Produced by Joshua Hutchinson, Tonya Allen, and Project
Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders
The fatal mistake of many inquirers concerning the line of beauty hasbeen, that they have sought in that which is outward for that which iswithin. Beauty, perceived only by the mind, and, so far as we have anydirect proof, perceived by man alone of all the animals, must be anexpression of intelligence, the work of mind. It cannot spring fromanything purely accidental; it does not arise from material, but fromspiritual forces. That the outline of a figure, and its surface, arecapable of expressing the emotions of the mind is manifest from the artof the sculptor, which represents in cold, colorless marble the variedexpressions of living faces,—or from the art of the engraver, who, bysimple outlines, can soothe you with a swelling lowland landscape, orbrace you with the cool air of the mountains.
Now the highest beauty is doubtless that which expresses the noblestemotion. A face that shines, like that of Moses, from communion withthe Highest, is more truly beautiful than the most faultless featureswithout moral expression. But there is a beauty which does not revealemotion, but only thought,—a beauty which consists simply in the form,and which is admired for its form alone.
Let us, for the present, confine our attention to this most limitedspecies of beauty,—the beauty of configuration only.
This beauty of mere outline has, by some celebrated writers, beenresolved into some certain curved line, or line of beauty; by othersinto numerical proportion of dimensions; and again by others into earlypleasing associations with curvilinear forms. But, if we look at thesubject in an intellectual light, we shall find a better explanation.Forms are the embodiment of thought or law. For the common eye theymust be embodied in material shape; while to the geometer and theartist, they may be so distinctly shadowed forth in conception as toneed no material figure to render their beauty appreciable. Now thisembodiment, or this conception, in all cases, demands some law in themind, by which it is conceived or made; and we must look at the natureof this law, in order to approach more nearly to understanding thenature of beauty.
We are thus led, through our search for beauty, into the temple ofGeometry, the most ancient and venerable of sciences. From her oraclesalone can we learn the generation of beauty, so far as it consists inform alone.
Maupertuis' law of the least action is not simply a mechanical, but itis a universal axiom. The Divine Being does all things with the leastpossible expenditure of force; and all hearts and all minds honor menin proportion as they approach to this divine economy. As gracefulnessin motion consists in moving with the least waste of muscular power, soelegance in intellectual and literary exertions arises from the easewith which their achievements are accomplished. We seek in all thingssimplicity and unity. In Nature we have faith that there is such unity,even in the midst of the wildest diversity. We honor intellectualconceptions in proportion to the greatness of their consequences and tothe simplicity of their assumptions. Laws of form are beautiful inproportion to their simplicity and to the variety which they cancomprise in unity. The beauty of forms themselves is in proportion tothe simplicity of their law and to the variety of their outline.
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