Writing of his earliest recollections of Coniston, in _Praeterita_, Ruskin says: "The inn at Coniston was then actually at the upper end of the lake, the road from Ambleside to the village passing just between it and the water, and the view of the long reach of lake, with its softly-wooded, lateral hills, had for my father a tender charm, which excited the same feeling as that with which he afterward regarded the lakes of Italy." Ruskin's death in 1900 took place at Brantwood. George Eliot, in speaking of him, said, "I venerate Ruskin as one of the greatest teachers of the age. He teaches with the inspiration of a Hebrew prophet." Ruskin was the son of a wealthy wine merchant, and was born in London in 1819. He studied at Oxford, where he gained the Newdigate prize for English poetry in 1839. After taking his degree, in the following year appeared his first volume of _Modern Painters_, the design of which was to prove the great superiority of modern landscape-painters, particularly Turner, over the old masters. [Illustration: RUSKIN'S HOUSE AT BRANTWOOD. The room with the turret window was Ruskin's bedroom.] FOWEY =How to get there.=--Train from Paddington. Great Western Rly. =Nearest Station.=--Fowey. =Distance from London.=--282 miles. =Average Time.=--Varies from 7 to 8 hours. 1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 43s. 4d. 27s. 0d. 21s. 8d. Return 75s. 10d. 47s. 6d. ... =Accommodation Obtainable.=--"The Fowey Hotel," "St. Catherine's Private Hotel," "Cotswold House," etc. Fowey, now little more than a fishing village and holiday resort, was once the chief port in Cornwall, and the equal of Plymouth and Dartmouth, a position it owed to its fine harbour, formed by the mouth of the river Fowey, on which it stands. On the west side of the harbour stands St. Catherine's Castle, dating from the reign of Henry VIII., and on the east the ruins of St. Saviour's Chapel, an old church. There are also remains of two square stone towers, erected for the protection of the entrance to the harbour in the reign of Edward IV. Between these forts, in mediaeval days, the men of Fowey used to draw a chain as an additional security. The houses are built chiefly of stone, but the streets are so narrow and full of angles that it is difficult for a vehicle of any size to pass through them. In the reign of Edward III. it sent forty-seven vessels to assist in the siege of Calais.