rubbing against the centre of the picture.

'Signor, are you mad?' exclaimed Poussin, seizing the offending
crutch.

'So they say, my child; but 'tis not true. No, no; Domenichino is not
mad, and can still give good advice.'

'Domenichino! what! the great Domenichino?' cried the young man.

'The _poor_ Domenichino. Yes, you see him such as years and grief have
made him. He has come, young man, to counsel you not to follow in his
track, if you wish to gain fortune and renown. That,' he continued,
pointing to his own painting,'is true and conscientious art. Well, it
leads to the alms-house. I see that you have the power to become a
great artist. Change your place; be extravagant, capricious,
unnatural, and then you will succeed.'

One may fancy the feelings of Poussin at hearing these words. He told
Domenichino that he was ready to sacrifice everything to the love of
true art, and respectfully accompanied him home.

From that time until Zampieri's death, Poussin was his friend and
pupil. He afterwards paid a debt of gratitude to the painter's memory,
by causing his picture of the _Communion of St Jerome_, which had been
thrown aside in a granary, to be placed opposite to the
_Transfiguration_ of Raphael.

By degrees, the marvellous talent of Poussin became known, and orders
for paintings flowed in on him. He might have become rich, but he
cared not for wealth, and was perhaps the only artist that ever
thought his works too highly paid for. On one occasion, being sent one
hundred crowns for a picture, he returned fifty.

Cardinal Mancini paid him a visit one evening, and when he was going
away, Poussin attended him with a lantern to the outer gate, and
opened it himself. 'I pity you,' said the cardinal, 'for not having
even one man-servant.' 'And I pity your eminence for having so many.'

In his days of adversity, Poussin had been kindly received and nursed
in the house of a M. Dughet, whose daughter he afterwards married. She
was a simple, kind-hearted woman, and fondly attached to her husband,
who appreciated her good qualities, and always treated her with
affection, although she probably never inspired him with ardent love.
Some years after their marriage, not having any children, Poussin
adopted his wife's younger brother, Gaspard Dughet, who, under his
instructions, became a painter of considerable merit. The remainder of
Poussin's life was singularly prosperous. He continued to reside at
Rome until summone