§ 206. In most imaginations there is a combination of elementary ideas, each of which corresponds to real objects; and the formation of objects of thought, which are not real, but which represent real ones. The objects of imagination, therefore, are in many cases the symbols of things, and represent them truly. Of this description are the parables of the New Testament, and the numerous creations of poets and novelists in all ages. Poetry is full of the creations and colorings of the imagination; and consists of a continued series of imaginary objects, which are used as the symbols of things. Imaginations may be grave or gay; serious or sportive; comic or tragic. Every department of polite literature is characterized with some degree of the exercise of the imagination, and all the ornaments and graces of style are derived from this source. In writing on the most grave subjects, it is necessary to incorporate into our reasonings the creations and colorings of the imagination, in order greatly to interest or instruct mankind. A narrative of facts may be placed before us, without any adornment from this source, and be regarded with indifference. The same facts may be presented as an outline, filled up and amplified by the creations of the imagination, and become omnipotent to charm and please, without being in any degree less true and instructive.

Fancy.

§ 207. Fancy is a department of the faculty of imagination which is exercised in forming conceptions adapted to excite feelings of the ludicrous; and sometimes rising into the tender and pathetic. Imaginations of a playful and sportive character, are attributed to Fancy; while those of a serious character, and which involve the higher exercises of the intellect, are attributed to the Imagination. This distinction prevails to a considerable extent in English literature, and is founded on the same principles of classification, as the distinction between reason and imagination. Imagination is a department of Reason; and Fancy, of Imagination.

It is to a considerable extent the office of the imagination to complete the imperfect sketches and outlines given by judgment respecting the real; and to supply elements which are wanting, and which cannot be supplied by other means.

While universal reason is at work in forming ideas of the real, and in tracing the relations of real objects; universal imagination is also at work in forming ideas of the possible, and in furnishing conceptions by which the mind may generalize and grasp most perfectly, and with most delight, all the multiplied objects of its knowledge.

The three great departments of human knowledge which are particularly distinguished by the creations of imagination, are History, Poetry, and Novels.

Relation of Imagination to History.

§ 208. In history, the imagination is exercised in conceiving of past scenes as present; and inanimate objects as personal and animated; and in representing past objects and events by a great variety of images. The pillar of state, the thunderbolt of war, the besom of destruction, the sunshine of peace, and golden and iron ages, are specimens of a vast number of splendid and powerful conceptions, which the mind makes use of to represent to itself and others the great realities of the past. Considered in themselves, these conceptions are pure creations of the imagination, judging of the possible from the real; but considered in relation to their purposes, they are the images and symbols of real things, which the mind cannot perfectly grasp by the sober deductions of reason; and which it effectually reaches and truly apprehends by these kindred exercises. There are characters and events developed in the history of the past which the mind grasps imperfectly, but of which it cannot form adequate conceptions. It seizes the object in part, and embraces one and another of its points; and perceives clearly that all which it has apprehended, and all which it can apprehend by the categories of reality and quantity, are but a part and often the smallest part of the entire object. Having exhausted its powers of judgment in the categorical perceptions of reality and quantity, the mind proceeds naturally and almost necessarily to try upon the same object its higher powers of judgment which belong to the category of possibility. These higher exercises give a completeness and strength to our complex conception of great objects, which we cannot otherwise attain. We do not properly know an object till we have perceived it in all its possible relations, and apprehended it by its most remote analogies.

Imagination, therefore, is a department of the general faculty of judgment, and its exercises a part of knowledge.

§ 209. History is a representation of persons and events. It cannot, however, represent them perfectly, but must restrict itself to points which it has the means of knowing; and within these confined limits it must restrict itself still farther, by selecting from known points those which possess certain degrees of importance. Having selected the points to be presented in any particular history, the next thing is to present them clearly, forcibly, and attractively, in their mutual relations and dependences. Such a presentation. cannot be effected without the aid of subordinate conceptions derived from the imagination. Heroes, statesmen, courtiers, and all the various classes of men, inust be exhibited in their peculiar characters and offices; and such conceptions of them must be given as will afford both pleasure and instruction. To accomplish this object, the historian tasks all his powers both of reasoning and imagination. He gives us not facts merely, but facts in their mutual connections and relations, defined and classified by the severest exercises of reason; and illustrated, embellished, and represented by the most distinct and comprehensive creations and colorings of the imagination. He makes the past, present; brings the distant, near; places us in the society of great men, and rehearses to us their conversation; places us on eminences which overlook mighty battles, and exhibits before us the impetuous charge, the determined resistance, and all the dreadful stages and results of the battle's earthquake shock.

He then conducts us into courts and cabinets, and entertains us with all the peaceful operations and developments of human industry and enterprize. He traces the effects of causes long past; and develops the operations of others now at work; combining the whole into one varied picture of things, having the greatest possible correspondence to the reality; and representing that reality both to the reason and imagination of the reader, in thoughts that breathe and words that burn.

CHAPTER XV.

NATURE OF POETRY AND OTHER WORKS OF IMAGINATION.

§ 210. Imagination is the soul of poetry; and gives form and life to every line. Personifications, metaphors, interrogations, metonymies, and comparisons, are its household words, and denote its usual modes of conception. The following hymn may serve as an example:

"Descend from Heaven, immortal Dove,
Stoop down, and take us on thy wings;
And mount and bear us far above
The reach of these inferior things;
Beyond, beyond this lower sky,
Up where eternal ages roll,
Where solid pleasures never die,

And fruits immortal feast the soul.

O for a sight, a pleasing sight,

Of our Almighty Father's throne!
There sits our Saviour, crowned with light,
Clothed with a body like our own.
Adoring saints around him stand,

And Thrones and Powers before him fall;
The God shines gracious through the man,
And sheds sweet glories on them all.

O what amazing joys they feel,

While with their golden harps they sing;
And sit on every heavenly hill.

And spread the triumphs of their King!
When shall the day, dear Lord,

appear,
That I shall mount to dwell above?
And stand and bow among them there,

And see thy face, and sing thy love?"

WATTS.

This beautiful hymn consists of a continued series of conceptions, which belong to the imagination. The descending from Heaven, the immortal Dove taking us on the wing,

mounting and bearing us away, the throne, the Saviour crowned with light, and sitting upon that throne clothed with a body, the circle of adoring saints, and the other objects which follow, are all of this description. The whole, however, is most true, and every conception in it is a symbol of some great idea, that cannot be as well expressed, by any possible deductions of reason, from the categories of reality. The following hymn is another perfect specimen of the sacred ode, and of the exercise of the imagination in poetic thought:

"When the great Builder arched the skies,
And formed all nature with a word,
The joyful cherubs tuned his praise,
And every bending throne adored.
High in the midst of all the throng;
Satan a tall archangel sat;

Amid the morning stars he sung,

Till sin impaired his heavenly state."

WATTS.

§ 211. The great poets of ancient and modern times were men of uncommon powers of reasoning and of extensive knowledge; but their distinguishing characteristic has always been a predominance of the imagination. We may refer to Milton, as an illustrious example of the whole class in this respect. He was an accomplished scholar, thoroughly acquainted with all the departments of Greek and Roman literature, and with that of the Hebrews; and he understood, in addition to this, nearly every language of modern Europe. Previous to the production of Paradise Lost, he had participated largely and long in the great political struggles of his time, and had entered into deep and protracted controversies on religious and moral subjects. All the faculties of his mighty mind had received their fullest and most perfect development; and his sense of the beautiful, of the sublime, and of the good, had been exercised in the contemplation of a vast variety of appropriate and soul-stirring objects.

Having been for a time the companion and counsellor of princes, and a prime mover in the direction of all the great affairs of states and nations throughout Europe, by a counter revolution in the government of Great Britain, he was set entirely aside from any participation in public affairs, sub