PART III.

OF

ST Y L E.

LECTURE XI..

Of TASTE, and the Nature of FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE..

T

HE third part into which the art of oratory is diftributed, comprehends whatever is ornamental in a discourse or compofition. The bare materials, and even the difpofition of them in a discourse, are adapted to do little more than make an impreffion upon those perfons who, of themselves, and from a regard to the nature and importance of the subject, will give their attention to it; whereas the fubject of this last part is calculated to attract and engage the attention, by the grace and harmony of the style, the turn of thought, or the striking or pleafing manner

in which fentiments are introduced and expreffed. We have hitherto examined what we may call the bones, mufcles, and nerves of a compofition; we now come to the covering of this body, to defcribe the external lineaments, the colour, the complexion, and graceful attitude of it.

In treating of this part of my subject, I shall endeavour to lay open the fources of all the pleafures we receive from this moft refined art, explaining what are the properties, or principles, in our frame which lay the mind open to its influences, as well as defcribe the various forms of expreffion which are found, by experience, to affect our minds in fo agreeable a manner, and give examples of fuch forms of expreffion.

Whatever contributes to adorn a discourse, muft either give life and beauty to the fentiment, or harmony to the diction. I fhall confider each of thefe in their order. By ornament of thoughts, I mean that manner of introducing and prefenting them to the mind which will give them the most favourable appearance. This, therefore, comprehends all the pleasures which may be faid to be perceived by the mind; whereas, when I treat of the ornament of diclion, I fhall confider the language as affecting the ear only.

Whatever it be, in the fentiment or ideas, that makes a difcourfe to be read with pleasure, muft either be interefting, by exciting thofe grofs and more fenfible feelings we call paffions, or muft awaken thofe more delicate fenfations, which are generally called the pleasures of the imagination. Each of these kinds of feelings are, by fome philofophers, referred to fo many diftinct reflex, or internal fenfes, as they call thofe faculties of the mind by which we perceive them; whereas, according to Dr. Hartley's theory, thofe fenfations confift of nothing more than a congeries.

or combination of ideas and fenfations, feparately indistinguishable, but which were formerly affociated either with the idea itfelf that excites them, or with some other idea, or circumftance, attending the introduction of them. It is this latter hypothesis that I adopt, and, by the help of it, I hope to be able to throw fome new light on this curious fubject.

An enumeration of the stronger paffions of the human mind, which are roused by the powers of oratory, and the art of compofition, I regard as foreign to my undertaking to attempt: but it may, with reafon, be expected that I fhould defcribe those finer feelings which constitute the pleasures of the imagination, and which are feldom attended to in any delineations of human nature; as also some critical fituations of mind respecting the paffions and emotions in general, the knowledge of which is effential to criticism upon works of genius and imagination; and explain thofe forms of address which are adapted to gain affent. But, previous to this, I fhall give fome account of Tafte, and of the difference between plain and figurative language.

An exquisite feeling of the finer fenfations abovementioned, may be faid to constitute a fine tafte: but no perfon can be a complete judge of the merit of a compofition unless he perfectly understand the subject of it, so as both clearly to distinguish the character of the defign; as whether it be great or mean, new or common, &c. and also to judge how far the execution is adapted to the undertaking.

The well-known story of the shoemaker viewing the Venus of Apelles, may affift us to distinguish our ideas in this cafe. This artifan discovered no strong sense of pleasure upon the fight of so extraordinary an effect of human genius, and therefore could

not be faid to have taste, but he certainly was a very good judge of the proportions of the foot and of the shoe.

Judgment is univerfally acknowledged to be altogether acquired, and that tafte, too, or the capacity of perceiving the pleafures of imagination, may also be acquired, to a very great degree, is evident from the actual acquirement of a variety of fimilar taftes, even late in life. Inftances of this may be given in a tafte for flowers, for gardening, and for architecture, which are hardly ever acquired very early in life.

It is hardly poffible that any person who never attempted to fketch out an object himself, fhould have a high relifh for the beauties of painting; but let any person be instructed in drawing, let him be much employed in viewing and examining a great variety of pictures, let him be led to converfe much with painters, and other connoiffeurs in that art; and I think one might pronounce, without any great apprehenfion of being miftaken, that he would, infallibly, not only acquire judgment in the productions of that art, and be able to distinguish a fine design and execution, but that he would have a relish for it, that what he approved he would admire, and that the view of it would affec him with a fenfible pleasure. The fame may be faid with respect to mufick, poetry, and all the other fine arts..

Befides, it will appear very clearly, in our progrefs through this fubject, that all the principles of tafle in works of genius, the very fources from which all thefe fine pleasures are derived, are within the reach of all perfons whatsoever; and that scarce any perfon can pafs his life in cultivated fociety, where the fine arts flourish, without acquiring, in a greater or a lefs degree, à taste for fome or other of them..

In fact, fince all emotions excited by works of genius confift of fuch ideas and fenfations as are capable of being affociated with the perception of such works, nothing can be requifite to the acquifition of taste, but expofing the mind to a fituation in which those affociated ideas will be frequently prefented to it. A great deal, however, depends upon the time of life, and other circumstances, in which fuch impreffions are made upon the mind. Youth, especially, which is favourable to all impreffions, is peculiarly favourable to these. But this circumftance makes a difference in degree only, and not in the nature of the thing. Some perfons may also have acquired a dislike to these, as well as other ftudies; but as this dislike was produced by an early affociation of ideas, fo it may be overcome by oppofite affociations. It must not be forgotten, alfo, that as our bodies in general differ with respect to their fenfibility to impreffions, fo the texture of the brain, on which the mental faculties depend, must be subject to a fimilar difference.

I propofed in this place to fhew in what figurative and ornamented ftyle confifts. In plain unadorned ftyle every thing is called by its proper name, no more words are used than are apparently fufficient to express the sense, and the form and order of every part of the fentence are fuch as exactly exprefs the real ftate of mind of him that ufes it; not a queftion, for instance, being asked when the person who makes it is able to fupply the answer. It is not enough to fay, that plain unadorned ftyle is that mode of expreffion which is the most natural: for ftyle the most highly ornamented, and enlivened with the strongest figures, is as natural as the plain ftyle, and occurs as naturally, without the precepts of art, and even without defign, in proper circumftances.