mall,
but because I think it is the caricaturist's art not so much to give an
absolutely correct likeness, but rather to convey the character and
value of the man through the lines you draw. Gladstone! A wonderful man
for the caricaturist, and one of the finest. I have sat and watched the
rose in his coat droop and fade, his hair become dishevelled with
excitement, and his tie get round to the back of his neck."

"And what do the wives of our estimable M.P.'s think of all this?" I
hinted.

"Oh! I get most abusive letters from both sides. Wives of members write
and ask me not to caricature their husbands. One lady wrote to me the
other day, and said if I would persist in caricaturing her husband,
would I put him in a more fashionable coat? Now, this particular member
is noted for the old-fashioned cut of the coats he wears. Another asked
me to make the sharer of her joys and sorrows better looking; whilst
only last week a lady--the wife of a particularly well-known
M.P.--addressed a most plaintive letter to me, saying that since some of
the younger members of her family had contrived to see my pictures they
had become quite rude to their papa!

"Why, members often _ask_ me to caricature them. One member was very
kindly disposed to me, and suggested that I should keep my eye on him. I
did. Yet he cut me dead when he saw his picture! It's so discouraging,
don't you know, when you are so anxious to oblige."

I asked Mr. Furniss if he thought there was anything suggestive of
cruelty in caricature.

"Not in this country," he replied; "in Spain, Italy, and France--yes.
Caricaturists there score off their cruelty. Listen to this. One night I
was in the House. Mr. Gladstone rose to speak. He held his left hand up
and referred to it as 'This old Parliamentary hand.' I noticed a
fact--which men who had sat in that House for years had never seen. On
that left hand Mr. Gladstone has only three fingers! Think of it--think
of what your caricaturist with an inclination towards cruelty might have
made of that fact, coupled with those significant words! I ask you
again--think of it!"

He spoke in thorough earnestness. He told me that he looked forward to
the time when he should consign to the rag-basket the famous Gladstone
collar and cease to play with Goschen's eye-glass. He is striving to
accomplish something more--he would do it now, but it isn't marketable.
Mr. Furniss is a sensible man. He caricatures to live; and, if the
l