what he had been doing; but the old lady observing his confusion, enquired
what he was about, and requested him to show her the paper. He obeyed,
entreating her not to be angry. Mrs. West, after looking some time at the
drawing with evident pleasure, said to her daughter, "I declare he has
made a likeness of little Sally," and kissed him with much fondness and
satisfaction. This encouraged him to say, that if it would give her any
pleasure, he would make pictures of the flowers which she held in her
hand; for the instinct of his genius was now awakened, and he felt that he
could imitate the forms of those things which pleased his sight.

This curious incident deserves consideration in two points of view. The
sketch must have had some merit, since the likeness was so obvious,
indicating how early the hand of the young artist possessed the power of
representing the observations of his eye. But it is still more remarkable
as the birth of the fine arts in the New World, and as one of the few
instances in the history of art, in which the first inspiration of genius
can be distinctly traced to a particular circumstance. The drawing was
shown by Mrs. West to her husband, who, remembering the prediction of
Peckover, was delighted with this early indication of talent in his son.
But the fact, though in itself very curious, will appear still more
remarkable, when the state of the country at that period, and the peculiar
manners of the Quakers, are taken into consideration.

The institutions of William Penn had been sacredly preserved by the
descendants of the first settlers, with whom the remembrance of the causes
which had led their ancestors to forsake their native country, was
cherished like the traditions of religion, and became a motive to
themselves, for indulging in the exercise of those blameless principles,
which had been so obnoxious to the arrogant spirit of the Old World. The
associates of the Wests and the Pearsons, considered the patriarchs of