1872 PORTRAIT BY OULESS 243 He said he knew him well, and that he was a pupil of the Royal Academy of great promise. I asked, Would he paint me?" and Boxall promised to give me an introduction to him for that purpose. A few days after I went accordingly to see Ouless, but when I mentioned my wish he said he was not a portrait painter; of the two pictures I had seen one was of his own father, and the other of an intimate friend-both done to please himself. He wanted to paint "history," and referred me to a picture by himself-a scene from the French Revolution, introducing Robespierre, which had been exhibited the previous year, of which he showed me a photograph. He was sorry to disappoint any friend of Boxall's, but he could not oblige me. We continued in conversation for some time, and at last he said he would make an exception in my case, and pleased me very much by promising to paint my portrait. He could not fix any price, as he had never before accepted a commission for a portrait, and this point was left to be decided by Boxall. I gave Ouless nineteen sittings, and the picture was well placed in the next exhibition of the Royal Academy. As a piece 244 "THE RING AND THE BOOK” 1872 of fine colour I doubt whether he has since surpassed it, and, as far as I know, Ouless has never since painted anything but the excellent portraits which led to his early election as A.R.A. and R.A. 13th July. Came to breakfast Browning, George Cayley, Holtzmann, etc. Browning told us that he had recently been presented with a contemporary portrait sketch of Count Guido Franceschini, evidently taken from him as he appeared on the scaffold for execution, with the name and date—Conte Guido, etc., decapitato, etc. It had been bought at a sale in London, and the purchaser thought that it should belong to the author of The Ring and the Book. He also told of Sheridan Knowles a story often told of Count D'Orsay. S. K. was complaining that he wanted to read a certain book and could not get it. A friend informed him of the existence of such things as circulating libraries, and S. K. took out and paid for a three months' subscription to Saunders & Ottley. He went into the country and stayed away more than three months, without getting out a book from their library. Then he went for a book, and was indignant at its 1872 SAUNDERS AND OTTLEY 245 being refused, on the ground that his subscription had expired. He said he had paid his guinea and had got nothing in return for it, and was furious. He was referred by the clerk at the counter to one of the principals, who explained the matter to him, but without appeasing his wrath. S. K. said, "It's a confounded swindle." The partner asked, “Do you mean to be personal, sir?" S. K., “No; on the contrary, if you are Saunders, d-n Ottley, and if you're Ottley, d—n Saunders.” 20th July.—Dinner at home, to meet Madame de Mussy, her son and daughter, on a visit to London. Boxall, Kinglake, Browning, Hallé, and Miss Hallé. 22d August.-To Brussels, via Ostend. Bonn for a couple of nights. Heidelberg, three weeks. Nuremburg, Prague, Dresden for a fortnight. Home 1st October, by Hanover, Cologne, and Ostend. 13th November. - Dined alone with Sir William Boxall. He told me that his father was an Excise collector at Oxford with a salary of £200 a year, out of which he allowed him £50 a year to come to London and study art in or about the year 1817. He paid 8s. a week for 246 SIR WILLIAM BOXALL 1872 lodgings in the neighbourhood of Brunswick Square, and used to dine at an eating-house for 8d. or 9d. His sister was married to Mr. Hickman, a silversmith and jeweller at Oxford, whose shop was visited for orders by a traveller from a firm in Clerkenwell. This man's name was Edwards, and he had at one time been a pupil of Banks the sculptor, but had abandoned the study of art and taken to trade at the time of the French Revolution in 1789, under the belief that such changes were about to take place in society as would destroy all demand for works of art. Edwards on one occasion saw a landscape drawing by Boxall, was struck by its merits, and asked to see the young artist. artist. Boxall was at this time seventeen years old, and had not liked any of his father's plans for his future life. The introduction to Edwards led to his becoming a pupil at the Royal Academy, and determined his career. CHAPTER VIII THEATRE FRANCAIS 5th March.-To Paris for a week. During this visit on one afternoon I went over the Theatre Français under the guidance of Delaunay. The interior is more like that of a comfortable private house than that of a London theatre. The stairs from the artists' entrance are carpeted, and the walls of the staircase are hung with pictures. The foyer des artistes is a large well-furnished room, also hung with portraits of dramatic authors and actors. loges or dressing-rooms of the Societaires are well-appointed and comfortable rooms. On the stage there is a sort of movable alcove for the performers to sit in who are engaged in the piece, so as to be sheltered from any draught of wind and close to their work. Any inconvenience, however, from the admission of too much The |