MR. RUSKIN AS A LECTURER.
[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—In your notice (in the Spectator of December 20th), of Mr. Cook's "Studies in Ruskin," you quote a passage from the book in illustration of Mr. Ruskin's method and manner =of lecturing. Mr. Cook's recollection of the lecture he there describes appears to be somewhat hazy. He says :—" On an ,easel beside him was a water-colour drawing by Turner, of (I think) Leicester." The drawing was of Leicester. Mr. Cook has evidently forgotten the fact that Mr. Ruskin charac- teristically prefaced his object-lesson on Turner's picture by .quoting to his audience the scene from Henry VIII. in which Shakespeare describes the death of Wolsey at Leicester Abbey. "There," he said, " you may see Shakespeare's Leicester. Nowadays, instead of the Abbey, you would build this sort of thing ; "—then, taking a. brush full of colour, he rapidly painted in on the glass of the picture a huge block of factory buildings in place of the Abbey. "And, instead of you spire you would have this "—drawing a tall factory ehimney ; "and, instead of the blue sky, this "—here he depicted great coils of black smoke issuing from the chimney, and so on, until Turner's drawing had quite disappeared. It -will be seen that the effectiveness of the illustration in Mr. 'Cook's version is considerably lessened.—I am, Sir, &C.,
PAGET TOYNBEE.
Stanhce Grange, King's Lynn, December 27th, 2890.
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