A singular interest attaches to Mrs. Allingham's drawing of this cottage. She had nearly completed it on a Saturday afternoon, and was asked by a friend whether she would finish it next day. To this she replied that she never sketched in public on Sunday. On Monday the cottage was a heap of ruins, having been burnt down the previous night. CHAPTER X MRS. ALLINGHAM AND HER CONTEMPORARIES That a true artist is always individual, and that his work is always affected by some one or other of his predecessors or contemporaries, would appear to be a paradox: nevertheless it is a proposition that few will dispute. Art has been practised for too long a period, and by too many talented professors, for entirely novel views or treatments of Nature to be possible, and whilst an artist may be entirely unaware that he has imbibed anything from others, it is certain that if he has had eyes to see he must have done so. I have already stated that Mrs. Allingham's work, whether in subject or execution, is, so far as she is aware, entirely her own, and it would, perhaps, be quite sufficient were I to leave the matter after having placed that assertion on record. To go farther may perhaps lay oneself open to the charge, _qui s'excuse s'accuse_. I trust not, and that I may be deemed to be only doing my duty if I deal at some length with comparisons that have been made between her work and that of certain other artists. The two names with whose productions those of Mrs. Allingham are most frequently linked are Frederick Walker and Birket Foster: the first in connection with her figures, the latter with her cottage subjects. As regards these two artists it must be remembered that both their and her early employment lay in the same direction, namely, that of book illustration, and therefore each started with somewhat similar methods of execution and subject, varied only by leanings towards the style of any work they came in contact with, or by their own individuality. That both had much in common is well known; in fact, Mrs. Allingham used to tell Mr. Foster that she considered him, as did others, the father of Walker and Pinwell. In the case of Frederick Walker, his career was at its most interesting phase whilst Mrs. Allingham was a student. Her first visit to the Royal Academy was probably in 1868, when his "Vagrants" was exhibited, to be followed in 1869 by "The Old Gate," in 1870 by "The Plough," and in 1872 by "The Harbour of Refuge."