The Life, Studies, and Works of Benjamin West, Esq.: Composed from Materials Furnished by HimselfGalt, John
General
The Life, Studies, and Works of Benjamin West, Esq.: Composed from Materials Furnished by Himself
Galt, John
West, Benjamin, 1738-1820
though deduced from incidental remarks in conversations with Mr. West,
must not be considered as his. The respect which he has always entertained
towards the different members of his own profession never allows him to
express himself in any terms that might possibly be construed by malice or
by ignorance to imply any thing derogatory to a class which he naturally
considers among the teachers of mankind. He may think, indeed he has
expressed as much, that the style of the French Artists is not the most
perspicuous; and that it is, if the expression may be allowed, more
rhetorical than eloquent; but still he regards them as having done honour
to their country, and, in furnishing objects of innocent interest to the
minds of mankind, as having withdrawn so far the inclinations of the heart
from mere sensual objects. The true use of painting, he early thought,
must reside in assisting the reason to arrive at correct moral inferences,
by furnishing a probable view of the effects of motives and of passions;
and to the enforcement of this great argument his long life has been
devoted, whether with complete success it would be presumptuous in any
contemporary to determine, and injudicious in the author of these memoirs
to assert.
* * * * *
[A] The following Extract from the Journal of a Friend, who has
lately travelled through the principal parts of the United States, will
probably be found interesting, as it tends to throw some degree of light
on the sentiments of the Indians; of which the little that is known has
hitherto never been well elucidated.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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