CHAP. II.

Ruskin quoted these lines fromColumbus in the last chapter ofModern Painters, and quoted them to dispute. “My dear friend and teacher,” he said, “right as he is in almost everything, is for once wrong in these lines, though with a noble wrongness.… Love and trust are the only mothermilk of any man's soul. So far as he is hated and mistrusted, his powers are destroyed.” The fate of his papersUnto this Last gave Ruskin taste of the dry and bitter root, and brought him to the choking pool. From the middle of June 1861 to the end of 1863, he exiled himself from home; and, except for a few brief visits to England, he lived the life of a recluse in France or Switzerland. Before passing to give account, in the next chapter, of the external events in his life during this period, I must endeavour to trace from his letters and diaries the inner currents of his mind. His mood of despondency must be explained, but it should not be exaggerated. To many friends and companions, and in congenial society, Ruskin was still as gay as ever. “I never saw him,” wrote his father to Professor Norton at this time, “less than cheerful in society, and when Carlyle comes to see him, and with some ladies, and a few favourite children, his spirits are exuberant.