Glass __ El £ / ^ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/historydescripti01walt HISTORICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE OIL PAINTINGS of MARY PHILLIPSE (Washington's Early Love) Also, THE SHARPLES PAINTINGS OF AND OF ROBERT FULTON and his WIFE AND OF PRIESTLEY and CHIEF-JUSTICE MARSHALL Together with numerous beautiful American women of the Revolutionary period Patnteb fig Sj^arpks between the years 1794 and 1800 Compflclr from HaemoriaW of WaMmton, W i©tfe, anil Matbtv, lip ^afor $\amt^ i©after, retireti maafor • J?ouctft %anca^Urt 2Crtinerp. j^ublMbeti bp .^crib- \ nWjS, iSettj gotfe. J^rice, $B.00. Containjf mtVat tifquiiite autotppejS of tfte portrait?, epctuteb bp tbc Stutotgpe Companp of HonOon. (3Cbe ©olume map MAJOR WALTER'S Work entitled "MEMORIALS OF WASHINGTON, AND OF MART, HIS MOTHER, AND MARTHA, HIS WIFE," is just published by Sceibnee's Sons, of New York. It is an elegantly printed volume of 362 pages, royal octavo size, and contains twelve of the portraits exquisitely reproduced by the Autotype Company of London. The price of the work is Six Dollars, and it may be obtained in the room. A special Edition de Luxe of the work has been prepared, printed on finest large quarto paper, witTi specially selected impressions of all the autotype portraits. Price, Twelve Dollars. Photogravures of Mary Washington, and also that of Fulton, executed in the highest style of art by Annan, Her Majesty Queen Victoria's engraver, are ready for delivery in the order of subscription. None but proof impressions on India paper will for the time being be issued, and the number strictly lim- ited to five hundred. Size of plates, 14xll| inches, on imperial plate paper, 22x.30 inches. Price, Fifteen Dollars. Preference is given to the subscribers to the three original large autotypes of the Washingtons; i. e., the full face and pro- file of General Washington and the profile of Martha Washing- ton, and which may be subscribed for in the Exhibition Room at Twenty-five Dollars the set of three. The beautifully executed autotype of Heath & Parkes' re- nowned oil painting of "PETER STUTYES ANT'S ARMY ENTERING NEW YORK," may also be obtained in the room. Price, Ten Dollars. This painting was loaned to Washington Irving, and is engraved in an early edition of his " Knickei'- bocker History of New York." : ' / HISTORY AND DESCRIPTIVE DETAILS OF MIDDLETON'S PORTRAITS OF Mary, the mother of Washington AND .,,» T / MARY PHILLIPSE (Washington's karly love) ALSO, OF THE SHARPLES PORTRAITS OF WASHINGTON, AND MARTHA, HIS WIFE ROBERT FULTON AND HIS WIFE And of Beautiful Women of the Revolutionary Period. -iJilnglonlana ^^""^^ ^r"~"" Persons desirous of being on the roll of subscribers to the Autotypes and Photogravures of the Washingtons and Fultons should immediately subscribe, as the roll is rapidly filling up. Beyond the prescribed limit of 500 of each none, will be produced. The value of these reproductions must increase. The public is respectfully informed that the paintings will in no instance be allowed to remain beyond the announced fixed date in any of the great cities arranged for their visit. Intending visitors will kindly avail of earliest opportunity, and impress same on friends. BOSTON Frank Wood, Printer, 353 Washington Street • 1SS6 f3 ■ Wz-i The small collection of portraits, painted in oils, subject of this descriptive Catalogue, has been truthfully characterized by the leading journals as the most important and interesting ever submitted to the view of the American people. It comprises the only existing delineation of MARY, THE MOTHER OF WASHINGTON, Styled in sober truth, by her immortal son, as "The Most Beautiful Woman He Had Evek Beheld." So, also, among these national works, are portraits of America's Great Engineer — Robert Fultoj?^ — and his lovely wife, niece of Chancellor Livingston, and the Portrait of Mary Phillipse, "Washington's Early Love." All of which have like unique merit of rarity. The collection comprises altogether fifteen portraits: — 1. Mary, the Mother of Washington, by Middleton. 2. Mary Phillipse, by Middleton. 3. Profile portrait of Washington, by Sharpies. 4. Full-face portrait of Washington, by Sharpies. 5. Martha, Wife of Washington, by Sharpies. 6. Priestley, the Philosopher and Divine, by Sharpies. 7. Chief Justice Marshall, by Sharpies. 8. The Wife of Genei-al Hamilton, nee Schuyler, by Sharpies. 9. Mrs. Van Rensselaer, by Sharpies. 10. Patrick Henry's daughter, by Sharpies. 11. Miss Field, by Sharpies. 12. Miss Jay, by Sharpies. 13. Robert Fulton, by Sharpies. 14. Robert Fulton, his wife, nee Livingston, by Sharpies. 1.5. Angelica Peale, daughter of the Artist, and who placed the laurel wreath on Washington's head on his entry into New York to assume the Presidential office, by Sharpies. Each of the above-named women possessed great personal charms, rendering them agreeable stibjects to the artists who handed them down to posterity. Included with these is the celebrated painting in oils of Peter Stuyvesant's "Renowned Army Entering New York;" so graphically described by Wash- ington Irving in his Knickerbocker History. The descriptive details given of the history of all the paintings are taken from a work published by Scribner's Sons, of New York, entitled, " Memorials of Washington, and of Mary his Mother, and Martha his Wife, from letters and papers of Robert Gary and James Sharpies, by James Walter, retired major 4th Lancashire Artillery (British Army List)." Attention is at first naturally riveted to the Grand Presenta- tion of Maey, the Mother of Washington, and which, though a century and a half of years have rolled by since the glorious picture was painted by Captain Middleton (an officer of the British Army attached to the colonial force de- tailed for service, who had studied under the most eminent artists of his time, and had practiced professionally in por- traiture), stands out in all its simple grandeur and beauty, and, thanks to English protective care, as fresh as though it had left the easel but yesterday. It can truthfully be said that Middleton' s portrait of Mary Washington, consequent on its entirely unique character, apart from her great beauty, is beyond any money value; it stands alone as of an interest and importance second to no other paint- ing in the world. It has been generally believed that no portrait of Washing- ton's mother existed. The error is removed. Washington pos- sessed such a portrait, and for which Americans may be pro-- foundly grateful. Mary was enceinte at the time of the execution of this, the only portrait for which she ever sat. George came into the world four months after the completion of Middleton' s lovely picture. How wide are the sympathies evoked where the trail of great- ness is in the pathway! The mother of such a man as Washing- ton must ever be an object of eager interest. The dark shadow of the grave, though enfolding her remains in its unbroken silence, has happily been prevented hiding from succeeding generations the features of her to whom the world owes so much. The painting was terribly mutilated during a journey to head- quarters in Pliiladelpliia, being reduced to such a condition as to prevent its being bung in any but a bed-chamber. Sliarples, when at Mount Vernon painting the great chief and his wife, was consulted as to wliat could be done witli it. A huge hole had been ground out of its center, through abrasion of the posts of a bedstead carelessly placed in the wagon with the portrait, and its condition during many years was most woe-be- gone. Several partially disjointed pieces of the canvas had been roughly glued on an improvised back, and, although by this rude contrivance its more serious injuries were concealed, yet it was not presentable for mural decoration. Like a truly affec- tionate son, Washington ever retained it, worried and tattered as it was, in his bedroom, where it remained until sent to Eng- land — whether to Mr. Gary in Sharpies' charge, when he re- turned after his first visit to America, is not known; but cer- tain it is that Sharpies and Gary were both concerned, not only in the means taken for its repair, but they went a step further, and after the paint had been transferred to a new canvas, its restoration, or, as termed in the memoranda, its "doing up," was confided to one of the ablest artists in portraiture then liv- ing, named Bird, who was a Royal Academician and portrait- painter to the Princess Gharlotte. Whether Sharpies was alive and i^ersonally consulted Bird is not known. Shari^les himself knew Bird, who appears to have been a personal friend of Rob- ert Gary, Washington's agent, the man to whom America is indebted for the portraits of Washington and his wife. " Oh ! that those lips had language. Life has passed With me but roughly since I heard thee last. Those lips are thine —thy own sweet smile I see, The same that oft in childhood solaced me : Voice only fails, eke how distinct they say, ' Grieve not, my child ; chase all thy fears away! ' The meek intelligence of those dear eyes (Blest be the art that can immortalize — The art that baffles Time's tyrannic claim To quench it) here shines on me still the same."— Coivp&r. WASHESTGTON ON HIS MOTHER'S PORTRAIT. All doubt as to the portrait of Mary, Washington's mother, is prevented by a letter from Mount Vernon, bearing date 1192, several years before Sharpies painted there, and which is ad- dressed to Mr. Gharles Garter, who married a niece of Washing- ton. It is a communication in reply to one evidently on private 6 matters. He had offered his services in getting the painting repaired, and which Washington declined. Washington's yearning to his mother's portrait evidences endearment and devoted affection. Mr. Carter would appear to have asked for an appointment in the War Office; failing this, an army com- mission for his son, and that he should be admitted as a resi- dent member in the General's family. The General explains his utter inability to accede, and in his usual straightforward lan- guage explains his mode of dealing with such applications. As applicable to his mother's portrait, it is reproduced. " Mouis-T VEENOiSr, May 19, 1792. " My DEAK Sib: Tour letter of the 30th ult. was on its way to Philadelj)hia while I was on my journey to this place, owing to which I did not receive it until reverberated; this must be my apology for not giving the recei])t of it an earlier acknowl- edgment. " It is very good of you to offer to get the presumed needful done to my mother's portrait, painted by an Englishman named Middleton, who formerly had a commission in the British ser- vice, and who had been a professional artist in England, Eob- ert Cary has frequently urged its being sent to London, that he might confide the repair of the hole and the completion of the picture itself — which, but for the face, is by most persons deemed imperfect — to one of the most eminent English paint- ers; but I have been so long accustomed to look on the mutila- tion as almost to disregard it. The porti-ait is identified with my whole life. My mother gave it me, and the large hole was thrust through it in course of wagon travel to Philadelphia quarters. Under the disfigurement, Mrs. Washington and my- self preferred it hanging in my bedroom, where its wounded, unfinished, and apparently neglected condition escapes frequent unpleasant remark. Any change wrought in the picture, be- yond repairing the hole, would be the reverse of improvement to my eye. I am happy above measure in having it, wounded and apparently neglected as it is, rather than incur the penalty of its absence. " It would give me pleasure to receive your son into my family if it could be made tolerably convenient to me, or if any advan- tage was likely to result from it to the young gentleman himself. I was in no real want even of Howell Lewis, but understanding that he was spending his time rather idly, and at the same time very slenderly provided for by his father, I thought for the few months which remained to be accomplished of my own servitude, by taking him under my care I miglit impress liim with ideas and give him a turn to some pursuit or other that might be service- able to him hereafter; but vv^hat that will be I am at present as much at loss to decide as you would be; for, as the heads of the different departments have by law the appointment of their own clerks^are responsible for the conduct of them— are surrounded always with applicants, and, I presume, have their own inclina- tions and friends to gratify — I never have in a single instance, and I am pretty sure I shall not begin now, recommended any- oiie to either of them. " My family, now Howell is admitted into it, will be more than full, and in truth more than is convenient for the house — as Mr. Dandridge, a nephew of Mrs. Washington, is already one of it, and but one room for him, Howell, and another person to sleep in; all the others being appropriated to public or private uses (the words 'purposes, although it is one of the largest houses in the city,' followed here, but had been marked through by the General's pen). "If your son Charles is of age, and it should be your and his own inclination to pursue a military course, I would, if any vacancy shoiikl happen (at present there is none) in one of the regiments, endeavor to place him therein. You will perceive I have made age the condition — the reason is, it is established as a rule in the War Office to appoint none l^nowingly that are under it. With love to Mrs. Carter, Faithfully yours, Geoeqe Washington." "Chakles Carter." LORD LTISTDHIJRST, LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND, HER PORTRAIT'S GUARDIAN AND SPONSOR. The interest evinced in these portraits by the late Lord Lynd- hurst Avas the first moving cause of their being brought into prominence. Closely on their arrival in England, his lordship stated they would unquestionably be adopted as the typical por- traits of the Washingtons. The pictures would probably have dropped out of knowledge at Robert Gary's death, but for his admonitions. Lord Lyndhurst was an American citizen by birth, who through vast abilities raised himself to the dignity of Chancellor of England. His father, John Singleton Copley, 8 was bom in Boston, in 1738, and went to England in 1776, where he knew Sharpies. Copley was self-educated, and before leav- ing for England painted Washington. Copley acquired fame, and was elected a member of the Royal Academy. Lord Lyndhurst was in the habit of biiying up por- traits executed by his father. Through his father and Romney he knew Sharpies and his portraits of the Washingtons well. Robert Gary apprised him of the arrival of the tattered frag- ments of Middleton's ISIary "Washington, and that "Bird had them in hand." He went to see the "wreck," and took inter- est in the restoration. Lord Lyndhurst continually visited at Cary's, bringing American friends to see the portraits. He always asserted that Middleton's presentment of Mary made her " the grandest and most lovely woman I ever looked upon," and that " every lineament of Washington's countenance is seen and traced in that of his motlier." He remarked to Robert Gary, "I know no other such instance." Lyndhurst was the greatest orator in the House of Peers, and held his mighty powers until past ninety years of age. When he brought Daniel Webster — a fellow.majestic intellect — to see these por- traits, he observed, "Mr. Cary has done more for America than any other man, in having been the means of securing to the world these portraits." On a later occasion, when Mary's por- trait was with the'others loaned to his lordship for the gratifi- cation of some American friends dining with him, he obsei'ved, "Americans will some day come by tens of thousands to look on that i^ortrait of the most beautiful of all women." Nothing has been traced among Mr. Cary's letters or mem- oranda showing when or through whom the portrait of Mary Washington was sent to England for the necessary repair. Mrs. Sharpies clearly had it in possession after her husband's death, and would api^ear to have held it for several years later. There would seem to have been a great deal done to it, according to a communication made by her to Mrs. Morgan, of Albany, to whom the widow had written, stating that she had twice ad- dressed Mr. Custis, son of Lady Washington, on the matter, but had not received any reply. However wrecked its condition before voyaging to England, it is now the portrait of a very beautiful woman, and reflects the highest credit on Bird's res- toration. True were Washington's words to Sharpies as to his mother being the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. It would be sad to know that after Washington and his wife's death there should have been wanting, in those of his family left behind, heed for the portrait of his mother to which he had clung with sucli fond affection. It certainly does seem that, with its disappearance from Mount Vernon, the poor maimed heirloom had ceased having any reverent guardian. This points to the conclusion that it had left there some time before his death. All that is known is that the tattered picture was transferred to a new canvas, and that when this had been accomplished, it was i)laced in the hands of Bird, a Royal Academician, for him, as is presumed, to deal with as he deemed best. Bird was an eminent man, and we may be assured dealt with it in every way that was best calculated to render it what friends would desire it to be. He had instructions to do all that could be done in improving the picture, every care l»eing taken to preserve the likeness. The portrait as it came off Bird's easel was doubt- less in every way greatly improved. It is now unmistakably the work of a good painter, although a skilled examiner may say that more than one person had a hand in it. It is not an Opei or a Eomney, but is, nevertheless, a thoroughly able work, and the whole Avorld has cause of rejoicing tliat it fell into Bird's hands, and that a man of the sound judgment and discretion of Robert Gary had the selection of the artist to whom such a treasure should be entrusted. The feeling of the cultured community in regard to the peer- less treasure was thus eloquently expressed by E. H. Clements, chief editor of the Boston Transcript, in its editorial columns on 3d November : — " The MoTHEK OF Washington! Breathes there an Ameri- can — or Englishman either, for that matter — who can stand before the lovely picture, which is certified beyond cavil as hav- ing been painted, or rather finished, about three weeks before George Washington was born — a canvas wliicb Washington so adored as the true and loved image of his mother that he always kept it near him — without sensations of mingled awe, joy and triumphant affection? The resemblance is unmistak- able; not only in feature, but in traits of a deeper nature, and especially in the air of high-bred dignity sustained by solid character, and of gentle sweetness still not unconscious of power to command and control. This was the mother of Washington, indeed!" Sharpies' widow, in the first instance, paid the costs of the restoration, though from the painting being afterward found in Mr. Gary's possession, it would appear that he, as Washing- ton's friend, had recouped her. There is nothing to show that 10 tlie Custis family ever made any application for the portrait to be returned to America, neither is there any evidence that Gary troubled himself about the money or sought to quit himself of the imposed possession. At the time of Sharpies' return to America, the portrait of Washington's mother was left behind, and nothing more regarding it was traceable in any after communications. Mr. Gary re-imbursed Mrs. Shaples her payment to Bird, and the picture seems never afterward to have been claimed. It would appear clear, that but for Mrs. Sharpies and Robert Gary, it might have shared the sad fate of thousands of other family portraits, in being carted away to a broker's shop as an article of mural furnishing. Even as such, Mary Washington would have held her own; she is, and ever will be, a beautiful woman. GENERAL GRANT SEES THE PORTRAIT OF MART. During his last visit to England, General Grant saw the por- trait of Washington's mother. Miss Edwardes, the owner, grand-niece of the Carys, having had his wish intimated to her, very graciously sent it to London, in order that he might be gratified without making special journey into ISTorthampton- sliire. Grant thus feelingly acknowledged her kind attention: "General Grant presents his respectful compliments to Miss Edwardes, the envied owner of the Middleton painting of Mary Washington, and begs to tender her his hearty thanks for exceed- ing kindness in sending to London, for his convenience and grati- fication, this admirable and evidently 'to the life' portrait of Mary Washington, who, above all others, must be held in deepest affection and exalted remembrance by every American. "When mentioning at the Legation his desire to see the por- trait, he had no wish, much less any intention, to put Miss Ed- wardes to the trouble of sending the treasure so long a distance, he therefore esteems more highly the honor conferred. He had seen the two portraits of General Washington, and that of Mar- tha, his wife, by Sharpies, owned by Mr. Robert Gary, who, he now learns, was great-uncle of Miss Edwardes. He fully real- izes all that his countrymen have said regarding the excellence of these fine paintings, and their value, not alone to the people among whom should be their home, but to the whole world. "Of the many kindnesses shown him by friends in England, none is more deeply impressed. He has not removed the paint- 11 ing from the case, and has returned it in charge of a special messenger from the Legation. All endeavors to see Sharpies' portrait of Kobert Fulton, or to ascertain its owner, have been ineffectual. Should Miss Edwardes be enabled to help this ob- ject, his obligations would be further increased. "Whenever the day arrives for the return of these paintings to America, Congress will, he doubts not, unanimously do its duty in the matter. The painting of Mary Washington has especial claims as the only portrait of her known to exist. General Grant had hoped that Middleton's portrait was free for disposition; he hears, therefore, with regret that family arrangements prevent, for a few years, this desired accomplishment. "General Grant begs to repeat his becoming sense of the honor done him, as also to express his entire confidence that at the proper time Miss Edwardes' family will give due weight to his countrymen's natural wish to possess the gem, happily for America, under her family control." EMEESON AND THE POETEAITS. On the occasion of Emerson's last voyage to England, when visiting with his daughter in the family of Mr. Flower, at Strat- ford-on-Avon, he was very desirous of seeing the portrait of Washington's mother, by Middleton. All efforts to trace it then proved unavailing, though had application been made at the American Legation, the place of all others seeming most likely to give the desired whereabouts, the mystery would have been solved. In order for a correct understanding of the past and present state of the holding of the various Sharpies Wash- ington portraits, it is best to explain that, some time after the death of Eobert Gary, the three portraits passed out of his brother's hands; so, also, the painting of Washington's mother changed hands, and they were for a short iDcriod dispersed. Their value to America caused their after purchase by one family, and, with the exception of the Mary, they have never since been separated. The portrait of Washington's mother ran great risk in being for a short time under divided family holding. It is, however, now controlled by the same family as the other pictures, although for a period of years Mary Wash- ington's portrait was separated from the others. The blessed mother, subject of her son's deep anxiety for so many years, got spirited away to the neighborhood of Northampton, where she rested peacefully for some ten years ; next for the honor of extending hospitality to her was the city of Bath, where for a 12 short time she dwelt in obscurity, since which she has found a quiet, appreciative home in Sussex. A few years prior to Mr Gary's death, these paintings, second in historic value to no other portraits in tlie world, came near a riide scatter, and would probably have been irretrievably lost, the younger Gary, the inheritor, being entirely ignorant of his elder brother's close association with Washington; Through sagacious timely advice of Lord Lyndhurst the family decided not to part with the por- traits; each, therefore, took one, the portrait of Mary, by Mid- dleton, falling to Mrs. Edwardes, Robert Gary's sister. Good advisers, conscious of their ultimate value, have since been always ready with best cotinsel, though there have been days of darkness when the perils of separation seemed imminent. The occasional unknown whereabouts of the portraits during the last seventy years is easily explained. Nobody having con- trol over them heeded or could serve any object in bringing them into notoriety. For a time they may be said to have had no owners. After this period of doubt and neglect, the whole were with much foresight acquired by one and the same person. There were, however, clauses in a family settlement of the pictures pre- venting their sale, as also their being engraved, until an inter- ested minor became of age. It was this specific, though as it proved happy, provision that stood in the way of Washington Irving having them engraved for his "Life of Washington." Irving was deeply anxious for this permission. His first appli- cation was made in 1854, and was followed up by frequent com- munications during the succeeding ten years.' He tried every means to get over the legal diiSculty, but eventually admitted that the hoped permission to engrave the portraits could not be given. Emerson, the great Essayist, thus wrote of these portraits: — "I would have willingly crossed the Atlantic, if only to look on these portraits, so priceless to our people. Future ages will glory in their existence. There are those who assert that ' ven- eration ' is quitting in our national character, fickleness taking its place. If so, it is difficult of exi^lanation, save through the frequent changes of government. Of this we may be certain, that whatever occasional aberrations may be manifested, the loyal and good of our people will never swerve in their devotion to him who must ever be the corner-stone of our fabric, and whose star will burn more and more resplendent as ages develop. "It has not fallen to my lot to get a look at the portrait of Washington's mother, and which I believe is a fine pictuie. I 13 \ bad always been under tbe belief tbat it was painted by Sbarples, \ and owned by tbe same family as possess tbe portraits of our first President and bis wife. Sucb is not tbe case. Tbe portrait of tbe motber of Wasbington, tbougb some eigbty years ago owned by tbe same brancb of tbe Gary family as possessed tbe Sbarples portraits, bas since passed away to a younger brancb, and I bave been unable to trace it. Tbere is, bowever, no doubt as to its existence. Many of our people wbo know tbe owning family get access to its abode, wbicb I bear is in Nortbamptonsbire. Wasbington' s motber' s portrait, painted by an Englisb officer named Middleton, must not be mixed up witb tbe American female beauties outlined by Sbarples, and, so far as four or five are concerned, finisbed by tbe eminent Englisb painter Mac- lise, and wbicb are in tbe family bere owning tbe Sbarples Wasbington portraits. " Tbese portraits must some day return to us. Well will it be for our women to see and know Martba Wasbington in tbe faitbfulness sbe is rendered by Sharpies, to realize tbat bouse- wifery is a great duty, and tbat in ber day it was deemed as creditable for women to spin and weave as it was in tbe days of King Solomon, wbo in tbe Book of Proverbs describes an bonor- able woman : ' Sbe layetb ber bands to tbe spindle, and ber bands bold tbe distaff. Sbe looketb Avell to tbe ways of ber bousebold, and eatetb not tbe bread of idleness.' Or in tbe days of Homer, made tbe use of tbe distaff and loom tbe em- ployment of royal women : — " ' Alcandra, consort of his high command, A golden distaff gave to Helen's hand; And that rich vase, with living sculpture wrought, "Which, heaped with wool, the beauteous Philo brought. The silken fleece, impurpled for the loom, Recalled the hyacinth in vernal bloom.' " DANIEL WEBSTER ON THE PORTRAITS. No bigber bomage can be rendered tbese paintings tban tbat bestowed by tbe statesman wbose greatness is so interwoven witb tbe nation's dignity, tbat tbe occasion of bis deatb seemed as if some grand governing member of a system was stricken from its orbit. Speaking at a pubHc dinner in England, in 1839, Daniel Webster said : — "It bas been my privilege to visit a peaceful bome wbere lives in canvas delineation tbe man wbose purity and greatness must fill tbe universe until tbe world sball be no more. Wasbington is tbere — and to tbe life — tbrougb tbe power of tbe painter Sbarples." 14 ROBERT GARY, THE ORIGINAL OWNER OF THE SHARPLES PORTRAITS. Robert Gary, from whom all the portraits forming this priceless collection appear to have come down to his descend- ants of the present time, was a highly esteemed merchant of London. Through a long series of years, and until his death, he held more than intimate intercourse with Washington. He was a most devoted adherent and rendered loyal sei'vice to the Great Ghief on many occasions in Europe, when wily enemies endeavored to vmdermine him. He is known to have been intrusted with the management of important and most delicate political matters, and to have been the medium of intercourse between Washington, Burke, and Lord Erskine during moment- ous times. John Jay, when Minister to England, was almost a daily visitor to Gary, whose devotion to the Great Patriot will some day form a theme for the world's admiration. From knowledge of Washington's nobility of character, and great services to his country, ajid through confidential relations, he had personally become greatly endeared to Robert Gary; so much so that "I greatly covet the illustrious general, my loved friend's portrait, by a competent painter who shall do justice to the noble subject." So wrote Gary at the time. His whole heart, as his purse, was in the matter, and we accoi-dingly find Sharpies sent over the seas to compass his yearning; "having satisfied myself," as he added, "by several interviews with my friend, George Romney, that Mr. Sharpies, whom he recom- mends for the purpose, will produce such a work as will meet my wish, and be worthy of the greatest of all men." Romney had become advanced in years. Sharpies was his pupil, and we may be assured he would select one he deemed best as an artist to do justice to the subject; Washington being then the admired of the whole world, and Robert Gary an old friend he was desirous to serve. Romney came out of Lanca- shire, so did Sharpies ; there were thus birth ties as well as pro- fessional associations between the master and his disciple; and although there is nothing to show that the latter was a man of great note among artists, yet it must be borne in mind "there were giants in those days" in England's portrait world, and no pretence is made that Sharpies ranked among them. To have sent out either of the stars then shining in portraiture, who would have needed at least eight months' absence — seven and 15 eight weeks being in those days no uncommon length of the voyage either way— was out of the question; for, although Millais' two thousand guineas fee for a single head had not yet cropped up, yet very respectable prices were earned; Sharpies himself, as a junior unblessed by fame, charging fifty guineas, and getting it — this at a time when men of means were few and far between. His passage outward was paid, and even on his first visit he walked on shore in anything but an impecuni- ous condition, as his wife states that he, on landing, went and made a deposit of over two hundred pounds in a iS"ew York bank, as a nest-egg. It is by no means certain that this comfortable start was to his advantage. Instead of setting to work, and knocking off his commissions, he would appear to have taken things easy. There remains nothing to show the precise date at which he commenced or finished his two portraits of Wash- ington, one a full-face in military uniform, the other a profile, and one of Martha, Washington's wife, a profile. All that is certain regarding his work at the time, is that the portraits reached England during 1797. Three years and more had thus expired in the interval of his landing and the pictures arrival. There was no holding on to them for exhibition pur- poses after their completion. Washington and his wife each gave their first sittings at Mount Vernon; the General after- ward gave him two final sittings in Philadelphia, but Lady Washington sat to him only at Mount Vernon. The portrait of Martha was a present from her to Mr. Gary, and the profile was a gift from Washington. The full-face is the portrait com- missioned by Mr. Gary, and for the production of which Sharpies came out to America. All three pictures were taken to ]S"ew York, and finished there by Sharpies in his own house in Greenwich Street, and were at once sent off to England. Mrs. Sharpies, in a letter to Mr. Gary, dwells on the advantage her husband would have derived from an exhibition of the por- traits, and which she said had been "seen by nobody but General Hamilton, Governor Morris, General ISTorth, Mr. Van Rensselaer, De Witt Clinton, Ghief Justice Marsliall, Judge Hobart, the Barclays, Ghancellor Livingston, Judge Kent, the Jays, and intimate friends of the family visiting at Mount Ver- non; whereas, if we could have been permitted the opportunity to exhibit them in Philadelphia, and here in IN^ew York, it would have benefibed my husband greatly." The portraits have, through unbroken continuity, been since generally known of, and seen by, such public men of America as, through occasions of going to England, were enabled to avail 16 themselves of sucli to visit Mr. Gary, who up to the time of his death always felt a pleasure in showing the three portraits to any persons desirous, as he was wont to term it, of "i^aying court to my distinguished guests." Use of the word "guest" would indicate some design on his part to be the instrument of their return to America; and yet he possibly felt that he could hardly present that which had been given to himself. Gary was a bachelor, full of chivalry, and there was nobody to inherit these heirlooms excepting a younger unmarried brother and one sister. She had become Mrs. Edwardes, and will be seen to hold a trust of deep interest to every American heart, inas- much as it fell to her lot to inherit the priceless treasure, the portrait of Mary, mother of George Washington, painted by an artist named Middleton. At her death the painting passed into the possession of her unmarried daughter, Eleanor Edwardes. The origin and growth of the more than friendship between Gary and Washington has been shown; how, when Washington was serving as an English officer, Gary became his agent in Lon- don, his firm holding, from many officers and their families, com- missions of like kind. It is in no way strange that, out of busi- ness transactions of mutual dependence, friendships sprang up between the parties, having the ultimate effect of merging the mere mercantile agency duties with ties of closest family asso- ciation and confidence. Sharing the lot of other illustriou.s men, the world's great patriot had secret enemies, puny as they were. Gary, as the friend of Burke, and enjoying the confidence of pub- lic men in Europe, laid bare their machinations. Old Gustom House records show that Gary & Go. received produce from over twenty families, many of them English offi- cers who had relinquished their military callings, and in numer- ous instances had laid hold of the plough instead. Others had adopted mercantile pursuits, as in the case of Bar- clay & Go., of New York, one of the oldest firms thus originally springing out of soldier origin. Mr. Barclay had held an officer's commission, and at the time there Avas quite a number of gentle- men sitting at the desk in " counting-houses" — offices had not then obtained admission into the vernacular of New York, — and who, from varying causes, and under specially occurring oppor- tunities, had with honor melted down their swords. The Eng- lish War Office regulations did not then allow any donning of military uniform at the bidding good-bye to the service. There could be no dressing up with gold lace, or "buckling of a rapier," after the relinquishment fiat had gone forth. Soldiering meant fighting with designated instruments of warfare, not with the 17 goose-quill. In IS'ew Orleans there were lialf-a-dozen "old sol- dier firms," as they were characteristically nicknamed, and in Charleston several. Richmond, in Virginia, boasted of several of the new order; and it is an evidence of Washington's steadfast- ness of character and adherence to uninterrupted friendship, that through life he stuck to Gary & Co., in London, and to Barclay & Co., of New York; the one for the conversion of his tobaccos into hard dollars, and their due and safe transmission to his clutch, the latter for their transport over the seas in "good and safe bottoms." Good Eobert Cary was one of the old-fashioned type. He man- aged all correspondence with clients in America in proper form and good style, and never huckstered in the matter of commis- sions. Copying-books had not in those days been evoluted. Fine thick water-lined laid foolscap was the medium of communica- tion. ISTone of your miserable modern paper from straw, but manufactured of linen rags and none other; free of slippery gloss, tempting the pen into tautologous meandering; each sheet bearing the maker's "water-mark" duly recorded thereon, as evidence of its worth in durability and toughness. " Whatman & Co.," of Kentish renown, led the van of "true foolscap." Robert Cary & Co., and their ilk, would have no other, and each recurring spring, as a good ship was "entered out" for New York, a ream of this coveted papyrus was sent to Colonel Wash- ington, with a supply of quill-pens, and two pounds of sealing- wax of no other brand than Walkden & Co. Ink, too, there went, of famed fabricate, and three bundles of pink tape wherewith to tie the Colonel's bundles of documents. The hst shows that a packet of "pounce" was included in the annual requirement. It will puzzle hurried men of to-day to translate "pounce." It was an article of finely granulated sand, for dusting on manuscript to prevent blotting : blotting-paper had not then sprung into life, and the head of the new nation was a man of almost unique care and neatness in all appertaining to his caligraphy. Robert Cary , to supply such wants, did not go into the next street to a station- er's shop; he opened direct communication with this notable J. Whatmaji, who, after specifying the weight per ream, sent it " up to London" by the weekly carrier. But there were divers other things to be assembled for these annually recurring shipments. Home gastronomic comforts had to be thought of. Like Meg and Trotty Veck in Dickens' goblin story of "The Chimes," the General has a penchant for tripe. So important was the delicacy in his Lady AVashington's eyes, that Robert Cary was specially charged to ship him on one 18 occasion no less a bulk than four huge earthen vessels, each of which is ordered to be "wicker-bound," and recased in a cask, to guard against fracture and spilling the precious contents. Gary, it is seeii from Washington's warm acknowledgment, had been in the habit of sending him presents of the coveted Bristol pickled article. Two such jars liad recently made safe travel to Mount Vernon, and, as the Duke of Wellington would have done in like position of long distance from the provisioning base, the wary warrior looked ahead, backed by an admission, made in explana- tion of the large consumption, that his molars were out of gear, three other such jars are requisitioned. The taste for pickled tripe of Bristol cure had been intoduced from the West India Islands into New Orleans and other places. Quite a commerce had grown up in it, and among the sugar planters it was a stand- ing dish. The largest stone jars held about two gallons; there was a special pottery at Bristol for their make, and each jar had the curer's name burnt in on the frontal, in order to make sure of the contents being genuine. There were several favorite brands largely consumed in the West Indies; that of "Hamlin," brought to Barbadoes by the ships of Thomas Daniel & Sons, was the quality and brand preferred of Washington. Gradually, as there arose a fondness for this tripe, direct imports occurred, and other English tripe-makers tried their hands ; but for a century or more "Bristol tripe" held its way against all comers and home fabricators. New York and Massachusetts men went into the curing, but the over-sea article defied them until cruel customs duties stepped in and ruthlessly swept away the monopoly. WASHINGTON ON THE PORTRAITS. The following highly characteristic letter of Washington, thanking his friend for a present of two huge jars of tripe, order- ing, as matter of business, a further supply of the succulent dainty, declining, on behalf of his wife and himself, any med- dling with duplicates of his or her portraits, and expressing their united opinions that the Sharpies portraits are the best ever executed, is of deepest interest: — "Dear Gary: Mrs. Washington joins me in warm thanks to you for your considerate present of two large jars of pickled tripe, which reached Mount Vernon in perfect condition. I must ask you to arrange for four similar jars in wicker-basket casing, packed in outer cask, to be shipped for my account direct from the curers in Bristol early in the season, when a vessel will be 19 leaving that port for New York. If consigned to Messrs. Barclay, those gentlemen will give the little matter their unvarying care. Dental infirmity impels my caring for this necessary item in our domestic commissariat. " I have been solicited by Colonel Trumbull and others to re- quest youi- permission for Mr. Sharpies to execute copies in oils, size of the originals, of the two portraits of myself and that of Mrs. Washington, and to name that if Mr. Sharpies thinks of re- turning to this country, a good opportunity would thus be found to bring them out. I cannot encourage any hope of commis- sions for expensive portraits in oils, such as these were. Our people cannot afford to pay the price. I shall ever value highly the friendship prompting the great outlay on your part. " It is agreed on all hands that his two portraits of myself are, so far as likeness goes, by far the best of the many made ; hence the desire that the copies should be from the hand of the artist himself who painted the originals. In the instances of his fre- quent small pastel reproductions there is great inferiority. The copies I gave Judge Marshall are, perhaps, the best, but all are said to be very weak. My wife declines to join in asking your consent — I have imdertaken simply to name it; — to go beyond the mention would, it seems to me, be a clear impertinence. "In judging Mrs. Washington's seeming disinclination, it should be remembered that my having sat to Stuart has resulted in the country abounding in so-called ' originals.' "If it be your wish for the desired copies to be made, Mr. Sharpies should be required to enter into an undertaking they shall be painted in best manner of his capability; and in your in- terest he should be strictly confined to the execution of one copy only of each, and bound not to paint more ; so also he should undertake not to remove the pictures from your residence. Faithfully yours, George WASHiNGTOisr. "To KoBEBT Caky, Esq., Merchant in London." A very general opinion has always existed that the First Presi- dent did not personally favor the having copies of the Gary por- traits made, and a good deal of remark, not always favorable to Lady Washington, has been vented, charging her with being op- posed to the country getting permission for the execution of cop- ies. All this is pretty much set at rest by the publication of the letter from the General, which, though treating of private family matters, conclusively shows that he would have nothing whatever to do in it beyond laying the request before Mr. Gary. 20 Lady Washington is made to avow her refusal to join in the request; she evidently desired that the English portraits should be real, and that no tricks should be played with them. The artist had been, in her estimate, libei-ally paid for his work, it had given satisfaction, and there should be an end of it. No blame can reasonably attach to her in the business. She doubt- less had even stronger views on the matter than her husband. Stuart and. others had been multiplying their presentments of her husband whenever the opportunity offered from a good-pay- ing customer. Nothing may have been said as to actual "origi- nality," but the inference conveyed with each such at time of sale was, that the General sat for it; in other words, that they were painted from the life, whereas only one of Stuart's many productions was original in the true sense. Martha stepped in here to hedge round and protect the Sharpies portraits. She really wished that real worth should attach to them, and that they should be handed down to posterity unduplicated, and England for awhile would be their safest home. It was during a first stay in Philadelphia that Sharpies' letter from the English Secretary of State, introducing him to Wash- ington, was formally presented through the resident Minister, Mr. Hammond. There could not have been any need of this formality, as Mr. Gary's letter to Washington was more than sufficient to obtain the desired object. In common, however, with the routine style of the old merchant of those days, Mr. Gary did everything en regie ; hence the formal document as ad- vance-guard. No time was lost in Sharpies' being honored with access to the illustrious chief, the object of his mission. The General did not formally wait the painter's appearing at Mount Vernon; he very considerately sought him out in Philadelphia, and expressed much gratification at his being domiciled in the house of "my friend, Mr. Franklin." He and Franklin were honored by dining with "His Excellency" the following day, in the quarters he retained for occupation on occasion of his visits to Philadelphia, which were not infrequent. At this family party, arrangements were made for his visits to Mount Yernon. As proof of Washington's liberality, and the nice delicacy prompt- ing and attending his carrying out such acts, when Sharpies came to settle with Franklin for a month's board — and it included that of his wife and two children, for a like period — he was, in tones of whisper, informed that " everything has been settled by the General." The intimation was accompanied with hints ad- vising calm submission, and with assurance that the liberal allow- ance of port wine had been included in the score, not omitting 21 sundry bottles of archaic whiskey. Sharpies' noble portrait of Priestley was a product of like happy circumstances, attending the perpetviation of the godlike lineaments of Washington. But for Gary and Benjamin Franklin, the world would have been without either. TRUMBULL AND SHARPLES GREAT FRIENDS.— LETTER FROM TRUMBULL REGARDING THE PORTRAITS OF WASHINGTON. Benjamin West's home in London was a home to Sharpies, \ Fulton, and Trumbull. All were friends, and when in London, were in habit of continually meeting here, as they also did at Robert Gary's residence. It would appear that Trumbull first saw the portraits as finished works in London, and at once con- cluded how desirable it was that Sharpies shoiild execute copies for America, and thus urgently pressed him in the following letter to Mrs. Sharpies, found among her papers at her decease. The artist's wife is selected as a medium of communication, being deemed more likely of successful intercession with Mr. Gary, Mrs. Washington being adverse to the suit. In his earnest anxiety that America should possess copies of the Washington portraits executed by the artist himself, Trum- bull addressed the following imploring letter to Mrs. Sharpies urging her to use influence with Mr. Gary. Sharpies and his wife were at the time in England, having returned thither after executing the portraits. It will readily be seen that Martha Washington was the obstruction to any copies being made. "It is much to be hoped you will indu.ce Mr. Gary to change his determination, so as to allow your husband to duplicate his portraits of the General and Mrs. Washington. The small pastels are but poor ideas of the original oils, and we are unable to see why Mr. Gary should have permitted their reproduction after this manner, and yet disallow the original oils, which all here re- member with such satisfaction. It is a pity consent had not been given before the three portraits left for England, Mrs. Washington, as you know, was really the cause of the difficulty; why she raised it is passing strange. Had she solicited Mr. Gary he would have felt flattered. Her reply to all endeavors of in- ducement was, that it would lessen the value of the portraits in Mr. Gary's estimate. All blame her. Many will never forgive her desire for English exclusive possession. Martha's blue blood often crops out. 22 "Mr. Sharpies is aware I was in Europe when his oils of the Washingtons were finished. I saw them first in company with the Hon., John Jay at Mr. Gary's, in London. It was a revelation to us both I shall never forget, they being his first canvas work seen by me. We both told Mr. Gary of their national import, but dared not then intimate to him the importance of duplicates being painted for America. The matter of Sharpies' charge need not be considered. Mr. Jay is ready with the cost, to which sevei'al more are willing to join. Even if you had made a special return visit to America — and I trust you will return — there would have been no chance of getting the General to go through any sitting ordeal repetition, so we are quite satisfied to put up with duplicates, and trust Mr. Gary will loan him the pictures for the purpose. The General, after so numerous occasions of torment by artists, many of them utterly unworthy of the great subject, and incapable of appreciating the honor conferred, became a most unwilling sitter, and vowed to Gilbert Stuart he would never again go through the penance process. His portrait is much admired, but to my eye, it is not the General; and I regret to say he is making numerous others, for none of which the General accorded a sitting. We must not, however, be hard on Stuart; the inducement is such as few of us could withstand. The General felt in durance with Stuart, who told me he knew not what to say or do to get the desired expression; and if he had, the chances are that nervousness would have prevented him seizing it. Only fancy using a model to get Washington's majesty of form ; and yet this was resorted to, although none approaching him could be found. The General admitted to Stuart that ' although your husband had been accorded many long sittings, and that he yielded to sit for two portraits, although only one had been arranged for, yet the occasions had been rendered convenient,' and that ' Sharpies' rapidity of work and master-hand had interested him throughout.' He added; ' Sharpies had the advantage of entertaining me with amusing newly-imported anecdotes of public men in England, and es- pecially of the King, so that I never felt his sittings tedious or encroaching on my time; indeed, I looked forward pleasurably to our daily meetings at Mount Yernon and his interesting con- versation kept up during the whole time of work. Sharpies was a clever man outside his art occupation, and had some novel ideas on the subject of artillery; at the same time his brain worked with his lips, and he was evidently a good mechanic. He talked well and worked well at the same time, — no common endowments.' 23 " For myself, I had long despaired of his giving me another sitting. Had such been afforded I should have devoted it to studies for future hoped-for work, rather than any formal por- trait. This clear determination toward all artists make us doubly anxious that the country should possess your husband's portraits of him. We cannot get the life-originals, but we may, through Mr. Gary's assent, get the next best thing — copies by the hand that produced them from the life. The country has more than enough so-called ' portraits of Washington,' four fifths of them destitute of the faintest resemblance. Many of those for which he so humanely sat come under this category: the workers were so dazed in his presence they knew not what they were about. How greatly, under these circumstances, all future painters will be thrown back on the Houdon bust — and entirety, as it were — that nothing else carries, and it is certainly re- markable that deftness in clay-modeling has, in Washington's case, achieved that which the brush has yet failed to produce. When Jefferson, in Paris, presented, in 1785, Charles Willson Peale's portrait of Washington to Houdon, and which had been expressly painted for the purpose of conveying to him the form and features of his subject, he at once declined it, and, at great personal sacrifices, came out to Mount Yernon to see the great original himself. Our gratitude to Franklin for having brought him out is great. In looking at the Houdon, how few of our people know the fact that Houdon actually took a cast of the face, and worked out a model of the face from this. So also he eschewed all resort to other forms of men for retaining the maj- esty of the original. He took the closest m-easurements of every limb, and, being from the heart impressed with the world's future estimate of the man, has left it a work worthy of the sub- ject and the artist. Had he followed our people's wish we should have had something very secondary. It is no mere indi- vidual opinion that the Houdon bust is our best Washington, and I am expressing the feeling of all who have seen your hus- band's renderings of the great subject, that they are by far the ablest canvas attempts. They are both inspired by hfelike and with individual grandeur and dignity beyond any other represen- tations. They are far away from home, but the day will come for their rule in the world's heart as true presentments of Wash- ington. " The Pine, Stuart, Savage, and Willson Peale portraits, and, as I trust, some of my own humble productions, will be subjects for reference to future generations of artists, for their designed work, illustrative of the military achievements and struggles of 24 our people's great master-mind in the country's early infancy. But we need more, or future painters will be deficient in realistic work of reference. It is in hope of this supply we turn to Mr. Gary. Sharpies, in being welcomed and quartered at Mt. Ver- non, was, out of respect to his sponsor, placed in like position, and had extended to him all the advantages enjoyed by Houdon, Stuart, myself, and others, and we all admit his diligent avail- ing of the great opportunity and privilege. I am thus particu- lar, in order that Mr. Gary may know why duplicates of the Washington portraits are desired by us. Personally I am much interested, as they would afford authentic material to fall back upon for public work I have in contemplation, and there exists little else I could avail myself of with satisfaction. I do not believe the General will ever again sit to any one; it cannot be expected of him. Stuart will hardly produce anything more of real value, and I fear the General will not seek to influence Mr. Gary to give the needed permission. He has promised to name the matter, but we fear he will not go beyond a slight allusion, as any referring to portraits of himself he regards as savoring of vanity, and is most distasteful^ Apart from any other feeling, the continued multiplying of copies by men in whom confidence has been reposed has disgusted him, and it is to be feared he looks on the whole fraternity of artists as birds of a feather. Lady Washington does not favor the duplicating of Mr. Gary's portraits; she will discourage rather than help it. Both she and the General desire the existence of authentic portraits that have not been multiplied, and she favors England as their suitable resting-place. Having herself defrayed the cost of her own por- trait, she holds to have a voice in the matter. She knows how the President has, throughout his public life, been harassed and bored in sitting for portraits, the great majority of them worth- less. One of the Peale family had proved a very vampire on his time, and it says much for his amiability and patience that he so enduringly submitted to tyros palmed upon him by injudi- cious friends. In so new a country it was not probable artists should have been so soon raised up equal to the great call; we ought, therefore, to have brought out from England a Lawrence or a Gainsborough for this especial emergency. Mr. Gary, in sending Sharpies out, did a great national service, and it is hoped he may see public good in granting the favor sought. I have gone into the matter thus minutely, feeling no one else will take it up on right grounds, and also with the knowledge that Lady Washington will oppose copies of the portraits being made. I address myself to you, knowing Mi*. Sharpies will not 25 urge it with tlie force needed to induce Mr. Gary's consent; and, being yourself an artist, you will sympathize in our wish to have the duplicates. Stuart had not painted Washington prior to the time of Shar- pies' first visit, or he would certainly have seen it, and it would have been referi-ed to by the sitter himself in their many conver- sations. The only mention of Stuart traceable in papers left by Mrs. Sharpies, is Colonel Trumbull's remarks on his portraits, and the annoyance felt both by Washington and his wife that these should have been so indefinitely multiplied, and a letter from General Gates' wife, which contains this remarkable state- ment : — "Mrs. Washington, it is well known, does not like Stuart's portrait of her husband; he has made him too fierce, and then the nose is altogether what the artists deem 'out of drawing;' the distension of the nostrils, if I may so express it, is most unnatural. Then there is what Mrs. Washington, I hear, calls ' a sponginess in the nose ' he has given him, and which nobody but the man who painted it ever saw. I do not think the Gen- eral will ever sit to him again. And why should he endure more sittings ? Mrs. Washington does not want any more por- traits of him, and will not have any other than your husband's in the house. The subject of sitting for another portrait will never be named to him." A wide margin must be given to this evident bit of woman's spite on the part of General Gates' better half. Her husband had proved himself a secret enemy of the great patriot, and had been, more or less, concerned in the plots to undermine the public estimate of his military capacity; nor had he rested here. Letters from him to public men in England and France had been u^nearthed by Kobert Gary, and his more than complicity clearly established. Washington's nobility of heart stayed all exposure of the traitorous hypocrisy, and even went the length of forgiving, if not altogether forgetting it. It was not so with Mr. Gary or Sharpies, who, knowing his Judas hypocrisy, ever afterward despised him according to his deserts. Mrs. Gates would speak disparagingly of Stuart's portrait, but she would hardly be the depositary of Martha Washington's feelings in regard to it. The nose, as the mouth, were then, as now, in all probability objective features. 26 THE PROFILES OF GEORGE AIS'D MARTHA WASH- IJSTGTON. These came out from England in 18SG, coupled with the fol- lowing announcement from the most eminent painters and sculptors : — "In order for these portraits being exhibited to the American nation in becoming form, the eminent portrait-painters and sculptors whose names are appended (than whom none higher could be cited) speak authoritatively as to the originality and authenticity of these historical works : — " New York, April 12, 1882. " The Sharpies portraits of Washington, a full-face picture and a profile, and that of Lady Washington, all three painted in oils, and exhibited for several months in New York during 1882, bear every evidence of having been painted from the life. The full- face portrait was exhibited before the Historical Society of New York in 1854. The authenticity of these paintings has never been questioned by artists or others competent to form correct judgment. (Signed) D. Huntington, President of the National Acadermj of Design. Eastman Johnson. J. G. A. Ward. Launt Thompson." THE FULL-FACE PORTRAIT OF WASHINGTON. The full-face portrait, as also the profile and that of Martha were all three commenced in the drawing-room at Mount Ver- non, as is presumed, in 1795. It is generally understood the works were finished in Philadelphia, where he resided with the younger Franklin, and where Washington, according to the Sharpies memoranda, made frequent visits to him. It was first brought back to America in 1854. Its exhibit before the Histori- cal Society of New York was thus officially recorded in the transactions of that body : — "Historical, Rooms, University of the City of New York, April 5, 1854. "The portrait of Washington, kindly permitted to be ex- hibited at a meeting of the Historical Society last evening, at- ti'acted much attention, and was much admired by the members, 27 who expressed great satisfaction in being afforded the oppor- tunity of seeing this vahiable picture. " I thought it might be interesting to the possessors of this valuable picture to extract from the minutes the remarks of Mr. Wetmore and the Rev. Dr. Van Pelt in alluding to the portrait. I am, very respectfully yours, Andkew Warnee." "At a stated meeting of the New York Historical Society, held in the Chapel of the University of the City of New York, on Tues- day evening, April 4, 1854, Mr. Wetmore called attention to a portrait of Washington hanging over the President's chair, stat- ing that it possessed intrinsic evidence of being an original paint- ing, and had been pronounced as such by our most distinguished artists, familiar with all the well-known portraits of Washington. It was said to be superior to the world-renowned portrait by Stuart, and that until within a short time all knowledge of the Sharpies portraits of Washington in oils was confined to such American tourists to England as carried letters to the owners. "The venerable Rev. Dr. Van Pelt, who was present at this meeting of the N"ew York Historical Society, said he had in his childhood the good fortune to spend some hours in the society of Washington, and after giving a detail of his appearance, he pronounced the portrait to be an excellent likeness of Washing- ton as he remembered him. "(Extract from the minutes.) Andrew Warner, Recording Secretary." The Rev. Dr. Van Pelt recorded as follows : — "Hammond Street, New York City, April 22, 1854. "In compliance with request, I have the honor now to trans- mit my opinion of the portrait of Washington, which Avas ex- hibited in our New York Historical Society, at a regular meeting- held in the University, on the evening of the 4th of April last. "It gives me pleasure to state that I had the satisfaction — I would add, the honor and happiness — in my youthful school- going days, after the war of the Revolution, and previous to his inauguration as the first President of the United States, of see- ing and spending part of a day in company with General George Washington, justly styled 'the Great and Good Man.' "He was indeed eminently so, in the various relations of domestic and public life, as also in his death. " Taught from my earliest childhood to cherish and estimate highly the patriotism, principles, virtues, and character of Wash- 28 ington, in common with my countrymen, and having the privi- lege, I approached near to liim, got by the side of him : he put- ting his arm around my neck, embraced me close to him, and talked to me. Taking the buttons of his military coat between my fingers, and intent in looking at him, I observed distinctly the features of his face — his bland, dignified, majestic counte- nance ; his erect, tall, towering person ; his graceful movements and amiable demeanor — so as even at present, in my advanced age, to perpetuate the knowledge, and leave in my mind and memory the impress of the contour of his face, his grave look, and stately appearance. Accordingly, in beholding the portrait as suspended in view of the members of the New York Histori- cal Society, I pronounced it then, as I do now, an interesting picture of our immortal Washington, who, we are pleased to say, was ' first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen ' ; and that it is, according to my remembrance, a faithful, excellent, lifelike likeness of the Great Living Origi- nal, worthy to be carefully preserved, and highly valued. With best wishes, respectfully yours, P. J. Van Pelt, D.D." After seeing the portrait, Washington Irving thus wrote of it: " SuNNYSiDE, April 13, 1854. " I have seen the portrait of Washington by Sharpies. There is much more of life and animation than in that by Stuart, but the latter has more calm dignity. I should think it was taken several years previously, probably during the war, when Wash- ington was leading a life of personal activity and mental excite- ment. " The mouth is different from that by Stuart, and approaches more to the natural shape of that taken of him when he was forty years of age, by Peale. A set of artificial teeth, which I believe he did not wear until after the Revolutionary War, altered the shape of his mouth,— drew it down at the corners, and lengthened the upper lip. " The Sharpies portrait gives a better idea of the innate energy of his character; which, after he laid by the sword and assumed the toga, may have been somewhat veiled by the sober decorums and restraint of ofiicial station. " I think the portrait a very valuable one, and should like very much to have the privilege of having it engraved for the ' Life of Washington,' should I ever complete and publish that work, which the booksellers have so often announced without my au- 29 thority, and even before the plan of it had been turned in my mind. I am, dear sir, with high respect, Yonr obliged and humble servant, Washington Ikving." The poet Bryant also bore testimony thus : — "New Yokk, April 26, 1854. " I have seen the picture of Washington by Sharpies. It is a fine picture and most interesting, inasmuch as it represents Wash- ington in the vigor of manhood, some years before Stuart's por- trait of him was taken. The countenance expresses thought, res- olution, sensibility, and a high degree of physical energy. " I regard the discovery of the picture as an event of great im- portance. W. C. Bbyant." Two years later, Longfellow wrote appreciatively thus : — "Cambridge, September 22, 1856. "I have just returned from along visit to the seaside, and find your friendly letter and the Sharpies portraits (small photos had been sent to Mr. Longfellow), and hasten to thank you for them, and to explain why I have not done so sooner. " These portraits are very beautiful and very valuable. They are treasures which I highly pi-ize, and which I shall guard with jealous care; and, as you request, will ever respect your inter- ests, and on no pretence allow them to go out of my house. "If there was an artist here equal to the one who took the copies of the Sharpies pictures, you should have one of me in the same style. But, alas ! that is not the case, and I shrink from subjecting myself to the process of Daguerre. With gi-eatest regard, yours, faithfully, Henry W. Longfellow." Efforts were about this time made to purchase this portrait and hold it in America, but a sale could not then be made. The Gary family had been advised to put the portraits in settle- ment, which tied them up for a time. Dickens, who had enlisted Maclise to complete the female heads, wrote: — "I have had much pleasure in securing the good offices of Maclise, though the being successful is more due to Stanfield 30 than my efforts. Certainly he has made pictures out of Shar- pies' sketches of American women of Washington's time re- markable for their beauty and grace. Maclise has been inter- ested in tliese charming subjects, and he certainly has done wonders with them. I did not see them until months after he had taken them in hand. He calls them his 'American blazing beauties.' As to the Sharpies portraits of Washington and his wife: 'When in Boston I saw the portraits by Stuart, so also others most in favor with American friends. None, how- ever, excepting the Sharpies, convey to my mind his capacity, benignity, dignity, or grace. These portraits are unknown in America, but when the people see them, and are left to judge for themselves, they are safe to accept the Sharpies as their national portrait. They care not as to the nationality of the artist; what they want is reality. When Washington was in the flesh, his country had just secured its national independence. Art was comparatively unknown, and it is fortunate there are existing such presentments of the nation's founder; equally satisfactory is it they have until now remained in England, They would have been kiln-dried by 'furrmce' power had they re-crossed the Atlantic. In good time the Americans will learn that the unnat- ural dry heat of their stoves in winter is as wholly destructive of all paintings' as of the fair countenances of their lovely women. Such portraits as those Washingtons are the charge of the whole human race, and should be cared for as the heritage of future ages. They should be placed out of the power of injury by fire or heat. A few winter seasons in an American private house would finish them, and render them the utter wrecks others have already become. Chakles Dickens." Thackeray also expressed himself: — "I have only seen engravings of the Stuart portrait. It can never rank with the Sharpies. It has too much austerity, and is wanting in life. W. M. Thackeray." THE POETEAITS OF FULTON AND HIS WIFE. With reference to the portrait of Eobert Fulton, the man who shares very largely the fame of first adapting the steam-engine to purposes of navigation. General Grant was not alone in his desire to get access to it. Like all others of Sharpies' oil-por- traits, excepting the Washingtons, Fulton and his wife's por- traits, they wex'e left unfinished. They were purchased from 31 f Mrs. Sharpies in that state. Romney or Bird finished the portrait of Fulton, Maclise that of his wife. Since their sale by Mrs. Sharpies, two individuals only have owned them; both moi'e than eccentric, tlie present possessor leading a secluded life, and declinin