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LEC T. please, not in virtue of any one quality common to them all, but by means of feveral different principles in human nature. The agreeable emotion which they all raife, is fomewhat of the fame nature; and, therefore, has the common name of Beauty given to it; but it is raised by different causes.

HYPOTHESES, however, have been framed by ingenious men, for affigning the fundamental quality of Beauty in all objects. In particular, Uniformity amidst Variety, has been infifted on as this fundamental quality. For the Beauty of many figures, I admit that this accounts in a fatisfactory manner. But when we endeavour to apply this principle to Beautiful objects of some other kind, as to Colour, for inftance, or Motion, we shall foon find that it has no place. And even in external figured objects, it does not hold, that their Beauty is in proportion to their mixture of Variety with Uniformity; feeing many pleafe us as highly beautiful, which have almost no variety at all; and others, which are various to a degree of intricacy. Laying fyftems of this kind, therefore, afide, what I now propofe is, to give an enumeration of feveral of those claffes of objects in which Beauty moft remarkably appears; and to point out, as far as I can, the feparate principles of Beauty in each of them.

COLOUR

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COLOUR affords, perhaps, the fimpleft in- LECT. ftance of Beauty, and therefore the fittest to begin with. Here, neither Variety, nor Uniformity, nor any other principle that I know, can be affigned, as the foundation of Beauty. We can refer it to no other cause but the ftructure of the eye, which determines us to receive certain modifications of the rays of light with more pleasure than others. And we fee accordingly, that, as the organ of fenfation varies in different perfons, they have their different favourite colours. It is probable, that affociation of ideas has influence, in fome cafes, on the pleasure which we receive from colours. Green, for instance, may appear more beautiful, by being connected in our ideas with rural prospects and fcenes; white, with innocence; blue, with the ferenity of the fky. Independent of affociations of this kind, all that we can farther obferve concerning colours is, that thofe chofen for Beauty are, generally, delicate, rather than glaring. Such are thofe paintings with which nature hath ornamented fome of her works, and which art strives in vain to imitate; as the feathers of feveral kinds of birds, the leaves of flowers, and the fine variation of colours exhibited by the fky at the rifing and fetting of the fun. These prefent to us the highest instances of the Beauty of colouring; and have accordingly been the · favourite

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LECT. favourite fubjects of poetical description in all

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countries.

FROM Colour we proceed to Figure, which opens to us forms of Beauty more complex and diverfified. Regularity first occurs to be noticed as a fource of Beauty. By a regular figure, is meant, one which we perceive to be formed according to fome certain rule, and not left arbitrary, or loose, in the construction of its parts. Thus, a circle, a fquare, a triangle, or a hexagon, please the eye, by their regularity, as beautiful figures. We must not, however, conclude, that all figures please in proportion to their regularity; or that regularity is the fole, or the chief, foundation of Beauty in figure. On the contrary, a certain graceful variety is found to be a much more powerful principle of Beauty; and is therefore ftudied a great deal more than regularity, in all works that are defigned merely to please the eye. I am, indeed, inclined to think, that regularity appears beautiful to us, chiefly, if not only, on account of its fuggefting the ideas of fitnefs, propriety, and use, which have always a greater connection with orderly and proportioned forms, than with those which appear not constructed according to any certain rule. It is clear, that Nature, who is undoubtedly the moft graceful artist, hath, in all her ornamental works, pursued

variety,

variety, with an apparent neglect of regularity. Cabinets, doors, and windows, are made after a regular form, in cubes and parallelograms, with exact proportion of parts; and by being fo formed they please the eye; for this good reason, that, being works of ufe, they are, by fuch figures, the better fuited to the ends for which they were defigned. But plants, flowers, and leaves are full of variety and diverfity. A ftraight canal is an infipid figure, in comparison of the mæanders of rivers. Cones and pyramids are beautiful; but trees growing in their natural wildnefs, are infinitely more beautiful than when trimmed into pyramids and cones. The apartments of a house must be regular in their difpofition, for the conveniency of its inhabitants; but a garden, which is defigned merely for Beauty, would be exceedingly difgufting, if it had as much uniformity and order in its parts as a dwelling-house.

MR. HOGARTH, in his Analysis of Beauty, has obferved, that figures bounded by curve lines are, in general, more beautiful than those bounded by ftraight lines and angles, He pitches upon two lines, on which, according to him, the Beauty of figure principally depends; and he has illuftrated, and fupported his doctrine, by a furprising number of inftances. The one is the Waving Line, or a curve bending backwards and forwards,

LE C T.

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LEC T. forwards, fomewhat in the form of the letter. S. This he calls the Line of Beauty; and fhews how often it is found in fhells, flowers, and fuch other ornamental works of nature; as is common alfo in the figures defigned by. painters and sculptors, for the purpose of decoration. The other Line, which he calls. the Line of Grace, is the former waving curve, twisted round fome folid body. The curling worm of a common jack is one of the inftances he gives of it. Twifted pillars, and twisted horns, alfo exhibit it. In all the inftances which he mentions, Variety plainly appears to be fo material a principle of Beauty, that he seems not to err much when he defines the art of drawing pleafing forms, to be the art of varying well. For the curve line, fo much the favourite of painters, derives, according to him, its chief advantage, from its perpetual bending and variation from the stiff regularity of the ftraight line.

MOTION furnishes another fource of Beauty, diftinct from Figure. Motion of itself is pleafing; and bodies in motion are," cæteris "paribus," preferred to thofe in reft. It is, however, only gentle motion that belongs to the Beautiful; for when it is very fwift, or very forcible, fuch as that of a torrent, it partakes of the Sublime. The motion of a bird gliding through the air, is extremely Beauti

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