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assure you, also, that what I have just 

 seen, has amused and interested me much 

 more than I should have expected ; pro- 

 bably on account of the discussion that 

 has taken place. At present, indeed, I 

 find I have no relish for many of the pic- 

 tures which you seem to admire; for unless 

 there be something obviously grand, or 

 beautiful, according to my notions, what 

 you call grandeur or beauty of style, has 

 little effect upon me. I must, however, 

 except these small Dutch pictures; for 

 though the subjects, are mean, and the 

 figures without grace or dignity, yet their 

 characters, actions, and expressions, are 

 so true, and the detail of circumstances so 

 distinctly expressed, that I have received 

 great entertainment from several of them, 

 though I did not think it worth while to 

 discuss their merits with you : I have even 

 looked, not only without disgust, bat with 

 a degree of pleasure, at some, where the 

 subject was rather of a coarse and a dirty 

 kind. There is a darkish picture a little 

 further on, which seems to be something 



