The story of the commission from Sir George, and the ensuing disagreement as to the size of the picture, etc., was set out at great length in Haydon's Autobiography. During its progress, Haydon called on his somewhat reluctant patron:
"I walked away to Grosvenor Square and found Sir George dressing for dinner, but I was admitted instantly," he wrote. "I said, 'Sir George, I will paint the smaller picture, as you seem to wish it.' He looked blank, as if he was rather disappointed than pleased," adds the ingenuous Haydon. "To be sure he looked blank," chuckled Northcote, on being told of the interview, "he disn't want 'ee to paint large or small." This was probably fairly true, but Haydon was the last man to credit such a thing.
However, Haydon was subsequently commissioned to paint a picture, the subject being Macbeth, as Sir George had said in 1807 "he must have a sketch by me." This was probably on the occasion when Haydon and Wilkie dined in Grosvenor Square, when "the door opened, and we were marched through a line of servants, who bawled out our names from the entrance."
Had Haydon always listened to Sir George's sound advice, his life might have been a happier and certainly a less controversial one, as on one occasion his patron wrote to him from Grosvenor Square:
"As your sincere well—wisher I earnestly require you to abstain from all writing except on broad and general subjects, chiefly allusive to your art. If any severe or unjust remarks are made on you or your works, paint them down. You can. But if you retort in words, action will produce reaction, and your whole remaining life will be one scene of pernicious contention."
Readers of Haydon's life will realise the appropriate nature of these wise words.
Sir George did not, however, live to see the truth of his prediction, or the chronic inability of Haydon to follow his advice. On 17th September 1827, Haydon wrote this entry in his journal:
"I took my child Frank today to see Macbeth at Sir George's, Grosvenor Square. As we wandered through the deserted gallery and drawing rooms, I thought, 'Here have assembled more men of real genius, and more pretenders to it, than in any other room perhaps in Europe.'"