supernatural order. Whether these scribes be right or whether they be
wrong, there is no doubt that he discovered for himself an enchanted
land of mountain and streamlet, of meadow and waterfall, of gnomes and
fairies, of demons, witches, and of giants. The process by which he
attained his excellence as an illustrator of fairy lore and legend has
been related by himself in his own simple, unpolished words in the
(so-called) "Fairy Library." Unquestionably the opportunity which these
subjects afforded of exercising untrammelled his marvellous gifts of
imagination and fancy, and of realizing objects which owe their being to
the creative faculties of his mind, were eagerly embraced by the artist;
but, although the results were singularly weird and often very
beautiful, I find myself obliged to differ from those who would have us
believe that in realizing subjects of this kind he attained his highest
excellence. The charm of George Cruikshank's talent lies in the fact
that notwithstanding his defects in drawing, _everything_ he took in
hand is impressed with the stamp of a strong and original genius; it is
like nothing we have seen before; every one of his designs is marked
with distinctive features of beauty, quaintness, or originality peculiar
to himself.

[Illustration:
"THE ELVES AND THE COBBLER."

"THE WAITS OF BREMEN AND THE ROBBERS."

FROM GEORGE CRUIKSHANK'S EDITION OF "GERMAN POPULAR STORIES."

_Face p. 180._]

The "German Popular Stories" probably contain the most striking specimens
of Cruikshank's power as a designer of _fairy_ subjects. In reference to
these illustrations, our great critic, Mr. Ruskin, says: "They are of
quite sterling and admirable art, in a class precisely parallel in
elevation to the character of the tales which they illustrate; and the
original etchings, as I have before said in the Appendix to my 'Elements
of Drawing,' were unrivalled in masterfulness of touch since Rembrandt, in
some qualities of delineation unrivalled even by him." "_The Two Elves_,"
says Hamerton, "especially the nearer one, who is putting on his breeches,
are drawn with a point at once so precise and vivacious, so full of keen
fun and inimitably happy invention, that I have not found their equal in
comic etching anywhere ... the picturesque details of the room are etched
with the same felicitous intelligence; but the marvel of the work is in
the expression of the strange little faces, and the energy of the