1792. John, earl of Bute, died. He was prime minister soon after the
accession of George III.; and of all who guided the helm of state, the
most unpopular.
* * * * *
On the 10th of March, 1820, died Benjamin West, esq., president of the
Royal Academy, in the eighty-second year of his age. It was his delight
to gently lead genius in a young artist; and Mr. WILLIAM BEHNES, the
sculptor, was honoured by the venerable president with the means of
transmitting his parting looks to an admiring world, upon whom he was
soon to look no more. Mr. West’s sittings to Mr. Behnes were about two
months before his death. Expressing himself to his young friend in terms
of high satisfaction at the model, he encouraged him to persevere in
that branch of art which Mr. Behnes has since distinguished, by
admirable power of design and use of the chisel. To speak of Mr.
Behnes’s model as a mere likeness, is meagre praise of an effort which
clearly marks observation, and comprehension, of Mr. West’s great mental
powers. The bust, as it stands in marble, in sir John Leicester’s
gallery, is a perfect resemblance of Mr. West’s features, and an
eloquent memorial of his vigorous and unimpaired intellect in the last
days of earthly existence. If ever the noblest traits of humanity were
depicted by the hand of art, they are on this bust. Superiority of mind
is so decidedly marked, and blended, with primitive simplicity, and a
beaming look of humanity and benevolence, that it seems the head of an
apostle.
Mr. West was an American; he was born at Springfield, in Pennsylvania,
on the 10th of October, 1738; his ancestors and parents were “Friends:”
the family had emigrated from England with the illustrious founder and
legislator of Pennsylvania, WILLIAM PENN: of whose treaty with the
Indians for a tract of their territory, it is observed, that it was the
only christian contract unsanctioned by an oath, and the only one never
violated.[17] The first of the family who embraced Quaker principles was
colonel James West, the friend and companion in arms of the great John
Hampden.
Mr. West’s genius developed itself very early. When a child he saw an
infant smile in its sleep, and forcibly struck with its beauty, seized
pens, ink, and paper, which happened to lie by him, and endeavoured to
delineate a portrait; at this period he had never seen an engraving or a
picture. He was afterwards sent to school in the neighbourhood, and
during hours of leisure was permitted to draw with a pen and ink. It did
not occur to any of the family to provide him with better materials,
till a party of Indians being amused with little Benjamin’s sketches of
birds and flowers, taught him to prepare the red and yellow colours with
which they painted their ornaments, and his mother adding blue, by
giving him a piece of indigo, he became possessed of the three primary
colours. As he could not procure camels’ hair pencils, and did not even
know of their existence, he supplied the deficiency by cutting fur from
the end of the cat’s tail. From the frequent necessity for repeating
this depredation, his father observed the altered appearance of his
favourite, and lamented it as the effect of disease; the young artist,
with due contrition, informed his father of the true cause, and the old
gentleman was highly pleased by his son’s ingenuousness. Mr. Pennington,
a merchant of Philadelphia, struck with the genius of the child, sent
him a box of paints and pencils, with some canvass, and six engravings
by Grevling. Little West rose with the dawn of the next day, carried the
box into the garret, prepared a pallet, began to imitate the figures in
the engravings, omitted to go to school, and joined the family at
dinner, without mentioning how he had been occupied. In the afternoon he
again retired to his garret; and for several successive days thus
devoted himself to painting. The schoolmaster, however, sent to know the
reason of his absence. Mrs. West recollecting that she had seen Benjamin
going up stairs every morning, and suspecting that it was the box which
occasioned this neglect of the school, affected not to notice the
message, but went immediately to the garret, and found him employed on
the picture. If she had anger, it was changed to a different feeling by
the sight of his performance; she kissed him with transports of
affection, and assured him that she would intercede to prevent his being
punished. It seemed ever the highest pleasure of Mr. West emphatically
to declare, that it was this kiss that made him a painter.
After numerous indications of uncontrollable passion for his favourite
and only pursuit, a consultation of “Friends” was held, on the propriety
of allowing young West to indulge a taste, which the strict discipline
of the society inhibits:--
_Genius_ has such resistless power
That e’en the _Quaker, stern and plain_,
Felt for the blooming _painter_ boy.
The destiny he desired was fixed. In 1760 he left Philadelphia for Rome,
pursued his studies in the capital of art, visited the galleries and
collections of Italy with an ardour that impaired his health, came
through France to London, and was about to return to America, when sir
Joshua Reynolds, and Wilson, the landscape painter, used their utmost
persuasions to detain him in this country. There was only one obstacle;
he had formed an attachment on his native soil:
Wheree’er he turn’d, whatever realms to see,
His heart, untravell’d, fondly turn’d
to her whom he loved. This difficulty was overcome, for the lady, Miss
Shewell, came over; they were married in London, in 1764. Thus
“settled,” in the following year Mr. West was chosen a member and one of
the directors of the Society of Artists, afterwards incorporated with
the Royal Academy, which he assisted in forming, and over which he
afterwards presided till his death.
As an artist his works in the various collections and edifices
throughout England exhibit his talents, but above all “West’s Gallery,”
now open in Newman-street for public inspection, is an assemblage of
testimonials to the justice of his fame among his adopted countrymen.
His talent germinated on the shores of the Atlantic, but with us it
flourished. America at that period was not sufficiently advanced to
cultivate his genius: now that she has risen in commerce and the arts,
and taken her stand among the nations, she will retain her future Wests
to adorn her greatness. May the people of England and America contend
with each other no more but in works of peace and good will; and may the
interchange of talented individuals from each, contribute to the
prosperity and moral grandeur of both countries!
As a man, Mr. West’s characteristics were kindness and warmth of heart.
From accordant feelings, he painted with delight and energy some of the
most affecting incidents in the New Testament history. His “Christ
healing the sick” will be remembered by all who saw it, with reverend
solemnity. In his “Christ Rejected,” the various bad passions in the
malignant spectators and abettors of the outrage; the patient suffering
of the great and all-enduring character; the sympathizing feelings of
his adherents; and the general accessories, are great lineaments of the
designer’s power. His “Death on the Pale Horse,” and more especially the
sketch for that painting, express masterly thought and conception. These
are Mr. West’s “large” pictures. Some of his smaller ones and his
sketches, the beholder studies and lingers over till his limbs and body
tire; and he leaves the large assemblage of paintings in “West’s
Gallery” with a conviction, that no artist has yet fully occupied his
place. Perhaps there is only _one_ who would have designed the “Death on
the Pale Horse” more effectively, and _he_ would have had no
compeer--Mr. Fuseli; whose compositions are of a higher order than those
of any other in this country, and will be duly estimated when the price
set upon his works cannot be useful to their author. No one is valued
till he is dead; after the last sigh has sobbed from the body, comes the
time for some to suspect that they had inflicted pangs upon its
infirmity when living, and a desire to know more of a man, the rufflings
of whose dying pillow the breath of their friendship might have
smoothed, and whom, to the extent of their comprehension they might have
known, if their little feelings, in a state too easy, had not excluded
him from their society.
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