It may possibly be asked, why examples of this do not more frequently occur in his other works? To which I can only answer, that his scenes were almost invariably laid in his own country, where he painted objects as he saw them; and whatever grace the Grecian habit might give to the beauties of Scio, the Germanic garb, in which the beauties of Britain then disguised themselves,
"Chastely conceal'd each charm from every eye."
Mr. Benjamin Wilson the painter, in the letter that follows, puts a query concerning a disputed point in perspective, which was adopted by Hogarth, in support of his friend Kirby, who, in the epistle that succeeds it, after returning his acknowledgments for the drawing that Sullivan engraved for his book, requests the author of the Analysis to give him some supplementary support in his doctrine of parallel columns, etc., for the volume he was then printing on perspective. This Hogarth did not then comply with; but when Mr. Highmore, a short time afterwards, attacked the system and its author in the preface of a pamphlet, Hogarth, in support of both, and to ridicule the erroneous principles of his opponent, wrote Kirby some whimsical strictures, which have been already published in the Graphic Illustrations. As they are immediately connected with the letter which is subjoined, I have inserted them in a note, and added such extracts from Highmore's and Kirby's prefaces as may elucidate the subject in debate, and enable the reader to draw his own conclusions:—
To Wm. Hogarth, Esq., Chiswick.
"Dear Sir,—When you come to town, I shall be very glad to show you further advantages which I have gathered from your excellent Analysis. I assure you I think myself greatly indebted to you, and know of no method to repay you, but to acknowledge it as I improve, that the world may have one instance of your invariable principles being true. An odd appearance was mentioned to me lately, which it seems is a fact. A parallelogram, viewed obliquely at a given distance, forms a different representation when seen through a telescope than it does when viewed with the naked eye. In the one case the remote end of the parallelogram appears larger than the near end, whilst in the other case it appears smaller than the near end.
"Q. Do your disputants (in relation to the columns) suppose a given point? If so, they will not regard the eye as you do. Excuse haste.—I am, Sir, etc.,
"B. Wilson."
For Mr. Hogarth.
"Ipswich, May 3d, 1753.