The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-11-25


Times in lss1 gesi:ine the genuine art
RspSseiite broShers. 90 Knocked and
teered by the London populace. that
ore Of the aftorWard famous triumver-
ate ohould p1ay an important part in
the domestic tragedy hat wrecked his
life and turned his home into a house
OF sorrow and 1oniiness. Ruskin was
not the Inspiration Of h noted BROTH
erhood, a. 20 many have proclaimed.
II had existed for two years prior to
his championship and was the out
come of the Inspiring magnetism Of
Dante Cabriol Rosetti, seconded by
h enthusiasm of Holman Hunt and
John Everett lfillais. But his aid ma
teriaily helped the struggling artists.
He invited them to his home and he
brought their pictures. II was through
Ruskin that Rossetti met his wife, the
beautiful woman immortalized in the
"Beata Beatrix." and II was through
the critic also that Millais gained his
wife. the ladv who was first wife to
Ruskin.
The story Of the courtship and mar
rage OF the great English writer is
full of touching pathos when one re-
members the tragedy hat dissolved
the union. The lady was the daughter
of George Gray of Bowerswell, Perth.
a friend Of his father. AZ a young girl
the ~vivacious Euphemia had Knocked
the authors solemn looks. bidding him
write her . fairy tale as being the most
unlikely task he could accomplish.
Nothing daunted was the youth gift
ed with unbounded faith in his own
ability, and THE King Of the Golden
River" was the result that proved his
belief well founded. Meeting again
when are had developed the charms
Of the child. Ruskin vas easily per-
suaded to follow the councils of his
father. and nlial obedience became in
clination. The marriage took place In
Perth on the 10th Of April. 1S4s. q sin
gle year before the historic meeting
of the e-Raphaelite brotherhood in
the little parlor of the Millais house.
hold and only ~ months before Ruskin
advocated the cause Of the scorned
artists.
The history of Millais' marriage Is
well known. Ruskin In his efforts to
aid the poor brotherhood asked the
painter to execute q portrait OF his
wife. The sittings were arranged In
the home of the lady. She was young.
beautiful and impressionable: Millais
young. comedy M enthusiastic. The
artist possessed the divine IRE Of
youth, while the solemn writer was
rapidly approaching middle age. The
woman could not help but appreciate
the difference between the lover and
the husband. Ruskin saw the havoc
which association had produced on i'm
questionable natures and with the no.
BILE generosity of his nature he gave
her up to Millais, publicly traducing
his own character to spare the woman
whose unfaithfulness has been the
cause OF his broken spirit and pathetic
loneliness. Through all the suffering
he was patiently silent and through II
all he never lost faith I'm the ultimate
nobility OF the feminine character.
"I believe that no nan ever lived
by a woman's love. strengthened by
her courage and guided by her discre-
ton. What ] might have been myself.
SO helped, I rarely indulge in the idle
ness of thinking" Millais Is dead and
his wife quickly followed him; now the
third actor in the pathetic tragedy lies
dying. hopeful soon to lay aside the
burden of life's care.
Brentwood. the pic~turesqqude house
In the Lake country II the home of
Ruskin's later years and where he now
lies stricken. II is an old yellow man.
sion surrounded by old-fashioned gar
dem and hedged in by a wilderness OF
trees. In II some of his most impor-
tant work has been executed, at the
time OF which writing the author would
inform his riends by a printed circu-
lar that Mr.. John Ruskin Is about
to begin a work of great Importance
and therefore begs that in reference
to calls and correspondence you will
consider him dead for the next two
months" His letters 20 Carlyle. OF
whom he called himself the disciple
manifest also that the solemn author
could once In a while indulge in whim-
steal fun. His dislike of America was
proverbial. He called the country thu
United States Of Probation, from which
all good people should return after
period Of trial. and yet In the irony ot
fate all the friends OF his later M,
have been Americans. many of whom
he entertained Hospitality at Brant'
wood. Ruskin was a quiet listener
rather than a speaker except when h,
was aroused with the Importance of tn,
subject, when he talked with the dog
matte authority Of his books. Like thu
Macaulay Of Sydney Smiths envenom'
ed criticism. Ruskin was often guilt,
of "a brilliant fash of silence"
One OF the most laughable incidenti
OF Ruskin's later career was the law
suit brought against him by the inim
liable Whistler because the critic hat
jeered at the exorbitant price demand
ed by the artist for one Of his perplex
ing nocturnes. II have seen and heart
much OF the cockney impudence befor'
now" said Ruskin. but expect
w w htoA .on " eotftto
for fiinging a pot OF paint In the pub
lies face" Needless to say, thu
taunt was immediately taken up b,
the erratic whistler. with his cage
craving for notoriety. and the lawsuit
which resulted. with its list of promin
ent artist witnesses n critics, fur
nished mirth for two continents. tn,
plaintiff was awarded ! farthing 10
damages. and In The Gentle Art o
Making Enemies" the coin II showi
p~icturesauely supporting the trium
plant butterfly.
The influence OF Ruskin on the En-
glish art OF his day was most weighty
He taught the world to treat the paint
err with seriousness. and II In teach
ing that is responsible for the elevat
ed position the artist holds in the so
cial life Of London. He also manifest
ed the beauty Of modern works an,
revived an interest In the noble Goth
ic architecture. He spoke dogmatical
ly and his u~tterances were ~respecte,
as the utterancee of authority. But
more and more In these later years