A BiographicaJ Sketch 



and did a " flitting " from his house, relieved beyond measure, as he 

 confessed, "to give the slip to the people of Camden Town." 



His aff^airs were put into the hands of a solicitor named Wedd, 

 who became one of his best friends, and devoted himself now and 

 later to the task of extricating Morland from his pecuniary 

 embarrassments. On the advice of this man the artist sought 

 sanctuary from his creditors by taking lodgings "within the rules," 

 that is to say, in the neighbourhood of the Courts, with a letter of 

 license by which he undertook to pay off his debts in instalments. 

 They amounted to about £200, not much of a sum compared to the 

 heavy debts which he afterwards incurred, and at the end of fifteen 

 months he had paid them off, in an honourable way, by hard work. 



He then moved to Leicester Street, Leicester Square, where he 

 obtained the patronage of some gentlemen anxious to secure his 

 pictures. One of these was an officer named Colonel Stuart, for 

 whom he painted the picture of " Gypsies kindling a fire," the first 

 of a series in which he adopted a new style of subject. George 

 Dawe, in his biography of Morland, relates the incidents connected 

 with the picture. 



" Colonel Stuart called one morning with a friend to see the 

 progress of his picture, and asked Morland, who was at work upon 

 it, when it would be finished. He replied that it would be ready by 

 four o'clock. The Colonel, seeing how much it wanted of being 

 completed, expressed his doubts, but Morland repeated his asser- 

 tion. After looking over him for some time. Colonel Stuart declared 

 to his companion, in French, his admiration of the work, adding 

 that he did not conceive it possible to finish it in so short a time ; 

 which Morland understood, but made no remark ; the Colonel said 

 he would call at the appointed hour and took his leave. Our artist, 

 having received nothing in advance and being in want of money, 

 was anxious to fulfil his engagement, and, as soon as the gentlemen 

 were gone, began to consider how he could curtail the work. With 

 this view he obliterated several figures which he had sketched, 

 and in their place introduced one in a carter's frock, threw in 

 masses of shade and foHage, which diminished the labour, and by 

 three o'clock his task was completed. He was now only concerned 

 lest his employer should not return, and in the meantime amused 



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