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Philofophical Enquiry 
 
 INTO THE 
 
 Origin of our Ideas 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 SUBLIME 
 
 AND 
 
 BEAUTIFUL. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for R, and J. Dodsley, in Pall-mall, 
 M DCC LVII. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2008 with funding from 
 
 Microsoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/enqphiljQSophicalOOburkrich 
 
THE 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 rHE author hopes it will not 
 be thought impertinent to fay 
 fomething of the motives which in^ 
 duced him to enter into the following 
 enquiry. The matters which make the 
 fubjedi of it had formerly engaged a 
 great deal of his attention. But he 
 often found himfelf greatly at a lofs\ 
 he found that he was far from hav^ 
 ing any thing like an exa5l theory 
 of our pafjions^ or a knowledge of 
 their genuine fources ; he found that 
 he could not reduce his notions to any 
 A 3 fixed 
 
vi The PREFACE. 
 
 fixed or conjijlent principles ; and he 
 had remarked^ that others lay under 
 the fame difficulties. 
 
 He obferved that the ideas of the 
 fublime and beautiful were frequently 
 confounded ; and that both were in- 
 difcriminately applied to things greatly 
 differing^ and fometimes of natures 
 diredily oppofite. Even LonginuSy in 
 his incomparable difcourfe upon apart 
 ofthisfubjeBy has comprehended things 
 extremely repugnant to each other y un- 
 der one common name of the Sublime. 
 T^he abufe of the word Be2.ntyy has been 
 ftill more generaly and attended with 
 Jlill worfe confequences. 
 
 Such a confufon of ideas muft cer^ 
 tainly render all our reafonings upon 
 fubjeBs of this kind extremely inaccu-' 
 rate and inconclufive. Could this ad- 
 mit 
 
The PREFACE. vii 
 
 tnit of any remedy , I imagined it 
 could only be from a diligent exami" 
 nation of our pajfions in our own 
 breafls j from a careful furvey of the 
 properties of things which we find by 
 experience to influence thofe pajfions ; 
 and from a fiber a?id attentive invejii^ 
 gat ion of the laws of nature y by which 
 thofe properties are capable of affeEiing 
 the bodyy and thus of exciting our paf- 
 fions. If this could be done^ it was 
 imagined that the rules deducible from 
 fuch an enquiry anight be applied to 
 the imitative artSy and to whatever 
 elfe they concernedy without much dif 
 Jiculty, 
 
 It is four years now fince this en^ 
 
 quiry was finifhed\ during which 
 
 time the author found no caufe to make 
 
 any material alteration in his theory. 
 
 A 4 He 
 
viii The PREFACE. 
 
 He hasjhewn it tofome of his friends^ 
 men of learning and candour^ who do 
 not think it wholly unreafonable \ 
 and he now ventures to lay it before 
 the public^ propofng his notions as 
 probable conjectures^ not as things 
 certain and indifputable ; and if he 
 has any where expreffed himfelf more 
 poftivelyy it was owing to inatten- 
 tion. 
 
 The 
 
THE 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 SECT. I. Novelty. page c 
 
 SECT. II. Pain and Pleafure 3 
 
 SECT. III. The difference between Paia 
 and Pleafure 6 
 
 SECT. IV. Of Delight and Pkafure, as 
 oppofed to each other 8 
 
 SECT. V. Joy and Grief 10 
 
 SECT. VI. Of the PafTions which belong 
 to Self-prefervation I3» 
 
 SECT. VII. Of the Sublime 13 
 
 SECT. VIII. Of the Paffions which be- 
 long to Society 14 
 
 SECT. IX. The final caufe of the differ- 
 ence between the Paflions belonging to 
 Self-prefervation, and thofe which regard 
 the Society of the Sexes. J^ 
 
 SECT. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 S E C T. X. Of Beauty 17 
 
 SECT. XI. Society and Solitude 19 
 SECT. XII. Sympathy, Imitation, and 
 
 Ambition 21 
 
 SECT. XIII. Sympathy ibid. 
 
 SECT. XIV. The effeds of Sympathy 
 
 in the diftrefles of others 23 
 
 SECT. XV. Of the efFeas of Tragedy 
 
 SECT. XVI. Imitation 28 
 
 SECT. XVII. Ambition 30 
 
 SECT. XVIII. The Recapitulation 32 
 SECT. XIX. 33 
 
 SECT. XX. The fame 34 
 
 SECT. XXI. The Conclufion ibid. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 SECT. I. Of the Paffions caufed by the 
 
 Sublime 41 
 
 SECT. 11. Terror 42 
 
 SECT. Iir. Obfcurity 43 
 
 SECT. IV. 0( the difference betweea 
 
 Clearnefs and Obfcurity with regard to the 
 
 Paffions 45 
 
 SECT. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SECT. V. The fame fubjea continued 
 
 46 
 SECT. VI. Privation 50 
 
 SECT. VII. Vaftnefs 51 
 
 SECT. VIII. Infinity 52 
 
 SECT. IX. The fame 53 
 
 SECT. X. Succeffion and Uniformity 
 
 54 
 SECT. XI. The efFed of Succeffion and 
 
 Uniformity in Building 56 
 
 SECT. XII. Magnitude in Building 58 
 SECT. XIII. Infinity in pleafing Ob- 
 
 jeds 59 
 
 SECT. XIV. Difficulty 60 
 
 SECT. XV. Magnificence ibid. 
 
 SECT. XVI. Light 6z 
 
 SECT. XVII. Light in Building 6j 
 SECT. XVIIL Colour confidered as 
 
 produdlive of the Sublime 64 
 
 SECT. [XVIIL] Sound and Loudnefs 65 
 SECT. XIX. Suddennefs 66 
 
 SECT. XX. Intermitting 67 
 
 SECT. XXI. The cries of Animals 68 
 
 SECT. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SECT. XXIII. Smell and Taftc. Bitters 
 
 and Stenches 69 
 
 SECT. XXIV. Feeling, Pain 71 
 
 PART III. 
 
 S E C T. I. Of Beauty 73 
 
 SECT. II. Proportion not the caufe of 
 
 Beauty in Vegetables 74 
 
 SECT. III. Proportion not the caufe of 
 
 Beauty in Animals 76 
 
 SECT* IV. Proportion not the caufe of 
 
 Beauty in the human fpecies 78 
 
 SECT. V. Proportion further confidered 
 
 81 
 SECT. VI. Fitnefs not the caufe of 
 
 Beauty 84 
 
 SECT. VII. The real effefts of Fitnefs 
 
 86 
 SECT. VIII. The Recapitulation 90 
 SECT. IX. Perfedion not the caufe of 
 
 Beauty 91 
 
 SECT. X. How far the idea of Beauty 
 
 may be applied to the qualities of the 
 
 Mind ^2 
 
 SECT. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 SECT. XI. How far the ideas of Beauty 
 may be applied to Virtue 94 
 
 SECT. XII. The real caufe of Beauty 
 
 95 
 SECT. XIII. Beautiful objeas fmall 96 
 SECT. XIV. Smoothnefs 98 
 
 SECT. XV. Gradual Variation 99 
 
 SECT. XVL Delicacy 10 £ 
 
 SECT. XVII. Beauty in Colour 102 
 SECT. XVIII. Recapitulation 103 
 
 SECT. XIX. The Phyfiognomy 104 
 SECT. XX. The Eye 105 
 
 SECT. XXI. Uglinefs 106 
 
 SECT. XXII. Grace 107 
 
 SECT. XXIII. Elegance and Speciouf- 
 
 nefs ibid. 
 
 SECT. XXIV. The Beautiful in Feeling 
 
 108 
 SECT. XXV. The Beautiful in Sounds 
 
 III 
 SECT. XXVI. Continued. 112 
 
 SECT. XXVII. Tafte and Smell 1 14 
 SECT. XXVIII. The Sublime and 
 
 Beautiful compared 115 
 
 PART 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 S E C T. I. Of the efficient caufe of the 
 
 Sublime and Beautiful 117 
 
 SECT. II. AfTociation 120 
 
 SECT. III. Caufe of Pain and Fear 121 
 SECT. IV. Continued 124 
 
 SECT. V. How the Sublime Is produced 
 
 126 
 SECT. VI. How pain can be a caufe of 
 
 Delight 127 
 
 SECT. VII. Exercife necefTary for the 
 
 finer Organs 129 
 
 SECT. VIII. Why things not dangerous 
 
 fometimes produce a paffion like Terror 1 30 
 SECT. IX. Why vifual Objeas of great 
 
 dimenfions are Sublime 1 3 1 
 
 S E C T. X. Unity why requifite to Vaft- 
 
 nefs 133 
 
 SECT. XI. The artificial Infinite 134 
 SECT. 'XII. The vibrations muft be fi- 
 
 milar 1 36 
 
 SECT. XIII. The efFecls of Succeffion 
 
 in vifual objeds explained 1 37 
 
 SECT. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SECT. XIV. Locke's opinion concefnt- 
 ingdarknefs, confidered 140 
 
 SECT. XV. Darknefs terrible by its own 
 nature 142 
 
 SECT. XVI. The caufe why Darknefs 
 is terrible 144 
 
 SECT. XVII. The efFeds of Blacknefs 
 
 145 
 
 The effefSls of BIa«kne(s 
 
 148 
 
 The phyfical caufe of 
 
 149 
 
 Why Smoothnefs is beau- 
 
 XXI. Sweetnefs, its nature 152 
 
 XXII. Sweetnefs relaxing 156 
 
 Variation, why beau- 
 
 158 
 
 Concerning Smallnefs 
 
 160 
 
 Of Colour 164 
 
 SECT. XVIII. 
 
 moderated 
 SECT. XIX. 
 
 Love 
 SECT. XX. 
 
 ful 
 SECT. 
 SECT. 
 SECT. XXIII. 
 
 tiful 
 SECT. XXIV, 
 
 SECT. XXVI. 
 
 PART 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART V. 
 
 S E C T. I. Of Words 167 
 
 SECT. II. The common efFea of Poetry, 
 
 not by raifing ideas of things 168 
 
 SECT. III. General words before ideas 
 
 171 
 SECT. IV. The efFea of Words 1 73 
 SECT. V. Examples that Words may 
 
 afFea without raifmg images 1 75 
 
 SECT. VI. Poetry not ftridly an imita- 
 
 tive art 179 
 
 SECT. VII. How Words influence the 
 
 Paflions. 180 
 
 A Phi- 
 
Philofophical Enquiry 
 
 INTO THE 
 
 Origin of our Ideas 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 Sublime and Beautiful. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 NOVELTY. 
 
 THE firft and the fimpleft emotion ' 
 which we difcover in the human^v 
 mind, is Curiofity. By curiofity, I 
 mean whatever defire we have for, or what- 
 ever pleafure we take in novelty. We fee 
 children perpetually running from place to 
 place to hunt out fomething new ; they catch 
 with great eagernefs, and with very little 
 choice, atwhatever comes before them; their 
 attention is engaged by every thing, becaufe 
 every thing has, in that ftage of life, the 
 charm of novelty to recommend it. But as 
 thofe things which engage us merely by their 
 novelty, cannot attach us for any length of 
 B time. 
 
 m^ 
 
^ On the SUBLIME 
 
 time, curiofity is the moft fuperficial of all the 
 afFedlions ; it changes it's object perpetually ; 
 it has an appetite which is very {harp, but 
 very eafily fatisfied ; and it has always an ap- 
 pearance of giddinefs, reftleflhefs and anxiety. 
 Curiofity from it's nature is a very adtive prin- 
 ciple ; it quickly runs over the greateft part of 
 it's objedls, and foon exhaufts the variety 
 which is commonly to be met with in nature; 
 the fame things make frequent returns, and 
 they return with lefs and lefs of any agreeable 
 efFecSl. In (hort, the occurrences of life, by 
 the time we come to know it a little, would be 
 incapable of affecting the mind with any other 
 fenfations than thofe of loathing and wearinefs^ 
 if many things were not adapted to affe(5l the 
 mind by means of other powers befides novelty 
 in them, and of other paflions befides curiofity 
 in ourfelves. Thefe powers and paflions fhallbe 
 confidered in their place. But whatever thefe 
 powers are, or upon what principle foever 
 they affedl: the mind, it is abfolutely neceflary 
 that they ihould not be exerted in thofe things 
 which a daily and vulgar ufe have brought 
 into a ftale unaffecSling familiarity. Some de- 
 gree of novelty muft be one of the materials in 
 every inftrument which works upon the mind; 
 and curiofity blends itfelf more or lefs with alt 
 our paflions. 
 
 SECT. 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 3 
 
 SECT. ir. 
 Pain and pleasure. 
 
 IT feems then necefiary towards moving the 
 pafHons of people advanced in Ufe to any 
 confiderable degree, that the objects defigned 
 for that purpofe, befides their being in fome 
 meafure new, jQiould be capable of exciting 
 pain or pleafure from other caufes. Pain and 
 pleafure are fimple ideas, incapable of defi- 
 nition. People are not liable to be miftaken in 
 their feel ings,but they are very frequently wrong 
 in the names they give them, and in their reafon* 
 ings about them. Many people are of opinion, 
 that pain arifes neceflarily from the removal of 
 fome pleafure; as they think pleafure does 
 from the ceafing or diminution of fome pain. 
 For my part I am rather inclined to imagine, 
 that pain and pleafure in their moft fimple 
 and natural manner of affeding, are each of 
 a pofitive nature, and by no means neceflarily 
 dependent upon each other for their exiftence» 
 The human mind is often, and I think it is 
 for the moft part, in a ftate neither of pain 
 nor pleafure, which I call a ftate of indif- 
 ference. When I am carried from this ftate 
 into a ftate of adiual pleafure, it does not ap- 
 B 2 pear 
 
4 On the SUBLIME 
 
 pear neceflary that I (hould pafs through the 
 medium of any fort of pain. If in fuch a 
 ftate of indifference, or eafe, or tranquility, 
 or call it what you pi eafe, you were to be 
 fuddenly entertained with a concert of mufic ; 
 or fuppofe fome objeft of a fine fhape, and 
 bright and lively colours to be prefented before 
 you ; or imagine your fmell is gratified with 
 the fragrance of a rofe ; or if without any 
 previous thirft you were to drink of fome 
 pleafant kind of wine ; or to tafte of fome 
 fweetmeat without being hungry ; in all the 
 feveral fenfes, of hearing, fmelling, and tafte- 
 ing, you undoubtedly find a pleafure : yet if 
 I enquire into the flate of your mind pre- 
 vious to thefe gratifications, you will hardly 
 tell me that they found you in any kind of 
 pain ; or having fatisfied thefe feveral fenfes 
 with their feveral pleafures, will you fay 
 that any pain has fucceeded, though the 
 pleafure is abfolutely over ? Suppofe on the 
 other hand, a man in the fame ftate of in- 
 diiference, to receive a violent blow, or to 
 drink of fome bitter potion, or to have his 
 ears wounded with fome harfli and grating 
 found ; here is no removal of pleafure ; and 
 yet here is felt, in every fenfe which is afFecSt- 
 ed, a pain very diftin|uifhable. It may be 
 faid perhaps, that the pain in thefe cafes had 
 
 its 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 5 
 
 it's rife from the removal of that pleafurc 
 which he enjoyed before, though that pleafure 
 was of fo low a degree as to be perceived only 
 by the removal j "but this feems to me to be a 
 fubtilty, . that is not difcoverable in nature. 
 For if, previous to the pain, I do not feel any 
 adual pleafure, I have no reafon to judge 
 that any fuch thing ^xifts ; fmce pleafure is 
 only pleafure as it is felt. The fame may be 
 faid of pain, and with equal reafon. I can 
 never perfuade myfelf that pleafure and pain 
 are mere relations, which can only exift as 
 they are contraftcd : but I think I can difcern 
 clearly that there are pofitive pains and plea- 
 fures, which do not at all depend upon each 
 other. Nothing is more certain to my own 
 feelings than this. There is nothing which I 
 can diftinguifh in my mind with more clear- 
 nefs than the three ftates, of indifference, of 
 pleafure, and of pain. Every one of thefe I 
 can perceive without any fort of idea of it's 
 relation to any thing eife. Caius is af- 
 flided with a fit of the cholic ; this man is 
 adually in pain ; ftretch Caius upon the rack, 
 he win feel a much greater pain ; but does 
 this pain of the rack arife from the removal of 
 any pleafure ? or is the fit of the cholic a 
 pleafure or a pain juft as we are pleafed to 
 eonfjder it ? 
 
 B 3 SECT. 
 
On the SUBLIME 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 The difference between the removal of PAIN 
 and pofitive PLEASURE. 
 
 WE fhall carry this propofition yet a ftep 
 further. We fhall venture to propofe, 
 that pain and pleafure are not only, not ne- 
 ceflarily dependent for their exiftence on their 
 mutual diminution or removal, but that, in 
 reality, the diminution or ceafmg of pleafure 
 does not operate like pofitive pain ; and that 
 the removal or diminution of pain, in it's efFe6l 
 has very little refemblance to pofitive pleafure.* 
 The former of thefe propofitions will, I 
 believe, be much more readily allowed 
 than the latter ; becaufe it is very evident 
 that pleafure, when it has run it's career, 
 fets us down very nearly where it found us. 
 Pleafure of every kind quickly fatisfies ; and 
 when it is over, we relapfe into indifference, 
 or rather we fall into a foft tranquility, which 
 is tinged with the agreeable colour of the 
 
 former 
 
 * Mr Locke (efTay on human underflanding, 
 1. 2. c. 20. feft. 16.) thinks that the removal or 
 leflening of a pain is confidered and operates as a 
 pleafure, and the lof^ or diminifhing of pleafure as 
 a pain. It is this opinion which we confider here, 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. ^^ 
 
 former fenfation. I own, it is not at firft 
 view fo apparent, that the removal of a great 
 pain does not refemble pofttive pleafure : but 
 let us recolletSl in what ftate we have found 
 our minds upon efcaping fome imminent dan- 
 ger, or on being releafed from the feverity of 
 fome cruel pain. We have on fuch occafions 
 found, if I am not much miftaken, the temper 
 of our minds in a tenor very remote from that 
 which attends the prefence of pofitive plea- 
 fure ; we have found them in a ftate of much 
 fobriety, imprefTed with a fenfe of awe, in a fort 
 of tranquility fhadowed with horror. The 
 fafhion of the countenance and thegeftureofthe 
 body on fuch occafions isfocorrefpondent to this 
 ftate of mind, that any perfon, a ftranger to 
 the caufe of the appearance, would rather 
 judge us under fome confternation, than in the 
 enjoyment of any thing like pofitive pleafure, 
 
 ^Oo]ct KCtlctKJelVa.^ AKKQV i^lKiTO J^i)(Jt,OV, 
 
 AvJ^^i a cKpyeta' Qctij.Coi <£^\yjA e(Xo^avjAi. 
 
 Iliad. 24. 
 
 j^s when a wretch^ zvho con f clous of his crime 
 Purfuedfor murder from his native clhne, 
 fuji gains fome frontier^ breathlefs^pale^ amazed'. 
 All gazey all wonder ! 
 
 B 4 This 
 
8 On the S U E L I M E 
 
 This ftriking appearance of the man whom 
 Homer fuppofes to have juft efcaped an im- 
 minent danger, the fort of mixt paflion of 
 terror and furprize, with which he affedls the 
 fpecStators, paints very ftrongly the manner in 
 which we find ourfelves afFc6led upon occa- 
 fions any way fimilar. For when we have fuf- 
 fered from any violent emotion, the mind na- 
 turally continues in fomething like the fame 
 condition, after the caufe which firft produced 
 it has ceafed to operate ; the tofling of the 
 fea remains after the ftorm ; and when this 
 remain of horror has entirely fubflded, all the 
 paflion, which the accident raifed, fubfides 
 along with it; and the mind returns to it*s 
 ufual ftate of indifference. In fliort, pleafure, 
 (I mean any thing either in the inward fenfa- 
 tion, or in the outward appearance like plea- 
 fure from a pofitive caufe,) has never, I ima- 
 gine, it's origin from the removal of pain or 
 danger. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 Of DELIGHT and PLEASURE, as 
 oppofed to each other. 
 
 B 
 
 U T fliall we therefore fay, that the 
 removal of pain or it's diminution is al- 
 ways 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 9 
 
 ways fimply painful ? or affirm that the ccf- 
 fation or the leflening of pleafure is always 
 attended itfelf with a pleafure ? by no means. 
 What I advance is no more than this; firft, that 
 there arc pleafures and pains of a pofitive and 
 independent nature; and fecondly, that the feel- 
 ing which refults from the ceafing or diminution 
 of pain does not bear a fufficient refemblance to 
 pofitive pleafure to have it confidered as of the 
 fame nature, or to entitle it to be known by the 
 fame name; and that upon the fame principle 
 the removal or qualification of pleafure has 
 no refemblance to pofitive pain. It is certain 
 that the former feeling (the removal or mo- 
 deration of pain) has fomething in it far from 
 diftrefling, or difagreeable in it's nature. This 
 feeling, in many cafes fo agreeable, but in all 
 fo different from pofitive pleafure, has no name 
 which I know ; but that hinders not it's be- 
 ing a very real one, and very different from 
 all others. Whenever I have occafion to 
 fpeak of it, I fhall call it Delight ; and I fhall 
 take the befl care I can, to ufe that word in 
 no other fenfe. I am fatisfied the word is not 
 commonly ufed in this appropriated fignifica- 
 tion ; but I thought it better to take up a word 
 already known, and to limit it's fignification, 
 than to introduce a new one which would not 
 perhaps incorporate fo well with the lan- 
 guage. 
 
10 On the SUBLIME 
 
 guage. I (hould never have prefumed to at- 
 tempt the leaft alteration in our w^ords, if the 
 nature of the language, framed for the purpofes 
 of bufinefs rather than thofe of philofophy, and 
 the nature of my fubje(5l that leads me out of the 
 common track of difcourfe, did not in a man- 
 ner neceflitate me to it. I fhall make ufe of 
 this liberty with all poflible caution. As I 
 make ufe of the word Delight to exprefs the fen- 
 fation vi'hich accompanies the removal of pain 
 or danger ; fo when I fpeak of pofitive plea- 
 fure, I fhall for the moil part call it fimply 
 Pleafurc. 
 
 SECT, v! 
 
 JOY and GRIEF. 
 
 IT muft be obferved, that the ceflation of 
 pleafure afFe6ls the mind three ways. If 
 it fimply ceafes, after having continued a pro- 
 per time, the effect is indifference \ if it be 
 abruptly broken off, there enfues an uneafy 
 fenfe called difappointment j if the object be fo 
 totally loft that there is no chance of enjoying 
 it again, a paffion arifes in the mind, which 
 is called grief. Now there is none of thefe, 
 not even grief, which is the moft violent, that 
 I think has any refemblance to pofitive pain. 
 
 The 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. n 
 
 The perfon who grieves, fufFers his paffion to 
 grow upon him ; he indulges it, he loves it : 
 but this never happens in the cafe of a61:ual 
 pain, which no man ever willingly endured 
 for any confiderable time. That grief fhould 
 be willingly endured, though far from a fimply 
 pleafing fenfation, is not io difficult to be un- 
 derftood. It is the nature of grief to keep it's 
 obje6i- perpetually in it's eye, to prefent it in 
 it's moft pleafurable views, to repeat all the 
 circumftances that attended it, even to the 
 leaft minutenefs, to go back to every particular 
 enjoyment, to dwell upon each, and to find 
 a thoufand new perfections in all, that were 
 not fuinciently underftood before; in grief, 
 thtpleafure is IHll uppermoft ; and the afflidion 
 we fufFer has no refemblance to abfolute pain, 
 which is always odious, and which we en- 
 deavour to fhake off as foon as poffible. The 
 Odyfiey of Homer, which abounds with fo many 
 natural and affe61:ing images, has none more 
 ftriking than thofe which Menelaus raifes of 
 the calamitous fate of his friends, and his own 
 manner of feeling it. He owns indeed, that 
 he often gives himfelf fome intermiffion from 
 fuch melancholy reflections, but he obferves 
 too, that melancholy as they are, they give 
 him pleafure. 
 
12 On the SUBLIME 
 
 AAA. «/^TM? rretvl-ii oJ^v^iJLivof j^ cfc^sy&'j', 
 
 TlcLvoiJLcu cu'],^^^ /g Jto^i K^vi^to yoioo. 
 
 Still in Jhort intervals of pleafing woe. 
 Regardful of the friendly dues I owe^ 
 1 to the glorious dead^for ever dear^ 
 Indulge the tribute of a grateful tear. 
 
 HoM. Od. 4. 
 
 On the other hand, when we recover our 
 health, when we efcape an imminent danger, 
 is it with joy that we are afFe(Sled ? The fenfe 
 on thefe occafions is far from that fmooth and 
 voluptuous fatisfadlion which the aflured pro- 
 fpc(5l of pleafure beftows. The delight which 
 arifes from the modifications of pain, confefles 
 the ftock from whence it fprung, in it's folid, 
 ftrong, and fevere nature. 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 Of the paflions which belong to SELF- 
 PRESERVATION. 
 
 MOST of the ideas which are capable 
 of making a powerful impreffion on 
 the mind, whether fimply of Pain or Pleafure, 
 
 or 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 13 
 
 or of the modifications of thofe, may be re- 
 duced very nearly to thefe two heads, felf- 
 frefervation zndfociety'y to the ends of one or 
 the other of which all our paflions are cal- 
 culated to anfwer. The paflions which con- 
 cern felf-prefervation, turn moftly on pain or 
 danger. The ideas o^ pain, ficknefs, and deaths 
 fill the mind with ftrong emotions of horror ; 
 but life and health, though they put us in a 
 capacity of being afFe6i:ed with pleafure, they 
 make no fuch impreflion by the fimple enjoy- 
 ment. The paflions therefore which are con- 
 verfant about the prefervationof the individual, 
 turn chiefly on pain and danger, and ihey arc 
 the moft powerful of all the paflions. 
 
 SECT. vir. 
 Of the SUBLIME. 
 
 WHatever is fitted in any fort to ex- 
 cite* the ideas of pain, and danger, 
 that is to fay, whatever is in any fort terrible, 
 or is converfant about terrible objedls, or ope- 
 rates in a manner analagous to terror, is a 
 fource of xh^ fublime ; that is, it is produilivc 
 of the ftrongeft emotion which the mind is ca- 
 pable of feeling. When danger or pain 
 
 prefs 
 
14 On the S U B L I M £ 
 
 prefs too nearly, they are incapable of giving 
 any delight, and are fimply terrible ; but at 
 certain diftances, and with certain modifica- 
 tions, they may be, and they are delightful, 
 as we every day experience. The caufe of 
 this I fhall endeavour to inveftigate hereafter. 
 
 SECT. VIII. 
 
 Of the paffions which belong to SOCIETY. 
 
 THE other head under which I clafs our 
 paffions, is that of fociety^ which may 
 be divided into two forts, i. The fociety of 
 the fexes, which anfwers the purpofes of pro- 
 pagation ; and next, that more general fociety y 
 which we have with men and with other ani- 
 mals, and v/hich we may in feme fort be faid 
 to have even with the inanimate world. The 
 paffions belonging to the prcfervation of the 
 individual, turn wholly on pain and danger; 
 thofe which belong to generation^ have their 
 origin in gratifications and pleafures ; the plea- 
 fure mofl diredly belonging to this purpofe is 
 of a lively chara<Ster, rapturous and violent, 
 and confefTedly the higheft pleafure of fenfe ; 
 yet the abfence of this fo great an enjoyment, 
 fcarce amounts to an uneafmefs ; and except 
 2 at 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 15 
 
 at particular times, I do not think it affe(Sts at 
 all. When men defcribe in what manner 
 they are afFedled by pain and danger; they 
 do not dwell on the pleafure of health and 
 the comfort of fecurity, and then lament the 
 lofs of thefe fatisfactions : the whole turns 
 upon the a£tual pains and horrors which they 
 endure. But if you liften to the complaints 
 of a forfaken lover, you obferve, that he in- 
 fifts largely on the pleafures which he enjoyed, 
 or hoped to enjoy, and on the perfedion of 
 the object: of his defires ; it is the lofs which 
 is always uppermoft in his mind. The vio- 
 lent effccSls produced by love, which has fome- 
 times been even wrought up to madnefs, ig 
 no obje<5lion to the rule which we feek to 
 eftablifh. When men have fufFered their ima- 
 ginations to be long affec):ed with any idea, it 
 £0 wholly engrofles them, as to fliut out by de- 
 grees almoft every other, and to break down 
 every partition of the mind which would con- 
 fine it. Any idea is fufficient for the purpofe, 
 as is evident from the infinite variety of caufes 
 which give rife to madnefs : but this at moft 
 can only prove, that the paffion of love is 
 capable of producing very extraordinary ef- 
 fecSls, not that it's extraordinary emotions 
 have any connection with pofitive pain. 
 
 SECT. 
 
16 On the SUBLIME 
 
 SECT. IX. 
 
 The final caufe of the difference between tht 
 paffions belonging to SELF-PRESER- 
 VATION, and thofe which regard the 
 SOCIETY of the SEXES. 
 
 THE final caufe of the difference in 
 character between the paflions which 
 regard felf-prefervation, and thofe which are 
 directed to the multiplication of the fpecies> 
 will illuftrate the foregoing remarks yet fur- 
 ther ; and it is, I imagine, worthy of obfer- 
 vation even upon it's own account. As the 
 performance of our duties of every kind de- 
 pends upon life, and the performing them 
 with vigour and efficacy depends upon health, 
 we are very ftrongly affected with whatever 
 threatens the deflrudtion of either ; but as we 
 were not made to scquiefcc in life and health, 
 the fimple enjoyment of them is not attended 
 with any real pleafure, lefl fatisfied with that, 
 we fhould give up ourfelves to indolence and 
 inaction. On the other hand, the generation 
 of mankind is a great purpofe, and it is re- 
 quifite that men fhould be animated to the 
 purfuit of it by fome great incentive It is 
 therefore attended with a very high pleafure ; 
 but as it is by no means defigned to be our 
 
 conflant 
 
ind BEAUTIFUL. 17 
 
 conftant bufinefs, it is not fit that the abfence 
 of this pleafure fhould be attended with any 
 remarkable pain. The difference betweerl 
 men and brutes in this point, feems to be re- 
 markable. Men are at all times pretty equally 
 difpofed to the pleafures of love, becaufe they 
 are to be guided by reafon in the time and 
 manner of indulging them. Had any great 
 pain arifen from the want of this fatisfadion, 
 reafon, I am afraid, would find great diffi- 
 culties in the performance of its office. But 
 brutes who obey laws, in the execution of 
 which their own reafon has but little fhare, 
 have their flated feafons ; at fuch times it is 
 not improbable that the fenfation from the 
 want is very troublefome, becaufe the end 
 mufl be then anfwered, or be mifTed in many, 
 perhaps for ever, as the inclination returns 
 only with its feafon. 
 
 SECT. X. 
 
 Of BEAUTY. 
 
 TH E paffion which belongs to genera- 
 tion, merely as fuch, is luflonly; this 
 is evident in brutes, whofe paffions are more 
 unmixed, and which purfue their purpofcs 
 more dire(SHy than ours. The only diftindion 
 C they 
 
i8 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 they obferve with regard to their mates, h 
 that of fex. It is true, that they ftick feverally 
 to their own fpecies in preference to all others; 
 but this preference, I imagine, does not 
 arife from any fenfe of beauty which they find 
 in their fpecies, as Mr. Addifon fuppofes, but 
 from a law of fome other kind to which they 
 are fubjedl ; and this we may fairly conclude, 
 from their apparent want of choice amongft 
 thofe objects to which the barriers of their 
 ipecies have confined them. But man, who 
 is a creature adapted to a greater variety and 
 intricacy of relation, connects with the gene- 
 ral paflion, the idea of fome foetal qualities, 
 which dire6l and heighten the appetite which 
 he has in common with all other ani- 
 mals ; and as he is not defigned like them to 
 live at large, it is fit that he fhould have fome- 
 thing to create a preference, and fix his choice; 
 and this in general fhould be fome fenfible 
 quality ; as no other can fo quickly, fo pow- 
 erfully; or fo furely produce it's efFedt. The 
 objedi therefore of this mixed paflion which 
 we call love, is the beauty of the fex. Men 
 are carried to the fex in general, as it is the 
 fex, and by the common law of nature ; but 
 they are attached to particulars by perfonal 
 beauty. I call beauty a focial quality ; for 
 where women and men, and not only they, 
 
 but 
 
ana BEAUTIFUL^ 19 
 
 but when other animah give us a fenfe of joy 
 and pleafure in beholding them, (and there 
 are many that do To) they infpire us with fen- 
 timents of tendernefs and afFe6lion towards 
 their perfons ; we like to have them near us, 
 and we enter willingly into a kind of relation 
 with them, unlefs we fhould have ftrong rea- 
 fons to the contrary. But to what end, in 
 many cafes, this was defigned, I am unable 
 to difcover; for I fee no greater reafon for a 
 connection between man and feveral animals 
 who are attired in fo engaging a manner^ 
 than between him and fome others who en- 
 tirely want this attra£tion, or poflefs it in a far 
 weaker degree. But it is probable, that pro- 
 vidence did not make even this diftinClion, buC 
 with a view to fome great end, though we 
 cannot perceive diftincSlly what it is, as his 
 wifdom is not our wifdom, nor our ways his 
 ways. 
 
 SECT. XT. 
 
 SOCIETY and SOLITUDE. 
 
 TH E fecond branch of the focial paffions^ 
 is that which adminifters to fociety in 
 general With regard to this, I obferve, that 
 fociety, merely as fociety, without any par- 
 C 2 ticular 
 
7.0 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 ticular heightnings, gives us no pofitive plea* 
 fure in the enjoyment ; but abfolute and entire 
 fciitude, that is, the total and perpetual ex- 
 clufion from all fociety, is as great a pofitive 
 pain as can almoft be conceived. Therefore 
 in the balance between the pleafure of general 
 fociety^ and the pain of abfolute folitude, pain 
 is the predominant idea. But the pleafure of 
 any particular focial enjoyment, outweighs 
 very confiderably the uneafmefs caufed by the 
 want of that particular enjoyment ; fo that 
 the flrongeft fenfations relative to the habi- 
 tudes of particular fociety^ are fenfations of 
 pleafure. Good company, lively converfations, 
 and the endearments of friendfhip, fill the 
 mind with great pleafure ; a temporary foli- 
 tude on the other hand, is itfelf agreeable. 
 This may perhaps prove, that we are crea- 
 tures dcfigned for contemplation as well as 
 adion ; fmce folitude as well as fociety has 
 it's pleafures ; as from the former obferva- 
 tion we may difcern, that an entire life of fo- 
 litude contradidts the purpofes of our being, 
 fmce death itfelf is fcarcely an idea of more 
 terror. 
 
 SECT. 
 
I 
 
 and BEAUTIFUL. 21 
 
 SECT. XII. 
 
 SYMPATHY, IMITATION, and 
 AMBITION. 
 
 UNDER this denomination of fociety, 
 the paffions are of a complicated kind, 
 and branch out into a variety of forms agree- 
 ably to the great variety of ends they are to 
 ferve in the great chain of fociety. The three 
 principal links in this chain zxcfympathy^ imi- 
 tation^ and ambition. 
 
 ' SECT. XIIL 
 
 SYMPATHY. 
 
 IT is by the firft of thefe paffions that we 
 enter into the concerns of others; that 
 we are moved as they are moved, and are 
 never fufFered to be indifferent fpedlators of 
 almoft any thing yfhizh men can do or fufFer. 
 For fympathy muft be confidered as a fort of 
 fubftitution, by which vi^e are put into the 
 place of another man, and afFcdled in a good 
 meafure as he is afFe6ted ; fo that this paffion 
 may either partake of the nature of thofe 
 which regard felf-prefervation, and turning 
 upon pain may be a fource of the fublime ; 
 C 3 or 
 
42 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 or it may turn upon ideas of pleafure, and 
 then, whatever has been faid of the focial af- 
 fedions, whether they regard fociety in gene- 
 ral, or only fame particular modes of it, may be 
 applicable here. It is by this principle chiefly 
 tliat poetry, painting, and other affeding arts, 
 transfufe their paflions from one breaft to ano- 
 ther, and are often capable of grafting a de- 
 light on wTetchednefs, mifery, and death it- 
 felf. It is a common obfervation, that objedls 
 which in the reality would flioclc, are in tra- 
 gical and fuch like reprefentations the fource 
 of a very high Ipecies of pleafure. This taken 
 as a faft, has been the caufe of much reafon- 
 ing. This fatisfadion has been commonly at- 
 tributed, firft, to the comfort we receive in 
 confidering that fo melancholy a ftory is no 
 more than a fiction ; and next, to the con- 
 templation of our own freedom from the evils 
 which we fee rcprefented, I am afraid it is a 
 pradice much too common in inquiries of this 
 nature, to attribute the caufe of feelings 
 which merely arife from the mechanical ftruc- 
 ture of our bodies, or from the natural frame 
 and conftitution of our minds, to certain con- 
 clufions of the rcafoning faculty on theobjecSls 
 prefentcd to us ; for I have fome reafon to ap- 
 prehend, that the influence of reafon in pro- 
 ducing 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 23 
 
 ducing our paffions is nothing near fo exten- 
 five as is commonly believed. 
 
 SECT. XIV. 
 
 The efFeas of SYMPATHY in the di- 
 
 ftrefles of others. 
 
 TO examine this point concerning the ef- 
 fe6i of tragedy in a proper manner, we 
 muft previoufly confider, how we are affedied 
 by the feelings of our fellow creatures in cir- 
 cumftances of real diftrefs. I am convinced 
 we have a degree of delight, and that no fmall 
 one, in the real misfortunes and pains of 
 others ; for let the afFedlion be what it will in 
 appearance, if it does not make us ihun fuch 
 objects, if on the contrary it induces us to 
 approach them, if it makes us dwell upon 
 them, in this cafe I conceive we mufi: have a 
 delight or pleafure of fome fpecies or other in 
 contemplating objedls of this kind. Do we 
 not read the authentic hiftories of fcenes of 
 this nature with as much pleafure as romances 
 or poems, where the incidents are fiditious ? 
 The profperity of no empire, nor the gran- 
 deur of no king, can fo agreeably afFedl in 
 the'reading, as the ruin of the ftate of Ma- 
 cedon, and the diftrefs of it's unhappy prince. 
 C 4 Such 
 
24 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 [ Such a cataftrophe touches us in hiftory a$ 
 much as the deftrudion of Troy does in fable. 
 Our delight in cafes of this kind, is very 
 greatly heightened, if the fufferer be fome ex- 
 cellent perfon who finks under an unworthy 
 fortune. Scipio and Cato are both virtuous 
 characters ; but we are more deeply afFe(!^ed 
 by the violent death of the one, and the ruin 
 of the great caufe he adhered to, than with the 
 deferved triumphs and uninterrupted profperity 
 of the other ; for terror is a paflion which 
 always produces delight when it does notprefs 
 too clofe, and pity is a paflion accompanied 
 with pleafure, becaufe it arifes from love and 
 focial affe(Stion. Whenever we are formed 
 by nature to any adive purpofe, the paflion 
 which animates us to it, is attended with de- 
 light, or a pleafure of fome kind, let the fub- 
 je£l matter be what it will ; and as our Cre- 
 ator has defigned we fhould be united toger- 
 ther by fo ftrong a bond as that of fympathy, 
 he has therefore twifted along with it a pro^ 
 portionable quantity of this ingredient ; and 
 always in the greateft proportion where our 
 fympathy is moft wanted, in the diftrefles of 
 others. If this paffion was fimply painful, 
 we would fhun with the greateft care all 
 perfons and places that could excite fuch a 
 paiTion j as, fome who are fo far gone in indo^ 
 
 lencc 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 25 
 
 lence as not to endure any ftrong impreffion 
 adtually do. But the cafe is widely different 
 with the greater part of mankind ; there is 
 no fpectacle we fo eagerly purfue, as that of 
 fome uncommon and grievous calamity; fo 
 that whether the misfortune is before our eyes, 
 or whether they are turned back to it in 
 hiftory, it always touches with delight ; but 
 it is not an unmixed delight, but blended with 
 no fmall uneafmefs. The delight we have in 
 fuch things, hinders us from fhunning fcenes 
 of mifery ; and the pain we feel, prompts us 
 to relieve ourfelves in relieving thofe who fuf- 
 fer ; and all this antecedent to any reafoning, 
 ^y an inftindt that works us to its own pur- 
 pofes, without our concurrence. 
 
 SECT. XV, 
 
 Of the effeas of TRAGEDY. 
 
 IT is thus in real calamities. In imitated 
 diflreffes the only difference is the plea- 
 fure refulting from the effefts of imitation ; for 
 it is never fo perfeft, but we can perceive it 
 is an imitation, and on that principle are 
 fomewhat pleafed with it. And indeed in fome 
 cafes we derive as much or more pleafure from 
 |hat fource than from the thing itfelf. But then 
 
 I imagine 
 
a6 On the SUBLIME 
 
 I imagine we fhall be much miftaken if we attri- 
 bute any confiderable part of our fatlsfadion in 
 tragedy to a confideration that tragedy is a de- 
 ceit, and its reprefentations no realities. The 
 Acarerit approaches the reality, and the further 
 it removes us from all idea of fidlion, the more 
 perfe£^ is its power. But be its power of wh at kind 
 k will, it never approaches to what it reprefents. 
 Chufe a day on which to reprefent the moft 
 fublime and ?.fi'e<3:ing tragedy which we have; 
 appoint the moft favourite actors ; fpare no 
 coft upon the fcenes and decorations ; unite 
 the gresteft efforts of poetry, painting and mu- 
 fic ; and when you have collecSled your audi- 
 ence, juft at the moment when their minds 
 are ere£l with expe£tation, let it be reported 
 that a ftate criminal of high rank, is on the 
 point of being executed in the adjoining fquare ; 
 in a moment the emptinefs of the theatre would 
 demonftrate the comparative weaknefs of the 
 imitative arts, and proclaim the triumph of the 
 real fympathy. I believe that this notion of 
 our having a fimple pain in the reality, yet a 
 delight in the reprefentation arifes from hence, 
 that we do not fufficiently diftinguifh what we 
 would by no means chufe to do, frohi what 
 we fhould be eager enough to fee if it was 
 once done. We delight in feeing things, which 
 fo far from doing, our heartieft wifties would 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 27 
 
 be to fee redrefled. This noble capital, the 
 pride of England and of Europe, I believe no 
 man is fo ftrangely wicked as to defire to fee 
 deftroyed by a conflagration or an earthquake, 
 though he {hould be removed himfelf to the 
 greateft diftance from the danger. But fup- 
 pofe fuch a fatal accident to have happened, 
 what numbers from all parts would croud to 
 behold the ruins, and amongft them many 
 who would have been content never to have 
 fcen London in it's glory ? Nor is it either in 
 real or fi6i:itious diftreffes, our immunity from 
 them which produces our delight ; in my own 
 mind I can difcover nothing like it. I ap- 
 prehend that this miftake is owing to a fort 
 of fophifm, by which we are frequently im- 
 pofed upon ; it arifes from our not diftinguifli'- 
 ing between what is indeed a neceflary con- 
 dition to our doing or fufFering any thing, and 
 what is the caiife of fome particular act. If a 
 man kills me with a fword ; it is a neceflary 
 condition to this that we fhould have been both 
 of us alive before the fadl j and yet it would 
 be abfurd to fay, that our being both living 
 creatures was the caufe of his crime and of my 
 death. So it is certain, that it is abfolutely 
 neceflary my life ftiould be out of any im- 
 minent hazard before T can take a delight in 
 the fufferings of others, real or imaginary, 
 
 or 
 
28 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 or indeed in any thing elfe from any caufe 
 whatfoever. But then it is a fophifm to ar- 
 gue from thence, that this immunity is the 
 caufe of my dehght either on thefe or on any 
 occafions. No one can diftinguifh fuch a caufe 
 of fatisfacStion in his own mind I believe; nay 
 when we do not fuiFer any very acute pain, 
 nor are expofed to any imminent danger of 
 of our lives, we can feel for others, whilft we 
 fufFer ourfelves; and often then moft when 
 we are foftened by affli6lion ; we fee with 
 pity even diftrefles which we would accept in 
 the place of our own. 
 
 SECT. XVI. 
 
 IMITATION. 
 
 nr^ H E fecond paffion belonging to fociety is 
 imitation, or, if you will, a defire of imi- 
 tating, and confequently a pleafure in it. This 
 paffion arifes from much the fame caufe with 
 fympathy. For as fympathy makes us take 
 a concern in whatever men feel, fo this afFedli- 
 on prompts us to copy whatever they do ; and 
 confequently we have a pleafure in imitating, 
 and in whatever belongs to imitation merely 
 as it is fuch, without any intervention of the 
 reafoning faculty, but folely from our natural 
 
 confti- 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 29 
 
 conftitution, which providence has framed in 
 fuch a manner as to find either pleafure or de- 
 light according to the nature of the obje£l, in 
 whatever regards the purpofes of our being. It 
 is by imitation far more than by precept that 
 we learn every thing ; and what we learn thus 
 we acquire not only more efFe(Slually, but more 
 pleafantly. This forms our manners, our 
 opinions, our lives. It is one of the ftrongeft 
 links of fociety ; it is a fpecies of mutual com- 
 pliance which all men yield to each other, 
 without conftraint to themfelves, and which 
 is extremely flattering to all. Herein it is that 
 painting and many other agreeable arts have 
 laid one of the principal foundations of their 
 power. I fliall here venture to lay down a rule, 
 which may inform us with a good degree of 
 certainty when we are to attribute the power 
 of the arts, to imitation, or to our pleafure of 
 the (kill of the imitator merely, and when to 
 fympathy, or fome other caufe in conjuntlion 
 with it. When the obje6t reprefented in poe- 
 try or painting is fuch, as we could have no 
 defire of feeing in reality ; then I may be fure 
 that it's power in poetry or painting is owing 
 to the power of imitation, and to no caufe 
 operating in the thing itfelf. So it is with moft of 
 the pieces which the painters call Still life. In 
 thefe a cottage, a dunghill, the meaneft and moft 
 
 ordi- 
 
30 Oft the S U B L I M E 
 
 ordinary utenfils of the kitchen, are capable of 
 giving us pleafure. But when the obje£l of the 
 painting or poem is fuch as we fhould run to 
 fee if real, let it afFe6i: us with what odd fort 
 of fenfe it will, we may rely upon it, that the 
 power of the poem or pidure is more owing 
 to the nature of the thing itfelf than to the 
 mere efFecSl: of imitation, or to a confideration 
 of the fkill of the imitator however excellent. 
 Ariftotle has fpoken fo much and fo folidly 
 upon the force of imitation in his poetics, 
 that it makes any further difcourfe upon this 
 fiibjedl the lefs neceflary. 
 
 SECT. XVII. 
 AMBITION. 
 
 AL T H O' imitation is one of the gre^ 
 inftruments ufed by providence in bring- 
 ing our nature towards it's perfe£lion, yet if 
 men gave themfelves up to imitation entirely, 
 and each follo^Vea the other, and fo on in an 
 eternal circle, it is eafy to fee that there never 
 could be any improvement amongft them. 
 Men mufl remain as brutes do, the fame at 
 the end that they are at tiiis day, and that 
 they were in the beginning of the world. To 
 prevent this, God has planted in man a 
 
 fenfc 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 31 
 
 fenfe of ambition, and a fatisfa^lion arifing from 
 the contemplation of his excelling his fellows 
 in fomething deemed valuable amongft them. 
 It is this paflion that drives men to all the 
 ways we fee in ufe of flgnalizing themfelves, 
 and that tends to make whatever ej^cites in a 
 man the idea of this diftindtion fo very plea- 
 fant. It has been fo ftrong as to make very 
 miferable men take comfort that they were 
 fupreme in mifery ; and certain it is, that 
 where we cannot diftinguifh ourfelves by fome- 
 thing excellent, we begin to take a compla* 
 cency in fome fmgular infirmities, follies, or 
 defeds of one kind or other. It is on this 
 principle that flattery is fo prevalent ; for flat- 
 tery is no more than wh^t raifes in a man's 
 mind an idea of a preference which he has 
 not. Now whatever either on good or upon 
 bad grounds tends to raife a man in his own 
 opinion, produces a fort of fwelling and tri- 
 umph that is extremely grateful to the human 
 mind ; and this fwelling is aever more per- 
 ceived, nor operates with more force, than 
 when without danger we are converfant 
 with terrible objects, the mind always claim- 
 ing to itfelf fome part of the dignity and im- 
 portance of the obje(3:s with which it is con- 
 verfant ; hence proceeds what Longinus has 
 obferved of that glorying and fenfe of inward 
 
 great- 
 
32 On the S U B L 1 M E 
 
 greatnefs, that always fills the reader of fuch 
 paflages in poets and orators as are fublime ; 
 it is what every man muft have felt in himfelf 
 upon fuch occafions. 
 
 SECT. XVIII. 
 
 The RECAPITULATION. 
 
 npO draw the whole of what has been faid 
 into a few diftindt points. The paflions 
 which belong to felf prefervation, turn on pain 
 and danger ; they are fimply painful when 
 their caufes immediately afFe6t us ; they are 
 delightful when we have an idea of pain and 
 danger, without being a6tually in fuch circum- 
 ftances ; this delight I have not called plea- 
 fure, becaufe it turns on pain, and becaufe it 
 is different enough from any idea of pofitive 
 pleafure. Whatever excites this delight, I 
 c^Wfuhlime. The paflions belonging to felf-pre- 
 fervation are the ftrongeft of all the paffions. 
 
 SECT. 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 33 
 
 SECT. XIX. 
 
 THE fecond head to which the pailions arc 
 referred in relation to their final caufe, 
 is fociety. There are two forts of focieties. 
 The firft is, the fociety of fex. The pafTion 
 belonging to this is called love, and it contains 
 a mixture of luft j its obje6i is the beauty of 
 women. The other is the great fociety with 
 man and all other animals. The pafHon fub- 
 fervient to this is called likewife love, but it 
 has no mixture of lufl, and its obje6l is beauty ; 
 which is a name I (hall apply to all fuch qua- 
 lities in things as induce in us a fenfe of affecti- 
 on and tendernefs, or fome other paflion the 
 moft nearly refembli ng thefe. The paflion of 
 love has its rife in pofitlve pleafure; it is, 
 like all things which grow out of pleafure, 
 capable of being mixed with a mode of un- 
 eafmefs, that is, when an idea of its objei^ is 
 excited in the mind with an idea at the fame 
 time of having irretrievably lofl: it. This 
 mixed fenfe of pleafure I have not called /><3/^, 
 becaufe it turns upon adlual pleafure, [and be- 
 caufe it is both in its caufe and in moft of its 
 effects of a nature altogether different. 
 
 SECT, 
 
34? On the SUBLIME 
 
 SECT. XX. 
 The fame. 
 
 NEXT to the general paflion we have 
 for fociety, to a choice in which we 
 are directed by the pleafure we have in the 
 objedl, the particular paflion under this head 
 called fympathy has the greateft extent. The 
 nature of this paffion is to put us in the place 
 of another in whatever circumftance he is in, 
 and to affect: us in a like manner 5 fo that this 
 paffion may, as the occafion requires, turn ei- 
 ther on pain or pleafure ; but with the modi- 
 fications mentioned in fome cafes in fedl. 1 1, 
 As to imitation and preference nothing more 
 need be faid. 
 
 SECT. XXI. 
 
 The CONCLUSION. 
 
 I Believed that an attempt to range and me- 
 thodize fome of our moft leading paffions 
 would be a good preparative to an enquiry of 
 the nature of that which is to be attempted in 
 the enfuing difcourfe. The paffions I have 
 
 mentioned 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 35 
 
 mentioned are almoft the only ones which it 
 can be neceflary to our prefent defign to con^ 
 fider ; though the variety of the paflions is 
 great, and worthy in every branch of that va- 
 riety of an attentive inveftigation. The mor^ 
 accurately we fearch into the human mind, 
 the flronger traces we every where find of his 
 Wifdom who made it. If a difcourfe on the 
 ufe of the parts of the body may be confidered 
 as an hymn to the Creator ; the ufe of the 
 paifions, which are the organs of the mind, 
 cannot be barren ofpraife to him, norunpro- 
 dudive to ourfelves of that noble and uncommon 
 union of fcience, and admiration, which a 
 contemplation of the works of infinite wifdom 
 alone can afford to a rational mind ; whilft re- 
 ferring to him whatever we find of right, or 
 good, or fair in ourfelves, difcovering his 
 llrength and wifdom even in our own weak- 
 nefs and imperfe6lion, honouring them 
 where we difcover them clearly, and adoring 
 their profundity where we are loft in our fearch, 
 we may be inquifitive without impertinence, 
 and elevated without pride ; we may be admit- 
 ted, if I may dare to fay fo, into the counfels 
 of the Almighty by a confideration of his 
 works. This elevation of the mind ought ta 
 be the principal end of all our ftudies, which 
 D 2 if 
 
36 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 if they do not in fome me^fure efFed, they are of 
 very little fervice to us. But befides this great 
 purpofe, a confideration of the rationale of our 
 paffions feems to me very necefTary for all who 
 would afFe(Sl them upon folid and fure princi- 
 ples. It is not enough to know them in ge- 
 neral ', to afFedl: them after a delicate manner, 
 or to judge properly of any work defigned to 
 afFe<Sl them, we (hould know the exa6t boun- 
 daries of their feveral jurifdi6tions ; we (hould 
 purfue them through all their variety of opera- 
 tions, and pierce into the inmoft, and what 
 might appear inacceflible parts of our nature, 
 
 ^od latet arcana mn enarrabile fihra. 
 
 Without all this it is poffible for a man after i 
 confufed manner, fometimes to fatisfy his own 
 mind of the truth of his work ;, but he never 
 can have a certain determinate rule to go by, 
 nor can he ever make his proportions fufficient- 
 ly clear to others. Poets, and orators, and 
 painters, and thofe Vi^ho cultivate other 
 branches of the liberal arts, have without this 
 critical knowledge fucceeded well in their fe- 
 veral provinces, and will fucceed ; as among 
 artificers there are many machines made and 
 CYcn invented vt^ithout any exad knowledge of 
 
 the 
 
and BEAUTIFUL^ 37 
 
 the principles they are governed by. It is, I 
 own, not uncommon to be wrong in theory and 
 1 ight in practice ; and we are happy that it is fo. 
 Men often aft right from their feelings, who 
 afterwards reafon but ill on them from princi- 
 ple ; but as it is impoflible to avoid an attempt at 
 fuch reafoning, and equally impofllble to pre- 
 vent its haying fome influence on our praftice, 
 furely it is worth taking fome pains to have it 
 juft, and founded on the bafis of fure experi- 
 ence. The artifts themfelves, who might be 
 moft relied on here, have been too much oc- 
 cupied in the pradice ; the philofophers have 
 done little, and what they have done, was 
 moftly with a view to their own fchemes and 
 fyftems ; and as for thofe called critics, they 
 have generally fought the rule of the arts in 
 the wrong place ; they fought it among poems, 
 piftures, engravings, flatues and buildings. 
 But art can never give the rules that make an 
 art. This is, I believe, the reafon why 
 artifts in general, and poets principally, have 
 been confined in fo narrow a circle ; they have 
 been rather imitators of one another than of 
 nature ; and this with fo faithful an unifor- 
 mity, and to fo remote an antiquity, that it is 
 hard to fay who gave the firft model. Critics 
 follow them, and therefore can do little as 
 D 3 guides. 
 
38 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 guides. I can judge but poorly of any thing 
 whilft I meafure it by no other ftandard than 
 itfelf. The true ftandard of the arts is in 
 every man's power ; and an eafy obfervation of 
 the commoneft, fometimes of the meanefl 
 things in nature, will give the trueft lights, 
 where the greateft fagacity and induftry that 
 flights fuch obfervation, mufl leave us in the 
 dark, or what is worfe, amufe and miflead us 
 by falfe lights. In an enquiry, it is almoft every 
 thing to be once in a right road. I am fatisfied 
 I have done but little by thefe obfervations 
 confidered in themfelves, and I never fhould 
 have taken the pains to digeft them, much lefs 
 fhould I have ever ventured to publifh them, 
 if I was not convinced that nothing tends more 
 to the corruption of fcience than to fufFer it to 
 ftagnate. Thefe waters mufl be troubled be- 
 fore they can exert their virtues. A man who 
 works beyond the furface of things, though 
 he may be wrong himfelf, yet clears the way 
 for others, and may chance to make even his 
 errors fubfervient to the caufe of truth. In 
 the following parts, I fhall enquire what things 
 they are that caufe in us the afFedions of the 
 fublime and beautiful, as in this I have con- 
 fidered the afFciSlions themfelves. I only de- 
 fire one favour 3 that no part of this difcourfe 
 
 may 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 39 
 
 fnay be judged of by Itfelf, and independently 
 of the reft ; for I am fenfible I have not dif- 
 pofed my materials to abide the teft of a cap- 
 tious controverfy, but of a fober and even for- 
 giving examination; that they are not armed 
 at all points for battle ; but drefled to vifit 
 thofe who are willing to give a peaceful ca^ 
 trance to truth. 
 
 The end of the firft Part. 
 
(41 ) 
 
 Philofophical Enquiry 
 
 J N T O THE 
 
 Origin of our Ideas 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 Sublime and Beautiful, 
 
 PART. IL 
 S E C T. L 
 
 Of the paffion caufed by the SUBLIME. 
 
 TH E paffion caufed by the great and 
 fiibllme in nature^ when thofe caufes 
 operate moft powerfully, is Afto- 
 nifliment ; and aftonifliment is that ftate of 
 the foul, in which all its motions are fufpend- 
 cd, with fome degree of horror. * In this cafe 
 the mind is fo entirely filled with its object, 
 that it cannot entertain any other, nor by 
 confequence reafon on that objed which em- 
 
 ^ Part I. feft. 3,4, 7. 
 
 plo)rs 
 
42 On the SUBLIME 
 
 ploys it. Hence arifes the great power of the 
 fublime, that far from being produced by them, 
 it anticipates ourreafonings, and hurries us on 
 by an irrefiftible force. Aftonifliment, as I 
 have faid, is the efFe<3: of the fublime in its high- 
 eft degree j the inferior efFe£is ^re admiration, 
 reverence and refped. 
 
 SECT. 11, 
 
 TERROR, 
 
 NO paffion fo efFe£lually robs -the mind 
 of all its powers of adling and reafon- 
 ing as fear. § For fear being an apprehen- 
 fion of pain or death, it operates in a man- 
 ner that relembles a£lual pain. Whatever 
 therefore is terrible, with regard to fight, 
 is fublime too, whether this caufe of ter- 
 ror, be endued with greatnefs of dimenfions 
 or not ; for it is impoffible to look on any 
 thing as trifling, or contemptible, that may 
 be dangerous. There are many animals, 
 who though far from being large, are yet ca- 
 pable of raifing ideas of the fublime, becaufe 
 they are confidered as objects of terror. As 
 ferpents and poifonous animals of almoft all 
 
 i Part 4. fea. 3, 4, 5, 6. 
 
 kinds. 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 43 
 
 kinds. Even to things of great dinienfions, 
 if we annex any adventitious idea of terror, 
 they become without comparifon greater. An 
 even plain of a vaft extent on land, is cer- 
 tainly no mean idea ; the profpe£l of fuch a 
 plain may be as extenfive as a profpecSt of the 
 ocean ; but can it ever fill the mind with any 
 thing fo great as the ocean itfelf ? this is ow- 
 ing to fevcral caufes, but it is owing to none 
 more than to thisj that the ocean is an objed 
 of no fmall terror. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 OBSCURITY. 
 
 TO make any thing very terrible, obfcu- 
 rity t feems in general to be necefTarv. 
 When we know the full extent of any danger, 
 when we can accuftom our eyes to it, a great 
 deal of the apprehenfion vanifhes. Every one 
 will be fenfible of this, who confiders how 
 greatly night adds to our dread, in all cafes of 
 danger, and how much the notions of ghofts 
 and goblins, of which none can form clear 
 ideas, affecl minds, which give credit to the 
 popular tales concerning fuch forts of beings. 
 
 •(• Part 4. fe<a. 14, 15, 16. 
 
 Thofe 
 
44 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 Thofe defpotic governments, which are found- 
 ed on the paffions of men, and principally 
 upon the paffion of fear, keep their chief as 
 much as may be from the public eye. The 
 policy has been the fame in many cafes of re- 
 ligion. Almoft all the heathen temples were 
 dark. Even in the barbarous temples of 
 the Americans at this day, they keep their 
 idol in a dark part of the hut, which is confe- 
 crated to his worfliip. For this purpofe too 
 the druids performed all their ceremonies in 
 the bofom of the darkeft woods, and in the 
 ihade of the oldeft and moft fpreading oaks. 
 No perfon feems to have underftood the fecret 
 of heightening, or of fetting terrible things, if 
 I may ufe the expreflion, in their flrongeft 
 light by the force of a judicious obfcurity, than 
 Milton. His defcription of Death in the fe- 
 cond book is admirably ftudied ; it is aftonifh- 
 ing with what a gloomy pomp, with what a 
 fia^nificant and expreflive uncertainty of ftrokes 
 and colouring he has finiflied the portrait of 
 the king of terrors. 
 
 The ether Jhape^ 
 Jfjhape it might he called that Jhape had none 
 Dijiinguijhahle^ in member^ joints or limb ; 
 Or fubjlance might hi called that Jhadaw feemedy 
 
 Fur 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 45 
 
 /V eachfeemed either ; hlack he Jlood as night ; 
 Fierce as ten furies ; terrible as hell\ 
 And Jhook a deadly dart. What feemed his head 
 The likenefs of a kingly crown had on. 
 
 In this defcription all is dark, uncertain, 
 confufed, terrible, and fublime to the laft 
 degree, 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 Of the difference betwen CLEARNESS and 
 OBSCURITY with regard to the paffions. 
 
 IT is one thing to make an idea clear, and 
 another to make it offering to the imagi- 
 nation. If I make a drawing of a palace or 2 
 temple, or a landfcape, I prefent a very clear 
 idea of thofe objects ; but then (allov,^ing for 
 the effect of imitation which is fomething) my 
 pi6i:ure can at moft affedl only as the palace, 
 temple, or landfcape would have affected in 
 the reality. On the other hand, the moft lively 
 and fpirited verbal defcription I can give, raifesa 
 very obfcure and imperfecSl: idea of fuch obje6ls; 
 but then it is in my power to raife a ftronger 
 imotion by the defcription than I could do by 
 the beft painting. This experience conftantly 
 evinces. The proper manner of conveying the 
 
 ajfe^ions 
 
46 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 affeSflons of the mind from one to another, \i 
 by words ; there is a great infufficlency in all 
 other methods of communication ; nay fo far 
 is a clearnefs of imagery from being abfolutejy 
 neceflary to an influence upon the paflions, that 
 they may be confulerably operated upon without 
 prefenting any image at all, by certain founds 
 adapted to that purpofe ; of which we have a 
 fufficient proof in the acknowledged and pow^ 
 crful efFeds of inftrumental mufic. In reali- 
 ty a great clearnefs helps but little towards 
 afFevB:ing the paflions, as it is in fome fort an 
 enemy to all enthufiafms whatfoever. 
 
 SECT. V. 
 
 The fame fubjecSl continued. 
 
 'IP HERE are two verfes in Horace's art of 
 poetry that fcem to contradict this opini- 
 on, for which reafon I fliall take a Iittl« 
 more pains in clearing it up. The verfes are, 
 
 Segntus irritant animos dcmijfaper aures 
 ^am qua: funt oculis fuhje^fa fidelibus. 
 
 On this the abbe du Bos founds a criticlfm, 
 wherein he gives painting the preference to 
 poetry in the article of moving the paflions ; 
 
 and 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 47 
 
 and that on account principally of the greater 
 £learnefs of the ideas it reprefents. I believe 
 this excellent judge was led into this miftake, 
 (if it be a miftake) by his fyftem, to which he 
 found it more conformable than I imagine it 
 will be found to experience. I know feveral who 
 admire and love painting, and yet who regard 
 the objedls of their admiration in that art, with 
 coolnefs enough, in comparifon of that warmth 
 with which they are animated by afFe£l:ing 
 pieces of poetry or rhethoric. Among the com- 
 mon fort of people, I never could perceive that 
 painting had much influence on their paffions. 
 It is true that the befl forts of painting, as well 
 as the beft forts of poetry, are not much under- 
 ftood in that fphere. But it is moft certain, 
 that their paflions are very ftrongly roufed by a 
 fanatic preacher, or by the ballads of Chevy- 
 chafe, or the children in the wood, and by 
 other little popular poems and tales that are 
 current in that rank of life. I do not know of 
 any paintings, bad or good, that produce the 
 fame efFe6l. So that poetry with all its obfcu- 
 rity, has a more general as well as a more 
 powerful dominion over the paflions than the 
 other art. And I think there are reafons in 
 nature why the obfcure idea, when properly 
 conveyed, (hould be more afFeding than the 
 clear. It is our ignorance of things that 
 z caufes 
 
4S On the S U B L I M E 
 
 caufes all our admiration, and chiefly excites 
 our paflions. Knowledge and acquaintance 
 make the moft ftriking caufes afFe6l but little* 
 It is thus with the vulgar, and all men are 
 as the vulgar in vs^hat they do not underftand* 
 The ideas of eternity, and infinity, are among 
 the moft afFedting we have, and yet perhaps 
 there is nothing of which we really underftand 
 fo little, as of infinity and eternity. We don't 
 any where meet a more fubllme defcription 
 than this juftly celebrated one of Milton, 
 wherein he gives the portrait of Satan with a 
 dignity fo fuitable to the fubje(Sl. 
 
 He above the reft 
 Injhape and gefture proudly eminent 
 Stood like a tower -y his form had yet not loft 
 All her original brightnefs^ nor appeared 
 Lefs than archangel ruirCd^ and th* excefs 
 Of glory obf cured : as tvhen the fun new ris'n 
 Looks through the horizontal mifty air 
 Shorn of his beams ; or from behind the moon 
 In dim eclipfe difaftrous twilight Jheds 
 On half the nations \ and with fear of change 
 Perplexes monarchs. 
 
 Here is a'very noble picture ; and in what does 
 this poetical pldture confift ? in images of a 
 tower, an archangel, the fun rifmg through 
 
 mifts 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 49 
 
 mifts, or in an eclipfe, the ruin of monarchs, 
 and the revolutions of kingdoms. The mind 
 is hurried out of itfelf, by a croud of great 
 and confufed images ; which afFe6t becaufe 
 they are crouded and confufed. For feparate 
 tKem, and you lofe much of the greatnefs, 
 and join them, and you infallibly lofe the 
 clearnefs. The images railed by poetry are 
 always of this obfcure kind ; though in gene- 
 ral the efFedls of poetry, are by no means to be 
 attributed to the images it raifes ; which point 
 we ftiall examine more at large hereafter. * 
 But painting, with only the fuperadded plea- 
 Aireof imitation, can only afFeil fimply by the 
 images it prefents ; but even in painting a 
 judicious obfcurity in fome things contributes 
 to the efFeft of the picture ; becaufe the images 
 in painting are exacSlIy fimilar to thofe in 
 nature ; and in nature dark, confufed, un- 
 certain images have a greater power on the 
 fancy to form the grander paflions than thofe 
 which are more clear and determinate. But 
 where and when this obfervation may be ap- 
 plied to pradice, and how far it fhall be ex- 
 tended, will be better deduced from the nature 
 of the fubjedi:, and from the occafion, than from 
 any rules that can be given. 
 
 * Part 5. 
 
 E SECT, 
 
50 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 PRIVATION, 
 
 ALL general privations are great, becaufe 
 they are all terrible 5 Vacuity^ Darknefi^ 
 Solitude and Silence, With what a fire of ima- 
 gination, yet with what feverity of judgment, 
 has Virgil amafled all thefe circumftances 
 where he knows that all the images of a tre- 
 mendous dignity ought to be united, at the 
 mouth of hell I where before he unlocks the 
 fecrets of the great deep, he feems to be feized 
 with a religious horror, and to retire aftonifh- 
 ed at the boldnefs of his own defign, 
 
 Dii qutbus imperintn eji ammarum^umbraq\{Atr\it% \ 
 Et Chaos, et Phlegeton ! loca nod:e filentia late f 
 Sit mihi fas audita loqui ! fit numine vejiro 
 Pandere res alta terra et caligine merfas ! 
 Ibant obfcuri, {oh fub no61:e, per umbram, 
 Perque dotnos dites vacuas, et inania regna, 
 
 Te fubt erroneous gcds ! whofe awful fway 
 The gliding ghofis, and filent Jhades obey ; 
 O Chaos hoar ! and Phlegethon profound f 
 Whofe folemn empire Jlr etches wide around % 
 
 Give 
 
ana BEAUTIFUL. 51 
 
 Give fne, ye great tremendous powers, to tell 
 O/fcenes and wonders in the depths of hell \ 
 Give me your mighty fecrets to difplay 
 From thofe black realms of darknefs tothiday. 
 
 Pitt. 
 Obfcure they went through dreary (hades that led 
 Along the vfdiikc dominions of the dead. 
 
 Dryden, 
 
 SECT. VIT. 
 
 V A S T N e"s S. 
 
 GREATNESS f of dimenfion, is a pow- 
 erful caufe of the fublime. This is too 
 evident, and the obfervation too common, to 
 need any illuftration ; but it is not fo com- 
 mon, to confider in what ways greatnels 
 of dimenfion, vaftnefs of extent, or quan- 
 tity, has the moft ftriking efFed. For cer- 
 tainlyi there are ways, and modes, where- 
 in the fame quantity of extenfion fliall pro- 
 duce greater efFedts than it is found to do 
 in others. Extenfion is either in length, 
 height, or depth. Of thefe the length ftrikes 
 leaft ; an hundred yards of even ground will 
 never work fuch an efFe6l as a tower an hun- 
 dred yards high, or a rock or mountain of 
 
 t Part 4. fea. 9. 
 
 E 2 that 
 
52 On the SUBLIME 
 
 that altitude. I am apt to imagine likewifey 
 that height is le^ grand than depth ; and that 
 we are more ftruck at looking down from a 
 precipice, than at looking up at an obje^ of 
 equal height ; but of that I am not very pofi- 
 tive. A perpendicular has more force in form^ 
 ing the fublime, than an inclined plane; and 
 the effects of a rugged and broken furface 
 feem ftronger than where it is fmooth and 
 poliihed. It v/ould carry us out of our way 
 to enter into the caufe of thefe appearances 
 here ; but certain it is they aiFord a large and 
 fruitful field of fpeculation, 
 
 SEC T. VIII. 
 
 INFINITY. 
 
 ANOTHER fource of the fublime, is in- 
 finity'j if it does not rather in fome 
 fort belong to the laft. Infinity has a ten- 
 dency to fill the mind with that fort of de- 
 lightful horror, which is the moft genuine ef- 
 fect, and trueft teft of the fublime. There are 
 fcarce any things which can become the ob- 
 je£ls of our fenfes that are really, and in their 
 own nature infinite. But the eye not being 
 able to perceive the bounds of many things, 
 they feem to be infinite, and they produce the 
 
 fame 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 53 
 
 fame efFe£ts as if they were really fo. We are 
 deceived in the like manner, if the parts of 
 fome large object, are fo continued to any 
 indefinite number, that the imagination meets 
 no check which may hinder its extending them 
 at pleafure, 
 
 SECT. IX. 
 
 The fame. 
 
 WHENEVER we repeat any idea fre- 
 quently, the mind by a fort of mecha- 
 nifm repeats it long after the firft caufe has 
 ceafed to operate *. After whirling about ; 
 when we fit down, the objedls about us ftill 
 feem to whirl. After 9 long fucceflion of 
 noifes, as the fall of waters, or the beating of 
 forge hammers, the hammers beat and the 
 water roars in the imagination long after the 
 firft founds have ceafed to zWe6t k; and they 
 die away at laft by gradations which are (carcely 
 perceptible. If you hold up a ftrait pole, with 
 your eye to one end, it will feem extended to 
 an almoft an incredible length. Place a num- 
 ber of uniform and equidiftant marks on this 
 pole, they will caufe the fame deception, and 
 
 * Part 4. fea. 12. 
 
 E ^ feem 
 
54 On the SUBLIME 
 
 feem multiplied without end. The fenfes 
 ftrongly aiFcCted in fome one manner, cannot 
 quickly change their tenor, or adapt them- 
 felves to other things ; but they continue in 
 their old channel until the ftrength of the firft 
 mover decays. This is the reafon of an ap- 
 pearance very frequent in madmen ; that they 
 remain whole days and nights, fometimes whole 
 years, in the conftant repetition of fome re- 
 mark, fome complaint, or fong ; which having 
 ftruck powerfully on their difordered imagina- 
 tion, in the beginning of their phrenfy, every 
 repetition reinforces it with new ftrength ; 
 and the hurry of their fpirits unreftrained, 
 the curb of reafon continues it to the end 
 of their lives. 
 
 SECT. X. 
 
 SUCCESSION and UNIFORMITY. 
 
 SUCCESSION and uniformity of parts, 
 are what conftitute the artificial infinite, 
 I. SucceJJion ; which is requifite that the parts 
 may be continued fo long, and in fuch a di- 
 reilion, as by their frequent impulfes on the 
 fenfe to imprefs the imagination with an idea 
 of their progrcfs beyond their adlual limits. 
 
 § P4rt4. fea 14. 
 
 2. W- 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 55 
 
 2. Vniform'ity ; becaufe If the figure of the parts 
 fhould be changed, the imagination at every 
 change finds a check ; you are prefented at 
 every alteration with the termination of one 
 idea, and the beginning of another ; by which 
 means it becomes impoffible to continue that 
 uninterrupted progreffion, which alone can 
 ftamp on bounded objefts the character of 
 infinity. % It is in this kind of artificial infinity, 
 I believe, we ought to look for the caufe 
 why a rotund has fuch a noble eflTei^l:. For 
 in a rotund, whether it be a building or a 
 plantation, you can no where fix a bound- 
 ary ; turn which way you will, the fame ob- 
 ject ftill feems to continue, and the imagina- 
 tion has no reft. But the parts muft be uni- 
 form as well as circularly difpofed, to give 
 this figure its full force ; becaufe any differ- 
 ence, whether it be in the difpofition,or in the 
 figure, or even in the colour of the parts, is 
 highly prejudicial to the idea of infinity, which 
 every change muft check and interrupt, at 
 every alteration commencing a new feries. 
 
 X Mr. Addifon in the Spedators concerning the 
 pleafures of the imagination, thinks it is becaufe 
 in the rotund at one glance you fee half the build- 
 ing. This I do not imagine to be the real caufe. 
 
 SECT. 
 
56 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 SECT. XI. 
 
 The effe&. of fucceflion and uniformity in 
 BUILDING. 
 
 ON the fame principles of fucceflion 
 and uniformity, the grand appearance 
 of the ancient heathen temples, which were 
 generally oblong forms, with a range of uni^ 
 form pillars on every fide, will be eafily ac- 
 counted for. From the fame caufe may 
 be derived the grand effect of the ifles in many 
 of our own old cathedrals. The form of a 
 crofs ufed in fomc churches feems to me not fo 
 eligible, as the parallelogram of the ancients ; 
 at leaft I imagine it is not fo proper for the 
 outfide For, fuppoflng the arms of the crofs 
 every way equal, if you ftand in a dlredlion 
 parallel to any of the fide walls, or colonnades, 
 inftead of a deception that makes the building 
 more extended than it is, you are cut off from 
 a confiderable part (tv/o thirds) of its a^ual 
 length ; and to prevent all poflibllity of 
 progreflion, the arm of the crofs taking a new 
 diredion, makes a right angle with the beam, 
 and thereby wholly turns the imagination from 
 the repetition of the former idea. Or fuppofe 
 the fpe6lator placed where he may take a direct 
 1 view 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 57 
 
 view of fuch a building ; what will be the 
 confequence ? the necefTary confequence muft 
 be, that a good part of the bafis of each angle, 
 formed by the interfecStion of the arms of the 
 crofs, muft be inevitably loft ; the whole muft 
 of courfe alTume a broken unconne6led figure ; 
 the lIo;hts muft be unequal, here ftrong, and 
 there weak; without that noble gradation, 
 which the perfpective always efFedls on parts 
 difpofed uninterruptedly in a right line. Some 
 or all of thefe objections, will lie againft every 
 figure of a crofs, in whatever view you take 
 it. I exemplified them in the Greek crofs 
 in which thefe faults appear the moft ftrongly ; 
 but they appear in fome degree in all forts of 
 crofles. Indeed there is nothing more preju- 
 dicial to the grandeur of buildings, than to 
 abound in angles ; a fault obvious in very 
 many ; and owing to an inordinate thirft for 
 variety, which, whenever it prevails, is fure to 
 leave very little true tafte. 
 
 I 
 
 SECT*. 
 
58 On the SUBLIME 
 
 SECT. XIL 
 
 Magnitude in BUILDING. 
 
 O the fublime in building, gfeatnefs of di- 
 menfion feems requifite ; for on a few 
 parts, and thofe fmall, the imagination can- 
 not rife to any idea of infinity. No greats 
 nefs in the manner can effecStually compenfate 
 for the want of proper dimenfions. There is 
 no danger of drawing men into extravagant 
 dcfigns by this rule ; it carries its own caution 
 along with it. Becaufe too great] a length 
 in building deftroys the purpofe of great- 
 nefs, which it was intended to promote, 
 as the perfpedlive will leflen it in height as it 
 gains in length, and will bring it at laft to a 
 point ; turning the whole figure into a fort of 
 triangle, the pooreft in its efFe6l of almoft 
 any figure, that can be prefented to the eye. 
 I have ever obferved, that colonnades and 
 avenues of trees of a moderate length, were 
 without comparifon far grander, than when 
 they were fuffered to run to immenfe diftances. 
 A true artift (hould put a generous deceit on 
 the fpedtators, and effect the nobleft defigns by 
 eafy methods. Defigns that are vaft only by 
 their dimenfions, are always the fign of a 
 
 common 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 59 
 
 common and low imagination. No work of 
 art can be great, but as it deceives j to be 
 otherwife is the prerogative of nature only. A 
 good eye will fix the medium betwixt an ex- 
 cefllve length, or height, (for the fame ob- 
 je6lion lies againft both), and a fhort or broken 
 quantity ; and perhaps it might be afcertained 
 to a tolerable degree of exacSlnefs, if it was my 
 purpofe to defcend far into the particulars of 
 any art. 
 
 • SECT. XIII. 
 
 INFINITY in pleafing OBJECTS. 
 
 INFINITY, though of another kind, caufes 
 much of our pleafure in agreeable, as well 
 as of our delight in fublime images. The 
 fpring is the pleafanteft of the feafons ; and 
 the young of moft animals, though far from 
 being compleatly fafhioned, afford a more 
 agreeable fenfation than the full grown ; be- 
 caufe the imagination is entertained with the 
 promife of fomething more, and does not ac- 
 quiefce in the prefent objecl of the fenfe. In 
 unfinifhed fketches of drawing, I have (ecn 
 fomething which pleafed me beyond the beft 
 finifhing ; and this I believe proceeds from the 
 
 K^ufe I have juft now affigned. 
 SECT. 
 
eo On the S U B L I M E 
 
 SECT. XIV. 
 
 DIFFICULTY. 
 
 * 4 MOTHER fource of greatnefs is Diffi- 
 l\, culty. When any work feems to have 
 required immenfe force and labour to efFe6t it, 
 the idea is grand. Stonehenge, neither for 
 difpofition nor ornament, has any thing ad- 
 mirable ; but thofe huge rude mafles of Hone, 
 fet on end, and piled each on other, turn the 
 mind on the immenfe force neceflary for fuch 
 a work. Nay the rudenefs of the work in- 
 crcafes this caufe of grandeur, as it excludes 
 the idea of art, and contrivance ; for dexterity 
 produces another fort of eiFe(5 which is differ 
 rent enough from this. 
 
 SECT. XV. 
 
 MAGNIFICENCE. 
 
 TlJf Agntjicence is likewife a fcource of the 
 -^'^ fublime. A great profufion of any things 
 which are fplendid or valuable in themfelves,is 
 magnificent. The ftarry heaven, though it occurs 
 
 » Part 4. fea. 4, 5, 6. 
 
 fo 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 6f 
 
 r 
 
 E fo very frequently to our view,never fails to excite 
 an idea of grandeur. This cannot be owing 
 to any thing in the ftars themfelves, feparately 
 confidered. The number is certainly the caufe. 
 The apparent diforder augments it, for the 
 appearance of care is highly contrary to our 
 ideas of magnificence. Befides, the ftars lye 
 in fuch apparent confufion, as make it impofli- 
 ble on ordinary occafions to reckon them. This 
 gives them the advantage of a fort of infinity. 
 In works of art, this kind of grandeur, which 
 confifts in multitude, is to be very cautioufly 
 admitted ; becaufe, firft, a profufion of ex- 
 cellent things is not to be attained, or with 
 too great difEcolty ; fecondly, becaufe in 
 many cafes it would deftroy all ufe, which 
 fliould be attended to in moft of the works of 
 art with the greateft care ; and with regard to 
 diforder in the difpofition, it is to be confidered, 
 that unlefs you can produce an appearance of 
 infinity by your diforder, you will have dif- 
 order only without magnificence. There are, 
 however, a fort of fireworks, and fome other 
 things, that in this way fucceed well, and 
 are truly grand. 
 
 SECT. 
 
62 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 SECT. XVI. 
 LIGHT. 
 
 HAVING confidered extenfion, fo far a$ 
 it is capable of ralfing ideas of great-^ 
 nefs ; colour comes next under confideration* 
 All colours depend on light. Light therefore 
 ought previoufly to be examined, and with it> 
 its oppofite, darknefs. With regard to light ; 
 to make it a caufe capable of producing the 
 fublime, it muft be attended with fome circum- 
 ftances, befides its bare faculty of fhewing other 
 objeds. Mere light is too common a thing 
 to make a ftrong impreflion on the mind, and 
 without a flrong impreflion nothing can be 
 fublime. But fuch a light as that of the fun, 
 immediately exerted on the eye, as it over* 
 powers the fenfe, is a very great idea. Light 
 of an inferior ftrength to this, if it moves 
 with great celerity, has the fame power ; for 
 lightning is certainly productive of grandeur, 
 which it owes chiefly to the extreme velocity 
 of its motion. A quick tranfition from light 
 to darknefs, or from darknefs to light, has 
 yet a greater effed. But darknefs is more 
 produ(Slive of fublime ideas than light, as has 
 been fuggefted in the fecond fedlion of this part. 
 
 SEC T. 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 63 
 
 SECT XVII. 
 Light in BUILDING- 
 
 AS the management of light is a matter 
 of importance in architecture, it is 
 worth enquiring, how far this remark is appli- 
 cable to that purpofe. I think then, that all 
 edifices calculated to produce an idea of the 
 fublime, ought rather to be dark and gloomy, 
 and this for two reafons ; the firft is, that 
 darknefs itfelf on other occafions is known by 
 experience to have a greater efFe6t on the 
 paffions than light. The fecond is, that to 
 make an objedt very ftriking, we fhould make 
 it as different as poflible from the obje£ts with 
 which we have been immediately converfant ; 
 when therefore you enter a building, you can- 
 not pafs into a greater light than you had in 
 the open air ; to go into one fome few degrees 
 lefs, can make only a trifling change ; but to 
 make the tranfition thoroughly ftriking, you 
 ought to pafs from the greateft light, to as 
 much darknefs as is confiftent with the ufes of 
 architefture. At night the contrary rule 
 will hold, but for the very fame reafon ; and 
 the more highly a room is then illuminated, 
 the grander will the pailion be. 
 
 SECT. 
 
6^ On the S U B L I M E 
 
 SECT. XVIII. 
 
 COLOUR confidered as produdive of the 
 SUBLIME. 
 
 AMONG colours, fuch as are foft, or 
 cheerful, (except perhaps a ftrong red 
 which is cheerful) are unfit to produce grand 
 images. An immenfe mountain covered with 
 a fhining green turf, is nothing in this refped, 
 to one dark and gloomy ; the cloudy fky is 
 more grand than the blue ; and night more 
 fublime and folemn than day. Therefore in 
 hiftorical painting, a gay or gaudy drapery^ 
 can never have a happy efFed : and in build- 
 ings, when the higheft degree of the fublime is 
 intended, the materials and ornaments ought 
 neither to be white, nor green, nor yellow, 
 nor blue, nor of a pale red, nor violet, nor 
 fpotted, but of fad and fufcous colours, as 
 black, or brown, or deep purple, and the like. 
 Much of gilding, mofaics, painting or ftatues, 
 contribute but little to the fublime. This rule 
 need not be put in practice, except where an 
 uniform degree of the moft ftriking fublimity is 
 to be produced, and that in every particular j 
 for it ought to be obferved, that this melan- 
 choly khid ofgrcatnefs, though it be certainly 
 
 the 
 
I 
 
 and BEAUTIFUL. ^$ 
 
 the higheft, ought not to be ftudled in all forts 
 of edifices, where yet grandeur muft be ftudi- 
 ed ; in fuch cafes the fublimity muft be drawn 
 from the other fources ; with a ftri6t caution 
 however againft any thing light and riant ; as 
 nothing fo efFeaually deadens the whole tafte 
 of the fublime. 
 
 SECT. XVIII. 
 SOUND and LOUDNESS. 
 
 TH E eye is not the only organ of fenfa- 
 tion, by which a fublime paffion may be 
 produced. Sounds have a great power in thefe 
 as in moft other paflions. I do not mean 
 words, becaufe words do not afFedl fimply by 
 their founds, but by means altogether diffe- 
 rent. Exceffive loudnefs alone is fufficient to 
 overpower the foul, to fufpend its adlion, and 
 to fill it with terror. The noife of vaft ca^ 
 tara61:s, raging ftorms, thunder, or artillery, 
 awakes a great and awful fenfation in the mind, 
 though we can obferve no nicety or artifice in 
 thofe forts of mufic. The fhouting of multi- 
 tudes has a fimilar efFe<St ; and by the fole 
 ftrength of the found, (o amazes and con- 
 founds the imagination, that in this ftagger- 
 ing, and hurry of the mind, thebeft eftablifh- 
 ed tempers can fcarcely forbear being born 
 F down. 
 
t6 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 down, and joining in the common cry, and 
 common refolution of the croud. 
 
 SECT. XIX. 
 
 SUDDENNESS. 
 
 A Sudden beginning, or fudden ceflation' 
 of found of any conliderable force, has 
 the fame power. The attention is roufed by 
 this ; and the faculties driven forward, as it 
 were, on their guard. Whatever either in 
 ilghts or founds makes the tranfition from one 
 extreme to the other eafy, caufes no terror, 
 and confequently can be no caufe of greatnefs^ 
 In every thing fudden and unexpedted, we are 
 apt to ftart ; that is, we have a perception 
 of danger, and our nature roufes us to guard 
 againft it. It may be obferved, that a fingle 
 found of fome ftrength, though but of (hort 
 duration, if repeated after intervals, has a grand 
 efFedt. Few things are more awful than the 
 ftriking of a great clock, when the filence of 
 the night prevents the attention from being toq 
 much diffipated. The fame may be faid of a 
 fingle ftroke on a drum, repeated with paufes ; 
 and of the fucceflive firing of cannon at a 
 diftance ; all the efFedts mentioned in this 
 fc(5lion have caufes very nearly alike. 
 
 SECT. 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 67 
 
 S E E T. XX. 
 INTERMITTING. 
 
 AL O W, tremulous, intermitting found, 
 though it feems in fome refpedls oppofite 
 to that juft mentioned, is productive of the fub- 
 lime. It is worth while to examine this a little. 
 The fadi: itfelf muft be determined by every 
 man*s own experience, and refledlion only. I 
 have already obferved, that f night increafes 
 our terror more perhaps than any thing elfe ; it 
 is our nature, that, when we do not know what 
 may happen to us, to fear the worft that can 
 happen us ; and hence it is, that uncertainty is 
 fo terrible, that we often feek to be rid of it, 
 at the hazard of a certain mifchief. Now fome 
 low, confufed, uncertain founds, leave us in 
 the fame fearful anxiety concerning their cau- 
 fes, that no light, or an uncertain light does 
 concerning the objedls that furround us. 
 
 ^ale per incertam lunam fub luce maligna 
 Eft iter injilvis, — 
 
 • A faint Jljadow of uncertain lights 
 
 Like as a lampj whofe life doth fade away ; 
 
 + Sea. 3. 
 
 ¥ z Or 
 
68 On the SUBLIME 
 
 Or as the moon cloathed with cloudy night 
 Doth Jhewto him who walks in fear and great 
 affright. Spenser. 
 
 But a light now appearing, and now leaving 
 us, and fo off and on, is even more terrible 
 than total darknefs ; and a fort of uncertain 
 founds are, when the neceflary difpofitions con- 
 cur, more alarming than a total filence. 
 
 SECT. xxr. 
 
 The cries of ANIMALS. 
 
 SUCH founds as imitate the natural inar- 
 ticulate voices of men, or any other ani- 
 mals in pain or danger, are capable of convey- 
 ing great ideas ; unlefs it be the well known 
 voice of fome creature, on which we are ufed to 
 look with contempt. The angry tones of 
 wild beafts are equally capable of caufing a 
 great and awful fenfation* 
 
 Mine exaudiri gemitus^ iraque leonum 
 Vincla recufantum^ etfera fub noSie rudentum ^ 
 Sitigerique fues, at que in prefepihus urft 
 Sisvire ; et forma: magmrum ululare luporum. 
 
 It might fecm that thefe modulations of found 
 carry fome connexion with the nature of the 
 
 things 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. ^9 
 
 things they reprefent, and are not merely arbi- 
 trary; becaufe the natural cries of all animals, 
 even of thofe annimals with whom we have 
 not been acquainted, never fail to makethem- 
 felves fufficiently underftood ; this cannot be 
 faid of language. The modifications of found, 
 which may be produ6tive of the fublime, are 
 almoft infinite. Thofe I have mentioned, are 
 only a few inftances to fhew, on what princi- 
 ple they are all built. 
 
 SECT. XXIII. 
 
 SMELL and TASTE. BITTERS 
 and STENCHES. 
 
 O'ME LLS^ and Taftes^ have fome fhare 
 too, in ideas of greatne/s ; but it is a fmall 
 one, weak in its nature, and confined in its 
 operations. I (hall only obferve, that no fmells 
 or taftes can produce a grand fenfation, except 
 exceflive bitters, and intolerable ftenches. It is 
 true, that thefe affedlions of the fmell andtafte, 
 when they are in their full force, and leandire£l- 
 ly upon the fenfory, are fimply painful, and ac- 
 companied with no fort of delight ; but when 
 they are moderated, as in a defcriptionor narra- 
 tive, they become fources of the fublime as ge- 
 nuine as any other, and upon the very fame prin- 
 ciple of a moderated pain, " A «up of bitter- 
 F 3 *' nefs ; 
 
70 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 *' nefs ;'* to drain the Ijitter cup of fortune ;'* 
 *' the bitter apples of Sodom." Thefe are all 
 ideas fuitableto afublime defcription. Nor is this 
 paflage of Virgil without fublimity, where the 
 ftench of the vapour in Albunea confpires fa 
 happily with the facred horror and gbominefs 
 of that prophetic foreft. 
 
 At rex foUicitus monjlrorum oracula fauni 
 Fatidici genhorh adity lucofque fub alt a 
 ConfuUt Albunea^ tmnorum quce maxima facro 
 Fontefonat j faevamq; exhalatopacaMephitim. 
 
 In the fixth book, and in a very fublime de- 
 fcription, the poifonous exhalation of Ache- 
 on is not forgot, nor does it at all difagree 
 with the other images amongft which it is 
 introduced. 
 
 Zpelunca "AX-zfuit^ vaftoque immanis hlatu 
 Scrupea^ tuta lacu nigro, nemorumque tenebris 
 ^amfuper baud ullcs pot er ant tmpune volantes. 
 Tendere iter pennis^ talis k:ic halitus atris 
 Faucibus efFundens fupera ad convexa ferebat. 
 
 I have added thefe exam pies, becaufe fome friends, 
 to whofe judgment I defer were of opinion, that 
 if the fentiment flood nakedly by itfelf, it would 
 be fubjed at firfl view to burlefque and ridicule ; 
 
 but 
 
irnd BEAUTIFUL.' 71 
 
 but this I imagine would principally arife from 
 confidering the bitter nefs and flench in com- 
 pany with mean and contemptible ideas, with 
 which it muft be owned they are often united; 
 fuch an union degrades the fublime in all 
 other inftances as well as in thofe. But it is one 
 of the tefts by which the lublimity of an image 
 is to be tt ied, not whether it becomes meaa 
 when afibciated with mean ideas ; but whe- 
 ther, when united with images of an allowed 
 grandeur, the whole compofition is fupported 
 with dignity. Things which are terrible are 
 always great ; but when thmgs poiTefs difagree- 
 able qualities, or fuch as have indeed fome de- 
 gree of danger, but of a danger eafily over- 
 icome, they are merely odious as toads and 
 fpiders, 
 
 SECT. XXIV. 
 FEELING. PAIN. 
 
 OF Feeling little more can be faid, than 
 that the idea of bodily pain, in all the 
 the modes and degrees of labour, pain, an- 
 guifh, torment, is produ6live of the fublime ; 
 and nothing elfe in this fenfe can produce it. I 
 need not give here any frefh inftances, as thofe 
 given in the former fe£Uons abundantly il- 
 F 4 ' luftrat 
 
72 On the SUBLIME. 
 
 luftrate a remark, that in reality wants only an 
 attention to nature, to be made by every body. 
 
 Having thus run through the caufes of the 
 fublime with reference to all the fenfes, my 
 firft obfervation, (fe<3:. 7) will be found very 
 nearly true ; that the fublime is an idea be- 
 longing to felf-prefervation. That it is there- 
 fore one of the moft afFeding we have. That 
 its flrongeft emotion is an emotion of diftrefs, 
 and that no f pofltive or abfolute pleafure be- 
 longs to it. Numberlefs examples befides 
 thofe mentioned, might be brought in fupport 
 of thefe truths, and many perhaps ufeful con? 
 fequences drawn from them. — 
 
 Sedfugit inter eayfugit irrevocabile tempus^ 
 Singula dum capti circumve6famur amore. 
 
 t Vide fea. 6. part i. 
 
 PART 
 
Philofophical Enquiry 
 
 I N T O T H E 
 
 Origin of our Ideas 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 Sublime and Beautiful. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 Of BEAUTY. 
 SECT. I. 
 
 IT is my defign to confider beauty as 
 diftinguifhed from the fublime ; and in 
 the courfe of the enquiry, to examine 
 how far it is confident with it. But previous 
 to this, we muft take a fhort review of the 
 opinions already entertained of this quality ; 
 which I think are hardly to be reduced to 
 any fixed principles ; becaufe men are ufed to 
 talk of beauty in a figurative manner, that is 
 to fay, in a manner extremely uncertain, and 
 indeterminate. By beauty I mean, that qua- 
 lity 
 
74 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 lity or thofe qualities in bodies by which they 
 caufe love, or fome paffion fimilar to it. 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 Proportion not the caufe of B E A U T Y in 
 VEGETABLES. 
 
 BEAUTY is ufually faid to confift in cer- 
 tain proportions of parts ; on confider- 
 ing the matter, I have great reafon to doubt, 
 whether beauty be at all an idea belonging to 
 proportion. Proportion relates almoft wholly 
 to convenience, as every idea of order feems 
 to do ; and it muft therefore be confidered 
 as a creature of the underftanding, rather 
 than a primary caufe acting on the fenfes and 
 imagination. It is not by the force of long at- 
 tention and enquiry that we find any obje6l to 
 be beautiful ; beauty demands no afliftance 
 from our reafoning ; even the will is uncon- 
 cerned ; the appearance of beauty as efFecSlu- 
 ally caufes fome degree of love in us, as the 
 application of ice or fire produces the ideas of 
 heat or cold. To gain fomething like a fa- 
 tisfadtory conclufion in this point ; it were 
 well to examine, firfl, in what things we find 
 this quality of beauty; next, to fee whether 
 
 in 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 75 
 
 in thefe, we can find any aflignable propor- 
 tions, in fuch a manner as ought to convince 
 us, that our idea of beauty refults from them. 
 We (hall confider this pleafing power, as it 
 appears in vegetables, in the inferior animals, 
 and in man. Turning our eyes to the vege- 
 table creation, we find nothing there fo beau- 
 tiful as flowers; but flowers are of almoft every 
 Ibrt of fliape, and of every fort of difpofition ; 
 they are turned and fafhioned into an infinite 
 variety of forms ; and from thefe forms, bota- 
 nifts have given them their names, which are 
 almoft as various. What proportion do we 
 difcover between the ftalks and the leaves of 
 flowers, or between the leaves and the piftils? 
 How does the flender ftalk of the rofe agree 
 with the bulky head under which it bends ? 
 but the rofe is a beautiful flower ; and can 
 we undertake to fay that it does not owe a 
 great deal of its beauty even to that difpropor- 
 tion ? the rofe is a large flower, yet it grows 
 upon a fmall fhrub ; the flower of the apple 
 is very fmall, and it grows upon a large tree ; 
 yet the rofe and the apple bloflbm are both 
 beautiful, and the plants that bear them are 
 moft engagingly attired notwithftanding this 
 difproportlon. What by general confent is 
 allowed to be a more beautiful object than an 
 orange tree, flourifbing at once with its leaves. 
 
 Its 
 
y^ On the SUBLIME 
 
 its bloflbms, and its fruit? but it is in vain that 
 we fearch here for any proportion between 
 the height, the breadth, or any thing eKe con- 
 cerning the dimenfions of the whole, or con- 
 cerning the relation of the particular parts 
 to each other. I grant that we may obferve 
 in many flowers, fomething of a regular figure, 
 and of a methodical difpofition of the leaves. 
 The rofe has fuch a figure and fuch a dipofi- 
 tion of its petals ; but in an oblique view, 
 when this figure is in a good meafure loft, and 
 the order of the leaves confounded, it yet re- 
 tains its beauty ; the rofe is even more beau- 
 tiful before it is full blown ; in the bud ; before 
 this exadl: figure is formed ; and this is not the 
 only inftance wherein method and exa6l- 
 nefs, the foul of proportion, are found rather 
 prejudicial than ferviceable to the caufe of 
 beauty. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 Proportion not the caufe of BEAUTY in 
 ANIMALS. 
 
 'T'HAT proportion has buta fmall (hare in 
 
 the formation of beauty, is full as evident 
 
 among animals. Here the greateft variety of 
 
 fhapes, and difpofitions of parts are well fitted, 
 
 f 
 
I 
 
 and BEAUTIFUL. 77 
 
 fo excite this idea. The fwan, confefledly a 
 beautiful bird, has a neck longer than the 
 reft of his body, and but a very (hort tail ; is 
 this a beautiful proportion ? we muft allow that 
 it is. But then what fhall we fay to the pea- 
 cock, who has comparatively but a {hort neck, 
 with a tail longer than the neck and the reft of 
 the body taken together ? How many birds 
 are there that vary infinitely from each of thefe 
 ftandards, and from every other which you 
 can fix, with proportions different, and often 
 diredly oppofite to each other ! and yet many 
 of thefe birds are extremely beautiful; when 
 upon confidering them we find nothing in any- 
 one part that might determine us, a priori, to 
 fay what the others ought to be, nor indeed to 
 guefs any thing about them, but what expe- 
 rience might fhew to be full of difappointment 
 and miftake. And with regard to the colours 
 either of birds or flowers, for there is fome- 
 thing fimilar in the colouring of both, whe- 
 ther they are confidered in their extenfion or 
 gradation, there is nothing of proportion 
 to be obferved. Some are of but one fingle 
 colour; others have all the colours of the 
 rainbow ; fome are of the primary colours, 
 others are of the mixt ; in (hort, an attentive 
 obferver may foon conclude, that there is as 
 little of proportion in the colouring as in the 
 
 fhapes 
 
7B On the S U B L I M E 
 
 ihapes of thefe obje£ls. Turn next to beafts ^ 
 examine the head of a beautiful horfe ; find 
 what proportion that bears to his body, and 
 to his limbs, and what relation thefe have to 
 each other; and when you have fettled thefe 
 proportions as a ftandard of beauty, then 
 take a dog or cat, or any other animal, and ex- 
 amine how far the fame proportions between 
 their heads and their necks, between thofe 
 and the body, and fo on, are found to hold ; I 
 think we may fafely fay, that they differ in 
 every fpecies, yet that there ' are individuals 
 found in a great many fpecies fo difFering, that 
 have a very ilriking beauty. 
 
 SECT, IV. 
 
 Proportion not the caufe of BEAUTY iti 
 the human fpecies. 
 
 THERE are fome parts of the hu- 
 man body, that are obferved to 
 hold certain proportions to each other ; but 
 before it can be proved, that the efficient 
 caufe of beauty lies in thefe, it mufl be 
 fhewn, that wherever thefe are found exacSl, 
 the perfon to whom they belong is beautiful. 
 I mean in the efFedl: produced on the view, 
 cither of any member diftindlv confidered, or 
 
 of 
 
I 
 
 and B E A U T I F U L. 79 
 
 of the whole body together. It muft be like- 
 wife fhewn, that thefe parts ftand in fuch a 
 relation to each other, that the comparifon 
 between them may be eafdy made, and that 
 the afFedion of the mind may naturally refult 
 from it. For my part, I have at feveral times 
 very carefully examined many of thofe pro- 
 portions, and found them hold very nearly, 
 or altogether alike in many fubjeds, which 
 were not only very different from one another, 
 but where one has been very beautiful, and 
 the other very remote from beauty. With re- 
 gard to the parts which are found fo propor- 
 tioned, they are often fo remote from each 
 other, in fituation, nature, and office, that I 
 cannot fee how they admit of any comparifon, 
 nor confequently how any efFe^l owing to pro- 
 portion can refult from them. The neck, fay 
 they, in beautiful bodies fhould meafure with 
 the calf of the leg; it (hould likewife be twice 
 the circumference of the wrift. And an infi- 
 nity of obfervations of this kind to be found in 
 the writings, and converfations of many. 
 Thefe proportions are certainly to be found in 
 handfome bodies. They are as certainly in 
 ugly ones, as any who will take the pains to 
 try, may find. Nay, I do not know but they 
 may be leaft perfedi: in fome of the mofl beau- 
 tiful. How are the partizans of proportional 
 
 beauty 
 
86 Oh the S U B L I M E 
 
 beauty agreed about the proportions of the 
 human body ? fome hold it to be feven heads ; 
 others make it eight ; a Vaft difference ifi 
 fuch a fmall number of divifions ! others take 
 other methods of eftimating the proportions^ 
 and all with equal fuccefs. But are thefe pro- 
 portions exa6i:ly the fame in all hand fome 
 men ? or are they at all the proportions found 
 in beautiful women ? nobody will fay that 
 they are; yet both fexes are capable of beauty, 
 but the female of the greateft, which I believer 
 tvill hardly be attributed to the fuperior exadt- 
 nefs of proportion in the fair fex. In fine^ 
 take the head as the meafure of proportion in 
 any fpecies of animals, as in men ; and 
 having found what relation that bears to the 
 other parts, examine the beautiful animals of 
 the winged ]and four-footed kinds by this rule; 
 and it will fhew evidently what a fallacious 
 ftandard we have chofen ; the fame will hap- 
 pen if you take any other part of any other 
 animal whatfoever, as your rule to meafure 
 by. The proportions of animals are relative 
 to the ufual form in which we fee them ; if 
 this is changed, we are fhocked in the fame 
 manner that we are when any thing happens 
 contrary to expectation. It muft not be 
 denied, that if the parts of any animal 
 are fo formed that they do not well fupport 
 
 each 
 
and BE AUTIFUL. 8i 
 
 each other, the efFe6l is difagreeable ; but to 
 have them fimply otherwife, that is, not bur- 
 thenfome to one another, does not by any 
 means produce beauty. 
 
 SECT. V. 
 
 Proportion further confidered. 
 
 NO W if it be allowed, that almofl every 
 fort of form, and every manner of ar- 
 rangement is confiftent with beauty, I ima- 
 giue it amouuts to a conceflion that no par- 
 ticular proportions are necelTary to it. But if 
 I am not miftaken, a great deal of the opi- 
 nions concerning proportion have arifen from 
 this ; that deformity has been confidered as the 
 oppofite to beauty ; and that the removal of 
 the former of thefe qualities gave birth to the 
 latter. This I believe is a miftake. For de- 
 formity is oppofed, not to beauty, but to the 
 compleat, common form. If one of the legs of 
 a man be found fhorter than the other, the 
 man is deformed ; becaufe there is fomething 
 wanting to compleat the whole idea we form 
 of a man ; and this has the fame efFedt in 
 natural faults, as maiming and mutilation pro- 
 duce from accidents. So if the back be 
 humped, the man is deformed \ becaufe his 
 G back 
 
82 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 back has an unufual figure, and what carries 
 with it the idea of fome difeafc or misfortune ; 
 fo if a man's neck be confiderably longer or 
 Ihorter than ufual, we fay he is deformed in 
 that part, becaufe men are not commonly made 
 in that manner. But furely every hour's expe- 
 rience may convince us, that a man may have 
 his legs of an equal length, and refembling each 
 other in all refpe6ts, and his neck of a juft 
 flze, and his back quite ftrait, without hav- 
 ing at the fame time the leaft perceivable 
 beauty. Deformity arifes from the want of 
 the common proportions ; but the neceflary 
 refult of their exiftence in any obje6t is not 
 beauty. I fay the common proportions in 
 each fpecies of animals, becaufe thefe pro- 
 portions vary in all of them ; there can be 
 no abfolute proportion afligned which con- 
 flitutes an univerfal beauty ; and a proportion 
 which cannot be afligned, is, in other words, 
 no proportion at all. But if proportion in na- 
 tural things be relative to cuftom and ufe, the 
 nature of ufe and cuftom will (hew, that beauty, 
 which is a pofitive and powerful quality, can- 
 not refult from it. We are fo wonderfuliy 
 formed, that at the fame time that we are 
 creatures vehementLy defirous of novelty, we 
 are as ftrongly attached to habit and cuftom. 
 But it is the nature of things which hold us 
 
 by 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 83 
 
 by cuftom to affeil us very little whilft we are 
 in pofTeflion of them, but ftrongly when they 
 are abfent. I remember to have frequented a 
 certain place, every day for a long time toge- 
 ther ; and I' may truly fay, that fo far from 
 finding pleafure in it, that I v/as afFeded with 
 a fort of wearinefs and difgud ; I came, I uent, 
 I returned without pleafure; yet if by any means 
 I paffed by the ufual time of my going thither, 
 I was remarkably uneafy, and was not quiet till 
 I had got into my old track. They who ufe 
 fnufF take it almoft without being fenfible that 
 they take it, and the acute fenfe of fmell is 
 deadened fo as to feel hardly any thing from 
 fo fharp a ftimulus ; yet deprive the fnufF- 
 taker of his box, and he is the moft uneafy 
 mortal in the world. So the want of the 
 ufual proportion in men and other animals is 
 fure to difguft, though their prefence is by no 
 means any caufe of real pleafure. It is true, 
 that the proportions laid down as caufes of 
 beauty in the human body are frequently found 
 in beautiful ones, becaufe they are generally 
 found in all mankind ; but if it can be (hewn 
 too that they are found without beauty, and 
 that beauty frequently exifts without them, 
 and that this beauty, where it exifts, always 
 can be alligned to other lefs equivocal caufes, 
 it will natufally lead us to conclude, that pro- 
 G 2 prtion 
 
g4 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 portion and beauty are not ideas of the fame 
 nature. The true oppofite to beauty is not 
 difproportion or deformity, but ugUnefs ; and as 
 it proceeds from caufes oppofite to thofe of 
 pofitive beauty, we cannot confider it until 
 we come to treat of that. Between beauty 
 and ugllnefs there is a fort of mediocrity, in 
 which the afligned proportions are moft com- 
 monly found, but this has no efFedl upon the 
 paflions. 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 FITNESS not the caufe of BEAUTY. 
 
 JT is faid that the idea of utih'ty, or of a 
 part's being well adapted to anfwer its end, 
 is the caufe of beauty,, or indeed beauty itfelf. 
 This notion is clofely allied to the former one 
 of proportion, but furely never arofe from 
 experience. For at that rate, the wedge-like 
 fnout of a fwine, with its tough cartilage at the 
 end, its little funk eyes, and the whole make 
 fo well adapted to its offices of digging, and 
 rooting, would be extremely beautiful. The 
 great bag hanging to the bill of a pelican, a 
 thing highly ufeful to this animal, would 
 be likewife as beautiful in our eyes. The 
 hcdgehos;, fo well fecured againft all aflaults 
 
 by 
 
"^ ana B E A U T I F U L. 85 
 
 hy his prickly hide, or the porcupine with his 
 mi/file quills, would be then confidered as 
 creatures of no fmall beauty. There are few 
 animals, whofe parts are better contrived than 
 thofe of a monkey, he has the hands of a man, 
 joined to the fpringy limbs of a beaft ; and 
 is admirably calculated for running, leaping, 
 grappling, and climbing: and yet there are 
 few animals feem to us to have lefs beauty. To 
 leave thefe foreign examples ; if beauty in our 
 own fpecies, was annexed to ufe, men would 
 be much more lovely than women ; and 
 ftrength and agility would be confidered as the 
 only beauties. But to call ftrength by the 
 name of beauty, to have but one denomina- 
 tion for the qualities of a Venus and Hercu- 
 les, fo totally different in almoft all refpe(3:s, 
 is furely a ftrange confufion of ideas, or abufe 
 of words. The caufe of this confufion, I ima- 
 gine, proceeds from our frequently per- 
 ceiving the parts of the human and other animal 
 bodies to be at once very beautiful, and 
 very well adapted to their purpofes ; and we 
 are deceived by a fophifm, which makes 
 us take that for a caufe which Is only a conco- 
 mitant ; this is the fophifm of the fly ; who 
 imagined he raifed a great duft, becaufe he 
 ftood upon the chariot that really raifed it. 
 The' ftomach, the lungs, the liver, as well as 
 G ^ other 
 
86 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 other parts, are incomparably well adapted 
 to their purpofes ; yet they are far Trom hav- 
 ing any beauty. Again, many things are 
 very beautiful, in vi^hich it is impoffible to dif- 
 cern any idea of ufe. And I appeal to the firft 
 and moft natural feelings of mankind, whether 
 on beholding a beautiful eye, or a well-fafhion- 
 ed mouth, or a well-turned leg, any ideas of 
 their being well fitted for feeing, eating, or 
 runnmg, ever prefent themfelves. What idea of 
 ufe is it that flowers excite, the moft beautiful 
 part of the vegetable world ? It is true, that 
 the infinitely wife and good Creator has, of 
 his bounty, frequently joined beauty to thofe 
 things which he has made ufeful to us ; but 
 this does not prove that an idea of ufe and 
 beauty are the fame thing, or that they arc 
 any way dependent on each other. 
 
 SECT. VII. 
 
 The real efFeas of FITNESS. 
 
 WH E N I excluded proportion and fit- 
 nefs from any (hare in beauty, I 
 did not by any means intend to fay that they 
 were of no value, or that they ought to be dif- 
 regarded in works of art. Works of art arc 
 the proper fphere of their power ; and here it 
 
 is 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. S7 
 
 is that they have their full efFedl. Whenever 
 the vv^ifdom of our Creator intended that v^re 
 fhould be afFe£ted v^^ith any thing, he did not 
 confide the execution of his defign to the 
 languid and precarious operation of our rea- 
 fon ; but he endued it with powers and pro- 
 perties that prevent the underftanding, and 
 even the w^ill, which feizing upon the fenfes 
 and imagination, captivate the foul before the 
 underftanding is ready either to join with them 
 or to oppofe them. It is by a long deduction 
 and much ftudy that we difcover the adorable 
 wifdom of God in his works : when we dif- 
 cover it, the effedl is very different, not only 
 in the manner of acquiring it, but in its own 
 nature, from that which ftrikes us without 
 any preparation from the fublime or the beau- 
 tiful. How different is the fatisfadion of an 
 anatomift, who d i fc overs the ufe of the mufcles 
 and of the (kin, the excellent contrivance 
 of the one for the various movements of 
 the body, and the wonderful texture of the 
 other, at once a general, covering and at once 
 a general outlet, as well as inlet; how dif- 
 ferent is this from the affe6lion which pof- 
 feffes an ordinary man at the fight of a de- 
 licate fmooth fkin, and all the other parts of 
 beauty which require no inveftigation to be 
 perceived ? In the former cafe, whilft we 
 G 4 look 
 
88 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 look iip to the Maker with admiration 
 and praife, the objedl which caufes it may 
 be odious and diflafleful ; the latter very 
 often fo touches us by its power on the ima- 
 gination, that we examine but little into the 
 artifice of its contrivance, and we have need 
 of a ftrong effort of our reafon to difentangle 
 our minds from the allurements of the object 
 to a confideration of the wifdom of that hand 
 which invented fo powerful a machine. The 
 efFedl of proportion and fitnefs, at leafl: fo far 
 as they proceed from a mere confideration of 
 the work itfelf, produce approbation, the ac- 
 quiefcence of the underftanding, but not love, 
 nor any paflion of that fpecies. When wc 
 examine the ftrudure of a watch, when we 
 come to know thoroughly the ufe of every 
 part of it, fatisfied as we are with the fitnefs 
 of the whole, we are far enough from per- 
 ceiving any thing like beauty in the watch- 
 work itfelf; but let us look on the cafe, the 
 . labour of fome curious artift in engraving, 
 with little or no idea of ufe, we fhall have 
 a much livelier idea of beauty than we ever 
 could have had from the watch itfelf, though 
 the mafter-piece of Graham. In beauty, as I 
 faid, the eifedl is previous to any know- 
 ledge of the ufe ; but to judge of proportion, 
 ive muft know the end for which any work is 
 
 defigned. 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 89 
 
 (Jefigned. According to the end the propor- 
 tion varies. Thus there is one proportion of a 
 tower, another ofanhoufe j one proportion of 
 a gallery, another of an hall, another of a 
 chamber. To judge of the proportions of 
 thefe, you muft be firft acquainted with 
 the purpofes for which they were defigned. 
 Good fenfe and experience acting together, 
 find out what is fit to be done in every work of 
 art. We are rational creatures^ and in all our 
 works we ought to regard their end and pur- 
 pofe ; the gratification of any paflion, how 
 innocent foever, ought only to be of fecond- 
 ary confideration. Herein is placed the real 
 power of fitnefs and proportion ; they ope- 
 rate on the underftanding confidering them, 
 which approves the work and acquiefces in it. 
 The paffions, and the imagination which prin- 
 cipally raifes them, have here very little to do. 
 When a room appears in its original naked- 
 nefs, bare walls and a plain cieling ; let its 
 proportion be ever fo excellent, it pleafes very 
 little ; a cold approbation is the utmoft we 
 can reach ; a much worfe proportioned room, 
 with elegant mouldings and fine feftoons, 
 glafles, and other merely ornamental furniture, 
 will make the imagination revolt againft the 
 reafon ; it will pleafe much more than the 
 naked proportion of the firfi: room which 
 
 the 
 
90 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 the underilanding has Co much approved, as 
 admirably fitted for its purpofes. What I 
 have here faid and before concerning propor- 
 tion, is by no means to perfuade people ab- 
 furdly to neglecEi the Idea of ufe in the works 
 of art. It is only to (hew that thefe excellent 
 things, beauty and proportion, are not the 
 fame ; not that they (hould either of them be 
 difregarded. 
 
 SECT. VIII. 
 
 The RECAPITULATION. 
 
 ON the whole ; if fuch parts in human 
 bodies as are found proportioned, were 
 likewlfe conftantly found beautiful, as they 
 ceruinly are not ; or if they were fo fituated, 
 as that a pleafure might flow from the com- 
 parifon, which they feldom are ; or if any 
 aflignable proportions were found, either in 
 plants or animals, which were always attend- 
 ed with beauty, which never was the cafe; 
 or if, where parts were well adapted to their 
 purpofes, they were conftantly beautiful, and 
 when no ufe appeared, there was no beauty, 
 which is contrary to all experience ; we might 
 conclude, that beauty confifted in proportion 
 or utility. But fmce, in all refpeds, the cafe 
 2 is 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 91 
 
 is quite otherwife ; we may be fatlsfied, that 
 beauty does not depend on thefe, let it owe 
 its origin to what elfe it will. 
 
 SECT. IX. 
 
 Perfeaion not the caufe of B E A U T Y, 
 
 THERE is another notion current^ 
 pretty clofely allied to the former ; that 
 Perfeaion is the conftituent caufe of beauty. 
 This opinion has been made to extend much 
 further than to fenfible obje(5tG. But in thefe, 
 fo far is perfection, confidered as fuch, from 
 being the caufe of beauty ; that this quality, 
 where it is higheft in the female fex, almoft 
 always carries with it an idea of weaknefs and 
 imperfedion. Women are very fenfible of this; 
 for which reafon, they learn to lifp, to tot- 
 ter in their walk, to counterfeit weaknefs, and 
 even ficknefs. In all this, they are guided 
 by nature. Beauty in diftrefs is much the 
 moft affecting beauty. Blufhing has little lefs 
 power; and modefty in general, which is a 
 tacit allowance of imperfe^ion. Is itfelf con- 
 fidered as an amiable quality, and certainly 
 heightens every other that Is fo. I know, that 
 it is in every body's mouth, that we ought to 
 love perfection. This is to me a fufficient 
 
 proof. 
 
92 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 proof, that it is not the proper object of love. 
 Who ever faid, we ought to love a fine wo- 
 man, or even any of thefe beautiful animals, 
 which pleafe us ? Here to be aft*e<Sted, there is 
 no need of the concurrence of our will. 
 
 SECT. X. 
 
 How far the idea of BE AUT Y may be ap* 
 plied to the ^jualities of the MIND. 
 
 NOR is this remark in general lefs appli- 
 cable to the qualities of the mind. Thofe 
 virtues which caufe admiration, and are of the 
 fublimer kind, produce terror rather than 
 Jove. Such as fortitude, juftice, wifdom, 
 and the like. Never was any man amiable 
 by force of thefe qualities. Thofe which en- 
 gage our hearts, which imprefs us with a 
 ienfe of lovelinefs, are the fofter virtues ; 
 eafinefs of temper, compaffion, kindnefs and 
 liberality ; though certainly thofe latter are ot 
 lefs immediate and momentous concern to 
 fociety, and of lefs dignity. But it is for that 
 reafon that they are fo amiable. The great 
 virtues turn principally on dangers, punifli- 
 ments, and troubles, and are exercifed rather 
 in preventing the worft mifchiefs, than in dif- 
 penfing favours 5 and are therefore not lovely, 
 
 though 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 93 
 
 though highly venerable. The fubordinate turn 
 on reliefs, gratifications, and indulgences; 
 and are therefore more lovely, though inferior 
 in dignity. Thofe perfons who creep into 
 the hearts of moft people, who are chofen as 
 the companions of their fofter hours, and 
 their reliefs from care and anxiety, are never 
 perfons of fliining qualities, nor ftrong vir- 
 tues. It is rather the foft green of the foul 
 on which we reft our eyes, that are fatigued 
 with beholding more glaring objeiSfe. It is 
 worth obfcrving, how we feel ourfelves afFe<9:ed 
 with reading the chara£ters of Caefar, and 
 Cato, as they are fo finely drawn and con- 
 trafted in Saluft. In one, the ignofcendo^ 
 hrglundo ; in the other, ni/ largiundo. In one, 
 the mlferis perfugium\ in the other, malts 
 femiciem. In the latter we have much to ad- 
 mire, much to reverence, and perhaps fome- 
 thing to fear ; we refpe6t him, but we re- 
 ipe61: him at a diftance. The former makes us 
 familiar with him ; we love him, and he leads 
 us whither he pleafes. To draw things clofer 
 to our firft and moft natural feelings ; I will 
 add to this a remark made upon reading this 
 fe6tion by an ingenious friend. The authority 
 of a father, fo ufeful to our well-being, and 
 fo juftly venerable upon all accounts, hinders 
 us from having that entire love for him that 
 
 we 
 
94 dii the StFB LIME 
 
 we have for our mothers, where the parental 
 authority is ahiioft melted down into the mo- 
 ther's fondnefs and indulgence. But we gene- 
 rally have a great love for our grandfathers, 
 in whom this authority is removed a degree 
 from us, and where the weaknefs of age mel- 
 lows it into fomething of a feminine par- 
 tiality. 
 
 SECT. XL 
 
 How far the idea of B E A U T Y may be 
 applied to V I R T U E. 
 
 FROM -what has been faid in the fore- 
 going fe<3:ion, we may eafily fee, how far 
 the application of beauty to virtue may be 
 made with propriety. The general application 
 of this metaphorical quality to virtue, has a 
 flrong tendency to confound our ideas of 
 things ; and it has given rife to an infinite deal 
 ofwhimfical theory; as the affixing the name 
 of beauty to proportion, congruity and perfec-« 
 tion, as well as to qualities of things yet 
 more remote from our natural ideas of it, 
 and from one another, has tended to confound 
 our ideas of beauty, and left us no ftandard 
 or rule to judge by, that was not even more 
 uncertain and fallacious than our own fancies. 
 
 SECT. 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 95 
 
 SECT. XIL- 
 The real caufe of BEAUTY. 
 
 HAVING endeavoured to fhew what 
 beauty is not, it remains that we 
 ihould examine, at leaft with equal attention, 
 in what it really conlifts j for beauty is a thing 
 much too affe<Sting not to depend upon fome 
 pofitive qualities. Now certainly, fmcc it is 
 no creature of our reafon, fmce it ftrikes us 
 without any reference to ufe, and even where 
 no ufe at ali can be difcerned, iince the order 
 and method of nature is generally very difFe- 
 rcnt from our meafures and proportions, we 
 muft conclude that beauty is, for the greater 
 part, fome merely fenfible quality, a^ng 
 mechanically upon the human mind by the in- 
 tervention of the fenfes. And we ought there- 
 fore to confider in what manner thofe fenfible 
 qualities are difpofed, in fuch things as by ex- 
 perience we find beautiful, or which excite 
 in us the paffion of love, or fome correlpond- 
 ent afFedion. 
 
 SECT. 
 
96 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 SECT. XIIL 
 
 Beautiful obje£ls fmall. 
 
 THE moft obvious point that prefents 
 itfelf to us in examining any-bbjedl, is 
 its extent or quantity. And what degree of 
 extent prevails in bodies, that are held beau- 
 tiful, may be gathered from the ufual manner 
 of expreffion concerning it. I am told that in 
 moft languages, the objects of love are fpoken 
 of under diminutive epithets. It is fo in all 
 the languages of which I have any knowledge. 
 in Greek the toy, and other diminutive terms, 
 are almoft always the terms of afFedtion and 
 tendernefs. Thefe diminutives were com- 
 monly added by the fame people to the names 
 of perfons with whom they converfed on terms 
 of friendfhip and familiarity. Though the 
 Romans were a people of lefs quick and de- 
 licate feelings, yet they naturally flld into the 
 lefTening termination upon the fame occafions. 
 Anciently in the Engllfti language the di- 
 miniftiing ling was added to the names of 
 perfons or things that were the objects of love. 
 Some we retain ftill, as darling, (or little dear) 
 and a few others. But to this day in ordinary 
 converfation, it is ufual to add the endearing 
 
 • name 
 
name of little to every thing we love ; the 
 French and Italians make ufe of thefe affedlion- 
 ate diminutives even more than we. In the 
 animal creation, out of our own fpecies, it is 
 the fmall we are inclined to be fond of. Little 
 birds, and fome of the fmaller kinds of beafts. 
 A great beautiful thing, is a manner of ex- 
 preflion fcarcely ever ufed ; but that of a great 
 ugly thing, is very common. There is a wide 
 difference between admiration and love. The 
 fublime, which is the caufe of the former, 
 always dwells on great objedls, and terrible; 
 the latter on fmall ones, and pleafmg ; we 
 fubmit to what we admire ; but we love what 
 fubmits to us ; in one cafe we are forced, in 
 the other we are flattered into compliance. 
 In fhort, the ideas of the fublime and the beau- 
 tiful ftand on foundations fo difl?erent, that it 
 is hard, I had almofl: faid impoflible, to think 
 of reconciling them in the fame fubje<St, with- 
 out confiderably lefTening the efFedt of the one 
 or the other upon the pailions. So that at- 
 tending to their quantity, beautiful obje(^s are 
 comparatively fmall. 
 
 H SECT. 
 
98 On the SUBLIME 
 
 SECT. XIV. 
 SMOOTHNESS. 
 
 TH E next property conftantly obfervable 
 in fuch objects is * Smoothnefs. A qua- 
 lity fo eflential to beauty, that I do not now 
 recolle6l any thing beautiful that is not fmooth. 
 In trees and flowers, fmooth leaves are beau- 
 tiful ; fmooth flopes of earth in gardens ; 
 fmooth ftreams in the landfcape ; fmooth 
 coats of birds and beafts in animal beauties ; 
 in fine women, fmooth fkins ; and in feveral 
 forts of ornamental furniture/mooth andpolifh- 
 ed furfaces. A very confiderable part of the 
 cfFe6l of beauty is owing to this quality ; in- 
 deed the moft confiderable. For take any 
 beautiful obje6l, and give it a broken and 
 rugged furface, and however well form- 
 ed it may be in other refpedls, it pleafes 
 no longer. Whereas let it want ever fo 
 many of the other conftituents, if it wants 
 not this, it becomes more pleafing than al- 
 moft all the others without it. This feems 
 to me fo evident, that I am a good deal fur- 
 prifed, that none who have handled the fub- 
 
 » Part 4. fea. 21. 
 
 je<a 
 
and B E A U T I F U L; 59 
 
 jcO: have made any mention of the quality of 
 fmoothnefs in the enumeration of thofe that 
 go to the forming of beauJty. For indeed any 
 ruggednefs, any fudden projedlion, any (harp 
 angle is in the higheft degree contrary to that 
 idea. 
 
 SECT. XV. 
 Gradual VARIATION. 
 
 BU T as perfectly beautiful bodies are not 
 compofcd of angular parts, fo their parts 
 never continue long in the fame right line, f 
 They vary their dire6tion every moment, 
 and they change under the eye by a deviation 
 continually carrying on, but for whofe be- 
 ginning or end you will find it difficult to af- 
 certain a point. The view of a beautiful 
 bird will illuftrate this obfervation. Here we 
 fee the head increafing infenfibly to the middle, 
 from whence it leflens gradually until it 
 mixes with the neck ; the neck lofes itfelf in 
 a larger fwell, which continues to the middle 
 of the body, when the whole decreafes again 
 to the tail ; the tail takes a new diredion ; 
 
 t Part 5. fea. 23. 
 
 H 2 but 
 
 I 
 
leo On the S U B L I M E 
 
 but it foon varies its new courfe ; it blends 
 again with the other parts ; and the line is 
 perpetually and infenfibly changing, above, 
 below, upon every fide. In this defcription I 
 have before me the idea of a dove ; it agrees 
 very well with moft of the conditions of beauty. 
 It is fmooth and downy ; its parts are (to ufe 
 that expreffion) melted into one another; 
 you are prefented with no fudden protu- 
 berance through the whole, and yet the whole 
 is continually changing. Obferve that part of a 
 beautiful woman where fhe is perhaps the moft 
 beautiful, about the neck and breafts ; the 
 fmoothnefs ; the foftnefs ; the eafy and infen- 
 fible fwell; the variety of the furface, which is 
 never for the fmalleft fpace the fame ; the de- 
 ceitful maze, through which the unfteady eye 
 Hides giddily, without knowing where to fix, 
 or whither it is carried. Is not this a demon- 
 ftration of that change of furface continual 
 and yet hardly perceptible at any point which 
 forms one of the great conftituents of beauty ? 
 
 SECT. 
 
 I 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. loi 
 
 SECT. XVI. 
 DELICACY. 
 
 AN air of robuftnefs and ftrength is veiy 
 prejudicial to beauty. An appearance 
 of delicacy^ and even of fragility, is almoft ef- 
 fential to it. Whoever examines the vege- 
 table or animal creation, will find this obfer- 
 vation to be founded in nature. It is not the 
 oak, the afti, or the elm, or any of the 
 robuft trees of the foreft vs^hich we confider as 
 beautiful ; they are awful and majeftic ; they 
 infpire a fort of reverence. It is the delicate 
 myrtle, it is the orange, it is the almond, it 
 is the jeflamine, it is the vine, which we look 
 on as vegetable beauties. It is the flowery 
 fpecies, fo remarkable for its weaknefs and 
 momentary duration, that gives us the livelieft 
 idea of beauty, and elegance. Among animals ; 
 the greyhound is more beautiful than the 
 maftiff ; and the delicacy of a gennet, a barb, 
 or an. Arabian horfe, is much more amiable, 
 than the ftrength and ftability of fome horfes 
 of war or carriage. I need here fay little of the 
 fair fex, where I believe the point will be eafily 
 allowed me. The beauty of women is con- 
 iiderably owing to their weaknefs, or delicacy, 
 H 3 and 
 
102 On the SUBLIME 
 
 and is even enhanced by their timidity, a 
 quality of mind analogous to it. I would not 
 here be underftood to fay, that weaknefs be- 
 traying very bad health has any fhare in beau- 
 ty ; but the ill efFed of this is not becaufe it is 
 weaknefs, but becaufe the ill ftate of health 
 which produces fuch weaknefs alters the other 
 conditions of beauty ; the parts in fuch a cafe 
 collapfe ; the bright colour, the lumen purpu^ 
 reum juventa is gone ; and the fine variation 
 is loft in wrinkles, fudden breaks, and right 
 lines. 
 
 SECT XVIL 
 Beauty in COLOUR. 
 
 AS to the colours ufually found in beauti- 
 ful bodies ; it may be fomewhat difficult 
 to afcertain them, becaufe in the feveral parts 
 of nature, there is an infinite variety. How- 
 ever, even in this variety, we may mark out 
 fomething on which to fettle. Firft, the 
 colours of beautiful bodies muft not be dufky 
 or muddy, but clean and fair. Secondly, they 
 muft not be of the ftrongeft kind. Thofe 
 which feem moft appropriated to beauty, are 
 the milder of every fort ; light greens ; foft 
 blues 'y weak whites 3 pink reds 3 and violets. 
 
 Thirdly, 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 103 
 
 Thirdly, if the colours be ftrong and vivid, 
 they are always diverfified, and the obje(Si: is 
 never of one ftrong colour ; there are almoft 
 always fuch a number of them (as in variegated 
 Howers) that the ftrength and glare of each is 
 confiderably abated. In a fine complexion, 
 there is not only fome variety in the colour- 
 ing, but the colours, neither the red nor the 
 white are ftrong and glaring. Befides, they are 
 mixed in fuch a manner, and with fuch gra- 
 dations, that it is impoilible to fix the bounds. 
 On the fame principle it is, that the dubious 
 colour in the necks and tails of peacocks, and 
 about the heads of drakes, is fo very agreeable. 
 In reality, the beauty both of fliape and colour- 
 ing are as nearly related, as we can well fup- 
 pofe it poffible for things of fuch different 
 natures to be. 
 
 SECT. XVIII. 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 ON the whole, the qualities of beauty, as 
 they are merely fenfible qualities, are 
 are the following. Firft, to be comparatively 
 fmall. Secondly, to be fmooth. Thirdly, to 
 have a variety in the direction of tho parts ; 
 but fourthly, to have thofe parts not angular, 
 H 4 but 
 
104 On the SUBLIME. 
 
 but melted as it were into each other. Fifthly, to 
 be of a delicate frame, without any remarkable 
 appearance of ftrength. Sixthly, to have its 
 colours clear and bright ; but not very ftrong 
 and glaring. Seventhly, or if it {houldjhave 
 any glaring colour, to have it diverfified with 
 others. Thefe are, I believe, the properties on 
 which beauty depends 5 properties that ope- 
 rate by nature, and are lefs liable to be altered 
 by caprice, or confounded by a diverfity of 
 taftes, than any others, 
 
 SECT. XIX. 
 The PHYSIOGNOMY. 
 
 THE Phyfiogmmy has a confiderable fhare 
 in beauty, efpecially in that of our own 
 fpecies. The manners give a certain deter- 
 mination to the countenance, which being ob- 
 ferved to correfpond pretty regularly with 
 them, is capable of joining the efFe6t of cer- 
 tain agreeable qualities of the mind 10 thofe of 
 the body. So that to form a flnifhed human 
 beauty, and to g^ive it its full influence, the 
 face muft be exprefTive of fuch gentle and 
 amiable qualities, as correfpond with the foft- 
 nefs, fmoothncfs, and delicacy of the outward 
 
 form. 
 
 SECT, 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 105 
 
 SECT. XX. 
 
 The EYE. 
 
 I HAVE hitherto purpofely omitted to fpeak 
 of the Eye^ which has fo great a (hare in 
 the beauty of the animal creation, as It did 
 not fall fo eafily under the foregoing heads, 
 though in fadl it is reducible to the fame prin- 
 ciples. I think then, that the beauty of the eye 
 confifts, firft, in its clearnefs ; what coloured 
 eye fhall pleafe mofl, depends a good deal on 
 particular fancies; but none are pleafed with 
 an eye, whofe water (to ufe that term) is dull 
 and muddy. * We are pleafed with the eye in 
 this view, on the principle upon which we 
 like diamonds, clear water, glafs, and fuch 
 like tranfparent fubftances. Secondly, the 
 motion of the eye contributes to its beauty, by 
 continually fhiftlng its diredtlon ; but a flow 
 and languid motion is more beautiful than a 
 brifk one ; the latter is enlivening ; the former 
 lovely. Thirdly, with regard to its union 
 with the neighbouring parts, it is to hold the 
 fame rule that is given of other beautiful ones ; 
 it Is not to make a ftrong deviation from the 
 
 ♦ Part 4. fea. 25;. 
 
 line 
 
io6 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 line of the neighbouring parts; nor to verge 
 into any exa6l geometrical figure. Befides all 
 this, the eye afFedls, as it is expreffive of fome 
 qualities of the mind, and its principal power 
 generally arifes from this ; fo that what we 
 have juft faid of the phyfiognomy is applicable 
 iiere» 
 
 SECT. XXI. 
 
 UGLINESS. 
 
 IT may perhaps appear like a fort of repe- 
 tition of what we have before faid, to infift 
 here upon the nature of UgUnefs. As I ima- 
 gine it to be in all refpedts the oppofite to thofe 
 qualities which we have laid down for the con- 
 ftituents of beauty. But though uglinefs be 
 the oppofite to beauty, it is not the oppofite to 
 proportion and fitnefs. For it is pofHble that 
 a thing may be very ugly with any propor- 
 tions, and with a perfect fitnefs to any ufes. 
 Uglinefs I imagine likewife to be confiflcnt 
 enough with an idea of the fublime. But I 
 would by no means infinuate that uglinefs 
 of itfelf is a fublime idea, unlefs united with 
 fuch qualities as excite a flrong terror. 
 
 SECT. 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 107 
 
 SECT. xxir. 
 
 GRACE. 
 
 f^Racefulnefs is an idea not very different 
 ^^ from beauty ; it confifts in much the fame 
 things. Gracefulnefs is an idea belonging to 
 pojlure and motion. In both thefe, to be grace- 
 ful, it is requifite that there be no appearance 
 of difficulty J there is required a fmall inflexion 
 of the body ; and a compofure of the parts, in 
 fuch a manner, as not to incumber each other, 
 nor to appear divided by ftiarp and fudden 
 angles. In this eafe, this roundnefs, and de- 
 licacy of attitude and motion, it is that all the 
 magic of grace confifls, and what is called its 
 je nefcai quoi, as will be more obvious to any 
 body who confiders attentively the Venus de 
 Medicis, the Antlnous, or any flatue generally 
 allowed to be graceful in an high degree. 
 
 SECT. XXIII. 
 ELEGANCE and SPECIOUSNESS. 
 
 WHEN any body is compofed of parts 
 fmooth and polllhed, without preffing 
 upon each other, without Ihewing any rugged- 
 1 nels 
 
io8 On the SUBLIME 
 
 nefs or confufion, and at the fame time afFe6t- 
 ing fome regular Jhape^ I call it elegant. It is 
 clofely allied to the beautiful, differing from 
 it only in this regularity \ which however, 
 as it makes a very material diiFerence, in the 
 afFe(5lion produced, may very well conftitute 
 another fpecies. Under this head I rank thofe 
 delicate and regular works of art, that imitate 
 no determinate object in nature, as elegant 
 buildings, and pieces of furniture. When 
 any objc61: partakes of the abovementioned 
 qualities, or of thofe of beautiful bodies, and 
 is withal of great dimenfions ; it is full as 
 remote from the idea of mere beauty. I call 
 \\.fine orfpecious, 
 
 SECT. XXIV. 
 The beautiful in FEELING. 
 
 TH E foregoing defcription of beauty, fo 
 far as is taken in by the eye, may be 
 greatly illuftrated by defcribing the nature of 
 objefts, which produce a fimilar efFecSt through 
 the touch. This I call the beautiful in Feeling. 
 It correfponds wonderfully with what caufes 
 the fame fpecies of pleafure to the fight. 
 There is a chain in all our fenfations, they 
 are all but different forts of feeling, calculated 
 to be affected by various forts of objedts, but 
 
 all 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 109 
 
 all to be afFeded after the fame manner. AH 
 bodies that are pleafant to the touchy are fo by 
 the flightnefs of the refiftance they make. Re- 
 fiftance is either to motion along the furface, 
 or to the prefTure of the parts on one another ; 
 if the former be flight, wc call the body, 
 fmooth ; if the latter, foft. The chief pleafuxe 
 we receive by feeling, is in the one or the other 
 of thefe qualities ; and if there be a combination 
 of both,ourpleafure is greatly increafed. This is 
 fo plain, that it is rather more fit to ill uflrate other 
 things, than to be illuftrated itfelf by any exam- 
 ple. The next fource of pleafure in this fenfe, as 
 in every other, is the continually prefenting 
 fomewhat new; and we find that bodies which 
 continually vary their furface, are much the moft 
 pleafant, or beautiful, to the feeling, as any 
 one that pleafes may experience. The third 
 property in fuch objeds is, that though the 
 furface continually varies its diredion, it never 
 varies it fuddenly. The application of any 
 thing fudden, even though the impreffion it- 
 felf have little or nothing of violence, is dif- 
 agreeable. The quick application of a finger 
 a little warmer or colder than ufual, without 
 notice, makes us ftart ; a flight tap on the 
 (houlder, not expedted, has the fame effect:. 
 Hence it is that angular bodies, bodies that 
 
 fuddenly 
 
no On the S U B L I M E 
 
 fuddenly vary the dife£lion of the outline, af- 
 ford fo little pleafure to the feeling. Every 
 fuch change is a fort of climbing or falling 
 in miniature ; fo that fquares, triangles, and 
 other angular figures, are neither beautiful 
 to the fight nor feeling. Whoever compares 
 his ftate of mind, on feeling foft, fmooth, va- 
 riated, unangular bodies, with that in which 
 he finds himfelf, on the view of a beautiful 
 objedl, will perceive a very ftriking analogy 
 in the efFedts of both ; and which may go a 
 good way towards difcovering their common 
 caufe. Feeling and fight in this refpedt, dif- 
 fer in but a few points. The touch takes in 
 the pleafure of foftnefs, which is not primarily 
 an object of fight; the fight on the other hand 
 comprehends colour, which can hardly be 
 made perceptible to the touch -, the touch 
 again has the advantage in a new idea of 
 pleafure refulting from a moderate degree of 
 warmth ; but the eye triumphs in the infinite 
 extent and multiplicity of its objeds. But there 
 is fuch a fimilitude in the plca(ures of thefe 
 fenfes, that I am apt to fancy, if it were pof- 
 fible that one might difcern colour by feeling, 
 (as it is faid fome blind men have done) that 
 the fame colours, and the fame difpofition of 
 colouring, which are found beautiful to the 
 
 fight, 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. xrx 
 
 fight, would be found likewife moft grateful 
 to the touch. But fetting afide conjedures, 
 let us pafs to the other fenfe ; of hearing, 
 
 SECT. XXV. 
 
 The beautiful in SOUNDS. 
 
 IN this fenfe we find an equal aptitude to be 
 affedcd in a foft and delicate manner; and 
 how far fweet or beautiful founds agree with 
 our defcriptions of beauty in other fenfes, th« 
 experience of every one muft decide. Milton 
 has defcribed this fpecies of mufic in one of 
 his juvenile poems *. I need not fay that 
 Milton was perfedly well verfed in that art ; 
 and had as fine an ear, with as happy a man- 
 ner of expreffing the afFedlions of one fenfe by 
 metaphors taken from another, as any man 
 that ever was. The defcription is as follows* 
 
 "-'And ever agalnji eating cares^ 
 
 Lap me in foft Lydian airs ; 
 
 In notes with many a winding bout 
 
 O/" linked fweetnefs long drawn out ; 
 
 JVith wanton heed^ and giddy cunning, 
 
 *Ihe melting voice through mazes running ; 
 
 * II allegro, 
 
 Untwifl- 
 
112 On the SUBLIME 
 
 Untwifting all the chains that tye 
 The hidden foul of harmony. 
 
 Let us parallel this with the foftnefs, the wind- 
 ing furface, the unbroken continuance, the 
 eafy gradation of the beautiful in other things ; 
 and all the diverllties of the feveral fcnfes, 
 with all their feveral affections, will rather 
 help to throw lights from one another to finifh 
 one clear, confident idea of the whole, than 
 to obfcure it by their intricacy and variety. 
 
 SECT. XXVL 
 
 Continued. 
 
 TO the abovementioned defcription I fliall 
 add one or two remarks. The firft is ; 
 that the beautiful in mufic will not bear that 
 loudnefs and flrength of founds, that may be 
 ufed to raife other paifions ; nor notes, which 
 are fhrill, or harfh, or deep ; it agrees beft 
 with fuch as are clear, even, fmooth, and 
 weak. The fecond is ; that great variety, 
 and quick tranfitions from one meafure or tone 
 to another, are contrary to the genius of the 
 beautiful in mufic. Such f tranfitions often 
 
 •j- I ne'er am merry, when I hear fweet mufic. 
 
 Shakespear. 
 
 excite 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. u^ 
 
 excite mirth, or other fudden and tumultuous 
 paflions ; but not that linking, that melting, 
 that languor, which is the characSleriftical 
 efFedt of the beautiful, as it regards every 
 fenfe. The paflion excited by beauty is in fadl 
 nearer to a fpecies of melancholy, than to jol- 
 lity and mirth. I do not here mean to con- 
 fine mufic to any one fpecies of notes, or tones, 
 neither is it an art in which I can fay I have 
 any great fkill. My fole defign in this remark 
 is, to fettle a confiftent idea of beauty. The 
 infinite variety of the affections of the foul will 
 fuggeft to a good head, and fkilful ear, a va- 
 riety of fuch founds, as are fitted to raife 
 them. It can be no prejudice to this, to clear 
 and diftinguifh fome few particulars, that be- 
 long to the fame clafs, and are confiftent with 
 each other, from the immenfe croud of dif- 
 ferent, and fometimes contradictory ideas, 
 that rank vulgarly under the ftandard of beau- 
 ty. And of thefe it is my intention to mark 
 fuch only of the leading points as fhew the 
 conformity of the fenfe of hearing, with all the 
 other fenfes in the article of their pleafures. 
 
 SECT, 
 
114 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 SECT. XXVII. 
 
 TASTE and SMELL. 
 
 '"p HIS general agreement of the fenfes is ye« 
 more evident on minutely confidering 
 thofe of tafte and fmell. We metaphorically 
 apply the idea of fweetnefs to fights, and 
 founds ; but as the qualities ofbodies by which 
 they are fitted to excite either pleafure or pain 
 in thefe fenfes, are not fo obvious as they are 
 in the others, we (hall refer an explanation 
 of their analogy, which is a very clofe one, ta 
 that part, wherein we come to confider the 
 common efficient caufe of beauty as it regards 
 all the fenfes. I do not think any thing better 
 fitted to cftablifli a clear and fettled idea of 
 vifual beauty, than this way of examining the 
 fimilar pleafures of other fenfes ; for one part 
 is fometimes clear in one of the fenfes, that 
 is more obfcure in another ; and where there 
 is a clear concurrence of all, we may with 
 more certainty fpeak of any one of them. By 
 this means, they bear witnefs to each other ; 
 nature is, as it were, fcrutinized ; and we 
 report nothing of her, but what we receive 
 from her own information, 
 
 SECT. 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. US 
 
 SECT. XXVIIL 
 The Sublime and Beautiful compared. 
 
 ON clofing this general view of beauty, it 
 naturally occurs, that we fliould com- 
 pare it with the fublime ; and in this com- 
 parifon there appears a remarkable contraft. 
 For fublime objeds are vaft in their dimen- 
 fions, beautiful ones comparatively fmall ; 
 beauty fhould be fmooth, and poliflied ; the 
 great, rugged and negligent; beauty fhould 
 fhun the right line, yet deviate from it infen- 
 fibly ; the great in many cafes loves the right 
 line, and when it deviates, it often makes a 
 ftrong deviation; beauty fhould not be ob- 
 fcure ; the great ought to be dark and gloomy; 
 beauty fhould be light and delicate; the great 
 ought to be folid, and even maffive. They arc 
 indeed ideas of a very different nature, one 
 being founded on pain, the other on pleafure; 
 and however they may vary afterwards from 
 the direct nature of their caufes, yet thefe 
 caufes keep up an eternal diftin<5lion between 
 them, a diflindtion never to be forgotten by any 
 whofe bufinefs it is to afFe6t the paflions. 
 
 The end of the Third Part* 
 
Philofophical Enquiry 
 
 I N T O T H E 
 
 Origin of our Ideas 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 Sublime and Beautiful. 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 Of the efficient caufe of the S U B L I M E 
 and BEAUTIFUL. 
 
 WHEN I fay, I intend to enquire 
 into the efficient caufe of fubli- 
 mlty and beauty, I would not be 
 underftood to fay, that I can come to the ul- 
 timate caufe. I do not pretend that I (hall ever 
 be able to explain, why certain afFedlions of the 
 body produce fuch a diftin6l emotion of mind, 
 and no other ; or why the body is at all af- 
 fected by the mind, or the mind by the body. 
 A little thought will fliew this to be impoffible. 
 I 3 But 
 
ii8 On the SUBLIME 
 
 But I conceive, if we can difcover what af- 
 fections of the mind produce certain emo- 
 tions of the body ; and what diftindl feelings 
 and qualities of body fhall produce certain 
 determinate pailions in the mind, and no 
 others, I fancy a great deal will be done ; 
 fomething not unufeful towards a diftin6t 
 knowledge of our paffions, fo far at leaft as 
 we have them at prefent under our confide- 
 ration. This is all, I believe, we can do. 
 If we could advance a ftep farther, difficulties 
 would ftill remain, as we fhould be ftill 
 equally diftant from the firft caufe. When 
 Newton firft difcovered the property of attrac- 
 tion, and fettled its laws, he found it ferved 
 very well to explain feveral of the moft re- 
 markable phaenomena in nature ; but yet with 
 reference to the general fyftem of things, he 
 could confider attracSlIon but as an efFedl, 
 whofe caufe at that time he did not attempt 
 to trace. But when he afterwards began to 
 account for it by a fubtle elaftic aether, this 
 great man (if in fo great a man it be not im- 
 pious to difcover any thing like a blemifli) 
 feemcd to have quitted his ufual cautious man- 
 ner of philofophifing; fmce, perhaps, allowing 
 all that has been advanced on this fubje£t to 
 be fufficiently proved, I think It leaves us with 
 5is roany difficulties as it found us. That 
 
 great 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 119 
 
 great chain of caufes, which linking one to 
 another even to the throne of God liimfelf, 
 can never be unravelled by any induftry of 
 ours. When we go but one ftep beyond the 
 immediately fenfible qualities of things, we 
 go out of our depth. All we do after, is but 
 a faint ftruggle, that fhews we are in an ele- 
 ment, that does not belong to us. So that 
 when I fpeak of caufe, and efficient caufe, I 
 only mean, certain afFedlions of the mind, that 
 caufe certain changes in the body ; or certain 
 powers and properties in bodies, that work a 
 change in the mind. As if I were to explain the 
 motion of a body falling to the ground, I would 
 fay it was caufed by gravity, and I would en- 
 deavour to fhew after what manner this power 
 operated, without attempting to fhew why it 
 operated in this manner ; or if I were to ex- 
 plain the efFecSls of bodies ftriking one another 
 by the common laws of percuffion, I fhould 
 not endeavour to explain how motion itfelf is 
 communicated. 
 
 I 4 SECT, 
 
120 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 SECT. IL 
 ASSOCIATION. 
 
 IT Is no fmall bar in the way of our enqui- 
 ries into the caufes of the paffions, that the 
 occafion of many of them are given, and that 
 their governing motions are imprefied at a time 
 when we have not capacity torefledl on them; 
 at a time of which all forts of memory is worn 
 out of our minds. For befides fuch thino-s as 
 afFedt us in various manners according to their 
 natural powers, there are afTociations made 
 at that early feafon, which we find it very 
 hard afterwards to diftinguifii from natural 
 efFeds. Not to mention the unaccountable 
 antipathies which we find in many perfons, 
 we all find it impoflible to remember when a 
 fteep became more terrible than a plain ; or 
 fire or water more dreadful than a clod of 
 earth ; though all thefe are very probably 
 either conclufions from experience, or arifing 
 from the premonitions of others ; and fome 
 of them imprefied, in all likelihood, pretty 
 late. But as it muft be allowed that many 
 things zffe6i us after a certain manner, not by 
 any natural powers they have for that purpofe, 
 but by aflbciation ; fo it would be abfurd on 
 
 the 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 121 
 
 tlie other hand, to fay that nothing afFe6ls us 
 otherwife ; fince Tome things muft have been 
 originally and naturally agreeable or difagree- 
 able, from which the others derive their af- 
 fociated pow^ers ; and it would be, I fancy, to 
 Jittle purpofe to look for the caufes of our paf- 
 llons in aflbciation, until we fail of them it\ 
 the natural properties of things, 
 
 SECT. III. 
 Caufe of PAIN and FEAR. 
 
 IHave before obferved, f that whatever Is 
 qualified to caufe terror, is a foundation 
 capable of the fublime ; to which I add, that 
 not only t^lefe, but many things from which 
 we cannot probably apprehend any danger 
 have a fimilar efFe(Sl:, becaufe they operate in a 
 fimilar manner. I obferved too, that * 
 whatever produces pleafure, pofitive and ori- 
 ginal pleafure, is fit to have beauty engrafted 
 on it. Therefore, to clear up the nature of 
 thefe qualities, it may be neceflary to explain 
 the nature of pain and pleafure on which they 
 depend. A man who fufFers under violent 
 bodily pain ; (I fuppofe the moft violent, fccr 
 
 t Part I. fea. 8. ♦ Part i. fed. 10. 
 
 caufe 
 
121 On the SUBLIME 
 
 caufe the efFecSl may be the more obvious.} 
 I fay a man in pain has his teeth fet, his eye- 
 brows are violently contra6led, his forehead 
 is wrinkled, his eyes are dragged inwards, and 
 rolled with great vehemence, his hair ftands 
 an end, the voice is forced out in (hort flirieks 
 and groans, and the whole fabric totters. Fear 
 or terror, which is an apprehenfion of pain 
 or death, exhibits exadlly the fame efFeds, ap- 
 proaching in violence to thofe jufl mentioned 
 in proportion to the nearnefs of the caufe, 
 and the weaknefs of the fubjecSt. This is not 
 only fo in the human fpecies, but I have more 
 than once obferved in dogs, under an appre- 
 henfion of punifhment, that they have writh- 
 ed their bodies, and yelped, and howled, as if 
 they had adually felt the blows. From hence 
 I conclude that pain, and fear, a6l upon the 
 the fame parts of the body, and in the fame 
 manner, though fomewhat differing in degree. 
 That pain and fear confift in an unnatural 
 tenfion of the nerves ; that this is fometimes 
 accompanied with an unnatural ftrength, 
 which fometimes fuddenly changes into an ex- 
 traordinary weaknefs ; that thefe efFecSts often 
 come on alternately, and fometimes mixed 
 ivith each other. This is the nature of all 
 convullivx agitations, efpecially in weaker fub- 
 
 je6ts. 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 12 j 
 
 jc<^s, which are the moft liable to the fc- 
 vereft impreflions of pain and fear. The only 
 difference between pain and terror, is, that 
 things which caufe pain operate on the mind, 
 by the intervention of the body ; whereas 
 things that caufe terror generally afFe<Sl the 
 bodily organs by the operation of the mind 
 fuggefting the danger ; but both agreeing, 
 either primarily, or fecondarily, in producing 
 a tenfion, contraction, or violent emotion of 
 the nerves f . They agree likewife in every 
 thing elfe ; for it appears ver}^ clearly to me, 
 from this, as well as from many other exam- 
 ples, that when the body is difpofed, by any 
 means whatfoever, to fuch emotions, as it 
 would acquire by the means of a certain paf- 
 fion ; it will of itfelf excite fomething very 
 like that paflion in the mind. 
 
 f I do not here enter into the queftion debated 
 among phyfiologifts,whether pain be the efFeft of a 
 contradion, or a tenfion of the nerves. Either 
 will ferve my purpofe J for by tenfion, I mean no 
 more than a violent pulling of the fibres, which 
 compofe any mufcle or membrane, in whatever 
 way this is done. 
 
 SECT. 
 
124 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 S E C T. IV. 
 Continued. 
 
 TO this purpofe Mr. Spon, in the Re- 
 cherches d' Antiquite, gives us a cu- 
 rious flory of the celebrated phyfiognomift 
 Campanella; this man, it feems, had not 
 only made very accurate obfervations on hu- 
 man faces, but vi^as very expert in mimick- 
 ing fuch, as were any way remarkable. 
 When he had a mind to penetrate into 
 the inclinations of thofe he had to deal with, 
 he compofed his face, his gefture, and his 
 whole body, as nearly as he could into the ex- 
 a6l fimilitude of the perfon he intended to ex- 
 amine ; and then carefully obferved what turn 
 of mind he feemed to acquire by this chansie. 
 So that, fays my author, he was able to enter 
 into the difpofitions and thoughts of people, as 
 efFedually as if he had been changed into the 
 very men. I have often obferved, that on 
 mimicking the looks and geftures, of angry, 
 or placid, or frighted, or daring men, I have 
 involuntarily found my mind turned to that 
 paffion whofe appearance I endeavoured to 
 imitate ; nay, I am convinced it is hard to 
 avoid it; though one ftrove to feparate the 
 
 paflion 
 
and BEAUTIFUL* 12.5) 
 
 paflion from its correfpondent geftures. Our 
 minds and bodies are fo clofely and intimately 
 connected, that one is incapable of pain or 
 pleafure without the other. Campanella, of 
 whom we have been fpeaking, could fo ab- 
 ftra(St his attention from any fuiFerings of hi$ 
 body, that he was able to endure the rack it- 
 felf without much pain ; and in lefler pains, 
 every body muft have obferved, that when we 
 can employ our attention on any thing elfe, 
 the pain has been for a time fufpended ; on 
 the other hand, if by any means the body 
 is indifpofed to perform fuch geftures, or to 
 be ftimulated into fuch emotions as any paffion 
 ufually produces in it ; that pailion itfelf nevei* 
 can arife, though its caufe fhould be never fo 
 ftrongly in adion ; though it fhould be mere- 
 ly mental, and immediately afFecSling none of 
 the fenfes. As an opiate, or fpirituous liquors 
 fhall fufpcnd the operation of grief, or fear, 
 or anger, in fpite of all our efforts to the con- 
 trary, and this by inducing in the body a dif- 
 pofition contrary to that which it receives from 
 thefe paffions. 
 
 SECT. 
 
126 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 SECT. V. 
 
 How the Sublime is produced* 
 
 HAVING confidered terror as producing 
 an unnatural tenfion and certain violent 
 emotions of the nerves ; it eafily follows, from 
 what we have juft faid, that whatever is fitted 
 to produce fuch a tenfion, muft be producStive of 
 apaffion fimilar to terror ||, and confequently 
 muft be a fource of the fublime, though it 
 fhould have no idea of danger conne<5led with 
 it. So that little remains towards (hewing the 
 caufe of the fublime, but to fhew that the in- 
 ftances we gave of it, in the fecond part, are of 
 fuch things, as are fitted by nature to produce 
 this fort of tenfion, either by the primary ope- 
 ration of the mind or the body. With regard 
 to fuch things as afFe6l by the aflibciated idea 
 of danger, there can be no doubt but that they 
 produce terror, and aft by fome modification 
 of that paflion ; and that terror, when fulfici- 
 ently violent, raifes the emotions of the body 
 juft mentioned, can as little be doubted. But 
 if the fublime is built on terror, or fome paf- 
 iion like it, which has pain for its objeft ; it is 
 prevloufly proper to enquire how any fpecies 
 of delight can be derived from a caufe fo ap- 
 parently 
 I Part 2. fca. 2, 
 
and BEAUTIFUL 127 
 
 parently contrary to it. I fay, delight^ be- 
 caufe, as I have often remarked, it is very 
 evidently different in its caufe, and in its own 
 nature, from adual and pofitive pleafure. 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 How pain can be a caufe of delight. 
 
 PROVIDENCE has fo ordered it, that 
 a ftate of reft and ina6lion, however it 
 may flatter fome principle of indolence in us, 
 (hould be produ(5live of many inconvenien- 
 cies ; that it fhould generate fuch diforders, as 
 may force us to have recourfe to fome labour, 
 as a thing abfolutely requifite to make us pafs 
 our lives with tolerable fatisfa<Sl:ion ^ for the 
 nature of reft is to fufFer all the parts of our 
 bodies to fall into fuch a relaxation, as not 
 only difables the members from performing 
 their functions, but takes away that vigour 
 which is requifite towards the performing the 
 natural and necefiary fecretions. At the 
 fame time, that in this languid inacSlive ftate, 
 the nerves are more liabk to the moft horrid 
 convulfions, than when they are fufficiently 
 braced and ftrengthened. Melancholy, de- 
 je6i:ion, defpair, and often felf-murder, is the 
 confequence of the gloomy view v/e take of 
 
 things 
 
xa8 Oft the SUBLIME 
 
 things in this relaxed ftate of body. The beft 
 remedy for all thefe evils is exercife or labour 5 
 and labour is a furmounting of diffculttes^ an 
 exertion of the contradting power of the 
 mufcles ; and as fuch refembles pain, which 
 confifts in tenfion or contraction, in every 
 thing but degree. Labour is not only requi- 
 fite to preferve the coarfer organs in a ftate fit 
 for their functions, but it is equally neceflary 
 to thefe finer and more delicate organs, on 
 which, and by which, the imagination, and 
 perhaps the other mental powers, a6l. Since 
 it is probable, that not only the inferior parts 
 of the foul, as the pafHons are called, but the 
 underftanding itfclf makes ufe of fome fine 
 corporeal inflruments in its operations \ though 
 what they are, and where they are, may be 
 fomewhat hard to fettle : but that it does 
 make ufe of fuch, appears from hence ; that 
 a long exercife of the mental powers induces 
 a remarkable laflitude of the whole body ; and 
 on the other hand, that great bodily labour, 
 or pain, weakens, and fometimes adlually de- 
 ftroys the mental faculties. Now, as a due 
 exercife Is efTcntial to the coarfe mufcular parts 
 of the conftitution, and that without this rou- 
 fing they would become languid, and difeafed, 
 and clogged with heterogeneous and hurtful 
 matter J the very fame rule holds with re- 
 card 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 129 
 
 gard to the former ; to have them in proper 
 order, they muft be fhaken and worked to a 
 proper degree. 
 
 SECT. VII, 
 
 EXERCISE neceflary for the finer organs. 
 
 AS common labour, which is a mode of 
 pain, is the exercife of the grofler, a 
 mode of terror is the exercife of the finer parts 
 of the fyftem j and if a certain mode of pain is 
 of fuch a nature as to a£t upon the eye or the 
 ear, as they are the moll delicate organs, it 
 approaches more nearly to that which has a 
 mental caufe. In all thefe cafes, if the pain 
 and terror are fo modified as not to be adlually 
 noxious ; if the pain is not carried to violence, 
 and the terror is not converfant about the pre- 
 fent deftrudion of the perfon, as thefe emo- 
 tions clear the parts, whether fine, or grofs, 
 of a dangerous and troublefome incumbrance, 
 they are capable of producing delight 5 not 
 pleafure, but a fort of delightful horror, a fort 
 of tranquility tinged with terror 5 which as it 
 belongs to felf-prcfervation is one of theftrong- 
 eft of all the pafiions. Its object is the fublime J. 
 
 1 Part 2. fed. 
 
 K Its 
 
130 On the SUBLIME 
 
 Its higheft degree I call ajiomjhment ; the fub- 
 ordinate degrees are awe, reverence, and re- 
 fpe£l, which by the very etymology of the 
 words (hew from what fource they are derived, 
 and how they ftand diftinguifhed from pofitive 
 pleafure. 
 
 SECT. VIII. 
 
 Why things not dangerous produce a paflion 
 like TERROR. 
 
 f 4 Mode of terror, or of pain, is always 
 /\ the caufe of the fublime. For terror, 
 or aflbciated danger, the foregoing explica- 
 tion is, I believe, fufEcient. It will require 
 fomething more trouble to fhew, that fuch 
 examples, as I have given of the fublime in 
 the fecond part, are capable of producing a 
 mode of pain, and of being thus allied to terror, 
 and to be accounted for on the fame principles. 
 And firft of fuch objeds as are great in their 
 dimenfions, I fpeak of vifual objedls. 
 
 t Part I. fea. 7. Part. a. feft* 2. 
 
 SECT. 
 
and B E A U T I F U L; 131 
 
 S E C T. XL 
 
 Why vifual obje£ls of great dimenfions are ] 
 Sublime. 
 
 VISION is performed by having a 
 pi6lure formed by the rays of light 
 which are reflected from the obje6t, painted 
 in one piece, inftantaneoufly, on the retina, 
 or laft nervous part of the eye. Or, accord- 
 ing to others, there is but one point of any 
 objedt painted on the eye in fuch a manner 
 as to be perceived at once ; but by moving the 
 eye, we gather up with great celerity, the fe- 
 veral parts of the objeft, fo as to form one 
 uniform piece. If the former opinion be al- 
 lowed, it will be confidered, that a body of 
 great dimenfions,* though all the light refle<Sl« 
 ed from it fhould ftrike the eye in one inftant; 
 yet with regard to its extent we muft fuppofe 
 it formed of a vaft number of diftincSt points, 
 every one of which, or the ray from every one, 
 makes an impreflion on the retina. So that, 
 though the image of one point fhould caufe 
 but a fmall tenfion of this membrane, ano- 
 ther, and another, and another ftroke, muft 
 
 * Part 2. fea. 7. 
 
 K 2 in 
 
13* On the S U B L I M E 
 
 in their progrefs caufe a very great one, un- 
 til it arrives at laft to the higheft degree ; and 
 the Vi^hole capacity of the eye, vibrating in all 
 its parts muft approach near to the nature of 
 what caufes pain, and confequently muft pro- 
 duce an idea of the fublime. Or if we take 
 it, that one point only of an object is diftin- 
 guifhable at once ; the matter will amount 
 nearly to the fame thing, or rather it will 
 make the origin of ihe fublime from greatnefs 
 of dimenfion yet clearer. For if but one point 
 is obferved at once, the eye muft travcrfe the 
 vaft fpacc of fuch bodies with great quicknefs, 
 and confequently the fine nerves and mufcles 
 deftined to the motion of that part muft be very 
 much ftrained ; and their great fenfibility muft 
 make them the more afFecSled by it. Befides, it 
 fignifies juft nothing to the effed produced, whe- 
 ther a body has its parts connected and makes 
 its impreffion at once; or making but one 
 imprefHon of a point at a time, it caufes a 
 fucceiTion of the fame, or others, fo quickly, 
 as to make them feem united ; as is evident 
 from the common effedl of whirling about a 
 lighted torch or piece of wood ; which if done 
 with celerity, feems a circle of fire. 
 
 SECT. 
 
1 1 
 
 and BEAUTIFUL. 133 
 SECT. X. 
 
 UNITY why requifite to vaftnefs. 
 
 T may be objecS^ed to this theory, that the 
 eye generally receives an equal number of 
 rays at all times, and that therefore a great 
 objedt cannot afFecSt it by the number of rays, 
 more than that variety of objeds which the 
 eye muft always difcern whilft it remains open. 
 But to this I anfwer, that admitting an equal 
 number of rays, or an equal quantity of lu- 
 minous particles to ftrike the eye at all times, 
 yet if thefe rays frequently vary their nature, 
 now to blue, now to red, and fo on, or their 
 manner of termination as to a number of petty 
 fquares, triangles, or the like, at every change, 
 whether of colour or fhape, the organ has a fort 
 of relaxation or reft, which prevents that 
 tenfion, that fpecies of labour which is allied 
 to pain, and caufes the fublime. For the fum 
 total of things of various kinds, though it 
 ihould equal the number of the uniform parts 
 compofmg fome one entire objed:, is not e- 
 qual in its effedl upon the organs of our bodies. 
 It is next to reft in all things, to vary our la- 
 bour 'y and it is not fo only in our labours, but 
 in our ftudies. Befides this, there is a very 
 ftrong reafon for the difference. The mind 
 K3 in 
 
134 Oh the SUBLIME 
 
 In reality hardly ever can attend diligently to 
 more than one thing at a time ; if this thing 
 be little, the effect is little, and a number of 
 other little objects cannot engage the atten- 
 tion ; the mind is bounded by the bounds of 
 the objeiSi:; and what is not attended to, and 
 what does notexift, are much the fame in the 
 effedl; but the eye or the mind (for in this 
 cafe there is no difference) in great uniform ob- 
 jects does not readily arrive at their bounds -, it 
 has no reft, whilft it contemplates them ; the 
 image is much the fame every where. So 
 that every thing great by its quantity muft ne- 
 ceflarily be, one, fimple and entire. 
 
 SECT. XI. 
 The artificial INFINITE. 
 
 WE have obferved,that a fpecies of great- 
 nefs arifes from the artificial infinite; 
 and that this confifts in an uniform fucccflion 
 of great parts : we obferved too, that the fame 
 uniform fucceflion had a like power in founds. 
 Butbecaufe the efFeiSs of many things are clearer 
 in one of the fenfes than in another, and that 
 they all bear an analogy to, and illuftrate one 
 another; I fhall begin with this power in 
 founds, as the caufe of the fublimity from fuc- 
 ceflion 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 135 
 
 ccffion is rather more obvious in the fenfe of 
 hearing. And I ftiall here once for all ob- 
 ferve, that an inveftigation of the natural 
 and mechanical caufes of our paflions, befides 
 the curiofity of the fubje61:, gives, if they are 
 difcovered, a double ftrength and luftre to any 
 rules we deliver on fuch matters. When the 
 ear receives any flmple found, it is ftruck 
 by a fingle pulfe of the air, which makes the 
 ear-drum and the other membranous parts vi- 
 brate according to the nature and fpecies of 
 the ftroke. If the ftroke be ftrong, the organ of 
 hearing fufFers ia confiderable degree of tenfion. 
 If the ftroke be repeated pretty foon after ; the 
 repetition caufes an expectation of another 
 ftroke. And it muft be obferved, that 
 expectation itfelf caufes a tenfion. This is 
 apparent in many animals, who, when they 
 prepare for hearing any found, roufe them- 
 felves, and prick up their ears ; fo that here 
 the effedl of the founds is confiderably aug- 
 mented by a new auxiliary, the expectation. 
 But though after a number of ftrokes, we cx- 
 peCl ftill more, not being able to afcertain the 
 exaCl time of their arrival, when they arrive, 
 they produce a fort of furprife, which in- 
 creafes this tenfion yet further. For, I have 
 obferved, that when at any time I have wait- 
 ed very earneftly for fome found, that return- 
 ed at intervals, (as the fucceffive firing of 
 K 4 cannon 
 
136 On the SUBLIME. 
 
 cannon) though I fully expelled the return of 
 the found, when it came, it always made mc 
 ftart a little ; the ear-drum fufFered a convul- 
 fion, and the whole body confented with it. 
 The tenfion of the part thus increafing at 
 every blow, by the united forces of the ftroke 
 itfelf, the expectation, and the furprife, it is 
 worked up to fuch a pitch as to be capable of 
 the fublime ; it is brought juft to the verge of 
 pain. Even when the caufe has ceafed -, the 
 organs of hearing being often fucceffively ftruck 
 in a fmiilar manner, continue to vibrate in 
 that manner for fome time longer ; this is an 
 additional help to the greatnefs of the efFeft. 
 
 SECT. XII. 
 
 The vibrations muft be fimilar. 
 
 BUT if the vibration be not fimilar at 
 every imprcffion, it can never be carried 
 beyond the number of aClual impreflions ; for 
 move any body, as a pendulum, in one way, 
 and it will continue to ofcillate in an arch of 
 the fame circle, until the known caufes make 
 it reft ; but if after firft putting it in motion in 
 one direction, you pufh it into another, it can 
 never reafTume the firft direction ; becaufe it 
 can never move itfelf, and confequently it 
 can have but the cffed of that laft motion j 
 
 whereas. 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 137 
 
 whereas, If in the fame direction you a£l upon 
 it feveral times, it will defcribe a greater arch, 
 and move a longer time. 
 
 SECT. XIII. 
 
 The efFeds of SUCCESSION in vlfual 
 objects explained, 
 
 IF we can comprehend clearly how things 
 operate upon one of our fenfes j there can 
 be very little difficulty in conceiving in what 
 manner they afFecSl the reft. To fay a great 
 deal therefore upon the correfponding affec- 
 tions of every fenfe, would tend rather to fa- 
 tigue us by an ufelefs repetition, than to throw 
 any new light upon the fubjecSt, by that am- 
 ple and diffufe manner of treating it ; but as 
 in this difcourfe we chiefly attach ourfelves to 
 the fublime, as it affeds the eye, we fhall 
 confider particularly why a fucceffive difpo- 
 fition of uniform parts in the fame right line 
 ihould be fublime,* and upon what principle it 
 is enabled to make a comparatively fmall quan- 
 tity of matter fo difpofed produce a grander 
 effe61:, than a much larger quantity difpofed in 
 another manner. To avoid the perplexity of 
 general notions ; let us fet before our eyes a 
 colonnade of uniform pillars planted in a right 
 ♦ Part 2. fea. 10. 
 
 lines 
 
138 On the SUBLIME 
 
 line ; let us take our ftand, in fuch a man^ 
 ner, that the eye may (hoot along this colon- 
 nade, for it has its beft efFedi: in this view. In 
 our prefent fituation it is plain, that the rays 
 from the firft round pillar will caufe in the eye a 
 vibration of that fpecies; an image of the pillar 
 itfelf. The pillar immediately fucceeding in- 
 creafes it ; that which follows renews and en- 
 forces the impreffion ; each in its order as it 
 fuccecds, repeats impulfe after impulfe, and 
 flroke after ftroke, until the eye long exercifed 
 in one particular way cannot lofe that obje6t 
 immediately ; and being violently roufed by 
 this continued agitation, it prefents the mind 
 with a grand or fublime conception. But in- 
 ftead of viewing a rank of uniform pillars ; 
 let us fuppofe, that they fucceed each other, a 
 round and a fquare one alternately. In this cafe 
 the vibration caufed by the firft round pillar 
 perifhes as foon as it is formed; and one of quite 
 another fort (the fquare) diredlly occupies its 
 place ; which however it refigns as quickly to 
 the round one ; and thus the eye proceeds, al- 
 ternately, taking up one image and laying down 
 another, as long as the building continues. 
 From whence it is obvious, that at the laft 
 pillar, the impreffion is as far from continuing 
 as it was at the very firft; becaufe in hS:, the 
 fenfory can receive no d ift ind impreffion but from 
 2 the 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 139 
 
 the laft ; and it can never of itfelf refume ^ 
 diflimilar impreffion: befides, every variation of 
 the obje<Sl is a reft and relaxation to the ori- 
 gans of fight ; and thefe reliefs prevent that 
 violent emotion fo necefTary to produce the 
 fublime. To produce therefore a perfed: 
 grandeur in fuch things as we have been men- 
 tioning, there fhould be a perfedl fimplicity, 
 anabfolute uniformity in difpolition, fhape and 
 colouring. Upon this principle of fucceffion 
 and uniformity it may be afked, vs^hy a long 
 bare v/'Al fhould not be a more fublime obje6t 
 than a colonnade ; fince the fucceffion is no way 
 interrupted ; fince the eye meets no check ; 
 fince nothing more uniform can be conceived ? 
 A long bare wall is certainly not fo grand an 
 objecSt as a colonnade of the fame length and 
 height. It is not altogether difficult to account 
 for this difference. When we look at a naked 
 wall, from the evennefs of the object, the eye 
 runs along its whole fpace, and arrives quick- 
 ly at its termination ; the eye meets nothing 
 which may interrupt its progrefs ; but then it 
 meets nothing which may detain it a proper 
 time to produce a very great and lafting effect. 
 The view of a bare wall, if it be of a gr^at 
 height and length, is undoubtedly grand : but 
 this is only one idea, and not a repetition of 
 Jtmllar ideas ; it is therefore great, not fo much 
 
 upoQ 
 
140 On the SUBLIME 
 
 upon the principle of infinity^ as upon that of 
 vajlnefs. But we are not fo powerfully afFe6t- 
 ed with any one impulfe, unlefs it be one of a 
 prodigious force, as we are with a fucceflion 
 of limilar impulfes ; becaufe the nerves of the 
 fenfory do not (if I may ufe the expreflion) 
 acquire a habit of repeating the fame feeling 
 in fuch a manner as to continue it longer than 
 its caufe is in a6lion ; befides, all the eiFeds 
 which I have attributed to expedlation and 
 furprife in fe6t. ii. can have no place in a 
 bare wall. 
 
 SECT. XIV. 
 
 Locke's opinion concerning darknefs, 
 confidered. 
 
 IT is Mr. Locke's opinion, that darknefs is 
 hot naturally an idea of terror; and that, 
 though an exceflive light is painful to the fenfe, 
 that the greateft excefs of darknefs is no ways 
 troublefome. He obferves indeed in another 
 place, that a nurfe or «n old woman having 
 once aflbciated the ideas of ghofts and gob- 
 lins with that of darknefs ; night ever after 
 becomes painful and horrible to the imagina- 
 tion. The authority of this great man is 
 doubtlefs as great, as that of any man can be, 
 
 and 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. i^i 
 
 and it feems to ftand in the way of our gene- 
 ral principle. * We have confidered darknefs 
 as a caufe of the fublime ; and we have'all 
 along confidered the fublime as depending on 
 fome modification of pain or terror j fo that, 
 if darknefs be no way painful or terrible to 
 any, who have not had their minds early 
 tainted with fuperftitions, it can be no fource 
 of the fublime to them. But with all deference 
 to fuch an authority ; it feems to me, that an 
 aflbciation of a more general nature 5 an aflb- 
 ciation which takes in all mankind may make 
 darknefs terrible ; for in utter darknefs, it is 
 impoflible to know in what degree of Mety 
 we ftand ; we are ignorant of the objeds that 
 furround us; we may every moment ftrike 
 againft fome dangerous obftru<Slion ; we may 
 fall down a precipice the iirft ftep we take ; 
 and if any enemy approach, we know not 
 in what quarter to defend ourfelves ; in fuch a 
 cafe ftrength is no fure proted^ion ; wifdom 
 can only a6i: by guefs ; the boldeft are ftag- 
 gered, and he who would pray for nothing elfe 
 tov/ards his defence, is forced to pray for light. 
 
 * Part 2. fed. 3. 
 
 As 
 
i43t On the S U B L I M E 
 
 As to the aflbciation of ghofts and goblins ; 
 furely it is more natural to think, that dark- 
 nefs being originally an idea of terror, was 
 chofen as a fit fcene for fuch terrible reprefen- 
 tations, than that fuch rcprefentations have 
 made darknefs terrible. The mind of man 
 very eafily Hides into an error of the former 
 fort ; but it is very hard to imagine, that an 
 idea Co univerfally terrible in all times, and in 
 all countries, as darknefs has been, could pof- 
 fibly have been owing to a fet of idle ftories, 
 or to any caufe of a nature fo trivial, and of 
 an operation fo precarious. 
 
 SECT. XV. 
 
 DARKNESS terrible by its own nature. 
 
 PERHAPS it may appear on enquiry, that 
 blacknefs and darknefs are in fome de- 
 gree painful by their natural operation, inde- 
 pendent of any aflbciations whatfoever. I muft 
 obferve, that the ideas of darknefs and black- 
 nefs are much the fame, and that they differ 
 only in this, that blacknefs is a more confined 
 idea. Mr. Chefeldcn has given us a very cu- 
 rious ftory of a boy, who had been born blind, 
 and continued fo until he was thirteen or four- 
 teen years old ; he was then couched for a ca- 
 
 taratS^, 
 
and B E A tr T I F U L. 143 
 
 tara<Et, by which operation he received his 
 fight. Among many remarkable particulars 
 that attended his firft perceptions, and judg- 
 ments on vifual objects, Chefelden tells us, 
 that the firft time the boy faw a black object j 
 it gave him great uneafinefs ; and that fomc 
 time after, upon accidentally feeing a negro 
 woman, he was ftruck with great horror at 
 the fight. The horror, in this cafe, can 
 fcarcely be fuppofed to arife from any alTocia- 
 tion. The boy appears by the account to be 
 particularly obferving, and fenfible for one of 
 his age : and therefore, it is probable, if the 
 great uneafinefs he felt at the firft fight of black 
 had arifen from its connexion with any other 
 difagreeable ideas, he would have obferved 
 and mentioned it. For an idea, difagreeable 
 only by aflbciation, has the caufe of its ill ef- 
 fe6t on the paffions evident enough at the firft 
 impreffion ; in ordinary cafes, it is indeed fre^ 
 quently loft ; but this is, becaufe the original 
 aflbciation was made very early, and the con- 
 fequent impreffion repeated often. In our 
 inftance, there was no time for fuch an habit; 
 and there is no reafon to think, that the ill 
 effe£ts of black on his imagination were more 
 owing to its connexion with any difagreeable 
 ideas, than that the good eiFed^s of more 
 cheerful colours were derived from their con- 
 nexion 
 
144 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 nexion with pleafing ones. They had both 
 probably their efFecSs from their natural ope- 
 ration. 
 
 SECT. XVI. 
 
 The caufe why D A R K N E S S is terrible. 
 
 IT may be worth while to examine, how 
 darknefs can operate in fuch a manner as 
 to caufe pain ; that is, to produce a tenfion in 
 thofe nerves, which form the organs of fight. 
 It may be obferved, that ftill as we recede 
 from the light, nature has fo contrived it, 
 that the pupil is enlarged by the retiring of the 
 iris, in proportion to our recefs. Now in- 
 {lead of declining from it but a little, fuppofe 
 that we withdraw entirely from the light; it 
 is reafonable to think, that the expanfion of 
 the iris is proportionably greater, and that 
 this part may by great darknefs come to be fo 
 expanded, as to ftretch the nerves that compofe 
 it far beyond their natural tone ; and by this 
 means to produce a painful fenfation. Such a 
 tenfion it feems there certainly is, whilft we are 
 involved in darknefs ; for in fuch a ftate whilft 
 the eye remains open, there is a continual 
 nifus to receive light, as appears by the 
 flaflies, and luminous appearances which often 
 
 feem 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 145 
 
 feem in thefe circumftances to play before it ; 
 and which can be nothing but the effc6t of 
 fpafms, produced by its own efforts in purfuit 
 of its objed ; for many other ftrong impulfes 
 will produce the idea of light in the eye, be- 
 fides the fubftance of light itfelf, as we ex- 
 perience on many occafions. It may perhaps 
 be obje6led, that the ill effects of darknefs or 
 blacknefs feem rather mental than corporeal 5 
 and I own it is true, that they do fo ; and fo 
 do all thofe that depend on the afFe6lions of 
 the finer parts of our fyftem. The ill elFedls 
 of bad weather appear often no other wife, than 
 in a melancholy and dejedion of fpirits, though 
 without doubt, in this cafe, the bodily organs 
 fufFer firll, and the mind through thefe organs. 
 
 SECT. XVIT. 
 
 The effeas of BLACKNESS. 
 
 BLacknefs is but a partial darknefs ; and 
 therefore it derives fome of its powers from 
 being mixed and furrounded with coloured 
 bodies. In its own nature, it cannot be con- 
 fidered as a colour. Black bodies, refle£ling 
 none, or but a few rays, with regard to fight, 
 are but as fo many vacant fpaces difperfcd 
 among the objects we view. When the eye 
 L light 
 
146 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 lights on one of thefe vacuities, after having 
 been kept in feme degree of tenfion by the 
 play of the adjacent colours upon it, it fudden- 
 ly falls into a relaxation ; out of which it as 
 fuddenly recovers by a convulfive fpring. To 
 illuftrate this ; let us confider, that when we 
 intend to fit on a chair, and find it much 
 lower than was expected, the fhock is very 
 violent ; much more violent than could be 
 thought from fo flight a fall as the difference 
 between one chair and another can poflibly 
 make. Or if, after defccnding a flight of ftairs, 
 we attempt inadvertently to take another fl:ep 
 in the manner of the former ones, the fhock 
 is extreamly rude and difagreeable ; and by 
 no art, can we caufe fuch a fhock by the fame 
 means, when we exped and prepare for it. 
 When I fay, that this is owing to having the 
 change made contrary to expedation; I do not 
 mean folely, when the;w ind expedls. I mean 
 likcwife, that when any organ offenfc is for 
 fome time affected in fome one manner, if it be 
 fuddenly affected otherwife there enfues a con- 
 vulfive motion ; fuch a convulfion as is caufed 
 when any thin^ happens againft the expedlance 
 of the mind. And though it may appear flrange 
 that fuch a change as produces a relaxation, 
 Ihould immediately produce a fudden convul- 
 fion ; it is yet mofl certainly fo, and fo in all 
 
 the 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 147 
 
 the fenfes. Every one knows that fleep is a 
 relaxation ; and that filence, where nothing 
 kfeeps the organs of hearing in adion, is in 
 general fitteft to bring on this relaxation ; yet 
 when a fort of murmuring founds difpofe a 
 man to fleep, let thcfe founds ceafe fuddenly, 
 and the -perfon immediately awakes ; that is, 
 the parts are braced up fuddenly, and he 
 awakes. This I have often experienced my- 
 felf, and I have heard the fame from obferv- 
 ing perfons. In like manner, if a perfon in 
 broad day light were falling afleep, to in- 
 troduce a fudden darknefs would prevent 
 his fleep for that time, though filence and 
 darknefs in themfelves, and not fuddenly in- 
 troduced, are very favourable to it. This I knew 
 only by conjecture on the analogy of the fenfes 
 when I firft digefled thefe obfervations ; but I 
 have fmce experienced it. And I have often ex- 
 perienced, and fo have a thoufand others ; that 
 on the firft declining towards fleep, we have 
 been fuddenly awaked with a moft violent 
 ftart ; and that this ftart was generally pre- 
 ceded by a fort of dream of our falling down 
 a precipice : whence does this ftrange motion 
 arife ; but from the too fudden relaxation of 
 the body, which by fome mechanifm in na- 
 ture reftores itfelf by as quick and vigorous an 
 exertion of the contrading power of the muf- 
 cles ? the dream itfelf is caufed by this relaxa- 
 L 2 tion; 
 
148 On the SUBLIME 
 
 tion ; and it is of too uniform nature to be 
 attributed to any other caufe. The parts re- 
 lax foo fuddenly, which is in the nature of 
 falling ; and this accident of the body induces 
 this image in the mind. When we are in a 
 confirmed ftate of health and vigour, as all 
 changes are then lefs violent with us, we can 
 feldom complain of this difagreeable fenfa- 
 tion. 
 
 SECT. XVIII. 
 
 The efFeas of BLACKNESS moderated. 
 
 TH O U G H the efFeds of black be pain- 
 ful originally, we muft not think they 
 always continue fo. Cuftom reconciles us to 
 every thing. After we have been ufed to the 
 fight of black objedls, tlie terror abates, and the 
 fmoothnefs or gloffinefs or fome agreeable acci- 
 dent of bodies fo coloured, foftens in fome mea- 
 fure the horror and flernnefs of their original 
 nature ; yet the nature of the original impref- 
 fion ftill continues. Black will always have 
 fomcthing melancholy in it, becaufe the fen- 
 fory will aiways find the change to it from 
 other colours too violent ; or if it occupy the 
 whole compafs of the fight, it will then be 
 darknefs ; and what was faid of darknefs, will 
 be applicable here. I do not purpofe to go 
 
 into 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 149 
 
 into all that might be faid to illuflrate this 
 theory of the efFeds of light and darknefs ; 
 neither will I examine all the different efFedls 
 produced by the various modifications and 
 mixtures of thefe two caufes. If the foregoing 
 obfervations have any foundation in nature, 
 I conceive them very fufficient to account for 
 all the phasnomena that can arife from all the 
 combinations of black with other colours. To 
 enter into every particular, or to anfwer eve- 
 ry objection, would be an endlefs labour. We 
 have only followed the moft leading roads 
 and we fhall obferve the fame conduit in our 
 enquiry into the caufe of beauty. 
 
 SECT. XIX. 
 The phyfical caufe of L O V E. 
 
 WHEN we have before us fuch objedls 
 as excite love and complacency, the 
 body is afFe£led, fo far as I could obferve, 
 much in the following manner. The head 
 reclines fomething on one fide ; the eyelids 
 are more clofed than ufual, and the eyes roll 
 gently with an inclination to the objedl, the 
 mouth is a little opened, and the breath drawn 
 flowly, with now and then a low figh : the 
 whole body is compofed, and the hands fall 
 L 3 idly 
 
150 On the SUBLIME 
 
 idly to the fides. All this is accompanied 
 with an inward fenfe of melting and languor. 
 Thefe appearances are always proportioned 
 to the degree of beauty in the objecSl, and of 
 fenfibility in the obferver. And this gradation 
 from the highefl pitch of beauty and fenfibility, 
 even to the loweft of mediocrity and indiffe- 
 rence, and their correfpondent effects, ought 
 to be kept in view, elfe this defcription will 
 feem exaggerated, which it certainly is not. 
 But from this defcription it is almoft impof- 
 fible not to conclude, that beauty ads by re- 
 laxing the folidsof the whole fyftem. There 
 are all the appearances of fuch a relaxation ; 
 and a relaxation fomcwhat below the natural 
 tone feems to me to be the caufe of all pofi- 
 tive pleafure. This will, I conceive, appear 
 beyond any reafonable doubt, if we can (hew 
 that fuch things as we have already obferved 
 to be the genuine conftituents of beauty, have 
 each of them feparately taken a natural ten- 
 dency to relax the fibres. And if it be allowed 
 us, that the appearance of the human body, 
 when all thefe properties are united together 
 before the fenfory, further favours this opini- 
 on, we may venture, I believe, to conclude, 
 that the pafTion called love is produced by this 
 relaxation. By the fame method of reafon- 
 ing, which Ave have ufed in the enquiry into 
 
 the 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 151 
 
 thecaufes of the fublime, we may Hkewife 
 conclude, that as a beautiful object prefented 
 to the fenfe, by caufing a relaxation in the 
 body, produces the paffion of love in the mind ; 
 fo if by any means the paffion fliould firft have 
 its origin in the mind, a relaxation of the out- 
 ward organs will as certainly enfuein a degree 
 proportioned to the caufe. 
 
 SECT. XX. 
 
 Why SMOOTHNESS is beautiful. 
 
 IT is to explain the true caufe of vifual 
 beauty, that I call in the affiftance of the 
 other fenfes. If it appears tha.t fmoothnefs is a 
 principal caufe of pleafure to the touch, tafle, 
 fmell, and hearing, it will be eafily admitted 
 a conftituent of vifual beauty, efpecially as 
 we have before fhewn, that this quality is 
 found almoft without exception in all bodies 
 that are by general confent held beautiful. 
 Now with refped to the fenfe oifieling^ there 
 can be no doubt that bodies which are rough and 
 angular, roufe and vellicate the parts, caufing a 
 fenfe of pain, which confifts in the violent ten- 
 iion or contraction of the mufcular fibres. On 
 the contrary, the application of fmooth bodies 
 relax 5 gentle ftroking with a fmooth hand al- 
 L 4 lays 
 
152 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 lays violent pains and cramps, and rela\'es 
 the fufFering parts from their unnatural tenfion ; 
 and it has therefore very often no mean ef- 
 fe6t in removing fwel lings and obftru6^ions. 
 The fenfe of feeling is highly gratified whh 
 fmooth bodies. A bed fmoothly laid, and 
 foft, that is, where the refiftance is every vi^ay 
 inconfiderable, is a great luxury, difpofing to 
 an univerfal relaxation, and inducing be- 
 yond any thing elfc, that fpecies of it called 
 fleep. 
 
 SECT. XXI. 
 
 SWEETNESS, its nature. 
 
 NOR is it only in the touch, that fmooth 
 bodies caufc pofitive pleafure by relax- 
 ation. In the fmell and tafte, we find all 
 things agreeable to them, and which are 
 commonly called fweet, to be of a fmooth na- 
 ture, and that they all evidently tend to relax 
 their refpc£live fenfories. Let us firrt con- 
 fider the tafte. Since it is moft eafy to en- 
 quire into the property of liquids, and fince 
 all things feem to want a fluid vehicle to make 
 them taftcd at all, I intend rather to confider 
 the liquid than the folid parts of our food. 
 The vehicles of all taftes aje ivaUr and oiL 
 
 And 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 153 
 
 And what determines the tafle Is fome fait, 
 ^vhich afFe6ls varioufly according to its nature, 
 or its manner of being combined with other 
 things. Water and oil fimply confidered are 
 capable of giving fome pleafure to the tafte. 
 Water, when fimple, is infipid, inodorous, 
 colourlefs, and fmooth, it is found when not 
 cold to be a great refolver of fpafms, and lu- 
 bricator of the fibres ; this power it probably 
 owes to its fmoothnefs. For as fluidity de- 
 pends, according to the moft general opinion, 
 on the roundnefs, fmoothnefs, and weak co- 
 hefion of the component parts of any body ; 
 and as water adts merely as a fimple fluid, it 
 follows, that the caufe of its fluidity is like- 
 wife the caufe of its relaxing quality ; namely, 
 the fmoothnefs and flippery texture of its 
 parts. The other fluid vehicle of taftes is oil. 
 This too, when fimple, is fomewhat infipid, 
 inodorous, colourlefs, and fmooth to the 
 touch and talle. It is fmoother than water, 
 and in many cafes yet more relaxing. Oil 
 is in fome degree pleafant to the eye, the 
 touch and the tafte, infipid as it is. Water 
 is not fo grateful, which I do not know on 
 what principle to account for, other than that 
 that water is not fo foft and fmooth. Suppofe 
 that to this oil or water were added a certain 
 quantity of a fpecific fait, which had a power of 
 
 putting 
 
T54 On the SUBLIME 
 
 ting the nervous papillae of the tongue into a 
 gentle vibratory motion ; as fuppofe fugar 
 diflblved in it. The fmoothnefs of the oil, and 
 the vibratory power of the fait, caufe the fenfe 
 we call fweetnefs. In all fweet bodies, fugar, 
 or a fubftance very little different from fugar, 
 is conftantly found ; every fpecies of fait ex- 
 amined by the microfcope has its own diftincS:, 
 regular, invariable form. That of nitre is a 
 pointed oblong ; that of fea fait an exaft cube ; 
 that of fugar a perfect globe. If you have 
 tried how fmooth globular bodies, as the 
 marbles with which boys amufe themfelves, 
 have afFedled the touch when they are rolled 
 backward and forward and over one another, 
 you will eafily conceive how fweetnefs, which 
 confifts in a fait of fuch nature, afFeds the 
 tafte ; for a fingle globe, though fomewhat 
 pleafant to the feeling, by the regularity of its 
 form, and the fomewhat too fudden deviation 
 of its parts from a right line, is nothing near 
 fo pleafant to the touch as feveral globes, 
 where the hand gently rifes to one and falls to 
 another ; and this pleafure is greatly increafed 
 if the globes are in motion, and Aiding over 
 one another ; for this foft variety prevents that 
 wearinefs, which the uniform difpofition of the 
 feveral globes would otherwife produce. Thus 
 in fweet liquors, the parts of the fluid vehicle 
 
 though 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 155 
 
 though moft probably round, are yet (o minute 
 as to concealthe figure of their component 
 parts from the nlceft inquifition of the micro- 
 fcope ; and confequently being fo exceffively 
 minute, they have a fort of flat fimplicity to 
 the tafte, refembhng the effeds of plain 
 fmooth bodies to the touch ; for if a body be 
 compofed of round parts exceffively fmall, and 
 packed pretty clofely together, the furface wiM 
 be both to the fight and touch as if it were 
 nearly plain and fmcoth. It is clear from 
 their unveiling their figure to the microfcope, 
 that the particles of fugar are confiderably 
 larger than thofe of water or oil, and confe- 
 quently that their efFeds from their roundnefs 
 will be more diftincSl and palpable to the ner- 
 vous papillae of that nice organ the tongue : 
 they will induce that fenfe called fweetnels, 
 which in a weak, manner we difcover in oil, 
 and in a yet weaker in water ; for infipid as 
 they arc, water and oil are In fome degree 
 fweet; and it may be obferved, that infipid 
 things of all kinds approach more nearly to 
 the nature of fweetnefs than to that of any 
 other tafte. 
 
 SECT, 
 
IS6 On the SUBLIME 
 
 SECT. XXII. 
 SWEETNESS relaxing. 
 
 IN the other fenfes we have remarked, that 
 fmooth things are relaxing. Now it ought 
 to appear that fweet things, which are the 
 fmooth of tafte, are relaxing too. Thi».t fweet 
 things are generally fo is evident, becaufe all 
 fuch, efpecially thofe which are moft oily, 
 taken frequently or in a large quantity, very 
 much enfeeble the tone of the ftomach. Sweet 
 fmells, which bear a great affinity to f^ycet 
 taftes, relax very remarkably. The fmell of 
 flowers difpofes people to drowfinefs ; and this 
 relaxing efFecSt is further apparent from the pre- 
 judice which people of weak nerves receive from 
 their ufc. It were worth while to examine, 
 whether taftes of this kind, fweet ones, taftes 
 that are caufed by fmooth oils and a relaxing 
 fait are not the originally pleafant taftes. For 
 ni^y which ufe has rendered fuch, were not 
 at>all agreeable at firft. The way to examine 
 this is, to try what nature has originally pro- 
 vided for us, which fhe has undoubtedly made 
 originally pleafant : and to analyfe this provi- 
 fion. Alilk is the firft fupport of our childhood. 
 The component parts of this are water, oil, 
 
 and 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 157 
 
 and a fort of a very fweet fait called the fugar 
 of milk. All thefe when blended have a great 
 fmoothnefs to the tafte, and a relaxing quality 
 to the Ikin. The next thing children covet 
 is fruit, and of fruits, thofe principally which 
 are fweet ; and every one knows that the 
 fweetnefs of fruit is caufed by a fubtle oil and 
 fuch a fait as that mentioned in the laft fedion. 
 Afterwards, cuftom, habit, the defire of novelty, 
 and a thoufand other caufes, fo mix, adulte- 
 rate, and change our palates, that we can no 
 longer reafon with any fatisfa£tion about 
 them. Before we quit this article we muft 
 obferve ; that as fmooth things are, as fuch, 
 agreeable to the tafte, and are found of a re- 
 laxing quality ; fo on the other hand, things 
 which are found by experience to be of a 
 ftrengthening quality, and fit to brace the fibres, 
 are almoft univerfally rough and pungent to the 
 tafte, and in many cafes rough even to the 
 touch. We often apply the quality of fweet- 
 nefs, metaphorically, to vifual objeds. For 
 the better carrying on this remarkable analogy 
 of the fenfes, we may here call fweetnefs the 
 beautiful pf the tafte. 
 
 SECT. 
 
158 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 SECT. XXIII. 
 V A R I A T I O N, why beautiful. 
 
 ANOTHER principal property of beau- 
 tiful objeds is, that the line of their 
 parts is continually varying its direftion ; but 
 it varies it by a very infenfible deviation, it 
 never varies it fo quickly as to furprife, or by 
 the fliarpnefs of its angle to caufe any twitch- 
 ing or convulfion of the optic nerve. Nothing 
 long continued in the fame manner, nothing 
 very fuddenly varied can be beautiful ; becaufe 
 both are oppofite to that agreeable relaxation^ 
 which is th6 charadbriftic effeS: of beauty. 
 It is thus in all the fenfes. A motion in a 
 l-ight line, is that manner of moving next to 
 a very gentle defcent, in which we meet the 
 leaft refiftance, yet it is not that manner ot 
 moving, which next to a defcent, wearies us 
 the lead. Reft certainly tends to relax ; yet 
 there is a fpecies of motion which relaxes 
 more than reft ; a gentle ofcillatory motion, 
 a rifing and falling. Rocking fets children to 
 ileep better than abfolute reft ; there is indeed 
 fcarce any thing at that age, which gives more 
 pleafure than to be gently lifted up and down ; 
 the manner of playing which their nurfes ufc 
 a with 
 
and BEAUTIFUL 159 
 
 with children, and the weighing and Twinging 
 ufed afterwards by themfelves as a favourite a- 
 mufement, evince this very fufficiently. Moft 
 people muft have obferved the fort of fcnfe they 
 have had, on being fwiftly drawn in an eafy 
 coach , on a fmooth turf, with grad ual afcents and 
 declivities. This will give a better idea of the 
 beautiful, arid point out its probable caufc 
 better than almoft any thing elfe. On the 
 contrary ; when one is hurried over a rough, 
 rocky, broken road, the pain felt by thefe 
 fudden inequalities fliews why fimilar fights, 
 feelings and founds, are fo contrary to beau- 
 ty ; and with regard to the feeling, it is ex- 
 actly the fame in its effect, or very nearly the 
 fame, whether, for inftance, I move my hand 
 along the furface of a body of a certain fliape, 
 or whether fuch a body is moved along my 
 hand. But to bring this analogy of the fenfes 
 home to the eye ; if a body prefented to that 
 fenfe has fuch a waving furface that the rays 
 of light refle6ied from it are in a continual 
 infenfiWe deviation from the ftrongeft to the 
 weakeft, which is always the cafe in a furface 
 gradually unequal, it muft be exa6tly fimilar 
 in its efFe6l on the eye and touch ; one of 
 which operates on it diredlly, on the other 
 indiredly. And this body will be beautiful 
 if the lines which compofe its furface are not 
 
 continued. 
 
i6(> On the S U B L I M E 
 
 continued, even fo varied, in a manner that 
 may vv^eary or diifipate the attention. 
 
 SECT. XXI. 
 
 Concerning SMALLNESS. 
 
 TO avoid a famenefs vi^hich may arife 
 from the too frequent repetition of the 
 fame reafonings, and of illuftrations of the 
 fa.mc nature, I vi^ill not enter very minutely into 
 every particular that regards beauty, as it is 
 founded on the difpofition of its quantity, or 
 its quantity itfelf. In fpcaking of the magni- 
 tude of bodies there is great uncertainty, be- 
 caufe the ideas of great and fmall, are terms 
 almoft entirely relative to the fpecies of the 
 objects, which are infinite. It is true, that 
 having once fixed the fpecies of any objedl, 
 and the dimenfions common in the individuals 
 of that fpecies, we may obfcrve fome that 
 exceed, and fome that fall fhort of the ordinary 
 ftandard : thcfe which greatly exceed, are by 
 that excefs, provided the fpecies itfelf be not 
 very fmall, rather great and terrible than 
 beautiful ; but as in the animal world, and in 
 a good meafure in the vegetable world like- 
 wife, the qualities that conftitute beauty may 
 poiTibly be united to thijigs of greater dimen- 
 
 fions ; 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. i6i 
 
 fions ; when they are fo united they conftitute 
 a {pedes fomething different both from thefub- 
 lime and beautiful, which I have before call- 
 ed Fine ', but this kind I imagine has not fuch 
 a power on the paffions, either as vaft bodies 
 have which are endued with the correfpondent 
 qualities of the fublime ; or as the qualities of 
 beauty have when united in a fmall objecSl. The 
 afFedlion produced by large bodies adorned with 
 the fpoils of beauty, is a tenfion continually re- 
 lieved ; which approaches nearer to the na- 
 ture of mediocrity. But if J were to fay how 
 I find myfelf aiFedled upon fuch occafions, I 
 Ihould fay, that the fublime fufFers lefs by be- 
 ing united to fome of the qualities of beauty, 
 than beauty does by being joined to greatnefs of 
 quantity, or any other properties of the fublime. 
 There is fomething fo over-ruling in whatever 
 infpires us with awe, in all things which belong 
 ever fo remotely to terror, that nothing elfe can 
 fland in their prefence. There lie the qualities of 
 beauty either dead and unoperative ; or at moil 
 exerted to mollify th^ rigour and fternnefs of 
 the terror, which is the natural concomitant 
 of greatnefs. Befides the extraordinary great in 
 every fpecies, the oppofite to this, the dwarfifh 
 and diminutive ought to be confidered. Lit- 
 llenefs, merely as fuch, has nothing contrary to 
 the idea of beauty. The humming bird both 
 M in 
 
i62 On the SUBLIME 
 
 in fhape and colouring yields to none of the 
 winged fpecies, of which it is the leaft ; and 
 perhaps his beauty is enhanced by his fmall- 
 nefs. But there are animals, which when 
 they are extremely fmall are rarely (if ever) 
 beautiful. There is a dwarfifh fize of men 
 and women, which is almoft conllantly (o 
 grofs and maffive in comparifon of their height, 
 that they prefent us with a very difagree- 
 able image. But if a man was found not 
 above two or three feet high, fuppofing fuch 
 a perfon to have all the parts of his body 
 of a delicacy fuitablc to fuch a fize, and other- 
 wife endued with the common qualities of other 
 beautiful bodies ; I am pretty well convinced 
 that a perfon of fuch a ftature might well be 
 confidcrcd as beautiful ; might be the object 
 of love ; might give us very pleafing ideas on 
 viewing him. The only thing which could 
 poflibly interpofc to check this pleafure is, that 
 fuch creatures, however formed, are unufual, 
 and are often therefore confidered as fomething 
 monftrous. The large' and gigantic, though 
 very compatible with the fubllme, is contrary 
 to the beautiful. It Is impoflible to fuppofc a 
 giant to be the object of love. When we let 
 our imaginations loofe in romance,the.ldeas we 
 naturally annex to that fize are thofe of ty- 
 ranny, cruelty, injuftice, and every thing hor- 
 rid 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 163 
 
 rid and abominable. We paint the giant ra- 
 vaging the country, plundering the innocent 
 traveller, and afterwards gorging himfelf with 
 bis half-Hving fiefli : fuch are Polyphemus, 
 Cacus, and others, who make fuch a figure in 
 romances and heroic poems. The event 
 we attend to with the greateft fatisfadtion is 
 their defeat and death. I do not remember in 
 all that multitude of deaths with which the 
 Iliad is filled, that the fall of any man remark- 
 able for his great ftature and flrength touches 
 us witH pity ; nor docs it appear that the au- 
 thor,ro well read in human nature,ever intend- 
 ed it fhould. It is Simoifius in the foft bloom 
 of youth, torn from his parents, who trem- 
 ble for a courage fo ill fuited to his ftrength ; 
 it is another hurried by war from the new em- 
 braces of his bride ; young, and fair, and a 
 novice to the field, who melts us by his un- 
 timely fate. Achilles, in fpite of the many 
 qualities of beauty which Homer has beftow- 
 ed on his outward form, and the many great 
 virtues with which he has adorned his mind, 
 can never make us love him. It may be ob- 
 ferved, that Homer has given the Trojans, 
 whofe fate he has defigned to excite our com- 
 panion, infinitely itiore of the,' amiable focial 
 virtues than he has diflributed among his 
 Greeks. With regard to the Trojans, the 
 M 2 paflioii 
 
i64 On the S U B L I M E 
 
 paffion he chufes to raife is pity ; a paflion 
 founded on love ; and thefe lejfery and if I may 
 fay, domcftic virtues, are by far the moft amia- 
 ble. But he has made the Greeks far their 
 fuperiors in the politic and military virtues. 
 The councils of Priam are weak ; the arms 
 of He6lor comparatively feeble ; his courage 
 far below that of Achilles. Yet we love 
 Priam more than Agamemnon, and Hedlor 
 more than his conqueror Achilles. Admiration 
 is the paflion which Home? would excite in 
 favour of the Greeks, and he has done it by 
 beftowing on them the virtues which have but 
 little to do with love. This fhort digreffion is 
 perhaps not wholly befide our purpofe, where 
 our bufinefs is to fliew, that obje6ls of great 
 dimenfions are incompatible with beauty, 
 the more incompatible as they are- greater; 
 whereas the fmall, if ever they fail of beauty, 
 this failure is not to be attributed to their fize. 
 
 SECT. XXVI. 
 
 Of COLOUR. 
 
 WITH regard to colour, the difquifition 
 is almofl infinite; but I conceive 
 the principles laid down in the beginning 
 of this part are fufficient to account for 
 
 the 
 
an(t BEAUTIFUL. 165 
 
 the effedts of them all, as well as for the 
 agreeable effect of traniparent bodies, whe- 
 ther fluid or folid. Suppofe I look at a bottle 
 of muddy liquor, of a blue or red colour, the 
 blue or red rays cannot pafs clearly to the eye, 
 but are fuddenly and unequally flopped by the 
 intervention of little opaque bodies, which 
 without preparation change the idea, and change 
 it too into one difagreeable in its own nature, 
 conformable to the principles laid down in 
 fe<5l. 24. But when the ray palles without 
 fuch oppofition through the glafs or liquor, 
 when the glafs or liquor are quite tranfpa- 
 rent, the light is fomething foftened in the 
 pafTage, which makes it more agreeable even 
 as light; and the liquor reflecting all the rays 
 of its proper colour evenly^ it has fuch an ef- 
 fecSt on the eye, as fmooth opaque bodies have 
 on the eye and touch. So that the pleafure 
 here is compounded of the foftnefs of the tranf- 
 mitted, and the evennefs of the refle6led light. 
 This pleafure may be heightened by the com- 
 mon principles in other things, if the fliape 
 of the glafs which holds the tranfparent liquor 
 be fo judicioufly varied, as to prefent the colour 
 gradually and interchangeably weakened and 
 ftrengthened with all that variety which judg- 
 ment in affairs of this nature fhall fuggefl. On 
 a review of all that has been faid of the efFedts, 
 M 3 jl9 
 
i66 On the SUBLIME 
 
 as well as the caufes of both ; it will appear, 
 that the fublime and beautiful are built on 
 principles very different, and that their affec- 
 tions are as different : the great has terror for 
 its bafis ; which, when it is modified, caufes 
 that emotion in the mind, which I have called 
 aftonifhment ; the beautiful is founded on 
 mere politive pleafure, and excites in the foul 
 that feeling, which is called love. Their 
 caufes have made the fubjedt of this fourth 
 part. 
 
 The end of the Fourth Part. 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 167 
 
 Philofophical Enquiry 
 
 INTO THE 
 
 Origin of our Ideas 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 Sublime and Beautiful. 
 
 PART V. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 Of W O R D S. 
 
 NATURAL things afFea us, by 
 the laws of that connexion, which 
 providence has eftablifhed between 
 certain motions and configurations of bodies, 
 and certain confequent feelings in our minds. 
 Painting afFe6ts in the fame manner, but with 
 the fuperadded pleafure of imitation ; archi- 
 tedure afFcds by the laws of nature, and the 
 law of reafon ; from which latter refult the 
 rules of proportion, which make a work to be 
 praifed or cenfured, in the whole or in fome 
 M 4 part. 
 
i68 On the SUBLIME 
 
 part, when the end for which it was defigned 
 is or is not properly anfwered. But as to 
 words ; they feem to me to afFed us in a 
 manner very different from that in which we 
 are affeded by natural things, or by painting 
 or architedure ; yet words have as confidcrable 
 a fhare in exciting ideas of beauty and of the 
 fublime as any of thefe, and fometimes a much 
 greater than any of them ; therefore an en- 
 quiry into the manner by which they excite 
 fuch emotions is far from being unneceiTary in 
 a difcourfe of this kind. 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 The common effed of P O E T R Y, not 
 
 by raifing ideas of things. 
 
 THE common notion of the power of 
 poetry and eloquence, as well as that of 
 words in ordinary converfation, is ; that they 
 affect the mind by raifing In it ideas of thofe 
 things for which cuftom has appointed them to 
 ftand. To examine the truth of this notion, 
 it may be requifite to obferve that words may 
 be divided into three forts ; the firft are fuch 
 as reprefent many fimple ideas united by nature 
 to form fome one determinate compofition, as 
 man, horfe, tree, caflle, ^'c. Thefe I call 
 
 aggregate 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. i6^ 
 
 aggregate words. The fecond, are they that ftand 
 for fome one fimple idea of fuch compofitions 
 and no more, agred, blue, round, fquare, and 
 the like ; thefe I call ftmple ahjira^ words. 
 The third, are thofe, which are formed by an 
 union, an arbitrary union of both the others, 
 and of various relations concerning them, 
 in greater or lefler degrees of complexity, as 
 virtue, honour, perfuafion, magiftrate, and the 
 like 5 thefe I call compounded abjiraif words. 
 Words, I am fenfible, arc capable of being 
 clafled into more curious diftinctions ; but 
 thefe feem to be natural, and enough for our 
 purpofe ; and they are difpofed in that order 
 in which they are commonly taught, ajid in 
 which the mind gets the ideas they are fubfti- 
 tuted for. I fhail begin with the third fort of 
 words ; compound abftradis, fuch as virtue, 
 honour, perfuafion, docility ; of thefe I am 
 convinced, that whatever power they may 
 have on the paflions, they do not derive it 
 from any reprefentation raifed in the mind of 
 the things for which they ftand. As compofi- 
 tions, they are not real effcnces, and hardly 
 caufe, I think, any real ideas. No body, I be- 
 lieve, immediately on hearing the founds, 
 virtue, liberty, or honour, conceives any pre- 
 cife notion of the particular modes of action 
 and thinking, together with the mixt and 
 
 fimplc 
 
170 On the SUBLIME 
 
 fimple ideas, and the feveral relations of them 
 for which thefe words are fubftitutcd ; nei- 
 ther has he any general idea, compounded 
 of them ; for if he had, then fome of thofe 
 particular ones, though indiftindt perhaps, and 
 confufed, might come foon to be perceived. 
 But this, I take it, is hardly ever the cafe. For 
 put yourfelf upon analyfing one of thefe words, 
 and you muft reduce it from one fet of gene- 
 ral words to another, and then into the fimple 
 abftra6i:s and aggregates, in a much longer 
 feries than may be at firft imagined, before any 
 real idea emerges to light, and before you 
 come to difcover any thing like the firft prin- 
 ciples of fuch compofitions ; and when you 
 have made fuch a difcovery of the original 
 ideas, the efFe6t of the compofition is utterly 
 loft. A train of thinking of this fort, is much 
 too long to be purfued in the ordinary ways of 
 converfation, nor is it at all neceflary that it 
 ihould. Such words are in reality but mere 
 founds ; but they are founds, which being ufed 
 on particular occafions, wherein we receive 
 fome good, or fufPer fome evil, or fee others 
 afFedled with good or evil, or that we hear 
 applied to other interefting things or events, 
 and which being applied in fuch a variety of 
 cafes that we know readily by habit to what 
 things they belong, they produce in the mind, 
 
 when- 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 171 
 
 whenever they are afterwards mentioned, 
 effects fimilar to thofe of their occafions. The 
 founds being often ufed without reference to 
 any particular occafion, and carrying ilill their 
 firft impreffions, they at laft utterly lofe their 
 connection with the particular occafions that 
 gave rife to them ; yet the found without any- 
 annexed notion continues to operate as before. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 General words before IDEAS. 
 
 MR. Locke has fomewhere obferved with 
 his ufual fagacity, that moft general 
 words, thofe belonging to virtue and vice, 
 good and evil, efpecially, are taught before the 
 particular modes of action to which they be- 
 long are prefented to the mind ; and with 
 them, the love of the one, and the abhorrence 
 of the other ; for the minds of children are 
 fo ductile, that a nurfe, or any perfon about a 
 child, by feeming pleafed or difpleafed with 
 any thing, or even any word, may give the 
 difpofition of the child a fimilar turn. When 
 afterwards, the feveral occurrences in life come 
 to be applied to thefe words ; and that which 
 is pleafant often appears under the name of 
 evil i and what is difagreeable to nature is 
 
 called 
 
172 On the SUBLIM£ 
 
 called good and virtuous ; a ftrange confufion 
 of ideas and afFe6tions arifes in the minds of 
 many ; and an appearance of no fmall con- 
 tradidion between their notions and their 
 acSlions. There are many, who love virtue, 
 and w^ho deteft vice, and this not from hypo- 
 crify or'afFecStation, Vi^ho notwithftanding this 
 very frequently adt ill and vi^ickedly in par- 
 ticulars w^ithout the leaft remorfe ; becaufe 
 thefe particular occafions never came into view, 
 when the paflions on the fide of virtue were 
 fo warmly afFe6ied by certain words heated 
 originally by the breath of others ; and for 
 this reafon, it is hard to repeat certain fets of 
 words, though owned by themfelves unopera- 
 tive, without being in fome degree afFedlcdi 
 efpecially if a warm and affecting tone of voice 
 accompanies them, as fuppofe, 
 
 Wife^ valiant y generous^ good and great* 
 
 Thefe words, by having no application, ought 
 to be unoperative ; but when words com- 
 monly facred to great occafions are ufed, we 
 are afFedted by them even without the occa- 
 fions. When words which have been gene- 
 rally fo applied are put together without any 
 rational view, or in fuch a manner that they 
 do not rightly agree with each other, the ftile 
 
 is 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 173 
 
 is called bombaft. And it requires in feveral 
 cafes much good fenfe and experience to be 
 guarded againft the force of fuch language ; 
 becaufe the more that propriety is neglected, 
 the greater number of thefe afFeding words 
 may be taken into the fervlce, and the greater 
 variety may be indulged in combining them. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 The efFea of WORDS. 
 
 IF words have all their pofiible extent of 
 power, three efFedts arife in the mind of 
 the hearer. The firft is, the found-, the fecond, 
 the pi^ure, or reprefentation of the thing 
 fignified by the found ; the third is, the affec^ 
 tion of the foul produced by one or by both 
 of the foregoing. Compounded abJhaSf words, 
 of which we have been fpeaking, (honour, 
 juftice, liberty, and the like,) produce the firft 
 and the laft of thefe efl^*e(Si:s, but not the 
 fecond. Simple ahJlraHs, are yfed to fignify 
 fqme one fimple idea without much adverting 
 to others which may chance to attend it, as 
 blue, green, hot, cold, and the like; thefe 
 are capable of afFeding all three of the pur- 
 pofes of words ; as the aggregate words, man, 
 caflle, horfc, &c. are in a yet higher dc2;rec. 
 
 ""But 
 
174 On the SUBLIME 
 
 But I am of opinion, that the moil: general ef- 
 fed even of thefe words, does not arife from 
 their forming pidures of the feveral things 
 they would reprefent in the imagination ; be- 
 caufe on a very diligent examination of my 
 own mind, and getting others to confider 
 theirs, I do not find that once in twenty 
 times any fuch pi<Sture is formed, and when 
 it ts, there is moft commonly a particular ef- 
 fort of the imagination for that purpofe. But 
 the aggregate words operate as I faid of the 
 compound abftra6ts, not by prefenting any 
 image to the mind, but by having from ufc 
 the fame efFed: on being mentioned, that 
 their original has when it is feen. Suppofe 
 we were to read a pafTage to this effcO:. 
 " The river Danube rifes in a moift and 
 mountainous foil in the heart of Germany, 
 where winding too and fro it waters feveral 
 principalities, until turning into Auflria and 
 leaving the walls of Vienna it pafies into 
 Hungary ; there with a vaft flood augmented 
 by the Saave and the Drave it quits Chriften- 
 dom, and rolling through the barbarous coun- 
 tries which border on Tartary, it enters by 
 many mouths into the Black fea." In this de- 
 fcription many things are mentioned, as moun- 
 tains, rivers, cities, the fea, &c. But let 
 any body examine himfejf, and fee whether he 
 
 has 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. 175 
 
 has had imprefled on his imagination any 
 pictures of a river, mountain, watery foil, 
 Germany, &c. Indeed it is impoflible, in the 
 rapidity and quick fuccellion of words in con- 
 verfation, to have ideas both of the found of 
 the word, and of the thing reprefented ; be- 
 fides, fome words cxprefling real eflences, are 
 fo mixed with others of a general and nomi- 
 nal import, that it is impracSlicable- to jump 
 from fenfe to thought, from particulars to ge- 
 nerals, Irom things to words, in fuch a man- 
 ner as to anfwer the purpofe^ of life ; nor is 
 it neceffary that we fhould. 
 
 S E C T. V. 
 
 Examples that WORDS may afFedl: with- 
 out raifing IMAGES. 
 
 I Find, it very hard to perfuade feveral that 
 their paffioiis are affe61:ed by words from 
 whence they have no ideas j and yet harder to 
 convince them, that in the ordinary courfe of 
 converfation we are fufficiently underftood 
 without raifing any images of the things con- 
 cerning which we fpeak. It feems to be an 
 odd fubjec^ of difpute with any man, whether 
 he has ideas in his mind or not. Of this at 
 iirft view, every man, in his own forum, 
 2 ought 
 
176 On the SUBLIME 
 
 ought to judge without appeal. But ftrange as 
 it may appear, we are often at a lofs to know 
 what ideas we have of things, or whether we 
 liave any ideas at all upon fome fubje6ls. It 
 even requires fome attention to be thoroughly 
 fatisfied on this head. Since I wrote thefe 
 papers I found two very flriking inftances of 
 the poflibility there is, that a man may hear 
 words without having any idea of the things 
 which they reprefent, and yet afterwards be 
 capable of returning them to others, combined 
 in a new way, and with great propriety, en- 
 ergy and inftru£lion. The iirfl: inftance, is 
 that of Mr. Blacklock, a poet blind from his 
 birth. Few men blefled with the moft per- 
 fect fight can defcribe vifual objeds with more 
 fpirit and juflnefs than this blind man ; which 
 cannot poflibly be owing to his having a clearer 
 conception of the things he defcribes than is 
 common to other perfons. Mr. Spence, in 
 an elegant preface which he has written to the 
 works of this poet,reafons very ingenioufly,and 
 I imagine for the mofl part very rightly upon the 
 caufe of this extraordinary phenomenon; but I 
 cannot altogether agree with him, that fome 
 improprieties in language and thought which 
 occur in thefe poems have arifen from the 
 blind poet's impere6l conception of vifual ob- 
 jedb, firice fuch improprieties, and much 
 
 greater, 
 
and BE AUTIFUL. 177 
 
 greater, may be found in writers even of an 
 higher clafs than Mr. Blacklock, and who, 
 notwithftanding, poflefTed the faculty of feeing 
 in its full perfedion. Here is a poet doubtlefs 
 as much afFe6led by his own defcriptions as 
 any that reads them can be ; and yet he is af- 
 fected with this ftrong enthufiafm by things of 
 which he neither has, nor can poflibly have 
 any idea further than that of a bare found ; 
 and why may not thofe who read his works 
 be afFe(5led in the fame manner that he was, 
 with as little of any real ideas of the things 
 defcribed? The fecond inftance is of Mr. 
 Saunderfon, profeflbr of mathematics in the 
 univerfity of Cambridge. This learned man 
 had acquired great knowledge in natural phi- 
 lofophy, in aftronomy, and whatever fcienccs 
 depend upon mathematical fkilL What was 
 the moft extraordinary, and the moft to my 
 purpofe, he gave excellent lecStures upon light 
 and colours ; and this man taught others the the- 
 ory of thofe ideas which they had, and which 
 he himfelf undoubtedly had not. But the truth 
 is, that the words red, blue, green, anfwered to 
 him as well as the ideas of the colours them- 
 felves -y for the ideas of greater or lefler degrees 
 of refrangibility being applied to thefe words, 
 and the blind man being inftru6ted in what 
 other refpeds they were found to agree or to 
 N difagree. 
 
lyS On the SUBLIME 
 
 difagree, it was as eafy for him to reafon upon 
 the words as if he had been fully mafter of the 
 ideas, indeed it muft be owned he could make 
 no new difcoveries in the way of experiment. 
 He did nothing but what we do'every day in 
 common difcourfe. When I wrote this laft 
 fentence, and ufed the words every day and 
 common difcourfe^ I had no images in my 
 mind of any fucceffion of time ; nor of men 
 in conference with each other ; nor do I ima- 
 gine that the reader will have any fuch ideas 
 on reading it. Neither when I fpoke of red, 
 blue, and green, as well as of refrangibility; 
 had I thefe feveral colours, or the rays of light 
 paifing into a different medium, and there di- 
 verted from their courfe, painted before me in 
 the way of images. I know very well that 
 the mind pofTcfles a fiiculty of raifing fuch ima- 
 ges at pleafure ; but then an ad of the will is 
 necefl'ary to this; and in ordinary converfatioii 
 or reading it is very rarely that any image at 
 all is excited in the mind. If I fay, " I fhall go 
 to Italy next fummer," I am well underftood. 
 Yet I believe no body has by this painted in his 
 imagination the exaft figure of the fpeaker 
 pafling by land or by water, or both 5 fome- 
 times on horfeback, fometimes in a carriage; 
 with all the particulars of the journey. Still 
 Icfs has he any idea of Italy, the country to 
 
 which 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 179 
 
 which I propofcd to go ; ' or of the greennefs of 
 the fields, the ripening of the fruits, and the 
 warmth of the air, with the change to this 
 from a different feafon, which are the ideas 
 for which the woxAfummer is fubftituted ; but 
 leaft of all has he any image from the word 
 next ; for this word ftands for the idea of 
 many fummers, with the exclufion of all but 
 one : and furely the man who fays next fum" 
 mer^ has no images of fuch a fucceffion, and 
 fuch an exclufion. In fhort, it is not only of 
 thofe ideas which are commonly called ab- 
 ftra6t, and of which no image at all can be 
 formed, but even of particular real *beings, 
 that we converfe without having any idea of 
 them excited in the imagination ; as will cer- 
 tainly appear on a diligent ejc^amination of our 
 own minds. 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 P O E T R Y not ftriftly an imitative art. 
 
 HENCE we may obfer^'^e that poetry, 
 taken in it's moft general fenfe, cannot 
 with ftri(St propriety be called an art of imita- 
 tion. It is indeed an imitation fo far as it de- 
 fcribes the manners and pafHons of men, which 
 their words can exprefs j where anhni mo- 
 N 2 ius 
 
i8o On the S U B L I M E 
 
 ius effert inter prete lingua. There it is firicSlIy 
 imitation j and all merely dramatic poetry is 
 of this fort. But defcriptive poetry operates 
 chiefly hy fuhjiituti on ; by the means of founds, 
 .which by cuftom have the efFe6l of realities. 
 Nothing is an imitation further than as it re- 
 fembles fome other thing; and words unr 
 doubtedly have no fort of refemblance to the 
 ideas for which they fland. 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 How WORDS influence the paffions. 
 
 NO W, as words afl^c6t, not by any ori- 
 ginal power, but by reprefentation, it 
 might be fuppofed, that their influence over 
 the paflions /hould be but light; yet it is quite 
 otherwife ; for we find by experience that elo- 
 quence and poetry are as capable, nay indeed 
 much more capable of making deep and lively 
 impreifions than any other arts, and even than 
 nature itfclf iii very many cafes. And this 
 arifes chiefly from thefe three caufes. Firft, 
 that we take an extraordinary part in the paf- 
 fions of others, and that we are eafily afFe6led 
 and brought into fympathy by any tokens 
 which are (hewn of them ; and there are no 
 tokens which can exprcfs all the circumllances 
 
 of 
 
and B E A U T I F U L. i8i 
 
 of moft paflions (o fully as words ; (o that if a 
 perfon fpeaks upon any fubje£t, he can not 
 only convey the fubjecSl to you, but likewife 
 the manner in which he is himfelf afFe£ted by 
 it. Certain it is, that the influence of moft 
 things on our paflions is not fo much from 
 the things themfelves, as from our opinions 
 concerning them ; and thefe again depend 
 very much on the opinions of other men, con- 
 veyable for the moft part by words only. Se- 
 condly ; there are many things of a very af- 
 fecting nature, which can feldom occur in the 
 reality, but the words which reprefent them 
 often do ; and thus they have an opportunity 
 of making a deep impreflion and taking root 
 in the mind, whilft the idea of the reality was 
 tranfient ; and to fome perhaps never really oc- 
 curred in any fhape, to whom it is notwith- 
 flanding very afFedting, as war, death, famine, 
 &c. Befides, many ideas have never been at all 
 prefented to the fenfes of any men but by words, 
 as God, angels, devils, heaven and hell, all of 
 which have however a great influence over the 
 paflions. Thirdly ; by words we have it in our 
 power to make fuch combinations as we cannot 
 pofllbly do otherwife. By this power of com- 
 bining we can, by the addition of well-chofen 
 circumftances, give a new life and force to the 
 fimple objed. In painting we may reprefent 
 
 any 
 
i82 On the SUBLIME 
 
 any fine figure we pleafe ; but we never can 
 grve it thofe enlivening touches which it may 
 receive from words. To reprefent an ancrd 
 in a piiSture, you can only draw a beautiful 
 young man winged ; but what painting can 
 furnifh out any thing To grand as the addition 
 of one word, " the angel of the LordV^ It 
 is true, I have here no clear idea, but thefe 
 words afFe6l the mind more than the fenfible 
 image did, which is all I contend for. A pic- 
 ture of Priam dragged to the altar's foot, and 
 there murdered, if it were well executed 
 would undoubtedly be very moving ; but there 
 are very aggravating circumftances, which it 
 could never reprefent. 
 
 Sanguhie fcedaniem quos ipfe facraverat ignes. 
 
 As a further inftance, let us confider thofe 
 lines of Aiilton, where he defcribes the tra- 
 vels of the fallen an2;els throudi their difmal 
 habitation. 
 
 ' O^er many a dark and dreary vale 
 
 ihey pafs'd^ and many a region dolorous. 
 O'er many a frozen^ many a fiery Alp. 
 Ricks^cavesjakes^fens^bogs^dens and /hades of death. 
 A univerfe cf death. 
 
 Here 
 
and BEAUTIFUL. 183 
 Here is difplayed the force of union in 
 
 Rocks, caves, lakes, dens, bogs, fens andJJiades ; 
 
 which yet would lofe the greatefl part of their 
 effect, if they were not the 
 
 Rocks, caves, lakes, dens, bogs, fens andjhades-^ 
 — of death. 
 
 This idea or affedllon caufed by a word, which 
 nothing but a word could annex to the others, 
 raifes a very great degree of the fublime ; and 
 it is raifed yet higher by what follows, a 
 i' univerfe of death.'" Here are again two 
 ideas not prefentible but by language ; and 
 an union of them great and amazing beyond 
 conception. Whoever attentively confiders 
 this paflage of Milton, and indeed all of the 
 beft and mod afFe<5i:ing defcriptions of poetry, 
 will find, that it does not in general produce 
 its end by raifing the images of things, but by 
 exciting a paflion fimilar to that which real 
 objects excite by other inftruments. And in 
 proportion as words of a fublirne efFe6t, or 
 words which are ufed to exprefs the objects of 
 love and tendernefs, are joined in a maoner 
 found by experience the beft for thefe pur- 
 pofcsj 'in that proportion the mod perfevS 
 
 kinds 
 
tg4 On the SUBLIME. 
 
 kinds of the fublime and beautiful are formed 
 in poetry. It compafTes all its other ends in a 
 manner analogous. It might be expeded 
 from the fertility of the fubjedt, that I (hould 
 confider poetry as it regards the fublime and 
 beautiful more at large ; but it muft be ob- 
 ferved that this matter has been handled by 
 many authors before. It was not my defign 
 to enter into the criticifm of the fublime and 
 beautiful in any art, but to attempt to lay 
 down fuch principles as may tend to afcer- 
 tain, to diftinguifli^ and to form a fort of 
 ftandard for them ; which purpofes I thought 
 might be bed efFetEled by an enquiry into' the 
 properties of fuch things in nature as raife 
 love and aftoniihment in us; and in what 
 manner they operated to produce thefe paf- 
 iions. Words were only fo far to be confi- 
 dered, as to (hew upon what principle they 
 were capable of being the reprefentatives of 
 thefe natural things, and by what powers they 
 were able to afFe£t us often as ftrongly as things 
 in nature do, and fometimes much more 
 ftrongly. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
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