related to the West family, came to pay a visit to Mr. West. This
gentleman was also a member of the Society of Friends, and, though
strictly attentive to the peculiar observances of the sect, was a man of
pleasant temper and indulgent dispositions. He noticed the drawings of
birds and flowers round the room, unusual ornaments in the house of a
Quaker; and heard with surprise that they were the work of his little
cousin. Of their merit as pictures he did not pretend to judge, but he
thought them wonderful productions for a boy only entering on his eighth
year, and being told with what imperfect materials they had been executed,
he promised to send the young Artist a box of paints and pencils from the
city. On his return home he fulfilled his engagement, and at the bottom of
the box placed several pieces of canvass prepared for the easel, and six
engravings by Grevling.

The arrival of the box was an aera in the history of the Painter and his
art. It was received with feelings of delight which only a similar mind
can justly appreciate. He opened it, and in the colours, the oils, and
the pencils, found all his wants supplied, even beyond his utmost
conceptions. But who can describe the surprise with which he beheld the
engravings; he who had never seen any picture but his own drawings, nor
knew that such an art as the Engraver's existed! He sat over the box with
enamoured eyes; his mind was in a flutter of joy; and he could not refrain
from constantly touching the different articles, to ascertain that they
were real. At night he placed the box on a chair near his bed, and as
often as he was overpowered by sleep, he started suddenly and stretched
out his hand to satisfy himself that the possession of such a treasure was
not merely a pleasing dream. He rose at the dawn of day, and carried the
box to a room in the garret, where he spread a canvass, prepared a pallet,
and immediately began to imitate the figures in the engravings. Enchanted
by his art he forgot the school hours, and joined the family at dinner