"Then came the terrible revolution of 1830. I was forced to return to England, and I did so, in May, 1831, with a wife and child, and £13 in my pocket. I made my way to London, and, fortunately for me, Ackerman's, in the Strand, liked a bundle of my drawings and purchased them at five shillings apiece. Then the struggle commenced. I had taken a second floor in the Tottenham Court Road, and morning after morning, with an orange and a couple of Abernethy biscuits in my pocket, I used to set out for Regent's Park, where there were often from 500 to 1,000 cows in those days, and try and sketch them. My methods were simple. I always had six or eight sketches going at one time, so that if a cow moved from one position I could go on with another, and only wait until I caught my cattle friend in the old position. At night I worked at home over my pipe, and earned my daily bread by drawing them on stone for Ackerman." But success came at last--and through an old fellow student, Caterson Smith, who eventually became President of the Royal Academy of Dublin. Mr. Cooper had painted a small canvas, 10in, by 8in., of a cow and two sheep--he had done it when it was too wet to go to Regent's Park. Caterson Smith found him out and called on him. He caught sight of this little group of cattle. [Illustration: FARM IN EAST KENT. _From the Painting by T.S. Cooper, R.A._] "Look here, Cooper," he said, "I should give up architectural stuff and stick to this. I'll buy this picture. How much?" "Oh, a few shillings," the young artist replied. "Two pounds?" "Done." So Caterson Smith purchased the Royal Academician's first painting of cattle. "Soon after this I began a larger one," said Mr. Cooper. "I had removed to Windmill Street to a _first floor_. The canvas was a 3ft. one. One morning I was surprised to have a visitor announced. He came up. "'Your name is Mr. Cooper?' he said. "'Yes, sir.' "'I've seen a little picture of yours, and I was anxious to find you out.' "He found me out in a strange way," remarked Mr. Cooper. "It seems that Caterson Smith had left the picture he had purchased at a frame-maker's in Greek Street, Soho, and the shopkeeper liking it had put it in his window. Here my strange visitor had seen it, and not until Smith wrote for the picture was he able to discover me. "'What's that you are painting?' asked the stranger, looking at the 3ft. canvas on the easel. "'Oh! just some cattle coming through a stream, sir.' "'Very nice'--rubbing his chin and eyeing it critically--'very nice. How much?' "'I hardly know.' "'Well,' he said, 'if you will finish it I will give you £15 for it.' "I agreed, and when he left he gave me his card, and I saw his name was Cribb, and that he lived at King Street, Covent Garden.