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Article DISSERTATIONS ON THE POLITE ARTS. Page 1 of 3 →
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Dissertations On The Polite Arts.
DISSERTATIONS ON THE POLITE ARTS .
——Ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes Emollit mores , nee sinit esse feros . Orm .
No . I . GENERAL REMARKS . IT will not be necessary to begin with a panegyric of arts in general . Their advantages are sufficiently evident , the whole earth being full of them . They have built cities , have associated mankind , lia-ve polishedsoftenedand rendered them capable of society . One
, , kind of arts being calculated for use , another for ornament , and some comprising both utility and decoration , they are become , as it were , a second order of elements , the creation of which nature had reserved for the industry of man . Let us cast our eyes on the history of nations , and we shall see humanity and the social virtues following the polite arts . By them
Athens grew to be the school of delicacy , and Rome , in spite of its original rudeness , became polite . Throug h them all nations , in proportion to the commerce they had with the Muses , became more humane , and more sensible of the finer passions . It is not possible that the grossest eyes , beholding every day master-pieces of sculpture and painting , and having before them the most regular and magnificent edifices ; that men the / east disposed to virtue and the graces , after reading works nobly conceived , and
delicately expressed , should not catch a certain h -bitude of order , grandeur , and delicacy . If history makes the most eminent virtues bloom forth , why should not the prudence of Ulysses , the valour of Achilles , kindle the same fire ? Why should not the graces of Anacreon , Bion , and Moschus , soften our manners ? Why should not so many objects ( where grandeur is united to the graceful ) give us . the taste of what is beautifuldecentand delicate ? A man ( says
, , Plutarch ) who has learnt music from his infancy , must necessarily have a taste for what is good , and consequently a hatred of what is bad , even in things that belong not to music . He will never dishonour himself by any meanness . He will be useful to his country , careful in private life ; ail his actions and words will be discreet , and deserving the character of decency , moderation , and order .
Tliis is the progress of taste : by little and little the public are caught by examples ; they insensibly form themselves upon what they have seen . Great artists produce in their works the most elegant strokes of nature : those who have had some education immediately applaud them ; even the . common people are struck ; interdum valgus rectum videt . They apply the model without thinking of it . They
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Dissertations On The Polite Arts.
DISSERTATIONS ON THE POLITE ARTS .
——Ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes Emollit mores , nee sinit esse feros . Orm .
No . I . GENERAL REMARKS . IT will not be necessary to begin with a panegyric of arts in general . Their advantages are sufficiently evident , the whole earth being full of them . They have built cities , have associated mankind , lia-ve polishedsoftenedand rendered them capable of society . One
, , kind of arts being calculated for use , another for ornament , and some comprising both utility and decoration , they are become , as it were , a second order of elements , the creation of which nature had reserved for the industry of man . Let us cast our eyes on the history of nations , and we shall see humanity and the social virtues following the polite arts . By them
Athens grew to be the school of delicacy , and Rome , in spite of its original rudeness , became polite . Throug h them all nations , in proportion to the commerce they had with the Muses , became more humane , and more sensible of the finer passions . It is not possible that the grossest eyes , beholding every day master-pieces of sculpture and painting , and having before them the most regular and magnificent edifices ; that men the / east disposed to virtue and the graces , after reading works nobly conceived , and
delicately expressed , should not catch a certain h -bitude of order , grandeur , and delicacy . If history makes the most eminent virtues bloom forth , why should not the prudence of Ulysses , the valour of Achilles , kindle the same fire ? Why should not the graces of Anacreon , Bion , and Moschus , soften our manners ? Why should not so many objects ( where grandeur is united to the graceful ) give us . the taste of what is beautifuldecentand delicate ? A man ( says
, , Plutarch ) who has learnt music from his infancy , must necessarily have a taste for what is good , and consequently a hatred of what is bad , even in things that belong not to music . He will never dishonour himself by any meanness . He will be useful to his country , careful in private life ; ail his actions and words will be discreet , and deserving the character of decency , moderation , and order .
Tliis is the progress of taste : by little and little the public are caught by examples ; they insensibly form themselves upon what they have seen . Great artists produce in their works the most elegant strokes of nature : those who have had some education immediately applaud them ; even the . common people are struck ; interdum valgus rectum videt . They apply the model without thinking of it . They