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delicious, a term frequently applied to exquisite pleasures of 

 the body, and metaphorically, to those of the mind ; and in 

 this sense it stands in opposition to pleasures more vulgar and 

 cornmon. 



56. When delicacy is attribiited to the touch the assimila- 

 tion to thread is still closer ; for as in the literal sense, the 

 finest thread is called delicate when smooth, even, and free 

 from asperities, so in a metaphorical sense, the pleasures of 

 most of the senses are called delicate in proportion to their 

 rejinement, in opposition to the grosser pleasures of gluttony, 

 inebriation, inhuman shews or sports, indecent dances, bar- 

 barian uncouth music, silly amusements, &c. 



57. Thus also it is applied to refined language, sentiments 

 and manners, in opposition to the rough, rude, coarse, blunt 

 and unpolished. 



58. Farther, as the finest threads are most easily broken, 

 so weak constitutions, being most easily injured, are called 

 delicate, and so in general are circumstances and objects that 

 require to be cautiously treated and attended to. 



59. In prosecution of the above analogies, the purest cri- 

 tical taste in the polite arts is called delicate. 



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