his own dignity, or to believe that he does little only
becaufe every individual is a very little being. He
is better content to want diligence than power, and
fooner confefles the depravity of his will than the im-
becillity of his nature.

From this miftaken notion of human greatnefs it
proceeds, that many who pretend to have made
great advances in wifdom fo loudly declare that they
defpife themfelves. If I had ever found any of the
felf-contemners much irritated or pained by the con-
fcioumefs of their meannefs, I fhould have given
them confolation by obferving, that a little more
than nothing is as much as can be expefted from a
being, who with refped: to the multitudes about him
is himfelf little more than nothing. Every man is
obliged by the Supreme Matter of the univerfe to
improve all the opportunities of good which are
afforded him, and to keep in continual activity fuch
abilities as are beftowed upon him. But he has no
reafon to repine, though his abilities are fmall and
his opportunities few. He that has improved the
virtue, or advanced the happinefs of one fellow-crea-
ture, he that has afcertained a fingle moral propofi-
tion, or added one ufeful experiment to natural
knowledge, may be contented with his own perform-
ance, and, with refpedt to mortals like himfelf, may
demand, like Augujlus, to be difmifTed at his de-
parture with applaufe.



NUMB,



N 89. T H E I D L E R. 357



NUMB. 89. SATURDAY, December 29, 1759.



*J aV/pjt?. EpICT.

HO W evil came into the world ; for what
reafon it is that life is overfpread with fuch
boundlefs varieties of mifery ; why the only thinking
being of this globe is doomed to think merely to be
wretched, and to pafs his time from youth to age in
fearing or in fuffering calamities, is a queftion which
philofophers have long afked, and which philofophy
could never anfwer.

Religion informs us that mifery and fin were
produced together. The depravation of human will
"was followed by a diforder of the harmony of na-
ture; and by that providence which often places
antidotes in the neighbourhood of poifons, vice was
checked by mifery, left it Ihould fwell to univerfal
and unlimited Dominion.

A flate of innocence and happinefs is fo remote
from all that we have ever feen, that though we
can eafily conceive it poffible, and may therefore
hope to attain it, yet our fpeculations upon it muft
be general and confufed. We can difcover that
where there is univerfal innocence, there will pro-
bably be univerfal happinefs ; for why (hould af*
flidtions be permitted to infeft beings who are not
in danger of corruption from bleffings, and where
there is no ule of terrour nor caufe of puniihment?

A a 3 But



358 T H E I D L E R. NB 8?,

But in a world like ours, where our fenfes afTault us,
and our hearts betray us, we fhould pafs on from
crime to crime, heedlefs and remorfelefs, if mifery
did not fland in our way, and our own pains ad-
monifh us of our folly.

Almoft all the moral good which is left among us,
is the apparent effect of phyfical evil.

Goodnefs is divided by divines into fobernefs,
righteoufnefs, and godlinefs. Let it be examined
how each of thefe duties would be practifed if there
were no phyfical evil to enforce it.

Sobriety, or temperance, is nothing but the for-
bearance of pleafure; and if pleafure was not followed
by pain, who would forbear it ? We fee every hour
thofe in whom the defire of prefent indulgence over-
powers all fenfe of paft and all foreiight of future
mifery. In a remimon of the gout, the drunkard re-
turns to his wine, and the glutton to his feaft ; and
if neither difeafe nor poverty were felt or dreaded,
every one would fink down in idle fenfuality, with-
out any care of others, or of himfelf. To eat and
drink, and lie down to fleep, would be the whole
bufinefs of mankind.

Righteoufnefs, or the fyftem of focial duty, may
be fubdiyided into juftice and charity. Of juftice
one of the Heathen fages has fhewn, with great
acutenefs, that it was imprefTed upon mankind
only by the inconveniences which injuftice had pro-
duced. " In the firft ages," fays he, " men acted
" without any rule but the impulfe of defire ; they
u pradtifed injuftice upon others, and fuffered it
" from others in their turn ; but in time it wa$
" difcovered, that the pain of fuffering wrong was

?' greater



N8 9 . THE IDLER. 359

f( greater than the pleafure of doing it ; and man-
" kind, by a general compact, fubmitted to the re-
*' flraint of laws, and refigned the pleafure to efcapc
" the pain."

Of charity it is fuperfluous to obfervc, that it
could have no place if there were no want j for of a
virtue which could not be pradifed, the omiffion
could not be culpable. Evil is not only the occa-
fional but the efficient caufe of charity ; we are in-
cited to the relief of mifery by the confcioufnefs that
we have the fame nature with the fufferer, that we
are in danger of the fame diftrefles, and may fome-
times implore the fame affiftance.

Godlinefs, or piety, is elevation of the mind to-
wards the Supreme Being, and extenfion of the
thoughts of another life. The other life is future,
and the Supreme Being is inviiible. None would
have recourfe to an invifible power, but that all
other fubjeds have eluded their hopes. None would
fix their attention upon the future, but that they
are difcontented with the prefent. If the fenfes
were feafted with perpetual pleafure, they would
always keep the mind in fubjedion. Reafon has no
authority over us, but by its power to warn us
againft evil.

In childhood, while our minds are yet unoccupied,
religion is imprefled upon them, and the firfl years
of almoit all who have been well educated are
pafled in a regular difcharge of the duties of piety.
But as we advance forward into the crowds of life,
innumerable delights folicit our inclinations, and
innumerable cares diftrad our attention ; the time
of youth is pafTed in noify frolicks ; manhood is led
A a 4 on



3fo THE IDLER. N 89,

on from hope to hope, and from project to project ;
the diflblutenefs of pleafure, the inebriation of fuc-
cefs, the ardour of expectation, and the vehemence
of competition, chain down the mind alike to the
prefent fcene, nor is it remembered how foon this
mift of trifles muft be fcattered, and the bubbles
that float upon the rivulet of life be loft for ever in
the gulph of eternity. To thisconfideration fcarcely
any man is awakened but by fome prefling and re-
filllefs evil. The death of thole from whom he de-
rived his pleafures, or to whom he deftined his
pofleffions, fome difeafe which fliews him the vanity
of all external acquilitions, or the gloom of age,
which intercepts his profpects of long enjoyment,
forces him to fix his hopes upon another ftate, and
when he has contended with the tempefts of life till
his flrength fails him, he Hies at laft to the flicker of
religion.

That mifery does not make all virtuous, expe-
rience too certainly informs us ; but it is no lefs
certain that of what virtue there is, mifery produces
far the greater part. Phyfical evil may be therefore
endured with patience, lince it is the caufe of moral
good ; and patience itfelf is one virtue by which we
are prepared for that {late in which evil (hall be no
more.



T H E I D L E U. 361



NUMB. 90. SATURDAY, ^January 5, 1760.

IT is a complaint which has been made from time
to time, and which feems to have lately become
more frequent, that Englijh oratory, however for-
cible in argument, or elegant in expreffion, is defi-
cient and inefficacious, becaufe our fpeakers want
the grace and energy of adlion.

Among the numerous projectors who are dcfirous
to refine our manners, and improve our faculties,
fome are willing to fupply the deficiency of our
fpeakers. We have had more than one exhortation
to ftudy the neglefted art of moving the paflions,
and have been encouraged to believe that our
tongues, however feeble in themfelves, may, by
the help of our hands and legs, obtain an un-
controulable dominion over the moft ftubborn au-
dience, animate the infenfible, engage the carelefs,
force tears from the obdurate, and money from the
avaricious.

If by fleight of hand, or nimblenefs of foot, all
thefe wonders can be performed, he that lhall neg-
ledl to attain the free ufe of his limbs may be juft.ly
cenfured as criminally lazy. But I am afraid that
no fpecimen of fuch effects will eafily be (hewn.
if I could once find a fpeaker in Change- Alky raifing
the price of flocks by the power of perfuafive
geftures, I fhould very zealoufly recommend the
iludy of his art ; but having never feen any adion

by



362, THE IDLER. N-' 90.

by which language was much affifted, I have been
hitherto inclined to doubt whether my countrymen
are not blamed too haftily for their calm and mo-
tionlefs utterance.

Foreigners of many nations accompany their
fpeech with action ; but why fhould their example
have more influence upon us than ours upon them ?
Cuftoms are not to be changed but for better.
Let thofe who defire to reform us fhew the benefits
of the change propofed. When the Frenchman
waves his hands and writhes his body in recounting
the revolutions of a game at cards, or the Neapo-
litan^ who tells the hour of the day, fhews upon -his
fingers the number which he mentions ; I do not
perceive that their manual exerciie is of much ufe,
or that they leave any image more deeply impreffed
by their buftle and vehemence of communication.

Upon the Englijh fiage there is no want of action ;
but the difficulty of making it at once various and
proper, and its perpetual tendency to become ridi-
culous, notwithftanding all the advantages which
art and ftiow, and cuftom and prejudice, can give
it, may prove how little it can be admitted into any
other place, where it can have no recommendation
but from truth and nature.

The ufe of Englijh oratory is only at the bar, in
the parliament, and in the church. Neither the
judges of our laws nor the reprefentatives of our
people would be much affe&ed by laboured gefti-
culation, or believe any man the more becaufe he
rolled his eyes, or puffed his cheeks, or fpread
abroad his arms, or flamped the ground, or thumped
his breaft, or turned his eyes fometimes to the

deling



N90- T H E I D L E R. 363

cieling and fometimes to the floor. Upon men
intent only upon truth, the arm of an orator has
little power; a credible teftimony, or a cogent ar-
gument, will overcome all the art of modulation,
and all the violence of contortion.

It is well known that, in the city which may be
called the parent of oratory, all the arts of mecha-
nical perfuafion were banimed from the court of fu-
preme judicature. The judges of the Areopagus
confidered action and vociferation as a foolim ap-
peal to the external fenfes, and unworthy to be
pradtifed before thofe ( who had no defire of idle
amufement, and whofe only pleafure was to difcover
right.

Whether adtion may not be yet of ufe in churches,
where the preacher addrefles a mingled audience,
may deferve enquiry. It is certain that the fenfes
are more powerful as the reafon is weaker ; and
that he whofe ears convey little to his mind, may
fometimes liften with his eyes till truth may gra-
dually take poffeflion of his heart. If there be
any ufe of gefticulation, it muft be applied to the
ignorant and rude, who will be more affedted by
vehemence than delighted by propriety. In the
pulpit little adtion can be proper, for action can il-
luftrate nothing but that to which it may be re-
ferred by nature or by cuflom. He that imitates
by his hand a motion which he defcribes, explains
it by natural fimilitude ; he that lays his hand on
his breaft, when he expreffes pity, enforces his
words by a cuftomary illufion. But theology has
few topicks to which adtion can be appropriated ;
that adtion which is vague and indeterminate will
4 a



564 T H E I D L E R. N= 90.

at laft fettle into habit, and habitual peculiarities
are quickly ridiculous.

It is perhaps the character of the Englijh to de-
fpife trifles ; and that art may furely be accounted a
trifle which is at once ufelefs and oftentatious,
which can feldom be practifed with propriety, and
which, as the mind is more cultivated, is lefs pow-
erful. Yet as all innocent means are to be ufed for
the propagation of truth, I would not deter thofe
who are employed in preaching to common con-
gregations from any practice which they may find
perfuafive ; for, compared with the conversion of
fmners, propriety and elegance are lefs than no-
thing.



NUMB. pi. SATURDAY, January 12, 1760.

IT is common to overlook what is near, by keep-
ing the eye fixed upon fomething remote. In
the fame manner prefent opportunities are neg-
ledted, and attainable good is flighted, by minds
bufied in extenfive ranges, and intent upon future
advantages. Life, however fhort, is made ftill
ftiorter by wafte of time, and its progrefs towards
happinefs, though naturally flow, is yet retarded by
unnecefiary labour.

The difficulty of obtaining knowledge is uni-
verfally confeffed. To fix deeply in the mind the
principles of fcience, to fettle their limitations, and

deduce



N 9 i- T H E I D L E Px..

deduce the long fucceffion of their confequcnces ;
to comprehend the whole compafs of complicated
fyftems, with all the arguments, objections, and
folutions, and to repofite in the intellectual treafury
the numberlefs facts, experiments, apophthegms,
and portions, which mud ftand fingle in the me-
mory, and of which none has any perceptible con-
nexion with the reft, is a talk which, though under-
taken with ardour and purfued with diligence, muft
at laft be left unfinifhed by the frailty of our
nature.

To make the way to learning either lefs fhort or
lefs fmooth, is certainly abfurd ; yet this is the ap-
parent effect of the prejudice which feems to pre-
vail among us in favour of foreign authors, and of
the contempt of our native literature, which this
^xcurfive curiofity moft neceilarily produce. Every
man is more fpeedily inftructed by his own lan-
guage, than by any other; before we fearch the
reft of the world for teachers, let us try whether
we may not fpare our trouble by finding them at
home.

The riches of the Englijh language are much,
greater than they are commonly fuppofed. Many
ufeful and valuable books lie buried in {hops and
libraries, unknown and unexamined, nnlefs fome
lucky compiler opens them by chance, and finds
an eafy fpoil of wit and learning. I am far from
intending to infmuate, that other languages are not
neceflary to him who atpires to eminence, and
whofe whole life is devoted to ftudy; but to him
who reads only for amufement, or whofe purpofe is
not to deck himfelf with the honours of literature,

but



366 THE IDLER. N'pi.

but to be qualified for domeflick ufefulnefs, and fit
down content with fubordinate reputation, we have
authors fufficient to fill up all the vacancies of his
time, and gratify moft of his wifhes for informa-
tion .

Of our poets I need fay little, becaufe they are
perhaps the only authors to whom their country has
done juflice. We confider the whole fucceffion
from Spenfer to Pope, as fuperior to any names which
the continent can boaft ; and therefore the poets of
other nations, however familiarly they may be fome-
times mentioned, are very little read, except by
thofe who defign to borrow their beauties.

There is, 1 think, not one of the liberal arts
which may not be competently learned in the Engli/h
language. He that fearches after mathematical
knowledge may bufy himfelf among his own coun-
trymen, and will find one or other able to inftrucl:
him in every part of thofe abftrufe fciences. He
that is delighted with experiments, and wifhes to
know the nature of bodies from certain and vifible
effects, is happily placed where the mechanical phi-
lofophy was firft eftablifhed by a publick inftitu-
tion, and from which it was fpread to all other
countries.

The more airy and elegant iludics of philology
and criticifm have little need of any foreign help.
Though our language, not being very analogical,
gives few opportunities for grammatical refearches,
yet we have not wanted authors who have confidered
the principles of fpeech; and with critical writ-
ings we abound fufficiently to >enable pedantry
to impofe rules which can feldom be obferved,

and



N 91. T H E I D L E R. 367

and vanity to talk of books which are feldom
read.

But our own language has, from the Reformation
to the prefent time, been chiefly dignified and
adorned by the works of our divines, who, confi-
dered as commentators, controvertifts, or preachers,
have undoubtedly left all other nations far behind
them. No vulgar language can boaft fuch trea-
fures of theological knowledge, or fuch multitudes
of authors at once learned, elegant, and pious.
Other countries and other communions have authors
perhaps equal in abilities and diligence to ours ;
but if we unite number with excellence, there is cer-
tainly no nation which muft not allow us to be fu-
perior. Of morality little is neceflary to be faid,
becaufe it is comprehended in practical divinity,
and is perhaps better taught in Englijh fermons than
in any other books ancient and modern. Nor fhall I
dwell on our excellence in metaphyfical fpeculations,
becaufe he that reads the works of our divines will
eafily difcover how far human fubtilty has been able
to penetrate.

Political knowledge is forced upon us by the
form of our conftitution ; and all the myfteries of go-
vernment are difcovered in the attack or defence of
every minifter. The original law of fociety, the
rights of fubjects, and the prerogatives of kings,
have been conlidered with the utmoft nicety, fome-
times profoundly inveftigated, and fometimes fami-
liarly explained.

Thus copioufly inftrudtive is the Englifh lanr
guage ; and thus needlefs is all recourfe to foreign.

writers.



3 63 T H E I D L E R* N" 9 r.

writers. Let us not therefore make our neighbours
proud by foliating help which we do not want, nor
difcourage our own induftry by difficulties which we
need not fuffer.



NUMB. 92. SATURDAY, January 19, 1760.

WHATEVER is ufeful or honourable will be
defired by many who never can obtain it;
and that which cannot be obtained \vhen it is de-
fired, artifice or folly will be diligent to counterfeit.
Thofe to whom fortune Has denied gold and dia-
monds decorate themfelves with ftones and metals,
which have fomething of the mow, but little of the
value; and every moral excellence or intellectual
faculty has fome vice or folly which imitates its ap-
pearance.

Every man wimes to be wife, and they who can-
not be wife are almoft always cunning. The lefs
is the real difcernment of thofe whom bufmefs or
converfation brings together, the more illulions are
pradlifed, nor is caution ever fo neccflary as with af-
fociates or opponents of feeble minds.

Cunning differs from wifdom as twilight from
open day. He that walks in the funfhine goes
boldly forward by the neareft way ; he fees that
where the path is itreight and even he may proceed
in fecurity, and where it is rough and crooked he
eafily complies with the turns, and avoids the ob-
l {Inactions,



N 92. THE IDLER. 369

(fruitions. But the traveller in the dufk fears more
as he fees lefs; he knows there may be danger, and
therefore fufpe<fts that he is never fafe, tries every
ftep before he fixes his foot, and fhrinks at every
noife left violence mould approach him. Wifdom
comprehends at once the end and the means, efti-
mates eafinefs or difficulty, and is cautious or con-
fident in due proportion. Cunning difcovers little
at a time, and has no other means of certainty
than multiplication of ftratagems and fuperfluity of
fufpicion. The man of cunning always confiders
that he can never be too fafe, and therefore always
keeps himfelf enveloped in a mift, impenetrable, as
he hopes, to the eye of rivalry or curioiity.

Upon this principle, Tom Double has formed a
habit of eluding the moil harmlefs qneftion. What
he has no inclination to anfwer, he pretends fome-
times not to hear, and endeavours to divert the en-
quirer's attention by fome other fubjeft ; but if he
be preffed hard by repeated interrogation, he al-
ways evades a direft reply. Afk him whom he
likes beft on the ftage ; he is ready to tell that there
are feveral excellent performers. Elnquire when he
was laft at the coffee-houfe ; he replies, that the
weather has been bad lately. Defire him to tell the
age of any of his acquaintance; he immediately men-
tions another who is older or younger.

Will Puzzle values himfelf upon a long reach.
He forefees every thing before it will happen,
though he never relates his prognostications till the
event is pad. Nothing has come to pafs for thefe
twenty years of which Mr. Puzzle had not given
broad hints, and told at leaft that it was not proper

VOL. VII. B b to



370 THE IDLER. N 92,

to tell. Of thofe predictions, which every eonclu-
lion will equally verify, he always claims the credit,
and wonders that his friends did not underlland
them. He fuppofes very truly that much may be
known which he knows not, and therefore pretends
to know much of which he and all mankind are
equally ignorant. I delired his opinion yeilerday
of the German war-, and was told, that if the Pruf-
fians were well fupported, fomething great may be
expedited ; but that they have very powerful ene-
mies to encounter ; that the Aujlnan general has
long experience, and the Ruffians are hardy and re-
folute; but that no human power is invincible. I
then drew the conversation to our own affairs, and
invited him to balance the probabilities of war and
peace. He told me that war requires courage, and
negotiation judgement, and that the time will come
when it will be feen whether our jkill in treaty is
equal to our bravery in battle. To- this general
prattle he will appeal hereafter, and will demand to
have his. forefight applauded, whoever ftiall at laft be
conquered or victorious.

With Ned Smuggle all is a fecret. He believes
himfelf watched by obfervation and malignity on
every fide, and rejoices in the dexterity by which he
has efcaped fnares that never were laid. Ned holds
that a man is never deceived if he never trufts, and
therefore will not tell the name of his taylor or his
hatter. He rides out every morning for the air, and
pleafes himfelf with thinking that nobody knows
where he has been. When he dines with a friend, he
never goes to his houfe the neareft way, but walks
wp a bye-ftreet to perplex the fccnt. When he has

a coach



N 92. T H E I D L E R.

a coach called^ he never tells him at the door the
true place to which he is going, but flops him in
the way that he may give him directions where no-
body can hear him. The price of what he buys or
fells is always concealed. He often takes lodgings
in the country by a wropg~name, and thinks that the
world is wondering whe\re he can be hid. All thefe
tranfadtions he regifters in a book, which, he fays,
will forrie time or other amaze pofterity.

It is remarked by Baton, that, many men try to
procure reputation only by objections, of which, if
they are once admitted, the nullity never appears, be-
caufe the defign is laid afide. 'This falfe feint of
ivifdom, fays he, is the ruin of bujinefs. The whole
power of cunning is privative ; to fay nothing, and
to do nothing, is the utmoft of its reach. Yet
men thus narrow by nature, and mean by art, are
fometimes able to rife by the mifcarriages of bravery
and the opennefs of integrity; and by watching
failures and fnatching opportunities, obtain advan-
tages which belong properly to higher characters.



.

B b 2 NUMB.



172 THE IDLER, N* 93



NUMB. 93. SATURDAY, January 26, 1760,

SAM SOFTLY was bred a fugar-baker; but
fucceeding to a conliderable eftate on the death
of his elder brother, he retired early from bufinefs,
married a fortune, and fettled in a country houfe
near Kentijh-town. Sam, who formerly was a fportf-
rnan, and in his apprenticefnip ufed to frequent
Barnet races, keeps a high chaife, with a brace of
feafoned geldings. During the fummer months,
the principal paffion and employment of Sam's life
is to vifit, in this vehicle, the moft eminent feats of
the nobility and gentry in different parts of the
kino-dom, with his wife and fome felect friends.

O

By >thefe periodical excurfions Sam gratifies many
important purpofes.. Ke affifts the feveral pregnan-
cies of his wife; he ihews his chaife to the beft ad-