MMBMMMI 
ARTS. 
cording to nature, though the colours hap- 
pen to be rough, or carelessly laid on, yet 
the picture shall lose nothing of its esteem.” 
But if skill in versification be the least, 
what are then the greater qualities which 
constitute the poet ? The question is easily 
answered : those very qualities which, in a 
greater or less degree, are requisite to the 
formation of an elegant speaker or writer, 
on almost any subject, whether in prose or 
verse, with the exception of those of pro- 
found or abstruse science. And indeed the 
different species of prose writers have, fi om 
time to time, made such encroachments on 
what is perhaps more peculiarly the pro- 
vince of poetry ; and the poets have, as it 
were in revenge, adopted so many of those 
subjects which belong more properly to 
prose, that the chief difference now remain- 
ing between the two parties seems to be, 
that the latter express their thoughts through 
the medium of metre or rhyme, and the 
former without that ornament. Who will 
deny the title of poet to the authors of 
Telemachus and the Death of Abel ? And 
who will deny, that some of those treatises 
which have employed the ingenuity of po- 
ets, under the title of didactic poems, would 
better have attained the object ot instruc- 
tion and conviction to the reader, had they 
been written in the energetic prose of a 
Bacon, a Swift, or a Johnson? 
That a similitude between poetry and 
painting, as before mentioned, really sub- 
sists, there can be little doubt ; nor would 
it be difficult to point out instances of pro- 
ductions in each of these arts, as well as 
of music, so resembling in character as to 
seem, as it were, different emanations from 
one spirit, and alike calculated to excite 
kindred sensations in the breast of the hearer 
or spectator. But, however close the com- 
parison might have been at the period when 
that comparison was first made, when each 
art was, in fact, applied to effect similar 
purposes, though through different means , 
jt is certain that since the objects of their 
pursuit have become more varied and ex- 
tended, the propriety of the comparison 
between them has proportionably dimi- 
nished. 
But if, instead of contenting ourselves 
with retracing the old parallel of poetry with 
painting, we were to take a wider range, 
and consider the arts of design as a mode 
of conveying ideas, or as analogous to lan- 
guage or writing in general, such an in- 
quiry might lead us to a just appreciation 
of their importance, by exhibiting a com- 
prehensive view of the extent of their pow- 
ers, and of the modes of applying those 
powers as means for the attainment ot any 
desired end. 
The arts of design we may then consider 
as a language, by which, though all things 
cannot be expressed, many at least may, 
in a stronger and clearer manner than can 
be effected by any other. And it is scarcely 
necessary to add, that, all those arts or 
sciences to the comprehension or practice 
of which lineation or modelling is requisite, 
are more or less dependent on design. 
The arts of design, or those dependent 
on design, may be divided into three great 
classes : arts, simply useful or necessary ; 
arts, whose object it is to unite elegance 
with utility ; and arts, whose aim is more 
decidedly to elevate the human mind, by 
an appropriate choice of the most grand and 
beautiful objects. 
Design, so far as it is requisite for the 
common purposes of life, as building dwel- 
ling-houses, planning convenient furniture, 
forming canals, raising aqueducts, &c. is a 
useful, or indeed a necessary art. Without 
design, by which the explanatory figures 
are furnished, the first principles of geome- 
try and the mathematics, the foundation of 
so large a portion of human knowledge, 
would be unintelligible. Without design 
we should be ignorant of the situations and 
bearings of different countries ; without the 
assistance of maps and charts, the pilot 
would be ignorant what course to steer ; 
nay, the compass itself may be termed the 
offspring of design. By her means, with- 
out the constant recurrence to dissection, 
the physician and surgeon are instructed in 
the various situations and appearances of 
the bones, veins, nerves, muscles, and 
every other part of the human frame ; and, 
by her assistance, the visible symptoms of 
disorders can be accurately described, when 
words would have been inadequate to the 
task. 
If we consider design as applicable to 
those arts, sciences, or manufactures, whose 
object it is to combine utility and instruc- 
tion with ornament and amusement, we 
shall find her province not less extended. 
The chair, the sofa, the table, and the 
lamp, no longer confined to the purposes of 
mere necessity, present themselves, adorned 
with all the graces of Grecian art, at once 
the instruments of our comfort, and the 
embellishment of our apartments. By means 
of design, we are transported to foreign 
climes; we behold their buildings, pro- 
