The Temple of Nature; or, the Origin of Society Part 7

"Thus when great ANGELO in wondering Rome Fix'd the vast pillars of Saint Peter's dome, Rear'd rocks on rocks sublime, and hung on high A new Pantheon in the affrighted sky.

Each ma.s.sy pier, now join'd and now aloof, The figured architraves, and vaulted roof, Ailes, whose broad curves gigantic ribs sustain, Where holy echoes chant the adoring strain; 310 The central altar, sacred to the Lord, Admired by Sages, and by Saints ador'd, Whose brazen canopy ascends sublime On spiral columns unafraid of Time, Were first by Fancy in ethereal dyes Plann'd on the rolling tablets of his eyes; And his true hand with imitation fine Traced from his Retina the grand design.

[Footnote: _Thus when great Angelo_, l. 303. The origin of this propensity to imitation has not been deduced from any known principle; when any action presents itself to the view of a child, as of whetting a knife, or threading a needle; the parts of this action in respect of time, motion, figure, are imitated by parts of the retina of his eye; to perform this action therefore with his hands is easier to him than to invent any new action; because it consists in repeating with another set of fibres, viz. with the moving muscles, what he had just performed by some parts of the retina; just as in dancing we transfer the times of the motions from the actions of the auditory nerves to the muscles of the limbs. Imitation therefore consists of repet.i.tion, which is the easiest kind of animal action; as the ideas or motions become presently a.s.sociated together; which adds to the facility of their production; as shown in Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. XXII. 2.

It should be added, that as our ideas, when we perceive external objects, are believed to consist in the actions of the immediate organs of sense in consequence of the stimulus of those objects; so when we think of external objects, our ideas are believed to consist in the repet.i.tions of the actions of the immediate organs of sense, excited by the other sensorial powers of volition, sensation, or a.s.sociation.]

"The Muse of MIMICRY in every age With silent language charms the attentive stage; 320 The Monarch's stately step, and tragic pause, The Hero bleeding in his country's cause, O'er her fond child the dying Mother's tears, The Lover's ardor, and the Virgin's fears; The t.i.ttering Nymph, that tries her comic task, Bounds on the scene, and peeps behind her mask, The Punch and Harlequin, and graver throng, That shake the theatre with dance and song, With endless trains of Angers, Loves, and Mirths, Owe to the Muse of Mimicry their births. 330

[Footnote: _The Muse of Mimicry_, l. 319. Much of the pleasure received from the drawings of flowers finely finished, or of portraits, is derived from their imitation or resemblance of the objects or persons which they represent.

The same occurs in the pleasure we receive from mimicry on the stage; we are surprised at the accuracy of its enacted resemblance. Some part of the pleasure received from architecture, as when we contemplate the internal structure of gothic temples, as of King's College chapel in Cambridge, or of Lincoln Cathedral, may arise also from their imitation or resemblance of those superb avenues of large trees, which were formerly appropriated to religious ceremonies.]

"Hence to clear images of form belong The sculptor's statue, and the poet's song, The painter's landscape, and the builder's plan, And IMITATION marks the mind of Man.

[Footnote: _Imitation marks_, l. 334. Many other curious instances of one part of the animal system imitating another part of it, as in some contagious diseases; and also of some animals imitating each other, are given in Zoonomia, Vol. I.

Sect. XXII. 3. To which may be added, that this propensity to imitation not only appears in the actions of children, but in all the customs and fashions of the world; many thousands tread in the beaten paths of others, who precede or accompany them, for one who traverses regions of his own discovery.]

VI. "WHEN strong desires or soft sensations move The astonish'd Intellect to rage or love; a.s.sociate tribes of fibrous motions rise, Flush the red cheek, or light the laughing eyes.

Whence ever-active Imitation finds The ideal trains, that pa.s.s in kindred minds; 340 Her mimic arts a.s.sociate thoughts excite And the first LANGUAGE enters at the sight.

[Footnote: _And the first Language_, l. 342. There are two ways by which we become acquainted with the pa.s.sions of others: first, by having observed the effects of them, as of fear or anger, on our own bodies, we know at sight when others are under the influence of these affections. So children long before they can speak, or understand the language of their parents, may be frightened by an angry countenance, or soothed by smiles and blandishments.

Secondly, when we put ourselves into the att.i.tude that any pa.s.sion naturally occasions, we soon in some degree acquire that pa.s.sion; hence when those that scold indulge themselves in loud oaths and violent actions of the arms, they increase their anger by the mode of expressing themselves; and, on the contrary, the counterfeited smile of pleasure in disagreeable company soon brings along with it a portion of the reality, as is well ill.u.s.trated by Mr. Burke. (Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful.)

These are natural signs by which we understand each other, and on this slender basis is built all human language. For without some natural signs no artificial ones could have been invented or understood, as is very ingeniously observed by Dr. Reid. (Inquiry into the Human Mind.)]

"Thus jealous quails or village-c.o.c.ks inspect Each other's necks with stiffen'd plumes erect; Smit with the wordless eloquence, they know The rival pa.s.sion of the threatening foe.

So when the famish'd wolves at midnight howl, Fell serpents hiss, or fierce hyenas growl; Indignant Lions rear their bristling mail, And lash their sides with undulating tail. 350 Or when the Savage-Man with clenched fist Parades, the scowling champion of the list; With brandish'd arms, and eyes that roll to know Where first to fix the meditated blow; a.s.sociation's mystic power combines Internal pa.s.sions with external signs.

"From these dumb gestures first the exchange began Of viewless thought in bird, and beast, and man; And still the stage by mimic art displays Historic pantomime in modern days; 360 And hence the enthusiast orator affords Force to the feebler eloquence of words.

"Thus the first LANGUAGE, when we frown'd or smiled, Rose from the cradle, Imitation's child; Next to each thought a.s.sociate sound accords, And forms the dulcet symphony of words; The tongue, the lips articulate; the throat With soft vibration modulates the note; Love, pity, war, the shout, the song, the prayer Form quick concussions of elastic air. 370

"Hence the first accents bear in airy rings The vocal symbols of ideal things, Name each nice change appulsive powers supply To the quick sense of touch, or ear or eye.

Or in fine traits abstracted forms suggest Of Beauty, Wisdom, Number, Motion, Rest; Or, as within reflex ideas move, Trace the light steps of Reason, Rage, or Love.

The next new sounds adjunctive thoughts recite, As hard, odorous, tuneful, sweet, or white. 380 The next the fleeting images select Of action, suffering, causes and effect; Or mark existence, with the march sublime O'er earth and ocean of recording TIME.

[Footnote: _Hence the first accents_, l. 371. Words were originally the signs or names of individual ideas; but in all known languages many of them by changing their terminations express more than one idea, as in the cases of nouns, and the moods and tenses of verbs. Thus a whip suggests a single idea of that instrument; but "to whip," suggests an idea of action, joined with that of the instrument, and is then called a verb; and "to be whipped," suggests an idea of being acted upon or suffering. Thus in most languages two ideas are suggested by one word by changing its termination; as amor, love; amare, to love; amari, to be loved.

Nouns are the names of the ideas of things, first as they are received by the stimulus of objects, or as they are afterwards repeated; secondly, they are names of more abstracted ideas, which do not suggest at the same time the external objects, by which they were originally excited; or thirdly, of the operations of our minds, which are termed reflex ideas by metaphysical writers; or lastly, they are the names of our ideas of parts or properties of objects; and are termed by grammarians nouns adjective.

Verbs are also in reality names of our ideas of things, or nouns, with the addition of another idea to them, as of acting or suffering; or of more than one other annexed idea, as of time, and also of existence. These with the numerous abbreviations, so well ill.u.s.trated by Mr. Horne Tooke in his Diversions of Purley, make up the general theory of language, which consists of the symbols of ideas represented by vocal or written words; or by parts of those words, as their terminations; or by their disposition in respect to their order or succession; as further explained in Additional Note XIV.]

"The GIANT FORM on Nature's centre stands, And waves in ether his unnumber'd hands; Whirls the bright planets in their silver spheres, And the vast sun round other systems steers; Till the last trump amid the thunder's roar Sound the dread Sentence "TIME SHALL BE NO MORE!"

"Last steps Abbreviation, bold and strong, 391 And leads the volant trains of words along; With sweet loquacity to HERMES springs, And decks his forehead and his feet with wings.

VII. "As the soft lips and pliant tongue are taught With other minds to interchange the thought; And sound, the symbol of the sense, explains In parted links the long ideal trains; From clear conceptions of external things The facile power of Recollection springs. 400

[Footnote: _In parted links_, l. 398. As our ideas consist of successive trains of the motions, or changes of figure, of the extremities of the nerves of one or more of our senses, as of the optic or auditory nerves; these successive trains of motion, or configuration, are in common life divided into many links, to each of which a word or name is given, and it is called an idea. This chain of ideas may be broken into more or fewer links, or divided in different parts of it, by the customs of different people. Whence the meanings of the words of one language cannot always be exactly expressed by those of another; and hence the acquirement of different languages in their infancy may affect the modes of thinking and reasoning of whole nations, or of different cla.s.ses of society; as the words of them do not accurately suggest the same ideas, or parts of ideal trains; a circ.u.mstance which has not been sufficiently a.n.a.lysed.]

"Whence REASON'S empire o'er the world presides, And man from brute, and man from man divides; Compares and measures by imagined lines Ellipses, circles, tangents, angles, sines; Repeats with nice libration, and decrees In what each differs, and in what agrees; With quick Volitions unfatigued selects Means for some end, and causes of effects; All human science worth the name imparts, And builds on Nature's base the works of Arts. 410

[Footnote: _Whence Reason's empire_, l. 401. The facility of the use of the voluntary power, which is owing to the possession of the clear ideas acquired by our superior sense of touch, and afterwards of vision, distinguishes man from brutes, and has given him the empire of the world, with the power of improving nature by the exertions of art.

Reasoning is that operation of the sensorium by which we excite two or many tribes of ideas, and then reexcite the ideas in which they differ or correspond. If we determine this difference, it is called judgment; if we in vain endeavour to determine it, it is called doubting.

If we reexcite the ideas in which they differ, it is called distinguishing. If we reexcite those in which they correspond, it is called comparing.]

"The Wasp, fine architect, surrounds his domes With paper-foliage, and suspends his combs; Secured from frost the Bee industrious dwells, And fills for winter all her waxen cells; The cunning Spider with adhesive line Weaves his firm net immeasurably fine; The Wren, when embryon eggs her cares engross, Seeks the soft down, and lines the cradling moss; Conscious of change the Silkworm-Nymphs begin Attach'd to leaves their gluten-threads to spin; 420 Then round and round they weave with circling heads Sphere within Sphere, and form their silken beds.

--Say, did these fine volitions first commence From clear ideas of the tangent sense; From sires to sons by imitation caught, Or in dumb language by tradition taught?

Or did they rise in some primeval site Of larva-gnat, or microscopic mite; And with instructive foresight still await On each vicissitude of insect-state?-- 430 Wise to the present, nor to future blind, They link the reasoning reptile to mankind!

--Stoop, selfish Pride! survey thy kindred forms, Thy brother Emmets, and thy sister Worms!

[Footnote: _The Wasp, fine architect_, l. 411. Those animals which possess a better sense of touch are, in general, more ingenious than others. Those which have claviculae, or collar-bones, and thence use the forefeet as hands, as the monkey, squirrel, rat, are more ingenious in seizing their prey or escaping from danger. And the ingenuity of the elephant appears to arise from the sense of touch at the extremity of his proboscis, which has a prominence on one side of its cavity like a thumb to close against the other side of it, by which I have seen him readily pick up a shilling which was thrown amongst the straw he stood upon.

Hence the excellence of the sense of touch in many insects seems to have given them wonderful ingenuity so as to equal or even excel mankind in some of their arts and discoveries; many of which may have been acquired in situations previous to their present ones, as the great globe itself, and all that it inhabit, appear to be in a perpetual state of mutation and improvement; see Additional Note IX.]

"Thy potent acts, VOLITION, still attend The means of pleasure to secure the end; To express his wishes and his wants design'd Language, the _means_, distinguishes Mankind; For _future_ works in Art's ingenious schools His hands unwearied form and finish tools; 440 He toils for money _future_ bliss to share, And shouts to Heaven his mercenary prayer.

Sweet Hope delights him, frowning Fear alarms, And Vice and Virtue court him to their arms.

[Footnote: _Thy potent acts, Volition_, l. 435. It was before observed, how much the superior accuracy of our sense of touch contributes to increase our knowledge; but it is the greater energy and activity of the power of volition, that marks mankind, and has given them the empire of the world.

There is a criterion by which we may distinguish our voluntary acts or thoughts from those that are excited by our sensations: "The former are always employed about the means to acquire pleasurable objects, or to avoid painful ones; while the latter are employed about the possession of those that are already in our power."

The ideas and actions of brutes, like those of children, are almost perpetually produced by their present pleasures or their present pains; and they seldom busy themselves about the _means_ of procuring future bliss, or of avoiding future misery.

Whilst the acquiring of languages, the making of tools, and the labouring for money, which are all only the _means_ of procuring pleasure; and the praying to the Deity, as another means to procure happiness, are characteristic of human nature.]

"Unenvied eminence, in Nature's plan Rise the reflective faculties of Man!

Labour to Rest the thinking Few prefer!

Know but to mourn! and reason but to err!-- In Eden's groves, the cradle of the world, Bloom'd a fair tree with mystic flowers unfurl'd; 450 On bending branches, as aloft it sprung, Forbid to taste, the fruit of KNOWLEDGE hung; Flow'd with sweet Innocence the tranquil hours, And Love and Beauty warm'd the blissful bowers.

Till our deluded Parents pluck'd, erelong, The tempting fruit, and gather'd Right and Wrong; Whence Good and Evil, as in trains they pa.s.s, Reflection imaged on her polish'd gla.s.s; And Conscience felt, for blood by Hunger spilt, The pains of shame, of sympathy, and guilt! 460

[Footnote: _And gather'd Right and Wrong_, l. 456. Some philosophers have believed that the acquisition of knowledge diminishes the happiness of the possessor; an opinion which seems to have been inculcated by the history of our first parents, who are said to have become miserable from eating of the tree of knowledge. But as the foresight and the power of mankind are much increased by their voluntary exertions in the acquirement of knowledge, they may undoubtedly avoid many sources of evil, and procure many sources of good; and yet possess the pleasures of sense, or of imagination, as extensively as the brute or the savage.]

VIII. "LAST, as observant Imitation stands, Turns her quick glance, and brandishes her hands, With mimic acts a.s.sociate thoughts excites, And storms the soul with sorrows or delights; Life's shadowy scenes are brighten'd and refin'd, And soft emotions mark the feeling mind.

[Footnote: _And soft emotions_, l. 466. From our apt.i.tude to imitation arises what is generally understood by the word sympathy, so well explained by Dr. Smith of Glasgow. Thus the appearance of a cheerful countenance gives us pleasure, and of a melancholy one makes us sorrowful. Yawning, and sometimes vomiting, are thus propagated by sympathy; and some people of delicate fibres, at the presence of a spectacle of misery, have felt pain in the same parts of their bodies, that were diseased or mangled in the object they saw.

The effect of this powerful agent in the moral world, is the foundation of all our intellectual sympathies with the pains and pleasures of others, and is in consequence the source of all our virtues. For in what consists our sympathy with the miseries or with the joys of our fellow creatures, but in an involuntary excitation of ideas in some measure similar or imitative of those which we believe to exist in the minds of the persons whom we commiserate or congratulate!]

"The Seraph, SYMPATHY, from Heaven descends, And bright o'er earth his beamy forehead bends; On Man's cold heart celestial ardor flings, And showers affection from his sparkling wings; 470 Rolls o'er the world his mild benignant eye, Hears the lone murmur, drinks the whisper'd sigh; Lifts the closed latch of pale Misfortune's door, Opes the clench'd hand of Avarice to the poor, Unbars the prison, liberates the slave, Sheds his soft sorrows o'er the untimely grave, Points with uplifted hand to realms above, And charms the world with universal love.

"O'er the thrill'd frame his words a.s.suasive steal, And teach the selfish heart what others feel; 480 With sacred truth each erring thought control, Bind s.e.x to s.e.x, and mingle soul with soul; From heaven, He cried, descends the moral plan, And gives Society to savage man.

"High on yon scroll, inscribed o'er Nature's shrine, Live in bright characters the words divine.

"IN LIFE'S DISASTROUS SCENES TO OTHERS DO, WHAT YOU WOULD WISH BY OTHERS DONE TO YOU."

--Winds! wide o'er earth the sacred law convey, Ye Nations, hear it! and ye Kings, obey! 490