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    Untitled Article

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    Untitled Article

    Of the beauties which nven are eoncertieij in yroduciivg , it is chanfcft ^ r ^ tic tha't t&e observation of rhetor ) must he limited to comparatively few persons Those of nature are distinguished by their

    bemg open to every one . Whoever possesses sense and feeling , and especially devotional feeling , is tfoeir owner ; and this without infringement of the rights and

    enjoyments of any of the same qualifications . It frequently happens that he even derives more substantial pleasure from what the children ' of wealth style their property trian the man to whom in strict

    justice they belong . To this case wcvrMy app ' y part of a beautiful inseWptioh in a garden at Rome : JE , v ^ is ' magi $ h < &cparantur quant Hero ^ the mall who finds no trifling ^ satisfaction ih surveying the

    granrfetir and beauty of creation , is not in so mudh danger of contracting selfish habits , as he whose taste ii limited to the elegancies produced by art . His delight in beholding sti ' cih objects , is

    heightt ? nerl by the consideration that they < : an be seen and relished by many others , that , like the beams of the sun , their cheering influence may be perceived end acknowledged by nearly all mankind . With

    artificiatHeaiity we connect the thought of prf&otial property : with the chattiris of nature no such thought cari Bfe utiited . A further recommendation of the beauties df nature , in

    preference to those of art , is that they are favourable to an humble and dev 6 ut spirit and to the study of Divine Providence . While the pursuit of tfie pleasures of taste and imagination may forrn or increase a selfish temper , the contemplation

    Untitled Article

    of the works of God has a tendency to subdue pride . When we consider them , ; the exclamation seems unavoidable , ** Who and what are we in the midst of tl ^ c creation ! " Such a train of

    thinking is excellently calculated to check presumption . But wfoen we , at the same time , call to mind that the author of unnumbered worlds cannot be indifferent -to

    what appears the minutest part of the structure , the least important events in the condition of his hu ~ man offspring , we must \? e per suaded that although we ought not to cherish pride , yet neither should

    we despair . Thus , " an acquaintance with nature , is auspicious to genuine piety ; and they who know something of the Almighty in Creation , will strongly desire to know more of him in his administration .

    With these sources of intellectual pleasure at command , how blind to their own interest are those persons who have scarcely any other end ia view than that of satisfying " the desire of the ey& and the pride of life !*

    Not that the pleasures of taste and inragination aie undeserving of our notice . So far as they minister to rational convenience and utility they merit our regard * Whatever lawful objects are promoted by simplicity , neatness , and

    regularity , stan ^ p a value upon the rm ans by which they are advanced . Let not those means however be confounded with the objects themselves ; let us not conveit that into the occupation of life which at best should be only a temporary relaxation .

    It muy again be said in favour of a taste for the beauties of art ,, that it is frequently a preservative from grosbly sensual pleasures .

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    Essay on the Pursuit of the Plta $ ure& of \ Tuste and Imagination * T §

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1814, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2436/page/19/