CA readers, and unnecessary to recommend it to the other. But even those to whom the subject is naturally interesting may wish to know the merits of its execution before they undergo the toil of perusing it. If so, I must confess I see no way of enabling them to form a correct judgmént. Were I to maintain, that it possesses very great merits, they would only be the more strongly inclined to suspect it had none; and were I to admit it weak and imperfect, they would readily give me credit for the assertion, and come to the same conclusion. I can therefore only say, that so far as regards my own conviction, the Source of the Pleasures, derived from Tragic Representations, the means of producing Tragic Interest, and the causes that have led to the general failure of our modern Tragedies, are more satisfactorily accounted for in the following pages than in any other work ancient or modern. Whether the public, however, shall think as I think, or imagine, that in forming this opinion, my judgment has been warped by that self-love of which authors in particular have so much difficulty of divesting themselves, I dare not venture to prophesy 9d3 03 ti besim 10997 of 11622999000 bas #79b591 Difficulty of the Problem proposed to be Impossibility of forming an obscure conception of a Primary Cause until it be perfectly discovered. Obscure Ideas have ig theses which he has quoted on the Source of Tragic Pleasures. 19 ylizotosteite crop 9 CHAP!IVEIT MoLoix quo to Whether Fable operate on our Passions, by representing its 911events as passing in our sight, and by deluding us intol te 9 conviction of reality? And whether this delusion, sup 25 posing it real, accounts for the Pleasures arising from it ano w 10 Szolioe" Jolt vi boq2w (1996 guiterzib to yiimoilih send revetinq ni Whether Tragic Pleasures may be traced to the Vices and{♪ Whether Imaginary, produce, at any time, a more powerful Impression, than Real, Distress? and, if so, under what cir- Emotions and Passions, whatever be their Nature and Cha- racter, universally pleasing to those by whom they are felt: The true Source of the Pleasures derived from Tragic Repre- sentations deduced from the two preceding Chapters. The secret of giving Dramatic Interest to Tragedies intended for Difficulty of the Problem proposed to be resolved. WHY Tragic Representations should produce pleasing emotions in the human breast, or, to state the question in other words, why we should delight in any thing painful, such as pictures and images of distress, is a question that has been proposed and investigated by many eminent writers and critics; but their number hardly exceed the diversity of opinions which they have advanced on the subject. It is certain, however, that there can be only one proper answer; for when any particular object, representation, or circumstance, invariably produces an impression of a pleasing character, this impression must obviously arise from some fixed principle B in our nature called into action by the agency of this object, representation, or circumstance. When, therefore, different causes or principles of action are assigned, they must be all founded in error except one. When I except one, I do not mean to say, that one must be right, for it is possible that all may be wrong; and it is also possible, that the true cause may never be discovered. I mean, therefore, merely to say, that there can be only one true cause, whether discovered or not; and that all other causes must necessarily be erroneous. It is easy to give an ingenious solution of a difficult problem; but though a thousand different solutions may appear plausible and specious, it is still not so easy to satisfy the mind, that the question is resolved, even by the most satisfactory of them, if it be mingled with the slightest error. Whatever is partly false will generally be found to leave the mind more or less unsatisfied, more or less doubtful: it may even have many reasons to believe what it is told;-it may perceive none for entertaining a different opinion; but still, from not perceiving its way clearly, it feels not that complete gratification which results from the discovery and clear perception of truth; for whenever truth bursts through the mists of error, it flashes instantaneous conviction upon us, and we not only perceive but feel its evidence, even though it should admit of no demonstrative certainty. |
