they indicate, analyzes the feelings, or traces the causes and effects of them.

THE philofopher describes minutely all the appearances of his object: his defign requires it; every one of them involves fome truth; inattention to any one of them may prevent the discovery of truth, or occafion error; those of them which feem leaft ftriking, often lead moft directly to truth, or lead to the most important truths. A poet, on the contrary, would overlook by far the greatest part of these appearances; they are unfit to please, and for that reason attract no share of his attention: he fixes on a few that are most ftriking, and labours to set these in a striking light. The observation of many minute circumftances, and a variety of exact menfurations, were abfolutely necessary for ascertaining the laws of light and colours; and Newton's genius gave him a propenfity to attend to them: thefe would make no figure in poetry; and a poet, though perfectly acquainted with them, would never once think of them while engaged in compofition; he would catch fome general appearances; and be fatisfied with there.

A GENIUS for fcience is formed by penetration, a genius for the arts, by brightness.

There

There are, perhaps, no general characters by which these two kinds of genius can be more properly discriminated. Each of these characters is produced by certain peculiar qualities of those powers on which genius has a dependence. In the one of them are combined modifications of imagination, memory, and judgment, different from thofe modifications of the fame powers, which are combined in the other: these powers likewife are combined in different proportions.

SECT. II.

Of the Structure of Imagination, which diftin guishes the two kinds of Genius.

E

OTH penetration and brightness imply

a great extent and compass of imagination, or great vigour of the affociating principles; but they imply different forts of com pass and vigour. Penetration implies fuch a force of imagination as leads to the compre henfion and explication of a fubje&: bright nefs of imagination fits a man for adorning a fubject. A penetrating mind emits the rays by which truth is difcovered a bright fancy fupplies the colours by which beauty is produced. There are many peculiarities of ima Y & gination,

'gination, which contribute to the formation of these opposite characters: by tracing out these, our general defcription of the diftinction between genius for science and genius for the arts, will be justified, and a more particular view will be obtained of the difference of these two kinds.

ACUTENESS of judgment is effential to penetration, but cannot alone produce it. It would produce correctness and readiness in deciding upon materials which were in our view but penetration implies, over and above this, a capacity of bringing quickly and completely into view, whatever materials are neceffary for our present purpose. This capacity can arise only from imagination. In general, penetration requires that construction of imagination, which fits a man for fixing his view fteddily on one thing, or on those -connected with it by clofe and important relations, for attending to all the circumstances belonging to that thing, and, as it were, exhaufting its qualities. This conftruction of imagination is evidently adapted to the end of science, the investigation of truth. For the conclufions of fcience lie deep, and must efcape the tranfient glance of the fuperficial obferver: they occur by our attending to such qualities

qualities in things as are leaft ftriking and. leaft apt to force themselves on our attention, and by our pondering and contemplating in a. variety of lights, fuch qualities as cannot be perfectly comprehended by a person who dwells not on the fame object for any length of time. -Brightness of imagination is of an oppofite nature: it is such a ftrength of imagination as makes every prefent object fuggeft a multitude of ideas, and hurries the mind quickly from one thing, to others not very strictly connected with it. This character is no lefs evidently accommodated to the purpose of the arts, than penetration to that of the fciences. A quick fucceffion, or a copious exhibition of different objects fit to please, is a great mean of producing the beauty fought after in all the arts. In poetry, for instance, the intricacy of the fable, that is, the variety and diffimilarity of the incidents, and the diverfity, the number, and a proper remoteness of the images, are reckoned among the fureft tefts of real genius.

It would appear to be one confequence of what has been faid, that penetration implies. an aptness to be affected only by the closest and strongest relations of things; and that brightY 3

nefs

ness implies a propensity to be influenced by
fuch relations as are flighter and more re-
mote for the latter propenfity tends to draw
off the mind to a great diftance from its ob-
ject; but the former allows it to continue.
nearer to it, and makes it easier to recur quickly
to the contemplation of it. The confequence
is juft; and the confideration of it will farther
determine our idea of the difference between
a genius for science and a genius for the arts.
When ideas are fuggefted to men of these dif-
ferent kinds of genius, by means of the fame
relation, it will be found that, generally, the
ideas connected with the prefent object by the
ftronger degree of that relation, are suggested
to the philofopher, and those connected by the
weaker degree of it, to the artift. The former
fort are those about which the deductions of
Science are commonly employed; the latter
fupply the decorations neceffary in the fine
arts. Any comparison by which a philosopher
would illuftrate or confirm a theory, must be
fuch as is exactly parallel; it is enough for a
poetical comparison, and even heightens its
beauty, that it agree with the subject to which
it is applied, only in fome of its circumftances.
When a philofopher explains the caufes of

any

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