beheld the distance at which her
colonies were leaving her behind them.

I must, however, do the few artists with whom I became
acquainted, the justice to say, that their own pretensions are
much more modest than those of their patrons for them. I have
heard several confess and deplore their ignorance of drawing, and
have repeatedly remarked a sensibility to the merit of European
artists, though perhaps only known by engravings, and a deference
to their authority, which showed a genuine feeling for the art.
In fact, I think that there is a very considerable degree of
natural talent for painting in America, but it has to make its
way through darkness and thick night. When an academy is
founded, their first care is to hang the walls of its exhibition
room with all the unutterable trash that is offered to them. No
living models are sought for; no discipline as to the manner of
study is enforced. Boys who know no more of human form, than
they do of the eyes, nose, and mouth in the moon, begin painting
portraits. If some of them would only throw away their palettes
for a year, and learn to draw; if they would attend anatomical
lectures, and take notes, not in words, but in forms, of joints
and muscles, their exhibitions would soon cease to be so utterly
below criticism.

The most interesting exhibition open when I was there was,
decidedly, Colonel Trumbold's; and how the patriots of America
can permit this truly national collection to remain a profitless
burden on the hands of the artist, it is difficult to understand.
Many of the sketches are masterly; but like his illustrious
countryman, West, his sketches are his _chef d'oeuvres_.

I can imagine nothing more perfect than the interior of the
public institutions of New York. There is a practical good sense
in all their arrangements that must strike foreigners very
forcibly. The Asylum for the Destitute offers a hint worth
taking. It is dedicated to the reformation of youthful offenders
of both sexes, and it is as admirable in the details of its
management, as in its object. Every part of the institution is
deeply interesting; but there is a difference very remarkable
between the boys and the girls. The boys are, I think, the
finest set of lads I ever saw brought together; bright looking,
gay, active, and full of intelligence. The girls are exactly in
reverse; heavy, listless, indifferent, and melancholy. In
conversing with the gentleman who is the general