Four Dissertations: I. The Natural History of Religion. II. Of the Passions. III. Of Tragedy. IV. Of the Standard of Taste

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A. Millar, in the Strand., 1757 - 240 pages

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I
1
II
121
III
185
V
203

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Page 228 - ... as the standard of beauty. The organs of internal sensation are seldom so perfect as to allow the general principles their full play, and produce a feeling correspondent to those principles. They either...
Page 216 - ... and perception. One obvious cause, why many feel not the proper sentiment of beauty, is the want of that delicacy of imagination, which is requisite to convey a sensibility of those finer emotions.
Page 79 - Stock, stone, or other homely pedigree, In his defence his servants are as bold As if he had been born of beaten gold. The Jewish Rabbins, though their enemies, In this conclude them honest men and wise ; For 'twas their duty, all the learned think, T" espouse his cause by whom they eat and drink.
Page 136 - Thus any continued sound, as the music of birds, or a fall of water, awakens every moment the mind of the beholder, and makes him more attentive to the several beauties of the place that lie before him. Thus if there arises a fragrancy of smells or perfumes, they heighten the pleasures of the imagination...
Page 211 - He charms by the force and clearness of his expression, by the readiness and variety of his inventions, and by his natural pictures of the passions, especially those of the gay and amorous kind : And however his faults may diminish our satisfaction, they are not able entirely to destroy it.
Page 232 - ... in the faculties may commonly be remarked, proceeding either from prejudice, from want of practice, or want of delicacy, and there is just reason for approving one taste, and condemning another: but where...
Page 226 - Every work of art has also a certain end or purpose for which it is calculated ; and is to be deemed more or less perfect, as it is more or less fitted to attain this end.
Page 238 - The same good sense that directs men in the ordinary occurrences of life is not hearkened to in religious matters, which are supposed to be placed altogether above the cognizance of human reason.
Page 228 - When the critic has no delicacy, he judges without any distinction, and is only affected by the grosser and more palpable qualities of the object : the finer touches pass unnoticed and disregarded. Where he is not aided by practice, his verdict is attended with confusion and hesitation.
Page 107 - In all this, a superstitious man finds nothing, which he has properly performed for the sake of his deity, or which can peculiarly recommend him to the divine favour and protection.

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