3699
 
 7 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 FREDERIC THOMAS BLANCHARD 
 ENDOWMENT FUND
 
 
 J 
 
 C R IT O: 
 
 O R, A 
 
 DIALOGUE 
 
 O N 
 
 BEAUTY. 
 
 By Sir HARKT BEAUMONT. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for R. DODSLEY, in Pallmall, and fold by 
 M. COOPER, in Paternojier-Reiv. 
 
 MDCCLII.
 
 DIALOGUE, 
 
 O N 
 
 E A U T Y. 
 
 - r i.i^ Mornings in the lad Summer, that 
 J CR i TO Hole from the Noife and Buttle 
 
 of the Town, to enjoy an agreeable 
 Day, or Two, with his Friend Ti- 
 MANTHES in the Country. TIMANTHES received 
 him with all that Joy and Pleafure which is ufual be- 
 tween Friends, who love one another entirely ; 
 and who have not met for a confiderable Time. 
 He fhewed him his new Grove, and Gardens ; 
 and, as they were walking in the latter, " Since 
 the Weather begins to be fo warm (fays he), if 
 you like it, we will dine under that open Tent. 
 The Air there will be refrefliing to you ; and will 
 bring us the Smell of the Orange and Lemon- 
 
 8961&5
 
 [ *] 
 
 Trees which furround it, without breaking that 
 View of the Country, of which you ufed to be fo 
 fond. When I placed them there, I had you in 
 my Thoughts ; and imagined it might be a fa- 
 vourite Seat of yours, whenever you came hither ; 
 which I wi(h your Affairs would fuffer to be much 
 oftener." Indeed the Spot was fo well choftn, 
 that it made not only their Dinner, but even their 
 Converfation together after it, the more agreeable ; 
 and as they were ftill fitting and enjoying them- 
 felves there, for fome time into the Afternoon -, a 
 Servant came to letTiMANTHES know, that MILE- 
 SI us was juft alighted; and was coming toward them. 
 *' Though in general I mould not have chofen to 
 be interrupted To-day (fays TIM AN THE s), I am not 
 forry for MILESIUS'S Vifit at prefent ; becaufe his 
 Gaiety may fcrve a little to divert you," " And 
 I, fays CRITO, love every thing that you love ; and 
 (hall therefore go with Pleafure with you to meet 
 him.'* MILESIUS came up to them with his ufual 
 Vivacity in his Face, and Behaviour; and, after a 
 fhort Compliment, or Two, they all fat down to- 
 gether again under the Tent. 
 
 They foon fell into a Converfation, which, 
 though it might not be fo folid, was at leafl more 
 lively and joyous than their former. TIMANTHES 
 could not help obferving upon it. " You (fays 
 he), MILESIUS, give Life to the Company where- 
 cver you come ; but I am particularly glad of your 
 coming hither To-day, becaufe my Friend CRITO, 
 on his Arrival this Morning, feemcd to have the 
 
 Remains
 
 [3 ] 
 
 Remains of fomething of a Melancholy on his 
 Face ; but, fince your joining us, the Cloud has been 
 gradually clearing up, and feems now quite driven 
 away. I would not then take any Notice of it to 
 him, for fear of oppreffing the Mind of my Friend 
 whillt too much afflicted ; but, as it now appears 
 to have been only a paffing Cloud, I could wifh 
 to afk the Cauie of ic ; that I might endeavour to 
 alleviate his Concern, if in my Power ; and if not, 
 that at lead I might (hare it with him.'* "I am 
 very much obliged to you (replied CRITO, with a 
 Caft of the fame Concern returning on his Face), 
 for your Tendernef, for me, on this, and all other 
 Occafions : But if you obferved any thing of Sor- 
 row about me on my Fir [I coming in, I can af- 
 fure you, that it was not for any Misfortune that 
 has happened to myfelf , nor any new Misfortune 
 to any of our Friends : Whatever you faw in. me 
 of that kind, mud have been occafioned by the 
 Vifit I made this Morning. You both know the 
 Beauty and Merits of Mrs. B * * * , as well as 
 what a Brute of a Hufband (he has the Misfortune 
 to be married to. I juft called there, ^'before I fet 
 out; and, on the Servant's telling me, that his 
 Lady had been up fome time, and was fitting in! 
 the Room next the Garden ; as my "near Relation 
 to her gave me the Liberty of going on without 
 fending in my Name, I walked toward the Room ; 
 and found the Door only juft open enough, to Jet 
 me fee her leaning on a Couch, with her Head 
 reftt-d negligently on one Hand, whilft with the 
 other fhe was wiping away a Tear, that ftole fi- 
 B ^ lently
 
 lently down her Cheek. The Diftrefs in her Coun- 
 tenance, and the little Confufion that appeared 
 about her Eyes, on her Firft difcovering me (juft 
 as I was doubting whether I mould retire or not), 
 added fo much to the other Beauties of her Face, 
 that I think I never faw her look fo charming in 
 my Life. " Stay, Sir (fays (he) j for you, I am 
 fure, can excufe this little Overflow of YVeaknefs 
 in me. My poor, dear, Jacky! If Heaven had 
 fpared him to me, he would this very Day have 
 been Seven Years old. What a pretty little Com- 
 panion mould I have had in him, to have diverted 
 me in fome of the many Flours that I now pafs 
 alone ?" I duTembled my being but too well ac- 
 quainted with the real Occafion of her Sorrows , 
 joined with her in lamenting the Lofs me had men- 
 tioned ; and, as foon as I could, led the Corwerfa- 
 tion into another Chanel ; and faid every thing I 
 could think of, to divert her Mind from the Ob- 
 ject that I knew afflicted her. ' By Degrees, (he 
 recovered her ufual Behaviour; but, through all 
 the Calmnefs and Pleafingnefs of it, there was 
 flill a Cloud hanging about her Eyes, which be- 
 trayed Part of the Uneafmefs that me daily fuffers 
 under in her Heart. Good Heaven! how is it 
 pofiible that any human Creature fhould treat fo 
 much Goodnefs, and fo many Charms, with fo 
 much Barbarity of Behaviour!" We all know 
 the Vilenefs of the Man, cried MILESIUS, as well as 
 the Beauty and "good Qualities of his Lady ; but, 
 pray, how come you to think, that her Sufferings 
 fhould add to her Charms ? or that a Diftrefs, like' 
 
 her's,
 
 m 
 
 her's, could ever be pleafmg to the Eye ? Some 
 People have got fuch grange, unintelligible Notions 
 of Beauty! cc Was I to let you into all my 
 Thoughts about Beauty, replied CRI TO, what I hap- 
 pened to mention juft now would, perhaps, appear 
 far from being unintelligible to you. To own 
 the Truth, I have thought on this Subject (which 
 is ufually rather viewed with too much Pleafure, 
 than confidered with any thing of Judgment) 
 more gravely at leaft, I dare fay, than ever you 
 have : And if you was to provoke me a little far- 
 ther, I do not know whether I could not lay down 
 to you a fort of Scheme on it j which might go a 
 good Way not only toward clearing up this, but 
 moft of the other Difficulties that fo often occur irv 
 talking of it." I mould as foon think of diffedt- 
 ing a Rainbow, fays MILESIUS, as of forming grave 
 and punctual Notions of Beauty. Who, for. 
 Heaven's fake, can reduce to Rules, what is fo 
 quick, and fo variable, as to be fhifting its Ap- 
 pearances every Moment, on the moft delightful 
 Faces?" And why are thofe Faces the moft de- 
 lightful, in which that happens?" faysCRixo. 
 Nay, that is one of the very things I could leaft 
 pretend to account for, replied MILESIUS. I am 
 fatisfied with feeing that they are fo ; 'tis a Subject 
 that I never yet had a fmgle Defire to reafon upon ; 
 and I can very willingly leave it to you, to be a 
 Philofopher in Love. But ferioufly, interpofed 
 TIMANTHES, turning toward CRITO, if you have 
 ever found Leiiure and Calmnefs enough to think 
 Iteadily on fo uncertain, and fo engaging a Subject ;
 
 why fhould not you oblige us with the Refult of 
 your Thoughts upon it ? Let me beg it of you, 
 as a Favour to bot'h of us ; for I am fure it will 
 be agreeable to both : And if you refufe me, I 
 am refolved to join with MILESIUS in believing, that 
 it is incapable of having any thing faid fyftemati- 
 cally, or even regularly, about it. cl You know, 
 fays CRT TO, how little I love to have all the Talk 
 to myfelf ; and what you propofe may take me up 
 an Hour, or Two : But if I muft launch out into 
 fo wide a Subject, it will be very neceffary, that I 
 fhould begin with telling you what I chiefly pro- 
 pofe to confider, and what not. 
 
 TDVERY Objedt that is pleafing to the Eye, when 
 looked upon, or delightful to the Mind, on Re- 
 collection, may be called beautiful ; fo that Beauty, 
 in general, may ftretch as wide as the vifible Crea- 
 tion, or even as far as the Imagination can go ; 
 which is a fort of new or fecondary Creation. 
 Thus we fpeak not only of the Beauties of an en- 
 gaging Profpect, of the rifing or fetting Sun, or 
 of a fine {tarry Heaven ; but of thofe of a Pidure, 
 Statue, or Building; and even of the Actions, 
 Characters, or Thoughts of Men. In the greater 
 Part of thefe, there may be almoft as many falfe 
 Beauties, as there are real ; according to the differ- 
 ent Taftes of Nations, and Men ; fo that if any 
 one was to confider Beauty in its fulled Extent, it 
 could not be done without the greateft Confufion. 
 I mall therefore confine my Snbjeft to vifible 
 
 Beauty 5
 
 [7] 
 
 Beauty , and of that, to fuch only as may be called 
 perfonal, or human Beauty ; and that again, to 
 fuch as is natural or real, and not fuch as is only 
 national or cuftomary ; for I would not have you 
 imagine, that I would have any thing to do with 
 the beautiful thick Lips of the good People of 
 Bantam^ or the exceflive fmall Feet of the Ladies of 
 Quality in China. 
 
 I am apt to think, that every thing belonging 
 to Beauty (by which I need not repeat to you, at 
 every Turn, that I mean real perfonal Beauty), 
 would fall under one or other of thefe Four Heads; 
 Color, Form, Expreflion, and Grace. The Two 
 former of which I mould look upon as the Body, 
 and the Two latter as the Sou!, of Beauty. 
 
 THO' Color be the loweft of all the confti- 
 tuent Parts of Beauty, yet is it vulgarly the moft 
 ftriking, and the molt obferved. For which there 
 is a very obvious Reafon to be given , that " every 
 body can fee, and very few can judge -," the Beau- 
 ties of Color requiring much lefs of Judgment, 
 than either of the other Three. I (hall therefore 
 have much lefs to fay of it, than of each of the 
 others ; and (hall only give you Two or Three 
 Obfervations, relating to it. 
 
 'As to the Color of the Body in general, the 
 moft beautiful perhaps that ever was imagined, was 
 that which Apelles exprefied in his famous Venus \ 
 
 and
 
 [ 8 1 
 
 and which, though the Picture itfelF be loft, Ci- 
 'cero has in fome Degree preferved to us, in his -f 
 excellent Defcription of it. It was (as we learn 
 from him), a fine Red, beautifully intermixt and 
 incorporated with White ; and diffufed, in its due 
 Proportions, through each Part of the Body. Such 
 are the Defcriptions of a moft beautiful Skin, in 
 feveral of the Roman Poets ; and fuch often is the 
 Coloring of 'Titian, and particularly, in his fleep- 
 ing Venus, or whatever other Beauty that charm- 
 ing Piece was meant to reprefent. 
 
 f- Illud video pugnare te, fpecies ut quaedam fit Deoram ; 
 quae nihil concreti habeat, nihil folidi, nihil expreffi, nihil 
 eminemis : fitque pura, levis, perlucida. Dicemus ergo idem, 
 quod in Venere Coa; corpus noh eft, fed fimile corpori : nee 
 ille fufus et candore mixtus rubor fanguis eft, fed quasdam fan- 
 guinis fimilitudo. Cicero de Nafura Dear. lib. I . 
 Thus Virgil, in the Blufh of his Lavinia ; 
 
 Accepit vocem lacrymis Lavinia matris, 
 Flagrantes perfufa genas ; cui plurimus ignem 
 Subjecit ruoor, & calefada per ora cucurrit : * 
 Indum fanguineo veluti violaverit oftro 
 Si quis ebur, aut mixta rubent ubi lilia multa 
 Alba rosa ; tales virgo dabat ore colores. ^En. \ z. 69. 
 OoX, in his Nardjvs ; 
 
 Impubefque genas, et eburnea colla, decufque 
 
 Oris ; & in niveo miftum candore ruborem. Met. 3. 423. 
 
 And Tilullui, in his dpollo ; 
 Candor erat, qualem pnsfert Latonia luna; 
 
 Et color in niveo corpore purpureus. 
 Ut juveni primum virgo dedu<Tta marito 
 
 Inficitur teneras ore rubente genas : 
 Ut quum contexunt amaranthis alba puella; 
 Lilia ; Ss autumno Candida mala rubent. 
 
 Lib. 2. EL 3.11. 
 
 The
 
 The Reafon why thefe Colors pleafe fo much is 
 not only their natural Livelinefs, . nor the much 
 greater Charms they obtain from their being pro- 
 perly blended together, but is alfo owing in fome 
 Degree to the Idea they carry with them of good 
 Health > -f without which, all Beauty grows lan- 
 guid and lefs engaging ; and with which it always 
 recovers an additional Life and Luftre. 
 
 As to the Color of the Face in particular, a great 
 deal of its Beauty is owing (befide the Caufes I 
 have already mentioned) to Variety , that being 
 defigned by Nature for the greateft Concourfe of 
 different Colors, of any Part in the human Body. 
 Colors pleafe by Oppofition ; and it is in the Face 
 that they are the moft diverfified, and the moft 
 oppofed. 
 
 You would laugh out perhaps, if I was to tell 
 you, that the fame Thing, which makes a fine 
 Evening, makes a fine Face (I mean as to the par- 
 ticular Part of Beauty I am now fpeaking of) ; and 
 yet this, I believe, is very true. 
 
 The Beauty of an Evening Sky, about the 
 Setting of the Sun, is owing to the Variety of 
 Colors that are fcattered along the Face of the 
 Heavens. It is the fine red Clouds, intermixt 
 with white, and feme-times darker ones, with the 
 
 t Venuftas et pulchritude corporis fecerni non pdteft a 
 valetudine. Cicero de OJ/iciis, lib. i. .95. 
 
 C azure
 
 azure Bottom appearing here and there between 
 them, which makes all that beautiful Compofition, 
 that delights the Eye fo much, and gives fuch a 
 ierene Pleafure to the Heart. In the fame manner, 
 if you confider fome beautiful Faces, you may ob- 
 ferve, that it is much the fame Variety of Colors, 
 which gives them that pleafing Look ; which is fo 
 apt to attract the Eye, and but too often to engage 
 the Heart. For all this Sort of Beauty is refolv- 
 able into a proper Variation of Flefh Color and 
 Red, with the clear Bluenefs of the Veins pleafmg- 
 ]y intermixt about the Temples and the Going off 
 of the Cheeks, and fet off by the Shades of full 
 Eyebrows j and of the Hair, when it falls in a 
 proper Manner round the Face. 
 
 It is for much the fame Reafon, that the beft 
 Landfchape-painters have been generally obferved 
 to chufe the autumnal Part of the Year for their 
 Pieces, rather than the Spring. They prefer the 
 Variety of Shades and Colors, though in their 
 Decline, to all their Fremnefs and Verdure in their 
 Infancy ; and think all the Charms and Livelinefs 
 even of the Spring more than compenfated by the 
 Choice, Oppofition, and Richnefs of Colors, that 
 appear almoft on every Tree in the Autumn. 
 
 Though one's Judgment is fo apt to be guided 
 by fome particular Attachments (and that more 
 perhaps in this Part of Beauty than any other), 
 yet I am a good deal perfuaded, that a complete 
 brown Beauty is really preferable to a perfect fair 
 
 one;
 
 one i the bright Brown giving a Luflre to all the 
 other Colors, a Vivacity to the Eyes, and a Rich- 
 nefs to the whole Look, which one feeks in vain 
 in the whiteft and moft tranfparent Skins. Ra- 
 phael's moft charming Madonna is a brunette Beau- 
 ty; and his earlier Madonna's (thofe I mean of 
 his middle Stile) are generally of a lighter and 
 Jefs pleafing Complexion. All the beft Artifts in 
 the nobleft Age of Painting, about Leo the Tenth's 
 Time, ufed this deeper and richer Kind of color- 
 ing ; and I fear one might add, that the glaring 
 Lights introduced by Guido, went a great Way to- 
 ward the Declenfion of that Art ; as the enfeebling 
 of the Colors by Carlo Marat (or, if you pleafe, by 
 his Followers) hath fmce almoft completed the 
 Fall of it in Italy. 
 
 I have but one thing more to mention, before I 
 quit this Head j that I mould chufe to compre- 
 hend fome Things under this Article of Color, 
 which are not perhaps commonly meant by that 
 Name. As that appearing Softnefs or Silkinefs of 
 fome Skins, that -f- Magdalen-look in fome fine 
 
 . -f- The Look here meant is moft frequently expreft by the 
 beft Painters in their Mugdahm ; in which, if there were no 
 Tears on the Face, you would fee, by the humid Redneis of 
 the Skin, that fhe had been weeping extremely. There is a 
 very ftrong Inftance of this in a Magdalen by Le Bru, in one 
 of the Churches at Paris ; and feveral by Titian, in Italy ; the 
 very beft of which is at the Barberigo Palace at Venice* la 
 fpeaking of which, Rofalba hardly went too fir, when {he 
 f;iid, " It wept all over ;" or (in the very Words fhe ufed), 
 " Elle pleure jufqu' aux bouts de doix." 
 
 C 2 Paces,
 
 Faces, after weeping ; that Brightnefs, as well as 
 Tint, of the Hair ; that Luftre of Health, that 
 fhines forth upon the Features ; that Luminoufnefi 
 that appears in fome Eyes, and that fluid Fire, or 
 Giiftening, in others: Some of which are of a 
 Nature fo much fupcrior to the common Beauties 
 of Color, that they make it doubtful whether they 
 fliould not have been ranked under a higher Clafs ; 
 and referved for the Expreffion of the Paflions ; 
 but I would willingly give every thing it's Due, 
 and therefore mention them here , bccaufe I think 
 even the mod doubtful of them belong partly to 
 this Head, as well as partly to the other. 
 
 FORM takes in the Turn of each Part, as well ( 
 as the Symmetry of the whole Body, even to the 
 Turri of an Eyebrow, or the Falling of the Hair. 
 I mould think too. that the Attitude, while fixt, 
 ought to be reckoned under this Article : By which 
 I do not only mean the Pofture of the Perfon, 
 but the Pofition of each Part ; as the Turning of 
 the Neck, the Extending of the Hand, the Placing 
 of a Foot i and fo on to the mod minute Parti- 
 culars. 
 
 The general Caufe of Beauty in the Form or 
 Shape in both Sexes is a Proportion, or an Union 
 and Harmony, in all Parts of the Body. 
 
 Pulchritudo cnrporis apta compofitione membrorum 
 roovct oculos ; & dele&at hoc ipfo, qaod inter fe omnes par- 
 tei quodam lepore confentiunt. Gcero de Off', lib. i. .91. 
 
 The
 
 [ '3 ] 
 
 The diftinguifhing Character of Beauty in the 
 Female Form, is Delicacy and Softnefs; and in 
 the Male, either apparent Strength, or Agility. 
 
 The fineft Exemplars that can be feen for the 
 former, is the Venus of Medici ; and for the Two 
 latter, the Hercules Farnefe and the Apollo Eel- 
 vedere. 
 
 There is one thing indeed in the laft of thefe 
 Figures, which exceeds the Bounds of our prefent 
 Enquiry ; what I have heard an Italian Artift call, 
 // fovra umano ; and what we may call the Tran- 
 fcendent, or Celeltial*. 'Tis fomething diftinct 
 
 * This is mentioned, or hinted at, by feveral of the Ro- 
 man Writers: 
 
 Humanam fupra for mam. < > > Pheedrus> III. 4. f. 23. 
 Forma nifi in veras non cadit ilia Deas. 
 
 Ovid. Her. Epijt. 18. 68. 
 Hoe sere, Ceres ; hoc, lucida Gnoffis : 
 Illo Maia tholo ; Venus hoc, non improba, faxo : 
 Accipiunt vultus non indignata decoros 
 
 Numina Statius, lib. 5. Sylv. I. 235. 
 
 In quiete vifa fpecies viri majoris quam pro humano 
 
 habitu, auguftiorifque. Livy, lib. 8. .6. 
 
 Os humerofque Deo fimilis ; namque ipfa decoram 
 Caefariem nato genetrix, lumenque juventae 
 Purpureum, & laetos oculis afflarat honores : 
 Quale manus addunt ebori decus ; aut ubi flavo 
 Argentum, Pariufve lapis, circumdatur auro. 
 
 Virgil, JEn. I. 593. 
 
 Magnae mentis opus, 
 
 Currus, et equos, faciefque Deorum. 
 
 Afpicere. - Juvenal. Sat, 7. 68. 
 
 from
 
 [ 14 ] 
 
 from all human Beauty, and of a Nature greatly 
 fuperior to it , fomething that feems like an Air of 
 Divinity : Which is expreft, or at leaft is to be 
 .traced out, in but very few Works of the Artifts ; 
 and of which fcarce any of the Poets have caught 
 any Ray in their Defcriptions (or perhaps even in 
 their Imagination), except Homer and Virgil^ 
 among the Antients ; and our Sbakefpear, and 
 Milton, among the Moderns. 
 
 The Beauty of the mere human Form is much 
 fuperior to that of Color j and it may be partly 
 for this Reafon, that when one is obferving the 
 fineft Works of the Artifts at Rome (where there 
 is ftill the nobleft Collection of any in the World), 
 one feels the Mind more flruck and more charmed 
 with the capital Statues, than with the Pictures of 
 the greateft Matters. 
 
 One of the old Roman Poets, in fpeaking of a 
 very handfome Man, who was Candidate for the 
 Prize in fome of the public Games, fays, that 
 he was much expected and much admired by all 
 the Spectators, at his firft Appearance ; but that, 
 when he flung off his Robes, and difcovered 
 the whole Beauty of his Shape all together, it 
 was fo fuperior, that it quite * extinguifhed the 
 
 Beauties 
 
 * Arcada Parthenopxum 
 
 Appellant, dcnfique cient cava mutmura Circi ; 
 Tandem expeftatus volucri fuper agmina faltu 
 Emica: ; & torto chlamydem diffibulat auro : 
 
 Effulfere
 
 [ If] 
 
 Beauties they had before fo much admired in his 
 Face. 
 
 I have often felt much the fame Effect in view- 
 ing the Venus of Medici. If you obferve the Face 
 only, it appears extremely beautiful ; but if you 
 confider all the other Elegances of her Make, the 
 Beauty of her Face becomes lefs ftriking, and is 
 almoft loft in fuch a Multiplicity of Charms. 
 
 Whoever would learn what makes the Beauty 
 of each Part of the human Body, may find it laid 
 down, pretty much at large, by -^ Felibien -, or 
 
 may 
 
 Effulfere artus, membrorumque omnis aperta eft 
 Lxtitia ; infignefque humeri, nee peftora nudis 
 Deteriora genis : latuitque in corpore vultus. 
 
 Statius Tlel. 6. 573. 
 
 f- In his Entretitns, -vol. 2. /. 14 45. The chief of 
 what he fays there, on the Beauty of the different Parts of the 
 Female Form, is as follows. 
 
 That the Head Ihould be well rounded j and look rather in- 
 clining to fmall than large. 
 
 The Forehead white, fmooth, and open ('not with the Hair 
 growing down too deep upon it) ; neither fiat nor prominent, 
 but like the Head, well-rounded ; and rather fmall in Pro- 
 portion than large. 
 
 The Hair, either bright, black, or brown ; not thin, but 
 full and waving ; and if it falls in 'moderate Curls, the better. 
 The Elack is particularly ufeful for fetting off the Whitenefs 
 of the Neck and Skin. 
 
 The Eyes, black, chefnut, or blue ; clear, bright, and 
 lively ; and rather large in Proportion than fmall. 
 
 The Eyebrows, well divided, rather full than thin ; femicir- 
 cular, and broader in the Middle than at the Ends i of a neat 
 Turn, but not formal. 
 
 The
 
 [ US] 
 
 may ftudy it with more Pleafure to himfelf, in the 
 fineft Pictures and Statues ; and I am forced to 
 
 have 
 
 The Cheeks fhould not be wide ; fhould have a Degree of 
 Plumpnefs, with the Red and White finely blended together ; 
 and fhould look firm and foft. 
 
 The Ear fhould be rather fmall than large; well-folded, 
 and with an agreeable Tinge of Red. 
 
 The Nofe fhould be plaeed fo as to divide the Face into 
 Two equal Parts ; fhould be of a moderate Size, ftrait, and 
 \vell-fquared ; though fometimes a little Rifing in the Nofe, 
 which is but juft perceivable, may give a very graceful Look 
 to it. 
 
 The Mouth fhould be fmall ; and the Lips, not of equal 
 Thicknefs: They fhould be well-turned, fmall, rather than 
 grofs ; foft, even to the Eye ; and with a living Red in them. 
 A truly pretty Mouth, is like a Rofe-bud that is beginning 
 to blow. 
 
 The Teeth mould be middle fized, white, well-ranged, 
 and even. 
 
 The Chin, of a moderate Size; white, foft, and agreeably 
 rounded. 
 
 The Neck fhould be white, ftrait, and of a foft, eafy, and 
 flexible Make, rather long than fhort ; lefs above, and en- 
 creafing gently toward the Shoulders: The Whitenefs and 
 Delicacy of its Skin fhould be continued, or rather go on im- 
 proving, to the Bofcm. 
 
 The Skin in general fhould be white, properly tinged with 
 .Red ; with an apparent Softnefs, and a Look of thriving 
 Health in it. 
 
 The Shoulders fhould be white, gently fpread, and with a 
 jnuch fofter Appearance of Strength, than in thofe of Men. 
 
 The Arm fhould be white, round, firm, and fofc; and 
 more particularly fo from the Elbow to the Hands. 
 
 The Hand fhould unite infenfibly with the Arm ; juft as it 
 does in the Statue of the Venus of Medici, They fhould be 
 long, and delicate ; and even the Joints and nervous Parts of 
 them fhould be without either any Hardnefs or Drinefs. 
 
 The Fingers fhould be fine, long, round, and foft ; fmall, 
 and leiTening toward the Tips of them : And the Nails long, 
 rounded at the Ends, and pellucid. 
 
 2 The
 
 have recourfe to them fo often, becaufe in Life 
 we commonly fee but a fmall Part of the human 
 Body ; moil of it being either difguifed, or altered, 
 by what we call Drefs. 
 
 I was acquainted, for fome Years, with a Lady 
 who has as pretty a made Head and Neck as can 
 be conceived ; and never knew any thing of the 
 Matter, till I happened one Morning to catch her 
 at her Toilet, before (he had deformed herfelf by 
 putting on her Headcloaths. 
 
 If that beautiful round Oak, with fo fine and 
 ftrait a Body, had a Tent or doping Building, 
 coming down from the Top of its Trunk to the 
 Ground, all round it, and Two or Three Sheets 
 flung over the greateft Part of its Head, we 
 Jfhould fcarce be able to know, whether it was a 
 beautiful Tree or not: And fuch is the circling 
 Hoop, that the Women wear in fome Countries ; 
 and the vaft Wad of Linen, that they carry upon, 
 thdr Head in others. 
 
 The Bofom fhould be white, and charming ; and the Breads 
 equal in Roundnefs, Whitenefs, and Firmnefs; neither too 
 much elevated, nor too much deprefl ; jifing gently, and very 
 diftindlly feparated ; in one Word, juft like thofe of the Venus 
 of Medici. 
 
 The Sides fhould be long, and the Hips wider than the 
 Shoulders; and fhould turn off as they do in the fame Feaus ; 
 and go down rounding, and lefiening gradually to the Knee. 
 
 The Knee mould be even, and well-rounded; the Legs 
 ftrait, but varied, by a proper Rounding of the more flefhy 
 Part of themj and the Feet finely turned, white and little. 
 
 D The
 
 [ '8 ] 
 
 The old Heathens ufed to cover the fineft Sta- 
 tues of their Gods all over with long Robes, on 
 their greateft Feftivals : What a Figure would the 
 Venus of Medici^ or the Apollo Belvedere, make, 
 in fuch a Drefs ? 
 
 I don't, to this Day, know, whether the fa- 
 mous Lady of Loretto be well or ill maped ; for, 
 though I have feen her federal times, I have never 
 feen her without a fort of Hoop-petticoat, very 
 much iliffened with Pearls and Jewels, and reach- 
 ing all down her Body , quite from her Neck, to 
 her Feet. Queen Elizabeth might have been well- 
 maped to as little Purpofe, or ill-maped with as 
 much Security, in the vaft Fardingal and puffc 
 Robes, that we generally fee her fwell'd out with, 
 in her Pictures. 
 
 And we do not only thus, in a great meafure, 
 hide Beauty -, but even injure, and kill it, by fome 
 Parts of our Drefs. A Child is no fooner born 
 into the World, than it is bound up, almoft as. 
 firmly as an old Egyptian Mummy, in feveral 
 Folds of Linen. It is in vain for him to give all the 
 vSigns of Diftrefs that Nature has put in his Power, 
 to mew how much he fuffers whilft they are thus 
 imprifoning his Limbs ; or all the Signs of Joy, 
 every time they are fet at Liberty. In a few Mi- 
 nutes, the old Witch, who prefides over his in- 
 firmed Days, falls to tormenting him afrefh, and 
 winds him up again in his deftined Confinement. 
 When he comes to be dreft like a Man, he has 
 
 Liga-
 
 tip] 
 
 Ligatures applied to his Arms, Legs, and Middle, 
 in fhort, all over him ; to prevent the natural Cir- 
 culation of his Blood, and make him lefs active 
 and healthy ; and if it be a Child of the tenderer 
 Sex, me muft be bound yet more ftreightly about the 
 Waift and Stomach ; to acquire a Difproportion, 
 that Nature never meant in her Shape. I have 
 heard a very nice Critic in Beauty fay, that he was 
 never well acquainted with any Woman in Eng- 
 land^ that was not in fome Degree crooked ; and 
 I have often heard another Gentleman, that has 
 been much in Africa^ and the Indies^ afifert, that 
 he never faw any black Woman, that was crooked. 
 The Reafon no doubt is, that they keep to Na- 
 ture ; whereas our Ladies chufe to be fhaped by 
 the Stay maker. 
 
 THE Two other conftituent Parts of Beauty 
 are, Expreffion and Grace : The former of which, 
 is common to all Perfons and Faces ; and the latter, 
 is to be met with but in very few. 
 
 BY Expreffion, I mean the Expreffion of the 
 Pafiions , the Turns and Changes of the Mirfd, 
 fo far as they are made vifible to the Eye, by our 
 Looks or Geflures. 
 
 Tho* the Mind appears principally in the Face, 
 
 and Attitudes of the Head -, yet every Part almoft 
 
 of the human Body, on fome OccaTion or other, 
 
 D z may
 
 may become exprefiive. Thus the languiftiing 
 Hanging of the Arm, or the vehement Exertion 
 of it ; the Pain expreft by the Fingers of one of 
 the Sons in the famous Group of Laocoon, and in 
 the Toes of the dying Gladiator. But this again 
 is often loft among us by our Drefs ; and indeed 
 is of the lefs Concern, becaufe the Exprefiion of 
 the Paflions pafles chiefly in the Face, which we 
 (by good Luck) have not as yet concealed. 
 
 The Parts of the Face in which the Paflions 
 moft frequently make their Appearance, are the 
 Eyes, and Mouth , but from the Eyes, they dif- 
 fufe themfelves (very ftrongly) about the Eyebrows ; 
 as, in the other Cafe, they appear often in the Parts 
 all round the Mouth. ' 
 
 Philofophers may difpute as much as they pleafe, 
 about the Seat of the Soul , but, where-ever it re- 
 fides, I am fure that it fpeaks in the Eyes. 
 
 I do not know, whether I have not injured the 
 Eyebrows, in making them only Dependants on 
 the Eye ; for they, eipecially in lively Faces, have, 
 as it were, a Language of their own ; and are ex- 
 tremely varied, according to the different Senti- 
 ments and Paffions of the Mind. 
 
 I have fometimes obferved a Degree of Dif- 
 pleafure in a Lady's Eyebrow, when fhe had Ad- 
 drefs enough not to let it appear in her Eyes ; and 
 at other times have difcovered fo much of her 
 
 Thoughts,
 
 Thoughts, in the Line juft above her Eyebrows ; 
 that (he har. been amazed how any body could tell 
 what patted in her Mind, and as fhe thought un- 
 difcovered by her Face, fo particularly and di- 
 ftinctly. 
 
 Homer makes the Eyebrows the Seat of Ma- 
 jefty, Virgil of -j~ Dejection, Horace of || Mo- 
 defty, and Juvenal of * Pride ; and I queftion 
 whether every one " of the Paffions is not affigned, 
 by one or other of the Poets, to the fame Part. 
 
 If you would rather have Authorities from the 
 Writers of honeft Profe, Le Erun (who publifhed 
 a very pretty Treatife, to fhew how the Pafiions 
 affect the Face and Features) fays, that the prind- 
 
 H 
 
 Afet, y 
 t-3-styt]o/or &&v F tteht 
 
 lA.tf. 530. 
 
 It was from this Paffage that Phidias borrowed all the Idea* 
 of that Majefty which he had exprefled fo ftrongly in his 
 famous Statue of the Jupiter Oljmpiui ; and Horace, pro 
 ably, his Cunfta fupercilio moventis. Lib. 3. Qd. i. 8. 
 f- Frons laeta parum, & dejeflq lumina vultu. 
 
 Virgil. An. 6. 863. 
 j) Deme fupercilio nubem ; plerumque modeftus 
 
 Occupat obfcuri fpeciem. Horat. lib. i. Epifl. 1 8. 9^. 
 f Malo Venufmam, quam te, Cornelia, mater 
 Gracchorum ; li cura magnis virtutibus affers 
 Grande fupercilium, et numeras in dote triumphos. 
 
 Juvenal. Sat. 6. 1 6 8. 
 
 It is hence that the Romans ufed the Word/uperci/iofus (as 
 we do from them the Word fupercilious} for pjoud and arro- 
 ant Perfpns.
 
 t,J 
 
 pal Seat of them is in the Eyebrows -, and old 
 Pliny had faid f much the fame Thing, fo many 
 hundred Years before him. 
 
 Hitherto I have fpoken only of the Paflions in 
 general : We will now confider a little, if you 
 pleafe, which of them add to Beauty ; and which 
 of them take from it. 
 
 I believe we may fay, in general, that all the tender 
 and kind Paflions add to Beauty ; and all the cruel 
 and unkind ones, add to Deformity : And it is on 
 this Account that Good-nature may, very juftly, be 
 faid to be " the beft Feature even in the fine ft 
 " Face." 
 
 Mr. Pope has included the principal Paflions of 
 each Sort, in Two very pretty Lines ; 
 
 Love, Hope, andjoy, fair Phase's fmilingTrain; 
 Hate, Fear, and Grief, the Family of Pain. 
 
 The former of which, naturally give an additional 
 Luftre and Enlivening to Beauty -, as the latter 
 are too apt to fling a Gloom and Cloud over it. 
 
 f- Frons triftitis, hilaritatis, dementias, feveritatis index : 
 in afceniu ejus fupercilia, & pariter, & alterne mobilia j & in 
 iis, pars anin:i. [His] negamus ; annuimus. Hax maxims 
 indicant faftum. Superbia alicubi conceptaculum, fed hie 
 fedem habet : in corde nafcitur j hie Cubit, hie pendet. Plin. 
 Nat. Hijt. lib. 11. cap. 37.
 
 [>3 J 
 
 Yet in thefe, and all the other Pafilons, I do 
 not know whether Moderation may not be, in a 
 great meafure, the Rule of their Beauty ; almoft 
 as far as Moderation in Actions is the Rule of 
 Virtue. 
 
 Thus an excefiive Joy may be too boifterous in 
 the Face to be pleafing ; and a Degree of Grief, 
 in fome Faces, and on fome Occafions, may be 
 extremely beautiful. 
 
 Some Degrees of Anger, Shame, Surprize, 
 Fear, and Concern, are beautiful ; but all Excefs 
 is hurtful, and all Excels ugly. 
 
 Dulnefs, Aqfterity, Impudence, Pride, Affec- 
 tation, Malice, and Envy, are, I believe, always 
 ugly. 
 
 The fined Union of Pafllons, that I have ever 
 obferved in any Face, confifted of a juft Mixture 
 of Modefty, Senfibility, and Sweetnefs; each of 
 which, when taken fingly, is very pleafing; but 
 when they are all blended together, in fuch a man- 
 ner as either to enliven or corre<5t each other, 
 they give almoft as much Attraction, as the 
 Pafllons are capable of adding to a very pretty 
 Face. 
 
 The prevailing PafTion in the Venus of Medici 
 is Modefly : It is expreft by each of her Hands, 
 in her Looks, and in the Turn of her Head. 
 
 And
 
 t H ] 
 
 And by the way, I queftion whether one of the 
 chief Reafons, why Side-faces pleafe one more than 
 Full ones, may not be from the former having 
 more of the Air of Modefty than the latter. 
 However that be, this is certain, that the beft 
 Artifts ufually chufe to give a Side-face, rather 
 than a Full one ; in which Attitude, the Turn of 
 the Neck too has more Beauty, and the Paflions 
 more Activity and Force. Thus, as to Hatred 
 and Affection in particular, the Look that was 
 formerly fuppofed to carry an Infection with it 
 from malignant Eyes, was a flanting Regard ; like 
 that which Milton gives to Satan , when he is 
 viewing the Happinefs of our firft Parents in Pa- 
 radife ; and the Fafcination, or Stroke of Love, 
 is moft ufually, I believe, conveyed, at firft, in 
 a Side-glance. 
 
 It is owing to the great Force of Pleafingnefs 
 which attends all the kinder Paflions; " That 
 Lovers do not only feem, but are really more 
 beautiful to each other, than they are to the reft 
 of the World ;" becaufe, when they are together, 
 the moft pleafing Paffions are more frequently ex- 
 erted in each of their Faces, than they are in either 
 before the reft of the World. There is then (as 
 a certain 'French Writer very well exprefles it) " A 
 " Soul upon their Countenances," which does not 
 
 Afidc the Devil tura'd 
 
 For Envy ; yet, with jealous Leer malign, 
 
 Ey'dthem aflu*ce. : -- : ParrdifSLoJl, B. 4. 504. 
 
 appear
 
 t *f ] 
 
 appear when they are abfent from each other ; or 
 cveti w-hen they are together, converfing with other 
 Perfons, that are indifferent to them, or rather lay 
 a Rtftraint upon their Features. 
 
 I dare fay you begin to fee the Preference, that 
 the Beauty of the Pafilons has over the Two Parts 
 of Beauty firft-mentioned -, and if any one was not 
 thoroughly convinced of it. I mould beg him to 
 confider a little the following Particulars ; of which, 
 every body muft have met with feveral Inftances, 
 in their Life-time. 
 
 That there is a great deal of Difference in the 
 fame Face, according as the Perfon is in a better 
 or worfe Humour, or in a greater or lefs Degree of 
 Livelinefs. 
 
 That the beft Complexion, the fineft Features, 
 and the exacted Shape, without any thing of the 
 Mind expreft on the Face, is as infipid and nn- 
 moving, as the waxen Figure of the fine Duchefe 
 of Richmond in fPfftmin/kr Abbey. 
 
 That a Face without any good Feature in if, 
 and with a very indifferent Complexion, (hall have 
 a very taking Air -, from the Senfibility of the 
 Eyes, the general good-humoured Turn of the 
 Look, and perhaps a little agreeable Smik about 
 the Mouth. And thefe Three Things, I be- 
 lieve, would go a great way toward accounting for 
 the Je ne ftai quoi, or that inexplicable Pleafmg' 
 E ncfs
 
 [26] 
 
 ncfs of the Face (as they chufe to call it), whicli 
 is fo often talked of, and fo little underftorod ; as 
 the greater Part, and perhaps all the reft of it, 
 would fall under the laft Article, that of Grace. 
 
 I once knew a very fine Woman,' who was ad- 
 mired by every body that faw her, and fcarce loved 
 by any body. This Ineffectualnefs of all her 
 Beauties Was occafioned by a Want of the pleafing 
 Paflions "in her Face, and an Appearance of the 
 difpleafing ones ; particularly, thole of Pride and 
 Ill-nature. Nero^ of old, feems * to have had this 
 unnleafingSort of Handfomenefs, and probably from 
 much the fameCaufe; the Good nefs of his Fea- 
 tures -being overlaid by the Uglinefs of the Paffions- 
 that appeared on his Face. 
 
 Trie fined Eyes in the World, with an Excefs 
 of Malice or Rage in them, will grow as fhocking 
 as they are in that fine Face of Medufa^ on the 
 famous Seal in the Sirozzi Family at Rome. 
 
 Thus you fee, that the Paflions can give Beau- 
 ty, without the Affiftance of Color or Form ; and 
 take rit .away, where they have united the moft 
 {Irongly to give it : And it was this that made me 
 aflferc, at firft, that this Part of Beauty was fo ex- 
 tremely fuperior to the other Two. 
 
 * Surttmitts, in his Life of that Emperor, fays, " That he 
 had a Look which might rather be called handfome than 
 ^leafing;" Vwltu, pul^hrQ roagii a^uam venufto. Ca$. 51* 
 
 This,
 
 This, by tfre way, may help us to account for 
 cKe Juftnefs of what Pliny afierts in fpeaking of 
 the famous Statue of Laocoon and his Two Sons : 
 He fays, It was the fineft Piece of Art in Rome ; 
 and * to be preferred to all the other Statues and 
 Pictures, of which they had fo noble a Collection 
 in his time. It had no Beauties of Color, to vie 
 with the Paintings ; and other Statues there (as the 
 Apollo Belvedere, and the Venus of Medici, in parr 
 ticular) were as finely proportioned as the Lao- 
 coon : But this had a much greater Variety of Ex- 
 preflion, even than thofe fine ones ; and it muft be 
 on that Account alone, that it could have been pre^ 
 ferable to them, and all tfre icft. 
 
 Before I quit this Head, I would juft remind 
 you of Two things that I have mentioned before : 
 That the chief Rule of the Beauty of the Pafiions, 
 is Moderation ; and that the Part in which they 
 appear mod ftrongiy, is the Eyes. It is there that 
 Love holds all his tendered Language : It is there 
 that Virtue commands, Modefty charms, Joy enli- 
 vens, Sorrow engages, and Inclination fires the Hearts 
 of the Beholders : It is there that even Fear, and 
 Anger, and Confufion, can be charming. But all 
 thefe, to be charming, muft Be kept w.ithjn their 
 due Bounds and Limits ; for too fullen an Appear- 
 ance of Virtue, a violent and proftitute Swell of 
 
 * Sicut in Laocoonte, qui eft in Titi Imperatoris dohio ; 
 ,opus, omnibus et pifture et ftatuariz artis prseferendum. 
 fits. AW. Hift. lib. 36. tap. 5. . ' 
 
 E 2 Paffion,
 
 [ '8] 
 
 Pafilon, a ruftic and overwhelming Modefty, a 
 deep Sadnefs, or too wild and impetuous a Joy, 
 become all either oppreffive or diiagreeable. 
 
 THE lad finiming and nobleft Part of Beauty 
 is Grace , which every body is accuftomed to fpeak 
 of as a thing * inexplicable ; and, in a great mea- 
 fure, I believe, it is fo. We know that the Soul 
 is, but we fcarce know what it is ; every Judge of 
 Beauty can point out Grace; but no one that I 
 know of has ever yet fixt upon a Definition for it. 
 
 Grace often depends on fome very little Inci- 
 dents in a fine Face ; and in Actions, it confifls 
 more in the manner of doing things, than in the 
 things themfclves. It is perpetually varying its 
 Appearances, and is therefore much more difficult 
 to be confidered, than any thing fixt and fteady. 
 While you look upon one, it fteals from under the 
 Eye of the Obferver ; and is fucceeded perhaps by 
 another, that flits away as foon, and as imper- 
 ceptibly. 
 
 * Decorum quodclam arcanum, atque fdicitas ; cujus ef- 
 feftum in multis videmus quotidie ; caufam vero reddere 
 nemo poteft. Erasmus in his Philodoxus. 
 
 Horace thought it fo far from being explicable, that he 
 does not even venture to give it any Name, in fome very 
 pretty Lines of his on this Subjeft. 
 
 Quo fugit Venus, heu .' quove Color? Deccns 
 Quo motus ? Quid habes illius, illius, 
 Qua fpirabat amores, 
 
 Qus me furpuerat mihi ? Lib. 4. Od. 13. 20.- 
 
 a
 
 It is on this Account that Grace is better to be 
 ftudied in Corregio^ Guido's, and Raphael's Pic- 
 tures, than in real Life. Thus, for Inftance, if I 
 wanted to difcover what it is that makes Anger 
 graceful, in a Set of Features full of the greateft 
 Sweetnefs ; I fhould rather endeavour to find it out 
 in Guido's St. Michael, than in Mrs. P*'l*t's 
 Face, if that ever had any Anger in it , becaufe, 
 in the pictured Angel, one has full Leifure to con- 
 fider it ; but, in the Jiving one, it would be too 
 tranfient and changeable to be the Subject of any 
 fteady Obfervation. 
 
 But though one cannot punctually fay what 
 Grace is, we may point out the Parts and Things 
 in which it is molt apt to appear. 
 
 The chief Dwelling-place of Grace is about the 
 Mouth ; though, at times, it may vifit every Limb 
 or Part of the Body. But the Mouth is the chief 
 Seat of Grace*; as much as the chief Seat for the 
 Beauty of the Paffions is in the Eyes. 
 
 In a very graceful Face, by which I do not fo 
 much mean a majeftic, as a foft and pleafing one, 
 there is now-and-then (for no Part of Beauty is 
 cither fo engaging, or fo uncommon) a certain 
 
 * Thus when the French ufe the Expreflion of vne louche 
 fort gracieufe, they mean it properly of Grace ; but when 
 they fay, desyeux tres gracicux, it then falls to the Share of 
 the Paffions ; and means kind or favourable. 
 
 Delici-
 
 [ 3 ] 
 
 Dclicioufnefs that almoft always lives about the 
 Mouth, in fomething not quite enough to be called 
 a Smile, but rather an Approach toward one ; 
 which varies gently about the different Lines there, 
 like a little fluttering Cupid , and perhaps fome- 
 tknes dilcovers a little Dimple, that after juft light- 
 ening upon you difappears, and appears again by 
 Fits. This I take to be one of the moft, pleafing 
 Sorts of Grace of any ; but you wiM underftand 
 what I mean by your own Memory, better than 
 by any Exprelfions I could pofiibly ufe to de* 
 (tribe it. 
 
 The Grace of Attitudes may belong to the Po- 
 fkion of each Part, as well as to the Carriage or 
 Difpofition of the whole Body ; but how much 
 more it belongs to the Head, than to any other 
 Part, may be feen in the Pieces of the mod cele- 
 brated Painters* and particularly, in thofc of Guido \ 
 who has been rather too iavifh in beftowing this 
 Beauty on almoft all his fine Women, whereas 
 Nature has given it in fo high a Degree but to very 
 few. 
 
 The Turns of the Neck are extremely capable 
 ef Grace , and are very eafy to be obferved, and 
 very difficult to be accounted for, 
 
 How much of this Grace may belong to the 
 
 Arms and Feet, as well as to the Neck and Head, 
 
 may be feen in dancing ; but it is not only in genr 
 
 $ec) Motions, that a very pretty Woman will be 
 
 1 graceful j
 
 graceful ; and Ovid (who was fo great a Matter b 
 all the Parts of Beauty) had very good Reafon for 
 faying*, That when Venus, to pleafe her Gallant, 
 imitated the hobbling Gait of her Hufband, her 
 very Lamenefs had a great deal of Prettinefs and 
 Grace in it. 
 
 " Every f Motion of a graceful Woman (fay? 
 another Writer of the fame Age) is full of Grace.'* 
 She defigns nothing by it perhaps, and may 'even 
 not be fenfible of it herfelf ; and indeed fhe mould 
 not be fo too much; for the Moment that any 
 Gefture or Action appears to be affected, it ceafes 
 to be graceful. 
 
 Horace [\ and Virgil feem to extend Grace 
 ib far, as to the Flowing of the I lair i and 
 
 27- 
 
 * Nee Venus oranti (neque enim Dea mollior ulla dty 
 
 Ruftica Gradivo diificillfve fuit; 
 Ah quoties lafciva pedes rififle mariti 
 
 Dicitur, & duras arte vel igne manus \ 
 Marte palam, fimulat Vulcanum : imitata decebat ; 
 
 Muhaque cum forma gratia mifta fuit. 
 
 Q<vid. dt Arfe Amandi, 2. 570. 
 -}- Illam, quicqwid agit, quoquo veftieia vertit, 
 
 Compoait furtira lubfequicurque decor. 
 
 '[ibullns, lib. 4: EL 2. 8. 
 
 H Crine decorum. - Horace, lib. i. Od. 32. 12. 
 Intonfofque agitaret Apollinis aura capillos. Id. Epod. 1 5. 9. 
 Ipfe jugis Cynthi graditur ; mollique fluentem 
 Pronde premit crinem fingens, atq,ue unplicat auro : 
 Tela fonant >umeris. Haud illo fegnior ibat 
 ; taatunt egre^vo decus enitet ore. 
 
 ' 
 
 
 And
 
 ftbttlluSt even to the Drefs of his Miftrefs ; but 
 then he afligns it more to her Manner of putting 
 on, and appearing in whatever me wears, than to 
 the Drefs itfelf. It is true, there is another wicked 
 Poet, who has faid (with much lefs Decency), " that 
 " Drefs is the better * Half of the Woman." 
 
 There are Two very diftinft (and as itwereoppo* 
 fite) Sorts of Grace ; the Majeftic, and the Familiar ; 
 I mould have called the latter by the Name of Pleaf- 
 ing, had not I been afraid of a Tautology ; for Grace 
 is Pleafingnefs itfelf : The former belongs chiefly 
 to the very fine Women ; and the latter, to the 
 very pretty ones ; that is the more commanding, 
 and this the more delightful and engaging. The 
 Grecian Painters and Sculptors ufed to exprefs the 
 former moft flrongly in the Looks and Attitudes of 
 their Minerva's ; and the latter, in thofe of Venus. 
 
 ^ in his Choice of Hercules (or, at 
 the excellent Tranflator of that Piece), has made 
 juft the fame Distinction in the Perfonages of 
 
 And again of the fame; 
 
 Qs humerofque Deo fimilis: namque ipfe decoram 
 Cazfariem nato genetrix, lumenque juventa; 
 Purpureum, & lastos oculis afflarat honores. &n. I. 591. 
 Seu folvit crines, fufis decet efTe capillis ; 
 
 Seu comfit, comtis eft veneranda comis : 
 Urit, feu Tyria voluit procedere palla ; 
 Urit, feu nivea. Candida vefte venit : 
 Talis in xterno felix Vertumnus Olympo 
 Millc habet ornatus, mille decenter habet. 
 
 Tibvlliu, lib. 4. El. 2. 14. 
 * *- Pars miflima eft ipla puella fui. Ovid. 
 
 Wifdon)
 
 [33] 
 
 Wifdom and Pleafure ; the former of which he 
 defcribes as moving on to that young Hero, with 
 the majeftic Sort of Grace ; and the latter, with the 
 familiar, 
 
 l^ yet each with different Grace they move ; 
 ? 'hi 'striking [acred AIL >e, that f after winning Love*. 
 
 The ftrongeft Examples of each kind that I ever 
 remember to have feen, was Lady S* * *., for 
 the majcftic fort of Grace -, Lady R* * * , for the 
 familiar i and Mrs. B * * * , for each, at differ- 
 ent times ; and fometimes for both of them united 
 and blended together. 
 
 But not to have you imagine, that I am inclined 
 to confine this Part of Beauty only to Perfons of 
 Quality and Diftin&ion ; 1 mail juft add, that wt 
 meet it, not unfrequently, even on the Stage; 
 and particularly, in that fort of Dances which are 
 meant to exprefs Characters and Paffions ; and in 
 which you may eafily recollect how much Comargo 
 excelled, for the nobler fort of Grace-, and .Foja- 
 nine* for the more tender and pathetic. 
 
 There is no Poet I have ever read, who feems 
 to me to underftand this Part of Beauty fo well 
 as our own Milton. He fpeaks of thefe Two 
 forts of Grace, very diilinctly ; and gives the 
 
 * Choice of Hercules, St. 3. 
 
 F Ma-
 
 [ 34 ] 
 
 Majeftic * to his Adam, and both the Familiar 
 and Majfflic to Eve \ but the latter in a lefs De- 
 gree than the former : In doing which he might 
 either be led by his own excellent Judgment, or 
 poflibly might have an Eye to what is faid by 
 f Cicero , in fpeaking on this Subject. 
 
 * Two of far nobler Shape, ercft and tall, 
 Godlike eredl, 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 lhane : 
 Truth, Wifdom, Sanftitude fevere and pure ; 
 Severe, but in true filial Freedom plac'd ; 
 Whence true Authority in Men : Though both 
 Not equal, as their Sex not equal, feem'd. 
 For Contemplation he, and Valour, form'd ; 
 For Softnefs fhe, and fweet attractive Grace. 
 
 Milton t Par ad. Loft, I. 4. 298. 
 
 _ f efpy'd thee, fair indeed and tall, 
 
 Under a Plantain ; yet methought lefs fair, 
 Lefs winning foft, lels amiably mild, 
 
 Than that imooth watry Image. 
 
 (Eve, of" Adam and herfelf.) Ib. v. 480. 
 
 .. . . Her heav'nly Form 
 
 Angelic, but more foft and feminine; 
 Her graceful Innocence ; her evVy Air 
 
 Of Geiture, or leaft Adlion. B. 9. 461. 
 
 Grace was in all her Steps : Heav'n, in her Eye ; 
 In ev'ry Geflure Dignity, and Love. . 8. 489. 
 
 -Speaking, or mute, all Comelinefs and Grace 
 Attends thee j and each Word, each Motion, forms. 
 
 Ib. *v. 223. 
 
 It is obfervable, that in each of the Three lafl Paflages, Miiton 
 ieems to have had thofe Lines oi-Tibitllus in his Thoughts; 
 Illam, quicquid agit, quoquo veftigia vertit, 
 Componit furtim fubfequiturque decor. 
 
 f Venuftatem, rmuiebrem ducere debemus; dignitatem, 
 virilcm, Cicero de 0$c. lib. i . 130. 
 
 Though
 
 Though Grace is fo difficult to be accounted for 
 in general ; yet I have obferv'd Two particular 
 things, which (I think) hold univerfally in rela- 
 tion to it. 
 
 The Fi-rft is : " That there is no Grace, with- 
 " out Motion i" by which I mean, without fome 
 genteel or pleafin.g Motion, either of the whole 
 Body, or of fome Limb, or, at Jeaft, of fome 
 Feature. And it may be hence, that Lord Bacon 
 (and, perhaps, Horace), * call Grace, by the Name 
 of decent Motion j juft as if they were equivalent 
 Terms. 
 
 Virgil in one Place points out the Majefty of 
 Juno> and in another the graceful Air of Apollo f, 
 by only faying, that they move ; and poffibly he 
 means no more, when he makes the Motion of 
 -Venus the principal thing, by which Mneas dif- 
 
 * In Beauty, that of Favour is more than that of Colour; 
 and that of gracious and decent Motion, more than that of 
 Favour. Lord Batmis Works, Vol. 3. p. 362. 
 
 Quo fugit Venus, heu ! quove color ? Decens 
 
 Quo motus ? (For fo, I think, this Paflage fhould be 
 
 read ; becaufe the Epithet of graceful, cannot belong to Co- 
 Jour) Horace, lib. 4. Qd. 13. J8. 
 
 f Aft ego., qua? divum inctdo regina ./. i. 46. 
 
 Ipfe jugis Cynthi graditur. jEn. 4. 147. 
 
 Dixit ; & avertens rofta cervice refulfit j 
 
 Ambrofisque comx divinum vertice odorem 
 
 ^Spiravere : pedes veftis defluxit ad imos ; 
 
 jEt vera inceffu patuit Dea. Ilk ubi matrem 
 
 Agnovit, &c. >-"- " JEn.-i. 406. 
 
 F ^ covers
 
 covers her under all her Difguife , though the Com- 
 mentators, as ufual, would fain find out a more 
 dark and myfterious Meaning for it. 
 
 All the bed Statues are reprefented as in fome 
 Action, or Motion ; and the mod graceful Statue 
 in the World (the Apollo Behedere) is fo much fo, 
 that when one faces it at a little Diftance, one is 
 almoft apt to imagine, that he is actually going to 
 move on toward you. 
 
 All graceful Heads, even in the Portraits of the 
 beft Painters, are in Motion ; and very ftrongly in 
 thofe of Guido in particular , which, as you may 
 remember, are all either cafting their Looks up 
 toward Heaven, or down toward the Ground, or 
 fide-way, as regarding fome Object. A Head 
 that is quite unactive, and flung flat upon the 
 Canvas (like the Faces on Medals after the Fall of 
 the Roman Empire, or the Gothic Heads before 
 the Revival of the Arts) will be fo far from having 
 any Grace, that it will not even have any Life 
 in it. 
 
 The Second Obfervation is : " That there can 
 " be no Grace, with Impropriety;" or, in other 
 "Words, that nothing can be graceful, that is not 
 adapted to the Characters of the Perfon. 
 
 The Graces of a little lively Beauty would be- 
 come ungraceful in a Character of Majefty ; as 
 the majeftic Airs of an Emprefs would quite de- 
 
 ftroy
 
 ftroy the Prettinefs of the former. The Vivacity 
 that adds a Grace to Beauty in Youth, would give 
 an additional Deformity to old Age , and the very 
 fame Airs, which would be charming on fome Oc~ 
 cafions, may be quite {hocking when extremely 
 mif-timed, or extremely mif-placed. 
 
 This infeparable Union of Propriety and Grace 
 feems to have been the general Senfe of Mankind ; 
 as we may guefs from the * Languages of feveral 
 Nations ; in which Ibme Words that anfwer to our 
 Proper or Becoming, are ufcd indifferently for 
 Beautiful or Graceful. 
 
 And yet I cannot think (as fome feem inclined 
 to do), that Grace confifts entirely in Propriety ; 
 bccaufe Propriety is a thing eafy enough to be un- 
 derftood, and Grace (after all we can fay about it) 
 very difficult. Propriety therefore and Grace are 
 no more one and the fame thing, than Grace and 
 Motion are: 'Tis true, it cannot fubfi ft without 
 either , but then there feems to be fomething elfe, 
 what I cannot explain, and what I do not know 
 that ever any body has explained, that goes to the 
 Compofition , and which pofiibly may give its 
 greateft Force and Pleafingnefs, 
 
 * Thus, among the Greeks, the Words Uf,^cv and 
 and among the Romans, Pulcbrum and Decent, or Decorum t 
 are ufed indifferently for one aqother. 
 
 What-
 
 Whatever are the Caufes of it, this is certain, 
 that Grace is the chief of all the conftituent Part* 
 of Beauty; and fo much fo, that it feems to be the 
 only one which is abfolutely and univerfally ad- 
 mired : All the reft are only relative. One likes a 
 brunette Beauty better than a fair one i I may love 
 a little Woman, and you a large one, beft ; a Per foil 
 of a mild Temper will be fond of the gender Paffiqns 
 in the Face, and one of a bolder Caft may chufe 
 to have more Vivacity .and more vigorous Pafiions 
 cxpreft there : But Grace is found in few, and is 
 pleating to all. 
 
 Grace, like Poetry, muft be born with a Perfon ; 
 and is never, wholly, to be acquired by Art. 
 
 The moft celebrated of aUl the antient Painters, 
 was df elles; and the moft celebrated of all the 
 Modern, Raphael: And 'tis remarkable, that the 
 xliftinguiming Character of each of them was Grace. 
 Indeed, that alone could have given them fo high 
 a Pre-eminence over all their other Competitors. 
 
 Grace has nothing to do with the loweft Part 
 of Beauty, or Color -, very little with Shape, and 
 very much with the Paflions j for it is he who 
 gives their higheft Zeft, and the moft delicious 
 Part of their Pleafingnefs to the Expreflionfi of each 
 of them. 
 
 All the other Parts of Beauty are pleafmg ia Jbme 
 
 Dr;e, but Grace is Pieafingnefs itfclf 5 and the 
 
 2 eld
 
 [39] 
 
 old Rowans in general feem to have had thi& No- 
 tion of it ; as may be, inferred from the original 
 Import * of the Names which they ufed for this 
 Part of Beauty. 
 
 The Greeks, as well as the Romans ', muft have 
 been of this Opinion j when, in fettling their My- 
 thology, they made the Graces the conftant At- 
 tendants of Venus, or ; the Caufe of Love ; and, 
 in Fact, there is nothing caufes Love fo generally, 
 and fo irrefiftibly, as Grace. 'Tis like the Cefttts 
 of the fame Goddefs, which was fuppofed to com- 
 prehend "f every thing that was winning and en- 
 
 gaging 
 
 * Gratia, from gratus, or pleafing ; and decor, from detent* 
 or becoming. 
 
 f- H, KAi O.TO S-fr^cffqiV iXVZa] 1 } KtSOV l(JLAV\Ot. 
 
 ^e Ct -vZ\)llcL <3Tflt|/]a T(\JK\0. 
 
 f, HT' 5;tAe-4. rocv irv&a. i<rz w 
 JC f& 01 iuo,hz y*stv, Z-TOS 7 
 
 Ti) I'VV T<T\:V IfJiAi^f Tito 
 
 sv yz vi-;Ai, o TI f 
 iv z 
 
 o. t 
 
 Homer, //. . 2 1J. 
 
 She faid ; with Awe divine, the Queen of Love 
 .Obey'd the Sifter and the Wife of Jo<ue : 
 And from her fragrant Breaft the Zone unbrac'd, 
 With various Skill and high Embroid'ry grac'd. 
 In this was ev'ry Art, and ev'ry Charm, 
 To win the- wifeft, and the coldeft warm : 
 Pond Love, the gentle Vow, the gay Delire, 
 The kind Deceit, the dill reviving Fire, 
 Perfuafive Speech, and more perluafive Sighs, 
 Silence thr.t fpoke, and Eloquence of Eyes. 
 
 This
 
 140] 
 
 -gaging in it ; and befide all, to oblige the Heart 
 to Love, by a fecret and inexplicable Force, like 
 that of foine magic Charm. 
 
 AS CRITO paufed here, both MILESIUS and 
 TIMANTHES thanked him for his Account of a 
 thing, which they had never heard fo far accounted 
 for before ; and the latter added, that in his Divi- 
 fion of the Parts which conftitute Beauty, he, at 
 firft, thought him guilty of an Omiffion, in not 
 adding a Fifth, that of Motion. CRITO laid, that 
 he had not forgot that, but thought it was compre- 
 
 This on her Hand the Cfprinn Gocldefs laid ; 
 Take this, and with it all thy Wilh, me faid : 
 With Smiles (he took the Charm ; and fmiling preft 
 The pow'rful Ceflus to her fnowy Breaft. 
 
 P 
 
 La Matte's Imitation of the fame Paffage, is extremely good 
 too ; though he adds a French Flourifh at the End of it. 
 Ce tiflu, le fimbole & la caufe a la fois 
 J)u pouvoir de 1' amour, du charme de fes loix. 
 Kile enfiamme les yeux. de cet ardeur qui touche; 
 I)' un fourire enchanteur, elle anime la bouche : 
 Paflionne la voix, en adoucit les ions; 
 Prete ces tours heureux, -plus forts que les raifons : 
 Jnfpire, pour toucher, ces tendres ilratagemcs; 
 Ces rcfus attirans, 1* ecueil des fages meiues; 
 F.t la nature enfin y voulut renfermer 
 Tout ce qui perfuade, & ce qui fait aimer. 
 
 En prenant ce tifTu, que Venus lui prefente, 
 Junon n' etoit que belle, elle devient charmante. 
 I.es graces, & les ris, les plaifirs, & les jeux, 
 Surpris dierchcnt Venn? ; doutent qai \" eft des deux: 
 I,' Amour meme trompt', truuve Junon plus belle; 
 t, Con arc la main, dcja vole apres elle. 
 
 hcndcd
 
 [4i J 
 
 hended Under the other Heads, for all gefttecl 
 Motion (fays he), as I have been fo lately mention- 
 ing, falls under the Article of Grace ; whence Ho- 
 race calls it by it's true Name of graceful Motion ; 
 and common Motions are only fo many Variations 
 of the Attitude, or Pofition of the particular Parts 
 of the Body, and Features of the Face : The more 
 fignificant of which, belong to the Article of the 
 Pafiions* and the lefs fignificant, may be compre- 
 hended under that of mere Form or Figure. And 
 now I mention Horace , added he, 'tis obfervabb 
 enough, that he, and the other Roman Authors* 
 have diftinft Names for each of my Four confti- 
 tuent Parts of Beauty, which the Commentators 
 and Dictionary-writers have been fometimeS too 
 apt to miftake for Names of Beauty in general. 
 Thus for the Firft they ufe the Word, Color ; for 
 the Second, Forma ; for the Third, they feem to 
 have had feveral diftinct Names, according to the 
 different Sorts of Paflions whofe Delightfulnefs they 
 fpoke of; for the Fourth, they ufed Gratia and 
 Decor, when they fpoke of it in general ; and 
 Venuftas or Dignitas^ when they had a mind to be 
 more particular. Their Word Nilcr too** and 
 
 * ' Liparsei nitor Hebfi. thrat. Lib. 3 Od. 12. 6. 
 
 Urit me Glycene nitor 
 Splendentis Fario mannore purius. 
 
 U, Ub. i, Od. 19. 6. 
 
 The Epithet marmorcvs, clurnem, and ca<djs, are all ap- 
 plied to fceamies by the Roman Poets; ibmetimes as to ti c.r 
 SLape, and iomecimes as to the Shinirignefs hcic ipoken oi. 
 
 G
 
 [42] 
 
 fome others of a like Import, which feem fom@~ 
 times to be ufed in general for Beauty, belong 
 more properly to that fuperficial Sort of Beauty, 
 which I mentioned in part under the Firft Head, 
 in fpeaking of the filky Appearance of the Skin, 
 and the Luminoufnefs in fome Eyes. But to talk 
 of Things, rather than Words ; I mould be willing 
 to add fome general Obfervations that I have made, 
 at times, in thinking on this Subjecl. 
 
 It has been obferved by fome Writers, that 
 there is naturally a great deal of Propriety in Plea- 
 fure ; or, in other Words, that PJeafure is annext 
 by Nature to fuch Things as are proper for our 
 Prefervation, and Pain to fuch as would be de- 
 ftructive to us. Thus Pleafure, for Example, is 
 annext to Food and Exercife ; and Pain, to fuch 
 Degrees of Abftinence and Indolence as would be 
 hurtful. The fame may be obferved in the differ- 
 ent Sort of Pleafures, adapted to each Stage of 
 human Life. Thus in Infancy, when Growth is 
 as neceflary as Support, we have more frequent 
 Returns of Appetite, and more Pleafure in Feed- 
 ing -, and as frequent Feeding requires the more 
 Exercife, the chief Pleafure of that Age confifts 
 in the Love of Motion, and in a Series of little 
 fportive Exerciies. The fame is carried on in other 
 Pleafures, equally adapted to the middle and latter 
 Stages of Life ; fo far, that where-ever Nature has 
 affixt a Pleafure, me feems to lead and conduct us 
 toward fome Duty or other j either for the Pre- 
 fer Vuiion
 
 [43 ] 
 
 fervation of the Individual, or the Continuance of 
 the Species. 
 
 There is a great deal of the fame Propriety to 
 be obferved, in the Difpenfation of Beauty ajnd 
 Deformity. The good Paffions are all pleafing ; 
 and the bad, dilagreeable. Virtue is naturally the 
 moft beautiful and lovely thing in the World j 
 and Vice, the moft odious and deformed. 
 
 There is alfo a Propriety in the Timing of Beau- 
 ty. Thus, for Inftance, a Peach or a Pine-apple 
 are in their 'higbeft Beauty, juft at the time that 
 they fhould be eat. They want a Ripenefs of 
 Colors, as well as of Tafte, till they come to that 
 State j and gradually decay in Beauty, as they go 
 farther and farther from it. 
 
 It might found odd to you, if I lliould fay, that 
 a Woman is like a Pine-apple ; yet the Similitude 
 would hold much farther, and in more Particulars, 
 than any one would at firft imagine. She has her 
 Seafon of growing to her greateft State of Beauty, 
 of Continuance in it, and of a Decay from it, as 
 well as that , and the higheft Seafon of their Beau- 
 ty is juft as properly timed in the one Cafe, as in 
 the other. 
 
 As to the Quantity of Beauty, in particular 
 
 Perfons, I have fometimes had a Thought, which 
 
 may ferve (at leaft) to divert you. You know that 
 
 Monf. de PikSy in his Lives of the Painters, has 
 
 G 2 laid
 
 [ 44] 
 
 laid dov/n a Scale by which one may judge of their 
 comparative Excellence. Now I fhould think, that 
 a Scale 'might be fettled in the fame manner, by 
 which one might judge tolerably well of the pro- 
 portional Excellence in any of our moft celebrated 
 Beauties, In this Scale, I would fet the higheft 
 Excellence in Color, at Ten ; in Shape, at Twenty ; 
 in ExprefTion, at Thirty i and in Grace, at Forty. 
 So that the greatefl Excellence of Beauty, at the 
 higheft Reckoning in each Part of it, would 
 amount in all to One hundred. 
 
 There is probably no Inftance of the higheft Ex- 
 cellence in all thefe Particulars, in any one Perfon. 
 They who run very high in fome Articles, are often 
 as deficient in others. If I was to ftate the Ac- 
 count, as to fome particular Ladies, who have 
 been generally allowed to be very great Beauties, I 
 fhould aflign to Lady L. B * * * , Eight for Color, 
 Four for Shape, Twenty-five for Expreffion, and 
 Ten for Grace ; in all, Forty-feven ; not quite 
 Jialf-way in the complete Sum of Excellence : 
 To Mrs. A * * * , Eight for Color, Seventeen for 
 Shape, Fifteen for Expreflion, and Twenty for 
 Grace ; in all, Sixty Degrees of Excellence : And 
 to Mrs. B* * *, Eight for Color, Ten for 
 Shape, Twenty-five for Expreflion, and Thirty 
 for Grace ; in all, Seventy-three. And that is the 
 higheft Sum, that I could in Confcience allow to 
 any Woman that I have ever yet feen. 
 
 3 
 
 Extreme
 
 [4f ] 
 
 Extreme Deformity mould be rated, under each 
 Article, at the fame Numbers as the higheft Ex- 
 cellence , and, in mixt Beauties, Deductions fhould 
 be made for them, in the fame manner as the Ad- 
 ditions are for the former. Thus, for Example, 
 Mrs. M* * * , for Color Six, Shape Fifteen, Ex- 
 preffion Twenty, to be deducted -, Grace Five ; 
 which will reduce her other Degrees of Excellence 
 only to Six. 
 
 Others would have no Share at all, in our pre- 
 fent Subject , as falling, under each Article, to the 
 Balance of Deformity. Thus Mrs. P * * * , bad 
 Color Six, Shape ditto Four, Exprefiion of bad 
 Paffions Twenty- five, Un graceful nefs Ten; which 
 together make Forty-five, all on the wrong Side 
 of the Queftion. 
 
 I do not pretend, in all this, to have made my 
 Calculations exactly; but rather to point out to 
 you, what might be done by fuch as are more exact 
 Judges of Beauty than I can pretend to be. The 
 beft may be liable to fome little falfe Byas or other ; 
 but if their Calculations did not anfwer in every 
 Point precifely to the Truth, they might at leaft 
 come very near it. 
 
 Thefe exact Judges indeed may not be fo fre- 
 quently to be met with ; for Judgment, as well as 
 Beauty, is dealt out in very unequal Proportions to 
 Mankind ; and a very great Excellence in either, 
 falls to the Lot of but a few. However, good 
 
 Judgment
 
 [46 ] 
 
 Judgment is the more common of the Two ; and, 
 I believe, People in general are more capable of 
 judging right of Beauty (at lead, in fome Parts of 
 it), than they are of moft other Things. 
 
 Yet there are a great many Caufes, apt t mif- 
 lead the Generality in their Judgments of Beauty ; 
 and I mail beg leave to enumerate fome of them. 
 
 If the Affection is entirely engaged by any one 
 Object, a Man is apt to allow all Perfections to 
 that Perfon; and very little, in -comparifon, to 
 any body elfe ; or, if they ever commend others 
 highly, 'tis for fome Circumftance in which they 
 bear -fome Refemblance to their favourite Object. 
 
 People are very often mifled in their Judg- 
 ments, by a Similitude either of their own Tem- 
 per, or Perfonage, in others. It is hence, that a 
 Perfon of a mild Temper is more apt to be pleafed 
 with the gentler Paffions in the Face of his Miftrefs ; 
 and one of a very lively Turn would choofe more 
 of Spirit and Vivacity in his , that little People are 
 inclin'd to prefer pretty Women, and larger People 
 majeftic ones ; and fo on, in a great Variety of 
 Inftances. This may be called falling in Love 
 with ourfelves, at Second-hand ; and Self-love (what- 
 ever other Love may be) is fometimes fo falfe- 
 fighted, that it may make the moft plain, and even 
 the moft difagreeable, things feem beautiful and 
 pleating. 
 
 Ire-
 
 [47 ] 
 
 I remember, at the Tryal of the Scotch Lords a 
 few Years ago in IVeJlminfter-hall^ a Pair of apifh 
 Lovers, that fat by each other ; and gave no fmall 
 Diverfion to a good Part of that large Company, 
 .before the Lords made their Appearance. They 
 were perpetually turning their Heads toward each 
 other, a good deal in the fame manner, and at the 
 fame time ; fmil*d together, grinn'd together, and 
 laugh'd out together. All their Actions were pleaf- 
 ing to each other, though fo very difpleafmg to 
 every body elfe. 
 
 Sometimes an Idea of Ufefulnefs may give a 
 Turn to our Ideas of Beauty ; as the very fame 
 things are reckoned Beauties in a Coach-horfe, 
 which would be fo many Blemilhes in a Race- 
 horfe. 
 
 I have often thought fome Ladies a little too 
 unguarded, as to this Particular. They feem to 
 have the Polyphemus * Idea of Beauty ; and talk as 
 
 if 
 
 * When U/vfes, after having put out that Cjchp/'s Eye, 
 tells him his Veal Name and Charader ; the Moniter makes 
 the following Exclamation : 
 
 TOTSTO/, H {J.\(t cTtl ^.Z -TTAK&t$Ct\& SSffZaA IX-AVel. 
 rtftyp VUf Tt 
 
 Of fjiOl H 
 
 OJ^utr 
 
 AA.A. fit/H 7IVO. $(} St. [J.iy&V 
 
 Oh
 
 [ 48 ], 
 
 if it was a Maxim abfolutely eftabliflit in their 
 Breads, that nothing can be beautiful, unlefs it has 
 fome Approach to the Gigantic. " Such a Man," 
 ; fays Mrs. D * * * , "is really a pretty Fellow, 
 '* though fo little ;" without confidering, that he 
 could not be fo pretty, if he was larger. And 
 then is fhe for ever crying up her chief Favourite, 
 Mr. E * * * , with that very bad Face, and thofe 
 very bad Paffions which generally appear in it, only 
 becaufe his Shoulders fpread a good deal wider, 
 than they ought to do. 
 
 But the greateft and moft general Mifleader of 
 our Judgments, in relation to Beauty, is Cuftom, 
 or the different national Taftes for Beauty ; which 
 turn chiefly on the Two lower Parts of it, Color 
 and Form. 
 
 It was from the moft common Shape of his 
 Countrywomen that Rubens, in his Pictures, de- 
 lights fo much in Plumpnefs ; not to give it a 
 worfe Name. Whenever he was to reprefent the 
 moft beautiful Women, he is fure to give them 
 a good Share of Corpulence. It feems as if no- 
 
 Oh Heav'ns ! Oh Faith of antient Prophecies F 
 
 This Telttuus Eurymlda foretold : 
 
 Long fmce he menac'd, fuch was Heav'n's Command? 
 And nam'd U/j/es as the deitin'd Hand. 
 I deem'd fome godlike Giant to behold ; 
 Or lofty* Hero, haughty, brave, and bold ; 
 
 "Not this weak pjgmy Wretch. 
 
 Pope's Trartjlat. B. 9. V. 6oj. 
 
 body
 
 '[49] 
 
 body could be a Beauty with him, under Two 
 hundred Weight. His very Graces are all fat. 
 
 But this may go much farther than mere Bulk ; 
 it will reach even to very great Deformities ; which 
 fometimes grow into Beauties, where they are ha- 
 bitual and general. One of our own Countrymen 
 (who was a particularly handfome Man), in his tra- 
 velling over the Alps, was detained by a Fever in 
 one of thofe Villages, where every grown Perfon 
 has that fort of Swellings in the Neck, which they 
 call Gofers ; and of which I have feen ibme, very 
 near as big as their Heads. The firft Sunday that 
 he was able, he went to their Church (for he was a 
 Roman Catholic) to return Thanks to Heaven for his 
 Recovery. A Man of fo good a Figure, and fo 
 well dreft, had probably never before been within 
 the Walls of that Chapel. Every body's Eyes 
 were fixt upon him -, and, as they went out, they 
 cried out, loud enough for him to hear them ; " O 
 " how completely handfome would that Man be, 
 " if he had but a Goter!" 
 
 In fome of the mod military Nations of Africa, 
 no Man is reckoned handfome that has not Five or 
 Six Scars in his Face. This Cuftom migh't, pof- 
 fibly, at firft, be introduced among them, to make 
 them lefs afraid of Wounds in that Part, in Battle ; 
 but, however that was, . it grew at laft to have fo 
 great a Share in their Idea of Beauty, that they 
 now cut and flam the Faces of their poor little 
 Infarits, in order to give them thofe Graces when 
 H they
 
 [50] 
 
 they are grown up, which are fo neceffary to win 
 the Hearts of their Miftrefies , and which, with 
 the Afliftance of fome Jewels, or Ingots of Gold, 
 in their Nofes, Ears, and Lips, muft certainly be 
 irrefiftible to the Ladies of that Country. 
 
 The Covering each Cheek all over with a burn- 
 ing Sort of red Color, has long been look'd upon 
 in a neighbouring Country to be as necefTary to 
 render a fine Lady's Face completely beautiful, as 
 thefe Scars are for the Beaux in Africa. 
 
 *Tis really furprifing, that there ihould be fo 
 wide a Difference in the Taftes of Two Countries, 
 as there is in this Particular between the French and 
 us ; when the bordering People of each live nearer 
 together, than the Inhabitants do in the Extremes 
 of one of our own moderate Counties -, as, for In- 
 ftance, in this good County of Surry, in parti- 
 cular. 
 
 The Firft time I faw the Ladies all ranged in 
 the Front of the Boxes, at the Opera at Paris, they 
 feem'd to me to look like a long Bed of high-co- 
 lor'd full-blown Pionies- in a Garden. 
 
 The Two prettieft Women I have ever feen, 
 are the Duchefs.of B * * * , in France, and Mrs. 
 A* * * , in England > and the very Reafon why 
 I (hould give the Preference to the latter of the 
 Two is, that the former is obliged, by the Falhion 
 of the Country where Ihe lives, to heighten the 
 
 Color
 
 Color of the Rofes which Nature had fcattered 
 over her Cheeks, into one great Mafs of Ver- 
 milion. 
 
 Were a Frenchman^ on his fir ft Coming over 
 hither, to fee a Set of our greateft Beauties all in 
 a Row, he might probably think them like a Bed 
 of Lilies , or, at leaft, like a Border of light-co- 
 lor'd Pinks. 
 
 In fact, when the Count de Grammont was in 
 England in King Charles the Second's time, when 
 the Court was fo gay, and fo particularly well 
 furnifhed with Beauties j he faid, " That the 
 " Englijb Ladies were particularly handfome ; but 
 " that it was a great Pity that they were all fo 
 pale.'* 
 
 The natural Complexion of the Italian Ladies is 
 of a higher Glow than ours ufually are ; and yet 
 Mr. Addifon is very juft, in making a Numidian 
 call the Ladies of the fame Country, " * Pale, 
 " unripen'd Beauties." 
 
 The glowing Dames of Zama's royal Court 
 Have Faces flufhc with more exalted Charms : 
 The Sun, that rolls his Chariot o'er their Heads, 
 Works up more Fire and Color in their Cheeks : 
 Were you with thefe, my Prince, you'd foon forget 
 The pale, unripen'd, Beauties of the North ! 
 
 S}pbax, tojuba; in Cato. Aft I. 80.4. 
 
 H 2 The
 
 The Prince of Annamalao^ who had been To 
 long, and later! y fu much ufed to the European 
 Complexion, yet faid, a little before he left Lon- 
 don -~ " That Mifs C*JL2 would be the mod 
 " charming Woman in the World, if me was but 
 " a Negro." 
 
 I remember to have read, in an Account of 
 fome of the fartheft Travels that any of our People 
 have made up the River Gambia -, that when they 
 came to fome Villages, where probably no Eu- 
 ropeans had ever been before, the Women ran 
 frighten'd and fcreaming from them i on taking 
 them to be Devils, merely on Account of the 
 Whitenefs of their Complexion. 
 
 I cannot help obferving to you, that Heaven is 
 very good and merciful to Mankind even in making 
 us capable of all this Variety of Miftakes. If 
 every Perfon judg'd exactly right of Beauty, every 
 Man that was in Love in fuch a Diftricl, would be 
 in Love with the fame Woman. Only confider of 
 what fatal Confequence' this muft be, in any City 
 or Town that you arc bed acquainted with. The 
 acknowleged Fair one, in the lame manner, could 
 choofe out but one happy Man for her Favourite, 
 in all her Town of Lovers , and all the reft muft 
 be left in a State of Defpair. This (as bad as it 
 would be) is only the beft Side of the Cafe ; and 
 fuppofing every thing to be carried on with a Pa- 
 tience and Tranquillity, that would then be almoft 
 impoflible ; for, in Truth, if the Affections of all 
 
 centred
 
 [53] 
 
 centred on the fame Object, nothing but perpetual 
 Quarrels and Mifchiefs would be to be appre- 
 hended. The fuperior Beauty of each Hamlet 
 would be the Object of the Hate and Malice of 
 all the reft of her own Sex in it ; and the Caufe of 
 Diilenfion and Murders among all of the other. 
 If this would hold in one Town, it would hold, 
 for the fame Reafons, in every other Town or 
 Diftrict ; and of courfe, there would be nothing 
 more wanting than this univerfal right Judgment 
 of Beauty, to render the whole World one con- 
 tinued Scene of Blood and Mifery. 
 
 But now that Fancy has perhaps more to do with 
 Beauty than Judgment, there is an Infinity of Taftes, 
 and confequently an Infinity of Beauty ; for, to the 
 Mind of the Lover, fuppofed Beauty is full as 
 good as real. Every body may now choofe out 
 what happens to hit his own Turn and Call. The 
 honeft Ruftic can think himfelf happy in his Wo- 
 man of a good ftrong Make, and fun-burnt 
 frowfy Complexion ; the fine Gentleman may be 
 bleft in his Coquette , the common Soldier can de- 
 light himfelf with his Gnvdrinking Trull ; and the 
 Captain, with his military Miftrefs. 
 
 . This increafes the Extent of Beauty vaftly, and 
 makes it in a manner univerfal , for there are but 
 few People, in comparifon, that are truly beauti- 
 ful j but every body may be beautiful in the Ima- 
 gination of fome one or other. As I have faid 
 before, fome may delight themfelves in a black 
 
 Skin,
 
 Skin, and others in a white ; fome in a gentle na- 
 tural Rofmefs of Complexion, others in a high, 
 exalted, artificial Red ; fome Nations, in Waifts 
 difproportionably large ; and another, in Waifts 
 as difproportionably fmall. In fhort, the moft op- 
 pofite Things imaginable /may each be looked upon 
 as beautiful, in whole different Countries ; or by 
 different People, in the fame Country. 
 
 I mould be apt to make a Diftinclion here 
 again, as to the Two former Parts of Beauty, and 
 the Two latter. Fancy has much more to do in 
 the Articles of Form and Color, than in thofe of 
 the Paffions and Grace. The good Pafllons, as 
 they are vifible on the Face, are apparent Good- 
 nefs, and that mull be generally amiable ; and true 
 Grace, where-ever it appears to any Degree, I mould 
 think, muft be pleafing to every human Creature ; 
 or, perhaps, this may never appear in the Women 
 of any Nation, where the Men are grown fo favage 
 and brutal, as to have loft all Tafte for it. 
 
 Yet, even as to Grace itfelf, under the Notion of 
 Pleafingnefs (as I was juft now calling it), it may 
 become almoft univerfal ; and be as fubjefl to the 
 Dominion of Fancy, as any of the lefs fignificant 
 Parts of Beauty. A Parent can fee Genteelnefs, in 
 the moft aukward Child perhaps that ever was 
 born ; and a Perfon who is truly in Love, will be 
 pleas* d with every Motion and Air of the Perfon 
 belov'd ; which is the moft diftinguifhing Cha- 
 racter that belongs to Grace. 'Tis true, this is 
 
 all
 
 [55 1 
 
 all a miftaken Grace-, but, as to that particular 
 Perfon, it has all the Effects of the true. 
 
 Since I have fpoken of this Extent and Univer- 
 fality of fuppos'd Beauty, it would be very un- 
 grateful not to fay fome thing of the real Beauty of 
 the other Works of Nature ; which feem to reach 
 every- where, as far as we are acquainted with them ; 
 and to meet us, which-ever Way. we turn our 
 Eyes. 
 
 If we look upon the Earth, we fee it laid out in 
 a thoufand beautiful Inequalities, and a pleafing Va- 
 riety of Plains, Hills, and Mountains; generally 
 cloathed by Nature in a living Green, the Color 
 that is the moft delightful and the mod refrefhing 
 to the Eye ; diverfified with an Infinity of different 
 Lights and Shades ; adorn' d with various Sorts of 
 Trees, Fruits, and Flowers ; interfperft often with 
 winding Rivers, or limpid Streams, or fpreading 
 Lakes ; or terminating perhaps on a View of the 
 Sea, which is for ever changing its Form, and in 
 every Form is pleafing. 
 
 If we look up to the Heavens, how charming are 
 the Rifing of the Sun, the gentle Azure of the 
 noble Arch expanded over our Heads, the various 
 Appearance and Colors of the Clouds, the fleeting 
 Shower, and the painted Bow ! Even in the Ab- 
 fence of its great Enlivener, the Sun, we fee it all 
 ftudded with living Lights, or gilded by the more 
 folemn Beauties of the Moon i moft pleafing in 
 
 her
 
 [56] 
 
 her infant Shape, and moft majeftic, when in her 
 full Orb. I know not how it may be with others, 
 but to me the very Lightnings are pleafing, when 
 ftruggling amidft the (haded Clouds , and thofc 
 Fires that dart and waver upwards, (bmetimes in 
 various Colors, and fometimes with Streams of 
 gentle Light, not unlike the Break of Day, on firft 
 Appearance of the Morning, from whence they 
 have their Name. 
 
 If we turn toward the different Sorts of Animals, 
 'tis obfervable enough among them, that the Beau- 
 ty which is defigned chiefly to pleafe one another 
 in their own Species, is fo contrived as to diffufe 
 Pleafure to thofe of other Species, or at lea it to 
 Man. How beautiful, even to us, are the Colors 
 that adorn the Necks of the Pigeon and Pheafum ? 
 The Train of the Mackaw and Peacock ? And the 
 whole Drefs of feveral Sorts of Birds, more parti- 
 cularly in the Eaftern Parts of the World ? How 
 neat and pleafing is the Make of the Deer, the 
 Greyhound, and feveral Sorts of Horfes? How 
 beautiful is the Expreffion of the Pafiions, in a 
 faithful Dog ? And they are not even without fome 
 Degrees of Grace ; as may be feen, in particular, 
 in the natural Motions of a Cbinefe Pheafant ; or 
 the acquired ones, of a managed Horfe. And I 
 the rather take Part of the Beauty of all theie Crea- 
 tures to be meant, by the Bounty of Nature, for us ; 
 becaufe moft ' of the different Sorts of Sea-Fifh 
 (which live chiefly out of our Sight) are of Co- 
 
 Jors
 
 [S7] 
 
 lors and Forms more hideous, or (at beft) lefs 
 agreeable to us. 
 
 And as the Beauty of one Species of Animals 
 may be fo defigned and adapted, as to give Plea- 
 fure to many others ; fo the Beauty of different 
 Worlds may not be confined to each, but be car- 
 ried on from one World to another, and from one 
 Syftem of Worlds to another; and may end in 
 one great univerfal Beauty, of all created Matter 
 taken in one View. How far this may hold, we 
 are as yet incapable even of forming any Guefs ; 
 but fome late Difcoveries have Aewn, that there is a 
 furprifing Symmetry and Proportion in the Sizes and 
 Difpofition of the feveral Worlds in our own 
 Syftem ; from whence one would be apt to imagine, 
 that the fame Beauty of Proportion is kept up be- 
 tween the Worlds of other Syftems ; and, poflibly, 
 even between one Syftem and another : At leaft, all 
 that we know of thefe Worlds, are exactly propor- 
 tioned ; and all that we fee of them, is beautiful. 
 Thus all fuch of them as come within our View, 
 make what we call a fine ftarry Heaven ; and as 
 they compofe that beautiful Object to us, fo does 
 our Syftem make a Part in feveral of their Profpects *, 
 and may be, in the great Compofition of the Uni- 
 verfe, a little fingle Stud in a noble Piece of mo- 
 faic Work. 
 
 And yet all the Profufion of Beauty I have been 
 
 fpeaking of, and even that of the whole Univerfo 
 
 taken together, is but of a weaker Nature in Com- 
 
 I parifon
 
 parifon of the Beauty of Virtue. It was extremely 
 well faid by Plato, That if Virtue was to appear in 
 a vifible Shape, all Men would be enamoured of 
 her : And it feems as if the Greeks and Romans 
 in general had had this Idea of her Beauty, becaufe 
 the Goddefs of Virtue, and the Goddefs of Wif- 
 dom (which was often taken for one and the fame 
 Thing among them, as well as in our Sacred Wri- 
 tings), were always reprefented with the greateft 
 and moft commanding Beauty. The fame appears 
 yet ftronger from their ufmg the Words Good * 
 and Beautiful indifferently for each other ; as if all 
 Beauty was contained in Goodnefs. 
 
 Indeed the Beauty of Virtue or Goodnefs ex- 
 ceeds all other Beauty, as much as the Soul does 
 the Body. 
 
 The higheft Object of Beauty that we can fee 
 is the Goodnefs of God, as difplayed in the Works 
 of the Creation. In him all Goodnefs and Beauty 
 dwells i and whatever there is of moral Beauty in 
 the whole Univerfe befide, is only as fo many Ema- 
 nations from the divine Author of all that is Good 
 and Beautiful. 
 
 We fometimes fee a few feeble Rays of this 
 Beauty reflected in human Actions, but much dif- 
 color'd by the Medium through which they pafs ; 
 
 Pulcbrum, Honeltum. 
 
 and
 
 [59] 
 
 and yet how charming do they even thus appear 
 in fome Perfons, and on fome Occasions ? All the 
 Grandeur in the World is as nothing in Compari- 
 foh of any one of thefe good becoming Deeds. 
 How many more Charms are there, for Inftance, 
 in the Actions of fuch an humble Perfon as the 
 Man of Rofs, than in all the Victories of our Ed- 
 wards and our Harries ? or (to go farther back in 
 Hiftory) how much more amiable is the Death of 
 Socrates, than the whole Life of Alexander the 
 Great ? 
 
 'As Virtue is the fupreme Beauty, fo is Vice the 
 moft odious of all Deformities. I do not know how 
 to make this more evident to you by any Inftance, 
 than by that of the different Conduct of Two very 
 celebrated Poets, Milton and Taffo^ in defcribing 
 the fallen Angels : Taffo's Devils are chiefly made 
 hideous by their Shape ; their Horns and Tails 
 are the principal Ingredients of Deformity in his 
 Defcriptions of them j whereas Milton generally 
 omits thofe little Particulars, and paints out the 
 Deformity of their Minds ; their Pride, Impiety, 
 Malignity, and Obftinacy; by which means his 
 Devils are tenfold more Devils, and more odious 
 and horrible to the Reader, than thofe of the Italian 
 Poet. 
 
 There is a mighty eafy Confequence to be drawn 
 from all this, which well deferves to be more ge- 
 nerally obferved. If Virtue be the chief Beauty, 
 People, to be beautiful, fhould endeavour to be vir- 
 I 2 tuou.s
 
 [<Jo] 
 
 tuous ; and mould avoid Vice, and all the worft 
 Sort of Paffions, as they would fly Deformity. I 
 wifh the more beautiful Half of the human Creation, 
 in particular, were thoroughly fenfible of this great 
 Truth ; " That the readied way to be beautiful, 
 " is to be good ;" and fuch of them as are more fo- 
 licitous about choofmg and adjufting what they 
 wear, and how that will appear, than about form- 
 ing their Minds, and regulating their difagreeablc 
 Paffions, will really fall under the Cenfure I men- 
 tioned before, from one of the Latin Poets -, and 
 fhew too plainly to all the World, that they, in 
 their own Hearts, confider their Drefs as the bet- 
 ter Part of themfelves. 
 
 I muft have quite tired you, 1 believe, added 
 CRITO, rifing; and mould be glad if you would 
 take a little Walk, to refrem us all after this long 
 Harangue. It has been far from feeming long to us 
 (reply'd MILESIUS, as they were all going together 
 out of the Tent) : 'Tis a Subject that can fcarce 
 ever be tirefome ; and your Manner of treating it 
 has, in general, been very pleafing j only I muft 
 ay, that, toward the Conclufion, it began to grow 
 a Ihtle too like a Sermon. I wifh, fays Ti- 
 MANTHES, that fome Ladies of your Acquaintance 
 had been prefent at the whole Difcourfe, and par- 
 ticularly at that Part of it ; for I don't know whe- 
 ther it might not have done them more Good, than 
 any Sermon that they ever were at in their Lives. 
 However, as there were no Ladies here, I wifh 
 CRITO would 'give us, who were of his Audience, 
 
 Leave
 
 [61 ] 
 
 Leave to beg he would be fb good as print it, for 
 the Benefit of the Fair Sex in general ; for, I dare 
 lay, it would be of good Ufe to fome of them. 
 I know not whether it would be of any Ufe to 
 them, reply*d CRITO -, but if you really thought 
 fo, and eould recolleft enough of it to write it 
 down, 'tis entirely at your Service ; and you have 
 my full Leave to fend it to the Prefs, as foon as 
 you pleafe. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 E R R A 7 A. 
 
 Page 3. 1. 18. far and in which, read in which. 
 Page 56. 1. 7. for on firft, read or the firft.

 
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