THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 '.,"'1 XonAxmns, 184-3.
 

 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, ESQ., B.A. 
 
 WITH SELECTIONS FROM 
 
 HIS JOURNALS AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 BY HIS SON, 
 
 W. WILKIE COLLINS. 
 
 VOLUME I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS. 
 
 IIDCCCXLVJU.
 
 TYLER & REED, 
 
 PRINTERS, 
 BOLT-COURT, FLEET- STREET.
 
 Art 
 
 Library 
 
 ND ' 
 497 
 C6C6 
 
 v.l 
 
 TO 
 THE RIGHT HONORABLE 
 
 SIR ROBERT PEEL, BART., 
 
 ETC., ETC., ETC., 
 THIS BIOGRAPHY OF AN 
 
 ENGLISH PAINTER, 
 
 WHOSE GENIUS HE ENCOURAGED 
 
 AND WHOSE CHARACTER HE ESTEEMED, 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED. 
 
 111CC26

 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE writer of such portions of the following pages 
 as are not occupied by his father's diaries and cor- 
 respondence, has endeavoured to perform his task 
 with delicacy and care, and hopes to have succeeded 
 in presenting to the friends and lovers of Art, a 
 faithful record of a life devoted, with an enthusiasm 
 worthy of its object, to the attainment of excellence 
 in a pursuit which is admitted, by common consent, 
 to refine no less than to exalt the human heart. 
 
 The Journals and Letters of Mr. Collins, which are 
 interwoven with this Memoir, are not presented to 
 the public on account of any literary merit they may 
 be found to possess, but merely as expositions, under 
 his own hand, of his personal and professional cha- 
 racter of the motives by which he was uniformly 
 actuated, in his private and public capacities ; and of 
 the reflections which were suggested to his mind by 
 his genius and experience throughout his professional 
 career.
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 Having blended with the passages of the Memoir 
 to which they refer, such explanations as might 
 otherwise have been looked for in this place, the only 
 duty which remains for the Author to perform, (and 
 a most grateful one it is,) is to return his sincere 
 thanks for the valuable assistance which has been 
 afforded to him in various ways, throughout the pro- 
 gress of his work, by many of his father's friends ; 
 among whom he begs to be allowed to mention : the 
 Right Honourable Sir Robert Peel, Bart, (who 
 favoured him further by accepting the dedication 
 of the book); the late Sir Thomas Baring, Bart.; 
 C. R. Leslie, Esq., R.A. ; C. L. Eastlake, Esq., 
 R.A. ; Joseph Bullar, Esq., M.D. ; Mrs. Hunter; 
 Miss F. Clarkson ; R. H. Dana, Esq. ; Bernard 
 Barton, Esq. ; William Richardson, Esq. ; Samuel 
 Joseph, Esq. ; and E. V. Rippingille, Esq. 
 
 Among the more intimate associates of the late 
 Mr. Collins, who have favoured the Author with 
 anecdotes and recollections of their departed friend, 
 are : William Etty, Esq., R.A. ; C. R. Leslie, Esq., 
 R.A. ; James Stark, Esq. ; and George Richmond, 
 Esq. : whilst, by the courtesy of Thomas Uwins, 
 Esq., R.A., he has been enabled to obtain access to 
 his father's works, painted for His Majesty George IV., 
 now in the private apartments of Windsor Castle.
 
 PREFACE. Vll 
 
 Through the kindness of Messrs. John and James 
 Kirton, in furnishing him with their recollections of 
 Mr. Collins and his family, at a very early period, 
 he has been enabled to present some interesting 
 particulars of his father's life, at a time not included 
 in the sources of biographical information possessed 
 by other friends. 
 
 In conclusion, the Author has to express his 
 sense of the benefit he has received from the valuable 
 literary advice of Alaric A. Watts, Esq., during the 
 progress and publication of the work.
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 PART I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 17881807. 
 
 Introductory remarks Mr. Collins's parents Notices of his father's 
 literary productions, and of " Memoirs of a Picture" especially 
 Anecdotes of his first attempt to pourtray coast scenery, and of his 
 introduction to George Morland He adopts the Art as a profes- 
 sion, and commences his studies under his father and Mor- 
 land -Anecdote of the latter Letters, etc. Admission of Mr. 
 Collins to study at the Royal Academy . . . page 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 18071816. 
 
 Summary of the course of study at the Royal Academy The painter's 
 industry in his duties there Anecdote of Fuseli Pictures of 1809 
 Letter from Mr. Collins, sen. Pictures of 1810, 1811, and 1812 
 Epigram by James Smith Correspondence with the late Mr. 
 Howird, R. A. Death of Mr. Collins, sen. Extracts from the 
 painter's Journal of 1812 Pecuniary embarrassments of his 
 family Pictures of 1813 and 1814 Election to Associateship in 
 the Royal Academy Anecdotes respecting picture of "Bird- 
 catchers," communicated by Mr. Stark Diary of 1814 Anecdotes 
 of the painter ; of Ellison ; and of James Smith Pictures and 
 Diary of 1815 Tour in that year to Cromer Letters Removal 
 of the painter to a larger house in New Cavendish-street Letter 
 to the late Sir T. Heathcote, bart Pictures of 1816 Extract
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 from Journal Serious increase of pecuniary difficulties Deter- 
 mination to set out for Hastings, to make studies for sea-pieces 
 Kindness of Sir T. Heathcote in making an advance of money 
 Departure for Hastings page 31 
 
 PART II. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 18161820. 
 
 Sojourn at Hastings in the autumn of 1816 Letters to Mrs. Collins, 
 Mr. F. Collins, and Sir Thomas Heathcote Domestic and profes- 
 sional life in London Sir David Wilkie and Mr. F. Collins Mr. 
 Leslie, R.A. Anecdotes of the painter's dog " Prinny" Pictures 
 of 1817 Mr. Gary's criticism on the sea-piece called " Sunrise" 
 Effect of the new coast scenes on the public Journey to Paris 
 with the late Washington Allston, A.R.A., and Mr. Leslie, R.A. 
 Journal of 1817 Recurrence of pecuniary difficulties second 
 application to, and timely loan from, Sir Thomas Heathcote 
 Pictures of 1818 Sea-piece purchased by the Prince Regent 
 Sir George Beaumont Lord Liverpool Increase of employment 
 Visit to the Duke of Newcastle's country seat, Clumber Park 
 Visit to Sir George Beaumont, at the Cumberland Lakes Anec- 
 dote of Southey Tour to Edinburgh with Sir Francis and Lady 
 Chantrey The late Mr. Marshall, of Leeds Remarks Sketches 
 Letter to Lady Beaumont Notice of, and letters to and from 
 Washington Allston, and S. T. Coleridge Commission from 
 Sir J. F. Leicester, bart. Correspondence with that gentleman 
 Description of the picture painted for him Pictures of 1819 
 Extracts from Journal Tour to Devonshire Letters to Mrs. 
 Collins Elected Royal Academician in 1820 . . . 91 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 18201822. 
 
 Remarks Pictures of 1820 Notice of John Constable, R.A. 
 Pictures of 1821 Tribulations of a new Academician Curious
 
 CONTENTS. XI 
 
 address to the Academy Hanging Committee Election at the 
 Dulwich Picture Gallery Letter to Mrs. Collins Reflections 
 Letter to Mr. Joseph Projected marriage and visit to Scotland 
 Pictures of 1822 Notice, illustrated by Mr. Collins's anecdotes, 
 of Sir David Wilkie Journey to Edinburgh, during the visit of 
 George the Fourth Anecdotes of Sir Walter Scott and Sir 
 Adam Ferguson Design of painting the King's landing at Leith 
 Letters to Mrs. Collins Visit to Blair Adam Joint production 
 of a sketch by Wilkie and Collins Progress of the painter's 
 marriage engagement Letters to Miss Geddes and Mrs. Collins 
 Marriage Anecdote of the Rev. Dr. Alison . . page 161 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 18221824. 
 
 Pictures of 1823 Summer residence at Hampstead Method of 
 painting Anecdotes of models Correspondence with Mr. Danby 
 Letter from Sir David Wilkie Royal Academy Club Sir 
 George Beaumont, Sir David Wilkie, and Mr. Collins Visit to 
 Turvey Abbey Anecdote of " Old Odell" Visits in the latter 
 part of the year Pictures of 1824 Method of painting children's 
 portraits Wilkie in the character of a sponsor Commission 
 from His Majesty Second visit to Turvey Letter to Mrs. W. 
 Collins Stay at the house of the late Mr. Wells, of Redleaf 
 Epigram on " Martin, the Game-keeper'' Difficulties of the 
 Annual Royal Academy Dinner Letter to Sir William Elford, 
 Bart. ... 215 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 18241827. 
 
 Pictures of 1825 Practice in etching Death of Owen, the portrait- 
 painter Letter from Mr. Collins to Lord Liverpool, on the 
 establishment of the National Gallery Summer residence and 
 studies at Hendon Parties at Coleridge's Edward Irving, etc. 
 Liberal commission from Sir Robert Peel Completion of His 
 Majesty's picture Description of the work, and reference to the 
 painter's interview with the King Sir Jeffery Wyattville Let- 
 ters from and to Wilkie Pictures of 1826 Removal of residence
 
 XU CONTENTS. 
 
 to Hampstead Researches with friends amid the scenery of his 
 new abode Extract from Diary, and from letter to a friend 
 Anecdote connected with the progress of Sir Robert Peel's new 
 picture Letter to Mrs. William Collins. . . page 242 
 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 1827 1827. 
 
 Letter to Mr. Joseph Exhibition of 1827 Malicious slander against 
 the painter, on the subject of his " Frost Scene" His refutation 
 Extracts from diary Letters to and from Wilkie Mutual 
 opinions on the old masters ; and on colour, and light and shade 
 Letter from the painter to his wife Domestic events of 1828 
 Letters to and from Wilkie Pictures of 1828 Desire of the King 
 to possess one of them Return of Wilkie to England Visit of 
 the painter to Holland and Belgium Letters to Mrs. W. Collins, 
 from the Continent and from Leamington Death of the Earl of 
 Liverpool Pictures of 1829 Sonnet to the painter, by Mr. Ber- 
 nard Barton Correspondence with the author Anecdotes of 
 criticism on Art Contemplated change of residence Visit to 
 Boulogne Studies there Noble humanity of a French fisherman 
 Letter to Mr. Francis Collins Return to Hampstead Com- 
 mencement of French sea-pieces Death of Sir Thomas Lawrence, 
 P.R.A. Pictures of 1830 Letters to Sir Thomas Baring, bart. 
 Removal to Bayswater Extracts from Diary Lord Byron 
 Pictures of 1831 Commencement of "The Skittle-players." 277
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 LIFE OF WILLIAM COLLINS, E,A, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 17881807. 
 
 Introductory remarks Mr. Collins's parents Notices of bis father's 
 literary productions, and of " Memoirs of a Picture" especially 
 Anecdotes of his first attempt to pourtray coast scenery and of his 
 introduction to George Morland He adopts the Art as a profession, 
 and commences his studies under his father and Morland 
 Anecdote of the latter Letters, etc. Admission of Mr. Collins to 
 study at the Royal Academy. 
 
 To write biography successfully, is to present the 
 truth under its most instructive and agreeable aspect. 
 This undertaking, though in appearance simple, com- 
 bines among its requirements so much justice in the 
 appreciation of character, and so much discrimina- 
 tion in the selection of examples, that its difficulties 
 have been felt by the greatest as by the humblest 
 intellects that have approached it. A task thus 
 experienced as arduous, by all who have attempted 
 it, must present a double responsibility when the 
 office of biographer is assumed by a son. He is 
 
 B
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 constantly tempted to view as biographical events, 
 occurrences which are only privately important in 
 domestic life ; he is perplexed by being called on to 
 delineate a character which it has hitherto been his 
 only ambition to respect ; and he is aware through- 
 out the progress of his labours, that where undue 
 partiality is merely suspected in others, it is antici- 
 pated from him as an influence naturally inherent in 
 the nature of his undertaking. 
 
 Feeling the difficulty and delicacy of the employ- 
 ment on which I am about to venture, and unwilling 
 to attempt a remonstrance, which may be disin- 
 genuous, and which must be useless, against any 
 objections of partiality which may meet it when 
 completed, I shall confine myself to communicating 
 my motives for entering on the present work ; there- 
 by leading the reader to infer for himself, in what 
 measure my relationship to the subject of this 
 Memoir may be advantageous, instead of asserting 
 from my own convictions, how little it may be 
 prejudicial to the furtherance of my design. 
 
 To trace character in a painter through its various 
 processes of formation ; to exhibit in the studies by 
 which he is strengthened, in the accidents by which 
 he is directed, in the toils which he suffers, and in 
 the consolations which he derives, what may be 
 termed his adventures in his connection with the 
 world ; and further, to display such portions of his 
 professional life, as comprehend his friendly inter- 
 course with his contemporaries, as well as the
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 
 
 incidents of his gradual advance towards prosperity, 
 and the powerful influence of rightly-constituted 
 genius in the Art, in exalting and sustaining personal 
 character ; are my principal objects, in reference to 
 that part of the present work, which depends more 
 exclusively upon its author, and less upon the 
 journals and letters which are connected with its 
 subject. In thus reviewing my father's career as a 
 painter, it is my hope to produce that which may 
 interest in some degree the lover of Art, and fortify 
 the student, by the example of reputation honestly 
 acquired, and difficulties successfully overcome ; while 
 it tends at the same time to convey a just idea of 
 the welcome, steadily, if not always immediately, 
 accorded to true genius in painting ; not only by 
 those whose wealth enables them to become its 
 patrons, but also by the general attention of the 
 public at large. 
 
 In what measure my opportunities of gathering 
 biographical knowledge from my father's conversation, 
 and from my own observation of his habits and 
 studies, may enable me in writing his life, upon the 
 principles above explained, to produce a narrative, in 
 which what may appear curious and true shall com- 
 pensate for what may be thought partial and trifling, 
 it is now for the reader to judge. The motives with 
 which I enter upon my task are already communi- 
 cated. To emulate, in the composition of the fol- 
 lowing Memoirs, the candour and moral courage 
 which formed conspicuous ingredients in the character 
 
 B 2
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 that they are to delineate, and to preserve them as 
 free from error and as remote from exaggeration as I 
 may, is all that I can further promise to the reader, 
 to give them that claim to his attention which may 
 at least awaken his curiosity, though it may not 
 procure his applause. 
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS was born in Great Titchfield- 
 street, London, on the 18th September, 1788. His 
 father was an Irishman, a native of Wicklow ; his 
 mother was a Scottish lady, bom in the neighbour- 
 hood of Edinburgh. He was the second of a family 
 of three children, the eldest of whom, a girl, died 
 a month before his birth ; the youngest, a boy, 
 lived to see his brother attain high celebrity in the 
 art, but died several years before him. It was a 
 favourite tradition in the family of the painter, that 
 they were descended from the same stock as the 
 great poet whose name they bore. Of his ancestors 
 I am enabled to mention one Doctor Samuel 
 Collins who signalized himself in the seventeenth 
 century by his professional skill, and who has found 
 a place in our Biographical Dictionaries as one of 
 the most remarkable anatomists of his time. The 
 family originally came from Chichester, whence, 
 about the time of the Revolution of 1688, a branch 
 of it emigrated to Ireland, and fought on the side 
 of King William, at the battle of the Boyne ; 
 settling definitely in Ireland from that period to 
 the birth of Mr. Collins's father. An imprudent
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 5 
 
 marriage, bringing with it the usual train of do- 
 mestic privations and disappointments, had so far 
 reduced the pecuniary resources of the family of 
 Mr. Collins's grandfather, that his father found 
 himself, on arriving at manhood, entirely dependent 
 on his own exertions for support exertions, which 
 were soon rendered doubly important by his sub- 
 sequent union with a young and portionless wife. 
 
 It will be found that I shall advert at greater 
 length than may appear immediately necessary to 
 some of my readers, to the character and employ- 
 ments of Mr. Collins's father. But the pursuits 
 that he chose for himself, as a man of letters and a 
 dealer in pictures, and the remarkable influence that 
 his knowledge of art and artists had in determining 
 his son in following the career in which he was after- 
 wards destined to become eminent, concur to make 
 him an object of no ordinary importance and interest, 
 at this stage of a work devoted to the curiosities of 
 painting, as well as to the biography of a painter. 
 
 His poetical abilities, developed, I believe, at an 
 early age, and his social accomplishments as a man of 
 polished manners and ready wit, soon brought Mr. 
 Collins, sen., into contact with most of the painters 
 and authors of his time. In choosing, therefore, as 
 a dealer in pictures, a pursuit that might swell his 
 precarious profits as a man of letters, the company 
 he frequented may reasonably be imagined to have 
 had no small influence in urging such a selection. 
 But his choice was an unfortunate one ; too honour- 
 able to descend to the rapacities, and too independent
 
 6 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 to stoop to the humiliations, attaching to picture- 
 dealing in those days, neither by principles, nor 
 disposition, was he in any way fitted for the uncon- 
 genial character he had assumed ; and, though he 
 continued throughout his life to force his attention 
 to the pursuit in which he had engaged, he remained 
 to the last a poet in his inward predilections, and 
 a poor man in his outward circumstances. 
 
 His "Memoirs of a Picture" to which I shall 
 presently refer at length his " Life of George 
 Morland," and his " Poem on the Slave Trade," 
 illustrated by two of Morland's most successful 
 pictures, subsequently engraved by J. R. Smith 
 were his principal works; but they brought him 
 more popularity than profit. In those days, when 
 literary genius was yet unemancipated from the 
 fetters of patronage, the numbers of the reading and 
 book-buying public were comparatively small ; and 
 the fine old race of genuine garret authors still 
 existed, to fire the ingenuity of rapacious bailiffs, and 
 point the sarcasms of indignant biographers. Articles 
 in the public journals, songs, fugitive pieces, and all 
 the other miscellanies of the literary brain, flowed 
 plentifully from Mr. Collins's pen ; gaining for him 
 the reputation of a smart public writer, and procuring 
 for him an immediate, but scanty support. No 
 literary occupations were too various for the 
 thoroughly Irish universality of his capacity. He 
 wrote sermons for a cathedral dignitary, who was 
 possessed of more spiritual grace than intellectual 
 power; and, during the administration of Mr.
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 7 
 
 Wyndham, composed a political pamphlet, to further 
 the views of a friend ; which procured that fortunate 
 individual a Government situation of four hundred a 
 year, but left the builder of his fortunes in the same 
 condition of pecuniary embarrassment in which he 
 had produced the pamphlet, and in which, to the 
 last day of his life, he was fated to remain. 
 
 But no severity of disappointment and misfortune 
 was powerful enough to sour the temper or depress 
 the disposition of this warm-hearted and honourable 
 man. All the little money he received was cheer- 
 fully and instinctively devoted to the pleasures and 
 advantages of his family : and in spite of the embar- 
 rassment of his circumstances, he contrived to give 
 his sons, William and Francis, as sound and as liberal 
 an education as could possibly be desired. Sur- 
 rounded from their earliest infancy by pictures of all 
 ages and subjects, accustomed to hear no conversa- 
 tion so frequently as conversation on Art, thrown 
 daily into the society of artists of all orders, from the 
 penniless and dissipated Morland, to the prosperous 
 and respectable West, nothing was more natural than 
 that the two boys should begin to draw at an early 
 age. In overlooking their ravages among old palettes, 
 their predatory investigations among effete colour- 
 bladders, and their industrious pictorial embellishment 
 of strips of old canvas and scraps of forgotten paper, it 
 was not difficult for the practised eye of the elder Mr. 
 Collins, to discover in William, who took the lead, 
 on evenings and half-holidays, in all ebullitions of
 
 8 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 graphic enthusiasm, some promise of the capacity 
 that was lying dormant in the first rude essays of his 
 childish pencil. Year by year the father watched and 
 treasured up the son's drawings, until the boy's spon- 
 taneous intimation of his bias towards the painter's 
 life enabled him to encourage his ambition to begin 
 the serious direction of his studies, and to predict 
 with delight and triumph that he might perhaps live 
 long enough " to see poor Bill an R.A." 
 
 Before, however, I proceed to occupy myself with 
 the incidents of Mr. Collins's boyhood, I would offer 
 a few remarks on the principal work which his 
 father produced, the " Memoirs of a Picture." I have 
 been told that this book enjoyed, in its day, no incon- 
 siderable share of popularity. It is so novel in 
 arrangement, it belongs so completely, both in style 
 and matter, to a school of fiction now abandoned 
 by modern writers, it is so thoroughly devoted to 
 painters and painting, and so amusingly character- 
 istic of the manners and customs of the patrons and 
 picture-dealers of the day, (and I might add, of the 
 hardihood of the author himself, in venturing to 
 expose the secret politics of the pursuit to which he 
 was attached,) that a short analysis of its characters 
 and story, whether it be considered as a family 
 curiosity, a literary antiquity, or an illustration of 
 the condition of the Art and the position of the 
 artists of a bygone age, can hardly be condemned as 
 an intrusion on the purposes, or an obstacle to the 
 progress of the present biography.
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 9 
 
 The work is contained in three volumes, and com- 
 prises a curious combination of the serious purpose 
 of biography with the gay license of fiction. The 
 first and the third volumes are occupied by the 
 history of the picture. The second volume is episodi- 
 cally devoted to a memoir of George Morland, so 
 filled with characteristic anecdotes, told with such 
 genuine Iriih raciness of style and good-natured 
 drollery of reflection, that this pleasant biography 
 is by no means improperly placed between the 
 two volumes of fiction by which it is supported on 
 either side. 
 
 The story opens with an account of the sudden 
 disappearance from its place in the royal collection 
 of France, of the subject of the memoirs, "an unique 
 and inestimable jewel, painted by the immortal 
 Guido." The perpetrator of this pictorial abduction 
 is an accomplished scamp, named the Chevalier 
 Vanderwigtie, whose adventures before the period of 
 the theft, and whose safe arrival on the frontiers with 
 his prize, advance us considerably through the pre- 
 paratory divisions of volume the first. 
 
 AH is not success, however, with the Chevalier. 
 After he and his picture have run several perilous 
 risks, both are finally threatened with ruin by a party 
 of Prussian cavalry, who, utterly ignorant of the 
 existence of Guido, begin paying their devotions at 
 the shrine of his genius by scratching his production 
 (which is painted on copper) on its back with their 
 knives, to ascertain whether any precious metal
 
 10 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 lurks beneath. Finding themselves disappointed in 
 the search, they resign " the gem " with contempt, 
 but take care to make use of its possessor by enlist- 
 ing him in a regiment of dragoons. Unseated, like 
 many an honester man, in the course of his martial 
 exercises, by his new Bucephalus, the Chevalier is 
 placed, for the injury thereby contracted, in the 
 hands of a surgeon, who robs him of his divine pic- 
 ture, probably from a natural anxiety to secure his 
 medical fees, and sells it, after all its adventures, to a 
 Dutch picture-dealer at Rotterdam for a hundred 
 guilders. 
 
 At this point the narrative, true to its end, leaves 
 the ill-fated Vanderwigtie inconsolable for his loss in 
 the hut of a peasant, to follow the fortunes of the 
 stolen Guido, which has become contaminated for the 
 first time by the touch of a professed dealer. 
 
 And now has this charming picture shamefully 
 stolen by the shameless Vanderwigtie, outrageously 
 lacerated on its sacred back by the knives of illiterate 
 Prussians, treacherously ravished from its unscrupu- 
 lous possessor by a larcenous Hippocrates, and un- 
 worthily sold for a paltry remuneration to a Dutch 
 Maecenas with commercial views fallen into hands 
 that will treasure it with befitting respect ? Alas, our 
 virtuoso of the Dykes is darkly ignorant of the value 
 of the Vanderwigtian jewel I he immures it contemptu- 
 ously amid the gross materialism of oil, candles, and 
 the miscellaneous and household rubbish of his upper 
 shop. The cheek of the Virgin (who is the subject
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 11 
 
 of the picture) is pressed, perhaps, by an old shoe- 
 brush, and the fleecy clouds supporting her attendant 
 cherubs are deepened to stormy tints by the agency 
 of an unconscious blacking-ball ! Does this profana- 
 tion speedily end ? far from it. Two English 
 dealers purchase " the show-pictures " in the burgo- 
 master's collection, but think not of diving for con- 
 cealed gems into the dirtiest recesses of his kitchen 
 floor, the shoe-brush and the blacking-ball remain 
 undisputed masters of the sentiment they profane, 
 and the atmosphere they cloud ! But a day of glory 
 is approaching for the insulted Guido : a Flemish 
 artist discovers it, appreciates it, purchases it, carries 
 it home, washes it, wonders over it, worships it ! The 
 professors of picture-dealing (ingenuous souls !) see it 
 and depreciate it, but artists and connoisseurs arrive 
 in crowds to honour it. A whole twelvemonth does 
 it remain in the possession of the fortunate artist ; 
 who at the expiration of that period suddenly proves 
 himself to be a man of genius by falling into pecu- 
 niary difficulties, and is compelled by " dire necessity " 
 to part with the inestimable gem, of which, how* 
 ever, he takes care to make two copies, reproducing 
 the original exactly, down to the very scratches on 
 its back from the knives of the Prussians. Scarcely 
 has he completed these fraudulent materials for 
 future profit before the story of the original theft 
 of " Guide's matchless offspring " has penetrated 
 throughout the length and breadth of artistic Europe. 
 Among the dealers who now cluster round the
 
 12 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 Flemish artist are two, commissioned by an English 
 nobleman to buy the Guide. After a scene of hard 
 bargaining, these penetrating gentlemen relieve their 
 professional friend of one of his copies, at an expense 
 of seven hundred and fifty ducats, and start for 
 England with their fancied prize ; while the Flemish 
 artist, having palmed off one counterfeit successfully 
 in Holland, departs, like a shrewd man of business, 
 to disembarrass himself of the other mock original in 
 the contrary direction of Spain. 
 
 But the copy is destined to no better fortune in its 
 perambulations than the original. The dealers are 
 robbed of the counterfeit Guido, on English ground. 
 In vain, on their arrival in London, do they advertise 
 their loss of their " unique original" it has passed 
 into the possession of a broken-down dandy, the 
 captain of the robbers ; who, in a fit of generosity, 
 has given it to a broken-down painter a member of 
 his gang who, desirous of ready money, sells it to 
 a broken-down lady of quality, ' who is the captain's 
 " chereamie," and who leaving the mock Guido in 
 the care of her servants at her house in London, 
 shortly after purchasing it, starts with the captain on 
 a tour of pleasure on the Continent. The poor painter 
 is generously included in their travelling arrange- 
 ments; and, to improve him in his art, the party 
 visit the different collections of pictures on their route. 
 While examining one of these, its owner, in consi- 
 deration of the presence of the painter, volunteers the 
 exhibition of a hidden and priceless gem ; and, un-
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 13 
 
 locking a drawer, displays to their astonished eyes 
 the indubitable original Guido, which, under the seal 
 of strict secrecy, he has purchased from the Flemish 
 painter in his season of destitution and distress. 
 
 Meanwhile the story returns to the counterfeit 
 picture, which the captain's lovely companion has left 
 in the custody of her servants in London. These 
 faithful retainers, finding their time in their mis- 
 tress's absence hanging heavily on their hands, deter- 
 mine, like their betters, to employ it in seeing society. 
 The rooms are lighted up ; the company invited ; 
 the supper is prepared ; the cellar is opened. Each 
 courteous footman sits manfully down to his bottle ; 
 each skittish Abigail sips enchantingly from her 
 partner's brimming glass. The evening begins with 
 social hilarity, proceeds with easy intoxication, ends 
 with utter drunkenness. On the field of Bacchana- 
 lian battle, sleep and snore profoundly the men of the 
 mighty calf and gaudy shoulder-knot. The hours 
 pass, candles burn down, sparks drop unheeded, linen 
 catches light, no one is awake, the house is on fire ! 
 Then, " the summoned firemen wake at call ;" the 
 house is saved, but the furniture is burnt ; and the 
 counterfeit picture, among other valuables, is actually 
 lost. Time wends onward, the lady and her compa- 
 nions return, and prove their patriotism by falling into 
 debt as soon as they touch their native shores. An exe- 
 cution is put into the house, and marauding brokers 
 seize on the domestic spoil. To the share of one of their 
 numbers falls an old butt, filled with stagnant water.
 
 14 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 The myrmidon of trade's interests, on emptying his 
 prize, discovers a cabinet at the bottom of the butt 
 (thrown there doubtless during the confusion of the 
 fire). He breaks it open, and the mock Guido, 
 radiant and uninjured as ever, meets his astonished 
 gazs. Friends are found to apprise him of its value, 
 and swear to its originality : he endeavours to sell it 
 to the connoisseurs; but failing in that, disposes of 
 it, in desperation, for forty guineas, to a dealer in 
 Leicester-fields. 
 
 Two years elapse, and the mock picture, for which 
 all offers are refused, is still in the possession of its 
 last purchaser. The story now reverts to the owner 
 of the real Guido, and to a young artist whom he is 
 employing, who is a son of the dealer in Leicester-fields. 
 As a man of real taste, he recognizes in his patron's 
 picture the original of his father's counterfeit in the 
 shop in London ; but his penetration is far from being 
 shared by two illustrious foreign professors of picture- 
 dealing, who are on a visit to the connoisseur's col- 
 lection. One of these worthies is the celebrated 
 Des-chong-fong, a Chinese mandarin, who presents 
 himself as engaged, with his companion, by the Great 
 Mogul, to strip all Europe of its pictures, to form a 
 collection for the imperial palace. The artist and 
 the patron shrewdly suspect the professors to be fools 
 in judgment and knaves in intention. In order to 
 prove their convictions they represent the real 
 Guido to be a copy, and exalt the fame of the pic- 
 ture in Leicester-fields as the great original of the
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 15 
 
 master. Des-chong-fong and his friend fall help- 
 lessly into the snare laid for them ; and, after proving 
 by an elaborate criticism that the picture before them 
 is a most arrant and preposterous copy, set off for 
 London, in order to possess themselves or rather 
 their master, the Great Mogul of the original gem. 
 After a sharp scene of diplomatic shuffling, they 
 obtain the dealer's counterfeit Guido for six hundred 
 guineas. With this, and other works of art, they 
 open a gallery ; and, determining to " break" the 
 whole army of London dealers, commence purchas- 
 ing ; and (oddly enough considering their mission to 
 Europe) selling again, at enormous profits, whatever 
 pictures they can lay their hands upon. Matters 
 proceed smoothly for some time, when they are sud- 
 denly threatened with ruin by the loss of their Guido, 
 which is stolen for the second time ; all London is 
 searched to recover it, but in vain. At length, one 
 morning, a Liverpool picture-dealer calls on them with 
 works for sale, one of which is exactly similar to the 
 lost Guido. They tax him with the theft ; he vows that 
 the picture was never in England before it came into 
 his hands. Des-Chong-fong and Co. are furious, and 
 refuse to part with it. An action is entered ; and 
 all picture-dealing London awaits in horrid expecta- 
 tion the impending result of an appeal to law. 
 
 On his side, the Liverpool dealer is fitly furnished 
 with evidence to support his cause. He has bought 
 the picture of a captain in the navy, who, during the 
 war with France, received it as part of his prize-
 
 16 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 money from the capture of a French lugger the 
 owner of the contested Guido having been slain in 
 the conflict. On inquiry, this unfortunate virtuoso 
 turns out to be our old friend the Flemish painter, 
 who, not having succeeded in disposing of his second 
 copy of the Guido, has retained it in his possession 
 ever since it was produced. A young lady, with 
 whom the copyist was eloping at the time of his 
 death, still survives, to bear testimony, with the 
 English captain, as to the manner in which the 
 Liverpool dealer became possessed of the second of 
 the counterfeit gems. 
 
 But this portentous mass of evidence fails to 
 stagger the immoveable obstinacy of the great Des- 
 chong-fong. He scouts logic and probabilities with 
 all the serenity of a juryman waiting for his dinner, 
 or a politician with a reputation for consistency. 
 The action is to be tried in the face of everybody and 
 everything. Already the gentlemen of the wig hug 
 joyfully their goodly briefs already the day is fixed, 
 and the last line of the pleadings arranged, when a 
 stranger darkens the Des-chong-fongian doors, and 
 flits discursively among the Des-chong-fongian pic- 
 tures. No sooner does he discern the disputed 
 Guido than he flouts it with undissembled scorn, and 
 declares it to be but the copy of a wondrous original 
 that is lost. Des-chong-fong and Co. open thejr 
 mouths to speak, but the words die away upon their 
 quivering lips : the stranger explains it is Vander- 
 wigtie himself!
 
 WILLIAM COLLIXS, R.A. 17 
 
 And now, like one of the Homeric heroes, the 
 enterprizing Chevalier the old, original Vander- 
 wigtie narrates his achievements and adventures to 
 the deluded ambassador of the Great Mogul. How 
 he stole the real Guido from the royal collection of 
 France ; how he lost it to the Prussian doctor ; how 
 he heard of it in the foreign connoisseur's gallery ; 
 how that illustrious patron of the Arts has been 
 lately driven from his pictures and his possessions by 
 the Revolution ; how his collection has been ravaged 
 by the British troops ; and how he himself has been 
 sent to England, by the Elector of Saxony, to 
 recover the lost Guido which is suspected to have 
 passed into Anglo-Saxon hands flows overpoweringly 
 from Vanderwigtie's mellifluous lips. Humbled is 
 the crest of Des-chong-fong he compromises, apo- 
 logises, pays expenses, and stops the action. " A 
 fig for all copies, where is the divine original ! " is 
 now the universal shout. Vanderwigtie has " cried 
 havock and let slip the dogs of" picture-dealing ! 
 Des-chong-fong; the dealers of Liverpool and 
 Leicester-fields; the Chevalier himself; all men who 
 have a taste for pictures and a turn for knavery, now 
 spread like a plague of locusts over the length and 
 breadth of the land. But, alas, it is too late ! The 
 waters of Lethe have closed over the precious picture 
 bribery and intimidation, knavery and eloquence, 
 exert themselves in vain Des-chong-fong and " every 
 beast after his kind," may howl their applications to 
 the empty wind the labours of the historian of the
 
 18 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 picture are irretrievably closed the hero of the 
 Memoirs : the real inestimable Guido, from that day 
 to this, has never been found. 
 
 Such is an outline of the story of this amusing 
 book. The Shandean profusion of its digressions 
 and anecdotes I have not ventured to follow, from 
 the fear of appearing to occupy too large a space in 
 this biography with a subject connected only with 
 its earlier passages. In originality and discrimination 
 of character the work I have endeavoured to analyse 
 may be inferior to the novels of Smollett ; but in 
 execution I cannot but think it fully their equal 
 for in some of its reflective and philosophical 
 passages it even approaches the excellence of the 
 great master of British fiction Fielding, in his 
 lighter and simpler moods. With these observations I 
 now dismiss it only remarking, that, though intellect 
 is not often hereditary, it has passed, in the instance 
 of Mr. Collins's father, from parent to child ; for I 
 cannot accuse myself of a supposition merely fanciful, 
 in imagining that the dry humour and good-natured 
 gaiety of the author of " Memoirs of a Picture," has 
 since been reflected, through another medium, by 
 the painter of " Fetching the Doctor," and " Happy 
 as a King." 
 
 In mentioning the habits and customs of his 
 father's household, as a cause, awakening Mr. Collins 
 to a perception of his fitness for the Art, another 
 advantage afforded to his mind at an early period 
 should not have been left unnoticed : this was the
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 19 
 
 uncommon enthusiasm of both his parents for the 
 charms of natural scenery. The rural beauties of 
 their respective birthplaces Wicklow, and the 
 neighbourhood of Edinburgh, on the side of Lass- 
 wade and Rosslyn were themes of ever- delighting 
 conversation and remembrance to his father and 
 mother. While yet a child he became imbued with 
 the spirit of these descriptions, which, acting upon a 
 mind naturally formed for the appreciation of the 
 beautiful and the pure, became as it were the young 
 student's first alphabet in the Art preparing the new 
 field for its after cultivation ; nursing the infant 
 predilections that Time and Nature were destined to 
 mature, until, in attaining their "local habitation" 
 on the canvas, they became the missionaries of that 
 universal worship which the loveliness of nature was 
 first created to inspire. 
 
 Once set forth seriously on his new employments, 
 the boy's enthusiasm for his pursuit began imme- 
 diately never afterwards to relax : every moment 
 of his spare time was devoted to the pencil. Year 
 after year passed on, and found him still patiently 
 striving with the gigantic and innumerable difficulties 
 attendant on the study of painting. Whatever 
 natural object he perceived, he endeavoured to imitate 
 upon paper : even a group of old blacking-bottles, 
 picturesquely arranged by his friend Linnell, (then a 
 student like himself) supplied him with a fund of 
 material too precious to be disdained. 
 
 Ere, however, I proceed to track the progress of
 
 20 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 his mind in his youth, an anecdote of his boyish days 
 may not appear too uninteresting to claim a place at 
 this portion of the narrative : his first sight of the 
 sea-coast was at Brighton, whither he was taken by 
 his father. As soon as they gained the beach, the 
 boy took out his little sketch-book, and began in- 
 stantly to attempt to draw the sea. He made six 
 separate endeavours to trace the forms of the waves 
 as they rolled at his feet, and express the misty uni- 
 formity of the distant horizon line : but every fresh 
 effort was equally unsuccessful, and he burst into 
 tears as he closed the book and gave up the attempt 
 in despair. Such was the first study of coast scenery 
 by the painter who was afterwards destined to found 
 his highest claims to original genius and public 
 approbation on his representations of the various 
 beauties of his native shores. 
 
 As he proceeded in his youthful employments in 
 the Art, his studies became divided into two branches, 
 drawing from Nature as frequently as his then 
 limited opportunities would allow, and copying pic- 
 tures and drawings for the small patrons and picture- 
 dealers of the day. In this latter occupation he soon 
 attained so great a facility as to be able to produce 
 resemblances of his originals, which I have heard 
 described by those who have seen them as unusually 
 remarkable for their fidelity and correctness. To the 
 early habit of readiness of eye and correctness of 
 hand thus engendered, is to be ascribed much of that 
 power of transcribing the most elaborate minutiae of
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 21 
 
 Nature, which, in their smallest details, his original and 
 matured efforts are generally considered to present. 
 His father's intimacy with the gifted but eccen- 
 tric George Morland enabled him to obtain that 
 master's advice and assistance in the early superin- 
 tendence of his son's studies. Mr. Collins's first 
 introduction to the great painter was but too charac- 
 teristic of poor Morland's dissipated habits. For 
 some days the young student had awaited, with 
 mingled anxiety and awe, his promised interview 
 with a man whom he then regarded with all the 
 admiration of the tyro for the professor : but his 
 expectations remained unfulfilled, the tavern and 
 the sponging-house still held Morland entangled in 
 their toils. At length, one evening, while he was 
 hard at work over a copy, his father entered the 
 room and informed him, with a face of unusual 
 gravity, that Morland was below, but that his intro- 
 duction to his future master had better be delayed ; 
 his impatience, however, to gain a sight of the great 
 man overcame his discretion. He stole softly down 
 stairs, opened the kitchen door, by a sort of instinct, 
 and looked cautiously in. On two old chairs, placed 
 by the smouldering fire, sat, or rather lolled, two 
 men, both sunk in the heavy sleep of intoxication. 
 The only light in the room was a small rush candle, 
 which imperfectly displayed the forms of the visitors. 
 One, in spite of the ravages of dissipation, was still a 
 remarkably handsome man, both in face and figure. 
 The other was of immense stature and strength,
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 coarse, and almost brutal in appearance. The first 
 was George Morland ; the second, a celebrated prize- 
 fighter of the day, who was the painter's chosen com- 
 panion at that particular time. As soon as his aston- 
 ishment would allow him, Mr. Collins quietly quitted 
 the room, without disturbing the congenial pair. 
 The remembrance of this strange introduction never 
 deserted his memory ; it opened to him a new view of 
 those moral debasements which in some instances are 
 but too watchful to clog the steps of genius on its 
 heavenward path. 
 
 My father was never himself of opinion, on looking 
 back to his youthful career, that he gained any 
 remarkable advantage in the practical part of his Art 
 from the kind of instruction which Morland was 
 able to convey. He always considered that he was 
 indebted for the most valuable information of his 
 student days, before he entered the Academy, to the 
 higher and more refined taste of his father. Gifted 
 and kindhearted as he undoubtedly was, Morland's 
 miserably irregular habits, and coarse, material mode 
 of life, rendered him poorly available as the instructor 
 of an industrious and enthusiastic boy ; and the young 
 disciple reaped little more advantage from his privi- 
 lege of being present in the room where the master 
 painted, than the opportunity of witnessing the won- 
 drous rapidity and truth of execution that ever 
 waited upon poor Morland's vivid conceptions, and 
 never, to the last hour of his wayward existence, 
 deserted his ready hand.
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. %<5 
 
 Among the anecdotes of Morland mentioned in his 
 Biography by Mr. Collins's father, is one that may 
 not be thought unworthy of insertion, as it not only 
 proves the painter to have been possessed of ready 
 social wit, but shows him to have been capable of 
 accomplishing that most difficult of all humorous 
 achievements a harmless practical joke : 
 
 " During our painter's abode in the rules of the 
 Bench, he was in the habit of meeting frequently, 
 where he spent his evenings, a very discreet, reputable 
 man, turned of fifty at least. This personage had 
 frequently assumed the office of censor-general to the 
 company, and his manners, added to a very correct 
 demeanour, induced them to submit with a tolerably 
 obedient grace. George used now and then, how- 
 ever, to 'kick,' as he said, and then the old gentle- 
 man was always too hard-mouthed for him. This 
 inequality at length produced an open rupture 
 between the two, and one night our painter, finding 
 the voice of the company rather against him, rose up 
 in a seemingly dreadful passion, and appearing as if 
 nearly choked with rage, muttered out at last, that 
 he knew what would hang the old rascal, notwithstand- 
 ing all his cant about morality. This assertion, uttered 
 with so much vehemence, very much surprised the 
 company, and seriously alarmed the old man, who 
 called upon George sternly to know what he dared to 
 say against him. The painter answered with a repe- 
 tition of the offensive words : ( 1 know what would 
 hang him.' After a very violent altercation, some of
 
 24 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 the company now taking part with Morland, it was 
 agreed upon all hands, and at the particular request 
 of the old gentleman, that the painter should declare 
 the worst. With great apparent reluctance George 
 at length got up, and addressing the company, said : 
 * I have declared twice that I knew what would hang 
 
 Mr. ; and now, gentlemen, since I am called 
 
 upon before you all, I'll expose it.' He then very 
 deliberately drew from his pocket a piece of lay cord, 
 
 and handing it across the table, desired Mr. to 
 
 try the experiment ; and if it failed, that would prove 
 him a liar before the whole company, if he dared but 
 to try. The manual and verbal joke was more than 
 the old man was prepared for, and the whole com- 
 pany for the first time (perhaps not very fairly) 
 laughed at his expense." 
 
 I am here enabled to lay before the reader some 
 interesting particulars of the painter's boyhood, and 
 of his connection with Morland, which are the result 
 of the early recollections of Mr. John Kirton, (one of 
 the oldest surviving friends of his family,) and which 
 have been kindly communicated by him to assist me, 
 in the present portion of this work : 
 
 " We were both of an age," writes Mr. Kirton. 
 " At seven years old we went to Warburton's school, 
 in Little Titchfield-street. He was not very quick, 
 and was often in disgrace for imperfect lessons. 
 Warburton was a clever man, but very severe. * * * 
 His father often took him to pass the day with 
 George Morland, at Somers Town, of which he was
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 25 
 
 very proud. When Morland died, in 1804, we 
 watched his funeral, which took place at St. James's 
 Chapel, Hampstead-road ; he was buried exactly in 
 the middle of the small square plat, as you enter the 
 gates, on the left hand. At that time I think it was 
 the only grave in that plat. When all the attendants 
 were gone away, he put his stick into the wet earth 
 as far as it would go, carried it carefully home, and 
 when dry, varnished it. He kept it as long as I knew 
 him, and had much veneration for it.* His father 
 is buried in the same cemetery a little farther down, 
 on the left hand side, close to the path. His father, 
 himself, his brother Frank and I, made long peregri- 
 nations in the fields between Highgate and Wilsden. 
 He always had his sketch-book with him, and gene- 
 rally came home well stored. He was then very 
 quick with his pencil. He had great respect for the 
 talents of Morland. When we were by ourselves, 
 more than once we went to the public-house for 
 which Morland had painted the sign to eat bread and 
 cheese and drink porter, merely because he had lived 
 there for some time. The room where he had painted 
 
 * The deep reverence for genius in the art which induced the 
 painter in his youth to preserve some fragments of the earth in 
 which Morland was buried, as above described, animated him with 
 all its early fervour in the maturity of his career. The same feelings 
 which had moved the boy over Morland's grave, actuated the man, 
 when long afterwards, on the death of Wilkie, he painted a view of 
 the last house that his friend had inhabited, as a memorial of a 
 dwelling sacred to him for the sake of the genius and character of its 
 illustrious owner.
 
 26 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 the sign was once, at his request, shown to us by the 
 landlady, at which he was much pleased. Another 
 time we went over ditches and brick-fields, near 
 Somers Town, to look at the yard where Morland 
 used to keep his pigs, rabbits, &c., and where he said 
 Morland had given him lessons : he even pointed 
 out their respective places, and the window where he 
 used to sit. "When Frank and myself were in the 
 van, during a walk he being behind, sketching and 
 we saw anything we thought would suit him, we 
 called to him to come on, saying, ' Bill, here 's another 
 sketch for Morland.' The first oil-painting he ever 
 did was not a happy subject for a young artist; it 
 was a portrait of himself, dressed in a blue coat and 
 striped yellow waistcoat, a la Morland. I can now 
 well imagine how he must have been vexed, when he 
 showed it to me the first time, and asked if I knew 
 who it was like : it baffled me to guess. However, 
 as he said all our family knew who it was, I was 
 allowed to take it home for their opinion : they were 
 all, like myself, at fault. When he told me it was 
 himself I could not help laughing ; it was no more 
 like him than it was like me : this made him very 
 angry, and caused him to give my judgment in the 
 Art a very contemptible name. When I got married 
 our meetings became less frequent ; and although we 
 were friendly, and he called several times to see me 
 in Wardour-street, they gradually became fewer in 
 number." 
 
 Such are Mr. Kirton's recollections of the painter's
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 27 
 
 early apprenticeship to the Art. To those who find 
 pleasure in tracing genius back to its first sources, 
 to its first bursts of enthusiasm, to its first disap- 
 pointments, this little narrative will not be read 
 without curiosity and interest, and will prepare the 
 mind agreeably to follow those records of the youth- 
 ful progress of the subject of this Memoir which it is 
 now necessary to resume. 
 
 The year 1807 brought with it an important epoch 
 in the painter's life. By this time he had for many 
 years drawn from the best models he could procure, 
 had studied under his father and Morland, and had 
 attained correctness of eye and hand, while assisting, 
 at the same time, in his own support, by copying 
 pictures of good and various schools. He was now 
 to devote himself more usefully and entirely to his 
 own improvement in the Art, by entering as a student 
 at the Royal Academy. His name appears in the 
 catalogue of that Institution for 1807, as a contributor 
 to its exhibition, as well as an attendant on its 
 schools ; but as I never heard him refer to the two 
 pictures then sent in, (both views near Millbank) I 
 can only imagine that he had forgotten them, or that 
 he thought them productions too puerile to be 
 deserving of mention to any one. In a letter from his 
 pen, written to answer a demand for some autobio- 
 graphical notices of his life, to be inserted in a 
 periodical publication, he thus expresses himself with 
 regard to his early education and first successes in 
 the Art. 
 
 c 2
 
 28 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 "My father, William Collins, was considered a 
 man of talent. * * * In the early part of his life 
 he contributed very largely to the Journal published 
 by Woodfall. His taste in, and love for, the Fine 
 Arts, he constantly evinced in his writings and his 
 encouragement of rising merit. From such a source 
 it is not extraordinary that I should derive a par- 
 tiality for painting. He was my only instructor 
 indeed his judgment was so matured that the lessons 
 he imprinted upon my mind I hope I shall never 
 forget, * * * In the year 1807, I was admitted 
 a student of the Royal Academy, where I was regular 
 in my attendance on the different schools. In 1809 
 and 1810, I became honoured with some share of 
 public notice, through the medium of the British 
 Institution. * * * " 
 
 In the following letter, written by the painter from 
 a friend's house to his family, and in the kind and 
 cheerful answer which it called forth, will be found 
 some reference to the time of his entry on his new 
 sphere of duties, and employments at the Royal 
 Academy. 
 
 " To MR. W. COLLINS, SEN. 
 
 " Dorking, July 8th, 1807. 
 
 " Dear Father, I think I shall come home either on 
 Saturday or Monday next ; but as it will be probably 
 necessary to pay the carriage on or before my arrival, 
 (you understand me) and having got rid of most of 
 my cash, it follows that, as usual, you must raise if 
 possible a certain sum, not exceeding a one pound
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 29 
 
 note, which I think will come cheaper to me than 
 any smaller amount. I received the colours the same 
 evening you sent them. I am very much obliged to 
 you ; as also for the letter. I live here like a prince.* 
 I was at the theatre, Dorking, a few nights since, 
 which most elegantly gratified the senses, that of 
 smelling not even excepted there being four candles 
 to light us all ; two of which, by about nine o'clock, 
 (no doubt frightened at the company) hid themselves 
 in their sockets ! There were also four lamps for 
 stage lights, which helped to expose the following 
 audience: Boxes, six; Pit, sixteen; Gallery, 
 twenty -five ! 
 
 " 1 should be glad to know if the Academy is open ; 
 and any other information you choose to give, will 
 be very acceptable to yours affectionately, 
 
 "W. COLLINS." 
 
 " To MR. W. COLLINS, JUN. 
 
 " London, 9th July, 1807. 
 
 " * * * We were certain our good friends 
 would entertain you in the most hospitable manner, 
 though we could have had no such ambitious hope of 
 your being treated "like a prince." However, I 
 trust my good friend Moore will impart a little of his 
 
 * His usual anxiety to deserve the hospitality of his friends 
 prompted him to ornament a summer-house, belonging to the 
 gentleman with whom he was now staying, with imitations of busts, 
 in niches, all round the walls. They remained there until very 
 lately.
 
 30 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 
 
 philosophical indifference respecting the good things 
 of this life to you, before you depart for humble 
 home, lest the contrast between living " like a 
 prince," and being the son of a poor author, may be 
 too much for the lofty notions of your royal highness. 
 Enclosed, for all this, you will find the sum you 
 desired ; and, were my funds equal to those of our 
 gracious Monarch or rather, had I as many pence 
 as he is said to have millions of pounds, be assured 
 you should be infinitely more than welcome to twenty 
 times this paltry sum. You inquire respecting the 
 opening of the Academy, and I can tell you it opened 
 last Monday, notice of which was given to all the 
 students by public advertisement ; and I shall be glad 
 if you can, without being pressed to the contrary, 
 come up to town when my friend Moore does 
 knowing that you can never come in safer, or better 
 company. * * * 
 
 " Your affectionate Father, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 A few days after this, the " son of the poor 
 author" quitted his little paternal studio, and with a 
 beating heart entered the Academic lists that were 
 to prepare him for the Artist's course then little 
 suspecting that he was destined to add one more 
 to the bright list of modern English painters, who 
 have passed through the schools of the Academy on 
 their way to the gates of Fame.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 18071816. 
 
 Summary of the course of study at the Royal Academy The painter's 
 industry in his duties there Anecdote of Fuseli Pictures of 
 1809 Letter from Mr. Collins, sen. Pictures of 1810, 1811, and 
 1812 Epigram by James Smith Correspondence with the late 
 Mr. Howard, R. A. Death of Mr. Collins, sen. Extracts from 
 the Painter's Journal of 1812 Pecuniary embarassments of his 
 family Pictures of 1813 and 1814 Election to associateship in the 
 Royal Academy Anecdotes respecting picture of" Bird-catchers," 
 communicated by Mr. Stark Diary of 1814 Anecdotes of the 
 painter ; of Elliston ; and of James Smith Pictures and Diary 
 of 1815 Tour in that year to Cromer Letters Removal of the 
 painter to a larger house in New Cavendish-street Letter to the 
 late Sir T. Heathcote, bart. Pictures of 1816 Extract from 
 journal Serious increase of pecuniary difficulties Determination 
 to set out for Hastings, to make studies for sea-pieces Kindness 
 of Sir T. Heathcote in making an advance of money Departure 
 for Hastings. 
 
 IN commencing his course of instruction at the Royal 
 Academy, the student sets out by making drawings 
 from the best casts of the finest antique statues. By 
 this first process his taste is formed on the universal 
 and immutable models of the highest excellence in 
 the Art he is to adopt ; and he proceeds to the next 
 gradation in his studies, drawing from the living
 
 32 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 model, with such fixed ideas of symmetry and pro- 
 portion as preserve him from confusing the faults 
 and excellencies of the animated form, and enable 
 him to appreciate its higher and more important 
 general qualities, as the ulterior object of one main 
 branch of his professional qualifications. While his 
 ideas are thus preserved from the degeneration which 
 the unavoidable imperfections of the models before 
 him might otherwise inspire, the most perfect out- 
 ward and mechanical correctness of eye and hand is 
 demanded from him, in his representations of the 
 form ; while a readiness in rightly interpreting the 
 position, action, and appearance, of muscles and 
 joints, is instilled by the annual delivery of lectures 
 on pictorial anatomy, by the best professors which 
 that class of English medical science can afford. Nor 
 is this all. While he is thus attaining knowledge of 
 Nature, with ease, harmony, and correctness of pencil ; 
 from the study of the living model, he is enabled at 
 the same time to learn colour, composition, and light 
 and shade, by the privilege of copying from pictures 
 by the old masters, in the School of Painting. Here 
 his studies (as in the other schools) are superintended 
 directly by the Royal Academicians, who advise, 
 assist, and encourage him, until he is fit for the last 
 ordeal of his student- life the composition of an 
 original historical picture, from a subject selected by 
 the Institution to which he is attached. For this 
 work, as for all his other labours, medals and copies 
 of lectures on Art, are awarded by the Royal Academy.
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 33 
 
 He is then left to the guidance of his own genius 
 either to continue his employments in his own land, 
 or, if he has gained the highest gold medal, to be sent, 
 at the expense of the Royal Academy, to study, for 
 three years, among the great collections of Art which 
 the continental nations possess. 
 
 In Sculpture and in Architecture, (as completely as, 
 in the instance of the latter Art, its peculiar features 
 will admit) the same gradations are observed, and 
 the same privileges scrupulously offered painting, 
 sculpture, and architecture furnishing the travelling 
 student, on each occasion of the grand award of prizes, 
 in impartial rotation. Such is a brief summary of 
 the course of study adopted by the Royal Academy 
 of England an Institution whose palpable and prac- 
 tical excellencies have ever been as sufficient to excuse 
 error and to confute calumny, as to form the mind 
 of genius, and to elevate the position of Art. 
 
 Mr. Collins's attention, during his attendance at 
 the Royal Academy, was devoted to all branches of 
 its instructions most necessary to the school of paint- 
 ing, towards which his ambition was now directed the 
 portrayal of landscape and of domestic life. As a stu- 
 dent his conduct was orderly, and his industry untiring. 
 Among his companions he belonged to the unassum- 
 ing, steadily labouring-class taking no care to distin- 
 guish himself, personally, by the common insignia of 
 the more aspiring spirits among the scholars of Art. 
 He neither cultivated a mustachio, displayed his neck, 
 or trained his hair over his coat-collar into the true 
 c 3
 
 34 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 Raphael flow. He never sat in judgment on the capa- 
 city of his masters, or rushed into rivalry with Michael 
 Angelo, before he was quite able to draw correctly 
 from a plaster cast. But he worked on gladly and 
 carefully, biding his time with patience, and digesting 
 his instructions with care. In 1809 two years after 
 his entrance within the Academy walls he gained 
 the silver medal for a drawing from the life. 
 
 The gentleman who held the offices of keeper of 
 the Academy and instructor of the students, in those 
 days, was the eccentric and remarkable Fuseli. The 
 fantastic genius and bitter wit of this extraordinary 
 man did not disqualify him for the mechanism of his 
 art, or the dogged patience necessary to teach it 
 aright. His character was, in many respects, a mass 
 of contradictions. He spoke English with an outra- 
 geously foreign accent, yet wrote it with an energy 
 and correctness not unworthy of Johnson himself. 
 He lived in carelessness of " the small, sweet courte- 
 sies of life," yet possessed, when he chose to employ 
 it, a power of polite sarcasm, before which some of 
 the most polished wits of the day irresistibly trem- 
 bled. His pictures touched, almost invariably, the 
 limits of the wild and the grotesque, yet he disco- 
 vered and reprobated the minutest exaggerations of 
 drawing in his pupils' works. By all the students he 
 was respected and beloved ; and by none more than by 
 Mr. Collins, who trembled before his criticisms and 
 rejoiced in his approbation as heartily as any of the 
 rest. Among the few instances of his quaint humour
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 35 
 
 that have, I believe, not hitherto appeared in print, 
 is one that I shall venture to subjoin, as although it 
 does not illustrate his more refined and epigrammatic 
 powers of retort it is too good, as a trait of charac- 
 ter and a curiosity of sarcasm, to be advantageously 
 omitted. 
 
 When Sir Anthony Carlisle was Anatomy Professor 
 at the Royal Academy, he was accustomed to illus- 
 trate his lectures by the exhibition of the Indian jug- 
 glers, or any other of the fashionable athletae of the 
 day, whose muscular systems were well enough deve- 
 loped to claim the students' eyes. This innovation 
 on the dull uniformity of oral teaching, added to the 
 wide and well-earned reputation of the professor him- 
 self, drew within the Academy walls crowds of general 
 visitors many of them surgeons of the highest emi- 
 nence who seriously incommoded the rightful occu- 
 pants of the lecture-room. One night, when the 
 concourse was more than usually great, Fuseli set out 
 from his apartments in the " keeper's rooms," to 
 mount the great staircase, and join his brethren in 
 the lecturer's waiting-room. The effort was a trying 
 one ; every step was crowded with expectant sight- 
 seers, a great majority of whom were doctors of sta- 
 tion and celebrity. Through this scientific mass the 
 keeper toiled his weary way, struggling, pushing 
 advancing, receding, remonstrating, rebuking ; until 
 at length he gained the haven of the lecturer's room, 
 his brows bedewed with moisture, his clothes half 
 torn off his back, his temper fatally ruffled. Under
 
 36 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 these circumstances, it was not in the nature of Fu- 
 seli to consume his own gall : he forced his way up 
 to Sir Anthony Carlisle ; and, looking at him indig- 
 nantly, muttered, as if in soliloquy, (in an accent 
 which the most elaborate distortion of spelling is, 
 alas, incompetent to express) " Parcel of d d 
 ' 'potticaries' * prentices ! " Sir Anthony, though the 
 mildest and most polite of men, could not swallow 
 silently this aspersion on the dignity of his professional 
 admirers on the staircase. " Really, Mr. Fuseli," he 
 gently remonstrated," I have brought no apothecaries' 
 apprentices here !" " I did not say you did," was the 
 prompt retort; " but they are 'potticaries' prentices 
 for all that .'" 
 
 In 1809, Mr. Collins contributed two pictures to 
 the Royal Academy Exhibition, entitled, " Boys with 
 a Bird's Nest," and " A Boy at Breakfast." He had 
 previously exhibited, at the British Institution, in 
 1808 (having sent thither five small pictures: A 
 Study from Nature on the Thames ; a Scene at Hamp- 
 stead; a Landscape, called "A Coming Storm ;" and 
 two Views at Castlebridge, Surrey) ; and he now 
 sent in, as his contributions for the following season, 
 the same number of works. They were described in 
 the Catalogue as, " A Green Stall, a Night Scene," 
 (now in the possession of Mr. Criswick) ; " A View in 
 Surrey ;" "Seashore, a cloudy Day ;" " Morning ;" and 
 " Evening, a View on theThames." All these pictures, 
 presented under their different aspects the same fun- 
 damental characteristics of careful study and anxious
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 37 
 
 finish, still overlaid by the timidity and inexperience 
 of the " 'prentice hand." Some of them were here 
 and there shortly, but kindly noticed, by the critics 
 of the day ; and among those sold, the " Boys with 
 a Bird's Nest" was disposed of to Mr. Lister Parker, 
 the painter's first patron, and a generous and discri- 
 minating supporter of modern art. 
 
 For the next three years little is to be noticed of 
 Mr. Collins's life, beyond the works that he produced ; 
 but these will be found of some importance in track- 
 ing his progress in his pursuit. Throughout this 
 period he enjoyed the calm uniformity of the stu- 
 dent's life ; save when his occupations were varied by 
 a sketching excursion in the country, or interrupted 
 by the petty calamities which his father's increasing 
 poverty inevitably inflicted upon the young painter's 
 fireside. The more perseveringly this honourable 
 and patient man struggled for employment and com- 
 petence, the more resolutely did both appear to hold 
 aloof. The following extract from one of his letters, 
 written during a picture-cleaning tour in the country, 
 will be found worthy of attention. It displays his 
 anxiety to forward the interests of his family in a 
 pleasing light, and alludes, moreover, rather amus- 
 ingly, to some of the minor characteristics in the 
 composition of the niggard patronage of the day : 
 
 " To MRS. COLLINS. 
 
 " Ford Abbey, 1810. 
 
 r * " The day after my last letter completely 
 changed the scene here. A few moments before four
 
 38 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 o'clock the 'squire and his suite arrived in state. * * 
 * * I have selected from the wreck of the pictures 
 about sixteen, and have literally slaved at them, that 
 I might be able to set off for home as soon as pos- 
 sible. God only knows how anxiously I have longed 
 to be with you, and the pains I have taken to give 
 satisfaction. Perhaps, as far as I ought to expect, 
 these pains have not been altogether ineffectual. But 
 there has been one great fatality attendant upon most 
 of my exertions, namely, they have been generally 
 made before those who were incompetent to appre- 
 ciate their value. At all events, I have had some 
 kind of satisfaction in refusing to undertake the re- 
 covery of some vilely injured pictures, under a remu- 
 nerating price. The first intimation I gave of my 
 incapacity to restore, or even line, the pictures, with- 
 out the aid of my son William, was on last Wednesday. 
 There was a beautiful large landscape by Ostade, the 
 figures by A. Teniers. I pointed out the necessary 
 repairs in the sky, which were wanted to make the 
 picture complete ; and of course mentioned Bill as 
 superior to every other artist in that department ! 
 The 'squire listened very attentively until I had done, 
 and then inquired what the expense of such repairs 
 might be. I answered, about two or three guineas : 
 ' Oh ! d n the sky ! clean it, and stick it up without 
 any repairs then !' * * * * Yours, &c. 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 During the three years already referred to, my 
 father contributed, regularly to the exhibitions of the
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 39 
 
 Royal Academy and to the British Institution. His 
 pictures for the most part small in size and' low in 
 price generally found purchasers ; and though not 
 productive of much positive profit, gained for him 
 what throughout life he ever valued more, the public 
 approval and attention. In 1810, his new pictures 
 exhibited were : " Cottage Children blowing Bub- 
 bles," a simple, rustic scene, sold to Mr. P. H, Rogers 
 and engraved in an "Annual" for 1831; "Boys 
 Bathing ;" and, " Children Fishing," sold to the Rev. 
 E. Balme. Although these pictures displayed little 
 of the grasp of conception and vigour of treatment of 
 his matured efforts, they were remarkable for their 
 fidelity to Nature, for their quiet humour, and for the 
 real purpose and though tfulness of their unpretending 
 design. In 181 1, he advanced in elaboration of sub- 
 ject, exhibiting, " The Young Fifer;" " The Weary 
 Trumpeter ; or, Juvenile Mischief," sold to Mr. Mills ; 
 " The Tempting Moment," sold to Mr. Leeds, and 
 engraved in the " Forget Me Not" for 1830; and a 
 " Study of a Country Kitchen," now in the possession 
 of Mr. Sheepshanks. The first three of these pictures 
 challenged and received greater attention than any of 
 his former efforts. On " The Young Fifer," which 
 was purchased by the Marquis of Stafford, the fol- 
 lowing smart epigram was written by James Smith, 
 one of the authors of the admirable " Rejected 
 Addresses :" 
 
 " The Fifer when great Stafford bought, 
 The music was no more the same ;
 
 40 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 By him to public notice brought, 
 
 The Fife is now the Trump of Fame !" 
 
 " The Weary Trumpeter," and " The Tempting 
 Moment," were as successful as the " Young Fifer." 
 In the first picture, the trumpeter is represented 
 sleeping uneasily in a cottage chair, while a little 
 urchin, mounted upon another seat, has assumed the 
 soldier's cocked hat, (which threatens to fall over his 
 head and face, like an extinguisher) and is blowing, 
 with distended cheeks and glaring eyes, into the 
 sleeping hero's trumpet, the mouth of which he has 
 mischievously placed within an inch of its possessor's 
 ear. The other picture, " The Tempting Moment," 
 depicts an old apple-woman, lulled in the slumbers 
 of inebriation, and cautiously approached, in contrary 
 directions, by two cunning boys, who are reaching 
 out their hands to levy a peaceful " black mail" upon 
 her unguarded stock in trade. A small print of this 
 picture will be found in the "Forget Me Not" for 1830. 
 
 It may be some consolation to those ill-fated 
 votaries of the graphic muse, who, in present, or 
 future exhibitions, groan, or may be destined to 
 groan, under the young artist's inevitable tribulation 
 a bad place on the Academy walls, to know that 
 one of Mr. Collins's best pictures rested, this year, 
 on that dark Erebus of pictorial indignity the floor 
 of an exhibition-room. The following correspond- 
 ence on this subject is a curious exemplification of 
 smarting disappointment on the one hand, and 
 dignified official composure on the other :
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 41 
 
 " To H. HOWARD, ESQ., R. A. 
 
 " Great Portland-street, 1st May, 1811. 
 " Sir, Finding one of my pictures put upon the 
 hearth in the * Great Room, 1 where it must inevitably 
 meet with some accident from the people who are 
 continually looking at Mr. Bird's picture, I take the 
 liberty of requesting you will allow me to order a 
 sort of case to be put round the bottom-part of the 
 frame, to protect it (as well as the picture) from the 
 kicks of the crowd. 
 
 " Even the degrading situation in which the picture 
 is placed, would not have induced me to trouble you 
 about it, had it been my property; but, as it was 
 painted on commission, I shall be obliged to make 
 good any damage it may sustain. 
 " I remain, Sir, 
 
 " Your obt. humble servant, 
 
 " W. COLLINS, jun." 
 
 " To MR. COLLINS, JUN. 
 
 " Royal Academy, May 1st, 1811. 
 
 " Sir, I conceive there will be no objection to 
 your having a narrow wooden border put round the 
 picture you speak of, if you think such a precaution 
 necessary, provided it be done any morning before 
 the opening of the exhibition; and you may show 
 this to the porter, as an authority for bringing in a 
 workman for that purpose. 
 
 " I cannot help expressing some surprise that you 
 should consider the situation of your picture degrad- 
 ing, knowing as I do, that the Committee of arrange-
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 merit thought it complimentary, and, that low as it 
 is, many members of the Academy would have been 
 content to have it. 
 
 " I am, Sir, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 " H. HOWARD, Sec. 
 
 Mr. Collins had undergone mischances of the same 
 nature before, but this was the last disappointment of 
 the kind that he suffered. In three years more, he 
 was honourably connected with the Royal Academy, 
 and became the friend, as well as the warm admirer 
 of his former official correspondent one of the most 
 refined and poetical painters whom the English 
 school has produced. 
 
 In the year 1812, the prospects of the painter's 
 family showed some symptoms of brightening. His 
 father's transactions as a picture-dealer began to 
 improve in value and importance ; and he, himself, 
 had sold some of his later works, at what he then 
 considered an encouragingly remunerating price. 
 Each now ventured to plan more hopeful and 
 ambitious schemes one talked of enlarging his 
 business ; the other of extending his range of subjects. 
 But a heavy and irretrievable affliction was ap- 
 proaching, to crush the new hopes and disperse the 
 humble enjoyments of the artist's home. In this 
 year, the father who had been to him master, critic, 
 companion, and friend ; who looked forward with 
 eager impatience, to the time when he should enjoy 
 the triumph of seeing his son widely celebrated and
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 48 
 
 Academically honoured in the profession to which he 
 was attached in tins year, leaving his beloved family 
 destitute, the kind husband and generous father died ! 
 Of the few journals kept by Mr. Collins, the first 
 begins with this melancholy period. If it be objected 
 that, in the extracts I shall make from it, I have 
 exposed feelings too private and domestic to meet the 
 public eye I would answer, that the history of the 
 heart of a man of genius is of as great importance, 
 and is as much the property of his posterity, as the 
 history of his mind : the emotions are the nurses of 
 the faculties, and the first home is the sanctuary in 
 which they are created and reared. 
 
 Journal of 
 
 " January 7th. At home in the morning at home 
 in the evening sat up with my dear father till three 
 o'clock went to bed in my clothes. 8th. At home 
 in the morning, thought my dear father better, but 
 was anxious for the doctor to come. Sharp called 
 about two; my father shook hands with him. and 
 seemed better. Sharp thought he would have been 
 well in a few days. Hyde came, for the second 
 time, about six ; when my father seemed to me to be 
 worse, as he did not at all attend to what Hyde said 
 to him. This alarmed me; when I requested Le 
 would send for a physician he did so. Doctor 
 Mayo came at about eight, to whom I stated the 
 principal part of what follows ; to which he par- 
 ticularly attended :
 
 44 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 " The first symptoms of disease were observed 
 about three weeks before he took to his bed, which 
 were an inclination to be always dozing ; frequent 
 vomittings after meals, particularly breakfast; and 
 excessive low spirits. On the 18th December, he 
 was very low, which was caused in a great measure 
 by the want of money, as there was very little in the 
 house. He seemed completely dejected ; when Mr. 
 Heathcote * called and paid me 42, in advance, 
 for a picture he had ordered. When I told him of 
 this he seemed greatly relieved, and thanked God ; 
 which he never neglected to do. Upon every for- 
 tunate occasion, he always said, * God be praised !' 
 I gave him the cheque ; it was of service in dis- 
 charging some trifles about the neighbourhood * * 
 After Christmas, he kept his bed, and came down on 
 the Friday to my painting-room for a short time. 
 He then did not come down again till Saturday, the 
 4th January, to see my pictures. He was very weak 
 
 * * * A few days after Christmas, he was so 
 violently attacked with cramp in his thighs and 
 stomach that he quite alarmed me. I took some 
 flannel and soaked it in hot water, wrung it out, and 
 put it upon the parts affected; which did him so 
 much service that he was never again troubled with a 
 return, and he frequently said I had saved his life 
 
 * * * I went to Mr. Carpue, and told him his 
 case, and what I had done - f he said it was perfectly 
 
 * Afterwards Sir Thomas Heathcote, hart.
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 45 
 
 right * * * I wrote for a friend of his, Mr. 
 Hyde, who was out of town, but came the next day, 
 (7th January) and said he would have him up in a 
 few days. Hyde came the next day, as before stated, 
 as also doctor Mayo, who, after hearing the material 
 part of this statement, said it was a bad case went 
 up to see him called to him got no answer said 
 he wished to see his tongue, which he could not 
 felt his pulse shook his head and gave me the most 
 severe shock that I ever felt, by telling me that my 
 father might live a few hours, but was certainly a 
 dying man ; and that it was useless to give him 
 anything, as it was utterly impossible he could live. 
 I then told him he had been ordered a blister on the 
 back of his neck ; and I took him into my room and 
 requested him, as a man of honour, to tell me, if he 
 had been called in sooner, could he have done any- 
 thing for him ? He said that if he had been his own 
 father, and he had known of his complaint from the 
 first moment, he could have prolonged his life for 
 probably one day, but that it was utterly impossible, 
 from the symptoms, that he could have been restored, 
 as his constitution was completely decayed. Hyde 
 then came again ; when he wished to give him a 
 spoonful at a time, of brandy-and-water. Doctor 
 Mayo said he might give him anything that he 
 pleased, as it could do him no harm. * * * But 
 it was all in vain ; my father never struggled 
 breathed hard, and groaned. I gave him, about a 
 quarter of an hour before his death, two spoonfuls of
 
 46 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 port wine, warm by Hyde's advice. The rattles 
 were in his throat, and he breathed his last ! 
 
 " It was twenty minutes after two, on Thursday 
 morning, when this dear martyr to bodily and mental 
 afflictions left his miserable son and family * * * 
 He was completely insensible had he been sensible, 
 his only misery would have been to see his family in 
 the anguish the certainty of his death caused them, 
 for his affection for them was beyond all comparison ; 
 and, thank God, it was reciprocal. 
 
 " 9th. Sat up the whole of last night and this 
 morning, in the utmost misery, waiting for daylight, 
 with my wretched mother, brother, and Mrs. Sharp. 
 At home all day, lay down in my clothes in the 
 parlour at night * * * 15th. Went to the burial 
 of my poor dear father, accompanied by my brother, 
 Mr. Moore, Mr. Langdon, Mr. Cartwright, and Mr. 
 Sharp * * * 17th. Went out for half-an-hour, 
 for the first time since my dear father's death (except 
 the funeral). At home in the evening my mother 
 very ill : kept my clothes on all night, to attend 
 jjgj. * * * 28th. Went to the Gallery, to see how 
 my pictures were hung. Never felt so wretched, or 
 less ambitious, although my pictures were most 
 capitally situated. February 1st. Went with Frank 
 to Mr. Langdon's : from thence to the different 
 offices, for the purpose of renouncing the administra- 
 tion, in favour of Mr. Langdon. Dined with him 
 at Andrews's ; and came home at eight o'clock, for the 
 remainder of the evening. 3rd. Mr. Heathcote
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 47 
 
 called in ; and, when I made him acquainted with 
 my melancholy situation, most nobly offered to 
 pay me the remainder of the purchase-money of 
 the picture which I could not think of taking, as 
 the picture was not a quarter finished and then 
 offered me the loan of 50 upon my note of 
 hand. This I also refused ; but agreed, if I should 
 be in distress, to write to him for the loan of 20. 
 4th. Painted, for the first time since my dear father's 
 death, for about an hour * * * 8th. Signed a 
 paper with Frank, containing our renunciation of the 
 estate of my dear father ; the one we signed before 
 being only sufficient for my mother. * * * 12th. 
 Received a letter from the Gallery, containing an 
 offer of fifty guineas for my " Trumpeter " which I 
 accepted. In the evening, Green was kind enough 
 to bring me the money. I think highly of Green's 
 friendship and feeling. * * * 17th. The sale of 
 the furniture took place ; Frank attended, and pur- 
 chased my dear father's ring, spectacles, and snuff- 
 box. * * * March 1st. At home in the morning 
 went to visit my father's grave ! 3rd. The sale of the 
 stock took place to-day ; at which the pictures I gave 
 in for the benefit of the creditors, produced 57." 
 
 The painter's position was now seriously changed. 
 Nothing remained to him of the humble possessions 
 of his family : the small relics sacred to him for his 
 father's sake the ring, the spectacles, and the snuff- 
 box even these, he had been forced to purchase as
 
 48 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 a stranger, not to retain as a son ! Insatiate and 
 impatient creditors, unable to appreciate any sacri- 
 fices in their favour that he endeavoured to make, 
 harassed him by their alternate disagreements and 
 demands. His mother, overwhelmed in the first 
 helplessness of grief, was incapable alike of consola- 
 tion or advice. His brother, with the will, and the 
 ambition, possessed little power and found few 
 opportunities of aiding him in his worst exigences. 
 To his genius his desolate family now looked for 
 support, and to his firmness for direction. They 
 were disappointed in neither. 
 
 As the lease had not yet expired, the family still 
 occupied their house in Great Portland-street, now 
 emptied of all its accustomed furniture and adorn- 
 ments; and, while the elder brother, inspired by 
 necessity, the Muse not of fable, but of reality ; the 
 Muse that has presided over the greatest efforts of 
 the greatest men began to labour at his Art with 
 increased eagerness and assiduity ; the younger made 
 preparations for continuing his father's business, and 
 contributing thereby his share towards the support of 
 their afflicted and widowed parent. So completely was 
 the house now emptied, to afford payment to the last 
 farthing of the debts of necessity contracted by its 
 unfortunate master, that the painter, and his mother 
 and brother, were found by their kind friend, the late 
 Mrs. Hand, taking their scanty evening meal on an 
 old box, the only substitute for a table which they 
 possessed. From this comfortless situation they
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 49 
 
 were immediately extricated by Mrs. Hand, who pre- 
 sented them with the articles of furniture that they 
 required. 
 
 In the year 1812, my father's exhibited pictures 
 were : " Children playing with Puppies," painted 
 for his generous friend, Sir Thomas Heathcote ; and 
 " May-day," sold to the Rev. Sir S. C. Jervoise, Bart. 
 Both these works were considered to display the same 
 steady progression towards excellence as those which 
 had preceded them. Of the latter, a critic of the 
 time thus writes in one of the public journals : 
 
 " Mr. Collins has attained to a very high degree of 
 success in this picture. The characters are various 
 and natural, and of all ages. The groups are well 
 distributed, and employed in a combined purpose, so 
 that each severally assists the humour and action of 
 the whole. There is great mellowness and richness in 
 the humour of the several faces, particularly in the 
 countenance of the drunken chimney-sweeper. Upon 
 the whole, this piece has more imagination, and shows 
 greater knowledge of life, than the ' Weary Trum- 
 peter,' by the same artist." 
 
 In the course of this year, Mr. Collins produced a 
 picture, the success of which at once eclipsed the 
 more moderate celebrity of all his former works ; it 
 was " The Sale of the Pet Lamb," purchased by Mr. 
 Ogden. Composed as it was during the season 
 immediately following his father's death, the simple 
 yet impressive pathos it displayed, was a natural 
 consequence of the temper of his mind at the period
 
 50 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 of its production. It pleased at once and universally. 
 People ignorant of the simplest arcana of art, gazed 
 on it as attentively and admiringly as the connoisseur 
 who applauded the graces of its treatment, or the 
 artist who appreciated the elaboration of its minutest 
 parts. The sturdy urchin indignantly pushing away 
 the butcher's boy, who reluctantly and good-humour- 
 edly presses forward to lead the dumb favourite of 
 the family to the greedy slaughter-house ; the girl, 
 tearfully remonstrating with her mother, who, yield- 
 ing to the iron necessities of want, is receiving from the 
 master butcher the price of the treasured possession 
 that is now forfeited for ever ; the child offering to the 
 lamb the last share of her simple breakfast that it can 
 ever enjoy, were incidents which possessed them- 
 selves, unresisted, of the feelings of all who beheld 
 them ; from the youthful spectators who hated the 
 butcher with all their souls, to the cultivated elders, 
 who calmly admired the truthful ease with which the 
 rustic story was told, or sympathized with the kindly 
 moral which the eloquent picture conveyed. From 
 this work, which was exhibited at the Royal Aca- 
 demy in 1813, two engravings were produced; and 
 from fourteen to fifteen thousand impressions of the 
 smaller print alone were dispersed among the many 
 who recollected it with admiration and delight.* 
 
 Among other pictures exhibited by the painter this 
 year, the most important were : " The Bird-catcher 
 
 * Vide " Literary Souvenir" for 1836. Art." On the Works of 
 William Collins, R.A."
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 51 
 
 Outwitted," sold to one of his first and kindest 
 patrons, Mrs. Hand ; and " The Burial-place of a Fa- 
 vourite Bird," purchased by Mr. T. C. Higgins. This 
 latter picture aimed at the same pathos of subject as 
 the Pet Lamb ; but differed from it in this, that it 
 did not depend so greatly upon the action and ex- 
 pression of the agents of the story, but was mainly 
 assisted by accessories, drawn from the most poetical 
 qualities in simple and inanimate Nature. The back- 
 ground of this composition is filled by a deep wood, 
 whose sombre array of innumerable leaves seems to 
 stretch softly and darkly into the distance, beyond the 
 reach of the eye. A perfect and melancholy stillness 
 rules over this scene of dusky foliage, and casts a 
 pervading mournfulness to be felt rather than per- 
 ceived upon the group of children who are standing 
 in the foreground, under the spreading branches of a 
 large tree, engaged in the burial of their favourite 
 bird. One boy is occupied in digging the small, 
 shallow' grave ; while another stands by his side, with 
 the dead bird wrapped in its little shroud of leaves. 
 Their occupation is watched by a girl who is crying 
 bitterly ; and by her companion, who is endeavouring 
 unsuccessfully to assuage her grief. Not devoted 
 like the sale of the Pet Lamb to the representation 
 of the stern and real woes of humanity, this picture 
 addresses itself to feelings of a quiet, ideal nature, 
 such as are easily and gracefully aroused by the repre- 
 sentation of the most innocent emotions, simply 
 developed, as they exist at the most innocent age.
 
 52 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 During the year 1813, the painter continued to 
 lead the studious and retired life to which he had 
 now for some years devoted himself; and, on the 
 tranquil monotony of which new and important events 
 were shortly about to encroach. Whatever time he 
 could spare from his professional occupations was still 
 much absorbed by the attention required by his 
 father's affairs ; which, though fast becoming settled 
 by the self-denial of the family, were still in a disor- 
 dered condition. No inconveniences attendant upon 
 these matters of business interrupted the rigid and 
 ambitious course of study, to which he was now urging 
 himself with increased vigour. He felt that the 
 Academy and the lovers of Art were watching his 
 progress with real interest, and he determined to fulfil 
 the expectations forming of him on all sides. To the 
 Royal Academy Exhibition of 1814, he contributed 
 two pictures : " Blackberry Gatherers ;" and " Bird- 
 Catchers." To the British Institution, he sent, in 
 the same year, " The Town Miss Visiting her Country 
 Relations," purchased by Lady Lucas ; and " Fore- 
 noon," a landscape, (sold to Mr. T. C. Higgins.) The 
 last of these pictures is mentioned and criticised in a 
 Diary which I am about to subjoin, and it is conse- 
 quently unnecessary to describe it here. " The Town 
 Miss Visiting her Country Relations," represented a 
 young lady, dressed in the height of the fashion, sit- 
 ting by a homely cottage fire ; and, to the astonish- 
 ment of some staring children, refusing, with a 
 high-bred disdain of a very second-hand order, the
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 53 
 
 refreshments which one of her uncouth rustic rela- 
 tives is respectfully offering her. The " Blackberry- 
 Gatherers," displayed a group of those charming cot- 
 tage children for which his pencil was already cele- 
 brated, standing in a fertile English lane, whose pretty 
 windings are dappled, at bright intervals, by the sun- 
 light shining through the trees above. This picture 
 exhibited throughout the highest finish and truth to 
 Nature, and was purchased by Mrs. Hand. But the 
 work which most remarkably asserted the artist's 
 originality and power of treatment, was the " Bird- 
 catchers." The vigour and novelty of this composi- 
 tion its clear, airy expanse of morning sky ; the 
 group of boys standing upon a high bank, watching 
 for birds, and boldly relieved against the bright, pure, 
 upper atmosphere, proved his mastery over a higher 
 branch of the Art than he had hitherto attempted. 
 This work was purchased by the Marquis of Lans- 
 downe ; but the painter derived from his successes of 
 this year a yet greater benefit than exalted patronage, 
 and mounted the first step towards the highest social 
 honours of English Art, by being elected an Associate 
 of the Royal Academy. 
 
 I am here enabled to communicate some interesting 
 particulars connected with the production of the 
 picture of " Bird catchers " kindly communicated 
 to me by Mr. Stark, the accomplished landscape- 
 painter which, to those unacquainted with the 
 practice of Art, will convey some idea of the intensity 
 of study required (and in my father's case invariably
 
 54 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 given) for the production of a complete picture ; 
 while to those still occupied in surmounting the 
 first difficulties of painting, the following extracts 
 will offer encouragement to increased effort, by 
 the practical example of successful perseverance. 
 Speaking of the progress of the " Bird-catchers," Mr. 
 Stark thus expresses himself: 
 
 " I was much impressed with his entire devotedness 
 to the subject every thought, every energy, was 
 directed to this one object. I remember having 
 attended one of Mr. Fuseli's lectures with him, and 
 on our return home he said he had endeavoured to 
 apply all that he had heard to this picture ; and 
 acting on one observation in the lecture, that * breadth 
 would be easily given, if emptiness could give it,' he 
 determined on introducing more matter into the mass 
 of shadow ; and some implements used in the 
 catching of birds were consequently introduced. In 
 order to make himself thoroughly acquainted with the 
 process of bird- catching, he went into the fields (now 
 the Regent's Park,) before sunrise, and paid a man 
 to instruct him in the whole mystery ; and I believe, 
 if the arrangement of the nets, cages, and decoy-birds, 
 with the disposition of the figures, lines connected 
 with the nets, and birds attached to the sticks, were 
 to be examined by a Whitechapel bird-catcher, he 
 would pronounce them to be perfectly correct. 
 
 " He was unable to proceed with the picture for 
 some days, fancying that he wanted the assistance of 
 Nature in a piece of broken foreground, and whilst
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 55 
 
 this impression remained, he said he should be unable 
 to do more. I went with him to Hampstead Heath ; 
 and, although he was not successful in meeting with 
 anything that suited his purpose, he felt that he 
 could then finish the picture ; but, while the im- 
 pression was on his mind that anything could be 
 procured likely to lead to the perfection of the work, 
 he must satisfy himself by making the effort even if 
 it proved fruitless. 
 
 "I have perhaps said more on this picture than you 
 may deem necessary, but it was the first work of the 
 class that I had ever seen, and the only picture, 
 excepting those of my late master, Crome, that I had 
 ever seen in progress. Moreover, I believe it to have 
 been the first picture, of its particular class, ever 
 produced in this country ; and this, both in subject 
 and treatment, in a style so peculiarly your late 
 father's, and one which has gained for him so much 
 fame." 
 
 The subjoined extracts from Mr. Collins's Diaries 
 of the year 1814, contain several interesting opinions 
 on painting, and show the perfect absence in his 
 character of that spirit of petulant defiance of the 
 opinions of others, which has sometimes conduced to 
 narrow the hearts and debilitate the minds of men of 
 genius, during their inevitable subserviency to the 
 searching examination of criticism and the world. 
 Passages in this Journal, also, remarkably display the 
 leading influence in his intellectual disposition his 
 incessant anxiety to improve. Throughout life, he
 
 56 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 set up for himself no other standard in his Art than 
 that of the highest perfection. Every fresh difficulty 
 he conquered, every increase of applause he gained, 
 was less a cause for triumph, than an encouragement 
 to proceed. During the progress of his pictures, the 
 severest criticisms on them ever came from his own 
 lips. He never forgot, to the last day of his practice 
 as a painter, that the inexhaustible requirements of 
 Art still left him a new experiment to try, and a 
 fresh dexterity to acquire : 
 
 Journal of 1814. 
 
 "January 21st, 1814. Resolved that I keep a 
 common-place book of Art, as I find the necessity 
 of not depending solely upon my recollection for the 
 many hints I get from the critiques of those who see 
 my pictures ; as well as for the purpose of retaining 
 the impressions which I find so easily effaced from 
 the blotting-paper memory which I have inherited 
 from Nature, or derived from inattention. 
 
 " Two days since Constable compared a picture to 
 a sum, for it is wrong if you can take away or add 
 a figure to it. 
 
 " In my picture of " Bird-catchers," to avoid red, 
 blue, and yellow to recollect that Callcott advised 
 me to paint some parts of my picture thinly, (leaving 
 the ground) and that he gave great credit to the 
 man who never reminded you of the palette. 
 
 " Why would a newly painted carriage ruin any 
 picture it might be placed in ? Because the negative
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 57 
 
 tints are the valuable ones. They are the trumpeters 
 to Rembrandt, Ostade, Ruysdall, Vandervelde, 
 Vandyke, and all the great colourists. Reynolds 
 seems to have felt this ; for example, look at his 
 pictures of the ' Duke of Orleans,' ' Sleeping 
 Girl,' 'Sleeping Child,' 'Holy Famity,' 'Infant 
 Hercules ;' and, in short, all his best pictures. 
 Titian is perhaps the finest example. His picture of 
 4 Venus and Adonis,' has not one positive colour in 
 it. The drapery of Adonis, although to superficial 
 observers a red one, placed by the side of any of our 
 modern painters' red curtains, would sink into 
 nothing notwithstanding which, it is really as much 
 richer, as the painter was intellectually, compared 
 with any of the present day. 
 
 " February 1st. How much better informed should 
 I be at this moment, if I had written down all the 
 observations I have heard from the painters with 
 whom I have conversed at least a selection. This 
 should be done as soon after the impression as 
 possible ; otherwise, there is danger of making them 
 your own. 
 
 " Saturday, 5th. Received notice from Young, of 
 Lady Lucas having purchased my ' Town Miss.' 
 Went to see Kean, in Shylock, in the evening. He 
 appears to be fully aware of what the public likes in 
 an actor, rather than determined to do what he thinks 
 right. Does this proceed from modesty, policy, or 
 weakness ? His voice is good ; his figure too short 
 he has too much of Cook. The farce (' Rogues 
 
 D3
 
 05 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 All') was justly damned Elliston did much towards 
 this he was worse than impudent. Monday 7th. 
 Went to the Gallery with Deval. Painted in the 
 morning ; which I am now sure is the better plan, 
 as I feel too idle to work, upon my return from any 
 walk, except the walk before breakfast. 9th. Young 
 called to say he had sold my ' Sale of the Pet Lamb,' 
 to W. Ogden, Esq. Fuseli's lecture in the evening 
 never more delighted than on hearing it. 
 
 " From the observations I made, and the hints I 
 received at the British Gallery, on Friday and 
 Saturday, I perceive the following : A tameness, or 
 want of spirit in the general appearance of my land- 
 scape ' Forenoon ' occasioned, I am afraid, by the 
 want of attention to the general effect as when 
 close it looks well enough. Too much attention 
 bestowed upon things comparatively easy to paint, 
 as the docks, old trees, Sec. a want of connection 
 between the sky and ground, or principal light. 
 Owen observed that the painting was not equal, as 
 the docks were too highly wrought for the distant 
 trees, as well as for those not so far removed from 
 the eye : he thought the foreground too minutely 
 finished. Linnell thought the sunlight affected only 
 the principal light, and that the trunks of the trees 
 in particular had not the sharpness of sunlight. I 
 think him right in insisting upon the necessity of 
 making studies without much reference to form 
 of the way in which colours come against each other. 
 The sharpness and colour of the shades, as well as
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 59 
 
 the local colours of objects, may be got in this way. 
 Havell disliked the touchiness of the trees thought 
 they should be natter in their masses ; and the light, 
 shade, and reflections, attended to. On the masses 
 of leaves the green in some places too much of a pea- 
 colour. My own critique upon the picture is, that I 
 have certainly left all my other works behind in 
 point of negative tint although the greens are still 
 too positive that there is a want of opposition, 
 approaching to monotony and that there are (as 
 Callcott once before told me of a picture I had 
 painted) too many large, unbroken masses. 
 
 " I feel the necessity of looking at generals, as I 
 conceive I have only arrived at the power of painting 
 particulars. But, although I am not quite sure 
 which I ought to have done first, yet I am inclined 
 to think that, knowing what I do of particulars, I 
 shall not make my generals too indefinite and, in 
 addition to this, I know more exactly what I want, 
 as well as more how to value it when I get it. 
 
 " Those who never particularise, are apt to build 
 entirely upon their general knowledge (which, after 
 all, is only a slight knowledge of particulars) ; and 
 those who never look to the generals, are not aware 
 of their consequence. Both are wrong; and each 
 from pure vanity ridicules the other. 
 
 " A painter should choose those subjects with which 
 most people associate pleasant circumstances. It is 
 not sufficient that a scene pleases him. As an 
 extreme instance of this ; the mere appreciation of
 
 60 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 the delight he felt at getting up at four o'clock to 
 study Nature, will present itself, whenever he sees a 
 picture painted so well as to indicate that period of 
 the day, when the very same circumstances of a 
 beautifully clear morning, etc., may recall, in the 
 general spectator, only the disagreeable remembrance 
 of being called up to go a journey in a stage-coach 
 or, to others, the uncomfortable recollection of 
 having been obliged to get up, because they could 
 not sleep. * * * March 2nd. Rose at half- 
 past seven ; walked, for the first time this season, 
 before breakfast. My pictures want a lightness in 
 drawing and touch objects too much detached a 
 lightness of hand quite necessary. * * * Heard 
 this evening of Munroe's death poor fellow, to be 
 snatched* away from his parents and the Art, at a 
 time when he could least be spared! I should think 
 he must have been about two -and- twenty. Can it 
 be doubted that his parents will be compensated by 
 Providence for their sufferings ? Do not these things 
 happen for the purpose of convincing us that we ought 
 to have something to fly to in our greatest miseries ? 
 Can his parents, at this moment, derive any allevia- 
 tion from anything, but a hope that his better part is 
 not annihilated? 
 
 " * * * 12th. Went to see Kean's < Hamlet,' 
 and had great reason to think most favourably of it. 
 The nature without vulgarity, or affectation, which 
 he displayed throughout the part, came home to the 
 feelings. His crawling upon the carpet in the play-
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 61 
 
 scene was bad. His kissing Ophelia's hand, his 
 forgetting and recollection of the speech about 
 Pyrrhus, &c., prove him to be a man of genius, 
 (notwithstanding, I prefer the purity of Kemble.) 
 His walk on the stage is, I think, rather mean ; but 
 he improves most rapidly. 21st Flaxman's last 
 lecture ; his best. More thinking in it. * * * 
 April 5th. This evening my two pictures were 
 removed to Somerset-house. I think it necessary 
 to get the outline of my figures completely deter- 
 mined, before I venture to paint them. Sometimes, 
 when a part is well coloured and decently painted, 
 I am under the dreadful necessity of erasing it, 
 because it is too small, or too large, or has some 
 other defect in the drawing. The whole figure ought 
 to be completely determined on, at the 'first, or 
 second sitting; after which the parts may be suc- 
 cessfully studied. 
 
 " The waving line and graceful playfulness of the 
 joints of children, closely imitated, would immortalise 
 the painter who should persevere in his observations 
 on them which he may, ad infinitum. 
 
 " Sparkle may be obtained without glazing. Lin- 
 nell's observations, with respect to the warmth of 
 objects, against the cold sky always opposite the 
 sun is perfectly correct. 
 
 " Proportion of the parts is a quality my pictures 
 have never yet possessed in a proper degree. 
 
 " The figures in my pictures do not induce the spec- 
 tator to think I know what is under the clothing.
 
 62 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 (Haydon.) I saw a picture, this evening, of a lady, 
 as large as life, where the head was not large enough 
 for a girl of ten years old. Should I have observed 
 this in a work of my own ? 
 
 * * * April 25th. Went to Spring-gardens, 
 to see Hay don's picture of " The Judgment of Solo- 
 mon." In this most extraordinary production, there 
 is everything for which the Venetian school is so 
 justly celebrated ; with this difference only, that Hay- 
 don has considered other qualities equally necessary. 
 Most men who have arrived at such excellence in 
 colour, have seemed to think they had done enough ; 
 but with Haydon it was evidently the signal of his 
 desire to have every greatness of every other school. 
 Hence, he lays siege to the drawing and expression of 
 Nature, which, in this picture, he has certainly carried 
 from, and in the very face of, all his competitors. Of 
 the higher qualities of Art are, certainly, the tone of 
 the whole picture ; the delicate variety of colour ; the 
 exquisite sentiment in the mother bearing off her 
 children; and the consciousness of Solomon in the 
 efficacy of his demonstration of the real mother. In 
 short, Haydon deserves the praise of every real artist 
 for having proved that it is possible (which, by the 
 way, I never doubted,) to add all the beauties of co- 
 lour and tone, to the grandeur of the most sublime 
 subject, without diminishing the effect upon the 
 heart. Haydon has done all this ; and produced, 
 upon the whole, the most perfect modern picture I 
 eve"r saw ; and that at the age of seven-and-twenty !
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. DO 
 
 " 30th. The Marquis of Lansdowne desires to 
 know the price of my ' Bird-catchers.' I wrote him 
 the terms one hundred guineas (including frame). 
 Sunday morning I received his polite note, agreeing to 
 give me that sum. I do not think I was ever so much 
 gratified by the sale of a picture, as in this instance. 
 
 * * # Sentiment in pictures can only be pro- 
 duced by a constant attention to the food given to the 
 painter's mind. A proper dignity and respect for 
 one self is the only shield against the loathsomeness of 
 vulgarity. 
 
 " The habit of determining the course of action 
 would prevent a great waste of time. In every un- 
 gratified desire, the mind is so worried by the conti- 
 nuance of doubts on both sides, that a complete 
 debility ensues ; the consequence of which is an un- 
 certainty in all its speculations. What renders this 
 still more vexing is, that, in general, the things about 
 which it has the greatest doubt, are either above its 
 powers, or beneath its notice. For an instance of the 
 latter : a man orders a coat he is in doubt about 
 the colour perhaps, he says, I will wait a few days. 
 During these few days the cursed coat so frequently 
 interrupts his more useful cogitations, that he orders 
 one at last of, most likely, a colour he hates, merely 
 to get rid of the subject. Had he, in the first 
 instance, determined upon it before he set about 
 anything else, his mind would have been in a more 
 clear and proper state to receive other ideas. 
 This would soon become a habit, and he would
 
 64 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 acquire a power, from necessity, of fixing his 
 
 attention. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 " November 7th. The election at the Academy, (at 
 which, I afterwards heard, I was chosen an Associate.) 
 Sketched at home in the evening felt too anxious 
 about my election to do much. 8th. Received 
 notice from the Secretary of my election. 12th. To 
 aim greatly at reformation in the leading features of 
 my private character the little weaknesses that 
 almost escape detection, and which, notwithstanding 
 their pettiness, seem to be the obstructing cause to 
 all dignity of character in an artist, or a man. This 
 improvement is not to be made by ridiculous and 
 hasty resolutions, but by private reflections. The 
 result, and not the means, ought to be seen. 16th. 
 Received notice to attend the Council of the Royal 
 Academy, on Tuesday 22nd, at nine o'clock in the 
 evening, for the purpose of receiving my diploma, 
 and signing the instrument of institution. 17th. 
 From the great success I have met with, the eagerness 
 I feel to deserve it, and my struggles against sluggish- 
 ness, I never was more confused in my intellects than 
 now dreadful want of confidence my mind must 
 be weeded method quite necessary good habits 
 may be gained by watchfulness bad habits grow of 
 themselves ; good ones require cultivation. * * * 
 December 3rd. Remarkably dark day. This circum- 
 stance combined with the interruptions occasioned by 
 some callers, and my own idleness, produced a great
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 65 
 
 want of exertion on my part. Having taken snuff 
 occasionally, since Tuesday last, and finding it hurt- 
 ful, I again leave it off. Should I take any more, I 
 will set down my reasons for so doing bad, or 
 good. 
 
 " Suppose the mind (vital principle, director of the 
 body, or whatever else it may be called) obliged to 
 pass through, or make use of certain organs, to the 
 end that it may attain some purpose suppose these 
 organs in a morbid state, will the operations be 
 sound ? Certainly not. No more so than the 
 attempt will be successful of a man who wishes to go 
 a journey on foot and breaks one of his legs by the 
 way. Then, how clearly does the necessity appear 
 of doing as much as is in our power to keep these 
 organs in the most perfect state. What excuse has 
 the man to offer, who suffers them, or occasions them 
 to be, in an unfit condition for the use of the mind ?" 
 
 Such are the passages in the Diary of 1814, most 
 worthy of attention. Those entries of a purely 
 personal nature which have been inserted here, have 
 not been introduced without a reason. It has been 
 considered that they may contribute to vindicate 
 genius from the conventional accusations of arrogance 
 and irregularity, which are too frequently preferred 
 against it, by demonstrating, in the instance and from 
 the reflections of the subject of this biography, that 
 the eager desire for fame may exist, without the 
 slightest alloy of presumption ; and that an ardent
 
 66 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 devotion to an intellectual pursuit, is not incompatible 
 with the minutest attention to the moral cultivation 
 of the heart, and the social training of the mind. 
 
 The painter's circle of friends now began to widen. 
 Men of genius and reputation sought his acquaintance, 
 and found his qualifications for society of no mean 
 order. A plan of reading, various and extensive ; an 
 unwearied anxiety to receive and impart information 
 on all subjects, from his Art downwards and up- 
 wards ; and a fund of anecdote and capacity for 
 humour, not easily exhaustible, fitted him well for 
 the general topics discussed among the circles to 
 which he was now welcomed. Among the gayest of 
 his companions, at this period, were that " joyousest 
 of once embodied spirits " Elliston, and that invete- 
 rate jester and capital writer, James Smith; both 
 of whom found in the artist's company no mean 
 stimulus to conversational exertion; for when the 
 ball of wit was once set going, it was rarely suffered 
 to drop in Mr. Collins's hands. As an humble 
 example of this should the incident not appear too 
 trifling an anecdote may be mentioned, not un- 
 worthy, perhaps, to take its place among the laconic 
 curiosities that enliven our jest-books. 
 
 Mr. Leslie, R.A., and an artist named Willis, were 
 guests, one evening, at the painter's house; when 
 Willis left his friends rather abruptly in spite of 
 their remonstrances before the usual hour of parting. 
 After he was gone his host sent out for some oysters, 
 and proposed that Willis should be mortified, by
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 67 
 
 being informed of the supper that he had missed 
 through his hasty departure. Accordingly the painter 
 wrote on a large sheet of paper " After you left us 
 we had oysters ;" and sent it, without name or date, 
 or paying postage, (which was then threepence) to 
 Willis. The latter, however, discovered the hand- 
 writing; and, to revenge himself, sent back for 
 answer another letter not paid of course and only 
 containing the words : " Had you ? " He was never- 
 theless mistaken, if he imagined that he had beaten 
 his antagonist in brevity ; for, the next day, he 
 received, at the price of threepence again, an answer 
 to the interrogatory, "Had you?" in a letter con- 
 taining the eloquent monosyllable " Yes !" 
 
 Whether, in these days of intellectual profundity, 
 when books on abstract science decorate ladies' 
 boudoirs, and children lisp geology to the astounded 
 elders of a bygone generation, any appearance in 
 print of such superficialities as puns can hope to be 
 tolerated, is probably doubtful in the extreme. If, 
 however, those light skirmishers in the field of con- 
 versation still find favour in the eyes of any readers, 
 who may not yet be occupied in writing books to 
 prove that Moses blunders in his account of the 
 creation of the world, or in clearing up, wholesale, 
 the reputations of all historical bad characters, from 
 Oliver Cromwell and bloody Queen Mary, down to 
 "lions" of later days, the following samples of the 
 quick humour of Elliston and the elder author of 
 " Rejected Addresses," may not be found unworthy
 
 68 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 to revive, for a moment, in others, the hearty laughter 
 they once raised ,in those to whom they were origin- 
 ally addressed. 
 
 Mr. Collins and some friends were one night 
 sitting with Elliston in his box at the theatre, when 
 one of the inferior actors attracted their attention 
 by the extreme shabbiness of his costume, and the 
 general poverty of his whole appearance. His 
 stockings, particularly, were in a miserable condition ; 
 and the embroidered ornament at the ancle of one 
 called the " clock" was positively ragged. Elliston 
 first discerned the latter feature in the costume of his 
 humble brother actor ; and, in tragic seriousness of 
 tone, directly drew the painter's attention to it, in 
 the following words: " Watch his ' clock!' He got 
 it upon tick!" 
 
 Between James Smith and the painter, a good- 
 humoured reciprocation of jests of all sorts was the 
 unfailing accompaniment of most of their meetings. 
 The latter, however, in some instances, gained the 
 advantage of his friend, by calling in the resources of 
 his Art to the aid of his fancy, as an example of 
 which may be quoted his painting on the boarded 
 floor of his study, while Smith was waiting in the 
 next room, a new pen, lying exactly in the way of 
 any one entering the apartment. As soon as the 
 sketch was finished, the author was shown in, and 
 stopping short at the counterfeit resemblance, with an 
 exclamation at his friend's careless extravagance, 
 endeavoured to pick it up. A few days afterwards,
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 69 
 
 \vith the recollection of this deception strong in his 
 memory, Smith called again on .the painter, and 
 found him working on a picture with unusual lan- 
 guor and want of progress. Anxious to take the first 
 opportunity to return the jest of which he had been 
 the victim, Smith inquired in tones of great interest, 
 how his friend was getting on ? The ether replied 
 that he was suffering under so severe a headach as to 
 be almost incapable of working at all. " Ah," said 
 Smith, " I see why you have not got on ; you are 
 using a new material to-day, painting in distemper" 
 In the year 1815, my father exhibited at the Royal 
 Academy, " The Reluctant Departure," (sold to 
 Mr. Carpenter ;) " Half-holiday Muster," (sold to 
 Lady Lucas ;) and " A Harvest Shower," (sold to Mr. 
 Currie.) To the British Institution he contributed 
 in the same season two pictures, " A Cottage Child 
 at Breakfast," (sold to Sir Richard Hoare ;) and 
 " Reapers," a landscape. In " The Reluctant De- 
 parture," the incident of a mother taking leave of her 
 child as it lies in the nurse's arms, ere she descends to 
 a boat in the foreground, which a fisherman and his 
 boy are preparing to push off from shore, is treated 
 with singular boldness and simplicity of effect. The 
 drawing and action of the figures, the painting of the 
 water in the foreground, and of the bank rising 
 beyond it, with weeds and broken ground just visible 
 beneath, in shadow, and the depth and harmony of 
 tone thrown over the whole composition, combine to 
 make this picture a fine example of the painter's
 
 70 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 careful observation of Nature and industrious study 
 of Art. " Half -holiday Muster " will be found de- 
 scribed in a letter which will be immediately sub- 
 joined. The " Harvest Shower " was suggested on a 
 visit to Windsor, by a beautiful effect, produced 
 during a shower, by the appearance of bright clouds 
 behind falling rain. As soon as he perceived it, 
 although reminded by his companion, Mr. Stark, of 
 an engagement they had the moment before been 
 hastening to fulfil, Mr. Collins produced his sketch- 
 book; and, careless alike of rain and punctuality, 
 made a study of the scene, which he afterwards 
 transferred to canvass, and exhibited as above related. 
 " The Cottage Child at Breakfast," and the " Reap- 
 ers " are sufficiently indicated by their titles. From 
 the former picture the artist executed a beautiful 
 etching, included among a collection published by 
 Hogarth, during the latter period of his life, under 
 the title of " Painter's Etchings, by W. Collins, 
 R.A." 
 
 His papers for this year are principally occupied 
 by rules for conduct and experiments in practical 
 Art. Among the few entries of general interest in 
 them may be extracted the following : 
 
 DIARY OF 1815. 
 
 * * * I m ust get the sparkle and vigour of 
 objects in the sun ; considering the distance at which 
 most pictures are viewed, they ought to be painted 
 very sharp.
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 71 
 
 (( * # * i am now going to the Academy, where 
 for some days I shall be in the company of, and in 
 some measure on a footing with, the greatest painters 
 in the country. To aim at surpassing them all ; and, 
 that my mind may never more be prevented from 
 actual employment on this point, to discard all low 
 and useless acquaintance with men, or things, not 
 immediately connected with this aim. 
 
 t< * * * <p o s tudy in the country for future 
 figures and groupings, with the accompanying back- 
 grounds, and to make the most accurate painting and 
 drawing studies of anything in itself a subject : 
 sketches of anything I have too many. To be always 
 looking for what constitutes the beauty of natural 
 groups, and why they please in pictures. 
 
 * * * In 1801, 1 began in the autumn to draw ; 
 although previous to this I had made some attempts, 
 yet from this moment they were somewhat regular. 
 Not long after this, I was instructed by a few lessons 
 from T. Smith, to set a palette and begin to paint, 
 which I continued to do with some degree of per- 
 severance until, in 1805, I saw some necessity for 
 drawing the figure. After much difficulty and fret- 
 ting, I got into the Academy in the summer of 1806, 
 where I passed my most happy moments, regularly 
 attending that instructive and delightful place, the 
 place where I dared to think for myself. 
 
 " My great desire for improvement and my acquaint- 
 ance with those who could benefit me as a painter, 
 was at its height when and whilst I painted the fish-
 
 < MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 ing picture,* ' Blowing Bubbles,' and ' Boys Bath- 
 ing.' This was in 1809 and 1810. The notice 
 taken of the fishing picture also brought me ac- 
 quainted with some persons, from whom, although I 
 gained a great knowledge of the world, I profited 
 little as a painter, as the pictures I then painted, 
 although better, had less real study in them, and 
 were produced notwithstanding, instead of by the help 
 of the persons with whom I too frequently associated. 
 * * * I had some heavenly moments when in 
 company with my real and only friends, my pencil 
 and palette. * * * After this I studied as hard 
 as I could, but not as hard as I ought. * * * 
 I have served my apprenticeship (fourteen years 
 exactly.) Having now set up for myself, I must 
 become a master. * * * I purpose to aim more 
 at method and order ; and to begin, have determined 
 not to read in the morning, but to paint or draw all 
 day, and to go out when I feel any lassitude. To 
 attain lightness and correctness of drawing. My 
 lights are too equally diffused. I generally want a 
 form in my pictures. By painting three studies, and 
 drawing three nights each week, as well as painting 
 by night, I may improve much. * * * Why should 
 I have one weakness ? Why should I be anything 
 short of a fine painter ? I will certainly, at any 
 rate, have the consolation of knowing why. 
 
 "Why I am not so at this moment or, at least, 
 some of the causes why I am not so, are indolence, 
 
 * Entitled " Children Fishing."
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 7# 
 
 (only habitual), and too much of what is termed the 
 good fellow, by good fellows ; but by hard-headed and 
 *sensible men, downright weakness." 
 
 Such evidences as these of the painter's increased 
 longing after fame, and of his uncompromising repro- 
 bation in himself of the most venial habits and irre- 
 gularities, if they caused him to retrograde for a 
 moment in the pursuit of excellence, show that the 
 elevation he was now shortly to acquire in his range 
 of subjects, was already preparing in his mind. Cir- 
 cumstances, immediately to be detailed, suddenly and 
 roughly urged upon him this direction of his studies 
 towards higher and more remarkable progress in the 
 Art. An excursion in which he indulged himself, in 
 the autumn of this year, contributed, in no slight 
 degree, to awaken his mind to the near prospect of 
 the change in his style which was ere long to become 
 necessary. Accompanied by his friend Mr. Stark, he 
 visited Norfolk and its coast; and found himself 
 standing by the after-source of no inconsiderable por- 
 tion of his future popularity, as, sketch-book in hand, 
 he looked for the first time over the smooth expanse 
 of Cromer Sands. 
 
 Before his departure for Norfolk, he ventured on 
 a domestic change of some importance the removal, 
 by the advice of his friends, from the small and in- 
 convenient house in Great Portland-street, to a larger 
 and more eligible abode in New Cavendish-street. 
 His success with the Academy and the woild of Art, 
 
 E
 
 74 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 and the attention due to his interests as a professional 
 man, appeared, to all who knew him, to warrant his 
 incurring the increased expenses attendant on thus ' 
 making a more respectable appearance, as regarded 
 his abode. In a letter to Sir Thomas Heathcote, 
 written in answer to an application from that gentle- 
 man for a companion picture to one he already pos- 
 sessed from the painter's hand, Mr. Collins writes 
 hopefully as the context will show, too hopefully 
 upon his future prospects. 
 
 " To SIR T. F. HEATHCOTE, BART. 
 
 " 11, New Cavendish-street, 
 
 "18th July, 1815. 
 
 " Dear Sir, It is not a little extraordinary that I 
 should have a picture by me, precisely answering, in 
 subject, size, etc., your descriptions. The picture was 
 exhibited last month, under the title of ' Half-Holi- 
 day Muster,' (being an assemblage of village children, 
 playing at soldiers before a cottage door), and as 
 yours is an interior, I think this a most suitable 
 companion. Should you think proper, I shall feel 
 happy to have it sent for your inspection, which will 
 not be in the least inconvenient to me. The price, 
 including a frame of the right pattern, which I will 
 have made, will be a hundred guineas. 
 
 " I thank you much for the hope you express as 
 to my prosperity. I had intended to-morrow to 
 have called in St. James'-square, to inform you that I 
 have taken a very excellent house, in which I have
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 75 
 
 been three days ; and, as the situation and appear- 
 ance are advantageous, I think my prospects are not 
 altogether hopeless; although the artists have, this 
 season, had much reason to complain. 
 " I remain, etc., etc., 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 Of his excursion to Norfolk, the following inci- 
 dents are related by the painter's companion, Mr. 
 Stark : 
 
 " In 1815, he paid a visit with me, to my family 
 at Norwich. There is but little in the city, or its 
 immediate vicinity, to interest the painter ; and, after 
 two or three weeks' stay, we went to Cromer. An 
 early patron of his was, at that time, residing at 
 Cromer Hall (Mr. Reed), and he frequently dined 
 at his table. But, however pleasurable the hours 
 might have been to him so spent, he always re- 
 gretted, if the evening chanced to have been sunny, 
 that he had* been shut up from the study of Nature 
 under such favourable circumstances, sunlight being 
 his great object. He was much delighted with the 
 simple character of Cromer, N and with the general 
 colour and tone of its cliffs. The forms of these were 
 then, as they still are, very monotonous ; and some 
 late landslips have not improved their character. Yet 
 the impressions made upon his mind by the scenery 
 of this place, seem to have lasted through life ; for I 
 find, so late as 1845, a picture entitled, ' Cromer 
 Sands, Coast of Norfolk,' exhibited at the Royal 
 E 2
 
 76 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 Academy ; and many of the backgrounds to his coast 
 pictures I can trace to sketches made in this locality. 
 He was much amused, on one occasion, by the 
 remark of some fishermen. Having made a careful 
 study of some boats and other objects on the beach, 
 which occupied him the greater part of the day, 
 towards evening, when he was preparing to leave, 
 the sun burst out low in the horizon, producing a very 
 beautiful, although totally different effect, on the 
 same objects ; and, with his usual enthusiasm, he 
 immediately set to work again, and had sufficient light 
 to preserve the effect. The fishermen seemed deeply 
 to sympathize with him at this unexpected and addi- 
 tional labour, as they called it ; and endeavoured to 
 console him by saying, ' Well, never mind, sir; 
 every business has its troubles.' 
 
 "As near as I can remember, we remained at 
 Cromer about two months. He was indefatigable in 
 his pursuits while there ; but I have no recollection 
 of his having sketched any figures. His attention 
 appeared to be directed to the beach and cliffs, almost 
 exclusively." 
 
 The painter's own studies and impressions in Nor- 
 folk, are glanced at in the following letters to his 
 mother and brother : 
 
 " To MRS. COLLINS AND MR. F. COLLINS. 
 
 "Norwich, 1815. 
 
 "My dear Mother and Frank, My reason for 
 sending the last by mail was, that I began my letter
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 77 
 
 too late for the post, and made a parcel of it, thinking 
 it better to send it by that conveyance than keep it 
 from you another day. * * * When you send 
 the parcel, (I stand in great need of the shoes) I wish 
 you to put as a base, two, or three, or four, (or more,) 
 smooth, small panels. I wish to make some studies 
 more finished than I choose to do on millboard. I 
 do not wish them large. * * * I wish you would 
 write often, telling me how you keep your health, 
 how you like the house, whether you have found 
 any defects, or ' unpleasantries,' in or out of it : 
 how rich, or how poor, how the situation suits our 
 profession, and a thousand ' hows,' that would like 
 me well at this distance from you. From the day 
 you receive this, and as far back as you recollect, keep 
 a diary of the weather to compare with one I intend to 
 make. We have had much gloomy weather, and, 
 except eating, drinking, and visiting, I have not 
 done much. However, as I find much to admire, I 
 shall exert myself to bring some of it home. 
 
 " With regard to the comfort and pleasantness of 
 my situation in the family I am staying with, I cannot 
 hope to give you an adequate idea of it on paper, 
 at least on so small a quantity as I find I have left. 
 Suffice it to say, that Mr. Stark, his wife, and sons 
 are so much to my liking, that I feel as if I had been 
 connected with them by some closer tie than the one 
 that at present exists. He is a fine, open-hearted, 
 clear-headed, generous Scot; his wife, born in Nor- 
 folk, is in heart, a complete second to him. I can-
 
 78 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 not tell you how much, and how frequently, they talk 
 of you both, and wish you here. Mrs. Stark has 
 formed a decided friendship for my mother. I hope 
 this is one reason for my fondness for the family ; 
 and about ' his ain kinswoman/ old Jamie Stark is 
 continually ' speering.' I have also seen the daughter, 
 who appears to be made of the same material as the 
 rest of the family. 
 
 " I have met at this house, and at others in this 
 neighbourhood, some of the most acute and learned 
 men, from whom I have learnt enough to convince 
 me that intelligent men are of more service to each 
 other in a provincial place than in London. The 
 sharpness of the air, or some other quality of this 
 place, certainly tends to give a smartness to the 
 people, surpassing the inhabitants of any locality I 
 ever was in before. This, however, induces more 
 equality, or attempts at it, in the common people, 
 than is strictly consonant with my feelings. 
 
 " I will, in conclusion, put it to both your honours, 
 whether or not I deserve a long letter for all this 
 information. I am quite comfortable : how long may 
 I stay ? send for me, if you want me, 
 
 " Most affectionately yours, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 " To MRS. COLLINS. 
 
 "Cromer, September 18th, 1815. 
 
 " My dear Mother, On this my birthday, I know 
 not how I can be better employed than in writing to
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 79 
 
 you. My reasons for not having done so before were, 
 that I hoped to have had a letter from Mr. H , 
 (which has not been the case) and, more particularly, 
 because I had not made up my mind as to the time 
 of quitting Norfolk. My plan, at present, is to leave 
 this place for Norwich on Saturday next ; to visit 
 some places which I have not yet seen in that neigh- 
 bourhood ; and, in about a fortnight, to have the 
 pleasure of presenting myself to you in London. I 
 have made some sketches of sea-shore scenery, etc. ; 
 but, although I have opened the door of every cottage in 
 the place, I have not yet seen an interior good enough 
 for Mrs. Hand's picture. But I hope, and indeed 
 from the description received of it, feel no doubt that, 
 at a place called Arminghall, I shall get the thing itself. 
 " Tell Frank, that, although I have no (what is 
 termed) certainty of becoming rich, in the world, yet 
 I never lose hope ; and that it is my decided opinion, 
 that if the Almighty was to give us every thing for 
 which we should feel desirous, we should as often 
 find it as necessary to pray to him to take away, as to 
 grant new favours. Whatever happens, as nothing 
 can possibly happen without His permission, must be, 
 and is, good. The thousand cases I could bring 
 forward in proof of this assertion, (I mean cases 
 that I have met with since I saw you last) I shall 
 reserve till our meeting in London. * * * 
 "Most truly, dear Mother, 
 
 " Your affectionate son, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS."
 
 80 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 To the Exhibition of 1816, the painter contributed, 
 besides two portraits, a picture, called " The Argu- 
 ment at the Spring," and a sea-piece (afterwards 
 engraved) entitled " Shrimp Boys Cromer." The 
 first work was in his now popular and accustomed 
 style, and represented a young girl standing in the 
 water, and endeavouring to induce a little urchin, 
 ready stripped for the bath, to approach her and 
 submit himself to the process of ablution. The 
 second displayed extraordinary truth to Nature and 
 originality of arrangement, but could hardly be said, 
 though a sea-side view, to be intellectually the 
 commencement of the series of coast-scenes, which 
 he was afterwards to produce. It was an evidence, 
 rather, of the dawning of the capability for new efforts 
 in the Art, than of the triumph of the capacity itself. 
 How that capacity became suddenly awakened and 
 called forth, it is now necessary to relate. 
 
 Although Mr. Collins's pictures this year were 
 sold " The Argument at the Spring," being dis- 
 posed of to Mr. Williams, and the scene at Cromer 
 purchased by Sir Thomas Heathcote, (probably as 
 the companion picture he desired ; " Half-Holiday 
 Muster," having been ultimately bought by Lady 
 Lucas) his pecuniary prospects, towards the autumn, 
 became alarmingly altered for the worse. Liberal 
 and discriminating as many of the patrons of Art 
 were in those days, they were few in number. The 
 nation had not yet rallied from the exhausting effects 
 of long and expensive wars ; and painting still
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 81 
 
 struggled slowly onward, through the political obsta- 
 cles and social confusions of the age. The remunera- 
 tion obtained for works of Art, was often less than half 
 that which is now realised by modern pictures, in 
 these peaceful times of vast and general patronage. 
 Although every succeeding year gained him increased 
 popularity, and although artists and amateurs gave 
 renewed praise and frequent encouragement to every 
 fresh eifort of his pencil, Mr. Collins remained, as 
 regarded his pecuniary affairs, in anything but 
 affluent, or even easy circumstances. Passages in 
 his Journal for this year, will be found to indicate his 
 own consciousness of the gradual disorder that was, 
 at this period, fast approaching in his professional 
 resources. 
 
 JOURNAL OF 1816. 
 
 "January 1st, 1816. Went with Willis to the 
 Elgin Marbles, observed the simple attitudes of some 
 of the figures to be peculiarly adapted to a new style 
 of portrait. Then to Westminster Abbey, where I 
 heard the organ playing, etc., and saw the bad 
 monuments of some modern sculptors. I must write 
 notes in my book before the thing criticised, 
 mentioning the name, etc. ; for I have seen most 
 of the objects in this place often enough, but having 
 forgotten them, I lost my time looking at them 
 again, and coming, most likely, to the same conclu- 
 sion, again to be forgotten, unless I keep a book for 
 E 3
 
 82 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 the purpose of entering everything I think worthy of 
 remark. 
 
 " * * * Some time since I praised, from charitable 
 and opposition motives, a certain picture, certainly 
 much more than it deserved. I was told the other 
 day, by an inferior artist, that he could not much 
 value the opinion of one who had so much deceived 
 him. 
 
 <( * * * F ee }i n g the thing, and being able to 
 express it, makes the difference between amateur and 
 painter some persons put their ideas better than 
 others. Has a man who cannot put them so clearly . 
 as to be understood, the ideas at all ? Can he dis- 
 tinctly see it could he not describe it, if he did ? 
 
 " * * * April 13th. Chatted with a visitor till 
 twelve, when I posted this dreary ledger, on a dreary, 
 black-looking April day, with one sixpence in my 
 pocket, seven hundred pounds in debt, shabby clothes, 
 a fine house, a large stock of my own handyworks, 
 a certainty (as much, at least, a certainty, as anything 
 short of 'a. bird in the hand' can be) of about a 
 couple of hundreds, and a determination unshaken 
 and, please God, not to be shook by anything of 
 becoming a great painter, than which, I know no 
 greater name. Although I have not at this moment 
 a single commission of any kind whatever, I have 
 property considerably more than adequate to dis- 
 charge the debt above-mentioned I mean property 
 that would, even in these worst of times, sell for such 
 a sum. Therefore, should my present views prove
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 8.3 
 
 abortive, I shall not lose my independence which 
 whilst I have, I want no more. 
 
 a * * * j u }y 5th t How comes it that after all 
 my struggles, I am at this moment so poor in purse ? 
 Those of my friends able to push me, are not inclined ; 
 and those inclined, not able. Now, as it is impos- 
 sible to rise in the world, without connection con- 
 nection I must have. Therefore, I will paint some 
 high personage, for the next Exhibition. (Why not 
 the Princess Charlotte ?) For my own comfort, I 
 must paint this, as well as everything else I touch, in 
 a superior style. I have no reason to be dissatisfied 
 with the public judgment on my works, although, 
 from various causes, I am not rewarded agreeably 
 to, or consistent with, their acknowledgment of my 
 deserts. As I have great reason to believe that 
 their approbation of any particular picture (although 
 not the one that I consider the best, at the time) is 
 the criterion, I shall certainly bow to it. In the 
 particular instance of the Cromer scene, I feel now 
 that their selection is marked by judgment: the 
 faults, however, of the ( Spring,' I hope to be able 
 to remedy in my future productions for which 
 purpose, I will note those objections which have 
 been made by others, and follow them with a critique 
 of my own. * * * " 
 
 Hopeful as the painter's anticipations still con- 
 tinued, untiring as were his efforts to extricate him- 
 self from his gathering embarrassments, they did not
 
 84 MEMOIRS OP THE LIFE OF 
 
 bring with them the success and security that he 
 desired. The autumn was approaching, his exertions 
 were the main support of his family, he had 
 attempted to render them more advantageous by 
 removing to a convenient and well situated dwelling ; 
 and now, to his dismay, he found, as the season 
 advanced, that his income grew more and more 
 insufficient to supply even the daily demands 
 economical though they were of his new scale of 
 expenditure; and that, unless some sudden change 
 took place in his fortunes, his affairs were threatened 
 after all his industry, and all his successes by no 
 less a visitation than absolute ruin. 
 
 A calamity so severe and disheartening as this would 
 have overwhelmed a man of inferior mental powers, 
 it stimulated the subject of this biography, however, 
 to fresh effort, to stronger determination, to more 
 vigorous hope. Gradually and surely, year by year 
 and thought by thought, his old boyish anxiety to 
 draw the sea at Brighton, had been expanding within 
 him into a higher and finer aim ; and, as he now 
 looked the hard necessities of his position in the face, 
 as he remembered the approval bestowed on the 
 Cromer sea-piece, and as he saw that he must grasp 
 at wider popularity, or sink at once into penury and 
 failure, his mind opened at once to a knowledge of 
 its resources, and to a discovery of all that it had 
 hitherto left unstudied and unachieved on the English 
 coast. That which, under happier circumstances, 
 might have been a gradual process, became, under
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 85 
 
 the pressing influence of necessity, a sudden opera- 
 tion a thorough conviction that inexhaustible Nature 
 presented, in the scenery and population of the 
 shores of England, a fund of untried and original 
 material for the capacities of Art. Thus has it ever 
 been with genius. Thus, as the child of chance and 
 the creation of sudden accident, does that mysterious 
 gift vindicate its unearthly origin. The inferior 
 faculties and accomplishments of the mind are under 
 human control, are linked visibly to the chariot of 
 journeying Time ; but, genius owns no mastery, bows 
 to no application, lives for no season. In one unre- 
 garded moment it springs into being, on the mute, 
 obedient soil of the human mind ! To the veriest 
 trifles, the merest chances, is the world indebted for 
 the most eloquent appeals of mortal intellect that 
 have been addressed to it. A boyish frolic, or a 
 momentary want, a heartless insult, or a careless jest, 
 is the Prometheus that steals from its native heaven 
 this hidden fire, this creating spirit that kindles in 
 the poet's verses, and glows in the painter's forms. 
 
 Whatever intellectual rank Mr. Collins's sea-pieces 
 may be considered to hold, as original and popular 
 works of Art, it is not to be doubted that from them 
 his highest celebrity as a painter first arose ; and it is 
 not less certain, that the immediate awakening of his 
 mind to the conviction of the real extent of its capa- 
 cities, and the discovery of the direction which those 
 capacities for the future should take, was coeval 
 with the sudden responsibilities forced upon him by
 
 86 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 his embarrassments at this period. Once conceived, 
 his purpose was immediately settled. He determined 
 to quit London and London friends ; to proceed to 
 Hastings ; and there to make, on new principles, a 
 series of studies on the coast, which should enable 
 him to exhibit such thoroughly original works as 
 would obtain for him an honourable celebrity, relieve 
 his family and himself from the difficulties which 
 oppressed them, and procure him the satisfaction of 
 having restored the prosperity of his household, by 
 the honest exertions of his own genius. 
 
 But so serious had the pecuniary pressure of his 
 position now become, that he looked in vain for even 
 the inconsiderable means necessary to accomplish this 
 saving progress towards prosperity and fame. To 
 procure any immediate assistance by his professional 
 exertions in London was impossible, and to leave his 
 mother and brother to struggle with their difficulties 
 (the instant settlement of some of which had now 
 become imperative), and depart for Hastings under 
 all obstacles, was equally impracticable. At length, 
 emboldened by this positive absence of pecuniary 
 resources, he resolved, though at the risk of losing a 
 valuable patron and generous friend, to state his case, 
 and apply for an advance of money (on the strength, 
 I believe, of a picture he was commissioned to paint 
 for him) to Sir Thomas Heathcote. 
 
 The name of this good and generous man will be 
 found in Mr. Collins's Diary for 1812, coupled with 
 an offer of advancing a sum of money to him, during
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 87 
 
 the time of trouble and confusion consequent upon 
 his father's death. On this occasion, therefore, it 
 will be readily imagined that the painter's application 
 was not made in vain with the kindest expressions 
 of sympathy and interest, Sir Thomas Heath- 
 cote responded to it, by the remittance of the sum 
 desired. 
 
 The following passages in a letter from Mr. Collins 
 to his liberal patron, account in a manly and candid 
 spirit, for the disorder which was now prevailing in 
 his affairs; and which, it is to be remembered, was 
 produced by no careless extravagance on the part 
 either of his family, or himself. 
 
 " To SIR T. F. HEATHCOTE, BART. 
 
 " New Cavendish-street, 1816. 
 
 " Dear Sir, * * * A part of the amount I re- 
 quested of you, was necessary to prevent the seizure 
 of my goods for taxes ; and the remainder to pay a 
 note of hand, (which, being overdue, left me at the 
 mercy of a stranger who held it), and to procure a 
 few pounds to enable me to obtain some studies I 
 wished to make at Hastings. 
 
 " That you should be surprised ' at the pecuniary 
 distress of a person of such apparently prudent 
 habits,' I can readily conceive, for I am pointed out 
 as one who has been extremely fortunate and as far 
 as popularity may be considered fortunate, I must 
 confess myself peculiarly so; but I am sorely mortified 
 to add, that it is only in report that I am in affluent
 
 88 
 
 circumstances ; for allow me, sir, to assure you, that 
 in some cases, the whole produce of a twelvemonth's 
 study and its attendant expenses, lias been rewarded 
 by about a hundred guineas. The impossibility of 
 living upon this sum, with the absolute determination 
 I had set out with, to neglect no circumstance 
 that could in any way tend to my improvement 
 in Art, has produced difficulties not frequently 
 paralleled. 
 
 " From these difficulties I had the fairest prospect 
 of being relieved by the apparent increase of the 
 importance of Art, and consequently its greater 
 encouragement; but the unpropitious state of the 
 times has produced a sensation, calculated to damp 
 the hopes of those whose existence depends upon, 
 what are termed, superfluities. Should I have power 
 to struggle until these temporary evils are removed, 
 I trust that, with industry and economy, I shall be 
 enabled to devote my future years, undisturbed by 
 pecuniary evils, to a pursuit (in that case) replete 
 with happiness. 
 
 " In pursuance of our plan of economy, my mother 
 purposes letting half the house we now occupy ; which 
 will reduce our annual expenditure for our greatest 
 comforts, to the sum of sixty guineas. That I might 
 accede to this proposal, I have, at a trifling expense, 
 converted our attic into a most complete and de- 
 sirable study. 
 
 " The pleasing way in which you desire an explan- 
 ation of the causes of my difficulties, must plead my
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 89 
 
 excuse for a letter necessarily egotistic. But, the 
 interest you take in my success has produced an 
 inclination to convince you that I really feel your 
 kind condescension. 
 
 " I remain, dear Sir, 
 "Your obliged and obedient servant, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 With his departure for Hastings, which took place 
 immediately, the first epoch in my father's life as a 
 painter closes naturally with the first preparation 
 for a change in his style. I have endeavoured, up 
 to this portion of the narrative, to exhibit what may 
 be correctly termed, looking to his after efforts h ; s 
 early progress in the Art to trace the pictorial 
 faculty, as it orginated in his mind, from self-bias, 
 instruction and example to follow it in its gradual 
 development, during and after his academical studies 
 to display it, as fortified by steady industry, as 
 dignified by regular improvement and honourable 
 ambition, and as displaying itself in productions, 
 drawn from sources of interest, eloquent in their 
 simple homeliness to all. Arrived now at another 
 period, another division begins in the Biography, as 
 in the life that it commemorates a division which is 
 to describe the success of higher efforts, undertaken 
 not only at the promptings of the noble selfishness of 
 ambition, not only with the intention of attaining 
 purer originality of pictorial design and stronger
 
 90 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 
 
 distinctiveness of pictorial illustration, but also for 
 the sake of relieving the anxiety and meriting the 
 gratitude of others, and of widening the influences 
 of genius, to fit them the better, in the first instance, 
 for the protection of home.
 
 PART II, 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 1816 to 1820. 
 
 Sojourn at Hastings in the autumn of 1816 Letters to Mrs. Collins, 
 Mr. F. Collins, and Sir Thomas Heathcote Domestic and profes- 
 sional life in London Sir David Wilkie and Mr. F. Collins Mr. 
 Leslie, R.A. Anecdotes of the painter's dog " Prinny" Pictures 
 of 1817 Mr. Carey's criticism on the sea-piece called "Sun-rise" 
 Effect of the new coast scenes on the public Journey to Paris 
 with the late Washington Allston, A.R.A., and Mr. Leslie, R.A. 
 Journal of 1817 Recurrence of pecuniary difficulties second 
 application to, and timely loan from, Sir Thomas Heathcote 
 Pictures of 1818 Sea-piece purchased by the Prince Regent 
 Sir George Beaumont Lord Liverpool Increase of employment 
 Visit to the Duke of Newcastle's country seat, Clumber Park 
 Visit to Sir George Beaumont, at the Cumberland Lakes Anec- 
 dote of Southey Tour to Edinburgh with Sir Francis and Lady 
 Chantrey The late Mr. Marshall, of Leeds Remarks Sketches 
 Letter to Lady Beaumont Notice of, and letters to and from 
 Washington Allston, and S. T. Coleridge Commission from 
 Sir J. F. Leicester, Bart. Correspondence with that gentleman 
 Description of the picture painted for him Pictures of 1819 
 Extracts from Journal Tour to Devonshire Letters to Mrs. 
 Collins Elected Royal Academician in 1820. 
 
 HAD Hastings in 1816, been what Hastings is in 
 1848, the fashionable loiterers who now throng that 
 once unassuming little " watering-place," would have 
 felt no small astonishment when they set their listless
 
 92 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 feet on the beach, yawned at the library window, or 
 cantered drowsily along the sea-ward rides, in be- 
 holding, at all hours, from earliest morning to latest 
 evening, and in all places, from the deck of the 
 fishing boat, to the base of the cliff, the same solitary 
 figure, laden, day after day, with the same sketching 
 materials, and drawing object after object, through 
 all difficulties and disappointments, with the same 
 deep abstraction and the same unwearied industry. 
 Such a sight would have moved their curiosity, per- 
 haps excited their interest, could they have known 
 the object with which those sketches were made, or 
 have foreboded the pleasure and instruction which, 
 in their after combination they were so shortly to 
 convey. 
 
 But, in those days, the visitors to Hastings were 
 comparatively few, and the streets of the little 
 watering-place had not yet expanded into splendid 
 terraces, or spacious drives. Saving in the presence 
 of a few local idlers, my father remained undisturbed 
 by spectators, and unapplauded by friends. Con- 
 scious of the responsibility that now weighed upon 
 him, of the serious chances that awaited the result of 
 his new studies, he practised the most rigid economy, 
 and laboured with the most unfailing care. The 
 character, dress, implements, and employments of the 
 fisherman, every peculiarity in the expression of 
 his weather-beaten countenance, in the " fit " of his 
 huge leathern boots, in the " rig " of his stout boat, 
 was as faithfully transcribed by the hand, as his
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 93 
 
 manners, feelings and pleasures were watched by the 
 mind of the observant painter. Nor were the features 
 of the sea-landscape forgotten in their turn. They 
 were studied under all their characteristics, in the 
 glow of the morning sunshine, and the gloom of the 
 evening shower. The cliffs were copied in their dis- 
 tant grace, and in their foreground grandeur ; the 
 beach was portrayed now as it shone, dry and bril- 
 liant, in the midday sun ; now as it glistened, watery 
 and transparent, from the moisture of the retiring 
 wave. The ocean was transcribed in its calm, as the 
 clouds breathed their shadows over its cool surface, 
 and caught in its momentary action, as it dashed upon 
 the beach, or rocked the fishing-boat on its distant 
 waters : and the sky, in the variableness of its moods, 
 in its fleeting and magical arrangement of clouds, in 
 its spacious form and fathomless atmosphere, more 
 difficult of pictorial expression than all the rest, was 
 yet, like the rest, studied and mirrored on the faith- 
 ful paper which was soon to be the rich storehouse 
 of the artist's future wants. Studies such as these, 
 interrupted only by the intervals of his scanty and 
 simple meals and his needful rest in his humble 
 lodging, he persevered in for six weeks, nursing his 
 aspirations secretly in his own mind, and building his 
 hopes where he found his pleasures, in the aspect of 
 Nature and the capabilities of Art. 
 
 The subjoined are, unhappily, the only letters 
 written by him during his sojourn at Hastings. His 
 correspondence will, throughout his biography, be
 
 94 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 found to be in quantity the reverse of what it is in 
 quality. Cheerful, graphic, and unconstrained as are 
 most of his letters as compositions, they were all 
 written with great labour and hesitation, from the 
 nervous fastidiousness about the commonest words 
 and expressions which invariably possessed him when- 
 ever he took up the pen, and which made epistolary 
 employment so much a task and so little a pleasure 
 to him, that he avoided it on all ordinary occasions 
 with undisguised alacrity and delight. 
 
 "To MRS. COLLINS. 
 
 "Hastings, 1816. 
 
 " Dear Mother, The inconvenience occasioned by 
 my folly in not taking your advice with respect to the 
 boxes, namely, to send them by a porter before 
 seven, is not worth paper, any further than as it may 
 serve as a lesson. However, I give myself credit for 
 starting when I did ; for, although I ran almost all 
 the way, the coach was coming out of the inn-yard 
 when I reached it. But the impossibility of remedy- 
 ing an evil is its best cure, and the fineness of the 
 day, and the beauty of the road removed all unplea- 
 sant notions. A person who sat on the coach with 
 me, and who I expected was no joker, after about an 
 hour's ride, turned out exactly the reverse, and more 
 than this, an acquaintance Mr. Collard, who has 
 enabled me to look smart, by lending me a cravat, 
 marked, too, with his initials, ' W. C.' I have a 
 thousand other little things to say, but as I am under
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 95 
 
 the necessity of writing by daylight, my mind is on 
 the beach, and my only inducement to attempt this 
 employment at such an hour is in the hope that you 
 may receive my letter a day earlier than writing by 
 candlelight would admit of. 
 
 " The packages came safe last night, and I am very 
 
 comfortably situated in lodgings, (which are had with 
 
 difficulty, poor, dear things) as under. Frank's 
 
 handwriting is much improved, and negligently neat. 
 
 " Your affectionate son, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS. 
 " At Mrs. Nash's, All Saints'-street, Hastings." 
 
 The following letter to his brother, not only illus- 
 trates the painter's constant anxiety for the welfare 
 and pleasure of others, but exhibits some amusing 
 and creditable details of his conscientious principles 
 of economy under the straitened circumstances that 
 now oppressed his household : 
 
 " To MR. F. COLLINS. 
 
 "Hastings, 1816. 
 
 " Dear Frank, Your letter, with two halves of 
 five-pound notes, came safely. My plan of coasting 
 home I had entirely abandoned, before I received 
 your opinion on that head. I now purpose quitting 
 this place by the Wednesday's coach, should nothing 
 arise to prevent it. Now, as London is so dull, and 
 if there should be every prospect of a fine day on 
 Monday, (there is no Sunday coach,) you might come 
 down and return with me, if mother thought proper.
 
 96 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 You would then have one clear day to dip in the sea, 
 and stock yourself with some entirely new ideas. The 
 whole amount of the expense would be the coach, 
 provided you put two biscuits in your pocket, which 
 would answer as a lunch ; and I would have dinner 
 for you, which would not increase my expenditure 
 above tenpence. You could sleep with me, but as my 
 lodging is out on Wednesday, it would be encroach- 
 ing on a new week to stay any longer than Wednes- 
 day morning. I shall be at the place where the 
 coach stops for you, should you be able to come. 
 Write me nothing about it unless you have other 
 business, for a letter costs a dinner. * * 
 
 " Now, observe, I shall be most dreadfully hurt 
 and mortified if, during your absence, mother does 
 not get Mrs. Langdon to sleep in the house with her. 
 You are to consider, yourself, whether, under all the 
 circumstances, the journey is practicable. The ex- 
 pense will be about twenty-five shillings altogether. 
 This we can save in five-and-twenty other ways ; and 
 if everything at home can be made comfortable to 
 mother, I think it will be of service to your head. 
 Will the journey be too much for you ? sixty miles 
 down, and, to the best of my knowledge, the same 
 up again. 
 
 " I came here to make sketches and not acquaint- 
 ances. 1 have had no heavy time on my hands ; a 
 man should be able to bear his own company. * * 
 I spend my time more satisfactorily than I usually 
 do ; live at a fisherman's house ; lodging, twenty-five
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 97 
 
 shillings a week, (nothing to be had cheaper ;) but as 
 his wife cooks for me, and as I live upon fish and 
 tea, (and live well, too, sometimes to be sure with a 
 chop,) I have something to spare for models, which I 
 frequently make use of. * * 
 
 " Don't trouble yourself about the exact tint of 
 the painting-room wall. I shall cover it with sketches. 
 " Your affectionate brother, 
 
 "WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 At the beginning of October the painter returned 
 to London, and resumed his Journal in the following 
 manner : 
 
 "October, 1816. On Sunday, September 29th, 
 1816, I made a solemn resolution to abstain from any 
 compliance with desires calculated to weaken my 
 faculties. This resolution was made in St. Clement's 
 church, at Hastings ; and, as it has for its end the 
 improvement of my powers as an artist and a man, I 
 shall proceed to adopt a more strict and periodical 
 examination of my conduct, with a view to banish 
 from my constitution those inclinations to indolence, 
 which, by their unobserved agency, might overcome 
 my mental resources. 
 
 " I have for some years kept a common-place book 
 and diary ; but the irregularity with which it has 
 been attended to renders it little more than a book of 
 remorse. I shall, in order to make atonement for 
 this neglect, .consider it an imperative duty to render 
 the diary begun this day a more complete abstract of
 
 98 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 my employment of each four-and-twenty hours. It 
 has this moment struck my recollection, that the day 
 on which I made the above determination, which did 
 not occur to me at the time, was my dear father's 
 birthday. God grant him peace he had little here! 
 His life was one scene of narrow poverty ; which, to 
 my finite capacity, he less deserved than any one I 
 ever knew. ' God's holy will be done ! ' was his 
 saying under each affliction. 
 
 "22nd, Thursday. Arose at seven o'clock ; walked, 
 thought, and planned ; read and resolved ; hoped for 
 power to carry my plans into execution ; found my- 
 self in health and strength of body ; and, so far, with 
 no excuse for gloom. Strict attention will, I hope, 
 enable me to preserve this necessary condition of my 
 faculties. 
 
 " At twelve, began to paint upon Mr. Heathcote's 
 picture of ' The Kitten Deceived,' upon which I 
 worked till five o'clock. 23rd. Painted upon Mr. 
 Heathcote's picture until five o'clock. Mrs. L 
 called. In my endeavour to paint while I was talking 
 to her, (or rather she to me,) I painted the wrong side 
 of the kitten in the looking-glass introduced into the 
 picture. This shows the futility of attempting to 
 paint with company, and the necessity of giving the 
 entire attention to the work in hand. Went in the 
 
 evening to Mr. P 's, for the first time, where, in 
 
 attempting to be as precise as himself, I rather 
 bewildered myself. 24th. Painted till half-past 
 two; went out to walk till dinner. At Murphy's
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A, 99 
 
 chess party in the evening. 25th. Painted on Mr. 
 Heathcote's picture till two o'clock, with repeated 
 interruptions from the smoking of the chimney, the 
 inconvenience of which was such as to induce me to 
 submit to the alternative of taking down the grate, 
 and having it reset upon my own plan. This occupied 
 
 the rest of the day. Henry came to give us a 
 
 lesson in chess. I fell asleep frequently between the 
 moves. This I tried all in my power to prevent. I 
 hope it is not a disease with me, perhaps being up 
 so late might have produced this effect. 26th. My 
 study is in a miserable state, in consequence of the 
 grate being reset ; painted, however, till four o'clock ; 
 read the ' Antiquary ' in the evening till twelve. * * 
 November 1st. Up at eight o'clock ; heavy and 
 gloomy, head wandering. Began to clear away ob- 
 stacles at twelve. Read No. 127 of the * Rambler ;' 
 then to study upon Mr. Heathcote's picture till five. 
 Johnson says, in the above number, ' When indolence 
 once enters upon the mind, it can scarcely be dis- 
 possessed but by such efforts as very few are willing 
 to exert.' Perhaps I may be one of the 'few.' By 
 a close examination of everything I see and hear, I 
 hope to improve as a painter and as a man. 2nd. 
 
 Went to in the evening. My hours there were 
 
 most foolishly, or rather, as affording a lasting lesson 
 to me, most profitably spent. 3rd. Rose ill ; talked 
 with visitors till three o'clock ; also upon religion 
 with Mr. Allston, whom I like much. Deduced the 
 necessity of three resolutions from my follies of last 
 F 2
 
 100 
 
 evening, all to be rigidly enforced; read at night. 
 * * * 5th. If I am indolent during the progress 
 of a picture, that picture, at every sight of it, will 
 make me so uncomfortable that I either risk putting 
 it by unfinished, or getting it out of hand in a hasty 
 manner." 
 
 Sentiments such as those above displayed will 
 sufficiently testify that Mr. Collins's expedition to 
 Hastings was morally, as well as intellectually, useful 
 to him ; and will, moreover, explain the secret of the 
 unwearied endurance with which he struggled against 
 the new disappointments which it will be seen 
 misfortune for a time still directed against him 
 provided though he now was with the material, 
 and the capacity to produce the most forcible 
 pictorial appeals to the world of Art. Before how- 
 ever proceeding further in the progress of the 
 painter at this important period of his life, it will 
 not, in the first place, be irrelevant to show that one 
 at least of his kind friends still continued to watch 
 his doubtful fortunes with interest, by the insertion 
 of the following letter, written by him in answer to 
 a most liberal and spontaneous offer of payment in 
 advance for a commissioned picture, by Sir Thomas 
 Heathcote : 
 
 To SIR THOMAS HEATHCOTE, BART., 
 
 "Dec. 7th, 1816. 
 
 " Dear Sir, I shall not attempt to describe 
 the pleasure I received upon the receipt of your
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 101 
 
 letter of yesterday, nor to apologize for accept- 
 ing your kind offer, as, after the account of my 
 arduous situation which I troubled you with in 
 a former letter, it would be perfectly inconsistent 
 to conceal the necessity you have so generously 
 anticipated. 
 
 " From my excursion to Hastings I returned early 
 in October, with a sufficient number of sketches and 
 observations to complete the pictures I propose 
 exhibiting in the ensuing season ; and should it 
 please God to continue that degree of health which 
 I have so happily enjoyed for the last twelve months, 
 I hope to prove that I have not been idle. 
 
 " By the exhibition of these pictures, I trust I 
 shall not lose that favour the public has shown 
 towards my works ; but, although I cannot exist 
 without fame, yet I cannot live upon it, so that, in 
 order to accomplish the increase of my resources, I 
 must devote some of my intervening time to the 
 production of one, or perhaps two highly-finished 
 small portraits. Upon this subject, Mr. Owen has 
 kindly given me advice, so decisive, that I shall not 
 fail to adopt it. On this head, I hope to have the 
 pleasure of communicating more at large when you 
 favour me with a call. * * * 
 
 " Yours obliged and obediently, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 It is now necessary, viewing the painter as already 
 provided with his new stock of materials, to return
 
 102 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 with him to the mingled pleasures and anxieties of 
 his London home. Designs for his projected efforts, 
 of all sizes and peculiarities, soon flowed from his 
 pencil ; and like the beginnings of all his other 
 works, were shown to his family and his friends, 
 before they were seriously undertaken for the ap- 
 proaching exhibition. In this peculiarity of his 
 character, he differed all his life from some of his 
 professional brethren. No man ever lived who less 
 affected mystery in his Art, or more thoroughly 
 despised the easy ambition of shining before a 
 " select few" the unworthy satisfaction of being 
 contented to remain the colossus of a clique, the 
 great man of a small party. His efforts, from first 
 to last, were addressed to every grade of his fellow 
 beings who were likely to behold them ; and were 
 tried in his own mind by no other final standard 
 than that of general approbation. 
 
 Among those whom he most frequently consulted 
 at the different stages of his pictures were his 
 brother and his friend Wilkie, to whom he had been 
 introduced while they were students together at the 
 Academy. The first of these companions and 
 advisers, Francis Collins, added to a quick and lively 
 intellect a profound knowledge of the theory of Art 
 and an uncommon capacity for just and intelligent 
 criticism qualities which his brother never omitted 
 to call into action for his benefit, and never found to 
 fail in directing and encouraging him aright. Of 
 Wilkie's capabilities as the adviser of his friend it is
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 103 
 
 unnecessary to speak. The powerful genius of that 
 simple-minded and amiable man never failed in its 
 deep sympathy with the efforts of his brother 
 painter. From the first to the last day of their 
 friendship, Wilkie and Collins sought each other's 
 advice and enjoyed each other's confidence, without 
 a moment's alloy on either side, of jealousy or 
 doubt: both were as fully impressed with the 
 necessity, as they were happy in the privilege, of a 
 connection too rare among the members of their 
 profession the free communication between painters 
 of their thoughts, their hopes, and their undertakings 
 in the Art. Each was more the enthusiast of the 
 other's genius than of his own rejoicing equally in 
 each other's triumphs, and submitting equally to 
 each other's criticisms. 
 
 Of the painter's household, at this period, one who 
 was then, as afterwards, ever among the most wel- 
 come of his guests, and who still survives for the 
 advantage of modern Art, Mr. Leslie, R.A., thus 
 writes, in a communication with which he has favoured 
 me on the subject of his departed friend : 
 
 " Very many of the pleasantest evenings of that 
 period of my life" (1816 and 1817) "were spent at 
 your father's house, in New Cavendish-street, looking 
 over his beautiful sketches and valuable collection of 
 prints. The recollection of your uncle Francis whom 
 you, I should think, can hardly remember is asso- 
 ciated with those evenings. He was a most agreeable 
 man, and had a fund of quiet humour he had also
 
 104 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 great information on all matters connected with the 
 Art, and an excellent judgment. Your father's 
 house was therefore to me like a school but a 
 school of the most pleasant kind." 
 
 The group that, in those days, often assembled in 
 my father's painting- room, as they sat in judgment on 
 his projected pictures, would have formed no unworthy 
 subject for a picture in themselves. The calm seri- 
 ous features of Wilkie, as he silently and thought- 
 fully contemplated the work of his friend, contrasted 
 by the merry countenance and animated gestures of 
 Francis Collins, as he hinted a joke, or hazarded a 
 criticism the appearance on the scene of Mrs. Col- 
 lins, a remarkably dignified and handsome woman, con- 
 templating with all a mother's affectionate admiration 
 the progress of her son's labours ; and the position of 
 the painter himself, as he sat at his easel, now adding 
 and altering, and now watching the approbation of Wil- 
 kie's attentive eye these, surrounded by the quaint 
 furniture of the little studio the heap of variously- 
 tinted canvasses here ; the articles of fisherman's 
 clothing and models of fishermen's boats there ; the 
 finished studies, hung confusedly on the walls ; and 
 the painter's implements, scattered over the tables; 
 in one place the green bough ravaged from Hamp- 
 stead fields, as a study for foliage ; in another the 
 toppling " lay figure," displaying, above, the counter- 
 feit resemblance of the female form, and (" Desinat 
 in piscem mulier formosa supreme") clothed at its 
 lower extremities with a fisherman's apron and boots
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 105 
 
 might have formed, altogether, a representation of 
 an interior, not unworthy to rank, in point of interest, 
 with many of those which have been already sub- 
 mitted, successfully, on canvass to the public eye. 
 
 While I am occupied in mentioning the com- 
 panions of the artist's home, I must not omit to 
 notice one who was ever as ready to offer his small 
 aid and humble obedience as were any of his 
 superiors, to confer the benefit of their penetrating 
 advice I refer to Mr. Collins's dog " Prinny" 
 (Prince). This docile and affectionate animal had 
 been trained by his master to sit in any attitude 
 which the introduction of a dog in his pictures (a 
 frequent occurrence) might happen to demand. So 
 strict was " Prinny's" sense of duty, that he never 
 ventured to move from his set position, until his 
 master's signal gave him permission to approach his 
 chair, when he was generally rewarded with a lump 
 of sugar, placed, not between his teeth, but on his 
 nose, where he continued to balance it, until he was 
 desired to throw it into the air and catch it in his 
 mouth a feat which he very seldom failed to 
 perform. On one occasion, his extraordinary in- 
 tegrity in the performance of his duties was thus 
 pleasantly exemplified : My father had placed him 
 ou the backs of two chairs his fore legs on the rails 
 of one, and his hind legs on the rails of the other 
 and, in this rather arduous position, had painted from 
 him for a considerable time, when a friend was 
 announced as waiting for him in another apartment. 
 
 F3
 
 106 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 Particularly desirous of seeing this visitor immedi- 
 ately, the painter hurried from the room, entirely for- 
 getting to tell " Prinny" to get down ; and remained 
 in conversation with his friend for full half an hour. 
 On returning to his study, the first object that 
 greeted him was poor " Prinny," standing on his 
 " bad eminence" exactly in the position in which he 
 had been left, trembling with fatigue, and oc- 
 casionally venting his anguish and distress in a low, 
 piteous moan, but not moving a limb, or venturing 
 even to turn his head. Not having received the 
 usual signal, he had never once attempted to get 
 down, but had remained disconsolate in his position 
 " sitting" hard, with nobody to paint him, during the 
 long half-hour that had delayed his master's return. 
 
 Out of the mass of his new designs, Mr. Collins 
 selected two, which, when completed, were exhibited 
 with other pictures in his usual style, at the Royal 
 Academy Exhibition of 1817. They were entitled, 
 " Fishermen coming Ashore before Sunrise," and 
 " Sunrise." To the latter picture, a melancholy 
 interest attaches itself. As it was the first, so it was 
 among the last of the great sea-pieces he ever painted ; 
 a repetition of it, having been produced by him at 
 the Exhibition of 1846, the year in which his em- 
 ployments in the Art ceased for the public eye 
 for ever! 
 
 In " Fishermen coming Ashore before Sunrise," 
 the left corner of the sky is tinged by a mild, dawning 
 light, which rises over a bank of misty vapour, and
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 107 
 
 touches the wild, sharp edges of a large cloud, 
 stretching across the heaven towards the light. 
 Above this, still lingers the deep, purple, transparent 
 atmosphere of the departing night, studded, in one 
 or two places with the glimmer of a fading star. 
 Beneath, the fresh, buoyant sea, dances onward to 
 the foreground, garnished here and there fantastically 
 with the rising light. In front, a single fishing-boat 
 (whose large sail, flapping lazily against the mast, 
 rises grandly against the lighter part of the sky) 
 is stranded in shallow water. Around, and on it, 
 stand the burly fishermen, hauling in their nets over 
 the wet sand. In the distance is seen a town, faintly 
 discernible on the cliffs that rise on the right hand of 
 the picture ; while, on the horizon, appears the sail 
 of another boat, approaching the beach. The tone 
 of colour in this elaborate work is dark, yet transpa- 
 rent representing a sort of brightening obscurity, 
 and suggests at every point the mysterious morning 
 stillness which reigns over the scene. The picture 
 was purchased by the late Mrs. Hand. 
 
 Of " Sunrise," I am enabled to provide a graphic 
 and masterly criticism, extracted from Mr. Carey's 
 " Descriptive Catalogue of the Gallery of Sir J. F. 
 Leicester, Bart;" (afterwards Lord de Tabley) in 
 whose collection the picture was placed. 
 
 " Two fisher-boys are here, on the shore, at low 
 water. One is kneeling in a front view, with a turbot 
 in his hand, and his fish-basket beside him. He is 
 looking up, in conversation with his companion, who
 
 108 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 stands beside him with his back towards the spec- 
 tator. The latter has his prawn-nets suspended 
 upon an implement like a short boat-hook, over his 
 shoulder ; and has also a small basket, slung at his 
 back. The reflections of the rising sun are expressed 
 with great richness on the face of the kneeling boy ; 
 and the warm light, with a vigorous glow, on the 
 other. These figures are transcripts from Nature, 
 painted with that admirable truth which stamps a 
 superior value on the works of this artist. They 
 occupy the right side of the rocky beach, and a large 
 dog, of the Newfoundland breed, stands behind the 
 prawn-fisher in the centre of the foreground. A 
 buoy and chain, left aground by the tide, are the 
 only objects in the left corner. A thin flow of water 
 is visible in some parts of the strand ; and, in the 
 middle ground, a pier extends into the sea. A 
 boat-builder's yard is behind it, with vessels lying 
 dry a horse and figures are seen near them and a 
 small house stands on the side of a high and sheltering 
 hill, above. From the termination of this hill, the 
 sea forms the extreme distance, and extends the 
 whole length across the view. The sun has just 
 risen a little above the horizon, and its brightness 
 is reflected on the waves immediately behind the 
 kneeling fisher-boy, with wonderful truth, brilliancy, 
 and force of local colouring. The golden light 
 is opposed to the deep blue of the ocean, with 
 a lustre and vivacity to which no language can do 
 justice.
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 109 
 
 " On the extreme sea, some dark sails are discern- 
 ible against the bright light on the same line the 
 white sails of some fishing smacks, distinguished by 
 remote distance, glitter in the sun, and help to soften 
 the effect by spreading the light in these parts upon 
 the water. The dark sails of a fishing vessel, which 
 is much nearer the shore, rise above the horizon, take 
 away from the formality of its line, give a picturesque 
 effect to the angle formed by the boy, and contribute 
 to unite the shadows of the sea and sky. The ruddy 
 light is diffused upon the flickering clouds, upon the 
 water, upon the distant hill, the sands, and the 
 figures, with a variety and gradation of tint, a living 
 glow and lustre, which place this admirable tran- 
 script of nature, as a standard of excellence, among 
 the very finest productions of its class. As the 
 spectator views this fascinating picture, the cool 
 serenity of a clear summer morning, in all its aerial 
 loveliness, sheds a sweet and tranquil influence on 
 his mind." 
 
 " The Kitten Deceived" a little incident of rustic 
 life (painted for Sir T. Heathcote) pourtraying a 
 group of cottage children astonishing their favourite 
 kitten by exhibiting to it its resemblance in a 
 looking-glass ; with two other works, (portraits,) in 
 one of which three children are represented playing 
 at cards, in a garden, were the other productions of 
 the painter, exhibited at the Royal Academy this 
 year. The specimens of portraiture were painted in 
 pursuance of the purpose he had expressed, in his
 
 110 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 letter to Sir Thomas Heathcote, of increasing his 
 means of subsistence by the practice of that branch 
 of the Art. Fortunately, however, a few years more 
 worked such a change for the better in his circum- 
 stances that he was, from that time, spared all further 
 necessity of quitting his own chosen studies to paint 
 portraits, except when previously disposed to do so 
 from his own inclinations. 
 
 At the British Institution the painter's new con- 
 tributions were : " The Young Cottager's First 
 Purchase," (sold to Mr. Danby,) and " Preparing for 
 a Voyage," (sold to Mr. Ludlow.) Both works were 
 treated with the same truth and simplicity as their 
 predecessors in a similar style. 
 
 Of all these pictures, those which attracted, and 
 deserved to attract, the most attention, were the two 
 sea-pieces. They presented to the public eye, in their 
 genuine novelty of subject and treatment, the most 
 welcome of all sights, the appearance of thorough 
 originality ; and were at once admired and under- 
 stood. The Art which connected the figures with the 
 landscape, making each of equal importance, com- 
 bining each into wholeness and singleness of effect, 
 and yet gifting each with a separate importance and 
 charm, was immediately acknowledged. Individual 
 criticism found in them few latent excellencies, that 
 general observation had left undiscovered and unap- 
 proved. They were works that attained a superior 
 quality in all intellectual efforts whether in poetry, 
 painting, or music that of levelling themselves, in
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. Ill 
 
 expression, to the general capacity, while, in concep- 
 tion, they rose beyond it. 
 
 In the reception of these pictures by the public, 
 Mr. Collins found some reason to hope that he should, 
 ere long, accomplish his own extrication from his embar- 
 rassments a process which he felt must be necessarily 
 gradual, but which he now began to anticipate might 
 be as inevitably sure. Elated by these reflections 
 more sanguine than any that had occupied his 
 mind for some time past he permitted himself, this 
 year, the relaxation of a journey to Paris, in company 
 with Mr. Leslie, and Washington Allston, the cele- 
 brated American historical painter. 
 
 It is a peculiar quality in the mental composition 
 of those enthusiastically devoted to an intellectual 
 aim, that they make often unconsciously their very 
 pleasures and relaxations minister to the continued 
 study of their pursuit. This was remarkably the 
 case in the instance of the subject of this biography. 
 In sickness and in pleasure, as in health and occupa- 
 tion, he was incessantly garnering up some fresh 
 collection of material for his Art. Thus, in his 
 journey to Paris, not satisfied with the acquisitions 
 which, in the mere conversation of the two great 
 painters who accompanied him, he was sure to obtain, 
 he contrived in the short space of a month, and in 
 the midst of the gaieties and amusements of the 
 French capital, to make several copies of the great 
 works in the Louvre, and to gain matter for two 
 pictures of French subjects, and French localities,
 
 1 12 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 which he painted on his return to England. Of this 
 short expedition, no notices beyond a few travelling 
 memoranda, have been found in his Journal for 1817; 
 which, however, during a later period of the year, 
 when he was again occupied in London by his regular 
 studies, presents some remarks on Art worthy of 
 insertion, which are expressed as follows : 
 
 foundation of the connoisseur's 
 preference for the Dutch masters is exceedingly 
 slender ; it is the painter who in reality enjoys and 
 admires their works ; whose reputation (which in- 
 duces the connoisseur to purchase them) is derived 
 from the painter's appreciation of their technical 
 merits. Most of the Dutch pictures are composed 
 of subjects gross, vulgar, and filthy ; and where this 
 is not the case with the subjects, the characters 
 introduced are such as degrade the human species 
 below the level of the brute creation. As a proof of 
 the correctness of this statement, let any one put the 
 employments of most of the figures into words, and 
 see whether the description would be tolerated in 
 any decent company. And further, is the selection 
 of scenery in these works remarkable (or is it not 
 the reverse) for any of those features which delight 
 either in Nature or Poetry ? 
 
 " If the low and beastly characters pourtrayed by 
 the Dutch painters were introduced by way of con- 
 trast, or for some moral purpose, as in Hogarth's 
 works, there might be some excuse; but in their
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 113 
 
 hands, even children have the faces of squalid old 
 men and women: yet, notwithstanding these objec- 
 tions to them, they are most profoundly skilled in 
 the great technical beauties and difficulties of the 
 Art, and are accordingly highly valued by the artist. 
 As these merits, however, can only be tested by the 
 enlightened and initiated, persons who belong to 
 neither class must buy the Dutch pictures, for 
 purposes unconnected with a legitimate admiration 
 of painting. 
 
 <( * * * Daylight scenes are usually painted 
 by inferior artists, with shadows resembling, because 
 they are only painted at home, such as are never 
 found but in rooms peculiarly lighted these rooms 
 being, moreover, seldom seen by any but painters. 
 Hence, to those who are not accustomed to see 
 groups of ploughmen, cattle, etc., etc., within doors, 
 these pictures though they know not how to express 
 it fail in producing the desired effect. For, although 
 general spectators may not be so far acquainted 
 with the minutiae of Nature as to be able to talk 
 about them, the general characteristics are neverthe- 
 less strongly impressed on their feelings. This may 
 be perceived, when pictures painted with a real 
 knowledge of the peculiarities of daylight come before 
 them ; then, they instinctively declare their satis- 
 faction by some such expression as, * There I can 
 breathe ! ' 
 
 "How frequently do we find views of interiors, 
 of stables and cottages, not really differing in
 
 114 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 atmosphere, from pictures of midday and sunrise 
 effects in the open air, where the glimpses of cloud 
 and landscape without, visible through doors and 
 windows, appear so dexterously lowered, as to form 
 a delicious artificial half tint to a head placed in the 
 middle of a room. If painters are too indolent to 
 court Nature ad infinitum, their works should be 
 described somewhat thus : * No. 1 . Cottages and 
 Cattle' in a painting-room ! No. 2. 'A Thunder- 
 storm ' raised in the artist's study ! 
 
 " * * * The reason why most of the late attempts 
 made in this country have done so little for the Art, 
 seems to have arisen, not from a want of inclination 
 to further the interests of the modern school, (except 
 in one notorious instance) but from the difficulties 
 which naturally attend an undertaking, which is now 
 exposed to the danger of over- patronage on the one 
 side, and of under-patronage or as it has been said, 
 the stimulus of the fear of starvation on the other. 
 It would be a wise plan to make ' places ' on purpose 
 for great talent in Art they are found a stimulus 
 abounding with advantage in most other professions. 
 Without the high rewards attendant upon brilliant 
 individual success, what great lawyers and divines 
 might we not have lost ? 
 
 " Since the great demand for Art has been satiated 
 with the works of the old masters, what encourage- 
 ment has the modern painter now to hope for, beyond 
 those honours which the Academy offers, unless he 
 becomes a portrait painter? It is, by the way, a
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 115 
 
 strong argument in favour of the excitement produced 
 by hopes of great pecuniary profit, that in portrait 
 painting, notwithstanding the disadvantage of the 
 most unpicturesque dresses, the English school has 
 attained to a decided superiority over that of any 
 other country. 
 
 (i * * * Difficulties overcome in any art or 
 science, may give reputation of skill, on some occa- 
 sions, where no really useful or agreeable object is 
 attained. Amongst scientific men, artists and poets, 
 who have little intercourse with the world at large, 
 these technical triumphs are too much valued. What 
 may be termed a legitimate and praiseworthy aim, 
 is where success produces great general advantage 
 or gratification. In my own branch of the Art, for 
 instance, an undulating bank, made up of a great 
 variety of grasses, wild flowers, docks, &c., &c., 
 which, when represented with genuine taste and 
 genius, is one of the most beautiful and attractive 
 objects that can occupy the foreground of a picture, 
 becomes in the hands of a man who can only paint 
 it with considerable mechanical intricacy and skill, 
 an ineffective, and sometimes even a disagreeable 
 object. 
 
 a # -* * A sketchy picture is easily done, 
 because one is accustomed to overlook in it a hundred 
 violations of truth, which are insisted upon in a 
 finished picture. In making sketches, the very 
 violation of the laws of Nature is a proof of ' spirit,' 
 as it is called."
 
 116 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 Notwithstanding all his successes of the past year, 
 it was with feelings of bitter despondency that the 
 painter proceeded with his works for the Exhibition 
 of 1818, for he had the mortification to perceive, 
 as time advanced, that the demands made on him, 
 moderate though they were, still exceeded the re- 
 sources of his purse, and that a second crisis in his 
 affairs, as painful and peremptory as that from which 
 the kindness of Sir Thomas Heathcote had formerly 
 extricated him, was fast approaching. The times 
 had indeed slightly altered for the better ; but it is a 
 convincing proof of the continued poverty of the 
 general patronage of that day, as compared with this, 
 that the sea-piece " Sunrise," universally as it had 
 been praised by all classes of the public, by critics 
 and connoisseurs alike, had remained upon the artist's 
 hands since the Exhibition of 1817, and was not sold 
 till the March of the following year. An extract 
 from Mr. Collins's Journal will convey some idea of 
 the state of his mind under this fresh check on his 
 most darling hopes ; this unexpected defeat of the 
 hard economies and applauded pictorial efforts of a 
 whole year : 
 
 " January 20th, 1818. From this day until Mon- 
 day 26th, a series of miserable feelings and disap- 
 pointments. Pecuniary difficulties, debilitating idle- 
 ness, waging war upon me ; dreading what, to my 
 poor and finite capacity, appear insurmountable 
 embarrassments. Notwithstanding my conviction that 
 my troubles are real, and their number great, yet I
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 117 
 
 feel that my desultory habits are adding to the list, 
 (which is voluntarily and criminally incapacitating 
 me for the performance of my numerous duties,) 
 and that my prayers for power cannot be from the 
 heart, when the talents I already possess are suffered 
 to lie idle until their whole strength shall be exerted 
 against me ; as the sweetest water becomes, under 
 the same circumstances, first stagnant and then 
 poisonous. Fearing consequences, which God of his 
 infinite mercy avert, I once more implore his assist- 
 ance." 
 
 His was not, however, a disposition to sink help- 
 lessly under such bitter and unjust self-upbraidings 
 as these. His devotion to his Art upheld him now, 
 under the crushing pressure of misfortune, as faith- 
 fully as it did long afterwards under the darker evils 
 of debility and pain. From the time when he had first 
 aided him, Sir Thomas Heathcote had never ceased 
 to make constant inquiries, in person and by letter, 
 after his well-being and success ; and to this gentle- 
 man, after having tried in vain every effort to extri- 
 cate himself, self-aided, from his difficulties, he once 
 more addressed himself, applying, as a last resource, 
 for the loan of a hundred pounds. 
 
 Most men in the position of Sir Thomas Heath- 
 cote would have hesitated at granting this fresh appli- 
 cation ; but, discriminating as he was generous, that 
 gentleman had formed, from long and intimate obser- 
 vation of Mr. Collins, a true estimate of his character 
 and genius. He saw that the painter's integrity of
 
 118 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 intention and energy of purpose fitted him remarkably 
 to urge his intellectual qualities through all obstacles 
 to ultimate competence and success ; and once more, 
 though he had made a general rule against lending 
 money on any consideration, he complied with my 
 father's request. 
 
 It may be imagined that, in mentioning these cir- 
 cumstances, and in publishing the letters on this sub- 
 ject inserted in a former part of the present work, I 
 have dwelt somewhat too much at length upon matters 
 generally held by the world to be of too delicate and 
 private a nature for the public eye. But transactions 
 such as those between Sir Thomas Heathcote and 
 Mr. Collins, reflect too much credit upon human 
 nature, and display too remarkable an example of 
 graceful generosity on one side and manly integrity 
 on the other, to be hidden at the promptings of 
 morbid delicacy from the world. Let it be remem- 
 bered by the wealthy, that for want of such timely 
 kindness and confidence as are here exhibited, many 
 a man of genius has lived for disappointment, or 
 perished from neglect ; and, by the suspicious or the 
 cynical let it be equally remarked, that in this 
 instance liberality was neither wasted nor outraged, 
 that those pictures paid for in advance were com- 
 pleted first, and that the loan contracted unwillingly 
 was gladly and scrupulously repaid. 
 
 To the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1818 my 
 father contributed " The Departure of the Diligence 
 from Rouen," and a new sea-piece, called, " A Scene
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 119 
 
 on the Coast of Norfolk." At the British Institu- 
 tion his new productions were entitled " The Bird's 
 Nest," and "A Scene on the Boulevard, Paris." 
 These pictures, gaining for him more exalted patron- 
 age than he had hitherto enjoyed, marked the com- 
 mencement of a new era in his fortunes. From this 
 year, his pecuniary difficulties gradually ceased ; and 
 he laid the foundation of an after competence, alike 
 honourable to his own efforts and to the encourage- 
 ment and appreciation of them by others. 
 
 The " Scene on the Coast of Norfolk," a sea-piece 
 full of the finest qualities of the painter's works of 
 this description, is to be noticed first among these 
 pictures, both from its own intrinsic merits, and from 
 the fortunate destiny that it achieved. At the annual 
 dinner given by the Academy to the patrons of 
 modern art, Sir George Beaumont, (to whom my 
 father had been lately introduced) intimated to him 
 that the late Earl of Liverpool had become the 
 purchaser of his sea-piece. He had barely time to 
 express his acknowledgments to Sir George ere they 
 were joined by the late Lord Farnborough, (then Sir 
 Charles Long,) who informed them that the Prince 
 Regent had been so delighted with the picture at the 
 private view of the day before, that he desired to 
 possess it. Mr. Collins replied that he had just sold 
 his work to Lord Liverpool, and that under such 
 embarrassing circumstances, he knew not how to act. 
 Observing that the matter might, he thought, be 
 easily settled, Sir Charles Long introduced the
 
 120 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 painter to Lord Liverpool, who expressed his willing- 
 ness to resign his purchase to his royal competitor, 
 and gave Mr. Collins a commission to paint him 
 another sea-piece for the next Exhibition. The 
 picture was accordingly delivered to the pi'ince, and 
 is now in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle. 
 The honest, uncompromising study of Nature, the 
 high finish, the softness and purity of tone, united 
 with power and brilliancy of effect, apparent in all 
 parts of this work, combine to make it in every way 
 worthy of the high approval that it gained. Nothing 
 can be more simple than the scene it depicts : the 
 level beach, in fine perspective, running into the 
 middle of the picture from the foreground ; two boys 
 with fish and a fisherman's hut at the right hand ; 
 the sea at left ; the sky above, charged with a mass 
 of light, airy cloud, from behind which the sunlight 
 is breaking in faint misty rays, are all the materials 
 of the composition ; but they are presented with such 
 consummate truth and skill as to give to the picture 
 that genuine appearance of originality and nature 
 which in all works of art is the best guarantee of 
 their value, as possessions which are always welcome 
 to the eye, and never too familiar to the mind. 
 
 My father's introduction to Lord Liverpool was 
 productive of advantages to him, which he ever 
 remembered with gratitude and delight. At Fife 
 House and Coombe Wood he was a constant guest. 
 On all occasions his interests were forwarded and 
 his pleasures consulted by Lord Liverpool, with
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 121 
 
 a kindness and condescension, which the more im- 
 portant political occupations of that upright and 
 amiable nobleman could never suspend. At no 
 period of his intercourse with the world was the 
 painter's time spent more delightfully and improv- 
 ingly than in the cultivated society that he met 
 under Lord Liverpool's roof. There, he was first 
 introduced to the present possessor of some of his 
 finest pictures Sir Robert Peel ; and there, in the 
 beautiful scenery around Walmer Castle then a 
 country seat belonging to his noble host he found 
 materials for many of the most successful of his works. 
 One of the last acts of Lord Liverpool's life was 
 as characteristic of his affectionate regard for Mr. 
 Collins as any that had preceded it. During an 
 interval of ease in the illness that produced his 
 dissolution, he desired that the painter might be sent 
 for to visit him, at Coombe Wood. As he was 
 proceeding towards the drawing-room to welcome his 
 visitor, he suddenly stopped, and, sighing heavily, 
 exclaimed : " No, I cannot see him I feel it would 
 be too much ! " Mr. Collins never beheld him 
 again. He returned to his room, and soon after- 
 wards died. 
 
 The painter's second picture at the Royal Aca- 
 demy Exhibition " The departure of the Diligence 
 from Rouen" was well calculated to display the 
 versatility of his genius. As the sea-piece was all 
 repose, so this work was all action. The one was 
 full of freshness atmosphere day ; the other 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 representing the departure of the clumsy vehicle, 
 on a dark night, surrounded hy a bustling and varied 
 crowd, and illuminated only by the wild light of a 
 single lamp, swung over the middle of the old 
 French street displayed precisely opposite charac- 
 teristics, in every feature of the subject which it 
 portrayed. This picture (one of the results of my 
 father's tour to Paris) was purchased by Sir George 
 Beaumont. The " Scene on the Boulevards," (drawn 
 from the same sources, and exhibited at the British In- 
 stitution) was bought by the Duke of Newcastle, who 
 invited the artist to Clumber, the same year, to 
 sketch the scenery and paint the portraits of his 
 sons. The fourth work, " The Bird's Nest," (also 
 sent to the British Institution) was sold to the 
 Countess de Grey. 
 
 The report that Mr. Collins's " Coast Scene" had 
 fallen under Royal protection soon circulated, and 
 aided the effect of the merits of the work itself so 
 powerfully, that commissions began to flow in upon 
 him with unaccustomed prodigality. It was neces- 
 sary, however, before he proceeded to execute them, 
 that he should repair to Clumber, in compliance 
 with the Duke of Newcastle's invitation. Of his 
 journey to that place, and of his studies, thoughts, 
 and resolutions in the earlier part of the year, the 
 following account is furnished in his Diary. 
 
 Journal of 1818. 
 "March 20th. I received the Holy Sacrament at
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 123 
 
 Fitzroy Chapel to-day ; (Good Friday,) and in 
 pursuance of certain hopes to amend my life, I 
 commence this Journal for the purpose of examining 
 how my time and talents, in this my thirtieth year, 
 are employed. After having done all I can towards 
 the attainment of any temporal object, should I not 
 accomplish it, it is useless to lament the failure. I 
 must never mistake the means for the end, must 
 study hard, and for understanding must implore 
 Almighty mercy. I believe that I must answer for 
 every idle, vain, and unprofitable word that I utter ; 
 how absolutely necessary it is then, that I should use 
 those means already in my power to attain the 
 blessing of mental watchfulness. I know no cause so 
 adequate to the entire frustration of the acquisition 
 of this faculty, as indolence, which I believe to be 
 of the will first, and then of the body ; where, when 
 it has once taken hold, it is cancerous. God of his 
 infinite mercy grant that I may escape its fatal grasp ! 
 and become pure and holy through the merits of 
 Jesus Christ in the hope of whose assistance, I 
 trust for the power to act consistently with hopes and 
 fears drawn from an entire belief in his holy mission. 
 "23rd. Went with Sir George Beaumont to visit 
 Sir Thomas Lawrence painted on the ' Departure 
 of the Diligence.' Sir John Leicester called ; and in 
 consequence of a conversation with him, I offered the 
 picture of the ' Diligence' to Sir George Beaumont ; 
 who desired to have it on Saturday last, but to whom 
 I could not promise it then, as I conceived it to be 
 G 2
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 in some measure engaged by Sir John Leicester ; in 
 which I now believe I had misapprehended him. 
 Sir George and Lady Beaumont called, to thank me 
 for .my note offering the picture to Sir George. 
 Allston dined and stayed the evening with me. 
 
 " 27th. Only at work by half-past eleven, although 
 I have but eight whole days to finish my pictures for 
 Somerset-house ; but, in addition to this loss of 
 time, I begin to suspect that by doing disagreeable 
 things to please others, we may come to doing bad 
 things to please ourselves. Certainly there was 
 nothing that used to be more disagreeable to me than 
 inhaling the smoke of tobacco, and yet I now find 
 myself inclined to take a cigar, as much for the 
 purpose of gratifying my own indolence, I suppose, 
 as from a companionable feeling. This habit of 
 smoking begets an inclination, and in fact a necessity, 
 to allay the heat and dryness of the throat ; and, as 
 one smokes in the evening, liquor is always at hand ; 
 in addition to which, although I have given up 
 snuff, yet the use of cigars and spirituous drinks 
 would of course beget an inclination for their former 
 companion : seeing all this, I hope I shall be resolute 
 enough to resist the slavery of attachment to what it 
 is best that I should hate. * * * April 7th. 
 Finished the ' Departure of the Diligence,' and the 
 ' Scene on the Coast of Norfolk,' and took them to 
 the Royal Academy at five o'clock. * * * May 
 1st. Overlooking and planning new subjects till two 
 o'clock : at the private view of the Exhibition after-
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 125 
 
 wards the Prince Regent there. Dined at Wilkie's. 
 2nd. At the dinner at the Royal Academy, where 
 Lord Liverpool purchased my picture of a ' Scene on 
 the Coast of Norfolk,' at a hundred and fifty guineas. 
 A few minutes afterwards, Sir Charles Long told 
 me that the Prince Regent desired to have the 
 picture : Lord Liverpool afterwards expressed his 
 willingness to give up his purchase to the Prince. 
 5th. With Jackson, who called to say that the price 
 settled by Sir George Beaumont, Mr. West, and 
 himself, for the ' Departure of the Diligence,' was 
 two hundred guineas. 6th. Drowsy all day, from 
 having taken spirits and water, to prevent catching 
 cold after getting wet : the chance of a cold better 
 than the remedy for it. 8th. Called upon the Duke 
 of Newcastle, who engaged me to paint a view of his 
 country seat, Clumber Park, Notts ; for which pur- 
 pose I agreed to visit that place, soon after three 
 weeks from this day. Afterwards saw Sir George 
 Beaumont, in St. James's-street, who declared himself 
 satisfied with the price Mr. West had put upon my 
 picture of the ' Departure of the Diligence.' * * * 
 4th June. Mr. Danby bought, for forty-five guineas, 
 ' The Young Cottager's First Purchase.' Walked 
 and at Allston's late. 5th. Mr. Danby called ; and 
 the result of our conversation is so highly pleasing 
 to my mind, that I am most happy in having made 
 his acquaintance. * * * June llth. Arose at 
 about five o'clock: left the Saracen's Head, for 
 Clumber, the seat of the Duke of Newcastle, at
 
 126 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 about a quarter before seven. Dreadfully hot day ; 
 six inside ; three of whom, vulgar, common women, 
 were certainly the most troublesome passengers I 
 ever met with. One of them was particularly deaf ; 
 asking questions, and never remembering, even when 
 she heard them, the answers she received. Unfor- 
 tunately, this old lady had a very bad cold ; or, what 
 is every whit as disagreeable, had a trick of expec- 
 torating from the window. I thought I never beheld 
 a more annoying physiognomy than Nature and her 
 mind had conspired to furnish her with. It so 
 happened that a very well-bred Irish gentleman, 
 about fifty, one who had been a great traveller, and 
 had evidently been in good society really a sharp, 
 witty, and gentlemanlike person sat opposite this 
 dame ; and it is entirely beyond my powers of 
 description to give an idea of his half-suppressed 
 curses upon each of her gettings up to the window. 
 Although I derived considerable information from 
 this gentleman, my four-and-twenty hours' ride, with 
 the disagreeable dozings I had by way of sleep, had 
 so completely with the foregoing accompaniments 
 exhausted my nerves, that I never recollect to have 
 experienced a more grateful sensation than my 
 arrival, rather before six o'clock, at Tuxford, oc- 
 casioned me. At this place I went to bed for a 
 couple of hours, by which I was so much refreshed 
 as to be enabled to proceed to Clumber ; for which 
 place I left Tuxford at about eleven, and arrived 
 there before two. The remainder of the day,
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 127 
 
 (Friday the 12th) was devoted to exploring the 
 beauties of this delightful seat. Saturday 13th. 
 During this day I made sketches in water-colours, 
 and further explored the grounds, accompanied by 
 the Duke. Sunday 14th. Heard service in ths 
 Duke's chapel, where Mr. Mann preached a very 
 excellent practical sermon. His Grace, the Duchess 
 and family, with a numerous retinue of servants and 
 persons in the Duke's employ, were the auditory. 
 The remainder of the day spent in the park. * * * 
 Monday 15th. Began, in oil, a sketch of the house 
 looking towards the bridge. Tuesday 16th. Worked 
 on the above sketch : stormy evening lightning. 
 * * * Saturday 20th. Began a portrait of Lord 
 Lincoln. In the evening began a south-west view 
 of Clumber Park. * * * Monday 30th. Painted 
 a north-west view of Clumber, and finished Lord 
 Lincoln's portrait. * * * July 9th. Made studies 
 for portraits of Lords Charles and Thomas Pelham 
 Clinton. Very fine day ; evening cloudy and with- 
 out a breath of wind a warm, calm scene. 10th. 
 Began the portraits of Lord Thomas Pelham Clinton, 
 and Lord Charles. From Friday 17th to Tuesday 
 28th employed upon the portraits of the twins, and 
 a sketch in oil at the old engine-house ; and on that 
 day (28th) left Clumber for Nottingham." 
 
 After quitting Clumber, Mr. Collins proceeded to 
 visit Sir George Beaumont at the Cumberland Lakes. 
 Here he was introduced to Wordsworth and Southey,
 
 128 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 and enjoyed the advantage of visiting in their com- 
 pany, as well as in that of his accomplished host, 
 many of the most exquisite features of the surround- 
 ing scenery. He often mentioned, as an instance of 
 Southey's remarkable facility in composition, his 
 having been shown into the study of that fertile and 
 valuable writer, while he was engaged over a MS, 
 Before, however, the painter could make his apologies 
 for the intrusion, Southey started up, threw down his 
 pen in the middle of a sentence, and, taking his hat, 
 gaily proposed a pedestrian excursion for the morning. 
 They went out, extending their walk to some 
 distance, and talked over no inconsiderable variety of 
 miscellaneous topics. On their return, Mr. Collins 
 again entered Southey's study, (for the purpose, I 
 believe, of consulting some book in the library) when, 
 to his astonishment, he saw his friend sit down again 
 immediately at the writing table, and conclude the 
 imperfect passage in his MS. as coolly and easily 
 as if no interruption had happened in the interval to 
 distract his mind for a moment from its literary 
 task. 
 
 Notices of the above tour, and of one that followed 
 it, with Sir Francis and Lady Chantrey, to Edin- 
 burgh, where he visited for the first time the lovely 
 scenery of his mother's birth-place, are thus scattered 
 among Mr. Collins's papers : 
 
 " August 22nd, 1818. Left Manchester for 
 Keridal, where I arrived at about 8 P.M. Beautiful
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 129 
 
 day stayed there till Monday 24th, at five, when 1 
 started for Keswick. Went to Sir George Beau- 
 mont's, where I spent the remainder of the day. 
 25th. Rode with Sir George, to Borrowdale and 
 Buttermere, where we dined ; returned by Newlands 
 saw a man descend with a sledge of skates from 
 Howester Crag : he appeared so small, from the 
 height of the place, that I frequently lost sight of 
 him during his descent. Occasional showers fine 
 effects : charmed with the place. 26th. Rainy 
 morning; painted from Sir George's window. 27th. 
 Showery day, walked about with Sir George ; went 
 to see Southey. 28th. Made a sketch, for Sara 
 Coleridge's portrait. 29th. Painted all day upon 
 the portrait of Sara Coleridge : a drenching day, 
 hardly ceasing to rain from ten o'clock till bed-time. 
 Mr. Coleridge dined with Sir George. 30th. At 
 Keswick Church, walked afterwards to Lodore water- 
 fall fine day, with a few slight showers. 31st. 
 A very fine day : at Ormthwaite and Applethwaite 
 sketching all day. September 1st. From six 
 o'clock, A.M., till night, hardly ceased raining a 
 minute worse than Saturday : painted till three, on 
 Miss Coleridge's portrait. 2nd. Painted, from my 
 window, Grisdale Pike showery all day. Lord 
 Lowther and Mr. Wordsworth at dinner. In the 
 evening at Mr. Southey's lightning in the evening. 
 3rd. Showery day : painted, from the barn at 
 Browtop, a view of Borrowdale. * * * 15th. 
 Started after breakfast from Keswick, with Mr. and 
 G 3
 
 130 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 Mrs. Chantrey, for Edinburgh : slept at Langholme 
 rainy. 16th. Started early, and breakfasted at 
 Hawick ; from whence went to Melrose Abbey, and 
 afterwards to Edinburgh, where we arrived at ten 
 P.M. * * * 20th. Went to hear Doctor Alison 
 in the morning; and, in the afternoon, Doctor 
 Brunton : excellent discourses from both. 21st. 
 Sketching at Leith with Mr. and Mrs. Chantrey 
 driven home by the rain. 22nd. Breakfasted at 
 Rosslyn ; walked from thence to Lasswade, by the 
 river side : beautiful day. 23rd. Walked about 
 in the morning ; got wet through, in the evening, 
 upon Arthur's Seat. 24th. Saw Queen Mary's 
 apartments at Holyrood-house ; dined at Raeburn's. 
 25th. Sketched the Castle, and left Edinburgh at 
 two P.M., for Keswick. * * * 28th. Left 
 Keswick, with Sir George and Lady Beaumont, for 
 Ulswater : dined and slept at Mr. Marshall's. 30th. - 
 Left Mr. Marshall's for Patterdale ; dined and 
 sketched there : after dinner set out for Wordsworth's. 
 * * * October 3rd. Took leave of these excel- 
 lent people : walked to Ambleside with Wordsworth 
 and his wife sketched the mill there. * * * 
 5th. Rainy morning; Wordsworth read to me: 
 walked out before dinner took my farewell of the 
 Lakes ; and, at ten, arrived at Kendal." 
 
 Among all the pleasant acquaintances made during 
 this tour, none was recollected with greater pleasure, 
 or improved with more assiduity by the painter, than 
 that procured for him by his introduction to the late
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 131 
 
 Mr. Marshall of Leeds. While in the North, and 
 ever afterwards, he continued to receive from that 
 gentleman, and all the members of his family, the 
 most unvaried kindness and attention. Many of 
 his finest pictures are now in their possession ; and 
 many others owe their first conception to the 
 sketches, which his visits to their mansion at Ulls- 
 water enabled him to make, amid the rarest natural 
 beauties of the Cumberland Lakes. 
 
 It is not always that a painter finds a sketching 
 tour productive, beyond his Art, of general intel- 
 lectual benefit. This fortunate privilege was, how- 
 ever, enjoyed by my father throughout his excursion, 
 of this year, to the North. Although but lately 
 introduced to Sir George Beaumont, his acquaintance 
 with that cultivated and amiable man speedily 
 expanded into friendship. To sketch in his company, 
 and in that of Wordsworth to hear from the 
 mouths of each the antiquarian and poetical associa- 
 tions connected with the scenes which the pencil 
 portrayed, proved an addition of no slight value 
 to the painter's professional studies ; for it fortified 
 him in the possession of the most important of the 
 minor ingredients of success in the Art general 
 information. It opened to his leisure hours new 
 sources of literary studies ; and by a natural con- 
 sequence, roused in his mind new trains of pictorial 
 thought. It is to the absence of habits of reading 
 of frequent intercourse with the intellects of others, 
 in a sister pursuit, that the inaptitude to originality
 
 132 
 
 the perverse reiteration, by some modern artists, of 
 subjects discovered and exhausted by their prede- 
 cessors, is to be considered in no small degree to be 
 due. The originality of the conception is more 
 thoroughly dependent on the novelty of the subject, 
 than is generally imagined. A new passage in 
 history may mould a new form of composition, and 
 a fresh description of Nature lead to a fresh choice 
 of scenery, more frequently and more readily than 
 the artist may always suppose. 
 
 During the tour to the Lakes as indeed in all 
 other country excursions the number of sketches 
 made by the painter excited the surprise of all who 
 beheld them. No obstacles of unfavourable weather, 
 incomplete materials, intrusive spectators, or personal 
 discomfort, ever induced him to resign the privilege 
 of transcribing whatever objects in Nature might 
 happen to delight his eye. His talent in forcing a 
 large amount of labour into a small space of time, 
 and in making the lightest and hastiest touches 
 produce an effect of completeness and finish, insured 
 success to his industry, and advantage to his enthu- 
 siasm. To all his works of this description an 
 extrinsic value is attached, through his invariable 
 practice of never placing a touch upon his sketches 
 after he had quitted the scene they were intended to 
 represent. What they were at the time of their 
 original production, that they invariably remained, 
 when stored in his portfolio, or hung round the walls 
 of his painting-room.
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 133 
 
 On my father's return from his visit to the Lakes, 
 his collections of drawings did not, through the 
 carelessness of the people attached to the different 
 conveyances, reach London with him. They were 
 at first supposed to be lost, but were subsequently 
 recovered. Lady Beaumont wrote to him in London 
 upon the subject of this misfortune, and began her 
 communication by good-naturedly rallying him upon 
 his notorious disinclination to letter-writing. The 
 answer she received, was as follows : 
 
 " To LADY BEAUMONT. 
 
 " New Cavendish-street, 
 
 " November 1st, 1818. 
 
 " Madam, That a most indescribable helplessness 
 overcomes me, when I am under the necessity of 
 writing, I readily admit ; but, that I am not dead to 
 the stimulus of a letter from your ladyship, this 
 immediate reply will, I trust, furnish an adequate 
 proof and the paper I sent to Coleorton, many days 
 since, carries with it an assurance of unartistlike 
 punctuality, which argues at least a desire to be a 
 man of business. 
 
 " The recovery of my sketches, after having been 
 separated from them for nearly a week, was a sensation 
 amply repaying me for the three hundred miles I tra- 
 velled, in a state little short of frenzy; for, notwith- 
 standing I endeavoured to bring myself to a belief that 
 they were not worth lamenting, still I saw them in 
 the light of the most useful things I had ever done.
 
 134 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 The picture I have begun from these studies is 
 somewhat advanced; and I have the very great 
 advantage of occasionally painting upon it Sir 
 John's Gallery.* 
 
 " I dined with Wilkie, about a week since. He is 
 entirely recovered; and I feel the highest gratifi- 
 cation in saying, that all that his picture of the 
 Scotch Wedding promised in its unfinished state has 
 been most essentially realized and I know not how 
 I could say more in its praise. The depth of the 
 tone and richness of colour are equal to Ostade. 
 Of the characters, refined feeling, and exquisite 
 humour, you have already a complete idea. 
 
 " I have also seen the head Jackson has painted 
 of Mr. Smith. Of the likeness I know nothing, 
 but do not hesitate to say that the clearness, colour, 
 and spirit of the execution, surpass most of his 
 other attempts. 
 
 " With my best regards to Sir Geuigc- to whom, 
 and to your ladyship, I shall always consider myself 
 indebted for some of the happiest moments of my 
 life, 
 
 " I am, with great respect, 
 
 " Your Ladyship's obliged and obedient servant, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 Among others, to whom my father was largely 
 indebted, at this period, for some of his most im- 
 portant mental acquisitions, may be mentioned the 
 
 * This was a new commission, to which reference will be shortly made.
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 135 
 
 names of Washington Allston, the American painter; 
 and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the poet. The first 
 of these gifted men, is principally known in England, 
 as the painter of the noble historical pictures : 
 " Uriel in the Sun" " The dead Man restored, by 
 touching the Bones of Elijah" " Jacob's Dream" 
 and others of equal merit and importance ; but, he 
 possessed poetical and literary abilities of no com- 
 mon order as well. To a profound and reflective 
 intellect, he united an almost feminine delicacy of 
 taste and tenderness of heart, which gave a peculiar 
 charm to his conversation, and an unusual eloquence 
 to his opinions. It was on his second visit to 
 England, from his native country, that he became 
 acquainted with Mr. Collins, who soon found him- 
 self united to him by the warmest friendship ; and 
 who owed to his short personal intercourse with 
 this valued companion, not only much delightful 
 communication on the Art, but the explanation of 
 many religious difficulties under which his mind 
 then laboured, and the firm settlement of those 
 religious principles, which were afterwards so ap- 
 parant in every action of his life. After a stay of 
 some years in England, (during which, the merit of 
 his exhibited works procured his election as an 
 Associate, by the Royal Academy ; and would, had 
 he remained longer, have insured his election as an 
 Academician,) Mr. Allston departed for America 
 never, as it afterwards proved, to leave it again. 
 During the years of his after life, he continued to
 
 136 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 enrich the collections of his native land with some of 
 the most admirable productions of his genius ; and, 
 when in the year 1843, he died, so widely had the 
 influences of his gentle and admirable character 
 extended, and so intimately had they connected 
 themselves with the beauties of his works, that his 
 death was mourned by all even by those among his 
 countrymen, who had only known him by fame 
 as a calamity, in which the ranks of virtue suffered 
 as great a loss as the interests of Art. 
 
 In a future part of this work will be inserted a 
 letter by Mr. Collins, written on the occasion of his 
 friend's death, and containing a just and interesting 
 review of his character and genius. In the mean 
 time, the following letters exchanged soon after Mr. 
 Allston's return to America, will testify that 
 though both the painters were indolent correspond- 
 ents neither was forgetful, in absence, of the 
 common dues of friendship and esteem. 
 
 "To MR. ALLSTON, A.R.A., 
 
 "London, November 4th, 1818. 
 
 " Dear Allston From my very heart's core do I 
 congratulate you upon your election, as an Associate 
 of the Royal Academy ; a circumstance as honourable 
 to that body as to yourself, and of which I received 
 the gratifying intelligence yesterday. I immediately 
 sent to Leslie, who came over, out of breath ; and 
 the news I had to communicate to him has, I believe,
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 137 
 
 kept him, to a certain degree, in the same state ever 
 since. Had you been here ! but you will come. 
 
 " And now to the fulfilment of your commission, 
 to send all the news I can : to which end, I shall 
 give you a succession of such events as may serve 
 to remind you of ties you have in this country. The 
 letter you sent me at Sir George Beaumont's, came 
 during dinner ; and I, of course, made Sir George 
 and her ladyship acquainted with that part of it 
 relating to themselves ; if I have any knowledge of 
 the human heart, what the two said of you was 
 direct from that spot. May all the success we that 
 day wished you, attend your steps ! 
 
 " With the scenery of the North I am charmed ; 
 and, considering the time necessarily occupied in 
 travelling, I have not been altogether idle. Your 
 hints about Coleridge, I did not fail attending to. 
 With his wife I am pleased ; and his elegant 
 daughter, Sara, I have made a painting of. She 
 is a most interesting creature, about fifteen years of 
 age, and the parties we occasionally form with these 
 good people, Southey, Hartley, Coleridge, etc., I 
 shall not soon forget. 
 
 " From Keswick I went with Chantrey to Scot- 
 land and had this part of the world nothing but 
 Edinburgh, it would be well worth boasting of. 
 
 " After spending ten days at Edinburgh, I .re- 
 turned to Sir George's ; and, with himself and Lady 
 Beaumont, visited Ullswater and Ambleside where 
 we stayed some days with Wordsworth, with whom
 
 138 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 I am very much delighted ; and in some of our 
 rambles, when he could have no motive but that of 
 gratifying his own love of truth, he left me perfectly 
 persuaded that, among all your friends and admirers, 
 you had not a more disinterested one than himself. 
 The kind regards I am desired by Wordsworth, his 
 wife, Southey and Hartley, to send to you, are 
 testimonies of a friendship by no means common ; 
 and, therefore, will have their true weight with you. 
 My excellent friend Leslie was, of course, faithfully 
 at his post for nearly two months ; and a more 
 complete Major Domo I could not desire. Frank 
 has not yet returned from Northamptonshire Willis 
 is in France Stark has just returned from Norwich, 
 and I am attempting a mountainous subject, upon a 
 large scale ; the commission I was to undertake 
 when I last saw you. My uncle has accepted a 
 Chaplaincy at Cape Coast Castle, four degrees north 
 of the line; which, although a lucrative appointment, 
 is yet, from the nature of the climate, one of con- 
 siderable risk of course we are in great agitation 
 about him. 
 
 " Having now, at the least possible expense of 
 style, told you so much, I have only to assure you 
 of the warm wishes and hopes of all your friends, 
 and (as you already know) of how much I am my 
 dear Allston, Yours, ever, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 "P.S. My mother has been unwell; but has 
 now recovered she desires her best regards. I
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 139 
 
 shall expect a letter from you ; and I beg to remind 
 you, that this is a sample of the quantity of blank 
 paper I am desirous of.* Come home, and take 
 your seat at the Lectures have you no esprit 
 de corps. 
 
 " I presented your poems to Lady Beaumont, who 
 had never seen them ; and I had the very high 
 gratification to hear them spoken of in terms of 
 considerable approbation, not only by her ladyship, 
 but by Southey and Wordsworth. Southey said 
 that, whatever defects some of them might have, he 
 had no hesitation in saying that thay could not have 
 proceeded from any but a poetic mind ; in which 
 sentiment he was most cordially supported by 
 Wordsworth, who was present at the time. Fare 
 thee well God bless you ! How did you find your 
 mother, relations, and friends ? Have you numerous 
 commissions ? Write soon Sir George Beaumont 
 and Wordsworth propose writing to you." 
 
 Although a little advanced in date, Mr. Allston's 
 reply to the foregoing letter will be inserted in this 
 place, in compliance with a rule which will be ob- 
 served throughout the present work that of making 
 a correspondence as complete as possible by append- 
 ing to letters the answers received. 
 
 " To MR. COLLINS, A.R.A. 
 
 " Boston, 16th April, 1819. 
 " Dear Collins, I send you a thousand thanks for 
 
 * The whole of this postscript is written on the outer page of the 
 original, leaving little more than room enough for the superscription.
 
 140 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 your kind letter. It should have been answered 
 before ; but you, who so well know my procrastinat- 
 ing spirit will easily forgive the delay, especially 
 when I assure you that I have written you at least 
 twenty letters in my head, whilst I have been smoking 
 my usual evening cigar. The only way I can account 
 for not putting them on paper is, that they invariably 
 ended in a reverie on past times, which, carrying me 
 back to London, placed us opposite to each other by 
 the fireside, with your good mother, and Frank, and 
 Leslie between : where we have generally had so 
 much to talk about, that, when I at last thought of 
 leaving you, in order to write, the warning hand of 
 my watch would silently point to the hour of bed. 
 
 " I need not say how highly gratified I was at my 
 election. Indeed, I was most agreeably surprised ; for 
 though I am generally sanguine, yet in this instance I 
 had not suffered myself to calculate on success. It was, 
 therefore, doubly welcome. To my countrymen here, 
 who value highly all foreign honours, it seems to have 
 given almost as much pleasure as if it had been 
 bestowed on the country : it must, therefore, be no 
 small aid to my professional interests. But, were it 
 wholly useless, I should yet ever value it, as connect- 
 ing me on more friendly terms with so many men of 
 genius. If you know the members to whose good 
 opinion I am indebted for my election, I beg you 
 will present them my acknowledgments. 
 
 " I am pleased to find there is nothing like a 
 French taste in Boston. A portrait by Gerard has
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 141 
 
 lately been sent here, and still hangs in quiet on the 
 walls, with no raptures to disturb it. There are few 
 painters here, and none of eminence, except Stuart, 
 who certainly paints an admirable portrait. There 
 are some clever ones, however, I hear, in Philadel- 
 phia. Fisher, who was lately here, is a very pro- 
 mising young man ; and would, I think, make a great 
 landscape painter, if he could study in England. 
 
 " Your account of our friends at Keswick was read, 
 as you may well suppose, with no small interest. I 
 longed to have been with you ; and, if it is lawful to 
 be proud of praise from the wise and good, I may 
 well be so of the esteem of such as Sir George and 
 Lady Beaumont, Wordsworth and Southey. Perhaps 
 it may be gratifying to Mr. "Wordsworth to know that 
 he has a great many warm admirers on this side of 
 the Atlantic, in spite of the sneers of the Edinburgh 
 Review, which, with the Quarterly, is reprinted and 
 as much read here as in England. There is still 
 taste enough amongst us to appreciate his merits. 
 I was also pleased to find the same independence 
 with respect to Coleridge and Southey, who are 
 both read here and admired. You tell me to 
 ' come back.' Alas, I fear it cannot be soon, if ever ! 
 Mr. Howard, in his letter to me, wishes to know 
 when I shall return to England. I do not think 
 there is any probability of my returning for many 
 years, if ever. The engagements I have already 
 entered into here will employ me for several years ; 
 and I have others in prospect that will probably
 
 14-2 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 follow them, which will occupy me as many more. 
 Yet, should it be my lot never to revisit England, I 
 still hope to preserve my claim, as one of the British 
 School, by occasionally sending my pictures to 
 London for exhibition a claim I should be most 
 unwilling to forego ; my first studies having been 
 commenced at the Royal Academy, and the greater 
 part of my professional life passed in England, and 
 among English Artists. At any rate, I may have the 
 satisfaction of founding an English school here ; and 
 I may well stickle for it when I think of the other 
 schools in Europe. If I ever write on the subject, I 
 shall let them know here how much the Art owes to 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds. By-the-by, could you procure 
 me a copy (from Sir G. Beaumont) of the inscription 
 for a monument to Sir Joshua, written by Words- 
 worth ? 
 
 " Tell Chan trey that I made my report, and showed 
 his letter to the Committee of Directors for the statue 
 of Washington in this town ; and they were highly 
 gratified to learn that he had engaged to execute it. 
 The Academy of New York talk of forming a Gallery 
 of the works of some old masters, and the works of 
 the principal living artists in England, when they 
 shall have funds for the purpose, which I hope the 
 State will grant. 
 
 " I did not forget to celebrate your and Mr. 
 William Ward's birthday on board ship, and Stark's 
 after I landed. The captain, whose father-in-law is 
 a wine-merchant, lugged out some choice old Madeira
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 143 
 
 on the occasion. I shall never forget the last evening 
 we spent together. God bless you and yours ! 
 Remember me affectionately to your excellent mother 
 and brother, and to Leslie and Collard, to whom I 
 shall write very soon. I beg also to be particularly 
 remembered to Mr. James Ward, and to Mr. Thomp- 
 son, who treated me, when I last saw him, with a cor- 
 diality I shall not soon forget. Above all, present 
 my best respects to Sir George and Lady Beaumont. 
 
 " Adieu, dear Collins, and believe me, 
 " Ever your friend, 
 
 " WASHINGTON ALLSTON. 
 
 " P.S. In my next I will give you some account 
 of what I have been and am doing ; at present 
 my paper will only allow me to say, that I have 
 received a commission to paint a large picture for the 
 Hospital of this town the subject left to me." 
 
 Of the second of my father's remarkable friends, 
 Coleridge, little need be said to an English reader. To 
 state that from the day of his first introduction to that 
 powerful and original poet, the painter omitted few 
 opportunities of profiting by his extraordinary conver- 
 sational powers, and that he found as many attractions 
 in the personal character as in the poetic genius of the 
 author of " The Ancient Mariner " would be merely 
 to give him credit for a natural attention to his own 
 pleasure and advantage, and an ordinary susceptibility 
 to the pleasures of intercourse with an amiable and 
 superior man. In subjoining the two following
 
 144 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 letters, it is therefore only necessary to remark, by 
 way of explanation, that the portrait of the poet's 
 daughter, referred to in both, is identical with the 
 picture mentioned in Mr. Collins's Diary, and also in 
 his letter to Allston. 
 
 " To W. COLLINS, ESQ., A.R.A. 
 
 " Highgate, 1818. 
 
 " Dear Sir, Do me the favour of accepting the 
 inclosed tickets.* I flatter myself that the first 
 course will prove far more generally interesting and 
 even entertaining, than the title is, in the present 
 state of men's minds, calculated to make believed ; if 
 this cause should not preclude the trial, by preventing 
 even a tolerable number of auditors. The misfortune 
 is, that, with few friends in any rank or line of life, 
 I have almost none in that class whose patronage 
 would be most important to me as a lecturer. 
 
 " Your exquisite picture of Sara Coleridge (which, 
 from my recollecting it under the supposed impossi- 
 bility of its being so intended as Mr. Leslie had 
 never seen her I must suppose to be no less valuable 
 as a portrait) has quite haunted my eye ever since. 
 Taken as a mere fancy piece, it is long since I have 
 met with a work of Art that has so much delighted 
 me. If I described it as the union of simplicity with 
 refinement, I should still be dissatisfied with the 
 description for refinement seems to express an after 
 
 * Tickets of admission to Mr. Coleridge's first course of Lectures 
 were enclosed in the above letter.
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 145 
 
 act, a something superinduced. Natural fineness 
 would be more appropriate. Your landscape, too, is 
 as exquisite in its correspondence with the figure as 
 it is delightful to the eye, in itself. 
 
 " My friends, Mr. and Mrs. Gillman, desire their 
 kind remembrances to you, and I remain, dear Sir, 
 with sincere respect, 
 
 " Your obliged, 
 
 " S. T. COLERIDGE." 
 
 " To S. T. COLERIDGE, ESQ. 
 
 " Dec. 6th, 1818. 
 
 "Dear Sir, For some months past I have indulged 
 the hope of visiting Highgate. I should have done 
 so immediately on my return from the north, had I 
 not waited for Leslie's arrival in town, by whom I 
 had resolved to send the picture of your amiable 
 daughter. Coming at an unprejudiced opinion respect- 
 ing the resemblance, I feel much flattered by your 
 approbation of it. 
 
 " That I have, since that period, failed to deliver 
 to you the kind regards I was charged with from our 
 friends at Keswick and Ambleside must be attributed 
 to the shortness of the days, and to somewhat of a 
 disposition to procrastinate. I trust, however, I shall 
 ere long have the pleasure of your conversation. For 
 the tickets of admission to your lectures I send my 
 sincere thanks. Would I could bring such an 
 audience as you deserve, and that for their own 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 146 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 sakes. With my best regards to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Gillman, 
 
 " I am, dear Sir, with great respect and esteem, 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 In adding to the above correspondence the subjoined 
 letter from Coleridge, I am aware that (though it is ap- 
 parently not directly connected with this Memoir) the 
 patient and dignified sentiments, and the eloquent 
 outbreak of warm and tender feelings, suffering under 
 the chilling visitation of undeserved neglect which it 
 exhibits, would of themselves make it of sufficient 
 interest to demand insertion here ; but this remark- 
 able communication has a certain positive claim to 
 introduction into the present work, inasmuch as the 
 recommendation conveyed in it to the study of Her- 
 bert's Poems, which my father immediately followed, 
 was the first cause of the conception, some years 
 afterwards, of one of his most admired works, the 
 picture of " Sunday Morning." 
 
 " To W. COLLINS, ESQ., A.R.A. 
 
 " Highgate, Dec. 1818. 
 
 " My dear Sir, I at once comply with, and thank 
 you for, your request to have some prospectuses. 
 God knows I have so few friends, that it would be 
 unpardonable in me not to feel proportionably grate- 
 ful towards those few who think the time not wasted 
 in which they interest themselves in my behalf.
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 147 
 
 There is an old Latin adage, ' Vis videri pauper, et 
 pauper es,' Poor you profess yourself to be, and poor 
 therefore you are, and will remain. The prosperous 
 feel only with the prosperous, and if you subtract 
 from the whole sum of their feeling for all the gratifi- 
 cations of vanity, and all their calculations of lending 
 to the Lord, both of which are best answered by con- 
 ferring the superfluity of their superfluities on adver- 
 tised and advertisable distress or on such as are 
 known to be in all respects their inferiors you will 
 have, I fear, but a scanty remainder. All this is too 
 true ; but then, what is that man to do whom no dis- 
 tress can bribe to swindle or deceive ; who cannot 
 reply as Theophilus Gibber did to his father Colley 
 Gibber, (who, seeing him in a rich suit of clothes 
 whispered to him as he passed, 'THE' ! THE' ! I pity 
 thee ! ') ' Pity me ! pity my tailor.' 
 
 " Spite of the decided approbation which my plan 
 of delivering lectures has received from several judi- 
 cious and highly respectable individuals, it is still too 
 histrionic, too much like a retail dealer in instruction 
 and pastime, not to be depressing. If the duty of 
 living were not far more awful to my conscience than 
 life itself is agreeable to my feelings, I should sink 
 under it. But, getting nothing by my publications, 
 which I have not the power of making estimable by 
 the public without loss of self-estimation, what can 
 I do? The few who have won the present age, 
 while they have secured the praise of posterity, as, 
 Sir Walter Scott, Mr. Southey, Lord Byron, etc.,
 
 148 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 have been in happier circumstances. And lecturing 
 is the only means by which I can enable myself to go 
 on at all with the great philosophical work to which 
 the best and most genial hours of the last twenty 
 years of my life have been devoted. Poetry is out of 
 the question. The attempt would only hurry me 
 into that sphere of acute feelings, from which abstruse 
 research, the mother of self-oblivion, presents an 
 asylum. Yet sometimes, spite of myself, I cannot 
 help bursting out into the affecting exclamation of 
 our Spenser, (his 'wine' and 'ivy garland' interpreted 
 as competence and joyous circumstances,) 
 
 ' Thou kenn'st not, Percy, how the rhyme should rage! 
 
 Oh if my temples were bedewed with wine, 
 
 And girt with garlands of wild ivy-twine, 
 How, I could rear the Muse on stately stage ! 
 
 And teach her tread aloft in buskin fine, 
 With queen'd Bellona in her equipage 
 
 But ah, my courage cools ere it be warm ! * * * ' 
 
 " But God's will be done. To feel the full force of 
 the Christian religion, it is perhaps necessary, for 
 many tempers, that they should first be made to feel, 
 experimentally, the hollowness of human friendship, 
 the presumptuous emptiness of human hopes. I 
 find more substantial comfort, now, in pious George 
 Herbert's ' Temple,' which I used to read to amuse 
 myself with his quaintness in short, only to laugh 
 at than in all the poetry, since the poems of Milton. 
 If you have not read Herbert, I can recommend the 
 book to you confidently. The poem entitled ' The
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 149 
 
 Flower,' is especially affecting ; and, to me, such a 
 phrase as, ' and relish versing,' expresses a sincerity, 
 a reality, which I would unwillingly exchange for 
 the more dignified, ' and once more love the Muse,' 
 &c. And so, with many other of Herbert's homely 
 phrases. 
 
 " We are all anxious to hear from, and of, our 
 excellent transatlantic friend.* I need not repeat 
 that your company, with or without our friend Leslie, 
 will gratify 
 
 " Your sincere, 
 
 "S. T. COLERIDGE." 
 
 During his tour to the North, one of the painter's 
 objects was to collect materials for a picture he had 
 been desired to paint by the late Sir J. F. Leicester 
 afterwards Lord de Tabley to whose liberality 
 and enthusiasm, as a patron of modern Art, too 
 much praise cannot be accorded. On my father's 
 return to London, his first employment was to com- 
 mence the execution of this commission to which 
 slight reference has been already made in a note at 
 a former page. The work was to be of the same 
 size as one by Wilson, to which it was to hang as a 
 pendent in Sir John's Gallery. The compliment to 
 his powers and reputation, implied in this honourable 
 comparison, was deeply felt by Mr. Collins, who 
 laboured on his subject a landscape with figures 
 
 * Mr. Allston.
 
 150 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 with even more than his usual care and industry, in 
 order to deserve the flattering confidence that had 
 been reposed in his abilities. When his work had 
 made some progress towards completion, Sir John 
 Leicester forwarded his first opinion of it to the 
 painter, in the following letter. 
 
 To W. COLLINS, ESQ., A.R.A. 
 
 December 6th, 1818. 
 
 " Dear Sir, With the warmest wish for your 
 advancement as an ornament of the British School, 
 and hoping by my frankness, in the present instance, 
 to conduce to your reputation and promote your best 
 interests, I avail myself of my view of the picture 
 yesterday, in its present state, to express my appre- 
 hensions that the class of subject which you have 
 selected, although so congenial to your taste and 
 general style, will not enable you to display your 
 genius against so formidable a pendent as the Wilson, 
 to as much advantage as I think you could, on a 
 subject of fewer parts, and more simplicity and 
 breadth in the masses. What strikes me as the feature 
 most likely to operate against you in the comparison 
 is, that his picture has but few objects, and those are 
 largely treated, and the grandeur of his colouring con- 
 sists in its sobriety and harmony. The landscape 
 which would form a fit companion for his must par- 
 take of this magnificent character without servility or 
 imitation. 
 
 " I offer these plain thoughts to your better judg-
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 151 
 
 ment as an artist, with a reliance on your candid 
 allowance. I am confident that your wish is to meet 
 the public favourably, and to give me satisfaction ; 
 and you may assure yourself that my most earnest 
 desire is to see your genius fully displayed and fully 
 appreciated. I know you would be concerned were 
 I to suppress what I think, on an occasion where my 
 openness may be for your benefit ; and I therefore 
 leave it to your own choice, either to proceed and 
 finish the picture for me, and send it, if you please, 
 to the Exhibition at Somerset House, as it might not 
 fulfil all our expectations opposed to the Wilson in my 
 Gallery ; or, as you have ten weeks yet, if you will, 
 (having a compensation for what you have done on 
 the present picture,) begin another with fewer parts 
 and more simplicity, you will no doubt have it finished 
 in time. 
 
 " The sketch which I saw and admired yesterday 
 will, I think, with your powers, place you on a much 
 higher ground of competition with Wilson. * * 
 " I remain, dear sir, 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 " J. F. LEICESTER." 
 
 To this somewhat perplexing communication for 
 the artist, Mr. Collins thus replied : 
 
 "Dec. 16th, 1818. 
 
 " Sir, I know no event of my professional life 
 attended with so unpleasant a result as the one upon 
 which you have written to me this day.
 
 152 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 " With the most gentlemanlike regard for my 
 feelings as a man, and a solicitude for my reputation 
 as an artist, you have thrown me into a situation from 
 which I must confess my utter inability to extricate 
 myself, each of your proposals being so entirely 
 impracticable. That a picture unfit to hang with a 
 Wilson should yet have nothing to fear upon a com- 
 parison with the works of living artists at Somerset 
 House, (notwithstanding the very high estimation I 
 feel of Wilson's powers) is a reflection upon the 
 painters of this day to which I can never subscribe. 
 
 "Respecting the other proposal. When I take 
 the liberty to assure you that my present picture 
 engrossed my thoughts during the whole of my tour 
 in the north ; that the principal sketches I made there 
 were done with a reference to this work ; that I have 
 already been actually engaged upon it for nearly two 
 months ; and that I have also put aside many con- 
 siderable and lucrative commissions, which it would 
 be highly imprudent longer to neglect, solely for the 
 purpose of availing myself of an opportunity of paint- 
 ing upon a larger scale, I trust you will see the 
 futility of my attempting to complete another picture, 
 either by February, or for some time to come. 
 
 " I remain, Sir, 
 " Your most obedient servant, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 Further correspondence and explanations upon
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 153 
 
 this subject ensued, before Sir John Leicester found 
 reason to change his opinion. Ultimately, however 
 as might be conjectured from the candour, delicacy, 
 and liberality, displayed by the patron, and from the 
 firmness and courtesy preserved by the painter, 
 throughout the correspondence of which the above 
 was the commencement the picture was placed in 
 the position in the Gallery originally intended for it. 
 The scene of this production (which was never 
 exhibited) is laid in Cumberland. The middle 
 distance is occupied by a mill, peculiar to that coun- 
 try the stream from which winds smoothly onward, 
 until it dashes out, into the foreground, over rocks, 
 stones and brambles, that intercept it, to the left 
 hand, in its course. To the right, some villagers 
 approach the spectator down a mountain path, over- 
 shaded by a large tree. Around the mill, and 
 partly behind it, the summer foliage waves in thick 
 and various clusters; while beside and beyond it, 
 the open country lake, plain, and river stretches 
 smoothly and shadily onward to the far mountains 
 that close the distant view. The sky is at one point 
 charged with showery vapour, at another varied by 
 light, large clouds tinged at their tips with a soft, 
 mellow light, and floating lazily on the brighter 
 atmosphere whose transparency they partly veil. 
 The tone of colour pervading this picture was pure, 
 deep and harmonious it was considered by all who 
 saw it to be one of the painter's most elaborate 
 and successful works. 
 
 H 3
 
 154 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 To the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1819, my 
 father contributed two pictures : " Portraits of 
 Lords Charles and Thomas Pelham Clinton," painted 
 for the Duke of Newcastle, and a new sea-piece, 
 painted for the Earl of Liverpool, entitled " Fisher- 
 men on the Look Out." This picture is beautifully 
 engraved by Phelps. It displays, throughout, that 
 bold and successful simplicity, which at once strikes 
 the eye as natural and true. On an eminence in the 
 foreground of the picture, stands a fisherman, with 
 his back to the spectator, looking through his 
 telescope towards the distant horizon. By his side 
 a lad reclines on the ground ; and, at his feet sits a 
 dog, looking up inquiringly into his master's face. 
 The beach stretches beyond, through the rest of 
 the picture, with its native accompaniments of distant 
 figures, and fishing boats, while still further, smooth 
 and brilliant beneath the morning sun, lies the 
 peaceful ocean on which the fisherman's attention 
 is fixed. In solemn, true, and vigorous " chiar- 
 oscuro" and in the poetical composition of the sky 
 in that power of presenting original and faithful 
 combinations of atmosphere and cloud, for which, in 
 Wilkie's opinion, his friend stood unmatched among 
 his contemporaries this picture surpasses all its 
 predecessors. The pure harmony of the sky seems 
 to shed an influence of Elysian repose over the rest 
 of the scene, the sentiment of which is at once aided 
 and reflected by the still, contemplative attitudes of 
 the figures, and the deep shadows that appear to
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 155 
 
 steal, at intervals, over the expanse of the distant 
 beach. 
 
 As it is a remarkable fact that Mr. Collins's pic- 
 tures, from the earliest dates, are still in as perfect a 
 state of preservation, as regards colour and surface, 
 as on the day when they were first painted, an 
 extract from his Diary of 1819, mentioning inciden- 
 tally a few of the mechanical aids to painting which 
 he then adopted, may not be uninteresting at least 
 to such readers as happen to be intimately connected 
 with the Arts : 
 
 " 10th February, 1819. Lost my election at the 
 Academy by one vote ; Hilton chosen. Sent home, 
 after having made considerable alterations, the large 
 landscape to Sir John's Gallery, with a letter con- 
 taining my sentiments upon this most unhappy 
 commission. 23rd. Took up my new subject 
 ' Fishermen on the Look Out,' which I had previously 
 painted upon during one morning. * The Harvest 
 Shower' has been purchased by Mr. Currie at one 
 hundred guineas. ' Fishermen on the Look Out,' is 
 painted entirely in copal, thinned with turpentine, 
 without wax. From 23rd February, to 5th April, 
 painted upon ' Fishermen on the Look Out ;' I be- 
 lieve in all about thirteen days ; also upon the 
 picture of the ' Twin Sons' of the Duke of New- 
 castle, about ten a few days in October, and many 
 at Clumber. April 5^h. Began the portraits of 
 Master Cecil and Miss Fanny Boothby. 12th. 
 Began a ' three-quarter' of the ' Fisherman's Return'
 
 156 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 (in linseed oil, boiled with copal varnish copal 
 varnish in the colours, as a dryer), upon an unprimed 
 cloth.* 13th and 14th. Finished Mrs. Gurney's 
 portrait. 15th. Began a copy of Lord Radstock's 
 Rembrandt, and a river scene for Mrs. Hand, in 
 copal varnish. 16th. Went to Coombe Wood to 
 finish the heads in Lady Liverpool's picture of the 
 * Boothby Children.' 18th. Returned from Coombe 
 Wood. 19th. Began a portrait of the Duchess of 
 Newcastle the face in copalled oil, the other parts 
 in copal varnish. Engaged as above, until 20th 
 May, at which time I had painted about six days, 
 or rather, times, upon the Boothby Children, and 
 about sixteen ditto, on the portrait of the Duchess 
 of Newcastle painting at the Academy, viewing 
 Galleries, and sundry idle days making the balance, 
 ' Fishermen on the Look Out' when at the Academy, 
 I rubbed over with copalled oil, which I wiped as 
 nearly off as I could. 8th, 9th, 10th, 18th, and 
 19th. Making alterations upon the never-to-be- 
 done-with picture at Sir John's. Sketch of Boothby 
 Children, begun 29th March. 1st April. Var- 
 nished the whole thickly in copal and finished it in 
 the same." 
 
 In the autumn of this year, Mr. Collins explored, 
 
 * It may perhaps be necessary to inform the unprofessional 
 reader, that a "three quarter" is a term indicating the size of a 
 particular canvass, and an " unprimed cloth," a canvass, the surface of 
 which is unprepared with the usual preliminary covering of white 
 paint and size.
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 157 
 
 for the first time, the scenery coast and inland of 
 Devonshire. That he found in this tour many 
 materials for extending his Art and increasing his 
 variety of subjects, will be perceived in the list of 
 his works yet to be enumerated. His progress and 
 impressions, during his journey, will be found hastily 
 indicated in the following extracts from his letters : 
 
 " To MRS. COLLINS. 
 
 "Dartmouth, 26th Aug., 1819. 
 
 " My dear Mother, As it is probable I shall stay 
 with Mr. Holdsworth long enough to receive a letter 
 from you, I take the opportunity afforded me of 
 sending a few lines. I am most comfortably situated 
 here, close to the sea, in the house of a sincere and 
 unaffected English gentleman, through whose know- 
 ledge of the scenery of this neighbourhood, I am 
 enabled to see much more of the place than under 
 other circumstances I could have expected. Brocke- 
 don is with us. I am writing with the sun shining 
 on the sea before me, and this must be an excuse for 
 not sending you a long letter." 
 
 "Plymouth, Sept. 19th, 1819. 
 
 " * * * I left Dartmouth and Widdicombe, Mr. 
 Holdsworth's houses, about a week ago ; and I pur- 
 pose leaving this place for Birham, Sir W. Elford's, 
 where I yesterday paid a visit, and where I shall 
 remain a few days, and then proceed to Totness, 
 Teignmouth, Sidmouth, and that neighbourhood,
 
 158 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 from whence I go to Frome. * * * I have just 
 returned from Plympton, the birthplace of the im- 
 mortal Sir Joshua Reynolds, and of which town he 
 was mayor. I have made a sketch of the town and 
 church, from a field at a little distance, and I prize it 
 much on this great man's account." 
 
 " Frome, 3rd Oct., 1819. 
 
 t( * * * Since I wrote to you last I have 
 visited some of the vale scenery of Devon, which is 
 exceedingly beautiful. From Plymouth I went to 
 the river Dart, which I had great pleasure in tracing 
 for many miles on foot. I then proceeded to Tor- 
 quay, Babbicombe, Teignmouth, Dawlish, and Sid- 
 mouth, where I finished my coast tour, and arrived, 
 after sundry bufferings, on Friday evening, at Mr. 
 Shephards's, since which time I have been delightfully 
 engaged in visiting the beautiful scenes with which 
 this neighbourhood appears to abound ; and although 
 it is somewhat inferior to Devon, it is very excellent 
 of its class. 
 
 " The weather, during my tour, has been exceed- 
 ingly favourable, and, although showery at present, is 
 still rich in the produce of picturesque light and 
 shadow. * * * And now for ' the rub ;' I am 
 worth, in the current coin of the realm, four of our 
 smallest but one medallions ! I shall therefore come 
 upon my London bankers for two five-pound notes, 
 the first halves of which I trust you will see the 
 propriety of sending by return of post. * * *
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 159 
 
 It is too late now to write a longer and better letter, 
 so you must take this with all its faults, as you must 
 the writer, knowing, however, how much he is your 
 affectionate son, 
 
 "W. COLLINS." 
 
 In the February of the next year, 1820, having, as 
 will have been perceived by his Diary, lost his 
 election in 1819 by one vote only, the painter gained 
 the reward of much labour, and the compensation for 
 many anxieties, by being chosen a Royal Academician. 
 
 Few elections were ever made more completely to 
 the satisfaction of the profession and the public than 
 this. Mr. Collins had now, for a series of years, 
 exhibited works which had stood amongst the fore- 
 most attractions of the Academy walls. He had dis- 
 played in his choice, treatment, and variety of subject, 
 a genius and originality which had won for him not 
 only the hearty approval of patrons and friends, but 
 of the public at large. Viewed under any circum- 
 stances, the honour which he had just received was 
 his undoubted due ; and it was not more gladly con- 
 ferred than gratefully and delightedly acknowledged. 
 To a man whose powers, hopes, and efforts were 
 bound up in his profession, whose darling object 
 was to assist his brethren in raising it to its highest 
 dignity and noblest possible position ; whose enthu- 
 siasm for his arduous calling lived through all the 
 privations of his early years, and all the bodily suffer- 
 ing that darkened his closing life, this testimony from
 
 160 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 
 
 his fellow- painters of their appreciation of his genius 
 and their approval of his efforts, produced no transi- 
 tory satisfaction, and was hailed as no common 
 honour. But it had yet a tenderer and a deeper interest 
 than lay in its promise of wider reputation, and its 
 incentive to higher ambition. It brought with it the 
 recollection of the old boyish studio in Portland- 
 street, of the hard labour and crushing failures of 
 those early days of imperfect skill, of the gay 
 prediction of future Academic honours, and the 
 cheerful confidence that he should live to witness 
 them himself, with which his father had then cheered 
 him through all obstacles, and of the bereavement 
 which now, when the honours had really arrived, 
 now, when the " poor author's " favourite day-dream 
 had brightened at last into reality and truth, made 
 that father absent from the family board, and voice- 
 less for ever among the rejoicings of the domestic 
 circle !
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 18201822. 
 
 Remarks Pictures of 1820 Notice of John Constable, R. A. Pic- 
 tures of 1821 Tribulations of a new Academician Curious 
 address to the Academy Hanging Committee Election at the 
 Dulwich Picture Gallery Letter to Mrs. Collins Reflections 
 Letter to Mr. Joseph Projected marriage- and visit to Scotland 
 Pictures of 1822 Notice, illustrated by Mr. Collins's anecdotes, 
 of Sir David Wilkie Journey to Edinburgh, during the visit of 
 George the Fourth Anecdotes of Sir Walter Scott and Sir 
 Adam Ferguson Design of painting the King's landing at Leith 
 Letters to Mrs. Collins Visit to Blair Adam Joint production 
 of a sketch by Wilkie and Collins Progress of the painter's 
 marriage engagement Letters to Miss Geddes and Mrs. Collins 
 Marriage Anecdote of the Rev. Doctor Alison. 
 
 HAVING traced the progress of Mr. Collins in the 
 preceding chapter up to the attainment of one of 
 the great objects of his professional life, his election 
 as a Royal Academician, it may not be irrelevant or 
 uninstructive, to revert for a moment to the contem- 
 plation of some of the causes by which his success 
 as a painter was produced. 
 
 It has, I trust, been already demonstrated by his 
 Letters and Journals, and by the remarks that have 
 accompanied them, that ardent as was his devotion to 
 his pursuit, it did not so wholly engross his mind, as 
 to leave it unfitted for watchfulness over his moral, as
 
 162 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 well as his intellectual advancement. From his 
 earliest days of apprenticeship to the Art, his am- 
 bition to acquire renown as a painter was never 
 stronger than his desire to preserve uprightness as a 
 man. This guiding principle of his character cannot 
 be too strongly impressed upon those, who are as yet 
 but setting out on the toilsome journey from the 
 porch to the penetralia of Art; for it offers to 
 them, not a circumstance of biographical interest 
 only, but a practical example and encouragement as 
 well. If the circumstances attending the progress 
 of the subject of these pages through the difficulties 
 of his early career be generally reviewed, it will be 
 found that he triumphed over none of the obstacles 
 that beset him by the aid of his genius alone, but by 
 the additional strength and elevation acquired by 
 those higher qualities of personal character which it 
 was his life's aim to form, and which shielded his 
 intellectual powers against the bitterest enemies that 
 could assail them, poverty and neglect. His reli- 
 gious dependence on the saving influence of a right 
 performance of his practical duties, as aiding to pro- 
 duce a happy result from his intellectual exertions, 
 never abandoned, because it never deceived him. It 
 nerved his mind to labour on, when distress sank 
 heavy on his household, and his experience of his 
 neglected efforts might well have bid him despair ; its 
 effect on his outward bearing and character raised up 
 for him a friend in his extremity, in the person of 
 Sir Thomas Heathcote : its influence preserved his
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 163 
 
 genius, which it had sustained to success, from over- 
 confidence ; and strengthening it in its humility, 
 matured it safely in the final completeness to which it 
 was its privilege to attain : and, lastly, as inclining 
 him to receive cordially the opinions of others, it 
 raised him in the esteem of his professional brethren ; 
 and, as constantly presiding over the production of 
 his works, in the honest elaboration of their design 
 and execution, and in the conscientious equality of 
 attention given to their slightest as to their most 
 important divisions, it preserved his faculties through- 
 out his career from the danger of being weakened by 
 carelessness, or misdirected by caprice. 
 
 These remarks may appear to delay unnecessarily 
 the progress of this Memoir, but they are suggested 
 by the great truth which the career of Mr. Collins 
 illustrates, that the powers of the mind, however 
 brilliant, are never too elevated to be aided by the 
 moral virtues of the character ; and that between 
 the aims of the intellect and the discipline of the 
 disposition, it is intended that there should exist an 
 all-important connexion, which the pride of genius 
 may easily sever, but which the necessities of genius 
 are never enabled to spare. 
 
 On now returning to the regular course of the 
 narrative, my father's pictures contributed to the 
 Academy Exhibition of 1820 first claim attention. 
 They were ; " Portraits of Master Cecil and Miss 
 Fanny Boothby," painted for the Earl of Liverpool; 
 " A Capstern at work, drawing up Fishing Boats ;"
 
 164 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 and "A River Scene Cottage Girl buying Fish." 
 In compliance with the rule of the Academy, that 
 each Academician shall, on his election, present the 
 institution with a specimen of his talents, he also 
 painted this year what is called the " diploma picture." 
 This work displays an extraordinary combination of 
 deep tone and agreeable breadth, with minuteness, 
 incident, and detail. It simply represents two boys 
 fishing ; but the water and foliage in the foreground, 
 and the expression and position of the figures, with 
 the village and trees in the distance, are all painted 
 with that skill, industry, and nature, which give to 
 subjects of this description a peculiar importance and 
 charm. This picture was one of those exhibited 
 after the painter's death at the British Institution, 
 among the works of the old masters. In reference 
 to his other productions this year publicly displayed 
 on the Academy walls, it may not be uninteresting to 
 observe, that the " River Scene," for which he 
 received a hundred and fifty guineas, produced at the 
 sale of its possessor's property, (the late Mrs. Hand,) 
 two hundred and thirty guineas. It was a tranquil 
 inland scene, the first fruit of his journey to Devon- 
 shire, delicately treated, and wrought to a high 
 degree of finish. The " Cottage Girl " stands with a 
 child, bargaining with a fisherman, on a wooden jetty 
 at the left hand side of the picture. At the right, 
 fishing boats are moored in the river, which winds 
 onward past hill, village, and wood, until it is lost 
 in the distance. Of the sea-piece, (" Capstern at
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 165 
 
 work, etc.,) painted for Sir Thomas Heathcote, and 
 much admired at the time as a new success for the 
 painter in his most popular style, I am not enabled to 
 furnish a particular description. These pictures are 
 thus noticed in my father's Journals : 
 
 " 14th Dec., 1819. " I began a coast scene, with 
 fishermen hauling up boats, etc., for Sir Thomas 
 Heathcote. Painted upon this picture until the first 
 of January, when I went to Lord Liverpool's at 
 Coombe Wood, for a few days. Returned on the 
 5th, and, from the 6th to the 28th, again employed on 
 it, when I began a picture of the same size for Mrs. 
 Hand. Sir Thomas Heathcote's picture is painted in 
 linseed oil and turpentine, and macguilph made of the 
 shook-up drying oil and mastic varnish, with gold 
 size, in the slow dryers. Chrome yellow and orange, 
 (Field's,) and cobalt, (French,) used occasionally. 
 * * * Painted upon Sir Thomas Heathcote's 
 picture until the 8th February, when I took up Mrs. 
 Hand's, upon which and the sketch I had occasionally 
 spent a few days, both during the progress of Sir 
 Thomas's commission, and frequently before I began 
 it. Mrs. Hand's picture was finished on the 3rd of 
 April ; upon this I worked more diligently than 
 usual, though by no means so industriously as I ought 
 to have done. This picture is painted, in all respects, 
 with the same material as Sir Thomas Heathcote's, 
 excepting the use of chromes; of the yellow chrome 
 I believe hardly a touch, and very little indeed of the
 
 166 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 orange chrome, (Field's,) and that mixed with other 
 colours. 
 
 " Without pretending to be quite correct, and 
 without reference to my habit of occasionally devoting 
 a few days, at sundry times, to arranging my compo- 
 sition on the large canvass, and of course excepting 
 the time, whether long or short, devoted to the 
 original sketch or sketches, I purpose setting down, 
 (when I can do so,) the actual time consumed upon 
 each of my pictures. 
 
 " Sir Thomas Heathcote's picture of a ' Capstern 
 at work,' began 14th December, finished 8th Feb- 
 ruary ; deducting five days for absence from home, 
 was painted in about seven weeks. 
 
 " Mrs. Hand's picture of ' A River Scene Cottage 
 Girl buying Fish,' begun 8th February, finished 3rd 
 April; was painted in about the same time, or rather, 
 the days having much increased in length, this picture 
 has had more time bestowed on it. * * * 
 
 . * * 1820. May 1st. Went to Bayham 
 Abbey, for the purpose of sketching at the fete 
 given in honour of the coming of age of Lord Breck- 
 nock, (May 2nd.) 3rd. Returned with Mr. Watson 
 Taylor and Sir Henry Hardinge." 
 
 The result of the visit above mentioned to the seat 
 of Lord Camden, was a picture, exhibited in 1822, of 
 the birth-day fete. Later in the autumn of this year, 
 (1820,) I find the painter, by the following letter, 
 visiting Lord Liverpool at Walmer Castle ; and after-
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 167 
 
 wards extending his visit to Chichester and the 
 southern coast. 
 
 " To MRS. COLLINS. 
 
 "Walmer Castle, 1820. 
 
 " My dear Mother,' As I shall stay here until 
 Monday evening, or, it is possible, till Tuesday, and 
 consequently not arrive in London as soon as I had 
 purposed, I write to beg you will send me a few 
 lines by return of post, telling me whether by this 
 latter plan, I shall be too late for any engagements 
 you may have made for me in the way of business. I 
 write this in great haste, as I am very busy sketching. 
 I am, thank God, quite well and happy. Lord Liver- 
 pool will leave us on Sunday evening. His lordship 
 will probably take some of my sketches to town with 
 him. He will send them, if he does so, to you ; but 
 I am not quite certain whether I shall have them dry 
 enough by Sunday." * * * 
 
 " Rye, Aug. 14th, 1820. 
 
 " Lord Camden will bring the sketch I made of 
 the Abbey to town, as it was not sufficiently dry to 
 be removed when I left him. Should my presence 
 in any way be useful at home, I can return immedi- 
 ately. I find little here, or at Winch elsea, to sketch. 
 I am, however, not quite idle ; and, consequently, 
 not quite miserable." * * * 
 
 " Little Hampton, Sept. 14th, 1820. 
 " I trust I shall escape the beauties, so ' flat, stale,
 
 168 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 and unprofitable,' of this neighbourhood in a few 
 hours, when I shall have reached Arundel, from 
 whence I propose proceeding to Bognor, Chichester, 
 and home. Unless Bognor affords more substantial 
 matter for the pencil I shall soon leave it ; and, in 
 that case, probably reach London on Saturday even- 
 ing. Frank has lost nothing by not joining me, and 
 if I find any place worth his visiting, I will write 
 again. * * * 
 
 " Yours affectionately, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 In this year the painter suffered the sudden loss of 
 two relatives, an uncle and. a cousin. His father's 
 brother, the Rev. James Collins, accompanied by his 
 son, had, more than a year previously, departed for 
 Sierra Leone ; the former as chaplain to the British 
 factory, the latter in some other official situation. 
 Both, after a sojourn of short duration on the scene 
 of their new duties, sunk under the pestilential climate 
 of the place the son receiving the first intimation 
 of the father's death by hearing the digging of his 
 grave under the bedroom -window where he then lay, 
 sick and exhausted himself. 
 
 Among Mr. Collins's professional friends, at this 
 period, the name of John Constable, R.A., the land- 
 scape painter, must not be omitted. As original as a 
 man as he was as an artist, his innocent and simple 
 life contrasting strangely with his marked and eccen- 
 tric character, Constable possessed unusual claims to
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 169 
 
 the friendship of one, who, like my father, was con- 
 nected with the same branch of Art as himself. An 
 intimacy soon established itself between them; and, 
 to a student of character, few more welcome com- 
 panions than Constable could have been selected. He 
 possessed a capacity for dry, sarcastic humour, which 
 incessantly showed itself in his conversation; and 
 which, though sometimes perhaps too personal in its 
 application, was never false in its essence, and rarely 
 erroneous in its design. Although occasionally a 
 little tinctured by that tendency to paradox, which 
 appears an inherent quality in the mental composi- 
 tion of men of strong individual genius, his opinions 
 on Art were searching, comprehensive, and direct, 
 and were often as felicitously illustrated as they were 
 boldly advanced. I am here, however, trenching 
 upon ground already well occupied: the character 
 and genius of this admirable and original painter 
 have become a public possession, through the medium 
 of Mr. Leslie's interesting narrative of his life and 
 labours. During the progress of that work, my 
 father thus wrote to the author upon the subject 
 of Constable; noticing, it will be observed, those 
 sportive sallies, remembered with delight by his 
 friends, but too private in their nature and too per- 
 sonal in their interest to be confided with advantage 
 to the world : 
 
 " I have been cudgelling my brains on the subject 
 of the Constable anecdotes, and the result is the 
 recollection of a number of good things, calculated, 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 170 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 alas ! only for table-talk among friends. This, as I 
 told you, I feared would be the case. The great 
 charm of our lamented friend's conversation upon 
 Art, was not only its originality but its real worth, 
 and the evidence it afforded of his heartfelt love of 
 his pursuit, independent of any worldly advantages to 
 be obtained from it. I mentioned to you his admir- 
 able remarks upon the composition of a picture, 
 namely, that its parts were all so necessary to it as a 
 whole, that it resembled a sum in arithmetic, take 
 away or add the smallest item, and it must be wrong. 
 His observations, too, on chiaroscuro were all that 
 could be made on that deep subject. How rejoiced 
 I am to find that so many of the great things he did 
 will at last be got together, for the benefit of future 
 students !" 
 
 In the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1821, my 
 father's pictures were, " A Scene in Borrowdale, 
 Cumberland," " Dartmouth, Devon," and " Morning 
 on the Coast of Kent." He also sent to the British 
 Institution, in the same year, one small contribution, 
 entitled " The Bird Trap." The first of these pic- 
 tures was a beautiful combination of mountain land- 
 scape and figures, fresh and graceful in colour and 
 treatment ; it was painted for Mr. William Marshall. 
 The second, a clear, varied scene, finely diversified in 
 its different parts, was painted for Mr. Phillimore 
 Hicks. The third, a bright, delicate sea-piece, the 
 largest of the artist's pictures of the year, was 
 painted for Mr. Jesse Watts Russell, M. P. "The
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 171 
 
 Bird Trap," a rustic scene, representing two cottage 
 boys setting their trap, was made the subject of a 
 mezzotinto engraving, on a small scale ; which pre- 
 serves much of the softness and delicacy of the 
 original work. 
 
 Of all the Exhibitions at the Royal Academy with 
 which the painter had been connected, that of 1821 
 was attended with the greatest anxiety and doubt 
 that had ever tried his patience or perplexed his 
 fancy; for in this year he incurred, as the new 
 Academician, the ungracious duty of making one of 
 the Committee appointed to hang the pictures at the 
 annual Exhibition. It may not be uninteresting to 
 the general reader to describe some of the tribulations 
 attached to this difficult office ; tribulations which are 
 doubly felt by those who find themselves exposed to 
 their share of them for the first time. From this 
 moment they discover that one of the privileges attach- 
 ing to their new dignity,- is that of encountering the 
 enmity of no inconsiderable portion of their profes- 
 sion at large. For, when it is considered that the 
 average number of pictures which the Royal Academy 
 has space enough to exhibit seldom amounts to more 
 than two-thirds of the number of pictures sent to it 
 for exhibition, that out of those exhibited works 
 certainly not more than one-third, from the natural 
 construction of rooms, can be honoured with con- 
 venient and conspicuous places, and that, of these 
 two classes of the unfortunate, the discarded and 
 the indifferently hung, there are probably not a dozen 
 
 i 2
 
 172 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 individuals who do not labour under the most insur- 
 mountable conviction that their maltreated produc- 
 tion is the finest work of its class that can be produced, 
 the amount of anger, disappointment and despair 
 inherited by the " Hanging Committee " will not be 
 easily calculated. None but those personally ac- 
 quainted with the perilous process of publishing 
 to the world the yearly achievements of contem- 
 porary Art, can rightly estimate the difficulties and 
 fatigues of the task. The preliminary processes of 
 accepting and rejecting are but " prologues to the 
 swelling act." To give each picture its due position 
 as regards place and light, to hang no pictures near 
 each other but such as in tone and colour harmonize 
 with, or agreeably contrast each other ; to attend to 
 the just claims of the members, while exercising 
 strict impartiality towards the merits of the general 
 exhibitors, to make such an arrangement as shall 
 please the critics in its component and combined 
 parts, and attract the public by the variety of its 
 materials and the universality of its interest ; are some 
 of the labours attempted each year by the Committee, 
 labours involving doubts, which a synod of ancient 
 philosophers might vainly endeavour to solve, and 
 producing difficulties, in comparison with which the 
 cleansing of the Augean stable must be viewed as the 
 morning's amusement of a crossing-sweeper or a groom ! 
 The length of time occupied by this more than 
 Herculean task is three weeks ; after which, the new 
 Academician is not unfrequently startled by the fol-
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 173 
 
 lowing collateral phenomena, informing him as elo- 
 quently as a visit to the Institution itself, that the 
 Exhibition has at last opened to the public : He goes 
 into the street, meets an artist whom he knows inti- 
 mately, stretches out to him the hand of unconscious 
 friendship, and is welcomed by a lofty look and a 
 passing bow. This artist is disgusted with the position 
 of his picture. Sad and sorry, he passes on, ven- 
 tures, perhaps, within the walls of the Academy 
 itself, pauses opposite a picture of some merit 
 placed in an admirable situation, and is joined by a 
 friend, (not a professional friend this time.) " Ah," 
 says the latter, " grand work that ; painted by a rela- 
 tion of mine, but it has been shockingly treated. 
 Look at that picture by the side of it, it absolutely 
 kills it ! He says it is all your doing, that you are 
 jealous of his talent, and have done it on purpose, 
 and so forth. Of course I tried to pacify him, but it 
 was of no use : he is talking about it everywhere. 
 Great acquaintance, you know quite thick with the 
 aristocracy may do you some harm, I'm afraid. 
 Sorry very sorry wish you had taken more pains 
 about him. Good morning." Irritated and disap- 
 pointed, our new Academician goes off sulkily to 
 dine at his club ; and, taking up the paper, finds in it 
 a critique upon the Exhibition. All is praise and 
 congratulation until his own works fall under review, 
 and on these sarcasm and abuse descend with crush- 
 ing severity. He looks round indignantly, and be- 
 comes aware of the presence of a literary friend at
 
 174 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 the next table, who has been lazily watching him 
 over his pint of Marsala for the last half-hour. 
 Greetings, propinquity, explanations ensue. The 
 literary friend's attention is directed to the criticism. 
 He reads it coolly all through, from beginning to end ; 
 and then observes, that it was only yesterday that 
 he saw a friend of his, an artist, who had heard that 
 his water-colour portrait of an officer had been placed 
 in the wrong light in the miniature -room, who had 
 ascribed this indignity to the meddling spirit and 
 utter incapacity of the new Academician, and who 
 had gone off to his brother, who was a great critic, 
 "in fact, altogether a very talented fellow quite 
 enthusiastic about all his relations," and had prompted 
 him to forget his usual impartiality, and write down 
 the new Academician's pictures in revenge. The 
 junior member of the " Hanging Committee " stays 
 not to hear more, but goes home in despair. On his 
 table he finds several letters, most of them in 
 unknown handwritings. These he opens first ; they 
 are anonymous epistles, varying in style, from the 
 abruptly insolent to the elaborately sarcastic. This 
 last visitation of injury proceeds from a cause more 
 deplorable than any hitherto enumerated ; the author- 
 ship of the anonymous letters being attributable to 
 those modern Raphaels and Michael Angelos whose 
 pictures have been utterly turned out ! 
 
 Such are some of the tribulations which Academic 
 " flesh is heir to." For Mr. Collins, the task of 
 assisting in the arrangement of the pictures was one
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A, 175 
 
 which his extreme delicacy of feeling and great 
 anxiety to be at once merciful and just, rendered of 
 no ordinary difficulty and fatigue. Notwithstanding 
 his solicitude at all times to fulfil his duties in the 
 gentlest possible manner, the most satisfactory evi- 
 dence that he inherited his due share of the persecu- 
 tions above enumerated appears among his papers 
 in the shape of letters and petitions, some anony- 
 mous and some signed ; some exceedingly insolent 
 and some deplorably lachrymose. In addition to 
 these, a few memorials have been found, addressed 
 to the Hanging Committee of the Academy generally, 
 one of which, emanating from an amateur artist, dated 
 1821, and consequently inferentially including Mr. 
 Collins in its animadversions, is so unique a specimen 
 of mock humility and disappointed self-conceit ; and 
 is, moreover, expressed with such a wonderfully 
 romantic fervour of language, that I cannot resist the 
 temptation of extracting it for the reader's amuse- 
 ment; merely premising that the different names 
 appearing in it will be concealed, in order to avoid 
 the remotest possibility of giving personal offence to 
 any one. 
 
 The remonstrance, or memorial, begins as follows : 
 
 " To THE HANGING COMMITTEE OF THE 
 ROYAL ACADEMY. 
 
 1821. 
 
 " Gentlemen, If, in the following lines, any ex- 
 pression which may in the slightest, degree be con-
 
 176 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 strued into a want of respect to the Academy shall 
 escape me, I must beg of you to lay it to the score of 
 inadvertence only, and not to an intentional wish to 
 offend, as everything of the kind is, I assure you, 
 furthest from my thoughts. I declare, upon my 
 honour, that I do not know the name of any one 
 single person, out of the eight who compose the 
 Hanging Committee (as I understand it to be called) 
 for the year. Nothing, therefore, of a personal 
 nature towards any individual among you, can possi- 
 bly be laid to my charge. 
 
 " I have been in the habit, for the last fourteen 
 years successively, of sending some specimens of my 
 bumble performance to your annual Exhibition, and I 
 know, from various members of the Academy, that 
 
 my pictures have been willingly received. Mr. , 
 
 Mr. , Mr. , Mr. , etc., have all of them, 
 
 in the strongest terms, been pleased to express to 
 me their approbation, nay, even their praise, and 
 these are not men to natter. Perhaps, however, a still 
 greater proof, (or, what at least ought to be so con- 
 sidered,) of the favourable reception which my pictures 
 have obtained, is, that they have on various occasions 
 been placed in the ' Great Room,' yes, in the very 
 best situations in that room ! 
 
 " This year I sent up two small pictures, (they are 
 little, very little ones,) in the hope that one of them, 
 at least, might get a moderately good place. As I 
 did not think them inferior to my former attempts, 
 (such is my own opinion,) there seemed nothing
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 17t 
 
 unreasonable in my indulging an expectation at 
 once so pleasing to myself and so gratifying to my 
 friends. 
 
 *' In consequence of a severe illness, I have been 
 hitherto disappointed in my annual visit to Somerset- 
 house ; but what think you, gentlemen, must be my 
 disappointment, at being informed by my friends that 
 my pictures are ' shaved down to tlie ground,' in the 
 inner room, and consequently seen to the greatest 
 possible disadvantage. To judge indeed from their 
 report, a much worse situation, I conceive, could not 
 easily have been assigned to them. 
 
 " Now, Gentlemen, I appeal to yourselves, is this 
 handsome ? Is this considerate ? Is this just ? I 
 will answer for you; such a proceeding is no less 
 unbecoming to yourselves, than it is injurious to the 
 Art an Art, for the advancement of which no one is 
 more zealous, more anxious, than myself. 
 
 " How often have the very Academicians whom I 
 have named declared to me, that the works of amateurs, 
 of Gentlemen Artists, were most thankfully received 
 by the Academy. ' Such little flowers, interspersed 
 here and there,' have they said, ' make our Exhibi- 
 tion smell less of the shop they prove to us, too, that 
 the love of Art is disseminating through the country 
 they do more, they contribute themselves, very 
 essentially, to that most desirable end : besides, they 
 bring grist to the mill, by attracting, as they never 
 fail to do, a host of visitors, whose contributions add 
 to the general fund ; that fund (observed they) which 
 i 3
 
 178 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 is our only support, and without which we should be 
 no Academy at all.'* 
 
 " To what cause I may attribute the humiliation in 
 my present case, I am at a loss to conceive. An 
 enemy among you I cannot possibly have, I believe : 
 on the contrary, I know full well that I may count 
 many friends in the society to which you belong ; 
 and though I say it myself, (indeed it hurts me 
 extremely to be thus compelled to recount favours 
 conferred,) I feel that I have some claim to its acknow- 
 ledgment and regard. 
 
 " Ask, I pray you, Mr. , whether he has not 
 received payments from me for four different pictures 
 commissions the produce of his masterly pencil ? 
 
 Mr. , can tell you who it was that, only last 
 
 year, gave him the commission for his unrivalled 
 
 picture of ; and who, he can inform you, in 
 
 addition thereto, hath been mainly instrumental in 
 obtaining this very year for that artist, no less than 
 for Mr. , commissions for their respective pic- 
 
 tures, (painted for my son-in-law) now hanging on 
 
 your walls. Mr. , if I mistake not, will not be 
 
 found backward in making you acquainted, if re- 
 quired, with the terms on which, some years ago, I 
 gave him a commission, at a time when, as I was 
 
 * I cannot avoid hinting my suspicions, in this place, that the 
 feelings of the Academy towards their amateur brethren, (although 
 undoubtedly and properly those of friendship and respect) are 
 coloured, here, a little too highly, by the fervid fancy of the author 
 of the memorial
 
 "WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 179 
 
 informed, his finances were low his spirits depressed, 
 and family afflictions pressed heavily on his mind. 
 Mr. , too, has shared of my purse.* 
 
 " But I forbear, ashamed as I am at being driven 
 to confessions like these ! 
 
 " The inference which I wish to be drawn from all 
 this, cannot be mistaken ; and I leave you, Gentlemen, 
 to decide whether the part you have acted in regard 
 to me, can be considered such as I have deserved 
 in fine, whether that part is creditable either to your- 
 selves, or advantageous to the Arts ? 
 
 " For supposition's sake, let us for a moment con- 
 template your Exhibition (be the walls covered as 
 they may) without the appearance of one single 
 
 specimen from the pencils of Sir , (that giant of 
 
 an amateur ;) of Sir ; of Mr. ; of Mr. ; 
 
 of Mr. ; f and last of all, though perhaps not 
 
 least, (for so I have been most kindly and encourag- 
 ingly assured by good and candid judges, among 
 whom was your late worthy President himself,) your 
 humble servant. 
 
 " Would no sentiment of regret no feeling of 
 disappointment, in such a case, allow me, with all 
 
 * The gentlemen thus gracefully and opportunely twitted with 
 their obligations to the memorialist were all Royal Academicians of 
 " name and note." Of their number not one now remains to be the 
 recipient of future remonstrances, and the scapegoat of artistic 
 indignation that is yet to come. 
 
 t Here occur the names of gentlemen of deserved reputation as 
 amateur artists.
 
 180 MEMOIRS OP THE LIFE OF 
 
 due deference, to ask, pervade the bosoms of the 
 more liberal the high-minded Academicians, (of such 
 there are to my knowledge many to be found) at a 
 sight so alarming, at the appearance of such an hiatus 
 in the show ? 
 
 " Fully sensible how little there is of real value in 
 my feeble attempts, I have never wished or even 
 thought that they should interfere with the produc- 
 tions of Professors, to whom I am well aware a good 
 place is everything. My claims have ever been of 
 the moderate kind. (Mr. , and Mr. - , will 
 
 bear testimony, I am sure, to the truth of what I 
 now say,) nor have I ever, even when an acquaintance 
 has been of your number, sought by undue means an 
 interference in my behalf, being firmly persuaded that 
 integrity, that impartiality, that a strict attention to 
 the fair and legitimate demands of real merit ought 
 to be in the breast of the Committee the sole basis 
 whereon its decisions should be formed. Such, I have 
 no doubt, was the wise and ever-to-be-revered inten- 
 tion of the august founder of the Royal Academy. 
 
 " But I hasten to conclude, requesting your ex- 
 cuses for this long, and, doubtless to you all, most 
 tiresome tirade. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, 
 
 " Your very obedient servant, 
 
 Such is this ingenious protest. It is presented to 
 the reader, (although he might well doubt it, from
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 181 
 
 the perusal of some of its paragraphs,) exactly as it is 
 written, down to the very italics. Long as it assuredly 
 is, I cannot imagine that its introduction will be con- 
 sidered as wearisome, or that it will be read with 
 any other feelings than those of the amusement 
 which it is so admirably adapted to excite. Little, 
 indeed, do the gay visitors to the Academy Exhibi- 
 tion imagine what an atmosphere of disappointment 
 and jealousy, of petty malice and fruitless wrath, invisi- 
 bly encircles no inconsiderable number of the failures 
 they ridicule, and even of the successes they applaud. 
 
 The office of keeper of the valuable Gallery of 
 pictures at Dulwich having become vacant in this 
 year, Mr. Collins' brother, Francis, started as one of 
 the candidates for the situation. With the deep 
 affection for his brother and the ardent enthusiasm 
 for his brother's interests, which ever characterized 
 him, the painter exerted his utmost influence in 
 all directions to ensure the election of Mr. Francis 
 Collins : whose fitness for the honourable and respon- 
 sible situation that .he desired to fill, involving as it 
 did the whole care and cleaning of one of the most 
 valuable collections of pictures in England, will be 
 found well noticed in the following extract from Sir 
 Francis Chantrey's testimonial in his favour: 
 
 " Through my act, Mr. Collins," (Francis,) " was 
 employed two years ago to clean a valuable collection 
 of pictures, amounting to nearly an hundred ; and it 
 was a trust for which I was responsible. I knew him 
 to be perfectly competent ; for he had been educated
 
 182 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 to this business under his father, himself a picture 
 cleaner much esteemed by artists ; and I also knew 
 that he was living at the elbow of his brother, the 
 Royal Academician, and was acquainted with the 
 whole process of a picture, even from the bare 
 canvass. On the whole, I know of no one more com- 
 petent for the preservation of a collection like yours, 
 and I know no one in whose abilities I would more 
 readily confide. He is an unpresuming, good-tem- 
 pered, and sensible man, with a love and knowledge 
 of Art, and possessed of much curious information 
 respecting its productions." 
 
 In spite, however, of this and many other valuable 
 recommendations, Mr. Francis Collins was not so 
 fortunate as to gain the keepership of the Dulwich 
 Gallery, Mr. Denning being the candidate ulti- 
 mately elected to that office. 
 
 Some description of a second tour to Devonshire, 
 undertaken by the painter in the autumn of this year, 
 will be found in the following letter to his mother : 
 
 "To MRS. COLLINS. 
 
 " Bideford, Oct. 7th, 1821. 
 
 " My dear Mother, My last letter contained, if I 
 recollect with accuracy, an account of your dutiful 
 son, up to his visit to Sharpham. We left that place 
 for Ashburton, taking in our way the parsonage of 
 Mr. Frewde, who, I am truly sorry to say, since I last 
 visited this county has lost the mother of a numerous
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 183 
 
 family. I am sure you must have heard me speak of 
 a most elegant and amiable lady, his wife. 
 
 " We slept at Ashburton two nights ; and during 
 our stay there visited some of the finest, I think I 
 may say all the finest scenes this beautiful part of 
 Devonshire can show; all the property of my very 
 excellent friend, Mr. Bastard. From thence we 
 returned to Kitley, which I left the following day for 
 Plymouth and Birham, Sir W. Elford's seat. I then 
 paid a visit to the Leaches, at Spitchwick, where I 
 made sketches of the scenes which Mr. Bastard and 
 myself had pronounced picturesque ; viz., fit for 
 pictures. From Spitchwick I returned to Kitley, 
 where I spent nearly a week ; after which 1 made 
 the necessary preparations for my northern tour. I 
 have commenced it under the most melancholy cir- 
 cumstances. Upon our entrance into Torrington, we 
 heard the most afflicting account of the loss of up- 
 wards of forty fishermen, who have perished in the 
 gale of Thursday evening last, (all inhabitants of 
 Clovelly and its neighbourhood.) With feelings of 
 the deepest melancholy shall I to-morrow set out, 
 please God, for this spot, the scene of so much afflic- 
 tion. The body of one of the sufferers has been 
 found this morning, (a native of this place,) whose son 
 perished at Clovelly on the same night. I shall not 
 send this letter to the post-office until after I reach 
 Clovelly, only eleven miles distant from this ; when I 
 trust I shall be enabled to give you some account of 
 my future plans."
 
 184 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 " Clovelly, Monday evening. The above account 
 is but too true, and the misery the accident has 
 caused here can never be forgotten. I have this day 
 seen some of the remains of the boats, torn to pieces 
 in a way one would hardly have supposed possible. 
 Going down the village, I saw a crowd assembled 
 before a door ; they were singing a psalm over the 
 body of one of their comrades. Not above one half of 
 the corpses have been found. I refrain from any 
 further account of this most awful affair, as I am 
 satisfied it would be too much for you. 
 
 " Clovelly certainly presents the finest scenery I ever 
 beheld ; but, as the days are now so short and cold, I 
 must use despatch, particularly as I have yet many 
 other places to visit. * * * It is possible you 
 may receive a basket of stones, and old boughs, and 
 roots of trees from Mr. Bastard, for me to paint from. 
 I mention this, that you may not think you have been 
 hoaxed when you open the parcel. 
 
 " Your affectionate son, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS/' 
 
 With the exception of the tour to Devonshire thus 
 recorded, nothing occurred in this year to vary the 
 easy regularity of the painter's life, a life which, 
 looked on under its brighter influences, (and to such 
 Mr. Collins had now attained,) is perhaps the most 
 delightful that the varieties of human existence can 
 present. It is refreshing after having enumerated,
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 185 
 
 some pages back, the petty tribulations and small 
 worldly crosses attaching even to the most success- 
 ful study of Art, to turn to the contemplation of 
 the abstract and intellectual charms, as well as of 
 the real, practical advantages of this noble pursuit. 
 Viewed in his relation to the other branches of Art, 
 to literature and music alone the painter enjoys 
 many higher privileges, and suffers fewer anxieties, 
 than either the poet or the composer. He is enabled, 
 with comparatively little delay, to view his composi- 
 tion, at its earliest stages, displayed before him at 
 once, in all its bearings, as one coherent though yet 
 uncompleted whole. When dismissed as finished, it 
 passes fresh from the care of his hand and the con- 
 tact of his mind to a position where its merits can be 
 easily judged, without taxing the time or risking the 
 impatience of the public. It is then confided to the 
 possession of but one the individual who prizes it the 
 most not to be flung aside by the superficial, like 
 a book, or to be marred by the ignorant, like a 
 melody, but to be viewed by the most careless and 
 uncultivated as a relic which they dare not molest, 
 and as a treasure which cannot become common by 
 direct propagation. Then, turning from the work to 
 the workman, we find Nature presenting herself to his 
 attention at every turn, self-moulded to all his pur- 
 poses. His library is exposed freely before him, 
 under the bright sky and on the open ground. His 
 college is not pent within walls and streets, but 
 spreads, ever boundless and ever varying, wherever
 
 186 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 wood and valley are stretched, or cliff and mountain 
 reared. Poverty has a beauty in its rags, and ruin 
 an eloquence in its degradation for him. His hand 
 holds back from the beloved form that oblivion 
 of the tomb which memory and description are feeble 
 alike to avert. He stands like the patriarch, "be- 
 tween the dead and the living," to recall the one and 
 to propagate the other, at once the interpreter of 
 animating Nature, and the antagonist of annihilating 
 death. 
 
 Upon this subject, it was the often-expressed con- 
 viction of my father, drawn from his own experience 
 of the good and evil of his pursuit, that " the study 
 of the Art was in itself so delightful, that it balanced 
 almost all the evils of life that could be conceived ; 
 and that an artist with tolerable success had no right 
 to complain of anything." 
 
 In the following letter, addressed by Mr. Collins at 
 the beginning of the next year, to a valued and inti- 
 mate friend, Mr. Joseph, the sculptor, whose merits 
 are well known to the public by his statues of Wil- 
 berforce and Wilkie, with many other admirable 
 works, the painter's own reflections upon the attrac- 
 tions of his profession will be perused in this place 
 with some interest : 
 
 To SAMUEL JOSEPH, ESQ. 
 
 " London, January 28th, 1822. 
 
 "Dear Joseph, Hoping I should long ere this 
 have seen you in London, I trusted I could have satis-
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 1S7 
 
 fied you that neither neglect nor any abatement of a 
 most sincere regard for you, but an incurable habit of 
 procrastination, has been the sole reason why your 
 letter has remained so long unanswered. My anxiety 
 however to hear from you, since I cannot see you, 
 impels me to send you such London news as my 
 scanty means of information will enable me to collect. 
 In the Arts we are going on much as usual, and much 
 as I fear will always be the case in this country, 
 namely, cramming the public with that which they 
 have not power to digest. I think, upon the whole, 
 there is more said and less done in the Arts than 
 heretofore, the alarming increase of exhibitions having 
 a tendency to produce derangements of the pictorial 
 system which a little wholesome and legitimate 
 nourishment might have altogether prevented. A 
 lamentable demand for novelty is producing in the 
 Arts, as well as in literature, exactly what might 
 have been expected; and, although the last Exhibition 
 at Somerset-house has been more crowded than upon 
 any former occasion, and readers were never so nume- 
 rous, the result has been a satiety truly alarming. 
 Every one talks of painting and literature, and what 
 is still worse, all conceive it to be their duty to have 
 opinions ; and instead of an ingenuous expression of 
 their feelings, by which painting and poetry might 
 gather considerable improvement their only aim 
 seems to be, that of persuading those who are not to 
 be deceived, that they understand both Arts. 
 
 " But, enough of the dark side. Notwithstanding
 
 188 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 the many disagreeable circumstances attending the 
 prosecution of our arduous profession, the real charms 
 of the pursuit are so great, that were the difficulties 
 an hundred times greater, we ought to thank Heaven 
 we are permitted to pursue an employment so replete 
 with abstractions, in their nature scarcely belonging 
 to what is earthly. 
 
 " Although I have not made inquiries of you, still 
 your brother has been kind enough to give me in- 
 formation, which, together with your own letter, is 
 upon the whole gratifying. I long to see some of 
 your recent productions. Chan trey has just finished 
 a bust of the King, which entirely surpasses any work 
 he has done in this way. He tells me he has written 
 to you ; and I know he has a personal regard for you, 
 and thinks highly of your works. Are we to expect 
 you in the spring ? Is it prudent entirely to leave 
 London? Should you determine to take up your 
 quarters in Edinburgh, why not occasionally pay us 
 a visit ? In my humble opinion, however, reversing 
 this would be a better thing. Perhaps you could 
 settle the matter more advantageously in London 
 than by any information your friends at so great a 
 distance could give you. I lament exceedingly that 
 I had not the pleasure of seeing Mrs. Joseph, during 
 her stay in London. 
 
 " I shall tell you nothing about the fish / am fry- 
 ing, come and see. Write to me as soon as con- 
 venient ; I hereby promise to answer any letter you 
 may in future send to me directly. Other matters
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 189 
 
 when we meet, and I most sincerely wish it may be 
 soon. With kind regards to Mrs. Joseph, in which I 
 am joined by my mother and Frank, I am, dear 
 Joseph, with great esteem, 
 
 " Faithfully yours, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 "P.S. Best regards to our friend Allan, and such 
 others as care whether I am alive or not. Wilkie has 
 nearly completed his picture ; I saw it yesterday. It 
 is one of the most stupendous things ever produced." 
 
 The year 1822 was marked by some variety of 
 incidents in the painter's life ; among which may be 
 noticed his entry on a new sphere of domestic duties 
 as a married man, and his excursion to Edinburgh 
 with Sir David Wilkie, on the occasion of the visit of 
 George the Fourth, the period at which he first be- 
 came acquainted with Sir Walter Scott. 
 
 His pictures contributed to the Exhibition of 1822, 
 occupying however priority of date in the year, 
 claim priority of notice. They were entitled, " A 
 Scene near Chichester," painted for Mr. Isaac Currie; 
 " Clovelly, North Devon," painted for Mr. Philips, 
 M.P. ; "Woodcutters, Buckland on the Moor, 
 Devon," painted for Mr. Lamb ton, M.P. ; and " Bay- 
 ham Abbey, during the celebration of a Fete given 
 in honour of the coming of age of Lord Brecknock," 
 painted for the Marquis Camden. " Chichester " and 
 the " Woodcutters " were two of the painter's most
 
 190 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 successful landscapes. In the first the atmosphere 
 is cool, gray, and serene ; the high-road with trees at 
 the right, and the open common with figures talking 
 near an old white horse, occupy the foreground ; 
 while in the distance rises the spire of Chichester 
 Cathedral, surrounded by the level, open scenery, 
 presented in Nature by the view. The second pic- 
 ture, " Woodcutters," exhibits a background of soft, 
 dusky, woodland foliage, sunk in quiet shadow. In 
 front, a gleam of sunshine falls over a patch of open 
 ground, encumbered with a felled tree, round which 
 the woodcutters are occupied in their tranquil mid-day 
 meal. " Clovelly," was the sea-piece of the year. 
 The sketch from which it was produced was made 
 after the storm mentioned in the painter's last letter 
 to his mother, in which forty fishermen were lost. 
 In the picture, the ocean is yet vexed with the sub- 
 siding of the tempest, which caused this terriflac 
 calamity ; the waves dash brightly and briskly in upon 
 the beach and the fishing-boats in the foreground. 
 To the left of the scene rises the rocky and precipitous 
 shore, studded with cottages, built picturesquely one 
 above the other, and relieved against the sky, whose 
 wild fitful clouds, and fresh vivid atmosphere, remind 
 the spectator of the storm that has lately raged. This 
 picture is, in every respect, a remarkable and original 
 work. The view of Bayham Abbey was a smaller 
 production. A river occupies the foreground, the 
 fete is proceeding in the middle distance, and the 
 foliage that clusters round the old abbey, is finely
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 191 
 
 varied by the influence of the richest autumnal 
 tints. 
 
 The tour to Scotland with Wilkie, which preceded 
 the painter's marriage, and to which it is now neces- 
 sary to revert, will, it is presumed, be not inaptly 
 introduced by a more extended notice than has yet 
 been attempted in these Memoirs, of the distinguished 
 man who was my father's companion in his journey, 
 and whose brotherly connection with him began 
 with their first acquaintance to terminate only with 
 his death. 
 
 It is of Sir David Wilkie, in the capacity in which 
 perhaps he is least familiar to the world, as a com- 
 panion and a friend, that I would here endeavour to 
 speak. In what is called "general society," there 
 was a certain unconscious formality and restraint 
 about the manner of this gifted and amiable man, 
 which wrongly impressed those who were but slightly 
 acquainted with him with an idea that he was natur- 
 ally haughty and reserved. He was never one of 
 those who mix freely and carelessly with the world, 
 whose movements, manners, and conversation flow 
 from them as it were impromptu. With Wilkie, an 
 excessive anxiety to contribute his just quota of in- 
 formation and amusement to a new company weak- 
 ened, as in such cases it almost invariably does, his 
 social efforts. It was only in the society of his inti- 
 mate friends, of fellow-painters and fellow-country- 
 men whom he admired and loved, that the great 
 artist's real kindness and gaiety of disposition ap-
 
 192 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 peared. Then his manners became playful and 
 winning, his voice animated and cheerful, his laugh 
 ready and contagious, as if by magic. Then the jests 
 and witticisms with which his friend Collins loved to 
 perplex him awoke his fund of anecdote, his peculiar 
 vein of humour, his relations exquisitely amusing 
 in their sedate circumstantiality of good jokes and 
 clever retorts. No egotism or self-assumption ever 
 tinged his thoughts, or deteriorated his conversation. 
 He appeared, in these social hours, to be absolutely 
 unaware of the illustrious position that he occupied. 
 Although not gifted with that peculiar flexibility of 
 mind which, to use the nursery phrase, enables 
 *' grown people to talk to children," his kindness and 
 patience with them was one of the finest ingredients in 
 his simple, affectionate character. The writer of this 
 biography remembers being often taken, when a child, 
 upon his knee, giving him pencil and paper, and watch- 
 ing him, while he drew at his request, cats, dogs, and 
 horses with a readiness and zeal which spoke eloquently 
 for his warmth of heart and gentleness of disposition. 
 Although full of humour of a particular kind, and of 
 a capacity to relish it frequently in others, he was by 
 no means susceptible of all varieties of jests. Scotch 
 stories and " Irish bulls," he heartily enjoyed ; but to 
 a play upon words of any other description, or to a 
 joke by inference, the " portals of his understanding " 
 seemed to be almost invariably closed. Any attempts 
 to make him understand a " pun " were generally 
 abortive. Two amusing instances of this are given,
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 193 
 
 as follows, in a short collection of manuscript anec- 
 dotes of his friend, written by Mr. Collins, which 
 have never before been published, and from which 
 several extracts will be presented to the reader in this 
 place : 
 
 " Wilkie was not quick in perceiving a joke, 
 although he was always anxious to do so, and to 
 recollect humorous stories, of which he was exceed- 
 ingly fond. As instances, I recollect, once, when we 
 were staying at Mr. Wells', at Redleaf, one morning 
 at breakfast a very small puppy was running about 
 under the table. ' Dear me,' said a lady, ' how this 
 creature teases me ! ' I took it up, and put it into 
 my breast-pocket. Mr. Wells said, ' That is a pretty 
 nosegay.' * Yes,' said I, * it is a dog-rose.' Wilkie's 
 attention, sitting opposite, was called to his friend's 
 pun : but all in vain, he could not be persuaded to 
 see anything in it. I recollect trying once to explain 
 to him, with the same want of success, Hogarth's joke 
 in putting the sign of the woman without a head, 
 (' The Good Woman,') under the window from whence 
 the quarrelsome wife is throwing the dinner into the 
 street." 
 
 As a balance against the above anecdotes, it should 
 be mentioned that, on another occasion, Wilkie suc- 
 ceeded better in the mysteries of punning. On the 
 day when he was knighted, he called on his friend 
 Collins, and, not finding him at home, left his card 
 thus inscribed : " Mr. David Wilkie, a be-knighted 
 traveller." 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 194 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 A more amusing instance of the simplicity of his 
 character is thus described in my father's MS. : 
 
 " Chan trey and Wilkie were dining alone with me, 
 when the former, in his great kindness for Wilkie, 
 ventured, as he said, to take him to task for his con- 
 stant use of the word ' relly,' (really,) when listening 
 to any conversation in which he was much interested. 
 * Now, for instance/ said Chantrey, ' suppose I was 
 giving you an account of any interesting matter, you 
 would constantly say, " Relly! " ' * Relly! ' exclaimed 
 Wilkie immediately, with a look of the most perfect 
 astonishment." 
 
 Another dinner scene of a different description, at 
 Wilkie's house, is worthy of insertion. Mr. Collins's 
 brother Francis possessed a remarkably retentive 
 memory, which he was accustomed to use for the 
 amusement of himself and others in the following 
 way. He learnt by heart a whole number of one of 
 Dr. Johnson's " Ramblers," and used to cause con- 
 siderable diversion to those in the secret, by repeat- 
 ing it all through to a new company, in a conversa- 
 tional tone, as if it was the accidental product of his 
 own fancy, now addressing his flow of moral elo- 
 quence to one astonished auditor, and now to another. 
 One day, when the two brothers were dining at 
 Wilkie's, it was determined to try the experiment 
 upon their host. After dinner, accordingly, Mr. 
 Collins paved the way for the coming speech, by 
 leading the conversation imperceptibly to the subject 
 of the paper in the " Rambler." At the right moment,
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 195 
 
 Francis Collins began. As the first grand Johnsonian 
 sentences struck upon his ear, (uttered, it should be 
 remembered, in the most elaborately careless and 
 conversational manner,) Wilkie started at the high 
 tone that the conversation had suddenly assumed, and 
 looked vainly for explanation to his friend Collins, 
 who, on his part, sat with his eyes respectfully fixed 
 on his brother, all rapt attention to the eloquence 
 that was dropping from his lips. Once or twice, with 
 perfect mimicry of the conversational character he 
 had assumed, Francis Collins hesitated, stammered, 
 and paused, as if collecting his thronging ideas. At 
 one or two of these intervals Wilkie endeavoured 
 to speak, to ask a moment for consideration ; but the 
 torrent of his guest's eloquence was not to be delayed 
 " it was too rapid to stay for any man away it 
 went," like Mr. Shandy's oratory before " My Uncle 
 Toby " until at last it reached its destined close ; and 
 then Wilkie, who, as host, thought it his duty to 
 break silence by the first compliment, exclaimed with 
 the most perfect unconsciousness of the trick that 
 had been played him, " Aye, aye, Mr. Francis ; verra 
 clever (though I did not understand it alt) verra 
 clever ! " 
 
 Further extracts from my father's notes on the 
 subject of his friend, will be found to assist inter- 
 estingly in the delineation of Wilkie's character. 
 They are to the following effect : 
 
 " His friends relate of him, that he could draw 
 before he could write. He recollected this himself, 
 K 2
 
 196 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 and spoke to me of an old woman, who had in her 
 cottage near his father's manse a clean-scoured wooden 
 stool, on which she used to allow him to draw with a 
 coarse carpenter's pencil, and then scrub it out to be 
 ready for another day. Showing so decided a fondness 
 for drawing, he was sent to Edinburgh to study at 
 a drawing academy there, and great was his despond- 
 ency at what appeared to him the wonderful dexterity 
 among the students. From the specimens that he 
 sent home to his friends, their fears were so great that 
 he would not succeed as an artist, that they seriously 
 proposed making him a writer to the signet. How- 
 ever, it was finally determined that he should try his 
 fortune in London. Some years afterwards, the 
 change of life, anxious study, and confinement, pro- 
 duced a long and severe illness, about the period 
 when he painted ' The Village Festival.' He went, 
 during this illness, to Sir George Beaumont's ; who, 
 to the time of his death, continued to show the most 
 strong interest and attachment to him. Sir George 
 and Lady Beaumont used, by turns, to read to him. 
 Upon one occasion, during the reading of Fielding's 
 ' Amelia,' the wickedness of one of the characters so 
 affected him, that he begged no more might be read. 
 Sir George used to say that he often watched him 
 while he was painting, when so intense was his 
 labour that he did not appear to breathe." 
 
 " The theme on which he most delighted to talk 
 with his friends, was painting. One day, at his house, 
 we had been some time conversing on this fruitful
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 197 
 
 subject the mysteries of the Art before the un- 
 initiated, when his excellent mother thought she 
 ought to apologize to a certain Captain present ; 
 which she did in these terms : ' You must e'en 
 excuse them, puir bodies they canna help it!' 
 The delicacy with which he always abstained from 
 boasting of the notice shown him by the nobility, 
 was very remarkable. He was especially careful 
 never to mention any engagement he might have to 
 dine with great people but, if his engagement was 
 with an humble friend, the name was always ready ; 
 unless, indeed, he had reason to think you were not 
 of the party. The way in which he spoke of the 
 works of contemporaries, without compromising that 
 sincerity which was part and parcel of the man, was 
 truly Christian ; and the extreme pains he took in 
 giving his most invaluable advice, showed an entire 
 absence of rivalry. He never had any secrets his 
 own practice was told at once. His fears, when his 
 pictures were well placed at the Exhibition, that 
 others not so well off might feel uncomfortable, gave 
 him real and unaffected pain. His own low estimate 
 of his works was, to a student in human nature, 
 marvellous. The very small sums he required for 
 his pictures are an evidence of his innate modesty. 
 Four hundred guineas for * Reading the Will,' which 
 occupied seven months of the year in which it was 
 produced, and was afterwards sold for twelve hundred, 
 in a country where that sum will go as far as double 
 that amount in England, is a proof. Many others
 
 198 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 might be mentioned as ' The Rent Day,' painted 
 for two hundred guineas : sold for seven hundred and 
 fifty ' Card- Players,' a hundred guineas : sold for 
 six hundred. It must be recollected that these sales 
 took place during the lifetime of the painter a most 
 unusual circumstance. When Lord Mulgrave's pic- 
 tures were sold at Christie's, Wilkie waited in the 
 neighbourhood, whilst I attended the sale. It was 
 quite refreshing to see his joy when I returned with 
 a list of the prices. The sketches produced more 
 than five hundred per cent the pictures three hun- 
 dred. I recollect one a small, early picture, called 
 1 Sunday Morning ' I asked Wilkie what he thought 
 of its fetching, as it did, a hundred and ten pounds, 
 and whether Lord Mulgrave had not got it cheap 
 enough ? ' Why, he gave me fifteen pounds for it ! ' 
 When I expressed my surprise that he should have 
 given so small a sum, for so clever a work ; Wilkie, 
 defending him, said : * Ah, but consider, as I 
 was not known at that time, it was a great 
 risk.''" 
 
 <f In going over the pictures at Kensington with 
 George the Fourth, he was much struck with the 
 great knowledge His Majesty displayed, and the 
 usefulness of his remarks to a painter. He was 
 always most anxious to get the opinions of men of 
 the world upon his pictures. I recollect his taking 
 rather a cumbrous sketch in oil, for the picture of 
 John Knox, (now Sir Robert Peel's) all the way to 
 Edinburgh, for Sir Walter Scott's opinion. I was
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 199 
 
 present when he showed it to him : Sir Walter was 
 much struck with it, as a work of vast and rare 
 power. Those who are exclusive admirers of his 
 early style, ought not to forget this picture, and Lord 
 Lansdowne's ' Monks at Confession ' ' Columbus,' 
 painted for Mr. Holford Mr. Rice's picture of 
 * Benvenuto Cellini ' Mr. Marshall's ' Pope and 
 Buonaparte' 'The Peep o'day Boy's Cabin/ at Mr. 
 Vernon's, and many others, upon which his claims to 
 the character of an historical painter may well be 
 founded. I should scruple not to maintain, that such 
 pictures as the ' Distraining for Rent/ at Redleaf, 
 with all the pathos of a Raphael ; and such exquisite 
 touches of the deepest sentiment, as are to be found 
 in the woman squeezing her way to look at the list 
 of the dead and wounded, in the Waterloo picture, 
 belonging to the Duke of Wellington, are standing 
 evidences of his fitness for the highest departments 
 of Art ; although the figures are not dressed in the 
 toga so lavishly bestowed upon the wooden perpetra- 
 tions of many a Carlo Maratti and a Vanderwerf." 
 
 Such, briefly examined, were some of the pecu- 
 liarities, moral and social, in the character of Mr. 
 Collius's remarkable companion, during his Scotch 
 tour: peculiarities, which, though aparently trivial 
 in themselves, are yet, it is hoped, not useless to aid 
 in the elucidation of his general disposition, and to 
 conduct to some of the more secret sources of his 
 genius. With Sir David Wilkie then, and another
 
 200 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 accomplished brother painter the late Mr. Geddes, 
 A.R.A. Mr. Collins now set forth for Edinburgh. 
 The journey, as may be imagined, was all hilarity 
 Wilkie's notice of it, in a letter to his sister is 
 characteristic : 
 
 " We got through our journey famously, and were 
 less fatigued than we expected. The only subject of 
 regret was, that Geddes's snuff-box was done, by the 
 time we got to Berwick. I was not asked to join, 
 but the box passed between Geddes and Collins, and 
 from Collins to Geddes, incessantly. You will 
 readily imagine I did not feel much for their mis- 
 fortune." 
 
 In this one particular, Wilkie remained excluded 
 from the sympathies of his travelling-companions 
 during all his after-intercourse with them. The 
 tobacco-plant never put forth its kindly leaf for him. 
 It was never his, to woo the balmy influence of com- 
 panionable snuff, or to rejoice with the world-wide 
 brotherhood of the contemplative and peace-com- 
 pelling pipe ! 
 
 With the advantages of reputation and excellent 
 letters of introduction, the painters soon became 
 involved in all the choicest dissipations of the North- 
 ern Metropolis, at that mirthful period when court 
 gaiety and conviviality outmanoeuvred Scotch pru- 
 dence, and half divested even an Edinburgh "sabbath" 
 of its hereditary grimness and pious desolation. 
 Wilkie forgot his discretion in a "new sky-blue 
 coat," and caroused innocently with the rest, when
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 201 
 
 the mirthful dinner closed, in gastronomic triumph, 
 the bustling day. At one of these parties, at Sir 
 Walter Scott's, Wilkie and Collins beheld the appear- 
 ance of the author of Waverley in a new character. 
 When the table was cleared after dinner, Sir Walter, 
 in the exuberance of his loyalty and hospitality, 
 volunteered to sing his own song "Carle now the 
 King's come." The whole company gave the chorus, 
 and their host, regardless alike of his lameness and 
 his dignity, sprang up, and, calling upon everybody 
 to join hands, made his guests dance with him round 
 the table to the measure of the tune. The effect of 
 this latter exercise, indulged in by a set of perform- 
 ers, all more or less illustrious in the world's eye 
 and all, with few exceptions, of intensely anti-saltatory 
 habits would defy the pen of a Rabelais or the 
 pencil of a Hogarth. It was enough, considering 
 the nature and locality of the ceremony, to have 
 brought back to earth the apparition of John Knox 
 himself ! 
 
 Among other favours conferred by George the 
 Fourth upon his Scotch subjects, was the knighting 
 of Captain Adam Ferguson and Henry Raeburn, the 
 portrait-painter. A dinner-party was given, at the 
 house of Chief Commissioner Adam, to celebrate the 
 event. The company soon crowded about the new 
 knights, to hear their description of the ceremony 
 they had just passed through. Sir Adam Ferguson's 
 narrative was quite Shandean in its quaint originality 
 and innocent Uncle-Toby-like sarcasm. " Oh ! " cried 
 K 3
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 the new recipient of the baptism of chivalry, " His 
 Majesty just gave me a smart slap o' the shouther 
 with the back of his sword, and said, ' Rise, Sir 
 Adam Ferguson/ The shouther was a wee bit 
 bruised, but I just rubbed it wi' a little ' yellow ba- 
 silicon/ and its aw' weel eneugh now ! " 
 
 Turning from dignities and dinner-parties preach- 
 ings before the King and processions to the Castle, 
 bonfires in the streets and balls in the houses to 
 professional and biographical matters, it may not be 
 uninteresting to mention, that Mr. Collins cherished 
 the same intention as Sir David Wilkie of painting 
 a picture commemorative of the King's visit to Edin- 
 burgh ; but, unlike the latter, did not carry his pur- 
 pose into execution. The point of time he had fixed 
 on was the moment of the Royal landing at Leith. 
 But although he was enabled, by the intervention of 
 his friends in authority, to obtain an excellent view 
 of this and all the other ceremonies and proceedings 
 that he desired to witness, and although he carried 
 his investigations so far as to accompany the King's 
 yacht on its homeward way down the Forth, (on 
 which occasion, according to his friend's account, he 
 narrowly escaped being taken all the way to London 
 by mistake,) the contemplated picture never proceeded 
 beyond the first sketches. Nor was this to be wondered 
 at, in the instance of Mr. Collins. After the first ex- 
 citement of the Royal visit had worn off, there was 
 little really attractive, to a mind whose accustomed 
 employment was the study of simple Nature, in the
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 203 
 
 conventional pomps of a Royal progress, or the gorge- 
 ous vanities of a Civic welcome. 
 
 Some reference to the gaieties of Edinburgh will 
 be found in the following letters from the painter to 
 his mother : 
 
 " To MRS. COLLINS. 
 
 "Edinburgh, August 17th, 1822. 
 
 " My dear Mother, As you have, I trust, received 
 from Miss Wilkie an account of our safe arrival, I 
 have now to give you some idea of our employment 
 since that time. 
 
 "For some days we were uncertain when the King 
 would arrive ; and, on the day when we had great 
 reason to expect him, the weather was so rough that 
 it was apprehended he would land at Dunbar, and 
 perform the rest of the journey by land. On Wed- 
 nesday he was in sight, and anchored in my presence, 
 opposite Leith, about a mile and a half from the 
 shore, but resolved not to go on shore till the follow- 
 ing day. The sight, of course, I took care to attend, 
 and, as I had the advantage of a boat with six men 
 under my command, as well as a pass-ticket from the 
 Bailies of Leith giving me the privilege of going 
 into any seat on shore the conveniences were con- 
 siderable. 
 
 " I am at present quite uncertain with respect to 
 the time of my return to London, but I think it is 
 possible I may go to Stirling, and one or two of
 
 204 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 the Lakes ; and, as I may move either in that di- 
 rection or towards home, about the end of next week, 
 I am very anxious to have a letter. I conclude you 
 have received some communication from Mr. Lamb- 
 ton. 
 
 * * * The letters we took with us have 
 introduced us to some very agreeable society. With 
 Sir Walter Scott we dined a few days ,since, at his 
 house here, and a most delightful evening we had. 
 I am writing this just after dinner we (that is, 
 Joseph, his excellent wife, and your dutiful son,) 
 most sincerely, and with the best wishes for your 
 happiness, drink your health. 
 
 " I am most comfortably accommodated in Joseph's 
 house, and want nothing but a letter from home; 
 write, therefore, by return of post. The illumina- 
 tions last night presented an appearance altogether 
 unique. The effect from the Castle, looking down 
 upon the old and new town, was magnificent : the 
 Castle itself was lighted with crates on its walls, filled 
 with burning coal. It is now so near post-time that 
 I can only say, heaven bless you, and Frank, and all 
 enemies and friends. 
 
 " Your affectionate Son, 
 
 "WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 To THE SAME. 
 
 " Edinburgh, August 28th, 1822. 
 
 " My dear Mother, I should have written before 
 this, could I have given you any correct views of my
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. #05 
 
 intended movements. As far as I am at present able 
 to see on the subject, I may be from home some two 
 or three weeks longer. Wilkie and your ungracious 
 son leave this place on Saturday next for Blair Adam, 
 a seat of the Lord Chief Commissioner's ; where we 
 stay a few days, and then proceed to Stirling, Cal- 
 lander, some of the Lakes, and possibly Glasgow ; 
 and, whether we afterwards return to London by 
 Liverpool, or return to this place, and, should that 
 be done, how long we stay here, is a matter 
 upon which I cannot, in this letter, give you any 
 further information. Of one thing I am pretty cer- 
 tain that, unless we find better weather, we shall 
 not make many sketches. 
 
 " The sketches I have already made are few and 
 slight. I have had so much to see, that I have not 
 yet made those more finished drawings at Leith, which, 
 should I paint the King's landing, will be quite 
 essential. I have been on board the Royal George, 
 the ship in which His Majesty reached this port, and 
 I have, from thence, made a drawing of Leith Har- 
 bour, backed by Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags ; 
 which I mean to paint, when I return, for " Mamma" 
 What I at present purpose painting, upon a large 
 scale, is the approach of the King to the Pier the 
 above sketch to form the background ; but I am 
 vastly secret and mysterious upon what I mean to 
 paint of the King's history here, and I have seen so 
 much of his doings that I could paint a series of 
 pictures, but not one will I do (further than making
 
 ^06 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 sketches when I return) without commissions. I think, 
 however, that striking things might be produced. 
 
 " The country and city are so replete with subjects 
 in the view way, that, should the weather be fine, I 
 might, I think, make my stay here pay me well for 
 my picture of 'Chichester ' has satisfied me that people 
 like a name to be given to a landscape. 
 
 " To-morrow we hope to be present at the embark- 
 ation of His Majesty from Hopetown-house. The 
 Chief Commissioner, who is the commander-in-chief, 
 and who was the first person from this place who 
 shook hands with the King and is to be the last 
 takes Wilkie and myself to breakfast on board the 
 Royal George; after which, I shall be upon the 
 watch for a picture. The Embarkation may possibly 
 afford a companion to the Landing. From the 
 present state of the weather, however, I fear it may 
 be a dull scene. 
 
 " The plan at Hopetown-house is this : The grounds 
 are to be filled with visitors, who are to partake of a 
 cold collation, and at twelve His Majesty is expected, 
 when, after probably remaining some time among us, 
 he will signify his intention to embark; and, after 
 the great kindness and loyal attention he has received 
 from his Scotch subjects, I think he must leave them 
 with a heart overflowing with gratitude. The delight 
 he has expressed himself as having felt, is great. I 
 wish I could give you a connected and progressive 
 account of his proceedings. You cannot possibly 
 conceive the distinguished manner in which the
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 207 
 
 Scotch people from the lord to the meanest peasant 
 have behaved. The regularity and dignity of a 
 Scotch mob is really surprising. 
 
 " Of His Majesty's landing I gave you an account 
 in my last. The day following this was a quiet one, 
 but in the evening there was an illumination of the 
 finest kind. The old and new town had the windows 
 of almost every house filled with candles, (generally 
 one in each pane of glass,) the others illuminated 
 with lamps and, above all, the Castle, with crates of 
 burning coal on its summit, as of old : and, at inter- 
 vals, cannon firing salutes answering each other 
 from the Castle, the Calton, Salisbury Crags, etc. 
 But the finest sight of all, notwithstanding the bad 
 weather, was that of Thursday last, when the King 
 went in procession to the Castle from Holyrood- 
 house, through the High street. Upon his arrival 
 at the Castle gate, where Sir Alexander Hope, 
 Governor of the Castle, presented him with the keys, 
 the show was most superb. His Majesty then en- 
 tered the Castle gate, and, in about ten minutes, was 
 seen standing on a platform, in the half-moon battery 
 at the top of the building when, notwithstanding 
 the heavy rain, he took off his hat, and remained 
 there, bowing in the most graceful manner, for up- 
 wards of ten minutes. As he had no umbrella, he 
 must have been much wetted ; but he seemed deter- 
 mined to show the people of Edinburgh that he was 
 only anxious to return their acknowledgments of 
 kindness.
 
 208 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 " When we have the pleasure of meeting, I trust I 
 can afford you some entertainment upon this and 
 other Scotch subjects. I must not omit, although 
 I have so little room left, to tell you a good joke I 
 heard from a good and great man here : I fear, how- 
 ever, it may encourage Frank in punning I mean 
 the authority, not the nature of it, for it beats all 
 his. Doctor Chalmers was asked by Wilkie, whether 
 Principal Baird would preach before the King. 
 (Now, Principal Baird has a sad habit of crying in 
 the pulpit.) " Why," says Chalmers, " if he does, it 
 will be George Baird to George Rex, greeting /" * 
 
 K * * * j would give a trifle to have you 
 here ; and, please Heaven, some day or other this 
 may be accomplished. I cannot tell you how kindly 
 Joseph and his wife have treated me, and how happy 
 I feel in their society. Joseph has done a bust of 
 the King, merely from seeing him at the shows here, 
 with which His Majesty has been so much pleased, 
 that he has given him a sitting. * * * Heaven 
 bless you, dear mother and Frank, 
 
 "W. COLLINS." 
 
 The expedition of the painters to Blair Adam 
 mentioned at the commencement of the foregoing 
 letter produced a sketch on the estate, (finished 
 some years after their visit,) which was the joint 
 
 * To those unacquainted with the Scotch dialect, it may be neces- 
 sary to observe, that " greeting " signifies, in the north, weeping as 
 well as welcome.
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 
 
 production of both : Sir David Wilkie painting the 
 figures, and Mr. Collins the landscape. This work 
 interesting, as being the only instance in which these 
 two thoroughly national painters ever laboured, to- 
 gether, upon the same canvas was presented to the 
 hospitable owner of Blair Adam ; an estate, which it 
 may not be irrelevant to mention, was adorned with 
 delightful park and garden scenery, on a soil naturally 
 the most desert in Scotland, through the skill and 
 enterprize of its possessor the Lord Chief Commis- 
 sioner, who perfected and concluded the work that 
 his father and grandfather had begun before him. 
 
 Shortly after this, the painters returned by way of 
 Stirling to Edinburgh. Sir David Wilkie then 
 departed for London, leaving his friend behind ; and 
 little suspecting, at that time, that Mr. Collins's 
 delay in the northern metropolis, was occasioned by 
 his venturing on the most momentous risk in which 
 any man can engage the speculation of marriage. 
 
 The lady to whom the painter was now to be 
 united, was Miss Geddes, related to the family of 
 Dr. Geddes of theological and critical celebrity 
 and sister of Mrs. Carpenter, the portrait-painter. 
 Their attachment had begun with their first meeting, 
 at a ball given by a few artists to their lady friends, in 
 1814; but remained undeclared until many years 
 afterwards. At that time, Mr. Collins felt that his 
 straightened circumstances presented an insuperable 
 obstacle to any project of immediate marriage with a 
 portionless bride ; and, with all the uncertainties that
 
 210 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 then attended his future prospects, he honourably 
 shrunk from the responsibility of fettering a young 
 girl with the anxieties and disappointments of that 
 most weary of all social ordeals, " a long engage- 
 ment." In 1816 and 1818, Mr. Collins and Miss 
 Geddes met occasionally in society, but, it was not 
 until 1821, when they accidentally met in London 
 and found that each had still remained single, that 
 the painter's attachment was actually avowed. The 
 engagement which, in his now improved circum- 
 stances, he felt justified in contracting, received the 
 unqualified approbation of his family : but, although 
 she fully recognised the propriety of her son's choice, 
 Mrs. Collins, with the prudence of her age and 
 nation, desired to delay his marriage, until the pic- 
 torial successes of a few more years had made a few 
 more solid additions to his still fluctuating income. 
 She remembered the embarrassments under which he 
 had suffered, but a few years since ; and, dreading the 
 possibility of their recurrence, if he married before 
 his prospects definitely changed from the encouraging 
 to the secure, withheld her consent from the union 
 which he desired should be solemnized in this year 
 (1822), inculcating the excellence of patience, proving 
 the duty of making fit provision for all future emer- 
 gencies, and addressing much advice of the same 
 excellent, but unpalatable nature, to ears, which, as 
 usual in such cases, heard but profited not. From 
 Edinburgh Mr. Collins wrote, as follows, to his future 
 bride a vexatious Marriage Act, requiring various
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 211 
 
 oaths and attestations from parents and guardians, 
 having lately come into operation in England, and 
 rendering it expedient, considering the deference due 
 to Mrs. Collins's temporary objections to the match, 
 that the young couple should be married in Scotland, 
 if they were then to be married at all : 
 
 "To Miss GEDDES. 
 
 " Edinburgh, August 24, 1822. 
 
 "My dear Harriet. * * * As my former letter 
 contained such accounts of my proceedings as were 
 worthy your regard, I have now to give you some 
 details, which I am sorry must be done briefly, as the 
 bustle and confusion under which every one here 
 labours, is truly harassing. I find that the King does 
 not leave us till Thursday next ; and on Saturday I 
 must go northward, on a visit to the Chief Commis- 
 sioner's. The country in the neighbourhood of his 
 house will probably occupy my attention for about a 
 week : at the expiration of that time, I really know 
 not whether to return to London, or to Edin- 
 burgh. 
 
 " I think you had better either go to Alderbury, to 
 Mrs. Bryan, or come down here (if you could get a 
 companion to protect you.) And yet, I feel so 
 nervous at the idea of your journey in your present 
 state of health, and without me, that I am quite 
 miserable. Write to me by return of post, and do 
 help me to decide. 
 
 " Mrs. Joseph, to whom I have told my distress, will
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 be most happy (and she is one of the best creatures 
 in the world) to give you a bed here, and we might 
 spend a short time in Scotland, and return to London, 
 cemented by that tie, which, please God, may 
 brighten our present prospects. * * * Believe 
 me, my dear Harriet, 
 
 " Ever and only yours, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 Shortly after this, Miss Geddes accepted an invita- 
 tion from her friend Mrs. Joseph, to meet Mr. Collins 
 in Edinburgh. While the simple preliminaries of 
 his marriage were in course of arrangement, the 
 painter wrote a letter to his mother, which, as 
 displaying the filial affection and respect that he 
 always accorded to the expression of her sentiments, 
 however distasteful to himself, deserves to be sub- 
 joined. 
 
 " To MRS. COLLINS. 
 
 "Edinburgh, September 15th, 1822. 
 
 " My dear Mother, As I much fear that I cannot 
 reach London in time to dine with the Lord Mayor, 
 I have to beg that you will send him a note, stating 
 that you have received a letter from me, lamenting 
 the loss of the pleasure I had promised myself in 
 dining with his lordship, as I shall be unavoidably 
 detained in Scotland until after the 24th. 
 
 " Since I wrote to you last, and indeed very 
 frequently since I have been here, I have been sorely
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 213 
 
 vexed with the toothach and to such a degree at 
 last, that I have discarded my enemy, and am now 
 quite easy. Upon another subject, I am not so 
 gifted with the art of hoping, as at once to expect 
 relief although the only person on earth who can 
 make me quite happy, is my own dear mother. I 
 need not again tell you, that the only cause of my 
 wretchedness of mind is our unhappy difference upon 
 the most vital of all subjects, connected as it is with 
 happiness here, and the hope of it in a better world. 
 Your opposition to my union with Harriet, we are 
 both aware has arisen from an affection for me, which 
 has never ceased to show itself upon all occasions ; 
 and this affection has been met, I am ready to confess, 
 on too many occasions, by an apparently heartless 
 neglect of your kindness. Upon the matter nearest 
 my heart at this moment, however, God knows I 
 have never thought otherwise of you than as you 
 deserve ; but there are feelings which you cannot 
 enter into, and which I shall not attempt to describe, 
 and these tell me that, in the person I hope soon to 
 call mine, I shall find all I can desire in a companion 
 for the journey of this life, and through Almighty 
 God's assistance, we feel determined to devote the 
 best efforts of our existence to your comfort. * * * 
 "I have been in great uneasiness for some time 
 upon the subject of writing to you the determina- 
 tion, however, to pay you that respect which is so 
 entirely your due, precludes the possibility of my 
 letting any one hear of my marriage before you.
 
 214 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 
 
 " Miss Geddes is now on a visit to my kind friend 
 Mrs. Joseph. She has many friends here, as well as 
 relations, with one family of whom she spends some 
 of her time ; (the Smiths bankers here) to whom 
 I have been introduced, and a delightful and ele- 
 gant addition to my catalogue of Scotch friends 
 they are. 
 
 " I cannot tell you how much I shall long for a 
 letter from you and whether it breathes forgiveness 
 or not, still, my dear mother, shall I always be, 
 " Your affectionate Son, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 "P.S. I am getting sketches daily, which will, I 
 doubt not, turn to account when I reach London ; 
 which I think may be in about a fortnight or three 
 weeks. Love to Frank please God we shall spend 
 a pleasant winter all together. * * * " 
 
 Soon after this Mr. Collins was united to Miss 
 Geddes, in the English Episcopal Church, in York- 
 place, Edinburgh, by the Rev. Dr. Alison author 
 of the celebrated work on Taste; who, on this 
 occasion, exhibited his literary enthusiasm in a 
 graceful and pleasing light, by declining to take any 
 fees on the conclusion of the ceremony " You bear 
 the name of a great poet," said he to the painter, 
 " and you are yourself increasing the honours of that 
 name, by your progress in one of the intellectual 
 Arts I could receive no fees from any 'William 
 Collins ;' and still less could I take them from you."
 
 CHAPTER lit. 
 
 18221824. 
 
 Pictures of 1823 Summer residence at Hampstead Method of 
 painting Anecdotes of models Correspondence with Mr. Danby 
 Letter from Sir David Wilkie Royal Academy Club Sir 
 George Beaumont, Sir David Wilkie, and Mr. Collins Visit to 
 Turvey Abbey Anecdote of " Old Odell" Visits in the latter 
 part of the year Pictures of 1824 Method of painting children's 
 portraits Wilkie in the character of a sponsor Commission 
 from His Majesty Second visit to Turvey Letter to Mrs. W. 
 Collins Stay at the house of the late Mr. Wells, of Redleaf 
 Epigram on " Martin, the Game-keeper" Difficulties of the 
 Annual Royal Academy Dinner Letter to Sir William Elford, 
 Bart. 
 
 IN the year 1823, Mr. Collins exhibited at the 
 Royal Academy three pictures : " A Fish Auction, 
 on the South Coast of Devonshire " " A scene in 
 Borrowdale, Cumberland," and, " A View of Walmer 
 Castle." The first of these works represented a 
 curious custom among the Devonshire fishermen 
 that of selling their fish on the beach by auction, 
 and " knocking down the lots" by dropping a stone 
 on the sand. In this picture, the fisherman, sur- 
 rounded by men, women, and children, is on the 
 point of dropping the stone, while the objects of the 
 commercial contention the fresh, tempting fish lie 
 around in baskets, and on the beach. The calm sea
 
 216 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 and the rocky coast, form the background of the 
 work, which attracted universal attention, from its 
 force and originality. It was painted with extra- 
 ordinary care and brilliancy, conveying the idea of a 
 clear, sunshiny day, and a varied, animated scene, 
 with perfect intelligibility and success. The picture 
 was a commission from the Earl of Essex. The 
 scene in Borrowdale, (painted for Mr. Ripley,) was 
 an inland view, with fertile wood and mountain 
 scenery, rising high in the canvas, and a group of 
 Cumberland children playing by the banks of a 
 brook, that ripples into the foreground of the picture 
 the tone of which is bright, lively, and transparent ; 
 the character of the figures being remarkably attrac- 
 tive, in their aspect of simplicity and truth. In the 
 view of Walmer Castle, that fine building is seen across 
 a common, the sea occupying the left-hand side of 
 the picture, and the sky being slightly overcast. The 
 colouring in the composition is pearly and delicate 
 the tone, shadowy and sober. This work was 
 painted for the Earl of Liverpool, and afterwards 
 reproduced, on a smaller scale, for the Duchess of 
 Devonshire. 
 
 During the summer of this year Mr. Collins took a 
 cottage at Hampstead, a place which, in spite of its 
 vicinity to London, has been the source of some of the 
 best pictures of our best landscape-painters, and 
 which was the scene of many of the most elaborate 
 and useful studies collected for future works, by the 
 subject of this biography. Here, with his wife, he
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 217 
 
 lived in perfect tranquillity and retirement through- 
 out the summer months, studying Nature unre- 
 mittingly in all her aspects, removed from the 
 interruptions of a London life, enjoying occasionally 
 the society of men of kindred talents and pursuits, 
 and preparing his next year's pictures under all the 
 peculiar advantages which his residence so liberally 
 offered to the votary of landscape Art. 
 
 Some reference, in this place, to Mr. Collins's 
 method of painting, may not be unacceptable to those 
 who are admirers of his works, and who may be 
 interested in the observation of practical Art. The 
 general composition of his pictures, the arrangement 
 of the clouds, the line of the landscape, the disposi- 
 tion of the figures, he usually sketched at once in 
 chalk upon the canvas, from the resources of his own 
 mind, aided by sketches. The production of the 
 different parts, in their due bearings and condition, 
 next occupied his attention. For this he made new 
 studies and consulted old sketches with the most dili- 
 gent perseverance, covering sheet after sheet of paper, 
 sometimes for many days together, with separate 
 experiments, extended to every possible variety in 
 light and shade, colour and composition ; watching, 
 whatever his other accidental occupations, and where- 
 ever they might happen to take him, for the smallest 
 and remotest assistance of external Nature, and not 
 unfrequently consulting, on points of pictorial elo- 
 quence, probability and truth, the impressions of 
 persons who, while conversant with Nature, were 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 218 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 unacquainted with Art. After having thus collected 
 his materials, as patiently and gradually as if he were 
 the veriest tyro in his pursuit, after having realized 
 completely in his own mind every part of his picture, 
 after having weighed the merits of his projected work 
 first in the balance with Nature and then with the old 
 masters, he again approached the canvas ; and then his 
 power and dexterity became at once apparent, in the 
 extraordinary freedom and decision with which he 
 worked. His landscapes, after the first preparatory, or 
 " dead " colouring, were invariably begun by the sky, 
 which in many of his pictures was finished in one 
 day, and painted honestly throughout, in all its finish, 
 delicacy, and elaboration, with the brush, without any 
 tricks of execution gained by the palette knife, or any 
 artifice of surface acquired by the use of the finger. 
 This was to him always the most anxious part of a 
 picture ; he estimated its vast importance and difficulty 
 in their true light. When his sky was not finished at 
 once, he never allowed any portion of it to get dry 
 until the whole was completed ; taking care, at such 
 times, to ensure the moisture of the colours, by hang- 
 ing a wet sheet before his picture during the night. 
 His last operation was to go over the finished sky 
 with a large camel's-hair brush, perfectly soft and 
 dry, which he used with such extraordinary lightness 
 of hand that it was difficult, with the closest watching, 
 to detect that he touched the picture at all. His 
 composition was then carried down, portion by por- 
 tion, generally in a horizontal direction, to the fore-
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 219 
 
 ground. His figures, (the true light and shade OIL 
 which he sometimes secured by grouping them in a 
 large box, using dressed dolls for the purpose,) were 
 seldom finished till they could take their tone and 
 sentiment from a large extent of completed landscape 
 around them. In all these operations, from the deli- 
 cate tinting of the distant horizon to the vigorous 
 shading of the foreground masses, every touch of the 
 brush produced an immediate and palpable effect. The 
 applications of colour were neither wasted nor misap- 
 plied ; every component part of the delicate and subtle 
 workmanship proceeded smoothly, swiftly, securely. 
 An instinctive impression of the harmonies of colour, 
 the graces of shape, and the relative processes and 
 varieties of execution, seemed ever present to direct 
 the attentive eye, and to guide the quiet steady hand. 
 But easy and successful as the painter's progress in 
 his work appeared to others, his facility was not the 
 facility of carelessness, mechanism, or chance. From 
 the first moment when he sat down before his easel 
 to the last when he rose from it, every faculty of his 
 body and mind was absorbed in his task. While 
 engaged in painting, he could seldom speak him- 
 self, or attend to what was spoken by others; the 
 presence of any one, even a member of his family, 
 looking over his shoulder while he was engaged in 
 completing a work, perplexed and interrupted him if 
 persevered in for any length of time. To so high a 
 degree of finish were his pictures wrought, especially 
 about this period, so frequently and perseveringly 
 
 L2
 
 220 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 were the parts laboured and relaboured, that, but for 
 the dexterity and security of workmanship above 
 alluded to, he could seldom have succeeded in con- 
 tributing more than one, or at most two pictures to 
 each Exhibition. Among the first of his anxieties 
 was to paint with such mechanical materials as should 
 ensure the perfect preservation of his works, as re- 
 garded colour and surface, to the most distant time. 
 Colours whose duration was in the slightest degree 
 doubtful, any oils, varnishes, and other aids to paint- 
 ing which, in their various combinations he found by 
 long and patient experiment to be doubtful in their 
 application, he rigorously eschewed, whatever might 
 be their actual attraction in the processes of his Art. 
 It was his maxim, that the purchasers of his pictures 
 had a right to expect a possession which should not 
 only remain unaltered and undeteriorated during 
 their own life time, but which should descend un- 
 changed to their posterity, as a work whose colour 
 and surface should last as long as the material on 
 which it was painted. To produce a good picture 
 was his first labour, and to make an endurable one 
 was his last. 
 
 From the pictures of Mr. Collins, the transition 
 is natural to the different original materials from 
 which he formed their component parts ; and es- 
 pecially, to the rustic figures, which so often supplied 
 some of their most powerful attractions. In select- 
 ing the models from which these figures were 
 painted, he enjoyed advantages, and, at the same
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 
 
 time, incurred disappointments, to which the historical 
 painter is a stranger. In choosing for his studies 
 people, who in their most ordinary dress and ap- 
 pearance were most fitted for his purposes, he escaped 
 the inconvenience of calling in the help of those who 
 are models hy trade, and whose modern and mechani- 
 cal " presence," often renders them however lusty 
 of limb, or regular of feature by no means inspiring, 
 as a foundation for the pourtrayal of the heroes and 
 heroines of poetry and adventure. But on the other 
 hand, in selecting his models from the country lane 
 and the village fireside, he occasionally encountered 
 obstacles of a somewhat irritating, though decidedly 
 amusing nature. On one occasion, when a little 
 cottage girl was sitting to him, finding that the 
 child figetted so perseveringly as to defy all his 
 efforts to paint her, he endeavoured at last to quiet 
 her by an appeal to her vanity, asking her whether 
 she would not like to be "put into a pretty picture ?" 
 No sooner, however, had he pronounced the words, 
 than the small model fairly burst into tears, and 
 resolutely refused to sit any longer ; because, if she 
 was to be put into a picture, she should " never be 
 able to get out again, and go home to Mammy !" At 
 another time, having observed a little boy in a most 
 picturesquely dirty and ragged condition, playing 
 before a cottage door, he was so much struck with 
 the excellent pictorial qualities of this unsophisti- 
 cated young rustic, that he engaged the boy's mother 
 to bring him the next morning to the house he was
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 then staying at. At the appointed time, mother and 
 son presented themselves ; but, in the appearance of 
 the latter, a fatal metamorphosis had been worked. 
 His dirty face had been scrubbed with soap and 
 water, into a shining, mottled red his tangled locks 
 had been combed down and flattened straight over 
 his forehead, with mathematical regularity his 
 various, Murillo-like rags, had been exchanged for 
 a clean pinafore ; which, in dismal monotony of 
 white, without speck or fold, covered him decently 
 from chin to ankles his hands were washed his 
 stockings were ironed his shoe-strings were tied ; 
 in the theatrical phrase, he had been " got up, re- 
 gardless of expense, for the occasion." When the as- 
 tonished painter remonstrated against this alteration, 
 and pleaded for a future resumption of the young gen- 
 tleman's working-day vestments and impurified phy- 
 siognomy, the good woman indignantly replied that 
 he should not be painted at all, if he was not painted 
 in his clean face and his Sunday clothes; and marched 
 off with her offspring, in high indignation and alarm. 
 My father was not, however, always thus unlucky 
 in the study of Nature. He often found cottagers 
 who gloried in being painted, and who sat like pro- 
 fessional models, under an erroneous impression that 
 it was for their personal beauties and perfections that 
 their likenesses were pourtrayed. The remarks of 
 these and other good people, who sat to the painter 
 in perfect ignorance of the use or object of his 
 labours, were often exquisitely original. He used to
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 223 
 
 quote the criticism of a celebrated country rat-catcher 
 on the study he had made from him, with hearty 
 triumph and delight. When asked whether he 
 thought his portrait like ; the rat-catcher, who 
 perhaps in virtue of his calling was a gruff and 
 unhesitating man, immediately declared that the face 
 was " not a morsel like," but vowed with a great 
 oath, that nothing could ever be equal to the correct- 
 ness of the dirt shine on his old leather breeches, and 
 the grip that he had of the necks of his ferrets ! 
 
 The cool self-possession of an old deaf beggar, 
 whom the painter was once engaged in drawing at 
 Hendon, was as amusing, in its way, as the answer of 
 the rat-catcher ; and may serve, moreover, to tran- 
 quillize the natural apprehensions of those who may 
 be placed, with regard to picturesque models in 
 general, in the same position as my father on this 
 particular occasion. Finding, from certain indications, 
 that the body and garments of this English Edie 
 Ochiltree afforded a sort of pasture-ground to a 
 herd of many animals, of minute size but of magni- 
 ficent propagating and feeding powers, he hinted his 
 fears in a loud bawl to the old man, that he might 
 leave some of his small pensioners, or body-guard, 
 behind him. " No fear sir, no fear ! " replied this 
 deaf and venerable vagrant, contemplating the artist 
 with serious serenity " I don't think they are any 
 of them likely to leave me for you /" 
 
 In this year my father painted a small picture, 
 engraved, but never exhibited " View on the Brent,
 
 224 
 
 Hendon," for Mr. Danby, of Swinton Park ; which, 
 that gentleman criticised, in a letter containing so 
 many excellent remarks upon the painter's style, 
 exhibiting so intimate a sympathy with the objects of 
 Art, and calling forth so characteristic an answer 
 from Mr. Collins, as to make it, in every way, worthy 
 of insertion in these pages. It was as follows : 
 
 " To W. COLLINS, ESQ., R.A. 
 
 " Swinton Park, June 1, 1823. 
 
 " Dear Sir, Being lately arrived here, I am glad 
 to take this early opportunity of expressing to you 
 the satisfaction which the picture you last sent has 
 given me. It is, I think, as beautiful a choice, and 
 representation of natural scenery, as I ever saw, or 
 can well conceive ; and it has a clearness and fresh- 
 ness that remind me of your beautiful view on the 
 coast of Norfolk, which was at the Exhibition some 
 years ago, and is now, I suppose, in His Majesty's 
 collection. The purity of the atmosphere in that 
 picture, with which this corresponds, seems to me 
 to be the greatest foundation of our enjoyment of 
 natural scenery, however different it may be, and 
 is, perhaps, one great proof of the general justice 
 with which the Author of Nature has bestowed his 
 gifts, as well as of the tendency which he means them 
 all to have. In this little landscape of yours, there 
 is, 1 think, everything that can be desired, the dis- 
 tribution of light and shade, the brilliancy of light in 
 the haystack, the transparency of the shades by the
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 
 
 stream, the drawing, figures, distance, colouring, the 
 general repose and harmony of the whole, have really 
 a sort of magical effect, in reminding me of what I 
 have seen of Nature in her happiest states, and of 
 what has often occurred to me, viz. how much the 
 observation of natural scenery, and the representation 
 of it in painting, assist each other. That you have 
 felt this in the strongest degree, is, I think, evinced 
 by the manner in which you have painted your pic- 
 ture ; and that your feelings are, in other respects, 
 correspondent with this, I am sufficiently induced to 
 believe, from the little conversation I had with you 
 in New Cavendish-street, about two years ago. That 
 you may continue to enjoy such privileges as these, 
 with the natural results of them, and health to secure 
 them, is the best wish I can give you ; and, should 
 any occasion call you into these parts, I shall be 
 happy to renew my personal assurance of it ; and am, 
 dear Sir, 
 
 " Very sincerely yours, 
 
 "W. DANBY." 
 
 "To W. DANBY, ESQ. 
 
 " New Cavendish-street 
 
 " Dear Sir, I cannot do less than offer my best 
 thanks for your very kind and flattering letter, as I 
 have no greater satisfaction than that of pleasing one 
 so well able to appreciate sentiment in a picture, as 
 yourself. You do, sir, no more than justice to paint- 
 ing, when you say that the attraction of Nature, and 
 L 3
 
 226 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 the representation of it in painting, assist each other. 
 There are a thousand beauties in landscape scenery, 
 as there are expressions in the human face, which, 
 but for painting, might ' blush unseen.' Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds says that there are many expressions in 
 faces which he either should not have observed, or, 
 if he had, should have supposed out of the reach of 
 painting, had he not seen them successfully imitated 
 by great artists. Painting, too, when pursued legiti- 
 mately, does, most assuredly, beget a habit of con- 
 templating, and, as it were, tracing the hand of Pro- 
 vidence. And when we see so many exquisite forms 
 and colours added to objects, whose ends of being 
 we have every reason to believe might as well be 
 answered in a less attractive dress, we may safely 
 conclude that they were formed to excite those feel- 
 ings which attend the like pursuits of the Poet and 
 the Painter, and which are a noble balance for the 
 coarser pleasures of the man of the world. 
 
 " Trusting that I may have the pleasure of con- 
 versing more at large with you on these pleasing 
 subjects, and hoping I may at some future time have 
 it in my power to call at Swinton, I remain, dear Sir, 
 " Yours, faithfully and obliged, 
 
 " W. COLLINS." 
 
 Widely differing in subject from the letter of Mr. 
 Danby, yet equally deserving of insertion, as showing 
 the easy and cheerful terms on which the two painters 
 lived, is the following congratulatory letter from
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R A. XAi 
 
 Wilkie to his newly-married friend. Appreciating 
 the excellent domestic qualities of his brother-artist, 
 Mr. Collins had frequently recommended him to 
 engage in matrimony himself, pointing out to him 
 on all occasions, " eligible young ladies ;" hinting, as 
 a last resource, at public advertisement ; and pro- 
 mising him, after a year of marriage, a true certificate 
 of the state of his feelings under his own altered 
 circumstances, but all without avail. Wilkie admired 
 the " eligible young ladies" with a pictorial, however, 
 rather than an amatory eye ; reflected with consider- 
 able complacency upon the project of advertisement, 
 and read the certificate of matrimonial tranquillity 
 which was duly forwarded to him by his friend, 
 couched in terms of the most legal formality, but 
 continued, all his life, to hover irresolute at a discreet 
 distance from Hymen's permanent grasp. That he 
 did not glory, however, in his mateless solitude, but 
 rather, like a true knight, longed for the first oppor- 
 tunity pour faire le gallant, vis-a-vis de sa mattresse, 
 is pleasantly testified in the letter that is now sub- 
 joined. 
 
 " To W. COLLINS, ESQ., R.A. 
 
 "Kensington, August 7th, 1823. 
 
 " Dear Collins, It will be pretty generally ad- 
 mitted now, that it was not for nothing you and I 
 went to Scotland last year. In starting with ' Mr. 
 Collins,' I knew I should have no chance upon equal 
 terms ; a court dress was therefore an indispensable
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 auxiliary with me.* But your return a married man, 
 while I came back single, proved how vain my endea- 
 vour would have been, had my only object been to 
 rival you with the fair sex. Had that been my 
 purpose, therefore, it is clear you had the advantage 
 of me ; but I have now the pleasure of informing 
 you of a piece of news, to prove that my court dress 
 and my appearance in it at Holyrood, though un- 
 availing with the ladies, has not been an idle specu- 
 lation. 
 
 " About three weeks ago, I had the honour of a 
 letter from Mr. Peel, informing me that the appoint- 
 ment of " Limner to the King, for Scotland," become 
 vacant by the demise of Sir Henry Rgeburn, had 
 been, by His Majesty, most graciously conferred 
 upon me. This office, unsolicited and unexpected 
 as it is, I have most joyfully accepted, as a very high 
 honour and 1 feel, both as successor to Sir Henry 
 Rseburn, and in the manner of my appointment, that 
 I am greatly honoured indeed. 
 
 " Being a man in office, and under the Crown, I 
 shall now be considered a placeman, a pensioner, a 
 non-resident, and a sinecurist. These are, however, 
 not altogether without their reward ; for unequivocal 
 proofs show that there are emoluments in the case. 
 All Edinburgh was in a ferment, the moment the 
 office was known to be vacant ; and I could tell you 
 
 * Wiikie had been considerably rallied by his friend on the 
 resplendent effect of the above important part of his preparations 
 for the journey to Edinburgh.
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 229 
 
 some odd stories about some of our great friends 
 there, by whom wheel within wheel was set in motion 
 to get it for artists who were friends, and also for 
 gentlemen friends, who were not artists. This fer- 
 ment extended even to some wise friends of ours in 
 London, who have fairly acknowledged to me that, 
 though no one was more fit for the situation than I, yet 
 they never thought of me till they heard I had got it. 
 It has even been hinted to me, as an objection, that 
 I am not a resident in Scotland, and that I am unfit, 
 from not being a portrait-painter. To the first of 
 these I would plead guilty, if duty was to be done in 
 Scotland, the latter, that of not being a portrait- 
 painter, is what, in my estimation, gives me the 
 greatest claim to it ; and, until they can convince me 
 that limner and portrait-painter are synonymous 
 which they cannot I shall remain of the same 
 opinion. 
 
 " It will be evident to you now, that we have both 
 made something of our Scottish visit. However, I 
 will not put what I have gained in comparison with 
 what you have gained by it. Mrs. Collins will agree 
 with me in this ; for, in respect to the improvement 
 to your condition, I am as much behind you as ever. 
 No lady has yet taken compassion upon me court 
 dress and all together ; and, as the time (that is, the 
 protracted time) of twelve months is now at hand, 
 when Mrs. Collins and you are to make out a certifi- 
 cate, to warrant the married as an improved state of 
 existence, I must req;iest as I have no doubt of the
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 certificate being most satisfactory that you and Mrs. 
 Collins would give me the best advice, not only upon 
 the sort of person to be chosen, but also to inform 
 me by what means such a person as I am may induce 
 a well-chosen lady to hearken unto reason. 
 
 " I saw your mother and brother yesterday ; they 
 told me what a delightful time you are now passing 
 at Hampstead, in a beautiful cottage at North End. 
 I saw two studies you had made, and rejoiced to see 
 the dark-brown, vigorous shadows, with the fat sur- 
 face you have got upon them.* This augurs well 5 
 you have, in landscape, the ball at your foot, and, in 
 this rich line, an open and unoccupied field before 
 you do go on ! 
 
 " Give my best and kindest regards to Mrs. Collins, 
 in which my brother and sister most heartily join 
 me ; and 
 
 " Believe me, my dear Sir, 
 
 " Your very faithful and obedient Servant, 
 
 "DAVID WILKIE." 
 
 About this time was established the Royal Acade- 
 my Club one of those old-fashioned institutions, 
 founded, like the Literary Club in Doctor Johnson's 
 time, for the purpose of promoting occasional intel- 
 
 * Wilkie was, at this period, very urgent in recommending his 
 friend to use plenty of oil as a " vehicle " in painting, and not, as he 
 expressed it, to " starve his pictures." Thin, pale, flimsy colouring, 
 he always despised.
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 231 
 
 lectual and social intercourse between men exclusively 
 devoted to the same pursuit. Sir Thomas Lawrence 
 was its chief promoter, and Sir Richard Westmacott, 
 Mr. Alfred Chalon, Mr. Collins, and a few others, 
 were the members. They met once a month, to talk 
 of Art, and to dine together at the Freemasons' 
 Tavern. On the death of Sir Thomas Lawrence, the 
 Association began, however, to languish; and, soon 
 afterwards, it came to an end. 
 
 While occupied with the social meetings of artists, 
 it may not be unamusing to the general reader as 
 instancing the almost boyish delight in his pursuit 
 which is part of the character of a great painter to 
 mention that, in the summer of this year, Sir George 
 Beaumont, Sir David Wilkie, and Mr. Collins, in 
 setting out to spend a day at Greenwich, mutually 
 agreed to make it a condition of their excursion, that 
 the whole day should be occupied in talking of 
 nothing but Art. The engagement was not more 
 curious than the performance of it was complete. 
 Not one of the party broke the conditions of the 
 journey, from the morning of the departure to the 
 evening of the return. 
 
 In July, the painter paid a visit to Mr. Higgins, 
 of Turvey Abbey, and to Mr. T. C. Higgins, of 
 Turvey House. Besides the attractions presented to 
 the pencil by the natural beauties of this neighbour- 
 hood, its vicinity to Olney the favourite residence of 
 the poet Cowper gave it, to all lovers of poetry, a 
 local and peculiar charm. Conspicuous among its
 
 232 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 inhabitants, at the time when my father visited it, 
 was " Old Odell," frequently mentioned by Cowper 
 as the favourite messenger who carried his letters and 
 parcels. The extreme picturesqueness and genuine 
 rustic dignity of this old man's appearance made him 
 an admirable subject for pictorial study. Portraits 
 of him, in water-colours and oils, were accordingly 
 made by my father, who introduced him into three 
 of his pictures, to which reference will be made here- 
 after. The donkey on which he had for years ridden 
 to-and-fro with letters, was as carefully depicted by 
 the painter as his rider. On visiting " Old Odell" a 
 year or two afterwards, Mr. Collins observed a strange- 
 looking object hanging against his kitchen-wall, and 
 inquired what it was : " Oh, Sir," replied the old 
 man sorrowfully, " that is the skin of my poor don- 
 key ! he died of old age, and I did not like to part 
 with him altogether, so I had his skin dried and hung 
 up there ! " Tears came into his eyes as he spoke of 
 the old companion of all his village pilgrimages. The 
 incident might have formed a continuation of Sterne's 
 exquisite episode in the " Sentimental Journey." 
 
 Visits, during the remainder of the year, to the coun- 
 try-seats of Lord Liverpool, Lord Essex, Sir Charles 
 Long, and Mr. Wells, enabled the painter to make 
 some valuable additions to his collection of landscape 
 studies ; a privilege of particular advantage to him 
 this season, as his pictures for the next Exhibition 
 comprised (in consequence of the terms of the com- 
 missions on which they were painted) no examples of
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R. A. 233 
 
 his wonted coast scenes, but were all, more or less, 
 to be described under the appellation of inland sub- 
 jects. These pictures of 1824 were entitled: "Stir- 
 ling Castle ;" " The Cherry-Seller, a Scene at 
 Turvey, Bedfordshire ;" " Buckland, on the River 
 Dart ;" and " Portraits of the Children of Henry 
 Rice, Esq." In " Stirling Castle," (painted for Mr. 
 C. Cope,) the view of the grand old fortress was 
 brightly and tenderly touched, the atmosphere being 
 divested of all national gloom and mist, and suffusing 
 in a clear and delicate light the wide-spread objects 
 of the northern scene. " The Cherry-Seller," painted 
 ior Mr. T. C. Higgins, was a large picture ; the 
 figure of the fruit-vendor himself being a careful 
 study of " Old Odell." His donkey stands beside 
 him at the cottage gate, bearing the cherry-laden 
 panniers, from which he is weighing out part of his 
 stock in trade to a girl who waits, dish in hand, ready 
 to receive it. The other principal figures are, a child 
 crawling under the donkey to pick up a cherry that 
 has dropped, and a boy who is holding the animal's 
 head. The back -ground of the picture is formed 
 by the picturesque and irregular village street. A 
 perfectly simple and national air pervades the whole 
 composition ; its minutest technicalities, as well as its 
 most important objects, are laboured to an extraor- 
 dinary degree of finish. The tone of colour in the 
 picture is bright, pure, and truthful, and perfectly 
 suggestive of the clear English sunshine that is glit- 
 tering over the rustic scene. " Buckland on the
 
 234 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 Dart," painted for Mr. Bastard, M.P., was full of the 
 characteristics of a Devonshire view, the dashing, 
 joyous, rocky stream ; the wooded hills and quarries 
 in the back-ground ; and the fresh, cool, cloudy sky 
 overhead. The figures in the picture were repre- 
 sented by some woodmen, occupied in a corner of the 
 foreground in felling a tree. The " Portraits of the 
 Children of H. Rice, Esq.," a valued and intimate 
 friend of the painter, comprised a branch of the Art, 
 which my father, except in the earlier parts of his 
 career, rarely undertook but at the request of those 
 with whom he was intimately acquainted. His por- 
 traits produced under these circumstances were few 
 in number, and were almost invariably treated as 
 pictures. In painting children, on this and other 
 occasions to be hereafter mentioned, he pourtrayed 
 no infant cherubs, fitted with speckless frocks, seated 
 on aristocratic gilt stools, and leering ravishingly at 
 the spectator, under a sky wreathed inconceivably 
 with clouds of red curtain, and before a back-ground 
 spotted profusely with Elysian flowers, vapoury trees, 
 and distant temples of immeasurable magnitude. 
 Under his pencil, children retained their play-ground 
 clothes, preserved their play-ground occupations, and 
 were connected visibly and pleasingly with the sur- 
 rounding landscape. Accordingly, in the portraits of 
 Mr. Rice's children, a boy and girl are simply repre- 
 sented as feeding their pet rabbits ; the back-ground 
 of the picture being a transcript of the farm scenery 
 of a house of their father's at Oxgate, where the
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 235 
 
 painter was staying at the time when the portraits 
 were produced. So complete was this work as a 
 picture alone, that it was afterwards engraved and 
 sold under the title of " Feeding the Rabbits." 
 
 In noticing " The Cherry-Seller," it should have 
 been mentioned that the original study of the figures 
 of "Old Odell" and his donkey, as introduced in that 
 picture, was purchased by Sir Robert Peel, and after- 
 wards repeated for Mr. Marshall. The work belonging 
 to the first-named of these gentlemen was one among 
 the pictures exhibited at the British Institution after 
 the painter's death. It may also be observed that, 
 in addition to the works above enumerated, my 
 father produced this year two small sea-pieces, not 
 exhibited. 
 
 On the birth of his first son, at the beginning of 
 this year, the painter requested Sir David Wilkie to 
 become one of the sponsors for his child. The great 
 artist's first criticism on his future godson is worth 
 recording, from its originality. Sir David, whose 
 studies of human nature extended to everything but 
 infant human nature, had evidently been refreshing 
 his faculties for the occasion, by taxing his boyish 
 recollections of puppies and kittens ; for, after looking 
 intently into the child's eyes, as it was held up for his 
 inspection, he exclaimed to the father, with serious 
 astonishment and satisfaction, " He sees ! " 
 
 A gratifying occurrence of my father's professional 
 life was this year presented by the receipt of a com- 
 mission from His Majesty, George the Fourth, for
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 another picture by his hand. The subject chosen for 
 the King was a Hastings Coast Scene ; and the wish 
 to give the picture the most immediate and particular 
 study, was one of the main reasons that induced the 
 painter soon afterwards to nx his summer residence 
 at Hastings. The work itself will be noticed at the 
 period of its completion, the year 1825. 
 
 On his return from Hastings, Mr. Collins wrote 
 thus to his wife, during a second visit to his friends 
 at Turvey Abbey : 
 
 " To MRS. WILLIAM COLLINS. 
 
 "Turvey Abbey, Aug. 27th, 1824. 
 
 " Your letter gave me the greatest pleasure, and I 
 write as you desire, in order that you may receive my 
 communication to-morrow. You will be surprised (I 
 am disposed to believe agreeably so) to hear that I 
 purpose returning to London from this place ; and that 
 I have given up the idea of visiting Leamington. You 
 will think me a whimsical fellow, but you know odd 
 people do odd things. * * * My friends are 
 very desirous to prolong my stay here beyond the 
 original engagement, but I think I shall carry my 
 point and reach New Cavendish-street on Monday 
 next. * * * You desired me to be idle during 
 my stay at Turvey. I can assure you I have been so, 
 and heartily tired I am of the employment. You 
 know, as well as myself, that it is much more difficult 
 to be idle than busy ; and that accounts, I suppose, 
 for your having set me the task. * * * I shall
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 237 
 
 bring some Turvey lace with me ; and I have an 
 apple for my mother, gathered from a tree planted 
 by Cowper in the garden of the house he lived in 
 here. * * * 
 
 " Yours affectionately, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 In the autumn of this year my father again visited 
 the late Mr. Wells, at Redleaf. On the attractions 
 of his sojourn there, in a house filled with fine 
 pictures, standing in lovely grounds, and surrounded 
 by picturesque scenery, the painter thus expresses 
 himself in a letter to his wife : 
 
 " The place and the figures and my most excellent 
 host are all, everything I could wish. I cannot be in 
 better hands than in Mr. Wells's, whose readiness to 
 get me subjects, and whose kindness in every way, 
 has much impressed me in his favour. To the poor 
 he is a most invaluable friend." 
 
 It was during one of these visits to Mr. Wells that 
 Mr. Collins wrote the subjoined epigram, which, as 
 the production of a painter, may perhaps claim inser- 
 tion among the curiosities of Art. One of his host's 
 gamekeepers, named Martin, was confined to his bed 
 in the shooting season by an accident. The disap- 
 pointment of the man at his untimely confinement 
 was extreme ; and Mr. Wells, with his usual good- 
 nature, proposed to the painter to pay him a visit of 
 condolence. On being interrogated as to the state of 
 his spirits and health, Martin replied that he got
 
 288 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 through his nights pretty well, as he had then " a 
 knack at sleeping :" but complained that his " days 
 were wretchedly black." When Mr. Wells and Mr. 
 Collins returned from their expedition, the latter thus 
 versified Martin's answer in his own words : 
 
 " Says Martin, ' My life seems so drear, 
 
 My days appear wretchedly black, 
 It is not the nights that I fear, 
 
 As at sleeping I then have a knack.' 1 
 Oh, Martin, how silly is all that you say ! 
 
 Of science how much you must lack! 
 Is it strange that an union of Martin and Day 
 
 Should a mixture produce that is black ? " 
 
 Next in difficulty, perhaps, to making a proper 
 selection of pictures for the Academy Exhibition, is 
 the task of managing a good choice of the guests who 
 are invited to the private annual dinner to patrons 
 of Art and remarkable men which precedes it. In 
 both cases, as numbers are necessarily limited, there 
 is danger that a good picture, or an important 
 guest, may in the confusion of the moment be inad- 
 vertently excluded: for, in arranging the invitations 
 for the dinner, after the royal dukes, the cabinet 
 ministers, men of high rank or fame, patrons of great 
 celebrity, and others obviously eligible have been in- 
 vited, there still remains a large list to canvas, whose 
 claims, though not perhaps equally conspicuous, are 
 yet often equally just. Of some of these difficulties, 
 and of the methods of meeting them, an idea may be
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 239 
 
 gathered from the following letter from Mr. Collins 
 to Sir William Elf or d, an amateur artist and patron 
 himself, and an early friend of the painter's : 
 
 "To SIR WILLIAM ELFORD, BART. 
 
 " London, 1824. 
 
 " Dear Sir, I shall feel great pleasure in receiv- 
 ing your picture for the Exhibition as usual. With 
 respect to the other subject, I perfectly recollect that 
 at the time you had the misfortune to break your 
 arm, the Council, concluding you could not attend 
 the dinner of that season, and finding, as they always 
 do, the greatest difficulty in accommodating all those 
 who have claims upon the attention of the Royal 
 Academy, took that opportunity of passing over your 
 name for that year ; the Council not having the 
 power to make any second issue of tickets, to fill the 
 places of those who, being already invited, may send 
 excuses. 
 
 "As I was not upon the Council last year, and as 
 ballotting for invitations is a part of their business 
 with which the body at large never interferes, I can 
 only suppose that, as new patrons increase the diffi- 
 culties become greater, and some must be left out for 
 a time. Chantrey has not been on the Council for 
 three or four years, and consequently has no more 
 power than any other member out of office. 
 
 " As I had with regret missed you at the dinner of 
 last year, I had, before I received your letter, resolved 
 to see Sir Thomas Lawrence upon the subject ; and,
 
 240 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 as I hope to meet him on Wednesday, I shall not fail 
 to do as I had purposed. As the invitations will not 
 be issued for at least six weeks, I shall be able to 
 write to you again. 
 
 " Yours obediently and faithfully, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 A curious instance of misapprehension of the 
 motives that guide the Royal Academy in issuing 
 the invitations to their dinner occurred some years 
 since. A certain Lord Mayor, who, as Lord Mayor 
 only, had been one of the guests, found himself, of 
 course, on the recurrence of the next year's dinner, 
 unincluded in the list of invitations. Accordingly he 
 wrote an angry letter of remonstrance to the Royal 
 Academy, desiring to know the reason of his exclu- 
 sion. For some time everybody was puzzled to 
 
 discover who Alderman was, and how he could 
 
 possibly have attended the last year's dinner. At 
 length, one of the Council suggested that their 
 quondam guest might be the deposed Lord Mayor. 
 His hypothesis was discovered to be correct, and the 
 Secretary was charged with the disagreeable duty of 
 informing the reclaimant that he had only been asked 
 as first representative of the City of London, and 
 that now that he had relapsed into plain Alderman, 
 the invitation had necessarily been forwarded to his 
 successor in the civic throne. 
 
 Besides the commission from His Majesty, my 
 father was engaged to paint two more sea-pieces this
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 211 
 
 year one for the Duke of Bedford, and one for Sir 
 Robert Peel. A visit in November to Lord Liver- 
 pool, at Walmer Castle, enabled him to continue 
 those studies for his next year's efforts, which he had 
 already begun in the summer, at Hastings. 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1824-1827. 
 
 Pictures of 1825 Practice in etching Death of Owen, the portrait- 
 painter Letter from Mr. Collins to Lord Liverpool, on the 
 establishment of the National Gallery Summer residence and 
 studies at Hendon Parties at Coleridge's Edward Irving, &c. 
 Liberal commission from Sir Robert Peel Completion of His 
 Majesty's picture Description of the work, and reference to the 
 Painter's interview with the King Sir Jeffery Wyattville Let- 
 ters from and to "VVilkie Pictures of 1826 Removal of residence 
 to Hampstead Researches with friends amid the scenery of his 
 new abode Extract from Diary, and from letter to a friend 
 Anecdote connected with the progress of Sir Robert Peel's new 
 picture Letter to Mrs. William Collins. 
 
 THE Exhibition of 1825 contained a landscape and 
 two sea-pieces by my father : they were, " Kitley, 
 Devon," (painted for Mr. Bastard, M.P.,) a quiet, 
 green, park-like view, treated with a pastoral serenity 
 and repose ; " Fishermen getting out their Nets," (Sir 
 R. Peel's picture,) a work of great originality and 
 simplicity of incident, cool in tone, and pearly and 
 delicate in colour ; and " Buying Fish on the Beach," 
 the largest of the three, painted for the Duke of 
 Bedford. This picture is remarkable for the bold- 
 ness and success with which a transient atmospheric 
 effect is produced on the canvas : it is a hazy morn- 
 ing, but the sun is breaking through the mist with a
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 243 
 
 delicate, aerial, golden light, which gives the tone to 
 the rest of the scene. Every touch of colour is laid 
 on with reference to every variety of light and shade 
 that can proceed from the influence of the soft morn- 
 ing sky. The fishing-boats on the fore-ground, the 
 figures bargaining on the beach, the smooth sea in 
 the middle distance, are relatively shadowed by the 
 mist, or brightened by the warm, gentle light, with 
 consummate skill. It is a work that betrays imme- 
 diately, that from its origin Nature has presided, at 
 every point, over its treatment by Art. 
 
 In this year, animated by the example of the great 
 painters who had gone before him, of Rembrandt 
 and Hogarth especially, Mr. Collins turned his at- 
 tention to that all-powerful engine of pictorial fame 
 the graver. The branch of engraving he selected 
 was " etching : " a process which, consisting of a 
 combination of bold and delicate lines, traced on 
 copper or steel, at once superficial yet suggestive, 
 free yet correct, is the most flexible medium in the 
 painter's hands for conveying and multiplying a 
 graceful and striking summary of his own ideas. Of 
 Mr. Collins's diligence and success in this new Art, 
 the public had a testimony in the publication, many 
 years afterwards, towards the latter part of his life, 
 of a series of etchings executed by him from his pic- 
 tures, which obtained the critical approbation of the 
 press, and which would have been continued but for 
 the obstacles presented by the long and severe illness 
 which at length terminated in his death. 
 M 2
 
 244 
 
 It was at this period, also, that he suffered the loss 
 of an early and attached friend -one to whose taste 
 and kindness he had been equally indebted in early 
 life Mr. Owen, R. A., the celebrated portrait-painter, 
 who died under peculiarly distressing circumstances. 
 In the plenitude of fame and patronage, when for- 
 tune and success opened simultaneously before him, 
 this graceful and accomplished artist had been seized 
 with an affection of the spine, which obliged him to 
 resign the practice of his profession entirely. After 
 a period of protracted suffering and compelled in- 
 dolence, his medical attendants at length gave him 
 hopes of a progress towards recovery. On the even- 
 ing before his death, he took, as usual, a draught of 
 composing drops observing, however, at the time, 
 that its taste was different from that of his usual 
 mixture. About midnight, the servant entered his 
 room, and was alarmed at hearing that his master 
 was breathing with unusual heaviness and difficulty. 
 Assistance was immediately sent for, but it was too 
 late a fatal mistake had been committed in labelling 
 the mixture he was accustomed to take, and the un- 
 fortunate man had drunk, unconsciously, a whole 
 bottle full of laudanum. 
 
 Under the Earl of Liverpool's administration, the 
 foundation of the National Gallery was begun in this 
 year, by the purchase of Mr. Angerstein's pictures, 
 to form the nucleus of a collection. Such an oppor- 
 tunity of endeavouring, as far as lay in his own 
 power, to procure the honourable advancement of his
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 245 
 
 profession, and a liberal attention to the just claims 
 of modern Art, was not to be lost by one so devoted 
 to every interest and exigence of his pursuit as the 
 subject of this Biography. Accordingly, he addressed 
 to the Earl of Liverpool a private letter, which, 
 written at the time of the establishment of an insti- 
 tution whose arrangements have since been the sub- 
 ject of so much angry discussion, and advocating by 
 the strongest arguments the employment of practical 
 artists in all the offices of a National Gallery, must 
 be perused with curiosity and interest at least, if not 
 with conviction and applause. In subjoining Mr* 
 Collins's letter, it is worthy of remark, that a piin- 
 cipal part of his claims for his profession, therein 
 advanced, has been ultimately recognised by Govern- 
 ment in the successive appointment of two Royal 
 Academicians (Mr. Eastlake, R.A., and, on his resig- 
 nation, Mr. Uwins, R.A.,) to a chief position in 
 the responsible superintendence of The National 
 Gallery. 
 
 Mr. Collins's letter is expressed as follows : 
 
 " To THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF 
 LIVERPOOL, ETC., ETC., ETC. 
 
 " London, 1825. 
 
 " My Lord, The great object of the foundation 
 of a National Gallery having been achieved, and your 
 lordship having taken an active part in its further- 
 ance and plan, I hope I shall not be considered as 
 taking too great a liberty in respectfully venturing
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 to offer a few remarks upon the opportunity, now in 
 the hands of His Majesty's Government, of hastening 
 the fulfilment of the prediction of Richardson that, 
 ' if ever the Art should again be brought to perfec- 
 tion, it will be in England.' 
 
 " The plan I would propose confers a great benefit 
 on the employed, at a very moderate expense to the 
 employer. It is simply, my Lord, to bestow on 
 artists of acknowledged talent those situations con- 
 nected with the Institution for which, I venture to 
 assert, they are the best qualified, and which legiti- 
 mately belong to them. My plan by no means pro- 
 poses the entire support of such artists in indolence, 
 or any emolument that would not leave them still to 
 exercise great exertion for their maintenance. Nor, 
 however desirable such aid might be to the young 
 student, or artists in the decline of power, would it 
 be my object to see it conferred on either. 
 
 " The propriety of the constant attendance of 
 respectable and responsible persons, in whose custody 
 the national pictures might be left, would no doubt 
 be highly satisfactory to the public ; and artists are 
 best calculated for the situations proposed, because, 
 to them, such attendance would afford an opportunity 
 of pursuing their studies with the greatest possible 
 advantage to their profession ; they would also, for 
 that reason, be satisfied with a salary very consider- 
 ably below what must be given, for the like attend- 
 ance, to equally responsible persons in any other 
 class of life,
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 247 
 
 " The consequences of immediate contact with 
 such works as would belong to a National Gallery 
 would not lead the matured artist blindly to copy 
 merely the efforts before him, but would stimulate to 
 the investigation and adoption of those principles 
 which, in their result, have so constantly charmed the 
 world principles which, added to the intellectual 
 choice of subject admitted to characterise the designs 
 of our modern artists, would most assuredly add fresh 
 influence, in a moral point of view, to the powers of 
 Art. 
 
 " In our own times, no better instance of the suc- 
 cess of a patient investigation of the works of the old 
 masters can be adduced than that of our countryman, 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds, who, with the most glorious 
 success, added to their technical excellences a senti- 
 ment, character, and grace, not always to be found in 
 their works. 
 
 " If it be essential, also, to the competency of the 
 person filling the situation already proposed, that he 
 possess j udgment to decide on the merits of works of 
 Art, the artist (imitations of whose works are con- 
 stantly passed by picture-dealers on each other for 
 genuine productions) will be the least likely to mis- 
 take copies for originals, in any new purchase His 
 Maj esty 's Government may think proper to make. 
 
 " Literary men, as your Lordship knows, and not 
 booksellers, are employed as officers at the British 
 Museum, as well as in the public libraries abroad, 
 and why should not painters be the fittest persons for
 
 the survey orship of public collections of pictures ? 
 It cannot be doubted that they who are most alive to 
 the perception of the beauties and delicacies of fine 
 workmanship, will be the most likely to keep a 
 watchful eye over excellences which are so constantly 
 sacrificed by the injudicious operations of those who 
 are ignorant of the means by which such beauties are 
 generally produced. 
 
 " It may be objected, I am aware, to a plan for 
 the furtherance of Art by the study of the ancient 
 masters, that those means have been already afforded 
 with so little success in a neighbouring country ; but 
 it must not be forgotten, that their failure is entirely 
 to be attributed to a want of the due appreciation of 
 the high qualities of their predecessors, and a con- 
 sequent rejection of the mode of using a National 
 Gallery which I have ventured to urge. It is an ac- 
 knowledged fact, that artists of the lowest rank have 
 always been found most ready and eager to disparage 
 the works of the old masters. 
 
 " It would, my Lord, on my part, be absurd to 
 deny having, what may be deemed, a selfish view in 
 this appeal to your Lordship ; and that it is the 
 interests of my brethren and myself, as well as of the 
 Art, which I may seem anxious to advocate. But, 
 when I know that an annual expense of one thousand 
 pounds would be sufficient to satisfy at least three 
 artists, in the vigour of their professional career, I 
 cannot possibly let this opportunity pass of most 
 earnestly and respectfully entreating the kind con-
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 
 
 sideration of a nobleman who has so constantly 
 evinced the warmest desire to uphold the interests of 
 Modern Art. 
 
 " With every sentiment of respect^ 
 
 " I have the honour to be, my Lord, 
 "Your Lordship's most obliged and obedient Servant, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 During this summer the painter fixed his residence 
 at the little village of Hendon, taking with him the 
 important pictures for Lord Northwicke, Sir Abraham 
 Hume, and Mr. Morrison, M. P., on which he was 
 then engaged. To the brooks, the meadows, and the 
 woods, surrounding this thoroughly English retire- 
 ment, his happiest leisure hours were devoted. 
 Sometimes an old friend, a fellow-student, or a 
 patron, visited him ; sometimes he repaired to the 
 abode of Mr. Gillman, at Highgate, where its illus- 
 trious inmate, Coleridge, then assembled around him 
 the most gifted and remarkable men of the age. 
 Here he first met that original and extraordinary 
 character, Edward Irving, whose preaching was at 
 that time drawing its greatest multitude of hearers, 
 and whose religious opinions had not then assumed 
 the marked and startling form in which they after- 
 wards appeared. From the discussions upon matters 
 of worship constantly occurring between Coleridge 
 and Irving, Mr. Collins, and others of the poet's 
 M 3
 
 250 
 
 guests, gathered such fresh information, and acquired 
 such new ideas, as they never afterwards forgot. 
 Eloquent as he was upon all other subjects, neither 
 in his conversation nor in his writings did the power- 
 ful and profound mind of Coleridge ever so thoroughly 
 expose its secret treasures as when he spoke, or wrote, 
 of religion. It was especially in his conversation on 
 this subject that his brilliancy flashed out in all the 
 blaze of inspiration a brilliancy which wanted but a 
 more popular direction, to shine before the world as 
 widely and enduringly as the brightest poetic repu- 
 tations kindled even in his glorious age. 
 
 Having been thus employed during the summer, 
 the painter occupied himself, as usual in the autumn, 
 in visiting his friends. After a sojourn with Mr. 
 Wells, he proceeded to Dover Castle, the residence 
 of his excellent friend, Mr. Jenkinson, a nephew of 
 Lord Liverpool's, to whom he had been introduced 
 in the present year. From this place, he writes as 
 follows : 
 
 " To MRS. WILLIAM COLLINS. 
 
 " Dover Castle, October 7th, 1825. 
 
 a * * * I received your letter soon after my 
 arrival at this place, and a great comfort I found it. 
 You cannot tell me too much of your dear self and 
 the sweet child. It really seems a year since we 
 parted ; and, notwithstanding the longing desire I 
 feel to return, I fear I cannot accomplish the pleasing
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 251 
 
 task until Thursday, or Friday, in the .next week. 
 Mr. Jenkinson will not hear of my leaving, and I 
 have engaged to go to Walmer Castle for a day 
 or two. 
 
 " This place affords so many hints for future 
 subjects, and is so far from London, that I feel 
 anxious to take advantage, now, of all it affords. 
 Almost all my time is spent out of doors ; and I 
 think I derive much benefit from the sea air, and the 
 delightful situation of this romantic Castle. The 
 view from the living-rooms is magnificent, and the 
 attentions of my host extremely gratifying. 
 
 " Yesterday, I dined at the house of the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury who has seven daughters, all 
 unmarried and a very pleasant party we had. This 
 evening I have returned from dining with Mr. 
 Hutchins, with whom Miss Wilkie has journeyed to 
 Dover; and, I am happy to say, she gives a very 
 good account of her brother, who is at Genoa. * * * 
 
 * * * Before I left Mr. Wells, he wished me 
 to put a price on my picture, which I improved much 
 while at his house ; having spent all the time not 
 devoted to exercise upon it. I proposed one hun- 
 dred and twenty-five guineas as the price ; which 
 Mr. Wells thought too little, and offered a cheque 
 for a hundred, in addition to the forty-five already 
 received ; which I would not take : and so the 
 matter rests. * * * 
 
 " * * * I am glad to find my mother has been 
 with you, and I hope you will let her know my
 
 252 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 plans : tell her I would write to her, did I not know- 
 she would hear as much from you as I could put 
 into a letter to her. Surely Hendon must be 
 beautiful, if you have such weather now as we have 
 at Dover. * * * 
 
 " Yours affectionately, 
 
 "WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 During this autumn, the painter received, at Sir 
 Robert Peel's table, the first intimation of that 
 gentleman's wish to possess a new work by his hand 
 which should be the most important that he had ever 
 painted. The size of the picture, the subject, and 
 amount of remuneration were left entirely to the 
 painter's discretion. Of the manner in which this 
 liberal and flattering commission was executed, and 
 of the circumstances attending its completion, due 
 notice will be taken, at the period when the picture 
 was publicly exhibited the year 1827. 
 
 The Coast Scene, ordered for His Majesty, in 
 1824, was now completed : it was entitled " Prawn 
 Fishers at Hastings," and was never exhibited. A 
 boy with a little child on his back, and a girl, holding 
 up her apron to receive the Prawns which one of the 
 " Fishers," is giving to her, occupy the beach in the 
 left-hand foreground. Further out, in the middle 
 distance, and finely relieved against the sky, are 
 three other Prawn Fishers, pursuing their occupation 
 among the pools of " tide-water." The flat rocks 
 covered with sea-weed, on which these figures are
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 
 
 standing, extend down to the right-hand foreground, 
 and are painted with amazing power, finish, and 
 fidelity to Nature. High cliffs rise in the left dis- 
 tance ; while the calm ocean occupies the right. 
 The sky, with its various combinations of light, 
 large, and streaky clouds, blown about by the wind 
 into different directions, and exquisite forms, is 
 treated with an airy grace and delicacy, which the 
 artist never, perhaps, surpassed in any of his efforts 
 of this class. The figures in the picture are forcible 
 and natural the tone of colour is pure and masterly, 
 throughout : it is, in every respect, worthy of the 
 place in the noble collection of works of Art at 
 Windsor Castle, which it still occupies. 
 
 After having received the congratulations of every 
 one who saw this work during its progress, Mr. 
 Collins had the final satisfaction of hearing its Royal 
 possessor express his satisfaction at his new acquisi- 
 tion, in a personal interview, at Windsor ; whither 
 the painter had been summoned, to superintend the 
 hanging of his picture in the proper light. The 
 notorious ease and affability of the King's manners, 
 when he was brought into contact with men of genius 
 of any class, was as apparent in his frank and kind 
 reception of Mr. Collins, as in all other instances. 
 His shrewd and sensible remarks on painting; the 
 warmth and interest with which he spoke of the 
 prospects of national Art ; and the hearty and dis- 
 criminating praise he bestowed upon his new picture, 
 were occurrences of the interview, to which the
 
 254- MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 painter ever afterwards reverted, with equal gratitude 
 and delight. But once did the King make a mistake 
 in the course of the conversation on Art ; and that 
 was in relation to the precise bearing of the Coast, 
 as represented in the picture. Mr. Collins ventured 
 to set him right on this point ; and the propriety of 
 the correction was acknowledged with the most 
 perfect good-humour. Indeed, the constant anxiety 
 of this cultivated and high-spirited monarch, to profit 
 on matters connected with Literature and the Arts, 
 by the advice and opinions of professors of each 
 science, was an interesting and remarkable trait in 
 his character. On some occasions his patience was 
 put to the test, in this manner of acquiring know- 
 ledge ; and on none more frequently than when 
 consulting on matters of Art, with his architect. Sir 
 Jeffrey Wyattville ; whose odd bluntness and hasti- 
 ness, contrasted amusingly with the polish and 
 temper of his Royal master. At the time when 
 alterations were taking place in the Tower at 
 Windsor the King gave some directions, not at all 
 in harmony with Sir Jeffrey's taste : accordingly he 
 put the King's plan on paper, but coolly followed 
 his own, in reducing it to execution. When the 
 work was completed His Majesty saw it, and im- 
 mediately expressed his pleasure at seeing that his 
 directions had been so well followed. Most men 
 would have let the matter rest here : but Sir Jeffrey 
 was determined not to hide his light under a bushel ; 
 and taking up the Royal plan that he had rejected,
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 255 
 
 observed triumphantly as he showed it to the King ; 
 " If I had done as your Majesty desired, this would 
 have been the effect ! " The King smiled at his 
 architect's determination to keep to his own opinions 
 and to gain all the credit for them ; and quietly 
 replied, as he laid down his despised plan : " Well, 
 Wyattville, I suppose I must acknowledge that you 
 know best ! " 
 
 The following letter, addressed to Mr. Collins, from 
 Rome, by Sir David Wilkie, and the reply to it, 
 mark the commencement of a correspondence, which 
 was continued during Wilkie's progress through 
 Spain, as well as during my father's residence on the 
 Continent some years afterwards ; and which will be 
 found to contain, as it proceeds, an interesting ac- 
 count, recorded by each painter in turn, of his first 
 impressions of the marvellous achievements of southern 
 Art: 
 
 To W. COLLINS, ESQ., R.A. 
 
 " Rome, Dec. 3rd, 1825. 
 
 " Dear Collins, After hearing, as you no doubt 
 must have done, that I was laid up under the doctor's 
 hands at Paris, where no good was gained by it ; and 
 after hearing, also, that I had been taken ill at Parma, 
 where I have never been, you may be surprised to 
 find that I am still in the land of the living. Of 
 health, however, I have no wish to boast : nor do I 
 wish to complain of the anxiety of friends. Glad 
 should I have been to have seen the wonders of this
 
 256 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 Eternal City with greater powers of benefiting by the 
 sight: but the journey of a thousand miles, while it 
 has amused and diverted me, has at least done no harm ; 
 and, after its fatigues, I am quite as able-bodied 
 as at starting ; and if still unable for serious study 
 and occupation, have the satisfaction of being more 
 equal than I was to the effort of communicating my 
 ideas and impressions to my distant friends. 
 
 " My first project of travelling with Phillips and 
 Hilton being thwarted by my detention in Paris, we 
 entered Italy at different times ; and while they took 
 the road to Venice, Parma, and Bologna, I, with my 
 cousin Lister, took the western road from Milan by 
 Genoa and Pisa ; and arrived at Florence, our place 
 of rendezvous, three days before them. Among us 
 three, or rather between them and myself, when in 
 this cradle of the revival of Art, there was naturally 
 a collision of opinion; but in one thing we had 
 formed the same conclusion, and that too from objects 
 seen on our different routes, and before we met 
 namely, that the only Art pure and unsophisticated, 
 and that is worth study and consideration by an 
 artist, or that has the true object of Art in view, is 
 to be found in the works of those masters who revived 
 and improved the Art, and those who ultimately 
 brought it to perfection. These seem alone, what- 
 ever their talent was, to have addressed themselves 
 to the common sense of mankind. From Giotto to 
 Michael Angelo, expression and sentiment seem the 
 first thing thought of : while those that followed, seem
 
 WILLIAM COLLINSj R.A. 257 
 
 to have allowed technicalities to get the better of 
 them, until simplicity giving way to intricacy, they 
 appear to have painted more for the artist and the 
 connoisseur than for the untutored apprehensions of 
 ordinary men. 
 
 " Such, I think, must be the impression of a 
 stranger. The multitude of works pressed Wpon him 
 at all hands would be distraction itself, but for the 
 selection you have to make of the best ; and every- 
 thing commonplace, affected, or academical you reject 
 by a kind of instinct ; but in doing so, many a mighty 
 name is, I assure you, thrust in the background, and 
 many unknown and unscientific names brought into 
 view. But this is a classification upon which all 
 progress in Art must depend, inasmuch as a new 
 power over the mind or feelings of man, added to the 
 Art, is of more value than all the changes that can 
 be rung, however dexterously, upon that which has 
 been already invented. 
 
 " After viewing with extreme interest, at Pisa and 
 at Florence, the series of Art from Cimabue and 
 Giotto down to P. Perugino and Fra Bartolomeo, I 
 was all expectation to see, on coming to Rome, the 
 works of Raphael and Michael Angelo. The Vatican 
 and Sistine Chapel were, therefore, my first objects 
 of attention. On entering, the gray ness of the 
 frescoes first struck me, and some time elapsed 
 before this wore off. The Raphaels resemble much 
 the Cartoons ; they are less finished, and a little 
 more damaged than I expected, but in colour they
 
 58 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 are admirable, and lose nothing from being so. They 
 have, indeed, this high quality, that the subject is 
 uppermost, and they have more excellences addressed 
 to the unlearned observers than any works I know 
 of. When in the freshness of their first existence, 
 they must have been most attractive to the common 
 people, which, I doubt, is more than could have been 
 said for Titian or Rubens. 
 
 " Michael Angelo's works I visited with greater 
 apprehension, prepared almost for disappointment ; 
 but when the first impression of the grayness of fresco 
 was over, they grew upon me with overpowering 
 influence. The composition of the * Last Judgment ' 
 and ceiling you know perfectly, the colour, effect, 
 and expression, therefore, is all that will be new to 
 you as it was to me. As a colourist, people seem to 
 apologize for him, but I assure you, quite unneces- 
 sarily; he is always appropriate, never offends, and 
 in many parts is as fine as Titian or Correggio. 
 Broken tints, with most agreeable arrangement and 
 harmony, with all the suavity of richness and tone 
 that we are accustomed to exact from the Venetians, 
 seem quite familiar with him ; and, high as his other 
 qualities are for composition and mental intelligence, 
 his colouring rather adds than detracts from them. 
 And though Sir Joshua Reynolds seems to have 
 overlooked this quality in Michael Angelo, where he 
 says that severity and harshness are necessary to the 
 grand style, I still give him credit for unaffected 
 sincerity in his admiration of the great master, be-
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 259 
 
 tween whose works in the Sistine Chapel and his own 
 we have been tracing many resemblances ; not only 
 in the high aim, the something unattainable, and the 
 profound feeling for the indescribable thoughts of the 
 inward man, but even in the more obvious qualities 
 of light and shadow and colour. The wonders accom- 
 plished here in fresco suggest the question whether it 
 should not be tried in England ? Damp climate is 
 objected, but Italy is damp too ; and the difficulty 
 of the work is stated, but this vanishes, since we see 
 the artists here doing it with perfect facility. Several 
 Germans, namely, Overbeck, Fight, Schadow, and 
 Schnorr, have painted two palazzos in the early 
 German manner, imitating not Raphael, but Ra- 
 phael's masters, and with great cleverness and re- 
 search ; but they have not hit the mark, their style 
 wanting so much of modern embellishment cannot 
 now be popular, and can neither be admired nor 
 followed, as Pietro Perugino and Ghirlandaio were in 
 their early day. This has given occasion to the wags 
 to say, that Overbeck has overreached himself; that 
 Fight is shy and timid ; that Schadow has neither 
 depth nor softness ; and that Schnorr is without 
 repose ! ! ! With all this, however, in our country of 
 novelty and experiment, why do those, whose aim in 
 the higher w r alks is so cramped and confined by a 
 measured canvas and a limited commission not try at 
 once to revive the art of fresco ? 
 
 " After the above crude thoughts, I now come to 
 consider what your dear lady, (to whom I beg to be
 
 260 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 most kindly remembered,) and yourself, will see is 
 the postscript ; and therefore, the most important 
 part of my communication, namely whether you 
 should not come, to see and study this land of pro- 
 mise. For my own part, I am thankful that I have 
 seen it; and if I should recover my health and 
 powers of application, shall bless the present affliction 
 for having put this long-looked-for gratification within 
 my reach, at a period that I hope is not too late for 
 benefiting by it. So much do I think I gain by 
 seeing Art, however different from mine, yet exerted 
 with an aim, capable of being infused into any style. 
 It is for you to judge, whether a similar advantage 
 can be derived in your line with this difference, 
 that while I see pictures of figures, you can see no 
 pictures of landscapes, in this country. From my 
 leaving Paris, not one landscape has presented itself, 
 good, bad, or indifferent, of the Italian school. The 
 Art of Italy therefore, except by analogy, can be 
 of no use to you ; but, even in this way, it would 
 enlarge your views ; and, in respect to the country, 
 as a new material to work upon, the country of 
 Claude and the Poussins, what might it not furnish 
 you ! For, in spite of the scanty verdure, the 
 stunted trees, and the muddy streams, still this is 
 Italy ; and, until you see this, and the mountains of 
 Switzerland, you can have no proper idea of what 
 Nature is capable of. Here, everything is seen 
 clearer than in England the sky is bluer, the light 
 is brighter, the shadows stronger, and colours more
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 261 
 
 vivid than with you ; and, besides a change of effect 
 in the pictures of an artist, in the course of a long- 
 professional career which I hope you still have 
 before you may not a change of subject as well 
 to develope your own powers, as to keep alive the 
 public interest be a thing of consequence to you ? 
 Remember what Wilson and Turner have gained 
 from Italy and Switzerland ; and, though as a family 
 man it will require a sacrifice, I think it well worth 
 your deliberate consideration. 
 
 " In writing the above, let me not throw the apple 
 of discord between you and your good lady. Her 
 approval is necessary ; but she has Mrs. Phillips as 
 an heroic example ; and it would be an advantage to 
 your family, exactly in proportion as it would benefit 
 yourself. Pray what would Sir George Beaumont, 
 or Sir Charles Long, think of such a project? Mr. 
 Higgins I saw at Florence ; and I find he is now at 
 Rome. He delivered your letter to Kirkup. 
 
 " Now? dear Collins, in answer to this monstrous 
 long letter, which I can only write at intervals, to 
 avoid fatigue, you must write to me, to give me a 
 detail of all the news about London Art. We have 
 heard of Allen's election ; but this is almost the only 
 thing we have heard of since we started therefore, 
 write me everything, and do not be long in setting 
 about it I have no other way of hearing about 
 these matters, but through you ; and, therefore, 
 depend on your kindness in doing it. 
 
 " Here is quite a colony of English artists, and
 
 262 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 also many Scotch. Sculptors are very busy. Gib- 
 son has just finished a group of the Zephyrs bearing 
 Pysche, for Sir George Beaumont. Joseph ought 
 to come here ; he will be lost in Edinburgh : Rome 
 ought, of all places, to be seen by a sculptor : urge 
 him to it. Phillips and Hilton desire to be kindly 
 remembered. Having little time, they are most 
 active, and purpose leaving for home, by way of 
 Genoa and Mount Cenis, in a fortnight. Their 
 visit was far too short, but must be useful to both. 
 Eastlake has laid aside his banditti to paint an 
 historical subject Roman history Poussin size. 
 Lane's picture not yet visible to mortal eye. 
 
 " Give my best respects to Mrs. Collins, and to 
 your brother ; and with sincere esteem, 
 
 " I am, dear Sir, 
 
 " Yours very truly, 
 
 "DAVID WILKIE." 
 
 " P.S. Let me know what you are doing yourself." 
 "To SIR DAVID WILKIE, R.A. 
 
 "11, New Cavendish-street, 
 
 December 22nd, 1825. 
 
 " Dear Wilkie I received with the most heartfelt 
 gratification the account, under your own hand, of 
 your advance in health and spirits. Most sincerely do 
 I trust your visit to Italy may be the means of
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 263 
 
 effectually removing all traces of your late indis- 
 position. If the earnest wishes of your numerous 
 friends could aught avail you, you would be well 
 indeed ! 
 
 " The account you give of your feelings upon visit- 
 ing the works of Raphael and Michael Angelo, al- 
 though it does not altogether surprise me, yet, I must 
 confess, it somewhat startles me. I have been so long 
 in the habit of considering Titian a mighty man, that I 
 cannot help feeling disappointed that you say so little 
 about him ; and I much fear that the excellences 
 of the Venetian school are sinking rapidly in your 
 estimation. As for the Dutch and Flemish heresies, 
 I conclude it will be prudent, in their behalf, to hold 
 my peace. 
 
 " I am much obliged to you for continuing to take 
 an interest in my welfare, and were it practicable, I 
 should have great satisfaction in joining you in Italy ; 
 but much as my wife admires the heroism of the lady 
 you mention, she does not think I dare go alone, and 
 so the ' scanty verdure, muddy streams, and stunted 
 trees ' must wait for a sitting until I have paid my 
 just and lawful debts in my own country. 
 
 "You desire news of our proceedings here, and 
 such as I can furnish you with you shall have. Our 
 three gold medals were given to Wood, Dacre, and 
 Basset for painting, sculpture, and architecture, and 
 the usual number of silver medals ; but I am sorry 
 to say we had nothing particularly good in any 
 department. The sculpture made the best appear-
 
 264 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 ance. The best picture, in consequence of the 
 person who painted it (John Hayter, I believe,) not 
 having attended as required by the laws, to make a 
 sketch, was not allowed to compete. Mr. Peel has 
 just purchased a very fine De Hooge, for twelve 
 hundred guineas. Etty and Danby are busily engaged 
 about large pictures for Somerset House ; and I have 
 been working hard for some months. During my 
 stay at Hendon I painted a picture for Mr. Wells, 
 and one for the King, which his Majesty desired me 
 to take to the Lodge at Windsor, where I had the 
 honour of an interview, (introduced by Sir Charles 
 Long,) which was one of the most gratifying events 
 of my life. Your two pictures were seen to great 
 advantage, especially the ' Penny Wedding/ which is 
 certainly one of your most beautiful works. I have 
 been to the Kentish coast, where I saw your sister, 
 and from whom, during my stay there, I heard 
 favourable accounts of your health, which I trans- 
 mitted to Mr. Wells and other of your friends, who 
 had been, as well as myself, misled by the news- 
 papers on that subject. Since my return, I have 
 been employed upon a picture for Mr. Morrison; 
 and although I remained at Hendon until the begin- 
 ning of this month, my protracted stay there has not 
 prevented my receiving some new and important com- 
 missions. 
 
 " London is at this moment unusually full, and the 
 monied interest in a deplorable way. One really finds 
 some advantage in being too poor to keep a banker.
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 265 
 
 Should you have it in your power to get some slight 
 sketches made for you of the arrangement of the 
 colours in the fine things you have before you, they 
 might be useful. 
 
 " I have ventured to employ an engraver, who 
 has just completed a small engraving from one 
 of my pictures, and has begun one from Lord 
 Liverpool's picture,* which will be a more expensive 
 undertaking. I have engaged Hurst and Robinson 
 to publish for me, and find I am to pay handsomely 
 for everything they do. Callcott accompanied me to 
 Mr. Wells's in the autumn, and a day or two since I 
 took Mulready to Mr. Peel's. I find they think more 
 highly of the pictures you and I (I fear I must only 
 say I now) so much admire, than I could have 
 expected. 
 
 " Regretting that I cannot send you a more enter- 
 taining letter, (for really there is little to be learned 
 of what our artists are doing,) in return for one so 
 full of novel information and almost envying you 
 the fine opportunities you have of holding daily con- 
 verse with the founders of the great style, 
 " I am, with the greatest esteem, 
 
 " Your faithful and obliged friend, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS. 
 
 " P.S. Can I do anything for you ? Do not 
 scruple to employ me ; and when you find yourself 
 
 * " Fishermen on the Look- Out." 
 VOL. I. N
 
 266 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 able to send a line, I shall be most happy to hear 
 more about your health." 
 
 Foremost among Mr. Collins's contributions to the 
 Exhibition of 1826, was the celebrated picture of 
 " The Fisherman's Departure." The success of this 
 work painted for Mr. Morrison, M.P., was most 
 brilliant. Once he repeated it himself, for Mr. 
 Chamberlayne, M.P., and twice it was repeated by 
 others in two line-engravings, large and small. 
 Among all his productions, none had hitherto more 
 powerfully vindicated his claim to be considered a 
 figure-painter as well as a landscape-painter than 
 this picture, which continued, during its exhibition, 
 to be a centre of attraction to all classes of visitors 
 within the Academy walls. It may be thus de- 
 scribed : 
 
 It is night ; the evening has closed in tranquilly, 
 and the moon is slowly rising behind a mass of dark, 
 thick cloud. Its beams already tremble on the still 
 waters of the sea dotted, here and there, with a few 
 fishing-boats and tip with a soft light the jagged 
 edges of a range of cliffs, stretching on the right of 
 the picture all through the scene, from the foreground 
 to the horizon-line. On a small tract of table-land, 
 halfway down the nearest of these cliffs, stands the 
 cottage of the fisherman. At irregular intervals, the 
 tops of its rude gable windows, the thatch of its little 
 outhouse, the meshes of the nets hanging at its 
 simple doorway, partake the radiance that is fast
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 
 
 brightening to light the seaward view. Here the 
 " Departure " is taking place ; here the fisherman is 
 on the point of quitting his family for a night of toil 
 upon the waters. His tall, manly form, equipped in 
 a thick jerkin, an impenetrable apron, and ponderous 
 boots, is raised to its full stature, as he holds his 
 infant child high in his arms to give it the parting 
 kiss, which the little creature receives, half in terror, 
 half in satisfaction, as he feels his unaccustomed ele- 
 vation from the ground. By the fisherman's side 
 stands his eldest boy, half-smothered beneath his 
 father's heavy watch-coat, which he carries over his 
 shoulder, and furnished with the lantern, the two 
 extra candles, and the loaf of bread, indicating the 
 length of time that must elapse ere the fisherman 
 can return. On the right of the father and son, and 
 a little removed from them, are the rest of the family. 
 The grandfather, whose days of adventure on the 
 deep are over, leans on a rail, occupied in conversa- 
 tion with a woman whose back is turned to the spec- 
 tator, and whose arm rests on the shoulder of one of 
 the fisherman's female children. Opposite to this 
 group sits the fisherman's wife, holding a sleeping 
 child on her lap, and fixing her eyes tenderly and 
 anxiously on her husband. At the extreme left of 
 the picture, a rude wooden flight of steps and rail 
 conduct to the beach beneath. On the top of these, 
 near a boat-hook lying ready across the rail, stands 
 a large Newfoundland dog, looking round impatiently 
 for his master's signal of departure ; while, distant 
 N 2
 
 268 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 and beneath, is seen a glimpse of the quiet beach, 
 with the fisherman's boat and companion on the shore 
 awaiting his approach. Such are the objects depicted 
 in this simple and original work. To gain an ade- 
 quate idea of the extraordinary truth and nature of 
 the figures, of the perfect absence of any artificial 
 refinement on the one hand, or exaggerated coarse- 
 ness on the other, in the different personages com- 
 posing the fisherman's family, it will be necessary 
 in the numerous cases where a sight of the picture 
 itself must be impossible to examine the large and 
 admirable line-engraving by Mr. Phelps, in which 
 the pure tone and sentiment of the original work 
 is preserved with a rare fidelity and success. 
 
 Besides this picture, my father contributed two 
 others, this year, to the Royal Academy Exhibition : 
 " Young Shrimp-catchers," a small, delicate, sea- 
 piece, painted for Sir Abraham Hume ; and " Hop- 
 pickers " a sunny, Kentish scene, rich and brilliant 
 in tone, the background filled with tall hop-poles, 
 through which the light breaks quaintly from a small 
 patch of blue sky the foreground occupied by a 
 highly - finished group of girls, engaged in their 
 labours on a space of cleared ground. This picture 
 was painted for the late Mr. Wells, of Redleaf. 
 
 During the summer, my father's increasing anxiety 
 to devote himself daily to the study and enjoyment 
 of nature, induced him to quit London and fix his 
 residence definitely at Hampstead. Here, while still 
 within reach of the Great City, he could live sur-
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 269 
 
 rounded by some of the prettiest and most varied 
 inland scenery that this part of England presents, 
 scenery, the beauties and pictorial capabilities of 
 which he never wearied of exploring, and was always 
 anxious to communicate to others. Friends of all 
 ranks and occupations, who came to visit him here, 
 found in the painter, not only the warm partizan of 
 the merits of Hampstead scenery, but the practical 
 guide of their walks, and the ready tutor of their 
 taste for Nature. Indeed, at every period of his life, 
 an excursion with him in the country was a privilege 
 thoroughly appreciated by all who knew him. He 
 possessed the peculiar faculty of divesting his pro- 
 fession of all its mysteries and technicalities, and of 
 enabling the most uneducated in his Art to look at 
 Nature with his eyes, and enjoy Nature with his zest. 
 People who possessed years of acquaintance with 
 scenery to which he was a stranger, found themselves 
 introduced by him to points of view which they had 
 never before discovered, and enabled, for the first 
 time, to separate through his teaching the valuable 
 and the true from the common and the artificial, in 
 landscapes among which from childhood their lives 
 had been past. 
 
 I am here enabled, after a long absence of any 
 such matter, to present a short extract from my 
 father's Journal of this year. The dearth of material 
 from his diaries in the more advanced passages of this 
 work, has doubtless been already remarked. It is 
 unfortunately the too faithful reflection of the aspect
 
 270 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 of the diaries themselves, which present, at this 
 period of his life, nothing more than bare numerical 
 entries of the days and hours devoted in succession to 
 the production of his different pictures. But what 
 the public may lose by this in his biography they 
 have gained in his works ; for the absence of extract- 
 able matter in his journals, during the maturity of 
 his career, is to be attributed, in a great measure, to 
 the continued increase of his devotion to his Art, a 
 devotion which made him jealous of every hour not 
 directly occupied in the furtherance of his studies ; 
 and therefore careless of assigning to his personal 
 affairs a place on paper, as memorials of the past, 
 after they had ceased to hold a place in his attention 
 as occurrences of the present. 
 
 JOURNAL OF 1826. 
 
 "March Began Mr. Peel's 'Frost Scene.' Sir 
 William Beechey called, and was astonished at the 
 time I spent on my pictures : he said it was his 
 opinion that Vandervelde painted Mr. Holdsworth's 
 picture with ease, in two days. Although I do not 
 agree with him in this opinion, I think Vandervelde, 
 as well as many finished painters of the Dutch 
 school, preserved the spirit of their work, by painting 
 much faster than most people seem aware of; and I 
 am persuaded that my own pictures would be better 
 were they done with less timidity and anxiety; as 
 nothing can replace the want of that vigour and
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 271 
 
 freshness, which things done quickly (with a constant 
 reference to Nature) necessarily possess. * * * 
 
 " Wednesday, 9th Whilst supporting Shockley, 
 the gardener, who was upon a high ladder gathering 
 our pears, his knife fell from his hands, when he 
 called, and I looked up ; the knife fell into my face 
 and cut the left side of my nose. That it did not 
 strike my best eye, (which is my left,) that it did not 
 penetrate my head, and that it struck where it did, 
 and produced so little injury, I owe entirely to the 
 great mercy of Almighty God, May this event 
 open my eyes to the goodness of my Creator, and 
 keeping alive the sense of humble gratitude that I 
 feel, enable me to ' look to my stewardship ' and 
 ' redeem the time, through the might of Jesus 
 Christ.' 
 
 " After the attendance of the surgeon, laid down 
 and read. During the rest of the day, kept quiet 
 and did no painting. 
 
 f< # # * July 21st Resolved to work five 
 hours a day, keeping a debtor and creditor account ; 
 each day I spend out of my study, being entered on 
 the debtor side. 
 
 * * * Of spiritedly executed pictures, it is 
 commonly said : ' Tis not intended for close in- 
 spection.' The real lover of painting, derives the 
 highest gratification from this very sort of execution. 
 However highly finished a picture may be, the beauty 
 of the execution is in fact lost, when (as some wise- 
 acres say) 'it requires a magnifying-glass to enjoy
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 such handling.' Denner, Vanderwerf, the younger 
 Mieres, and those who are interested in the sale of 
 such works, have to answer for this." * * * 
 
 The " Frost Scene," mentioned at the commence- 
 ment of the foregoing extracts, as "begun," was the 
 composition which the painter proposed to execute 
 on the liberal terms of Sir Robert Peel's commission 
 of the preceding autumn. To paint a large " snow- 
 piece," combining full illustration in landscape with 
 stirring incident in figures, had long been an object 
 of his ambition ; and he gladly seized the opportunity 
 which the freedom of subject and size, now conceded 
 to him, so pleasingly bestowed, to gratify his own 
 wishes, as well as to deserve the honourable con- 
 fidence that had been reposed in his genius. Through 
 the autumn and winter of this year, the picture, 
 begun under these circumstances, proceeded slowly, 
 surely and anxiously, towards completion. The 
 flattering terms of Sir Robert Peel's commission had 
 already become widely talked of in London society ; 
 and the painter felt that the completion of his arduous 
 and responsible undertaking was awaited with as 
 much impatience by those who envied, as by those 
 who rejoiced, in his successes. His accustomed 
 anxiety to achieve the highest excellence in his 
 works was doubled during the progress of this pic- 
 ture. As the winter advanced every " frost scene" 
 that Nature presented to his eye was studied as 
 elaborately as if, instead of one, a series of " snow-
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 
 
 pieces" had been expected from him. Among the 
 figures introduced in his composition were a man 
 and woman, mounted on a pillion. All Hampstead 
 was ransacked without success for this old-fashioned 
 article of travelling equipment ; and the painter 
 determined, even in the minor accessories of his 
 picture, to trust to nothing but Nature had begun 
 to despair of finishing his group, when a lady volun- 
 teered to hunt out a pillion for him, in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Hackney, where she lived. Nor, when 
 she had procured it, did she remain satisfied with 
 simply obtaining the model. When the painter 
 arrived to see it, he found her ready to illustrate its 
 use. Her gardener hired an old horse, strapped on 
 the pillion, and mounted it ; while his mistress placed 
 herself in the proper position, behind : the complete 
 series of models, human, animal, and mechanical, 
 remaining at the painter's disposal, until he had made 
 a careful study of the whole. The group thus com- 
 pleted, was one of the most admired in the picture 
 for its fidelity and nature ; and the manner in which 
 the requisite study for it was obtained, is here men- 
 tioned, in order to add one more to the numberless 
 instances of the obligations of genius to the inter- 
 ference and enthusiasm of the gentler sex. 
 
 A letter, written by Mr. Collins about this period, 
 answering an application for advice upon the future 
 direction to be given to the productions of a juvenile 
 prodigy, whose efforts in the Art had been submitted 
 to his judgment, contains, in a small compass, so 
 
 N 3
 
 274 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 many judicious hints upon the caution necessary to 
 be observed in such cases, in discriminating between 
 empty ambition and real capacity, as to make its 
 insertion likely to prove useful to others who may 
 be placed under the same serious responsibility, of 
 deciding on the future career of some " infant phe- 
 nomenon" in the world of Art. The letter was 
 expressed as follows : 
 
 "To 
 
 " London, July, 1826. 
 
 " My dear Sir, I have frequently thought your 
 subject over, and am now not much nearer a decision 
 than when I began ; for, truly, it is a matter involving 
 much of the boy's future happiness. That the draw- 
 ings and picture are surprisingly clever for a child, 
 every one must admit ; but, whether the impulse 
 under which they were produced, will be sufficient to 
 carry him on whether his constitution will support 
 him under the fatigue of many years' study and 
 whether his love of painting will bear the trials of 
 lack of encouragement, and the other ills to which a 
 person is liable, by entering our profession, are ques- 
 tions which, at this very early period of the boy's 
 experience, no one on earth can answer. 
 
 " Amid these difficulties, one piece of advice I may 
 venture to give, Let our little friend go on drawing, 
 without being much encouraged or depressed ; not 
 allowing him to give up such other schoolboy em- 
 ployments as will be necessary and advantageous to
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 275 
 
 him, whatever his future destination may be ; and if, 
 after a couple of years, his preference for drawing 
 continue, and his works should improve, something 
 may be determined upon. Any other course would 
 be, in my opinion, highly imprudent ; and if, either 
 at the expiration of that time, or whenever you may 
 choose, in the interim, you should think fit to send 
 me any of his performances, I shall have the greatest 
 pleasure in giving such advice as my knowledge will 
 enable me honestly to offer. 
 
 " Faithfully yours, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 The succeeding letter was written during the 
 painter's usual autumn visit to the country seat of 
 the late Mr. Wells. 
 
 "To MRS. WILLIAM COLLINS. 
 
 " Redleaf, Sept. 23, 1826. 
 
 (t * -* # Judging from my own anxiety to 
 receive a letter from you, I write, although I have 
 little to communicate. My time is passed in the 
 most agreeable manner, and principally out of doors, 
 
 until six in the evening. Mr. and Mrs. S are of 
 
 our party, and as she is fond of conversation, and from 
 the extensive connection she has with the great world, 
 has a vast deal of amusing knowledge to impart she 
 keeps us quite alive. Mr. Wells, I need not tell you, 
 is the same unpretending, sociable, hospitable host, 
 and, if possible, more unlike the selfish creatures with
 
 276 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 
 
 whom this world seems to be peopled, than ever. I 
 take especial care to follow your instructions respect- 
 ing the easy, quiet method of spending my time, which 
 you have thought so desirable in my case, and I trust 
 you do not neglect my wishes, in all that pertains to 
 your own comfort. * * * I have just returned 
 from hearing Mr. Dodd, who gave us a most impres- 
 sive sermon upon sincerity Heaven grant I may 
 profit by it : I need hardly say I wish you to do the 
 same, for you possess that virtue in a high degree 
 already do not let it go from you ; it is unfortunately 
 but little sought after in what is called ' the world :' 
 Mr. Wells has it in a rare degree. How is my dear 
 mother ? Does Frank see you often ? These, and 
 other matters, let me know about at your early 
 convenience. * * * 
 
 " Yours affectionately, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 " P.S. I open my letter again, to say that I have 
 heard that the pipe of a key, pressed for a few minutes 
 upon the sting of a wasp or bee, is a cure. Mr. Parke 
 
 mentioned this to us, as you know ; but Mrs. S 
 
 tried it, and succeeded in removing a sting from her 
 brother. Mention this where you think it may be 
 of use."
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 1827-1631. 
 
 Letter to Mr. Joseph Exhibition of 1827 Malicious slander against 
 the painter, on the subject of his " Frost Scene" His refutation 
 Extracts from diary Letters to and from Wilkie Mutual 
 opinions on the old masters, and on colour, and light and shade 
 Letter from the painter to his wife Domestic events of 1828 
 Letters to and from Wilkie Pictures of 1828 Desire of the King 
 to possess one of them Return of Wilkie to England Visit of 
 the painter to Holland and Belgium Letters to Mrs. W. Collins 
 from the Continent and from Leamington Death of the Earl of 
 Liverpool Pictures of 1829 Sonnet to the painter, by Mr. Ber- 
 nard Barton Correspondence with the author- Anecdotes of 
 criticism on Art Contemplated change of residence Visit to 
 Boulogne Studies there Noble humanity of a French fisherman 
 Letter to Mr. Francis Collins Return to Hampstead Com- 
 mencement of French sea-pieces Death of Sir Thomas Lawrence, 
 P.R.A. Pictures of 1830 Letters to Sir Thomas Baring, Bart. 
 Removal to Bay swater Extracts from diary Lord Byron 
 Pictures of 1831 Commencement of "the Skittle Players." 
 
 To Mr. Joseph, the sculptor, who was at this time 
 much interested in matters connected with the pro- 
 gress of the Royal Scottish Academy of Arts, and 
 who had written to ask him for a contribution to the 
 Annual Exhibition of that Institution, my father 
 thus writes : 
 
 " To S. JOSEPH, ESQ. 
 
 " Hampstead, January 22, 1827. 
 
 " My dear Joseph, You will see by the above address 
 that I am hermit enough to live away from London,
 
 278 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 even in the winter, and by what will follow, that 
 whatever of the courtier might have formerly belonged 
 to your friend's disposition, is now, in his old age, 
 utterly cast off. In this, my new character, then, I 
 find myself under the necessity of at once refusing 
 your request, and, moreover, of offering a little advice. 
 My reason for not acceding to your proposal is this, 
 I have no time disengaged to paint a new picture for 
 your Exhibition, and I am not willing to be judged in 
 foreign, barbarous countries, by such works as those 
 you mention. And now, my good friend, I must 
 confess that I regret your present sacrifice of time 
 and temper, in the vain endeavour to set matters 
 right, where the patronage of our little understood 
 and greatly undervalued Art is concerned. It is the 
 nature of the world to neglect living merit ; and as 
 the pursuit of excellence brings its own reward, all 
 attempt or longing after other good things, is just so 
 much loss of time and power. 
 
 " Let me entreat you to leave all squabbling to 
 those who love it 
 
 'One science only can one genius fit;' 
 
 and, as all combinations to force real Art are miser- 
 able shackles to it, to depend upon your own unso- 
 phisticated study of Nature ; to send the very best 
 works you can execute to our Academy, the least 
 faulty of such institutions that ever has existed ; 
 bearing in mind that we have no sculptor on our 
 Associate List, and that we have lost a most illus-
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 279 
 
 trious example from among our Academicians deter- 
 mine to become one of us. 
 
 " I have, as you desired, made your request to 
 such artists as I have seen since I received your 
 letter, and purpose calling upon Etty in a day or two. 
 Trusting you will not fail to send something excel- 
 lent, and in time, to Somerset-house ; and with my 
 best wishes for your success, and sincere regards to 
 
 Jane, 
 
 " I am, yours faithfully, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 The Exhibition of 1827 contained three pictures 
 by Mr. Collins : " Buying Fish," painted for Lord 
 Northwicke ; " Searching the Net," painted for Sir 
 Abraham Hume ; and the " Frost Scene," painted for 
 Sir Robert Peel, about which so much had been 
 conjectured during its progress, and in relation to 
 which a false report was circulated, as contemptible 
 in its nature as it was malicious in its design. Ere, 
 however, the particulars of this affair are stated, 
 it will be necessary to submit to the reader some 
 description of the picture itself, not forgetting the 
 other two works exhibited with it. 
 
 " Buying Fish " was a large, clear sea-piece, painted 
 in the artist's most brilliant manner, with one of those 
 serene, airy skies, studded with light fleecy clouds, 
 for which his pictures of this class were so celebrated, 
 and enlivened by a group of well-contrasted and cha- 
 racteristic figures, including the salesman, a cunning
 
 280 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 old fisherman the purchaser, a perplexed and pretty 
 young girl and the spectator of the bargain, a little 
 fair-haired, bare-headed child. A shrimp-boy and 
 two children, examining the contents of his net, 
 formed the subject of " Searching the Net/' the 
 engraving from which is widely-known, not only in 
 England, but in America, where the print has been 
 one of the most successful of modern English works. 
 Great, however, as were the merits of these two 
 productions, they did not rival the public attraction 
 of the "Frost Scene ;" which, as another effort by the 
 painter in a new class of subject, and as a work, 
 moreover, about which much useless gossip had been 
 propagated while it was on the easel, aroused the 
 general curiosity at the time in an unusual degree. 
 Though a picture of large dimensions, it presented 
 throughout an appearance of elaborate, and in some 
 places of almost excessive finish. A wide river, frozen 
 over, occupies the middle of the composition, from 
 the foreground to the horizon. The ice in the dis- 
 tance is covered by an animated crowd, composed of 
 skaters, sliders, spectators, and vendors of provisions. 
 On the right-hand foreground is a large drinking- 
 booth, at the entrance of which stands the merry old 
 " Boniface " of the temporary ale-house, with a bottle 
 in one hand and a glass in the other, exchanging a 
 brisk fire of jokes with two travellers, a man, and a 
 handsome young girl mounted, pillion- fashion, behind 
 him on an old clumsy white horse. The left bank of 
 the river is occupied by groups in full activity, some
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 281 
 
 buying, some selling, some rushing triumphantly, 
 skates in hand, to the frozen stream others prostrate 
 on the slippery ground which endangers its approach. 
 In every part of the picture the drawing of the 
 figures is vigorous and correct ; while at the same 
 time the bustling, animated character of the different 
 groups, and the quaint contrasts of colour and form 
 natural to the scene, are caught with extraordinary 
 brilliancy and success. The heavy snow-clouds, 
 brightened by the rich flashes of red cast on them by 
 the approaching sunset the glimpses of cold, pure 
 blue sky behind them the frosty stillness of the 
 distant landscape, are all painted with a truth, finish, 
 and nature, which attest the severe study bestowed 
 upon the landscape, as well as the figures, in this 
 fine picture. Forcibly, however, as it appealed to 
 the approbation of all who beheld it, it failed to 
 avert from the artist that worst consequence of suc- 
 cess, the detraction of others. On the close of the 
 Exhibition, the following paragraph on the subject of 
 the "Frost Scene" appeared in four of the London 
 newspapers : 
 
 " We mentioned some time ago that Mr. Peel had 
 given, or was to give, five hundred guineas for the 
 snow-piece by Collins, in the late Exhibition. Such 
 was, we believe, the understanding when the com- 
 mission was given ; but on the completion of the 
 picture, no less a sum than seven hundred guineas 
 was demanded ; a sum which we are informed the 
 right honourable gentleman declined to pay, as he
 
 282 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 considered it very much above the value of the 
 picture. We can easily understand that the artist 
 may have bestowed upon his work a great deal more 
 labour than he originally intended to bestow, without 
 rendering it at all more valuable to his patron ; but it 
 is of great importance to the body to which he be- 
 longs that the few noblemen and gentlemen who are 
 just now manifesting so liberal a disposition towards 
 modern artists should not be disgusted by even the 
 appearance of a wish to take undue advantage of their 
 generosity." 
 
 To this paltry attempt to injure his character 
 Mr. Collins thus replied, addressing his letter to 
 one of the newspapers in which the false state- 
 ment had appeared, and from which the refutation 
 thus made public, was copied into several other 
 journals : 
 
 " To THE EDITOR OF THE ' STANDARD.' 
 
 "11, New Cavendish-street, 
 "July 30th. 
 
 " Sir, My attention having been called to a 
 paragraph copied into your paper, conveying an 
 imputation upon my conduct, with reference to the 
 commission which I have recently been honoured 
 with from Mr. Peel, I rely upon your candour to 
 insert from me this declaration, that the whole is a 
 groundless fabrication, a mere invention ; that no 
 such price as seven hundred guineas was ever de- 
 manded ; that the price asked was not declined to be
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 283 
 
 paid, nor any the least hesitation expressed on the 
 subject.* 
 
 " As regards the tendency of the paragraph to im- 
 pute to me the sacrifice of the interests of the body to 
 which I belong for my own pecuniary advantage, I 
 repel it with the contempt the falsehood deserves. 
 
 " I am, Sir, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS. 
 
 " P.S. I trust that such journals as have given 
 insertion to the above-mentioned paragraph, will do 
 me the justice to publish also this contradiction. 
 
 " W. C." 
 
 The publication of the above letter produced the 
 exposure of the worst peculiarity attaching to the 
 fabrication which it was written to refute ; one of the 
 newspapers alleging, as a justification of their admis- 
 sion of the offensive paragraph, that it had appeared 
 through the voluntary information of a member of the 
 Royal Academy. Feeling that enough had been 
 already done to justify his character, Mr. Collins 
 only noticed the clue thus afforded to the discovery of 
 his anonymous assailant, by communicating privately 
 on the subject to the Council of the Academy, and 
 leaving the matter to their discretion. Soon after 
 
 * The price paid for the picture will be found, by a reference to 
 the list of my father's works at the end of this memoir, to have been 
 five hundred guineas.
 
 284< MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 this the affair terminated most triumphantly for him 
 by the receipt of a new commission from Sir Robert 
 Peel from whom he had previously received a letter, 
 contradicting in the most unqualified manner the 
 newspaper report for another large picture by his 
 hand ; an event as creditable to the taste and liber- 
 ality of the patron as to the conduct and capacity of 
 the painter. 
 
 The following short extract from Mr. Collins's 
 Journal for this year may be deemed not unworthy 
 of insertion, as showing that his success in his pro- 
 fession had not subdued his habitual watchfulness 
 over himself, both as a painter and as a man : 
 
 "Sept. 18th, 1827. I see that in finishing my 
 pictures I am too apt to introduce the darkest opaque 
 shadows, and that consequently, to preserve that 
 breadth which the dead colour has, I must in a great 
 measure avoid using any dark colour lower than 
 'raw umber.' I must not use black or Vandyck 
 brown until the last finishing touches ; and then 
 very thinly. Pictures may be too strong in the 
 darks for private rooms, as well as for an Exhibition- 
 room. Cuyp's and Wilson's pictures are entirely 
 free from this blackness, and have, I believe, con- 
 sequently great breadth, glow, and power; and do 
 not require absolutely, as mine certainly do, to be 
 seen with a very strong light. 
 
 " Sept. 19th. I have attained my fortieth year. 
 May that Almighty Being, without whom nothing is 
 strong, nothing is perfect, for Jesus Christ's sake,
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 285 
 
 guide me through that remaining portion of my life 
 which it may be his holy will that I should pass in 
 this world, directing me in all things." * * * 
 
 In the subjoined letters will be found a continua- 
 tion of the correspondence on Art between Sir David 
 Wilkie and Mr. Collins, of which the commencement 
 has appeared in the preceding chapter : 
 
 "To SIR DAVID WILKIE. 
 
 " Hampstead, July 9th, 1827. 
 
 " Dear Wilkie, I had promised myself the plea- 
 sure of writing to you upon the opening of the 
 present Exhibition, intending to give you some ac- 
 count of the pictures, and more especially of the 
 really kind things Lawrence said about you at the 
 grand dinner ; but of course some more punctual, 
 though not more sincere admirer, has superseded me. 
 An affair, however, of great importance to us all 
 having taken place on Saturday, I write for the pur- 
 pose of giving some details, which I doubt not will 
 interest you. 
 
 " You may possibly know by this time that Lord 
 de Tabley* died about the 20th of last month ; but 
 unless you have very recent intelligence of the cir- 
 cumstance, you will be as much surprised as most of 
 the people here, upon finding that, notwithstanding 
 the Parliament was up and the town getting very 
 thin, his executors determined to sell by auction his 
 
 * Formerly Sir John Fleming Leicester, Bart.
 
 286 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 collection of pictures in Hill-street. The artists in 
 general, but more particularly those who had pictures 
 in the sale, were more than bilious. Turner and Sir 
 Thomas Lawrence did everything in their power to 
 induce the executors to put it off; but they were 
 bent upon turning the pictures into money imme- 
 diately. I shall set down the prices at which the 
 most prominent were sold." 
 
 (Here follows in the original a long list of the 
 different pictures sold ; the artists being in some 
 instances, so unfavourable was the time chosen for 
 the sale, the purchasers of their own or of their 
 friends' works. Two pictures by Mr. Collins, dis- 
 posed of to connoisseurs, are quoted at a hundred and 
 eighty and two hundred guineas respectively. The 
 letter then continues : ) 
 
 " That these pictures should have sold so well, not- 
 withstanding all the disadvantages under which they 
 were presented to the public, is, in my opinion, a 
 strong proof of the high estimation of modern Art ; 
 and when we consider the unsettled state of political 
 matters, and the occupation of the public mind upon 
 the great changes in high places, we must not com- 
 plain. I have said so much about our Art, that I 
 have little room for a thousand other things I pur- 
 posed saying about ourselves. I long much to hear 
 from you. Let me know how you go on in health ; 
 and do say you are coming back again amongst us 
 shortly. We want you much, I assure you. Your 
 absence, and poor Sir George Beaumont's death, have
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 287 
 
 been taken advantage of, and an unusual supply of 
 chalky pictures adorn the walls of the Academy, to 
 the discomfort of the old school. Hilton, Etty, 
 Lawrence, Mulready, and some others, have not fallen 
 away, however. I am delighted to hear from your 
 sister that you have painted some pictures. Let me 
 know how I can be useful, do not fear giving me 
 trouble. What sort of news can I pick up for you ? 
 I am, as you see by the address of this letter, living 
 at Hampstead ; so short a distance from London that 
 I can easily avail myself of its advantages, and miss 
 its discomforts, and study in quiet. I have just 
 painted a picture for Mr. Peel, at the highest price I 
 have ever obtained five hundred guineas ; and am 
 full of commissions. Poor Lord Liverpool has, within 
 these few days, suffered another attack : our friend 
 Jenkinson is with him continually at Coombe Wood. 
 And now, my dear friend, may God bless you and 
 send you home well again ! 
 
 " I am, dear Wilkie, 
 " Yours obliged and faithfully, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 " P.S. Joseph has just arrived in London, and is 
 making some capital busts ; one he has nearly finished 
 of the Duke of Sussex is excellent." 
 
 " To WILLIAM COLLINS, ESQ., R.A. 
 
 " Geneva, 26th Aug., 1827. 
 " Dear Collins, Your letter gave me great plea-
 
 288 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 sure ; filled as it was with news, and such news as I, 
 of all others, sympathized the most in. The ordeal of 
 the De Tabley sale you have all gone through has to 
 me become quite familiar. I admit yours has been 
 both severe and unfair ; but you have had the more 
 merit in sustaining it, and it appears to native resi- 
 dents here, as it does to myself, a most creditable 
 display for British Art. Indeed, I wish our artists 
 would think somewhat more of trials of this sort, 
 that must be perpetual, and less of the short-lived 
 triumphs of fresh paint at Somerset-house. We 
 affect, at home, to despise the old masters ; but by 
 the same people and the same rules must we hereafter 
 be judged; and our heavy gilt frames and central 
 situations will avail us nothing. 
 
 " This is a subject upon which I claim the liberty 
 (being able to do little else) to talk. I may call myself 
 a sort of veteran in such contests ; and thanks to one 
 of my best friends at home, have come off upon a 
 late occasion with most unexpected success, even 
 before the eyes of a foreign people. The sale of my 
 picture at Munich* made an impression at Rome 
 among all descriptions of artists; and my ideas, 
 known to be peculiar, began to be listened to even 
 by my own countrymen, who began to suspect that 
 what I have so often, as you well know, tried to din 
 into the heads of some friends at home, might after all 
 be right. And here let me assure you, that if the 
 
 * " The Reading of a Will."
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 289 
 
 qualities of the picture of the ' Will ' had any share 
 in its advantageous destination, those of colour were 
 quite the opposite to what would have fitted it for 
 our Exhibition. The whites and some of the flesh 
 tints were too bright, and it was the rich and low 
 tones only that kept it in harmony with the choice 
 Dutch pictures by which it was surrounded. 
 
 " After seeing all the fine pictures in France, Italy, 
 and Germany, one must come to this conclusion, that 
 colour, if not the first, is at least an essential quality 
 in painting: no master has as yet maintained his 
 ground beyond his own time without it. But in 
 oil painting, it is richness and depth alone that 
 can do justice to the material. Upon this subject, 
 every prejudice with which I left home is, if any- 
 thing, not only confirmed, but increased. What 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds wrote, and what our friend Sir 
 George Beaumont so often supported, was right ; 
 and after seeing what I have seen, I am not now to 
 be talked out of it. 
 
 " With us, as you know, every young Exhibitor 
 with pink, white, and blue, thinks himself a colourist 
 like Titian ; than whom perhaps no painter is more 
 misrepresented and misunderstood. I saw my sell 
 at Florence his famous Venus, upon an easel, with 
 Kirkup and Wallis by me. This picture, so often 
 copied, and every copy a fresh mistake, is what I 
 expected it to be ; deep, yet brilliant, indescribable 
 in its hues, yet simple beyond example in its execu- 
 tion and its colouring. Its flesh (oh, how our friends 
 
 VOL. i. o
 
 290 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 at home would stare !) was a simple, sober, mixed-up 
 tint, and apparently, like your skies, completed while 
 wet. No scratchings, no hatchings, no scumblings, 
 no multiplicity of repetitions, no ultramarine, lakes, 
 nor vermillions, and not even a mark of the brush 
 visible ; all seemed melted into the fat and glowing 
 mass, solid yet transparent, giving the nearest ap- 
 proach to life that the painter's art has yet reached. 
 
 " This picture is perhaps defective in its arrange- 
 ment, but in its painting quite admirable. Now, can 
 nothing like this ever be done again ? Is such toning 
 really not to be reproduced ? I wish to believe the 
 talent exists, and am sure the material exists. But 
 we have now got another system, our criterion of 
 judging is changed: we prefer a something else, or, 
 what is still more blinding, there is a something else 
 that we mistake for it. 
 
 " Another picture, with which I was greatly pleased, 
 was ' The Assumption of the Virgin,' by Fra Barto- 
 lomeo, at Lucca. This picture, painted by a monk 
 before the time of Raphael, and in the retirement of 
 a convent, has, to the fine qualities of the period of 
 Raphael, superadded all the inventions in colour and 
 effect of Rubens and Rembrandt. This is a style for 
 Hilton to follow : brightness and richness are here 
 combined. West used to talk of this picture, and 
 our friend Woodburn used to say he would place it 
 beside the ' Transfiguration.' 
 
 " I perhaps say more of colour than I ought ; that, 
 as you know, being with some of our friends the
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 291 
 
 disputable subject. Sir George Beaumont used to 
 say that water-coloured drawings had tainted our 
 Exhibitions. I have observed throughout my travels, 
 this difference between the pictures of the present 
 day and the old masters, that they are never found 
 in the same room, and seldom in the same gallery 
 collectors never place them together, and artists are 
 contented with the exclusion. The Duke of Bedford 
 seems actuated by the same feeling ; he has parted 
 with his old pictures, intending to collect modern 
 pictures in their place : he perhaps judges that 
 they cannot be amalgamated together ! this is a 
 prejudice that painters themselves should get rid of. 
 He once asked me to paint a companion to his Teniers 
 he had then no thoughts of parting with it. 
 
 "Your picture for Mr. Peel, I hope you have 
 succeeded in to your mind. Yours is a most enviable 
 style. You are sure now to get full employment; 
 but, for future fame, compete with the old masters ; 
 beside whom, modern Art is generally poor in the 
 lights, and opaque in the shadows. From what I 
 have seen of letters and heard from eye-witnesses, I 
 can form in my own mind the whole of the Exhi- 
 bition it remains quite unchanged. You mention 
 some friends who have not fallen off. This is so far 
 good for themselves, but what must it be for the 
 Exhibition ? 
 
 " If anything occurs worthy notice, write to me. 
 You know th news perfectly that would interest an 
 artist in exile. Give my kindest regards to Mrs. 
 o2
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 Collins, who I hope is, with yourself, well, and en- 
 joying with you the youthful society of your little 
 boy. He is now old enough to learn that there is 
 such a person as his godfather he will be able to 
 speak to me when I return. Give my remembrances 
 to your brother, and should you see them, to Mr. 
 and Mrs. Phillips. My brother will at any time tell 
 you how to direct to me. 
 
 " With best regards, believe me, my dear Sir, 
 " Your very faithful servant, 
 
 "DAVID WlLKIE." 
 
 From the perusal of these two letters, the reader 
 will gather that the writers agreed in fixing their 
 theoretical and practical principles of painting on the 
 models of the old masters a form of opinion which, 
 fortunately for the prospects of modern Art, is less 
 uncommon among their brethren now than it was at 
 that time. Unanimous, however, as the two painters 
 were in their convictions on this subject, they differed 
 a little in their method of carrying them out. "Wil- 
 kie's notion of acquiring much of the grand tone of 
 the master colourists, by the excessive introduction 
 of rich, deep browns, into all the darker parts of a 
 picture, was not shared by his friend, who, entire as 
 was his veneration for Sir David's judgment, and his 
 concurrence in his general opinions, steadily declined 
 during their whole intercourse with each other 
 to load his pictures with any prevailing tone of 
 shadow, however lustrous, which he had not seen
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 293 
 
 in the Nature from which they were derived. From 
 Nature he believed that the old masters had drawn 
 the moving principle of those mighty combinations 
 of their Art, of that rich surface, that sublime tone 
 of colour, that magical harmony of individual hues, 
 which he and his brother painter so heartily admired, 
 and so sedulously emulated; and firmly convinced 
 that Claude, Ruysdael, and all " the better brothers," 
 had done so before him, he persisted in applying 
 himself as attentively to the harmonies of Nature 
 as to the triumphs of Art, for his guiding theory of 
 chiaroscuro and colour, as well as for his highest 
 ideas of beauty, proportion and form. 
 
 From the Isle of Wight, whither he had repaired 
 in the autumn of this year to collect materials for a 
 picture of Freshwater Bay, to be painted for the 
 Duke of Norfolk, my father thus writes : 
 
 "To MRS. WILLIAM COLLINS. 
 
 " Ventnor, August 29th, 1827. 
 
 " My dear Harriet, not liking the appearance of 
 Portsmouth, I stayed there somewhat less than half 
 an hour ; and, without my dinner, embarked in a 
 steamer for Ryde, at six o'clock ; arriving in time 
 for an eight o'clock dinner at the latter place. I 
 walked about, and made some slight sketches during 
 Tuesday. It is a very pretty place indeed, all 1 
 have hitherto seen is fine; but I have sketched so 
 many features of coast scenery that I find little or 
 nothing new. From Ryde, I went in a gig to St.
 
 294 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 Helens, Brading, Sandown the bay of which is 
 magnificent then to Shanklin Chine, and remained 
 there about two hours with great pleasure. Arriving 
 here about four, I walked till seven ; and am now, 
 just before going to bed, writing in a most romantic 
 inn upon an enormously high cliff, backed by large 
 hills, surrounded by woods, and with a beautiful view 
 of the sea from my window. If you and Willy 
 were with me, I might do well enough saving and 
 excepting the constant demands upon one's purse. 
 
 " To-morrow I purpose going on to Niton, about 
 five miles from this place ; where, if I have time 
 before the post hour, I may add something more : 
 but should that be out of the question, I expect my 
 dear Harriet will write to me by return of post, as 
 a couple of days, at one place, seems quite sufficient 
 for most, and too much for many, and more than 
 enough for money. Tell Willy 1 have this day 
 picked up two nice little scuttle-fish bones for him. 
 Every day, nay almost every hour, how I have longed 
 for you both ! 
 
 "Thursday, August 30th. I left Ventnor this 
 morning after breakfast, walked to Niton, called upon 
 Mr. Pine, who is now in London, dined at the inn, 
 hired a gig, and went sixteen or seventeen miles over, 
 for the most part, a wild country, averaging about 
 two persons a mile. I am now at Freshwater Gate, 
 where I find I cannot send you this letter before 
 to-morrow morning. * * * Although I dare say I 
 shall find where the Duke of Norfolk is staying when
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 295 
 
 I reach Cowes, still, that I may be certain, I wish 
 Frank to call at his house in St. James'-square, for 
 the purpose of knowing the fact. If you cannot 
 however, without delaying your letter, obtain this 
 information, do not mind ; as I feel so very anxious 
 to hear from you : and, as I have no doubt at all 
 that I shall easily find the Duke, do not by any 
 means put yourself to the smallest trouble on the 
 subject. 
 
 " Yours affectionately, 
 
 "WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 The opening of the year 1828, found the painter 
 busily engaged, at his Hampstead residence, on four 
 sea-pieces, and a large landscape one of the former, 
 being a repetition of the popular " Fisherman's 
 Departure," for Mr. Chamberlayne, M.P. At the 
 commencement of the year, his small family circle 
 was widened by the birth of a second son. With a 
 cordial remembrance of the old friend and fellow 
 painter far away in America, and with a wish to 
 strengthen, in spite of absence, the bond: of their 
 mutual regard, he made Mr. Allston one of the 
 sponsors of his child, by proxy. Nor was the birth 
 of another son the painter's only subject of personal 
 congratulation at this period. Renovated in health, 
 and prepared for new efforts, Wilkie was now soon 
 to return, again to resume that wonted communion 
 on Art that had been suspended between them 
 personally, for three years. There were, however,
 
 296 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 professional events to be chronicled, and new ideas 
 to be communicated, for which the time of meeting 
 was to the painter, even yet, too far removed to be 
 waited for ; and once more they exchanged letters, 
 ere they saw each other again, as characteristic and 
 as cordial as any that had preceded them : 
 
 " To SIR DAVID WILKIE, R.A. 
 
 "Hampstead, April 17th, 1828. 
 
 " Dear Wilkie I should have written to you long 
 ago, but I have waited from day to day for matter 
 sufficiently interesting ; and now, in despite of the 
 absence of any topic better than usual, I must just 
 content myself with saying whatever comes upper- 
 most ; and this, in the hope of obtaining something 
 from you, who live in such inexhaustible mines ; 
 acknowledging at once the scantiness of my material, 
 dig as hard as I may. Your last letter came most 
 opportunely; its authority was almost my only 
 support, under my usual eclipse at Somerset-house.* 
 What a wretched thing it is, to find that the more fit 
 one may become for the society of the old masters, 
 the more one suffers in the company of the new ! 
 Poor Sir George Beaumont, backed and supported 
 
 * It will be gathered from 'the context, as well as from some 
 recent remarks, that the "eclipse" here spoken of, refers to the 
 minority in which Mr. Collins was then placed, among some of his 
 professional brethren, in discussions on Art, by his uncompromising 
 opinions on the high station to be assigned to the works of the old 
 masters.
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 297 
 
 by your practical skill, had certainly considerable 
 effect in keeping under the tawdry tendency of our 
 Exhibition. But, after his death, the opportunity 
 afforded to our opponents by the possession of the 
 field, they seemed resolved not to lose ; and, by one 
 great and combined effort (I must in justice, except 
 here, the names of Hilton, Mulready, Lawrence, and 
 Jackson,) to set the question respecting what will, and 
 what will not do for the Exhibition, for ever at rest. 
 So most assuredly they did ; and, were it not now 
 for the support afforded by a reference to the 
 National Gallery, and the occasional Exhibitions of 
 old pictures in this country, the manufacture of any 
 colour deeper than crome, must have been abandoned.* 
 Under all this opposition, however, it is matter of 
 great consolation that a standard is now forming, if 
 not already formed, by which all will be, even in 
 their own time, tried and judged too. I take this to 
 be a matter of certainty, not merely from what is 
 said outside the gates, but from the more solid 
 evidence of the great and increasing demand for the 
 ' genuine article.' 
 
 " There are other circumstances, from which, I 
 confess, I take great hope that all is not yet lost ; 
 and the principle of them, is the increased weight 
 with which what you have to say on the subject will 
 be received, after the great opportunities you have 
 had of consolidating opinions, not new ones, but 
 
 * " Crome" is a bright vivid, yellow colour. 
 
 o 3
 
 298 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 those with which, to use your own words, you ' left 
 home.' Under the impression that you could be 
 mainly instrumental in effecting great reformation in 
 our body, and with a view to give you that authority 
 which you so justly deserve, I have taken such legiti- 
 mate opportunities as fell in my way, of reading such 
 portions of your letters, (particularly your first) as 
 appeared to me calculated to weigh with the reason- 
 able and most valuable portion of our circle ; and it 
 gratifies me exceedingly to assure you, that Lawrence, 
 Mulready, Callcott, Phillips, and others more 
 especially the three first declared it to be their 
 united conviction, ' that highly as they had already 
 estimated your powers as an artist, and a man of 
 intellect, they were bound to acknowledge that you 
 had surpassed, in the clear and philosophical views 
 of Art expressed in that letter, their highest hopes.' 
 This, coming, as it did, so soon after you quitted us, 
 was I trust highly advantageous in keeping up that 
 high character you had left among us. Did I not 
 feel perfectly satisfied that you would do justice to 
 my motives, or had I anything to gain, beyond what 
 I must be ungrateful indeed not to acknowledge I 
 mean your genuine and kind friendship for me I 
 should hesitate to say so much. But, being perfectly 
 easy on this head, I conceive it to be my duty to 
 speak the truth. 
 
 " In a note I have this morning received from 
 your sister, I find that you purpose leaving Bordeaux 
 about the lth of May; and, as I trust you will
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 299 
 
 arrive in time to see the Exhibition before its close, 
 I shall not fatigue your attention any longer. I have 
 however much to say when we meet. In the mean- 
 time you will be glad to hear that (notwithstanding 
 some dirty work that has been attempted against me, 
 of which it is possible some garbled account may 
 have reached you)* I am, thanks to Heaven, enjoy- 
 ing the highest patronage. Your godson grows a 
 strapping fellow, and has a little blue-eyed red-haired 
 bonny bairn, as a brother, about three months old. 
 I have now, for nearly two years, occupied a small 
 house at this place, with I think no loss of advantage 
 in my pursuits enabled by the comparative retire- 
 ment and consequent quiet, to keep down in a great 
 measure that natural tendency to excitement, which 
 I have always found so difficult a task ; and, as the 
 distance from the great City is only three miles, I 
 have by no means given up useful contact with many 
 of its most valuable contents. 
 
 " Hoping that, by the blessing of God, we may 
 shortly meet, and trusting that when you have leisure 
 you will let me have a few lines all about yourself 
 and with my wife's kind regards to you, as well as 
 those of my mother, brother, and Mr. Rice; I am, 
 with great esteem, 
 
 " Yours most sincerely, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 * This refers to the calumny (already related) respecting Sir 
 Robert Peel's " Frost Scene."
 
 300 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 "P.S. I cherish the hope that you may, at some 
 future day, feel disposed to visit Holland again, for 
 the purpose of seeing how far the pictures there will 
 be able to stand the test you are now able to try them 
 by, and that I may have the pleasure and advantage 
 of being with you on the occasion." 
 
 " To WILLIAM COLLINS, ESQ., R.A. 
 
 Madrid, May 9, 1828. 
 
 " Dear Collins, This I write on the eve of leaving 
 the interesting capital of Spain, after a residence of 
 six months ; and as I find by your most kind letter, 
 that you are far more disposed to over rather than 
 underrate such reflections as have occurred to me on 
 my journey, this at least encourages me to note down 
 such as are immediately applicable to the subjects 
 we are so often accustomed to discuss. 
 
 " Bayonne, May 14th. 
 
 " I need not detail to you w T hat I have seen in 
 Madrid, the Escurial, or Seville ; it is general ideas 
 alone I wish to advert to. Being the only member 
 of our Academy who has seen Spain, perhaps it is to 
 be regretted that I see it with an acknowledged bias 
 or prejudice, in which, I fear, scarce any will parti- 
 cipate. With some of my kindest friends, indeed, 
 much of what I have seen, would produce between 
 us an influence like the apple of discord ; and if some 
 of our youths with less matured minds than they 
 while I write this with one hand, fancy me covering
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 301 
 
 my face with the other should venture across the 
 Biddasoa, what a conflict in testimony there would 
 be ! The spiritual Velasquez, whose principle and 
 practice Sir Thomas Lawrence so justly calls ' the 
 true philosophy of Art,' would be rendered with all 
 the dash and splash that tongue, pen, or pencil is 
 capable of; while the simple Murillo, perhaps de- 
 spised like Goldsmith for his very excellence, would 
 have his Correggio-like tones transposed into the 
 flowery gaudiness of a coloured print. Even the glo- 
 rious Titian, in this last stronghold, where his virgin 
 surface will probably remain the longest untouched, 
 might have his 'Apotheosis,' and his ' Last Supper ' 
 dressed up according to the newest version of blues, 
 pinks, and yellows, adapted to the supposed taste of 
 the picture-seeing public. 
 
 " But the system that we deprecate is, after all, 
 not confined to our own school. Luca Giordano, and 
 Tiepolo, have tried it with sufficient talent and eclat 
 to prove that neither the one nor the other (the prin- 
 ciple being wrong) can be a warrant for its success. 
 
 " There is just one test by which all artists return- 
 ing from abroad should try themselves. You know 
 the small head Sir Joshua Reynolds painted ; the first 
 after his return : it is in something like this, that 
 is summed up to me all the law and the command- 
 ments. 
 
 " In viewing some of the finest works, I have been 
 often reminded of Sir Joshua Reynolds, by their 
 finest qualities. At Bayonne, in a parcel of prints,
 
 302 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 waiting there for me, are three from Sir Joshua ; 
 these, coming as I do from Velasquez and Titian, 
 seem the work of a kindred spirit. With them are 
 also some prints of my own ; from which, as from 
 my picture at Munich, I have learnt a useful lesson. 
 They strengthen me in what I felt most doubtful, 
 and weaken my confidence in what I felt most assured 
 of. I feel the wisdom of Sir George Beaumont's 
 advice to me, to reflect that white is not light, and 
 detail is not finish. 
 
 " A casual remark in one of your own letters, though 
 I have not before noticed it to you, has made a deep 
 impression, your observation on seeing the surface 
 of ' the Penny Wedding,' in the Royal Cottage, 
 Windsor. Your approval of the picture was unex- 
 pected, but has been lucky and useful to me ; for I 
 have since acted upon it as a principle. With me no 
 starved surface now ; no dread of oil ; no ' perplexity 
 for fear of change.' Your manner of painting a sky 
 is now the manner in which I try to paint a whole 
 picture. 
 
 " Much as I might learn from Spain and from her 
 Art, you, as a landscape-painter, could learn but 
 little, excepting only from some works of Velasquez, 
 which are, even in landscape, so brilliant an exception 
 to the rest of the school. Of him I saw a large land- 
 scape in Madrid, that for breadth and richness I have 
 seldom seen equalled. Titian seemed his model ; 
 and if you could fancy what Sir Joshua Reynolds 
 and our friend Sir George Beaumont would have
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 303 
 
 approved as the beau ideal, it would be such a land- 
 scape. It was too abstract to have much detail, or 
 imitation ; but it was the very sunshine we see, and 
 the air we breathe the very soul and spirit of Nature. 
 
 " Spain herself is deficient in picturesque beauty. 
 From Bayonne to Seville there is but little to interest 
 too much of the extended waste and sandy plain. 
 The Sierra Morena, famous for the penance of Don 
 Quixote, is however a true haunt for the imagina- 
 tion : it resembles much the Trosachs, which we 
 both saw once, and I twice, under such unfavourable 
 circumstances. They have been celebrated alike, as 
 the retreat of beauty and chivalry, by the genius 
 of Cervantes and of Scott ; whose imitators in the 
 Italian opera and the English melo-drama, have fami- 
 liarised their rugged eminences to us, upon the stage. 
 
 " I return highly satisfied with my journey. The 
 seven months and ten days passed in Spain, I may 
 reckon as the best employed to me of my professional 
 life the only part of my residence abroad for which 
 I may be fairly envied by my professional brethren. 
 To be all eye, all ear, and all recollection, has been 
 my object ; yet after all I could note down, or bring 
 away, much must still be trusted to the memory. 
 Spain is the wild, unpoached, game-preserve of 
 Europe, in which I have had some months' pursuit 
 and sport, all to myself. In returning among you 
 all again, I must guard myself against attributing to 
 the merit of the teller, that interest which belongs 
 exclusively to the story to be told.
 
 304 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 " I hope to be with you before the close of the 
 Exhibition. I know already how it looks. You 
 have got some beautiful things in it Sir Thomas 
 has got all the ladies of fashion, and Turner is as 
 violent as ever. I have some doubt if Danby will do 
 often quantity and multitude are not legitimate. I 
 shall have to refresh my memory, however, in the 
 extraordinary styles of the English school, and to 
 know what disposition of Crome, Lake, and Ultra- 
 marine colour is the go for the next season among 
 the Exhibitors. 
 
 " I am happy to hear good accounts of your 
 thriving family. Give my best regards to Mrs. 
 Collins ; and for the young ones and yourself, accept 
 my best wishes. 
 
 " I am, my dear Sir, 
 
 " Yours most faithfully, 
 " ( The homeward bound) DAVID WILKIE." 
 
 At the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1828, Mr. 
 Collins's pictures were four in number, and were 
 thus entitled : " Scene in Freshwater Bay" (painted 
 for the Duke of Norfolk ;) " Scene at Folkestone," 
 (painted for Lord Charles Townshend ;) " Doubtful 
 Weather," (painted for Mr. T. C. Higgins;) and 
 " Taking out a Thorn," (painted for Mr. J. Delafield.) 
 "Freshwater Bay" was a small, light, delicate pic- 
 ture : the lustrous blue sea the clear sunshine the 
 tranquil day -light sky, being all imbued with the same 
 softness and purity. Near the foreground, a little
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 305 
 
 girl, with a beautiful child by her side, sits with her 
 arms clasping her knees, looking upward ; while some 
 younger children, paddling about the wet sands, 
 diversify agreeably this principal group. The picture 
 reflected from all its parts the same tender tran- 
 quillity, and was finely opposed by the Scene at 
 Folkestone, whose broad, flat beach, far distant sea, 
 brilliant sky, and animated group of fishermen and 
 boys, gave it the different characteristics of simple 
 vastness in the landscape, and stirring activity in the 
 figures. In " Doubtful Weather," a boat lies close 
 in the foreground ; a boy in it, is occupied in pre- 
 paring it for sea, while a fisherman stands near him, 
 fronting the spectator, shading his eyes with his 
 hand, and looking up steadfastly to a lowering cloud, 
 immediately above him ; through which a gleam of 
 sunlight and blue sky is breaking quaintly. The 
 atmosphere near the horizon is clear, while the 
 ocean under it, in the background, tosses briskly 
 beneath a fresh gale. The bold originality of the 
 fisherman's position, and the striking contrasts of the 
 whole landscape behind and above him, made this one 
 of the most remarkable and powerful pictures of its 
 class that the painter had exhibited. " Taking out 
 a Thorn," was his only inland scene of the year. 
 The locality of this picture is on Hampstead Heath ; 
 the point of view, the clump of fir-trees, near the 
 inn called " The Spaniards," looking across towards 
 " North End." On a bank sits an old furze-cutter, 
 extracting a thorn from the finger of a chubby urchin,
 
 306 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 who rubs his eyes dolefully with the corner of his 
 pinafore during the operation, which is compassion- 
 ately and curiously observed by the unlucky patient's 
 companions. The rich, soft colouring ; the simple 
 rustic incident ; the vigorous truth and nature of this 
 picture, rendered it immediately and widely popular. 
 Among other connoisseurs, by whom the possession 
 of it was desired, was the King ; who expressed a 
 wish, if it was not already sold, to add it to the 
 two sea-pieces by the painter, which he already 
 possessed. But the picture had been a commission ; 
 and its owner, very naturally, prized it too highly to 
 be able to prevail on himself, under any circumstances, 
 to forego his prior right to his valuable possession. 
 
 In the June of this year, Wilkie returned. The 
 topics that had been but slightly touched in his 
 letters to his friend, were now fully discussed ; and 
 the recollections and observations that had, as yet, 
 been only casually noticed, were now carefully re- 
 viewed and circumstantially described. Throughout 
 all these conversations on his past experiences, the 
 anxiety of Sir David to set Mr. Collins forth on the 
 journey to Italy, to urge him to gain the advantages of 
 studying the works of the Italian school, and to fire 
 him with the ambition to seek for new pictorial 
 triumphs in Italian landscape, was ever uppermost. 
 It was an opinion of Wilkie's, and within certain 
 restrictions a true one, that variety of achievement 
 is an essential ingredient in the success of all intel- 
 lectual pursuits, and that the man, whether author
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 307 
 
 or artist, who continues to turn the public channel of 
 his labours in one direction, beyond a certain time, 
 is risking the danger of the satiety of the public taste, 
 or the degredation of indifference in the public 
 attention. Believing sincerely in the various capa- 
 bilities of his friend, Sir David was not easily wearied 
 of disclosing to him all the temptations to attempt 
 fresh successes presented by the land, from which 
 Claude and Wilson had drawn their inspiration 
 before him. But several reasons, connected with 
 those family ties which were ever a moving principle 
 in the painter's actions, then induced Mr. Collins 
 and, until eight more years had elapsed, continued 
 to induce him to decline following the advice thus 
 given to him, and to remain satisfied with the sub- 
 jects which the landscapes of his own country pre- 
 sented to his eye. To a less extended and important 
 journey than that recommended by Wilkie, he was 
 not however averse ; and, in resigning for the present 
 all prospect of communication with Italian Art, his 
 long- cherished desire to study the works of the 
 Dutch school, on the soil that had produced and still 
 retained them, recurred with double energy. In a 
 postscript to his latest letter to his friend, the reader 
 may have observed an expression of his wish to see 
 them in Wilkie's company. This plan, however, in 
 consequence of Sir David's long previous absence, 
 and many home engagements, was temporarily im- 
 practicable ; and, giving up the pleasing idea of 
 securing him for a companion, Mr. Collins, accom-
 
 308 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 panied by another friend, took advantage of his spare 
 time in the autumn of this year to pay the visit 
 to Holland and Belgium, which he had so long 
 proposed. 
 
 To the lover of the picturesque and the student of 
 human nature, travelling in the country which Mr. 
 Collins was now exploring, was a far more unalloyed 
 pleasure then, than it is now. At that time the 
 good old canal boats, with their spotless decks, 
 glorious dinners, and discreetly Flemish rate of 
 travelling, pursued their dreamy course, still un- 
 threatened by the advent of the unadventurous 
 railway. Then, the Dutchman with his mighty 
 pipe, and the Belgian with his creamy beer, solemnly 
 smoked and tippled the whole journey through ; 
 and the smart London shop-boy, out for a week's 
 holiday on the Continent, was a jarring element 
 unknown among the windings of the peaceful route. 
 Then, when you took to land-carriage, you lumbered 
 slowly, it is true, along the level roads ; but, on the 
 other hand, you passed through the quaint old towns 
 on your journey, and not outside them you stopped 
 to change horses in the characteristic villages, instead 
 of perching for one brief moment before the bars of 
 a business-like " station." Then, it may be, that you 
 met few waiters who could speak English, and were 
 tempted not by the national apparition of " London 
 stout;" but you had every chance, at the table 
 d'hote, of sitting next to an unsophisticated denizen 
 of the soil ; you could see the courteous customs of
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 309 
 
 the table, but little outraged by the barbarous exercise 
 of foreign freedom. Privileges such as these now 
 alas to be imagined only ! were by a traveller of 
 Mr. Collins's order, enjoyed with the highest zest. 
 The horses, the wagons, the farming implements 
 that he drew, seemed the very models from which 
 Wouvermans had drawn before him ; and the old 
 houses, many of which are now pulled, or pulling, 
 down, were then happily intact. Ostend, Bruges, 
 Ghent, Brussels, and as far as Dinant inland 
 Antwerp, the Hague, and Rotterdam were the prin- 
 cipal points of his journey. All that he saw the 
 pictures, unrivalled by any foreign collections of the 
 Dutch school ; the flat, fertile country ; the pic- 
 turesque original people, delighted him. He was 
 absent about six weeks. With his anxiety to see and 
 to sketch everything, wherever he went, to register 
 his opinions in a regular journal, or to describe his 
 sensations in a series of letters, was unfortunately 
 impracticable. Both with his family and his friends, 
 the principal impressions of his journey were re- 
 served for his fireside. Among his hasty letters to 
 his wife during his absence, two however have been 
 found of some general interest. They are subjoined : 
 
 " To MRS. WILLIAM COLLINS. 
 
 " Bruges, August 24th, 1828. 
 
 " My dear Harriet, I write, as I promised, to let 
 you know that our voyage thus far for we came 
 from Ostend by water has been quite favourable.
 
 310 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 The day on the sea was beautifully fine, and we 
 reached Ostend about eleven at night. Before we 
 could get beds (and into them) the clock had struck 
 one. We were called again before four, to go on 
 board the trackschuyt, a voyage of only three hours 
 and a half ; and to-morrow we hope to reach Ghent. 
 After the bad nights I have had since Friday night, 
 (I mean bad, because I was obliged to sleep in vile 
 beds, and be called so unusually early,) I feel really 
 worn out, and, having the prospect of a comfortable 
 bed, and a great appetite for sleep, I propose retiring 
 without loss of time. 
 
 " I find myself unable to tell you, respecting the 
 features of this country, more than that they are 
 charming. * * * We have been this morning to 
 an English Protestant church, and happened after- 
 wards to go into a Romish church, where we saw a 
 figure, full-dressed, nearly as large as life, of the 
 Virgin ; which, after being bowed down to and wor- 
 shipped, was carried in procession on men's shoulders 
 through the church, accompanied by torches, bells, 
 smoke, and other symbols of man's weakness. The 
 expression of devotion on the parts of the congrega- 
 tion was deep, and worthy of better teaching. * * * 
 
 " Yours affectionately, 
 
 "WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 " To THE SAME. 
 
 "Dinant, Sept. 2nd, 1828. 
 * * * " I trust you have received the letter I
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 311 
 
 wrote you on Sunday, after our arrival in Belgium ; 
 but, as I have not yet had the gratification of getting 
 your answer, I write again. Not that I can ensure 
 the receipt of your letters, from the irregularity of 
 our proceedings, and what we should call in our own 
 country the clumsiness of the postmasters and their 
 modes of communication. The letter I suppose you 
 to have written to Cologne, I have desired the post- 
 master there to forward to me at Namur, where I go 
 this afternoon ; but, as I fear I shall not get it there, 
 I must have it sent after me to Rotterdam, where I 
 wish you to direct your next letter. If you have not 
 already written, and neither your communication 
 there, nor the information you have now to give, is of 
 great importance, do not write at all, as the chances 
 are against my receiving your letter. You can easily 
 imagine how much I feel this suspension of all inter- 
 course between us. I pray God, however, who only 
 can protect and prosper us, that all is well. 
 
 " We find the land-carriage in this country so 
 slow, and we are so much delighted with the pic- 
 turesqueness of the scenery, that, in order to do any- 
 thing at all in the way of sketching, we must either 
 abridge our route, (as at first proposed,) or delay our 
 return to London greatly beyond our first intentions. 
 We have determined upon the former plan, and have 
 therefore given up the Rhine altogether, contenting 
 ourselves with the best part of the Meuse, which is 
 very fine as far as we have seen it, and the remainder 
 of Holland.
 
 312 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 " We have been blessed with the most delightful 
 weather; and this, with the novelty of everything 
 about us, has afforded us the greatest satisfaction. 
 We find we must depend much upon our own 
 researches for beautiful things ; and this experience 
 we have bought, of course, as in other matters of 
 this sort must be the case, by commencing our route 
 at four o'clock in the morning, being shaken over 
 twenty miles of the worst road in the world, seeing 
 a trifle ; getting a vile dinner, and bumping home 
 again over the same road. All this, I expect, will be 
 of great use to us ; and ' tres curieux ! ' and ' char- 
 mante ! ' and other notes of admiration from the 
 guides, will lose some of their enchantment. 
 
 " And now, my dear Harriet, casting all my care 
 upon Him who only and alone can help us and 
 bless us, 
 
 " I am, your affectionate husband, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 Later in the autumn, the painter, on his return 
 to England, again visited Mr. Higgins, of Turvey 
 Abbey, and extended his short country tour to Leam- 
 ington. From the latter place he wrote as follows: 
 
 " To MRS. WILLIAM COLLINS. 
 
 "Leamington, Oct. 2nd, 1828. 
 
 * * * j f ear y OU h a( } much difficulty in 
 making out the letter I sent you from Turvey ; 
 indeed it so happens that the epistles I send you are
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 313 
 
 generally, from the bustle in which I make my ex- 
 cursions and the desire I have to combine sketching 
 with sight-seeing, fully deserving of the appellation 
 of scrawls. 
 
 " I left Mr. Higgins on Monday, and arrived at 
 this place on the same evening. During my stay at 
 Turvey I saw many pretty things, and was much 
 struck by Castle Ashby, a seat of the Marquis of 
 Northampton, one of the most perfect dwellings, with 
 endless drives through magnificent woods, one, in 
 particular, a green lane, or rather wide road, thirteen 
 miles in extent, with the finest wood scenery I ever 
 saw. Yet with all this beauty and splendour, the 
 present owner deserts it for foreign fopperies ! How 
 utterly impossible it is to say in what happiness con- 
 sists ; in things, I am sure it does not. Ought we 
 not, then, to cultivate inward peace, or rather those 
 means by which it may be obtained from Him 
 who alone can give it, and who, praised be his 
 holy name, has promised it, upon certain condi- 
 tions, indeed ; but his burden is light, and his yoke 
 is easy. 
 
 " I cannot tell you, when I am alone, how I long 
 for home. Why should we thus be parted I say con- 
 tinually, and my only consolation is that it is not for 
 pleasure alone, (although, thank God, I relish the 
 beauties of his creation more than ever,) but for the 
 ' crumbs ' I must take to my ' nest.' And what a 
 ' nest ' it is, after all ! May we ever be grateful for 
 so high a gift ! I could go on for an hour describing 
 
 VOL. I. P
 
 314 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 our blessings ; but your heart is not insensible to the 
 merits of Providence, and when I return, we will 
 thank our heavenly Father together. 
 
 " As the weather is broken, and the air too cold 
 for sitting out to draw, I shall satisfy myself with 
 seeing the beauties of this exquisite place, and I trust 
 return to London by to-morrow's coach. Of this 
 matter, however, I will write again. 
 
 " Affectionately yours, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 The year 1828, closed with unusual gloom and 
 melancholy for the painter. Late in the autumn, he 
 suffered from a severe attack of illness ; and early in 
 the winter, occurred the death of his generous patron 
 and sincere friend, the Earl of Liverpool. 
 
 But, notwithstanding these sources of trouble and 
 regret, the beginning of the next year found my 
 father more busily engaged than ever in the gradual 
 completion of his new pictures, which were five in 
 number at the Exhibition of 1829. They were 
 entitled, " Morning after a Storm," (the large sea- 
 piece, commissioned by Sir R. Peel, on the comple- 
 tion of his " Frost Scene :") " Summer Moonlight," 
 (painted for the Rev. R. A. Thorpe ;) " Prawn Fish- 
 ing," (painted for Sir F. Freeling ;) " A Scene in a 
 Kentish Hop-garden," (sold to the Duke of Norfolk ;) 
 and "Fisher Children," (painted for the Hon. G. A. 
 Ellis, the centre figure being a portrait of his son.}
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 315 
 
 The painter also exhibited at the British Institution 
 this year; sending there a work executed for Mr. 
 Wells, entitled " A Scene on the Coast of Kent." 
 
 "Morning after a Storm," was the largest of my 
 father's works of the year. The incident of the pic- 
 ture is thus embodied : A storm is supposed to have 
 raged during the night, and is indicated by the wild 
 broken clouds, rolling away before the morning sun, 
 and by the vexed waters of the ocean, which are still 
 in process of subsiding from their recent agitation. 
 On a cliff, to the left hand of the scene, is seated a 
 fisherman's wife, with a baby at her bosom, and 
 another little child clinging to her. Her face, shaded 
 by her hand, is turned towards the sea, on whose 
 brilliant expanse her eyes are anxiously fixed, watch- 
 ing for the first sight of the fishing-boat, in which her 
 husband has risked the dangers of the tempestuous 
 night. A dog, still and watchful as herself, stands 
 by her side ; while near her a man with a telescope, 
 (a repetition, by desire, of the figure in the " Fisher- 
 men on the Look-Out,") scans thoughtfully and 
 deliberately the ocean view. The profound and 
 simple sentiment of this picture ; the homely natural 
 pathos in the attitude and expression of the young 
 wife, still painfully doubtful of her husband's safety ; 
 the powerful and beautiful contrast between the 
 brilliant action of the elements, the fast-parting 
 clouds, the warm conquering sunlight, the brightly 
 tossing ocean, and the expressive stillness of anxiety 
 and fear impressed upon the very positions of the
 
 316 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 living agents of the scene, are qualities, as little to be 
 interpreted by any description, however minute, as 
 the remoter technical excellences of singleness of 
 treatment and brilliancy of colouring apparent to the 
 critic in the painting of the work. In relation, also, 
 to Mr. Collins' second picture, " Summer Moon- 
 light," the same poverty of the resources of descrip- 
 tion cannot be less severely felt. The two boys, 
 pushing a little fellow in a tub across one of the 
 pools left by the sea on the beach, and the expanse of 
 wet sand leading smoothly out to the distant ocean, 
 are parts of the composition which it might be com- 
 paratively easy to render here ; but the dreamy, 
 mysterious softness of the atmosphere, neither twi- 
 light nor moonlight, but partaking of both, the 
 poetic stillness of the light, as it rests gently over the 
 fishing-boats on the distant waters, the luxurious 
 repose of the whole scene of smooth shore beneath, 
 and half-radiant clouds above, must be beheld on the 
 canvas itself to be properly divined, and cannot be 
 meddled with by the tedious pen. The picture of 
 " Prawn Fishers " added one more brilliant example 
 to the list of the painter's most attractive sea-pieces. 
 It was engraved in the " Literary Souvenir " for 
 1 835, and has continued from the time of its produc- 
 tion to be a most popular work. In the " Scene in 
 a Kentish Hop-garden," the background is aptly 
 filled by rows of tall picturesque hop-poles, while the 
 foreground is occupied by a busy group of cot- 
 tagers. The curious Kentish f< hop-cradle," formed
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 317 
 
 of clumsy sticks covered with a red cloak, and used 
 by the women to hold their children when they are 
 at work, is introduced with capital effect into the 
 foreground of the charming English country scene 
 which this picture pourtrays. " Fisher Children,' 
 a small delicate work, was engraved in the " Lite- 
 rary Souvenir." The portrait of the son of Mr. Agar 
 Ellis, (for whom the picture was painted,) was intro- 
 duced into the composition with the artist's usual 
 felicity ; the child being represented, dressed in 
 homely garments, standing with a pan in his hand 
 to receive some fish, which a boy and a girl are 
 engaged in washing at each side of him. A remark- 
 able tenderness in colour and delicacy in execution 
 distinguished this picture. 
 
 In presenting the subjoined letters, exchanged 
 during the summer of this year between Mr. Collins 
 and Mr. Bernard Barton, the poet, the explanation 
 of the circumstances connected with them cannot be 
 better prefaced than by the insertion of a Sonnet, 
 written by the latter gentleman, expressive of that 
 admiration for the painter's works, from which the 
 following correspondence first dated its commence- 
 ment : 
 
 SONNET 
 
 TO WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 
 
 PAINTER ! each British bard who loves the sea, 
 With all the scenery of its winding shore, 
 In sunshine's calm, or tempest's wild uproar, 
 
 Should hymn a song of grateful praise to thee !
 
 318 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 For there thy genius seems at home to be, 
 And on thy living canvas we explore 
 Beauties which longer studied please us more, 
 
 Bulwarks which found us, and that leave us, free I 
 While, by the dwellers on our sea girt Isle, 
 Its billowy borders are with pride beheld, 
 
 So long shall bloom the wreath thon hast compeU'd 
 Fame to entwine thee ; and, with partial smile, 
 Shall England's voice in exultation style 
 
 COIAINS his native country's Vandervelde ! 
 
 BERNARD BARTON. 
 
 Sentiments of approval as cordial as these, and 
 excited, it should be observed in the case of Mr. 
 Bernard Barton, by the only acquaintance with the 
 painter's works that his country residence had per- 
 mitted him general report, and the notices of the 
 press ; formed great part of the first letter that he 
 wrote to Mr. Collins. The remainder contained an 
 expression of his anxiety to possess some small 
 memorial of the painter's skill, which might be value- 
 less to the giver, but which should not only be a 
 treasured possession to the receiver, but a future 
 inspiration to his muse. Feeling that the praise of a 
 poet was not of ordinary importance, and that the 
 kindred pursuit of a poet rendered superfluous the 
 apologies with which his correspondent had closed 
 his request, Mr. Collins answered his application by 
 the offering mentioned in the following letter : 
 
 " To BERNARD BARTON, ESQ. 
 
 "Hampstead Green, July 7th, 1829. 
 "My dear Sir I have to offer you my most sincere
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 319 
 
 thanks for the flattering view you have been pleased 
 to take of my reputation as a painter ; and I have 
 only to hope that should you ever see any of those 
 works by which, such as it is, it has been obtained, 
 you will not feel obliged to change your present 
 favourable opinions. 
 
 " I have delayed answering your kind letter, until 
 I could get from the printer an impression of a 
 plate that is not yet published ; and I regret much 
 that this, and those that accompany it, are all I can 
 have the pleasure of presenting to you for I have 
 no picture by me, that would not provoke, even from 
 your kind feeling, ' a wreath ' which it would not 
 please you ' to weave ' particularly as you propose 
 'a fitting one' or me to wear. In truth, all those 
 which I do paint, are demanded to supply a table, 
 where so many mouths are daily open, that even * the 
 crumbs 1 you ask for, by a sort of enchantment, 
 immediately disappear.* 
 
 " Should any circumstance arise to induce you to 
 visit this neighbourhood, believe me it would afford 
 me very great pleasure to introduce you to our 
 scenery ; which, notwithstanding its proximity to the 
 'great Babel/ is acknowledged to have many and 
 peculiar beauties, and where you would at least find 
 a hearty welcome. 
 
 * The above sentence, refers to a passage in Mr. Bernard Barton's 
 letter, where he had humorously compared his application to the 
 painter, to the plea of the poor beggar in the parable, for " the 
 crumbs from the rich man's table."
 
 320 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 " Trusting that an acquaintance begun so oddly, 
 may not finish abruptly, 
 
 " I am, my dear Sir, 
 " Your obliged and faithful servant, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 The reply of Mr. Bernard Barton to the above 
 letter, expresses with so much frankness and clear- 
 ness his motives for making his request to Mr. 
 Collins, and contains so many just observations on 
 the characteristics of men of intellect, as to render 
 its publication as much a matter of interest to the 
 reader, as of justice to the writer. It runs as 
 follows : 
 
 " To WILLIAM COLLINS, ESQ., R.A. 
 
 "Woodbridge, Suffolk, 7th Month, 9th, 1829. 
 " My dear Friend When I sent the letter and 
 sonnet, which thy favour of the 7th instant has 
 acknowledged, in a manner equally honourable to 
 thy courtesy and kindness, I trusted for its indulgent 
 reception to that liberal feeling which I believe to be 
 the invariable accompaniment of true genius, in either 
 a painter or poet. I never had been either deceived 
 or disappointed in my reliance on this principle ; for 
 I never risked such an intrusion, without first 
 having good grounds for believing that the party 
 addressed would understand and appreciate my 
 motives and feelings. There is a sort of esprit de 
 corps, an union as mysterious almost as that of free-
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 321 
 
 masonry, existing among the votaries of the sister 
 Arts of painting and poetry, which is felt and under- 
 stood in a moment, where the attachment of both to 
 their favourite pursuit is genuine and generous. Had 
 I seen an account, in the papers, of a goldsmith, 
 silversmith, or jeweller, who had invented a new and 
 elegant sort of snuff-box though I am both a snuff- 
 taker and a snuff-box fancier I should no more have 
 dreamt of winning a specimen of the man's craft, by 
 addressing a Sonnet to him, than of obtaining the 
 Chancellor's Seals, by an Ode to His Majesty. 
 Archimedes is said to have declared he could move 
 the universe, give him but whereon to rest his lever. 
 The poet can do more than the mathematician, where 
 mind is to be worked on ; but he can only appeal to 
 minds, native to the same element in which he lives 
 and breathes. By them, he need not fear being 
 repulsed with coldness or scorn ; because their own 
 love of all that is beautiful in Nature will lead them 
 instinctively to sympathize with, and enter into, his 
 thoughts and feelings, and to give him credit for 
 better motives than those of cold, calculating, sordid 
 selfishness. 
 
 " There now ! I think I have given my good and 
 philosophical reasons for my intrusion on thee, and 
 for thy frank, generous, and friendly reception of my 
 unauthorised introduction of myself to thee. I am 
 not however the less grateful for, arid gratified by, 
 thy kindness. Though I have said so much to prove 
 the ground of my reliance on it, I have done it rather 
 p 3
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 to prove that I did not lightly, much less imperti- 
 nently, venture to intrude on an R.A. The simple 
 fact was, I had wished for years to see some per- 
 formance of thine, however slight ; whether a mere 
 sketch in oil, or water-colours, or even in pencil, that 
 might give me some idea of a master, of whom I had 
 heard so much, and I wrote my letter and Sonnet, 
 under the impression of that wish and feeling, con- 
 sidering that its existence did not discredit my own 
 taste, and was the highest compliment I could pay 
 to thy genius. For the manner in which my appli- 
 cation has been met, I can only gratefully assure thee 
 it has led me to join to admiration of the artist, 
 cordial affection for the man, a stronger, and yet 
 more natural, feeling ; for the first exists only from 
 report, while the last is founded on experience. I 
 shall therefore most thankfully receive thy prints, 
 which will at least enable me to judge for myself of 
 thy subjects and composition ; and I doubt not that 
 even from these, I shall cull materials for my Muse, 
 which I shall have pleasure in sending thee. 
 
 " Thy obliged and affectionate friend, 
 
 " BERNARD BARTON." 
 
 " P.S. I certainly should not have come to town, 
 without making an effort to obtain a sight of a 
 painting of thine I should now try hard to see 
 Hampstead and its artist." 
 
 Applications for presents of sketches, from persons 
 neither enjoying the peculiar privileges of Mr. Ber-
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, 11. A. 323 
 
 nard Barton's position, nor entertaining his correct 
 ideas of the value of works of Art, form one of the pro- 
 minent social misfortunes of a successful painter's life. 
 The system of intellectual extortion practised under 
 the protection of that all-devouring dragon of picto- 
 rial offspring a lady's album is not the only trial of 
 his professional patience which the artist must endure. 
 Nothing is more common than to hear some of his 
 well-meaning but uninitiated friends making a polite 
 demand, on visiting his painting-room, for "a little 
 sketch ;" which generally means some study they 
 observe hanging upon his walls, that they have not 
 the most distant notion can be of any particular 
 use or value to him, and that they imagine he can 
 give away especially if he has once used it in a 
 picture with as little loss to himself, as his old 
 painting coat, after he has worn it out at elbows, or 
 his spirits of turpentine, when he has washed his 
 brushes in them. It is often in vain that the unfor- 
 tunate object of their passion for the Fine Arts, endea- 
 vours to explain to them the importance of his sketch 
 to himself; if they are not very easy and good-natured 
 people, they go away with a firm persuasion that his 
 refusal to oblige them arises from an absence of gene- 
 rosity, or from a mercenary objection to part with a 
 single stroke of his pencil, for which he may chance 
 to obtain money at some future time. There is 
 probably no department of intellectual Art which is 
 so incautiously approached by those who have never 
 studied it, as painting. The immense increase, in
 
 324 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 the present age, of interest in Art, among classes or 
 individuals who formerly paid no attention to such a 
 source of attraction, has made it unpleasantly singu- 
 lar for anybody to be without a criticism of his own, 
 for whatever pictures he may see no matter how few 
 have been his opportunities of acquainting himself 
 with the subject. People, who, in music, will silently 
 submit to the infliction of a modern symphony, be- 
 cause they suppose that their professional friends, 
 who assure them that it is " full of tune," must know 
 better than they do ; or, who toil boldly through a 
 volume of metaphysical poetry, because a learned 
 acquaintance has described it (in the literary slang 
 now in vogue) as " earnest," or " hopeful," or " sub- 
 jective," or " esthetic," are, in many cases, the very 
 people who, in matters of Art, scorn all guidance, and 
 decide, ex cathedra, upon everything pictorial, over 
 the last sip of a cup of cofiee, or during a passing 
 salutation in the crowd of an Exhibition-room. Part 
 of this evil must, unfortunately, be always an inherent 
 consequence of the peculiar nature of painting, which, 
 unlike literature or music, appeals at once in all its 
 parts to the judgment; and must, therefore, appear to 
 the careless or uninformed as a comparatively super- 
 ficial study, to be attained by tact and confidence, 
 rather than by long devotion and anxious inquiry. 
 Those who think themselves thus easily privileged to 
 decide, without knowledge, on one of the most ab- 
 struse of sciences, are not unfrequently the critics 
 who, on seeing a picture the day before it is exhibited,
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 325 
 
 observe complacently that it will be " beautiful when 
 it is finished," and who exceed all belief, in producing 
 at a moment's notice, the most elaborately erroneous 
 interpretations of incident and story, in beholding the 
 clearest subject that can be placed before their eyes. 
 Even in regard to the pecuniary value of works of Art, 
 the absence of knowledge has often as little share in 
 repressing the ambition to criticise, as in the higher 
 matters of j udgment. Of misapprehensions of this sort 
 (oftener, it must be observed, ludicrous than offensive) 
 an amusing instance occurred to Mr. Collins. His 
 fondness for obtaining unsophisticated criticisms on 
 the nature and value of his works, has been already 
 noticed. It once induced him, on the conclusion of a 
 large and elaborate sea-piece, to ask one of his ser- 
 vants, a north-country girl, what she thought ought 
 to be the value, in money, of the picture she beheld. 
 The " neat-handed Phillis," evidently imagining that 
 her opinion was of some consequence to her master, 
 examined his production with great seriousness and 
 care, and then exclaimed in a broad Northumbrian 
 accent, and with the self-satisfied air of having 
 " touched the estimate" at its highest possible rate : 
 " Well, sir, may be a sovereign ! " 
 
 Another of the painter's favourite methods of pro- 
 curing for himself the doubtful satisfaction of impar- 
 tial criticism, was to join the groups of visitors to the 
 Exhibition, who were looking at his pictures, and 
 listen to their remarks. This rather perilous pastime 
 he indulged in for many years, with tolerable impu-
 
 326 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 nity ; but he was fated, at last, to suffer for his 
 boldness. Having observed two gentlemen at the 
 Exhibition displaying those decided symptoms of 
 critical power over Art, which consist in shrugging 
 the shoulders, waving the hand, throwing back the 
 head, and marking the catalogue, before all the prin- 
 cipal pictures, he was tempted to listen to their 
 remarks, when they arrived opposite to one of his 
 own works. "What's this?" cried the great man 
 of the two, severely " Sea-piece, by Collins ? Oh, 
 
 pooh, pooh ! D d tea-boardy thing ! " The painter 
 
 had not enough of the Roman in him to hear more. 
 The incident so effectually cured him for some time 
 of his predilection for sincere criticism, that when, 
 shortly afterwards, he happened to be sitting next to 
 Sir Henry Halford, at dinner, and was asked by that 
 gentleman (who did not then know him personally), 
 what he thought of " Collins's pictures ;" he replied, 
 with unwonted caution, " I think I am rather too 
 much interested on that subject, to give an opinion, 
 I painted them myself." " Oh, you need not have 
 feared my criticism ! " returned Sir Henry, laughing, 
 " I was about to tell you how much I have been 
 delighted by their extreme beauty ! " 
 
 In this year the painter contemplated another 
 change of residence. The birth of his second child, 
 and his determination, in consequence of her failing 
 health, to take his mother under his own roof, where 
 her infirmities might receive the most unremitting 
 attention, were the chief causes which made a larger
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 327 
 
 abode than that he at present occupied, an absolute 
 necessity to him. His first project was to build a 
 house for himself at Hampstead ; and measures were 
 taken for the purchase of the necessary ground. 
 During the legal delays that ensued delays, length- 
 ened by a difficulty as to the validity of the land- 
 holder's title Mr. Collins resolved to employ the 
 interval of technical deliberation, in which he could 
 take no part, in a visit, with his family, to the Coast 
 of France the place he fixed on being Boulogne, 
 which was then less unfortunately Anglicised than 
 it is now. On hearing of this design, Wilkie again 
 recurred to his old project, and urged his friend to 
 make Boulogne but his starting-point to Italy. But 
 as the painter's family party included his mother 
 one of the objects of his visit being to try the effect 
 upon her constitution of change of air and scene 
 the " Continental tour" was more than ever imprac- 
 ticable ; and, adhering to his first purpose, he fixed 
 the sojourn of himself and his family, at Boulogne. 
 The house he occupied stood in the market-place; 
 and he had but to look from his window to find, in 
 the picturesque dresses, curious gestures, and bust- 
 ling employments of the agricultural peasantry, that 
 ample occupation for his sketch-book, which was a 
 requisite of his happiness wherever he went. His 
 attention, however, was principally turned to the 
 scenery and inhabitants of the sea-shore. For the 
 former, he carefully explored the Coast, for many 
 miles, on each side of Boulogne ; and, in the latter,
 
 328 MEMOIRS OP THE LIFE OF 
 
 the differences in physiognomy, manners and habits, 
 between the French fishermen whom he was then 
 studying, and the English fishermen whom he had 
 formerly studied, afforded constant employment for 
 his observation and his pencil. These men, with 
 their wives and families, formed the subjects of many 
 of the most highly finished water-colour drawings 
 that he ever executed. The women, young and old, 
 in their bridal dresses, and their working-day gar- 
 ments the men under every aspect, in their animated 
 quarrels, and their regular occupations, were, each 
 and all, delighting and absorbing studies, for one 
 who saw fresh materials for his Art, and new incen- 
 tives to the ambition of pictorial excellence, even in 
 the humblest natural object that he beheld. Among 
 the heterogeneous group of models all more or 
 less "characters," in their different departments 
 which he soon collected about him, was one fisher- 
 man, whose handsome, benevolent face, and fine 
 athletic figure, particularly attracted his attention. 
 On inquiry, the history of this man was found to 
 embrace one of those noble acts of philanthropy, 
 which it is more a pleasure than a duty to record. 
 He was present at a shipwreck on a lonely part of 
 the coast near Boulogne, where all the crew were cast 
 on shore dead, with the exception of a poor negro, 
 who still showed faint signs of life. But the Quar- 
 antine Laws (to which the wrecked ship was liable) 
 were then in such force, that no dwelling-house was 
 permitted to receive the half-drowned man. No one
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 329 
 
 attempted to approach, or succour him, but the 
 fisherman; who, in defiance of all danger and ob- 
 jection, carried the poor wretch to a straw-hut on the 
 beach ; and, taking off his own clothes, laid down by 
 him the whole night long, endeavouring to restore the 
 dying negro by the vital warmth of his own body. 
 This sublime act of humanity was however unavailing 
 when morning dawned, the negro was dead ! The 
 Boulogne authorities, greatly as he expressed it 
 to his own surprise, rewarded the fisherman for a 
 violation of the quarantine, which moved the admi- 
 ration of all who heard of it, and which is too glorious 
 an addition to the records of human virtue to be 
 easily forgotten or frequently paralleled. Mr. Col- 
 lins' sketch of the " Good Samaritan," was an 
 admirable and characteristic likeness ; and is now in 
 the possession of Lord Monteagle, who purchased it 
 at the sale of the painter's works, after his death. 
 
 The following letter, from Mr. Collins to his 
 brother, glances at his landscape and figure studies 
 at Boulogne : 
 
 " To FRANCIS COLLINS, ESQ., 
 
 "Boulogne, August 10th, 1829. 
 
 " My dear Frank We had great pleasure in re- 
 ceiving, yesterday, your letter of the 5th, and we are 
 rejoiced to find you are so comfortably and hospitably 
 entertained. Although we may not meet here, I 
 trust we shall at Dover ; whither it is likely we shall
 
 330 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 go in about a month, and remain until some arrange- 
 ment can be made about winter-quarters. 
 
 " The weather here has been very changeable : I 
 have, however, made some sketches both of the place 
 and the people ; and in my excursions have derived 
 considerable advantage, from the local information of 
 Lieutenant King an amateur painter of merit, whose 
 wife, too, has been of great use to Harriet ; she is a 
 most ladylike person, a sister of Sir Nicholas Tindal's. 
 
 " With respect to the information you require 
 for Lord Sheffield, my own opinion of the neighbour- 
 hood of Torquay, as well as of Torquay itself, is 
 in the highest degree favourable. Buryhead, Babi- 
 combe Bay, and in that direction on to Teignmouth, 
 are quite beautiful; and, in the opposite direction, 
 Dartmouth, Start Bay, and on to Prawle Point, 
 where the coast is more wild, and equally interesting. 
 The inland scenery too, particularly the banks of 
 the Dart, about Ashburton, Buckland, Holne Chase, 
 etc., etc., is universally admired. The climate, in 
 fine weather, is quite perfect I say however in fine 
 weather, for the greatest admirers of Devonshire 
 are constrained to admit that, with them, * the rain 
 it raineth every day.' 
 
 "As Harriet claims some portion of my paper, 
 and as she is a more methodical correspondent than I 
 can pretend to be, I shall give her the remaining space. 
 
 " Your affectionate brother, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS."
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 331 
 
 About the middle of September, the painter re- 
 turned with his family by way of Dover, proceeding 
 from that place to Ramsgate, where still unsettled 
 about a permanent abode he made a stay of a few 
 weeks. " We have taken a house here, for a fort- 
 night" he writes to his brother ; " sincerely hoping 
 that, during this time, we may at last hear of an 
 abode at Hampstead. Should you be able to put 
 matters there in train, we see no reason why you 
 should not spend at least a week with us, in the 
 delightful air of this place, Willy has plenty of 
 room in his bed for you, and seconds the invitation 
 with all his heart. I have not yet been to Broad- 
 stairs ; which has more picturesque beauty, I believe, 
 than any other place in this neighbourhood ! There 
 is nothing worth a straw at Ramsgate, except the 
 sea ; so I shall have plenty of idle time to go about 
 with you." 
 
 Ultimately, on his return to Hampstead, Mr. 
 Collins temporarily engaged a larger house than he 
 had before occupied, near the Heath ; intending it 
 to serve the purpose of enabling him, by a short 
 delay, to settle his plans judiciously, for a place of 
 permanent residence. The difficulties attaching to 
 the purchase of land, (which still continued) and the 
 anxiety of Wilkie, who then lived at Kensington, 
 that his friend should take a house nearer to him, 
 had already raised doubts in the painter's mind, 
 whether he should do well to settle himself at 
 Hampstead at all. While these were being resolved,
 
 332 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 he found full occupation in his temporary abode in 
 beginning those pictures for the next Exhibition 
 which he had determined were to illustrate the 
 peculiarities of the French Coast and its popula- 
 tion, on the principles which he had so successfully 
 adopted, in his wonted representations of the same 
 subjects on his native shores. 
 
 Throughout the remainder of the autumn my 
 father's attention was closely devoted to his new 
 works ; no interruption of sufficient importance to 
 be narrated in these pages happening, to divert his 
 attention from his professional labours, until the 
 commencement of the new year when an event oc- 
 curred, which was not only personally distressing to 
 him, but which cast universal gloom over the world 
 of Art. This was the sudden death, on the 8th of 
 January, of his intimate and admirable friend, Sir 
 Thomas Lawrence, the President of the Royal 
 Academy ; with whom he had for many years asso- 
 ciated in happy social, and intellectual intercourse, 
 and to whom he was attached by the highest admira- 
 tion for the endowments of his genius, and the most 
 pleasing experience of the virtues of his character. 
 On the last day of the old year, they had dined 
 together ; had conversed even more cheerfully and 
 cordially than was their wont ; and had parted in the 
 highest spirits Sir Thomas observing jestingly to 
 his friend, as he wrapped himself up more carefully 
 than was his custom, that he had "a slight cold," 
 and must take care of himself upon the principle of
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 333 
 
 the old adage, that " good folks were scarce !" Mr. 
 Collins had then seen him, alive, for the last time. 
 During the next two or three days, the " slight cold" 
 increased alarmingly ; and the medical attendant 
 called in, fearful of inflammation, bled his patient 
 largely. On the day of his death, Sir Thomas ap- 
 peared better, and was capable of listening to a book 
 which was read to him by a relative. He had just 
 been laughing heartily at some humorous passage 
 in the work, when he was seized with a sudden faint- 
 ness. " I am dying," he whispered to his servant, 
 who was attempting to relieve him. Medical help 
 was called in, but it was useless, he never spoke 
 again ; and on the same day he breathed his last. 
 His funeral, it will be remembered, was public, on 
 a bitterly cold day, the members of the Royal 
 Academy committed the remains of their honoured 
 President to the grave, in St. Paul's Cathedral. The 
 agitation produced by the burial ceremony, and the 
 exposure to the inclement weather which was a 
 necessary consequence of it, severely affected Mr. 
 Collins : for some time afterwards he suffered from 
 an attack of illness, which temporarily suspended his 
 usual labours in the Art, at this period of the 
 year. 
 
 On the opening of the Exhibition of 1830, three 
 Sea-pieces, on French subjects, appeared from my 
 father's pencil. They were entitled, " Les Causeuses," 
 painted for Mr. Tunno ; " Waiting the Arrival 
 of Fishing-boats Coast of France;" painted for
 
 334' MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 Mr. J. P. Ord ; and " Muscle-gatherers Coast of 
 France " painted for Sir Thomas Baring, Bart. 
 
 " Les Causeuses," presented the simplest of sub- 
 jects two French fish-women engaged in eager 
 conversation, at one end of a pier overlooking the 
 sea. In ordinary hands such an incident as this, 
 when produced on the canvas, must have resulted in 
 much that was conventional and little that was 
 attractive ; but under Mr. Collins's treatment, this 
 apparently unprofitable fund of material produced 
 the freshest and richest of effects grace and novelty 
 in the attitudes ; national character in the physiog- 
 nomy, gestures and expression of the figures ; with 
 brightness, truth, and harmony of colour in every 
 part of the picture, from the dresses of the women 
 to the hues of the tranquil sea and sky, being the 
 successful means of producing this brilliant and 
 original work. In " Waiting the Arrival of Fishing- 
 boats," the same qualities of concentration of interest 
 and grasp of effect were apparent, under different 
 arrangements of colour and varied masses of composi- 
 tion. The figures in this picture were two women 
 one seated, the other standing by her, with a little 
 child in an old basket slung at her back and a 
 boy placed near them, with a load of fish. " Muscle- 
 gatherers," was the largest picture of the three. The 
 landscape portion of the scene was a distant view of 
 the Pier at Boulogne ; the figures in the foreground 
 were fishwomen, talking, gesticulating, and packing 
 muscles, with that genuine French confusion and
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 335 
 
 excitement, which is at once so perplexing and 
 amusing to an English eye. This picture was magni- 
 ficently toned, and painted throughout with extra- 
 ordinary freedom, brilliancy, and vigour. 
 
 In noticing among the characteristics of these 
 works, their originality of design, their brilliant 
 colour, and their faithful reflection of the peculiarities 
 of the people and the scenery which they were 
 intended to represent, a few remarks on the progress 
 that had now been made for many years by the 
 painter, in that important branch of the science of 
 Art which is termed " execution," may be permitted 
 in this place ; inasmuch as that progress was 
 exhibited in his pictures of the present year in a 
 remarkable degree. " Execution" or the process 
 of applying the tints on the canvas, and elaborating 
 the whole surface of a picture is, to a painter, what 
 style is to a writer, a characterizing mark of his 
 genius, which no imitation can ever completely copy. 
 It gives individuality to the slightest, as to the most 
 important, objects in pictorial composition ; its value 
 is never underrated by a great painter ; and its 
 excellence is always apparent as a remarkable com- 
 ponent part in the beauties of his works. In Mr. 
 Collins's pictures, the gradual formation of his powers 
 of " execution" is interestingly developed. Those of 
 early dates, exhibit him as commencing his practice 
 of this part of his education in Art, by the most 
 resolute labouring and relabouring of the different 
 objects in his compositions, until they presented the
 
 336 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 requisite finish, purity, and completeness of surface. 
 Subsequently, his works would be found to display 
 could they be viewed consecutively his anxiety 
 to add to these primary qualities, variety of texture, 
 and brilliancy of effect ; while, still later, his increas- 
 ing capacity to accomplish successfully the objects of 
 that anxiety, might be traced, year after year, as his 
 new efforts succeeded each other, up to the time of 
 his attainment of that firm mastery over the man- 
 ipulation of the brush, which was presented by his 
 pictures painted about the period of his career now 
 under review. It is in his sea-pieces on French 
 subjects especially, that the extraordinary vigour and 
 freedom of " execution" which he had now acquired 
 may be remarked. Bold carelessness, or timid finish 
 of "handling," are alike avoided in them. Each 
 object receives its due amount of manual attention, 
 in proportion as it is necessary that it should recede 
 from, or advance to, the eye. The firm shaping and 
 reiterated application of the tints used to produce 
 the solidity and roundness of the foreground masses, 
 gives way to the light single sweep of the brush, 
 where the line of the evanescent cloud, or the haze of 
 the distant horizon, is to be expressed. And thus, 
 harmonized throughout by texture and surface, 
 pictures painted on these principles present nothing 
 that is accidentally abrupt to the eye, but true in 
 the balance of their individual parts, preserve the 
 lasting attraction of variety and completeness in their 
 general effect.
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R A. 337 
 
 Additional remarks on this subject will be ren- 
 dered necessary in other passages of the present 
 Memoir; it is therefore inexpedient to continue 
 them here. As new modes of study opened to Mr. 
 Collins's mind, new stores of knowledge must be 
 noticed as added to his previous acquisitions ; for in 
 painting, however much may have been attained, 
 there is still ever something to be learnt. It is the 
 privilege of the longest life, the firmest patience, the 
 highest genius in Art, to make the discovery that the 
 paths which lead to its sanctuary are as endless as 
 the delights which accompany its pursuit. 
 
 In relation to the picture of " Muscle-gatherers," 
 it may be mentioned that, while it was in course of 
 completion, its possessor, Sir Thomas Baring, having 
 seen one of the painter's sketches of a French fisher- 
 man, was so struck with it, that he became anxious 
 that the figure should be introduced among the other 
 groups in the work which was preparing for him. 
 The two following letters, referring to this desired 
 alteration, are so characteristic of two main qualities 
 in their writer's disposition his anxiety to oblige 
 others, and his determination to do justice to him- 
 self as to be worthy of perusal, notwithstanding 
 their brevity : 
 
 " To SIR THOMAS BARING, BART. 
 
 " 27th February, 1830. 
 
 " Sir, As I feel exceedingly desirous that my 
 present picture should be the best I have ever 
 VOL. I. 'i Q
 
 338 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 painted, and especially anxious to give you satisfac- 
 tion, I purpose making the experiment of introducing 
 the figure of the fisherman, fearing, however, that 
 the present principal figure will not bear so formid- 
 able a rival. 
 
 " I shall however this morning faithfully endea- 
 vour to effect the purpose you desire, and will have 
 the pleasure of communicating the result to you by 
 the next post. 
 
 " Your obliged and obedient servant, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS." 
 
 To THE SAME. 
 
 " 28th February, 1830. 
 
 " Sir, I have not only tried the figure in a stand- 
 ing position, but have also painted him sitting ; and 
 in both cases found him a great intruder. The 
 picture had already so much matter, that it became 
 crowded with the addition, and suffered so great a 
 loss in the most essential of all qualities, breadth, 
 that I found it quite necessary, in justice to your 
 interests and to my own reputation as a painter, to 
 restore it to its former state. 
 
 " Trusting you will believe that, under other cir- 
 cumstances, it would have afforded me the greatest 
 pleasure to have adopted your suggestion, 
 
 " I remain, Sir, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 " WILLIAM COLLINS."
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 339 
 
 Decided as was the tone of the second of Mr. 
 Collins's letters, the alteration therein referred to did 
 ultimately take place. So ready to be advised, and 
 so perfectly free from professional obstinacy was the 
 painter, that when, some time afterwards, Sir Thomas 
 Baring and another gentleman of taste requested him 
 to make a second experiment of the introduction of 
 the fisherman's figure, he again attempted to produce 
 the desired change. On this occasion, however, he 
 was more fertile in his resources than on the last ; 
 and succeeded in making the required adjunct to his 
 composition, upon the only condition on which 
 (yielding as he was in all other directions) he would 
 have permitted the change to remain on the canvas, 
 its non-interference with the pictorial value of the 
 original groups. Indeed, so fully satisfied was he 
 that the alteration as now effected was a decided 
 improvement to his picture, that he refused all 
 remuneration for the additional labour he had be- 
 stowed upon it. 
 
 During the summer of this year the painter again 
 changed his place of residence. The inconvenience 
 of his distance from London and London friends, 
 combined with many disadvantages attaching to the 
 accommodations of the house he had occupied since 
 his return from Boulogne, had inclined him for some 
 time past to resign all ideas of settling definitely at 
 Hampstead, and to contemplate removing, as his 
 friend Wilkie had recommended him to do, nearer to 
 Kensington and to the metropolis. This project he
 
 340 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 accordingly executed, by taking a house at Bays- 
 water; where he obtained a more commodious paint- 
 ing-room than he had occupied in his former abode, 
 and where he found himself situated at a convenient 
 distance from " London streets," and placed within 
 half an hour's walk of the residence of his friend 
 Wilkie. 
 
 About this period, also, occurred the death of Mr. 
 Collins's most illustrious patron, His Majesty George 
 the Fourth. The painter's Diary for the year con- 
 tains some notice of this event, and presents also a 
 short memorial of a conversation with the late Sir 
 William Knighton, (to whom he had been recently 
 introduced by Sir David Wilkie,) which must be 
 perused with interest, as embodying some results of 
 Sir William's experience of the personal character 
 of the greatest poet of the age Lord Byron. 
 
 " DIARY OF 1830. 
 
 " July 15th. The King is to be buried to-day. 
 I owe him much. The firing of minute-guns and the 
 tolling of the church bells was truly melancholy. 
 16th. To-day the new reign may be said to have 
 commenced ; Seguier says our new sovereign has great 
 views respecting the Arts. To-night the Academy 
 has called a council, to prepare the address to his 
 Majesty. 20th. The new King and Queen, with 
 the other branches of the Royal family, accompanied 
 by Sir Robert Peel, Lord Farnborough, etc., etc., 
 visited our Exhibition. They were received by the
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 341 
 
 President, Keeper, Secretary, and Council. The party 
 remained about one hour and a half, and expressed 
 themselves highly gratified. The King, in passing 
 from the Model Academy through the hall, stated 
 that he should on the following day, at the levee, 
 knight our President. After the departure of our 
 visitors, we drank Martin Archer Shee, Esquires, 
 good health. His kind, excellent heart, made him 
 feel this deeply. The address was signed to-day, and 
 prepared for presentation. * * * 
 
 * * * In a conversation with Sir William 
 Knighton, I heard from him the following anecdotes 
 of Lord Byron. He attended his lordship, medically, 
 for nine months, while he was writing the * Corsair,' 
 and other poems. During all his visits, he never 
 heard him use an offensive word, either on religion 
 or on any other subject. Lord Byron told him (Sir 
 William Knighton,) that he once drank seventy pints 
 of brandy, with Douglas Kinnaird, in as many days, 
 to enable him to undergo the fatigue of writing. 
 When the separation took place between Lord Byron 
 and his wife, he allowed Sir William (who told him 
 everybody was talking against him as regarded the 
 subject, and that he wished for something to say 
 in his defence) to state, that whatever offence he 
 gave Lady Byron was in the way of omission rather 
 than commission, that he never allowed himself 
 to scold her, and only once showed temper in 
 her presence, when he threw his watch into the 
 fire." * * * 
 
 Q2
 
 342 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 After a visit in September to Brighton which was 
 always associated, through all changes of external 
 appearance, with his dearest childish recollections, as 
 the place where he had first seen and attempted to 
 draw coast scenery the painter returned to his per- 
 manent labours over his next year's pictures, in his 
 new painting-room. Here he continued to work 
 with many social meetings with the illustrious men 
 of the day, and many a pleasant evening's debate 
 on Art with Wilkie, to diversify the daily regularity 
 of his studies; but with little of outward incident, 
 or change of life, until the opening of the Exhibition 
 of 1831, to which he sent three pictures: "The 
 Venturesome Robin ;" " Shrimpers, evening ;" and 
 " The Morning Bath." Two other works by him 
 appeared also at the British Institution this year, 
 and were entitled, " The Old Boatbuilder," and " A 
 Nutting Party." 
 
 A woody lane, bounded by a cottage on each side, 
 and giving others to view in the distance, forms the 
 scene of action in " The Venturesome Robin." On 
 one side, near a high old stone well, is a young girl 
 in a kneeling position, with two beautiful children 
 clasped in her arms. On the other are two boys, the 
 younger of whom holds a salt-box, from which his 
 companion is extracting a pinch of salt, to be placed 
 at the right moment, (in accordance with a well- 
 known but rather superstitious method of bird-catch- 
 ing,) on the tail of a robin, who stands irresolute in 
 the middle of the foreground, hard by the plate
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 343 
 
 of crumbs which has tempted his venturesome ap- 
 proach. The quaint simplicity of this incident is 
 admirably brought out in the action and position of 
 the different figures ; the quiet, smiling attention of 
 the girl and the children being admirably contrasted 
 by the intense slyness in the countenances, and the 
 breathless anxiety in the attitudes of the two boys 
 with the salt-box ; who evidently believe devoutly in 
 the efficacy of their ornithological receipt. The same 
 minute and dramatic attention to Nature, apparent in 
 the figures, is discernible in the landscape, which is so 
 arranged as to present no artificial limits to the eye 
 the shadows of palings which are not seen in the 
 picture, falling on the foreground ; and the distant 
 trees, leading out of the composition, past the sides of 
 the old well. It was in every respect a thoroughly 
 successful work ; was painted for Mr. J. P. Ord, and 
 was well engraved, in the line manner, in " The 
 Amulet " for 1834. The figures in " The Shrimpers," 
 (painted for Mr. Vernon,) are large in size and highly 
 finished, they are grouped under a large cliff, ar- 
 ranging their fishing nets. A magnificent sunset sky, 
 full of grand, aerial composition, and lustrous colour- 
 ing, forms the most remarkable landscape object 
 in this picture. " The Morning Bath," united the 
 painter's domestic and sea- coast subjects. The waves 
 fill the left-hand corner of the picture, to the fore- 
 ground. In the shallow water stands a bathing- 
 woman, restoring a baby whom she has just " dipped" 
 to a nurse, on the beach at the right hand, who holds
 
 344 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 a warm blanket ready to receive her dripping little 
 charge. Near her another attendant is dressing an 
 elder child, who is shivering to the very fingers' 
 ends. The clear, sunshiny sky, the buoyant, trans- 
 parent waves, the characteristic action and varied 
 expression in the figures, make this a most attractive 
 and inspiriting picture. It was purchased by Mr. 
 Henry M'Connell, of Manchester ; and was engraved 
 in " The Literary Souvenir." A beautiful water- 
 colour drawing from the work exists by the artist's 
 hand, and was bought at the sale of his works, after 
 his death, by Mr. Russell Gurney. 
 
 Of the pictures at the British Institution, the 
 largest was "The Nutting Party," painted for the 
 Rev. R. A. Thorpe ; a rustic, inland scene, with a 
 fine group of children in the foreground. The second, 
 " The Old Boatbuilder," was painted for General 
 Phipps, and represented an old fisherman making a 
 model of a boat for a pretty little child, who watches 
 his progress, leaning on his knees. It was a small 
 picture, painted with great care and delicacy, and was 
 one of the artist's works exhibited at the British 
 Institution after his death. It may be seen engraved 
 in " The Amulet" for 1835. 
 
 Those momentous public occurrences, the outbreak 
 of the cholera, and the Reform Bill agitation, of 
 which England was the scene during this year, pro- 
 duced that long and serious depression in the patron- 
 age and appreciation of Art which social and political 
 convulsions must necessarily exercise on the intellec-
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 345 
 
 tual luxuries of the age. The noble and the wealthy, 
 finding their lives endangered by a mysterious pesti- 
 lence, and believing that their possessions were threat- 
 ened by a popular revolution, which was to sink the 
 rights of station and property in a general deluge of 
 republican equality, had little time, while engrossed 
 in watching the perilous events of the day, to attend 
 to the remoter importance of the progress of national 
 Art. As in other callings and societies, there were 
 not wanting many to predict, from the aspect of the 
 times, the downfall of all honourable and useful pur- 
 suits, the end of the aristocracy, and even the end of 
 the world, so in painting there were found men of 
 dismal mind, who foreboded the unhallowed arrival 
 of a new series of " dark ages " for the perdition of 
 the Arts. At such a time, to attempt any new 
 experiments or superior achievements in painting 
 would have appeared to those of this opinion as 
 hopeless a waste of labour and anxiety as could well 
 be undertaken. Yet more sanguine than some of his 
 brethren, it was in this year that Mr. Collins began 
 to put into execution a project which he had long 
 entertained, of painting a large picture of some 
 national English sport, in which, casting aside his 
 wonted landscape attractions, he should depend en- 
 tirely on the composition and character of his figures 
 for success. The subject he fixed on was " Skittle- 
 playing." Out of the few friends that heard of his 
 design, many discouraged it. The subject, they
 
 34-8 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 thought, had been too often treated by the great 
 Dutch masters, to be susceptible of originality; 
 and to deprive himself especially at such a time of 
 comparative indifference towards the Art of the 
 " witchery " of his airy skies and sea-coast, or inland 
 prospects, was, they urged, to risk failure with the 
 public, from the dangerous novelty of the attempt. 
 Wilkie, however, who best knew his friend's capa- 
 cities, was delighted with his project, and warmly 
 urged him to realize it without delay. At that time, 
 the old Bayswater house of entertainment, called 
 " The Wales Tea-gardens," stood unenvironed by the 
 smart rustic villas, whose Gothic towers, of the height 
 of a large sentry-box, and whose Arcadian gardens, 
 of the size of a farm-house cabbage-bed, now spread 
 their suburban fascinations to the citizen's view. 
 Past one side of it flowed the stream, or rather 
 large ditch of muddy water, (now built over,) from 
 which Bayswater is supposed to have derived its 
 name. To the more enterprising and inquisitive of 
 the students of Art this place was not unknown. It 
 presented good views of old wooden outhouses, 
 nicely broken bits of bank on each side of the ditch, 
 a passably rustic wooden bridge over it, prettily 
 shaped trees around it, and now and then rara avis 
 in terra a real countryman, caught from Uxbridge, 
 or Ealing, and but slightly tainted with " London 
 life." One great characteristic however of this house 
 of call for artists as well as beer-drinkers, was its
 
 WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 347 
 
 large skittle-ground ; and here Mr. Collins now 
 attended, sketch-book in hand, to gather materials 
 for his picture. The greatest skittle-player amongst 
 them took not more interest in " a good throw," 
 than he. He learnt the rules of the game and the art 
 of the play. He made studies, unobserved, of the 
 individual character, the momentary position, and 
 the accidental arrangement of figures in the time 
 that would have been occupied by some fastidious 
 sketchers in cutting their pencils and inspecting the 
 surface of their paper. He bought skittles, and set 
 them up in his garden. He risked turning his 
 gardener, a great skittle-player, and the model for 
 one of his figures, into a permanent Colossus of 
 Rhodes, by keeping him striding in the action of 
 bowling with all his might, as long as his legs 
 would uphold him. In short, he persevered in a 
 course of preparatory study of such a description 
 as this, with a determination that would have as- 
 tonished those gentlemen of the " poetical brush " 
 who paint " at home at ease :" and the result was, 
 the production of a picture which, in the opinion 
 of "Wilkie who watched it through every part of 
 its progress would go down to posterity as one of 
 the standard works of the English school. It will 
 be fully described at the period of its exhibition, 
 the year 1832. 
 
 Such was Mr. Collins's industry in the practice of a 
 branch of painting already familiar to him ; and such
 
 348 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. 
 
 will it be found in the narrative that is yet to come 
 of his studies in the new field of Art presented to his 
 contemplation, by the people and the scenery of a 
 distant land. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 Tyler & Reed, Printers, Bolt-court, Fleet-street.
 
 NEW WORKS 
 
 IN MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL LITERATURE, 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 MESSRS. LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS, 
 
 PATERNOSTER-ROW, LONDON. 
 
 CLASSIFII 
 AGRICULTURE & RURAL AFFAIRS. 
 
 Pages 
 Bayldon on Valuing Rents etc. - - 6 
 
 :D INDEX. 
 
 Pages 
 Rowton's British Poetesses - - 26 
 Russell's Bedford Correspondence - 6 
 Schopenhauer's Youthful Life - - 27 
 
 Daw's Agricultural Chemistry - - 9 
 
 ,,' Eminent French Writers - 17 
 Southey's Lives of the British Admirals - 17 
 
 Johnson's Farmer's Encyclopedia - - 16 
 London's Encrclnpicdia'nf Agriculture - 19 
 ,, Self-Instruction for Farmers, etc. 19 
 (Mrs.) Ladv'sCountry Companion 18 
 Low's Breeds of the Domestica'ted Animals 20 
 ,, Elements of Agriculture - - 20 
 ,, On Landed Property ... 19 
 On the Domesticated Animals - 20 
 
 Townsend's Twelve eminent Judges - 31 
 Waterton's Autobiography and Essays - 31 
 
 BOOKS OF GENERAL UTILITY. 
 
 Acton's (Eliza) Cookery Book - - 5 
 Black's Treatise on Brewing ... 6 
 Cabinet Lawyer (The) - ... 8 
 
 Thomson on Fattening Cattle, etc.- - 31) 
 Topham's Agricultural Chemistry - 30 
 
 ARTS, MANUFACTURES, AND 
 ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 Ballon Ihe Manufacture of Tea - - 6 
 Brande's Dictionary of Science, etc. 7 
 Buckler's St. Albau's Abbey - 7 
 Budge's Miner's Guide - 7 
 Cartoons (The Prize) ... - 8 
 Cresv's Encvcl. of Civil Engineering - 9 
 D'Agincourt's History of Art - - - 9 
 De Burtin on the Knowledge of Pictures 9 
 Dresden Gallery ----- 10 
 Eastlakf on Oil Painting - - - 10 
 Evans's Sugar Planter's Manual - - 11 
 Gwilt's Encyclopedia of Architecture - 13 
 Havdon's Lectures on Painting & Design 13 
 Holland's Manufactures in Metal - - 17 
 Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art - 15 
 Loudon's Rural Architecture - 19 
 Moselev's Engineering and Architecture 24 
 Parnell' on Roads ----- 24 
 Porter's Manufacture of Silk - I/ 
 Porcelain & Glass 17 
 Reid (Dr.) on Warmingand Ventilating 2.< 
 Steam Engine (The) , by the Artisan Club 5 
 Ore's Dictionary of Arts, etc. - - 31 
 Wilkinson's Engines of War - 32 
 
 Hints on Etiquette - - - - - 13 
 Hudson's Executor's Guide - - - 15 
 ,, On Making Wills - - 15 
 Hume's Account of Learned Societies etc. 15 
 Loudon's Self Instruction - - 19 
 (Mrs.) Amateur Gardener - 18 
 Maunder's Treasury of Knowledge- - 22 
 ,, Scientific and Literary Treasury 22 
 Treasury of History - -' 22 
 ,, BiographicalTreasurv - - 22 
 Natural History - ' - - 22 
 Parkes's Domestic Duties - 24 
 Pycroft's Course of English Reading - 25 
 Reader's Time Tables - 25 
 Rich's Companion to the Latin Dictionary 26 
 Riddle's Eng.-Lat. and Lat.-Eng. Diet. - I'll 
 Robinson's Arl of Curing, Pickling, etc. 26 
 Art of Making British Wines, 2fi 
 Rowton's Debater - ... 26 
 Short Whist 28 
 Thomson's Management of Sick Room - 30 
 ,, Interest Tables - - - 30 
 Webster's Enrycl. of Domestic Economy :i2 
 Zumpt's Latin Grammar - 32 
 
 BOTANY AND GARDENING. 
 
 Abercrombie's Practical Gardener - - 6 
 ,, and Main's Gardener - 5 
 Ball on the Cultivation of Tea - - 6 
 Callcott's Scripture Herbal ... 8 
 Conversations on Botany - 8 
 Evans's Sugar Planter's 'Manual - - 11 
 Henslow's Botany 17 
 Hoare On the Grape Vine on Open Walls 14 
 On the Roots of Vines - 13 
 Hooker's British Flora ... - 14 
 ,, Guide to Kew Gardens - - 14 
 Lindley's Theory of Horticulture - - IS 
 ,, Orchard and Kitchen Garden - IS 
 ,, Introduction to Botany - - IS 
 ,, Synopsis of British Flo'ra - - 18 
 Loudon's liortus Britannicus - 19 
 ,, Hortus Lignosus Londinensis - 19 
 Encyclopaedia of Trees \ : Shrubs 19 
 Gardening - 19 
 
 BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 Andersen's (H. C.) Autobiography - 5 
 Bell's Lives of the British Poets - - 17 
 Dunham's Earlv Writers of Britain - 17 
 ,, Lives of the British Dramatists 17 
 Forster's Statesmen of the Commonwealth 17 
 ,, LifeofJcbb - 17 
 Gleig's British Military Commanders - 17 
 Grarit (Mrs.) Memoir and Correspondence 12 
 
 James's Life of the Black Prince - - 15 
 ., Eminent Foreign Statesmen - 17 
 Lai's (M.) Life of Dost Mohammed - - _.< 
 Leslie's Life of Constable ... 18 
 irT. More - - 30 
 r'sBiographiculTreasurv - - 22 
 
 fc r= rrrrr r-r- 
 
 
 London: Printed by M. MAMKC, Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row.
 
 2 CLASSIFII 
 
 .D INDEX 
 
 Pages 
 London's Suburban Gardener - 19 
 Self-Instruction for Gardeners 19 
 (Mr.) Amateur Gardener - - 18 
 Repton's Landscape Gardening, etc. - 25 
 Rivers's Rose Amateur's Guide - - 25 
 Rogers's Vegetable Cultivator - 26 
 Schleideu's Scientific Botany ... 27 
 Smith's Introduction to Botany - - 28 
 English Flora ... 28 
 ,, Compendium of English Flora - 28 
 
 CHRONOLOGY. 
 Blair's Chronological Tables 6 
 Bosanquet's Chronology of Ezra, etc. - 7 
 Nicolas's Chronology of History - - 17 
 Riddle's Ecclesiastical Chronology - - 26 
 
 COMMERCE AND MERCANTILE 
 AFFAIRS. 
 
 Banfield and Wild's Statistics - 6 
 Bavlis's Arithmetic of Annuities - - 6 
 M'Cnlloch's Dictionary of Commerce - 20 
 
 Pages 
 M'Culloeh's Dictionary, Historical, Geo- 
 graphical, and Statistical - - 20 
 Maunder's Treasury of History - - 22 
 Milner's Church History - - -22 
 Moore's History of Ireland ... 17 
 Mosheira's Ecclesiastical History - - 23 
 Nicolas's Chronology of History - - 17 
 Passages from Modern History - - 28 
 Ranke's History of the Reformation - 25 
 Rich's Companion to the Latin Dictionary 26 
 Riddle's Latin Dictionaries ... 26 
 Rome, History of 17 
 Rowton's British Poetesses - - 26 
 Russell's Bedford Correspondence - - ( 
 Scott's History of Scotland - - 17 
 Sinnett's Byways of History - - - 2T 
 Stebbing's History of the Christian Church 17 
 ,, Church History - 17 
 Switzerland, History of - - - -17 
 Sydney Smith's Works ... 28 
 Thirlwall's History ofGreece - - - 30 
 Tooke's Historv of Prices - 30 
 Turner's History of England - - 31 
 
 Steel's Shipmaster's Assistant - - 29 
 Symonds' Merchant Seamen's Laws - 29 
 Thomson's Tables of Interest - 30 
 
 JUVENILE BOOKS. 
 Amy Herbert ------ 5 
 
 GEOGRAPHY AND ATLASES. 
 
 Butler's Ancient and Modern Geography 7 
 ,, Atlas of Modern Geography - 8 
 ,, ,, Ancient Geography - 8 
 ,, ,, General Geography - 8 
 De Strzelecki's New South Wales - - 10 
 Ermnn's Travels through Siberia - - 11 
 Forster's Historical Geography of Arabia 11 
 Hall's Large General Atlas ... 13 
 M'Culloch's Geographical Dictionary - 20 
 Mitchell's Australian Expedition - - 22 
 Murray's Encyclopedia of Geography - 24 
 Parrot's Ascent of Mount Ararat - -24 
 Schomburgk's Barbados, and Map - - 27 
 
 HISTORY AND CRITICISM. 
 
 Gower's Scientific Phenomena - - 12 
 Historical Charadea ----- 13 
 Howitt's Bov's Country Book - - - 14 
 Children's Year - 14 
 Laneton Parsonage ----- 16 
 Mackintosh's Life of Sir T. More - - 20 
 Marcel's Conversations 
 On Chemistry 21 
 On Natural Philosophy - - - 21 
 On Political Economy - - - 21 
 On Vegetable Physiology - 21 
 On Land and Water - 21 
 Marryat's Masterman Ready - - 21 
 Privateer's-Man - 21 
 Settlers in Canada - 21 
 Mission; or, Scenes in Africa 21 
 Passages from Modern History - - 28 
 Pycroft's Course of English Reading - 45 
 
 Blair's Chron. and Historical Tables - 6 
 Bloomfield's Translation of Thucydides - 6 
 Edition of Thucydides - - 6 
 Cooley's Maritime and Inland Discovery 17 
 Crowe's History of France - 17 
 Coulton on Jnnius's Letters - - - 8 
 De Sismoudi's Fall of the Roman Empire 17 
 ,, Italian Republics - - 17 
 Dunham's History of Spain and Portugal 17 
 ,, Europe in the Middle Ages - 17 
 History of the German Empire 17 
 ,, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway 17 
 ,, History of Poland - 17 
 Dnnlop's History of Fiction - - 10 
 Eastlake's History of Oil Painting - 10 
 
 MEDICINE. 
 
 Bull's Hints to Mothers - 7 
 Management of Children - . 7 
 Copland's Dictionary of Medicine - - 9 
 Elliotson's Human Physiology - - 10 
 Esdaile's Mesmerism in India - - - 11 
 Fergnsson's Notes of a Professional Life 1 1 
 Holland's Medical Notes - 14 
 Lane's Water Cure at Malvern - - 16 
 Latham On Diseases of the Heart - 18 
 Pereira On Food and Diet - - 24 
 Sandby On Mesmerism - 27 
 
 Eccleston's English Antiquitiea - .10 
 Fergus's United States of America - 17 
 Fletcher's Studies of Shakspeare - - 11 
 Gibbon's Roman Empire - 12 
 Grant (Mrs.) Memoir andCorespondence 17 
 Grattan's History of Netherlands - - 12 
 Grimblot's William III. and Louis XIV. 12 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 Adshead On Prisons ... 5 
 Cartoons (The Prize) - 8 
 Carey's Past, Present, and Future - - 8 
 Cocks's Bordeaux, its Wines, etc. - - 8 
 
 
 
 Historical Charades- .... 13 
 Historical Pictures of the Middle Ages - 13 
 Jeffrey's (Lord) Contributions - - 16 
 Keightley's Outlines of History - . 17 
 Laing's Kings of Norway ... 16 
 Lempriere's Classical Dictionary - - 18 
 Mscaulay's Essays - ... 20 
 Mackintosh's History of England - - 17 
 Miscellaneous Works - 20 
 
 Coulton On Authorship of Junius - - 9 
 De Burtin On the Knowledge of Pictures 9 
 De Morgan On Probabilities - 17 
 De Jaenisch On Chess Openings - - 10 
 De Strzelecki's New South Wales - - 10 
 Dresden Gallery 10 
 Dunlop's History of Fiction - - - 10 
 Gardiner's Sights in Italy - - - 12 
 Gower's Scientific Phenomena - - 12
 
 TO MESSRS. LONGMAN AND CO.'s CATALOGUE. 3 
 
 Page. 
 
 ONE VOLUME ENCYCLOPEDIAS 
 
 Grant's Letters from the Mouutains - 12 
 
 AND DICTIONARIES. 
 
 Hobbes's (Thos.) complete Works - 14 
 Hooker's Kew Guide - - - -14 
 
 Pages 
 Elaine's, of Rural Sports - - - - 6 
 
 Howitt's Rural Life of England - - 15 
 
 Brande's, of Science, Literature, and Art / 
 
 Visits to Remarkable Places - 14 
 
 Copland's, of Medicine 9 
 
 Student Life of Germany - la 
 
 Cresv's, of Civil Kugiueering - 9 
 
 Rural and Social Life of German v 15 
 
 Gwilt's, of Architecture - 13 
 
 ., Colonisatiou aud Christianity - 15 
 
 Johnson's Fanner ----- 16 
 
 Hume's Account of Learned Societies" - 15 
 
 London's, of Trees and Shrubs - - 19 
 
 Jeffrey's (Lord) Contributions - - 16 
 
 ,, of Gardening .... 19 
 
 Lane's Life at the Water Cure - - 16 
 
 ,, of Agriculture - - - - 19 
 
 London's (Mrs.) Lady's Countrv Companion 18 
 Macaulav's Critical and Historical Essays 20 
 
 of Plants ----- 19 
 of Rural Architecture - - 1? 
 
 Mackintosh's 'Sir J.) Miscellaneous Works 20 
 
 M'Culloch's Geographical Dictionary - 20 
 
 Maitlaud's Church in Catacombs - - '21 
 
 ,, Dictionary of Commerce - 20 
 
 NeckerDeSaussure's on Education - 24 
 Plunkett on the Navy - - - - -a 
 
 Murrav's Encyclopedia of Geography - 24 
 Ure's Arts, Manufactures, and Mines - 31 
 
 on the last Naval War - - 25 
 
 Webster's Domestic Economy - - 32 
 
 Pycroft's English Course of Reading - 25 
 Rieh'l Companion to the Latin Dictionary 26 
 
 POETRY AND THE DRAMA. 
 
 Richter's Levana - - - - - 26 
 
 Aikin's (Dr.) British Poets - 27 
 
 Riddle's Latin Dictionaries - - - 26 
 
 Burger's Leonora, by Cameron - - 7 
 
 Hogefs Economic Chess-board - - 26 
 
 Chalenor's Walter Gray ... g 
 
 Ruwton's Debater - - 26 
 
 Collier's Roxburghe Ballads - - - 8 
 
 Sandy's Mesmerism '7 
 
 Costello's Persian Rose Garden - 9 
 
 Sandford's Parochialia .... 27 
 
 Fletcher's Studies of Shakespeare - 11 
 
 Seaward 's Narrative of his Shipwreck - 27 
 
 Flowers and their Kindred Thoughts - 1 1 
 
 Southey's Common-Place Book - - 29 
 
 Goldsmith's Poems, illustrated - - 12 
 
 Doctor, etc. Vols. VI. and VII. 29 
 
 Grav's Elegy, illuminated - - 12 
 
 Summerly's Sea aud Railway - - - 29 
 
 Gutch's Robin Hode - - - 12 
 
 Sydney Smith's Works .... 28 
 
 Howitt's (Mary) Ballads - - - 14 
 
 Thomson on Food of Animals, etc. - - 30 
 
 L. E. L.'s Poetical Works - 18 
 
 Walker's Chess Sludies - - - - 31 
 
 Lin wood's Anthologia Oxoniensis - - 18 
 
 Willoughby's (Ladv) Diary - 32 
 
 Macaulav's Lavs of AncientRome - - 20 
 
 Zumpt's Latin Grammar - 32 
 
 Mackay's Em-fish Lakes - 20 
 
 
 Montgomery's Poetical Works - - 23 
 
 
 Moore's Poetical Works - - 23 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY IN GENERAL. 
 
 ,, Lalla Rookh - - - - 23 
 ,, Irish Melodies - - - 23 
 
 Callow's Popular Conchologv ... 8 
 Doubledav's Butterflies and Moths - 10 
 Gray and Mitchell's Ornithology - -12 
 ,, t , Accipitres - - 12 
 Kirbv aud Spence's Entomology - - 16 
 Lee's Taxidermv - . - . - 18 
 
 Moral of Flowers .... 23 
 Poets 'Pleasauiice - - ... 25 
 Rowtou's British Poetesses - 26 
 Shakspeare, by Bowdler - - 27 
 Sophocles, by Liuwood - - - - 29 
 Southey's Poetical Works - - - 29 
 
 ,, Elements of Natural History - - 18 
 Maunder's Treasury of Natural History 22 
 Stephens' British Beetles - 29 
 Swainson on the Study of NaturalHistory 17 
 
 British Poets - . . - 27 
 Spirit of the Woods - . . -29 
 Thomson's Seasons, illustrated - - 30 
 ,, wilh Notes, by Dr. A. T. Thomson 30 
 
 Animals .... 17 
 ,, Quadrupeds - 17 
 
 POLITICAL ECONOMY AND 
 
 
 STATISTICS. 
 
 ,, Animals in Menageries - 17 
 
 Banfield and Wild's Statistics - 6 
 
 ,, Fish, Amphibia, and Reptiles 17 
 
 Lang's Cooksland ----- 16 
 
 ,, Insects - - - -17 
 
 ,, Phillipsland .... 16 
 
 . . Malacology * * * - 17 
 
 M'Culloch's Geographical, Statistical, and 
 
 ,, Habits and Instincts - - 17 
 
 Historical Dictionary - - - 20 
 
 Taxidermy - ... 17 
 
 M'Culloch'a Dictionary of Commerce - 20 
 
 TV-ton's Shells of the BrltbhlaUnda - 31 
 
 Waterton's Essavs on Natural History - 31 
 
 Literature of Polit. Economy 21 
 
 Wsstwood's Classification of Insects - 32 
 
 On Taxation and Funding - 21 
 
 
 Statistics of the British Empire 21 
 
 
 Marcel's Conversations on Polit. Economy 21 
 
 NOVELS AND WORKS OF FICTION. 
 
 Symonds' Merchant Seamen's Law - 29 
 Tooke's Histories of Prices ... 30 
 
 Autobiography of Rose Allen 5 
 
 Twiss's [Dr.) View of Political Economy 31 
 
 Brav's (Mrs.) Novels ... 7 
 Dnnlop's History of Fiction - 10 
 Hall's Midsummer Eve - - - - 13 
 
 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL 
 WORKS, ETC. 
 
 Ladv Willoughbv's Uiarv - - - 32 
 
 Amy Herbert, edited by Rev. W. Sewell 5 
 
 Marryat's Master'rnan Ready - 21 
 
 Barrett's Old Testament Criticisms - - 6 
 
 Privateer's-Man ... 21 
 
 Bloomfield's Greek Testament - - 6 
 
 Settlers in Canada - - - 21 
 
 ,, College and School ditto - 7 
 Lexicon to Greek Testament 7 
 
 Pericles, A Tale of Athens - 24 
 
 Bunse'n's Church of the Future - 7 
 
 Rafter' sSavindroog .... 25 
 
 Burder's Oriental Custom* - - 7 
 
 Southev's Doctor, etc. Vols. VI. and VII. 29 
 
 Burns's Christian Philosophy ... 7 
 
 Twelve Years Ago - .... 31 
 
 ,, Christian Fragments - - - 7
 
 4 CLASSIFIED INDEX. 
 
 Pages 
 
 Callcott's Scripture Herbal - - - 8 
 Cooper's Sermons - - 8 
 Coquerel's Christianity - - - - 9 
 Dale's Domestic Liturgy . - 9 
 Dibdin's Sunday Library - - - - 10 
 Englishman's Hebrew Concordance - 10 
 Greek Concordance - 10 
 Fitirov's (Lady) Scripture Conversations 1] 
 Forster's Historical Geography of Arabia 1 1 
 ,, Life of Bishop Jebb - - - 11 
 From Oxford to Rome - - - - 11 
 
 THE SCIENCES IN GENERAL, 
 AND MATHEMATICS. _ 
 
 Pages 
 Baker's Railway Engineering - . - 5 
 Bakewell's Introduction to Geology - 5 
 Brande's Dictionary of Science, etc. - 7 
 Brewster's Optics 17 
 Conversations on Mineralogy - 8 
 De la Beche on theGeology of Cornwall, etc. 10 
 Donovan's Chemistry - ... 17 
 Farey on the Steam Kngine - - - 11 
 
 Gertrude, edited by P the Rev. W. Sewell - 12 
 Hook's (Dr.) Lectures on Passion Week 14 
 
 Gower's Scientific Phenomena - - - 
 Herschel's Natural Philosophy - 7 
 
 Compendium of ditto - - 14 
 Jameson's Legends of Saints and Martyrs 15 
 Jebb's Correspondence with KM ox - -15 
 ,, Translation of the Psalms - - 15 
 Kip's Christmas in Rome - - 16 
 Kuox's (Alexander) Remains - 16 
 
 Holland's Manufactures in Metal - 7 
 Humboldt's Cosmos .... 5 
 Hunt's Researches on Light ... 5 
 Kater and Lardner's Mechanics - 7 
 Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopedia - 7 
 ,, Hvdrostat'ics and Pneumatics - 7 
 ,, and Walker's Kleetlicity - 7 
 Arithmetic .... 7 
 Geometry .... 7 
 Treatise on Heat ... 7 
 Marcel's Conversations on the Sciences 21 
 Matteucci On Physical Phenomena - 21 
 Memoirs of the Geological Survey - - 22 
 Moselcy's Practical Mechanics - - -23 
 Engineering and Architecture 23 
 Owen's Lectures On Comparative Anatomy 24 
 
 Letters to niv Unknown Friends - - 18 
 Maitland's Church in the Catacombs - 21 
 Margaret Percival 21 
 Milner's Church History - 22 
 Miracles of Our Saviour - - - 22 
 Moore on the Power of the Soul - - 23 
 on the Use of the Body - - 23 
 Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History - - 23 
 Parables of Our Lord - - - - 24 
 
 Pitman's Sermons on the Psalms - - 25 
 Rauke's Reformation - ... 25 
 Rest in the Church ----- 25 
 Riddle's Letters from a Godfather - - 26 
 Sandford On Female Improvement - - 27 
 On Woman - - - - 27 
 's Parochialia - 2? 
 Sermon on the Mount (The) - - - 26 
 Shepherd's Horn Apostolicae - - 27 
 Shunammite (The Good) - ... 28 
 Sinclair's Journey of Life ... 28 
 Sketches (The) ..... 28 
 Smith's (G.) PerilonsTimes ... 28 
 Religion of Ancient Britain 28 
 Sacred Annals - 28 
 Southey's Life of Wesley ... 29 
 Stebbing's Christian Church ... 1? 
 Reformation .... 17 
 Steepleton ...... 29 
 Sydney Smith's Sermons ... 28 
 Tale's Historyof St. Paul - . 29 
 Tayler's(Rev.C.B.)Margaret ... 29 
 .. .. Lady Mary - - 30 
 Taylor's (Jeremy) Works ... 30 
 Tomline's Introduction to the Bible - 30 
 Turner's Sacred History ... 31 
 
 Phillips'sPalieozoicFossilsof Cornwall, etc. 24 
 Mineralogy, by Prof. Miller - 25 
 ,, Treatise on Geology - - - 17 
 Portlock's Geology of Londonderry - 25 
 Powell's Natural Philosophy - I/ 
 Ritchie.(Robert) on Railways - - 26 
 Topham's Agricultural Chemistry - - 30 
 
 TRAVELS. 
 
 Costello's (Miss) North Wales - 9 
 Coulter's California, etc. ... 9 
 ,, Pacific ..... 9 
 De Strzelecki's New South Wales - - 10 
 Dunlop's Central America - - 10 
 Erman's Travels through Siberia - - 11 
 Francis's Italy and Sicily - 11 
 Gardiner's Sights in Italy ... 12 
 Harris's Highlands of yE'thiopia - - 13 
 Button's Five Years in the East - - 15 
 Kip's Holydavs in Rome - - - 16 
 Laing's Tour in Sweden ... 16 
 Lang's Cooksland ..... 16 
 Phillipsland .... 16 
 Mackay's English Lakes ... 20 
 
 Wardlaw On Sncinian Controversy - 31 
 Weil's Bible, Koran, and Talmud - - 32 
 Wilberforce's View of Christianity - 32 
 Willouzhby's (Lady) Diary - - .32 
 Wilson's Lands of the Bible - 3S 
 
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 Montauban's Wanderings ... 22 
 Parrot's Ascent of Mount Ararat - - 24 
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 TischendorfTs Travels in the East - - 30 
 Vnn Orlich's Travels in India - - 31 
 Wilson's Travels in the Holy Laud - 32 
 
 VETERINARY MEDICINE 
 
 Miles On the Horse's Foot - - . "2 
 Stable Talk and Table Talk . - 29 
 Thomson on Fattening Cattle - -30 
 Winter On the Horse ... 30 
 
 Sequel to Shuuaminite - 32 
 
 RURAL SPORTS. 
 Blaine'sDictionaryofSports ... 6 
 Ephemera on Angling - - - -11 
 Hawbuck Grange - .... 13 
 Hawker's Instructions to Sportsmen - 13 
 London's (Mrs.) Lady's CountryCompanion 18 
 Stable Talk and Table Talk . 29
 
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 EPHEMERA. A HAND-BOOK OF ANGLING ; 
 
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 FORSTER (REV. C.) THE LIFE OF JOHN JEBB, D.D. F.R.S. 
 
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 12 NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS 
 
 GARDINER. SIGHTS IN ITALY: 
 
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 GASCOYNE. A NEW SOLUTION, IN PART, OF THE SEALS, TRUM- 
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 GERTRUDE. 
 
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 GIBBON.-HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN 
 
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 GRANT (MRS., OF LAGGAN). MEMOIR AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
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 GUTCH. A LYTELL CESTE OF ROBIN HODE. 
 
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 PUBLISHED BY MESSRS. LONGMAN, AND CO. 13 
 
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 HALSTED. LIFE AND TIMES OF RICHARD THE THIRD, 
 
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 HAYDON (B. R.) LECTURES ON PAINTING AND DESIGN, 
 
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 HISTORICAL CHARADES. 
 
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 HISTORICAL PICTURES OF THE MIDDLE ACES, 
 
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 14 NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS 
 
 HOARE A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE 
 
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 HOBBES. THE COMPLETE WORKS OF THOMAS HOBBES, 
 
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 HOOK (DR. W. F.) THE LAST DAYS OF OUR LORD'S MINISTRY; 
 
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 HOOKER.-KEW GARDENS ; 
 
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 HORNE (THE REV. T. H.) AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CRITICAL 
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 16 NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS 
 
 JEBB (BISHOP) AND KNOX (ALEXANDER). -THIRTY YEARS' COR- 
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 JEBB.-A LITERAL TRANSLATION OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS; 
 
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 JEFFREY (LORD). CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE EDINBURGH REVIEW. 
 
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 JOHNSON. THE FARMER'S ENCYCLOP/EDIA, 
 
 And DICTIONARY of RURAL AFFAIRS : embracing all the recent Discoveries in Agri- 
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 KIRBY AND SPENCE. AN INTRODUCTION TO ENTOMOLOGY; 
 
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 Noises, Hybernation, Instinct, etc. By W. Kirby, M.A. F.R.S. & L.S. Rector of Barbara; 
 and W. Spence, Esq., F.R.S. &L.S. New Edition, enlarged. 2 vols. Svo. 31j. 6d. cloth. 
 
 KNOX (ALEXANDER). REMAINS OF ALEXANDER KNOX, ESQ. 
 
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 By Richard J. Lane, A.R.A.. Lithographer in Ordinary to Her Majesty and His Royal High- 
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 LANETON PARSONAGE: 
 
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 17 
 
 LARDNER'S CABINET CYCLOP/EDIA; 
 
 Heine a Series of Original Works on History, Biography, Natural Philosophy, Natural 
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 separately, 6*. per volume. 
 
 -- ipriiei: 
 
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 1. Bell's History of Russia . 3 vols. IS*. 
 
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 4. Cooley's History of Maritime 
 
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 istry 1 vol. 6f. 
 
 10. Donovan's Domestic Economy, 2 vols. 12*. 
 
 11. Dunham's History of Spain 
 
 and Portugal . .5 vols. 30*. 
 
 12. Dunham's History of Den- 
 
 mark, Sweden, and Nor- 
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 L'v History of Switzerland . . 1vol. 6*. 
 
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