The Artist's Repository, Or, Encyclopedia of the Fine Arts (Band 2): Perspective, Architecture (London, 1808)

LECTURE II.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

THE difference "between the works of Omnipo-
tence and those of such feeble beings as our-
selves, is never more apparent, than when we con-
sider the principles, and the progress, of our at-
tempts at magnificence, or sublimity. What ex-
tensive preparations! what unremitted labour! what
accumulated toil! what united efforts! are necessary
to erect a pile, which (hall impress a spectator as
somewhat above the common; whereas, with what
■case does the Majesty of Heaven will, and it is
•done, command, and it is accomplished; and this
.on a scale infinitely beyond the competition or con-
ception of puny mortals! If we seek sublime in
terror; vast rocks, awful precipices, immense moun-
tains, ftrike us into trembling: if in serenity, the
celestial expanse is sublimely serene. If we seek
an instance capable of both; observe the smooth
surface of the liquid plain; the immense pool is
.motionless: or if, obedient to the wanton zephyrs,
gentle undulations creep over the transparent ocean,
its languid murmurs die along the shore. Sublimely
•beautiful! placid, benign! the canal of industrious
commerce! the liberal distributor of abundant

wealth!