In 1863 Millais' _Parables of our Lord_ was issued, although it is dated 1864. Of the masterpieces it contained a reviewer of the period wrote: 'looked at with unfeeling eyes there is little to commend them to the average class of book-buyers.' This, which is no doubt a fairly representative opinion, may be set against the wide appreciation by artists they aroused at the time, and ever since, merely to show that the good taste of the sixties was probably confined to a minority, and that the public in 1867 or 1897, despite its pretence of culture, is rarely moved deeply by great work. It is difficult to write dispassionately of this book. Granted that when you compare it with the drawings of some of the subjects which are still extant, you regret certain shortcomings on the part of the engravers; yet, when studied apart from that severe test, there is much that is not merely the finest work of a fine period, but that may be placed among the finest of any period. We are told in the preface that 'Mr. Millais made his first drawing to illustrate the _Parables_ in August 1857, and the last in October 1863; thus he has been able to give that care and consideration to his subjects which the beauty as well as the importance of _The Parables_ demanded.' It is not necessary to describe each one of the many illustrations. Those which appeared in _Good Words_ are printed with the titles they first bore in the notice of that magazine. The other eight are: _The Tares_, _The Wicked Husbandman_, _The Foolish Virgins_, _The Importunate Friend_, _The Marriage Feast_, _The Lost Sheep_, _The Rich Man and Lazarus_, and _The Good Shepherd_, all engraved by the brothers Dalziel, who (to quote again from the preface), 'have seconded his efforts with all earnestness, desiring, as far as their powers would go, to make the pictures specimens of the art of wood-engraving.' Here it would be superfluous to ask whether the designs could have been better engraved, or even whether photogravure would not have retained more of the exquisite beauty of the originals. As they are, remembering the conditions of their production, we must needs accept them; and the full admiration they demand need not be dashed by useless regret. In place of blaming Dalziels, let us rather praise lavishly the foresight and sympathy which called into being most of the books we now prize. Indeed, a history of Dalziels' undertakings fully told would be no small part of a history of modern English illustration. If any one who loves art, especially the art of illustration, does not know and prize these _Parables_, then it were foolish to add a line in their praise, for ignorance of such masterpieces is criminal, and lukewarm approval a fatal confession. [Illustration: J. E. MILLAIS 'THE PARABLES OF OUR LORD,' ROUTLEDGE, 1864 THE PRODIGAL SON] [Illustration: J. E. MILLAIS 'THE PARABLES OF OUR LORD,' 1864 THE TARES] [Illustration: J. E. MILLAIS