488 MILLAIS, SIR JOHN EVERETT. 



MINNESOTA. 



tures which we have mentioned, many of these 

 child pictures "Little Miss Muffett," "Pomona," 

 and others were reproduced everywhere in black 

 and white or colors. In portraiture, no artist 



Srobably of this century has had so long a list of 

 istinguished sitters. The roll bears the names of 

 Gladstone (painted in 1879, and again in 1885), 

 John Bright, Carlyle, Tennyson, Beaconsfield, Sir 

 James Paget, Sir Henry Thompson, the Marquis of 

 Salisbury, Cardinal Newman, and Sir Henry 

 Irving, with others whose names are familiar at 

 least to readers of the " Peerage." From a material 

 point of view, no artist could hope for a more suc- 

 cessful career. 



The popular prestige of Millais's examples of 

 sentimental anecdotage and of child life over- 

 shadowed some early and excellent work in black 

 and white. In his pre-Raphaelite days he made an 

 etching for the never-published fifth number of 

 "The Germ." A few years later he drew some 

 illustrations for an edition of Tennyson, and later 

 still he contributed drawings to *' Once a Week," 

 " Good Words," and the " Cornhill Magazine," for 

 which he illustrated " Orley Farm," " Pramley Par- 

 sonage," and two other of Trollope's novels. His 

 last illustrative work was for "Barry Lyndon," in a 

 special edition of Thackeray. With his engravers 

 Millais was noted for his skill in drawing upon the 

 block, and, quite aside from this, the artistic mas- 

 tery of line and effect which he displayed imparts 

 to his work a high distinction. 



Of official honors Millais received his fill. His 

 first election as an associate academician was be- 

 fore he had reached the age of qualification, but he 

 was chosen again in 1854, and he became an acade- 

 mician in 1864. He received a second-class medal 

 at Paris in 1855 and a medal of honor in 1878, 

 when he was made an officer of the Legion of 

 Honor. In 1883 he was chosen a member of the 

 Institute of France, and he was a member of the 

 academies of Edinburgh, Antwerp, Madrid, and 

 Rome. Special exhibitions of his works were held 

 in London in 1881 and in 1885. In 1885 he was 

 made a baronet. After the death of Sir Frederick 

 Leighton, early in 1896, he was elected President of 

 the Royal Academy, but the honor came late, and 

 was his in name for only a few months. Death 

 came to him after a long and painful struggle with 

 a laryngeal disease, and, attended by representatives 

 of the Queen, the Prince of Wales, and the Prime 

 Minister, by the commander-in-chief of the army, 

 and by a host of distinguished mourners, his re- 

 mains were laid at rest in St. Paul's Cathedral, 

 beside Leighton, his friend and predecessor. 



Of Millais's sympathy and facility, his executive 

 ability, his skill in drawing, and his considerable 

 but not magisterial command of color, there is 

 abundant evidence in his work. His limitations 

 are no less apparent. He was a delineator of the 

 more obvious qualities, and therefore, to a certain 

 extent, superficial, lie was not a great master of 

 brush work or of color, charming as he often was 

 in both. The more candid English criticism which 

 followed his death recognized his limitations. 

 " Neither a profound thinker nor a learned schol- 

 ar," said one critic, " but a man of singularly sym- 

 pathetic, observant, and apprehensive mind." "We 

 would not be understood," wrote the critic of the 

 London "Academy." " to rank Millais among the few 

 great world painters. He lacked the fire of crea- 

 tive genius, the imagination, and the poetry that 

 may be possessed by men of much smaller achieve- 

 ment. But within his limitations, like those of 

 Dryden in English literature, he accomplished an 

 honorable life's work, of which his country does 

 well to be proud." As a delineator of the actual, 

 of contemporary life, though only of 'certain sym- 



pathetic aspects of humanity, Millais has been 

 ranked with Hogarth and Tenniel a much truer 

 classification than that which has sought to place 

 him with Gainsborough and Reynolds. But when 

 we consider the vast amount of vigorous, interest- 

 ing, and often singularly impressive work which he 

 has left, it is impossible not to wonder at his power, 

 and to predict that his highest achievements will 

 keep some hold upon the future. That he was 

 mourned so sincerely is a tribute to his art and to 

 his personality as well. Frank, jovial, sunny, gen- 

 erous, devoted to fishing and hunting, and appre- 

 ciative of the luxuries of his splendid London 

 home, he embodied many of the most agreeable 

 English characteristics, and became in a way a 

 typical and peculiarly lovable figure in the London 

 social world. "Over and above their technical 

 merits," an English writer has said, "it was the 

 healthy sentiment of his subjects that won for him 

 his great reputation. Here, as always, it is the 

 man that appeals to the public ; not the painter." 

 The French point of view and the purely artistic 

 judgment represent very different standards, and, 

 bearing them in mind, it may be said that this 

 quotation forms a most suggestive commentary 

 upon Millais's art. 



A pathetic feature of the early relations between 

 Ruskin and Millais was involved in the divorce 

 obtained by the former's wife with his consent, and 

 her marriage afterward with Millais. 



Only a few of his paintings are owned in this 

 country. There are examples in the Walters and 

 Vanderbilt galleries and a few portraits and land- 

 scapes elsewhere. For articles upon Millais, the 

 reader may be referred to " Notes on Millais's Pic- 

 tures," by F. G. Stephens (London, 1881 and 1883); 

 "Art Journal" (1886); "Spectator" (Jan. 2,1886): 

 " Magazine of Art" (October. 1896); "London Sat- 

 urday Review " (Aug. 22 and 29, 1896) ; and " Scrib- 

 ner's Magazine" (December, 1896). 



MINNESOTA, a Western State, admitted to the 

 Union May 11, 1858 ; area, 83,365 square miles. The 

 population, according to each decennial census since 

 admission, was 172,023 in 1860: 439,706 in 1870; 

 780,773 in 1880 ; and 1,301,826 in 1890; By the State 

 census of 1895 it was 1,573,350. Capital, St. Paul. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers during the year: Governor. D. M. Clough 

 (acting); Lieutenant Governor, Frank A. Day (act- 

 ing) ; Secretary of State, Albert Berg ; Treasurer, 

 A. T. Koerner; Auditor, R. C. Dunn; Attorney- 

 General, R. W. Childs ; Adjutant General, H. Muehl- 

 berg, all Republicans; Superintendent of Education, 

 W. W. Prendergast ; Commissioner of Insurance, 

 C. II. Smith ; Railroad and Warehouse Commis- 

 sioner, George L. Becker ; Librarian, C. A. Gilman ; 

 Labor Commissioner, L. Y. Powers: Chief Justice 

 of the Supreme Court, Charles M. Start: Associate 

 Justices, William Mitchell, Panicl Buck, Thomas 

 Canty, L. W. Collins. Justices Start and Collins 

 are Republicans, the other three are Democrats. 



Finances. The assessed valuation of the State, 

 which was $552,560,000 in 1894, was but $478,742,- 

 000 in 1896. The reduction was due to the changes 

 in real-estate valuation in the three largest cities. 

 I'pon the basis of the present State tax of H mill 

 the State revenue will be smaller by $110,000 a 

 year. The delinquent taxes now amount to $950,- 

 000. some having been due for twenty years. 



The State Treasury had to the credit of the sev- 

 eral funds, Nov. 30. 1896, a total of $850,114. of 

 which $215,137 was in the funding tax fund, $168.- 

 797 in the revenue fund, and $110,235 in the grain 

 inspection fund. 



Education. The total value of buildings and 

 sites for public schools, including normal schools 

 and the State University, has increased from $14,- 



