who term themselves _picture restorers_. Far from confining himself to
the usual method adopted by most young artists of servilely imitating
old paintings, young Nasmyth very soon began to copy nature in all
her varied freshness and beauty. Scotland contains much of the
picturesque, and from this circumstance he seized every opportunity
to cultivate his genius for landscape-painting. With incessant
application he studied the accidental formation of clouds and the
shadows thrown by them on the earth; by which practice he acquired the
art of delineating with precision the most pleasing effects. His style
appears very agreeable and unaffected; he excelled however, only in
rural scenery, in which his skies, distant hills, and the barks of the
trees, are truly admirable. His foregrounds are always beautifully
diversified, and every blade of grass is true to nature. He is not
equal in every respect to Hobbima, yet certainly approximates nearer
to that celebrated master than any English artist.

In 1830, Mr. Nasmyth sold his valuable collection of original sketches
and drawings for thirty pounds to George Pennell, Esq., who also
purchased several of his exquisitely finished pictures, one of
which--a View in Lee Wood, near, Bristol--is now in the possession of
Lord Northwick. Nasmyth was a constant exhibitor at the Royal Academy,
the British Institution, &c., and his performances delighted the
uninstructed spectator as well as the connoisseur.

In person, he was of the middle stature, and possessed a manly
countenance with an agreeable figure. In conversation he was vivacious
and witty, especially when in company with a convivial party. His
character, in some respects, was similar to that of George Morland;
he was rather too much addicted to convivial pleasures, yet was ever
solicitous to mix with the best company, and his polite manners always