Vegetable for ms, which approach to the resemblance of animals ; minerals, which have a resemblance to vege tables or animals, are reckoned curious, but are never considered as possessing that beauty which excites the emotion of delight. Uniformity or regularity in rocks and mountains, is considered as a defect, and beheld only with surprise. Uniformity and regularity, therefore, are only beautiful when associated with intention or design.
Uniformity being expressive of design, and variety of embellished design, the beauty of forms will be most per fect when these two are duly proportioned ; that is, " when the unity of design is equal, the beauty of forms will be in proportion to their embellishment ; and when the embellishment is equal, their beauty will be in pro portion to the unity of design." The qualities of uniformity and variety are beautiful from the expression of design. They are also beautiful from the effect of their composition, in maintaining and promoting the emotion which the subject itself is capable of exciting. Their composition is, in some cases, beau tiful, from being expressive of the skill of the artist, and of others from being correspondent to the character or expression of the subject. The confounding of these distinct expressions, has been the cause of the greater part of the mistakes which have been made in the inves tigation of the beauty of these qualities.
It is of the greatest importance that the artist should pay attention to this part of the subject, because it is in his power either to sacrifice the beauty of design to that of character or expression, or the beauty of character to that of design. lie ought to be fully aware of the su periority of the beauty of character or expression, in pro clueing the greater and more affecting emotions over that of design. Also of its being more universally felt, being only dependent on our sensibility, while that of design can only be fully felt by those who are so far proficients as to judge of skill, Szc. ; and likewise, that the beauty of character or expression, by depending upon invariable principles of our nature, is much more permanent than that of design, which is influenced by every period of the art. It may therefore be considered a first or fundamental principle, " That the expression of design should be sub ject to the expression of character ; and that in every form, the proportion of uniformity and variety which the artist should study, ought to be, that which is accommo dated to the nature of this character, and not to the expres sion of his own dexterity and skill." Fitness, or the proper adaptation of means to an end, is another source of the relative beauty of forms. In every profession, all machines, instruments, and even the most common utensils, which are well adapted to their several purposes, are, by artists, denominated beautiful. A phy sician talks of a beautiful theory of fevers, a surgeon of a beautiful instrument for operation, an anatomist of a beautiful subject or preparation ; these instances slim, that even the objects which are most destitute of natural beauty, become beautiful when they are regarded only in the light of their fitness. Pleasing or agreeable forms receive additional beauty from being wisely adapted to some end.
" The beauty of proportion affects us with the emo tion of beauty, not from any original capacity in such qualities to excite this emotion, but from their being ex pressive to us of the fitness of the parts to the end de signed." What we feel from observing an object which is well proportioned, is not the mere sensation of pleasure from an arrangement of parts, but an agreeable emotion from the perception of the proper disposition of these parts for an end designed.
In most familiar cases, this quality of fitness is so im mediately expressed to us by the material form, that we are sensible of little difference between such judgments and the mere determination of sense ; but where the ob ject is not so familiar, or the construction is intricate, we do not discover the proportions until we have discovered the principle of the machine, or the means by which the end is attained. But if proportions consisted in any de
termined relation, discoverable only by a peculiar sense, the consideration of fitness could no more influence our opinions than any other consideration.
" Every form which is susceptible of proportion, may he considered in either one or other of the following lights. 1st, In the light of its whole or general relation to the end designed, or when it is considered as a whole, with out any distinction of parts ; or 2dly, In the light of the relation of its several parts to this end. Thus in the case of a machine, we may sometimes consider it in the light of its general utility for the end it is destined to serve, and sometimes in the light of the propriety of the differ ent parts for the attainment of the end. When we con sider it in the first light, it is its fitness which we pro perly consider ; when we consider it in the second light, it is its proportion we consider. Fitness may therefore be supposed to express the general relation of propriety between means and an end ; and proportion, a peculiar or subordinate relation of this kind, viz. the proper relation of parts to an end. Both agree in expressing the rela tion of propriety between means and their ends. Fitness expresses the proper relation of the whole of the means to the end ; proportion, the proper relation of a part or parts to their ends." Forms are susceptible of as many determinate propor tions, as they are susceptible of parts necessary for the end for which they are intended. If they have any more parts, these are not susceptible of any accurate propor tions, and are accordingly constantly varying ; and we are only sensible of the proportion of forms, as we become acquainted with the fitness of its construction. Of a new machine, with which we are unacquainted, we cannot de cide of the propriety or impropriety of its proportions. The more extensive our knowledge is of the fitness of the forms for their several ends, the better we shall be qualified to judge of the propriety of their several pro portions ; " and in general it may be observed, that the certainty of proportion is, in all cases, dependent upon the certainty of fitness. 1st, When this fitness is abso lutely determined, as in many cases of mechanics, the proportion is equally determined. 2d, Where it is de termined only by experience, the opinion of the beauty of proportion varies with the progress of such experience. 3d, Where this fitness cannot be subjected to experience, as in the case of natural forms, the common proportion is generally conceived to be fittest, and is therefore con __ sidered as the most beautiful." In following the author through the foregoing discussions, we have merely en deavoured to preserve the connection of his general prin ciples, neglecting most of his beautiful illustrations, and avoiding, as much as possible, the numerous application of his principles to the theory and practice of the other fine arts, our object being only to trace what was neces sary to determine the principles of architecture. We pre sume the reader, who has with attention accompanied thus far,will already have discovered more rational grounds for general principles, than has been furnished by any other author. We are now to proceed to consider the merits of his application of the foregoing principles more immediately to the art of architecture.