something of the child's individuality is lost by the
sacrifice of the figure. When we look at the other child portraits of
our collection we notice how much is expressed in the attitude and
gesture of which we here have no indication. Yet the picture shows how
truly the face is "a mirror of the soul," and as an interpretation of
the child's mind it is unique among Reynolds's works.

The original picture is painted in very delicate colors, and is one of
the best preserved of Reynolds's canvases. Miss Frances died unmarried
in 1831, and ten years later her mother presented the picture to the
English National Gallery.

VIII

THE DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE AND HER CHILD

Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire, was one of the most celebrated
beauties of her time. She was the daughter of the Earl of Spencer, and
was married[12] at the age of seventeen to William, Duke of
Devonshire, "the first match in England".

[Footnote 12: March 28, 1774.]

The young duchess was as clever as she was beautiful. She was fond of
history, music and drawing, and she wrote verses both in French and
English.[13] She was an ardent admirer of the great Johnson, and in a
circle of his listeners hung with breathless interest upon his
conversation. Her charming manners, her wit, wealth, and rank drew a
host of admirers about her, and she became the leader of English
society. Whatever the Duchess of Devonshire did, or whatever the
Duchess of Devonshire wore, at once became the fashion. She opened the
fashionable balls, she was a leading spirit in the Ladies' Club, and
she set the standard for the height of headdresses and the length of
feathers!

[Footnote 13: A long poem by the Duchess was "The Passage over Mt.
Gothard," celebrated in Coleridge's Ode to Georgiana.]

She was not content with merely social triumphs, but her influence
reached even into politics. Her most remarkable political exploit was
to secure the reelection of Charles James Fox to Parliament (1784)
from the borough of Westminster. For this she has sometimes been
called "Fox's Duchess," but she is usually known as "the beautiful
Duchess."

Sir Joshua Reynolds was among the fortunate number upon whom the
beautiful Duchess bestowed her smiles. He had first painted her
portrait in her girlhood and again as a young wife but two years
married (1776). He was afterwards often honored with invitations to
her house and enjoyed the hospitality of her brilliant entertainments.