favourite Celtic pattern formed the universal decoration on handles of dirks from the earliest known examples to those which are preserved among the memorials of Prestonpans or Culloden."

Modern Scottish jewellery is largely imitative of old Celtic designs, and it is a satisfactory feature to notice that the work in the goldsmith's shop-windows in Edinburgh will more than hold its own with that seen in any country throughout the length and breadth of Europe. Celtic art has had in it much that is due to the half-conscious strivings of national genius, and, as Symonds says of French and English Gothic, it "bears less the stamp of individual thought than of popular instinct." Without this it would be difficult to account for its most characteristic features, for the isolation, the independence and the vigorous life that have marked it from the beginning to the end.

A FAMOUS BROTHER OF THE BRUSH.

SEARCH

NEARCH all the different professions in which men have attained distinction, and, save the military one, in which there have been manifested some instances of early predilection for the army, there are none in which a precocity of genius is developed sooner than that of the artist; in this profession alone do we read of boys aged from five up to ten, with pencils and paper occupying every minute of their time not taken up with lessons, sketching every conceivable subject within their vision, out of doors, and in the house. They draw in their bedroom, study character in the kitchen, and on the floor of the sitting-room they are perpetually at work, commencing, continuing, finishing their more or less graphic delineations of the subjects at hand, and while in some instances no particular thought is given by the onlookers to this youthful industry, some fond parents and relatives and an occasional by-stander will exclaim" that boy is a born artist-see how cleverly he

draws-mark his truthfulness to life and character in this set of sketches, how admirable is his light and shade—it will be a positive shame if any discouragement is given him towards a profession in which he is bound to excel." And there are some cases where, in spite of many discouragements, the all-mastering love of art and the undeniable fitness for it has carried on the lad to aspirations and achievements, and to an eminent position, giving joy to those who had predicted sorrow, and to the artist himself the full fruition of his early hopes. In modern times the most conspicuous instance on record of this precocity of genius is that of the eminent man who for years spent his summer holiday on the banks of the Tay at Birnam, the aspiring, persevering student, the rapid worker, the famous Royal Academician, of which, in due time, he became the President, Sir John Millais. The home of his ancestors, an old Roman family, was in Jersey. Sir John himself was born in Southampton, and was early in life apprenticed to Mr. Sass, a well known teacher in Bloomsbury in a street not far distant from that which was afterwards the home of Millais' parents: while the budding artist lived in family with them. Minute details of the early life, manhood, and full maturity of Sir John Millais are now given to the world, in an elaborate memoir by his son, most copiously illustrated with portraits, pictures, etchings and sketches. No book of the present season will be more interesting to artists and to amateurs.

The key to his success and the kernel of the artistic life of this eminent artist is found in the words of his biographer:-" It was the poetry of Nature that appealed to him-the love, hope, sweetness and purity that he found there-and it was the passionate desire to express what he felt so deeply that spurred him on from the beginning to the end of his art life." And the motto of the Pre-Raphaelite school, of which he was a member was "Truth and the free field of unadulterated Nature." With these high ideals, and stimulated by his fellow-workers, Holman Hunt, Rossetti, Deverell, and Charles Collins, the artistic life of Millais commenced under the most favourable auspices; they met each other in town, and in summer sketched on the banks of the Thames at Kingston and other parts of Surrey. Commissions to paint classical pictures were given to the young aspirant. In these he succeeded to the satisfaction

of his patrons, though not always to the satisfaction of his critics, then as now a troublesome lot, many of them anything but suited to the critical function; but happily the artist disregarded their ignorant censures, maintaining in his activity his high ideal of the mission and purpose of art, and ever developing those great powers which ultimately raised him to the very top of the ladder, causing the name of Millais to be reverenced by the younger generation of his brethren in art. While he was yet twenty-three, he set about painting that wonderful Shakesperian picture "Ophelia," a work which many of us had an opportunity of admiring in the rooms of the Royal Scottish Academy three years ago. In it there was a touch of poetry the most sublime, and in the painting of it an interesting incident as regards the model, Miss Siddal, of whom we learn:-" She had read Tennyson, having first come to know something about him by finding one or two of his poems on a piece of paper which she brought home to her mother wrapped round a pat of butter. . She had a trying experience whilst acting as a model for 'Ophelia.' In order that the artist might get the proper set of the garments in water and the right atmosphere and aqueous effects, she had to lie in a large bath filled with water, which was kept at an even temperature by lamps placed beneath. One day, just as the picture was nearly finished, the lamps went out unnoticed by the artist, who was so intensely absorbed in his work that he thought of nothing else, and the poor lady was kept floating in the cold water till she was quite benumbed. She herself never complained of this, but the result was that she contracted a severe cold, and her father (an auctioneer at Oxford) wrote to Millais threatening him with an action for £50 damages for his carelessness. Eventually the matter was satisfactorily compromised. Millais paid the doctor's bill and Miss Siddal, quickly recovering, was none the worse for her cold bath.

"D. G. Rossetti had already fallen in love with her, struck with her unworldly simplicity and purity of aspect,-qualities, which as those who knew her bear witness, Millais succeeded in conveying to the canvas-but it was not until 1860 that they married."

As the strongest testimony that could be given to the power

of the young artist in this remarkable picture we learn this : "Perhaps the greatest compliment ever paid to 'Ophelia' as regards its truthfulness to Nature is the fact that a certain professor of botany, being unable to take his class into the country and lecture from the objects before him, took them to the Guildhall where this work was being exhibited, and discoursed to them upon the flowers and plants before them, which were, he said, as instructive as Nature hersel.f" Not only was there this chef d'œuvre on which to hang his youthful fame, but "The Huguenot" and "The Order of Release" appeared, both in their respective ways up to the high standard of "Ophelia." He had orders from patrons and dealings with dealers. He was becoming known to Thackeray and Dickens, whose good word was in itself a powerful recommendation. Turner was quitting the field of art, and was soon to depart this life. All these stepping-stones to work, fame, and fortune made the crossing easy for the talented painter, who, however, never relaxed his strenuous efforts to shine like a bright star in the artistic horizon. Turner, in social life an absolute recluse, so seldom emerged from his den in Queen Anne Street, that the young artist had few opportunities of meeting his renowned brother of the brush; but some of the family and friends had gained admission and seen the great artist's own pictures adorning the walls, works which no bribe, however handsome, could induce Turner to part with. By a clever ruse, the late Lord Lansdoune effected an entrance to this lion's den, at the grating of which appeared the housekeeper, who, unaccustomed to calls save those of provision merchants, remarked "Cat's meat, I suppose," to which his lordship, replying "Yes, cat's meat," rushed away in. At his last residence in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, Turner originally acquired his abode by a joke and ruse. Here Mrs. Brown, a widow, kept an oldfashioned inn; she inquired his name. "What is your name?" said Turner. "Mrs Brown" said the widow. said he, 'I'm Mr. Brown." And thus under an assumed name at this outlandish abode did he reside, until in his last illness he was identified by Lady Eastlake.

"Well,"

Euphemia Chalmers Gray, a fair lady from the fair city of Perth, became the wife of the famous artist in the summer of 1855, and, being gifted as well as willing, she was of much

practical use to Millais in his arduous profession, much of his correspondence being written by her, while she also interviewed callers negotiating for their portraits being painted, or for the purchase of a coming picture. There now commenced that series of autumnal visits to Scotland, and chiefly to Perthshire, which Sir John delighted in for recreative purposes, and for furthering his art; here the two landscapes, " Murthly Moss" and "Chill October" were painted. Close at hand was the lordly Tay, seen from the windows of his house at Birnam; not far off was the grouse moor; and as neighbours and guests many distinguished persons chose then, as they choose now, Birnam's Wood and sweet Dunkeld as local habitations during the autumn, for here of all places the tints are most splendid, and, the heat of summer subsiding, the crispness of the later season tones the atmosphere into fitting conditions for health and enjoyment. Perthshire claimed Millais as a son-in-law, and cordially did he reciprocate the affection that sprung from the relationship. Coming to be identified with the county, Perthshire was identified with the great artist, the distinguished President of an Academy which had formerly for its honoured head, another Perthshire man, Sir Francis Grant.

Though almost incredible, it is nevertheless true that our great modern artist Millais, who ultimately lived down all malign criticism, was at the age of thirty, when he was painting his very best, subjected to an unduly severe, nay a most unjust and false, criticism from the leading journals, and from the prominent members of the Royal Academy, a criticism which manifested the incompetence of the former, the envy of the latter. Ruskin, who had formerly declared himself in favour of Millais, now ran him down, and influenced others to do so. Against this we must set the powerful influence of Thackeray, no mean judge, who from the first until his early death befriended the young artist, and lauded his pictures to the very skies. Dickens, too, and Charles Reade lent their powerful aid, so that the great Ruskin and his allies were utterly defeated, and by and by that powerful organ, public opinion, stepped in to say practically, "Here there is no mistake,—the conception of Millais' pictures, and his masterly handling of the brush, place him in the foremost rank: his critics and his enemies will please take back seats," and so