly murdered by her seducer, who, after stabbing her in no less than thirteen different places, had then left her for dead. She had, how- ever, still strength enough to crawl into a field close by, and there swooned. The assistance that she met with in this plight was of a rare kind. Two calves came up to her, and disposing themselves on either side of her bleed- ing body, thus kept her warm and partly sheltered from cold and rain. Temporarily preserved, the girl eventually recovered, and entered into recognizances, under a sum of forty pounds, to prosecute her murderous lover. But "she loved much," and, failing to prosecute, forfeited her recognizances, and was imprisoned by the Chancellor of the Exchequer for her debt. " Pity this poor debtor," wrote the Daily Telegraph, and in the next day's issue appeared the above letter, probably not intended for the publication accorded to it. 1872:] APPENDIX. 187 for some time, and carry out my undertaking in seclusion. But as my materials are partly in London, I cannot do this; so that my only alternative is to ask you to think of me as if actually absent from England, and not to be displeased though I must decline all correspondence. And I pray you to trust my assur- ance that, whatever reasons I may have for so uncouth behavior, none of them are inconsistent with the respect and regard in which I remain, Faithfully yours,* [From "The Liverpool Weekly Albion," November 9, 1872.] LETTER TO THE AUTHOR OF A REVIEW.\ Corpus Christi College, Oxford, Wednesday, dOth Oct. [My Dear] Sir: I was on the point of writing to the Editor of The Albion to ask the name of the author of that article. Of * The above letter, printed as a circular, was at one time used by Mr. Riiskin in reply to part of his large correspondence. Some few copies had the date printed on them as above. The following is a similar but more recent excuse, printed at the end of the last " list of works" issued (March, 1880) by Mr. Ruskin's publisher: Mr. Ruskin has always hitherto found his correspondents under the im- pression that, when he is able for average literary work, he oan also answer any quantity of letters. lie most respectfully and sorrowfully mast pray them to observe, that it is precisely when he is in most active general occupa- tion that he can answer fewest private letters; and this year he proposes to answer none, except those on St. George's business. There will be enough news of him, for any who care to get them, in the occasional numbers of " Fors." f The review was the first of three articles entitled " The Disciple of Art and the Votary of Science," published in the Livei'iwol Weekly Albion of November 9, 16, and 23, 1873. The first of them had also appeared pre- viously in the Livei'pool Daily Albion, nnd 'was reprinted with the present letter in the weekly issue of Nov. 9. The aim of the articles was partly to show how the question " AVhat is Art?" involved a .second and deeper inquiry, " What is Man? ' The words bracketed here were omitted in the Albion, but occur in the original letter, for access to which I have to thank the writer of the articles. 188 APPENDIX. [1874, course, one likes praise [and I'm so glad of it that I can take a great many kinds], but I never got any [that] I liked so much before, because, as far as I [can] remember nobody ever noticed or allowed for the range of work I've had to do, and which really has been dreadfully costly and painful to me, compelling me to leave things just at the point when one's work on them has become secure and delightsome, to attack them on another rough side. It is a most painful manner of life, and I never got any credit for it before. But the more I see, the more I feel the necessity of seeing all round, however hastily. I am entirely grateful for the review and the understanding of me; and I needed some help just now — for I'm at once single- handed and dead — or worse — hearted, and as nearly beaten as I've been in my life. Always therefore I shall be, for the encouragement at a heavy time. Very gratefully yours, (Signed) J. Ruskin. [From " The Globe," October 29, 1874.] AN OXFORD PROTEST.'^ The Slade Professor has tried for five years to please every- body in Oxford by lecturing at any time that might be con- veniently subordinate to other dates of study in the University. He finds he has pleased nobody, and must for the future at least make his hour known and consistent. He cannot alter it this term because people sometimes come from a distance and have settled their plans by the hours announced in the Gazette, but for many he reasons he thinks it right to change the place, and will hereafter lecture in the theatre of the museum. f On Friday * Mr. Ruskin had recently changed the hour of his lectures from two till twelve, and the latter hour clashing with other lectures, some complaints had been made. This " protest " was then issued on the morning of Octo- ber 29 and reprinted in the Olohe of the same day. t Instead of in the drawin,": schools at the Taylor Gallery. 1877.] APPENDIX. 189 the 30tli he will not begin till half-past twelve to allow settling time. Afterwards, all his lectures will be at twelve in this and future terms. He feels that if he cannot be granted so much as twelve liours of serious audience in working time during the whole Oxford year, he need not in future prepare public lectures at which his pupils need not much regret their non-attendance. (From " The Standard," August 28, 1877. Reprinted in the " Notes and Correspondence' to " Fors Clavigera," Letter 81, September, 1877, p. 208.] MR. RUSKIN AND MR. LOWE. To the Editor of The Standard:' Sir: My attention has been directed to an article in your columns of the 22d inst. , referring to a supposed correspondence between Mr. Lowe and me.* Permit me to state that the letter in question is not Mr. Lowe's. The general value of your article as a review of my work and methods of writing will, I trust, rather be enhanced than diminished by the correction, due to Mr. Lowe, of this original error; and the more, that your critic in the course of his review expresses his not unjustifiable con- viction that no correspondence between Mr. Lowe and me is possible on any intellectual subject whatever. I am. Sir, your obedient servant, J0H2T RUSKIX. Brantwood, Coniston, Lancashire, August 24. *The article in question stated that a number of "Fors Clavigera" liad been sent to Mr. Lowe, and commented on by him in a letter to Mr. Ruskin The last words of the article, alluded to above, were as tollows: "The world will be made no wiser by any controversy between Mr. Kuskin and Mr. Lowe, for it would be impossible to reduce their figures or facts to a common denominator." 190 APPENDIX. [1878, [From the List of "Mr. Shepherd's Publications" printed at the end of his "The Bibliography of Dickens," 1880.] THE BIBLIOORAPHT OF RUSKIN. Brantwood, Coniston, Sept. 30, 1878. Dear Sir: So far from being distasteful to me, your perfect reckoning up of me not only flatters my vanity extremely, but will be in the highest degree useful to myself. But you know so much more about me than I now remember about anything, that I can't find a single thing to correct or add — glancing through at least. I will not say that you have wasted your time; but I may at least regret the quantity of trouble the book must have given you, and am, therefore, somewhat ashamedly, but very grate- fully yours, J. KUSKIN. R. H. Shepherd, Esq. II. Brantwood, Coniston, Oct 23, 1878. Dear Mr. Shepherd: I am very deeply grateful to you, as I am in all duty bound, for this very curious record of myself. It will be of extreme value to me in filling up what gaps I can in this patched coverlid of my life before it is draped over my cofiin — if it may be. I am especially glad to have note of the letters to newspapers, but most chiefly to have the good news of so earnest and patient a friend. Ever gratefully yours, J. RUSKIN. 1880.] APPENDIX. 191 [From the " First Annual Report " of the " Ruskin Society" (of the Rose), Manchester 1880.] THE SOCIETY OF THE ROSE* *'No, indeed, I don't want to discourage the plan you have so kindly and earnestly formed, but I could not easily or decor- ously promote it myself, could I? But I fully proposed to write you a letter to be read at the first meeting, guarding you especially against an *ism,' or a possibility of giving occasion for one ; and I am exceedingly glad to receive your present letter. Mine was not written because it gave me trouble to think of it, and I can't take trouble now. But without think- ing, I can at once assure you that the taking of the name of St. George ivould give me endless trouble, and cause all manner of mistakes, and perhaps even legal difficulties. We must not have that, please. ^^ But I think you might with grace and truth take the name of the Society of the Rose — meaning the English wild rose — and that the object of the society would be to promote such English learning and life as can abide where it grows. You see it is the heraldic sign on my books, so that you might still keep pretty close to me. '' Sui^posing this were thought too far-fetched or sentimental by the promoters of the society, I think the ' More ' Society would be a good name, following out the teaching of the Utopia as it is taken up in *Fors.' I can't write more to-day, but I dare say something else may come into my head, and I'll write again, or you can send me more names for choice." * This letter was written early in 1879 to the Secretary pro tern, of the Riiskiu Society of Manchester, in reply to a request for Mr. Ruskin's views upon the formation of such a Society. 193 APPENDIX. [1865. 1 [From " The Autographic Mirror," December 23 and 80, 1865.1 LETTER TO MR. W, H. HARRISON* Dear Mr. Harrison": The plate I send is unluckily merely outlined in its principal griffin (it is just being finished), but it may render your six nights' work a little more amusing. I don't want it back. Never mind putting '^see to quotations," as I always do. And, in the second revise, don't look to all my alterations to tick them off, but merely read straight through the new proof to see if any mistake strikes you. This will be more useful to me than the other. Most truly yours, with a thousand thanks, J. RusKiif. * A facsimile of this letter, from a collection of autographs in the posses- sion of Mr. T. F. Dillon Croker, appeared in the above-named issue of the Autographic Mirror. The subject of the letter will be made clearer by the following passages from Mr. Ruskin's reminiscence of Mr. William Henry Harrison, published in the University Magazine of April, 1878, under the title of "My First Editor."— " Is^ February, 1878. In seven daj^s more I shall be fifty-nine ; which (practically) is all the same as sixty; but being asked by the wife of my dear old friend, W. H. Harrison, to say a few words of our old relations together, I find myself, in spite of all these years, a boy again— partly in the mere thought of, and renewed sympathy with, the cheerful heart of my old literary master, and partly in instinctive terror lest, wherever he is in celestial circles, he should catch me writing bad grammar, or putting wrong stops, and should set the table turning, or the like. ... Not a book of mine, for good thirty years, but went, every word of it, under his careful eyes tAvice over — often also the last revises left to his tender mercy altogether on condition he wouldn't bother me any more." — The book to which the letter refers may be the " Stones of Venice," and the plate sent the third (" Noble and Ignoble Grotesque"), in the last volume of that work; and if this be so, the letter was probably written from Heme Hill about 1853-3. 1880.] APPENDIX. 193 IFrom the " Journal of Dramatic Reform," November, 1880.] DRAMATIC REFORM* I. My dear Sir: Yes, I began writing something — a year ago, is it? — on your subject, but have lost it, and am now utterly too busy to touch so difficult and so important a subject. I shall come on it, some day, necessarily. Meantime, the one thing I have to say mainly is that the idea of making money by a theatre, and making it educational at the same time, is utterly to be got out of people^s heads. You don't make money out of a Ship of the Line, nor should you out of a Church, nor should you out of a College, nor should you out of a Theatre. Pay your Ship's officers, your Church officers, your College tutors, and your Stage tutors, what will honorably maintain them. Let there be no starring on the Stage boards, more than on the deck, but the Broadside well delivered. And let the English Gentleman consider with himself what he has got to teach the people: perhaps then, he may tell the English Actor what he has to teach them. Ever faithfully yours, (Signed) J. Ruskin. Brantwood, July 30^^, 1880. II. My dear Sir: I am heartily glad you think my letter may be of some use. I wish it had contained the tenth part of what I wanted to say. May I ask you at least to add this note to it, to tell how * This and the following letter were both addressed to Mr. John Stuart Bogg, the Secretary of the Dramatic Reform Association of Manchester, The first was a reply to a request that iMr. Ruskin would, in accordance with an old promise, write something on the subject of the Drama for the Society's journal ; and the second was added by its author on hearing that it was the wish of the Society to publish the first. 194 \ APPENDIX. [1880. indignant I was, a few days ago, to see the dvo-p-scene (!) of the Folies at Paris composed of huge advertisements! The ghastly want of sense of beauty, and endurance of loathsomeness gain- ing hourly on the people ! They were playing the FiUe du Tambour Major superbly, for the most part ; they gave the introductory convent scene without the least caricature, the Abbess being played by a very beautiful and gracefully-mannered actress, and the whole thing would have been delightful had the mere decorations of the theatre been clean and pretty. To think that all the strength of the world combining in Paris to amuse itself can't have clean box-curtains ! or a pretty landscape sketch for a drop scene ! — but sits in squalor and dismalness, with bills stuck all over its rideau ! I saw Le Chalet here last night, in many respects well played and sung, and it is a quite charming little opera in its story, only it requires an actress of extreme refinement for the main part, and everybody last night sang too loud. There is no music of any high quality in it, but the piece is one which, pla3'ed with such delicacy as almost any clever, ivellhred girl could put into the heroine's part (if the audiences would look for acting more than voice), ought to be extremely delightful to simple persons. On the other hand, I heard William Tell entirely massacred at the great opera-house at Paris. My belief is they scarcely sang a piece of pure Eossini all night, but had fitted in modern skimble-skamble tunes, and quite unspeakably clumsy and com- mon hallet. I scarcely came away in better humor from the mouthed tediousness of Gerin at the Frangais, but they took pains with it, and I suppose it pleased a certain class of audience. The William Tell could please nobody at heart. The libretto of Jean de Nivelle is very beautiful, and ought to have new music written for it. Anything so helplessly tune- less as its present music I never heard, except mosquitoes and cicadas. Ever faithfully yours, (Signed) J. Euskik. Amiens, October \Wi, 1880. 1880.] APPENDIX. 195 [From the " Glasgow Herald," October 7, 1880.] THE LORD RECTOESHIP OF GLASGOW UNIVERSITY.* I. Brant WOOD, Contston, Lancashire, Wh June, 1880. My dear Sir : I am greatly flattered by your letter, but there are two reasons why I can't stand — the first, that though I believe myself the stanchest Conservative in the British Islands, I hold some opinions, and must soon clearly utter them, con- cerning both lands and rents, which I fear the Conservative Club would be very far from sanctioning, and think Mr. Bright himself had been their safer choice. The second, that I am not in the least disposed myself to stand in any contest where it is possible that Mr. Bright might beat me. A^'e there really no Scottish gentlemen of birth and learning from whom you could choose a Rector worthier than Mr. Bright? and better able than any Southron to rectify what might be oblique, or hold straight what wasn't yet so, in a Scottish Uni- versity? Might I ask the favor of the transmission of a copy of this letter to the Independent Club? It will save me the difficulty of repetition in other terms. — And believe me, my dear sir, always the club's and your faithful servant, (Signed) J. Ruskin-. Matt. P. Fraser, Esq. II. mh June, 1880. My dear Sir: I am too tired at this moment (I mean this day or two back) to be able to think. My health may break * Of these letters it should be noted that the first was written to the President of the Conservative Club upon his requesting ;Mr. Ruskin to stand for the Lord Rectorship; the second in answer to a hope that Mr. Ruskin would reconsider the decision he had expressed in his reply; and the third upon the receipt of a letter explaining what the duties of the oftlce were. The fourth letter refers to one which dealt with some reflections matle by the Liberal Club upon the f(imier conduct of their opponents. 196 APPEN-DIX. [1880. down any day, and I cannot bear a sense of having to do any- thing. If you would take me on condition of my residence for a little while with you, and giving a little address to the stu- dents after I had seen something of them, I think I could come, but I won't stand ceremonies nor make long speeches, and you really should try to get somebody else. Ever respectfully yours, (Signed) J. RusKiN. Matt. P. Fbaser, EsiiQ. 2^, IS^S^ . ii.l92 The Times, :Sliiy 15, ISry-i . . . . : i.67 The Times, ^,h{y 25, ISo-i. . . .1.71 The Builder, Dl^c. 9, 1854:. , . . ii.l74 The Morning Chronicle, Jan. 20, 1855 , ii.l72 The Times, October 28, 1856 . , . 1.81 The Athenmim, February 14, 1857 . . 1.204 The Times, :iu\y 9. 185l\ , . , 1.86 The Witness (Ediuburirh), Sept. 16, 1857 1.145 " New Oxford Examinations, etc.," 1858 1.24 The mY//^«.v (Edinburgh), Sept. 30. 1857 1.147 Thornbury's Life of Turner. Preface. 1861 1,107 7 //^ Zm'r;}(96»^ ^^//?o;2, January 11, 1858 . 1.73 The Witness (Edinbiu-gh). .March 27, 1858 1.74 "The Oxford Museum." 1859 . , . 1.125 The Literary Gazette, Nov. 13, 1858 . 1.88 List of Turner's Drawings, Boston, 1874, 1.86 n. List of Turner's Drawings, Boston, 1874, 1.97 n. "The Oxford ^Fuseum," 1859, . . 1.131 The Times, March 29, 1859 . . .11.185 The Scotsman, J u]y 20, lS5d . . , li.3 July 23, 1859 . , .11.8 Aug. 6. 1859 , . , 11.13 The Times, Octol)er 21, 1859 . . . 1.98 r/^e CV///^-, Oct. 27, 1860 , . , , ii.l68 Thornbury's Life of Turner. Ed. 2, Pref. 1.108 Nature and Art, December 1, 1866 . . 1.33 The Lofidon Ileview, Mi\y 16, ISQi . . 1.201 The Monthl)/ Packet, Nov. ISQ^ . . ii.l54 The Times, Oc[. 24, ISm . . . . ii.l58 The Times, Oct. 8, 1863 , , . . j li.37 Th'eLii-crpool Albion, Nov. 2, 1S63 . . ; li.15 The Morning Post, J yi]y 7, liiQ4: . , I ii.l7 T lie Daily Telegraph, Oct, 28, 1864 . . ; ii.39 Oct. 31. 1864 . . 11,40 Nov. 3. 1864 . . I li.43 r^e iZ^arf^r, November 12, 1864 . . i.l73 The P£ader, November 26, 1864 . . 1.175 r//« i?^af/^;-, December 3. 1864 , ,1.181 The Reader, DacamhQV 10, U8\ . . i 1.185 The Pall Mall Gazette, April 18, 1865 . ' 11.48 April 21, 1865 . ii.50 206 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF I'HE LETTERS Title of Letter. Work and Wages Domestic Servants— Mastershtp " " Experience " " SoNSHiP AND Slavery ^Modern Houses Our Raiuway System The Jamaica Insurrection The British Museum Copies of Turner's Drawings (extract) At the Play .... The Standard of Wages An Object of Charity . True Education Excuse from Correspondence Is England Big Enough? . The Ownership of Railways . Railway Economy . Employment for the Destitute Poor, etc. Notes on the Destitute Classes, etc. The jMorality of Field Sports Female Franchise . The Franco-Prussian War . Sad-Colored Costumes . Railway Safety A King's First Duty Kotre Dame de Paris A Nation's Defences "Turners" False and True . The Waters of Comfort The Streams of Italy Woman's Sphere (extract) The " Queen of the Air" Drunkenness and Crime . Castles and Kennels Verona v. Warwick . Mr. Ruskin's Influence: a Defence Mr. Ruskin's Influence : a Rejoinder John Leech's Outlines . The Streets of London . Madness and Crime .... Letter to the Author op a Review ' • Act, Act in the Living Present" How the Rich spend their Money Woman's Work Mr. Ruskin and Professor Hodgson " Laborare est Orare" . Ernest George's Etchings James David Forbes: his Real Greatness Where Written. Denmark Hill [Denmark Hill] Denmark Hill [Denmark Hill] Denmark Hill Denmark Hill Dennjark Hill Denmark Hill Denmark Hill Denmark Hill Denmark Hill L S.E. S.E. enmark Hill Denmark Hill Denmark Hill, Denmark Hill, Denmark Hill, Denmark Hill Denmark Hill Denmark Hill Denmark Hill, [Denmark Hil Denmark Hill Venice . Denmark Plill, [Denmark Hill, S.E.] Denmark Hill, S.E. Denmark Hill [Denmark Hill] . [Denmark Hill Denmark Hill Denmark Hill Oxford . Oxford . [Oxford [Denmark Hill] . Denmark Hill Denmark Hill Denmark Hill Denmark Hill Denmark Hill S.E. fi Denmark Hill] . Oxford . Oxford . Oxford . Brantwood, Coniston [Brantwood, Coniston] Brantwood. Coniston Oxford . Oxford . Oxford . [Denmark Hill CONTAINED IN BOTH VOLUMES. 207 When Written. Saturday. April 22. 1865 . - Miiclav. 29tli April, 1865 V 4 nSG.")] . May 20. 18Go . September 2 [18651. September 6 [18()5]. September 16. 1865] October 16 [1865] . December 7 [1865 1 . December 19 [1865] Jan. 26 [1866] . ] 1867 . February 28. 1867 . April 30*; 1867 . January 21, 1868 . January 31, 1868 . 2(1 Febi-uarv. 1868 . July 30 [1868] . Aui^ust 5 [1868 Aui]:u.st 9 [1868 l).rember24 [1868] Auiumu. 1868] January 14 [1870] . 291 h Miiy. 1870 October'6 [1870] . October 7 [1870J . 14tli October. 1870 . November 29. 1870 . January 10 [1871] . January 18, 1871] . January 19. 1871 . January 23 [1871] . February 3 [1871] . February 3 [1871] . February 19, 1871] . May 18. 1871 . December 9 [1871] . December 20 [1871] 24lli (for 25tli) Dec. [1871] March 15 [1872~ March 21 [1872 1872 December 27. 1'871 November 2 [1872] . Christmas E^'e. ' » January 23 [1873 January 28 [1873 King Charles the Martv ^1873 . [May, 1873] November 8, 1873 . November 15. 1873. December, 1873 December, 1873] . 1874J . Whkrk and when first Published. ThePaUMcEU Gazette, April 25. 1865 May 2. 1865 . May 9. Ib65 . ISIay 22. 1H65 . The Daily Telegraph, September 5, 1865 , September 7, 1865 September 18, 186.' October 17, 1865 December 8. 1865 December 20, 1665 The Tim€.<<, January 27. 1866 . iList of Turner's Drawings, Boston, 1874 T?ie Pall Mall Gazette, March 1, 1867 May 1, 1867 . TJie Daily Teleqraph, January 22, 1868 The Pall Mall Gazette, January 31. 1868 Circular printed by Mr. Uuskin. 1868 The Daily Telegraph, July 31, 1868 . Auffust 6, 1868 August 10, 1868 December 26, 1868 Pamphlet for private circulation. 1868 The Daily Telegraph, January 15, 1870 Date and place of publication unknown The Daily Telegraph, Oct. 7, 1870 . Oct. 8. 1870 . Macmillan's Magazine, l^ov. 1870 The Daily Telegraph, Nov. 30, 1870 . January 12, 1871 January 19. 1871 The Pall MaU Gazette, Jan. 19, 1871 The Times, January 24, 1871 . The Daily Teh graph, Feb. 4, 1871 . Feb. 7. 1871 . Feb. 21, 1871 . The Asiatic, May 23. 1871 The Daily Telegraph, Dec. 11. 1871 . December 22. 1871 December 25.1871 The Pall MaU Gazette, ]\Iarch 16. 1872 March 21, 1872 The Catalogue to the Exhibition. 1872 Tlie Pall Mall Gazette, Dec. 28. 1871 Nov. 4. 1872 . Wednesday, Oct. 30 [1872] Liverpool Weekly Albion, Nov. 9, 1872 New Year's Address, etc., 1873 The Pall MaU Gazette, Jan. 24, 1873 Jan. 29. 1873. Jan. 31. 1873. L'Esperance, Geneve, May 8, 1873 The Scotsman, November 10. 1873 . November 18, 1873 . New Year's Address, etc., 1874 . The Arrhit.ct, December 27, 1873 . " Reudu's Glaciers of Savoy," 1874. Vol. and Paoe. ii.53 ii.54 ii.59 ii.62 ii.93 ii.95 ii.ye ii.l04 ii.88 ii.20 i.52 i.l05/j. ;ii.lS5 I ii.65 ,ii.l86 jii.123 ii.l86 ii.79 ii.81 ii.83 ii.l31 ii.l32 ii.l27 ii.l54 ii.22 ii.25 ii.l56 ii.89 ii.lU i.l53 ii.ll3 i.l06 ii.ll5 ii.ll6 ii.l54;j. ii.l71 ii.l29 i.l51 i.l52 i.l54 i.l56 ' i.lll ii.ll9 ii.i:'.0 ii.l87 ii.l41 ! ii.66 I ii.67 i ii.68 ii.l53 1 ii.44 ' ii.46 ii.l42 I 1.113 1 1.187 208 CHROXOLOGICAL LIST OF THE LETTERS TiTLK OF Letter, The Value of Lectures . An Oxfokd Protest . A Mistaken Review . The Position of Critics . ' . Commercial Morality The Publication of Books St. George's Museum The Definition of Wealth . The Fredkrick Walker Exhibition The Cradle of Art! Modern Warfare Copies of Turner's Drawings Turner's Drawings, I. Turner's Drawings, II. . The Foundations of Chivalry IMoDERN Restoration RtBBESFORD ChURCH Mr Ruskin and Mr. Lowe The Principles of Property . A Pagan Message Despair (k tract) . . . , The Foundations of Chivalry KoTES ON A Word in Shakespeare The BrBLioGRAPiiY of Ruskin . The Society op the Rose Blindness and Sight " The Eagle's Nest" On Cooperation. I. Politics in Youth ... St. Mark's, Venice — Circular relating to St. Mark's, Venice — Letters . On the Purchase of Pictures The Merchant of Venice (extract) Recitations Excuse from Correspondence Copy of Turner's "Fluelen" The Study of Natural History On Cooperation. II. The Glasgow Lord Rectorship Dramatic Reform. I. The Glasgow Lord Rectorship Dramatic Reform. II. . Where Written. Rome . [Oxford Brantwood Brant wood [Heme Hill Oxford . Brantwood, Oxford . Coniston Oxford] ^Brantwood] Peterborough Brantwood . Brantwood, Coniston, Lancashire Venice . Venice . Venice . Venice . Venice . Brantwood, Coniston, Lancashire Brantwood, Coniston [Brantwood] Heme Hill, London, S.E [Oxford Mai ham Brantwood . Edinburgh . Brantwood, Coniston Brantwood, Coniston [Brantwood . Brantwood, Coniston Brantwood, Coniston Brantwood, Coniston Sheffield Brantwood . Brantwood . Brantwood . Heme Hill, S.E.] Sheffield tB rant wood] iondon Brantwood, Coniston Brantwood, Coniston [Brantwood] [Brantwood] Brantwood, Coniston Brantwood . Rouen . Amiens . COKTAINED IN BOTH VOLUMES. 2oy When Written. Where and when first Published. 174] : sir}} . 26th Aiay. 1874 October 29, ]S: January 10 [18'; JanuMrv 18 [181 February. 1875] June 6. 1875 . [September. 1875] . 9tli 2S()veniher, 1875 January. 1876] 18th February, 1876 June. lb7G * . April 23 [1876] July a [1876] . July 16 [1876] February 8th. 1877. February lUth [1877 11th February [1877 12th February, 77] 15th April. 1877 I July 24, 1877 . j August 24 [1877] i lOtii October, 1877 i 19th December, 1877 ' February, 1878] July 3d.' 1878 . ' [September, 1878] I 29th Septeml)er. 1878 .' September 30. 1878 i. Octol)er 23. 1878 ; Early in 1879] . ' IStli'july. 1879 Aujiust i7th. 1879 ' [Auiiust. 1879] i October 19th, 1879 ( Winter 1879]. 1: Winter 1879] . : January. 1880] 6ih February, 1880 lOtli February, 1880 :March, 1880]' . 'JOth March, 1880, Undated . Al^ril 12th. 1880 KMh June, 1880 KJtli June. 1880 24th June. 1880 [July, 1880] . July 30tb, 1880 • 28th September, 1880 I October 12th, 1880 . The Glasgow fferald, June 5, 1874 . The Globe, Oct. 29, 1874 . The Pall Mall Gazette, January 11, 1875 January 19. 1875 Date and place of publication unknown The World. June 9. 1875 . Sheffield J), (ill/ Tit graph. Sept. 6, 1875 The Mo)u'tary Gazette, Nov. 13, 1875 77/<' liinei*, January 20. 1876 . Date and i)lace of publication unknown \Fraxer's Magazine, July, 1876 . 77/t' 7Yw/'.\ 'April 25. 1876 llie Daily IVieqraph, July 5. 1876 . I " " Julfl9, 1876. I "The Science of Life" (second edit.). 1878 1 " " (first edition), 1877 j *' " " " 1877 I «. « ., .. jg77 The Liverpool Daily Post, June 9, 1877 The Kidderminster Times, July 28, 1877 \T?ie Standard, August 28, 1877 ^The Social ifst, November, 1877 . New Year's Address, etc.. 1878 ^Tlie Times, February 12, 1878 . " The Science of Life" (second edit.), 1878 New Shakspere Soc. Trans. 1878-9 . "Bibliography of Dickens" (advt.), 1880 Report of Ruskin Soc, Manchester, 1880 .The Y. M. A. Magazine, Sept., 1879 I " " October, 1879 \The Christian Life, December 20, 1879 \The 7. M. A. Magazine, Nov., 1879 See the Circular .... Birmingham Daily Mail, Nov. 27. 1879 Leicester Chronicle, January 31, 1880 The Theatre, .Alarch, 1880 Circular printed bj' Mr. R. T. Webling List of Mr. Ruskin's Writings. ]Mar., 1880 Lithograph copy issued by Mr. Ward, 1880 Leitcr to Adam White [unknown]. The Daily Neirs, June 19, 1880 The Glasgow Herald, Oct. 7. 1880 . Oct. 7, 1880 . Oct. 7, 1880 . Oct. 12, 1880 . Jovrnal of Dramatic Reform, Nov., 1880 The Glasgow Herald, Oct. 7, 1880 . \ Journal of Dramatic Beform, Nov., 1880 Vol. and Page. ii.l24 ii.l88 .ii.l65 ii.l67 ii.70 ii.l63 li 126 ii.71 i.ll6 ii.l25 ii.29 i.l05 i.lOO i.l04 ii.l43 ii.l45 ii.l46 ii.l47 i.l57 1.158 11.189 li.71 11.143 il.l24?;. ii.l48 11.176 ii.177 :il.l90 'ii.l90 ii.l91 ii.l39 |il.l40 I ii.73 |ii.l41 I 1.159 t 1.169 I 1.55 11.179 11.180 11.186;^ I i.l05/j. 1.204 ! 11.73 11.195 li.l95 11.196 11.196 II 193 11.197 11.193 « INDEX INDEX. Abana and Pharpar, ii. 10. Academy-studies, i. 119; usual tendencies of academies, i. 73; the Liver- pool, ib.\ Royal Academy, pictures seen to disadvantage in the, i. 20; Exhibitions of the. i. 59, 67, 176 (not2), 119 (note); the Scotch Academy, i. 74 (note), 176 (note). Acland, Sir Thomas, i. 25. (Dr.). Henry, 1. 25; i. 125 (note); i. 130; i. 170. (See also Oxford JMuseum.) Advertisement of books, ii. 164. ^schylus, his work, i. 22 (note). Agassiz and Forbes, i. 176; i. 187. Age, the present, one of "steam and iron, luxury and selfishness," i. 18; one in which poetry is disregarded, i. 18; fever of change in, ii. 101; shal- low learning, the curse of, ii. 124, Agreements, compulsory, li. 53. Ailsa Rock, i. 146. Alisma Plantago, i. 61. Allen, Mr. George, i. 163; i. 169 (note). Alms and Wages, ii. 56; ii. 60. Almsgiving, ii. 101. (See Charity.) Alps, conformation of the, i. 173, seqq.; origin of form of, i. 174; charts of sections of chain wanted, i. 175; extent of chain, i. 182; Mr. Ruskin's lecture on the Savoy Alps, i. 174, and note. Alsace and Lorraine, ii. 28. Alsen, ii. 18, and note. Amazon, Kiss', ii. 13 (note), 12. Ambition, tone of modern, ii. 144, 146. America, Enghmd no need to Icnrn from,ii. 73; has nocastles, 1.151 (note); reference to Mr. Ruskin by Mr. Ilolyoake in, ii. 73; serf economy in, ii. 21. American War, loss of property in, ii. 38. (Sec aho Lincoln, Pres.) Amiens, Cathedral of, i. 154, ii. 202; the theatres at, ii. 193. Andrew, St., ii. 8. Angelico, i. 43, i. 118; and Giotto, their theology of death, i. 118; holiness of, ii. 23 (note); his "highest inspiration" destroyed at Florence, i. 38, and note; his "Last Judgment," i. 44, and note; formerly no picture by in National Gallery, i. 43, and note. 214 IKDEX. Angrogna, the valley of, ii. 11. Animals, kindness and cruelty to, ii. 128 seqq.; 128 (note); ii. 142; portrait- ure of in architecture, i. 141; of Scripture, ii. 172. Anjou, ii. 28. Annual Register (1859) quoted, ii. 10 (note). Antwerp, "Rubens" at, i. 39. " A Pagan Message," ii. 143. Apolline Myths, the, ii. 172. Apollo Belvedere, tiie, i. 7. Appendix, List of Letters in the, ii. 181. • Arabian Nights, the, quoted, "the seals of Solomon," (Story of the Fisher- man, Chapter ii.), i. 136; Story of the Ugly Bridegroom, ii. 101. Arbia, the, ii. 15 (note). Arbitration and Strikes (letter), ii. 48. Archer knight, the, i. 158. Architect, The, (Dec. 27, 1873,) Letter on E. George's Etchings, i. 113. Architecture, List of Letters on, i. 123; its beauty dependent on its use, i. 148; Byzantine builders, i. 167; cultivation of feeling for drawing in, i. 114; English copying of old, i. 141; expressional character of, i. 157; Frankenstein monsters, i. 156; Gothic and Classic, i. 99 (note); Gothic, and the Oxford Museum (letters), i. 125 seqq., 131 seqq.; Greek work freehand, i. 168; jobbery in modern, i. 158; pseudo- Venetian, i. 157; sculpture, use of, in, i. 139.9^5-5-. ; St. Mark's, Venice, place of, in, i. 161: Ruskin's influence on modern, i. 154-157; unity in, i. 140. (See also Gothic Architecture.) Areola, ii. 33. Argument, the best kind of, i. 37. Aristotle, his work, i. 22 (note). Arno, the, ii. 116-118. Art, the alphabet of (Dr. Acland on), i. 130; @olor and design, 1. 29; connec- tion of with other studies, i. 28, 31; conventionalism in, i. 142; danc- ing, ii. 148; dicta in, dangerous, i. 24, 28; drawing — practical value of, i. 28; an essential part of education, i. 26; its uses, ih. ; a more univer- sal faculty than music, ib.\ — education in art, i. 30; enjoyment of dif- ferent kinds of art by different people, i. 14, i. 27; generalization in art, i. 75; Greek art, study of, ii. 148; growth of art in England and Italy, i. 9; happiness and knowledge of art, i. 25; highest art the most truthful, i. 140: history of, i. 27; how far to be studied, i. 29; "ideas" in, ii. 17; inclusive of what, i. 30; should be public, permanent, and expressive, i. 127, 54; manufacture and, i. 29, ii. 138; music, ii. 148; ornnmental art, i. 142; special gift for, how to detect, i. 29; studies, how to direct, i. 27; teaching by correspondence, i. 32; unity of purpose in, i. 140; use of before printing, i. 125 (note). Art Criticism, List of Letters on, i. 2; letter, "Art Criticism," i. 10 seqq.; art criticism, impossible to very young men, and why, i. 27; neces- sarily partial, and why, i. 27; the common dicta of, their dangerous INDEX. 215 use, i. 24, 26; how to develop the power of, ib. ; the foundations of, i. 27; the kinds of, right and wrong, ib. Art-critics, i. 12; two kinds of, i. 10; quahfications of, i. 10 (note). Art Education, List of Letters on, i. 2; danger of too good models, i. 28. (See Art.) Art Examinations, range and object of, i. 25; examples of questions to be set in, i. 25. Artist (see Art), two courses open to the, i. 18; extent of his work, i. 26; igjiorance of landscape in portrait painters, i. 15, and note; letters on artists and pictures, i. Ill segq. Artist and Amateur's Magazine, Letter on Art Criticism in (January 1844), i. 10 segq. ; allusion to article in. i. 18, and note; Letter to Editor on "Reflections in Water" (February 1844), i. 101 seqq.; review of "Mod- ern Painters," in, i. 200 (note). Art Journal, " Cestus of Aghua" referred to, ii. 99, and note; Letters on " A Museum or Picture Gallery" mentioned, i. xvii. and note. Arts, Society of. (See Societies.) Art Union, on " Modern Painters," i. 191; writers for the, i. 15. Arve, foul water of the, i. 195. Arveron, the, i. 179. Ashmolcan Society, Proceedings of (1841), Letter on "A Landslip near Giagnauo" in, i. 202. Asuitic, The, (May 23, 1871,) Letter, " The Queen of the Air," ii. 171. Astraean anecdote, an, ii. 180. Athena, i. 162, 165 (note); the Queen of the Air, ii. 171. AthencEum, The, (February 14, 1857,) Letter on the Gentian, i. 204; the Glasgow Athenaeum, ii. 124 (note). Athens, ii. 178. Atmospheric pressure, i. 185 scgg. Atreus' treasury and St. Mark's, i. 162. Audiences, modern, ii. 124; ii. 179. Aurifrigium, ii. 178. Authorsliip, early in life, deprecated, ii. 164; needs training, ib. Austerlitz, battle of, ii. 30. Austin's definition of Justice, ii. 57 (note). Australia, gold in, ii. 56 (note). Austria, characteristics of the nation, ii. 5 segg.; "barbarism," and mag- nanimity of, ii. 6; and France, loss in war between, ii. 33; work of, in Italy, ii. 6 segg. Autographic Mirror, The (Dec. 23, 18G5), letter to ^\. II. Harrison in, ii. 192. Auvergne, ii. 28. Autoun's " Ballads of Scotland" referred to, i. 76 (note). Babies, ii. 183; " Baby May, " i6. (note). Backhuyscn, i. 12. Bacon, his mission and work, i. 22 (note). 21 G IKDEX. Ballade, Scotch, i. 76 (note); "Burd Helen," i5. Bandiuelli, i. 43. Bauk directors, ii. 131. Bargaining and begging, ii. 56. Barometer, use of the, i, 185. Barry, Sir C, ii. 175 (note); James, R A., anecdote of, i. 15, 16, and note. Bartholomew Fair, 1. 55. Bartolomeo, Fra, no picture by in the National Gallery, i. 44, and note. Bass, Mr. M. T., ii. 18 (note). Bass-rock, The, i. 145. Beaconstield, Lord, and Mr. Gladstone, ii. 197. Beaumont, Sir G., i. 7 (note). Bee, the Queen, ii. 103. Beelzebub, ii. 197. Bogging and Bargaining, ii. 56. Bellini, i. 43, 47, 165 (note); his "Doge Leonardo Loredano, " 45, 46, and note; character of as an artist, ib. Bellinzona, the people of, ii. 117; Mr. Ruskin at, ib. Bennett, AV. C, Letter to, ii. 183; his Poems, ib., and note. Bentham's definition of justice, ii. 56. Ben Wyvis, i. 146. Berlin, Mr. Ruskin's letters from, ii. 3, 8; the sights of, ii. 12 and 12 (note); Sundays at, ii. 11. Bible, animals of the, ii. 172 seqq.; possible errors in the, ii. 98, and note; ■what to read in the, ii. 142; quoted or referred to,— "What are these wounds in thy hands" (Znchariah xiii. 6), i. 60 (note). "I meditate on all thy works" (Psalm cxliii. 5), i. 61 (note). "Behold, I stand at the door and knock" (Revelation iii. 20), 1. 68. The wild grass "whereof the mower filleth not his hand" (Psalm cxxix. 7), i, 68. (See both Bible and Prayer-book versions.) " The feet of those who publish peace" (Isaiah 111. 7), i. 133. " We also are his offspring" (Acts xvii. 28), i. 162. " Abana and Pharpar" (2 Kings v. 12), ii. 10. " Woe unto thee, O land, when thy king is a child" (Ecclesiastes x. 16), ii. 21. "Raising the poor" (1 Sam. ii. 8; Psalm cxiii. 7), ii. 27. "The commandment is holy, just, and good " (Romans vii. 12), ii. 55. "Who sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not" (Psalm xv. 4). ii. 57. " Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth" (Exodus xxi. 24. and reff.), ii. 63. "He that delicately bringeth up his servant," etc. (Proverbs xxix. 21), ii. 93. " Not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved" (Philemon 16), ii. 98. "The waters of comfort" (Psalm xxiii. 5, Prayer-book version), ii. 115. " Eyes have they, and see not" (.Jeremiah v. 21), ii. 140. "A rod for tlie fool's back" (Proverbs xxvi. 3), ii. 141. " A rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding" (Proverbs x. 13), ib. "Thou Shalt not commit adultery" (Exodus xx. 14), ii. 147. " Male and female created he them" (Genesis i. 27). ii. 148. " I will make a helpmeet for him" (Genesis ii. 18), ib. "All her household are clothed with scarlet" (Proverbs xxxi. 21, 22), ii. 155. " Who clothed you in scarlet" (2 Samuel i. 24), ib. I INDEX. 21? " The king's daughter is all glorious within" (Psalm xiv. 13. 14), ii. 155. " She riseth while it is yet night. . . . Strength and honor are her clothing* (Proverbs xxxi. 15, xxii. 5), ii. 157. "And the city was broken up" ci King^s xxv. 4), ii. 177. Bigg, Mr. "W. M., sale of pictures, i. 102 (note). Bills, for fresh railways, ii. 88: the reform bill (1867), ii. 133. Birds, preservation of wild, ii. 128 (note); treatment of, ii. 142. Birmingham Daily Mail, Nov. 27, 1879 (Mr. Ruskiu on St. Mark's, Venice), i. 170. Bishops, ii. 131. Black, W., " The Daughter of Heth," i. 120 (note). Black-letter, not illegible, ii. (note), 174, 175. Blackfriars Bible Class. See " New Year's Address." Blackstone's summary of law, ii. 63, and note, B'uckirood's Magazine, the art critic of, i. 13. "Blind Fiddler," the, i. 7. Bluecoat School, i. 55. Boat-race, training for, ii. 145. Boileau quoted, i. 14. " Bold" work in drawing and music, i. 95. Bonheur, Mdlle. Rosa, escape of, from Paris, ii. 23 (note). Books, publication of, ii. 163; number of in the world, ii. 164. Booth, J. "Wilkes (assassin of President Lincoln), ii. 54 (note). Botany, an examination paper in, i. 32. (See also Flowers.) Bouguer, Pierre, i. 196 (note). Bourges Cathedral, i. 154. Bragge, Mr. W. and the Sheffield Museum, ii. 126 (note). " Break," meaning of, ii. 177. Br^che, the, ii, 28. Brenta, the, ii. 10, 117. Brewster, SirD., i. 196. Bridgewater House, "Turner" at, i. 11, and note. Bright, Mr. John, M.P., ii. \%^ »eqq. Brighton, railway competition at, ii. 83 (note). British Museum, Letter on, i. 52 seqq. ; i. 102, 103; catalogues of the, i. 53; Henry VL's psalter at, i. 54, and note; preservation of drawings at, i. 84; what it is and is not, i. 53, 54. Brodie, Prof., at Oxford, i. 134, and note. Bromley, villas at, i. 156. Brooke, Stopford A., ii. 156, and note. Browne, Edward, Dr., ii. 120. and note; Thomas, Sir, ib. Browning, Robert, ii. 183 (note). Bubastis, cats sacred to (Herodotus, ii. 67), ii. 19. Buchan*^ Scotch Ballads referred to, i. 76 (note). Biickland. Dr. William, i. 182 (note) Builder, The (Dec. 9, 1854), Letter, " Limner" and Illumination, ii. 174 218 IKDEX. Buildings, modern, ii. 147, i. 156; repair of, ii. 203. Bunch, Sydne}'^ Smith's, ii. 96, and note. Bunney, Mr., painting of St. Mark's, i. 169 (note). Buonaroti, i, 43. " Burd Helen," i. 76, and note; meaning of " Burd," ib. Burgundy, ii. 28. Burial and immortality, i. 141. Burlington House, i. 118. Burne Jones, Mr., and St. Mark's, Venice, i. 170. Burns, quoted, i. 19, and note. Butler, Bishop, ii. 56. Byron quoted, i. 19, and note, i. 20; Turner's illustrations of, i. 102 (note). Cabmen's fares, ii. 53. Calcutta, ii. 33. California, gold in, ii. 37 (note). Callcott, Sir A., i. 14, 31, 23. Campanile, St. Mark's, Venice, i. 167; at Verona, i. 169. Campbell quoted, i. 20 (note), 31. Canterbury Cathedral, i. 161. Cape of Good Hope and Venetian History, ii. 145. Capital, employment of, ii. 85 seqq.) sunk in works of art, ii. 86. Capital Punishment, ii. 134. Cappel, ii. 4 (note), 5. Capri, grotto of, i. 200 (note). "Captain," loss of the, ii. 37, and note. Caracci and Titian, i. 51. Careers, modern, ii. 144,145, 146. Carl3ie, Thomas, quoted, his "Frederick the Great," ii. 37; on the Jamaica Insurrection and the Eyre Defence Fund, ii. 20 (note), 33 (note); on servants, ii. 101; letter to W. C. Bennett, ii. 267 (note). Carpenter, W. H., i. 84, and note, 93. Carriage of heavy goods, ii. 136, 138. Gary's Dante quoted, ii. 15 (note); criticised, 174, and note. Casentino, ii. 118. Castel a-mare, landslip near, i. 303. Castles— building of, i. 148, 149; definition of, i. 148; not to be imitated, i. 149; proper, no longer needed or possible, i. 148; cone in America, i. 151 (note); Warwick Castle, i. 151 seqq. Casts of St. Mark's, i. 163. 169. Catechism, won'c make good servants, ii. 94; or educate children, ii. 123. Cathartics, use of by ancients, ii. 67. Catholics, Roman, and Protestants, ii. 4 seqq. Cellini, i. 43. •' Cestus of Aglaia." (See Ruskin.) Chamouni, i. 174; the rocks of, i. 179; land destroyed at, ii. 116. INDEX. 219 Champagne, demand for, ii. 45. Chantrey, Sir F., i. 21, 23. Chapman, Mr. (of Glasgow Atlienceum\ ii. 124. Character formed by employment, ii. 132. Charity, ii. 131; invalid charities, ii. 139; "an object of " (letter), ii. 186. Charity-children singing at St. Paul's, ii. 149. Charles the Bold, ii. 28. Charlottenburg. tomb of Queen Louise at, i. 12, and note. Chartres Cathedral, i. 154. "Chasing." meaning of the word, ii. 176 (note). Chiaroscuro, i. 4; of Leech, i. 111. •' Child Waters," ballad of, i. 77 (note). China, war in, ii. 17. Chivalry, the foundation of, ii. 143 seqq. " Chorus," ii. 148. Christ, offices of, to the soul, i. 68, 69. Christ Church, Dean of, and St. Mark's, Venice, i. 170. Chrinilnu Life, The (Dec. 20, 1879), Letter on Co-operation in, ii. 73. Christie and Manson, sales by, i. 77 (note), ii. 69, ii. 183 (note). Chrysanthema, ii. 183. Cimabue, r.necdole relating to, i. 9, and note; his picture of the Virgin, ih.\ teaches Giotto, i. 25 (note). Cinderella, ii. 100. Cirencester, Agricultural College at, ii. 115. Citadel, definition of a, i. 148. Civet, ii. 97. Claude, i. 24; challenged by Turner, i. 46, and note; his "Seaport" and " Mill," ib. ; pictures of, restored, i. 46 (note). (See National Gallery.) Cleopatra dissolving the pearl, i. 50. Coal, how to economize English, ii. 135. Cocker, Edward, arithmetician (b. 1631, d. 1677), ii. 42. Coincidence, a strange, ii. 104 (note), 104. Colen, ii, 120. Colenso, Bishop, ii. 98 (note); his book on the Pentateuch, ib. Collins, C. A., i. 60 seqq. ; ib. (note); his " Convent Thoughts," ib. ; portrait of Wm. Bennett, ib.; his writings, ib. Cologne, the " Rubens" at, i. 39. Colonization, ii. 87, ii. 128. Color, and design, i. 29; eye for, rare, i. 15; the laws of, how far defined. i. 137; "scarlet" the purest, ii. 196; of water, i. 197. Combe, Mr., purchase of the " Light of the World" by, i. 67 (note). Commandments, the Ten, ii. 142. Commercial morality (letter), ii. 70; putrefaction, ii. 74. Commons, House of, tone of debate on Denmark, ii. 18. Conscience, the light of, 1. 68. Conscription, forms of true, ii. 137. 220 INDEX. Consistency, the nature of true, i. 25 (note). Contemporary Review, Mr. Goldwin Smith's article in (Dec, 1872), ii. 66 (note); Mr. Ruskin's "Home and its Economies" in (May, 1873), ii. 144 (note); "Letters on the Lord's Prayer" in (Dec, 1879), ii. 143. Conventionalism in Art, i. 142. Conway Castle, i. 151. Co-operation, letters to Mr. G. J. Holyoake on, ii. 73, 74 Copenhagen, ii. 32. Copies, of pictures in England and Italy, i. 106; of Turner, i. 105. Cornhill Magazine, Mr. Ruskia's article on Sir Joshua and Holbein (March 1860), ii. 12 (note). Cornwall, clear water on coast of, i. 196. Correggio, i. 47, 75, 96; copies of, i. 106; in the Louvre, i. 50. Correspondence, Mr. Ruskin's excuses from, ii. 186. Cotopuxi, i. 183. Cotton, subsiitut:s for, ii. 158. Coventry, riband-makers of, ii. 80, 136; Co-operative Record, letter in, on co-opeiuliu.„, ii. 73 (note). CramlinL,ton, strike at, ii. 106, and note. Crawford Place, ii. 105, and note. Creation, man its greatest marvel, i. 96. Cricklade, i. 53 (note). Criticism (See Art-criticism), List of Letters on literary, ii. 161 ; literary, ii. 105, 167; position of critics, ii. 167; the Goddess of Criticism, ib. (note); rarity of good, i. 3. Crime, bow to prevent, ii. 134; and drunkenness, ii. 130; and madness, ii. 130 (note). Criminal classes, letter and pamphlet on the, ii. 131, 132 seqq.; how to treat criminals, ii. 130. Cronstadr, ii. 32. Crossing-sweepers in Utopia and London, ii. 119. Crown, the, jewels, i. 53. Cruelty to animals, ii. 127 (note). " Cruise upon Wheels," A, i. 61 (note). Curtius, ii. 4 (note). Custozza, ii. 4 (note). Cuyp, pictures of in National Gallery, i. 39, and note. Daily News, The, Letter of Mr. Ruskin "on Co-operation" in (June 19, 1880), ii. 73; Speech of Mr. Ruskin at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (July 11, 1877), ii. 128 (note). Daily Telegraph, The, Letters and Articles in (in order of date): — (Oct. 28, 1864) " The Law of Supply and Demand," ii. 39. (Oct. 31, 1864) " " '♦ ii. 40. (Nov. 3, 1864) " " " ii. 43. (Dec. 20, 1865) "The Jamaica Insurrection," ii. 20. Carlyle's Letter to the Eyre Defence Ftmd, ii. 22 (note). INDEX. 221 (Sept 5. 1865) "Domestic Servants"— Mastership, II. 93. (Sept. 7, I8(i5) " " Experience, ii. 95. (Sept. 18, 1865) " " Soiiship and Slavery. H. 90. Articles, etc., on servants, ii. U4 (note), U'J (note), 102 (note). (Oct. 17, 1865) "Modern Houses," ii. 104. Other correspondence on houses, ib. uiote). (Dec. 8, 1865) "Our Railway System,' ii. 88. Article on railways, ib. fnote). (Jan. 22, 1863) "An object of charity," ii. 186. Article on .Matilda Griggs, ib. (note). (July 16. 18G8) Strikes, Mr. Ruskin's Proposition as to, ii 65 (note). (July 31. 1868) "Is England big enough?" ii. 79. Article, " 3Iarriage or Celibacj-," ib. (note). (Aug. 6, 1868) " The Ownership of Railways," ii. 81. ' Articles on railways, ib. (note) 83. (Aug. 10, 1868) " Railway Economy," ii. 83. " Fair Play's" letter on railways, ii. 83, 84, 84 (note). " East End Emigrants," article, ii. 87 (note). (Dec. 26, 1868) "Employment for the Destitute Poor and Criminal Classes," ii. 131. "Employment, etc." (pamphlet), ii. 132 (note), 134 (note). (Jan. 15, 1870) "The MoraUty of Field Sports," ii. 127. Articles on sport, ib. (note). (Oct. 7, 1870) "The Franco-Prussian War, ii. 22. (Oct. 8, 1870) " " " ii. 25. (Nov. 30, 1870) " Railway Safety," ii. 89. Article on railway accidents, ib. (note). (Jan. 12, 1871) " A King's first duty," ii. 111. Article on the Roman Inundations, ib. (note); ii. 165, (Jan. 19. 1871) " Notre Dame de Paris," i. 154. (Feb. 4, 1871) " The Waters of Comfort," ii. 115. (Feb. 7, 1871) "The Streams of Italy," ii. 116. (Feb. 21, 1871) "Woman's sphere," extract from a letter of Mr. Ruskin to Miss FaithfuU, ii. 154 (note). (Dec. 8. 1871) Article on Taverns, i. 151 (note). (Dec. 11, 1871) " Drimkenness and Crime," ii. 129. (Dec. 22, 1871) " Castles and Kennels," i. 151. (Dec. 25, 1871) " Verona v. Warwick," i. 152. Articles on Warwick Castle, i. 151, 152 (note). (July 5, 1876) " Turner s Drawings," i. 100 seqq. (July 19, 1876) " " i. 104. Dancing, art of. ii. 148. Danger and difficulty, how far factors in regulating wage.s, ii. 52. Dante quoted, ii. 15, and note. (See also Cary.) Darkness, effect of, on drawings, i. 89. David, restoration of Raphaels by, i. 38. Daybreak, ii. 177. Dcane, Sir Thomas, i. 125 (note). Dearie. Mr. T., his " Evening on the Marchno," i. 70, and note. Decoration, delicate and rougii, i. 137, 138. Demand, law of supply and, letters on, 39-44; foolish, ii. 100; the largest, that of hell, ib. Denmark, the position of, in 1863, ii. 17 seqq. 222 INDEX. Denudation, i. 181, 182; its place in physical mythology, i. 183, 184. Derby, the, 1859, ii. 10 (note). " Derby Day," Frith's, i. 55. (See also i., xvii. note.) De Saussure, i. 188, 189 (note). Deucalion, the myth of, i. 183. "Deucalion" referred to. (See Euskin, books quoted.) Diagrams, illustrating rainbow reflections, i. 201, 202. Dickens, letter of, to Mr. Bennett, ii. 183 (note); bibliography of, letters in the, ii. 190; death of, ii. 125 (note). " Pickwick" referred to, ii. 97. Dinner tables, modern, ii. 59. " Disciple of Art and Votary of Science," article in Liverpool Albion, ii. 187 (note). Discovery, the merits of, i. 187 seqq. Distances, focal, i. 5. Dividends, railway — a tax on the traveller, ii. 82. Dogs, Protestant and Catholic, ii. 11; " dog or bee" letter, ii. 127. Domestic servants. (See Servants.) Meaning of word " domestic," ii, 102 (note.) "Dones" and "undones," ii. 142. Doric modes, ii. 148. Drama, reform of the, ii. 193, 194. Drawing. (See Art.) Drawing-master, the first work of a, i. 28. Drawings, chance beauty of good, i. Ill; subtlety possible in, i. 93, 94 seqq. ; effect of light, etc., on, i. 83, 84, 102, 103, 105; how to mount, i. 83; how to frame, i. S3. Dreams, Homeric myth as to, i. 75, and note. Dress, right, ii. 154 seqq.-, national, ii. 155; dress-making, ii. 139; letter on "sad colored costumes," ii. 156. Drunkenness, and Crime, ii. 129; a crime in itself, ih.; instance of death by, ii. 39 (note). Dudley, Lord, "Angelico" in the collection of pictures of, i. 44, and note. Dulwich, railway at, ii. 97. Duncan's, Mr., " Shiplake, on the Thames," i. 201 (note). Durer, Albert, i. 28, 63; and Holbein, their theology of death, i. 118. Durham Cathedral, i, 161. Duty, meaning of the word, ii. 63, 142. " E. A. F." letter signed, on the designs for the "Foreign Office," i. 99. " Eagle's Nest" (see Ruskin: books quoted), ii. 146. Earth-Gods, ii. 172. Eastlake, Sir C, attack on. i. 37 (note), 39, 91; his knowledge of oil pic- tures, i. 46. 47 (note); his paintings, and Byron's poems, i. 20. Mr. C. L., his book on the Gothic Revival, i. 155 (note). " Economist," letter in Daily Telegraph from, ii. 41, 44 (note). INDEX. 223 Economy defined, its three senses, ii. 157; meaning of the word, ii. lOo. (See Political Economy.) Edinburgh, ii. 137; improvements at, i. 14o, 150; Sundays at, ii. 11; Trinity Chapel, i. 147; University of, and Prof. Hodgson, ii. 44 seqq. Castle, alterations at, i. 147. 149, 150; its grandeur, ib. ; no longer a military position, i. 150. Castle Rock, its place among Scotch " craigs.' i. 146, 147; proposal to blast, lb. Education, list of letters on, ii. 121; an "average first-class man," i. 31; compulsory, ii. 124; division of studies, i. 30; employment the primal half of, li. 132; involution of studies, i. 31; education-mongers, ii. 49; place of science in, i. 133; "true," letter on, ii. 123. Edward the Confessor, i. 161. Egg, yellow spot on, ii. 73. Ehreuberg, C. G., i. 132, 133 (note). Electricity use of, ii. 134. Elgin marbles, the, i. 28. Ellis, Mr. Wynn. i. 106 (note). Embankment of Italian rivers, plan for, ii. 112 seqg. Embroidery, use of, ii. 157. Emigration, ii. 87, 128. Employment, ii. 134; to be educational, ii. 136; fonns character, ii. 132; modes of for poor, ii. 138; always obtainable, ii. 46, 196; principles of, ii. 134 seqq. England, big enough? (letter) ii. 79; buildings of destroyed, i. 151; and Denmark, ii. 17, 18; France and, 1859, ii. 9; 1870, ii. 28; independent, ii. 99; and Italy, 1859, ii. 6; and Italian inundations, ii. 113 (note), 117; and Italy, their treatment of art, i. 9; literature of, i. 118; "machine-and-devil driven," ii. 124 (note); and Poland, ii. 19; pro- tection of pictures in, i. 37; and the Reform Bill, 1867, ii. 133; shop- keepers, a nation of? ii. 100; trade and policy of, ii. 28; and war, ii. 16, 17, 19. Enid, ii. 100. Enterprise, public and private, ii. 86. "Epitaphs," the Essay on, ii. 99. Epictetus, ib. Eridanus, ii. 111. Etching, George's, Ernest, i. 113 seqq. ; principles of, t'h. ; (a) chiaroscuro, 116; (A) few lines, 116; (r) a single biting enough, 115; ((/) use pencil, 116; thirteenth century work and its imitators, ib. Etruscan work, ii. 178. Equity and Law, ii. 62. Evening Journal, The (Jan. 22, 1855), review of "Animals of Scripture" in, ii. 172. Examination. (See Art.) Examiner, The, review of " Our Sketching Club" in, ii. 165, and note. i 224 INDEX. Expenditure, objects of public, i. 102; national, on pictures, parks, and peaches respectively, i. 92. '• Eye- witness, The," i. 61 (note). Eylau, battle of, ii. 30. Eyre, Governor, and the Jamaica Insurrection, iL 20, and note. Failure, the lesson of, i. 23, 125, 126. " Fair Play," letter of in Daily Telegraph, ii. 83 (note), 84-86 (note). Fairservice {see Scott, Sir Walter), ii. 97 (note). Faithfull, MissE., lecture by, ii. 154 (note); letter to, ib. Fallacies, a priori, ii. 50. Family, meaning of the word, ii. 102. Farinata, ii. 15, and note. Fashion, change of, ii. 155; how to lead, ii. 157. Fate and trial, the laws of, i. 125 (note). Father's, a, counsel to his son, ii. 147. Fauna, Oxford prize for essay on the, i, 132 (note). Fesch, Cardinal, " Angelico" in the collection of, i. 44, and note. Fielding, Copley, and Mr. Ruskin, i. 192. Field sports, morality of, ii. 127. Fiesole, i. 9. Finden, engraving in Rogers' Poems, i. 93. Fine Art Society, i. 105 (note), 159, 166. Finlason, G. W., " History of the Jamaica Case" referred to, ii. 22 (note). Florence, "Angelico" destroyed at, i. 38; and floods, ii. 117; gallery of, i. 50; Ghibelline proposal to destroy, ii. 15 (note); revenge in old, ii. 64 Flowers, use of in architecture, i. 141 seqq.\ " Alisma Plantago," i. 61; i| Chrysanthema, ii. 183; Gentian, i. 204. Fonte Branda, ii. 118. ; Food, amount of, determines wages and price, ii. 65. I Forbes, George, Prof., i. 187 (note). j i Forbes, James David, i. 176; letter on " his real greatness," i. 177 seqq. ; and \ Agassiz, i. 176, 190; his "Danger of Superficial Knowledge" quoted, f ' ( i. 189 (note); letter to Mr. Ruskin, i. 190; letter of a pupil of, to Mr. ' ( Ruskin, i. 190. U ( Force, use of human, ii. 134 seqq. | c Foreground and background, painting of, i. 6. \ ^ "Forester," lecture of in Daily Telegraph on Field Sports, ii. 128 (note). \ Forster's Life of Dickens, ii. 125 (note). Fortnightly Review, Mr. Freeman and Mr. Trollope on field sports, ii. 127 . g (note). I I. Fortress, definition of a, i. 148. ; g. Fortunes, rapidly accumulated, ii. 85; inequality of desirable, ib. Fountain of joy at Siena, ii. 118. Fox-hunting, ii. 128. Fra Bartolomeo, none in National Gallery, i. 44, and note. INDEX. ' 225 Framing, methods of, for delicate drawings, i. 83. France and Austria, loss of in war, ii. 83; cathedrals of, 154; empire, war the key-note of the first, vice of the second, ii. 26; position of in 1859, ii. 9. Franco-Prussian war, letters on, ii. 8€qq.\ cause of, ii. 26; character of the contest, ii. 27; Germany to stop within limits, ii. 28; loss of property in, ii. 32, 33; misery of, ii. 112, and note; England's position as regards, ii. 28; refugees during, ii. 154 (note); the Saiutc Chapelle in danger during, i. 154. Franchise, female, ii. 154 (note). "Frange," ii. 178. "Frango," ii. 178. Frasers Magazine {:i\i\y, 1875), letter on "Modem Warfare," ii. 29. Frederick the Great, his statue at Berlin, ii. 12 (note); his wars, virtue of, ii. 27. Freedom, "not to be given," ii. 7, 8 (note). Freeman,- Mr. E., on field sports, ii. 127 (note). Fr^re, M. Edouard, escape from Paris, ii. 23, and note. Fresco-painting, laws of, determined by Perugino, i. 117. "Fret," etymology of, ii. 178 seqq. "Frico,"ii. 178. Frith's, Mr., "Derby Day," i, 55. (See also i. xvii., note.) Fumivall, Mr., letters to, ii. 177. Fuseli quoted, i. 59, 75. Gainsborough, his landscapes, i. 13; his speed, i. 112. Gardens, ii. 158. Garisenda, tower of, i. 169. Gas, effect of, on pictures, i. 98, 105. Generalization in art, i. 76. Geneva, lake of, i. 180; its color, i. 196; letter to journal at, 153; Sundays at, ii. 11. Genius, the tone of true, i. 188, 189. Gentian, letter on the, i. 204 ; species of the, ib. Gentlemen, duties of, to their peasantry, ii. 128. Geological letters, i. 173, seqq. Geology, English ti. Alpine, i. 181 !wqq.\ museum of, at Sheffield, ii. 126; Mr. Ruskin's study of, i. 173, 178; work needed in the science, i. 175. (See also Glaciers.) George, Mr. Ernest, his etchings, i. 113 (note), and »eqq. " Gerin," play of, mentioned, ii. 194. Germany, characteristics of the nation, ii. 7; Emperor of, ii. 7 (note); Franco-Prussian war and, ii. 22, 28; heroism of a German girl, ii. 100; German soldiery, ii. 7; German women, type of features, ii. 12. Ghibelline faction at Florence, ii. 15 (note). Ghirlandajo, i.43; no picture by in National Gallery, i. 44 (note). 226 ' iiTDEX. Giagnano, landslip near, i. 202. Gideon's fleece, i. 133. "Gil Bias," ii. 186. Giorgione, i. 75. Giotto, his "public," i. 15; pupil of Cimabue, i. 25, and note, i. 43; bis theology of death, i, 118. Glaciers, action of compared "with that of water, i. 175-178; excavation of lake basins by, i. 173 seqq.; the G. des Bois, i. 178-180; experiments with honey illustrating, i. 178; hardness of, i. 177; motion of, i. 176, 177. Gladstone, Mr., ii. 142 (note); his "Juventuf 3Iundi," ii. 171 (note); at Naples, i. 18, and note; and Lord Beaconsfield, ii. 197. Glasgow, ii. 137; the G. Athenaeum, ii. 124 (note); the Lord Rectorship of G. University, ii. 195 seqq. Glasgow Herald, The, letters in : — (June 5. 1874) "The Value of Lectures," ii. 124. (Oct. 7, 1880) The Lord Rectorship of Glasgow University (four letters), ii. 195 seqq. (Oct 12, 1880) The Lord Rectorship, etc., ii. 197. Ghhe, The (Oct. 29, 1875), ''An Oxford Protest" in, ii. 188. "G. M.," letter of, in the Reader, i. 185. Gneiss, the rocks of Chamouni made of, i. 179. Gold, depreciation of, ii. 37; discoveries of, ih. (note). Goldwin Smith, Mr., on Luxury, ii. 66 (note). Good Words, " Animals of Scripture" reprinted in (1861), ii. 172 (note). Gosse, Dr. L. A., ii. 158. Gothic architecture, adaptability of, i. 125 seqq., 131, 132; and classic, i. 99 (note); decoration of, i. 127, 138, 141; efiPect of strength in, i. 168; employment of various degrees of skill in, i. 129; English, Italian, and Venetian, i. 157; and the Oxford Museum, i. 125 seqq.\ the G. Revival, i. 128, 129, 155 (note); types of French, i. 154. Government, the kind of, needed, ii. 86. Gravelotte, battle of, ii. 31. Great Eastern Railway (article in Daily Telegraph on), the, ii. 83. Greece, the king of, ii. 21 (note); oppressed by Greeks only, ii. 6; and Venice, relation of architecture, i. 163. Greek art, study of, ii. 148. Grcnville, Sir Richard, ii. 4 (note). Greppond, glacier of, ii. 116. Groswell, Rev. R., and the Oxford Museum, i. 139. Grief, effect of trifles on minds distressed by, i. 72. Griggs, Matilda, ii. 186, and note. "Growing old," article on, in Y. M. A. Magazine, ii. 140. Grumio. (See Shakespeare.) Guelfi, faction at Florence, ii. 15 (note). Guido, pictures by, in the National Gallery, i. 43. INDEX. 227 Guthrie, letter to Dr., ii. 184. Guy's bowl at Warwick Castle, i. 153. Hamilton, Sir W.'s Logic, ii. 56. Hanging, who deserve, ii. 131. Hanover, Sundays at. ii. 11. Harbor-making, ii. 138. Harding, i. 23. Harold the Saxon, i. 161. . Harrison, letter to W. H., ii. 193. Hartz minerals, purchase of by Mr. Ruskin, ii. 58. Hartz mountains, ii. 13. Hasselt's " Histoire de Rubens" referred to, i. 14 (note). Hawley's, Sir J., " Musjid " (Derby winner), ii, 10 (note). Health, chair of Physical, at Oxford, ii. 147. Hemling, i. 65. Henry VI. 's Psalter, i. 54, and note. Herodotus referred to, 1. 184. (See also Bubastis.) Heroism, true forms of, ii. 24; instance of, ii. 100; and vice, ii. 133. Hervet, Gentian, his " Economist of Xenophon," ii. 149 (note). Hervey, Lord Francis, i. 100 (note). Highlanders, a characteristic of, ii, 6. Highlands, the rocks of the, i. 146. Historical monuments, loss of, in England, i. 158; and small interest taken in, i. 29. History, true, w^hat it is, i. 38 ; how written hitherto, ib. Hobbes, definition of Justice, ii. 57 (note), 61. Hodgson, Professor, and Mr. Ruskin on supply and demand, ii. 44 scqq. Hogarth, his "public," i. 14; his "Two 'prentices," ii. 144. Holbein, the libel on, 37 (note), 45, and note; portrait of George Gyzen at Berlin, ii. 13, 13 (note); Jiis quiet work, i. 113; Mr. Ruskin's article on, ii. 13 (note); his theology of death, i. 118; TVornum's life of, ii. 13 (note). Holy Sepulchre, and St. Mark's, Venice, i. 163. Holyoake, Mr. G. J., letters on Co-operation to, ii. 73; his "History of Co-operation," ii. 73 (note); reference to Mr. Ruskin in America, ii. 73, and note; and the Sheffield Museum, ib. Homer, Odyssey quoted or referred to: (vi. 90), ii, 109, 170 (note); (xix, 563), i. 75; (xxii. end), ii. 102. Honiton lace-makers, ii. 136, 137. " Honos," existence of any absolute, ii. 63. Horace, expurgated editions of, ii. 147; his theology of death, i. 11«; quoted or referred to, ii. 57 (Odes. iii. 3. 1), 98, 111 (Odes, iii. 16, 39), and note, 143; study of, in England, ii. 143. Horeb, i. 133. House-AoW, ii. 101. Houses, letter on modern, ii. 104. 228 INDEX. Huddersfield and the Jamaica Insurrection, ii. 20. Hughes, Mr. T., M.P. for Lambeth, ii. 20 (notes). Hullah, Mr., on music, i. 25 (note), 26. Hume, Mr. Hamilton, and the Eyre Defence Fund, ii. 22 (note). Hunt, Mr. Alfred, and the Liverpool Academy, i. 73 (note). Mr. Holman, i. 71; " Awkening Conscience, The," i. 71; his early work criticised in the Times, i. 59 (note); exaggerates reflected light, i. 64; "Light of the World," i. 67 seqq.; technical details of, i. 68; "Valentine rescuing Sylvia," i. 60 (note), ^3, 64 seqq. William, i. 121. (Mr. Ruskin's " Notes on Prout and Hunt," referred to. See Ruskin.) Hunting, ii. 128. Husbands, duty of, ii. 153. "Hymn," meaning of, ii. 148. Hyssop, ii. 155. Ideal, definition of the, i. 7, and note. Idle, treatment of the, ii. 135. "Illustrations of Scripture," ii. 172. Imagination, no food for, in modern life, ii. 147. Increased Railway Fares (articles in Daily Telegraph), ii. 81 (note). Indians, ideas of duty in, ii. 6; irrigation in India, ii. 115. Infidelity, modern, i. 147. Ingoldsby Legends ("Jackdaw of Rheims") referred to, ii. 180. Initials, no need of, in scientific discussion, i. 186. Iniquity, an exploded word, ii. 107. Interest, one's own, ii. 7, ii. 48. Interference, public, with the individual, ii. 133. Intervention, principles of, ii. 7, 9, 10. Inundations, ii. 111-119. Iron manufacture, ii. 49; modern iron-work, ii. 127. Irrigation for Italy, ii. 114, 115. Irving's, Mr., " Shylock," ii. 262. Isle of Dogs, emigration from the, ii. 87. ^ Italian and English treatment of art, i. 9; masters, pencilling of, i. 112; mannerisms of Italian masters, i. 4. Italy, state of in 1859, letters on, ii. 3, 9, 13; extent of question, ii. 14; posi- tion of, ii. 9; passions of people noble, ii. 113 (note); power of, ii. 117; self-government, ii. 6; streams of , 1\Q seqq. "Italy," a reputed Turner, i. 106, and note. "Jackdaw of Rheims" (Ingoldsby Legends), ii. 180. Jamaica Insurrection and Governor Eyre, ii. 20 seqq. Jameson's "Early Italian Painters" referred to, i. 9 (note); "History of Our Lord," i. 38 (note), 44 (note). Jameson's " Scotch Ballads," i. 76, 77 (note). t INDEX. 229 Janssens, Abraham, and Rubens, i. 14. Japan, war in, ii. 17. "Jean dc Nivelle" mentioned, ii. 194. Jena, battle of, ii. 30, 33. Jerusalem, ii. 177. Jezebel, ii. 174. Johnson, Mr. Richard, on commerce, ii. 70; and note. Journal de Geneve, L'Esph'ance, 1873, Letter on Women's Work, ii. 153. Judgment-throne, condemnation from the, ii. 142. Jukes, Mr. T. B., F.R.S., letters on geology, etc., i. 181 (note), 184. Jussum, ii. 52, 53. Just price, a, ii. 106 (note). Justice, abstract, ii. 54; conceivable as a hideously bad thing, ii. 61 (note), 63; definition and derivation of, ii. 52; defined as "conformity with any rule, good or bad," ii. 54. 58 '(note), 61; need of, ii. 10; principles of ii. 48; different words for, ii. 52. Justinian, summary of law by. ii. 63, and note. Katharine's instrument (see Shakespeare), ii. 178. Kail leaf, the, used in Melrose Abbey, i. 141 (note). (See Scott, "The Abbot," chap. xvi. ; "The Monastery," Introduction). Keble College, Oxford, "The Light of the World " at, i. 67 (note). Kennedy, Mr. T. S., copy of Turner's " Fluelen" possessed by, i. 105 (note). Kensington Museum, Art School at, 100 (note); Turners at, i. 98 (note). Kidderminster Times, The (July 28, 1877), letter on " Ribbesford Church," i. 158. King Charles the Martyr, ii. 68-9. King, the first duty of a, ii. Ill; must govern the rivers of his countrj% ib. Kinglake, Mr. A. W., on Savoy and Denmark, ii. 19, Kingsley's, Charles, " Ode to the North-East Wind," ii. 50 (note). Kingsley, Mr., of Sidney Sussex College, on optics, i. 94-6. Kiss' Amazon, ii. 13, 12 (note). Koniggratz, battle of, ii. 31. Labor, as a discipline, ii. 136; the forces of, order of their employment, ii. 87, 135; giving of the best charity, ii. 131; its influence on character, ii. 133; price of, ii. 40, 65; promise to find, ii. 72. "La Fille du Tambour Major," Offenbach's, mentioned, ii. 194. Lake basins, excavated by glaciers, i. 174 (see Glaciers). Lambeth, Mr. T. Hughes, M.P. for, ii. 20, 21. Lammermuirs, the, i. 146. Lancet, The, foimdcd l)y Mr. Wakley, i. 19 (note). Landseer, i. 23, 63 (note); illustrated by Burn.s, i. 19. Landslip near Giagnano, letters on, i. 202. "Langhame Castle, "Turner's, i. 102, and note. 230 IKDEX. " Le Chalet" mentioned, ii. 194. Launce (see Shakespeare), ii. 97. Law Courts, the uew, i. 156, and note. Laws, criminal, ii. 133; equity and law, ii. 63; eternal, and practical diffi- culties, ii. 95; of nature, ii. 72, summary of law, by Blackstone and Justinian, ii. 63, and note; lex talionis, lex gratiae, ii. 64. Lazarus, ii. 173. Leconfield, " Turner" in possession of Lord, i. 106 (note). Lectures, the value of, i. ii. 124, and note. Lee, Fred. Richard, R.A., i. 13, and note. Leech, John, letter on his outlines, i. Ill; characteristics of his work, ib.; chiaroscuro, "felicity and prosperous haste," i. 112; death of, i. Ill (note); especial value of first sketches, i. 112; fastidious work, i. 113; proposal to distribute his drawings among national schools, i. 113, i. 54 (note). Leicester Chronicle and Mercury (Jan. 31, 1880), letter on "Purchase of Pic- tures," i. 55. Leicester, proposal for picture-gallery at, i. 55. Leith, Mr. J., and the Blackfriars Bible class, Aberdeen, ii. 142 (note). Lennox, Lord H., i. 52 (note); i. 100 (note). Lenses and specula, grinding of, i. 95. Leonardo da Vinci, i. 75; designed canals of Lombardy, ii. 118. Leone Levi, M., and statistics of drink, ii. 129. Leonidas, ii. 4 (note). L'Esperance, Geneva, letter "Women's Work" in, ii. 153. Letter, " to the author of a review," ii. 187; black letter, ii. 175 (note), 256; letters, carriage of, ii. 82, 90. (See for the letters in the book the Tables of Contents and the Index under the special headings. Appen- dix ; Architecture ; Art Criticism and Art Education ; Education ; Lit- erary Criticism; Pictures and Artists; Political Economy; Politics; Pre-RaphaeUtism ; Public Institutions and the National Gallery; Rail- ways; Roman Inundations; Science; Servants and Houses; Turner; War; Women, their work and their dress.) Lewis, John, i. 74; "Encampment under Sinai," i. 117 (note); "The Hhareem," i. 65, and note. "Liber Studiorum," value of, i. 97; sale of original plates, ii. 70. Liberalism, modern, ii. 197, 201. Liberty and order, ii. 10; and slavery, ii. 98, 99. Liebreich, Dr., lecture on Turner and Mulready, i. 155, and note. "Life's Midday," song in " Y. M. A. Magazine," ii. 141. Light, effect of on drawings, i. 89, 90, 98, 102, 105; upon water, phenome- non of, i. 191; " Light of the World," i. 67 seqq. "Limner and Illumination," letter on, ii. 174. Limousin, the, ii. 28. Lincoln, President, death of, ii. 54, and note; English opinion of, ib. Lindisfarne, i. 161. INDEX. 231 Literature, what it includes, i. 30. Literary criticism, list of letters on, ii. 161. Literary Gazette (Nov. 13, 1858); "Turner Sketches and Drawings" (letter), i. 88, and note; mention of Edinburgh Custle in, i. 147, and note. Liverpool AWion — (January 11, 1858), Letters on " Pre-Raphaelitism in Liverpool," i. 73. (November 2. 18C3), "The Foreign Policy of England," ii. 15. (November 9, 18?2), "To the author of a Review," ii. 1H7. Articles on " Disciple of xSst and Votary' of Science" in, *6. (note). Liverpool Academy, i. 73 (note); Institute, Mr. Ruskin's refusal to lecture at, ii. 15 (note); pre-Raphaelitism in, i. 73 (note). Locke, ii. 56. Logic, instance of English, ii. 98. * Lombardy, the canals of, ii. 118; insurrection, ii. 4, and note. London, ii. 201; London and Northwestern Railway accidents, ii. 89 (note); the streets of (letter), ii. 119 seqq.; London lleciew (May 16, 1861), letter on " The Reflection of Rainbows," i. 201. Lorraine and Alsace, ii. 28. Louise, Queen of Prussia, her tomb, ii. 12, and note. Louvre, the, arrangement of, i. 50; preservation of drawings at, i. 87; richly furnislied, i.*92; salon carre, i. 50; pictures in: "Immaculate Conception," i. 87 (note), 88; "Marriage in Cana," i. 87; "Susannah and the Elders," i. 50 (note). Love, the conqueror of lust, ii. 144, 147. Lowe, Mr., and Mr. Ruskiu, ii. 189. Lucerna Valley, the, ii. 11, 12. Lucina(the goddess "who brings things to light," and especially, therefore, of birth), i. 179. Lust (see Love). Luxury, of the present age, i. 18; and political economy, ii. 66, 67, 80. Lydian modes, ii. 148. " M. A.," Letter on "limner" from, ii. 174. "M. A. C," Letter on atmospheric pressure from, i. 185. Macaulay, Lord, saying of quoted and criticised, i. 189, and note; tone of his mind. i. 189. Machiavelli quoted, ii. 15 (note). Machinery, use of, ii. 135. Macmillan's Magazine (Nov., 1870), " Sad-colored costumes," ii. 156. Madonna, the, and Venus, i. 162. Magdeburg, sack of, ii. 32. Magenta, ii. 3 (note), 31. Malamocco, ii. 117. Malines, "Rubens" at, i. 39. 232 IKDEX. Manchester, Art Treasures Exhibition, 1858, i. 103 (note); Chamber of Commerce, ii. 70 (note); Dramatic Reform Association of, ii. 193 (note); Buskin Society of, ii, 191. Manufacture and Art, i. 29; of dress, ii. 155. Marengo, battle of, ii. 30. Market, the laws of honest, i. 165 (note). Marks, :Mr. H. S., R. A., Letter on F. Walker to, i. 116 seqq. Marriage, ii. 147; "Marriage or Celibacy" (Daily Telegraph article on), ii. 79 (note) Mars, i. 162. Martin, illustrated by Milton, i. 20. Marylebone Council, ii. 105 (note). Maskelyne, Mr. Nevil S., M.P., i. 53, and note; his work on minerals at the British Museum, i. 54, "Matilda Y.," letter of, i. 10, and note; Matilda Griggs, letter on, ii. 186. Mattie, carefu' (see Scott's " Rob Roy"), ii. 97. Maw, J. H., Letter from, 191 (note), 200 (note). Matthew, St., ii. 8. Means of life, the, ii. 68, 69. Mechanical power, natural to be used before artificial, ii. 134. Medicine, to be learnt by children, ii, 147. Meduna, M., and St. Mark's, i. 188. Meissonier, his pictures, i. 127. • Melrose, i. 141; the monks of (see Scott's " Abbot, " chap, xvi.), i. 141 (note). Mendelssohn, ii. 169. Mercury, experiment with, i, 197. Mestre, ii. 5. Marlborough House. (See Turner Drawings.) Michael Angelo, i. 146. Milan, the French in, ii. 3 (note), 7. Mill, J. S., ii. 146 (note); direction of his thought, ii. 21; and the Jamaica Insurrection, ii. 20-21; political economy of, ii. 71 (note). Millais, Mr., i. 66 (note), 74; criticised in the Times (1851); i. 59 (note); early work, i. 59; fiesh-painting by, i. 65; painted glass of, i. 66; pic- tures of mentioned: "Autumn Leaves," i. 76 (note); "Blind Girl," i. 73 (note), 77 (note); early sacred picture (1850), i, 60; "Ferdinand lured by Ariel," i, 60 (note); "Mariana," i. 60 (note), 62, 63, 66; " Por- trait of a Gentleman and his Grandchild," i. 60 (note); "Pot Pourri," ii. 185; "Return of the Dove to the Ark," i. 60 (note), 63, 65; " Wives of the Sons of Noah," i. 63; " Woodman's Daughter," i. 60 (note). IVIiller, John, collection of pictures of, i, 77 (note). IVIilton quoted (" Comus," 1. 301), ii. 178; "Paradise Lost," i. 19. Mincio, the, 6, 10, 118. Miniatures, painting of, i. 117; use of, 121, i. 127. Miscellaneous Letters, list of subjects, ii. 75. Missal paintings, condition of. good, and why, i. 90, 91. INDEX. 233 Mistress, an ideal house-, ii. 102. Mitford, Mary Russell, ii. 183 (note), 183. Mitrailleuse and musket, relative effect of, ii. 30. Mock-castles, etc., i. 151. Modern houses, letter on, ii. 104; world, destruction of buildings by the, i. 158; theology of, i. 118. (See also Age, the Present.) "Modern Painters." (See under Ruskiu, Mr.) Monetary and Mining Gazette (Nov. 13, 1875), letter on " The Definition of Wealth," ii. 71. Money, true, ii. 115; definition of, ii. 71, and note; distribution of, ii. 49; ill got, ill spent, ii. 144; loss of, ii. 187; how made and lost, ii. 79, 80; pedi- gree of, ii. 69; how the rich get and spend, ii. 66-70; value of, ii. 37; lowered value of, its effect, ii. 38. Montanvert, the, i. 179. Montaperto, battle of, ii. 15 (note). 3[ont Blanc, guides up, ii. 52, 56, 58 (note); Cenis (and James Barry), i. 15, 16 (note); St. Angclo, ii. 116; Viso, ii. 11. Monthly Packet, The (Nov. 1863), " Proverbs on right dress," ii. 155. Moore, Mr. Morris, and the National Gallery, i, 37 (note), 47. Moore, Thomas, National Airs, " Oft in the stilly night," referred to, i. 71; his "Public," i. 14. Morality of Field Sports, ii. 127 seqq. Moore, Sir T., "Utopia" of, ii. 191. Morgarten, battle of, ii. 4, and note. Morning Chronicle (Jan. 20, 1855), "The Animals of Scripture, a Review," ii. 172. Morning Post^SnXy 7, 1864), letter, " The Position of Denmark," ii. 17. Morris, ^Mr. William, and St. Mark's, Venice, i. 170. Mosaic Law, the, ii. 72. Mother, place of a, ii. 146. Mounting of drawings. (See Drawings.) Mozart, ii. 169. Mulready, i. 65. 66 (note); Dr. Licbreich on, i. 154, and note. Munro, Mr., and the Oxford Museum, i. 139. Murchison, Sir Roderick, and the Excavation of Glaciers, i. 173 (note); and the Eyre Defence Fund, ii. 22 (note). Murillo's " Immaculate Conception," i. 87 (note), 88. Muscle, use of, in labor, ii. 136. Museum, a modern, ii. 126; a national its objects and uses, i. 53- St. George's, ii. 186. Music, ii. 158; the art of, ii. 148; a less common faculty than drawing, i. 26, 95; ear for, commoner than eye for color, i. 15. Miisjid, Derby-winner, ii. 10 (note). Mycenae, ii. 178. Mythology, ii. 171; Christian and Greek, i. 163; and religion, i. 118. 234 INDEX. Naples, Mr. Gladstone and the political prisoners at, ii. 18 (note); storm at, ii. 116. Napoleon Bonaparte, i. 44 (note), 49; ii. 26; the Third, ii. 6, 26,27; pur- chase of the Louvre "Murillo" by, i. 87. Nations, "A nation's defences," ii. 113; defences of, "do not pay!" ii. 114; gain and loss of, 79, 80; their quality shown in that of their servants, ii. 94; their strength in union, not in number, ii. 25. National Gallery, the (see also Pictures); debate on vote for, i. 86 (note); an European jest, i. 38; an ideal arrangement of, i. 48 seqq., 50-52; keep- ers of: Eastlake, Sir C., i. 37 (note); Uwins, RA., i. 46 (note); Wor- num, i. 86; Letters to Times on, i. 37, 45, 86; a new gallery proposed, 1. 49, 51, and note; no Ghirlandajo Fra Bartolomeo, or Verrochio in, i. 44 (note), 45; Parliamentary Blue Books referred to, i. 37 (note), 42 (note), 46 (note), 48 (note); popular idea of its object, i. 48; restoration of pictures in, i. 37 (note) and seqq., 45; purchase of picli-res for, i, 43, 44, 45; strictures on, i. 42 (note); the Vernon gift, i. 50, and note. National Gallery, Pictures referred to in the — Albertinelli's "Virgin and Child," 1. 44 (note). Angelico's "Adoration of the Magi," ih. " " Christ amid the Blessed," ib. Bellini, "Doge Leonardo Loredano,"i. 45. Claude's " Slarriage of Isaac and Rebecca," i. 46 (note). " " Mill," i. 46 (note). " "Queen of Sheba," i. 46 (note). " "Seaport," i. 46 (note). Cuyp, "Large Dort," i. 39 (note). " "Landscape, Evening," i&. Guido, "Lot and his Daughters," i. 43. " "Magdalen," ib. (note). " "St. Jerome," i&. " " Susannah and the Elders," ih. Holbein, libel on, i. 37 (note), 45, and note. Lorenzo di Credi, " Virgin and Child," i. 44 (note). Perugino, "Virgin and Child, with St. Jerome and St. Francis,"*. " " Virgin and Infant Christ, with St. John," ih. " " Virgin and Infant Christ, with Archangels Michael, Raphael, and Tobias, 2&.; 120. Poussin, " Sacrifice of Isaac," i. 3, and note. Rubens, " Judgment of Paris," i. 44, and note. " " Peace and War, " i . 39. Titian, " Bacchus and Ariadne," i. 40-54. Tiu-ner, " Dido building Carthage," i. 46, and note. " " The sun rising in a mist," ih. Drawings and Sketches, i. .50, and note ; 81 (note). Van Eyck, "Jean Arnolfini and his wife," i. 46 (note). Velasquez, " Philip IV. hunting the Wild Boar," i. 40. Veronese, "Consecration of St. Nicholas," i. 40, and note. " " Rape of Europa, ' ' ih. Wilkie, "The Blind Fiddler," i. 7. Natural History, study of, i. 135; letter on, i. 204. Nature and Art, letter on "Art Teaching by Correspondence" in, i. 32. INDEX. 236 Nature, general ignorance of, i. 16; human, not corrupt, ii. 143; its lessons true, i. 24; neglect of, i. 17; understanding of, ib. Neptune, ii. 171. Neutrality, the " difficulties of," letter, ii. 26; of England, ii. 15. New Shakespeare Society, letters in Transactions of, ii. 17G »eqq. Newspaper, duty and power of an editor, ii. 95. Newtonian law, i. 199 (note), 200. Newton's "Principia," i. 14. New Years Address and Messages to BUickfriars Bible Class, Aberdeen: "Act, act in the living present" (1873), ii. 141. " Laborare est orare" (1874), ii. 142. "A Pagan Message" (1878), ii. 143. Nineteenth Century: Mr. Ruskin's "Fiction, Fair and Foul," quoted, ii. 97 (note). Nino Pisano, i. 43. Nobert, line-ruling by, i. 94. Non-iquity, ii. 107, Norton, Prof. C.E. (U.S.A.), letters of Mr. Ruskin to, i. 86 (note), 97 (note), 105 (note) ; lecture on Turner, ib. "Notes on Employment of the Criminal Classes" (Da % Telegraph, \e\X&t and pamphlet), ii. 129-132 seqq. "Notes on Prout and Hunt" (see Ruskin. Mr.), i. 166 (note). "Notre Dame de Paris," its place among French cathedrals, i. 153. Norwich, Dr. Browne at, ii. 120, and note. "Oak Silkworms," letter in Times (Oct. 24, 1862) on, ii. 158. Obedience, the real " Divine service," ii. 143. Offenbach's "Fille du Tambour Major" referred to, ii, 194. Oil painting, determined by Titian, i, 117. Old Adam (see Shakespeare), ii, 97. Old Masters, exhibition, i. 106. Oliver, Roland for an, ii. 48. Opie. i- 75. Optical work, delicacy of, i. 94, 95. Optics, writers on, i. 195 (note). Organ, street nuisance of, ii. 18, 19 (note). Ornament, natural forms in, i. 129; in dress, ii. 155. O'Shea, and the O.xford Museum, i. 139, 142 (note). " Ought " and " are," ii. 63. ' Our Sketching Club," ii. 165, and note. Oxford, Balliol oriel-window, i. 135; bishop of, on education, ii. 123 (note), 178; Bodleian li])rary, traceries of, i. 135; Christ Church, fan-vaulting at, ib. ; drawing schools, i. 102, 113; examinations, letter on, i. 24; meet- ing in on St. Mark's, Venice, i. 170; printsellers, ii. 144; "An Oxford Protest," ii. 188; rich buildings, i. 135. 236 , INDEX. Oxford Museum, the, letters on, i. 125-145; Acland, Dr., his lecture on, quoted, i. 125 (note), 130 (note), 132 (note); building of, i. 125 (note); capital in, i. 141, and note; decoration of, i. 127, 136, 137, 138, 143; porch proposed, i. 130; sculpture of, i. 137; spandril in, i. 144; suc- cess of its Gothic architecture, i. 130; its teaching, i. 138; the west front, 1. 139. Padua, ii. 117. Painters, how roused to exercise their strength, i. 139; vision of, how it affects their pictures, i, 155. Painting and poetry, closely allied, i. 19; portrait-painting, ii, 170. Pall Mall Gazette, The— (April 18, 1865) " Strikes v. Arbitration," u. 48 Articles on strikes, ih. " masters and men, ii. 50, and note. (April 21, 1865) " Work and Wages," ii. 50. ( " as, " ) " " ii. 5-2. (May 2, " ) " " ii. 54. ( " 9, " ) " " ii. 59. ( " 22, " ) '• " ii. 62. Interpolation of, in Mr. Ruskin's letters, ii. 57-59. (March 1, 1867) " At the Play," ii. 185. (May 1, 1867) " Standard of Wages," ii. 65. (January 31, 1868) " True Education," ii. 123. ( " 19, 1871) ' ' A Nation's Defences," ii. 113. (December 28, 1871) " The Streets of London," ii. 119. (March 16, 1872) "Mr. Ruskin's Influence— a defence," i. 154. ( " 21, ") "Mr. Ruskin's Influence— a rejoinder," i, 156. (November 4, 1872) " Madness and Crime," ii. KW. (January 24, 1873) " How the Rich spend their Money," ii. 66. ( " 29, " ) " " " ii. 67. ( " 31, " ) " " " ii. 68. ( " 11, 1875) " A Mistaken Review," ii. 165. ( " 19, ") "The Position of Critics," ii. 167. Pan-droseion, i. 161. Parents and children, relation of, ii. 145. Paris, fortifications of, ii. 114; in Franco-Prussian war, ii. 25; theatres of, ii. 194. Parliament, ii. 140; of 1868, ii. 133; debate on Denmark, ii. 27; on Turner bequest, i. 86; Houses of, ii. 175 (note), 176. Partnership of masters and men, ii. 69, and note. Patmore, Coventry, i. 60 (note), ii. 168, 171 (note). Paton, Waller, R.S.A., i. 74, and note. Patriotism, ii. 4 (note), ii. 144. Peebles v. Plainstanes. (See Scott.) Penelope and her servants (see Homer, Od. xxii.), ii. 102. Penrith, letter from, i. 147. "Percy's Reliques" quoted, i. 77 (note). Permanence, the blessing of a fixed life, ii. 101. I INDEX. 237 Perseus, i. 163. Perugino, i. 44 (note), 117, 120, note, aud 121. Peter, St.,ii. 8. Petroleum, ii. 136. Pharpar and Abana, ii. 10. Phidias and Titian, i. 142, 162. (pfj(xd6G3, ii. 178. "Pickwick" referred to, ii. 97. Pictures, — and artists, letters on, i. Ill; arrangement of in a gallery, i, 42 43,50; cleaning of, i. 41; galleries, fatigue of visiting, i. 42, 51; glazin. of, i. 41, 47, 48; arc great books, i. 48, 49 (note), 69, 103; London atmo> phere, effect of on, i. 38; modern ai)preciation of, i. 55' novelty of a purpose in, i. 69; popular idea of, i. 73; preservation of, i. 39, 49; restora tion of, i. 47; purchase of, i. 55; common tendency of, i. 72; tone left "by time on, i. 39: touches on, value of la-^t, i. 47; must be understood as well as seen, i. 70; value of studies for, i. 52; vanity in possessmg. i. 127; worth buying, worth seeing, i. 42, 48, 92. (See also National Gallery.) Pictures referred to, see National Gallery, Louvre, and under the names of artists. Piedmont, a view of, ii. 11. •* Pilgrim's Progress" referred to, i. 66. Pisa, ii. 117. Plato quoted, i. 16, 183; ii. 206; and justice, ii. 53. " Plight," ii. 178. Plummer, John, letter on " Supply and Demand," ii. 43, 44 (note). Po, delta of, ii. 116; embankments for, ii. 112. Pocock, Mr. T., ii. 140. Poetry, disregarded in this age, i. 18; and painting allied, i. 19; principles of criticism of , ii. 169; better read than recited, ii. 180; requisites for enjoyment of, 1.18; of Turner's pictures, ib. Poets, modern, ii. 171 (note). Pointsmen, under-payment of, ii. 88. Poland and Russia, ii. 16. Pole, (Greffrey, his " Xenophon," ii. 102 (note). Political Economy, list of letters on, ii. 35; aud morality, how connected. 11. 42, 43; primal fallacy of modern, ii. 65; liuskin, 3Ir., and his defini- tion of, ii. 83 (84-87); scope of his economy, ii. 99; shelter the first question in, ii. 105, 106; true and false, ii. 99. Politics, list of letters on, ii. 1; bewilderment of >Ir. Ruskin at, ii. 3; the path in, ii. 7, 8; tone of modern, ii, 14; in youth, ii. 141. Pompeii, ii. 116. Pope's "Odyssey" (piotcd, ii. 169, and note. Poplar, arti.sans of, emigration, ii. 86, 87 (note). Porterage, ii. 136, 138. Portrait-painters, their ignorance of landscape, i. 16. 238 INDEX. Pottery, ii. 139. Poussin, Gaspar, i. 3, 7; his "Sacrifice of Isaac," 1. 3. " Nicholas, i. 4. Powers, for labor, order of their employ, ii. 134; of a nation — dependent on what, ii. 25. Poynter, Mr., R. A., at Kensington, i. 100, and note. Prayer, obedience the best, ii. 143. Pre-Raphaelitism, etc., list of letters on, i. 58; choice of features by, i. 63, 64; conceits of, i. 77, and note; drapery of, i. 63; flesh-painting of, i. 65; growth of, i. 74; labor of Pre-Raphaelite pictures, i. 68; Liverpool and, i. 73; meaning of the word, i. 61, and note; perspective of the Pre-Raphaelite Brethren, i. 62; probable success of, i. 66; religious tendencies of Pre-Raphaelite Brethren, i. 60, 66; respective value of Pre-Raphaelite and other work, i. 74, 76; want of shade in Pre- Raphaelite work, i. 66; Pre-Raphaelite work, true and false, i. 70. Price, dependent on labor, ii. 55, 60; a just, ii. 106 (note); determinable, li. 61 ; allows for necessary labor, ii. 56; and value, ii. 39, 64. Principle, the sense of, how blunted, i. 8. Property, distribution of, ii. 67, 68; principles of , ii. 71; loss of in war, ii. 32, 38. Proteus, character of Shakespeare's, i. 64. Prout, i. 63 (note). (See Ruskin, Mr., "Notes on Prout and Hunt.") Provence, winds of, ii. 135. " Protestant," ii. 140. Protestantism, remarks on, ii. 3, 4; aspect of, at home and abroad, ii. 11; hypocrisy of, ii. 4; of Italians, French, and Austrians, ii. 5. Protests, usclcssness of, ii. 17. Protractor, the use of the, i. 181 (note), 184. Prussia, Frederick William IV. of, ii. 7 (note). (See also Franco-Prussian war.) Public, the, defined, i. 15; their judgment in art, i. 15; and in other mat- ters, i. 17; their ignorance of nature, i. 17; Frederick Walker, how affected by, i. 122. Public Institutions and the National Gallery, list of letters on, i. 36. (See National Gallery, British Museum.) Pullen, Mr. F. W., Letter to on St. Mark's, Venice, i. 170 (note). Punishment, ii. 134. Quarles Harris* port, ii. 66. Quebec, emigration to, h. 87. Rabbah, ii. 174. Radelzky, ii. — ; his character, ii. 5. Railways, list of letters on, ii. 77; accidents, ii. 88, 89; doubling of lines, ii. 88, 89; at Dulwich, ii. 97; economy, ii. 83; investment in, ii. 81; man- agement of, ii. 82; ownership of, ii. 81-83; payment of pointsmen, ii. 83, 88; stations, decoration of, ii. 88, 89. INDEX. 339 Rainbows, reflection of in water, i. 201. Raphael, 1. 43, 75; distinction in art before and after, i. 62; pictures of in the Louvre, i. 49; in the National Gallery, i. 47; restored by David and Vernet, ib. Rationalism, modern, and the Liber Studionim, i. 97 (note). Ranch, Christian, ii. 17, 18 (note). Reader, The, Letters in — (November 12, 1864) "The Conformation of the Alps," i. 173, (November 26 1864) " Concerning Glaciers," i. 175. (December 3, 1864) " English v. Alpine Geology," i. 181. (December 10, 1864) "Concerning Hydrostatics," i. 185. Letters and articles, etc., referred to: by " M. A. C" and " G. M.," i. 185 (note); Jukes, Mr., i. 181 (note), 182 (note), 1^4 (note), 185 (note); Murchison, Sir R, i. 173 (note); "Tain Caimbeul," i. 175 (note). Real, the, and the ideal, not opposed, i. 7, and note. Rebekah, ii. 174. Recitations, Letter on, ii. 180. Red Prince, the, ii. 112. Reflections in water, letter on, i. 191; two kinds of, L 195 (note); lines of moonlight on the sea, i. 193; of rainbows, i. 201. Reformation, ii. 133; instruments of, ib. 134 Reform Bill, 1867, ii. 133. Religion and mythology, i. 118; and science, i. 133. Rembrandt, i. 13, 28, 115 (note). Rendu's Glaciers of Savoy — letter on Forbes in, i. 187. Repair of buildings, ii. 138. Republicanism v. Monarchy in the Franco-Prussian war, ii. 40. Restoration, modern, letter on, i. 157; impossible, i. 153; in Italy, i. 170. Reverence, a mark of high intellect, i. 189. Review-writing, ii. 166. Reynolds, Sir Joshua, effect of gas on his pictures, i. 99; grace of, ii. 34 (note); speed of, i. 112; vehicles used by, i. 98; Mr. Ruskin's article on, ii. 18 (note). Rheims Cathedral, i. 154. Rhine, embankments for the, ii. 112; foul water of the, i. 195 (note). Rhone, the, ii. 112. Ribbesford Church, i. 158. Ricardo's "Political Economy," ii. 80. Rich and Poor, money how spent and made by, ii. 98-104. Richmond, George, R.A., ii. 170; Professor W. B., i. 170. Rivers, Italian, ii. Ill seqq. (See Roman Inundation letters.) Roadmaking, ii. 138. Roads, who should own, ii. 119, 120. Robert le Diable, opera of, ii. 17. Rogers' "Italy," i. 83; Poems, i. 82. 93; his old servant, i. 104. Roland, a, needed by France, ii. 42; for one's Oliver, ii. 70. 240 IKDEX. Roman inundations, list of letters on, ii. 157. Roman race, the qualities of the, ii. 117. Rome, and the floods, ii. 116. Rose, Society of the, ii. 191 ; the heraldic sign on Mr. Ruskin's books, ib. Ross, Sir William, A.R.A., i. 62. Rosse, microscopes of Lord, i. 94. Rossetti, i. 74, ii. 166. Rossini, ii. 194. Rotterdam, cleanness of, ii. 120. Rouen Cathedral, i. 154. Royal Institution, Dr. Liebreich's lecture at. 1. 154, and note. " Mr. Ruskin's lecture on *'The Alps" at, i. 174 (note). " Mr. Ruskin's lecture on "Verona" at, ib. Rubens, advantageous condition in which to see his pictures, i. 39; charac- teristics as an artist, i. 39; his landscapes, i. 13; his reply to A. Jans- sens, i. 14 (note); pictures, at Antwerp, Malines, Cologne, i. 39; "Judg- ment of Paris," i. 44, and note; "Peace and War," i. 39. Rules, good and bad, ii. 89, 90. Ruskin, :\Ir., antipathies of, ii. 183; an antiquary, i. 153; art-teaching by correspondence approved by, i. 32; art-work, how first begun, i. 180; Austrian friend of, at Venice, ii. 6; at Bellinzona, ii. 117; bewildered by modern politics, ii. 3; and the "Bibliography of R.," ii. 190; his books, ii. 164 {see below, books of, quoted); his books read for the sound of the words, i. 161; botany, notes on, i. 69, 204, ii. 183; castles, his love of, i. 147, 149, 151 (note); changes residence, and why, i. 156; charity of, i. 152, ii. 139, 186; conscience hereditary to, ii. 69; a con- servative, i. 152, 153, ii. 31; and Copley Fielding, i. 192; criticism, — principles of his, i. 190; rarely replies to, i. 3, 88, ii. 174; — crossing- sweepers of, ii. 120 (note); diagram of Alpine aiguilles, i. 186; dispirited, ii. 188; drawing of St. Marks, Venice, i. 161; excuses from correspond- ence, ii. 186; his father, — business of, ii. 87, and note, 102, 103; an Edinburgh boy, ii. 184;— Forbes' gratitude to, i. 187 (note); fortune of, ii. 102, 103; gardener of, ii. 140; geology, knowledge and early love of, i. 180, li. 172; geological work amongst the Alps, 1. 173; Griggs, Matilda, and, ii. 186; Guthrie, Dr., and, ii. 184; Harrison, Mr. W. H., and, ii. 192; Hartz minerals purchased by, ii. 58; Holyoake, Mr., and, ii. 73, 74; illness in 1878, i. 160, and note; "inconsistency" of, i. 25 (note). ii.; influence of on architecture, i. 154 seqq., 157; insanity, a tender point with, ii. 131; investment in house property, ii. 106; investment in railways— "never held a rag of railroad scrip," li. 82: Irving. Mr., and, ii. 179 (note); Italy, knowledge of, ii. 14, and the Italian question, ii. 3 seqq.; lectures, refusal to give, ii. 15, and note, 124; lectures at Westminster Architectural Museum, ii. 174 (note); Lowe. Mr., and (letter), ii. 189; at Naples, ii. 116; natural history, love of, i. 204; news- papers little read by, ii. 10; at Oxford, ii. 172, 188; resigns professor- ship, i. 133; political economy of, i. 180. ii. 84, 99, 100 (sec s.v.); publi- INDEX. 241 cation of books, ii. 163 seqq.; as a railway traveller, ii. 82; range of work, ii. 188; religious tone of his writings, i. 60, and note; restoration, horror of modern, i. 153, 157, 159, 160; rich, moderately, ii. 67; science, love of, i. 132, 180; servants of, ii. 93; strikes, proposal us to, li. 65 (note); a Tory, i. 152, 153; Turner, K.'s insight for his work, i. 106; called mad for praising Turner, i. 106; arranges the Turner bequest, i. 81, 83, 84, and note, 86, 88, 98, 100; executor of Turner's will, i. 81; love of Turner's pictures, i. 10; Thornbury's " Liie of Turner" criticised by, i. 107; St. Mark's, Venice, and, i. 162. 169; Ruskin Society, i. 170 (note), ii. 191; Utopian home, ii. 119; residence in Venice, i. 87; wish to buy " Veronu" (slc Verona), i. 152. Ruskin, Mr., books of, quoted or referred to: — " Academy Notes," i. 67 (note), 76 (note), 117; ii. 23 (note). " A Joy for Ever," i. 25 (note). 102 (note), 189 (note); ii. 156 (note), 158. " Aratra Pentelioi," ii. 125 (note). "Ariadne Flurentina,"' i. 105 (note), 114 (note). " Bibliotheoa Pastorum," vol. i., ii. 4 (note), 102 (note), 141 (note). " Cestus of Aglaia,"" ii. 99 (note). " Crown of Wild Olive,"' ii. 23, 60 (note), 157. " Deucalion," i. 180 (note). "Eagle's Nest," ii. 125 (note), 140. " Education in Art," i. 25 (note). " Elements of Drawing," i. 95; ii. 165 (note). " Essay's on Political Economy," see below, " Munera Pulveris." Evidence before National Gallery Commission, 1857, i. 48 (note), 84 (note). " Examples of Venetian Architecture," i. 157 (note). " Fiction Fair and Foul," ii. 97 (note). "Fors Clavigera," i. 151, and note, 160 (note), 168, 169, 170; ii. 00 (note), 70 (note), 72, 106 (note), 126 (note), 130, 164 (note), 187, 189. " Giotto and his Works in Padua," i. 25 (note). Holbein, article on, ii. 12 (note). " Home and its Economies," ii. 144 (note). Lectures on Architecture and Painting, i. 22 (note), 107 (note). Lectures on Art. ii. 125. 156 (note). Lecture, on Forms of Stratified Alps, i. 174 (note). on Verona and its ruins, ii. 113 (note). Letters on the Lord's Prayer, ii. 142. "Modem Painters," i. 3, 4 (note), 4 (note). 5 (note), 7, 8 (note), 40, 60 (note), 62 (note), 67 (note), 101 (note), 107 (note), 108 (note), 155, 174, 186, 191 (note), 193 (note): ii. 127, 165. "Munera Pulveris." ii. 44 (note). 71, 72, 84, and note, 89, 226, 262 (note). "My First Editor." ii. 192 (note). Notes on Criminal Cla.al Economy of Art:" see above, " A Joy for Ever." Pre-Raphaelitism. i. 12, a5 (note). "Queen of the Air," ii 171.201. "Sesame and Lilies." i. 60 (note); ii. 163 (note), 171 (note). " Seven Lamps of Architecture," 1. 60 (note). " Stones of Venice," i. 157 (note), 161 ; ii. 175 (note). 1&4 (note), 192 (note) " Time and Tide," i\. 65, ia5. 242 IKDEX. Toimer pamphlets, Catalogues of Sketches and Drawings, i. 84, and note, 88 (note), 101 (note). " " Notes, 1857, 86 (note), 92, and note, 102 (note), 204. " " Report, i. 52 (note), 54, and note, 88 (note). "Two Paths,"!. 88, 9.5. " Unto this Last," ii. 72 (note). " Val d'Amo," i. 114 (note); ii. 125, Russia, England, and India, ii. 31. " S," letter on capital from, ii. 83 (and note), 84. Saint Bernard, dogs of, ii. 11. St. Elmo, ii. 116. St. George, i. 162; Company or guild of, i. 169 (note), 190; fund, ii. 120; letters on, 187 (note); museum of, i. 163, ii. 73, 126; schools of, ii. 146; Society of the Rose not to take name of, ii. 191. St. James of the Rialto, i. 165, and note. St. Jean d'Acre pillars, i. 166. " St. Lawrence," emigration in the, li. 87. St. Michael, i. 162. St. Mark's, Venice, circular relating to, i. 159; letters on, i. 169 (note), 170; antiquity of, i. 161, 162; architecture of, i. 162; bill-posters on, i. 168; hit off it, at Brant wood, i. 167; photographs of, i. 164; restoration of south facade, i. 168, and note; stability of, i. 166, 169; subscriptions for, i. 163, 169 (note). St. Paul and Justice, ii. 53. St. Paul's, Charity children singing at, ii. 149. Sainte Chapelle, the, i. 136, 153, 154. Salamanca, battle of, ii. 30. Salvation, the Light of the hope of, i. 69. Salvator Rosa, i. 15; his "Mercury and the Woodman," i. 4. Sancho, ii. 97. Sardinia, position of in 1859, ii. 3, 6. Savoy, cession of, ii. 19, and note. Scarlet, the purest color, ii. 155. Schaffhausen, letter from, ii. 13. Scholarship, result of English, ii. 98. Schools (see Education, St. George). Science, list of letters on, i. 171 ; connection of the different sciences, i, 132 (note); what it includes, i. 30; growth of, i. 32, 132, 134; and religion, i. 133; use of, i. 133. Science of Life," " The, letters in, ii. 143, 149. Scotch, ballads, i. 76 (note); "craigs," i. 146; people, religious tone of, 11. 3, 4, 7. Scotsman, The, letters in — (July 20, 1859) " The Italian Question," ii. 3. ( " 2.3, " ) " " " ii. 8. (Aug. 6, " ) " '• " ii. 13. (Nov. 10, 1873) " Mr. Ruskin and Prof. Hodgson," ii. 44. ( " 18, " ) " " " ii. 46. I INDEX. 243 Scotsman, The, referred to, i. 74 (note). Scott, Sir Gilbert, desigu for Foreign Otlice, i. 99. , Sir Waller, books of, referred to — " The Abbot," chap. xvi. ('* The monks of Melrose made good kail,** al.so quoted in the introduction to " The Monastery"), i. 141. "The Antiquary" (Kairservice), ii. 97. "Lady of the Liike," canto v. st. x. quot**(l, i. 181. " Lay of the Last Minstrel," canto ii. st. viii. quoted, i. 141. "Redgauntlet," Letter xiii. (Peebles v. Plainstau,es), i. 184. " Rob Roy" (carefu' Mattie), ii. 97. " Waverley" referred to, ii. 123 (note). , Mr. W. B., ii. 165; reviews Mr. Tyrwhitt's "Sketching Club," ib. Sculpture, in architecture, i. 126, 137 seqq.\ of hair, i. 143, ii. 12; portrait statues, i. 140. Sea, the, ii. 173; color of, i. 196; light and shadow on, i. 194 scqq. ; southern and northern seas, ii. 178. Sedan, battle of, ii., 31, 33. Seine-series, Turner's, i. 82, 101. Self-interest, ii. 7, 48, 55. Sempach, ii. 4, and note; battle of, i. 182, and note. Serf -economy in America, ii. 21. Servants and Houses, list of letters on, ii. 90; education of, ii. 100; facilities for leaving places, ii. 101; good, how to secure, ii. 93; kindness to means care, ii. 94; rarity of good, ii. 93, and note; and masters, ii. 97; must be permanent to be good, ii. 95, 101 ; Mr. Ruskin's experience of, ii. 95. Service, value of self-service, ii. 96. Sexes, relation of the, li. 147. Shadow in distant effect, i. 194 seqq. ; on water, i. 198; impossible "on clear water, near the eye," i. 192 seqq. Shakespeare, his mission and work, i. 22 (note); notes on a word in, ii. 176, 177; Society, ib. ; quoted or referred to — " As You Like It," Act 2, so. 3 (Old Adam\ ii. 97. " Act 2, sc. 7 (" motleys the only wear"), ii. 157, " Coriolanus," Act 3, sc. 1 ("mutable, rank-scented many"), i. 38. " Hamlet," Act 5, sc. 1 ("The cat will mew," etc.), U. 97. " Julius Caesar," Act 2, sc. 1 (" And yon grey lines," etc.), iL 17G. " Mea.sure for Measure" (Lord Angelo), ii. 144. "Merchant of Venice." ii. 57, i. IG.'J, ii. 179. " Merry "Wives of Windsor," i. 118. "Mid.summer Night's Dream," ii. 5, Act 1, sc. 1, i. 60, Gl (note). " Romeo and Juliet," Act 2, sc. 4 (" My fan, Pet«r"), U. 38. "Taming of the Shrew" (Grumio), ii. 97, 178. " •• " Act 2, sc. 1 ("Katharine's frets"). "Two Gentlemen of Verona," Act 2, sc. 4 (" As rich in having," etc.), 1. (54. " " (Launce), a. 97. Shallow, Justice, his theology of death, i. 118. Sheepshanks collection at Kensington, i. 98 (note). 244 INDEX. Sheffield, art impossible in, ii. 126; ironwork at, ii. 127; Museum, ii. 73 (note), i. 163; Western Park at, opened, ii. 126 (note); strikes at, ii. 106. Sheffield Daily Telegraph (Sept. 7, 1875), St. George's Museum, ii. 126. Sheffield Independent (March 8, 1880), Mr. Holyoake on St. George's Museum, ii. 73. Shelley, quoted to illustrate Turner, i. 20; his " Cloud," ii. 180. Shenstone quoted, i. 72, and note. Shepherd, Mr. R. H., two letters on the Bibliography of Ruskin, to, ii. 190. Shoeburyness, ii. 114. Siena, Fount of Joy at, ii. 118. Sienese, qualities of the race, ii. 117. Simmons, W. H., engraver of "Light of the World," i. 67 (note). Sinai, the desert of, ii. 5. Singing for children, ii. 149. Sire, meaning of, i. 145. " Sixty years ago" (letter in Pall Mall Gazette, Jan. 30, 1868), ii. 123. Slave markets in ^layfair, ii. 21. Slavery and emancipation, ii. 21, 22; and liberty, ii. 98, 99; and sonship, ii. 93, 94, 96. Smith, Mr. Collingwood, on water colors, i. 104 (note). Smitli, Sydney, memoirs quoted ("Bunch"), ii. 96 (note). Smoke, no art in midst of, ii. 126. Socialist, The (Nov., 1877), letter on the "Principles of Property" in, ii. 71. Society, of Arts, i. 52; of Artists, Sheffield, ii. 181; Ashmolean, 1. 202; New Shakespeare, ii, 176, 177; for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ani- mals, Mr. Ruskin at, ii. 128 (note) ; Ruskin Society (of the Rose), ii. 191 ; Science Association, Mr. Ruskin at, ii. 65 (note). Solferino, ii. 3 (note), 31, 33. Solomon, ii. 141, 173; "seals of Solomon" (Suleyman), see Arabian Nights. Solomon, Mr. A., his "Waiting for the Verdict," i. 73 (note). Son, relation of, to father, ii. 145. Sonship and slavery, ii. 96-98. Sorrento, i. 203. Soult, Marshal, collection of, 1. 87 (note). Soutliey's Colloquies quoted, i. 21 (note). Spain, oppressed by Spaniards, ii. 6. Sparkes, i. 100 (note). Spencer, Mr. Herbert, quoted, i. 194 (note), ii. 144 (note). Sport, field, ii. 127. Sprat, venture a, to catch a herring, ii. 41. Standard, The, letter "Mr. Ruskin and Mr. Lowe" (Aug. 28, 1877), ii. 189; article on St. Mark's, Venice, i. 168. Stanfielvl, i. 23, 192; illustrated by Campbell, i. 20; water-painting by, i. 198. Statues, commemorative, modern use of, i. 140. I INDEX. 245 Steam, to be employed after muscular power, ii. 87, 135. Stones, pressure of, in water, i. 177, 186. Stothard, engraving of design by, in " Rogers's Poems," i. 93. Strasburg, ruin of, in Franco-Prussian war, ii. 25. Street, Mr., influenced by Mr. liuskin, i. 156; his New Law Courts, i. 156; and St. Mark's, i. 170. Streets, state of London, ii. 110. Strikes, ii. 42, 43; letter "Strikes v. Arbitration," ii. 48; at Cramlington, ii. 106, and note; Mr. Kuskin's proposal as to, ii, 65 (note); at Sheffield, ii. 106; in Staffordshire, ii. 39. Stucco, ii. 101. Sunrise, rarely seen, ii. 177. Supply and Demand, letters on, ii. 3d st^qq., 43 seqq., beneficial supply, ii. 43; law of, ii. 81, 84, 93, 94, 105; Mr. Ruskiu and, ii. 99, 100. Swift, quoted, ii. 167. Swiss, the people of Bellinzona, ii. 117; the liberties of Europe and, i. 182; Protestantism, ii. 3-5. Sydenham, and railway complaints, ii. 84, and note. Syro-Phoenicia, the woman of. ii. 174. "Tain Caimbeul," letter in Reader, i. 175 (note). Taylor, the, trial, ii. 130, and note. Telford, "Ruskin, T., and Donecq," ii. 60 (note). Tell, William, ii. 3. and note; opera of, ii. 194. Tempera-painting, determined by Angelico, i. 118. Temple, Rev. F. (Bishop of Exeter), i. 25 (note), 31. Tennyson, quoted: "Mariana," i. 60 (note); "In Memoriam," i. 179; "Enid," ii. 100; "Break, break, etc.," ii. 178; mentioned, ii. 183 (note). Territory, extent of, ii. 24. Thackeray, Miss, "The Chaplain's Daughter" referred to, i. 120, 121 (note); "Jack the Giant Killer," ib. Thames, the, i. 183; its commerce, i. 165 (note); its mud, ii. 73. Theatre, the, letter, "At the Play," ii. 185. (See Drama.) Theatre, The, letter in, " The Merchant of Venice," ii. 179. Thorburn, i. 62. Thornbury, Walter, "Life of Turner," i. 108. Tiber, inundations, ii. Ill, 116, 118. Ticino, inundations, ii. 113, 117. J'tmes, The letters in: — (January 7, 1847) Danger to the National Gallery, I. 37. (May 13, la-jl) The Pre-Raphaelite Brethren, i. 57. (May 30, 1351) The Pre-Raphaelite Brethren, i. 63. (December 29, 1H.V2) The National fiallery, i. 45. (May 5, ia54) "The Li^ht of the World," i. 67. (May 25, 1854) " The Awakening Conscience," i. 71. (October 28, ia56) The Turner Bequest, i. 81. (Julj 9, 1857) The Turner Bequest and the National Gallerj-, i. 86, 346 lifDEX. (March 29, 1859) The sale of Mr. Windus' pictures, ii. 185. (October 21, 1859) The Turner Gallery at Kensington, i. 98. (October 24, 1862) Oak Silkworms, ii. 158. (October 8, 1863) The Depreciation of Gold, ii. 37. (January 27, 1866) The Briti.sh Museum, i. 52. (January 24, 1871) Turners False and True, i. 106. (June 6, 1874) The Value of Lectures, ii. 124. (January 20, 1876) The Frederick Walter Exhibition, i. 116. (April 25, 1878) Copies of Turner's Drawings, i. 105. (February 12, 1876) Despair (extract), ii. 124 (note). (February 2, 1880) The Purchase of Pictures, i. 55. Articles, etc. , referred to : — Critique on early Pre-Raphaelite works, i. 59 (note). " Difficulties of NeutraUty," Letter, ii. 26 (note). And see notes to above-named letters. Tintoret, i. 49, 75, 96, 112; "Susannah and the Elders," i. 50, and note. Titian, i. 24, 28, 42, 43, 49, 51, 75, 96, 106, 112, 117, 142; ii. 214; his "Bac- chus and Ariadne," i. 40, 54, and note. Toccia, inundation of the, ii. 113. Tombs, pompous, i. 140. Tour, La, ii. 11, 12. Townshend, Lord, letter by, on the Circassian exodus, ii. 17, and note. Traceries, not to be copied, i. 159. Trade, the true dignity of, ii. 70, and note. Training, moral and athletic, ii. 145. Translation, the, of words, ii. 175. Trevelyan, Sir W. C, i. 133, and note. Trial and fate, the laws of, i. 125-6. Trollope, Anthony, on field sports, ii. 128 (note). Tunbridge Wells, education meeting at, 123. Turin, ii. 11, 12. Turner, J. W. M., list of letters on, i. 80 seqq. ; his pictures ill seen in the Academy, i. 20, 21; bequest to the nation, i. 50, and note, 81, 100; his best work in gray, i. 96; his best work his modern work (1843), i. 23 (note) ; change in price and value of his pictures, ii. 41 ; character of, i. 107; Claude challenged by, i. 46, and note; the Turner collection, i. 54, and note; copies of, 105, and note; diflSculty of copying, i. 95; les- son in art of copying, i. 23; his delicacy of hand, i. 95; engravings of, their value, i. 90; exhibitions at Marlboro' House, i. 81, and note, 88-9, 92. 98, 101; eyesight of (Dr. Liebreich on the), i. 154 and 155 (note); "Turners" False and True, i. 106; a Turner gallery, proposals for, i. 91; Life of, i. 107-8; light and gas, etc., effect of, on his pic- tures, i. 83, 90, 98, and note, 100, 103, 105; the Turner mania, i. 16; mass of drawings left by, i. 101 ; Norton's, Prof., lecture on, i. 86 (note), 97 (note), 105 (note); pencil outlines of, i. 93; poetry and philosophy of his pictures, i. 11, 15, 18, 21; pre-Raphaelitism of, i. 65 (note), 74; his "Public," i. 15; scorned in life, i. 8, 11; sea subjects, i. 199, 11,13 INDEX. 247 (note); the "Shakespeare" of painting, i. 23, and note; Shelley com- pared with, i. 20; sketch-book of, i. 80 ^uote); subtlety of, i. 96; requi- sites for enjoyment of his work, i. 21; unusual vehicles of, i. 82; Waagen's estimate of, i. 11, 12, and note; water-painting by, i. 199; will quoted, i. 46 (note). Turner, J. W. M., Drawings and Sketches, condition of at death, i. 90, 101 (note); copies of, 105-6, and note; distribution of among provincial schools proposed, i. 54. and note, 101; exhibitions of, at Marlboro' House, see above, at Kensington, i, 98, and note, 101; a perfect ex- ample of a Turner sketch, 95, 96, and note; Iluskin's, Mr., arrange- ment of, i. 84, 88, 89; report on, i. 52 (note), 54, and note, 88; " Turner Notes," etc. (see Ruskin, Mr.). Pictures and drawings of, referred to: Alnwick Castle, i. 199; "Dido building Carthage," i. 48; Edinburgh, i. 101; Egglestone Abbey, i. 102, and note; " Fishermen endeavoring to put their fish on board" (Bridge- "water House), i. 11, and note; Fluelen i. 105 (note); Fort Bard, i. 101; Harbors of England, i. 82, 101; Hornby Castle, i. 117; Ivy Bridge, i. 82, 101; "Landscape with Cattle," i. 106, and note; Langliarne Castle, i. 102, and note; Liber Studiorum, i. 82, 86; sale of, ii. 70; Plains of Troy, i. 102, and note; Richmond series, i. 102, and note; Rivers of England, i. 101; Rivers of France, i. 82; River Scenery, ih.-, Rogers' Italy and Poems, i. 82, 101 ; Seine series, i. 101 ; study of a Cutter, i. 96, and note; " Sun rising in a mist," i. 46- Val d'Aosta, i. 82; Pictures of Venice, i. 199; Yorkshire series, i. 90. Tuscan army (1859), ii. 6. "Twenty Photographs," review of, ii. 172, and note. T>Te, the citadel of, and St. iMark's, i. 162. TjTwhitt's "Sketching Club," ii. 165. " Uncle Tom's Cabin" referred to, ii. 21. Vnixersity Magazine, The (April, 1878), Mr. Ruskin's articles in, ii. 192 (note). Utopia, the people of, and their streets, ii. 119; Ruskin's home in, ib.\ Sir T. More's, ii. 191. Utopianism, ^Mr. Ruskin's, ii. 74, 106. Uwins, Thomas, R.A., knowledge of oil pictures, i. 46, and note; keeper of the National Gallery, ib. Yallombrosa, i. 184. Value, intrinsic, a question outside political economy, ii. 39; and price, ii. 37, 65. "Vandalism at the National Gallery" (a pamphlet), i. 37, 38 (note). Van de Velde, i. 12; water painting, i. 199. Van Eyck, i. 43, 45, 46, and note, 65. Vasari quoted, i. 9 (note). Vnudois, the character and religion of the, ii. 3, 11, 12. 348 INDEX. Velasquez's "Philip IV. hunting the wild boar," i. 40. Venice, the Cross of the merchants of, i. 165; market of, ib. (note); ruin of, ii. 145; Ruskin, Mr., in, i. 87, 157, ii. 154; St. James of the Rialto, i. 164; see St. Mark's. Venus of Melos, ii. 25. " Verax," letters on National Gallery, i. 37 (note). Vernet, Raphael restored by, i. 38. Vernon, Mr. Robert, gift of, to the National Gallery, i. 50, and note. Verona, Campanile of, i. 169; Mr. Ruskin's wish to buy (see "Political Economy of Art," Lect. ii. pp. 70-74, reprinted in "A Joy for Ever," pp. 77, 82), i. 152, and note. Veronese, i. 75, 96; in National Gallery, i. 46, and note; "Marriage in Cana," i. 87; "Family of Darius," ih., and note; "Rape of Europa," i. 46 (note) ; St. Nicholas, ih. ; at Venice, pictures destroyed, i. 38. Verrochio, no picture by, in National Gallery, i. 44 (note). Vice and heroism, ii. 134, 135. Villas, modern, ii. 104, 105, and notes; i. 156. " Vindex," letter on Barry from, ii. 175 (note). Virgil quoted, i. 176 (note); ii. 18, and note. Votes for Parliament, ii. 141, 154. Waagen, Dr., i. 11, and note, 12. Wages and labor, ii. 56, 60; how determined, ii. 63, and note; and hard- ship of work, ii. 59; a just rate of, ii. 48, 50, 51; " Standard of " (letter) ii. 65, 66, and see ii. 42. Wakley, Thomas, M.P., i. 19, and note. Wales, Princess of, "our future Queen," ii. 19. Walker, Frederick, letter on, i. 116; effect of public on, ib.-, elaborateness of, i. 121; moral of his life, i. 118, 119; morbid tendency of, i. 117; method of painting, i. 117; study of art, i. 118; special pictures by, i. 119 seqq., and note. Walpole's " Anecdotes of Painting" referred to, i. 14 (note). War, American, loss of property, ii. 33; English feeling as to, ii. 15-17, 19; "modern warfare," letter on, ii. 29, and see ii. 23. Ward, Mr. William, copies of Turner, i. 105, and note; photographs obtainable of, i. 164. Warwick Castle, burning of, letters on, i. 151 seqq., 152 seqq.; the king- maker, i. 153. Waste land, bringing in of, ii. 138. Water, use of in labor, ii. 135, 136; pressure of stones in, i. 177, 186; reflec- tions in, i. 191 (note), and seqq. ; of rainbows in, i. 201 ; surface polished, i. 195, 197 seqq. Wat T-colors, effect of light, etc., on, i. 90, 91, 103, and note, 104; series of British at Kensington, i. 98 (note); Society of Painters in, i. 118, 166, 201 (note). Waterloo, battle of, ii. 30. INDEX. ^9 "W. B.," letter in Daily Telegraph, ii. 99 (note). " W. C. P.," letter in Tiuies on " Neutrality," ii. 26 (note). Wealth, definition of, letter on the, ii.'71; Mill challenged to define, »*. Weapons, ancient and modern, ii. 32. "Weary Faulds," ii. 123, and note. Weblings, recitation of the, ii. 180. Wei'kly Chronicle, letter "Modern Painters" in the (September 23, 1843,) i. 3. Wcller, Sam, ii. 97; see Dickens. West, Benjamin, i. 75. Western Park. Sheffield, ii. 126 (note). Westminster, the first Norman Abbey, i. 161; Mill, J. S., M.P. for. ii. 20 (note). " Whinnyhills," ii. 123 (note). Whitaker's "History of Richmondshire, i. 117 (note). White, Adam, letter on "the Study of Natural History" to, i. 204. Whitmore, Dr., report of Crawford Place, ii. 105. " W. H. W.," letter to Daily Telegraph on houses, ii. 104, and note, 105. Wicklow Hills, i. 181. Wife, place of a, ii. 153. Wilkie. Sir David, "The Blind Fiddler," i. 7 (note); Burns and, com- pared, i. 20. Wilkinson, Sir Gardner, ii. 200, and note. Williams, Mr. (of Southampton), Lecture on "Art-teaching by Correspond- ence," to, i. 32. Wind-power, use of, ii. 135. Windus, Mr. B. J., sale of his pictures, ii. 185; W. L., "Burd Helen," i. 76, 77, and notes. Winkelried, Arnold von, ii. 4, and note. Winsor, Charlotte, ii. 100 (note). Witness, The, letters in : (September, 16, 1857) " The Castle Rock." I. 145. (September 30, 1857) " Edinburgh Castle." i. 147. (March 27, 1858) Generalization and the Scotch Pre-RaphaeHt«s. I. 74. (August, 1859) Refusal bj-, of Letters on the Italian Question, ii. 13 (note). Women, list of letters on their work and dress, ii. 152; duty and employ- ment of, ii. 153; modern ideas as to, ii. 153; place of, ii. 145; work of, ii. 154 (note). 153 (note). Woodward, Mr., and the Oxford Museum, i. 125 (note). Woolner, Mr., and the Oxford Museum, i. 139. Words, definition of, ii. 56. Wordsworth, depth of, i. 24 (note); his "public," i. 14; quoted, i. 17, 18, 24, and note, 148. 149; ii. 6, 8 (note). Work, the best unpaid, ii. 60, and note; honest always obtainable, ii. 46, 135. 250 IKDEX. Work and Wages, letters on, in the Pall Mall Gazette, ii. 48-64, Workmen, turned off, ii. 27; training of for Gothic architecture, i. 136. Works of art, manufacture of by poor, ii. 139. World, The (June 9, 1875), letter ou the "Publication of Books," ii. 163; article, "Ruskin to the Rescue," ih. (note). Wornum's, R. N., " Life of Holbein," ii. 12 (note); at the National Gallery, i. 92, 86 (note); Turner drawings arranged, ih. 88. Worth, battle of, ii. 31, " W. R. G.," letters of, to Pall Mall Gazette, ii. 66-70, and notes. Xenophon's Economist, quoted, ii. 102, and note. " Y. L.Y.," letter in, on the gentian, 1. 204 (note). Y. M. A. Magazine, letters in: (September, 1879). " Blindness and Sight, ' ' ii, 139. (October, 1879). " The Eagle's Nest," ii. 140. (November, 1879). " Politics in York," ii. 141. Young Men and Politics, ii. 141. Zedekiah, ii. 177 Zeus, i. 162 Zorzi, Count, and St. Mark's, Venice, i. 160 (note). Zosima, epitaph on, ii. 99. Zuingli, ii. 4, and note. Q 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICM BORROWED LOAN DEPT. This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immed iate recaU. ^^ >^/7^^ THE UNIVERSITY OF CAUFORNIA LIBRARY