"if the painting be lively, and a tolerable picture of nature, we are thrown into a reverie, from which if we awaken it is the fault of the writer. I appeal to every reader of feeling and sentiment whether the fictitious murther of Duncan by Macbeth in Shakespeare does not excite in him as great horror of villainy, as the real one of Henry IV by Ravaillac as related by Davila? and whether the fidelity of Nelson, and generosity of Blanford in Marmontel do not dilate his breast and elevate his sentiments as much as any similar incident which real history can furnish?" - Thomas Jefferson to Robert Skipwith, 3 Aug. 1771 [PTJ 1:76-81]