An Autobiography [106]
smoke passed upward through the tranquil evening air. All these incidents suggested the idea, which no doubt he desired to convey, of the tranquil conclusion of his own long and active life, which was then, too evidently, drawing to a close. The shades of evening had come on when he could no longer see to work, and he was obliged to lay down his pencil. My mother was at work with her needle close by him; and when he had finished he asked her what he should call the picture. Not being ready with an answer, he leant back in his chair, feeling rather faint, and said, "Well, I think I had better call it Going Home." And so it was called.
Next morning his strength had so failed him that he could not get up. He remained there for eight days, and then he painlessly and tranquilly passed away. While on his deathbed he expressed the desire that his remains should be placed beside those of a favourite son who had died in early youth. "Let me lie," he said, "beside my dear Alick." His desire was gratified. He was buried beside his son in St. Cuthbert's churchyard, under the grandest portion of the great basaltic rock on which Edinburgh Castle stands. His grave is marked by a fine Runic Cross, admirably sculptured by Rhind of Edinburgh.
[Image] Monument to Alexander Nasmyth
One of the kindest letters my mother received after her great loss was one from Sir David Wilkie. It was dated 18th April 1840. "I hasten," he said, "to assure you of my most sincere condolence on your severe affliction, feeling that I can sympathise in the privation you suffer from losing one who was my earliest professional friend, whose art I at all times admired, and whose society and conversation was perhaps the most agreeable that I ever met with. " He was the founder of the Landscape Painting School of Scotland, and by his taste and talent has for many years taken a lead in the patriotic aim of enriching his native land with the representations of her romantic scenery; and, as the friend and contemporary of Ramsay, of Gavin Hamilton, and the Runcimans, may be said to have been the last remaining link that unites the present with the early dawn of the Scottish School of Art." I may add that my mother died six years later, in 1846, at the same age as my father, namely eighty-two.
CHAPTER 13. My Marriage--The Steam Hammer
Before I proceed to narrate the later events of my industrial life, it is necessary to mention, incidentally, an important subject. As it has been the source of my greatest happiness in life, I cannot avoid referring to it.
I may first mention that my earnest and unremitting pursuit of all subjects and occupations, such as I conceived were essential to the acquirement of a sound practical knowledge of my profession, rendered me averse to mixing much in general society. I had accordingly few opportunities of enjoying the society of young ladies. Nevertheless, occasions now and then occurred when bright beings passed before me like meteors. They left impressions on my memory, which in no small degree increased the earnestness of my exertions to press forward in my endeavours to establish myself in business, and thereby acquire the means of forming a Home of my own.
Many circumstances, however, conspired to delay the ardently longed for condition of my means, such as should induce me to solicit some dear one to complete my existence by her sweet companionship, and enter with me into the most sacred of all the partnerships of life. In course of time I was rewarded with that success which, for the most part, ensues upon all honourable and unremitting business efforts. This cheered me on; although there were still many causes for anxiety, which made me feel that I must not yet solicit some dear heart to forsake the comforts of an affluent home to share with me what I knew must for some years to come be an anxious and trying struggle for comfort and comparative independence. I had reached my thirtieth year before I could venture to think that I had securely entered upon such a course of prosperity as would justify
Next morning his strength had so failed him that he could not get up. He remained there for eight days, and then he painlessly and tranquilly passed away. While on his deathbed he expressed the desire that his remains should be placed beside those of a favourite son who had died in early youth. "Let me lie," he said, "beside my dear Alick." His desire was gratified. He was buried beside his son in St. Cuthbert's churchyard, under the grandest portion of the great basaltic rock on which Edinburgh Castle stands. His grave is marked by a fine Runic Cross, admirably sculptured by Rhind of Edinburgh.
[Image] Monument to Alexander Nasmyth
One of the kindest letters my mother received after her great loss was one from Sir David Wilkie. It was dated 18th April 1840. "I hasten," he said, "to assure you of my most sincere condolence on your severe affliction, feeling that I can sympathise in the privation you suffer from losing one who was my earliest professional friend, whose art I at all times admired, and whose society and conversation was perhaps the most agreeable that I ever met with. " He was the founder of the Landscape Painting School of Scotland, and by his taste and talent has for many years taken a lead in the patriotic aim of enriching his native land with the representations of her romantic scenery; and, as the friend and contemporary of Ramsay, of Gavin Hamilton, and the Runcimans, may be said to have been the last remaining link that unites the present with the early dawn of the Scottish School of Art." I may add that my mother died six years later, in 1846, at the same age as my father, namely eighty-two.
CHAPTER 13. My Marriage--The Steam Hammer
Before I proceed to narrate the later events of my industrial life, it is necessary to mention, incidentally, an important subject. As it has been the source of my greatest happiness in life, I cannot avoid referring to it.
I may first mention that my earnest and unremitting pursuit of all subjects and occupations, such as I conceived were essential to the acquirement of a sound practical knowledge of my profession, rendered me averse to mixing much in general society. I had accordingly few opportunities of enjoying the society of young ladies. Nevertheless, occasions now and then occurred when bright beings passed before me like meteors. They left impressions on my memory, which in no small degree increased the earnestness of my exertions to press forward in my endeavours to establish myself in business, and thereby acquire the means of forming a Home of my own.
Many circumstances, however, conspired to delay the ardently longed for condition of my means, such as should induce me to solicit some dear one to complete my existence by her sweet companionship, and enter with me into the most sacred of all the partnerships of life. In course of time I was rewarded with that success which, for the most part, ensues upon all honourable and unremitting business efforts. This cheered me on; although there were still many causes for anxiety, which made me feel that I must not yet solicit some dear heart to forsake the comforts of an affluent home to share with me what I knew must for some years to come be an anxious and trying struggle for comfort and comparative independence. I had reached my thirtieth year before I could venture to think that I had securely entered upon such a course of prosperity as would justify