railways would bring had anything to do with this abandon ment. The people of those days were not prophets, and as a matter of fact, they were inclined to ridicule the new transport when it came. One doctor wrote to the Times proving without any shadow of doubt that if a man were to travel through the air at the rate of thirty miles an hour, death would inevitably ensue through suffocation! Looking back now, it is noticeable that their schemes were abandoned and the canals declined in importance during the two decades that preceded the introduction of railways, but I do not think the connection is more than a remarkable coincidence. I forgot to mention just now that Willie Lot's house (sketched on page 163) is also the "scene" of The Hay Wain, that sensational bit of Constable's at the Paris Salon, in 1824. It was the picture that made the painter, for the great notice taken of this work brought him into comparative prosperity. It must be remembered, although it is difficult now to realize it, that landscape painting in Constable's time was considered a very inferior art. Historical paintings, dreadful examples of which cast a gloom over our galleries, were in vogue and after that portraiture. When Constable called upon the President of the Royal Academy, after his election to that body, he was reminded that he ought to consider himself very lucky, as several historical painters were on the waiting list. It was often said by Constable that he owed a great deal of inspiration to his watching the sky as a miller. He writes: “The natural history, if the expression may be used, of the skies, which are so particularly marked in the hail squalls at this time of the year, is this: The clouds accumulate in very large masses, and from their loftiness seem to move but slowly; immediately upon these large clouds appear numerous opaque patches, which are only small clouds passing rapidly before them, and consisting of isolated portions detached probably from the larger cloud. These floating much nearer the earth may perhaps fall in with a stronger current of wind, which as well as their comparative lightness causes them to move with greater rapidity; hence they are called by wind-millers and sailors messengers, and always portend bad weather." |