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Dissertation on Sublimity.

panied, at its height, with a degree of awfulness and solemnity, approaching to severity; and very distinguishable from the more gay and brisk emotion excited by beautiful objects.

The simplest form of external grandeur appears in the vast and boundless prospects presented to us by nature; such as wideextended plains, to which the eye can perceive no limits; the firmament of heaven; or the interminable expanse of the ocean. Accordingly, amplitude of extent, more especially with regard to height or depth, is necessary to grandeur. Any object be comes sublime by depriving it of all bounds; and hence infinite space, endless numbers, and eternal duration, fill the mind with great ideas.

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Obscurity is not unfavourable to the sublime; for though it render the object indistinct, the impression, however, may be great; the imagination being strongly affected by objects of which we have no clear conception. Thus we see, that almost all the descriptions which are given us of the appearances of supernatural beings, carry some sublimity, though the conceptions they afford be confused and indistinct. This sublimity arises from the ideas, which they always convey, of superior power and might, joined with an awful obscurity. (see Job iv. 13-17.) Thus also, the picture which Lucretius, lib. i. has drawn of the dominion of superstition over mankind, representing it as a portentous spectre shewing its head from the clouds, and dismaying the whole human race with its countenance, together with the magnanimity of Epicurus in raising himself up against it, carries all the grandeur of a sublime, obscure, and awful image.

But amplitude of extent is not the only foundation of sublimity, because objects that have no relation to space appear sublime, such, for instance, is great loudness of sound; the burst of thunder or of cannon, the roaring of winds, the sound of vast cataracts of water, and the shouting of multitudes, are all incontestably grand objects. Thus, “I heard the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters, and of mighty thunderings, saying, Allelujah.' In general, all objects that are greatly Hence, we may observe in general, that raised above us, or far removed from us, great power and force exerted, always raise either in space or in time, are apt to strike sublime conceptions, and furnish perhaps us as great. Moreover, disorder, as well the most copious source of such ideas. as obscurity, is very compatible with granWe may add, that all ideas of the solemn deur, and even frequently heightens it. and awful kind, and even bordering on the Few things that are strictly regular and terrible, tend very much to assist the sub-methodical appear sublime. In the feeble lime; such as darkness, solitude, and silence. Hence, night-scenes are commonly the most sublime. Darkness is very frequently used for adding sublimity to all our ideas of the Deity. Thus the psalmist adopts the term; "He maketh darkness his pavilion: he dwelleth in the thick eloud." So Milton, book ii. 263,

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Thick clouds and dark, does Heaven's all-ruling
Sire

Choose to reside, his glory unobscur'd,
And with the majesty of darkness, round
Circles his throne."

Virgil has also, with great art, incorporated all the ideas of silence, vacuity, and darkness, when he is introducing his hero to the infernal regions, and disclosing the secrets of the great deep:

"Ye subterranean gods, whose awful sway
The gliding ghosts and silent shades obey
O Chaos, hear! and Phlegethon profound!
Whose solemn empire stretches all around!
Give me, ye great tremendous powers! to tell
Of scenes and wonders in the depths of Hell;
Give me your weighty secrets to display,
From those black realms of darkness to the day."

128. VOL. XI.

PITT.

attempts which human art can make towards producing grand objects, greatness of dimensions always constitutes a principal part. No pile of building can convey any idea of sublimity, unless it be ample and lofty. Thus, a Gothic cathedral raises ideas of grandeur in our minds, by its size, its height, its awful obscurity, its strength, its antiquity, and its durability.

The author, whose observations on this subject we are now citing, mentions another class of sublime objects, which may be called the moral, or sentimental sublime; arising from certain exertions of the human mind, from certain affections and actions of our fellow-creatures. These may be referred to that class, which is distinguished by the appellation of magnanimity or heroism; and they produce an effect very similar to that which is produced by the view of grand objects in nature; filling the mind with admiration, and elevating it above itself. Of this sentimental sublime, we are furnished with instances in the famous contest between the Horatii and the Curiatii, in the case of Porus and Alexan

27.

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Dissertation on Sublimity.

der, and also of Cæsar. High virtue is the most natural and fertile source of this moral sublimity.

It has been a subject of inquiry, whether there be any one fundamental quality in which all the different objects above-mentioned, and others of a like kind, agree, and which is the cause of their producing an emotion of the same nature in our minds? The ingenious author of "A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful," has proposed a formal theory for the solution of this question. According to Mr. Burke, terror is the source of the sublime, and, in his opinion, no objects have this character but such as produce impressions of pain and danger. But Dr. Blair thinks, that, although many terrible objects are highly sublime, the author now mentioned has stretched his theory too far, when he represents the sublime as consisting wholly in modes of danger, or of pain: for the proper sensation of sublimity appears to be very distinguishable from the sensation of either of these; and on several occasions to be entirely separated from them. In many grand objects, there is no coincidence with terror at all; and in many painful and terrible objects, there is no sort of grandeur. Dr. Blair inclines to think, that mighty force or power, whether accompanied with terror or not, whether employed in protecting or in alarming us, has a better title than any thing that has yet been mentioned to be the fundamental quality of the sublime, as no sublime object occurs to him, into the idea of which power, strength, and force, either enter indirectly, or are not, at least, intimately associated with the idea by leading our thoughts to some astonishing power, as concerned in the production of the object.

Before we close our account of sublimity, as it respects external objects, and mental or moral qualities, we shall bestow a few words on the difference between sublimity and beauty. The pleasure afforded by the contemplation of beauty appears to be a pure and unmixed pleasure, but it is less vivid than that which is produced by the sublime. For as the latter often borders upon terror, it requires a greater exertion, and produces a stronger, though less durable sensation, than the beautiful. The sublime also differs from the beautiful, in being only conversant with great objects; and it differs from the pathetic, in affording a more tranquil pleasure.

Sublimity in discourse or writing, understood in its most extensive sense, is not merely that sublimity which exhibits great

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objects with a magnificent display of imagery and diction, but that force of com position, whatever it be, which excites the passions, and which expresses ideas at once with perspicuity and elevation, not solicitous whether the language be plain or ornamented, refined or familiar. This is the sense in which Longinus uses the word; and he points out five sources of this sublimity. Dr. Blair allows only two to have any peculiar relation to the sublime. The sublime consists either in language or sentiment, or more frequently in an union of both, since they reciprocally assist each other, and since there is a necessary and indissoluble connection be tween them. The foundation of the sublime in composition must always be laid in the nature of the object described. Besides, the object must not only be sublime itself, but it must be so exhibited, as to give us a clear and full impression of it. For this purpose, it must be observed, that the early ages of the world, and the rude unimproved state of society, are peculiarly favourable to the strong emotions of sublimity; in such circumstances the genius of men is much turned to admiration and astonishment.

Among ancient authors we are the most likely to find striking instances of the sublime; and more of these occur in the sacred scriptures than in any other writings, ancient or modern. In the preceding part of this article, we have noticed the descriptions which they afford us of the Deity; descriptions that are wonderfully noble, both on account of the grandeur of the object, and the manner of representing it. (See Psalm xviii. 6, &c. Habbakkuk iii. 6-10. See also the passages cited by Longinus from Moses, Gen. i. 3, and Isaiah xiv. 24, 27, 28.) Under this head we may mention another passage in Psalm lxv. 7, "God stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumults of the people." For a variety of other passages that occur in the sacred writings, selected by the learned Bishop Lowth, as specimens of sublimity both of sentiment and language, we refer to his lectures on the sacred poetry of the Hebrews.

"Homer has been admired in all ages, and by all critics, for sublimity; much of which he owes to that native and unaf fected simplicity which characterizes his manner. His descriptions of hosts engaging; the animation, the fire, and rapidity, which he throws into his battles, present to every reader of the Iliad, frequent instances of sublime writing. His introduction of the gods tends often to heighten, in

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Dissertation on Sublimity.

a high degree, the majesty of his warlike scenes. Hence Longinus bestows such high and just commendations on that pas sage, in the 15th book of the Iliad, where Neptune, when preparing to issue forth into the engagement, is described as shak ing the mountains with his steps, and driving his chariot along the ocean. Minerva, arming herself for fight in the 5th book; and Apollo, in the 15th, leading on the Trojans, and flashing terror with his ægis on the face of the Greeks, are similar instances of great sublimity added to the description of battles, by the appearances of those celestial beings. In the 20th book, where all the gods take part in the engagement, according as they severally favour either the Grecians or the Trojans, the poet's genius is signally displayed, and the description rises into the most awful magnificence. All nature is represented as in commotion: Jupiter thunders in the heavens; Neptune strikes the earth with his trident; the ships, the city, and the mountains shake; the earth trembles to its centre; Pluto starts from his throne, in dread lest the secrets of the infernal regions should be laid open to the view of mortals."

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ter, as shaking the heavens, has been ad
mired in all ages, as highly sublime.
Literally translated, it is as follows: "He
spoke, and bending his sable brows, gave
the awful nod; while he shook the celes-
tial locks of his immortal head, all Olym-
pus was shaken." Mr. Pope, in the sub-
joined translation, spreads out the image,
and attempts to beautify it; but, in reality,
weakens it.

"He spoke; and awful bends his sable brows,
Shakes his ambrosial curls, and gives the nod,
The stamp of fate, and sanction of a god.
High heaven with trembling the dread signal
took,

And all Olympus to its centre shook."

Blank verse, by its boldness, freedom, rhyme to all kinds of sublime poetry. and variety, is much more favourable than Milton, whose genius led him eminently to the sublime, has fully proved this asser tion. The whole first and second books of

Paradise Lost are continued instances of it. As an example, we may cite the following description of Satan, after his fall, appear ing at the head of the infernal hosts:

"

He, above the rest,

In shape and gesture proudly eminent,
Stood like a tower: his form had not yet lost
All her original brightness, nor appeared
Less than archangel ruined; and the excess
Of glory obscured: as when the sun, new-risen,
Looks through the horizontal misty air,
Shorn of his beams; or, from behind the moon,
In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds
On half the nations, and with fear of change
Above them all th' archangel."
Perplexes monarchs. Darken'd so, yet shone

Besides conciseness and

The works of Ossian also abound with instances of the sublime. From the various examples produced by Dr. Blair, he is justified in maintaining, that simplicity, as opposed to studied and profuse ornament, and conciseness, as opposed to strength is another essential requisite of simplicity, superfluous expression, are essential to sub-sublime writing. The strength of descriplime writing and our author states the tion arises, in a great measure, from a reason why a defect in either of these qua- simple conciseness; and it also supposes lities is peculiarly hurtful to the sublime. a proper choice of circumstances in the The emotion, he says, that is occasioned description, so as to exhibit the object in in the mind by some great or noble object, its full and most striking point of view. raises it considerably above its ordinary A storm, or tempest, is a sublime object in pitch, and produces a sort of enthusiasm, nature, but to render it sublime in descripwhich is very agreeable while it lasts, but tion, it must be painted with such cirfrom which the mind is tending every cumstances as fill the mind with great and moment to fall down into its ordinary situ- awful ideas; as Virgil has done in the folation. When an author has brought us, lowing passage (Georg. I.), which we give or is attempting to bring us, into this state; in Dryden's translation:if he multiply words unnecessarily, if he deck the sublime object, which he presents to us, round and round with glittering ornaments; nay, if he throw in any one decoration that sinks in the least below the capital image, that moment he alters the key; he relaxes the tension of the mind; the strength of the feeling is emasculated; the beautiful may remain, but the sublime is gone. Hence, our author concludes that rhyme, in English verse, is unfavourable to the sublime, if not inconsistent with it.

"Homer's description of the nod of Jupi

"The father of the gods his glory shrouds,
Involved in tempests, and a night of clouds;
And from the middle darkness flashing out,
By fits he deals his fiery bolts about.
Earth feels the motions of her angry god,
Her entrails tremble, and her mountains nod,
And flying beasts in forests seek abode.
Deep horror seizes every human breast;
Their pride is humbled, and their fears confest:
While he, from high, his rolling thunders throws,
And fires the mountains with repeated blows;
The rocks are from their old foundations rent,
The winds redouble, and the rains augment."

Every circumstance, says Blair, in this noble description, is the production of an imagination heated and astonished with the grandeur of the object. The proper choice

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Scientific Study recommended.

of circumstances in a sublime description has such a foundation in nature, that the least deviation from it is fatal. This is owing to the nature of the emotion aimed at by sublime description, which admits of no mediocrity, and cannot subsist in a middle state, but must either highly transport us, or, if unsuccessful in the execution, leave us greatly disgusted and displeased. Thus, when Milton, in his battle of the angels, describes them as tearing up the mountains, and throwing them at one another; there are, in his description, as Mr. Addison has observed, no circumstances that are not properly sublime. "From their foundations loos'ning to and fro, They plucked the seated hills, with all their load, Rocks, waters, woods; and by the shaggy tops Uplifting, bore them in their hands."

If it be inquired, what are the proper sources of the sublime? the answer is, that they are to be looked for every where in nature. It is not by hunting after tropes, and figures, and rhetorical assistances, that we can expect to produce it. It must come unsought, if it come at all; and be the natural offspring of a strong imagi"nation.

In judging of any striking beauty in composition, whether it is, or is not, to be referred to this class, we must attend to the nature of the emotion which it raises; and only, if it be of that elevating, solemn, and awful kind, which distinguishes this feeling, we can pronounce it sublime. Hence it follows, that it is an emotion which can never be long protracted. The utmost we can expect is, that this fire of Imagination should sometimes flash upon us like lightning from heaven, and then disappear. In Homer and Milton, this effulgence of genius breaks forth more frequently, and with greater lustre, than in most authors. Shakspeare also rises often into the true sublime. But no author is sublime throughout. In a limited sense, however, there are some who merit the name of continued sublime writers; and in this class we may justly place Demosthenes and Plato. In all good writing, the sublime lies in the thought, not in the words, and when the thought is truly noble, it will, for the most part, clothe itself in a native dignity of language.

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The main secret of being sublime is to say great things in few and plain words. The most s sublime authors are the simplest in their style. If a writer affect a more than ordi ordinary pomp and parade of words, and endeavours to magnify his subject by epithets, you may immediately suspect, that, feeble in sentiment, he is studying to support himself by mere expression. "bod

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100 seid to hated & dailymoons o'l, 29 SCIENTIFIC STUDY BECOMMENDED 997 In the present period, when science has become familiar to all classes of the com munity, through the media of works as remarkable for their cheapness, as they are valuable for the materials they contain, ignorance is nearly banished from society. But, among such accumulated stores of miscellaneous information, it becomes an object of some importance to the inquiring mind, where to commence, and how to pursue the study of those sciences, that are now laid open to the view, even in their elementary principles; and to the attain. ment of which, nothing appears to be required but an attentive perusal of the works in question. T-Don't

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Difficulties, however, new and formil dable, present themselves to the student at every step; and one of the first and most obvious of these is, the connexion and dependence of the several sciences upon each other, and the necessity of at least an elementary knowledge of many, before a perfect acquaintance can be formed with one. Thus chemistry connects itself with geology and mineralogy; and medicine essentially and partially with anatomy, physiology, and surgery, which are again essentially connected with mechanics, hydraulics, and hydrostatics while a knowledge of geometry and mathematics is found of considerable utility in all cases, and in some is essential to solve phenomena which would be vinexplicable without their assistance. To these may be added, a knowledge of the Greek and Latin, to acquire a competent acquaintance with the full force and meaning of the phraseology of science wear of

Such is the general view of this extensive and intricate field of investigation, and such are the difficulties that present themselves on the very threshold of inquiry. My intention, in the present short essay, is, to take a glance at the bearings of the several sciences on each other, and point out, as briefly and clearlybas I can, the requisite knowledge of each, to promote the study of the other, and in what manner a course of reading may be pursued to facilitate general information.uw zom

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As the field laid open, embraces the great book of nature in all its various divisions and subdivisions, a general view of animated nature appears to be the first object, and from thence the student may properly descend into botany, geology, and mineralogy,bute one de sal

1.Animated Nature. This department comprehends zoology in all its branches.

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Scientific Study recommended.

To accomplish a knowledge of this, a correct acquaintance with the forms, localities, and habits of the individuals composing the several kingdoms, should be first attained. For this purpose, the works of the best naturalists should be attentively perused, and living or stuffed specimens accurately examined. During this course, classifica. tion and nomenclature should be jointly pursued, and the several synonymes 'ascertained. The foundation thus laid, the student may profitably acquaint himself with general, and next with comparative anatomy and physiology, on which depends the demonstration of the habits of the subject under investigation; and such a course of study, if assisted by Derham's Physico-Theology, Paley's Natural Theology, and the works of Cuvier, Blumenbach, and Spallanzani, will open such a view of the divine wisdom and contrivance, as may be truly said, in the fullest sense, to lead the mind "through nature up to nature's God."

Should the student wish to extend his inquiries into the minutiae of animal organization, in osteology, circulation, digestion, &c. a knowledge of the elements of mechanics, hydraulics, and chemistry will be required; as also that of geometry and mathematics, to ascertain with accuracy the mechanical action of articulation, the force of muscular power, and the ratio of arterial and venous circulation. A sufficiency of general and comparative anatomy may be attained by plates, models, and preparations, without the disgusting ordeal of the hospital dissecting-room; the latter is essential to the surgeon, but the former, if properly studied, will be found to answer every purpose of the physiologist. I would here caution the student against indulging, as a study, in animal biography, and detached investigations, in the pages of magazines, and memoirs of learned societies. Such productions, though they may excite curiosity, and stimulate inquiry, distract the attention from elementary study, and frequently contain matter, for the due investigation of which, the student is unprepared. When any such productions are read, as they sometimes will be even with the most careful, a brief sketch of the particulars should be made, with short notes of such inquiries as suggest themselves in the course of the perusal.

ys 24 Inanimate Nature. This grand division involves botany, geology, and mineralogy. In botany, the study of animal structure, already attained, will be found of great utility in solving the phenomena of

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radication, infloresence, muscular action, irritability, absorption, transpiration, and many other physiological particulars of organic action, that serve, though minutely, to keep up the analogy between animal and vegetable life. To pursue this branch of study with advantage, the works of Linnæus, and elementary systems of science, should be well studied, to attain a clear and familiar acquaintance with those distinctions of inflorescence which decide the class and order, and those more minute, but not less marked peculiarities of vegetable structure, habit, or locality, that point out the genus and species. The terms in which these are conveyed, are derived from the Greek; a knowledge of this is therefore very necessary to a full and perfect estimation of their adaptation. In the more abstruse branches of botanical physiology, a knowledge of chemistry is essential, to account for the influence of soil, climate, and other minute particulars, on the growth of plants. As in the study of animated nature, I advised the perusal of elementary treatises, so on the present branch, the same method must be rigidly pursued. foundation of systematic distinction, being laid from Lee's Introduction to Botany, vegetable physiology should be investigated by Keith's Physiological Botany, after which, the student will be qualified to appreciate the scientific essays scattered through the pages of our magazines, and transactions of learned societies.

The

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Geology, which will come next in order, leads the student to a view of the internal structure of the habitable globe, and here, as he advances from the primeval granite, which is supposed to form the nucleus of the globe, through the various superstrata decreasing in density and gravity to the last superstratum of sand or vegetable mould, his previous knowledge in anatomy and zoology will be brought into exercise, by the investigation of fossil organic remains, while the various combinations of mineral and metallic substances will exercise his chemical acquirements, and lead immediately, by a natural connexion, to the study of the last link of the chain of inani

mate nature.

Mineralogy is perhaps one of the most interesting, as well as the most important of the natural sciences, and is admirably suited to close the student's labours. By this study, pursued in the pages of Kirwan, assisted by Parke's Chemical Catechism, the student will view with surprise and admiration, the secret but certain opera tions of nature, in the formation of new bodies by the chemical action of elementary

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