In this progress, it is discovered, that where the material which is employed is hard and durable, the greatest delicacy which can be given to the form, is rather in the use of direct and angular lines, than in winding and serpentine ones; and chiefly from the reason I have before mentioned, that curves cannot be employed without a proportionable and very obvious increase of solidity, and by these means, destroying in a great measure the expression of delicacy. Whoever will look into any of those books, which have made us acquainted with the forms of Grecian or Roman furniture, in their periods of cultivated taste, will perceive accordingly, that in scarcely any of them, is the winding or serpentine form observed; and that, on the contrary, the lightest and most beautiful of them, are almost universally distinguished by straight or angular lines, and by the utmost possible diminution of solidity, that is consistent either with convenience or use. What is there, for instance, more beautiful in this kind, than the form of the ancient tripod, in the best periods of Roman taste? The feet gradually lessening to the end, and converging as they approach it; the plane of the table placed, with little ornament, nearly at right angles to the feet; and the whole appearing to form an imperfect triangle whose base is above. There is scarcely in such a subject, a possibility of contriving a more angular form, yet there can be none more completely beautiful: because this form itself is more immediately expressive of delicacy, than almost any other which could have been imagined: the slightness of the whole fabric, the decreasing proportion of the feet as they descend to the ground, the convergence of the feet themselves, and the narrowness of the base for the

superstructure, expressing not only the utmost degree of delicacy that is consistent with use, but impressing us also with the further conviction of the necessity of approaching or handling it with tenderness, for fear of destroying its slight stability. From this elegant model, accordingly, or from others, in which the same principle obtains, the greater part of the most beautiful articles of modern furniture are imitated. It is the form which prevails in the construction of chairs, tables, sofas, beds, &c. and it is the delicacy which it so well expresses, that bestows upon them the greater part of their beauty. The application of winding or serpentine lines, or of the more general form of beauty, would tend only to diminish their effect, by bestowing upon them the appearance of a greater degree of solidity, and thus lessening, instead of increasing, the expression which is the cause of this effect.

In the course of these observations, the reader will observe, that I have all along gone upon the supposition, that there is in reality only one species of winding or curvilinear form; and that I have confined my observations upon their expression to this general character of form. Every one knows, however, that such forms admit of great variety, and that the number of different curvatures that may be produced are almost infinite. Whoever then will take the trouble of pursuing this investigation, may, I think, easily satisfy himself, that among these, there is none uniformly and permanently beautiful; that the same curve which is beautiful in one case, is very often not beautiful in others; and that in all cases that curvature is the most beautiful, which is most fully expressive of delicacy or ease in the subject which it distinguishes. As forms

of this kind differ also in the number, as well as in the nature of their curvatures, he will perceive also, that the same dependence upon their expressions continues ; that the same number of curvatures or windings which are beautiful in one subject, are not beautiful in others; and that whenever in any subject the number of windings exceeds our opinion of ease or facility, it from that period becomes unpleasing, and expressive only of force or constraint. The limits which I must prescribe to myself in these observations, oblige me, in this, as in every other part of them, to refer much of the illustration which might be produced, to the reader's own reflection and investigation.

If the observations which I have now offered on the natural beauty of forms, or that beauty which arises from the consideration of form itself, be just, we may perhaps, without much impropriety, rest in the following conclusions on the subject.

1. That the beauty of such forms arises from the qualities of fineness, delicacy, or ease, of which they are expressive.

2. That in every subject, that form (whether angular or curvilinear) which is most expressive of these qualities, is the most beautiful form. And,

3. That, in general, the curvilinear or winding form, as most frequently expressive of these qualities, is the most beautiful.

With regard also to those arts which are employed in the imitation or invention of ornamental forms, the following observations may not be without their use :

1. That wherever natural forms are imitated, those

will be the most beautiful, which are most expressive of delicacy and ease.

2. That wherever new or arbitrary forms are invented, that form will be the most beautiful which is composed by the most beautiful lines, or, in other words, by lines which have the most pleasing expression. And,

3. That wherever the subject of the form is of a hard or durable nature, that form will be the most beautiful, in which the smallest quantity of matter is employed, and the greatest delicacy of execution exerted.

The truth of these remarks I leave altogether to be determined by the observation of the reader. I shall only observe, that in the prosecution of this inquiry, it is necessary to leave out of consideration every circumstance of design, of fitness, or of utility, and to consider forms in the light only of their appearance to the eye, without any relation either to an author or an end. These relations (as will be shown afterwards) are the foundation of a distinct species of beauty, to which the principles of their natural beauty do not apply.

Although, however, I have thus been led to conclusions different from those of Mr. Hogarth, yet it is but justice to a performance of uncommon ingenuity to acknowledge, that the principle which he has endeavoured to establish in his analysis of beauty, is perhaps of all others the justest and best founded principle which has as yet been maintained, in the investigation of the natural beauty of forms. The instances which I have produced, and many others of the same kind, that will probably occur to every man of reflection, seem to me very strongly to show, that the principle of the absolute beauty of serpentine forms is to be considered only as a general principle, subject to many exceptions;

and that not only this form is beautiful, from being the sign of particular interesting and affecting qualities, but that in fact also, forms of the contrary kind are likewise beautiful, when they are expressive of the same qualities.

PART III.

Of the Composition of Forms.

I.

THE preceding observations relate altogether to simple forms, or to such forms as are described by a single line.

It is obvious, however, that there are few forms of such a kind. In the greater part of beautiful forms, whether in nature or in art, lines of different descriptions unite, and there is a beauty felt in certain combinations of these lines, or in the production of a complex form. The principles, therefore, which account for the beauty of simple forms, cannot be supposed to account also for that peculiar beauty which arises from the union of such forms in composition.

Simple forms are distinguished to the eye, by the uniformity or similarity of the line by which they are described. Complex forms are distinguished by the mixture of similarity and dissimilarity in these lines, or, in other words, by their uniformity and variety, The same principle which leads us to ascribe the beauty of simple forms to some original beauty in these forms themselves, leads us also to ascribe the beauty of complex forms to some original fitness in the composition of uniformity and variety, to produce this emotion.

That the composition of uniformity and variety in