AS RELATED TO TASTE. 57 



nature." "The qualities that produce these emo- 

 tions are to be found in almost every class of human 

 knowledge, and the emotions themselves afford one 

 of the most extensive sources of human delight. 

 They occur to us amid every variety of external 

 scenery, and among many diversities of disposition 

 and affection in the mind of man. 



" The most pleasing arts of human invention are 

 altogether directed to their pursuit. And even the 

 necessary arts are exalted into dignity by the genius 

 that can unite beauty with use. From the earliest 

 period of society to its last stage of improvement, 

 they afford an innocent and elegant amusement to 

 private life, at the same time that they increase the 

 splendor of national character ; and in the progress 

 of nations, as well as individuals, while they attract 

 attention from the pleasures they bestow, they serve 

 to exalt the human mind from the corporeal to in- 

 tellectual pursuits." 



The faculty or constitution of our minds by which 

 we perceive these qualities, and enjoy these emo- 

 tions of beauty and sublimity, is Taste. It is itself 

 a plant of beauty in the garden of mind, but 



