GRAN 
From this fafl:, fome Iiave im%Tgined that vaflnefs, 9r 
amplitude of extent, is the foundation of all fublimity. 
But this cannot be, becaufe many objefts appear lub- 
lime which iuive no relation to I'pace at all. Such, tor 
inftance, is great loudnefsof found. The burd of thun¬ 
der or of cannon, tiie roaring of winds, the fhouting of 
multitudes, the l^ound of vail cataracts of water, are all 
inconteftibly grand objefts. “ I heard tlic voice of a 
great multitude, as the found of many waters and of 
mighty thunderings, faying Allelujah.” In general we 
may obferve, that great power and force exerted, al¬ 
ways raife fublime ideas ; and perhaps the- molt co¬ 
pious fource of thefe is derived from this quarter. 
Hence the grandeur of earthquakes and burning moun¬ 
tains ; of great conflagrations; of the ftormy ocean, 
and overflowing waters; of tempefts of wind ; of tlmn- 
der and lightning ; and of all the uncommon concuf- 
fions of the elements. Nothing is more fublime than 
mighty power and flrength. A ftream that runs within 
its banks, is a beautiful object; but when it ruflies 
down witli the impetuofity and roar of a torrent, it be¬ 
comes a fublime one. From lion.s, and other animals 
of flrength, are drawn fublime compariYons in poetry. 
A race-liorfe is looked upon with pleafure ; but it is 
the war-horfe, “ whofe neck is clotlied with thunder,” 
that carries grandeur in its idea. The engagement of 
two great armies, as it is the highefl exertion of human 
miglit, combines a variety of fources of tlie fublime; 
and has accordingly been confidered as one of the molt 
ftiiking and magnificent fpeflacles tiiat can be either 
prefented to the eye, or exhibited to the imagination 
by defcription. 
All ideas of an a'wful and folemn defcription, or even 
bordering on the terrible, tend greatly to heighten the 
I'ublime ; fuch as darknefs, folitude, and filence. What 
are the fcenes of nature that elevate the mind in the 
liigheft degree, and produce the fublime fenfation ? 
Not the gay iandl'cape, the flowery field, or the flou- 
riflring city ; but the hoary mountain, and the folitary 
lake ; the aged forefl, and the torrent foaming over the 
rock. Hence too, night-fccnes' are commonly the mofl: 
fublime. The firmament when filled with ftars, fcat- 
tered in fuch vafl numbers and with fuclt magnificent 
profufion, firikes the imagination with a more awful 
grandeur titan when we view it enlightened with all the 
Iplendour of the mid-day fun. The deep found of a 
great bell, or the firikiiig of a great clock, are at any 
time grand ; but, when heard amid the filence and fiill- 
nefs of the night, they become doubly lb. Darknefs 
is very commonly applied for adding fublimity to all 
our ideas of the Deity. “He maketh darknefs his pa¬ 
vilion ; he dwelleth in the thick cloud,” So Milton; 
---How oft, amidll 
Thick clouds and dark, does heaven’s all-ruling Sire 
Chufe to refide, his glory unobfeur’d. 
And, with the majelty of darknefs, round 
Circles his throne - Book ii. 263. 
With wonderful art Virgil has worked up all thofe 
ideas of lileiice, vacuity, and darknefs, w lien he is going 
to iiUiodiice his hero to the infernal regions,.and to dil 
clofe the fecrets of the great deep : 
Dii quibus imperium eft anitnarum, umbraeque filentes 
Et Chaos, ct Fhlegetlion, loca nocte (ilentia late, 
Sit mini fas audita loqui ; fit numine veftro 
Pandere res alta terra, et calligine merfas. 
Ibant obfeuri, fold fub nottej per umbram, 
Perque domes Ditis vacuos, et inania regna; 
Quale per iocertam lunam, fub luce maligna 
Eft iter in fylvis-- 
Ye fubterranean gods, wjiofe awful fvvay 
The gliding gholts and Itlent fhadcs obey ; 
O Cliaos lioar ! and PJilegetlion prof.yiUid ! 
Whole folemn empire Ibetches wide around ! 
D S U R. 73S 
Give me, ye great tremendous powers ! to tell 
Of fcenes and wonders in the deptli of Iicll ; 
Give me your mighty fecrets to difplay, 
From tliofe black realms of darknefs to the day. P/tl. 
Obfeure they went ; tlirough dreary fhades, that led 
Along the wafte dominions of the dead ; 
As wander travellers in woods by night, 
By the moon’s doubtful and malignant light. Drydcn. 
Obfeurity, we might alfo remark, is not unfavourable 
to fublime ideas. Though it render the ol'jeit indif- 
tiniSt, the impreflion may neverthelefs be great; for it 
is one thing to make an idea clear, and another to make 
it affefting to the imagination ; and the imagination may 
be ftrongly affebled, and in fabi; often is fo, by objebts 
of which we have no clear conception. 1 hus we fee, 
that almoft all the deferiptions given us of the appear, 
ances of fupernatural beings carry fome fublimity, 
though the conceptions which tliey afford us be con- 
lufed and indiftindt. Their fublimity arifes from tjie 
ideas, which they always convey, of fuperior power and 
might joined with an awful obfeurity. We may fee 
this fully exemplified in the following noble paffage of 
the book of Job : “In thoughts from the vifions of tl.e 
night, when deep deep falleth upon men, fear came 
upon me, and trenibling, which made all my bones to 
fiiake. Tlien a fi)ii'it palfed before myface; the hair 
ot my flefli flood up : it flood hill; but I could not dif- 
cern the form tltereof; an image wns before mine eyes ; 
ffiere was filence; and I lieard a voice—Sliall mortal 
man be more juft than God (Job, iv. ;5.) No ideas, 
it is plain, are lo fublime as thole taken from the Su¬ 
preme Being ; tlie mod unknown, but tlie greateft, of 
all objebls ; the infinity of whofe nature, and the eter¬ 
nity of whole duration, joined with the omnipotence of 
his power, tltough tliey furpafs our conceptions, yet 
exalt tliem lo the liigheft. In general, all objebts tliat 
are greatly railed above us, or far removed fi'om us 
either in I'pace or in time, are apt to ftrike us as great. 
Our viewing them, as througli the miff of I'uperllition 
or antiquity, is favourable to tlic impreftioiis of their 
fublimity. 
The pibture which Lucretius lias drawn of tlie domi¬ 
nion of fuperlfition over mankind, reprefentiiig it as a 
portentous fpectre fliowing its head from the clouds, and 
difhiaying tlie whole human race witJi its countenance, 
togetlier with the magnaiiiniity of Epicurus in raifiiig 
himlelf up againfl: it, carries all the grandeur of a 
fublime, obfeure, and awful, image: 
Humana ante oculos feede cum vita jaceret 
In terris, ojiprella gravi fub religione, 
Quae caput a cceli regi'onibus oflendebat, 
Horribiii f'uper aipettu, niortalibus inftans, 
Priiiium Grains homo mortales tollere contra 
Ell oculos aulus.— Lib. I. 
As obfeurity, fo dforder, too, is very compatible with 
grandeur; nay, frequently heightens-it. Few things that 
are ftriiftly regular, and methodical, appear fublime. We 
fee the limits on every fide; we feel ourfelves confined ; 
there is no room for the towering exertion of the mind. 
Exadt proportion of parts, though it enters often into 
the beautiful, is much difregarded in the lublime. A 
huge mals of rocks, thrown together by the hand of 
nature with wildnels and confulion, ftrike the mind with 
more grandeur, tlian if they had been adjufted or laid 
■ together v/ith the moft accurate lynimetry. In the boldefl 
attempts which human art can make towards producing 
grand objects, greatnefs of dimenfions always conftitutes 
a principal part-. No pile of building can convey any 
idea of fublimity, uiilels it be majeltic and lofty. 1 here 
is, too, in aichiteCflire, what is called greatnels of man. 
ner ; which leeiiis diiefly to *iil'e, from prefeuting the 
object to us in one full point 'of view; fo tliat it fhall 
make its impreflion whole, entire, and undivitfed, upon 
the mind. A Gothic cathedral rail'es idea's of grandeur 
by 
