in which an old
lady was supposed to advertise for a professor of mesmerism--a discovery
much talked about at that time--in order to mesmerise all the organs in
her street, at so much per organ, down to the end, some scores of
drawings were directed against his unnatural enemy, who literally drove
him from house to house. Even when he took final refuge at his
delightful residence, 6 The Terrace, Kensington--now, alas! removed to
make way for showy shops--and fitted it with double windows, he still
could get no rest. Standing with Mr. Silver under the tree beneath whose
shade Thackeray, Keene, and Leech loved to foregather round his _al
fresco_ dinner-table, I have hearkened to the pretty clink, clink,
clink, of a far-distant smith as he smote his hammer upon the anvil,
and, wondering that so sweet a sound could trouble any man, I have
realised how shattered must have been the sufferer's nervous system as
he neared his end.

[Illustration: THE ASH-TREE IN THE GARDEN OF JOHN LEECH'S HOUSE, UNDER
WHICH LEECH AND THACKERAY USED TO DINE.

(_Drawn by John Fulleylove, R.I._)]

When Mr. M. T. Bass, M.P., brought in his private Bill to regulate
"street music," Mark Lemon sent him an eloquent letter of support, in
which he touchingly dwelt on the torments suffered by his friend. "The
effect," he wrote, "upon his health--produced, on my honour, by the
causes I have named--is so serious that he is forbidden to take horse
exercise, or indulge in fast walking, as a palpitation of the heart has
been produced--a form of _angina pectoris_, I believe--and his friends
are most anxiously concerned for his safety. He is ordered to Homburg,
and I know that the expatriation will entail a loss of nearly L50 a
week upon him just at present. I am sure I need not withhold from you
the name of this poor gentleman--it is Mr. John Leech."

[Illustration: TWO ROSES.

(_From a Sketch for "Punch" by John Leech._)]

The artist only survived this appeal for half a year, and died before he
could enjoy any relief from Mr. Bass's meagre Bill. But the public was
loud in denunciation of the nuisance when they learned that he who had
made their lives so much merrier for a quarter of a century had been
harassed into the grave. "Carlyle," wrote Mr. Moncure Conway, "who
suffered from the same fraternity, mingled with his sorrow for Leech
some severe sermons against that kind of liberty which 'permitted
Italian foreigners to invade London and kill John Leec