189 



bounds, has not, I imagine, been so favour- 

 ably received. If such were the case in this 

 country, his ideas of the beautiful were less 

 likely to be adopted in France, as the word 

 beau, from its being so particularly opposed to 

 wit, almost always, I believe, indicates, that 

 the object is comparatively large ; whereas 

 it is one part of Mr. Burke's system, that 

 beautiful objects are comparatively small. 

 Some of his other qualities of beauty have 

 been objected to by his own countrymen ; 

 and altogether, as I conceive, his idea of 

 beauty has been thought too confined. Now, 

 as I have introduced a third distinct cha- 

 racter, that of the Picturesque, I am more 

 interested than Mr. Burke himself could be, 

 to shew that his idea of the beautiful is not 

 too limited ; for, when three separate cha- 

 racters are to be distinguished from each 

 other, each of them must of course be kept 

 within stricter bounds* 



In order to examine how far the idea of 

 beauty may be limited, the first enquiry 

 will be, whether in those times when beauty 

 of form was most particularly attended to. 



