the possessor of an immense
pew; loyal, so much so that I once heard him say that he would at any
time go three miles to hear any one sing "God save the King"; moreover, a
giver of excellent dinners. Such is our present mayor; who, owing to his
loyalty, his religion, and a little, perhaps, to his dinners, is a mighty
favourite; so much so that the town is anxious to have his portrait
painted in a superior style, so that remote posterity may know what kind
of man he was, the colour of his hair, his air and gait. So a committee
was formed some time ago, which is still sitting; that is, they dine with
the mayor every day to talk over the subject. A few days since, to my
great surprise, they made their appearance in my poor studio, and desired
to be favoured with a sight of some of my paintings; well, I showed them
some, and, after looking at them with great attention, they went aside
and whispered. "He'll do," I heard one say; "Yes, he'll do," said
another; and then they came to me, and one of them, a little man with a
hump on his back, who is a watchmaker, assumed the office of spokesman,
and made a long speech--(the old town has been always celebrated for
orators)--in which he told me how much they had been pleased with my
productions--(the old town has been always celebrated for its artistic
taste)--and, what do you think? offered me the painting of the mayor's
portrait, and a hundred pounds for my trouble. Well, of course I was
much surprised, and for a minute or two could scarcely speak; recovering
myself, however, I made a speech, not so eloquent as that of the
watchmaker of course, being not so accustomed to speaking; but not so bad
either, taking everything into consideration, telling them how flattered
I felt by the honour which they had conferred in proposing to me such an
undertaking; expressing, however, my fears that I was not competent to
the task, and concluding by saying what a pity it was that Crome was
dead. "Crome," said the little man, "Crome; yes, he was a clever man, a
very clever man in his way; he was good at painting landscapes and
farm-houses, but he would not do in the present instance were he alive.
He had no conception of the heroic, sir. We want some person capable of
representing our mayor striding under the Norman arch out of the
cathedral." At the mention of the heroic an idea came at once into my
head. "Oh," said I, "if you are in quest of the heroic, I am glad that
you came to me;