A poet, with lofty but unrealised aspirations,— an innkeeper, with a tantalising habit of deluging his customers with recitations before he supplied them with refreshments, was the father of this great painter, who gave sure promise of his future excellence at a time of life usually devoted to playing at marbles, or making vain essays to fly kites; who, at ten, had won a wide-spread celebrity; and who, "by the magic of his art," has preserved for posterity the likenesses of so many talented men and beautiful women. Old Lawrence had been an orphan almost from infancy and had early conceived the idea that he was destined to be a poet of renown. In his sixteenth year he was articled to an attorney in Hertfordshire; and having a small patrimony, on the expiration of his stipulated time of service he was offered a share of his employer's business: but, with the temperament of a poet, he chose rather to indulge in a tour, with the purpose of visiting some of the most interesting parts of the country, in the company of a friend, who doubtless had "thought, feeling, taste, har monious to his own." Having penetrated into Worcestershire, Lawrence was so captivated with the surpassing beauty of Tenbury in that county, that he determined to halt there for a short time, to indulge in his poetic reveries and practise versification. While passing the hours away in this manner, and feeding his mind with the images of great days in store for him, he became violently enamoured of, and secretly married, a young lady of the neighbourhood, much to the vexation of her parents, who, on becoming aware of the fact, indignantly banished her from their presence.

This, as may be conceived, was no agreeable circumstance for the loving couple, and doubtless apprised the youthful and aspiring poet that there, was something more than romance in life. However,—

"The world was all before them, where to choose Their place of rest; and Providence their guide."

So they set off for Thaxted, in Essex, where they took a small house, and were blessed -with several children.

Mr. Lawrence subsequently, by the influence of his wife's relations, obtained the Supervisorship of Excise at Bristol, and in that ancient city his distinguished son was born, on the 4th of May, 1769, the youngest of sixteen children. In the same year the father resigned his appointment in the Excise, and took the "White Lion Inn, from which he shortly afterwards removed to the Black Bear at Devizes. Here he is stated to have worried the temper of his customers by reciting Shakspeare in and out of season, and without the slightest regard to their wishes. Not content with displaying his own powers in this way, he laboured to infuse into his son a love of the same sort of performance, an object in which he ere long succeeded; and such was the versatility of his talents, that the visitors to the Black Bear, on having the young prodigy presented to them, were asked, "Will you have him recite from the poets or take your portraits?"

When the boy was four years old, Le could read the story of Joseph and his brethren with great effect, and soon after recite some pieces from Pope with taste and feeling. Besides, his skill in copying and drawing portraits became so apparent, and so delighted was the worthy innkeeper with these accomplishments, that he never failed to bring them under the notice of any persons of distinction who happened to sojourn at the Black Bear.

During his seventh and eighth years, Lawrence attended a school at Bristol, and the instruction he then received, with some lessons in Latin and French from a Dissenting minister, was all the education bestowed upon a man, whose manners, according to the authority of George the Fourth, were those of a high-bred gentleman.

When he was six years old, Lord and Lady Kenyon arrived one evening at the inn, after a fatiguing journey. The host, forgetful of the attention ordinarily paid to guests under such circumstances, at once entered the room, and begged permission to introduce his son; whereupon Lawrence rushed in, and commenced a noisy canter round the apartment, much to the surprise of the travellers. However, if any feelings of annoyance were produced by it, they speedily gave way to those of interest, as the lad gave signs of his singular and. precocious talents.

"Could you take the portrait of that gentleman?" asked Lady Kenyon, pointing to her husband.

"That I can, and very like, too," answered the boy-artist, as he obtained the materials to fulfil his boast. In half an hour he finished a portrait, which greatly astonished them, after which he took that of the lady, with such success, that it was recognised twenty-five years afterwards by a friend of hers, on account of the likeness. By such means Lawrence's talent for recitation and skill in drawing became widely known, and so great was his fame that a portrait of him was engraved by Sherwin for pub lication.

He now visited the picture-galleries of the neigh bouring gentry, and among others that of Corsham House, whose owner was among his early patrons. While wandering through the apartments, the friends who had accompanied him, dazzled with the splendour of the place, lost sight of him. When discovered, he was standing, lost in admiration, before a picture by Rubens, and on leaving it exclaimed, with a sigh full of meaning, "Ah! I shall never be able to paint like that.'

In 1779 Mr. Lawrence and bis family removed from Devizes to Weymouth, and so unquestionable already was the fame of his son that in passing through Oxford he was stopped and beset with applications for portraits. His sitters included several very eminent men; he was patronised by the beads of colleges, and his productions were considered marvellous for one so young and uninstructed. Daines Barrington thus writes of him in February 1780: "This boy is now nearly ten years and a half old; but at the age of nine, without the most distant instruction from any one, he was capable of copying historical pictures in a masterly style; and also succeeded amazingly in compositions of his own, particularly that of 'Peter denying Christ.' In about seven minutes he scarcely ever failed of drawing a strong likeness of any person present, which had generally much freedom and grace if the subject permitted. He is likewise an excellent reader of blank verse, and will immediately convince any one that he both understands and feels the striking passages of Milton and Shakspeare."

In 1782 the Lawrences removed from Oxford to Bath, where a rapid increase of fame and employment enabled Thomas to raise his price from one guinea to two, and in a short time to four. His studio became the resort of the noble and the learned; he was welcomed wherever he went; Sir Henry Harpur proposed to adopt him as his son; Prince Hoare saw something so angelic in his face that he wished to paint him as Christ; and the experienced artists of the metropolis heard with wonder of a boy, who was eclipsing their celebrity and rivalling their finest efforts. Meantime he had procured access to the valuable collection of paintings possessed by the Hon. W. Hamilton, and made some copies from Raphael and others, for which his father refused three hundred guineas. It began to be evident that his genius was as yet in its dawn, and that it would assuredly shine with the brightness of perfect day.