The year following the death of Miss La Touche was to Ruskin one of great depression, which neither his driving tours (Chap. XV.) nor the society of congenial friends (Chap. XVI.) sufficed to conquer. His diary becomes increasingly full of hypochondriacal entries, and he notes, as a symptom new to him, a “quite terrible languor” (May 10, 1876). The stress of incessant work, done under the strain of emotional excitement, was already beginning to tell. His medical attendant, Dr. Parsons of Hawkshead, to whose skill and sympathy Ruskin owed much, told him that he needed nothing but rest. In the spring of 1876 he had been re-elected Professor at Oxford, but he felt unable to lecture, and, obtaining leave of absence for a year, determined to seek a stimulus in complete change of scene. His mind was half set on revisiting Venice, when he received counsel which decided him. Prince Leopold, early in 1876, had been in Venice, where he saw much of Ruskin's friend, Rawdon Brown. The Prince told Brown to persuade Ruskin to come and prepare a new edition of the.Stones of Venice. Ruskin accepted the suggestion as a command, and set out in August for a long sojourn in Venice. Before leaving for Italy he went for a few days to Wales, in order to see the tenants on the first bit of ground possessed by the St. George's Guild.