120 M. de Toiler on the Pleafures of the Mind 
fculptors, in order to fet off the beauty of a Venus , 
a Grace , or an Apollo , ufed to place them in a niche 
formed in the ftatue of a Fawn, or a Satyr -, and 
Virgil , in order to paint more ftrongly the agita¬ 
tion of Dido's heart, places the fcene of her agonies 
in the night, when Morpheus fpread his peaceful 
influence over all the reft of mankind. 
There are, befides fymmetry, certain relations 
or proportions, which the mind eafily conceives, 
and which therefore become agreeable. Thus, in 
architecture, for inflance, the height of the 
porticos, in regular buildings, is double the 
breadth : the height of the entablature, is a fourth, 
and that of the pedeftal, a third of the height of 
the column. All eminent architects, among the 
different proportions adapted to their defign, have 
always made choice of thofe, which the mind could 
comprehend without any difficulty. The fame 
may be obferved in mufic. Of all concords, the 
unijon and the odtave fhould be the mod agreeable, 
becaufe they excite more vibrations in the fibres 
of the ear: but the pleafure we receive from this 
enchanting art, depends more on the mind, than 
on the organ adapted to convey it. The fifth is 
the moll agreeable of all concords, becaufe it 
prcfents to the mind a proportion, the finding out 
of which, gives it a degree of exercife, that caufes 
no wearinefs, confequently no difguft. 
Some compofitions there are in mufic, which 
pleafe only profound muficians, and ftrike, per¬ 
haps. 
