Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 9.djvu/349

Rh beyond all bounds, and I have the vanity to hope that Scotland will one day be proud to boast of your affectionate son."

The next painting which Wilkie executed was "The Blind Fiddler." This was undertaken for Sir George Beaumont, himself a painter and lover of the fine arts, as well as the most generous and efficient of all the artist's patrons. The great historical picture of "Alfred in the Neat-herd's Cottage" followed. Here Wilkie had no model, and was therefore obliged, like the poet or novelist, to task his imagination. But to draw the most heroic and intellectual of sovereigns in the disguise of a Saxon peasant, was the great difficulty which Wilkie had to encounter. The power of language might so depict him, even though thus shrouded, that any one would say, "Aye, every inch a king!" But the pencil has neither the same minuteness as the pen, nor yet the same universally intelligible power; and thus, let a sovereign in a painting be stripped of his robes and his crown, and how difficult it will be to read the tokens of royalty in his mere gesture and look! But Wilkie was proud of the task, for it was not only a great national subject, but its selection for his especial effort, showed the high confidence that was already reposed in his talents. This admirable production, which was finished at the close of 1806, and was the result of intense study and labour, justified, by its excellence and the reputation it acquired, the pains which had been bestowed upon it. It was at this time that Benjamin West declared of him, " Never in my whole experience have I met with a young artist like Wilkie: he may be young in years, but he is old in the experience of his art. I consider him an honour to his country." Thus rich in reputation, although still poor in purse, for it was almost wholly for fame that as yet he had worked, the artist paid a visit to his native country, in May, 1807, chiefly for the purpose of recruiting his health, which had suffered by the intensity of his labours. After languishing in the manse of Cults till October, when he had only partially recovered, he hurried back to his little parlour studio in London, which was now become his true home; and there, his first effort was to finish "The Card-players," a painting for the Duke of Gloucester, which he had left on the easel at his departure.

"The Card-players" was succeeded by the "Rent Day," one of Wilkie's best productions. It was painted for the Earl of Mulgrave, who allowed him to choose his own subject; and that the selection was a happy one, has been well attested by the excellence of the picture itself, and the admiration it excited. Of the various figures, indeed, which severally tell their tale with unmistakeable distinctness, who can forget the harsh, overbearing, money-calculating, and money-counting factor, ready either to flatter or explode, as the rent may be forthcoming or not? the old tenant seized with a fit of coughing, which actually seems to ring from the canvas? the farmer eating, or rather cramming at the well-furnished table, and apparently mindful of the adage that fingers were made before knives and forks? the butler, who struggles with the rebellious cork, which refuses to quit its hold? the fortunate tenants who have paid up in full, and are regaling themselves at the table with beef and pasty; and the luckless tenants whose business is not yet dispatched, and who either are unable to pay, or are prepared to pay with a protest? Even the little fat pug dog of the mansion, and the lean hungry dog of the rent-racked farmer, indicate the wealth and luxury of the landlord, and the means by which all this profusion is supplied. As soon as the "Rent Day" appeared, it was generally declared to be equal, if not superior, to any