British art, in the middle of the eighteenth century, many painters
arose to interpret the conditions of rustic life peculiar to England.

First on this list stands the name of Thomas Gainsborough.[7] From early
boyhood he loved nature with all the intensity of a true artist's soul,
and many picturesque scenes in the vicinity of his native Sudbury were
indelibly impressed upon his youthful mind. Later in life, when at the
height of his success as a great London painter, his favorite summer
resort was Richmond, where, wandering about the country from day to day,
he met many an interesting village child whose face was transferred
to his canvas. Fortunate little models, these; for the artist always
rewarded them for their sittings with lavish generosity.

[Illustration: RUSTIC CHILDREN.--GAINSBOROUGH.]

One particular boy, Jack Hill by name, so charmed Gainsborough that he
actually adopted the lad, and immortalized his handsome features in two
paintings.[8] Jack Hill did not live up to his privileges, and,
preferring his old free life to the restrictions of a more elegant
household, he ran away. He was, however, never forgotten; and after
Gainsborough died, his good widow provided amply for the youth's
welfare.

Perhaps the most extensively known of all Gainsborough's delineations of
country child-life is the Rustic Children of the National Gallery. The
central figure is a young girl, standing, with a child in her arms; a
boy sits on the bank beside her with a bundle of fagots. The group is
artistically conceived, with one of Gainsborough's characteristic
landscapes as a background, showing a cottage home. The children are
graceful and natural, with that indefinable poetic charm peculiar to the
painter's work.

A picture attracting a great deal of admiration in the lifetime of
Gainsborough, was the Boy at the Stile. While this treasure was still in
the hands of the artist, he was visited one day by Colonel Hamilton,
then considered the finest violinist of his times. Gainsborough, a
devoted lover of music, begged him to play, and when the first air was
finished, rapturously exclaimed, "Now, my dear Colonel, if you will but
go on, I will give you that picture of the Boy at the Stile, which you
so wished to purchase of me."

In half an hour the prize was won, and both parties were well satisfied
with the agreement.

In studying Gainsborough's rustic children as a class, it is noticeable
that he emphasizes the patheti