Stuart in America has no rival here.

As these are now old men and going off the stage, Mr.Allston succeeds in the prime of life, and will, in the opinion of the greatest connoisseurs in this country, carry the art to greater perfection than it ever has been carried either in ancient or modern times....

After him is a young man from Philadelphia by the name of Leslie, who is my room-mate." How fallible is contemporary judgment on the claims of so-called genius to immortality.

"For many are called, but few are chosen." In another letter to his parents written about this time, after telling of his economies in order to make the money, advanced so cheerfully but at the cost of so much self-sacrifice on their part, last as long as possible, he adds: "My greatest expense, next to _living_, is for canvas, frames, colors, etc., and visiting galleries.

The frame of my large picture, which I have just finished, cost nearly twenty pounds, besides the canvas and colors, which cost nearly eight pounds more, and the frame was the cheapest I could possibly get.