George Morland 



visit he paid to his old companions at the Cheshire Cheese (before 

 whom he jingled a purse of guineas and boasted gaily of his 

 achievement), invited his friend Sherborne to go with him to see 

 " the finest girl in the world." 



Accordingly they took a coach to her house. Morland sent in his 

 name, "and presently," says Dawe, "a tall handsome young 

 woman made her appearance. After exchanging a few words, he 

 asked whether she would go out with him the following day, which 

 was Sunday ; she consented, and he drove off. They met agree- 

 ably to appointment, made a circuit among his friends, and a day or 

 two afterward returned to Margate." Shortly afterwards, how- 

 ever, Morland broke off his relations with Mrs. Hill, and came back 

 to town, having promised to marry his pretty Jenny, but not too 

 eager to fulfil his pledge. One would like to know more about 

 Mrs. Hill, who then passes out of the artist's history. She is but a 

 shadowy figure in Dawe's memoir of Morland, and we are not told 

 anything about her age or her looks or her temperament, or the 

 nature of her affections towards her protege. She is called " a 

 woman of the town,'' but she seems to have lived a quiet and 

 outwardly respectable life, and Morland tells his friend in one of his 

 letters that he was tired of the company of " her old maids." 

 Between the artist and his patroness there does not seem to have 

 been any of that tenderness and sentiment which give a glamour 

 to the relations between Rousseau and his dear friend Madame 

 de Warens. Indeed we must come to the conclusion that 

 Morland was an ungrateful young dog, and as soon as he had made 

 use of Mrs. Hill's good nature in bringing him into touch with 

 patrons of art, he coolly separated from her, preferring his 

 independence. 



The maid did not enjoy more fidelity than the mistress. 

 Morland's devotion to " the sweetest creature on earth " suddenly 

 evaporated when the promise of marriage faced him with the 

 prospect of a life-long partnership. He avoided the results of a 

 youthful passion by a stratagem more ingenious than creditable. 

 One of his friends called on Jenny's brother and painted Morland's 

 character in the blackest colours, expressing the conviction that 

 the girl's life would be ruined if she married such an unstable and 



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