Alc. — Have patience, good Euphranor^ I will (hew you in the firft place, that whatever was found and good we leave untouched, and encourage it to grow in the mind of man. And fecondly, I will fhew you what ex- cellent things we have planted in it. You muft know then, that purfuing our clofe and fevere fcrutiny, we do at laft arrive at fomething folid and real, in which all mankind agree, to wit, the appetites, paflions, and fen- fes: Thefe are founded in nature, are real, have real objects, and are attended with real and fubftantial plea- fures: food, drink, fleep, - and the like animal enjoy- ments, being what all men like and love. And if we extend our view to the other kinds of animals, we mail find them all agree in this, that they have certain natural appe- tites and fenfes, in the gratifying and fatisfying of which they are conflantly employed. Now thefe real natural good things which include nothing of notion or fancy, we are fo far from deftroying, that we do all we can tp cher- ifh and improve them. According to us, every wife man looks upon himfelf, or his own bodily exiftence in this prefent world, as the centre and ultimate end of all his actions and regards. He confiders his appetites as natu- ral guides directing to his proper good, his paflions and [Dial. I] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 33 fenfcs as the natural true means of enjoying this good.-— Hence he endeavors to keep his appetites in high relifh, his paflions and fenfes ftrong and lively, and to provide the greateft quantity and variety of real objects fuited to them, which he ftudieth to enjoy by all poffible means, and in the higheft perfection imaginable. And the man who can do this without reftraint, remorfe or fear, is as happy as any other animal whatsoever, or as his nature is capable of being. Thus I have given you a fuccincl: view of the principles, difcoveries, and tenets of the felecl: fpirits o£ this enlightened age.
X. Crito remarked, that Alciphron had fpoke his mind, with great clearnefs. Yes, replied Euphranor^ we are obli- ged to the gentleman, for letting us at once into the tenets of his feci:. But, if I may be allowed to fpeak my mind, Alciphron^ though in compliance with my own requeft, hath given me no fmall uneafinefs. You need, faid Alci- phroriy make no apology for fpeaking freely what you think, to one who profefleth himfelf a free-thinker. I Ihould be forry to make one, whom I meant to oblige, uneafy. Pray let me know wherein I have offended. I am half alhamed, replied Euphranor, to own that I, who am no great genius, have a weaknefs incidental to little ones. I would fay, that I have favorite opinions, which you reprefent to be errors and prejudices. For inftance, the immortality of the foul is a notion I am fond of, as what fupports the mind with a very pleafing profpccl:.— — And if it be an error, I fhould perhaps be of Tullfs mind, who, in that cafe, profefTed he fhould be forry to know the truth, acknowledging no fort of obligation to certain phi- lofophers in his days, who taught, that the foul of man was mortal. They were, it feems, predecefTors to thofe who are now called free-thinkers j which name being too general and indefinite, inafmuch as it comprehends all thofe who think for thcmfelves, whether they agree vbl E 34 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.]
opinion with thefe gentlemen or no, it mould not feem amifs to affign them a fpecific appellation, or peculiar name, whereby to diftinguifh them from other philofo- phers, at leaft in our prefent conference. For I cannot bear to argue againfl free-thinking and free- thinkers v Alc. — In the eye of a wife man, words are of fmall moment. We do not think truth attached to a name.
Euph. — If you pleafe then, io avoid confufion, let us call your feci: by the fame name that Tully (who under- ftood the force of language) beftowed upon them.
Alc— With all my heart. Pray what may that name be?
Eupk. — Why, he calls them Minute Philofophers. Right, faid CritOy the modern free-thinkers are the very fame with thofe Cicero called Minute Philofophers, which name ad- mirably fuits them, they being a fort of feci: which dimin- ifh all the mod valuable things, the thoughts, views, and hopes of men: all the knowledge, notions, and theories of the mind, they reduce to fenfe; human nature they con- trad! and degrade to the narrow low ftandard of animal life, and affign us only a fmall pittance of time, inftead of immortality.
Alciphrcn very gravely remarked, that the gentlemen of his feci had done no injury to man; and that if he be a little fhort-lived, contemptible animal, it was not their faying it made him fo: And they were no more to blame for whatever defects they difcover, than a faithful glafs for making the wrinkles which it only fhews. As to what you obferve, faid he, of thofe we now call free-thinkers, having been anciently termed Minute Philofophers^ it is my opinion, this appellation might be derived from their confid- cring things minutely, and not fwallowing them in the grofs, as other men are ufed to do. Befides, we all know, the bed eyes are necefTary to difcern the minuted objects: It feems, therefore, that Minute Philofophers might have been fo called, from their diftinguilhed perfpi<- cacity.
[Dial. L] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 35 Euph. — O Alciphron! thefe Minute Philofophers (fince that is their true name) are a fort of pirates, who plunder all that come in their way. I confider myfelf as a man left ftript and defolate on a bleak beach.
XL But who are the profound and learned men, that of late years have demolifhed the whole fabric, which lawgivers, philofophers, and divines, had been erecting for fo many ages? Lyficles hearing thefe words, fmiled, and faid, he believed Euphranor had figured to himfelf philofo- phers in fquare caps and long gowns; but, thanks to thefe happy times, the reign of pedantry was over. Our philofophers, faid he, are of a very different kind from thofe aukward ftudents, who think to come at knowledge by p. uring on dead languages, and old authors, or by fe- queftring themfelves from the cares of the world, to meditate in folitude and retirement. They are the belt bred men of the age, men who know the world, men of pleafure, men of fafliion, and fine gentlemen.
Euph. — I have fome fmall notion of the people you mention, but fhould never have taken them for philofo- phers.
Cri.— Nor would any one elfe till of late. The world, it feems, was long under a miftake about the way to knowledge, thinking it lay through a tedious courfe of academical education and ftudy. But among the difcov- eries of the prefent age, one of the principal is, the finding out that fuch a method doth rather retard and obftrucT:, than promote knowledge.
Alc. — Academical ftudy may be comprifed in two points, reading and meditation. Their reading is chiefly employed on ancient authors in dead languages: fo that a great part of their time is fpent in learning words; which, when they have mattered with infinite pains, what do they get by it, but old and obfolete notions, that are now quite exploded and out of ufe? then, as to their meditations, $6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IJ what can they poflibly be good for? he that wants the proper materials of thought, may think and meditate for ever to no purpofe: Thofe cobwebs, fpun by fcholars, out of their own brains, being alike unferviceable, either for ufe or ornament. Proper ideas, or materials, are only to be got by frequenting good company. I know feveral gentlemen, who, fince their appearance in the world, have fpentas much time in rubbing off the ruft and pedantry of a college education, as they had done before in acquir- ing it.
Lys. — I'll undertake, a lad of fourteen, bred in the mod- ern way, mall make a better figure, and be more confid- ered in any drawing room, or aflembly of polite people, than one of four and twenty, who hath lain by a long time at fchool and college. He mail fay better things, in a better manner, and be more liked by good judges.
Euph. — Where doth he pick up all this improvement?
Cri. — Where our grave anceftors would never have looked for it, in a drawing room, a coffee houfe, a chocolate houfe, at the tavern, or groom porter's. In thefe, and the like fafhionable places of refort, it is the cuftom for polite perfons to fpeak freely on all fubjects, religious, moral, or political. So that a young gentleman, who frequents them, is in the way of hearing many inftru&ive lectures, feafon- ed with wit and raillery, and uttered with fpirit. Three orfourfentences, from a man of quality, fpoke with a good air, make more impreflion, and convey more knowledge, than a dozen difiertations, in a dry academical way.
Euph. — There is then no method, or cpurfe of ftudies, in thofe places.
Lys. — None but an eafy free converfation, which takes in every thing that offers, without any rule or defign.
Euph. — I always thought that fome order was neceffa- ry to attain any ufeful degree of knowledge; that hafte and confuflon begat a conceited ignorance •, that to make our advances fure, they mould be gradual, and thofe Dial. L3 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 37 points firft learned, which might caft a light on what was to follow.
Alc— So long as learning was to be obtained only by that flow, formal courfe of ftudy, few of the better fort knew much of it; but now it is grown an amufement, our young gentry and nobility imbibe it infenfibly, amidft their diverfions, and make a confiderable progrefs.
Euph. — Hence probably the great number of Minute Philofophers.
Cri.— - It is to this that feci; is owing for fo many ingeni- ous proficients of both fexes. You may now commonly fee (what no former age ever faw) a young lady, or a Petit Jllaitre, nonplus a divine, or an old~fafhioned gentleman, who hath read many a Greek and Latin author, and fpent much time in hard methodical ftudy.
Euph. — It flrould feem then, that method, exa&nefs, and induftry are a difadvantage. Here Alciphron, turning to Lyficles, faid he could make the point very clear, if Eu- phranor had any notion of painting.
Euph. — I never faw a firft-rate picture in my life, but have a tolerable collection of prints, and have feen fome good drawings.
Alc — You know then the difference between the Dutch and the Italian manner.
Euph. — I have fome notion of it.
Alc — Suppofe now, a drawing finifhed by the nice and laborious touches of a Dutch pencil, and another off hand fcratched out in the free manner of a great Italian mafter. The Dutch piece, which hath cofl fo much pains and time, will be exact indeed, but without that force, fpirit, or grace, which appear in the other, and are the ef- fects of an eafy free pencil. Do but apply this, and the point will be clear.
Euph. — Pray inform me, did thofe great Italian mailers begin and proceed in their art, without any choice of method or fubject, and always draw with the fame eafe 38 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.]
and freedom? or did they obferve fome method, begin- ning with fimple and elementary parts, an eye, a nofe, a finger, which they drew with great pains and care, often drawing the fame thing, in order to draw it correctly, and fo proceeding, with patience and induftry, till after confid- erable length of time, they arrived at the free mafterly manner you fpeak of. If this were the cafe, I leave you to make the application.
Alc. — You may difpute the matter if you pleafe. But a man of parts is one thing, and a pedant another. Pains and method may do for fome fort of people. A man muft be a long time kindling wet ftraw into a vile fmoth- ering flame, but fpirits blaze out at once.
Euph. — The Minute Philofophers have, it feems, bet- ter parts than other men, which qualify them for a dif- ferent education.
Alc — Tell me, Euphranor, what is that gives one man a better mein than another; more politenefs in drefs, fpeech and motion? Nothing but frequenting good com- pany. By the fame means, men get infenfibly a delicate tafte, a refined judgment, a certain politenefs in thinking and exprefling one's felf. No wonder if you, countrymen, are ftrangers to the advantage of polite converfation, which conftantly keeps the mind awake and adtive, exer- cifing its faculties, and calling forth all its ftrength and fpirit on a thoufand different occafions and fubje&s, that never come in the way of a book-worm in a college, no more than of a ploughman.
Cri. — Hence thofe lively faculties, that quicknefs of apprehenfion, that flinefs of ridicule, that egregious tal- ent of wit and humour, which diftinguifh the gentlemen of your prqfeflion.
Euph —It (hould feem then, that your feci: is made up of what you call fine gentlemen.
Lys.— Not altogether, for we have among us fome contemplative fpirits of a coarkr education; who, from [Dial. I.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 39 obferving the behavior and proceedings of apprentices, watermen, porters, and affemblies of rabble in the ftreets, have arrived at a profound knowledge of human nature; and made great difcoveries about the principles, fprings, and motives of moral actions. Thefe have demolifhed the received fyftems, and done a world of good in the city.
Alc— I tell you, we have men of all forts and pro- feflions, plodding citizens, thriving ftock-jobbers, skill- ful men in bufinefs, polite courtiers, gallant men of the army; but our chief ftrength, and flower of the flock, are thofe promifing young men, who have the advantage of a modern education. Thefe are the growing hopes of our fe6t, by whofe credit and influence, in a few years we expe£t to fee thofe great things accompliflied, that we have in view.
Euph.-— I could never have imagined your feci: focon- fiderable.
Alc. — There are, in England, many honeft folk as much in the dark about thefe matters as yourfelf.
XII. To judge of the prevailing opinion among people of fafhion, by what a fenator faith in the houfe, a judge upon the bench, or a prieft in the pulpit, who all fpeak according to law, that is, to the reverend prejudices of our forefathers, would be wrong. You mould go into good company, and mind what men of parts and breed- ing fay, thofe who are beft heard, and moft admired, as well in public places of refort, as in private vifits. He only, who hath thefe opportunities, can know our real ftrength, our numbers, and the figure that we make.
Euph.— -By your account, there muft be many Mi- nute Philofophers among the men of rank and fortune.
Alc. — Take my word for it, not a few, and they do much contribute to the fpreading our notions. For he who knows the world, muft obferve, that fafhions con* 4o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.]
ftantly defcend. It is therefore the right way to propa- gate an opinion from the upper end. Not to fay, that the patronage of fuch men, is an encouragement to our authors.
Euph. — It feems then, you have authors among you.
Lys. — That we have, feveral, and thofe very great men, who have obliged the world with many ufeful and profound discoveries.
Cri. — Mofchon, for inftance, hath proved that man and beaft are really of the fame nnture: That confequent- ly a man need only indulge his fenfes and appetites, to be as happy as a brute. Gorgias hath gone further, demon- ftrating man to be a piece of clock-work, or machine; and that thought, or reafon, are the fame thing as the im- pulfe of one ball againft another. Cimon hath made no- ble ufe of thefe difcoveries, proving as clearly as any pro- pofition in mathematics, that conscience is a whim, and morality a prejudice; and that a man is no more account- able for his actions than a clock is for ftriking. Tryphon hath written irrefragably on the ufefulnefs of vice. Thra- fenor hath confuted the foolifh prejudice men had againft atheifm, fhewing, that a republic of atheifts might live very happily together. Demylus hath made a jeft of loy- alty, and convinced the world there is nothing in it. To him, and another philofopher, of the fame (lamp, this age is indebted for difcovering, that public fpirit is an idle enthufiafm, which feizeth only on weak minds. It would be endlefs to recount the difcoveries made by writers of this feft.
Lys.— But the mafter-piece, and finiming ftroke, is a learned anecdote of our great Diagorasy containing a de- monftration againft the being of God, which it is con- ceived the public is not yet ripe for. But I am afiured by fome judicious friends, who have feen it, that it is as clear as day light, and will do a world of good, at one blow demolifhing the whole fyftemof religion. Thefe [Dial. I.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 41 difcoveries are publifhed by our philofophers, fometimes in volumes, but often in pamphlets and loofe papers, for their readier conveyance through the kingdom. And to them mult be afcribed that abfolute and independent free- dom, which groweth fo faft, to the terror of all bigots. Even the dull and ignorant begin to open their eyes, and to be influenced by the example and authority of fo many ingenious men.
Euph. — It fhould feem, by this account, that your feet extend their difcoveries beyond religion; and that loyalty to his prince, or reverence for the laws, are but mean tilings in the eye of a Minute Philofopher.
Lys. — Verv mean; we are too wife to think there is any thing facred, either in king or conftitution, or indeed in any thing elfe. A man of fenfe may, perhaps, feem to pay an occafional regard to his prince, but this is no more at bottom, than what he pays to God, when he kneels at the facrament, to qualify himfelf for an office. Fear God and honor the king, are a pair of flavifh maxims, which had for a long time crampt human nature, and awed not only weak minds, but even men of good understanding, till their eyes, as I obferved before, were opened by our philofophers.
Euph. — Methinks, I can eafily comprehend, that when the fear of God is quite extinguished, the mind muft be very eafy with refpecl: to other duties, which become out- ward pretences and formalities, from the moment that they quit their hold upon the confeience: and confeience always fuppofeth the being of a God. But I ftill thought, that Englijhmeny of all denominations (how widely foever they might differ as to fome particular points) agreed in the belief of a God, and of fo much at leaft as is called natural religion.
Alc. — I have already told you my own opinion of thofe matters, and what I know to be the opinion of many more.
F 42 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.]
Cri. — Probably, Euphranor, by the title of Deiftsy which is fometimes given to Minute Philofophers, you have been mifled to imagine, they believe and worfhip a God, according to the light of nature: but by living among them, you may foon be convinced of the contrary. They have neither time, nor place, nor form of divine worfhip: They offer neither prayers nor praifes to God in public: and, in their private practice, fhew a con- tempt or diilike even of the duties of natural religion. For inftance, the faying grace before and after meals, is a plain point of natural worfhip, and was once univerfally pra&ifed; but, in proportion as this fe£t prevailed, it hath been laid afide, not only by the Minute Philofophers themfelves, who would be infinitely afhamed of fuch a weaknefs, as to beg God's bleffing, or give God thanks for their daily food; but alfo by others, who are afraid Of being thought fools by the Minute Philofophers.
Euph. — Is it poflible, that men, who really believe a God, mould yet decline paying fo eafy and reafonable a duty, for fear of incurring the contempt of atheifts?
Cri. — I tell you, there are many, who believing in their hearts the truth of religion, are yet afraid, or afhamed, to own it, left they mould forfeit their reputation with thofe, who have the good luck to pafs for great wits, and men of genius.
Alc. — O Euphranory we mud make allowance for Crito's prejudice: he is a worthy^gentleman, and means well. But doth it not look like prejudice, to afcribe the refpe£t, that is paid our ingenious free-thinkers, rather to good luck than to merit?
Euph. — I acknowledge their merit to be very wonder- ful, and that thofe authors muft needs be great men, who are able to prove fuch paradoxes: for example, that fo knowing a man, as a Minute Philofopher, mould be a mere machine, or at beft no better than a brute.
Alc.— It is a true maxim, that a man fhould think with [Dial. I.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 43 the learned, and fpeak with the vulgar. I (houM be loth to place a gentleman of merit in fuch a light before preju- diced and ignorant men. The tenets of our philofophy have this, in common with many other truths in metaphy- fics, geometry, aftronomy, and natural philofophy, that vul- gar ears cannot bear them. All our difcoveries and no- tions are in themfelves true and certain; but they are at prefent known only to the better fort, and would found ftrange and odd among the vulgar. But this, it is to be hoped, will wear off with time.
Euph.— I do not wonder, that vulgar minds fhould be flartled at the notions of your philofophy.
Cri. — Truly a very curious fort of philofophy, and much to be admired!
XIII. The profound thinkers of this way have taken a direct: contrary courfe to all the great philofophers of former ages, who made it their endeavor to raife and re- fine, human kind, and remove it as far as pofTible from the brute; to moderate and fubdue men's appeties; to remind them of the dignity of their nature; to awaken and improve their fuperior faculties, and direct them to the nobleft objects; to pofTefs men's minds with a high fenfe of divinity, of the fupreme good, and the immortality of the foul. They took great pains to ftrengthen the ob- ligations to virtue; and upon ail thofe fubjects have wrought out noble theories, and treated with lingular force of reafon. But it feems, our Minute Philofophers act the reverfe of all other wife and thinking men; it being their end and aim to erafe the principles of all that is great and good from the mind of man, to unhinge all order of civil life, to undermine the foundations of moral- ity, and, inflead of improving and ennobling our natures, to bring us down to the maxims and way of thinking of the moil uneducated and barbarous nations; and even to degrade human kind to a level with the brute beads.— 44 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.]
And all the while they would pafs upon the world for men of deep knowledge. But in efFe£t, what is all this negative krfowledge better than downright favage ig- norance? that there is no providence, no fpirit, no fu- ture ftate, no moral duty: truly a fine fyftem for an honeft man to own, or an ingenious man to value himfelf upon!
Alciphrony who heard this difcourfe, with fome uneafi- nefs, very gravely replied, difputes are not to be decided by the weight of authority, but by the force of reafon. You may pafs, indeed, general reflections on our notions, and call them brutal, and barbarous, if you pleafe: But it is fuch brutality, and fuch barbarifm, as few could have at- tained to, if men of the greatefl genius had not broke the ice; there being nothing more difficult than to get the better of education, and conquer old prejudices. To re- move and caft off a heap of rubbifh, that has been gather- ing upon the foul from our very infancy, requires great courage, and great ftrength of faculties. Our philofophers, therefore, do well deferve the name of Efprits forts, men of ' Jlrong heads. Free-thinkers, and fuch like appellations, betokening great force and liberty of mind. It is very poffible, the heroic labours of thefe men may be reprefent- ed (for what is not capable of mifreprefentation?) as a piratical plundering, and ftripping the mind of its wealth and ornaments; when it is in truth the diverting it only of its prejudices, and reducing it to its untainted original ftate of nature. Oh nature! the genuine beauty of pure nature!
Euph. — You feem very much taken with the beauty of nature. Be pleafed to tell me, Alciphron, what thofe things are, which you efteem natural, or by what mark I may know them.
XIV. Alc. — For a thing to be natural, for inftance, to the mind of man, it muii appear originally therein, it-muft be univerfally in all men, it muft be invariably the fame in all nations and ages. Thefe limitations of original, [Dial. I.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 45 univerfal, and invariable, exclude all thofe notions found in the human mind, which are the effecl: of cuftom and edu- cation. The cafe is the fame with refpecl: to all other fpecies of beings. A cat, for example, hath a natural in- clination to purfue a moufe, becaufe it agrees with the forementioned marks. But if a cat be taught to play- tricks, you will not fay thofe tricks are natural. For the fame reafon, if, upon a plumbtree, peaches and apricots are ingrafted, no body will fay they are the natural growth of the plumbtree.
Euph. — but to return to Man: It feems you allow thofe things alone to be natural to him, which fliew them- felves upon his firft entrance into the world; to wit, the fenfes, and fuch paflions and appetites as are difcovered upon the firft application of their refpe&ive objects.
Alc— That is my opinion.
Euph.-— Tell me, Alciphron, if from a young appletree, after a certain period of time, there mould fhooi forth leaves, blofibms, and apples *, would you deny thefe things to be natural, becaufe they did not difcover and difplay themfelves in the tender bud?
Alc— I would not.
Euph. — And fuppofe, that in man, after a certain fez- fon, the appetite of luft, or the faculty of reafon, fhall moot forth, open, and difplay themfelves, as leaves and bloflbms do in a tree; would you therefore deny them to be natural to him, becaufe they did not appear in his orig- inal infancy?
Alc. — I acknowledge I would not.
Euph. — It feems, therefore, that the firft mark of a thing's being natural to the mind, was not warily laid down by you; to wit, that it mould appear originally in it. Alc. — It feems fo.
Euph. — Again, inform me, Alciphrcn, whether you do not think it natural for an orange-plant to produce orang- es?
Alc— I do.
46 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I] Euph.—- But plant it in the north-end of Great-Britain > and it fhall with care produce, perhaps, a good fallad; in the fouthern parts of the fame ifland, it may with much pains and culture thrive, and produce indifferent fruit; but in Portugal, or Naples, it will produce much better, with little or no pains. Is this true, or not?
Alc — It is true.
Euph. — The plant being the fame in all places, doth not produce the fame fruit; fun, foil, and cultivation, making a differenee.
Alc. — I grant it.
Euph. — And fince the cafe is, you fay, the fame with refpecVto all fpecies, why may we not conclude, by a parity of reafon, that things may be natural to human kind, and yet neither found in all men, nor invariably the fame where they are found?
Alc — Hold, Euphranor, you muft explain yourfclf further. I fhall not be over hafty in my concefhons.
Lys — You are in the right, Alciphron, to ftand upon your guard. I do not like thefe enfnaring queftions.
Euph. — I defire you to make no concefhons in com- plaifance to me, but only to tell me your opinion upon each particular, that we may understand one another, know wherein we agree, and proceed jointly in finding out the truth. But (added Euphranor, turning to Crito and me) if the gentlemen are againft a free and fair en- quiry, I fhall give them no further trouble.
Alc — Our opinions will ftand the teft. We fear no trial. Proceed as you pleafe.
Euph. — It feems then that, from what you have granted, it fhould follow, things may be natural to men, though they do not actually fhew themfelves in all men, nor in equal perfection; there being as great difference of cul- ture, and every other advantage, with refpecl: to human nature, as is to be found with refpe£t to the vegetable na- ture of plants; to ufe your own fimilitude. Is it fo, or not?
Alc — It is.
[Dial. I.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 47 Euph. — Anfwer me, Alciphron^ do not men, in all times and places, when they arrive at a certain age, ex- prefs their thoughts by fpeech?
Alc. — They do.