73 



their means we have learned to distin* 

 guish what is most exquisite and perfect, 

 from the more ordinary degrees of ex* 

 cellence. 



There are several expressions in the lan-» 

 guage of a neighbouring people of lively 

 imagination, and distinguished for their 

 gallantry and attention to the other sex, 

 which seem to imply an uncertain idea 

 of some character, which was not pre- 

 cisely beauty, but which, from whatever 

 causes, produced striking and pleasing 

 effects : such are une physionomie de fan- 

 taisie, and the well known expression 

 of un certain je ne sais quoi; it is also 

 common to say of a woman — que sans 6tre 

 belle elle est piquante — a word, by the bye, 

 that in many points answers very exactly 

 to picturesque. The amusing history of 

 Roxalana and the Sultan, is also the his- 

 tory of the piquant, which is fully exem* 

 plified in her person and her manners : 

 Marmontel certainly did not intend to give 

 the petit nez retroimS as a beautiful feature; 



