--West is
elected President of the National Academy--His resignation and
re-election--Closing years of a great career--Personal appearance--Leigh
Hunt's description of him--Death--Burial in St. Paul's Cathedral.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

JOHN ROGERS.

Birth--Early years--Begins life as a clerk in a dry goods
store--Artistic talent--Opposition of his parents--A change in his
plans--Becomes an engineer--Failure of his eyes--Voyage to Spain--Return
home--Becomes a machinist--Promoted--Learns to model in clay--Commences
his studies in art--A hard life, and a noble perseverance--A change for
the better--A sudden reverse--Out of work--Visits Europe to study his
art--Returns home in despair--Enters the service of the surveyor of the
city of Chicago--His first statuettes--Their success--A new field opened
to him--Visits New York, and learns the new method of casting
figures--Establishes himself in New York--His first studio--Immediate
popularity of his works--Description of them--Removes to a new
studio--His later works--Process by which they are made-Originality of
the artist rewarded by the public--Personal characteristics.

CHAPTER XXIX.

HIRAM POWERS.

Birth--Juvenile mechanical skill--The life of a Vermont boy--Hard
times--Removal of the Powers family to the West--The new
farm--Misfortunes never come singly--Breaking up of the
household--Hiram's first employment--The reading-room scheme--Hiram
becomes a collector of bad debts--Reminiscences of the young
West--Powers becomes a mechanic--Story of the brass plates--Rapid
promotion--The silver watch--How Hiram purchased it--The Cincinnati
Museum--The artist's first lessons in modeling--His first sitter--The
trial of skill--The king of the Cannibal Islands--The man-eater--Hiram
becomes interested in the museum--How he played the devil in
Cincinnati--A dishonest employer--Mr. Longworth's offer--Powers goes to
Washington--His success there--Visit to "Old Hickory"--The first
critic--Kindness of Senator Preston--Powers goes to Italy--Arrival in
Florence--His first works in Italy--Visit to Thorwaldsen--Works of
Powers--His rapid success--His life in Italy--Views of Mr. Powers
respecting an artist life--Personal characteristics--Popularity with
artists.

CHAPTER XXX.

EMMANUEL LEUTZE.

An American by adoption--Early life and education--How he learned to
draw--Becomes an artist--His first picture--The evils of too much
haste--His first professional engagement--Despondency-