48
in what he had delivered; only a strain ofi per-
suasion to induce me to comply with an existing
prejudice, - a prejudice wricli I thought could
not be too soon removed. Wh:-_n he had Enished
his discourse, I begged him to heir what I had
to state in reply, and I began by remarking
that the event intended to be C01'I]munQ1-ated
took place on the 13th of September, 1755, in a
region of the World unknown to the Greeks and
Romans, and at a period of time when no such
nations, nor heroes in their costume, any longer
existed. The subject" I have to represent is the
conquest of a great province of America by the
British troops. It is a topic that history will
proudly record, and the same truth that guides
the pen of the historian should govern the
pencil of the artist. I consider myself as under-
taking to tell this great event to the eye of the
world ; f but if, instead of the facts of the trans-
action, I represent classical fictions, how shall I
be understood by posterity! The only reason
for adopting the Greek and Roman dresses, is
the picturesque forms of which their drapery is
susceptible; but is this an advantage for which
all the truth and propriety of the subject should