not make Maria even ordinarily fair to look upon. These pictures are
not classed among his masterpieces. There is a picture of Maria by B.
Wilson the engraver, made before she left Ireland. In it the features
are handsome and the figure graceful, though over-dressed, and the
whole impression is of a matron in her thirties rather than a maid in
her teens. The picture we give of her is from a whole-length by Gavin
Hamilton, a Scotch artist, a friend of Burns, born in Lanark about
1730. He must have been a precocious genius, for this picture was
engraved by McArdell, and published in 1754. Hamilton passed the
greater part of his life in Rome, painting classical subjects and
pursuing archaeological investigations. He died there, in 1797.
Portraiture was probably a pecuniary pursuit before the classics
claimed him. His portraits savor somewhat of the affectations of the
"curtain and column" school. His canvas of Elizabeth shows her
standing on a terrace with a low dress and long hair, a veil loosely
tied across her chest. Her left hand rests on the head of a greyhound.
There is a seat to the left and trees in the background.

Houston engraved a portrait of Maria after a drawing by J. St.
Liotard. This is a three-quarter length figure. Her hair is in large
plaits twined with a muslin veil on her head. The dress is open at the
throat, showing a necklace. There is a wide belt with large clasps.
Her left elbow rests on her knee. Perhaps the most satisfactory
pictures of the Beauties are those by Catharine Read, who died, in
1786; and who is chiefly known by her winsome delineations of the
graces of the Gunning girls. We could readily judge from these that
the girls were attractive. There is a genial graciousness in the face
of she of Coventry, while the Scotch duchess is possessed of a
persuasive sweetness of mien. The mob-cap frames a face almost
faultless in the regularity of its features. For all the pleasant