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by supposing that those who entertain it must have formed a very indistinct idea of the elements of which imagination consists . We shall , therefore , endeavour to explain our own views of this interesting subject , in order to shew on what grounds our judgment of Dr . Chalmers is founded .
There are two things which appear to us necessary , in order to support a claim to imagination in its highest sense . First , the power of presenting clear , distinct and beautiful images to the mind ; and , secondly , the nobler faculty of rendering those images the
representations of some natural element in general , or the expressions of some quality of the human mind . The first requisite , it is perfectly easy to comprehend . It must immediately be seen that imagination can never consist of mere swelling language , of pomp
of diction , or profusion of epithet . It must employ "words only as the means of conveying its pictures to our intellectual perceptions . It must give us something which , at least in its
material forms , a painter could express . But this is not all . Many who are wholly destitute of this faculty , have given accurate descriptions of various scenes of life , and faithful delineations of individual character . Mr . Crabbe ,
for example , has eminently succeeded in these , in some of the most revolting of his pieces . These are but the outward forms in which the true poet embodies his divine perceptions . They are the " tenements " which he has to
" inform . " They only afford the medium through which his ideas can be conveyed to mortals . They are the representations , not merely of particular scenes or of certain individual
characters , but of the grand elements of nature , or whole classes of intelligent beings . Thus , the descriptions of Eden , in Paradise Lost , do not merely convey to our minds individual scenes , but fill us with a thousand images of natural beauty , to be discerned in every
part of creation . Thus , the principal characters of Shakspeate are not mere likenesses of individual men , but they stand as representatives of whole classes ; for while they present the most distinct images to the mind , they perpetually refer us to those elements which are as universal as the human
soul . Imagination , then , is not displayed in the analysis of general qua-
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lities , however exalted , nor in the description of natural imagery , however beautiful ; but in the expression of the former , by the means of the latter . It is the faculty that connects
the things which belong to our spiritual part , with the lovely creation around us . It is the power of embodying the most sublime and beautiful conceptions in the most sublime and beautiful of material forms . It is the
pure and exquisite medium by which things that are unseen , abstract qualities which belong to the soul or to the universe , are made to appear in the most exquisite shapings forth
which earth can supply . A spirit c shines through" all its images Not a feature but has its expression , far beyond the mere beauty of an accurate colouring-. There is the same difference between the works of a man of
real imagination , and of a mere accurate observer of life , as between the excellent likenesses which the painters of tlie Royal Academy take of ladies and gentlemen , and the noblest productions of the great masters of Italy . The former give us accurate ideas of Mr . A . and Mrs . B ., while the latter
present to us not only the most glorious of material shapes , but fill us with delightful conceptions of pure and angelic beauty , kindling inspiration and apostolic zeal . Now we not merely assert that Dr . Chalmers is wholly destitute of the
latter property ; but we maintain that he does not even possess the former . He is not only without imagination , he is without images . His most gaudy passages may be examined in vain , in order to find a single object , in itself beautiful , presented with distinctness to the mind . Whole pages are filled
with illustration , and yet contain no picture . For instance , Y > r . Chalmers has frequent recourse to the ministry of angels , and speculates boldly on their nature , their occupations , and their properties . But , even when on such a theme , he affords no glimpse of a beatific vision . He draws down
no form of celestial beauty to dazzle our intellectual eye : no gorgeous shapes seem to crowd upon our delighted view , when his eloquence is most fervent . He merely eulogizes the benevolence and the purity of the hosts of heaven , which he asserts they possess in a higher degree than the
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Review . —Chalmers ' s Astronomical Discourses . 425
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VOL . XII . 3 I
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1817, page 425, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2466/page/49/
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