Benjamin was now sixteen, and his father decided to put him out as an apprentice to some trade. But he had shown such remarkable artistic ability, and he was so much in love with his art, that he and his parents hoped that he could follow his bent. The Quakers did not believe in decorative art of any kind. They regarded pictures as indications of vanity. A meeting was called to discuss Benjamin’s future. For several hours the matter was carefully considered. The Quaker attitude towards pictures seemed to make an artist’s career for one of them, impossible, yet no one denied that Benjamin had remarkable gifts. At last one of the leading men arose and in a long speech declared that God undoubtedly had conferred upon Benjamin West a remarkable gift and he could see no reason why this gift should not be used for the glory of God. Others agreed with him and the members solemnly placed their hands upon his head and wished him God’s blessing in his career as a painter. Benjamin went to Philadelphia to study. He received much kindness from Provost Smith, head of the college there, and soon he was hard at work trying to improve himself. Chiefly through the influence of Dr. Smith, it was made possible for him to go to Rome where so many of the great masterpieces of art are to be seen. After a voyage which filled him with a strange wonder he arrived at Rome in July, 1760, when he was twenty-two years of age. At that time America was little known and the news that a native-born American was in Rome excited a great deal of interest. Scores of people came to see him, fully expecting to find a redskin. When they did see him they were much surprised for he was fairer than themselves. What Benjamin saw in the art galleries of Rome opened up a new world to him. He had never realised that such painting was possible. For days he gazed in admiration and awe, but these paintings made him more determined than ever to become a great artist. After three years of study in Rome he went to Florence and many other centres of culture in Italy. Later he visited Paris and then he arrived in London which he made his home. He was not long in London before his pictures began to attract attention and he came under the notice of King George III. The King was greatly pleased with his work and gave him much work to do. In 1792 he succeeded Sir Joshua Reynolds as president of the Royal Academy of Arts, a position he held until his death in 1820.