West was not above the middle height, of a very fair complexion, with a serene brow and a penetrating eye. He was patient, methodical, and extremely diligent. He left upwards of four hundred paintings and sketches in oil, many of them of a large size, besides more than two hundred original drawings in his portfolio. It was ascertained by calculation, that, to contain all his productions, "a gallery would be necessary four hundred feet long, fifty broad, and forty high." In so large a number of productions there must be great differences as to merit. If his genius was not of the highest kind, it was certainly very prolific, and sometimes seemed to surpass itself. Critics of high merit have pronounced him, "in his peculiar department, the most distinguished artist of the age in which he lived." "In his 'Death on the Pale Horse,' painted when he was nearly eighty," says Cunningham," and more particularly in his sketch of that picture, he has more than approached the masters and princes of the calling. It is indeed irresistibly fearful to see the triumphant march of the terrific phantom, and the dissolution of all that earth is proud of, beneath his tread. War and peace, sorrow and joy, youth and age, all who love and all who hate, seem planet struck. "The Death of Wolfe,' too, is natural and noble; and the Indian Chief, like the Oneida Warrior of Campbell,

'A stoic of the woods, a man without a tear,'

was a happy thought. ' 'The Battle of La Hogue,' I have heard praised as the best historic picture of the British school, by one not likely to be mistaken, and who would not say what he did not feel." The gallery

of West's pictures was sold after his death for upwards of twenty-five thousand pounds sterling.

One of the most admirable traits of this great painter was his pure moral character. This is exhibited in part by the subjects upon which he chose to exercise his pencil. They were subjects of high moral interest,—heroic deeds,-events of sacred history,—the triumphs of patriotism and virtue. In this choice he persisted, too, at a time when the general taste of the country was directed to subjects of a far inferior char

acter.

Not the least pleasant circumstance to be mentioned in this sketch of Benjamin West, is the kind relation which always existed between him and his pupils, some of whom have been among the most distinguished of American artists. It was natural that a young painter coming from America to England for instruction, or to seek his fortune, should desire the benefit of the veteran's advice and counsel. These were never sought in vain. When Trumbull was arrested, during the war, by order of the British government, West immediately waited upon the king, and made known to his majesty his pupil's character and purposes, and received the assurance that, at all events, the personal safety of the prisoner should be fully attended to. When Gilbert Stuart was in London, a young painter, without resources, West not only afforded him direct pecuniary aid, but employed him in copying, and otherwise assisted him in his study of that branch of the art in which he afterwards excelled his master. A few weeks after Allston's arrival in England, he was introduced to Mr. West, and thus speaks of him in a let

ter:-" Mr. West, to whom I was soon introduced received me with the greatest kindness. I shall never forget his benevolent smile when he took me by the hand; it is still fresh in my memory, linked with the last of like kind which accompanied the last shake of his hand, when I took a final leave of him in 1818. His gallery was open to me at all times, and his advice always ready and kindly given. He was a man overflowing with the milk of human kindness. If he had enemies, I doubt if he owed them to any other cause than his rare virtue; which, alas for human nature! is too often deemed cause sufficient."

With this genial testimony from one of the greatest and purest of our artists, himself so lately gone to his reward, we close our sketch of the earliest distinguished American painter, who, by assiduously cultivating the genius which Heaven conferred, did much to extend the reputation of his country, and to refine and bless mankind.

JOHN HUNTER.

ONE of the most distinguished names in the modern medical profession is that of JOHN HUNTER. He was born at Kilbride, in Scotland, July 14, 1728, the youngest of ten children. His father's family was respectable, cultivated their own small estate, and will be long remembered for having produced two men, who at the same time attained the very highest emi

The

nence in the same profession; William Hunter, an eider brother of John, having been hardly less distinguished than the subject of the present notice. John, as the youngest child, was unfortunately brought up with great indulgence, and after the death of his father, which happened when he was ten years of age, exhibited the effects of it in a wayward disposition, and an aversion to anything like regular study. It is said that he was with difficulty taught the elements of reading and writing; and the attempt to teach him Latin was abandoned after a short trial, with the unsatisfactory assurance of an entire want of success. time came, however, when his devotion to country amusements was necessarily interrupted, and he was obliged to determine what he should do for a living. His father's property was small, and the greater part of it had been given to the eldest son. John arrived at the age of nearly twenty years, without giving signs of any peculiar thoughtfulness, and with no determination as to the future. His sister had married a carpenter or cabinetmaker in Glasgow; and John, seeking employment for his hands rather than his head, became his apprentice. How long, under favourable circumstances, he would have continued to make chairs and tables, it is impossible to say; but the early failure of his master in business, threw him out of employment. Very probably he considered this a great misfortune, but it was the occasion of his subsequent distinction. Such a mind as his would not indeed, under any circumstances, have remained always harnessed to mere mechanical pursuits; but he might have toiled long before coming to understand his own

capacities, had he not been compelled to look else where for the means of a daily livelihood.

Sometime before this, William Hunter, though at first destined by his family for the church, had turned his attention to medicine; and, having studied very successfully with the celebrated Dr. Cullen, had gone to London with a recommendation to Dr. James Douglass. Though early deprived of this kind friend by his death, he determined, after some discouragerents and difficulties, to give instruction in anatomy and surgery. In these departments he obtained great reputation, and at the time that John was thrown out of business, was in the height of his fame. The success of the elder brother determined the younger to apply to him for assistance. His ambition was perhaps somewhat awakened to escape from the unsatisfactory life he had led. He therefore wrote to his brother, requesting permission to visit London, expressing the hope that he might render him some assistance in his anatomical pursuits, and at the same time suggesting, that if his application was unsuccessful, he might enter the army. The answer to the letter was cordial, and contained an invitation to proceed immediately to London. He accordingly set off on horseback, and arrived in the metropolis, the scene of his future most distinguished labours, in September, 1748.

The mind which had so long lain dormant, seemed now to awake. The scenes by which he was surrounded, the lectures which he heard, the conversations of his brother, and of other intelligent men, all conspired to excite his interest in a study, which he pursued until