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jects, than that of the Ethiopians, and, 

 consequently has the best founded claim 

 to beauty. 



It may be said, (and it is an argument 

 which has been made use of) that, although 

 we call the negro complexion black, from 

 its being many degrees darker than that of 

 the darkest European, yet it is far from 

 being of one uniform blackness: and that 

 its tint, though less varied, has a richness, 

 which, in a painter's eye, may compensate 

 its comparative monotony, and may, there- 

 fore, by him be called beautiful. It is true, 

 that some of the greatest colouiists have 

 introduced negroes into their pictures, and 

 seem to have painted them, as the Italians 

 express it, con amove, and certainly with 

 striking effect ; and, I may add, none with 

 more truth, or with a richer tone of colour- 

 ing, than Sir Joshua Reynolds himself :* 

 but that he did not think such a tint could 



* There is a head of a negro painted by him, and now 

 in the possession of Sir George Beaumont, which for cha- 

 racter, colouring, and masterly execution, may vie with any 

 head of the same kind, by any master. 



