" is not known ever the more to pofterity, I
" becaufe his name is tranfmitted to them :
" He doth not live becaufe his name does.
'* When it is faid, Julius Caefar fubdu :;d
* Gaul, conquered Pompey, &c. it is the
" fame thing as to fay, the conqueror of
" Pompey was Julius Caefar, i.e. Caefar and
" the conqueror of Pompey is the fame
** thinb; ; Csfar is as much known by cne
" defignation as by the orlier. The amount
" then is only this : that the conqueror of
" Pompey conquered Pompey ; or rather, ,
" fmce Pompey is as little known now as >
" Casfar, foraebody conquered fomebody. .
*' Such a poor bufinefs is this boafted im- •
" m.ortality ! and fuch is the thing called !
'* glory among us ! To difcerning men >
*' this fame is mere air, and what they ■
" defpife, if not Ihun."

But furely *' 'twere to confider too cu-
" rioufly," as Horatio fays to Hamlet, to:
" confider thus." For though fame withi
pofterity fliould be, in the ftridt analyfis of i
it, no other than what it is here defcribed, ,
a mere unintereiling propofition, amounting ;
to nothing more than that fomebody afted ;
meritorioufiy ; yet it would not neceiTarily |
follow, that true philofophy would banilh j
the defire of it from the human breaft. For :
this paffion may be (as moft certainly it is) ;
wifely implanted in our fpecies, notwith-^ '
ftanding the correfponding objeft fhould ia
reality be very dilierent from what it ap- |
pears in imagination. Do not many of our'
moft refined and even contemplative plea-
fures owe their exiftence to our miftakes ?,
It is but extending (I will not fay, im-
proving) fome of our fenfes to a higher de-'
gree of acutenefs than we now pofTefs them,',
to make the faireft views of nature, or the
nobleft produdlions of art, appear horrid :
and deformed. To fee things as they truly
and in themfelves are, would not always, ,
perhaps, be of advantage to us in the Intel -
ledual world, any more than in the natural. .
But, after all, who fhall certainly affure us,',
that the pleafure of virtuous fame dies with i
its poffeflbr, and reaches not to a farther
fcene of exiftence ? There is nothing, it
fliould feem^ either abfurd or unphilofophi-
cal in fuppofing it poffible at leaft, that the
praifes of the good and the judicious, that
fweeteft mufic to an honeft ear in this world,
may be echoed back to the manfions of the
next : that the pott's defcription of fame
may be literally true, and though fhe walks
upon earth, fhe may yet lift her head into
heaven.

But can it be reafonable to extinguifh a
pafTioH



iBooK IV. NARRATIVES, DIALOGUES, &c. 553^



affion which nature has imivcrfally lighted
p in the human breaft, and which we con-
bntly find to burn with moft ftrength and
)rightners in the nobleft and bell: formed
)ofoms ? Accordingly revelation is fo far
rom endeavouring (as you fuppofe) to era-
licate tlie feed which nature hath thus deeply
slanted, that fhe rather feems, on the con-
:rary, to cherifh and forward its growth.
To be exaited nvith honour, and to be had
n e-rcrlajiing rememhrance, are in the num-
)er of thofe encouragements which the
[ewilh difpenfation offered to the virtuous ;
js the perfon from whom the facred author
)f the Chriftian fyftem received his birth,
is herfelf reprefented as rejoicing that all
eneratmzs Jhould call her blejjed.

To be convinced of the great advantage
of cherifhing this high regard to pofterity,
:his noble defire of an after-life in the breath
f others, one need only look back upon
he hiftory of the ancient Greeks and Ro-
ans. What other principle was it, which
reduced that exalted ft rain of virtue in
thofe days, that may well ferve as a modei
to thefe ? Was it not the confetitie?is fans bo-
norum, the incorrupta 'vox bene jndicantum
(as Tully calls it) the concurrent approba-
tion of the good, the uncorrupted applaufe
of the wife, that animated their molt gene-
rous purfuits ?

To cbnfefs the truth, I have been ever
inclined to think it a very dangerous at-
tempt, to endeavour to lefTen the motives
©f right conduft, or to raife any fufpicion
concerning their folidity. Tlie tempers and
difpofitions of mankind are fo extremely
different, that it feems neceflary they fhould
be called into action by a variety of incite-
ments. Thus, while fome are willing to
wed virtue for her perfonal charms, others
are engaged to take her for the fake of her
expeded dowry : and fince her followers
and admirers have fo little hopes from her
in prefent, it were pity, methinks, to reafon
them out of any imagined advantage in re-
yerfion. fitzojhorne' s Letters.

§ 50. Enthiifiaf/n.
Though I rejoice in the hope of feeing
enthufiafm expelled from her religious do-
minions, let me intreat you to leave her in
[the undifturbed enjoyment of her civil pof-
ifeffions. To own the truth, I look upon
enthufiafm, in all other points but that of
religion, to be a very neceifary turn of
mind ; as indeed it is a vein which nature
feems to have marked with more or lefs
ftrength io the. temper* of moft zneo, No
I



matter what the objefl is, whether bufinefs,
pleafurcs, or the fme arts ; w^hoever purfues
them to any purpofe muft do fo con amore:
and inamoratos, you know, of every kind,
are all enthufiafls. There is indeed a cer-
tain Heightening faculty which univerfaily
prevails through our fpecies; and we are
all of us, perhaps, in our feveral favourite
purfuits, pretty much in the cifcumflances
of the renowned knight of La Mancha,
when he attacked the barber's brazen bafon,
for Mambrino's golden helmet.

What isTully's aliqvid itnmenjum infinl-
tmnque, which he profelfes to afpire after in
oratory, but a piece of true rhetorical
Quixotifm ? Yet never, I will venture to
affirm, would he have glowed with fo rauchi
eloquence, had he been warmed with h.{s
enthufiafm. I am perfuaded indeed, that
nothing great or glorious was ever per-
formed, where this quality had not a prin-
cipal concern ; and as our paffions add vi-
gour to our adtions, enthufiafm gives fpirit
to our paffions. I might add too, that it
even opens and enlarges our capacities.
Accordingly I have been informed, that on®
of the great lights of the prefent age never
fits down to ftudy, till he has raifed his ima-
gination by the power of mufic. For this
purpofe he has a band of inftruments placed
near his library, which play till he finds
himfelf elevated to a proper height ; upon
which he gives a fignal, and they inftantly
ceafe.

But thofe Hgh conceits which are fug-
gefted by enthufiafm, contribute not only to
the pleafure and perfection of the fine arts,
but to moft other elFedfs of our aftion and
induftry. To if rike this fpirit therefore out
of the human conftitution, to reduce things
to their precife philofophical ftandard, would
be to checlc fome of the main wheels of
fociety, and to fix half the world in an ufe-
lefs apathy. For if enthufiafm did not add
an imaginary value to moft of the objefts of
our purfuit ; if fancy did not give them
their brighteft colours, they would gene-
rally, perhaps, wear an appearance too couc
temptibleto excite defire ;

Weary'd we fliould lie down in death.
This cheat of life would take no morff,

If you thought fame an empty breath,

1 Philhs but a perjur'd whore. Priob.

In a word, this enthufiafm for which I am
pleading, is a beneficent enchantrefs, who
never exerts her magic but to our advantage,
and only deals about her friendly fpells iii
Qrdeir to mi% imaginary beauties, or to im-
prove



53?



ELEGANT EXTRACTS,



Book IV.



prove real ones. The worft that can be
faid of her is, that (he is a kind deceiver,
and an obliging flatterer.

Fitzojiorne's Letters.

§ C I • Free-thinhng, the '-various Abnfes com-
mitted by the Vulgar in this Point.

The publication of lord Bolingbroke's
pofthumous works has given new life and
Jpirit to free-thinking. We feem at preftnt
to be endeavouring to unlearn our cate-
chifm, with all that we have been taught
about religion, in order to model our faith
to the falhion of his lordfhip's fyftem. We
have now nothing to do, but to throw away
our bibles, turn the churches into theatres,
and rejoice that an aft of parliament now
in force gives us an opportunity of getting
;rid of the clergy by tranfportation. I was
in hopes the extraordinary price of thefe
volumes would have confined their influence
to perfons of quality. As they are placed
above extreme indigence and abfolute want
of bread, their loofe notions would have
carried them no farther than cheating at
cards, or perhaps plundering their country ;
but if thefe opinions fpread among the vul-
gar, we fnall be knocked down at noon-
day in our ftreets, and nothing will go for-
ward but robberies and murders.

The inilances I have lately feen of free-
thinking in the lower part of the world,
make me fear, they are going to be as
fafhionable and as wicked as their betters.
I went the other night to the Robin Hood,
where it is ufual for the advocates againft
religion to aflemble, and openly avow their
infidelity. One of the queftions for the
night was, " Whether lord Eolingbroke
had not done greater fervice to mankind
by his writings, than the Apoftles or Evan-
gelills ?" As this fociety is chiefly com-
pofed of lawyers clerks, petty tradefmen,
and the loweft mechanics, I was at firft fur-
prized at fuch amazing erudition among
them. Toland, Tindal, Collins, Chubb,
and Mandeville, they feemed to have got by
heart. A Ihoe- maker harangued his five
minutes upon the excellence of the tenets
maintained by lord Eolingbroke : but I foon
found that his reading had not been ex-
tended beyond the Idea of a Patriot King,
which he had miftaken for a glorious fyfl:em
of free-thinking. 1 could not help fmiling
at another of the company, who took pains
to Ihew his dilbelief of the gofpel, by un-
fainting the Apoftles, and calling them by no
other title than plain Paul or plain Peter.
The proceedings of this fociety have indeed



almoft induced me to wifh that (like the
Roman Catholics) they were not permitted
to read the bible, rather than they Ihould
read it only to abufe it.

I have frequently heard many wife tradef-
men fettling the moft important articles of
our faith over a pint of beer. A baker
took occafion from Canning's affair to main-
tain, in oppofition to the fcriptures, that
man might live by bread alone, at lealt that
woman might ; " for elfe," faid he, " how
" could the girl have been fupported for a
** whole month by a few hard crufts ?" In
anfwer to this, a barber-furgeon fet forth
the improbability of that flory ; and thence
inferred, that it was irapoffible for our' Sa-
viour to have fafted forty days in the wil-
dernefs. I lately heard a midfhipman fwear
that the bible was all a lie : for he had
failed round the world with lord Anfon,
and if there had been any Jied Sea, he mull
have met with it. I know a bricklayer,
who while he was working by line and rule,
and carefully laying one brick upon another,
would argue with a fellow-labourer that the
world was made by chance ; and a cook ,
who thought more of his trade than his
bible, in a difpute concerning the miracles,
made a pleafant miftake about the nature of
the firft, and gravely afked his antagonift
what he thought of the fupper at Cana.

This affeftation of free-thinking among
the lower clafs of people, is at prefent hap-
pily confined to the men. On Sundays,
while the hulbands are toping at the ale-
houfe, the good women their wives think
it their duty to go to church, fay their pray-
ers, bring home the text, and hear the chil-
dren their catechifm. But our polite ladies
are, I fear, in their lives and converfations,
little better than free-thinkers. Going to
church, fince it is now no longer the falhion
to carry en intrigues there, is almoft wholly
laid afide : And I verily believe, that no-
thing but another earthquake can fill the
churches with people of quality. The fair
fex in general are too thoughtlefs to con-
cern themfelves in deep enquiries into mat-
ters of religion. It is fufiicient, that they
are taught to believe themfelves angels. It
would therefore be an ill compliment, while
we talk of the heaven they beftow, to per-
fuadc them into the Mahometan notion, ■
that they have no fouls: though perhaps,
our fine gentlemen may imagine, that by
convincing a lady that fhe has no foul, fhe
will be lefs fcrupulous about the difpofal of
her body.

The ridiculous notions maintained by

free-



5ooK IV. NARRATIVES, DIALOGUES, &c,



Tee-thinkers in their writings, fcarce deferve
ferious refutation; and perhaps the beft
nethod of anfwering them would be to fe-
ed from their works all the abfurd and im-
3rad:icable notions which they fo uifily
tiaintain in order to evade the belief of the
hriftian religion. I fliall here throw toge-
her a few of their principal tenets, under
he contradiftory title of

The UnbeUe<vers Creed,

I believe that there is no God, but that
natter is God, and God is matter ; and
hat it is no matter whether there is any
jod or no.

I believe alfo, that the world was not
nade; that the world made itfelf ; that it
lad no beginning ; that it will lall for ever,
vorld without end.

I believe that a man is a beaft, that the
bul is the body, and the body is the foul j
md that after death there is neither body
jor foul.

I believe that there is no religion ; that
latural religion is the only religion; and
:hat all religion is unnatural.

I believe not in Mofes ; I believe In the
irft philofophy ; I believe not the Evange-
ifts ; I believe in Chubb, Collins, Toland,
rindal, Morgan, Mandeville, Woolfton,
Hobbes, ShaftelLury ; I believe in lord Bo-
ingbroke; I believe not St. Paul.

I believe not revelation ; I believe in tra-
iition ; I believe in the talmud ; I believe
nthealcoran; I believe not the bible; I
jelieve in Socrates ; I believe in Confucius;
[ believe in Sanconiathon ; I believe in Ma-
lomet ; I believe not in Chrift.

Laftly, 1 believe in all unbelief.

ConnoiJJeur.

§ 52. Fortune not to he t ruffed.

The fudden invafion of an enemy over-
throws fuch as are not on their guard ; but
they who forefee the war, and prepare them-
felves for it before it breaks out, ftand with-
out difficulty the firft and the fierceft onfet.
1 learned this important lellbn long ago,
md never trufted to fortune even while (he
eemed to be at peace with me. The riches,
;he honours, the reputation, and all the
idvantages which her treacherous indulgence
aoured upon me, I placed fo, that flie might
fnatch them away without giving me any
Jilturbance. I kept a great interval between
ne and them. She took them, but fhe
;ould not tear them from me. No man
ufFers by bad fortune, but he who has been
Jeceived by good. If we grow fond oi her



23^



gifts, fancy that they beJiong to us, and arc
perpetually to remain with us; if we lean
upon them, and exped to be confidered for
them ; w^e fhall fmk int o all the bitterncls
of grief, as foon as thefe falfe and tranfitory
benefits pafs away, as foon as our vain and
childifli minds, un fraught with folid plea-
fures, become deftitute even of thofe which
are imaginary. But, if we do not fuiFer
ourfelves to be tranfporte d with profperity,
neither (hall we be reduced by adverlity.
Cur fouls will be proof Tigainft the dangers
of both thefe ll^ates ; am 1 having explored
our ftrength, we fnall be fure of it ; for ia
the midft of felicity, we (hall have tried
how we can bear misforti me.

Her E-vds difarmed. hy Patieyjce,

Banifnment, with all its train of evils. Is
fo far from being the c aufe of contempt,
that he who bears up M/ith an undaunted
fpirit againft them, while fo many are de-
jeded by them, ereds on his very misfor-
tune a trophy to his l«xnour: for fuch is
the frame and temper oj" our minds, that
nothing ftrikes us with | greater admiration
than a man intrepid in xh e midft of misfor-
tunes. Of all ignominieji, an ignominious
death muft be allowed to be the greateft ;
and )'et where is the bla^fphemer who will
prefume to defame the death of Socrates?
This faint entered the pn'ifon with the fame
countenance with which In j reduced the thirty-
tyrants, and he took off :ignominy from the
place ; for how could it be deemed a prifon
when Socrates was then:? Ariitides was
led to execution in the fa me city ; all thofe
who met the fad proce'lion, caft their e\ es
to the ground, and with throbbing hearts
bewailed, not the innocent man, but Juftice
herfelf, who w^as in him condemned. Yet
there -was a v.- retch found , for monfters ?.re
fometimes produced in ccmtradiftion to the
ordinary rules of nature, who fpit in his
face as he paflcd along. Ariftides wiped
his cheek, fmiled, twrned i.^o the magiftrate,
and faid, " Admonilh thir. man not to be
*♦ fo nafty for the future."

Ignominy then can take no hold on vir-
tue ; for virtue is in ever] ' condition the '
fame, and challenges the fan le refpeft. We
applaud the world when fhi : profpers ; and
when fhe falls into adverl ity we applaud
her. Like the temples of the gods, fhe is
venerable even in her ruii is. After this,
muft it not appear a degret ; of madnefs to
defer one moment acquirino; the only arms
capable of defending us againfl attacks,
which at every moment we ;ire exjpofed to ?

Our



ELEGANT EXTRAdTS^



Our being mlferaWe, or not miferable,
when we fall into misfortunes, depends on
the manner in which we have enjoyed prof-
perity, Bolingbroke.

€ rj. Delicacy covjiitutmial, and often
dangerous.

Some people are fubject to a certain de-
licacy of paffion, which makes them ex-
tremely fenfible to all the accidents of life,
and gives them a lively joy upon every prof-
perous event, as well as a piercing grief,
•when they meet with crofles and adverfity.
Favours and good offices eafily engage their
friendfhip* while the fmalleft injury pro-
vokes their refentment. Any honour or
mark of diftinftion elevates them above
meafure ; but they are as fenfibly touched
with contempt. People of this charafter
have, no doubt, much more lively enjoy-
ments, as well as more pungent forrows,
than men of cool and fedate tempers ; but
I believe, when every thing is balanced,
there is no one, who would not rather chufe
to be of the latter charafter, were he en-
tirely mafter of his own difpofition. Good
or ill fortune is vet}' little at our own dif-
pofal : and when a perfon who has this
fenfibility of temper meets with any mif-
fortune, his forrow or refentment takes en-
tire pofTeffion of him, and deprives him of
all relifh in the common occurrences of life ;
the right enjoyment of which forms the
greateft part of our happinefs. Great plea-
fures are much lefs frequent than great
pains ; fo that a fenfible temper cannot meet
with fewer trials in the former way than in
the latter: not to mention, that men of
fuch lively paflions are apt to be tranfported
beyond all bounds of prudence and difcre-
tion, and to take falfe fleps in the conduft
of life, which are often irretrievable.

Delicacy of Tafe dejirable.

There is a delicacy of tafte obfervable in
feme men, which very much refembles this
delicacy of pafTiou, and produces the fame
fenfibility to beauty and deformity of every
kind, as that does to profperity and adver-
fity, obligations and Injuries. When you
prefent a poem or a piflure to a man pofTefTed
of this talent, the delicacy of his feelings
makes him to be touched very fenfibly with
every part of it ; nor are the mafterly
ftrokes perceived with more exquifite relilh
and fatisfadion, than the negligencies or
abfurdities with difguft and unealinefs. A
polite and judicious converfation affords
iiia the higheft entertainment ; rudenefs or



Book IV"^



impertinence Is as great a punifhment to
bim. In fhort, delicacy of tafle has the
fame effeft 3s delicacy of pafTion : it enlarge*
the fphere both of our happinefs and mifery,
and makes us fenfible to pains as well as
pleafures which efcape the refl of mankind.

I believe, however, there is no one, who
will not agree with me, that, notwithftand-
ing this refemblance, a delicacy of tafle is
as much to be defired and cultivated as a
delicacy of paffion is to be lamented, and
to be remedied if poffible. The good or
ill accidents of life are very little at our 4
difpofal ; but we are pretty much mafters .
what books we fhall read, what diverfions'
we fhall partake of, and what company wc j
fhall keep. Philofophers have endeavoured '
to render happinefs entirely independent of -
every thing external that is impoifible to be '
attained : but every wife man will endea-
vour to place his happinefs on fuch objedls-
as depend mofl upon himfelf ; and that is^
not to be attained fo much by any others
means, as by this delicacy of fentiment.
When a man is pofTefTed of that talent, hS'
is more happy by what pleafes his tafte, than^
by what gratifies his appetites ; and receives
more enjoyment from a poem or a piece of
reafoning, than the mofl expenfive luxur/
can afford.

^hat it teaches 11s fo feleB our Compaity,

Delicacy of tafle is favourable to love and
friendfhip, by confining our choice to fewf
people, and making us indifferent to the
company and converfation of the greateft
part of men. You will very feldom find
that mere men of the world, whatever
flrong fenfe they may be endowed with,
are very nice in diflinguilhing of charac-
ters, or in markin J thofe infenfible differ-
ences and gradations which make one man
preferable to another. Any one that has
competent fenfe, is fufEcient for their en-
tertamment : they talk to him of their plcg*^
fures and affairs with the fame franknefs as^
they would to any other ; and finding many
who are fit to fupply his place, they never
feel any vacancy or want in his abfence.
But, to make ufe of the allufion of a famous
French author, the judgment may be com-
pared to a clock or watch, where the moft
ordinary machine is fufficient to tell the
hours ; but the mofl elaborate and artificial
can only point the minutes and feconds,
and diftinguifh the fmallefl differences of
time. One who has well digefted his know-
ledge both of books and men, has little en-
joyment but in the coinpany of a few feleft
compaaionsA



gooKlV. NARRATIVES, DIALOGUES, &c.'



241



companions. He feels too fenfibly how
much all the reft of mankind fall Ihort of
the notions which he has entertained ; and
his affeftions being thus confined within a
narrow circle, no wonder he carrier them
farther than if they were more general and
undiltinguiflied. The gaiety and frolic of
a bottle companion improves with him into
a folid friendihip ; and the ardours of a
youthful appetite into an elegant paffion.

Hume's EJJays.

§ 54. Dettaaion a detejlahle Vice.

It has been remarked, that men are gene-
lally kind in proportion as they are happy ;
and it is faid, even of the devil, that he is
good-humoured when he is pleafed. Every
aft, therefore, by which another is injured,
from whatever motive, contrafts more guilt,
and expreffes greater malignity, if it is
committed in thofe feafons which are fet
apart to pleafantry and good-humour, and
brightened with enjo}'ments peculiar to ra-
tional and fecial beings.

Detraction is among thofe vices which
the moft languid virtue has fufSicient force
to prevent ; becaufe by detraction that is
not gained which is taken away. " He
who hlches from me ray good name," fays
ShakCpeare, *' enriches not himfelf, but
makes me poor indeed." As nothing
therefore degrades human nature more than
detraftion, nothing more difgraces conver-
fation. The detractor, as he is the loweft
moral charafter, refleds greater difhonour
upon his company, than the hangman ; and
he whofe difpohtion is a fcandal to his fpe-
cies, Ihould be more diligently avoided,
than he who is fcandalous only by his
offence.

But for this pradice, however vile, fome
have dared to apologize, by contending that
the report, by which they injured an abfent
charafter, was true : this, however, amounts
to no more than that they have not compli-
cated malice with fallliood, and that there
Ls fome difference between detraction and
ilander. To relate all the ill that is true
of the beft man in the world, v/onld pro-
bably render him the object of fufpicion
and diftruft ; and was this pradice univer-
fal, mutual confidence and eileem, the com-
forts of fociety, and the endearments of
friendfhip, would be at an end.

There is fomething unfpeakably more
hateful in thofe fpecies of villamy by which
the lavv' is evaded, than thofe by vvhich it is