d upper classes. It would
seem, therefore, that Fate dealt more kindly with the young man than he,
at that time, realized; for, had he remained, his discouragements would
undoubtedly have increased; whereas, by his return to his native land,
although meeting with many disappointments and suffering many hardships,
he was gradually turned into a path which ultimately led to fame and
fortune.

On May 3, 1815, he writes to his parents:--

"With respect to returning home, I shall make my arrangements to be with
you (should my life be spared) by the end of September next, or the
beginning of October; but it will be necessary that I should be in
England again (provided always Providence permits) by September
following, as arrangements which I have made will require my presence.
This I will fully explain when I meet you.

"The moment I get home I wish to begin work, so that I should like to
have some portraits bespoken in season. I shall charge forty dollars less
than Stuart for my portraits, so that, if any of my good friends are
ready, I will begin the moment I have said 'how do ye do' to them.

"I wish to do as much as possible in the year I am with you. If I could
get a commission or two for some large pictures for a church or public
hall, to the amount of two or three thousand dollars, I should feel much
gratified. I do not despair of such an event, for, through your influence
with the clergy and their influence with their people, I think some
commission for a scripture subject for a church might be obtained; a
crucifixion, for instance.

"It may, perhaps, be said that the country is not rich enough to purchase
large pictures; yes, but two or three thousand dollars can be paid for an
entertainment which is gone in a day, and whose effects are to demoralize
and debilitate, whilst the same sum expended on a fine picture would be
adding an ornament to the country which would be lasting. It would tend
to elevate and refine the public feeling by turning their thoughts from
sensuality and luxury to intellectual pleasures, and it would encourage
and support a class of citizens who have always been reckoned among the
brightest stars in the constellation of American worthies, and who are,
to this day, compelled to exile themselves from their country and all
that is dear to them, in order to obtain a bare subsistence.

"I do not speak of _portrait-painters;_ had I no higher thoughts than
being a first-rate portrait-painter, I