without any extended consideration. Its record consists of an almost
unrelieved account of struggle, indifferent success, and lack of
appreciation and encouragement, in the cities of Boston and New York.
In Boston he appeared as the student, rather than the producer of works,
and laid the foundation of his style in observation of the paintings of
Stuart, Copley, Allston, and Alexander,--all excellent models upon which
to base a practice, although destined to show little of their influence
upon the pictures which he painted in the maturity of his power. It is
not to be doubted, however, that all these men, and particularly Stuart,
made an impression upon him which he was never afterward wholly able to
conceal. We may see even in some of his latest works, under his own
peculiar manner, suggestions of Stuart, particularly in portraits of
women, which in pose and expression, and to a considerable degree in
color, show much of that dignity and composure which so distinguish the
female heads of our greatest portrait-painter. He always admired Stuart,
and in his later years spoke much of him, with strong appreciation for
his skill in describing character, and the refined taste which is such a
marked feature of his best manner.

His work in Boston made no particular impression upon the public mind,
and after five years' trial of it he removed to New York, where he
joined that brilliant circle of painters and sculptors which, with its
followers, has made one of the strongest impressions, if not the most
valuable or permanent, upon the art of America. During his residence in
that city he devoted himself almost exclusively to portrait-painting, in
which he developed a manner more distinguished for conventional
excellence than any particular individuality. It was remarked of him,
however, that he was disposed, even at this time, to seek to present the
thought and disposition of his subjects more strongly than their merely
physical features, and among his principal associates excited no little