SAMUEL PROUT, ARTIST. 
279 
the artist, and they will shortly be sold at Christie's, when they 
will either pass into private hands and be virtually lost to the 
public, or they will be purchased by the nation, as they should be. 
They are the only artistic memorials left of many noble historical 
buildings which have been destroyed ; the only skeletons remain- 
ing of those " sermons in stone," which were made to give joy to 
the world for ever, but which have been cast aside by this un- 
believing and degenerate age. 
With a portfolio full of such charming sketches Prout returned 
from the Continent time after time to his happy home in the 
uneesthetic suburb of Brixton ; and can it be wondered at that his 
reputation became established, and that his works became sought 
after? The Duke of Sutherland, the Duke of Norfolk, Earl de 
Grey (the President of the Institute of Architects), and other 
noblemen, became his patrons ; and through their influence, and 
that of a now large circle of intimate friends, he had a host of 
pupils, many of whom reached eminence in their profession. I 
may mention Smallwood, who was largely engaged by the late 
Charles Knight to make drawings of Continental buildings for his 
periodicals ; and I should not omit to name Samuel Prout's clever 
nephew, Skinner Prout. The master was singularly free from 
professional jealousy, and he had a large and generous opinion of 
others. His house was the resort of young artists, to whom, and 
to every one who sought his advice and direction, he was exceed- 
ingly kind and communicative. 
His method of drawing is best described by himself in an 
interesting and hitherto unpublished letter appended to this paper, 
the manuscript of which is in the possession of Mr. William 
Eastlake. The letter has no date ; but as it is headed " Erixton " 
it must have been written previous to 1836, when Prout went to 
reside at Hastings. * 
It will be noticed that many of Prout's drawings are outlined 
with the reed pen. 
In 1833 was published, Prout's Sketches in Flanders and 
Germany ; in 1838 his Hints on Light, and Shadotv, and Com- 
position, a work to which not a few artists and teachers are much 
indebted; and in 1839 his Sketches in France, Switzerland, and 
Italy, a large and important work, appeared. The Landscape 
Annual, The Continental Annual, and other similar books of the 
* See Appendix. 
