Watson was a kind-hearted, liberal-minded man, and gifted in many ways outside his art. In the early days of our connection with him he often spoke of what he called his "fatal facility," and no doubt that gift told to his detriment. His art was no trouble to him; and this was the root of a certain indolence shown in his later productions which, generally speaking, were far inferior to what might have been expected from his natural powers—though his work was at all times full of tender refinement, beauty and sympathetic feeling.

He did many very clever drawings for the periodicals. One of his finest, perhaps, was for London Society, the subject being the figure of a man on his knees in the attitude of "Abject Prayer."

During the sudden rage that sprung up for water colour drawings his work was much sought after by the dealers. We remember him on one occasion speaking of this eagerness for his pictures, and saying:

"I believe if I were to spit upon a piece of paper and smear it over with my hand they would declare it beautiful, and have a scramble who was to buy it."

On Watson coming to London our connection developed into close social friendship. We had a great liking for his work outside his black and white. The first picture we bought from him was off the walls of the Royal Academy, "A Pet Goat," a small but most highly finished work. He did several water colour portraits of members of our family, and some fine heads, by point work, in sepia-coloured inks. We also purchased several small water colour drawings from him which he made to be reproduced in colour.

Watson had great dramatic taste; his connection with Birket Foster, and the frequent visits to his big house, "The Hill," at Witley, in association with Fred Walker and two or three other kindred spirits, gave him plenty of opportunity for exercising his favourite hobby. In the plays they got up he was everything, leading business, scene painter, costumier, stage and general manager. He had a perfect knowledge of costume—used to cut out the dresses, and, with the assistance of his wife and sister, did all the "tailoring." These plays were delightful and a joy to all who had the good fortune to witness them.

"English Sacred Poetry" gave an opportunity for beautiful pictures, and in the work of the various artists engaged on it there seems to be a greater unity of feeling than is generally the case where the art is mixed. At the same time, perhaps there is no stronger contrast in method than that which exists between the works of Holman Hunt and Frederick Sandys: for instance, Holman Hunt's beautiful illustration to Dean Trench's pathetic verses, "The Lent Jewels" (which we made the frontispiece to the volume), and the two very powerful drawings, "Life's Journey" and "The Little Mourner," by Frederick Sandys.

Of the many high class drawings which appeared in the Cornhill Magazine, there is no one work more remarkable than that of "Cleopatra," by Frederick Sandys, which for dignity and grandeur of design must always be regarded as a fine specimen of that artist's work.

Stacy Marks also gave us some of the best drawings he ever made for the wood engraver—notably "A Quiet Mind," "The Ring," and "The Two Weavers." From Harrison Weir we had a set of four drawings, "The Only One." Sir John Gilbert's "Landing of the Primrose" is a fine example, but not so good as his set of illustrations to "A Hymn." There is a grand picture of a storm at sea, "The Watching of Providence," by G. H. Andrews, and Charles Keene's illustration to "Contentment" is a very strong bit of work.

We engraved many of Keene's early drawings and were close friends, working together constantly at the Life Schools in Clipstone Street, next door to which he had his queer little box of a room, where for a long time he did all his work. It was a strange mass of scraps, sketches, studies; bits of costumes, armour, and "all sorts" of oddments in the way of properties. It was his custom to make several studies for each figure he drew, and many of them were pinned to the dilapidated paper on the walls, helping to make up the somewhat picturesque appearance of the place. We were very anxious to produce some large and important work with him, and offered him a commission to do an elaborately illustrated edition of "Don Quixote," one of the conditions being that he should visit Spain, with the view of collecting new material for the purpose. He liked the subject, and would have undertaken it, but mainly on the ground that he could not bind himself to do any important work within a fixed time, he finally declined our offer. He felt that his best efforts were due to Punch, but even with the proprietors of that journal he objected to be put on any fixed agreement, like Tenniel, Leech, Du Maurier, and others; for, he said, it would make him feel that he must produce a given amount of work in a given time. "No," he said, "I prefer to send in my drawings as I finish them, whatever they may be, and be paid for the work I have done."

We need hardly say it was a disappointment to us. This was before the "Don Quixote" of Gustave Doré had been given to the world; and we fancy that Art is the poorer by Charles Keene not considering himself free to accept our commission.

Messrs. D. Appleton, of New York, requested us to provide a set of illustrations to the Poetical Works of William Cullen Bryant. They wished for a large number by Birket Foster, who at that time was at the very height of his popularity for black and white work. Out of something like one hundred pictures he gave us thirty-six, all of which are beautiful examples; many of them exquisite little vignettes. William Harvey supplied some graceful pictures; Sir John Tenniel, J. R. Clayton, and F. R. Pickersgill were responsible for several of the figure subjects; while Edward Duncan drew some very delicate little sea pieces.

There are many of our own drawings in this book, of which we make mention—"The Battle-field"; "An Indian Girl's Lament"; "Life"; "A Northern Legend"; "The Lady of Castle Windeck"; and "An Evening Reverie."

Harrison Weir sent us some good pictures of animals, notably "The Maiden's Sorrow." Weir, one of our earliest connections, is a gifted and brilliant conversationalist, brimful of anecdote—humorous and otherwise, a genial companion and an old friend.

He is a man of many parts: poet, painter, draughtsman, and naturalist; and how much that word "naturalist" means in the knowledge that fitted him for the varied branches of art which he encompassed in his numerous works! Not the least amongst them being the many children's books he created.

One of the most beautiful books ever entrusted to our care, in which the pictures were to be by various artists, was the "Poems of William Wordsworth." We feel, when looking at the book now, after a lapse of forty years, how happy we were in having the co-operation of such very suitable artists as Birket Foster, Sir John Gilbert, and Joseph Wolf.

Wolf came of a family of agriculturists. Bred amid field, woodland and hedgerow, he gathered his love of all things beautiful, animate and inanimate, direct from Nature. From his earliest boyhood he had an intense love of birds, and so strong was his feeling in that direction that he never lost a chance of dissecting and thoroughly making himself master of the anatomy of the specimen under his immediate observation. In maturer life it was not enough for him to give a surface resemblance to a bird; he was one of the earnest men who must go deep down to the very root of his subject. Whatever eminence he gained as an all-round naturalist, it is by his bird pictures that he will always stand out the more prominent.

As a book illustrator he became so popular that no collection of varied art seemed complete without one or more of his exquisitely graceful pictures.

He was a great lover of music, and would often dream away the idle hours, as he called them, on his favourite instrument, the zither; and a propos, surely there was much sweet and even grand music in his groups of birds, such as "The rooks sat high" and "The mother kite watching and guarding her nest."

In our long connection with the firm of Thomas Nelson & Sons, of Edinburgh, we made a large number of drawings and did much engraving for their books. The work was mostly of an instructive and amusing kind for young people. Among the various artists employed upon their publications, Keeley Halswell, who at that time resided in Edinburgh, did a great many drawings. The Messrs. Nelson had an art department in connection with their vast establishment. In this branch William Small was a pupil; and there he illustrated many of their story books before he came to London to take a first place amongst the most distinguished artists in black and white. Small became an important contributor to the Graphic in its early days, and made many drawings for Good Words and other magazines of Strahan's. He also made a few clever drawings for Buchanan's "North Coast Poems."

We saw much of Mr. William Nelson, the eldest brother, during his visits to London, which were by no means infrequent. He was a man with a large, warm heart, and kindly, genial disposition, and though holding broad views in most matters, he (like the majority of his countrymen in the last generation) looked for many years with the greatest aversion on all things theatrical, and from his early training considered "the door of the theatre as the gate to destruction." At one of his quiet dinner parties Madame Antoinette Stirling and her husband were present, and the talk naturally turned on music and the drama, when he related the following as his first introduction to theatrical entertainments:

"On one occasion I was, very reluctantly, prevailed upon to go to the theatre to see the comic opera, Les Cloches de Corneville. At first I was indifferent to what was going on, but as the play progressed my interest increased so much that at the end I came away delighted at what I had seen, and the next morning, turning the matter over, I found myself none the worse, either bodily or mentally, for having been at the play. Indeed, the performance gave me so much pleasure, that I resolved to repeat the indulgence on every possible opportunity; but that, of course, could not be done in Edinburgh. Feeling that I have lost a great deal of intellectual enjoyment, I make a point of going to a theatre on every disengaged evening I have when in London."

When James Hogg and Sons removed their publishing house from Edinburgh to London we became intimately connected with them. James, the father, was associated with many of Scotland's best and noblest writers: De Quincey was a friend and companion, also Professor Wilson (Christopher North), and Dr. Brown, the distinguished author of "Rab and his Friends."

The two clever sons, James and John, were both most resourceful men, full of energy and enterprise. James was one of the first to follow the example of the Cornhill by starting a Shilling Illustrated Magazine, London Society, which he successfully conducted for many years. He gave examples of Sir John Millais, P.R.A.; Fred Walker, A.R.A.; John Pettie, R.A.; Tom Graham; Gordon Thomson, and J. D. Watson. Amongst the lady artists were Florence and Adelaide Claxton, whose style of work well suited the nature of the publication. The Christmas Number of London Society held a prominent position for many years.

John Hogg, the younger brother, while publishing many books of a useful and instructive high-class character, also conducted the Churchman's Family Magazine; and when amongst the artists we find the names of Frederick Sandys, G. J. Pinwell, and others, evidence of his capability for the position is afforded. John Hogg is an earnest Freemason, and closely identified with the publications of the craft.

Nursery Rhymes! what delightful subjects they give for pictures, and how often we have had the pleasure of working on them. The first collection we made is very fully illustrated by William McConnell, "a comic artist" of some repute in his day. He was the close friend of the Brothers Brough and of George Augustus Sala, for whom he made a set of elaborate drawings to illustrate "Twice Round the Clock." McConnell was a most prolific artist.

Our next essay on the same subject was a commission from the Routledges, and was issued as "Our Favourite Nursery Rhymes." This was altogether much more important from an art point, many of the best draughtsmen of the time being engaged upon it. J. B. Zwecker made a capital set of drawings illustrating "Old Mother Hubbard"; while J. A. Pasquier, a very clever artist in black and white, and a skilful painter in water colours, contributed several appropriate designs.

We well remember presenting a copy of this volume to Professor Sir Richard Owen, the great naturalist. He said what enjoyment it had given to him: it was like meeting the friends of his childhood. The grand old man's face really beamed with delight as he, in his sweet, quiet voice, said, "They have not only pleased me, but I will have the further pleasure of showing all my young friends these dear old Nursery Rhymes and Jingles."

In conjunction with Messrs. Novello, Ewer & Co. we produced "Our National Nursery Rhymes." The rhymes were set to music by J. W. Elliot, and the pictures were of an important character, A. B. Houghton, G. J. Pinwell, Stacy Marks and others employed thereon being all at their best. As well as many of our own drawings, there were several landscape and rustic pictures by E. G. Dalziel in the collection.

We produced the pictures for two other books for the same firm: "The Sunlight of Song," being a charming collection of sweet songs set to music, and "Christmas Carols." Both were fully illustrated by popular artists. Amongst those for the "Carols" were many most refined and appropriate drawings by Arthur Hughes, who was one of the most earnest of the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and who, independent of his painting, did a large amount of black and white work. We are doubtful whether he made any drawings for "The Germ." Our first connection with him was for "The Music Master, and other Poems," by William Allingham, for which he did two drawings; one, a fairy moonlight subject, being exquisitely beautiful. He did much fine work for Good Words, and many fanciful fairy subjects for Dr. George Macdonald's stories, which appeared in Good Words for the Young, amongst which were "On the Back of the North Wind" and "Chamber Dramas."