COLLECTION G. M. A
to
of %
tterstt of
An Anonymous Donor
The Makers of British Art
EDITED BY JAMES A. MANSON.
GEORGE MORLAND
/Ifcafcers of JBritfsb Brt.
Already Published in this Series.
LORD LEIGHTON. By EDGCUMBE STAI.EY. With
Photogravure Portrait and 20 Plates.
HENRY MOORE. By FRANK MACLEAN. With Photo-
gravure Portrait and 20 Plates.
WILLIAM HOGARTH. By G. BALDWIN BROWN,
M.A. With Photogravure Portrait and 20 Plates.
THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH, R.A. By A. E.
FLETCHER. With Photogravure Portrait and 20
Plates.
SIR HENRY RAEBURN, R.A. By EDWARD PIN-
NINGTON. With Photogravure Portrait and 20 Plates.
JOHN CONSTABLE, R.A. By the EARL OK PLYMOUTH.
With Photogravure Portrait and Nineteen Plates and
a Portrait of David Lucas.
SIR DAVID WILKIE, R.A. By WILLIAM BAYNE.
With Photogravure Portrait and 20 Plates.
GEORGE ROMNEY. 15 y SIR HERHERT MAXWELL.
With Photogravure Portrait and 20 Plates.
J. M. W. TURNER, R.A. By ROBERT CHIGNELL.
With Photogravure Portrait after Dance and 20 Plates.
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS, P.R.A. By ELSA
D'ESTERRE-KEELING. With Photogravure Portrait
and 20 Plates.
SIR EDWIN LANDSEER, R.A. By TIIF EDITOR.
With Photogravure Portrait and 21 Plates.
This Series, in superior leather bindings, may be had
on application to the Publishers,
[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.]
. //V'/V//' . / iff iff//'/
George Morland
DAVID HENRY WILSON
M.A., LL.M. ''/
Illustrated with Twenty Plates and a Photogravure
Frontispiece.
London
The Walter Scott Publishing Co., Ltd.
New York : Charles Scribner's Sons
1907
491
,£90036
'">• '
TO
ARTHUR KIMBER
A SLIGHT TOKEN
OF
MY AFFECTION AND ESTEEM.
Preface.
IF any apology be necessary for adding this book to
the already long list of biographies of George Morland,
it must be found in these considerations : —
1. In Morland's works we have a record, cast in an
original mould, of the manners and habits of the people
of his day; and as he invests his subjects with an in-
terest that touches our common human nature, they
appeal to all, and have a lasting value. To omit this
artist, therefore, from the gallery of the Makers of
British Art would be equivalent to excluding Charles
Dickens from the English Novelists.
2. Notwithstanding the great number and variety of
engravings of Morland's works that have been produced,
it would seem that the erroneous impression still obtains
in the popular mind that this artist was a painter of
mere pigs and public-houses. This may be due to the
fact that most of these reproductions are now very
George Morland
scarce, and also to the inaccessibility to the general
public of the works of his early biographers, wherein
his versatility is clearly exposed, and of the copiously
illustrated but expensive books upon Morland's pictures
which have more recently appeared. The present
volume, at a popular price, containing examples of the
artist's different styles and moods, will, it is hoped,
remove this impression.
3. The value in the market of Morland's works has,
it is true, appreciated with the passing years, but it is
still customary to think of the artist as a man of
naturally low tastes and depraved habits; as one to
whom the maxim de mortuis does not apply. In this
book I have attempted to show that what is seen
of George Morland's character outside of his works
is insignificant compared with what is seen of it in
them; and that the perception gained by seeking the
true man in the labours of his habitual choice is wholly
at variance with the impression current.
My warm thanks are offered to all who have assisted
me in this production, and in particular to Sir Waiter
Gilbey, Bart.; G. Harland Peck, Esq.; John Fleming,
Esq.; Captain G. Morland (the grand-nephew of the
artist); Messrs. Dowdeswcll & Co.; and the Governors
Preface
of the Royal Holloway College, Egham, for their kind-
ness in giving" me permission to reproduce some of their
pictures by Morland, which by the valuable services
of Mr. Emery Walker and Mr. C. W. Carey, I have
gladly availed myself of to illustrate my text.
D. H. W.
INNKR TEMPLE,
May 1907.
IX
Contents.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
PAGli
Influence of early training — Misleading testimony — Philip Dawe
— Reticence of Morland's family — Morland's complex tempera-
ment— Moral tone of Morland's time — Malcolm and Sir Walter
Besant quoted — "Modern Midnight Conversation" — Lord
Sandwich's anecdote — W. Collins — F. W. Blagdon — J. Has-
sall — George Dawe — Allan Cunningham - - I
CHAPTER II.
MORLAND'S ANCESTORS.
Sir Samuel Morland— His services to the State— Willis's Plot— Sir
Samuel's inventions — His character — G. H. Morland, our
artist's grandfather — H. R. Morland, his father — His mother
and family — George Morland's birth — His home influence and
training — His practical joking — Benjamin West — Morland's
country rambles — His early studies — His first exhibition at
the Royal Academy - - 13
CHAPTER III.
MORLAND'S EARLY DAYS.
Royal Academy, 1778-79— Mr. Angerstein— Fuseli's "Nightmare"
— R.A., 1780-81 — Royal Incorporated Society of Artists —
xi
George Morland
Ill-health— The Insolvent Debtors' Act— Mrs. Morland's pre-
sentiment— The artist struck with a palsy — R. A., 1804 —
Morland Galleries — Arrested for debt — Morland's death - 136
CHAPTER XI.
MORLAND'S PUPILS AND ENGRAVERS.
Tanner— Brown— Hand— Cowden— Collins— W. Ward— J. Ward
— J. R. Smith— J. T. Smith— W. Blake— Rowlandson— Barto-
lozzi— J. Fittler— J. Young— S. W. Reynolds— T. Vivares
—A. Suntach— T. Gaugain— Levilly— Rollet— F. D. Soiron
— Dumee — Duterreau — Rajon - - 152
CHAPTER XII.
MORLAND'S WORK.
Criticisms — Morland's versatility — Portraits — Moral and domestic
subjects — Children-subjects — Coast scenes — Rural and lowly
life and animals — "Selling Fish" — Morland's originality —
Followers and imitators — His landscape — Cunningham
answered ....... 162
APPENDIX I.— Morland's Chief Works - - 183
,, II. — Morland's Pictures in Public Galleries - - 187
„ III. — Some of Morland's Engraved Works - - 190
,, IV. — Morland's Pictures in the Auction-rooms - 194
,, V.— Bibliography - 198
INDEX ..... . 2oi
XIV
List of Illustrations.
PORTRAIT OF GEORGE MORLAND (p. 39) . Frontispiece
(By kind permission of Messrs. Dowdeswell & Co.)
"DOMESTIC HAPPINESS" (p. 61) . . To face page 2 4
"CHILDREN BIRD'S-NESTING" (p. 72) . „ 32
"TREPANNING A RECRUIT" (p. 75) . „ 40
"THE FRUITS OF EARLY INDUSTRY AND
ECONOMY" (p. 76) ... „ 48
"THE TRIUMPH OF BENEVOLENCE" (p. 76) „ 56
"THE STRANGERS AT HOME" (p. 77) . „ 64
"THE FORTUNE-TELLER" (p. 77) . ,,72
"THE COTTAGE DOOR" (p. 87) . . „ 80
(By kind permission of Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart.)
"THE CONTENTED WATERMAN" (p. 87) . „ 88
(By kind permission of the Governors of the Royal
Holloway College, Egham.)
"THE PRESS-GANG" (p. 88) . ,,96
(By kind permission of the Governors of the Royal
Holloway College, Egham.)
XV
George Morland
TRAVELLERS" (p. 88) . To face page 104
"COTTAGERS" (p. 88) . ,,112
(By kind permission of Captain G. Morland.)
"THE INSIDE OF A STABLE !! (p. 90) . „ 120
"THE TURNPIKE GATE" (p. 107) . ,,128
(By kind permission of J. Fleming, Esq.)
"THE HARD BARGAIN" (p. 115) . . „ 136
"WRECKERS" (p. 115) . . „ 144
(By kind permission of Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart.)
"THE FISHERMEN'S TOAST" (p. 115) „ 152
(By kind permission of G. Harland Peck, Esq.)
"FISHERMEN GOING OUT" (p. 115) „ 160
"THE THATCHER" (p. 136) . „ 168
"EFFECTS OF EXTRAVAGANCE AND IDLE-
NESS" (p. 168) . . . . ,,176
(By kind permission of Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart.)
XVI
George Morland.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
Influence of early training — Misleading testimony — Philip Dawe —
Reticence of Morland' s family — Morland's complex temperament —
Moral tone of Morland's time — Malcolm and Sir W. Besant
quoted — "Modern Midnight Conversation" — Lord Sandwich's
anecdote— W. Collins— F. W. Blagdon— J. Hassall— George Dawe
— Allan Cunningham.
ONE of his biographers says of George Morland that
"he seemed to have possessed two minds — one, the
animated soul of genius, by which he rose in his pro-
fession; and the other, that debased and grovelling
propensity which condemned him to the very abyss of
dissipation."
This is not illuminating-. It needs no searching to
find out genius, for which nothing else can be mis-
taken; and a man's external life is obvious. But to
infer what are his true affections merely from what is
exposed to the eye (the essential part of him from the
accidental) is a more difficult task, and may not always
i B
George Morland
be a logical process, and in the best circumstances
must be one in which the judgment is liable to err.
We are prone to judge the strength of a man, not by
the weight he can carry (which indicates his true
strength), but by the burden that breaks him; and this
proneness has too often prevailed in estimating the true
self of George Morland. Sufficient allowance has not
always been made for the influence upon him of his
early training, of other tendencies (beyond his control)
of his early environment; for the lax moral tone of his
time, and for the special susceptibility of genius to
great and disturbing variations of spiritual temperature
(so .to speak) — a susceptibility which of all others can
least dispense with a generous and sympathetic COM
sideration. This tendency, though in si
common to us all, is not only specially nut'
is a force which cannot be ignored in t1 :
of genius. The great humorist, who r '
draws from us the willing tears of 'lo ^
of melancholy than any other man • barr
ever striving and ever failing 4 > Ino^
knows as no other can know thr
the depths of despair. Such rr '^'f-
fibre are the overflowings of f
does not possess, and therefo
tion in estimating moral valu
In our sketch, then, of Gt< i rr
these tendencies in view, anu t.
in the most impressionable \
the atmosphere of the wori jrn r
2
Inner Self Obscured
which he launched himself without knowledge or
chart; and if we look into his works as well to seek
the mind that inspired them as to search
for their artistic merits, we shall hope to e tue
gain some insight into the true self of the
man. Chroniclers have not been reticent concerning his
outward life. His extravagances, follies, and misfor-
tunes have been so much dwelt upon that we are apt to
conclude there was nothing more to say about him.
We are led to regard him as a careless spectator might
regard, say, an " Interior" by one of the old Dutch
Masters ; that is to say, so to fix our attention on the
picture where the strong light is focussed
Incidents and action, as to be unobservant
passages which modestly lurk in its
rs
ONE
"he seei
animated £
fession; an-.
propensity w"
dissipation."
This is not i:
find out geniuj-
taken ; and 3. i-
infer wtyat are ••
exposed to the
accidental) is a >.
agree that Morland was a genius,
object in a picture, acquires a
y being brought into direct con-
a lower tone. The greater the
n, the brighter the effulgence,
's disorders have been
hers unconsciously, darkened,
e strongest light upon his
son why Morland's inner
to which is found in the
life. For the boyhood of
was twenty years of age)
so circumscribed and con-
George Morland
fined, that with the exception of one or two friends, he
could have been known intimately only by his parents
and family. Even the few friends he had were rather
those of his father than of his own choice and age, and
therefore it can hardly be supposed that they were
particularly favoured with his confidence. One of his
... friends was Philip Dawe, the engraver, who
was apprenticed to Morland's father when
Dawe Qur artjst was yet a child ; and although we
are told that this gentleman "was, perhaps, the only
person with whom his [George Morland's] friendship
remained uninterrupted, and with whom, as well in
adversity as in prosperity, he appears to have had no
reserve"; and though, also, we have some letters which
our artist wrote to him, we do not obtain our informa-
tion of Morland at first-hand from Philip Dawe, but
from his son George Dawe, who probably had met
Morland, but there is nothing in his life of the artist to
show that he himself had known him intimately.
When young Morland was freed from the restraints
that had been imposed upon him at home, it was clear
that the effect of his training in an atmosphere of
enforced seclusion had checked the orderly flow of his
sympathies. To his naturally open and impressionable
disposition caution and discrimination were distasteful,
and so he fell an easy prey to the exploiter and
sponger. If he showed any suspicion, it was when an
intimacy gave signs of warming into friendship ; so
few enjoyed his confidence. In general, he chose for
his companions, not those who might have touched his
4
Influences of Education
deeper affections, but those who catered for his amuse-
ment, and such were hardly the kind of men to perceive
any but the superficial side of his nature, which ap-
pealed to them only as it ministered to their pleasure,
and were not likely to take the trouble to hand down to
posterity any more recondite knowledge of our artist,
even had they chanced to possess it.
We may say here in justice to George Dawe that he
perceived to some extent the influence upon Morland of
his education and home life. Information on these
heads is not lacking, but it does not supply what we
most want — namely, the insight into his nature which
those must have possessed who occupied themselves
with his early training, intellectual and moral, and
were his earliest guides and closest associates. On
this matter his parents and the members of his family
have been silent ; and this silence is hardly surprising
when we consider that however much in after-years
George Morland's artistic achievements may have re-
dounded to their credit for fostering and stimulating
his genius, his misfortunes may have cast suspicion
upon the moral influence about him in his early home.
Another obstacle to the understanding of Morland's
inner nature is presented by his complex temperament,
which was both impulsive and indecisive; .
, , . . . Morland s
reckless, and in some circumstances ner-
vous; hilarious a'nd melancholy. Naturally c ?
e , • i .. • ment
shy amongst those of his own rank, this
feeling was intensified by his intimate association with
the humbler classes with whom his particular art
5
George Morland
studies brought him into frequent contact. We can-
not, then, hope to learn much of Morland from his
temperament. To know him we must look for what is
constant in him, availing ourselves of whatever side-
lights may be afforded by his bearing in the accidental
incidents of his career, and, above all, we must regard
the testimony of his life's work. His best work must
be stamped with his individuality; it has not come by
chance, but is his gift to us — a gift which, if it does
not express all that it might have done under happier
auspices, was all the best of him that he knew how to
give. And as whatever comes out of a man must have
previously resided in him, so, whatever we may find in
Morland's work — in the work of his habitual choice —
that is a contribution of human insight, purpose, con-
viction, or feeling, we may safely predicate the same of
the mind that inspired it. Such discovery should show
the true affections of the man, who, beyond question,
amidst all kinds of vicissitudes and troubles, of
changing fortunes, of moral disorder and self-inflicted
wrongs, struggled on, much labouring, to give the
best that he had to give, bright and untarnished, for
the enjoyment of the world.
In many of the accounts of Morland's life that have
come down to us, there are, no doubt, gross exag-
gerations; and many stories of him that have been
circulated are pure inventions. We are told that
soon after his death anecdotes concerning him "were
regularly manufactured for newspapers and magazines,"
and concurrently therewith were published high eulo-
6
Moral Tone of the Time
giums of his genius. For many of these anecdotes
and eulogiums the picture-dealers of the time (of a
certain class) were perhaps responsible, for by such
means they would advertise their wares. We have in
mind, particularly, those individuals, of whom there
was a large number, who acquired Morland's works
in payment of loans at usurious interest, and as
consideration for renewing bills. Dawe goes so far
as to say that by his method of conducting his business
affairs, Morland turned (sooner or later) all his associ-
ates and hangers-on into picture-dealers. Even the
more serious of Morland's early biographers display
an anxiety to record his defects, rather than his merits,
as a man ; but we are forced to doubt the soundness of
their judgment, for they frequently contradict one
another in other matters, the truth or falsity of which
should have been easily ascertainable at the time they
wrote.
The low moral tone of Morland's day in all classes
of society is more clearly perceived from a distant than
from a near view. His contemporaries,
therefore, could hardly be expected to find
therein circumstances in mitigation of his one oj
errors. J. T. Nettleship, in his critical 2 rl(™d *
Essay on Morland, published in the Portfolio
series in 1898, justly draws attention to this. Bull-
and bear-baiting, dog- and duck-hunting, and cock-
fighting were regarded in London in the eighteenth
century as reputable sports. These amusements were
attended with so much tumult and outrage that the
7
George Morland
chroniclers of the times tell us that " it was dangerous
to be near the place where they were practised." The
brutal pastime of " cock-throwing " was in much
favour, particularly in the public schools, where the
" cock-fight dues" afforded a handsome contribution
to the stipend of the schoolmaster, who supplied the
birds that were clubbed to death by his pupils. Cudgel-
playing- was largely practised amongst people of all
ranks. Of this refined amusement we read in Chambers's
Book of Days, which quotes the account of the combat
between Robin Hood and the tanner: —
" About, and about, and about they went,
Like two wild boars in a chase,
Striving to aim each other to maim
Leg, arm, or any other place."
The follies and excesses of the day are recorded in
its plays, newsletters, satires, and ballads. As poor
George Morland was addicted to drink (his
Malcolms e .L ^. , , . • \ ,
favourite tipple being sin), let us see how
Anecdotes . . ,. . * r
his disorder was fostered by the atmosphere
about him. At that time, Malcolm tells us in his
Anecdotes and Manners of London during the Eighteenth
Century, there were thirty-six public-houses in Old
Street, between Goswell Street and City Road, and that
"a gin-shop could generally be scented as the passenger
approached it." Sir Walter Besant in London says that
in 1736 the people all went mad after gin, and that
throughout the metropolis one house in every six was
8
Lust for Drink
a gin-shop. The lust for drink permeated all classes,
and showed no abatement for a hundred years.
Of the depraved habits of those times there is testi-
mony enough in the satirical works of Hogarth, whose
enormous popularity could only have been
secured by their truth. In his " Modern H°8arth
Midnight Conversation " we see a drunken, *********
hilarious assembly at the tavern, presided over, writes
Allan Cunningham, by a divine whose " intellects and
power of swallow survive amidst the general wreck of
his companions : with a pipe in one hand and a cork-
screw in the other, which he uses as a tobacco-stopper,
he still presides with suitable gravity." We may
say, in parenthesis, that the divine here depicted was
supposed by Mrs. Piozzi to be Parson Ford, of whom
Dr. Johnson speaks as " very profligate."
Hogarth (who passed away soon after George
Morland was born) does not exaggerate. It is related
of Lord Sandwich that " he was once present
with ten parsons, and he made a wager that .or,
among them there was not one Prayer Book, *•"****
and won it. He also laid another wager that
among the ten parsons there were ten corkscrews,
which he also won, for upon the butler feigning to break
his corkscrew, and requesting any gentleman present to
lend him one, each parson pulled a corkscrew out of his
pocket."
For the record of the main incidents of Morland's life,
we are indebted principally to his early biographers,
Collins, Blagdon, Hassall, and Daue.
9
George Morland
William Collins, who published his Memoir of a
Picture in 1805 (immediately after Morland's death),
. seems to have been on intimate terms with
1 l.ar our artist ; but we derive the impression from
his book (in which the author keeps him-
self well in sight) that Morland treated the friendship
lightly, and that there was not much sympathy between
the two men. Beyond surface impressions, therefore,
this record is not of much value. William Collins was
the author, amongst other works, of two poems on the
Slave Trade, from reading which (he tells us) Morland
was inspired in 1788 to paint his two pictures on that
subject. Collins was the father of W. Collins, R.A.,
of whom we shall speak later in connection with
Morland's pupils.
F. W. Blagdon's Authentic Memoirs of the late George
Morland was published in 1806. The author declares
that he had friends who were intimately
acquainted with the artist and his family,
Blagdon but hg does not appear to have known
Morland personally.
J. Hassall, the water-colour painter and engraver,
wrote his life of Morland also in 1806, and is described
by Allan Cunningham as Morland's "in-
J. assa timate friend." How the two men became
acquainted may be told in Hassall's own words: —
"As the writer was walking towards Paddington on a
summer's morning, to inquire about the health of a
relative, he observed a man posting before him with a
pig, which he held in his arms as if it had been a child;
10
Biographers
the piteous squeaks of the little animal, unaccustomed
to such a mode of conveyance, attracted the notice of
various spectators, both from the doors and windows, as
he passed along. Struck with the laughable conduct of
the bearer of the pig, the writer determined to follow
him, as the adventure promised some humour, and the
more so as the pig-bearer to every dog that barked —
and there were not a few — would set down the pig
and pitt him against the dog; from this a hunt would
sometimes ensue, and the pig-hunter having overtaken
th'e animal, would hastily snatch it up and jog on as
before. In this manner he paraded several of the
streets of Marylebone, until he reached the house
of the writer's friend, where, to his no small sur-
prise, the man with the pig having knocked readily
obtained admittance." Hassall goes on to say how
astonished he was upon entering the house to find
this original sitting with the pig still in his
arms, and to discover that he was Morland, the
painter.
George Dawe we have already noticed. As he was
eighteen years younger than Morland, his personal
knowledge of him — if he had any, which is not certain
— must have been acquired before he was
twenty-three years of age. The value of his G' Dawe
Memoir rests upon the friendship between his father
and Morland, and the opportunity which was thus
afforded him of acquiring information concerning the
artist from one who knew him well. George Dawe
was a portrait-painter of some standing, as well as
ii
George Morland
an engraver in mezzotint, and was elected a Royal
Academician in the year 1814.
Allan Cunningham, "the Scottish Vasari," whose
Life of Morland was published in 1830,
aU • appears to have attached considerable
Cunning- weight to Hassall's Memoir of our artist,
with whom, however, he was not himself
personally acquainted.
12
CHAPTER II.
MORLAND'S ANCESTORS.
Sir Samuel Morland— His services to the State— Willis's Plot— Sir
Samuel's inventions — His character — G. H. Morland, our artist's
grandfather — H. R. Morland, his father— His mother and family
— George Morland's birth — His home influence and training — His
practical joking — Benjamin West — Morland's country rambles —
His early studies — His first exhibition at the Royal Academy.
GEORGE MORLAND was said to have been lineally de-
scended from Sir Samuel Morland, the mechanician,
inventor, and diplomatist, son of the Rev.
Thomas Morland, the Rector of Sulham- n/r j j
stead-Bannister, Berkshire, where Samuel c
was born in 1625. Both Collins and Cunningham
speak of this ancestor of George Morland as "an
eminent mathematician and artist." It is true he was
a mathematician, but there is no justification for calling
him an artist. The gift of Art descended upon the
Morland family at a later date.
It %\vould be difficult now to trace the connection
between George Morland and Sir Samuel Morland, but
our artist's solicitor, Mr. Wedd (of Gerrard Street,
Soho), seems to have satisfied himself that the relation-
ship was a fact, for he told George that he had only to
'3
George Morland
claim the title of baronet to obtain it. To this our
artist replied that although "Sir George Morland"
would sound well, he would have nothing to do with
titles. He wanted to be, not a fine gentleman with a
handle to his name, but a good painter.
For particulars of Sir Samuel Morland's career we
must refer the reader to the Dictionary of National
Biography, the article in which is based upon the
Whitelocke Journal, Welwood's Memoirs, and Lower's
and Kennett's Chronicles. Some interesting informa-
tion concerning our artist's ancestor is also to be found
in the Diaries of Evelyn and Pepys. Sir Samuel was a
man of uncertain convictions. In the early part of his
career (1655) he served Cromwell during the Walden-
sian troubles, and wrote a History of the Evangelical
Churches of the Valleys of Piedmont — a work which is
said to have produced as great a sensation as Foxe's
wjfy Book of Martyrs. He took a part in Sir
Willis s Richard Willis's Plot against the alleged
intriguers Cromwell, Thurloe, and Willis;
and at the Restoration became a Royalist. He ac-
cepted from the King a pension (which he sold after-
wards), was appointed Magister Mechanicorum, and
was created a baronet. From James II. he received
many grants of money to enable him to perfect his
numerous mechanical inventions. Sir Samuel was the
inventor of the speaking trumpet, of drum-capstans
for weighing heavy anchors, of arithmetical machines,
and he made some important discoveries in hydro-
statics.
Sir Samuel Morland
Notwithstanding many excellent traits and attain-
ments, Sir Samuel was extravagant, careless, and
weak. Like his descendants the artists, he
had a restless disposition, and was con-
. . , , TT ,. , Samuel s
stantly changing his abode. He lived at
one time on the site of the old Vauxhall (
Gardens in a fine mansion, where there was a room
lined with looking-glass and sumptuously furnished for
entertainments. Here, says Evelyn, he was frequently
visited by the Merry Monarch and his gay ladies. At
another time (in 1684) he had a house in the Lower
Mall — a fashionable part of Hammersmith, and not far
from "The Doves" Coffee-house, where the poet
Thomson was fond of resting on his way home to his
cottage at Richmond.
Sir Samuel owned to having been excommunicated,
and his biographer says that "the errors of his life
were probably considerable." Yet, with all his short-
comings, he was remarkably industrious. Sir Samuel
was evidently very susceptible to the tender passion.
He married, firstly, in 1657, Susanne the daughter of
Daniel de Melleville, Baron of Boissay; secondly, in
1670, Carola daughter of Sir Roger Harsnett; thirdly,
in 1676, Anne the daughter of George Fielding of Soli-
hull; and lastly, in 1687, Mary Aylif (or Ayliss), a
woman of low character, from whom he obtained a
divorce. We read in Pepys' Diary that by this last
marriage Sir Samuel thought that he had secured an
heiress, but he wrote eighteen days after the wedding —
" I was about a fortnight since led as a fool to the
15
George Morland
stocks, and married a coachman's daughter not worth
a shilling1."
Sir Samuel had several children, but their histories
have become too obscured to enable us to connect the
links between them and the family of George Morland.
It may be mentioned that Sir Samuel's portrait was
painted by Lely, and was engraved by Lombart.
We now come to George Henry Morland, the grand-
father of the artist, who was born in the early part of
the eighteenth century. He was a painter
' ' of some talent in the genre style, and in
Morland ^6o wag assisted by a grant from the
Incorporated Society of Artists. He was an industrious
man of good repute, and his pictures gained a certain
amount of popularity, which perhaps was in a large
measure due to the fact that they were engraved by
two of the favourite engravers of the day — Philip Dawe
and Watson. A small work by this artist, representing
a half-length figure of a woman opening oysters by the
light of a lantern, and entitled " An Oyster Seller," is
in the Glasgow Gallery.
G. H. Morland had two sons — Henry Robert (the
elder) and William. Henry Robert Morland, the
father of our artist, was born in 1730. He
' practised for many years in London as a
portrait-painter in oils and pastels, and also
engraved in mezzotint. He was considered an excellent
connoisseur of pictures, and had a large connection
amongst the distinguished characters of the day. Of
these may be mentioned Lord Grosvenor, Lord Scars-
16
Henry R. Morland
dale, Lord Fortescue, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Benjamin
West, Romney, Garrick, Mrs. Yates, and J. J. Anger-
stein, the banker and collector, whose fine gallery
of thirty-eight pictures was purchased by the British
Government in 1824 for ^£"57,000, and formed the
nucleus of the National Collection in London.
Henry R. Morland was also a picture-restorer and
a seller of artists' materials, and he manufactured
crayons. At one time he had a considerable
, .. j . , , . T . Leicester
income, and lived in style in Leicester
Square. This was then a favourite quarter
with artists. Henry Morland's house was No. 47,
the same that was afterwards occupied by Sir Joshua
Reynolds and is now in the possession of Messrs.
Puttick & Simpson, the well-known auctioneers.
Edward Walford, in Old and Neiv London, tells us
that Sir Thomas Lawrence lived at No. 4 in Leicester
Square, over a confectioner's shop. Hogarth, too,
resided in the Square — in its south-east corner, and
distinguished his house from the rest by displaying the
sign of a golden head (supposed to represent Van
Dyck), which he had carved out of cork. From
Nichols we hear that in later years this sign was
replaced by a bust in plaster of Sir Isaac Newton.
Henry R. Morland, if not extravagant, was rash in
his speculations, and got into pecuniary difficulties
which twice brought him into the Bankruptcy .
Court. He was a great reader, was well- ™ICC
informed, very industrious, orderly, and
refined, and was much respected. " His disposition,"
17 c
George Morland
we are told, "was amiable, his manner reserved, and
his attention wholly directed to his professional occu-
pations." He painted the portraits of George III.
and of the Duke of York, which were engraved by R.
Houston; of James Bradshaw, and of Ingham Foster,
a London merchant and virtuoso, both engraved by
J. R. Smith; he also painted (as Hogarth had done)
Garrick in the character of "Richard III.," which
picture is in the Garrick Club; and he exhibited many
works at the Royal Academy, Society of Artists, and
elsewhere. There are two of his subject-pictures in
the National Gallery, London, entitled, "The Laundry
Maids," in which it is said the beautiful daughters of
Sir Robert Gunning are represented, but there seems
no grounds for this assertion. They are not particu-
larly noteworthy productions, and cannot compare with
the portraits of these ladies by Romney (painted in
1781) which were exhibited at Messrs. Agnew's Gallery
in 1906.
A portrait by Henry R. Morland of the grandfather
of Sir W. W. Wynn, Bart., as a child, was lent to
the exhibition at Wrexham, North Wales, in 1876, by
Captain C. R. Conwy.
It is necessary to form a clear conception of the
character and influence of Henry R. Morland, because
it was he who had most to do — indeed, we
Morlanas L. . , ... ... ,
may say everything to do — with the early
training of his son George. The father, in
spite of many excellent qualities, was short-sighted
and self-contained. Unfortunately, he was not a man
18
Parents and Family
of the world ; and having a disposition somewhat stern
and entirely unsympathetic with that of George, he was
of all men the least likely to understand the lad, and,
therefore, could have had little or no moral influence
upon him. Happily, the father's love of work was
passed on to his son; unhappily, was passed on to him,
too, his main defect — namely, a restless and roving dis-
position.
Henry R. Morland married a French lady who had
artistic gifts. She is described by James Ward, the
animal painter, who knew her well, as "a
little strutting bantam cock who ruled the Morland s
roost." "The domestic concerns," says
Dawe, "were conducted by Mrs. Morland with a
scrupulous regularity which subjected their children to
more than ordinary restraint, but they were preserved
in a state of uninterrupted health; and she is herself a
remarkable instance of the effects of exercise and
temperance in prolonging activity and cheerfulness to a
late period of life."
The Morlands had six children — two daughters and
four sons. Of the daughters, the elder (Sophia) is
described as "a most exemplary character,"
the younger (Maria) was an artist, and ex- er*
hibited at the Royal Academy in 1785, and and Slsiers
again in 1786. Of the eldest son, Edward, and the
second son, Robert, little is known: they do not figure
in our artist's life. The youngest son, Henry Augustus,
tried his fortune in many directions unsuccessfully, and
in the end turned picture-dealer. He, too, was a
'9
George Morland
painter, and exhibited from time to time at the Royal
Academy.
George Morland, the subject of our Memoir, who was
the third son of H. R. Morland, was born in London on
Q the 26th June 1763, when his parents were
M rland' ^v*n£ *n ^e Haymarket. Wonderful stories
o • /t are, of course, told of his precocity. Allan
Cunningham says that ''the indication of
early talent in others is nothing compared to his."
When George was quite a little child, Sir Joshua
Reynolds was an intimate friend of the artist's father,
an intimacy which relaxed upon the elder Morland
appearing in the Bankruptcy Court. The then Presi-
dent of the Royal Academy had many opportunities
of noticing this precocity, and when the child was older
gave him permission to copy his pictures. At three
years of age little George is said to have drawn animals
with his finger in the dust accumulated on the house-
hold furniture. At the Association of Artists — the first
academy in England for drawing from the life, — an
institution then situated in St. Martin's Lane, George
„ ., exhibited many drawings when between four
and six years of age. As quite a little child,
when a gentleman's coach with four horses and two
footmen pulled up at his father's door, he took a piece
of crayon and drew the whole turn-out so accurately
that all who saw it, including many artists, were aston-
ished at the performance.
In these and others of his earliest efforts his father
was not slow to detect the bent of the child's mind, and
20
Work and Play
took every opportunity of encouraging the talent they
indicated. The father's studio became the little man's
world; his pencils, chalks, and paint-brushes, his toys.
Instead of sending him to school, as they had sent their
other children, his parents kept George at home, in
order that his father might himself train his artistic
gifts ; and also, that the boy should not be thrown with
other children who might lure him from his work to
their pleasures, and, perchance, pervert his morals.
As the result of this, the child was constantly working
his brain, and having no companions of his own
years, knew nothing of children's pastimes — nothing of
physical exercise as a safety-valve to the high pressure
of animal spirits; and was familiar with no other
recreation of mind than might be found in change of
study. He was, probably, unconscious in his child
days of these limitations. " Such toys and amusements
as are the usual diversions of children," says Dawe,
'* Morland never was allowed; his lively disposition did
not need them."
At a very early age he showed his appreciation of
practical joking, a propensity which developed with his
years, and remained with him to the last.
By the time he was seven years old, his ra^ ^a
drawing had so progressed that he was able •* m^
to turn it to account in this direction. He used to
draw beetles and depict crayons on the floor with such
verisimilitude that his father, mistaking them for real
objects, would stamp upon the one and stoop to pick
up the other; and he painted terrible spiders on the
21
George Morland
ceilings with such vigour as to alarm the housemaids.
Drawing was to little George a sort of instinct. It was
more natural to him from the very first — when he was
learning how to speak — to draw an object than to
describe it in words. All who knew George agree that
he was an excitable, erratic, and withal a very shy child.
None of these characteristics was in any degree modified
in later life by his contact with the world. The amus-
ing and engaging qualities he displayed as a boy
remained with him to the end, although they were often
exercised to his detriment. Young George was a very
difficult child to manage, and must have
No limt been no little anxietv to his parents< About
his genius for art there could be no question ;
but with a temperament like his, the duty of developing
his talents might, it was feared, easily be laid aside by
the allurements of pleasure. This was felt by his father,
whose method of averting the danger was to keep the
lad constantly at his easel, and to limit his amusements
to such as might be extracted from a walk on Sundays
with his parents, or an occasional visit to their friends
in the evening, when he would have the advantage of
improving his mind by listening to the sober conversa-
tion of his elders, or by entertaining them with his
pencil. To the looker-on who is not bewildered by
these parental anxieties, no kind of training could
appear less adapted to achieve the end desired. It is
true that the habit of industry thus formed in the boy
stood him in good stead throughout his life ; but he
had formed no habit of controlling the appetite for
22
Country Walks
pleasure, because he had scarcely been allowed to taste
of it.
We are told that one day when Benjamin West was
shown into his father's studio, George (then about four
years of age) was there discovered with a . .
mischievous light in his eye. Whether he j enJa™in
was about to try his hand upon one of his
father's canvases history does not relate, but it is on
record that he was promptly dismissed from the sanctum
by a paternal kick. West was interested in the child,
and asked some questions concerning his disposition
and talents, which brought forth the remark from the
elder Morland — "That boy will either turn out a genius
or be hanged." But as a similar story is told of young
Gainsborough, the anecdote may not be anecdote in one
case or the other.
We have mentioned the lad's walks with his parents,
which we suspect were more edifying than enjoyable;
but when he was older, and still living with his father,
he was sometimes allowed to go out on Sundays for
long tramps with Philip Dawe, who was then his
father's articled pupil. These rambles with Dawe in
the country round about London afforded him immense
delight, and opened his eyes to the beauties
of nature, and he always spoke of them in °n/1 /&'
after-years as the happiest incidents of his
life. This fact, simple and commonplace though it be,
is noteworthy, for it throws some light upon our artist's
inner self. He never outgrew those pleasant memories:
they were always a fountain of enjoyment to him. The
23
George Morland
sordid life of after-years was rather imposed upon him
than sought. Whether sought or imposed, it was no
measure of his true affections ; he always nurtured tfye
perception of something better. His mind, in the midst
of the gross pleasures that ultimately overwhelmed him,
always looked back for its true refreshment to those
field-days of his youth that were passed with his friend
in their simple country walks.
Until George was fourteen years of age he received no
systematic art training. No pressure was necessary to
persuade him to draw and paint, for such occupations
were his delight; and every moment that could be
spared from the studies of his general education found
him busy with pencil or brush. He drew from the flat,
and from casts; tried his hand at modelling a ship —
the parts of which he learned from the Encyclopaedia in
his father's library; and turned his attention to the
anatomy of mice, which he caught, killed, and dis-
sected.
At the age often (in 1773) he produced some draw-
ings, tinted with pastels, and exhibited them at the
Royal Academy. Some of his biographers
bxhibi n say that George entered the Academy as
a student at a very early age, and studied
- . there many years; but this is contradicted
emy> by Dawe and Blagdon, who are probably
right. Dawe says, "from an over-anxious
regard to his morals, he was not permitted to study
at the Academy; he, nevertheless, once, about his
twentieth year, unknown to his father, showed some
24
Domestic Happiness" (p. 61).
Home Education
of his drawings to the Keeper, and obtained permission
to draw as a candidate for becoming a student; yet,
whatever some of his biographers have advanced to
the contrary, he drew there only three nights, though
he occasionally attended the lectures." This statement
is obviously quite consistent with the assertion of
J. T. Smith, the author of Nolle kens and his
Times, who says that he was a fellow- ^ . '
student with Morland at the Academy
" during the short time he drew there."
George appears to have received at home a fair
general education. He knew a little Latin; could,
probably, translate French, for he found in Voltaire
some subjects for his pencil, though when he was in
France he says he could not understand the language
as spoken. He was a great reader, and had at home
the advantage of a good library, where he found and
read the English classics; and he manifested both a
fondness and a talent for music. Like Gainsborough
(who purchased every kind of musical instrument and
paid ten guineas for a book of music), Morland acquired
considerable skill on the violin, which he learned as a
child; he performed, too, upon the piano and hautboy,
and also sang, having a good bass voice. These
accomplishments he kept up all his life, and was ever
ready to afford others pleasure by their exercise.
At the age of fourteen George was articled to his
father for seven years. If his art training had been
up to this time desultory, it now became systematic
and persistive. His father considered that every
George Morland
moment that was not spent by the boy in his studio
was time wasted. This constant application to study
was not felt by George as a burden, for his
Articled soJe desire wag tQ learn aU that he cQuld
of the subject he loved so well. He worked
all day long, and in the winter evenings
made drawings by lamplight. When the long days
came he found time to read. He studied the anatomy
of the human form and of animals, drew from the
antique, learned perspective, copied a large number
of prints in black-and-white, moulded in clay, repro-
ducing Gainsborough's horse and other casts, and
made many copies of that artist's picture of pigs.
To George's native genius we must add the know-
ledge of the principles of art which he acquired by
unflagging industry; and remember, too, that he had
at hand many advantages for study, and a library of
art books, as well as the constant guidance of his
father, who, though far inferior in talent to his son,
was recognized as a good judge of art, and was well
qualified to teach its ground-work. On the other hand,
George laboured under the disadvantage of working
alone; of receiving encouragement and commendation
almost solely from his parents and family (together,
no doubt, with their unsparing criticisms) — an en-
couragement which with young people generally is
insufficient to stimulate their best endeavours. It is,
therefore, to his greater credit that, notwithstanding
this isolation, he worked on steadily and progressed
by giant strides.
26
CHAPTER III.
MORLAND'S EARLY DAYS.
Royal Academy, 1778-79— Mr. Angerstein — Fuseli's "Nightmare"
— R.A., 1780-81 — Royal Incorporated Society of Artists — An
offer from Romney — Growing ambition — Drawing from memory —
"The Cheshire Cheese" — Gravesend and North Foreland —
Freshwater Gate — R.A., 1784 — An offer from J. A. Gresse —
Personal appearance — Portraits of Morland — Launching upon the
world.
AT the age of fifteen (in 1778) two drawings by George
Morland were exhibited at the Royal Academy, and
again in the year following his name appears
in the Catalogue. During his articles he °^
had opportunities of copying the works of
the best masters, and availed himself of
them. The Flemish and Dutch painters of land-
scape and genre particularly attracted him, and at
this time he copied their works diligently. He also
painted many pictures after Joseph Vernet, Gains-
borough, and German drawings. Vernet's sea-pieces
drew his attention to the charms of coast scenes, which
he often depicted afterwards from subjects that he
found in the Isle of Wight, near Whitby, Dover, and
Brighton; but these are, perhaps, the least striking of
27
George Morland
Morland's works. Their composition is often faulty;
the ideas of space and action which marine subjects
should suggest were not commonly in accord with his
feeling; for in his art he favoured most, and best
succeeded in, those scenes, confined or closed,
which, unlike the restless sea, the vast horizon, the
threatening heavens, or frowning cliffs, awaken
ideas of peace, contentment, comradeship, and good
cheer.
To Mr. Angerstein, the banker and art collector, our
artist was indebted for permission to copy Sir Joshua
Reynolds's picture of " Garrick between Tragedy and
Comedy." Fuseli (who, like Morland, received much
encouragement from Sir Joshua) allowed George to
copy his "Nightmare" — a picture which was painted
. in 1782, and was engraved. Fuseli's work,
opytng however, did not appeal to the higher
spheres of the youth's imagination, but rather excited
his humour, and afforded him the opportunity of a
practical joke; for, according to Dawe, "he repre-
sented the fiend smoking a pipe, with a cocked hat,
powdered hair, and spurs; a jug of ale is placed on the
bosom of the sleeping nymph, whose relaxed hand
drops an empty glass. The imaginary steed is bridled
and furnished with horns."
We may say of George Morland what Cunningham
says of Hogarth, that he " considered copying other
men's works to resemble pouring wine out of one vessel
into another; there was no increase of quantity, and
the flavour of the vintage was liable to evaporate. He
28
Popular Ballads
wished to gather in the fruit, press the grapes, and
pour out the wine for himself."
When George was seventeen, we again find him
exhibiting at the Royal Academy — this time a land-
scape drawing; and in the year following,
his picture, " A Hovel with Asses," was
exhibited there. A work by his brother
Henry also appears in the Academy Cata-
logue of 1781. In the same year George Morland was
elected a Fellow of the Royal Incorporated Society of
Artists, and became a frequent contributor to its
exhibitions. At about this time Morland painted a
series of pictures from Spenser's Faerie Qucene, drew
some political caricatures, and illustrated a number of
ballads, such as " Auld Robin Gray," "Margaret's
Ghost," "Young Roger came tapping at Dolly's
Window," " My name it is Jack Hall," " I am a Bold
Shoemaker," and popular ditties of the day. Some of
these drawings were reproduced, and the prints had
a large circulation. Although nothing in the way of
drawing came amiss to him, we can well believe that
these subjects did not appeal to the young artist, and
that they were pressed upon him by his father because
they were saleable.
In addition to all this work under the paternal eye,
young George used to paint on his own account in
secret, and to sell his productions as occa-
sion offered, to supply himself with pocket-
money. J. T. Smith says that "Mr.
Franks, the builder, was one of the first persons who
29
George Morland
encouraged his [Morland's] juvenile applications; and
to that gentleman's house, whenever young Morland
wanted a half-crown, he would go to drink tea, and by
drawing carts, horses, and dogs, by memory, he would
thus provide himself."
Morland senior, though economical, was not mean,
and if — as seems to have been the case — he kept his
son short of money, it was not because he was close,
but because he feared that George would make a
wrong use of it. This attitude towards the lad, whose
disposition was natural and open, tended to make him
secretive, if not deceitful ; and keeping him in leading
strings until he was twenty-one years of age was not
calculated to develop his self-reliance. His tastes at
this time were exceedingly simple and his wants easily
satisfied. We are told that he was "gay and inde-
pendent, and withal so frugal that a pennyworth of
ginger-bread would suffice him a whole day through a
walk of twenty miles, during which few things escaped
his observation, and nothing that he observed was for-
gotten."
George's father, according to some writers, was
avaricious and exploited his son's talents for his own
, gain ; but there is evidence of the contrary.
°ys It was through his father's influence that
Romney offered to article young Morland to
himself for three years, and to give him a salary of
£300 a year. Had the father been avaricious he
would not have encouraged a proposal which was
against his own interest. George was now a young
30
New Style
man, and felt that he should have more liberty. His
ambition to get on in his profession was growing", and
he knew that if he were allowed a free hand he could
make his mark. It was not because his father sweated
him that he was anxious for his apprenticeship to come
to an end, but because he wanted to venture upon the
new style that was forming- in his brain ; and the home
atmosphere, the cold light of the studio, and his
father's pedantic methods were uncongenial to this
project. He began to crave to go to Nature for his
models, and to live amidst them in the pure air of the
countryside. He was impatient to set out upon this
pleasant journey into a new land of rich promise, and
so he declined Romney's offer.
Dawe says that George Morland "never drew upon
the spot," but from recollection alone. This can apply
only to the period of his life passed at home, for we
know that in after-years he took every opportunity of
sketching out-of-doors, and took an enormous amount
of trouble to have before him the actual objects he
wanted to paint. A very rough sketch from Nature
will fix its object indelibly on the mind of him who
makes it, but when George was a boy he had no oppor-
tunities of making such sketches. He was, however,
able to recall any scene that had impressed
him, long after the event, without any aid to
memory; and some striking examples of •**
this are on record. There was a romantic cmo>
spot near London called " The Sandpits and Hanging
Wood," situated between Charlton and Woolwich. This
31
George Morland
place was visited by George in the course of one of his
rambles with his friend Philip Dawe. Three months
afterwards the former made some drawings of the
scene, with men digging and loading their carts,
barrows, and asses with sand — just as he had seen it;
and the whole subject, both as to the place and its
incidents, was reproduced with such fidelity that Dawe
could not believe that it had not been sketched on
the spot. Again, Blagdon says that George Morland's
"retention of memory was such that seeing a land
storm at Brighton, he painted it most admirably three
years afterwards."
At the age of nineteen George began to kick against
the pricks of paternal government. He yearned to go
into the world to see for himself what it was
u *ng iike . t0 find companions of his own years, to
at the ...... . . ~ , .
. join in their amusements, and to confide in
them his ambitions. The picture that his
father had drawn (with better intent than judgment) of
the vices of the town, in order to reconcile his son to the
restraints imposed upon his liberty, was so exaggerated
as to be unconvincing, and had the effect of exciting
the young man's curiosity concerning the snares it was
supposed to depict, rather than of alarming him at their
dangers.
Up to this time George had never been allowed to
spend an evening abroad, except at the house of Mr.
Philip Dawe, "the only person with whom his parents
would trust him, as they could rely on his not leaving
their son till he had seen him safe home."
32
New Experiences
On one of these evenings abroad, George made the
acquaintance of a Smoking Club, at "The Cheshire
Cheese," in Russell Court, and was enrolled
a member thereof. The jovial fellows of this e
Society were known to their intimates as urc^
"The Congress." Whether or not Mor-
land was introduced to the Club by his friend, we
cannot say ; but we must conclude that Philip Dawe
was one of its members, for in George's letters to him
written later, when he was absent from London, he
asked Dawe, on more than one occasion, to give his
" compliments to the Congress."
The Smoking Club (where his gay disposition, lively
wit, and merry song made him a great favourite)
afforded him his first taste of convivial society, and he
found it so congenial that he used to pass a portion of
every evening there. After a while his restless and
adventurous spirit craved a wider experience and took
him farther a-field. For two whole days nothing was
heard of him. As this was the first time that George
had openly defied the regulations of his father's estab-
lishment, we may here relate the circumstance in some
detail, more especially as it throws some light upon his
character.
It appears that one night after leaving "The Con-
gress" at "The Cheshire Cheese," instead of going
home as usual, he took it into his head to
go by the hoy to Gravesend, where he J
arrived at two o'clock the next morning. It Gravesend
was characteristic of George that he always acted on
33 D
George Morland
impulse — always without any plan; and as soon as he
found himself in the dilemma of his own creation, which
was certain to follow, he became alarmed. In such
event he would turn to the nearest friend for counsel,
which was gladly given and gratefully received, but
always ignored. So, when George found himself landed
at Gravesend he knew not where to go nor what to do.
Falling in with a carpenter and a sailor, he decided to
join company with them, and the three walked together
for some miles across country. The carpenter, who
carried an axe and a saw, left the party after a while,
and George was glad to be rid of a companion armed
with such formidable weapons ; but great was his alarm
when he discovered that the sailor with whom he was
left carried a bludgeon. He soon, however, made
friends with his companion, and tramped along with
him until daylight, when they reached Chatham. There
they found a tavern ; had a drink of gin and purl (a
decoction of wormwood with milk and ale), and after
a rest, passed the day in sailing to the North Foreland
and back, in which voyage the small trading vessel
which carried them was nearly wrecked. The day
following, George parted company with the sailor,
found his way back to Gravesend, and ultimately,
without more adventure, turned up at " The Cheshire
Cheese," much "elated with his exploits."
Dawe tells us that during this frolic the mind of
George "had not been idle, but, availing himself ot
his wonted talent for conversation, he brought back
such a store of nautical information as astonished the
34
Drawing from Memory
company [at the Club]. Having been previously well
acquainted with the various parts of a ship, from his
general instructor the Encyclopaedia, in the course of
this excursion he learned the application of some part
of his knowledge."
And so it was always, wherever he went and what-
ever he saw, George made a note of; and what he
considered too valuable to be entrusted to the keeping
of his memory alone, he confided to his constant
companion his sketch-book.
In Tears of Nature; an Elegy, by W. Sandos, pub-
lished in 1804, the author says — "Mr. Morland being at
a place called Freshwater Gate on the Isle
of Wight, he was recognized by a friend in " Merry^
a low public-house known by the name of
'The Cabin.' A number of fishermen, a few sailors, and
three or four rustics composed the homely group; he
was in the midst of them, contributing to the joke and
partaking of their harmless, though noisy merriment.
On his friends expostulating with him the next day on
his keeping such worthless company, he drew from his
pocket a sketch-book, and asked where he was to meet
such a picture of humble life unless it was in such a
place as that. The sketch was a correct delineation of
everything in 'The Cabin' tap-room, even to a stool, a
settle, a countenance, or the position of a figure. This
representation his memory had supplied after leaving
the house, and one of his finest pictures was that very
scene he then so accurately sketched." The quick mind
of our artist was always on the alert to seize fresh
35
George Morland
impressions that might be useful to him in his studies :
we cannot separate him from his work ; he was always
engaged in the service of his art, always looking in the
most unlikely places for something to please our
imagination or win our sympathy; and as he always
ignored what was coarse in his experience and refined
what was crude, we can accept as true what his friend
Sandos says — namely, that though he delighted to
mingle with the lower classes and even to join in their
revels, "it was beyond a doubt for the sole purpose
of delineating Nature as she is."
Michaud says of George Morland that " to find
subjects, he had only to look around him." This is
but a part of the truth. To find subjects
oice of jn wkat was arouncj hjm required not only
an eye to see, but a mind to discern.
Every country lane is a museum of natural history,
but only the botanist appreciates the fact. Morland
had the perception, but, unhappily, the subjects that
most appealed to his genius were largely those that
were associated with conditions that were dangerous
for one of his impressionable and pleasure-loving
temperament. He did not, however, choose his sub-
jects because they were around him, but chose his
surroundings that he might find in them his subjects.
This choice was at his own risk, and no one knew it
better than he who suffered by it. If the shortcomings
of George Morland steal into our thoughts, let us as
well entertain the recollection that, however he may
have been impaired by his excesses, he never allowed
36
J. A. Gresse
them to taint his art, and always strove to give to the
world his best.
His biographer Collins, who does not spare Morland's
character, says of his works, " there is nothing in any
one of the thousands of pictures and drawings we have
seen that can offend the eye of decency, or create a
loathing in the most delicate taste." From such a
source this testimony may be accepted as final.
During the period of his Articles, Morland painted
"The Angler's Repast," and "A Party Angling,"
which were both engraved by W. Ward in 1780; and
"Children Nutting," engraved by Edwin Dayes in
1783-
In the year 1784 two pictures by Morland were
exhibited at the Royal Academy — one entitled, "A Fog
in'September," and the other illustrating an incident in
the Vicar of Wakcfield.
At about this time Morland received an advantageous
proposal from J. A. Gresse, an artist with a large
teaching connection, who in 1777 was
appointed drawing-master to the Royal •;'
Family. Gresse, it may be mentioned, was
associated with Bartolozzi in etching the illustrations
for Kennedy's Description of the Antiquities and Curi-
osities of Wilton House (1769). Bryan tells us that he was
a very fat man, and was nicknamed "Jack Grease."
This proposal Morland rejected, says Dawe, because
he was " so bashful, and had such an aversion to all
control that he could not be induced to engage in any
constant employment." The true reason was, prob-
37
George Morland
ably, that which influenced him in rejecting Romney's
offer — namely, that he wanted to be his own master
that he might strike out in a line of his own. He
abhorred convention of every form, and longed to
breathe the pure atmosphere of Nature free of academic
germs; he had no ambition to become a fashionable
portrait-painter, and soared above the imaginative
flights of a drawing-master.
George Morland was now twenty-one years of age,
and although the term of his Articles had expired, he
remained at home another six months before
J £e he went forth into the world to earn his own
livelihood. From Dawe we learn that at this period
George had the character of being polite and well-
informed; that, notwithstanding his shyness, he took
every opportunity of gaining information from the
professional men he met, and was a good conversa-
tionalist in all societies. "Indeed," he says, "his
talent for seizing advantage appears always to have
been one of his chief means of improvement, and
while young, there was something so engaging in his
countenance, voice, and manners, which were modest
and respectful, that he everywhere excited a preposses-
sion in his favour."
This appreciation Dawe must have obtained from his
father, Philip Dawe, since he himself could not have
known George when young; but he may well have
observed the artist's genial nature and faculty of
pleasing all about him, since he retained these qualities
despite all his vicissitudes.
38
Personal Appearance
From the same source we learn that young Morland's
"person was agreeable, and of the middle size," and
that he had an excellent constitution. "His forehead
was high, with the frontal veins singularly apparent
when under the influence of passion or intense thought;
his eyes were dark hazel, full, and somewhat piercing;
his nose was rather aquiline, and his mouth intelligent,
producing altogether a penetrating and expressive
countenance."
We have several portraits of Morland. There is a
chalk drawing of him by himself as a youth, and also a
small painting in oils representing him as a
child of about thirteen years, both of which
are in the National Portrait Gallery, London. mr i *
We take as the most trustworthy the portrait
by J. R. Smith (1792), which has been reproduced in
photogravure as the frontispiece to this book. There is
a strong resemblance between this and the portraits of
Morland by Robert Muller (engraved by W. Ward),
and by Mrs. Jones, in Hassall's work (taken in 1792),
when Morland was in the fulness of his powers.
Smith's work was engraved by Charles Picart, and
Dawe tells us that "it was esteemed an excellent
likeness."
As there are contradictory statements by his bio-
graphers concerning Morland's launch upon the world,
it may be useful to draw attention to them so that we
may regard with caution the evidence of their authors
in other matters of fact. Hassall, who probably was
unacquainted with the elder Morland, and seems to
39
George Morland
have had very false notions of his character, and who
met George for the first time after he had left his home,
says George " at length determined to make his escape
from the rigid confinement which paternal authority had
imposed upon him ; and wild as a young- quadruped that
had broke loose from his den, at length, though late,
effectually accomplished his purpose." Here the artist
is represented as a prisoner, who, after much striving
for liberty, breaks his bars and succeeds in escaping
from his gaoler. On the other hand, J. T. Smith, in
Nollekens and his Times, makes the gaoler open the doors
of the prison-house, and, unsolicited, kick his prisoner
out. He says —
" Young George was of so unsettled a disposition,
that his father, being fully aware of his extraordinary
talents, was determined to force him to get his own
living, and gave him a guinea, with something like the
following observation : — * I am determined to encourage
your idleness no longer; there — take that guinea, and
apply to your art and support yourself!' This," con-
tinues Smith, " Morland told me, and added that from
that moment he commenced, and continued wholly on
his own account."
These two statements, which are conflicting, are
both opposed to Dawe's evidence, which we take as
trustworthy ; for Philip Dawe, the biographer's father,
who had known George from a child, must have been
well acquainted with all the circumstances of the case.
He and George were at the time in constant touch;
they were intimate friends, both members of "The
40
" Trepanning a. Recruit" (p. 75).
Starting in Life
Congress," and, therefore, boon companions; and
must have often discussed together the scheme that
George had in his mind for starting in life on his own
account, and the best way of carrying it out. If the
elder Morland had wished to get rid of his son, he
would not have suffered him to remain at home after
the expiration of his Articles ; nor would George have
returned to his father's house a few months later (as
he did) had he been previously kicked out of it, or, we
may add, if he had been sweated when there.
CHAPTER IV.
STARTING IN LIFE.
Martlett's Court, Bow Street— Flight to Margate— Letters to P. Dawe
— Impressions of Dover — Mrs. Hill — Portrait-painting — Sketches
and Studies — Jenny — Occupations — Visit to "The Congress" —
Riding in Races — Preparing for his visit to France.
IT was not until Morland was about nineteen years of
age that he found the allowance made him by his
father insufficient to gratify his growing
Os L' tastes for expensive pleasures. The con-
Pleasures yivial meeting.s at « The Cheshire Cheese"
taxed his slender purse ; he had acquired, as we have
seen by his voyage to the North Foreland, a taste for
travel, which in those days was a costly one ; it appears,
too, that his love of horses, which was strong in him all
his life, broke out at this period, and that he used to
treat himself to horse exercise, and also his friends on
frequent occasions. To supplement his pocket-money
that he might satisfy these tastes he was obliged to sell
his drawings, and, through the services of a friend,
found a publisher of Drury Lane who was ready to buy
them.
George was too nervous and shy to carry out these
42
Bow Street Lodgings
business transactions himself, and even in after-life
he would sooner obtain half the value of a work by
disposing" of it through an intermediary, than the whole
value by selling it himself. This aversion to negotiate
with dealers, if originally due to his native shyness,
was strengthened by his experience of the Drury Lane
publisher, who appears to have been a low character.
This man, finding a ready market for George's produc-
tions, was very eager to come into direct touch with
the artist that he might secure them on better terms.
After some time he succeeded in doing so, and was
quick to perceive that he could profit by George's
easy-going disposition and ignorance of the world. At
length, by flattery and promises, he induced Morland
to leave his home and to come and live near him in a
lodging which he had secured in Martlett's Court, Bow
Street. " Here," says Dawe, " Morland
was doomed to drudge at his employer's
price, which was contrived to be but just
sufficient to procure him subsistence, lest he should
gradually acquire the means of being independent of
him. He would not allow him to work for any other
person, and the better to prevent it, was almost con-
tinually at his elbow. His meals were carried up to
him by his employer's boy, and when his dinner was
brought, which generally consisted of sixpennyworth
of meat from the cook-shop, with a pint of beer, he
would sometimes venture to ask if he might not
have a pennyworth of pudding." George may have
secured the pudding, but if he asked (as he sometimes
43
George Morland
was moved to do) for five shillings, he got only curses
with a half-crown.
In this servitude the young artist worked for some
months, and turned out a sufficient number of pictures
and drawings " to fill a room." The publisher charged
half-a-crown for admission to this show, and we are
told that many of George's productions there were
added to the collection of Lord Grosvenor.
At first sight one would suppose that no young man
of spirit would have supported such servitude for a
. single week; but we must remember that
Servitude thjg wag Morland»s first experience in his
endeavour to earn his own living, and the knowledge
that he was supporting himself, and was no longer
a burden on his father (who, if we may judge by his
frequent change of residence, was then in pecuniary
difficulties), might afford him some compensation for
his discomforts. Again, George, who always acted
upon impulse without considering consequences, knew
that his situation was one of his own making, and
being too proud or too obstinate to admit his mistakes,
he would naturally put up with the inconveniences they
entailed rather than expose himself to the censure or
ridicule of his friends by disclosing his embarrassment.
We must remember also that the hard work he was
put to by his greedy employer was not such a burden
to him, who was in the habit of working hard, as it
would have been to one who had not acquired the habit
of industry and was unaccustomed to discipline. So
the mere fact that he remained as long as he did with
44
Working under Difficulties
his taskmaster is not necessarily a proof of a poor
spirit. It certainly shows that he could not have been
largely influenced by a passion for pleasure, though he
must have experienced some measure of enjoyment
from his work, otherwise his situation would have
been intolerable. But he was disappointed with his
venture; his imagination in his new conditions had no
play; he could not enlarge his knowledge, and was
forced to repeat himself; he was not even allowed to
choose his own subjects. All this was irksome and
trying to the young artist, who had dreams of advancing
in his profession by creating a new style. But when
after a while his employer began to select subjects for
his pictures which were intended to appeal to the
depraved tastes of his clients, George found his
position insufferable and determined to put an end
to it.
If the ideals of Morland the artist were not of the
loftiest type, neither were they low. In his art what
is coarse and debasing found no place, and we can
readily believe that he threw up his employment by
the Drury Lane mercenary when it threatened to be-
come repulsive to his taste and degrading to his
talent.
Where a difficult situation was possible, George
found nothing easier than to bring it about and to
plunge into its midst. In extricating him-
self therefrom, he was awkward and un-
reasoning. When his relations with his employer
had become strained beyond endurance, his method of
45
George Morland
getting out of his difficulty was such as a small
school-boy might have conceived: he ran away — after
locking the door of his room and putting its key in
his pocket! This he considered as a good joke, and
enjoyed satisfaction from the knowledge that his rent
to his landlord was overdue, and that his tyrant, who
had engaged the lodging, would be held responsible
for it.
After all, it would seem that the restraints imposed
upon him at Martlett's Court have been exaggerated,
for he was in touch with his friends all the time, and
made new ones. We are told that upon leaving home
he became acquainted with Sir James Winter-Lake,
Bart. — through the introduction of J. T. Smith — and
painted several pictures for him, including one of his
favourite dog, which was probably executed at his Bow
Street lodgings. He may also have painted whilst
there his charming small pictures entitled " The Lass
of Livingstone " (suggested by Ramsay's songs) and
"How sweet's the love that meets return," for these
were engraved in 1785 by T. Gaugain; and u Love
and Constancy rewarded," engraved in the same year
by Philip Dawe.
During his stay at Martlett's Court his talents had
become known to a certain Mrs. Hill, a lady of means,
who invited him to stay with her at her
Mrs. Hill jlouse at Margate. So when he had made
up his mind to run away from the Drury Lane dealer,
he accepted Mrs. Hill's invitation, and as soon as he
was free hired a horse and rode to Margate. He was
46
Letter to Dawe
fond of horses, considered himself an excellent judge
of them, and was a good rider. He got so attached
to the animal he rode on this occasion that .
he forgot to return it to the owner for *
six or seven weeks. He arrived safely at
his destination, but before settling down there, made
a flying visit to Dover, where he put up for a night at
the " Ship Inn," and thence wrote to his friend Philip
Dawe the following letter, which we extract from
George Dawe's Memoir: —
SHIP INN, DOVER,
Friday.
DAWE, — I arrived at Margate on Wednesday, surveyed the
town on Thursday, and drank tea at Dover on Friday. Here
is one of the pleasantest spots in the world ; a fine view of the
clift and castle, with the pier and shipping ; opposite are the
Calais clifts, which seem so very near as to appear not above
three or four miles over. A very large and pretty town is Dover,
and looks something like London ; but of all the horrible
places that can be imagined Sandwich is the worst. 'Tis very
likely I shall go over to France with Mrs. Hill ; she is talking
about it. My compliments to the Congress, except that Jew-
looking fellow. I have swam my horse in the sea several times.
I should be glad of an answer. — I am, yours, etc.,
MORLAND.
At Margate he put up at the house of Mrs. Hill, who
showed him great kindness, introduced him to all her
friends, and carried out her promise to find him clients.
He soon had as much work as he could do, and seems
47
George Morland
to have been well paid for it. He was probably em-
ployed wholly in portrait-painting at this time. Bryan
says that Morland went to Margate to paint miniatures.
This may be so, and it may account for the compara-
tively small number of portraits by Morland we are able
to name. Two of his miniature paintings were at the
time of his death in the collection of Mr. R. Wedd of
Gerrard Street, Soho, London, the artist's solicitor; but
they were painted probably after his stay at Margate
and were not portraits. These miniatures were both
painted on the lids of snuff-boxes ; one represented a
landscape in water-colours on ivory ; and the other the
inside of a stable, in oils, painted on copper.
But to devote his talents wholly to portraiture was
not what young Morland desired. The new style that
he was thinking about demanded a different
^ training. Between his work and the social
functions that had a claim upon him as the
guest of Mrs. Hill, he found time to make sketches for
his friends of the landscape about, and incidents near
at hand; and also several studies intended for future
use as illustrations of books he had read. We hear of
these occupations of his spare moments in his letters to
his friend Dawe. Again, his new surroundings excited
new interests. The ever-changing sea fascinated him ;
the shipping, the smacks, and other small craft, the
cliffs, sands, and rocks were all new subjects for his
pencil. More attractive to him than these were the
people — the boatmen and shoremen, the fish-wives and
market-folk — of the many types and varieties of calling
48
"Industry and Economy " (p. 76).
Falling in Love
common to seaside towns; and he felt that to know
them, and to study them in their favourite haunts, was
the training" that he wanted. This study was not
possible whilst he was the guest of his patroness, so,
after staying with Mrs. Hill a couple of months, he
removed to a lodging near by that he might be free to
go about and fraternize with the sailors, soldiers,
sportsmen, postboys, farmers, and their following —
all of whom he felt would some day minister to his art.
There was no estrangement on this account between
Mrs. Hill and himself; on the contrary, the good lady
continued to heap upon him her favours, as he grate-
fully acknowledges in his letters. Writing to Dawe on
the i3th of August 1785, George tells his friend that he
has made some sketches for him, and that as he does
not go out of a night he has time to make him some
more ; and he wants to know if Dawe would like him
to choose a subject from a story. He says he has " an
excellent opportunity of drawing some smart women,
as there are many about," and mentions in particular
44 one of the sweetest creatures that ever was seen by
man." She is seventeen years of age, and
over six feet in height, and George has Jenny
fallen in love with her; and what is more, his
affection is returned. George was always falling in
love (like his ancestor, Sir Samuel), and always with
honourable intentions ; and, strange to say, although he
never followed the advice of his friends in other matters,
he was sometimes influenced by them in affairs of the
heart when they threatened to embarrass him.
49 B
George Morland
Speaking of this young girl (who was Mrs. Hill's
maid, Jenny), George goes on to tell his friend that he
would certainly marry her, only marrying would pre-
vent him from going to Paris with Mrs. Hill, which he
has promised to do. And there is another obstacle to
his marriage which we will give in his own words.
"Besides," he writes, "I have a shaking of the hand,
and falling off very fast (these are not very comfortable
symptoms), I begin to reflect a little now, but hope it is
not too late. I have smoked but two pipes since my
absence;" and he adds, " my house for smoking is the
'King's Head' Inn, in High Street, a good, pleasant
house — for at high-water the sea comes to the very
wall of the house, and if you was to fall out of the
window must surely be drowned; but I seldom use it,
by reason the company are so disagreeable — a parcel of
old sleepy fellows."
It was during his stay at Margate that poor George-
then only twenty-two years of age — acquired the taste
for drink. Its growth was favoured by his
. ri ' love of convivial society — of the jovial com-
pany to be found in the taverns, where his
song and his fiddling and boisterous good humour
were always welcome. This taste, which was en-
couraged by the mistaken kindness of his friends, who
made him presents of strong liquors, he overcame for a
while after his marriage; but it returned in later life
when he was sorely pressed by his financial troubles.
There can be no doubt, however, that Morland's
excesses have been grossly exaggerated. This may be
50
Habits at Margate
due (as we have hinted) to the desire to bring into the
strongest relief his genius; or his excesses may appear
worse than they were because of their association with
genius. Whatever the motive or cause, the fact
remains that no man could have produced the amount
and quality of work that George Morland produced
in his short life — but twenty years of manhood — who
had wholly given himself over to gross pleasures, as
Morland is said to have done. We have heard of great
men and of great artists who have at rare intervals
plunged into excesses of one kind or another, but no
one has ever achieved greatness who habitually
wallowed in the mire.
George tells his friend in the letter we have quoted
how he amuses himself. He gets up at about ten
o'clock, takes a gulp of gin, as he has
received a present of some (this, we may say cupa-
in passing, was recommended by the Faculty
of that day, "to clear the chest"); then he breakfasts
with a young gentleman, "some nobleman's brother,"
who is lodging in the same house as himself. At four
o'clock he dines, and after dinner he receives his hair-
dresser; then he dresses, goes for a ride, drinks tea
with his fellow-lodger, and sups at Mrs. Hill's.
In this programme he had five clear hours which he
devoted to work. The habit of working directly after
his breakfast and during the best hours of the day
he adhered to all his life, and he never allowed the
effects of his evening amusements to interfere with this
practice.
5'
George Morland
The young gentleman-lodger referred to was Mr.
Sherborne, a brother of Lord Digby. He was an
amateur of art and music, and much
enjoyed the society of Morland, who used
to give him lessons in painting and took
part with him in his musical recreations. George
Morland had the knack of pleasing all with whom he
came in contact; or as Dawe put it, " he was indeed
blessed with that happy art which unlocks every door
and every bosom." He made a large number of
acquaintances, but cultivated few real friendships, and
soon tired of the company of gentlemen. To his free-
and-easy, open disposition many of the restraints im-
posed by the conventionalities and fashions of Society
were irksome. Impulsive, hilarious, and outspoken
himself, he suspected of untruthfulness and cant those
who measured their words and masked their feelings ;
and so his sympathies went out not so much to people
of his own class as to the unsophisticated rustics, to
those who love the freedom of the open air, to simple
folk, to children, to the gay and light-hearted — to all,
in fact, who make no attempt to conceal their defects
by any kind of veneer. And thus it may be that Mr.
Sherborne and other gentlemen who did him many
kindnesses failed to win his confidence and were not,
perhaps, invariably requited by his appreciation.
Always restless and fond of change (like his father,
brothers, sister Maria, and his ancestor, Sir Samuel),
George, after being three months at Margate, took a
trip to London, and presented himself, without an-
Riding in Races
nouncement, at "The Cheshire Cheese." There he
told the " Congress " of his good luck in falling" in with
Mrs. Hill, enlarged upon his reputation as a .
portrait-painter with her aristocratic friends, ' ri* °
dangled a purse of guineas before them,
and boasted that he could earn as much money as
he liked. Amongst the distinguished persons whose
portraits he had painted, he mentioned Mr. Wedder-
burn, afterwards Lord Loughborough. It was not,
however, to meet the " Congress " that he went to
London, but to see his sweetheart Jenny, who was then
living there with her brother. He lost no time in
visiting her; hired a coach and drove her about the
town to introduce her to his friends and, after a few
days' jollification, returned to Margate.
In another of his letters written at this time, George
tells his friend Dawe that he has commenced "a new
business of jockey to the races"; an occupa-
tion which does not, however, interfere with
his more serious work. He gives an account ° f,
of his experiences in this new venture, and
draws an interesting picture of the incidents of the
Turf in his time. He had gained the reputation of
being the best horseman at Margate, and was invited
to ride for a gentleman in the race for the silver cup
at Mount Pleasant. The event came off, and he was
heavily backed. Here we may let him speak for him-
self—
"Then the drums beat, and we started; 'twas a
four-mile heat, and the first three miles I could not
53
George Morland
keep the horse behind them, being- so spirited an
animal; by that means he exhausted himself, and I
soon had the mortification to see them come galloping-
past me, hissing and laughing, whilst I was spurring
his guts out. A mob of horsemen then gathered round,
telling me I could not ride, which is always the way if
you lose the heat; they began at last to use their whips,
and, finding I could not get away, I directly pulled off
my jacket, laid hold of the bridle, and offered battle to
the man who began first, though he was big enough to
eat me; several gentlemen rode in, and all the mob
turned over to me, and I was led away in triumph with
shouts."
At the Margate Races, in which he next rode, the
amateur jockey fared much worse, although on that
occasion he won the heat by about half a mile. Some
4 'four hundred sailors, smugglers, fishermen, etc.,"
set upon him with sticks and stones, threatened to cut
off his large tail and throw him into the sea. After
many vicissitudes he escaped, and at night joined his
friends at the " King's Head," where the party dis-
cussed three crowns' worth of punch.
To the letter in which he recounts these adventures
he adds a postscript informing Dawe that Jenny writes
to him by every post, and that his marriage with her
will come off in about three weeks. But soon after
writing this he begins to fear that he will ruin his
prospects if he enters into this union.
" If I marry her," he says, " I am undone, by reason
Mrs. Hill must find it out — it cannot be avoided ; her
54
Preparing for France
acquaintances in London would inform her of it in
France, she would then throw me aside. Besides, many
gentlemen would give my acquaintance up,
if I perform my promise with her, and Co™ern*nl
which, as I certainly like her better than any MarriaSe
oilier, I am determined to perform after my arrival in
London, if that should ever happen"
We next hear from George that there has been a
Freemasons' Meeting and a Fox Hunt on the same
day, on which occasion almost everybody in Margate
was drunk. The day following almost all his male
sitters disappointed him. "Some sent me word that
they were engaged," he says; "some not very well;
others could not get their hair dressed; but I found it
was one general disorder."
He was now looking forward with pleasure to his
visit to France, and was busy getting ready to start.
He found time, however, to paint seven pictures for
the Royal Academy, and to make a sketch for Dawe
which illustrated a page from Voltaire, who seems to
have been a favourite author with Morland, for this
was not the first time he had drawn inspiration from
his works.
55
CHAPTER V.
CALAIS TO CAMDEN TOWN.
Calais— Saint Omer— J. M. W. Turner— W. Ward— Morland goes
to Kensal Green — His marriage — Marylebone — He becomes a
teacher of morals — The " Laetitia" series — Camden Town —
Morland's humour — His industry — R.A., 1786 — Irwin.
MORLAND and Mrs. Hill left Dover somewhere about
the end of October 1785, and landed at Calais after a
remarkably quick passage of only one hour
At Calais &nd thirty.two minutes. There George was
surprised to find " everything so different" about him
considering the short distance he had travelled. At
Calais he put up at the Hotel d'Angleterre kept by
M. Dessein: the same gentleman, perhaps, of whom
Sterne says — " I looked at him through and through —
eyed him as he walked along in profile — then en face —
thought he looked like a Jew — then a Turk — disliked
his wig — cursed him by my gods — wished him at the
devil."
George complains of the cold ; of his large room
with a vast fireplace, but a small fire; of the height of
the bed into which he was obliged to jump ; of the bad
quality of French pens and paper; of the wobbling
legs of the hotel tables; and of the waiters, whose
56
" Triumph of Benevolence " (p. 76).
French Habits and Customs
language lie could not understand. On the other
hand, he enjoyed his claret, and found his supper and
tea both good and cheap. The next day George and
Mrs. Hill took the diligence to St. Omer, where they
arrived the same afternoon. There he met some of his
Margate friends, and received many "pressing invita-
tions" from the gentry to paint their portraits. His
impressions of local customs and habits are worth
noting. He writes to Dawe on October 28th, 1785 —
''The church-music of France is something very
strange, as it consists of country-dances; and they are
remarkably fond of the tune of ' Nancy
Dawson,' which they never play in church
but of Sundays. When a person dies the ™J'
bells are set a-ringing, as we do for a rejoic-
ing day. There is very little to be heard in
the town except drums and bells, and little to be seen
except priests and soldiers, as the genteel people never
walk out on foot, and there are only two coaches for
hire ; you may have fourpenny fares ; they only charge
according to the distance. The women never have any
hats, and in the hardes^ rains they only throw their
gowns over their heads."
George had scarcely settled himself down at St. Omer
before he thought of taking a trip to London, just to
shake hands with his old friends at "The
Cheshire Cheese," and to stand them a fare- "
well supper; for he felt sure that after this
flying visit he would never again return to England.
He was delighted with France, where there was no
57
George Morland
danger of being- robbed, where travelling was very cheap,
and where one might live very well on thirty pounds a
year ; and he had made up his mind to establish him-
self there permanently.
This resolution was, however, of short life, for he
passed the winter of that year at Margate, and returned
to London for good in the next spring.
We may note in passing, that two years later
J. M. W. Turner, then a boy of twelve, set out for
Margate to go to school there. There is no
evidence that he ever met Morland, nor is it
probable that had they known one another
they would have found much in common in their dis-
positions ; still less in their feeling for art. Morland
passed away whilst the great landscape-painter was still
in the period of his first style. The subdued colouring
of Turner's work, its conventional composition, and
the gloomy spirit that so often pervaded it at that
period were quite foreign to Morland's art. Turner's
bold handling must have been appreciated by Morland,
as the latter's manner was admired by Turner, who (as
Dr. Hughes points out in his article in Social England]
imitated it in his early oil-paintings, as he imitated
Wilson, Poussin, Claude, and the Dutch marine-
painters.
We are told by Ruskin that "Turner's more or less
respectful contemplation of Reynolds, Loutherbourg,
Wilson, Gainsborough, Morland, and Wilkie was inci-
dentally mingled with his graver studies," but no special
mention is made of Turner's estimate of Morland.
58
Difficulties Dissolved
On George's return to London he went to see his
parents, and stayed with them for a while. His mind
was disturbed concerning" his promise; for
as he had no assured employment, he felt -
that to marry in such circumstances would
fft v V'Pfl
be courting" distress. He confided his
trouble to a friend, who advised him to break off
his engagement with his fiancee. That this was the
prudent course Morland admitted, but he could not
make up his mind to adopt it. He had given his
promise to marry Jenny, and was prepared to carry it
out; and so he asked his friend to go and see her, and
ascertain, if possible, her views and, if necessary, fix the
wedding-day. This his ambassador did, but in pre-
senting- the case he drew such a doleful picture of
George's health and circumstances that Jenny's brother
became alarmed and angry and, roundly abusing Mor-
land for attempting to deceive his sister, refused to
allow the marriage to take place.
Relieved of the embarrassment occasioned by his
love affair, George's usual good spirits returned. The
absence of regular employment was no longer a cause
of worry ; he felt sure of always being able to earn
his own livelihood, and now that his mind was undis-
turbed about Jenny, his health gave him no further
anxiety. This peaceful state was friendly to the
recrudescence of the tender passion, and consequently
in a very short time after his connection with Mrs.
Hill's maid had been broken off, George again fell
desperately in love. The object of his affection was
59
George Morland
a young woman in domestic service. He made up his
mind to act on this occasion with promptitude, and
as usual confided his intentions to a friend, whom he
persuaded to set out with him to call upon the girl's
father — who was a tailor — to ask his consent to his
union with his daughter. The two young men started
on this " enterprise of pith and moment," but after
walking some distance, George's friend relented taking
part in the proceedings and left his companion to pro-
secute his love affair himself. The effect of this was
that, when George found himself alone before the
tailor's dwelling, his courage completely failed him
and he beat a hasty retreat, thinking, the while, that
it was easier for him to console himself in the loss of
his sweetheart than to tackle her sartorial father.
The works of few artists have been so largely repro-
duced by engravers as those of Morland, and although
he is said to have painted some four thousand pictures,
and made besides an enormous number of drawings
and studies, it is by such reproductions that he has
become familiar to the general public and has secured
his world-wide popularity. A very important incident,
therefore, in his life was his friendship with
W/Z//Z0W William Ward, the engraver, to whom he
was indebted for the reproduction of a large
number of his most important works. The two young
men of about the same age (Morland being the elder by
three years) had pursuits in common, and both were
passionately fond of music; and they conceived that
it would be mutually profitable and pleasant to live
60
Teacher of Morals
together. So after staying at home a few weeks,
Morland left his parents and took lodgings in the
house of Ward, who was then living with his mother
and sisters at the hamlet of Kensal Green. This
arrangement was productive of some noteworthy
results. Never before had George experienced such
congenial surroundings as he now enjoyed; the com-
panionship of his friend had a good influence upon
him; musical evenings at home took the place of the
boisterous fun of the smoking clubs, and his daily
intercourse with the Ward family, who appreciated
his talents and urged his ambition, gave to his work
a fresh impulse and a new direction. He now became
a teacher of morals, and under these happy conditions
produced many instructive works in the genre style,
which at once established his reputation as a painter
of no ordinary merit. Amongst these may be men-
tioned "The Idle" and "The Industrious Mechanic,"
"The Idle Laundress," and the "Industrious Cottager,"
which latter pair were engraved by W. Blake. He
produced, probably, about this time, " Domestic
Happiness," engraved by Ward in 1787, and "The
Happy Family," engraved by J. Dean in the same
year. He also painted a scene from Tom Jones,
engraved by W. Ward in 1786. Through Morland's
friendship with the Ward family he became acquainted
with Ward's sister Anne, whom Allan Cunningham
describes as "a young lady of beauty and modesty."
Of her personal appearance we can judge by the
portraits of her which Morland introduced into his
61
George Morland
pictures " The Cottagers," where she is represented
with the artist; in "Diligence" and "Idleness," in
"The Disconsolate and her Parrot," and in others of
his works.
As a matter of course, the heart of the susceptible
young fellow was captured by this lady's charms.
With the approval of her family, he straightway paid
her his addresses, and pressed his suit "with such
ardour and perseverance " that, to his great joy, the
lady accepted him, and they were shortly
a[l s afterwards married at Hammersmith Church
Marriage in july I786> Collins says that "the general
remark upon the occasion was, that a prettier couple
had never graced the interior of that sacred edifice in
the memory of the oldest spectator present."
Let us take this opportunity of contradicting Allan
Cunningham, who alleges that "Morland married with-
out being in love, and treated his wife with careless-
ness, because he was incapable of feeling the merits of
modesty or domestic worth." Cunningham wrote his
Life of Morland twenty-six years after the death of the
artist, whom, probably, he never knew. Dawe, who tells
quite a different story, had a far better opportunity of
learning the facts of the case. He says that Morland
and his wife "were sincerely attached to each other,
insomuch that the one was extremely alarmed and
affected whenever the other happened to be indisposed."
Nor is the story true that Morland at any time deserted
his wife. His jaunts into the country in search of
material for his pictures, his association with people
62
Marriage and Marylebone
below his own rank, in the same quest, his irregular
habits and lack of appreciation of domestic rules and
order, and the necessity of concealing himself, at times,
from his creditors were often causes of separation from
his wife, and probably of petty differences between
them; but in all cases he made provision for her
welfare and comfort to the full extent of his means.
From first to last Morland was on good terms with his
mother-in-law and her family, with whom he and his
wife went to stay on more than one occasion; a fact
which is wholly at variance with the allegation that Mrs.
Morland was neglected and ill-treated by her husband.
A month after Morland's union with Anne, William
Ward married our artist's sister Maria; and the two
young couples set up housekeeping together in High
Street, Marylebone. This joint adventure was not a
success, and came to an end in about three months,
when the Morlands moved into a cottage at Camden
Town — then a rural quarter.
During the three months at Marylebone, Morland
had been hard at work, for he there painted the series
of six pictures known as "Laetitia; or,
Seduction," and entitled respectively " Do- "Laettila
mestic Happiness," "The Elopement,"
" Dressing for the Masquerade," " The Tavern Door,"
"The Virtuous Parent," and "The Fair Penitent."
In these works (which were engraved by J. R. Smith
in 1789) the story is developed of the elopement of a
young woman from her peaceful home, of her desertion
by her lover, of her degradation and misery, and of her
63
George Morland
return as a penitent to her parents' arms. The artist
(of twenty-three years of age) tells his story in a
natural and unaffected manner, and wins our sympathy
by its pathos and truth. The narration is not over-
charged— there is no straining after effect, and yet it
is convincing, a true indication of power. If it lacks
the brutal force of Hogarth, it possesses a grace and
refinement which Hogarth lacks; and its moral is not
less impressive because it is subtly conveyed, rather
than literally enforced.
Of these pictures, Dawe says that "the taste and
sentiment here displayed show Morland, at this time,
to have entertained in a great degree refined concep-
tions of virtue." By the expression "at this time,"
. one might suppose that this was Morland's
\ a sole effort of a didactic character, and con-
Picturcs clude that ag Qne blessed day (as Aristotle
says) does not make happiness, so the moral lesson of
this example is no criterion of the true tone of the heart
that inspired it. But the " Laetitia" pictures were not
a mere flash in the pan, but were preceded by other
instructive subjects and, as will presently appear, were
followed by a large number of similar works.
There was a demand for these moral subject-pictures,
and he may have been induced to paint them because
it was so ; but there would have been no demand for
Morland's moral works had they not been stamped
with the artist's true mind and feeling. The merit of
such pictures, more than of any other kind, must
depend upon the individuality of the painter, for they
64
Moral Subject-pictures
do not present themselves to his eye, as do the subjects
of still-life, but to his imagination, and derive their
force and truth from the moral sentiment which clothes
them and urges them into being. As ideas that can-
not be imaged cannot be conveyed, so in proportion as
an artist feels the truth of the story he tells can he
arrest attention and awaken feeling in others. He
cannot convince if he have no conviction, and his
works without his faith must be dead. Morland's
moral lessons were prized because they carried con-
viction, and therefore must have been taught by one
who believed in them himself. Let us give him credit,
too, for practising them in many directions. He ex-
posed shams and hated them, he preached and practised
generosity, constancy, kindness, diligence, and hos-
pitality, and throughout life (we are assured by Dawe)
Morland "constantly expressed his abhorrence of the
crime, the effects of which he has so feelingly pour-
trayed" in " Laetitia; or, Seduction." The six pictures
comprising this series brought to the artist only suffi-
cient money to provide him and his wife with what was
necessary for their modest establishment for a few
weeks; they were sold at Messrs. Christie's in July
1904 for five thousand and six hundred guineas.
Morland painted at about this time his picture taken
from The Man of Feeling, which was engraved by
John Pettit in 1787.
It was Morland's amusement to ride on the box-seat
of the stage-coaches which used to pass his cottage at
Camden Town on their way to Hampstead, Highgate,
65 F
George Morland
and Barnet, and thus he made the acquaintance of post-
boys, ostlers, and other horsey individuals, of whom
he made many sketches for future pictures.
& His genial disposition and open-handedness
°™ei soon made him popular with this fraternity,
and they welcomed him amongst them.
He interested himself in their occupations and joined
in their rough amusements, all the time keen in study-
ing their characters and their surroundings; for the
experience thus gained was to supply the materials
for the service of his growing ambition to become a
painter of nature and out-of-door life. This study was
productive of such works as his " Rubbing down the
Post-horse" (engraved by J. R. Smith in 1794), "Por-
traits of Stablemen," " Paying the Horseler" (engraved
by S. W. Reynolds in 1805), "Stable Amusements"
(dogs fighting, engraved by W. Ward in 1801), "The
Postboy's Return" (engraved by D. Orme; said (very
justly) by Mr. Frank Wedmore to be Morland's " surest
and firmest" work), and many others of a kindred
character.
George Dawe remarks — " It has been observed of
Gray the poet that he never was a child ; and it may
with equal truth be asserted of Morland that he never
was a man." Morland was a great worker at all ages,
but apart from his work he seldom appeared to take
life seriously. He had at times serious moods, but he
always kept his own counsel, and allowed no one to
enter into even the sober reflections demanded by his
studies. Perhaps because he was subject to fits of
66
Practical Joking
great melancholy (so common to humorists) he was
afraid to sound the depths of his nature, and courting
the most trifling incidents so long as they afforded
immediate diversion, conveyed thereby the impression
that he took but a superficial interest in what was
going on about him. Morland had a broad humour,
as we find in boys, rather than the wit of a riper mind,
and, as a rule, a fund of boisterous animal spirits, but,
like a boy, showed no disposition to keep its exercise
within bounds.
" Although," says Dawe, "he could make no pre-
tension to wit, when he chose to be agreeable he was
an excellent companion, full of hilarity,
telling a number of facetious stories with Mo™and>
considerable pleasantry, and incessantly umour
active in the contrivance of diversion." This activity
was exerted sometimes in composing satirical songs
upon his associates, which he employed street musicians
to sing to vulgar tunes " under the windows of those
who were the subjects of them, and who were some-
times thereby so much annoyed as to be obliged to
change their place of residence." This was one of the
forms of our artist's practical joking; with other
examples of his pleasantry we shall meet later.
In the first days of his married life Morland was
obliged to sell his pictures as fast as they were painted
for whatever he could get, in order to keep the wolf
from the door. As an instance, he parted with his
" Mad Bull" (a slight effort of a humorous character),
containing twenty figures, for half a guinea. It was
67
George Morland
resold a few months later for five guineas, and was
valued at his death at twenty. He later painted a
companion to this — "An Ass Race," engraved by
W. Ward in 1789; and these two pictures he exhibited
at the Society of Artists in 1790. By the publicity he
gained by his works being engraved, Morland became
known to and appreciated by a large circle of dealers
and private collectors ; and we are told that in two or
three years he could command for his pictures his own
prices. Mr. Ralph Richardson, by the chronological
catalogue he has compiled as an appendix
ls to his interesting work on Morland, shows
Industrv that jn ^gg ^twQ yearg after the art;st>s
marriage) no fewer than thirty-two finished pictures
by Morland were engraved, eleven engravers being
employed in reproducing them. Most of these pictures
were probably produced in that year. How so many
excellent works could have been thought out and
painted in the time is a mystery, and will remain such
until we know what genius really is. The mystery in
Morland's case would deepen were we to admit what
has been alleged — that, notwithstanding his industry,
he was constantly indulging in every kind of folly and
excess; two opposite tendencies which, if regarded in
the superlative degree represented, one would suppose
to be mutually destructive. We must therefore con-
clude that, as Morland's industry cannot be gainsaid,
the degree of energy and the amount of time that
he devoted to his pleasures have been greatly ex-
aggerated.
68
Selling Pictures
In the year of his marriage Morland's picture, "The
Flowery Banks of the Shannon," was exhibited at the
Royal Academy; and at the same exhibition
appeared a picture by his brother Henry, *' '
and one by his sister Maria.
After a short stay at their cottage at Camden Town,
the Morlands moved into a larger house at the corner
of Warren Place in the same neighbourhood.
Whilst there George made the acquaintance
of a young man named Irwin, who seems to have had
a gay disposition and a business turn of mind. Mor-
land, who found in Irwin a congenial companion, saw
that he might turn his business talents to account by
employing him to sell his pictures; and to this end gave
him an invitation to stay with him, which was readily
accepted. Morland would never have any direct trans-
actions with picture-dealers so long as he could find
a go-between. He had no aptitude for business; no
idea of the value of money; hated haggling and the
distrust and suspicion attached to it, and was satisfied
so long as he had sufficient for his immediate wants.
Dawe says that Irwin often obtained money for him
<( on account from his brother, who was a man of
property; and it became a frequent practice with
Morland to procure, in advance, nearly the whole price
of his pictures; they were then laid aside, for no
principle of honesty could induce him to work for
money which he had already spent." But this medal
of dishonour has a reverse side. During Irwin's stay
with Morland the artist painted some fifty important
69
George Morland
pictures, for the greater part of which, Dawe tells us,
he received from Irwin only seven guineas a-piece.
These works Irwin used to carry over to King Street,
Covent Garden, where he sold them at once for fifteen
guineas each. Morland was careless in all things, more
especially in money matters, but he knew perfectly
well that his agent (to put it mildly) was taking a mean
advantage of him. When his friends drew his attention
to the matter (as they often did) he used to laugh.
Why bother himself about it? True, he could have
repaid the advances he had received from Irwin's
brother by securing his proper share of the proceeds
of Irwin's sales; but the same result would ensue by
leaving the matter alone. Irwin's obligations to him
more than counterbalanced his obligations to the
brother. Instead of troubling himself to square his
account with these two men separately, why not leave
them to settle it between themselves ?
This was not strict bookkeeping, of course, and it
shows a slipshod method of conducting his affairs, and,
in addition, disorderly habits of thought, but not
necessarily (as Dawe implies) a total absence of
honesty. The man who aims at defrauding others of
their rights is not one who merely laughs when he finds
that he has been cheated.
70
CHAPTER VI.
WORK AT CAMDEN TOWN.
J. R. Smith — Children-subjects — Love of children — The "Deserter"
Series — Morland a constable — The Slave Trade — R.A., 1788 —
"Dancing Dogs" — Morland's new style — Brooks — Morland's
models — His menagerie — Philip Roos — Growing expenditure —
Leicester Street — Morland's fame in France — The painters of
Fetes Galantcs.
THROUGH his friendship with Ward, Morland had be-
come acquainted with the eminent engraver, J. Raphael
Smith, who in 1783 had published the engrav-
ing by Edwin Dayes of his picture " Children
XT it- i» 0-1.1 • • Smith
Nutting. bmith was an enterprising man
of business, and had a good knowledge of the artistic
tastes of the public of his day. Guided by his advice,
Morland began to paint his pictures of child-life, which,
had he produced nothing else, would have secured for
him the reputation of a master of genre painting.
The first of this series was his picture " Children
playing at Blind Man's Buff," which was engraved by
W. Ward, and publiyhed in 1788 by J. R.
Smith, who, says Jpawe, purchased the ' £**
original work for twelve guineas. Follow-
ing this, Morland /produced a number of pictures of
George Morland
child-life, as, "Children Bird's-nesting" (engraved by
W. Ward in 1789), in the possession of Lieut. -Col.
F. A. White ; " Children playing at Soldiers " (engraved
by G. Keating in 1788), said by Mr. Ralph Richardson
to have been painted for Dean Markham of York (lent
by the late Sir Charles Tennant, Bart., to the Winter
Exhibition at Burlington House, 1906); "Children
Fishing" (engraved by P. Dawe, 1788), a beautifully
finished little picture in the possession of G. Harland
Peck, Esq.; "Children gathering Blackberries" (en-
graved by P. Dawe, 1788); "Juvenile Navigators"
(engraved by W. Ward, 1789); "The Kite Entangled"
(engraved by W. Ward in 1790), lent by Mrs. Thwaites
to the Exhibition at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1888-
89; "Boys Sliding" (reproduced in line-engraving by
J. Fittler, 1790); and "Boys robbing an Orchard"
(engraved in stipple by E. Scott in 1790).
All these works show beyond a doubt that Morland,
when painting children, was in his element. He under-
stood children, and loved them; and they loved him,
and no doubt understood him. If only the little children
whom he painted and played with, and for whom he
always had something in his pocket, had left a record
of their impressions of the artist's character, we should
have had a truer insight into his nature than all his
many biographers have been able to afford us.
Dr. Williamson, in his edition de luxe of
' the painter, published in 1904, well re-
WlUiamson marks— " The man must have had some
extraordinary fascination about him. Children are as
72
Deserter" Story
a rule satisfactory guides to the character of a man,
and with children Morland was always happy, whilst
it was their most eager desire to be in his company."
All Morland's drawings of children were taken from
life. He used to get them together in his painting-
room for hours at a time and make sketches of them
whilst they were playing about. To take them thus
unawares was, he said, the only way to catch their
varied movements and innumerable graces. George
Dawe was fortunate enough to have in his possession
one of Morland's sketch-books containing many studies
of boys and girls, which he says were "touched with
his wonted spirit, and form a sort of middle style,
between his laboured minuteness while with his father
and the looseness of his later drawings."
The care he devoted to portraying children he also gave
to other subjects. Although probably painted a year or
two later, we may here mention his series of four works
entitled respectively — (i) " Enlisting a Recruit," (2)
"The Deserter Detected," (3) "The De-
serter Handcuffed, and Conveyed to the { ,,
Court-martial," and (4) "The Deserter re- L>esei'fer
stored to his Family," or "The Deserter
Pardoned." Morland always, as we have said, went to
nature for his models, and spared neither trouble nor
expense to obtain them. Soon after he conceived the
idea of painting this story of "The Deserter," the
models for his work, by a piece of good fortune, came
to him.
At the time this happened the versatile painter was
73
George Morland
assuming an unaccustomed role. It having occurred to
him that it would be a pleasing diversion to wield the
staff of constable, he arranged with a neighbour, who
had been summoned for that office, to act as a substi-
tute for him; and was duly sworn in. So long as the
novelty of this occupation lasted Morland was as
pleased with it as children are pleased at playing at
soldiers; but he soon discovered that public service
had its drawbacks, for he was obliged to turn out in
all weathers ; often to abandon his painting and pleasures
at the call of his new duties ; and however agreeable it
might be to command, it was irksome to be forced by
his superior officers to obey. So ere long his ambi-
tion for civic power and his enthusiasm to serve the
State relaxed, and his authority weakened. As a
consequence, he responded in a casual way to his
official engagements, took only a perfunctory interest
in his duties, and, as a matter of course, was frequently
reprimanded by coroners and magistrates. By his
dilatoriness he exhausted the patience of those under
whom he served, and caused confusion, misunder-
standings, and irregularities in his rank-and-file by his
neglect of order and discipline. When his term of
office came to an end there was mutual rejoicing, for
the authorities were as glad to dismiss their constable
as he was to get rid of them. However, this experi-
ence was not wholly unfruitful to the artist, who was
always desirous of gaining information for the service
of his art. How he turned it to account is thus
narrated by Dawe : —
74
Sketching from Life
"Just as he was about to begin his four pictures of
'The Deserter,' a serjeant, drummer, and soldier, on
their way to Dover in pursuit of deserters, came in for
a billet. Morland seeing that these men would answer
his purpose, accompanied them to the 'Britannia' and
treated them plentifully, while he was earnestly
questioning them on the modes of recruiting, with every
particular attendant on the trial of deserters by court-
martial and their punishments. In order that he might
gain a still better opportunity for information, he pro-
vided his new acquaintances with ale, wine, and tobacco,
took them to his house and caroused with them all
night, employing himself busily in sketching, making
inquiries, and noting down whatever appeared likely to
serve his purpose; nor was he satisfied with this, for
during the whole of the next day, Sunday, he detained
them in his painting-room and availed himself of every
possible advantage which the occasion afforded."
Dawe's narration is interesting because he draws
attention to the fact that Morland took his companions
to the public-house and caroused with them, not for his
pleasure, but for the special purpose of sketching them,
of gaining information, and of making notes for the
service of his art. The fourth picture of the "Deserter"
series, entitled "The Deserter Pardoned" (21 inches
by 17 inches), was sold at Messrs. Christie's on March
1 7th, 1906, for thirteen hundred and fifty guineas. The
first picture of the series was originally entitled
"Trepanning a Recruit," and they were all engraved
by G. Keating in 1791.
75
George Morland
In 1788, Morland's work entitled "The Slave
Trade" (which was engraved by J. R. Smith) was
exhibited at the Royal Academy. Its chief
" W ' *nterest lies m the fact tnat lt snows tnat
"The Slave thg art}st occupied himself with the political
questions of the day, notwithstanding what
has been said to the contrary ; and treated the subject
of Slavery from the humanitarian or moral standpoint.
At this time the Society for the Abolition of Slave
Traffic was, it is true, in existence, and it had just
enrolled Wilberforce as a member, but it was not until
the following year that Wilberforce made his first great
speech in the House of Commons against Slavery.
His Bill for its abolition was successfully opposed year
after year, and seventeen years elapsed before it was
ultimately passed. So when Morland painted his
picture "The Slave Trade," and its companion,
"African Hospitality," abolition was highly un-
popular; and by his treatment of the subject he
anticipated by nearly twenty years the judgment of
the enlightened public opinion by which the system was
condemned.
In 1788 the following pictures amongst others were
painted, and show the artist's remarkable versatility
and industry: — "Dancing Dogs," "Anxiety; or, the
Ship in Distress," "Joy; or, the Ship Returned," "The
Effects of Extravagance and Idleness," "The Fruits of
Early Industry and Economy," "The Triumph of
Benevolence," "The Power of Justice," "The Visit to the
Boarding School," "The Visit to the Child at Nurse,"
76
" Dancing Dogs "
and "The Strangers at Home " (all of which have been
engraved); and also, probably, "The Fortune-teller."
The reproductions of these and others of Morland's
works had an enormous sale, not only in England, but
in France and Germany, where some of the
pictures were re-engraved. It would be
interesting to know if "Dancing Dogs "
was one of the many pictures for which the artist was
paid seven guineas by his agent Irwin. This celebrated
work passed into the hands of Mr. Alexander Davidson,
of St. James's Square, London, and was in his collection
at the time of the artist's death. It was sold at Messrs.
Christie's on June 3rd, 1905, at the Tweedmouth Sale
for the sum of four thousand guineas. A picture of the
same subject and title is, and has been for many years,
in the possession of Captain Francis W. Lowther, R.N.,
who also owns a companion picture, "The Guinea-pig
Man."
Morland was now approaching the period when he
put forth all his powers in a new direction, and pro-
duced those works of rustic life — of peasants and
animals, of the simple episodes of the country road-
side, with its travellers, its horsemen, coaches and
waggons, of farmers and farmyards, of villagers, and
pretty thatched homesteads, of picturesque old taverns
and their cheery company — pictures which, appealing
to all by their truthfulness and kindly spirit, established
for Morland a world-wide and undying fame.
The artist was now earning with ease twelve guineas
a week. Dawe says that the time when he first came
77
George Morland
into public notice was particularly favourable for his
advancement. "The nation was at peace, a taste for
the arts was becoming general, and there was more
employment for the artists than they could execute."
But if Morland earned easily, he as easily spent. His
expenditure increasing in a greater ratio
ncf asmg than ^s earnjng.s> he was often tempted to
P anticipate his income by giving promissory
notes. At first he seemed to enjoy this
system of obtaining ready cash, and took a particular
pride in being prepared to meet his bills before they
were due. But when the novelty had worn off, his
habitual carelessness in money matters prevailed; he
neglected to make provision for the due discharge of
his obligations, and in the end found himself deeply in
debt. His creditors for a long while treated him with
great consideration, for he was a favourite with them
as with all who knew him. Fortunately for his art,
during the first years of his pecuniary embarrassment
he did not allow himself to be much concerned about
his business affairs; the effects of his troubles upon
him and upon his work in after-years we shall discover
later.
When Morland severed his connection with Irwin,
he made friends with a shoemaker by the name of
Brooks, who appears to have been a rollick-
ing individual, gay and careless, fond of
convivial company and practical joking. These were
qualities that commended him to Morland, who, as we
have said, suffered at times from great melancholy.
73
Engraved Works
Brooks was also useful to him, for he could be trusted
to sell pictures, grind colours, find models, and attend
to the menagerie which his master carried about with
him from place to place. He also accompanied him in
his sketching excursions about the country, and assisted
him from time to time in getting out of the way of his
creditors. Whatever has been said of Brooks to his
discredit, the man was a faithful servant to his master
and was entirely trusted by him.
Before we follow Morland into his new style, we may
note further the style that he was now on the point of
almost wholly laying aside. Morland did not always
date his works, but we can tell approximately when
those were painted which were afterwards engraved,
by the dates of publication of the reproductions. It
would thus appear that in addition to the pictures we
have already named, he produced up to the end of 1788
no fewer than twenty works of the genre style, seven
of a didactic character, and four illustrations of The
Seasons. He painted also several pictures for Allan
Ramsay's pastoral piece, The Gentle Shepherd^ that
were published by Merle of Leadenhall Street. These,
it must be remembered, are only the works that have
been engraved.
Ruskin says of Turner that he ''enjoyed and looked
for litter"; so did Morland when he was painting a
stable interior or a straw-yard. On such
occasions he used to scatter straw about
his house that he might carefully study its forms
and massing and underlying tones. When he painted
79
George Morland
"The Cherry Girl" (which was lent by Hasketh
Smith, Esq., to the Winter Exhibition at Burlington
House in 1879), Morland brought to his parlour
an ass and panniers and copied every detail from
natural objects. The white horse in his picture
"A Farmyard" (which work was acquired by Mr.
Townsend of Bushbridge, who had a fine collection
of Morlands) was painted from life, and did duty as a
model in many of his pictures. The artist seeing this
old nag being led to the knackers, bought it and took
it home with him, and kept it in his painting-room for
a fortnight. Dawe says that sometimes Morland
"would place a person at the window to watch till
some one passed who appeared likely to suit his pur-
pose (as a model) ; on which he sent for the passenger
to come in, while he made a sketch and mixed his tints,
and he seldom failed to reward liberally the person
thus called upon."
Morland was fond of all animals and birds, and kept
them about him in his room that he might constantly
observe their forms and movements, with the view
always of introducing them into his pictures. Thus,
he made a collection of dogs, rabbits, guinea-pigs,
fowls, ducks, pigeons, mice, and many other kinds of
live-stock, the collection becoming at times so em-
barrassing by its magnitude that, we are told, "he
would run from one neighbour to another to inquire
what he should do with them."
Morland was not the first artist to turn his house
into a menagerie. Philip Roos (otherwise Rosa de
80
Growing Expenditure
Tivoli) was fond of having his dumb friends about
him. In Pilkington's notice of him we learn that "he
was accustomed to keep in his house several . .
of those animals which he particularly in-
tended for mode^, and on account of the
number and the different kinds which he always
maintained there, his house was generally called
'Noah's Ark.'"
In 1789 several of Morland's works were engraved
for the first time ; of these the following were probably
painted in or about that year: — "The Pleasures of
Retirement," " Youth diverting Age," " Children Bird's-
nesting," "Juvenile Navigators," "The Tomb," "The
Farmer's Visit to the Married Daughter," " The Visit
returned in the Country," " Louisa" (suggested by The
Tale of Louisa by Miss Bowdler of Bath), and "The
Guinea-pig Man."
Morland's art had now arrived almost at the summit
of its excellence. He was able to sell his pictures for
as many guineas as a short while before he
was glad to obtain crowns for; but, as we rc
have said, his power of spending exceeded x rc<
that of earning. He now gave up his jaunts &ai
on the coaches for rides on horseback, and often invited
his friends to accompany him in this diversion at his
expense. The mild attractions of "The Cheshire
Cheese" gave place to suppers and entertainments,
to which he invited painters and the engravers who
were of such service to him, and sometimes included
their pupils.
81 o
George Morland
" Instead of going to an alehouse," says Dawe,
''after he had done his work — often in his painting-
coat, with one skirt and half a sleeve — as before, he
would now proceed in boots, with buckskin breeches, to
take the chair at the * Britannia,' a tavern in the neigh-
bourhood, at which these treats were usually given."
Rowlandson's portrait of Morland probably represents
him at this period. The artist is accused of being vain
of his personal appearance and of showing bad taste in
his dress. But neither of these defects, if actual, was
deep-rooted. In the portraits of him by his own hand
he does not seem to have flattered himself, and has
taken little account of his habiliments. In his own
dress, as in everything else, he was original, and found
an odd kind of satisfaction in the surprises his eccen-
tricities afforded. When he was married he insisted
upon presenting himself at the altar with a brace of
pistols in his belt. Hassall says that " he was in the
very extreme of foppish puppyism; his head, when
ornamented according to his own taste, resembled a
snowball, after the model of Tippy Bob of dramatic
memory, to which was attached a short thick tail, not un-
like a painter's brush." He wore a green coat with very
large skirts, and great yellow buttons, buckskin
breeches, top-boots, and spurs. If he was thus "got
up " when Hassall saw him carrying a sucking-pig, his
biographer's astonishment at his appearance is not
surprising. A naturally vain man, however, who liked
to be considered a dandy, would hardly think it con-
sistent with his elegance and dignity to run along the
82
King's Bench Prison
streets with a pig under his arm. We may add, that
however Morland attired himself, he was always scrupu-
lously careful to dress the personages in his pictures
with good taste, propriety, and correctness.
By Morland's frequent entertainments to his friends,
by his horse-riding, and liberal treats and presents to
all who rendered him any service, by the sponging
upon him of the crowd of adventurers who were always
ready to profit by his carelessness and indiscretions,
and also by his foolish habit of employing middlemen
to transact his business with his clients, — by all these
causes his expenditure soon outstripped his income,
and he found himself in debt to the amount of two
hundred pounds. This he considered an enormous sum
and, not seeing any prospect of liquidating it, was seized
with the fear that his creditors would throw him into
prison. He was familiar with Hogarth's picture of the
" Examination of the Warden of the Fleet before a
Committee of the House of Commons," wherein the
horrors of the gaol are vividly depicted ; perhaps he
had read Moses Pitt's Cries of the Oppressed, illus-
trated with copperplates — a work which described the
tragedies enacted in debtors' prisons ; or, Dance's
Humours of the Fleet — which was no less revolting
because of its pleasanter title. However that may be,
he felt a curiosity to see if these places were as bad as
they were described, and to satisfy it, persuaded a
friend to accompany him to the gaol of the King's
Bench. The effect of this visit was to increase his
alarm, and he resolved to leave his country residence
83
George Morland
at Camden Town and hide himself in London. This
move was carried out with the assistance of Brooks in
December 1789. Upon the advice of his
Leaves soiicitOr, Mr. Wedd, he took a lodging
Landen « within the verge of the Court," which,
says Dawe, was considered at that time
"a sanctuary for debtors"; and remained there for
about a month, when he moved into a house in
Leicester Street.
Notwithstanding the agitation caused by his financial
troubles and the frequent shifting of his abode, Morland
did not neglect his art; on the contrary, his industry
was unflagging, and during this time of worry and
unrest he entered upon the period of his finest produc-
tions. At Leicester Street he made the acquaintance
of new clients; private gentlemen visited him to buy
his pictures ; he obtained so many orders that he could
not paint fast enough to execute them, and in fifteen
months from the time he was first threatened with the
King's Bench prison he had satisfied all his creditors.
Morland did not care to sell his pictures to every
would-be buyer, and would sometimes paint a work to
the order of one client and sell it to another.
Nor could a client make sure of securing the
picture he ordered by paying for it in advance. One
gentleman was so annoyed at this discourteous treat-
ment that he sat down by the artist's easel and vowed
that he would remain there until his picture was finished ;
whereupon, Morland left his painting-room and returned
to it only when his client, tired of waiting, had taken
84
Offer from France
his leave. There is no evidence that Morland ever
defrauded his patrons of money advanced on pictures,
even if he made their wishes subservient to his humours.
He disliked painting to order, and particularly resented
the suggestions often made by soi-disant connoisseurs
for what they called " improving" his works. The
people with whom he felt the least restraint, who
humoured him and accepted whatever he pleased to
offer them, who never attempted to hurry him or to
impose conditions as to what he should do or hpw he
should do it, were those after his own heart; and if he
often taxed their patience, they were never disappointed
with their bargains. It is not surprising, therefore, to
hear that when an offer was made to paint "a room-
ful " of pictures for the Prince of Wales, Morland did
not think proper to accept it.
There was such a demand for the engravings after
his works in France, that Morland received a favour-
able offer (from a pecuniary point of view) to go there
and paint, but this also he declined. Surely it was
good for his art work that he did not leave his own
country, for the rustic life of France would not have
appealed to him like that of England. He succeeded
so admirably in portraying the manners and habits of
the English peasantry, and generally of the humbler
classes, because he knew the people; they were his
own countrymen, he had gained their confidence, had
made them companions and friends. This qualification
with respect to strangers in a foreign land could only
have been acquired laboriously, if at all. The great
35
George Morland
popularity of Morland's works at that time in France
is intelligible enough. The spell which had bound
French taste of the courtly pastorals and elegant
affectations of Watteau and his pupil Pater,
e. of the masquerades and trivialities of
am ers Lancretf of the decorative allegories and
J, ' 'estt unconvincing love-scenes of Fragonard and
Galantes of h}s master Boucher, was at the close of
the eighteenth century becoming relaxed. The growing
popularity of Joseph Vernet, St. Aubin, Greuze, Wille,
Prudhon, Bouilly, and others showed that the appre-
ciation of art was becoming more widely diffused; that
the limit of influence of the school of painters of fetes
galantes had been reached, and, generally, that a re-
action of taste was taking place in favour of truthfulness
to Nature, of simplicity of theme, of sentiments that
touch everyday experience and need no laboured inter-
pretation. Such being the case, it is not surprising
that Morland's works of human interest — simple, fresh,
spontaneous — were welcomed in that atmosphere as a
ray of sunshine or a breath of country air.
86
CHAPTER VII.
LIFE AND WORK AT PADDINGTON.
Paddington— R.A., 1791-92— "The Farmer's Stable"— The "White
Lion" — Old inns — Loutherbourg — Morland and his models — Ex-
travagant stories — Growing expenditure and debts — Winchester
Row — His probable income — The bun-baker — Morland's kind-
heartedness.
IN the year 1790 Morland painted "A Storm off Black
Gang1 Chine," which indicates that he then took a trip
to the Isle of Wight; a "Storm Cloud" (in
the Wolverhampton Art Gallery), "The
Cottage Door," and two small but excellent
pictures entitled respectively "The Contented Water-
man" and "Jack in the Bilboes; or, The Press-gang,"
which are in the art gallery of the Royal Holloway
College, Egham, to the Curator of which (Mr. C. W.
Carey) we are indebted for the following graphic
description of them : —
Of "The Contented \Vaterman" Mr. Carey writes—
"The blue-jacketed gentleman seated on a tub is a
stranger to the rest of this group, but is favoured by their
simple country minds so far as to be their temporary
guest. He is an adventurer of a low order, and like most
George Morland
of his class can tell a plausible story and make himself
generally agreeable. He is one of those sharp fellows
who combine business with pleasure, and with an eye
to possible opportunities has spread his net around poor
Giles. Of course a row on the river is the only return
this enterprising individual can offer for the hospitality
he has received. The father comes from his fireside-
corner to join the party. A disastrous sequel is shown
in the ' Press-gang,' of which our whilom friend is one.
His true character is here exposed, but he wishes to
mask it no longer, for his pals rush out from their den,
directed, probably, by their leader's whistle. Giles is
seized and dragged off to do service on one of his
Majesty's ships of war."
In 1791 Morland produced some of his finest works.
Of these we may mention "Shore Fishermen hauling
in a Boat " and "Horses in a Stable " (at the
South Kensington Museum); "Travellers"
and «iCottagers» (both engraved by W.
Ward); "A Stable Yard" (in the possession of G.
Harland Peck, Esq.) ; " Gathering Sticks," a beautiful
example of Morland's colouring, in the possession of
Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart., who also is the owner of three
other pictures by the artist of this date — namely, " A
Lake Scene, with Gipsies," "Sand-carting," and
" Gipsy Encampment." Morland also painted some
small pictures in this year, of which we may mention
"A Sow and Litter" (in the possession of Messrs.
Dowdeswell & Co.), " A Woodland Glade," and "The
Alehouse Door" (the property of the writer) ; the last-
88
Old London
named being a study for a larger work with the
same title painted in 1792, and engraved in 1801 by
R. S. Syer.
Morland soon became tired of living in town. The
calls of his numerous friends and clients interfered with
his work. There was now no necessity for concealing
himself in obscure lodgings, for he had disposed of his
creditors. Again, the models and the scenes he wanted
for his pictures were not to be found in the people and
streets of the town, but must be sought in the country.
The country in his day was within a walk of Leicester
Street, and he found what he wanted at Paddington —
a rural district, rich in pasture, with a few
isolated farmhouses. In Walford's Old PaddinS~
and New London we learn that so late as
1823 Paddington was quite distinct from the metropolis,
and that a map published in that year shows a rivulet
running from north to south through Westbourne
Green. Even in 1840 (when the Great Western Railway
was opened) " wide and open spaces of land in this
vicinity were occupied by market and nursery gardens
and the red-tiled, weather-boarded cottages of labourers,
and laundresses." Here the artist took a cottage opposite
the hostelry of the " White Lion," a picturesque old
place in Edgware Road, dating from 1524, which he
could see from the windows of his painting-room.
Morland had discovered this inn in the course of his
rides on horseback some years before. It was much
frequented by drovers and other country-folk with
whom he made it his business to become friends, for he
89
George Morland
wanted to use them as models for his pencil. The old
hostel with its yard and stables, and the ostlers,
postboys, and others employed there, as well as the
wag-goners, carriers, pedlars, and travellers on horse
and foot who were constantly visiting it, he has depicted
in many of his works. For the style he had now
established, and had made his own, it afforded a
museum of studies.
In the year 1791 he painted and exhibited at the
Royal Academy his celebrated picture, " The Inside of
a Stable." This work, which by the common
. Sl consent of critics is held to be Morland's
Pu masterpiece, was originally entitled "The
Farmer's Stable"; it was sold by the artist for forty
guineas to his pupil David Brown (of whom we shall
speak later), and was re-sold at the Exhibition for
upwards of a hundred guineas to the Rev. Sir Henry
Bate Dudley, Bart., of Sloane Square, whose nephew,
Mr. Thomas Birch Wolfe, presented it to the National
Gallery, London, in 1877. The whole of the scene
represented in this picture was painted from nature.
The stable was that of the " White Lion " at Padding-
ton, the horses were portraits of some that were lodged
there, and the artist had seen them grouped as he has
depicted them. This was the first stable interior he
had painted, but by no means the last. The subject
seemed to fascinate him. He was fond of all animals,
but particularly of horses; and these stable scenes, with
their wide doorways admitting the sunshine to fall on
the golden straw, their reflected lights on the old stained
90
"The Farmer's Stable"
beams, and their remote corners in mysterious shade
lent themselves kindly to his favourite scheme of
chiaroscuro.
Of this superb picture, "The Farmer's Stable,"
Dawe justly says that "it would do honour to any
painter, and is truly the scene it is intended to re-
present." It was originally engraved by W. Ward in
1792, and there is a very fine etching after this work
by Mr. C. O. Murray.
Morland also painted at this time "The Straw-yard,"
which he sold to Brown for one hundred and twenty
guineas. The artist devoted great pains to this picture,
which he intended as a companion to "The Farmer's
Stable," but the result was not such a success as the
previous work, and the effort seemed to exhaust his
patience, for he painted the inscription upon it — " No
more straw-yards for me, G. Morland."
In 1792, five pictures by Morland were exhibited
at the Royal Academy — namely, "A Farmyard"
(engraved by W. Ward in 1795), a pair, entitled
respectively "The Benevolent Sportsman" and "The
Sportsman's Return" (engraved by J. Grozer in 1795),
"Goats," and "A Shipwreck." At the same Ex-
hibition his brother Henry exhibited two pictures.
Morland knew the "White Lion" as well as he knew
his cottage on the opposite side of the way. In order
to become thoroughly familiar with these old hostelries
and alehouses, inside and out, and their belongings
and the life about them, he used to lodge in them
for weeks at a time, and when he could not do so
91
George Morland
he would often send to them for the loan of old harness
and other objects that he wanted to introduce into his
pictures, in order that he might have them before him
to copy faithfully. Towards the close of his life he
stayed for some months at the ''Barley Mow," in
Frog Lane, Islington; also at the "Plough," near
Kensal Green, a district then known for its pictur-
esque old taverns. Faulkner says that the " Plough "
belonged to the fifteenth century, and that its oak
timbers and joists were, in 1820, in good preservation.
Morland's picture of the "Old Red Lion," under the
title "Door of a Village Inn" (which appears also to
be known as "Burning Weeds"), is in the National
Gallery, London. Another tavern subject, "The Fox
Inn" (1792), was lent by Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart.,
to the exhibition at South Kensington in 1904. The
" Fox" was probably an inn on the brow of the west
hill at Highgate, which was at a later period called
the " Fox and Crown." There is a tradition that
Queen Victoria, driving down this hill, met with an
accident, and that the landlord of the " Fox" averted
a disaster by stopping the horses of the royal carriage,
for which service he was granted the use of the royal
coat-of-arms. The " Bull Inn," between Highgate and
Finchley, where the stage-coaches for Yorkshire and
the North used to pull up, was also frequented by
Morland when he was living at Camden Town, and
again at a later date.
We may here mention an incident related by
Cunningham. Morland and his friend Williams, the
92
Signboards and Taverns
engraver, ran up a score at a tavern a few miles out
of London, on the high road to Deal. In discharge
of this account the artist painted a signboard
for the house, representing a black bull.
Upon his return to town he mentioned this •£
circumstance to the company he passed the ' li( if
evening with at the "Hole in the Wall,"
whereupon one of the party, with an eye to business,
mounted his horse and rode into Kent, and succeeded
in finding the "Black Bull" tavern, from whose
landlord he purchased its signboard for ten guineas.
Blagdon gives a different (if less dramatic) version of
this affair. He says thaj: the "Black Bull" was a
tavern near Canterbury; that a gentleman who chanced
to see the signboard some three months after it had
been painted recognized in it Morland's work, and
purchased it for twenty guineas, and that it was sold
at auction some time afterwards for a hundred guineas.
The "Hole in the Wall" was a public-house in
Chancery Lane, kept by a prize-fighter, and was much
frequented by men-about-town. As Mor-
land stayed at country hostelries for the
purpose of his art, so Tom Moore is said
(by Mr. Walford) to have visited the " Hole ''
in the Wall" to get materials for "Tom Cribb's
Memorial to Congress," "Randall's Diary," and other
satirical poems. Morland painted a sign for the
"White Lion" at Paddington, and according to Lar-
wood's History of Signboards lie painted also "The
Cricketers," the sign of an inn near Chelsea Bridge.
93
George Morland
This picture, so Larwood says, in 1824 had been re-
moved inside the house, and a copy of it hung up for
the sign. The original work, if still existing, must
be in a sorry condition, for the landlord of ''The
Cricketers" used to travel about with it and put it
up before his booth at Staines and Egham Races,
cricket matches, and on similar occasions. Morland
also painted the sign of the "Goat in Boots" in the
Fulham Road.
In speaking of Morland's mastery of the details and
spirit of tavern scenes and life, and, generally, of the
life of the lower classes, some of his bio-
graphers have concluded, that because his
success shows that such subjects must have
appealed to him, therefore he was naturally vulgar and
coarse. But this inference is not derived by a logical
process. It is true that no artist can paint well
unless his subject appeals to him, but it may appeal
to him from many different causes and in different
ways. An animal-painter may choose to paint animals
because he admires their forms, their action, or their
colour, or because he is fond of them; not because
he has an animal nature. A painter of shipwrecks
is not necessarily partial to being wrecked at sea,
nor even necessarily fond of a sea-faring life. If char-
acter be indicated by work, it is by the work that
is performed, not by what is left undone or ignored.
In Morland's pictures he ignores all that is coarse;
this ignored element, therefore, cannot be predicated
of his taste. But we may judge his sentiments
94
Morland and Goldsmith
by his performance, and in so doing- we find that
he was fond of seeing people contented and happy,
people industrious, people enjoying well-earned rest
and refreshment, and children at play; that domestic
peace, comradeship, hospitality, and kindness to
animals appealed to him; and, in addition, we cannot
ignore the high moral tone he persistently maintained
in his numerous didactic works. The success of Mor-
land's achievements as works of art shows, it is true,
that his subjects appealed to him; how far they
appealed, and in what manner, appears in his perform-
ance and choice. The popularity of his works depends
not only upon his passion or sentiment, but upon some-
thing else. They are popular because the interest and
feeling that the subjects he chose excited in his own
nature are just those which are intelligible, pleasing,
and acceptable to us all.
We are reminded in this relation of what Washington
Irving says of Goldsmith (whose restless, happy-go-
lucky temperament much resembled that of Morland) —
"Goldsmith was guided not by a taste for what was
low, but for what was comic and characteristic. It
was the feeling of the artist, the feeling which furnished
out some of his best scenes in familiar life"; and he adds
that it was with this feeling that the poet sought the
motley circles of "The Globe" and " Devil " taverns,
for frequenting which he was often censured by Dr.
Johnson.
Morland was not long at Paddington before he made
a large number of new friends — amongst them many
95
George Morland
gentlemen of position and wealth ; and in particular a
namesake — a Mr. Morland, a banker of Pall Mall, who
bought several of his important works and gave the
painter an open invitation to his house. Instead of
finding in this rural retreat, as he had expected to do,
repose and respite from the attentions of his friends,
and so more time for his studies, the artist was more
sought after than ever; for the publication of the
numerous engravings after his productions was con-
stantly making them known to a wider circle of
amateurs, and his recent picture of "The Farmer's
Stable" had greatly enhanced his reputation in the
professional world. Connoisseurs, collectors, and
dealers — people of all classes clamoured for his works.
Dawe says that " no sounds reached his ears but those
of admiration ; he was surrounded by people who were
contending for his works, and who submitted to any
treatment to procure them ; his fame had spread to
foreign countries, and from the prince to the postboy
all were ambitious to possess his pictures."
All this adulation had no bad effect upon Morland.
He never praised his own work, and was generous in
his criticism of the performances of other artists.
Where he could not commend, he would not censure ;
and even when his attention was drawn to very
poorly executed engravings after his works as being
injurious to his reputation, he would treat the matter as
of no importance. He is said to have spoken dis-
respectfully of Loutherbourg's work, likening it to
"tea-board painting"; but in this he could not have
96
Tray Painting
been serious, for he averred to Hassall that he deemed
Loutherbourg's style far superior to his own. History
does not relate what Morland thought of
Loutherbourg's " healing powers," those u
"divine manuductions " whereby he was
enabled "to diffuse healing to the afflicted, whether
deaf, dumb, lame, halt, or blind."
Philip James Loutherbourg, it will be remembered,
practised "magnetic healing" or some other form of
mesmerism, as well as painting, and (on the authority
of Horace Walpole) had three thousand patients. He
came to England in 1771, and was employed by Garrick
as scene-painter at Drury Lane Theatre, and soon
afterwards was elected a Royal Academician.
Amongst Morland's followers and hangers-on, we are
told, were quack doctors, and we wonder whether this
painter and physician of Strasbourg was one of them.
We may mention, in passing, that in Morland's time a
considerable trade was carried on in painted .
trays as a species of art industry (the best a™ t
work coming from Wolverhampton), and
that the artist had a whim occasionally for trying his
hand in this kind of painting — perhaps as a form of
payment of a tavern score. A small iron tray painted
by him was in the care of Mr. Algernon Graves, F.S.A.,
in 1880, and in the same year Mr. Shirley Hibberd
possessed one of these curiosities.
After telling us that Morland's predilection for vulgar
sports, such as bear- and bull-baiting, boxing, and
similar amusements, soon brought about him " a crowd
97 H
George Morland
of quack doctors, publicans, horse-dealers, butchers,
shoemakers, tailors," and other such associates (all of
whom he converted into picture-dealers), Dawe goes
on to say — " So much was his easel surrounded by
characters of this description, that he had a wooden
frame placed across his room, similar to that in a police-
office, with a bar that lifted up, allowing those to pass
with whom he had business. Under these circumstances,
it is surprising that he should have continued to improve
in his art, as he certainly did ; for in this manner he
painted some of his best pictures, while his companions
were carousing on gin and red-herrings around him."
It would indeed be surprising if it were true !
Ifitwer If the scene depicted had been laid in the
stable-yard of the inn it would have been
more intelligible, and less improbable and, therefore,
not so surprising. As it stands, it brings into the
strongest relief the artist's genius ; for who but a
genius could have seriously worked whilst surrounded
by quack doctors and tailors regaling on herrings and
gin? Even the good Saint Antony would have suc-
cumbed !
In the extract we have given, Dawe would have us
believe that Morland was in the habit of painting under
the conditions described, for notwithstanding them,
he " continued to improve in his art." If we were to
read that the artist thus found many of his models, and
made some of his most spirited sketches, instead of
"painted some of his best pictures," we should be
probably nearer the truth. This interpretation, which
98
Fuseli's Inventions
is no doubt both accurate and reasonable, was in
Dawe's mind at one time, for in another place he
writes, "when surrounded by companions, that would
have entirely impeded the progress of other men, he
might be said to be in an academy, in the midst of
models. He would get one to stand for a hand,
another for a head, an attitude, or a figure, according
as their circumstances or character suited; or to put
on any dress he might want to copy."
We have drawn attention to this attempt to
emphasize by exaggeration Morland's great powers of
mental concentration, because in other
particulars it conveys impressions which
reflect upon his taste and sentiment. So,
too, Fuseli's contribution to this subject must not be
passed over in silence. He says that Morland was
once found in a lodging at Somers Town in the
following circumstances: — "His infant child, that had
been dead nearly three weeks, lay in its coffin; in one
corner of the room an ass and foal stood munching
barley-straw out of a cradle; a sow and pigs were
solacing themselves in the recess of an old cupboard,
and himself whistling over a beautiful picture that he
was finishing at his easel, with a bottle of gin hung
upon one side and a live mouse sitting for its portrait
on the other."
Fuseli's absurd story, which was manufactured for
the Gentleman's Magazine, November 1804 (after
Morland's death), requires no refutation; it is palpably
invented to lower our estimate of the man, the picture
99
George Morland
mentioned being called " beautiful" simply to show the
admirers of Morland's art that as the narrator was just
to merit where it was due, his word might be trusted in
mere matters of fact. Fuseli (who had taken Holy
Orders) could not be expected to appreciate Morland's
amusements; nor, as an illustrator of Shakespeare and
Milton, to enter into the spirit of the artist's present-
ments of low life. Still, he should have known that
Morland had no child. In mitigation of Fuseli's offence,
let us suppose that he was suffering from the stings of
young George's interpretation of his great allegorical
work, "The Nightmare."
Morland, as wre have said, did not choose his subjects
because he found them near at hand, but formed his
environment that he might therein find his models.
He no more painted his finest pictures when he was
surrounded by the motley crowd that has been
described, than a marine-artist paints a storm at sea on
the deck of a rolling and pitching ship. Ideas and
knowledge of the storm may best be gained, and its
spirit seized, from the tossed vessel around which it
rages, but the painter produces his picture of it all on
terra firma and in peace.
Morland was happy when he was entertaining his
friends, indeed he was always ready to extend his
hospitality to the merest acquaintances.
Hospitality He feasted them . he kept for their enjoy.
ment, as well as for his own use, eight or ten
horses at livery; he rented a large room, which
he fitted up as a gymnasium and salle d'armes,
100
Living in Style
where boxing- matches and similar amusements
favoured by sporting gentlemen of his day were
held, and for which he gave prizes. Although he was
a patron of the "noble art," he does not appear to have
been very expert in it himself, for when he put on the
gloves with the Duke of Hamilton he was knocked out
in the first round.
Morland was at this period earning a handsome
income, but he had no faculty for measuring its possi-
bilities. It did not occur to him that all
this treating and entertaining, which gave es e*
him and others so much satisfaction,
demanded a larger revenue than his. To him they
suggested only the necessity of providing himself with
a larger house and a better-appointed establishment,
so that he might bestow his hospitality in a handsome
style in his own domicile instead of at the "White
Lion," where he had been obliged to entertain his
guests, from lack of accommodation at home. With this
feeling he gave up, after a twelve-months' stay there,
his modest cottage and moved into a larger house in
Winchester Row in the same district. In his new
residence he lived as a man of fortune. He . .
kept a footman and two grooms, and his . imn£
table was always spread for his friends,
whether he were at home or not. In his garden he
set up his menagerie, which now included monkeys,
squirrels, foxes, and hogs, in addition to goats, an
ass, an old white nag, dogs and cats, and many other
animals. Besides all this expense, he would make a
101
George Morland
present of a horse now and again to his friends, and
would give away to his humbler acquaintances great-
coats and boots, and even clothe them and their
families. The menagerie, we know, was to him almost
a necessary, for it supplied him with many of his
models. The rest of his expenditure indicates to us
that Morland was an open-handed, kind-hearted soul,
who liked to make those about him happy and com-
fortable. But this inference from his expenditure of
a generous disposition has not always been drawn by
his biographers. The exaggeration of Morland's ex-
travagance is shown by Hassall's statement that "a
fortune of ten thousand pounds per annum would have
proved insufficient for the support of his waste and
prodigality." It was at Winchester Row that Morland
lived in his most expensive style, and if we add to his
household expenses his liberal entertainments and gifts
to his friends and dependents, he was certainly living
beyond his means. But the expenditure we have in-
dicated practically covered all his outgoings, for at no
time of his life was he a gambler, and he has never
been accused of keeping more than one establishment.
He lived at Paddington eighteen months, during which
time he contracted debts to the amount of ^3,700; so
on Hassall's estimate of expenditure Morland's income
must have been over ^7,500. This, how-
ever, cannot have been the case. We learn
that he painted "The Benevolent Sports-
man " in about a week (a remarkable performance),
and received for it the sum of seventy guineas. Again,
102
Incurring Debts
he painted for Mr. Wedd, his solicitor, two small
pictures — "Watering the Farmer's Horse," and
44 Rubbing1 down the Post-horse " — in one day, and was
paid for them fifteen guineas. We are also told that
he frequently earned a hundred guineas a week. These
figures taken together would indicate an average in-
come of some ^4,500, but as we cannot suppose that
he worked at this high pressure all the year round, his
takings must have been considerably less — probably
one-half that amount. The sober Dawe, also, sees
only folly — no real kindness or generosity in Morland's
expenditure ; but in labouring to convince us, he
obviously overstates the case. He says that, in addition
to the most prodigal waste in every department of
Morland's household, he used his colours " as much for
pelting the coachmen and others who passed as fur
painting /"
Morland was now so familiar with the system of
anticipating his income by giving promissory notes,
that the satisfaction he had at first derived
from discharging his obligations punctually
had begun to wane, and soon his natural
carelessness in money matters prevailed, with the result
that when his bills were presented and he could not
meet them, he lost his head and resorted to methods
which, instead of getting him out of his difficulties,
further involved him. Thus, rather than pay off a
loan, in whole or in part, he preferred to give a picture
to his creditor as consideration for its renewal. He
had no difficulty in being accommodated on these terms,
103
George Morland
for his works were rising in price — having1 nearly doubled
in value since he was at Leicester Street — and were
often worth as much as the amount of the bills for
whose renewal they were given ; and it was in this way
that he created about him a crowd of greedy amateur
picture-dealers. By such method of finance, a great
and ever-increasing part of his time was consumed in
painting pictures that were destined, not to bring him
in funds, but to pay usurious interest on loans which
had long been exhausted. That it led to disaster is not
surprising.
Three points may here be noted — (i) Morland knew
that by his method of finance his creditors were actually
gainers by their transactions with him ; (2) the money-
lenders who accommodated him were of the class
who lay themselves out to encourage their clients'
extravagance, that they may profit by their con-
sequent embarrassment; (3) the artist never withheld
any particulars of his true financial position from
those whose pecuniary assistance he sought.
Dawe credits Morland's case with these matters, but
contradicts himself afterwards by a narration which
would not be a tribute to the artist's in-
/ 1 U?~ genuousness if it were true. It may be
n jjm t ^ere rePeated) *° snow upon what trifling
Paddington evidence Morland's so-called friends were
ready to condemn him. The story runs that the son of
a bun-baker of Paddington, who had a keen desire to
become a picture-dealer, called upon Morland one day
with a large sum of money in his pocket. The artist,
104
Generous Nature
who was desirous of obtaining a loan of cash, induced
the young" bun-man to lend him the money on his
promissory note, with a gift of a fine picture (worth
fifty pounds) as a bonus for the accommodation. When
the young man got home he was too intoxicated to
give an account of what had become of his money.
Morland's bill, however, explained matters, and the
artist was accused of having unduly influenced the
lender by plying him with wine, although the bun-man
admitted that he had been drinking heavily before he
visited the painter. Such meanness we cannot reconcile
with Morland's kind heart, whereof we get more than a
glimpse in another story, the truth of which Dawe (to
his credit) confirms.
Morland had been robbed by a woman of his watch.
His friends went to some expense in endeavouring to
recover it, and succeeded in arresting the
thief. When the culprit was on the point of ^
being taken before the magistrate, the artist
learned that the woman had committed the theft in order
to buy some article of furniture; and moved by her
entreaties not to be prosecuted, he ordered her release,
withdrew from the charge, commiserated with the poor
creature in her unhappy situation, gave her a crown,
resigned his watch that she might have her furniture,
and paid all the expenses. Blagdon says that Morland
would part with his last shilling to relieve the distress
of a fellow-creature. "This charitable and generous
disposition frequently rendered him the dupe of im-
postors, and he was many times literally robbed."
I05
CHAPTER VIII.
AT CHARLOTTE STREET AND ENDERBY.
Arrangement with creditors — Charlotte Street— Dealing in watches —
Practical joking — The "short and merry" life — Morland's optim-
ism— New agreements — The drink habit — R.A. Exhibitions,
1794~97 — Enderby — Gipsies — Anglers— Rathbone and Ibbetson.
MORLAND'S career at Winchester Row came to an end
when he was living in his grandest style, painting his
best pictures, and had incurred liabilities to
the amount of ^3,700. To pay off his debts
his solicitor made an arrangement with his creditors
whereby the artist agreed to leave Paddington, that he
might cut himself off from his sporting associates, whose
influence was injurious to him, and live in a quarter
where new and better connections might be formed.
Morland also engaged to moderate his household expen-
diture, and to hand over to his creditors £120 a month.
These terms he considered very favourable to him, and
was confident of being soon able to discharge all his
obligations. A house was taken for him in Charlotte
Street, Fitzroy Square (which had been previously
occupied by Sir Thomas Apreece), and his friends made
themselves responsible for his rent. There he settled
106
Studying Old Masters
down with his wife, kept a modest establishment with
one man-servant at a guinea a week, and worked hard.
Besides the five pictures that were exhibited at the
Royal Academy in 1792 and those we have named,
Morland painted also in this year " Ferreting Rabbits,"
now in the National Gallery, London; "The De-
serter's Farewell," a fine work, now in the possession
of Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart.; "The Dram"— another
excellent picture — and "The Fox Inn," both in the
same collection; "The Fish Girl," "The Cowherd and
the Milkmaid," " Smugglers," "The Country Butcher,"
"The Cornbin," "The Horse-feeder," "A Landscape-
Westmoreland"; and probably others which bear no
date. "The Turnpike Gate" was painted in 1793.
Morland regularly attended picture exhibitions and
auctions, and must thus have had many opportunities
of studying the Old Masters, in addition to
the private collections to which he had c
access. It was in this year, 1792, that the as ers
pictures at the Palais Royal, Paris, were sold by the
Duke of Orleans, and the Dutch, Flemish, and German
portions of the collection were purchased by the Duke
of Bridgewater, the Earl of Carlisle, and Earl Gower,
and sent over to England. In this superb collection
were fine examples of Jan Wynants and the Ostades,
but whatever influence, if any, the works of these
Masters may have exerted on Morland's landscape art,
it must have been at an earlier period, for the Orleans
Collection did not appear in the auction-rooms until
the de Calonne and Trumbull Sales in 1795, and
107
George Morland
Bryan's sale three years later. Dawe says that
although Morland went to exhibitions and sales, he
appeared to take no notice of what he saw there; and
also that when his friend Ward took him to see the
fine Dutch Masters in Lord Bute's Collection he would
not look at the pictures because he was afraid of un-
consciously copying them. But we attach no weight
to this statement, for elsewhere his biographer tells us
that at times when Morland appeared the least attentive
to what was going on about him, he was all the time
taking mental notes for the purpose of his art.
In his new abode in Charlotte Street, Morland was
visited by Mr. Wigston, of Trent Park (a generous
patron of the Fine Arts), in company with J. T. Smith,
the author of A Book for a Rainy Day. An account of
this visit may be told in Smith's own words: —
" He [Morland] received us in the drawing-room,
which was filled with easels, canvases, sketching-
frames, gallipots of colour, and oilstones ; a stool,
chair, and a three-legged table were the only articles
of furniture of which this once splendid apartment
could then boast. Mr. Wigston immediately bespoke
a picture, for which he gave him a draft for forty
pounds, that sum being exactly the money he then
wanted ; but this gentleman had, like most of that
artist's employers, to ply him close for his picture."
This narration discloses Morland's indifference to
money matters. If he were in immediate want of a
ten-pound note, he would sell a picture for that amount,
even though with a little trouble he could have obtained
1 08
Dealing in Watches
twice as much. He seemed almost to enjoy living" from
hand to mouth, for he painted a number of small
pictures that he might be able to dispose of
them at once to meet the necessities of the rom
moment. In this way he spent his money
as soon as he made it, and had difficulty in
paying his creditors their monthly dividends. He did
not improve his position by turning his attention to
commerce. He had tried his hand at horse-dealing
in a small way, and as "jockey to the races" — presum-
ably for amusement rather than for profit. Now he
conceived the idea of dealing in watches ! He made
the acquaintance of a watchmaker who was keen to
possess his works, so he exchanged his pictures for
watches, which he sold for far less than he might easily
have obtained for the paintings they represented.
Conducting his affairs in this fashion, he soon found
that he was no better off financially at Charlotte Street
than he had been at Paddington. If he had shaken
off his sporting associates who encouraged his ex-
travagance, he was not long in making other acquaint-
ances, who, fastening upon him, became no less a
tax upon his hospitality than those he had discarded.
Upon them Morland amused himself by .
playing practical jokes, but always made
amends, after he had had his fun, by treat- JokmS
ing and feasting them. Others, too, were the butt of
his humour — the street patrols and watchmen, the
tavern-keepers, and even the fisherwomen of Billings-
gate. He often visited this market for the purpose of
109
George Morland
making1 sketches and studies, and on one occasion took
with him a ventriloquist to entertain the ladies there.
He did not confine these attentions to friends and
strangers, but bestowed them as well upon his family
circle; for, once, in the dead of night, when some of
his wife's relations were staying with her at his house,
he assumed the role of burglar and broke into his own
domicile. This diversion entirely succeeded in deceiving
his household, and although they gave him in charge
to the watchman, the artist had the laugh of them, for
he had previously taken the precaution to bribe this
functionary handsomely.
Such are examples of the species of Morland's
humour : a humour which he does not import into his
works. What in them prevails is good-humour — or
kindness and cheeriness. Though often suffering him-
self from great depression of spirits, he does not
convey this feeling to us, for his presentments of life
are instinct with hope and content.
"Few," says Dawe, "could better descant [than
Morland] upon the fatal effects of drunkenness, which
he would exemplify in the case of his companions.
When asked if he considered himself an exception to
his own strictures, he would boast his resolution to
amend, or laugh it off with a joke, saying, ' A short life
and a merry one.'"
But this maxim he could not have seriously held. It
does not express the spirit of his good-humour. We
might, perhaps, believe that it was favoured by some of
the old Dutch and Flemish Masters, but not by Morland,
no
Morland's Optimism
whose subjects on the whole appeal to all tastes, have
an enduring interest, and, however cheery their spirit,
lack neither refinement nor repose.
The "short and merry life" is the apology of the
pessimist and the profligate, but Morland was neither
of these. He was a great worker; he
laboured to show the bright side of the MorLan
humblest conditions of life, and according . a.n
to him this brightness was to be found in the * l
simple enjoyments which attend domestic peace and in
the gladness of friendship and good-will. In his small
picture "The Tea Garden" — a subject which afforded
ample opportunity for making attractive the excesses
and vices of the "short and merry" life of the gay
world of his day (for Tea Gardens then were the
resorts of the worst types of the upper and middle
classes) — Morland shows us a pleasant little family party,
attired in their best, engaged in sprightly conversation
round a table under the shade of a wide-spreading tree;
a dainty dame is there with an infant in her arms,
whilst at her feet her children play with their toys and
pets. In another picture a well-conditioned sportsman
starting out in the morning on pleasure bent comes
upon a family of gipsies preparing their frugal meal.
Here to a pessimist was the occasion for contrasting the
miseries of poverty with the sleek enjoyments of wealth,
but this idea does not occur to Morland. He places
himself in the position of the sportsman who, seated on
his well-fed nag, calls one of the gipsies to his side and
gives him money. This picture, which is entitled "The
George Morland
Benevolent Sportsman," has already been mentioned.
It is worthy of note that the idea of spontaneity in this
act of benevolence is truly conveyed by the artist. It is
stamped upon the smiling countenance of the chief
personage, and, in addition, it is clear that he had not
been importuned for alms by the poor gipsies, for the
expression on their faces leaves no doubt that they are
greatly surprised at — almost suspicious of — so much
unsolicited kindness.
The picture of "The Tea Garden" (16 inches by 19
inches) was engraved by F. D. Soiron in 1790. It
changed hands at Messrs. Christie's in 1888 for
^472 i os., and was exhibited at Burlington House
in 1886, and again in 1906. Morland appears to have
painted two pictures with the title "The Benevolent
Sportsman," for Collins mentions one in which the
money is given to a little girl.
For the reasons stated, Morland, after a few months,
failed to carry out his contract with his creditors, and
his solicitor persuaded them to make a
new agreement with the artist, whereby
rrange- hg undertook to pay ^IQO a month to-
ments warcjs the liquidation of his debts. But
with his aithough Morland was capable of earning
ors a large income at the time and was very
industrious, his method of managing his affairs made
it impossible for him to carry out even these more
favourable terms. Other and more easy payments
were agreed upon, but with the same result. After
he had paid about ten shillings in the pound, it became
112
>
'
Creditors
impossible to obtain further concessions from his
creditors as a body, for he had exhausted the patience
of many, and these would not join with the rest in
agreeing to give him more time. The result of this
was curious. The creditors who still believed in him —
or rather shall we say, who felt that after all the
bonuses they had received for renewing bills and their
exorbitant interest, they had really profited by him, and
who were desirous of obtaining more of his pictures,
banded together to protect the artist from the others
who were hostile. When he was threatened with writs
they got him out of the way, but they generally knew
where to find him and rarely left him alone. Thus,
they had Morland in their power, and under threats of
exposure bought his pictures on their own terms. To
protect himself from these mercenaries and to keep off
his other creditors, the artist contracted further debts
by raising loans from a new circle of friends. "There
was something so insinuating in his manner," says
Dawe, "that he generally succeeded in gaining credit
to his promises"; and we are glad that he adds,
"indeed, it is probable that they were made with
sincerity at the moment, and that he often deceived
himself while endeavouring to excuse his conduct."
In this matter, as in others, Morland never seemed
to learn anything from experience. He had failed to
meet his old obligations again and again, but never
doubted that if he could contract a new one, he could
easily discharge it. He acted in good faith, but his
self-confidence was on a par with that of the drunkard
113 J
George Morland
who never doubts that he will always be able to resist
future temptations to drink.
During his stay at Charlotte Street Morland lived in
this state of incessant irritation and uncertainty. He
was in constant fear of being arrested by
The Drink hig crecjitOrs and thrown into gaol. His
home was practically broken up, for during
his frequent enforced absences therefrom his wife went
to stay with her family; when he ventured into his
house it was often deserted; if he sought company
without, he dared leave it only after nightfall. In these
circumstances, is it surprising that poor Morland,
whose temperament was always easily excited and
easily depressed, should have tried to drown by drink
the cares from which he knew not how to extricate
himself? What is astonishing is this: that despite all
his humiliation, all his worries and fears, despite his
being driven from place to place, he went on per-
sistently with his work and produced many fine pictures
which betray no trace of his troubled spirit.
In 1794, three of Morland's works appeared at the
Royal Academy — namely, "The Inside of a Stable"
(a picture by Morland bearing this title was
°ya purchased by Sir Joshua Reynolds for ninety
Academy, Qr a hundred guineas); "Bargaining for
794-97 Sheep" (sold at Messrs. Christie's in 1892
for ^"492 IDS.) ; and "The Farrier's Shop," a work
which in 1806 was in the collection of Mr. Wigston,
and is now in the Manchester Art Gallery. Three
years later seven of Morland's pictures were exhibited
114
Best Period
at the Royal Academy — that is, when he was playing
at hide-and-seek with his creditors.
From 1790 to 1798 was the period which comprised
the largest number of Morland's best pictures of rustic
life and coast scenes. It was bounded on
• j t_ »• «« ^ • > c^ 1-1 >» j Rustic and
the one side by his " Carriers Stable and
" Storm off Black Gang Chine," and on the C(
other by his ''View of the Needles" and
"Freshwater Gate." We may take it, therefore,
that between these years he produced the following
amongst other important works which bear no date: —
"Wreckers," a grand coast scene in the possession
of Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart. ; "The Cornish Plunderers,"
another fine work, in the possession of Lieut. -Col. Sir
Charles E. Hamilton, Bart.; "The Waggoners' Halt
outside the 'Bell Inn,'" a highly refined and beautiful
composition full of variety and interest, in the posses-
sion of E. A. Knight, Esq. ; " The Fishermen's Toast,"
in the possession of G. Harland Peck, Esq., and
"Fishermen Going Out," two poetical scenes of the
coast; "The Reckoning," in the Victoria and Albert
Museum; "The Death of the Fox," an important
hunting scene of fine composition and colour, showing
Morland's landscape on a large scale, in the possession
of Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart.; and "The Last Litter,"
and "The Hard Bargain," two excellent pictures,
simple, truthful, and vigorous. The latter is in the
possession of G. A. Daniel, Esq.; and as the owner
informs us that it has always been in Mrs. Daniel's
family, it would appear that the artist painted more
George Morland
than one picture with this title, for a work so named
was in the Jesse Curling" Sale in 1856.
It was during the first years of his financial troubles
that Morland made several excursions into the country
in search of fresh subjects for his pencil.
Excursions In these travels he always took with him a
man-servant, and generally was accom-
panied by a friend or two, whose expenses he paid and
of whom he made use by employing them to carry his
pictures to town and to find buyers for them. He
visited at one time or another many places on the coast,
and was particularly pleased with the grand seas at
Whitby. It was there, probably, that he found his
subjects for his "Smugglers" and "Fishermen,"
which were both engraved by J. Ward in 1793. In
the same year was published an etching by J. Harris of
" Studies of Fisherwomen." From Morland's "Storm,
and Wreck of a Man-of-War," painted in 1794, and
two coast scenes produced in 1796, it would appear
that he was then in the Isle of Wight. He also visited
North Wales and Derbyshire, and made some sketches
of mountain scenery and painted a picture of "Con-
way Castle," which was reproduced in aquatint by
J. Hassall.
Of his excursions into the country we must not omit
to mention his visit to Enderby, in Leicestershire, for
his stay there largely widened his experience
Enderby of peasant and gipsy life, of agricultural
pursuits, of rural manners and customs, of
the incidents of out-of-door sports — of all those associa-
116
Life in the Country
tions of the countryside which he has recorded with
so much fidelity and vigour. On this occasion Mrs.
Morland and his brother accompanied him, and they
lodged at a farmhouse at Enderby for several months.
Here he mixed with the peasants in their homes, in-
terested himself in their occupations, played with their
children, and joined in their pastimes. This was not
peculiar to Enderby; wherever he went he did the same
— he won the affections of the people by entering into
their lives. " However engaged, whether he was
riding on horseback, or in a stage-coach, or sitting
surrounded by vulgar companions, his mind was seldom
wholly inattentive, though it displayed at the time
nothing but an eagerness to partake of the amusement
that was passing, in which he appeared to be as deeply
engaged as any of the company ; for he never mentioned
to others the result of his serious and useful reflections."
Dawe, whom we quote, goes on to say, " Among every
description of company he derived some advantage — in
short, he seemed averse to seek knowledge in any other
academy than that of Nature." This confirms precisely
the point for which we contend — namely, that Morland
chose his surroundings because they ministered to his
art. He was a lover of the country, of unconventional
people, of their simple avocations and pleasures, of
animals and their picturesque associations ; and to
portray all these with his pencil and brush, it was
essential that he should have them about him, should
constantly study them, should make those whom he
loved, love him; or, as Sandos puts it, *' He who would
117
George Morland
court Nature in all her homely garbs must not abash
the nymph with his own gaudy attire ; he who would
behold the children of simplicity in all their manners
unconstrained must be one of them."
Morland had a special reason for going to Enderby,
for a friend of his lived there — a Mr. Claude Lorraine
Smith, who was an enthusiastic sportsman and a patron
of the Arts. It would also appear that this gentleman
was a painter himself, for in 1797 J. Grozer engraved a
picture of "A Litter of Foxes," in which the animals
were painted by Mr. Smith and the landscape by
Morland. It was there where Morland found many of
his sporting subjects, in his rides with the hounds in
the company of his friend the Squire of Enderby, who
was a keen huntsman. In 1794 appeared the following
etchings by J. Wright after pictures painted by Morland
at Enderby or from sketches made there: — "Foxhunters
and Dogs leaving the Inn," "Foxhunters and Dogs in
a Wood," "Fox about to be Killed," and "Full Cry."
It was at Enderby, too, that Morland found the
opportunity of studying gipsies. Their free-and-easy
. out-of-door life he understood, and he often
* introduced these children of Nature into his
landscapes. We have them in "The Benevolent
Sportsman," "A Gipsy Encampment " (painted in 1791),
"Gipsy Courtship" (1792) — engraved by J. Jenner —
"The Gipsies' Tent" — engraved by J. Grozer in 1793 —
"Gipsies kindling a Fire" — painted at Leicester Street,
and sold to Colonel Stuart for forty guineas — "Gipsies
sitting over their Fire by Moonlight," and in many other
118
Practical Joking
pictures. Blag-don says — "Morland has been known to
set off in the night and ride several miles to attend a
feast of gipsies in a wood, in order to observe the
effects of firelight in that situation, and the character of
those migratory people." It was at Enderby too, and
perhaps at Mount Sorrel (a few miles distant), that the
artist painted some of his quarry scenes, and his
picture "The Wayside Inn," engraved by J. Ward in
1793-
An instance of Morland's practical joking in the
country may be mentioned. In one of his excursions
he came across some men who were fishing.
He does not seem to have been himself fond e . "
of the gentle art, but these anglers made a aPP°intec
picturesque group, and so he sat down and nS e-
sketched them. After expending much patience with-
out reward, the fishermen cast their lines into the
water and, disappointed at catching nothing, repaired
to an alehouse hard by in search of consolation. As
soon as they were out of sight our facetious friend pulled
up the lines and fixed upon the hooks some old shoes
and other rubbish that he found on the shore and, having
again lowered them into the water, awaited events.
When the refreshed anglers returned, great was their
excitement upon seeing their floats submerged; keen
their expectations no doubt; all the deeper therefore
their chagrin when they discovered the trick that had
been played upon them — all which emotions were fully
appreciated by the author of them from his hiding-place !
We have mentioned that Morland contributed the
119
George Morland
landscape to a picture in which Mr. C. L. Smith painted
a litter of foxes. This was not the only instance of his
working with another artist: a small painting
J.Rathbone f T, ,
which was the joint production of Morland
jsju and J°hn Rathbone was lent by w- w-
Ibbetson Lewis> Esq>> to the winter Exhibition at the
Grosvenor Gallery in 1887-88. Rathbone was a land-
scape-painter in oils and water-colours, and exhibited
at the Royal Academy and at the Society of Arts from
1785 to 1806. There is a signed drawing- by this artist,
entitled " Landscape, with Waggon and Peasants,"
at the Victoria and Albert Museum, in the Catalogue
of which he is described as a "companion of Morland
and Ibbetson, who painted figures into his landscapes."
Morland also painted with J. C. Ibbetson, who was a
frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy and the British
Institution. There is a fine picture by him entitled
"Smugglers on the Irish Coast" in the National
Gallery, London, which was purchased in 1895 from
Messrs. Dowdeswell & Co. ; and there are, also, several
of his works, representing marine, cattle, and figure
subjects in the Victoria and Albert Museum. A charm-
ing little winter scene by this painter was exhibited at
the Whitechapel Art Gallery in 1906.
For the fashionable life of the town Morland had no
liking, although it was open to receive him. On the
other hand, with the tastes of the simple country
gentleman and, in particular, of the robust sporting
squire or parson (as his friend the Rev. Mr. Pigott of
Enderby) he had much in common. His cheery, kind
1 20
Picturesque Sights
nature appealed to all classes ; his talent was a pass-
port everywhere, and whether in town or country he
made friends; but the artificial life of Society he
abhorred.
Little has been recorded of Morland's habits when he
was staying in the country; perhaps there was little to
tell. His life there was simple and orderly,
and therefore in the opinion of his bio-
, , . f that has
graphers — who were always looking for .
his eccentricities — afforded nothing worth
telling. If we add to his work and the study it entailed
his riding and shooting diversions, he could have had
little time for much else. We have in his works the
record of a period when the picturesque was more often
than now near at hand. The common highway afforded
a pleasing panorama of life; the post-chaises, the stage-
coaches, the travellers, the market carts and carriers,
and droves of cattle were all in keeping with the
bordering landscape, and were objects that could be
studied and were worth seeing: and Morland's labours
are proof that he was a trustworthy witness and a
faithful scribe. Happily for us, he lived before the
raging iron-horse, the snorting motor, the whirling
bicycle, and the soulless machines of agriculture, for
which, from the point of the artist — whose eye seeks
beauty and not use — there is no place in Nature.
121
CHAPTER IX.
WANDERINGS AND CARES.
R.A., 1799 — Fearing arrest, hides from his creditors— Always indus-
trious— Failing health — Fresh troubles — Death of his father —
Adventure at Hackney— The Isle of Wight— Coast scenes and
new models — Arrested as a spy.
ALTHOUGH Morland was in constant fear of being
arrested for debt and thrown into prison, and urged
thereby was frequently hiding himself — now
Plans that ,
in obscure London lodgings, now in the
flCVCf
. wilds of the country, — he never showed any
' disposition to defraud his creditors. Always
fond of adventure and change, much pleased, too, with
his experience of foreign travel, knowing also that his
reputation had spread to the Continent and that he
would have no difficulty in earning his living there, he
conceived the idea of going abroad ; but he did not
entertain it long. His strong point was to act on
impulse; any new project that occurred to him was
attractive only so long as it was new, and it was
certain to be abandoned if its execution demanded
forethought; and travelling in his day involved some
amount of planning and arranging, and such matters
were distasteful to his inclination, or beyond his ability.
His project was not abandoned because it presented
122
On the Move
other difficulties; his creditors were each concerned
only about his own particular claims, and had he
wished to do so, it is conceivable that Morland might
have secured the assistance of one or two of them to
hoodwink the rest; he was not detained in England
by domestic ties, for he had no children, and now
practically no home. We have dwelt upon this matter
because Morland has been accused by Dawe of wishing
to abscond; at the same time his biographer says that
in many of the artist's encounters with his hostile
creditors, when he found it necessary to apply to some
friend to become his bail, he was "ever ready to deliver
himself in discharge of his bondsman, and anxious
beforehand to know the day of appearance" — an ad-
mission which refutes the accusation and honours the
subject of it.
Three pictures by Morland were exhibited at the
Royal Academy in 1799 — two entitled" A Landscape
and Figures," and one " Christmas Week."
In the catalogue of that Exhibition his -*
address is given as "28 Red Lion Square, Ac
London." After leaving Charlotte Street
he changed his residence so often that it is difficult to
follow all his movements. Dawe (who does not men-
tion Red Lion Square) says that Morland never sent
any pictures to Somerset House (then the home of the
Royal Academy), and suggests as the reason, either
that he was too indolent to take the trouble of doing
so, or too modest to submit them to criticism, or
indifferent to public opinion, and that the works that
123
George Morland
were exhibited were sent by those who had previously
purchased them. Blagdon gives a more plausible
reason why the artist never sent any pictures to the
Royal Academy — namely, that he was precluded from
doing so as he was a Fellow of the Royal Incorporated
Society of Artists.
From Charlotte Street, Morland moved to Chelsea,
where he felt himself secure; but he had not been
there long before he was betrayed by a
AtLhelsea" fHend" (who was a small creditor) and
arrested. From this and many similar difficulties he
managed to extricate himself (for the time being) in
his usual way — not by paying off his creditor, but by
giving him a picture as a bonus for securing his further
indulgence.
We next find the artist with his man-servant — who
seemed as necessary to him as a valet was to Balzac —
lodging at a waterman's, on the riverside
at Lambeth. In this obscure place he
Lambeth worked hard all day long.} and only ventured
out-of-doors at dusk, when the waterman used to row
him across the river, that he might find a little diver-
sion amongst his friends at the smoking clubs round
about Charing Cross, and row him back again. The
constant strain of his anxieties, the confinement, the
want of exercise began to affect his health ; his lonely
life and dismal surroundings depressed his spirits, and
the convivial society at the taverns encouraged his
growing habit of intemperance. He had had, we are
told, a fit of apoplexy at an earlier date, and, in addi-
124
Queen Anne Street
tion to his other troubles, he was always fearing that
he might have another fit. In his illness he was
attended by John Hunter, and, as that famous surgeon
passed away in the autumn of 1793, Morland's attack
probably occurred in the first year or so of his residence
at Charlotte Street.
Morland could not long support the dreariness of his
Lambeth retreat, in spite of the security it afforded.
He pined for companionship and longed to AT?*
breathe the fresh air of the country. So a'
after a short stay with the waterman he
went to East Sheen, where he took a furnished house,
and was joined there by his wife and her sister. He
stayed in this rural district for some time, but being
again betrayed by a "friend," was forced to leave it,
and removed to Queen Anne Street East, in London.
This street is associated with many distinguished
names. Fuseli was at the time living there, at number
75, and nearly forty years later J. M. W. Turner built
himself a house there (number 47); and Walford tells
us that there, also, was the home of Cumberland, the
dramatist ; of Malone, the commentator on Shakespeare ;
of Edmund Burke ; of Prince Esterhazy, whose splendour
to have seen (according to Ingoldsby] " 'twould have
made you crazy " ; and other men of mark.
But Morland did not long remain in this fashionable
quarter. He was again discovered by his .
enemies, again arrested, and again freed ^ ir
by his accustomed methods, and with his
faithful servant Brooks took refuge in the house of
125
George Morland
his friend Grozer, the engraver. Then, after several
removals, he stayed for a short time with his mother-
in-law, Mrs. Ward, at Kentish Town; then with his
brother Henry at Frith Street; next, he took lodgings
at China Row, Walcot Place, whence he fled to Nevving-
ton ; and after these peregrinations settled down for a
brief space with Mr. Merle, a carver and gilder in
Leadenhall Street, whom we have already mentioned as
the publisher of several engravings after Morland's
illustrations of The Gentle Shepherd.
Notwithstanding all this moving about, Morland's
brush was not idle; and remarkable as that is, it is
even more surprising that none of the mental agitation
which accompanied this unrest and was its cause, is
reflected in his work. In thought and quality, perhaps,
it had begun to deteriorate, but its spirit
1 [ . remained the same: always bright and cheery
r Pl* and, withal, full of repose and contentment.
Had the experience of J. F. Millet been the same as
Morland's we might have been justified in saying that
the troubled spirit of the painter of Barbizon was
denoted in the sad, poverty-stricken peasants, worn out
by their labours, whom he has so touchingly depicted.
This constancy of spirit in Morland's works, under the
severest tests of its sincerity, indicates beyond all
doubt that the artist was an optimist. He presents his
peasants healthful and happy, because he loved to
think of them as such. We may truly say of him what
Ruskin says of Turner, that the great result of his
intimate contact with the poor was understanding of
126
Drink Habit
and regard for them. This feeling", \ve may add,
transcends, and must not be confounded with, the
mere appreciation of their pleasures. Also, the result
of Morland's intimacy with commonplace incidents and
things was the perception of what was interesting and
beautiful in them — a perception which his troubles
never blurred, and he was persistent in his efforts to
proclaim his discoveries to the world.
During his stay with Mr. Merle, Morland worked
some eight or more hours a day; and therefore the
accounts of his intemperance must be exaggerated.
We are told, for example, that he drank spirits during
his work ; that all the hours he was not painting he
spent in dissipation ; that he caroused until two or three
o'clock every morning, but, nevertheless, was always
at his easel at six o'clock; and that he produced an
enormous number of pictures and, what is more, sold
them readily. This account of his habits may be dis-
missed because it is incredible. It used to be said of
a certain great singer thct he produced his finest effects
when he was drunk, and it has been alleged that
Morland painted his best pictures when he was in the
same condition — that is when his head was muddled,
his hand shaky, and when he saw double ! We may
say, with Horace, Credat Judccus Apclla.
Unhappily, it is true that the drink habit of which his
troubles were the main cause remained with
him as they remained, and increased as they Declimng
increased. His once fine constitution began
to give way under these mental and physical strains. He
127
George Morland
became so weak that he was unable to take his usual
exercise; and so nervous that he imagined himself in
danger of being imprisoned, when he was in safe conceal-
ment. In a letter to a friend of Blagdon's he writes: —
" DEAR SIR, — I have had a break out since I saw you
yesterday — I will tell you about it to-morrow. I am
sorry I must disappoint you in the 'Cottage'; but you
shall have the [Here follows the sketch of a bull's
head]. — Yours,
G. MD."
Again, in another letter he says: —
" I cannot do myself the pleasure for a certainty of
calling on you to-morrow. I am rather too weak.
The * Sporting ' first. Shall take a very small walk
to-morrow — remember I don't say I won't call, but
don't provide; it is just as I find my legs."
Then he adds as a postscript: —
" Portrait of my legs just as they appear at present;"
and a sketch of a pair of thin legs in breeches and
top-boots.
In addition to his money troubles Morland had others.
His father died in 1797, and his poor wife, wlib shared
his anxieties, and as far as he would allow
ea °J her to ^0, the discomforts of his homeless
his Father ^ beg.an tQ aJL Hjs fits of melancholy
became more frequent and more intense, and at times
128
Eyed with Suspicion
he was seized with the fear that he was losing his
sight. Mr. Merle was an excellent friend to Morland,
who for a while felt secure in his house; but when he
heard, or imagined, that one of his creditors had offered
a reward for his arrest, he could stay there no longer,
and, accompanied by Mrs. Morland, left the city and
took a house in the little rural town of Hackney.
Morland's frequent flittings from place to
place, secretly planned and mysteriously
effected, his habit of shutting himself up all Hackney
day and going out only at night, soon became the
talk of his neighbours. Hackney was the resort of
people of fashion and of wealthy merchants. The life
and movements of new-comers in their midst could
scarcely be concealed; it was not, therefore, an ideal
hiding-place. In his efforts to safeguard himself the
artist's actions lacked consistency. If he had freed
himself of companions who preyed upon him, he showed
no discretion in the choice of new acquaintances — of
whom he soon made many and, as a matter of course,
treated and entertained them. The report got abroad
that he was making large sums of money, and his
domestic expenditure and lavish open-handedness gave
it countenance. His income at this period was no
doubt far inferior to that in his halcyon days at
Paddington. He had no difficulty in selling his pictures,
but, as we have said, many of his works were given
away to soothe the creditors whose vigilance he could
not elude. He believed himself safe in his country
retreat, and being naturally open and frank, grew
129 K
George Morland
weary of the restraints imposed by caution, and became
indifferent to the notice which his irregular habits
attracted. The report of his wealth, his mysterious
movements, his partiality for taverns and the company
of the lower classes, made his highly respectable
neighbours regard him with a suspicion that needed
little to be inflamed into hostility. We are told that
one night at a public-house Morland was overheard
talking with his brother about " copper-plates " and
"impressions." This conversation was taken as a
clue to his calling, as indeed it was, but it was wrongly
interpreted. To his suspicious neighbours, who were
prepared to believe he was "no good," "copper-
plates" and "impressions" clearly showed that Mor-
land was a forger of bank-notes ! The result was that
an information was lodged against him, and the officers
of the law, at the instance of the Bank of England,
appeared upon the scene to effect his arrest. Poor
Morland's habit of acting upon impulse once
more caused him much unnecessary trouble.
Had he waited to receive the constables he
could have satisfied them of their mistake, but seeing
them approaching his house he mistook them for
bailiffs, and bolted like a hare out of the back-door.
We can picture him scrambling over the fence, bound-
ing over the nursery-gardens of which Hackney then
was justly proud, floundering in its no less famous
water-cress beds, and ultimately hiding himself in an
ale-house on the London Road, whilst his alarmed
wife was entertaining the uninvited guests ! Mrs.
Wife's Illness
Morland succeeded in convincing1 the officers of her
husband's respectability, but only after they had ran-
sacked the house and had found nothing there that
could be considered a piece de conviction.
Morland is said to have had an absurd prejudice
against bank-notes; so much so that he refused to part
with his pictures unless they were paid for in hard coin,
even when he was actually without funds. We must
suppose that this strong feeling against paper-currency
arose after his experience at Hackney. It is satis-
factory to know that Messrs. Winter and Key, the
solicitors to the bank, sent Mrs. Morland a present
by way of compensation for the inconvenience she had
suffered through the action of their clients.
After a stay of six months at Hackney, Morland
went back to town, and moved from one lodging to
another until April 1798, when his wife fell .
ill. Mrs. Morland was attended on that h rj f
occasion by Mr. Lynn, a surgeon of Parlia- ' ie ~. ?
ment Street, Westminster, who had a
cottage near Cowes; and when his patient had suffici-
ently recovered to be able to travel, he advised Morland
to take her to the sea-side, and placed his cottage in the
Isle of Wight at their disposal. This offer was grate-
fully accepted. Morland had made short visits to the
Isle of Wight on several previous occasions, and had
found there many good subjects for his
art. Indeed it has been said that his sea-
pieces lack variety because they represent °* z^
so frequently the coast of the beautiful isle. In a
13*
George Morland
limited sense this may be true, but to consider it as
a falling- off of the artist's aim would be misleading-;
for Morland's rural or sea pictures are never pre-
sented as examples of mere portraiture. In them we
are concerned not with the locality of the scenes, but
with their incidents, which mostly have a human
interest. The scenery being- subservient thereto,
rightly does not claim special recognition. This,
perhaps, cannot always be said of Vernet's works.
The French painter, using a larger and more ornate
vocabulary, sometimes divides our interest between his
story and its setting; so that we wonder what the title
of his work is, or where its scene is laid. Such
curiosity the works of the English artist never excite,
for Morland always subordinates the scenery to the
players on the stage, who tell their own story in a way
that is at once convincing and satisfying.
Mrs. Morland and her maid started for Cowes in
April 1798, and her husband and his indispensable man-
servant soon afterwards joined her there. It is said
that the artist had no baggage apart from his painting
paraphernalia, and the explanation given is that his
portmanteau having once been cut from behind the
post-chaise in which he was riding, he vowed that ever
afterwards he would travel, like a snail, with all his
property on his back. Having adhered to this resolu-
tion, his frequent movings must have been considerably
simplified.
At Cowes Morland settled down with a will to work,
and made a large number of sketches in the neighbour-
132
Amphibious Creatures
hood, two of which afforded the subjects of pictures
painted later, with the titles respectively "Saving- the
remains of a Wreck" and "The Fish Market."
Morland had got rid of his sporting- companions and
the stable and tavern life associated with them, and
now devoted his pencil to depicting coast
scenes and their incidents. He took every
opportunity of painting- from life, and models
were not wanting; nor was there any difficulty in per-
suading them to pose for him, for it soon became
known that he liberally rewarded such service and was
a jovial and hospitable gentleman who was not above
making friends with his social inferiors. He had also
disposed of his menagerie; but by the time he had got
well to work on his marine subjects, Mr. Lynn's
cottage had become a sort of aquarium peopled with
such amphibious creatures as sailors, fishermen, and
smugglers. For Morland's art these picturesque folk
were essential, and he does not seem to have
suffered in any way from his intimacy with JW
them, as he undoubtedly did with the horsy
fraternity in the old days. His life at this pretty
country spot was orderly and simple; he was, as usual,
very industrious; he enjoyed the good opinion of his
neighbours; his health and that of his wife were fast
improving, and it seemed as though in this peaceful
haven the tide of misfortune had turned. Unhappily it
was not long before this pleasant fancy was dispelled by
the sudden arrival upon the scene of Henry Morland,
who bore the bad news that he had overheard some
133
George Morland
persons in a tavern boasting1 that they had discovered
the artist's hiding-place and were going down to him at
once with bailiffs. Upon hearing these tidings, poor
Morland, accompanied by his brother and man-servant,
fled to Yarmouth, a village a few miles distant.
These particulars Dawe says he received directly
from Henry, and there seems no reason to doubt them,
for at this time Morland and his brother were on good
terms, and subsequent events prove that the artist
removed to Yarmouth. At the same time we must
remember that on the testimony of Morland's other
biographers the brothers from time to time fell out with
one another very seriously; and as Dawe is largely
indebted to Henry for his information of George's
doings, not only on this occasion but on others, it is
reasonable to suppose that the communications he
received were sometimes coloured and distorted by the
ill-feeling between the Morlands at the time they were
made. On this supposition we could explain the bitter
spirit shown by Dawe in his denunciation of some
alleged episodes in George's life of which he certainly
was not an eye-witness.
At Yarmouth Morland lodged at the house of one
George Cole, a well-known character thereabouts, who
was said to have acquired a fortune by
smuggling. One morning after the artist
had been there only a few days, whilst
he was at breakfast, the house was entered by a
lieutenant of the Dorset Militia and eight soldiers,
with an order from General Don, the commander of the
134
Not Guilty
district, to arrest him as a spy. Notwithstanding
Morland's protests and efforts to convince the officer of
his innocence, he and his brother and servant were
taken in charge and marched off to Newport, a distance
of twelve miles, under a sweltering sun, burdened
with the artist's portfolios full of sketches which were
supposed to afford the proof of guilt. At Newport
they were taken before the justices and severely ex-
amined; so, too, were the sketches and drawings in
which the astute legal minds detected dark and
treacherous designs veiled by a subtle symbolism.
The matter might have ended very much to the dis-
comfort of the prisoners had not a friend of Mr. Lynn,
a Newport doctor, arrived upon the scene before it was
too late and testified to the artist's respectability and
good faith; upon which evidence the Court dismissed
the prisoners with a caution. Notwithstanding this
disagreeable adventure, Morland remained at Yarmouth
some months longer, and from there made some ex-
cursions to Freshwater, where he painted for Mr. Wedd
two of his finest coast scenes, " A view of the Needles "
and " Freshwater Gate."
13S
CHAPTER X.
WORK AND REST.
Back in London — Within the "Rules" — A fixed salary — Spurious
Morlands— "A day's Rule"— The Marshal of the Prison— 111
health — The Insolvent Debtors' Act — Mrs. Morland's presenti-
ment— The artist struck with a palsy — R. A., 1804— Morland
Galleries — Arrested for debt— Morland's death.
As Morland seldom dated his pictures, it is difficult to
name the titles of many that he painted during- these
unsettled years, but the following1 may be
Undated noted in addition to those we have already
mentioned: — In 1794, " Charcoal Burners,"
"Post-boys and Horses refreshing," "Waggon and
Team of Horses"; in 1795, " Cow and Calf worried by
Dogs," "The Thatcher," "The Shepherd Asleep,"
"Evening," "The Day after the Wreck"; in 1796,
"Mending the Nets," "Storm off the Isle of Wight,"
and "Calm off the Isle of Wight"; in 1797, "The
Miller and his Men"; and in 1798, "Sheep in the
Snow."*
In November 1799 we again find Morland on the
move, and, as usual, after a stay in the country, he
gravitated to London. Worn out by his wanderings,
and knowing not how to pacify his creditors longer, he
136
Within the " Rules"
began to think that whatever might happen to him his
position could not be worse than it then was, and that
even a gaol might afford him a repose which as a free
man he could not find. What he had always most
dreaded— the loss of his liberty — he felt had already
come to pass, for what freedom remained to him who
had no resting-place and no peace ? Better go to gaol
than be haunted by fears and hunted by wolves !
With these ideas working painfully in his
mind and mistrustful of his own judgment, ,
he sought counsel from Mr. Wedd as to J^A
what he should do ; and upon the advice of
his good friend, who served him with the
greatest zeal to the end, poor Morland caused himself
to be arrested and went to the King's Bench Prison.
To another this action might have been productive of
some advantage, but his restless spirit chafed under
the confinement, and, as will soon appear, his new
conditions were favourable to his weaknesses and im-
poverished his art. He had, with his solicitor's aid, no
difficulty in obtaining the "rules"; that is,
he was granted the "privilege," upon pay- |C ,,
ment of certain fees, of living outside the
prison proper, but within its jurisdiction. These
"rules," or "liberties" (as they were called), applied
to an area of three miles in circumference, and included
Lambeth Road, St. George's Fields, where Morland
was allowed to occupy a furnished house. There his
devoted wife went to live with him, and also Henry
Morland, whose principal business then was buying
137
George Morland
and selling his brother's works. With his change of
circumstances his habit of industry had not deserted
him. It has often been said that many of Morland's
finest pictures were painted within the "rules" of the
King's Bench Prison ; but this is an exaggeration of the
facts. When he entered the "rules" in 1799 the
summer of Morland's art had passed: an occasional
fine work from his hand may have appeared after that
date, but it was a rare sight, like a butterfly in the late
autumn. There are several reasons for the falling off
of quality in his pictures after his acquaintance with the
King's Bench gaol. As his confinement prevented him
. from painting from Nature out of doors, he
was dependent for his subjects and their
treatment upon his memory and notes, and
probably could not help repeating himself. Moreover,
when relying solely upon his imagination he was often,
even in the vigour of his prime, inaccurate in his
drawing and fanciful and injudicious in the distribution
of his lights and shades. Again, from his habit of
intemperance his brain began to lose its wonted energy
and his hand its confidence ; and although at times,
when excited by hope awakened by some unlooked-for
event that seemed to presage a brighter future for him,
these effects were not noticeable, he was often unable
to bear the strain of long-sustained effort which the
execution of important works demanded. Perhaps
more injurious to the quality of his art than the fore-
going was the fact that soon after he entered the
** rules" he was obliged, in order to meet his expenses,
•38
Spurious "Morlands"
to work for the picture-dealers, who were for the most
part his old creditors, at a fixed salary. By this
arrangement he was no longer free to choose his
subjects, nor to devote to his works the time he deemed
necessary. He was regarded by these harpies as a
machine to turn out pictures — the more the better.
They thought he would not live long, so
. r Sflurtous
he was to be sweated for all he was worth. 4< f
It is said that they kept a number of artists
near at hand to copy Morland's works — often taken
wet from the easel — and that the copies were sold as
originals. Hassall tells us that he once saw "twelve
copies of a small picture of Morland's at one time in a
dealer's shop with the original in the centre, the pro-
prietor of which, with great gravity and unblushing
assurance, inquired if he could distinguish the differ-
ence." We may give in this connection a practical
hint for which we are indebted to Dawe, who may be
taken as an authority. He tells us that in the rich
shadows of his pictures Morland used the umbers and
Vandyke brown, "never asphaltum, and copies are
sometimes detected from the circumstance, for the
presence of that substance may easily be discovered by
passing a wet finger over it, since the moisture will lie
evenly upon the other parts, while it recedes from the
greasy surface of the asphaltum, rising in ridges like
net-work." We may add to this that as asphaltum has
a tendency to turn black, when we find a black Morland
we should eye it with suspicion.
Dawe, speaking of the great number of works
'39
George Morland
Morland produced between 1796 and 1804, says that,
according to his brother Henry's books, the artist
painted for him alone no fewer than four
Fecundity hundred and ninety-two pictures, and for
others some three hundred pictures ; that is
an average of two pictures a week during a period
of eight years, "and in addition to these, he made,
probably, a thousand drawings." If these figures be
correct, the average must have been much higher when
he was working for the dealers at a fixed salary, and
therefore the falling off at that time in the quality of
his productions is easily accounted for.
Morland whilst at Lambeth Road within the " rules"
earned sufficient to enable him to live comfortably.
When working for the dealers at a fixed salary he
received, some writers say, four guineas a day "and his
drink"; but Dawe says two guineas, which is probably
nearer the truth. The only source of information con-
cerning Morland's habits at this period is his brother
Henry, who, for the reasons we have given, may not
have been always a frank witness. That Morland, as
many gentlemen of his day were wont to do, often
drank to excess, there can be no doubt: we have his
own testimony to the fact. What the country squire
and the sporting parson, with their out-of-door occupa-
tions and pastimes, could do in the matter of drink with
comparative impunity was fatal to poor Morland, who
was always working his brain at high pressure and was
debarred from proper exercise. We know that he was
open-handed and forld.of jovial company, and it is safe
140
A la Morland
to suppose that his generous and Denial nature attracted
to his hospitable board, at which we are told Mrs.
Morland always presided, many of the horde of idlers
and spongers who abounded in the precincts of the gaol.
But we cannot believe what Henry Morland tells Dawe,
that the artist expended the whole of the money he
received " in profusion and drunkenness"; for this
charge is confuted by the enormous amount of work he
accomplished whilst living within the "rules." It has
been asserted that the dealers employed several clever
artists (like Hand and Brown, Morland's pupils) to
paint pictures a la Morland; that such pictures were
taken to the Master to be touched up and signed by him,
and were afterwards sold with our artist's \
knowledge as genuine Morlands ; that this
f Morland
accounts for the enormous number of works
Morland is supposed to have painted, and their unequal
quality; and that as a matter of fact Morland was too
indolent to paint much. In answer to this we would
say that Dawe, who shows no desire to screen Morland's
infirmities, says not a word about these matters; that
the allegations do not account for the enormous number
of excellent works the artist produced, whilst there are
other and sufficient reasons, as we have stated, to
account for the inequality of his works. It is quite
likely that Morland, who was always ready to do a
service, may have touched up the pictures of his friends
and pupils. If he put a large amount of work into
them he may have felt justified in signing them. But
there could not have been " an enormous number" of
141
George Morland
such productions, for there are comparatively few
Morlands the genuineness of which is undisputed
which are signed.
From time to time the artist obtained permission,
upon paying a fee, to go for a day beyond the
boundaries of the prison's "rules." On
' J n s<> those occasions he used to visit his old
the Marshal friends and favourite haunts— the taverns
(the social clubs of that period), but he always was
particularly careful to return to his domicile punctually
at the hour fixed by the regulations.
Blagdon tells us that Morland agreed to paint a
picture for Mr. Jones, the marshal of the prison, from
which it would seem that his servitude to the dealers
was not complete. However that may be, the picture
was promised. One day soon afterwards, when
Morland was enjoying his outing on "a day's rule,"
Mr. Jones found him with some convivial companions
in the tap-room of a public-house, a place which
debtors were, by the regulations, strictly forbidden to
enter and, reprimanding him severely, threatened to
re-commit him to the prison-house. Morland returned
home, began the picture he had promised, finished it at
a sitting, and taking it with him, presented himself next
morning before the marshal. In this work the artist
had faithfully represented the tap-room of the public-
house where he had been discovered, with the company
present on that occasion. Morland figured there, too,
and all the personages were excellent likenesses of his
convivial associates. But best of all was the portrait
142
Constitution Wrecked
of a burly gentleman whose countenance beamed with
satisfaction, and who, leaning in at the window, was
taking from the painter's hand a glass of gin: it
was impossible not to identify this jovial individual;
it was, of course, no other than Mr. Jones himself!
Whether the marshal was pleased or not with the picture
we cannot say, but it does not appear that after receiving
it he showed any special anxiety to meet the artist again.
After living for two years within the "rules,"
Morland's constitution, which for some years had been
orettins: weaker, showed signs of altogether
T'. . . ^ ,. Grcnvme
giving way. His sight became so dim that *
he was obliged to wear the strongest
glasses ; and he was so feeble that he had to be sup-
ported by his man-servant whilst with trembling hand
he attempted to carry on his work. The depression
accompanying his humiliation, the constant strain of
his labours, his domestic anxieties on account of his
wife's health, the confinement and, we must add, the
fatal remedy to which he resorted to dispel his cares, —
all these causes working together contributed to wreck
poor Morland's health at the age of thirty-nine. In
1802 he suffered a second attack of apoplexy, and was
thereby unable to enjoy at once the benefit of the
Insolvent Debtors' Act of that year, whose object was to
relieve the over-gorged prisons. Before he had re-
covered from this attack his wife fell ill, and by her
doctor's orders was removed to lodgings in the purer
air of Paddington. The Morlands, as we have said,
and it will bear repeating, were sincerely attached to
George Morland
each other — an affection which was in no way impaired
by their frequent separation, nor by the artist's
extravagance and intemperance. That small domestic
differences between them were not unknown we may
take for granted; but the wife loved peace and quiet,
and by the influence of her gentleness and tact,
Morland's genial and kind disposition quickly reasserted
itself. It seems to have been well known to their
intimate friends that husband and wife frequently con-
versed with apprehension about the crushing blow to
their happiness of the great parting which impends over
. all, quasi saxum Tantalo, and that Mrs.
A - —
" Morland often expressed a presentiment she
had that, if her husband should die before
her, she would not survive him more than three days.
When Morland was well enough to leave Lambeth
Road he went to his wife's lodgings, attended as best
he could to her comforts, and made arrangements for
her to stay there until he could again provide for her
a home with himself. Rejoicing over his freedom, we
can believe that they sketched pleasant plans for their
future life together. Unhappily, this dream of a new
home was never to be realized.
Always restless at his best, Morland was now more
restless than ever. His repeated apoplectic fits had
completely unnerved him. He could remain
Homeless nowjiere for mOre than a few weeks, and
a moved from place to place without any
Restless settled purpose. During his absence from
his wife he allowed her two or three guineas a week,
144
Pathetic Picture
" and seldom failed," says Dawe, *' to fulfil his engage-
ment during his greatest exigencies." This is the
answer to the cruel allegation that he deserted her.
From time to time Morland stayed with her for a few
days, and on one of those visits to the Paddington
lodgings he painted a picture of his garret. In
this small work the artist, wrapped in an .
old overcoat, is seated, palette in hand, by
, . . . , . . . .. T,, tji his
his easel in his attic painting-room. There
, , c • j i • Garret
is a world of weariness and despair in his
pale, drawn face, as, pausing in his work, he turns
to look at us over his shoulder. There, on the floor
behind him, lie a black bottle and a glass. His man
Gibbs with a grave countenance, befitting the dreary
scene, is cooking some sausages over a fire whose
lively flames mock the pervading gloom. The canvas
on the easel on which the Master is engaged presents
a bright bit of landscape. This small picture of
Morland's garret was lent to the Whitechapel Art
Gallery in 1906 by the Corporation of Nottingham.
George Dawe says that the artist intended it as a
companion to Sir Joshua Reynolds's picture of his
own kitchen at his house in Leicester Square, which,
it will be remembered, was once the home of Morland's
father; and his biographer describes it as "a curious"
picture. To the more penetrating intelligence of the
compiler of the catalogue of the Art Gallery, this work
is more than curious: it brings us into touch with the
true self — the true case and circumstance of the painter,
who, wishing us to know him as he is, conceals nothing
'45 L
George Morland
and nothing extenuates. We feel, says the writer of
the Catalogue, that "a picture like this, like a frank
handshake, puts us at once on his side."
Morland had regained his liberty, it is true, and
some measure of physical health, but he was constantly
pursued by the fear of losing both. This anticipation
of trouble prepared his mind for the gloomiest fore-
bodings: at times he was so overcome by melancholy
that he would burst into tears; at others he was so
irritable that the slightest noise excited and distressed
him; and he became so nervous that he was afraid of
being alone in darkness even for a moment, so that
he would refuse to go to bed without two night-lights
burning in his room, lest one should chance to fail.
"If the light," says Dawe, "happened to be ex-
tinguished in a room where he was sitting, he would
creep towards the fire, or the person next to him."
Such was the condition of the great painter when he
was struck with a palsy, and for several months was
. unable to use his left hand. During this
Struck wz^part}al disabiement he was wholly dependent
upon his pencil. He made many drawings,
but could have earned thereby only a bare livelihood.
In these straitened circumstances he incurred a few
small debts, and fearful on this account of again losing
his liberty, sought a hiding-place to escape arrest. As
soon as he was able he went to Highgate, believing he
would there be safe and, in the salubrious air for which
it was famous, recover his strength. In that "romantic
rather than picturesque village," as Crabb Robinson
146
Last Exhibited Works
calls it in his Diary, he stayed at "The Black Bull,"
and amused himself, as in the old days, by watching the
stage-coaches coming and going, of which some eighty
or more used to pass through daily. At the end of a
couple of months Morland returned to town and lodged
at the house of his brother in Dean Street. It seems
that now he was almost wholly employed at a fixed
salary of two guineas a day by Henry Morland, Mr.
Donatty (a Marshalsea Court officer of Roll's Buildings),
Mr. Spence of "The Garrick's Head," Bow Street, and
Mr. Harris of Gerrard Street.
In addition to his work for them, he made many
drawings by candle-light every night (necessarily very
slight productions) which his man-servant sold for him
at the Clubs. At the time of Morland's death Mrs.
Donatty possessed several of the artist's works, in-
cluding six fox-hunting pieces which had been painted
at Donatty's house, where a room was set apart for
his use as a studio. In 1804 three of Mor-
land's pictures were exhibited at the Royal °^
Academy— namely, "Saving the Remains Acadcm^
of a Wreck," "The Fish Market," and "A l8°4
Landscape, with Hounds in full chase." These it is
probable were painted at an earlier date — the first two
from some of his Isle of Wight sketches, — although
they were sent to the exhibition from Donatty's house.
They were the last of Morland's pictures that appeared
at the Royal Academy, and although his exhibits there
were few compared with those of many other artists,
they must not be taken either as the measure of his in-
George Morland
dustry or the general quality of his work. Mr. Ralph
Richardson rightly draws attention to this, and adds: —
"The enormous number of engravings after paintings
by him which were never exhibited, although many were
displayed at successive 'Morland Galleries' in London,
attest the diligence with which he followed his calling,
and the immense success which he achieved as an artist."
We learn from Mr. Algernon Graves's Dictionary of
Artists that Morland also exhibited thirty-three pictures
at the Society of Artists, and the same number at the
Exhibition of the Free Society.
The mention above of the Morland Galleries refers to
an exhibition in 1792 given by Daniel Orme of Bond
Street, who purchased over one hundred of
. the Master's chief works. This Gallery,
Collins tells us, was enlarged and removed
to the premises of J. R. Smith, at King Street, Covent
Garden, and the charge for admission to it was one
shilling. Many of Morland's works were also shown at
a house in Fleet Street soon after the Master's death ;
and we must add to this list young George's " one-man
show" when he was working at Martlett's Court.
Although Morland may have been paid by the dealers
two guineas a day for his work, it is certain that his
health was then so weak that he could not have worked
every day. In order to lighten his labours his friends
wanted him to engage some young artist to
put in the dead colouring of his pictures, or
"shut out the canvas," as it is called ; but
this suggestion, which Morland felt was kindly offered,
148
Method and Impulse
he did not see his way to adopt. Collaboration of any
kind would have embarrassed rather than helped him,
for he had his own method of painting1, or perhaps we
should say he had no method, or none that he could
impart to another. At the period we are reviewing-,
and often before, when he depended mostly on his im-
agination and memory, he would dispense with sketching
in his subject in the first instance, and would plunge with
his loaded brush in medias res, profiting by any accidental
effect that might occur, as every artist should do,
and should be grateful for the opportunity of doing,
and seemed almost to be dependent on such; for those
who used to watch him at work say that it was often
impossible to tell from the early stages of the pictures
what design or effect he had in view. Could he, we
may ask, always have told himself? It is worth noting
that Morland in the course of his work repeatedly
showed an unsettled purpose, adding something here,
effacing something there, and, at times, altering the
whole composition of his picture, its incidents and treat-
ment, before he had done with it. This exactly reflects
the man's impulsive and restless disposition. His
works also reflect other traits, superficial though they
may be, which by common consent he possessed, as
joviality, love of children and animals, and consideration
for the poor; we must therefore credit his more re-
condite nature with the candour, kindness, sincerity,
and other excellent qualities which are impressed in
almost all his works, and are denied in none.
Collins tells us that he visited Morland when he was
149
George Morland
working at Donatty's in Roll's Buildings, and took
with him his son, then a lad of about fourteen years
of age, in whose art training the Master
A Pinter wag jnterested and helpful. Collins showed
°y s ISI Morland a copy of one of his pictures made
by the lad, and says, with fatherly pride, that the artist
mistook it for his own work. The lad was very
desirous of seeing the Master paint, and although
Morland was ill, so weak that he had to be supported
at his easel, he made the effort to please the young
artist, and painted before him for two hours, after
which he sank down in his seat from exhaustion. To
cheer up his friend, Collins suggested that they should
go together to Brighton for a change, and prognosti-
cated the best results to the sick man from this trip.
Morland was pleased at the suggestion, and said he
would think it over; but nothing came of it. He was
now unable to dwell sufficiently long upon any project
to carry it out ; and his energy had become so enfeebled
that his impulses had lost the force which formerly
determined his decisions.
Towards the last, as his eyesight grew more dim
and his mental vigour weaker, he became mistrustful
of his powers and refused to finish his pictures lest he
should spoil them. The low prices they consequently
realised disheartened him and he felt that he was
neglected. His friends were anxious enough to help
him, but he preferred to maintain his independence.
He was always a difficult man to help and no less now
than formerly. Little could be done for him whose life
15°
Arrest and Death
\v;is fast closing- in; still loss could he do for himself.
In this miserable state he passed many months, without
health, without peace, without hope.
Venturing- abroad one day for the air, and led by his
man-servant, for he was too weak to go out alone,
he encountered one of his creditors, who
demanded repayment of a loan of ten f r\->,
pounds. The artist, unable to discharge the *°*
debt, was immediately arrested and conveyed to a
sponging-house in Eyre Street, Cold Bath Fields. Here
he made a supreme effort to regain his liberty by paint-
ing a picture; but his enfeebled system gave way under
the great strain. In the act of working he fell off his
chair in a fit, brain fever ensued, and after
much suffering, poor George Morland passed 1 9r ("1
away on the 2gth October, 1804, in the
forty-second year of his age.
His friends attempted to keep the news of his death
from Mrs. Morland, as she was then ill, but, neverthe-
less, she became informed of it, and, true to her
presentiment, she died within three days of her husband,
and husband and wife were buried together on
November 2nd, in the graveyard of St. James's Chapel,
Hampstead Road.
CHAPTER XI.
MORLAND'S PUPILS AND ENGRAVERS.
Tanner— Brown— Hand— Cowden— Collins— W. Ward— J. Ward—
J. R. Smith— J. T. Smith— W. Blake— Rowlandson— Bartolozzi
— J. Fittler— J. Young— S. W. Reynolds— T. Vivares— A. Sun-
tach— T. Gaugain— Levilly— Rollet— F. D. Soiron— Dumee—
Duterreau — Rajon.
CONCERNING the pupils of Morland we have but little
information. Collins says that Morland's pupils were
of considerable service to the Master in
His Pupils laying in dead colour, filling- in outlines,
and other comparatively mechanical work.
Dawe, on the contrary, would have us believe that
they were pupils only in name, for Morland made them
his companions, and liked to have them about him
because they participated in his follies. For the
reasons we have given, it does not seem probable
that pupils were of much service to Morland. True,
if it were shown he received considerable assistance
in his painting, it might explain the enormous number
of works he produced. But this great output (remark-
able though it be as the performance of one man in
a short life) is not beyond belief, for we must remember
that many of his works were of very slight quality;
Ml
Pupils
that many were very small; and also that Morland is
kncnvn to have painted with extraordinary rapidity,
relying' more upon his touch for the effect of finish
than upon elaborate execution of detail. That Morland's
works are often unequal in merit cannot be taken as
a sign of the collaboration with him in their production
of less skilful hands; for it was in his best period that
he took pupils, and his inferior work is sufficiently
explained by his declining powers. Whether Dawe's
statement is any nearer the truth we may be able to
judge if we look, not only for the pupils' services to
the Master, but the Master's services to them.
George Morland had five pupils — namely, (i) Tanner,
the son of a master-tailor, who paid the artist a hand-
some fee upon the lad being articled to him ; (2) David
Brown, whom we have already mentioned as the pur-
chaser from the artist for forty pounds of his celebrated
picture, "The Farmer's Stable"; (3) Thomas Hand;
(4) a gentleman whom Collins describes as a "speculator
holding a situation in the Queen's Mews"; and (5)
William Collins.
Tanner appears to have been a harmless youth, who
worshipped his master and was the butt of many of
his practical jokes. This young man of
nineteen years was tall and bony and,
because of his dark complexion and coarse
hair, was nicknamed by the artist " Mohawk." He
evinced no marked talent for art, but had confidence
in himself and was very persevering. He was fond
of work and had an amiable disposition, and, when
'53
George Morland
not engaged in his studies, acted as the Master's
secretary. Morland must have been very helpful to
this young man, for, notwithstanding his moderate
abilities, he was able, after leaving the artist, to earn
a good living in the country as a portrait-painter.
David Brown was a house- and sign-painter. He
found such delight in seeing Morland work that he
followed him from place to place and took
az every opportunity of watching him at his
easel ; and, at the age of thirty-five, sold
his business, which was bringing him in two or three
hundred pounds a year, and articled himself to the
Master. Brown was a man of considerable talent and
good sense, and was very steady and studious. He
had, too, an eye to business, and purchased from
Morland many of his works, which he sold at good
profits ; and when the term of his Articles expired he
was able to obtain his living as a drawing-master. He
exhibited landscapes at the Royal Academy from 1792
to 1797.
To Morland's instruction Thomas Hand was much
indebted, and, considering his after-achievements, we
cannot believe that he wasted his time
T]™™* during his stay with him. Hand exhibited
at the Royal Academy on twelve different
occasions between the years 1792 and 1804. From the
catalogue compiled by Mr. Algernon Graves, F.S.A.,
we are enabled to give the following titles of some of
the works which Hand sent there — "View in Leicester-
shire," "Sandpits," and "A Fisherman's Hut," all in
J54
Cowden and Collins
1792; ''Interior of a Stable," in 1794; "Drawing1 a
Cover," in 1796; "Gipsies" and "The Death of the
Fox," both in 1801: from which we see that in the
choice of his subjects he largely followed his Master.
Hand died in 1804, a few weeks before Morland.
Collins does not give the name of the "gentleman
speculator " who, he says, was one of Morland's pupils.
It is probable that this individual was Mr.
Cowden, described by Dawe as "of the ' ™*
King's Mews," who had at the time of
Morland's death a choice collection of his *Peculator
small pictures painted about the year 1795, containing,
amongst others, a highly-finished picture of pigs and
some of his best coast scenes.
William Collins could only have studied under Mor-
land a very short time, for he was but sixteen years of
age when Morland died. He entered with Etty the
Royal Academy Schools in 1807, and was elected a
Royal Academician in 1820. He was the son of Collins,
whose biography of Morland we have quoted, -117-11 -
and the father of Wilkie Collins the novelist.
There is no doubt that Collins in the early
years of his art career was largely influenced by
Morland in his choice of subjects, if not in their treat-
ment; and, although many years of travel widened his
views and modified his style, he always declared that
English landscape and rustic life appealed to him more
than the grandest scenery abroad.
From the foregoing considerations we see that
Morland must have conscientiously carried out his
T55
George Morland
duties by his students, since they profited by his
instruction, and therefore conclude that Dawe's state-
ment that master and pupils wasted their time together
in frivolous amusements is unjustifiable.
Of far greater service to Morland than his pupils
were his engravers and publishers, of whom a hundred
or more can be named. The works of few
artists have been so largely engraved as
those of Morland; and this is not surprising,
for their subjects, simple and homely, truthful to Nature,
and mostly bright and cheery, appeal to all minds; and,
moreover, as they depend for their interest not so much
upon colour as upon incident, they are particularly suit-
able for reproduction in black and white. In the British
Museum are engravings and etchings of more than three
hundred of Morland's pictures and studies, which were
executed and published during the life-time of the painter.
Fortunately for him these productions were the work
of some of the best engravers of his day, of whom we
must mention in the first place William
ar Ward, who had a great reputation as an
engraver in mezzotint, and engraved, besides a large
number of Morland's works, many portraits after Sir
Joshua Reynolds's pictures and the productions of other
leading artists. Ward, who had been articled to J. R.
Smith, was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy
in 1814. He was a steady, industrious, and consci-
entious man, and one of Morland's closest
/ .
friends. His brother, an articled pupil,
James Ward, commenced his art career as an engraver
156
Engravers
in mezzotint, and reproduced in the year 1793 Morland's
" Smugglers " and " Fishermen."
James Ward had many opportunities at Kensal
Green, Marylebone, and Camden Town of watching
Morland at work, and in his early career painted some
pictures so much in Morland's manner that when he
parted with them they were sold as genuine Morlands.
Mrs. Frankau, in her interesting and instructive work
on the Ward brothers, tells us, in effect, that James
was a hymn-singing, self-satisfied critic, whose spiritual
nature was nurtured on Young's Night Thoughts; that
he considered that Rubens compared with himself
was gross and vulgar; that his own copy of Titian's
"Venus" was at least as good as the original; and
that although Michael Angelo and he (Ward) had much
in common, he had more unity of purpose than the
older master: so it is not surprising that when Ward
asked Morland to take him as a pupil the artist
"would have none of him." James Ward was elected
a Royal Academician in 1811, and painted, in 1820-22,
his celebrated "Alderney Bull" (now in the National
Gallery, London), because he was "bent upon doing
for England what Paul Potter had done for Holland."
There are some small pictures by Ward of pigs,
donkeys, and horses in the Victoria and Albert
Museum.
J. Raphael Smith engraved in mezzotint a large
number of Morland's works which he pub-
lished; and he published also many repro- 'J
ductions after Morland executed by other engravers.
'57
George Morland
Smith was the son of a landscape-painter of Derby, and
began life as a linen-draper's assistant. Coming to
London, he first practised art as a miniature-painter; he
also executed a large number of portraits in crayons,
and exhibited at the Royal Academy. He was of great
service to Morland, not only as an engraver, but in
advising him in the choice of his subjects in his early
period, for his experience as a publisher had qualified
him in gauging the current taste of the public. Bryan,
to whom we are indebted for these facts, tells us that
Smith "gave his advice kindly and generously to all who
consulted him." Raphael Smith has been described as
the boon companion of Morland and Rowlandson.
J. T. Smith, the author of The Antiquities of London
and Westminster, Nollekens and his Times, and A Book
for a Rainy Day, published in 1789 an engraving by
W. Ward after Morland's "Pleasures of Retirement."
As we have seen, he knew Morland personally. There
was not, however, much in common between them, for
it was the delight of "Rainy Day Smith" to cultivate
the acquaintance of people of fashion — a class whose
society was uncongenial to Morland. J. T. Smith says
in Nollekens and his Times: — "Morland was a man of
true genius, and was the first artist who gave the sturdy
oak its peculiar character in landscape-painting. There
are several etchings attributed to this painter, of which
a half-sheet plate of 'Pigs Asleep' is undoubtedly his,
and is a truly spirited performance." Dawe would
have us believe that Morland bought copper-plates
simply to alarm the publishers (who were making large
158
Blake and Rowlandson
profits from the reproductions of his drawings) by
making them believe that he intended etching and
publishing himself, and so induce them to give him
better prices, but that he made no use of the plates.
This is on a par with his statement that Morland kept
his colours "as much to pelt" people with who passed
his window, as for painting. The remark concerning
Morland's interpretation of the English oak is confirmed
by a French writer in Midland's Biographic Universe He.
J. T. Smith was appointed Keeper of the Prints in the
British Museum in 1816.
The list of Morland's engravers includes the dis-
tinguished artist, poet, and mystic, William Blake.
Blake was one of the first students of the
Royal Academy schools, which he entered
upon the completion of his articles under James Basire,
engraver to the Society of Antiquaries. In 1789 the
author of 77/6' Songs of Innocence and The Book of Thcl
engraved Morland's "Idle Laundress;" and in 1803, after
he had produced his Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Tfie
Gates of Paradise, and other highly imaginative works, he
engraved Morland's picture, "The Industrious Cottager."
Thomas Rowlandson painted a portrait of George
Morland in water colours, and etched Morland's series
ot four shooting subjects in 1790. Rowland-
son was one of Morland's boon companions,
and in many respects resembled him in
temperament. He had the advantage of Morland in
receiving an excellent art training at Paris, and also at
the schools of the Royal Academy, London. In the
'59
George Morland
early part of his career he painted several figure-subjects
and portraits, but afterwards confined his artistic efforts
to pictorial humour and satire. Dr. Reginald Hughes,
in his article in Social England (vol. v. p. 571), pays a
high tribute to this artist's versatility and power.
Amongst Morland's other engravers may be mentioned
the celebrated Bartolozzi, J. Grozer, James Fittler, the
. eminent line engraver who reproduced some
Bartolozzi, of Loutherbourg>s works, and illustrated
/. Grozer, Forster->s British Gallery and many other
/. Fittler books. john Young, author of Outlines of
Celebrated Picture Galleries, and keeper of the British
Institution; S. W. Reynolds, pupil of C. H. Hodges,
and drawing-master to the daughters of
' " George III., who engraved some of the
Reynolds works of sir joshua Reynolds, Horace
Vernet, Ge"ricault, Delaroche, and other eminent artists.
S. W. Reynolds is represented at the Victoria and
Albert Museum by some good examples of his oil
sketches. To this list must be added Thomas Vivares,
one of the thirty-one children of Francois Vivares, a
Frenchman who came to England in the beginning of
the eighteenth century and followed the trade of a
tailor. Thomas was a teacher of drawing ; he exhibited
his works at the Royal Academy, Society of Artists,
and Free Society between the years 1764 and 1788, and
reproduced in etching a large number of Morland's
studies of figures and animals, as well as Morland's
portrait of himself, in which he is seated, with pipe and
palette, at the door of the "Blue Bell" Inn.
160
Foreign Engravers
The principal foreign engravers of Morland's works
maybe briefly named: A. Suntach (sporting subjects),
T. Gaugain (of Abbeville), Levilly, Made-
moiselle Rollet, F. D. Soiron, E. J. Dum^e, F*
B. Duterreau, and the distinguished French EnSravcrs
etcher Paul Rajon, a native of Dijon, who, after serving
in the Franco-German War, came to England and
executed many plates after paintings in the National
Gallery, London, in the collection at Dulwich, and else-
where.
161
CHAPTER XII.
MORLAND'S WORK.
Criticisms — Morland's versatility — Portraits — Moral and domestic
subjects — Children-subjects — Coast scenes — Rural and lowly life
and animals — "Selling Fish" — Morland's originality — Followers
and imitators — His landscape — Cunningham answered.
GEORGE MORLAND was fortunate in living at a period
when the materials for his subjects contributed to the
picturesqueness of his scenes, and even the
accidents of fashion were kindly and de-
pon< y tracted nothing from their grace. But such
ppn - ajone woujd be insufficient to account for the
popularity of his works now ; still less would
it explain the favour in which they were held in his own
day, when the picturesque was so near at hand and so
familiar that its attractions could hardly have been fully
appreciated or felt by the general public. By competent
judges of his time George Morland was considered an
artist of great power and originality, and the soundness
of this judgment has never been disputed by accredited
critics. "Anthony Pasquin" (John Williams), in his
Liberal Critique on the Royal Academy Exhibitions of
1794-97, says that Morland's works are "replete with
spirit and Nature"; that they are "touched with a spirit
162
Conscientious Work
and determination which none can administer so adroitly
as himself"; and that "Mr. Morland has more genius
than any other existing- professor of the Fine Arts."
A writer in the Gentleman's Magazine of November,
1804, thus speaks of Morland: — "He shirked no diffi-
culty, disdained nothing- that was natural (
and picturesque, and would never risk truth,
but would rather give twenty guineas to ***
have a cat stolen for him than presume to Ma£a8im
paint one from an uncertain remembrance. He some-
times leaves the truth unfinished, but never violated,
and scorned to please a depraved imagination by
fantastic pretences of surpassing that which, as it is, no
man can equal. Whilst any taste for natural truth and
beautiful simplicity shall remain amongst men, the
name and talents of Morland will be distinguished as
honourable to the country which formed and produced
them."
Two years later Hassall thus writes of Morland's
work: — "The harmonious combination of his back-
grounds, his drapery, ever natural and decorous, with-
out confusion or perplexity; his children, also, his
sheep, his horses, his pigs, and all the appendages of
the rural landscape, including every other department
of picturesque scenery, still classed among the finest of
modern productions, are still objects of imitation to
young students, and are still considered and exhibited
by the best judges and patrons of the fine arts, as
most remarkably neat, correct, and elegant views of
nature."
163
George Morland
Thirty years later Allan Cunningham thus expressed
himself of the artist: — " He has taken a strong- and
lasting hold of the popular fancy ; not by
ministering to our vanity, but by telling
Cunningham ^^ and striking truths> Painting
seemed as natural to him as language is to others,
and by it he expressed his sentiments and his feelings,
and opened his heart to the multitude."
Appreciation of Morland's art loses nothing by the
passing years. His work comes into conflict neither
with the "realism" of one period nor with the " im-
pressionism" of another. His art unites these schools
by its element of human interest. By its truth and
vigour it appeals to one; by its freshness and spon-
taneity, to the other.
If valued by the prices Morland's works realize in the
market to-day, they are esteemed more now than at any
previous time. Apart from such valuation,
Human thev cjiarm as much now as they did at his
Interest death. Artists with more lofty conceptions
have preceded and have succeeded George * Morland,
but none can claim a more familiar friendship than this
painter with the kindly sentiments that touch the heart
and please the fancy; that appeal to all natures and to
all moods. The influence of his works remains, because
it flows, not from what is passing in our taste, but from
what is cherished in our affections: and so survives
changes of customs and of manners. Morland was not
a mere painter of animals — a mere animal portrait-
painter ; he invests these creatures with a peculiar force
164
Classification of Works
and presents them in a manner that wins for them our
consideration and our sympathy; and it is on such
plane, where our feelings go out to our dumb friends,
that the humblest and the loftiest imagination find a
common interest and a common enjoyment. And what
is true of Morland's animals is true of his presentments
of the life of the humbler classes.
The works of Morland may be broadly divided
thus: (i) Portraiture, (2) Moral and Domestic Subjects,
(3) Children, (4) Coast scenes, (5) Rural and Lowly
Life and Animals.
In the opinion of Blagdon, "Morland would have
been pre-eminently excellent as a portrait-painter had
he pursued that branch of art sedulously,
and con amore." Whilst respecting ^^
estimate of the artist, we may doubt whether Morland
would have been successful in portraiture from a
pecuniary point of view. We can hardly believe that
he would have pleased the fashionable people of his
day, for he was too literal, blunt, candid, and uncom-
promising. George Dawe says of Morland's efforts in
this branch of art: — "In his portraits, as in his other
productions, the first thing that attracted his notice,
and the first object that he attempted, was character.
In this he seldom failed, and whether his sitters were
male or female, he was sure to seize and exaggerate
their peculiarities, however unpleasant they might be.
Hence he obtained strong rather than agreeable like-
nesses. He was not aware that all accidental defects,
however ably imitated, are but so many obstructions,
165
George Morland
not only to beauty, but to the essential features of the
physiognomy, and that they degrade and vulgarize the
picture in which they are introduced."
Dawe himself was an experienced portrait-painter.
He was commissioned to paint some four hundred
portraits for the Tsar of Russia, which he executed to
the satisfaction of his patron; so he should be a
competent judge on a matter in which it is difficult for
us at this distance of time to form an opinion of much
weight. Morland was no flatterer, no toady, no place-
hunter; still, if he exaggerated the defects of his sitters,
he could neither have given them satisfaction, nor have
fulfilled the spirit of refined art. The truth is, probably,
that in his portraits Morland seized the general and
obvious tokens of temperament, but lacked the keenness
of perception and sensibility to detect the more subtle
qualities of character. If this be so, it cannot be said
of Morland in portraiture, as Burke eloquently said of
Reynolds, that he "appeared not to be raised upon that
platform, but to descend upon it from a higher sphere."
Although Morland must have painted many portraits,
we are able to name only a few of them, for he attained
no fame as a portrait-painter, and his portraits have
rarely been engraved. Morland painted the portrait of
Alexander Wedderburn, Lord Loughborough (en-
graved by E. Hedges, 1785); also of Mrs. Jordan, the
celebrated actress — a work which was exhibited at
Burlington House in 1894, and at the Victoria and
Albert Museum in 1904. It was thus mentioned at the
time of the latter exhibition by a critic in the Daily
1 66
Portraits
"The little 'Mrs. Jordan,' though as a portrait
it is open to the reproach of emptiness and insufficiency,
is a marvel of rich and beautiful colour — more positive
in variety and contrast than the painter often indulges
in."
Morland painted also a full-length portrait of his
friend Thomas Wilkinson of York, whom Mr. Ralph
Richardson describes " as a great dandy," and says
that his portrait (now in the possession of the Rev.
A. S. Porter, Canon of Worcester) is " most beautifully
painted"; of Mr. John Baynes, which work, Hassall
says, resembled the manner of Rembrandt; of J. R.
Smith, the engraver (a water-colour drawing) ; of Mr.
W. Mercer, of Wandsworth, and his daughter, " in
one picture, both profiles, the size of life; painted by
Morland when he was in the 'rules' of the Bench";
of Captain Cook, R.N., which was sold at Messrs.
Christie's in 1890; of Mr. Lynn, surgeon, painted in
the Isle of Wight; of Mrs. Dunscombe, the artist's
landlady; of Mrs. Morland, his wife, in the "Discon-
solate " ; and of Mrs. Ward, his sister, in " Constancy";
both of whom appear in many of his works; of the
second Baron Conway, a work which was lent by the
Marquis of Hertford to the Birmingham Art Gallery in
1888; of Colonel Sir Eyre Coote, K.B., engraved by
P. Dawe; and of W. Ward, the engraver (in the
possession of the writer). This last picture is carefully
painted, is of a pure and rich colour, is well lighted, and
is natural and unaffected ; but it is open to the objection
that it presents to us rather the temperament of the
167
George Morland
artist's subject than his character. Two portraits of
children in the possession of Sir Thomas Glen Coats,
Bart., were engraved by Appleton in 1896.
Hogarth's works no doubt suggested to Morlani
some of his instructive or moral subjects. In this
branch of art Morland shows insight and
earnestness, and judgment in the selection
of incidents: his language is simple, yet
forcible, and he wins our confidence by his transparent
candour. His touch is lighter than that of Hogarth,
and he persuades us, whereas Hogarth forces convic-
tion. His themes are treated with a delicacy and
tenderness that are not conspicuous in Hogarth's
works: he lacks Hogarth's incisive satire, but he is
always convincing because he is always truthful. In
"The Effects of Extravagance and Idleness" Morland
has been considered at fault in depicting as healthy and
well-fed individuals those who by their extravagance
and idleness have brought themselves to the verge of
destitution. Their bare attic and their shabby clothes
indicate extreme poverty, but for all that their bodily
condition shows no signs of want.
Morland does not thus present his subject without
thought. A lesser artist, in order to accentuate the
idea of poverty, would probably have given us pale and
haggard creatures with starvation stamped upon every
line of their thin and wan faces. But to Morland's deeper
knowledge of human nature such device would have been
at the expense of truth, and would have destroyed
the effect of the lesson he had set himself to teach. He
1 68
Moral Subjects
knew that the last thing extravagant and idle people
do is to stint their stomachs. He shows us that this
miserable family have starved their dog, and have sold
their furniture and are reduced to " sticks," but there
is still something to eat, and a hot meal is being
prepared. If these people had been depicted as
starving, our hearts would have gone out to them in
pity; but Morland designed to draw attention to the
causes of their miserable condition, and therefore his
aim was not to excite our pity but our condemnation and
contempt. By starving the dog, this feeling is intensified.
His didactic works, as we have said, stamp Morland
as a painter of no ordinary merit; but whether he would
have attained eminence and held his ground had he
chosen to confine himself to these instructive subjects
is not so certain. He had a fine feeling for them, and
presents them as only a true artist could present them ;
but it may be doubted whether he possessed sufficient
resource, whether his higher imagination was suffici-
ently fertile to sustain long-continued effort in this
direction. Morland was not always sufficiently attentive
to composition and to details, although proof is not
wanting that he was a master of both. His thought
was quick, his hand rapid, his touch firm and broad.
He seized impressions as they came to him, and he
mostly chose to give them to us fresh as he received
them, in the fewest words; hence much of the charm
of his rural scenes. But this method, or indifference to
method, is hardly compatible with the presentation of
subjects of a purely imaginative kind, which, for their
169
George Morland
orderly development, demand critical analysis and
sustained thought. Whatever may be the value of this
speculation, certain it is that Morland understood well the
limitation of his powers and never went out of his depth.
For the suggestion of his domestic subjects, Mor-
land had before him the works of Francis Wheatley
n • (1747-1800) and of William Hamilton
o?nesi (1751-1801), two artists who attained great
popularity through the large number of
engravings that were made after their pictures. Mor-
land admired Wheatley's works, and at an early period
copied many of them. But although he had before
him these productions of English art, and entertained
their authors, he was no mere imitator. Whatever he
laid his hand upon he left its impression upon it. The
artists that Morland followed in these subjects have
perhaps rightly been accused of unreality and affecta-
tion, but such cannot be said of Morland's productions:
they never display what is mere " prettiness. " If his
imagination is limited, it is clear and truthful ; his re-
sources are natural and adequate; his effects never
appear to be forced; and as he always speaks with
conviction, he is always interesting.
We have seen the infinite pains Morland took to
study the characters of children, whose frankness and
. simplicity delighted him, and in whose joy
Children- . before him the
children-subjects of the painter W. B. Begg
(1755-1828), and also, of course, those of Gainsborough
and his scenes of rustic life in which children often were
170
Coast Scenes
conspicuous; but although Morland's art may have
received some direction from the contemplation of these
works, which he carefully studied, he borrowed nothing
from their inspiration. In these, as in all his pictures,
Morland is original. We may say with truth that no
one could have a warmer sympathy for children than
Morland had; and, as it is in our sympathies that our
individuality is most expressed, where they are freely
bestowed individuality must be strongly impressed.
Morland's coast scenes have often been considered
his least successful works, and in a general sense this
judgment may be true, although there are
many notable exceptions. He was pre-
eminently a painter of interiors, of closed
scenes, of scenes where atmosphere is a subordinate
consideration, where repose is expressed rather than
action, and where human or animal life contributes the
main incidents and interest. An artist with a predilec-
tion for such scenes might naturally be expected to fall
short in his treatment of marine subjects, in which he
would succeed better in representing calm seas than
rough ones; and would appear to the best advantage
in views of the coast, wherein the incidents of the shore
are important factors.
Although Morland is not on the whole seen at his
best in his sea-subjects, he shows in many of them the
true versatility of his genius. The mere
painter of cottages, or the mere painter of Versatility
animals, or of landscape, does not exhibit
versatility by painting mere sea. Versatility lies in
George Morland
importing into different classes of subjects the kno
ledge, interest, and feeling that appertain properly to
each. The versatile artist does not give us mere
portraiture of divers objects, but conveys the spirit of
them which awakens in us varied emotions and ideas
in keeping with the changing scenes. In this sense
Morland has shown us in his marine subjects his
versatility. In his best work of this kind his view
widens ; his chiaroscuro becomes more generous and
more varied to suit the broader plane; he gives us air
and space, and shows that he can express action no
less than repose.
All this appears in his picture " Selling Fish," which
was engraved in 1799 by J. R. Smith, and is repro-
duced in sepia in Mr. Ralph Richardson's
Setting Memoir of our artist. Here Morland takes
us to a sandy creek on the sea-coast, en-
closed on the right by a mass of rocky cliff in deep
shade, and on the left by some dark boulders, behind
which a boat, hauled up on the shore, stands out
against the foam of the breaking waves below. Half
a gale is blowing, and the sky, charged with incident, is
ominous of evil. The distant headland is almost
obscured by the threatening storm. In the middle
distance a fishing smack, in full sail, is making with all
speed for the shore. In the foreground, on the sands
against the dark cliff, is a man on a white horse ; he is
closely wrapped in a large cloak, and bears on his arm
a basket. He is driving a hard bargain with a pretty
fish-wife for a fine skate, which, supine on the sand
172
Rural Life
(and because supine and not prone), carries the light
into the corner of the picture. The woman, wearing
a kerchief round her head, stands by the side of the
horse and protests against her customer's offer. With
one hand she points to the object of their dispute; her
other hand is in a convenient position to receive the
man's proffered coin. A large fish on the ground, with
its tail turned up against a basket at the woman's feet,
looks as if it had but just wriggled out of it, and is eyed
with suspicion by the man's dog, which stands at the
horse's heels. The wind blows hard out at sea and
rushes up the creek with such force that the fishwife can
scarcely stand against it; and the horse makes sure his
foothold by spreading out his hind legs. This picture
shows that Morland thoroughly understood composi-
tion, that he knew how to express atmosphere and
motion, and that he could distribute his lights and
shades over a wide field, and yet with the most telling
effect.
We must now consider that branch of art which
Morland made his own, and thereby, mainly, his repu-
tation as a maker of British Art. Morland, //••/•
at an early age, had studied the old Dutch Rural Life
and Flemish Masters, Teniers, the Ostades, Cuyp,
Potter, and others, and also the earlier works of Gains-
borough ; so he was familiar with some of the best
representations of rustic life, of landscape and animals,
and of the occupations and enjoyments of the humbler
classes in town and country. These subjects, treated
with so much skill by the older Masters, fascinated him,
173
George Morland
and the effect of his studies upon his original mind
was to make him feel that he had something to say
about all these matters himself. What he had to say
we know. His ambition was to lay the scenes of these
subjects in his own country, amongst his own people,
and to interpret them in a universal tongue so as to be
understood by all. By doing this he would record the
manners and habits of his day amongst the English
peasants and poor; and although these are little
affected, comparatively, by the changes of fashions and
times, his aim was to provide against all accidents by
making his art appeal to what is permanent in human
experience and, therefore, to our common nature. In
this he succeeded so well that when we regard his
pictures we do not feel that they are out of date,
although habits and customs have changed. They
please all, because they are by all understood; and they
continue to please upon more familiar acquaintance, and
therefore are not commonplace. They appeal to the
fancy of a homely order — a near neighbour of the
affections — rather than to the lofty flights of a cultured
imagination. If we compare Morland with the older
Masters, or with Gainsborough, we find the difference
between his work and theirs to be something more than
one of technique. In actual painting his work may be
less refined, less finished, less perfect, than that of the
Dutchmen and Flemings, whilst superior to Gains-
borough's in firmness and solidity. But beyond such
matters Morland is essentially different from all in the
feelings he expresses and the ideas he evokes. The great
174
Personal Magnetism
Masters in the highest spheres of art make us feel that
we know them; or if we do not truly know them, their
personality seems always to be conjoined with their
performances. Coming- down to smaller things, as the
productions of the Dutch and other painters of rustic
and lowly life, this feeling hardly exists. But when we
get to Morland something of the kind is awakened. It
happens in this wise: — the tone of Morland's expression
is invariably a wholesome good humour — a feeling easily
communicable because agreeable and welcome to all.
He does more, therefore, than interest us in the story
he tells, because he conveys to us in the telling some-
thing of his own cheery spirit; and it is this conjunction
of influences upon the intellect and emotions that makes
him, at his best, always worth listening to.
Hardly less striking than this difference of sentiment
is the difference of range of thought that we find
between Morland and other painters of rustic life.
Morland is not represented by tavern scenes alone,
nor by landscape, men, women and children alone ; his
art embraces all these subjects ; he analyzes and
combines them, and pursues them whithersoever they
may lead. He does not stop at the cottage door, but
invites us to the cheery fireside within ; he does not
leave us in the reeking moisture of the alehouse, but
takes us into the pure air of the lane or orchard without.
On the busy roadside, in the quiet fields, to the inns
with their convivial company, to the lonely gipsies in
the woods, to the sheltered nooks, to the breezy sea-
shore, to the old tired nag in the stable, or with the
175
George Morland
hounds in full chase — wherever he takes us, we find
Morland a safe guide, a discriminating interpreter,
a genial companion.
In Morland's direction other artists have followed.
We have seen that for a brief season James Ward was
one of them ; and that David Brown and
" Thomas Hand were others. W. Collins,
R.A., in his early days, was largely in-
fluenced by Morland, and the same may be said of
Henry Singleton, Sir A. W. Callcott, W. F. Wither-
ington, W. Shayer, and T. Webster.
Those of Morland's followers who have justly risen
high in their profession have not contented themselves
by stepping in Morland's footprints, but have made
tracks of their own. Amongst lesser painters, Morland
has had many mere imitators — the class to which
Michael Angelo refers when he says that the man who
follows another must always be behind him.
The distinction between a "follower" in Art and an
"imitator" has sometimes been lost sight of. The
t // » PUP^ who follows his master may (as Vasari
° l says) outstrip him. The imitator can never
a™ . „ outstrip him, because his purpose is confined
to his manner ; to achieve the closest re-
semblance to which is the goal of his effort. The
follower, on the other hand, is attracted by the master's
style — a field fertile of many purposes, within whose
limits there is scope for the play of individual fancy,
and whence the adventurous spirit may perchance
discern the by-ways leading to fresh and (to him) more
176
Extravagance and Idleness " (p, 168).
Landscape-painting
inviting pastures. Whether Morland's style has been
followed or his manner imitated, he remains, as
Cunningham truly says, ''original and alone." Girtin,
who was asked to make a companion drawing to
Morland's "Mail-coach in a Storm," is said, after
having studied that work, to have thrown down his
pencil and declared that he "could do nothing like it."
It is true that styles in art have a tendency to perpetuate
themselves ; but this is true only when they are based
upon convention or authority. Morland drew his
inspiration from Nature ; and we may say of him what
has been said of Gainsborough, that "no Academy
schooled into uniformity and imitation his truly English
and intrepid spirit." It is not surprising, therefore,
that his style and conceptions are his own, and that he
has no rival.
As to George Morland's landscape-painting, he
admired greatly Hobbema, Ruysdael, Poussin, and
Richard Wilson, and probably studied Jan Wynants,
Isaak van Ostade, and Karel Du Jardin; but in Nature
the romantic and grand were less useful to him than the
picturesque and homely scenes, for the latter were more
in keeping with the incidents his mind was set upon
depicting; and so landscape became to him a back-
ground to his main thought, and excited a subordinate
interest. In this limited service his selection is always
judicious and his interpretation truthful: and though his
colouring is not always pleasing and his effects lack
variety, his treatment is strong and displays both taste
and skill. It has been said that in landscape Morland
177 N
George Morland
was influenced by Gainsborough; but the range of
Morland's landscape is too limited to reflect any appreci-
able outside influence. Morland went to Nature and
painted what he understood of her. Except on rare
occasions, as when he depicted his land storm, he was
content with her everyday moods, with her prose, with
that of her language which was consonant with the
homely story he wished to tell. His "feeling" for land-
scape was quite of a different order from that of Gains-
borough, or of any of the older Masters whom he admired
and studied, unless, perhaps, we except Ostade. We
can imagine that the works of Old Crome would have
appealed to Morland, but he could hardly have known
them; for during Morland's life Crome was teaching
drawing at Norwich — his native city, and it was not
until eight years after Morland's death that the founder
of the Norwich School sent his pictures to London to be
exhibited at the Royal Academy. In brief, we may say
that although Morland painted landscape and painted it
well, he cannot properly be said to be a landscape
painter; for were we to call him such, what expression
would remain to us to describe the wide knowledge of
Nature, and powers of expressing her every aspect and
mood, that belonged to Claude, Poussin, and Turner,
and other great painters, who devoted their whole
thought and energy to the study of this particulai
branch of art?
We agree with Allan Cunningham that Morland h<
taken a strong and lasting hold of us "not by minister-
ing to our vanity, but by telling plain and striking
178
Cunningham Refuted
truths." This plain-speaking Art appeals to the depths
of human nature, for the love of truth lies in its founda-
tions : but it was not calculated to make
, . r . . ^ . , . Cunningham s
him a favourite portrait-painter in the
artificial world of fashion. We agree, Contradicts
too, cordially with Cunningham that Morland "ex-
pressed by painting his sentiments and feelings, and
opened his heart to the multitude;" but we can make no
attempt to reconcile Cunningham with himself. This
biographer of Morland had a true appreciation of the
artist, but he could not get away from his prejudices
against what he conceived to be the character of the
Man. For after telling us that Morland expressed his
sentiments and feelings, and disclosed his innermost
nature in his art, he goes on to say, "the coarseness of
the man, and the folly of his company, never touched
the execution of his pieces." Surely, the ideas conveyed
by these statements are mutually incompatible. They
cannot both be true. If a man's true nature be ex-
pressed in his art, and if his art be truthful and pure,
his true self must be of the same order. If, on the other
hand, his nature be coarse and his art refined, then his
art does not express his true nature. Which are we to
choose of these conflicting ideas? Clearly that which is
the more probable and which is open to investigation.
We can only legitimately infer the unseen from the seen,
the intention from the performance, the cause from the
effect.
Be it noted that the performance, which is before us,
displays the habitual choice of the man, and it is held, by
179
George Morland
Habitual
Choice
common consent, to show the qualities of truthfulness,
kindness, and sincerity. This spirit is found not in one
effort alone, but in all Morland's works ; not
in works which are few, but very many in
number : so many are they in fact that they
represent the sum of the industry of a whole life,
working" at high pressure. What is seen of the mind
that inspired them apart from what is seen of it in them
is insignificant. A solitary effect does not indicate a
tendency: an occasional or spasmodic performance may
be a guide to a passing mood ; but it is only in habitual
choice that we find the key to the true type and tone of
character. The qualities of mind and sentiment that
George Morland habitually chose to represent are
always commendable, and we are therefore justified in
taking his performance as the index of his true
affections.
1 80
Appendices,
I. MORLAND'S CHIEF WORKS.
II. MORLAND'S PICTURES IN PUBLIC GALLERIES.
III. SOME OF MORLAND'S ENGRAVED WORKS.
IV. MORLAND'S PICTURES IN THE AUCTION-ROOMS.
V. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Appendix I.
Morland's Chief Works.
TITLES OF
PICTURES.
DATE.
The Lass of Livingstone
The Laetitia Series (6)
The Happy Family - - about
Domestic Happiness - - ,,
Children playing at Soldiers (in the Collection of the late
Sir Charles Tennant, Bart.) - about
Children Fishing (present owner, G. Harlancl Teck, Esq.)
about
Children gathering Blackberries - ,,
Children playing at Blind Man's Buff (present owner, Lieut. -
Colonel F. A. White)
The Seasons - - - - about
Valentine's Day; or, Johnny going to the Fair ,,
The Visit to the Boarding School
The Visit to the Child at Nurse
Dancing Dogs -
The Strangers at Home
The Triumph of Benevolence -
The Power of Justice (present owner, Sir Walter Gilbey,
Bart.)
Effects of Extravagance and Idleness (present owner, Sir
Walter Gilbey, Bart.)
Fruits of Early Industry and Economy
The Farmer's Visit to his Married Daughter -
The Visit Returned in the Country
The Fortune Teller
183
1785
1786
1787
1788
George Morland
TITLES OF PICTURES.
The Kite Entangled (present owner, Mrs. Thwaites) - about
Children Bird's-nesting (present owner, Lieut. -Colonel F. A.
White) - - about
Juvenile Navigators (present owner, Lieut. -Colonel F. A.
White) - - - about
Youth diverting Age (present owner, Romer Williams, Esq.)
about
Louisa (present owner, G. Harland Peck, Esq.) - ,,
The Pleasures of Retirement - ,,
The Guinea-pig Man - - about
The Carrier's Stable (present owner, J. Joel, Esq.)
The Contented Waterman
The Press-gang
The Cottage Door (present owner, Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart.)
Storm off Black Gang Chine (Abbiss and Phillips's Collection)
A Tea-Garden - - - about
The Farmer's Door - ,,
The Squire's Door • ,,
The Deserter Series (4)
Boys robbing an Orchard (in the Collection of the late Sir
Charles Tennant, Bart.) - - about
The Angry Farmer - ,,
A Rural Feast - - ,,
Inside of a Stable
Shore Fishermen hauling in a Boat
Horses in a Stable
A Gipsy Encampment (present owner, Sir Walter Gilbey,
Bart.)
Gathering Sticks (present owner, Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart.) -
Travellers
Cottagers
The Country Stable
Higglers preparing for Market
A Stable-yard (present owner, G. Harland Peck, Esq.)
Nurse and Children in the Fields - - about
The Benevolent Sportsman
The Sportsman's Return
The Straw-yard
Ferreting Rabbits
184
Appendix I.
TITLES OF PICTURES. DATE.
The Fish-girl - - - 1792
The Cow-herd and the Milkmaid
The Country Butcher -
The Dram (present owner, Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart.) -
The Corn-bin -
The Horse-feeder
The Deserter's Farewell (present owner, Sir Walter Gilbey,
Bart.)
The Ale-house Door -
Smugglers (present owner, Sir Randolf L. Baker, Bart.)
A Stable ,, ,, ,,
A Farmyard ,, ,, ,, - 1793
Wreckers ,, ,, ,,
Return from Market (present owner, Edward Boyes, Esq.)
The Happy Cottagers -
Selling Fish ......
The Carrier preparing to Set Out
The Turnpike Gate (present owner, J. Fleming, Esq.)
The First of September (2) - - about
Bargaining for Sheep - - 1794
The Farrier's Shop
The Thatcher (present owner, Edward Boyes, Esq.) - - 1795
The Post-boy's Return (present owner, Sir Samuel Montagu,
Bart.) - - - about
A View of the Needles - about 1798
Freshwater Gate - - - - - ,,
The Fisherman's Hut -
Paying the Horseler
Feeding the Pigs (present owner, Lieut. -Colonel C. E
McClintock)
Setters (present owner, Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart.)
Fishermen Going Out -
A Mail-coach in a Storm
Peasants Travelling
A View at Enderby
Door of a Village Inn -
The Reckoning
The Blind White Horse (Abbiss and Phillips's Collection)
The Horse Fair
'85
1799
George Morland
TITLES OF PICTURES.
DATK.
A Windy Day -
Mutual Confidence
The Death of the Fox (present owner, Sir Walter Gilbey,
Bart.)
The Fishermen's Toast (present owner, G. Harland Peck, Esq.)
The Shepherds (present owner, Edward Boyes, Esq.)
Wreckers (present owner, Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart.) -
Innocence Alarmed ,, ,,
The Hard Bargain (present owner, G. A. Daniel, Esq.)
The Waggoners' Halt, outside the " Bell Inn " (present owner,
E. A. Knight, Esq.)
The Warrener -
The " Bull Inn" (present owner, J. Joel, Esq.)
The Cornish Plunderers (present ownejr, Lieut. -Colonel Sir
Charles E. Hamilton, Bart.)
The Ale-house Kitchen (present owner, Lieut. -Colonel Sir
Charles E. Hamilton, Bart. )
The Last Letter
The Cherry Girl
1 86
Appendix II.
Morland's Pictures in Public
Galleries.
PARTICULARS.
DATE.
The National Gallery, London.
1. The Inside of a Stable, 57 in. by 79^ in. Presented by
T. Birch Wolfe, Esq., 1877 - 1791
2. A Quarry, with Peasants, 7 in. by 9 in. Purchased, 1879
3. Door of a Village Inn, 41 in. by 49 in. Bequeathed by
Sir Oscar M. P. Clayton, C.B., 1892.
4. Rabbiting, 34 in. by 46 in. Bequeathed by J. T.
Smith, Esq., 1897.
5. The Fortune-teller. Bequeathed by Mrs. Behrend, 1906
The Victoria and Albert Museum, South
Kensington.
1. The Reckoning, 29 in. by 39 in.
2. Horses in a Stable, 34 in. by 46^ in. - - 1791
3. Shore Fishermen hauling in a Boat, 33^ in. by 46^ in. ,,
4. Coast Scene, 8 in. by 12^ in. - - 1792
5. Johnny going to the Fair, 13^ in. by 18 in.
6. A Girl with a Dove, 7f in. by 9 in. (oval).
7. A Farmyard, 14 in. by 8.J in.
8. A Hunting Scene, 9^ in. by n§ in.
9. Landscape, Cottage, and Cart, 16 in. by 17^ in.
10. A Winter Scene, 5 in. by 6± in.
The National Portrait Gallery, London.
1. Portrait of Morland as a young man, in chalks.
2. ,, ,, as a child, in oils.
187
George Morland
PARTICULARS.
The Wallace Collection, Hertford House, London.
The Visit to the Boarding School, 23! in. by 29 in.
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh.
The Stable-door— a Study, 15 in. by 13 in.
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin,
Landscape, with Figures and Cattle, 21 in. by 25^ in.
Glasgow Art Gallery.
1. An Inland Stream, n in. by 14^ in.
2. Sea-coast Scene — Smugglers, i2j in. by 15 in. -
3. Storm and Wreck, 19^ in. by 24 in.
4. Sea-piece, 12 in. by 16 in.
5. An English Homestead, 39 in. by 48 in. (Attributed
toG. M.)
Birmingham Art Gallery.
Pigs, 28 in. by 37! in. Exhibited, R. A. -
Leicester Art Gallery,
Calm off the Coast of the Isle of Wight, i if in. by i6| in.
Leeds Art Gallery.
1. Coast Scene — Fishermen, 25 in. by 30 in.
2. Hastening Home, 5^ in. by 7 in. (Attributed to G. M.)
Royal Holloway College, Egham.
1. The Carrier preparing to Set Out, 34 in. by 46 in.
2. The Contented Waterman, 14 in. by 18 in.
3. The Press-gang, 14 in. by 18 in.
1 88
Appendix II.
PARTICULARS. i DATE.
Wolverhampton Art Gallery.
1. The Coming Storm, 26 in. by 19^ in. - 1789
2. The Storm-cloud, 45 in. by 33 in. 1790
Oxford University Art Gallery.
Landscape, 17^ in. by 2i£ in.
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
1. Encampment of Gipsies, 24^ in. by 29^ in.
2. Calf and Sheep, Il£ in. by 14.^ in.
3. Donkey and Pigs, uj in. by 144 in. - - 1789
4. Landscape and Figures, nj in. by 14^ in.
5. Coast Scene, 9.^ in. by 11^ in. - - - 179^
6. Landscape and Figures, 5^ in. by 8 in.
Manchester Art Gallery.
The Farrier's Forge, 28 in. by 36 in. Exhibited, R. A., 1794 1793
Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield.
The Village Inn, 23 in. by 30 in.
Nottingham Art Gallery.
1. The Artist in his Studio, 30 in. by 25 in.
2. The Wreckers, 27 in. by 20 in.
3. A Study of Pigs, 14$ in. by n^ in.
4. The Sportsman Resting, 15 in. by 12 in.
5. Two Horses in the Snow, 9^ in. by 7 in.
6. Landscape, with Four Horses, 8 in. by 6 in.
7. Two Pigs in Straw, io£ in. by 7g in.
8. Landscape, with Figures, 6 in. by 4 in.
9. Woman, Child, and Dog, 7 in. by gh in.
10. Landscape, Horse, Cart, and Figures, 8J in. by 6 in.
189
Appendix III.
Some of Morland's Engraved
Works.
TITLE OK PICTURE.
ENGRAVER.
Date of
Publica-
tion.
Mezzotints,
Children Nutting
E. Dayes
1783
The Delightful Story
W. Ward
1787
Domestic Happiness
j I
j j
The Happy Family
J. Dean
) >
Valentine's Day -
J 9
) j
The Visit to the Child at Nurse
W. Ward
1788
The Sportsman's Hall -
11
|$
The Pledge of Love
tt
II
Blind Man's Buff
ii
)»
Credulous Innocence
J. Young
The Triumph of Benevolence -
J. Dean
||
The Power of Justice
5 )
||
Children playing at Soldiers
G. Keating
91
Children Fishing
P. Dawe
j )
Children gathering Blackberries
}}
Fruits of Early Industry and Economy
The Effects of Extravagance and Idleness
W. Ward
II
1789
The Pleasures of Retirement
If
J >
Children Bird's-nesting
The Visit to the Boarding School
>»
»
Youth diverting Age
J. Grozer
||
190
Appendix III.
TITLE OF PICTURE.
ENGRAVUK.
Date of
Publica-
tion.
Mezzotints — cont.
Juvenile Navigators
W. Ward
1789
Temptation
Affluence Reduced
W. Humphrey
H. Hudson
1790
i)
The Comforts of Industry
it
IS
The Miseries of Idleness
it
The Contented Waterman
W. Ward
|f
The Press-gang
ii
ii
The Kite Entangled
A Rural Feast
Cottagers
J. Dean
W. Ward
1791
Travellers
}>
Nurse and Children
G. Keating
it
The Deserter Series (4)
»
»i
Gipsies -
W. Ward
1792
The Carrier's Stable
j
j ,
The Country Stable
j,
i >
The Farmer's Stable
M
|f
Gipsy Courtship -
J. Jenner
M
The Happy Cottagers -
The Gipsies' Tent
J. Grozer
179.3
ii
Smugglers
J. Ward
,,
Fishermen
»>
,,
Burning Weeds -
Return from Market
J. R/Smith
i »
First of September (2) -
W. Ward
1794
Rubbing down the Post-horse
J. R. Smith
ii
The Benevolent Sportsman
J. Grozer
1795
The Sportsman's Return
,,
!>
The Farm-yard -
W. Ward
The Dram
it
1796
The Storm
»»
»>
Playing with a Monkey -
J. R. Reynolds
1797
The Horse-feeder
J. R. Smith
,,
The Corn-bin
?J
II
Breaking the Ice
I7QS
A Land Storm -
S. W. Reynolds
The Milkmaid and Cow-herd
J. R. Smith
,,
191
George Morland
TITLE OK PICTURE.
ENGRAVER.
Date of
Puhlica-
tion.
Mezzotints — cont.
Selling Fish
J. R. Smith
1799
The Fisherman's Hut
it
ii
Watering the Cart-horse
> j
il
The Hard Bargain
W. Ward
1 800
The Last Litter -
,,
,,
Ale-house Politicians
M
1801
Ale-house Door •
R. S. Syer
i •>
The Country Butcher
T. Gosse
1802
Girl and Calves -
W. Ward
,,
Innocence Alarmed
J. R. Smith
1803
Stable, Figures, and Animals
Fishermen going out
J. Young
S. W. Reynolds
1804
1805
Paying the Horseler
M
ii
The Fishermen's Toast -
W. Hilton
1806
The Turnpike Gate
W. Ward
Jl
Setters -
it
J >
The Thatcher -
,,
»
The Warrener
"
»
Stipple Engravings.
How Sweet's the Love that meets return
T. Gaugain
1785
The Lass of Livingstone
} ?
) 1
Constancy, and Variety (2)
W. Ward
1788
Delia (2)
J. R. Smith
,,
The Strangers at Home -
W. Nutter
j 9
The Idle Laundress
W. Blake
The Seasons
W. Ward
II
The Guinea-pig Man
T. Gaugain
1789
Louisa -
ii
) )
Laetitia Series (6)
J. R. Smith
>»
Farmer's Visit to his Married Daughter -
W. Bond
The Visit Returned in the Country
W. Nutter
,,
The Tomb
J. Dean
,,
Dancing Dogs
T. Gaugain
1790
The Tea-garden -
F. D. Soiron
The Squire's Door
B. Duterreau ,,
192
Appendix III
TITLE OK PICTUKK.
ENGRAVES.
Date of
Publica-
tion.
Stipple Engravings — cont.
The Farmer's Door
B. Duterreau i 1790
The Soldier's Farewell -
G. Graham
ii
The Soldier's Return
»
»
Boys Robbing an Orchard
E. Scott
The Angry Farmer
(-
f|
Belinda -
Barrows
1794
Children feeding Goats
P. W. Tomkins
Gathering Fruit -
R. M. Meadows
1795
Gathering Wood
»
ii
The Post-boy's Return -
D. Orme
1796
Higglers preparing for Market -
The Peasant's Repast
C. Josi
1797
The Labourer's Luncheon
H
v
The Industrious Cottager
W. Blake
1803
'93
Appendix IV.
Morland's Pictures in the
Auction-rooms.
DATE OF
SALE.
TITLE.
1798 The Cottage Door (see 1883)
1807 A Winter Scene
,, Bathing Horses
1823 Interior of a Stable -
1840 A Coast Scene
,, The Market-cart
1841 Farmer and Gamekeeper
1842 The Corn-bin
Sheep in a Stable
Ale-house, Figures, and Dogs
Pigs eating Cabbages
1853 ! Stable, White and Bay Horse, and Figures
1856 Sheep reposing at Noon-tide
A Land Storm
A Hard Bargain
The Thatchers
Innocence Alarmed
The Horse Fair (see 1877) -
1863 The Carrier preparing to Set Out (see 1881)
A Gipsy Encampment (1790)
View at Enderby (see 1876)
1864 Cornish Wreckers (see 1892)
1866 Landscape, Figures, and Donkeys -
194
PKICE.
£ s.~
73 10
173 5
105 o
HI 15
184 1 6
115 10
221 IO
225 15
232 o
22O IO
2IO O
707 o
248 17
5i 9
131 5
147 o
224 14
231 o
257 5
152 5
288 15
178 ii
210 O
Appendix IV.
DATE OK
SALE.
TITLE.
PRICE.
£ s.
1866
Butcher and Farmer
262 10
1868
Landscape, Cattle, and Sheep
246 15
1871
Sportsmen at Village Inn -
393 15
1875
The Fox Inn
283 10
»
Snowballing (see 1905)
105 o
1876
Mutual Confidence (see 1895)
126 o
tt
A Farmyard
152 5
i
The Edge of a Wood
367 10
A Wood Scene
147 o
f
A View at Enderby (see 1863)
262 10
f
A Gipsy Encampment
441 o
The Post-boy's Return (see 1888) -
660 o
1877
The Fruits of Industry
582 15
»»
The Horse Fair (see 1856) -
352 5
1878
Westmoreland (see 1905)
3iS o
1879
The Nut-gatherers -
588 o
Carrying Pigs to Market
1 10 5
lS8o
Butcher and Farmer (see 1866)
304 10
1881
The Carrier preparing to Set Out (see 1863)
400 o
1882
The Tea Garden (see 1888)
215 o
1883
The Contented Waterman -
199 10
»
The Press-gang
199 10
>»
The Cottage Door (see 1798)
399 o
1886
Trepanning a Recruit
320 5
1 888
The Post-toy's Return (see 1876) -
745 10
J)
The Keeper's Cottage
346 10
Robbing the Orchard
798 o
1 5
The Tea Garden (see 1882)
472 10
The Horse Fair (see 1877 and 1856)
430 10
5 5
Charcoal Burners -
252 o
i 9
Laetitia (l)
267 1 8
1889
The Windy Day
336 o
9 9
Children playing at Soldiers
735 o
1890
The Inn Door
309 15
j
Ferreting Rabbits -
472 10
1891
Men and Dogs
346 10
A Hunting Scene (1793) 17 in. x 23^ in.
309 15
} }
The Alehouse Door
535 10
,,
A Farmyard (1798)
273 o
195
George Morland
DATE OK TlTLE
SALE.
PRICE.
1892
;£ s.
Cornish Wreckers (see 1864) - 840 o
Farmyard, with Butcher, etc. (1794)
493 10
j 9
A Hunting Scene, 54 in. x 73 in.
504 0
1893
Gipsy Encampment
472 10
99
The Shepherd's Meal (see 1902) -
346 10
1894
A Farmyard
462 o
1895
Mutual Confidence (see 1876)
987 o
The Labourer's Home
336 o
Farmer on White Horse : Storm
630 o
/ Partridge Shooting^
504 o
"
\ Pheasant ,, /
, ,
The Cottage Door -
745 10
Visit to the Child at Nurse -
IIO2 IO
1896
The Cherry-sellers -
1050 10
) J
Gipsies round a Fire
399 o
The Piggery
336 o
The Catastrophe
336 o
1897
A Wood Scene ; Peasants Smoking
336 o
Gamekeeper's Return
472 10
>}
A Wood Scene : Sportsmen
357 o
1898
Evening; or, the Post-boy's Return (see
1876 and 1888)
1312 o
'
Going to the Barn -
420 o
1899
Gipsies
766 10
I Farm Waggon and Team \
\ A Mountainous Landscape /
346 10
A Farm, Butcher, Sheep, and Sty -
892 10
tj
The Roadside Inn -
472 10
1900
The Stable Door -
556 1°
1902
Carrier's Stable
"55 °
The "Bull Inn" -
861 o
}>
The Shepherd's Meal (see 1893) -
966 o
, j
Breaking the Ice
441 o
Gipsy Family
325 o
1904
Gipsy Encampment in Wood
Laetitia Series (6) -
472 10
5880 o
1905
ii
Dancing Dogs
Higglers preparing for Market
Snowballing (see 1875)
4200 o
2IOO O
504 o
196
Appendix IV.
DATF OF
SALE.
TITLE.
PRICE.
£ s.
1905 j Westmoreland, 1792 (see 1878)
504 o
A Country Stable (1791) -
1050 o
A Wood Scene
840 o
Landscape -
609 o
Winter (1790)
504 o
Lucky Sportsman -
441 o
Unlucky Sportsman
420 o
Wreckers after a Gale (1791)
777 o
19
06 The Deserter Pardoned
1417 10
19
07
Happy Cottagers
Gipsies
2940 o
1 840 o
Gipsies' Tent
945 o
1 Paying the Horseler
504 o
'97
Appendix V.
Bibliography
The Art Journal, 1849-60.
London, by Sir Walter Besant.
Anecdotes of London during the Eighteenth Century, by Malcolm.
Old and New London, by Walter Thornbury and Edward Walford.
George Morland, by F. W. Blagdon, 1806.
„ by G. Dawe, 1807.
by J. Hassall, 1806.
by R. Richardson, F.R.S.E., 1895.
,, by G. C. Williamson, Litt. D., 1904.
Memoirs of a Picture, by W. Collins, 1805.
Modern Painters, by John Ruskin.
Book of Days, edited by R. Chambers.
Memoirs of Painting, by W. Buchanan, 1824.
Lives of the Great Painters, by A. Cunningham, 1830.
Patronage of British Art, by John Pye, 1845.
W. Ward and J. Ward: their Lives and Works, by Mrs. Frankau,
1904.
Tears of Nature: an Elegy, by W. Sandos, 1804.
Studies of English Art, by F. Wedmore.
The History of Signboards, by Messrs. Larwood and Hotten.
Portfolio Series (1898), by J. T. Nettleship.
The Diary of John Evelyn.
The Diary of Samuel Pepys.
The Diary of Henry Crabb Robinson, 1869.
Richardson's Recollections of the Last Half-century.
198
Bibliography
Nollckens and his Times, l>y J. T. Smith.
A 3ook for a Rainy Day, ,,
Antiquities of London and Westminster, by J. T, Smith,
Social England (Dr. R. Hughes's articles).
Anecdotes of Painters, by Horace Walpole.
Nichols's Biographical Anecdotes of Ilngarth.
English Painters, by W. Sharp.
Biographical and Critical Dictionary of Painters, by Michael Bryan,
1886-89.
Biographic Universelle, par Michaud.
Cyclopedia of Painters, edited by Messrs. Champlin and Perkins,
iSSS.
Liberal Critique on the Exhibitions of 1794-7, by Anthony Pasquin.
Gentleman's Magazine, 1804.
Dictionary of Painters, by Matthew Pilkington, 1810.
Dictionary of National Biography (Thompson Cooper's articles).
Royal Academy Exhibitors, 1769-1904, by Algernon Graves, F.S.A.
Dictionary of Artists, by Algernon Graves, F.S.A.
Art Sales, by George Redford, F.R.C.S.
The Year's Art, 1906.
The Times, 1783, 1876, 1879.
The Daily News, 1904.
Notes and Queries, Series 3 to 8.
Catalogues of Exhibitions at the Guildhall, London.
,, ,, at Burlington House, London.
,, ,, at the Grosvenor Gallery, London.
Catalogue of Engraved British Portraits, by H. Bromley, 1793.
„ Exhibition at South Kensington, 1904.
,, ,, Wrexham, 18/6.
,, ,, Messrs. Agnew's, 1906.
,, The National Gallery, London.
,, The South Kensington Museum, London.
,, The National Portrait Gallery, London.
The Wallace Collection, London.
,, The National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh.
,, ,, ,, Ireland, Dublin.
199
George Morland
Catalogue of The Art Gallery, Whitechapel, 1906.
Royal Holloway College, Egham.
Nottingham.
Sheffield.
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
of the University, Oxford.
Birmingham.
Leeds.
Leicester.
Manchester.
Glasgow.
Sale by Messrs. Denew, January, 1798.
Mr. Jesse Curling's Sale, July, 1856.
200
Index.
(The items qitoted are titles of pictures by Morland.)
ACADEMY, Royal, 24, 27, 29, 37,
69, 76, 90. 9i,H4> H5» 123, 147
Schools, 24
"African Hospitality," 76
"Ale-house Door, The,'' 89
a study, 88
Angerstein, j. J., 17, 28
"Anglers' Repast, The," 37
Anglers, the disappointed, 119
"Anxiety, or The Ship in Dis-
tress," 76
Apoplexy, a fit of, 125, 143
Appreciation of Morland's works,
162
Articled, Morland, 26
"Artist in his Garret, The," 145
Association of Artists, 20
"Ass Race, An," 68
BALLADS, popular, 29
Bank-notes, 130
"Bargaining for Sheep," 1 14
Barley Mow, The, 92
Bartolozzi, 37, 160
Begg, W. B., 170
"Benevolent Sportsman, The,"
ci, 102, H2
Beant, Sir Walter, 8
Bibliography, Appendix V.
Black Bull, sign of the, 93
the, 147
Blagdon, F. W., IO, 165
Blake, W., 61, 159
"Blue Bell Inn, The," 160
" Boys Robbing an Orchard," 72
««_ Sliding," 72
Boxing match, 101
Britannia, the, 75, 82
Brooks, 78
Brown, D., go, 91, 154
Bryan, 37, 48, 158
Bull Inn, the, 92
Bun-baker, the, 104
" Burning Weeds," 92
CABIN, the, 35
Calais, 56
Callcott, Sir A. W., 176
"Calm oft' the Isle of Wight," 136
Camden Town, 63
Carey, Mr. C. W., 87
"Carrier's Stable, The," 115
Chambers, R., quoted, 8
"Charcoal Burners," 136
Charlotte Street, 108
Chefs d'cntvre, 88
Chelsea, at, 124
"Cherry Girl, The," So
201
George Morland
Cheshire Cheese, the, 33
" Children Bird's-nesting," 72, 81
" Fishing," 72
" Gathering Blackberries," 72
" Nutting," 37
" -Playing at Blind Man's
Buff," 71
— Soldiers," 72
subjects, 71, 170
"Christmas Week," 123
Coast scenes, 27, 133, 171
Cock-throwing, 8
Collaboration, 120, 148
Collins, W., 10, 37, 62
R.A., 150, 155, 176
Congress, the, 33
Constable, Morland as, 74
"Contented Waterman, The," 87
" Conway Castle," 116
"Corn-bin, The," 107
"Cornish Plunderers, The," 115
" Cottage Door, The," 87
"Cottagers," 62, 88
"Country Butcher, The," 107
Country Walks, 23
" Cow and Calf worried by Dogs,"
'36
Cowden of the King's Mews, 155
Cowes, 132
"Cowherd and Milkmaid, The,"
107
Creditors, 83, 106, 113
"Cricketers, The," 93
Crome of Norwich, 178
Cudgel-playing, 8
Cunningham, A., 9, 12, 62, 164,
179
"DANCING Dogs," 76, 77
Da we, George, 11, 166
Philip, 4
" Day after the Wreck, The," 136
Dayes, E., 37
Death of G. Morland, 151
. H. R. Morland, 128
— Mrs. Morland, 151
"Death of the Fox," 115
Debts, 83, 106
"Deserter" series, the, 73
"Deserter's Farewell, The," 107
Didactic works, 64, 168
" Diligence," 62
'"Disconsolate and her Parrot,
The," 62
" Domestic Happiness," 61
subjects, 170
Donatty, Mrs., 147
" Door of a Village Inn," 92
Dover, 47
" Dram, The," 107
Dress, Morland's, 82
Dumee, E. T., 161
Duterreau, B., 161
| EAST SHEEN, 125
| Education, Morland's general, 25
"Effects of Extravagance and
Idleness, The," 76, 168
Enderby, 116
Engravers, English, 156
Foreign, 161
! Engravings of some of Morland's
pictures, Appendix III.
Etty, 155
" Evening," 136
Excursions, 116
Eyre Street, 151
FAERIE QUEENE, 29
Failing health, 127
" Farmer's Stable, The," 90
" Visit to the Married
Daughter, The," 81
" Farmyard, A," So, 91
" Farrier's Shop, The," 114
I " Ferreting Rabbits," 107
202
Index
Fclfs gatan/es , painters of, 86
"Fishermen,'' 116
" going out," 115
"Fishermen's Toast, The," 115
" Fish Girl, The," 107
"Fish Market, The," 133, 147
Fittler, J., 160
" Flowery Banks of the Shannon,
The," 69
" Fog in September, A," 37
Followers and imitators, 176
Ford, Parson, 9
" Fortune Teller, The." 77
"Fox about to be Killed, The,"
118
" Foxhunters and Dogs in a
Wood," 118
" Leaving the Inn," 118
Fox Inn, the, 92, 107
Frankau, Mrs., 157
"Freshwater Gate," 115, 135
" Fruits of Early Industry and
Economy, The," 76
"Full Cry," Il8
Fuseli, 99, 125
Fuseli's "Nightmare," 28
GAINSBOROUGH, 25, 27, 170,
174
"Gathering Sticks," 88
Gauguin, T., 161
Gentleman's Magazine, 99, 163
Gibbs, 145
" Gipsies,'' 118
" Kindling a Fire," 1 18
" Sitting over a Fire by
Moonlight," 118
" Gipsies' Tent, The," 118
"Gipsy Courtship," 118
" Encampment, A," 88, llS
Girtin, 177
" Goat in Boots, The," 94
I "Goats," 91
Goldsmith, Oliver, 98
Graves, Algernon, 97, 148, 154
! Gravesend, a trip to, 33
i Gresse, J. A., 37
< Irozer, J., 91, 160
Gunning, the Misses, portraits of,
18
HACKNEY, 129
Hamilton, W., 170
Hand, T., 154
Pictures of, 154
" Happy Family, The," 61
"Hard Bargain, The," 115
Hassall, J., 10, 39, 139, 163
Highgate, 146
Hill, Mrs., 46
Hogarth, 9, 17, 64, 83, 168
Hole in the Wall, 93
" Horsefeeder, The," 107
" Horses in a Stable," 88
Hospitality, 100
Hughes, Dr. R., 58, 160
Humour, Morland's, 67
" Hovel with Asses," 29
" How Sweet's the Love that
meets return," 46
Hunter, Sir John, 125
IBBETSON, J. C., 120
" Idle Laundress, The," 61
" Idle Mechanic, The," 6 1
" Idleness," 62
Imitators and followers, 176
Income and expenditure, 102
Incorporated Society of Artists,
Royal, 29, 68, 124
" Industrious Cottager, The," 61
" Mechanic, The," 61
Industry, 68, 140
203
George Morland
" Inside of a Stable, The," 90, 1 14
Irving, Washington, 95
Irwin, 69
Isle of Wight, 131
JENNY, 49
Jockey, 53
Jones, Mr., marshal of the King's
Bench Prison, 142
Jordan, Mrs., portrait of, 166
"Joy, or the Ship returned," 76
"Juvenile Navigators," 72, 81
KING'S Bench Prison, 83, 137
" Kite Entangled, The," 72
" LAKTITIA" Series, the, 63, 65
" Lake Scene, A," 88
Lake, Sir James Winter, 46
Lambeth, 124
" Landscape and Figures," 123
Landscape art, Morland's, 177
by J. Rathbone, 120
" Westmoreland, A," 107
" with Hounds in full chase,
A," 147
Larwood and Hotten, 93
" Lass of Livingstone, The," 46
"Last Litter, The, 115
" Laundry Maids, The," by H. R.
Morland, 18
Leicester Street, at, 84
Square, 17
Letters of Morland, 47, 50, 54, 57,
128
Levilly, 161
" Litter of Foxes, A," 118
London, Old and New, 17, 89
"Louisa," 8 1
Loutherbourg, 96, 97
" Love and Constancy Rewarded,1'
46
Lynn, Dr., 131
"MAD Bull, A," 67
" Mail-coach in a Storm," 177
Malcolm's Anecdotes, 8
" Man of Feeling, The," 65
Margate, flight to, 45
races, 53
Martlett's Court, 43
Marylebone lodgings, 63
Masterpiece, Morland's, 90
Memory, drawing from, 31, 35,
142
Menagerie, 80, 101
" Mending the Nets," 136
Merle, Mr., 126, 129
Michaud, 36, 159
" Miller and his Men, The," 136
Millet, J. F., 126
Miniatures, 48
Models, 75, 80, 98, 133
Moore, Tom, 93
Morland Galleries, 148
George, birth of, 20
chief works, Appendix I.
children subjects, 71,170
coast scenes, 171
didactic works, 64, 168
domestic subjects, 61,
170
education, 25
engraved works, some
of, Appendix III.
engravers, 156, 161
family, 16, 19
landscape art, 177
- letters, 47, 50, 54, 57,
128
marriage of, 62
musical tastes, 25
204
Index
Morland, George, pictures in public
galleries, Appendix II.
pictures in the auction-
rooms, Appendix IV.
— portraits by, 39, 53, 66,
166-168
portraits of, 39
pupils, 152
rural scenes, 171
temperament, 5
Sir Samuel, Bart., 13
Mount Sorrel, 119
Murray, C. O., 91
NETTLES HIP, J. T., 7
Newport, 135
Nollekens and his Titties, 25, 40
OLD Masters, 107
"Old Red Lion, "The, 17, 92
Orme, D., 66, 148
"Oyster Seller, An," by G. II.
Morland, 16
PADDINGTON, 89
Palsy, struck with, 146
" Party Angling, A," 37
" Paying the Horseler," 66
Personal appearance of Morland,
39
Pigott, Rev. Mr., 120
" Pigs Asleep," 158
Pilkington, 81
" Pleasures of Retirement," 81
" Plough Inn, The," 92
Pocket-money, 29
Portrait of the Duke of York, 18
Ingham Foster, 18
James Bradshaw, 18
Garrick as Richard III., 18
George III., 18
Sir Samuel Morland, Bart., 16
Portrait of Sir W. W. Wynn,
Bart., 18
- W. Ward, 167
Portrait-painter, Morland as a,
165
Portraits of Morland, 39
" of Stablemen," 66
" Post-boys and Horses Refresh-
ing," 136
" Post-boy's Return, The," 66
" Power of Justice, The," 76
Practical joking, 21, 28, 67, 109,
119
Precocity, 20
Presentiment, 144
"Press-gang, The," 88
Promissory notes, 78, 103
RAJON, P., 161
Ramsay's "Gentle Shepherd," 79
Rathbone, J., 120
"Reckoning, The," 115
Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 17, 20, 28,
114, 145
S. W., 160
Richardson, Ralph, 68, 72, 148,
167, 172
Robin Hood and the tanner, 8
Rollet, Mademoiselle, 161
Romney, 18, 30
Roos, P., 80
Rowlandson, T., 159
" Rubbing down the Post-horse,"
66, 103
Rural life, 173
Ruskin, John, 58, 79, 126
SAINT OMER, 57
" Sand-carting," 88
Sandos, W., 35, 117
Sandwich, description of, 47
20:
George Morland
Sandwich, Lord, 9
"Saving the Remains of a Wreck,"
I33» 147
" Seasons, The," 79
" Selling Fish," 172
Shayer, W., 176
" Sheep in the Snow," 136
" Shepherd Asleep, The," 136
Sherborne, Mr., 52
" Shipwreck, A." 91
"Shore-fishermen hauling in a
Boat," 88
Short and merry life, the, no
Signboards, 93
Singleton, H., 176
" Slave Trade, The," 76
Smith, J. R., 71, 157
J. T., 25, 29, 40, 108, 158
C. L., 118
"Smugglers," 107, 116
" on the Irish Coast," by
J. C. Ibbetson, 120
Snuff-boxes, 48
Soiron, F. D., 161
" Sow and Litter," 88
" Sportsman's Return, The," 91
Spurious " Morlands," 139
Spy, arrested as a, 134
" Stable Amusements," 66
"Stable-yard, A," 88
Stage-coaches, 65, 147
" Storm and Wreck of a Man-of-
War," 116
"Storm Cloud, A." 87
" off Black Gang Chine," 87,
"— off the Isle of Wight,"
136
" Strangers at Home, The," 77
"Straw-yard, The," 91
" Studies of Fisherwomen," 116
Style, living in, 101
Suntach, A., 161
TANNER, 153
Tavern scenes, 94
"Tea-garden, The," ill
" Tears of Nature, an Elegy," by
W. Sandos, 35
" Thatcher, The," 136
" Tomb, The," 81
Tom /ones, 6 1
" Travellers," 88
Tray-painting, 97
" Trepanning a Recruit," 7^
" Triumph of Benevolence, The,"
76
Turner, J. M. W., 58, 79, 125, 126
" Turnpike Gate, The," 107
VERNET, Joseph, 27, 132
Versatility, 171
Vicar of WakefieJd, The, 37
Victoria, Queen, 92
"View of the Needles," 115, 135
"Visit to the Boarding-school,
The," 76
— Child at Nurse, The," 76
" Returned in the Country,
The," 81
Vivares, T., 160
" WAGGON and Team of Horses,"
136
" Waggoners' Halt, The," 115
Ward, Anne, 61
James, 156
- William, 60, 156
portrait of, 167
Warren Place, 69
Watches, trades in, 109
Watch, the stolen, 105
"Watering the Fanner's Horse,"
I03
" Wayside Inn, The," 119
206
Index
Webster, T., 176
Wedmore, F., 66
West, Benjamin, 23
Wheatley, F., 170
White Lion, the, 89, 91
Wilberforce and slavery, 76
Williamson, Dr., 72
Williams the engraver, 92
Willis's plot, 14
Winchester Row, 101
"Winter Scene, A," by Ibbetson,
120
Witherington, W. F., 176
"Woodland Glade, A," 88
"Wreckers," 115
YARMOUTH, 134
Young, J., 160
" Youth diverting Age," 81
THE END.
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