lowers of the Redeemer of mankind fhall be admitted to the realms of heaven and glory, and our fouls, difengaged from all earthly impediments, fhall afcend above the stars, and resemble those angelic beings;-when the moft accurate, moft enlarged, and most interesting knowledge will form a part of our eternal happiness;-when the reftlefs mind of man shall no longer form wild and inconfiftent theories to account for the formation of the globe; but the volume of univerfal nature shall be unfolded to his aftonished eyes;-when the laws, which regulate all orders of created beings, fhall be fully unfolded and clearly understood, and man fhall learn the true conftitution of the world he now inhabits, from the time when difcordant matter firft obeyed the word of the Almighty, and was called into harmony and order, to the laft awful period of its existence ! CLASS THE FIFTH. POLITE LITERATURE AND ELEGANT ARTS. CHAPTER I. Tafte. THE abufe of words is a very frequent and juft fubject of complaint among thofe who endeavour to communicate knowledge. Some words are used in a manner fo vague and fluctuating as to convey no precife meaning. This remark cannot be applied to any word with more propriety than to TASTE; for as it paffes current in common language, fometimes it denotes singularity, or faftidious refinement; and is often employed to exprefs any predilection for objects, which the most capricious mind can form, without the least reference to their utility, ornament, or beauty. In order therefore to give a more exact idea of a word, which muft neceffarily occur very often in the courfe of this and the following chapter, it is neceffary to premife, that by Tafte is intended to be understood, the power which the mind poffeffes, of of relishing the beauties found in the works of nature and art. Get in a 46 Say what is Tafte, but the internal powers bitive love Of decent and fublime, with quick difguft As we confider Tafte as a general principle, natural to every perfon who poffeffes judgment and fenfibility in a competent degree; we cannot fuppofe that it is confined to the polished part of mankind. On the contrary, it is as common to a rude ftate of fociety, as it is to an early period of life. The wild tribes, who inhabit the interior parts of America, contemplate their extenfive lakes the Ohio and the Ontario with aftonishment, and gaze upon the starry heavens with delight. There is a majefty and a vaftnefs in thefe objects of nature, which affect the foul through the medium of the eye, and imprefs it with great ideas. The fame favages decorate thenfelves with fhells and feathers of various colours, compofe fongs of love and war in rude numbers, and adapt them to the animating founds of different inftruments of mufic. They take a pleasure in tracing the forms of the objects with which they are most acquainted. Governor Phillips, in his excurfions in Botany Bay, faw the figures of animals, fhields, weapons of war, and even of men carved upon the rocks by the naThefe figures were rough, but completely tves. h Akenfide's Pleasures of the Imagination. R 3 expreffęd expreffed the objects they were intended to reprefent. On the top of a hill the figure of a man in the attitude of a dancer, was executed in a still fuperior manner. With fimilar indications of pleasure children difcover a fondness for the beauties of nature, and for all kinds of imitation; the most imperfect drawings and figures of animals, bright colours, and every fpecies of novelty give them great delight; and they liften with admiration to the finging of birds, or the murmur of a cafcade. So extensive are the general perceptions of beauty, harmony, and imitation, that they feem as natural to the human mind, as the love of justice and truth. Among the various productions of nature, which give univerfal pleasure, are thofe of particular Forms and Colours. The figures of natural objects are not defined by thofe ftraight lines which are found beft adapted to convenience in many works of art, and are the fubjects of fpeculation in science, but nature delights in what Hogarth very justly called the line of beauty. This is a flowing line with varied flexures, fomewhat refembling the letter S, but not fo much, nor fo regularly bent. We fee instances of it in the objects that furround us, in the stream that winds through the vale, the curvature of mountains, the shapes of leaves and flowers, the curling fmoke, the forms of the clouds, and the waves of the fea. We behold it in all parts of the animal creation, in the elegant fhape of the horse, the fwan, and the dove, and more particularly in the human figure. The The colours which nature has given to her moft ftriking works, excite a great degree of pleasure. What a gratification mixed with awe refults from beholding the bright ftars fhining with the moft vivid luftre in the azure firmament of the heavensthe fun rifing or fetting amid clouds tinged with the moft gorgeous hues, which no painter can portray, no poet can defcribe-or the wide arch of the rainbow, whereon the prifmatic colours are regularly displayed! But the colour in which nature has dreffed the vegetable kingdom is that on which the eyes ate fixed with moft eafe and pleafure. Green gives a repofe and refreshment to the fight, after it has been dazzled with the rich tints of yellow, red, or blue. It is to the eye what the soft sounds of mufic are to the ear. The verdant meadow, the outstretched lawn, and the leafy grove are objects that never lose their attractions. That green is the colour which harmonifes beft with all others, may be obferved from flowers,-the primrofe and the violet appear no lefs to advantage, furrounded with green leaves, than the rofe and the lily. Thus the beautiful objects of nature are as open to obfervation, as the pleasure derived from furveying them is extenfive. But the faculty of enjoyment, which is fo common to all mankind, mụst be cultivated with care, that it may be advanced to that degree of excellence, of which it is capable. The progress of taste towards refinement depends R 4 |