EDWARD WILLIAM COOKE (1811--1880), the son of an engraver, was intended for his father's profession; but he preferred the brush to the graver. In 1851 he was made an associate and in 1864 a full member of the Royal Academy, to whose exhibitions he was a most constant contributor: he also exhibited at the British Institution. His works are, for the most part, coast and river scenes, generally in England, and frequently on the Thames or Medway. Paintings by him are in the National Gallery and the South Kensington Museum. [Illustration] CHAPTER X. HISTORIC PAINTERS. Many of our painters who aspired to high art in the field of history were forced to abandon these ambitious designs, and confine themselves to the more lucrative branches of their calling. It was not so with WILLIAM HILTON (1786--1839), who, although chilled and saddened by neglect, and generally unable to sell his pictures, maintained his position as a history painter, and suffered neither poverty nor the coldness of the public to turn him aside. Few details are known of his life; he was a gentle, silent, and retiring man, who knew much sorrow and shunned publicity. Rescued from a trade to which he was destined, Hilton was allowed to learn drawing, and became a pupil of J. Raphael Smith, the mezzotint engraver. He entered the Academy schools, and paid special attention to the anatomy of the figure. His earliest known productions were a series of designs in oil to illustrate "The Mirror," and "The Citizen of the World." Hilton's early exhibited works had classic subjects, such as _Cephalus and Procris_, _Venus carrying the wounded Achilles_, and _Ulysses and Calypso_. In 1810, he produced a large historic painting, called _Citizens of Calais delivering the Keys to Edward III._, for which the British Institution awarded him a premium of fifty guineas. For the _Entombment of Christ_ he received a second premium, and for _Edith discovering the Dead Body of Harold_ a third of one hundred guineas. Nevertheless, the public did not appreciate his works, and they were unsold. The Directors of the British Institution, who had already marked their sense of this painter's ability, purchased two of his sacred pieces, _Mary anointing the Feet of Jesus_, which was presented to the Church of St. Michael, in the City, and _Christ crowned with Thorns_, which was given to that of St. Peter's, Eaton Square, but which has since been sold. In 1819 Hilton became a full member of the Academy, and was appointed Keeper in 1827, a position for which he was specially fitted, and where he gained the affection of the students. In the next year he married. The death of his wife, in 1835, crushed his energy and hope. He saw himself painting for a public which did not value his art. [Illustration: THE RAPE OF EUROPA. _By_ HILTON. A.D. 1818. _In the possession of the Earl of Egremont._]