﻿THE 
  FACT 
  OF 
  BEAUTY 
  271 
  

  

  of 
  their 
  movements. 
  There 
  is 
  sensory 
  pleasure 
  and 
  there 
  is 
  

   imaginative 
  sympathy. 
  But 
  the 
  delight 
  is 
  subtly 
  heightened 
  

   by 
  an 
  appreciation 
  of 
  the 
  fitness 
  of 
  the 
  birds 
  to 
  this 
  mastery 
  

   of 
  the 
  air, 
  an 
  appreciation 
  that 
  steals 
  into 
  the 
  mind 
  rather 
  

   as 
  an 
  aroma 
  than 
  as 
  a 
  cold-blooded 
  scientific 
  reflection. 
  

  

  By 
  the 
  objectivity 
  of 
  the 
  beauty 
  of 
  Animate 
  Nature 
  we 
  

   mean 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  ' 
  form 
  ' 
  of 
  plants 
  and 
  animals 
  a 
  

   positive 
  quality 
  which 
  excites 
  the 
  aesthetic 
  emotion. 
  Speak- 
  

   ing 
  of 
  tragic 
  poetry, 
  Mr. 
  Bertrand 
  Russell 
  says 
  : 
  " 
  it 
  becomes 
  

   possible 
  at 
  last 
  so 
  to 
  transform 
  and 
  refashion 
  the 
  unconscious 
  

   universe, 
  so 
  to 
  transmute 
  it 
  in 
  the 
  crucible 
  of 
  imagination, 
  

   that 
  a 
  new 
  image 
  of 
  shining 
  gold 
  replaces 
  the 
  old 
  idol 
  of 
  

   clay. 
  In 
  all 
  the 
  multiform 
  facts 
  of 
  the 
  world 
  in 
  the 
  visual 
  

   shapes 
  of 
  trees 
  and 
  mountains 
  and 
  clouds, 
  in 
  the 
  events 
  of 
  

   the 
  life 
  of 
  man, 
  even 
  in 
  the 
  omnipotence 
  of 
  Death 
  the 
  

   insight 
  of 
  creative 
  idealism 
  can 
  find 
  the 
  reflection 
  of 
  a 
  

   beauty 
  which 
  its 
  own 
  thoughts 
  first 
  made." 
  This 
  is 
  splen- 
  

   didly 
  said, 
  and 
  that 
  man's 
  mind 
  should 
  be 
  able 
  to 
  assert 
  

   " 
  its 
  subtle 
  mastery 
  over 
  the 
  thoughtless 
  forces 
  of 
  Nature 
  ' 
  

   is 
  something 
  to 
  ponder 
  over, 
  but 
  our 
  concern 
  is 
  with 
  simpler 
  

   things 
  than 
  the 
  triumph 
  of 
  imaginative 
  idealisation. 
  We 
  

   are 
  pleading 
  for 
  the 
  reality 
  of 
  a 
  beauty 
  which 
  man's 
  thoughts 
  

   did 
  not 
  first 
  make. 
  

  

  7. 
  Aspects 
  of 
  Beauty 
  in 
  Animate 
  Nature. 
  

  

  Another 
  question 
  arises 
  : 
  Of 
  what 
  elements 
  does 
  the 
  beauty 
  

   of 
  plants 
  and 
  animals 
  consist? 
  The 
  general 
  answer 
  must 
  

   be: 
  In 
  combinations 
  and 
  arrangements 
  of 
  lines 
  and 
  colours, 
  

   and, 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  animals, 
  in 
  movements 
  as 
  well. 
  

  

  It 
  has 
  been 
  known 
  for 
  centuries 
  that 
  certain 
  forms 
  are 
  

   much 
  more 
  pleasing 
  than 
  others. 
  This 
  has 
  been 
  borne 
  out 
  

   by 
  experiments 
  with 
  children 
  and 
  other 
  unsophisticated 
  per- 
  

  

  