INTRODUCTION xlv

He found the temperature to be 102, and pronounced the illness to be influenza, which might be very grave if the patient’s strength were not kept up. That evening the Professor enjoyed a dinner consisting of sole and pheasant and champagne, and on Friday he seemed to be much better. On Saturday morning there was a change so marked that the doctor was alarmed, and from that time Ruskin sank into an unconscious state, and the breathing lessened in strength, until, at 3.30, it faded away in a peaceful sleep. He was holding the hand of Mrs. Severn, and Dr. Parsons and Baxter stood by, now and then feathering the lips with brandy and spraying the head with eau de Cologne.

“And so he passed away, amid silence and desolation. Then, a little later, when the first shock was over, Mrs. Severn’s daughter prevailed upon her to look from his little turret window at the sunset, as Ruskin was wont to look for it from day to day. The brilliant, gorgeous light illumined the hills with splendour; and the spectators felt as if Heaven’s gate itself had been flung open to receive the teacher into everlasting peace.”¹

The death of Ruskin was the occasion of a chorus from the press of unstinted praise of his character and genius, and the opinion was generally expressed that he should be buried in Westminster Abbey. A memorial to that effect was presented to the Dean and Chapter.² The Chapter was unanimously in accord with the memorial, and a grave in the Abbey-close to that of Tennyson, in Poets’ Corner-was offered. Ruskin, however, had often said to Mrs. Severn, “If I die at Herne Hill I wish to rest with my parents in Shirley Churchyard, but if at Brantwood, then I would prefer to rest at Coniston.” Feeling bound by this expressed wish, she declined the offer of the Dean and Chapter, and on Thursday, January 25, Ruskin was buried in the churchyard of Coniston, a Memorial Service being held at the same

¹ This description of Ruskin’s last days is reprinted from the Times of January 23, 1900; it was communicated to that journal by Mrs. Severn.

² This memorial, which I had the privilege of drawing up and transmitting to Dean Bradley, included the following signatures: Sir Henry Acland, Mr. Aitchison (President of the Royal Institute of British Architects), Lord Avebury, the Master of Balliol, Sir Walter Besant, Mr. John Burns, Mr. Thomas Burt, the Dean of Christ Church, Mr. Sidney Colvin, Mr. Lionel Cust, the Bishop of Durham, Mr. Frederic Harrison, Miss Octavia Hill, Mr. Holman Hunt, Professor Jebb, Lord Lister, P.R.S., Professor Oliver Lodge, the Bishop of London, Mr. John Morley, Lady Mount Temple, Sir Edward Poynter, P.R.A., Mr. W. P. Reeves (Agent General for New Zealand), Sir W. B. Richmond, the Marquis of Ripon, Professor Henry Sidgwick, Sir Arthur Sullivan, Sir George Trevelyan, Mr. Watts, and the Bishop of Winchester.

[Version 0.04: March 2008]