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But the spirit that was within him—the spirit that was to record his name indelibly in history—led him to think of the greater world that lay beyond the colonies, even though the colonies were at last successful in their struggle for independence and were then engaged in the equally difficult and more prolonged struggle to weld themselves into a nation. In 1786, he sailed for England provided only with a letter from his protector, Franklin, to Benjamin West. At that time West was approaching the height of his career as painter in London, being chosen president of the Royal Academy in 1792. Under the guidance of and probable instruction by West, Fulton made progress as an artist, the Royal Academy accepting some of his pictures.

The path of a young artist is rarely a smooth one. It is no smoother when the young artist is working in a foreign land without fame, friends or private means. What Fulton did and how he lived in London during the first four years of his stay in England, is best told by himself in his own words, in a letter to his mother under date of January 20, 1792, a letter given at full length by Dickenson.