The Old year and the Newdetails

Of the many art contributors [to Fun magazine], it will be sufficient if we state the names of the pcincipal men whose works have adorned the pages of Fun and Hood’s “Comic Annual.” Of these, naturally, the cartoonists take the foremost place. Paul Gray, who held this position on Hood assuming the editorship, was a young Irish artist of very considerable promise, and displayed much fine feeling for black and white work. He also made drawings for some of our “Fine Art Books.” He was a man of delicate constitution, and within twelve months of his joining the Fun staff he fell into a consumption and died. Shortly before the sad event, writing to us on other subjects, he said:

“I take the opportunity of saying how very pleased I am with the way in which the cartoons are engraved—some of the latter, more especially, could not possibly be better.”

Jeffry Prowse, in one of his poems, makes the following touching allusion to the early death of his young friend:

“There is one of our band whom we cherished—
    The youngest, the purest, the best—
In the frost of the night-time he perished,
    going quietly home to his rest;
And we thought, as we buried our dear one,
    And mounfully turned us to go,
That the summons was still sounding near one—
        Listen! On bot,
        On bot le rappel là-haut!”

(p. 307)