Study for the picture of King Cophetua (Philip Comyns Carr). By Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Bart. _Frontispiece_ FACE PAGE G. Birkbeck Hill 7 Dante Gabriel Rossetti. By Himself 59 Dante Gabriel Rossetti. By G. F. Watts, R.A. 65 Letter. By Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Bart. (_a_) 78 The Homes of England. By Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Bart. (_b_) 78 The Homes of England. By Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Bart. (_c_) 78 Lessons in Anatomy. By Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Bart.-- Lesson 1 80 Lesson 2 80 Lesson 3 80 Ophelia. By Sir J. E. Millais, Bart., P.R.A. 85 The Finding of Moses. By Sir J. E. Millais, Bart., P.R.A. 87 The Huguenots. By Sir J. E. Millais, Bart., P.R.A. 92 Lord Leighton, P.R.A. By G. F. Watts, R.A. 96 A Woman in the Snow. By F. Walker, A.R.A. 103 Lucy Gray. By Sir John Gilbert, R.A. 109 The Unjust Judge. By Sir J. E. Millais, Bart., P.R.A. 111 The Leaven. By Sir J. E. Millais, Bart., P.R.A. 113 “To seek the wanderer.” By F. Sandys 115 James Martineau. By G. F. Watts, R.A. 167 John Bright. By W. W. Ouless, R.A. 169 Lord Tennyson. By G. F. Watts, R.A. 193 Head of Charles Dickens. By Sir J. E. Millais, Bart., P.R.A. 194 Robert Browning. By G. F. Watts, R.A. 201 William Morris. By G. F. Watts, R.A. 209 R. L. Stevenson. By Sir W. Richmond, K.C.B., R.A. 215 Sir Henry Irving. 237 Sir Arthur Sullivan. By Sir J. E. Millais, Bart., P.R.A. 284 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY From my earliest boyhood I think my bent was towards a literary career, but it was long before my ambition could be put to the test. The seventh of a family of ten, it was scarcely to be expected that I could, in those earlier days, make known my choice of a calling that seemed so little likely to yield a livelihood. My father was in business in London, and although he took the keenest interest in politics and public affairs, and was an eager reader of the literature of his time, he had a sufficiently hard struggle to provide for us all, and it was but natural in his care for our future that his thoughts should turn to the choice of some solid commercial career.