unapproached save by Wordsworth for exquisite tenderness or for fervour." Then followed "America, a Prophecy," and "Europe, a Prophecy," irregularly versified, imaginative, and almost unintelligible productions. He was illustrating Dante when he died, and, happy to the last, passed away singing extemporaneous songs. [Illustration: THE DREAM. _By_ STOTHARD.] THOMAS STOTHARD (1755--1834) began life as a designer for brocaded silks, but, on finding the true bent of his genius, he made designs for the "Town and Country Magazine," and the "Novelist's Magazine," "Ossian," and Bell's "Poets." His works deal with the gentler and sweeter side of human nature, and we can trace the quiet, simple character of the man in them. His eleven illustrations of "Peregrine Pickle" appeared in 1781, and are excellent examples of his truthfulness and grace. He was essentially a quietist, and scenes of passion and tumult were foreign to his genius. Trunnion and Pipes became living men under his pencil, and "Clarissa" and others of Richardson's romances gained from him an immortality which they would never have acquired by their own merits. In 1788 Stothard produced illustrations of the "Pilgrim's Progress," which, though possessing sweetness and beauty, deal with subjects beyond his grasp. His designs for "Robinson Crusoe" are among his best works. Stothard was made an A.R.A. in 1791, and a full member of the Royal Academy in 1794. His best known painting is _Intemperance_, on the staircase of Burghley House, in Northamptonshire. There are eight works by him in the National Gallery, including the original sketch of _Intemperance_. One of his most popular, though not the best of his pictures, is the _Procession of the Canterbury Pilgrims_. A collection of Stothard's designs is in the British Museum. JOHN HAMILTON MORTIMER (1741--1779), a native of Eastbourne, came to London, and made a promising beginning in the world of art. He gained the Society of Arts's premium of a hundred guineas with _St. Paul converting the Britons_, and painted other large historic pictures. Mortimer, however, fell into extravagant habits, and neglected art. His oil paintings are "heavy and disagreeable in colour;" his drawings are better. He drew designs for Bell's "Poets," "Shakespeare," and other works, choosing scenes in which bandits and monsters play conspicuous parts. THOMAS KIRK (died 1797), a pupil of Cosway, was an artist of much promise. His best works were designs for Cooke's "Poets." RICHARD WESTALL (1765--1836) was a designer for books as well as a water-colour painter. He made designs for Bibles and Prayer-books, which were very popular. His best-known works are illustrations of the "Arabian Nights." His brother WILLIAM WESTALL (1781--1850), was a designer of considerable note, especially of landscapes. [Illustration: THE PORTRAIT. _By_ SMIRKE.]