neither of pleasure nor of pain. This would annihilate the strongest branch of fympathy, that which is raised by means of fight, and it is evident, that reflective fympathy, felt by thofe only who have great fenfibility, would not have any extenfive effect. I fhall draw nearer to truth in a third fuppofition, That the external figns of diftrefs being difagreeable, were productive of a painful repulfive emotion. Sympathy upon that fuppofition would not be annihilated: but it would be rendered useless; for it would be gratified by flying from or avoiding the object, inftead of clinging to it and affording relief: the condition of man would in reality be worse than if fympathy were totally eradicated; because fympathy would only ferve to plague those who feel it, without producing any good to the afflicted.

Loath to quit fo interefting a fubject, I add a reflection, with which I fhall conclude. The external figns of paffion are a furong indication, that man, by his very conftitution, is framed to be open and fincere. A child in all things obedient to the impulfes of nature, hides none of its emotions: the favage and clown, who have no guide but pure nature, expose their hearts to view, by giving way to all the natural figns. And even when men learn to diffemble their fentiments, and when behaviour degenerates into art, there still remain checks, that keep diffimulation within bounds, and prevent a great part of its mifchievous effects: the total fuppreffion of the voluntary figns during any vivid paffion, begets the utmost uneafinefs, which cannot be endured for any confiderable time this operation becomes indeed lefs painful by habit; but, luckily, the involuntary figns cannot, by any effort, be fuppreffed, nor even diffembled. An abfolute hypocrify, by which the

character

character is concealed, and a fictitious one affumed, is made impracticable; and nature has thereby prevented much harm to fociety. We may pronounce, therefore, that Nature, herself fincere and candid, intends that mankind should preferve the fame character, by cultivating fimplicity and truth, and banishing every fort of diffimulation that tends to mifchief.

CHAP.

CHAP. XVI.

Sentiments.

EVERY thought prompted by paffion, is

termed a fentiment. To have a general notion of the different paffions, will not alone enable an artist to make a juft representation of any paffion: he ought, over and above, to know the various appearances of the fame paffion in different perfons. Paffions receive a tincture from every peculiarity of character; and for that reafon it rarely happens, that a paffion, in the different circumftances of feeling, of fentiment, and of expreffion, is precifely the fame in any two perfons. Hence the following rule concerning dramatic and epic compofitions, That a paffion be adjusted to the character, the fentiments to the paffion, and the language to the fentiments. If nature be not faithfully copied in each of thefe, a defect in execution is perceived: there may appear fome refemblance; but the picture, upon the whole, will be infipid, through want of grace and delicacy. A paint. er, in order to reprefent the various attitudes of the body, ought to be intimately acquainted with mufcular motion: no lefs intimately acquainted with emotions and characters ought a writer to be, in order to represent the various attitudes of the mind. A general notion of the paffions, in their groffer differences of ftrong and weak, elevated and humble, fevere and gay, is far from being fufficient pictures formed fo fuperficially have little refemblance, and no expreffion; yet it will appear by and by, that in many

See Appendix, § 3.

many inftances our artists are deficient even in that fuperficial knowledge.

In handling the prefent fubject, it would be endlefs to trace even the ordinary paffions through their nice and minute differences. Mine fhall be an humbler tafk; which is, to felect from the best writers inftances of faulty fentiments, after paving the way by fome general obfervations.

To talk in the language of mufic, each paffion hath a certain tone, to which every fentiment proceeding from it ought to be tuned with the greatest accuracy which is no eafy work, efpecially where fuch harmony ought to be fupported during the course of a long theatrical reprefentation. In order to reach fuch delicacy of execution, it is neceffary that a writer affume the precife character and paffion of the perfonage reprefented; which requires an uncommon genius. But it is the only difficulty; for the writer, who, annihilating himself, can thus become another perfon, need be in no pain about the fentiments that belong to the affumed character : thefe will flow without the least study, or even preconception; and will frequently be as delightfully new to himself as to his reader. But if a lively picture even of a single emotion require an effort of genius, how much. greater the effort to compofe a paffionate dialogue with as many different tones of paffion as there are speakers? With what ductility of feeling muft that writer be endowed, who approaches perfection in fuch a work; when it is neceffary to affume different and even oppofite characters and paffions, in the quickeft fucceffion? Yet this work, difficult as it is, yields to that of compofing a dialogue in genteel comedy, exhibiting characters without paffion. The reafon is, that the different tones of character are more delicate and lefs in fight, than those of paffion;

and,

and, accordingly, many writers, who have no genius for drawing characters, make a fhift to reprefent tolerably well, an ordinary paffion in its fimple movements. But of all works of this kind, what is truly the most difficult, is a characteristical dialogue upon any philofophical fubject to interweave characters with reafoning, by fuiting to the character of each speaker, a peculiarity not only of thought, but of expreffion, requires the perfection of genius, tafte, and judgment.

How nice dialogue-writing is, will be evident, even without reafoning, from the miferable compofitions of that kind found without number in all languages. The art of mimicking any fingularity in gefture or in voice, is a rare talent, though directed by fight and hearing, the acutest and most lively of our external fenfes how much more rare muft the talent be, of imitating characters and internal emotions, tracing all their different tints, and reprefenting them in a lively manner by natural fentiments properly expreffed? The truth is, fuch execution is too delicate for an ordinary genius; and for that reason, the bulk of writers, instead of expreffing a paffion as one does who feels it, content themselves with defcribing it in the language of a fpectator. To awake paffion by an internal effort merely, without any external caufe, requires great fenfibility: and yet that operation is neceflary, no lefs to the writer than to the actor; becaufe none but those who actually feel a paffion, can represent it to the life. The writer's part is the more complicated he must add compofition to paffion; and muft, in the quickest fucceffion, adopt every different character. But a very humble flight of imagination, may ferve to convert a writer into a fpectator; fo as to figure, in fome obfcure manner, an action as paffing in his fight and hearing. In that figured fituation being led naturally to write like a fpectator,