244 



only,might possibly be struck with it when 

 mixe'd with imagery ; when the different 

 objects were placed before them, and suc- 

 cessively examined and canvassed by the 

 different speakers in the Dialogue ; and 

 when the doubts and questions, which 

 may naturally occur to an unpractised 

 mind, were stated by a character of that 

 description, and thereby more familiarly 

 discussed and explained, than can be done 

 in a regular Essay. 



For this purpose, I have supposed two 

 of the characters to be very conversant 

 in all that relates to nature, and paint- 

 ins: : that one of them, whom for distinc- 

 tion I have called by the name of Howard, 

 is a partizan of Mr. Knight's ; that the 

 other, whom I have called Hamilton, is 

 attached to my opinions ; and that the 

 third, of the name of Seymour, has lit- 

 tle acquaintance with the art of painting, 

 or with the application of its principles 



