42. The power of abstraction is bestowed on man, for the purpose solely of reasoning. It tends greatly to the facility as well as clearness of any process of reasoning, that, laying aside every other circumstance, we can confine our attention to the ingle property we desire to investigate. 43. Abstract terms may be separated into three different kinds, all equally subservient to the reasoning faculty. Individuals appear to have no end; and did we not possess the faculty of distributing them into classes, the mind would be lost in an endless maze, and no progress be made in knowledge. It is by the faculty of abstraction that we distribute beings into genera and species: finding a number of individuals connected by certain qualities common to all, we give a name to these individuals considered as thus connected, which name, by gathering them together into one class, serves to express the whole of these individuals as distinct from others. Thus the word animal serves to denote every being that can move voluntarily; and the words man, horse, lion, &c. answer similar purposes. This is the first and most common sort of abstraction; and it is of the most extensive use, by enabling us to comprehend in our reasoning whole kinds and sorts, instead of individuals, without end. The next sort of abstract terms comprehends a number of individual objects, considered as connected by some occasional relation. A great number of persons collected in one place, without any other relation than merely that of contiguity, are denominated a crowd in forming this term, we abstract from sex, from : age, from condition, from dress, &c. A number of persons connected by the same laws and by the same government, are termed a nation: and a number of men under the same military command, are termed an army. A third sort of abstraction is, where a single property or part, which may be common to many individuals, is selected to be the subject of our contemplation; for example, whiteness, heat, beauty, length, roundness, head, arm.
44. Abstract terms are a happy invention: it is by their means chiefly, that the particulars which make the subject of our reasoning are brought into close union, and separated from all others however naturally connected. Without the aid of such terms, the mind could never be kept steady to its proper subject, but be perpetually in hazard of assuming foreign circumstances, or neglecting what are essential. We can, without the aid of language, compare real objects by intuition, when these objects are present; and when absent, we can compare them in idea. But when we advance farther, and attempt to make inferences and draw conclusions, we always employ abstract terms, even in thinking; it would be as difficult to reason without them, as to perforin operations in algebra without signs; for there is scarcely any reasoning without some degree of abstraction, and we cannot easily abstract without using abstract terms. Hence it follows, that without language man would scarcely be a rational being.
45. The same thing, in different respects, has different names. With respect to certain qualities, it is termed a substance; with respect to other qualities, a body; and with respect to qualities of all sorts, a subject. It is termed a passive subject with respect to an action exerted upon it; an object with respect to a percipient: a cause with respect to the effect it produces; and an effect with respect to its cause.
ABSTRACTION, power of, 486. Its use,
487.
Abstract terms, ought to be avoided in
poetry, 122, 404.
Cannot be com-
pared but by being personified, 326.
Personified, 351. Defined, 486. The
use of abstract terms, 487.
Accent, defined, 292. The musical ac-
cents that are necessary in an hexam-
eter line, 296. A low word must not
be accented, 310. Rules for accenting
English heroic verse, 309, 310. How
far affected by the pause, 311. Ac-
cent and pause have a mutual influ-
ence, 312
Action, what feelings are raised by hu-
man actions, 27. 115. 172. We are
impelled to action by desire, 29. Some
actions are instinctive, some intended
as means to a certain end, 31. Ac-
tions great and elevated, low and gro-
velling, 115. Slowness and quickness
in acting, to what causes owing, 152.
157. Emotions occasioned by pro-
priety of action, 168. Occasioned by
impropriety of action, ib. Human
actions considered with respect to dig-
nity and meanness, 175. Actions the
interpreters of the heart, 208. Action
is the fundamental part of epic and
dramatic compositions, 420. Unity
of action, 429. We are conscious of
internal action as in the head, 475.
Internal action may proceed without
our being conscious of it, ib.
Action and reaction betwixt a passion
and its object, 65.
Actor, bombast actor, 126. The chief
talents of an actor, 206. An actor
should feel the passion he represents,
217. Difference as to pronunciation
betwixt the French and English ac-
tors, 219, note.
Admiration, 65. 131.
Eneid. See Virgil.
Affectation, 167.
Affection, to children accounted for, 43.
To blood-relations, ib. Affection for
what belongs to us, ib. Social affec-
tions more refined than selfish, 62.
Affection in what manner inflamed
into a passion, 65. Opposed to pro-
pensity, 67. Affection to children
endures longer than any other affec-
tion, ib. Opinion and belief influ-
enced by affection, 88. Affection de-
fined, 195. 484.
Agamemnon, of Seneca censured, 231.
Agreeable emotions and passions, 58,
&c. Things neither agreeable nor
disagreeable. See Object.
Alcestes, of Euripides censured, 242.
438, 439.
Alexandre, of Racine censured, 225.
Alexandrine line, 298.
Allegory, defined, 370. More difficult
in painting than in poetry, 376.
an historical
424.
poem,
All for Love, of Dryden censured, 235.
Alto Relievo, 459.
Ambiguity, occasioned by a wrong
choice of words, 255; occasioned by
a wrong arrangement, 270.
Amynta, of Tasso censured, 222.
Amor patriæ, accounted for, 45.
Amphibrachys, 324.
Amphimacer, 324.
Analytic and synthetic methods of rea-
soning compared, 22.
Anapestus, 323.
Anger, explained, 47, &c. Frequently
comes to its height instantaneously,
65. Decays suddenly, 66.
times exerted against the innocent, 85.
and even against things inanimate, ib.
Not infectious, 95. Has no dignity
in it, 175.
Angle, largest and smallest angle of
vision, 92.
Animals, distributed by nature into
classes, 467.
Antibacchius, 324.
Anticlimax, 286.
Antispastus, 324.
Antithesis, 259. Verbal antithesis, 188.
Apostrophe, 359, &c.
Appearance, things ought to be described
in poetry, as they appear, not as they
are in reality, 393.
Appetite, defined, 31. Appetites of hun-
ger, thirst, animal love, arise without
an object, 40. Appetite for fame or
esteem, 100.
Apprehension, dulness and quickness of
apprehension, to what causes owing,
152.
Architecture, ch. xxiv. Grandeur of
manner in architecture, 119. The si- | Basc, of a column, 462.
tuation of a great house ought to be Basso-relievo, 460.
lofty, 166. A playhouse or a music-
room susceptible of much ornament,
167. What emotions can be raised
by architecture, 443. Its emotions
compared with those of gardening, ib.
Every building ought to have an ex-
pression suited to its destination, 444.
457. Simplicity ought to be the go-
verning taste, 443. Regularity to be
studied, 445. 454. External form of
dwelling-houses, 452, 453. Divisions
within, 453. 458, 459. A palace ought
to be regular, but in a small house
convenience ought to be preferred,
452, 453. A dwelling-house ought to
be suited to the climate, 454. Con-
gruity ought to be studied, 457. Ar-
chitecture governed by principles that
produce opposite effects, 459, 460.
Different ornaments employed in it,
459, 460. Witticisms in architecture,
464. Allegorical or emblematical or-
naments, ib. Architecture inspires a
taste for neatness and regularity, 465.
Ariosto, censured, 160. 430,
Aristæus, the episode of Aristaus in the
Georgics censured, 323.
Aristotle, censured, 477, note.
Army, defined, 488.
Batrachomuomachia, censured, 179.
Beauty, ch. iii. Intrinsic and relative,
103. 449. Beauty of simplicity, 104.
of figure, ib., of the circle, 105. of the
square, ib, of a regular polygon, 106.
of a parallelogram, ib., of an equila-
teral triangle, ib. Whether beauty is.
a primary or secondary quality of ob-
jects, 107. Beauty distinguished from
grandeur, 110. Beauty of natural
colors, 161. Beauty distinguished.
from congruity, 166. Consummate
beauty seldom produces a constant
lover, 199. Wherein consists the
beauty of the human visage, 204.
Beauty proper and figurative, 482.
Behavior, gross and refined, 62.
Belief, of the reality of external objects,
51. Enforced by a lively narrative,.
or a good historical painting, 56, 57..
Influenced by passion, 87. 361. In-
fluenced by propensity, 88.
enced by affection, ib.
Benevolence operates in conjunction
with self-love to make us happy, 97.
Benevolence inspired by gardening,
451.
Arrangement, the best arrangement of
words is to place them if possible in
an increasing series, 252. Arrange-
ment of members in a period, ib. Of
periods in a discourse, 253. Ambi-
guity from wrong arrangement, 270.
273. Arrangement natural and in-
verted, 280, 281.
Articulate sounds, how far agreeable,
248. 250.
Artificial mount, 448.
Arts. See Fine Arts.
Ascent, pleasant, but descent not pain-
ful, 114.
Athalie, of Racine censured, 231.
Attention, defined, 484. Impression
made by objects depends on the degree
of attention, ib. Attention not always
voluntary, 485.
Attractive passions, 210.
Attractive objects, 97.
Attractive signs of passion, 210.
Attributes, transferred by a figure of
speech from one subject to another,
365, &c.
Avarice, defined, 29.
Avenue, to a house, 448.
Aversion, defined, 65. 195.
Bacchius, 324.
Bajazet, of Racine censured, 241.
Barren scene, defined, 431.
Berkeley, censured, 477, note.
Blank verse, 298. 315. Its aptitude for
inversion, 317. Its melody, ib. How
far proper in tragedy, 428.
Body, defined, 475.
Boileau, censured, 360. 417.
Bombast, 124. Bombast in action, 126..
Bossu, censured, 432, note.
Burlesque, machinery does well in a
burlesque poem, 57. Burlesque dis-
tinguished into two kinds, 179.
Business, men of middle age best quali-
fied for it, 152.
Capital, of a column, 463.
Careless husband, its double plot well
contrived, 426.
Cascade, 129.
Cause, resembling causes may produce
effects that have no resemblance; and
causes that have no resemblance
may produce resembling effects, 283.
Cause, defined, 488.
Chance, the mind revolts against misfor-
tunes that happen by chance, 418.
Character, to draw a character is the
master-stroke of description, 397, 398.
Characteristics, of Shaftsbury criticised,
167, note.
Children, love to them accounted for, 43.
A child can discover a passion from
its external signs, 211. Hides none
of its emotions, 215.
Chinese, gardens, 450. Wonder and Complexion, what colour of dress is the
most suitable to different complexions,
148.
surprise studied in them, 451.
Choreus, 323.
Choriambus, 324.
Chorus, an essential part of the Grecian
tragedy, 433.
Church, what ought to be its form and
situation, 458.
Cicero censured, 280. 287. 290.
Cid, of Corneille censured, 221.233.
Cinna, of Corneille censured, 168. 219.
232.
Circle, its beauty, 105.
Circumstances, in a period, where they
should be placed, 273. 275.
Class, all living creatures distributed
into classes, 470, 471.
Climax, in sense, 116. 220. 278.
sound, 253. When these are joined,
the sentence is delightful, 286.
Cophores, of Eschylus censured, 203.
Coexistent emotions and passions,67,&c.
Colonnade, where proper, 454.
Color, gold and silver esteemed for their
beautiful colors, 104. A secondary
quality, 59. Natural colors, 161. Co-
loring of the human face, exquisite, ib.
Columns, every column ought to have a
base, 94. The base ought to be
square, 95. Columns admit different
proportions, 456-458. What emo-
tions they raise, 458. Column more
beautiful than a pilaster, 462. Its
form, ib. Five orders of columns, ib.
Capital of the Corinthian order cen-
sured, 463.
Comedy, double plot in a comedy, 425,
426. Modern manners do best in
comedy, 420. Immorality of English
comedy, 36.
Comet, motion of the comets and planets
compared with respect to beauty, 128.
Commencement, of a work ought to be
modest and simple, 39.
Common nature, in every species of
animals, 60. 467. We have a convic-
tion that this common nature is inva-
riable, 468. Also that it is perfect or
right, 60. 468.
Common sense, 467. 473.
Communication of passion to related
objects. See Passion.
Communication of qualities to related
objects. See Propensity.
Comparison, 140, &c. ch. xix. In the
early composition of all nations, com-
parisons are carried beyond proper
bounds, 325, Comparisons that re-
solve into a play of words, 343.
Complex emotion, 68, &c.
Complex object, its power to generate
passion, 45. 122.
Complex perception, 479.
Conception, defined, 475.
Concord, or harmony in objects of
sight, 69.
Concordant sounds, defined, 67.
Congreve, censured, 37. 180. 207. note.
428.
Congruity and propriety, chap. x. A
secondary relation, 165, note. Con-
gruity distinguished from beauty, 166.
Distinguished from propriety, ib. As
to quantity, congruity coincides with
proportion, 170.
Connection essential in all composi-
tions, 23.
Conquest of Granada, of Dryden cen-
sured, 234.
Consonants, 249.
Constancy, consummate beauty the
cause of inconstancy, 199.
Construction, of language explained,
264, &c.
Contemplation, when painful, 156.
Contempt, raised by improper action,
138.
Contrast, chap. viii. Its effect in lan-
guage, 251. In a series of objects,
252. Contrast in the thought requires
contrast in the members of the expres-
sion, 251. The effect of contrast in
gardening, 450.
Conviction, intuitive. See Intuitive Con-
viction.
Copulative, to drop the copulative en-
livens the expression, 264, &c.
Coriolanus, of Shakspeare censured,
234.
Corneille, censured, 219. 229. 240. 243.
Corporeal pleasure, 11-13. Low and
sometimes mean, 174.
Couplet, 298. Rules for its composi-
tion, 316.
Courage, of greater dignity than jus-
tice, 174.
Creticus, 324.
Criminal, the hour of execution seems to
him to approach with a swift pace, 89.
Criticism, its advantages, 14, 15. Its
terms not accurately defined, 212.
Crowd, defined, 485.
Curiosity, 131. 139, &c.
Custom and habit, ch. xiv. Renders
objects familiar, 131. Custom distin-
guished from habit, 193. Custom
puts the rich and poor upon a level,
201. Taste in the fine arts improved
by custom, 472, note.
Dactyle, 324.
Davila, censured, 159.
Declensions, explained, 267.
Dedications. See Epistles Dedicatory.
Delicacy, of taste, 61. 472.
Derision, 169. 179.
Des Cartes, censured, 477, note.
Descent, not painful, 114.
Description, it animates a description to
represent things past as present, 55.
The rules that ought to govern it,
392, &c. A lively description is
agreeable, though the subject describ-
ed be disagreeable, 409. No objects
but those of sight can be well des-
cribed, 480.
Descriptive personifications, 351.
Descriptive tragedy, 217.
Desire, defined, 29. It impels us to ac-
tion, 31. It determines the will, 96.
Desire in a criminal to be punished,
99. Desire tends the most to happi-
ness when moderate, 108.
Dialogue,dialogue writing requires great
genius, 216, &c. In dialogue every
expression ought to be suited to the
character of the speaker, 404. Dia-
logue makes a deeper impression than
narration, 415. Qualified for express-
ing sentiments, 416. Rules for it,
427, &c.
Dignity and grace, chap. xi. Dignity
of human nature, 469.
Diiambus, 324.
Diphthongs, 249.
Disagreeable emotions and passions,
58, &c.
Discordant sounds, defined, 68.
Dispondeus, 324.
Disposition, defined, 483.
Dissimilar emotions, 68. Their effects
when coexistent, 71. 444. 450. 457.
Dissimilar passions, their effects, 76.
Dissocial passions, 33. All of them
painful, 59. and also disagreeable, 60.
Distance, the natural method of com-
puting the distance of objects, 92, &c.
Errors to which this computation is
liable, 455. 459.
Ditrochæus, 324.
Door, its proportion, 452.
Double action, in an epic poem, 430.
Double Dealer, of Congreve censured,
231. 431.
Double plot, in a dramatic composition,
425.
Drama, ancient and modern compared,
432, &c.
Dramatic poetry, ch. xxii.
Drapery, ought to hang loose, 95.
Dress, rules about dress, 167. 443.
Dryden, censured, 375. 427. 431.
Duties, moral duties distinguished into
those which respect ourselves and
those which respect others, 170. Foun-
dation of duties that respect ourselves,
ib., of those that respect others, ib.
Duty of acting up to the dignity of
our nature, 173. 175.
Dwelling-house, its external form, 452,
&c. Internal form, 453. 458.
Education, promoted by the fine arts, 14.
451. Means to promote in young per-
sons a habit of virtue, 40.
Effects, resembling effects may be pro-
duced by causes that have no resem-
blance, 283.
Efficient cause, of less importance than
the final cause, 175.
Electra, of Sophocles censured, 204.
Elevation, 110, &c. Real and figurative
intimately connected, 114. Figura-
tive elevation distinguished from figu-
rative grandeur, 333, 334.
Emotion, what feelings are termed emo-
tions, 26. Emotions defined, 27, &c.
And their causes assigned, 28. Dis-
tinguished from passions, 30. Emo-
tion generated by relations, 41, &c.
Emotions expanded upon related ob-
jects, 41, &c. 275. 283. 309. 349, 350.
380. Emotions distinguished into pri-
mary and secondary, 43. Raised by
fiction, 50, &c. Raised by painting,
54. Emotions divided into pleasant
and painful, agreeable and disagree-
able, 59, &c. 480. The interrupted ex-
istence of emotions, 63, &c. Their
growth and decay, 64, &c. Their
identity, ib. Coexistent emotions, 67,
&c. Emotions similar and dissimilar,
68. Complex emotions, 69, 70. Ef-
fects of similar coexistent emotions,
69. 457. Effects of dissimilar coex-
istent emotions, 71, 444. Influence of
emotions upon our perceptions, opi-
nions, and belief, 82, &c. 92, 93. 144.
146. 347. 359. 361. 365, &c. Emo-
tions resemble their causes, 94, &c.
Emotions of grandeur, 109, &c., of
sublimity, 110. A low emotion, 115.
Emotion of laughter, ch. vii., of ridi-
cule, 138. Emotions when contrasted
should not be too slow nor too quick
in their succession, 149. Emotions
raised by the fine arts ought to be con-
trasted in succession, ib. Emotion of
congruity, 165, &c., of propriety, 167.
Emotions produced by human actions,
172. Ranked according to their dig-
nity, 173. External signs of emo-
tions, ch. xv. Attractive and repul-
sive emotions, 210. What emotions
do best in succession, what in con-
junction, 444. What emotions are
raised by the productions of manu-
factures, 451, note. Man is passive
|