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diff --git a/11397-0.txt b/11397-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..acb5964 --- /dev/null +++ b/11397-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16505 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11397 *** + +JOHNSON'S WORKS. + + +THE RAMBLER. + +VOL. II. + + + + +THE + +WORKS + +OF + +SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D, + +IN NINE VOLUMES. + + + +VOLUME THE THIRD. + +[Illustration] + + +MDCCCXXV. + + +CONTENTS + +OF + +THE SECOND VOLUME. + + +NUMB. + +106. The vanity of an author's expectations.--Reasons why good authors + are sometimes neglected +107. Properantia's hopes of a year of confusion. The misery of + prostitutes +108. Life sufficient to all purposes if well employed +109. The education of a fop +110. Repentance stated and explained. Retirement and abstinence useful + to repentance +111. Youth made unfortunate by its haste and eagerness +112. Too much nicety not to be indulged. The character of Eriphile +113. The history of Hymenæus's courtship +114. The necessity of proportioning punishments to crimes +115. The sequel of Hymenæus's courtship +116. The young trader's attempt at politeness +117. The advantages of living in a garret +118. The narrowness of fame +119. Tranquilla's account of her lovers, opposed to Hymenæus +120. The history of Almamoulin the son of Nouradin +121. The dangers of imitation. The impropriety of imitating Spenser +122. A criticism on the English historians +123. The young trader turned gentleman +124. The lady's misery in a summer retirement +125. The difficulty of defining comedy. Tragick and comick sentiments + confounded +126. The universality of cowardice. The impropriety of extorting praise. + The impertinence of an astronomer +127. Diligence too soon relaxed. Necessity of perseverance +128. Anxiety universal. The unhappiness of a wit and a fine lady +129. The folly of cowardice and inactivity +130. The history of a beauty +131. Desire of gain the general passion +132. The difficulty of educating a young nobleman +133. The miseries of a beauty defaced +134. Idleness an anxious and miserable state +135. The folly of annual retreats into the country +136. The meanness and mischief of indiscriminate dedication +137. The necessity of literary courage +138. Original characters to be found in the country. The character of + Mrs. Busy +139. A critical examination of Samson Agonistes +140. The criticism continued +141. The danger of attempting wit in conversation. The character of + Papilius +142. An account of squire Bluster +143. The criterions of plagiarism +144. The difficulty of raising reputation. The various species of + detractors +145. Petty writers not to be despised +146. An account of an author travelling in quest of his own character. + The uncertainty of fame +147. The courtier's esteem of assurance +148. The cruelty of parental tyranny +149. Benefits not always entitled to gratitude +150. Adversity useful to the acquisition of knowledge +151. The climactericks of the mind +152. Criticism on epistolary writings +153. The treatment incurred by loss of fortune +154. The inefficacy of genius without learning +155. The usefulness of advice. The danger of habits. The necessity of + reviewing life +156. The laws of writing not always indisputable. Reflections on + tragi-comedy +157. The scholar's complaint of his own bashfulness +158. Rules of writing drawn from examples. Those examples often mistaken +159. The nature and remedies of bashfulness +160. Rules for the choice of associates +161. The revolutions of a garret +162. Old men in danger of falling into pupilage. The conduct of + Thrasybulus +163. The mischiefs of following a patron +164. Praise universally desired. The failings of eminent men often + imitated +165. The impotence of wealth. The visit of Scrotinus to the place of his + nativity +166. Favour not easily gained by the poor +167. The marriage of Hymenæus and Tranquilla +168. Poetry debased by mean expressions. An example from Shakespeare +169. Labour necessary to excellence +170. The history of Misella debauched by her relation +171. Misella's description of the life of a prostitute +172. The effect of sudden riches upon the manners +173. Unreasonable fears of pedantry +174. The mischiefs of unbounded raillery. History of Dicaculus +175. The majority are wicked +176. Directions to authors attacked by criticks. The various degrees of + critical perspicacity +177. An account of a club of antiquaries +178. Many advantages not to be enjoyed together +179. The awkward merriment of a student +180. The study of life not to be neglected for the sake of books +181. The history of an adventurer in lotteries +182. The history of Leviculus, the fortune-hunter +183. The influence of envy and interest compared +184. The subject of essays often suggested by chance. Chance equally + prevalent in other affairs +185. The prohibition of revenge justifiable by reason. The meanness of + regulating our conduct by the opinions of men +186. Anningait and Ajut; a Greenland history +187. The history of Anningait and Ajut concluded +188. Favour often gained with little assistance from understanding +189. The mischiefs of falsehood. The character of Turpicula +190. The history of Abouzaid, the son of Morad +191. The busy life of a young lady +192. Love unsuccessful without riches +193. The author's art of praising himself +194. A young nobleman's progress in politeness +195. A young nobleman's introduction to the knowledge of the town +196. Human opinions mutable. The hopes of youth fallacious +197. The history of a legacy-hunter +198. The legacy-hunter's history concluded +199. The virtues of Rabbi Abraham's magnet +200. Asper's complaint of the insolence of Prospero. Unpoliteness not + always the effect of pride +201. The importance of punctuality +202. The different acceptations of poverty. Cynicks and Monks not + poor +203. The pleasures of life to be sought in prospects of futurity. Future + fame uncertain +204. The history of ten days of Seged, emperour of Ethiopia +205. The history of Seged concluded +206. The art of living at the cost of others +207. The folly of continuing too long upon the stage +208. The Rambler's reception. His design + + + + +THE + +RAMBLER. + + + +No. 106. SATURDAY, MARCH 23, 1751. + + _Opinionum commenta delet dies, naturæ judicia Confirmat_. + CICERO, vi. Att. 1. + + Time obliterates the fictions of opinion, and confirms the decisions + of nature. + +It is necessary to the success of flattery, that it be accommodated to +particular circumstances or characters, and enter the heart on that side +where the passions stand ready to receive it. A lady seldom listens with +attention to any praise but that of her beauty; a merchant always +expects to hear of his influence at the bank, his importance on the +exchange, the height of his credit, and the extent of his traffick: and +the author will scarcely be pleased without lamentations of the neglect +of learning, the conspiracies against genius, and the slow progress of +merit, or some praises of the magnanimity of those who encounter poverty +and contempt in the cause of knowledge, and trust for the reward of +their labours to the judgment and gratitude of posterity. + +An assurance of unfading laurels, and immortal reputation, is the +settled reciprocation of civility between amicable writers. To raise +_monuments more durable than brass, and more conspicuous than +pyramids_, has been long the common boast of literature; but, among +the innumerable architects that erect columns to themselves, far the +greater part, either for want of durable materials, or of art to dispose +them, see their edifices perish as they are towering to completion, and +those few that for a while attract the eye of mankind, are generally +weak in the foundation, and soon sink by the saps of time. + +No place affords a more striking conviction of the vanity of human +hopes, than a publick library; for who can see the wall crowded on every +side by mighty volumes, the works of laborious meditation, and accurate +inquiry, now scarcely known but by the catalogue, and preserved only to +increase the pomp of learning, without considering how many hours have +been wasted in vain endeavours, how often imagination has anticipated +the praises of futurity, how many statues have risen to the eye of +vanity, how many ideal converts have elevated zeal, how often wit has +exulted in the eternal infamy of his antagonists, and dogmatism has +delighted in the gradual advances of his authority, the immutability of +his decrees, and the perpetuity of his power? + + _--Non unquam dedit + Documenta fors majora, quam frugili loco + Starent superbi_. + + Insulting chance ne'er call'd with louder voice, + On swelling mortals to be proud no more. + +Of the innumerable authors whose performances are thus treasured up in +magnificent obscurity, most are forgotten, because they never deserved +to be remembered, and owed the honours which they once obtained, not to +judgment or to genius, to labour or to art, but to the prejudice of +faction, the stratagem of intrigue, or the servility of adulation. + +Nothing is more common than to find men whose works are now totally +neglected, mentioned with praises by their contemporaries, as the +oracles of their age, and the legislators of science. Curiosity is +naturally excited, their volumes after long inquiry are found, but +seldom reward the labour of the search. Every period of time has +produced these bubbles of artificial fame, which are kept up a while by +the breath of fashion, and then break at once, and are annihilated. The +learned often bewail the loss of ancient writers whose characters have +survived their works; but, perhaps, if we could now retrieve them, we +should find them only the Granvilles, Montagues, Stepneys, and +Sheffields of their time, and wonder by what infatuation or caprice they +could be raised to notice. + +It cannot, however, be denied, that many have sunk into oblivion, whom +it were unjust to number with this despicable class. Various kinds of +literary fame seem destined to various measures of duration. Some spread +into exuberance with a very speedy growth, but soon wither and decay; +some rise more slowly, but last long. Parnassus has its flowers of +transient fragrance, as well as its oaks of towering height, and its +laurels of eternal verdure. + +Among those whose reputation is exhausted in a short time by its own +luxuriance, are the writers who take advantage of present incidents or +characters which strongly interest the passions, and engage universal +attention. It is not difficult to obtain readers, when we discuss a +question which every one is desirous to understand, which is debated in +every assembly, and has divided the nation into parties; or when we +display the faults or virtues of him whose publick conduct has made +almost every man his enemy or his friend. To the quick circulation of +such productions all the motives of interest and vanity concur; the +disputant enlarges his knowledge, the zealot animates his passion, and +every man is desirous to inform himself concerning affairs so vehemently +agitated and variously represented. + +It is scarcely to be imagined, through how many subordinations of +interest the ardour of party is diffused; and what multitudes fancy +themselves affected by every satire or panegyrick on a man of eminence. +Whoever has, at any time, taken occasion to mention him with praise or +blame, whoever happens to love or hate any of his adherents, as he +wishes to confirm his opinion, and to strengthen his party, will +diligently peruse every paper from which he can hope for sentiments like +his own. An object, however small in itself, if placed near to the eye, +will engross all the rays of light; and a transaction, however trivial, +swells into importance when it presses immediately on our attention. He +that shall peruse the political pamphlets of any past reign, will wonder +why they were so eagerly read, or so loudly praised. Many of the +performances which had power to inflame factions, and fill a kingdom +with confusion, have now very little effect upon a frigid critick; and +the time is coming, when the compositions of later hirelings shall lie +equally despised. In proportion as those who write on temporary +subjects, are exalted above their merit at first, they are afterwards +depressed below it; nor can the brightest elegance of diction, or most +artful subtilty of reasoning, hope for so much esteem from those whose +regard is no longer quickened by curiosity or pride. + +It is, indeed, the fate of controvertists, even when they contend for +philosophical or theological truth, to be soon laid aside and slighted. +Either the question is decided, and there is no more place for doubt and +opposition; or mankind despair of understanding it, and grow weary of +disturbance, content themselves with quiet ignorance, and refuse to be +harassed with labours which they have no hopes of recompensing with +knowledge. + +The authors of new discoveries may surely expect to be reckoned among +those whose writings are secure of veneration: yet it often happens that +the general reception of a doctrine obscures the books in which it was +delivered. When any tenet is generally received and adopted as an +incontrovertible principle, we seldom look back to the arguments upon +which it was first established, or can bear that tediousness of +deduction, and multiplicity of evidence, by which its author was forced +to reconcile it to prejudice, and fortify it in the weakness of novelty +against obstinacy and envy. + +It is well known how much of our philosophy is derived from Boyle's +discovery of the qualities of the air; yet of those who now adopt or +enlarge his theory, very few have read the detail of his experiments. +His name is, indeed, reverenced; but his works are neglected; we are +contented to know, that he conquered his opponents, without inquiring +what cavils were produced against him, or by what proofs they were +confuted. + +Some writers apply themselves to studies boundless and inexhaustible, as +experiments in natural philosophy. These are always lost in successive +compilations, as new advances are made, and former observations become +more familiar. Others spend their lives in remarks on language, or +explanations of antiquities, and only afford materials for +lexicographers and commentators, who are themselves overwhelmed by +subsequent collectors, that equally destroy the memory of their +predecessors by amplification, transposition, or contraction. Every new +system of nature gives birth to a swarm of expositors, whose business is +to explain and illustrate it, and who can hope to exist no longer than +the founder of their sect preserves his reputation. + +There are, indeed, few kinds of composition from which an author, +however learned or ingenious, can hope a long continuance of fame. He +who has carefully studied human nature, and can well describe it, may +with most reason flatter his ambition. Bacon, among all his pretensions +to the regard of posterity, seems to have pleased himself chiefly with +his Essays, _which come home to men's business and bosoms_, and of +which, therefore, he declares his expectation, that they _will live as +long as books last_. It may, however, satisfy an honest and benevolent +mind to have been useful, though less conspicuous; nor will he that +extends his hope to higher rewards, be so much anxious to obtain praise, +as to discharge the duty which Providence assigns him. + + + +No. 107. TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 1751. + + _Alternis igitur contendere versibns ambo + Coepere: alternos Musoe meminisse volebant_. VIRG. Ec. vii. 18 + + On themes alternate now the swains recite; + The muses in alternate themes delight. ELPHINSTON. + +Among the various censures, which the unavoidable comparison of my +performances with those of my predecessors has produced, there is none +more general than that of uniformity. Many of my readers remark the want +of those changes of colours, which formerly fed the attention with +unexhausted novelty, and of that intermixture of subjects, or +alternation of manner, by which other writers relieved weariness, and +awakened expectation. + +I have, indeed, hitherto avoided the practice of uniting gay and solemn +subjects in the same paper, because it seems absurd for an author to +counteract himself, to press at once with equal force upon both parts of +the intellectual balance, or give medicines, which, like the double +poison of Dryden, destroy the force of one another. I have endeavoured +sometimes to divert, and sometimes to elevate; but have imagined it an +useless attempt to disturb merriment by solemnity, or interrupt +seriousness by drollery. Yet I shall this day publish two letters of +very different tendency, which I hope, like tragi-comedy, may chance to +please even when they are not critically approved. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +DEAR SIR, + +Though, as my mamma tells me, I am too young to talk at the table, I +have great pleasure in listening to the conversation of learned men, +especially when they discourse of things which I do not understand; and +have, therefore, been of late particularly delighted with many disputes +about the _alteration of the stile_, which, they say, is to be made by +act of parliament. + +One day when my mamma was gone out of the room, I asked a very great +scholar what the style was. He told me he was afraid I should hardly +understand him when he informed me, that it was the stated and +established method of computing time. It was not, indeed, likely that I +should understand him; for I never yet knew time computed in my life, +nor can imagine why we should be at so much trouble to count what we +cannot keep. He did not tell me whether we are to count the time past, +or the time to come; but I have considered them both by myself, and +think it as foolish to count time that is gone, as money that is spent; +and as for the time which is to come, it only seems further off by +counting; and therefore, when any pleasure is promised me, I always +think of the time as little as I can. + +I have since listened very attentively to every one that talked upon +this subject, of whom the greater part seem not to understand it better +than myself; for though they often hint how much the nation has been +mistaken, and rejoice that we are at last growing wiser than our +ancestors, I have never been able to discover from them, that any body +has died sooner, or been married later, for counting time wrong; and, +therefore, I began to fancy that there was a great bustle with little +consequence. + +At last, two friends of my papa, Mr. Cycle, and Mr. Starlight, being, it +seems, both of high learning, and able to make an almanack, began to +talk about the new style. Sweet Mr. Starlight--I am sure I shall love +his name as long as I live; for he told Cycle roundly, with a fierce +look, that we should never be right without a _year of confusion_. Dear +Mr. Rambler, did you ever hear any thing so charming? a whole year of +confusion! When there has been a rout at mamma's, I have thought one +night of confusion worth a thousand nights of rest; and if I can but see +a year of confusion, a whole year, of cards in one room, and dancings in +another, here a feast, and there a masquerade, and plays, and coaches, +and hurries, and messages, and milliners, and raps at the door, and +visits, and frolicks, and new fashions, I shall not care what they do +with the rest of the time, nor whether they count it by the old style or +the new; for I am resolved to break loose from the nursery in the +tumult, and play my part among the rest; and it will be strange if I +cannot get a husband and a chariot in the year of confusion. + +Cycle, who is neither so young nor so handsome as Starlight, very +gravely maintained, that all the perplexity may he avoided by leaping +over eleven days in the reckoning; and, indeed, if it should come only +to this, I think the new style is a delightful thing; for my mamma says +I shall go to court when I am sixteen, and if they can but contrive +often to leap over eleven days together, the months of restraint will +soon be at an end. It is strange, that with all the plots that have been +laid against time, they could never kill it by act of parliament before. +Dear sir, if you have any vote or interest, get them but for once to +destroy eleven months, and then I shall be as old as some married +ladies. But this is desired only if you think they will not comply with +Mr. Starlight's scheme; for nothing surely could please me like a year +of confusion, when I shall no longer be fixed this hour to my pen, and +the next to my needle, or wait at home for the dancing-master one day, +and the next for the musick-master; but run from ball to ball, and from +drum to drum; and spend all my time without tasks, and without account, +and go out without telling whither, and come home without regard to +prescribed hours, or family rules. + +I am, sir, + +Your humble servant, + +PROPERANTIA. + +MR. RAMBLER, + +I was seized this morning with an unusual pensiveness, and, finding that +books only served to heighten it, took a ramble into the fields, in +hopes of relief and invigoration from the keenness of the air and +brightness of the sun. + +As I wandered wrapped up in thought, my eyes were struck with the +hospital for the reception of deserted infants, which I surveyed with +pleasure, till, by a natural train of sentiment, I began to reflect on +the fate of the mothers. For to what shelter can they fly? Only to the +arms of their betrayer, which, perhaps, are now no longer open to +receive them; and then how quick must be the transition from deluded +virtue to shameless guilt, and from shameless guilt to hopeless +wretchedness? + +The anguish that I felt, left me no rest till I had, by your means, +addressed myself to the publick on behalf of those forlorn creatures, +the women of the town; whose misery here might satisfy the most rigorous +censor, and whose participation of our common nature might surely induce +us to endeavour, at least, their preservation from eternal punishment. + +These were all once, if not virtuous, at least innocent; and might still +have continued blameless and easy, but for the arts and insinuations of +those whose rank, fortune, or education, furnished them with means to +corrupt or to delude them. Let the libertine reflect a moment on the +situation of that woman, who, being forsaken by her betrayer, is reduced +to the necessity of turning prostitute for bread, and judge of the +enormity of his guilt by the evils which it produces. + +It cannot be doubted but that numbers follow this dreadful course of +life, with shame, horrour, and regret; but where can they hope for +refuge: "_The world is not their friend, nor the world's law_." Their +sighs, and tears, and groans, are criminal in the eye of their tyrants, +the bully and the bawd, who fatten on their misery, and threaten them +with want or a gaol, if they show the least design of escaping from +their bondage. + +"To wipe all tears from off all faces," is a task too hard for mortals; +but to alleviate misfortunes is often within the most limited power: yet +the opportunities which every day affords of relieving the most wretched +of human beings are overlooked and neglected, with equal disregard of +policy and goodness. + +There are places, indeed, set apart, to which these unhappy creatures +may resort, when the diseases of incontinence seize upon them; but if +they obtain a cure, to what are they reduced? Either to return with the +small remains of beauty to their former guilt, or perish in the streets +with nakedness and hunger. + +How frequently have the gay and thoughtless, in their evening frolicks, +seen a band of those miserable females, covered with rags, shivering +with cold, and pining with hunger; and, without either pitying their +calamities, or reflecting upon the cruelty of those who, perhaps, first +seduced them by caresses of fondness, or magnificence of promises, go on +to reduce others to the same wretchedness by the same means! + +To stop the increase of this deplorable multitude, is undoubtedly the +first and most pressing consideration. To prevent evil is the great end +of government, the end for which vigilance and severity are properly +employed. But surely those whom passion or interest has already +depraved, have some claim to compassion, from beings equally frail and +fallible with themselves. Nor will they long groan in their present +afflictions, if none were to refuse them relief, but those that owe +their exemption from the same distress only to their wisdom and their +virtue. + +I am, &c. + +AMICUS[a]. + +[Footnote a: The letter from Amicus was from an unknown correspondent. +It breathes a tenderness of spirit worthy of Johnson himself. But he +practised the lesson which it inculcates;--a harder task! Sterne could +_write_ sentiment.] + + + +No. 108. SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 1751. + + _--Sapere aude: + Incipe. Vivendi recte qui prorogat horam, + Rusticus expectat dum defluat amnis; at ille + Labitur et labetur in omne volubilis aevum_. HOR. Lib. i. Ep. ii. 39. + + Begin, be bold, and venture to be wise; + He who defers this work from day to day, + Does on a river's bank expecting stay, + Till the whole stream, which stopp'd him, should be gone, + That runs, and as it runs, for ever will run on. COWLEY. + +An ancient poet, unreasonably discontented at the present state of +things, which his system of opinions obliged him to represent in its +worst form, has observed of the earth, "that its greater part is covered +by the uninhabitable ocean; that of the rest some is encumbered with +naked mountains, and some lost under barren sands; some scorched with +unintermitted heat, and some petrified with perpetual frost; so that +only a few regions remain for the production of fruits, the pasture of +cattle, and the accommodation of man." + +The same observation may be transferred to the time allotted us in our +present state. When we have deducted all that is absorbed in sleep, all +that is inevitably appropriated to the demands of nature, or +irresistibly engrossed by the tyranny of custom; all that passes in +regulating the superficial decorations of life, or is given up in the +reciprocations of civility to the disposal of others; all that is torn +from us by the violence of disease, or stolen imperceptibly away by +lassitude and languor; we shall find that part of our duration very +small of which we can truly call ourselves masters, or which we can +spend wholly at our own choice. Many of our hours are lost in a rotation +of petty cares, in a constant recurrence of the same employments; many +of our provisions for ease or happiness are always exhausted by the +present day; and a great part of our existence serves no other purpose, +than that of enabling us to enjoy the rest. + +Of the few moments which are left in our disposal, it may reasonably be +expected, that we should be so frugal, as to let none of them slip from +us without some equivalent; and perhaps it might be found, that as the +earth, however straitened by rocks and waters, is capable of producing +more than all its inhabitants are able to consume, our lives, though +much contracted by incidental distraction, would yet afford us a large +space vacant to the exercise of reason and virtue; that we want not +time, but diligence, for great performances; and that we squander much +of our allowance, even while we think it sparing and insufficient. + +This natural and necessary comminution of our lives, perhaps, often +makes us insensible of the negligence with which we suffer them to slide +away. We never consider ourselves as possessed at once of time +sufficient for any great design, and therefore indulge ourselves, in +fortuitous amusements. We think it unnecessary to take an account of a +few supernumerary moments, which, however employed, could have produced +little advantage, and which were exposed to a thousand chances of +disturbance and interruption. + +It is observable, that, either by nature or by habit, our faculties are +fitted to images of a certain extent, to which we adjust great things by +division, and little things by accumulation. Of extensive surfaces we +can only take a survey, as the parts succeed one another; and atoms we +cannot perceive till they are united into masses. Thus we break the vast +periods of time into centuries and years; and thus, if we would know the +amount of moments, we must agglomerate them into days and weeks. + +The proverbial oracles of our parsimonious ancestors have informed us, +that the fatal waste of fortune is by small expenses, by the profusion +of sums too little singly to alarm our caution, and which we never +suffer ourselves to consider together. Of the same kind is the +prodigality of life; he that hopes to look back hereafter with +satisfaction upon past years, must learn to know the present value of +single minutes, and endeavour to let no particle of time fall useless to +the ground. + +It is usual for those who are advised to the attainment of any new +qualification, to look upon themselves as required to change the general +course of their conduct, to dismiss business, and exclude pleasure, and +to devote their days and nights to a particular attention. But all +common degrees of excellence are attainable at a lower price; he that +should steadily and resolutely assign to any science or language those +interstitial vacancies which intervene in the most crowded variety of +diversion or employment, would find every day new irradiations of +knowledge, and discover how much more is to be hoped from frequency and +perseverance, than from violent efforts and sudden desires; efforts +which are soon remitted when they encounter difficulty, and desires, +which, if they are indulged too often, will shake off the authority of +reason, and range capriciously from one object to another. + +The disposition to defer every important design to a time of leisure, +and a state of settled uniformity, proceeds generally from a false +estimate of the human powers. If we except those gigantic and stupendous +intelligences who are said to grasp a system by intuition, and bound +forward from one series of conclusions to another, without regular steps +through intermediate propositions, the most successful students make +their advances in knowledge by short flights, between each of which the +mind may lie at rest. For every single act of progression a short time +is sufficient; and it is only necessary, that whenever that time is +afforded, it be well employed. + +Few minds will be long confined to severe and laborious meditation; and +when a successful attack on knowledge has been made, the student +recreates himself with the contemplation of his conquest, and forbears +another incursion, till the new-acquired truth has become familiar, and +his curiosity calls upon him for fresh gratifications. Whether the time +of intermission is spent in company, or in solitude, in necessary +business, or in voluntary levities, the understanding is equally +abstracted from the object of inquiry; but, perhaps, if it be detained +by occupations less pleasing, it returns again to study with greater +alacrity than when it is glutted with ideal pleasures, and surfeited +with intemperance of application. He that will not suffer himself to be +discouraged by fancied impossibilities, may sometimes find his abilities +invigorated by the necessity of exerting them in short intervals, as the +force of a current is increased by the contraction of its channel. + +From some cause like this, it has probably proceeded, that, among those +who have contributed to the advancement of learning, many have risen to +eminence in opposition to all the obstacles which external circumstances +could place in their way, amidst the tumult of business, the distresses +of poverty, or the dissipations of a wandering and unsettled state. A +great part of the life of Erasmus was one continual peregrination; ill +supplied with the gifts of fortune, and led from city to city, and from +kingdom to kingdom, by the hopes of patrons and preferment, hopes which +always flattered and always deceived him; he yet found means, by +unshaken constancy, and a vigilant improvement of those hours, which, in +the midst of the most restless activity, will remain unengaged, to write +more than another in the same condition would have hoped to read. +Compelled by want to attendance and solicitation, and so much versed in +common life, that he has transmitted to us the most perfect delineation +of the manners of his age, he joined to his knowledge of the world such +application to books, that he will stand for ever in the first rank of +literary heroes. How this proficiency was obtained he sufficiently +discovers, by informing us, that the "Praise of Folly," one of his most +celebrated performances, was composed by him on the road to Italy; _ne +totum illud tempus quo equo fuit insidendum, illiteratis fabulis +terreretur_: "lest the hours which he was obliged to spend on horseback +should be tattled away without regard to literature." + +An Italian philosopher expressed in his motto, that _time was his +estate_; an estate, indeed, which will produce nothing without +cultivation, but will always abundantly repay the labours of industry, +and satisfy the most extensive desires, if no part of it be suffered to +lie waste by negligence, to be over-run with noxious plants, or laid out +for shew, rather than for use. + + + +No. 109. TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 1751. + + _Gratum est, quod patriæ civem populoque dedisti, + Si facis, ut patriæ sit idoneus, utilis agris, + Utilis et bellorum et pacis rebus agendis. + Plurimum enim intererit, quibus artibus, et quibus hunc tu + Moribus instituas_ Juv. SAT, xiv. 70. + + Grateful the gift! a member to the state, + If you that member useful shall create; + Train'd both to war, and, when the war shall cease, + As fond, as fit t'improve the arts of peace. + For much it boots which way you train your boy, + The hopeful object of your future joy. ELPHINSTON. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +Though you seem to have taken a view sufficiently extensive of the +miseries of life, and have employed much of your speculation on mournful +subjects, you have not yet exhausted the whole stock of human +infelicity. There is still a species of wretchedness which escapes your +observation, though it might supply you with many sage remarks, and +salutary cautions. + +I cannot but imagine the start of attention awakened by this welcome +hint; and at this instant see the Rambler snuffing his candle, rubbing +his spectacles, stirring his fire, locking out interruption, and +settling himself in his easy chair, that he may enjoy a new calamity +without disturbance. For, whether it be that continued sickness or +misfortune has acquainted you only with the bitterness of being; or that +you imagine none but yourself able to discover what I suppose has been +seen and felt by all the inhabitants of the world; whether you intend +your writings as antidotal to the levity and merriment with which your +rivals endeavour to attract the favour of the publick; or fancy that you +have some particular powers of dolorous declamation, and _warble out +your groans_ with uncommon elegance or energy; it is certain, that +whatever be your subject, melancholy for the most part bursts in upon +your speculation, your gaiety is quickly overcast, and though your +readers may be flattered with hopes of pleasantry, they are seldom +dismissed but with heavy hearts. + +That I may therefore gratify you with an imitation of your own syllables +of sadness, I will inform you that I was condemned by some disastrous +influence to be an only son, born to the apparent prospect of a large +fortune, and allotted to my parents at that time of life when satiety of +common diversions allows the mind to indulge parental affection with +greater intenseness. My birth was celebrated by the tenants with feasts, +and dances, and bag-pipes: congratulations were sent from every family +within ten miles round; and my parents discovered in my first cries such +tokens of future virtue and understanding, that they declared themselves +determined to devote the remaining part of life to my happiness and the +increase of their estate. + +The abilities of my father and mother were not perceptibly unequal, and +education had given neither much advantage over the other. They had both +kept good company, rattled in chariots, glittered in playhouses, and +danced at court, and were both expert in the games that were in their +time called in as auxiliaries against the intrusion of thought. + +When there is such a parity between two persons associated for life, the +dejection which the husband, if he be not completely stupid, must always +suffer for want of superiority, sinks him to submissiveness. My mamma +therefore governed the family without controul; and except that my +father still retained some authority in the stables, and, now and then, +after a supernumerary bottle, broke a looking-glass or china dish to +prove his sovereignty, the whole course of the year was regulated by her +direction, the servants received from her all their orders, and the +tenants were continued or dismissed at her discretion. + +She, therefore, thought herself entitled to the superintendence of her +son's education; and when my father, at the instigation of the parson, +faintly proposed that I should be sent to school, very positively told +him, that she should not suffer so fine a child to be ruined; that she +never knew any boys at a grammar-school that could come into a room +without blushing, or sit at table without some awkward uneasiness; that +they were always putting themselves into danger by boisterous plays, or +vitiating their behaviour with mean company, and that, for her part, she +would rather follow me to the grave, than see me tear my clothes, and +hang down my head, and sneak about with dirty shoes, and blotted +fingers, my hair unpowdered, and my hat uncocked. + +My father, who had no other end in his proposal than to appear wise and +manly, soon acquiesced, since I was not to live by my learning; for, +indeed, he had known very few students that had not some stiffness in +their manner. They, therefore, agreed, that a domestick tutor should be +procured, and hired an honest gentleman of mean conversation and narrow +sentiments, but whom, having passed the common forms of literary +education, they implicitly concluded qualified to teach all that was to +be learned from a scholar. He thought himself sufficiently exalted by +being placed at the same table with his pupil, and had no other view +than to perpetuate his felicity by the utmost flexibility of submission +to all my mother's opinions and caprices. He frequently took away my +book, lest I should mope with too much application, charged me never to +write without turning up my ruffles, and generally brushed my coat +before he dismissed me into the parlour. He had no occasion to complain +of too burdensome an employment: for my mother very judiciously +considered, that I was not likely to grow politer in his company, and +suffered me not to pass any more time in his apartment than my lesson +required. When I was summoned to my task, she enjoined me not to get any +of my tutor's ways, who was seldom mentioned before me but for practices +to be avoided. I was every moment admonished not to lean on my chair, +cross my legs, or swing my hands like my tutor; and once my mother very +seriously deliberated upon his total dismission, because I began, she +said, to learn his manner of sticking on my hat, and had his bend in my +shoulders, and his totter in my gait. + +Such, however, was her care, that I escaped all these depravities; and +when I was only twelve years old, had rid myself of every appearance of +childish diffidence. I was celebrated round the country for the +petulance of my remarks, and the quickness of my replies; and many a +scholar, five years older than myself, have I dashed into confusion by +the steadiness of my countenance, silenced by my readiness of repartee, +and tortured with envy by the address with which I picked up a fan, +presented a snuff-box, or received an empty tea-cup. + +At fourteen I was completely skilled in all the niceties of dress, and I +could not only enumerate all the variety of silks, and distinguish the +product of a French loom, but dart my eye through a numerous company, +and observe every deviation from the reigning mode. I was universally +skilful in all the changes of expensive finery; but as every one, they +say, has something to which he is particularly born, was eminently +knowing in Brussels' lace. + +The next year saw me advanced to the trust and power of adjusting the +ceremonial of an assembly. All received their partners from my hand, and +to me every stranger applied for introduction. My heart now disdained +the instructions of a tutor, who was rewarded with a small annuity for +life, and left me qualified, in my own opinion, to govern myself. + +In a short time I came to London, and as my father was well known among +the higher classes of life, soon obtained admission to the most splendid +assemblies and most crowded card-tables. Here I found myself universally +caressed and applauded; the ladies praised the fancy of my clothes, the +beauty of my form, and the softness of my voice; endeavoured in every +place to force themselves to my notice; and invited, by a thousand +oblique solicitations, my attendance to the playhouse, and my +salutations in the park. I was now happy to the utmost extent of my +conception; I passed every morning in dress, every afternoon in visits, +and every night in some select assemblies, where neither care nor +knowledge were suffered to molest us. + +After a few years, however, these delights became familiar, and I had +leisure to look round me with more attention. I then found that my +flatterers had very little power to relieve the languor of satiety, or +recreate weariness, by varied amusement; and therefore endeavoured to +enlarge the sphere of my pleasures, and to try what satisfaction might +be found in the society of men. I will not deny the mortification with +which I perceived, that every man whose name I had heard mentioned with +respect, received me with a kind of tenderness, nearly bordering on +compassion; and that those whose reputation was not well established, +thought it necessary to justify their understandings, by treating me +with contempt. One of these witlings elevated his crest, by asking me in +a full coffee-house the price of patches; and another whispered that he +wondered why Miss Frisk did not keep me that afternoon to watch her +squirrel. + +When I found myself thus hunted from all masculine conversation by those +who were themselves barely admitted, I returned to the ladies, and +resolved to dedicate my life to their service and their pleasure. But I +find that I have now lost my charms. Of those with whom I entered the +gay world, some are married, some have retired, and some have so much +changed their opinion, that they scarcely pay any regard to my +civilities, if there is any other man in the place. The new flight of +beauties to whom I have made my addresses, suffer me to pay the treat, +and then titter with boys. So that I now find myself welcome only to a +few grave ladies, who, unacquainted with all that gives either use or +dignity to life, are content to pass their hours between their bed and +their cards, without esteem from the old, or reverence from the young. + +I cannot but think, Mr. Rambler, that I have reason to complain; for +surely the females ought to pay some regard to the age of him whose +youth was passed in endeavours to please them. They that encourage folly +in the boy, have no right to punish it in the man. Yet I find that, +though they lavish their first fondness upon pertness and gaiety, they +soon transfer their regard to other qualities, and ungratefully abandon +their adorers to dream out their last years in stupidity and contempt. + +I am, &c. + +FLORENTULUS. + + + +No. 110. SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 1751 + + At nobis vitæ dominum quærentibus unum + Lux iter est, et clara dies, et gratia simplex. + Spem sequimur, gradimurque fide, fruimurque futuris, + Ad quæ non veniunt præsentis gaudia vitæ, + Nec currunt pariter capta, et capienda voluptus. + PRUDENTIUS, Cont. Sym. ii. 904. + + We through this maze of life one Lord obey; + Whose light and grace unerring lead the way. + By hope and faith secure of future bliss, + Gladly the joys of present life we miss: + For baffled mortals still attempt in vain, + Present and future bliss at once to gain. F. LEWIS. + +That to please the Lord and Father of the universe, is the supreme +interest of created and dependent beings, as it is easily proved, has +been universally confessed; and since all rational agents are conscious +of having neglected or violated the duties prescribed to them, the fear +of being rejected, or punished by God, has always burdened the human +mind. The expiation of crimes, and renovation of the forfeited hopes of +divine favour, therefore constitute a large part of every religion. + +The various methods of propitiation and atonement which fear and folly +have dictated, or artifice and interest tolerated in the different parts +of the world, however they may sometimes reproach or degrade humanity, +at least shew the general consent of all ages and nations in their +opinion of the placability of the divine nature. That God will forgive, +may, indeed, be established as the first and fundamental truth of +religion; for, though the knowledge of his existence is the origin of +philosophy, yet, without the belief of his mercy, it would have little +influence upon our moral conduct. There could be no prospect of enjoying +the protection or regard of him, whom the least deviation from rectitude +made inexorable for ever; and every man would naturally withdraw his +thoughts from the contemplation of a Creator, whom he must consider as a +governor too pure to be pleased, and too severe to be pacified; as an +enemy infinitely wise, and infinitely powerful, whom he could neither +deceive, escape, nor resist. + +Where there is no hope, there can be no endeavour. A constant and +unfailing obedience is above the reach of terrestrial diligence; and +therefore the progress of life could only have been the natural descent +of negligent despair from crime to crime, had not the universal +persuasion of forgiveness, to be obtained by proper means of +reconciliation, recalled those to the paths of virtue, whom their +passions had solicited aside; and animated to new attempts, and firmer +perseverance, those whom difficulty had discouraged, or negligence +surprised. + +In times and regions so disjoined from each other, that there can +scarcely be imagined any communication of sentiments either by commerce +or tradition, has prevailed a general and uniform expectation of +propitiating God by corporal austerities, of anticipating his vengeance +by voluntary inflictions, and appeasing his justice by a speedy and +cheerful submission to a less penalty, when a greater is incurred. + +Incorporated minds will always feel some inclination towards exterior +acts and ritual observances. Ideas not represented by sensible objects +are fleeting, variable, and evanescent. We are not able to judge of the +degree of conviction which operated at any particular time upon our own +thoughts, but as it is recorded by some certain and definite effect. He +that reviews his life in order to determine the probability of his +acceptance with God, if he could once establish the necessary proportion +between crimes and sufferings, might securely rest upon his performance +of the expiation; but while safety remains the reward only of mental +purity, he is always afraid lest he should decide too soon in his own +favour; lest he should not have felt the pangs of true contrition; lest +he should mistake satiety for detestation, or imagine that his passions +are subdued when they are only sleeping. + +From this natural and reasonable diffidence arose, in humble and +timorous piety, a disposition to confound penance with repentance, to +repose on human determinations, and to receive from some judicial +sentence the stated and regular assignment of reconciliatory pain. We +are never willing to be without resource: we seek in the knowledge of +others a succour for our own ignorance, and are ready to trust any that +will undertake to direct us when we have no confidence in ourselves. + +This desire to ascertain by some outward marks the state of the soul, +and this willingness to calm the conscience by some settled method, have +produced, as they are diversified in their effects by various tempers +and principles, most of the disquisitions and rules, the doubts and +solutions, that have embarrassed the doctrine of repentance, and +perplexed tender and flexible minds with innumerable scruples concerning +the necessary measures of sorrow, and adequate degrees of +self-abhorrence; and these rules, corrupted by fraud, or debased by +credulity, have, by the common resiliency of the mind from one extreme +to another, incited others to an open contempt of all subsidiary +ordinances, all prudential caution, and the whole discipline of +regulated piety. + +Repentance, however difficult to be practised, is, if it be explained +without superstition, easily understood. _Repentance is the +relinquishment of any practice, from the conviction that it has offended +God_. Sorrow, and fear, and anxiety, are properly not parts, but +adjuncts of repentance; yet they are too closely connected with it to be +easily separated; for they not only mark its sincerity, but promote its +efficacy. + +No man commits any act of negligence or obstinacy, by which his safety +or happiness in this world is endangered, without feeling the pungency +of remorse. He who is fully convinced, that he suffers by his own +failure, can never forbear to trace back his miscarriage to its first +cause, to image to himself a contrary behaviour, and to form involuntary +resolutions against the like fault, even when he knows that he shall +never again have the power of committing it. Danger, considered as +imminent, naturally produces such trepidations of impatience as leave +all human means of safety behind them; he that has once caught an alarm +of terrour, is every moment seized with useless anxieties, adding one +security to another, trembling with sudden doubts, and distracted by the +perpetual occurrence of new expedients. If, therefore, he whose crimes +have deprived him of the favour of God, can reflect upon his conduct +without disturbance, or can at will banish the reflection; if he who +considers himself as suspended over the abyss of eternal perdition only +by the thread of life, which must soon part by its own weakness, and +which the wing of every minute may divide, can cast his eyes round him +without shuddering with horrour, or panting with security; what can he +judge of himself, but that he is not yet awakened to sufficient +conviction, since every loss is more lamented than the loss of the +divine favour, and every danger more dreadful than the danger of final +condemnation? + +Retirement from the cares and pleasures of the world has been often +recommended as useful to repentance. This at least is evident, that +every one retires, whenever ratiocination and recollection are required +on other occasions; and surely the retrospect of life, the +disentanglement of actions complicated with innumerable circumstances, +and diffused in various relations, the discovery of the primary +movements of the heart, and the extirpation of lusts and appetites +deeply rooted and widely spread, may be allowed to demand some secession +from sport and noise, business and folly. Some suspension of common +affairs, some pause of temporal pain and pleasure, is doubtless +necessary to him that deliberates for eternity, who is forming the only +plan in which miscarriage cannot be repaired, and examining the only +question in which mistake cannot be rectified. + +Austerities and mortifications are means by which the mind is +invigorated and roused, by which the attractions of pleasure are +interrupted, and the chains of sensuality are broken. It is observed by +one of the fathers, that _he who restrains himself in the use of things +lawful, will never encroach upon things forbidden_. Abstinence, if +nothing more, is, at least, a cautious retreat from the utmost verge of +permission, and confers that security which cannot be reasonably hoped +by him that dares always to hover over the precipice of destruction, or +delights to approach the pleasures which he knows it fatal to partake. +Austerity is the proper antidote to indulgence; the diseases of mind as +well as body are cured by contraries, and to contraries we should +readily have recourse, if we dreaded guilt as we dread pain. + +The completion and sum of repentance is a change of life. That sorrow +which dictates no caution, that fear which does not quicken our escape, +that austerity which fails to rectify our affections, are vain and +unavailing. But sorrow and terrour must naturally precede reformation; +for what other cause can produce it? He, therefore, that feels himself +alarmed by his conscience, anxious for the attainment of a better state, +and afflicted by the memory of his past faults, may justly conclude, +that the great work of repentance is begun, and hope by retirement and +prayer, the natural and religious means of strengthening his conviction, +to impress upon his mind such a sense of the divine presence, as may +overpower the blandishments of secular delights, and enable him to +advance from one degree of holiness to another, till death shall set him +free from doubt and contest, misery and temptation[b]. + + What better can we do than prostrate fall + Before him reverent; and there confess + Humbly our faults, and pardon beg; with tears + Wat'ring the ground, and with our sighs the air + Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite, in sign + Of sorrow unfeign'd, and humiliation meek? Par. Lost. B. x. 1087. + + + +No. 111. TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 1751. + + [Greek: phronein gar hoi tacheis, ouk asphaleis.] SOPHOC. + + Disaster always waits on early wit. + +It has been observed, by long experience, that late springs produce the +greatest plenty. The delay of blooms and fragrance, of verdure and +breezes, is for the most part liberally recompensed by the exuberance +and fecundity of the ensuing seasons; the blossoms which lie concealed +till the year is advanced, and the sun is high, escape those chilling +blasts, and nocturnal frosts, which are often fatal to early luxuriance, +prey upon the first smiles of vernal beauty, destroy the feeble +principles of vegetable life, intercept the fruit in the gem, and beat +down the flowers unopened to the ground. + +I am afraid there is little hope of persuading the young and sprightly +part of my readers, upon whom the spring naturally forces my attention, +to learn, from the great process of nature, the difference between +diligence and hurry, between speed and precipitation; to prosecute their +designs with calmness, to watch the concurrence of opportunity, and +endeavour to find the lucky moment which they cannot make. Youth is the +time of enterprize and hope: having yet no occasion of comparing our +force with any opposing power, we naturally form presumptions in our own +favour, and imagine that obstruction and impediment will give way before +us. The first repulses rather inflame vehemence than teach prudence; a +brave and generous mind is long before it suspects its own weakness, or +submits to sap the difficulties which it expected to subdue by storm. +Before disappointments have enforced the dictates of philosophy, we +believe it in our power to shorten the interval between the first cause +and the last effect; we laugh at the timorous delays of plodding +industry, and fancy that, by increasing the fire, we can at pleasure +accelerate the projection. + +At our entrance into the world, when health and vigour give us fair +promises of time sufficient for the regular maturation of our schemes, +and a long enjoyment of our acquisitions, we are eager to seize the +present moment; we pluck every gratification within our reach, without +suffering it to ripen into perfection, and crowd all the varieties of +delight into a narrow compass; but age seldom fails to change our +conduct; we grow negligent of time in proportion as we have less +remaining, and suffer the last part of life to steal from us in languid +preparations for future undertakings, or slow approaches to remote +advantages, in weak hopes of some fortuitous occurrence, or drowsy +equilibrations of undetermined counsel: whether it be that the aged, +having tasted the pleasures of man's condition, and found them delusive, +become less anxious for their attainment; or that frequent miscarriages +have depressed them to despair, and frozen them to inactivity; or that +death shocks them more as it advances upon them, and they are afraid to +remind themselves of their decay, or to discover to their own hearts +that the time of trifling is past. A perpetual conflict with natural +desires seems to be the lot of our present state. In youth we require +something of the tardiness and frigidity of age; and in age we must +labour to recal the fire and impetuosity of youth; in youth we must +learn to expect, and in age to enjoy. + +The torment of expectation is, indeed, not easily to be borne at a time +when every idea of gratification fires the blood, and flashes on the +fancy; when the heart is vacant to every fresh form of delight, and has +no rival engagements to withdraw it from the importunities of a new +desire. Yet, since the fear of missing what we seek must always be +proportionable to the happiness expected from possessing it, the +passions, even in this tempestuous state, might be somewhat moderated by +frequent inculcation of the mischief of temerity, and the hazard of +losing that which we endeavour to seize before our time. + +He that too early aspires to honours, must resolve to encounter not only +the opposition of interest, but the malignity of envy. He that is too +eager to be rich, generally endangers his fortune in wild adventures, +and uncertain projects; and he that hastens too speedily to reputation, +often raises his character by artifices and fallacies, decks himself in +colours which quickly fade, or in plumes which accident may shake off, +or competition pluck away. + +The danger of early eminence has been extended by some, even to the +gifts of nature; and an opinion has been long conceived, that quickness +of invention, accuracy of judgment, or extent of knowledge, appearing +before the usual time, presage a short life. Even those who are less +inclined to form general conclusions, from instances which by their own +nature must be rare, have yet been inclined to prognosticate no suitable +progress from the first sallies of rapid wits; but have observed, that +after a short effort they either loiter or faint, and suffer themselves +to be surpassed by the even and regular perseverance of slower +understandings. + +It frequently happens, that applause abates diligence. Whoever finds +himself to have performed more than was demanded, will be contented to +spare the labour of unnecessary performances, and sit down to enjoy at +ease his superfluities of honour. He whom success has made confident of +his abilities, quickly claims the privilege of negligence, and looks +contemptuously on the gradual advances of a rival, whom he imagines +himself able to leave behind whenever he shall again summon his force to +the contest. But long intervals of pleasure dissipate attention, and +weaken constancy; nor is it easy for him that has sunk from diligence +into sloth, to rouse out of his lethargy, to recollect his notions, +rekindle his curiosity, and engage with his former ardour in the toils +of study. + +Even that friendship which intends the reward of genius, too often tends +to obstruct it. The pleasure of being caressed, distinguished, and +admired, easily seduces the student from literary solitude. He is ready +to follow the call which summons him to hear his own praise, and which, +perhaps, at once flatters his appetite with certainty of pleasures, and +his ambition with hopes of patronage; pleasures which he conceives +inexhaustible, and hopes which he has not yet learned to distrust. + +These evils, indeed, are by no means to be imputed to nature, or +considered as inseparable from an early display of uncommon abilities. +They may be certainly escaped by prudence and resolution, and must +therefore be recounted rather as consolations to those who are less +liberally endowed, than as discouragements to such as are born with +uncommon qualities. Beauty is well known to draw after it the +persecutions of impertinence, to incite the artifices of envy, and to +raise the flames of unlawful love; yet, among the ladies whom prudence +or modesty have made most eminent, who has ever complained of the +inconveniences of an amiable form? or would have purchased safety by the +loss of charms? + +Neither grace of person, nor vigour of understanding, are to be regarded +otherwise than as blessings, as means of happiness indulged by the +Supreme Benefactor; but the advantages of either may be lost by too much +eagerness to obtain them. A thousand beauties in their first blossom, by +an imprudent exposure to the open world, have suddenly withered at the +blast of infamy; and men who might have subjected new regions to the +empire of learning, have been lured by the praise of their first +productions from academical retirement, and wasted their days in vice +and dependance. The virgin who too soon aspires to celebrity and +conquest, perishes by childish vanity, ignorant credulity, or guiltless +indiscretion. The genius who catches at laurels and preferment before +his time, mocks the hopes that he had excited, and loses those years +which might have been most usefully employed, the years of youth, of +spirit, and vivacity. + +It is one of the innumerable absurdities of pride, that we are never +more impatient of direction, than in that part of life when we need it +most; we are in haste to meet enemies whom we have not strength to +overcome, and to undertake tasks which we cannot perform: and as he that +once miscarries does not easily persuade mankind to favour another +attempt, an ineffectual struggle for fame is often followed by perpetual +obscurity. + +[Footnote b: The perusal of these profound remarks on penance and +repentance had so powerful an effect on one of the English Benedictine +monks (The Rev. James Compton) at Paris, as to lead him from the errours +of Popery! For an account of Dr. Johnson's true benevolence through the +whole of this interesting occasion, see Malone's note to Boswell's Life +of Johnson, vol. iv. p. 210--edit. 1822.] + + + +No. 112. SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 1751. + + _In mea vesanas habui dispendia vires, + Et valui pænam fortis in ipse meain_. OVID, Am. Lib. i. vii. 25. + + Of strength pernicious to myself I boast; + The pow'rs I have were given me to my cost. F. LEWIS. + +We are taught by Celsus, that health is best preserved by avoiding +settled habits of life, and deviating sometimes into slight aberrations +from the laws of medicine; by varying the proportions of food and +exercise, interrupting the successions of rest and labour, and mingling +hardships with indulgence. The body, long accustomed to stated +quantities and uniform periods, is disordered by the smallest +irregularity; and since we cannot adjust every day by the balance or +barometer, it is fit sometimes to depart from rigid accuracy, that we +may be able to comply with necessary affairs, or strong inclinations. He +that too long observes nice punctualities, condemns himself to voluntary +imbecility, and will not long escape the miseries of disease. + +The same laxity of regimen is equally necessary to intellectual health, +and to a perpetual susceptibility of occasional pleasure. Long +confinement to the same company which perhaps similitude of taste +brought first together, quickly contracts the faculties, and makes a +thousand things offensive that are in themselves indifferent; a man +accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all +the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general +gratifications of mankind. + +In things which are not immediately subject to religious or moral +consideration, it is dangerous to be too rigidly in the right. +Sensibility may, by an incessant attention to elegance and propriety, be +quickened to a tenderness inconsistent with the condition of humanity, +irritable by the smallest asperity, and vulnerable by the gentlest +touch. He that pleases himself too much with minute exactness, and +submits to endure nothing in accommodations, attendance, or address, +below the point of perfection, will, whenever he enters the crowd of +life, be harassed with innumerable distresses, from which those who have +not in the same manner increased their sensations find no disturbance. +His exotick softness will shrink at the coarseness of vulgar felicity, +like a plant transplanted to northern nurseries, from the dews and +sunshine of the tropical regions. + +There will always be a wide interval between practical and ideal +excellence; and, therefore, if we allow not ourselves to be satisfied +while we can perceive any errour or defect, we must refer our hopes of +ease to some other period of existence. It is well known, that, exposed +to a microscope, the smoothest polish of the most solid bodies discovers +cavities and prominences; and that the softest bloom of roseate +virginity repels the eye with excrescences and discolorations. The +perceptions as well as the senses may be improved to our own disquiet, +and we may, by diligent cultivation of the powers of dislike, raise in +time an artificial fastidiousness, which shall fill the imagination with +phantoms of turpitude, shew us the naked skeleton of every delight, and +present us only with the pains of pleasure, and the deformities of +beauty. + +Peevishness, indeed, would perhaps very little disturb the peace of +mankind, were it always the consequence of superfluous delicacy; for it +is the privilege only of deep reflection, or lively fancy, to destroy +happiness by art and refinement. But by continual indulgence of a +particular humour, or by long enjoyment of undisputed superiority, the +dull and thoughtless may likewise acquire the power of tormenting +themselves and others, and become sufficiently ridiculous or hateful to +those who are within sight of their conduct, or reach of their +influence. + +They that have grown old in a single state are generally found to be +morose, fretful, and captious; tenacious of their own practices and +maxims; soon offended by contradiction or negligence; and impatient of +any association, but with those that will watch their nod, and submit +themselves to unlimited authority. Such is the effect of having lived +without the necessity of consulting any inclination but their own. + +The irascibility of this class of tyrants is generally exerted upon +petty provocations, such as are incident to understandings not far +extended beyond the instincts of animal life; but, unhappily, he that +fixes his attention on things always before him, will never have long +cessations of anger. There are many veterans of luxury upon whom every +noon brings a paroxysm of violence, fury, and execration; they never sit +down to their dinner without finding the meat so injudiciously bought, +or so unskilfully dressed, such blunders in the seasoning, or such +improprieties in the sauce, as can scarcely be expiated without blood; +and, in the transports of resentment, make very little distinction +between guilt and innocence, but let fly their menaces, or growl out +their discontent, upon all whom fortune exposes to the storm. + +It is not easy to imagine a more unhappy condition than that of +dependance on a peevish man. In every other state of inferiority the +certainty of pleasing is perpetually increased by a fuller knowledge of +our duty; and kindness and confidence are strengthened by every new act +of trust, and proof of fidelity. But peevishness sacrifices to a +momentory offence the obsequiousness or usefulness of half a life, and, +as more is performed, increases her exactions. + +Chrysalus gained a fortune by trade, and retired into the country; and, +having a brother burthened by the number of his children, adopted one of +his sons. The boy was dismissed with many prudent admonitions; informed +of his father's inability to maintain him in his native rank; cautioned +against all opposition to the opinions or precepts of his uncle; and +animated to perseverance by the hopes of supporting the honour of the +family, and overtopping his elder brother. He had a natural ductility of +mind, without much warmth of affection, or elevation of sentiment; and +therefore readily complied with every variety of caprice; patiently +endured contradictory reproofs; heard false accusations without pain, +and opprobrious reproaches without reply; laughed obstreperously at the +ninetieth repetition of a joke; asked questions about the universal +decay of trade; admired the strength of those heads by which the price +of stocks is changed and adjusted; and behaved with such prudence and +circumspection, that after six years the will was made, and Juvenculus +was declared heir. But unhappily, a month afterwards, retiring at night +from his uncle's chamber, he left the door open behind him: the old man +tore his will, and being then perceptibly declining, for want of time to +deliberate, left his money to a trading company. + +When female minds are embittered by age or solitude, their malignity is +generally exerted in a rigorous and spiteful superintendance of domestic +trifles. Eriphile has employed her eloquence for twenty years upon the +degeneracy of servants, the nastiness of her house, the ruin of her +furniture, the difficulty of preserving tapestry from the moths, and the +carelessness of the sluts whom she employs in brushing it. It is her +business every morning to visit all the rooms, in hopes of finding a +chair without its cover, a window shut or open contrary to her orders, a +spot on the hearth, or a feather on the floor, that the rest of the day +may be justifiably spent in taunts of contempt, and vociferations of +anger. She lives for no other purpose but to preserve the neatness of a +house and gardens, and feels neither inclination to pleasure, nor +aspiration after virtue, while she is engrossed by the great employment +of keeping gravel from grass, and wainscot from dust. Of three amiable +nieces she has declared herself an irreconcileable enemy; to one, +because she broke off a tulip with her hoop; to another, because she +spilt her coffee on a Turkey carpet; and to the third, because she let a +wet dog run into the parlour. She has broken off her intercourse of +visits, because company makes a house dirty; and resolves to confine +herself more to her own affairs, and to live no longer in mire by +foolish lenity. + +Peevishness is generally the vice of narrow minds, and, except when it +is the effect of anguish and disease, by which the resolution is broken, +and the mind made too feeble to bear the lightest addition to its +miseries, proceeds from an unreasonable persuasion of the importance of +trifles. The proper remedy against it is, to consider the dignity of +human nature, and the folly of suffering perturbation and uneasiness +from causes unworthy of our notice. + +He that resigns his peace to little casualties, and suffers the course +of his life to be interrupted by fortuitous inadvertencies, or offences, +delivers up himself to the direction of the wind, and loses all that +constancy and equanimity which constitute the chief praise of a wise +man. + +The province of prudence lies between the greatest things and the least; +some surpass our power by their magnitude, and some escape our notice by +their number and their frequency. But the indispensable business of life +will afford sufficient exercise to every understanding; and such is the +limitation of the human powers, that by attention to trifles we must let +things of importance pass unobserved: when we examine a mite with a +glass, we see nothing but a mite. + +That it is every man's interest to be pleased, will need little proof: +that it is his interest to please others, experience will inform him. It +is therefore not less necessary to happiness than to virtue, that he rid +his mind of passions which make him uneasy to himself, and hateful to +the world, which enchain his intellects, and obstruct his improvement. + + + +No. 113. TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 1751. + + --_Uxorem, Postume, ducis? + Die, qua Tisiphone, quibus exagitere colubris?_ JUV. Sat. vi. 28. + + A sober man like thee to change his life! + What fury would possess thee with a wife? DRYDEN. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +I know not whether it is always a proof of innocence to treat censure +with contempt. We owe so much reverence to the wisdom of mankind, as +justly to wish, that our own opinion of our merit may be ratified by the +concurrence of other suffrages; and since guilt and infamy must have the +same effect upon intelligences unable to pierce beyond external +appearance, and influenced often rather by example than precept, we are +obliged to refute a false charge, lest we should countenance the crime +which we have never committed. To turn away from an accusation with +supercilious silence, is equally in the power of him that is hardened by +villany, and inspirited by innocence. The wall of brass which Horace +erects upon a clear conscience, may be sometimes raised by impudence or +power; and we should always wish to preserve the dignity of virtue by +adorning her with graces which wickedness cannot assume. + +For this reason I have determined no longer to endure, with either +patient or sullen resignation, a reproach, which is, at least in my +opinion, unjust; but will lay my case honestly before you, that you or +your readers may at length decide it. + +Whether you will be able to preserve your boasted impartiality, when you +hear that I am considered as an adversary by half the female world, you +may surely pardon me for doubting, notwithstanding the veneration to +which you may imagine yourself entitled by your age, your learning, your +abstraction, or your virtue. Beauty, Mr. Rambler, has often overpowered +the resolutions of the firm, and the reasonings of the wise, roused the +old to sensibility, and subdued the rigorous to softness. + +I am one of those unhappy beings, who have been marked out as husbands +for many different women, and deliberated a hundred times on the brink +of matrimony. I have discussed all the nuptial preliminaries so often, +that I can repeat the forms in which jointures are settled, pin-money +secured, and provisions for younger children ascertained; but am at last +doomed by general consent to everlasting solitude, and excluded by an +irreversible decree from all hopes of connubial felicity. I am pointed +out by every mother, as a man whose visits cannot be admitted without +reproach; who raises hopes only to embitter disappointment, and makes +offers only to seduce girls into a waste of that part of life, in which +they might gain advantageous matches, and become mistresses and mothers. + +I hope you will think, that some part of this penal severity may justly +be remitted, when I inform you, that I never yet professed love to a +woman without sincere intentions of marriage; that I have never +continued an appearance of intimacy from the hour that my inclination +changed, but to preserve her whom I was leaving from the shock of +abruptness, or the ignominy of contempt; that I always endeavoured to +give the ladies an opportunity of seeming to discard me; and that I +never forsook a mistress for larger fortune, or brighter beauty, but +because I discovered some irregularity in her conduct, or some depravity +in her mind; not because I was charmed by another, but because I was +offended by herself. + +I was very early tired of that succession of amusements by which the +thoughts of most young men are dissipated, and had not long glittered in +the splendour of an ample patrimomy [Transcriber's note: sic] before I +wished for the calm of domestick happiness. Youth is naturally delighted +with sprightliness and ardour, and therefore I breathed out the sighs of +my first affection at the feet of the gay, the sparkling, the vivacious +Ferocula. I fancied to myself a perpetual source of happiness in wit +never exhausted, and spirit never depressed; looked with veneration on +her readiness of expedients, contempt of difficulty, assurance of +address, and promptitude of reply; considered her as exempt by some +prerogative of nature from the weakness and timidity of female minds; +and congratulated myself upon a companion superior to all common +troubles and embarrassments. I was, indeed, somewhat disturbed by the +unshaken perseverance with which she enforced her demands of an +unreasonable settlement; yet I should have consented to pass my life in +union with her, had not my curiosity led me to a crowd gathered in the +street, where I found Ferocula, in the presence of hundreds, disputing +for six-pence with a chairman. I saw her in so little need of +assistance, that it was no breach of the laws of chivalry to forbear +interposition, and I spared myself the shame of owning her acquaintance. +I forgot some point of ceremony at our next interview, and soon provoked +her to forbid me her presence. + +My next attempt was upon a lady of great eminence for learning and +philosophy. I had frequently observed the barrenness and uniformity of +connubial conversation, and therefore thought highly of my own prudence +and discernment, when I selected from a multitude of wealthy beauties, +the deep-read Misothea, who declared herself the inexorable enemy of +ignorant pertness, and puerile levity; and scarcely condescended to make +tea, but for the linguist, the geometrician, the astronomer, or the +poet. The queen of the Amazons was only to be gained by the hero who +could conquer her in single combat; and Misothea's heart was only to +bless the scholar who could overpower her by disputation. Amidst the +fondest transports of courtship she could call for a definition of +terms, and treated every argument with contempt that could not be +reduced to regular syllogism. You may easily imagine, that I wished this +courtship at an end; but when I desired her to shorten my torments, and +fix the day of my felicity, we were led into a long conversation, in +which Misothea endeavoured to demonstrate the folly of attributing +choice and self-direction to any human being. It was not difficult to +discover the danger of committing myself for ever to the arms of one who +might at any time mistake the dictates of passion, or the calls of +appetite, for the decree of fate; or consider cuckoldom as necessary to +the general system, as a link in the everlasting chain of successive +causes. I therefore told her, that destiny had ordained us to part, and +that nothing should have torn me from her but the talons of necessity. + +I then solicited the regard of the calm, the prudent, the economical +Sophronia, a lady who considered wit as dangerous, and learning as +superfluous, and thought that the woman who kept her house clean, and +her accounts exact, took receipts for every payment, and could find them +at a sudden call, inquired nicely after the condition of the tenants, +read the price of stocks once a-week, and purchased every thing at the +best market, could want no accomplishments necessary to the happiness of +a wise man. She discoursed with great solemnity on the care and +vigilance which the superintendance of a family demands; observed how +many were ruined by confidence in servants; and told me, that she never +expected honesty but from a strong chest, and that the best storekeeper +was the mistress's eye. Many such oracles of generosity she uttered, and +made every day new improvements in her schemes for the regulations of +her servants, and the distribution of her time. I was convinced that, +whatever I might suffer from Sophronia, I should escape poverty; and we +therefore proceeded to adjust the settlements according to her own rule, +fair and softly. But one morning her maid came to me in tears to intreat +my interest for a reconciliation with her mistress, who had turned her +out at night for breaking six teeth in a tortoise-shell comb; she had +attended her lady from a distant province, and having not lived long +enough to save much money, was destitute among strangers, and, though of +a good family, in danger of perishing in the streets, or of being +compelled by hunger to prostitution. I made no scruple of promising to +restore her; but upon my first application to Sophronia, was answered +with an air which called for approbation, that if she neglected her own +affairs, I might suspect her of neglecting mine; that the comb stood her +in three half crowns; that no servant should wrong her twice; and that +indeed she took the first opportunity of parting with Phillida, because, +though she was honest, her constitution was bad, and she thought her +very likely to fall sick. Of our conferrence I need not tell you the +effect; it surely may be forgiven me, if on this occasion I forgot the +decency of common forms. + +From two more ladies I was disengaged by finding, that they entertained +my rivals at the same time, and determined their choice by the +liberality of our settlements. Another, I thought myself justified in +forsaking, because she gave my attorney a bribe to favour her in the +bargain; another because I could never soften her to tenderness, till +she heard that most of my family had died young; and another, because, +to increase her fortune by expectations, she represented her sister as +languishing and consumptive. + +I shall in another letter give the remaining part of my history of +courtship. I presume that I should hitherto have injured the majesty of +female virtue, had I not hoped to transfer my affection to higher merit. + +I am, &c. + +HYMENAEUS. + + + +No. 114. SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 1751. + + --_Audi, + Nulla umquum de morte hominis cunctatio longa est._ JUV. Sat. vi. 220. + + --When man's life is in debate, + The judge can ne'er too long deliberate. DRYDEN. + +Power and superiority are so flattering and delightful, that, fraught +with temptation, and exposed to danger, as they are, scarcely any virtue +is so cautious, or any prudence so timorous, as to decline them. Even +those that have most reverence for the laws of right, are pleased with +shewing that not fear, but choice, regulates their behaviour; and would +be thought to comply, rather than obey. We love to overlook the +boundaries which we do not wish to pass; and, as the Roman satirist +remarks, he that has no design to take the life of another, is yet glad +to have it in his hands. + +From the same principle, tending yet more to degeneracy and corruption, +proceeds the desire of investing lawful authority with terrour, and +governing by force rather than persuasion. Pride is unwilling to believe +the necessity of assigning any other reason than her own will; and would +rather maintain the most equitable claims by violence and penalties, +than descend from the dignity of command to dispute and expostulation. + +It may, I think, be suspected, that this political arrogance has +sometimes found its way into legislative assemblies, and mingled with +deliberations upon property and life. A slight perusal of the laws by +which the measures of vindictive and coercive justice are established, +will discover so many disproportions between crimes and punishments, +such capricious distinctions of guilt, and such confusion of remissness +and severity, as can scarcely be believed to have been produced by +publick wisdom, sincerely and calmly studious of publick happiness. + +The learned, the judicious, the pious Boerhaave relates, that he never +saw a criminal dragged to execution without asking himself, "Who knows +whether this man is not less culpable than me?" On the days when the +prisons of this city are emptied into the grave, let every spectator of +the dreadful procession put the same question to his own heart. Few +among those that crowd in thousands to the legal massacre, and look with +carelessness, perhaps with triumph, on the utmost exacerbations of human +misery, would then be able to return without horrour and dejection. For, +who can congratulate himself upon a life passed without some act more +mischievous to the peace or prosperity of others, than the theft of a +piece of money? + +It has been always the practice, when any particular species of robbery +becomes prevalent and common, to endeavour its suppression by capital +denunciations. Thus one generation of malefactors is commonly cut off, +and their successors are frighted into new expedients; the art of +thievery is augmented with greater variety of fraud, and subtilized to +higher degrees of dexterity, and more occult methods of conveyance. The +law then renews the pursuit in the heat of anger, and overtakes the +offender again with death. By this practice capital inflictions are +multiplied, and crimes, very different in their degrees of enormity, are +equally subjected to the severest punishment that man has the power of +exercising upon man. + +The lawgiver is undoubtedly allowed to estimate the malignity of an +offence, not merely by the loss or pain which single acts may produce, +but by the general alarm and anxiety arising from the fear of mischief, +and insecurity of possession: he therefore exercises the right which +societies are supposed to have over the lives of those that compose +them, not simply to punish a transgression, but to maintain order, and +preserve quiet; he enforces those laws with severity, that are most in +danger of violation, as the commander of a garrison doubles the guard on +that side which is threatened by the enemy. + +This method has been long tried, but tried with so little success, that +rapine and violence are hourly increasing, yet few seem willing to +despair of its efficacy; and of those who employ their speculations upon +the present corruption of the people, some propose the introduction of +more horrid, lingering, and terrifick punishments; some are inclined to +accelerate the executions; some to discourage pardons; and all seem to +think that lenity has given confidence to wickedness, and that we can +only be rescued from the talons of robbery by inflexible rigour, and +sanguinary justice. + +Yet, since the right of setting an uncertain and arbitrary value upon +life has been disputed, and since experience of past times gives us +little reason to hope that any reformation will be effected by a +periodical havock of our fellow-beings, perhaps it will not be useless +to consider what consequences might arise from relaxations of the law, +and a more rational and equitable adaptation of penalties to offences. + +Death is, as one of the ancients observes, [Greek: to ton phoberon +phoberotaton], _of dreadful things the most dreadful_: an evil, beyond +which nothing can be threatened by sublunary power, or feared from human +enmity or vengeance. This terrour should, therefore, be reserved as the +last resort of authority, as the strongest and most operative of +prohibitory sanctions, and placed before the treasure of life, to guard +from invasion what cannot be restored. To equal robbery with murder is +to reduce murder to robbery; to confound in common minds the gradations +of iniquity, and incite the commission of a greater crime to prevent the +detection of a less. If only murder were punished with death, very few +robbers would stain their hands in blood; but when, by the last act of +cruelty, no new danger is incurred, and greater security may be +obtained, upon what principle shall we bid them forbear? + +It may be urged, that the sentence is often mitigated to simple robbery; +but surely this is to confess that our laws are unreasonable in our own +opinion; and, indeed, it may be observed, that all but murderers have, +at their last hour, the common sensations of mankind pleading in their +favour. + +From this conviction of the inequality of the punishment to the offence, +proceeds the frequent solicitation of pardons. They who would rejoice at +the correction of a thief, are yet shocked at the thought of destroying +him. His crime shrinks to nothing, compared with his misery; and +severity defeats itself by exciting pity. + +The gibbet, indeed, certainly disables those who die upon it from +infesting the community; but their death seems not to contribute more to +the reformation of their associates, than any other method of +separation. A thief seldom passes much of his time in recollection or +anticipation, but from robbery hastens to riot, and from riot to +robbery; nor, when the grave closes on his companion, has any other care +than to find another. + +The frequency of capital punishments, therefore, rarely hinders the +commission of a crime, but naturally and commonly prevents its +detection, and is, if we proceed only upon prudential principles, +chiefly for that reason to be avoided. Whatever may be urged by casuists +or politicians, the greater part of mankind, as they can never think +that to pick the pocket and to pierce the heart is equally criminal, +will scarcely believe that two malefactors so different in guilt can be +justly doomed to the same punishment: nor is the necessity of submitting +the conscience to human laws so plainly evinced, so clearly stated, or +so generally allowed, but that the pious, the tender, and the just, will +always scruple to concur with the community in an act which their +private judgment cannot approve. + +He who knows not how often rigorous laws produce total impunity, and how +many crimes are concealed and forgotten for fear of hurrying the +offender to that state in which there is no repentance, has conversed +very little with mankind. And whatever epithets of reproach or contempt +this compassion may incur from those who confound cruelty with firmness, +I know not whether any wise man would wish it less powerful, or less +extensive. + +If those whom the wisdom of our laws has condemned to die, had been +detected in their rudiments of robbery, they might, by proper discipline +and useful labour, have been disentangled from their habits, they might +have escaped all the temptation to subsequent crimes, and passed their +days in reparation and penitence; and detected they might all have been, +had the prosecutors been certain that their lives would have been +spared. I believe, every thief will confess, that he has been more than +once seized and dismissed; and that he has sometimes ventured upon +capital crimes, because he knew, that those whom he injured would rather +connive at his escape, than cloud their minds with the horrours of his +death. + +All laws against wickedness are ineffectual, unless some will inform, +and some will prosecute; but till we mitigate the penalties for mere +violations of property, information will always be hated, and +prosecution dreaded. The heart of a good man cannot but recoil at the +thought of punishing a slight injury with death; especially when he +remembers that the thief might have procured safety by another crime, +from which he was restrained only by his remaining virtue. + +The obligations to assist the exercise of publick justice are indeed +strong; but they will certainly be overpowered by tenderness for life. +What is punished with severity contrary to our ideas of adequate +retribution, will be seldom discovered; and multitudes will be suffered +to advance from crime to crime, till they deserve death, because, if +they had been sooner prosecuted, they would have suffered death before +they deserved it. + +This scheme of invigorating the laws by relaxation, and extirpating +wickedness by lenity, is so remote from common practice, that I might +reasonably fear to expose it to the publick, could it be supported only +by my own observations: I shall, therefore, by ascribing it to its +author, Sir Thomas More, endeavour to procure it that attention, which I +wish always paid to prudence, to justice, and to mercy.[c] + + + +No. 115. TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 1751. + + _Quaedam parvu quidem; sed non toleranda maritis_. JUV. Sat vi. 184. + + Some faults, though small, intolerable grow. DRYDEN. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +I sit down, in pursuance of my late engagement, to recount the remaining +part of the adventures that befel me in my long quest of conjugal +felicity, which, though I have not yet been so happy as to obtain it, I +have at least endeavoured to deserve by unwearied diligence, without +suffering from repeated disappointments any abatement of my hope, or +repression of my activity. + +You must have observed in the world a species of mortals who employ +themselves in promoting matrimony, and without any visible motive of +interest or vanity, without any discoverable impulse of malice or +benevolence, without any reason, but that they want objects of attention +and topicks of conversation, are incessantly busy in procuring wives and +husbands. They fill the ears of every single man and woman with some +convenient match; and when they are informed of your age and fortune, +offer a partner for life with the same readiness, and the same +indifference, as a salesman, when he has taken measure by his eye, fits +his customer with a coat. + +It might be expected that they should soon be discouraged from this +officious interposition by resentment or contempt; and that every man +should determine the choice on which so much of his happiness must +depend, by his own judgment and observation: yet it happens, that as +these proposals are generally made with a shew of kindness, they seldom +provoke anger, but are at worst heard with patience, and forgotten. They +influence weak minds to approbation; for many are sure to find in a new +acquaintance, whatever qualities report has taught them to expect; and +in more powerful and active understandings they excite curiosity, and +sometimes, by a lucky chance, bring persons of similar tempers within +the attraction of each other. + +I was known to possess a fortune, and to want a wife; and therefore was +frequently attended by these hymeneal solicitors, with whose importunity +I was sometimes diverted, and sometimes perplexed; for they contended +for me as vultures for a carcase; each employing all his eloquence, and +all his artifices, to enforce and promote his own scheme, from the +success of which he was to receive no other advantage than the pleasure +of defeating others equally eager, and equally industrious. + +An invitation to sup with one of those busy friends, made me, by a +concerted chance, acquainted with Camilla, by whom it was expected that +I should be suddenly and irresistibly enslaved. The lady, whom the same +kindness had brought without her own concurrence into the lists of love, +seemed to think me at least worthy of the honour of captivity; and +exerted the power, both of her eyes and wit, with so much art and +spirit, that though I had been too often deceived by appearances to +devote myself irrevocably at the first interview, yet I could not +suppress some raptures of admiration, and flutters of desire. I was +easily persuaded to make nearer approaches; but soon discovered, that an +union with Camilla was not much to be wished. Camilla professed a +boundless contempt for the folly, levity, ignorance, and impertinence of +her own sex; and very frequently expressed her wonder that men of +learning or experience could submit to trifle away life with beings +incapable of solid thought. In mixed companies, she always associated +with the men, and declared her satisfaction when the ladies retired. If +any short excursion into the country was proposed, she commonly insisted +upon the exclusion of women from the party; because, where they were +admitted, the time was wasted in frothy compliments, weak indulgences, +and idle ceremonies. To shew the greatness of her mind, she avoided all +compliance with the fashion; and to boast the profundity of her +knowledge, mistook the various textures of silk, confounded tabbies with +damasks, and sent for ribands by wrong names. She despised the commerce +of stated visits, a farce of empty form without instruction; and +congratulated herself, that she never learned to write message cards. +She often applauded the noble sentiment of Plato, who rejoiced that he +was born a man rather than a woman; proclaimed her approbation of +Swift's opinion, that women are only a higher species of monkeys; and +confessed, that when she considered the behaviour, or heard the +conversation, of her sex, she could not but forgive the Turks for +suspecting them to want souls. + +It was the joy and pride of Camilla to have provoked, by this insolence, +all the rage of hatred, and all the persecutions of calumny; nor was she +ever more elevated with her own superiority, than when she talked of +female anger, and female cunning. Well, says she, has nature provided +that such virulence should be disabled by folly, and such cruelty be +restrained by impotence. + +Camilla doubtless expected, that what she lost on one side, she should +gain on the other; and imagined that every male heart would be open to a +lady, who made such generous advances to the borders of virility. But +man, ungrateful man, instead of springing forward to meet her, shrunk +back at her approach. She was persecuted by the ladies as a deserter, +and at best received by the men only as a fugitive. I, for my part, +amused myself awhile with her fopperies, but novelty soon gave way to +detestation, for nothing out of the common order of nature can be long +borne. I had no inclination to a wife who had the ruggedness of a man +without his force, and the ignorance of a woman without her softness; +nor could I think my quiet and honour to be entrusted to such audacious +virtue as was hourly courting danger, and soliciting assault. + +My next mistress was Nitella, a lady of gentle mien, and soft voice, +always speaking to approve, and ready to receive direction from those +with whom chance had brought her into company. In Nitella I promised +myself an easy friend, with whom I might loiter away the day without +disturbance or altercation. I therefore soon resolved to address her, +but was discouraged from prosecuting my courtship, by observing, that +her apartments were superstitiously regular; and that, unless she had +notice of my visit, she was never to be seen. There is a kind of anxious +cleanliness which I have always noted as the characteristick of a +slattern; it is the superfluous scrupulosity of guilt, dreading +discovery, and shunning suspicion: it is the violence of an effort +against habit, which, being impelled by external motives, cannot stop at +the middle point. + +Nitella was always tricked out rather with nicety than elegance; and +seldom could forbear to discover, by her uneasiness and constraint, that +her attention was burdened, and her imagination engrossed: I therefore +concluded, that being only occasionally and ambitiously dressed, she was +not familiarized to her own ornaments. There are so many competitors for +the fame of cleanliness, that it is not hard to gain information of +those that fail, from those that desire to excel: I quickly found that +Nitella passed her time between finery and dirt; and was always in a +wrapper, night-cap, and slippers, when she was not decorated for +immediate show. + +I was then led by my evil destiny to Charybdis, who never neglected an +opportunity of seizing a new prey when it came within her reach. I +thought myself quickly made happy by permission to attend her to publick +places; and pleased my own vanity with imagining the envy which I should +raise in a thousand hearts, by appearing as the acknowledged favourite +of Charybdis. She soon after hinted her intention to take a ramble for a +fortnight, into a part of the kingdom which she had never seen. I +solicited the happiness of accompanying her, which, after a short +reluctance, was indulged me. She had no other curiosity on her journey, +than after all possible means of expense; and was every moment taking +occasion to mention some delicacy, which I knew it my duty upon such +notices to procure. + +After our return, being now more familiar, she told me, whenever we met, +of some new diversion; at night she had notice of a charming company +that would breakfast in the gardens; and in the morning had been +informed of some new song in the opera, some new dress at the playhouse, +or some performer at a concert whom she longed to hear. Her intelligence +was such, that there never was a show, to which she did not summon me on +the second day; and as she hated a crowd, and could not go alone, I was +obliged to attend at some intermediate hour, and pay the price of a +whole company. When we passed the streets, she was often charmed with +some trinket in the toy-shops; and from moderate desires of seals and +snuff-boxes, rose, by degrees, to gold and diamonds. I now began to find +the smile of Charybdis too costly for a private purse, and added one +more to six and forty lovers, whose fortune and patience her rapacity +had exhausted. + +Imperia then took possession of my affections; but kept them only for a +short time. She had newly inherited a large fortune, and having spent +the early part of her life in the perusal of romances, brought with her +into the gay world all the pride of Cleopatra; expected nothing less +than vows, altars, and sacrifices; and thought her charms dishonoured, +and her power infringed, by the softest opposition to her sentiments, or +the smallest transgression of her commands. Time might indeed cure this +species of pride in a mind not naturally undiscerning, and vitiated only +by false representations; but the operations of time are slow; and I +therefore left her to grow wise at leisure, or to continue in errour at +her own expense. + +Thus I have hitherto, in spite of myself, passed my life in frozen +celibacy. My friends, indeed, often tell me, that I flatter my +imagination with higher hopes than human nature can gratify; that I +dress up an ideal charmer in all the radiance of perfection, and then +enter the world to look for the same excellence in corporeal beauty. But +surely, Mr. Rambler, it is not madness to hope for some terrestrial lady +unstained by the spots which I have been describing; at least I am +resolved to pursue my search; for I am so far from thinking meanly of +marriage, that I believe it able to afford the highest happiness decreed +to our present state; and if, after all these miscarriages, I find a +woman that fills up my expectation, you shall hear once more from, + +Yours, &c. + +HYMENAEUS. + +[Footnote c: The arguments of the revered Sir Samuel Romilly on Criminal +Law, have almost been anticipated in this luminous paper, which would +have gained praise even for a legislator. On the correction of our +English Criminal Code, see Mr. Buxton's speech in the House of Commons, +1820. It is a fund of practical information, and, apart from its own +merits, will repay perusal by the valuable collection of opinions which +it contains on this momentous and interesting subject. ED.] + + + +No. 116. SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 1751. + + _Optat ephippia bos piger: optat arare caballus_. + HOR. Lib. i. Ep. xiv. 43. + + Thus the slow ox would gaudy trappings claim; + The sprightly horse would plough.--FRANCIS. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +I was the second son of a country gentleman by the daughter of a wealthy +citizen of London. My father having by his marriage freed the estate +from a heavy mortgage, and paid his sisters their portions, thought +himself discharged from all obligation to further thought, and entitled +to spend the rest of his life in rural pleasures. He therefore spared +nothing that might contribute to the completion of his felicity; he +procured the best guns and horses that the kingdom could supply, paid +large salaries to his groom and huntsman, and became the envy of the +country for the discipline of his hounds. But, above all his other +attainments, he was eminent for a breed of pointers and setting-dogs, +which by long and vigilant cultivation he had so much improved, that not +a partridge or heathcock could rest in security, and game of whatever +species that dared to light upon his manor, was beaten down by his shot, +or covered with his nets. + +My elder brother was very early initiated in the chace, and, at an age +when other boys are _creeping like snails unwillingly to school_, he +could wind the horn, beat the bushes, bound over hedges, and swim +rivers. When the huntsman one day broke his leg, he supplied his place +with equal abilities, and came home with the scut in his hat, amidst the +acclamations of the whole village. I being either delicate or timorous, +less desirous of honour, or less capable of sylvan heroism, was always +the favourite of my mother; because I kept my coat clean, and my +complexion free from freckles, and did not come home, like my brother, +mired and tanned, nor carry corn in my hat to the horse, nor bring dirty +curs into the parlour. + +My mother had not been taught to amuse herself with books, and being +much inclined to despise the ignorance and barbarity of the country +ladies, disdained to learn their sentiments or conversation, and had +made no addition to the notions which she had brought from the precincts +of Cornhill. She was, therefore, always recounting the glories of the +city; enumerating the succession of mayors; celebrating the magnificence +of the banquets at Guildhall; and relating the civilities paid her at +the companies' feasts by men of whom some are now made aldermen, some +have fined for sheriffs, and none are worth less than forty thousand +pounds. She frequently displayed her father's greatness; told of the +large bills which he had paid at sight; of the sums for which his word +would pass upon the Exchange; the heaps of gold which he used on +Saturday night to toss about with a shovel; the extent of his warehouse, +and the strength of his doors; and when she relaxed her imagination with +lower subjects, described the furniture of their country-house, or +repeated the wit of the clerks and porters. + +By these narratives I was fired with the splendour and dignity of +London, and of trade. I therefore devoted myself to a shop, and warmed +my imagination from year to year with inquiries about the privileges of +a freeman, the power of the common council, the dignity of a wholesale +dealer, and the grandeur of mayoralty, to which my mother assured me +that many had arrived who began the world with less than myself. + +I was very impatient to enter into a path, which led to such honour and +felicity; but was forced for a time to endure some repression of my +eagerness, for it was my grandfather's maxim, that a _young man seldom +makes much money, who is out of his time before two-and-twenty_. They +thought it necessary, therefore, to keep me at home till the proper age, +without any other employment than that of learning merchants' accounts, +and the art of regulating books; but at length the tedious days elapsed, +I was transplanted to town, and, with great satisfaction to myself, +bound to a haberdasher. + +My master, who had no conception of any virtue, merit, or dignity, but +that of being rich, had all the good qualities which naturally arise +from a close and unwearied attention to the main chance; his desire to +gain wealth was so well tempered by the vanity of shewing it, that +without any other principle of action, he lived in the esteem of the +whole commercial world; and was always treated with respect by the only +men whose good opinion he valued or solicited, those who were +universally allowed to be richer than himself. + +By his instructions I learned in a few weeks to handle a yard with great +dexterity, to wind tape neatly upon the ends of my fingers, and to make +up parcels with exact frugality of paper and packthread; and soon caught +from my fellow-apprentices the true grace of a counter-bow, the careless +air with which a small pair of scales is to be held between the fingers, +and the vigour and sprightliness with which the box, after the riband +has been cut, is returned into its place. Having no desire of any higher +employment, and therefore applying all my powers to the knowledge of my +trade, I was quickly master of all that could be known, became a critick +in small wares, contrived new variations of figures, and new mixtures of +colours, and was sometimes consulted by the weavers when they projected +fashions for the ensuing spring. + +With all these accomplishments, in the fourth year of my apprenticeship, +I paid a visit to my friends in the country, where I expected to be +received as a new ornament of the family, and consulted by the +neighbouring gentlemen as a master of pecuniary knowledge, and by the +ladies as an oracle of the mode. But, unhappily, at the first publick +table to which I was invited, appeared a student of the Temple, and an +officer of the guards, who looked upon me with a smile of contempt, +which destroyed at once all my hopes of distinction, so that I durst +hardly raise my eyes for fear of encountering their superiority of mien. +Nor was my courage revived by any opportunities of displaying my +knowledge; for the templar entertained the company for part of the day +with historical narratives and political observations; and the colonel +afterwards detailed the adventures of a birth-night, told the claims and +expectations of the courtiers, and gave an account of assemblies, +gardens, and diversions. I, indeed, essayed to fill up a pause in a +parliamentary debate with a faint mention of trade and Spaniards; and +once attempted, with some warmth, to correct a gross mistake about a +silver breast-knot; but neither of my antagonists seemed to think a +reply necessary; they resumed their discourse without emotion, and again +engrossed the attention of the company; nor did one of the ladies appear +desirous to know my opinion of her dress, or to hear how long the +carnation shot with white, that was then new amongst them, had been +antiquated in town. + +As I knew that neither of these gentlemen had more money than myself, I +could not discover what had depressed me in their presence; nor why they +were considered by others as more worthy of attention and respect; and +therefore resolved, when we met again, to rouse my spirit, and force +myself into notice. I went very early to the next weekly meeting, and +was entertaining a small circle very successfully with a minute +representation of my lord mayor's show, when the colonel entered +careless and gay, sat down with a kind of unceremonious civility, and +without appearing to intend any interruption, drew my audience away to +the other part of the room, to which I had not the courage to follow +them. Soon after came in the lawyer, not indeed with the same attraction +of mien, but with greater powers of language: and by one or other the +company was so happily amused, that I was neither heard nor seen, nor +was able to give any other proof of my existence than that I put round +the glass, and was in my turn permitted to name the toast. + +My mother, indeed, endeavoured to comfort me in my vexation, by telling +me, that perhaps these showy talkers were hardly able to pay every one +his own; that he who has money in his pocket need not care what any man +says of him; that, if I minded my trade, the time will come when lawyers +and soldiers would be glad to borrow out of my purse; and that it is +fine, when a man can set his hands to his sides, and say he is worth +forty thousand pounds every day of the year. These and many more such +consolations and encouragements, I received from my good mother, which, +however, did not much allay my uneasiness; for having by some accident +heard, that the country ladies despised her as a cit, I had therefore no +longer much reverence for her opinions, but considered her as one whose +ignorance and prejudice had hurried me, though without ill intentions, +into a state of meanness and ignominy, from which I could not find any +possibility of rising to the rank which my ancestors had always held. + +I returned, however, to my master, and busied myself among thread, and +silks, and laces, but without my former cheerfulness and alacrity. I had +now no longer any felicity in contemplating the exact disposition of my +powdered curls, the equal plaits of my ruffles, or the glossy blackness +of my shoes; nor heard with my former elevation those compliments which +ladies sometimes condescended to pay me upon my readiness in twisting a +paper, or counting out the change. The term of Young Man, with which I +was sometimes honoured, as I carried a parcel to the door of a coach, +tortured my imagination; I grew negligent of my person, and sullen in my +temper; often mistook the demands of the customers, treated their +caprices and objections with contempt, and received and dismissed them +with surly silence. + +My master was afraid lest the shop should suffer by this change of my +behaviour; and, therefore, after some expostulations, posted me in the +warehouse, and preserved me from the danger and reproach of desertion, +to which my discontent would certainly have urged me, had I continued +any longer behind the counter. + +In the sixth year of my servitude my brother died of drunken joy, for +having run down a fox that had baffled all the packs in the province. I +was now heir, and with the hearty consent of my master commenced +gentleman. The adventures in which my new character engaged me shall be +communicated in another letter, by, Sir, + +Yours, &c. + +MISOCAPELUS. + + + +No. 117. TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 1751. + + [Greek: Hossan ep Oulumpo memasan Themen autar ep Ossae + Paelion einosiphullon, in ouranos ambatos eiae.] HOMER, Od. + [Greek: L] 314. + + The gods they challenge, and affect the skies: + Heav'd on Olympus tott'ring Ossa stood; + On Ossa, Pelion nods with all his wood. POPE. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +Nothing has more retarded the advancement of learning than the +disposition of vulgar minds to ridicule and vilify what they cannot +comprehend. All industry must be excited by hope; and as the student +often proposes no other reward to himself than praise, he is easily +discouraged by contempt and insult. He who brings with him into a +clamorous multitude the timidity of recluse speculation, and has never +hardened his front in publick life, or accustomed his passions to the +vicissitudes and accidents, the triumphs and defeats of mixed +conversation, will blush at the stare of petulant incredulity, and +suffer himself to be driven by a burst of laughter, from the fortresses +of demonstration. The mechanist will be afraid to assert before hardy +contradiction, the possibility of tearing down bulwarks with a +silk-worm's thread; and the astronomer of relating the rapidity of +light, the distance of the fixed stars, and the height of the lunar +mountains. + +If I could by any efforts have shaken off this cowardice, I had not +sheltered myself under a borrowed name, nor applied to you for the means +of communicating to the publick the theory of a garret; a subject which, +except some slight and transient strictures, has been hitherto neglected +by those who were best qualified to adorn it, either for want of leisure +to prosecute the various researches in which a nice discussion must +engage them, or because it requires such diversity of knowledge, and +such extent of curiosity, as is scarcely to be found in any single +intellect: or perhaps others foresaw the tumults which would be raised +against them, and confined their knowledge to their own breasts, and +abandoned prejudice and folly to the direction of chance. + +That the professors of literature generally reside in the highest +stories, has been immemorially observed. The wisdom of the ancients was +well acquainted with the intellectual advantages of an elevated +situation: why else were the Muses stationed on Olympus or Parnassus, by +those who could with equal right have raised them bowers in the vale of +Tempe, or erected their altars among the flexures of Meander? Why was +Jove himself nursed upon a mountain? or why did the goddesses, when the +prize of beauty was contested, try the cause upon the top of Ida? Such +were the fictions by which the great masters of the earlier ages +endeavoured to inculcate to posterity the importance of a garret, which, +though they had been long obscured by the negligence and ignorance of +succeeding times, were well enforced by the celebrated symbol of +Pythagoras, [Greek: anemon pneonton taen aecho proskunei]; "when the +wind blows, worship its echo." This could not but be understood by his +disciples as an inviolable injunction to live in a garret, which I have +found frequently visited by the echo and the wind. Nor was the tradition +wholly obliterated in the age of Augustus, for Tibullus evidently +congratulates himself upon his garret, not without some allusion to the +Pythagorean precept: + + _Quam juvat immites ventos audire cubantem-- + Aut, gelidas hibernus aquas quum fuderit Auster, + Securum somnos imbre juvante sequi_! Lib. i. El. i. 45. + + How sweet in sleep to pass the careless hours, + Lull'd by the beating winds and dashing show'rs! + +And it is impossible not to discover the fondness of Lucretius, an +earlier writer, for a garret, in his description of the lofty towers of +serene learning, and of the pleasure with which a wise man looks down +upon the confused and erratick state of the world moving below him: + + _Sed nil dulcius est, bene quam munita tenere + Edita doctrina Sapientum templa serena; + Despicere unde queas alios, passimque videre + Errare, atque viam palanteis quaerere vitae_. Lib. ii. 7. + + --'Tis sweet thy lab'ring steps to guide + To virtue's heights, with wisdom well supplied, + And all the magazines of learning fortified: + From thence to look below on human kind, + Bewilder'd in the maze of life, and blind. DRYDEN. + +The institution has, indeed, continued to our own time; the garret is +still the usual receptacle of the philosopher and poet; but this, like +many ancient customs, is perpetuated only by an accidental imitation, +without knowledge of the original reason for which it was established. + + _Causa latet; res est notissima_. + + The cause is secret, but th' effect is known. ADDISON. + +Conjectures have, indeed, been advanced concerning these habitations of +literature, but without much satisfaction to the judicious inquirer. +Some have imagined, that the garret is generally chosen by the wits as +most easily rented; and concluded that no man rejoices in his aerial +abode, but on the days of payment. Others suspect, that a garret is +chiefly convenient, as it is remoter than any other part of the house +from the outer door, which is often observed to be infested by +visitants, who talk incessantly of beer, or linen, or a coat, and repeat +the same sounds every morning, and sometimes again in the afternoon, +without any variation, except that they grow daily more importunate and +clamorous, and raise their voices in time from mournful murmurs to +raging vociferations. This eternal monotony is always detestable to a +man whose chief pleasure is to enlarge his knowledge, and vary his +ideas. Others talk of freedom from noise, and abstraction from common +business or amusements; and some, yet more visionary, tell us, that the +faculties are enlarged by open prospects, and that the fancy is at more +liberty, when the eye ranges without confinement. + +These conveniences may perhaps all be found in a well-chosen garret; but +surely they cannot be supposed sufficiently important to have operated +unvariably upon different climates, distant ages, and separate nations. +Of an universal practice, there must still be presumed an universal +cause, which, however recondite and abstruse, may be perhaps reserved to +make me illustrious by its discovery, and you by its promulgation. + +It is universally known that the faculties of the mind are invigorated +or weakened by the state of the body, and that the body is in a great +measure regulated by the various compressions of the ambient element. +The effects of the air in the production or cure of corporeal maladies +have been acknowledged from the time of Hippocrates; but no man has yet +sufficiently considered how far it may influence the operations of the +genius, though every day affords instances of local understanding, of +wits and reasoners, whose faculties are adapted to some single spot, and +who, when they are removed to any other place, sink at once into silence +and stupidity. I have discovered, by a long series of observations, that +invention and elocution suffer great impediments from dense and impure +vapours, and that the tenuity of a defecated air at a proper distance +from the surface of the earth, accelerates the fancy, and sets at +liberty those intellectual powers which were before shackled by too +strong attraction, and unable to expand themselves under the pressure of +a gross atmosphere. I have found dulness to quicken into sentiment in a +thin ether, as water, though not very hot, boils in a receiver partly +exhausted; and heads, in appearance empty, have teemed with notions upon +rising ground, as the flaccid sides of a football would have swelled out +into stiffness and extension. + +For this reason I never think myself qualified to judge decisively of +any man's faculties, whom I have only known in one degree of elevation; +but take some opportunity of attending him from the cellar to the +garret, and try upon him all the various degrees of rarefaction and +condensation, tension and laxity. If he is neither vivacious aloft, nor +serious below, I then consider him as hopeless; but as it seldom +happens, that I do not find the temper to which the texture of his brain +is fitted, I accommodate him in time with a tube of mercury, first +marking the points most favourable to his intellects, according to rules +which I have long studied, and which I may, perhaps, reveal to mankind +in a complete treatise of barometrical pneumatology. + +Another cause of the gaiety and sprightliness of the dwellers in garrets +is probably the increase of that vertiginous motion, with which we are +carried round by the diurnal revolution of the earth. The power of +agitation upon the spirits is well known; every man has felt his heart +lightened in a rapid vehicle, or on a galloping horse; and nothing is +plainer, than that he who towers to the fifth story, is whirled through +more space by every circumrotation, than another that grovels upon the +ground-floor. The nations between the topicks are known to be fiery, +inconstant, inventive, and fanciful; because, living at the utmost +length of the earth's diameter, they are carried about with more +swiftness than those whom nature has placed nearer to the poles; and +therefore, as it becomes a wise man to struggle with the inconveniencies +of his country, whenever celerity and acuteness are requisite, we must +actuate our languor by taking a few turns round the centre in a garret. + +If you imagine that I ascribe to air and motion effects which they +cannot produce, I desire you to consult your own memory, and consider +whether you have never known a man acquire reputation in his garret, +which, when fortune or a patron had placed him upon the first floor, he +was unable to maintain; and who never recovered his former vigour of +understanding, till he was restored to his original situation. That a +garret will make every man a wit, I am very far from supposing; I know +there are some who would continue blockheads even on the summit of the +Andes, or on the peak of Teneriffe. But let not any man be considered as +unimprovable till this potent remedy has been tried; for perhaps he was +formed to be great only in a garret, as the joiner of Aretaeus was +rational in no other place but his own shop. + +I think a frequent removal to various distances from the centre, so +necessary to a just estimate of intellectual abilities, and consequently +of so great use in education, that if I hoped that the publick could be +persuaded to so expensive an experiment, I would propose, that there +should be a cavern dug, and a tower erected, like those which Bacon +describes in Solomon's house, for the expansion and concentration of +understanding, according to the exigence of different employments, or +constitutions. Perhaps some that fume away in meditations upon time and +space in the tower, might compose tables of interest at a certain depth; +and he that upon level ground stagnates in silence, or creeps in +narrative, might at the height of half a mile, ferment into merriment, +sparkle with repartee, and froth with declamation. + +Addison observes, that we may find the heat of Virgil's climate, in some +lines of his Georgick: so, when I read a composition, I immediately +determine the height of the author's habitation. As an elaborate +performance is commonly said to smell of the lamp, my commendation of a +noble thought, a sprightly sally, or a bold figure, is to pronounce it +fresh from the garret; an expression which would break from me upon the +perusal of most of your papers, did I not believe, that you sometimes +quit the garret, and ascend into the cock-loft. + +HYPERTATUS. + + + +No. 118. SATURDAY, MAY 4, 1751. + + --Omnes illacrymabiles + Urgentur, ignotique longâ + Nocte. Hon. Lib. iv. Ode ix. 26. + + In endless night they sleep, unwept, unknown. FRANCIS. + +Cicero has, with his usual elegance and magnificence of language, +attempted, in his relation of the dream of Scipio, to depreciate those +honours for which he himself appears to have panted with restless +solicitude, by shewing within what narrow limits all that fame and +celebrity which man can hope for from men is circumscribed. + +"You see," says Africanus, pointing at the earth, from the celestial +regions, "that the globe assigned to the residence and habitation of +human beings is of small dimensions: how then can you obtain from the +praise of men, any glory worthy of a wish? Of this little world the +inhabited parts are neither numerous nor wide; even the spots where men +are to be found are broken by intervening deserts, and the nations are +so separated as that nothing can be transmitted from one to another. +With the people of the south, by whom the opposite part of the earth is +possessed, you have no intercourse; and by how small a tract do you +communicate with the countries of the north? The territory which you +inhabit is no more than a scanty island, inclosed by a small body of +water, to which you give the name of the great sea and the Atlantick +ocean. And even in this known and frequented continent, what hope can +you entertain, that your renown will pass the stream of Ganges, or the +cliffs of Caucasus? or by whom will your name be uttered in the +extremities of the north or south, towards the rising or the setting +sun? So narrow is the space to which your fame can be propagated; and +even there how long will it remain?" + +He then proceeds to assign natural causes why fame is not only narrow in +its extent, but short in its duration; he observes the difference +between the computation of time in earth and heaven, and declares, that +according to the celestial chronology, no human honours can last a +single year. + +Such are the objections by which Tully has made a shew of discouraging +the pursuit of fame; objections which sufficiently discover his +tenderness and regard for his darling phantom. Homer, when the plan of +his poem made the death of Patroclus necessary, resolved, at least, that +he should die with honour; and therefore brought down against him the +patron god of Troy, and left to Hector only the mean task of giving the +last blow to an enemy whom a divine hand had disabled from resistance. +Thus Tully ennobles fame, which he professes to degrade, by opposing it +to celestial happiness; he confines not its extent but by the boundaries +of nature, nor contracts its duration but by representing it small in +the estimation of superior beings. He still admits it the highest and +noblest of terrestrial objects, and alleges little more against it, than +that it is neither without end, nor without limits. + +What might be the effect of these observations conveyed in Ciceronian +eloquence to Roman understandings, cannot be determined; but few of +those who shall in the present age read my humble version will find +themselves much depressed in their hopes, or retarded in their designs; +for I am not inclined to believe, that they who among us pass their +lives in the cultivation of knowledge, or acquisition of power, have +very anxiously inquired what opinions prevail on the further banks of +the Ganges, or invigorated any effort by the desire of spreading their +renown among the clans of Caucasus. The hopes and fears of modern minds +are content to range in a narrower compass; a single nation, and a few +years, have generally sufficient amplitude to fill our imaginations. + +A little consideration will indeed teach us, that fame has other limits +than mountains and oceans; and that he who places happiness in the +frequent repetition of his name, may spend his life in propagating it, +without any danger of weeping for new worlds, or necessity of passing +the Atlantick sea. + +The numbers to whom any real and perceptible good or evil can be derived +by the greatest power, or most active diligence, are inconsiderable; and +where neither benefit nor mischief operate, the only motive to the +mention or remembrance of others is curiosity; a passion, which, though +in some degree universally associated to reason, is easily confined, +overborne, or diverted from any particular object. + +Among the lower classes of mankind, there will be found very little +desire of any other knowledge, than what may contribute immediately to +the relief of some pressing uneasiness, or the attainment of some near +advantage. The Turks are said to hear with wonder a proposal to walk +out, only that they may walk back; and inquire why any man should labour +for nothing: so those whose condition has always restrained them to the +contemplation of their own necessities, and who have been accustomed to +look forward only to a small distance, will scarcely understand, why +nights and days should be spent in studies, which end in new studies, +and which, according to Malherbe's observation, do not tend to lessen +the price of bread; nor will the trader or manufacturer easily be +persuaded, that much pleasure can arise from the mere knowledge of +actions, performed in remote regions, or in distant times; or that any +thing can deserve their inquiry, of which, [Greek: kleos oion akouomen, +oide ti idmen], we can only hear the report, but which cannot influence +our lives by any consequences. + +The truth is, that very few have leisure from indispensable business, to +employ their thoughts upon narrative or characters; and among those to +whom fortune has given the liberty of living more by their own choice, +many create to themselves engagements, by the indulgence of some petty +ambition, the admission of some insatiable desire, or the toleration of +some predominant passion. The man whose whole wish is to accumulate +money, has no other care than to collect interest, to estimate +securities, and to engage for mortgages: the lover disdains to turn his +ear to any other name than that of Corinna; and the courtier thinks the +hour lost which is not spent in promoting his interest, and facilitating +his advancement. The adventures of valour, and the discoveries of +science, will find a cold reception, when they are obtruded upon an +attention thus busy with its favourite amusement, and impatient of +interruption or disturbance. + +But not only such employments as seduce attention by appearances of +dignity, or promises of happiness, may restrain the mind from excursion +and inquiry; curiosity may be equally destroyed by less formidable +enemies; it may be dissipated in trifles, or congealed by indolence. The +sportsman and the man of dress have their heads filled with a fox or a +horse-race, a feather or a ball; and live in ignorance of every thing +beside, with as much content as he that heaps up gold, or solicits +preferment, digs the field, or beats the anvil; and some yet lower in +the ranks of intellect, dream out their days without pleasure or +business, without joy or sorrow, nor ever rouse from their lethargy to +hear or think. + +Even of those who have dedicated themselves to knowledge, the far +greater part have confined their curiosity to a few objects, and have +very little inclination to promote any fame, but that which their own +studies entitle them to partake. The naturalist has no desire to know +the opinions or conjectures of the philologer: the botanist looks upon +the astronomer as a being unworthy of his regard: the lawyer scarcely +hears the name of a physician without contempt; and he that is growing +great and happy by electrifying a bottle, wonders how the world can be +engaged by trifling prattle about war or peace. + +If, therefore, he that imagines the world filled with his actions and +praises, shall subduct from the number of his encomiasts, all those who +are placed below the flight of fame, and who hear in the valleys of life +no voice but that of necessity; all those who imagine themselves too +important to regard him, and consider the mention of his name as an +usurpation of their time; all who are too much or too little pleased +with themselves, to attend to any thing external; all who are attracted +by pleasure, or chained down by pain, to unvaried ideas; all who are +withheld from attending his triumph by different pursuits; and all who +slumber in universal negligence; he will find his renown straitened by +nearer bounds than the rocks of Caucasus, and perceive that no man can +be venerable or formidable, but to a small part of his fellow-creatures. + +That we may not languish in our endeavours after excellence, it is +necessary, that, as Africanus counsels his descendant, "we raise our +eyes to higher prospects, and contemplate our future and eternal state, +without giving up our hearts to the praise of crowds, or fixing our +hopes on such rewards as human power can bestow." + + + +No. 119. TUESDAY, MAY 7, 1751. + + _Iliacos intra muros peccatur, et extra_. HOR. Lib. i. Ep. ii, 16. + + Faults lay on either side the Trojan tow'rs. ELPHINSTON. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +As, notwithstanding all that wit, or malice, or pride, or prudence will +be able to suggest, men and women must at last pass their lives +together, I have never therefore thought those writers friends to human +happiness, who endeavour to excite in either sex a general contempt or +suspicion of the other. To persuade them who are entering the world, and +looking abroad for a suitable associate, that all are equally vicious, +or equally ridiculous; that they who trust are certainly betrayed, and +they who esteem are always disappointed; is not to awaken judgment, but +to inflame temerity. Without hope there can be no caution. Those who are +convinced, that no reason for preference can be found, will never harass +their thoughts with doubt and deliberation; they will resolve, since +they are doomed to misery, that no needless anxiety shall disturb their +quiet; they will plunge at hazard into the crowd, and snatch the first +hand that shall be held toward them. + +That the world is over-run with vice, cannot be denied; but vice, +however predominant, has not yet gained an unlimited dominion. Simple +and unmingled good is not in our power, but we may generally escape a +greater evil by suffering a less; and therefore, those who undertake to +initiate the young and ignorant in the knowledge of life, should be +careful to inculcate the possibility of virtue and happiness, and to +encourage endeavours by prospects of success. + +You, perhaps, do not suspect, that these are the sentiments of one who +has been subject for many years to all the hardships of antiquated +virginity; has been long accustomed to the coldness of neglect, and the +petulance of insult; has been mortified in full assemblies by inquiries +after forgotten fashions, games long disused, and wits and beauties of +ancient renown; has been invited, with malicious importunity, to the +second wedding of many acquaintances; has been ridiculed by two +generations of coquets in whispers intended to be heard; and been long +considered by the airy and gay, as too venerable for familiarity, and +too wise for pleasure. It is indeed natural for injury to provoke anger, +and by continual repetition to produce an habitual asperity; yet I have +hitherto struggled with so much vigilance against my pride and my +resentment, that I have preserved my temper uncorrupted. I have not yet +made it any part of my employment to collect sentences against marriage; +nor am inclined to lessen the number of the few friends whom time has +left me, by obstructing that happiness which I cannot partake, and +venting my vexation in censures of the forwardness and indiscretion of +girls, or the inconstancy, tastelessness, and perfidy of men. + +It is, indeed, not very difficult to bear that condition to which we are +not condemned by necessity, but induced by observation and choice; and +therefore I, perhaps, have never yet felt all the malignity with which a +reproach, edged with the appellation of old maid, swells some of those +hearts in which it is infixed. I was not condemned in my youth to +solitude, either by indigence or deformity, nor passed the earlier part +of life without the flattery of courtship, and the joys of triumph. I +have danced the round of gaiety amidst the murmurs of envy, and +gratulations of applause; been attended from pleasure to pleasure by the +great, the sprightly, and the vain; and seen my regard solicited by the +obsequiousness of gallantry, the gaiety of wit, and the timidity of +love. If, therefore, I am yet a stranger to nuptial happiness, I suffer +only the consequences of my own resolves, and can look back upon the +succession of lovers, whose addresses I have rejected, without grief, +and without malice. + +When my name first began to be inscribed upon glasses, I was honoured +with the amorous professions of the gay Venustulus, a gentleman, who, +being the only son of a wealthy family, had been educated in all the +wantonness of expense, and softness of effeminacy. He was beautiful in +his person, and easy in his address, and, therefore, soon gained upon my +eye at an age when the sight is very little over-ruled by the +understanding. He had not any power in himself of gladdening or amusing; +but supplied his want of conversation by treats and diversions; and his +chief art of courtship was to fill the mind of his mistress with +parties, rambles, musick, and shows. We were often engaged in short +excursions to gardens and seats, and I was for a while pleased with the +care which Venustulus discovered in securing me from any appearance of +danger, or possibility of mischance. He never failed to recommend +caution to his coachman, or to promise the waterman a reward if he +landed us safe; and always contrived to return by daylight, for fear of +robbers. This extraordinary solicitude was represented for a time as the +effect of his tenderness for me; but fear is too strong for continued +hypocrisy. I soon discovered that Venustulus had the cowardice as well +as elegance of a female. His imagination was perpetually clouded with +terrours, and he could scarcely refrain from screams and outcries at any +accidental surprise. He durst not enter a room if a rat was heard behind +the wainscot, nor cross a field where the cattle were frisking in the +sunshine; the least breeze that waved upon the river was a storm, and +every clamour in the street was a cry of fire. I have seen him lose his +colour when my squirrel had broke his chain; and was forced to throw +water in his face on the sudden entrance of a black cat. Compassion once +obliged me to drive away with my fan, a beetle that kept him in +distress, and chide off a dog that yelped at his heels, to which he +would gladly have given up me to facilitate his own escape. Women +naturally expect defence and protection from a lover or a husband, and, +therefore, you will not think me culpable in refusing a wretch, who +would have burdened life with unnecessary fears, and flown to me for +that succour which it was his duty to have given. + +My next lover was Fungoso, the son of a stockjobber, whose visits my +friends, by the importunity of persuasion, prevailed upon me to allow. +Fungoso was no very suitable companion; for having been bred in a +counting-house, he spoke a language unintelligible in any other place. +He had no desire of any reputation but that of an acute prognosticator +of the changes in the funds; nor had any means of raising merriment, but +by telling how somebody was overreached in a bargain by his father. He +was, however, a youth of great sobriety and prudence, and frequently +informed us how carefully he would improve my fortune. I was not in +haste to conclude the match, but was so much awed by my parents, that I +durst not dismiss him, and might, perhaps, have been doomed for ever to +the grossness of pedlary, and the jargon of usury, had not a fraud been +discovered in the settlement, which set me free from the persecution of +grovelling pride, and pecuniary impudence. I was afterwards six months +without any particular notice but at last became the idol of the +glittering Flosculus, who prescribed the mode of embroidery to all the +fops of his time, and varied at pleasure the cock of every hat, and the +sleeve of every coat that appeared in fashionable assemblies. Flosculus +made some impression upon my heart by a compliment which few ladies can +hear without emotion; he commended my skill in dress, my judgment in +suiting colours, and my art in disposing ornaments. But Flosculus was +too much engaged by his own elegance, to be sufficiently attentive to +the duties of a lover, or to please with varied praise an ear made +delicate by riot of adulation. He expected to be repaid part of his +tribute, and staid away three days, because I neglected to take notice +of a new coat. I quickly found, that Flosculus was rather a rival than +an admirer; and that we should probably live in a perpetual struggle of +emulous finery, and spend our lives in stratagems to be first in the +fashion. + +I had soon after the honour at a feast of attracting the eyes of +Dentatus, one of those human beings whose only happiness is to dine. +Dentatus regaled me with foreign varieties, told me of measures that he +had laid for procuring the best cook in France, and entertained me with +bills of fare, prescribed the arrangement of dishes, and taught me two +sauces invented by himself. At length, such is the uncertainty of human +happiness, I declared my opinion too hastily upon a pie made under his +own direction; after which he grew so cold and negligent, that he was +easily dismissed. + +Many other lovers, or pretended lovers, I have had the honour to lead +awhile in triumph. But two of them I drove from me, by discovering that +they had no taste or knowledge in musick; three I dismissed, because +they were drunkards; two, because they paid their addresses at the same +time to other ladies; and six, because they attempted to influence my +choice by bribing my maid. Two more I discarded at the second visit for +obscene allusions; and five for drollery on religion. In the latter part +of my reign, I sentenced two to perpetual exile, for offering me +settlements, by which the children of a former marriage would have been +injured; four, for representing falsely the value of their estates; +three for concealing their debts; and one, for raising the rent of a +decrepit tenant. + +I have now sent you a narrative, which the ladies may oppose, to the +tale of Hymenaeus. I mean not to depreciate the sex which has produced +poets and philosophers, heroes and martyrs; but will not suffer the +rising generation of beauties to be dejected by partial satire; or to +imagine that those who censured them have not likewise their follies, +and their vices. I do not yet believe happiness unattainable in +marriage, though I have never yet been able to find a man, with whom I +could prudently venture an inseparable union. It is necessary to expose +faults, that their deformity may be seen; but the reproach ought not to +be extended beyond the crime, nor either sex to be contemned, because +some women, or men, are indelicate or dishonest. + +I am, &c. + +TRANQUILLA. + + + +No. 120. SATURDAY, MAY 11, 1751. + + Redditum Cyri solio Phraaten. + Dissidens plebi, numero beatorum + Eiimit virtus, populumque falsis + Dedocet uti + Vocibus.--HOR. Lib. ii. Od. ii. 17. + + True virtue can the crowd unteach + Their false mistaken forms of speech; + Virtue, to crowds a foe profest, + Disdains to number with the blest + Phraates, by his slaves ador'd, + And to the Parthian crown restor'd. FRANCIS. + +In the reign of Jenghiz Can, conqueror of the east, in the city of +Samarcand, lived Nouradin the merchant, renowned throughout all the +regions of India, for the extent of his commerce, and the integrity of +his dealings. His warehouses were filled with all the commodities of the +remotest nations; every rarity of nature, every curiosity of art, +whatever was valuable, whatever was useful, hasted to his hand. The +streets were crowded with his carriages; the sea was covered with his +ships; the streams of Oxus were wearied with conveyance, and every +breeze of the sky wafted wealth to Nouradin. + +At length Nouradin felt himself seized with a slow malady, which he +first endeavoured to divert by application, and afterwards to relieve by +luxury and indulgence; but finding his strength every day less, he was +at last terrified, and called for help upon the sages of physick; they +filled his apartments with alexipharmicks, restoratives, and essential +virtues; the pearls of the ocean were dissolved, the spices of Arabia +were distilled, and all the powers of nature were employed to give new +spirits to his nerves, and new balsam to his blood. Nouradin was for +some time amused with promises, invigorated with cordials, or soothed +with anodynes; but the disease preyed upon his vitals, and he soon +discovered with indignation, that health was not to be bought. He was +confined to his chamber, deserted by his physicians, and rarely visited +by his friends; but his unwillingness to die flattered him long with +hopes of life. + +At length, having passed the night in tedious languor, he called to him +Almamoulin, his only son, and dismissing his attendants, "My son," says +he, "behold here the weakness and fragility of man; look backward a few +days, thy father was great and happy, fresh as the vernal rose, and +strong as the cedar of the mountain; the nations of Asia drank his dews, +and art and commerce delighted in his shade. Malevolence beheld me, and +sighed: 'His root,' she cried, 'is fixed in the depths; it is watered by +the fountains of Oxus; it sends out branches afar, and bids defiance to +the blast; prudence reclines against his trunk, and prosperity dances on +his top.' Now, Almamoulin, look upon me withering and prostrate; look +upon me, and attend. I have trafficked, I have prospered, I have rioted +in gain; my house is splendid, my servants are numerous; yet I displayed +only a small part of my riches; the rest, which I was hindered from +enjoying by the fear of raising envy, or tempting rapacity, I have piled +in towers, I have buried in caverns, I have hidden in secret +repositories, which this scroll will discover. My purpose was, after ten +months more spent in commerce, to have withdrawn my wealth to a safer +country; to have given seven years to delight and festivity, and the +remaining part of my days to solitude and repentance; but the hand of +death is upon me; a frigorifick torpor encroaches upon my veins; I am +now leaving the produce of my toil, which it must be thy business to +enjoy with wisdom." The thought of leaving his wealth filled Nouradin +with such grief, that he fell into convulsions, became delirious, and +expired. + +Almamoulin, who loved his father, was touched a while with honest +sorrow, and sat two hours in profound meditation, without perusing the +paper which he held in his hand. He then retired to his own chamber, as +overborne with affliction, and there read the inventory of his new +possessions, which swelled his heart with such transports, that he no +longer lamented his father's death. He was now sufficiently composed to +order a funeral of modest magnificence, suitable at once to the rank of +Nouradin's profession, and the reputation of his wealth. The two next +nights he spent in visiting the tower and the caverns, and found the +treasures greater to his eye than to his imagination. + +Almamoulin had been bred to the practice of exact frugality, and had +often looked with envy on the finery and expenses of other young men: he +therefore believed, that happiness was now in his power, since he could +obtain all of which he had hitherto been accustomed to regret the want. +He resolved to give a loose to his desires, to revel in enjoyment, and +feel pain or uneasiness no more. + +He immediately procured a splendid equipage, dressed his servants in +rich embroidery, and covered his horses with golden caparisons. He +showered down silver on the populace, and suffered their acclamations to +swell him with insolence. The nobles saw him with anger, the wise men of +the state combined against him, the leaders of armies threatened his +destruction. Almamoulin was informed of his danger: he put on the robe +of mourning in the presence of his enemies, and appeased them with gold, +and gems, and supplication. + +He then sought to strengthen himself by an alliance with the princes of +Tartary, and offered the price of kingdoms for a wife of noble birth. +His suit was generally rejected, and his presents refused; but the +princess of Astracan once condescended to admit him to her presence. She +received him, sitting on a throne, attired in the robe of royalty, and +shining with the jewels of Golconda; command sparkled in her eyes, and +dignity towered on her forehead. Almamoulin approached and trembled. She +saw his confusion and disdained him: "How," says she, "dares the wretch +hope my obedience, who thus shrinks at my glance? Retire, and enjoy thy +riches in sordid ostentation; thou wast born to be wealthy, but never +canst be great." + +He then contracted his desires to more private and domestick pleasures. +He built palaces, he laid out gardens[d], he changed the face of the +land, he transplanted forests, he levelled mountains, opened prospects +into distant regions, poured fountains from the tops of turrets, and +rolled rivers through new channels. + +These amusements pleased him for a time; but languor and weariness soon +invaded him. His bowers lost their fragrance, and the waters murmured +without notice. He purchased large tracts of land in distant provinces, +adorned them with houses of pleasure, and diversified them with +accommodations for different seasons. Change of place at first relieved +his satiety, but all the novelties of situation were soon exhausted; he +found his heart vacant, and his desires, for want of external objects, +ravaging himself. + +He therefore returned to Samarcand, and set open his doors to those whom +idleness sends out in search of pleasure. His tables were always covered +with delicacies; wines of every vintage sparkled in his bowls, and his +lamps scattered perfumes. The sound of the lute, and the voice of the +singer, chased away sadness; every hour was crowded with pleasure; and +the day ended and began with feasts and dances, and revelry and +merriment. Almamoulin cried out, "I have at last found the use of +riches; I am surrounded by companions, who view my greatness without +envy; and I enjoy at once the raptures of popularity, and the safety of +an obscure station. What trouble can he feel, whom all are studious to +please, that they may be repaid with pleasure? What danger can he dread, +to whom every man is a friend?" + +Such were the thoughts of Almamoulin, as he looked down from a gallery +upon the gay assembly regaling at his expense; but, in the midst of this +soliloquy, an officer of justice entered the house, and in the form of +legal citation, summoned Almamoulin to appear before the emperor. The +guests stood awhile aghast, then stole imperceptibly away, and he was +led off without a single voice to witness his integrity. He now found +one of his most frequent visitants accusing him of treason, in hopes of +sharing his confiscation; yet, unpatronized and unsupported, he cleared +himself by the openness of innocence, and the consistence of truth; he +was dismissed with honour, and his accuser perished in prison. + +Almamoulin now perceived with how little reason he had hoped for justice +or fidelity from those who live only to gratify their senses; and, being +now weary with vain experiments upon life and fruitless researches after +felicity, he had recourse to a sage, who, after spending his youth in +travel and observation, had retired from all human cares, to a small +habitation on the banks of Oxus, where he conversed only with such as +solicited his counsel. "Brother," said the philosopher, "thou hast +suffered thy reason to be deluded by idle hopes, and fallacious +appearances. Having long looked with desire upon riches, thou hadst +taught thyself to think them more valuable than nature designed them, +and to expect from them, what experience has now taught thee, that they +cannot give. That they do not confer wisdom, thou mayest be convinced, +by considering at how dear a price they tempted thee, upon thy first +entrance into the world, to purchase the empty sound of vulgar +acclamation. That they cannot bestow fortitude or magnanimity, that man +may be certain, who stood trembling at Astracan, before a being not +naturally superior to himself. That they will not supply unexhausted +pleasure, the recollection of forsaken palaces, and neglected gardens, +will easily inform thee. That they rarely purchase friends, thou didst +soon discover, when thou wert left to stand thy trial uncountenanced and +alone. Yet think not riches useless; there are purposes to which a wise +man may be delighted to apply them; they may, by a rational distribution +to those who want them, ease the pains of helpless disease, still the +throbs of restless anxiety, relieve innocence from oppression, and raise +imbecility to cheerfulness and vigour. This they will enable thee to +perform, and this will afford the only happiness ordained for our +present state, the confidence of Divine favour, and the hope of future +rewards." + +[Footnote d: See Vathek.] + + + +No. 121. TUESDAY, MAY 14, 1751. + + O imitatores, servum pecus! Hor. Lib. i. Ep. xix. 19. + + Away, ye imitators, servile herd! ELPHINSTON. + +I have been informed by a letter from one of the universities, that +among the youth from whom the next swarm of reasoners is to learn +philosophy, and the next flight of beauties to hear elegies and sonnets, +there are many, who, instead of endeavouring by books and meditation to +form their own opinions, content themselves with the secondary +knowledge, which a convenient bench in a coffee-house can supply; and +without any examination or distinction, adopt the criticisms and +remarks, which happen to drop from those who have risen, by merit or +fortune, to reputation and authority. + +These humble retailers of knowledge my correspondent stigmatises with +the name of Echoes; and seems desirous that they should be made ashamed +of lazy submission, and animated to attempts after new discoveries and +original sentiments. + +It is very natural for young men to be vehement, acrimonious, and +severe. For, as they seldom comprehend at once all the consequences of a +position, or perceive the difficulties by which cooler and more +experienced reasoners are restrained from confidence, they form their +conclusions with great precipitance. Seeing nothing that can darken or +embarrass the question, they expect to find their own opinion +universally prevalent, and are inclined to impute uncertainty and +hesitation to want of honesty, rather than of knowledge. I may, perhaps, +therefore, be reproached by my lively correspondent, when it shall be +found, that I have no inclination to persecute these collectors of +fortuitous knowledge with the severity required; yet, as I am now too +old to be much pained by hasty censure, I shall not be afraid of taking +into protection those whom I think condemned without a sufficient +knowledge of their cause. + +He that adopts the sentiments of another, whom he has reason to believe +wiser than himself, is only to be blamed when he claims the honours +which are not due but to the author, and endeavours to deceive the world +into praise and veneration; for, to learn, is the proper business of +youth; and whether we increase our knowledge by books or by +conversation, we are equally indebted to foreign assistance. + +The greater part of students are not born with abilities to construct +systems, or advance knowledge; nor can have any hope beyond that of +becoming intelligent hearers in the schools of art, of being able to +comprehend what others discover, and to remember what others teach. Even +those to whom Providence hath allotted greater strength of +understanding, can expect only to improve a single science. In every +other part of learning, they must be content to follow opinions, which +they are not able to examine; and, even in that which they claim as +peculiarly their own, can seldom add more than some small particle of +knowledge, to the hereditary stock devolved to them from ancient times, +the collective labour of a thousand intellects. + +In science, which, being fixed and limited, admits of no other variety +than such as arises from new methods of distribution, or new arts of +illustration, the necessity of following the traces of our predecessors +is indisputably evident; but there appears no reason, why imagination +should be subject to the same restraint. It might be conceived, that of +those who profess to forsake the narrow paths of truth, every one may +deviate towards a different point, since, though rectitude is uniform +and fixed, obliquity may be infinitely diversified. The roads of science +are narrow, so that they who travel them, must either follow or meet one +another; but in the boundless regions of possibility, which fiction +claims for her dominion, there are surely a thousand recesses +unexplored, a thousand flowers unplucked, a thousand fountains +unexhausted, combinations of imagery yet unobserved, and races of ideal +inhabitants not hitherto described. + +Yet, whatever hope may persuade, or reason evince, experience can boast +of very few additions to ancient fable. The wars of Troy, and the +travels of Ulysses, have furnished almost all succeeding poets with +incidents, characters, and sentiments. The Romans are confessed to have +attempted little more than to display in their own tongue the inventions +of the Greeks. There is, in all their writings, such a perpetual +recurrence of allusions to the tales of the fabulous age, that they must +be confessed often to want that power of giving pleasure which novelty +supplies; nor can we wonder that they excelled so much in the graces of +diction, when we consider how rarely they were employed in search of new +thoughts. + +The warmest admirers of the great Mantuan poet can extol him for little +more than the skill with which he has, by making his hero both a +traveller and a warrior, united the beauties of the Iliad and the +Odyssey in one composition: yet his judgment was perhaps sometimes +overborne by his avarice of the Homeric treasures; and, for fear of +suffering a sparkling ornament to be lost, he has inserted it where it +cannot shine with its original splendour. + +When Ulysses visited the infernal regions, he found among the heroes +that perished at Troy, his competitor, Ajax, who, when the arms of +Achilles were adjudged to Ulysses, died by his own hand in the madness +of disappointment. He still appeared to resent, as on earth, his loss +and disgrace, Ulysses endeavoured to pacify him with praises and +submission; but Ajax walked away without reply. This passage has always +been considered as eminently beautiful; because Ajax, the haughty chief, +the unlettered soldier, of unshaken courage, of immovable constancy, but +without the power of recommending his own virtues by eloquence, or +enforcing his assertions by any other argument than the sword, had no +way of making his anger known, but by gloomy sullenness and dumb +ferocity. His hatred of a man whom he conceived to have defeated him +only by volubility of tongue, was therefore naturally shewn by silence +more contemptuous and piercing than any words that so rude an orator +could have found, and by which he gave his enemy no opportunity of +exerting the only power in which he was superior. + +When Æneas is sent by Virgil to the shades, he meets Dido the queen of +Carthage, whom his perfidy had hurried to the grave; he accosts her with +tenderness and excuses; but the lady turns away like Ajax in mute +disdain. She turns away like Ajax; but she resembles him in none of +those qualities which give either dignity or propriety to silence. She +might, without any departure from the tenour of her conduct, have burst +out like other injured women into clamour, reproach, and denunciation; +but Virgil had his imagination full of Ajax, and therefore could not +prevail on himself to teach Dido any other mode of resentment. + +If Virgil could be thus seduced by imitation, there will be little hope, +that common wits should escape; and accordingly we find, that besides +the universal and acknowledged practice of copying the ancients, there +has prevailed in every age a particular species of fiction. At one time +all truth was conveyed in allegory; at another, nothing was seen but in +a vision; at one period all the poets followed sheep, and every event +produced a pastoral; at another they busied themselves wholly in giving +directions to a painter. + +It is indeed easy to conceive why any fashion should become popular, by +which idleness is favoured, and imbecility assisted; but surely no man +of genius can much applaud himself for repeating a tale with which the +audience is already tired, and which could bring no honour to any but +its inventor. + +There are, I think, two schemes of writing, on which the laborious wits +of the present time employ their faculties. One is the adaptation of +sense to all the rhymes which our language can supply to some word, that +makes the burden of the stanza; but this, as it has been only used in a +kind of amorous burlesque, can scarcely be censured with much acrimony. +The other is the imitation of Spenser, which, by the influence of some +men of learning and genius, seems likely to gain upon the age, and +therefore deserves to be more attentively considered. + +To imitate the fictions and sentiments of Spenser can incur no reproach, +for allegory is perhaps one of the most pleasing vehicles of +instruction. But I am very far from extending the same respect to his +diction or his stanza. His style was in his own time allowed to be +vicious, so darkened with old words and peculiarities of phrase, and so +remote from common use, that Jonson boldly pronounces him _to have +written no language_. His stanza is at once difficult and unpleasing; +tiresome to the ear by its uniformity, and to the attention by its +length. It was at first formed in imitation of the Italian poets, +without due regard to the genius of our language. The Italians have +little variety of termination, and were forced to contrive such a stanza +as might admit the greatest number of similar rhymes; but our words end +with so much diversity, that it is seldom convenient for us to bring +more than two of the same sound together. If it be justly observed by +Milton, that rhyme obliges poets to express their thoughts in improper +terms, these improprieties must always be multiplied, as the difficulty +of rhyme is increased by long concatenations. + +The imitators of Spenser are indeed not very rigid censors of +themselves, for they seem to conclude, that when they have disfigured +their lines with a few obsolete syllables, they have accomplished their +design, without considering that they ought not only to admit old words, +but to avoid new. The laws of imitation are broken by every word +introduced since the time of Spenser, as the character of Hector is +violated by quoting Aristotle in the play. It would, indeed, be +difficult to exclude from a long poem all modern phrases, though it is +easy to sprinkle it with gleanings of antiquity. Perhaps, however, the +style of Spenser might by long labour be justly copied; but life is +surely given us for higher purposes than to gather what our ancestors +have wisely thrown away, and to learn what is of no value, but because +it has been forgotten. + + + +No. 122. SATURDAY, MAY 18, 1751. + + Nescio qua natale solum dulcedine captos + Ducit. OVID, Ex Pon. Lib. i. Ep. iii. 35. + + By secret charms our native land attracts. + +Nothing is more subject to mistake and disappointment than anticipated +judgment concerning the easiness or difficulty of any undertaking, +whether we form our opinion from the performances of others, or from +abstracted contemplation of the thing to be attempted. + +Whatever is done skilfully appears to be done with ease; and art, when +it is once matured to habit, vanishes from observation. We are therefore +more powerfully excited to emulation, by those who have attained the +highest degree of excellence, and whom we can therefore with least +reason hope to equal. + +In adjusting the probability of success by a previous consideration of +the undertaking, we are equally in danger of deceiving ourselves. It is +never easy, nor often possible, to comprise the series of any process +with all its circumstances, incidents, and variations, in a speculative +scheme. Experience soon shows us the tortuosities of imaginary +rectitude, the complications of simplicity, and the asperities of +smoothness. Sudden difficulties often start up from the ambushes of art, +stop the career of activity, repress the gaiety of confidence, and when +we imagine ourselves almost at the end of our labours, drive us back to +new plans and different measures. + +There are many things which we every day see others unable to perform, +and perhaps have even ourselves miscarried in attempting; and yet can +hardly allow to be difficult; nor can we forbear to wonder afresh at +every new failure, or to promise certainty of success to our next essay; +but when we try, the same hindrances recur, the same inability is +perceived, and the vexation of disappointment must again be suffered. + +Of the various kinds of speaking or writing, which serve necessity, or +promote pleasure, none appears so artless or easy as simple narration; +for what should make him that knows the whole order and progress of an +affair unable to relate it? Yet we hourly find such as endeavour to +entertain or instruct us by recitals, clouding the facts which they +intend to illustrate, and losing themselves and their auditors in wilds +and mazes, in digression and confusion. When we have congratulated +ourselves upon a new opportunity of inquiry, and new means of +information, it often happens, that without designing either deceit or +concealment, without ignorance of the fact, or unwillingness to disclose +it, the relator fills the ear with empty sounds, harasses the attention +with fruitless impatience, and disturbs the imagination by a tumult of +events, without order of time, or train of consequence. + +It is natural to believe, upon the same principle, that no writer has a +more easy task than the historian. The philosopher has the works of +omniscience to examine; and is therefore engaged in disquisitions, to +which finite intellects are utterly unequal. The poet trusts to his +invention, and is not only in danger of those inconsistencies, to which +every one is exposed by departure from truth; but may be censured as +well for deficiencies of matter, as for irregularity of disposition, or +impropriety of ornament. But the happy historian has no other labour +than of gathering what tradition pours down before him, or records +treasure for his use. He has only the actions and designs of men like +himself to conceive and to relate; he is not to form, but copy +characters, and therefore is not blamed for the inconsistency of +statesmen, the injustice of tyrants, or the cowardice of commanders. The +difficulty of making variety consistent, or uniting probability with +surprise, needs not to disturb him; the manners and actions of his +personages are already fixed; his materials are provided and put into +his hands, and he is at leisure to employ all his powers in arranging +and displaying them. + +Yet, even with these advantages, very few in any age have been able to +raise themselves to reputation by writing histories; and among the +innumerable authors, who fill every nation with accounts of their +ancestors, or undertake to transmit to futurity the events of their own +time, the greater part, when fashion and novelty have ceased to +recommend them, are of no other use than chronological memorials, which +necessity may sometimes require to be consulted, but which fright away +curiosity, and disgust delicacy. + +It is observed, that our nation, which has produced so many authors +eminent for almost every other species of literary excellence, has been +hitherto remarkably barren of historical genius; and so far has this +defect raised prejudices against us, that some have doubted whether an +Englishman can stop at that mediocrity of style, or confine his mind to +that even tenour of imagination, which narrative requires. + +They who can believe that nature has so capriciously distributed +understanding, have surely no claim to the honour of serious +confutation. The inhabitants of the same country have opposite +characters in different ages; the prevalence or neglect of any +particular study can proceed only from the accidental influence of some +temporary cause; and if we have failed in history, we can have failed +only because history has not hitherto been diligently cultivated. + +But how is it evident, that we have not historians among us, whom we may +venture to place in comparison with any that the neighbouring nations +can produce? The attempt of Raleigh is deservedly celebrated for the +labour of his researches, and the elegance of his style; but he has +endeavoured to exert his judgment more than his genius, to select facts, +rather than adorn them; and has produced an historical dissertation, but +seldom risen to the majesty of history. + +The works of Clarendon deserve more regard. His diction is indeed +neither exact in itself, nor suited to the purpose of history. It is the +effusion of a mind crowded with ideas, and desirous of imparting them; +and therefore always accumulating words, and involving one clause and +sentence in another. But there is in his negligence a rude inartificial +majesty, which, without the nicety of laboured elegance, swells the mind +by its plenitude and diffusion. His narration is not perhaps +sufficiently rapid, being stopped too frequently by particularities, +which, though they might strike the author who was present at the +transactions, will not equally detain the attention of posterity. But +his ignorance or carelessness of the art of writing is amply compensated +by his knowledge of nature and of policy; the wisdom of his maxims, the +justness of his reasonings, and the variety, distinctness, and strength +of his characters. + +But none of our writers can, in my opinion, justly contest the +superiority of Knolles, who, in his history of the Turks, has displayed +all the excellencies that narration can admit. His style, though +somewhat obscured by time, and sometimes vitiated by false wit, is pure, +nervous, elevated, and clear. A wonderful multiplicity of events is so +artfully arranged, and so distinctly explained, that each facilitates +the knowledge of the next. Whenever a new personage is introduced, the +reader is prepared by his character for his actions; when a nation is +first attacked, or city besieged, he is made acquainted with its +history, or situation; so that a great part of the world is brought into +view. The descriptions of this author are without minuteness, and the +digressions without ostentation. Collateral events are so artfully woven +into the contexture of his principal story, that they cannot be +disjoined without leaving it lacerated and broken. There is nothing +turgid in his dignity, nor superfluous in his copiousness. His orations +only, which he feigns, like the ancient historians, to have been +pronounced on remarkable occasions, are tedious and languid; and since +they are merely the voluntary sports of imagination, prove how much the +most judicious and skilful may be mistaken in the estimate of their own +powers. + +Nothing could have sunk this author in obscurity, but the remoteness and +barbarity of the people, whose story he relates. It seldom happens, that +all circumstances concur to happiness or fame. The nation which produced +this great historian, has the grief of seeing his genius employed upon a +foreign and uninteresting subject; and that writer who might have +secured perpetuity to his name, by a history of his own country, has +exposed himself to the danger of oblivion, by recounting enterprises and +revolutions, of which none desire to be informed. + + +No. 123. TUESDAY, MAY 21, 1751. + + _Quo semet est imbuta recens, servabit odorem + Testa din_.--HOR. Lib. i. Ep. ii. 69. + + What season'd first the vessel, keeps the taste. CREECH. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +Though I have so long found myself deluded by projects of honour and +distinction, that I often resolve to admit them no more into my heart; +yet how determinately soever excluded, they always recover their +dominion by force or stratagem; and whenever, after the shortest +relaxation of vigilance, reason and caution return to their charge, they +find hope again in possession, with all her train of pleasures dancing +about her. + +Even while I am preparing to write a history of disappointed +expectations, I cannot forbear to flatter myself, that you and your +readers are impatient for my performance; and that the sons of learning +have laid down several of your late papers with discontent, when they +found that Misocapelus had delayed to continue his narrative. + +But the desire of gratifying the expectations that I have raised, is not +the only motive of this relation, which, having once promised it, I +think myself no longer at liberty to forbear. For, however I may have +wished to clear myself from every other adhesion of trade, I hope I +shall be always wise enough to retain my punctuality, and amidst all my +new arts of politeness, continue to despise negligence, and detest +falsehood. + +When the death of my brother had dismissed me from the duties of a shop, +I considered myself as restored to the rights of my birth, and entitled +to the rank and reception which my ancestors obtained. I was, however, +embarrassed with many difficulties at my first re-entrance into the +world; for my haste to be a gentleman inclined me to precipitate +measures; and every accident that forced me back towards my old station, +was considered by me as an obstruction of my happiness. + +It was with no common grief and indignation, that I found my former +companions still daring to claim my notice, and the journeymen and +apprentices sometimes pulling me by the sleeve as I was walking in the +street, and without any terrour of my new sword, which was, +notwithstanding, of an uncommon size, inviting me to partake of a bottle +at the old house, and entertaining me with histories of the girls in the +neighbourhood. I had always, in my officinal state, been kept in awe by +lace and embroidery; and imagined that, to fright away these unwelcome +familiarities, nothing was necessary, but that I should, by splendour of +dress, proclaim my re-union with a higher rank. I, therefore, sent for +my tailor; ordered a suit with twice the usual quantity of lace; and +that I might not let my persecutors increase their confidence, by the +habit of accosting me, staid at home till it was made. + +This week of confinement I passed in practising a forbidding frown, a +smile of condescension, a slight salutation, and an abrupt departure; +and in four mornings was able to turn upon my heel, with so much levity +and sprightliness, that I made no doubt of discouraging all publick +attempts upon my dignity. I therefore issued forth in my new coat, with +a resolution of dazzling intimacy to a fitter distance; and pleased +myself with the timidity and reverence, which I should impress upon all +who had hitherto presumed to harass me with their freedoms. But, +whatever was the cause, I did not find myself received with any new +degree of respect; those whom I intended to drive from me, ventured to +advance with their usual phrases of benevolence; and those whose +acquaintance I solicited, grew more supercilious and reserved. I began +soon to repent the expense, by which I had procured no advantage, and to +suspect that a shining dress, like a weighty weapon, has no force in +itself, but owes all its efficacy to him that wears it. + +Many were the mortifications and calamities which I was condemned to +suffer in my initiation to politeness. I was so much tortured by the +incessant civilities of my companions, that I never passed through that +region of the city but in a chair with the curtains drawn; and at last +left my lodgings, and fixed myself in the verge of the court. Here I +endeavoured to be thought a gentleman just returned from his travels, +and was pleased to have my landlord believe that I was in some danger +from importunate creditors; but this scheme was quickly defeated by a +formal deputation sent to offer me, though I had now retired from +business, the freedom of my company. + +I was now detected in trade, and therefore resolved to stay no longer. I +hired another apartment, and changed my servants. Here I lived very +happily for three months, and, with secret satisfaction, often overheard +the family celebrating the greatness and felicity of the esquire; though +the conversation seldom ended without some complaint of my covetousness, +or some remark upon my language, or my gait. I now began to venture in +the publick walks, and to know the faces of nobles and beauties; but +could not observe, without wonder, as I passed by them, how frequently +they were talking of a tailor. I longed, however, to be admitted to +conversation, and was somewhat weary of walking in crowds without a +companion, yet continued to come and go with the rest, till a lady whom +I endeavoured to protect in a crowded passage, as she was about to step +into her chariot, thanked me for my civility, and told me, that, as she +had often distinguished me for my modest and respectful behaviour, +whenever I set up for myself, I might expect to see her among my first +customers. + +Here was an end of all my ambulatory projects. I indeed sometimes +entered the walks again, but was always blasted by this destructive +lady, whose mischievous generosity recommended me to her acquaintance. +Being therefore forced to practise my adscititious character upon +another stage, I betook myself to a coffee-house frequented by wits, +among whom I learned in a short time the cant of criticism, and talked +so loudly and volubly of nature, and manners, and sentiment, and +diction, and similies, and contrasts, and action, and pronunciation, +that I was often desired to lead the hiss and clap, and was feared and +hated by the players and the poets. Many a sentence have I hissed, which +I did not understand, and many a groan have I uttered, when the ladies +were weeping in the boxes. At last a malignant author, whose performance +I had persecuted through the nine nights, wrote an epigram upon Tape the +critick, which drove me from the pit for ever. + +My desire to be a fine gentleman still continued: I therefore, after a +short suspense, chose a new set of friends at the gaming-table, and was +for some time pleased with the civility and openness with which I found +myself treated. I was indeed obliged to play; but being naturally +timorous and vigilant, was never surprised into large sums. What might +have been the consequence of long familiarity with these plunderers, I +had not an opportunity of knowing; for one night the constables entered +and seized us, and I was once more compelled to sink into my former +condition, by sending for my old master to attest my character. + +When I was deliberating to what new qualifications I should aspire, I +was summoned into the country, by an account of my father's death. Here +I had hopes of being able to distinguish myself, and to support the +honour of my family. I therefore bought guns and horses, and, contrary +to the expectation of the tenants, increased the salary of the huntsman. +But when I entered the field, it was soon discovered, that I was not +destined to the glories of the chase. I was afraid of thorns in the +thicket, and of dirt in the marsh; I shivered on the brink of a river +while the sportsmen crossed it, and trembled at the sight of a five-bar +gate. When the sport and danger were over, I was still equally +disconcerted; for I was effeminate, though not delicate, and could only +join a feeble whispering voice in the clamours of their triumph. + +A fall, by which my ribs were broken, soon recalled me to domestick +pleasures, and I exerted all my art to obtain the favour of the +neighbouring ladies; but wherever I came, there was always some unlucky +conversation upon ribands, fillets, pins, or thread, which drove all my +stock of compliments out of my memory, and overwhelmed me with shame and +dejection. + +Thus I passed the ten first years after the death of my brother, in +which I have learned at last to repress that ambition, which I could +never gratify; and, instead of wasting more of my life in vain +endeavours after accomplishments, which, if not early acquired, no +endeavours can obtain, I shall confine my care to those higher +excellencies which are in every man's power, and though I cannot enchant +affection by elegance and ease, hope to secure esteem by honesty and +truth. + +I am, &c. + +MISOCAPELUS. + + + +No. 124. SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1751. + + --Taciturn sylvas inter reptare salubres, + Curantem quicquid dignim sapiente bonoque est? + HOR. Lib. i. Ep. iv. 4. + + To range in silence through each healthful wood, + And muse what's worthy of the wise and good. ELPHINSTON. + +The season of the year is now come, in which the theatres are shut, and +the card-tables forsaken; the regions of luxury are for a while +unpeopled, and pleasure leads out her votaries to groves and gardens, to +still scenes and erratick gratifications. Those who have passed many +months in a continual tumult of diversion; who have never opened their +eyes in the morning, but upon some new appointment; nor slept at night +without a dream of dances, musick, and good hands, or of soft sighs and +humble supplications; must now retire to distant provinces, where the +syrens of flattery are scarcely to be heard, where beauty sparkles +without praise or envy, and wit is repeated only by the echo. + +As I think it one of the most important duties of social benevolence to +give warning of the approach of calamity, when by timely prevention it +may be turned aside, or by preparatory measures be more easily endured, +I cannot feel the increasing warmth, or observe the lengthening days, +without considering the condition of my fair readers, who are now +preparing to leave all that has so long filled up their hours, all from +which they have been accustomed to hope for delight; and who, till +fashion proclaims the liberty of returning to the seats of mirth and +elegance, must endure the rugged 'squire, the sober housewife, the loud +huntsman, or the formal parson, the roar of obstreperous jollity, or the +dulness of prudential instruction; without any retreat, but to the gloom +of solitude, where they will yet find greater inconveniencies, and must +learn, however unwillingly, to endure themselves. + +In winter, the life of the polite and gay may be said to roll on with a +strong and rapid current; they float along from pleasure to pleasure, +without the trouble of regulating their own motions, and pursue the +course of the stream in all the felicity of inattention; content that +they find themselves in progression, and careless whither they are +going. But the months of summer are a kind of sleeping stagnation +without wind or tide, where they are left to force themselves forward by +their own labour, and to direct their passage by their own skill; and +where, if they have not some internal principle of activity, they must +be stranded upon shallows, or lie torpid in a perpetual calm. + +There are, indeed, some to whom this universal dissolution of gay +societies affords a welcome opportunity of quitting, without disgrace, +the post which they have found themselves unable to maintain; and of +seeming to retreat only at the call of nature, from assemblies where, +after a short triumph of uncontested superiority, they are overpowered +by some new intruder of softer elegance or sprightlier vivacity. By +these, hopeless of victory, and yet ashamed to confess a conquest, the +summer is regarded as a release from the fatiguing service of celebrity, +a dismission to more certain joys and a safer empire. They now solace +themselves with the influence which they shall obtain, where they have +no rival to fear; and with the lustre which they shall effuse, when +nothing can be seen of brighter splendour. They imagine, while they are +preparing for their journey, the admiration with which the rusticks will +crowd about them; plan the laws of a new assembly; or contrive to delude +provincial ignorance with a fictitious mode. A thousand pleasing +expectations swarm in the fancy; and all the approaching weeks are +filled with distinctions, honours, and authority. + +But others, who have lately entered the world, or have yet had no proofs +of its inconstancy and desertion, are cut off, by this cruel +interruption, from the enjoyment of their prerogatives, and doomed to +lose four months in inactive obscurity. Many complaints do vexation and +desire extort from those exiled tyrants of the town, against the +inexorable sun, who pursues his course without any regard to love or +beauty; and visits either tropick at the stated time, whether shunned or +courted, deprecated or implored. + +To them who leave the places of publick resort in the full bloom of +reputation, and withdraw from admiration, courtship, submission, and +applause, a rural triumph can give nothing equivalent. The praise of +ignorance, and the subjection of weakness, are little regarded by +beauties who have been accustomed to more important conquests, and more +valuable panegyricks. Nor indeed should the powers which have made +havock in the theatres, or borne down rivalry in courts, be degraded to +a mean attack upon the untravelled heir, or ignoble contest with the +ruddy milkmaid. + +How then must four long months be worn away? Four months, in which there +will be no routes, no shows, no ridottos; in which visits must be +regulated by the weather, and assemblies will depend upon the moon! The +Platonists imagine, that the future punishment of those who have in this +life debased their reason by subjection to their senses, and have +preferred the gross gratifications of lewdness and luxury, to the pure +and sublime felicity of virtue and contemplation, will arise from the +predominance and solicitations of the same appetites, in a state which +can furnish no means of appeasing them. I cannot but suspect that this +month, bright with sunshine, and fragrant with perfumes; this month, +which covers the meadow with verdure, and decks the gardens with all the +mixtures of colorifick radiance; this month, from which the man of fancy +expects new infusions of imagery, and the naturalist new scenes of +observation; this month will chain down multitudes to the Platonick +penance of desire without enjoyment, and hurry them from the highest +satisfactions, which they have yet learned to conceive, into a state of +hopeless wishes and pining recollection, where the eye of vanity will +look round for admiration to no purpose, and the hand of avarice shuffle +cards in a bower with ineffectual dexterity. + +From the tediousness of this melancholy suspension of life, I would +willingly preserve those who are exposed to it, only by inexperience; +who want not inclination to wisdom or virtue, though they have been +dissipated by negligence, or misled by example; and who would gladly +find the way to rational happiness, though it should be necessary to +struggle with habit, and abandon fashion. To these many arts of spending +time might be recommended, which would neither sadden the present hour +with weariness, nor the future with repentance. + +It would seem impossible to a solitary speculatist, that a human being +can want employment. To be born in ignorance with a capacity of +knowledge, and to be placed in the midst of a world filled with variety, +perpetually pressing upon the senses and irritating curiosity, is surely +a sufficient security against the languishment of inattention. Novelty +is indeed necessary to preserve eagerness and alacrity; but art and +nature have stores inexhaustible by human intellects; and every moment +produces something new to him, who has quickened his faculties by +diligent observation. + +Some studies, for which the country and the summer afford peculiar +opportunities, I shall perhaps endeavour to recommend in a future essay; +but if there be any apprehension not apt to admit unaccustomed ideas, or +any attention so stubborn and inflexible, as not easily to comply with +new directions, even these obstructions cannot exclude the pleasure of +application; for there is a higher and nobler employment, to which all +faculties are adapted by Him who gave them. The duties of religion, +sincerely and regularly performed, will always be sufficient to exalt +the meanest, and to exercise the highest understanding. That mind will +never be vacant, which is frequently recalled by stated duties to +meditations on eternal interests; nor can any hour be long, which is +spent in obtaining some new qualification for celestial happiness. + + + +No. 125. TUESDAY, MAY 28, 1751. + + _Descriptas servare vices, operumque colores, + Cur ego, si nequeo ignoroque, poëta salutor?_ HOR. De Ar. Poet. 86. + + But if, through weakness, or my want of art, + I can't to every different style impart + The proper strokes and colours it may claim, + Why am I honour'd with a poet's name? FRANCIS. + +It is one of the maxims of the civil law, that _definitions are +hazardous_. Things modified by human understandings, subject to +varieties of complication, and changeable as experience advances +knowledge, or accident influences caprice, are scarcely to be included +in any standing form of expression, because they are always suffering +some alteration of their state. Definition is, indeed, not the province +of man; every thing is set above or below our faculties. The works and +operations of nature are too great in their extent, or too much diffused +in their relations, and the performances of art too inconstant and +uncertain, to be reduced to any determinate idea. It is impossible to +impress upon our minds an adequate and just representation of an object +so great that we can never take it into our view, or so mutable that it +is always changing under our eye, and has already lost its form while we +are labouring to conceive it. + +Definitions have been no less difficult or uncertain in criticisms than +in law. Imagination, a licentious and vagrant faculty, unsusceptible of +limitations, and impatient of restraint, has always endeavoured to +baffle the logician, to perplex the confines of distinction, and burst +the inclosures of regularity. There is therefore scarcely any species of +writing, of which we can tell what is its essence, and what are its +constituents; every new genius produces some innovation, which, when +invented and approved, subverts the rules which the practice of +foregoing authors had established. + +Comedy has been particularly unpropitious to definers; for though +perhaps they might properly have contented themselves, with declaring it +to be _such a dramatick representation of human life, as may excite +mirth_, they have embarrassed their definition with the means by which +the comick writers attain their end, without considering that the +various methods of exhilarating their audience, not being limited by +nature, cannot be comprised in precept. Thus, some make comedy a +representation of mean and others of bad men; some think that its +essence consists in the unimportance, others in the fictitiousness of +the transaction. But any man's reflections will inform him, that every +dramatick composition which raises mirth, is comick; and that, to raise +mirth, it is by no means universally necessary, that the personages +should be either mean or corrupt, nor always requisite, that the action +should be trivial, nor ever, that it should be fictitious. + +If the two kinds of dramatick poetry had been defined only by their +effects upon the mind, some absurdities might have been prevented, with +which the compositions of our greatest poets are disgraced, who, for +want of some settled ideas and accurate distinctions, have unhappily +confounded tragick with comick sentiments. They seem to have thought, +that as the meanest of personages constituted comedy, their greatness +was sufficient to form a tragedy; and that nothing was necessary but +that they should crowd the scene with monarchs, and generals, and +guards; and make them talk, at certain intervals, of the downfall of +kingdoms, and the rout of armies. They have not considered, that +thoughts or incidents, in themselves ridiculous, grow still more +grotesque by the solemnity of such characters; that reason and nature +are uniform and inflexible: and that what is despicable and absurd, will +not, by any association with splendid titles, become rational or great; +that the most important affairs, by an intermixture of an unseasonable +levity, may be made contemptible; and that the robes of royalty can give +no dignity to nonsense or to folly. + +"Comedy," says Horace, "sometimes raises her voice;" and Tragedy may +likewise on proper occasions abate her dignity; but as the comick +personages can only depart from their familiarity of style, when the +more violent passions are put in motion, the heroes and queens of +tragedy should never descend to trifle, but in the hours of ease, and +intermissions of danger. Yet in the tragedy of Don Sebastian, when the +king of Portugal is in the hands of his enemy, and having just drawn the +lot, by which he is condemned to die, breaks out into a wild boast that +his dust shall take possession of Africk, the dialogue proceeds thus +between the captive and his conqueror: + + _Muley Moluch_. What shall I do to conquer thee? + + _Seb_. Impossible! + Souls know no conquerors. + + _M. Mol_. I'll shew thee for a monster thro' my Afric. + + _Seb_. No, thou canst only shew me for a man: + Afric is stored with monsters; man's a prodigy + Thy subjects have not seen. + + _M. Mol_. Thou talk'st as if + Still at the head of battle. + + _Seb_. Thou mistak'st, + For there I would not talk. + + _Benducar, the Minister_. Sure he would sleep. + This conversation, with the sly remark of the minister, can only be +found not to be comick, because it wants the probability necessary to +representations of common life, and degenerates too much towards +buffoonery and farce. + +The same play affords a smart return of the general to to the emperor, +who, enforcing his orders for the death of Sebastian, vents his +impatience in this abrupt threat: + + --No more replies, + But see thou dost it: Or-- + +To which Dorax answers, + + Choak in that threat: I can say Or as loud. + +A thousand instances of such impropriety might be produced, were not one +scene in Aureng-Zebe sufficient to exemplify it. Indamora, a captive +queen, having Aureng-Zebe for her lover, employs Arimant, to whose +charge she had been entrusted, and whom she had made sensible of her +charms, to carry her message to his rival. + + ARIMANT, _with a letter in his hand_: INDAMORA. + + _Arim_. And I the messenger to him from you? + Your empire you to tyranny pursue: + You lay commands both cruel and unjust, + To serve my rival, and betray my trust. + + _Ind_. You first betray'd your trust in loving me: + And should not I my own advantage see? + Serving my love, you may my friendship gain; + You know the rest of your pretences vain. + You must, my Arimant, you must be kind: + 'Tis in your nature, and your noble mind. + + _Arim_. I'll to the king, and straight my trust resign. + + _Ind_. His trust you may, but you shall never mine. + Heaven made you love me for no other end, + But to become my confidant and friend: + As such, I keep no secret from your sight, + And therefore make you judge how ill I write: + Read it, and tell me freely then your mind, + If 'tis indited, as I meant it, kind. + + Arim. _I ask not heaven my freedom to restore_--[Reading. + _But only for your sake_--I'll read no more. + And yet I must-- + _Less for my own, than for your sorrow sad_--[Reading. + Another line like this, would make me mad-- + Heav'n! she goes on--yet more--and yet more kind! + [--_As reading_. + Each sentence is a dagger to my mind. + _See me this night_--[Reading. + _Thank fortune who did such a friend provide; + For faithful Arimant shall be your guide_. + Not only to be made an instrument, + But pre-engaged without my own consent! + + _Ind_. Unknown to engage you still augments my score, + And gives you scope of meriting the more. + + _Arim_. The best of men + Some int'rest in their actions must confess; + None merit, but in hope they may possess: + The fatal paper rather let me tear, + Than, like Bellerophon, my own sentence hear. + + _Ind_. You may; but 'twill not be your best advice: + 'Twill only give me pains of writing twice. + You know you must obey me, soon or late: + Why should you vainly struggle with your fate? + + _Arim_. I thank thee, heav'n! thou hast been wondrous kind! + Why am I thus to slavery design'd, + And yet am cheated with a free-born mind! + Or make thy orders with my reason suit, + Or let me live by sense, a glorious brute--[_She frowns_. + You frown, and I obey with speed, before + That dreadful sentence comes, _See me no more_. + +In this scene, every circumstance concurs to turn tragedy to farce. The +wild absurdity of the expedient; the contemptible subjection of the +lover; the folly of obliging him to read the letter, only because it +ought to have been concealed from him; the frequent interruptions of +amorous impatience; the faint expostulations of a voluntary slave; the +imperious haughtiness of a tyrant without power; the deep reflection of +the yielding rebel upon fate and free-will; and his wise wish to lose +his reason as soon as he finds himself about to do what he cannot +persuade his reason to approve, are sufficient to awaken the most torpid +risibility. + +There is scarce a tragedy of the last century which has not debased its +most important incidents, and polluted its most serious interlocutions, +with buffoonery and meanness; but though, perhaps, it cannot be +pretended that the present age has added much to the force and efficacy +of the drama, it has at least been able to escape many faults, which +either ignorance had overlooked, or indulgence had licensed. The later +tragedies, indeed, have faults of another kind, perhaps more destructive +to delight, though less open to censure. That perpetual tumour of phrase +with which every thought is now expressed by every personage, the +paucity of adventures which regularity admits, and the unvaried equality +of flowing dialogue, has taken away from our present writers almost all +that dominion over the passions which was the boast of their +predecessors. Yet they may at least claim this commendation, that they +avoid gross faults, and that if they cannot often move terrour or pity, +they are always careful not to provoke laughter. + + + +No. 126. SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 1751. + + _--Nihil est aliud magnum quam multa minuta_. VET. AUCT. + + Sands form the mountain, moments make the year. YOUNG. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +Among other topicks of conversation which your papers supply, I was +lately engaged in a discussion of the character given by Tranquilla of +her lover Venustulus, whom, notwithstanding the severity of his +mistress, the greater number seemed inclined to acquit of unmanly or +culpable timidity. + +One of the company remarked that prudence ought to be distinguished from +fear; and that if Venustulus was afraid of nocturnal adventures, no man +who considered how much every avenue of the town was infested with +robbers could think him blameable; for why should life be hazarded +without prospect of honour or advantage? Another was of opinion, that a +brave man might be afraid of crossing the river in the calmest weather, +and declared, that, for his part, while there were coaches and a bridge, +he would never be seen tottering in a wooden case, out of which he might +be thrown by any irregular agitation, or which might be overset by +accident, or negligence, or by the force of a sudden gust, or the rush +of a larger vessel. It was his custom, he said, to keep the security of +daylight, and dry ground; for it was a maxim with him, that no wise man +ever perished by water, or was lost in the dark. + +The next was humbly of opinion, that if Tranquilla had seen, like him, +the cattle run roaring about the meadows in the hot months, she would +not have thought meanly of her lover for not venturing his safety among +them. His neighbour then told us, that for his part he was not ashamed +to confess, that he could not see a rat, though it was dead, without +palpitation; that he had been driven six times out of his lodgings +either by rats or mice; and that he always had a bed in the closet for +his servant, whom he called up whenever the enemy was in motion. Another +wondered that any man should think himself disgraced by a precipitate +retreat from a dog; for there was always a possibility that a dog might +be mad; and that surely, though there was no danger but of being bit by +a fierce animal, there was more wisdom in flight than contest. By all +these declarations another was encouraged to confess, that if he had +been admitted to the honour of paying his addresses to Tranquilla, he +should have been likely to incur the same censure; for, among all the +animals upon which nature has impressed deformity and horrour, there is +none whom he durst not encounter rather than a beetle. + +Thus, Sir, though cowardice is universally defined too close and anxious +an attention to personal safety, there will be found scarcely any fear, +however excessive in its degree, or unreasonable in its object, which +will be allowed to characterise a coward. Fear is a passion which every +man feels so frequently predominant in his own breast, that he is +unwilling to hear it censured with great asperity; and, perhaps, if we +confess the truth, the same restraint which would hinder a man from +declaiming against the frauds of any employment among those who profess +it, should withhold him from treating fear with contempt among human +beings. + +Yet, since fortitude is one of those virtues which the condition of our +nature makes hourly necessary, I think you cannot better direct your +admonitions than against superfluous and panick terrours. Fear is +implanted in us as a preservative from evil; but its duty, like that of +other passions, is not to overbear reason, but to assist it; nor should +it be suffered to tyrannize in the imagination, to raise phantoms of +horrour, or beset life with supernumerary distresses. + +To be always afraid of losing life is, indeed, scarcely to enjoy a life +that can deserve the care of preservation. He that once indulges idle +fears will never be at rest. Our present state admits only of a kind of +negative security; we must conclude ourselves safe when we see no +danger, or none inadequate to our powers of opposition. Death, indeed, +continually hovers about us, but hovers commonly unseen, unless we +sharpen our sight by useless curiosity. + +There is always a point at which caution, however solicitous, must limit +its preservatives, because one terrour often counteracts another. I once +knew one of the speculatists of cowardice, whose reigning disturbance +was the dread of housebreakers. His inquiries were for nine years +employed upon the best method of barring a window, or a door; and many +an hour has he spent in establishing the preference of a bolt to a lock. +He had at last, by the daily superaddition of new expedients, contrived +a door which could never be forced; for one bar was secured by another +with such intricacy of subordination, that he was himself not always +able to disengage them in the proper method. He was happy in this +fortification, till being asked how he would escape if he was threatened +by fire, he discovered, that with all his care and expense, he had only +been assisting his own destruction. He then immediately tore off his +bolts, and now leaves at night his outer door half-locked, that he may +not by his own folly perish in the flames. + +There is one species of terrour which those who are unwilling to suffer +the reproach of cowardice have wisely dignified with the name of +_antipathy_. A man who talks with intrepidity of the monsters of the +wilderness while they are out of sight, will readily confess his +antipathy to a mole, a weasel, or a frog. He has indeed no dread of harm +from an insect or a worm, but his antipathy turns him pale whenever they +approach him. He believes that a boat will transport him with as much +safety as his neighbours, but he cannot conquer his antipathy to the +water. Thus he goes on without any reproach from his own reflections, +and every day multiplies antipathies, till he becomes contemptible to +others, and burdensome to himself. It is indeed certain, that +impressions of dread may sometimes be unluckily made by objects not in +themselves justly formidable; but when fear is discovered to be +groundless, it is to be eradicated like other false opinions, and +antipathies are generally superable by a single effort. He that has been +taught to shudder at a mouse, if he can persuade himself to risk one +encounter, will find his own superiority, and exchange his terrours for +the pride of conquest. + +I am, Sir, &c. + +THRASO. + +SIR, As you profess to extend your regard to the minuteness of decency, +as well as to the dignity of science, I cannot forbear to lay before you +a mode of persecution by which I have been exiled to taverns and +coffee-houses, and deterred from entering the doors of my friends. Among +the ladies who please themselves with splendid furniture, or elegant +entertainment, it is a practice very common, to ask every guest how he +likes the carved work of the cornice, or the figures of the tapestry; +the china at the table, or the plate on the side-board: and on all +occasions to inquire his opinion of their judgment and their choice. +Melania has laid her new watch in the window nineteen times, that she +may desire me to look upon it. Calista has an art of dropping her +snuff-box by drawing out her handkerchief, that when I pick it up I may +admire it; and Fulgentia has conducted me, by mistake, into the wrong +room, at every visit I have paid since her picture was put into a new +frame. + +I hope, Mr. Rambler, you will inform them, that no man should be denied +the privilege of silence, or tortured to false declarations; and that +though ladies may justly claim to be exempt from rudeness, they have no +right to force unwilling civilities. To please is a laudable and elegant +ambition, and is properly rewarded with honest praise; but to seize +applause by violence, and call out for commendation, without knowing, or +caring to know, whether it be given from conviction, is a species of +tyranny by which modesty is oppressed, and sincerity corrupted. The +tribute of admiration, thus exacted by impudence and importunity, +differs from the respect paid to silent merit, as the plunder of a +pirate from the merchant's profit. + +I am, &c. + +MISOCOLAX + + + +SIR, + +Your great predecessor, the Spectator, endeavoured to diffuse among his +female readers a desire of knowledge; nor can I charge you, though you +do not seem equally attentive to the ladies, with endeavouring to +discourage them from any laudable pursuit. But however either he or you +may excite our curiosity, you have not yet informed us how it may be +gratified. The world seems to have formed an universal conspiracy +against our understandings; our questions are supposed not to expect +answers, our arguments are confuted with a jest, and we are treated like +beings who transgress the limits of our nature whenever we aspire to +seriousness or improvement. + +I inquired yesterday of a gentleman eminent for astronomical skill, what +made the day long in summer, and short in winter; and was told that +nature protracted the days in summer, lest ladies should want time to +walk in the park; and the nights in winter, lest they should not have +hours sufficient to spend at the card-table. + +I hope you do not doubt but I heard such information with just contempt, +and I desire you to discover to this great master of ridicule, that I +was far from wanting any intelligence which he could have given me. I +asked the question with no other intention than to set him free from the +necessity of silence, and give him an opportunity of mingling on equal +terms with a polite assembly, from which, however uneasy, he could not +then escape, by a kind introduction of the only subject on which I +believed him able to speak with propriety. + +I am, &c. + +GENEROSA. + + + +No. 127. TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 1751. + + _Capisti meliust, quam desinis. Ultima primis + Cedunt: dissimiles hic vir et ille puer_. Ovid. Ep. ix. 24. + + Succeeding years thy early fame destroy; + Thou, who began'st a man, wilt end a boy. + +Politian, a name eminent among the restorers of polite literature, when +he published a collection of epigrams, prefixed to many of them the year +of his age at which they were composed. He might design, by this +information, either to boast the early maturity of his genius, or to +conciliate indulgence to the puerility of his performances. But whatever +was his intent, it is remarked by Scaliger, that he very little promoted +his own reputation, because he fell below the promise which his first +productions had given, and, in the latter part of his life, seldom +equalled the sallies of his youth. + +It is not uncommon for those who, at their first entrance into the +world, were distinguished for attainments or abilities, to disappoint +the hopes which they had raised, and to end in neglect and obscurity +that life which they began in celebrity and honour. To the long +catalogue of the inconveniencies of old age, which moral and satirical +writers have so copiously displayed, may be often added the loss of +fame. + +The advance of the human mind towards any object of laudable pursuit, +may be compared to the progress of a body driven by a blow. It moves, +for a time, with great velocity and vigour, but the force of the first +impulse is perpetually decreasing, and though it should encounter no +obstacle capable of quelling it by a sudden stop, the resistance of the +medium through which it passes, and the latent inequalities of the +smoothest surface, will, in a short time, by continued retardation, +wholly overpower it. Some hindrances will be found in every road of +life, but he that fixes his eyes upon any thing at a distance, +necessarily loses sight of all that fills up the intermediate space, and +therefore sets forward with alacrity and confidence, nor suspects a +thousand obstacles, by which he afterwards finds his passage embarrassed +and obstructed. Some are indeed stopt at once in their career by a +sudden shock of calamity, or diverted to a different direction by the +cross impulse of some violent passion; but far the greater part languish +by slow degrees, deviate at first into slight obliquities, and +themselves scarcely perceive at what time their ardour forsook them, or +when they lost sight of their original design. + +Weariness and negligence are perpetually prevailing by silent +encroachments, assisted by different causes, and not observed till they +cannot, without great difficulty, be opposed. Labour necessarily +requires pauses of ease and relaxation, and the deliciousness of ease +commonly makes us unwilling to return to labour. We, perhaps, prevail +upon ourselves to renew our attempts, but eagerly listen to every +argument for frequent interpositions of amusement; for, when indolence +has once entered upon the mind, it can scarcely be dispossessed but by +such efforts as very few are willing to exert. + +It is the fate of industry to be equally endangered by miscarriage and +success, by confidence and despondency. He that engages in a great +undertaking, with a false opinion of its facility, or too high +conceptions of his own strength, is easily discouraged by the first +hindrance of his advances, because he had promised himself an equal and +perpetual progression without impediment or disturbance; when unexpected +interruptions break in upon him, he is in the state of a man surprised +by a tempest, where he purposed only to bask in the calm, or sport in +the shallows. + +It is not only common to find the difficulty of an enterprize greater, +but the profit less, than hope had pictured it. Youth enters the world +with very happy prejudices in her own favour. She imagines herself not +only certain of accomplishing every adventure, but of obtaining those +rewards which the accomplishment may deserve. She is not easily +persuaded to believe that the force of merit can be resisted by +obstinacy and avarice, or its lustre darkened by envy and malignity. She +has not yet learned that the most evident claims to praise or preferment +may be rejected by malice against conviction, or by indolence without +examination; that they may be sometimes defeated by artifices, and +sometimes overborne by clamour; that, in the mingled numbers of mankind, +many need no other provocation to enmity than that they find themselves +excelled; that others have ceased their curiosity, and consider every +man who fills the mouth of report with a new name, as an intruder upon +their retreat, and disturber of their repose; that some are engaged in +complications of interest which they imagine endangered by every +innovation; that many yield themselves up implicitly to every report +which hatred disseminates or folly scatters; and that whoever aspires to +the notice of the publick, has in almost every man an enemy and a rival; +and must struggle with the opposition of the daring, and elude the +stratagems of the timorous, must quicken the frigid and soften the +obdurate, must reclaim perverseness and inform stupidity. + +It is no wonder that when the prospect of reward has vanished, the zeal +of enterprize should cease; for who would persevere to cultivate the +soil which he has, after long labour, discovered to be barren? He who +hath pleased himself with anticipated praises, and expected that he +should meet in every place with patronage or friendship, will soon remit +his vigour, when he finds that, from those who desire to be considered +as his admirers, nothing can be hoped but cold civility, and that many +refuse to own his excellence, lest they should be too justly expected to +reward it. + +A man, thus cut off from the prospect of that port to which his address +and fortitude had been employed to steer him, often abandons himself to +chance and to the wind, and glides careless and idle down the current of +life, without resolution to make another effort, till he is swallowed up +by the gulph of mortality. + +Others are betrayed to the same desertion of themselves by a contrary +fallacy. It was said of Hannibal, that he wanted nothing to the +completion of his martial virtues, but that when he had gained a victory +he should know how to use it. The folly of desisting too soon from +successful labours, and the haste of enjoying advantages before they are +secured, are often fatal to men of impetuous desire, to men whose +consciousness of uncommon powers fills them with presumption, and who, +having borne opposition down before them, and left emulation panting +behind, are early persuaded to imagine that they have reached the +heights of perfection, and that now, being no longer in danger from +competitors, they may pass the rest of their days in the enjoyment of +their acquisitions, in contemplation of their own superiority, and in +attention to their own praises, and look unconcerned from their eminence +upon the toils and contentions of meaner beings. + +It is not sufficiently considered in the hour of exultation, that all +human excellence is comparative; that no man performs much but in +proportion to what others accomplish, or to the time and opportunities +which have been allowed him; and that he who stops at any point of +excellence is every day sinking in estimation, because his improvement +grows continually more incommensurate to his life. Yet, as no man +willingly quits opinions favourable to himself, they who have once been +justly celebrated, imagine that they still have the same pretensions to +regard, and seldom perceive the diminution of their character while +there is time to recover it. Nothing then remains but murmurs and +remorse; for if the spendthrift's poverty be embittered by the +reflection that he once was rich, how must the idler's obscurity be +clouded by remembering that he once had lustre! + +These errours all arise from an original mistake of the true motives of +action. He that never extends his view beyond the praises or rewards of +men will be dejected by neglect and envy, or infatuated by honours and +applause. But the consideration that life is only deposited in his hands +to be employed in obedience to a Master who will regard his endeavours, +not his success, would have preserved him from trivial elations and +discouragements, and enabled him to proceed with constancy and +cheerfulness, neither enervated by commendation, nor intimidated by +censure. + + + +No. 128. SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1751. + + [Greek: + Aion d asphalaes + Ouk egent, out Aiakida para Paelei, + Oute par antitheo + Kadmo legontai man broton + Olbon hupertaton hoi + Schein.] PIND. Py. iii. 153. + + For not the brave, or wise, or great, + E'er yet had happiness complete: + Nor Peleus, grandson of the sky, + Nor Cadmus, scap'd the shafts of pain, + Though favour'd by the Pow'rs on high, + With every bliss that man can gain. + +The writers who have undertaken the task of reconciling mankind to their +present state, and relieving the discontent produced by the various +distribution of terrestrial advantages, frequently remind us that we +judge too hastily of good and evil, that we view only the superfices of +life, and determine of the whole by a very small part; and that in the +condition of men it frequently happens, that grief and anxiety lie hid +under the golden robes of prosperity, and the gloom of calamity is +cheered by secret radiations of hope and comfort; as in the works of +nature the bog is sometimes covered with flowers, and the mine concealed +in the barren crags. + +None but those who have learned the art of subjecting their senses as +well as reason to hypothetical systems, can be persuaded by the most +specious rhetorician that the lots of life are equal; yet it cannot be +denied that every one has his peculiar pleasures and vexations, that +external accidents operate variously upon different minds, and that no +man can exactly judge from his own sensations, what another would feel +in the same circumstances. + +If the general disposition of things be estimated by the representation +which every one makes of his own estate, the world must be considered as +the abode of sorrow and misery; for how few can forbear to relate their +troubles and distresses? If we judge by the account which may be +obtained of every man's fortune from others, it may be concluded, that +we all are placed in an elysian region, overspread with the luxuriance +of plenty, and fanned by the breezes of felicity; since scarcely any +complaint is uttered without censure from those that hear it, and almost +all are allowed to have obtained a provision at least adequate to their +virtue or their understanding, to possess either more than they deserve, +or more than they enjoy. + +We are either born with such dissimilitude of temper and inclination, or +receive so many of our ideas and opinions from the state of life in +which we are engaged, that the griefs and cares of one part of mankind +seem to the other hypocrisy, folly, and affectation. Every class of +society has its cant of lamentation, which is understood or regarded by +none but themselves; and every part of life has its uneasiness, which +those who do not feel them will not commiserate. An event which spreads +distraction over half the commercial world, assembles the trading +companies in councils and committees, and shakes the nerves of a +thousand stockjobbers, is read by the landlord and the farmer with +frigid indifference. An affair of love, which fills the young breast +with incessant alternations of hope and fear, and steals away the night +and day from every other pleasure or employment, is regarded by them +whose passions time has extinguished, as an amusement, which can +properly raise neither joy nor sorrow, and, though it may be suffered to +fill the vacuity of an idle moment, should always give way to prudence +or interest. + +He that never had any other desire than to fill a chest with money, or +to add another manor to his estate, who never grieved but at a bad +mortgage, or entered a company but to make a bargain, would be +astonished to hear of beings known among the polite and gay by the +denomination of wits. How would he gape with curiosity, or grin with +contempt, at the mention of beings who have no wish but to speak what +was never spoken before; who, if they happen to inherit wealth, often +exhaust their patrimonies in treating those who will hear them talk; and +if they are poor, neglect opportunities of improving their fortunes, for +the pleasure of making others laugh? How slowly would he believe that +there are men who would rather lose a legacy than the reputation of a +distich; who think it less disgrace to want money than repartee; whom +the vexation of having been foiled in a contest of raillery is sometimes +sufficient to deprive of sleep; and who would esteem it a lighter evil +to miss a profitable bargain by some accidental delay, than not to have +thought of a smart reply till the time of producing it was past? How +little would he suspect that this child of idleness and frolick enters +every assembly with a beating bosom, like a litigant on the day of +decision, and revolves the probability of applause with the anxiety of a +conspirator, whose fate depends upon the next night; that at the hour of +retirement he carries home, under a show of airy negligence, a heart +lacerated with envy, or depressed with disappointment; and immures +himself in his closet, that he may disencumber his memory at leisure, +review the progress of the day, state with accuracy his loss or gain of +reputation, and examine the causes of his failure or success? + +Yet more remote from common conceptions are the numerous and restless +anxieties, by which female happiness is particularly disturbed. A +solitary philosopher would imagine ladies born with an exemption from +care and sorrow, lulled in perpetual quiet, and feasted with unmingled +pleasure; for what can interrupt the content of those, upon whom one age +has laboured after another to confer honours, and accumulate immunities; +those to whom rudeness is infamy, and insult is cowardice; whose eye +commands the brave, and whose smiles soften the severe; whom the sailor +travels to adorn, the soldier bleeds to defend, and the poet wears out +life to celebrate; who claim tribute from every art and science, and for +whom all who approach them endeavour to multiply delights, without +requiring from them any returns but willingness to be pleased? + +Surely, among these favourites of nature, thus unacquainted with toil +and danger, felicity must have fixed her residence; they must know only +the changes of more vivid or more gentle joys: their life must always +move either to the slow or sprightly melody of the lyre of gladness; +they can never assemble but to pleasure, or retire but to peace. + +Such would be the thoughts of every man who should hover at a distance +round the world, and know it only by conjecture and speculation. But +experience will soon discover how easily those are disgusted who have +been made nice by plenty and tender by indulgence. He will soon see to +how many dangers power is exposed which has no other guard than youth +and beauty, and how easily that tranquillity is molested which can only +be soothed with the songs of flattery. It is impossible to supply wants +as fast as an idle imagination may be able to form them, or to remove +all inconveniencies by which elegance refined into impatience may be +offended. None are so hard to please, as those whom satiety of pleasure +makes weary of themselves; nor any so readily provoked as those who have +been always courted with an emulation of civility. + +There are, indeed, some strokes which the envy of fate aims immediately +at the fair. The mistress of Catullus wept for her sparrow many +centuries ago, and lapdogs will be sometimes sick in the present age. +The most fashionable brocade is subject to stains; a pinner, the pride +of Brussels, may be torn by a careless washer; a picture may drop from a +watch; or the triumph of a new suit may be interrupted on the first day +of its enjoyment, and all distinctions of dress unexpectedly obliterated +by a general mourning. + +Such is the state of every age, every sex, and every condition: all have +their cares, either from nature or from folly: and whoever therefore +finds himself inclined to envy another, should remember that he knows +not the real condition which he desires to obtain, but is certain that +by indulging a vicious passion, he must lessen that happiness which he +thinks already too sparingly bestowed. + + + +No. 129. TUESDAY, JUNE 11. 1751. + + _--Nunc, O nunc, Daedale, dixit, + Materiam, qua sis ingeniosus, habes. + Possidet en terras, et possidet aequara, Minos: + Nec tellus nostrae, nec patet undo fugae. + Restat iter coelo: tentabimus ire. + Da veniam caepto, Jupiter alte, meo. OVID. Ar. Am. Lib. ii. 33_. + + Now, Daedalus, behold, by fate assign'd, + A task proportion'd to thy mighty mind! + Unconquer'd bars on earth and sea withstand; + Thine, Minos, is the main, and thine the land. + The skies are open--let us try the skies: + Forgive, great Jove, the daring enterprize. + +Moralists, like other writers, instead of casting their eyes abroad in +the living world, and endeavouring to form maxims of practice and new +hints of theory, content their curiosity with that secondary knowledge +which books afford, and think themselves entitled to reverence by a new +arrangement of an ancient system, or new illustration of established +principles[e]. The sage precepts of the first instructors of the world +are transmitted from age to age with little variation, and echoed from +one author to another, not perhaps without some loss of their original +force at every repercussion. + +I know not whether any other reason than this idleness of imitation can +be assigned for that uniform and constant partiality, by which some +vices have hitherto escaped censure, and some virtues wanted +recommendation; nor can I discover why else we have been warned only +against part of our enemies, while the rest have been suffered to steal +upon us without notice; why the heart has on one side been doubly +fortified, and laid open on the other to the incursions of errour, and +the ravages of vice. + +Among the favourite topicks of moral declamation, may be numbered the +miscarriages of imprudent boldness, and the folly of attempts beyond our +power. Every page of every philosopher is crowded with examples of +temerity that sunk under burdens which she laid upon herself, and called +out enemies to battle by whom she was destroyed. + +Their remarks are too just to be disputed, and too salutary to be +rejected; but there is likewise some danger lest timorous prudence +should be inculcated, till courage and enterprise are wholly repressed, +and the mind congealed in perpetual inactivity by the fatal influence of +frigorifick wisdom. + +Every man should, indeed, carefully compare his force with his +undertaking; for though we ought not to live only for our own sakes, and +though therefore danger or difficulty should not be avoided merely +because we may expose ourselves to misery or disgrace; yet it may be +justly required of us, not to throw away our lives upon inadequate and +hopeless designs, since we might, by a just estimate of our abilities, +become more useful to mankind. + +There is an irrational contempt of danger, which approaches nearly to +the folly, if not the guilt of suicide; there is a ridiculous +perseverance in impracticable schemes, which is justly punished with +ignominy and reproach. But in the wide regions of probability, which are +the proper province of prudence and election, there is always room to +deviate on either side of rectitude without rushing against apparent +absurdity; and according to the inclinations of nature, or the +impressions of precept, the daring and the cautious may move in +different directions without touching upon rashness or cowardice. + +That there is a middle path which it is every man's duty to find, and to +keep, is unanimously confessed: but it is likewise acknowledged that +this middle path is so narrow, that it cannot easily be discovered, and +so little beaten, that there are no certain marks by which it can be +followed: the care, therefore, of all those who conduct others has been, +that whenever they decline into obliquities, they should tend towards +the side of safety. + +It can, indeed, raise no wonder that temerity has been generally +censured; for it is one of the vices with which few can be charged, and +which therefore, great numbers are ready to condemn. It is the vice of +noble and generous minds, the exuberance of magnanimity, and the +ebullition of genius; and is therefore not regarded with much +tenderness, because it never flatters us by that appearance of softness +and imbecility which is commonly necessary to conciliate compassion. But +if the same attention had been applied to the search of arguments +against the folly of pre-supposing impossibilities, and anticipating +frustration, I know not whether many would not have been roused to +usefulness, who, having been taught to confound prudence with timidity, +never ventured to excel, lest they should unfortunately fail. + +It is necessary to distinguish our own interest from that of others, and +that distinction will perhaps assist us in fixing the just limits of +caution and adventurousness. In an undertaking that involves the +happiness or the safety of many, we have certainly no right to hazard +more than is allowed by those who partake the danger; but where only +ourselves can suffer by miscarriage, we are not confined within such +narrow limits; and still less is the reproach of temerity, when numbers +will receive advantage by success, and only one be incommoded by +failure. + +Men are generally willing to hear precepts by which ease is favoured; +and as no resentment is raised by general representations of human +folly, even in those who are most eminently jealous of comparative +reputation, we confess, without reluctance, that vain man is ignorant of +his own weakness, and therefore frequently presumes to attempt what he +can never accomplish; but it ought likewise to be remembered, that man +is no less ignorant of his own powers, and might perhaps have +accomplished a thousand designs, which the prejudices of cowardice +restrained him from attempting. + +It is observed in the golden verses of Pythagoras, that "Power is never +far from necessity." The vigour of the human mind quickly appears, when +there is no longer any place for doubt and hesitation, when diffidence +is absorbed in the sense of danger, or overwhelmed by some resistless +passion. We then soon discover, that difficulty is, for the most part, +the daughter of idleness, that the obstacles with which our way seemed +to be obstructed were only phantoms, which we believed real, because we +durst not advance to a close examination; and we learn that it is +impossible to determine without experience how much constancy may +endure, or perseverance perform. + +But whatever pleasure may be found in the review of distresses when art +or courage has surmounted them, few will be persuaded to wish that they +may be awakened by want, or terrour, to the conviction of their own +abilities. Every one should therefore endeavour to invigorate himself by +reason and reflection, and determine to exert the latent force that +nature may have reposed in him, before the hour of exigence comes upon +him, and compulsion shall torture him to diligence. It is below the +dignity of a reasonable being to owe that strength to necessity which +ought always to act at the call of choice, or to need any other motive +to industry than the desire of performing his duty. + +Reflections that may drive away despair, cannot be wanting to him who +considers how much life is now advanced beyond the state of naked, +undisciplined, uninstructed nature. Whatever has been effected for +convenience or elegance, while it was yet unknown, was believed +impossible; and therefore would never have been attempted, had not some, +more daring than the rest, adventured to bid defiance to prejudice and +censure. Nor is there yet any reason to doubt that the same labour would +be rewarded with the same success. There are qualities in the products +of nature yet undiscovered, and combinations in the powers of art yet +untried. It is the duty of every man to endeavour that something may be +added by his industry to the hereditary aggregate of knowledge and +happiness. To add much can indeed be the lot of few, but to add +something, however little, every one may hope; and of every honest +endeavour, it is certain, that, however unsuccessful, it will be at last +rewarded. + +[Footnote e: Johnson gained _his_ knowledge from actual experience. He +told Boswell that before he wrote the Rambler he had been running about +the world more than almost any body. Boswell's Life of Johnson, vol. i. +p. 196.; and vol. iii. pp. 20, 21.] + + + +No. 130. SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 1751. + + Non sic prata novo vere decentia + Æstatis calidtæ dispoliat vapor: + Sævit solstitio cum medius dies;-- + Ut fulgor teneris qui radiat genis + Momento rapitur! nullaque non dies + Formosi spolium corporis abstulit. + Res est forma fugax: quis sapiens bono + Confidat fragili? SENECA, Hippol. act. ii. 764. + + Not faster in the summer's ray + The spring's frail beauty fades away, + Than anguish and decay consume + The smiling virgin's rosy bloom. + Some beauty's snatch'd each day, each hour; + For beauty is a fleeting flow'r: + Then how can wisdom e'er confide + In beauty's momentary pride? ELPHINSTON + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +You have very lately observed that in the numerous subdivisions of the +world, every class and order of mankind have joys and sorrows of their +own; we all feel hourly pain and pleasure from events which pass +unheeded before other eyes, but can scarcely communicate our perceptions +to minds pre-occupied by different objects, any more than the delight of +well-disposed colours or harmonious sounds can be imparted to such as +want the senses of hearing or of sight. + +I am so strongly convinced of the justness of this remark, and have on +so many occasions discovered with how little attention pride looks upon +calamity of which she thinks herself not in danger, and indolence +listens to complaint when it is not echoed by her own remembrance, that +though I am about to lay the occurrences of my life before you, I +question whether you will condescend to peruse my narrative, or, without +the help of some female speculatists, to be able to understand it. + +I was born a beauty. From the dawn of reason I had my regard turned +wholly upon myself, nor can recollect any thing earlier than praise and +admiration. My mother, whose face had luckily advanced her to a +condition above her birth, thought no evil so great as deformity. She +had not the power of imagining any other defect than a cloudy +complexion, or disproportionate features; and therefore contemplated me +as an assemblage of all that could raise envy or desire, and predicted +with triumphant fondness the extent of my conquests, and the number of +my slaves. + +She never mentioned any of my young acquaintance before me, but to +remark how much they fell below my perfection; how one would have had a +fine face, but that her eyes were without lustre; how another struck the +sight at a distance, but wanted my hair and teeth at a nearer view; +another disgraced an elegant shape with a brown skin; some had short +fingers, and others dimples in a wrong place. + +As she expected no happiness nor advantage but from beauty, she thought +nothing but beauty worthy of her care; and her maternal kindness was +chiefly exercised in contrivances to protect me from any accident that +might deface me with a scar, or stain me with a freckle: she never +thought me sufficiently shaded from the sun, or screened from the fire. +She was severe or indulgent with no other intention than the +preservation of my form; she excused me from work, lest I should learn +to hang down my head, or harden my finger with a needle; she snatched +away my book, because a young lady in the neighbourhood had made her +eyes red with reading by a candle; but she would scarcely suffer me to +eat, lest I should spoil my shape, nor to walk lest I should swell my +ancle with a sprain. At night I was accurately surveyed from head to +foot, lest I should have suffered any diminution of my charms in the +adventures of the day; and was never permitted to sleep, till I had +passed through the cosmetick discipline, part of which was a regular +lustration performed with bean-flower water and May-dews; my hair was +perfumed with variety of unguents, by some of which it was to be +thickened, and by others to be curled. The softness of my hands was +secured by medicated gloves, and my bosom rubbed with a pomade prepared +by my mother, of virtue to discuss pimples, and clear discolorations. + +I was always called up early, because the morning air gives a freshness +to the cheeks; but I was placed behind a curtain in my mother's chamber, +because the neck is easily tanned by the rising sun. I was then dressed +with a thousand precautions, and again heard my own praises, and +triumphed in the compliments and prognostications of all that approached +me. + +My mother was not so much prepossessed with an opinion of my natural +excellencies as not to think some cultivation necessary to their +completion. She took care that I should want none of the accomplishments +included in female education, or considered necessary in fashionable +life. I was looked upon in my ninth year as the chief ornament of the +dancing-master's ball; and Mr. Ariet used to reproach his other scholars +with my performances on the harpsichord. At twelve I was remarkable for +playing my cards with great elegance of manner, and accuracy of +judgment. + +At last the time came when my mother thought me perfect in my exercises, +and qualified to display in the open world those accomplishments which +had yet only been discovered in select parties, or domestick assemblies. +Preparations were therefore made for my appearance on a publick night, +which she considered as the most important and critical moment of my +life. She cannot be charged with neglecting any means of recommendation, +or leaving any thing to chance which prudence could ascertain. Every +ornament was tried in every position, every friend was consulted about +the colour of my dress, and the mantua-makers were harassed with +directions and alterations. + +At last the night arrived from which my future life was to be reckoned. +I was dressed and sent out to conquer, with a heart beating like that of +an old knight-errant at his first sally. Scholars have told me of a +Spartan matron, who, when she armed her son for battle, bade him bring +back his shield, or be brought upon it. My venerable parent dismissed me +to a field, in her opinion of equal glory, with a command to shew that I +was her daughter, and not to return without a lover. + +I went, and was received like other pleasing novelties with a tumult of +applause. Every man who valued himself upon the graces of his person, or +the elegance of his address, crowded about me, and wit and splendour +contended for my notice. I was delightfully fatigued with incessant +civilities, which were made more pleasing by the apparent envy of those +whom my presence exposed to neglect, and returned with an attendant +equal in rank and wealth to my utmost wishes, and from this time stood +in the first rank of beauty, was followed by gazers in the Mall, +celebrated in the papers of the day, imitated by all who endeavoured to +rise into fashion, and censured by those whom age or disappointment +forced to retire. + +My mother, who pleased herself with the hopes of seeing my exaltation, +dressed me with all the exuberance of finery; and when I represented to +her that a fortune might be expected proportionate to my appearance, +told me that she should scorn the reptile who could inquire after the +fortune of a girl like me. She advised me to prosecute my victories, and +time would certainly bring me a captive who might deserve the honour of +being enchained for ever. + +My lovers were indeed so numerous, that I had no other care than that of +determining to whom I should seem to give the preference. But having +been steadily and industriously instructed to preserve my heart from any +impressions which might hinder me from consulting my interest, I acted +with less embarrassment, because my choice was regulated by principles +more clear and certain than the caprice of approbation. When I had +singled out one from the rest as more worthy of encouragement, I +proceeded in my measures by the rules of art; and yet when the ardour of +the first visits was spent, generally found a sudden declension of my +influence; I felt in myself the want of some power to diversify +amusement, and enliven conversation, and could not but suspect that my +mind failed in performing the promises of my face. This opinion was soon +confirmed by one of my lovers, who married Lavinia with less beauty and +fortune than mine, because he thought a wife ought to have qualities +which might make her amiable when her bloom was past. + +The vanity of my mother would not suffer her to discover any defect in +one that had been formed by her instructions, and had all the excellence +which she herself could boast. She told me that nothing so much hindered +the advancement of women as literature and wit, which generally +frightened away those that could make the best settlements, and drew +about them a needy tribe of poets and philosophers, that filled their +heads with wild notions of content, and contemplation, and virtuous +obscurity. She therefore enjoined me to improve my minuet-step with a +new French dancing-master, and wait the event of the next birth-night. + +I had now almost completed my nineteenth year: if my charms had lost any +of their softness, it was more than compensated by additional dignity; +and if the attractions of innocence were impaired, their place was +supplied by the arts of allurement. I was therefore preparing for a new +attack, without any abatement of my confidence, when, in the midst of my +hopes and schemes, I was seized by that dreadful malady which has so +often put a sudden end to the tyranny of beauty. I recovered my health +after a long confinement; but when I looked again on that face which had +been often flushed with transport at its own reflection, and saw all +that I had learned to value, all that I had endeavoured to improve, all +that had procured me honours or praises, irrecoverably destroyed, I sunk +at once into melancholy and despondence. My pain was not much consoled +or alleviated by my mother, who grieved that I had not lost my life +together with my beauty; and declared, that she thought a young woman +divested of her charms had nothing for which those who loved her could +desire to save her from the grave. + +Having thus continued my relation to the period from which my life took +a new course, I shall conclude it in another letter, if, by publishing +this, you shew any regard for the correspondence of, + +Sir, &c. + +VICTORIA. + + + +No. 131. TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 1751. + + _--Fatis accede, Deisque, + Et cole felices, miseros fuge. sidera terrae + Ut distant, ut flamma mari, sic utile recto_. LUCAN. Lib. viii. 486. +[Transcriber's note: punctuation in original.] + + Still follow where auspicious fates invite; + Caress the happy, and the wretched slight. + Sooner shall jarring elements unite, + Than truth with gain, than interest with right. F. LEWIS. + +There is scarcely any sentiment in which, amidst the innumerable +varieties of inclination that nature or accident have scattered in the +world, we find greater numbers concurring, than in the wish for riches; +a wish, indeed, so prevalent that it may be considered as universal and +transcendental, as the desire in which all other desires are included, +and of which the various purposes which actuate mankind are only +subordinate species and different modifications. + +Wealth is the general centre of inclination, the point to which all +minds preserve an invariable tendency, and from which they afterwards +diverge in numberless directions. Whatever is the remote or ultimate +design, the immediate care is to be rich; and in whatever enjoyment we +intend finally to acquiesce, we seldom consider it as attainable but by +the means of money. Of wealth therefore all unanimously confess the +value, nor is there any disagreement but about the use. + +No desire can be formed which riches do not assist to gratify. He that +places his happiness in splendid equipage or numerous dependants, in +refined praise or popular acclamations, in the accumulation of +curiosities or the revels of luxury, in splendid edifices or wide +plantations, must still, either by birth or acquisition, possess riches. +They may be considered as the elemental principles of pleasure, which +may be combined with endless diversity; as the essential and necessary +substance, of which only the form is left to be adjusted by choice. + +The necessity of riches being thus apparent, it is not wonderful that +almost every mind has been employed in endeavours to acquire them; that +multitudes have vied in arts by which life is furnished with +accommodations, and which therefore mankind may reasonably be expected +to reward. + +It had, indeed, been happy, if this predominant appetite had operated +only in concurrence with virtue, by influencing none but those who were +zealous to deserve what they were eager to possess, and had abilities to +improve their own fortunes by contributing to the ease or happiness of +others. To have riches and to have merit would then have been the same, +and success might reasonably have been considered as a proof of +excellence. + +But we do not find that any of the wishes of men keep a stated +proportion to their powers of attainment. Many envy and desire wealth, +who can never procure it by honest industry or useful knowledge. They +therefore turn their eyes about to examine what other methods can be +found of gaining that which none, however impotent or worthless, will be +content to want. + +A little inquiry will discover that there are nearer ways to profit than +through the intricacies of art, or up the steeps of labour; what wisdom +and virtue scarcely receive at the close of life, as the recompense of +long toil and repeated efforts, is brought within the reach of subtilty +and dishonesty by more expeditious and compendious measures: the wealth +of credulity is an open prey to falsehood; and the possessions of +ignorance and imbecility are easily stolen away by the conveyances of +secret artifice, or seized by the gripe of unresisted violence. + +It is likewise not hard to discover that riches always procure +protection for themselves, that they dazzle the eyes of inquiry, divert +the celerity of pursuit, or appease the ferocity of vengeance. When any +man is incontestably known to have large possessions, very few think it +requisite to inquire by what practices they were obtained; the +resentment of mankind rages only against the struggles of feeble and +timorous corruption, but when it has surmounted the first opposition, it +is afterwards supported by favour, and animated by applause. + +The prospect of gaining speedily what is ardently desired, and the +certainty of obtaining by every accession of advantage an addition of +security, have so far prevailed upon the passions of mankind, that the +peace of life is destroyed by a general and incessant struggle for +riches. It is observed of gold, by an old epigrammatist, that "To have +it is to be in fear, and to want it is to be in sorrow." There is no +condition which is not disquieted either with the care of gaining or of +keeping money; and the race of man may be divided in a political +estimate between those who are practising fraud, and those who are +repelling it. + +If we consider the present state of the world, it will be found, that +all confidence is lost among mankind, that no man ventures to act, where +money can be endangered upon the faith of another. It is impossible to +see the long scrolls in which every contract is included, with all their +appendages of seals and attestation, without wondering at the depravity +of those beings, who must be restrained from violation of promise by +such formal and publick evidences, and precluded from equivocation and +subterfuge by such punctilious minuteness. Among all the satires to +which folly and wickedness have given occasion, none is equally severe +with a bond or a settlement. + +Of the various arts by which riches may be obtained, the greater part +are at the first view irreconcileable with the laws of virtue; some are +openly flagitious, and practised not only in neglect, but in defiance of +faith and justice; and the rest are on every side so entangled with +dubious tendencies, and so beset with perpetual temptations, that very +few, even of those who are not yet abandoned, are able to preserve their +innocence, or can produce any other claim to pardon than that they +deviated from the right less than others, and have sooner and more +diligently endeavoured to return. + +One of the chief characteristicks of the golden age, of the age in which +neither care nor danger had intruded on mankind, is the community of +possessions: strife and fraud were totally excluded, and every turbulent +passion was stilled by plenty and equality. Such were indeed happy +times, but such times can return no more. Community of possession must +include spontaneity of production; for what is obtained by labour will +be of right the property of him by whose labour it is gained. And while +a rightful claim to pleasure or to affluence must be procured either by +slow industry or uncertain hazard, there will always be multitudes whom +cowardice or impatience incite to more safe and more speedy methods, who +strive to pluck the fruit without cultivating the tree, and to share the +advantages of victory without partaking the danger of the battle. In +later ages, the conviction of the danger to which virtue is exposed +while the mind continues open to the influence of riches, has determined +many to vows of perpetual poverty; they have suppressed desire by +cutting off the possibility of gratification, and secured their peace by +destroying the enemy whom they had no hope of reducing to quiet +subjection. But, by debarring themselves from evil, they have rescinded +many opportunities of good; they have too often sunk into inactivity and +uselessness; and, though they have forborne to injure society, have not +fully paid their contributions to its happiness. + +While riches are so necessary to present convenience, and so much more +easily obtained by crimes than virtues, the mind can only be secured +from yielding to the continual impulse of covetousness by the +preponderation of unchangeable and eternal motives. Gold will turn the +intellectual balance, when weighed only against reputation; but will be +light and ineffectual when the opposite scale is charged with justice, +veracity, and piety[f]. + + + +No. 132. SATURDAY, JUNE 22, 1751. + + --_Dociles imitandis + Turpibus ac pravis omnes sumus_.--JUV. Sat. xiv. 40. + + The mind of mortals, in perverseness strong, + Imbibes with dire docility the wrong. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +MR. RAMBLER, + +I was bred a scholar, and after the usual course of education, found it +necessary to employ for the support of life that learning which I had +almost exhausted my little fortune in acquiring. The lucrative +professions drew my regard with equal attraction; each presented ideas +which excited my curiosity, and each imposed duties which terrified my +apprehension. + +There is no temper more unpropitious to interest than desultory +application and unlimited inquiry, by which the desires are held in a +perpetual equipoise, and the mind fluctuates between different purposes +without determination. I had books of every kind round me, among which I +divided my time as caprice or accident directed. I often spent the first +hours of the day, in considering to what study I should devote the rest, +and at last snatched up any author that lay upon the table, or perhaps +fled to a coffee-house for deliverance from the anxiety of irresolution, +and the gloominess of solitude. + +Thus my little patrimony grew imperceptibly less, till I was roused from +my literary slumber by a creditor, whose importunity obliged me to +pacify him with so large a sum, that what remained was not sufficient to +support me more than eight months. I hope you will not reproach me with +avarice or cowardice, if I acknowledge that I now thought myself in +danger of distress, and obliged to endeavour after some certain +competence. + +There have been heroes of negligence, who have laid the price of their +last acre in a drawer, and, without the least interruption of their +tranquillity, or abatement of their expenses, taken out one piece after +another, till there was no more remaining. But I was not born to such +dignity of imprudence, or such exaltation above the cares and +necessities of life; I therefore immediately engaged my friends to +procure me a little employment, which might set me free from the dread +of poverty, and afford me time to plan out some final scheme of lasting +advantage. + +My friends were struck with honest solicitude, and immediately promised +their endeavours for my extrication. They did not suffer their kindness +to languish by delay, but prosecuted their inquiries with such success, +that in less than a month I was perplexed with variety of offers and +contrariety of prospects. + +I had however no time for long pauses of consideration; and therefore +soon resolved to accept the office of instructing a young nobleman in +the house of his father: I went to the seat at which the family then +happened to reside, was received with great politeness, and invited to +enter immediately on my charge. The terms offered were such as I should +willingly have accepted, though my fortune had allowed me greater +liberty of choice: the respect with which I was treated, flattered my +vanity; and perhaps the splendour of the apartments, and the luxury of +the table, were not wholly without their influence. I immediately +complied with the proposals, and received the young lord into my care. + +Having no desire to gain more than I should truly deserve, I very +diligently prosecuted my undertaking, and had the satisfaction of +discovering in my pupil a flexible temper, a quick apprehension, and a +retentive memory. I did not much doubt that my care would, in time, +produce a wise and useful counsellor to the state, though my labours +were somewhat obstructed by want of authority, and the necessity of +complying with the freaks of negligence, and of waiting patiently for +the lucky moment of voluntary attention. To a man whose imagination was +filled with the dignity of knowledge, and to whom a studious life had +made all the common amusements insipid and contemptible, it was not very +easy to suppress his indignation, when he saw himself forsaken in the +midst of his lecture, for an opportunity to catch an insect, and found +his instructions debarred from access to the intellectual faculties, by +the memory of a childish frolick, or the desire of a new play-thing. + +Those vexations would have recurred less frequently, had not his mamma, +by entreating at one time that he should be excused from a task as a +reward for some petty compliance, and withholding him from his book at +another, to gratify herself or her visitants with his vivacity, shewn +him that every thing was more pleasing and more important than +knowledge, and that study was to be endured rather than chosen, and was +only the business of those hours which pleasure left vacant, or +discipline usurped. + +I thought it my duty to complain, in tender terms, of these frequent +avocations; but was answered, that rank and fortune might reasonably +hope for some indulgence; that the retardation of my pupil's progress +would not be imputed to any negligence or inability of mine; and that +with the success which satisfied every body else, I might surely satisfy +myself. I had now done my duty, and without more remonstrances continued +to inculcate my precepts whenever they could be heard, gained every day +new influence, and found that by degrees my scholar began to feel the +quick impulses of curiosity, and the honest ardour of studious ambition. + +At length it was resolved to pass a winter in London. The lady had too +much fondness for her son to live five months without him, and too high +an opinion of his wit and learning to refuse her vanity the +gratification of exhibiting him to the publick. I remonstrated against +too early an acquaintance with cards and company; but, with a soft +contempt of my ignorance and pedantry, she said, that he had been +already confined too long to solitary study, and it was now time to shew +him the world; nothing was more a brand of meanness than bashful +timidity; gay freedom and elegant assurance were only to be gained by +mixed conversation, a frequent intercourse with strangers, and a timely +introduction to splendid assemblies; and she had more than once +observed, that his forwardness and complaisance began to desert him, +that he was silent when he had not something of consequence to say, +blushed whenever he happened to find himself mistaken, and hung down his +head in the presence of the ladies, without the readiness of reply, and +activity of officiousness, remarkable in young gentlemen that are bred +in London. + +Again I found resistance hopeless, and again thought it proper to +comply. We entered the coach, and in four days were placed in the gayest +and most magnificent region of the town. My pupil, who had for several +years lived at a remote seat, was immediately dazzled with a thousand +beams of novelty and shew. His imagination was filled with the perpetual +tumult of pleasure that passed before him, and it was impossible to +allure him from the window, or to overpower by any charm of eloquence +the rattle of coaches, and the sounds which echoed from the doors in the +neighbourhood. In three days his attention, which he began to regain, +was disturbed by a rich suit, in which he was equipped for the reception +of company, and which, having been long accustomed to a plain dress, he +could not at first survey without ecstacy. + +The arrival of the family was now formally notified; every hour of every +day brought more intimate or more distant acquaintances to the door; and +my pupil was indiscriminately introduced to all, that he might accustom +himself to change of faces, and be rid with speed of his rustick +diffidence. He soon endeared himself to his mother by the speedy +acquisition or recovery of her darling qualities; his eyes sparkle at a +numerous assembly, and his heart dances at the mention of a ball. He has +at once caught the infection of high life, and has no other test of +principles or actions than the quality of those to whom they are +ascribed. He begins already to look down on me with superiority, and +submits to one short lesson in a week, as an act of condescension rather +than obedience; for he is of opinion, that no tutor is properly +qualified who cannot speak French; and having formerly learned a few +familiar phrases from his sister's governess, he is every day soliciting +his mamma to procure him a foreign footman, that he may grow polite by +his conversation. I am not yet insulted, but find myself likely to +become soon a superfluous incumbrance, for my scholar has now no time +for science, or for virtue; and the lady yesterday declared him so much +the favourite of every company, that she was afraid he would not have an +hour in the day to dance and fence. + +I am, &c. + +EUMATHES. + +[Footnote f: Johnson often conversed, as well as wrote, on riches. In +his conversations on the subject, amidst his often indulged laxity of +talk, there was ever a deep insight into the human heart. "All the +arguments," he once with keen satire remarked, "which are brought to +represent poverty as no evil, shew it to be evidently a great evil. You +never find people _labouring_ to convince you that you may live happily +upon a plentiful fortune. So you hear people talking how miserable a +king must be, and yet they all wish to be in his place." _Boswell_ vol. +i. p. 422. + +When Simonides was asked whether it were better to be wise or rich, he +gave an answer in favour of wealth. "For," said he, "I always behold the +wise lingering at the gates of the wealthy." Aristot. Rhet. ii. 18.] + + + +No. 133. TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 1751. + + _Magna quidem, sacris quæ dat præcepta libellis + Victrix fortune sapientia. Dicimus autem + Hos quoque felices, qui ferre incommoda vitæ, + Nec jactare jugum, vita didicere magistra._ Juv. Sat. xiii. 19. + + Let Stoicks ethicks' haughty rules advance + To combat fortune, and to conquer chance: + Yet happy those, though not so learn'd are thought, + Whom life instructs, who by experience taught, + For new to come from past misfortunes look, + Nor shake the yoke, which galls the more 'tis shook. CREECH. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +You have shewn, by the publication of my letter, that you think the +life of Victoria not wholly unworthy of the notice of a philosopher: I +shall therefore continue my narrative, without any apology for +unimportance which you have dignified, or for inaccuracies which you are +to correct. + +When my life appeared to be no longer in danger, and as much of my +strength was recovered as enabled me to bear the agitation of a coach, I +was placed at a lodging in a neighbouring village, to which my mother +dismissed me with a faint embrace, having repeated her command not to +expose my face too soon to the sun or wind, and told me that with care I +might perhaps become tolerable again. The prospect of being tolerable +had very little power to elevate the imagination of one who had so long +been accustomed to praise and ecstacy; but it was some satisfaction to +be separated from my mother, who was incessantly ringing the knell of +departed beauty, and never entered my room without the whine of +condolence, or the growl of anger. She often wandered over my face, as +travellers over the ruins of a celebrated city, to note every place +which had once been remarkable for a happy feature. She condescended to +visit my retirement, but always left me more melancholy; for after a +thousand trifling inquiries about my diet, and a minute examination of +my looks, she generally concluded with a sigh, that I should never more +be fit to be seen. + +At last I was permitted to return home, but found no great improvement +of my condition; for I was imprisoned in my chamber as a criminal, whose +appearance would disgrace my friends, and condemn me to be tortured into +new beauty. Every experiment which the officiousness of folly could +communicate, or the credulity of ignorance admit, was tried upon me. +Sometimes I was covered with emollients, by which it was expected that +all the scars would be filled, and my cheeks plumped up to their former +smoothness; and sometimes I was punished with artificial excoriations, +in hopes of gaining new graces with a new skin. The cosmetick science +was exhausted upon me; but who can repair the ruins of nature? My mother +was forced to give me rest at last, and abandon me to the fate of a +fallen toast, whose fortune she considered as a hopeless game, no longer +worthy of solicitude or attention. + +The condition of a young woman who has never thought or heard of any +other excellence than beauty, and whom the sudden blast of disease +wrinkles in her bloom, is indeed sufficiently calamitous. She is at once +deprived of all that gave her eminence or power; of all that elated her +pride, or animated her activity; all that filled her days with pleasure, +and her nights with hope; all that gave gladness to the present hour, or +brightened her prospects of futurity. It is perhaps not in the power of +a man whose attention has been divided by diversity of pursuits, and who +has not been accustomed to derive from others much of his happiness, to +image to himself such helpless destitution, such dismal inanity. Every +object of pleasing contemplation is at once snatched away, and the soul +finds every receptacle of ideas empty, or filled only with the memory of +joys that can return no more. All is gloomy privation, or impotent +desire; the faculties of anticipation slumber in despondency, or the +powers of pleasure mutiny for employment. + +I was so little able to find entertainment for myself, that I was forced +in a short time to venture abroad as the solitary savage is driven by +hunger from his cavern. I entered with all the humility of disgrace into +assemblies, where I had lately sparkled with gaiety, and towered with +triumph. I was not wholly without hope, that dejection had +misrepresented me to myself, and that the remains of my former face +might yet have some attraction and influence; but the first circle of +visits convinced me, that my reign was at an end; that life and death +were no longer in my hands; that I was no more to practise the glance of +command, or the frown of prohibition; to receive the tribute of sighs +and praises, or be soothed with the gentle murmurs of amorous timidity. +My opinion was now unheard, and my proposals were unregarded; the +narrowness of my knowledge, and the meanness of my sentiments, were +easily discovered, when the eyes were no longer engaged against the +judgment; and it was observed, by those who had formerly been charmed +with my vivacious loquacity, that my understanding was impaired as well +as my face, and that I was no longer qualified to fill a place in any +company but a party at cards. + +It is scarcely to be imagined how soon the mind sinks to a level with +the condition. I, who had long considered all who approached me as +vassals condemned to regulate their pleasures by my eyes, and harass +their inventions for my entertainment, was in less than three weeks +reduced to receive a ticket with professions of obligation; to catch +with eagerness at a compliment; and to watch with all the anxiousness of +dependance, lest any little civility that was paid me should pass +unacknowledged. + +Though the negligence of the men was not very pleasing when compared +with vows and adoration, yet it was far more supportable than the +insolence of my own sex. For the first ten months after my return into +the world, I never entered a single house in which the memory of my +downfall was not revived. At one place I was congratulated on my escape +with life; at another I heard of the benefits of early inoculation; by +some I have been told in express terms, that I am not yet without my +charms; others have whispered at my entrance, This is the celebrated +beauty. One told me of a wash that would smooth the skin; and another +offered me her chair that I might not front the light. Some soothed me +with the observation that none can tell how soon my case may be her own; +and some thought it proper to receive me with mournful tenderness, +formal condolence, and consolatory blandishments. + +Thus was I every day harassed with all the stratagems of well-bred +malignity; yet insolence was more tolerable than solitude, and I +therefore persisted to keep my time at the doors of my acquaintance, +without gratifying them with any appearance of resentment or depression. +I expected that their exultation would in time vapour away; that the joy +of their superiority would end with its novelty; and that I should be +suffered to glide along in my present form among the nameless multitude, +whom nature never intended to excite envy or admiration, nor enabled to +delight the eye or inflame the heart. + +This was naturally to be expected, and this I began to experience. But +when I was no longer agitated by the perpetual ardour of resistance, and +effort of perseverance, I found more sensibly the want of those +entertainments which had formerly delighted me; the day rose upon me +without an engagement; and the evening closed in its natural gloom, +without summoning me to a concert or a ball. None had any care to find +amusements for me, and I had no power of amusing myself. Idleness +exposed me to melancholy, and life began to languish in motionless +indifference. + +Misery and shame are nearly allied. It was not without many struggles +that I prevailed on myself to confess my uneasiness to Euphemia, the +only friend who had never pained me with comfort or with pity. I at last +laid my calamities before her, rather to ease my heart, than receive +assistance. "We must distinguish," said she, "my Victoria, those evils +which are imposed by Providence, from those to which we ourselves give +the power of hurting us. Of your calamity, a small part is the +infliction of Heaven, the rest is little more than the corrosion of idle +discontent. You have lost that which may indeed sometimes contribute to +happiness, but to which happiness is by no means inseparably annexed. +You have lost what the greater number of the human race never have +possessed; what those on whom it is bestowed for the most part possess +in vain; and what you, while it was yours, knew not how to use: you have +only lost early what the laws of nature forbid you to keep long, and +have lost it while your mind is yet flexible, and while you have time to +substitute more valuable and more durable excellencies. Consider +yourself, my Victoria, as a being born to know, to reason, and to act; +rise at once from your dream of melancholy to wisdom and to piety; you +will find that there are other charms than those of beauty, and other +joys than the praise of fools." + +I am, Sir, &c. + +VICTORIA. + + + +No. 134. SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 1751. + + _Quis scit an adjiciant hodiernae crastina summae + Tempora Dii superi?_ HOR. Lib. iv. Ode vii. 16. + + Who knows if Heav'n, with ever-bounteous pow'r, + Shall add to-morrow to the present hour? FRANCIS. + +I sat yesterday morning employed in deliberating on which, among the +various subjects that occurred to my imagination, I should bestow the +paper of to-day. After a short effort of meditation by which nothing was +determined, I grew every moment more irresolute, my ideas wandered from +the first intention, and I rather wished to think, than thought upon any +settled subject; till at last I was awakened from this dream of study by +a summons from the press; the time was now come for which I had been +thus negligently purposing to provide, and, however dubious or sluggish, +I was now necessitated to write. + +Though to a writer whose design is so comprehensive and miscellaneous, +that he may accommodate himself with a topick from every scene of life, +or view of nature, it is no great aggravation of his task to be obliged +to a sudden composition; yet I could not forbear to reproach myself for +having so long neglected what was unavoidably to be done, and of which +every moment's idleness increased the difficulty. There was however some +pleasure in reflecting that I, who had only trifled till diligence was +necessary, might still congratulate myself upon my superiority to +multitudes, who have trifled till diligence is vain; who can by no +degree of activity or resolution recover the opportunities which have +slipped away; and who are condemned by their own carelessness to +hopeless calamity and barren sorrow. + +The folly of allowing ourselves to delay what we know cannot be finally +escaped, is one of the general weaknesses, which, in spite of the +instruction of moralists, and the remonstrances of reason, prevail to a +greater or less degree in every mind; even they who most steadily +withstand it, find it, if not the most violent, the most pertinacious of +their passions, always renewing its attacks, and though often +vanquished, never destroyed. + +It is indeed natural to have particular regard to the time present, and +to be most solicitous for that which is by its nearness enabled to make +the strongest impressions. When therefore any sharp pain is to be +suffered, or any formidable danger to be incurred, we can scarcely +exempt ourselves wholly from the seducements of imagination; we readily +believe that another day will bring some support or advantage which we +now want; and are easily persuaded, that the moment of necessity which +we desire never to arrive, is at a great distance from us. + +Thus life is languished away in the gloom of anxiety, and consumed in +collecting resolutions which the next morning dissipates; in forming +purposes which we scarcely hope to keep, and reconciling ourselves to +our own cowardice by excuses, which, while we admit them, we know to be +absurd. Our firmness is by the continual contemplation of misery, hourly +impaired; every submission to our fear enlarges its dominion; we not +only waste that time in which the evil we dread might have been suffered +and surmounted, but even where procrastination produces no absolute +increase of our difficulties, make them less superable to ourselves by +habitual terrours. When evils cannot be avoided, it is wise to contract +the interval of expectation; to meet the mischiefs which will overtake +us if we fly; and suffer only their real malignity, without the +conflicts of doubt, and anguish of anticipation. + +To act is far easier than to suffer; yet we every day see the progress +of life retarded by the _vis inertiae_, the mere repugnance to motion, +and find multitudes repining at the want of that which nothing but +idleness hinders them from enjoying. The case of Tantalus, in the region +of poetick punishment, was somewhat to be pitied, because the fruits +that hung about him retired from his hand; but what tenderness can be +claimed by those who, though perhaps they suffer the pains of Tantalus, +will never lift their hands for their own relief? + +There is nothing more common among this torpid generation than murmurs +and complaints; murmurs at uneasiness which only vacancy and suspicion +expose them to feel, and complaints of distresses which it is in their +own power to remove. Laziness is commonly associated with timidity. +Either fear originally prohibits endeavours by infusing despair of +success; or the frequent failure of irresolute struggles, and the +constant desire of avoiding labour, impress by degrees false terrours on +the mind. But fear, whether natural or acquired, when once it has full +possession of the fancy, never fails to employ it upon visions of +calamity, such as, if they are not dissipated by useful employment, will +soon overcast it with horrours, and embitter life not only with those +miseries by which all earthly beings are really more or less tormented, +but with those which do not yet exist, and which can only be discerned +by the perspicacity of cowardice. + +Among all who sacrifice future advantage to present inclination, +scarcely any gain so little as those that suffer themselves to freeze in +idleness. Others are corrupted by some enjoyment of more or less power +to gratify the passions; but to neglect our duties, merely to avoid the +labour of performing them, a labour which is always punctually rewarded, +is surely to sink under weak temptations. Idleness never can secure +tranquillity; the call of reason and of conscience will pierce the +closest pavilion of the sluggard, and though it may not have force to +drive him from his down, will be loud enough to hinder him from sleep. +Those moments which he cannot resolve to make useful, by devoting them +to the great business of his being, will still be usurped by powers that +will not leave them to his disposal; remorse and vexation will seize +upon them, and forbid him to enjoy what he is so desirous to +appropriate. + +There are other causes of inactivity incident to more active faculties +and more acute discernment. He to whom many objects of pursuit arise at +the same time, will frequently hesitate between different desires, till +a rival has precluded him, or change his course as new attractions +prevail, and harass himself without advancing. He who sees different +ways to the same end, will, unless he watches carefully over his own +conduct, lay out too much of his attention upon the comparison of +probabilities, and the adjustment of expedients, and pause in the choice +of his road till some accident intercepts his journey. He whose +penetration extends to remote consequences, and who, whenever he applies +his attention to any design, discovers new prospects of advantage, and +possibilities of improvement, will not easily be persuaded that his +project is ripe for execution; but will superadd one contrivance to +another, endeavour to unite various purposes in one operation, multiply +complications, and refine niceties, till he is entangled in his own +scheme, and bewildered in the perplexity of various intentions. He that +resolves to unite all the beauties of situation in a new purchase, must +waste his life in roving to no purpose from province to province. He +that hopes in the same house to obtain every convenience, may draw plans +and study Palladio, but will never lay a stone. He will attempt a +treatise on some important subject, and amass materials, consult +authors, and study all the dependant and collateral parts of learning, +but never conclude himself qualified to write. He that has abilities to +conceive perfection, will not easily be content without it; and since +perfection cannot be reached, will lose the opportunity of doing well in +the vain hope of unattainable excellence. + +The certainty that life cannot be long, and the probability that it will +be much shorter than nature allows, ought to awaken every man to the +active prosecution of whatever he is desirous to perform. It is true, +that no diligence can ascertain success; death may intercept the +swiftest career; but he who is cut off in the execution of an honest +undertaking, has at least the honour of falling in his rank, and has +fought the battle though he missed the victory. + + + +No. 135. TUESDAY, JULY 2, 1751. + + Coelum, non animum, mutant. HOR. Lib. i. Ep. xi. 27. + + Place may be chang'd; but who can change his mind? + +It is impossible to take a view on any side, or observe any of the +various classes that form the great community of the world, without +discovering the influence of example; and admitting with new conviction +the observation of Aristotle, that _man is an imitative being_. The +greater, far the greater number, follow the track which others have +beaten, without any curiosity after new discoveries, or ambition of +trusting themselves to their own conduct. And, of those who break the +ranks and disorder the uniformity of the march, most return in a short +time from their deviation, and prefer the equal and steady satisfaction +of security before the frolicks of caprice and the honours of adventure. + +In questions difficult or dangerous it is indeed natural to repose upon +authority, and, when fear happens to predominate, upon the authority of +those whom we do not in general think wiser than ourselves. Very few +have abilities requisite for the discovery of abstruse truth; and of +those few some want leisure, and some resolution. But it is not so easy +to find the reason of the universal submission to precedent where every +man might safely judge for himself; where no irreparable loss can be +hazarded, nor any mischief of long continuance incurred. Vanity might be +expected to operate where the more powerful passions are not awakened; +the mere pleasure of acknowledging no superior might produce slight +singularities, or the hope of gaining some new degree of happiness +awaken the mind to invention or experiment. + +If in any case the shackles of prescription could be wholly shaken off, +and the imagination left to act without control, on what occasion should +it be expected, but in the selection of lawful pleasure? Pleasure, of +which the essence is choice; which compulsion dissociates from every +thing to which nature has united it; and which owes not only its vigour +but its being to the smiles of liberty. Yet we see that the senses, as +well as the reason, are regulated by credulity; and that most will feel, +or say that they feel, the gratifications which others have taught them +to expect. + +At this time of universal migration, when almost every one, considerable +enough to attract regard, has retired, or is preparing with all the +earnestness of distress to retire, into the country; when nothing is to +be heard but the hopes of speedy departure, or the complaints of +involuntary delay; I have often been tempted to inquire what happiness +is to be gained, or what inconvenience to be avoided, by this stated +recession? Of the birds of passage, some follow the summer and some the +winter, because they live upon sustenance which only summer or winter +can supply; but of the annual flight of human rovers it is much harder +to assign the reason, because they do not appear either to find or seek +any thing which is not equally afforded by the town and country. + +I believe that many of these fugitives may have heard of men whose +continual wish was for the quiet of retirement, who watched every +opportunity to steal away from observation, to forsake the crowd, and +delight themselves with _the society of solitude_. There is indeed +scarcely any writer who has not celebrated the happiness of rural +privacy, and delighted himself and his reader with the melody of birds, +the whisper of groves, and the murmur of rivulets; nor any man eminent +for extent of capacity, or greatness of exploits, that has not left +behind him some memorials of lonely wisdom, and silent dignity. + +But almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those +whom we cannot resemble. Those who thus testified their weariness of +tumult and hurry, and hasted with so much eagerness to the leisure of +retreat, were either men overwhelmed with the pressure of difficult +employments, harassed with importunities, and distracted with +multiplicity; or men wholly engrossed by speculative sciences, who +having no other end of life but to learn and teach, found their searches +interrupted by the common commerce of civility, and their reasonings +disjointed by frequent interruptions. Such men might reasonably fly to +that ease and convenience which their condition allowed them to find +only in the country. The statesman who devoted the greater part of his +time to the publick, was desirous of keeping the remainder in his own +power. The general, ruffled with dangers, wearied with labours, and +stunned with acclamations, gladly snatched an interval of silence and +relaxation. The naturalist was unhappy where the works of Providence +were not always before him. The reasoner could adjust his systems only +where his mind was free from the intrusion of outward objects. + +Such examples of solitude very few of those who are now hastening from +the town, have any pretensions to plead in their own justification, +since they cannot pretend either weariness of labour, or desire of +knowledge. They purpose nothing more than to quit one scene of idleness +for another, and after having trifled in publick, to sleep in secrecy. +The utmost that they can hope to gain is the change of ridiculousness to +obscurity, and the privilege of having fewer witnesses to a life of +folly. He who is not sufficiently important to be disturbed in his +pursuits, but spends all his hours according to his own inclination, and +has more hours than his mental faculties enable him to fill either with +enjoyment or desires, can have nothing to demand of shades and valleys. +As bravery is said to be a panoply, insignificancy is always a shelter. + +There are, however, pleasures and advantages in a rural situation, which +are not confined to philosophers and heroes. The freshness of the air, +the verdure of the woods, the paint of the meadows, and the unexhausted +variety which summer scatters upon the earth, may easily give delight to +an unlearned spectator. It is not necessary that he who looks with +pleasure on the colours of a flower should study the principles of +vegetation, or that the Ptolemaick and Copernican system should be +compared before the light of the sun can gladden, or its warmth +invigorate. Novelty is itself a source of gratification; and Milton +justly observes, that to him who has been long pent up in cities, no +rural object can be presented, which will not delight or refresh some of +his senses. + +Yet even these easy pleasures are missed by the greater part of those +who waste their summer in the country. Should any man pursue his +acquaintances to their retreats, he would find few of them listening to +Philomel, loitering in woods, or plucking daisies, catching the healthy +gale of the morning, or watching the gentle coruscations of declining +day. Some will be discovered at a window by the road side, rejoicing +when a new cloud of dust gathers towards them, as at the approach of a +momentary supply of conversation, and a short relief from the +tediousness of unideal vacancy. Others are placed in the adjacent +villages, where they look only upon houses as in the rest of the year, +with no change of objects but what a remove to any new street in London +might have given them. The same set of acquaintances still settle +together, and the form of life is not otherwise diversified than by +doing the same things in a different place. They pay and receive visits +in the usual form, they frequent the walks in the morning, they deal +cards at night, they attend to the same tattle, and dance with the same +partners; nor can they, at their return to their former habitation, +congratulate themselves on any other advantage, than that they have +passed their time like others of the same rank; and have the same right +to talk of the happiness and beauty of the country, of happiness which +they never felt, and beauty which they never regarded. + +To be able to procure its own entertainments, and to subsist upon its +own stock, is not the prerogative of every mind. There are indeed +understandings so fertile and comprehensive, that they can always feed +reflection with new supplies, and suffer nothing from the preclusion of +adventitious amusements; as some cities have within their own walls +enclosed ground enough to feed their inhabitants in a siege. But others +live only from day to day, and must be constantly enabled, by foreign +supplies, to keep out the encroachments of languor and stupidity. Such +could not indeed be blamed for hovering within reach of their usual +pleasure, more than any other animal for not quitting its native +element, were not their faculties contracted by their own fault. But let +not those who go into the country, merely because they dare not be left +alone at home, boast their love of nature, or their qualifications for +solitude; nor pretend that they receive instantaneous infusions of +wisdom from the Dryads, and are able, when they leave smoke and noise +behind, to act, or think, or reason for themselves. + + + +No. 136. SATURDAY, JULY 6, 1751. + + [Greek: Echthrus gar moi keimos, omos aidao pulusin, + Os ch eteron men keuthei eni phresin, allo de bazei.] + HOMER, [Greek: I'.] 313. + + Who dares think one thing, and another tell, + My heart detests him as the gates of Hell. POPE. + +The regard which they whose abilities are employed in the works of +imagination claim from the rest of mankind, arises in a great measure +from their influence on futurity. Rank may be conferred by princes, and +wealth bequeathed by misers or by robbers; but the honours of a lasting +name, and the veneration of distant ages, only the sons of learning have +the power of bestowing. While therefore it continues one of the +characteristicks of rational nature to decline oblivion, authors never +can be wholly overlooked in the search after happiness, nor become +contemptible but by their own fault. + +The man who considers himself as constituted the ultimate judge of +disputable characters, and entrusted with the distribution of the last +terrestrial rewards of merit, ought to summon all his fortitude to the +support of his integrity, and resolve to discharge an office of such +dignity with the most vigilant caution and scrupulous justice. To +deliver examples to posterity, and to regulate the opinion of future +times, is no slight or trivial undertaking; nor is it easy to commit +more atrocious treason against the great republick of humanity, than by +falsifying its records and misguiding its decrees. + +To scatter praise or blame without regard to justice, is to destroy the +distinction of good and evil. Many have no other test of actions than +general opinion; and all are so far influenced by a sense of reputation, +that they are often restrained by fear of reproach, and excited by hope +of honour, when other principles have lost their power; nor can any +species of prostitution promote general depravity more than that which +destroys the force of praise, by shewing that it may be acquired without +deserving it, and which, by setting free the active and ambitious from +the dread of infamy, lets loose the rapacity of power, and weakens the +only authority by which greatness is controlled. + +Praise, like gold and diamonds, owes its value only to its scarcity. It +becomes cheap as it becomes vulgar, and will no longer raise +expectation, or animate enterprise. It is therefore not only necessary, +that wickedness, even when it is not safe to censure it, be denied +applause, but that goodness be commended only in proportion to its +degree; and that the garlands, due to the great benefactors of mankind, +be not suffered to fade upon the brow of him who can boast only petty +services and easy virtues. + +Had these maxims been universally received, how much would have been +added to the task of dedication, the work on which all the power of +modern wit has been exhausted. How few of these initial panegyricks had +appeared, if the author had been obliged first to find a man of virtue, +then to distinguish the distinct species and degree of his desert, and +at last to pay him only the honours which he might justly claim. It is +much easier to learn the name of the last man whom chance has exalted to +wealth and power, to obtain by the intervention of some of his +domesticks the privilege of addressing him, or, in confidence of the +general acceptance of flattery, to venture on an address without any +previous solicitation; and after having heaped upon him all the virtues +to which philosophy had assigned a name, inform him how much more might +be truly said, did not the fear of giving pain to his modesty repress +the raptures of wonder and the zeal of veneration. + +Nothing has so much degraded literature from its natural rank, as the +practice of indecent and promiscuous dedication; for what credit can he +expect who professes himself the hireling of vanity, however profligate, +and without shame or scruple, celebrates the worthless, dignifies the +mean, and gives to the corrupt, licentious, and oppressive, the +ornaments which ought only to add grace to truth, and loveliness to +innocence? Every other kind of adulation, however shameful, however +mischievous, is less detestable than the crime of counterfeiting +characters, and fixing the stamp of literary sanction upon the dross and +refuse of the world. + +Yet I would not overwhelm the authors with the whole load of infamy, of +which part, perhaps the greater part, ought to fall upon their patrons. +If he that hires a bravo, partakes the guilt of murder, why should he +who bribes a flatterer, hope to be exempted from the shame of falsehood? +The unhappy dedicator is seldom without some motives which obstruct, +though not destroy, the liberty of choice; he is oppressed by miseries +which he hopes to relieve, or inflamed by ambition which he expects to +gratify. But the patron has no incitements equally violent; he can +receive only a short gratification, with which nothing but stupidity +could dispose him to be pleased. The real satisfaction which praise can +afford is by repeating aloud the whispers of conscience, and by shewing +us that we have not endeavoured to deserve well in vain. Every other +encomium is, to an intelligent mind, satire and reproach; the +celebration of those virtues which we feel ourselves to want, can only +impress a quicker sense of our own defects, and shew that we have not +yet satisfied the expectations of the world, by forcing us to observe +how much fiction must contribute to the completion of our character. + +Yet sometimes the patron may claim indulgence; for it does not always +happen, that the encomiast has been much encouraged to his attempt. Many +a hapless author, when his book, and perhaps his dedication, was ready +for the press, has waited long before any one would pay the price of +prostitution, or consent to hear the praises destined to insure his name +against the casualties of time; and many a complaint has been vented +against the decline of learning, and neglect of genius, when either +parsimonious prudence has declined expense, or honest indignation +rejected falsehood. But if at last, after long inquiry and innumerable +disappointments, he find a lord willing to hear of his own eloquence and +taste, a statesman desirous of knowing how a friendly historian will +represent his conduct, or a lady delighted to leave to the world some +memorial of her wit and beauty, such weakness cannot be censured as an +instance of enormous depravity. The wisest man may, by a diligent +solicitor, be surprised in the hour of weakness, and persuaded to solace +vexation, or invigorate hope, with the musick of flattery. + +To censure all dedications as adulatory and servile, would discover +rather envy than justice. Praise is the tribute of merit, and he that +has incontestably distinguished himself by any publick performance, has +a right to all the honours which the publick can bestow. To men thus +raised above the rest of the community, there is no need that the book +or its author should have any particular relation; that the patron is +known to deserve respect, is sufficient to vindicate him that pays it. +To the same regard from particular persons, private virtue and less +conspicuous excellence may be sometimes entitled. An author may with +great propriety inscribe his work to him by whose encouragement it was +undertaken, or by whose liberality he has been enabled to prosecute it, +and he may justly rejoice in his own fortitude that dares to rescue +merit from obscurity. + + _Acribus exemplis videor te claudere: misce + Ergo aliquid nostris de moribus.--_ + + Thus much I will indulge thee for thy ease, + And mingle something of our times to please. Dryden, jun. + +I know not whether greater relaxation may not he indulged, and whether +hope as well as gratitude may not unblamably produce a dedication; but +let the writer who pours out his praises only to propitiate power, or +attract the attention of greatness, be cautious lest his desire betray +him to exuberant eulogies. We are naturally more apt to please ourselves +with the future than the past, and while we luxuriate in expectation, +may be easily persuaded to purchase what we yet rate, only by +imagination, at a higher price than experience will warrant. + +But no private views of personal regard can discharge any man from his +general obligations to virtue and to truth. It may happen in the various +combinations of life, that a good man may receive favours from one, who, +notwithstanding his accidental beneficence, cannot be justly proposed to +the imitation of others, and whom therefore he must find some other way +of rewarding than by public celebrations. Self-love has indeed many +powers of seducement; but it surely ought not to exalt any individual to +equality with the collective body of mankind, or persuade him that a +benefit conferred on him is equivalent to every other virtue. Yet many, +upon false principles of gratitude, have ventured to extol wretches, +whom all but their dependents numbered among the reproaches of the +species, and whom they would likewise have beheld with the same scorn, +had they not been hired to dishonest approbation. + +To encourage merit with praise is the great business of literature; but +praise must lose its influence, by unjust or negligent distribution; and +he that impairs its value may be charged with misapplication of the +power that genius puts into his hands, and with squandering on guilt the +recompense of virtue. + + + +No. 137. TUESDAY, JULY 9, 1751. + + _Dum vitant stulti vitia, in contraria currunt_. + Hor. Lib. i. Sat. ii. 24. + + --Whilst fools one vice condemn, + They run into the opposite extreme. CREECH. + +That wonder is the effect of ignorance, has been often observed. The +awful stillness of attention, with which the mind is overspread at the +first view of an unexpected effect, ceases when we have leisure to +disentangle complications and investigate causes. Wonder is a pause of +reason, a sudden cessation of the mental progress, which lasts only +while the understanding is fixed upon some single idea, and is at an end +when it recovers force enough to divide the object into its parts, or +mark the intermediate gradations from the first agent to the last +consequence. + +It may be remarked with equal truth, that ignorance is often the effect +of wonder. It is common for those who have never accustomed themselves +to the labour of inquiry, nor invigorated their confidence by conquests +over difficulty, to sleep in the gloomy quiescence of astonishment, +without any effort to animate inquiry, or dispel obscurity. What they +cannot immediately conceive, they consider as too high to be reached, or +too extensive to be comprehended; they therefore content themselves with +the gaze of folly, forbear to attempt what they have no hopes of +performing, and resign the pleasure of rational contemplation to more +pertinacious study, or more active faculties. + +Among the productions of mechanick art, many are of a form so different +from that of their first materials, and many consist of parts so +numerous and so nicely adapted to each other, that it is not possible to +view them without amazement. But when we enter the shops of artificers, +observe the various tools by which every operation is facilitated, and +trace the progress of a manufacture through the different hands, that, +in succession to each other, contribute to its perfection, we soon +discover that every single man has an easy task, and that the extremes, +however remote, of natural rudeness and artificial elegance, are joined +by a regular concatenation of effects, of which every one is introduced +by that which precedes it, and equally introduces that which is to +follow. + +The same is the state of intellectual and manual performances. Long +calculations or complex diagrams affright the timorous and unexperienced +from a second view; but if we have skill sufficient to analyze them into +simple principles, it will be discovered that our fear was groundless. +_Divide and conquer_, is a principle equally just in science as in +policy. Complication is a species of confederacy, which, while it +continues united, bids defiance to the most active and vigorous +intellect; but of which every member is separately weak, and which may +therefore be quickly subdued, if it can once be broken. + +The chief art of learning, as Locke has observed, is to attempt but +little at a time. The widest excursions of the mind are made by short +flights frequently repeated; the most lofty fabricks of science are +formed by the continued accumulation of single propositions. + +It often happens, whatever be the cause, that impatience of labour, or +dread of miscarriage, seizes those who are most distinguished for +quickness of apprehension; and that they who might with greatest reason +promise themselves victory, are least willing to hazard the encounter. +This diffidence, where the attention is not laid asleep by laziness, or +dissipated by pleasures, can arise only from confused and general views, +such as negligence snatches in haste, or from the disappointment of the +first hopes formed by arrogance without reflection. To expect that the +intricacies of science will be pierced by a careless glance, or the +eminences of fame ascended without labour, is to expect a particular +privilege, a power denied to the rest of mankind; but to suppose that +the maze is inscrutable to diligence, or the heights inaccessible to +perseverance, is to submit tamely to the tyranny of fancy, and enchain +the mind in voluntary shackles. + +It is the proper ambition of the heroes in literature to enlarge the +boundaries of knowledge by discovering and conquering new regions of the +intellectual world. To the success of such undertakings perhaps some +degree of fortuitous happiness is necessary, which no man can promise or +procure to himself; and therefore doubt and irresolution may be forgiven +in him that ventures into the unexplored abysses of truth, and attempts +to find his way through the fluctuations of uncertainty, and the +conflicts of contradiction. But when nothing more is required, than to +pursue a path already beaten, and to trample obstacles which others have +demolished, why should any man so much distrust his own intellect as to +imagine himself unequal to the attempt? + +It were to be wished that they who devote their lives to study would at +once believe nothing too great for their attainment, and consider +nothing as too little for their regard; that they would extend their +notice alike to science and to life, and unite some knowledge of the +present world to their acquaintance with past ages and remote events. + +Nothing has so much exposed men of learning to contempt and ridicule, as +their ignorance of things which are known to all but themselves. Those +who have been taught to consider the institutions of the schools, as +giving the last perfection to human abilities, are surprised to see men +wrinkled with study, yet wanting to be instructed in the minute +circumstances of propriety, or the necessary forms of daily transaction; +and quickly shake off their reverence for modes of education, which they +find to produce no ability above the rest of mankind. + +"Books," says Bacon, "can never teach the use of books." The student +must learn by commerce with mankind to reduce his speculations to +practice, and accommodate his knowledge to the purposes of life. + +It is too common for those who have been bred to scholastick +professions, and passed much of their time in academies where nothing +but learning confers honours, to disregard every other qualification, +and to imagine that they shall find mankind ready to pay homage to their +knowledge, and to crowd about them for instruction. They therefore step +out from their cells into the open world with all the confidence of +authority and dignity of importance; they look round about them at once +with ignorance and scorn on a race of beings to whom they are equally +unknown and equally contemptible, but whose manners they must imitate, +and with whose opinions they must comply, if they desire to pass their +time happily among them. + +To lessen that disdain with which scholars are inclined to look on the +common business of the world, and the unwillingness with which they +condescend to learn what is not to be found in any system of philosophy, +it may be necessary to consider that though admiration is excited by +abstruse researches and remote discoveries, yet pleasure is not given, +nor affection conciliated, but by softer accomplishments, and qualities +more easily communicable to those about us. He that can only converse +upon questions, about which only a small part of mankind has knowledge +sufficient to make them curious, must lose his days in unsocial silence, +and live in the crowd of life without a companion. He that can only be +useful on great occasions, may die without exerting his abilities, and +stand a helpless spectator of a thousand vexations which fret away +happiness, and which nothing is required to remove but a little +dexterity of conduct and readiness of expedients. + +No degree of knowledge attainable by man is able to set him above the +want of hourly assistance, or to extinguish the desire of fond +endearments, and tender officiousness; and therefore, no one should +think it unnecessary to learn those arts by which friendship may be +gained. Kindness is preserved by a constant reciprocation of benefits or +interchange of pleasures; but such benefits only can be bestowed, as +others are capable to receive, and such pleasures only imparted, as +others are qualified to enjoy. + +By this descent from the pinnacles of art no honour will be lost; for +the condescensions of learning are always overpaid by gratitude. An +elevated genius employed in little things, appears, to use the simile of +Longinus, like the sun in his evening declination: he remits his +splendour but retains his magnitude, and pleases more though he dazzles +less. + + + +No. 138. SATURDAY, JULY 13, 1751. + + _O tantum libeat mecum tibi sordida rura, + Atque humiles habitare casas, et figere cervos_. VIRG. EC. ii 28. + + With me retire, and leave the pomp of courts + For humble cottages and rural sports. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +Though the contempt with which you have treated the annual migrations of +the gay and busy part of mankind is justified by daily observation; +since most of those who leave the town, neither vary their +entertainments nor enlarge their notions; yet I suppose you do not +intend to represent the practice itself as ridiculous, or to declare +that he whose condition puts the distribution of his time into his own +power may not properly divide it between the town and country. + +That the country, and only the country, displays the inexhaustible +varieties of nature, and supplies the philosophical mind with matter for +admiration and inquiry, never was denied; but my curiosity is very +little attracted by the colour of a flower, the anatomy of an insect, or +the structure of a nest; I am generally employed upon human manners, and +therefore fill up the months of rural leisure with remarks on those who +live within the circle of my notice. If writers would more frequently +visit those regions of negligence and liberty, they might diversify +their representations, and multiply their images, for in the country are +original characters chiefly to be found. In cities, and yet more in +courts, the minute discriminations which distinguish one from another +are for the most part effaced, the peculiarities of temper and opinion +are gradually worn away by promiscuous converse, as angular bodies and +uneven surfaces lose their points and asperities by frequent attrition +against one another, and approach by degrees to uniform rotundity. The +prevalence of fashion, the influence of example, the desire of applause, +and the dread of censure, obstruct the natural tendencies of the mind, +and check the fancy in its first efforts to break forth into experiments +of caprice. + +Few inclinations are so strong as to grow up into habits, when they must +struggle with the constant opposition of settled forms and established +customs. But in the country every man is a separate and independent +being: solitude flatters irregularity with hopes of secrecy; and wealth, +removed from the mortification of comparison, and the awe of equality, +swells into contemptuous confidence, and sets blame and laughter at +defiance; the impulses of nature act unrestrained, and the disposition +dares to shew itself in its true form, without any disguise of +hypocrisy, or decorations of elegance. Every one indulges the full +enjoyment of his own choice, and talks and lives with no other view than +to please himself, without inquiring how far he deviates from the +general practice, or considering others as entitled to any account of +his sentiments or actions. If he builds or demolishes, opens or +encloses, deluges or drains, it is not his care what may be the opinion +of those who are skilled in perspective or architecture, it is +sufficient that he has no landlord to controul him, and that none has +any right to examine in what projects the lord of the manour spends his +own money on his own grounds. + +For this reason it is not very common to want subjects for rural +conversation. Almost every man is daily doing something which produces +merriment, wonder, or resentment, among his neighbours. This utter +exemption from restraint leaves every anomalous quality to operate in +its full extent, and suffers the natural character to diffuse itself to +every part of life. The pride which, under the check of publick +observation, would have been only vented among servants and domesticks, +becomes in a country baronet the torment of a province, and instead of +terminating in the destruction of China-ware and glasses, ruins tenants, +dispossesses cottagers, and harasses villages with actions of trespass +and bills of indictment. + +It frequently happens that, even without violent passions, or enormous +corruption, the freedom and laxity of a rustick life produces remarkable +particularities of conduct or manner. In the province where I now +reside, we have one lady eminent for wearing a gown always of the same +cut and colour; another for shaking hands with those that visit her; and +a third for unshaken resolution never to let tea or coffee enter her +house. + +But of all the female characters which this place affords, I have found +none so worthy of attention as that of Mrs. Busy, a widow, who lost her +husband in her thirtieth year, and has since passed her time at the +manour-house in the government of her children, and the management of +the estate. + +Mrs. Busy was married at eighteen from a boarding-school, where she had +passed her time like other young ladies, in needle-work, with a few +intervals of dancing and reading. When she became a bride she spent one +winter with her husband in town, where, having no idea of any +conversation beyond the formalities of a visit, she found nothing to +engage her passions: and when she had been one night at court, and two +at an opera, and seen the Monument, the Tombs, and the Tower, she +concluded that London had nothing more to shew, and wondered that when +women had once seen the world, they could not be content to stay at +home. She therefore went willingly to the ancient seat, and for some +years studied housewifery under Mr. Busy's mother, with so much +assiduity, that the old lady, when she died, bequeathed her a +caudle-cup, a soup-dish, two beakers, and a chest of table-linen spun +by herself. + +Mr. Busy, finding the economical qualities of his lady, resigned his +affairs wholly into her hands, and devoted his life to his pointers and +his hounds. He never visited his estates but to destroy the partridges +or foxes; and often committed such devastations in the rage of pleasure, +that some of his tenants refused to hold their lands at the usual rent. +Their landlady persuaded them to be satisfied, and entreated her husband +to dismiss his dogs, with many exact calculations of the ale drunk by +his companions, and corn consumed by the horses, and remonstrances +against the insolence of the huntsman, and the frauds of the groom. The +huntsman was too necessary to his happiness to be discarded; and he had +still continued to ravage his own estate, had he not caught a cold and a +fever by shooting mallards in the fens. His fever was followed by a +consumption, which in a few months brought him to the grave. + +Mrs. Busy was too much an economist to feel either joy or sorrow at his +death. She received the compliments and consolations of her neighbours +in a dark room, out of which she stole privately every night and morning +to see the cows milked; and after a few days declared that she thought a +widow might employ herself better than in nursing grief; and that, for +her part, she was resolved that the fortunes of her children should not +be impaired by her neglect. + +She therefore immediately applied herself to the reformation of abuses. +She gave away the dogs, discharged the servants of the kennel and +stable, and sent the horses to the next fair, but rated at so high a +price that they returned unsold. She was resolved to have nothing idle +about her, and ordered them to be employed in common drudgery. They lost +their sleekness and grace, and were soon purchased at half the value. + +She soon disencumbered herself from her weeds, and put on a riding-hood, +a coarse apron, and short petticoats, and has turned a large manour into +a farm, of which she takes the management wholly upon herself. She rises +before the sun to order the horses to their gears, and sees them well +rubbed down at their return from work; she attends the dairy morning and +evening, and watches when a calf falls that it may be carefully nursed; +she walks out among the sheep at noon, counts the lambs, and observes +the fences, and, where she finds a gap, stops it with a bush till it can +be better mended. In harvest she rides a-field in the waggon, and is +very liberal of her ale from a wooden bottle. At her leisure hours she +looks goose eggs, airs the wool-room, and turns the cheese. + +When respect or curiosity brings visitants to her house, she entertains +them with prognosticks of a scarcity of wheat, or a rot among the sheep, +and always thinks herself privileged to dismiss them, when she is to see +the hogs fed, or to count her poultry on the roost. + +The only things neglected about her are her children, whom she has +taught nothing but the lowest household duties. In my last visit I met +Miss Busy carrying grains to a sick cow, and was entertained with the +accomplishments of her eldest son, a youth of such early maturity, that +though he is only sixteen, she can trust him to sell corn in the market. +Her younger daughter, who is eminent for her beauty, though somewhat +tanned in making hay, was busy in pouring out ale to the ploughmen, that +every one might have an equal share. + +I could not but look with pity on this young family, doomed by the +absurd prudence of their mother to ignorance and meanness: but when I +recommended a more elegant education, was answered, that she never saw +bookish or finical people grow rich, and that she was good for nothing +herself till she had forgotten the nicety of the boarding-school. + +I am, Yours, &c. + +BUCOLUS. + + + +No. 139. TUESDAY, JULY 16, 1751 + + --_Sit quod vis simplex duntanat et unum_. Hor. Art. Poet. 23. + + Let ev'ry piece be simple and be one. + +It is required by Aristotle to the perfection of a tragedy, and is +equally necessary to every other species of regular composition, that it +should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. "The beginning," says he, +"is that which hath nothing necessarily previous, but to which that +which follows is naturally consequent; the end, on the contrary, is that +which by necessity, or, at least, according to the common course of +things, succeeds something else, but which implies nothing consequent to +itself; the middle is connected on one side to something that naturally +goes before, and on the other to something that naturally follows it." + +Such is the rule laid down by this great critick, for the disposition of +the different parts of a well-constituted fable. It must begin where it +may be made intelligible without introduction; and end where the mind is +left in repose, without expectation of any further event. The +intermediate passages must join the last effect to the first cause, by a +regular and unbroken concatenation; nothing must be, therefore, +inserted, which does not apparently arise from something foregoing, and +properly make way for something that succeeds it. + +This precept is to be understood in its rigour only with respect to +great and essential events, and cannot be extended in the same force to +minuter circumstances and arbitrary decorations, which yet are more +happy, as they contribute more to the main design; for it is always a +proof of extensive thought and accurate circumspection, to promote +various purposes by the same act; and the idea of an ornament admits +use, though it seems to exclude necessity. + +Whoever purposes, as it is expressed by Milton, _to build the lofty +rhyme_, must acquaint himself with this law of poetical architecture, +and take care that his edifice be solid as well as beautiful; that +nothing stand single or independent, so as that it may be taken away +without injuring the rest; but that, from the foundation to the +pinnacles, one part rest firm upon another. + +The regular and consequential distribution is among common authors +frequently neglected; but the failures of those, whose example can have +no influence, may be safely overlooked, nor is it of much use to recall +obscure and unguarded names to memory for the sake of sporting with +their infamy. But if there is any writer whose genius can embellish +impropriety, and whose authority can make errour venerable, his works +are the proper objects of critical inquisition. To expunge faults where +there are no excellencies is a task equally useless with that of the +chymist, who employs the arts of separation and refinement upon ore in +which no precious metal is contained to reward his operations. + +The tragedy of Samson Agonistes has been celebrated as the second work +of the great author of Paradise Lost, and opposed, with all the +confidence of triumph, to the dramatick performances of other nations. +It contains, indeed, just sentiments, maxims of wisdom, and oracles of +piety, and many passages written with the ancient spirit of choral +poetry, in which there is a just and pleasing mixture of Seneca's moral +declamation, with the wild enthusiasm of the Greek writers. It is, +therefore, worthy of examination, whether a performance thus illuminated +with genius, and enriched with learning, is composed according to the +indispensable laws of Aristotelian criticism: and, omitting, at present, +all other considerations, whether it exhibits a beginning, a middle, and +an end. + +The beginning is undoubtedly beautiful and proper, opening with a +graceful abruptness, and proceeding naturally to a mournful recital of +facts necessary to be known: + + _Samson_. A little onward lend thy guiding hand + To these dark steps, a little further on; + For yonder bank hath choice of sun and shade: + There I am wont to sit, when any chance + Relieves me from my task of servile toil, + Daily in the common prison else enjoin'd me.-- + O, wherefore was my birth from Heav'n foretold + Twice by an Angel?-- + Why was my breeding order'd and prescrib'd, + As of a person separate to God, + Design'd for great exploits; if I must die + Betray'd, captiv'd, and both my eyes put out?-- + Whom have I to complain of but myself? + Who this high gift of strength committed to me, + In what part lodg'd, how easily bereft me, + Under the seal of silence could not keep: + But weakly to a woman must reveal it. + +His soliloquy is interrupted by a chorus or company of men of his own +tribe, who condole his miseries, extenuate his fault, and conclude with +a solemn vindication of divine justice. So that at the conclusion of the +first act there is no design laid, no discovery made, nor any +disposition formed towards the consequent event. + +In the second act, Manoah, the father of Samson, comes to seek his son, +and, being shewn him by the chorus, breaks out into lamentations of his +misery, and comparisons of his present with his former state, +representing to him the ignominy which his religion suffers, by the +festival this day celebrated in honour of Dagon, to whom the idolaters +ascribed his overthrow. + + --Thou bear'st + Enough, and more, the burthen of that fault; + Bitterly hast thou paid, and still art paying + That rigid score. A worse thing yet remains, + This day the Philistines a popular feast + Here celebrate in Gaza; and proclaim + Great pomp, and sacrifice, and praises loud + To Dagon, as their God who hath deliver'd + Thee, Samson, bound and blind, into their hands, + Them out of thine, who slew'st them many a slain. + +Samson, touched with this reproach, makes a reply equally penitential +and pious, which his father considers as the effusion of prophetick +confidence: + + _Samson_.--He, be sure, + Will not connive, or linger, thus provok'd, + But will arise and his great name assert: + Dagon must stoop, and shall ere long receive + Such a discomfit, as shall quite despoil him + Of all these boasted trophies won on me. + + _Manoah_. With cause this hope relieves thee, and these words + I as a prophecy receive; for God, + Nothing more certain, will not long defer + To vindicate the glory of his name. + +This part of the dialogue, as it might tend to animate or exasperate +Samson, cannot, I think, be censured as wholly superfluous; but the +succeeding dispute, in which Samson contends to die, and which his +father breaks off, that he may go to solicit his release, is only +valuable for its own beauties, and has no tendency to introduce any +thing that follows it. + +The next event of the drama is the arrival of Dalila, with all her +graces, artifices, and allurements. This produces a dialogue, in a very +high degree elegant and instructive, from which she retires, after she +has exhausted her persuasions, and is no more seen nor heard of; nor has +her visit any effect but that of raising the character of Samson. + +In the fourth act enters Harapha, the giant of Gath, whose name had +never been mentioned before, and who has now no other motive of coming, +than to see the man whose strength and actions are so loudly celebrated: + + _Haraph_.--Much I have heard + Of thy prodigious might and feats perform'd, + Incredible to me, in this displeas'd, + That I was never present in the place + Of those encounters, where we might have tried + Each other's force in camp or listed fields; + And now am come to see of whom such noise + Hath walk'd about, and each limb to survey, + If thy appearance answer loud report. + +Samson challenges him to the combat; and, after an interchange of +reproaches, elevated by repeated defiance on one side, and imbittered by +contemptuous insults on the other, Harapha retires; we then hear it +determined by Samson, and the chorus, that no consequence good or bad +will proceed from their interview: + + _Chorus_. He will directly to the lords, I fear, + And with malicious counsel stir them up + Some way or other yet farther to afflict thee. + + _Sams_. He must allege some cause, and offer'd fight + Will not dare mention, lest a question rise + Whether he durst accept the offer or not; + And, that he durst not, plain enough appear'd. + +At last, in the fifth act, appears a messenger from the lords assembled +at the festival of Dagon, with a summons by which Samson is required to +come and entertain them with some proof of his strength. Samson, after a +short expostulation, dismisses him with a firm and resolute refusal; +but, during the absence of the messenger, having a while defended the +propriety of his conduct, he at last declares himself moved by a secret +impulse to comply, and utters some dark presages of a great event to be +brought to pass by his agency, under the direction of Providence: + + _Sams_. Be of good courage, I begin to feel + Some rousing motions in me, which dispose + To something extraordinary my thoughts. + I with this messenger will go along, + Nothing to do, be sure, that may dishonour + Our Law, or stain my vow of Nazarite. + If there be aught of presage in the mind, + This day will be remarkable in my life + By some great act, or of my days the last. + +While Samson is conducted off by the messenger, his father returns with +hopes of success in his solicitation, upon which he confers with the +chorus till their dialogue is interrupted, first by a shout of triumph, +and afterwards by screams of horrour and agony. As they stand +deliberating where they shall be secure, a man who had been present at +the show enters, and relates how Samson, having prevailed on his guide +to suffer him to lean against the main pillars of the theatrical +edifice, tore down the roof upon the spectators and himself: + + --Those two massy pillars, + With horrible convulsion, to and fro + He tugg'd, he shook, till down they came, and drew + The whole roof after them, with burst of thunder + Upon the heads of all who sat beneath-- + Samson, with these immixt, inevitably + Pull'd down the same destruction on himself. + +This is undoubtedly a just and regular catastrophe, and the poem, +therefore, has a beginning and an end which Aristotle himself could not +have disapproved; but it must be allowed to want a middle, since nothing +passes between the first act and the last, that either hastens or delays +the death of Samson. The whole drama, if its superfluities were cut off, +would scarcely fill a single act; yet this is the tragedy which +ignorance has admired, and bigotry applauded. + + + +No. 140. SATURDAY, JULY 20, 1751. + + --_Quis tam Lucili fautor inepte est, + Ut non hoc fateatur?_ HOR. Lib. i. Sat. x. 2. + + What doating bigot, to his faults so blind, + As not to grant me this, can Milton find? + +It is common, says Bacon, to desire the end without enduring the means. +Every member of society feels and acknowledges the necessity of +detecting crimes, yet scarce any degree of virtue or reputation is able +to secure an informer from publick hatred. The learned world has always +admitted the usefulness of critical disquisitions, yet he that attempts +to show, however modestly, the failures of a celebrated writer, shall +surely irritate his admirers, and incur the imputation of envy, +captiousness, and malignity. + +With this danger full in my view, I shall proceed to examine the +sentiments of Milton's tragedy, which, though much less liable to +censure than the disposition of his plan, are, like those of other +writers, sometimes exposed to just exceptions for want of care, or want +of discernment. + +Sentiments are proper and improper as they consist more or less with the +character and circumstances of the person to whom they are attributed, +with the rules of the composition in which they are found, or with the +settled and unalterable nature of things. + +It is common among the tragick poets to introduce their persons alluding +to events or opinions, of which they could not possibly have any +knowledge. The barbarians of remote or newly discovered regions often +display their skill in European learning. The god of love is mentioned +in Tamerlane with all the familiarity of a Roman epigrammatist; and a +late writer has put Harvey's doctrine of the circulation of the blood +into the mouth of a Turkish statesman, who lived near two centuries +before it was known even to philosophers or anatomists. + +Milton's learning, which acquainted him with the manners of the ancient +eastern nations, and his invention, which required no assistance from +the common cant of poetry, have preserved him from frequent outrages of +local or chronological propriety. Yet he has mentioned Chalybean steel, +of which it is not very likely that his chorus should have heard, and +has made Alp the general name of a mountain, in a region where the Alps +could scarcely be known: + + No medicinal liquor can assuage, + Nor breath of cooling air from snowy Alp. + +He has taught Samson the tales of Circe, and the Syrens, at which he +apparently hints in his colloquy with Dalila: + + --I know thy trains, + Though dearly to my cost, thy gins, and toils; + Thy fair _enchanted cup_, and _warbling charms_ + No more on me have pow'r. + +But the grossest errour of this kind is the solemn introduction of the +Phoenix in the last scene; which is faulty, not only as it is +incongruous to the personage to whom it is ascribed, but as it is so +evidently contrary to reason and nature, that it ought never to be +mentioned but as a fable in any serious poem: + + --Virtue giv'n for lost, + Deprest, and overthrown, as seem'd, + Like that self-begotten bird + In the Arabian woods embost, + That no second knows nor third, + And lay ere while a holocaust, + From out her ashy womb now teem'd, + Revives, reflourishes, then vigorous most + When most unactive deem'd, + And though her body die, her fame survives + A secular bird, ages of lives. + +Another species of impropriety is the unsuitableness of thoughts to the +general character of the poem. The seriousness and solemnity of tragedy +necessarily reject all pointed or epigrammatical expressions, all remote +conceits and opposition of ideas. Samson's complaint is therefore too +elaborate to be natural: + + As in the land of darkness, yet in light, + To live a life half dead, a living death, + And bury'd; but, O yet more miserable! + Myself, my sepulchre, a moving grave, + Buried, yet not exempt, + By privilege of death and burial, + From worst of other evils, pains and wrongs. + +All allusions to low and trivial objects, with which contempt is usually +associated, are doubtless unsuitable to a species of composition which +ought to be always awful, though not always magnificent. The remark +therefore of the chorus on good or bad news seems to want elevation: + + _Manoah_. A little stay will bring some notice hither. + _Chor_. Of good _or_ bad so great, of bad the sooner; + For evil news _rides post_, while good news _baits_. + +But of all meanness that has least to plead which is produced by mere +verbal conceits, which, depending only upon sounds, lose their existence +by the change of a syllable. Of this kind is the following dialogue: + + _Chor_. But had we best retire? I see a _storm_. + + _Sams_. Fair days have oft contracted wind and rain. + + _Chor_. But this another kind of tempest brings. + + _Sams_. Be less abstruse, my riddling days are past. + + _Chor_. Look now for no enchanting voice, nor fear + The bait of honied words; a rougher tongue + Draws hitherward; I know him by his stride, + The giant _Harapha_.-- + +And yet more despicable are the lines in which Manoah's paternal +kindness is commended by the chorus: + + Fathers are wont to _lay up_ for their sons, + Thou for thy son art bent to _lay out_ all. + +Samson's complaint of the inconveniencies of imprisonment is not wholly +without verbal quaintness: + + --I, a prisoner chain'd, scarce freely draw + The air, imprison'd also, close and damp. + +From the sentiments we may properly descend to the consideration of the +language, which, in imitation of the ancients, is through the whole +dialogue remarkably simple and unadorned, seldom heightened by epithets, +or varied by figures; yet sometimes metaphors find admission, even where +their consistency is not accurately preserved. Thus Samson confounds +loquacity with a shipwreck: + + How could I once look up, or heave the head, + Who, like a foolish _pilot_, have _shipwreck'd_ + My _vessel_ trusted to me from above, + Gloriously _rigg'd_; and for a word, a tear, + Fool! have _divulg'd_ the _secret gift_ of God + To a deceitful woman?-- + +And the chorus talks of adding fuel to flame in a report: + + He's gone, and who knows how he may _report_ + Thy _words_, by _adding fuel to the flame_? + +The versification is in the dialogue much more smooth and harmonious, +than in the parts allotted to the chorus, which are often so harsh and +dissonant, as scarce to preserve, whether the lines end with or without +rhymes, any appearance of metrical regularity: + + Or do my eyes misrepresent? Can this be he, + That heroic, that renown'd, + Irresistible Samson? whom unarm'd + No strength of man, or fiercest wild beast, could withstand; + Who tore the lion, as the lion tears the kid. + +Since I have thus pointed out the faults of Milton, critical integrity +requires that I should endeavour to display his excellencies, though +they will not easily be discovered in short quotations, because they +consist in the justness of diffuse reasonings, or in the contexture and +method of continued dialogues; this play having none of those +descriptions, similies, or splendid sentences, with which other +tragedies are so lavishly adorned. Yet some passages may be selected +which seem to deserve particular notice, either as containing sentiments +of passion, representations of life, precepts of conduct, or sallies of +imagination. It is not easy to give a stronger representation of the +weariness of despondency, than in the words of Samson to his father: + + --I feel my genial spirits droop, + My hopes all flat, Nature within me seems + In all her functions weary of herself, + My race of glory run, and race of shame, + And I shall shortly be with them that rest. + +The reply of Samson to the flattering Dalila affords a just and striking +description of the stratagems and allurements of feminine hypocrisy: + + --These are thy wonted arts, + And arts of every woman false like thee, + To break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray, + Then as repentant to submit, beseech, + And reconcilement move with feign'd remorse, + Confess and promise wonders in her change; + Not truly penitent, but chief to try + Her husband, how far urg'd his patience bears, + His virtue or weakness which way to assail: + Then with more cautious and instructed skill + Again transgresses, and again submits. + +When Samson has refused to make himself a spectacle at the feast of +Dagon, he first justifies his behaviour to the chorus, who charge him +with having served the Philistines, by a very just distinction: and then +destroys the common excuse of cowardice and servility, which always +confound temptation with compulsion: + + _Chor_. Yet with thy strength thou serv'st the Philistines. + + _Sams_. Not in their idol worship, but by labour + Honest and lawful to deserve my food + Of those, who have me in their civil power. + + _Chor_. Where the heart joins not, outward acts defile not. + + _Sams_. Where outward force constrains, the sentence holds. + But who constrains me to the temple of Dagon, + Not dragging? The Philistine lords command. + Commands are no constraints. If I obey them, + I do it freely, venturing to displease + God for the fear of Man, and Man prefer, + Set God behind. + +The complaint of blindness which Samson pours out at the beginning of +the tragedy is equally addressed to the passions and the fancy. The +enumeration of his miseries is succeeded by a very pleasing train of +poetical images, and concluded by such expostulation and wishes, as +reason too often submits to learn from despair: + + O first created Beam, and thou great Word + "Let there be light, and light was over all;" + Why am I thus bereav'd thy prime decree? + The sun to me is dark + And silent as the moon, + When she deserts the night + Hid in her vacant interlunar cave. + Since light so necessary is to life, + And almost life itself, if it be true + That light is in the soul, + She all in every part; why was the sight + To such a tender hall as the eye confin'd, + So obvious and so easy to be quench'd? + And not, as feeling, through all parts diffus'd, + That she may look at will through every pore? + +Such are the faults and such the beauties of Samson Agonistes, which I +have shown with no other purpose than to promote the knowledge of true +criticism. The everlasting verdure of Milton's laurels has nothing to +fear from the blasts of malignity; nor can my attempt produce any other +effect, than to strengthen their shoots by lopping their luxuriance[g]. +[Footnote g: This is not the language of an accomplice in Lauder's +imposition.--ED.] + + + +No. 141. TUESDAY, JULY 23, 1751. + + _Hilarisque, tamen cum pondere, virtus_. STAT. + + Greatness with ease, and gay severity. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +Politicians have long observed, that the greatest events may be +often traced back to slender causes. Petty competition or casual +friendship, the prudence of a slave, or the garrulity of a woman, have +hindered or promoted the most important schemes, and hastened or +retarded the revolutions of empire. + +Whoever shall review his life will generally find, that the whole tenour +of his conduct has been determined by some accident of no apparent +moment, or by a combination of inconsiderable circumstances, acting when +his imagination was unoccupied, and his judgment unsettled; and that his +principles and actions have taken their colour from some secret +infusion, mingled without design in the current of his ideas. The +desires that predominate in our hearts, are instilled by imperceptible +communications at the time when we look upon the various scenes of the +world, and the different employments of men, with the neutrality of +inexperience; and we come forth from the nursery or the school, +invariably destined to the pursuit of great acquisitions, or petty +accomplishments. + +Such was the impulse by which I have been kept in motion from my +earliest years. I was born to an inheritance which gave my childhood a +claim to distinction and caresses, and was accustomed to hear applauses, +before they had much influence on my thoughts. The first praise of which +I remember myself sensible was that of good-humour, which, whether I +deserved it or not when it was bestowed, I have since made it my whole +business to propagate and maintain. + +When I was sent to school, the gaiety of my look, and the liveliness of +my loquacity, soon gained me admission to hearts not yet fortified +against affection by artifice or interest. I was entrusted with every +stratagem, and associated in every sport; my company gave alacrity to a +frolick, and gladness to a holiday. I was indeed so much employed in +adjusting or executing schemes of diversion, that I had no leisure for +my tasks, but was furnished with exercises, and instructed in my +lessons, by some kind patron of the higher classes. My master, not +suspecting my deficiency, or unwilling to detect what his kindness would +not punish nor his impartiality excuse, allowed me to escape with a +slight examination, laughed at the pertness of my ignorance, and the +sprightliness of my absurdities, and could not forbear to show that he +regarded me with such tenderness, as genius and learning can seldom +excite. + +From school I was dismissed to the university, where I soon drew upon me +the notice of the younger students, and was the constant partner of +their morning walks, and evening compotations. I was not indeed much +celebrated for literature, but was looked on with indulgence as a man of +parts, who wanted nothing but the dulness of a scholar, and might become +eminent whenever he should condescend to labour and attention. My tutor +a while reproached me with negligence, and repressed my sallies with +supercilious gravity; yet, having natural good-humour lurking in his +heart, he could not long hold out against the power of hilarity, but +after a few months began to relax the muscles of disciplinarian +moroseness, received me with smiles after an elopement, and, that he +might not betray his trust to his fondness, was content to spare my +diligence by increasing his own. + +Thus I continued to dissipate the gloom of collegiate austerity, to +waste my own life in idleness, and lure others from their studies, till +the happy hour arrived, when I was sent to London. I soon discovered the +town to be the proper element of youth and gaiety, and was quickly +distinguished as a wit by the ladies, a species of beings only heard of +at the university, whom I had no sooner the happiness of approaching +than I devoted all my faculties to the ambition of pleasing them. + +A wit, Mr. Rambler, in the dialect of ladies, is not always a man who, +by the action of a vigorous fancy upon comprehensive knowledge, brings +distant ideas unexpectedly together, who, by some peculiar acuteness, +discovers resemblance in objects dissimilar to common eyes, or, by +mixing heterogeneous notions, dazzles the attention with sudden +scintillations of conceit. A lady's wit is a man who can make ladies +laugh, to which, however easy it may seem, many gifts of nature, and +attainments of art, must commonly concur. He that hopes to be received +as a wit in female assemblies, should have a form neither so amiable as +to strike with admiration, nor so coarse as to raise disgust, with an +understanding too feeble to be dreaded, and too forcible to be despised. +The other parts of the character are more subject to variation; it was +formerly essential to a wit, that half his back should be covered with a +snowy fleece, and, at a time yet more remote, no man was a wit without +his boots. In the days of the _Spectator_ a snuff-box seems to have been +indispensable; but in my time an embroidered coat was sufficient, +without any precise regulation of the rest of his dress. + +But wigs and boots and snuff-boxes are vain, without a perpetual +resolution to be merry, and who can always find supplies of mirth? +Juvenal indeed, in his comparison of the two opposite philosophers, +wonders only whence an unexhausted fountain of tears could be +discharged: but had Juvenal, with all his spirit, undertaken my +province, he would have found constant gaiety equally difficult to be +supported. Consider, Mr. Rambler, and compassionate the condition of a +man, who has taught every company to expect from him a continual feast +of laughter, an unintermitted stream of jocularity. The task of every +other slave has an end. The rower in time reaches the port; the +lexicographer at last finds the conclusion of his alphabet; only the +hapless wit has his labour always to begin, the call for novelty is +never satisfied, and one jest only raises expectation of another. + +I know that among men of learning and asperity the retainers to the +female world are not much regarded: yet I cannot but hope that if you +knew at how dear a rate our honours are purchased, you would look with +some gratulation on our success, and with some pity on our miscarriages. +Think on the misery of him who is condemned to cultivate barrenness and +ransack vacuity; who is obliged to continue his talk when his meaning is +spent, to raise merriment without images, to harass his imagination in +quest of thoughts which he cannot start, and his memory in pursuit of +narratives which he cannot overtake; observe the effort with which he +strains to conceal despondency by a smile, and the distress in which he +sits while the eyes of the company are fixed upon him as the last refuge +from silence and dejection. + +It were endless to recount the shifts to which I have been reduced, or +to enumerate the different species of artificial wit. I regularly +frequented coffee-houses, and have often lived a week upon an +expression, of which he who dropped it did not know the value. When +fortune did not favour my erratick industry, I gleaned jests at home +from obsolete farces. To collect wit was indeed safe, for I consorted +with none that looked much into books, but to disperse it was the +difficulty. A seeming negligence was often useful, and I have very +successfully made a reply not to what the lady had said, but to what it +was convenient for me to hear; for very few were so perverse as to +rectify a mistake which had given occasion to a burst of merriment. +Sometimes I drew the conversation up by degrees to a proper point, and +produced a conceit which I had treasured up, like sportsmen who boast of +killing the foxes which they lodge in the covert. Eminence is, however, +in some happy moments, gained at less expense; I have delighted a whole +circle at one time with a series of quibbles, and made myself good +company at another, by scalding my fingers, or mistaking a lady's lap +for my own chair. + +These are artful deceits and useful expedients; but expedients are at +length exhausted, and deceits detected. Time itself, among other +injuries, diminishes the power of pleasing, and I now find, in my +forty-fifth year, many pranks and pleasantries very coldly received, +which had formerly filled a whole room with jollity and acclamation. +I am under the melancholy necessity of supporting that character by study, +which I gained by levity, having learned too late that gaiety must be +recommended by higher qualities, and that mirth can never please long +but as the efflorescence of a mind loved for its luxuriance, but +esteemed for its usefulness. + +I am, &c. + +PAPILIUS. + + + +No. 142. SATURDAY, JULY 27, 1751. + + [Greek: Entha d aner eniaue pelorios-- + --oude, met allous + Poleit, all apaneuthen eon athemistia ede. + Kai gar Oaum etetukto pelorion oude epskei + Andri ge sitophagps.] HOMER. Od. [Greek: I'.] 187. + + A giant shepherd here his flock maintains + Far from the rest, and solitary reigns, + In shelter thick of horrid shade reclin'd; + And gloomy mischiefs labour in the mind. + A form enormous! far unlike the race + Of human birth, in stature or in face. POPE. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +Having been accustomed to retire annually from the town, I lately +accepted the invitation of Eugenio, who has an estate and seat in a +distant county. As we were unwilling to travel without improvement, we +turned often from the direct road to please ourselves with the view of +nature or of art; we examined every wild mountain and medicinal spring, +criticised every edifice, contemplated every ruin, and compared every +scene of action with the narratives of historians. By this succession of +amusements we enjoyed the exercise of a journey without suffering the +fatigue, and had nothing to regret but that, by a progress so leisurely +and gentle, we missed the adventures of a post-chaise, and the pleasure +of alarming villages with the tumult of our passage, and of disguising +our insignificancy by the dignity of hurry. + +The first week after our arrival at Eugenio's house was passed in +receiving visits from his neighbours, who crowded about him with all the +eagerness of benevolence; some impatient to learn the news of the court +and town, that they might be qualified by authentick information to +dictate to the rural politicians on the next bowling day; others +desirous of his interest to accommodate disputes, or his advice in the +settlement of their fortunes and the marriage of their children. + +The civilities which he had received were soon to be returned; and I +passed sometime with great satisfaction in roving through the country, +and viewing the seats, gardens, and plantations, which are scattered +over it. My pleasure would indeed have been greater had I been sometimes +allowed to wander in a park or wilderness alone; but to appear as a +friend of Eugenio was an honour not to be enjoyed without some +inconveniencies: so much was every one solicitous for my regard, that I +could seldom escape to solitude, or steal a moment from the emulation of +complaisance, and the vigilance of officiousness. + +In these rambles of good neighbourhood, we frequently passed by a house +of unusual magnificence. While I had my curiosity yet distracted among +many novelties, it did not much attract my observation; but in a short +time I could not forbear surveying it with particular notice; for the +length of the wall which inclosed the gardens, the disposition of the +shades that waved over it, and the canals of which I could obtain some +glimpses through the trees from our own windows, gave me reason to +expect more grandeur and beauty than I had yet seen in that province. I +therefore inquired, as we rode by it, why we never, amongst our +excursions, spent an hour where there was such an appearance of +splendour and affluence? Eugenio told me that the seat which I so much +admired, was commonly called in the country the _haunted house_, and +that no visits were paid there by any of the gentlemen whom I had yet +seen. As the haunts of incorporeal beings are generally ruinous, +neglected, and desolate, I easily conceived that there was something to +be explained, and told him that I supposed it only fairy ground, on +which we might venture by day-light without danger. The danger, says he, +is indeed only that of appearing to solicit the acquaintance of a man, +with whom it is not possible to converse without infamy, and who has +driven from him, by his insolence or malignity, every human being who +can live without him. + +Our conversation was then accidentally interrupted; but my inquisitive +humour being now in motion, could not rest without a full account of +this newly discovered prodigy. I was soon informed that the fine house +and spacious gardens were haunted by squire Bluster, of whom it was very +easy to learn the character, since nobody had regard for him sufficient +to hinder them from telling whatever they could discover. + +Squire Bluster is descended of an ancient family. The estate which his +ancestors had immemorially possessed was much augmented by captain +Bluster, who served under Drake in the reign of Elizabeth; and the +Blusters, who were before only petty gentlemen, have from that time +frequently represented the shire in parliament, been chosen to present +addresses, and given laws at hunting-matches and races. They were +eminently hospitable and popular, till the father of this gentleman died +of an election. His lady went to the grave soon after him, and left the +heir, then only ten years old, to the care of his grandmother, who would +not suffer him to be controlled, because she could not bear to hear him +cry; and never sent him to school, because she was not able to live +without his company. She taught him however very early to inspect the +steward's accounts, to dog the butler from the cellar, and to catch the +servants at a junket; so that he was at the age of eighteen a complete +master of all the lower arts of domestick policy, had often on the road +detected combinations between the coachman and the ostler, and procured +the discharge of nineteen maids for illicit correspondence with +cottagers and charwomen. + +By the opportunities of parsimony which minority affords, and which the +probity of his guardians had diligently improved, a very large sum of +money was accumulated, and he found himself, when he took his affairs +into his own hands, the richest man in the county. It has been long the +custom of this family to celebrate the heir's completion of his +twenty-first year, by an entertainment, at which the house is thrown +open to all that are inclined to enter it, and the whole province flocks +together as to a general festivity. On this occasion young Bluster +exhibited the first tokens of his future eminence, by shaking his purse +at an old gentleman who had been the intimate friend of his father, and +offering to wager a greater sum than he could afford to venture; a +practice with which he has, at one time or other, insulted every +freeholder within ten miles round him. + +His next acts of offence were committed in a contentious and spiteful +vindication of the privileges of his manours, and a rigorous and +relentless prosecution of every man that presumed to violate his game. +As he happens to have no estate adjoining equal to his own, his +oppressions are often borne without resistance, for fear of a long suit, +of which he delights to count the expenses without the least solicitude +about the event; for he knows, that where nothing but an honorary right +is contested, the poorer antagonist must always suffer, whatever shall +be the last decision of the law. + +By the success of some of these disputes, he has so elated his +insolence, and, by reflection upon the general hatred which they have +brought upon him, so irritated his virulence, that his whole life is +spent in meditating or executing mischief. It is his common practice to +procure his hedges to be broken in the night, and then to demand +satisfaction for damages which his grounds have suffered from his +neighbour's cattle. An old widow was yesterday soliciting Eugenio to +enable her to replevin her only cow, then in the pound by squire +Bluster's order, who had sent one of his agents to take advantage of her +calamity, and persuade her to sell the cow at an under rate. He has +driven a day-labourer from his cottage, for gathering blackberries in a +hedge for his children, and has now an old woman in the county-gaol for +a trespass which she committed, by coming into his ground to pick up +acorns for her hog. + +Money, in whatever hands, will confer power. Distress will fly to +immediate refuge, without much consideration of remote consequences. +Bluster has therefore a despotick authority in many families, whom he +has assisted, on pressing occasions, with larger sums than they can +easily repay. The only visits that he makes are to these houses of +misfortune, where he enters with the insolence of absolute command, +enjoys the terrours of the family, exacts their obedience, riots at +their charge, and in the height of his joy insults the father with +menaces, and the daughters with obscenity. + +He is of late somewhat less offensive; for one of his debtors, after +gentle expostulations, by which he was only irritated to grosser +outrage, seized him by the sleeve, led him trembling into the +court-yard, and closed the door upon him in a stormy night. He took his +usual revenge next morning by a writ; but the debt was discharged by the +assistance of Eugenio. + +It is his rule to suffer his tenants to owe him rent, because by this +indulgence he secures to himself the power of seizure whenever he has an +inclination to amuse himself with calamity, and feast his ears with +entreaties and lamentations. Yet as he is sometimes capriciously liberal +to those whom he happens to adopt as favourites, and lets his lands at a +cheap rate, his farms are never long unoccupied; and when one is ruined +by oppression, the possibility of better fortune quickly lures another +to supply his place. + +Such is the life of squire Bluster; a man in whose power fortune has +liberally placed the means of happiness, but who has defeated all her +gifts of their end by the depravity of his mind. He is wealthy without +followers; he is magnificent without witnesses; he has birth without +alliance, and influence without dignity. His neighbours scorn him as a +brute; his dependants dread him as an oppressor; and he has only the +gloomy comfort of reflecting, that if he is hated, he is likewise +feared. + +I am, Sir, &c. + +VAGULUS. + + + +No. 143. TUESDAY, JULY 30, 1751. + + _--Moveat cornicula risum + Furtivis nudata coloribus.--_ HOR. Lib. i. Ep. i. 19. + + Lest when the birds their various colours claim, + Stripp'd of his stolen pride, the crow forlorn + Should stand the laughter of the publick scorn. FRANCIS. + +Among the innumerable practices by which interest or envy have taught +those who live upon literary fame to disturb each other at their airy +banquets, one of the most common is the charge of plagiarism. When the +excellence of a new composition can no longer be contested, and malice +is compelled to give way to the unanimity of applause, there is yet this +one expedient to be tried, by which the author may be degraded, though +his work be reverenced; and the excellence which we cannot obscure, may +be set at such a distance as not to overpower our fainter lustre. + +This accusation is dangerous, because, even when it is false, it may be +sometimes urged with probability. Bruyere declares, that we are come +into the world too late to produce any thing new, that nature and life +are preoccupied, and that description and sentiment have been long +exhausted. It is indeed certain, that whoever attempts any common +topick, will find unexpected coincidences of his thoughts with those of +other writers; nor can the nicest judgment always distinguish accidental +similitude from artful imitation. There is likewise a common stock of +images, a settled mode of arrangement, and a beaten track of transition, +which all authors suppose themselves at liberty to use, and which +produce the resemblance generally observable among contemporaries. So +that in books which best deserve the name of originals, there is little +new beyond the disposition of materials already provided; the same ideas +and combinations of ideas have been long in the possession of other +hands; and, by restoring to every man his own, as the Romans must have +returned to their cots from the possession of the world, so the most +inventive and fertile genius would reduce his folios to a few pages. Yet +the author who imitates his predecessors only by furnishing himself with +thoughts and elegancies out of the same general magazine of literature, +can with little more propriety be reproached as a plagiary, than the +architect can be censured as a mean copier of Angelo or Wren, because he +digs his marble from the same quarry, squares his stones by the same +art, and unites them in the columns of the same orders. + +Many subjects fall under the consideration of an author, which, being +limited by nature, can admit only of slight and accidental diversities. +All definitions of the same thing must be nearly the same; and +descriptions, which are definitions of a more lax and fanciful kind, +must always have in some degree that resemblance to each other which +they all have to their object. Different poets describing the spring or +the sea would mention the zephyrs and the flowers, the billows and the +rocks; reflecting on human life, they would, without any communication +of opinions, lament the deceitfulness of hope, the fugacity of pleasure, +the fragility of beauty, and the frequency of calamity; and for +palliatives of these incurable miseries, they would concur in +recommending kindness, temperance, caution, and fortitude. + +When therefore there are found in Virgil and Horace two similar +passages-- + + _Hæ tibi erunt artes-- + Parcere subjectis, et debellare superbos_. VIRG. + + To tame the proud, the fetter'd slave to free: + These are imperial arts, and worthy thee. DRYDEN. + + _Imperet bellante prior, jacentem + Lenis in hostem_. HOR. + + Let Cæsar spread his conquests far, + Less pleas'd to triumph than to spare-- + +it is surely not necessary to suppose with a late critick, that one is +copied from the other, since neither Virgil nor Horace can be supposed +ignorant of the common duties of humanity, and the virtue of moderation +in success. + +Cicero and Ovid have on very different occasions remarked how little of +the honour of a victory belongs to the general, when his soldiers and +his fortune have made their deductions; yet why should Ovid be suspected +to have owed to Tully an observation which perhaps occurs to every man +that sees or hears of military glories? + +Tully observes of Achilles, that had not Homer written, his valour had +been without praise: + + _Nisi Ilias illa extitisset, idem tumulus qui corpus ejus contexerat, + nomen ejus obruisset_. + + Unless the Iliad had been published, his name had been lost in the + tomb that covered his body. + +Horace tells us with more energy that there were brave men before the +wars of Troy, but they were lost in oblivion for want of a poet: + + _Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona + Multi; sed omnes illachrymabiles + Urgentur, ignotique longá + Nocte, carent quia vate sacro_. + + Before great Agamemnon reign'd, + Reign'd kings as great as he, and brave, + Whose huge ambition's now contain'd + In the small compass of a grave: + In endless night they sleep, unwept, unknown: + No bard had they to make all time their own. FRANCIS. + +Tully inquires, in the same oration, why, but for fame, we disturb a +short life with so many fatigues? + + _Quid est quod in hoc tam exiguo vitae curriculo et tam brevi, tantis + nos in laboribus exerceamus?_ + + Why in so small a circuit of life should we employ ourselves in so + many fatigues? + +Horace inquires in the same manner, + + _Quid brevi fortes jaculamur aevo + Multa?_ + + Why do we aim, with eager strife, + At things beyond the mark of life? FRANCIS. + +when our life is of so short duration, why we form such numerous +designs? But Horace, as well as Tully, might discover that records are +needful to preserve the memory of actions, and that no records were so +durable as poems; either of them might find out that life is short, and +that we consume it in unnecessary labour. + +There are other flowers of fiction so widely scattered and so easily +cropped, that it is scarcely just to tax the use of them as an act by +which any particular writer is despoiled of his garland; for they may be +said to have been planted by the ancients in the open road of poetry for +the accommodation of their successors, and to be the right of every one +that has art to pluck them without injuring their colours or their +fragrance. The passage of Orpheus to hell, with the recovery and second +loss of Eurydice, have been described after Boetius by Pope, in such a +manner as might justly leave him suspected of imitation, were not the +images such as they might both have derived from more ancient writers. + + _Quae sontes agitant metu, + Ultrices scelerum deæ + Jam masta: lacrymis madent, + Non Ixionium caput + Velox præcipitat rota_. + + The pow'rs of vengeance, while they hear, + Touch'd with compassion, drop a tear: + Ixion's rapid wheel is bound, + Fix'd in attention to the sound. F. LEWIS. + + Thy stone, O Sysiphus, stands still, + Ixion rests upon the wheel, + And the pale spectres dance! + The furies sink upon their iron beds. POPE + + _Tandem, vincimur, arbiter + Umbrarum, miserans, ait-- + Donemus, comitem viro, + Emtam carmine, conjugem_. + + Subdu'd at length, Hell's pitying monarch cry'd, + The song rewarding, let us yield the bride. F. LEWIS. + + He sung; and hell consented + To hear the poet's prayer; + Stern Proserpine relented, + And gave him back the fair. POPE + + _Heu, noctis prope terminos + Orpheus Eurydicen suam + Vidit, perdidit, occidit_. + + Nor yet the golden verge of day begun, + When Orpheus, her unhappy lord, + Eurydice to life restor'd, + At once beheld, and lost, and was undone. F. LEWIS. + + But soon, too soon, the lover turns his eyes: + Again she falls, again she dies, she dies! POPE. + +No writer can be fully convicted of imitation, except there is a +concurrence of more resemblance than can be imagined to have happened by +chance; as where the same ideas are conjoined without any natural series +or necessary coherence, or where not only the thought but the words are +copied. Thus it can scarcely be doubted, that in the first of the +following passages Pope remembered Ovid, and that in the second he +copied Crashaw: + + _Saepe pater dixit, studium quid inutile tentas? + Maeonides nullas ipse reliquit opes-- + Sponte suâ carmen numeros veniebat ad aptos, + Et quod conabar scribere, versus erat_. OVID. + + Quit, quit this barren trade, my father cry'd: + Ev'n Homer left no riches when he dy'd-- + In verse spontaneous flow'd my native strain, + Forc'd by no sweat or labour of the brain. F. LEWIS. + + I left no calling for this idle trade; + No duty broke, no father disobey'd; + While yet a child, ere yet a fool to fame, + I lisp'd in numbers, for the numbers came. POPE. + + --This plain floor, + Believe me, reader, can say more + Than many a braver marble can, + Here lies a truly honest man. CRASHAW. + + This modest stone, what few vain marbles can, + May truly say, Here lies an honest man. POPE. + +Conceits, or thoughts not immediately impressed by sensible objects, or +necessarily arising from the coalition or comparison of common +sentiments, may be with great justice suspected whenever they are found +a second time. Thus Wallar probably owed to Grotius an elegant +compliment: + + Here lies the learned Savil's heir, + So early wise, and lasting fair, + That none, except her years they told, + Thought her a child, or thought her old. WALLER. + +[Transcriber's note: Inconsistency in spelling Waller/Wallar in +original] + + _Unica lux saecli, genitoris gloria, nemo + Quem puerum, nemo credidit esse senem_. GROT. + + The age's miracle, his father's joy! + Nor old you would pronounce him, nor a boy. F. LEWIS. + +And Prior was indebted for a pretty illustration to Alleyne's poetical +history of Henry the Seventh: + + For nought but light itself, itself can shew, + And only kings can write, what kings can do. ALLEYNE. + + Your musick's pow'r, your musick must disclose, + For what light is, 'tis only light that shews. PRIOR. + +And with yet more certainty may the same writer be censured, for +endeavouring the clandestine appropriation of a thought which he +borrowed, surely without thinking himself disgraced, from an epigram of +Plato: + + [Greek: Tae Paphiae to katoptron, epei toiae men orasthai + Ouk ethelo, oiae d' aen paros, ou dunamai.] + + Venus, take my votive glass, + Since I am not what I was; + What from this day I shall be, + Venus, let me never see. + +As not every instance of similitude can be considered as a proof of +imitation, so not every imitation ought to be stigmatized as plagiarism. +The adoption of a noble sentiment, or the insertion of a borrowed +ornament, may sometimes display so much judgment as will almost +compensate for invention: and an inferior genius may, without any +imputation of servility, pursue the path of the ancients, provided he +declines to tread in their footsteps. + + + +No. 144. SATURDAY, AUGUST 3, 1751. + + --_Daphnidis arcum + Fregisti et calamos: quae tu, perverse Menalea, + Et quum vidisti puero donata, dolebas; + Et si non aliqua nocuisses, mortuus esses._ VIRG. EC. iii. 12. + + The bow of Daphnis and the shafts you broke; + When the fair boy receiv'd the gift of right; + And but for mischief, you had dy'd for spite. DRYDEN. + +It is impossible to mingle in conversation without observing the +difficulty with which a new name makes its way into the world. The first +appearance of excellence unites multitudes against it; unexpected +opposition rises up on every side; the celebrated and the obscure join +in the confederacy; subtlety furnishes arms to impudence, and invention +leads on credulity. + +The strength and unanimity of this alliance is not easily conceived. It +might be expected that no man should suffer his heart to be inflamed +with malice, but by injuries; that none should busy himself in +contesting the pretensions of another, but when some right of his own +was involved in the question; that at least hostilities, commenced +without cause, should quickly cease; that the armies of malignity should +soon disperse, when no common interest could be found to hold them +together; and that the attack upon a rising character should be left to +those who had something to hope or fear from the event. + +The hazards of those that aspire to eminence, would be much diminished +if they had none but acknowledged rivals to encounter. Their enemies +would then be few, and, what is yet of greater importance, would be +known. But what caution is sufficient to ward off the blows of invisible +assailants, or what force can stand against uninterrupted attacks, and a +continual succession of enemies? Yet such is the state of the world, +that no sooner can any man emerge from the crowd, and fix the eyes of +the publick upon him, than he stands as a mark to the arrows of lurking +calumny, and receives in the tumult of hostility, from distant and from +nameless hands, wounds not always easy to be cured. + +It is probable that the onset against the candidates for renown, is +originally incited by those who imagine themselves in danger of +suffering by their success; but, when war is once declared, volunteers +flock to the standard, multitudes follow the camp only for want of +employment, and flying squadrons are dispersed to every part, so pleased +with an opportunity of mischief, that they toil without prospect of +praise, and pillage without hope of profit. + +When any man has endeavoured to deserve distinction, he will be +surprised to hear himself censured where he could not expect to have +been named; he will find the utmost acrimony of malice among those whom +he never could have offended. + +As there are to be found in the service of envy men of every diversity +of temper and degree of understanding, calumny is diffused by all arts +and methods of propagation. Nothing is too gross or too refined, too +cruel or too trifling, to be practised; very little regard is had to the +rules of honourable hostility, but every weapon is accounted lawful, and +those that cannot make a thrust at life are content to keep themselves +in play with petty malevolence, to tease with feeble blows and impotent +disturbance. + +But as the industry of observation has divided the most miscellaneous +and confused assemblages into proper classes, and ranged the insects of +the summer, that torment us with their drones or stings, by their +several tribes; the persecutors of merit, notwithstanding their numbers, +may be likewise commodiously distinguished into Roarers, Whisperers, and +Moderators. + +The Roarer is an enemy rather terrible than dangerous. He has no other +qualification for a champion of controversy than a hardened front and +strong voice. Having seldom so much desire to confute as to silence, he +depends rather upon vociferation than argument, and has very little care +to adjust one part of his accusation to another, to preserve decency in +his language, or probability in his narratives. + +He has always a store of reproachful epithets and contemptuous +appellations, ready to be produced as occasion may require, which by +constant use he pours out with resistless volubility. If the wealth of a +trader is mentioned, he without hesitation devotes him to bankruptcy; if +the beauty and elegance of a lady be commended, he wonders how the town +can fall in love with rustick deformity; if a new performance of genius +happens to be celebrated, he pronounces the writer a hopeless idiot, +without knowledge of books or life, and without the understanding by +which it must be acquired. His exaggerations are generally without +effect upon those whom he compels to hear them; and though it will +sometimes happen that the timorous are awed by his violence, and the +credulous mistake his confidence for knowledge, yet the opinions which +he endeavours to suppress soon recover their former strength, as the +trees that bend to the tempest erect themselves again when its force is +past. + +The Whisperer is more dangerous. He easily gains attention by a soft +address, and excites curiosity by an air of importance. As secrets are +not to be made cheap by promiscuous publication, he calls a select +audience about him, and gratifies their vanity with an appearance of +trust by communicating his intelligence in a low voice. Of the trader he +can tell that, though he seems to manage an extensive commerce, and +talks in high terms of the funds, yet his wealth is not equal to his +reputation; he has lately suffered much by an expensive project, and had +a greater share than is acknowledged in the rich ship that perished by +the storm. Of the beauty he has little to say, but that they who see her +in a morning do not discover all those graces which are admired in the +Park. Of the writer he affirms with great certainty, that though the +excellence of the work be incontestible, he can claim but a small part +of the reputation; that he owed most of the images and sentiments to a +secret friend; and that the accuracy and equality of the style was +produced by the successive correction of the chief criticks of the age. + +As every one is pleased with imagining that he knows something not yet +commonly divulged, secret history easily gains credit; but it is for the +most part believed only while it circulates in whispers; and when once +it is openly told, is openly confuted. + +The most pernicious enemy is the man of Moderation. Without interest in +the question, or any motive but honest curiosity, this impartial and +zealous inquirer after truth is ready to hear either side, and always +disposed to kind interpretations and favourable opinions. He hath heard +the trader's affairs reported with great variation, and, after a +diligent comparison of the evidence, concludes it probable that the +splendid superstructure of business being originally built upon a narrow +basis, has lately been found to totter; but between dilatory payment and +bankruptcy there is a great distance; many merchants have supported +themselves by expedients for a time, without any final injury to their +creditors; and what is lost by one adventure may be recovered by +another. He believes that a young lady pleased with admiration, and +desirous to make perfect what is already excellent, may heighten her +charms by artificial improvements, but surely most of her beauties must +be genuine, and who can say that he is wholly what he endeavours to +appear? The author he knows to be a man of diligence, who perhaps does +not sparkle with the fire of Homer, but has the judgment to discover his +own deficiencies, and to supply them by the help of others; and, in his +opinion, modesty is a quality so amiable and rare, that it ought to find +a patron wherever it appears, and may justly be preferred by the publick +suffrage to petulant wit and ostentatious literature. + +He who thus discovers failings with unwillingness, and extenuates the +faults which cannot be denied, puts an end at once to doubt or +vindication; his hearers repose upon his candour and veracity, and admit +the charge without allowing the excuse. + +Such are the arts by which the envious, the idle, the peevish, and the +thoughtless, obstruct that worth which they cannot equal, and, by +artifices thus easy, sordid, and detestable, is industry defeated, +beauty blasted, and genius depressed. + + + +No. 145. TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 1751. + + _Non, si priores Maeonius tenet + Sedes Homerus, Pindaricae latent, + Ceaeque, et Alcaei minaces, + Stesichorique graves Camoenae_. HOR. Lib. iv. Od. ix. 5. + + What though the muse her Homer thrones + High above all the immortal quire; + Nor Pindar's raptures she disowns, + Nor hides the plaintive Caean lyre; + Alcaeus strikes the tyrant soul with dread, + Nor yet is grave Stesichorus unread. FRANCIS. + +It is allowed that vocations and employments of least dignity are of the +most apparent use; that the meanest artizan or manufacturer contributes +more to the accommodation of life, than the profound scholar and +argumentative theorist; and that the publick would suffer less present +inconvenience from the banishment of philosophers than from the +extinction of any common trade. + +Some have been so forcibly struck with this observation, that they have, +in the first warmth of their discovery, thought it reasonable to alter +the common distribution of dignity, and ventured to condemn mankind of +universal ingratitude. For justice exacts, that those by whom we are +most benefited should be most honoured. And what labour can be more +useful than that which procures to families and communities those +necessaries which supply the wants of nature, or those conveniencies by +which ease, security, and elegance, are conferred? + +This is one of the innumerable theories which the first attempt to +reduce them into practice certainly destroys. If we estimate dignity by +immediate usefulness, agriculture is undoubtedly the first and noblest +science; yet we see the plough driven, the clod broken, the manure +spread, the seeds scattered, and the harvest reaped, by men whom those +that feed upon their industry will never be persuaded to admit into the +same rank with heroes, or with sages; and who, after all the confessions +which truth may extort in favour of their occupation, must be content to +fill up the lowest class of the commonwealth, to form the base of the +pyramid of subordination, and lie buried in obscurity themselves, while +they support all that is splendid, conspicuous, or exalted. + +It will be found upon a closer inspection, that this part of the conduct +of mankind is by no means contrary to reason or equity. Remuneratory +honours are proportioned at once to the usefulness and difficulty of +performances, and are properly adjusted by comparison of the mental and +corporeal abilities, which they appear to employ. That work, however +necessary, which is carried on only by muscular strength and manual +dexterity, is not of equal esteem, in the consideration of rational +beings, with the tasks that exercise the intellectual powers, and +require the active vigour of imagination or the gradual and laborious +investigations of reason. + +The merit of all manual occupations seems to terminate in the inventor; +and surely the first ages cannot be charged with ingratitude; since +those who civilized barbarians, and taught them how to secure themselves +from cold and hunger, were numbered amongst their deities. But these +arts once discovered by philosophy, and facilitated by experience, are +afterwards practised with very little assistance from the faculties of +the soul; nor is any thing necessary to the regular discharge of these +inferior duties, beyond that rude observation which the most sluggish +intellect may practise, and that industry which the stimulations of +necessity naturally enforce. + +Yet though the refusal of statues and panegyrick to those who employ +only their hands and feet in the service of mankind may be easily +justified, I am far from intending to incite the petulance of pride, to +justify the superciliousness of grandeur, or to intercept any part of +that tenderness and benevolence which, by the privilege of their common +nature, one may claim from another. + +That it would be neither wise nor equitable to discourage the +husbandman, the labourer, the miner, or the smith, is generally granted; +but there is another race of beings equally obscure and equally +indigent, who, because their usefulness is less obvious to vulgar +apprehensions, live unrewarded and die unpitied, and who have been long +exposed to insult without a defender, and to censure without an +apologist. + +The authors of London were formerly computed by Swift at several +thousands, and there is not any reason for suspecting that their number +has decreased. Of these only a very few can be said to produce, or +endeavour to produce, new ideas, to extend any principle of science, or +gratify the imagination with any uncommon train of images or contexture +of events; the rest, however laborious, however arrogant, can only be +considered as the drudges of the pen, the manufacturers of literature, +who have set up for authors, either with or without a regular +initiation, and, like other artificers, have no other care than to +deliver their tale of wares at the stated time. + +It has been formerly imagined, that he who intends the entertainment or +instruction of others, must feel in himself some peculiar impulse of +genius; that he must watch the happy minute in which his natural fire is +excited, in which his mind is elevated with nobler sentiments, +enlightened with clearer views, and invigorated with stronger +comprehension; that he must carefully select his thoughts and polish his +expressions; and animate his efforts with the hope of raising a monument +of learning, which neither time nor envy shall be able to destroy. + +But the authors whom I am now endeavouring to recommend have been too +long _hackneyed in the ways of men_ to indulge the chimerical ambition +of immortality; they have seldom any claim to the trade of writing, but +that they have tried some other without success; they perceive no +particular summons to composition, except the sound of the clock; they +have no other rule than the law or the fashion for admitting their +thoughts or rejecting them; and about the opinion of posterity they have +little solicitude, for their productions are seldom intended to remain +in the world longer than a week. + +That such authors are not to be rewarded with praise is evident, since +nothing can be admired when it ceases to exist; but surely, though they +cannot aspire to honour, they may be exempted from ignominy, and adopted +in that order of men which deserves our kindness, though not our +reverence. These papers of the day, the _Ephemerae_ of learning, have +uses more adequate to the purposes of common life than more pompous and +durable volumes. If it is necessary for every man to be more acquainted +with his contemporaries than with past generations, and to rather know +the events which may immediately affect his fortune or quiet, than the +revolutions of ancient kingdoms, in which he has neither possessions nor +expectations; if it be pleasing to hear of the preferment and dismission +of statesmen, the birth of heirs, and the marriage of beauties, the +humble author of journals and gazettes must be considered as a liberal +dispenser of beneficial knowledge. + +Even the abridger, compiler, and translator, though their labours cannot +be ranked with those of the diurnal historiographer, yet must not be +rashly doomed to annihilation. Every size of readers requires a genius +of correspondent capacity; some delight in abstracts and epitomes, +because they want room in their memory for long details, and content +themselves with effects, without inquiry after causes; some minds are +overpowered by splendour of sentiment, as some eyes are offended by a +glaring light; such will gladly contemplate an author in an humble +imitation, as we look without pain upon the sun in the water. + +As every writer has his use, every writer ought to have his patrons; and +since no man, however high he may now stand, can be certain that he +shall not be soon thrown down from his elevation by criticism or +caprice, the common interest of learning requires that her sons should +cease from intestine hostilities, and, instead of sacrificing each other +to malice and contempt, endeavour to avert persecution from the meanest +of their fraternity. + + + +No. 146. SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, 1751. + + _Sunt illic duo, tresve, qui revolvant + Nostrarum tineas ineptiarum; + Sed cum sponsio, fabultaeque lassae + De scarpo fuerint incitato_. MART. + + 'Tis possible that one or two + These fooleries of mine may view; + But then the bettings must be o'er, + Nor Crab or Childers talk'd of more. F. LEWIS. + +None of the projects or designs which exercise the mind of man are +equally subject to obstructions and disappointments with the pursuit of +fame. Riches cannot easily be denied to them who have something of +greater value to offer in exchange; he whose fortune is endangered by +litigation, will not refuse to augment the wealth of the lawyer; he +whose days are darkened by langour, or whose nerves are excruciated by +pain, is compelled to pay tribute to the science of healing. But praise +may be always omitted without inconvenience. When once a man has made +celebrity necessary to his happiness, he has put it in the power of the +weakest and most timorous malignity, if not to take away his +satisfaction, at least to withhold it. His enemies may indulge their +pride by airy negligence, and gratify their malice by quiet neutrality. +They that could never have injured a character by invectives, may +combine to annihilate it by silence; as the women of Rome threatened to +put an end to conquest and dominion, by supplying no children to the +commonwealth. + +When a writer has with long toil produced a work intended to burst upon +mankind with unexpected lustre, and withdraw the attention of the +learned world from every other controversy or inquiry, he is seldom +contented to wait long without the enjoyment of his new praises. With an +imagination full of his own importance, he walks out like a monarch in +disguise to learn the various opinions of his readers. Prepared to feast +upon admiration; composed to encounter censures without emotion; and +determined not to suffer his quiet to be injured by a sensibility too +exquisite of praise or blame, but to laugh with equal contempt at vain +objections and injudicious commendations, he enters the places of +mingled conversation, sits down to his tea in an obscure corner, and, +while he appears to examine a file of antiquated journals, catches the +conversation of the whole room. He listens, but hears no mention of his +book, and therefore supposes that he has disappointed his curiosity by +delay; and that as men of learning would naturally begin their +conversation with such a wonderful novelty, they had digressed to other +subjects before his arrival. The company disperses, and their places are +supplied by others equally ignorant, or equally careless. The same +expectation hurries him to another place, from which the same +disappointment drives him soon away. His impatience then grows violent +and tumultuous; he ranges over the town with restless curiosity, and +hears in one quarter of a cricket-match, in another of a pick-pocket; is +told by some of an unexpected bankruptcy; by others of a turtle feast; +is sometimes provoked by importunate inquiries after the white bear, and +sometimes with praises of the dancing dog; he is afterwards entreated to +give his judgment upon a wager about the height of the Monument; invited +to see a foot-race in the adjacent villages; desired to read a ludicrous +advertisement; or consulted about the most effectual method of making +inquiry after a favourite cat. The whole world is busied in affairs +which he thinks below the notice of reasonable creatures, and which are +nevertheless sufficient to withdraw all regard from his labours and his +merits. + +He resolves at last to violate his own modesty, and to recall the +talkers from their folly by an inquiry after himself. He finds every one +provided with an answer; one has seen the work advertised, but never met +with any that had read it; another has been so often imposed upon by +specious titles, that he never buys a book till its character is +established; a third wonders what any man can hope to produce after so +many writers of greater eminence; the next has inquired after the +author, but can hear no account of him, and therefore suspects the name +to be fictitious; and another knows him to be a man condemned by +indigence to write too frequently what he does not understand. + +Many are the consolations with which the unhappy author endeavours to +allay his vexation, and fortify his patience. He has written with too +little indulgence to the understanding of common readers; he has fallen +upon an age in which solid knowledge, and delicate refinement, have +given way to a low merriment, and idle buffoonery, and therefore no +writer can hope for distinction, who has any higher purpose than to +raise laughter. He finds that his enemies, such as superiority will +always raise, have been industrious, while his performance was in the +press, to vilify and blast it; and that the bookseller, whom he had +resolved to enrich, has rivals that obstruct the circulation of the +copies. He at last reposes upon the consideration, that the noblest +works of learning and genius have always made their way slowly against +ignorance and prejudice; and that reputation, which is never to be lost, +must be gradually obtained, as animals of longest life are observed not +soon to attain their full stature and strength. + +By such arts of voluntary delusion does every man endeavour to conceal +his own unimportance from himself. It is long before we are convinced of +the small proportion which every individual bears to the collective body +of mankind; or learn how few can be interested in the fortune of any +single man; how little vacancy is left in the world for any new object +of attention; to how small extent the brightest blaze of merit can be +spread amidst the mists of business and of folly; and how soon it is +clouded by the intervention of other novelties. Not only the writer of +books, but the commander of armies, and the deliverer of nations, will +easily outlive all noisy and popular reputation; he may be celebrated +for a time by the publick voice, but his actions and his name will soon +be considered as remote and unaffecting, and be rarely mentioned but by +those whose alliance gives them some vanity to gratify by frequent +commemoration. + +It seems not to be sufficiently considered how little renown can be +admitted in the world. Mankind are kept perpetually busy by their fears +or desires, and have not more leisure from their own affairs, than to +acquaint themselves with the accidents of the current day. Engaged in +contriving some refuge from calamity, or in shortening the way to some +new possession, they seldom suffer their thoughts to wander to the past +or future; none but a few solitary students have leisure to inquire into +the claims of ancient heroes or sages; and names which hoped to range +over kingdoms and continents, shrink at last into cloisters or colleges. + +Nor is it certain, that even of these dark and narrow habitations, these +last retreats of fame, the possession will be long kept. Of men devoted +to literature, very few extend their views beyond some particular +science, and the greater part seldom inquire, even in their own +profession, for any authors but those whom the present mode of study +happens to force upon their notice; they desire not to fill their minds +with unfashionable knowledge, but contentedly resign to oblivion those +books which they now find censured or neglected. + +The hope of fame is necessarily connected with such considerations as +must abate the ardour of confidence, and repress the vigour of pursuit. +Whoever claims renown from any kind of excellence, expects to fill the +place which is now possessed by another; for there are already names of +every class sufficient to employ all that will desire to remember them; +and surely he that is pushing his predecessors into the gulph of +obscurity, cannot but sometimes suspect, that he must himself sink in +like manner, and, as he stands upon the same precipice, be swept away +with the same violence. + +It sometimes happens, that fame begins when life is at an end; but far +the greater number of candidates for applause have owed their reception +in the world to some favourable casualties, and have therefore +immediately sunk into neglect, when death stripped them of their casual +influence, and neither fortune nor patronage operated in their favour. +Among those who have better claims to regard, the honour paid to their +memory is commonly proportionate to the reputation which they enjoyed in +their lives, though still growing fainter, as it is at a greater +distance from the first emission; and since it is so difficult to obtain +the notice of contemporaries, how little is to be hoped from future +times? What can merit effect by its own force, when the help of art or +friendship can scarcely support it? + + + +No. 147. TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 1751. + + Tu nihil invitâ dices faciesve Minervâ. Hon. Ar. Poet. 385. + + --You are of too quick a sight, + Not to discern which way your talent lies. ROSCOMMON. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +As little things grow great by continual accumulation, I hope you will +not think the dignity of your character impaired by an account of a +ludicrous persecution, which, though it produced no scenes of horrour or +of ruin, yet, by incessant importunity of vexation, wears away my +happiness, and consumes those years which nature seems particularly to +have assigned to cheerfulness, in silent anxiety and helpless +resentment. + +I am the eldest son of a gentleman, who having inherited a large estate +from his ancestors, and feeling no desire either to increase or lessen +it, has from the time of his marriage generally resided at his own seat; +where, by dividing his time among the duties of a father, a master, and +a magistrate, the study of literature, and the offices of civility, he +finds means to rid himself of the day, without any of those amusements, +which all those with whom my residence in this place has made me +acquainted, think necessary to lighten the burthen of existence. + +When my age made me capable of instruction, my father prevailed upon a +gentleman, long known at Oxford for the extent of his learning and the +purity of his manners, to undertake my education. The regard with which +I saw him treated, disposed me to consider his instructions as +important, and I therefore soon formed a habit of attention, by which I +made very quick advances in different kinds of learning, and heard, +perhaps too often, very flattering comparisons of my own proficiency +with that of others, either less docile by nature, or less happily +forwarded by instruction. I was caressed by all that exchanged visits +with my father; and as young men are with little difficulty taught to +judge favourably of themselves, began to think that close application +was no longer necessary, and that the time was now come when I was at +liberty to read only for amusement, and was to receive the reward of my +fatigues in praise and admiration. + +While I was thus banqueting upon my own perfections, and longing in +secret to escape from tutorage, my father's brother came from London to +pass a summer at his native place. A lucrative employment which he +possessed, and a fondness for the conversation and diversions of the gay +part of mankind, had so long kept him from rural excursions, that I had +never seen him since my infancy. My curiosity was therefore strongly +excited by the hope of observing a character more nearly, which I had +hitherto reverenced only at a distance. + +From all private and intimate conversation, I was long withheld by the +perpetual confluence of visitants with whom the first news of my uncle's +arrival crowded the house; but was amply recompensed by seeing an exact +and punctilious practice of the arts of a courtier, in all the +stratagems of endearment, the gradations of respect, and variations of +courtesy. I remarked with what justice of distribution he divided his +talk to a wide circle; with what address he offered to every man an +occasion of indulging some favourite topick, or displaying some +particular attainment; the judgment with which he regulated his +inquiries after the absent; and the care with which he shewed all the +companions of his early years how strongly they were infixed in his +memory, by the mention of past incidents and the recital of puerile +kindnesses, dangers, and frolicks. I soon discovered that he possessed +some science of graciousness and attraction which books had not taught, +and of which neither I nor my father had any knowledge; that he had the +power of obliging those whom he did not benefit; that he diffused, upon +his cursory behaviour and most trifling actions, a gloss of softness and +delicacy by which every one was dazzled; and that, by some occult method +of captivation, he animated the timorous, softened the supercilious, and +opened the reserved. I could not but repine at the inelegance of my own +manners, which left me no hopes but not to offend, and at the inefficacy +of rustick benevolence, which gained no friends but by real service. + +My uncle saw the veneration with which I caught every accent of his +voice, and watched every motion of his hand; and the awkward diligence +with which I endeavoured to imitate his embrace of fondness, and his bow +of respect. He was, like others, easily flattered by an imitator by whom +he could not fear ever to be rivalled, and repaid my assiduities with +compliments and professions. Our fondness was so increased by a mutual +endeavour to please each other, that when he returned to London, he +declared himself unable to leave a nephew so amiable and so accomplished +behind him; and obtained my father's permission to enjoy my company for +a few months, by a promise to initiate me in the arts of politeness, and +introduce me into publick life. + +The courtier had little inclination to fatigue, and therefore, by +travelling very slowly, afforded me time for more loose and familiar +conversation; but I soon found, that by a few inquiries which he was not +well prepared to satisfy, I had made him weary of his young companion. +His element was a mixed assembly, where ceremony and healths, +compliments and common topicks, kept the tongue employed with very +little assistance from memory or reflection; but in the chariot, where +he was necessitated to support a regular tenour of conversation, without +any relief from a new comer, or any power of starting into gay +digressions, or destroying argument by a jest, he soon discovered that +poverty of ideas which had been hitherto concealed under the tinsel of +politeness. The first day he entertained me with the novelties and +wonders with which I should be astonished at my entrance into London, +and cautioned me with apparent admiration of his own wisdom against the +arts by which rusticity is frequently deluded. The same detail and the +same advice he would have repeated on the second day; but as I every +moment diverted the discourse to the history of the towns by which we +passed, or some other subject of learning or of reason, he soon lost his +vivacity, grew peevish and silent, wrapped his cloak about him, composed +himself to slumber, and reserved his gaiety for fitter auditors. + +At length I entered London, and my uncle was reinstated in his +superiority. He awaked at once to loquacity as soon as our wheels +rattled on the pavement, and told me the name of every street as we +crossed it, and owner of every house as we passed by. He presented me to +my aunt, a lady of great eminence for the number of her acquaintances, +and splendour of her assemblies, and either in kindness or revenge +consulted with her, in my presence, how I might be most advantageously +dressed for my first appearance, and most expeditiously disencumbered +from my villatick bashfulness. My indignation at familiarity thus +contemptuous flushed in my face; they mistook anger for shame, and +alternately exerted their eloquence upon the benefits of publick +education, and the happiness of an assurance early acquired. + +Assurance is, indeed, the only qualification to which they seem to have +annexed merit, and assurance, therefore, is perpetually recommended to +me as the supply of every defect, and the ornament of every excellence. +I never sit silent in company when secret history is circulating, but I +am reproached for want of assurance. If I fail to return the stated +answer to a compliment; if I am disconcerted by unexpected raillery; if +I blush when I am discovered gazing on a beauty, or hesitate when I find +myself embarrassed in an argument; if I am unwilling to talk of what I +do not understand, or timorous in undertaking offices which I cannot +gracefully perform; if I suffer a more lively tatler to recount the +casualties of a game, or a nimbler fop to pick up a fan, I am censured +between pity and contempt, as a wretch doomed to grovel in obscurity for +want of assurance. + +I have found many young persons harassed in the same manner, by those to +whom age has given nothing but the assurance which they recommend; and +therefore cannot but think it useful to inform them, that cowardice and +delicacy are not to be confounded; and that he whose stupidity has armed +him against the shafts of ridicule, will always act and speak with +greater audacity, than they whose sensibility represses their ardour, +and who dare never let their confidence outgrow their abilities. + + + +No. 148. SATURDAY, AUGUST 17, 1751. + + _Me pater saevis oneret catenis, + Quod viro clemens misero peperci: + Me vel extremis Numidarum in agros + Classe releget._ HOR. Lib. iii. Od. xi. 45. + + Me let my father load with chains, + Or banish to Numidia's farthest plains! + My crime, that I, a loyal wife, + In kind compassion sav'd my husband's life. FRANCIS. + +Politicians remark, that no oppression is so heavy or lasting as that +which is inflicted by the perversion and exorbitance of legal authority. +The robber may be seized, and the invader repelled, whenever they are +found; they who pretend no right but that of force, may by force be +punished or suppressed. But when plunder bears the name of impost, and +murder is perpetrated by a judicial sentence, fortitude is intimidated, +and wisdom confounded: resistance shrinks from an alliance with +rebellion, and the villain remains secure in the robes of the +magistrate. + +Equally dangerous and equally detestable are the cruelties often +exercised in private families, under the venerable sanction of parental +authority; the power which we are taught to honour from the first +moments of reason; which is guarded from insult and violation by all +that can impress awe upon the mind of man; and which therefore may +wanton in cruelty without control, and trample the bounds of right with +innumerable transgressions, before duty and piety will dare to seek +redress, or think themselves at liberty to recur to any other means of +deliverance than supplications by which insolence is elated, and tears +by which cruelty is gratified. + +It was for a long time imagined by the Romans, that no son could be the +murderer of his father; and they had therefore no punishment +appropriated to parricide. They seem likewise to have believed with +equal confidence, that no father could be cruel to his child; and +therefore they allowed every man the supreme judicature in his own +house, and put the lives of his offspring into his hands. But experience +informed them by degrees, that they determined too hastily in favour of +human nature; they found that instinct and habit were not able to +contend with avarice or malice; that the nearest relation might be +violated; and that power, to whomsoever intrusted, might be ill +employed. They were therefore obliged to supply and to change their +institutions; to deter the parricide by a new law, and to transfer +capital punishments from the parent to the magistrate. + +There are indeed many houses which it is impossible to enter familiarly, +without discovering that parents are by no means exempt from the +intoxications of dominion; and that he who is in no danger of hearing +remonstrances but from his own conscience, will seldom be long without +the art of controling his convictions, and modifying justice by his own +will. + +If in any situation the heart were inaccessible to malignity, it might +be supposed to be sufficiently secured by parental relation. To have +voluntarily become to any being the occasion of its existence, produces +an obligation to make that existence happy. To see helpless infancy +stretching out her hands, and pouring out her cries in testimony of +dependence, without any powers to alarm jealousy, or any guilt to +alienate affection, must surely awaken tenderness in every human mind; +and tenderness once excited will be hourly increased by the natural +contagion of felicity, by the repercussion of communicated pleasure, by +the consciousness of the dignity of benefaction. I believe no generous +or benevolent man can see the vilest animal courting his regard, and +shrinking at his anger, playing his gambols of delight before him, +calling on him in distress, and flying to him in danger, without more +kindness than he can persuade himself to feel for the wild and unsocial +inhabitants of the air and water. We naturally endear to ourselves those +to whom we impart any kind of pleasure, because we imagine their +affection and esteem secured to us by the benefits which they receive. + +There is, indeed, another method by which the pride of superiority may +be likewise gratified. He that has extinguished all the sensations of +humanity, and has no longer any satisfaction in the reflection that he +is loved as the distributor of happiness, may please himself with +exciting terrour as the inflictor of pain: he may delight his solitude +with contemplating the extent of his power and the force of his +commands; in imagining the desires that flutter on the tongue which is +forbidden to utter them, or the discontent which preys on the heart in +which fear confines it: he may amuse himself with new contrivances of +detection, multiplications of prohibition, and varieties of punishment; +and swell with exultation when he considers how little of the homage +that he receives he owes to choice. + +That princes of this character have been known, the history of all +absolute kingdoms will inform us; and since, as Aristotle observes, +_[Greek: hae oikonomikae monarchia], the government of a family is +naturally monarchical_, it is, like other monarchies, too often +arbitrarily administered. The regal and parental tyrant differ only in +the extent of their dominions, and the number of their slaves. The same +passions cause the same miseries; except that seldom any prince, however +despotick, has so far shaken off all awe of the publick eye, as to +venture upon those freaks of injustice, which are sometimes indulged +under the secrecy of a private dwelling. Capricious injunctions, partial +decisions, unequal allotments, distributions of reward, not by merit, +but by fancy, and punishments, regulated not by the degree of the +offence, but by the humour of the judge, are too frequent where no power +is known but that of a father. + +That he delights in the misery of others, no man will confess, and yet +what other motive can make a father cruel? The king may be instigated by +one man to the destruction of another; he may sometimes think himself +endangered by the virtues of a subject; he may dread the successful +general or the popular orator; his avarice may point out golden +confiscations; and his guilt may whisper that he can only be secure by +cutting off all power of revenge. + +But what can a parent hope from the oppression of those who were born to +his protection, of those who can disturb him with no competition, who +can enrich him with no spoils? Why cowards are cruel may be easily +discovered; but for what reason, not more infamous than cowardice, can +that man delight in oppression who has nothing to fear? + +The unjustifiable severity of a parent is loaded with this aggravation, +that those whom he injures are always in his sight. The injustice of a +prince is often exercised upon those of whom he never had any personal +or particular knowledge; and the sentence which he pronounces, whether +of banishment, imprisonment, or death, removes from his view the man +whom he condemns. But the domestick oppressor dooms himself to gaze upon +those faces which he clouds with terrour and with sorrow; and beholds +every moment the effects of his own barbarities. He that can bear to +give continual pain to those who surround him, and can walk with +satisfaction in the gloom of his own presence; he that can see +submissive misery without relenting, and meet without emotion the eye +that implores mercy, or demands justice, will scarcely be amended by +remonstrance or admonition; he has found means of stopping the avenues +of tenderness, and arming his heart against the force of reason. + +Even though no consideration should be paid to the great law of social +beings, by which every individual is commanded to consult the happiness +of others, yet the harsh parent is less to be vindicated than any other +criminal, because he less provides for the happiness of himself. Every +man, however little he loves others, would willingly be loved; every man +hopes to live long, and therefore hopes for that time at which he shall +sink back to imbecility, and must depend for ease and cheerfulness upon +the officiousness of others. But how has he obviated the inconveniencies +of old age, who alienates from him the assistance of his children, and +whose bed must be surrounded in the last hours, in the hours of languor +and dejection, of impatience and of pain, by strangers to whom his life +is indifferent, or by enemies to whom his death is desirable? + +Piety will, indeed, in good minds overcome provocation, and those who +have been harassed by brutality will forget the injuries which they have +suffered, so far as to perform the last duties with alacrity and zeal. +But surely no resentment can be equally painful with kindness thus +undeserved, nor can severer punishment be imprecated upon a man not +wholly lost in meanness and stupidity, than, through the tediousness of +decrepitude, to be reproached by the kindness of his own children, to +receive not the tribute but the alms of attendance, and to owe every +relief of his miseries, not to gratitude but to mercy. + + + +No. 149. TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 1751. + + _Quod non sit Pylades hoc tempore, non sit Orestes, + Miraris? Pylades, Marce, bibebat idem. + Nec melior panis, turdusve dabatur Oresti: + Sed par, atque eadem coena duobus erat.-- + Te Cadmea Tyrus, me pinguis Gallia vestit: + Vis te purpureum, Marce, sagatus amem? + Ut praestem Pyladen, aliquis mihi praestet Orestem. + Hoc non fit verbis, Marce: ut ameris, ama_. MART. Lib. vi. Ep. xi. + + You wonder now that no man sees + Such friends as those of ancient Greece. + Here lay the point--Orestes' meat + Was just the same his friend did eat; + Nor can it yet be found, his wine + Was better, Pylades, than thine. + In home-spun russet, I am drest, + Your cloth is always of the best; + But, honest Marcus, if you please + To chuse me for your Pylades, + Remember, words alone are vain; + Love--if you would be lov'd again. F. LEWIS. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +No depravity of the mind has been more frequently or justly censured +than ingratitude. There is indeed sufficient reason for looking on those +that can return evil for good, and repay kindness and assistance with +hatred or neglect, as corrupted beyond the common degrees of wickedness; +nor will he, who has once been clearly detected in acts of injury to his +benefactor, deserve to be numbered among social beings; he has +endeavoured to destroy confidence, to intercept sympathy, and to turn +every man's attention wholly on himself. + +There is always danger lest the honest abhorrence of a crime should +raise the passions with too much violence against the man to whom it is +imputed. In proportion as guilt is more enormous, it ought to be +ascertained by stronger evidence. The charge against ingratitude is very +general; almost every man can tell what favours he has conferred upon +insensibility, and how much happiness he has bestowed without return; +but perhaps, if these patrons and protectors were confronted with any +whom they boast of having befriended, it would often appear that they +consulted only their pleasure or vanity, and repaid themselves their +petty donatives by gratifications of insolence and indulgence of +contempt. + +It has happened that much of my time has been passed in a dependent +state, and consequently I have received many favours in the opinion of +those at whose expense I have been maintained; yet I do not feel in my +heart any burning gratitude or tumultuous affection; and, as I would not +willingly suppose myself less susceptible of virtuous passions than the +rest of mankind, I shall lay the history of my life before you, that you +may, by your judgment of my conduct, either reform, or confirm, my +present sentiments. My father was the second son of a very ancient and +wealthy family. He married a lady of equal birth, whose fortune, joined +to his own, might have supported his posterity in honour; but being gay +and ambitious, he prevailed on his friends to procure him a post, which +gave him an opportunity of displaying his elegance and politeness. My +mother was equally pleased with splendour, and equally careless of +expense; they both justified their profusion to themselves, by +endeavouring to believe it necessary to the extension of their +acquaintance, and improvement of their interest; and whenever any place +became vacant, they expected to be repaid. In the midst of these hopes +my father was snatched away by an apoplexy; and my mother, who had no +pleasure but in dress, equipage, assemblies, and compliments, finding +that she could live no longer in her accustomed rank, sunk into +dejection, and in two years wore out her life with envy and discontent. + +I was sent with a sister, one year younger than myself, to the elder +brother of my father. We were not yet capable of observing how much +fortune influences affection, but flattered ourselves on the road with +the tenderness and regard with which we should be treated by our uncle. +Our reception was rather frigid than malignant; we were introduced to +our young cousins, and for the first month more frequently consoled than +upbraided; but in a short time we found our prattle repressed, our dress +neglected, our endearments unregarded, and our requests referred to the +housekeeper. + +The forms of decency were now violated, and every day produced new +insults. We were soon brought to the necessity of receding from our +imagined equality with our cousins, to whom we sunk into humble +companions without choice or influence, expected only to echo their +opinions, facilitate their desires, and accompany their rambles. It was +unfortunate that our early introduction into polite company, and +habitual knowledge of the arts of civility, had given us such an +appearance of superiority to the awkward bashfulness of our relations, +as naturally drew respect and preference from every stranger; and my +aunt was forced to assert the dignity of her own children, while they +were sculking in corners for fear of notice, and hanging down their +heads in silent confusion, by relating the indiscretion of our father, +displaying her own kindness, lamenting the misery of birth without +estate, and declaring her anxiety for our future provision, and the +expedients which she had formed to secure us from those follies or +crimes, to which the conjunction of pride and want often gives occasion. +In a short time care was taken to prevent such vexatious mistakes; we +were told, that fine clothes would only fill our heads with false +expectations, and our dress was therefore accommodated to our fortune. + +Childhood is not easily dejected or mortified. We felt no lasting pain +from insolence or neglect; but finding that we were favoured and +commended by all whose interest did not prompt them to discountenance +us, preserved our vivacity and spirit to years of greater sensibility. +It then became irksome and disgusting to live without any principle of +action but the will of another, and we often met privately in the garden +to lament our condition, and to ease our hearts with mutual narratives +of caprice, peevishness, and affront. + +There are innumerable modes of insult and tokens of contempt, for which +it is not easy to find a name, which vanish to nothing in an attempt to +describe them, and yet may, by continual repetition, make day pass after +day in sorrow and in terrour. Phrases of cursory compliment and +established salutation may, by a different modulation of the voice, or +cast of the countenance, convey contrary meanings, and be changed from +indications of respect to expressions of scorn. The dependant who +cultivates delicacy in himself, very little consults his own +tranquillity. My unhappy vigilance is every moment discovering some +petulance of accent, or arrogance of mien, some vehemence of +interrogation, or quickness of reply, that recals my poverty to my mind, +and which I feel more acutely, as I know not how to resent it. + +You are not, however, to imagine, that I think myself discharged from +the duties of gratitude, only because my relations do not adjust their +looks, or tune their voices to my expectation. The insolence of +benefaction terminates not in negative rudeness or obliquities of +insult. I am often told in express terms of the miseries from which +charity has snatched me, while multitudes are suffered by relations +equally near to devolve upon the parish; and have more than once heard +it numbered among other favours, that I am admitted to the same table +with my cousins. + +That I sit at the first table I must acknowledge, but I sit there only +that I may feel the stings of inferiority. My inquiries are neglected, +my opinion is overborne, my assertions are controverted, and, as +insolence always propagates itself, the servants overlook me, in +imitation of their master; if I call modestly, I am not heard; if +loudly, my usurpation of authority is checked by a general frown. I am +often obliged to look uninvited upon delicacies, and sometimes desired +to rise upon very slight pretences. + +The incivilities to which I am exposed would give me less pain, were +they not aggravated by the tears of my sister, whom the young ladies are +hourly tormenting with every art of feminine persecution. As it is said +of the supreme magistrate of Venice, that he is a prince in one place +and a slave in another, my sister is a servant to her cousins in their +apartments, and a companion only at the table. Her wit and beauty drew +so much regard away from them, that they never suffer her to appear with +them in any place where they solicit notice, or expect admiration; and +when they are visited by neighbouring ladies and pass their hours in +domestick amusements, she is sometimes called to fill a vacancy, +insulted with contemptuous freedoms, and dismissed to her needle, when +her place is supplied. The heir has of late, by the instigation of his +sisters, begun to harass her with clownish jocularity; he seems inclined +to make his first rude essays of waggery upon her; and by the +connivance, if not encouragement, of his father, treats her with such +licentious brutality, as I cannot bear, though I cannot punish it. + +I beg to be informed, Mr. Rambler, how much we can be supposed to owe to +beneficence, exerted on terms like these? to beneficence which pollutes +its gifts with contumely, and may be truly said to pander to pride? I +would willingly be told, whether insolence does not reward its own +liberalities, and whether he that exacts servility can, with justice, at +the same time, expect affection? + +I am, Sir, &c. + +HYPERDULUS. + + + +No. 150. SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 1751. + + --_O munera nondum + Intellecta Deum!_ LUCAN. + + --Thou chiefest good! + Bestow'd by Heav'n, but seldom understood. ROWE. + +As daily experience makes it evident that misfortunes are unavoidably +incident to human life, that calamity will neither be repelled by +fortitude, nor escaped by flight; neither awed by greatness, nor eluded +by obscurity; philosophers have endeavoured to reconcile us to that +condition which they cannot teach us to mend, by persuading us that most +of our evils are made afflictive only by ignorance or perverseness, and +that nature has annexed to every vicissitude of external circumstances +some advantage sufficient to over-balance all its inconveniencies. + +This attempt may, perhaps, be justly suspected of resemblance to the +practice of physicians, who, when they cannot mitigate pain, destroy +sensibility, and endeavour to conceal, by opiates, the inefficacy of +their other medicines. The panegyrists of calamity have more frequently +gained applause to their wit, than acquiescence to their arguments; nor +has it appeared that the most musical oratory, or subtle ratiocination, +has been able long to overpower the anguish of oppression, the +tediousness of languor, or the longings of want. + +Yet, it may be generally remarked, that, where much has been attempted, +something has been performed; though the discoveries or acquisitions of +man are not always adequate to the expectations of his pride, they are +at least sufficient to animate his industry. The antidotes with which +philosophy has medicated the cup of life, though they cannot give it +salubrity and sweetness, have at least allayed its bitterness, and +contempered its malignity; the balm which she drops upon the wounds of +the mind abates their pain, though it cannot heal them. + +By suffering willingly what we cannot avoid, we secure ourselves from +vain and immoderate disquiet; we preserve for better purposes that +strength which would be unprofitably wasted in wild efforts of +desperation, and maintain that circumspection which may enable us to +seize every support, and improve every alleviation. This calmness will +be more easily obtained, as the attention is more powerfully withdrawn +from the contemplation of unmingled unabated evil, and diverted to those +accidental benefits which prudence may confer on every state. + +Seneca has attempted, not only to pacify us in misfortune, but almost to +allure us to it, by representing it as necessary to the pleasures of the +mind. _He that never was acquainted with adversity_, says he, _has seen +the world but on one side, and is ignorant of half the scenes of +nature_. He invites his pupil to calamity, as the Syrens allured the +passenger to their coasts, by promising that he shall return [Greek: +pleiona eidos], with increase of knowledge, with enlarged views, and +multiplied ideas. + +Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the +last; and perhaps always predominates in proportion to the strength of +the contemplative faculties. He who easily comprehends all that is +before him, and soon exhausts any single subject, is always eager for +new inquiries; and, in proportion as the intellectual eye takes in a +wider prospect, it must be gratified with variety by more rapid flights, +and bolder excursions; nor perhaps can there be proposed to those who +have been accustomed to the pleasures of thought, a more powerful +incitement to any undertaking, than the hope of filling their fancy with +new images, of clearing their doubts, and enlightening their reason. + +When Jason, in Valerius Flaccus, would incline the young prince Acastus +to accompany him in the first essay of navigation, he disperses his +apprehensions of danger by representations of the new tracts of earth +and heaven, which the expedition would spread before their eyes; and +tells him with what grief he will hear, at their return, of the +countries which they shall have seen, and the toils which they have +surmounted: + + _O quantum terrae, quantum cognoscere coeli + Permissum est! pelagus quantos aperimus in usus! + Nunc forsan grave reris opus: sed laeta recurret + Cum ratis, et caram cum jam mihi reddet Iolcon; + Quis pudor heu nostros tibi tunc audire labores! + Quam referam visas tua per suspiria gentes!_ ARG. Lib. i. 168. + + Led by our stars, what tracts immense we trace! + From seas remote, what funds of science raise! + A pain to thought! but when the heroick band + Returns applauded to their native land, + A life domestick you will then deplore, + And sigh while I describe the various, shore. EDW. CAVE. + +Acastus was soon prevailed upon by his curiosity to set rocks and +hardships at defiance, and commit his life to the winds; and the same +motives have in all ages had the same effect upon those whom the desire +of fame or wisdom has distinguished from the lower orders of mankind. + +If, therefore, it can be proved that distress is necessary to the +attainment of knowledge, and that a happy situation hides from us so +large a part of the field of meditation, the envy of many who repine at +the sight of affluence and splendour will be much diminished; for such +is the delight of mental superiority, that none on whom nature or study +have conferred it, would purchase the gifts of fortune by its loss. + +It is certain, that however the rhetorick of Seneca may have dressed +adversity with extrinsick ornaments, he has justly represented it as +affording some opportunities of observation, which cannot be found in +continual success; he has truly asserted, that to escape misfortune is +to want instruction, and that to live at ease is to live in ignorance. + +As no man can enjoy happiness without thinking that he enjoys it, the +experience of calamity is necessary to a just sense of better fortune: +for the good of our present state is merely comparative, and the evil +which every man feels will be sufficient to disturb and harass him, if +he does not know how much he escapes. The lustre of diamonds is +invigorated by the interposition of darker bodies; the lights of a +picture are created by the shades. The highest pleasure which nature has +indulged to sensitive perception, is that of rest after fatigue; yet, +that state which labour heightens into delight, is of itself only ease, +and is incapable of satisfying the mind without the superaddition of +diversified amusements. + +Prosperity, as is truly asserted by Seneca, very much obstructs the +knowledge of ourselves. No man can form a just estimate of his own +powers by unactive speculation. That fortitude which has encountered no +dangers, that prudence which has surmounted no difficulties, that +integrity which has been attacked by no temptations, can at best be +considered but as gold not yet brought to the test, of which therefore +the true value cannot be assigned. _He that traverses the lists without +an adversary, may receive_, says the philosopher, _the reward of +victory, but he has no pretensions to the honour_. If it be the highest +happiness of man to contemplate himself with satisfaction, and to +receive the gratulations of his own conscience; he whose courage has +made way amidst the turbulence of opposition, and whose vigour has +broken through the snares of distress, has many advantages over those +that have slept in the shades of indolence, and whose retrospect of time +can entertain them with nothing but day rising upon day, and year +gliding after year. + +Equally necessary is some variety of fortune to a nearer inspection of +the manners, principles, and affections of mankind. Princes, when they +would know the opinions or grievances of their subjects, find it +necessary to steal away from guards and attendants, and mingle on equal +terms among the people. To him who is known to have the power of doing +good or harm, nothing is shewn in its natural form. The behaviour of all +that approach him is regulated by his humour, their narratives are +adapted to his inclination, and their reasonings determined by his +opinions; whatever can alarm suspicion, or excite resentment, is +carefully suppressed, and nothing appears but uniformity of sentiments, +and ardour of affection. It may be observed, that the unvaried +complaisance which ladies have the right of exacting, keeps them +generally unskilled in human nature; prosperity will always enjoy the +female prerogatives, and therefore must be always in danger of female +ignorance. Truth is scarcely to be heard, but by those from whom it can +serve no interest to conceal it. + + + +No. 151. TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 1751. + + [Greek:--Amphi d anthro- + pon phresin amplakiai + Anarithmatoi kremantai + Touto d amachanon eurein, + O ti nun, kai en teleu- + ta, phertaton andri tuchein.] PINDAR, Ol. vii. 43. +[Transcriber's note: line breaks and hyphenation in original.] + + But wrapt in error is the human mind, + And human bliss is ever insecure: + Know we what fortune yet remains behind? + Know we how long the present shall endure? WEST. + +The writers of medicine and physiology have traced, with great +appearance of accuracy, the effects of time upon the human body, by +marking the various periods of the constitution, and the several stages +by which animal life makes its progress from infancy to decrepitude. +Though their observations have not enabled them to discover how manhood +may be accelerated, or old age retarded, yet surely, if they be +considered only as the amusements of curiosity, they are of equal +importance with conjectures on things more remote, with catalogues of +the fixed stars, and calculations of the bulk of planets. + +It had been a task worthy of the moral philosophers to have considered +with equal care the climactericks of the mind; to have pointed out the +time at which every passion begins and ceases to predominate, and noted +the regular variations of desire, and the succession of one appetite to +another. + +The periods of mental change are not to be stated with equal certainty; +our bodies grow up under the care of nature, and depend so little on our +own management, that something more than negligence is necessary to +discompose their structure, or impede their vigour. But our minds are +committed in a great measure first to the direction of others, and +afterwards of ourselves. It would be difficult to protract the weakness +of infancy beyond the usual time, but the mind may be very easily +hindered from its share of improvement, and the bulk and strength of +manhood must, without the assistance of education and instruction, be +informed only with the understanding of a child. + +Yet, amidst all the disorder and inequality which variety of discipline, +example, conversation, and employment, produce in the intellectual +advances of different men, there is still discovered, by a vigilant +spectator, such a general and remote similitude, as may be expected in +the same common nature affected by external circumstances indefinitely +varied. We all enter the world in equal ignorance, gaze round about us +on the same objects, and have our first pains and pleasures, our first +hopes and fears, our first aversions and desires, from the same causes; +and though, as we proceed farther, life opens wider prospects to our +view, and accidental impulses determine us to different paths, yet as +every mind, however vigorous or abstracted, is necessitated, in its +present state of union, to receive its informations, and execute its +purposes, by the intervention of the body, the uniformity of our +corporeal nature communicates itself to our intellectual operations; and +those whose abilities or knowledge incline them most to deviate from the +general round of life, are recalled from eccentricity by the laws of +their existence. + +If we consider the exercises of the mind, it will be found that in each +part of life some particular faculty is more eminently employed. When +the treasures of knowledge are first opened before us, while novelty +blooms alike on either hand, and every thing equally unknown and +unexamined seems of equal value, the power of the soul is principally +exerted in a vivacious and desultory curiosity. She applies by turns to +every object, enjoys it for a short time, and flies with equal ardour to +another. She delights to catch up loose and unconnected ideas, but +starts away from systems and complications, which would obstruct the +rapidity of her transitions, and detain her long in the same pursuit. + +When a number of distinct images are collected by these erratick and +hasty surveys, the fancy is busied in arranging them; and combines them +into pleasing pictures with more resemblance to the realities of life as +experience advances, and new observations rectify the former. While the +judgment is yet uninformed, and unable to compare the draughts of +fiction with their originals, we are delighted with improbable +adventures, impracticable virtues, and inimitable characters: but, in +proportion as we have more opportunities of acquainting ourselves with +living nature, we are sooner disgusted with copies in which there +appears no resemblance. We first discard absurdity and impossibility, +then exact greater and greater degrees of probability, but at last +become cold and insensible to the charms of falsehood, however specious, +and, from the imitations of truth, which are never perfect, transfer our +affection to truth itself. + +Now commences the reign of judgment or reason; we begin to find little +pleasure but in comparing arguments, stating propositions, disentangling +perplexities, clearing ambiguities, and deducing consequences. The +painted vales of imagination are deserted, and our intellectual activity +is exercised in winding through the labyrinths of fallacy, and toiling +with firm and cautious steps up the narrow tracks of demonstration. +Whatever may lull vigilance, or mislead attention, is contemptuously +rejected, and every disguise in which errour may be concealed, is +carefully observed, till, by degrees, a certain number of incontestable +or unsuspected propositions are established, and at last concatenated +into arguments, or compacted into systems. + +At length weariness succeeds to labour, and the mind lies at ease in the +contemplation of her own attainments, without any desire of new +conquests or excursions. This is the age of recollection and narrative; +the opinions are settled, and the avenues of apprehension shut against +any new intelligence; the days that are to follow must pass in the +inculcation of precepts already collected, and assertion of tenets +already received; nothing is henceforward so odious as opposition, so +insolent as doubt, or so dangerous as novelty. + +In like manner the passions usurp the separate command of the successive +periods of life. To the happiness of our first years nothing more seems +necessary than freedom from restraint: every man may remember that if he +was left to himself, and indulged in the disposal of his own time, he +was once content without the superaddition of any actual pleasure. The +new world is itself a banquet; and, till we have exhausted the freshness +of life, we have always about us sufficient gratifications: the sunshine +quickens us to play, and the shade invites us to sleep. + +But we soon become unsatisfied with negative felicity, and are solicited +by our senses and appetites to more powerful delights, as the taste of +him who has satisfied his hunger must be excited by artificial +stimulations. The simplicity of natural amusement is now past, and art +and contrivance must improve our pleasures; but, in time, art, like +nature, is exhausted, and the senses can no longer supply the cravings +of the intellect. + +The attention is then transferred from pleasure to interest, in which +pleasure is perhaps included, though diffused to a wider extent, and +protracted through new gradations. Nothing now dances before the eyes +but wealth and power, nor rings in the ear, but the voice of fame; +wealth, to which, however variously denominated, every man at some time +or other aspires; power, which all wish to obtain within their circle of +action; and fame, which no man, however high or mean, however wise or +ignorant, was yet able to despise. Now prudence and foresight exert +their influence: no hour is devoted wholly to any present enjoyment, no +act or purpose terminates in itself, but every motion is referred to +some distant end; the accomplishment of one design begins another, and +the ultimate wish is always pushed off to its former distance. + +At length fame is observed to be uncertain, and power to be dangerous; +the man whose vigour and alacrity begin to forsake him, by degrees +contracts his designs, remits his former multiplicity of pursuits, and +extends no longer his regard to any other honour than the reputation of +wealth, or any other influence than his power. Avarice is generally the +last passion of those lives of which the first part has been squandered +in pleasure, and the second devoted to ambition. He that sinks under the +fatigue of getting wealth, lulls his age with the milder business of +saving it. + +I have in this view of life considered man as actuated only by natural +desires, and yielding to their own inclinations, without regard to +superior principles, by which the force of external agents may be +counteracted, and the temporary prevalence of passions restrained. +Nature will indeed always operate, human desires will be always ranging; +but these motions, though very powerful, are not resistless; nature may +be regulated, and desires governed; and, to contend with the +predominance of successive passions, to be endangered first by one +affection, and then by another, is the condition upon which we are to +pass our time, the time of our preparation for that state which shall +put an end to experiment, to disappointment, and to change. + + + +No. 152. SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 1751. + + --Tristia maestum + Vullum verba decent, iratum plena minarum. HOR. De Ar. Poet. 105. + + Disastrous words can best disaster shew; + In angry phrase the angry passions glow. ELPHINSTON. + +"It was the wisdom," says Seneca, "of ancient times, to consider what is +most useful as most illustrious." If this rule be applied to works of +genius, scarcely any species of composition deserves more to be +cultivated than the epistolary style, since none is of more various or +frequent use through the whole subordination of human life. + +It has yet happened that, among the numerous writers which our nation +has produced, equal, perhaps, always in force and genius, and of late in +elegance and accuracy, to those of any other country, very few have +endeavoured to distinguish themselves by the publication of letters, +except such as were written in the discharge of publick trusts, and +during the transaction of great affairs; which, though they afford +precedents to the minister, and memorials to the historian, are of no +use as examples of the familiar style, or models of private +correspondence. + +If it be inquired by foreigners, how this deficiency has happened in the +literature of a country, where all indulge themselves with so little +danger in speaking and writing, may we not without either bigotry or +arrogance inform them, that it must be imputed to our contempt of +trifles, and our due sense of the dignity of the publick? We do not +think it reasonable to fill the world with volumes from which nothing +can be learned, nor expect that the employments of the busy, or the +amusements of the gay, should give way to narratives of our private +affairs, complaints of absence, expressions of fondness, or declarations +of fidelity. + +A slight perusal of the innumerable letters by which the wits of France +have signalized their names, will prove that other nations need not be +discouraged from the like attempts by the consciousness of inability; +for surely it is not very difficult to aggravate trifling misfortunes, +to magnify familiar incidents, repeat adulatory professions, accumulate +servile hyperboles, and produce all that can be found in the despicable +remains of Voiture and Scarron. + +Yet, as much of life must be passed in affairs considerable only by +their frequent occurrence, and much of the pleasure which our condition +allows, must be produced by giving elegance to trifles, it is necessary +to learn how to become little without becoming mean, to maintain the +necessary intercourse of civility, and fill up the vacuities of actions +by agreeable appearances. It had therefore been of advantage, if such of +our writers as have excelled in the art of decorating insignificance, +had supplied us with a few sallies of innocent gaiety, effusions of +honest tenderness, or exclamations of unimportant hurry. + +Precept has generally been posterior to performance. The art of +composing works of genius has never been taught but by the example of +those who performed it by natural vigour of imagination, and rectitude +of judgment. As we have few letters, we have likewise few criticisms +upon the epistolary style. The observations with which Walsh has +introduced his pages of inanity, are such as give him little claim to +the rank assigned him by Dryden among the criticks. _Letters_, says he, +_are intended as resemblances of conversation, and the chief +excellencies of conversation are good humour and good breeding_. This +remark, equally valuable for its novelty and propriety, he dilates and +enforces with an appearance of complete acquiescence in his own +discovery. + +No man was ever in doubt about the moral qualities of a letter. It has +been always known that he who endeavours to please must appear pleased, +and he who would not provoke rudeness must not practise it. But the +question among those who establish rules for an epistolary performance +is how gaiety or civility may be properly expressed; as among the +criticks in history it is not contested whether truth ought to be +preserved, but by what mode of diction it is best adorned. + +As letters are written on all subjects, in all states of mind, they +cannot be properly reduced to settled rules, or described by any single +characteristick; and we may safely disentangle our minds from critical +embarrassments, by determining that a letter has no peculiarity but its +form, and that nothing is to be refused admission, which would be proper +in any other method of treating the same subject. The qualities of the +epistolary style most frequently required, are ease and simplicity, an +even flow of unlaboured diction, and an artless arrangement of obvious +sentiments. But these directions are no sooner applied to use, than +their scantiness and imperfection become evident. Letters are written to +the great and to the mean, to the learned and the ignorant, at rest and +in distress, in sport and in passion. Nothing can be more improper than +ease and laxity of expression, when the importance of the subject +impresses solicitude, or the dignity of the person exacts reverence. + +That letters should be written with strict conformity to nature is true, +because nothing but conformity to nature can make any composition +beautiful or just. But it is natural to depart from familiarity of +language upon occasions not familiar. Whatever elevates the sentiments +will consequently raise the expression; whatever fills us with hope or +terrour, will produce some perturbation of images and some figurative +distortions of phrase. Wherever we are studious to please, we are afraid +of trusting our first thoughts, and endeavour to recommend our opinion +by studied ornaments, accuracy of method, and elegance of style. + +If the personages of the comick scene be allowed by Horace to raise +their language in the transports of anger to the turgid vehemence of +tragedy, the epistolary writer may likewise without censure comply with +the varieties of his matter. If great events are to be related, he may +with all the solemnity of an historian deduce them from their causes, +connect them with their concomitants, and trace them to their +consequences. If a disputed position is to be established, or a remote +principle to be investigated, he may detail his reasonings with all the +nicety of syllogistick method. If a menace is to be averted, or a +benefit implored, he may, without any violation of the edicts of +criticism, call every power of rhetorick to his assistance, and try +every inlet at which love or pity enters the heart. + +Letters that have no other end than the entertainment of the +correspondents are more properly regulated by critical precepts, because +the matter and style are equally arbitrary, and rules are more +necessary, as there is a larger power of choice. In letters of this +kind, some conceive art graceful, and others think negligence amiable; +some model them by the sonnet, and will allow them no means of +delighting but the soft lapse of calm mellifluence; others adjust them +by the epigram, and expect pointed sentences and forcible periods. The +one party considers exemption from faults as the height of excellence, +the other looks upon neglect of excellence as the most disgusting fault; +one avoids censure, the other aspires to praise; one is always in danger +of insipidity, the other continually on the brink of affectation. + +When the subject has no intrinsick dignity, it must necessarily owe its +attractions to artificial embellishments, and may catch at all +advantages which the art of writing can supply. He that, like Pliny, +sends his friend a portion for his daughter, will, without Pliny's +eloquence or address, find means of exciting gratitude, and securing +acceptance; but he that has no present to make but a garland, a riband, +or some petty curiosity, must endeavour to recommend it by his manner of +giving it. + +The purpose for which letters are written when no intelligence is +communicated, or business transacted, is to preserve in the minds of the +absent either love or esteem: to excite love we must impart pleasure, +and to raise esteem we must discover abilities. Pleasure will generally +be given, as abilities are displayed by scenes of imagery, points of +conceit, unexpected sallies, and artful compliments. Trifles always +require exuberance of ornament; the building which has no strength can +be valued only for the grace of its decorations. The pebble must be +polished with care, which hopes to be valued as a diamond; and words +ought surely to be laboured, when they are intended to stand for things. + + + +No. 153. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1751 + + _Turba Remi? Sequitur Fortunam, ut semper, et odit + Damnatos_. JUV. Sat. x. 73. + + The fickle crowd with fortune comes and goes; + Wealth still finds followers, and misfortune foes. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +There are occasions on which all apology is rudeness. He that has an +unwelcome message to deliver, may give some proof of tenderness and +delicacy, by a ceremonial introduction and gradual discovery, because +the mind, upon which the weight of sorrow is to fall, gains time for the +collection of its powers; but nothing is more absurd than to delay the +communication of pleasure, to torment curiosity by impatience, and to +delude hope by anticipation. + +I shall therefore forbear the arts by which correspondents generally +secure admission, for I have too long remarked the power of vanity, to +doubt that I shall be read by you with a disposition to approve, when I +declare that my narrative has no other tendency than to illustrate and +corroborate your own observations. + +I was the second son of a gentleman, whose patrimony had been wasted by +a long succession of squanderers, till he was unable to support any of +his children, except his heir, in the hereditary dignity of idleness. +Being therefore obliged to employ that part of life in study which my +progenitors had devoted to the hawk and hound, I was in my eighteenth +year despatched to the university, without any rural honours. I had +never killed a single woodcock, nor partaken one triumph over a +conquered fox. + +At the university I continued to enlarge my acquisitions with little +envy of the noisy happiness which my elder brother had the fortune to +enjoy; and, having obtained my degree, retired to consider at leisure to +what profession I should confine that application which had hitherto +been dissipated in general knowledge. To deliberate upon a choice which +custom and honour forbid to be retracted, is certainly reasonable; yet +to let loose the attention equally to the advantages and inconveniencies +of every employment is not without danger; new motives are every moment +operating on every side; and mechanicks have long ago discovered, that +contrariety of equal attractions is equivalent to rest. + +While I was thus trifling in uncertainty, an old adventurer, who had +been once the intimate friend of my father, arrived from the Indies with +a large fortune; which he had so much harassed himself in obtaining, +that sickness and infirmity left him no other desire than to die in his +native country. His wealth easily procured him an invitation to pass his +life with us; and, being incapable of any amusement but conversation, he +necessarily became familiarized to me, whom he found studious and +domestick. Pleased with an opportunity of imparting my knowledge, and +eager of any intelligence that might increase it, I delighted his +curiosity with historical narratives and explications of nature, and +gratified his vanity by inquiries after the products of distant +countries, and the customs of their inhabitants. + +My brother saw how much I advanced in the favour of our guest, who, +being without heirs, was naturally expected to enrich the family of his +friend, but never attempted to alienate me, nor to ingratiate himself. +He was, indeed, little qualified to solicit the affection of a +traveller, for the remissness of his education had left him without any +rule of action but his present humour. He often forsook the old +gentleman in the midst of an adventure, because the horn sounded in the +court-yard, and would have lost an opportunity, not only of knowing the +history, but sharing the wealth of the mogul, for the trial of a new +pointer, or the sight of a horse-race. + +It was therefore not long before our new friend declared his intention +of bequeathing to me the profits of his commerce, as the only man in the +family by whom he could expect them to be rationally enjoyed. This +distinction drew upon me the envy not only of my brother but my father. + +As no man is willing to believe that he suffers by his own fault, they +imputed the preference which I had obtained to adulatory compliances, or +malignant calumnies. To no purpose did I call upon my patron to attest +my innocence, for who will believe what he wishes to be false? In the +heat of disappointment they forced their inmate by repeated insults to +depart from the house, and I was soon, by the same treatment, obliged to +follow him. + +He chose his residence in the confines of London, where rest, +tranquillity, and medicine, restored him to part of the health which he +had lost. I pleased myself with perceiving that I was not likely to +obtain the immediate possession of wealth which no labour of mine had +contributed to acquire; and that he, who had thus distinguished me, +might hope to end his life without a total frustration of those +blessings, which, whatever be their real value, he had sought with so +much diligence, and purchased with so many vicissitudes of danger and +fatigue. + +He, indeed, left me no reason to repine at his recovery, for he was +willing to accustom me early to the use of money, and set apart for my +expenses such a revenue as I had scarcely dared to image. I can yet +congratulate myself that fortune has seen her golden cup once tasted +without inebriation. Neither my modesty nor prudence was overwhelmed by +affluence; my elevation was without insolence, and my expense without +profusion. Employing the influence which money always confers, to the +improvement of my understanding, I mingled in parties of gaiety, and in +conferences of learning, appeared in every place where instruction was +to be found, and imagined that, by ranging through all the diversities +of life, I had acquainted myself fully with human nature, and learned +all that was to be known of the ways of men. + +It happened, however, that I soon discovered how much was wanted to the +completion of my knowledge, and found that, according to Seneca's +remark, I had hitherto seen the world but on one side. My patron's +confidence in his increase of strength tempted him to carelessness and +irregularity; he caught a fever by riding in the rain, of which he died +delirious on the third day. I buried him without any of the heir's +affected grief or secret exultation; then preparing to take a legal +possession of his fortune, I opened his closet, where I found a will, +made at his first arrival, by which my father was appointed the chief +inheritor, and nothing was left me but a legacy sufficient to support me +in the prosecution of my studies. + +I had not yet found such charms in prosperity as to continue it by any +acts of forgery or injustice, and made haste to inform my father of the +riches which had been given him, not by the preference of kindness, but +by the delays of indolence and cowardice of age. The hungry family flew +like vultures on their prey, and soon made my disappointment publick, by +the tumult of their claims, and the splendour of their sorrow. + +It was now my part to consider how I should repair the disappointment. I +could not but triumph in my long list of friends, which comprised almost +every name that power or knowledge entitled to eminence; and, in the +prospect of the innumerable roads to honour and preferment, which I had +laid open to myself by the wise use of temporary riches, I believed +nothing necessary but that I should continue that acquaintance to which +I had been so readily admitted, and which had hitherto been cultivated +on both sides with equal ardour. + +Full of these expectations, I one morning ordered a chair, with an +intention to make my usual circle of morning visits. Where I first +stopped I saw two footmen lolling at the door, who told me without any +change of posture, or collection of countenance, that their master was +at home, and suffered me to open the inner door without assistance. I +found my friend standing, and, as I was tattling with my former freedom, +was formally entreated to sit down; but did not stay to be favoured with +any further condescensions. + +My next experiment was made at the levee of a statesman, who received me +with an embrace of tenderness, that he might with more decency publish +my change of fortune to the sycophants about him. After he had enjoyed +the triumph of condolence, he turned to a wealthy stockjobber, and left +me exposed to the scorn of those who had lately courted my notice, and +solicited my interest. + +I was then set down at the door of another, who, upon my entrance, +advised me, with great solemnity, to think of some settled provision for +life. I left him, and hurried away to an old friend, who professed +himself unsusceptible of any impressions from prosperity or misfortune, +and begged that he might see me when he was more at leisure. + +Of sixty-seven doors, at which I knocked in the first week after my +appearance in a mourning dress, I was denied admission at forty-six; was +suffered at fourteen to wait in the outer room till business was +despatched; at four, was entertained with a few questions about the +weather; at one, heard the footman rated for bringing my name; and at +two was informed, in the flow of casual conversation, how much a man of +rank degrades himself by mean company. + +My curiosity now led me to try what reception I should find among the +ladies; but I found that my patron had carried all my powers of pleasing +to the grave. I had formerly been celebrated as a wit, and not +perceiving any languor in my imagination, I essayed to revive that +gaiety which had hitherto broken out involuntarily before my sentences +were finished. My remarks were now heard with a steady countenance, and +if a girl happened to give way to habitual merriment, her forwardness +was repressed with a frown by her mother or her aunt. + +Wherever I come I scatter infirmity and disease; every lady whom I meet +in the Mall is too weary to walk; all whom I entreat to sing are +troubled with colds: if I propose cards, they are afflicted with the +head-ach; [Transcriber's note: sic] if I invite them to the gardens, +they cannot bear a crowd. + +All this might be endured; but there is a class of mortals who think my +understanding impaired with my fortune, exalt themselves to the dignity +of advice, and, whenever we happen to meet, presume to prescribe my +conduct, regulate my economy, and direct my pursuits. Another race, +equally impertinent and equally despicable, are every moment +recommending to me an attention to my interest, and think themselves +entitled, by their superior prudence, to reproach me if I speak or move +without regard to profit. + +Such, Mr. Rambler, is the power of wealth, that it commands the ear of +greatness and the eye of beauty, gives spirit to the dull, and authority +to the timorous, and leaves him from whom it departs, without virtue and +without understanding, the sport of caprice, the scoff of insolence, the +slave of meanness, and the pupil of ignorance. + +I am, &c. + + + +No. 154. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1751. + + _--Tibi res antiquae laudis et artis + Ingredior, sanctos ausus recludere fontes_. VIR. Geo. ii. 174. + + For thee my tuneful accents will I raise, + And treat of arts disclos'd in ancient days; + Once more unlock for thee the sacred spring. DRYDEN. + +The direction of Aristotle to those that study politicks, is first to +examine and understand what has been written by the ancients upon +government; then to cast their eyes round upon the world, and consider +by what causes the prosperity of communities is visibly influenced, and +why some are worse, and others better administered. + +The same method must be pursued by him who hopes to become eminent in +any other part of knowledge. The first task is to search books, the next +to contemplate nature. He must first possess himself of the intellectual +treasures which the diligence of former ages has accumulated, and then +endeavour to increase them by his own collections. + +The mental disease of the present generation, is impatience of study, +contempt of the great masters of ancient wisdom, and a disposition to +rely wholly upon unassisted genius and natural sagacity. The wits of +these happy days have discovered a way to fame, which the dull caution +of our laborious ancestors durst never attempt; they cut the knots of +sophistry which it was formerly the business of years to untie, solve +difficulties by sudden irradiations of intelligence, and comprehend long +processes of argument by immediate intuition. + +Men who have flattered themselves into this opinion of their own +abilities, look down on all who waste their lives over books, as a race +of inferior beings, condemned by nature to perpetual pupilage, and +fruitlessly endeavouring to remedy their barrenness by incessant +cultivation, or succour their feebleness by subsidiary strength. They +presume that none would be more industrious than they, if they were not +more sensible of deficiencies; and readily conclude, that he who places +no confidence in his own powers, owes his modesty only to his weakness. + +It is however certain, that no estimate is more in danger of erroneous +calculations than those by which a man computes the force of his own +genius. It generally happens at our entrance into the world, that, by +the natural attraction of similitude, we associate with men like +ourselves, young, sprightly, and ignorant, and rate our accomplishments +by comparison with theirs; when we have once obtained an acknowledged +superiority over our acquaintances, imagination and desire easily extend +it over the rest of mankind, and if no accident forces us into new +emulations, we grow old, and die in admiration of ourselves. + +Vanity, thus confirmed in her dominion, readily listens to the voice of +idleness, and sooths the slumber of life with continual dreams of +excellence and greatness. A man, elated by confidence in his natural +vigour of fancy and sagacity of conjecture, soon concludes that he +already possesses whatever toil and inquiry can confer. He then listens +with eagerness to the wild objections which folly has raised against the +common means of improvement; talks of the dark chaos of indigested +knowledge; describes the mischievous effects of heterogeneous sciences +fermenting in the mind; relates the blunders of lettered ignorance; +expatiates on the heroick merit of those who deviate from prescription, +or shake off authority; and gives vent to the inflations of his heart by +declaring that he owes nothing to pedants and universities. + +All these pretensions, however confident, are very often vain. The +laurels which superficial acuteness gains in triumphs over ignorance +unsupported by vivacity, are observed by Locke to be lost, whenever real +learning and rational diligence appear against her; the sallies of +gaiety are soon repressed by calm confidence; and the artifices of +subtilty are readily detected by those, who, having carefully studied +the question, are not easily confounded or surprised. + +But, though the contemner of books had neither been deceived by others +nor himself, and was really born with a genius surpassing the ordinary +abilities of mankind; yet surely such gifts of Providence may be more +properly urged as incitements to labour, than encouragements to +negligence. He that neglects the culture of ground naturally fertile, is +more shamefully culpable, than he whose field would scarcely recompense +his husbandry. + +Cicero remarks, that not to know what has been transacted in former +times, is to continue always a child. If no use is made of the labours +of past ages, the world must remain always in the infancy of knowledge. +The discoveries of every man must terminate in his own advantage, and +the studies of every age be employed on questions which the past +generation had discussed and determined. We may with as little reproach +borrow science as manufactures from our ancestors; and it is as rational +to live in caves till our own hands have erected a palace, as to reject +all knowledge of architecture which our understandings will not supply. + +To the strongest and quickest mind it is far easier to learn than to +invent. The principles of arithmetick and geometry may be comprehended +by a close attention in a few days; yet who can flatter himself that the +study of a long life would have enabled him to discover them, when he +sees them yet unknown to so many nations, whom he cannot suppose less +liberally endowed with natural reason, than the Grecians or Egyptians? + +Every science was thus far advanced towards perfection, by the emulous +diligence of contemporary students, and the gradual discoveries of one +age improving on another. Sometimes unexpected flashes of instruction +were struck out by the fortuitous collision of happy incidents, or an +involuntary concurrence of ideas, in which the philosopher to whom they +happened had no other merit than that of knowing their value, and +transmitting, unclouded, to posterity, that light which had been kindled +by causes out of his power. The happiness of these casual illuminations +no man can promise to himself, because no endeavours can procure them; +and therefore whatever be our abilities or application, we must submit +to learn from others what perhaps would have lain hid for ever from +human penetration, had not some remote inquiry brought it to view; as +treasures are thrown up by the ploughman and the digger in the rude +exercise of their common occupations. The man whose genius qualifies him +for great undertakings, must at least be content to learn from books the +present state of human knowledge; that he may not ascribe to himself the +invention of arts generally known; weary his attention with experiments +of which the event has been long registered; and waste, in attempts +which have already succeeded or miscarried, that time which might have +been spent with usefulness and honour upon new undertakings. + +But, though the study of books is necessary, it is not sufficient to +constitute literary eminence. He that wishes to be counted among the +benefactors of posterity, must add by his own toil to the acquisitions +of his ancestors, and secure his memory from neglect by some valuable +improvement. This can only be effected by looking out upon the wastes of +the intellectual world, and extending the power of learning over regions +yet undisciplined and barbarous; or by surveying more exactly our +ancient dominions, and driving ignorance from the fortresses and +retreats where she skulks undetected and undisturbed. Every science has +its difficulties, which yet call for solution before we attempt new +systems of knowledge; as every country has its forests and marshes, +which it would be wise to cultivate and drain, before distant colonies +are projected as a necessary discharge of the exuberance of inhabitants. + +No man ever yet became great by imitation. Whatever hopes for the +veneration of mankind must have invention in the design or the +execution; either the effect must itself be new, or the means by which +it is produced. Either truths hitherto unknown must be discovered, or +those which are already known enforced by stronger evidence, facilitated +by clearer method, or elucidated by brighter illustrations. + +Fame cannot spread wide or endure long that is not rooted in nature, and +matured by art. That which hopes to resist the blast of malignity, and +stand firm against the attacks of time, must contain in itself some +original principle of growth. The reputation which arises from the +detail or transposition of borrowed sentiments, may spread for awhile, +like ivy on the rind of antiquity, but will be torn away by accident or +contempt, and suffered to rot unheeded on the ground. + + + +No. 155. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1751. + + _--Steriles transmisimus annos, + Haec aevi mihi prima dies, haec limina vitae_. STAT. i. 362. + + --Our barren years are past; + Be this of life the first, of sloth the last. ELPHINSTON. + +No weakness of the human mind has more frequently incurred +animadversion, than the negligence with which men overlook their own +faults, however flagrant, and the easiness with which they pardon them, +however frequently repeated. + +It seems generally believed, that as the eye cannot see itself, the mind +has no faculties by which it can contemplate its own state, and that +therefore we have not means of becoming acquainted with our real +characters; an opinion which, like innumerable other postulates, an +inquirer finds himself inclined to admit upon very little evidence, +because it affords a ready solution of many difficulties. It will +explain why the greatest abilities frequently fail to promote the +happiness of those who possess them; why those who can distinguish with +the utmost nicety the boundaries of vice and virtue, suffer them to be +confounded in their own conduct; why the active and vigilant resign +their affairs implicitly to the management of others; and why the +cautious and fearful make hourly approaches towards ruin, without one +sigh of solicitude or struggle for escape. + +When a position teems thus with commodious consequences, who can without +regret confess it to be false? Yet it is certain that declaimers have +indulged a disposition to describe the dominion of the passions as +extended beyond the limits that nature assigned. Self-love is often +rather arrogant than blind; it does not hide our faults from ourselves, +but persuades us that they escape the notice of others, and disposes us +to resent censures lest we should confess them to be just. We are +secretly conscious of defects and vices, which we hope to conceal from +the publick eye, and please ourselves with innumerable impostures, by +which, in reality, nobody is deceived. + +In proof of the dimness of our internal sight, or the general inability +of man to determine rightly concerning his own character, it is common +to urge the success of the most absurd and incredible flattery, and the +resentment always raised by advice, however soft, benevolent, and +reasonable. But flattery, if its operation be nearly examined, will be +found to owe its acceptance, not to our ignorance, but knowledge of our +failures, and to delight us rather as it consoles our wants than +displays our possessions. He that shall solicit the favour of his patron +by praising him for qualities which he can find in himself, will be +defeated by the more daring panegyrist who enriches him with +adscititious excellence. Just praise is only a debt, but flattery is a +present. The acknowledgment of those virtues on which conscience +congratulates us, is a tribute that we can at any time exact with +confidence; but the celebration of those which we only feign, or desire +without any vigorous endeavours to attain them, is received as a +confession of sovereignty over regions never conquered, as a favourable +decision of disputable claims, and is more welcome as it is more +gratuitous. + +Advice is offensive, not because it lays us open to unexpected regret, +or convicts us of any fault which had escaped our notice, but because it +shews us that we are known to others as well as to ourselves; and the +officious monitor is persecuted with hatred, not because his accusation +is false, but because he assumes that superiority which we are not +willing to grant him, and has dared to detect what we desired to +conceal. + +For this reason advice is commonly ineffectual. If those who follow the +call of their desires, without inquiry whither they are going, had +deviated ignorantly from the paths of wisdom, and were rushing upon +dangers unforeseen, they would readily listen to information that recals +them from their errours, and catch the first alarm by which destruction +or infamy is denounced. Few that wander in the wrong way mistake it for +the right, they only find it more smooth and flowery, and indulge their +own choice rather than approve it: therefore few are persuaded to quit +it by admonition or reproof, since it impresses no new conviction, nor +confers any powers of action or resistance. He that is gravely informed +how soon profusion will annihilate his fortune, hears with little +advantage what he knew before, and catches at the next occasion of +expense, because advice has no force to suppress his vanity. He that is +told how certainly intemperance will hurry him to the grave, runs with +his usual speed to a new course of luxury, because his reason is not +invigorated, nor his appetite weakened. + +The mischief of flattery is, not that it persuades any man that he is +what he is not, but that it suppresses the influence of honest ambition, +by raising an opinion that honour may be gained without the toil of +merit; and the benefit of advice arises commonly not from any new light +imparted to the mind, but from the discovery which it affords of the +publick suffrages. He that could withstand conscience is frighted at +infamy, and shame prevails when reason is defeated. + +As we all know our own faults, and know them commonly with many +aggravations which human perspicacity cannot discover, there is, +perhaps, no man, however hardened by impudence or dissipated by levity, +sheltered by hypocrisy or blasted by disgrace, who does not intend some +time to review his conduct, and to regulate the remainder of his life by +the laws of virtue. New temptations indeed attack him, new invitations +are offered by pleasure and interest, and the hour of reformation is +always delayed; every delay gives vice another opportunity of fortifying +itself by habit; and the change of manners, though sincerely intended +and rationally planned, is referred to the time when some craving +passion shall be fully gratified, or some powerful allurement cease its +importunity. + +Thus procrastination is accumulated on procrastination, and one +impediment succeeds another, till age shatters our resolution, or death +intercepts the project of amendment. Such is often the end of salutary +purposes, after they have long delighted the imagination, and appeased +that disquiet which every mind feels from known misconduct, when the +attention is not diverted by business or by pleasure. + +Nothing surely can be more unworthy of a reasonable nature, than to +continue in a state so opposite to real happiness, as that all the peace +of solitude, and felicity of meditation, must arise from resolutions of +forsaking it. Yet the world will often afford examples of men, who pass +months and years in a continual war with their own convictions, and are +daily dragged by habit, or betrayed by passion, into practices which +they closed and opened their eyes with purposes to avoid; purposes +which, though settled on conviction, the first impulse of momentary +desire totally overthrows. + +The influence of custom is indeed such, that to conquer it will require +the utmost efforts of fortitude and virtue; nor can I think any man more +worthy of veneration and renown, than those who have burst the shackles +of habitual vice. This victory, however, has different degrees of glory +as of difficulty; it is more, heroick as the objects of guilty +gratification are more familiar, and the recurrence of solicitation more +frequent. He that, from experience of the folly of ambition, resigns his +offices, may set himself free at once from temptation to squander his +life in courts, because he cannot regain his former station. He who is +enslaved by an amorous passion, may quit his tyrant in disgust, and +absence will, without the help of reason, overcome by degrees the desire +of returning. But those appetites to which every place affords their +proper object, and which require no preparatory measures or gradual +advances, are more tenaciously adhesive; the wish is so near the +enjoyment, that compliance often precedes consideration, and, before the +powers of reason can be summoned, the time for employing them is past. + +Indolence is therefore one of the vices from which those whom it once +infects are seldom reformed. Every other species of luxury operates upon +some appetite that is quickly satiated, and requires some concurrence of +art or accident which every place will not supply; but the desire of +ease acts equally at all hours, and the longer it is indulged is the +more increased. To do nothing is in every man's power; we can never want +an opportunity of omitting duties. The lapse to indolence is soft and +imperceptible, because it is only a mere cessation of activity; but the +return to diligence is difficult, because it implies a change from rest +to motion, from privation to reality: + + --_Facilis descensus Averni: + Noctes atque dies patet atri junua ditis; + Sed revocare gradum, saperasque evadere ad auras, + Hoc opus, hic labor est_.--VIR. Aen. Lib. vi. 126. + + The gates of Hell are open night and day; + Smooth the descent, and easy is the way; + But to return, and view the cheerful skies, + In this the task and mighty labour lies. DRYDEN. + +Of this vice, as of all others, every man who indulges it is conscious: +we all know our own state, if we could be induced to consider it, and it +might perhaps be useful to the conquest of all these ensnarers of the +mind, if, at certain stated days, life was reviewed. Many things +necessary are omitted, because we vainly imagine that they may be always +performed; and what cannot be done without pain will for ever be +delayed, if the time of doing it be left unsettled. No corruption is +great but by long negligence, which can scarcely prevail in a mind +regularly and frequently awakened by periodical remorse. He that thus +breaks his life into parts, will find in himself a desire to distinguish +every stage of his existence by some improvement, and delight himself +with the approach of the day of recollection, as of the time which is to +begin a new series of virtue and felicity. + + + +No. 156. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1751. + + _Nunquam aliud Natura, aliud Sapientia dicit_. Juv. Sat. xiv. 321. + + For Wisdom ever echoes Nature's voice. + +Every government, say the politicians, is perpetually degenerating +towards corruption, from which it must be rescued at certain periods by +the resuscitation of its first principles, and the re-establishment of +its original constitution. Every animal body, according to the methodick +physicians, is, by the predominance of some exuberant quality, +continually declining towards disease and death, which must be obviated +by a seasonable reduction of the peccant humour to the just equipoise +which health requires. + +In the same manner the studies of mankind, all at least which, not being +subject to rigorous demonstration, admit the influence of fancy and +caprice, are perpetually tending to errour and confusion. Of the great +principles of truth which the first speculatists discovered, the +simplicity is embarrassed by ambitious additions, or the evidence +obscured by inaccurate argumentation; and as they descend from one +succession of writers to another, like light transmitted from room to +room, they lose their strength and splendour, and fade at last in total +evanescence. + +The systems of learning therefore must be sometimes reviewed, +complications analyzed into principles, and knowledge disentangled from +opinion. It is not always possible, without a close inspection, to +separate the genuine shoots of consequential reasoning, which grow out +of some radical postulate, from the branches which art has ingrafted on +it. The accidental prescriptions of authority, when time has procured +them veneration, are often confounded with the laws of nature, and those +rules are supposed coëval with reason, of which the first rise cannot be +discovered. + +Criticism has sometimes permitted fancy to dictate the laws by which +fancy ought to be restrained, and fallacy to perplex the principles by +which fallacy is to be detected; her superintendence of others has +betrayed her to negligence of herself; and, like the ancient Scythians, +by extending her conquests over distant regions, she has left her throne +vacant to her slaves. + +Among the laws of which the desire of extending authority, or ardour of +promoting knowledge, has prompted the prescription, all which writers +have received, had not the same original right to our regard. Some are +to be considered as fundamental and indispensable, others only as useful +and convenient; some as dictated by reason and necessity, others as +enacted by despotick antiquity; some as invincibly supported by their +conformity to the order of nature and operations of the intellect; +others as formed by accident, or instituted by example, and therefore +always liable to dispute and alteration. + +That many rules have been advanced without consulting nature or reason, +we cannot but suspect, when we find it peremptorily decreed by the +ancient masters, that only three speaking personages should appear at +once upon the stage; a law, which, as the variety and intricacy of +modern plays has made it impossible to be observed, we now violate +without scruple, and, as experience proves, without inconvenience. + +The original of this precept was merely accidental. Tragedy was a +monody, or solitary song in honour of Bacchus, improved afterwards into +a dialogue by the addition of another speaker; but the ancients, +remembering that the tragedy was at first pronounced only by one, durst +not for some time venture beyond two; at last, when custom and impunity +had made them daring, they extended their liberty to the admission of +three, but restrained themselves by a critical edict from further +exorbitance. + +By what accident the number of acts was limited to five, I know not that +any author has informed us; but certainly it is not determined by any +necessity arising either from the nature of action, or propriety of +exhibition. An act is only the representation of such a part of the +business of the play as proceeds in an unbroken tenour, or without any +intermediate pause. Nothing is more evident than that of every real, and +by consequence of every dramatick action, the intervals may be more or +fewer than five; and indeed the rule is upon the English stage every day +broken in effect, without any other mischief than that which arises from +an absurd endeavour to observe it in appearance. Whenever the scene is +shifted the act ceases, since some time is necessarily supposed to +elapse while the personages of the drama change their place. + +With no greater right to our obedience have the criticks confined the +dramatick action to a certain number of hours. Probability requires that +the time of action should approach somewhat nearly to that of +exhibition, and those plays will always be thought most happily +conducted which crowd the greatest, variety into the least space. But +since it will frequently happen that some delusion must be admitted, I +know not where the limits of imagination can be fixed. It is rarely +observed that minds, not prepossessed by mechanical criticism, feel any +offence from the extension of the intervals between the acts; nor can I +conceive it absurd or impossible, that he who can multiply three hours +into twelve or twenty-four, might imagine with equal ease a greater +number. + +I know not whether he that professes to regard no other laws than those +of nature, will not be inclined to receive tragi-comedy to his +protection, whom, however generally condemned, her own laurels have +hitherto shaded from the fulminations of criticism. For what is there in +the mingled drama which impartial reason can condemn? The connexion of +important with trivial incidents, since it is not only common but +perpetual in the world, may surely be allowed upon the stage, which +pretends only to be the mirror of life. The impropriety of suppressing +passions before we have raised them to the intended agitation, and of +diverting the expectation from an event which we keep suspended only to +raise it, may be speciously urged. But will not experience shew this +objection to be rather subtle than just? Is it not certain that the +tragick and comick affections have been moved alternately with equal +force, and that no plays have oftener filled the eye with tears, and the +breast with palpitation, than those which are variegated with interludes +of mirth? + +I do not however think it safe to judge of works of genius merely by the +event. The resistless vicissitudes of the heart, this alternate +prevalence of merriment and solemnity, may sometimes be more properly +ascribed to the vigour of the writer than the justness of the design: +and, instead of vindicating tragi-comedy by the success of Shakspeare, +we ought, perhaps, to pay new honours to that transcendent and unbounded +genius that could preside over the passions in sport; who, to actuate +the affections, needed not the slow gradation of common means, but could +fill the heart with instantaneous jollity or sorrow, and vary our +disposition as he changed his scenes. Perhaps the effects even of +Shakspeare's poetry might have been yet greater, had he not counteracted +himself; and we might have been more interested in the distresses of his +heroes, had we not been so frequently diverted by the jokes of his +buffoons. + +There are other rules more fixed and obligatory. It is necessary that of +every play the chief action should be single; for since a play +represents some transaction, through its regular maturation to its final +event, two actions equally important must evidently constitute two +plays. + +As the design of tragedy is to instruct by moving the passions, it must +always have a hero, a personage apparently and incontestably superior to +the rest, upon whom the attention may be fixed, and the anxiety +suspended. For though, of two persons opposing each other with equal +abilities and equal virtue, the auditor will inevitably, in time, choose +his favourite, yet as that choice must be without any cogency of +conviction, the hopes or fears which it raises will be faint and +languid. Of two heroes acting in confederacy against a common enemy, the +virtues or dangers will give little emotion, because each claims our +concern with the same right, and the heart lies at rest between equal +motives. + +It ought to be the first endeavour of a writer to distinguish nature +from custom; or that which is established because it is right, from that +which is right only because it is established; that he may neither +violate essential principles by a desire of novelty, nor debar himself +from the attainment of beauties within his view, by a needless fear of +breaking rules which no literary dictator had authority to enact. + + + +No. 157. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1751. + + [Greek:--Oi aidos + Ginetai ae t' andras mega sinetai aed' oninaesi.] + HOM. Il. [Greek: O.] 44. + + Shame greatly hurts or greatly helps mankind. ELPHINSTON. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +Though one of your correspondents has presumed to mention with some +contempt that presence of attention and easiness of address, which the +polite have long agreed to celebrate and esteem, yet I cannot be +persuaded to think them unworthy of regard or cultivation; but am +inclined to believe that, as we seldom value rightly what we have never +known the misery of wanting, his judgment has been vitiated by his +happiness; and that a natural exuberance of assurance has hindered him +from discovering its excellence and use. + +This felicity, whether bestowed by constitution, or obtained by early +habitudes, I can scarcely contemplate without envy. I was bred under a +man of learning in the country, who inculcated nothing but the dignity +of knowledge, and the happiness of virtue. By frequency of admonition, +and confidence of assertion, he prevailed upon me to believe, that the +splendour of literature would always attract reverence, if not darkened +by corruption. I therefore pursued my studies with incessant industry, +and avoided every thing which I had been taught to consider either as +vicious or tending to vice, because I regarded guilt and reproach as +inseparably united, and thought a tainted reputation the greatest +calamity. + +At the university, I found no reason for changing my opinion; for though +many among my fellow-students took the opportunity of a more remiss +discipline to gratify their passions; yet virtue preserved her natural +superiority, and those who ventured to neglect, were not suffered to +insult her. The ambition of petty accomplishments found its way into the +receptacles of learning, but was observed to seize commonly on those who +either neglected the sciences or could not attain them; and I was +therefore confirmed in the doctrines of my old master, and thought +nothing worthy of my care but the means of gaining or imparting +knowledge. + +This purity of manners, and intenseness of application, soon extended my +renown, and I was applauded by those, whose opinion I then thought +unlikely to deceive me, as a young man that gave uncommon hopes of +future eminence. My performances in time reached my native province, and +my relations congratulated themselves upon the new honours that were +added to their family. + +I returned home covered with academical laurels, and fraught with +criticism and philosophy. The wit and the scholar excited curiosity, and +my acquaintance was solicited by innumerable invitations. To please will +always be the wish of benevolence, to be admired must be the constant +aim of ambition; and I therefore considered myself as about to receive +the reward of my honest labours, and to find the efficacy of learning +and of virtue. + +The third day after my arrival I dined at the house of a gentleman who +had summoned a multitude of his friends to the annual celebration of his +wedding-day. I set forward with great exultation, and thought myself +happy that I had an opportunity of displaying my knowledge to so +numerous an assembly. I felt no sense of my own insufficiency, till, +going up stairs to the dining-room, I heard the mingled roar of +obstreperous merriment. I was, however, disgusted rather than terrified, +and went forward without dejection. The whole company rose at my +entrance; but when I saw so many eyes fixed at once upon me, I was +blasted with a sudden imbecility, I was quelled by some nameless power +which I found impossible to be resisted. My sight was dazzled, my cheeks +glowed, my perceptions were confounded; I was harassed by the multitude +of eager salutations, and returned the common civilities with hesitation +and impropriety; the sense of my own blunders increased my confusion, +and, before the exchange of ceremonies allowed me to sit down, I was +ready to sink under the oppression of surprise; my voice grew weak, and +my knees trembled. + +The assembly then resumed their places, and I sat with my eyes fixed +upon the ground. To the questions of curiosity, or the appeals of +complaisance, I could seldom answer but with negative monosyllables, or +professions of ignorance; for the subjects on which they conversed, were +such as are seldom discussed in books, and were therefore out of my +range of knowledge. At length an old clergyman, who rightly conjectured +the reason of my conciseness, relieved me by some questions about the +present state of natural knowledge, and engaged me, by an appearance of +doubt and opposition, in the explication and defence of the Newtonian +philosophy. + +The consciousness of my own abilities roused me from depression, and +long familiarity with my subject enabled me to discourse with ease and +volubility; but, however I might please myself, I found very little +added by my demonstrations to the satisfaction of the company; and my +antagonist, who knew the laws of conversation too well to detain their +attention long upon an unpleasing topick, after he had commended my +acuteness and comprehension, dismissed the controversy, and resigned me +to my former insignificance and perplexity. + +After dinner, I received from the ladies, who had heard that I was a +wit, an invitation to the tea-table. I congratulated myself upon an +opportunity to escape from the company, whose gaiety began to be +tumultuous, and among whom several hints had been dropped of the +uselessness of universities, the folly of book-learning, and the +awkwardness of scholars. To the ladies, therefore, I flew, as to a +refuge from clamour, insult, and rusticity; but found my heart sink as I +approached their apartment, and was again disconcerted by the ceremonies +of entrance, and confounded by the necessity of encountering so many +eyes at once. + +When I sat down I considered that, something pretty was always said to +ladies, and resolved to recover my credit by some elegant observation or +graceful compliment. I applied myself to the recollection of all that I +had read or heard in praise of beauty, and endeavoured to accommodate +some classical compliment to the present occasion. I sunk into profound +meditation, revolved the characters of the heroines of old, considered +whatever the poets have sung in their praise, and, after having borrowed +and invented, chosen and rejected a thousand sentiments, which, if I had +uttered them, would not have been understood, I was awakened from my +dream of learned gallantry, by the servant who distributed the tea. + +There are not many situations more incessantly uneasy than that in which +the man is placed who is watching an opportunity to speak, without +courage to take it when it is offered, and who, though he resolves to +give a specimen of his abilities, always finds some reason or other for +delaying it to the next minute. I was ashamed of silence, yet could find +nothing to say of elegance or importance equal to my wishes. The ladies, +afraid of my learning, thought themselves not qualified to propose any +subject of prattle to a man so famous for dispute, and there was nothing +on either side but impatience and vexation. + +In this conflict of shame, as I was re-assembling my scattered +sentiments, and, resolving to force my imagination to some sprightly +sally, had just found a very happy compliment, by too much attention to +my own meditations, I suffered the saucer to drop from my hand. The cup +was broken, the lap-dog was scalded, a brocaded petticoat was stained, +and the whole assembly was thrown into disorder. I now considered all +hopes of reputation at an end, and while they were consoling and +assisting one another, stole away in silence. + +The misadventures of this unhappy day are not yet at an end; I am afraid +of meeting the meanest of them that triumphed over me in this state of +stupidity and contempt, and feel the same terrours encroaching upon my +heart at the sight of those who have once impressed them. Shame, above +any other passion, propagates itself. Before those who have seen me +confused, I can never appear without new confusion, and the remembrance +of the weakness which I formerly discovered, hinders me from acting or +speaking with my natural force. + +But is this misery, Mr. Rambler, never to cease; have I spent my life in +study only to become the sport of the ignorant, and debarred myself from +all the common enjoyments of youth to collect ideas which must sleep in +silence, and form opinions which I must not divulge? Inform me, dear +Sir, by what means I may rescue my faculties from these shackles of +cowardice, how I may rise to a level with my fellow-beings, recall +myself from this langour of involuntary subjection to the free exertion +of my intellects, and add to the power of reasoning the liberty of +speech. + +I am, Sir, &c. + +VERECUNDULUS. + + + +No. 158. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1751. + + Grammatici certunt, et adhuc sub judice lis est. HOR. Ar. Poet. 78. + + --Criticks yet contend, + And of their vain disputings find no end. FRANCIS. + +Criticism, though dignified from the earliest ages by the labours of men +eminent for knowledge and sagacity, and, since the revival of polite +literature, the favourite study of European scholars, has not yet +attained the certainty and stability of science. The rules hitherto +received are seldom drawn from any settled principle or self-evident +postulate, or adapted to the natural and invariable constitution of +things; but will be found, upon examination, the arbitrary edicts of +legislators, authorised only by themselves, who, out of various means by +which the same end may be attained, selected such as happened to occur +to their own reflection, and then, by a law which idleness and timidity +were too willing to obey, prohibited new experiments of wit, restrained +fancy from the indulgence of her innate inclination to hazard and +adventure, and condemned all future flights of genius to pursue the path +of the Meonian eagle. + +This authority may be more justly opposed, as it is apparently derived +from them whom they endeavour to control; for we owe few of the rules of +writing to the acuteness of criticks, who have generally no other merit +than that, having read the works of great authors with attention, they +have observed the arrangement of their matter, or the graces of their +expression, and then expected honour and reverence for precepts which +they never could have invented; so that practice has introduced rules, +rather than rules have directed practice. + +For this reason the laws of every species of writing have been settled +by the ideas of him who first raised it to reputation, without inquiry +whether his performances were not yet susceptible of improvement. The +excellencies and faults of celebrated writers have been equally +recommended to posterity; and, so far has blind reverence prevailed, +that even the number of their books has been thought worthy of +imitation. + +The imagination of the first authors of lyrick poetry was vehement and +rapid, and their knowledge various and extensive. Living in an age when +science had been little cultivated, and when the minds of their +auditors, not being accustomed to accurate inspection, were easily +dazzled by glaring ideas, they applied themselves to instruct, rather by +short sentences and striking thoughts, than by regular argumentation; +and, finding attention more successfully excited by sudden sallies and +unexpected exclamations, than by the more artful and placid beauties of +methodical deduction, they loosed their genius to its own course, passed +from one sentiment to another without expressing the intermediate ideas, +and roved at large over the ideal world with such lightness and agility, +that their footsteps are scarcely to be traced. + +From this accidental peculiarity of the ancient writers the criticks +deduce the rules of lyrick poetry, which they have set free from all the +laws by which other compositions are confined, and allow to neglect the +niceties of transition, to start into remote digressions, and to wander +without restraint from one scene of imagery to another. + +A writer of later times has, by the vivacity of his essays, reconciled +mankind to the same licentiousness in short dissertations; and he +therefore who wants skill to form a plan, or diligence to pursue it, +needs only entitle his performance an essay, to acquire the right of +heaping together the collections of half his life without order, +coherence, or propriety. + +In writing, as in life, faults are endured without disgust when they are +associated with transcendent merit, and may be sometimes recommended to +weak judgments by the lustre which they obtain from their union with +excellence; but it is the business of those who presume to superintend +the taste or morals of mankind, to separate delusive combinations and +distinguish that which may be praised from that which can only be +excused. As vices never promote happiness, though, when overpowered by +more active and more numerous virtues, they cannot totally destroy it; +so confusion and irregularity produce no beauty, though they cannot +always obstruct the brightness of genius and learning. To proceed from +one truth to another, and connect distant propositions by regular +consequences, is the great prerogative of man. Independent and +unconnected sentiments flashing upon the mind in quick succession, may, +for a time, delight by their novelty, but they differ from systematical +reasoning, as single notes from harmony, as glances of lightning from +the radiance of the sun. + +When rules are thus drawn, rather from precedents than reason, there is +danger not only from the faults of an author, but from the errours of +those who criticise his works; since they may often mislead their pupils +by false representations, as the Ciceronians of the sixteenth century +were betrayed into barbarisms by corrupt copies of their darling writer. + +It is established at present, that the proemial lines of a poem, in +which the general subject is proposed, must be void of glitter and +embellishment. "The first lines of Paradise Lost," says Addison, "are +perhaps as plain, simple, and unadorned, as any of the whole poem, in +which particular the author has conformed himself to the example of +Homer, and the precept of Horace." + +This observation seems to have been made by an implicit adoption of the +common opinion, without consideration either of the precept or example. +Had Horace been consulted, he would have been found to direct only what +should be comprised in the proposition, not how it should be expressed; +and to have commended Homer in opposition to a meaner poet, not for the +gradual elevation of his diction, but the judicious expansion of his +plan; for displaying unpromised events, not for producing unexpected +elegancies. + + --Specivsa dehinc miracula prouiat; + Antiphaten, Scyllamque, et cum Cyclope Charybdim. Hon. Ar. Poet. 146. + + But from a cloud of smoke he breaks to light, + And pours his specious miracles to sight; + Antiphates his hideous feast devours, + Charybdis barks, and Polyphemus roars. FRANCIS. + +If the exordial verses of Homer be compared with the rest of the poem, +they will not appear remarkable for plainness or simplicity, but rather +eminently adorned and illuminated: + + [Greek: + Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, polutropon, os mala polla + Plagchthae, epei Troiaes ieron ptoliethron eperse; + Pollon d anthropon iden astea, kai noon egno; + Polla d og en pontps pathen algea on kata thumon, + Arnumenos aen te psuchaen kai noston etairon; + All oud os etarous errusato, iemenos per; + Auton gar spheteraesin atasthaliaesin olonto. + Naepioi, oi kata bous uperionos Aeelioio + Aesthion; autar o toisin apheileto vostimon aemao; + Ton amothen ge, thea, thugater Dios, eipe kai eamin.] + + The man, for wisdom's various arts renown'd, + Long exercised in woes, O muse! resound. + Who, when his arms had wrought the destin'd fall + Of sacred Troy, and raz'd her heav'n-built wall, + Wandering from clime to clime, observant stray'd, + The manners noted, and their states survey'd. + On stormy seas unnumber'd toils he bore, + Safe with his friends to gain his natal shore: + Vain toils! their impious folly dar'd to prey + On herds devoted to the god of day; + The god vindictive doom'd them never more + (Ah! men unbless'd) to touch that natal shore. + O snatch some portion of these acts from fate, + Celestial muse! and to our world relate. POPE. + +The first verses of the Iliad are in like manner particularly splendid, +and the proposition of the Aeneid closes with dignity and magnificence +not often to be found even in the poetry of Virgil. + +The intent of the introduction is to raise expectation, and suspend it; +something therefore must be discovered, and something concealed; and the +poet, while the fertility of his invention is yet unknown, may properly +recommend himself by the grace of his language. + +He that reveals too much, or promises too little; he that never +irritates the intellectual appetite, or that immediately satiates it, +equally defeats his own purpose. It is necessary to the pleasure of the +reader, that the events should not be anticipated, and how then can his +attention be invited, but by grandeur of expression? + + + +No. 159. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1751. + + _Sunt verba et voces, quibus hunc lenire dolorem + Possis, et magnuum morbi deponere partem_. HOR. Ep. Lib. i. 34. + + The power of words, and soothing sounds, appease + The raging pain, and lessen the disease. FRANCIS. + +The imbecility with which Verecundulus complains that the presence of a +numerous assembly freezes his faculties, is particularly incident to the +studious part of mankind, whose education necessarily secludes them in +their earlier years from mingled converse, till, at their dismission +from schools and academies, they plunge at once into the tumult of the +world, and, coming forth from the gloom of solitude, are overpowered by +the blaze of publick life. + +It is, perhaps, kindly provided by nature, that as the feathers and +strength of a bird grow together, and her wings are not completed till +she is able to fly, so some proportion should be preserved in the human +kind between judgment and courage; the precipitation of inexperience is +therefore restrained by shame, and we remain shackled by timidity, till +we have learned to speak and act with propriety. I believe few can +review the days of their youth without recollecting temptations, which +shame, rather than virtue, enabled them to resist; and opinions which, +however erroneous in their principles, and dangerous in their +consequences, they have panted to advance at the hazard of contempt and +hatred, when they found themselves irresistibly depressed by a languid +anxiety, which seized them at the moment of utterance, and still +gathered strength from their endeavours to resist it. + +It generally happens that assurance keeps an even pace with ability, and +the fear of miscarriage, which hinders Our first attempts, is gradually +dissipated as our skill advances towards certainty of success. That +bashfulness, therefore, which prevents disgrace, that short and +temporary shame which secures us from the danger of lasting reproach, +cannot be properly counted among our misfortunes. + +Bashfulness, however it may incommode for a moment, scarcely ever +produces evils of long continuance; it may flush the cheek, flutter in +the heart, deject the eyes, and enchain the tongue, but its mischiefs +soon pass off without remembrance. It may sometimes exclude pleasure, +but seldom opens any avenue to sorrow or remorse. It is observed +somewhere that _few have repented of having forborne to speak_. + +To excite opposition, and inflame malevolence, is the unhappy privilege +of courage made arrogant by consciousness of strength. No man finds in +himself any inclination to attack or oppose him who confesses his +superiority by blushing in his presence. Qualities exerted with apparent +fearfulness, receive applause from every voice, and support from every +hand. Diffidence may check resolution and obstruct performance, but +compensates its embarrassments by more important advantages; it +conciliates the proud, and softens the severe, averts envy from +excellence, and censure from miscarriage. + +It may indeed happen that knowledge and virtue remain too long congealed +by this frigorifick power, as the principles of vegetation are sometimes +obstructed by lingering frosts. He that enters late into a public +station, though with all the abilities requisite to the discharge of his +duty, will find his powers at first impeded by a timidity which he +himself knows to be vicious, and must struggle long against dejection +and reluctance, before he obtains the full command of his own attention, +and adds the gracefulness of ease to the dignity of merit. + +For this disease of the mind I know not whether any remedies of much +efficacy can be found. To advise a man unaccustomed to the eyes of +multitudes to mount a tribunal without perturbation, to tell him whose +life was passed in the shades of contemplation, that he must not be +disconcerted or perplexed in receiving and returning the compliments of +a splendid assembly, is to advise an inhabitant of Brasil or Sumatra not +to shiver at an English winter, or him who has always lived upon a plain +to look from a precipice without emotion. It is to suppose custom +instantaneously controllable by reason, and to endeavour to communicate, +by precept, that which only time and habit can bestow. + +He that hopes by philosophy and contemplation alone to fortify himself +against that awe which all, at their first appearance on the stage of +life, must feel from the spectators, will, at the hour of need, be +mocked by his resolution; and I doubt whether the preservatives which +Plato relates Alcibiades to have received from Socrates, when he was +about to speak in publick, proved sufficient to secure him from the +powerful fascination. + +Yet, as the effects of time may by art and industry be accelerated or +retarded, it cannot be improper to consider how this troublesome +instinct may be opposed when it exceeds its just proportion, and instead +of repressing petulance and temerity, silences eloquence, and +debilitates force; since, though it cannot be hoped that anxiety should +be immediately dissipated, it may be at least somewhat abated; and the +passions will operate with less violence, when reason rises against +them, than while she either slumbers in neutrality, or, mistaking her +interest, lends them her assistance. + +No cause more frequently produces bashfulness than too high an opinion +of our own importance. He that imagines an assembly filled with his +merit, panting with expectation, and hushed with attention, easily +terrifies himself with the dread of disappointing them, and strains his +imagination in pursuit of something that may vindicate the veracity of +fame, and shew that his reputation was not gained by chance. He +considers that what he shall say or do will never be forgotten; that +renown or infamy is suspended upon every syllable, and that nothing +ought to fall from him which will not bear the test of time. Under such +solicitude, who can wonder that the mind is overwhelmed, and, by +struggling with attempts above her strength, quickly sinks into +languishment and despondency? + +The most useful medicines are often unpleasing to the taste. Those who +are oppressed by their own reputation, will, perhaps, not be comforted +by hearing that their cares are unnecessary. But the truth is, that no +man is much regarded by the rest of the world. He that considers how +little he dwells upon the condition of others, will learn how little the +attention of others is attracted by himself. While we see multitudes +passing before us, of whom, perhaps, not one appears to deserve our +notice, or excite our sympathy, we should remember, that we likewise are +lost in the same throng; that the eye which happens to glance upon us is +turned in a moment on him that follows us, and that the utmost which we +can reasonably hope or fear is, to fill a vacant hour with prattle, and +be forgotten. + + + +No. 160. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1751 + + --Inter se convenit ursis. JUV. Sat. xv. 164. + + Beasts of each kind their fellows spare; + Bear lives in amity with bear. + +"The world," says Locke, "has people of all sorts." As in the general +hurry produced by the superfluities of some, and necessities of others, +no man needs to stand still for want of employment, so in the +innumerable gradations of ability, and endless varieties of study and +inclination, no employment can be vacant for want of a man qualified to +discharge it. + +Such is probably the natural state of the universe; but it is so much +deformed by interest and passion, that the benefit of this adaptation of +men to things is not always perceived. The folly or indigence of those +who set their services to sale, inclines them to boast of qualifications +which they do not possess, and attempt business which they do not +understand; and they who have the power of assigning to others the task +of life, are seldom honest or seldom happy in their nomination. Patrons +are corrupted by avarice, cheated by credulity, or overpowered by +resistless solicitation. They are sometimes too strongly influenced by +honest prejudices of friendship, or the prevalence of virtuous +compassion. For, whatever cool reason may direct, it is not easy for a +man of tender and scrupulous goodness to overlook the immediate effect +of his own actions, by turning his eyes upon remoter consequences, and +to do that which must give present pain, for the sake of obviating evil +yet unfelt, or securing advantage in time to come. What is distant is in +itself obscure, and, when we have no wish to see it, easily escapes our +notice, or takes such a form as desire or imagination bestows upon it. + +Every man might, for the same reason, in the multitudes that swarm about +him, find some kindred mind with which he could unite in confidence and +friendship; yet we see many straggling single about the world, unhappy +for want of an associate, and pining with the necessity of confining +their sentiments to their own bosoms. + +This inconvenience arises, in like manner, from struggles of the will +against the understanding. It is not often difficult to find a suitable +companion, if every man would be content with such as he is qualified to +please. But if vanity tempts him to forsake his rank, and post himself +among those with whom no common interest or mutual pleasure can ever +unite him, he must always live in a state of unsocial separation, +without tenderness and without trust. + +There are many natures which can never approach within a certain +distance, and which, when any irregular motive impels them towards +contact, seem to start back from each other by some invincible +repulsion. There are others which immediately cohere whenever they come +into the reach of mutual attraction, and with very little formality of +preparation mingle intimately as soon as they meet. Every man, whom +either business or curiosity has thrown at large into the world, will +recollect many instances of fondness and dislike, which have forced +themselves upon him without the intervention of his judgment; of +dispositions to court some and avoid others, when he could assign no +reason for the preference, or none adequate to the violence of his +passions; of influence that acted instantaneously upon his mind, and +which no arguments or persuasions could ever overcome. + +Among those with whom time and intercourse have made us familiar, we +feel our affections divided in different proportions without much regard +to moral or intellectual merit. Every man knows some whom he cannot +induce himself to trust, though he has no reason to suspect that they +would betray him; those to whom he cannot complain, though he never +observed them to want compassion; those in whose presence he never can +be gay, though excited by invitations to mirth and freedom; and those +from whom he cannot be content to receive instruction, though they never +insulted his ignorance by contempt or ostentation. + +That much regard is to be had to those instincts of kindness and +dislike, or that reason should blindly follow them, I am far from +intending to inculcate: it is very certain, that by indulgence we may +give them strength which they have not from nature, and almost every +example of ingratitude and treachery proves, that by obeying them we may +commit our happiness to those who are very unworthy of so great a trust. +But it may deserve to be remarked, that since few contend much with +their inclinations, it is generally vain to solicit the good-will of +those whom we perceive thus involuntarily alienated from us; neither +knowledge nor virtue will reconcile antipathy, and though officiousness +may be for a time admitted, and diligence applauded, they will at last +be dismissed with coldness, or discouraged by neglect. + +Some have indeed an occult power of stealing upon the affections, of +exciting universal benevolence, and disposing every heart to fondness +and friendship. But this is a felicity granted only to the favourites of +nature. The greater part of mankind find a different reception from +different dispositions; they sometimes obtain unexpected caresses from +those whom they never flattered with uncommon regard, and sometimes +exhaust all their arts of pleasing without effect. To these it is +necessary to look round, and attempt every breast in which they find +virtue sufficient for the foundation of friendship; to enter into the +crowd, and try whom chance will offer to their notice, till they fix on +some temper congenial to their own, as the magnet rolled in the dust +collects the fragments of its kindred metal from a thousand particles of +other substances. + +Every man must have remarked the facility with which the kindness of +others is sometimes gained by those to whom he never could have imparted +his own. We are by our occupations, education, and habits of life, +divided almost into different species, which regard one another, for the +most part, with scorn and malignity. Each of these classes of the human +race has desires, fears, and conversation, vexations and merriment +peculiar to itself; cares which another cannot feel; pleasures which he +cannot partake; and modes of expressing every sensation which he cannot +understand. That frolick which shakes one man with laughter, will +convulse another with indignation; the strain of jocularity which in one +place obtains treats and patronage, would in another be heard with +indifference, and in a third with abhorrence. + +To raise esteem we must benefit others, to procure love we must please +them. Aristotle observes, that old men do not readily form friendships, +because they are not easily susceptible of pleasure. He that can +contribute to the hilarity of the vacant hour, or partake with equal +gust the favourite amusement; he whose mind is employed on the same +objects, and who therefore never harasses the understanding with +unaccustomed ideas, will be welcomed with ardour, and left with regret, +unless he destroys those recommendations by faults with which peace and +security cannot consist. + +It were happy, if, in forming friendships, virtue could concur with +pleasure; but the greatest part of human gratifications approach so +nearly to vice, that few who make the delight of others their rule of +conduct, can avoid disingenuous compliances; yet certainly he that +suffers himself to be driven or allured from virtue, mistakes his own +interest, since he gains succour by means, for which his friend, if ever +he becomes wise, must scorn him, and for which at last he must scorn +himself. + + + +No. 161. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1751. + + [Greek: Oiae gar phullon geneae, toiaede kai Andron.] + HOM. Il. [Greek: T.] + + Frail as the leaves that quiver on the sprays, + Like them man flourishes, like them decays. + +MR. RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +You have formerly observed that curiosity often terminates in barren +knowledge, and that the mind is prompted to study and inquiry rather by +the uneasiness of ignorance, than the hope of profit. Nothing can be of +less importance to any present interest, than the fortune of those who +have been long lost in the grave, and from whom nothing now can be hoped +or feared. Yet, to rouse the zeal of a true antiquary, little more is +necessary than to mention a name which mankind have conspired to forget; +he will make his way to remote scenes of action through obscurity and +contradiction, as Tully sought amidst bushes and brambles the tomb of +Archimedes. + +It is not easy to discover how it concerns him that gathers the produce, +or receives the rent of an estate, to know through what families the +land has passed, who is registered in the Conqueror's survey as its +possessor, how often it has been forfeited by treason, or how often sold +by prodigality. The power or wealth of the present inhabitants of a +country cannot be much increased by an inquiry after the names of those +barbarians, who destroyed one another twenty centuries ago, in contests +for the shelter of woods, or convenience of pasturage. Yet we see that +no man can be at rest in the enjoyment of a new purchase till he has +learned the history of his grounds from the ancient inhabitants of the +parish, and that no nation omits to record the actions of their +ancestors, however bloody, savage, and rapacious. + +The same disposition, as different opportunities call it forth, +discovers itself in great or little things. I have always thought it +unworthy of a wise man to slumber in total inactivity, only because he +happens to have no employment equal to his ambition or genius; it is +therefore my custom to apply my attention to the objects before me, and +as I cannot think any place wholly unworthy of notice that affords a +habitation to a man of letters, I have collected the history and +antiquities of the several garrets in which I have resided. + + Quantulacunque estis, vos ego magna voco. + + How small to others, but how great to me! + +Many of these narratives my industry has been able to extend to a +considerable length; but the woman with whom I now lodge has lived only +eighteen months in the house, and can give no account of its ancient +revolutions; the plaisterer having, at her entrance, obliterated, by his +white-wash, all the smoky memorials which former tenants had left upon +the ceiling, and perhaps drawn the veil of oblivion over politicians, +philosophers, and poets. + +When I first, cheapened my lodgings, the landlady told me, that she +hoped I was not an author, for the lodgers on the first floor had +stipulated that the upper rooms should not be occupied by a noisy trade. +I very readily promised to give no disturbance to her family, and soon +despatched a bargain on the usual terms. + +I had not slept many nights in my new apartment before I began to +inquire after my predecessors, and found my landlady, whose imagination +is filled chiefly with her own affairs, very ready to give me +information. + +Curiosity, like all other desires, produces pain as wel as pleasure. +Before she began her narrative, I had heated my head with expectations +of adventures and discoveries, of elegance in disguise, and learning in +distress; and was somewhat mortified when I heard that the first tenant +was a tailor, of whom nothing was remembered but that he complained of +his room for want of light; and, after having lodged in it a month, and +paid only a week's rent, pawned a piece of cloth which he was trusted, +to cut out, and was forced to make a precipitate retreat from this +quarter of the town. + +The next was a young woman newly arrived from the country, who lived for +five weeks with great regularity, and became by frequent treats very +much the favourite of the family, but at last received visits so +frequently from a cousin in Cheapside, that she brought the reputation +of the house into danger, and was therefore dismissed with good advice. + +The room then stood empty for a fortnight; my landlady began to think +that she had judged hardly, and often wished for such another lodger. At +last, an elderly man of a grave aspect read the bill, and bargained for +the room at the very first price that was asked. He lived in close +retirement, seldom went out till evening, and then returned early, +sometimes cheerful, and at other times dejected. It was remarkable, that +whatever he purchased, he never had small money in his pocket; and, +though cool and temperate on other occasions, was always vehement and +stormy, till he received his change. He paid his rent with great +exactness, and seldom failed once a week to requite my landlady's +civility with a supper. At last, such is the fate of human felicity, the +house was alarmed at midnight by the constable, who demanded to search +the garrets. My landlady assuring him that he had mistaken the door, +conducted him up stairs, where he found the tools of a coiner; but the +tenant had crawled along the roof to an empty house, and escaped; much +to the joy of my landlady, who declares him a very honest man, and +wonders why any body should be hanged for making money when such numbers +are in want of it. She however confesses that she shall, for the future, +always question the character of those who take her garret without +beating down the price. + +The bill was then placed again in the window, and the poor woman was +teased for seven weeks by innumerable passengers, who obliged her to +climb with them every hour up five stories, and then disliked the +prospect, hated the noise of a publick street, thought the stairs +narrow, objected to a low ceiling, required the walls to be hung with +fresher paper, asked questions about the neighbourhood, could not think +of living so far from their acquaintance, wished the windows had looked +to the south rather than the west, told how the door and chimney might +have been better disposed, bid her half the price that she asked, or +promised to give her earnest the next day, and came no more. + +At last, a short meagre man, in a tarnished waistcoat, desired to see +the garret, and when he had stipulated for two long shelves, and a +larger table, hired it at a low rate. When the affair was completed, he +looked round him with great satisfaction, and repeated some words which +the woman did not understand. In two days he brought a great box of +books, took possession of his room, and lived very inoffensively, except +that he frequently disturbed the inhabitants of the next floor by +unseasonable noises. He was generally in bed at noon, but from evening +to midnight he sometimes talked aloud with great vehemence, sometimes +stamped as in rage, sometimes threw down his poker, then clattered his +chairs, then sat down in deep thought, and again burst out into loud +vociferations; sometimes he would sigh as oppressed with misery, and +sometimes shaked with convulsive laughter. When he encountered any of +the family, he gave way or bowed, but rarely spoke, except that as he +went up stairs he often repeated, + + [Greek:--Hos hupertata domata naiei]. + + This habitant th' aerial regions boast; + +hard words, to which his neighbours listened so often, that they learned +them without understanding them. What was his employment she did not +venture to ask him, but at last heard a printer's boy inquire for the +author. + +My landlady was very often advised to beware of this strange man, who, +though he was quiet for the present, might perhaps become outrageous in +the hot months; but, as she was punctually paid, she could not find any +sufficient reason for dismissing him, till one night he convinced her, +by setting fire to his curtains, that it was not safe to have an author +for her inmate. + +She had then for six weeks a succession of tenants, who left the house +on Saturday, and, instead of paying their rent, stormed at their +landlady. At last she took in two sisters, one of whom had spent her +little fortune in procuring remedies for a lingering disease, and was +now supported and attended by the other: she climbed with difficulty to +the apartment, where she languished eight weeks without impatience, or +lamentation, except for the expense and fatigue which her sister +suffered, and then calmly and contentedly expired. The sister followed +her to the grave, paid the few debts which they had contracted, wiped +away the tears of useless sorrow, and, returning to the business of +common life, resigned to me the vacant habitation. + +Such, Mr. Rambler, are the changes which have happened in the narrow +space where my present fortune has fixed my residence. So true it is +that amusement and instruction are always at hand for those who have +skill and willingness to find them; and, so just is the observation of +Juvenal, that a single house will shew whatever is done or suffered in +the world. + +I am, Sir, &c. + + + +No. 162. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1751. + + Orbus es, et locuples, et Bruto consule natus, + Esse tibi veras credis amicitias? + Sunt veræ: sed quas juvenis, quas pauper habebas: + Qui novus est, mortem diligit ille tuam. MART. Lib. xi. Ep. 44. + + What! old, and rich, and childless too, + And yet believe your friends are true? + Truth might perhaps to those belong, + To those who lov'd you poor and young; + But, trust me, for the new you have, + They'll love you dearly--in your grave. F. LEWIS. + +One of the complaints uttered by Milton's Samson, in the anguish of +blindness, is, that he shall pass his life under the direction of +others; that he cannot regulate his conduct by his own knowledge, but +must lie at the mercy of those who undertake to guide him. + +There is no state more contrary to the dignity of wisdom than perpetual +and unlimited dependance, in which the understanding lies useless, and +every motion is received from external impulse. Reason is the great +distinction of human nature, the faculty by which we approach to some +degree of association with celestial intelligences; but as the +excellence of every power appears only in its operations, not to have +reason, and to have it useless and unemployed, is nearly the same. + +Such is the weakness of man, that the essence of things is seldom so +much regarded as external and accidental appendages. A small variation +of trifling circumstances, a slight change of form by an artificial +dress, or a casual difference of appearance, by a new light and +situation, will conciliate affection or excite abhorrence, and determine +us to pursue or to avoid. Every man considers a necessity of compliance +with any will but his own, as the lowest state of ignominy and meanness; +few are so far lost in cowardice or negligence, as not to rouse at the +first insult of tyranny, and exert all their force against him who +usurps their property, or invades any privilege of speech or action. Yet +we see often those who never wanted spirit to repel encroachment or +oppose violence, at last, by a gradual relaxation of vigilance, +delivering up, without capitulation, the fortress which they defended +against assault, and laying down unbidden the weapons which they grasp +the harder for every attempt to wrest them from their hands. Men eminent +for spirit and wisdom often resign themselves to voluntary pupilage, and +suffer their lives to be modelled by officious ignorance, and their +choice to be regulated by presumptuous stupidity. + +This unresisting acquiescence in the determination of others, may be the +consequence of application to some study remote from the beaten track of +life, some employment which does not allow leisure for sufficient +inspection of those petty affairs, by which nature has decreed a great +part of our duration to be filled. To a mind thus withdrawn from common +objects, it is more eligible to repose on the prudence of another, than +to be exposed every moment to slight interruptions. The submission which +such confidence requires, is paid without pain, because it implies no +confession of inferiority. The business from which we withdraw our +cognizance, is not above our abilities, but below our notice. We please +our pride with the effects of our influence thus weakly exerted, and +fancy ourselves placed in a higher orb, for which we regulate +subordinate agents by a slight and distant superintendance. But, +whatever vanity or abstraction may suggest, no man can safely do that by +others which might be done by himself; he that indulges negligence will +quickly become ignorant of his own affairs; and he that trusts without +reserve will at last be deceived. + +It is, however, impossible but that, as the attention tends strongly +towards one thing, it must retire from another; and he that omits the +care of domestick business, because he is engrossed by inquiries of more +importance to mankind, has, at least, the merit of suffering in a good +cause. But there are many who can plead no such extenuation of their +folly; who shake off the burden of their situation, not that they may +soar with less incumbrance to the heights of knowledge or virtue, but +that they may loiter at ease and sleep in quiet; and who select for +friendship and confidence not the faithful and the virtuous, but the +soft, the civil, and compliant. + +This openness to flattery is the common disgrace of declining life. When +men feel weakness increasing on them, they naturally desire to rest from +the struggles of contradiction, the fatigue of reasoning, the anxiety of +circumspection; when they are hourly tormented with pains and diseases, +they are unable to bear any new disturbance, and consider all opposition +as an addition to misery, of which they feel already more than they can +patiently endure. Thus desirous of peace, and thus fearful of pain, the +old man seldom inquires after any other qualities in those whom he +caresses, than quickness in conjecturing his desires, activity in +supplying his wants, dexterity in intercepting complaints before they +approach near enough to disturb him, flexibility to his present humour, +submission to hasty petulance, and attention to wearisome narrations. By +these arts alone many have been able to defeat the claims of kindred and +of merit, and to enrich themselves with presents and legacies. + +Thrasybulus inherited a large fortune, and augmented it by the revenues +of several lucrative employments, which he discharged with honour and +dexterity. He was at last wise enough to consider, that life should not +be devoted wholly to accumulation, and therefore retiring to his estate, +applied himself to the education of his children, and the cultivation of +domestick happiness. + +He passed several years in this pleasing amusement, and saw his care +amply recompensed; his daughters were celebrated for modesty and +elegance, and his sons for learning, prudence, and spirit. In time the +eagerness with which the neighbouring gentlemen courted his alliance, +obliged him to resign his daughters to other families; the vivacity and +curiosity of his sons hurried them out of rural privacy into the open +world, from whence they had not soon an inclination to return. This, +however, he had always hoped; he pleased himself with the success of his +schemes, and felt no inconvenience from solitude till an apoplexy +deprived him of his wife. + +Thrasybulus had now no companion; and the maladies of increasing years +having taken from him much of the power of procuring amusement for +himself, he thought it necessary to procure some inferior friend, who +might ease him of his economical solicitudes, and divert him by cheerful +conversation. All these qualities he soon recollected in Vafer, a clerk +in one of the offices over which he had formerly presided. Vafer was +invited to visit his old patron, and being by his station acquainted +with the present modes of life, and by constant practice dexterous in +business, entertained him with so many novelties, and so readily +disentangled his affairs, that he was desired to resign his clerkship, +and accept a liberal salary in the house of Thrasybulus. + +Vafer, having always lived in a state of dependance, was well versed in +the arts by which favour is obtained, and could, without repugnance or +hesitation, accommodate himself to every caprice, and echo every +opinion. He never doubted but to be convinced, nor attempted opposition +but to flatter Thrasybulus with the pleasure of a victory. By this +practice he found his way into his patron's heart, and, having first +made himself agreeable, soon became important. His insidious diligence, +by which the laziness of age was gratified, engrossed the management of +affairs; and his petty offices of civility, and occasional +intercessions, persuaded the tenants to consider him as their friend and +benefactor, and to entreat his enforcement of their representations of +hard years, and his countenance to petitions for abatement of rent. + +Thrasybulus had now banqueted on flattery, till he could no longer bear +the harshness of remonstrance or the insipidity of truth. All +contrariety to his own opinion shocked him like a violation of some +natural right, and all recommendation of his affairs to his own +inspection was dreaded by him as a summons to torture. His children were +alarmed by the sudden riches of Vafer, but their complaints were heard +by their father with impatience, as the result of a conspiracy against +his quiet, and a design to condemn him, for their own advantage, to +groan out his last hours in perplexity and drudgery. The daughters +retired with tears in their eyes, but the son continued his +importunities till he found his inheritance hazarded by his obstinacy. + +Vafer triumphed over all their efforts, and, continuing to confirm +himself in authority, at the death of his master, purchased an estate, +and bade defiance to inquiry and justice. + + + +No. 163. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1751. + + Mitte superba pati fastidia, spemque caducam + Despice; vive tibi, nam moriere tibi. SENECA. + + Bow to no patron's insolence; rely + On no frail hopes, in freedom live and die. F. LEWIS. + +None of the cruelties exercised by wealth and power upon indigence and +dependance is more mischievous in its consequences, or more frequently +practised with wanton negligence, than the encouragement of expectations +which are never to be gratified, and the elation and depression of the +heart by needless vicissitudes of hope and disappointment. + +Every man is rich or poor, according to the proportion between his +desires and enjoyments; any enlargement of wishes is therefore equally +destructive to happiness with the diminution of possession; and he that +teaches another to long for what he never shall obtain, is no less an +enemy to his quiet, than if he had robbed him of part of his patrimony. + +But representations thus refined exhibit no adequate idea of the guilt +of pretended friendship; of artifices by which followers are attracted +only to decorate the retinue of pomp, and swell the shout of popularity, +and to be dismissed with contempt and ignominy, when their leader has +succeeded or miscarried, when he is sick of show, and weary of noise. +While a man infatuated with the promises of greatness, wastes his hours +and days in attendance and solicitation, the honest opportunities of +improving his condition pass by without his notice; he neglects to +cultivate his own barren soil, because he expects every moment to be +placed in regions of spontaneous fertility, and is seldom roused from +his delusion, but by the gripe of distress which he cannot resist, and +the sense of evils which cannot be remedied. + +The punishment of Tantalus in the infernal regions affords a just image +of hungry servility, flattered with the approach of advantage, doomed to +lose it before it comes into his reach, always within a few days of +felicity, and always sinking back to his former wants: + + [Greek: + Kai maen Tantalon eiseidon, chalep alge echonta, + Estaot en limnae hae de proseplaze geneio. + Steuto de dipsaon, pieein d ouk eichen elesthai. + Ossaki gar kupsei ho geron pieein meneainon, + Tossach hudor apolesket anabrochen. amphi de possi + Gaia melaina phaneske katazaenaske de daimon, + Dendrea d hupsipeteala katakoeathen chee kaopon + Onchnai, kai roiai, kai maeleai aglaokarpoi, + Sukai te glukeoai, kai elaiai taelethoosai. + Ton opot ithusei o geoon epi cheosi masasthai, + Tasd anemos riptaske poti nephea skioenta.] + HOM. Od. [Greek: A'.] 581. + +"I saw," says Homer's Ulysses, "the severe punishment of Tantalus. In a +lake, whose waters approached to his lips, he stood burning with thirst, +without the power to drink. Whenever he inclined his head to the stream, +some deity commanded it to be dry, and the dark earth appeared at his +feet. Around him lofty trees spread their fruits to view; the pear, the +pomegranate and the apple, the green olive and the luscious fig quivered +before him, which, whenever he extended his hand to seize them, were +snatched by the winds into clouds and obscurity." + +This image of misery was perhaps originally suggested to some poet by +the conduct of his patron, by the daily contemplation of splendour which +he never must partake, by fruitless attempts to catch at interdicted +happiness, and by the sudden evanescence of his reward, when he thought +his labours almost at an end. To groan with poverty, when all about him +was opulence, riot, and superfluity, and to find the favours which he +had long been encouraged to hope, and had long endeavoured to deserve, +squandered at last on nameless ignorance, was to thirst with water +flowing before him, and to see the fruits, to which his hunger was +hastening, scattered by the wind. Nor can my correspondent, whatever he +may have suffered, express with more justness or force the vexations of +dependance. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +I am one of those mortals who have been courted and envied as the +favourites of the great. Having often gained the prize of composition at +the university, I began to hope that I should obtain the same +distinction in every other place, and determined to forsake the +profession to which I was destined by my parents, and in which the +interest of my family would have procured me a very advantageous +settlement. The pride of wit fluttered in my heart, and when I prepared +to leave the college, nothing entered my imagination but honours, +caresses, and rewards, riches without labour, and luxury without +expense. + +I however delayed my departure for a time, to finish the performance by +which I was to draw the first notice of mankind upon me. When it was +completed I hurried to London, and considered every moment that passed +before its publication, as lost in a kind of neutral existence, and cut +off from the golden hours of happiness and fame. The piece was at last +printed and disseminated by a rapid sale; I wandered from one place of +concourse to another, feasted from morning to night on the repetition of +my own praises, and enjoyed the various conjectures of criticks, the +mistaken candour of my friends, and the impotent malice of my enemies. +Some had read the manuscript, and rectified its inaccuracies; others had +seen it in a state so imperfect, that they could not forbear to wonder +at its present excellence; some had conversed with the author at the +coffeehouse; and others gave hints that they had lent him money. + +I knew that no performance is so favourably read as that of a writer who +suppresses his name, and therefore resolved to remain concealed, till +those by whom literary reputation is established had given their +suffrages too publickly to retract them. At length my bookseller +informed me that Aurantius, the standing patron of merit, had sent +inquiries after me, and invited me to his acquaintance. + +The time which I had long expected was now arrived. I went to Aurantius +with a beating heart, for I looked upon our interview as the critical +moment of my destiny. I was received with civilities which my academick +rudeness made me unable to repay; but when I had recovered from my +confusion, I prosecuted the conversation with such liveliness and +propriety, that I confirmed my new friend in his esteem of my abilities, +and was dismissed with the utmost ardour of profession, and raptures of +fondness. + +I was soon summoned to dine with Aurantius, who had assembled the most +judicious of his friends to partake of the entertainment. Again I +exerted my powers of sentiment and expression, and again found every eye +sparkling with delight, and every tongue silent with attention. I now +became familiar at the table of Aurantius, but could never, in his most +private or jocund hours, obtain more from him than general declarations +of esteem, or endearments of tenderness, which included no particular +promise, and therefore conferred no claim. This frigid reserve somewhat +disgusted me, and when he complained of three days absence, I took care +to inform him with how much importunity of kindness I had been detained +by his rival Pollio. + +Aurantius now considered his honour as endangered by the desertion of a +wit, and, lest I should have an inclination to wander, told me that I +could never find a friend more constant and zealous than himself; that +indeed he had made no promises, because he hoped to surprise me with +advancement, but had been silently promoting my interest, and should +continue his good offices, unless he found the kindness of others more +desired. + +If you, Mr. Rambler, have ever ventured your philosophy within the +attraction of greatness, you know the force of such language introduced +with a smile of gracious tenderness, and impressed at the conclusion +with an air of solemn sincerity. From that instant I gave myself up +wholly to Aurantius, and, as he immediately resumed his former gaiety, +expected every morning a summons to some employment of dignity and +profit. One month succeeded another, and, in defiance of appearances, I +still fancied myself nearer to my wishes, and continued to dream of +success, and wake to disappointment. At last the failure of my little +fortune compelled me to abate the finery which I hitherto thought +necessary to the company with whom I associated, and the rank to which I +should be raised. Aurantius, from the moment in which he discovered my +poverty, considered me as fully in his power, and afterwards rather +permitted my attendance than invited it; thought himself at liberty to +refuse my visits, whenever he had other amusements within reach, and +often suffered me to wait, without pretending any necessary business. +When I was admitted to his table, if any man of rank equal to his own +was present, he took occasion to mention my writings, and commend my +ingenuity, by which he intended to apologize for the confusion of +distinctions, and the improper assortment of his company; and often +called upon me to entertain his friends with my productions, as a +sportsman delights the squires of his neighbourhood with the curvets of +his horse, or the obedience of his spaniels. + +To complete my mortification, it was his practice to impose tasks upon +me, by requiring me to write upon such subjects as he thought +susceptible of ornament and illustration. With these extorted +performances he was little satisfied, because he rarely found in them +the ideas which his own imagination had suggested, and which he +therefore thought more natural than mine. + +When the pale of ceremony is broken, rudeness and insult soon enter the +breach. He now found that he might safely harass me with vexation, that +he had fixed the shackles of patronage upon me, and that I could neither +resist him nor escape. At last, in the eighth year of my servitude, when +the clamour of creditors was vehement, and my necessity known to be +extreme, he offered me a small office, but hinted his expectation, that +I should marry a young woman with whom he had been acquainted. + +I was not so far depressed by my calamities as to comply with this +proposal; but, knowing that complaints and expostulations would but +gratify his insolence, I turned away with that contempt with which I +shall never want spirit to treat the wretch who can outgo the guilt of a +robber without the temptation of his profit, and who lures the credulous +and thoughtless to maintain the show of his levee, and the mirth of his +table, at the expense of honour, happiness, and life. + +I am, Sir, &c. + +LIBERALIS. + + + +No. 164. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1751. + + _--Vitium, Gaure, Catonis habes_. MART. Lib. ii. Ep. lxxxix. 2. + + Gaurus pretends to Cato's fame; + And proves--by Cato's vice, his claim. + +Distinction is so pleasing to the pride of man, that a great part of the +pain and pleasure of life arises from the gratification or +disappointment of an incessant wish for superiority, from the success or +miscarriage of secret competitions, from victories and defeats, of +which, though they appear to us of great importance, in reality none are +conscious except ourselves. + +Proportionate to the prevalence of this love of praise is the variety of +means by which its attainment is attempted. Every man however hopeless +his pretensions may appear to all but himself, has some project by which +he hopes to rise to reputation; some art by which he imagines that the +notice of the world will be attracted; some quality, good or bad, which +discriminates him from the common herd of mortals, and by which others +maybe persuaded to love, or compelled to fear him. The ascents of +honour, however steep, never appear inaccessible; he that despairs to +scale the precipices by which learning and valour have conducted their +favourites, discovers some by-bath, or easier acclivity, which, though +it cannot bring him to the summit, will yet enable him to overlook those +with whom he is now contending for eminence; and we seldom require more +to the happiness of the present hour, than to surpass him that stands +next before us. + +As the greater part of human kind speak and act wholly by imitation, +most of those who aspire to honour and applause propose to themselves +some example which serves as the model of their conduct, and the limit +of their hopes. Almost every man, if closely examined, will be found to +have enlisted himself under some leader whom he expects to conduct him +to renown; to have some hero or other, living or dead, in his view, +whose character he endeavours to assume, and whose performances he +labours to equal. + +When the original is well chosen, and judiciously copied, the imitator +often arrives at excellence, which he could never have attained without +direction; for few are formed with abilities to discover new +possibilities of excellence, and to distinguish themselves by means +never tried before. + +But folly and idleness often contrive to gratify pride at a cheaper +rate: not the qualities which are most illustrious, but those which are +of easiest attainment, are selected for imitation; and the honours and +rewards which publick gratitude has paid to the benefactors of mankind, +are expected by wretches who can only imitate them in their vices and +defects, or adopt some petty singularities of which those from whom they +are borrowed were secretly ashamed. + +No man rises to such a height as to become conspicuous, but he is on one +side censured by undiscerning malice, which reproaches him for his best +actions, and slanders his apparent and incontestable excellencies; and +idolized on the other by ignorant admiration, which exalts his faults +and follies into virtues. It may be observed, that he by whose intimacy +his acquaintances imagine themselves dignified, generally diffuses among +them his mien and his habits; and indeed, without more vigilance than is +generally applied to the regulation of the minuter parts of behaviour, +it is not easy, when we converse much with one whose general character +excites our veneration, to escape all contagion of his peculiarities, +even when we do not deliberately think them worthy of our notice, and +when they would have excited laughter or disgust, had they not been +protected by their alliance to nobler qualities, and accidentally +consorted with knowledge or with virtue. + +The faults of a man loved or honoured, sometimes steal secretly and +imperceptibly upon the wise and virtuous, but, by injudicious fondness +or thoughtless vanity, are adopted with design. There is scarce any +failing of mind or body, any errour of opinion, or depravity of +practice, which instead of producing shame and discontent, its natural +effects, has not at one time or other gladdened vanity with the hopes of +praise, and been displayed with ostentatious industry by those who +sought kindred minds among the wits or heroes, and could prove their +relation only by similitude of deformity. + +In consequence of this perverse ambition, every habit which reason +condemns may be indulged and avowed. When a man is upbraided with his +faults, he may indeed be pardoned if he endeavours to run for shelter to +some celebrated name; but it is not to be suffered that, from the +retreats to which he fled from infamy, he should issue again with the +confidence of conquests, and call upon mankind for praise. Yet we see +men that waste their patrimony in luxury, destroy their health with +debauchery, and enervate their minds with idleness, because there have +been some whom luxury never could sink into contempt, nor idleness +hinder from the praise of genius. + +This general inclination of mankind to copy characters in the gross, and +the force which the recommendation of illustrious examples adds to the +allurements of vice, ought to be considered by all whose character +excludes them from the shades of secrecy, as incitements to scrupulous +caution and universal purity of manners. No man, however enslaved to his +appetites, or hurried by his passions, can, while he preserves his +intellects unimpaired, please himself with promoting the corruption of +others. He whose merit has enlarged his influence, would surely wish to +exert it for the benefit of mankind. Yet such will be the effect of his +reputation, while he suffers himself to indulge in any favourite fault, +that they who have no hope to reach his excellence will catch at his +failings, and his virtues will be cited to justify the copiers of his +vices. + +It is particularly the duty of those who consign illustrious names to +posterity, to take care lest their readers be misled by ambiguous +examples. That writer may be justly condemned as an enemy to goodness, +who suffers fondness or interest to confound right with wrong, or to +shelter the faults which even the wisest and the best have committed +from that ignominy which guilt ought always to suffer, and with which it +should be more deeply stigmatized when dignified by its neighbourhood to +uncommon worth, since we shall be in danger of beholding it without +abhorrence, unless its turpitude be laid open, and the eye secured from +the deception of surrounding splendour. + + + +No. 165. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1751. + + [Greek: Aen neos, alla penaes nun gaeron, plousios eimi + O monos ek panton oiktros en amphoterois, + Os tote men chraesthai dunamaen, hopot oud' en eichon. + Nun d' opote chraesthai mae dunamai, tot echo.] ANTIPHILUS. + + Young was I once and poor, now rich and old; + A harder case than mine was never told; + Blest with the power to use them--I had none; + Loaded with _riches_ now, the power is gone. F. LEWIS. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +The writers who have undertaken the unpromising task of moderating +desire, exert all the power of their eloquence, to shew that happiness +is not the lot of man, and have, by many arguments and examples, proved +the instability of every condition by which envy or ambition are +excited. They have set before our eyes all the calamities to which we +are exposed from the frailty of nature, the influence of accident, or +the stratagems of malice; they have terrified greatness with +conspiracies, and riches with anxieties, wit with criticism, and beauty +with disease. + +All the force of reason, and all the charms of language, are indeed +necessary to support positions which every man hears with a wish to +confute them. Truth finds an easy entrance into the mind when she is +introduced by desire, and attended by pleasure; but when she intrudes +uncalled, and brings only fear and sorrow in her train, the passes of +the intellect are barred against her by prejudice and passion; if she +sometimes forces her way by the batteries of argument, she seldom long +keeps possession of her conquests, but is ejected by some favoured +enemy, or at best obtains only a nominal sovereignty, without influence +and without authority. + +That life is short we are all convinced, and yet suffer not that +conviction to repress our projects or limit our expectations; that life +is miserable we all feel, and yet we believe that the time is near when +we shall feel it no longer. But to hope happiness and immortality is +equally vain. Our state may indeed be more or less embittered as our +duration may be more or less contracted; yet the utmost felicity which +we can ever attain will be little better than alleviation of misery, and +we shall always feel more pain from our wants than pleasure from our +enjoyments. The incident which I am going to relate will shew, that to +destroy the effect of all our success, it is not necessary that any +signal calamity should fall upon us, that we should be harassed by +implacable persecution, or excruciated by irremediable pains: the +brightest hours of prosperity have their clouds, and the stream of life, +if it is not ruffled by obstructions, will grow putrid by stagnation. + +My father, resolving not to imitate the folly of his ancestors, who had +hitherto left the younger sons encumbrances on the eldest, destined me +to a lucrative profession; and I, being careful to lose no opportunity +of improvement, was, at the usual time in which young men enter the +world, well qualified for the exercise of the business which I had +chosen. + +My eagerness to distinguish myself in publick, and my impatience of the +narrow scheme of life to which my indigence confined me, did not suffer +me to continue long in the town where I was born. I went away as from a +place of confinement, with a resolution to return no more, till I should +be able to dazzle with my splendour those who now looked upon me with +contempt, to reward those who had paid honours to my dawning merit, and +to shew all who had suffered me to glide by them unknown and neglected, +how much they mistook their interest in omitting to propitiate a genius +like mine. + +Such were my intentions when I sallied forth into the unknown world, in +quest of riches and honours, which I expected to procure in a very short +time; for what could withhold them from industry and knowledge? He that +indulges hope will always be disappointed. Reputation I very soon +obtained; but as merit is much more cheaply acknowledged than rewarded, +I did not find myself yet enriched in proportion to my celebrity. + +I had, however, in time, surmounted the obstacles by which envy and +competition obstruct the first attempts of a new claimant, and saw my +opponents and censurers tacitly confessing their despair of success, by +courting my friendship and yielding to my influence. They who once +pursued me, were now satisfied to escape from me; and they who had +before thought me presumptuous in hoping to overtake them, had now their +utmost wish, if they were permitted, at no great distance, quietly to +follow me. + +My wants were not madly multiplied as my acquisitions increased, and the +time came, at length, when I thought myself enabled to gratify all +reasonable desires, and when, therefore, I resolved to enjoy that plenty +and serenity which I had been hitherto labouring to procure, to enjoy +them while I was yet neither crushed by age into infirmity, nor so +habituated to a particular manner of life as to be unqualified for new +studies or entertainments. + +I now quitted my profession, and, to set myself at once free from all +importunities to resume it, changed my residence, and devoted the +remaining part of my time to quiet and amusement. Amidst innumerable +projects of pleasure, which restless idleness incited me to form, and of +which most, when they came to the moment of execution, were rejected for +others of no longer continuance, some accident revived in my imagination +the pleasing ideas of my native place. It was now in my power to visit +those from whom I had been so long absent, in such a manner as was +consistent with my former resolution, and I wondered how it could happen +that I had so long delayed my own happiness. + +Full of the admiration which I should excite, and the homage which I +should receive, I dressed my servants in a more ostentatious livery, +purchased a magnificent chariot, and resolved to dazzle the inhabitants +of the little town with an unexpected blaze of greatness. + +While the preparations that vanity required were made for my departure, +which, as workmen will not easily be hurried beyond their ordinary rate, +I thought very tedious, I solaced my impatience with imaging the various +censures that my appearance would produce; the hopes which some would +feel from my bounty; the terrour which my power would strike on others; +the awkward respect with which I should be accosted by timorous +officiousness; and the distant reverence with which others, less +familiar to splendour and dignity, would be contented to gaze upon me. I +deliberated a long time, whether I should immediately descend to a level +with my former acquaintances; or make my condescension more grateful by +a gentle transition from haughtiness and reserve. At length I determined +to forget some of my companions, till they discovered themselves by some +indubitable token, and to receive the congratulations of others upon my +good fortune with indifference, to shew that I always expected what I +had now obtained. The acclamations of the populace I purposed to reward +with six hogsheads of ale, and a roasted ox, and then recommend to them +to return to their work. + +At last all the trappings of grandeur were fitted, and I began the +journey of triumph, which I could have wished to have ended in the same +moment; but my horses felt none of their master's ardour, and I was +shaken four days upon rugged roads. I then entered the town, and, having +graciously let fall the glasses, that my person might be seen, passed +slowly through the street. The noise of the wheels brought the +inhabitants to their doors, but I could not perceive that I was known by +them. At last I alighted, and my name, I suppose, was told by my +servants, for the barber stepped from the opposite house, and seized me +by the hand with honest joy in his countenance, which, according to the +rule that I had prescribed to myself, I repressed with a frigid +graciousness. The fellow, instead of sinking into dejection, turned away +with contempt, and left me to consider how the second salutation should +be received. The next fellow was better treated, for I soon found that I +must purchase by civility that regard which I had expected to enforce by +insolence. + +There was yet no smoke of bonfires, no harmony of bells, no shout of +crowds, nor riot of joy; the business of the day went forward as before; +and, after having ordered a splendid supper, which no man came to +partake, and which my chagrin hindered me from tasting, I went to bed, +where the vexation of disappointment overpowered the fatigue of my +journey, and kept me from sleep. + +I rose so much humbled by those mortifications, as to inquire after the +present state of the town, and found that I had been absent too long to +obtain the triumph which had flattered my expectation. Of the friends +whose compliments I expected, some had long ago moved to distant +provinces, some had lost in the maladies of age all sense of another's +prosperity, and some had forgotten our former intimacy amidst care and +distresses. Of three whom I had resolved to punish for their former +offences by a longer continuance of neglect, one was, by his own +industry, raised above my scorn, and two were sheltered from it in the +grave. All those whom I loved, feared, or hated, all whose envy or whose +kindness I had hopes of contemplating with pleasure, were swept away, +and their place was filled by a new generation with other views and +other competitions; and among many proofs of the impotence of wealth, I +found that it conferred upon me very few distinctions in my native +place. + +I am, Sir, &c. + +SEROTINUS. + + + +No. 166. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1751. + + _Semper, eris pauper si pauper es, Aemiliane: + Dantur opes nullis nunc nisi divitibus_. MART. Lib. v. Ep. xxxi. + + Once poor, my friend, still poor you must remain, + The rich alone have all the means of gain. EDW. CAVF. +[Transcriber's note: Difficult to make out in original--possibly CAVE?] + +No complaint has been more frequently repeated in all ages than that of +the neglect of merit associated with poverty, and the difficulty with +which valuable or pleasing qualities force themselves into view, when +they are obscured by indigence. It has been long observed, that native +beauty has little power to charm without the ornaments which fortune +bestows, and that to want the favour of others is often sufficient to +hinder us from obtaining it. + +Every day discovers that mankind are not yet convinced of their errour, +or that their conviction is without power to influence their conduct; +for poverty still continues to produce contempt, and still obstructs the +claims of kindred and of virtue. The eye of wealth is elevated towards +higher stations, and seldom descends to examine the actions of those who +are placed below the level of its notice, and who in distant regions and +lower situations are struggling with distress, or toiling for bread. +Among the multitudes overwhelmed with insuperable calamity, it is common +to find those whom a very little assistance would enable to support +themselves with decency, and who yet cannot obtain from near relations, +what they see hourly lavished in ostentation, luxury, or frolick. + +There are natural reasons why poverty does not easily conciliate +affection. He that has been confined from his infancy to the +conversation of the lowest classes of mankind, must necessarily want +those accomplishments which are the usual means of attracting favour; +and though truth, fortitude, and probity, give an indisputable right to +reverence and kindness, they will not be distinguished by common eyes, +unless they are brightened by elegance of manners, but are cast aside +like unpolished gems, of which none but the artist knows the intrinsick +value, till their asperities are smoothed, and their incrustations +rubbed away. + +The grossness of vulgar habits obstructs the efficacy of virtue, as +impurity and harshness of style impair the force of reason, and rugged +numbers turn off the mind from artifice of disposition, and fertility of +invention. Few have strength of reason to over-rule the perceptions of +sense; and yet fewer have curiosity or benevolence to struggle long +against the first impression; he therefore who fails to please in his +salutation and address, is at once rejected, and never obtains an +opportunity of shewing his latent excellencies, or essential qualities. + +It is, indeed, not easy to prescribe a successful manner of approach to +the distressed or necessitous, whose condition subjects every kind of +behaviour equally to miscarriage. He whose confidence of merit incites +him to meet, without any apparent sense of inferiority, the eyes of +those who flattered themselves with their own dignity, is considered as +an insolent leveller, impatient of the just prerogatives of rank and +wealth, eager to usurp the station to which he has no right, and to +confound the subordinations of society; and who would contribute to the +exaltation of that spirit which even want and calamity are not able to +restrain from rudeness and rebellion? + +But no better success will commonly be found to attend servility and +dejection, which often give pride the confidence to treat them with +contempt. A request made with diffidence and timidity is easily denied, +because the petitioner himself seems to doubt its fitness. + +Kindness is generally reciprocal; we are desirous of pleasing others, +because we receive pleasure from them; but by what means can the man +please, whose attention is engrossed by his distresses, and who has no +leisure to be officious; whose will is restrained by his necessities, +and who has no power to confer benefits; whose temper is perhaps +vitiated by misery, and whose understanding is impeded by ignorance? + +It is yet a more offensive discouragement, that the same actions +performed by different hands produce different effects, and, instead of +rating the man by his performances, we rate too frequently the +performance by the man. It sometimes happens in the combinations of +life, that important services are performed by inferiors; but though +their zeal and activity may be paid by pecuniary rewards, they seldom +excite that flow of gratitude, or obtain that accumulation of +recompense, with which all think it their duty to acknowledge the favour +of those who descend to their assistance from a higher elevation. To be +obliged, is to be in some respect inferior to another[h]; and few +willingly indulge the memory of an action which raises one whom they +have always been accustomed to think below them, but satisfy themselves +with faint praise and penurious payment, and then drive it from their +own minds, and endeavour to conceal it from the knowledge of others. + +It may be always objected to the services of those who can be supposed +to want a reward, that they were produced not by kindness but interest; +they are, therefore, when they are no longer wanted, easily disregarded +as arts of insinuation, or stratagems of selfishness. Benefits which are +received as gifts from wealth, are exacted as debts from indigence; and +he that in a high station is celebrated for superfluous goodness, would +in a meaner condition have barely been confessed to have done his duty. + +It is scarcely possible for the utmost benevolence to oblige, when +exerted under the disadvantages of great inferiority; for, by the +habitual arrogance of wealth, such expectations are commonly formed as +no zeal or industry can satisfy; and what regard can he hope, who has +done less than was demanded from him? + +There are indeed kindnesses conferred which were never purchased by +precedent favours, and there is an affection not arising from gratitude +or gross interest, by which similar natures, are attracted to each +other, without prospect of any other advantage than the pleasure of +exchanging sentiments, and the hope of confirming their esteem of +themselves by the approbation of each other. But this spontaneous +fondness seldom rises at the sight of poverty, which every one regards +with habitual contempt, and of which the applause is no more courted by +vanity, than the countenance is solicited by ambition. The most generous +and disinterested friendship must be resolved at last into the love of +ourselves; he therefore whose reputation or dignity inclines us to +consider his esteem as a testimonial of desert, will always find our +hearts open to his endearments. We every day see men of eminence +followed with all the obsequiousness of dependance, and courted with all +the blandishments of flattery, by those who want nothing from them but +professions of regard, and who think themselves liberally rewarded by a +bow, a smile, or an embrace. + +But those prejudices which every mind feels more or less in favour of +riches, ought, like other opinions, which only custom and example have +impressed upon us, to be in time subjected to reason. We must learn how +to separate the real character from extraneous adhesions and casual +circumstances, to consider closely him whom we are about to adopt or to +reject; to regard his inclinations as well as his actions; to trace out +those virtues which lie torpid in the heart for want of opportunity, and +those vices that lurk unseen by the absence of temptation; that when we +find worth faintly shooting in the shades of obscurity, we may let in +light and sunshine upon it, and ripen barren volition into efficacy and +power. + +[Footnote h: Sir Joshua Reynolds evinced great reach of mind and +intimate acquaintance with humanity, when he observed, on overhearing a +person condoling with some ladies on the death of one who had conferred +the greatest favours upon them, that at all events they were relieved +from the burden of gratitude.] + + + +No. 167. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1751. + + Candida perpetuo reside, Concordia, lecto, + Tamque pari semper sit Venus æqua jugo. + Diligat illa senem quondam: sed et ipsa marito, + Tum quoque cum fuerit, non videatur, anus. MART. Lib, w. xii. 7. + + Their nuptial bed may smiling concord dress, + And Venus still the happy union bless! + Wrinkled with age, may mutual love and truth + To their dim eyes recal the bloom of youth. F. LEWIS. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +It is not common to envy those with whom we cannot easily be placed in +comparison. Every man sees without malevolence the progress of another +in the tracks of life, which he has himself no desire to tread, and +hears, without inclination to cavils or contradiction, the renown of +those whose distance will not suffer them to draw the attention of +mankind from his own merit. The sailor never thinks it necessary to +contest the lawyer's abilities; nor would the Rambler, however jealous +of his reputation, be much disturbed by the success of rival wits at +Agra or Ispahan. + +We do not therefore ascribe to you any superlative degree of virtue, +when we believe that we may inform you of our change of condition +without danger of malignant fascination; and that when you read of the +marriage of your correspondents Hymenæus and Tranquilla, you will join +your wishes to those of their other friends for the happy event of an +union in which caprice and selfishness had so little part. + +There is at least this reason why we should be less deceived in our +connubial hopes than many who enter into the same state, that we have +allowed our minds to form no unreasonable expectations, nor vitiated our +fancies in the soft hours of courtship, with visions of felicity which +human power cannot bestow, or of perfection which human virtue cannot +attain. That impartiality with which we endeavour to inspect the manners +of all whom we have known was never so much overpowered by our passion, +but that we discovered some faults and weaknesses in each other; and +joined our hands in conviction, that as there are advantages to be +enjoyed in marriage, there are inconveniencies likewise to be endured; +and that, together with confederate intellects and auxiliar virtues, we +must find different opinions and opposite inclinations. + +We however flatter ourselves, for who is not flattered by himself as +well as by others on the day of marriage? that we are eminently +qualified to give mutual pleasure. Our birth is without any such +remarkable disparity as can give either an opportunity of insulting the +other with pompous names and splendid alliances, or of calling in, upon +any domestick controversy, the overbearing assistance of powerful +relations. Our fortune was equally suitable, so that we meet without any +of those obligations, which always produce reproach or suspicion of +reproach, which, though they may be forgotten in the gaities of the +first month, no delicacy will always suppress, or of which the +suppression must be considered as a new favour, to be repaid by tameness +and submission, till gratitude takes the place of love, and the desire +of pleasing degenerates by degrees into the fear of offending. + +The settlements caused no delay; for we did not trust our affairs to the +negociation of wretches, who would have paid their court by multiplying +stipulations. Tranquilla scorned to detain any part of her fortune from +him into whose hands she delivered up her person; and Hymenæus thought +no act of baseness more criminal than his who enslaves his wife by her +own generosity, who by marrying without a jointure, condemns her to all +the dangers of accident and caprice, and at last boasts his liberality, +by granting what only the indiscretion of her kindness enabled him to +withhold. He therefore received on the common terms the portion which +any other woman might have brought him, and reserved all the exuberance +of acknowledgment for those excellencies which he has yet been able to +discover only in Tranquilla. + +We did not pass the weeks of courtship like those who consider +themselves as taking the last draught of pleasure, and resolve not to +quit the bowl without a surfeit, or who know themselves about to set +happiness to hazard, and endeavour to lose their sense of danger in the +ebriety of perpetual amusement, and whirl round the gulph before they +sink. Hymenæus often repeated a medical axiom, that _the succours of +sickness ought not to be wasted in health_. We know that however our +eyes may yet sparkle, and our hearts bound at the presence of each +other, the time of listlessness and satiety, of peevishness and +discontent, must come at last, in which we shall be driven for relief to +shows and recreations; that the uniformity of life must be sometimes +diversified, and the vacuities of conversation sometimes supplied. We +rejoice in the reflection that we have stores of novelty yet +unexhausted, which may be opened when repletion shall call for change, +and gratifications yet untasted, by which life, when it shall become +vapid or bitter, may be restored to its former sweetness and +sprightliness, and again irritate the appetite, and again sparkle in the +cup. + +Our time will probably be less tasteless than that of those whom the +authority and avarice of parents unite almost without their consent in +their early years, before they have accumulated any fund of reflection, +or collected materials for mutual entertainment. Such we have often seen +rising in the morning to cards, and retiring in the afternoon to doze, +whose happiness was celebrated by their neighbours, because they +happened to grow rich by parsimony, and to be kept quiet in +insensibility, and agreed to eat and to sleep together. + +We have both mingled with the world, and are therefore no strangers to +the faults and virtues, the designs and competitions, the hopes and +fears of our contemporaries. We have both amused our leisure with books, +and can therefore recount the events of former times, or cite the +dictates of ancient wisdom. Every occurrence furnishes us with some hint +which one or the other can improve, and if it should happen that memory +or imagination fail us, we can retire to no idle or unimproving +solitude. + +Though our characters, beheld at a distance, exhibit this general +resemblance, yet a nearer inspection discovers such a dissimilitude of +our habitudes and sentiments, as leaves each some peculiar advantages, +and affords that _concordia discors_, that suitable disagreement which +is always necessary to intellectual harmony. There may be a total +diversity of ideas which admits no participation of the same delight, +and there may likewise be such a conformity of notions as leaves neither +any thing to add to the decisions of the other. With such contrariety +there can be no peace, with such similarity there can be no pleasure. +Our reasonings, though often formed upon different views, terminate +generally in the same conclusion. Our thoughts, like rivulets issuing +from distant springs, are each impregnated in its course with various +mixtures, and tinged by infusions unknown to the other, yet, at last, +easily unite into one stream, and purify themselves by the gentle +effervescence of contrary qualities. + +These benefits we receive in a greater degree as we converse without +reserve, because we have nothing to conceal. We have no debts to be paid +by imperceptible deductions from avowed expenses, no habits to be +indulged by the private subserviency of a favoured servant, no private +interviews with needy relations, no intelligence with spies placed upon +each other. We considered marriage as the most solemn league of +perpetual friendship, a state from which artifice and concealment are to +be banished for ever, and in which every act of dissimulation is a +breach of faith. + +The impetuous vivacity of youth, and that ardour of desire, which the +first sight of pleasure naturally produces, have long ceased to hurry us +into irregularity and vehemence; and experience has shewn us that few +gratifications are too valuable to be sacrificed to complaisance. + +We have thought it convenient to rest from the fatigue of pleasure, and +now only continue that course of life into which we had before entered, +confirmed in our choice by mutual approbation, supported in our +resolution by mutual encouragement, and assisted in our efforts by +mutual exhortation. + +Such, Mr. Rambler, is our prospect of life, a prospect which, as it is +beheld with more attention, seems to open more extensive happiness, and +spreads, by degrees, into the boundless regions of eternity. But if all +our prudence has been vain, and we are doomed to give one instance more +of the uncertainty of human discernment, we shall comfort ourselves +amidst our disappointments, that we were not betrayed but by such +delusions as caution could not escape, since we sought happiness only in +the arms of virtue. + +We are, Sir, +Your humble Servants, +HYMENÆUS. +TRANQUILLA. + + + +No. 168. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1751. + + _--Decipit + Frons prima multos: rara mens intelligit, + Quod interiore condidit cura angulo_. PHÆDRUS, Lib. iv. Fab. i. 5. + + The tinsel glitter, and the specious mien, + Delude the most; few pry behind the scene. + +It has been observed by Boileau, that "a mean or common thought +expressed in pompous diction, generally pleases more than a new or noble +sentiment delivered in low and vulgar language; because the number is +greater of those whom custom has enabled to judge of words, than whom +study has qualified to examine things." This solution might satisfy, if +such only were offended with meanness of expression as are unable to +distinguish propriety of thought, and to separate propositions or images +from the vehicles by which they are conveyed to the understanding. But +this kind of disgust is by no means confined to the ignorant or +superficial; it operates uniformly and universally upon readers of all +classes; every man, however profound or abstracted, perceives himself +irresistibly alienated by low terms; they who profess the most zealous +adherence to truth are forced to admit that she owes part of her charms +to her ornaments; and loses much of her power over the soul, when she +appears disgraced by a dress uncouth or ill-adjusted. + +We are all offended by low terms, but are not disgusted alike by the +same compositions, because we do not all agree to censure the same terms +as low. No word is naturally or intrinsically meaner than another; our +opinion therefore of words, as of other things arbitrarily and +capriciously established, depends wholly upon accident and custom. The +cottager thinks those apartments splendid and spacious, which an +inhabitant of palaces will despise for their inelegance; and to him who +has passed most of his hours with the delicate and polite, many +expressions will seem sordid, which another, equally acute, may hear +without offence; but a mean term never fails to displease him to whom it +appears mean, as poverty is certainly and invariably despised, though he +who is poor in the eyes of some, may, by others, be envied for his +wealth. + +Words become low by the occasions to which they are applied, or the +general character of them who use them; and the disgust which they +produce, arises from the revival of those images with which they are +commonly united. Thus if, in the most solemn discourse, a phrase happens +to occur which has been successfully employed in some ludicrous +narrative, the gravest auditor finds it difficult to refrain from +laughter, when they who are not prepossessed by the same accidental +association, are utterly unable to guess the reason of his merriment. +Words which convey ideas of dignity in one age, are banished from +elegant writing or conversation in another, because they are in time +debased by vulgar mouths, and can be no longer heard without the +involuntary recollection of unpleasing images. + +When Macbeth is confirming himself in the horrid purpose of stabbing his +king, he breaks out amidst his emotions into a wish natural to a +murderer: + + --Come, thick night! + And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, + That my keen knife see not the wound it makes; + Nor heav'n peep through the blanket of the dark, + To cry, Hold! hold!-- + +In this passage is exerted all the force of poetry; that force which +calls new powers into being, which embodies sentiment, and animates +matter: yet, perhaps, scarce any man now peruses it without some +disturbance of his attention from the counteraction of the words to the +ideas. What can be more dreadful than to implore the presence of night, +invested, not in common obscurity, but in the smoke of hell? Yet the +efficacy of this invocation is destroyed by the insertion of an epithet +now seldom heard but in the stable, and _dun_ night may come or go +without any other notice than contempt. + +If we start into raptures when some hero of the Iliad tells us that +[Greek: doru mainetai], his lance rages with eagerness to destroy; if we +are alarmed at the terrour of the soldiers commanded by Caesar to hew +down the sacred grove, who dreaded, says Lucan, lest the axe aimed at +the oak should fly back upon the striker: + + --_Si robora sacra ferirent, + In sua credebaut redituras membra secures_; + + None dares with impious steel the grove to rend, + Lest on himself the destin'd stroke descend; + +we cannot surely but sympathise with the horrours of a wretch about to +murder his master, his friend, his benefactor, who suspects that the +weapon will refuse its office, and start back from the breast which he +is preparing to violate. Yet this sentiment is weakened by the name of +an instrument used by butchers and cooks in the meanest employments: we +do not immediately conceive that any crime of importance is to be +committed with a _knife_; or who does not, at last, from the long habit +of connecting a knife with sordid offices, feel aversion rather than +terrour? + +Macbeth proceeds to wish, in the madness of guilt, that the inspection +of heaven may be intercepted, and that he may, in the involutions of +infernal darkness, escape the eye of Providence. This is the utmost +extravagance of determined wickedness; yet this is so debased by two +unfortunate words, that while I endeavour to impress on my reader the +energy of the sentiment, I can scarce check my risibility, when the +expression forces itself upon my mind; for who, without some relaxation +of his gravity, can hear of the avengers of guilt _peeping through a +blanket_? + +These imperfections of diction are less obvious to the reader, as he is +less acquainted with common usages; they are therefore wholly +imperceptible to a foreigner, who learns our language from books, and +will strike a solitary academick less forcibly than a modish lady. + +Among the numerous requisites that must concur to complete an author, +few are of more importance than an early entrance into the living world. +The seeds of knowledge may be planted in solitude, but must be +cultivated in publick. Argumentation may be taught in colleges, and +theories formed in retirement; but the artifice of embellishment, and +the powers of attraction, can be gained only by general converse. + +An acquaintance with prevailing customs and fashionable elegance is +necessary likewise for other purposes. The injury that grand imagery +suffers from unsuitable language, personal merit may fear from rudeness +and indelicacy. When the success of Æneas depended on the favour of the +queen upon whose coasts he was driven, his celestial protectress thought +him not sufficiently secured against rejection by his piety or bravery, +but decorated him for the interview with preternatural beauty. Whoever +desires, for his writings or himself, what none can reasonably contemn, +the favour of mankind, must add grace to strength, and make his thoughts +agreeable as well as useful. Many complain of neglect who never tried to +attract regard. It cannot be expected that the patrons of science or +virtue should be solicitous to discover excellencies, which they who +possess them shade and disguise. Few have abilities so much needed by +the rest of the world as to be caressed on their own terms; and he that +will not condescend to recommend himself by external embellishments, +must submit to the fate of just sentiment meanly expressed, and be +ridiculed and forgotten before he is understood. + + + +No. 169. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1751. + + _Nec pluteum cædit, nec demorsos sapit ungues_. PER. Sat. i. 106. + + No blood from bitten nails those poems drew; + But churn'd, like spittle, from the lips they flew. DRYDEN. + +Natural historians assert, that whatever is formed for long duration +arrives slowly to its maturity. Thus the firmest timber is of tardy +growth, and animals generally exceed each other in longevity, in +proportion to the time between their conception and their birth. + +The same observation may be extended to the offspring of the mind. Hasty +compositions, however they please at first by flowery luxuriance, and +spread in the sunshine of temporary favour, can seldom endure the change +of seasons, but perish at the first blast of criticism, or frost of +neglect. When Apelles was reproached with the paucity of his +productions, and the incessant attention with which he retouched his +pieces, he condescended to make no other answer than that _he painted +for perpetuity_. + +No vanity can more justly incur contempt and indignation than that which +boasts of negligence and hurry. For who can bear with patience the +writer who claims such superiority to the rest of his species, as to +imagine mankind are at leisure for attention to his extemporary sallies, +and that posterity will reposite his casual effusions among the +treasures of ancient wisdom? + +Men have sometimes appeared of such transcendent abilities, that their +slightest and most cursory performances excel all that labour and study +can enable meaner intellects to compose; as there are regions of which +the spontaneous products cannot be equalled in other soils by care and +culture. But it is no less dangerous for any man to place himself in +this rank of understanding, and fancy that he is born to be illustrious +without labour, than to omit the cares of husbandry, and expect from his +ground the blossoms of Arabia. + +The greatest part of those who congratulate themselves upon their +intellectual dignity, and usurp the privileges of genius, are men whom +only themselves would ever have marked out as enriched by uncommon +liberalities of nature, or entitled to veneration and immortality on +easy terms. This ardour of confidence is usually found among those who, +having not enlarged their notions by books or conversation, are +persuaded, by the partiality which we all feel in our own favour, that +they have reached the summit of excellence, because they discover none +higher than themselves; and who acquiesce in the first thoughts that +occur, because their scantiness of knowledge allows them little choice; +and the narrowness of their views affords them no glimpse of perfection, +of that sublime idea which human industry has from the first ages been +vainly toiling to approach. They see a little, and believe that there is +nothing beyond their sphere of vision, as the Patuecos of Spain, who +inhabited a small valley, conceived the surrounding mountains to be the +boundaries of the world. In proportion as perfection is more distinctly +conceived, the pleasure of contemplating our own performances will be +lessened; it may therefore be observed, that they who most deserve +praise are often afraid to decide in favour of their own performances; +they know how much is still wanting to their completion, and wait with +anxiety and terrour the determination of the publick. _I please every +one else_, says Tully, _but never satisfy myself_. + +It has often been inquired, why, notwithstanding the advances of later +ages in science, and the assistance which the infusion of so many new +ideas has given us, we fall below the ancients in the art of +composition. Some part of their superiority may be justly ascribed to +the graces of their language, from which the most polished of the +present European tongues are nothing more than barbarous degenerations. +Some advantage they might gain merely by priority, which put them in +possession of the most natural sentiments, and left us nothing but +servile repetition or forced conceits. But the greater part of their +praise seems to have been the just reward of modesty and labour. Their +sense of human weakness confined them commonly to one study, which their +knowledge of the extent of every science engaged them to prosecute with +indefatigable diligence. + +Among the writers of antiquity I remember none except Statius who +ventures to mention the speedy production of his writings, either as an +extenuation of his faults, or a proof of his facility. Nor did Statius, +when he considered himself as a candidate for lasting reputation, think +a closer attention unnecessary, but amidst all his pride and indigence, +the two great hasteners of modern poems, employed twelve years upon the +Thebaid, and thinks his claim to renown proportionate to his labour. + + _Thebais, multa cruciata lima, + Tentat, audaci fide, Mantuanæ + Gaudia famæ_. + + Polish'd with endless toil, my lays + At length aspire to Mantuan praise. + +Ovid indeed apologizes in his banishment for the imperfection of his +letters, but mentions his want of leisure to polish them as an addition +to his calamities; and was so far from imagining revisals and +corrections unnecessary, that at his departure from Rome, he threw his +Metamorphoses into the fire, lest he should be disgraced by a book which +he could not hope to finish. + +It seems not often to have happened that the same writer aspired to +reputation in verse and prose; and of those few that attempted such +diversity of excellence, I know not that even one succeeded. Contrary +characters they never imagined a single mind able to support, and +therefore no man is recorded to have undertaken more than one kind of +dramatick poetry. + +What they had written, they did not venture in their first fondness to +thrust into the world, but, considering the impropriety of sending forth +inconsiderately that which cannot be recalled, deferred the publication, +if not nine years, according to the direction of Horace, yet till their +fancy was cooled after the raptures of invention, and the glare of +novelty had ceased to dazzle the judgment. + +There were in those days no weekly or diurnal writers; _multa dies et +multa litura_, much time, and many rasures, were considered as +indispensable requisites; and that no other method of attaining lasting +praise has been yet discovered, may be conjectured from the blotted +manuscripts of Milton now remaining, and from the tardy emission of +Pope's compositions, delayed more than once till the incidents to which +they alluded were forgotten, till his enemies were secure from his +satire, and, what to an honest mind must be more painful, his friends +were deaf to his encomiums. + +To him, whose eagerness of praise hurries his productions soon into the +light, many imperfections are unavoidable, even where the mind furnishes +the materials, as well as regulates their disposition, and nothing +depends upon search or information. Delay opens new veins of thought, +the subject dismissed for a time appears with a new train of dependent +images, the accidents of reading or conversation supply new ornaments +or allusions, or mere intermission of the fatigue of thinking enables +the mind to collect new force, and make new excursions. But all those +benefits come too late for him, who, when he was weary with labour, +snatched at the recompense, and gave his work to his friends and his +enemies, as soon as impatience and pride persuaded him to conclude it. + +One of the most pernicious effects of haste, is obscurity. He that teems +with a quick succession of ideas, and perceives how one sentiment +produces another, easily believes that he can clearly express what he so +strongly comprehends; he seldom suspects his thoughts of embarrassment, +while he preserves in his own memory the series of connection, or his +diction of ambiguity, while only one sense is present to his mind. Yet +if he has been employed on an abstruse, or complicated argument, he will +find, when he has awhile withdrawn his mind, and returns as a new reader +to his work, that he has only a conjectural glimpse of his own meaning, +and that to explain it to those whom he desires to instruct, he must +open his sentiments, disentangle his method, and alter his arrangement. + +Authors and lovers always suffer some infatuation, from which only +absence can set them free; and every man ought to restore himself to the +full exercise of his judgment, before he does that which he cannot do +improperly, without injuring his honour and his quiet. + + + +No. 170. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1751. + + _Confiteor; si quid prodest delicta fateri_. + OVID. Am. Lib. i. El. iv. 3. + + I grant the charge; forgive the fault confess'd. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +I am one of those beings from whom many, that melt at the sight of all +other misery, think it meritorious to withhold relief; one whom the +rigour of virtuous indignation dooms to suffer without complaint, and +perish without regard; and whom I myself have formerly insulted in the +pride of reputation and security of innocence. + +I am of a good family, but my father was burthened with more children +than he could decently support. A wealthy relation, as he travelled from +London to his country-seat, condescending to make him a visit, was +touched with compassion of his narrow fortune, and resolved to ease him +of part of his charge, by taking the care of a child upon himself. +Distress on one side, and ambition on the other, were too powerful for +parental fondness, and the little family passed in review before him, +that he might, make his choice. I was then ten years old, and, without +knowing for what purpose, I was called to my great cousin, endeavoured +to recommend myself by my best courtesy, sung him my prettiest song, +told the last story that I had read, and so much endeared myself by my +innocence, that he declared his resolution to adopt me, and to educate +me with his own daughters. + +My parents felt the common struggles at the thought of parting, and +_some natural tears they dropp'd, but wip'd them soon_. They considered, +not without that false estimation of the value of wealth, which poverty +long continued always produces, that I was raised to higher rank than +they could give me, and to hopes of more ample fortune than they could +bequeath. My mother sold some of her ornaments to dress me in such a +manner as might secure me from contempt at my first arrival; and when +she dismissed me, pressed me to her bosom with an embrace that I still +feel, gave me some precepts of piety, which, however neglected, I have +not forgotten, and uttered prayers for my final happiness, of which I +have not yet ceased to hope that they will at last be granted. + +My sisters envied my new finery, and seemed not much to regret our +separation; my father conducted me to the stage-coach with a kind of +cheerful tenderness; and in a very short time I was transported to +splendid apartments, and a luxurious table, and grew familiar to shew, +noise, and gaiety. + +In three years my mother died, having implored a blessing on her family +with her last breath. I had little opportunity to indulge a sorrow which +there was none to partake with me, and therefore soon ceased to reflect +much upon my loss. My father turned all his care upon his other +children, whom some fortunate adventures and unexpected legacies enabled +him, when he died, four years after my mother, to leave in a condition +above their expectations. + +I should have shared the increase of his fortune, and had once a portion +assigned me in his will; but my cousin assuring him that all care for me +was needless, since he had resolved to place me happily in the world, +directed him to divide my part amongst my sisters. + +Thus I was thrown upon dependance without resource. Being now at an age +in which young women are initiated into company, I was no longer to be +supported in my former character, but at a considerable expense; so that +partly lest I should waste money, and partly lest my appearance might +draw too many compliments and assiduities, I was insensibly degraded +from my equality, and enjoyed few privileges above the head servant, but +that of receiving no wages. + +I felt every indignity, but knew that resentment would precipitate my +fall. I therefore endeavoured to continue my importance by little +services and active officiousness, and, for a time, preserved myself +from neglect, by withdrawing all pretences to competition, and studying +to please rather than to shine. But my interest, notwithstanding this +expedient, hourly declined, and my cousin's favourite maid began to +exchange repartees with me, and consult me about the alterations of a +cast gown. + +I was now completely depressed; and, though I had seen mankind enough to +know the necessity of outward cheerfulness, I often withdrew to my +chamber to vent my grief, or turn my condition in my mind, and examine +by what means I might escape from perpetual mortification. At last my +schemes and sorrows were interrupted by a sudden change of my relation's +behaviour, who one day took an occasion when we were left together in a +room, to bid me suffer myself no longer to be insulted, but assume the +place which he always intended me to hold in the family. He assured me +that his wife's preference of her own daughters should never hurt me; +and, accompanying his professions with a purse of gold, ordered me to +bespeak a rich suit at the mercer's, and to apply privately to him for +money when I wanted it, and insinuate that my other friends supplied me, +which he would take care to confirm. + +By this stratagem, which I did not then understand, he filled me with +tenderness and gratitude, compelled me to repose on him as my only +support, and produced a necessity of private conversation. He often +appointed interviews at the house of an acquaintance, and sometimes +called on me with a coach, and carried me abroad. My sense of his +favour, and the desire of retaining it, disposed me to unlimited +complaisance, and, though I saw his kindness grow every day more fond, I +did not suffer any suspicion to enter my thoughts. At last the wretch +took advantage of the familiarity which he enjoyed as my relation, and +the submission which he exacted as my benefactor, to complete the ruin +of an orphan, whom his own promises had made indigent, whom his +indulgence had melted, and his authority subdued. + +I know not why it should afford subject of exultation to overpower on +any terms the resolution, or surprise the caution of a girl; but of all +the boasters that deck themselves in the spoils of innocence and beauty, +they surely have the least pretensions to triumph, who submit to owe +their success to some casual influence. They neither employ the graces +of fancy, nor the force of understanding, in their attempts; they cannot +please their vanity with the art of their approaches, the delicacy of +their adulations, the elegance of their address, or the efficacy of +their eloquence; nor applaud themselves as possessed of any qualities, +by which affection is attracted. They surmount no obstacles, they defeat +no rivals, but attack only those who cannot resist, and are often +content to possess the body, without any solicitude to gain the heart. + +Many of those despicable wretches does my present acquaintance with +infamy and wickedness enable me to number among the heroes of +debauchery. Reptiles whom their own servants would have despised, had +they not been their servants, and with whom beggary would have disdained +intercourse, had she not been allured by hopes of relief. Many of the +beings which are now rioting in taverns, or shivering in the streets, +have been corrupted, not by arts of gallantry which stole gradually upon +the affections and laid prudence asleep, but by the fear of losing +benefits which were never intended, or of incurring resentment which +they could not escape; some have been frighted by masters, and some awed +by guardians into ruin. + +Our crime had its usual consequence, and he soon perceived that I could +not long continue in his family. I was distracted at the thought of the +reproach which I now believed inevitable. He comforted me with hopes of +eluding all discovery, and often upbraided me with the anxiety, which +perhaps none but himself saw in my countenance; but at last mingled his +assurances of protection and maintenance with menaces of total +desertion, if, in the moments of perturbation I should suffer his secret +to escape, or endeavour to throw on him any part of my infamy. + +Thus passed the dismal hours, till my retreat could no longer be +delayed. It was pretended that my relations had sent for me to a distant +county, and I entered upon a state which shall be described in my next +letter. + +I am, &c. + +MISELLA. + + + +No. 171. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1751. + + _Tædet coeli convexa tueri_. VIRG. Æn. iv. 451. + + Dark is the sun, and loathsome is the day. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +Misella now sits down to continue her narrative. I am convinced that +nothing would more powerfully preserve youth from irregularity, or guard +inexperience from seduction, than a just description of the condition +into which the wanton plunges herself; and therefore hope that my letter +may be a sufficient antidote to my example. + +After the distraction, hesitation, and delays which the timidity of +guilt naturally produces, I was removed to lodgings in a distant part of +the town, under one of the characters commonly assumed upon such +occasions. Here being by my circumstances condemned to solitude, I +passed most of my hours in bitterness and anguish. The conversation of +the people with whom I was placed was not at all capable of engaging my +attention, or dispossessing the reigning ideas. The books which I +carried to my retreat were such as heightened my abhorrence of myself; +for I was not so far abandoned as to sink voluntarily into corruption, +or endeavour to conceal from my own mind the enormity of my crime. + +My relation remitted none of his fondness, but visited me so often, that +I was sometimes afraid lest his assiduity should expose him to +suspicion. Whenever he came he found me weeping, and was therefore less +delightfully entertained than he expected. After frequent expostulations +upon the unreasonableness of my sorrow, and innumerable protestations of +everlasting regard, he at last found that I was more affected with the +loss of my innocence, than the danger of my fame, and that he might not +be disturbed by my remorse, began to lull my conscience with the opiates +of irreligion. His arguments were such as my course of life has since +exposed me often to the necessity of hearing, vulgar, empty, and +fallacious; yet they at first confounded me by their novelty, filled me +with doubt and perplexity, and interrupted that peace which I began to +feel from the sincerity of my repentance, without substituting any other +support. I listened a while to his impious gabble, but its influence was +soon overpowered by natural reason and early education, and the +convictions which this new attempt gave me of his baseness completed my +abhorrence. I have heard of barbarians, who, when tempests drive ships +upon their coast, decoy them to the rocks that they may plunder their +lading, and have always thought that wretches, thus merciless in their +depredations, ought to be destroyed by a general insurrection of all +social beings; yet how light is this guilt to the crime of him, who, in +the agitations of remorse, cuts away the anchor of piety, and, when he +has drawn aside credulity from the paths of virtue, hides the light of +heaven which would direct her to return. I had hitherto considered him +as a man equally betrayed with myself by the concurrence of appetite and +opportunity; but I now saw with horrour that he was contriving to +perpetuate his gratification, and was desirous to fit me to his purpose, +by complete and radical corruption. + +To escape, however, was not yet in my power. I could support the +expenses of my condition only by the continuance of his favour. He +provided all that was necessary, and in a few weeks congratulated me +upon my escape from the danger which we had both expected with so much +anxiety. I then began to remind him of his promise to restore me with my +fame uninjured to the world. He promised me in general terms, that +nothing should be wanting which his power could add to my happiness, but +forbore to release me from my confinement. I knew how much my reception +in the world depended upon my speedy return, and was therefore +outrageously impatient of his delays, which I now perceived to be only +artifices of lewdness. He told me at last, with an appearance of sorrow, +that all hopes of restoration to my former state were for ever +precluded; that chance had discovered my secret, and malice divulged it; +and that nothing now remained, but to seek a retreat more private, where +curiosity or hatred could never find us. + +The rage, anguish, and resentment, which I felt at this account are not +to be expressed. I was in so much dread of reproach and infamy, which he +represented as pursuing me with full cry, that I yielded myself +implicitly to his disposal and was removed, with a thousand studied +precautions, through by-ways and dark passages to another house, where I +harassed him with perpetual solicitations for a small annuity that might +enable me to live in the country in obscurity and innocence. + +This demand he at first evaded with ardent professions, but in time +appeared offended at my importunity and distrust; and having one day +endeavoured to sooth me with uncommon expressions of tenderness, when he +found my discontent immoveable, left me with some inarticulate murmurs +of anger. I was pleased that he was at last roused to sensibility, and +expecting that at his next visit he would comply with my request, lived +with great tranquillity upon the money in my hands, and was so much +pleased with this pause of persecution, that I did not reflect how much +his absence had exceeded the usual intervals, till I was alarmed with +the danger of wanting subsistence. I then suddenly contracted my +expenses, but was unwilling to supplicate for assistance. Necessity, +however, soon overcame my modesty or my pride, and I applied to him by a +letter, but had no answer. I writ in terms more pressing, but without +effect. I then sent an agent to inquire after him, who informed me, that +he had quitted his house, and was gone with his family to reside for +some time on his estate in Ireland. + +However shocked at this abrupt departure, I was yet unwilling to believe +that he could wholly abandon me, and therefore, by the sale of my +clothes, I supported myself, expecting that every post would bring me +relief. Thus I passed seven months between hope and dejection, in a +gradual approach to poverty and distress, emaciated with discontent, and +bewildered with uncertainty. At last my landlady, after many hints of +the necessity of a new lover, took the opportunity of my absence to +search my boxes, and missing some of my apparel, seized the remainder +for rent, and led me to the door. + +To remonstrate against legal cruelty, was vain; to supplicate obdurate +brutality, was hopeless. I went away I knew not whither, and wandered +about without any settled purpose, unacquainted with the usual +expedients of misery, unqualified for laborious offices, afraid to meet +an eye that had seen me before, and hopeless of relief from those who +were strangers to my former condition. Night came on in the midst of my +distraction, and I still continued to wander till the menaces of the +watch obliged me to shelter myself in a covered passage. + +Next day, I procured a lodging in the backward garret of a mean house, +and employed my landlady to inquire for a service. My applications were +generally rejected for want of a character. At length I was received at +a draper's, but when it was known to my mistress that I had only one +gown, and that of silk, she was of opinion that I looked like a thief, +and without warning hurried me away. I then tried to support myself by +my needle; and, by my landlady's recommendation obtained a little work +from a shop, and for three weeks lived without repining; but when my +punctuality had gained me so much reputation, that I was trusted to make +up a head of some value, one of my fellow-lodgers stole the lace, and I +was obliged to fly from a prosecution. + +Thus driven again into the streets, I lived upon the least that could +support me, and at night accommodated myself under pent-houses as well +as I could. At length I became absolutely pennyless, and having strolled +all day without sustenance, was, at the close of evening, accosted by an +elderly man, with an invitation to a tavern. I refused him with +hesitation; he seized me by the hand, and drew me into a neighbouring +house, where, when he saw my face pale with hunger, and my eyes swelling +with tears, he spurned me from him, and bade me cant and whine in some +other place; he for his part would take care of his pockets. + +I still continued to stand in the way, having scarcely strength to walk +further, when another soon addressed me in the same manner. When he saw +the same tokens of calamity, he considered that I might be obtained at a +cheap rate, and therefore quickly made overtures, which I no longer had +firmness to reject. By this man I was maintained four months in +penurious wickedness, and then abandoned to my former condition, from +which I was delivered by another keeper. + +In this abject state I have now passed four years, the drudge of +extortion and the sport of drunkenness; sometimes the property of one +man, and sometimes the common prey of accidental lewdness; at one time +tricked up for sale by the mistress of a brothel, at another begging in +the streets to be relieved from hunger by wickedness; without any hope +in the day but of finding some whom folly or excess may expose to my +allurements, and without any reflections at night, but such as guilt and +terrour impress upon me. + +If those who pass their days in plenty and security, could visit for an +hour the dismal receptacles to which the prostitute retires from her +nocturnal excursions, and see the wretches that lie crowded together, +mad with intemperance, ghastly with famine, nauseous with filth, and +noisome with disease; it would not be easy for any degree of abhorrence +to harden them against compassion, or to repress the desire which they +must immediately feel to rescue such numbers of human beings from a +state so dreadful. + +It is said, that in France they annually evacuate their streets, and +ship their prostitutes and vagabonds to their colonies. If the women +that infest this city had the same opportunity of escaping from their +miseries, I believe very little force would be necessary; for who among +them can dread any change? Many of us indeed are wholly unqualified for +any but the most servile employments, and those perhaps would require +the care of a magistrate to hinder them from following the same +practices in another country; but others are only precluded by infamy +from reformation, and would gladly be delivered on any terms from the +necessity of guilt, and the tyranny of chance. No place but a populous +city, can afford opportunities for open prostitution; and where the eye +of justice can attend to individuals, those who cannot be made good may +be restrained from mischief. For my part, I should exult at the +privilege of banishment, and think myself happy in any region that +should restore me once again to honesty and peace. + +I am, Sir, &c. + +MISELLA. + + + +No. 172. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1751. + + _Sæpe rogare soles, qualis sim, Prisce, futurus, + Si fiam locuples, simque repente potens. + Quemquam posse putas mores narrare futuros? + Die mihi, si fias tu leo, qualis eris?_ MART. Lib. xii. Ep. 93. + + Priscus, you've often ask'd me how I'd live, + Should fate at once both wealth and honour give. + What soul his future conduct can foresee? + Tell me what sort of lion you would be. F. LEWIS. + +Nothing has been longer observed, than that a change of fortune causes a +change of manners; and that it is difficult to conjecture from the +conduct of him whom we see in a low condition, how he would act, if +wealth and power were put into his hands. But it is generally agreed, +that few men are made better by affluence or exaltation; and that the +powers of the mind, when they are unbound and expanded by the sunshine +of felicity, more frequently luxuriate into follies, than blossom into +goodness. + +Many observations have concurred to establish this opinion, and it is +not likely soon to become obsolete, for want of new occasions to revive +it. The greater part of mankind are corrupt in every condition, and +differ in high and in low stations, only as they have more or fewer +opportunities of gratifying their desires, or as they are more or less +restrained by human censures. Many vitiate their principles in the +acquisition of riches; and who can wonder that what is gained by fraud +and extortion is enjoyed with tyranny and excess? + +Yet I am willing to believe that the depravation of the mind by external +advantages, though certainly not uncommon, yet approaches not so nearly +to universality, as some have asserted in the bitterness of resentment, +or heat of declamation. + +Whoever rises above those who once pleased themselves with equality, +will have many malevolent gazers at his eminence. To gain sooner than +others that which all pursue with the same ardour, and to which all +imagine themselves entitled, will for ever be a crime. When those who +started with us in the race of life, leave us so far behind, that we +have little hope to overtake them, we revenge our disappointment by +remarks on the arts of supplantation by which they gained the advantage, +or on the folly and arrogance with which they possess it. Of them, whose +rise we could not hinder, we solace ourselves by prognosticating the +fall. + +It is impossible for human purity not to betray to an eye, thus +sharpened by malignity, some stains which lay concealed and unregarded, +while none thought it their interest to discover them; nor can the most +circumspect attention, or steady rectitude, escape blame from censors, +who have no inclination to approve. Riches therefore, perhaps, do not so +often produce crimes as incite accusers. + +The common charge against those who rise above their original condition, +is that of pride. It is certain that success naturally confirms us in a +favourable opinion of our own abilities. Scarce any man is willing to +allot to accident, friendship, and a thousand causes, which concur in +every event without human contrivance or interposition, the part which +they may justly claim in his advancement. We rate ourselves by our +fortune rather than our virtues, and exorbitant claims are quickly +produced by imaginary merit. But captiousness and jealousy are likewise +easily offended, and to him who studiously looks for an affront, every +mode of behaviour will supply it; freedom will be rudeness, and reserve +sullenness; mirth will be negligence, and seriousness formality; when he +is received with ceremony, distance and respect are inculcated; if he is +treated with familiarity, he concludes himself insulted by +condescensions. + +It must however be confessed, that as all sudden changes are dangerous, +a quick transition from poverty to abundance can seldom be made with +safety. He that has long lived within sight of pleasures which he could +not reach, will need more than common moderation, not to lose his reason +in unbounded riot, when they are first put into his power. + +Every possession is endeared by novelty; every gratification is +exaggerated by desire. It is difficult not to estimate what is lately +gained above its real value; it is impossible not to annex greater +happiness to that condition from which we are unwillingly excluded, than +nature has qualified us to obtain. For this reason, the remote inheritor +of an unexpected fortune, may be generally distinguished from those who +are enriched in the common course of lineal descent, by his greater +haste to enjoy his wealth, by the finery of his dress, the pomp of his +equipage, the splendour of his furniture, and the luxury of his table. + +A thousand things which familiarity discovers to be of little value, +have power for a time to seize the imagination. A Virginian king, when +the Europeans had fixed a lock on his door, was so delighted to find his +subjects admitted or excluded with such facility, that it was from +morning to evening his whole employment to turn the key. We, among whom +locks and keys have been longer in use, are inclined to laugh at this +American amusement; yet I doubt whether this paper will have a single +reader that may not apply the story to himself, and recollect some hours +of his life in which he has been equally overpowered by the transitory +charms of trifling novelty. + +Some indulgence is due to him whom a happy gale of fortune has suddenly +transported into new regions, where unaccustomed lustre dazzles his +eyes, and untasted delicacies solicit his appetite. Let him not be +considered as lost in hopeless degeneracy, though he for a while forgets +the regard due to others, to indulge the contemplation of himself, and +in the extravagance of his first raptures expects that his eye should +regulate the motions of all that approach him, and his opinion be +received as decisive and oraculous. His intoxication will give way to +time; the madness of joy will fume imperceptibly away; the sense of his +insufficiency will soon return; he will remember that the co-operation +of others is necessary to his happiness, and learn to conciliate their +regard by reciprocal beneficence. + +There is, at least, one consideration which ought to alleviate our +censures of the powerful and rich. To imagine them chargeable with all +the guilt and folly of their own actions, is to be very little +acquainted with the world. + + _De l'absolu pouvoir vous ignorez l'yvresse, + Et du lache flateur la voix enchanteresse_. + + Thou hast not known the giddy whirls of fate, + Nor servile flatteries which enchant the great. Miss A. W. + +He that can do much good or harm, will not find many whom ambition or +cowardice will suffer to be sincere. While we live upon the level with +the rest of mankind, we are reminded of our duty by the admonitions of +friends and reproaches of enemies; but men who stand in the highest +ranks of society, seldom hear of their faults; if by any accident an +opprobrious clamour reaches their ears, flattery is always at hand to +pour in her opiates, to quiet conviction, and obtund remorse. + +Favour is seldom gained but by conformity in vice. Virtue can stand +without assistance, and considers herself as very little obliged by +countenance and approbation: but vice, spiritless and timorous, seeks +the shelter of crowds, and support of confederacy. The sycophant, +therefore, neglects the good qualities of his patron, and employs all +his art on his weaknesses and follies, regales his reigning vanity, or +stimulates his prevalent desires. + +Virtue is sufficiently difficult with any circumstances, but the +difficulty is increased when reproof and advice are frighted away. In +common life, reason and conscience have only the appetites and passions +to encounter; but in higher stations, they must oppose artifice and +adulation. He, therefore, that yields to such temptations, cannot give +those who look upon his miscarriage much reason for exultation, since +few can justly presume that from the same snare they should have been +able to escape. + + + +No. 173. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1751. + + _Quo virtus, quo ferat error_. HOR. De Ar. Poet. 308. + + Now say, where virtue stops, and vice begins? + +As any action or posture, long continued, will distort and disfigure the +limbs; so the mind likewise is crippled and contracted by perpetual +application to the same set of ideas. It is easy to guess the trade of +an artizan by his knees, his fingers, or his shoulders: and there are +few among men of the more liberal professions, whose minds do not carry +the brand of their calling, or whose conversation does not quickly +discover to what class of the community they belong. + +These peculiarities have been of great use, in the general hostility +which every part of mankind exercises against the rest, to furnish +insults and sarcasms. Every art has its dialect, uncouth and ungrateful +to all whom custom has not reconciled to its sound, and which therefore +becomes ridiculous by a slight misapplication, or unnecessary +repetition. + +The general reproach with which ignorance revenges the superciliousness +of learning, is that of pedantry; a censure which every man incurs, who +has at any time the misfortune to talk to those who cannot understand +him, and by which the modest and timorous are sometimes frighted from +the display of their acquisitions, and the exertion of their powers. + +The name of a pedant is so formidable to young men when they first sally +from their colleges, and is so liberally scattered by those who mean to +boast their elegance of education, easiness of manners, and knowledge of +the world, that it seems to require particular consideration; since, +perhaps, if it were once understood, many a heart might be freed from +painful apprehensions, and many a tongue, delivered from restraint. + +Pedantry is the unseasonable ostentation of learning. It may be +discovered either in the choice of a subject, or in the manner of +treating it. He is undoubtedly guilty of pedantry, who, when he has made +himself master of some abstruse and uncultivated part of knowledge, +obtrudes his remarks and discoveries upon those whom he believes unable +to judge of his proficiency, and from whom, as he cannot fear +contradiction, he cannot properly expect applause. + +To this errour the student is sometimes betrayed by the natural +recurrence of the mind to its common employment, by the pleasure which +every man receives from the recollection of pleasing images, and the +desire of dwelling upon topicks, on which he knows himself able to speak +with justness. But because we are seldom so far prejudiced in favour of +each other, as to search out for palliations, this failure of politeness +is imputed always to vanity; and the harmless collegiate, who, perhaps, +intended entertainment and instruction, or at worst only spoke without +sufficient reflection upon the character of his hearers, is censured as +arrogant or overbearing, and eager to extend his renown, in contempt of +the convenience of society and the laws of conversation. + +All discourse of which others cannot partake, is not only an irksome +usurpation of the time devoted to pleasure and entertainment, but what +never fails to excite very keen resentment, an insolent assertion of +superiority, and a triumph over less enlightened understandings. The +pedant is, therefore, not only heard with weariness, but malignity; and +those who conceive themselves insulted by his knowledge, never fail to +tell with acrimony how injudiciously it was exerted. + +To avoid this dangerous imputation, scholars sometimes divest themselves +with too much haste of their academical formality, and in their +endeavours to accommodate their notions and their style to common +conceptions, talk rather of any thing than of that which they +understand, and sink into insipidity of sentiment and meanness of +expression. + +There prevails among men of letters an opinion, that all appearance of +science is particularly hateful to women; and that therefore, whoever +desires to be well received in female assemblies, must qualify himself +by a total rejection of all that is serious, rational, or important; +must consider argument or criticism, as perpetually interdicted; and +devote all his attention to trifles, and all his eloquence to +compliment. + +Students often form their notions of the present generation from the +writings of the past, and are not very early informed of those changes +which the gradual diffusion of knowledge, or the sudden caprice of +fashion, produces in the world. Whatever might be the state of female +literature in the last century, there is now no longer any danger lest +the scholar should want an adequate audience at the tea-table; and +whoever thinks it necessary to regulate his conversation by antiquated +rules, will be rather despised for his futility than caressed for his +politeness. + +To talk intentionally in a manner above the comprehension of those whom +we address, is unquestionable pedantry; but surely complaisance +requires, that no man should, without proof, conclude his company +incapable of following him to the highest elevation of his fancy, or the +utmost extent of his knowledge. It is always safer to err in favour of +others than of ourselves, and therefore we seldom hazard much by +endeavouring to excel. + +It ought at least to be the care of learning, when she quits her +exaltation, to descend with dignity. Nothing is more despicable than the +airiness and jocularity of a man bred to severe science, and solitary +meditation. To trifle agreeably is a secret which schools cannot impart; +that gay negligence and vivacious levity, which charm down resistance +wherever they appear, are never attainable by him who, having spent his +first years among the dust of libraries, enters late into the gay world +with an unpliant attention and established habits. + +It is observed in the panegyrick on Fabricius the mechanist, that, +though forced by publick employments into mingled conversation, he never +lost the modesty and seriousness of the convent, nor drew ridicule upon +himself by an affected imitation of fashionable life. To the same praise +every man devoted to learning ought to aspire. If he attempts the softer +arts of pleasing, and endeavours to learn the graceful bow and the +familiar embrace, the insinuating accent and the general smile, he will +lose the respect due to the character of learning, without arriving at +the envied honour of doing any thing with elegance and facility. + +Theophrastus was discovered not to be a native of Athens, by so strict +an adherence to the Attick dialect, as shewed that he had learned it not +by custom, but by rule. A man not early formed to habitual elegance, +betrays, in like manner, the effects of his education, by an unnecessary +anxiety of behaviour. It is as possible to become pedantick, by fear of +pedantry, as to be troublesome by ill-timed civility. There is no kind +of impertinence more justly censurable than his who is always labouring +to level thoughts to intellects higher than his own; who apologizes for +every word which his own narrowness of converse inclines him to think +unusual; keeps the exuberance of his faculties under visible restraint; +is solicitous to anticipate inquiries by needless explanations; and +endeavours to shade his own abilities, lest weak eyes should be dazzled +with their lustre. + + + +No. 174. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1751. + + _Faenum habet in cornu, longe fuge; dummodo risum + Excutiat sibi, non hic cuiquam parcet amico_. + HOR. Lib. i. Sat. iv. 34. + + Yonder he drives--avoid that furious beast: + If he may have his jest, he never cares + At whose expense; nor friend nor patron spares. FRANCIS. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +MR. RAMBLER, + +The laws of social benevolence require, that every man should endeavour +to assist others by his experience. He that has at last escaped into +port from the fluctuations of chance, and the gusts of opposition, ought +to make some improvements in the chart of life, by marking the rocks on +which he has been dashed, and the shallows where he has been stranded. + +The errour into which I was betrayed, when custom first gave me up to my +own direction, is very frequently incident to the quick, the sprightly, +the fearless, and the gay; to all whose ardour hurries them into +precipitate execution of their designs, and imprudent declaration of +their opinions; who seldom count the cost of pleasure, or examine the +distant consequences of any practice that flatters them with immediate +gratification. + +I came forth into the crowded world with the usual juvenile ambition, +and desired nothing beyond the title of a wit. Money I considered as +below my care; for I saw such multitudes grow rich without +understanding, that I could not forbear to look on wealth as an +acquisition easy to industry directed by genius, and therefore threw it +aside as a secondary convenience, to be procured when my principal wish +should be satisfied, and the claim to intellectual excellence +universally acknowledged. + +With this view I regulated my behaviour in publick, and exercised my +meditations in solitude. My life was divided between the care of +providing topicks for the entertainment of my company, and that of +collecting company worthy to be entertained; for I soon found, that wit, +like every other power, has its boundaries; that its success depends +upon the aptitude of others to receive impressions; and that as some +bodies, indissoluble by heat, can set the furnace and crucible at +defiance, there are minds upon which the rays of fancy may be pointed +without effect, and which no fire of sentiment can agitate or exalt. + +It was, however, not long before I fitted myself with a set of +companions who knew how to laugh, and to whom no other recommendation +was necessary than the power of striking out a jest. Among those I fixed +my residence, and for a time enjoyed the felicity of disturbing the +neighbours every night with the obstreperous applause which my sallies +forced from the audience. The reputation of our club every day +increased, and as my flights and remarks were circulated by my admirers, +every day brought new solicitations for admission into our society. + +To support this perpetual fund of merriment, I frequented every place of +concourse, cultivated the acquaintance of all the fashionable race, and +passed the day in a continual succession of visits, in which I collected +a treasure of pleasantry for the expenses of the evening. Whatever +errour of conduct I could discover, whatever peculiarity of manner I +could observe, whatever weakness was betrayed by confidence, whatever +lapse was suffered by neglect, all was drawn together for the diversion +of my wild companions, who when they had been taught the art of +ridicule, never failed to signalize themselves by a zealous imitation, +and filled the town on the ensuing day with scandal and vexation, with +merriment and shame. + +I can scarcely believe, when I recollect my own practice, that I could +have been so far deluded with petty praise, as to divulge the secrets of +trust, and to expose the levities of frankness; to waylay the walks of +the cautious, and surprise the security of the thoughtless. Yet it is +certain, that for many years I heard nothing but with design to tell it, +and saw nothing with any other curiosity than after some failure that +might furnish out a jest. + +My heart, indeed, acquits me of deliberate malignity, or interested +insidiousness. I had no other purpose than to heighten the pleasure of +laughter by communication, nor ever raised any pecuniary advantage from +the calamities of others. I led weakness and negligence into +difficulties, only that I might divert myself with their perplexities +and distresses; and violated every law of friendship, with no other hope +than that of gaining the reputation of smartness and waggery. + +I would not be understood to charge myself with any crimes of the +atrocious or destructive kind. I never betrayed an heir to gamesters, or +a girl to bebauchees; [Transcriber's note: sic] never intercepted the +kindness of a patron, or sported away the reputation of innocence. My +delight was only in petty mischief, and momentary vexations, and my +acuteness was employed not upon fraud and oppression, which it had been +meritorious to detect, but upon harmless ignorance or absurdity, +prejudice or mistake. + +This inquiry I pursued with so much diligence and sagacity, that I was +able to relate, of every man whom I knew, some blunder or miscarriage; +to betray the most circumspect of my friends into follies, by a +judicious flattery of his predominant passion; or expose him to +contempt, by placing him in circumstances which put his prejudices into +action, brought to view his natural defects, or drew the attention of +the company on his airs of affectation. + +The power had been possessed in vain if it had never been exerted; and +it was not my custom to let any arts of jocularity remain unemployed. My +impatience of applause brought me always early to the place of +entertainment; and I seldom failed to lay a scheme with the small knot +that first gathered round me, by which some of those whom we expected +might be made subservient to our sport. Every man has some favourite +topick of conversation, on which, by a feigned seriousness of attention, +he may be drawn to expatiate without end. Every man has some habitual +contortion of body, or established mode of expression, which never fails +to raise mirth if it be pointed out to notice. By premonitions of these +particularities I secured our pleasantry. Our companion entered with his +usual gaiety, and began to partake of our noisy cheerfulness, when the +conversation was imperceptibly diverted to a subject which pressed upon +his tender part, and extorted the expected shrug, the customary +exclamation, or the predicted remark. A general clamour of joy then +burst from all that were admitted to the stratagem. Our mirth was often +increased by the triumph of him that occasioned it; for as we do not +hastily form conclusions against ourselves, seldom any one suspected, +that he had exhilarated us otherwise than by wit. + +You will hear, I believe, with very little surprise, that by this +conduct I had in a short time united mankind against me, and that every +tongue was diligent in prevention or revenge. I soon perceived myself +regarded with malevolence or distrust, but wondered what had been +discovered in me either terrible or hateful. I had invaded no man's +property; I had rivalled no man's claims: nor had ever engaged in any of +those attempts which provoke the jealousy of ambition or the rage of +faction. I had lived but to laugh, and make others laugh; and believed +that I was loved by all who caressed, and favoured by all who applauded +me. I never imagined, that he who, in the mirth of a nocturnal revel, +concurred in ridiculing his friend, would consider, in a cooler hour, +that the same trick might be played against himself; or that even where +there is no sense of danger, the natural pride of human nature rises +against him, who, by general censures, lays claim to general +superiority. + +I was convinced, by a total desertion, of the impropriety of my conduct; +every man avoided, and cautioned others to avoid me. Wherever I came, I +found silence and dejection, coldness and terrour. No one would venture +to speak, lest he should lay himself open to unfavourable +representations; the company, however numerous, dropped off at my +entrance upon various pretences; and, if I retired to avoid the shame of +being left, I heard confidence and mirth revive at my departure. + +If those whom I had thus offended could have contented themselves with +repaying one insult for another, and kept up the war only by a +reciprocation of sarcasms, they might have perhaps vexed, but would +never have much hurt me; for no man heartily hates him at whom he can +laugh. But these wounds which they give me as they fly, are without +cure; this alarm which they spread by their solicitude to escape me, +excludes me from all friendship and from all pleasure. I am condemned to +pass a long interval of my life in solitude, as a man suspected of +infection is refused admission into cities; and must linger in +obscurity, till my conduct shall convince the world, that I may be +approached without hazard. + +I am, &c. + +DICACULUS. + + + +No. 175. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1751. + + _Rari quippe boni: numerus vix est totidem quot + Thebarum portae, vel divitis ostia Nili_. Juv. Sat. xiii. 26. + + Good men are scarce; the just are thinly sown: + They thrive but ill, nor can they last when grown; + And should we count them, and our store compile, + Yet Thebes more gates could show, more mouths the Nile. CREECH. + +None of the axioms of wisdom which recommend the ancient sages to +veneration, seem to have required less extent of knowledge or +perspicacity of penetration, than the remarks of Bias, that [Greek: oi +pleones kakoi], "the majority are wicked." + +The depravity of mankind is so easily discoverable, that nothing but the +desert or the cell can exclude it from notice. The knowledge of crimes +intrudes uncalled and undesired. They whom their abstraction from common +occurrences hinders from seeing iniquity, will quickly have their +attention awakened by feeling it. Even he who ventures not into the +world, may learn its corruption in his closet. For what are treatises of +morality, but persuasives to the practice of duties, for which no +arguments would be necessary, but that we are continually tempted to +violate or neglect them? What are all the records of history, but +narratives of successive villanies, of treasons and usurpations, +massacres and wars? + +But, perhaps, the excellence of aphorisms consists not so much in the +expression of some rare and abstruse sentiment, as in the comprehension +of some obvious and useful truths in a few words. We frequently fall +into errour and folly, not because the true principles of action are not +known, but because, for a time, they are not remembered; and he may, +therefore, be justly numbered among the benefactors of mankind, who +contracts the great rules of life into short sentences, that may be +easily impressed on the memory, and taught by frequent recollection to +recur habitually to the mind. + +However those who have passed through half the life of man, may now +wonder that any should require to be cautioned against corruption, they +will find that they have themselves purchased their conviction by many +disappointments and vexations which an earlier knowledge would have +spared them; and may see, on every side, some entangling themselves in +perplexities, and some sinking into ruin, by ignorance or neglect of the +maxim of Bias. + +Every day sends out, in quest of pleasure and distinction, some heir +fondled in ignorance, and flattered into pride. He comes forth with all +the confidence of a spirit unacquainted with superiors, and all the +benevolence of a mind not yet irritated by opposition, alarmed by fraud, +or embittered by cruelty. He loves all, because he imagines himself the +universal favourite. Every exchange of salutation produces new +acquaintance, and every acquaintance kindles into friendship. + +Every season brings a new flight of beauties into the world, who have +hitherto heard only of their own charms, and imagine that the heart +feels no passion but that of love. They are soon surrounded by admirers +whom they credit, because they tell them only what is heard with +delight. Whoever gazes upon them is a lover; and whoever forces a sigh, +is pining in despair. + +He surely is a useful monitor, who inculcates to these thoughtless +strangers, that the _majority are wicked_; who informs them, that the +train which wealth and beauty draw after them, is lured only by the +scent of prey; and that, perhaps, among all those who crowd about them +with professions and flatteries, there is not one who does not hope for +some opportunity to devour or betray them, to glut himself by their +destruction, or to share their spoils with a stronger savage. + +Virtue presented singly to the imagination or the reason, is so well +recommended by its own graces, and so strongly supported by arguments, +that a good man wonders how any can be bad; and they who are ignorant of +the force of passion and interest, who never observed the arts of +seduction, the contagion of example, the gradual descent from one crime +to another, or the insensible depravation of the principles by loose +conversation, naturally expect to find integrity in every bosom, and +veracity on every tongue. + +It is, indeed, impossible not to hear from those who have lived longer, +of wrongs and falsehoods, of violence and circumvention; but such +narratives are commonly regarded by the young, the heady, and the +confident, as nothing more than the murmurs of peevishness, or the +dreams of dotage; and, notwithstanding all the documents of hoary +wisdom, we commonly plunge into the world fearless and credulous, +without any foresight of danger, or apprehension of deceit. + +I have remarked, in a former paper, that credulity is the common failing +of unexperienced virtue; and that he who is spontaneously suspicious, +may be justly charged with radical corruption; for, if he has not known +the prevalence of dishonesty by information, nor had time to observe it +with his own eyes, whence can he take his measures of judgment but from +himself? + +They who best deserve to escape the snares of artifice, are most likely +to be entangled. He that endeavours to live for the good of others, must +always be exposed to the arts of them who live only for themselves, +unless he is taught by timely precepts the caution required in common +transactions, and shewn at a distance the pitfalls of treachery. + +To youth, therefore, it should be carefully inculcated, that, to enter +the road of life without caution or reserve, in expectation of general +fidelity and justice, is to launch on the wide ocean without the +instruments of steerage, and to hope that every wind will be prosperous, +and that every coast will afford a harbour. + +To enumerate the various motives to deceit and injury, would be to count +all the desires that prevail among the sons of men; since there is no +ambition however petty, no wish however absurd, that by indulgence will +not be enabled to overpower the influence of virtue. Many there are, who +openly and almost professedly regulate all their conduct by their love +of money; who have no other reason for action or forbearance, for +compliance or refusal, than that they hope to gain more by one than by +the other. These are indeed the meanest and cruellest of human beings, a +race with whom, as with some pestiferous animals, the whole creation +seems to be at war; but who, however detested or scorned, long continue +to add heap to heap, and when they have reduced one to beggary, are +still permitted to fasten on another. + +Others, yet less rationally wicked, pass their lives in mischief, +because they cannot bear the sight of success, and mark out every man +for hatred, whose fame or fortune they believe increasing. + +Many who have not advanced to these degrees of guilt are yet wholly +unqualified for friendship, and unable to maintain any constant or +regular course of kindness. Happiness may be destroyed not only by union +with the man who is apparently the slave of interest, but with him whom +a wild opinion of the dignity of perseverance, in whatever cause, +disposes to pursue every injury with unwearied and perpetual resentment; +with him whose vanity inclines him to consider every man as a rival in +every pretension; with him whose airy negligence puts his friend's +affairs or secrets in continual hazard, and who thinks his forgetfulness +of others excused by his inattention to himself; and with him whose +inconstancy ranges without any settled rule of choice through varieties +of friendship, and who adopts and dismisses favourites by the sudden +impulse of caprice. + +Thus numerous are the dangers to which the converse of mankind exposes +us, and which can be avoided only by prudent distrust. He therefore +that, remembering this salutary maxim, learns early to withhold his +fondness from fair appearances, will have reason to pay some honours to +Bias of Priene, who enabled him to become wise without the cost of +experience. + + + +No. 176. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1751 + + --_Naso suspendis adunco_. HOR. Lib. i. Sat. vi. 5. + + On me you turn the nose.-- + +There are many vexatious accidents and uneasy situations which raise +little compassion for the sufferer, and which no man but those whom they +immediately distress can regard with seriousness. Petty mischiefs, that +have no influence on futurity, nor extend their effects to the rest of +life, are always seen with a kind of malicious pleasure. A mistake or +embarrassment, which for the present moment fills the face with blushes, +and the mind with confusion, will have no other effect upon those who +observe it, than that of convulsing them with irresistible laughter. +Some circumstances of misery are so powerfully ridiculous, that neither +kindness nor duty can withstand them; they bear down love, interest, and +reverence, and force the friend, the dependent, or the child, to give +way to, instantaneous motions of merriment. + +Among the principal of comick calamities, may be reckoned the pain which +an author, not yet hardened into insensibility, feels at the onset of a +furious critick, whose age, rank, or fortune, gives him confidence to +speak without reserve; who heaps one objection upon another, and +obtrudes his remarks, and enforces his corrections, without tenderness +or awe. + +The author, full of the importance of his work, and anxious for the +justification of every syllable, starts and kindles at the slightest +attack; the critick, eager to establish his superiority, triumphing in +every discovery of failure, and zealous to impress the cogency of his +arguments, pursues him from line to line without cessation or remorse. +The critick, who hazards little, proceeds with vehemence, impetuosity, +and fearlessness; the author, whose quiet and fame, and life and +immortality, are involved in the controversy, tries every art of +subterfuge and defence; maintains modestly what he resolves never to +yield, and yields unwillingly what cannot be maintained. The critick's +purpose is to conquer, the author only hopes to escape; the critick +therefore knits his brow, and raises his voice, and rejoices whenever he +perceives any tokens of pain excited by the pressure of his assertions, +or the point of his sarcasms. The author, whose endeavour is at once to +mollify and elude his persecutor, composes his features and softens his +accent, breaks the force of assault by retreat, and rather steps aside +than flies or advances. + +As it very seldom happens that the rage of extemporary criticism +inflicts fatal or lasting wounds, I know not that the laws of +benevolence entitle this distress to much sympathy. The diversion of +baiting an author has the sanction of all ages and nations, and is more +lawful than the sport of teasing other animals, because, for the most +part, he comes voluntarily to the stake, furnished, as he imagines, by +the patron powers of literature, with resistless weapons, and +impenetrable armour, with the mail of the boar of Erymanth, and the paws +of the lion of Nemea. + +But the works of genius are sometimes produced by other motives than +vanity; and he whom necessity or duty enforces to write, is not always +so well satisfied with himself, as not to be discouraged by censorious +impudence. It may therefore be necessary to consider, how they whom +publication lays open to the insults of such as their obscurity secures +against reprisals, may extricate themselves from unexpected encounters. + +Vida, a man of considerable skill in the politicks of literature, +directs his pupil wholly to abandon his defence, and even when he can +irrefragably refute all objections, to suffer tamely the exultations of +his antagonist. + +This rule may perhaps be just, when advice is asked, and severity +solicited, because no man tells his opinion so freely as when he +imagines it received with implicit veneration; and criticks ought never +to be consulted, but while errours may yet be rectified or insipidity +suppressed. But when the book has once been dismissed into the world, +and can be no more retouched, I know not whether a very different +conduct should not be prescribed, and whether firmness and spirit may +not sometimes be of use to overpower arrogance and repel brutality. +Softness, diffidence, and moderation, will often be mistaken for +imbecility and dejection; they hire cowardice to the attack by the hopes +of easy victory, and it will soon be found that he whom every man thinks +he can conquer, shall never be at peace. + +The animadversions of criticks are commonly such as may easily provoke +the sedatest writer to some quickness of resentment and asperity of +reply. A man, who by long consideration has familiarized a subject to +his own mind, carefully surveyed the series of his thoughts, and planned +all the parts of his composition into a regular dependance on each +other, will often start at the sinistrous interpretations or absurd +remarks of haste and ignorance, and wonder by what infatuation they have +been led away from the obvious sense, and upon what peculiar principles +of judgment they decide against him. + +The eye of the intellect, like that of the body, is not equally perfect +in all, nor equally adapted in any to all objects; the end of criticism +is to supply its defects; rules are the instruments of mental vision, +which may indeed assist our faculties when properly used, but produce +confusion and obscurity by unskilful application. + +Some seem always to read with the microscope of criticism, and employ +their whole attention upon minute elegance, or faults scarcely visible +to common observation. The dissonance of a syllable, the recurrence of +the same sound, the repetition of a particle, the smallest deviation +from propriety, the slightest defect in construction or arrangement, +swell before their eyes into enormities. As they discern with great +exactness, they comprehend but a narrow compass, and know nothing of the +justness of the design, the general spirit of the performance, the +artifice of connection, or the harmony of the parts; they never, +conceive how small a proportion that which they are busy in +contemplating bears to the whole, or how the petty inaccuracies, with +which they are offended, are absorbed and lost in general excellence. + +Others are furnished by criticism with a telescope. They see with great +clearness whatever is too remote to be discovered by the rest of +mankind, but are totally blind to all that lies immediately before them. +They discover in every passage some secret meaning, some remote +allusion, some artful allegory, or some occult imitation, which no other +reader ever suspected; but they have no perception of the cogency of +arguments, the force of pathetick sentiments, the various colours of +diction, or the flowery embellishments of fancy; of all that engages the +attention of others they are totally insensible, while they pry into +worlds of conjecture, and amuse themselves with phantoms in the clouds. + +In criticism, as in every other art, we fail sometimes by our weakness, +but more frequently by our fault. We are sometimes bewildered by +ignorance, and sometimes by prejudice, but we seldom deviate far from +the right, but when we deliver ourselves up to the direction of vanity. + + + +No. 177. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1751. + + _Turpe est difficiles habere nugas_. MART. Lib. ii. Ep. lxxxvi. 9. + + Those things which now seem frivolous and slight, + Will be of serious consequence to you, + When they have made you once ridiculous. ROSCOMMON. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +When I was, at the usual time, about to enter upon the profession to +which my friends had destined me, being summoned, by the death of my +father, into the country, I found myself master of an unexpected sum of +money, and of an estate, which, though not large, was, in my opinion, +sufficient to support me in a condition far preferable to the fatigue, +dependance, and uncertainty of any gainful occupation. I therefore +resolved to devote the rest of my life wholly to curiosity, and without +any confinement of my excursions, or termination of my views, to wander +over the boundless regions of general knowledge. + +This scheme of life seemed pregnant with inexhaustible variety, and +therefore I could not forbear to congratulate myself upon the wisdom of +my choice. I furnished a large room with all conveniences for study; +collected books of every kind; quitted every science at the first +perception of disgust; returned to it again as soon as my former ardour +happened to revive; and having no rival to depress me by comparison, nor +any critick to alarm me with objections, I spent day after day in +profound tranquillity, with only so much complaisance in my own +improvements, as served to excite and animate my application. + +Thus I lived for some years with complete acquiescence in my own plan of +conduct, rising early to read, and dividing the latter part of the day +between economy, exercise, and reflection. But, in time, I began to find +my mind contracted and stiffened by solitude. My ease and elegance were +sensibly impaired; I was no longer able to accommodate myself with +readiness to the accidental current of conversation; my notions grew +particular and paradoxical, and my phraseology formal and unfashionable; +I spoke, on common occasions, the language of books. My quickness of +apprehension, and celerity of reply, had entirely deserted me; when I +delivered my opinion, or detailed my knowledge, I was bewildered by an +unseasonable interrogatory, disconcerted by any slight opposition, and +overwhelmed and lost in dejection, when the smallest advantage was +gained against me in dispute. I became decisive and dogmatical, +impatient of contradiction, perpetually jealous of my character, +insolent to such as acknowledged my superiority, and sullen and +malignant to all who refused to receive my dictates. + +This I soon discovered to be one of those intellectual diseases which a +wise man should make haste to cure. I therefore resolved for a time to +shut my books, and learn again the art of conversation; to defecate and +clear my mind by brisker motions, and stronger impulses; and to unite +myself once more to the living generation. + +For this purpose I hasted to London, and entreated one of my academical +acquaintances to introduce me into some of the little societies of +literature which are formed in taverns and coffee-houses. He was pleased +with an opportunity of shewing me to his friends, and soon obtained me +admission among a select company of curious men, who met once a week to +exhilarate their studies, and compare their acquisitions. + +The eldest and most venerable of this society was Hirsutus, who, after +the first civilities of my reception, found means to introduce the +mention of his favourite studies, by a severe censure of those who want +the due regard for their native country. He informed me, that he had +early withdrawn his attention from foreign trifles, and that since he +began to addict his mind to serious and manly studies, he had very +carefully amassed all the English books that were printed in the black +character. This search he had pursued so diligently, that he was able to +shew the deficiencies of the best catalogues. He had long since +completed his Caxton, had three sheets of Treveris unknown to the +antiquaries, and wanted to a perfect Pynson but two volumes, of which +one was promised him as a legacy by its present possessor, and the other +he was resolved to buy, at whatever price, when Quisquilius's library +should be sold. Hirsutus had no other reason for the valuing or +slighting a book, than that it was printed in the Roman or the Gothic +letter, nor any ideas but such as his favourite volumes had supplied; +when he was serious he expatiated on the narratives "of Johan de +Trevisa," and when he was merry, regaled us with a quotation from the +"Shippe of Foles." + +While I was listening to this hoary student, Ferratus entered in a +hurry, and informed us with the abruptness of ecstacy, that his set of +halfpence was now complete; he had just received in a handful of change, +the piece that he had so long been seeking, and could now defy mankind +to outgo his collection of English copper. + +Chartophylax then observed how fatally human sagacity was sometimes +baffled, and how often the most valuable discoveries are made by chance. +He had employed himself and his emissaries seven years at great expense +to perfect his series of Gazettes, but had long wanted a single paper, +which, when he despaired of obtaining it, was sent him wrapped round a +parcel of tobacco. + +Cantilenus turned all his thoughts upon old ballads, for he considered +them as the genuine records of the national taste. He offered to shew me +a copy of "The Children in the Wood," which he firmly believed to be of +the first edition, and, by the help of which, the text might be freed +from several corruptions, if this age of barbarity had any claim to such +favours from him. + +Many were admitted into this society as inferior members, because they +had collected old prints and neglected pamphlets, or possessed some +fragment of antiquity, as the seal of an ancient corporation, the +charter of a religious house, the genealogy of a family extinct, or a +letter written in the reign of Elizabeth. + +Every one of these virtuosos looked on all his associates as wretches of +depraved taste and narrow notions. Their conversation was, therefore, +fretful and waspish, their behaviour brutal, their merriment bluntly +sarcastick, and their seriousness gloomy and suspicious. They were +totally ignorant of all that passes, or has lately passed, in the world; +unable to discuss any question of religious, political, or military +knowledge; equally strangers to science and politer learning, and +without any wish to improve their minds, or any other pleasure than that +of displaying rarities, of which they would not suffer others to make +the proper use. + +Hirsutus graciously informed me, that the number of their society was +limited, but that I might sometimes attend as an auditor. I was pleased +to find myself in no danger of an honour, which I could not have +willingly accepted, nor gracefully refused, and left them without any +intention of returning; for I soon found that the suppression of those +habits with which I was vitiated, required association with men very +different from this solemn race. + +I am, Sir, &c. + +VIVACULUS. + +It is natural to feel grief or indignation when any thing necessary or +useful is wantonly wasted, or negligently destroyed; and therefore my +correspondent cannot be blamed for looking with uneasiness on the waste +of life. Leisure and curiosity might soon make great advances in useful +knowledge, were they not diverted by minute emulation and laborious +trifles. It may, however, somewhat mollify his anger to reflect, that +perhaps none of the assembly which he describes, was capable of any +nobler employment, and that he who does his best, however little, is +always to be distinguished from him who does nothing. Whatever busies +the mind without corrupting it, has at least this use, that it rescues +the day from idleness, and he that is never idle will not often be +vicious. + + + +No. 178. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1751. + + _Purs sanitatis velle sanuria fuit_. SENECA. + + To yield to remedies is half the cure. + +Pythagoras is reported to have required from those whom he instructed in +philosophy a probationary silence of five years. Whether this +prohibition of speech extended to all the parts of this time, as seems +generally to be supposed, or was to be observed only in the school or in +the presence of their master, as is more probable, it was sufficient to +discover the pupil's disposition; to try whether he was willing to pay +the price of learning, or whether he was one of those whose ardour was +rather violent than lasting, and who expected to grow wise on other +terms than those of patience and obedience. + +Many of the blessings universally desired, are very frequently wanted, +because most men, when they should labour, content themselves to +complain, and rather linger in a state in which they cannot be at rest, +than improve their condition by vigour and resolution. + +Providence has fixed the limits of human enjoyment by immoveable +boundaries, and has set different gratifications at such a distance from +each other, that no art or power can bring them together. This great law +it is the business of every rational being to understand, that life may +not pass away in an attempt to make contradictions consistent, to +combine opposite qualities, and to unite things which the nature of +their being must always keep asunder. + +Of two objects tempting at a distance on contrary sides, it is +impossible to approach one but by receding from the other; by long +deliberation and dilatory projects, they may be both lost, but can never +be both gained. It is, therefore, necessary to compare them, and, when +we have determined the preference, to withdraw our eyes and our thoughts +at once from that which reason directs us to reject. This is more +necessary, if that which we are forsaking has the power of delighting +the senses, or firing the fancy. He that once turns aside to the +allurements of unlawful pleasure, can have no security that he shall +ever regain the paths of virtue. + +The philosophick goddess of Boethius, having related the story of +Orpheus, who, when he had recovered his wife from the dominions of +death, lost her again by looking back upon her in the confines of light, +concludes with a very elegant and forcible application. "Whoever you are +that endeavour to elevate your minds to the illuminations of Heaven, +consider yourselves as represented in this fable; for he that is once so +far overcome as to turn back his eyes towards the infernal caverns, +loses at the first sight all that influence which attracted him on +high:" + + Vos haec fabula respicit, + Quicunque in superum diem + Mentem ducere quaeritis. + Nam qui Tartareum in specus + Victus lumina flexerit, + Quidquid praecipuum trahit, + Perdit, dum videt inferos. + +It may be observed, in general, that the future is purchased by the +present. It is not possible to secure instant or permanent happiness but +by the forbearance of some immediate gratification. This is so evidently +true with regard to the whole of our existence, that all the precepts of +theology have no other tendency than to enforce a life of faith; a life +regulated not by our senses but our belief; a life in which pleasures +are to be refused for fear of invisible punishments, and calamities +sometimes to be sought, and always endured, in hope of rewards that +shall be obtained in another state. + +Even if we take into our view only that particle of our duration which +is terminated by the grave, it will be found that we cannot enjoy one +part of life beyond the common limitations of pleasure, but by +anticipating some of the satisfaction which should exhilarate the +following years. The heat of youth may spread happiness into wild +luxuriance, but the radical vigour requisite to make it perennial is +exhausted, and all that can be hoped afterwards is languor and +sterility. + +The reigning errour of mankind is, that we are not content with the +conditions on which the goods of life are granted. No man is insensible +of the value of knowledge, the advantages of health, or the convenience +of plenty, but every day shews us those on whom the conviction is +without effect. + +Knowledge is praised and desired by multitudes whom her charms could +never rouse from the couch of sloth; whom the faintest invitation of +pleasure draws away from their studies; to whom any other method of +wearing out the day is more eligible than the use of books, and who are +more easily engaged by any conversation, than such as may rectify their +notions or enlarge their comprehension. + +Every man that has felt pain, knows how little all other comforts can +gladden him to whom health is denied. Yet who is there does not +sometimes hazard it for the enjoyment of an hour? All assemblies of +jollity, all places of public entertainment, exhibit examples of +strength wasting in riot, and beauty withering in irregularity; nor is +it easy to enter a house in which part of the family is not groaning in +repentance of past intemperance, and part admitting disease by +negligence, or soliciting it by luxury. + +There is no pleasure which men of every age and sect have more generally +agreed to mention with contempt, than the gratifications of the palate; +an entertainment so far removed from intellectual happiness, that +scarcely the most shameless of the sensual herd have dared to defend it: +yet even to this, the lowest of our delights, to this, though neither +quick nor lasting, is health with all its activity and sprightliness +daily sacrificed; and for this are half the miseries endured which urge +impatience to call on death. + +The whole world is put in motion by the wish for riches and the dread of +poverty. Who, then, would not imagine that such conduct as will +inevitably destroy what all are thus labouring to acquire, must +generally be avoided? That he who spends more than he receives, must in +time become indigent, cannot be doubted; but, how evident soever this +consequence may appear, the spendthrift moves in the whirl of pleasure +with too much rapidity to keep it before his eyes, and, in the +intoxication of gaiety, grows every day poorer without any such sense of +approaching ruin as is sufficient to wake him into caution. + +Many complaints are made of the misery of life; and indeed it must be +confessed that we are subject to calamities by which the good and bad, +the diligent and slothful, the vigilant and heedless, are equally +afflicted. But surely, though some indulgence may be allowed to groans +extorted by inevitable misery, no man has a right to repine at evils +which, against warning, against experience, he deliberately and +leisurely brings upon his own head; or to consider himself as debarred +from happiness by such obstacles as resolution may break or dexterity +may put aside. + +Great numbers who quarrel with their condition, have wanted not the +power but the will to obtain a better state. They have never +contemplated the difference between good and evil sufficiently to +quicken aversion, or invigorate desire; they have indulged a drowsy +thoughtlessness or giddy levity; have committed the balance of choice to +the management of caprice; and when they have long accustomed themselves +to receive all that chance offered them, without examination, lament at +last that they find themselves deceived. + + + +No. 179. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1751. + + _Perpetuo risu pulmonem agitare solebat_. JUV. Sat. x. 33. + + Democritus would feed his spleen, and shake + His sides and shoulders till he felt them ake. DRYDEN + +Every man, says Tully, has two characters; one which he partakes with +all mankind, and by which he is distinguished from brute animals; +another which discriminates him from the rest of his own species, and +impresses on him a manner and temper peculiar to himself; this +particular character, if it be not repugnant to the laws of general +humanity, it is always his business to cultivate and preserve. + +Every hour furnishes some confirmation of Tully's precept. It seldom +happens, that an assembly of pleasure is so happily selected, but that +some one finds admission, with whom the rest are deservedly offended; +and it will appear, on a close inspection, that scarce any man becomes +eminently disagreeable, but by a departure from his real character, and +an attempt at something for which nature or education have left him +unqualified. + +Ignorance or dulness have indeed no power of affording delight, but they +never give disgust except when they assume the dignity of knowledge, or +ape the sprightliness of wit. Awkwardness and inelegance have none of +those attractions by which ease and politeness take possession of the +heart; but ridicule and censure seldom rise against them, unless they +appear associated with that confidence which belongs only to long +acquaintance with the modes of life, and to consciousness of unfailing +propriety of behaviour. Deformity itself is regarded with tenderness +rather than aversion, when it does not attempt to deceive the sight by +dress and decoration, and to seize upon fictitious claims the +prerogatives of beauty. + +He that stands to contemplate the crowds that fill the streets of a +populous city, will see many passengers whose air and motion it will be +difficult to behold without contempt and laughter; but if he examines +what are the appearances that thus powerfully excite his risibility, he +will find among them neither poverty nor disease, nor any involuntary or +painful defect. The disposition to derision and insult is awakened by +the softness of foppery, the swell of insolence, the liveliness of +levity, or the solemnity of grandeur; by the sprightly trip, the stately +stalk, the formal strut, the lofty mien; by gestures intended to catch +the eye, and by looks elaborately formed as evidences of importance. + +It, has, I think, been sometimes urged in favour of affectation, that it +is only a mistake of the means to a good end, and that the intention +with which it is practised is always to please. If all attempts to +innovate the constitutional or habitual character have really proceeded +from publick spirit and love of others, the world has hitherto been +sufficiently ungrateful, since no return but scorn has yet been made to +the most difficult of all enterprises, a contest with nature; nor has +any pity been shown to the fatigues of labour which never succeeded, and +the uneasiness of disguise by which nothing was concealed. + +It seems therefore to be determined by the general suffrage of mankind, +that he who decks himself in adscititious qualities rather purposes to +command applause than impart pleasure: and he is therefore treated as a +man who, by an unreasonable ambition, usurps the place in society to +which he has no right. Praise is seldom paid with willingness even to +incontestable merit, and it can be no wonder that he who calls for it +without desert is repulsed with universal indignation. + +Affectation naturally counterfeits those excellencies which are placed +at the greatest distance from possibility of attainment. We are +conscious of our own defects, and eagerly endeavour to supply them by +artificial excellence; nor would such efforts be wholly without excuse, +were they not often excited by ornamental trifles, which he, that thus +anxiously struggles for the reputation of possessing them, would not +have been known to want, had not his industry quickened observation. + +Gelasimus passed the first part of his life in academical privacy and +rural retirement, without any other conversation than that of scholars, +grave, studious, and abstracted as himself. He cultivated the +mathematical sciences with indefatigable diligence, discovered many +useful theorems, discussed with great accuracy the resistance of fluids, +and, though his priority was not generally acknowledged, was the first +who fully explained all the properties of the catenarian curve. + +Learning, when if rises to eminence, will be observed in time, whatever +mists may happen to surround it. Gelasimus, in his forty-ninth year, was +distinguished by those who have the rewards of knowledge in their hands, +and called out to display his acquisitions for the honour of his +country, and add dignity by his presence to philosophical assemblies. As +he did not suspect his unfitness for common affairs, he fell no +reluctance to obey the invitation, and what he did not feel he had yet +too much honesty to feign. He entered into the world as a larger and +more populous college, where his performances would be more publick, and +his renown farther extended; and imagined that he should find his +reputation universally prevalent, and the influence of learning every +where the same. + +His merit introduced him to splendid tables and elegant acquaintance; +but he did not find himself always qualified to join in the +conversation. He was distressed by civilities, which he knew not how to +repay, and entangled in many ceremonial perplexities, from which his +books and diagrams could not extricate him. He was sometimes unluckily +engaged in disputes with ladies, with whom algebraick axioms had no +great weight, and saw many whose favour and esteem he could not but +desire, to whom he was very little recommended by his theories of the +tides, or his approximations to the quadrature of the circle. + +Gelasimus did not want penetration to discover, that no charm was more +generally irresistible than that of easy facetiousness and flowing +hilarity. He saw that diversion was more frequently welcome than +improvement; that authority and seriousness were rather feared than +loved; and that the grave scholar was a kind of imperious ally, hastily +dismissed when his assistance was no longer necessary. He came to a +sudden resolution of throwing off those cumbrous ornaments of learning +which hindered his reception, and commenced a man of wit and jocularity. +Utterly unacquainted with every topick of merriment, ignorant of the +modes and follies, the vices and virtues of mankind, and unfurnished +with any ideas but such as Pappas and Archimedes had given him, he began +to silence all inquiries with a jest instead of a solution, extended his +face with a grin, which he mistook for a smile, and in the place of +scientifick discourse, retailed in a new language, formed between the +college and the tavern, the intelligence of the newspaper. + +Laughter, he knew, was a token of alacrity; and, therefore, whatever he +said or heard, he was careful not to fail in that great duty of a wit. +If he asked or told the hour of the day, if he complained of heat or +cold, stirred the fire, or filled a glass, removed his chair, or snuffed +a candle, he always found some occasion to laugh. The jest was indeed a +secret to all but himself; but habitual confidence in his own +discernment hindered him from suspecting any weakness or mistake. He +wondered that his wit was so little understood, but expected that his +audience would comprehend it by degrees, and persisted all his life to +shew by gross buffoonery, how little the strongest faculties can perform +beyond the limits of their own province. + + + +No. 180. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1751. + + [Greek: Taut eidos sophos isthi, mataen d' Epikouron eason + Poy to kenon zaetein, kai tines ai monades.] AUTOMEDON. + + On life, on morals, be thy thoughts employ'd; + Leave to the schools their atoms and their void. + +It is somewhere related by Le Clerc, that a wealthy trader of good +understanding, having the common ambition to breed his son a scholar, +carried him to an university, resolving to use his own judgment in the +choice of a tutor. He had been taught, by whatever intelligence, the +nearest way to the heart of an academick, and at his arrival entertained +all who came about him with such profusion, that the professors were +lured by the smell of his table from their books, and flocked round him +with all the cringes of awkward complaisance. This eagerness answered +the merchant's purpose: he glutted them with delicacies, and softened +them with caresses, till he prevailed upon one after another to open his +bosom, and make a discovery of his competitions, jealousies, and +resentments. Having thus learned each man's character, partly from +himself, and partly from his acquaintances, he resolved to find some +other education for his son, and went away convinced, that a scholastick +life has no other tendency than to vitiate the morals and contract the +understanding: nor would he afterwards hear with patience the praises of +the ancient authors, being persuaded that scholars of all ages must have +been the same, and that Xenophon and Cicero were professors of some +former university, and therefore mean and selfish, ignorant and servile, +like those whom he had lately visited and forsaken. + +Envy, curiosity, and a sense of the imperfection of our present state, +incline us to estimate the advantages which are in the possession of +others above their real value. Every one must have remarked, what powers +and prerogatives the vulgar imagine to be conferred by learning. A man +of science is expected to excel the unlettered and unenlightened even on +occasions where literature is of no use, and among weak minds, loses +part of his reverence, by discovering no superiority in those parts of +life, in which all are unavoidably equal; as when a monarch makes a +progress to the remoter provinces, the rustics are said sometimes to +wonder that they find him of the same size with themselves. + +These demands of prejudice and folly can never be satisfied; and +therefore many of the imputations which learning suffers from +disappointed ignorance, are without reproach. But there are some +failures, to which men of study are peculiarly exposed. Every condition +has its disadvantages. The circle of knowledge is too wide for the most +active and diligent intellect, and while science is pursued, other +accomplishments are neglected; as a small garrison must leave one part +of an extensive fortress naked, when an alarm calls them to another. + +The learned, however, might generally support their dignity with more +success, if they suffered not themselves to be misled by the desire of +superfluous attainments. Raphael, in return to Adam's inquiries into the +courses of the stars, and the revolutions of heaven, counsels him to +withdraw his mind from idle speculations, and employ his faculties upon +nearer and more interesting objects, the survey of his own life, the +subjection of his passions, the knowledge of duties which must daily be +performed, and the detection of dangers which must daily be incurred. + +This angelick counsel every man of letters should always have before +him. He that devotes himself to retired study naturally sinks from +omission to forgetfulness of social duties; he must be therefore +sometimes awakened and recalled to the general condition of mankind. + +I am far from any intention to limit curiosity, or confine the labours +of learning to arts of immediate and necessary use. It is only from the +various essays of experimental industry, and the vague excursions of +minds sent out upon discovery, that any advancement of knowledge can be +expected; and, though many must be disappointed in their labours, yet +they are not to be charged with having spent their time in vain; their +example contributed to inspire emulation, and their miscarriages taught +others the way to success. + +But the distant hope of being one day useful or eminent, ought not to +mislead us too far from that study which is equally requisite to the +great and mean, to the celebrated and obscure; the art of moderating the +desires, of repressing the appetites, and of conciliating or retaining +the favour of mankind. + +No man can imagine the course of his own life, or the conduct of the +world around him, unworthy his attention; yet, among the sons of +learning, many seem to have thought of every thing rather than of +themselves, and to have observed every thing but what passes before +their eyes: many who toil through the intricacy of complicated systems, +are insuperably embarrassed with the least perplexity in common affairs; +many who compare the actions, and ascertain the characters of ancient +heroes, let their own days glide away without examination, and suffer +vicious habits to encroach upon their minds without resistance or +detection. + +The most frequent reproach of the scholastick race is the want of +fortitude, not martial but philosophick. Men bred in shades and silence, +taught to immure themselves at sunset, and accustomed to no other weapon +than syllogism, may be allowed to feel terrour at personal danger, and +to be disconcerted by tumult and alarm. But why should he whose life is +spent in contemplation, and whose business is only to discover truth, be +unable to rectify the fallacies of imagination, or contend successfully +against prejudice and passion? To what end has he read and meditated, if +he gives up his understanding to false appearances, and suffers himself +to be enslaved by fear of evils to which only folly or vanity can expose +him, or elated by advantages to which, as they are equally conferred +upon the good and bad, no real dignity is annexed. + +Such, however, is the state of the world, that the most obsequious of +the slaves of pride, the most rapturous of the gazers upon wealth, the +most officious of the whisperers of greatness, are collected from +seminaries appropriated to the study of wisdom and of virtue, where it +was intended that appetite should learn to be content with little, and +that hope should aspire only to honours which no human power can give or +take away[j]. + +The student, when he comes forth into the world, instead of +congratulating himself upon his exemption from the errours of those +whose opinions have been formed by accident or custom, and who live +without any certain principles of conduct, is commonly in haste to +mingle with the multitude, and shew his sprightliness and ductility by +an expeditious compliance with fashions or vices. The first smile of a +man, whose fortune gives him power to reward his dependants, commonly +enchants him beyond resistance; the glare of equipage, the sweets of +luxury, the liberality of general promises, the softness of habitual +affability, fill his imagination; and he soon ceases to have any other +wish than to be well received, or any measure of right and wrong but the +opinion of his patron. + +A man flattered and obeyed, learns to exact grosser adulation, and +enjoin lower submission. Neither our virtues nor vices are all our own. +If there were no cowardice, there would be little insolence; pride +cannot rise to any great degree, but by the concurrence of blandishment +or the sufferance of tameness. The wretch who would shrink and crouch +before one that should dart his eyes upon him with the spirit of natural +equality, becomes capricious and tyrannical when he sees himself +approached with a downcast look, and hears the soft address of awe and +servility. To those who are willing to purchase favour by cringes and +compliance, is to be imputed the haughtiness that leaves nothing to be +hoped by firmness and integrity. + +If, instead of wandering after the meteors of philosophy, which fill the +world with splendour for a while, and then sink and are forgotten, the +candidates of learning fixed their eyes upon the permanent lustre of +moral and religious truth, they would find a more certain direction to +happiness. A little plausibility of discourse, and acquaintance with +unnecessary speculations, is dearly purchased, when it excludes those +instructions which fortify the heart with resolution, and exalt the +spirit to independence. + +[Footnote j: "Such are a sort of sacrilegious ministers in the temple of +intellect. They profane its shew-bread to pamper the palate, its +everlasting lamp they use to light unholy fires within their breast, and +show them the way to the sensual chambers of sense and worldliness." +IRVING.] + + + +No. 181. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1751. + + _--Neu fluitem dubue spe pendulus horae_. HOR. Lib. i. Ep. xviii. 110. + + Nor let me float in fortune's pow'r, + Dependent on the future hour. FRANCIS. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +As I have passed much of my life in disquiet and suspense, and lost many +opportunities of advantage by a passion which I have reason to believe +prevalent in different degrees over a great part of mankind, I cannot +but think myself well qualified to warn those who are yet uncaptivated, +of the danger which they incur by placing themselves within its +influence. + +I served an apprenticeship to a linen-draper, with uncommon reputation +for diligence and fidelity; and at the age of three-and-twenty opened a +shop for myself with a large stock, and such credit among all the +merchants, who were acquainted with my master, that I could command +whatever was imported curious or valuable. For five years I proceeded +with success proportionate to close application and untainted integrity; +was a daring bidder at every sale; always paid my notes before they were +due; and advanced so fast in commercial reputation, that I was +proverbially marked out as the model of young traders, and every one +expected that a few years would make me an alderman. + +In this course of even prosperity, I was one day persuaded to buy a +ticket in the lottery. The sum was inconsiderable, part was to be repaid +though fortune might fail to favour me, and therefore my established +maxims of frugality did not restrain me from so trifling an experiment. +The ticket lay almost forgotten till the time at which every man's fate +was to be determined; nor did the affair even then seem of any +importance, till I discovered by the publick papers that the number next +to mine had conferred the great prize. + +My heart leaped at the thought of such an approach to sudden riches, +which I considered myself, however contrarily to the laws of +computation, as having missed by a single chance; and I could not +forbear to revolve the consequences which such a bounteous allotment +would have produced, if it had happened to me. This dream of felicity, +by degrees, took possession of my imagination. The great delight of my +solitary hours was to purchase an estate, and form plantations with +money which once might have been mine, and I never met my friends but I +spoiled all their merriment by perpetual complaints of my ill luck. + +At length another lottery was opened, and I had now so heated my +imagination with the prospect of a prize, that I should have pressed +among the first purchasers, had not my ardour been withheld by +deliberation upon the probability of success from one ticket rather than +another. I hesitated long between even and odd; considered the square +and cubick numbers through the lottery; examined all those to which good +luck had been hitherto annexed; and at last fixed upon one, which, by +some secret relation to the events of my life, I thought predestined to +make me happy. Delay in great affairs is often mischievous; the ticket +was sold, and its possessor could not be found. + +I returned to my conjectures, and after many arts of prognostication, +fixed upon another chance, but with less confidence. Never did captive, +heir, or lover, feel so much vexation from the slow pace of time, as I +suffered between the purchase of my ticket and the distribution of the +prizes. I solaced my uneasiness as well as I could, by frequent +contemplation of approaching happiness; when the sun rose I knew it +would set, and congratulated myself at night that I was so much nearer +to my wishes. At last the day came, my ticket appeared, and rewarded all +my care and sagacity with a despicable prize of fifty pounds. + +My friends, who honestly rejoiced upon my success, were very coldly +received; I hid myself a fortnight in the country, that my chagrin might +fume away without observation, and then returning to my shop, began to +listen after another lottery. + +With the news of a lottery I was soon gratified, and having now found +the vanity of conjecture, and inefficacy of computation, I resolved to +take the prize by violence, and therefore bought forty tickets, not +omitting, however, to divide them between the even and odd numbers, that +I might not miss the lucky class. Many conclusions did I form, and many +experiments did I try, to determine from which of those tickets I might +most reasonably expect riches. At last, being unable to satisfy myself +by any modes of reasoning, I wrote the numbers upon dice, and allotted +five hours every day to the amusement of throwing them in a garret; and, +examining the event by an exact register, found, on the evening before +the lottery was drawn, that one of my numbers had been turned up five +times more than any of the rest in three hundred and thirty thousand +throws. + +This experiment was fallacious; the first day presented the hopeful +ticket, a detestable blank. The rest came out with different fortune, +and in conclusion I lost thirty pounds by this great adventure. + +I had now wholly changed the cast of my behaviour and the conduct of my +life. The shop was for the most part abandoned to my servants, and if I +entered it, my thoughts were so engrossed by my tickets, that I scarcely +heard or answered a question, but considered every customer as an +intruder upon my meditations, whom I was in haste to despatch. I mistook +the price of my goods, committed blunders in my bills, forgot to file my +receipts, and neglected to regulate my books. My acquaintances by +degrees began to fall away; but I perceived the decline of my business +with little emotion, because whatever deficience there might be in my +gains, I expected the next lottery to supply. + +Miscarriage naturally produces diffidence; I began now to seek +assistance against ill luck, by an alliance with those that had been +more successful. I inquired diligently at what office any prize had been +sold, that I might purchase of a propitious vender; solicited those who +had been fortunate in former lotteries, to partake with me in my new +tickets; and whenever I met with one that had in any event of his life +been eminently prosperous, I invited him to take a larger share. I had, +by this rule of conduct, so diffused my interest, that I had a fourth +part of fifteen tickets, an eighth of forty, and a sixteenth of ninety. + +I waited for the decision of my fate with my former palpitations, and +looked upon the business of my trade with the usual neglect. The wheel +at last was turned, and its revolutions brought me a long succession of +sorrows and disappointments. I indeed often partook of a small prize, +and the loss of one day was generally balanced by the gain of the next; +but my desires yet remained unsatisfied, and when one of my chances had +failed, all my expectation was suspended on those which remained yet +undetermined. At last a prize of five thousand pounds was proclaimed; I +caught fire at the cry, and inquiring the number, found it to be one of +my own tickets, which I had divided among those on whose luck I +depended, and of which I had retained only a sixteenth part. + +You will easily judge with what detestation of himself, a man thus +intent upon gain reflected that he had sold a prize which was once in +his possession. It was to no purpose, that I represented to my mind the +impossibility of recalling the past, or the folly of condemning an act, +which only its event, an event which no human intelligence could +foresee, proved to be wrong. The prize which, though put in my hands, +had been suffered to slip from me, filled me with anguish, and knowing +that complaint would only expose me to ridicule, I gave myself up +silently to grief, and lost by degrees my appetite and my rest. + +My indisposition soon became visible; I was visited by my friends, and +among them by Eumathes, a clergyman, whose piety and learning gave him +such an ascendant over me, that I could not refuse to open my heart. +There are, said he, few minds sufficiently firm to be trusted in the +hands of chance. Whoever finds himself inclined to anticipate futurity, +and exalt possibility to certainty, should avoid every kind of casual +adventure, since his grief must be always proportionate to his hope. You +have long wasted that time, which, by a proper application, would have +certainly, though moderately, increased your fortune, in a laborious and +anxious pursuit of a species of gain, which no labour or anxiety, no art +or expedient, can secure or promote. You are now fretting away your life +in repentance of an act, against which repentance can give no caution, +but to avoid the occasion of committing it. Rouse from this lazy dream +of fortuitous riches, which, if obtained, you could scarcely have +enjoyed, because they could confer no consciousness of desert; return to +rational and manly industry, and consider the mere gift of luck as below +the care of a wise man. + + + +No. 182. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1751. + + _--Dives qui fieri vult, + Et cilo vult fieri.--_ JUV. Sat. xiv. 176 + + The lust of wealth can never bear delay. + +It has been observed in a late paper, that we are unreasonably desirous +to separate the goods of life from those evils which Providence has +connected with them, and to catch advantages without paying the price at +which they are offered us. Every man wishes to be rich, but very few +have the powers necessary to raise a sudden fortune, either by new +discoveries, or by superiority of skill, in any necessary employment; +and among lower understandings, many want the firmness and industry +requisite to regular gain and gradual acquisitions. + +From the hope of enjoying affluence by methods more compendious than +those of labour, and more generally practicable than those of genius, +proceeds the common inclination to experiment and hazard, and that +willingness to snatch all opportunities of growing rich by chance, +which, when it has once taken possession of the mind, is seldom driven +out either by time or argument, but continues to waste life in perpetual +delusion, and generally ends in wretchedness and want. + +The folly of untimely exultation and visionary prosperity, is by no +means peculiar to the purchasers of tickets; there are multitudes whose +life is nothing but a continual lottery; who are always within a few +months of plenty and happiness, and how often soever they are mocked +with blanks, expect a prize from the next adventure. + +Among the most resolute and ardent of the votaries of chance, may be +numbered the mortals whose hope is to raise themselves by a wealthy +match; who lay out all their industry on the assiduities of courtship, +and sleep and wake with no other ideas than of treats, compliments, +guardians and rivals. + +One of the most indefatigable of this class, is my old friend Leviculus, +whom I have never known for thirty years without some matrimonial +project of advantage. Leviculus was bred under a merchant, and by the +graces of his person, the sprightliness of his prattle, and the neatness +of his dress, so much enamoured his master's second daughter, a girl of +sixteen, that she declared her resolution to have no other husband. Her +father, after having chidden her for undutifulness, consented to the +match, not much to the satisfaction of Leviculus, who was sufficiently +elated with his conquest to think himself entitled to a larger fortune. +He was, however, soon rid of his perplexity, for his mistress died +before their marriage. + +He was now so well satisfied with his own accomplishments, that he +determined to commence fortune-hunter; and when his apprenticeship +expired, instead of beginning, as was expected, to walk the Exchange +with a face of importance, or associating himself with those who were +most eminent for their knowledge of the stocks, he at once threw off the +solemnity of the counting-house, equipped himself with a modish wig, +listened to wits in coffee-houses, passed his evenings behind the scenes +in the theatres, learned the names of beauties of quality, hummed the +last stanzas of fashionable songs, talked with familiarity of high play, +boasted of his achievements upon drawers and coachmen, was often brought +to his lodgings at midnight in a chair, told with negligence and +jocularity of bilking a tailor, and now and then let fly a shrewd jest +at a sober citizen. + +Thus furnished with irresistible artillery, he turned his batteries upon +the female world, and, in the first warmth of self-approbation, proposed +no less than the possession of riches and beauty united. He therefore +paid his civilities to Flavilla, the only daughter of a wealthy +shop-keeper, who not being accustomed to amorous blandishments, or +respectful addresses, was delighted with the novelty of love, and easily +suffered him to conduct her to the play, and to meet her where she +visited. Leviculus did not doubt but her father, however offended by a +clandestine marriage, would soon be reconciled by the tears of his +daughter, and the merit of his son-in-law, and was in haste to conclude +the affair. But the lady liked better to be courted than married, and +kept him three years in uncertainty and attendance. At last she fell in +love with a young ensign at a ball, and having danced with him all +night, married him in the morning. + +Leviculus, to avoid the ridicule of his companions, took a journey to a +small estate in the country, where, after his usual inquiries concerning +the nymphs in the neighbourhood, he found it proper to fall in love with +Altilia, a maiden lady, twenty years older than himself, for whose +favour fifteen nephews and nieces were in perpetual contention. They +hovered round her with such jealous officiousness, as scarcely left a +moment vacant for a lover. Leviculus, nevertheless, discovered his +passion in a letter, and Altilia could not withstand the pleasure of +hearing vows and sighs, and flatteries and protestations. She admitted +his visits, enjoyed for five years the happiness of keeping all her +expectants in perpetual alarms, and amused herself with the various +stratagems which were practised to disengage her affections. Sometimes +she was advised with great earnestness to travel for her health, and +sometimes entreated to keep her brother's house. Many stories were +spread to the disadvantage of Leviculus, by which she commonly seemed +affected for a time, but took care soon afterwards to express her +conviction of their falsehood. But being at last satiated with this +ludicrous tyranny, she told her lover, when he pressed for the reward of +his services, that she was very sensible of his merit, but was resolved +not to impoverish an ancient family. + +He then returned to the town, and soon after his arrival, became +acquainted with Latronia, a lady distinguished by the elegance of her +equipage, and the regularity of her conduct. Her wealth was evident in +her magnificence, and her prudence in her economy, and therefore +Leviculus, who had scarcely confidence to solicit her favour, readily +acquitted fortune of her former debts, when he found himself +distinguished by her with such marks of preference as a woman of modesty +is allowed to give. He now grew bolder, and ventured to breathe out his +impatience before her. She heard him without resentment, in time +permitted him to hope for happiness, and at last fixed the nuptial day, +without any distrustful reserve of pin-money, or sordid stipulations for +jointure, and settlements. + +Leviculus was triumphing on the eve of marriage, when he heard on the +stairs the voice of Latronia's maid, whom frequent bribes had secured in +his service. She soon burst into his room, and told him that she could +not suffer him to be longer deceived; that her mistress was now spending +the last payment of her fortune, and was only supported in her expense +by the credit of his estate. Leviculus shuddered to see himself so near +a precipice, and found that he was indebted for his escape to the +resentment of the maid, who having assisted Latronia to gain the +conquest, quarrelled with her at last about the plunder. + +Leviculus was now hopeless and disconsolate, till one Sunday he saw a +lady in the Mall, whom her dress declared a widow, and whom, by the +jolting prance of her gait, and the broad resplendence of her +countenance, he guessed to have lately buried some prosperous citizen. +He followed her home, and found her to be no less than the relict of +Prune the grocer, who, having no children, had bequeathed to her all his +debts and dues, and his estates real and personal. No formality was +necessary in addressing madam Prune, and therefore Leviculus went next +morning without an introductor. His declaration was received with a loud +laugh; she then collected her countenance, wondered at his impudence, +asked if he knew to whom he was talking, then shewed him the door, and +again laughed to find him confused. Leviculus discovered that this +coarseness was nothing more than the coquetry of Cornhill, and next day +returned to the attack. He soon grew familiar to her dialect, and in a +few weeks heard, without any emotion, hints of gay clothes with empty +pockets; concurred in many sage remarks on the regard due to people of +property; and agreed with her in detestation of the ladies at the other +end of the town, who pinched their bellies to buy fine laces, and then +pretended to laugh at the city. + +He sometimes presumed to mention marriage; but was always answered with +a slap, a hoot, and a flounce. At last he began to press her closer, and +thought himself more favourably received; but going one morning, with a +resolution to trifle no longer, he found her gone to church with a young +journeyman from the neighbouring shop, of whom she had become enamoured +at her window. + +In these, and a thousand intermediate adventures, has Leviculus spent +his time, till he is now grown grey with age, fatigue, and +disappointment. He begins at last to find that success is not to be +expected, and being unfit for any employment that might improve his +fortune, and unfurnished with any arts that might amuse his leisure, is +condemned to wear out a tasteless life in narratives which few will +hear, and complaints which none will pity. + + + +No. 183. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1751. + + _Nidla fides regni sociis, omnisque potestas + Impatiens consortis erit_. LUCAN. Lib. i. 92. + + No faith of partnership dominion owns; + Still discord hovers o'er divided thrones. + +The hostility perpetually exercised between one man and another, is +caused by the desire of many for that which only few can possess. Every +man would be rich, powerful, and famous; yet fame, power, and riches are +only the names of relative conditions, which imply the obscurity, +dependance, and poverty of greater numbers. This universal and incessant +competition produces injury and malice by two motives, interest and +envy; the prospect of adding to our possessions what we can take from +others, and the hope of alleviating the sense of our disparity by +lessening others, though we gain nothing to ourselves. + +Of these two malignant and destructive powers, it seems probable at the +first view, that interest has the strongest and most extensive +influence. It is easy to conceive that opportunities to seize what has +been long wanted, may excite desires almost irresistible; but surely the +same eagerness cannot be kindled by an accidental power of destroying +that which gives happiness to another. It must be more natural to rob +for gain, than to ravage only for mischief. + +Yet I am inclined to believe, that the great law of mutual benevolence +is oftener violated by envy than by interest, and that most of the +misery which the defamation of blameless actions, or the obstruction of +honest endeavours, brings upon the world, is inflicted by men that +propose no advantage to themselves but the satisfaction of poisoning the +banquet which they cannot taste, and blasting the harvest which they +have no right to reap. + +Interest can diffuse itself but to a narrow compass. The number is never +large of those who can hope to fill the posts of degraded power, catch +the fragments of shattered fortune, or succeed to the honours of +depreciated beauty. But the empire of envy has no limits, as it requires +to its influence very little help from external circumstances. Envy may +always be produced by idleness and pride, and in what place will they +not be found? + +Interest requires some qualities not universally bestowed. The ruin of +another will produce no profit to him who has not discernment to mark +his advantage, courage to seize, and activity to pursue it; but the cold +malignity of envy may be exerted in a torpid and quiescent state, amidst +the gloom of stupidity, in the coverts of cowardice. He that falls by +the attacks of interest, is torn by hungry tigers; he may discover and +resist his enemies. He that perishes in the ambushes of envy, is +destroyed by unknown and invisible assailants, and dies like a man +suffocated by a poisonous vapour, without knowledge of his danger, or +possibility of contest. + +Interest is seldom pursued but at some hazard. He that hopes to gain +much, has commonly something to lose, and when he ventures to attack +superiority, if he fails to conquer, is irrecoverably crushed. But envy +may act without expense or danger. To spread suspicion, to invent +calumnies, to propagate scandal, requires neither labour nor courage. It +is easy for the author of a lie, however malignant, to escape detection, +and infamy needs very little industry to assist its circulation. + +Envy is almost the only vice which is practicable at all times, and in +every place; the only passion which can never lie quiet for want of +irritation: its effects therefore are every where discoverable, and its +attempts always to be dreaded. + +It is impossible to mention a name which any advantageous distinction +has made eminent, but some latent animosity will burst out. The wealthy +trader, however he may abstract himself from publick affairs, will never +want those who hint, with Shylock, that ships are but boards. The +beauty, adorned only with the unambitious graces of innocence and +modesty, provokes, whenever she appears, a thousand murmurs of +detraction. The genius, even when he endeavours only to entertain or +instruct, yet suffers persecution from innumerable criticks, whose +acrimony is excited merely by the pain of seeing others pleased, and of +hearing applauses which another enjoys. + +The frequency of envy makes it so familiar, that it escapes our notice; +nor do we often reflect upon its turpitude or malignity, till we happen +to feel its influence. When he that has given no provocation to malice, +but by attempting to excel, finds himself pursued by multitudes whom he +never saw, with all the implacability of personal resentment; when he +perceives clamour and malice let loose upon him as a publick enemy, and +incited by every stratagem of defamation; when he hears the misfortunes +of his family, or the follies of his youth, exposed to the world; and +every failure of conduct, or defect of nature, aggravated and ridiculed; +he then learns to abhor those artifices at which he only laughed before, +and discovers how much the happiness of life would be advanced by the +eradication of envy from the human heart. + +Envy is, indeed, a stubborn weed of the mind, and seldom yields to the +culture of philosophy. There are, however, considerations, which, if +carefully implanted and diligently propagated, might in time overpower +and repress it, since no one can nurse it for the sake of pleasure, as +its effects are only shame, anguish, and perturbation. It is above all +other vices inconsistent with the character of a social being, because +it sacrifices truth and kindness to very weak temptations. He that +plunders a wealthy neighbour gains as much as he takes away, and may +improve his own condition in the same proportion as he impairs +another's; but he that blasts a flourishing reputation, must be content +with a small dividend of additional fame, so small as can afford very +little consolation to balance the guilt by which it is obtained. + +I have hitherto avoided that dangerous and empirical morality, which +cures one vice by means of another. But envy is so base and detestable, +so vile in its original, and so pernicious in its effects, that the +predominance of almost any other quality is to be preferred. It is one +of those lawless enemies of society, against which poisoned arrows may +honestly be used. Let it therefore be constantly remembered, that +whoever envies another, confesses his superiority, and let those be +reformed by their pride who have lost their virtue. + +It is no slight aggravation of the injuries which envy incites, that +they are committed against those who have given no intentional +provocation; and that the sufferer is often marked out for ruin, not +because he has failed in any duty, but because he has dared to do more +than was required. + +Almost every other crime is practised by the help of some quality which +might have produced esteem or love, if it had been well employed; but +envy is mere unmixed and genuine evil; it pursues a hateful end by +despicable means, and desires not so much its own happiness as another's +misery. To avoid depravity like this, it is not necessary that any one +should aspire to heroism or sanctity, but only that he should resolve +not to quit the rank which nature assigns him, and wish to maintain the +dignity of a human being. + + + +No. 184. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1751. + + _Permittes ipsis expendere numinibus, quid + Conveniat nobis, rebusque sit utile nostris_. JUV. Sat. x. 347. + + Intrust thy fortune to the pow'rs above; + Leave them to manage for thee, and to grant + What their unerring wisdom sees thee want. DRYDEN. + +As every scheme of life, so every form of writing, has its advantages +and inconveniencies, though not mingled in the same proportions. The +writer of essays escapes many embarrassments to which a large work would +have exposed him; he seldom harasses his reason with long trains of +consequences, dims his eyes with the perusal of antiquated volumes, or +burthens his memory with great accumulations of preparatory knowledge. A +careless glance upon a favourite author, or transient survey of the +varieties of life, is sufficient to supply the first hint or seminal +idea, which, enlarged by the gradual accretion of matter stored in the +mind, is by the warmth of fancy easily expanded into flowers, and +sometimes ripened into fruit. + +The most frequent difficulty by which the authors of these petty +compositions are distressed, arises from the perpetual demand of novelty +and change. The compiler of a system of science lays his invention at +rest, and employs only his judgment, the faculty exerted with least +fatigue. Even the relator of feigned adventures, when once the principal +characters are established, and the great events regularly connected, +finds incidents and episodes crowding upon his mind; every change opens +new views, and the latter part of the story grows without labour out of +the former. But he that attempts to entertain his reader with +unconnected pieces, finds the irksomeness of his task rather increased +than lessened by every production. The day calls afresh upon him for a +new topick, and he is again obliged to choose, without any principle to +regulate his choice. + +It is indeed true, that there is seldom any necessity of looking far, or +inquiring long for a proper subject. Every diversity of art or nature, +every publick blessing or calamity, every domestick pain or +gratification, every sally of caprice, blunder of absurdity, or +stratagem of affectation, may supply matter to him whose only rule is to +avoid uniformity. But it often happens, that the judgment is distracted +with boundless multiplicity, the imagination ranges from one design to +another, and the hours pass imperceptibly away, till the composition can +be no longer delayed, and necessity enforces the use of those thoughts +which then happen to be at hand. The mind, rejoicing at deliverance on +any terms from perplexity and suspense, applies herself vigorously to +the work before her, collects embellishments and illustrations, and +sometimes finishes, with great elegance and happiness, what in a state +of ease and leisure she never had begun. + +It is not commonly observed, how much, even of actions, considered as +particularly subject to choice, is to be attributed to accident, or some +cause out of our own power, by whatever name it be distinguished. To +close tedious deliberations with hasty resolves, and after long +consultations with reason to refer the question to caprice, is by no +means peculiar to the essayist. Let him that peruses this paper review +the series of his life, and inquire how he was placed in his present +condition. He will find, that of the good or ill which he has +experienced, a great part came unexpected, without any visible +gradations of approach; that every event has been influenced by causes +acting without his intervention; and that whenever he pretended to the +prerogative of foresight, he was mortified with new conviction of the +shortness of his views. + +The busy, the ambitious, the inconstant, and the adventurous, may be +said to throw themselves by design into the arms of fortune, and +voluntarily to quit the power of governing themselves; they engage in a +course of life in which little can be ascertained by previous measures; +nor is it any wonder that their time is passed between elation and +despondency, hope and disappointment. + +Some there are who appear to walk the road of life with more +circumspection, and make no step till they think themselves secure from +the hazard of a precipice, when neither pleasure nor profit can tempt +them from the beaten path; who refuse to climb lest they should fall, or +to run lest they should stumble, and move slowly forward without any +compliance with those passions by which the heady and vehement are +seduced and betrayed. + +Yet even the timorous prudence of this judicious class is far from +exempting them from the dominion of chance, a subtle and insidious +power, who will intrude upon privacy and embarrass caution. No course of +life is so prescribed and limited, but that many actions must result +from arbitrary election. Every one must form the general plan of his +conduct by his own reflections; he must resolve whether he will +endeavour at riches or at content; whether he will exercise private or +publick virtues; whether he will labour for the general benefit of +mankind, or contract his beneficence to his family and dependants. + +This question has long exercised the schools of philosophy, but remains +yet undecided; and what hope is there that a young man, unacquainted +with the arguments on either side, should determine his own destiny +otherwise than by chance? + +When chance has given him a partner of his bed, whom he prefers to all +other women, without any proof of superior desert, chance must again +direct him in the education of his children; for, who was ever able to +convince himself by arguments, that he had chosen for his son that mode +of instruction to which his understanding was best adapted, or by which +he would most easily be made wise or virtuous? + +Whoever shall inquire by what motives he was determined on these +important occasions, will find them such as his pride will scarcely +suffer him to confess; some sudden ardour of desire, some uncertain +glimpse of advantage, some petty competition, some inaccurate +conclusion, or some example implicitly reverenced. Such are often the +first causes of our resolves; for it is necessary to act, but impossible +to know the consequences of action, or to discuss all the reasons which +offer themselves on every part to inquisitiveness and solicitude. + +Since life itself is uncertain, nothing which has life for its basis can +boast much stability. Yet this is but a small part of our perplexity. We +set out on a tempestuous sea in quest of some port, where we expect to +find rest, but where we are not sure of admission, we are not only in +danger of sinking in the way, but of being misled by meteors mistaken +for stars, of being driven from our course by the changes of the wind, +and of losing it by unskilful steerage; yet it sometimes happens, that +cross winds blow us to a safer coast, that meteors draw us aside from +whirlpools, and that negligence or errour contributes to our escape from +mischiefs to which a direct course would have exposed us. Of those that, +by precipitate conclusions, involve themselves in calamities without +guilt, very few, however they may reproach themselves, can be certain +that other measures would have been more successful. + +In this state of universal uncertainty, where a thousand dangers hover +about us, and none can tell whether the good that he pursues is not evil +in disguise, or whether the next step will lead him to safety or +destruction, nothing can afford any rational tranquillity, but the +conviction that, however we amuse ourselves with unideal sounds, nothing +in reality is governed by chance, but that the universe is under the +perpetual superintendance of Him who created it; that our being is in +the hands of omnipotent Goodness, by whom what appears casual to us, is +directed for ends ultimately kind and merciful; and that nothing can +finally hurt him who debars not himself from the Divine favour. + + + +No. 185. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1751. + + _At vindicta bonum vita jucundius ipsa, + Nempe hoc indocti.-- + Chrysippus non dicet idem, nec mite Thaletis + Ingenium, dulcique senex vicinus Hymetto, + Qui partem adceptæ sæva inter vincla Cicutæ + Adcusatori nollet dare.-- + --Quippe minuti + Semper et infirmi est animi exiguique voluptas + Ultio_. JUV. Sat. xiii. 180. + + _But O! revenge is sweet_. + Thus think the crowd; who, eager to engage, + Take quickly fire, and kindle into rage. + Not so mild Thales nor Chrysippus thought, + Nor that good man, who drank the poisonous draught. + With mind serene; and could not wish to see + His vile accuser drink as deep as he: + Exalted Socrates! divinely brave! + Injur'd he fell, and dying he forgave! + Too noble for revenge; which still we find + The weakest frailty of a feeble mind. DRYDEN. + +No vicious dispositions of the mind more obstinately resist both the +counsels of philosophy and the injunctions of religion, than those which +are complicated with an opinion of dignity; and which we cannot dismiss +without leaving in the hands of opposition some advantage iniquitously +obtained, or suffering from our own prejudices some imputation of +pusillanimity. + +For this reason scarcely any law of our Redeemer is more openly +transgressed, or more industriously evaded, than that by which he +commands his followers to forgive injuries, and prohibits, under the +sanction of eternal misery, the gratification of the desire which every +man feels to return pain upon him that inflicts it. Many who could have +conquered their anger, are unable to combat pride, and pursue offences +to extremity of vengeance, lest they should be insulted by the triumph +of an enemy. + +But certainly no precept could better become him, at whose birth _peace_ +was proclaimed _to the earth_. For, what would so soon destroy all the +order of society, and deform life with violence and ravage, as a +permission to every one to judge his own cause, and to apportion his own +recompense for imagined injuries? + +It is difficult for a man of the strictest justice not to favour himself +too much, in the calmest moments of solitary meditation. Every one +wishes for the distinctions for which thousands are wishing at the same +time, in their own opinion, with better claims. He that, when his reason +operates in its full force, can thus, by the mere prevalence of +self-love, prefer himself to his fellow-beings, is very unlikely to +judge equitably when his passions are agitated by a sense of wrong, and +his attention wholly engrossed by pain, interest, or danger. Whoever +arrogates, to himself the right of vengeance, shews how little he is +qualified to decide his own claims, since he certainly demands what he +would think unfit to be granted to another. + +Nothing is more apparent than that, however injured, or however +provoked, some must at last be contented to forgive. For it can never be +hoped, that he who first commits an injury, will contentedly acquiesce +in the penalty required: the same haughtiness of contempt, or vehemence +of desire, that prompt the act of injustice, will more strongly incite +its justification; and resentment can never so exactly balance the +punishment with the fault, but there will remain an overplus of +vengeance which even he who condemns his first action will think himself +entitled to retaliate. What then can ensue but a continual exacerbation +of hatred, an unextinguishable feud, an incessant reciprocation of +mischief, a mutual vigilance to entrap, and eagerness to destroy. + +Since then the imaginary right of vengeance must be at last remitted, +because it is impossible to live in perpetual hostility, and equally +impossible that of two enemies, either should first think himself +obliged by justice to submission, it is surely eligible to forgive +early. Every passion is more easily subdued before it has been long +accustomed to possession of the heart; every idea is obliterated with +less difficulty, as it has been more slightly impressed, and less +frequently renewed. He who has often brooded over his wrongs, pleased +himself with schemes of malignity, and glutted his pride with the +fancied supplications of humbled enmity, will not easily open his bosom +to amity and reconciliation, or indulge the gentle sentiments of +benevolence and peace. + +It is easiest to forgive, while there is yet little to be forgiven. A +single injury may be soon dismissed from the memory; but a long +succession of ill offices by degrees associates itself with every idea; +a long contest involves so many circumstances, that every place and +action will recall it to the mind, and fresh remembrance of vexation +must still enkindle rage, and irritate revenge. + +A wise man will make haste to forgive, because he knows the true value +of time, and will not suffer it to pass away in unnecessary pain. He +that willingly suffers the corrosions of inveterate hatred, and gives up +his days and nights to the gloom of malice, and perturbations of +stratagem, cannot surely be said to consult his ease. Resentment is an +union of sorrow with malignity, a combination of a passion which all +endeavour to avoid, with a passion which all concur to detest. The man +who retires to meditate mischief, and to exasperate his own rage; whose +thoughts are employed only on means of distress and contrivances of +ruin; whose mind never pauses from the remembrance of his own +sufferings, but to indulge some hope of enjoying the calamities of +another, may justly be numbered among the most miserable of human +beings, among those who are guilty without reward, who have neither the +gladness of prosperity, nor the calm of innocence. + +Whoever considers the weakness both of himself and others, will not long +want persuasives to forgiveness. We know not to what degree of malignity +any injury is to be imputed; or how much its guilt, if we were to +inspect the mind of him that committed it, would be extenuated by +mistake, precipitance, or negligence; we cannot be certain how much more +we feel than was intended to be inflicted, or how much we increase the +mischief to ourselves by voluntary aggravations. We may charge to design +the effects of accident; we may think the blow violent only because we +have made ourselves delicate and tender; we are on every side in danger +of errour and of guilt; which we are certain to avoid only by speedy +forgiveness. + +From this pacifick and harmless temper, thus propitious to others and +ourselves, to domestick tranquillity and to social happiness, no man is +withheld but by pride, by the fear of being insulted by his adversary, +or despised by the world. + +It may be laid down as an unfailing and universal axiom, that "all pride +is abject and mean." It is always an ignorant, lazy, or cowardly +acquiescence in a false appearance of excellence, and proceeds not from +consciousness of our attainments, but insensibility of our wants. + +Nothing can be great which is not right. Nothing which reason condemns +can be suitable to the dignity of the human mind. To be driven by +external motives from the path which our own heart approves, to give way +to any thing but conviction, to suffer the opinion of others to rule our +choice, or overpower our resolves, is to submit tamely to the lowest and +most ignominious slavery, and to resign the right of directing our own +lives. + +The utmost excellence at which humanity can arrive, is a constant and +determinate pursuit of virtue, without regard to present dangers or +advantage; a continual reference of every action to the divine will; an +habitual appeal to everlasting justice; and an unvaried elevation of the +intellectual eye to the reward which perseverance only can obtain. But +that pride which many, who presume to boast of generous sentiments, +allow to regulate their measures, has nothing nobler in view than the +approbation of men, of beings whose superiority we are under no +obligation to acknowledge, and who, when we have courted them with the +utmost assiduity, can confer no valuable or permanent reward; of beings +who ignorantly judge of what they do not understand, or partially +determine what they never have examined; and whose sentence is therefore +of no weight till it has received the ratification of our own +conscience. + +He that can descend to bribe suffrages like these, at the price of his +innocence; he that can suffer the delight of such acclamations to +withhold his attention from the commands of the universal Sovereign, has +little reason to congratulate himself upon the greatness of his mind; +whenever he awakes to seriousness and reflection, he must become +despicable in his own eyes, and shrink with shame from the remembrance +of his cowardice and folly. + +Of him that hopes to be forgiven, it is indispensably required that he +forgive. It is therefore superfluous to urge any other motive. On this +great duty eternity is suspended, and to him that refuses to practise +it, the Throne of mercy is inaccessible, and the Saviour of the world +has been born in vain. + + + +No. 186. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1751. + + _Pone me, pigris ubi nulla campis + Arbor æstica recreatur aurâ-- + Dulce ridentem Lalagen amabo, + Dulce loquentem_. HOR. Lib. i. Ode xxii. 17. + + Place me where never summer breeze + Unbinds the glebe, or warms the trees; + Where ever lowering clouds appear, + And angry Jove deforms th' inclement year: + Love and the nymph shall charm my toils, + The nymph, who sweetly speaks and sweetly smiles. FRANCIS. + +Of the happiness and misery of our present state, part arises from our +sensations, and part from our opinions; part is distributed by nature, +and part is in a great measure apportioned by ourselves. Positive +pleasure we cannot always obtain, and positive pain we often cannot +remove. No man can give to his own plantations the fragrance of the +Indian groves; nor will any precepts of philosophy enable him to +withdraw his attention from wounds or diseases. But the negative +infelicity which proceeds, not from the pressure of sufferings, but the +absence of enjoyments, will always yield to the remedies of reason. + +One of the great arts of escaping superfluous uneasiness, is to free our +minds from the habit of comparing our condition with that of others on +whom the blessings of life are more bountifully bestowed, or with +imaginary states of delight and security, perhaps unattainable by +mortals. Few are placed in a situation so gloomy and distressful, as not +to see every day beings yet more forlorn and miserable, from whom they +may learn to rejoice in their own lot. + +No inconvenience is less superable by art or diligence than the +inclemency of climates, and therefore none affords more proper exercise +for this philosophical abstraction. A native of England, pinched with +the frosts of December, may lessen his affection for his own country by +suffering his imagination to wander in the vales of Asia, and sport +among the woods that are always green, and streams that always murmur; +but if he turns his thought towards the polar regions, and considers the +nations to whom a great portion of the year is darkness, and who are +condemned to pass weeks and months amidst mountains of snow, he will +soon recover his tranquillity, and, while he stirs his fire, or throws +his cloak about him, reflect how much he owes to Providence, that he is +not placed in Greenland or Siberia. + +The barrenness of the earth and the severity of the skies in these +dreary countries, are such as might be expected to confine the mind +wholly to the contemplation of necessity and distress, so that the care +of escaping death from cold and hunger, should leave no room for those +passions which, in lands of plenty, influence conduct, or diversify +characters; the summer should be spent only in providing for the winter, +and the winter in longing for the summer. + +Yet learned curiosity is known to have found its way into these abodes +of poverty and gloom: Lapland and Iceland have their historians, their +criticks, and their poets; and love, that extends his dominion wherever +humanity can be found, perhaps exerts the same power in the +Greenlander's hut as in the palaces of eastern monarchs. + +In one of the large caves to which the families of Greenland retire +together, to pass the cold months, and which may be termed their +villages or cities, a youth and maid, who came from different parts of +the country, were so much distinguished for their beauty, that they were +called by the rest of the inhabitants Anningait and Ajut, from a +supposed resemblance to their ancestors of the same names, who had been +transformed of old into the sun and moon. + +Anningait for some time heard the praises of Ajut with little emotion, +but at last, by frequent interviews, became sensible of her charms, and +first made a discovery of his affection, by inviting her with her +parents to a feast, where he placed before Ajut the tail of a whale. +Ajut seemed not much delighted by this gallantry; yet, however, from +that time was observed rarely to appear, but in a vest made of the skin +of a white deer; she used frequently to renew the black dye upon her +hands and forehead, to adorn her sleeves with coral and shells, and to +braid her hair with great exactness. + +The elegance of her dress, and the judicious disposition of her +ornaments, had such an effect upon Anningait, that he could no longer be +restrained from a declaration of his love. He therefore composed a poem +in her praise, in which, among other heroick and tender sentiments, he +protested, that "she was beautiful as the vernal willow, and fragrant as +the thyme upon the mountains; that her fingers were white as the teeth +of the morse, and her smile grateful as the dissolution of the ice; that +he would pursue her, though she should pass the snows of the midland +cliffs, or seek shelter in the caves of the eastern cannibals: that he +would tear her from the embraces of the genius of the rocks, snatch her +from the paws of Amarock, and rescue her from the ravine of Hafgufa." He +concluded with a wish, that "whoever shall attempt to hinder his union +with Ajut, might be buried without his bow, and that, in the land of +souls, his skull might serve for no other use than to catch the +droppings of the starry lamps." + +This ode being universally applauded, it was expected that Ajut would +soon yield to such fervour and accomplishments; but Ajut, with the +natural haughtiness of beauty, expected all the forms of courtship; and +before she would confess herself conquered, the sun returned, the ice +broke, and the season of labour called all to their employments. + +Anningait and Ajut for a time always went out in the same boat, and +divided whatever was caught. Anningait, in the sight of his mistress, +lost no opportunity of signalizing his courage: he attacked the +sea-horses on the ice; pursued the seals into the water, and leaped upon +the back of the whale, while he was yet struggling with the remains of +life. Nor was his diligence less to accumulate all that could be +necessary to make winter comfortable: he dried the roe of fishes and the +flesh of seals; he entrapped deer and foxes, and dressed their skins to +adorn his bride; he feasted her with eggs from the rocks, and strewed her +tent with flowers. + +It happened that a tempest drove the fish to a distant part of the +coast, before Anningait had completed his store; he therefore entreated +Ajut, that she would at last grant him her hand, and accompany him to +that part of the country whither he was now summoned by necessity. Ajut +thought him not yet entitled to such condescension, but proposed, as a +trial of his constancy, that he should return at the end of summer to +the cavern where their acquaintance commenced, and there expect the +reward of his assiduities. "O virgin, beautiful as the sun shining on +the water, consider," said Anningait, "what thou hast required. How +easily may my return be precluded by a sudden frost or unexpected fogs! +then must the night be passed without my Ajut. We live not, my fair, in +those fabled countries, which lying strangers so wantonly describe; +where the whole year is divided into short days and nights; where the +same habitation serves for summer and winter; where they raise houses in +rows above the ground, dwell together from year to year, with flocks of +tame animals grazing in the fields about them; can travel at any time +from one place to another, through ways inclosed with trees, or over +walls raised upon the inland waters; and direct their course through +wide countries by the sight of green hills or scattered buildings. Even +in summer we have no means of crossing the mountains, whose snows are +never dissolved; nor can remove to any distant residence, but in our +boats coasting the bays. Consider, Ajut, a few summer-days, and a few +winter-nights, and the life of man is at an end. Night is the time of +ease and festivity, of revels and gaiety; but what will be the flaming +lamp, the delicious seal, or the soft oil, without the smile of Ajut?" + +The eloquence of Anningait was vain; the maid continued inexorable, and +they parted with ardent promises to meet again before the night of +winter. + + + +No. 187. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1751. + + _Non illum nostri possunt mutare labores; + Non si frigoribus mediis Hebrunique bibamus, + Sithoniasque nives hyemis subeamus aquosae:-- + Ominia vincit amor. Vinc. Ec. x. 64_. + + Love alters not for us his hard decrees, + Not though beneath the Thracian clime we freeze, + Or the mild bliss of temperate skies forego, + And in raid winter tread Sithonian snow:-- + Love conquers all.--DRYDEN. + +Anningait, however discomposed by the dilatory coyness of Ajut, was yet +resolved to omit no tokens of amorous respect; and therefore presented +her at his departure with the skins of seven white fawns, of five swans +and eleven seals, with three marble lamps, ten vessels of seal oil, and +a large kettle of brass, which he had purchased from a ship, at the +price of half a whale, and two horns of sea-unicorns. + +Ajut was so much affected by the fondness of her lover, or so much +overpowered by his magnificence, that she followed him to the sea-side; +and, when she saw him enter the boat, wished aloud, that he might return +with plenty of skins and oil; that neither the mermaids might snatch him +into the deeps, nor the spirits of the rocks confine him in their +caverns. + +She stood a while to gaze upon the departing vessel, and then returning +to her hut, silent and dejected, laid aside, from that hour, her white +deer skin, suffered her hair to spread unbraided on her shoulders, and +forbore to mix in the dances of the maidens. She endeavoured to divert +her thoughts, by continual application to feminine employments, gathered +moss for the winter lamps, and dried grass to line the boots of +Anningait. Of the skins which he had bestowed upon her, she made a +fishing-coat, a small boat, and tent, all of exquisite manufacture; and +while she was thus busied, solaced her labours with a song, in which she +prayed, "that her lover might have hands stronger than the paws of the +bear, and feet swifter than the feet of the reindeer; that his dart +might never err, and that his boat might never leak; that he might never +stumble on the ice, nor faint in the water; that the seal might rush on +his harpoon, and the wounded whale might dash the waves in vain." + +The large boats in which the Greenlanders transport their families, are +always rowed by women; for a man will not debase himself by work, which +requires neither skill nor courage. Anningait was therefore exposed by +idleness to the ravages of passion. He went thrice to the stern of the +boat, with an intent to leap into the water, and swim back to his +mistress; but, recollecting the misery which they must endure in the +winter, without oil for the lamp, or skins for the bed, he resolved to +employ the weeks of absence in provision for a night of plenty and +felicity. He then composed his emotions as he could, and expressed, in +wild numbers and uncouth images, his hopes, his sorrows, and his fears. +"O life!" says he, "frail and uncertain! where shall wretched man find +thy resemblance, but in ice floating on the ocean? It towers on high, it +sparkles from afar, while the storms drive and the waters beat it, the +sun melts it above, and the rocks shatter it below. What art thou, +deceitful pleasure! but a sudden blaze streaming from the north, which +plays a moment on the eye, mocks the traveller with the hopes of light, +and then vanishes for ever? What, love, art thou but a whirlpool, which +we approach without knowledge of our danger, drawn on by imperceptible +degrees, till we have lost all power of resistance and escape? Till I +fixed my eyes on the graces of Ajut, while I had not yet called her to +the banquet, I was careless as the sleeping morse, was merry as the +singers in the stars. Why, Ajut, did I gaze upon thy graces? why, my +fair, did I call thee to the banquet? Yet, be faithful, my love, +remember Anningait, and meet my return with the smile of virginity. I +will chase the deer, I will subdue the whale, resistless as the frost of +darkness, and unwearied as the summer sun. In a few weeks I shall return +prosperous and wealthy; then shall the roe-fish and the porpoise feast +thy kindred; the fox and hare shall cover thy couch; the tough hide of +the seal shall shelter thee from cold; and the fat of the whale +illuminate thy dwelling." + +Anningait having with these sentiments consoled his grief, and animated +his industry, found that they had now coasted the headland, and saw the +whales spouting at a distance. He therefore placed himself in his +fishing-boat, called his associates to their several employments, plied +his oar and harpoon with incredible courage and dexterity; and, by +dividing his time between the chace and fishery, suspended the miseries +of absence and suspicion. + +Ajut, in the mean time, notwithstanding her neglected dress, happened, +as she was drying some skins in the sun, to catch the eye of Norngsuk, +on his return from hunting. Norngsuk was of birth truly illustrious. His +mother had died in child-birth, and his father, the most expert fisher +of Greenland, had perished by too close pursuit of the whale. His +dignity was equalled by his riches; he was master of four men's and two +women's boats, had ninety tubs of oil in his winter habitation, and +five-and-twenty seals buried in the snow against the season of darkness. +When he saw the beauty of Ajut, he immediately threw over her the skin +of a deer that he had taken, and soon after presented her with a branch +of coral. Ajut refused his gifts, and determined to admit no lover in +the place of Anningait. + +Norngsuk, thus rejected, had recourse to stratagem. He knew that Ajut +would consult an Angekkok, or diviner, concerning the fate of her lover, +and the felicity of her future life. He therefore applied himself to the +most celebrated Angekkok of that part of the country, and, by a present +of two seals and a marble kettle, obtained a promise, that when Ajut +should consult him, he would declare that her lover was in the land of +souls. Ajut, in a short time, brought him a coat made by herself, and +inquired what events were to befall her, with assurances of a much +larger reward at the return of Anningait, if the prediction should +flatter her desires. The Angekkok knew the way to riches, and foretold +that Anningait, having already caught two whales, would soon return home +with a large boat laden with provisions. + +This prognostication she was ordered to keep secret; and Norngsuk +depending upon his artifice, renewed his addresses with greater +confidence; but finding his suit still unsuccessful, applied himself to +her parents with gifts and promises. The wealth of Greenland is too +powerful for the virtue of a Greenlander; they forgot the merit and the +presents of Anningait, and decreed Ajut to the embraces of Norngsuk. She +entreated; she remonstrated; she wept, and raved; but finding riches +irresistible, fled away into the uplands, and lived in a cave upon such +berries as she could gather, and the birds or hares which she had the +fortune to ensnare, taking care, at an hour when she was not likely to +be found, to view the sea every day, that her lover might not miss her +at his return. + +At last she saw the great boat in which Anningait had departed, stealing +slow and heavy laden along the coast. She ran with all the impatience of +affection to catch her lover in her arms, and relate her constancy and +sufferings. When the company reached the land, they informed her that +Anningait, after the fishery was ended, being unable to support the slow +passage of the vessel of carriage, had set out before them in his +fishing-boat, and they expected at their arrival to have found him on +shore. + +Ajut, distracted at this intelligence, was about to fly into the hills, +without knowing why, though she was now in the hands of her parents, who +forced her back to their own hut, and endeavoured to comfort her; but +when at last they retired to rest, Ajut went down to the beach; where, +finding a fishing-boat, she entered it without hesitation, and telling +those who wondered at her rashness, that she was going in search of +Anningait, rowed away with great swiftness, and was seen no more. + +The fate of these lovers gave occasion to various fictions and +conjectures. Some are of opinion, that they were changed into stars; +others imagine, that Anningait was seized in his passage by the genius +of the rocks, and that Ajut was transformed into a mermaid, and still +continues to seek her lover in the deserts of the sea. But the general +persuasion is, that they are both in that part of the land of souls +where the sun never sets, where oil is always fresh, and provisions +always warm. The virgins sometimes throw a thimble and a needle into the +bay, from which the hapless maid departed; and when a Greenlander would +praise any couple for virtuous affection, he declares that they love +like Anningait and Ajut. + + + +No. 188. SATURDAY, JANUARY 4, 1751. + + --_Si te colo, Sexte, non amabo_. MART. Lib. ii. Ep. lv. 33. + + The more I honour thee, the less I love. + +None of the desires dictated by vanity is more general, or less +blamable, than that of being distinguished for the arts of conversation. +Other accomplishments may be possessed without opportunity of exerting +them, or wanted without danger that the defect can often be remarked; +but as no man can live, otherwise than in an hermitage, without hourly +pleasure or vexation, from the fondness or neglect of those about him, +the faculty of giving pleasure is of continual use. Few are more +frequently envied than those who have the power of forcing attention +wherever they come, whose entrance is considered as a promise of +felicity, and whose departure is lamented, like the recess of the sun +from northern climates, as a privation of all that enlivens fancy, or +inspirits gaiety. + +It is apparent, that to excellence in this valuable art, some peculiar +qualifications are necessary; for every one's experience will inform +him, that the pleasure which men are able to give in conversation, holds +no stated proportion to their knowledge or their virtue. Many find their +way to the tables and the parties of those who never consider them as of +the least importance in any other place; we have all, at one time or +other, been content to love those whom we could not esteem, and been +persuaded to try the dangerous experiment of admitting him for a +companion, whom we knew to be too ignorant for a counsellor, and too +treacherous for a friend. + +I question whether some abatement of character is not necessary to +general acceptance. Few spend their time with much satisfaction under +the eye of uncontestable superiority; and therefore, among those whose +presence is courted at assemblies of jollity, there are seldom found men +eminently distinguished for powers or acquisitions. The wit whose +vivacity condemns slower tongues to silence, the scholar whose knowledge +allows no man to fancy that he instructs him, the critick who suffers no +fallacy to pass undetected, and the reasoner who condemns the idle to +thought, and the negligent to attention, are generally praised and +feared, reverenced and avoided. + +He that would please must rarely aim at such excellence as depresses his +hearers in their own opinion, or debars them from the hope of +contributing reciprocally to the entertainment of the company. +Merriment, extorted by sallies of imagination, sprightliness of remark, +or quickness of reply, is too often what the Latins call, the Sardinian +laughter, a distortion of the face without gladness of heart. + +For this reason, no style of conversation is more extensively acceptable +than the narrative. He who has stored his memory with slight anecdotes, +private incidents, and personal peculiarities, seldom fails to find his +audience favourable. Almost every man listens with eagerness to +contemporary history; for almost every man has some real or imaginary +connexion with a celebrated character, some desire to advance or oppose +a rising name. Vanity often co-operates with curiosity. He that is a +hearer in one place, qualifies himself to become a speaker in another; +for though he cannot comprehend a series of argument, or transport the +volatile spirit of wit without evaporation, he yet thinks himself able +to treasure up the various incidents of a story, and please his hopes +with the information which he shall give to some inferior society. + +Narratives are for the most part heard without envy, because they are +not supposed to imply any intellectual qualities above the common rate. +To be acquainted with facts not yet echoed by plebeian mouths, may +happen to one man as well as to another; and to relate them when they +are known, has in appearance so little difficulty, that every one +concludes himself equal to the task. + +But it is not easy, and in some situations of life not possible, to +accumulate such a stock of materials as may support the expense of +continual narration; and it frequently happens, that they who attempt +this method of ingratiating themselves, please only at the first +interview; and, for want of new supplies of intelligence, wear out their +stories by continual repetition. + +There would be, therefore, little hope of obtaining the praise of a good +companion, were it not to be gained by more compendious methods; but +such is the kindness of mankind to all, except those who aspire to real +merit and rational dignity, that every understanding may find some way +to excite benevolence; and whoever is not envied may learn the art of +procuring love. We are willing to be pleased, but are not willing to +admire: we favour the mirth or officiousness that solicits our regard, +but oppose the worth or spirit that enforces it. + +The first place among those that please, because they desire only to +please, is due to the _merry fellow_, whose laugh is loud, and whose +voice is strong; who is ready to echo every jest with obstreperous +approbation, and countenance every frolick with vociferations of +applause. It is not necessary to a merry fellow to have in himself any +fund of jocularity, or force of conception; it is sufficient that he +always appears in the highest exaltation of gladness, for the greater +part of mankind are gay or serious by infection, and follow without +resistance the attraction of example. + +Next to the merry fellow is the _good-natured man_, a being generally +without benevolence, or any other virtue, than such as indolence and +insensibility confer. The characteristick of a good-natured man is to +bear a joke; to sit unmoved and unaffected amidst noise and turbulence, +profaneness and obscenity; to hear every tale without contradiction; to +endure insult without reply; and to follow the stream of folly, whatever +course it shall happen to take. The good-natured man is commonly the +darling of the petty wits, with whom they exercise themselves in the +rudiments of raillery; for he never takes advantage of failings, nor +disconcerts a puny satirist with unexpected sarcasms; but while the +glass continues to circulate, contentedly bears the expense of an +uninterrupted laughter, and retires rejoicing at his own importance. + +The _modest man_ is a companion of a yet lower rank, whose only power of +giving pleasure is not to interrupt it. The modest man satisfies himself +with peaceful silence, which all his companions are candid enough to +consider as proceeding not from inability to speak, but willingness to +hear. + +Many, without being able to attain any general character of excellence, +have some single art of entertainment which serves them as a passport +through the world. One I have known for fifteen years the darling of a +weekly club, because every night, precisely at eleven, he begins his +favourite song, and during the vocal performance, by corresponding +motions of his hand, chalks out a giant upon the wall. Another has +endeared himself to a long succession of acquaintances by sitting among +them with his wig reversed; another by contriving to smut the nose of +any stranger who was to be initiated in the club; another by purring +like a cat, and then pretending to be frighted; and another by yelping +like a hound, and calling to the drawers to drive out the dog[k]. + +Such are the arts by which cheerfulness is promoted, and sometimes +friendship established; arts, which those who despise them should not +rigorously blame, except when they are practised at the expense of +innocence; for it is always necessary to be loved, but not always +necessary to be reverenced. + + + +No. 189. TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 1752. + + _Quod tam grande Sophos clamat tibi turba togata; + Non tu, Pomponi; caena diserta tua est_. MART. Lib. vi. Ep. xlviii. + + Resounding plaudits though the crowd have rung; + Thy treat is eloquent, and not thy tongue. F. LEWIS. + +The world scarcely affords opportunities of making any +observation more frequently, than on false claims to commendation. +Almost every man wastes part of his life in attempts to display +qualities which he does not possess, and to gain applause which he +cannot keep; so that scarcely can two persons casually meet, but one is +offended or diverted by the ostentation of the other. + +Of these pretenders it is fit to distinguish those who endeavour to +deceive from them who are deceived; those who by designed impostures +promote their interest, or gratify their pride, from them who mean only +to force into regard their latent excellencies and neglected virtues; +who believe themselves qualified to instruct or please, and therefore +invite the notice of mankind. + +The artful and fraudulent usurpers of distinction deserve greater +severities than ridicule and contempt, since they are seldom content +with empty praise, but are instigated by passions more pernicious than +vanity. They consider the reputation which they endeavour to establish +as necessary to the accomplishment of some subsequent design, and value +praise only as it may conduce to the success of avarice or ambition. + +The commercial world is very frequently put into confusion by the +bankruptcy of merchants, that assumed the splendour of wealth only to +obtain the privilege of trading with the stock of other men, and of +contracting debts which nothing but lucky casualties could enable them +to pay; till after having supported their appearance a while by +tumultuous magnificence of boundless traffick, they sink at once, and +drag down into poverty those whom their equipages had induced to trust +them. + +Among wretches that place their happiness in the favour of the great, of +beings whom only high titles or large estates set above themselves, +nothing is more common than to boast of confidence which they do not +enjoy; to sell promises which they know their interest unable to +perform; and to reimburse the tribute which they pay to an imperious +master, from the contributions of meaner dependants, whom they can amuse +with tales of their influence, and hopes of their solicitation. + +Even among some, too thoughtless and volatile for avarice or ambition, +may be found a species of falsehood more detestable than the levee or +exchange can shew. There are men that boast of debaucheries, of which +they never had address to be guilty; ruin, by lewd tales, the characters +of women to whom they are scarcely known, or by whom they have been +rejected; destroy in a drunken frolick the happiness of families; blast +the bloom of beauty, and intercept the reward of virtue. + +Other artifices of falsehood, though utterly unworthy of an ingenuous +mind, are not yet to be ranked with flagitious enormities, nor is it +necessary to incite sanguinary justice against them, since they may be +adequately punished by detection and laughter. The traveller who +describes cities which he has never seen; the squire, who, at his return +from London, tells of his intimacy with nobles to whom he has only bowed +in the park or coffee-house; the author who entertains his admirers with +stories of the assistance which he gives to wits of a higher rank; the +city dame who talks of her visits at great houses, where she happens to +know the cook-maid, are surely such harmless animals as truth herself +may be content to despise without desiring to hurt them. + +But of the multitudes who struggle in vain for distinction, and display +their own merits only to feel more acutely the sting of neglect, a great +part are wholly innocent of deceit, and are betrayed, by infatuation and +credulity, to that scorn with which the universal love of praise incites +us all to drive feeble competitors out of our way. + +Few men survey themselves with so much severity, as not to admit +prejudices in their own favour, which an artful flatterer may gradually +strengthen, till wishes for a particular qualification are improved to +hopes of attainment, and hopes of attainment to belief of possession. +Such flatterers every one will find, who has power to reward their +assiduities. Wherever there is wealth there will be dependance and +expectation, and wherever there is dependance, there will be an +emulation of servility. + +Many of the follies which provoke general censure, are the effects of +such vanity as, however it might have wantoned in the imagination, would +scarcely have dared the publick eye, had it not been animated and +emboldened by flattery. Whatever difficulty there may be in the +knowledge of ourselves, scarcely any one fails to suspect his own +imperfections, till he is elevated by others to confidence. We are +almost all naturally modest and timorous; but fear and shame are uneasy +sensations, and whosoever helps to remove them is received with +kindness. + +Turpicula was the heiress of a large estate, and having lost her mother +in her infancy, was committed to a governess, whom misfortunes had +reduced to suppleness and humility. The fondness of Turpicula's father +would not suffer him to trust her at a publick school, but he hired +domestick teachers, and bestowed on her all the accomplishments that +wealth could purchase. But how many things are necessary to happiness +which money cannot obtain! Thus secluded from all with whom she might +converse on terms of equality, she heard none of those intimations of +her defects, which envy, petulance, or anger, produce among children, +where they are not afraid of telling what they think. + +Turpicula saw nothing but obsequiousness, and heard nothing but +commendations. None are so little acquainted with the heart, as not to +know that woman's first wish is to be handsome, and that consequently +the readiest method of obtaining her kindness is to praise her beauty. +Turpicula had a distorted shape and a dark complexion; yet, when the +impudence of adulation had ventured to tell her of the commanding +dignity of her motion, and the soft enchantment of her smile, she was +easily convinced, that she was the delight or torment of every eye, and +that all who gazed upon her felt the fire of envy or love. She therefore +neglected the culture of an understanding which might have supplied the +defects of her form, and applied all her care to the decoration of her +person; for she considered that more could judge of beauty than of wit, +and was, like the rest of human beings, in haste to be admired. The +desire of conquest naturally led her to the lists in which beauty +signalizes her power. She glittered at court, fluttered in the park, and +talked aloud in the front box; but after a thousand experiments of her +charms, was at last convinced that she had been flattered, and that her +glass was honester than her maid. + +[Footnote k: Mrs. Piozzi, in her Anecdotes, informs us, that the man who +sung, and, by corresponding motions of his arm, chalked out a giant on +the wall, was one Richardson, an attorney: the ingenious imitator of a +cat, was one Busby, a proctor in the Commons: and the father of Dr. +Salter, of the Charter-House, a friend of Johnson's, and a member of the +Ivy-Lane Club, was the person who yelped like a hound, and perplexed the +distracted waiters.--Mr. Chalmers, in his preface to the Rambler, +observes, that the above-quoted lively writer was the only authority for +these assignments. She is certainly far too hasty and negligent to be +relied on, when unsupported by other testimony.--See Preface.] + + + +No. 190. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1752. + + _Ploravere suis non respondere favorem + Speratum meritis_.--HOR. Lib. ii. Ep. i. 9. + + Henry and Alfred-- + Clos'd their long glories with a sigh, to find + Th' unwilling gratitude of base mankind. POPE. + +Among the emirs and visiers, the sons of valour and of wisdom, that +stand at the corners of the Indian throne, to assist the counsels or +conduct the wars of the posterity of Timur, the first place was long +held by Morad the son of Hanuth. Morad, having signalized himself in +many battles and sieges, was rewarded with the government of a province, +from which the fame of his wisdom and moderation was wafted to the +pinnacles of Agra, by the prayers of those whom his administration made +happy. The emperour called him into his presence, and gave into his hand +the keys of riches, and the sabre of command. The voice of Morad was +heard from the cliffs of Taurus to the Indian ocean, every tongue +faultered in his presence, and every eye was cast down before him. + +Morad lived many years in prosperity; every day increased his wealth, +and extended his influence. The sages repeated his maxims, the captains +of thousands waited his commands. Competition withdrew into the cavern +of envy, and discontent trembled at his own murmurs. But human greatness +is short and transitory, as the odour of incense in the fire. The sun +grew weary of gilding the palaces of Morad, the clouds of sorrow +gathered round his head, and the tempest of hatred roared about his +dwelling. + +Morad saw ruin hastily approaching. The first that forsook him were his +poets; their example was followed by all those whom he had rewarded for +contributing to his pleasures, and only a few, whose virtue had entitled +them to favour, were now to be seen in his hall or chambers. He felt his +danger, and prostrated himself at the foot of the throne. His accusers +were confident and loud, his friends stood contented with frigid +neutrality, and the voice of truth was overborne by clamour. He was +divested of his power, deprived of his acquisitions, and condemned to +pass the rest of his life on his hereditary estate. + +Morad had been so long-accustomed to crowds and business, supplicants +and flattery, that he knew not how to fill up his hours in solitude; he +saw with regret the sun rise to force on his eye a new day for which he +had no use; and envied the savage that wanders in the desert, because he +has no time vacant from the calls of nature, but is always chasing his +prey, or sleeping in his den. + +His discontent in time vitiated his constitution, and a slow disease +seized upon him. He refused physick, neglected exercise, and lay down on +his couch peevish and restless, rather afraid to die than desirous to +live. His domesticks, for a time, redoubled their assiduities; but +finding that no officiousness could soothe, nor exactness satisfy, they +soon gave way to negligence and sloth; and he that once commanded +nations, often languished in his chamber without an attendant. + +In this melancholy state, he commanded messengers to recall his eldest +son Abouzaid from the army. Abouzaid was alarmed at the account of his +father's sickness, and hasted by long journeys to his place of +residence. Morad was yet living, and felt his strength return at the +embraces of his son; then commanding him to sit down at his bedside, +"Abouzaid," says he, "thy father has no more to hope or fear from the +inhabitants of the earth; the cold hand of the angel of death is now +upon him, and the voracious grave is howling for his prey. Hear, +therefore, the precepts of ancient experience, let not my last +instructions issue forth in vain. Thou hast seen me happy and +calamitous, thou hast beheld my exaltation and my fall. My power is in +the hands of my enemies, my treasures have rewarded my accusers; but my +inheritance, the clemency of the emperour has spared, and my wisdom his +anger could not take away. Cast thine eyes around thee; whatever thou +beholdest will, in a few hours, be thine: apply thine ear to my +dictates, and these possessions will promote thy happiness. Aspire not +to public honours, enter not the palaces of kings; thy wealth will set +thee above insult, let thy moderation keep thee below envy. Content +thyself with private dignity, diffuse thy riches among thy friends, let +every day extend thy beneficence, and suffer not thy heart to be at rest +till thou art loved by all to whom thou art known. In the height of my +power, I said to defamation, Who will hear thee? and to artifice, What +canst thou perform? But, my son, despise not thou the malice of the +weakest, remember that venom supplies the want of strength, and that the +lion may perish by the puncture of an asp." + +Morad expired in a few hours. Abouzaid, after the months of mourning, +determined to regulate his conduct by his father's precepts, and +cultivate the love of mankind by every art of kindness and endearment. +He wisely considered, that domestick happiness was first to be secured, +and that none have so much power of doing good or hurt, as those who are +present in the hour of negligence, hear the bursts of thoughtless +merriment, and observe the starts of unguarded passion. He therefore +augmented the pay of all his attendants, and requited every exertion of +uncommon diligence by supernumerary gratuities. While he congratulated +himself upon the fidelity and affection of his family, he was in the +night alarmed with robbers, who, being pursued and taken, declared that +they had been admitted by one of his servants; the servant immediately +confessed, that he unbarred the door, because another not more worthy of +confidence was entrusted with the keys. + +Abouzaid was thus convinced that a dependant could not easily be made a +friend; and that while many were soliciting for the first rank of +favour, all those would be alienated whom he disappointed. He therefore +resolved to associate with a few equal companions selected from among +the chief men of the province. With these he lived happily for a time, +till familiarity set them free from restraint, and every man thought +himself at liberty to indulge his own caprice, and advance his own +opinions. They then disturbed each other with contrariety of +inclinations, and difference of sentiments, and Abouzaid was +necessitated to offend one party by concurrence, or both by +indifference. + +He afterwards determined to avoid a close union with beings so +discordant in their nature, and to diffuse himself in a larger circle. +He practised the smile of universal courtesy, and invited all to his +table, but admitted none to his retirements. Many who had been rejected +in his choice of friendship, now refused to accept his acquaintance; and +of those whom plenty and magnificence drew to his table, every one +pressed forward toward intimacy, thought himself overlooked in the +crowd, and murmured because he was not distinguished above the rest. By +degrees all made advances, and all resented repulse. The table was then +covered with delicacies in vain; the musick sounded in empty rooms; and +Abouzaid was left to form in solitude some new scheme of pleasure or +security. + +Resolving now to try the force of gratitude, he inquired for men of +science, whose merit was obscured by poverty. His house was soon crowded +with poets, sculptors, painters, and designers, who wantoned in +unexperienced plenty, and employed their powers in celebration of their +patron. But in a short time they forgot the distress from which they had +been rescued, and began to consider their deliverer as a wretch of +narrow capacity, who was growing great by works which he could not +perform, and whom they overpaid by condescending to accept his bounties. +Abouzaid heard their murmurs and dismissed them, and from that hour +continued blind to colours, and deaf to panegyrick. + +As the sons of art departed, muttering threats of perpetual infamy, +Abouzaid, who stood at the gate, called to him Hamet the poet. "Hamet," +said he, "thy ingratitude has put an end to my hopes and experiments: I +have now learned the vanity of those labours that wish to be rewarded by +human benevolence; I shall henceforth do good, and avoid evil, without +respect to the opinion of men; and resolve to solicit only the +approbation of that Being whom alone we are sure to please by +endeavouring to please him." + + + +No. 191. TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 1752. + + _Cereus in vitium flecli, monitoribus asper_. HOR. Art. Poet. 163. + + The youth-- + Yielding like wax, th' impressive folly bears; + Rough to reproof, and slow to future cares. FRANCIS. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +DEAR MR. RAMBLER, + +I have been four days confined to my chamber by a cold, which has +already kept me from three plays, nine sales, five shows, and six +card-tables, and put me seventeen visits behind-hand; and the doctor +tells my mamma, that, if I fret and cry, it will settle in my head, +and I shall not be fit to be seen these six weeks. But, dear Mr. Rambler, +how can I help it? At this very time Melissa is dancing with the +prettiest gentleman;--she will breakfast with him to-morrow, and then run +to two auctions, and hear compliments, and have presents; then she will +be drest, and visit, and get a ticket to the play; then go to cards and +win, and come home with two flambeaux before her chair. Dear Mr. +Rambler, who can bear it? + +My aunt has just brought me a bundle of your papers for my amusement. +She says you are a philosopher, and will teach me to moderate my +desires, and look upon the world with indifference. But, dear sir, I do +not wish nor intend to moderate my desires, nor can I think it proper to +look upon the world with indifference, till the world looks with +indifference on me. I have been forced, however, to sit this morning a +whole quarter of an hour with your paper before my face; but just as my +aunt came in, Phyllida had brought me a letter from Mr. Trip, which I +put within the leaves; and read about _absence_ and _inconsolableness_, +and _ardour_, and _irresistible passion_, and _eternal constancy_, while +my aunt imagined that I was puzzling myself with your philosophy, and +often cried out when she saw me look confused, "If there is any word +that you do not understand, child, I will explain it." + +Dear soul! how old people that think themselves wise may be imposed +upon! But it is fit that they should take their turn, for I am sure, +while they can keep poor girls close in the nursery, they tyrannize over +us in a very shameful manner, and fill our imaginations with tales of +terrour, only to make us live in quiet subjection, and fancy that we can +never be safe but by their protection. + +I have a mamma and two aunts, who have all been formerly celebrated for +wit and beauty, and are still generally admired by those that value +themselves upon their understanding, and love to talk of vice and +virtue, nature and simplicity, and beauty and propriety; but if there +was not some hope of meeting me, scarcely a creature would come near +them that wears a fashionable coat. These ladies, Mr. Rambler, have had +me under their government fifteen years and a half, and have all that +time been endeavouring to deceive me by such representations of life as +I now find not to be true; but I know not whether I ought to impute them +to ignorance or malice, as it is possible the world may be much changed +since they mingled in general conversation. + +Being desirous that I should love books, they told me, that nothing but +knowledge could make me an agreeable companion to men of sense, or +qualify me to distinguish the superficial glitter of vanity from the +solid merit of understanding; and that a habit of reading would enable +me to fill up the vacuities of life without the help of silly or +dangerous amusements, and preserve me from the snares of idleness and +the inroads of temptation. + +But their principal intention was to make me afraid of men; in which +they succeeded so well for a time, that I durst not look in their faces, +or be left alone with them in a parlour; for they made me fancy, that no +man ever spoke but to deceive, or looked but to allure; that the girl +who suffered him that had once squeezed her hand, to approach her a +second time, was on the brink of ruin; and that she who answered a +billet, without consulting her relations, gave love such power over her, +that she would certainly become either poor or infamous. + +From the time that my leading-strings were taken off, I scarce heard any +mention of my beauty but from the milliner, the mantua-maker, and my own +maid; for my mamma never said more, when she heard me commended, but +"the girl is very well," and then endeavoured to divert my attention by +some inquiry after my needle, or my book. + +It is now three months since I have been suffered to pay and receive +visits, to dance at publick assemblies, to have a place kept for me in +the boxes, and to play at lady Racket's rout; and you may easily imagine +what I think of those who have so long cheated me with false +expectations, disturbed me with fictitious terrours, and concealed from +me all that I have found to make the happiness of woman. + +I am so far from perceiving the usefulness or necessity of books, that +if I had not dropped all pretensions to learning, I should have lost Mr. +Trip, whom I once frighted into another box, by retailing some of +Dryden's remarks upon a tragedy; for Mr. Trip declares, that he hates +nothing like hard words, and I am sure, there is not a better partner to +be found; his very walk is a dance. I have talked once or twice among +ladies about principles and ideas, but they put their fans before their +faces, and told me I was too wise for them, who for their part never +pretended to read any thing but the play-bill, and then asked me the +price of my best head. + +Those vacancies of time which are to be filled up with books I have +never vet obtained; for, consider, Mr. Rambler, I go to bed late, and +therefore cannot rise early; as soon as I am up, I dress for the +gardens; then walk in the park; then always go to some sale or show, or +entertainment at the little theatre; then must be dressed for dinner; +then must pay my visits; then walk in the park; then hurry to the play; +and from thence to the card-table. This is the general course of the +day, when there happens nothing extraordinary; but sometimes I ramble +into the country, and come back again to a ball; sometimes I am engaged +for a whole day and part of the night. If, at any time, I can gain an +hour by not being at home, I have so many things to do, so many orders +to give to the milliner, so many alterations to make in my clothes, so +many visitants' names to read over, so many invitations to accept or +refuse, so many cards to write, and so many fashions to consider, that I +am lost in confusion, forced at last to let in company or step into my +chair, and leave half my affairs to the direction of my maid. + +This is the round of my day; and when shall I either stop my course, or +so change it as to want a book? I suppose it cannot be imagined, that +any of these diversions will soon be at an end. There will always be +gardens, and a park, and auctions, and shows, and playhouses, and cards; +visits will always be paid, and clothes always be worn; and how can I +have time unemployed upon my hands? + +But I am most at a loss to guess for what purpose they related such +tragick stories of the cruelty, perfidy, and artifices of men, who, if +they ever were so malicious and destructive, have certainly now reformed +their manners. I have not, since my entrance into the world, found one +who does not profess himself devoted to my service, and ready to live or +die as I shall command him. They are so far from intending to hurt me, +that their only contention is, who shall be allowed most closely to +attend, and most frequently to treat me; when different places of +entertainment, or schemes of pleasure are mentioned, I can see the eye +sparkle and the cheeks glow of him whose proposals obtain my +approbation; he then leads me off in triumph, adores my condescension, +and congratulates himself that he has lived to the hour of felicity. Are +these, Mr. Rambler, creatures to be feared? Is it likely that an injury +will be done me by those who can enjoy life only while I favour them +with my presence? + +As little reason can I yet find to suspect them of stratagems and fraud. +When I play at cards, they never take advantage of my mistakes, nor +exact from me a rigorous observation of the game. Even Mr. Shuffle, a +grave gentleman, who has daughters older than myself, plays with me so +negligently, that I am sometimes inclined to believe he loses his money +by design, and yet he is so fond of play, that he says, he will one day +take me to his house in the country, that we may try by ourselves who +can conquer. I have not yet promised him; but when the town grows a +little empty, I shall think upon it, for I want some trinkets, like +Letitia's, to my watch. I do not doubt my luck, but must study some +means of amusing my relations. + +For all these distinctions I find myself indebted to that beauty which I +was never suffered to hear praised, and of which, therefore, I did not +before know the full value. The concealment was certainly an intentional +fraud, for my aunts have eyes like other people, and I am every day +told, that nothing but blindness can escape the influence of my charms. +Their whole account of that world which they pretend to know so well, +has been only one fiction entangled with another; and though the modes +of life oblige me to continue some appearances of respect, I cannot +think that they, who have been so clearly detected in ignorance or +imposture, have any right to the esteem, veneration, or obedience of, + +Sir, Yours, +BELLARIA. + + + +No. 192. SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 1752. + + [Greek: + Genos ouden eis Erota; + Sophiae, tropos pateitai; + Monon arguron blepousin. + Apoloito protos autos + Ho ton arguron philaesas. + Dia touton ou tokaees, + Dai touton ou tokaees; + Polemoi, phonoi di auton. + To de cheiron, ollymestha + Dia touton oi philountes.] ANACREON. [Greek: ODLI Ms.] 5. + + Vain the noblest birth would prove, + Nor worth or wit avail in love; + 'Tis gold alone succeeds--by gold + The venal sex is bought and sold. + Accurs'd be he who first of yore + Discover'd the pernicious ore! + This sets a brother's heart on fire, + And arms the son against the sire; + And what, alas! is worse than all, + To this the lover owes his fall. F. LEWIS. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +I am the son of a gentleman, whose ancestors, for many ages, held the +first rank in the country; till at last one of them, too desirous of +popularity, set his house open, kept a table covered with continual +profusion, and distributed his beef and ale to such as chose rather to +live upon the folly of others, than their own labour, with such +thoughtless liberality, that he left a third part of his estate +mortgaged. His successor, a man of spirit, scorned to impair his dignity +by parsimonious retrenchments, or to admit, by a sale of his lands, any +participation of the rights of his manour; he therefore made another +mortgage to pay the interest of the former, and pleased himself with the +reflection, that his son would have the hereditary estate without the +diminution of an acre. + +Nearly resembling this was the practice of my wise progenitors for many +ages. Every man boasted the antiquity of her family, resolved to support +the dignity of his birth, and lived in splendour and plenty at the +expense of his heir, who, sometimes by a wealthy marriage, and sometimes +by lucky legacies, discharged part of the incumbrances, and thought +himself entitled to contract new debts, and to leave to his children the +same inheritance of embarrassment and distress. + +Thus the estate perpetually decayed; the woods were felled by one, the +park ploughed by another, the fishery let to farmers by a third; at last +the old hall was pulled down to spare the cost of reparation, and part +of the materials sold to build a small house with the rest. We were now +openly degraded from our original rank, and my father's brother was +allowed with less reluctance to serve an apprenticeship, though we never +reconciled ourselves heartily to the sound of haberdasher, but always +talked of warehouses and a merchant, and when the wind happened to blow +loud, affected to pity the hazards of commerce, and to sympathize with +the solicitude of my poor uncle, who had the true retailer's terrour of +adventure, and never exposed himself or his property to any wider water +than the Thames. + +In time, however, by continual profit and small expenses, he grew rich, +and began to turn his thoughts towards rank. He hung the arms of the +family over his parlour-chimney; pointed at a chariot decorated only +with a cypher; became of opinion that money could not make a gentleman; +resented the petulance of upstarts; told stories of alderman Puff's +grandfather the porter; wondered that there was no better method for +regulating precedence; wished for some dress peculiar to men of fashion; +and when his servant presented a letter, always inquired whether it came +from his brother the esquire. + +My father was careful to send him game by every carrier, which, though +the conveyance often cost more than the value, was well received, +because it gave him an opportunity of calling his friends together, +describing the beauty of his brother's seat, and lamenting his own +folly, whom no remonstrances could withhold from polluting his fingers +with a shop-book. + +The little presents which we sent were always returned with great +munificence. He was desirous of being the second founder of his family, +and could not bear that we should be any longer outshone by those whom +we considered as climbers upon our ruins, and usurpers of our fortune. +He furnished our house with all the elegance of fashionable expense, and +was careful to conceal his bounties, lest the poverty of his family +should be suspected. + +At length it happened that, by misconduct like our own, a large estate, +which had been purchased from us, was again exposed to the best bidder. +My uncle, delighted with an opportunity of reinstating the family in +their possessions, came down with treasures scarcely to be imagined in a +place where commerce has not made large sums familiar, and at once drove +all the competitors away, expedited the writings, and took possession. +He now considered himself as superior to trade, disposed of his stock, +and as soon as he had settled his economy, began to shew his rural +sovereignty, by breaking the hedges of his tenants in hunting, and +seizing the guns or nets of those whose fortunes did not qualify them +for sportsmen. He soon afterwards solicited the office of sheriff, from +which all his neighbours were glad to be reprieved, but which he +regarded as a resumption of ancestral claims, and a kind of restoration +to blood after the attainder of a trade. + +My uncle, whose mind was so filled with this change of his condition, +that he found no want of domestick entertainment, declared himself too +old to marry, and resolved to let the newly-purchased estate fall into +the regular channel of inheritance. I was therefore considered as heir +apparent, and courted with officiousness and caresses, by the gentlemen +who had hitherto coldly allowed me that rank which they could not +refuse, depressed me with studied neglect, and irritated me with +ambiguous insults. + +I felt not much pleasure from the civilities for which I knew myself +indebted to my uncle's industry, till, by one of the invitations which +every day now brought me, I was induced to spend a week with Lucius, +whose daughter Flavilla I had often seen and admired like others, +without any thought of nearer approaches. The inequality which had +hitherto kept me at a distance being now levelled, I was received with +every evidence of respect: Lucius told me the fortune which he intended +for his favourite daughter; many odd accidents obliged us to be often +together without company, and I soon began to find that they were +spreading for me the nets of matrimony. + +Flavilla was all softness and complaisance. I, who had been excluded by +a narrow fortune from much acquaintance with the world, and never been +honoured before with the notice of so fine a lady, was easily enamoured. +Lucius either perceived my passion, or Flavilla betrayed it; care was +taken, that our private meetings should be less frequent, and my charmer +confessed by her eyes how much pain she suffered from our restraint. I +renewed my visit upon every pretence, but was not allowed one interview +without witness; at last I declared my passion to Lucius, who received +me as a lover worthy of his daughter, and told me that nothing was +wanting to his consent, but that my uncle should settle his estate upon +me. I objected the indecency of encroaching on his life, and the danger +of provoking him by such an unseasonable demand. Lucius seemed not to +think decency of much importance, but admitted the danger of +displeasing, and concluded that as he was now old and sickly, we might, +without any inconvenience, wait for his death. + +With this resolution I was better contented, as it procured me the +company of Flavilla, in which the days passed away amidst continual +rapture; but in time I began to be ashamed of sitting idle, in +expectation of growing rich by the death of my benefactor, and proposed +to Lucius many schemes of raising my own fortune by such assistance as I +knew my uncle willing to give me. Lucius, afraid lest I should change my +affection in absence, diverted me from my design by dissuasives to which +my passion easily listened. At last my uncle died, and considering +himself as neglected by me, from the time that Flavilla took possession +of my heart, left his estate to my younger brother, who was always +hovering about his bed, and relating stories of my pranks and +extravagance, my contempt of the commercial dialect, and my impatience +to be selling stock. + +My condition was soon known, and I was no longer admitted by the father +of Flavilla. I repeated the protestations of regard, which had been +formerly returned with so much ardour, in a letter which she received +privately, but returned by her father's footman. Contempt has driven out +my love, and I am content to have purchased, by the loss of fortune, an +escape from a harpy, who has joined the artifices of age to the +allurements of youth. I am now going to pursue my former projects with a +legacy which my uncle bequeathed me, and if I succeed, shall expect to +hear of the repentance of Flavilla. + +I am, Sir, Yours, &c. + +CONSTANTIUS. + + + +No. 193. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 1752. + + _Laudis amore tumes? sunt certa piacula, quoe te + Ter pure lecto poterunt recreare libello_. HOR. Lib. i. Ep. i. 36. + + Or art thou vain? books yield a certain spell + To stop thy tumour; you shall cease to swell + When you have read them thrice, and studied well. CREECH. + +Whatever is universally desired, will be sought by industry and +artifice, by merit and crimes, by means good and bad, rational and +absurd, according to the prevalence of virtue or vice, of wisdom or +folly. Some will always mistake the degree of their own desert, and some +will desire that others may mistake it. The cunning will have recourse +to stratagem, and the powerful to violence, for the attainment of their +wishes; some will stoop to theft, and others venture upon plunder. + +Praise is so pleasing to the mind of man, that it is the original motive +of almost all our actions. The desire of commendation, as of every thing +else, is varied indeed by innumerable differences of temper, capacity, +and knowledge; some have no higher wish than for the applause of a club; +some expect the acclamations of a county; and some have hoped to fill +the mouths of all ages and nations with their names. Every man pants for +the highest eminence within his view; none, however mean, ever sinks +below the hope of being distinguished by his fellow-beings, and very few +have by magnanimity or piety been so raised above it, as to act wholly +without regard to censure or opinion. + +To be praised, therefore, every man resolves; but resolutions will not +execute themselves. That which all think too parsimoniously distributed +to their own claims, they will not gratuitously squander upon others, +and some expedient must be tried, by which praise may be gained before +it can be enjoyed. + +Among the innumerable bidders for praise, some are willing to purchase +at the highest rate, and offer ease and health, fortune and life. Yet +even of these only a small part have gained what they so earnestly +desired; the student wastes away in meditation, and the soldier perishes +on the ramparts, but unless some accidental advantage cooperates with +merit, neither perseverance nor adventure attracts attention, and +learning and bravery sink into the grave, without honour or remembrance. + +But ambition and vanity generally expect to be gratified on easier +terms. It has been long observed, that what is procured by skill or +labour to the first possessor, may be afterwards transferred for money; +and that the man of wealth may partake all the acquisitions of courage +without hazard, and all the products of industry without fatigue. It was +easily discovered, that riches would obtain praise among other +conveniencies, and that he whose pride was unluckily associated with +laziness, ignorance, or cowardice, needed only to pay the hire of a +panegyrist, and he might be regaled with periodical eulogies; might +determine, at leisure, what virtue or science he would be pleased to +appropriate, and be lulled in the evening with soothing serenades, or +waked in the morning by sprightly gratulations. + +The happiness which mortals receive from the celebration of beneficence +which never relieved, eloquence which never persuaded, or elegance which +never pleased, ought not to be envied or disturbed, when they are known +honestly to pay for their entertainment. But there are unmerciful +exactors of adulation, who withhold the wages of venality; retain their +encomiast from year to year by general promises and ambiguous +blandishments; and when he has run through the whole compass of +flattery, dismiss him with contempt, because his vein of fiction is +exhausted. + +A continual feast of commendation is only to be obtained by merit or by +wealth; many are therefore obliged to content themselves with single +morsels, and recompense the infrequency of their enjoyment by excess and +riot, whenever fortune sets the banquet before them. Hunger is never +delicate; they who are seldom gorged to the full with praise, may be +safely fed with gross compliments; for the appetite must be satisfied +before it is disgusted. + +It is easy to find the moment at which vanity is eager for sustenance, +and all that impudence or servility can offer will be well received. +When any one complains of the want of what he is known to possess in an +uncommon degree, he certainly waits with impatience to be contradicted. +When the trader pretends anxiety about the payment of his bills, or the +beauty remarks how frightfully she looks, then is the lucky moment to +talk of riches or of charms, of the death of lovers, or the honour of a +merchant. + +Others there are yet more open and artless, who, instead of suborning a +flatterer, are content to supply his place, and, as some animals +impregnate themselves, swell with the praises which they hear from their +own tongues. _Recte is dicitur laudare sese, cui nemo alius contigit +laudator_. "It is right," says Erasmus, "that he, whom no one else will +commend, should bestow commendations on himself." Of all the sons of +vanity, these are surely the happiest and greatest; for what is +greatness or happiness but independence on external influences, +exemption from hope or fear, and the power of supplying every want from +the common stores of nature, which can neither be exhausted nor +prohibited? Such is the wise man of the stoicks; such is the divinity of +the epicureans; and such is the flatterer of himself. Every other +enjoyment malice may destroy; every other panegyrick envy may withhold; +but no human power can deprive the boaster of his own encomiums. Infamy +may hiss, or contempt may growl, the hirelings of the great may follow +fortune, and the votaries of truth may attend on virtue; but his +pleasures still remain the same; he can always listen with rapture to +himself, and leave those who dare not repose upon their own attestation, +to be elated or depressed by chance, and toil on in the hopeless task of +fixing caprice, and propitiating malice. + +This art of happiness has been long practised by periodical writers, +with little apparent violation of decency. When we think our +excellencies overlooked by the world, or desire to recall the attention +of the publick to some particular performance, we sit down with great +composure and write a letter to ourselves. The correspondent, whose +character we assume, always addresses us with the deference due to a +superior intelligence; proposes his doubts with a proper sense of his +own inability; offers an objection with trembling diffidence; and at +last has no other pretensions to our notice than his profundity of +respect, and sincerity of admiration, his submission to our dictates, +and zeal for our success. To such a reader, it is impossible to refuse +regard, nor can it easily be imagined with how much alacrity we snatch +up the pen which indignation or despair had condemned to inactivity, +when we find such candour and judgment yet remaining in the world. + +A letter of this kind I had lately the honour of perusing, in which, +though some of the periods were negligently closed, and some expressions +of familiarity were used, which I thought might teach others to address +me with too little reverence, I was so much delighted with the passages +in which mention was made of universal learning--unbounded genius--soul +of Homer, Pythagoras, and Plato--solidity of thought--accuracy of +distinction--elegance of combination--vigour of fancy--strength of +reason--and regularity of composition--that I had once determined to lay +it before the publick. Three times I sent it to the printer, and three +times I fetched it back. My modesty was on the point of yielding, when +reflecting that I was about to waste panegyricks on myself, which might +be more profitably reserved for my patron, I locked it up for a better +hour, in compliance with the farmer's principle, who never eats at home +what he can carry to the market. + + + +No. 194. SATURDAY, JANUARY 25, 1752. + + _Si damnosa senem juvat alea, ludit et heres + Bullatus, parvoque eadem movet arma fritillo_. JUV. Sat. xiv. 4. + + If gaming does an aged sire entice, + Then my young master swiftly learns the vice, + And shakes in hanging sleeves the little box and dice. J. DRYDEN, jun. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +That vanity which keeps every man important in his own eyes, inclines me +to believe that neither you nor your readers have yet forgotten the name +of Eumathes, who sent you a few months ago an account of his arrival at +London, with a young nobleman his pupil. I shall therefore continue my +narrative without preface or recapitulation. + +My pupil, in a very short time, by his mother's countenance and +direction, accomplished himself with all those qualifications which +constitute puerile politeness. He became in a few days a perfect master +of his hat, which with a careless nicety he could put off or on, without +any need to adjust it by a second motion. This was not attained but by +frequent consultations with his dancing-master, and constant practice +before the glass, for he had some rustick habits to overcome; but, what +will not time and industry perform? A fortnight more furnished him with +all the airs and forms of familiar and respectful salutation, from the +clap on the shoulder to the humble bow; he practises the stare of +strangeness, and the smile of condescension, the solemnity of promise, +and the graciousness of encouragement, as if he had been nursed at a +levee; and pronounces, with no less propriety than his father, the +monosyllables of coldness, and sonorous periods of respectful +profession. + +He immediately lost the reserve and timidity which solitude and study +are apt to impress upon the most courtly genius; was able to enter a +crowded room with airy civility; to meet the glances of a hundred eyes +without perturbation; and address those whom he never saw before with +ease and confidence. In less than a month his mother declared her +satisfaction at his proficiency by a triumphant observation, that she +believed _nothing would make him blush_. + +The silence with which I was contented to hear my pupil's praises, gave +the lady reason to suspect me not much delighted with his acquisitions; +but she attributed my discontent to the diminution of my influence, and +my fears of losing the patronage of the family; and though she thinks +favourably of my learning and morals, she considers me as wholly +unacquainted with the customs of the polite part of mankind; and +therefore not qualified to form the manners of a young nobleman, or +communicate the knowledge of the world. This knowledge she comprises in +the rules of visiting, the history of the present hour, an early +intelligence of the change of fashions, an extensive acquaintance with +the names and faces of persons of rank, and a frequent appearance in +places of resort. + +All this my pupil pursues with great application. He is twice a day in +the Mall, where he studies the dress of every man splendid enough to +attract his notice, and never comes home without some observation upon +sleeves, button-holes, and embroidery. At his return from the theatre, +he can give an account of the gallantries, glances, whispers, smiles, +sighs, flirts, and blushes of every box, so much to his mother's +satisfaction, that when I attempted to resume my character, by inquiring +his opinion of the sentiments and diction of the tragedy, she at once +repressed my criticism, by telling me, "that she hoped he did not go to +lose his time in attending to the creatures on the stage." + +But his acuteness was most eminently signalized at the masquerade, where +he discovered his acquaintance through their disguises, with such +wonderful facility, as has afforded the family an inexhaustible topick +of conversation. Every new visitor is informed how one was detected by +his gait, and another by the swinging of his arms, a third by the toss +of his head, and another by his favourite phrase; nor can you doubt but +these performances receive their just applause, and a genius thus +hastening to maturity is promoted by every art of cultivation. + +Such have been his endeavours, and such his assistances, that every +trace of literature was soon obliterated. He has changed his language +with his dress, and instead of endeavouring at purity or propriety, has +no other care than to catch the reigning phrase and current exclamation, +till, by copying whatever is peculiar in the talk of all those whose +birth or fortune entitles them to imitation, he has collected every +fashionable barbarism of the present winter, and speaks a dialect not to +be understood among those who form their style by poring upon authors. + +To this copiousness of ideas, and felicity of language, he has joined +such eagerness to lead the conversation, that he is celebrated among the +ladies as the prettiest gentleman that the age can boast of, except that +some who love to talk themselves, think him too forward, and others +lament that, with so much wit and knowledge, he is not taller. + +His mother listens to his observations with her eyes sparkling and her +heart beating, and can scarcely contain, in the most numerous +assemblies, the expectations which she has formed for his future +eminence. Women, by whatever fate, always judge absurdly of the +intellects of boys. The vivacity and confidence which attract female +admiration, are seldom produced in the early part of life, but by +ignorance at least, if not by stupidity; for they proceed not from +confidence of right, but fearlessness of wrong. Whoever has a clear +apprehension, must have quick sensibility, and where he has no +sufficient reason to trust his own judgment, will proceed with doubt and +caution, because he perpetually dreads the disgrace of errour. The pain +of miscarriage is naturally proportionate to the desire of excellence; +and, therefore, till men are hardened by long familiarity with reproach, +or have attained, by frequent struggles, the art of suppressing their +emotions, diffidence is found the inseparable associate of +understanding. + +But so little distrust has my pupil of his own abilities, that he has +for some time professed himself a wit, and tortures his imagination on +all occasions for burlesque and jocularity. How he supports a character +which, perhaps, no man ever assumed without repentance, may be easily +conjectured. Wit, you know, is the unexpected copulation of ideas, the +discovery of some occult relation between images in appearance remote +from each other; an effusion of wit, therefore, presupposes an +accumulation of knowledge; a memory stored with notions, which the +imagination may cull out to compose, new assemblages. Whatever may be +the native vigour of the mind, she can never form many combinations from +few ideas, as many changes can never be rung upon a few bells. Accident +may indeed sometimes produce a lucky parallel or a striking contrast; +but these gifts of chance are not frequent, and he that has nothing of +his own, and yet condemns himself to needless expenses, must live upon +loans or theft. + +The indulgence which his youth has hitherto obtained, and the respect +which his rank secures, have hitherto supplied the want of intellectual +qualifications; and he imagines that all admire who applaud, and that +all who laugh are pleased. He therefore returns every day to the charge +with increase of courage, though not of strength, and practises all the +tricks by which wit is counterfeited. He lays trains for a quibble; he +contrives blunders for his footman; he adapts old stories to present +characters; he mistakes the question, that he may return a smart answer; +he anticipates the argument, that he may plausibly object; when he has +nothing to reply, he repeats the last words of his antagonist, then +says, "your humble servant," and concludes with a laugh of triumph. + +These mistakes I have honestly attempted to correct; but what can be +expected from reason unsupported by fashion, splendour, or authority? He +hears me, indeed, or appears to hear me, but is soon rescued from the +lecture by more pleasing avocations; and shows, diversions, and +caresses, drive my precepts from his remembrance. + +He at last imagines himself qualified to enter the world, and has met +with adventures in his first sally, which I shall, by your paper, +communicate to the publick. + +I am, &c. + +EUMATHES. + + + +No. 195. TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1752. + + --_Nescit equo rudis + Haerere ingenuus puer, + Venarique timet; ludere doctior, + Seu Graeco jubeas trocho, + Seu malis vetitâ legibus aleâ_. HOR. Lib. iii. Ode xxiv. 54. + + Nor knows our youth, of noblest race, + To mount the manag'd steed, or urge the chace; + More skill'd in the mean arts of vice, + The whirling troque, or law-forbidden dice. FRANCIS. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +Favours of every kind are doubled when they are speedily conferred. This +is particularly true of the gratification of curiosity. He that long +delays a story, and suffers his auditor to torment himself with +expectation, will seldom be able to recompense the uneasiness, or equal +the hope which he suffers to be raised. + +For this reason, I have already sent you the continuation of my pupil's +history, which, though it contains no events very uncommon, may be of +use to young men who are in too much haste to trust their own prudence, +and quit the wing of protection before they are able to shift for +themselves. + +When he first settled in London, he was so much bewildered in the +enormous extent of the town, so confounded by incessant noise, and +crowds, and hurry, and so terrified by rural narratives of the arts of +sharpers, the rudeness of the populace, malignity of porters, and +treachery of coachmen, that he was afraid to go beyond the door without +an attendant, and imagined his life in danger if he was obliged to pass +the streets at night in any vehicle but his mother's chair. + +He was therefore contented, for a time, that I should accompany him in +all his excursions. But his fear abated as he grew more familiar with +its objects; and the contempt to which his rusticity exposed him from +such of his companions as had accidentally known the town longer, +obliged him to dissemble his remaining terrours. + +His desire of liberty made him now willing to spare me the trouble of +observing his motions; but knowing how much his ignorance exposed him to +mischief, I thought it cruel to abandon him to the fortune of the town. +We went together every day to a coffee-house, where he met wits, heirs, +and fops, airy, ignorant, and thoughtless as himself, with whom he had +become acquainted at card-tables, and whom he considered as the only +beings to be envied or admired. What were their topicks of conversation, +I could never discover; for, so much was their vivacity repressed by my +intrusive seriousness, that they seldom proceeded beyond the exchange of +nods and shrugs, an arch grin, or a broken hint, except when they could +retire, while I was looking on the papers, to a corner of the room, +where they seemed to disburden their imaginations, and commonly vented +the superfluity of their sprightliness in a peal of laughter. When they +had tittered themselves into negligence, I could sometimes overhear a +few syllables, such as--solemn rascal--academical airs--smoke the tutor-- +company for gentlemen!--and other broken phrases, by which I did not +suffer my quiet to be disturbed, for they never proceeded to avowed +indignities, but contented themselves to murmur in secret, and, whenever +I turned my eye upon them, shrunk into stillness. + +He was, however, desirous of withdrawing from the subjection which he +could not venture to break, and made a secret appointment to assist his +companions in the persecution of a play. His footman privately procured +him a catcall, on which he practised in a back-garret for two hours in +the afternoon. At the proper time a chair was called; he pretended an +engagement at lady Flutter's, and hastened to the place where his +critical associates had assembled. They hurried away to the theatre, +full of malignity and denunciations against a man whose name they had +never heard, and a performance which they could not understand; for they +were resolved to judge for themselves, and would not suffer the town to +be imposed upon by scribblers. In the pit, they exerted themselves with +great spirit and vivacity; called out for the tunes of obscene songs, +talked loudly at intervals of Shakespeare and Jonson, played on their +catcalls a short prelude of terrour, clamoured vehemently for a +prologue, and clapped with great dexterity at the first entrance of the +players. + +Two scenes they heard without attempting interruption; but, being no +longer able to restrain their impatience, they then began to exert +themselves in groans and hisses, and plied their catcalls with incessant +diligence; so that they were soon considered by the audience as +disturbers of the house; and some who sat near them, either provoked at +the obstruction of their entertainment, or desirous to preserve the +author from the mortification of seeing his hopes destroyed by children, +snatched away their instruments of criticism, and, by the seasonable +vibration of a stick, subdued them instantaneously to decency and +silence. + +To exhilarate themselves after this vexatious defeat, they posted to a +tavern, where they recovered their alacrity, and, after two hours of +obstreperous jollity, burst out big with enterprize, and panting for +some occasion to signalize their prowess. They proceeded vigorously +through two streets, and with very little opposition dispersed a rabble +of drunkards less daring than themselves, then rolled two watchmen in +the kennel, and broke the windows of a tavern in which the fugitives +took shelter. At last it was determined to march up to a row of chairs, +and demolish them for standing on the pavement; the chairmen formed a +line of battle, and blows were exchanged for a time with equal courage +on both sides. At last the assailants were overpowered, and the +chairmen, when they knew then-captives, brought them home by force. + +The young gentleman, next morning, hung his head, and was so much +ashamed of his outrages and defeat, that perhaps he might have been +checked in his first follies, had not his mother, partly in pity of his +dejection, and partly in approbation of his spirit, relieved him from +his perplexity by paying the damages privately, and discouraging all +animadversion and reproof. + +This indulgence could not wholly preserve him from the remembrance of +his disgrace, nor at once restore his confidence and elation. He was for +three days silent, modest, and compliant, and thought himself neither +too wise for instruction, nor too manly for restraint. But his levity +overcame this salutary sorrow; he began to talk with his former raptures +of masquerades, taverns, and frolicks; blustered when his wig was not +combed with exactness; and threatened destruction to a tailor who had +mistaken his directions about the pocket. + +I knew that he was now rising again above control, and that his +inflation of spirits would burst out into some mischievous absurdity. I +therefore watched him with great attention; but one evening, having +attended his mother at a visit, he withdrew himself, unsuspected, while +the company was engaged at cards. His vivacity and officiousness were +soon missed, and his return impatiently expected; supper was delayed, +and conversation suspended; every coach that rattled through the street +was expected to bring him, and every servant that entered the room was +examined concerning his departure. At last the lady returned home, and +was with great difficulty preserved from fits by spirits and cordials. +The family was despatched a thousand ways without success, and the house +was filled with distraction, till, as we were deliberating what further +measures to take, he returned from a petty gaming-table, with his coat +torn and his head broken; without his sword, snuff-box, sleeve-buttons, +and watch. + +Of this loss or robbery, he gave little account; but, instead of sinking +into his former shame, endeavoured to support himself by surliness and +asperity. "He was not the first that had played away a few trifles, and +of what use were birth and fortune if they would not admit some sallies +and expenses?" His mamma was so much provoked by the cost of this prank, +that she would neither palliate nor conceal it; and his father, after +some threats of rustication which his fondness would not suffer him to +execute, reduced the allowance of his pocket, that he might not be +tempted by plenty to profusion. This method would have succeeded in a +place where there are no panders to folly and extravagance, but was now +likely to have produced pernicious consequences; for we have discovered +a treaty with a broker, whose daughter he seems disposed to marry, on +condition that he shall be supplied with present money, for which he is +to repay thrice the value at the death of his father. + +There was now no time to be lost. A domestick consultation was +immediately held, and he was doomed to pass two years in the country; +but his mother, touched with his tears, declared, that she thought him +too much of a man to be any longer confined to his book, and he +therefore begins his travels to-morrow under a French governour. + +I am, &c. + +EUMATHES. + + + +No. 196. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1752. + + _Multa ferunt anni venientes commoda secum, + Multa recedentes adimunt.--_ HOR. De Ar. Poet. 175. + + The blessings flowing in with life's full tide, + Down with our ebb of life decreasing glide. FRANCIS. + +Baxter, in the narrative of his own life, has enumerated several +opinions, which, though he thought them evident and incontestable at his +first entrance into the world, time and experience disposed him to +change. + +Whoever reviews the state of his own mind from the dawn of manhood to +its decline, and considers what he pursued or dreaded, slighted or +esteemed, at different periods of his age, will have no reason to +imagine such changes of sentiment peculiar to any station or character. +Every man, however careless and inattentive, has conviction forced upon +him; the lectures of time obtrude themselves upon the most unwilling or +dissipated auditor; and, by comparing our past with our present +thoughts, we perceive that we have changed our minds, though perhaps we +cannot discover when the alteration happened, or by what causes it was +produced. + +This revolution of sentiments occasions a perpetual contest between the +old and young. They who imagine themselves entitled to veneration by the +prerogative of longer life, are inclined to treat the notions of those +whose conduct they superintend with superciliousness and contempt, for +want of considering that the future and the past have different +appearances; that the disproportion will always be great between +expectation and enjoyment, between new possession and satiety; that the +truth of many maxims of age gives too little pleasure to be allowed till +it is felt; and that the miseries of life would be increased beyond all +human power of endurance, if we were to enter the world with the same +opinions as we carry from it. + +We naturally indulge those ideas that please us. Hope will predominate +in every mind, till it has been suppressed by frequent disappointments. +The youth has not yet discovered how many evils are continually hovering +about us, and when he is set free from the shackles of discipline, looks +abroad into the world with rapture; he sees an elysian region open +before him, so variegated with beauty, and so stored with pleasure, that +his care is rather to accumulate good, than to shun evil; he stands +distracted by different forms of delight, and has no other doubt, than +which path to follow of those which all lead equally to the bowers of +happiness. + +He who has seen only the superficies of life believes every thing to be +what it appears, and rarely suspects that external splendour conceals +any latent sorrow or vexation. He never imagines that there may be +greatness without safety, affluence without content, jollity without +friendship, and solitude without peace. He fancies himself permitted to +cull the blessings of every condition, and to leave its inconveniencies +to the idle and the ignorant. He is inclined to believe no man miserable +but by his own fault, and seldom looks with much pity upon failings or +miscarriages, because he thinks them willingly admitted, or negligently +incurred. + +It is impossible, without pity and contempt, to hear a youth of generous +sentiments and warm imagination, declaring, in the moment of openness +and confidence, his designs and expectations; because long life is +possible, he considers it as certain, and therefore promises himself all +the changes of happiness, and provides gratifications for every desire. +He is, for a time, to give himself wholly to frolick and diversion, to +range the world in search of pleasure, to delight every eye, to gain +every heart, and to be celebrated equally for his pleasing levities and +solid attainments, his deep reflections and his sparkling repartees. He +then elevates his views to nobler enjoyments, and finds all the +scattered excellencies of the female world united in a woman, who +prefers his addresses to wealth and titles; he is afterwards to engage +in business, to dissipate difficulty, and overpower opposition: to +climb, by the mere force of merit, to fame and greatness; and reward all +those who countenanced his rise, or paid due regard to his early +excellence. At last he will retire in peace and honour; contract his +views to domestick pleasures; form the manners of children like himself; +observe how every year expands the beauty of his daughters, and how his +sons catch ardour from their father's history; he will give laws to the +neighbourhood; dictate axioms to posterity; and leave the world an +example of wisdom and of happiness. + +With hopes like these, he sallies jocund into life; to little purpose is +he told, that the condition of humanity admits no pure and unmingled +happiness; that the exuberant gaiety of youth ends in poverty or +disease; that uncommon qualifications and contrarieties of excellence, +produce envy equally with applause; that whatever admiration and +fondness may promise him, he must marry a wife like the wives of others, +with some virtues and some faults, and be as often disgusted by her +vices, as delighted by her elegance; that if he adventures into the +circle of action, he must expect to encounter men as artful, as daring, +as resolute as himself; that of his children, some may be deformed, and +others vicious; some may disgrace him by their follies, some offend him +by their insolence, and some exhaust him by their profusion. He hears +all this with obstinate incredulity, and wonders by what malignity old +age is influenced, that it cannot forbear to fill his ears with +predictions of misery. + +Among other pleasing errours of young minds, is the opinion of their own +importance. He that has not yet remarked, how little attention his +contemporaries can spare from their own affairs, conceives all eyes +turned upon himself, and imagines every one that approaches him to be an +enemy or a follower, an admirer or a spy. He therefore considers his +fame as involved in the event of every action. Many of the virtues and +vices of youth proceed from this quick sense of reputation. This it is +that gives firmness and constancy, fidelity, and disinterestedness, and +it is this that kindles resentment for slight injuries, and dictates all +the principles of sanguinary honour. + +But as time brings him forward into the world, he soon discovers that he +only shares fame or reproach with innumerable partners; that he is left +unmarked in the obscurity of the crowd; and that what he does, whether +good or bad, soon gives way to new objects of regard. He then easily +sets himself free from the anxieties of reputation, and considers praise +or censure as a transient breath, which, while he hears it, is passing +away, without any lasting mischief or advantage. + +In youth, it is common to measure right and wrong by the opinion of the +world, and, in age, to act without any measure but interest, and to lose +shame without substituting virtue. + +Such is the condition of life, that something is always wanting to +happiness. In youth, we have warm hopes, which are soon blasted by +rashness and negligence, and great designs, which are defeated by +inexperience. In age, we have knowledge and prudence without spirit to +exert, or motives to prompt them; we are able to plan schemes and +regulate measures, but have not time remaining to bring them to +completion. + + + +No. 197. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1752. + + _Cujus vulturis hoc erit cadaver_? MART. Lib. vi. Ep. lxii. 4. + + Say, to what vulture's share this carcase falls? F. LEWIS + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +I belong to an order of mankind, considerable at least for their number, +to which your notice has never been formally extended, though equally +entitled to regard with those triflers, who have hitherto supplied you +with topicks of amusement or instruction. I am, Mr. Rambler, a +legacy-hunter; and, as every man is willing to think well of the tribe +in which his name is registered, you will forgive my vanity, if I remind +you that the legacy-hunter, however degraded by an ill-compounded +appellation in our barbarous language, was known, as I am told, in +ancient Rome, by the sonorous titles of Captator and Hæredipeta. + +My father was an attorney in the country, who married his master's +daughter in hopes of a fortune which he did not obtain, having been, as +he afterwards discovered, chosen by her only because she had no better +offer, and was afraid of service. I was the first offspring of a +marriage, thus reciprocally fraudulent, and therefore could not be +expected to inherit much dignity or generosity, and if I had them not +from nature, was not likely ever to attain them; for, in the years which +I spent at home, I never heard any reason for action or forbearance, but +that we should gain money or lose it; nor was taught any other style of +commendation, than that Mr. Sneaker is a warm man, Mr. Gripe has done +his business, and needs care for nobody. + +My parents, though otherwise not great philosophers, knew the force of +early education, and took care that the blank of my understanding should +be filled with impressions of the value of money. My mother used, upon +all occasions, to inculcate some salutary axioms, such as might incite +me _to keep what I had, and get what I could_; she informed me that we +were in a world, where _all must catch that catch can_; and as I grew +up, stored my memory with deeper observations; restrained me from the +usual puerile expenses, by remarking that _many a little made a mickle_; +and, when I envied the finery of my neighbours, told me that _brag was a +good dog, but hold-fast was a better_. + +I was soon sagacious enough to discover that I was not born to great +wealth; and having heard no other name for happiness, was sometimes +inclined to repine at my condition. But my mother always relieved me, by +saying, that there was money enough in the family, that _it was good to +be of kin to means_, that I had nothing to do but to please my friends, +and I might come to hold up my head with the best squire in the country. + +These splendid expectations arose from our alliance to three persons of +considerable fortune. My mother's aunt had attended on a lady, who, when +she died, rewarded her officiousness and fidelity with a large legacy. +My father had two relations, of whom one had broken his indentures and +run to sea, from whence, after an absence of thirty years, he returned +with ten thousand pounds; and the other had lured an heiress out of a +window, who, dying of her first child, had left him her estate, on which +he lived, without any other care than to collect his rents, and preserve +from poachers that game which he could not kill himself. + +These hoarders of money were visited and courted by all who had any +pretence to approach them, and received presents and compliments from +cousins who could scarcely tell the degree of their relation. But we had +peculiar advantages, which encouraged us to hope, that we should by +degrees supplant our competitors. My father, by his profession, made +himself necessary in their affairs; for the sailor and the chambermaid, +he inquired out mortgages and securities, and wrote bonds and contracts; +and had endeared himself to the old woman, who once rashly lent an +hundred pounds without consulting him, by informing her, that her +debtor, was on the point of bankruptcy, and posting so expeditiously +with an execution, that all the other creditors were defrauded. + +To the squire he was a kind of steward, and had distinguished himself in +his office by his address in raising the rents, his inflexibility in +distressing the tardy tenants, and his acuteness in setting the parish +free from burdensome inhabitants, by shifting them off to some other +settlement. + +Business made frequent attendance necessary; trust soon produced +intimacy; and success gave a claim to kindness; so that we had +opportunity to practise all the arts of flattery and endearment. My +mother, who could not support the thoughts of losing any thing, +determined, that all their fortunes should centre in me; and, in the +prosecution of her schemes, took care to inform me that _nothing cost +less than good words_, and that it is comfortable to leap into an estate +which another has got. + +She trained me by these precepts to the utmost ductility of obedience, +and the closest attention to profit. At an age when other boys are +sporting in the fields or murmuring in the school, I was contriving some +new method of paying my court; inquiring the age of my future +benefactors; or considering how I should employ their legacies. + +If our eagerness of money could have been satisfied with the possessions +of any one of my relations, they might perhaps have been obtained; but +as it was impossible to be always present with all three, our +competitors were busy to efface any trace of affection which we might +have left behind; and since there was not, on any part, such superiority +of merit as could enforce a constant and unshaken preference, whoever +was the last that flattered or obliged, had, for a time, the ascendant. + +My relations maintained a regular exchange of courtesy, took care to +miss no occasion of condolence or congratulation, and sent presents at +stated times, but had in their hearts not much esteem for one another. +The seaman looked with contempt upon the squire as a milksop and a +landman, who had lived without knowing the points of the compass, or +seeing any part of the world beyond the county-town; and whenever they +met, would talk of longitude and latitude, and circles and tropicks, +would scarcely tell him the hour without some mention of the horizon and +meridian, nor shew him the news without detecting his ignorance of the +situation of other countries. + +The squire considered the sailor as a rude uncultivated savage, with +little more of human than his form, and diverted himself with his +ignorance of all common objects and affairs; when he could persuade him +to go into the field, he always exposed him to the sportsmen, by sending +him to look for game in improper places; and once prevailed upon him to +be present at the races, only that he might shew the gentlemen how a +sailor sat upon a horse. + +The old gentlewoman thought herself wiser than both, for she lived with +no servant but a maid, and saved her money. The others were indeed +sufficiently frugal; but the squire could not live without dogs and +horses, and the sailor never suffered the day to pass but over a bowl of +punch, to which, as he was not critical in the choice of his company, +every man was welcome that could roar out a catch, or tell a story. + +All these, however, I was to please; an arduous task; but what will not +youth and avarice undertake? I had an unresisting suppleness of temper, +and an insatiable wish for riches; I was perpetually instigated by the +ambition of my parents, and assisted occasionally by their instructions. +What these advantages enabled me to perform, shall be told in the next +letter of, + +Yours, &c. + +CAPTATOR. + + + +No. 198. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1752. + + _Nil mihi das vivus: dicis, post fata daturum. + Si non es stultus, scis, Maro, quid cupiam_. MART. Lib. xi. 67. + + You've told me, Maro, whilst you live, + You'd not a single penny give, + But that whene'er you chance to die, + You'd leave a handsome legacy: + You must be mad beyond redress, + If my next wish you cannot guess. F. LEWIS. + +MR. RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +You, who must have observed the inclination which almost every man, +however unactive or insignificant, discovers of representing his life as +distinguished by extraordinary events, will not wonder that Captator +thinks his narrative important enough to be continued. Nothing is more +common than for those to tease their companions with their history, who +have neither done nor suffered any thing that can excite curiosity, or +afford instruction. + +As I was taught to flatter with the first essays of speech, and had very +early lost every other passion in the desire of money, I began my +pursuit with omens of success; for I divided my officiousness so +judiciously among my relations, that I was equally the favourite of all. +When any of them entered the door, I went to welcome him with raptures; +when he went away, I hung down my head, and sometimes entreated to go +with him with so much importunity, that I very narrowly escaped a +consent which I dreaded in my heart. When at an annual entertainment +they were altogether, I had a harder task; but plied them so impartially +with caresses, that none could charge me with neglect; and when they +were wearied with my fondness and civilities, I was always dismissed +with money to buy playthings. + +Life cannot be kept at a stand: the years of innocence and prattle were +soon at an end, and other qualifications were necessary to recommend me +to continuance of kindness. It luckily happened that none of my friends +had high notions of book-learning. The sailor hated to see tall boys +shut up in a school, when they might more properly be seeing the world, +and making their fortunes; and was of opinion, that when the first rules +of arithmetick were known, all that was necessary to make a man complete +might be learned on ship-board. The squire only insisted, that so much +scholarship was indispensably necessary, as might confer ability to draw +a lease and read the court hands; and the old chambermaid declared +loudly her contempt of books, and her opinion that they only took the +head off the main chance. + +To unite, as well as we could, all their systems, I was bred at home. +Each was taught to believe, that I followed his directions, and I gained +likewise, as my mother observed, this advantage, that I was always in +the way; for she had known many favourite children sent to schools or +academies, and forgotten. + +As I grew fitter to be trusted to my own discretion, I was often +despatched upon various pretences to visit my relations, with directions +from my parents how to ingratiate myself, and drive away competitors. + +I was, from my infancy, considered by the sailor as a promising genius, +because I liked punch better than wine; and I took care to improve this +prepossession by continual inquiries about the art of navigation, the +degree of heat and cold in different climates, the profits of trade, and +the dangers of shipwreck. I admired the courage of the seamen, and +gained his heart by importuning him for a recital of his adventures, and +a sight of his foreign curiosities. I listened with an appearance of +close attention to stories which I could already repeat, and at the +close never failed to express my resolution to visit distant countries, +and my contempt of the cowards and drones that spend all their lives in +their native parish; though I had in reality no desire of any thing but +money, nor ever felt the stimulations of curiosity or ardour of +adventure, but would contentedly have passed the years of Nestor in +receiving rents, and lending upon mortgages. + +The squire I was able to please with less hypocrisy, for I really +thought it pleasant enough to kill the game and eat it. Some arts of +falsehood, however, the hunger of gold persuaded me to practise, by +which, though no other mischief was produced, the purity of my thoughts +was vitiated, and the reverence for truth gradually destroyed. I +sometimes purchased fish, and pretended to have caught them; I hired the +countrymen to shew me partridges, and then gave my uncle intelligence of +their haunt; I learned the seats of hares at night, and discovered them +in the morning with a sagacity that raised the wonder and envy of old +sportsmen. One only obstruction to the advancement of my reputation I +could never fully surmount; I was naturally a coward, and was therefore +always left shamefully behind, when there was a necessity to leap a +hedge, to swim a river, or force the horses to the utmost speed; but as +these exigencies did not frequently happen, I maintained my honour with +sufficient success, and was never left out of a hunting party. + +The old chambermaid was not so certainly, nor so easily pleased, for she +had no predominant passion but avarice, and was therefore cold and +inaccessible. She had no conception of any virtue in a young man but +that of saving his money. When she heard of my exploits in the field, +she would shake her head, inquire how much I should be the richer for +all my performances, and lament that such sums should be spent upon dogs +and horses. If the sailor told her of my inclination to travel, she was +sure there was no place like England, and could not imagine why any man +that can live in his own country should leave it. This sullen and frigid +being I found means, however, to propitiate by frequent commendations of +frugality, and perpetual care to avoid expense. + +From the sailor was our first and most considerable expectation; for he +was richer than the chambermaid, and older than the squire. He was so +awkward and bashful among women, that we concluded him secure from +matrimony; and the noisy fondness with which he used to welcome me to +his house, made us imagine that he would look out for no other heir, and +that we had nothing to do but wait patiently for his death. But in the +midst of our triumph, my uncle saluted us one morning with a cry of +transport, and, clapping his hand hard on my shoulder, told me, I was a +happy fellow to have a friend like him in the world, for he came to fit +me out for a voyage with one of his old acquaintances. I turned pale, +and trembled; my father told him, that he believed my constitution not +fitted to the sea; and my mother, bursting into tears, cried out, that +her heart would break if she lost me. All this had no effect; the sailor +was wholly insusceptive of the softer passions, and, without regard to +tears or arguments, persisted in his resolution to make me a man. We +were obliged to comply in appearance, and preparations were accordingly +made. I took leave of my friends with great alacrity, proclaimed the +beneficence of my uncle with the highest strains of gratitude, and +rejoiced at the opportunity now put into my hands of gratifying my +thirst of knowledge. But, a week before the day appointed for my +departure, I fell sick by my mother's direction, and refused all food +but what she privately brought me; whenever my uncle visited me I was +lethargick or delirious, but took care in my raving fits to talk +incessantly of travel and merchandize. The room was kept dark; the table +was filled with vials and gallipots; my mother was with difficulty +persuaded not to endanger her life with nocturnal attendance; my father +lamented the loss of the profits of the voyage; and such superfluity of +artifices was employed, as perhaps might have discovered the cheat to a +man of penetration. But the sailor, unacquainted with subtilties and +stratagems, was easily deluded; and as the ship could not stay for my +recovery, sold the cargo, and left me to re-establish my health at +leisure. + +I was sent to regain my flesh in a purer air, lest it should appear +never to have been wasted, and in two months returned to deplore my +disappointment. My uncle pitied my dejection, and bid me prepare myself +against next year, for no land-lubber should touch his money. + +A reprieve however was obtained, and perhaps some new stratagem might +have succeeded another spring; but my uncle unhappily made amorous +advances to my mother's maid, who, to promote so advantageous a match, +discovered the secret with which only she had been entrusted. He +stormed, and raved, and declaring that he would have heirs of his own, +and not give his substance to cheats and cowards, married the girl in +two days, and has now four children. + +Cowardice is always scorned, and deceit universally detested. I found my +friends, if not wholly alienated, at least cooled in their affection; +the squire, though he did not wholly discard me, was less fond, and +often inquired when I would go to sea. I was obliged to bear his +insults, and endeavoured to rekindle his kindness by assiduity and +respect; but all my care was vain; he died without a will, and the +estate devolved to the legal heir. + +Thus has the folly of my parents condemned me to spend in flattery and +attendance those years in which I might have been qualified to place +myself above hope or fear. I am arrived at manhood without any useful +art, or generous sentiment; and, if the old woman should likewise at +last deceive me, am in danger at once of beggary and ignorance. + +I am, &c. + +CAPTATOR. + + + +No. 199. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1752. + + _Decolor, obscurus, cilis. Non ille repexam + Cæsariem Regum, nec Candida virginis ornat + Colla, nec insigni splendet per cingula morsu: + Sed nova si nigri videas miracula suai, + Tum pulcros superat cultus, et quldquid Evis + Indus litoribus rubra scrutatur in alga_. CLAUDIANUS, xlviii. 10. + + Obscure, unpris'd, and dark, the magnet lies, + Nor lures the search of avaricious eyes, + Nor binds the neck, nor sparkles in the hair, + Nor dignifies the great, nor decks the fair. + But search the wonders of the dusky stone, + And own all glories of the mine outdone, + Each grace of form, each ornament of state, + That decks the fair, or dignifies the great. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +SIR, + +Though you have seldom digressed from moral subjects, I suppose you are +not so rigorous or cynical as to deny the value or usefulness of natural +philosophy; or to have lived in this age of inquiry and experiment, +without any attention to the wonders every day produced by the pokers of +magnetism and the wheels of electricity. At least, I may be allowed to +hope that, since nothing is more contrary to moral excellence than envy, +you will not refuse to promote the happiness of others, merely because +you cannot partake of their enjoyments. + +In confidence, therefore, that your ignorance has not made you an enemy +to knowledge, I offer you the honour of introducing to the notice of the +publick, an adept, who, having long laboured for the benefit of mankind, +is not willing, like too many of his predecessors, to conceal his +secrets in the grave. + +Many have signalized themselves by melting their estates in crucibles. I +was born to no fortune, and therefore had only my mind and body to +devote to knowledge, and the gratitude of posterity will attest, that +neither mind nor body have been spared. I have sat whole weeks without +sleep by the side of an athanor, to watch the moment of projection; I +have made the first experiment in nineteen diving engines of new +construction; I have fallen eleven times speechless under the shock of +electricity; I have twice dislocated my limbs, and once fractured my +skull, in essaying to fly[l]; and four times endangered my life by +submitting to the transfusion of blood. + +In the first period of my studies, I exerted the powers of my body more +than those of my mind, and was not without hopes that fame might be +purchased by a few broken bones without the toil of thinking; but having +been shattered by some violent experiments, and constrained to confine +myself to my books, I passed six-and-thirty years in searching the +treasures of ancient wisdom, but am at last amply recompensed for all my +perseverance. + +The curiosity of the present race of philosophers, having been long +exercised upon electricity, has been lately transferred to magnetism; +the qualities of the loadstone have been investigated, if not with much +advantage, yet with great applause; and as the highest praise of art is +to imitate nature, I hope no man will think the makers of artificial +magnets celebrated or reverenced above their deserts. + +I have, for some time, employed myself in the same practice, but with +deeper knowledge and more extensive views. While my contemporaries were +touching needles and raising weights, or busying themselves with +inclination and variation, I have been examining those qualities of +magnetism which may be applied to the accommodation and happiness of +common life. I have left to inferior understandings the care of +conducting the sailor through the hazards of the ocean, and reserved to +myself the more difficult and illustrious province of preserving the +connubial compact from violation, and setting mankind free for ever from +the danger of supposititious children, and the torments of fruitless +vigilance and anxious suspicion. + +To defraud any man of his due praise is unworthy of a philosopher; I +shall, therefore, openly confess that I owe the first hint of this +inestimable secret to the rabbi Abraham Ben Hannase, who, in his +treatise of precious stones, has left this account of the magnet: +[Hebrew: chkalamta],&c. "The calamita, or loadstone that attracts iron, +produces many bad fantasies in man. Women fly from this stone. If, +therefore, any husband be disturbed with jealousy, and fear lest his +wife converses with other men, let him lay this stone upon her while she +is asleep. If she be pure, she will, when she wakes, clasp her husband +fondly in her arms; but if she be guilty, she will fall out of bed, and +run away." + +When I first read this wonderful passage, I could not easily conceive +why it had remained hitherto unregarded in such a zealous competition +for magnetical fame. It would surely be unjust to suspect that any of +the candidates are strangers to the name or works of rabbi Abraham, or +to conclude, from a late edict of the Royal Society in favour of the +English language, that philosophy and literature are no longer to act in +concert. Yet, how should a quality so useful escape promulgation, but by +the obscurity of the language in which it was delivered? Why are footmen +and chambermaids paid on every side for keeping secrets, which no +caution nor expense could secure from the all-penetrating magnet? Or, +why are so many witnesses summoned, and so many artifices practised, to +discover what so easy an experiment would infallibly reveal? + +Full of this perplexity, I read the lines of Abraham to a friend, who +advised me not to expose my life by a mad indulgence of the love of +fame: he warned me by the fate of Orpheus, that knowledge or genius +could give no protection to the invader of female prerogatives; assured +me that neither the armour of Achilles, nor the antidote of Mithridates, +would be able to preserve me; and counselled me, if I could not live +without renown, to attempt the acquisition of universal empire, in which +the honour would perhaps be equal, and the danger certainly be less. + +I, a solitary student, pretend not to much knowledge of the world, but +am unwilling to think it so generally corrupt, as that a scheme for the +detection of incontinence should bring any danger upon its inventor. My +friend has indeed told me that all the women will be my enemies, and +that, however I flatter myself with hopes of defence from the men, I +shall certainly find myself deserted in the hour of danger. Of the young +men, said he, some will be afraid of sharing the disgrace of their +mothers, and some the danger of their mistresses; of those who are +married, part are already convinced of the falsehood of their wives, and +part shut their eyes to avoid conviction; few ever sought for virtue in +marriage, and therefore few will try whether they have found it. Almost +every man is careless or timorous, and to trust is easier and safer than +to examine. + +These observations discouraged me, till I began to consider what +reception I was likely to find among the ladies, whom I have reviewed +under the three classes of maids, wives, and widows, and cannot but hope +that I may obtain some countenance among them. The single ladies I +suppose universally ready to patronise my method, by which connubial +wickedness may be detected, since no woman marries with a previous +design to be unfaithful to her husband. And to keep them steady in my +cause, I promise never to sell one of my magnets to a man who steals a +girl from school; marries a woman of forty years younger than himself; +or employs the authority of parents to obtain a wife without her own +consent. + +Among the married ladies, notwithstanding the insinuations of slander, +yet I resolve to believe, that the greater part are my friends, and am +at least convinced, that they who demand the test, and appear on my +side, will supply, by their spirit, the deficiency of their numbers, and +that their enemies will shrink and quake at the sight of a magnet, as +the slaves of Scythia fled from the scourge. + +The widows will be confederated in my favour by their curiosity, if not +by their virtue; for it may be observed, that women who have outlived +their husbands, always think themselves entitled to superintend the +conduct of young wives; and as they are themselves in no danger from +this magnetick trial, I shall expect them to be eminently and +unanimously zealous in recommending it. + +With these hopes I shall, in a short time, offer to sale magnets armed +with a particular metallick composition, which concentrates their +virtue, and determines their agency. It is known that the efficacy of +the magnet, in common operations, depends much upon its armature, and it +cannot be imagined, that a stone, naked, or cased only in a common +manner, will discover the virtues ascribed to it by Rabbi Abraham. The +secret of this metal I shall carefully conceal, and, therefore, am not +afraid of imitators, nor shall trouble the offices with solicitations +for a patent. + +I shall sell them of different sizes, and various degrees of strength. I +have some of a bulk proper to be hung at the bed's head, as scare-crows, +and some so small that they may be easily concealed. Some I have ground +into oval forms to be hung at watches; and some, for the curious, I have +set in wedding rings, that ladies may never want an attestation of their +innocence. Some I can produce so sluggish and inert, that they will not +act before the third failure; and others so vigorous and animated, that +they exert their influence against unlawful wishes, if they have been +willingly and deliberately indulged. As it is my practice honestly to +tell my customers the properties of my magnets, I can judge, by their +choice, of the delicacy of their sentiments. Many have been content to +spare cost by purchasing only the lowest degree of efficacy, and all +have started with terrour from those which operate upon the thoughts. +One young lady only fitted on a ring of the strongest energy, and +declared that she scorned to separate her wishes from her acts, or allow +herself to think what she was forbidden to practise. + +I am, &c. + +HERMETICUS. + +[Footnote l: In the sixth chapter of Rasselas we have an excellent story +of an experimentalist in the art of flying. Dr. Johnson sketched perhaps +from life, for we are informed that he once lodged in the same house +with a man who broke his legs in the daring attempt.] + + + +No. 200. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1752. + + _Nemo petit, modicis quae mittebantur amicis + A Seneca, quae Piso bonus, quae Cotta solebut + Largiri; namque et titulis, et fascibus olim + Major habebatur donandi gloria: solum + Poscimus, ut caenes civiliter. Hoc face, el esto, + Esto, ut nunc multi, dives tibi, pauper amicis_. JUV. Sat. v. 108. + + No man expects (for who so much a sot + Who has the times he lives in so forgot?) + What Seneca, what Piso us'd to send, + To raise or to support a sinking friend. + Those godlike men, to wanting virtue kind, + Bounty well plac'd, preferr'd, and well design'd, + To all their titles, all that height of pow'r, + Which turns the brains of fools, and fools alone adore. + When your poor client is condemn'd t' attend, + 'Tis all we ask, receive him as a friend: + Descend to this, and then we ask no more; + Rich to yourself, to all beside be poor. BOWLES. + +TO THE RAMBLER. + +MR. RAMBLER, + +Such is the tenderness or infirmity of many minds, that when any +affliction oppresses them, they have immediate recourse to lamentation +and complaint, which, though it can only be allowed reasonable when +evils admit of remedy, and then only when addressed to those from whom +the remedy is expected, yet seems even in hopeless and incurable +distresses to be natural, since those by whom it is not indulged, +imagine that they give a proof of extraordinary fortitude by suppressing +it. + +I am one of those who, with the Sancho of Cervantes, leave to higher +characters the merit of suffering in silence, and give vent without +scruple to any sorrow that swells in my heart. It is therefore to me a +severe aggravation of a calamity, when it is such as in the common +opinion will not justify the acerbity of exclamation, or support the +solemnity of vocal grief. Yet many pains are incident to a man of +delicacy, which the unfeeling world cannot be persuaded to pity, and +which, when they are separated from their peculiar and personal +circumstances, will never be considered as important enough to claim +attention, or deserve redress. + +Of this kind will appear to gross and vulgar apprehensions, the miseries +which I endured in a morning visit to Prospero, a man lately raised to +wealth by a lucky project, and too much intoxicated by sudden elevation, +or too little polished by thought and conversation, to enjoy his present +fortune with elegance and decency. + +We set out in the world together; and for a long time mutually assisted +each other in our exigencies, as either happened to have money or +influence beyond his immediate necessities. You know that nothing +generally endears men so much as participation of dangers and +misfortunes; I therefore always considered Prospero as united with me in +the strongest league of kindness, and imagined that our friendship was +only to be broken by the hand of death. I felt at his sudden shoot of +success an honest and disinterested joy; but as I want no part of his +superfluities, am not willing to descend from that equality in which we +hitherto have lived. + +Our intimacy was regarded by me as a dispensation from ceremonial +visits; and it was so long before I saw him at his new house, that he +gently complained of my neglect, and obliged me to come on a day +appointed. I kept my promise, but found that the impatience of my friend +arose not from any desire to communicate his happiness, but to enjoy his +superiority. + +When I told my name at the door, the footman went to see if his master +was at home, and, by the tardiness of his return, gave me reason to +suspect that time was taken to deliberate. He then informed me, that +Prospero desired my company, and shewed the staircase carefully secured +by mats from the pollution of my feet. The best apartments were +ostentatiously set open, that I might have a distant view of the +magnificence which I was not permitted to approach; and my old friend +receiving me with all the insolence of condescension at the top of the +stairs, conducted me to a back room, where he told me he always +breakfasted when he had not great company. + +On the floor where we sat lay a carpet covered with a cloth, of which +Prospero ordered his servant to lift up a corner, that I might +contemplate the brightness of the colours, and the elegance of the +texture, and asked me whether I had ever seen any thing so fine before? +I did not gratify his folly with any outcries of admiration, but coldly +bade the footman let down the cloth. + +We then sat down, and I began to hope that pride was glutted with +persecution, when Prospero desired that I would give the servant leave +to adjust the cover of my chair, which was slipt a little aside, to shew +the damask; he informed me that he had bespoke ordinary chairs for +common use, but had been disappointed by his tradesman. I put the chair +aside with my foot, and drew another so hastily, that I was entreated +not to rumple the carpet. + +Breakfast was at last set, and as I was not willing to indulge the +peevishness that began to seize me, I commended the tea: Prospero then +told me, that another time I should taste his finest sort, but that he +had only a very small quantity remaining, and reserved it for those whom +he thought himself obliged to treat with particular respect. + +While we were conversing upon such subjects as imagination happened to +suggest, he frequently digressed into directions to the servant that +waited, or made a slight inquiry after the jeweller or silversmith; and +once, as I was pursuing an argument with some degree of earnestness, he +started from his posture of attention, and ordered, that if lord Lofty +called on him that morning, he should be shown into the best parlour. + +My patience was yet not wholly subdued. I was willing to promote his +satisfaction, and therefore observed that the figures on the china were +eminently pretty. Prospero had now an opportunity of calling for his +Dresden china, which, says he, I always associate with my chased +teakettle. The cups were brought; I once resolved not to have looked +upon them, but my curiosity prevailed. When I had examined them a +little, Prospero desired me to set them down, for they who were +accustomed only to common dishes, seldom handled china with much care. +You will, I hope, commend my philosophy, when I tell you that I did not +dash his baubles to the ground. + +He was now so much elevated with his own greatness, that he thought some +humility necessary to avert the glance of envy, and therefore told me, +with an air of soft composure, that I was not to estimate life by +external appearance, that all these shining acquisitions had added +little to his happiness, that he still remembered with pleasure the days +in which he and I were upon the level, and had often, in the moment of +reflection, been doubtful, whether he should lose much by changing his +condition for mine. + +I began now to be afraid lest his pride should, by silence and +submission be emboldened to insults that could not easily be borne, and +therefore coolly considered, how I should repress it without such +bitterness of reproof as I was yet unwilling to use. But he interrupted +my meditation, by asking leave to be dressed, and told me, that he had +promised to attend some ladies in the park, and, if I was going the same +way, would take me in his chariot. I had no inclination to any other +favours, and therefore left him without any intention of seeing him +again, unless some misfortune should restore his understanding. + +I am, &c. + +ASPER. + +Though I am not wholly insensible of the provocations which my +correspondent has received, I cannot altogether commend the keenness of +his resentment, nor encourage him to persist in his resolution of +breaking off all commerce with his old acquaintance. One of the golden +precepts of Pythagoras directs, that _a friend should not be hated for +little faults_; and surely he, upon whom nothing worse can be charged, +than that he mats his stairs, and covers his carpet, and sets out his +finery to show before those whom he does not admit to use it, has yet +committed nothing that should exclude him from common degrees of +kindness. Such improprieties often proceed rather from stupidity than +malice. Those who thus shine only to dazzle, are influenced merely by +custom and example, and neither examine, nor are qualified to examine, +the motives of their own practice, or to state the nice limits between +elegance and ostentation. They are often innocent of the pain which +their vanity produces, and insult others when they have no worse purpose +than to please themselves. + +He that too much refines his delicacy will always endanger his quiet. Of +those with whom nature and virtue oblige us to converse, some are +ignorant of the art of pleasing, and offend when they design to caress; +some are negligent, and gratify themselves without regard to the quiet +of another; some, perhaps, are malicious, and feel no greater +satisfaction in prosperity, than that of raising envy and trampling +inferiority. But, whatever be the motive of insult, it is always best to +overlook it, for folly scarcely can deserve resentment, and malice is +punished by neglect[m]. + +[Footnote m: Garrick's little vanities are recognized by all in the +character of Prospero. Mr. Boswell informs us, that he never forgave its +pointed satire. On the same authority we are assured, that though +Johnson so dearly loved to ridicule his pupil, yet he so habitually +considered him as his own property, that he would permit no one beside +to hold up his weaknesses to derision.] + + + +No. 201. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1752. + + --_Sanctus haberi + Justitiæque tenat factis dictisque mereris, + Adnosco procerem_. JUV. Sat. Lib. viii. 24. + + Convince the world that you're devout and true; + Be just in all you say, and all you do; + Whatever be your birth, you're sure to be + A peer of the first magnitude to me. STEPNEY. + +Boyle has observed, that the excellency of manufactures, and the +facility of labour, would be much promoted, if the various expedients +and contrivances which lie concealed in private hands, were by +reciprocal communications made generally known; for there are few +operations that are not performed by one or other with some peculiar +advantages, which, though singly of little importance, would, by +conjunction and concurrence, open new inlets to knowledge, and give new +powers to diligence. + +There are, in like manner, several moral excellencies distributed among +the different classes of a community. It was said by Cujacius, that he +never read more than one book by which he was not instructed; and he +that shall inquire after virtue with ardour and attention, will seldom +find a man by whose example or sentiments he may not be improved. + +Every profession has some essential and appropriate virtue, without +which there can be no hope of honour or success, and which, as it is +more or less cultivated, confers within its sphere of activity different +degrees of merit and reputation. As the astrologers range the +subdivisions of mankind under the planets which they suppose to +influence their lives, the moralist may distribute them according to the +virtues which they necessarily practise, and consider them as +distinguished by prudence or fortitude, diligence or patience. + +So much are the modes of excellence settled by time and place, that men +may be heard boasting in one street of that which they would anxiously +conceal in another. The grounds of scorn and esteem, the topicks of +praise and satire, are varied according to the several virtues or vices +which the course of life has disposed men to admire or abhor; but he who +is solicitous for his own improvement, must not be limited by local +reputation, but select from every tribe of mortals their +characteristical virtues, and constellate in himself the scattered +graces which shine single in other men. + +The chief praise to which a trader aspires is that of punctuality, or an +exact and rigorous observance of commercial engagements; nor is there +any vice of which he so much dreads the imputation, as of negligence and +instability. This is a quality which the interest of mankind requires to +be diffused through all the ranks of life, but which many seem to +consider as a vulgar and ignoble virtue, below the ambition of greatness +or attention of wit, scarcely requisite among men of gaiety and spirit, +and sold at its highest rate when it is sacrificed to a frolick or a +jest. + +Every man has daily occasion to remark what vexations arise from this +privilege of deceiving one another. The active and vivacious have so +long disdained the restraints of truth, that promises and appointments +have lost their cogency, and both parties neglect their stipulations, +because each concludes that they will be broken by the other. + +Negligence is first admitted in small affairs, and strengthened by petty +indulgences. He that is not yet hardened by custom, ventures not on the +violation of important engagements, but thinks himself bound by his word +in cases of property or danger, though he allows himself to forget at +what time he is to meet ladies in the park, or at what tavern his +friends are expecting him. + +This laxity of honour would be more tolerable, if it could be restrained +to the play-house, the ball-room, or the card-table; yet even there it +is sufficiently troublesome, and darkens those moments with expectation, +suspense, and resentment, which are set aside for pleasure, and from +which we naturally hope for unmingled enjoyment, and total relaxation. +But he that suffers the slightest breach in his morality, can seldom +tell what shall enter it, or how wide it shall be made; when a passage +is open, the influx of corruption is every moment wearing down +opposition, and by slow degrees deluges the heart. + +Aliger entered the world a youth of lively imagination, extensive views, +and untainted principles. His curiosity incited him to range from place +to place, and try all the varieties of conversation; his elegance of +address and fertility of ideas gained him friends wherever he appeared; +or at least he found the general kindness of reception always shown to a +young man whose birth and fortune give him a claim to notice, and who +has neither by vice nor folly destroyed his privileges. Aliger was +pleased with this general smile of mankind, and was industrious to +preserve it by compliance and officiousness, but did not suffer his +desire of pleasing to vitiate his integrity. It was his established +maxim, that a promise is never to be broken; nor was it without long +reluctance that he once suffered himself to be drawn away from a festal +engagement by the importunity of another company. + +He spent the evening, as is usual in the rudiments of vice, in +perturbation and imperfect enjoyment, and met his disappointed friends +in the morning with confusion and excuses. His companions, not +accustomed to such scrupulous anxiety, laughed at his uneasiness, +compounded the offence for a bottle, gave him courage to break his word +again, and again levied the penalty. He ventured the same experiment +upon another society, and found them equally ready to consider it as a +venial fault, always incident to a man of quickness and gaiety; till, by +degrees, he began to think himself at liberty to follow the last +invitation, and was no longer shocked at the turpitude of falsehood. He +made no difficulty to promise his presence at distant places, and if +listlessness happened to creep upon him, would sit at home with great +tranquillity, and has often sunk to sleep in a chair, while he held ten +tables in continual expectations of his entrance. + +It was so pleasant to live in perpetual vacancy, that he soon dismissed +his attention as an useless incumbrance, and resigned himself to +carelessness and dissipation, without any regard to the future or the +past, or any other motive of action than the impulse of a sudden desire, +or the attraction of immediate pleasure. The absent were immediately +forgotten, and the hopes or fears felt by others, had no influence upon +his conduct. He was in speculation completely just, but never kept his +promise to a creditor; he was benevolent, but always deceived those +friends whom he undertook to patronise or assist; he was prudent, but +suffered his affairs to be embarrassed for want of regulating his +accounts at stated times. He courted a young lady, and when the +settlements were drawn, took a ramble into the country on the day +appointed to sign them. He resolved to travel, and sent his chests on +shipboard, but delayed to follow them till he lost his passage. He was +summoned as an evidence in a cause of great importance, and loitered on +the way till the trial was past. It is said that when he had, with great +expense, formed an interest in a borough, his opponent contrived, by +some agents who knew his temper, to lure him away on the day of +election. + +His benevolence draws him into the commission of a thousand crimes, +which others less kind or civil would escape. His courtesy invites +application; his promises produce dependence; he has his pockets filled +with petitions, which he intends some time to deliver and enforce, and +his table covered with letters of request, with which he purposes to +comply; but time slips imperceptibly away, while he is either idle or +busy; his friends lose their opportunities, and charge upon him their +miscarriages and calamities. + +This character, however contemptible, is not peculiar to Aliger. They +whose activity of imagination is often shifting the scenes of +expectation, are frequently subject to such sallies of caprice as make +all their actions fortuitous, destroy the value of their friendship, +obstruct the efficacy of their virtues, and set them below the meanest +of those that persist in their resolutions, execute what they design, +and perform what they have promised. + + + +No. 202. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1752. + + [Greek: Pros apanta deilos estin o penaes pragmata, + Kai pantas autou kataphronein upolambanei + O de metrios pratton periskegesteron + Apanta t aniara, dampria, phepei.] CALLIMACHUS. + + From no affliction is the poor exempt, + He thinks each eye surveys him with contempt; + Unmanly poverty subdues the heart, + Cankers each wound, and sharpen's[1] ev'ry dart. F. LEWIS. +[1] Transcriber's note: sic. + +Among those who have endeavoured to promote learning, and rectify +judgment, it has been long customary to complain of the abuse of words, +which are often admitted to signify things so different, that, instead +of assisting the understanding as vehicles of knowledge, they produce +errour, dissention, and perplexity, because what is affirmed in one +sense, is received in another. + +If this ambiguity sometimes embarrasses the most solemn controversies, +and obscures the demonstrations of science, it may well be expected to +infest the pompous periods of declaimers, whose purpose is often only to +amuse with fallacies, and change the colours of truth and falsehood; or +the musical compositions of poets, whose style is professedly +figurative, and whose art is imagined to consist in distorting words +from their original meaning. + +There are few words of which the reader believes himself better to know +the import, than of _poverty_; yet, whoever studies either the poets or +philosophers, will find such an account of the condition expressed by +that term as his experience or observation will not easily discover to +be true. Instead of the meanness, distress, complaint, anxiety, and +dependance, which have hitherto been combined in his ideas of poverty, +he will read of content, innocence, and cheerfulness, of health and +safety, tranquillity and freedom; of pleasures not known but to men +unencumbered with possessions; and of sleep that sheds his balsamick +anodynes only on the cottage. Such are the blessings to be obtained by +the resignation of riches, that kings might descend from their thrones, +and generals retire from a triumph, only to slumber undisturbed in the +elysium of poverty. + +If these authors do not deceive us, nothing can be more absurd than that +perpetual contest for wealth which keeps the world in commotion; nor any +complaints more justly censured than those which proceed from want of +the gifts of fortune, which we are taught by the great masters of moral +wisdom to consider as golden shackles, by which the wearer is at once +disabled and adorned; as luscious poisons which may for a time please +the palate, but soon betray their malignity by languor and by pain. It +is the great privilege of poverty to be happy unenvied, to be healthful +without physick, and secure without a guard; to obtain from the bounty +of nature, what the great and wealthy are compelled to procure by the +help of artists and attendants, of flatterers and spies. + +But it will be found upon a nearer view, that they who extol the +happiness of poverty, do not mean the same state with those who deplore +its miseries. Poets have their imaginations filled with ideas of +magnificence; and being accustomed to contemplate the downfall of +empires, or to contrive forms of lamentations, for monarchs in distress, +rank all the classes of mankind in a state of poverty, who make no +approaches to the dignity of crowns. To be poor, in the epick language, +is only not to command the wealth of nations, nor to have fleets and +armies in pay. + +Vanity has perhaps contributed to this impropriety of style. He that +wishes to become a philosopher at a cheap rate, easily gratifies his +ambition by submitting to poverty when he does not feel it, and by +boasting his contempt of riches when he has already more than he enjoys. +He who would shew the extent of his views, and grandeur of his +conceptions, or discover his acquaintance with splendour and +magnificence, may talk like Cowley, of an humble station and quiet +obscurity, of the paucity of nature's wants, and the inconveniencies of +superfluity, and at last, like him, limit his desires to five hundred +pounds a year; a fortune, indeed, not exuberant, when we compare it with +the expenses of pride and luxury, but to which it little becomes a +philosopher to affix the name of poverty, since no man can, with any +propriety, be termed poor, who does not see the greater part of mankind +richer than himself. + +As little is the general condition of human life understood by the +panegyrists and historians, who amuse us with accounts of the poverty of +heroes and sages. Riches are of no value in themselves, their use is +discovered only in that which they procure. They are not coveted, unless +by narrow understandings, which confound the means with the end, but for +the sake of power, influence, and esteem; or, by some of less elevated +and refined sentiments, as necessary to sensual enjoyment. + +The pleasures of luxury, many have, without uncommon virtue, been able +to despise, even when affluence and idleness have concurred to tempt +them; and therefore he who feels nothing from indigence but the want of +gratifications which he could not in any other condition make consistent +with innocence, has given no proof of eminent patience. Esteem and +influence every man desires, but they are equally pleasing, and equally +valuable, by whatever means they are obtained; and whoever has found the +art of securing them without the help of money, ought, in reality, to be +accounted rich, since he has all that riches can purchase to a wise man. +Cincinnatus, though he lived upon a few acres cultivated by his own +hand, was sufficiently removed from all the evils generally comprehended +under the name of poverty, when his reputation was such, that the voice +of his country called him from his farm to take absolute command into +his hand; nor was Diogenes much mortified by his residence in a tub, +where he was honoured with the visit of Alexander the Great. + +The same fallacy has conciliated veneration to the religious orders. +When we behold a man abdicating the hope of terrestrial possessions, and +precluding himself, by an irrevocable vow, from the pursuit and +acquisition of all that his fellow-beings consider as worthy of wishes +and endeavours, we are immediately struck with the purity, abstraction, +and firmness of his mind, and regard him as wholly employed in securing +the interests of futurity, and devoid of any other care than to gain, at +whatever price, the surest passage to eternal rest. + +Yet, what can the votary be justly said to have lost of his present +happiness? If he resides in a convent, he converses only with men whose +condition is the same with his own; he has, from the munificence of the +founder, all the necessaries of life, and is safe from that destitution, +which Hooker declares to be "such an impediment to virtue, as, till it +be removed, suffereth not the mind of man to admit any other care." All +temptations to envy and competition are shut out from his retreat; he is +not pained with the sight of unattainable dignity, nor insulted with the +bluster of insolence, or the smile of forced familiarity. If he wanders +abroad, the sanctity of his character amply compensates all other +distinctions; he is seldom seen but with reverence, nor heard but with +submission. + +It has been remarked, that death, though often defied in the field, +seldom fails to terrify when it approaches the bed of sickness in its +natural horrour; so poverty may easily be endured, while associated with +dignity and reputation, but will always be shunned and dreaded, when it +is accompanied with ignominy and contempt. + + + +No. 203. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1752. + + _Cum volet illa dies, quae nil nisi corporis hujus + Jus habet, incerti spatium mihi finiat avi_. OVID. Met. xv. 873. + + Come, soon or late, death's undetermin'd day, + This mortal being only can decay. WELSTED. + +It seems to be the fate of man to seek all his consolations in futurity. +The time present is seldom able to fill desire or imagination with +immediate enjoyment, and we are forced to supply its deficiencies by +recollection or anticipation. + +Every one has so often detected the fallaciousness of hope, and the +inconvenience of teaching himself to expect what a thousand accidents +may preclude, that, when time has abated the confidence with which youth +rushes out to take possession of the world, we endeavour, or wish, to +find entertainment in the review of life, and to repose upon real facts, +and certain experience. This is perhaps one reason, among many, why age +delights in narratives. + +But so full is the world of calamity, that every source of pleasure is +polluted, and every retirement of tranquillity disturbed. When time has +supplied us with events sufficient to employ our thoughts, it has +mingled them with so many disasters, that we shrink from their +remembrance, dread their intrusion upon our minds, and fly from them as +from enemies that pursue us with torture. + +No man past the middle point of life can sit down to feast upon the +pleasures of youth without finding the banquet embittered by the cup of +sorrow; he may revive lucky accidents, and pleasing extravagancies; many +days of harmless frolick, or nights of honest festivity, will perhaps +recur; or, if he has been engaged in scenes of action, and acquainted +with affairs of difficulty and vicissitudes of fortune, he may enjoy the +nobler pleasure of looking back upon distress firmly supported, dangers +resolutely encountered, and opposition artfully defeated. Aeneas +properly comforts his companions, when, after the horrours of a storm, +they have landed on an unknown and desolate country, with the hope that +their miseries will be at some distant time recounted with delight. +There are few higher gratifications, than that of reflection on +surmounted evils, when they are not incurred nor protracted by our +fault, and neither reproach us with cowardice nor guilt. + +But this felicity is almost always abated by the reflection that they +with whom we should be most pleased to share it are now in the grave. A +few years make such havock in human generations, that we soon see +ourselves deprived of those with whom we entered the world, and whom the +participation of pleasures or fatigues had endeared to our remembrance. +The man of enterprise recounts his adventures and expedients, but is +forced, at the close of the relation, to pay a sigh to the names of +those that contributed to his success; he that passes his life among the +gayer part of mankind, has his remembrance stored with remarks and +repartees of wits, whose sprightliness and merriment are now lost in +perpetual silence; the trader, whose industry has supplied the want of +inheritance, repines in solitary plenty at the absence of companions, +with whom he had planned out amusements for his latter years; and the +scholar, whose merit, after a long series of efforts, raises him from +obscurity, looks round in vain from his exaltation for his old friends +or enemies, whose applause or mortification would heighten his triumph. + +Among Martial's requisites to happiness is, _Res non parta labore, sed +relicta_, "an estate not gained by industry, but left by inheritance." +It is necessary to the completion of every good, that it be timely +obtained; for whatever comes at the close of life will come too late to +give much delight; yet all human happiness has its defects. Of what we +do not gain for ourselves we have only a faint and imperfect fruition, +because we cannot compare the difference between want and possession, or +at least can derive from it no conviction of our own abilities, nor any +increase of self-esteem; what we acquire by bravery or science, by +mental or corporeal diligence, comes at last when we cannot communicate, +and, therefore, cannot enjoy it. + +Thus every period of life is obliged to borrow its happiness from the +time to come. In youth we have nothing past to entertain us, and in age, +we derive little from retrospect but hopeless sorrow. Yet the future +likewise has its limits, which the imagination dreads to approach, but +which we see to be not far distant. The loss of our friends and +companions impresses hourly upon us the necessity of our own departure; +we know that the schemes of man are quickly at an end, that we must soon +lie down in the grave with the forgotten multitudes of former ages, and +yield our place to others, who, like us, shall be driven awhile by hope +or fear about the surface of the earth, and then like us be lost in the +shades of death. + +Beyond this termination of our material existence, we are therefore +obliged to extend our hopes; and almost every man indulges his +imagination with something, which is not to happen till he has changed +his manner of being: some amuse themselves with entails and settlements, +provide for the perpetuation of families and honours, or contrive to +obviate the dissipation of the fortunes, which it has been their +business to accumulate; others, more refined or exalted, congratulate +their own hearts upon the future extent of their reputation, the +reverence of distant nations, and the gratitude of unprejudiced +posterity. + +They whose souls are so chained down to coffers and tenements, that they +cannot conceive a state in which they shall look upon them with less +solicitude, are seldom attentive or flexible to arguments; but the +votaries of fame are capable of reflection, and therefore may be called +to reconsider the probability of their expectations. + +Whether to be remembered in remote times be worthy of a wise man's wish, +has not yet been satisfactorily decided; and, indeed, to be long +remembered, can happen to so small a number, that the bulk of mankind +has very little interest in the question. There is never room in the +world for more than a certain quantity or measure of renown. The +necessary business of life, the immediate pleasures or pains of every +condition, leave us not leisure beyond a fixed proportion for +contemplations which do not forcibly influence our present welfare. When +this vacuity is filled, no characters can be admitted into the +circulation of fame, but by occupying the place of some that must be +thrust into oblivion. The eye of the mind, like that of the body, can +only extend its view to new objects, by losing sight of those which are +now before it. + +Reputation is therefore a meteor, which blazes a while and disappears +for ever; and, if we except a few transcendent and invincible names, +which no revolutions of opinion or length of time is able to suppress; +all those that engage our thoughts, or diversify our conversation, are +every moment hasting to obscurity, as new favourites are adopted by +fashion. + +It is not therefore from this world, that any ray of comfort can +proceed, to cheer the gloom of the last hour. But futurity has still its +prospects; there is yet happiness in reserve, which, if we transfer our +attention to it, will support us in the pains of disease, and the +languor of decay. This happiness we may expect with confidence, because +it is out of the power of chance, and may be attained by all that +sincerely desire and earnestly pursue it. On this therefore every mind +ought finally to rest. Hope is the chief blessing of man, and that hope +only is rational, of which we are certain that it cannot deceive us. + + + +No. 204. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 1752 + + _Nemo tam divos habuit faventes, + Crastinum ut possit sibi polliceit_. SENECA. + + Of heaven's protection who can be + So confident to utter this?-- + To-morrow I will spend in bliss. F. LEWIS. + +Seged, lord of Ethiopia, to the inhabitants of the world: To the sons of +_Presumption_, humility and fear; and to the daughters of _Sorrow_, +content and acquiescence. + +Thus, in the twenty-seventh year of his reign, spoke Seged, the monarch +of forty nations, the distributor of the waters of the Nile: "At length, +Seged, thy toils are at an end; thou hast reconciled disaffection, thou +hast suppressed rebellion, thou hast pacified the jealousies of thy +courtiers, thou hast chased war from thy confines, and erected +fortresses in the lands of thine enemies. All who have offended thee +tremble in thy presence, and wherever thy voice is heard, it is obeyed. +Thy throne is surrounded by armies, numerous as the locusts of the +summer, and resistless as the blasts of pestilence. Thy magazines are +stored with ammunition, thy treasures overflow with the tribute of +conquered kingdoms. Plenty waves upon thy fields, and opulence glitters +in thy cities. Thy nod is as the earthquake that shakes the mountains, +and thy smile as the dawn of the vernal day. In thy hand is the strength +of thousands, and thy health is the health of millions. Thy palace is +gladdened by the song of praise, and thy path perfumed by the breath of +benediction. Thy subjects gaze upon thy greatness, and think of danger +or misery no more. Why, Seged, wilt not thou partake the blessings thou +bestowest? Why shouldst thou only forbear to rejoice in this general +felicity? Why should thy face be clouded with anxiety, when the meanest +of those who call thee sovereign, gives the day to festivity, and the +night to peace? At length, Seged, reflect and be wise. What is the gift +of conquest but safety? Why are riches collected but to purchase +happiness?" + +Seged then ordered the house of pleasure, built in an island of the lake +of Dambea, to be prepared for his reception. "I will retire," says he, +"for ten days from tumult and care, from counsels and decrees. Long +quiet is not the lot of the governours of nations, but a cessation of +ten days cannot be denied me. This short interval of happiness may +surely be secured from the interruption of fear or perplexity, sorrow or +disappointment. I will exclude all trouble from my abode, and remove +from my thoughts whatever may confuse the harmony of the concert, or +abate the sweetness of the banquet. I will fill the whole capacity of my +soul with enjoyment, and try what it is to live without a wish +unsatisfied." + +In a few days the orders were performed, and Seged hasted to the palace +of Dambea, which stood in an island cultivated only for pleasure, +planted with every flower that spreads its colours to the sun, and every +shrub that sheds fragrance in the air. In one part of this extensive +garden, were open walks for excursions in the morning; in another, thick +groves, and silent arbours, and bubbling fountains for repose at noon. +All that could solace the sense, or flatter the fancy, all that industry +could extort from nature, or wealth furnish to art, all that conquest +could seize, or beneficence attract, was collected together, and every +perception of delight was excited and gratified. + +Into this delicious region Seged summoned all the persons of his court, +who seemed eminently qualified to receive or communicate pleasure. His +call was readily obeyed; the young, the fair, the vivacious, and the +witty, were all in haste to be sated with felicity. They sailed jocund +over the lake, which seemed to smooth its surface before them: their +passage was cheered with musick, and their hearts dilated with +expectation. + +Seged, landing here with his band of pleasure, determined from that hour +to break off all acquaintance with discontent, to give his heart for ten +days to ease and jollity, and then fall back to the common state of man, +and suffer his life to be diversified, as before, with joy and sorrow. + +He immediately entered his chamber, to consider where he should begin +his circle of happiness. He had all the artists of delight before him, +but knew not whom to call, since he could not enjoy one, but by delaying +the performance of another. He chose and rejected, he resolved and +changed his resolution, till his faculties were harassed, and his +thoughts confused; then returned to the apartment where his presence was +expected, with languid eyes and clouded countenance, and spread the +infection of uneasiness over the whole assembly. He observed their +depression, and was offended, for he found his vexation increased by +those whom he expected to dissipate and relieve it. He retired again to +his private chamber, and sought for consolation in his own mind; one +thought flowed in upon another; a long succession of images seized his +attention; the moments crept imperceptibly away through the gloom of +pensiveness, till, having recovered his tranquillity, he lifted his +head, and saw the lake brightened by the setting sun. "Such," said +Seged, sighing, "is the longest day of human existence: before we have +learned to use it, we find it at, an end." + +The regret which he felt for the loss of so great a part of his first +day, took from him all disposition to enjoy the evening; and, after +having endeavoured, for the sake of his attendants, to force an air of +gaiety, and excite that mirth which he could not share, he resolved to +refer his hopes to the next morning, and lay down to partake with the +slaves of labour and poverty the blessing of sleep. + +He rose early the second morning, and resolved now to be happy. He +therefore fixed upon the gate of the palace an edict, importing, that +whoever, during nine days, should appear in the presence of the king +with a dejected countenance, or utter any expression of discontent or +sorrow, should be driven for ever from the palace of Dambea. + +This edict was immediately made known in every chamber of the court, and +bower of the gardens. Mirth was frighted away, and they who were before +dancing in the lawns, or singing in the shades, were at once engaged in +the care of regulating their looks, that Seged might find his will +punctually obeyed, and see none among them liable to banishment. + +Seged now met every face settled in a smile; but a smile that betrayed +solicitude, timidity, and constraint. He accosted his favourites with +familiarity and softness; but they durst not speak without +premeditation, lest they should be convicted of discontent or sorrow. He +proposed diversions, to which no objection was made, because objection +would have implied uneasiness; but they were regarded with indifference +by the courtiers, who had no other desire than to signalize themselves +by clamorous exultation. He offered various topicks of conversation, but +obtained only forced jests, and laborious laughter; and after many +attempts to animate his train to confidence and alacrity, was obliged to +confess to himself the impotence of command, and resign another day to +grief and disappointment. + +He at last relieved his companions from their terrours, and shut himself +up in his chamber to ascertain, by different measures, the felicity of +the succeeding days. At length he threw himself on the bed, and closed +his eyes, but imagined, in his sleep, that his palace and gardens were +overwhelmed by an inundation, and waked with all the terrours of a man +struggling in the water. He composed himself again to rest, but was +affrighted by an imaginary irruption into his kingdom; and striving, as +is usual in dreams, without ability to move, fancied himself betrayed to +his enemies, and again started up with horrour and indignation. + +It was now day, and fear was so strongly impressed on his mind, that he +could sleep no more. He rose, but his thoughts were filled with the +deluge and invasion, nor was he able to disengage his attention, or +mingle with vacancy and ease in any amusement. At length his +perturbation gave way to reason, and he resolved no longer to be +harassed by visionary miseries; but, before this resolution could be +completed, half the day had elapsed: he felt a new conviction of the +uncertainty of human schemes, and could not forbear to bewail the +weakness of that being whose quiet was to be interrupted by vapours of +the fancy. Having been first disturbed by a dream, he afterwards grieved +that a dream could disturb him. He at last discovered, that his terrours +and grief were equally vain, and that to lose the present in lamenting +the past, was voluntarily to protract a melancholy vision. The third day +was now declining, and Seged again resolved to be happy on the morrow. + + + +No. 205. TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 1752. + + _Volat ambiguis + Mobilis alis hora, nec ulli + Præstat velox Fortuna fidem_. SENECA. Hippol. 1141. + + On fickle wings the minutes haste, + And fortune's favours never last. F. LEWIS. + +On the fourth morning Seged rose early, refreshed with sleep, vigorous +with health, and eager with expectation. He entered the garden, attended +by the princes and ladies of his court, and seeing nothing about him but +airy cheerfulness, began to say to his heart, "This day shall be a day +of pleasure." The sun played upon the water, the birds warbled in the +groves, and the gales quivered among the branches. He roved from walk to +walk as chance directed him, and sometimes listened to the songs, +sometimes mingled with the dancers, sometimes let loose his imagination +in flights of merriment; and sometimes uttered grave reflections, and +sententious maxims, and feasted on the admiration with which they were +received. + +Thus the day rolled on, without any accident of vexation, or intrusion +of melancholy thoughts. All that beheld him caught gladness from his +looks, and the sight of happiness conferred by himself filled his heart +with satisfaction: but having passed three hours in this harmless +luxury, he was alarmed on a sudden by an universal scream among the +women, and turning back saw the whole assembly flying in confusion. A +young crocodile had risen out of the lake, and was ranging the garden in +wantonness or hunger. Seged beheld him with indignation, as a disturber +of his felicity, and chased him back into the lake, but could not +persuade his retinue to stay, or free their hearts from the terrour +which had seized upon them. The princesses inclosed themselves in the +palace, and could yet scarcely believe themselves in safety. Every +attention was fixed upon the late danger and escape, and no mind was any +longer at leisure for gay sallies or careless prattle. + +Seged had now no other employment than to contemplate the innumerable +casualties which lie in ambush on every side to intercept the happiness +of man, and break in upon the hour of delight and tranquillity. He had, +however, the consolation of thinking, that he had not been now +disappointed by his own fault, and that the accident which had blasted +the hopes of the day, might easily be prevented by future caution. + +That he might provide for the pleasure of the next morning, he resolved +to repeal his penal edict, since he had already found that discontent +and melancholy were not to be frighted away by the threats of authority, +and that pleasure would only reside where she was exempted from control. +He therefore invited all the companions of his retreat to unbounded +pleasantry, by proposing prizes for those who should, on the following +day, distinguish themselves by any festive performances; the tables of +the antechamber were covered with gold and pearls, and robes and +garlands decreed the rewards of those who could refine elegance or +heighten pleasure. + +At this display of riches every eye immediately sparkled, and every +tongue was busied in celebrating the bounty and magnificence of the +emperour. But when Seged entered, in hopes of uncommon entertainment +from universal emulation, he found that any passion too strongly +agitated, puts an end to that tranquillity which is necessary to mirth, +and that the mind, that is to be moved by the gentle ventilations of +gaiety, must be first smoothed by a total calm. Whatever we ardently +wish to gain, we must in the same degree be afraid to lose, and fear and +pleasure cannot dwell together. + +All was now care and solicitude. Nothing was done or spoken, but with so +visible an endeavour at perfection, as always failed to delight, though +it sometimes forced admiration: and Seged could not but observe with +sorrow, that his prizes had more influence than himself. As the evening +approached, the contest grew more earnest, and those who were forced to +allow themselves excelled, began to discover the malignity of defeat, +first by angry glances, and at last by contemptuous murmurs. Seged +likewise shared the anxiety of the day, for considering himself as +obliged to distribute with exact justice the prizes which had been so +zealously sought, he durst never remit his attention, but passed his +time upon the rack of doubt, in balancing different kinds of merit, and +adjusting the claims of all the competitors. + +At last, knowing that no exactness could satisfy those whose hopes he +should disappoint, and thinking that on a day set apart for happiness, +it would be cruel to oppress any heart with sorrow, he declared that all +had pleased him alike, and dismissed all with presents of equal value. + +Seged soon saw that his caution had not been able to avoid offence. They +who had believed themselves secure of the highest prizes, were not +pleased to be levelled with the crowd: and though, by the liberality of +the king, they received more than his promise had entitled them to +expect, they departed unsatisfied, because they were honoured with no +distinction, and wanted an opportunity to triumph in the mortification +of their opponents. "Behold here," said Seged, "the condition of him who +places his happiness in the happiness of others." He then retired to +meditate, and, while the courtiers were repining at his distributions, +saw the fifth sun go down in discontent. + +The next dawn renewed his resolution to be happy. But having learned how +little he could effect by settled schemes or preparatory measures, he +thought it best to give up one day entirely to chance, and left every +one to please and be pleased his own way. + +This relaxation of regularity diffused a general complacence through the +whole court, and the emperour imagined that he had at last found the +secret of obtaining an interval of felicity. But as he was roving in +this careless assembly with equal carelessness, he overheard one of his +courtiers in a close arbour murmuring alone: "What merit has Seged above +us, that we should thus fear and obey him, a man, whom, whatever he may +have formerly performed, his luxury now shows to have the same weakness +with ourselves." This charge affected him the more, as it was uttered by +one whom he had always observed among the most abject of his flatterers. +At first his indignation prompted him to severity; but reflecting, that +what was spoken without intention to be heard, was to be considered as +only thought, and was perhaps but the sudden burst of casual and +temporary vexation, he invented some decent pretence to send him away, +that his retreat might not be tainted with the breath of envy, and, +after the struggle of deliberation was past, and all desire of revenge +utterly suppressed, passed the evening not only with tranquillity, but +triumph, though none but himself was conscious of the victory. + +The remembrance of his clemency cheered the beginning of the seventh +day, and nothing happened to disturb the pleasure of Seged, till, +looking on the tree that shaded him, he recollected, that, under a tree +of the same kind he had passed the night after his defeat in the kingdom +of Goiama. The reflection on his loss, his dishonour, and the miseries +which his subjects suffered from the invader, filled him with sadness. +At last he shook off the weight of sorrow, and began to solace himself +with his usual pleasures, when his tranquillity was again disturbed by +jealousies which the late contest for the prizes had produced, and +which, having in vain tried to pacify them by persuasion, he was forced +to silence by command. + +On the eighth morning Seged was awakened early by an unusual hurry in +the apartments, and inquiring the cause, was told that the princess +Balkis was seized with sickness. He rose, and calling the physicians, +found that they had little hope of her recovery. Here was an end of +jollity: all his thoughts were now upon his daughter, whose eyes he +closed on the tenth day. + +Such were the days which Seged of Ethiopia had appropriated to a short +respiration from the fatigues of war and the cares of government. This +narrative he has bequeathed to future generations, that no man hereafter +may presume to say, "This day shall be a day of happiness." + + + +No. 206. SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 1752. + + _--Propositi nondum pudet, atque eadem est mens, + Ut bona summa putes, alienâ vivere quadrâ_. JUV. Sat. v. 1. + + But harden'd by affronts, and still the same, + Lost to all sense of honour and of fame, + Thou yet canst love to haunt the great man's board, + And think no supper good but with a lord. BOWLES. + +When Diogenes was once asked, what kind of wine he liked best? he +answered, "That which is drunk at the cost of others." + +Though the character of Diogenes has never excited any general zeal of +imitation, there are many who resemble him in his taste of wine; many +who are frugal, though not abstemious; whose appetites, though too +powerful for reason, are kept under restraint by avarice; and to whom +all delicacies lose their flavour, when they cannot be obtained but at +their own expense. + +Nothing produces more singularity of manners and inconstancy of life, +than the conflict of opposite vices in the same mind. He that uniformly +pursues any purpose, whether good or bad, has a settled principle of +action; and as he may always find associates who are travelling the same +way, is countenanced by example, and sheltered in the multitude; but a +man, actuated at once by different desires, must move in a direction +peculiar to himself, and suffer that reproach which we are naturally +inclined to bestow on those who deviate from the rest of the world, even +without inquiring whether they are worse or better. + +Yet this conflict of desires sometimes produces wonderful efforts. To +riot in far-fetched dishes, or surfeit with unexhausted variety, and yet +practise the most rigid economy, is surely an art which may justly draw +the eyes of mankind upon them whose industry or judgment has enabled +them to attain it. To him, indeed, who is content to break open the +chests, or mortgage the manours, of his ancestors, that he may hire the +ministers of excess at the highest price, gluttony is an easy science; +yet we often hear the votaries of luxury boasting of the elegance which +they owe to the taste of others, relating with rapture the succession of +dishes with which their cooks and caterers supply them; and expecting +their share of praise with the discoverers of arts and the civilizers of +nations. But to shorten the way to convivial happiness, by eating +without cost, is a secret hitherto in few hands, but which certainly +deserves the curiosity of those whose principal enjoyment is their +dinner, and who see the sun rise with no other hope than that they shall +fill their bellies before it sets. + +Of them that have within my knowledge attempted this scheme of +happiness, the greater part have been immediately obliged to desist; and +some, whom their first attempts flattered with success, were reduced by +degrees to a few tables, from which they were at last chased to make way +for others; and having long habituated themselves to superfluous plenty, +growled away their latter years in discontented competence. + +None enter the regions of luxury with higher expectations than men of +wit, who imagine, that they shall never want a welcome to that company +whose ideas they can enlarge, or whose imaginations they can elevate, +and believe themselves able to pay for their wine with the mirth which +it qualifies them to produce. Full of this opinion, they crowd with +little invitation, wherever the smell of a feast allures them, but are +seldom encouraged to repeat their visits, being dreaded by the pert as +rivals, and hated by the dull as disturbers of the company. + +No man has been so happy in gaining and keeping the privilege of living +at luxurious houses as Gulosulus, who, after thirty years of continual +revelry, has now established, by uncontroverted prescription, his claim +to partake of every entertainment, and whose presence they who aspire to +the praise of a sumptuous table are careful to procure on a day of +importance, by sending the invitation a fortnight before. + +Gulosulus entered the world without any eminent degree of merit; but was +careful to frequent houses where persons of rank resorted. By being +often seen, he became in time known; and, from sitting in the same room, +was suffered to mix in idle conversation, or assisted to fill up a +vacant hour, when better amusement was not readily to be had. From the +coffee-house he was sometimes taken away to dinner; and as no man +refuses the acquaintance of him whom he sees admitted to familiarity by +others of equal dignity, when he had been met at a few tables, he with +less difficulty found the way to more, till at last he was regularly +expected to appear wherever preparations are made for a feast, within +the circuit of his acquaintance. + +When he was thus by accident initiated in luxury, he felt in himself no +inclination to retire from a life of so much pleasure, and therefore +very seriously considered how he might continue it. Great qualities, or +uncommon accomplishments, he did not find necessary; for he had already +seen that merit rather enforces respect than attracts fondness; and as +he thought no folly greater than that of losing a dinner for any other +gratification, he often congratulated himself, that he had none of that +disgusting excellence which impresses awe upon greatness, and condemns +its possessors to the society of those who are wise or brave, and +indigent as themselves. + +Gulosulus, having never allotted much of his time to books or +meditation, had no opinion in philosophy or politicks, and was not in +danger of injuring his interest by dogmatical positions or violent +contradiction. If a dispute arose, he took care to listen with earnest +attention; and, when either speaker grew vehement and loud, turned +towards him with eager quickness, and uttered a short phrase of +admiration, as if surprised by such cogency of argument as he had never +known before. By this silent concession, he generally preserved in +either controvertist such a conviction of his own superiority, as +inclined him rather to pity than irritate his adversary, and prevented +those outrages which are sometimes produced by the rage of defeat, or +petulance of triumph. + +Gulosulus was never embarrassed but when he was required to declare his +sentiments before he had been able to discover to which side the master +of the house inclined, for it was his invariable rule to adopt the +notions of those that invited him. + +It will sometimes happen that the insolence of wealth breaks into +contemptuousness, or the turbulence of wine requires a vent; and +Gulosulus seldom fails of being singled out on such emergencies, as one +on whom any experiment of ribaldry may be safely tried. Sometimes his +lordship finds himself inclined to exhibit a specimen of raillery for +the diversion of his guests, and Gulosulus always supplies him with a +subject of merriment. But he has learned to consider rudeness and +indignities as familiarities that entitle him to greater freedom: he +comforts himself, that those who treat and insult him pay for their +laughter, and that he keeps his money while they enjoy their jest. + +His chief policy consists in selecting some dish from every course, and +recommending it to the company, with an air so decisive, that no one +ventures to contradict him. By this practice he acquires at a feast a +kind of dictatorial authority; his taste becomes the standard of pickles +and seasoning, and he is venerated by the professors of epicurism, as +the only man who understands the niceties of cookery. + +Whenever a new sauce is imported, or any innovation made in the culinary +system, he procures the earliest intelligence, and the most authentick +receipt; and, by communicating his knowledge under proper injunctions of +secrecy, gains a right of tasting his own dish whenever it is prepared, +that he may tell whether his directions have been fully understood. + +By this method of life Gulosulus has so impressed on his imagination the +dignity of feasting, that he has no other topick of talk, or subject of +meditation. His calendar is a bill of fare; he measures the year by +successive dainties. The only common-places of his memory are his meals; +and if you ask him at what time an event happened, he considers whether +he heard it after a dinner of turbot or venison. He knows, indeed, that +those who value themselves upon sense, learning, or piety, speak of him +with contempt; but he considers them as wretches, envious or ignorant, +who do not know his happiness, or wish to supplant him; and declares to +his friends, that he is fully satisfied with his own conduct, since he +has fed every day on twenty dishes, and yet doubled his estate. + + + +No. 207. TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 1752. + + _Solve senescentem mature sanus equum, ne + Peccet ad extremum ridendus.--_ HOR. Lib. i. Ep. i. 8. + + The voice of reason cries with winning force, + Loose from the rapid car your aged horse, + Lest, in the race derided, left behind, + He drag his jaded limbs, and burst his wind. FRANCIS. + +Such is the emptiness of human enjoyment, that we are always impatient +of the present. Attainment is followed by neglect, and possession by +disgust; and the malicious remark of the Greek epigrammatist on marriage +may be applied to every other course of life, that its two days of +happiness are the first and the last. + +Few moments are more pleasing than those in which the mind is concerting +measures for a new undertaking. From the first hint that wakens the +fancy, till the hour of actual execution, all is improvement and +progress, triumph and felicity. Every hour brings additions to the +original scheme, suggests some new expedient to secure success, or +discovers consequential advantages not hitherto foreseen. While +preparations are made, and materials accumulated, day glides after day +through elysian prospects, and the heart dances to the song of hope. + +Such is the pleasure of projecting, that many content themselves with a +succession of visionary schemes, and wear out their allotted time in the +calm amusement of contriving what they never attempt or hope to execute. + +Others, not able to feast their imagination with pure ideas, advance +somewhat nearer to the grossness of action, with great diligence collect +whatever is requisite to their design, and, after a thousand researches +and consultations, are snatched away by death, as they stand _in +procinctu_, waiting for a proper opportunity to begin. + +If there were no other end of life, than to find some adequate solace +for every day, I know not whether any condition could be preferred to +that of the man who involves himself in his own thoughts, and never +suffers experience to show him the vanity of speculation; for no sooner +are notions reduced to practice, than tranquillity and confidence +forsake the breast; every day brings its task, and often without +bringing abilities to perform it: difficulties embarrass, uncertainty +perplexes, opposition retards, censure exasperates, or neglect +depresses. We proceed because we have begun; we complete our design, +that the labour already spent may not be vain; but as expectation +gradually dies away, the gay smile of alacrity disappears, we are +compelled to implore severer powers, and trust the event to patience and +constancy. + +When once our labour has begun, the comfort that enables us to endure it +is the prospect of its end; for though in every long work there are some +joyous intervals of self-applause, when the attention is recreated by +unexpected facility, and the imagination soothed by incidental +excellencies; yet the toil with which performance struggles after idea, +is so irksome and disgusting, and so frequent is the necessity of +resting below that perfection which we imagined within our reach, that +seldom any man obtains more from his endeavours than a painful +conviction of his defects, and a continual resuscitation of desires +which he feels himself unable to gratify. + +So certainly is weariness the concomitant of our undertakings, that +every man, in whatever he is engaged, consoles himself with the hope of +change; if he has made his way by assiduity to publick employment, he +talks among his friends of the delight of retreat; if by the necessity +of solitary application he is secluded from the world, he listens with a +beating heart to distant noises, longs to mingle with living beings, and +resolves to take hereafter his fill of diversions, or display his +abilities on the universal theatre, and enjoy the pleasure of +distinction and applause. + +Every desire, however innocent, grows dangerous, as by long indulgence +it becomes ascendant in the mind. When we have been much accustomed to +consider any thing as capable of giving happiness, it is not easy to +restrain our ardour, or to forbear some precipitation in our advances, +and irregularity in our pursuits. He that has cultivated the tree, +watched the swelling bud and opening blossom, and pleased himself with +computing how much every sun and shower add to its growth, scarcely +stays till the fruit has obtained its maturity, but defeats his own +cares by eagerness to reward them. When we have diligently laboured for +any purpose, we are willing to believe that we have attained it, and, +because we have already done much, too suddenly conclude that no more is +to be done. + +All attraction is increased by the approach of the attracting body. We +never find ourselves so desirous to finish as in the latter part of our +work, or so impatient of delay, as when we know that delay cannot be +long. This unseasonable importunity of discontent may be partly imputed +to languor and weariness, which must always oppress those more whose +toil has been longer continued; but the greater part usually proceeds +from frequent contemplation of that ease which is now considered as +within reach, and which, when it has once flattered our hopes, we cannot +suffer to be withheld. + +In some of the noblest compositions of wit, the conclusion falls below +the vigour and spirit of the first books; and as a genius is not to be +degraded by the imputation of human failings, the cause of this +declension is commonly sought in the structure of the work, and +plausible reasons are given why, in the defective part, less ornament +was necessary, or less could be admitted. But, perhaps, the author would +have confessed, that his fancy was tired, and his perseverance broken; +that he knew his design to be unfinished, but that, when he saw the end +so near, he could no longer refuse to be at rest. + +Against the instillations of this frigid opiate, the heart should be +secured by all the considerations which once concurred to kindle the +ardour of enterprise. Whatever motive first incited action, has still +greater force to stimulate perseverance; since he that might have lain +still at first in blameless obscurity, cannot afterwards desist but with +infamy and reproach. He, whom a doubtful promise of distant good could +encourage to set difficulties at defiance, ought not to remit his +vigour, when he has almost obtained his recompense. To faint or loiter, +when only the last efforts are required, is to steer the ship through +tempests, and abandon it to the winds in sight of land; it is to break +the ground and scatter the seed, and at last to neglect the harvest. + +The masters of rhetorick direct, that the most forcible arguments be +produced in the latter part of an oration, lest they should be effaced +or perplexed by supervenient images. This precept may be justly extended +to the series of life: nothing is ended with honour, which does not +conclude better than it began. It is not sufficient to maintain the +first vigour; for excellence loses its effect upon the mind by custom, +as light after a time ceases to dazzle. Admiration must be continued by +that novelty which first produced it, and how much soever is given, +there must always be reason to imagine that more remains. + +We not only are most sensible of the last impressions, but such is the +unwillingness of mankind to admit transcendant merit, that, though it be +difficult to obliterate the reproach of miscarriages by any subsequent +achievement, however illustrious, yet the reputation raised by a long +train of success may be finally ruined by a single failure; for weakness +or errour will be always remembered by that malice and envy which it +gratifies. + +For the prevention of that disgrace, which lassitude and negligence may +bring at last upon the greatest performances, it is necessary to +proportion carefully our labour to our strength. If the design comprises +many parts, equally essential, and, therefore, not to be separated, the +only time for caution is before we engage; the powers of the mind must +be then impartially estimated, and it must be remembered that, not to +complete the plan, is not to have begun it; and that nothing is done +while any thing is omitted. + +But, if the task consists in the repetition of single acts, no one of +which derives its efficacy from the rest, it may be attempted with less +scruple, because there is always opportunity to retreat with honour. The +danger is only, lest we expect from the world the indulgence with which +most are disposed to treat themselves; and in the hour of listlessness +imagine, that the diligence of one day will atone for the idleness of +another, and that applause begun by approbation will be continued by +habit. + +He that is himself weary will soon weary the publick. Let him therefore +lay down his employment, whatever it be, who can no longer exert his +former activity or attention; let him not endeavour to struggle with +censure, or obstinately infest the stage till a general hiss commands +him to depart. + + + +No. 208. SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 1752. + + [Greek: Aerakleitos ego ti me o kato helket amousoi, + Ouch hymin eponoun, tois de m' episgamenoi; + Eis emoi anthropos trismurioi; oi d' anarithmoi + Oudeis; taut audo kai para Persephonae] DIOG. LAERT. + + Begone, ye blockheads, Heraclitus cries, + And leave my labours to the learn'd and wise; + By wit, by knowledge, studious to be read, + I scorn the multitude, alive and dead. + + Time, which puts an end to all human pleasures and sorrows, has +likewise concluded the labours of the Rambler. Having supported, for two +years, the anxious employment of a periodical writer, and multiplied my +essays to upwards of two hundred, I have now determined to desist. + +The reasons of this resolution it is of little importance to declare, +since justification is unnecessary when no objection is made. I am far +from supposing, that the cessation of my performances will raise any +inquiry, for I have never been much a favourite of the publick, nor can +boast that, in the progress of my undertaking, I have been animated by +the rewards of the liberal, the caresses of the great, or the praises of +the eminent. + +But I have no design to gratify pride by submission, or malice by +lamentation; nor think it reasonable to complain of neglect from those +whose regard I never solicited. If I have not been distinguished by the +distributors of literary honours, I have seldom descended to the arts by +which favour is obtained. I have seen the meteors of fashions rise and +fall, without any attempt to add a moment to their duration. I have +never complied with temporary curiosity, nor enabled my readers to +discuss the topick of the day; I have rarely exemplified my assertions +by living characters; in my papers, no man could look for censures of +his enemies, or praises of himself; and they only were expected to +peruse them, whose passions left them leisure for abstracted truth, and +whom virtue could please by its naked dignity. + +To some, however, I am indebted for encouragement, and to others for +assistance. The number of my friends was never great, but they have been +such as would not suffer me to think that I was writing in vain, and I +did not feel much dejection from the want of popularity. + +My obligations having not been frequent, my acknowledgments may be soon +despatched. I can restore to all my correspondents their productions, +with little diminution of the bulk of my volumes, though not without the +loss of some pieces to which particular honours have been paid. + +The parts from which I claim no other praise than that of having given +them an opportunity of appearing, are the four billets in the tenth +paper, the second letter in the fifteenth, the thirtieth, the +forty-fourth, the ninety-seventh, and the hundredth papers, and the +second letter in the hundred and seventh. + +Having thus deprived myself of many excuses which candour might have +admitted for the inequality of my compositions, being no longer able to +allege the necessity of gratifying correspondents, the importunity with +which publication was solicited, or obstinacy with which correction was +rejected, I must remain accountable for all my faults, and submit, +without subterfuge, to the censures of criticism, which, however, I +shall not endeavour to soften by a formal deprecation, or to overbear by +the influence of a patron. The supplications of an author never yet +reprieved him a moment from oblivion; and, though greatness has +sometimes sheltered guilt, it can afford no protection to ignorance or +dulness. Having hitherto attempted only the propagation of truth, I will +not at last violate it by the confession of terrours which I do not +feel; having laboured to maintain the dignity of virtue, I will not now +degrade it by the meanness of dedication. + +The seeming vanity with which I have sometimes spoken of myself, would +perhaps require an apology, were it not extenuated by the example of +those who have published essays before me, and by the privilege which +every nameless writer has been hitherto allowed. "A mask," says +Castiglione, "confers a right of acting and speaking with less +restraint, even when the wearer happens to be known." He that is +discovered without his own consent, may claim some indulgence, and +cannot be rigorously called to justify those sallies or frolicks which +his disguise must prove him desirous to conceal. + +But I have been cautious lest this offence should be frequently or +grossly committed; for, as one of the philosophers directs us to live +with a friend, as with one that is some time to become an enemy, I have +always thought it the duty of an anonymous author to write, as if he +expected to be hereafter known. + +I am willing to flatter myself with hopes, that, by collecting these +papers, I am not preparing, for my future life, either shame or +repentance. That all are happily imagined, or accurately polished, that +the same sentiments have not sometimes recurred, or the same expressions +been too frequently repeated, I have not confidence in my abilities +sufficient to warrant. He that condemns himself to compose on a stated +day, will often bring to his task an attention dissipated, a memory +embarrassed, an imagination overwhelmed, a mind distracted with +anxieties, a body languishing with disease: he will labour on a barren +topick, till it is too late to change it; or, in the ardour of +invention, diffuse his thoughts into wild exuberance, which the pressing +hour of publication cannot suffer judgment to examine or reduce. + +Whatever shall be the final sentence of mankind, I have at least +endeavoured to deserve their kindness. I have laboured to refine our +language to grammatical purity, and to clear it from colloquial +barbarisms, licentious idioms, and irregular combinations. Something, +perhaps, I have added to the elegance of its construction, and something +to the harmony of its cadence. When common words were less pleasing to +the ear, or less distinct in their signification, I have familiarized +the terms of philosophy, by applying them to popular ideas, but have +rarely admitted any words not authorized by former writers; for I +believe that whoever knows the English tongue in its present extent, +will be able to express his thoughts without further help from other +nations. + +As it has been my principal design to inculcate wisdom or piety, I have +allotted few papers to the idle sports of imagination. Some, perhaps, +may be found, of which the highest excellence is harmless merriment; but +scarcely any man is so steadily serious as not to complain, that the +severity of dictatorial instruction has been too seldom relieved, and +that he is driven by the sternness of the Rambler's philosophy to more +cheerful and airy companions. + +Next to the excursions of fancy are the disquisitions of criticism, +which, in my opinion, is only to be ranked among the subordinate and +instrumental arts. Arbitrary decision and general exclamation I have +carefully avoided, by asserting nothing without a reason, and +establishing all my principles of judgment on unalterable and evident +truth. + +In the pictures of life I have never been so studious of novelty or +surprise, as to depart wholly from all resemblance; a fault which +writers deservedly celebrated frequently commit, that they may raise, as +the occasion requires, either mirth or abhorrence. Some enlargement may +be allowed to declamation, and some exaggeration to burlesque; but as +they deviate farther from reality, they become less useful, because +their lessons will fail of application. The mind of the reader is +carried away from the contemplation of his own manners; he finds in +himself no likeness to the phantom before him; and though he laughs or +rages, is not reformed. + +The essays professedly serious, if I have been able to execute my own +intentions, will be found exactly conformable to the precepts of +Christianity, without any accommodation to the licentiousness and levity +of the present age. I therefore look back on this part of my work with +pleasure, which no blame or praise of man shall diminish or augment. I +shall never envy the honours which wit and learning obtain in any other +cause, if I can be numbered among the writers who have given ardour to +virtue, and confidence to truth. + + [Greek: Auton ek makaron autaxios eiae amoibae.] + + Celestial pow'rs! that piety regard, + From you my labours wait their last reward. + +END OF VOL. III. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D, In +Nine Volumes, by Samuel Johnson + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11397 *** |