of the Infinite Purpose, are one in brightness, love and peace, forevermore! And thus is read and closed forever, the first Volume of an Infinite Series, "written and published" by the only Wise and Infallible Author. X THE SUPREMACY OF BEAUTY. He hath made every thing beautiful in his time. Every block of marble holds a Venus, HOLY WRIT. With nothing but unchiseled stone between us. THE love of whatever is truly beautiful is as much the dictate of the soul, as is the achievement of whatever is eminently good. To love the perfect outline and the symmetrical proportion is to acknowledge Duty, and to yield, unconsciously, a degree of Obedience. All Outward Beauty is a kind of tangible Embodiment of that Ideal Perfection, which visits every soul in its serenest and holiest moments. It is a Representation to the Eye of that tender Harmony which the mind 4 craves, and with which it holds occasional communings, through its veil of flesh, and amid the pauses of its stormy conflicts. When we are confronted with that Apparent Beauty which has no visible alliance with mental and moral excellence, we instinctively feel that we are mocked with a Lie, and spurn the Pretence as a reproach to our judgment, and an insult to our feelings. This proves that the love' of the Beautiful is the awakening adoration of Virtue ;-is not an ephemeral sentiment, a mere May-day passion to those who intelligently cherish it; · but a glorious and eternal instinct, irradiating the unfathomable depths and infinite experiences of Humanity. Consider what ready and everlasting obedience we yield to this sentiment, in different ways. The Child is charmed by the brilliancy of Colors, the Man by the symmetry of Forms. The peasant is attracted by the variegated loveliness of the earth that yields him her treasures; by the gorgeous splendors of the sunset, that bids him relax for a brief period the nerves of Toil. The mechanic ad mires the adaptation of the various parts and powers of his mechanism, to their appointed work and purpose; and the mariner exults in the frail symmetry of his sea-beaten habitation, and feels his wild spirit subdued and exalted by the anthem of the everlasting waters. The barbarian beholds Beauty in the dim solitudes and the primeval wilderness; and the philosopher detects it in the development of the Universe, and in the creations of anointed Genius. Woman beholds it in Flowers and Stars, which suggest to her the perfection of Tenderness and the eternity of Affection. Man discerns it in the lightningriven Granite and the fabulous Herculesimages that symbolize to his appreciating mind, the defiant pride of Strength and the brazen glory of Conquest. Observations upon the manners and history of the world-researches into human experience, whether of joy or of sorrow, guilt or glory-unite in the testimony that we are created in harmony with the spirit of Beauty; that we are surrounded by its emblems, and led by its suggestions; and that we are all to |