The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1879-08-02
GENEROUS RUsKIN.
How He Gave hfs Pretty wife 20 ZEN
Friend Mtilats.

London Letter to the Sem Francisco Chronicle.
Between thirty and thirty-ive Rus
kin met and was delighted with very
pretty and graceful young woman OF
social position and nice culture. should
cay he had fallen in love with her, were
he not of SO peculiar a physical rempera-
ment. He admired her sufficiently to
ask her to be his wife, and she, appreci.
ating his gifts and scholarship, and fat
tered by the preference of 80 distin-
guished man, accepted his offer. he
questioned her, it is reported, az to the
nature of her affection; expressed the
hope that it was spiritual rather than
emotional, mainly Platonic in character,
as he confessed his own to be. As may
be inferred, che answered in the afirma>
tive, and doubtless believed very firmly
every syllable she uttered. It would
be strange, indeed, If any woman should
imagine or allow herself to be less ethereal
of sentiment than any man on the
planet. With the mutual understand
ing that theirs was to be union of
minds. they were married. They seemed
to get on pleasantly for q few months
at least it seemed so to the husband,
absorbed as usual in study and writing.
He greatly admired her beauty-Ahe prob
ably regarded her more as picture or q
statue than woman-and never wearied
of praising it. DESTROYS of having her
portrait taken, he chose his friend Mil
lais, who, with Holman Hunt, Charles
Collins, Dante Russell and others, formed
and still form the pre- Raphaelite school,
to transfer her features to canvas. She
gave the painter a number OF sittings,
and her husband was 30 much concerned
in the work that he sometimes watched
its progress. Millais, as is well known,
is handsome and winning-he was espe-
cislly 80 when young, he is barely fifty
now-and was drawn at once TO the
young and lovely wife of his friend, an
attraction that appears to have been
reciprocated. In plain parlance
Mi lais and Mrs. Ruskin fell head over
heels, or heels over head if you like, in
love with one another without the least
intent on their part. Ruskin himself ID
said to have perceived the fact, although
the lovers had not been in the slightest
indiscreet or conventional, or even to
have intimated one TO the other the con-
ton of their hearts. The author OF
Modern Painters" is as generous as he
Is chiyalrous. He did not, AZ ordinary
men would have done, fly into jealous
rage, nor did. he have scene with
his wife. He told her gently what he
had perceived, and assured her of his
continued friendship and esteem, and OF
his earnest desire TO promote her happi.
ness at any price. She turned crimson
at the words, a. If they had been reve-
lation to her own soul, which in part
they may have been. She could not
believe the thing possible at first-the
surprises of the heart are usually over.
whalming-but very soon she acknowl-
edged the truth, and the painter did
likewise, The critic condemned himself
for dullness In thinking Platonic
marriage natural or satisfactory, and
announced his willingness, yea gladness,
to assist the pair to felicity they
were obviously fitted for. Instead of
putting any obstacle In the way, he
would remove the only one to their love
and happiness himself-- and he kept
his word faithfully. Under the peculiar
circumstances there was no trouble In
obtaining q divorce. The matter was
managed privately, without any scandal,
and In due time Mrs. Ruskin, who was,
became Mrs. Miilars, who is. They
have proved to be, from all accounts, a
most harmonious couple, and they are as
much to one another to-day as they
were during the honeymoon Moreover,
Ruskin continues to be the firm friend
of both, visiting them regularly and
sharing In q reflected manner TO their
happiness fact which demonstrates
the largeness and nobility of Ruskin's
nature. Millais' famous picture--it has
been engraved and 10 very common
"The Huguenot Lovery," is declared to
be, AZ aspects the young woman, almost
faithful portrait of the artists wife,
and the alleged fact las added not q lit,
tie to its popularity.
A Once Promising Career Ended