13 
description, and the remarks of the Archbishop, 
that he immediately began to compose a sketch 
for the picture, and finished it before going to 
bed. Next morning he carried it to His 
Grace, who, equally surprised and delighted 
to find his own conception so soon embodied 
in a visible form, requested the Artist to 
proceed without delay in the execution of the 
picture. 
In 
the interim, 
the 
Archbishop 
endeavoured, 
by all the means in his power,  to procure 
encouragement for Mr. West to devote himself 
exclusively to historical colilposition ; and with 
this view he set on foofc a scheme to raise three 
thousand guineas to constitute a fund, which 
would be a sufficient inducement for the Artist, 
in the first instance, to,forego, at least for a 
time, the drudgery of portrait painting. But the 
attempt failed : so little was the public disposed 
to patronise historical subjects from the pencil 
of a living artist, that after fifteen hundred 
pounds were subscribed, it was agreed to 
relinquish the undertaking. As this fact is 
important to the history of the progress of the