Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 1.djvu/70

 By virtue as by nature close allied. The painter's genius, but without the pride. Worth unambitious, wit afraid to shine, Honour's clear light, and friendship's warmth divine. The son, fair-rising, knew too short a date; But O how more severe the parent's fate I. He saw him torn untimely from his side, Felt all a father's anguish wept, and died.

The following verses, in which Thomson bewails him with all the warmth of grateful friendship, are only partially printed in that poet's works:

In his style of painting, Aikman seems to have aimed at imitating nature in her most simple forms; his lights are soft, his shades mellow, and his colouring mild and harmonious. His touch has neither the force nor the harshness of Rubens; nor does he, like Reynolds, adorn his portraits with the elegance of adventitious graces. His compositions are distinguished by a placid tranquillity,