tin told me that he never had a model in his life for any picture. Consequently that was an expense he was saved in the execution of his works. Haydon was, so to speak, reckless in this part of the business, and would pay exorbitant sums for some of the models for his heads. For instance, the Jews screwed out of him whatever they demanded; and even then he was obliged to cover up the figure of Christ, otherwise they refused to sit to him at any price. He would pick up a beggar in the street, and for fear of losing him would bring him home in a coach. Of course his own man, Salmon, sat for the figure; then there were draperies, armour, &c. The female figure-hands, feet, and so forth-all costly, for he did not paint without both drawing and studying every part of his picture first. Every nostril, every finger-nail, will be found to be a complete study.'

'Ah! .yes,' returned Wilkie, 'models are expensive, and I am surprised Martin can do without them. It is so much saved in the expense, to be sure, but his figures are wanting in nature and variety; and his works are a kind of scenic painting only; for if one's imagination is surprised by perspective infinity, by repeated

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objects fading away, as it were, to distant nothingness, by mountain upon mountain, and sky and mountain again, and lo! a fainter bit of sky, and fainter bit of mountain above those again, why, it becomes the romance of painting, and needs no models. It is totally imaginary, and has nothing in common with natural objects. Give Martin a thousand pounds, and he could not paint a great toe the size of life. He wants no models like Fuseli, Nature would put him out.'

'Haydon was six years in bringing out his picture of "Christ Riding into Jerusalem," and he had accumulated such a weight of debt upon him, that although he cleared £3000 by the exhibition, yet its not being sold left him still in debt, and by the time he brought out his next picture, his "Lazarus," the cost of that work, and the precipitate conduct of one of his creditors, and he a pupil of his own, completely ruined him. The works are not sold, and have been seized for debt, while he himself is thrown into the Bench-a loss and a disgrace he will never be able to recover.'

'If you paint pictures of a certain size, and send them to the Academy, they will be sure to get good places, and probably sell. Size and

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merit command a good place.' Then gazing through the window, and with a long-drawn desponding sigh he muttered, 'Pity—what a pity!'

We were both lugubrious enough, but I enlivened him a good deal by showing him the drawing, life-size, of the beautiful Lady Olivia Clarke, that I had done a few days before in Dublin. He said, 'What a charming face! and the dress-bonnet, with black and white pendent feathers clustering and drooping about her head, are graceful in the extreme.' He asked 'who she was, the pretty creature?' and I told him her name, informing him also that she was a writer of comedies, a sister of Lady Morgan, and a fascinating, bewitching person, possessing the power of mimicry to such perfection that she was able to deceive her own family and most intimate friends by personating well-known female characters, which she would sustain during an evening without being discovered or suspected, and that I had heard her sing her own compositions with great naïveté, grace, and expression.

I then put before him another head of

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beauty. Ha! who is that handsome creature?' he asked. 'What an eye-what a beautifully-sculptured nostril!-what elevated, noble expression, full of the fire, the soul of genius!-and what a form!-what a bust!' I told him that she was a niece of my Lord Monteagle, and a writer of novels, and that it was to the kindness of the venerable Mrs. Grant of Laggan that I was indebted for the privilege of enriching my portfolio with this fine head. He seemed quite cheered by the presence of the two Irish beauties, so different in style and character. His eye sparkled and lighted up, but no one ever saw him really warmed. Our interview closed, and I did not see Wilkie again for some short time, until we met unexpectedly at Abbotsford. He was visiting Sir Adam Ferguson close by, and I was making my second visit to Sir Walter Scott. It was on this occasion that Wilkie began his small oil portrait of Sir Walter, on panel, about two feet long.

CHAPTER XIII.

DESIRE TO VISIT ITALY - HIS MARRIAGE PREPARATIONS FOR HIS JOURNEY EXHIBITION AT SOMERSET HOUSE-THE BRITISH INSTITUTION-SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE-DR. BIRKBECK-ARRANGEMENTS FOR JOURNEY- MR. LE MESURIER -LETTERS FROM GULF OF GENOA GENOA-FROM GENOA TO PISA-THE VINE IN ITALY FARM-HOUSES AND COTTAGES GENOA to florence.

SCOTLAND had been a great boon to Mr. Bewick at a very critical period of his life, but while he was there his income barely covered his expenditure, and he had conceived an intense desire to visit Italy, that he might see and study the works of the great masters of that country. In 1824-5 he returned to Darlington, and having now a considerable local reputation, he easily obtained commissions, and began to see his way to the realization of his desires. At this time he married the amiable lady whose name will henceforth appear constantly in his correspond