From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
An Essay on Original Genius and its Various Modes of Exertion in Philosophy and the Fine Arts, particularly in Poetry (1767) is a text by William Duff.
It is frequently cited in the history of genius and creativity.
Duff was primarily interested in establishing the cognitive traits that explained variance in people's accomplishments. He postulated three aspects: imagination, judgement and taste. Notably, he emphasised imagination as making the most important contribution to genius.
Full text
A N
ESSAY
O N
ORIGINAL GENIUS}
A N D I T S
VARIOUS MODES of EXERTION
I N
PHILOSOPHY
A N D T H E
FINE ARTS,
PARTICULARLY IN
POETRY.
f/
Nullim addiSiui jurare in verba magijiri, Horat.
LONDON:
Printed for Edward and Charles Dilly in the Poultry,
near the ManJion-Hou/e,
M DCC LXVII,
9 I S^ ^
BF
I>S73e
.'J
,^ ADVERTISEMENT.
Ui-'
<r^
^ ^ fl ^ O explain the nature of G e-
1 JL N I u s, to point out its effen*
-^ tial ingredients, to flievv the refpedive
and the combined efficacy of thofe
ingredients in compofition, as well as
^ in the refearches of Science and the
^ inventions or improvements of Art,
2 is the principal defign of the foUow-
^ ing Effay. It is of little importance
for the Reader to know what were
the Author's motives for its publica-
tion, or how it comes to be offered
Q to the Public in its prefent form.
^ Thus far however it may not be im-
A 2 proper
301^84
IV ADVERTISE M E N T.
proper to acquaint him, that though
the Author had at firfl: refolved to
confine his views to the confideration
of the ingredients, exertions, and ef-
fects of ORIGINAL Poetic Ge-
l^ius alone, he was, upon maturer
deliberation, inclined to extend his
profpeds ; and, by taking a more ex-
tenfive furvey of his fubjecl, was de-
firous to render the defign of the
ElTay more complete. He acknow-
ledges likewife, that he was partly led
on to this method of profecuting his
plan by gradual and almofi: imper-
ceptible fteps ; finding his ful:je<n:
growing upon him while he contem-
plated it nearly, and new profpeds
opening themfelves to the imagination,
in proportion to the progrefs he had
made. As.hc had not therefore fixed
his
ADVERTISEMENT. v
his attention wholly on any particu-
lar fpecies of Genius, fo as to exclude
altogether the conjfideration of any
other fpecies ; and as he hath taken
occafion to explain both the general
nature and the peculiar modifications
of this quality, as exerted in the va-
rious provinces of Imagination, with
various degrees of energy ; he refolved
tointitle his performance An ESSAY
ON ORIGINAL GENIUS; which
title he thought would be moft ex-
preffive of its defigri, and include
under it the feveral kinds of Genius
treated of in the courfe of the fol-
lowing Diflertation. At the fame
time it cannot but be obferved, that
the Author hath kept the main objedt
of his attention principally in his eye ;
that he hath more particularly explain-
A 3 cd
vi ADVERTISEMENT.
ed the nature, as well as marked the
indications and efforts of original
POETIC Genius, than thofe of any
other mode of this quality ; and that
the remarks which he hath made upon
its other modes and degrees, are like
fo many lines meeting in one central
point, to which the eye is directed as
the termination of its profped.
It will like wife be obferved, that
in this view the Firft Book may very
properly be confidered as an Intro-
du6lion to the Second, in which the
fubjed is branched out into its va-
rious parts, and more particularly dif-
cuffed. In the firft fedlion of the
former, the objeds and ingredients
of Genius are inquired into, as well
as the efficacy of thofe ingredients in
compofition j
ADVERTISEMENT. vii
compoiitiort ; aficJ if, in explaining
the nature or enumerating the Ingres-
dients of Genius, the Author hath
diffented either from the general opi-
nion, or from the opinion of a few
individuals, who may poflibly think
Genius properly conftitutcd by ImSr-
gination alone, he hath produced thfe
reafons on which his fentiments are
founded. In the fecond fed:ion, he
hath pointed out the ufual indications
of the above-mentioned quality, con-
fidered in a general view ; and, in the
third, hath entered into a difquifition
on a fubjedl nearly connected with iti
that of Wit and Humour. The fourth
fedion is appropriated to an inquiry
into the mutual influence of Imagina-
tion on Tafle, and of Tafte on Ima-
gination, confidered as ingredients iri
A 4 the
viii ADVERTISEMENT.
thfc compofition of Genius ; and the
laft fedion of the firfl: book is em-
ployed in inquiring into its different
degrees and modes of exertion.
Having thus laid the foundation,
the Author rifes a ftep higher, and
endeavours to explain the nature of
that degree of Genius v^^hich is pro-
perly denominated original ; after
which he proceeds to confider its
different exertions in Philolbphy, in
Poetry, and in the other fine Arts ;
piore particularly pointing out its in-
dications and its efforts in Poetry.
Laft of all, he endeavours to fhevv,
that the early and uncultivated pe-
riods of fociety are peculiarly favour-
able to the difplay of original Poetic
Genius, and that this quality will
feldom
ADVERTISEMENT. ix
feldom appear in a very high degree
in cultivated life ; of which he hath
likewife attempted to affign the reafons.
Such is the general plan of the
Eflay now fubmitted, with the utmoft
deference, to the judgment and can-
dor of the Public. The Author might
avail himfelf of the ordinary pradice
of foliciting an indulgence to the faults
of his performance, and he is fenfible
that in many inftances he flands in
need of it ; but as he does not think
it reafonable to exped an indulgence
to faults, which either a more accurate
examination of his Work would have
qualified him to corre<fl ; or which, if
incorrigible, a proper fenfe of his own
abilities would have enabled him to
difcern ; he is under a necefTity of ap~
pealing
X ADVERTISEMENT.
pealing to the impartial judgment of
his Readers, however difadvantageous
that appeal may be to himfelf ; con-
iirious as he is, that the utmoft an
Author can hope for, is a candid exa-
mination of his compofitionsj and
an equitable decifion concerning their
genuine merit.
He is at the fame time well aware^
that in an Essay on Original Genius,
Originality of Sentiment will naturally,
and may, no doubt, juftly be expelled ;
and that where this is altogether want-
ing, no other excellence can fupply the
defeat. This obfervation, it muft be
confeffed, furnifhes a very fevere teft
for determining the merit of the fol-
lowing production ; and indeed the
Author is not a little apprehenfive of
the
ADVERTISEMENT. jri
the iffue of a ftrid: examination. In the
mean time, though he has already pre-
cluded himfelf from the ufual pleas to
indulgence, he may at leaft be allowed
to fuggeft the difficulty of the attempt,
as fome kind of apology for the defeds
in the execution. The far greater
number even of thofe who pretend to
be poffeffed of learning and intelledual
accomplifhments,being neither capable
nor willing to think for themfelves on
any fubjedl, are contented to adopt the
Sentiments of perfons of fuperior abi-
lities, that are circulated in books or
in converfation, and echoed from
mouth to mouth. It may likewife
be remarked, that it is frequently no
eafy matter to diftinguifli the fenti-
ments that are derived from the
fources above-njentioned, from thofe
that
xii ADVERTISEMENT.
that are properly original, and are
the refult of invention and reflexion
united together. A cafual coincidence
of fentiment will fometimes happen,
where not the leaft imitation was in-
tended ; and when this is the cafe,
the Author, in whofe compofitions it
is found, may as juftly affert his claim
to Originality, as if no fuch coinci-
dence had ever exifted.
T o thefe confiderations, which will
in feveral inftances at leaft account for
an accidental similarity, and even
SAMENESS of fcntimcnts with thofe
of others, fuppofing them to have
happened in fome parts of the follow-
ing Eflay, the Author of it begs leave
to fubjoin a caution to his Readers:
It is, that they would not exped to
meet
ADVERTISEMENT, xiii
meet with original fentiments in thofe
parts of this Effay, where it is fcarc«
poflible they fhould be difcovered.
Thus, for inftance, in enumerating the
ingredients, pointing out the objedls,
or illuftrating the efforts of Genius,
there is very httle fcope afforded for
any new track of thought ; and thofe
who would form juft opinions of the
above-mentioned articles, muft think
as the bed Authors who ha\^ gone
before them have done upon the fame
fubjeds. Other parts of the follow-
ing Treatife certainly afford fufficient
fcope for original fentiments ; and if
the Author has not been fo happy as
to ftrike out fome of thefe, he hath
indeed laboured in vain, and very
much failed in the attainment of his
propofed end.
If
xiv ADVERTISEMENT.
If he hath difcovered a vein of
original fentiment in any part of the
following Work, it will probably ap-
pear in thofe fedions wherein he has
confidered the connections betwixt
Genius, Wit, and Humour; traced
the mutual influence of Imagination
on Taste, and of Taste on Imagi-
nation ; explained the different mo-
difications, degrees, and exertions of
Original Genius, as appearing in
Philosophy, Poetry, and the other
fine Arts ; pointed out the Period of
Society moft favourable to the Dif-
play of ORIGINAL Poetic Genius in
particular, and produced various ar-
guments in fupport of the pofition he
hath advanced. In what degree Ori-
ginality of Sentiment is really difco-
yered on the above-mentioned fub-
jefts,
ADVERTISEMENT. xv
jeds, muft be left to the determina-
tion of the intelligent and impartial
Reader. The Author, for his own
part, can at leaft declare, that he is
not confcioiis of having borrowed his
obfervations on thefe fubjeds from
the Writings of any other perfon what-
ever.
Should the volume now offered to
the Public, be fo happy as to obtain its
approbation, another will foon fuc^
ceed ; in which the principal defign
of the prefent volume will be farthe^r
purfued, wherein the obfervations on
ORIGINAL Poetic Genius contained
in it, will be exemplified by quota-
tions from the Works of the greateft
original Geniufes in Poetry, whether
ancient or modern.
On
xvi ADVERTISEMENT.
On the other hand, if the prefent
volume fliould unhappily fall under
the public cenfure, the Author will
not be fo unreafonable as to remon-
ftrate or complain ; for though the
public judgment is not infallible, it
will for the moft part be found to be
more juft, as it certainly will be more
impartial, than the opinion of any
Writer concerning the merit of his
own productions. That judgment,
therefore, even though it fhould al-
together difcourage him from the pub-
lication of a fecond volume, he is de-
termined to refped; for he will not
obftinately perfift in an ill-fated at-
tempt to write, adverfis numimbus\
nor will he difcredit himfelf by pub-
lifliingwhat maybe thought unwor-
thy of a perulal.
THE
THE
CONTENTS.
o
B O O K I.
F the Nature, Properties, and Indica-
tions of Genius ; and of the various
Modes of Exertion, Page i
SECTION I.
Of the Objefts and Ingredients of Genius ; and
of the EfHcacy of thofe Ingredients united in
Composition, - . ^
Imagination necefsary to a Genius, 6
An accurate Judgment alfo necefsary, 8
Of Taste, that internal power of percep-
tion, - - - 1 6
Of Imagination, Judgment and Taste, 19
The Iliad and Odyjfey, works of Genius, 24
a SEC-
xviii CONTENTS:
S E C T I O N II.
Of the ufual Indications of Genius, Page 27
Of Philofophical and Poetical Genius, 3 3
Of Tasso, Pope, and Milton, 37
Of QyiNTiLiAN, a great Mafter of Elo-
quence, - - - 38
Of a Genius for Architecture, - 42
Of a Genius for Eloquence, - 4^
SECTION III.
Of the Connexion betwixt Genius, Wit, and
Humour, - - - 46
Pope's Rape of the Lock, a refined piece of
. . Humour, - - 5^y 55
Swift, not an exalted Genius, nor Ossian
a Wit, - - ' 53
Of Swift's Gulliver and his Tale of a Tub, 53
Genius and Wit united inSHAKESPEAR, 54
SECTION IV.
Of the mutual Influence of Imagination on
Taste, and of Taste on Imagination, con-
sidered as Ingredients in the Composition of
Genius, _ - - (^'^
A Definition of Taste, - 64
SECTION
CONTENTS. xix
SECTION V.
Of the different degrees of Genius, and its
various Modes of Exertion, Page 73
Maclaurin and Strange, men of Ge-
nius, . _ . 75
Genius difcovercd. in mechanical Arts, 7/
BOOK II.
SECTION I.
Of that Degree of Genius, which is pro*
perly denominated Original, - 8^
Two general Sources of Ideas, Sensation
and Reflection, - - 87
SECTION IL
Of Original Philofophic Genius, - 91'
The kind of Imagination adapted to original
Philofophic Genius, - 96
The kind peculiar to original Genius in
Poetry, - • - 96
Plato of a moft copious imagination, 104
Of his Philofophy, - 105
Lord Bacon, the reftorer of Learning, 115
An original Philofophic Genius, 1 19
a 2 SA
iX CONTENTS?
Sir Isaac NeWtSk," dTri original Genius in
Philofophy, - - Page ii^
•"-Mi;,
, His ftupendous difcoveries of the revolu-
tions of the heavenly bodies, £5f<r. 119
Dr Berkeley, Bifhop ofCloyne, an original
Genius in Philofophy, - 120
• Dr Burnet, author ofiheTheory of the Earthy
^ an original Genius in Philofophy, .121
An admirable performance in feveral re-
fpefts, - - - 122
SECTION III.
Of Original Genius in Foe try, - ti\
Invention, the vital fpirit of it, - \^ 125
Of the invention'of Incidents, - 127
Of the invention of Charadiers, - 1 30
Shakespear, his great Genius, '- 141
Of the invention of Imagery, - 1 43
Of the invention of Sentiment, - 149
X^ONGiNus, an admirable CritiCy . - 151
Aristotle, his obfervation on the methods
of raising the pafsions, - 1 54
Vivacity of defcription charaderillical of a
&reat Genius, - - 1^:7
Three other ingredients of Original Genius, 162
Irregular greatnefs of Imagination, charadler-
iftical of original Genius, - 1 63
Wildnefs
).
CONTENTS. xxi
Wildnefs of Imagihation difcovers an Oricinal
Genius, - - Page i68
Enthusialm of Imagination Iliews an Original
Genius, - - - 169
r Plato's opinion of the Enthusiafm of Poetry^,
Ardor of Imagination the foul of Poetry, 171
Efsays of Original Genius in Allegories, 171
Two forts of Allegory, - 17 j
Spenser's Fairy ^een, a fpecies of Allegory, 1 74
Original Genius difcovered in Visions, 176
Fiction or ideal figures difcover Original Ge-
nius, - - - 179
Poets and Pricfls, authors of all the Theologi-
cal Syftems of the Gentile world, 181
The Greek Theology the moft ingenioiis, 181
A fhort view of the Greek Mythology, 182
The Eaftern manner of Writing abounds with
Allegories, - - - 187
Admirable examples thereof in the facred
Writings, - - - 187
SECTION IV.
Of Original Genius in the other fine Arts, 1 8S
- - Poetry affords a difplay of Original Genius, 188
A degree of Original Genius in other Arts, 188
Of Original Gtnius- in the art of Painting, 1 89
Imagination
xxii CONTENTS.
Imagination necefsarjr to form an Hiftory-
Painter, - - Page 191
Original Genius difeovers itfelf in the Painter,
An example of Genius in Painting, on the
fubjeft of Paul's preaching at Athens, 198
Original Genius fometimes difcovered in de-
fcriptive pieces, - - 202
Original Genius difcovered in Eloquence, 203
Inftances of Original Genius in Eloquence,
from Demosthenes the celebrated ^/^f«/^»
Orator, - - - 206
Inftances from the great Roman Orator Cice-
ro, in his Orations concerning Catiline
and MiLO, - - 217,221
Inftances of modern Eloquence from French
Orators, - - - 229
An inftance from Bourdaloue, defcribing the
Puniftiment of the Wicked, 230
An inftance of Eloquence from Massillon,
the Prince of modern Orators, 231
Inftances of Genius in modern Orators in our
own Island, - - 235
An inftance from a Sermon by Dr Fordyce,
235
Another inftance in a Sermon by Dr Ocilvie,
237
Wherein the EngUJh Preachers are diftinguifh-
ed, 1 '. 1 238
CONTENTS. xxiii
An inftance of eminent Eloquence from Mr
Seed's Sermons, - Page 239
Another inftance from the Sermons of DrAx-
TERBURY, - - - 242
An example of Oratorial Eloquence from a
Speech in the Britijh Senate, - 244
Original Genius difcovers itfelf in Music, 247
Originality of Genius difcovercd in Archi-
tecture, . _ _ 253
Genius diftinguifhed by a powerful bias to In-
vention, - - - 257
Of ftupendous Gothic Stru6lures, 257
The elegance of the Grecian and Roman Edi-
fices, - - - 259
S E C T I O N V.
That original Poetic Genius will in general be
difplayed in its utmoft vigour in the early and
uncultivated periods of Society, which are pe-
culiarly favourable to it •, and that it will fel-
dom appear in a very high degree in cultivated
life, - - - _ 260
Arts and Sciences in their firft imperfe<5l
ftate, afford fcope for the exertions of Ge-
nius, - - - 261
Efforts of Imagination in Poetry impetuous,
262
Painters,
xxiv C O N T E T^ f S..
.jPaintcrs, Orators, Musicians, Architects and
, Philofophers, indebted to their predecefsors.
Page 263
Of Homer writing the Iliad and Odyffejy and Os-
siAN composing Fingal and Temora^ 264
Original Poetic Genius difplayed in an early and
uncultivated period of fociety, - 265
Several reafons afsigned for it, 265,269,271,273
An obfervation on Terence's Comedies, 269
Original Genius in Poetry not derived from books
and learning, - - 275,281
Different degrees of Originality in Poetry, 277
YtBLGiL^ Tassq and Milton, imitated Homer,
278,279
Original Genius feldom appears in cultivated
life, - - - - 285
Of the Genius of Shakespear and Milton, 2 87
Some exalted Geniufes in our own age, 288
Caufes of Originality of Genius not being often
found in cultivated life, - 289
Original Genius not flourilhing in luxury or po-
verty, _ - _ 291,-292
True Genius profpers in rural tranquillity, 293
Original Genius abforbed in the gulf of fenfual
indulgence, - - - 294
A remark on tlie advantages of learning, though
it doth not promote Original Genius, 295,296
A N
AN
ESSAY
O N
GENIUS.
BOOK I.
OF THE
Nature, Properties, and Indications
O F
GENIUS}
A N D O F I T S
VARIOUS MODES of EXERTION.
u
a.
SECTION I.
O F T H E
OBJECTS AND INGREDIENTS
O F
GENIUS;
AND OF THE
EFFICACY of thofe INGREDIENTS
UNITED IN
COMPOSITION.
•^^4^^ T muft have occurred to every
.; I f oi^e who has furveyed, with an
^,^^^2 ordinary degree of attention, the
unequal diftribution of natural
talents among mankind ; that as there is a
great diverfity of thefe obfervable among
them, fo the fame talents are poffefTed in
very different proportions by different per-
(ons. This variety both in the kind and
B 2 degree
4 ANESSAY
degree of mental accomplifhments, while it
indicates that man was formed for fociety,
doth likewife clearly point out the refpeflive
ftations in Hfe which every individual is beft
calculated to fill and to adorn. Education,
as it is well or ill direded, may invigorate
or weaken the natural powers of the mind,
but it cannot produce or annihilate them.
How much foever thefe powers may be
perverted or mifappUed, by the folly and ig-
norance of men, it cannot be denied, that
the variety with which they are beftowed, is
both a wife and beneficent contrivance of
the Author of nature ; fince a diverfity and
a fubordination of intelle6lual accomplifh-
ments are no lefs neceffary to the order and
good government of fociety, than a fubor-
dination of rank and fortune. By thefe
means the general bufinefs of life is mofl
fuccefsfully carried on j men become mu-
tually dependent upon, and fubfervient to,
the necefllties of each other : fome apply
themfelves to agriculture and commerce 3
while
ON GENIUS. 5
while others, of a more contemplative difpo-
fition, or of a more lively imagination, de-
dicate their time to philofopby and the li-
beral arts.
Of thofe who have applied themfelves to
the cultivation of either, a fmall num.ber
only are quahfied to extend their empire,
"and advance their improvement in any con-
fide rable degree. To explore unbeaten tracks,
and make new difcoveries in the regions of
Science; to invent the defigns, and perfe6l
the productions of Art, is the province of
Genius alone. Thefe ends are the obje61s to
which it conflantly afpires -, and the attain-
ment of thefe ends can only fall within the
compafs of the few enlightened; penetrating,
and capacious minds, that feem deftined by
Providence for enlarging the fphere of hu-
man knowledge and human happinefs. The
bulk of the literary part of mankind muft
be contented to follow the path marked out
by fuch illuftrious leaders.
B 3 Having
h A N E S S AY
Having fuggefted the objeds to which
Genius naturally afpires, it will be more
eafy to difcover the means by which it at-
tains them ; or, in other words, the prin-
cipal ingredients which conftitute this fin-
gular accomplifhment. Thefe are imagi-
nation, JUDGMENT, and TASTE. We fliall
confider therefore the peculiar nature of thefe
different quahties, and point out the parti-
cular efficacy of each, and the combined ef-
feds of all, in accomplifhing the purpofes
of Genius.
That Imagination is the quality of all
others moft eflentially requifite to the exift-
ence of Genius, will univerfally be acknow-
ledged. '
Imagination is that faculty whereby the
mind not only refle6ls on its own opera-
tions, but which aflembles the various ideas
conveyed to the underftanding by the canal
of fenfation, and. treafured up in the repo-
fitory of the memory, compounding or dis-
joining
ON GEfJIUS. 7
joining them at pleafure j and which, by its
plaftic power of inventing new aflbciations
of ideas, and of combining them with in-
finite variety, is enabled to prefent a crea-
tion of its own, and to exhibit fcenes and
objects which never exifted in nature. So
indifpenfibly neceflary is this faculty in the
compofition of Genius, that all the difcove-
ries in fcience, and all the inventions and
improvements in art, if we except fuch as
have arifen from mere accident, derive their
origin from its vigorous exertion *. At the
fame time it muft be confefTed, that all the
falfe and fallacious fyftems of the former,
and all the irregular and illegitimate per-
formances in the latter, which have ever
- It would be talking with great impropriety, ,t^
afcribe either the one or the other to the force of an
acute and penetrating Judgment ; fince it is the chief
province of this faculty, as will immediately be fhewn,
to employ its difcerning power in demonftrating, by
juft reafoning and indudlion, the truth and importance
of thofe difcoveries, and the utility of thofe inventions j
while the inventions and difcoveries themfelves muft be
efFeiluated by the power of a plaftic or warm imagination.
B 4 been
8 AN ESSAY
been obtruded upon mankind, may be juftly
imputed to the unbounded extravagance of
the fame faculty : fuch effe6ls are the natu-
ral confequences of an exuberant imagina-
tion, without any proportionable fhare of
the reafoning talent. It is evidently necef-
fary therefore, in order to render the pro-
du6lions of Genius regular and juft, as v^^ell
as elegant and ingenious, that the difcern-
ing and coercive power of judgment fliould
mark and reflrain the excurfions of a wan-
ton imagination ; in other words, that the
aufterity of reafon fhould blend itfelf with
the gaiety of the graces. Here then we
have another ingredient of Genius j an in-
gredient eflential to its conftitution, and
without which it cannot pofTibly be exhi-
bited to full advantage, even an accurate
and penetrating judgment.
The proper office of judgmknt in com-
pofition, is to compare the ideas which imagi-
nation collefls ; to obferve their agreement
or difagreement, their relations and refcm-
blances ;
ON G E N I US. 9
blances j to point out fuch as are of a ho-
mogeneous nature j to mark and rejedt fuch
as are difcordant j and finally, to determine
the truth and utility of the inventions or dif-
coveries which are produced by the power of
imagination -f . This faculty is, in all its
operations, cool, attentive, and confiderate.
It canvaffes the dengn, ponders the fenti-
ments, examines their piopriety and con-
nexion, and reviews the whole compofition
with fevere impartiality. Thus it appears to
be in every reipe6l a proper counterbalance
to the RAMBLING and volatile power of
IMAGINATION. The ouc, perpetually at-
tempting to foar, is apt to deviate into the
mazes of error ; while the other arrefts the
wanderer in its vagrant courfe, and compels
t QuiNTiLiAN, who poflefled all the ingredients
of Genius in a high and almoft equal degree, feems to
confider Judgment as fo elTential a one in its compo-
fition, that he will not allow the name of Invention to
any difcovery of imagination which has not paffed the
teft of reafon : Nee invenljfc qwdem credo eum qui non
judicavit.
it
J^o AN ESSAY
it to follow the path of nature and of
truth.
Indeed the principal ufe and the proper
fphere of judgment, in works of Genius
and Art, is to guard an author or an artift
againft the faults he may be apt to commit,
either in the defign or execution of his work,
rather than to aflift him in the attainment
of any uncommon beauty, a tafk which this
faculty is by no means quahfied to accom-
plifh. We may alfo obferve, that it is
chiefly employed in pointing out the moft
obvious blemiflies in any performance, and
efpecially fuch as are contrary to the rules
of art. There are other blemifhes, perhaps
no lefs confiderable, that utterly efcape its
notice j as there are certain peculiar and
delicate beauties of which it can take no
cognifance. Both thefe are the objects of
that faculty which we diflinguiflied by the
name of taste, and confidered as the laft
ingredient in the compofition of Genius.
We
ON GENIUS. II
" We may define taste to be that inter-
nal fenfe, which, by its own exquifitely nice
fenfibility, without the afliftance of the
reafoning faculty, diftinguifties and deter-
mines the various qualities of the obje(^
fubmitted to its cognlfance ; pronouncing,
by its own arbitrary verdicl, that they are
grand or mean, beautiful or ugly, decent
or ridiculous *." From this definition it ap-
pears, that Tafte is defigned as a fupplement
to the defeats of the power of judgment, at
leaft in canvafling the merit of the perform-
ances of art. Thefe indeed are the fubje^ls
on which it exercifes its difcerning talent
with the greateft propriety, as well as with
the greateft probability of fuccefs : its domi-
nion, however, is in fome degree univerfal,
both in the Arts and Sciences ; though that
dominion is much more abfolute, and more
legitimate in the former than it is in the
- Omnes enim, tacito quodafm fenfu, fine ulla arte
aut ratione, quse fint in artibus ac rationibus refta ac
prava dijudicant. Cicero de Oral, lib, iii, cap. 50.
latter.
12 AN ESSAY
latter. The truth is, to bring philofophical
fubjedts to the tribunal of Tafte, or to em-
ploy this faculty principally in their exami-
nation, is extremely dangerous, and natu-
rally produdlive of abfurdity and error.
The order of things is thereby reverfed ;
reafon is dethroned, and fenfe ufurps the
place of judgment. Tafte therefore muft be
contented to adl an inferior and fubordinate
part in the refearches of fcience : it muft not
pretend to take the lead of reafon, but hum-
bly follow the path marked out by it. In
the defigns and works of art, the cafe is
quite otherwife. Inftead of being diredled
by judgment, it claims the direftion in its
turn; its authority is uncontrolable, and
there lies no appeal from its decifions. In-
deed it is well qualified to decide with pre-
cifion and certainty on fubjedls of this kind ;
for it pofleffes a perfpicacity of difcernment
with regard to them,which reafon can by no
means pretend to, even on thofe fubje6ls that
are the moft adapted to its nature. So much
more perfedt are the fenfes than the under-
ftanding.
ON GENIUS. 13
(landing". We fliall illuftrate thefe remarks
by an example.
Let us fuppofe two perfons, the one pos-
sefled of a comprehenfive and penetrating
judgment, without any refinement or deli-
cacy of tafte ; the other endued with the
moft exquifite fenfibility of talle, without
any extraordinary proportion of the reafon-
ing talent, both fet to work in examining
the merit of feme mafterly production of
art, that admired piece of hillory-painting,
for inftance, of the Crucifixion, by Michael
Angelo, and obferve their different proce-
dure, and the very different remarks they
will make. The former meafures with his
eye the exa6t proportion of every figure in
the piece j he confiders how far the rules of
art are obferved in the defign and ordon-
nance; whether the group of fubordinate
figures naturally lead the eye to the capital
one, and fix the attention principally upon
it} and whether the artift has given a pro-
per variety of exprelTion to the countenances
of
J4 .AN E S S AY
of the feveral fpe6tatbrs. Upon diKovering
that the painter had exa6lly conformed to
the rules of his art in all thefe particulars,
he would not only applaud his judgment,
but would alfo give teftimony to his mafle-
ry and fkill ; without, however, having any
true feeling of thofe uncommon beauties
which conftitute real merit in the art of
painting. Such would be the procedure and
remarks of the man of mere judgment.
Confider now, on the other hand, in what a
different manner the man of tafle will pro-
ceed, and in what manner he will be affefl-
ed. Inftead of attending, in the firfl place,
to the juft proportions of the various figures
exhibited in the draught, however neceflary
to be obferved ; inftead of remarking, with
approbation, the judgment and ingenuity
difplayed by the artift in the uniformity of
defign, and in the regularity and juftnefs
that appear in the difpofition of the feveral
figures of the piece j he fixes his eye upon
the principal one, in which he obferves the
various contorfions of the countenance, the
- > natural
ON GENIUS. 15
natural expreflions of agonifing pain, mixed
however with an air of divine benignity
and compaffion. Then he pafTes on to the
contemplation of the inferior and fubordi-
nate figures, in which he perceives a varie-
ty of oppofite paffions, of rage and terror,
of admiration and pity, ilrongly marked in
their different countenances j and feels the
correfponding emotions in their utmoft
ftrength which thofe feveral paffions are
calculated to infpire. In a word, the man
of judgment approves of and admires what
is merely mechanical in the piece -, the man
of tafte is ftruck with what could only be
efFe6led by the power of Genius. Where-
ever nature is juftly reprefented, wherever
the features of any one paffion are forcibly
exprefled, to thofe features his attention is
attracted, and he dwells on the contemplar
tion of them with intenfe and exquifite
pleafure. The fenfations of the former are
cool, weak, and unafFe<5ling throughout ;
thofe of the latter are warm, vivid, and
deeply interefting ; or, to fpeak more pro-
perly,
i6 AN ESSAY
perly, the one reafohs, the other feels -j-.
But as no reafoning can enable a man to
form an idea of what is really an obje^l of
fenfation, the moft penetrating judgment
can never fupply the want of an exquifite
fenfibility of tafte. In order therefore to re-
lifh and to judge of the produ6lions of Ge-
nius and of Art, there muft be an internal
perceptive power, exqulfitely fenfible to all the
imprefiions which fuch produ6lions are ca-
pable of making on a fufceptible mind.
This internal power of perception, which
we diftinguifh by the name of taste, and
which we have (hewn to be fo neceflary for
enabling us to judge properly concerning
works of imagination, does not appear to be
requifite, in the fame degree, in the refearches
of Science. In this department, reafon
reaffumes the reins, points out and prefcribes
t Non ratione aliqua, fed motu nefcio an inenarra-
bilr judicatur. Neque hoc ab ullo fatis explicaii puto,
Ircet multi tentaverint. Quint. Injllt, lib. vi.
the
ON GENIUS. 17
the flight of fancy, afiigns the office, and
determines the authojity of tafte, which, as
we have aheady obferved, muft here be
contented to a6l a fecondary part. In phi-
lofophical fpeculations a conftant appeal is
made to the faculty of Reafon, not to that
of Imagination ; principles are laid down,
arguments are adduced, phenomena are ex-
plained, and their confequences inveftigated.
Hence it follows, that in the whole procefs
judgment is much more exercifed than tafte.
Yet fome fcope is alfo afforded for the exer-
cife of the latter faculty ; for as all difcove-
ries in fcience are the work of imagination,
which will be afterwards particularly fliewn ;
fo tafte may be very properly exerted in the
illuftration of thofe difcoveries which have
obtained the fan6lion of reafon; provided
that, in this cafe, tafte and imagination a<5l
under the diredlion, and fubmit to the con-
troling power of judgment.
On the other hand, judgment has a par-
ticular province affigned to it, in examining
C the
i8 AN ESSAY
the works of Genius and Art ; though, with
regard to thefe, it a6ls an inferior part, as
tafte does in the former cafe. Judgment
muft not prefume to take cognifance of
thofe exquifite and deUcate beauties, which
are properly the obje6ls of the laft mention-
ed faculty ; but it may determine concerning
regularity, juftnefs, and uniformity of de-
fign, and concerning propriety of fentiment
and exprefllon. All thefe fall within its
fphere; and its decifions in thefe refpe6ts
command our alTent.
Upon the whole ; as judgment and taste
may be alternately exercifed in the fphere of
each other, and ought to a6l with combined
influence, though with different power, and
with different degrees of exertion , fo both
thefe faculties muft be united with a high
degree of imagination, in order to conftitute
improved and confummate Genius.
From the obfervations that have been made
on thofe diftinguifliing faculties of the human
mind,
ON GENIUS. 19
mind, IMAGINATION, ju D G MEN T, and
TASTE, it is evident, that not any one of thefe
talents, in whatever degree we may fuppofe
it to exift, can of itfelf attain the obje6ls of
Genius. Even imagination, the moft ef-
fential and predominant ingredient in the
compofition of this chara6ler, if we fup-
pofe it to exift in a man without any confi-
derable proportion of the other faculties,
will be miferably inadequate to the objev51s
juft mentioned; for though it may, by its
own native vigour, fometimes flrike out an
important difcovery, either in fcience or in
art, yet this will no way avail, if there is
not a fufEcient ftrength of reafon bellowed
to prove its truth and utility. Such a dif-
covery will often, however undefervedly, ex-
pofe the author to ridicule ; and the utmoft
reward he can hope for of his labour, is to
gain the chara6ler of a romantic vifionary,
or an adventurous, but vain, proje^lor -,
though the fame difcovery more clearly re-
vealed, and more fully demonftratcd, by an-
other perfon, poflefled perhaps of no higher
C 2 degree
20 AN ESSAY
degree of imagination, but endued with a
more penetrating judgment, will procure
him that reputation and honour, of which
the greateft part was due to the firft au-
thor.
Having confidered the nature of the dif-
ferent faculties of IMAGINATION, JUDGMENT
and TASTE, and pointed out their refpedtive
exertions j having alfo fliewn that imagina-
tion, the moft diflinguiiliing of thefe faculties,
is of itfelf infufficient to attain the obje6ls of
Genius ; v/e (hall now take a view of Ima-
gination, Judgment, and Tafte, as forming
by their union the full perfe6lion of Genius,
and fhall obferve their combined effe6ls in
compofition.
If we fuppofe a plastic and comprehen-
sive IMAGINATION, an ACUTE INTELLECT,
and an exquifite sensibility and refine-
ment of TASTE, to be all combined in one per-
fon, and employed in the arts or fciences,we
may eafily conceive, that the effe<5l of fuch an
union
ON GENIUS. 21
union will be very extraordinary. In fiich a
cafe, thefe faculties going hand in hand toge-
ther, mutually enlighten and afiift each
other. Imagination takes a long and adven-
turous, but fecure flight, under the guid-
ing rein of judgment; which, though na-
turally cool and deliberate, catches fome-
what of the ardor of the former in its
rapid courfe. To drop the allufion, ima-
gination imparts vivacity to judgment, and
receives from it folidity and juftnefs : taste
beftows ELEGANCE OH botli, and derives from
them PRECISION and sensibility. The efFed:
of the union of thefe qualities in compofition,
will be obferved and felt by every reader.
It will appear in new and furprifing fenti-
ments, in fplendid imagery, in juft and
nervous reafoning, and in eloquent, grace-
ful, and animated expreflion. Hence, in
the writings of an author who polTeires
the qualities above mentioned in a high de-
gree, we are convinced, pleafed, or af-
fe<51ed, according to the various ftrain of
his compofition, as it is adapted to the
C 3 under-
22 AN ESSAY
underflanding, the imagination, or the
heart.
We fhall not pretend to afcertain the
exa6l proportion of the feveral ingredients
which enter into the formation of Genius 5
it is fufficient to have fhewn, that they muft
all fubfift in a coniiderable degree, a truth
which we have deduced from the objects of
Genius themfelves. We (hall only remark,
that as among the faculties of which Ge-
nius is compofed, imagination bears the'
principal and moft dialling u idling part, fo of
courfe it will and ought to be the predomi-
nant one. An exadt equilibrium of the rea-
foning and inventive powers of the mind,
is perhaps utterly incompatible with their
very different natures j but though a perfe6l
equipoife cannot fubfift, yet they may be
diftributed in fuch a proportion, as to pre-
ferve nearly an equality of weight; and,
notwithftanding the opinion which is gene-
rally and abfurdly entertained to the con-
trary, the powers of imagination and rea-
fon
ON GENIUS. 23
fon may be united in a very high degree,
though this is not always the cafe, in the
fame perfon.
Should any one be inclined to controvert
the account we have given of the nature
and ingredients of Genius, and, inftead of
allowing it to be a compound quality, be
of opinion that it is conftituted and charac-
terifed by Imagination alone ; or, in other
words, that Genius and Imagination are
one and the fame thing ; we fliall not dif-
pute with him about words ; for the ingre-
dients of Genius depend intirely upon the
acceptation in which we take it, and upon
the extent and offices we affign to it. It is
evident, from the idea we have given of its
obje6b, that the ingredients above enume-
rated and explained, are necefTary to the at-
tainment of them J and therefore we admit
thofe ingredients into its compofition. If,
after all, any perfon fliould ftill continue to
think that Genius and Imagination are fyn-
i>nymous terms, and that the powers of the
C 4 former
24 AN ESSAY
former are moft properly exprefled by thofe
of the latter ; let him refle6t, that if the
former is characfterifed by fancy alone, with-
out any proportion of judgment, there is
fcarce any means left us of diflinguifhing
betwixt the flights of Genius and the reveries
of a Lunatic.
It is likewife to be obferved, that we re-
gard the Iliad and the Odyjfey as works of
Genius, not only becaufe there appears an
aftonifhing difplay of Imagination in the
invention of chara6lers and incidents in
thofe admired produ(fl:ions -, but alfo, be-
caufe that Imagination is regulated by the
nicell judgment j becaufe the characters are
juftly drawn, as well as uniformly fupport-
ed J and the incidents as judicioufly dif-
pofed, as they are happily invented : and,
laftly, becaufe regularity and beauty of de-
fign, as well as maftery of execution, are
confpicuous throughout the whole. Take
away the excellencies now mentioned, and
you deprive, thofe divine poems of half their
merit ;
ON GENIUS. 25
merit: deftitiite of thefe excellencies, they
could only he confidered as the rapfodies of
an extravagant and lawlefs fancy, not as the
productions of well regulated and confum-
mate Genius.
From all that has been faid, one ob-
vious remark naturally arifes, that induf-
try and application, though they may im-
prove the powers of Genius, can never fu-
perfede the neceffity, or fupply the want
of them. The truth of this obfervation
is abundantly confirmed by the different
ilrain and fuccefs of the writings of dif-
ferent authors ; which writings ferve to
fhew, that as Genius is the vital princi-
ple which animates every fpecies of com-
pofition, the moil elaborate performances
without it, are no other than a lifelefs
mafs of matter, frigid and uninterefling,
equally deftitute of paffion, fentiment and
fpirit. To conclude : A performance void
of Genius, is like an opake body viewed
in a dark and cloudy day -, but a perform-
ance
J#
_^<>»*->
r-J*^,.
26 A N E S S A Y
ance irradiated with the beams of this di-
vine quality, is like an objedl rendered
pellucid and tranfparent by the fplendor
of the fun.
SECTION
ON GENIUS. 27
SECTION IL
O F T H E
/
USUAL INDICATIONS
OF
GENIUS,
HAVING endeavoured, in the pre-
ceding fedlion, to explain the nature,
and determine the ingredients of Genius;
and having likewife pointed out the efFedls
of thofe ingredients in compofition, we fhall
now proceed to confider the moft ufual in-
dications of the above mentioned quahty.
It may be obferved in genera], that Ge-
nius is neither uniform in the manner, nor
periodical with regard to the time of its ap-
pearance. The manner depends upon the
original conftitution and peculiar modifica-
tion
«S AN ESSAY
tion of the mental powers, together with
the correfponding organifation of the corpo-
real ones, and upon that mutual influence
of both, in confequence of which the mind
receives a particular bias to one certain ob-
je6l, and acquires a talent for one art or
fcience rather than another. The period
depends fometimes upon a fortunate accident
encouraging its exertion, fometimes upon a
variety of concurring caufes ftimulating its
ardor, and fometimes upon that natural ef-
ffervefcence of mind (if we may thus exprefs
it) by which it burfts forth with irrefiflible
energy, at different ages, in different per-
fons, not only without any foreign aid, but
in oppofition to every obftacle that arifes in
its way.
With regard to the firft of thefe points :
though Genius difcovers itfelf in a vafl va-
riety of forms, we have already obferved,
that thofe forms are diflinguifhed and cha-
ra6lerifed by one quality common to them
all, polTefTed indeed in very different degrees,
- . . ' and
ON GENIUS. 29 ,
and exerted in very different capacities ; this
quality, it will be underftood, is Imagina-
tion. The mental powers unfold themfelves
in exafl proportion to our neceflities and
occafions for exercifmg them. Imagination
therefore being that faculty which lays the
foundation of all our knowledge, by colle6l-
ing and treafuring up in the repofitory of
the memory thofe materials on which Judg-
ment is afterwards to work, and being pe-
culiarly adapted to the gay, delightful, va-
cant feafon of childhood and youths appear^
in thofe early periods in ail its puerile bril-
liance and fimplicity, long before the rea-
foning faculty difcpvers itfelf in any confi-
derable degree. Imagination however, in
general, exercifes itfelf for fome time indif-
criminately on the various objefts prefented
to it by the fenfes, without taking any par-
ticular or determinate direction ; and fome-
times the peculiar bent and conformation of
Genius is difcernible only in the advanced
period of youth. The mind, as foon as it
becomes capable of attending to the repre-
fentation
30 A N E S S A Y
fentation it receives of outward obje<!^s by
the miniftry of the fenfes, views fuch a re-
prefentation with the curiofity of a ftranger,
who is prefented with the profpeft of an
agreeable and uncommon fcene. The no-
velty of the obje61:s at firft only afFe6ls it
with pleafure and furprife. It afterwards
furveys, revolves, and reviews them fuccef-
fively one after another ; and, at laft, after
having been long converfant with them, fe-
le6ls one diftinguifhed and favourite object
from the reft, which it purfues with its
whole bent and vigour. There are fome
perfons, it is true, in whom a certain bias
or talent for one particular art or fcience,
rather than another, appears in very early
life ; and in fo great a degree as would in-
cline us to imagine, that fuch a difpofition
and talent muft have been congenial and in-
nate. While perfons are yet children, we
difcover in their infantile purfuits the open-
ing buds of Genius; we difcern the rudi-
■'ments of the Philofopher, the Poet, the
Painter, and the Archite(5l.
The
ON GENIUS. 31
The produ6lions indeed of youthful ge-
niufes will be naturally marked with thofe
improprieties and defefts, both in defign,
fentiment and expreflion, which refult from
the florid, exuberant, and undifciplined ima-
gination, that is peculiar to an age wherein
Judgment hath not yet exerted its chaften-
ing power. When the cafe is otherwife,
and this faculty hath attained confiderable
maturity in early youth, it affords no fa-
vourable prefage of future grandeur and ex-
tent of Genius ; for we rarely find fruit on
the tree which puts forth its leaves and
blofFoms on the firil return of fpring *.
Nature
- QyiNTiLiAN confiders thefe forward geniufes as
hafty and untimely growths, like thofe ears of corn,
which fuddenly fpring up in a fhallow foil, without
ftriking their roots deep into the earth, and acquire
the colour, but not the fubftance of full and ripe
grain, before the natural time.
Illud ingeniorum velut praecox genus, non temere un-
quam pervenit ad frugem. Hi funt qui parva facile fa-
ciunt; & audacia provecSli, quicquid illic pofllint, ftatim
oftendunt. PofTunt autem id demum quod in proximo
eft:
32 ANESSAY
Nature requires time to mature her pro-
dudions ; the powers of the mind and body-
grow up together, and both acquire their
proper confiftence and vigour by juft de-
grees; this at lead is the ordinary courfe
of nature, from which there are few ex-
ceptions.
But though Genius cannot be faid to at-
tain its full perfe6lion till the reafoning fa-
culty, one of its efiential ingredients, ac-
quires its utmoft extent and improvement 5
yet there are certain indications of its exift-
ence and powers, even in early life, which
an attentive obferver may eafily difcover,
and which are as various as the forms
wherein it appears.
eft: verba continuant; hzec vultu interrito, nulla tar-
dati verecundia proferunt : non multum praeftant, fed
cito ; non fubeft vera vis, ncc penitus immiffis radici-
bus nititur : ut qua; fummo folo fparfa funt femina,
celerius fe efFundunt & imitatae fpicas herbulas inani-
bus ariftis ante meflem flavefcunt. Qjjint. /«/?//.
lib. i. cap. 3.
We
ON G E N I US. 33
We fhall confider the mofl diftinguifliing
of thefe forms, and the peculiar indications
which chara^lerife them. Let us firft ob-
ferve the effential indications of philofophic
Genius.
Imagination receives a very different mo-
dification or form in the mind of a Philo-
fopher, from what it takes in that of a
Poet. In the one it extends to all the pof-
fible relations of things j in the other it ad-
mits only thofe that are probable, in order
to determine fuch as are real. Hence it
fhould feem, that in the firft inftance it
ought to poffefs greater compafs, and in the
laft, greater accuracy. Here then we have
one chara6leriftical indication of a Genius
for philofophical Science ; and that is, accu-
I jracy of imagination. Its aflbciations of ideas
will be perfedly juft and ex ad, no extrii-
neous ones will be admitted ; it will aflemble
all that are necefiary to a diftin6l conception
and illuftration of the fubjecl it contem-
plates, and difcard fuch as are no way con-
D ducive
34 ANESSAY
ducive to thofe purpofes. This precifion and
accuracy in feledling and combining its ideas,
appears to proceed from a native regularity,
clearnefs, and even ftrength of Imagina-
tion, united with a certain acumen ingenii^ z
fharpnefs of difcernment, the true criterions
of philofophic Genius.
We may farther obferve, that though
Reafon, by flow and gradual fteps attains its
utmoft extent of comprehenfion, yet being
a very diftinguifhing faculty in the mind of
the Philofopher, it appears to advance fafter
to maturity in him than in any other per-
fonj and fome prefages of the future ex-
tent of his underftanding may be derived
from his firft argumentative efTays. He
will likewife difcover an acutenefs of per-
ception, a fhrewdnefs and fagacity in' his
obfervations, remarkable for his years 3 and
will begin early to inftitute cpmparifons, to
connedl his ideas, and to judge of the re-
lations in which he ftands to the perfons
and obje6ls with which he is furrounded.
This
ON GENIUS. 35
This feems to be the natural progrefs,
and firft exertion of Reafon, in ufeful
Science.
Let it be remarked in the laft place, that
philofophical Genius is peculiarly diftin-
guifhed by a certain moral and contempla-
tive turn of mind. It feels a powerful ten-
dency to fpeculation, and derives its chief
pleafure from it. Not fatisfied with explor-
ing the phenomena of nature, it delights to
inveftigate their unknown caufes. Such are
the ufual indications of philofophic Genius.
We (hall next confider the mofl remarkable
indications of this charafler in Poetry.
As Imagination is the predominant in-
gredient in the compofition of poetic Ge-
nius, it will there difcover itfelf in its utmoft
exuberance and fecundity. This faculty
will naturally difplay its creative power on
thofe fubje<5ls which afford fulleft fcope for
its exercife; for which reafon it will run
into the more pleafiiig fpecies of fisSlion, and
D 2 will
36 ANESSAY
will be particularly diftinguiflied by a happy
fertility of invention. But though fable
be the ftrain of compofition of all others
moft fuitable and appropriated to the higheft
cJafs of poetic Genius, neither its choice
nor its abilities are reftri6led to this alone.
It freely indulges itfelf on a variety of fub-
Jedlsj in the feledion of which a Poet is
in a great meafure influenced by his age,
temper, and ruling paffion. Thus poems
defcribing the beauties of nature, the ten-
der tranfports of love, the flattering pro-
fpe(5ls of ambition, the affeflionate and ar-
dent reciprocations of friendfhip, and the
peaceful pleafures of rural tranquillity, are
often among the firft eflays of a young
Bard. We purpofely avoid being fo parti-
cular on this branch of our fubje6l, as we
would otherwife choofe to be, left we fliould
anticipate feme of the obfervations that will
be made on the diftinguiOiing chiira6lers
of original poetic Genius, in another part
of our EiTay.
It
O ISr G E N I U S. 37
It may not however be improper farther
to obferve in this place, that one who is
born with a Genius for Poetry, will difco-
ver a peculiar relifh and love for it in his
earlieft years ; and that he will be naturally
led to imitate the prod unions he admires.
Imagination, which in every man difplays
itfelf before any of the other faculties, will
be difcernible in him in a ftate of childhood,
and will ftrongly prompt him to Poetry:
Tasso, we are told, compofed poems when
he was only five years of agej Pope, we
know, wrote fome accurate little pieces,
when he was fcarce twelve; and he him-
felf acquaints us, by a beautiful, but doubt-
lefs figurative expreflion, that he began to
write almoft as foon as he began to fpeak :
, /is yet a child, nor yec a fool to fame,
I lifp'd in numbers, for the numbers came.
Milton dedicated his Genius to the Mufes
in his earlieft youth: he has prefented us
with a few poems written in his thirteenth
or fourteenth year, inaccurate indeed, as
D 3 was
8011324 •
38 ANESSAY
was natural at fuch an age, efpeclally in
one who was afterwards to become fo great
a Poet, but full of the ardor and infpiration
of genuine Poetry. Indeed moft of his ju-
venile piece?, which are very unequal in
their merit, afford the happieft prefages of
that amazing grandeur and extent of Ima-
gination, of which he long after exhi-
bited fo glorious a monument in his Para-
difi Lifl.
We fliall only add, that the performances
of a youthful Poet, pofi'efTed of true Genius,
will always abound with that luxuriance of
imagination, and with that vivacity and
fpirit which are fuitable to his years j but
at the fame time they will generally be de-
fiitute of that chaftity and mafculine vigour
of exprefiion, as well as juftnefs and pro-
priety of fentiment, which are only compa-
tible with maturer age -f .
The
f That great Mafter of Reafon and Eloquence,
whom we laft quoted, and whom we fhall have fre-
quent
ON GENIUS. 39
The fame vivacity and ardor of Ima-
gination which indicates the Poet, charac-
terifes
quent occafion to quote in the courfe of this EfTay,
lince his fentiments on the fubjefts of which he treats,
are as juft as they are elegantly and happily exprefied,
obferves, that luxuriance of Imagination is to be re-
garded as a favourable indication of future fertility and
copioufnefs of Genius j advifes that it fhould by all
means be encouraged ; and fuggefts the proper method
of encouraging it, without apprehending any danger
from its excefs.
Nee unquam me in his difcentis annis oiFendat fi
quid fuperfuerit. Quin ipfis dodloribus hoc efle curae
velim, ut teneras adhuc mentes more nutricum mollius
alant, & fatiari velut quodam jucundioris difciplinas
lacte patiantur. Erit illud plenius interim corpus,
quod mox adulta aetas aftringat. Hinc fpes roboris.
Maciem namque & infirmitatem in poftcrum minari fo-
let protinus omnibus membris exprefTus infans. Au-
deat ha^c zetas plura, & inveniat, & inventis gaudeat,
lint licet ilia non fatis interim ficca & fevera. Facile
eft remedium ubertatis, fterilia nullo labore vincuntur.
Ilia mihi in pueris natura minimum fpei dabit, in qua
ingenium judicio praefumitur. Materiam efle primam
volo vel abundantiorem, atque ultra quam oporteat fu-
fam. Multum inde decoquent anni, multum ratio li-
mabit, aliquid velut ufu ipfo deteretur, fit modo unde
r D 4 excldi
40 AN ESSAY
terifes likewife and diftinguifhes the Painter •,
the figns only being different by which it is
exprefled. The former endeavours to im-
part his fentiments and ideas to us by verbal
defcription ; the latter fets before our eyes a
flriking refemblance of the obje6ls of which
he intends to convey an idea, by the inge-
nious contrivance of various colours deli-
cately blended, and by the proper union of
light and fhade. In order to effe6l his pur-
pofe, he muft have his imagination poifeffed
with very vivid conceptions of the obje6ls he
excidi poffit & quod exculpi. Erit autcm, fi non ab
kiitio tenuem nimium laminam duxerimus, & quam
caelatura altior rumpat. Quintil. Inftit. lib.ii. cap. 4.
Cicero's fentiments on this fubjcift coincide exadly
with tbofe of QyiNTiLiAN quoted above:
Volo enim, fe efFerat in adolefcente foecunditas : nam
facilius, ficut in vitibus revocantur ea, quae k{t. nimium
profuderunt, quam, fi nihil valet materies, nova far-
menta cultura excitantur : ita volo efie in adolefcente
unde aliquid amputem. Non enim poteft in eo efle
fuccus diuturnus, quod nimis celeriter eft maturitatem
affecutum. De Orat. lib.ii, cap. 21.
would
ON GENIUS. 41
would thus exhibit -, otherwife it is impos-
fible he fhould delineate the tranfcript of
them upon canvas. The Imagination mufl
guide the hand in the defign and execution
of the whole. A Painter therefore of true
Genius, having his fancy ftrongly impreffed
and wholly occupied by the moft lively con-
ceptions of the objeds of which he intends
to exprefs the refemblance, has immediate
recourfe to his pencil, and attempts, by the
dexterous ufe of colours, to Ik etch out
thofe perfe6l and living figures which ex-
ift in his own mind. He will.be fre-
quently obferved to employ his talents in
this manner ; and the eminence and extent
of his Genius is indicated by the degree of
his fuccefs.
Imagination, in a conliderable degree, is
alfo requifrte to the Mufician, who would
become excellent in his profeffion. He
muft be thoroughly acquainted with the
power of founds in all their variety of com-
Wnation. Hts imagination muft aiGlft him
in
42 AN ESSAY
in combining founds, in order to conftitute
different fpecies of harmony ; and his expe-
rience of the effe6ls of various modulations,
firft on the ear, and, by the inftru mentality
of this organ on the paflions, muft aid his
fancy in fetting his compofitions to the notes
of mufic. By fuch exercifes a mufical Ge-
nius is indicated.
^ A Talent or Genius for Archite6lure Is
difcovered by a proper union of Imagina-
tion and Tafle, dire6led to the accomplifh-
ment of the ends of this art. The degree
of Imagination necefTary to a maftery in Ar-
chite6lure, depends upon the bounds we as-
fign to it, and the improvements we fup-
pofe practicable in it. Human ingenuity
hath as yet difcovered only five orders in
this art, which contain all the various
forms of grandeur and beauty, confident
with regularity, that have ever been in-
vented j and our modern artifts have con-
fined their ambition to the fludy and imi-
tation of thofe illuftrious monuments of
Genius
ON GENIUS. 43
Genius left them by their predecefTors, as
if it were impofllble to invent any other
fuperior or equal models. To invent
new models of Archite6lure, would, we
confefs, require great compafs of Imagi-
nation. In fuch inventions however true
Genius delights, and by fuch it is indi-
cated in a very high degree. To unhe in
one confummate plan the various orders
of ancient Architecture, requires indeed a
confiderable fhare of Imagination ; but it
may be obferved, that a refined and well
formed Tafte is the principal requifite in
a modern Architefl ; for though Fancy
may be employed in combining the dif-
ferent] orders of Architecture in one ge-
neral delign, it is the province of Tafte
alone to review the parts thus combined,
and to determine the beauty and graceful-
nefs of the whole. Setting afide, there-
fore, new inventions in this art, which
can only be efFe6led by an uncommon ex-
tent of Imagination, we may venture to
affirm, that the employment of Fancy
and
4i AN ESSAY
and Tafte, in the manner above men-
tioned, is a proper indication of a Ge-
nius for Archite6lurc, as well as neces-
fary to the accomplifhment of fuch a Ge-
nius.
With refpefl to a Genius for Eloquence,
its charadleriftical indications are elTen-
tially the fame with thofe which denote a
talent for Poetry *. The fame creative
power, the fame extent and force, the
fame impetuofity, and fire of Imagination,
diftinguifh both almoft in an equal de-
gree; with this difference only, that the
latter is permitted to range with a looser
rein than is indulged to the former, which.
- Eft enim finitimus Oratori Poeta, numeris adftric-
tior paulo, verborum autetn licentia ]iberior, multis
vero ornandi generibus focius ac pene par j in hoc qui-
dem certe prope idem, nullis ut terminis circumfcribat,
aut definiat jus fuum, quo minus ei liceat eadem ilia
facultate, & copia, vagari qua velit. Cicero de Orat,
lib. i. cap. i6.
though
ON GENIUS. 45
though It may dare to emulate the bold-
nefs and fublimity of poetic infpiration, is
not allowed to sport and wanton with
fuch wiLDNESs and luxuriance.
SECTION
-f
46 AN ESSAY
SECTION III.
OF THE
CONNECTION
BETWIXT
GENIUS,
W I T,
AND
HUMOUR.
GENIUS, Wit, and Humour, have
been confidered by many as words of
equivalent fignification ; and have therefore
been often injudicioufly confounded toge-
ther. Some do not perceive the difference
betwixt them j and others, not attending to
it, ufe thefe expreflions alternately and in-
difcriminately. There is however a real
difference between thefe accomplifhments 5
and
ON GENIUS. 47
and as the fubjedl of this Seclion is neither
incurious nor unimportant, and is, to us at
leafl-, new, we fliall endeavour in the pro-
grefs of it to explain the nature, and to
mark the efiential and pecuUar characters
of the above-mentioned quahties : we fhall
point out their diftinguifhing difference, and
Ihew their mutual connexion.
The talents we are treating of are all the
offspring of Imagination, of which quality
however they participate in very different
degrees ; as a much greater fhare of it is
requifite to conftitute true Genius, than is
neceflary to conftitute either of the other
endowments. Our prefent inquiry obliges
us to anticipate a little what will after-
wards be more fully difcufTed, by remark-
ing, that Genius is charaflerifed by a co-
pious and plaflic, as well as a vivid and ex-
tenfive Imagination j by which means it
is equally qualified to invent and create,
or to conceive and defcribe in the moft
lively manner the objects it contemplates.
Such
48 ANESSAY
Such is the nature, and Tuch are the effen-
tial chara6ters of Genius. On the other
hand, Wit and Humour neither invent
por create ; they neither poffefs the vigour,
the compafs, nor the plaftic power of the
other quahty. Their proper province is to
airemble with alertnefs thofe fentiments and
images, which may excite pleafantry or ri-
dicule. Hence vivacity and quick nefs of
Imagination form their peculiar chara6ters.
In fa6l, the accomplifhments of Wit and
Humour, which are fo much the objeds of
applaufe and envy, are derived from this vi-
vacity of Fancy, united with an exquifite
fenfe of Ridicule. As a proof of this, we
need only to obferve, that they are generally
employed in painting the ridiculous in cha-
jra(5lers and in manners ; and thofe flafhes
of wit, and ftrokes of humour, we fo much
admire, are by no means the effedls of a
creative Imagination, the diftinguifhing cha-
rafteriftic of true Genius ; but of a quick-
nefs and readinefs of fancy in aflembhng
fuch ideas as lie latent in the mind, till the
combining
ON GENIUS. 49
combining power of affbciation, with the
affiftance of the retentive faculty, calls them
forth, by the fuggeftion of fome diftant,
perhaps but correfponding circumftance.
This feems to be no improbable theory of
Wit and Humour -, which, though akin to
each other, and produced by the fame caufes,
are however diftind: qualities, and may exift
feparately.
^ The former is the moft (hining, the lat-
ter the moft pleafing and the moft ufeful
quality. Wit difcovers itfelf in fmart re-
partees, in ingenious conceits, in fanciful
allufions, and in brilliant fentiments. Hu-
mour, on the other hand, manifefts itfelf in
ludicrous reprefentations, in mafterly ftrokcs
of manners and chara6ler, in fhrewd obfer-
vations, and in facetious argumentation and
narrative. This quality may be divided in-
to two kinds ; into that which is difplayed
in the reprefentation of chara6ters, and may
be denominated humour of chara6ler ; and
into that which is difplayed in compofition,
E and
50 A N E S S A Y:>
and may be called humour in writing. The
firft confifts in the art of marking the fol-
lies, the foibles, or the oddities of the cha-
ra6ler exhibited fo flrongly, and-expofing
them in fuch a ludicrous light, as to excite
pleafantry and laughter. Sometimes the
character may be fo amiable, that its little
peculiarities, inftead of lefiening our efteem
or afFe6lion, increafe the former, and con-
cihate the latter; provided however, thofe
peculiarities are innocent in themfelves, and
indicate or imply genuine excellence. Of
this kind is the character of Sir Roger de
CovERLEY, drawn with the mod exquifite
humour, and by the happieft effort of Ad-
dison's delicate pencil.
Humour in writing confifts either of
random ftrokes of ridicule and face-
TiousNESs, occafionally thrown out, as fub-
je6ls of drollery and pleasantry happen
to occur 3 or of a vein of irony and deli-
cate satire, purpofely difplayed on a
particular fubjeft. Perhaps Pope's Rape of
the
ON GENIUS, 51
the Lock is the moft refined piece of humour
in this kind, which any age can boaft.
There remains indeed another fpecies of
Wit and Humour (for it participates of, or
at leaft pretends to both) of the lowed fort
however, but deferving fome attention;
that which confifts of puns, quibbles, and
the petulant fallies of a rambling and un-
difciplined fancy ; and which is fometimes
difplayed in converfation. This fpecies of it is
not only generally oftentatious, but fuperficial.
It flafhes for a little while, and then expires.
It rufhes on with precipitation, and, like a
fhallow ftream, makes a great noife; but
the rivulet foon dries up, and betrays the
penurioufnefs of the fource from v/hich it
flowed. The converfation-wits refemble
thofe perfons, whofe ideas pafs through their
minds in too quick fucceflion to be diflincl ;
but who, neverthelefs, being endued with a
natural volubility of expreffion, acquit them-
felves to admiration in company ; while
one is at a lofs to find either fenfe or gram-
mar in their compofitions. To become a
E 2 man
52 AN ESSAY
man of true Wit and Humour, it is necelTary
to think', a. piece of drudgery which the
Gentlemen we are fpeaking of are too lively
to undergo.
But to return : it appears that Wit and
Humour, though nearly allied to true
Genius, being the offspring of the fame pa-
rent, are however of a dill:in6l nature j fmce
the former are produced by the efforts of a
RAMBLING and SPORTIVE Fancy, the latter
proceeds from the copious effufions of a
plaflic Imagination. Hence it will follow,
that every man of great Wit will not be
a great Genius, nor will every man of
great Genius be a great Wit. Thefe
qualities do not always exift together.
Thus Swift was not a Genius, at lead of
a very exalted kind *, in the fenfe in
which
- Perhaps fome of the Dean's moft zealous admi-
rers may be offended with a declaration which excludes
his pretenHons to any extraordinary degree of Genius.
But
ON GENIUS. 53
which we have confidered it, nor Ossian a
Wit. To this perhaps it will be replied,
that the Mufe of the latter had caught the
complexion of his own temper, which was
a melancholy one, partly derived from his
natural conftitution, and partly occafioned by
the misfortunes of his family ; and that his
fubje(5ls, being of the mournful kind, could
not admit of the fprightly graces of Wit
and Humour. But let it be obferved, that
But let them reflect on what fuch pretenfions arefound-
•
ed. I can recolleft no performance of the Doctor's,
which can juftly denominate him a man of great Ge-
nius, excepting his Gulliver and his Tale of a Tub ; in
which, it muft be confeiled, he hath united both In-
vention and Humour: and therefore we allow him to
have poflefled a degree of Genius, proportionable to the
degree of Invention difcovered in the above mentioned
performances. In that kind of wit and humour which
he attempted, though not the moft delicate, he unquef-
tlonably excelled all mankind. In the fcale of Genius,
however, we muft aflign him an inferior ftation ; fince
his Mufe fcarcc ever lifts to the region of the Sublime,
which is the proper fphere of a great Genius ; buf, on
the contrary, delights to wallow in the offal and naftl-
nefs of a ftv or a kennel.
E 3 the
54 AN ESSAY
the melancholy turn of his mind, which ir-
refiftibly determined him to the choice of
mournful fubje61:s, is a fufficient proof that
thefe were not only moft fuited to his Ge-
nius; but that thofe of a folemn, awful,
and pathetic nature, if we include the wild
and pi6lurefque. as fubfervient to the others,
were the only fubje6ls in which he was qua-
lified to excel. The lighter ornaments of
Wit would have been unfuitable to the
fublimity of his Genius, and the penfive turn
of his mind. We do not intend to infi-
nuate, that Genius and Wit in the higheft
degree are in general incompatible. They
were united in Shakespear almofl: in an
equal meafure j and Young hath given a
fpecimen of the former in his Night ThoughtSy
and of the latter in his Univerfal PaJ/ion ; and
in him they were both united together in a
degree of perfection that has not been equal-
ed, fmce the era of the great Poet laft men-
tioned. We only mean to affert, that the
one may exift without the other, which we
tJiipk hath been proved in the cafe of Os-
SIAN
O N G E N I U S. S5
SI AN in particular; though we fhall readily
allow, that the fimplicity of manners which
prevailed in the times of the Caledonian
Bard, a fimplicity that was very unfavoura-
ble to the difplay of Wit and Humour,
joined to the melancholy turn of his own
temper, heightened by his affliclions, might
have greatly contributed to fupprefs the ta-
lents of which we are fpeaking, fuppofing
him to have been poflefTed of them. We
ftiall only add, that there is one cafe in
which Wit and Humour may claim the de-
nomination of Genius; and that is, when
they are accompanied with a rich fund of
invention, as in the R^pe of the Lock ; in
which, though the machinery of the Sylphs
is not the mere creation of the Poet's fancy,
yet the particular nature and employment
of thofe wonderful aerial beings is altoge-
ther his own fi6lion. In this incomparable
heroicomical poem, P6pe has iiiconteftibly
eftablifhed his character both as a man of
Genius and Wit. It ought however to be
remembered, that we allow his title to the
•^ E 4 firfl:
S6 AN ESSAY
firfl of thefe denominations, not at all upon
account of the vein of delicate and refined
fatire which runs through the whole poem,
for Wit and Humour could have produced
thiSi but upon account of that ingenious
INVENTION, and that picturesque de-
scription, fo remarkable in it, which thofe
qualities of themfelves could never have
produced.
Upon the whole : from the view we have
taken of the nature and chara6lers of Ge-
nius, Wit, and Humour, it appears evi-
dent, that as thefe qualities are in their na-
ture different from each other, and are
marked by certain peculiar and diflinguifh-
ing characters j fo they have different fpheres
of exercife afTigned them, in which alone
they can jdifplay their proper powers to ad-
vantage. We may therefore with fome ap-
pearance of reafon infer, that the connec-
tion of the above-mentioned talents is only
partial and cafual, not univerfal and necef-
fary. This hath in part been already evinced
and
ON GENIUS. S7
and exemplified by particular inflances;
from which it appears, that thofe talents
have been fometimes united, and fome-
times disjoined in different perfons. As we
do not remember to have feen this acciden-
tal conneftion, where a neceflary one at
firft view might be expe6led, accounted for,
we (hall conclude the prefent Se6lion with
endeavouring to allign the reafons of it.
That Genius, Wit, and Humour, do in
common participate of Imagination, we
have already acknowledged. This partici-
pation indeed forms a natural, but not a
NECESSARY conne6lion betwixt thofe qua-
lities. The MODES (if we may fo exprefs it)
and DEGREES of this Imagination are fo
different, and the tempers of men, on which
the exertion of the above mentioned quali-
ties greatly depends, are likewife fo various,
that a real union becomes merely fortui-
tous. In order to make this ftill more evi-
dent, as well as farther to account for it,
let us recoiled the peculiar office of Genius,
com-
58 A N E S S A Y
compared with that of Wit and Humour.
The proper office of the former is to in-
vent incidents or characters, to create
new and uncommon fcenery, and to de-
fcribe every objed it contemplates, in the
moft {triking manner, and with the mod
pidnrefque circumftances : that of the latter
is to reprefent men, manners and things,
in fuch a ludicrous light, as to excite plea-
santry, and provoke risibility. Hence
we conclude, that a vigorous, extenfive, and
plastic Imagination, is the principal qua-
lification of the one, and a quick and lively
Fancy the diftinguifhing charadleriftic of
the other. Thefe qualities do not appear
to be connected in any great degree j for
what confiderable connection is there be-
twixt a celerity in aliembling similar ideas,
together with a lively perception of that si-
milarity, and the power of inventing a
variety of furprifing scenes and incidents^
conceived with the utmoft ftrength and
compafs of Imagination ? It fhould even
feem that on fome occalions an extraordi*
nary
ON GENIUS. 59
nary vivacity of Fancy, which includes a
certain degree of volatility, occafioning the
mind to ftart as it were from one objedl to
another, without allowing it time to con-
ceive any of them diflindly, might be pre-
judicial to that vivid conception, and that
extenfive combination of ideas which in-
dicate and chara6lerife true Genius. In
this cafe, the mind, hurried with precipi-
tancy from one theme to another, though it
may catch a glimpfe, yet rarely obtains a
full view of the obje6l it deiires to contem-
plate. This feems to be the principal rea-
fon why Genius, whofe ideas are vivid and
COMPREHENSIVE, is not always united with
Wit, whofe conceptions are quick and
LIVELY, but frequently superficial.
After all, I am fenfible that the pofition
laid down above, will to many perfons ap-
pear extremely problematical ; and that fe-
veral of thofe who can perceive the differ-
ence betwixt Genius and Wit, will ftill be
of opinion, that thefe qualities, however
diflina:
6o AN ESSAY
diftincl from each other, are neverthelefs in-
dilFolubly connefted. After having refle6led
a good deal upon the fubjed:, the fentiments
I have now dehvered are the refult of that
refledlion ; which fenthnents I have endea-
voured to confirm by examples, more of
which 1 could have added, had it appeared
to be necefTary. The truth is, the obferving
t4iat Genius and Wit have to all appear-
ance been feparately poIfelTed by different
perfons, led me firft to fufpecl that their
union was cafuah Proceeding upon this
principle, I have attempted to affign the rea-
fons of it, which I have deduced from the
different natures of thofe qualities themfelves.
Perhaps indeed the examples may appear
more convincing than the arguments. I can
conceive indeed but one other objeflion to
the former, befides what has been already fug-
gefted, which is, that men of Genius, con-
fcious of polTeffing fuperior talents, are not
very ambitious of acquiring the reputation
which arifes from Wit. But I cannot think
that this anfwer intirely folves the difficulty,
fup-
ON GENIUS. 6i
fuppofing the union of the above-mentioned
qualities really neceflary; for the reputa-
tion acquired by the difplay of Wit, how-
ever inferior this talent may in fa6l be, is
often fuperior to that which is acquired by
the difplay of Genius ; and we may conclude
in general, that moft of thofe who are pof-
feiTed of it, will be defirous of being diftin-
guiilied upon that account j and confequent-
ly, where it does not difplay itfelf, that it
does not probably in any great degree exift.
It is neceflary to remark, in order to pre-
vent' any miftake of my meaning, that while
I endeavoured to prove that Genius and Wit
are not necelTarily conne6ted, I had chiefly
in my eye that fpecies of Wit which is the
fudden effulion of a lively fancy, and which
is poured forth in converfation with a fur-
prifmg readinefs and exuberance. That real
Genius frequently exifts without this kind of
it, I am fully convinced by many examples,
which, as the Reader may eafily recolledl
them, I fliall not here enumerate. That kind
of Wit and Humour however,which is dif-
covered
62 AN ESSAY
covered in compofition, and which being
more the efFefl of thought, is commonly
more juft and folid, though often lefs bril-
liant, Genius will not fo eafily relign its
claim to. Indeed, to declare my own opi-
nion upon a doubtful point, where examples
contradi6l each other, it appears to me moft
probable, that true Genius is, we do not
fay, univerfally and neceffarily, connected
with it; but that it rarely exifts without this
kind of Wit ; though its exertion may, by
various caufes, in a great meafure be fup-
preflfed. When thefe qualities are united
together, they mutually aflift and improve
each other j Genius derives vivacity from
Wit, and Wit derives justness and ex-
tent of COMPREHENSION from Genius.
SECTION
ON GENIUS. 63
SECTION IV.
,1
O F T H E
MUTUAL INFLUENCE
O F
IMAGINATION on TASTE,
A N D O F
TASTE ON IMAGINATION;
CONSIDERED AS
INGREDIENTS in the COMPOSITION
OF
GENIUS.
WE have already confidered Imagi-
nation and Taste as two mate-
rial ingredients in the compofition of Ge-
Nxu?. The former we have proved to be
the moft eflential ingredient, without which
Genius
64 .AN ESSAY
Genius cannot exift ; and that the latter is
indifpenfibly necellary to render its produc-
tions ELEGANT and CORRECT.
We are now to fliew the influence of
thefe qualities on each other, and how they
contribute by their mutual influence to the
improvement and confummation of Genius.
Before we proceed to this difquifition, it
will be proper to recur to the definition of
Taste, given in a preceding feftion, which,
for the fake of precifion, we (hall here re-
peat. " Taste is that internal fenfe, which,
by its own exquifitely nice perception, with-
out the afliftance of the reafoning faculty,
diftinguiflies and determines the various
qualities of the obje6ls fubmitted to its cog-
nifaiice, pronouncing them, by its own ar-
bitrary verdi£l, to be grand or mean, beau-
tiful or ugly, decent or ridiculous." The
fimple principles of Tafte are found in every
man, but the degrees in which they exift,
are as various as can well be imagined : in
fome perfons they are weak and rudej in
others.
ON GENIUS. 6$
others, they are vigorous and refined. The
external organs of fenfe, which are the ori-
ginal and fundamental principles of Tafte,
are indeed nearly the fame in every one who
poiTefTes in the moft ordinary degree the ef-
fential and conftituent parts of the human
frame J but the ideas which are excited in
the minds of fome perfons by the influence
of outward obje£ls on the fenfes, or by the
power of refleflion, are very different from
thofe excited in the minds of others. Thus
two perfons, the one endued with a jufl
and elegant tafte, the other almoft defti-
tute of this quality, contemplating a mag-
nificent and well-proportioned building, that
of St Peter Si for inftance, at Rome^ will be
affe<5led in the moft different manner and
degree imaginable. The latter, looking a-
round him with ignorant and infipid cu-
riofity, cafts his eye on the altar and de*
corations of the church, which captivate
his attention, and pleafe his rude fancy,
merely by their novelty and fplendor ;
while he ftares at the magnificence of the
F edifice
66 AN ESSAY
edifice with a foolifli face of wonder. The
former, furveying all the fabric together,
is ftruck with admiration of the exa6l fym-
metry, and majeflic grandeur of the whoje.
Or if we fhould fuppofe both to be pre-
fented, at the fame time, with the profpeiO:
of a rich, beautiful, and diverfified land-
fcape, confifting of woods and vallies, of
rocks and mountains, of cafcades and ri-
vers, of groves and gardens, blended toge-
ther in fweet rural confufion j this inchant-
ing fcene would be contemplated by the
one with indifference, or at leaft with very
little emotion of pleafure, his thoughts be-
ing chiefly employed in computing the
produce of fo fertile a fpot ; while the
view of fuch a group of delightful ob-
jeds would throw the other into rapture.
It is natural to afk, whence aiifes this
amazing difference in their fenfations ? The
outward organ, by which thefe fenfations
are conveyed, is fuppofed to be equally
perfect in both ; but the internal feeling
is extremely different. This difference
mufl
ON GENIUS. ej
muft certainly proceed from the transfornv^ |
ing power of Imagination, whofe rays illu-
minate the obje^ls we contemplate ; and
which, without the luftre fhed on them by
this faculty, would appear unornamented
and undiftinguifhed.
The REFINEMENT and sensibility of
Tafte likewife, as well as the pleafures it
is calculated to afford, are all derived from
the influence of Imagination over this in-
ternal fenfe. By the magical power of
Fancy communicated to it, it is qualified
to difcern the beauties of nature, and the
ingenious produflions of art, and to feel
an exquifitely pleafing fenfation from the
furvey of them. Imagination dwells upon
an agreeable objefl with delight, arrays it
in the moft beautiful colours, and attri-
butes to it a thoufand charms j every re-
peated view of it increafes thefe charms 5
and the Imagination, enraptured with the
contemplation of them, becomes enamoured
of its own creation. Tafte, catching the
- .; F 2 con-
6^ A N E S S A y
contagion from Fancy, contemplates the
favourite obje6l with equal tranfport, by
which means it acquires and improves its
fenfibility : it becomes more fufceptible of
pleafure, and more cxquifitely acute in its
fenfations. Such is the influence of Imagi-
nation on Tafte, and fuch are the advan-
tages which the latter derives from the
former.
'As true Tafle is founded on Imagina-
tion, to which it owes all its refinement
and elegance ; fo a falfe and depraved
Tafte is often derived from the fame
caufe. Fancy, if not regulated by the
dictates of impartial Judgment, is apt to
miflead the mind, and to throw glaring
colours on obje6ls that poflefs no intrin-
fie excellence. By this means it happens,
that though the principles of a juft Tafte
are implanted in the mind of every man
of Genius, yet, by a neglecSl of proper
cultivation, or too great an indulgence of
the extravagant ramblings of Fancy, thofe
principles
ON GENIUS. 69
principles are vitiated, and Tafte becomes
fometimes incorrect, and fometimes in-
delicate -f. The only method left in
fuch a cafe, is to compare the fenfations of
Tafle with the obje6ls that produced them,
and to corre6l the errors of this fenfe by an
appeal to the didates of Reafon, in the
points where its authority is legitimate j by
which means Tafte may attain justness
and ACCURACY, as by the former exercife
it may acquire sensibility and refine-
ment, in thofe minds where its princi-
ples are implanted in any confiderable de-
gree.
•f- Let it not be imputed to faftidious, much lefs to
malevolent criticifm, if, in order to exemplify the above
remarks, we prefume to obferve, that in a v/orlc of real
Genius, and in which the moft fublime fpirit of Poetry
predominates, we mean the Nighi Thoughts of Dr
Young, we meet with feveral inftances of falfe tafte,
in his antithefes and conceits, which, in a great mea-
fure, debafe the grandeur of fome very noble fenti-
ments.
F 3 Having
7© AN ESSAY
Having thus pointed out the influence
of Imagination on Tafte, let us now con«
fider the influence of Tafle on Imagina»
tion.
As Taste derives all its sensisilitv and
REFINEMENT from the prevalence of Ima-
tJiNATioN, (o Imagination owe«, in ^
great meafure, its justness and accuracy
to the CORRECT PRECISION of a well regu-
lated Taste. The excurfions of Fancy,
^andiredted by Judgment or Taftc, are al»
ways extravagant ; and if we fhould fuppofe
a compofition to be conceived and executed
by the firft mentioned faculty alone, it
would be an unintelligible rhapfody, a mere
mafs of confufion, compounded of a num-
ber of heterogeneous and difcordant parts.
Though Imagination has by far the greateft
fliare of merit in the produiStions of Genius,
yet, in one view, it may be confidered as
acting a fubordlnate part, as exerting its
energy under the prudent reftriftions of
Judgment, and the chaflening animadver-
fions
O N G E N I U S. 71
fions of Tafte. In fadt, the proper office of
Fancy is only to colle6l the materials of
compofition 5 but, as a heap of (lones,
thrown together without art or defign, carl
never make a regular and well proportioned
building j fo the eifulions of Fancy, without
the fu per intending and direiSling powers
above-mentioned, can never produce a mas-
terly compofition in Science or in Art. Judg-
ment therefore muft arrange in their pro-
per order the materials which Imagination
has coUefted 5 and it is the officp of Tafte
to beftow thofe diftinguifhing graces, which
may give dignity and elegance to the
feveral parts, as well as excellence and
ACCURACY to the whole. Such is the pro-
vince of Tafte, and fuch its influence on
works of imagination.
■ A From the furvey we have taken of the
MUTUAL INFLUENCE of thcfc different fa-
culties, it appears, that they are equally in-
debted to each other ; and that if, on the
one hand, Imagination beftows sensibility
F 4 and
7a AN ESSAY
and REFINEMENT Oil Taftc, fo on the other,
Tafte imparts justness and precision to
Imagination 5 while Genius is confiimmated
by the proper union of both thefe faculties
with that of Judgment, and derives from
their combined efficacy all its energy, accu-
racy, and elegance.
SECTION
ON GENIUS. 73
SECTION V.
O F T H E
DIFFERENT DEGREES
O F
GENIUS,
AND ITS
VARIOUS MODES of EXERTION.
G
E N I U S is a word of extenfive and
various fignification. The fpheres of
its cxercife, and the degrees of its exertion,
are very different.
Some perfbns pofTefs fuch force and com-
pafs of Imagination, as to be able by the
power of this faculty to conceive and pre-
fent to their own minds, in one diftinft
view, all the numerous and mod diftant re-
lations of the objects on which they employ
74 A N . ^E S S A Y
it 5 by which means they are qualified to
make great improvements and difcoveries in
the arts and fciences. The mind in this
cafe has recourfe to and reUes on its own
fund. Confcious of its native energy, it de-
lights to expand its faculties by the moft vi-
gorous exertion, Ranging through the un-
bounded regions of nature and of art, it
explores unbeaten tracks of thought, batches
a glimpfe of fome objedls which lie far be-
yond the fphere of ordinary obfervation,
' and obtains a full and dillincl view of
^ others.
We may farther obferve, that Genius
may, in a very confiderable though much
lefs proportion, be difplayed in the illuftra-
tion of thofe truths, or the imitation of thofe
4iiodels, which it was incapable originally to
difcover oi* invent. To comprehend and ex-
plain the one, or to exprefs a juft refem-
blance of the other, fuppofes and requires
no conterpptible degree of Genius in the Au-
thor or Artift who fucceeds in the attempt.
Thus
ON GENIUS, 75
Thus we allow Maclaurin, who has ex-
plained the Principles of Newton's Philofo-
phy, and Strange, who has copied the
Cartoons of Raphael, to have been both
of them men of Genius in their rerpe6live
profefiions, though not men of original Ge-
nius; for the former did not polTefs that
COMPASS of IMAGINATION, and that DEPTH
of DISCERNMENT, which Were neceflary to
difcover the do<5lrines of the Newtonian Syf-
tera J nor the latter that fertility and
FORCE of Imagination, that were requifite
to invent the defign, and exprefs the dignity,
grace and energy, difplayed in the originals
of the Italian Painter.
A certain degree of Genius is likevvife ma-
nifefted in the more exquifitc produftions
of the mechanical arts. To conftitute an
excellent Watchmaker, or even Cai'pentcr,
fome (hare of this quality is ixquilite. In
molt of the Arts indeed, of which we are
fpeaking, Induftry, it muft be granted, will
in a great mcafiire fupply the place of Ge»
-i... nius;
76 A N E S S AY
nius J and dexterity of performance may be
acquired by habit and fedulous application :
yet in others of a more elegant kind, thefe
will by no means altogether fuperfede its ufe
and exercife ; fince it can alone beftow thofe
finifhing touches that bring credit and repu-
tation to the workman. Every ingenious
artifl, who would execute his piece with
uncommon nicety and neatnefs, muft really
work from his imagination. The model of
the piece muft exift in his own mind. There-
fore the more vivid and perfect his ideas
are of this, the more exquilite and completd
will be the copy.
In fome of the mechanical, and in all the
liberal Arts, it is not only neceflary that ar-
tifts (hould pofTefs a certain fhare of Imagi-
nation, in order to attain excellence in their
different profellions j but that fhare of which
they are pofTeffed, muft principally turn
upon one particular objedl. It is this bias
of the mind to one individual art rather
than another, which both indicates and
con-
O N G E N I U S. yj
conftitutes what we commonly call a Ge-
nius for it. This bias appears in fome
perfons very early, and very remarkably;
and when it does To, it ought doubtlefs to
be regarded as the fovereign decree of Na-
ture, marking out the ftation and deftiny of
her children.-
It cannot be denied, that a great degree
of Genius is difcovered in the invention of
mechanical arts, efpecially if they are by the
firfi; efforts advanced to any confiderable
perfedion ; for invention of every kind is a
fignal proof of Genius. The firft inventer
of a Watch, an Orrery, or even a common
Mill, hotvever fimple it may now appear in
its machinery and flru6lure, was unquef-
tionably a man of an extraordinary mecha-
nical Genius. The improvement of thele
inventions is likewife a certain criterion of a
Genius for them ; the degree of which tal6nt
is always juftly rated in proportion to the
improvements made by it, confidered in con-
nexion with the art in which they are made.
We
^8 A N E S S A Y
We Ihall not here inquire into the com-
parative utility and importance of the feve-
ral Arts, whether hberal or mechanical, in
order to determine the particular degree of
Genius requifite to an excellence in each of
them. Let it fuffice to obferve in general,
that as in the former Imagination hath a
wider range, fo a greater degree of Genius
may be difplayed in thefe than in the other.
Hence we infer their fuperior dignity, tho'
perhaps not their fuperior utility. In the
latter indeed, Imagination is very intenfely
cxercifed; but it is more confined in its ope-
ration : inftead of rambling from one theme
to another, it dwells on a fingle obje6l, till
it has contemplated it fully and at leifurc ;
whereas in the others, it forms a lefs parti-
cular, but more comprehenfive view of the
obje6ls fubmitted to its cognifance : it takes
tliem in at one glance, though it does not
mark their features fo minutely. A larger
compafs of Imagination therefore is requi-
fite to conftitute excellence in the one, and
a greater comprefiion of this faculty (if we
- • may
ON GENIUS. 79
may ufe the term) to produce eminence m
the other.
Genius likewife, when left to follow its
own fpontaneous impulfe, appears in a great
variety of forms as well as of degrees. Its
modes of exertion are very different. Some-
times it leads to philofophical fpeculations,
and animates the ardor of the Philofopher
in his experiments and refearches, in his in-
veftigation of caufes and efFecls, of the order
of Providence/ and the conftitution of the
human mind } and while it points out the
objeels to which he fhould direct his ftudies,
it adapts the mental powers to the purfuit,
and qualifies them for the attainment of
thofe obje6ts ; by communicating that force
of imagination, and that depth of difcern-
ment which are neceflary to his fuccefs :
at other times, indulging its own native
bent, it ftrikes out a path for itfelf through
the wild romantic regions of Poetry and
Fable ; and from the infinite variety of ob^
je6ls prefented to it in thofe fields of fiction,
feleas
8o A N E S S A Y
felefis fuch as arc moft adapted to its nature
and powers. Sometimes Genius, ftill fol-
lowing its own peculiar bias, fketches out,
with a happy fertility of invention, the de-
figns of the Painter, and imparts dignity,
elegance and expreflion to the feveral figures
of his piece. Sometimes it appears to great
advantage in the graceful elocution, the im-
petuous ardor, and the impaffioned fenti-
ments of the Orator. Sometimes it difplays
its power in the combination of mufical
founds. Sometimes it difcovers itfelf in
uniting, by the power of a lively imagina-
tion and exquifite tafte, the various forms
of elegance and magnificence in one con-
fummate model of Archite6lure. Or, lafl-
ly, taking an humbler aim, it fometimes un-
folds itfelf, not indeed with fo much power
and extent, but ftill with very confidera-
ble energy, in the ingenious inventions and
exquifite improvements of the mechanical
Arts. So diverfified are the forms of Ge-
nius, and fo various its modes of exer-
tion.
There
ON GENIUS. 8i
There are many indeed, in whom there
are no flriking fignatures of this quality dif-
cernible in any of its forms, who neverthe-
lefs pofTefs a confiderable fliare of that faculty
by which it is chiefly conftituted. Thefe
perfons, polTefling the fundamental qualifi-
cation of Genius, may, by the force of ap-
plication, in fome meafure fupply the want
of that appropriated Imagination, which
confers a talent for one particular art j but
can never reach that degree of excellence in
their refpe6tive profeflions, which a natural
impulfe of Genius to its correfponding ob-
ject, diredled with prudence, and aided by
proper culture, is calculated to attain. In
others, however, the particular indications .
and EVOLUTIONS of Genius (to ufe a mili-
tary phraie) are very remarkable. By at-
tending carefully to thefe symptoms (if we
may alfo adopt a phyfical term) by marking
and encouraging their progrefs. Arts and
Sciences may be carried to the higheft de-
gree of perfe6lion, to which human Genius ^
is capable of advancing them.
G AN
A N
ESSAY
O N
GENIUS.
BOOK II.
O F
ORIGINAL
GENIUS,
ITS
INDICATIONS, EXERTION,
AND EFFECTS.
ON GENIUS. 85
SECTION L
O F
THAT DEGREE OF
GENIUS,
WHICH IS PROPERLY DENOMINATED
original:
WE have in the preceding part of this
EfTay treated of Genius in general,
and have pointed out its objects, ingredients
and effefls, as well as fuggefted its various
modes of exertion. We fhall now proceed
a ftep higher, and confider that degree of
Genius, which, upon account of its fupe-
rior excellence, deferves the name of Origi-
nal. The obfervations we have hitherto
made on Genius indifcriminately, were only
intended as an Introdu6lion to the remarks
G 3 wc
86 AN ESSAY
we propofe to make in this book on the
fubje6l of original Genius ; to explain the
nature, properties, and efFe6ls of which, is
the principal defign of this EfTay.
It may be proper to obferve, that by the
word Original, when applied to Genius,
we mean that native and radical power
which the mind pofTeffes, of difcovering
fomething new and uncommon in every
fubje6l on which it employs its faculties.
This power appears in various forms, and
operates with various energy, according to
its peculiar modification, and the particular
degree in which it is bellowed. Thus it as-
sumes, as we have feen, a different form,
and appears likewife in a different degree
in the mind of the Philofopher, from what
it doth in that of the Poet or Painter. It
is not our prefent bufinefs to inquire what
are the proportions and modifications of
fancy necefTary to conftitute a Genius for
particular arts or fciences, as diHinguiflied
from each other, fince this would be an an-
ticipation
ON GENIUS. 87
ticlpation of what is intended to be the fub-
jedt of fome following Sedlions. In this we
confider original Genius as a general
talent, which may be exerted in any pro-
feffion, in order to obferve how happily it is
calculated to attain the objeds it has in
view. We fhall only farther previoufly re-
mark, that the word Original, confidered
in connexion with Genius, indicates the
degree, not the kind of this accomplifh-
ment, and that it always denotes its highell'
degree.
Philofophers have diftinguifhed two ge-
neral fources of our ideas, from which we
draw all our knowledge, sensation and
reflection. Very different ideas however
are excited in the minds of fome, from thofe
excited in the minds of others, even by the
firft of thefe, which may be faid to be the
original fountain of our knowledge, though
the ideas produced by it are conveyed by
organs common to human nature ; and flill
more different ideas are excited in the minds
G4 of
SS A N E S S A Y •
of different perfons by the other faculty,
that of REFLECTION. Somc perfons indeed
have few ideas except fuch as are derived
from fenfation ; they feldom ruminate upon,
revolve, and compare the impreffions made
upon their minds, unlefs at the time they
are made, or while they are recent in their
remembrance : hence they become incapa-
ble of tracing thofe relations and analo-
gies which exift in nature, but which can
only be traced by men of a comprehenfive
Imagination and penetrating Judgment.
Others, endued with thefe qualities, are
rendered thereby capable of affociating and
disjoining, of comparing and transforming
their ideas in fuch a manner, as to per-
ceive almoft all their pofTible relations j by
which means they are qualified to difco-
ver the latent truths of fcience, and to
produce the nobleft monuments of human
ingenuity in the feveral arts. In other
words, they by thefe means become origi-
nal Geniufes in that particular art or
fcience, to which they have received the
mod
ON GENIUS. 89
moft remarkable bias from the hand of
Nature.
Original Genius is diftinguifhed from
every other degree of this quality, by a more
vivid and a more comprehenfive Imagina-
tion, which enables it both to take in a
greater number of objedls, and to conceive
them more diftindlly ; at the fame time that
it can exprefs its ideas in the ftrongefl: co-
lours, and reprefent them in the moft ftrik-
ing light. It is likewife diftinguifhed by
the fuperior quicknefs, as well as juftnefs
and extent, of the aflbciating faculty; fo
that with furprifing readinefs it combines at
once every homogeneous and correfponding
idea, in fuch a manner as to prefent a com-
plete portrait of the objedl it attempts to de-
fcribe. But, above all, it is diftinguiftied by
an inventive and plaftic Imagination, by
which it (ketches out a creation of its own,
difclofes truths that were formerly unknown,
and exhibits a fucceflion of fcenes and events
which were never before contemplated or
con-
g0 A N E S S A Y
conceived. In a word, it is the peculiar
, charadler of original Genius to ftrike out a
path for itfelf whatever fphere it attempts
to occupy; to ftart new fentinlents, and
throw out new lights on every fubjefl it
treats. It delights in every fpecies of fiction,
and fometimes difcovers itfelf in the more
fevere inveftigations of caufes and efFe6ls. It
is diftinguifhed by the moft uncommon, as
well as the moft furprifing combinations of
■ ideas ; by the novelty, and not unfrequently
by the fublimity and boldnefs of its imagery
in compofition.
Thus much with regard to the nature and
chara6leriftics of original Genius in general.
What we are next to confider, is its particu-
lar and lingular efficacy in inriching Science
with new difcoveries, and the Arts with new
inventions and improvements.
SECTION
ON GENIUS. 91
SECTION 11.
OF
ORIGINAL PHILOSOPHIC
GENIUS,
TH E empire of Genius is unbounded.
All the Sciences and Arts prefent a
fphere for its exercife, and afford fcope for
its exertion. But though it may be exerted
indifcriminately in all, it will not be exerted
equally in each. It will fometimes appear
more, fometimes lefs remarkably. Our pre-
fent inquiry leads us to confider how and in
what degree original Genius will difplay
itfelf in philofophical Science. In order
to perceive this, it may not be improper
to confider the peculiar province of the
Philofopher, and the- objeiSts he has in
view. His province is to furvey with at-
tention
92 AN ESSAY
tention the various phenomena of the na-
tural and moral world, and, with perfpica-
city of difcernment, to explore their caufes -,
proceeding in his inquiry from the know-
ledge of effects to the inveftigation of the
caufes by which they were produced. The
obje6ls he has, or ought to have in view,
are, to bring into open light thofe truths
that are wrapped in the (hades of obfcurity,
or involved in the mazes of error, and to ap-
ply them to the purpofe of promoting the
happinefs of mankind *.
From
- Cicero reprefents it as the peculiar excellence of
the Socratic Philofophy, that it had a ftridl connection
with life and manners ; and that it was employed on
objedls of the utmoft importance to human felicity, on
good and evil, on virtue and vice :
Socrates primus Philofophiam devocavlt e coelo, & in
urbibus collocavit, & in domos etiam introduxit, &
coegit de vita & moribus, rcbusque bonis & malis quae-
rcre. Tufc. ^ajl. lib. v. n. lo.
He obferves, in another part of his Works, that
Socrates had difincangled Philofophy from abftrufe
fpe-
ON GENIUS. 93
From this idea of the objedls and pro-
vince of the Philofopher, the intelligent
Reader will, upon a little refleftion, clearly
perceive that vigorous and extenfive powers
of Imagination are indifpenfibly neceflary to
enable him to proceed fuccefsfully in the re-
fearches of Science. In order however to
make this flill more evident, let it be ob-
ferved, that as it is the proper office of this
faculty to alTemble thofe ideas, whofe rela-
tions to the fubjedl it contemplates, and to
each other, can alone be determined by the
faculty of Judgment ; fo there are feme of
thefe fo obvious, that they occur to common
fpeculations, and applied it to the purpofes of com-
mon life :
Socrates niihi videtur, id quod conftat inter omnes,
primus a rebus occultis, & ab ipfa natura involutis, in
quibus omnes ante cum philofophi occupati fuerunt,
avocaviffe philofophiam, & ad vitam communem ad-
duxiflb ; ut de virtutibus & vitiis omninoque de bonis
rebus & malis quaereret ; cceleftia autem, vel procul
effe a noftra cognitione cenferet, vel fi maxime cognita
eflent, nihil tamen ad bene vivehdum conferre. Acad,
^<sji. lib. i. n. 15.
reflec-
94 AN ESSAY
refleftion, and arife from the general laws
of aiTociation, while others are fo far re-
moved beyond the fphere of the common ta-
lents allotted to mankind, that they can nei-
ther be aflembled nor compared, without
fuch an extraordinary proportion of the
powers of Imagination and Reafon, as is
rarely united in one perfon. The power
of affembling and comparing fuch ideas,
in order to determine their relations and
refemblances, is the diftinguiihmg charac-
teriftic of an Original Philofophic Genius.
We have formerly obferved, that the fa-
culty of the mind, which we diftinguifh by
the name of Imagination, difcovers itfelf in
a furprifmg variety of forms. To create
uncommon fcenery, to invent new inci-
dents and chara6lers in Poetry, and new
theories in Philofophy j to aflbciate and
compound, to divide and transform the ideas
of the mind, is the work of one and the
fame power; but is not in all thefe cafes
executed with equal eafe, or with equal
fuccefs.
O^N GENIUS. 95'
fuccefs. To invent and create, mufl un-
doubtedly require the higheft exertion of the
faculty we are fpeaking of ; becaufe the ob-
jefls on which the mind employs itfelf in
this exercife, are very remote from common
m fervation, and cannot be brought into
lancw without a ftrenuous effort of imagina-
CENTR Hence it happens, that as invention
as the province of original Genius, both in
Tiliilofophy and in Poetry, a very great.
Poet they ai^ precifely equal or fimilar fhare
iof Imagination, is neceffary in each of them.
It will be no incurious employment to ob-
jferve the various exertions of the fame fa-
culty in thefe different departments, as it
will open to us an agreeable profpe6l of the
furprifmg verfatility, extent, and vigour of
the human mind ; and will alfo enable us
to form a comparative idea of the degree of
Imagination neceffary to confummate origi-
nal Philofophic Genius.
The inventive faculty difplays itfelf in
Philofophy with great force and extent. It
enables
/
t
I
96 A N E S S A T
enables the Philofopher, by its a6Hv.e, vigo-
rous, and exploring power, to conje6lure
fhrewdly, if not to comprehend fully, the
various fprings which a6luate the vifible
fyflem of Nature and Providence j to frame,
the mod ingenious theories for the.folP^ihe
of natural Phenomena ; to invent Syf^^s is
and to new- model the natural and power
World to his own mind. It is intenfely ex^,
ercifed in all this procefs, as it exerts boP%d
creative and combining power ;ing charac-
inventing new hypothefes, by conne6ling
every intermediate and correfponding idea,
and by uniting the feveral detached parts,
of one theorem, rears a fabric of its own,
whofe fymmetry, juflnefs and folidity, it is
the bufmefs of the reafoning faculty to de-
termine.
The kind of Imagination moft properly
adapted to Original Philofophic Genius, is
that which is diftinguifhed by regularity,
CLEARNESS, and ACCURACY. The kind pe-
culiar to Original Genius in Poetry, is that
whofe
ON GENIUS. 97'
whofe effential properties are a noble irre-
gularity, VEHEMENCE, and ENTHUSIASM.
Or, to fet the difference betwixt philofophic
and poetic Imagination in another light by
the ufe of an image, we may obferve, that
in the mind of the Philofopher the rays of
fancy are more collected, and more con-
centrated in one point j and confequently
are more favourable to accurate and dis-
tinct VISION : that in the mind of the
Poet they are more diffused -, and there-
fore their luftre is lefs piercing, though
more universal. The former perceives
the objefls he contemplates more clearly;
the latter comprehends a greater number of
them at one glance. Such are the re-
fpe6live chara6lers of Imagination in Philo-
fophy and in Poetry, as diflinguifhed from
each other.
As we have already obferved, that an
exa6l equilibrium of the reafoning and in-
ventive powers of the mind feems to be, in
a great meafure, incompatible with their
H very
9^ AN ESSAY
very oppofite natures, and perhaps was never
bellowed on any individual ; the only quef-
tion is, in what proportion thofe powers
fhould be diftributed, in order to the in-
tire confummation of original philofophic
Genius.
If the pofition we have laid down, and
endeavoured to fupport in a preceding fec-
tion, fhall be found to be juft, That Imagi-
nation is the dillinguiQiing ingredient in
every kind and degree of Genius, it will ob-
vioufly follow, that this quality mufl predo-
minate in the accomphiliment of original
Philofophic, as well as Poetic Genius. In-
deed, with regard to its predominance in the
latter, there will be no difpute. Imagina-
tion has by far the greatefl fhare of merit
in poetical productions. It at once deligns
and executes them, calling in only the afTifl:-
ance of Judgment and Tafte, in order to de-
termine whether it has bellowed on the fe-
veral figures their true proportions, and juft
degrees of light and (hade. Were we to in-
vert
ON GENIUS. 99
vert the cafe, and to fuppofe Judgment the
diftinguifhing faculty of the Poet, his pro-
ductions, it is true, might be more regular
and corre6l j but it is evident, they would
be defeftive in their moft eflential excellen-
cies, in FICTION and in fire.
With regard to original Philosophic
Genius, it feems to be generally imagined,
that Judgment is its principal ingredient.
As this opinion ftrikes at the foundation of
our theory, it will be neceffary to examine
it with fome attention.
Let it be obferved therefore, that as In-
vention is the peculiar and diftinguifhing
province of every fpecies of Genius, Imagi-
nation claims an undivided empire over this
province. It is this faculty alone, which,
without the aid or participation of Judg-
ment, fupplies all the incidents, chara6lers,
imagery, fentiments, and defcriptions of
Poetry, and moft of the theories, at leaft,
in Philofophy ; as well as the arguments (a
H 2 cir-
too AN ESSAY
circumftance not commonly attended to)
far fupporting thofe theories. Judgment
only claims the right of determining their
propriety and truth. Since therefore, to
fupply thefe, conftitutes the higheft effort of
Genius ; that faculty which fupplies them,
mufl certainly predominate in its full ac-
compliihment ; and this, we have feen,- is
Imagination. There are at the fame time
inferior degrees of Philofophic Genius, in
which Judgment has the principal afcend-
ant. Thofe perfons in whom this diftribu-
tion takes place, are in general qualified for
making improvements in Philofophy, in
exa6l proportion to the degree in which they
pofiefs the talent of Imagination j^and will,
upon account of the fuperior Hrength of
their reafoning talents, be found better qua-
lified for canvalfing the difcoveries of others,
poilefTed of more extenfive powers of Imagi-
nation, though perhaps of a lefs penetrating
Judgment, than for making thofe difcoveries
themfelves. It is true indeed, that befides
thofe philofophical truths, which, to the
mor-
ON GENIUS. loi
mortification of the pride of human under-
ftanding, accident hath brought to light,
and thofe others which have been hit upon
by certain happy random thoughts of per-
fons of very moderate abilities, difcoveries in
Science have fometimes been made by thofe,
who, enjoying a very fmall fliare of imagi-
nation, were however endued with a clear
apprehenfion, united with a patient and
careful obfervation of the various objefls
they contemplated. It mufl likewife be con-
fefTed, that this method, accompanied with
proper experiments, and juft reafoning found-
ed on thofe experiments, though not the moft
expeditious, is however the only certain one
of attaining the knowledge of the truths of
natural Philofophy in particular. But then,
on the other hand, it muft be acknowledged,
that where an extenfive Imagination is fu-.
peradded to the qualifications above-men-
tioned, the mind, being thereby enabled to
comprehend a greater variety of obje6ls, and
to combine its ideas in a greater variety of
forms, becomes qualified to pufli its inqui-
H 3 ries
102 AN ESSAY
ries much farther, as well as with more ad-
vantage.
After all, though Imagination muft ever
be the predominating ingredient in the in-
TiRE accomplifhment of original Philo-
sophic Genius, yet the powers of Reason
muft likewife exift very nearly in an equal
degree, in order to its complete confum^
mation, and the attainment of the obje(fts it
has in view ; for if we fhould fuppofe Ima-
gination to predominate in a high degree
over the other mental faculties, the confer
quence would be, that the Philofopher in
whom it thus predominated, would be per-
petually employed in forming ingenious in-
deed, but extravagant theories, of which his
compofitions would take a deep tin6lure;
and we ftiould be amufed with the dreams
of a romantic vifionary, inftead of being
inftruded in the truths of sound Philo-
fophy.
Upon
ON GENIUS. 103
Upon the whole : as both tliefe facuhies,
united in a high degree, muft concur in
forming the truly original Philosophic
Genius, they muft always go hand in hand
together in philofophical inquiries, as well
as exift almoft, though not altogether, in an
equal proportion.
Thus we have fliewn how and by what
particular exertions original Genius difco-
vers itfelf in Philofophy ; and have pointed
out its fingular efficacy in extending the em-
pire of Science. We have alfo confidered
the kind and degree of Imagination pecu-
liarly adapted to original Philosophic
Genius, compared with the kind and de-
gree of the fame quality requifite to origi-
nal Genius in Poetry ; at the fame time
that we have fliewn, that Imagination
ought to predominate in the former as
well as the latter. We fliall now con-
clude this fedion with a few flight ftric-
tures on the charaflers of fome of the
moft diftinguiflied original Authors in phi-
H 4 lofophical
I04 AN ESSAY
lofophical Science, by way of illuftrating
the above remarks.
Of all the Philofophers of antiquity,
Plato poflefTed the moil copious and exu-
berant imagination, which, joined to a cer-
tain contemplative turn of mind, qualified
him for the fuccefsful purfuit of philofophi-
cal fludies, and enabled him to acquire an
extraordinary eminence in thofe various
branches of Science, to which he applied
his divine Genius. He is the only profe
writer, who in Philofophy has dared to
emulate the fublime majefty of the Mceonian
Bard -f. He was indeed animated with all
that ardor and enthufiafm of Imagination
which diftinguiflies the Poet j and it is im-
poffible for a perfon, pofTelTed of any degree
of fenfibility, to read liis Writings withou|
catching fornewhat of the enthufiafm. The
tKiita y»ixMroi £1? auTov [x,vfnzi; oaaq 7r a p xTf 07: ct^ UTToxtTevirx'
fAstoi. IjO'&g. de Sub. cap. 13.
Philofophy
ON GENIUS. 105
Philofophy of Plato, more than that of
any other, is calculated to elevate and to ex-
pand the foul ', to fettle, to footh, to refine
the pafTions ; and to warm the heart with
the love of virtue. Such were the objects of
this amiable Philofopheri and fuch is the
tendency of his dodlrine. At prefent we
confider his do6lrine merely as a proof of
his Genius. With this view we may ob-
ferve, that his fublime contemplations con-
cerning the TO t¥ and the to ly *, the exift-
ence
- Thofe who are defirous to know Plato's fentl-
ments on the exiftence and unity of the Divine Nature,
may confult his Ph'ilebusy the fifth and fixth books of
his Republic^ and his Parmenides ', in all which they
will find the reafoning very fubtile ; and in fome places,
particularly through moft of the laft mentioned dia-
logue, it muft be confefled, very intricate. For this
reafon, we choofe rather to refer the Reader to thofe
parts of Plato's Works, where his fentiments on the
above-mentioned fubjefts are contained, than to pre-
fent him with a few detached paflages, which could
convey no diftindl idea of his meaning, where the
chain of argumentation is fo ftridily connected. We
fliall only obferve, that though Plato fometimes
fpeaks
io6 AN ESSAY
ence and unity of the fupreme Being, as
weU as the -f- perfe6lions and providence
Qf
fpeaks. agreeably to the eilablifhed mythology of his
country, yet when he intends to deliver his genuine
fentiments, he maintains the abfolute Sovereignty and
-{- Plato, in his Politicusy after delivering an inge-
nious, how^ever unphilofophical a theory, concerning
the various transformations and revolutions the world
had undergone ; and after having reprefented it as de-
cayed and worn out in the courfe of fo many tranfmu-
tations, as well as in danger of immediate diflblution,
upon account of the diforder into which its different
parts had been thrown, defcribes the Deity, with great
fublimity, as rifing from his feat of contemplation, rc-
fuming the reins of government, prefiding at the helm,
arranging the diejointed parts of the vaft machine of
the world, reftoring them to their primitive order and
beauty, and beftowing upon the whole renewed vigour
and immortality. As this paflage gives a noble idea of
the omnipotence of the Deity, we fhall prefent the
Reader with it.
Ato o*J Jt^* foT ^jai) Bto^ S xocr^Jica; at/Ton, xoc^oeuv tv aTTCciuii;
•»Ta, r-igJo/XEVo? Ivct (Ati p^Ej/xat&t;, vtto rotfuxv; ^iccXv^ck;, cig
rot T»t ayoftoioTJjTo? avupov ovtu towok ^vn TretXiv i(pe^of aura
fan irn^othuv yiytoiLitoi;, to, vir.a-xvrx xat 7\vr,iivTa. tp m xafl*
«HTO>
O N G EN I U S. 107
of the Deity; that his theory concerning
the caufes, firft principles, and generation
of
(»vvMi irpoTep«( ifsfto^u rpttj/a^t x-oaftn tb Ken tvavopOwv, aOa*
roror avro¥ xxt ayrifu avf^yu^trat. Edit. Mars, Ficin,
p. 538.
Our Philofopher, expreffing his own opinion, by
the mouth of the /Elian Gueft, attributes the crea-
tion of all things, even of the materials of which he
fuppofes the animal world to be framed, to one fu-
preme Being :
H^ci; fjbtt iTQV itx% t' ftXXae ^axt xxi t| oiv ret. n'c^t/xoT trti ifv^
««i vtu^ text ra rovruv aoi7>,px, Sttr ytnyiy-x ret vxtrei, ic^uv
avrei aTti^yxa-fiifx sKx^xi Soph, p. 185.
At the end of his Tlmausy he reprefents the world as
the intelligent, moft perfedl image of the Deity :
©»>)T« y«5 M-Xi X Bxvxrx ^ux >.xQuf, xxi 5t;/xirX>jg&)0£t5 cJi •
xoa-fAo^, ot/lw ^wo» o^xroy, r» oexrx •Ki^nx,°t £»'««■'» t« rorjTW
i&itf, aK&i)To?, jt*Eyiro5 xxi agiro? x(jfAX»ro? Ti Kx^ TEXewraTOj
yiyofW, ii( owgaroj o^c, poroyivjjj «y. T/fflf. p. 1089.
And in the fame dialogue he lays it down as an indif-
putable maxim, that God made all things pcrfedl in
their kind :
To li n ^vmrcf J? xeeXXtra T£ x«i agira tf ov^ "vrui £^ovtw»
ran Sioy uvrx ^vntravxt TTigi fr«i>T« qf«i» w; ecu T«To Aiyofii'ura
trBrap;i5iT4>. p. Io6a.
In
loS AN ESSAY
of things, and the foul which animates
and aftuates the whole frame of Na-
ture * s his fentiments concerning vir-
tue.
In other paflages, Plato celebrates the moral as
well as natural perfecSlIons of the Deity. Thus he re-
prefents him as the complete model of juftice.
Gf^ ov^»fi7i pv^ctfjiMi ct^iy.^, «^^ J; o(o» ri ^tKxioretl^. xxi
reel®: Theat. p. 129.
He makes Socrates likewife flrongly afTert the doc-
trine of a particular Providence, exercifed in favour of
good men. This laft, addreffing himfelf to fuch of his
judges as had vindicated his innocence, makes the fol-
lowing declaration :
myuQu KocKay «Js» ouTt ^uv n, outs T£^et)T>Jo•fl6l'T». jipoll,
Socrat. p. 31.
- Plato's doflrines concerning the Anhna Mundly
the Soul of the World, the caufes, original principles,
and formation of things, the revolutions of matter,
and tranfmigration of fouls, are among the profound
myfteries of his Philofophy. Speaking of the Anima
Mundi^ as infufed by the Deity, he tells us ;
ON GENIUS. 109
ture * ; and the happinefs of thofe fouls
who are gradually appropriated to the for
Vv^^ii ^£ ttj TO fAEcrov ayra Sei^, ^ia wa>T(^ re tTstyf, xat eri s|*»
oyjanc/n £»« /xo»e» if»)fC(;v x«r£r*l0"».; .Tiin, p. IO49.
. TJxofe.who are defirous of obtaining full fatisfadion
OR this and the above-mentioned fubje£ts, may confult
the "Thncsus^ where they will find th'em particularly
treated ; and where they will be entertained with a va-
riety of notions ftrangely fanciful, indicating the iri-
exhauftible fecundity of Imagination peculiar to this
great Philofophcr.
' * Plato confiders virtue in feveral different lights •-
fubftituting fome of its particular and eflential ingre-
dients in place of the general quality which they con-
ftitute. Thus he fubftitutes juftice at one time for
this quality, at another, temperance, at another, forti-
tude; but pofitively maintains that it cannot be taught,
but muft be implanted in the mind by divine fate ; aa
opinion which gives us a very fublime idea of the na-
ture of virtue :
£i ^f tvi rifi-tii u iravTi ru T^oyu Tovru xxhuq t^nTij^a^iciy t>
xat tMyofiUt, xftTv cc» uri ovrt tpvo'tt, ouri ataaxroy' aX^a Sito
[ioi^u vxfxyiyvo^tin omu vot/, oi? »y iraox yiyyr,Txi, MenOf
?' 427-
vereign
ffd A NT £ S S A Y
Vereign good and the fupreme beauty •f';.
that his refle<5lions on prayer *, and on di-
vine
I In fpeaking of the fovereign good and fupreme
beauty, he breaks out into a kind of divine enthu-
liarm, which abforbs his mental faculties in rapturous
admiration and love of that glorious Obje6l, which
his ardent Imagination had reprefented as inexpreifi-
bly amiable :
Tt ojjTa (e
,\ a. /*» ccvuir^icuv arccfKuv n etydcwrrt-
«vTo TO ^Eioi', xaXov JwratTo yuovon^i^ xdn^ttv ; ap' om (e(pt])
(pxvhof ^tov yiyvE^a* ixskte ^Xewoi/1^ av^fuTrn, xa» ejisjvo o ^st
uvru f*o»a;^8 yEvncTETat, ofuvTi u ofccrov to xat-Xoi, tjxthh mt
n^u'Kx aftTMs «T« «>t nou'Ka i^x'jrrofiuaa ; aXX' aXij9»j, oirt rs
•Xrrdrf? s^aTTTOfAtvu ; nxoyrt ^t apeTiji' aX»)9»j, xat ^^s-\'Xit,uvu,
tKrap%5i ^lo^iXii yEKEc&ai/xa* enrep Tw aXAw av6pft;w4/, a0a»a7«
x«) txena. Sympof. p. 1 1 99.
- It is pretty generally known, that the nature and
qualifications of the duty of prayer, compofe the fub-
jeft of the fecond Alcijbiades. Socrates, having
convinced this young hero of the abfurdity, as well a*
irhpiety of addrcffing the Gods rafhly, recommenxls
that form of prayer ufed by a certain Poet :
^la
ON GENIUS. Ill
vine love and friend (liip -f-, are finking in-
ftances of the fertility of oUr Philofopher's
imaginatiort,v
Zee ^xtTihiv, T« ftev ewXa >£«» iv^ou^sfon; xai anvuroii;
P-454'
Having imprefled upon the mihd of Alcibiades a
deep fenfe of the importance of the duty of prayer, ia
which he was going to engage, and at the fame time
fhewn bim how apt moft men were, from their igno^
ranee of what was really good for them, to afk from
the Gods, what, if granted, might prove highly de-
ftrudlive to themfelves j he obferves, that it becomes
us to confider well, before we addrefs thofe fuperiotfi
Beings, what we ought, and what we ought not to(
fay : *■:
A^^« Soxn ji*o» o-oXX?); ^t;Xa*i}f oit^xi koii' fKi-^suq, o, t» Trora'
^■nriov £r» ««» /*«• P. 458. '
And a little afte^j from the confideration of our own
ignorance, he infers the neceflity of waiting for divine
Illumination, in order to enable us to perform the duty
of prayer properly :
Atayneno* 8» ir* wsptftiyejv eui a» tk /»«9'J *'? |?E^ 7rfo< BtHi xav
I In the dialogue, intitled Lyfts, Plato gives us the
opinion of his Mafter concerning the nature of friend-
ihip.
112 A N E S S A Y
imagination, as well as of that moral and
fpeculative difpolltion, which we have elfe-
where obferved to diftinguifh Philofophic
Genius *.
It will perhaps be alledged, that the moft
fublime notions in Plato's Philofophy were
originally derived from divine revelation,
and that he had little elfe than the merit of
coUeding and forming them into a fyftem.
This point Gale, in his Court of the GentileSy
£hip. Socrates, intending to reclaim the unhappy
youth from whom the dialogue takes its name, from
thofe criminal indulgences into which he was in hazard
of being betrayed, leads him, ftep by ftcp, from the
means to the end, from the confideration of inferior
enjoyments to the contemplation of the sovereign,
ULTIMATE, and UNCREATED GooD, in which all
fubordinate gratifications ought to center, and on which
our moft ardent affeftions ought to be fixed ;
Ap a» a« avayy.tj xTrnvnv viyia.^ ofTw; joi/ra;, xccv a<piXi^xi
cijrt Tt»« apX"
^ **" i'foi,)>o\<Tn ew aXXo ^«Xoy, aXX' ilti iw*
rxsmo 5 «r» "TTpurov ^»>.o». ov svixa xxi t* «?,Xa <pccfuv Truvrct,
(jiXa !»«*». L}Jts, p. 507.
hath
ON GENIUS. 113
hath laboured to prove. It muft indeed
be confefTed, that Plato enjoyed great ad-
vantages, and was favoured with peculiar
means and opportunities of acquiring know-
ledge, which he did not fail to improve.
Having travelled into Egypt and Italy, he
made himfelf acquainted with the myfteries .
of the Egyptian Priefts, as well as with the
more fecret and profound do6lrines of the
Pythagorean School ; and no doubt by tra-
dition, however corrupted and interpolated,
he mjght obtain fome very imperfect know-
ledge of the fundamental principles of the
Jewifh religion. Indeed the flrong refem-
blance betwixt the do6lrines of Plato, and
thofe contained in the Old Teflament, ren-
I ders this conje^lure highly probable. At
the fame time it appears equally probable,
that as others are very different both from
the Sacred and Pythagorean dodrines, they
I are properly derived from neither, but are
the produ£tion of his own inventive Ge-
nius.
I . I . Des
114 A N fi S S A Y
D^s Cartes, the French Philofopher, had
the honour of firfl reforming the Philofophy
of his country. He ftruck out a path for
himfelf, through the gloom which the ob-
fcure and unintelligible jargon of the Schools
had thrown on Science ; and though he
could not purfue it through its feveral wind-
ings, he pointed out the track which has
been followed by others, and has led to the
moft important difcoveries. He inherited
from nature a ftrong and vivid Imagina-
tion ; but the too great predominance and
indulgence of this very faculty,was the caufc
of all thofe errors in Philofophy into which
he was betrayed. His theories of the dif-
ferent vortices of the heavenly bodies, and
of that immenfe whirlpool of fluid matter,
through which, in confequence of an ori-
ginal impulfe, they are fuppofed to re-
volve, have, by our celebrated Newton,
been fliewn to be falfe > though thofe
theories are a proof of the creative Ima-
gination of their Author ; but of an imagi-
nation too freely indulged, and too little
fub-
ON GENIUS. 115
fubjeded to the prudent reftraints of Judg*
rtitht
What Des Cartes was to the French^
Lord Bacon was to the Efiglijh nation.
He was indeed not only the reformer, but
the reviver and reftorer of Learning. As
his penetrating and comprehenfive Genius *
enabled
- Perhaps no age or nation can boaft of having pro-
duced a more comprehenfive and univerfal Genius,
than that which Lord Bacon feems to have poflelTed.
He applied his Genius to almoft every department of
Literature and Science, and fucceeded in every fphere
which he attempted. Human knowlcd^^e was divided
by him into three diftinft branches, Hirtory, Poetry,
and Philofophy (vid. de Aug. Sclent, feft.i.) the firfl: re-
lating to the Memory, the fecond to the Imagination,
and the laft to Reafon or the Judgment. With refpcdl
to Philofophy, inftead of employing his imagination in
framing air-built theories, he began his inquiries into
the works of nature, with laying it down as a funda-
mental maxim, that man knows juft as much only of
the courfe of nature, as he has learned from obfcrvation
and experience : *' Homo naturae minifter & interpres,
" tantum facit & intelligit, quantum de naturae ordine,
<* re vel mcnte obfervaverit, nee amplius fcit aut poteft,"
I 2 (Nov,
ii6 AN ESSAY
enabled him to difcern and expofe the errors
of the Scholaflic Philofophy ; fo it qualified
him not only for extending the empire of
Science far beyond the limits within which
it had been formerly confined, but alfo for
difcovering thofe immenfe tra6ls of uncul-
tivated ground, which fince his time, by
tracing his footfteps, have been occupied and
improved. He had the honour of intro-
ducing experimental Philofophy *, and fuc-
ceeded
{Nov. Org. lib. i. aph. i.) and upon this juft axiom, the
relult of mature reflection and good fenfe, he founded
all his philofophical difcoveries.
- When we affirm that Lord Bacon introduced
experimental Philofophy into his country, we do not
mean to affert, that its ufe was wholly unknown before
his time ; but that he was the firft who taught and re-
gularly pradlifed the method of inveftigating the caufes
of the phenomena of nature by certain experiments.
The excellence and advantage of this method of invef-
tigation he celebrates very juftly : " Sed demonftratio
- .longe optima eft experientia '^ modo hasreat in ipfo
" experiment/). Nam fi traducatur ad alia quae ftmilia
- ' exiftimantur, nifi rite h ordine fiat ilia tradu<Slio res
^^ fallax eft." (Ibid, fc-a, 70.) After which he cen-
fures
ON GENIUS. 117
ceeded in many of the experiments which he
made. Thofe particularly, in which, by the
help of a pneumatic engine he had himfelf
contrived, he endeavoured to difcover the
weight and elafticity of the air, "in wliich he
was to a great degree fuccefsful, though the
above-mentioned properties were more mi-
nutely calculated afterwards, do abundance of
credit to his philofophical fagacity. His mo-
ral Effays, his book de AugmenfisScientiaru?n *,
his
fures the partial^ inaccurate^ and cafual ratihod^ of mak-
ing experiments in his own time j in oppofiiion to whicli
he points out the true procefs to be obferved by the
Philofopher, who afpires to the honour of extending
the limits of human knowledge : " At contra verus
- ' experientiae ordo primum lumen accendit, deinde
- ' per lumen iter demonftrat, incipiendo ab experien-
- ' tia ordinata & digefta, & minimc praepoftera aut er-
- ' ratica, atque ex ea educendo axiomata, atque ex
" axiomatibus conftitutis rurfus experimcnta nova."
(Ibid.)
- The defign of the book de Augmeniis Scieniiarum,
is to take a general furvey of human knowledge, di-
vide it into its feveral branches, obferve the dcfic^ien-
cjcs in thofe branches, and fuggeft the methods by
I 3 which
ii8 AN ESSAY
his Novum Organum -f, and his treatifcs of
Phyfics and Natural Hiftory J, have gained
him great reputation ^ as indeed all his works
are a proof of his having pofieiTed that nice
which they may be fupplied ; an undertaking executed
in a great meafure by the Author himfelf in fome fol-
lowing trads.
\ In the Novum Organum Scieut'iarumy the Author
points out the caufes of ignorance and error in the
Sciences, at the fame time that he lays down certain
aphorifms, founded on perception and confcioufnefs, or
deduced from obfervation and experience, as fo many
fteps in the intelle6lual fcale, by which we may rife to
the knowledge of univerfal truths. I'hofe leading dif-
quifitions and experiments are likewife pointed out,
which open to us the moft comprehenfive views of the
works of nature, as well as facilitate the inventions and
improvements of the arts.
% The Author, in his Sylva Sylvarumy attempts a kind
of hiftory of nature and art ; enumerates many of the
phenomena of the univerfe for this purpofe, which he
calls the third part of his Inftauration ; and in the fourth
part of this Work, denominated Scala Intelle^usy he
fhews the method of employing the materials of the
Sylva Syharum^ by a variety of examples, fuch as his
Hiftory of Life and Death, his Hiftory of the Winds,
and his Condenfation and Rarefa6lion of natural Bo-
<Jies.
tern-
ON GENIUS. 119
temperature of Imagination and Judgrneht,
which conftitute truly original Philofophic
Genius.
In adducing examples of this quality, it
would be inexcufable to omit mentioning
Sir Isaac Newton, a name fo revered by
Mathematicians and Philofophers of every
degree. This great man was doubtlefs in
Philofophy an original Genius of the firft
rank. His various and ftupendous difcove-
ries of the revolutions of the heavenly bo-
dies, as well as of the laws by which thofe
revolutions are regulated 3 of their feveral
magnitudes, orbits, and diflances -, and of
that great and fundamental law of attrac-
tion, by which all nature is fupported and
actuated ; his theoiy of light, as an emana-
tion from the fun ; his calculation of its ra-
pidity, and of the refledlion and refrangibi-
lity of its rays ; his fubtil and curious ana-
tomy of thofe rays, and the divifion and
arrangement of the elementary ones which
compofe them, together with their union
I 4 in
120 A N E S 8 AY
in the. formation of colours, are the mofl:
aflonifliing efforts of the human mind i and
while they fhew the prodigious compafs of
that imagination, which could frame and
comprehend fuch fublime conceptions, they
at the fame time clearly evince the profound
depth of penetration and ftrength of rea-
fon, which, by a kind of divine intuition,
could difcern and demonftrate their truth.
Do6lor Berkeley, Bidiop olCloyne, was
another original philofophic Genius of dis-
tinguiflied eminence. While Hobbes and
Spinoza maintained the dodrine of abfo-
lute materialifm, admitting nothing but
matter, in one form or another, in the uni-
verfe, Berkeley excluded it altogether from
his fyflem, and denied its exiflence out of a
mind perceiving it. A dodrine fo new and
uncommon, and feemingly fo contrary to
the evidence of our fenfes, could not fail at
firft to raife aftonifliment, and to meet with
oppofition : yet this ingenious Author has
Supported his theory by fuch plaufible argu-.
ments,
ON G E N I U S. 121
ments, that many perfons appear to be con- /
vinced by them, and to have adopted his
fentiments. The truth is, though, relying
on the teflimony of our fenfes, we allow
the real exiilence of matter, and are fufH-
ciently acquainted with its efTential proper-
ties, folidity, extenfion, and divifibility ; yet
its genuine elTence, or the fubftratum in
which thofe properties exift, is ftill a myftery
to Philofophers, and will probably continue
to be fo. Whether the above-mentioned
tenet of this Author fliould be generally re-
ceived as an eftabliflied article in the Philo-
fopher's Creed, or not, it mufl:, fupported
as it is with fuch ftrength of reafon and in-
vention, undoubtedly be confidered as a fig-
nal proof of his having pofTeiTed a very high
degree of original Phiiofophic Genius.
The laft original Genius in Philofophy,
we fliall take notice of, is Burnet, the Au-
thor of the Theory of the Earth ; a fyftem fo
new, fo confident, and conceived with fuch
Hrength of fancy, that one is almoft tempted
to
122 AN ESSAY
to be of the fame opinion with the Author
of the Effizy on the Writings and Genius of
Pope, who hath ventured to declare, that in
this admirable performance, there appears a
degree of Imagination little inferior to what
is difcovered in Paradife Loft, His hypo-
thefes of the pofition and form of the ante-
diluvian earth, of the caufes which produced
the univerfal deluge, occafioned by the open-
ing of the floodgates of Heaven, aided hy the
burfting afunder of the frame of the earth,
and its falling into the great abyfs, with
which it was furrounded, and on which it as
it were floated j his opinions of the paradi-
fiacal ftate, of the agreeable temperature of
its feafons, and of the peculiar beauties of
this primeval conftitution of nature ; his
theory of the general conflagration, its caufes
and progrefs, and of the univerfal judgment
confequent upon it, together with his idea of
the nature, happinefs, and time of the Mil-
lenium, form altogether fuch a furprifing,
ingenious, and at the fame time, not im*
probable fyftem, that we cannot help ad-
miring
ON GENIUS. 123
miring the whole as the produ6lion of an
inventive and truly creative Genius.
Thefe examples, we hope, will be fufficient
to fhew the importance, the ufe, and the
fphere of Imagination in philofophical dis-
quifitions ; and to point out thofe particular
degrees, and that happy temperature of Ima-
gination and Judgment, which conftitute
and accomplifh original Philofophic Genius.
Many other diftinguifhed names in Philofo-
phy might have been added to thofe above-
mentioned ; but as the narrow limits of our
plan, on this branch of the fubjecl, do not
allow our running out to greater length in
the way of illuflration, fo the adducing
more examples, in order to confirm the pre-
ceding remarks, will, we imagine, after thofe
already adduced, be altogether unneccfTary,
SE C T I G^N
124 AN E-S S AY
SECTION III.
O F
ORIGINAL
G E N I U S
IN
POET R Y
P
OETRY *, of all the liberal Arts,
affords the moft extenfive fcope for
the
- Aristotle, inquiring into the origin of Poetry,
affigns two principal caufes of it, a natural desire of
Imitation, and the pleafure arifing from the fuccefs
of that Imitation :
neti otvra.1 (pvviKUt. To, xs yx^ /xt/xeK&«i, <rt;/*^j;Toy tok a»-
O N G E N I U S. 125
the dlfplay of a Genius truly Original. In
Philofophy, the empire of Imagination, and
confequently of Genius, is in fome degree
neceffarily reftridled ; in Poetry, it is altoge-
ther abfolute and unconfined. To accom-
plifh the Philofopher, who would make new
difcoveries in Science, a large proportion of
Imagination is (as we have already fhewn)
undoubtedly requifite ; but to conftitute the
true Poet, the higheft degree of this quality
is indifpenfibly neceflary. Smooth verfifica-
tion and harmonious numbers will no more
make genuine Poetry, than the atoms of a
ikeleton put together can make an animated
and living figure. To produce either, a
certain vital fpirit muft be infufed ; and in
Poetry, this vital fpirit is Invention -[-. By
this
Poet. cap. 4.
t The fame great Critic obferves, that as it is the
office of the Hiftorian to relate fuch things as are really
done, it is the proper office of the Poet to relate the
^ i kind
126 A N E S S AY
this quality it is principally chara6Verifed ;
which, being the very foul of all poetical
compofition, is likewife the fource of that
inchanting delight, which the mind receives
from its perufal. Invention may be conli-
dered as confiding of incidents, of cha-
racters, of IMAGERY, of SENTIMENT;
in all which, original poetic Genius will dis-
play itfelf in an uncommon degree. We
Ihall confider its efforts in each of thefe fe-
parately.
kind of things that fhould be done, according to what
is required by neceflity, or the rules of probability :
<l>a»s§o)r ^i tK Tut tt^Ji/iAEWf, KXi oTt « T» Ta yutfMtet J^Byar
THTo TcroiYira e^yov erf*. aXA cia at yivoiro, xat ra ^vrurcc ti.x\ce,
TO eixof, ») TO ouixTxa,ioi. 'O ya,^ iVo^m©- xat o -nrojsjTj;?. « ru
jj £/Xf(.£T§a ^£7llv » aftsTga Jta^Eftfo-*!-' ctt) ya§ an Ta'H^o^oT»
5»s ft£Tga T»6i»a4, xa» a^if »)t1o» m £»♦) Wo^io, T»f /X£Ta p,{Tp« »»
avew fjiiT^at' aAAa tstw tf»a^£§£i tw tou /iiEr rx ymofiirx ^tynt^
Toy cc Ota ccv 7£»otTo. Z7/V. cap. 9.
In order however to relate the kind of things that
Ihould be done, the Poet muft pofiefs the power of In-
vention.
Firft,
ON GENIUS. 127
Firll, in the invention of incidents.
Some incidents ate fo obvious, that by a
natural affociation of ideas, they inftantly
occur to the mind of every one pofTelTed of
ordinary abilities, and ai'c very eafily con-
ceived. Others however are more remote,
and lie far beyond the reach of ordinary fa-
culties * } coming only within the verge of
thofe
- A perfon who is dellitute of Imagination, muft ne-
ceflarily regard a feries of ii<5\itious incidents, which
are at the fame time furprifing and important, with
great aftonifhmqnt ; and he will feel it extremely diffi-
cult to conceive them to have been invented by the
mere fertility, of the Poet's fancy. The reafon of both
feems to be this : Such a perfon, having fcarce any
other ideas than what arlfe from fenfation, and the
moft common laws of aflbciation, will be apt to fup-
pofe that all mankind receive their ideas by the fame
modes of conveyance ; being ignorant of thofe exqui-
(Itely nice relations of ideas refulting from certain laws
of combination that do not operate upon his own mind,
but which, operating upon minds of a finer frame, are
the fource of that rich fund of Invention which he ad-
mires, but can fcarce comprehend. Senfation and re-
fie£l;ion are indeed the common fountains of all our
ideas and all our knowledge ; but when once thofe
ideas are conveyed into the mind by means of the
fenfes.
128 A N E S S AY
thofe few perfons,whofe minds are capacious
enough to contain that prodigious croud of
ideas, which an extenfive obfervation and
experience fupply ; whofe underftandings
are penetrating enough to difcover the mod
diftant connections of thofe ideas, and whofe
imaginations are fufficiently quick, in com-
bining them at pleafure. It is this kind of
incidents which original Genius delights to
invent ; incidents which are in themfeh'es
great as well as uncommon. Let it not
however be fuppofed, that the invention
even of thefe is a laborious employment to
a Writer of this ftamp j for it is the prero-
gative of a great Genius to think and to
write with eafe, very rarely, if ever, expe-
fsnfes, they undergo an infinite variety of modification
in the mind of a man of Genius, in comparifon of
what they admit of in one who is deftitute of this qua-
lity. In the former cafe, Imagination, iike a grand
alembic, gradually refines, and (if I may ufe the expres-
fion) fublimates thofe conceptions that heretofore parti-
cipated of the grofTnefs of fenfe, from v.'hich they were
ultimately derived,
riencing
ON GENIUS. 129
riendng a barrennefs of Imagination. He
has nothing to do but to give fcope to the
excurfions of this faculty, which, by its ac-
tive and creative power, exploring every
recefs of thought, will fupply an inexhaufti-
ble variety of ftriking incidents. A facility,
therefore, of inventing and combining fuch
incidents in compofition, may be regarded
as one chara6leri{lical indication of a Ge-
nius truly Original *.
The
- It is, we believe, commonly fuppofed, at leaft it
feems to be the opinion of fome, that the invention of
a variety of new and interefting incidents, is the moft
fignal proof and exertion of Genius. This opinion,
however, though, upon the firft reflection it has an air
of probability, will appear, upon a ftrider inquiry, to
be without any foundation. The invention of cha-
radters, which will be afterwards particularly confute -
ed, is unqueftionably the greateft effort of original Ge-
nius. In fupport of this pofition, let it be obferved,
that in this fpecies of Invention, the mind has a greater
diverfity of objects to employ it ; and mufl: therefore,
in order to comprehend them, exert its faculties with
vigour, as well as keep them on the ftretch. Thus,
in the exhibition of an uncommon character, the Ima-
gination muft invent the sentiments, language,
K MANNERS,
130 AN ESSAY
The fecond fpecies of invention we men-
tioned was that of characters. Ordi-
nary
MANNERS, and OFFICES peculiar to ir, and Judgment
muft determine concerning the propriety of each;
in the execution of which it is evident, both thefe fa-
culties muft be very intensely exercifed, particularly
the firft ; fmce to conceive and reprefent characters
which never exifted, but are the pure creation of
the mind (for of fuch only we are fpealcing at prefent)
muft indicate the utmoft fertility and Force of
Imagination. On the other hand, though we readily
allow the invention of various, important, and fur-
prifing events, to be a proof of the exiftence of origi-
nal Genius in a high degree, yet we cannot regard it
as fo remarkable an exertion of this talent, as the in-
vention of uncommon charafters ; becaufe the imagi-»
nation of an original Author in Poetry, feeling a na-
tive bent to fiftion, will, even in its paftime, naturally
run into the firft, as incidents are lefs complicated,
and therefore more eafily invented than characters ;
but it cannot accomplifti the laft without the moft
ftrenuous efforts. Were we to admit the invention of
furprifing incidents, as the moft diftinguiftiing crite-
rion of originality, we fhould be under a neces-
fity of afligning the fuperiority in this refpCift to
Ariosto, over Homer and Shakespeare fince we
find that a much greater variety of events have been
feigned rn the Orlando Furiofo of the former, than in
all
ON GENIUS. J31
nary Writers, and even thofe who are pos-
sefTed of no inconfiderable talents, commonly
fatisfy themfelves, in this branch of com-
pofition, with copying the charaders which
have been drawn by Authors of fuperior
merit, and think they acquit themfelves
fufficiently, when they produce a jufl: re-
femblance of the originals they profefs to
imitate. A moderate degree of praife is no
doubt due to fuccefsful imitators ; but an
Author of original Genius will not content
himfelf with a mediocrity of reputation ;
confcious of the flrength of his own ta*
lents, he difdains to imitate what perhaps
he- is qualified to excel. Imitation indeed,
of every kind, except that of nature, has a
tendency to cramp the inventive powers of
the mind, which, if indulged in their excur-
fions, might difcover new mines of intelleftual
all the Works of the two laft mentioned Poets put to-
gether; a preference furely, which neither the dilates
of impartial Reafon, nor the laws of found Criticifm,
could ever juftify.
K 2 ore.
132 AN ESSAY
ore, that lie hid only from thofe who are in-
capable or unwillhig to dive into the receffes
in which it lies buried. A Writer however,
of the kind lafl mentioned, inftead of
tracing the footfteps of his predecefibrs, will
allow his imagination to range over the field
of Invention, in quell of its materials ; and,
from the group of figures collected by it,
will ftrike out a charadler like his own Ge-
nius, perfe6lly Original.
It may be obferved, that there are three
different kinds of chara6lers, in the inven-
tion and reprefentation of which, originality
of Genius may be difcovered with great,
though not with equal advantage. The
firft of thefe are real human charad:ers, fuch
as are found in every country and age. The
fecond are Ukewife human, but of the mofl
dignified kind ; raifed far above the level of
common life, and peculiar to the purefl and
moft heroic times. The laft fort of charac-
ters is that of beings wholly different in their
natures from mankind ; fuch as Ghofts,
Witches,
ON GENIUS. 133
Witches, Fairies, and tht like, which may
be termed fupernatural.
Perhaps it may be thought, that in the
firft of thefe cafes, Invention has nothing to
• do, and cannot with any propriety be exer-
cifed J fince to conceive juftly, and to ex-
prefs naturally, are the principal rcquifites
in an Author, who would exhibit a faithful
portrait of real characters. It muft be con-
feffed, that in this inftance there is not fo
much (cope afforded for invention as in the
others -, nay farther, that it is neceflarily
much rellrided. But let it be obferved, that
though juft and lively conceptions of the
charaflers to be reprefented, together with
the power of defcribing thofe conceptions,
are the qualifications mod effentially requi-
(ite to the faithful exhibition of fuch charac-
ters, both thefe qualities depend upon the
Imagination; for though impartial Judg-
me»r muft determine how far the intire re-
femblance is juft, yet to dictate the fentiments
and language, and to furnifli the a6lions
K 3 peculiar
134 A N E S S A Y
peculiar to the different perfons exhibited, is
the work of Invention alone. It will be
readily underftood, that we are at prefent
fpeaking of charaflers reprefented on the
ftage, and taken from real life, in the de-
fcribing of which we fuppofe an original
Author to employ his Genius -f*.
The
t It cannot be doubted but that Original Genius
may be difcovered in Comedy and works of Humour,
as well as in the higher fpecies of Poetry, thofe of Tra-
gedy and t\\Q Epoposa \ though the originality difcovered
in the firft will be very different, both in kind and de-
gree, from that which is difcovered in the two laft.
Thus the Author of Hud'tbras was in his peculiar
way an Original, as well as the Author of the Iliad -^
and Hogarth, in drawing fcenes and characters in
low life, with fuch uncommon propriety, juftnefs and
humour, difcovers a certain originality, though far
inferior in its kind to what appears in thofe illuftrious
monuments of Genius left us by Raphael Urbin and
Michael Angelo. There can be no queftion which
of the Poets, or which of the Painters, was the greateft
Genius ; for the comparative merit of illuftrious or in-
genious Artifls is eftimated, not merely from the exe-
cution, but from the design, and from the subject
which employed their pens and pencils. Thus there is
a fub-
ON GENIUS. 135
The fecond fort of chara6lers, in the in-
vention and proper reprefentation of which
we
a fubUmity in the works of the Epic Bard, and in the
pieces of the Hiftory Painters above-mentioned, which
gives them a vaft fuperiority oyer thofe of the humorous
Poet and ludicrous Artift already named.
We obferved likewife, that the degree of or'igi-
NALITY which may be difcovered in the higher fpe-
cies of Poetry, is different from that which Comedy ad-
mits of. The DEGREE of ORIGINALITY in any per-
formance whatever, depends upon the degree of inven-
tion appearing in it; and as there is in general at leaft
occafion for a greater proportion of this quality in Tra-
gedy and the Epopoea^ than in Comedy, we may infer,
that a greater degree of original Genius is requi-
fite to an excellence in the two firft, than is necelfary
to an excellence in the laft. In the former, both the
charafters and incidents are in a great meafure ficti-
tious ; in the latter, they are for the moft part taken
from real life; the one fetting before our eyes an il-
luftrious model of virtue, teaches us what we should
be ; the other prefenting to our view a faithful portrait
of our vices and follies, drawn from obfervation,
teaches us what we are. Hence it fhould feem,
that a sublime and creative Imagination is necef-
fary to conftitute a talent for Epic Poetry, or for
Tragedy; ancj that a quick and lively one, ac-
K 4 companied
136 A N E S S AY
we obferved an original Genius would excel,
is that of the mod elevated kind, fuch as is
raifed far above the ordinary ftandard of
hun^an excellence, yet not altogether above
the fphere of humanity j fuch as is not ab-
folutely unattainable by man, but is rarely
found in common life, and is peculiar to
the moft heroic ages of the vi'orld. It is this
kind of charafters which is mofl fuitable to
the dignity of the epic and the tragic Mufe :
the latter indeed hath greatly extended her
prerogative, by afTuming the privilege of
reprefenting every kind of diftrefs, and mak-
ing vicious chara61:ers frequently the principal
perfonages of the drama. We fliall only by
the way obferve on this rubje6l, that though
one end of Tragedy, the exciting of terror,
may be anfwered mofl effeftually by this
method, the other ends, namely, the raifing
of our admiration and pity, can by no means
cnmpanied with an extcnfive knowledge of man-
kind, is the principal rcquifite to a mastery in Co-
rned v.
be
ON GENIUS. 137
be accomplifhed by it -, lince to efFe6luate
thefe, virtue muft appear great and venera-
ble in diftrefs. Though virtuous characters
labouring under calamities, do at leaft: in
general afford the mod proper fubje6ls for
Tragedy, as appears from the reafbn already
• given, yet we are far from laying it down as
an efTential rule, that fuch chara6lers muft
always be exhibited in this branch of Poetry j
for we are fenfible, that as Tragedy admits
of great latitude with regard to the choice
of its fubje£ls, it is a rule which may fome-
times with propriety be tranfgreffed j yet we
will lay it down as an inviolable law in the
condu6l of an Epic Poem, that the charac-
ters of the principal perfons muft be virtuous
and illuilrious. In reprefenting chara6lers
of this kind, whether in Tragedy or the
Epopcea, an original Genius will difcover the
fertility and richnefs of his invention. Find-
ing no characters in real life every way fuited
to his purpofe, his Imagination amply fup-
plies the defe6l, and enables him to form
thofe complete models of excellence, which
neither
138 A N E S S AY
neither obfervation nor experience could
furnifh. By the creative and combining
power of this faculty, he affembles thofe
ihining qualities which conftitute the Hero,
and exhibits them, united together with per-
fe6t fymmetry, in one flriking and graceful
figure. Inftead of copying the' Heroes of
Homer, or of any other Author ancient or
modern, he will prefent us with Heroes
which are properly his own j being the
tranfcripts of thofe models of genuine ex-
cellence, which he has formed in his own
mind. We do not affirm that fuch charac-
ters will be altogether imaginary. The
groundwork may be taken from hiflory or
tradition, though it is the province of the
Poet to finifh the piece ; and the Poet that
is truly original, will do this with admirable
art and invention.
The ^hird and lad fort of characters, in
which, above all others, an original Genius
will moft remarkably difplay his invention,
is of tliat kind which we called preterna-
tural,
O N G E N I U S. 139
TURAL, and is altogether different from
mere human charafters. Witches, Ghofts,
Fairies, and fuch other unknown vifionary
beings, are included in the fpecies of which
we are fpeaking. Of the manner of exift-
ence, nature and employment of thefe v/on-
derful beings, we have no certain or deter-
minate ideas. It fhould feem that our no-
tions of them, vague and indifHn6l as they
are, are derived from tradition and popular
opinion ; or are the children of Fancy, Su-
perftition, and Fear. Thefe caufes concur-
ing with, as well as operating upon, the
natural credulity of mankind, have given
birth to prodigies and fables concerning
" Gorgons, and Hydras, and chimeras
dire j" which have been always eagerly
f wallowed by the vulgar, though they may
have been juftly rejefled by the wife.
However averfe the latter may be to think
with the former on fubjeds of this kind,
it is certain, that their ideas of Ghofts,
Witches, Daemons, and fuch like appari-
tions, muft be very much the fame with
theirs.
I40 A N E S S A Y
theirs, fince they draw them from the fame
fource, that of traditionary relation j and,
how reludtant foever the Judgment may be
to yield its aflent, the Imagination catches
and retains the imprellion, whether we will
or not. It is true, the ideas of thofe be-
ings, which are common to all, are very
general and obfcure j there is therefore great
fcope afforded for the flights of Fancy in this
boundlefs region. Much may be invented,
and many new ideas of their nature and of-
fices may be acquired. The wildeft and
mod exuberant imagination will fuccced beft
in excurfions of this kind, " beyond the vi-
fible diurnal fphere," and will make the
moft ftupendous difcoveries in its aerial tour.
In this region of fiction and fable, original
Genius will indulge its adventurous flight
without reftraint : it will dart a beam upon
the dark fcenes of futurity, draw the veil
from the invifible world, and expofe to
our aftonifhed view ** that undifcovered
country, from whofe bourne no traveller
returns."
Shakespear,
O N G E N I U S. 141
Shakespear, with whofe words we con-
cluded the lafl fentence, is the only EngliJJj
writer, who with amazing boldnefs has ven-
tured to burft the barriers of a feparate ftate,
and difclofe the land of Apparitions, Shadows,
and Dreams j and he has nobly fucceeded in
his daring attempt. His very peculiar ex-
cellence in this refpefl will be more properly
illuftrated in another part of our Eflay. In
the mean time we may obferve, that it will
be hazardous for any one to purfue the track
which he has marked out ; and that none
but a Genius uncommonly original, can hope
for fuccefs in the purfuit.
Should fuch a Genius arife, he could not
defire a nobler field for the difplay of an ex-
uberant Imagination, than what the fplritual
world, with its ftrange inhabitants, will
prefent to him. In defcribing the nature
and employment of thofe vifionary beings,
whofe exiftence is fixed in a future ftate, or
of thofe who exift in the prefent, or may
be fuppofed to inhabit the " midway air,"
but
142 A N E S S A Y
but are poflelTed of certain powers and fa-
culties, very different from what are pos-
scfled by mankind, he is not, as in defcrib-
ing human characters, reftri6led to exa6l
probability, much lefs to truth : for we are
in moft inftances utterly ignorant of the
powers of different or fuperior beings ; and,
confequently, are very incompetent judges
of the probability or improbability of the
particular influence, or a(5lions attributed to
them. All that we require of a Poet there-
fore, who pretends to exhibit charaders of
this kind, is, that the incidents, in effecSluat-
ing which they are fuppofed to be concern-
ed, be poffible, and confonant to the general
analogy of their nature j an analogy, founded
not upon truth or ftrift probability, but
upon common tradition or popular opinion.
It is evident therefore that the Poet, who
would give us a glimpfe of the other world,
and an idea of the nature, employment, and
manner of exiftence of thofe who inhabit it,
or of thofe other imaginary beings, who
are in fome refpeds fimilar to, but in others
totally
ON GENIUS. 143
totally different fiom mankind, and are fup-
pofed to dwell on or about this earth, has
abundant fcope for the exercife of the mod
fertile Invention. This ideal region is in-
deed the proper fphere of Fancy, in which
file may range with a loofe rein, without
fuffering reftraint from the fevere checks of
Judgment j for Judgment has very little
jurifdi6lion in this province of Fable. The
invention of the fupernatural chara6lers
above-mentioned, and the exhibition of
them, with their proper attributes and of-
fices, are the highefl efforts and the mofl
pregnant proofs of truly original Genius.
The third fpecies of Invention, by which
we obferved original Genius will be diftin-
guifhed, is that of imagery. The ftile of
an original Author in Poetry is for the moft
part FIGURATIVE and metaphorical. The
ordinary modes of fpeech being unable to
exprefs the grandeur or the flrength of his
conceptions, appear flat and languid to
his ardent Imagination. In order therefore
to
144 AN ESSAY
to fupply the poverty of common language,
he has recourfe to metaphors and images * j
which.
- LoNGiNUS is of opinion, that the ufe of meta-
phors and figures has an admirable efFe(Sl in compofi-
tion, both by heightening the fubh'me, and giving
greater force to the pathetic ; and likewife obferves,
that while figures give a particular efficacy to the fub-
lime, they receive equal benefit from it in turn :
Era» ^E "Oraiy