132 The Post and the Paddock, 



Ben Marshall, the painter, was, as we have said 

 before, a great ally of the Chifneys, who admired him 

 as a painter nearly as much as they did Robson in 

 his more practical art. He came into especial notice 

 on the death of Stubbs, who had a great run among 

 our forefathers, which none of his pictures quite seem 

 to justify. Stubbs painted figures and landscapes as 

 well as horses, and especially excelled in the first of 

 these three walks. The late Frank Butler had a 

 picture by him of his grandfather — the first Sam 

 Chifney — riding a horse in and setting-to with a 

 slack rein, in which the figure is most beauti- 

 fully painted, while the horse is very moderate. 

 We have, however, seen some of his horse groups, 

 one especially of some mares and foals at the 

 Marquis of Westminster's, in London, most capi- 

 tally drawn and painted. His chief failing was a 

 lack of anatomical knowledge, and his horses in 

 motion were stiff and unnatural to the last degree. 

 He adopted the old style of making the hind pasterns 

 bend inwards in the gallop, instead of outwards, as 

 they are now more correctly drawn. Marshall was 

 originally a West-end valet, and did not set up his 

 easel till he was above thirty. At first he confined 

 himself to portrait painting, but as he soon found that 

 " gentlemen would give 50 guineas for the portrait of 

 a horse when they grudged 10 guineas for their wife's," 

 he migrated from London to Newmarket. He was 

 an idle painter, and a great bon vivant ; very full of 

 humour and anecdote, and seldom, if ever, worked 

 after his two-o'clock dinner. Those who watched him 

 at his easel used always to declare that he painted 

 much more with his thumb than his brush. The 

 Margravine of Anspach was one of his first patrons, 

 as were also Mr. Thornhill and Lord Sondes, at whose 

 house he made long visits. His early style was en- 

 tirely original ; he painted mostly for effect, with won- 

 derful feeling for light and shade, which with his 



