ue and
beauty, having his chief delight in contemplating them; though he still
mocks at them with such dull wit as may be in him, because, as Young has
said most truly,

"'Tis not in folly not to scorn a fool."

Sec. LV. Now it is easy to distinguish this grotesque from its noble
counterpart, by merely observing whether any forms of beauty or dignity
are mingled with it or not; for, of course, the noble grotesque is only
employed by its master for good purposes, and to contrast with beauty:
but the base workman cannot conceive anything but what is base; and
there will be no loveliness in any part of his work, or, at the best, a
loveliness measured by line and rule, and dependent on legal shapes of
feature. But, without resorting to this test, and merely by examining
the ugly grotesque itself, it will be found that, if it belongs to the
base school, there will be, first, no Horror in it; secondly, no Nature
in it; and, thirdly, no Mercy in it.

Sec. LVI. I say, first, no Horror. For the base soul has no fear of sin,
and no hatred of it: and, however it may strive to make its work
terrible, there will be no genuineness in the fear; the utmost it can do
will be to make its work disgusting.

Secondly, there will be no Nature in it. It appears to be one of the
ends proposed by Providence in the appointment of the forms of the brute
creation, that the various vices to which mankind are liable should be
severally expressed in them so distinctly and clearly as that men could
not but understand the lesson; while yet these conditions of vice might,
in the inferior animal, be observed without the disgust and hatred which
the same vices would excite, if seen in men, and might be associated
with features of interest which would otherwise attract and reward
contemplation. Thus, ferocity, cunning, sloth, discontent, gluttony,
uncleanness, and cruelty are seen, each in its extreme, in various
animals; and are so vigorously expressed, that when men desire to
indicate the same vices in connexion with human forms, they can do it no
better than by borrowing here and there the features of animals. And
when the workman is thus led to the contemplation of the animal kingdom,
finding therein the expressions of vice which he needs, associated with
power, and nobleness, and freedom from disease, if his mind be of right
tone he becomes interested in this new study; and all noble grotesque
is, therefore, full of the most admirable rendering