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he enabled Miss Octavia Hill to give in model landlordism. Ruskin was fond of preaching what has been called the "slum crusade" in his lectures at Oxford, and the movement for University and College "Settlements' owes not a little to his exhortations. "My University friends came to me," he said, "at the end of my Inaugural Lectures, with grave faces, to remonstrate against irrelevant and Utopian topics being introduced."1 They may have been irrelevant; they certainly were not Utopian. And since political practice and economic theory act and react upon one another, it is not surprising to find on the one hand economists declaring that "though the future Political Economy may not build from him directly, yet it will be rather with Ruskin's earth than Ricardo's straw that its bricks for building will be made;" and, on the other side, a distinguished publicist recording his opinion that Unto this Last is "not only the most original and creative work of John Ruskin, but the most original and creative work in pure literature since Sartor Resartus." "It put into a form more picturesque and incisive than ever before the revolt from that cynical pedantry into which the so-called Political Economy was tending to degenerate. The brutal, ignorant, and inhuman language which was current about capital and labour, workmen, and trades-unions is heard no longer. The old plutocracy is a thing of the past. And no man has done more to expose it than the author of Unto this Last." 3 "The Political Economy of to-day," said the late Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford, "is the political economy of John Ruskin, and not the political economy of John Bright or even of John Stuart Mill."

In closing this summary of Ruskin's social and political work, I ought perhaps to guard against a possible misconception. Neither in the case of his practical suggestions nor in that of his economic theories, need any patent rights or any exclusive credit be claimed for Ruskin. In an old and complex society, the growth of new ideas and the operation of fresh motive-forces require the combined efforts, from many different directions, of many thinkers and many workers. Before the fruit ripens upon the tree much digging and ditching is necessary the rain must fall and the sun shine; and the procession

1 Fors Clavigera, Letter 41.

2 "Ruskin as a Political Economist," in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, Boston, vol. ii. p. 445.

3 "Ruskin as a Master of Prose," Nineteenth Century, October 1895, p. 574, and "Unto this Last," Nineteenth Century, December 1895, p. 972, both by Frederic Harrison; reprinted in his Tennyson, Ruskin, Mill, and other Literary Estimates, 1898, pp. 74, 101.

of times and seasons be fulfilled. Nothing is more ridiculous than the scramble which sometimes sets in, on the part of competing claimants, for the whole credit and the sole credit of the ripe fruit of politics. No such exclusive claim will anywhere be found in Ruskin's writings. What I have tried in the foregoing pages to show is that, in many channels, his influence has contributed to shape and direct the aspirations and efforts of his generation.1

Of

1 Ruskin's economic writings have been the subject of numerous studies. these the most important is John Ruskin, Social Reformer, by J. A. Hobson, 1898, 8vo, pp. 336. A short, but very suggestive, essay on the subject by Professor Patrick Geddes, F.R.S., was No. III. in "The Round Table Series," entitled John Ruskin, Economist (8vo, pp. 44, Edinburgh, 1884). Among other studies the following may be mentioned (in order of publication) :—

John Ruskin, his Life and Work, by William Smart, M.A. (8vo, pp. 51, Glasgow, 1880; third edition, 1883).

A Disciple of Plato: a Critical Study of John Ruskin, by William Smart, M.A., with a Note by Mr. Ruskin (pp. 48, Glasgow, 1883).

"John Ruskin and Modern England," by G. W. Boag; an article in the Pioneer, January 1887, pp. 1-8.

"Ruskin as a Political Economist," by F. J. Stimson; an article in the Quarterly Journal of Economics (published for Harvard University, Boston, 1888), vol. ii. pp. 414-445.

Studies in Ruskin, by E. T. Cook, 1890 (second edition, 1891).

The New Political Economy: the Social Teaching of Carlyle, Ruskin, and H. George, by Henry Rose, 1891 (Ruskin, pp. 74-109).

Modern Humanists, by John M. Robertson, 1891 (Ruskin, pp. 184–211). English Social Reformers, by H. de B. Gibbins, M.A., 1892 (Ruskin, pp. 204223).

"Mr. Ruskin in Relation to Modern Problems," by E. T. Cook; an article in the National Review, February 1894 (some passages from which have been embodied in this Introduction).

"Unto this Last," by Frederic Harrison; an article in the Nineteenth Century, December 1895 (pp. 958-974).

"Lessons from Ruskin," by Charles S. Devas; an article in the Economic Journal, March 1898 (pp. 28-36).

John Ruskin, par Jacques Bardoux, Paris, 1900: "La Bible de l'Economie Politique," pp. 358-460). A useful bibliography of "La Littérature Ruskinienne' is appended to this volume, but is not free from mistakes).

"Ruskin and the New Liberalism," by E. T. Cook; an article in the New Liberal Review, February 1901.

"Unto this Last": a paper read before the Ruskin Society by Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Wilson; printed in the Liberty Review, April 1903, vol. 13, pp. 161-175. "The Economic Basis of Ruskin's Teaching," by the Very Rev. G. W. Kitchin, D.D.; an article in Saint George, October 1904 (vol. vii. pp. 223-243).

John Ruskin and Thoughts on Democracy, by Professor F. York Powell, 1905 (reprinted from St. George, vol. iii. pp. 58–67.

It now remains to give, as in the earlier Introductions, some particulars about Texts, Manuscripts, and Illustrations.

Unto this Last appeared originally, under that title, in the Cornhill Magazine in 1860. When the papers were collected into a book in 1862 Ruskin added a preface, but made only one alteration in the text; and in all subsequent editions the text remained unchanged (except in a few trifling matters recorded in the Bibliographical Note here, p. 10). The MS. of Essays III. and part of IV., formerly in Mr. Allen's possession, is now in America; it has been collated with the text for this edition. The MS., however, only goes down to the beginning of § 82, the remainder being missing; and some preceding portions are not in the author's own handwriting. An examination of the MS. fully bears out what he says (see above, p. xxv.) about the labour taken in composition. A page cf it is here reproduced in facsimile (pp. 74–75), and this, if compared with the printed text, will serve as an illustration of the amount of verbal alterations made throughout. The facsimile is somewhat disfigured by the ruled lines, which are due to the paper used by Ruskin, who, when abroad, often wrote in MS. account-books, purchased there. In footnotes a few additional or alternative passages have been given to show the kind of amendment and compression to which the author's earlier drafts were subjected.

The text of Munera Pulveris, on the other hand, presents large and numerous alterations. The essays, originally published in Fraser's Magazine in 1862-1863, were not corrected by the author in proof, and when he collected them into a volume in 1872, the text was much revised and in some places rearranged. Ruskin placed the notes added by him in 1872 within square brackets []; but as this sign has been adopted throughout this edition to distinguish notes added by the present editors, round brackets are substituted ( ). In cases of possible ambiguity, explanatory footnotes are supplied. The text here given is that last revised by the author, but the reader is also put in possession of all that originally appeared in Fraser's Magazine. The more important or interesting alterations are given in footnotes below the text; the others are collected in the Bibliographical Note. Such alterations are, as will be seen, very numerous (pp. 121-128); a cursory glance will suffice to show generally how much care Ruskin spent in revising the essays; while a studious reader, who takes the trouble to look into the variations, will find many interesting literary minutia to note.

The original manuscript of Munera Pulveris appears to have been

XVII.

h

dispersed. Six sheets of it are in the possession of Mr. C. H. Barber, of Manchester, by whose kindness one sheet is here given in facsimile (pp. 234-235); it contains some interesting variations. Another sheet (§ 116 of the text) is in the possession of Mr. George Allen. No other part of the MS. has been seen by the editors.

References are occasionally made in the editors' footnotes to Ruskin's copy of Mill's Principles of Political Economy (see pp. 78, 176). This is Ruskin's working copy of the first edition of that work (1848), and contains many notes, criticisms, and markings by him. It is now in the possession of Mr. Thornton of St. Petersburg, by whom it has kindly been placed at the editors' disposal for reference.

The text of Time and Tide shows similarly extensive alterations, and the collation in this case is more complicated. Ruskin sent his letters to Thomas Dixon, with leave to publish them in the newspapers. They appeared more or less simultaneously in the Leeds Mercury and the Manchester Examiner and Times. Dixon or Ruskin must have had two transcripts made. No original manuscript in Ruskin's handwriting is known to the editors; but a fair copy, in that of his servant Crawley, is contained with other matter in a thick note-book. The book was in Crawley's possession, and the editors have had access to it. This MS. agrees with the text of the letters as published in the Leeds Mercury; the text in the Manchester Examiner shows some errors and differences, but as these were doubtless due to imperfect transcription, the editors do not trouble the reader with a collation of them. The first text, then, is that of the original letters as they appeared in the Leeds Mercury in 1867. In collecting the letters for publication as a book late in the year, Ruskin revised them largely and added several appendices; this is a second text. Again, in 1872, when re-issuing the book among his Collected Works, he revised, and in places rearranged, the text. The text given in this edition is that of 1872, the one last revised by the author; but, as in the case of Munera Pulveris, the reader is also put in possession of all passages which occurred in earlier forms of the letters. The more important or interesting of such passages, and of alterations, are given in footnotes or in an Appendix (p. 474); the rest are consigned to the Bibliographical Note (pp. 302-308). Here, again, the alterations are very numerous; the pages devoted to them show the author's scrupulousness in revising, and reveal occasional felicities (§§ 42, 83).

The books collected in this volume were not illustrated by the author. The frontispiece is a reproduction in colours of a drawing of himself made by Ruskin in 1861. It is It is "very sulky," he wrote in sending it to his

father from Lucerne (November 12), "but has some qualities about it better than photograph." The drawing (which is here reproduced in the size of the original) is in water-colour (touched with body-colour); it is at Brantwood.

The other illustrations here given are, with one exception, reproductions of drawings made by Ruskin during the years covered by this Introduction. There is one of the sketches which he madel at Lucerne in the autumn of 1861 (Plate I.), and then a sketch at Altdorf (Plate II.). The pencil drawing of Lucerne (6 × 10) is No. 117 in the Educational Series of the Ruskin Drawing School at Oxford. The drawing of Altdorf (14 × 20), is in wash and body-colour on grey paper; it was in the collection of Sir John Simon, K.C.B., and is now in the United States.

The picture of Ruskin's house at Mornex (Plate III.) is from a photograph taken for the purpose of this edition.

The view from the base of the Brezon (Plate IV.), and of the prospect from his garden at Mornex (Plate V.), are from his own drawings. The former drawing (13) × 20) is in pen and wash, with body-colour, on blue paper. It is thus inscribed :

"View from the base of the Brezon above Bonneville, looking towards Geneva. The Jura, in the distance; Salève, on the left. -J. RUSKIN."

It was given by Ruskin to Osborne Gordon, and is now in the possession of his nephew, Mr. W. Pritchard Gordon, by whom it has been kindly lent for reproduction here. The "grand old keep," in the foreground on the right, is described by Ruskin in his Note on Turner's drawing of Bonneville (Vol. XIII. p. 419), and, as he there mentions, was pulled down some years ago. This was probably the "true Savoyard château" on which he had "cast longing eyes (see above, p. lv.). The latter drawing (10 × 14), in water-colour, is in the collection of Mrs. Cunliffe.

The water-colour drawing (4×111), here reproduced in colours, of a view of the Mountains of Annecy (Plate VI.) is also in the collection of Mrs. Cunliffe.

The sketch at Lauffenbourg (Plate VII.) is in water-colour on buff paper (81×11). It is now in the Birmingham Art Gallery. It may be the one mentioned in the Dialogue on "Gold" (p. 492), but more probably belongs to an earlier date than 1863.

E. T. C.