TRAGEDY. 



vrhat moves them, and their avafenrfs to be conTinced that 

 it is z firtion. This can refult only from the confcionfiiefs 

 that, in ordinaiy cafes, dilhelief, by weakening their pity, 

 would diminilh, inftead ol increafing, their pleafure. They 

 muft be verr far then from entertaining Fontenelle's notion, 

 that it is cecelTary to the producing of that pleafore ; for 

 ■we cannot well fufpect them of a plot againft their own 

 erijoyment : thirdly, and laflly, from the delight which we 

 take in reading or hearing the moft tragical narratioas of 

 orators and hiftorians, of the reality ot which we eatertaiu 

 no doubt ; I might add, in revolving in our own miads, 

 and in relating to others, difaitrous incidents, which have 

 fallen within the compais of our own knowledge, and as 

 to which, cociequeutlv, we have an abfolute afliirance of 

 the fad." 



The third hvpothefis produced and examined by Dr. 

 Campbell Ls Mr. Hume's, which he propofes as a fupple- 

 ment to the former fwo, in the docirine of both which he, 

 in a great tneafure, acquiefces. " What is it then,'" fays 

 Mr. Hume, " which in this cafe (that i>, when the forrow 

 is not foftened by fiaion) raifes a pleafure £rom the bofom 

 of oneafinefs, fo to fpeak ; and a pleafure, which ftill re- 

 tains all the features and outward fymptoms of diftrefs and 

 forrow : I anTwer : This extraordinary effedt proceeds 

 from that very eloquence, with which the melancholy fcene 

 u reprefented. The genius required to paint objects in a 

 lively manner, the art employed in colledicg all the pathetic 

 circuHiitances, the judgment difplayed in difpofing them ; 

 the exerofe, I fay, of thefe noble talents, together with the 

 force of expreffion, and beauty of oratorical numbers, difiiife 

 the higheft fatistadion oa the audience, and excite the moil 

 delightfiil movements. By this means, the uneafinefs of 

 the melancholy pafiions is not only overpowered and effaced 

 by fomethi&g ftronger of an oppofite kind, but the whole 

 movement of thofe paiSocs is converted into pleafure, and 

 fwelli the delight which the eloquence raifes in a^ The 

 fame force of oratory employed on an unicterefting fnbjctt, 

 w»uld not pleafe half fo much, or rather would appear 

 altogether ridiculous ; and the mind, being left in abfolute 

 calmnefs and indifference, would reliih none of thofe 

 beauties of imagination or exprefSon, which, if joined to 

 paffion, give it fuch exquifite entertainment. The impuUe 

 or vehemence arifing from forrow, compaffion, indignation, 

 receives a new direSion from the fenriments of beantv. 

 The latter being the predominant emotion, feize the whole 

 mind, and convert the former into themfelves, or at leait 

 tindure them fo ftrongly, as totally to alter their nature : 

 and the foul, being at the fame time ronfed by paffion, and 

 charmed by eloquence, feels on the whole a ilrong move- 

 ment, which is altogether delightfuL" 



The infufBciency of this hypotheiis is very fatisfaAorily 

 evinced by Dr. Campbell ; and he has ihewu, that inflead 

 of being fupplementary to M. Fontenelle's, as be intended it 

 to be, it is fubverfive of the principles on which the French 

 critic's theory is founded. The effett, according to the 

 latter, refults frt>m moderating, weakening, fofteoing, and 

 dimimfhing the paffion : according to the former, it refults 

 from what is diredly oppoilte, from the arts employed by 

 the orator for the purpofe of exaggerating, ftrengthening, 

 heightening, and inflaming the pafiion. Indeed, neither of 

 thefe writers feems to have attended fuSciently to one par- 

 ticular, which of itfelf might have fliewn tiie infuffidency 

 of their fyftems. The particular alluded to is, that pity, i£ 

 it exceed not a certain degree, gives pleafure to the nund, 

 when excited by the original objeCis in diftrefs, as well as 

 by the reprefentations made by poets, painters, and orators : 

 3iid, on the contrary, if it exceed a certain degree, it is on the 



whole painful, whether awakened by the real obje&s oi pity, 

 or roufed by the exbibitioos of the hiftorisi or of the poet. 

 Indeed, as fenfe operates much nx>re ffan>ngly on the mind 

 than imagination does, the excels is much more frequent i~ 

 the former cafe than in the latter. But oar limits will nc: 

 allow our enlargjog. 



A fourth hypothehs is that of thofe who maintain that 

 compaffion is " an exan^le of unmixed felfiihiirfs and ma- 

 lignity," and may be " relolved into that power of ima- 

 gination, by which we apply the misfortunes of others to 

 ourfelves ;" that we are laid " to pity no longer th": p-f 

 fancy ourfelves to fuffer, and to be pleafed only ":- r.- 

 fleding that our fufferings are not real ; thus indul^^; ^ 

 dream of diftrefs, from which we can awake whenever we 

 pleafe, to exult in our fecuiity, and enjoy the companion 

 of the fidion with tmth." 



This is no other, zs Dr. Campbdl obferves, than the 

 antiquated dodrine of the philofopber of ^lahnelbBry 

 refcued from oblivion, to which it had been £aft defceiidiDg, 

 and re-publilhed with improvemaits. Hobbes, indeed, 

 thought it a fuffident ftretch, in order to render the fym- 

 pathenc forrow purely felbih, to define it " imaginatitMi or 

 fidion of future calamity to ourfelves, proceeding frtim the 

 fenfe ofanother man's calamity." This paradoxical conceit^ 

 as our author has denominated it, has beea adopted hjr 

 Hawkefworth in the " Adventurer." In the felfifli fyflent, 

 it appears to be a great objedioa, that in pity we are 

 aSeded with a real forrow for the foSeriogs of otims, or 

 at leaft that men have uuive ifally nnderftood this to be tL 

 cafe, as appears bom the very words and phrafes expreffi-. . 

 of this emotion to be found in aD knoim languages. B:: . 

 to one who has thoroughly imbibed the principles a:^^ 

 fpirit of a philofophic feet, which hath ctKunonly as violes:^ 

 an appetite for myftery (though under a different name, for 

 with the philofopber it is paradox) as any reHgious feet 

 whatever ; how paltry muft an objeoion appear, wfaich. 

 hath nothiDg to fapport it but the convidion of all mankind, 

 thofe only excepted whoie minds have been perverted by 

 fcholafnc fophiiiiy ? 



It is remarkable, that though it has been contended by a 

 great number of perfons, that unne fidion of the imaginatiaB 

 is abfolutely neceflary to the prododion of pity, and, 

 though the examples of this emotion are fo frequent, as Uy 

 give ample fcope for examination, they diiagiee with le- 

 gard to their fidion. Some contend only, that in wit- 

 neffing tragedy, one is under a fort of momentary deceptior, 

 which a very little refledion can corred, and imagines tlu: 

 he is adnally witiieffing thofe difliefies and mifi-rip^ wfaic' 

 are only reprefented in borrowed charaders. and that tr. 

 adors are the yerr perfons whom they exhibit. 



Others, who refer every thing to felf, maintain, that bv 

 a fidion of the mind, we inftantly conceiye fome future and 

 fitnilar calamity as coming upon ourfelves; and that it ;? 

 folely this conception, and this dread, which «-all forth al. 

 our forrow and our tears. Others- not fatisfied with thi;. 

 m a intaiii boldly, that we cfmcerve ourfelves to be the per- 

 fons fufFering the miferies rdated or reprefented, at the ver% 

 inftan t that our pity is raifed- When nature is deterted by 

 us, it is no wonder that we flKMiId lofe our way in the 

 devious tracks of imaginatioa, and not know where to 

 fettle. 



Dr. Campbell's faypothefis is iDufirated by the folknring 

 general obferrations, of which the foQowing detail is £- 

 abftrad. He obferves, ift, that alinofl all the fimple pa:- 

 fions, of which the mind is lufceptible, may be divided into 

 two cla&s, vit. th« pleafant and the painfiil, diffioing 

 confiderably both in kiod and degree. 2dlT. Amoog th 



