src^ O N T H E DELICACY OF FRIENDSHIP. ^mmm^':&^m^M3^ n w.m^'. ( Price One Shilling. ) k O N T H E D E L I C A C V OF FRIENDSHIP. SEVENTH DISSERTATION. Addrefs'd to the AUTHOR of the SIXTH. Sibere te novi^ metues^ liberrime Lolli, Scurrantis fpecitm prabere, profejfus Amicum. HOR. LONDON: Printed for M.Cooper, at the Globe inPaternofterRow. MDCCLV. 35)7 AN ifc^ D R E S S T O T HE Rev. Dr. JORTIN. Rev. Sir, ^ it S great an admirer as I muft pro- I /-% fefs myfelf of your writings, I little ' expefted that any of them would give me the pleafure that I have jufl now ? received from thelaft of your SixDisser- n -.TATIONS ON DIFFERENT SUBJECTS. r The other five have doubtleTs their iflin6l merits. But in this, methinks, I B fee QD ci 445308 [2] lee an aflemblage, a very conftellation, as it were, of all your virtues, all that can recommend the fcholar or endear the friend. This laft, give me leave to fay, is fo unufual a part of a learned man's chara6ler, and appears with fo peculiar a luftre in this difcourfe, that the public will not be difpleafed to haA^e it fet before them in full view, and recommended to general imitation, with a franknefs, which tho' it may fomev/hat difguft your own delicacy, feems but very necelTary on fuch an occafion and in fuch times. .VJ,. I leave it to others therefore to celebrate thehappinefs of your invention, the urba- nity of your wit, the regularity of your plan, the addrefs with which you conceal the point you aim at in this differtation, and yet the pains you take in feeming ob- liquely to make your way to it. Thefe and many other beauties which your long, fludy of the antients^ hath enabled you to bring into modern compofition, have been, generally taken notice of in your other writings, and will find encomiafls enough among the common herd of yout readers. ''the [3 J The honour I propofe to do you by this addrefs is of another kind j and as it lies a little remote from vulgar apprehenlion, I fhall have fome merit with you for dif- playing it as it deferves. To come to a point then, next to the total want of friendship which one ^^as too much reafon to obferve and lament in the great fcholars of every age, nothing hath at any time difgufled me fo much as the grofs indelicacy with which they are ufually feen to condu6l themfelves in their exprejjion of this virtue. I have by me a large colle6lion of the civil things which thefe lettered friends have been pleafed to fay of one another, and it would amaze you to fee with what an energy and force of language they are delivered. One thing I thought very re- markable, that the greater the parts and the more unqueftioned the learning and abilities of the encomiaft, jufl fo much the Itronger, that is to fay, according to the ufual acceptation, juft fo much the more friendly are his encomiums. B 2 1 [4] ' I have a great example in my eye. A man, for inllance, hath a bofom friend, whom he takes for a perfon of the pureft and moft benevolent virtue, prefentiy he fets him down fo^ fuch, and publifheth him to all the world. Or he hath an intimacy with an eminent Poet : and no ro^^rd to decency reftrains him from cal- ling him a great genius, as Horace, you know, did his friend Virgil, almofl to his face. Or, he is loved and honoured by a great Lawyer or two 3 and then be fure ail tlie fine things that have been faid of your Ciceros, your Scavolas or your Hydes, are fquandered away up- on them. Or, he hath perchance the honour of being well with a great Church- man, much famtd for his political and religious fervices^ down he goes at once for a lover of his country, and the fcourge of infidels and free-thinkers, with as little referve as if he had a Jerom or a father Paul to celebrate. Or, once or twice in his life it hath been his fortune to be diftinguifhed by great Ministers. Such pccafions are rare. And therefore a little grati- t 5 ] gratitude, we will fay, is allowable. But ca,n any thing be faid for abominable for- rnal dedi cations f Or, laftly, he thinks he fees fome fparks of virtue even in his ordinary acquaintance, and thefe, as fait as he obferves them he gathers up, ^nd flicks, on the firft occafion, in fome or other of his immortal volumes. O Do6lor Jortin ! if you did but fee half the extravagances I have coUecled of this fort in the f ingle inftance of one man, you would iland aghafl at this degree of cor- ruption in the learned world, and would begin to apprehend fometliing of your great merit in this feafonable endeavour to put a flop to its progrefs. And what above all, grieves me is that, this is no novel invention ; for then it might well have ranked with the other ar- guments of degeneracy fo juflly charge- able on the prefent times , but the all- accomplifhed antients themfelves have, to own the truth, fet the example. I [6] J took notice jufl now of the Ingenium INGENS of Horace. The other poets of that time abound in thefe fulfome en- comiums. But I am even fhocked to think that fuch men as Cicero and Pli- ny, men fo perfe6t, as they were, in the commerce of the world, and, from their rank and flation, fo pra6lifed in all the decencies of converfation, were far gone in this folly. And yet there are, in truth, more inftances of this weaknefs in their writings than in thofe of any modern I can readily call to mind. Something I know hath been faid in ex- cufe of this illiberal manner, from the VIEWS and characters and necessities of thofe that ufe it. And my unfeigned regard for the profefTors of learning makes me willing that any thing they have to offer for themielves Ihould be fairly heard. They fay then, and with fome appear- ance of truth, that as all the benefit they propofe to themfelves by their labours is for the mofl part nothing more than a - 3 , little [7] little fame (which whether good or bad, as the poet obferves, begins and ends In the fmall circle of our foes or friends.) they think it hard to be denied this flender recompence, which each expe6ls in his turn, and fhould therefore be not unwil- ling to pay to others. They, further, alledge, that as they are generally plain men, much given to fpeak their minds, and quite unpra6lifed in the arts of that chafte referve and delicate felf-denial, to which fome few of their order have happily habituated themfelves^ they hope to be forgiven (o natural an in- firmity, to which the circumftances of their fituation and chara6ter fatally expofe them. But, laftly, they fay, this pra6lice is in a manner forced upon them by the malignity of the times. Let a learned . man deferve ever fo well of the public, none but thofe who are known to be of his ac- quain- [ 8 ] . qnaintance think themfelves at all con- cerned to take notice of his fervices. E-^ fpecially this is obferved to be the conftant humour of our countrymen, who rarely Ipeak >Ar'ell of any but their friends, as our polite neighbours rarely fpeak ill of any but their enemies. Now this malevo- lent difpofition of the leai'ned makes it neceffary, they pretend, that fuch of them as are conne6i:ed by a.ny borid of friend- fhip fhould be indulged the greater liberty of commending one another. Unlefs you will utterly exclude all intercOurfe of praifc khd panegyric from human fbciety, which' they humbly conceive may^ be attend- ed" with fome few inconveniences. To ftrengthen this laft obfervation they evert add, that the public is ufually more fhy in beftowing its praifes on writers of emi- nent and fuperior merit than on others. As well knowing, I fuppofe, that pofte- rity will make them ample amends for any mortification they may meet with' at prefent ; and that in the mean tirile they are more than fufficiently honoured by the toAllant railings and invedive's "^of thd dunces. Laftiy, ' they obferve, that in th^ moj'e T9] more frivolous and eafy kinds of learn*- ing, fuch for inftance as are converfant about the collation of m s s, the re6lifica- tion of POINTS, and the corre6tion of LETTERS, the general and approved cuftom is for all profeflbrs of this clafs, whether friends or enemies, to cry up each other as much as they pleafe, and that it is even reckoned a piece of incivility not to preface a citation from ever fo infignificant a dealer in verbal criticifm with fome fu- perlative appellation. And why, fay they, fhould thefe nibblers of old books, " l^hefe " word-catchers that live on fy liable s,'' be in- dulged in this amplitude of expreffion to one another, when they who furnifh the materials on which the fpawn of thefe vermin are to feed in after ages, are deni- ed the little fatisfa6lion of a more fizeable, as well as a more deferved praife ? I have not been afraid, you fee, to fet the arguments of thefe unhappy advocates for themfelves in as ftrong a light as they will well bear, becaufe I can eafily trufl your fagacity to find out a full and deci- five anfwer to them. > C In [ 10 -3 r c- In the Jirjl place, you will refer thefe idolaters of fame, for their better infor- matioA, to that curious difcourfe on this fubjeft, which makes the fourth in the prefent .colleclion. Next, you will tell them that you hy no means intend to de- prive them of their jufl praife, but that they muft not fet up for judges in their own cafe, and piefume to think how much of it they have reiafon to look for from their .friends. You wdll further fignify to them that the truefl office of friendfliip is to be fparing of commendation, left it awaken the envy of a malicious world ; that there is a kind of fafcination in praife which .wife men have been juftly fufpicious of in all ages -, and that a grain or two fi'om thole who ai'e not ufed to be prodi- gal of this incenfe, is an offering of no fmall value. But chiefly and laftly, you , will give them to underftand that true honour is feated not in the mouths but hearts of men j and that, for any \ thing they know, one may be forced to entertain the higheft poflible efteem of their virtues, tho', for their fakes, and for other Other wife reafons, one has that virtuois- command of one's tongue and pen as not to acquaint them with it. ' Then, as to the phinnefs and opennefs of mind which is faid to make a part in the compofition of a man of letters, you will tell them that this is the very foible you moft lament, and moft wifh them to cor- re6t : that it expofes them to niuch cenfure and many other incohveniencies j that this franknefs of difpofition makes them beftow their praifes oh thofe whom the world has no fuch efteem for, or whom it would ra- ther fee left in obfcurity and oblivion j that they often difguft their betters by this proceeding, who have their reafons for de- firing that a cloud may remain on the cha- radlers of certain obnoxious and dangerous writers ; that by fuch warm and unmanag- ed commendations they become partners, as it were, of their ill deferts j that they even make themfelves anfwerable for their future condu6l i " which is a matter of fo very nice a confideration, that the great mailer of life, though he had not the virtue always to ad: up to his own maxim, deli- C 2 veri [ 12 ] vers it for a precept of fpecial ufe in the commerce of the world, QUALEM COMMENDES ETIAM ATQUE ETUM ADSPICE. For it fignifieth nothing in the cafe before us, whether the recommendation be to a patron or the public. ' For all thffe reafons you will afTure them that this ill habit of fpeaking their mind on all occalions, juft as nature and blind friendfhip dilate, is that which more than any thing elfe expofes them to the contempt of knowing and confiderate men. - Lajlly^ with legard to that other frivo* lous plea taken from the malignity of man^ kind and even thofe of their own family and profeffion, you will convince them th^t this is totally a miflake, that the world is ready enough to take notice of fuperior eminence in letters, that it is even apt to grow extravagant in it's admiration, and that this humour of the public is itfelf a reafon for that referve with which their friends, in] - friends, if they truly merit that name, ought to condu6l themfelves towards them : that this fplendor of reputation, which is fo generally the confequence of diftinguifh- ing learning, requires to be allayed and foftened by the difcrete management of thofe who wi(h them well, left it not only grow ofFenfive to weak eyes, but dazzle their own with too fond an imagination of theic own importance, and fo relax the ar- dour of their purfuits or betray them into fome unfeemly oftentation of their juft merits. You will further fuggeft, that great atchievements in letters are fuffi- ciently recompenced by the filent compla- cency of felf-efteem and of a good con- fcience j while lefTer fervices demand to be brought out and magnified to the public eye for the due encouragement and confola- tion of thofe who would otherwife have but fmall reafon to be fatislied with them- felves. You might even obferve, that (ilence itfelf is often a full acknowledgment of fu- perior defert, efpecially when perfonal ob- ligations, as well as other reafons, might provoke them to break through it. In fuch cafes it is to be underftood, that, if a friend [ H ] fiiend be Ipafing of his good Word, it is in violence to his inclination, and that no- thing but the tender apprehenfion of pufh- ing an acknowledged merit too far, with- holds him from giving a public teftimony to it. But, in conclufion, you will not omit to fet them right with regard to one material miflake in this matter ; that, whereas they complain of the fuperior efli- mation in which the profeffors of verb^ criticifm are held amongfl us, whom with a flrange malignity they afFe6l to reprefent as the very loweft retainers to fcience, you, and all true fcholars, on the other hand, maintain that the ftudy of words is the moft ufeful and creditable of all others j and that this genuine clafs of learned men have reafon to pride themlelves in their ob- jected, but truly glorious character of VERBAL CRITICS. And now, fir, having feen how little can be faid in juflification of that oiFenfive cuftom which the learned have fome how taken up of dire6lly applauding one another, I come to the more immediate purpofe of this addrefs, which was to fbew how fin- gularly [ '5 ,] gularly happy you have been in avoidiijg this great vice, and to take occafion from the example you have now fet us to recom- mend the contrary virtue to the imitation of others. ' I am fenfible there are fome difficulties to be encountered at fetting out. A gene- rous mind will probably feel fome reluc- tance, at firfl, to the fcheme of fuppref- fing his natural feelings, and of with-hold- ing from his friend that juft tribute of praife which many others perhaps are but too willing fhould be with-held from him. But all fcruples of this fort will be got over when the full merit of your example hath been confidered ; I mean when the induce- ments you had to give into the common weaknefs on this occafion come to be fair- ly drawn out ; by which it will be clearly feen that you have the glory of fetting a precedent of the moil heroic magnanimity and felf-denial, and that nothing can pof- iibly be urged in the cafe of any other, which you have not triumphantly gotten the better of in your own. . \^ I obferve - lobferve it to your honour, fir, you have ventured on the fame ground in this famous Differtation, which hath been trod- den by the niofl: noted, at lealt, of our pre- fent writers. But this is not enough. It will be of moment to confider a little more particularly the charaBer of the per- fon whom you chufe to follow or rather nobly emulate in this route. And left you fhould think I have any defign to leflen the merit of your condu6l towards him by giving, it in my cool way, take it from one of thofe iiDarm friends who never balk their: humour in this fort of commenda- tions. 'Upon afking him what he thought of the learned perfon's chara6ler, and tel- ling him the ufe I might perhaps make of his opinion in this addrefs to you, he be- gan in a very folemn way. " The author of the D. L. fays " he, is a writer whofe genius and learn- " ing have fo far fubdued envy itfelf, " (though it never rofe fiercer againft any " man, or in more various and grotefque " fhapes) that every man of fenfe now " efteems [ 17 ] " efteems him the (Ornament, and every, " good man the bleffing of thefe times." Hold, faid I, my good friend, I did not mean to put your eloquence to the ftretch for this panegyric on his intelleBiial endow- ments, which I am very ready to take upon truft, and, to fay the truth, have never heard violently run down by any but very prejudiced or very dull men. His moral qualities are thofe I am moft concerned for. " His morale refumed he haftily, fhine * forth as ftrongly from all his writings * as the other, and are thofe which I have " ever reverenced moft. Of thefe, his " love of letters and of virtue, his vene- " ration of great and good men, his deli- " cacy of honour in not afTuming to him- " felf or depreffing the merit of others, " his readinefs to give their due to all men " of real defert whofe principles he oppofes, " even to the faftidious, fcouing Lord " Shaftesbury and the licentious Bayle, " but above all, his zeal for religion and " for truth, thefe are qualities, which, as " often as I look into his volumes, attra(5l D " my [ i8] my admiration and elleem. Nor is this enumeration, tho' it ' be ^far from com- plete, made at random. I could illuf- trate each of thefe virtues by various in- ftances, taken from his w^orks, w^ere it not that the perfon you mean to addrefs is more converfant in them, and more ready, I may prefume, to do him juftice on any fitting occalion than myfelf. The liberty indeed he takes of diflenting from many great names is confiderable, as well as of fpeaking his free thoughts of the vvTiters for whom he hath no efteem. But the one he doth with that refpe6l and deference, and the other with that reafon and juftice, and both with that ingenuous opennefs and candour, the chara6leriftics of a truly great mind, that they, whom he oppofes, cannot be angry, and they whom he cenfures, are not mifufed. I mention this the rather on account of the clamour which has fo frequently been raifed againft the free- dom and feverity of his pen. But there is no myftery in the cafe. No dead wri- ter is fo bad but he has fome advocates, and no living one fo contemptible but * " he [ '9 J " he has fome friends. And the niisfor- " tune is, that while the prefent generation " is too much prejudiced to do him right, " pofterity, to whom the appeal of courfe " lies, are not hkely to have it in their " power to rejudge the caufe : the names " and writings, he moft undervalues, being " fuch as are haJftening, it feems, to that " oblivion which is prepared for fuch " things. " Thefe, continued he, are fome of the obvious qualities of the writer, and for the perfonal virtues of the man But here I may well refer you to Dr. JoRTiN himfelf, who will take a pleafure to alTure you, that his private charafter is not lefs refpedable than his public ; or rather, if the one demands our vene- ration, that the other muft fecure our love. And yet why reft the matter on the credit of one, when all of his ac- quaintance agree in this, that he is the eafieft in his converfation, the frankefl and moft communicative, the readieft to do all good offices, in fliort the friend- lieft and moft generous of men." D 2 Thus [20] Thus far our zealous friend. And the* I know how much you agree with him in your fentiments, I dare fay you cannot but fmile at fo egregious a fpecimen of the high complimentary manner. But though one is not to e}jpe<5l an encomiafl of this clafs will be very fenfible of any defects in the perfon he celebrates, yet it cannot be difowned that this magnified man hath his foibles as well as another. I will be fo fair as to enumerate fome of them. As he is confcious of intending well, and even greatly in his learned labours, he is rather difpofed to think himfelf injured by malicious llanders and grofs mifreprefen- tations. And then, as he hath abundantly too much wit, efpecially for a great divine, he is apt to fay fuch things, as though dull men do not well comprehend, they fee reafon enough to take offence at. Befides, he doth not fufficiently confult his eafe or his intcreftby theobfervance ofthofe forms and practices which are in ufe amongft the prudent part of his own order. This, no doubt^ begets a reafonable dilguft. And even [21 ] even his friends, I obferve, can hardly re- , ftrain their cenfure of fo great a fingularity/ " He is fo much in his ftudy, they fay, " that he hardly allows himfelf time to " make his appearance at a levee. Not " confidering that illud unum ad laudem " cum labore diredium iter qui probaverunt " prope jam Jolt in scholis Junt reliSiir Thefe infirmities, it mull be owned, are very notorious in him j to which it might be added, that he is very indif. creet, fometimes, in the topics and turn of his converfation. His zeal for his friend is fo immoderate, that he takes fire even at the moft diftant refle6lion he hears caft upon him. And I (joubt no confideration could with-hold him from contradicting any man^ let his quahty and ftation be what it would, that ihould hazard a joke, or an argument, in his company, againft Religion. I thought it but juft to take notice of thefe weaknefles. And there may perhaps be fbme others, which I do not now recoi- led. Yet on th^ whole, \ vviU not deny that [ " ] \^hat he may fairly pafs for an able, a friendly, and even amiable man. This perfon then, fuch as he is, fuch at leaft as the zealots reprefent and you efteem him, you have the pleafure to call your FRIEND : Report fays too, that he has more than a common right to this title : that he has won it by many real fervices done to yourfelf. How doth the confciouf- nefs of all this fire you ! and what pains do I fee you take to reftrain that impatient gratitude which would relieve itfelf by breaking forth in the praifes of fuch a friend 1 / And yet in fpite of all thefe incitements from efieetn^ from friendjhtp^ and from gra^ titudey which might prompt you to fom extravagance of commendation, fuch is the command you have of yourfelf, and fo nice- ly do you underfland what belongs to this intercourfe of learned friends, that in the inftance before us you do not, I think, appear to have exceeded the modefb pro- portion even of a temperate and chafte praife. I affure [23 ] I aflbre you, fir, I am fo charmed with the beauty of this condu6t, that tho* it may give your modelty fome pain, I cannot help uniting the feveral'parts of it, and pre- fenting the entire image to you in one piece. I meddle not with the argument of your elaborate diflertation. It is enough that your readers know it to be the fame with that of another famous one in the D. L. They will know then that among the various parts of that work none was fo likely, as this, to extort your applaufe. For it is univerfally, I fuppofe, agreed that, for a point in claffical criticifm, there is not the man living who hath a keener relifh for it than yourfelf. And the general opinion is, that your honoured friend hath a fort of talent for this kind of writing. Some perfons, I know, have talked at a ftrange rate. One or two I once met with, were for fetting him much above the modern, and on a level, at leaft, with the bell of the old, critics. But this was going too far, as may appear to any one one that hath but attentively read and un- derflood what the judicious Mr. Upton and the learned Mr. Edwards have, in their various books and pamphlets, well and folidly and with great delight to many difcerning perfons, written on this fubje6l. Yet ftill I muft needs think him confiderably above Minellius and Far- NABY ; and almofl equal to old Servius himfelf, except that perhaps one doth not find in him the fingular ingenuity (a) you admire in the laft of thefe critics. But be this as it will, it feems pretty well agreed that the learned perfon, tho' fo great a divine, is a very competent judge, and no mean proficient in claffical criticifm. There are many fpecimens of his talents in this way difperfed thro' the large and mifcellaneous work of the D. L. But the greateft effort of his genius, they fay, is feen in the explanation of the 6th book of the iEneis. And with all its de- fects I can eafily perceive you were fo ftruck with it that it was with the utmoft reluctance you found yourfelf obliged by to (a) Diff. vi. p. 259. [ 25 ] the regard, which every honeft critic owes to truth and by the fuperior delicacy of your purpofe, to cenfure and expofe it* Another man, I can eafily imagine, would have faid to himfelf before he had entered on this tafk, " This fine commen- ?* tary, which fets the moft finifhed part " of the iEneis and indeed the whole po- " em in fo new and fo advantageous a " light, tho' not an efTential in it, is yet " a confiderable ornament of a juflly " admired work. The author too is my " particular friend ; a man, the fartheft <* of all others from any difpofition to " leflen the reputation of thofe he loves ; " the fubjedl hath been well nigh exhaufl- " ed by him j and the remarks I have to ** offer on his fcheme are not, in truth, " of that confequence as to make it a " point of duty for me to lay afide the " ufual regards of friendfhip on their ac- " count. And though he hath greatnefs ** of mind enough notto.refent this liber- " ty, his impatient and ill judging friends " will b^ likely to take offence at it. The " public itfelf, as little biafled as it feems E *' to \. [ 26 ] to be in his favour, may b*e even fcan- dalized at an attempt of this natm'e, to which no important interefts of reli- gion or learning feem to oblige me." After this manner, I fay, would a common man have been apt to reafon, with himfelf. But you, fir, underiland the rights of literary freedom, and the offices of facred friendfhip at another rate. The one authorize us to deliver our fenti- ments on any point of literature without referve. And the other will not fuffer you to diflionour the man you love, or require you to fully the purity of your own vir- tue, by a vicious and vulgar complai- fance. Or to give the account of the whole matter in your own memorable words. - The 6th book of the iEneis, you ob- ferve, tho' the mod: finifhed part of the xii. is certainly obfcure. " Here then is a " field open for criticifm, and all of us, *' who attempt to explain and illuftrate " Virgil, have reafon to hope that we may 7 " make cc (C r 27] make fome difcoveries, and to fear tha'; we may fall into fome miftakes ; and this fhould induce us to conjedture with " freedom J to propofe with dijfidence^ and " to difient with civility, *Kyot.^y\ ^ ep. f^;R255. r^;E,20. [ 36 ] edifying difcourfes, on the Hebrew poe- try. Fourthly, Another contrivance of near affinity to this, is, when you oppofe his principles indeed, but let his argiinunts quite alone. Of this management a v/ary reader will difcover many traces in your obliging difcourfe. And can any thing be more generous than to> eafe a man of the fhame of feeing his own reafonings confuted, or; even produced when the writer's purpofe requires him to pay no regard to them ? Such tendernefs, I think, though it is pre- tended to by others, can, of right, belong only to the true friend. But your kind- nefs knows no bounds. For, Fifthly, Tho' you find yourfelf fome- times obliged to produce and confute his reafonings, you take care tofurnijlo him with better of your own. The delicacy of this cond a6t lies in the good opinion, which is infinuated of the writer's conclufion, and in the readinefs which you fhew to fupport it even in fpite of himfelf. There is a choice inflance in that part of your difcourfe, . . where t 37 ] where agreeing with your friend that the puniihments of T^artarus are properly eter- naly you reje6l his reafon for that conchi- fion, but fupply him with many others in its Head. " This alone will not prove the eternity " of punifhments for, &c. But if to this *' you add the Platonic do6lrine, that very ** wicked fpirits were never releafed from *' T^artarus^ and the (ilence of Virgil as to *^ iany difmiffion frorii that jail, and the " cenfure of the Epicureans, who obje6led " to religious fyftems the eternity of " punifhments, ** Mternas quoniam poenas in morfe timendiim ; * AND the general do6trine of the mytho- " logiils, AND the opinion of Servius, " that Virgil was to be taken in this " fenfe, we may conclude that the punifh- " ments in his^ Tartarus v^ere probably eternal (j)r ' Never let men talk after this of the nig- gardlinefs of your friendfliip, when, tho* you f/; Page 261. tsS] you take from him with one hand, you reflore him five-fold with the other. After fuch an overflow of goodnefs, no- thing I can now advance will feem incre- dible. I take upon me to affirm therefore. Sixthly, That it is a mere calumny ta fay that you have contented yourfelf, tho* you very well might, with mere negative encomiums. You can venture on occafion to quote from your friend infornty and, as it fhould feem, with fome apparent approba- tion. An inftance is now before me. You cite what the author of the D. L. fays of " tBe transformation of the Jhips into fea- ' deities^ by which, fays he, Virgil would *^ infmuate, I fuppofe, the great advan<. " tage of cultivating a naval power, fuch ^' as extended commerce and the dominion " of the ocean : which in poetical lan-^ *^ guage is becoming deities of thefcaT To which you add, " In favour of this ** opinion it may be further obferved, " th^ AyGusTus owed his empire in ( [ 59 ] '^ a great meafure to his naval vi6lo- " ries (gy\ Now can any thing be civiler than this, or more expreffive of that amiable turn of mind, which difpofes a man to help forward % lame argument of his friend, and give it the needful fupport of his au- thority ? For it hath been delivered as a maxim by the nice obfervers of decorum, that wherever you would compliment ano- ther on his opinion, you fhould always en- deavour' to add fomething of your own that may infinuate at leaft fome little de- feat in it. This management takes off the appearance of flattery^ a vice which the Latin writers, alluding to this frequency of unqualified affent, have properly enough exprefled by the word Assent^tio. But catch you tripping in this way if one can. It is plain you went on this juft principle in the inftance before us, which otherwife, let me tell you, I fhould have taken for lomething like an attempt towards down- right adulation. As here qualified, I fet it down for another inftance of juft compli- ment. [40] meiit, more dire6l indeed than the other jive^ yet ftill with that gi'aceful obliquity which they who know the world, expedt in this fort of commerce. And I may fur- ther obferve, that you are not lingular in the ufe of this mode of celebration. Many even of the enemies of this author have obligingly enough employed it when they wanted to confirm their own notions by his, or rather to fhew their parts in firfl catching a hint from him, and then, as they believe, improving upon it Still I have greater things in view. For, Seventhly, You not only with the higheft addrefs infinuate a compliment in the way of irritation, but you once or twice exprefs it infidlform^ and with all the circumftance of panegyrical approbation. Having mentioned the cafe of the infants in Virgil's purgatory, which hath fo much perplexed his learned commentators, you rife at once into the following encomium. " It is an ingenious conjefture propofed in " the D. L. that the poet might defign ** to difcountenance the curfed pra6lice of ** expofmg and murdering infants." This t40 'This was very liberal, and 1 began to think you had forgotten yourfdf a little in fo explicite a declaration. But the next paragraph relieved me. " It might be " added, that Virgil had perhaps nlfo in " view to pleafe Auguftus, who was defi* **' tons of encouraging matrimony and the ** education of children, and extremely in^ *^ tent upon repcopling Italy which had been "^^ exhaufted by the civil wars (h)" It is plain you have ftill in your eye that fage rule which the men of manners lay dowHi of qualifying your civilities. So that I let this pals without ferther obfervation. Only I take leave to warn you againft the too frequent ufe of this artifice, which but barely fatisfies for calling your friend's iiotion " &n ingenious coiyeBure" t^ot but are there others who fee this con- trivance in another light, and treat it as an art of damning with faint praife j a cenfure which one of the zealot friends prefumes to cafl, with much injuftice and little knowledge of the world, on the very lea- fier and pride of our party. Whereas % G de- (I) p. 269. ly \ 1 t42] deliver it for a moft certain truth, that th^ fainter and feebler our praife of any man is, juft fo much the better will it be re- ceived by all companies, even by the gtnC" rality of thofe who call themfelves his beft friends. And fo apprehenfive indeed am I of this nice humour in mankind, that I am not fure if the very flight things I am forced to fay of yourfelf, though merely to carry on the purpofe of this addrefs, will not by certain perfons, inwardly at leafl, be ill taken. And with this needful apology for myfelf I proceed to, celebrate. Eighthly, The laft and highefl: in- flance of your civilities to your admued friend, which yet I hope to vindicate from any reafonablc; fufpicion of flatte- ry j I prefumed to fay in the forego- ing article that you had once or twice hazarded even a dire6l compliment on the perfon whofe fyfliem you oppofe. I ex- prefled myfelf with accuracy. There is one other place in your diflertation, where you make this facrifice to friendfliip or to cufl:om. The paflage is even wrought up into a refemblance of that unqualified adiiation, which I condemn fo much, and from [43 ] from which, in general, your writings are perfe6lly free. I coiild almoft wifh for your credit to fupprefs this one obnoxious para- graph. But it runs thus. t( ti " That the fubtcrraneous adventures of iEneas were intended by Virgil to repre- fent the initiation of his hcroc, is an elegant conje6lure, which hath been laid before the public, and fet forth to the bell advantage i^y a learned friend." (i) I confefs to you I did not know at firft fight what to do with the two high-flown epithets, elegant and learned^ which ftand fo near together in one fentence. Such ac- cumulated praifes had well-nigh overiet my fyf^em. And I began with much foli- citude to confider how I fhould be able to reconcile this efcape of your pen with your general pra6lice. But taking a little time to look about me, I prefently fpied a way of extricating both of us from this diffi- culty. For hang it, thought I, if this no- tion of the heroe's adventures in the infer- nal regions be elegant ^ it is but a conjec- ture 'y and fo poor a matter as this were G 2 hardly \ \ [ 44 J . hardly worth purfuing, as the author of the D. L. hath done, through almofl a fourth part of a very fizeable volume. And then as to the term elegant, to be ftire it hath a good found 5 but more than a third part of this choice volume of yours,. I obferved, is employed in making appear that the conje(^ure, whatever it be, hath^ not the leafl feature of truth in it. And elegance^ altogether devoid of truth was, I- concluded, a very pitiful thing, and indeed no very intelligible encomium. Well, but let there be as little truth as you will, in this conje6lure, flill it hath been Jet forth, to the hefi advantage ^ and to crown all by a teamed Jri end. Here a fwarm of frefh diffi-i culties attacked me. Sed nil defperandum te duce. For why talk of advantage, when the conjefture after all would not bear the handling ? It was but mighty little (your friendfhip would not let you do more) which you had brought againft it. And the conjeclure \ faw, was fhrunk to no-^ thing, and is never likely to rife again into any fhape or fubftance. So that when you. added by a learned friend^ I could not for I 45 ] jny life, help laughing. Surely, thought I, the reverend perfon intends on this oc- cafion to be pleafant. Indeed you ofter^ are fo with a very good grace, but I happen- ed not to expe61: it juft at this moment.-. For what learning worth fpeaking of could there be in the fupport of a notion, which was fp eafily overturned without any ? You may be fure, I mean no reflection in thefe words. No body queflions your erudition. But it was not your fortune or your choice to make a fhew of it in this difcourfe. The propriety of the epithet learned, then did not evidently and imme- diately appear. However, as I knew there was in truth, no fmall quantity of learning in the piece referred to, and that the author of the p. L, whatever Bate, and Peters, and Jackson may fay or inlinuate, is un^ queftionably, and to a very competent de- gree learned, I began to- take the matter a little more ferioully. And upon looking attentively at the words a fecond time, I though^ a v^ry natural account might be given. [46] given of them upon other principles. For as to the fubflantive friend, why might not that for once be put in for your own fake as well as his? The advantages of friendfliip are reciprocal. And tho' it be very clear to other people w^hich is the gainer by this intercourfe, who knows but Dr. JoRTiN, in his great modefty, might fuppofe the odds to lie on his own fide ? And then for learned, which had em-- barrafTed me fo much, I bethought myfelf at lafl there was not much in that, this at- tribute having been long proftituted on eveiy man who pretends, in any degree, Xo the profeffion of letters. So that on the whole, tho' I muft ftill reckon this for an inftance, amongft others, of that due meafure of refpedl with which your politenefs teaches you to treat your friends, yet I fee no reafon for charging it with any excefs of civility. And now, fir, having been at all this pains to juflify you from the two contrary H75o On the delicacy of friendship. 3 1158 00590 5228 PR 3517 H75o UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 4..