JOHN BUSKINS SAD MANIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9157, 25 March 1893, Page 10 (Supplement)

JOHN BUSKINS SAD MANIA.

SOME REMARKABLE INCIDENTS IN

HIS LONG CAREER. Word comes from London that John Ruskin, tho most celebrated writer on art of any time, has gone mad. For years he has been afflicted with a disease of the brain which at intervals has made him temporarily insane. This state of affairs has continued for years, but the lapses have gradually been getting more frequent, and this last giving way of his brain will prove, it is feared, final and permanent. His condition suggests a retrospect of his career.

John Raskin is tho sou of a London merchant, and was born in 1819. Almost from childhood Buskin has beon physically weak, but hie extraordinary mental energy has kept his body under control. Fighting fiercely and continuously tho inherent weakness of his constitution, ho has accomplished an amount of literary work in the past fifty years which would have killed many a man of far stronger physique. Ruskin has written a vast deal upon morals, social problems, and other questions, in no way related to his life-time studios. For example, his " Fors Clavigera," intended to promote the interests of the working men, failed to awaken the interest hoped for, and although tho grace and charm of Buskin's style would make anything that ho wrote worth reading, nevertheless he added nothing to his reputation by this publication upon a subject which he had studied but little. An episode in his career which set all England laughing at him, while at the same time it admired him, was his will. He disposed of many royal gifts to private enterprises and public charities. He owned the most remarkable variety of treasures to bo seen in any private house in England, He virtually named himself his own executor, and proceeded as such to carry out the provisions of his will. For thirteen years he spent annually nearly £7000, including in that tho indulgence of a property worth fully a million, which he as good as gave away, as ho did a pardoned debt of £13,000 to a cousin, besides making ante-mortem bequests of larger sums to other kindred. His home at Brentwood is a neat structure of moderate size, with no striking architectural features. The house was built Jong before Mr. Ruskin moved into it, and there have been very few alterations. From the windows the waters of the lake at the back of Conn is ton village can bo plainly seen, and across the lake rises a high mountain called " The Old Man." The view on every side is superb. Among the remarkable possessions of Mr. Kuskin are 1300 missals, most of them illuminated, worth in themselves a small fortune, as they comprise one-fourth of the entire number in existence. Brentwood and its contents comprise about all of Mr. Buskin's estate ; all his money has been expended. But tho income from his books is said to be about £0000 a year. There is a chapter in the life of this extraordinary man which marks the past unselfishness of a naturo which cannot bo judged by little standards, and this chap ter is one which includes his married life. When Ruskin was young and already famous ho met one evening at a dance in London a most beautiful girl. The hostess pointing her out to him told him that he should marry her. Kuskin, so say his critics, was too enamoured of the beautiful in art to fall in love with a beautiful human being; but, however that may bo, he married tho girl, and gave her a magnificent homo. After a time John Ruskin brought Millais, the painter, to his homo, and asked him to paint his wife's portrait. Millais was then a man of the most superb physique, broad-shouldered, deep-chested, and with great length and strength of limb. While he was painting the portrait he fell in love with his friend's wife, and the wife fell in love with him. Ruskin saw the unfolding of this romance, which might easily grow into a tragedy. His wife loved him no longer. There was neither accusation nor blame for her ; but he secured a divorce, and then one morning walked into church with Ins late wife and Millais, and stood by while they were married. The painter Millais became the leading artist in England, and the beauty of his wife is one of tho charms of London society. It is said that most of tho unhappiness which has fallen upon the later days of John Buskin owed its origin to this disappointment. It was in 1886 that tho first symptoms of any breaking down of Ruskin's mind became apparent. It was at Oxford, where ho was delivering a lecture. He suddenly became incoherent on the platform, and greatly exorcised the feelings of a sympathetic audience. From that time till now ho has been subject to tits of temporary insanity. Sometimes these take tho form of breaking all glass within reach. Sometimes ho refuses all except liquid food. Mis doctor is a local practitioner of middle age, and there has been much comment among the specialists that so eminent a man as Ruskin should not have the best medical advice. Mrs. Lesern, who takes care of Brentwood, is a lady of fifty. She was the adopted child of a cousin of Ruskin, and on the death of this cousin became Mr. Ruskin's only relative. Mr. Buskin has made a will leaving Brentwood to her.