pair; and yet patient, and kindly to those with him
whose help he could no longer use, and who dared not show--though he
could not but guess--how heart-breaking it was.

They put the best face upon it, of course: drove in the afternoons about
the country--to Muncaster Castle, to Calder Abbey, where he tried to
sketch once more; and when the proofs of "Joanna's Care" were finally
revised, to Wastwater. But travelling now was no longer restorative.

It added not a little to the misfortunes of the time that two of his
best friends in the outside world were disputing over a third. By nobody
was Carlyle's reputation more valued, and yet he acknowledged that
Froude was but telling the truth in the revelations which so surprised
the public; and much as he admired Norton, he deprecated the attack on
Carlyle's literary executor, whose motives he understood and approved.

In August, after his return to Coniston, the storm-cloud came down upon
him once more. It was only in the summer of 1890 that he was able to get
about. But firmly convinced that his one chance lay in absolute rest and
quiet, he wisely refused any sort of exertion, and was rewarded by a
temporary improvement in health and strength.

In the meantime he was obliged to hand over to others such parts of his
work as others could do. The St. George's Guild still continued in
existence, though it naturally lost much of its interest, and the whole
of its distinctive mission, when he ceased to be able to direct it. The
Museum had quite outgrown its cottage at Walkley, never intended for
more than temporary premises; and for ten years there had been talk of
new buildings, at first on the spot, then on the Guild's ground at
Bewdley, where, at one time, Ruskin planned a fairy palace in the woods,
with cloistered hostelries for the wandering student. Such schemes were
stopped less by his illness than by want of means.

Sheffield, however, did not wish to lose the Museum, and offered to
house it if the Guild would present it to the town. That was, of course,
out of the question. But a new offer to take over the collection on
loan, the Guild paying a curator, was another matter, and was thankfully
accepted. The Corporation fulfilled their share of the bargain with
generosity. An admirable site was assigned at Meersbrook Park, in a fine
old hall surrounded with trees, and overlooking a broad view of the town
and country. On April 15th, 1890, the Museum was opened by the Earl