John Ruskin's Correspondence with Joan Severn: Sense and Nonsense Letters (Legenda Main Series)

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Like Peggy and Rosalind Webling, actors in London productions of the era. Ruskin had seen them perform often. At the time this letter was written, Kate Vaughn was 32 and Connie Gilchrist 21.

Dogs are welcome on a lead in our gardens and the Terrace Cafe. Come and experience the beauty of Brantwood in all seasons. Important InformationBrantwood was originally built as an 8-room cottage on a three-acre piece of land in 1797 by Thomas Woodville. Over the years, the cottage was expanded, with part of the drawing room and four more rooms on the ground floor added in 1830.

Ruskin’s next continental tour took place between late March and the end of October 1874. Apart from the Alps, much of the time was spent in Italy, in Rome (where he worked for over two weeks in the Sistine Chapel copying Botticelli's Scenes from the Life of Moses), in Assisi (spending several weeks copying works by Giotto and Cimabue), in Florence, in Lucca (sketching the tomb of Ilaria di Caretto) and other places. At some point during the tour he was joined by Jane Pritchard, as her brother informed Ruskin: "My sister was much pleased at meeting you abroad. She did not return very well, and I think got a touch of fever which she has not quite shaken off" (Letter 11 June 1874, Lancaster. The paragraphs below quote from this letter five times.). Brantwood offers a fascinating insight into the world of John Ruskin and the last 28 years of his life spent at Coniston. Filled with many fine paintings, beautiful furniture and Ruskin’s personal treasures, the house retains the character of its famous resident.

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The "fatty degeneration" is something in which I should ask you not to believe except of first-rate medical authority. [...] My knowledge of your will-o'-the-wisp is neither much nor recent; but such impression of it as I have leads me to extreme a priori scepticism as to have her having any true signs of the disease. [...] Fearfully and wonderfully made are the insides of hysterically-minded young women. [...] If there is really anything beyond co-feminising twaddle to justify a suspicion of organic heart-disease of any kind, by all means get a conclusive medical opinion. [Hilton, Later Years 146-47] The points to emphasize here are three. First, Webling’s description is typical of the reminiscences of the girls and young women whom Ruskin entertained at Brantwood; second, in none of the recollections do the authors (who, at the time of writing, are adults) include even the mildest of hints that their host was interested in them sexually; always when they were together the central theme of their day was sweetness and fun; third, none of those who have contended that Ruskin was sexually disturbed seems to be aware that such alternative accounts of his experiences with children and girls exist. What makes these accusations the more disquieting is the fact that, when the arguments and evidence offered by Robson and Hilton 5 in support of the contention that Ruskin was a pedophile are examined, we find little justification given for the designation and scant evidence presented to confirm the charge—especially in Robson’s case. The early autumn Lakeland scenery was intensely beautiful with brown and golden hues. The Lake District lived up to its reputation for rain during Gordon’s stay. The diary entries confirm this: ' 10 October. Thursday. "Y[esterday] in pretty showery day to Langdale"; 11 October. Friday. "Y[esterday] pouring all day long"' ( Diaries, II, 732). Also staying at Brantwood was Lily Armstrong (the attractive Irish girl whom Gordon had first met in 1870), who had been there since 18 September. Ruskin showed Gordon some of the surrounding area and went to Langdale on Wednesday 9 October, accompanied by Lily Armstrong and Laurence Jermyn Hilliard ("Lollie") (1855-1887), his much-loved friend, secretary, painter and Brantwood neighbour and brother of Connie. In an earlier essay (“Dark Night”), I argued that, for more than a century—to the detriment of his personal reputation and perception of the enduring relevance of his works—Ruskin’s mental illness had been misdiagnosed because not one of the many who asserted that he suffered from this or that inherited (always the claim) cerebral debility had taken the time to examine the scientific and medical literature pertinent to the disease they said he had. The problem could be solved, I said, if we did just that—turn to modern medical understandings of mental illnesses and analyze the data pertaining to the illnesses from which he was supposedly suffering. Doing this, it became possible for the first time to choose between the two contending interpretations of his turbulence: that it was an inevitable manifestation of a defective genetic trait or the outgrowth of a series of untoward life events. The evidence for the second view proving persuasive, it then became possible to isolate the historic and personal triggers which became the noxious fuels kindling his descent into ever-worsening bouts of depression—accompanied by severe psychotic episodes—from which he suffered during the last quarter century of his life.

Not surprisingly, given Ruskin’s love of the Bible and what he regarded as its enduring relevance, we find that Riblah (now part of Syria) was once an important city in ancient Canaan: cf. 2 Kings 25, 6-7, 18-21. In 1985, in the first volume of his life of Ruskin, Tim Hilton, author of general interest books on Picasso, Keats, and bicycling, was the first to expose and label a previously overlooked, downplayed, or avoided aspect of his subject’s life. Without offering either any substantial evidence or anything resembling a definition of the term, he pronounced Ruskin . . . a pedophile. Hilton told his readers that, however admirable the genius who was his book’s focus may have been in many areas of life (as teacher, brilliant critic of art and society, faithful friend), in one way he was decidedly not deserving of applause: for, when it came to matters sexual, it had to be said, and said without palliation, that John Ruskin was sexually perverse, someone who obsessed about and harbored erotic desires for young women and little girls ( Early Years, 253-54). To put it succinctly: Both of the principal authors who have said unambiguously that Ruskin was a pedophile have built their cases on scanty evidence unsystematically collected. March Monday " Bitter frost and snow. Sent off conclusion letter on prodigal son to Dixon. Gordon at dinner with Joan and me alone" ( Diaries, II, 613).Also present at this special dinner, arranged at Denmark Hill perhaps at the instigation of Mr and Mrs Cowper, were Laurence Oliphant (1829-1888) and seventeen-year-old Connie Hilliard (1852-1915). It must have been an interesting encounter for Gordon. Oliphant was something of a mystic; he was a colourful character, wealthy, possibly a homosexual and the author of several travel books. He was a keen supporter of the fraudulent English-born American spiritualist medium Thomas Lake Harris (1823-1906), founder of a sect called the Brotherhood of the New Life. Connie Hilliard was the daughter of the Rev. J. C. Hilliard and his wife Mary, of Cowley, near Uxbridge. She was the niece of Lady Trevelyan, Ruskin's loyal friend who had died in Neuchậtel whilst on holiday with him in 1866. Ruskin had first met Connie in 1863 at a tea party the eleven-year-old girl had organised (Hilton, Later Years 101). The conversation turned to spiritualism and perhaps to Rose, for Ruskin derived immense satisfaction from it. He wrote in his diary of 6 October 1869: "Heard marvellous things – Breath of Heaven" ( Diaries, II, 681). Gordon decided to go to Denmark Hill for a short break 4-5 October 1869 soon after Ruskin's return from abroad. Such was their degree of friendship and so relaxed was their relationship that it was understood that Gordon could visit and stay any time he wished. This is exactly what he did! On this occasion Ruskin was obliged to explain, in advance to Mrs Cowper, Gordon's presence at the very special private dinner, on 5 October. The letter reveals much about Gordon's character and the absolute trust between the two men: We turn to Criterion A, the index which specifies that, over a period of at least six months, the person suspected of being a pedophile must have had “recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children.” While there can be no doubt that Ruskin sometimes thought about girls and young women over extended periods of time and, on occasion, mentions in letters and conversations children he has seen or been with, I am aware of none that contain evidence demonstrating that he was consumed by such fantasies, urges, or behaviors. Ruskin also drew on his Shropshire friend's publication for information about the legend of St Theodore that he used in St Mark's Rest (24.226). * The first Indian MP, Dadabhai Naoroji wins the seat for Finsbury Central, and Keir Hardie becomes the first MP for the Independent Labour Party, winning the seat for West Ham. Art and scienceWilliam Butler Yeats forms the National Literary Society in Dublin, and also publishes The Countess Cathleen, a short play and his first contribution to Irish poetic drama.