"How tragic were his last appearances at the Academy soirée! How jaded, shrunk and haggard looked the once handsome painter! He must have suffered cruelly, and at the end seemed worn out. There was something of a likeness to the lamented Irving, the same sweetness of manner, the same grace and romantic view of things. His dress was characteristic, somewhat showy, yet not scrupulously neat like a dandy. His clothes, like Irving's, seemed old friends, and lay about him in roomy fashion. His somewhat unkempt beard left some traces on the lapels of his favourite snuff-coloured coat with the flowing tails. The blue or red silk, its ends flying free, was a note of colour. Three men of mark, and on some points resembling each other, had each this fancy for a somewhat theatrical attire.
"I noticed that a nervous guest innocently presented to the porter a ticket for some artistic soirée, which was declined, to the embarrassment of the visitor. But Leighton promptly stepped forward, and kindly came to his rescue. It was curious that those three eminent artistic beings, Dickens, Leighton, and Irving, should have perished from outwearing their nervous systems, Leighton and Irving from heart-failure, Dickens from an overtaxed brain."
[88] "A Reminiscence," Leighton, 1896.