heart, and he pities them all, and what is more he makes us, willy-nilly, pity them also. He delights in showing us that one little touch of remaining nature that makes the whole world akin, and will out in his most abandoned wretch. He makes us feel that his criminals are what nature and cruel circumstances have led them to be. Never does he descend to the narrow-minded, short-sighted, spiteful views of current events, discernible in the work of so many of his talented confrères. 'The firm tenderness of his nature reveals itself in the very lines of his drawings, which, as if to counterbalance the brilliant vivacity of the work of so many French illustrators, display a sturdy thoroughness and sanity.
A notable feature about his work is that — although he depicts the most depraved and immoral, as well as the most poverty-stricken of his fellow citizens — it cannot be said to be low or vulgar.
His drawings of simple peasant life have all the air of having been undertaken as a relaxation from the contemplation of more lurid subjects, He sallies forth among his chance models, sketch-bock in hand, ready to put down notes of salient features and expressive poses, Later to be incorporated in the wonderfully complete drawings which are shown to the public,
Steinlen is a prolific worker. First in importance among the many publications whose pages he has enriched comes the Gil Blas Illustré. It was
