AUGUST 157 



interest in Tiepolo was the revival of admiration his works 

 have lately had among young French painters. I was 

 immensely pleased at seeing a portrait of the painter 

 Martin, by himself — a red-haired youth, with the cold 

 dreamy eyes of the artistic temperament, a mouth rather 

 sensual than passionate, a fine brow, and a slightly receding 

 chin, which gave a touch of weakness to the face. AU my 

 life I have so admired his wildly imaginative illustrations 

 of the Bible, Milton, &c. The impression given by the 

 portrait is of a touching, interesting face, with that look 

 of sorrow which so appeals to one, especially in the young. 

 The gods do not always remember that those whom they 

 love should die young. Poor Martin did not die till middle 

 life, and went mad, I believe. 



On leaving Edinburgh we returned to Tweed-side, 

 where we saw several of the old Border towers and the 

 reaUy fine ' stately homes ' of England. Here I was 

 struck by the same mistake which prevails in the South. 

 The walls and shapes of fine old houses are ruined by 

 allowing, even on the southern and western aspects, a 

 rampageous growth of coarse creepers, such as Ivy, the 

 common Virginia Creeper, and Am/pelopsis veitchii. This 

 last is the most insidious and destructive of all, as no 

 kitten compared to a cat, and no baby donkey compared 

 to an old one, could ever more completely change its 

 character from youth to age than does this creeper. 

 When first planted, the tiny, delicate growth that creeps 

 up the muUioned windows is as pretty and harmless as 

 anything can be ; but in a year or two aU this turns into 

 a huge mass of green leaves of an even shape and size, 

 smothering up any less strong-growing creeper and 

 destroying all outline of the house itself, its tiny feet 

 sticking so fast to the stone or brick work that, if you try 

 to pull them away, small particles of the waU itself come 

 with them. Besides the temptation of its beautiful early 



