Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1804-07-11


, site delight are we indebted 10 his divine.
ly wtch'ng skill. Yet This skill so divine,
SO wonder working, has sometimes been,
rented. The agent has dropt his tails
! man, the spell has been broken, the charm
has been dissolved.
From the defects 10 The beauties of 4" IRE
British Shy" the transition is accnmpani
ed by our highest adinirlton.--An un
bounded prospect of scenes, variegated
and picturesque, elegant, splendid, mag
nihcent and sublime burst upon the asto-
n'shed eye, like the giddy raptures Of a
dream. 70 drop he allegory, we are here
surprised by a display of logic and rheto-
ric, blended and intcrmixed in the incest
and most exact proportions.
We cannot but pay reverence to that
mind, which nature has capacita,sd for
the intimate and harmonious association
OF these opposite faculties. Sound logic,
correct taste, an inventive genius, seldom
concur TO bless the same mind. The To-
gician is grave, cool, deliberate,--lIe en-
pioys himself in Detecting, analy COM
pairing and combining objects in their clo-
Sest and most secret relations. He de-
votes himself exclusively, to the sui
stance and arrangement of the thought,
totally disregasding the dress in which il
IS alfred, or the manner in which il 10
delivered.
Taste is chasiely delicate, and an a.
cutely discerning faculty. Itresp=Gts no,
only the substance and arrau &c ment Of the
thought, bat 1t likewise, extends its soil
cltnde 10 the dress in which ii is arraycd,
I 81 -,
Il IS not sufficient that the thought pos
sess soiidity, prophecy aud accuracy. But
II must be apParrell-d in such language
as - peculiar 10 its nature, and be more
or less embeiIished according 20 the gran
dcur and richness ofthe conception. The
thought must not only be suitably alfred,
but It ought 10 be introduced TO US in a
manner worthy c. its character. A body
OF digmned Thoughts must NOT only be iu-
dIciously arranged, and clearly identified
by the perspicuity. and Disseminated by
the holiness or the diction, il must move
on in proud stately march calculated 10
! excite corresponding emotion OF dignity
III the beholder.
The faculty of genius is bold. vivid. as
piring full Of curiosity, full of invention.
'
her graces and her dimples, and lights M
her smiles and her bushes. Ii taught the
Sybil 10 prophecy, and the winds to wait
her inscriptions. II sealed Jupiter on his
Olympic throne, and invested his RIGHT
hand with the flaming thunderboli. on
wings quick and eager as The lightning, il
darts across the imagination and the heart,
klndling, in its bright passage, the ardors
OF enthusisam, and pryiHP the remotest
and subilest avenues of seusibility. 1t
HES" fromheGUenf6 earth from Garth 10 heQ-
uen," seiziug ITS FIRE from the sun, and
p.uck!nG rs cuiors from the rain bow and
eliminating and vivifving every object
on which 1t exercises is creative and al
might art. touched by the magic wand
I OF genius. the darkest and most wearied
! SUBJECTS start ahd rise from the cold, the
shednwy' the death ike regions, in which
dulnsss hac entombed them. They ap
pear before rs, endowed with renovated
lile> and dsc6ed in sill the sp!endor and
enchantments OF novelty,
This last faculty, when tanned by logic,
vten instructed by philosophy, when dis.
c!rlined 81 taste, holds an imperial SWAY.
IN the Intellectual world, which CHALLENGES
resistance. SO does the " Brifsh SIN.
His is not the plain uuimbellshed art of
the mere logician; nor the correct and
sedale, yet unlnspired and uncreatiyc skill
OF the mere man Of taste NOR the
wild unheeding irregular fancy Of the mere
man Of genius. He. happily, uDites il,
himself, the three characters, which are
constantly playing INFO each oilers hands,
and rec'procaIly imparting the precious
secrets OF their arts.
In 40 instance, does the skill Of our au-
thor, appear so'happy or so conspicuous,
as in the portrait, which he has given us
otthe most eminent Virg Man Barristers,
His language possesses such descriptive
force, each feature is so ninutcly and ex-
qulsi,ely delineated, the lights and shades
OF his pictures are distributed in such Just
proportions, that ten chances To one, the
reader forgets To- whom he owes his de.
lights ascribes ittothe painterrafher than
the writer, the pencil rather than the pen.
When he speaks of Marshall, or Mon.
roe, he brings these gentlemen immedi.
ately before us so near indeed, that, af-
ter perusing their pictures, we can almost