"The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain"—the last of the Christmas stories—contains five designs by Leech, and one of the original sketches is here reproduced, through the courtesy of the Museum authorities at Nottingham Castle. They are not among Leech's happiest efforts, and do not compare favourably with the vignettes in "A Christmas Carol."

Plate XLVII

"THE TETTERBYS"
Facsimile of the Original Drawing for "The Haunted Man" by
JOHN LEECH

By Permission of the Art Museum Committee of the Corporation of Nottingham.

Like Cruikshank, "Phiz," and other contemporary book-illustrators, John Leech never worked from models, relying chiefly upon his retentive memory; he seldom made sketches of any kind, but merely jotted down such useful memoranda of bits of scenery and character, details of particular costume, &c., as could be recorded in a little note-book which he invariably carried about with him. When developing an idea for a drawing, he would first make a slight outline of the subject upon paper of the size required, then trace it down upon the wood-block, and finally complete the picture with care and deliberation. The only lessons in etching he ever had he received from George Cruikshank; but it was as a draughtsman on wood that he excelled, his etchings (of which those in the "Carol" are among the best) not being technically equal to those of either Cruikshank or "Phiz," nor do they exhibit that sense of freedom and spontaneity visible in his published drawings. The late George du Maurier, his friend and colleague on Punch, tells us that Leech "drew straight on the wood block, with a lead-pencil; his delicate grey lines had to be translated into the uncompromising coarse black lines of printer's ink—a ruinous process; and what his work lost in this way is only to be estimated by those who know." In giving an account of Leech's work, Professor Ruskin points out a fact not generally known, viz., that from an artistic standpoint his first sketches for the woodcuts are much more valuable than the finished drawings, even before those drawings sustained any loss in engraving. "The first few lines in which he sets down his purpose are invariably, of all drawing that I know," says the eminent critic, "the most wonderful in their accurate and prosperous haste." Dickens remained a constant admirer of Leech's genius, and when, in 1848, there appeared a collection of lithographs, where the artist humorously depicted "The Rising Generation," the novelist indited for The Examiner a glowing eulogium upon the work of his friend, in the course of which he declared that he was "the very first Englishman who had made beauty a part of his art." It was from Dickens that Leech occasionally accepted happy thoughts for Punch, and it will be remembered that he frequently availed himself (as did Sir John Tenniel subsequently) of "Phiz's" designs for Dickens, whenever he thought they could be appropriately converted into political cartoons.

John Leech occasionally associated himself with the amateur theatrical performances organised by Dickens, but it must be admitted that, owing to his naturally modest and retiring disposition, he did not achieve great distinction as an actor. In 1849, while on a visit to the novelist at Bonchurch, he was stunned by a huge wave when bathing, and was put to bed with "twenty of his namesakes on his temples." Congestion of the brain ensued, and Dickens, who proved one of the most attentive of nurses during this anxious time, proposed to Mrs. Leech to try magnetism. "Accordingly," he wrote to Forster, "in the middle of the night I fell to, and after a very fatiguing bout of it, put him to sleep for an hour and thirty-five minutes. A change came on in the sleep, and he is decidedly better. I talked to the astonished Mrs. Leech across him, when he was asleep, as if he had been a truss of hay."

Incessant brain-work induced in John Leech a peculiar irritability, and he was so much affected by street noises, even such as would escape ordinary attention, that he was compelled at length to resort to the device of double windows. Eventually this abnormal sensitiveness told so seriously upon his health that he was ordered to Homburg for change of scene; but, on returning to his London home in the autumn of 1864, he was still strangely susceptible to noise of all kinds. In addition to this, the artist suffered acutely from angina[Pg 147]
[Pg 148] pectoris, and on October 29, 1864, he was seized with an attack of that terrible disease, which, alas! proved fatal. Dickens was sadly overcome by the death of this kindly man, and attributed, thereto his inability to make progress with "Our Mutual Friend," upon which he was then engaged. Around the artist's grave there assembled, on a bright autumn day, many who were distinguished in Art and Literature, in honour of him they sincerely mourned, grieving for the loss of a spirit, so gentle and graceful, that had just passed away.

The portrait of John Leech reproduced for this work is from a beautiful water-colour drawing by his friend, the late Sir John E. Millais, P.R.A., representing the artist in the prime of life. This interesting and valuable presentment of the great pictorial humorist was purchased in 1892 by the Trustees of the National Portrait Gallery, and during the previous year a reproduction of it was given, at my suggestion, as the frontispiece to the biography of John Leech by Mr. W. P. Frith, R.A. Another intimate friend of Leech, Mr. Holman Hunt, informs me that he considers this drawing by Millais as undoubtedly the best portrait of the artist.

Plate XLVIII

RICHARD DOYLE
From a Photograph by G. JERRARD

Lent by Mrs. Henry Doyle.

D. MACLISE, R.A.
From the Painting by E. M. WARD. R.A., 1846