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XXXV. On Painting. By Mr. E. Da YES, Painter*. 



Essay III. 



On the Elements of Beauty* 



What art thou, Beauty ? whence thy pow'r, 

 That thus perfuafive charms the heart, 

 When thy fair h*nd adorns the rofeate bow'r, 

 Or blooming virgin, pride of all thy art! 



JL a n G H o r N . Vide Grand Magazine. 



U, 



'o' 



PON mature confideration it will appear as if our in- 

 quiry fhoukl be after the beautiful itfelf ; or, in other words, 

 that whieh makes every thing beautiful by its prefence. For, 

 mould any one aflfert that beauty is purely external, he 

 muft never have confidered the fubjecT:. For, were it afked 

 from whence a man is wife, mould we not anfwer, Fr<3m 

 pofleffing wifdom ? And mould we not fay the fame of good 

 things, that they were fo from having good in them, and 

 that an object is beautiful from pollening beauty? or (hall we 

 pronounce thofe things mere non- entities, and the words of 

 no import ? 



Perhaps any two perfons in oppofite hemifpheres, who 

 mould begin or invent a fcience (geometry for inftance), 

 would proceed in their difcoveries nearly in the fame way. 

 Now, to invent is to find ; and to find fomething prefuppofes 

 its exiftence fomewhere, internally or externally, Scattered or 

 in a mafs. Or mail we fay there is not any fuch thing as 

 fcience ? that it is only a knowledge of externals ? But how 

 could they afTert the power of that Being who operated 

 prior to all externals? If our knowledge is of externals, we 

 muft certainly labour under a deception ; for it is not exter- 

 nals but their images only that we are acquainted with, the 

 objects them felves not becoming the fubjeel: of fpeculation. 

 So we (hall not poffefs truth itfelr, but only certain images of 

 truth, and of courfe poflfefs what is falfe 5 while truth will 

 abide in the externals. Hence mould we not rather con- 

 clude that fcience cannot be taught by man, or be obtained 

 through the means of externals only, but lies, as it were, 

 latent in every mind, till excited and brought to light by dili- 

 gent and deep inquiry ? For, were the inquiries of art after 

 vifible objects, the point would foon be fettled by diligently 

 copying the images painted to fenfe : on the contrary, the 

 artift, recurring to the reafoning energy, aims at a perfection 



* Communicated by the Author. 

 Vol^TlLNoT^; P beyoad 



Augujl 1802. 



