t o 
In Hie hunger- ftn-te flivagc and crush (he Caledonian?, a? 
exhibited by Oftian, ere gentle and magnanimous. The 
heroes of Homer fought for plunder, and felt no clemency 
for a vanqiiifhed foe; the heroes of Gftian fought for 
fame; and, when their enemies were fubdued, they took 
them to their bofotns. The firft of Greeks committed a 
mean infult on the dead body of the firft of Trojans : 
among the Caledonians, infults offered to the dead, as 
well as cruelty to the- living, were condemned as infa¬ 
mous. The heroes of Offian appear in no inftance as la¬ 
vages. How they came to be poliflied and refined before 
they were acquainted with agriculture and the molt ufeful 
arts of life, it is not our bufinefs to inquire. Perhaps the 
Caledonian ladies of Ofifian refembled in their manners the 
German ladies of Tacitus, who accompanied their luif- 
bands to the chafe, fought by their tides in battle, and 
partook with them of every danger. If fo, they could not 
fail to be refpeXed by a race of heroes among whom cou¬ 
rage took place of all other virtues ; and this fingle cir- 
cumftance, from whatever caufe it might proceed, will fuf- 
ficiently account for the eltimation of the female charaXer 
among the ancient Germans and Caledonians, fo different 
from that in which it has been held in almolt every other 
barbarous nations. 
But if, among favagesand the vulgar, love be unknown, 
it cannot poflibly be an injiinclivc ufft&ion ; and therefore 
it may be afked, How it gets poffefiion of the human heart ? 
and by what means we can judge whether in any particu¬ 
lar inltance it be real or imaginary ? Thefe queftions are 
of importance, and deferve to be fully anlwered ; though 
many circumliances confpire to render it no eafy taftc to 
give to them fuch anfvvers as lhalL be perfectly fatisfaXory. 
Love can fubfift only between individuals of the different 
fexes. A man can hardly love two women at the fame 
time; and we believe that a woman is ftill lefs capable of 
loving at once more than one man. Love, therefore, has a 
natural tendency to make men and women pair, or, in other 
words, it is the lource of marriage ; but in polifhed fociety, 
where alone this affeXion has any place, io many things 
belides mutual attachment are neceffary to make the mar¬ 
ried life comfortable, that we rarely fee young perfons unit¬ 
ing from the impulfe of love ; and have therefore but few 
opportunitiesof tracing the rife,progrefs,and confequences, 
of the affeXion. We lhall, however, throw together fuch 
reflexions as have occurred to us on the fubjeX, not with¬ 
out indulging a hope, that they may be ufeful to the 
younger part of our readers when forming the moll im¬ 
portant connexion in life. 
We have faid, that the perception of beauty, combined 
with animal deilre, is the firft: inducement which a man 
can have to prefer one woman to another. It may be ad¬ 
ded, that elegance of figure, a placid mafeuline counte¬ 
nance, with a perfon which indicates flrength and agility, 
are the qualities which firft tend to attach any woman to 
a particular man. Beauty has been defined, by pere Buf- 
fier’in his Firjl Truths, and fir Jofhua Reynolds in the Idler, 
“That particular form, which is the moft common of all 
particular forms to he met with in the fame fpecies of be¬ 
ings.” Let us apply this definition to our own fpecies, 
and try, by means of it, to afeertain what conllitures the 
beauty of the human face. It is evident that of counte¬ 
nances we find a number almoft infinite of different form's, 
of which forms one only conftitutes beauty, whilff the 
reft, however, numerous, contlitute what is not beauty, 
but deformity, or uglinefs. To an attentive obferver, 
however, it is evident, that, of the numerous particular 
forms of uglinefs, there is notone which includes fo many 
faces as are formed after that particular caff which confti¬ 
tutes beauty. Every particular fpecies of the animal as 
well of the vegetable creation, may be laid to have a fixed 
or determinate form, to which, as to a centre, nature is 
continually inclining, Or it may be compared to pendu¬ 
lums vibrating in different directions overone central point; 
.arid, as they all crofts the centre, though onty one pafl’es 
V U, GW 
through any other point; fo it will be found that perfect 
beauty is eftener produced by nature than deformity : we 
do not mean than deformity in general, but than any one 
kind and degree of deformity. As vve are then more ac- 
cuftotned to beauty than deformity, we may conclude 
that to be the reafon why we approve and admire it,juft as 
we approve and admire, falhions of drefs for no other rea¬ 
fon than what we are ufed to them. The fame thing may 
be faid of colour as of form ; it is cultom alone which de ¬ 
termines our preference of the colour of the Europeans to 
that of the Ethiopians, and which makes them prefer their 
own colour to ours; fo that, though habit and cuflom 
cannot be the caufe of beauty, (fee Beauty, vol. ii.) they 
are certainly the caufe of our liking it. 
That vve do like ft cannot be denied. Every one is con- 
feious of a pleafing emotion when contemplating beauty 
, either in man or woman ; and, when that pleafure is com¬ 
bined with the gratification of the fenfual appetite, it is 
obvious that the fum of enjoyment muff be greatly in- 
creafed. The perception of beauty, t herefore, neceffarily di¬ 
re Xs theenergy of the fenfual appetite to a particular objeX; 
but ftill this combination is a mere felfith feeling, which 
regards it fobjeX only as the bell: of many fimiiar inftru- 
ments of pleafure. Before it can deferve the name of love, 
it mult be combined with efteein, which is never bellowed 
but upon moral character and internal worth ; for, let a 
woman beever fo beautiful,and of courfe ever fodefirable 
as an inftrument of fenfual gratification, if the be not pof- 
feffed of the virtues and difpofitions which are peculiar to 
her fex, Hie will infpire no man with a generous affeXion. 
With regard to the outlines, indeed, whether of internal 
dilpofition or of external form, men and women are the 
fame; but nature, intending them formates, has given 
them difpofitions, which, though concordant, are however 
different, fo as to produce together delicious harmony. 
The man, more robult, is fitted for fevere labour, and for 
field exerciles ; the woman, more delicate, is fitted for fe- 
dentary occupations, and particularly for nurfing chil- 
dren. The man, bold and vigorous, is qualified for be¬ 
ing a proteXor; the woman, delicate and’timid, requires 
proteXion. Hence it is, that a man never admires a wo¬ 
man for poffeffing bodily ftrength or perfonal courage ». 
and women always defpile men who are totally deftitute 
of thefe qualities. The man, as a proteXor, is direXcd/ 
by nature to govern ; the woman, confcious of inferio¬ 
rity, is difpofed to obey. Their intelleXual powers: 
correfpond to the deftination of nature. Men have pe¬ 
netration and folid judgment to fit them for governing; 
women have fufficient undemanding to make an engaging 
figure under good government : a greater proportion 
would excite dangerous rivalfhip between the fexes, which 
nature has avoided by giving them different talents. 
Women have more imagination and fenfibility than men, 
which make all their enjoyments more exquifite, at the 
fame time that they are better qualified to communicate 
enjoyment. Add another capital difference of difpofi- 
ticn i the gentle and infinuating manners of the female 
tend to foften roughnefs of the other fex ; and, wherever 
women are indulged with any freedom, they polifh fooner 
than men. 
Thefe are not the only particulars that diltinguifh the 
fexes. With refpeX to the ultimate end of love, it is the 
privilege of the male, as fuperior and proteXor, to make 
a choice ; the female, preferred, has no privilege but 
barely to confent or to refufe. Whether this difftnXion 
be the immediate refult of the originally different difpo¬ 
fitions of the fexes, or only the effeX of affociations ine¬ 
vitably formed, may be queftioned; but among all na¬ 
tions it is the praXice for men to court, and for women 
to be courted ; and, were the moft beautiful woman on 
earth to invert this praXice, fire would forfeit the efteem 
however by the external grace fhe might excite the de¬ 
fine, of the man whom (he add refled. The great moral 
virtues which may be comprehended under the general 
tenia 
