connection with the mind, or is so utterly incapable of yielding it pleasure.

Smell may sometimes seem to yield perceptions of the beautiful; but it is because the odor is exhaled from an object that we already know to be beautiful, and that is so independently of its fragrance. Thus, the rose charms us with its symmetrical proportions and the richness and variety of its shades; its odor is agreeable, not beautiful, and suggests the idea of beauty only because we know it to proceed from a beautiful object.

Touch may in a measure judge of smoothness, regularity, and symmetry; but not with sufficient promptness and accuracy to make it a source of pleasure to the imagination, unless sight comes to its aid.

Agreeable trains of thought may, indeed, occasionally be awakened by the taste, smell, and perhaps touch, of particular objects with which striking recollections of the past are connected; yet we can not on that account say that the sensations produced through these media are a source of mental pleasure.

§ 257. The only senses capable of kindling the imagination and exciting its pleasures are SIGHT and HEARING. The impressions of the former are the more striking, and the enjoyment they yield is both more lasting and more intense. The blind, therefore, apart from the greater helplessness to which they are reduced, lose incomparably more of the pleasures of the imagination, whether awakened by nature or art, than the deaf.

These senses seem to be particularly in the service of the soul. The sensations they produce are pure, not gross; intellectual, not corporeal. They contribute to the refining rather than the sustaining of life. They procure us pleasures which are not selfish and sensual, but noble and elevating.

§ 258. To these two senses, then, through the operation of which natural objects excite a flow of imagination and

ble of producing? Of what may smell sometimes seem to yield perceptions? Explain how this is, and illustrate it in the case of the rose. Of what qualities may touch, in a measure, judge? Why is it not, then, a source of pleasure to the imagination? To what are the agreeable trains of thought sometimes awakened by these senses attributable?

§ 257. What senses alone are capable of kindling the imagination? Which produces the more striking impressions? How, then, does the affliction of the blind compare with that of the deaf? What is said of the sensations and pleasures produced by sight and hearing?

consequent pleasure, art must be addressed, in order to make an impression on the mind. The eye being, as we have seen, the medium of the most vivid and abundant sensations, to it most of the fine arts,-painting, sculpture, architecture, and landscape-gardening,—are exclusively addressed. Music, poetry, and rhetoric (which we have seen is a mixed art), address themselves to the ear.

§ 259. We may divide those objects of sight and hearing which constitute the source of pleasure to the imagination, into two great classes, the productions of nature and those of art. Strictly speaking, our subject leads us to treat only of the latter, or rather of that class of the latter which pertains exclusively to the art of composition. Yet, as the relation subsisting between the two is intimate and they often afford striking illustrations of each other, we shall briefly extend our notice to both.

§ 260. The different characteristics which an object must possess to excite the imagination are known as the novel, the wonderful, the picturesque, the sublime, and the beautiful. Of these the last two are by far the most fruitful sources of pleasure.

These five qualities belong alike to natural and artificial objects. Two others must here be mentioned, more limited in extent, because applicable only to the creations of art.

I. Fidelity of imitation. Art in many cases aims at nothing more than a reproduction of nature. In these cases, the closer the resemblance the copy bears to the original, the greater pleasure does it afford. Nor is this less true, though the object copied be destitute of beauty, or even repulsive. In a picture we can endure the filthy lazzaroni and disgusting dwarf, from whom in life we would turn away with uncontrollable aversion. The mind is pleased with the fidelity of the representation, be

§ 258. To what must art be addressed? Which arts are addressed to the eye? Which, to the ear?

§ 259. Into what two great classes are the objects of sight and hearing divided? What is said of the relation subsisting between them?

§ 260. Enumerate the characteristics which an object must possess, to excite the imagination. Which of these are the most fruitful sources of pleasure? To what objects do these qualities belong? What two others are more limited in extent? In what cases is fidelity of imitation a source of pleasure? Illustrate

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cause in the triumphs of art the whole species may be said to have a common concern and pride.

II. Wit, humor, and ridicule, in literary compositions, are the source of various pleasures. These are of such importance as to require future consideration at some length.

§ 261. THE NOVEL is an important source of the pleasures of Taste, producing, as it does, a lively and instantaneous effect on the imagination. An object which has no merit to recommend it, except its being uncommon or new, by means of this quality gives a quick and pleasing impulse to the mind. A degree of novelty, indeed, though not essential to the production of impressions by the beautiful or the sublime, considerably heightens them; for objects long familiar, however attractive, are apt to be passed over with indifference.

The emotion produced by novelty is of a livelier and more pungent nature than that excited by beauty; but is proportionately shorter in its continuance. If there is no other charm to rivet our attention, the shining gloss thus communicated soon wears off.

The desire to see and hear what is new is universal, and is known as curiosity. No emotion of the mind is stronger or more general. Conversation is never more interesting than when it turns on strange objects and extraordinary events. Men tear themselves from their families in search of things rare and new, and novelty converts into pleasures the fatigues and even the perils of travelling. By children, also, this feeling is constantly manifested. We see them perpetually running from place to place, to hunt out something new; they catch, with eagerness and often with very little choice, at whatever comes before them. Now, by reason of its nature, novelty can not for any length of time engross our attention; and hence curiosity is the most versatile of all our affec

the fact that a faithful representation pleases, though the object copied may be absolutely repulsive. Explain the reason. What source of pleasure to the imagination belongs exclusively to literary compositions?

§ 261. What is the effect of the novel on the imagination? What, on the impressions produced by the beautiful and the sublime? How does the emotion produced by novelty compare with that excited by beauty? What is the desire to see and hear new things called? How do men show that they are under its control? How is it manifested by children? What is the leading characteristic of curiosity?

tions. It is constantly changing its object, and always presents an appearance of anxiety and restlessness.

§ 262. Novelty is possessed by objects in different degrees, to which its effects are proportioned.

I. The lowest degree is found in objects surveyed a second time after a long interval.

Experience teaches us that, without any decay of remembrance, absence always gives an air of novelty to a once familiar object. Thus, a person with whom we have been intimate, returning from abroad after a long interval, appears almost like a new acquaintance. Distance of place contributes to this effect no less than lapse of time; a friend, for example, after a short absence in a remote country, has the same air of novelty as if he had returned after a longer interval from a place nearer home. The mind unconsciously institutes a connection between him and the distant region he has visited, and invests him with the singularity of the objects he has seen.

II. The next degree of novelty belongs to objects respecting which we have had some previous information.

Description, though it contributes to familiarity, can not altogether remove the appearance of novelty when the object itself is presented. The first sight of a lion, for instance, is novel, and therefore a source of pleasure, although the beholder may have previously obtained from pictures, statues, and natural history, a thorough acquaintance with all his peculiarities of appearance.

III. A new object that bears some distant resemblance to one already known is an instance of the third degree of novelty.

We are familiar, for example, with the features of the Caucasian race of men, having seen them from infancy; the first sight of a Chinese, however, is novel and pleasing, because, although he bears a resemblance to those we already know, the points of difference are sufficient to excite our curiosity.

IV. The highest degree of novelty is that which char

§ 262. To what are the effects of novelty proportioned? In what objects is novelty found in the lowest degree? What is always the effect of absence? What besides lapse of time contributes to this effect? Illustrate this. What connection is unconsciously instituted by the mind? What objects are characterized by novelty in the second degree? What is the effect of description? Illustrate this. What is the next highest degree of novelty? Give an illustration. To what objects does the highest degree of novelty belong?

acterizes objects entirely unknown and bearing no analogy to any with which we are acquainted.

§ 263. THE WONDERFUL is analogous in character to the novel, and is by some confounded with it. It is equally a source of pleasure, its charm consisting principally in the production of unexpected trains of thought.

The difference between the novel and the wonderful is readily illustrated. A traveller who has never seen an elephant, goes to a jungle in India for the purpose of meeting with one; if he succeeds, the sight is novel and pleasing, but not wonderful, for it was fully expected. A Hindoo, wandering in America, suddenly sees an elephant feeding at large in a field: the sight is not novel, for he is accustomed to the animal; it is wonderful, however, because totally unexpected,—and is pleasing in proportion.

The Chinese appreciate the fact that the wonderful pleasurably excites the imagination in a high degree, and take advantage of it in the embellishment of their gardens, which, we may add, are among the finest in the world. A torrent, for example, is conveyed under the ground, that the visitor may be at a loss to divine whence the unusual sound proceeds; and, to multiply still stranger noises, subterranean cavities are devised in every variety. Sometimes one is unexpectedly led into a dark cave, which still more unexpectedly terminates in a landscape enriched with all the beauties that nature can afford. In another quarter, en chanting paths lead to a rough field, where bushes, briers, and stones, interrupt the passage; and, while means of egress are being sought, a magnificent vista opens on the view.

§ 264. THE PICTURESQUE is by some regarded simply as a variation of the beautiful, and treated under that head. The term seems, however, to be applied to objects which have a rugged appearance, in contradistinction to such as are sublime or beautiful, particularly when introduced among the latter by way of contrast. Affecting the mind at first with an emotion of surprise, such objects soon give birth to

§ 263. To what is the wonderful analogous? In what does its charm consist? Illustrate the difference between the novel and the wonderful. What use do the Chinese make of the fact that the wonderful pleasurably excites the imagination? Show how they apply this principle in their gardens.

§ 264. To what do some regard the picturesque as belonging? To what objects does this term seem rather to be applied? With what emotion do picturesque objects first affect the mind? To what do they soon give birth? Mention some