'

This chapter fhall be closed with fome obfervations. When the fublime is carried to its due height, and circumfcribed within proper bounds, it enchants the mind, and raises the moft delightful of all emotions: the reader engroffed by a fublime object, feels himself raised as it were to a higher rank. Confidering that effect, it is not wonderful that the hiftory of conquerors and heroes, fhould be univerfally the favourite entertainment. And this fairly accounts for what I once erroneously fufpected to be a wrong bias originally in human nature; which is, that the groffeft acts of oppreffion and injuftice fcarce blemith the character of a great conqueror: we, nevertheless, warmly efpoufe his intereft, accompany him in his exploits, and are anxious for his fuccefs: the fplendour and enthusiasm. of the hero transfused into the readers, elevate their minds far above the rules of justice, and render them in a great measure infenfible of the wrongs that are committed:

For in those days might only fhall be admir'd,
And valour and heroic virtue call'd;

To overcome in battle, and fubdue
Nations, and bring home spoils with infinite
Manflaughter, fhall be held the highest pitch
Of human glory, and for glory done

Of triumph, to be ftyl'd great conquerors,
Patrons of mankind, gods, and fons of gods;
Destroyers rightlier call'd, and plagues of men.
Thus fame fhall be achiev'd, renown on earth,
And what moft merits fame in filence hid.

Milton, b. II.

The irregular influence of grandeur reaches alfo to other matters: however good, honeft, or useful, a man may be, he is not fo much refpected as is one of a more elevated character, though of lefs integri

ty;

ty; nor do the misfortunes of the former affect us fo much as thofe of the latter. And I add, because it cannot be difguifed, that the remorfe which attends breach of engagement, is in a great measure propor tioned to the figure that the injured perfon makes: the vows and proteftations of lovers are an illuftrious example; for thefe commonly are little regarded when made to women of inferior rank.

CHAP.

CHAP. V.

Motion and Force.

THAT motion is agreeable to the

eye

with

out relation to purpose or defign, may appear from the amusement it gives to infants: juvenile exercises are relished chiefly on that account.

If a body in motion be agreeable, one will be apt to conclude that at reft it must be difagreeable: but we learn from experience, that this would be a rash conclufion. Reft is one of thofe circumftances that are neither agreeable nor difagreeable, being viewed with perfect indifferency. And happy is it for mankind to have the matter fo ordered: if reft were agreeable, it would difincline us to motion, by which all things are performed: if it were difagreeable, it would be a fource of perpetual uneafinefs; for the bulk of the things we fee appear to be at reft. A fimilar inftance of defigning wisdom I have had occafion to explain, in oppofing grandeur to littlenefs, and elevation to lownefs of place.* Even in the fimpleft matters, the finger of God is confpicuous: the happy adjustment of the internal nature of man to his external circumftances, difplayed in the instances here given, is indeed admirable.

Motion is agreeable in all its varieties of quickness and flownefs; but motion long continued admits fome exceptions. That degree of continued motion which correfponds to the natural courfe of our perceptions,

ceptions, is the most agreeable. The quickest motion is for an inftant delightful; but foon appears to be too rapid: it becomes painful by forcibly accelerating the course of our perceptions. Slow continued motion becomes difagreeable from an oppofite caufe, that it retards the natural courfe of our perceptions.*

There are other varieties in motion, befide quicknefs and flowness, that make it more or lefs agreeable: regular motion is preferred before what is irregular; witness the motion of the planets in orbits nearly circular the motion of the comets in orbits lefs regular, is lefs agreeable.

Motion uniformly accelerated, resembling an afcending feries of numbers, is more agreeable than when uniformly retarded: motion upward is agreeable, by tendency to elevation. What then fhall we fay of downward motion regularly accelerated by the force of gravity, compared with upward motion reg ularly retarded by the fame force? Which of thefe is the most agreeable? This question is not easily solved.

Motion in a straight line is agreeable but we prefer undulating motion, as of waves, of a flame, of a fhip under fail; fuch motion is more free, and also more natural. Hence the beauty of a ferpentine river.

The eafy and fliding motion of a fluid, from the lubricity of its parts, is agreeable upon that account : but the agreeablenefs chiefly depends on the following circumstance, that the motion is perceived, not as of one body, but as of an endless number moving together with order and regularity. Poets ftruck with that beauty, draw more images from fluids in motion than from folids.

Force is of two kinds; one quiefcent, and one exerted in motion. The former, dead weight for example, must be laid afide; for a body at reft is not,

This will be explained more fully afterward, ch. 9.

by

by that circumftance, either agreeable or difagreeable. Moving force only is my province; and, though it is not feparable from motion, yet by the power of abstraction, either of them may be confidered independent of the other. Both of them are agreeable, because both of them include activity. It is agreeable to see a thing move: to fee it moved, as when it is dragged or pushed along, is neither agreeable nor difagreeable, more than when at reft. It is agreeable to fee a thing exert force; but it makes not the thing either agreeable or disagreeable to see force exerted upon it.

Though motion and force are each of them agreeable, the impreffions they make are different. This difference, clearly felt, is not eafily defcribed. All we can fay is, that the emotion raised by a moving body, resembling its caufe, is felt as if the mind were carried along the emotion raised by force exerted, refembling alfo its caufe, is felt as if force were exerted within the mind.

To illuftrate that difference, I give the following examples. It has been explained why smoke afcending in a calm day, fuppofe from a cottage in a wood, is an agreeable object;* fo remarkably agreeable, that landscape painters introduce it upon all occafions. The afcent being natural, and without effort, is pleasant in a calm. ftate of mind: it resembles a gently-flowing river, but is more agreeable, becaufe afcent is more to our taste than defcent. A fire-work or a jet d'eau roufes the mind more; because the beauty of force vifibly exerted, is fuperadded to that of upward motion. To a man reclining indolently upon a bank of flowers, afcending fmoke in a still morning is charming; but a fire-work or a jet d'eau roufes him from that fupine pofture, and puts him in A jet

motion.

* Chap. 1.