January 13, 1896.
My dear Leighton,—I have just come back from Italy, and hope that it is not too late to tell you with how much satisfaction I read of the mark of honour that has been accepted by you. I am not a passionate admirer of the legislative feats of the House of Lords, but so long as it stands, it is well that such a man as you should sit there. I hope that the thing has given you pleasure, and for my poor part I rejoice both as a friend and as a humble admirer of art and genius that this honourable recognition has fallen to you.—Yours sincerely,
John Morley.
Not a word of reply, I pray.
From his native place Leighton received the following:—
When it was announced on Wednesday that the Queen had been pleased to confer the dignity of a Peerage of the United Kingdom upon Sir Frederic Leighton, Bart., President of the Royal Academy, who is a native of Scarborough, having been born here sixty-five years ago, the Mayor (Alderman Cross, J.P.) sent the following telegram:—"Sir Frederic Leighton, 2 Holland Park Road, London, the Mayor, Corporation, and inhabitants of Scarborough present their hearty congratulations on the honour conferred upon you.—The Mayor, Scarborough." The next morning the following reply was received:—"The Mayor of Scarborough,—Sincere thanks for congratulations from my birthplace.
Leighton."
Leighton had been loath to acquaint his sisters with the real nature of his complaint, as he was aware how much their anxiety for him would be increased if they knew. However, he at last felt it was necessary to tell them. Very characteristically, he chose the moment when they were at the theatre, thinking it might produce a less painful shock when mentioned casually, and when their attention might be distracted more easily. It was difficult, however, under any circumstances to temper the blow. Leighton wrote the next Sunday—"I do hope I shall find you better this afternoon.... I ought not to have spoken to you about my ailment." I received the following in Somerset, dated January 20, dictated, ... "As I am (not to put too fine a point on it) in bed with a very bad cough at this moment, you will, I know, forgive my using the hand of a secretary in writing to you. I see that you want a contribution for Mrs. Watts Hughes' Home for Boys; I therefore enclose a cheque." ... On the day following, Tuesday, his doctors decreed that he should remain in his room, but on Wednesday, the day after, Leighton insisted on getting into his studio, where he worked all the morning from models. In the afternoon he drove in his open carriage—certainly without the permission of his doctors!—to Westminster, getting out and standing in the raw damp of a cold January afternoon to watch the pulling down of some old houses which had interested him. In the evening he wrote to me a letter, which happened to be the last he penned. A Lecture was to be given for the benefit of Mrs. Watts Hughes' Home for Boys; and in return for Leighton's contribution I had sent him four five shilling tickets to give away, offering to change them for half guinea tickets, but suggesting it would be most rash of him to go himself. However, he intended to go, and wrote that Wednesday evening:—
Dear Mrs. Barrington,—... Since you are good enough to offer to change the tickets for tenners, I will ask you to do so, and thank you in advance. Yes, Mackail's book, which oddly enough I have read—for, alas! I never read now—is an exquisite bit of work.
When the Lecture was given on the evening of January 29, Leighton had left us already four days!