Northiam.
_Death of Nelson_ (Vol. vii., p. 52.).--The "beautiful picture which hangs
in a bad light in the hall of Greenwich Hospital" was not painted by West,
but by Arthur William Devis, a very talented artist, but somewhat careless
in financial matters. He was a pupil of Zoffeny, was in India for some
years, where he practised portrait-painting with considerable success. The
well-known print of the "Marquis Cornwallis receiving the Sons of Tippoo
Saib as Hostages," was from a picture painted by him. The "Death of Nelson"
at Greenwich was a commission from the house of Boydell, Cheapside; and a
large print was afterwards published by them from it. Devis met the vessel
on its return to England, and on its way homeward painted, very carefully,
the portraits of the persons represented in his picture, and also a very
exact view of the cockpit in which the hero died. The picture has great
merit, and deserves to be better placed.