N 74-30 -T7 m y& IT/^J ' < ^ < ^ 4 : - LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. GIFT OF GEORGE MOREY RICHARDSON. Received, ^August, 1898. ^Accession No. /36 ^J~O Class No. JQlB^KJl \ AN ESSAY O N T H E USE AND ADVANTAGES OF THE FINE ARTS. DELIVERED AT THE PUBLIC COMMENCEMENT, IN N E W - H A V E N: 1 SEPTEMBER. 12^. 1770* NEW-HAVEN: PRINTED BY T, AND S, GREENV A N E S S A Y, &c. NO fubjeft can be more important in itfelf, or better fuited to the prefent occafion, and the exerciies of this day, than the Ufe and Advantages of the fine Arts,- and -efpecially thofeof Polite Lite rature. Thefe ftudies are perhaps too much under valued by the public, and negle&ed by the youth in our fem'maries of fcience. They are cdnfidered as meer matters of trifling amufement, and defpifed in comparifon with the more folid branches of Learning. - The knowlege of Languages, Mathematics, Me- taphyfics and Philofophy, undoubtedly deferves to engage the attention of the greateft Genius. For fkill in thefe fciences, the World (while the world remains,) will revere the memory of a Bacon, a Newton, and a Locke. But when they are carried beyond a certain point; when they ire of no advan tage to the common purpofes of life ; when the/ are employed upan queftions which human Reafon can never with certainty determine, they degene rate into meer fpeculations of amufement, and be come no farther valuable, than as they fe-rve to en- Jarge the mind, clear the underftanding, and enter tain us in the hours of leifure from the important avocations of bufincfs. The Geometrical labours for ( 4 )_ For the Quadrature of the Circle, the Metaphyfica! controverfies about the Exiftence of matter, and the Effcnce of Spirit, though a field for the dif- play of genius, in what .are they more interefting to mankind, than the contentions of Antiquaries a- bout the genuinenels of a medal, or the difputes of Commentators about the various readings of their antient marmfcripts ? Let us confidcr the advantages which arifetothe world from the fludy of the liberal Arts. Mankind in the prefent fbte, are extremely lia ble to be led away by mean and fordid vices, to be attached to the low enjoyments, of fe^fe, and thus degraded aJmpfl to a level with_the bruta] creation. As that unceafing third for happinefs, which is the tmiverfal fpring of action, mud have fome object for its gratification ; the Divine Being, to raife us #bove theie low defires, hath implanted in our minds a tafte for more pure and intellectual plea- fures. Thefe pleaiures have their fourcc in the fine Arts, and are more efpecially found in the elegant entertainments of polite Literature. They ennoble the foul, purify the pafiions, and give the thoughts a better turn. They add dignity to our lentirnents, delicacy and refinement to our manners. They fee us above our meaner purfuits, and make us fcorn thofe low enjoyments, which perhaps we once clleemed as the perfection of human felicity. I ap peal to all perfons of judgment, whether they can rife from reading a fine Poem, viewing any mafter- ly work of Genius, or hearing an harmonious coo ; - cert ( 5 ) cert of Mufic, without feeling an opennefs of heart, and an elevation of mind, wichout being more fen- fible of the dignity cf human nature, and def piling whatever tends to debafe and degrade it ? Thcfe are the delights, which humanize the foul, and polifh a*/ay that rugged 'ferocity of manners, which is. natural to the uncultivated nations of the world. - In every land, in every age, at the time when the unconquered fpirit of freedom, joined with that laudable ambition, which fires the foul to heroic deeds ; hath raifed the nation to . the higheft pitch of glory, the fine Arts have been ftudioufly cultivated, and have mined forth with peculiar luf- tre. For Learning and Glory walk hand in hand through the world. A iavage People, before the dawn of literature, may indeed be terrible in arms : but being ftained with the blood of cruelty, tarnim- ed with that wild barbarity, which degrades cou rage into brutality, they never. attain to the fummit of renown ; and either fink unnoticed into oblivi on, or leave to pofterity a name more infamous for barbarifm, than famed for heroic achievements. While every voice celebrates the bravery of an Alexander, a Scipio, a Cas/ar, and a Marlbo- rough , who remembers the favage fiercenefs of the lion-hearted Richard ; or what mouth is opened in the praife of that fcourge of Afia, the Perfian Nadir ? ,The fame ardour of ambitioa, the fame greatnefs of of thought, which infpires the. Warrior ger in the conquering; field, when diffufed among a people will call forth Genius in every ffotion of life, fire the imagination of the Artift, and raife to fublimity the afpiriag Mufe, Look into the annals of antiquity. View the pre- cians at the seia of learning and politenefs, when the fine Arts were carried to their higheft glory, .when the whole nation were encouragers of fcience, and every perfon a judge of literature';, when by great- nefs of genius, corre&nefs of tafte^and .refinement of .manners, they rendered themfelves famous throughout the would, and patterns of imitation to all pofterlty. Then was the time that Greece pro duced thofe Heroes that aftonifhed Europe and Afia with the found of their victories ; then uas the time that Athens, Sparta and Thebes gave laws to the world. And could a Nation fail of rifingtothe high- eft pitch of fame, when animated with the thunder ing eloquence of Demofthencs and Pericles, fired to warlike .deeds by, the martial mufe of Homer, and warmed with thofe noble fentiments which in- fpire the prcductions of ^fchylus, Euripides and Sophocles ? The glory of Arts and Arms funk in Greece and rofe again with renewed luitre in Hefperia. Rome diftinguiflied herfelf for literature, even from the firft dawn.of hcrgreatnefs. In hen early days, while her unpolifhed manners bore too near a refemblance to the rough virtues of Sparta, fhe could boaft an Ennuis, theioJdnefs of whofe thoughts even Virgil himielf ( 7 ) himfelf did not difdain to imitate. Then flourished Aceius, N#vius, Pacuvius, thofe famed dramatic poets, with the bold and fpiritcd Lucilius, the fa ther of the Roman fatire. But thefe writers have funk into the dark gra*'e of oblivion, and left be- 'hind only fome (mall traces of their fame. Then appeared the rough genius of Plautus, the milder elegance of Tererree, and the foft mufe of Catullus-: Then the polifhed Lucretius, fo diftinguifhed for ,all the graces of poetic expreffion, that Virgil evi dently borrowed from his writings, his ftylc, veri fication and manner of defcription. In the mean time Eloquence rofe to the higheft perfection ac Rome. Be Cicero a witnefs, whofe praife is unne- teftary, whether as an orator, a patriot, or a phi- lofopher. But fee Rome attains to the fummit of greatnefs. The world fubmits to her fway. Satiated with the fpoils of victory, fhe fits nnmoleftedon the throne, and diffufes the mild bleflings of peace. Then fiou- rifh the names deareft to fame, the glories of the Auguftan age : The majeftic Mule of Virgil, the fecond who dared to attempt the dignity of epic fong ; the polifhed T elegance of Horace, graced with the founding lyre, and armed with the keen fword of fatire ; the ftrong and fportive imagination of Ovid ; the foft elegiac drains of Tibullus and Propertius ; and the hiftoric grandeur of Livy.- The world is confcious of their fame. Their cha racters need not to be illuftrated by the tedious im pertinence of praife, The ( 8 ) The Glory of Rome faded by a gradual decays The Mufe ftill fhone, though with tarnifhed Juflre* in die tragedies ofSeneca, the fatires of Juvenal and Perfius, and the heroic poems of Lucan, Statius, Claudian, and Silius Italicus. Hiftory produced the nervous, the manly Tacitus ; and Philofophy could ftill fhow her Seneca and Pliny. Till at length Ty ranny ufbrped the dominion, and Barbarifm over- fpread the land of Italy. For a nearer inftance of the trophies of the liberal Arts, let us view the ftate of Rufiia in the laft cen tury. In a cold unpoliftied land, deep-lunk in the fhades of favage ignorance, a Monarch riles, who moved with, companion for his fubjects, fired with love of glory, arid endowed with a foul fuperior to the age, forms a project of civilizing his 'country. He fails to other landsj imports the rudiments of the arts, and affords both by precept and example the utmoft encouragement to genius. The Nation raifes herfelf from the duft, repels her enemies, ex- - tends her borders, leads forth her conquering ar mies, and now threatens the total fubverfion of the Ottoman empire. Britain alone can, claim the glory of ^an equrllty with Greece and Rome. Therefor two centuries the Arts have flourifhed with almoft unabated luf- tre: And the flighted reflection will inform us that this period is by far the mod celebrated in the Bri- tifh hiftory. .In the glorious reign of Elizabeth, ihere arofc a Spenfer, unequalled in all the pleafing charms of luxuriant defcription ; whofe fancy tranf- ports ( 9 ) ports us to fairy land, and brings us acquainted with a fhadowy race, the beings of his own creation. Then a Shakeipear, the matchlefs genius of the drama; endowed with the moil noble extravagance of imagination, the flrongeft powers of humour, the fovcreign command of the paflions, and the keeneft infpeclion into all the mazes of the human iaul. To thefe fucceeded the unbridled wic of Cowley, the foft graces of Waller, and the various grandeur of all-accomplifhed Dryden. Then with the united charms of every Mufe, appeared the immortal Milton ; who with the greateft force of natural genius, affifted by all the aids of art, and by the noble defcriptions of the inipired writers, hath produced a Poem, almoft as much fuperior to Homer's, in fublimity of conception, as it is in the greatnefs of its fubjedfc ; A Genius univerfal as his theme, Aftonifhing as Chaos, as the bloom Of blowing Edea fair, as Heav'n fublime. Tbomfon. After a fhort eclipfe in the luxurious reign of Charles II. the reviving Arts fbone forth with fu perior. brightnefs in the profperous days of William and Anne ; while the vi&erious Marl borough bore Britain's thunder on her foes, and made Europe tremble at tke found of his arms. Then flourifhed the polifhed mufe of Addifon, who revived in Eng land the claffic elegance of the Auguftan age ; whofe works, adorned with the higheft fublimity of fentiment, and the niceft delicacy of thought, B filled filled with eafy humour which points the ridicule at vice, (while they afford inftru&ion and entertainment of the noblefl kind to every reader,) may boaft as their greateft honour and diftinguimed excellence, that they are peculiarly calculated to pleafe and improve the faired part of the creation. en arofe a Swift, the friend of virtue, the fcourge of folly,, and the terror of vice ; unequalled for manly fenfe, livelinefs of fancy, the powers of \vit and humour, and the fevereft poignancy of fatire. Happy, had not his mind, foured with dif- appointment in the earlieft views of his ambition, too often endeavoured by the grofTefl indelicacy of defcription to debafe the dignity of human nature ; and indulged a fpirit of milanthropy, which clouds his bed productions, and while we admire the force of his Genius, bids us deteft the fentiments of his heart. What age mail forget the undying fame of Pope ! Whether in pleafing drains he paints the beauties of nature ; mourns with the fofteft notes of elegiac verfe ; or with moral rapture unfolds all the principles and paffions of the human foul : Whether in fportive lays he difplays the foibles of the gentler Sex ; impales vice and dulncfs on the point of fatire ; or holding up the glafs of tranfla- tion, reflefts with unabated light the glories of the Masonian fong. For the power of defcribins; the beauties of rural fcenes, and copying the different appearances of nature, what writer can vie with the pleafing Thorn-* fon ! The livelinefs of his paintings, his fublime morality, morality, and his delicacy of thought juftly raife him to the higheft rank of genius. Nor mud we forget the unaffected cafe of Gay and Prior, the fpirited wit of Congreve, the delicate fancy of Parnelle, the dramatic powers of Otway, Southern and Rowe, the ccrvantic humour of Ar- buthnot, with the pointed fatire and ftrong imagi nation of Young. Thefe writers will convey the Englim glory to the mod diftant ages of pofterity. Polite Letters at prefent are much en the decline in Britain ; not through a fcarcity of authors, or want of encouragement from the public ^ but by reafon of that luxurious effeminacy, which hath caufed a decay of genius, and introduced a falfe tafte in writing. Their Men of learning are in fected with pedantry. They are great admirers of antiquity and followers in the path of fervile imi tation. They facrifice eafe and elegance to the affectation of claflk correctnefs, fetter the fancy with the rules of method, and damp all the ardour of afpiring invention. While the men of Genius (who are at prefent a diftinct elafs of writers) in contempt of the critic chains, throw off all ap pearance of order and connection, fport in the \vildeft fallies of imagination, and adopt the greatest extravagance of humour, which too often finks to buffoonery, or is fourcd with the malevolence cf fatire. America hath a fair profpect in a few centuries of ruling both in arts and arms. It is univerfall-y allowed allowed that we very much excel in the force of natural genius : And although hut few among us are able to devote their whole lives to ftudy, per haps there is no nation, in which a larger portion of learning is diffufed through all ranks of people. For as we generally polTefs the middle ftation of life, neither funk to vaflfalage, nor raifed to inde- pendance, we avoid the fordid ignorance of pealants, and the unthinking difTipation of the great. The heroic love of Liberty, the manly fortitude, the genrofity of fentiment, for which we have been fo juftly celebrated, feem to promile the future ad vancement and eftablifhed duration of our glory. Many incidents unfortunate in themfelves, have tended to call forth and fuftain theie virtues. Hap py, in this relpedt, have been our late ftruggles for liberty ! They have awakened the fpirit of freedom ; they have rectified the manners of the times , they have made us acquainted with the rights of man kind , recalled to our minds the glorious indcpen- ciance of former ages, fired us with the views of fame, and by filling our thoughts with contempt of the imported articles of luxury, have raifed an oppofition, not only to the illegal power, but to the effeminate manners of Britain. And I cannot but hope, notwithstanding ibme dangerous examples of infamous defection, that there is a fpirit remaining in thefe Colonies, that will invariably oppofe itfelf to the efforts of ufurpation and perfidy, and forbid that Avarice fhould ever betray us to Slavery. This Land hath already begun to dillinguifh it- ielf in literature. It is peculiarly famed for the ftudy ( '3 ) ftudy of Theology ; and though too much infefted with the fhort- lived productions of controverfy, can boaft of fomc Divines, who however inelegant in flyle and exprefiion, have perhaps never been ex celled in depth of thought and profoundnefs of reafoning. Our late writers in the caufe of liberty have gained the applaufe of Europe. Many eleganc effays have been produced in the ftyle of wit and humour ; nor hath Poetry been entirely uncultiva ted among us. The encouragement, which is given to the Arts and Sciences, affords a profpeft of our future glory. AND fee, th' expected hour is on the wing, With ev'ry joy the flight of years can bring : The mighty fceraes the Mufe (hall dare difplay, And unborn ages view the ripen'd day. Beneath a folemn grove's delightful (hade, [play'd; When Night's brown wings were o'er the world dif- ( While the fair moon, that leads the heav'nly train, With varying brightnefs dy'd the dulky p.lain) With joy entranc'd, t folemn thought refign'd, * Long vifions rifing in the raptur'd mind, Celeftial mufic danc'd along the vale, While thefe bled founds the ravifh'd ear a/Tail. " To years far diftant, and to fcenes more bright, Along the vale of Time extend thy fight, [pole, Where hours aad days and years, froai yon bright Wave following wave, in long fucceifion roll , There fee in pomp, for ages without end, The glories of the weftern world afcend." "See ! this bled Land in her bright morn appears, Wak'd from dead {lumbers of fix thouiand years : While While clouds of darknefs vaiPd each chearing ray 5 To favagc beads and favage men a prey. Fair Freedom now her enfigns bright difplays, And Peace and Plenty blefs the golden days. In mighty pomp America mall rife ; Her glories fpreading to the- boundlefs fkies : Of ev'ry fair, me boafts th' aflembled charms ; The Queen of empires and the Nurfe of arms.'*