[Footnote 15: August and November, 1867, January, April and May, 1868,
December, 1869, and January, 1870, illustrated with very fine mezzotint
plates and woodcuts.]

A characteristic anecdote of this period is preserved in "Arrows of the
Chace."

"The _Daily Telegraph_ of January 21st, 1868, contained a leading
article upon the following facts. It appeared that a girl, named Matilda
Griggs, had been nearly murdered by her seducer, who, after stabbing her
in no less than thirteen places, had then left her for dead. She had,
however, still strength enough to crawl into a field close by, and there
swooned. The assistance she met with in this plight was of a rare kind.
Two calves came up to her, and disposing themselves on either side of
her bleeding body, thus kept her warm and partly sheltered from cold
and rain. Temporarily preserved, the girl eventually recovered, and
entered into recognizances, under a sum of forty pounds, to prosecute
her murderous lover. But 'she loved much,' and failing to prosecute,
forfeited her recognizances, and was imprisoned by the Chancellor of the
Exchequer for her debt. 'Pity the poor debtor,' wrote the _Daily
Telegraph_, and in the next day's issue appeared the following letter,
probably not intended for the publication accorded to it. 'Sir,--Except
in 'Gil Blas,' I never read of anything Astraean on the earth so perfect
as the story in your fourth article to-day. I send you a cheque for the
Chancellor. If forty, in legal terms, means four hundred, you must
explain the farther requirements to your impulsive public.

"'I am, Sir, your faithful servant, 'J. RUSKIN.'"

The writer of letters like this naturally had a large correspondence,
beside that which a circle of private friends and numberless admirers
and readers elicited. About this time it grew to such a pitch that he
was obliged to print a form excusing him from letter-writing on the
ground of stress of work. And indeed, this year, though he did not
publish his annual volume, as usual, he was fully occupied with frequent
letters to newspapers, several lectures and addresses, a preface to the
reprint of his old friend Cruikshank's "Grimm," and the beginning of a
new botanical work, "Proserpina," in addition to the mineralogy, and a
renewed interest in classical studies. Of the public addresses the most
important was that on "The Mystery of Life and its Arts," delivered in
the theatre of the Royal College of Science, Dublin (May 13