George Morland, his life and works . e picture he exhibitedat the Royal Academy in 1788 therefore deservesmention. It was in 1785 that feeling in England wasaroused against the negro slave trade then flourishing.^William Collins, the friend and biographer of Morland,had written The Slave Trade, a poem ; and passagesin this furnished the painter with ideas for two worksdealing with the subject : Execrable Human Traffick,or the Affectionate Slaves, negroes being shipped to avessel lying off a rocky coast; and African Hospitality,negroes rescuing shipwrecked Europeans. Both in-dicate the views of
George Morland, his life and works . e picture he exhibitedat the Royal Academy in 1788 therefore deservesmention. It was in 1785 that feeling in England wasaroused against the negro slave trade then flourishing.^William Collins, the friend and biographer of Morland,had written The Slave Trade, a poem ; and passagesin this furnished the painter with ideas for two worksdealing with the subject : Execrable Human Traffick,or the Affectionate Slaves, negroes being shipped to avessel lying off a rocky coast; and African Hospitality,negroes rescuing shipwrecked Europeans. Both in-dicate the views of an ardent Abolitionist, but whether 1 In 1786, 130 ships under the English flag were engaged in thebusiness, and during that year carried 42,000 slaves from Africa. In thefollowing year Messrs. Clarkson, Wilberforce, and Dillwyn founded the Society for the Suppression of the Slave Trade and launched theagitation which eventually (1807) brought about its abolition. 7« THE DESERTER PARDONED (Size of original picture 21 x 17 inchef.). His Life and Works Morland actually had strong opinions on the matter isdoubtful. These two works were en2:raved in mezzo-tint, and published as a pair in 1814 t»y J. R. Smith. The pictures ot children, however, were thosethrough which Morland achieved his early popularsuccess. The engravings made by William Ward hadextensive sale not only in England but in France andGermany. The prints of Dancing Dogs and Selling Guinea-Pigs are mentioned as particularlysuccessful, five hundred pairs being sold in a fewweeks. Success to Morland merely meant scope for in-dulgence in extravagant living. He might point themoral on canvas ; two such pictures as The Fruitsof Early Industry and The Effects of YouthfulExtravagance and Dissipation, which were paintedabout this time, might have been conceived in a spiritof penitence or intention to reform, but reformationwent no farther. He launched out as host, entertain-ing large parties of his friends, painters, colour
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondonaandcblack
