The closing years of George Cruikshank’s life were harassed by a controversy about a design he made and a statue he modelled of King Robert the Bruce, to be erected by subscription at Bannockburn. The consequence was a very lamentable quarrel, during which Cruikshank claimed that he had been engaged by the committee to make the design, * and that the statue modelled by Mr. Currie was originated by him--the contrary being, according to the committee, the fact. Cruikshank, in co-operation with Mr. Adams-Acton, produced a model; that is, Cruikshank made a design, and then himself stood in the attitude of it as Mr. Adams-Acton’s model--the result being a statue, and one which found favour with members of the committee. But money disputes put an end to negotiations with Cruikshank. He had drawn £85 for expenses; his plan involved in any case an outlay which the funds would not cover; and finally, after many difficulties, the statue was committed to the care of Mr. Currie. * In a letter to the Times (December 5th, 1877), he remarked: “As I am the artist who was first engaged by the Bruce Committee to make a design for a monumental statue of King Robert the Bruce, I was very much surprised, upon reading in the _Times_ of the 26th ult. the account of the unveiling of the Bruce statue at Stirling, to find that no statement was made as to my being the original designer,” etc. But Cruikshank’s share in the transaction, as set forth by himself, and as addressed to the Scottish people in his eighty-fourth year, is too remarkable an example of his vigour in old age to be omitted. “An Address and Explanation to the Scottish People, by George Cruikshank, with respect to the proposed Statue in Honour of King Robert the Bruce. “In the month of May 1870, several Scottish noblemen and gentlemen formed themselves into a committee with the object of raising a fund by subscription, for the purpose of having a statue of King Robert the Bruce placed on “the field of Bannockburn,” in honour of that hero, and in memory of the great victory achieved by him and his army in that field on the 24th of June, 1314. “Some friends of mine, who were on this committee, invited me to be a member thereof--which honour I was obliged to decline, as I could not spare the time to attend the meetings; but, as ‘The Bruce’ was one of my great heroes, I promised to give them all the assistance I could, and suggested the attitude for the figure, which they all approved of, and at their first meeting they decided that I should be requested to make the design for the statue.