An essay on the beautiful

THE BEAUTIFUL

PLOTINUS

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An Essay on the
Beautiful

{From the Greek of Plotinus)

Translated by

Thomas Taylor

London

John M. Watkins

21 Cecil Court, Charing Cross Road

1917

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An Essay on the Beautiful

(From the Greek of Plotinus)

INTRODUCTION

It may seem wonderful that language,
which is the only method of conveying our
conceptions, should, at the same time, be an
hindrance to our advancement in philosophy ;
but the wonder ceases when we consider, that
it is seldom studied as the vehicle of truth,
but is too frequently esteemed for its own
sake, independent of its connection with
things. This observation is remarkably
verified in the Greek language; which, as
it is the only repository of ancient wisdom,
has, unfortunately for us, been the means of
concealing, in shameful obscurity, the most
profound researches and the sublimest truths.
That words, indeed, are not otherwise valu-
able than as subservient to things, must
surely be acknowledged by every liberal mind,
and will alone be disputed by him who has
spent the prime of his life, and consumed the

373938

4 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

vigour of his understanding, in verbal criti-
cisms and grammatical trifles. And, if this
is the case, every lover of truth will only
study a language for the purpose of procur-
ing the wisdom it contains; and will doubt-
less wish to make his native language the
vehicle of it to others. For, since all truth is
eternal, its nature can never be altered by
transposition, though by this means its dress
may be varied, and become less elegant and
refined. Perhaps even this inconvenience
may be remedied by sedulous cultivation ;
at least, the particular inability of some,
ought not to discourage the well-meant
endeavours of others. Whoever reads the
lives of the ancient Heroes of Philosophy,
must be convinced that they studied things
more than words, and that Truth alone was
the ultimate object of their search ; and he
who wishes to emulate their glory and parti-
cipate their wisdom, will study their doctrines
more than their language, and value the
depth of their understandings far beyond the
elegance of their composition. The native
charms of Truth will ever be sufficient to
allure the truly philosophic mind; and he
who has once discovered her retreats will

INTRODUCTION

surely endeavour to fix a mark by which they
may be detected by others.

But, though the mischief arising from the
study of words is prodigious, we must not
consider it as the only cause of darkening
the splendours of Truth, and obstructing the
free diffusion of her light. Different manners
and philosophies have equally contributed to
banish the goddess from our realms, and to
render our eyes offended with her celestial
light. Hence we must not wonder that,
being indignant at the change, and per-
ceiving the empire of ignorance rising to
unbounded dominion, she has retired from
the spreading darkness, and concealed her-
self in the tranquil and divinely lucid regions
of mind. For we need but barely survey
modern pursuits to be convinced how little
they are connected with wisdom. Since, to
describe the nature of some particular place,
the form, situation and magnitude of a cer-
tain city; to trace the windings of a river
to its source, or delineate the aspect of a
pleasant mountain ; to calculate the fineness
of the silkworm's threads, and arrange the
gaudy colours of butterflies; in short, to
pursue matter through its infinite divisions,

6 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

and wander in its dark labyrinths, is the
employment of the philosophy in vogue. But
surely the energies of intellect are more
worthy our concern than the operations of
sense; and the science of universals, per-
manent and fixed, must be superior to the
knowledge of particulars, fleeting and frail.
Where is a sensible object to be found, which
abides for a moment the same; which is
not either rising to perfection, or verging to
decay ; which is not mixed and confused with
its contrary ; whose flowing nature no resist-
ance can stop, nor any art confine ? Where
is the chemist who, by the most accurate
analyzation can arrive at the principles of
bodies ; or who, though he might be so lucky
in his search as to detect the atoms of
Democritus, could by this means give respite
to mental investigation? For every atom,
since endued with figure, must consist of
parts, though indissolubly cemented together ;
and the immediate cause of this cement must
be something incorporeal or knowledge can
have no stability and enquiry no end. Where,
says Mr Harris, is the microscope which can
discern what is smallest in nature ? Where
the telescope which can see at what point in

INTRODUCTION

the universe wisdom first began? Since,
then, there is no portion of matter which may
not be the subject of experiments without
end, let us betake ourselves to the regions of
mind, where all things are bounded in intel-
lectual measure; where everything is per-
manent and beautiful, eternal and divine.

.^Let us quit the study of particulars, for that
which is general and comprehensive, and
through this, learn to see and recognize
whatever exists.

With a view to this desirable end, I have
presented the reader with a specimen of
that sublime wisdom which first arose in

I the colleges of the Egyptian priests, and
flourished afterwards in Greece; which was

/ there cultivated by Pythagoras, under the
mysterious veil of numbers ; by Plato, in the
graceful dress of poetry; and was syste-
matized by Aristotle, as far as it could be
reduced into scientific order; which, after
becoming in a manner extinct, shone again
with its pristine splendour among the philo-
sophers of the Alexandrian school ; was
learnedly illustrated with Asiatic luxuriancy
of style by Proclus; was divinely explained
by lamblichus: and profoundly delivered in

8 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

the writings of Plotinus. Indeed, the works
of this last philosopher are particularly valu-
able to all who desire to penetrate into the
depths of this divine wisdom. From the
exalted nature of his genius, he was called
Intellect by his contemporaries, and is said to
have composed his books under the influence
of divine illumination. Porphyry relates, in
his life, that he was four times united by an
ineffable energy with the divinity; which,
however such an account may be ridiculed in
the present age, will be credited by everyone
who has properly explored the profundity of
his mind. The facility and vehemence of his
composition was such, that when he had once
conceived a subject, he wrote as from an
internal pattern, without paying much atten-
tion to the orthography, or reviewing what
he had written ; for the celestial vigour of his
intellect rendered him incapable of trifling
concerns, and in this respect, inferior to
common understandings, as the eagle, which
in its bold flight pierces the clouds, skims the
surface of the earth with less rapidity than
the swallow. Indeed a minute attention to
trifles is inconsistent with great genius of
every kind, and it is on this account that

INTRODUCTION

retirement is so absolutely necessary to the
discovery of truths of the first dignity and
importance; for how is it possible to mix
much with the world, without imbibing the
false and puerile conceptions of the multi-
tude ; and without losing that true elevation
of soul which comparatively despises every
mortal concern? Plotinus, therefore, con-
scious of the incorrectness of his writings
arising from the rapidity, exuberance and dar-
ing sublimity of his thoughts, committed their
revision to his disciple Porphyry ; who, though ^
inferior in depth of thought to his master,
was, on account of his extraordinary abilities,
called by way of eminence the Philosopher.

The design of the following discourse is to
bring us to the perception of the beautiful
itself, even while connected with a corporeal
nature, which must be the great end of all
true philosophy and which Plotinus happily
obtained. To a genius, indeed, truly modern,
with whom the crucible and the air-pump are -
alone the standards of Truth, such an attempt
must appear ridiculous in the extreme. With
these, nothing is real but what the hand can
grasp or the corporeal eye perceives, and no-
thing useful but what pampers the appetite

io AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

or fills the purse; but unfortunately, their
perceptions, like Homer's frail dreams, pass
through the ivory gate ; and are consequently
empty and fallacious, and contain nothing
belonging to the vigilant soul. To such as
these a treatise on the beautiful cannot be
addressed; since its object is too exalted to
be approached by those engaged in the im-
purities of sense, and too bright to be seen
by the eye accustomed to the obscurity of
corporeal vision. But it is alone proper to
him who is sensible that his soul is strongly
marked with ruin by its union with body;
who considers himself in the language of
Empedocles, as

** Heaven's exile, straying from the orb of light" ;

and who so ardently longs for a return to his
true country, that to him, as to Ulysses when
fighting for Ithaca,

"Slow seems the fun to move, the hours to roll ;
His native home deep-imag'd in his soul" {note i).

But here it is requisite to observe that our
ascent to this region of Beauty must be made
by gradual advances, for, from our associa-
tion with niatter, it is impossible to pass
directly, and without a medium, to such trans-

INTRODUCTION tl

cendent perfection; but we must proceed in
a manner similar to those who pass from
darkness to the brightest light, by advanc-
ing from places moderately enlightened, to
such as are the most luminous of all. It is
necessary therefore, that we should become
very familiar with the most abstract contem-
plations ; and that our intellectual eye should
be strongly irradiated with the light of ideas
which precedes the splendours of the beauti-
ful itself, like the brightness which is seen
on the summit of mountains previous to the
rising of the sun. Nor ought it to seem
strange, if it should be some time before even
the liberal soul can recognize the beautiful
progeny of intellect as its kindred and allies ;
for, from its union with body, it has drunk
deep of the cup of oblivion, and all its
energetic powers are stupefied by the intoxi-
cating draught ; so that the intelligible world,
on its first appearance, is utterly unknown
by us, and our recollection of its inhabitants
entirely lost; and we become familiar to
Ulysses on his first entrance into Ithaca, of
whom Homer says,

** Yet had his mind, thro' tedious absence lost
The dear remembrance of his native coast " {note 2).

12 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL
For,

** Now all the land another prospect bore,
Another port appeared, another shore,
And long-continued ways, and winding floods
And unknown mountains crowned with unknown
woods " :

until the goddess of wisdom purges our eyes
from the mists of sense and says to each of
us, as she did to Ulysses,

** Now lift thy longing eyes, while I restore
The pleasing prospect of thy native shore."

For then will

" .... the prospect clear,
The mists disperse, and all the coast appear."

Let us then, humbly supplicate the irradia-
tions of wisdom, and follow Plotinus as our
divine guide to the beatific vision of the
Beautiful itself; for in this alone can we find
perfect repose, and repair those destructive
clefts and chinks of the soul which its
departure from the light of good, and
its lapse into a corporeal nature, have
introduced.

But before I conclude, I think it necessary
to caution the reader not to mix any modern
enthusiastic opinions with the doctrines con-
tained in the following discourse ; for there is

INTRODUCTION 13

not a greater difference between substance
and shade than between ancient and modern
enthusiasm. The object of the former was
the highest good and supreme beauty; but
that of the latter is nothing more than a
phantom raised by bewildered imaginations,
floating on the unstable ocean of opinion,
the sport of the waves of prejudice and
blown about by the breath of factious party.
Like substance and shade, indeed they
possess a similitude in outward appearance,
but in reality they are perfect contraries;
for the one fills the mind with solid and
durable good, but the other with empty
delusions; which like the ever -running
waters of the Danaides, glide away as fast
as they enter, and leave nothing behind
but the ruinous passages through which
they flowed.

I only add, that the ensuing treatise is
designed as a specimen (if it should meet
with encouragement) of my intended mode 01
publishing all the works of Plotinus. The
undertaking is, I am sensible, arduous in the
extreme; and the disciples of wisdom are
unfortunately few ; but, as I desire no other
reward of my labour, than to have the ex-

14 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

pense of printing defrayed, and to see Truth
propagated in my native tongue ; I hope
those few will enable me to obtain the com-
pletion of my desires.
For then, to adopt the words of Ulysses,

" That view vouchsaf d, let instant death surprise
With ever-during shade these happy eyes I " {note 3).

Concerning the Beautiful

Beauty (note 4) for the most part, consists'
in objects of sight; but it is also received
through the ears, by the skilful composition
of words, and the consonant proportion of
sounds ; for in every species of harmony,
beauty is to be found. And if we rise from
sense into the regions of soul, we shall there
perceive studies and offices, actions and habits,
sciences and virtues, invested with a much^
larger portion of beauty. But whether there
is above these, a still higher beauty, will
appear as we advance in its investigation.
What is it then, which causes bodies to
appear fair to the sight, sounds beautiful to
the ear, and science and virtue lovely to the
mind? May we not enquire after what
manner they all partake of beauty ? Whether
beauty is one and the same in all? Or,
whether the beauty of bodies is of one kind,
and the beauty of souls of another? And
again, what these are, if they are two ? Or,

what beauty is, if perfectly simple, and one ?

15

i6 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

For some things, as bodies, are doubt-
less beautiful, not from the natures of the
subjects in which they reside, but rather
by some kind of participation; but others
again appear to be essentially beautiful, or
beauties themselves ; and such is the nature
of virtue. For, with respect, to the same
bodies, they appear beautiful to one person,
and the reverse of beauty to another; as if
the essence of body were a thing different
from the essence of beauty. In the first place
then, what is that, which, by its presence,
causes the beauty of bodies ? Let us reflect,
what most powerfully attacts the eyes of
beholders, and seizes the spectator with
rapturous delight ; for if we can find what
this is, we may perhaps use it as a ladder,
enabling us to ascend into the region of
beauty, and survey its immeasurable extent.
^ It is the general opinion that a certain
commensuration of parts to each other, and
to the whole, with the addition of colour,
generates that beauty which is the object of
Insight; and that in the commensurate and
the moderate alone the beauty of everything
consists. But from such an opinion the
compound only, and not the simple, can

CONCERNING THE BEAUTIFUL 17

be beautiful, the single parts will have no
peculiar beauty; and will only merit that
appellation by conferring to the beauty of
the whole. But it is surely necessary that a
lovely whole should consist of beautiful parts,
^for the fair can never rise out of the deformed^
But from such a definition, it follows, that
beautiful colours and the light of the sun,
since they are simple and do not receive
their beauty from commensuration, must be
excluded the regions of beauty. Besides,
how, from such an hypothesis, can gold be
beautiful ? Or the glittering of night and the
glorious spectacle of the stars? In like
manner, the most simple musical sounds will
be foreign from beauty, though in a song
wholly beautiful every note must be beautiful,
as necessary to the being of the whole.
Again, since the same proportion remaining,
the same face is to one person beautiful and
to another the reverse, is it not necessary to
call the beauty of the commensurate one kind
of beauty and the commensuration another
kind, and that the commensurate is fair by
means of something else? But if transfer-
ring themselves to beautiful studies and fair

discourses, they shall assign as the cause of

2

i8 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

beauty in these the proportion of measure,
what is that which in beautiful sciences, laws
or disciplines, is called commensurate pro-
portion? Or in what manner can specula-
tions themselves be called mutually com-
mensurate? If it be said because of the
inherent concord, we reply that there is a
certain concord and consent in evil souls, a
conformity of sentiment, in believing (as it is
said) that temperance is folly and justice
generous ignorance. It appears, therefore,/
that the beauty of the soul is every virtue,
and this species of the beautiful possesses
far greater reality than any of the superior
we have mentioned. But after what manner
in this is commensuration to be found ? For
it is neither like the symmetry in magnitude
nor in numbers. And since the parts of the
soul are many, in what proportion and syn-
thesis, in what temperament of parts or
concord of speculations, does beauty con-
sist ? Lastly, of what kind is the beauty of
intellect itself, abstracted from every cor-
poreal concern, and intimately conversing
with itself alone?
^^ We still, therefore, repeat the question,

( What is the beauty of bodies? It is some-

\

CONCERNING THE BEAUTIFUL 19

thing which at first view presents itself to
sense, and which the soul familiarly appre-
hends and eagerly embraces, as if it were
allied to itself. But when it meets with the
deformed, it hastily starts from the view and
retires abhorrent from its discordant nature.
For since the soul in its proper state ranks
according to the most excellent essence in
the order of things, when it perceives any
object related to itself, or the mere vestige
of a relation, it congratulates itself on the
pleasing event, and astonished with the
striking resemblance (note 5) enters deep into
its essence, and, by rousing its dormant
powers, at length perfectly recollects its
kindred and allies. What is the similitude' -—
then between the beauties of sense and that
beauty which is divine? For if there be any.
similitude the respective objects must be
similar. But after what manner are the
two beautiful ? For it is by participation of ^
jjpecies that we call every sensible object f^^ '
beautiful. Thus, since everything void oP—
form is by nature fitted for its reception, as
far as it is destitute of reason and form it is
base and separate from the divine reason, the
great fountain of forms; and whatever is

20 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

entirely remote from this immortal source is
perfectly base and deformed (note 6). And
such is matter, wJikh by its ^^n^^ is ever
averse from the supervening irradiations of
form. Whenever, therefore, form accedes, it
conciliates in amicable unity the parts which
are about to compose a whole; for being
itself one it is not wonderful that the subject
of its power should tend to unity, as far as
^^1* the nature of a compound will admit. Hence
jbeauty is established in multitude when
I the many is reduced into one, and in this
case it communicates itself both to the parts
and to the whole. But when a particular
one, composed from similar parts, is received
it gives itself to the whole, without departing
from the sameness and integrity of its nature.
Thus at one and the same time it communi-
cates itself to the whole building and its
several parts ; and at another time confines
itself to a single stone, and then the first
participation arises from the operations of
art, but the second from the formation of
T^ nature. And hence body becomes beautiful
through the communion supernally proceed-
ing from divinity.

But the soul, by her innate power, than

CONCERNING THE BEAUTIFUL 21

which nothing more powerful, in judging its
proper concerns, when another soul concurs
in the decision, acknowledges the beauty
of forms. And, perhaps, its knowledge in
this case arises from its accommodating its
internal ray of beauty to form, and trusting
to this in its judgment ; in the same manner
as a rule is employed in the decision of what
is straight. But how can that which is
inherent in body, accord with that which is
above body? Let us reply by asking how
the architect pronounces the building beauti-1
ful by accommodating the external structure j
to the fabric of his soul ? Perhaps, because*
the outward building, when entirely deprived
of the stones, is no other than the intrinsic
form, divided by the external mass of matter,
but indivisibly existing, though appearing in^
the many. When, therefore, sense beholds
the form in bodies, at strife with matter, bind-
ing and vanquishing its contrary nature, and
sees form gracefully shining forth in other
forms, it collects together the scattered
whole, and introduces it to itself, and to the
indivisible form within ; and renders it con-
sonant, congruous and friendly to its own
intimate form. Thus, to the good man,

^2 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

virtue shining forth in youth is lovely
because consonant to the true virtue which
lies deep in the soul. But the simple beauty
of colour arises, when light, which is some-
thing incorporeal, and reason and form
entering the obscure involutions of matter,
irradiates and forms its dark and formless
nature. It is on this account that fire sur-
passes other bodies in beauty, because, com-
pared with the other elements, it obtains the
order of form ; for it is more eminent than the
rest, and is the most subtle of all, bordering,
as it were, on an incorporeal nature. And
too, that though impervious itself it is
intimately received by others, for it imparts
heat, but admits no cold. Hence it is
the first nature which is ornamented with
colour, and is the source of it to others ; and
on this account it beams forth exalted like
some immaterial form. But when it cannot
vanquish its subject, as participating but a
slender light, it is no longer beautiful, because
iit does not receive the whole form of colour.
Again, the music of the voice rouses the
harmony latent in the soul, and opens her
eye to the perception of beauty, existing in
many the same. But it is the property of the

n

CONCERNING THE BEAUTIFUL 23

harmony perceived by sense, to be measured
by numbers, yet not in every proportion of
number or voice ; but in that alone which is
obedient to the production, and conquest of
its species. And this much for the beauties
of sense, which, like images and shadows
flowing into matter, adorn with spectacles of
beauty its formless being, and strike the
respective senses with wonder and delight.

But it is now time, leaving every object of
sense far behind, to contemplate, by a certain
ascent, a beauty of a much higher order ; a
beauty not visible to the corporeal eye, but
alone manifest to the brighter eye of the:
soul, independent of all corporeal aid^/ How-
ever, since, without some previous perception
of beauty it is impossible to express by words
the beauties of sense, but we must remain in
the state of the blind, so neither can we ever
speak of the beauty of offices and sciences,
and whatever is allied to these, if deprived
of their intimate possession. Thus we shall
never be able to tell of virtue's brightness,
unless by looking inward we perceive the fair
countenance of justice and temperance, and
are convinced that neither the evening nor
morning star are half so beautiful and bright.

24 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

But it is requisite to perceive objects of this
kind by that eye by which the soul beholds
such real beauties. Besides it is necessary
that whoever perceives this species of beauty,
should be seized with much greater delight,
and more vehement admiration, than any
corporeal beauty can excite ; as now embrac-
ing beauty real and substantial. Such affec-
tions, I say, ought to be excited about true
beauty, as admiration and sweet astonish-
ment; desire also and love and a pleasant
trepidation. For all souls, as I may say, are
affected in this manner about invisible objects,
but those the most who have the strongest
propensity to their love; as it likewise
happens about corporeal beauty; for all
equally perceive beautiful corporeal forms,
yet all are not equally excited, but lovers in
the greatest degree.

But it may be allowable to interrogate
those, who rise above sense, concerning the
effects of love in this manner; of such we
enquire, what do you suffer respecting fair
studies, and beautiful manners, virtuous
works, affections, and habits, and the beauty
of souls ? What do you experience on per-
ceiving yourselves lovely within ? After what

CONCERNING THE BEAUTIFUL 25

manner are you roused as it were to a Bac-
chalian fury ; striving to converse with your-
selves, and collecting yourselves separate
from the impediments of body? For thus
are true lovers enraptured. But what is the
cause of these wonderful effects. It is neither
figure, nor colour, nor magnitude; but soul
herself, fair through temperance, and not
with the false gloss of colour, and bright with
the splendours of virtue herself. And this
you experience as often as you turn your eye
inwards; or contemplate the amplitude of
another soul; the just manners, the pure
temperance ; fortitude venerable by her noble
countenance ; and modesty and honesty walk-
ing with an intrepid step, and a tranquil and
steady aspect ; and what crowns the beauty
of them all, constantly receiving the irradia-
tions of a divine intellect.

In what respect then, shall we call these
beautiful ? For they are such as they appear,
nor did ever anyone behold them, and not
pronounce them realities. But as yet reason
desires to know how they cause the loveliness
of the soul ; and what that grace is in every
virtue which beams forth to view like light ?
Are you then willing we should assume the

26 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

contrary part, and consider what in the soul
appears deformed? for perhaps it will
facilitate our search, if we can thus find
what is base in the soul, and from whence it
derives its original.

/^ Let us suppose a soul deformed, to be one
intemperate and unjust, filled with a multi-
tude of desires, a prey to foolish hopes and
vexed with idle fears ; through its diminutive
and avaricious nature the subject of envy;
employed solely in thought of what is im-
moral and low, bound in the fetters of impure
delights, living the life, whatever it may be,
peculiar to the passion of body ; and so totally
merged in sensuality as to esteem the base
pleasant, and the deformed beautiful and fair.
But may we not say, that this baseness ap-
proaches the soul as an adventitious evil,
under the pretext of adventitious beauty;
which, with great detriment, renders it im-
pure, and pollutes it with much depravity;
so that it neither possesses true life, nor true
sense, but is endued with a slender life
through its mixture of evil, and this worn
out by the continual depredations of death;
no longer perceiving the objects of mental
vision, ner permitted any more to dwell with

CONCERNING THE BEAUTIFUL 27

itself, because ever hurried away to things
obscure, external and low? Hence, becom-""
ing impure, and being on all sides snatched
in the unceasing whirl of sensible forms, it
is covered with corporeal stains, and wholly
given to matter, contracts deeply its nature,
loses all its original splendour, and almost
changes its own species into that of another ;
just as the pristine beauty of the most lovely
form would be destroyed by its total im-
mersion in mire and clay. But the de-
formity of the first arises from inward filth,
of its own contracting; of the second, from
the accession of some foreign nature. If
such a one then desires to recover his former
beauty, it is necessary to cleanse the infected
parts, and thus by a thorough purgation to
resume his original form. Hence, then if we
assert that the soul, by her mixture, con-
fusion and commerce with body and matter,
becomes thus base, our assertion will, I
think, be right. For the baseness of the soul
consists in not being pure and sincere. And
as the gold is deformed by the adherence of
earthly clods, which are no sooner removed
than on a sudden the gold shines forth with
its native purity ; and then becomes beautiful

28 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

when separated from natures foreign from its
own, and when it is content with its own
purity for the possession of beauty; so the
soul, when separated from the sordid desires
engendered by its too great immersion in
body, and liberated from the dominion of
every perturbation, can thus and thus only,
blot out the base stains imbibed from its
union with body; and thus becoming alone,
will doubtless expel all the turpitude con-
tracted from a nature so opposite to its own.

Indeed, as the ancient oracle declares,
temperance and fortitude, prudence and
every virtue, are certain purgatives of the
soul; and hence the sacred mysteries pro-
phesy obscurely, yet with truth, that the'
soul not purified lies in Tartarus, immersed
in filth. Since the impure is, from his de-
pravity, the friend of filth, as swine, from
their sordid body, delight in mire alone.

For what else is true temperance than not
to indulge in corporeal delights, but to fly
from their connection, as things which are
neither pure, nor the offspring of purity?
And true fortitude is not to fear death ; for
death is nothing more than a certain separa-
tion of soul from body, and this he will not

CONCERNING THE BEAUTIFUL 29

fear, who desires to be alone. Again, mag-
nanimity is the contempt of every mortal
concern ; it is the wing by which we fly into
the regions of intellect. And lastly, prudence
is no other than intelligence, declining sub-
ordinate objects ; and directing the eye of the
soul to that which is immortal and divine.
The soul, thus defined, becomes form and
reason, is altogether incorporeal and intel-
lectual, and wholly participates of that divine
nature, which is the fountain of loveliness,
and of whatever is allied to the beautiful and
fair. Hence the soul reduced to intellect^]
becomes astonishingly beautiful ; for as the
lambent flame which appears detached from
the burning wood, enlightens its dark and
smoky parts, so intellect irradiates and
adorns the inferior powers of the soul, which,
without its aid, would be buried in the gloom
of formless matter. But intellect, and what-
ever emanates from intellect, is not the
foreign, but the proper ornament of the soul,
for the being of the soul, when absorbed in
intellect, is then alone real and true. It is,
therefore, rightly said, that the beauty and
good of the soul consists in her similitude to
the Deity ; for from hence flows all her beauty.

30 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

and her allotment of a better being. But the
beautiful itself is that which is called beings ;
and turpitude is of a different nature and
participates more of non-entity than being.
,) But, perhaps, the good and the beautiful »
4re the same, and must be investigated byj
one and the same process ; and in like manner
the base and the evil. And in the first rank
we must place the beautiful, and consider
it as the same with the good; from which
immediately emanates intellect as beautiful.
Next to this, we must consider the soul
receiving its beauty from intellect, and every
inferior beauty deriving its origin from the
forming power of the soul, whether con-
versant in fair actions and offices, or sciences
and arts. Lastly, bodies themselves par-
ticipate of beauty from the soul, which, as
something divine, and a portion of the
beautiful itself, renders whatever it super-
venes and subdues, beautiful as far as its
natural capacity will admit.

Let us, therefore, re-ascend to the good
itself, which every soul desires ; and in which
it can alone find perfect repose. For if any-
one shall become acquainted with this source
of beauty he will then know what I say, and

CONCERNING THE BEAUTIFUL 31

after what manner he is beautiful. Indeed,
whatever is desirable is a kind of good, since
to this desire tends. But they alone pursue
true good, who rise to intelligible beauty, and
so far only tend to good itself; as far as they
lay aside the deformed vestments of matter,
with which they become connected in their
descent. Just as those who penetrate into
the holy retreats of sacred mysteries, are first
purified and then divest themselves of their
garments, until someone by such a process,
having dismissed everything foreign from the
God, by himself alone, beholds the solitary
principle of the universe, sincere, simple and
pure, from which all things depend, and to
whose transcendent perfections the eyes of
all intelligent natures are directed, as the
proper cause of being, life and intelligence.
With what ardent love, with what strong
desire will he who enjoys this transporting
vision be inflamed while vehemently affecting
to become one with this supreme beauty 1^
For this it is ordained, that he who does not
yet perceive him, yet desires him as good,
but he who enjoys the vision is enraptured
with his beauty, and is equally filled with
admiration and delight. Hence, such a one

/■

32 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

is agitated with a salutary astonishment; is
affected with the highest and truest love;
derides vehement affections and inferior loves,
and despises the beauty which he once ap-
proved. Such, too, is the condition of those
who, on perceiving the forms of gods or
daemons, no longer esteem the fairest of
corporeal forms. What, then, must be the
condition of that being, who beholds the
beautiful itself?

In itself perfectly pure (note 7), not con-
fined by any corporeal bond, neither existing
in the heavens, nor in the earth, nor to be
imaged by the most lovely form imagination
can conceive ; since these are all adventitious
and mixed, and mere secondary beauties,
^ proceeding from the beautiful itself. If, then,
/ anyone should ever behold that which is the
/ source of munificence to others, remaining
• in itself, while it communicates to all, and
\ receiving nothing, because possessing an
/ inexhaustible fulness; and should so abide
! ^in the intuition, as to become similar to his
( nature, what more of beauty can such a one
}\^ desire ? For such beauty, since it is supreme
\ in dignity and excellence, cannot fail of
\ rendering its votaries lovely and fair. Add

CONCERNING THE BEAUTIFUL 33

too, that since the object of contest to souls
is the highest beauty, we should strive for
its acquisition with unabated ardour, lest we
should be deserted of that blissful contempla-
tion, which, whoever pursues in the right
way, becomes blessed from the happy vision ;
and which he who does not obtain is un-
avoidably unhappy. For the miserable man
is not he who neglects to pursue fair colours,
and beautiful corporeal forms; who is de-
prived of power, and falls from dominion
and empire but he alone who is destitute
of this divine possession, for which the
ample dominion of the earth and sea and the
still more extended empire of the heavens,
must be relinquished and forgot, if, despising
and leaving these far behind, we ever intend
to arrive at substantial felicity, by beholding
the beautiful itself.

What measures, then, shall we adopt?
What machine employ, or what reason con-
sult by means of which we may contemplate
this ineffable beauty; a beauty abiding in
the most divine sanctuary without ever pro-
ceeding from its sacred retreats lest it should
be beheld by the profane and vulgar eye?
We must enter deep into ourselves, and,

3

34 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

leaving behind the objects of corporeal sight,
no longer look back after any of the accus-
tomed spectacles of sense. For, it is necessary
that whoever beholds this beauty, should
withdraw his view from the fairest corporeal
forms; and, convinced that these are noth-
ing more than images, vestiges and shadows
of beauty, should eagerly soar to the fair
original from which they are derived. For
he who rushes to these lower beauties, as if
grasping realities, when they are only likfe
beautiful images appearing in water, will,
doubtless, like him in the fable, by stretching
after the shadow, sink into the lake and dis-
appear. For, by thus embracing and adher-
ing to corporeal forms, he is precipitated, not |
so much in his body as in his soul, into pro- j
found and horrid darkness; and thus blind, ^
like those in the infernal regions, converses!
only with plantoms, deprived of the percep- 1
tion of what is real and true. It is here, then,
we may more truly exclaim, " Let us depart
from hence, and fly to our father^s delightful
land" (note 8). But, by what leading stars
shall we direct our flight, and by what means
avoid the magic power of Circe, and the de-
taining charms of Calypso?" (note g). For

CONCERNING THE BEAUTIFUL 35

thus the fable of Ulysses obscurely signifies,
which feigns him abiding an unwilling exile,
though pleasant spectacles were continually
presented to his sight; and everything was
promised to invite his stay which can delight
the senses, and captivate the heart. But our
true country, like that of Ulysses, is from
whence we came, and where our father lives.
But where is the ship to be found by which
we can accomplish our flight ? For our feet
are unequal to the task since they only take
us from one part of the earth to another.
May we not each of us say,

** What ships have I, what sailors to convey,
What oars to cut the long laborious way " {note lo).

But it is in vain that we prepare horses
to draw our ships to transport us to our
native land. On the contrary, neglecting all
these, as unequal to the task, and excluding
them entirely from our view, having now
closed the corporeal eye (note ii), we must
stir up and assume a purer eye within, which
all men possess, but which is alone used
by a few. What is it, then, this inward
eye beholds ? Indeed, suddenly raised to
intellectual vision, it cannot perceive an
object exceeding bright. The soul must

36 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

therefore be first accustomed to contemplate
fair studies and then beautiful works, not
such as arise from the operations of art, but
such as are the offspring of worthy men ; and
next to this it is necessary to view the soul,
which is the parent of this lovely race. But
you will ask, after what manner is this
beauty of a worthy soul to be perceived ? It

its thus. Recall your thoughts inward, and
if while contemplating yourself, you do not
perceive yourself beautiful, imitate the statu-
ajry ; who when he desires a beautiful statue
cuts away what is superfluous, smooths and
polishes what is rough, and never desists
until he has given it all the beauty his art

jjs able to effect. In this manner must you
proceed, by lopping what is luxuriant, direct-
ing what is oblique, and, by purgation, illus-
trating what is obscure, and thus continue

Jio polish and beautify your statue until the
divine splendour of Virtue shines upon you,

j and Temperance seated in pure and holy

I majesty rises to your view. If you become
thus purified residing in yourself, and having
nothing any longer to impede this unity of
mind, and no farther mixture to be found
within, but perceiving your whole self to be

CONCERNING THE BEAUTIFUL 37

a true light, and light alone ; a light which
though immense is not measured by any
magnitude, nor limited by any circumscrib-
ing figure, but is everywhere immeasurable,
as being greater than every measure, and
more excellent than every quantity; if, per-
ceiving yourself thus improved, and trusting
solely to yourself, as no longer requiring a
guide, fix now steadfastly your mental view,
for with the intellectual eye alone can such^
immense beauty be perceived. But if your
eye is yet infected with any sordid concern,
and not thoroughly refined, while it is on the
stretch to behold this most shining spectacle,
it will be immediately darkened and incapable
of intuition, though someone should declare
the spectacle present, which it might be
otherwise able to discern. For, it is here
necessary that the perceiver and the thing
perceived should be similar to each other
before true vision can exist. Thus the
sensitive eye can never be able to survey,
the orb of the sun, unless strongly endued /
with solar fire, and participating largely of^
the vivid ray. Everyone therefore must^X
become divine, and of godlike beauty, before
he can gaze upon a god and the beautiful

38 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

\ itself. Thus proceeding in the right way of
beauty he will first ascend into the region
of intellect, contemplating every fair species,
the beauty of which he will perceive to be
no other than ideas themselves; for all
things are beautiful by the supervening

irradiations of these, because they are the
offspring and essence of intellect. But that

rwhich is superior to these is no other than
the fountain of good, everywhere widely
diffusing around the streams of beauty, and
hence in discourse called the beautiful itself,
because beauty is its immediate offspring.
But if you accurately distinguish the intel-
ligible objects you will call the beautiful
the receptacle of ideas; but the good itself,
which is superior, the fountain and principle
of the beautiful ; or, you may place the first
beautiful and the good in the same prin-
ciple, independent of the beauty which there

^subsists'* (note 12).

Notes

(i) Pope's Homer's Odyssey, Book xiii.,
ver. 37.

(2) Odyssey J Book xiii., ver. 223.

(3) Odyssey^ Book vii., ver. 303.

(4) It is necessary to inform the Platonical
reader, that the Beautiful, in the present dis-
course, is considered according to its most
general acceptation, as the same with the
Good : though, according to a more accurate
distinction, as Plotinus himself informs us,
the Good is considered as the fountain and
principle of the Beautiful. I think it likewise
proper to observe, that as I have endeavoured,
by my paraphrase, to render as much as
possible the obscure parts evident, and to
expand those sentences which are so very
much contracted in the original, I shall be
sparing of notes; for my design is not to
accommodate the sublimest truths to the
meanest understandings (as this would be a
contemptible and useless prostitution), but to
render them perspicuous to truly liberal and
philosophic minds. My reasons for adopting
this mode of paraphrase, may be seen in the
preface to my translation of Orpheus's Hymns.

39

40 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

(5) "Enters deep into its essence," etc.
The Platonic Philosophy insists much on the
necessity of retiring into ourselves in order
to the discovery of truth ; and on this account
Socrates, in the first AlcibiadeSy says that the
soul entering into herself will contemplate
whatever exists and the divinity himself.
Upon which Proclus thus comments, with
his usual elegance and depth (in Theol. Plat^
p. 7): "For the soul," says he, "contracting
herself wholly into a union with herself, and
into the centre of universal life, and remov-
ing the multitude and variety of all-various
powers, ascends into the highest place of
speculation, from whence she will survey the
nature of beings. For if she looks back upon
things posterior to her essence, she will
perceive nothing but the shadows and resem-
blances of beings; but if she returns into
herself she will evolve her own essence, and
the reasons she contains. And at first indeed
she will, as it were, only behold herself; but
when by her knowledge she penetrates more
profoundly in her investigations she will
find intellect seated in her essence and the
universal orders of beings; but when she
advances into the more interior recesses of
herself, and as it were into the sanctuary of
the soul, she will be enabled to contemplate,
with her eyes closed to corporeal vision, the

NOTES 41

genus of the gods and the unities of beings.
For all things reside in us, after a manner
correspondent to the nature of the soul ; and
on this account we are naturally enabled to
know all things, by exciting our inherent
powers and images of whatever exists."

(6) "And such is matter," etc. There is
nothing affords more wonderful speculation
than matter, which ranks as the last among
the universality of things, and has the same
relation to being as shade to substance. For,
as in an ascending series of causes it is neces-
sary to arrive at something, which is the first
cause of all, and to which no perfection is
wanting; so in a descending series of sub-
jects, it is equally necessary we should stop
at some general subject, the lowest in the
order of things, and to which every perfec-
tion of being is denied. But let us hear the
profound and admirable description which
Plotinus gives us of matter (lib. vi., Ennead 3),
and of which the following is a paraphrase :
"Since matter," says he, "is neither soul,
nor intellect, nor life, nor form, nor reason,
nor bound, but a certain indefiniteness ; nor
yet capacity, for what can it produce ? Since
it is foreign from all these, it cannot merit
the appellation of being, but is deservedly
called non-entity. Nor yet is it non-entity
in the manner as motion or station; but it

42 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

is true non-entity, the mere shadow and
imagination of bulk and the desire of sub-
sistence; abiding without station, of itself
invisible, and avoiding the desire of him who
wishes to perceive its nature. Hence, when
no one perceives it, it is then in a manner
present, but cannot be viewed by him who
strives intently to behold it. Again, in itself
contraries always appear, the small and the
great, the less and the more, deficience and
excess. So that it is a phantom, neither
abiding nor yet able to fly away; capable
of no one denomination and possessing no
power from intellect, but constituted in the
defect and shade, as it were, of all real being.
Hence, too, in each of its vanishing appel-
lations it eludes our search ; for if we think
of it as something great, it is in the meantime
small ; if as something more, it becomes less ;
and the apparent being which we meet with
in its image is non-being, and as it were a
flying mockery. So that the forms which
appear in matter are merely ludicrous,
shadows falling upon shadow, as in a
mirror, where the position of a thing is
different from its real situation; and which,
though apparently full of forms, possesses
nothing real and true— but imitations of
being and semblances flowing about a form-
less semblance. They appear, indeed, to

NOTES 43

affect something in the subject matter, but
in reality produce nothing ; from their debile
and flowing nature being endued with no
solidity and no rebounding power. And
since matter, likewise, has no solidity they
penetrate it without division, like images in
water, or as if anyone should fill a vacuum
with forms."

(7) **In itself perfectly pure." This is
analogous to the description of the beautiful
in the latter part of Diotima*s Speech in the
Banquet ; a speech which is surely unequalled,
both for elegance of composition and sub-
limity of sentiment. Indeed, all the disciples
of Plato are remarkable for nothing so much
as their profound and exalted conceptions of
the Deity ; and he who can read the works of
Plotinus and Proclus in particular, and after-
wards pity the weakness and erroneousness
of their opinions on this subject, may be fairly
presumed to be himself equally an object of
pity and contempt.

(8) "Let us depart," etc., vide Hom., ///arf,
lib. ii., 140, et lib. ix., 27.

(9) Porphyry informs us in his excellent
treatise, De Antro Nymphy "that it was the
opinion of Numenius, the Pythagorean (to
which he also assents), that the person of
Ulysses in the Odyssey^ represents to us a
man, who passes in a regular manner, over

44 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

the dark and stormy sea of generation ; and
thus, at length, arrives at that region where
tempests and seas are unknown, and finds
a nation who

" Ne'er knew salt, or heard the billows roar."

Indeed, he who is conscious of the delusions
of the present life and the enchantments of
this material house, in which his soul is de-
tained like Ulysses in the irriguous cavern of
Calypso, will like him continually bewail his
captivity, and inly pine for a return to his
native country. Of such a one it may be said
as of Ulysses (in the excellent and pathetic
translation of Mr Pope) :

*' But sad Ulysses by himself apart
Pour'd the big sorrows of his swelling heart,
All on the lonely shore he sate to weep
And roll'd his eyes around the restless deep
Tow'rd the lov'd coast he roU'd his eyes in vain
Till, dimmed with rising grief, they stream'd again." *

Such a one too, like Ulysses, will not always
wish in vain for a passage over the dark
ocean of a corporeal life, but by the assist-
ance of Mercury, who may be considered as
the emblem of reason, he will at length be
enabled to quit the magic embraces of
Calypso, the Goddess of Imagination, and to
return again into the arms of Penelope, or

* Odyssey y book v., 103.

NOTES 45

Philosophy, the long lost and proper object
of his love.

(10) See Pope's Homer's Odyssey^ book v.,
182.

(11) "We must stir up and assume a purer
eye within." This inward eye is no other
than intellect, which contains in its most
inward recesses a certain ray of light, par-
ticipated from the sun of Beauty and Good,
by which the soul is enabled to behold and
become united with her divinely solitary
original. This divine ray, or, as Proclus
calls it, mark or impression, is thus beauti-
fully described by that philosopher {TheoL
Plat, p. 105) : "The Author of the Universe,"
says he, "has planted in all beings impres-
sions of his own perfect excellence, and
through these he has placed all beings about
himself, and is present with them in an
ineffable manner, exempt from the univer-
sality of things. Hence, every being enter-
ing into the ineffable sanctuary of its own
nature finds there a symbol of the Father
of all. And by this mystical impression
which corresponds to his nature they become
united with their original, divesting them-
selves of their own essence and hastening to
become his impression alone; and, through
a desire of his unknown nature and of the
fountain of good, to participate in him alone.

46 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

And when they have ascended as far as to
this cause they enjoy perfect tranquillity and
are conversant in the perception of his
divine progeny and of the love which all
things naturally possess, and goodness,
unknown, ineffable, without participation
and transcendently full."
//"(I2) But before I take my leave of Plotinus,
I cannot refrain from addressing a few words
to the Platonical part of my readers. If such
then is the wisdom contained in the works
of this philosopher, as we may conclude
from the present specimen, is it fit so divine
a treasure should be concealed in shameful
oblivion? With respect to true philosophy
you must be sensible that all modern sects
are in a state of barbarous ignorance; for
Materialism and its attendant Sensuality
have darkened the eyes of the many with the
mists of error, and are continually streng-
thening their corporeal tie. And can any-
thing more effectually dissipate this increas-
ing gloom than discourses composed by so
sublime a genius, pregnant with the most
profound conceptions, and everywhere full
of intellectual light? Can anything so
thoroughly destroy the phantom of false
enthusiasm as establishing the real object
of the true ? Let us then boldly enlist our-
selves under the banners of Plotinus, and.

NOTES 47

by his assistance, vigorously repel the
encroachments of error, plunge her domi-
nions into the abyss of forgetfulness, and
disperse the darkness of her baneful night.
For indeed there never was a period which
required so much philosophic exertion, or
such vehement contention from the lovers
of Truth. On all sides nothing of philosophy
remains but the name, and this is become
the subject of the vilest prostitution ; since
it is not only engrossed by the naturalist,
chemist, and anatomist, but is usurped by
the mechanic in every trifling invention, and
made subservient to the lucre of traffic and
merchandise. There cannot surely be a
greater proof of the degeneracy of the times
than so unparalleled a degradation and so
barbarous a perversion of terms. For the
word philosophy, which implies the love of
wisdom, is now become the ornament of
folly. In the times of its inventor, and for
many succeeding ages, it was expressive of
modesty and worth; in our days it is the
badge of impudence and vain pretensions.
It was formerly the symbol of the profound
contemplative genius, it is now the mark of
the superficial and unthinking practitioner.
It was once reverenced by kings and clothed
in the robes of nobility ; it is now (according
to its true acceptation) abandoned and de-

48 AN ESSAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL

spised and ridiculed by the vilest plebeian.
Permit me, then, my friends, to address you
in the words of Achilles to Hector :

** Rouse, then, your forces this important hour,
Collect your strength and call forth all your pow'r."

Since, to adopt the animated language of
Neptune to the Greeks,

"... On dastards, dead to fame,
I waste no anger, for they feel no shame.
But you, the pride, the flower of all our host.
My heart weeps blood, to see your glory lost."

Nor deem the exhortation impertinent, and
the danger groundless :

" For lo ! the fated time, th' appointed shore.
Hark, the gates burst, the brazen barriers roar."

Impetuous ignorance is thundering at the
bulwarks of philosophy and her sacred
retreats are in danger of being demolished,
through our feeble resistance. Rise then,
my friends, and the victory will be ours.
The foe is indeed numerous, but at the
same time feeble ; and the weapons of truth
in the hands of vigorous union, descend with
irresistible force, and are fatal wherever they
fall.

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