BEAUTY AND SUBLIMITY.

over it, from bank to bank, and then suddenly sparkling in the open sunshine, as if with a still brighter current than before. Let us trace it, till it widens to a majestic river, of which the waters are the boundary of two flourishing empires, conveying abundance equally to each, while city suc-. ceeds city, on its populous shores, almost with the same rapidity as grove formerly succeeded grove. Let us next behold it losing itself in the immensity of the ocean, which seems to be only an expansion of itself, when there is not an object to be seen but its own wide amplitude, between the banks which it leaves, and the sun that is setting, as if in another world, in the remote horizon;-in all this course, from the brook to the boundless waste of waters,-if we were to trace and contemplate the whole continued progress, we should have a series of emotions. The emotions which rose, when we regarded the narrow stream, would be those which we class as emotions of beauty. The emotions which rose when we considered that infinity of waters, in which it was ultimately lost, would be of the kind which we denominate sublimity; and the grandeur of the river, while it was still distinguishable from the ocean, to was prowhich, on the same principle of distinction, some other name or names might be given.

ceeding, might be viewed with feelings

The same progressive series of feelings, which may thus be traced as we contemplate works of nature, is not less evident in the contemplation of works of human art, whether that art has been employed in material things, or be purely intellectual. From the cottage to the cathedral-from the simplest ballad air, to the harmony of a choral anthem-from a pastoral to an epic poem or tragedy-from a landscape to a cartoon,-in each case there is a wide interval, and you may easily perceive, that, merely by adding what seemed degree after degree, you arrive at last at emotions which have little apparent resemblance to the emotions with which the scale began.

In the moral scene the progression is equally evident. Let us suppose, for example, that in the famine of an army, a soldier divides his scanty allowance with one of his comrades, whose health is sinking under the privation. We feel in the contemplation of this action, a pleasure, which is that of moral beauty. In proportion as we imagine the famine

of longer duration, or the prospect of relief less probable, the action becomes more and more morally grand and heroic. Let us next imagine, that the comrade, to whose relief the soldier makes this generous sacrifice, is one whose enmity he has formerly experienced on some interesting occasion; and the action is not heroic merely, it is sublime.

It is in the moral conduct of our fellow men, that the species of sublimity is to be found, which we most gladly recognise, as the character of that glorious nature, which we have received from God,—a character which makes us more erect in mind, than we are in stature, and enables us not to gaze on the heavens merely, but to lift to them our very wishes, and to imitate in some faint degree, and to admire at least, where we cannot imitate, the gracious perfection that dwells there.-BROWN.

QUESTIONS.-1. What illustration is given of the emotions of beauty and sublimity which arise from contemplating the works of nature? 2. The works of human art? 3. What is the example for illustrating moral beauty and sublimity ?

LESSON 10.

Taste.

Fine Arts, the arts generally distinguished by the appellation fine, are poetry, music, painting, sculpture, and engraving, with their several branches. To these may be added architecture and gardening.

THE word taste has two general significations: one literal or primitive relating to corporeal sensations; the other figurative, referring to mental discernment. This metaphor would not have been so general, had there not been a conformity between mental taste, and that sensitive taste which gives us a relish of every flavour. The subject of this lesson is mental or intellectual taste.

Without the emotions of beauty and sublimity, there would be no taste to discern the aptitude of certain means for producing these emotions. On the other hand, without the judgment, which discerns this order, in the relations of means and ends, there would be no voluntary adaptation of the great stores of forms and sounds, and colours, for producing

them,-none of those fine arts which give as much happiness as embellishment to life. Reason and good sense have so extensive an influence on all the operations and decisions of taste, that a thorough good taste may well be considered as a power, compounded of natural sensibility to beauty, and of improved understanding. Frequent exercise and curious attention to its proper objects must greatly heighten its power. Nothing is more improveable than that part of taste, which is called an ear for music. At first, the simplest and plainest compositions only are relished. Our pleasure is extended by use and practice, which teach us to relish finer melody, and by degrees enable us to enter into the intricate and compound pleasures of harmony. An eye for the beauties of painting is never acquired all at once. It is gradually formed by being conversant among pictures, and studying the works of the best masters. It is the same with respect to the beauty of composition or discourse: attention to the most approved models, study of the best authors, comparisons of lower and higher degrees of the same beauties, operate towards the refinement of taste.

The

In no part of nature is the pure benevolence of heaven more strikingly conspicuous than in our susceptibility of the emotions of this class. In consequence of these emotions, it is scarcely possible for us to look around, without feeling either some happiness or some consolation. Sensual pleasures soon pall, even upon the profligate, who seeks them in vain in the means which were accustomed to produce them; weary, almost to disgust, of the very pleasures which he seeks, and yet astonished that he does not find them. labours of severer intellect, if long continued, exhaust the energy which they employ; and we cease, for a time, to be capable of thinking accurately, from the very intentness and accuracy of our thought. The pleasures of taste, however, by their variety of easy delight, are safe from the languor which attends any monotonous or severe occupation, and, instead of palling on the mind, they produce in it, with the very delight which is present, a quicker sensibility to future pleasure. Enjoyment springs from enjoyment; and if we have not some deep wretchedness within, it is scarcely possible for us, with the delightful resources which nature and art present to us, not to be happy, as often as we will to be happy.

QUESTIONS.-1. What are the two significations of the word taste 2. What does intellectual taste discern? 3. How may a thorough good taste be considered? 4. What effect have exercise and attention upon taste? 5. What examples of this are given? 6. What is said of sensual pleasures? 7. Of the pleasures of taste?

LESSON 11.

Poetry.

THE object of the philosopher is to inform and enlighten mankind; that of the orator, to acquire an ascendant over the will of others, by bending to his own purposes their judgments, their imaginations, and their passions: but the primary and the distinguishing aim of the poet is to please; and the principal resource which he possesses for this purpose, is by addressing the imagination.

In poetry, we perceive every where what Akenside calls

"The charm,

That searchless nature o'er the sense of man
Diffuses, to behold, in lifeless things

The inexpressive semblance of himself,
Of thought and passion."

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The zephyrs laugh,-the sky smiles, the forest frowns, -the storm and the surge contend together,—the solitary place not merely blossoms like the rose, but it is glad. nature becomes animated. The poetic genius, like that soul of the world, by which the early philosophers accounted for all earthly changes, breathes its own spirit into every thing surrounding it.

The world is full of poetry-the air
Is living with its spirit; and the waves
Dance to the music of its melodies,

And sparkle in its brightness-earth is veiled,

And mantled with its beauty; and the walls,

That close the universe, with crystal, in,
Are eloquent with voices, that proclaim
The unseen glories of immensity.

STUDY OF HISTORY.

"Tis not the chime and flow of words, that move
In measured file, and metrical array;
'Tis not the union of returning sounds,
Nor all the pleasing artifice of rhyme,
And quantity, and accent, that can give
This all-pervading spirit to the ear,
Or blend it with the movings of the soul.
'Tis a mysterious feeling, which combines
Man with the world around him, in a chain
Woven of flowers, and dipped in sweetness, till
He taste the high communion of his thoughts,
With all existences, in earth and heaven,
That meet him in the charm of grace and
'Tis not the noisy babbler, who displays,
In studied phrase and ornate epithet,
And rounded period, poor and vapid thoughts,
Which peep from out the cumbrous ornaments,
That overload their littleness. Its words
Are few, but deep and solemn; and they break
Fresh from the fount of feeling, and are full
Of all that passion, which, on Carmel, fired
The holy prophet, when his lips were coals,
His language winged with terror, as when bolts
Leap from the brooding tempest, armed with wrath,
Commissioned to affright us, and destroy.

power.

21

PERCIVAL.

QUESTIONS.-1. What is the object of the philosopher? 2. Of the orator? 3. Of the poet? 4. What is the principal resource of the poet? 5. To what is the poetic genius compared?

LESSON 12.

Advantages of studying History.

If we consider the knowledge of history with regard to its application, we shall find that it is eminently useful to us in three respects, namely, as it appears in a moral, a political, and a religious point of view.

In a moral point of view, it is beneficial to mankind at large, as the guide of their conduct. In a political-as it suggests useful expedients to those who exercise the public offices of