Ive settled it upstairs with J. J., says Clive, working away with his pen. We shall take a studio together; perhaps we will go abroad together. Wont that be fun, father?
My dear Clive, remarks Mr. Honeyman, with bland dignity, there are degrees in society which we must respect. You surely cannot think of being a professional artist. Such a profession is very well for your young protege; but for you doc johnson products
What for me? cries Clive. We are no such great folks that I know of; and if we were, I say a painter is as good as a lawyer, or a doctor, or even a soldier. In Dr. Johnstons Life which my father is always reading I like to read about Sir Joshua Reynolds best: I think he is the best gentleman of all in the book. My! wouldnt I like to paint a picture like Lord Heathfield in the National Gallery! Wouldnt I just! I think I would sooner have done that, than have fought at Gibraltar. And those Three Graces oh, arent they graceful! And that Cardinal Beaufort at Dulwich! it frightens me so, I darent look at it. Wasnt Reynolds a clipper, thats all! and wasnt Rubens a brick! He was an ambassador, and Knight of the Bath; so was Vandyck. And Titian, and Raphael, and Velasquez? Ill just trouble you to show me better gentlemen than them, Uncle Charles
Far be it from me to say that the pictorial calling is not honourable, says Uncle Charles; but as the world goes there are other professions in greater repute; and I should have thought Colonel Newcomes son