Men  are  carried  to  the  sex  in  general,  as  it  is  the
sex,  and  by  the  common  law  of  nature  ;  but  they  are
attached  to  particulars  by  personal  heauty.  I  call
beauty  a  social  quality ;  for  where  women  and  men,
and  not  only  they,  but  when  other  animals  give  us  a
sense  of  joy  and  pleasure  in  beholding  them  (and
there  are  many  that  do  so),  they  inspire  us  with  sen-
timents of  tenderness  and  affection  towards  their
persons  ;  we  like  to  have  them  near  us,  and  we  enter
willingly  into  a  kind  of  relation  with  them,  unless  we
should  have  strong  reasons  to  the  contrary.  But  to
what  end,  in  many  cases,  this  was  designed,  I  am
unable  to  discover ;  for  I  see  no  greater  reason  for  a
connection  between  man  and  several  animals  who  are
attired  in  so  engaging  a  manner,-  than  between  him
and  some  others  who  entirely  want  this  attraction,  or
possess  it  in  a  far  weaker  degree.  But  it  is  probable
that  Providence  did  not  make  even  this  distinction,
but  with  a  view  to  some  great  end  ;  though  we  can-
not perceive  distinctly  what  it  is,  as  his  wisdom  is
not  our  wisdom,  nor  our  ways  his  ways.
SECTION    XL

SOCIETY   AND    SOLITUDE.
The  second  branch  of  the  social  passions  is  that
which  administers  to  society  in  general.  With  regard
to  this,  I  observe,  that  society,  merely  as  society,
without  any  particular  heightenings,  gives  us  no  pos-
itive pleasure  in  the  enjoyment ;  but  absolute  and
entire  solitude^  that  is,  the  total  and  perpetual  exclu-


116       ON  THE  SUBLIME  AND  BEAUTIFUL.
