The same absence, in general, of a national spirit is to be noticed in the works of the _genre_ painters. Among the earliest of these are to be named CHARLES ROBERT LESLIE (1794--1859), many of whose works may be seen in the Lenox Gallery, New York, and at the Pennsylvania Academy, Philadelphia; and GILBERT STUART NEWTON (1794--1835), a nephew of Stuart, the portrait-painter, who is represented at the New York Historical Society and in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. These two artists are, however, so closely identified with the English school, and draw their inspiration so exclusively from European sources, that they can hardly claim a place in a history of painting in America. The one American _genre_ painter _par excellence_ is WILLIAM SYDNEY MOUNT (1807--1868), the son of a farmer on Long Island, and originally a sign-painter. No other artist has rivalled Mount in the delineation of the life of the American farmer and his negro field hands, always looked at from the humorous side. As a colourist, Mount is quite artless, but in the rendition of character and expression, and the unbiassed reproduction of reality, he stands very high. His _Fortune Teller_, _Bargaining for a Horse_, and _The Truant Gamblers_, the last named one of his best works also as regards colour, are in the collection of the New York Historical Society; _The Painter's Triumph_ is in the gallery of the Pennsylvania Academy; the Corcoran Gallery, Washington, has _The Long Story_. Several inferior artists have shown, by their representations of scenes taken from the political and social life of the United States, how rich a harvest this field would offer the brush of a modern Teniers. But in spite of the popularity which the reproductions of their works and those of some of Mount's pictures enjoyed, the field remained comparatively untilled. [Illustration: A SURPRISE. _By_ MOUNT. _Copyright, 1879, by Harper and Brothers._] Of other painters of the past, HENRY INMAN (1801--1846), better known as a most excellent portrait-painter, executed a few _genre_ pictures based on American subjects, such as _Mumble the Peg_ in the Pennsylvania Academy; and RICHARD CATON WOODVILLE (about 1825--1855), who studied at Duesseldorf, became favourably known, during his short career, by his _Mexican News_, _Sailor's Wedding_, _Bar-Room Politicians_, &c.; while among the mass of work by F. W. EDMONDS (1806--1863) there are also several of specifically American character; but the majority of artists preferred to repeat the well-worn themes of their European predecessors, as shown by W. E. WEST'S (died 1857) _The Confessional_, at the New York Historical Society's Rooms, or the paintings of JAMES W. GLASS (died 1855), whose _Royal Standard_, _Free Companion_, and _Puritan and Cavalier_, are drawn from the annals of England.