says "Allan has just sketched a charming design for Maggie Lauder.' She is dancing with such spirit as to electrify the piper, who seems to be almost dancing too, while he is playing with the most exquisite glee." The sketch "John Anderson my Jo" is also very good. These and others of Allan's designs were submitted to Burns. As the work of illustration proceeded, Burns found opportunities of commending the designs of the painter. He says in one

of his letters-"Woo'd and married an' a' is admirable; the grouping is beyond praise. The expression of the figures, conformable to the story of the ballad, is absolutely faultless perfection." 7

The reputation which Allan attained from these works soothed his declining years, for his physical strength was never great, and in his later years he was afflicted with dropsy and asthma, and he died in August, 1796, in the fifty-third year of his age.

A number of other painters of this period may be briefly mentioned. Gavin Hamilton was a native of Lanarkshire, and attained some distinction. He resided in Rome, and executed pictures which were exact and graceful, but rather cold; he died in 1797. John Donaldson was born in Edinburgh in 1737, and was a distinguished miniature portrait-painter. In 1765 and again in 1768 he gained the prizes given by the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, etc., for the best pictures in enamel. He painted a portrait of Hume, which greatly pleased the renowned philosopher, who said: "It is the best likeness that has been done for me." Some of his etchings were also admired; he died in 1801. John Brown was born in Edinburgh in 1752. He was notable for pencil-drawings, and some of his small portraits were meritorious; he died in 1787. Archibald Skirving was a native of Haddington, and born in 1749. He studied for some time in Italy, and mainly devoted his attention to the study of portraits in crayon; he died in 1819. John Bogle was born in

7 Cunningham says:- "Allan's merits as a painter are of a limited nature; he neither excelled in fine drawing nor in harmonious colouring, and grace and grandeur were beyond his reach. He painted portraits which were chiefly remarkable for a strong homely resemblance; he painted landscapes, but these wanted light and air; and he attempted the historical, but save in one instance, 'The Corinthian Maid,' all his efforts in that way were failures. His genius lay in expression, especially in grave humour and open drollery. . . He is among the painters what Allan Ramsay is among poets-a fellow of infinite humour, and excelling in all manner of rustic drollery, but deficient in fine sensibility of conception, and little acquainted with lofty emotion or high imagination."--Lives of British Painters, Vol. VI., p. 48.

Glasgow. He excelled in painting miniature portraits, and loved to paint the heads of ladies, which he executed finely and gracefully; he died in 1804. Alexander Nasmyth was born in Edinburgh on the 9th of September, 1758. He was among the first Scotsmen who attracted some notice in landscape paintings. He studied two years in Italy, devoting his attention to the old masters, and practising landscape-sketching. On returning to Edinburgh he recommenced portrait-painting, in which he was very successful. He painted the well-known portrait of Burns, which has been often engraved. From 1793 he mainly directed his attention to landscape and scenepainting, in which he attained considerable success; he died in 1840. Personally he was highly esteemed by a wide circle of friends.

Sir Henry Raeburn was born on the 1st of March, 1756, at Stockbridge, Edinburgh, the son of a manufacturer, but he lost both his parents when only six years of age. He had the good fortune, however, to be placed in Heriot's School, where he was well educated. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to a goldsmith in Edinburgh, and he soon began to draw caricatures of his companions in the shop. At length he tried his hand in painting miniature portraits. The goldsmith, his master, was a mild and considerate man, and he praised these youthful efforts, took him to see Martin's pictures-an artist who produced portraits in St. James Square-which greatly encouraged Raeburn. Indeed, his master indulged him to the utmost limit, and the youth usually painted two portraits a week, which brought him a considerable sum of money. At last he made an arrangement with the goldsmith to have all his time to himself by paying a certain sum of money for the remainder of his apprenticeship.

His mind was developing, and he soon formed a higher conception of art, and aspired to produce more important works than miniature portraits. He erected a small studio, began to try his hand on oilportraits, and succeeded better than he expected. His chief difficulties were the preparation of the colours, putting them on the palette, and applying them in accordance with the rules of art as taught in the academies. He had all this to find out himself, which doubtless contributed to the development of his peculiar genius.

He became known in Edinburgh, and commissions for his portraits increased. In his twenty-second year he married a lady who brought him a considerable fortune, and it was recorded that his profession was yielding him an income more than equal to his wants;

thus he was regarded as a man whom genius and fortune had united to raise.

But he was well aware that he had still much to learn in his art, and resolved to improve himself by a study of the best models. Accordingly, accompanied by his wife, he proceeded to Rome, where he studied and worked for two years. He returned to Scotland in 1787, and soon had his hands full of work. He was then in his thirty-first year, in good health and high spirits, with a gallery worthy of being seen by people of taste and rank, and to crown all, he was blessed with children and domestic happiness. Thus he was in the very best circumstances for producing quality and quantity of work.

For many years he usually had three or four sitters a day, and to these he gave an hour and a-half each. He rarely kept a sitter more than two hours, unless the person happened to be gifted with uncommon talents, which was frequently the case; then he was in his element, and never failed to detain the party till the arrival of a new sitter indicated that he must be gone. For a head size he commonly required four or five sittings; but his power of mind and his faculty of discernment were such that the first sitting rarely came to an end without his having fairly grasped the character and disposition of the individual. He never drew his heads or any part of the body with chalk, but at once began with the brush. "The forehead, chin, nose, and mouth, were his first touches. He always painted standing, and never used a stick for resting his hand on; for such was his accuracy of eye and steadiness of nerve that he could introduce the most delicate touches, or the utmost mechanical regularity of line, without aid, or any other contrivance than fair off-hand dexterity." The following detail of his mode of working is from one who knew him in his early days, and sat to him after he had risen to fame :"He spoke a few words to me in his usual brief and kindly way, evidently to put me into an agreeable mood; and then, having placed me in a chair on a platform at the end of his painting room, in the posture required, he set up his easel, beside me, with the canvas ready to receive the colour. When he saw that all was right, he took his palette and his brush, retreated back step by step, with his face towards me, till he was nigh the other end of the room; he stood and studied a minute more, then came up to the canvas, and, without looking at me, worked upon it with colour for some time. Having done this, he retreated in the same manner, studied my looks

:

at that distance for about another minute, then came hastily up to the canvas and painted a few minutes more. I have sat to other artists; their way was different-they made a careful outline in chalk, measured it with compasses, placed the canvas close to me, and looked me almost without ceasing in the face, proceeded to fill up the outline with colour. They succeeded best in the minute detail-Raeburn best in the general result of the expression; they obtained by means of a multitude of little touches, what he found by broader masses; they gave more of the man, he gave most of the mind." 8

Raeburn lived at a period which gave birth to many eminent Scotsmen, and he painted portraits of a considerable number of them, a few of which may be mentioned. He executed a full-length picture of Sir Walter Scott, in which the resemblance to the great novelist is admirably reproduced. His portrait of Dugald Stewart is much admired for its striking likeness of the expression of the original; and also that of Professor Playfair. It would be easy to form a long list, but it is unnecessary; and I only add that most of the eminent names in literature, science, law, and politics, in or connected with Edinburgh, were amongst the sitters of this highly-gifted artist.

In the later years of his career honours flowed upon him. He was elected a member of the Royal Academy of London in 1815; afterwards he was chosen a member of the Imperial Academy of France; in 1817, he was elected an honorary member of the Academy of the Fine Arts of New York; and he was also admitted a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, which indicates a recognition of his well-known accomplishments outside of his own profession.

When George IV. visited Edinburgh in 1822, Raeburn received the honour of knighthood; and it is recorded that "in the opinion of all who loved the arts, the honour of knighthood had never been more worthily bestowed." Soon after, his brother artists honoured him with a public dinner in Edinburgh; and in replying to their expression of love and esteem, he modestly said that "he was glad of their approbation, and had tried to merit it; for he had never indulged in a mean or selfish spirit towards any brother artist, nor had at any time withheld the praise which was due to them when their works happened to be mentioned."

In the summer of 1823, in the midst of his work, he was suddenly attacked with a general decline of his strength; and

8 Lives of British Painters, by Cunningham, Vol. VI., pp. 217-221.

after a week's illness, he died on the 8th of July, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. In every respect he was a noble specimen of genius and humanity. He was candid and modest, ever ready to lend a helping hand to merit and genius in art. Throughout his life he quietly discharged all the duties of a good citizen. In the words of one who knew him well-"His varied knowledge, his agreeable manners, his numerous anecdotes, and his general conversation, at once easy and unaffected, with now and then a touch of humourous gaiety, made him a delightful companion; he told a Scotch story with almost unrivalled effect; and did the honours of a handsome house and elegant table with all the grace of a high-bred gentleman.. First and last among all the children of art, no one was ever more widely respected than Sir Henry Raeburn, and his tall, handsome figure, and fine, open, manly countenance will not be forgotten for many a day in the place which knew him."

As a portrait painter, his merits are of the highest order. His analytic grasp, imaginative and reproductive faculties have never been surpassed by any Scottish artist. He aimed at elevation of style, and brought out the mental qualities of his sitters; and by the unrivalled powers of his own mind, he rose above the mere mechanical rules of art and operated in the mental region. He thought that the distant view which he took presented nature in its grandest expression, and he seized the mental qualities and caught the ruling passion of the face by reproducing the general result.

Andrew Robertson was born in Aberdeen in 1778, and has been sometimes called the father of the improved style of miniature painting in this country. He appeared in London in 1800, and his talents. soon gained him patronage. West, the President of the Royal Academy, assisted him, and recommended him to George III., and in a short time he found himself amply employed. He might have attained a higher position in art if he had devoted himself exclusively to his profession; but he was a lover of music, and occasionally played second violin to the famous Salaman. His disposition was exceedingly benevolent, and he engaged in many movements of a public character. He took an active part in establishing the Scottish Asylum in London, and also in founding the Artists' General Benevolent Institution. His own acts of public and private benevolence were numberless, and he died universally respected and beloved in

1846.

Sir David Wilkie, an eminent Scotch painter, was born at the