“ When a boy of seven he began to show his inclinations to art. According to a well-known story, he was sitting by the cradle of his sister’s child, watching its sleep, when the infant happened to smile in its dreams, and, struck with its beauty, young Benjamin got some paper, and drew its portrait. The career thus begun was prosecuted amid many difficulties; but his perseverance overcame every obstacle, and at the age of eighteen he settled in Philadelphia as a portrait-painter. ”

“ In 1802 he took advantage of the opportunity afforded by the peace of Amiens to visit Paris, and inspect the magnificent collection of the masterpieces of art, pillaged from the gallery of almost every capital in Europe, which then adorned the Louvre. ”