THE HARMONY OF VIRTUE

34 The Harmony of Virtueto consider the harmony of man with the universe, and leavethe internal harmony of the race for subsequent inquiry.Wilson: Perhaps it would be best.Keshav: When we say that man should fill his place in theCosmos, we mean that he should be in proportion with its otherelements, just as the thorn is in proportion to the leaf and theleaf to the rose, for proportion is the ulterior cause of harmony.And we described proportion as a regular variety, or to use amore vivid phrase, a method in madness. If this is so, it is incumbenton man to be various in his development from the star,the rose and the other elements of the Cosmos, in a word to beoriginal.Wilson: That follows.Keshav: But is it enough to be merely original? For instanceif he were to hoist himself into the air by some mechanical contrivanceand turn somersaults unto all eternity, that would be originalbut he would not be helping much towards universal harmony,would he?Wilson: Well, not altogether.Keshav: Then if we want to describe the abstract idea ofvirtue, we want something more than originality. I think we saidthat proportion is not merely variety, but regular variety?Wilson: Yes, that is obvious.Keshav: Then man must be not merely original but regularin his originality.Wilson: I cannot exactly see what you mean.Keshav: I cannot at all see what I mean; yet, unless ourwhole theory is unsound, and that I am loth to believe, I mustmean something. Let us try the plan we have already adoptedwith such success, when we discovered the nature of beauty.We will take some form of harmony and inquire how regularityenters into it; and it occurs to me that the art of calligraphy willbe useful for the purpose, for a beautifully written sentence hasmany letters just as the universe has many types and it seemsthat proportion is just as necessary to it.Wilson: Yes, calligraphy will do very well.Keshav: I recollect that we supposed beauty to have threeelements, of which every type must possess at least one, better