HOW I BECAME A NATURALIST 3 



the Shakespearean Gallery. Westall is said to have achieved 

 in art what Thomas Haynes Bayley did in poetry. He soon 

 became one of the most popular book illustrators of the day, and 

 was much sought after by publishers. He was made a Royal 

 Acadamecian in 1794, the same year in which Lawrence and 

 Stothard were elected. He taught Queen Victoria painting, and 



FIG. 1. BIRCH IN WINTER. 



we are informed that his distinguished royal pupil did honour 

 to his powers as an instructor. Incidentally, I may here put on 

 record that Queen Mary has written to me to say that there are 

 one or two pictures by my great-uncle at Windsor Castle. His 

 most famous canvas is " The Harvest Storm." Richard Westall 

 made a handsome fortune, but eventually his riches were dissi- 

 pated as he was imposed upon by dishonest picture dealers, who 

 faked copies of the old masters and sold them to him as originals. 

 In view of this the Royal Academy granted him a pension, and 

 he died on December 4th, 1836, at the age of seventy. 



From the dedication page of " A Day in Spring and Other 



