but by them alone it cannot be acquired. As it is a higher faculty than Taste, it is ever, according to the common frugality of nature, more limited in the sphere of its operations. There are persons, not unfrequently to be met, who have an excellent taste in several of the polite arts; such as music, poetry, painting, and eloquence; but an excellent performer in all these arts is very seldom found, or, rather, is not to be looked for. A universal genius, or one who is equally and indifferently inclined toward several different professions and arts, is not likely to excell in any. Although there may be some few exceptions, yet in general it is true, that when the mind is wholly directed toward some one object exclusively of others, there is the fairest prospect of eminence in that, whatever it may be. Extreme heat can be produced only when the rays converge to a single point. Young persons are highly interested in this remark; since it may teach them to examine with care, and to pursue with ardor, that path which nature has marked out for their peculiar exertions. The nature of Taste, the nature and importance of Criticism, and the distinction between Taste and Genius, being thus explained, the sources of the Pleasures of Taste shall next be considered. Here a very extensive field is opened; no less than all the Pleasures of the Imagination, as they are generally called, whether afforded us by natural objects, or by imitations and descriptions of them. It is not, however, necessary to the purpose of the present work, that all these be examined fully; the pleasure which we receive from discourse or writing being the principal objects of them. Our design is to give some opening into the Pleasures of Taste in general, and to insist more particularly upon Sublimity and Beauty.. We are far from having yet attained any system concerning this subject. A regular inquiry into it was first attempted by Mr. Addison, in his Essay on the Pleasures of the Imagination. By him these Pleasures are ranged under three heads, Beauty, Grandeur, and Novelty. His speculations on this subject, if not remarkably profound, are very beautiful and entertaining; and he has the merit of having discovered a track which was before untrodden. Since his time, the advances made in this part of philosophical criticism are not considerable; which is owing, doubtless, to that thinness and subtilty which are discovered to be properties of all the feelings of Taste. It is difficult to enumerate the several objects which give pleasure to Taste; it is more difficult to define all those which have been discovered, and to range them in proper classes; and, when we would proceed farther,and investigate the efficient causes of the pleas. ure which we receive from such objects, here we find ourselves at the greatest loss. For example, we all learn by experience that some figures of bodies appear more beautiful than others. On farther inquiry, we discover that the regularity of some figures and the graceful variety of others are the foundation of the Beauty which we discern in them. But when we endeavour to go a step beyond this, and inquire why regularity and variety produce in our minds the sensation of Beauty, any reason we can assign is extremely imperfect. Those first principles of internal sensation, nature appears to have studiously concealed. It is some consolation, however, that, although the efficient cause is obscure, the final cause of those sensations lies commonly more open. And here we must observe the strong impression which the powers of Taste and Imagination are calculated to give us of the benevolence of our Creator. By these powers, he hath widely enlarged the sphere of the pleasures of human life; and those too, of a kind the most pure and innocent. The neccessary purposes of life might have been answered, though our senses of seeing and hearing had only served to distinguish external objects, without giving us any of those refined and delicate sensations of Beauty and Grandeur with which we are now so much delighted. The pleasure which arises from Sublimity, or Grandeur, deserves to be fully considered; because it has a character more precise and distinctly marked, than any other of the Pleasures of the Imagination, and because it coincides more directly with our main subject. The simplest form of external grandeur is seen in the vast and boundless prospects presented to us by nature; such as widely extended plains, of which the eye can find no limits; the firmament of heaven; or the boundless expanse of the ocean. All vastnegs produces the impression of Sublimity, Space, however extended in length, makes not so strong an impression as height or depth. Though a boundless plain is a grand object, yet a lofty mountain, to which we look up, or an awful precipice or tower, whence we look down on objects below, is still more So. The excessive grandeur of the firmament arises from its height, added to its boundless extent; and that of the ocean, not from its extent alone, but from the continual motion and irresistible force of that mass of waters. Wherever space is concerned, it is evident that amplitude or greatness of extent, in one dimension or other, is necessary to grandeur. Remove all bounds from any object, and you immediately render it sublime. Hence infinite space, endless numbers, and eternal duration, fill the mind with great ideas. The most copious source of sublime ideas seems to be derived from the exertion of great power and force. Hence the Grandeur of earthquakes and burning mountains; of great conflagrations; of the boisterous ocean; of the tempestuous storm; of thunder and lightning; and of all the unusual violence of the elements. A stream which glides along gently within its banks is a beautiful object; but when it rushes down with the impetuosity and noise of a torrent, it immediately becomes a sublime one. A racehorse is viewed with pleasure; but it is the warhorse, "whose neck is clothed with thunder," that conveys grandeur in its idea. The engagement of two pow erful armies, as it is the highest exertion of human strength, combines various sources of the Sublime ; and has consequently been ever considered as one of the most striking and magnificent spectacles which can be either presented to the eye, or exhibited to the imagination in description. All ideas of the solemn and awful kind, and even bordering on the terrible,tend greatly to assist the Sublime; such as darkness, solitude and silence. The firmament, when filled with stars, scattered in infinite numbers and with splendid profusion, strikes the imagination with more awful grandeur than when we behold it enlightened by all the splendor of the sun. The deep sound of a great bell, or the striking of a great clock, is at any time grand and awful; but when heard amid the silence and stillness of night, they become doubly so. Darkness is very generally applied for adding sublimity to all our ideas of the Deity. "He maketh darkness his pavilion; he dwelleth in the thick cloud." Thus Milton -How oft amid Thick clouds and dark does heaven's all-ruling Sire- And with the majesty of darkness round Circles his throne Obscurity is favourable to the Sublime. The descriptions given us of appearances of supernatural beings carry some sublimity, though the conception which they afford us be confused and indistinct. Their sublimity arises from the ideas, which they always convey, of superior power and might, connected with awful obscurity. No ideas, it is evident, are so sublime as those derived from the Supreme Being, the most unknown, yet the greatest of all objects; the infinity of whose nature and the eternity of whose duration, added to the omnipotence of his power, though they surpass our conceptions, yet exalt them to the highest. Disorder is also very compatible with Grandeur; nay,frequently heightens it. Few things which are ex actly regular and methodical appear sublime. We see the limits on every side; we feel ourselves confined; there is no room for any considerable exertion of the mind. Though exact proportion of parts enters often into the Beautiful, it is much disregarded in the Sublime. A great mass of rocks thrown together by the hand of nature with wildness and confusion, strikes the mind with more grandeur, than if they had been adjusted to each other with the most accurate symmetry. There yet remains one class of sublime objects to be mentioned, which may be termed the Moral or Sentimental Sublime; arising from certain exertions of the mind; from certain affections and actions of our fellow-creatures. These will be found to be chiefly of that class which comes under the name of Magnanimity, or Heroism; and they produce an effect very similar to what is produced by a view of grand objects in nature, filling the mind with admiration, and raising it above itself. Wherever in some critical and dangerous situation, we behold a man uncommonly intrepid, and resting solely upon himself; superior to passion and to fear; animated by some great principle to contempt of popular opinion,of selfish interest, of dangers, or of death; we are there struck with a sense of the Sublime. Thus Porus, when taken by Alexander, after a gallant defence, being asked, in what manner he would be treated, answered, “Like a King ;" and Cæsar chiding the pilot, who was afraid to set out with him in a storm, "Quid times? Cæsarem vehis;" are good instances of the Sentimental Sublime. The Sublime in natural and in moral objects is presented to us in one view, and compared together, in the following beautiful passage of Akenside's Pleas ures of the Imagination : Look then abroad through nature to the range |