"A man endowed with this faculty, feels and acknowledges the truth, though it is not always in his power, perhaps, to give a reason for it; because he cannot recollect and bring present before him all the materials that gave birth to his opinion; for very many and very intricate considerations, may unite to form the principle, even of small and minute parts, involved in, or dependent on, a great system of things: but the right impression still remain fixed in his mind.
A Discourse Delivered to the Students of the Royal Academy [Discourses on Art]
From 1769 to 1772 Reynolds' lectures were delivered annually, with each discourse published shortly after its delivery. After 1772, the lectures were delivered biennially. The first seven discourses were collected and published together in 1778. In 1797, the first collected edition of all fifteen appeared, with a second edition issued in 1798. See the <a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23429?docPos=1">ODNB</a>.<br>
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Text from <u>A Discourse Delivered to the Students of the Royal Academy, on the Distribution of the Prizes, December 11, 1786, by the President.</u> (London: Printed by Thomas Cadell, 1787). &lt;<a href="http://find.galegroup.com/ecco/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=ECCO&userGroupName=viva_uva&tabID=T001&docId=CW106272518&type=multipage&contentSet=ECCOArticles&version=1.0&docLevel=FASCIMILE">Link to ECCO</a>&gt;