Page:An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals - Hume (1751).djvu/172

 Reason and Reflection, appears so natural in the Mind of Man.

' observable, that the great Charm of Poetry consists in lively Pictures of the sublime Passions, Magnanimity, Courage, Disdain of Fortune; or those of the tender Affections, Love and Friendship; which warm the Heart, and diffuse over us similar Sentiments and Emotions. And tho' every Kind of Passion, even the most disagreeable, such as Grief and Anger, are observ'd, when excited by Poetry, to convey a Pleasure and Satisfaction, from a Mechanism of Nature, not easy to be explain'd: Yet those more elevated or softer Affections have a peculiar Influence, and please from more than one Cause or Principle. Not to mention, that they alone interest us in the Fortune of the Persons represented, or communicate any Esteem and Affection for their Character.

can it possibly be doubted, that this Talent itself of Poets, to move the Passions, this PATHETIC and SUBLIME of Sentiment, is a very considerable Merit, and being enhanc'd by its extreme Rarity, may exalt the Person possest of it, above every Character of the Age, in which he lives? The Prudence, Address, Steadiness, and benign Government of Augustus, adorn'd with all the