SECT. III.
YOU have heard it (my Friend!) as a com- mon Saying, that Inter efl governs the World. But, I believe, whoever looks narrowly into the Affairs of it, will find, that Pajfion, Humour, Caprice, "X^eal, Faction, and a thoufand other Springs, which are counter to Self- Inter ejl, have as confiderable a part in the Movements of this Machine. There are more Wheels and Coun- ter-Poifes in this Engine than are eafily imagin'd. 'Tis of too complex a kind, to fall under one fimple View, or be explain'd thus briefly in a word or two, The Studiers of this Mechanifm mull have a very partial Eye, to overlook all other Motions befides thofe of the loweft and narroweft compafs. Tis hard, that in the Plan or Defcription of this Clock-work, no Wheel or Balance fliou'd be allow'd on the fide of the better and more enlarg'd Affeclion; that nothing fhou'd be underilood to be done in Kindnefs Kindnefs or Generofdy; nothing in pure Good-Na- ture or Friendjhip, or thro' any Jbcial or natural Affection of any kind: when, perhaps, the main Springs of this Machine will be found to be either thefe very natural Affections themfelves, or a compound kind deriv'd from them, and retaining more than one half of their Nature.
But here (my Friend!) you muft not expect that I fhou'd draw you up a formal * Scheme of the PaJJions, or pretend to fhew you their Genealogy and Relation; how they are interwo- ven with one another, or interfere with our Happinefs and Intereft. 'Twou'd be out of the Genius and Compafs of fuch a Letter as this, to frame a juft Plan or Model; by which you might, with an accurate View, obferve what Proportion the friendly and natural Affec- tions feem to bear in this Order of Architecture.
Modern Projectors, I know, wou'd willing- ly rid their hands of thefe natural Materials; and wou'd fain build after a more uniform way. They wou'd new-frame the human Heart; and have a mighty fancy to reduce all its Motions, Balances and Weights, to that one Principle and Foundation of a cool and deliberate SelfiJIi- nefs. Men, it feems, are unwilling to think * See the fourth Treatife, viz. Inquiry concerning Yirlure: VOL. II.
they of WIT and HUMOUR. 117 they can be fo outwitted, and impos'd on by Nature, as to be made to ferve her Purpofes, rather than their own. They are afham'd to be drawn thus out of themfelves, and forc'dfrom what they efleem their true Inter eft.
There has been in all times a fort of nar- row-minded Philofophers, who have thought to fet this Difference to rights, by conquering Mature in themfelves. A primitive Father and Founder among; thefe, faw well this Power of * Nature, and underftood it fo far, that he ear- neftly exhorted his Followers neither to beget Children, nor ferve their Country. There was no dealing with Nature, it feems, while thefe alluring Objecls flood in the way. Re- lations, Friends, Countrymen, laws, Politick Con- Jlitutions, the Beauty oj Order and Government, and the Inter eft of Society and Mankind, were Ob- jects which, he well faw, wou'd naturally raife a ftronger Affection than any which was grounded upon the narrow bottom of mere Self. His Advice, therefore, not to marry, nor engage at all in the Publick, was wife, arid futable to hisDehgn. There was no way to be truly a Difciple of this Philofophy, but to leave Family, Friends, Country, and So- ciety, to cleave to it. And, in good earned, * Supra, pag. 49. AndVOh. II. So. VOL. III. 52, 35, &c.
who who wou'd not, if it were Happinefs to do fo? — The Philofopher, however, was kind, in tel- ling us his Thought. 'Twas a Token of his fatherly Love of Mankind.
* Tu Pater, et rcrum Inventor I Tu patria nobis Suppeditas prcecepta! — But the Revivers of this Philofophy in lat- ter Days, appear to be of a lower Genius. They feem to have underflood lefs of this force of Nature, and thought to alter the Thing, by drifting a Name. They wou'd fo explain all the focial PafTions, and natural Affections, as to denominate 'em oft the Jelfifli kind. Thus Civility, Hofpitality, Humanity towards Stran- gers or People in diftrefs, is only a more delibe- rate Selfiflmefs. An honed Heart is only a more cunning one: and Honefty and Good-Nature, a more deliberate, or be Iter -regulated Self- Love. The Love of Kindred, Children and Pofterity, is purely Love of Self and of ones own immediate Blood: As if, by this Reckoning, all Mankind were not included; All being of one Blood, and join'd by Inter-Marriages and Alliances; as they have been tranfplanted in Colonys, and mix d one with another. And thus Love of * Lucret. lib. 3, t Supra, p. SS. And VOL. II. p. yio.
ones dies Country, and Love of Mankind, muft alfo be Self-Love. Magnanimity and Courage, no doubt, are Modifications of this univerfal Self- Love I For * Courage (fays our modern Philofo- pher) is conflant Anger. And all Men (fays t a witty Poet) woud be Cowards if they durfl.
That the Poet, and the Philofopher both, were Cowards, may be yielded perhaps without difpute. They may have fpoken the bed of their Knowledge. But for true Courage, it has fo little to do with Anger, that there lies always the nrongeft Sufpicion againft it, where this Paflion is higheft. The true Courage is the cool and calm. The braved of Men have the leaf! of a brutal bullying Infolence; and in the very time of Danger are found the moft ferene, pleafant, and free. Rage, we know, can make a Coward forget himfelf and fight. But what is done in Fury or Anger, can never be plac'd to the account of Courage. Were it otherwife, Womankind might claim to be the floutcfl Sex: for their Hatred and Anger have ever been allow'd the dronged and moft lading.
* Sudden Courage (fays Mr. Hosbes, Lev. chap 6.) is Anger. There- fore Courage confider'd as conflant, and belonging to a Character, muft, in his account, be defin'd conjiant Anger, or Anger conjlantly returning.
t Lord Rochester. Satir agab'Ji Man.
120 An E S SAT on the Freedom Other Authors there have been of a yet inferior kind: a fort of * Diftributers and petty Retailers of this Wit; who have run Changes, and Divifions, without end, upon this Article of Self-Love. You have the very fame Thought fpun out a hundred ways, and drawn into Motto's, and Devifes, to fet forth this Riddle; That " act as difintereftedly or generoufly as tl you pleafe, Srtfiftijl is at the bottom, and L'- nothing elfe." Now if thefe Gentlemen, who delight fo much in the Play of Words, but are cautious how they grapple clofely with Defini- tions, wou'd tell us only + what Self-Inter eft was, and determine Happinefs and Good, there wou'd be an end of this enigmatical Wit. For in this we fhou'd all agree, that Happinefs was to be purfu'd, and in fact was always fought after: but whether found in following Mature, and giving way to common Affection; or in fuppreffing it, and turning every Paffion to* * The French Translator fuppofes with good reafon, That our Author, in this Paffage, had an eye to thofe Sentences, or Maxims, which pal's under the name of the Duke d e La Roc h e fouc au lt. He has added, withal, the Cenfure of this kind of Wit, and of thefe Maxims in parti- cular, bv fome Authors of the fame Nation. The Paffages are too long to infert here: tho they arc othcrwife very juft and entertaining. That which he has cited of old Mont a i gne, is from the firft Chapter of his fecond Effay.
wards of WIT and HUMOUR. 121 wards private Advantage, a narrow Self-End, or the Prefervation of mere Life; this wou'd be the matter in debate between us. The Quef- tion wou'd not be, "■ Who lovd himfelf, or lt Who not;" but " Who lov'd and ferv'dhim- " felf the rightefl, and after the trueft raan- " ner.
" ner.
'Tis the height of Wifdom, no doubt, to be rightly felffli. And to value Life, as far as Life is good, belongs as much to Courage as to Dif- cretion. But a wretched Life is no wife Man's wifh. To be without Honcjly, is, in effect, to be without natural Affection or Scciablenefs of any kind. And a Life without natural Affection, Friendpiip, or Sociablenefs, wou'd be found a wretched one, were it to be try d. 'Tis as thefe Feelings and Affections aie intrinfecally valuable and worthy, that Self Inter efl is to be rated and efteem'd. A Man is by nothing fo much himfelf, as by his Temper, and the Character of his Paffwns and Affections. If he lofes what is manly and worthy in thefe, he is as much loft to himfelf as when he lofes his Memory and Underftanding. The leaft flep into Vil- lany or Bafenefs, changes the Character and Value of a Life. He who wou'd preferve Life at any rate, muft abufe himfelf more than any- one can abufe him. And if life be not a dear thing indeed, he who has refus'd to live a Vil- lain.
lain, and has preferd Death to a bafe Aclion. has been a gainer by the bargain.
">r 1 *IS well for you (my Friend!) that in JL your Education you have had little to do with the * Philofophy or Philofopliers of our days. A good Poet, and an honeft Hiflorian, may afford Learning enough for a Gentleman. And fuch a one, whilft he reads thefe Authors as his Diverfion, will have a truer relifti of their Senfe, and underftand 'em better than a Pedant, with all his Labours, and the afliftance of his Volumes of Commentators. I am fen- fible, that of old 'twas the cuftom to fend the Youth of higheft Quality to Philofopliers to be form'd. Twas in their Schools, in their Com- pany, and by their precepts and Example, that the illuurious Pupils were inur'd to Hard- fhip, and exercis'd in the fevereu Courfes of Temperance and Self-denial. By fuch an early Difcipline, they were fitted for the Com- mand of others; to maintain their Country's Honour in War, rule wifely in the State, and fight againft Luxury and Corruption in times Our Author, it fcems, writes at prefcnt as to a young Gentleman chiefly of a Court-Breeding. See, however, his further Sentiments more particularly in Treatife 3. 'viz. SOLILOQUY infra, pae. ooo, &c. m the Notes.
Of of IV IT, and HUMOUR. 123 of Profperity and Peace. If any of thefe Arts are comprehended in Univetfity- Learning, 'tis well. But as fome Univerfitys in the World are now model'd, they feem not fo very effec- tual to thefe Purpofes, nor fo fortunate in pre- paring for a right Practice of the World, or a juft Knowledge of Men and Things. Had you been thorow-pac'd in the Ethicks or Politicks of the Schools, I fhou'd never have thought of writing a word to you upon Common Senfe, or the Love of Mankind. I fhou'd not have cited * the Poet's Dulce et Decorum. Nor, if I had made a Character for you, as he for his noble Friend, fhou d I have crown'd it with his f Non Me pro caris Amicis, Aut Patria timulus perire.
Our Philofophy nowa-days runs after the manner of that able Sophiiter, who faid, J lt Skin for Skin: All that a Man has will he give "for his Life" 'Tis orthodox Divinity, as well as found Philofophy, with fome Men, to rate Life by the Number and Exquifitenefs of the pleafmg Senfations. Thefe they conftantly let in oppofition to dry Virtue and Honejiy. And upon this foot, they think it proper to call all Men Fools, who wou'd hazard a Life, or part * Sup. pag. 102. tHor. Lib. 4. Od. 9.
Vol. I. I with with any of thefe pleqfing Sulfations; except on the condition of being repaid in the fame Coin, and with good Intereil into the bargain. Thus, it feems, we are to learn Virtue by Ufury; and inhance the Value of Life, and of the Plea- Jure s of Senfe, in order to be wife and to live well.
But you (my Friend!) are nubborn in this Point: and inllead of being brought to think mournfully of Death, or to repine at the Lofs of what you may fometimes hazard by your Honefty, you can laugh at fuch Maxims as thefe; and divert your- felf with the improv'd Selfifhnefs, and philofophical Cowardice of thefe fafhionable Moralifts. You will not be taught to value Life at their rate, or degrade Honesy as they do, who make it only a Name. You are perfuaded there is fomething more in the Thing than Fafliion or Applaufe; that Worth and Merit are fubflantial, and no way variable by Fancy or Will; and that Hon- our is as much it-felf, when acling by it~felj\ and wife en, as when feen, and applauded by all the World.
Shou'd one, who had the Countenance of a Gentleman, afk me " Why I wou'd avoid 41 being nafly, when nobody was prefent?1' In the firft place I fhou'd be fully fatisfy'd that he himfelf of WIT and HUMOUR. 125 himfelf was a very nafty Gentleman who cou'd afk this Queftion; and that itwou'd be a hard matter for me to make him ever conceive what true Clcanlinefs was. However, I might, not- withftanding this, be contented to give him a flight Anfwer, and fay, " 'Twas becaufe I had Nofe." Shou'd he trouble me further, and afk again, tc What if I had a Cold? Or what " if naturally I had nofuchnice Smell?" I might anfwer perhaps, tc That I card as lit- ■c tie to fee my-felf nqfiy, as that others fhou'd tc fee me in that condition." But what if it were in the dark? Why even then, tho I had neither Nofe, nor Eyes, my Senfe of the matter wou'd full be the fame; my Nature wou'd rife at the Thought of what was fordid: or if it did not, I fhou'd have a wretched Na- ture indeed, and hate my-felf for a Beaft. Hon- our my-felf I never cou'd; whilft I had no bet- ter a fenfe of what, in reality, I ow'd my-felf, and what became me, as a human Creature.
Much in the fame manner have I heard it afk'd, Why fJwud a Man be honefl in the dark?
What a Man mufl be to afk this Queftion, I won't fay. But for thofe who have no bet- ter a Reafon for being honefl than the fear of a Gibbet or a Jail; I fhou'd not, I confefs much covet their Company, or Acquaintance. And if anv Guardian of mine who had kept his I 2 Truft, Truft, and given me back my Eftate when I came of Age, had beendifcover'dto haveacled thus, thro' Fear only of what might happen to him; I fhou'd for my own part, undoubtedly, continue civil and refpeclful to him: but for my Opinion of his Worth, it wou'd be fuch as the Pythian God had of his Votary, who devoutly feard him, and therefore reftor'd to a Friend what had been depofited in his hands.
* Reddidit ergo metu, non moribus; et tamen omnem Vocem adyti dignam templo, veramque probavit, Ext infills tota par iter cum prole domoque.
I know very well that many Services to the Publick are done merely for the fake of a Gratuity; and that Informers in particular are to be taken care of, and fometimes made Pen- Jioners of State. But I muu beg pardon for the particular Thoughts I may have of thefe Gen- tlemens Merit; and fhall never bellow my Efteem on any other than the voluntary Difco- verers of Villany, and hearty Profecutors of their Country's InterefL And in this refpecl, I know nothing greater or nobler than the undertaking and managing fome important' Acof WIT and HUMOUR. 127 Accufation; by which fome high Criminal of State, or fome form'd Body of Confpirators againft the Publick, may be arraign'd and brought to Punifhment, thro' the honed Zeal and publick Affection of a private Man.
I know too, that the mere Vulgar of Man- kind often fland in need of fuch a rectifying Object as the Gallows before their Eyes. Yet I have no belief, that any Man of a liberal Education, or common Honefly, ever needed to have recourfe to this Idea in his Mind, the better to reftrain him from playing the Knave. And if a Saint had no other Virtue than what was rais'd in him by the fame Objects of Reward and Punifhment, in a more diftant State; I know not whofe Love or Efleem he might gain befides: but for my own part, I fliou'd never think him worthy of mine.
Nee fur turn feci, nee fugi.fi mild dicat Servus: Habes pretium, loris non uteris, did. Non hominem occidi: Non pafces in cruce corvos. Sum bonus et frugi: Renuit, negat atque Sa~ bellus. Hor. Epift. i(v I 3 PART 128 An E S S AT on the Freedom PART IV.
SECT. I.
BY this time (my Friend!) you may poffibly, I hope, be fatisfy'd, that as I am in earn- ed in defending Raillery, fo I can be fober too in the Ufe of it. Tis in reality a ferious Stu- dy, to learn to temper and regulate that Hu- mour which Nature has given us, as a more lenitive Remedy againft Vice, and a kind of Specifick againft Superftition and melancholy Delufion. There is a great difference between feeking how to raife a Laugh from every thing; and feeking, in every thing, what juftly maybe laugh'd at. For nothing is ridiculous except what is deform'd: Nor is any thing proof a- gainft Raillery, except what is handfom and juft. And therefore 'tis the harden thing in the World, to deny fair Honesty the ufe of this Weapon, which can never bear an Edge againft her-felf, and bears againft every thing contrary.
IE IE If the very Italian Buffoons were to give us the Rule in thefe cafes, we fhou'd learn bv them, that in their loweft and mofl fcurrilous way of Wit, there was nothing fo fuccefsfully to be play'dupon, as the Paflions of Cowardice and Avarice. One may defy the World to turn real Bravery or Generqfity into Ridicule. A Glutton or mere Senfualilt is as ridiculous as the other two Characters. Nor can an unaf- fected Temperance be made the Subject of Con- tempt to any befides the groffefl and mofl con- temptible of Mankind. Now thefe three Ingre- dients make up a virtuous Character: as the contrary three a vicious one. How therefore can we poflibly make a Jell: of Honefty? — ■ To laugh both ways, is nonfenfical. And if the Ridicule lie againft Sotti/Jinefs, Avarice, and Cow- ardice; you fee the Confequence. A Man muff be foundly ridiculous, who, with all the Wit imaginable, wou'd go about to ridicule Wif- dom, or laugh at Honefty, or Good Manners.
A Man of thorow * Good-Breeding, what- ever elfe he be, is incapable of doing a rude or brutal Aclion. He never deliberates in this cafe, or confiders of the matter by prudential Rules of Self-Intereft and Advantage. He acls from his Nature, in a manner neceffarily, and I 4 without without Reflexion: and if he did not, it were impoffible for him to anfwer his Character, or be found that truly well-bred Man, on every occafion. 'Tis the fame with the honejl Man. He can't deliberate in the Cafe of a plain Vil- lany. A Plum is no Temptation to him. He likes and loves himfelf too well, to change Hearts with one of thofe corrupt Mifcreants, who amongfl 'em gave that name to a round Sum of Money gain'd by Rapine and Plunder of the Commonwealth. He who wou'd enjoy a Freedom of Mind, and be truly PoJJcJjbr of him- felf, mud be above the thought of (looping to what is villanous or bafe. He, on the other fide, who has a Heart to Hoop, mull necedarily quit the thought of Manhnejs, Refolution, Friend- fnp, Merit, and a Character with himfelf and others: But to affecl thefe Enjoyments and Ad- vantages, together with the Privileges of a li- centious Principle; to pretend to enjoy Society, and a free Mind, in company with a knavifli Heart, is as ridiculous as the way of Children, who eat their Cake, and afterwards cry for it. When Men begin to deliberate about Diihonefty, and finding it go lefs againft their Stomach, afk flily, li Why they fhou'd flick at a good 41 Piece of Knavery, for a good Sum?" They fhou'd be told, as Children, that They cant eat their Cake, and have iU When of WIT and HUMOUR. 131 When Men, indeed, are become accompliflid Knaves, they are pail crying for their Cake. They know them/elves, and are known by Mankind. 'Tis not thefe who are fo much envy'd or ad- mir'd. The moderate Kind are the more taking with us. Yet had we Senfe, we mould confi- der 'tis in reality the thorow profligate Knave, the very compleat unnatural Villain alone, who can any way bid for Happinefs with the ho- neft Man. True Intereft is wholly on one Tide, or the other. All between is * Inconfiilency, Ir- refolution, Remorfe, Vexation, and an Ague- Fit: from hot to cold; from one Paffion to a- nother quite contrary; a perpetual Difcord of Life; and an alternate Difquietand Self-diflike. The only Reft: or Repofe mull be thro' one, de- termin'd, confiderate Refolution: which when once taken, mufl be courageoufly kept; and thePaffions and Affections brought under obe- dience to it; the Temper fleel'd and harden'd to the Mind; the Difpofition to the Judgment. Both muft agree; elfe all muft be Diiturbance and Confufion. So that to think with one's " Our Author's French Tranflator cites, on this occafion, very aptly thole Verfes of Horace, Sat. 7. Lib. 2.
-Qjianto conjlantior idem In vitiis, tanto levius mifer, ac prior il/o Qui jam conttnto, jam laxofune laborat.
felf felf, in good earrncft, " Why may not one do 41 this little Villany, or commit this one Trea- " chery, and but for once-" is the mofl ridicu- lous Imagination in the World, and contrary to Common Sense. For a common honefl Man, whilfi left to himfelf, and undifturb'd by Philofophy and fubtle Reafonings about his Intereft, gives no other Anfwer to the thought of Villany, than that he cant pojfiblyfind in his heart to fet about it, or conquer the natural Averlion he has to it. And this is natural and jyft.
The truth is; as Notions ftand now in the world, with refpecl to Morals, Honefty is like to gain little by Philofophy, or deep Specula- tions of any kind. In the main, 'tis beft to flick to Common Senfe, and go no further. Mens firft Thoughts, in this matter, are generally better than their fecond: their natural No- tions better than thofe refin'd by Study, or Confultation with Cafuifts. According to com- mon Speech, as well as common Senfe, Honefty is the beft Policy: But according to refin'd Senfe, the only well-advisd Perfons, as to this World, are errant Knaves; and they alone are thought to ferve themfelves, who ferve their Paffions, and indulge their loofefl Appetites and De- fires. Such, it feems, are the Wife, and fuch the Wifdom of this World!
An of WIT and HUMOUR. 133 An ordinary Man talking of a vile A&ion, in a way of Common Senfe, fays naturally and heartily, lt He wou'd not be guilty of fuch a " thing for the whole World/' But Jpeculative Men find great Modifications in the cafe; many ways of Evafion; many Remedys; many Al- leviations. A good Gift rightly apply'd; a right Method of fuing out a Pardon; good Alms- Houfes, and charitable Foundations erecled for right Worfhippers; and a good Zeal (hewn for the right Belief', may fufficiently atone for one wrong Practice; efpecially when it is fuch as raifes a Man to a confiderable power (as they fay) of doing good, andferving the true Caufe.
Many a good Eftate, many a high Station has been gain'd upon fuch a Bottom as this. Some Crowns too may have been purchas'd on thefe Terms: and fome great * Emperors (if I miftake not) there have been of old, who were much affifted by thefe or the like Principles; and in return were not ingrateful to the Caufe and Party which had affifled 'era. The Forgers of fuch Morals have been amply endowed: and the World has paid roundly for its Phi- lofophy; fince the original plain Principles of Humanity, and the fimple honeft Precepts of Peace Peace and mutual Love, have, by a fort of fpi- ritual Chymifts, been fo fublimated, as to be- come the higheft Corrofives; and paffing thro' their Limbecks, have yielded the ftrongeft Spi- rit of mutual Hatred and malignant Perfecution.
SECT. II.
UT our Humours (my Friend!) incline us not to melancholy Reflections. Let the [olemn Reprovers of Vice proceed in the man- ner mod futable to their Genius and Cha- racter. I am ready to congratulate with 'em on the Succefs of their Labours, in that autho- ritative wav which is allow'd 'em. I know not, in the mean while, why others may not be al- low'd to ridicule Folly, and recommend Wif- dom and Virtue (if poflibly they can) in a way of Pleafantry and Mirth. I know not why Po- ets, or fuch as write chiefly for the Entertain- ment of themfelves and others, may not be al- low'd this Privilege. And if it be the Com- plaint of our Jlanding Reformers, that they are not heard lb well by the Gentlemen of FaJJiion; if they exclaim againfl thofe airy Wits who fly to Ridicule as a Protection, and make fuccefs- ful Sallys from that Quarter; why fhou'd it be deny'd one, who is only a Volunteer in this Caufe, to engage the Adverfary on his own terms, and expofe himfelf willingly to fuch At- tacks, tacks, on the (ingle condition of being allow'd fair Play in the fame kind?
By Gentlemen of Fafhion, I underftand thofe to whom a natural good Genius, or the Force of good Education, has given a Senfe of what is naturally graceful and becoming. Some by mere Nature, others by Art and Practice, are Matters of an Ear in Mufick, an Eye in Painting, a Fan- .cy in the ordinary things of Ornament and Grace, a Judgment in Proportions of all kinds, and a general good Tafte in mod of thofe Sub- jects which make the Amufement and Delight of the ingenious People of the World. Let fuch Gentlemen as thefe be as extravagant as they pleafe, or as irregular in their Morals; they muff at the fame time difcover their In- confiflency, live at variance with themfelves, and in contradiction to that Principle, on which they ground their higheft Pleafure and Enter- tainment.
Of all other Beautys which Virtuofos purfue, Poets celebrate, Muficians fing, and Architects or Artifls, of whatever kind, defcribe or form; the mofl delightful, the mod engaging and pathe- tick, is that which is drawn from real Life, and from the PaJJions. Nothing affecls the Heart like that which is purely from it-Jelf and of its own nature; fuch as the Beauty of Sentiments, the Grace of of 136 An E S S SA T on the Freedom of Actions, the Turn of Characters, and the Propor- tions and Features of a hu?nan Mind. This LefTon of Philofophy, even a Romance, a Poem, or a Play may teach us; whilft the fabulous Author leads us with fuch pleafure thro' the Labyrinth of the Affections, and intereils us, whether we will or no, in the Paffions of his Heroes and Heroines: ■Angit, Irritat, muled, faljis terroribus implet, Ut Magus.
Let Poets, or the Men of Harmony, deny, if they can, this Force of Nature, or withfland this moral Magick. They, for their parts, car- ry a double portion of this Charm about 'em, For in the firft place, the very Paffion which infpires 'em, is it-felf the Love of Numbers, De- cency and Proportion; and this too, not in a nar- row fenfe, or after a felfifli way, (for who of them compofes for JwnfelffJ but in a friendly focial View; for the Pleafure and Good of others; even down to Polferity, and future Ages. And in the next place, 'tis evident in thefe Perform- ers, that their chief Theme and Subject, that which raifes their Genius the moft, and by which they fo effectually move others, is pure- ly Manners, and the moral Part. For this is the of WIT and HUMOUR. i37 the Effecl, and this the Beauty of their Art; " in vocal Meafures of Syllables, and Sounds, tl to exprefs the Harmony and Numbers of an il inward kind; and reprefent the Beautys of Ci a human Soul, by proper Foils, and Con- tl trarietys, which ferve as Graces in this Lim- 41 ning, and render this Mufick of the Paffions lt more powerful and enchanting."
The Admirers of Beauty in the Fair Sex, wou'd laugh, perhaps, to hear of a moral Part in their Amours. Yet, what a ftir is made about a Heart! What curious fearchof Sentiments, and tender Thoughts'. What praifes of a Humour, a Senfe, a je-ne-fcai-quoi of Wit, and all thofe Graces of a Mind which thefe Virtuofo-Lovers delight to celebrate! Let them fettle this mat- ter among themfelves; and regulate, as they think fit, the Proportions which thefe different Beautys hold one to another: They muft allow ftill, there is a Beauty of the Mind; and fuch as is effential in the Cafe. Why elfe is the very Air of Foolijlmefs enough to cloy a Lover, at firft fight? Why does an Idiot- Look and Manner de- ftroy the Effecl; of all thofe outward Charms, and rob the Fair-One of her Power; tho regu- larly arm'd, in all the Exaclnefs of Features and Complexion? We may imagine what we pleafe of a fubftantial folid part of Beauty: but were the Subject to be well criticiz'd, we fliou'd find, perhaps 138 An E S SA ¥ on the Freedom perhaps, that what we moft admir'd, even in the turn of outward Features, was only a myfte- rious Expreflion, and a kind of Shadow of fomething inward in the Temper: and that when we were ftruck with a majejlick Air, zfprightly Look, an Amazon bold Grace, or a contrary 70/* and gentle one; 'twas chiefly the Fancy of thefe Characters or Qualitys which wrought on us: our Imagination being bufy'd in forming beau- teous Shapes and Images of this rational kind, which entertain'd the - Mind, and held it in admiration; whilfl other Paflions of a lower Species were employ'd another way. The pre- liminary Addrefles, the Declarations, the Ex- planations, Confidences, Clearings; the De- pendence on fomething mutual, fomething felt by way of return; the Spes animi credula mutui: all thefe become neceflary Ingredients in the Affair of Love, and are authentically eftablifh'd by the Men of Elegance and Art in this way of Paffion.
Nor can the Men of cooler Paflions, and more deliberate Purfuits, withftand the Force of Beauty, in other Subjects. Every-one is a Virtuofo, of a higher or lower degree: Every-one purfues a Grace, and courts a * Venus of one kind or another. The Venufium, the Ho- nejlum, the Decorum of Things, will force its way.
way.
of WIT and HUMOUR. i39 way. They who refufe to give it fcope in the nobler Subjecls of a rational and moral kind, will find its Prevalency elfewhere, in an * in- ferior Order of Things. They who overlook the main Springs of Aclion, and defpife the Thought of Numbers and Proportion in a Life at large, will in the mean Particulars of it, be no lefs taken up, and engag'd; as either in the Study of common Arts, or in the Care and Cul- ture of mere mechanick Beautys. The Models of Houfes, Buildings, and their accompanying Ornaments; the Plans of Gardens, and their Compartments; the ordering of Walks, Plan- tations, Avenues; and a thoufand other Sym- metrys, will fucceed in the room of that hap- pier and higher Symmetry and Order of a Mind. The t Species of Fair, Noble, Handfom, will dif- cover it-felf on a thoufand Occafions, and in a thoufand Subjecls. The Specler ftill will haunt us, in fome fhape or other: and when driven from our cool Thoughts, and frighted from the Clojet, will meet us even at Court, and fill our Heads with Dreams of Grandure, Titles, Hon- ours, and a falfe Magnificence and Beauty; to which we are ready to facrifice our higheft Pleafure and Eafe; and for the fake of which, we become the mereft Drudges, and mod ab- jecl Slaves.