Pre-Raphaelitism and the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood . uietly gone on exhibitingat the Academy, leading courageous patrons to feelthat election to the Body was not the only stamp ofsuperiority. For these reasons I wished to remain anoutsider, hoping that in some way I might thus, withthe help of others, do a wholesome service to the pro-fession. Further talk on the question with Mr. Combeproceeded thus :— You remember how they treated Millais with hisFireman last year; their behaviour proved how littlehis election was a mark of their repentance or of anychange in them, beyond a conviction of th
Pre-Raphaelitism and the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood . uietly gone on exhibitingat the Academy, leading courageous patrons to feelthat election to the Body was not the only stamp ofsuperiority. For these reasons I wished to remain anoutsider, hoping that in some way I might thus, withthe help of others, do a wholesome service to the pro-fession. Further talk on the question with Mr. Combeproceeded thus :— You remember how they treated Millais with hisFireman last year; their behaviour proved how littlehis election was a mark of their repentance or of anychange in them, beyond a conviction of the need ofseparating us, the active Pre-Raphaelites. I would notimply that any of the members are intentionally dis-honest ; on the contrary, many are men of high honour,but an Institution so entirely unchecked in the exercise ofpower was not framed for ordinary humanity, least of allfor men who find constant difliculty in obtaining supportfor themselves and their families by their profession. Yetit is impossible to ignore the enormous advantage of. \PbbL ry\ V PRE-RAPHAELITE BROTHERHOOD 121 membership in a pecuniary sense to either competent orincompetent artists. Mr. Combe, knowing this, and also how slow theworld of patrons was in getting reconciled to my newwork, strongly argued with me against my resolution ofholding aloof from the Academy. The matter was notsettled until the eve of the last day of July, and asthe morrow was the final day for applicants to theInstitution to subscribe their names, my good friendpressed me not to let the opportunity pass. It wasundeniable that I could not afford to court the per-petuation of my difficulties, so I undertook to go totown in the morning to enrol myself for the winterelection. There were many other affairs I had to attend to ;when I arrived at the clerks office of the Royal Academyit was nearly striking four, and the official, to my surprise(although I knew he was a very masterful underling), wasshutting up his door. To my requ
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