INTRODUCTORY 



ESSAY. 



It has often occurred to me since I pub- 

 lished my Essay on the Picturesque, that, 

 in order to understand thoroughly the dis- 

 tinction I have endeavoured to establish, the 

 reader should previously be acquainted with 

 that which Mr. Burke has so admirably 

 pointed out and illustrated, between the 

 Sublime and Beautiful. At first sight, it 

 may appear presumptuous in me to sup- 

 pose, that my Essay is likely to be more 

 familiarly known than Mr. Burke's ; but a 

 new publication is often more generally 

 read at the time, than an old one of infi- 

 nitely greater excellence. On that ground, 

 I may, perhaps, be allowed to give a short 

 abridgment of Mr. Burke's system, as far 



o 2 



