might well say with tears in his eyes, " Ah, Mr. Leslie, whom will they go to now?"Nor was his counsel mere kindly platitude. He was a successful master, his pupils reflect credit on him, and his criticisms show not only academic knowledge but a sympathetic alertness in comprehending new work. When Constable showed him his early studies, West encouraged him and said, " You must have loved nature very much before you could have painted this," and then after touching in some lights with chalk, added, " Always remember, sir, that light and shadow never stand still'' Constable said it was the best lecture, because a practical one, on chiaroscuro that he had ever heard, and considering West's training, and the fact that Constable remained utterly unrecognized for many years, its insight is wonderful. 

The only fault which his detractors can bring against him is his self-complacency, and that was in a way essential to his integrity. He could not with clear conscience have occupied the position he did unless he had believed himself a great artist, born for great things, and he did so believe. When his work for the King was stopped, his letter of remonstrance which he wrote rings with a con­sciousness of merit, and his observation during his trip in France that " I was walking with Mr. Fox in the Louvre and I remarked how many people turned to look at me. This shows the respect of the French for the Fine Arts," is naively amusing, for the " Mr. Fox " was Charles James Fox, one of the three most powerful states­men of England, and a less simple mind might have attributed some of the attention to him. 

It is a pity that his painting had no more enduring qualities, but he was a noble figure to begin the series of American painters. He was the first to attain prominence, and he remains to this day the most successful. Tuckerman, who is not well disposed toward him₎ yet says truly, " His reputation has a benign, conservative charm based upon rectitude and benevolence; exemplary in life, kindly in spirit, more than one generation of American Artists had cause to bless his memory."