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picturesque*. Of this latter sect I have always meant to profess myself; and even if I have expressed that meaning so ill, as to give just cause for being placed in the other, I cannot but think that the interlocutor in the dialogue, who makes me, in express terms, say that there is no distinction between them: in other words, that they are, in respect to visible objects, synonymous †, adopts rather an inquisitorial mode of proceeding; which howsoever sanctioned by authority in the trials of heretics, has not yet been acknowledged in the courts of philosophy, or by the judicature of common

sense.

82. To express that perfect serenity of mind, which was attributed to deities, and deified personages, the ancient artists exhibited the features perfectly regular; and made one side of the face an exact counterpart of the other: but, where passion or affection is expressed, they are always varied, as in nature. In the infancy of art, the figure was always represented with its weight equally poised upon both legs; so that its position was regularly and rigidly erect. The Egyptians, with that superstitious reverence for established customs, which distinguished them in every thing, adhered to this mode down to the latest times; but the

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Greeks departed from it, even in the figures of their deities, as early as the age of Polycletus*, and probably much earlier in subjects, which allowed the artists more liberty. Then the weight of the body, in standing figures, was thrown almost entirely upon one leg, by which means the muscles were, in some parts dilated, and in others, contracted; and the whole outline of the figure became loose and irregular.

88. Hence arose that ease, grace, elegance, and dignity of attitude and gesture, which we so much admire in the Greek statues: not that these qualities consist in any lines of beauty, or depend upon the impressions, which any specific forms make on the organs of sight. On the contrary, they arise wholly from mental sympathies and the association of ideas: wherefore the forms which appear easy, graceful, elegant, or dignified in a horse, are totally different from those which appear so in a man; and even, in the same individual man or woman, the forms, presented to the eye, vary with every change in the fashion of dress: but nevertheless a graceful, easy, elegant, and dignified actor or actress,

pro

* Plin. lib. xxxiv. c. viii. He says generally prium ejusdem, ut uno crure insisterent signa, excogitasse." But from figures upon coins I cannot but think that this style of composition prevailed long before the eighty-seventh Olympiad, the time when Polycletus flourished.

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will still seem so; whatever be the dress, which the custom of the stage may oblige them to assume,-Not, indeed, that they will appear equally so in all: for some modes of dress show the person to advantage and others to disadvantage; but still we find no difficulty in distinguishing the easy and graceful, from the stiff and awkward, through every disguise or concealment of the natural form.

84. The case is, that there are certain postures, in which the body naturally throws itself, and certain gestures, which it naturally displays, when under the influence of certain passions and dispositions of mind; so that, from our own internal feelings and sentiments, we learn to associate the ideas or notions of certain tempers and characters of mind, with those of certain attitudes and modes of carriage of the body; which are, therefore, said to express those tempers and characters; as the features of the face do more immediately and unequivocally: for the communication of sentiments from one person to another by the expression of the features, as well as by the tones of the voice, is, as before observed, by a natural and instinctive sympathy, anterior to, and, in a great measure, independent of the association of ideas.

85. Upon this principle, dignity of attitude is that disposition of the limbs and person, which, from habitual observation of ourselves

or others, we have learned to consider as expressive of a dignified and elevated mind; while grace and elegance of form are those dispositions and combinations of it, which, upon the same principle, seem to express refinement of intellect, polish of manners, or pleasantness of temper: for, though we apply the words grace and elegance to inanimate objects, it is always metaphorically and by analogy; as we talk of lightness and heaviness of form, at the same time that we know that gravitation has nothing to do with form, but depends entirely on sub

stance.

86. Hence it is, that while our ideas of dignity of attitude and gesture have always continued nearly the same, those of grace and elegance have been in a perpetual state of change and fluctuation: for our notions of what is mean, and what is elevated, depend upon the natural and permanent sentiments of the soul; but those of what is refined or polished; and pleasant, or the contrary, depend much upon artificial manners, which are incessantly varying. Not, however, that I would infer that there are no certain and natural principles of grace and elegance: for there are, unquestionably, certain and natural principles of good manners, arising from natural mildness, amenity, and pleasantness of disposition, which some particular attitudes and gestures of the

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body are, by the laws of its physical constitu-
tion, more appropriate, than others, to express:
but these are liable to the influence of artificial
habits, and the arbitrary caprice of fashion; of
which we have seen very remarkable instances
in our own times. It is but a few years since,
the first principle of grace in French dancing
was, that the body should not feel the movement
of the limbs, but remain like an inflexible pillar
or barrel, unaffected by all the violent contor-
tions and distortions of the legs and arms, which
grew out of it: yet if there be any one principle
of
grace more certain than another, it is that of
a general harmony of movement and gesture
through the whole body; which is, indeed,
equally necessary to all expression: for if the
same sentiment does not appear to predominate
through the whole frame, and to influence every
part of it alike, the effect must be very feeble
and imperfect. To throw the limbs into extra-
vagant and unnatural postures, or move them
with great violence and rapidity, while the body
rémains motionless and erect, may show great
skill and agility; which, if displayed with ease,
may be mistaken for grace; but, nevertheless, if
it means nothing, it is mere trick; and trick of
the most despicable kind.

87. Dancing is mentioned by Aristotle as an imitative art, whose business was to express the sentiments and affections of the mind, by the

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