Delaware inquirer. (Wilmington, Del.) 1859-18??, 1859-09-10
[From Chambers Journal.1
ga THING OF BEAUTY rs A JOY
FOREVER"

i, What is the use of beauty? 1t is intende
Il merely to amuse the fancy for time, and the
pail, fade and be forgottsnl In systei
+, where nothing else is lost where all is fitnes
e and conference, and where each part, howevt
minute, seems as necessary to the whole as
/, single link is to the continuity of a chain,
/ this quality alone without definite meaning G
: permanent purpose! Analogy is against tn
/ suppositon and we must either set dow
beauty as All unmeaning superhulty in tn
| scheme of creation, or else assign it an impol
lance commensurate with the space it occupie
, in out thoughts.
The impressions we receive from externa
| objects are Sufficiently well understood in thci
momentary effects. 1t is customary, for in
stance, TO say that the beauty of some sill
and solitary landscape, coming in amidst tn
conflict of the pasgions, tranquillizes the un
quiet bosom, and smoothes the wrinkled brow
But if this is correct in the particular appli
cation, may wo not deduce from it, as result
that habitual exposure to similar influence.
will have permanent effect upon the mine
We deriue pleasure from beautiful picture
and if seen for the first time. the feeling is
exaggerated by surprise and suddenness. Al
subsequent visit, such adventitious circum-
stances grow fainter and fainter, our pleasure
becomes more and more calm; till at length
surprising the object constantly present
we view il without any apparent emotion al
all. But it is a mistake to suppose that the
effects of this form of the beautiful have dis
appeared with theirexternal phenomena. We
7 feel the picture, without seeingit. We breathe
in its invisible presence IN atmosphere of
beauty, as unconsGiously as we inhale the
vital air.
Beauty, therefore, is not mere toy of the
fancy, but M Important agent in human pro
gress. 1t is nos a luxury but necerrary.-
1t is not adapted for one class, but for all. 1t
would be untrue to say that beauty is not
studied as an art but hitherto it has been
studied fren false motives, and in mean and
contracted spirit. Governments and muni-
cipalities exerciee what architectural taste
they may possess, from some yageu idea that
u VI ALlt tlllSdil viva usNlhi
is necessary to their dignity and character
Rich men lay out teeir parks and gardens, and
fill their houses with agreeable objects, to
crafty their own in stinctiye yearning after the
beautiful: and if they extend their care to a
cottage or a hamlet, it is merely because these
are adiuncts of the physical picture. But no
one faneies that beauty is, in reality, a public
good-that it should lie followed as a moral
virtue-that it should be taught and dss-
eminated as IL powerful means of making
mankind happier and better.
We met, tie other day, with an illustration
of the influence of natural scenery upon the
human mind, which we could hardly have
hoped for. 1t occurs in little warl5 entitled
" Settlers and Convscts in the Australian
lackwoods, 2 written by Woodworking self
taught mechanic, who was struck with the
effect of the localities in whibh they labored
upon the character of the conviets. g In
animate nature,'i says he, sis universally
lovely in these wildcrnesses and a cheerful
unprecedented eye may often observe strange
assimilations going forward, in the human
character, to the faultless stil-life around,
which God has retained under his own more
immediate control" There Is deep however
unconscious, philosophy TINS remark. The
beauty Of external nature is, in truth, the i'm
mediate work of God, intended to act morally
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80 60
.i :, '"'s ~ niieieas Will
:. - ,i0'''e y ~ .ie WITS i'.'opeai' coil-
= = iiN.s = essis ie'''se anu
10Y ie'o'ieot'oi'e "i.'eii' ""'ieu snousn they
,''iA'i '''e ACCOMMODATIONS - wy anu io'iy,
~ 49, my W a .oi'n =! VIZ oohseii''l
'''m"eAs.' " Insurer
i"ie VI l'seii y d suiloi'ai' answer 10 those,
= 'iiy s"oi 1i're ~ VINO inquire, what Is the
use " pe""'s SUN periohs' we presume,
woulu measure 'he utiiity OIL apuphc PARK by
''ie VAtoAV g. 10 ii'"' ~ the Auiilper oi cupe
" ifesh ar presents 70 liie lungs Oh tpe
Peopit- ishorait tiiat 'iic health Oh the Vlsl-
'ois "epehas II as great measure upon the
picture presented 10 inc eye. Ihey would
throw open Inc ha'lohal galierles' the cathe-
u'tis' anu me l'"iaeeS, III order te improve
w iiiinu y iaciiitallhg the study OF styles OF
~ isiioi"h' that ing teiiaeheS OF sueh ex-
hibitions is towards still more important i'm
proyement-that spirit of beauty hovers
amid these pictured walls and fretted yaults |