Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 9.djvu/352

616 out in the faces before him, where every shade of the effects of drinking is caught, from the cheering look inspired by the incipient draught of ale, to the idiot inanity of him who lies prostrate in the mire, without even the power to wallow in it.

The close application of the artist, and the annoyance he experienced at the jealous}' of his brethren, were followed by a fever, through which he was obliged to retire for some time to Hampstead. But even under a tedious recovery, he was unable wholly to relinquish his wonted pursuits, notwithstanding the orders of the physician and the entreaties of his friends. In 1811, the Academy repaired the injury they had done, by electing him a royal academician. This was a high honour, especially when conferred upon one so young, for as yet he had only reached the age of twenty-six. As he had hitherto profited so little in a pecuniary point of view by his paintings, he now began to execute a plan which he had contemplated three years before, of collecting and exhibiting them on his own account. He therefore obtained the temporary use of them from their purchasers, hired a large room in Pall Mall, where they could be shown to advantage, and opened it with a collection of twenty-nine pieces, the production of his pencil, extending from the years 1804 to 1811. But although the price of admission was only a shilling, the speculation failed to be profitable. A public exhibition of this kind requires an amount as well as variety which no single artist could accomplish. The success of his picture of "Blindman's Buff," which he afterwards produced, was well calculated to alleviate his disappointment. This was one of his happiest conceptions; for such a game not only drew out his peculiar artistic talents in their full force, but addressed itself to universal sympathy. For who, however great or grave, has not revelled at some time or other in the full enjoyment of Blindman's Buff? Most of the actors in Wilkie's game are full-grown children happy peasants, who, in the midst of their glee, think neither of toil nor taxes, neither of yesterday nor to-morrow, but of the present hour alone, as if it were the only reality while the attitudes, the blunders, and mischances of such a sport, only heighten the fun, and make it more true to nature. His picture of "The Bagpiper" followed, and afterwards "The Letter of Introduction" a painting, the subject of which was suggested by the untoward fate of his own introductory epistles which he brought with him to London eight years previous. The sheepish young country lad, who tenders his letter as if he were presenting it to an elephant and the stately magnifico, who, while breaking the seal, eyes the youth askance, as if he doubted the safety of his silver spoons all tell their own tale, without the necessity of a title to label the production. In the meantime, Wilkie's father having died, this event introduced a change in the artist's domestic condition. Hitherto he had lived in lodgings; but he now persuaded his widowed mother and his sister to reside with him in London, and for this purpose hired a house in Lower Phillimore Place, Kensington. On the arrival, of peace in 1814, he availed himself of the opportunity, like many thousands of our countrymen, by making a trip to France, and studying the treasures of the Louvre, before they were restored to their proper owners. In this short journey, which scarcely extended over six weeks, he travelled with a disposition to be pleased, and was not disappointed.

The next great artistic effort of Wilkie was "The Distraining for Rent." The subject was suggested by the incident of his "Village Festival" having been distrained for the debt of a former tenant, while the picture was exhibited