of beauty,
and displeasing with it. The form is _then_ out of the question; it is
some _real_ good or evil, with which the object, but not its form, is
associated." This notion that associationism leads away from the
work of art as such is a perceptive comment. Her notion that form and
disposition (or content) must correspond in order to give aesthetic
pleasure suggests, though the terms are different, certain of
Coleridge's basic ideas.

One other point might be stressed: Miss Reynolds takes an extreme
moralistic position toward the arts. Again and again it is insisted
that taste and beauty are moral attributes, not purely aesthetic
concepts. Chapter II ends with the ringing statement: "Of this I
am certain, that true refinement is the effect of true virtue; that
virtue is truth, and good; and that beauty dwells in them, and they
in her." And the next chapter begins: "Taste seems to be an inherent
impulsive tendency of the soul towards true good." On the other
hand, she sees that the arts are not to be encouraged because such
encouragement is apt to lead to the destruction of moral virtue--the
desire for fame and wealth. The value of art as education is dismissed
as of importance only to the few; the dangers of encouragement will
imperil the many. "Though the arts are thus beneficial to the growing
principles of taste, respecting a few individuals, it is well known
that their establishment in every nation has had a contrary effect on
the community in general...."

To conclude: despite its many deficiencies Frances Reynolds' _Enquiry_
is worth reading. It serves admirably to mirror the conflicting
eighteenth-century theories out of which our own aesthetic concepts
have been formed.

James L. Clifford
Columbia University

Notes to the Introduction

1. _Letters_, II, 223-24; corrected from original letter in possession
of Professor F.W. Hilles of Yale University, who has given invaluable
aid in the present investigation.

2. _Letters_, II, 249-50, corrected from the original by Dr. R.W.
Chapman.

3. Copy in possession of Mrs. Doreen Ashworth, Windlesham, Surrey.

4. Original in Huntington Library.

5. Original in possession of Mrs. Ashworth.

6. Rough draft in possession of Mrs. Ashworth.

7. Original in possession of Professor F.W. Hilles.

AN ENQUIRY CONCERNING THE PRINCIPLES of TASTE, AND OF THE ORIGIN OF
OUR IDEAS of BEAUTY, &c.

Sunt certi denique fines,
Quos ultra cit