female
bosom, whether it be found in a landscape with soft gradations of rising
and descending surface, or in the forms of some antique vases, or in other
works of the pencil or the chissel, we feel a general glow of delight,
which seems to influence all our senses; and, if the object be not too
large, we experience an attraction to embrace it with our arms, and to
salute it with our lips, as we did in our early infancy the bosom of our
mother. And thus we find, according to the ingenious idea of Hogarth, that
the waving lines of beauty were originally taken from the temple of Venus.

This animal attraction is love; which is a sensation, when the object is
present; and a desire, when it is absent. Which constitutes the purest
source of human felicity, the cordial drop in the otherwise vapid cup of
life, and which overpays mankind for the care and labour, which are
attached to the pre-eminence of his situation above other animals.

It should have been observed, that colour as well as form sometimes enters
into our idea of a beautiful object, as a good complexion for instance,
because a fine or fair colour is in general a sign of health, and conveys
to us an idea of the warmth of the object; and a pale countenance on the
contrary gives an idea of its being cold to the touch.

It was before remarked, that young animals use their lips to distinguish
the forms of things, as well as their fingers, and hence we learn the
origin of our inclination to salute beautiful objects with our lips. For a
definition of Grace, see Class III. 1. 2. 4.

VII. There are two ways by which we become acquainted with the passions 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 when two cocks are preparing to fight, each feels the
feathers rise round his own neck, and knows from the same sign the
disposition of his adversary: and 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 attitude that any passion
naturally occasions, we soon in some degree acquire that passion; 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 smi