32£ 



" That of the picture with the child and 

 cradle," answered he, " in which the 

 detail, though highly interesting, is not 

 forced upon your notice. I am not sure, 

 however, whether its being on so much 

 smaller a scale than the head, may not be 

 one cause of my preference. I know, at 

 least, that when I have been shewn a view 

 in a concave mirror, I have been highly 

 pleased with what I had looked at with 

 indifference in nature; and, again, when 

 I took my e} r es off it, the real scene has 

 looked comparatively coarse. Perhaps, 

 therefore, the cradle picture may have the 

 same sort of advantage over the head, as 

 a view in the mirror has over the real one, 

 and on this principle — that in both of 

 them the detail, though not lessened in 

 quantity by the diminution of the scale, 

 appears from it more soft and delicate." 



" On that principle," said Mr. Hamil- 

 ton, " you then will certainly allow, that 

 the real carcass of an ox reflected in such 

 a mirror, would lose part of its disgusting 

 appearance, though the detail would be 



