precipice or tower whence we look down on the objects which lie below, is still more so. The excessive Grandeur of the firmament arises from its height, joined to its boundless extent; and that of the ocean, not from its extent alone, but from the perpetual motion and irresistible force of that mass of waters. Wherever space is concerned, it is clear, that amplitude or greatness of extent, in one dimension or other, is necessary to Grandeur. Remove all bounds from any object, and you presently render it sublime. Hence infinite space, endless numbers, and eternal duration, fill the mind with great ideas. From this some have imagined, that vastness, or amplitude of extent, is the foundation of all Sublimity. But I cannot be of this opinion, because many objects appear sublime which have no relation to space at all. Such, for instance, is great loudness of sound. The burst of thunder or of cannon, the roaring of winds, the shouting of multitudes, the sound of vast cataracts of water, are all incontestibly grand objects. "I heard the voice of a great multi"tude, as the sound of many waters and of mighty "thunderings, saying, Allelujah." In general we may observe, that great power and force exerted, always raise sublime ideas; and perhaps the most copious source of these is derived from this quarter. Hence the grandeur of earthquakes and burning mountains; of great conflagrations; of the stormy ocean, and overflowing waters; of tempests of wind; of thunder and lightning; and of all the uncommon violence of the elements. Nothing is more sublime than mighty power and strength. A stream that runs within its banks is a beautiful object; but when it rushes down with the impetuosity and noise of a ΙΟ From torrent, it presently becomes a sublime one. lions, and other animals of strength, are drawn sublime comparisons in poets. A race-horse is looked upon with pleasure; but it is the war-horse "whose "neck is clothed with thunder," that carries grandeur in its idea. The engagement of two great armies, as it is the highest exertion of human might, combines a variety of sources of the Sublime; and has accordingly been always considered as one of the most striking and magnificent spectacles that can either be presented to the eye, or exhibited to the imagination in description. For the farther illustration of this subject, it is proper to remark, that all ideas of the solemn and awful kind, and even bordering on the terrible, tend greatly to assist the sublime; such as darkness, solitude, and silence. What are the scenes of nature that elevate the mind in the highest degree, and produce the sublime sensation? Not the gay landscape, the flowery field, or the flourishing city; but the hoary mountain, and the solitary lake; the aged forest, and the torrent falling over the rock. Hence, too, nightscenes are commonly the most sublime. The firmament, when filled with stars, scattered in such vast numbers, and with such magnificent profusion, strikes the imagination with a more awful grandeur, than when we view it enlightened with all the splendour of the Sun. The deep sound of a great bell, or the striking of a great clock, are at any time grand; but, when heard amid the silence and stillness of the night, they become doubly so. Darkness is very commonly applied for adding Sublimity to all our ideas of the Deity. "He maketh darkness his "pavilion; he dwelleth in the thick cloud." So Milton: How oft, amidst Thick Clouds and dark, does Heaven's all-ruling Sire And, with the Majesty of darkness, round Circles his throne Book II. 263. Observe, with how much art Virgil has introduced all those ideas of silence, vacuity, and darkness, when he is going to introduce his Hero to the infernal regions, and to disclose the secrets of the great deep. Dii quibus imperium est animarum, umbræque silentes, I * These passages 1 quote at present, not so much as instances of Sublime Writing, though in themselves * Ye subterranean Gods, whose awful sway PITT. Obscure they went; through dreary shades, that led By the moon's doubtful and malignant light. DRYDEN. I they are truly so, as to shew, by the effect of them, that the objects which they present to us belong to the class of sublime ones. Obscurity, we are farther to remark, is not unfavourable to the Sublime. Though it render the object indistinct, the impression, however, may be great; for as an ingenious author has well observed, it is one thing to make an idea clear, and another to make it affecting to the imagination; and the imagination may be strongly affected, and, in fact, often is so, by objects of which we have no clear conception. Thus we see, that almost all the descriptions given us of the appearances of supernatural Beings, carry some Sublimity, though the conceptions which they afford us be confused and indistinct. Their sublimity arises from the ideas, which they always convey, of superior power and might, joined with an awful obscurity. We may see this fully exemplified in the following noble passage of the book of Job: "In thoughts from the visions of the night, when "deep sleep falleth upon men, fear came upon me, " and trembling, which made all my bones to shake: "Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of "my flesh stood up: it stood still; but I could not "discern the form thereof; an image was before "my eyes; there was silence; and I heard a voice "Shall mortal man be more just than God?" * The picture which Lucretius has drawn of the dominion of superstition over mankind, representing it as a portentous spectre shewing its head from the clouds, and dismaying the whole human race with its countenance, together with the magnanimity of Epicurus in raising himself up against it, carries all the grandeur of a sublime, obscure, and awful image. (Job, iv. 15.) No ideas, it is plain, are so sublime as those taken from the Supreme Being; the most unknown, but the greatest of all objects; the infi, 'nity of whose nature, and the eternity of whose duration, joined with the omnipotence of his power, though they surpass our conceptions, yet exalt them to the highest. In general, all objects that are greatly raised above us, or far removed from us, either in space or in time, are apt to strike us as great. Our viewing them as through the mist of distance or antiquity, is favourable to the impressions of their Sublimity. As obscurity, so disorder too, is very compatible with grandeur; nay frequently heightens it. Few things that are strictly regular, and methodical, appear sublime. We see the limits on every side; we feel ourselves confined; there is no room for the mind's exerting any great effort. Exact proportion of parts, though it enters often into the Beautiful, is much disregarded in the Sublime. A great mass of rocks, thrown together by the hand of nature, with wildness and confusion, strike the mind with more grandeur than if they had been adjusted to one another with the most accurate symmetry. In the feeble attempts which human art can make towards producing grand objects, (feeble, I mean in comparison with the powers of nature,) greatness of Humana ante oculos fœde cum vita jaceret Est oculos ausus. LIB. I. |