iv
I do not think that there can be two opinions
with respect to the utility of a work of this kind.
Mr. West, in relating the circumstances by which
he was led to approximate, without the aid of an
instructor, to those principles and rules of art,
which it is the object of schools and academies to
disseminate, has conferred a greater benefit on
young Artists than he could possibly have done
by the most ingenious and eloquent lectures on
the theories of. his profession; and it was neces-
sary that the narrative should appear in his own
time, in order that the authenticity of the inci-
dents might not rest on the authority of any
biographer.
1816.v
JOHN
GALT.