Sir John Gilbert, who died a year later, was an old comrade and contributor. He had designed the fourth wrapper in January, 1843—Doyle's final design was not adopted till six years later—and contributed intermittently to Punch down to 1882. His robust and spirited talent as an illustrator is acknowledged in Punch's tribute:—
The faded history of courts and kings
Touched by your spell took on its former hue;
You made the daily art of common things
Fresh as the morning dew.
A deeper note is sounded in Punch's salutation of Watts on his death in 1904, when he recognizes the fidelity of that illustrious artist to his conception of the high mission of Art and his well-known repudiation of the maxim "Art for Art's Sake":—
His means were servants to the end in view
And not the end's self; so his heart was wise
To hold—as they have held, the chosen few—
High failure dearer than the easy prize.