The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-04-20

The cloud which has come over the
intellect OF John Ruskin in recent years,
sad and most unfortunate though it has
been,s comes too late to cast a shadow
upon brilliant and successful literary
career. Although the cloud will proba-
bly, never lift-for Mr.. Ruskin is an aged
man-his place in English literature is
secure as one of it's brightest and great
est names. In his unfinished autobiog-
raphy, Pr@terita," Mr.. Ruskin has given
us some charming glimpses of bis early
boyhood, which was quite exceptional in
it's way, as in fact has been almost every
thing connected with his life. Ruskin
was Londoner by birth. but Scots
man by training, habits and associations.
The record has it that he twas born on
the 9Th of February, 1819," at No. 81
Hunter street, Brunswick Square, Lon
don. But the friends and teachers, the
standards and influences of his early life
we're chiefly Scottish. Even the writer's
who inspired and directed the main lines
of his thought and work were Scotsmen.
from Sir Walter Scott to Carlyle.
Though Mr.. Ruskin was born in Lon
don he was not city bred. He was from
his earliest childhood familiar with coun-
try life; for he was always taken away
from town during the summer, often &C.
companying his father, who was the
travelling partner of firm of wine mer-
chants. and at the age of four, when sit
ting for his portrait to James Northcote,
he chose for the background of the pic
ture what he called the "Blue Hills"
His summer tours were continued year.
ly, and the repeated visits to the river
scenery of the west, or to the mountains
Of the north, made him almost coun-
try boy. Before he was three years old
he climbed into chair-"the chair that
all his friends have seen him sitting in
of evenings"-and preached. The child's
sermon was characteristic of the mans
later teachings: People, be dood. If
you are dood. bod will love you. If you
are not dood, bod will not love you.
People, be dood." Though refusing to
be taught in the orthodox way this was
also characteristic-h began to read and
write at the age of four. He preferred" !"
says Mr.. Collingwood, to find out "a
method for himself, as he always did;
and he found out how to read whole
words at time by the look of them, and
to write in vertical characters. like book
print, just as the latest improved theo-
ries of education suggest" After this,
Ruskin's regular morning lessons were
in Bible reading and in reciting Scotch
paraphrases of the Psalms. At the age
of five he was a confirmed bookworm,
and the books he cared for not only
fixed him in certain lines of thought, but
were chosen because of certain mental
makeup" that was later very apparent.
There are two prophetic circumstances
about the books which, as child of six,
Ruskin printed; one pointing to his
habit of bringing out work not all
at once, but in successive parts; and the
other to his unfortunate tendency to let
one subject be crowded out by others.
Ruskin was always victim to the dread
full habit Of putting off the completion OF
an enterprise until "the more convenient
season which is SO long in coming; SO
that there is hardly title of his which
stands before properly finished work"
Ruskin's first dated "poem"-the tale OF
a mouse-was written just before he
reached the age OF seven; and this early
verse. like his early prose, Mr.. Colling-
wood remarks. owes much to his sum.
mer tours. During these summer trips
everything was observed and turned into
verse; habit which lasted. and pro-
duced the note books of later years,
which supplied the materials for his
great works