148 Eulogium on TVilliam 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,t 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 himseli' 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 t» 

 this country. 



I The farm is situak^d in a tract of land about three quar- 

 ters of a mile wide, which is remarkable for abounding in blue 

 rocks of a veiy 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 o- 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 gr nsteiii of minerali- 

 gists. The fact is mentioned with a view to give an oppor- 

 tunity of ascertaining whether any such connex'on betweea 

 fertility, and the presence oi this stone takes place in other 

 districts. 



