cise this comparing faculty; but in this, men themselves differ so very considerably, that some have ventured to maintain, that the mind of Newton was farther removed from that of a listless, uninvestigating peasant, than the latter is from the brute. Either, then, they are totally destitute of this faculty, or they are rational as well as man. I apprehend, however, that with regard to man himself, the "instances" would not be so "fallacious" as Mr. Knight is inclined to suppose. There are few men, I believe, who think even one half of the sex beautiful; and the most indifferent judge, much less an elegans formarum spectator, would place a greater number of the sex in the rank of ordinary women, than he would in the rank of beauty. If, then, to the former class we add those who are generally deemed ugly and deformed, how greatly must it reduce the proportion of beautiful females. The fact is, that men judge of beauty in women as they judge of it in all other subjects in which it is found; for though an individual may, from certain associations, and peculiar sympathies, of a physical and moral nature, think an ordinary woman beautiful, the generality of mankind will agree in judging of her as they would of all other objects in nature.

The difference of opinion that exists between the black and white nations, with regard to

beauty, is a subject that would lead me into a more ample discussion than I have room for at present. It will be treated at full length in my Inquiry into the Sublime and Beautiful. I must, however, do Mr. Knight the justice to say, that those who have replied to his arguments merely by endeavouring to prove, that white women are more beautiful than black, have ultimately proved nothing; for as beauty can have no abstract existence, independent of a percipient mind, it necessarily follows, that if the blacks do not perceive any beauty in white women, the sense of female beauty is not universal, and consequently not founded in the common feeling of mankind. I should not, perhaps, have suggested so strong an argument on the part of Mr. Knight, as I must necessarily have to reply to it hereafter; but as the discovery of truth is not only the duty, but the interest, of every writer, I can have no object in concealing any argument that seems to weaken any part of my own theory. If I can disprove it, the theory suffers nothing from it: on the contrary, the removal of a forcible objection is the greatest proof that the theory to which it is opposed is founded in truth: if no satisfactory reply can be given to it, we must necessarily conclude, that the universality of the sense of beauty admits of an exception with regard to the fair sex. But this admission, even if it must be made, does not

oblige us to admit also, that mankind are equally divided in their sense of the beauty of all other objects. Mr. Knight would, therefore, gain but little from this admission, as a theory is never weakened by one exception. The laws of nature frequently cross each other, and though each of them continues to exert its own original and inherent energies, it is only the more powerful law that seems operative to us. If, then, I were obliged to admit one exception in favour of Mr. Knight's scepticism, (an admission which I by no means promise,) I could still maintain, that the sense of beauty is universal, though its influence is not sensibly felt when overpowered by the stronger influence of a more powerful law of nature. Men are naturally attached to the place of their nativity, yet if it be made the scene of perpetual misery and distress to any individual in his youth, this law of natural attachment loses its influence, and he never thinks of it but with aversion and disgust. The laws of nature, therefore, sometimes combat with each other in the breast of man, and the more powerful law must necessarily prevail. If two men, moving in opposite directions, come in contact, the stronger will force the weaker in the same direction with himself. The philosopher, however, will not conclude, that the force by which he endeavours to move eastward has ceased, because he perceives

him moving to the west: he admits the operation of both powers at the same time, and proves their existence by shewing, that he would move still quicker to the west, than he actually does, if he had not exerted all his strength to move eastward. The sense of beauty must not, therefore, be considered extinct whenever it ceases to exert its sensible influence over the heart and its affections. With these observations I must conclude this chapter; hoping I shall be able to give my readers more ample satisfaction regarding the difference of feeling that exists between the Europeans and Africans, relative to the beauty of their respective females, in my Inquiry into the Sublime and Beautiful.

CHAP. VI

On the Alliance of Taste and Criticism.

To discover the principles by which an author should be guided in the conduct and disposition of his work, is to discover the rules by which the critic should judge of it. Criticism may be defined, the art of investigating the general and particular merits and defects of literary productions, particularly works of taste and imagination. The latter works alone are those in which the critic can properly and successfully exert his discriminating acumen, because it is only in these works that a writer of genius can exert all the powers of mind and intellect, with which he is endowed by nature. Here he can display whatever is exquisite in sensibility, pathetic in feeling, sublime in conception, vigorous in expression, rich in imagery, luxuriant in fancy, ennobled in sentiment, chaste in imagination, luminous in perception, elegant in diction, bold in description, judicious in selection, beautiful in design, and harmonious in combination. All these elements