, to be seen to advantage, must be examined
near by. A coarser work, theatrical scenes for instance, painted for
distant effect, must be seen accordingly, if you would secure pleasurable
emotions. As a general approximative rule, the focal distance at which the
spectator should stand in viewing works of art is to be found by measuring
the same length from the picture as its size: Thus, one of ten feet in
length is to be viewed at that distance; one of eighteen inches at about
twenty inches; a small miniature of six inches, at about eight inches. If
the work should have no detail, this rule will not hold good; but if there
is a faithful transcript of Nature; and she ever delights in unobtrusive
beauties, which are particularly obvious in the fore-ground, for she
strews them at your feet; then if you approach the artist's effort, a work
of patient diligence, you can hold converse with her through the medium of
his labors.

I do not attempt to deny the importance of size in winning our first
regard: it is a law inseparable from the thing itself; but I must protest
against the taste of the age being supplied always with mere physical
attributes. The purling stream and babbling brook; the small rill falling
from on high, till its feathery stream is lost in mist, are and should be
as much sought after as the roaring torrent or the thundering cascade. The
effect of the one is to produce awe, that of the other tranquil pleasure.
The human mind is not always to be upon the stretch; to remain lifted up
as it were upon stilts; our common communion is to be found in enjoyments
that are quietly exciting. It is a common remark, that the English
language has lost some of its truthfulness by our habit of expressing
ourselves in the language of superlatives, through a desire to astonish.
Thus we leave nothing for the innate love of truth; nothing to work out
the necessary sympathy. Is not this parallel with the desire to see large
pictures?--and should it not receive some regulation from those who have
the requisite influence?

I find the few hints to which in the outset I proposed to confine myself
have grown to a greater length than was intended. I will therefore, in
closing, simply reiterate the remark, that I see no good reason why the
painter of a large picture (or the work itself) should be regarded with
more favor than he who paints equally well, but limits the size, unless we
consider the white-wash brush a nobler instrument tha