165
His talents as a Cariaturist.
good, Irish, allied � (as all Irish families
are) to aristocracy and Micawberish in a supe-
rior way. Bellew had travelled in Scotland and
produced a little shilling book on it, humorous
enough in its way. He sailed from Glasgow
for New York in 1850, when I well recollect
seeing him for the first time, on his calling at
Anderson�s, in Park Place. As a comic ar-
tist, his talents are extraordinary; certainly
on this side of the Atlantic unrivalled. I be-
lieve that in imagination and fancy he excels
Leech, though in correctness of drawing, the
�Punch� man is much ahead of him. Bellew has
done more comic drawing and of a higher
quality than all the rest of us put together;
we are all bunglers compared to him. He
is amazingly prolific; apparently never in a
hurry, he yet got through an immense amount
of work. Almost invariably he drew of evenings
and far into the night � how many times have
I visited him thus and admired the beauty
and humor of his conceptions! He was always
hospitable, always courteous, even to the veriest
bores � unless he had been drinking and then
woe to anybody who offended him. He must
have earned a great deal of money, sometimes
$100 a week, but he was always in debt,