The record-union., 1897-05-17

fered much, and one saw that his
wounds had not quite healed. His pub
lie lectures as professor of fine art were
most attractive and extremely popular
at first. But they were evidently too
much for him, and on the advice Of his
medical friends he had at last to cease
from lecturing altogether. Several
times his brain had been a very serl-
Gus trouble to him. People forget that,
as we want good eyes for seeing, ana
good ears for hearing, we want
strong, sound brain for lecturing.
1 have seen much of such brain trou-
bles among my friends, and who can
account for them? 1t is not the brain
that thinks, nor do we think by means
of our brain; but we cannot thlnk
without our brain, and the slightest le-
sion of our brain in any one of its Won
derful convulutions is as bad as shot
in the eye.
If ever there was an active, powerful
brain, it was Ruskin's. No doubt he
worked very hard, but l doubt whether
hard work by itself can ever upset a
healthy brain / believe 1t rather
strengthens than weakens it, as exer-
else strengthens the muscles of our
body. His was, no doubt, very sensl-
tive nature, and an overweight sensi-
tiveness is much more likely to cause
mischief than steady intellectual eff
fort. And what beautiful mind his
was. and what lessons Of beauty he has
taught us all! At the same time, he
could not bear anything unbeautltul
and anything low or ignoble in men re-
volted him and made him Thoroughly
unhapDy. | remember once taking EN-
erson to lunch with him, in his rooms IN
| Corpus Christi College. Emerson was
an old friend of his, and in many re-
lsnects a cognate soul. But some quite
indifferent subjects turned up, heated
| discussion ensued, mad Ruskin was SO
unset that he had to quit the room and
I1aava ne alone. Emerson was most I'M
bannv and did ali he could to make
nesce. but he had to leave without
reconciliation.
| Ruskins influence among the under
| graduates at oxford was most extra
ordinary. He could persuade the
vo,,nr Christ Church men to take SPADE
and wheelbarrow and help him to
mako a road which he thought would
nrova useful to a village near oxford
No other professor could have achleVeo
that The road was made, but was
also soon washed away, and, OF course
Puskin was laughed at, though the Ia
hor undergone by his pupils did them
no doubt a great deal of good, even
though ii did not benefit the inhabit-
ants of the village for any length OF
| time. 1t was sad to see Ruskin leave
| oxford estranged from many of his
! friends, dissatisfied with his work,
which. nevertheless, was most valua-
BILE and highly appreciated by young
and old, perhaps by the young even
more than by the old. His spirit still
dwells in the BODY, and if any one may
look back with pride and satisfaction
upon the work which he has achieved,
it is surely Ruskin.
THE ALARMING TENNYSON.
Another, though less frequent visitor
to oxford, was Tennyson. His first
visit to our house was rather alarming.
We lived in a small house in High
street, nearly opposite Magdalen Col
| lege, and our establishment was not
calculated to receive sudden guests,
particularly Poet Laureate He step
ped in one day during the long vaca-
ton, when oxford was almost empty.
| Wishing to show the great man all
civility, we asked him to dinner that
night and breakfast the next morning.
At that time almost all the shops were
in the market, which closed at / o'clock
/ My wife, young housekeeper, did her
/ best for our unexpected guest He was