JOSEPH KNIGHT.
F. G; STEPHENS.
Death of
F. G.
StephensOn the 9th of March, 1907, I received from Holman Frederic Stephens the sad news that his father had died that morning, quite suddenly and without pain, while seated at his writing-table. Knight, who was then very ill, wrote to me the following pathetic letter, dated the 11th of March, in reply to mine announcing the loss of our dear old friend:—
"I did not think I should have to mourn any one, least of all our dear Stephens. I have sent on a few words, utterly unworthy. All I can say is that they are the best I can do. My power is quite exhausted, and I must ruefully lay down what I am no longer
able to discharge. The doctor will not hear of my attendance at our poor friend's funeral. Indeed, it would not be possible for me to pay the last tributes to one of the best of good fellows.
"What an admirable notice of Longfellow is that with which you enrich our columns! Very unlike the grudging and passably churlish utterance of the criticism of the day. … I shall, if possible, come down to-morrow, but I am very unwell and unfit."
The following is Knight's tribute, which appeared in 'N. & Q.' on the 16th of March:—
"The death, sudden and painless, on the 9th inst., of F. G. Stephens, the well-known art critic of The Athenæum for many years,
deprives 'N. & Q.' of a valued contributor. Under his own signature, or that, scarcely less familiar, of O, he supplied during a long period much important information, largely, but not wholly, concerned with artistic subjects. Four weeks ago we printed a long reply from him on the subject of a picture by Rossetti; and our number for last Saturday, the day on which he passed away, contained a short communication from him, supplementing his former one. His death reduces to two Holman Hunt and W. M. Rossetti—the list of the Pre-Raphaelite Brethren, one of the original members, and to a certain extent an historian, of which he was. A man of wide range of knowledge, he was, like all students and experts, ever ready in supplying to others the information with which his memory was charged, and was one of the most amiable as well as the most erudite of men. It is difficult to appraise the services he rendered to the most earnest and enlightened pursuit of modern art. Our personal loss cannot easily be estimated. He has left a durable monument to his name in the volumes of the 'Catalogue of Satirical Prints ' which he edited for the Trustees of the British Museum."
His funeralHis funeral took place at Brompton Cemetery on Thursday, the 14th of March, a service being previously held at St. Peter's, Hammersmith, at which his only son Holman, the Right Hon. Sir
