440 L[U of Audubon. 



pressed with the wonderful character of those original 

 drawings. 



"Their exquisite beauty and life-likeness, and the 

 feeling of life they gave me, I have preserved in my 

 •memory ; and the contrast between these impressions 

 and those of the published works of Audubon is very 

 marked. The great work recalls the feelings I then had, 

 but by no means creates such emotions. The difference 

 is as great as the difference between the living Audubon 

 and his admirable picture by Cruikshank. I looked 

 from him to his picture in that interview. It was the 

 naturalist, and yet it was not. There was a venerable 

 maturity in the original that had been gained since the 

 features and the the spirit of the young and ardent enthu- 

 siast had been imprisoned by the artist. The picture 

 expressed decidedly less than the living man who stood 

 before me. It had more of youth and beauty and the 

 prophecy of greatness, and less of the calm satisfaction 

 of achievement ; the sense of riches gained, not for him- 

 self, but for the world, and less of all that makes a man 

 venerable. 



" I could sympathize with the manhood that looked 

 out of the picture — I could find a certain equality be- 

 tween myself and the man whom Cruikshank had paint- 

 ed. I could have followed him like his dog, and carried 

 his gun and blanket like a younger brother ; but before 

 the man Audubon, who turned over the drawings, and 

 related anecdotes of one and another, I could have knelt 

 in devotion and thankfulness. He had done his work. 

 He was a hero, created and approved by what he had ac- 

 complished, and I bowed my spirit before him and asked 

 no endorsement of my hero-worship of Carlyle or the 

 Catholic Church. 



" When I left, I said to him, ' I have seen Audubon, 

 and I am very thankful.' 



