avail for the production of great excellencies, may at leaft ferve to prevent the commiffion of confiderable errors. "All that regards the ftudy of eloquence and compofition merits the higher attention upon this account, that it is intimately connected with the improvement of our intellectual powers. For I must be allowed to fay, that when we are employed, after a proper manner, in the ftudy of compofition, we are cultivating reafon itfelf. True rhetoric and found logic are very nearly allied. The ftudy of arranging and expreffing our thoughts with propriety, teaches to think, as well as to fpeak, accurately. By putting our fentiments into words, we always conceive them more diftinctly. Every one who has the flighteft acquaintance with compofition knows, that when he expreffes himself ill on any fubject, when his arrangement becomes loofe, and his fentences turn feeble, the defects of his ftyle, can, almoft on every occafion, be traced back to his indiftinct conception of the fubject: fo clofe is the connection between thoughts and the words in which they are clothed.

"The ftudy of compofition, important in itself at all times, has acquired additional importance, from the taste and manners of the prefent age. It is an age wherein improvements, in every part of fcience, have been profecuted with ardour. To all the liberal arts much attention has been paid; and to none more than to the beauty of language, and the grace and elegance of every kind of writing. The public ear is become refined. It will not eafily bear what is flovenly and incorrect. Every author muit afpire to fome merit in expreffion, as well as in fentiment, if he would not incur the danger of being neglected and defpifcd.

"I will not deny that the love of minute elegance, and attention to inferior ornaments of compofition, may at prefent have engroffed too great a degree of the public regard. It is indeed my opinion, that we lean to this extreme; often more careful of polishing ftyle, than of ftoring it with

thought. Yet hence arifes a new reafon for the ftudy of juft and proper compofition. If it be requifite not to be deficient in elegance or ornament in times when they are in fuch high eftimation, it is still more requifite to attain the power of diftinguishing false ornament from true, in order to prevent our being carried away by that torrent of falfe and frivolous taste, which never fails, when it is prevalent, to fweep along with it the raw and the ignorant. They who have never studied eloquence in its principles, nor have been trained to attend to the genuine and manly beauties of good writing, are always ready to be caught by the mere glance of language; and when they come to fpeak in public, or to compofe, have no other ftandard on which to form themfelves, except what chances to be fashionable and popular, how corrupted foever, or erroneous, that may be.

"But as there are many who have no fuch objects as either compofition or public fpeaking in view, let us next confider what advantages may be derived by them, from fuch ftudies as form the fubject of thefe lectures. To them, rhetoric is not so much a practical art as a fpeculative science; and the fame inftructions which aflift others in compofing, will affift them in judging of, and relishing the beauties of compofition. Whatever enables genius to execute well, will enable tafte to criticife juftly.

"As rhetoric has been fometimes thought to fignify nothing more than the fcholaftic ftudy of words, and phrafes, and tropes, fo criticifm has been confidered as merely the art of finding faults; as the frigid application of certain technical terms, by means of which perfons are taught to cavil and cenfure in a learned manner. But this is the criticifm of pedants only. True criticifm is a liberal and humane art. It is the offspring of good fenfe and refined tafte. It aims at acquiring a jutt difcernment of the real merits of authors. It promotes a lively relish of their beauties, while it preferves us from that blind and implicit veneration which would confound their beauties

and

and faults in our esteem. It teaches us, in a word, to admire and to blame with judgement, and not to follow the crowd blindly.

"In an age when works of genius and literature are fo frequently the fubjects of difcourfe, when every one erects himfelf into a judge, and when we can hardly mingle in polite fociety, without bearing fome thare in fuch difcuffions, ftudies of this kind, it is not to be doubted, will appear to derive part of their importance from the ufe to which they may be applied in furnishing materials for thofe fashionable topics of difcourfe, and thereby enabling us to fupport a proper rank in focial life.

"But I fhould be forry if we could

not reft the merit of fuch studies on fomewhat of folid and intrinfical ufe, independent of appearance and fhow. The exercife of talle and of found criticifm is in truth one of the moft improving employments of the undertanding. To apply the principles of good fenfe to compofition and difcourfe; to examine what is beautiful, and why it is fo; to employ ourfelves in diftinguishing accurately between the fpecious and the felid, between affected and natural ornament, muft certainly improve us not a little in `the moft valuable part of all philofophy, the philofophy of human nature. For fuch difquifitions are very intimately connected with the knowledge of ourfelves. They neceffarily lead us to reflect on the operations of the imagination, and the movements of the heart; and increase our acquaintance with fome of the moft refined feelings which belong to our franic."

The Doctor goes on to chferve that the ftudy of Criticifm and Belles Lettres has this peculier advantage, that it exercifes our reafon, without fatiguing it; that it leads to enquiries acute, but not painful; profound, but not dry or abtrufe; frews flowers in the path of fcience; and while it keeps the mind bent, in fome degree, and active, relieves it at the fame time from that more tollfome labour to which it muft fubmit in the acquifition of neceffary erudition, or the inveftigation of ab

ftract truth.

The fubject of the fecond Lecture is TASTE, a fubject on which men talk very loofely and indiftinctly, and which it is extremely difficult to explain with precifion. What our author advances on it is in the following order: He first explains the nature of tafte as a power or faculty in the human mind; in the next place, he confiders how far it is an improveable faculty; he then proceeds to fhew the fources of its improvement, and the characters of taste in its molt perfect ftate; after this, he examines the various fluctuations to which it is liable, and enquires whether there be any ftandard to which we can bring the different taftes of men, in order to diftinguifh the corrupted from the true.

In his third Lecture, our author treats of criticifin, genius, the pleafures of tafte, and fublimity in objects:

True Criticifm, we are told, is the application of tafte and of good fenfe to the feveral fine arts. The object which it propofes is, to diftinguish what is beautiful and what is faulty in every performance; from particular inftances to afcend to general principles; and fo to form rules or conclufions concerning the feveral kinds of beauty in works of genius.

may

have a confiderable

Tafte and Genius, the Doctor obferves, are two words frequently joined together; and, therefore, by inaccurate thinkers confounded. They fignify, however, two quite different things. The difference between them can be clearly pointed out; and it is of importance to remember it. "Tafte (continues he) confifts in the power of judging: Genius, in the power of executing. One degree of tafte in poetry, eloquence, or any of the fine arts, who has little or hardly any genius for compofition or execution in any of thefe arts: but genius cannot be found without including tafte alfo. Genius, therefore, deferves to be confidered as a higher power of the mind than tafte. Genius always imports fomething inventive or creative; which does not reft in mere fenfibility to beauty where it is perceived, but which can, moreover, produce new beauties, and exhibit them in fuch a

manner as ftrongly to imprefs the minds of others. Refined tafte forms a good critic; but genius is further neceflary to form the poet, or the ora

tor.

"It is proper alfo to obferve, that Genius is a word, which, in common acceptation, extends much farther than to the objects of taste. It is ufed to fignify that talent or aptitude which we receive from nature, for excelling in any one thing whatever. Thus, we fpeak of a Genius for mathematics, as well as a Genius for poetry; of a Genius for war, for politics, or for any mechanical employment.

"This talent or aptitude for excelling in fome one particular, is, I have faid, what we receive from nature. By art and ftudy, no doubt, it may be greatly improved; but by them alone it cannot be acquired. As Genius is a higher faculty than Tafte, it is ever, according to the ufual frugality of nature, more limited in the fphere of its operations. It is not uncommon to meet with perfons who have an excellent tafte in several of the polite arts, fuch as mufic, poetry, painting, and eloquence, altogether: but, to find one who is an excellent performer in all thefe arts, is much more rare; or rather, indeed, fuch an one is not to be looked for. A fort of Univerfal Genius, or one who is equally and indifferently turned towards feveral different profeffions and arts, is not likely to excel in any. Although there may be fome few exceptions, yet in general it holds, that when the bent of the mind is wholly directed towards fome one object, exclufive, in a manner, of others, there is the faireft profpect of eminence in that, whatever it be. The rays muft converge to a point, in order to glow intenfely. This remark I here chufe to make, on account of its great importance to young people, in leading them to examine with care, and to purfue with ardour, the current and pointing of nature towards thofe exertions of genius in which they are most likely to excel.

"A genius for any of the fine arts, as I before obferved, always fuppofes LOND. MAG, Nov. 1783.

tafte; and it is clear, that the improvement of taste will ferve both to forward and to correct the operations of genius. In proportion as the taste of a poet, or orator, becomes more refined with refpect to the beauties of compofition, it will certainly affift him to produce the more finished beauties in his work. Genius, however, in a poet or orator, may fometimes exift in a higher degree than tafte; that is, genius may be bold and strong, when tafte is neither very delicate, nor very correct. This is often the cafe in the infancy of arts; a period, when genius frequently exerts itself with great vigour, and executes with much warmth; while tafte, which requires experience, and improves by flower degrees, hath not yet attained its full growth. Homer and Shakespear are proofs of what I now affert; in whofe admirable writings are found inftances of rudenefs and indelicacy, which the more refined tafte of later writers, who had far inferior genius to them, would have taught them to avoid. As all human perfection is limited, this may, very probably, be the law of our nature, that it is not given to one man to execute with vigour and fire, and, at the fame time, to attend to all the leffer and more refined graces that belong to the exact perfection of his work: while, on the other hand, a thorough tafte for those inferior graces, is, for the most part, accompanied with a diminution of fublimity and force.

"Having thus explained the nature of tafte, the nature and importance of criticism, and the diftinction between taste and genius; I am now to enter on confidering the fources of the pleafures of tafte. Here opens a very extenfive field; no lefs than all the pleasures of the imagination, as they are commonly called, whether afforded us by natural objects, or by the imitations and defcriptions of them. But it is not neceffary to the purpose of my Lectures, that all thefe fhould be examined fully; the pleafure which we receive from difcourfe, or writing, being the main object of them. All that I purpose is, to give fome openings into the pleafures of tafte in general; and to infift 3 K

more

more particularly upon fublimity and beauty."

In the remaining part of this Lecture, our readers will meet with many ingenious remarks, and pertinent illuftrations, but we muit refer them to the work itfelf. Various hypothefes have been formed concerning the fundamental quality of whatever is fublime, but the Doctor thinks they are all unfatisfactory. Mighty force or power, whether accompanied with terror or not, whether employed in protecting or in alarming us, appears to him to have a better title, than any thing that has yet been mentioned to be the fundamental quality of the fublime. "There does not occur to me any fublime object (fays he) into the idea of which, power, ftrength, and force, either enter not directly, or are not, at leaft, intimately affociated with the idea, by leading our thoughts to fome aftonishing power, as concerned in the production of the object. However, I do not infift upon this, as fufficient to found a general theory.'

Having treated, in his third Lecture, of grandeur or fublimity in external objects, our author proceeds, in his fourth, to treat of the defcription of fuch objects, or, of what is called the fublime in writing.

"Many critical terms (fays he) have unfortunately been employed in a fenfe too loofe and vague; none more fo, than that of the Sublime. Every one is acquainted with the character of Cafar's Commentaries, and of the ftyle in which they are written; a tyle remarkably pure, fimple, and elegant; but the most remote from the fublime of any of the claffical authors. Yet this author has a German critic, Johannes Gulielmus Bergerus, who wrote no longer ago than the year 1720, pitched upon as the perfect model of the Sublime, and has compofed a quarto volume, entitled, De naturali pulchritudine Orativais; the exprefs intention of which, is to fhew, that Cafar's Commentaries contain the moft complete exemplification of all Longinus's rules relating to fublime writing. This I mention as a ftrong proof of the confufed ideas which have prevailed, con

cerning this fubject. The true fenfe of fublime writing, undoubtedly, is fuch a defcription of objects, or exhibition of fentiments, which are in themselves of a fublime nature, as fhall give us ftrong impreffions of them. But there is another very indefinite, and therefore very improper, fenfe, which has been too often put upon it; when it is applied to fignify any remarkable and diftinguishing excellency of compofition; whether it raife in us the ideas of grandeur, or those of gentlenefs, elegance, or any other fort of beauty. In this fenfe, Cæfar's Commentaries may, indeed, be termed sublime, and fo may many fonnets, paftorals, and love elegies, as well as Homer's Iliad. But this evidently confounds the use of words; and marks no one fpecies, or character, of compofition whatever.

"I am forry to be obliged to obferve, that the fublime is too often ufed in this laft and improper fenfe, by the celebrated critic Longinus, in his treatife on this fubject. He fets out, indeed, with defcribing it in its juft and proper meaning; as fomething that elevates the mind above itself, and fills it with high conceptions, and a noble pride. But from this view of it he frequently departs; and fubftitutes in the place of it, whatever, in any ftrain. of compofition, pleases highly. Thus, many of the paffages which he produces as inflances of the fublime, are merely elegant, without having the most diftant relation to proper fublimity; witnefs Sappho's famous Ode, on which he defcants at confiderable length. He points out five fources of the fublime. The fint is, boldness or grandeur in the thoughts; the fecond is, the pathetic; the third, the proper application of figures; the fourth, the ufe of tropes and beautiful expreffions; the fifth, mufical ftructure and arrangement of words. This is the plan of one who was writing a treatife of rhetoric, or of the beauties of writing in general; not of the fublime in particular. For of thefe five heads, only the two firft have any peculiar relation. to the fublime; boldness and grandeur in the thoughts, and, in fome instances,

the

the pathetic, or strong exertions of paffion: the other three, tropes, figures, and mufical arrangement, have no more relation to the fublime, than to other kinds of good writing; perhaps lefs to the fublime than to any other fpecies whatever, because it requires lefs the affiftance of ornament. From this it appears, that clear and precife ideas on this head are not to be expected from that writer. I would not, however, be understood, as if I meant, by this cenfure, to reprefent his treatife as of fmall value. I know no critic, antient or modern, that difcovers a more Jively relish of the beauties of fine writing, than Longinus; and he has alfo the merit of being himfelf an excellent, and, in feveral paffages, a truly fublime writer. But, as his work has been generally confidered as a ftandard on this fubject, it was incumbent on me to give my opinion concerning the benefit to be derived from it. It deferves to be confulted, not fo much for diftinct inftruction concerning the fublime, as for excellent general ideas concerning beauty in writing.

"I return now to the proper and natural idea of the Sublime in compofition. The foundation of it always must be laid in the nature of the object defcribed. Unless it be fuch an object as, if prefented to our eyes, if exhibited to us in reality, would raife ideas of that elevating, that awful, and magnificent kind, which we call fublime; the defcription, however finely drawn, is not entitled to come under this class. This excludes all objects that are merely beautiful, gay, or elegant. In the next place, the object muft not only in itself be fublime,

but it must be fet before us in fuch a light as is moft proper to give us a clear and full impreffion of it; it must be defcribed with ftrength, with concifenefs and fimplicity. This depends, principally, upon the lively impreffion which the poet or orator has of the object which he exhibits; and upon his being deeply affected, and warmed, by the fublime idea which he would convey. If his own feeling be languid, he can never infpire us with any ftrong emotion. Inftances, which are extremely neceffary on this fubject, will clearly fhow the importance of all thofe requifites which I have just now mentioned.

"It is, generally fpeaking, among the most ancient authors, that we are to look for the moft ftriking inftances of the fublime. I am inclined to think, that the early ages of the world, and the rude unimproved fate of fociety, are peculiarly favourable to the strong emotions of fublimity. The genius of men is then much turned to admiration and aftonishment. Meeting with many objects, to them new and strange, their imagination is kept glowing, and their paffions are often raifed to the utmoft. They think and exprefs themfelves boldly, and without restraint. In the progrefs of fociety, the genius and manners of men undergo a change more favourable to accuracy, than to ftrength or fublimity."

Our author goes on to produce inftances of the fublime from Scripture, the writings of Homer, Offian, Virgil, Milton, &c. and gives fome examples of the faults oppofite to the sublime, which are chiefly two, the frigid and the bombaft.

(To be continued.)

THIS Society was inftituted in the year 1754, and has continued annually to publish a book of premiums, until the prefent time. They have now judged it expedient to vary in fome refpects the mode of conveying to the public their future proceedings.

They have fixed upon a very fuitable

period to commence thefe alterations. The general attention, during the last fpring, was directed to the paintings with which the ingenious and indefatigable Mr. Barry ornamented the great room of this fociety. As this was the first year in which that fignal exertion in the line of the polite arts was dif 3 K 2 played