WEST. 



15 



expected, he had composed a picture from two of 

 the engravings, telling a new story, and coloured 

 with a skill and effect which, in her eyes, were 

 surprising. She kissed him with rapture, and pro- 

 cured his pardon from her husband and his teacher. 

 Mr Gait, in his life of West, says that, sixty-seven 

 years afterwards, he had the gratification to see 

 this piece in the same room with the sublime pic- 

 ture of Christ Rejected ; on which occasion the 

 painter declared to him, that there were inventive 

 touches, in his first and juvenile essay, which, with 

 all his subsequent knowledge and experience, he 

 had not been able to surpass. By degrees, the re- 

 port that a boy, remarkable for his talent for paint- 

 ing, lived at Springfield, began to extend, until it 

 reached the ears of Mr Flower, a justice of Ches- 

 ter, who, having looked at his works, obtained 

 leave from his parents to take him, for a few weeks 

 to his house. Whilst residing with this gentle- 

 man, he derived great advantage from the conver- 

 sation of the governess of his daughters, a young 

 English lady, well acquainted with art, and with 

 the Greek and Latin poets, and who loved to point 

 out to the young artist the most picturesque pas- 

 sages. During his residence there, he painted the 

 po'rtrait of the wife of a lawyer of the neighbouring 

 town of Lancaster, the sight of which made people 

 come in crowds to sit to him for their likenesses. 

 He likewise executed a painting of the death of 

 Socrates, for a gunsmith of Lancaster, who had a 

 classical turn. On his return to Springfield, his 

 future career became the subject of anxious consi- 

 deration ; and, finally, the matter was submitted, by 

 his parents, to the wisdom of the society to which 

 they belonged. A deliberation was accordingly 

 held, the result of which was, that, though the 

 Quakers refuse to recognise the utility of painting 

 to mankind, they allowed the youth to follow the 

 vocation for which he was so plainly destined. 

 Soon afterwards, however, he took a step utterly 

 at variance with the principles of the sect ; but, 

 strange as it may seem, he received neither admoni- 

 tion or remonstrance. This was to join the troops 

 under general Forbes, who proceeded in search of 

 the relics of the army of general Braddock. He 

 was called home in a short time, by intelligence of 

 the illness of his mother, and arrived only in time 

 to receive the welcome of her eyes and her mute 

 blessing. This was a severe blow, for he was de- 

 votedly attached to her. In his eighteenth year, 

 he removed to Philadelphia, where he established 

 himself as a portrait painter. His success was 

 considerable ; and, after painting the heads of all 

 who desired it in that city, he repaired to New 

 York, where his profits, were, also, not insignifi- 

 cant. In 1760, by the kindness of some friends, 

 be was enabled to proceed to Italy ; and, July 10, 

 of that year, he reached Rome. There he obtain- 

 ed access to some of the most distinguished person- 

 ages, and first made himself known as an artist by 

 a portrait of Lord Grantham, which was attributed, 

 for a time, to Mengs. After recovering from an 

 illness of eleven months' duration, he visited the 

 different cities of Italy for the purpose of inspect- 

 ing the works of the great masters scattered through 

 them. After his return to Rome, he painted a pic- 

 ture of Cimon and Iphigenia, and another of An- 

 gelica and Medora, which increased his reputation, 

 and opened the way to those marks of academic 

 approbation usually bestowed on fortunate artists. 

 He was elected a member of the academies of Par- 

 ma, Florence, and Bologna, to the former of which 



he presented a copy of the St Jerome of Correg- 

 gio, of great excellence. In 1763, he went to 

 London, intending to proceed to his native coun- 

 try; but, finding that there was a great proba- 

 bility of his success as a historical painter in 

 that metropolis, he established himself there. 

 His rise was rapid. He was introduced to the king, 

 George III., whom he ever found a steady friend 

 and munificent patron, and by whom, on his first 

 presentation, he was directed to paint the picture 

 of the departure of Regulus from Rome. Lord 

 Rockingham made him an offer of a permanent en- 

 gagement, with a salary of 700 a year, to embel- 

 lish, with historical paintings, his mansion in York- 

 shire ; but he preferred depending on the public. 

 He continued to be the king's painter until the 

 monarch became superannuated, executing nume- 

 rous works on historical and religious subjects, be- 

 sides a few portraits. On the death of Sir Joshua 

 Reynolds, he had been elected president of the 

 royal academy, and took his place, March 24, 1792. 

 He delivered an address on the occasion, which was 

 much applauded. When George III. was first 

 seized with the mental malady which incapacitated 

 him for the duties of government, West was en- 

 gaged in executing various religious pictures for 

 the chapel at Windsor ; but when that event oc- 

 curred, he was informed that his labours must be 

 suspended until further orders. On the recovery 

 of the king, he was directed to go on with the 

 works ; but, on the recurrence of his illness, he 

 was again ordered to suspend them. The story of 

 his dismissal from court was spread abroad, with 

 many aggravations, by the malevolence of enemies 

 whom his success had created ; and injurious state- 

 ments were circulated respecting the sums which 

 he had received for his pictures. In consequence, 

 he published an account of what he had obtained, 

 which was no more than a just compensation for 

 his labours. During the peace of Amiens, he went 

 to Paris, for the purpose of beholding the splendid 

 collection, which Napoleon had placed in the Louvre, 

 of the masterpieces of art, and was treated, in that 

 city, with the greatest distinction by the most pro- 

 minent persons of the imperial court. Soon after 

 his return to London, he retired from his seat as 

 president of the royal academy, where he had to en- 

 counter an opposition strong in numbers and ability ; 

 but, in a short time, he was restored to it by an 

 almost unanimous vote, there being but one dissent- 

 ing voice. In his sixty-fifth year, he painted the 

 celebrated picture of Christ healing the sick, for 

 the Quakers of Philadelphia, to aid them in the 

 erection of an hospital in that town. It was ex- 

 hibited in London, where the rush to see it was 

 very great, and the opinion of its excellence so high 

 that he was offered 3000 guineas for it by the Bri- 

 tish institution. As he was far from being rich, 

 he accepted the offer, but on condition that be 

 should be allowed to make a copy, with alterations, 

 for Philadelphia. He did so ; and the work is still 

 exhibited in that city, where the profits arising from 

 it have enabled the committee of the hospital to 

 enlarge the building and receive more patients. 

 The success of this piece impressed him with the 

 belief that his genius appeared to most advantage 

 in pictures of large dimensions. " As old age," 

 says Allan Cunningham, " benumbed his faculties, 

 and began to freeze up the well-spring of original 

 thought, the daring intrepidity of the man seemed 

 but to grow and augment. Immense pictures, em- 

 bracing topics which would have alarmed loftier 



