THE three years which preceded the death of his father were the least productive in Ruskin's literary life. The three which followed it were among the most prolific. In 1861–2–3 he had written nothing except the Essays on Political Economy; he had sent no letters to the public press, and had given only two public lectures. In 1864–5–6 his public activity was very great. He published Sesame and Lilies, The Ethics of the Bust, andThe Grown of Wild Olive. He wrote between twenty and thirty letters to the newspapers, and contributed a large number of miscellaneous articles to magazines; he lectured repeatedly to large audiences in great towns. The same multifarious activity continued in the years which followed. The death of his father meant much more to Ruskin than the death of a father in old age means to most sons in middle life. On the one hand, it deprived him of his closest friend and counsellor, and cast upon him duties and responsibilities from which he had hitherto been shielded. On the other hand, it removed restraints and trammels which have been described in earlier chapters. I shall deal in this chapter with his home life during the years 1864–5–6, and, in the next, with his literary and public activity.