But if, instead of contenting ourselves with retracing the old parallel of poetry with painting, we were to take a wider range, and consider the arts of design as a mode of conveying ideas, or as analo gous to language or writing in general, such an enquiry might lead us to a just appreciation of their importance, by ex hibiting a comprehensive view of the ex tent of their powers, and of the modes of applying those powers, as means for the attainment of any desired end.
The arts of design we may then consi der as a language, by which, though all things cannot be expressed, many at least may, in a stronger and clearer manner than can be effected by any other. And it is scarcely necessary to add, that all those arts or sciences, to the comprehen sion or practice of which lineation or ma. delling is requisite, are more or less de pendent on design.
The arts of design, or those dependent on design, may be divided into 'three great classes : arts, simply useful or ne cessary ; arts, whose object it is to unite elegance with utility ; and arts, whose aim is more decidedly to elevate the hu man mind, by an appropriate choice of the most grand and beautiful objects.
Design, so far as it is requisite for the common purposes of life, as building dwelling-houses, planning convenient fur niture, forming canals, raising aqueducts, &c. is a useful, or indeed a necessary art. Without design, by which the explanato ry figures are furnished, the first princi ples of geometry and the mathematics, the foundation of so large a portion of human knowledge would be unintelligi ble. Without design, we should be igno rant of the situations and bearings of dif ferent countries ; without the assistance of maps and charts, the pilot would be ignorant what course to steer ; nay, the compass itself may be termed the off spring of design. By her means, without the constant recurrence to dissection, the physician and surgeon are instructed in the various situations and appearances of the bones, veins, nerves, muscles, and every other part of human frame ; and, by her assistance, the visible symptoms of disorders can be accurately described, when words would have been inadequate to the task.
If we consider design as applicable to those arts, sciences, or manufactures, whose object it is to combine utility and instruction with ornament and amuse ment, we shall find her province not less extended. The chair, the sofa, the table, and the lamp, no longer confined to the purposes of mere necessity, present them selves, adorned with all the graces of Grecian art, at once the instruments of our comfort, and the embellishment of our apartments. By means of design, we are transported to foreign climes ; we be hold their buildings, processions, dresses, &c. : with her assistance, the traveller is enabled to teach us their customs and manners, and instruct us in the process of their manufactures ; the deepest re cesses of the earth are laid before us, and the whole animal creation, with the won tiers of the deep, are not withheld from our view.
The arts of design, considered more strictly as elegant arts, have a no less ex tensive and noble scope : our edifices rise with majestic beauty ; the column, the obelisk, and the statue, perpetuate the remembrance of departed worth ; whilst the picture excites us, by its representa tions, to emulate the heroic deeds of for mer times, or transports us to the alluring regions of fancy.
We have perhaps said sufficient to skew the difficulty, nay, the impossibility, of defining the precise limits of the fine arts in general. Of each in particular it is not our intention here to speak, nor shall we undertake a laborious and unprofitable inquiry respecting the pretensions of any one of them to priority of existence or superiority of rank. Each has its allotted office, and they journey on, hand in hand, reciprocally decorating and assisting each other, the coeval, and perhaps the co equal, offspring of the same parent. See