The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-03-07

Whom the champion Of modern painters
had in other days denounced for his
miserable, virtueless, heartless mel
chanism, "yand whose mannerism he had
characterized as 1.-THE most degraded in
the whole range Of art" / suggested, I
remember that Mr.. Ruskin could not
have been to Venice lately, and that his
own sensations of the light and color Of
the place must have become subdued to
analettos key. But he would not ac-
cept the suggestion. mo-" he said, lit
was Canaletto's good workmanship he
found himself admiring. After all, the
old painter of Venice was a good crafts
man in OIL" and the champion of Tur-
ner had stood in disgust and grief be-
fore the rack and ruin of the modern
painters work.
| From pictures we turned to politics.
Mr.. Ruskins tone and manner changed
! in moment from gay to grave. For
here it was no case of people having be-
lieyed him too implicitly. His burden
was that no one had believed him at all.
Here, nevertheless, he had nothing to
retract or Whitte down. II dislike my
books" he said, more than most au-
thors; yet 1 am convinced that all the
central teaching of Unto this Last and
'Munera Pulveris is entirely true. The
world will not hear me; yet it will live
to discover some day that nations cam
not live on gunpowder and iron, but
only on corn; and that the only way to
deal with this sort of thing''-and here
he went to the window and looked out
upon the Unemployed demonstrating in
the square--''is not by mere giving, not
by charity at so much per cent. at ran
som, but by personal service"
l told him, I remember, how many
signs there were of an echo to his teach
ings on these subjects. What I said
then is even more true to-day. Unto
this Last which the editor of Fraser
interrupted in the middle Of its course
through the magazine on account of its
unpopularity, is now one of the most
widely read of all Mr.. Ruskins books.
His political economy, instead of being
mere object of contemptuous ridicule, is
seriously discussed, and even in the
seats of the orthodox-in encyclopedias
and dictionaries-hs contributions to
the science are seriously appraised. In
many channels Mr.. Ruskins teaching is
now guiding some of the best social eff
forts of the time. did not convince
him of all this ten years ago, and I
doubt if he will be convinced of 1t now
I suppose it is always SO with the mas
ter minds:
With aching hands and bleeding feet
We dig and heap, lay stone on stone;
We bear the burden and the heat
OF the long day, and wish twere done
Not till the hours of light return,
All we have built do we discern
But sometimes, and here is the pity of
it, the hours of light do not return, or
they return too late to encourage the
master-bulder. The congratulatory adj
dress which is to be presented to Mr.,
Ruskin to-day will. we may hope, con-
tribute something to the peaceful quiet
of his retirement But in the days Of
his full strength and vigor there was no
answering echo to stimulate his persis-
tence, to control his passion, to direct
his practical efforts. what makes me
ILL.," I remember his saying, in the
course of some deeply pathetic sem
fences, lis not my work, but the sense
that nothing comes Of it."-London Dali
ly News.