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in comic or in tragic passions, the moment of grace should be that of composure and self-command; that every attitude or gesture which is significant of this character of mind should in some degree or other be graceful; that no characters should admit of grace in the representation, which are distinguished by violence or intemperance of passion; and that the scenes or moments in the representation of any character, which are most susceptible of graceful representation, should be those in which the dignity of the character is most displayed in superiority to the passions which subdue ordinary men. If the reader should arrive at these conclusions, he will perhaps be led to perceive the cause of the acknowledged superiority of the French to the English stage, in the article of grace; and that the bold delineations of character which distinguish the drama which Shakspeare has formed, can be represented only by the display of an energy and extremity of passion which is incompatible with the temperance of graceful gesture.

In the preceding observations I have alluded only to the positions and movements of the human form, under the dominion of emotion or passion. It seems to me, however, that the observation may be carried farther, and that wherever, in the movements of the form, selfcommand or self-possession is expressed, some degree of grace, at least, is always produced. I shall state only two instances of this; the first is in the movements of the form, in cases of difficulty, and the second, of similar movements in cases of danger.

The common motions of walking, running, &c. have in themselves nothing of difficulty, and are therefore, in general, incapable of producing any emotion. But dancing is an art of real difficulty, and we observe it always with the consciousness of this difficulty. To acquire

all the different motions which are most commonly taught in this branch of education: to appropriate them to the particular time and character of the music: to understand the figure of every dance, which is purposely made as intricate as the time will permit; and to be able to execute all this with ease and facility, are in truth acquisitions of more difficulty than we generally believe, and require more composure and presence of mind than we are commonly disposed to imagine. When, accord. ingly, we see all this well performed, when we see the dancer move without hurry or disorder, perform all the steps of the dance with ease, accommodate his motions with justice to the measure, and extricate himself from all the apparent intricacies of the figure, with order and facility, we feel a very perceptible sentiment of surprise and admiration, and are conscious of the grace of ges tures, in which so much skill, and composure, and pres ence of mind are displayed. If we compare such a performance with the rude gestures of the untaught vulgar, or with the hurried and extravagant postures of those who happen unfortunately to mingle in the dance without the requisite instruction, we shall soon perceive how much the grace of gesture is dependent upon the character of mind which it exhibits; and if we ascend from this common example to the higher exhibitions of the art, to the serious or heroic dances of the opera stage, we shall see this grace expand from the same cause, into loftier dimensions, and be satisfied, that the applause we hear around us is justly due to every exhibition where dignity of mind is expressed, or where difficult things are performed with ease and facility. I have chosen this instance as the most familiar that occurs to me: but the reader who will prosecute the subject, will find a thousand illustrations of it, in his observation of the gestures

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of men in every performance which is difficult of execution, and in proportion to this difficulty; and will perceive the influence of this presence or command of mind in bestowing grace, from the boatman at his oar, or the smith at his anvil, to the deportment of the higher ranks in the drawing-room, where presence and ease and eleva tion of mind, may be expressed in things so trifling as in the movement of a fan, or in the presentation of a snuff-box.

There is still a higher degree of grace observable in those movements which express this self-possession and serenity of mind, in cases of danger; and wherever the gestures or attitudes are expressive of this serenity, they appear to me always to be felt as graceful. It is thus, I think, very observably, in feats of horsemanship, performances upon the tight-rope, &c. when they do not degenerate into tricks of mere agility, or unnatural postures. That they are felt as graceful even by the lowest people, is obvious from their conduct during such performances. They observe them with still apprehension; they shout and exult at their success; and when they speak of them to their companions, they erect their forms, and assume somewhat of the sympathetic dignity they have felt from these expressions of superiority to danger. It is impossible, I think, in the same manner, to observe the easy and careless movements of a mason upon a roof, or of a sailor upon the mast, without some sentiment of this nature. Observations of this kind, every one may pursue; and that it is from the expression of this strength and serenity of mind that the grace of such attitudes or gestures arises, may easily be inferred, when it is recollected that the same attitudes or gestures upon the ground, or in a place of security, would be altogether unnoticed.

I entreat leave yet further to remark, that the conjee

ture which I have now stated seems to be supported by the consideration of the parts of the human form, which are peculiarly expressive of grace, and by the nature of the movement of those parts when they are actually felt as graceful. The parts or members of the form which are peculiarly expressive to us of the temperance or intemperance of passion, are those which are most susceptible of motion, or which are most easily and visibly influenc ed by the character of mind. It is in these parts or members accordingly, that grace chiefly, if not solely re sides; in the air and posture of the head, the turn of the neck, the expansion of the chest, the position of the arms, the motion or step of the limbs, the forms of the hair, and the folds of the drapery. That it is in the slow and composed movement alone of those parts, in that measure of motion, (if I may use the expression), which indicates self-possession and self-command, that the graceful is to be found, is an observation which every one must have made, and which has been made from the earliest antiquity. Grace, according to the luminous expression of Lord Bacon, consists "in gracious and decent motion;" and I need not remind my classical readers, that wherev er the poets of antiquity have represented graceful attitude or motion, they have always represented it as composed or slow; and that wherever it has been represented by the sculptors of antiquity, it has been expressed by the same signs of self-command, and self-possession. I presume to add only one illustration from Virgil, in which the distinction between beauty and grace in the air and movements of the human form, seems to me to be expressed with his usual delicacy of taste and of ima gination.

In the first appearance of Venus to Eneas she is thus described:

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Cui mater media sese tulit obvia sylvâ
Virginis os habitumque gerens, et Virginis arma
Spartane; vel qualis equos Threissa fatigat

Harpalice, volucremque fuga prævertitur Eurum ;
Namque humeris de more habilem suspenderit arcum
Venatrix, dederatque comam diffundere ventis
Nuda genu, nodoque sinus collecta fluentes.

En. I.314,

In these lines, Venus appears in all the glow and gaiety
of rural beauty :-She bursts upon us, as upon her son,
by surprise her air, her attire, bespeak youth and ani-
mation, and her hair, floating upon the winds, marks the
speed with which she has pursued her woodland game.
All this is beautiful and picturesque, but it is not grace-
ful. It is in the moment she disappears, and when she
reveals herself by her gesture, that Virgil raises this fine
being into the grace that belonged to her :

Dixit, et avertens rosea cervice refulsit,
Ambrosiæque comæ divinum vertice odorem
Spiravere; pedes vestis defluxit ad imos,
Et vera incessu patuit Dea.

Ibid. 402.

In this description every thing is changed and exalted; her form dilates into 'serener majesty: her locks cease to float upon the wind, and fall in dignity around her head; her robes descend, and assume those ampler folds which mark a more elevated form, and a loftier movement; and above all, her gait rises from the gay hurry of the Spartan nymph, into the slow and measured step which evinces the conscious dignity of her genuine being.

The influence of this expression may be pursued farther; and it may, perhaps, amuse the reader to follow it into many appearances, both in the animal world and in inanimate nature. Wherever the powers and faculties of motion are possessed, there the capacity of grace, at least, is possessed along with them: and whenever in

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