26 NATURE IN DOWNLAND 



human-like, we are reminded of the philosophic doctrine 

 that for us all nature is a secondary object of the pas- 

 sion of love, and that to this fact the beauty of nature 

 is chiefly due. The scene also takes us back to the 

 discredited Hogarthian notion concerning the origin of 

 our idea of beauty ; and at the same time of Burke's 

 theory of the beautiful. This, too, has fallen into 

 neglect, if not contempt, oddly enough, since it con- 

 tains the germ of our modern philosophy of the beauti- 

 ful. Perhaps it would not be an exaggeration to say 

 that it contains a good deal more than the germ. 

 Burke was assuredly right in maintaining that there 

 exists a very close connection between the senses of 

 sight and feeling, and in tracing the agreeable sensa- 

 tions arising from the contemplation of soft and smooth 

 surfaces to this connection. To put the theory into 

 five short words — what we see we feel. 



When we look on a landscape, particularly when it 

 is seen from a considerable elevation, the body goes 

 with the mind or vision ; in other words, locomotion is 

 associated with seeing— we are there, as it were, roam- 

 ing corporeally over the expanse we are gazing on. 

 When we look at the sky, or a cloud, or the sea, the 

 sight does not instinctively rest on it, but is satisfied 

 with a glance ; if we continue to gaze, not occupied 

 with something in us, but seeing vividly, it is because 

 some object or some strange or beautiful atmospheric 

 effect excites our admiration or curiosity; or because 

 wo arc artists, or sailors, or fishermen, and have an 



