I remember that, just as among his published work in verse he held that his _Tristram and Iseult_ was his best, so he considered the Essay--practically on Keats, who held, I think, the highest place with him among the nineteenth century poets but entitled _The Artistic Spirit in Modern English Poetry_, he judged to be among his most satisfactory prose; with the exception of the _Essay on Macbeth_, written as a pamphlet at the time of Henry Irving’s production of the play, and now re-published under the title of _Sex in Tragedy_ in his book _Coasting Bohemia_. A letter which he wrote me later from France, when he was studying the provincial museums there for a series of articles in the _Manchester Guardian_, bears out pleasantly the criticism in the article on _Corot and Millet_ in _Essays on Art_. LIMOGES, _August 1882_. “ ... The landscape of the Loire somewhat disappointed me, although the towns are full of interest. Very fruitful the country seems to be, overflowing with corn and vine but far stretching and unvaried with a vague sense of melancholy in it that is almost oppressive. It is impossible to catch even a passing view of such country as lies between Orléans and Nantes without turning in thought from the landscape to the people who dwell in it; and the picture that is left in the mind of the daily life of these peasants who labour all day in fields that have no break or limit save where patches of corn alternate with spaces of vine, is strangely touching and sad. It wanted a France such as France is on the borders of the Loire to produce the solemn and austere sentiment of Millet, and I hardly think one understands the stern reality of his work until one has passed through miles and miles of this fruitful and uneventful land. The later passages of to-day’s journey were a delightful change in the character of the scenery; a narrower river (The Vienne) but more sympathetic, with happy-looking green pastures and hilly banks. This place stands high and the air is delightfully fresh. It has an industrial museum which is important in connection with my work. I visited Chambord also Chenonceau. They are both much restored and inferior in interest to Blois, which is a most delightful place in every way.” In respect of Blois he writes as follows in another letter: “This town is more picturesque than any French town I have yet seen; most of it, or the older part of it at any rate, is high up on a hill, and the steps that mount up between the different streets are very beautifully contrived. Tell Phil I should like him to read the parts of his French history connected with Blois, particularly about Henri III. and the Duke of Guise, and I will tell him about the wonderful castle when I get back.” I remember he brought home some excellent photographs of that castle and the lovely outer staircase of the tower.