to Tafte in its most perfect state. Delicacy refpects the fenfibility with which our nature is endowed for the perception of beauty. Some minds are fo torpid, that nothing can aroufe them, whilft another clafs fhall be affected by every breath of wind, however gently it plays upon them. Thefe are evidently extremes which must be avoided. Now delicacy confifts in a refinement of fenfation easier to be conceived than expreffed. As the fenfes of fome men are far more exquifite than thofe of others, fo their tafte is equally diftinguished by the various degrees of fineness which it affumes. A man of delicate tafte is always underfood to difcern beauties which escape the vulgar. Some latent excellencies are discovered which charm the eye and conciliate the heart. Correctness, the other quality of a perfect tafte, refpects the improvement which it has received by means of the understanding operating to the formation of a just judgment. It implies the individual's poffeffion of certain rules by which every object is to be estimated. His opinion is not formed at random. His principles of judging are not fubject to a childish caprice, or to an humourfome fluctuation. He understands what, and knows why he approves. This is a valuable acquifition, and, united to delicacy of tafte, conftitutes the man of eminent genius. But it is to be remarked, that correctness and delicacy are by no means conftant companions. Apart are they frequently found, and numerous inftances of this truth might be adduced. Hence Blair juftly ob ferves, that Among the ancient writers, Longinus poffeffed moft delicacy, Ariftotle moft correctnefs.Among the moderns, Addison is a high example of delicate tafte; Dean Swift, had he written on the subject of criticifm, would perhaps have afforded the example of a correct one." Thefe inftances are well chofen, and happily illuftrate the topic which is now under inveftigation.

Having touched on the two qualities ufually afcribed to Tafte in its most perfect ftate, I may next proceed to VOL. IV.

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enquire

enquire into the ftandard of Tafte. This fubject has occafioned no fmall altercation between the critics. "Among the endless diverfities of tafte, how is it poffible (exclaims the young ftudent) to ascertain a criterion for true tafte> Looking abroad among mankind, we perceive this power of the mind to be as various as the human countenance. Even delicacy and correctness, the characteristic properties of a true taste, exist in different degrees in our beft writers. Each author is praised for his tafte, while they agree in no one thing except the diverfity of thofe faculties with which nature hath furnifhed them."

To this natural exclamation, it may be replied, that the diverfity cannot be queftioned. But it does not follow that on this account no ftandard of Tafte can be obtained by which beauties can be estimated. A general, and therefore a fufficient standard for Tafte may be found by adverting to thofe qualities which univerfally pleafe mankind, particularly what pleases perfons who have been placed in circumftances moft favourable to the cultivation of their tafte. For there are beauties which, difplayed in a juft point of view, muft impart, even to the rudeft mind, a degree of pleafure. In the very nature of fome objects, a foundation is laid for agreeable contemplation. There are certain latent feeds of beauty, certain hidden excellencies, fcattered by the hand of the Almighty throughout the whole extent of his dominions! Nor is this obfervation to be confined to the works of nature, it must be extended alfo to the productions of art. Moft arts are successful imitations of nature. Little, therefore, need be here faid to prove that the remark just made is of equal application. Every performance defcribes either the fentiments or actions of mankind, and hence the more perfect the defcription, the more entire is the resemblance to nature, which has ever charms to fafcinate the heart. Homer's Iliad, Virgil's Eneid, and Milton's Paradife Loft, are admirable inftances of what a just taste is able to effect in this par

ticular

ticular wav. Quintilian, that masterly critic, expressly fays, "Homer extended the limits of human genius to their utmost stretch, and poffeffed fuch complete ideas of all the different kinds of writing, that HE alone is a perfect model of all the different beauties that can enter into any composition."

Nor must I clofe without reminding the reader of the pleasures of Tafte, ufually ftiled the pleasures of imagination. On thefe fources of enjoyment I could defcant with rapture. The exquifite genius of Addifon first attempted to reduce them into a regular fyftem under these three heads-beauty, grandeur, and novelty. His fpeculations on the fubject difplay an admirable ingenuity, and may be found in the fixth volume of the Spectator. He has opened a track of investigation, which may be fuccefsfully followed. Dr. Akenfide's poem, entitled, Pleasures of Imagination, contains many excellent paffages illuftrative of this topic, and may be read both for profit and amufement. Addreffing him. felf to the Divine Being, in a strain worthy of the theme, he exclaims:

Not content

With every food of life to nourish man;
By kind illufions of the wond'ring sense
Thou makest all nature beauty to his eye,
Or mufic to his ear.

The pleasures of Tafte are indeed more commonly diftributed into thofe of the beautiful and the fublime. What conftitutes the one and the other has been the fubject of affiduous enquiry. The principles on which they are founded have been inveftigated with a commendable industry. It is agreed that the beautiful refults from colour, figure, motion, defign, and from the combination of thefe qualities in objects either of nature or of art. On the other hand, the fublime arifes from a certain grandeur contemplated with a reverential awe, or a profound admiration. Mr. Burke places it in a

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kind of terror, though fublime objects might be mentioned into whofe compofition nothing terrible enters. It is, however, confeffed, that fublimity, either in natural or moral objects, always elevates the mind, dilating it with the grandest sensations!

It is of peculiar importance to YOUTH, that their minds fhould be laid open betimes to thefe exquifite fources of enjoyment. With their intrinfic value the fenfualift must be utterly unacquainted. Bacchanalian revels impart no fuch joys. The boafted fatisfaction of vulgar minds is not to be put in competition with them. The pleafures of Tafte grow upon the happy individual who cultivates them. The faculty of enjoyment is rendered more capacious by frequent exercife. Every object in nature, and every fubject in art, affords materials for pleafing contemplation. The feasons of the year are replete with entertainment. To the man of taste, the bleakness of winter, the novelties of fpring, the fulness of fummer, and the luxuriance of autumn, are every way acceptable. In moft literary compofitions, likewife, fomething will be found capable of adminiftering delight. The fobriety of plain profe, and the gaiety of fprightly verfe, have charms for him. Every production, from the gravity of history down to the artless fimplicy of a fable, catches his attention and engages his heart. From the enchanting softness of beauty in all her variegated forms, up to the tremendous terrors of the fublime, what a range of enjoyment! That man is an object of envy. He lives as in a fuperior region. He converfes with an higher circle of objects. To this favoured votary of tafte, efpecially if he be a virtuous character, the following lines may with propriety be addreffed :

To please thine ear, foft notes the linnet pours,

And with grand peal the deep-ton'd thunder rolls;
The streamlet murmurs and the torrent roars;

The zephyr whispers and the tempeft howls.

From

From each, or lofty, or mellifluous found,
Each fair or awful form that ftrikes the fight,
In art's wide fphere, or nature's ample round,
'Tis thine to draw refin'd and rich delight.

FAWCETT.

ON CRITICISM-in the next Reflector.

GOSSIPIANA.

[No. XIX.]

DETACHED THOUGHTS, BY LORD ORFORD.

VISTORY is a romance that is believed: a romance, a hiftory that is not believed.

MONTAIGNE pleafed because he wrote what he thought; other authors think what they fhall write.

WHOEVER expects pity by complaining to his phyfician, is as foolish as they who, having loft their money at cards, complain of their ill luck to their companions, the winners. If none were ill, or unfortunate, how would phyficians or gamesters get money?

BEAUTY, after five and thirty, is like a forfeited peerage, the title of which is given by the courtesy of the well-bred to those who have no legal claim to it.

ALBANO's boy-angels and cupids are all so alike, that they seem to have been the children of the Flemish Countefs, who was faid to be delivered of three hundred and fixty-five at a birth.

AN author without originality, is like a courtier who is always dreffed in the fashion: nobody minds the colour or make of his coat: if it is ill made it is criticised; if not, what can be faid on it? Hundreds are dreffed as well. Bookfellers and falefmen lay up the book or the

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