, 1876-11-18
FAMILIAR TALK.


PHILIP GILBERT 1IAaIEnTDS.
The books Of the genial an:l entertaining art
writer, Philip Gilbert IIanlcstu1,, llase llatl
large circulation ana0ng Tic reatltns public of
America, and have Won for tlcir author u feel
Ing Ut very friendly Interest THIS 10 naturally
attended with q curiosity concerning the person.
al history of tic writer, ai,a especially yregarling
tile circumstances which have stimulated his
literary nl,d urtlstic prorlyitIes. The Lnterna-
fio,iat R<vttp contains a extended sketch of tho
nlat, nnd Of hts books and pictures, evidently
written by ona whose sources Of Information urc
authentic. Tn crafty our own readers, tho ,c-
count IL condensed into the following para
graphs:
MIR. Ha,ncrton is Of I'LL oil and honorable En-
g1sh family, several Meinbers Of wlum have
bcen kn!gftc.l tor upftls of peculiar lfstnctiDi.
The remains OF The uucient "castle-hall" +" occu-
pied by his cary ancestors still stand IN Craven,
u ruin venerable with tho I'D nj rnRuy centu-
ries. Tl,c remainder ui tho estates belonging
IL the fnmlly wrtc contsstatca III the tiIl,u ut
Henry VIII, III requ[tal tnr tho troasou OF Sit
strphc, 1Iamcrton, the tllcn head of the llnusc.
Philip Gilbert, tllu lust eminent scion Ut tho
IIamcrtons, WIS born near Shaw, Lancashire, IN
ls:,. ltts mother .iicd foot, after h!s hrt atl
hr was E!ycn to the care u two maiden sisters
of Ills father, whu watched oscr Ills cliuhool
with tcndcr aollctutlc. lii fnthcr u solicitor
by profession Hnu d man Ui gooA ulin,l, died
when lh!llp was boy OF TO. Thu residence of
the orplla1, was then transferred 10 1lolls, tho
beautiful estate Of lila grandfather, near Bur1E-
Ivy, n,,tt thu responsibility Ut lis ttainlng was
tntEustcl to hts fathers elder sister.
The bny had already developed taste for
both literature unl painting, autl his future
vocation was thus curly forrsl,Miowcd. Ueforo
l,ts iatllers death hu had made good progress III
English studies nlul III tic requirement Of the
Frrl.cll language. Latin was begnn Ut the age
Of yc aud l,alf; Int, In this 4nt Greek, the boy
advanced very slowly. Indeed, Ills dislike Ut the
ciuhsIrs amounted tU positive INVERSION. Yet, by
d!nt VI ssc.sdy drill, liz WIS brought up to tho
stasislar1 demanded ior uIutssioll to Oxford.
fur, At tlls pcrtod Of his stutlent-lsfc.
thu gatsa Of the two great schouls Ut Ei-
glana-oxfortl aud CalnhElasc-opeued o'ly to
of lilo Established Church, Young liaulerton
could liot conscIcutiously conform to the 70.
guircincnt, ard for tl!s reason tho sellenc for
liberal education was abandoned. lilo Ilow re-
Of ID went Ap to London to study with land
scapc-pantcr, tile Mr. Fetill.
Art 4.nl literature u!,out equally divided his
attention fur t!.e ensuing two years. in ls55 hc
puUIlaHe fo1unc ~ lsoc!Isas l'4AsttAttM " sl4-
Teen wootl-c'.ts OF his own designing. The buok
lsaa had, III al sa!u of ubOut =, w copica; but
tile writer, ut II mature wy. las remarked
Of its contents: "tm tlu wlloic, they were rathrr
their tssuc, Mr. llancrton had tried lila a,,l 1t
various styles IT dltlactlu prose. Wien still
youth OF II, lie bud contributed tn tho Ut4drie
1SMes series Of artIecs%on "tsuu,s III lS19;''
llrraldry which IjsscsseA slr.llcr claims to :lu-
tie. Hayius attained Ills maturity i'll 1s55, he