of late years was obtrusively purple, he was in the enjoyment of the full powers of his great abilities for upwards of half a century. * * * He was distinguished by the excellence of his life studies, three of which in red and black chalks, presented by the Society of Arts, are in the Gallery." (_National Gallery Catalogue._) [Illustration: CHOOSING THE WEDDING GOWN. _By_ MULREADY, A.D. 1846. _In the Sheepshanks Gallery in the South Kensington Museum._] ALEXANDER FRASER (1786--1865), a native of Edinburgh, exhibited his first picture, _The Green Stall_, in 1810. Having settled in London, he became an assistant to his countryman Wilkie, and for twenty years painted the still-life details of Wilkie's pictures. The influence of his master's art is visible in Fraser's pictures, which are usually founded upon incidents and scenes in Scotland, as, for example, _Interior of a Highland Cottage_ (National Gallery) and _Sir Walter Scott dining with one of the Blue-gown Beggars of Edinburgh_. Other examples are _The Cobbler at Lunch_, _The Blackbird and his Tutor_, and _The Village Sign-painter_. [Illustration: SANCHO PANZA AND THE DUCHESS. _By_ LESLIE. A.D. 1844. _In the National Gallery._] CHARLES ROBERT LESLIE (1794--1859) was born in London, probably in Clerkenwell, of American parents. His father was a clockmaker from Philadelphia, who returned with his family to America when the future painter was five years old. The boy was apprenticed to a bookseller, but his true vocation was decided by a portrait which he made of Cooke, the English tragedian, who was performing in Philadelphia. This work attracted so much notice among Leslie's friends that a subscription was raised to send him to England, the bookseller, his master, liberally contributing. In 1811, Leslie became a student of the Royal Academy, and received instruction from his countrymen Washington Allston and Benjamin West. Leslie, however, considered teaching of little value. He said that, if materials were provided, a man was his own best teacher, and he speaks of "Fuseli's wise neglect" of the Academy students. Influenced, probably, by the example of Allston and West, Leslie began by aiming at classic art. He mentions that he was reading "Telemachus," with a view to a subject, and among his early works was _Saul and the Witch of Endor_. Even when he commenced to draw subjects from Shakespeare, he turned first to the historic plays, and painted _The Death of Rutland_ and _The Murder Scene from "Macbeth_." Unlike Wilkie and Mulready, Leslie did not strive to _create_ subjects for his pictures. He preferred to ramble through literature, and to select a scene or episode for his canvas. Wilkie invented scenes illustrating the festivities of the lower classes, Mulready chose similar incidents; it was left to Leslie to adopt "genteel comedy." Like his countryman and adviser, Washington Irving, he had visited, doubtless, many scenes of quiet