Meissonier, his life and his art . vocation from the first. ... I havepassed through a good deal of hardship. To gain daily bread I wasobliged, even after my marriage, to go to bed at six in the evening,and get up again at midnight, to work till eight in the morning. Byeight oclock, I had done my days work. I was then free to paint atmy picture for the Exhibition until evening. Do you know what m)- fathers wedding-present to me was ? Hepaid my rent for a )ear in advance, and presented me with aboutseven hundred francs, half a dozen spoons and forks, and the followingspeech : It is now quite ev
Meissonier, his life and his art . vocation from the first. ... I havepassed through a good deal of hardship. To gain daily bread I wasobliged, even after my marriage, to go to bed at six in the evening,and get up again at midnight, to work till eight in the morning. Byeight oclock, I had done my days work. I was then free to paint atmy picture for the Exhibition until evening. Do you know what m)- fathers wedding-present to me was ? Hepaid my rent for a )ear in advance, and presented me with aboutseven hundred francs, half a dozen spoons and forks, and the followingspeech : It is now quite evident that you want nothing further fromme. When people set up housekeeping, they must consider themselvescapable of providing for an establishment. Later on, I, in my turn,would accept nothing from him. He was proud, and so was I ! My father died in 1845, leaving, what was considered in those days,a handsome fortune, about twelve hundred thousand francs. My Study for the Players at Bowls. (PKNCIl. DRAWING. MfSER »l LUXEMBOlRG.). Printed by Dracgcr & Lcsieur. Pans MEMORIES 271 brother Gabriel, who was in my fathers business, but not a partner,had left him to establish a house in Russia. The nearer one draws to the end, the clearer is ones memory of thestart! Some of us thought of nothing but old manuscripts and Virginson gold backgrounds ; the religious ideal governed life. Faust andMarguerite reigned supreme. We were all for everything Gothic inthose days. Did we believe in the marguerite effeuillee ? Wepainted our pictures, dreaming of Lamartine (on the mountain, veryoften). Heavens! how that used to make me cry when I was young!Now, some things are obsolete, Gothic spires, for instance, and angelicchoirings I Hum! But all the same, those verses still bring tearsinto my eyes! While I was at school at Thiais with my brother Gabriel, therevolution of 1830 broke out. I was just fifteen. The excitement thatprevailed was extraordinary. We could hear the roar of cannon in Paris !O
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