.'360 



wished to give in any way the graces of his 

 art, would prefer a cart-horse to an Arabian, 

 he would be apt to think there was some- 

 thing very preposterous both in the art and 

 the artist ; and such must always be the 

 consequence, when instead of endeavour- 

 ing to shew the agreement between art and 

 nature, even when they appear most at va- 

 riance, a mysterious barrier is placed be- 

 tween them, to surprize and keep at a dis- 

 tance the uninitiated. To me the fact 

 seems to be what Are might naturally sup- 

 pose; that Rubens, Vandyk, orWovermans, 

 when they wished to shew the graces of 

 their art, painted beautiful horses ; such 

 as the general sense of mankind would call 

 beautiful : gay pampered steeds with fine 

 coats, and high in flesh. When they added, 

 as they often did, a greater share of pic- 

 turesqueness to these beautiful animals, it 

 was not by degrading them to cart-horses 

 and beasts of burthen ; it was by means of 

 sudden and spirited action, with such a 

 correspondent and strongly marked exer- 

 tion of muscles, and such wild disorderin the 



