in sympathy with his subject, and does it justice. Mr.
Tomson
thinks that too much has been made of Millet's miseries, and points out that he lived his own life and painted exactly what he
liked best. There is, no doubt, truth in this, and also that Millet had compensations for his hardships. Still, he had a large family, and he only got an assured sale, and for moderate prices, towards the end of his life. The harmony between the life of Millet and his art was complete. He was born of a peasant family, but one in which there was no sordid element. Father, mother, and grandmother, all were idealists and of a deep piety. Jean Francois inherited these priceless gifts, and to them was added artistic power of the highest order. But with him the artistic power was never in conflict with his spirit; they were always in harmony. Of him it may be said that his art was the most purely Christian of modern times. It was not that he was a Christian in spite of his art, or a Christian who made use of art to express his religious ideas. The art of Millet was in itself infused with the spirit of Christianity. With him there seems no compromise with the pagan spirit of art, neither is there any sentimental pietism. Great and noble is the inspiration of his pictures : humility without sordidness, beauty without arti- ficiality. The illustrations in the book are good, and contain some of the less familiar pictures in private collections. Sir John Day's "Goose-Maiden," to judge by the frontispiece, must be a work of the utmost beauty.
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