In this succession of portraits some stand out commandingly as notable performances even for an artist who was always distinguished--for example, _Mrs. Bischoffsheim_ (1873), _Miss Eveleen Tennant_ (1874), _Mrs. Jopling_ (1879), _Mrs. Perugini_ (1880), _Sir Henry Irving_ (1884), _The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone_ (1885), _J. C. Hook, R.A._ (1882), and _The Marquis of Salisbury_ (1883)--marking great moments in his career; just as from time to time figure compositions of rare importance, like _The North-West Passage_ (1874), _Effie Deans_ (1877), _The Princes in the Tower_ (1878), and _Speak! Speak!_ (1895), punctuated the progress of his intellectual and imaginative evolution. He was always, to the last day of his life, ambitious and eager to grapple with problems of technical expression. Courage to face the supreme difficulties of his profession never failed him. He had no idea of avoiding responsibilities, or of finding in an easy convention a way to evade his duty to art; and he tried consistently to bring his production up to the high level that would satisfy his ideals. When he missed his aim--and there is no such thing as unvarying success for any artist--it was not for want of thought or sincere effort, but rather from over-anxiety. He once said of himself, "I may honestly say that I never consciously put an idle touch upon canvas, and that I have always been earnest and hard-working; yet the worst pictures I ever painted in my life are those into which I threw most trouble and labour"; and in these few words he summed up his whole history. LAST YEARS