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Ebook has 220 lines and 14779 words, and 5 pages

Romney had ever a fondness for bricks and mortar, and was delighted at the prospect of altering and adding to the house.

He bought the lease, which had some thirty years to run, and was subject to a rental of ?105 per annum; and, although there was already a good studio attached to the premises in the form of a double room with sky-light and domed ceiling, yet the artist must needs set about building another and adding to the accommodation of the house, and so again exhausting his savings.

He also foolishly declined many of the commissions sent him, because he did not possess a studio which was, according to his ideas, fit for the reception of his clients, and in this way an idea got about that he was not desirous of doing any more work. The public taste accordingly veered round, and for a short time Romney found himself deserted by the crowds of would-be-sitters who had just before poured in upon him.

Then the Duke of Richmond, who had befriended the artist before, and had opened his gallery of sculpture to his use at any time, looked in upon him at his new residence and gave him several commissions, besides bringing with him many of his own friends, and was delighted to have the artist for a while practically to himself and his own circle of acquaintance. This turned the tide once more in the artist's favour, and prosperity never again deserted him.

He now became the serious rival of Reynolds, who spoke of him in slighting manner as "the man in Cavendish Square," pretending, with studied insult, to have entirely forgotten his name.

All the world of fashion and wealth sat to the artist, and his list of portraits reads like a page from the fashionable gazette of the day, including as it does all the persons who were then well known in town and who constituted the cream of society.

The opportunity now arose for Romney to show how indifferent he was to the slights and contempt of his fellow-artists who ranged themselves around Sir Joshua.

The Royal Academy had at this time sprung into being, and its members desired to include all the chief artists in their ranks, and to show that those outside their membership were not worthy of attention. All their efforts, however, to include the name of the most fashionable artist of the time, or to hang his pictures on the walls of the exhibition, were in vain.

Romney was begged by his great friend Jeremiah Meyer, one of the leading miniature-painters and an original member of the new Academy, to come within its shelter. He was also approached by Mrs. Moser, by Humphrey, and by Angelica Kauffmann, all of whom desired him to exhibit his works. But it was in vain, and never did Romney send a single picture to the exhibitions of the Royal Academy. He completely ignored it, would not suffer it to be mentioned in his presence, considered that it was not worthy of any recognition, and went on painting pictures of all the loveliest women of society, but declining to allow a single one of them to be shown in the exhibitions of the Academy.

This determination was partly dictated, no doubt, by modesty, as there is every evidence that Romney was a modest, retiring, shy man, and even at the very zenith of his fame was not found in the brilliant society in which the President delighted. He was fond of his home and of his son, and was not a gay but a quiet man; but there is little doubt that his refusal to share in the glories of the Academy was also partly the result of his wish to show to those who had been bitter and who were still jealous of his fame that he was quite able to stand alone, and did not require the aid of any Academy to render his works popular or to enhance his fame.

The determination cost him the patronage of the Court and of a certain select group of persons who followed the lead of the King and did not select for themselves, but it is probable that in the long run the artist did not really suffer thereby.

He was a self-respecting and unassuming man at all times, and was not in the habit of forcing his way into any society or of appealing for commissions from his friends.

No flattery escaped his lips, no adulation of those who could assist him by their introductions and so render him the aid which he required; and in all these ways he was the reverse of those who were around him, and who used every artifice to bring themselves into popular notice and shrank from no ignoble effort to obtain patronage.

In 1779 he seems to have paid one of his infrequent visits to his wife in Kendal, and to have refreshed himself by a sight of his native county; but he was soon back again and hard at work.

It was perhaps at about this time that he first made the acquaintance of William Hayley, a poet, who had a great celebrity at that time, but whose chief work, "The Triumphs of Temper," is now never read.

The influence of this man upon Romney was not good, and of it his son, the Rev. John Romney, in after years spoke with much bitterness. Romney was, as has been already stated, fond of building work, and pleased to see an opportunity of increasing a house or studio; and this propensity of his was encouraged by Hayley, who loved to make a sensation and to live in a large house; and although Hayley was fond of Romney and brought him many commissions, yet on the whole the judgment of later days is certainly to the effect that it would have been better for Romney if he had never met this attractive friend.

For over twenty years the two men continued fast friends, and Romney used often to go down to stay with Hayley at Eartham, near Chichester, and spent some weeks during each autumn with him. He decorated part of the house, painting some delightful pictures to be placed in the new library that Hayley built; and he met there many pleasant friends, amongst whom were the poet Cowper and his friend Mrs. Unwin, in connection with whom is the chief claim that Hayley has for remembrance, and also the young sculptor Flaxman, for whom Romney acquired a deep friendship.

Hayley was a man of fine taste, personal fascination and amiability, and fond of associating with men of culture and quality; and it is for his friends rather than for any work that he himself did that his memory is kept in honour. Romney is said to have first met him when, returning from Kendal, he stopped awhile at Tabley as the guest of Sir John Leicester; and, as they were all of them great admirers of Pope, the acquaintance began which lasted for so many years, brought them into contact with Cowper and with Gibbon, and eventually made Hayley one of the biographers of Romney.

In 1790 Romney again went to Paris, this time accompanied by his friend Hayley and by the Rev. Thomas Carwardine, whose portrait he had painted.

They were well received in that city, and visited many of the chief galleries, with introductions from the English Ambassador, who at the time was Lord Gower, afterwards second Marquess of Stafford and first Duke of Sutherland.

During this visit Hayley is said to have obtained the first of several loans that he got from Romney and never repaid. In this case it was ?100.

On his return to London he was again almost overwhelmed with work, as more than ever he had become the fashion, and his portraits were desired by all who could afford to sit to him. The strain, however, of such constant work was beginning to tell upon the artist, who by this time was sixty years old, and he was glad of any excuse to leave town for a while to rest himself in the country.

He took a little cottage at Hampstead, to which he could retire for quiet; he stayed more and more with Hayley at Eartham, desiring some of his clients to come to him there, that in the quiet of that restful spot he might do fuller justice to their charms than he was able to do amid the turmoils of London life.

Whilst there he often rode over to Petworth, where he was painting portraits for Lord Egremont, and in these ways he got the country air and rest that were out of the question when he was in town. He did not, however, improve in mental vigour; but the old mania for building came on with greater force than ever, and unfortunately Hayley did not scruple to encourage it for his own ends.

In 1796 he was found one day by his son busy with extravagant ideas and designs for a great mansion in Edgware Road, and it was only the fact that his son was able to point out the folly of such an idea which dissuaded him from its accomplishment. The proposed purchase was eventually broken off, and Mr. John Romney records in his volume most gratefully his thankfulness to the solicitor, who behaved very handsomely in this matter.

Romney was, however, determined to leave Cavendish Square, and, acting on the advice of his son to buy a ready-built house rather than to erect one, he purchased an old dwelling-house near Holly Bush Hill, Hampstead, now identified with that known as The Mount, Heath Street, Hampstead, close to where he had been in the habit of lodging for some little while, and where he found the quiet and retirement which he desired.

This happened in 1796, and Romney let the residence in Cavendish Square and went to reside at Hampstead.

The accommodation did not, however, content him, and he acquired two copyhold plots of ground at the back of the house, on which he forthwith erected what Hayley describes as "a singular fabric," but which Cunningham calls a "strange new studio and dwelling-house."

He adds that it "cost ?2,733, and was an odd whimsical structure, in which there was nothing like sufficient domestic accommodation, though there was a wooden arcade for a riding house in the garden, and a very extensive picture and statue gallery."

There is little doubt that this structure forms part of what is at present the Constitutional Club, the large room being Romney's picture gallery, although considerable additions have been made to the building.

In 1798 he had sold his London house to Mr., afterwards Sir Martin Shee, and, as this strange structure was ready, he moved into it, and let off to a Mrs. Rundell the old adjacent house in which he had been residing.

The new "whimsical" structure was not really complete when the artist went to live in it. The walls were not dry, the roof let in water; but the artist insisted on moving into his fanciful residence, and on taking with him the vast stock he had of his own pictures and those by other artists which he had collected.

Many of them were quickly injured by the damp of the house, and others by being placed in the open arcade; and Flaxman in a letter records the distress that he felt at seeing so fine a collection of works perishing.

Romney was now more than ever under the influence of Hayley, which was being used to its full and baneful extent, and other persons were taken into the house on the advice of the poet to assist the artist and to look after him, who were all more or less creatures of Hayley.

Hayley was considerably in Romney's debt, and was anxious, it is clear, that no one of repute should look into the affairs of the painter, but that his influence should reign supreme.

In 1798, however, Romney broke away from this state of affairs, and, accompanied by his son, who was devoted to him, and whose absence at his religious duties was the only reason which prevented his dwelling always with the artist, visited the north of England, not, however, as far as can be ascertained, going to Kendal.

A pleasant holiday was spent in the Lake district, but the mental vigour of the old artist did not gain much increase of strength by the change, and when he returned to London his health had completely broken down.

The following year he was again at Eartham with Hayley, but for the last time. Hayley's good nature towards his friends, his extravagant habits and his luxurious life, combined with utter neglect of monetary matters, had brought about the necessity for stern retrenchment, and Eartham was to be sold. He removed to Felpham, where he built a cottage near the sea, and there he and his son resided till the death of the latter, shortly afterwards; but at the earnest advice of Flaxman and his wife, coupled with the entreaties of his son, Romney went north back again to his wife, of whom he had seen so little for many years. She received him gladly and with open arms, and nursed him to the end with the most touching tenderness.

The last event of his life was the return from India of his brother, Colonel James Romney, to whom he had always been greatly attached, and for whom he had suffered some privations in order that the requisite sum needful for the Colonel's advancement might be sent him many years before.

The aged artist was, however, hardly able to recognize his beloved brother. He soon afterwards became completely childish in mind, and never again regained his intellectual powers.

He died on November 15th, 1802, at the age of sixty-eight, passing away in the arms of his wife, who devoted herself entirely to him up to the moment of his death. She survived him for many years.

LADY HAMILTON

In any consideration of the life and art of George Romney, however brief, it is impossible to leave out the name of Lady Hamilton, as she was so constantly painted by him.

It will be well, therefore, for a short section of this little book to be devoted to a story of the life of this fascinating person, who was fated to exercise so strong an influence upon the painter. It is hardly possible for the most imaginative romancer to tell a story more chequered in its events, more thrilling in its emotions, and more sad in its end.

Emma Lyon was the daughter of a smith in Cheshire, a humble man, who died in 1761, after a very short married life, and left his widow and infant daughter wholly without support.

The widow moved at once from Neston, where her husband had died, to Hawarden, her native place, and here by the aid of her relatives, almost equally poor with herself, she managed to bring up her child and send her to a dame's school in the village.

When about twelve Emma went as nursery-maid to the family of a Mr. Thomas, a doctor of Hawarden, whose son afterwards became an eminent surgeon.

At sixteen she left and came to London, and became housemaid to a tradesman in St. James's Street; and then later on, probably in 1778, became nursemaid in the family of another doctor, one Dr. Budd, a physician in St. Bartholomew's Hospital.

From here she migrated out to the west end, taking a place as lady's-maid in the house of a lady of fashion whose dwelling was a favourite resort of the gayest persons of the day, and where she had ample opportunity of reading as many books as she desired, of dressing in a style which made her more attractive, and of receiving a great deal of praise for her beauty and the quality of her voice.

The first slip which she made in her career was occasioned by her going to plead with Admiral Payne for the release of a cousin who had been forcibly pressed into the navy, and whose family were, without his assistance, unprovided for. Emma undertook this mission out of good nature and gained her petition; but in return the admiral, who was much struck by the beauty of her face, became her suitor, and she entered his house as his mistress. This life lasted for a very short time, as a wealthy baronet, Sir Harry Featherston, who visited Admiral Payne, begged her to leave him and come to Up Park as its mistress.

The admiral, who was shortly going on board his ship, consented to part with the fair Emma, who was much attached to her latest lover, and she went off with Sir Harry to Up Park, where she resided in the midst of every luxury for some months. Here she learned to ride on horseback, and succeeded in attaining to great proficiency in this accomplishment.

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