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Beauty that is peculiar to the form of man, which seem to follow from the considerations I have suggested.

I.

That the Beauty or Sublimity of the Human Form, does not arise from any original and essential Beauty in this form, or in its composition.

II.

That there is a negative species of Beauty necessary to every beautiful form, but not constituting it, which arises from the expression of physical fitness or propriety.

III.

That the real and positive Beauty of the form arises from its expression of some amiable or interesting character of Mind, and that the degree of this beauty is proportionate to the degree in which this character is interesting or affecting to us. And,

IV.

That the Beauty of composition in the Human Form arises (as in all other cases) from the unity of Expression; and that the law by which we determine the Beauty of the several members of this form, is that of their correspondence to the peculiar nature of the Characteristic expression.

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SECTION IV.

Of the Sublimity and Beauty of Attitude and Gesture.

BESIDE the general Beauty of form which I have considered, there are various emotions of Beauty felt from peculiar PosiTIONS, OF MOTIONS of the Human Body. The first of these constitutes the Beauty of Attitude, the second the Beauty of Gesture.

The proper expression of form is that of the permanent character or disposition of mind. The expressions, on the contrary, of attitude and of gesture, are those of temporary or occasional passion or affection. They have, therefore, the same relation to the expression of the general form, that the variable colours and features of the Countenance have to the expression of the general Countenance.

I have only farther to premise, that Proportion, or that proper conformation of parts, which is necessary for the purposes of the animal frame, is as essential to the Beauty of attitude and gesture, as it is to that of form in general. No form can be beautiful which is disproportioned; but every form that is proportioned is not beautiful. In the same manner, no attitude or gesture can properly be beautiful in a form which is disproportioned or deformed; but every attitude or gesture in a well-proportioned form is not felt as beautiful. For this Beauty, therefore, we must search for other causes.

Whatever may be the result of our investigation, it is to be observed, in the first place, that in this case, as in the foregoing case of form, there are two very distinct expressions, which any attitude or gesture may signify to us.

1. The first is that of Ease or constraint, of physical pleasure or physical pain. Our

knowledge of this expression is derived from all the sources of our knowledge, from our own experience, from our sympathy with others, and from their language and analo gous experience. There is no child, perhaps, who does not immediately perceive, from the attitudes or gestures of others, whether they are easy or constrained; and who does not feel pain when he witnesses any gesture or attitude which seems to him forced or extreme. The same principle guides us in a still greater degree in maturity.-And in the fine arts, in those representations of Human Form or Action, where something greater and more perfect than ordinary nature is attempted to be produced, we still feel that ease is necessary to the Beauty either of attitude or gesture; and that we are incapable of entering into the full expression of the form, if any thing harsh or constrained appears in its composition. Of the truth of this proposition, I shall enter into no farther explanation, I have only to

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