Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 9.djvu/348

612 know more of futurity than a whole kirk session, spae'd on the occasion, that, as there had been a Sir David Lindsay in poetry, there would be a Sir David Wilkie in painting, and that she should live to see it.

All this praise was gratifying, but something more substantial was needed; and accordingly, after the Fair was finished and disposed of, Wilkie betook himself to the painting of portraits, in which he had several customers. At the same time he produced "The Village Recruit," a painting in which a recruiting sergeant, at a country inn, is doing his best to persuade three clod-poles to become heroes and generals. Having soon exhausted the "kingdom of Fife" as a mart of portrait painting, and found it too limited for his ambition, as well as too penurious for his subsistence, he resolved to establish himself in London. Thither he accordingly repaired in May, 1805, and entered the Royal Academy as a probationer, where he was characterized by his compeers as a "tall, pale, thin Scotsman." Here, also, he formed an intimate acquaintanceship with Haydon, a congenial spirit in talent and aspirations but with what a different termination! Wilkie's attendance at the academy was punctuality itself, while his diligence when there was such as to astonish his more mercurial companions whom he out-stripped, however, in the long-run. In the meantime, the small store of money which he had brought with him began to fail, while his letters of introduction had procured him no sitters. Fortunately he at this time became acquainted with Mr. Stodart, the piano-forte maker, who not only sat for his portrait but induced others to follow his example; and in this way the desponding artist was enabled to go on with fresh resources, although not without much economizing. "Among the many ways," he writes to his father, "by which we try here to save expense, is that of cleaning our own boots and shoes; for you must know that the people of the house will not clean them, and when you send them out to the shoe-blacks in the street, they become expensive." At the close of the year (1805), he passed from the condition of a probationer to that of a student of the academy, by which his means of improvement were considerably enlarged, and his merits brought more fully into notice. Among those who now learned to appreciate him as an artist of high promise was the Earl of Mansfield, for whom he painted the "Village Politicians." Other orders from persons of rank and influence followed, so that he was now on the fair highway to fame and fortune. And yet, with all this, there were very heavy drawbacks. His ambition for proficiency in his art was so great, that he felt as if all he had done in Scotland was a mere waste of time; while his modesty induced him to put such inadequate prices upon the pictures for which he was now commissioned, that he was not only in debt but also a sufferer from sickness, occasioned by anxiety and incessant application. In the meantime, his "Village Politicians," which was placed in the exhibition of the Royal Academy,- not only delighted the public, but astonished the artists, who universally felt that a bright particular star had risen in their horizon; and so loud was the applause, that it rang to the remotest nooks of Fife, and gladdened the old patriarch of Cults, who was justly proud of his son's fame. "You cannot imagine," he wrote to him in the joy of his heart, "how great a fervour of admiration these accounts have produced in your favour in this quarter of the country; in particular, the gentlemen for whom you painted pictures last year affirm that each of them is worth 100 guineas." "I am now redoubling my application," the young artist wrote in reply, "with the sure hopes of success. My ambition is got