Page:Constable by C. J. Holmes.djvu/18

 much of his father's artistic talent, went to sea about a year before his father's death, entered the East India Company's service, and retired at length with the rank of Commander.

Constable's health had long been far from satisfactory, though, in spite of his sedentary habits, he retained to the last an unusually youthful appearance, and his sudden death on the evening of 31st March 1837 could only be traced to a severe attack of indigestion. Nevertheless, as he himself had observed long before, the nervousness of his temperament was wont to react strongly upon his physical nature. He was never really a happy man after the death of his wife, so that when the attack came it fell upon a constitution that had long been undermined. He was buried at Hampstead in the vault in the south-east corner of the churchyard, which contained the remains of his wife, under a tablet bearing the inscription by which he had commemorated her loss:

Before Constable's pictures were dispersed a subscription was raised by his friends and admirers, with the result that The Cornfield was purchased and presented to the National Gallery, where it now hangs.

In a short abstract such as this it is impossible to give a fair impression of the painter's character, of the simplicity and earnestness of his nature, of the kindness of his heart, and the sense of humour which together served to gain the affection of those with whom he came in contact, even more than his enthusiasm for his art, and the patience, originality, and skill with which he practised it. In Leslie's delightful pages Constable the man is revealed as clearly as Constable the painter, and it is difficult to say which of the two is the more attractive. Somewhat undue stress has been laid upon Constable's reputed poverty, and the want of appreciation with which his painting was received. As a young man Constable certainly may not have been rich, but he was never reduced to any desperate straits, and later by various bequests inherited nearly £30,000. If his art was too original to command the ready sale which attends the commercial painter who has learned to paint down to the level of the public, he was at least admired and respected by a fair number of his brother-artists, he was a regular exhibitor at the Academy, and his success on the Continent was sufficiently spontaneous and remarkable to have satisfied any ambition. That the impression he left on his contemporaries was not that of the anxious, dispirited man, whom the letters not infrequently reveal, may be judged from the number of anecdotes that survive of his general good temper and sense of humour. Of these only one can be quoted. An artist complained in the hall of the Royal Academy of the way in which his picture had been hung; and when Constable and Leslie went down to pacify him he began to accuse some of the members of jealousy, adding, "I cannot but feel as I do, for painting is a passion with me." "Yes," replied Constable, "and a bad passion."

The few quotations of Constable's words included in this brief notice give but