356.5. Edmund Henry Barker to EBB
Addendum to The Brownings’ Correspondence, vol. 2.
Elementary principles of the beautiful: 1. Proportion or Fitness, the first principle or element of beauty; 2. Beauty of Shape, or the Conic Form, the 2d elementary principle of beauty; 3. The Beauty of Lines, or the third Element of Beauty; 4. The Beauty of Colours, the 4d elementary principle of beauty; 5. The Beauty of Variety, the 5th elementary principle of beauty; 6. Smoothness, the 6th elementary principle of beauty.
“In the foregoing chapters is shewn what beauty is, & by what elementary principles it is produced,—that those elements are six in number,—that each is a beauty in itself, and communicates that power or quality to those bodies, to which it is joined,—that every creature, animal or vegetable, possesses one or more of those principles,—that those creatures, which possess the first element only, that is, proportion or fitness, are least beautiful of all others, as they possess but one principle of beauty, the least degree of that quality, which is given, & because proportion or fitness is necessary only, & though undoubtedly is so far ornamental, is yet the least so of any of the above-mentioned elements, as in its nature it excludes ugliness or deformity, or whatever would otherwise offend; it must therefore, as said above, have but one degree of beauty, & that the first & least, as it is the point, where ornament, which is most beautiful, begins. Those creatures, which possess the beauty of shape, or the conic form, added to proportion or fitness, are on that account one degree higher in the scale of beauty, as they possess two of the elements, that is to say, the beauty of form added to the beauty of fitness or proportion. Those creatures, which have the beauty of the S like line in its simple state, added to the former two elementary principles, are beautiful in the third degree; such creatures as possess the beauty of colours, with the former principles, possess four degrees of beauty; & such as possess the beauties of the S like line, with its compounds & varieties, together with the beauty of smoothness added to the four former elements, are beautiful in the 6th or highest degree, & which is possd only by the human species. Take from the several creatures already mentd the above elementary principles in succession, or one after another, beginning with the last, & you render each creature less beautiful for every element, of which it is deprived, until you come to the first, which is proportion or fitness, & take away that, & you render the object ugly, monstrous, & deformed.”
Wm Thomson’s Inquiry into the Principles of Beauty in the Works of Nature & Art, Lond. 1798, 4to p. 180.
Thetford,
Oct. 6, 1829.
My dear Madam,
I have had some heavy calls on my time, or I should have written to you sooner in reply to your last Letter, which is dated as far back as Sept. 3. In order to avoid the necessity of a double Letter, I will notice only such parts of your Letter as call for remark, omitting those, about which there is no difference of opinion. When I have occasion to reprint the National Reader, I shall be able to improve it greatly, & I will take into consideration all which you have suggested. I am much obliged to you for the quotation from Dugald Stewart, & in return I hand to you a quotation, which I find in an American School-book—“The boy, who pores, in utter disgust, over the book, which he reads in school, will hasten home to read with avidity his story-book. The true wisdom would then be to introduce the story-book into school, & thus render his place of education the place of his amusement.” president wayland.
I very much approve of Websted’s Ode, & therefore agree with Hughes & Lord Cowper, & Light with you.
Mr Wm Taylor is an admirable prose-translator of poetics. The phrase, ‘verbal prose,’ is Mr Taylor’s. Mr Hoyle acknowledged the merit of his translations, & it is not wonderful that his poetry hardly equals Taylor’s prose in any case, & yet Mr Hoyle is no mean poet: a short time ago he published a little poem called Three Days at Killarney, sold by Longman, which contains some good poetry, & if you are curious to have his sketch of the Irish, I will extract it into my next Letter.
The second Esthonian Song I think fine, if it be read in a particular manner; if not, it will give no pleasure to the hearer; the close of it I think even sublime, properly read.
I first directed Sir U. Price’s attention to Wolfe’s verses addressed to Mary; he bought the book, & in a Letter to me at the time makes the very same remark, which he made to you in conversation. ‘The consonantal discord,’ which you mention, you will find adverted to in a Note in the second vol. of the Parriana.
I am not acquainted with Miss Fanshawe; but Mr Ch. Brinsley Sheridan, the youngest son of the late Orator Sheridan, told me that the enigma in question was written by her, though generally attributed to Lord Byron. I learnt as much from Miss Emily Calcraft, the enlightened & eloquent daughter of General Calcraft, & niece of J. Calcraft Esqr. M.P., & through her I conveyed to Miss Fanshawe my high opinion of that composition; she has shewn the possibility of writing sublimely on such an occasion. Her charade, (‘pillion’,) is ingenious, but not a legitimate charade; the answer should be a word of two syllables only.
Mr Hoyland’s first Ode I positively think very good; & that is valuable poetry, which is written under real, not imaginary feeling.
I have not been able to discover the author of the two concluding extracts in my Appendix; but he is certainly a very eloquent & powerful writer.
“Somne vni, et quanquam certissima mortis imago es,
Consortem cupio te tamen esse tori!
Huc ades, haud abiture cito; nam sic sine vita
Vivere, quam suave est, sic sine morte mori.
In Somnum. This Inscription is said to have been intended to be placed under a statue of Somnus, in the garden of the late James Harris Esqr. of Salisbury. It has been ascribed to Mr Warton, & accordingly has a place here, though I cannot vouch for its authenticity. Indeed, to say the truth, I suspect it to have been not written by him, as it approaches more nearly to the antithetical modern style, than that of the purer Greek models. Since writing the above, I have observed that this Inscription is printed in Headley’s Beauties of Ancient Poetry 2, 164, & is said to be in the original spirit of the Greek Epigram, to which opinion I cannot accede. Mr Headley adds: ‘It may be necessary to inform some readers that they are written by the present Poet Laureat.’ This as coming from a member of Trin. Coll., and a friend of Mr Warton, is no despicable authority; but Dr Warton in a Letter to his Sister, of which an extract is now lying before me, observes ‘that he doubts much of the Latin verses for Mr Harris, having never heard of them.’ Mant’s Poetical Works of the late Th. Warton B.D. Oxford, 1802. V. 2. p. 258. Your copy seems to have a various lection, Alma quies optata veni: is there any other difference between your copy, & that published by Dr Mant, which seems to agree with the one in Headley’s book?
I shall be glad to have the Ipicacuanha-pastoral, Engl. Gr. & Lat., of which I never heard.
Out of mere spitefulness I must send to you some French lines by Malherbe, if you will remind me. You must, when you return the other books, remind me to send Sprat, whom you should read, & you have only to suppose him to be living in our day, & you will not miss his archaisms. His style is more in fashion now than it was in his own day, & we have no living writer of equal power. At the same time I will send Robinson’s Translations.
I will read Dr Owen’s Christologia, when I meet with it.
You must bear in mind that Cicero wrote a great many more works than have come down to us. There is sufficient evidence in the works, which remain, to shew that he possd a metaphysical mind, had deep metaphysical knowledge, & speaking comparatively, & referring rather to the powers of his mind than to his writings, was an eminent metaphysician, even a supereminent one he may be justly called in a panegyric, & in the same sense in which the term may be applied to Burke. If Sir Wm Jones wished to read a book, some one book, for the sake of style every year, & an author whose writings, from the subjects treated of, must be supposed to be particularly endeared to him, he could not do better than ‘give his days & nights to’ Cicero; & as Cic.’s writings are a cosmogony of knowledge, an everlasting fountain of wisdom, the choice was wisely made in that point of view. You must not ask if men like Cic. & Burke are original in their views.
In respect to the passage, about the harmony of which you enquire, I do acknowledge it to be very harmonious; I do not recollect, & you do not ‘whisper whence you stole the balmy sweets,’ but I could from the style alone, attribute it to Cic., or to Tacitus as the author of the Dialogue on Oratory.
Tacitus’s description of the storm, which played havoc with Germanicus’s fleet, is very fine; the language is highly poetical, & much in the manner of Virgil, whom Tac. resembles in his poetic flights. At another time, if you will remind me, I will call your attention to Buonaparte’s description of the burning of Moscow. I too am fond of storms, & I have copied out some descriptions written at sea during or soon after a storm, but they are in plain prose. There is a very fine storm in Washington Irving’s Sketch-Book.
I have a great number of editions of Longinus, & have collected much matter about him. Perhaps the obscurities of the style will sadly annoy you. Great aid may be obtained from Ernesti’s Lexicon Technologiae Graecorum Rhetoricae, an octavo vol., which I could lend to you. But I am doubtful whether it is worth your while to read him & study him in the crabbed Greek original. There is a Translation by Smith, but I know not whether it is very correct; it is tolerably elegant.
I was truly grieved to learn the decease of Sir Uvedale Price, our venerable & venerated friend, whom, though never seen by me, I loved with strong affection. I wrote to Sir Robert Price about Sept. 16th, I think, but I have not yet heard from him, & do not in the circumstances think it decent to trouble him to frank this Letter. Have you no elegiac strains to offer to me on this occasion? Where is your Muse, whither hath she fled? At all events you must see if you cannot sketch his character from what you know of him, what you have seen of him at Foxley, & what you have read in his Letters & his Writings. I must pay great honour to him in the 3d vol. of the Parriana; I have many valuable Letters from him; you know what I think of his epistolary style. This being the case, you must give to me, under the rose, what aid you can, & what you send to me, I will communicate to the public as the testimony of a friend of Sir Uvedale. But you will observe silence about this matter. Will you lend to me, or transcribe for me, (for I fear that you have not had much correspondence with him,) his Letters to you, with any remarks if you think that they require any. Most probably the Letters, which you have, are of a literary, & therefore of a valuable sort; for Sir Uvedale’s taste & judgment were excellent. Have you any friends, who possess Letters from him of this description? If so, beg to have copies of them, or extracts from them, if they contain any private matter. I am persuaded that you will applaud my efforts to gather the riches of his mind but then you will not mention my name, and you will not let it be supposed in the first instance that you have any other object in view than self-gratification. I ventured to say to Sir Robt Price that I was so great an admirer of Sir Uvedale’s style that I wished that his Letters could be collected and published as models of composition as well as full of interesting matter; but I am inclined to think that he will not take on himself the office of collecting, arranging, & publishing. I could not do it of course except only in a very few instances, because I have not access to any other portion of the correspondence than what is in my own possn. However, you will silently do for me what you can. There are very few Letters on record, such as Sir Uvedale’s.
I remain, my dear Madam,
Ever your friend & servant,
E. H. Barker
P.S. Some months ago Sir Uvedale told me that the first Letter, which he should write, if he recovered his health, would be a Letter; but the opportunity alas! was not afforded to him.
Address, on integral page: Miss Barrett / Hope-End / Ledbury.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Armstrong Browning Library.
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