SIR DAVID, the greatest of recent Scotch artists, was born in 1785 in the manse of Cults, a small parish in Fife-shire, of which his father was minister. Like most other great artists, he displayed at a very early period a taste for drawing, and according to his own account was able to draw before he could read. His father, after unsuccessfully opposing an inclination which seemed ominous of misery, at last reluctantly gave up opposing what was inevitable, and resolved to give his son the best training for pursuing with success the career which he had chosen. He accordingly placed him as a pupil at the Academy at Edinburgh, where he entered upon the study of art in 1799. Sir William Allan was one of his fellow-pupils; and under the instruction of Graham, young Wilkie made rapid progress. When he was eighteen, he gained a prize awarded for the best painting on "Callisto in the bath of Diana;" and he had already prepared the sketch for his "Village Politicians," thus exhibiting a careful study of character seldom manifested at so early an age. In 1804 he returned home, and employed his pencil on rustic subjects; painting, among other pictures, "Pitlessie Fair," for which he received from Kinneir of Kinloch twenty-five pounds.

With the view of perfecting his education as an artist, he resolved to study for a short time in London, and he accordingly repaired to the metropolis, taking with him his "Village Recruit," which he exhibited in a shop-window at Charing Cross, and as he asked only the modest sum of six pounds for it, it soon found a purchaser. The proceeds furnished him with the means of providing himself with lodgings, and he forthwith entered as a student of the Royal Academy. His first patron in London was Stodart, the piano manufacturer, who employed Wilkie to paint his portrait, and introduced him to a valuable connection of his friends. Among these was the Earl of Mansfield, who, on inspecting the young artist's sketches, commissioned a picture from the sketch of the "Village Politicians," for which Wilkie asked fifteen guineas. The earl made no stipulation, but advised him to consult his friends as to the price. On the completion of the work, Wilkie was at once offered a hundred pounds; but he honestly offered it to Lord Mansfield, asking, however, the sum of thirty guineas, which the economical earl paid not without some hesitation. In a short time he found himself in the list of rising artists, with an abundance of commissions flowing in upon him; and he wisely determined to abandon his original intention of returning to Scotland, and settled in the metropolis, which offered a wider field for his genius. Among his early patrons were Mr Whitbread, Sir George Beaumont, who remained during life his constant friend, and Lord Mulgrave; and to this period of his life belong the following pictures, which are familiarly known to all through engravings, the "Blind Fiddler," painted for Sir George Beaumont; "Alfred in the Neat-herd's Cottage," "Card-Players," "Jew's Harp," "Cut Finger," and "Rent Day," which last was painted for Lord Mulgrave. His talents in the line of art which he had selected as his especial province were now so generally recognised, that he was able to obtain handsome prices for his works. Thus, for his "Village Festival," which now forms part of the collection in the National Gallery, he received from Mr Angerstein eight hundred guineas. The usual honours that attend the successful prosecution of art were also conferred upon him; in 1809 he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy, and in 1811 he was advanced to the full dignity of Academician.

The assiduity with which he devoted himself to his work had, however, begun to affect his health, and by the advice of his physician he returned for a short time to Scotland, where the bracing air of his native hills speedily restored him to his customary vigour, and he once more bent his face southwards. In 1812 the death of his father left him the sole support of his widowed mother and sister; and with his characteristic warmth of heart he immediately took them to London, and settled with them in a commodious house in Kensington. Continuing the chronological list of his pictures, we come now to his well known "Blind-man's Bull," which he painted for the Prince Regent in 1813; to which year also belong his "Letter of Introduction," and "The Rejected Lover," otherwise styled "Duncan Gray." In the next year, besides paying a visit to the Louvre in company with his friend the unfortunate Haydon, he painted his "Distraint for Rent," which the British Institution purchased for six hundred guineas; the "Pedlar," and the "Rabbit on the Wall." In 1816 he paid a visit to Holland and Belgium, the great seats of that school of art which he had so successfully naturalized in Britain, and painted a small picture for the Marquis of Stafford, called "The Breakfast." The following year he paid a visit to his native country, during the course of which he painted the familiar group of "Sir Walter Scott and his Family," so well known to all admirers of the great novelist. Washington Irving, in his recollections of Abbotsford, has left us an amusing account of the various interruptions that the picture met with; and, after all, though it is sufficiently characteristic of Scott acting the laird, and unbending from his severer pursuits, the extremely simple guise in which the other members of the family are depicted strikes one as somewhat incongruous; and the picture, though universally known, is, consequence, not universally admired. The great work of 1818 was the "Penny Wedding," for which the Prince Regent paid upwards of five hundred pounds. The next year produced the "Reading of the Will," which was painted for the King of Bavaria. During the greater part of 1820 and 1821 he was busied on his greatest work, "The Chelsea Pensioners listening to the news of Waterloo." This work was painted for the Duke of Wellington, who gave the artist twelve hundred guineas for it, and it has always been considered Wilkie's masterpiece. The colouring is true to nature, without artificial brilliancy; the drawing is good, which is not always the case in Wilkie's works; the composition is excellent; and the story so admirably told as to need no interpreter. In the particular line of art to which it belongs,—the English modification of the Dutch school—Britain has not produced any painting entitled to rank before this chef-d'œuvre of Wilkie's.

The subsequent works of Wilkie did not increase his reputation. From some unaccountable mistake, he abandoned the style by which he had so nobly earned his reputation, and adopted instead the more showy and ambitious mode of painting in which all his recent works were executed. One of the first and worst of his paintings in this new style was his "Entrance of George IV. into Holyrood." Notwithstanding this deterioration, however, Wilkie still retained his popularity; and, on the death of Sir Henry Raeburn, was appointed limner to His Majesty for Scotland, an honour which he well merited. In 1824, on account of the weakness of his health, he set out on a lengthened tour to the Continent. During this tour, which lasted for four years, he visited France, Switzerland, Italy, Munich, Dresden, Prague, Vienna, and Spain, receiving everywhere the admiration due to his fame; at Rome, in particular, a public dinner was given to him, at which the Duke of Hamilton presided. During his peregrinations he painted a number of works, of which the "Defence of Saragossa" is the only one that has found much popular favour. They were all in his new style, or, as he thought it, his revival of the style of the old masters, and which had the double recommendation of being more effective and more rapid in its execution. Time, however, has shown that these advantages have been purchased at too dear a rate; for it is said the works painted in this new style are rapidly perishing, whilst those in the discarded style are in as good preservation as when they first left the easel. In 1830 he was made painter in ordinary to his Majesty on the death of Lawrence, and became a candidate for the presidency of the Royal Academy, but had only one vote recorded in his favour. Between 1830 and 1840 he painted a considerable number of works, most of which are familiar to all who occasionally look at print-shop windows, without possessing any high merit. This list embraces, among others, "John Knox preaching before Mary," "Escape of Mary from Lochleven," "Discovery of the body of Tippoo Saib at Seringapatam," and "Benvenuto Cellini submitting a vase to the inspection of the pope." In 1836 he was knighted, and in 1840 he set out on his last tour. Passing through Holland, he sailed up the Rhine and down the Danube to Constantinople, where he had the honour of painting the Sultan. From Constantinople he proceeded, in 1841, to Smyrna, Rhodes, Beyrouth, and Jerusalem, a city which he viewed with intense rapture. After visiting the Dead Sea, he travelled by Jaffa into Egypt, and embarked at Alexandria for England. He, however, never reached his native country; on the 1st of June, he died off Gibraltar, and his body, after the burial service was read by torch-light, was committed to the deep. An interesting account of his life, with a critical estimate of his works, is given in Cunningham's Life of Wilkie, London, 3 vols., 1843.

WILLIAM, a poet of some note, was born in the parish of Dalmeny and county of Linlithgow on the 5th of October 1721. His father was a small farmer, and was not very fortunate in his worldly affairs. He, however, gave his son a liberal education, the early part of which he received at Dalmeny school; and at the age of thirteen he was sent to the University of Edinburgh, where he soon distinguished himself. Among his fellow-students were Dr Robertson the historian, Mr Home the poet, and some other eminent literary characters. In the course of his education he also became acquainted with David Hume and Adam Ferguson. Before he completed his studies at the university, his father died, leaving him only the stock and unexpired lease of his farm, with the care of three sisters, one of whom being afterwards married to an experienced farmer, Wilkie availed himself of his knowledge of agriculture. He formed a system of farming which fully answered his own expectations, and secured to him the approbation of all his neighbours. After becoming a licentiate of the Church of Scotland, he still continued his former mode of living, cultivating his farm, reading the classics, and occasionally preaching for the ministers in his neighbourhood. In 1753, he was presented to the living of Ratho by the Earl of Lauderdale, who was sensible of his worth, and admired his talents. The duties of his new office he discharged with fidelity, and was celebrated for his impressive mode of preaching, while he did not neglect the amusements of husbandry, and the study of polite literature. In 1757, he published, at Edinburgh, The Epigoniad, a Poem, in nine books, which is said to have been the result of fourteen years study. Hume endeavoured to promote its success by addressing a commendatory letter to the editor of the Critical Review. A second edition of the poem was published at London in 1769. In 1759, Wilkie was elected professor of natural philosophy in the University of St Andrews. His whole fortune, when he removed to this place, did not exceed L200, which he laid out in the purchase of a few acres of land in the vicinity of the city. He lived at St Andrews in the same studious and retired manner as he had done at Ratho. In 1765, the university conferred upon him the degree of D.D. He ended his poetical career by publishing a volume of Fables, Lond.1768, 8vo. After a lingering illness, he died on the 10th of October 1772, having only completed the fifty-first year of his age. The personal character of Dr Wilkie exhibited many singularities; but the very distinguished individuals with whom he was acquainted were all disposed to regard him as a man of talents as well as learning. His manners, however, were rude, and his habits filthy, which called down the remark of Charles Townshend, that he never knew a man "who approached so near to the two extremes of a god and a brute as Dr Wilkie."