rush." He went on
his errand with a grudge, and returned with the speed of thought, for
fear that his guests should depart in his absence. By the time that
Morland had painted the Black Bull, the reckoning had risen to ten
shillings, and the landlord reluctantly allowed them to go on their way;
but not, it is said, without exacting a promise that the remainder of
the money should be paid with the first opportunity. The painter, on his
arrival it town, related this adventure in the Hole-in-the-Wall, Fleet
Street. A person who overheard him, mounted his horse, rode into Kent,
and succeeded in purchasing the Black Bull from the Kentish Boniface for
ten guineas.

MORLAND AND THE PAWNBROKER.

Even when Morland had sunk to misery and recklessness, the spirit of
industry did not forsake him, nor did his taste or his skill descend
with his fortunes. One day's work would have purchased him a week's
sustenance, yet he labored every day, and as skilfully and beautifully
as ever. A water man was at one time his favorite companion, whom, by
way of distinction, Morland called "My Dicky." Dicky once carried a
picture to the pawnbroker's, wet from the easel, with the request for
the advance of three guineas upon it. The pawnbroker paid the money; but
in carrying it into the room his foot slipped, and the head and
foreparts of a hog were obliterated. The money-changer returned the
picture with a polite note, requesting the artist to restore the damaged
part. "My Dicky!" exclaimed Morland, "an that's a good one! but never
mind!" He reproduced the hog in a few minutes, and said, "There! go back
and tell the pawnbroker to advance me five guineas more upon it; and if
he won't, say I shall proceed against him; the price of the picture is
thirty guineas." The demand was complied with.

MORLAND'S IDEA OF A BARONETCY.

Morland was well descended. In his earlier and better days, a solicitor
informed him that he was heir to a baronet's title, and advised him to
assert his claim. "Sir George Morland!" said the painter--"It _sounds_
well, but it won't do. Plain George Morland will always sell my
pictures, and there is more honor in being a fine painter than in being
a fine gentleman."

MORLAND'S ARTISTIC MERIT.

As an artist, Morland's claims are high and undisputed. He is original
and alone; his style and conceptions are his own; his thoughts are ever
at home, and always natural; he extracts pleasing subjects out of the
most coarse a