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Article DISSERTATIONS ON THE POLITE ARTS. ← Page 2 of 3 →
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Dissertations On The Polite Arts.
by degrees ' retrench what is luxuriant in themselves , and add what is wanting . Their manners , discourse , and outward' appearance , all seem to be reforming , and this reformation passes even into their souls . They resolve that their thoughts , when they come from them , shall appear just , natural , and proper , to merit the esteem of other men . In a wordthey determine that the polite man shall
, shine forth and shew himself by a lively and graceful expression , equally remote from rudeness and affectation ; two vices as contrary to taste in society , as they are in the polite arts . For taste has every where the same rules . It requires that we avoid every thing that can give an unlovely impression , and that we offer all that can produce an agreeable one .
THE ORIGIN AND DIVISION OF AHTSi ARTS may be divided into three , kinds . The first have for their object the necessities of mankind , whom nature seems to have abandoned to themselves as soon as they are born : exposed to coldhungerand a thousand evilsnature has
or-, , , dained that the remedies and preservatives which are necessary for them should be the price of their own work and industry , Hence arose the mechanic arts . The next kind have pleasure for their object . These must have taken their rise when people began to be blest with the sweets of tranquillity and plenty -. they are called by way of eminence polite
arts ; such are music , poetry , painting , sculpture , and the art of gesture or dancing . ' - The third kind are those which have utility and pleasure at the same time for their object : such are eloquence and architecture : necessity first produced them ; taste gave them their , perfections ; and they hold a sort of middle place between the other two .
The arts of the first kind employ nature , such as she is , solely for use . Those of the third polish and employ her for use and social pleasure . The polite arts do not employ , they only imitate her , each in its way . Thus nature alone is the object of all arts ; it is she that occasions all our w-. uits , and furnishes all our pleasures . We shall treat here only of the polite arts , that is to say , of those
whose first object is to please ; and , to be the bette ' r acquainted with them , let us go back to the cause which produced them . Mankind made arts , and it was for themselves they made them . Unsatisfied with too scanty an enjoyment of those objects which simple nature offered , and finding themselves moreover iii a situation capable of receiving pleasurethey hud recourse to their geniusto
, , procure themselves a new order of ideas and sentiments , which should awaken their wit and enliven their taste . But what could this genius do , thus limited in its fruitfuhiess and views , which it could not carry farther than nature , and having besides to labour for men whose faculties were confined by the same bounds ? All man ' s 1 ' ¦ 3 B
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Dissertations On The Polite Arts.
by degrees ' retrench what is luxuriant in themselves , and add what is wanting . Their manners , discourse , and outward' appearance , all seem to be reforming , and this reformation passes even into their souls . They resolve that their thoughts , when they come from them , shall appear just , natural , and proper , to merit the esteem of other men . In a wordthey determine that the polite man shall
, shine forth and shew himself by a lively and graceful expression , equally remote from rudeness and affectation ; two vices as contrary to taste in society , as they are in the polite arts . For taste has every where the same rules . It requires that we avoid every thing that can give an unlovely impression , and that we offer all that can produce an agreeable one .
THE ORIGIN AND DIVISION OF AHTSi ARTS may be divided into three , kinds . The first have for their object the necessities of mankind , whom nature seems to have abandoned to themselves as soon as they are born : exposed to coldhungerand a thousand evilsnature has
or-, , , dained that the remedies and preservatives which are necessary for them should be the price of their own work and industry , Hence arose the mechanic arts . The next kind have pleasure for their object . These must have taken their rise when people began to be blest with the sweets of tranquillity and plenty -. they are called by way of eminence polite
arts ; such are music , poetry , painting , sculpture , and the art of gesture or dancing . ' - The third kind are those which have utility and pleasure at the same time for their object : such are eloquence and architecture : necessity first produced them ; taste gave them their , perfections ; and they hold a sort of middle place between the other two .
The arts of the first kind employ nature , such as she is , solely for use . Those of the third polish and employ her for use and social pleasure . The polite arts do not employ , they only imitate her , each in its way . Thus nature alone is the object of all arts ; it is she that occasions all our w-. uits , and furnishes all our pleasures . We shall treat here only of the polite arts , that is to say , of those
whose first object is to please ; and , to be the bette ' r acquainted with them , let us go back to the cause which produced them . Mankind made arts , and it was for themselves they made them . Unsatisfied with too scanty an enjoyment of those objects which simple nature offered , and finding themselves moreover iii a situation capable of receiving pleasurethey hud recourse to their geniusto
, , procure themselves a new order of ideas and sentiments , which should awaken their wit and enliven their taste . But what could this genius do , thus limited in its fruitfuhiess and views , which it could not carry farther than nature , and having besides to labour for men whose faculties were confined by the same bounds ? All man ' s 1 ' ¦ 3 B