will observe with the most earnest attention not only her general appearances, but also every individual object that is suited to his art; which habit of observing all that is presented to his view will store his mind with imagery, the only source whence invention can proceed; and without such a power of the mind, neither the poet nor the painter will ever establish a lasting reputation. I am, &c. MY DEAR SIR; THERE are many persons, who suppose that the fine arts are of no real utility, and that its professors are but an idle sort of people. It would, however, be foreign to my present purpose to enter upon a description of the great benefit that various trades and manufactures receive from the arts of design, as it would be merely stating that which has been already clearly proved, and what every well informed person is acquainted with. I will therefore take another view of the subject, in order to point out one superior advantage that the power of drawing possesses over other arts, which consists in its being an universal substitute for language. To elucidate this proposition, I will suppose a person incapable of reading a de scription of any particular event, such as a battle for example, but who no sooner sees a picture that clearly represents such a circumstance, than he immediately comprehends what appears to be going forward, becomes highly interested with the general bustle of the scene, and examines every incident with avidity. This is a proof that the art can convey information upon any subject that will admit of being represented, as evidently to persons in a state of ignorance, as to those who are well informed. I therefore can conceive, that a traveller in a country where he could not speak its language might, if he were an efficient draughtsman, obtain many things that he would have occasion for, by an ingenious application of his pencil. The Egyptians, as you know, conveyed information by means of picture writing, and I think that it might still be used upon particular occasions with advantage. I am, &c. MY DEAR SIR; HAVING now, I trust, given sufficient directions for the use of water colours, I feel it to be due to this mode of painting, and to those who practice it, to say something respecting its durability; and in order to come to a clear understanding of the subject, it will be necessary, in the first place, to consider how colour is originally produced; and in the next, why it has in some cases proved fugitive, and in others perfectly durable. Before, however, I proceed, it will be necessary to state, that I must consider colour as existing in the rays of light, and not in the material so called; and that these rays contain the three primitive colours, blue, red, and yellow, only; and from which all the various tints in nature proceed, although no one of these pure colours can be produced by the admixture of any others. This principle being admitted, it follows that the surface of any coloured substance must be of such a nature as to separate or divide the rays of light that fall upon it, by which means colour is immediately produced; and the peculiar tint will of course depend upon the quality of the surface, and its durability depend upon the quantity or body of the material. Therefore, if that which is termed colour be put on thinly, it will probably, in the course of time, be so changed by the action of the light, or from other causes, as to lose the power of returning the coloured rays to the eye; and then it is said that the colour has flown, and the picture is faded. This will account for the failure of many drawings made in the old way with Indian Ink, and sometimes with gray, by the addition of Indigo Blue to it, which, when finished, have the appearance of a print meagerly tinted: consequently the scanty means by which these tints |