With regard to mel-^dy, I leave it to the adepts in the fcience of mufic, to determine, whether mufic, compofed according to the eftablifhed rules of harmony and melody, can be altogether void of expreffion; and whether mufic that has no expreliion can have any beau- ty. To me it feems, that every flrain in me- lody that is agreeable, is an imitation of the tones of the human voice in the expreffion of fome fentiment or paffion, or an imitation of fome other objeft in nature; and that mufic, as well as poetry, is an imitative art.
The fenfe of beauty in the colours, and in the motions of inanimate objeds, is, I be- lieve, in fome cafes inflinctive. We fee, that children and favages are pleafed with brilliant colours and fprightly motions. In perfons of an improved and rational tafte, there are ma- nv fources from which colours and motions may derive their beauty. They, as well as the forms of objects, admit of regularity and va- riety. The motions produced by machinery, indicate the perfection or imperfedion of the mechanifm, and may be better or worfe adapt- ed to their end, and from that derive their beauty or deformity.
The colours of natural objects, are com- monly figns of fome good or bad quality in the objed; or they may fuggeit to the imagi- nation fomething agreeable or difagreeable.
In drefs and furniture, fafiiion has a confi- derable influence on the preference we give to one colour above another.
A num- CHAP. A number of clcuds of diflerent and ever- ^^J|j_;^ changing hue, fcen on the ground of a ferene azure fky at the gomg down of the fun, prc- fent to the eye of every man a glorious fptfta- cie. It is hard to fay, whether we fhould call it grand or beautiful. It is both in a high de- gree. Clouds towering above clouds, vari- ouflv tinged, according as they approach nearer to the direct rays of the fun, enlarge our conceptions of the regions above us. They give us a view of the furniture of thofe regi- ons, which, in an unclouded air, feem to be a perfed: void; but are now feen to contain the (lores of wind and rain, bound up for the prefent, but to be poured down upon the earth in due fcafon. Even the iimple ruftic does not look upon this beautiful fky, merely as a (how to pleafe the eye, but as a happy omen of fine weather to come.
The proper arrangement of colour, and of light and Ihade, is one of the chief beauties of painting; but this beauty is greateft, when that arrangement gives the moft diilincl:, the molt natural, and the moft agreeable image of that which the painter intended to reprefent.
If we confider, in the laft place, the beauty of form or figure in inanimate objects, this, according to Dr. Hutcheson. refults from regularity, mixed with variety. Here it ought to be obferved, that regularity, in ail cafes, exprefies defign and art: For nothing regular was ever the work of chance; and where re- gularity is joined with variety, it expreflss de- fign more llrongly. Befides, it has been juftly obferved, that regular figures are more eafily and more perfectly comprehended by the mind than than the irregular, of which we can never formC HAP. an adequate conception. ^"* Although ftraight Hnes and plain furfaces " ""^^"'^ have a beauty from their regularity, they admit of no varietv, and therefore are beauties of the lowed order. Curve lines and furfaces admit of infinite variety, joined with every degree of regularity; and therefore, in many cafes, ex- cel in beauty thofe that are ftraight.
But the beauty ariiing from regularity and variety, muft always yield to that which arifes from the fitnefs of the form for the end intend- ed. In every thing made for an end, the form muft be adapted to that end; and every thing in the form that fuits the end, is a beauty; every thing that unfits it for its end, is a de- formity.
The forms of a pillar, of a fword, and of a balance are very different. Each may have great beauty; but that beauty is derived from the fitnefs of the form, and of the matter for the purpofe intended.
Were we to confider the form of the earth itfelf, and the various furniture it contains, of the inanimate kind; its diftribution into land and fea, mountains and valleys, rivers and fprings of water, the variety of foils that cover its furface, and of mineral and metallic fub- ftances laid up within it, the air that furrounds it, the viciffitudes of day and night, and of the feafons; the beauty of all thefe, which indeed is fuperlative, confifts in this, that they bear the moft lively and ftriking impreflion of the wifdom and goodnefs of their Author, in con- triving them fo admirably for the ufe of man, and of their other inhabitants.
The ESSAY VIII.
The beauties of the vegetable kingdom are far fupericr to thofe of inanimate matter, in any form which human art can give it. Hence, in all ajies, men have been fond to adorn their perfons and their habitations with the vegeta- ble produftions of nature.
The beauties of the field, of the foreft, and of the flower-garden, flrike a child long before he can reafon. He is delighted with v/hat he fees; but he knows not why. This is inftinft, but it is not confined to childhood; it conti- nues through all the flages of life. It leads the Florift, the Botanift, the Philofopher, to exa- mine and compare the objects which Nature, by this powerful inflind, recommends to his attention. By degrees, he becomes a Critic in beauties of this kind, and can give a reafon why he prefers one to another. In every fpe- cies, he fees the greateft beauty in the plants or flowers that are moft perfeft in their kind, which have neither fuffered from unkindly foil, nor inclement weather; which have not been robbed of their nourifhment by other plants, nor hurt by any accident. When he examines the internal flruclure of thofe produdions of Nature, and [traces them from their embryo flate in the feed to their maturity, he fees a thoufand beautiful contrivances of Nature, which feaft his under (landing more than their external form delighted his eye.
Thus, every beauty in the vegetable creation, of w^hich he has formed any rational judgment, exprefles fome perfedion in the objeft, or fome wife contrivance in its Author.
In the animal kingdom, we perceive dill greater beauties than in the vegetable. Here vvc obferve life, and fenfe, and activity, various inflinds inftinfts and afFedtions, and, in many cafes, C H A p. great fagacity. Thefe are attributes of mind, I^- and have an original beauty.
As we allow to brute animals a thinking principle or mind, though far inferior to that which is in man; and as, in many of their in- tellectual and adive powers, they very much referable the human fpecies, their aftions, their motions, and even their looks, derive a beauty from the powers of thought which they exprefs. * There is a wonderful variety in their manner of life; and we find the powers they poflefs, their outward form, and their inward ftrudure, exactly adapted to it. In every ipecies, the more perfectly any individual is fitted for its end and manner of life, the greater is its beauty.
In a race-horfe, every thing that exprelTes agility, ardour, and emulation, gives beauty to the animal. In a pointer, acutenefs of fcent, eagernefs on the game, and traftablenefs, are the beauties of the fpecies. A fheep de- rives its beauty from the finenefs and quantity of its fleece; and in the wild animals, every beauty is a fign of their perfedion in their kind.
It is an obfervation of the celebrated Lin- N^us, that, in the vegetable kingdom, the poifonous plants have commonly a lurid and difagreeable appearance to the eye, of which he gives many inflances. I apprehend the ob- fervation may be extended to the animal king- dom, in which we commonly fee fomething fhocking to the eye in the noxious and poifon- ous animals.
The IV CHAP. The beauties which Anatomifts and Phyfio- logifts dcfcribe in the internal flrudlure of the various tribes of animals; in the organs of fenfe, of nutrition, and of motion, arc exprellive of v/ife defign and contrivance, in fitting them for the various kinds of life for which they are inteoded.
Thus, I think, it appears, that the beauty which we perceive in the inferior animals, is expreflive, either of fuch perfections as their fcveral natures may receive, or expreflive of wife defign in him who made them, and that their beauty is derived from the perfections which it exprelfes.
But of all the objects of fenfe, the moft ftriking and attractive beauty is perceived in the human fpecies, and particularly in the fair fcx.
Milton reprefents Satan himfelf, in furvey- ing the furniture of this globe, as ftruck with the beauty of the firlt happy pair.
Two of far nobler fhape, ereCt and tall.
Godlike erect! with native honour clad in naked majefty, feem'd lords of all. And worthy feem'd, for in their looks divine. The image of their glorious Maker, ftione ^ Truth, wifdom, fanCtitude fevere, and pure j ; Severe, but in true filial freedom plac'd, : Whence true authority in man; though both I'Not equal as their fex not equal feem'd, - For contemplation he, and valour formed. For foftnefs ihe, and fweet attractive grace.
In this well known paflage of Milton, we fee that this great Poet derives the beauty of the firft pair in Paradife from thofe expreflions of of moral and intelledlual qualities which ap- ^ ^^ ^' peared in their outward form and demeanour. " The mofl: minute and fyllematical account of beauty in the human fpecies, and particularly in the fair fex, I have met with, is in Crito; or, a Diahgiie on Beauty, faid to be written by the author of Polymetis, and republiihed by DoDSLEY in his colletfion of fu.iitive pieces.
I fliall borrow from that author fome obfer- vations, which, I think, tend to ihow that the beauty of the human body is derived from the figns it exhibits of fome perfection of the mind or perfon.
All that can be called beauty in the human fpecies may be reduced to thefe four heads; colour, form, exprelfion, and grace. The two former may be called the body, the two latter the foul of beauty.
The beauty of colour is not owing folely to the natural livelinefs of flefh-colour and red, nor to the much greater charms they receive from being properly blended together; but is alfo owing, in fome degree, to the idea they carry with them of good health, without which all beauty grows languid and lefs engaging, and with which it ahvays recovers an additional ftrength and luftre. This is fupported by the authority of Cicero. Vcnujias et pulcbritudo corporis fecerni nonpotcji avaletudine.
Here I obferve, that as the colour of the body is very different in different climates, every nation preferring the colour of its cli- mate; and as among us one man prefers a fair beauty, another a brunette, without being able to give any reafon for this preference; this di- ve;rfity of tafte has no ftandard in the common principles of human nature; but mufl arife from CHAP. from fomething that is different in different ^^- nations, and in different individuals of the "^^ fame nation.
I obferved before, that fafliion, habit, affo- ciations, and perhaps fome peculiarity of con- ftitution, may have great influence upon this internal fcnfe, as well as upon the external. Setting afide the judgments arifing from fuch caufes, there feems to remain nothing that, according to the common judgment of man- kind, can be called beauty in the colour of the fpecies, but what exprcffes perfect health and livelinefs, and in the fair fex foftnefs and deli- cacy; and nothing that can be called deformity but what indicates difeale and decline. And if this be fo, it follows, that the beauty of co- lour is derived from the perfedions which it expreffes. This, however, of all the ingredi- ents of beauty, is the leaft.
The next in order is form, or proportion of parts. The mofl beautiful form, as the author thinks, is that which indicates delicacy and foftnefs in the fair fex, and in the male either ftrength or agility. The beauty of form, there- fore, lies all in expreliion.
The third ingredient, which has more pow- er than either colour or form, he calls expreffi- on, and obferves, that it is only the expreliion of the tender and kind pafiions that gives beauty; that all the cruel and unkind ones add to deformity; and that, on this account, good nature may very juftly be faid to be the beft feature, even in the flneft: face. Modelly, fen- fibility, and fweetnefs, blended together, fo as either to enliven or to correal: each other, give almofl as much attraction as the paffions are capable of adding to a very pretty iace.
It It is owing, fays the author, to the great^ HAP. force of pleafmgnefs which attends all the.
kinder paflions, that lovers not only feem, but^ ' really are, more beautiful to each other than they are to the reft of the world; becaufe, when they are together, the moft pleafmg pafli- ons are more frequently exerted in each of their faces than they are in either before the reft of the world. There is then, as a French author very well exprefles it, a foul upon their coun- tenances, which does not appear when they are abfent from one another, or even in company that lays a reftraint upon their features.
There is a great diiference in the fame face, according as the perfon is in a better or a worfe humour, or more or lefs lively. The beft complexion, the fineft features, and the exact- eft fhape, without any thing of the mind ex- prefled in the face, is infipid and unmoving. The fineft eyes in the world, with an excefs of malice or rao^e in them, will grow ftiockin?-. The paflions can give beauty without the aflili- ance of colour or torm, and take it away where thefe have united moft ftrongly to give it; and therefore this part of beauty is greatly fuperior to the other two.
The laft and nobleft part of beauty is grace, which the author thinks undennable.
Nothing caufes love fo generally and irrefifti- bly as grace. Therefore, in the mythology of the Greeks and Romans, the Graces were the conftant attendants of Venus the goddefs of love. Grace is like the ceftus of the fame eod- defs, which was fuppofed to comprehend every thing that was winning and engaging, and to create love by a fecret and inexplicable force, like that of fome magical charm.
There There P. There are two klrxls of grace, the majeftic and the familiar; the firft more commanding, the laft more delightful and engaging. The Grecian Painters and Sculptors ufed to exprefs the former moft firongly in the looks and atti- tudes of their Minervas, and the latter in thofe of Venus. This dillinftion is marked in the defcription of the perfonages of Virtue and Pleafure in the ancient fable of the Choice of Hercules.
Graceful, but each with different grace they move, This flriking facred awe, that fofter winning love.
In the perfons of Adam and Eve in Paradife, Milton has made the fame diftindion.
For contemplation he, and valour form'd. For foftnefs fhe, and fweet attradive grace.
Though grace be fo difficult to be defined, there are two things that hold univerfaliy with relation to it. /vr//. There is no grace with- out motion; fome genteel or pleafmg motion, either of the whole body or of fome limb, or at leafl fome feature. Hence, in the face, grace appears only on thofe features that are moveable, and change with the various emoti- ons and fentiments of the mind, fuch as the eyes and eye-brows, the mouih and parts adjacent. When Venus appeared to her fon JEneas in difguife, and, after fome converfation with him, retired, it was by the grace of her motion in retiring that he difcovered her to be truly a goddefs.
Dixit, Dixit, et avertens rofea cervice refulfit, Ambrofi^eque comsc divinum vertlce odorem Spiravere; pedes veflis detiuxit ad imos; Et vera inceiru patuit dea. Ille, ubi matrem Agnovit, l3'c.
A fecond obfervatlon is, That there can be no grace with impropriety, or that nothing can be graceful that is not adapted to the character and fituation of the perfon.
From thefe obfervations, which appear to meto be jufl, we may, I think, conclude, that grace, as far as it is vifible, confifts of thofe motions, either of the whole body, or of a part or feature, which exprefs the moft perfect pro- priety of conduQ: and fentiment in an amiable charader.
Thofe motions mud be different in different characters; they mufl vary with every variation of emotion and fentiment; they may exprefs either dignity or refped, confidence or referve, love or juft refentmcnr, efleem or indignation, zeal or indifference. Every paflion, fentiment, or emotion, that in its nature and degree is jufl and proper, and correfponds perfeftly with the charader of the perfon, and with the occa- fion, is what we may call the foul of grace. The body or vifible part confifls of thofe mo- tions and features which give the true and un- affe6ted expreffion of this foul.
Thus, I think, all the ingredients of human ' beauty, as they are enumerated and defcribed by this ingenious author, terminate in expreffi- on: They either exprefs fome perfection of the body, as a part of the man, and an inftrument of the mind, or fome amiable quality or at- tribute of the mind itfelf.
It 48o ESSAY VIII.
^ ^iv ^' ^^ cannot indeed be denied, that the expreffi- ^^^.L^ on of a fine countenance may be unnaturally disjoined from the amiable qualities which it naturally exprefles: But we prefume the con- trary, till we have a clear evidence; and even then, we pay homage to the expreffion, as we do to the throne when it happens to be unwor- thily filled.
Whether what I have offered to iliew, that all the beauty of the objefts of fenfe is borrow- ed, and derived from the beauties of mind which it exprefles or fuggeits to the imagina- tion, be well founded or not; I hope this ter- reflrial Venus will not be deemed lefs worthy of the homage which has always been paid to her, by being conceived more nearly allied to the celeftial, than flie has commonly been re- prefented.
To make an end of this fubjeft, tafte feems to be progreflive as man is. Children, when refreflied by lleep, and at eafe from pain and hunger, are difpofed to attend to the objects about them; they are pleafed with briUiant co- lours, gaudy ornaments, regular forms, cheer- ful countenances, noify mirth, and glee. Such is the tafte of childhood, which we muft con- clude to be given for wife purpofes. A great part of the happinefs of that period of life is derived from it; and therefore it ought to be indulged. It leads them to attend to objects which they may afterwards find worthy of their attention. It puts them upon exerting their infant faculties of body and mind, which, by fuch exertions, are daily ftrengthened and improved.
As they advance in years and in underftandr. ing, other beauties attrad their attention, which by by their novelty or fiiperiority, throw a {hade CHAP* upon thofe they formerly admired. Theyde-, light in feats of agility, ftrength, and art; they love thofe that excel in them, and ftrive to equal them. In the tales and fables they hear, they begin to difcern beauties of mindi Some characters and aftions appear lovely^ others give difguftk The intelledual and mo- ral powers begin to open, and, if cherifhed by favourable circumftances, advance gradually in ftrength, till they arrive at that degreee of per- fection, to which human nature^ in its prefent ftate, is limited.
In our progrefs from infancy to maturity^ bur faculties open in a regular order appointed by Nature; the meaneft firft; thofe of more dignity in fucceffion, until the moral and ra- tional powers finifh the man. Every faculty fur nifties new notions, brings new beauties into view, and enlarges the province of tafl:e; fo that we may fay, there is a tafte of childhood, a tafte of youth, and a manly tafte. Each is beautiful in its feafon; but not fo much fo, when carried beyond its feafon. Not that the man ought to diflike the things that pleafe the child, or the youth, but to put lefs value upon them, compared with other beauties, with which he ought to be acquainted.
Our moral and rational powers juftly claim dominion over the whole man. Even tafte is hot exempted from their authority; it muft be fubjeft to that authority in every cafe wherein we pretend to reafon or difpute about matters of tafte; it is the voice of reafon that our love or our admiration ought to be proportioned to the merit of the object. When it is not ground- ed on real worth, it muft be the effeCt of conftitution.
ftitution.
CHAP, flltution, or of feme habit or cafual aflbciatlon. ^^■^ ^ A fond mother may fee a beauty in her darling child, or a fond author in his work, to which the reft of the world are blind. In fuch cafes, the.affection is pre-engaged, and, as it were, bribes the judgment, to make the object worthy of that affection. For the mind cannot be eafy in putting a value upon an object beyond what it conceives to be due. When affection is not carried away by fome natural or acquired bias, it naturally is and ought to be led by the judg- ment.
As, in the divifion which I have followed of our intellectual powers, I mentioned moral per- ception and confcioufnefs, the reader may ex- pect that fome reafon fhould be given, why they are not treated of in this place.
As to confcioufnefs; what I think neceflfary to be faid upon it has been already faid, Effay 6. chap. 5. As to the faculty of moral per- ception, it is indeed a mofl important part of human underftanding, and well worthy of the moft attentive confideration, fmce without it we could have no conception of right and wrong, of duty and moral obligation, and fmce the firft principles of morals, upon which all moral reaioning muft be grounded, are its immediate dictates; but as it is an active as well as an intellectual power, and has an im- mediate relation to the other active powers of ihe mind, I apprehend that it is proper to defer ihe confideration of it tillthefe be explained.
THE END.
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