LETTER I.

To EUPHEMIUS.


Whence comes it, EUPHEMIUS, that you, who are _feelingly_ alive to
each fine Sensation that Beauty or Harmony gives the Soul, should so
often assert, contrary to what you daily experience, _that_ TASTE _is
governed by Caprice, and that_ BEAUTY _is reducible to no Criterion?_
I am afraid your Generosity in this Instance is greater than your
Sincerity, and that you are willing to compliment the circle of your
Friends, in giving up by this Concession that envied Superiority you
might claim over them, should it be acknowledged that those uncommon
Emotions of Pleasure, which arise in your Breast upon the Observation
of moral or natural Elegance, were caused by a more ready and intimate
Perception of that universal TRUTH, which the all-perfect CREATOR
of this harmonious System ordained to be the VENUS of every Object,
whether in the Material World; in the imitative Arts; or in living
Characters and Manners. How irreconcileable are your Doctrines to the
Example you afford us! However, since you press me to justify your
Practice against your Declarations, by giving a Definition of what is
meant by TASTE, I shall not avoid the invidious Office of pointing out
your superior Excellence to others, by proving that TRUTH and BEAUTY
are coincident, and that the warmest Admirers of these CELESTIAL
TWINS, have consequently Souls more nearly allied to ætherial Spirits
of a higher Order. The effect of a _good_ TASTE is that instantaneous
Glow of Pleasure which thrills thro' our whole Frame, and seizes upon
the Applause of the Heart, before the intellectual Power, Reason, can
descend from the Throne of the Mind to ratify it's Approbation, either
when we receive into the Soul beautiful Images thro' the Organs