Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 9.djvu/297

Rh painted and distributed among his friends, diffused his reputation as an artist over the country. But little did the good folks of Dailly rejoice in his growing fame: in their eyes, a minister who painted pictures, was as heinous a defaulter as the divine who actually played "upon the sinfu' sma’ fiddle;" and this, with his buoyant fancy and exuberant spirits, which were sometimes supposed to tread too closely upon the bounds that separate clergymen from ordinary mortals, made the rustics suspect that their pastor was not strictly orthodox. This dislike of his strange pictorial pursuits, which they could not well comprehend, and his mirthful humour, which they could comprehend too well—for Mr. Thomson, at this time, could draw caricatures as well as landscapes—excited the attention of his brethren of the presbytery, one of the eldest of whom (so goes the story) was sent to remonstrate with him on the subject. The culprit listened in silence, and with downcast eyes; and, at the end of the admonition, was found to have sketched, or rather etched, an amusing likeness of his rebuker with the point of a pin upon his thumb-nail.

The incumbency of Mr. Thomson in Dailly was a short one, as in 1805 he was translated to the parish of Duddingston, a picturesque village within a mile of Edinburgh, and having the manse situated on the edge of its lake. In the neighbourhood of the northern metropolis, now rising into high literary celebrity, surrounded with scenery which can scarcely anywhere be surpassed, and by a society that could well appreciate his artistic excellence, he gave full scope to his hitherto half-imprisoned .predilections, while his improvement continued to keep pace with the number of his productions. He was soon noted as a landscape painter of the first order; and such was the multitude of commissions that poured upon him, that sometimes nine carnages could be counted at the manse door, while at one period his revenue from this profitable source did not fall short of £1800 per annum. Who can here fail to regret the over-eager zeal of his father, by which such a painter was compelled to adopt the ministerial office; or be slow to perceive, that these were not the kind of applications that should beset a clergyman's dwelling? True, the pulpit of Duddingston was regularly occupied on the Sabbath, and the usual number of sermons preached; but Edinburgh was close at hand, and abounded with probationers whose offices could be secured at a day's notice. In the meantime, as years went onward, Mr. Thomson's love of rich and striking scenery continued unabated, and his long pilgrimages in quest of it as ardent and frequent as ever. Often, indeed, he was to be found travelling with Grecian Williams, long before dawn, towards some selected spot, where they wished to delineate its appearance at the first sunrise; and having reached it, the enthusiastic pair would sketch and retouch, until each had depicted the view according to his own perceptions and tastes, communicating from time to time the progress they were making, and playing the part of friendly critics on each other's productions. On returning to his home from these excursions, it was commonly a change from the beauties of nature to the charms of conversation and social intercourse; for the manse of Duddingston was famed for hospitality, while the artistic reputation of its tenant was so high and so widely spread abroad, that few strangers of distinction in the fine arts arrived in Edinburgh without visiting Mr. Thomson. Independently, too, of his conversational talents, and warm-hearted affectionate disposition, that endeared him to his guests, and made his society universally courted, Mr. Thomson was almost as enthusiastic a lover of music as of painting, and played both on the violin and flute with admirable skill. Nor were