148 Eulogium on William West. 
rical painter in England.* The first years of his youth 
were employed on the plantation of his father, and at a 
proper age, he was put apprentice to a mechanic in the 
city of Philadelphia,—an oak cooper, at which busi- 
ness he continued until his 40th year, when he deter- 
mined to become a farmer. The place he purchased, 
consisted of upwards of 100 acres, and although by na- 
ture of an excellent soil,f yet it had been so far ex- 
hausted, as to be incompetent to the maintainance of 
the owner, few and simple as his wants must necessarily 
have been. 
) 
* The family of Mr. West is traced as far back as Ed- 
ward the third, in whose wars they distinguished themselves. 
One of his ancestors Colonel James West, after having sig- 
nalized himself in the battle of Worcester on the side of the 
republicans, embraced the pacific principles of friends. The 
grand parents of Mr. West emigrated with William Penn to 
this country. 
+ The farm is situated in a tract of land about three quar- 
ters of a mile wide, which is remarkable for abounding in blue 
rocks of a very hard nature, and which when broken appear 
of the colour of newly cast metal; hence it is called pot 
metal rock ; the composition of the soil of this tract is so good 
as to be proverbial, and in a field of a farm through which 
the vein partly runs, the difference in the appearance of the 
grain or grass on each side the line may be seen to a foot or 
two. The rock is the amphibole, or griinstein of minerali- 
gists. The fact is mentioned with a view to give an oppor- 
tunity of ascertaining whether any such connexion between 
fertility, and the presence of this stone takes place in other 
districts. 
