MY DEAR SIR,--If I send this to the author of a lovely illustration to a lovely poem, it is not for its worth, but to give me an excuse for saying that I go out of town for a month next Wednesday, and hope that I may call on you on my return, perhaps get leave to show you over Loughton Woods in the autumn.--Believe me, my dear sir, yours truly, ROBIN ALLEN. F. LEIGHTON, Esq. SEQUITUR TO MRS. BROWNING'S "MUSICAL INSTRUMENT" IN THE "CORNHILL MAGAZINE" OF JULY 1860. A greater God than the great god Pan Planted the reed in the river, And he is the only God who can Break through its heart without killing the reed, And make of its very life indeed An organ, to utter His psalm as the Giver. This greater God than the beast-god Pan, As He watches the reeds in Time's river, Counts for best poet that perfect Man Who holds lightly his song, at its loftiest strain, So he live a man's life!--and at all cost and pain _Is_ a reed among reeds in the river. R.A. [Illustration: "THE GREAT GOD PAN" Original Sketch for Illustration to Mrs. Browning's Poem in the _Cornhill Magazine_, 1861] [Illustration: "AN EVENING IN A FRENCH COUNTRY HOUSE" Illustration for Mrs. Adelaide Sartoris's story, "A Week in a French Country House," published in the _Cornhill Magazine_, 1867 By permission of Messrs. Smith, Elder, & Co.] In a letter to his mother Leighton expresses a warm admiration for these lines by Mr. Robin Allen. In the autumn of 1863 the following letter to his mother mentions a notable visit to Compiègne. The charming story Mrs. Edward Sartoris wrote, which appeared some years later in the _Cornhill Magazine_, "A Week in a French Country House," owes its local colour to this home at Compiègne to which Leighton refers. It belonged to Mr. Edward Sartoris' brother-in-law, the Marquis de l'Aigle. For this story Leighton made two admirable illustrations--"An Evening in a French Country House" and "Drifting." Leighton is supposed to have suggested the character of Monsieur Kiowski, the Polish artist in the story; and the figure in the boat holding the rudder in "Drifting" he certainly meant to represent himself, while the figure singing is Adelaide Sartoris--drawn, as shown by the head-dress, from the sketch Leighton made in 1856. (See List of Illustrations.) _Commencement of letter missing._] 1862. I have a fit of the blues instead. I hope for the sake of my pictures that I shall soon get over them (the blues, not the pictures). I believe if I could find models I should recover at once; but I foresee that I shall have no such luck.