e 5" THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES FUGITIVE PIECES, O N Various SUBJECTS. By feveral AUTHORS. VOL. I. Containing I. Crito : or a Dialogue on Beauty. JI. An Account of the Em- peror of Chine? i Gardens , near Pekin. III. Deformity. By William Hay, Efq. IV. Lucha Jtne Cmculitu. Addrefled to the Royal V. A Modeft Defence of Gaming. VI. The Pretty Gentleman. VII. The PolitePhilofophcr, VIII. Plan of an Effay OR Delicacy. LONDON, Printed for J. D o D s L E Y, in Pall -math M D C C L X V, {n<*$ T O: \A \ OR, A DIALOGUE O N BEAUTY. By Sir HARRT BEAUMONT. k 877C C 3 J A DIALOGUE O N BEAUTY. IT was on one of the moft pleafmg Mornings in the laft Summer, that CRITO ftole from the Noife and Buftle of the Town, to enjoy an agreeable Day, or Two, with his Friend TIMAN- THES in the Country. TIMANTHES received him with all that Joy and Pleafure, which is ufual between Friends, who love one another entirely ; and who have not met for a confiderable Time. He {hewed him his new Grove, and Gardens ; and, as they were walking in the latter, * Since the Weather be- gins to be fo warm (fays he) if you like it, we will dine under that open Tent. The Air there will be refrefhing to you ; and will bring us the Smell of the Orange and Lemon-Trees which furround it, with- out breaking that View of the Country, of which youufed to befo fond. When I placed them there, I had you in my Thoughts ; and imagined it might Ba be 4 ADIALOGUE be a favourite Seat of yours, whenever you came hither ; which I wifh your Affairs would fuffer to be much oftener." Indeed the Spot was fo well chofen, thr.t it made not only their Dinner, but even their Converfation together after it, the more agreeable ; and as they were ftill fitting and enjoying themfelves there, for fome Time in the Afternoon ; a Servant came to let TIMANTHES know, that MILESIUS was juft alighted ; and was coming toward them. " Though in general I mould not have chofen to be interrupted To-day (fays TIMANTHES), I am not forry for MILESIUS'S Vifit at prefent j becaufehis Gaiety may ferve a little to divert you.*' And I, fays CRITO, Jove every thing that you love ; and {hall therefore go with Pleafure with you to meet him. MILESIUS came up to them with his ufual Vivacity in his Face, and Behaviour ; and, after a fhort Compliment, or Two, they all fat down to- gether again under the Tent. They foon fell into a Converfation, which, though it might not be fo folid, was at leaft more lively and joyous than their former. TIMANTHES could not help obferving upon it. "You (fays he) MILESICJS give Life to the Company wherever you come ; but I am particularly glad of your coming hither To-day, becaufe my Friend CRITO, on his Arrival this Morn- ing, feemed to have the Remains of fomething of a Melancholy on his Face ; but, fmce your joining us, the Cloud has been gradually clearing up, and feems now quite driven away. I would not then take any Notice of it to him > for fear of oppreffing the Mind 4 of ONBEAUTY. 5 of my Friend whilft too much afflicted ; but as it now appears to have been only a patting Cloud, I could wifh to afk the Caufe of it ; that I might endeavour to alleviate his Concern, if in my Power ; and if not, that at leaft I might fhare it with him." " I am very much obliged to you (replied CRITO, with a Caft of the fame Concern returning on his Face) for your Tendernefs for me, on this, and all other Occafions : But if you obferved any thing of Sor- row about me on my Firft coming in-, I can aflure you, that it was not for any Misfortune that has happened to myfelf j nor any new Misfortune to any of our Friends : Whatever you faw in me of that kind, muft have been occafioned by the Vifit I made this Morning. You both know the Beauty and Me- rits of Mrs. B * * *, as well as what a Brute of a Hufband (he has the Misfortune to be married to. Ijuft called there, ^before I fet out ; and, on the Servant's telling me, that his Lady had been up fome time, and was fitting in the Room next the Garden ; as my near Relation to her gave me the Liberty of going on without fending in my Name, I walked toward the Room ; and found the Door only juft open enough to let me fee her leaning on a Couch, with her Head refted negligently on one Hand, whilft, with the other, {he was wiping away a Tear, that ftole filently down her Cheek. The Diftrefs in her Countenance, and the little Confuikm that appeared about her Eyes, on her firft difcover- ing me (juft as I was doubting whether I (hould re- tire or not) added fo much to the other Beauties of her Face, that I think I never faw her look fo charm- B 3 ing 6 ADIALOGUE ing in my Life. " Stay, Sir (fays ihe) ; for you* I am fore, can excufe this little Overflow of Weaknefs in me. My poor, dear, Jacky ! If Heaven had fpared him to me, he would this very Day have been Seven Years old. What a pretty little Companion fhould I have had in him^ to have diverted me in ibme of the many Hours that I now pafs alone !" I diflembled my being but too well acquainted with the real Occafion of her Sorrows, joined with her in lamenting the Lofs (he had mentioned ; and, as foon as I could, led the Converfation into another Chan- nel ; and faid every thing I could think of, to divert her Mind from the Object that I knew afflicted her. By Degrees, fhe recovered herufual Behaviour ; but, through all the Calmnefs and Pleafingnefs of it, there wasftill a Cloud hanging about her Eyes, which be- trayed Part of the Uneafmefs that fhe daily fuffers under in her Heart. Good Heaven ! how is it pofli- ble that any human Creature fhould treat fo much Goodnefs, and fo many Charms, with fo much Bar- barity of Behaviour !" We all know the Vilenefs of the Man, cried MILESIUS, as well as the Beauty and good Qualities of his Lady ; but, pray, how come you to think, that her Sufferings ihcvld add to her Charms ? or that a Diftrefs, like her's, could ever be pleafing to the Eye ? Some People have got fuch ftrange, unintelligible Notions of Beauty !" " Was I to let you into all my Thoughts about Beauty, replied CRITO, what I happened to mention juft now would, perhaps, appear far from bein; unin- telligible to you. To own the Truth, I have thought on this Subject (which is ufually rather viewed with too ONBEAUTY. 7 too much Pleafure, than confidered with anything of Judgment) more gravely at leaft, I dare fay, than ever you have : And if you was to provoke me a little farther, I do not know whether I could notlay down to you a fort of Scheme en it ; which might go a good Way not only toward clearing upthis,butmoft of the other Difficulties that fo often occur in talk- ing of it." " I fliould as foon think of difie&ine; a Rainbow, fays MILESIUS, as of forming grave and punctual Notions of Beauty. Who, for Heaven's Sake, can reduce to Rules, what is fo quick, and fo variable, as to be fhifting its Appearances every Mo- ment, on the moft delightful Faces ? " And why are thofe Faces the moft delightful, in which that happens r" fays CRITO. "Nay, that is one of the very things I could leaft pretend to account for, re- plied MILESIUS. lam fatisfied with feeing that they are fo; 'tis a fubje6t that I never yet had a fmgle De- fire to reafon upon; and I can very willingly leave it to you, to be a Philofopher in Love." But ferioufly, interpofed TIMANTHES, turning toward CRITO, if you have ever found Leifure and Calmnefs enough to think fteadily on fo uncertain, and fo engaging a Subjecl ; why mould not you oblige us with the Re- fuit of your Thoughts upon it ? Let me beg it of you, as a Favour to both of us ; for I am fure it will be agreeable to both : And if you refufe me, I am refolved to join with MILESIUS in believing, that it is incapable of having any thing faid fyftematically, or even regularly, about it." " You know, fays CRITO, how little I love to have all the Talk to myfelf ; and what you propofe may take me up an 4 Hour, 8 ADIALOGUE Hour, or Two : But if I muft launch out into fo wide a Subject, it will be very necefiary, that I fliould begin with telling you what I chiefly propofe to confider, and what not. EVERY Object that is pleafing to the Eye; when looked upon, or delightful to the Mind, on Recollection, may be called beautiful ; fo that Beauty, in general, may ftretch as wide as the vifible Creation, or even as far as the Imagination can go ; which is a fort of new or fecondary Creation. Thus we fpeak not only of the Beauties of an engaging Profpect, of the rifmg or fetting Sun, or of a fine ftarry Heaven j but of thofe of a Picture, Statue, or Building ; and even of the Actions, Characters, or Thoughts of Men. In the greater Part of thefe, there may be almoft as many falfe Beauties, as there are real ; according to the different Taftes of Nati- ons, and Men ; fo that if any one was to confider Beauty in its fulleft Extent, it could not be done without the greateft Confufion. I (hall therefore confine my Subject to vifible Beauty ; and of that, to fuch only as may be called perfonal, or human Beauty ; and that again, to fuch as is natural or real, and not fuch as is only national or cuftomary ; for I would not have you imagine, that I would have any thing to do with the beautiful thick Lips of the good People of Bantam^ or the qxceflive fmall Feet of the Ladies of Quality in China, I am ON BEAUT Y. 9 I am apt to think, that every thing belonging to Beauty (by which I need not repeat to you, at every Turn, that I mean real perfonal Beauty) would fall under one or other of thefeFour Heads ; Color, Form, Exprefiion, and Grace. The Two former of which I fhould look upon as the Body, and the Two latter as the Soul, of Beauty. T H O' Color be the loweft of all the conftituent Parts df Beauty, yet it is vulgarly the moft linking, and the mod obferved. For which there is a very obvious Reafon to be given ; that " every body can fee, and very few can judge ;" the Beauties of Co- lor requiring much lefs of Judgment, than either of the other Three. T (hall therefore have much lefs to fay of it, than of each of the others ; and fhall only give you Two or Three Obfervations, relating toit. As to the Color of the Body in general, the moft beautiful perhaps that ever was imagined, was that which Afcelles expreffed in his famous Venus ; and which, though the Picture itfelf be loft, Cicero has, in fome Degree, preferved to us, inhis [a] excellent Defcription of it. It was (as we learn from him) a fine Red, beautifully intermixed and incorporated [a] Illud video pugnare te, fpecies ut ouaedam fit Deorum ; quae nihil concreti habeat, nihil foldi, nihil exprefii, nihil eminentis : fit- que pura, levis, perlucida. Dicemus ergo idem, quod in Venere Coa ; corpus non eft, fed fimile corpori : nee ille fnfus et candore mixtus rubor fanguis eft, fed quasdam fanguinis fimiiitudo. Cicero di Wutura Dear, lib, i. with io A DIALOGUE with WHite ; and diffufed, in its due Proportions, through each Part of the Body. Such are the De- fcriptions of a moft beautiful Skin, in [] feveral of the Roman Poets ; and fuch often is the Coloring of Titian^ and particularly, in his fleeping Venus, or whatever other Beauty that charming Piece was meant to reprefent. The Reafon why thefe Colors pleafe fo much is not only their natural Livelinefs, nor the much greater Charms they obtain from their being proper- ly blended together, but is alfo owing in fome De- gree to the Idea they carry with them of good Health [r] ; without which, all Beauty grows languid and lefs engaging ; and with which it always recovers an additional Life and Luftre. [l>] Thus Virgil, in the Bluft of his La-vim* j Acceptt vocem lacrymis Lavinia tnatris, Flagrantes perfufa genas j cui plurimus ignem Subjecit rubor, & calefafta per ora cucurrit : Indum fanguineo veluti violaverit oflro Si quis ebur, aut m'xta rubent ubi lilia multa Alba rosa ; tales virgo dabat ore colores. &n. xii. 69. CT.-/X, in his NarcijJ'us ; Smpubefqus genas, et eburnea colla, decufque Oris 5 & in niveo miftum candore ruborem. Met, iii. 423. And Tibutlus, ia his Jtollo ; Candof erat, qualem prsefert Latbnia luna ; Et color in niveo corpore purpureus. Ut juveni primum virgo dedudla rnarito Inficitur tt neras ore rubente genas : Ut quum contexuntamaranthis alba puelJa* Lilia ; & autumno Candida mala rubent. Lib. ii. /. 3. n. [r] Venuftas et pulchritudo corporis fecerni ncn pote.1 a valetudine. Cictrt de Ojficiis, lib. i. 95. As ONBEAUTY. n As to the Color of the Face in particular, a great deal of its Beauty is owing (befule the Caufes I have already mentioned) to Variety ; that being defigned by Nature for the greateft Concourfe of different Colors, of any Part in the human Body. Colors pleafe by Oppofition ; and it is in the Face that they are the moft diverfified, and the moft oppofed, You would laugh out perhaps, if I was to tell you, that the fame Thing, which makes a fine Evening, makes a fine Face (1 mean as to the particular Part of Beauty I am now fpeaking of ) ; and yet this, I believe, is very true. The Beauty of an Evening Sky, about the Setting of the Sun, is owing to the Variety of Colors that are fcattered along the Face of the Heavens. It is the fine red Clouds, intermixed with white, and fometimes darker ones, with the azure Bottom ap- pearing here and there between them, which makes all that beautiful Ccmpofition <> that delights the Eye fo much, and gives fuch a ferene Pleafure to the Heart. In the fame Manner, if you confider fomc beautiful Faces, you may obferve, that it is much the fame Variety of Colors, which gives th?m that pleafing Look ; which is fo apt to attract the Eye, and tut too often to engage the Heart. For all this Sort of Beauty is refolvable into a proper Variation ofFlefh Color and Red, with the clear Bluenefs of the Veins pleafingly intermixed about the Temples and the Going oil" of the Cheeks^ and fctoffby the Shades 12 A DIALOGUE Shades of full Eyebrows ; and of the Hair, when it falls in a proper Manner round the Face. It is for much the fame Reafon, that the beft Landfcape-painters have been generally obferved to chufe the autumnal Part of the Year for their Pieces, rather than the Spring. They prefer the Variety of Shades and Colors-, though in their Decline, to all their Fremnefs and Verdure in their Infancy ; and think all the Charms and Livelinefs even of the Spring more than compenfated by the Choice, Op- pofition, and Richnefs of Colors, that appear al- moft on every Tree in the Autumn. Though one's Judgment is fo apt to be guided by fome particu'ar Attachments (and that more perhaps in this Part of Beauty than any other) yet I am a good deal perfuaded, that a complete brown Beauty is really preferable to a perfect fair one ; the bright Brown giving a Luftre to all the other Colors, a Vivacity to the Eyes, and a Richnefs to the whole Look, which one feeks in vain in the whiteft and moft tranfparent Skins. Raphael's moft charming Madonna is a brunette Beauty ; and his earlier Ma- donna's (thofe I mean of his middle Stile) are gene- rally of a lighter and lefs pleating Complexion. AH the beft Artifts in the nobleft Age of Painting, about Leo the Tenth's Time, ufed this deeper and richer Kind of coloring ; 2nd I fear one might add, that the glaring Lights introduced by Guido, went a great Way toward the Declenfion of that Art ; as the en- feebling of the Colors by Carlo Marat (or, if you pleafe ONBEAUTY. 13 pleafe, by his Followers) hath fince almoft com- pleted the Fall of it in Italy. I have but one thing more to mention, before I quit this Head j that I fhould chufeto comprehend fome Things under this Article of Color, which are not perhaps commonly meant by that Name. As that appearing Softnefs or Silkinefs of fome Skins ; that [d] Magdalen-look in fome fine Faces, after weeping ; that Brightnefs, as well as Tint, of the Hair ; that Luftre of Health, that fhines forth upon the Features ; that Luminoufnefs that appears in fome Eyes, and that fluid Fire, or Gliftening, in others : Some of which are of a Nature fo much fuperior to the common Beauties of Color, thatthey make it doubtful whether they fhould not have been ranked under a higher Cbfs ; and referved for the Expreflion of the Paflions ; but I would willingly give every thing it's Due, and therefore mention them here ; becaufe I think even the moft doubtful of them belong partly to this Head, as well as part- ly to the other. FORM takes in the Turn of each Part, as well as the Symmetry of the whole Body, even to the Turn [d] The Look here meant is moft frequently expreft by the beft Painters in their Magdalen* ; in which, if there were no Tears oh the Face, you would fee, by the humid Rednefsof the Skin, that flie ha* been weeping extremely. There is a very ftrong Inftance of this in a fulagdahn by Le Brun, in one of the Churches at Paris ; and feverai by Titian, in Italy ; the very beft of which is at the Baroerivo Palace z*. Venice: In fpealting of which, Rofa'.ba hardly went too far, when /he faid, "It wept all over j" or (in the very Words ihe ufed) "Site " pleurejufiiu' aux bouts de doigts," of 14 ADIALOGUE of an Eyebrow, or the Falling of the Hair. I (hould think too, that the Attitude, while fixt, ought to be reckoned under this Article : By which I do not only mean the Pofture of the Perfon, but the Pofitioa of each Part ; as the Turning of the Neck, the ex- tending of the Hand, the Placing of a Foot ; and, fo on to, the rnoft minute Particulars. The general Caufe of Beauty in the Form or Shape in both Sexes is a Proportion, or an Union and Harmony [ vi. 573. [&] In his Entretiens, vol. ii. p. 14 4^. The chief of what he fays there, on the Beauty of the different Parts of the Female Form is as follows. That the Head fliould be well rounded j and look rather inclining to fmall than large. The Forehead white, fmooth, and open ("not with the Hair growing down too deep upon it ;) neither flat nor prominent, but like the Head, well rounded j and rather fmall in Proportion than large. ONBEAUTY. 17 it with more Pleafure to himfelf, in the fined Pi&ures and Statues ; and I am forced to have Recourfe to The Hair, either bright, black, or brown ; not thin, but full and waving ; and if it falls in moderate Curls, the better. The black is particularly ufeful for fetting off the Whitnefs of the Neck and Skin. The Eyes, black, chefnut, or blue ; clear, bright, and lively ; and rather large in Proportion than fmall. The Eyebrmof, well divided, rather full than thin ; femicircular, and broader in the Middle than at the Ends ; of a neat Turn, but not formal. The Cheeks fliould not be wide ; fliould have a Degree of Plumpnefs, with the Red and White finely blended together ; and fliould look firm and foft. The Ear fliould be rather fmall than large ; well folded, and with an agreeable Tinge of Red. The Noje fliould be placed fo as to divide the Face into two eqval Parts; fliould be of a moderate Size, ftrait, and well-fquared j though fometimes a little Rifing in the Nofe, which is but juft perceivable, may give a very graceful Look to it. The Mouth fliould be fmall ; and the Lips not of equal Thicknefs : They fliould be well-turned, fmall rather than grofs ; foft, eren to the Eye ; and with a living Red in them. A truly pretty Mouth is like a Rofe-bud that is bsginnig to blow. The Teeth flrould be middle fizcd, white, well-ranged, and even. The Chin, of a moderate Size ; white, foft, and agreeably rounded. The Neck fliould be white, ftrait, and of a foft, eafy, and flexible Make, rather long than fhort ; lefs a'-.ove, and encreafing gently to- ward the Shoulders : The Whitencfs and Delicacy of itsSkin fliould be continued, or rather go on improving, to the Bofom. The Skin in general fliould be white, properly tinged with Red with an apparent Sofcnefs, and a Look of thriving Health in it. The Shoulders fliould be white, gently fpread, and with a much fofter Appeamnce of Strength, than in thofe of Men. The Arm fliould be white, round, firm, and foft j and more particu- larly fo from the Elbow to 'he Hands. The Hand fliould unite infenfibly with the Arm ; juft as it does in the Statue of the f^tius of Medi:\. They fhould be long, and delicate, and even the Joints and nervous Parts of them fhould be without either any Hardnefs or Dryneff. VOL. I. C them 18 ADIALOGUE them fo often, becaufe in Life we commonly fee but a fmall Part of the human Body; moft of it being either difguifed, or altered, by what we call Drefs. I was acquainted, for fome Years, with a Lady who has as pretty a made Head and Neck as can be conceived ; and never knew any thing of the Mat- ter, till I happened one Morning to catch her at her Toilet, before fhe had deformed herfelf by putting on her Headeloaths. If that beautiful round Oak, with fo fine and ftrait a Body, had a Tent or Hoping Building, coming down from the Top of its Trunk to the Ground, all round it, and Two or Three Sheets flung over the greateft Part of its Head, we fhould fcarce be able to know., whether it was a beautiful Tree or not : And fuch is the circling Hoop, that the Women wear in fome Countries ; and the vaft Wad of Linen, that they carry upon their Head in others. The Fingert mould be fine, long, round, and foft j fmall, and lefT- ening towards the Tips of them : And the Nails long, rounded at the Ends, and pellucid. The Bofom fhould be white, and charming; and the Breafts equal in Roundnefs, Whitenefs, and Firmnefs ; neither too much elevated, nor too much deprefled } rifing gently, and very di/hnclly feparated j ia ne Word, juft like thofe of the fcrna of Medki. The Sides fhould be long, and the Hips wider than the Shoulders j and fhou'd turn off as they do in the fame Venn j and go down round- ing, and leflening gradually to the Knee. The Knee fhould be even, and well-rounded : the Legs flrait, but varied by a proper Rounding of the more flefliy Part of them j and tha Feet finely turned, white, and little. The ONBEAUTY. *$ The old Heathens ufed to cover the fineft Statues of their Gods all over with long Robes on their great- eft Feftivals : What a Figure would the Venus of Medici^ or the Apollo Belvedere, make, in fuch a Drefs ! I do not, to this Day, know, whether the famous Lady of Loretto be well or ill fhaped > for, thoftghl have feen her feveral times, I have never feen her without a fort of Hoop- petticoat, very much ftiffen- ed with Pearls and Jewels, and reaching all down her Body; quite from her Neck, to her Feet. Queen Elizabeth might have been well-fhaped to as little Purpofe, or ill-fhaped with as much Security, in the vaftFardingal and pufft Robes, that we generally fee her fwell'd out with, in her Pictures. And we do not only thus, in a great Meafure, hide Beauty ; but even injure, and kill it, by fome Parts of Drefs. A Child is no fooner born into the World, than it is bound up, almoft as firmly as an old Egyptian Mummy, in feveral Folds of Linen. It is in vain for him to give all the Signs of Diftrefs that Nature has put in his Power, to (hew how much he fuffers whilft they are thus imprifoning his Limbs ; or all the Signs of Joy, every Time they are fet at Liberty. In a few Minutes, the old Witch, who prefides over his infirmeft Days, falls to tormenting him afrefh, and winds him up again in his deftined Confinement. When he comes to be dreft like a Man, he has Ligatures applied to his C 2 Arm.^, 20 A DIALOGUE Arms, Legs, and Middle, in (hort, all over him ; to prevent the natural Circulation of his Blood, and make him lefs aive and healthy ; and if it be a Child of the tenderer Sex, fhe muft be bound yet more ftreightly about the Waift and Stomach ; to acquire a Difproportion, that Nature never meant in her Shape. I have heard a very nice Critic in Beauty fay, that he was never well acquainted with any \Voman in England, that was not, in fome Degree, crooked ; and I have often heard another Gentleman, that has been much in Africa, and in the Indies, aflert, that he never faw any black Wo- man, that was crooked. The Reafon, no Doubt, is, they keep to Nature ; whereas our Ladies choofe to be fhaped by the Staymaker. THE Two other constituent Parts of Beauty, are, Expreffion and Grace : The former of which, is common to all Perfons and Faces ; and the latter, is to be met with but in very few. BY Expreffion, I mean the Expreffion of the Paffions ; the Turns and Changes of the Mind, fo far as they are made vifible to the Eye, by our Looks or Geftures. Though the Mind appears principally in the Face, and Attitudes of the Head j yet every Part almoft of the human Body, on forrte Occafion or other, may become expreffive. Thus the languifhing Hanging 4 of ONBEAUTY. 2r of the Arm, or the vehement Exertion of it ; the Pain exprefled by the Fingers of one of the Sons in the famous Group of Laocoon^ and in the Toes of the dying Gladiator. But this again is often loft among us by our Drefs ; and indeed is of the lefs Concern, becaufe the Expreflion of the Paflions pafles chiefly in the Face, which we (by good Luck) have not as yet concealed. \ The Parts of the Face in which the Paflions moft frequently make their Appearance, are the Eyes, and Mouth; but from the Eyes, they diffufe themfelves (very ftrongly) about the Eyebrows j as, in the other Cafe, they appear often in the Parts all round the Mouth. Philosophers may difpute, as much as they pleafe, about the Seat of the Soul j but, where-ever it re- fides, I am fure that it fpeaks in the Eyes. J do not know, whether I have not injured the Eyebrows, in making them only Dependants on the Eyej for they, efpecially in lively Faces, have, as it were, a Language of their own; and are ex- tremely varied, according to the different Senti- ments and Paflions of the Mind. I have fometimes obferved a Degree of Difplea- fure in a Lady's Eyebrow, when (he had Addrefs enough not to let it appear in her Eyes ; and at otherTimes have difcovered fo much of herThoughts, in the Line juft above her Eyebrows, that fhe has C 3 been 22 A DIALOGUE been amazed how any body could tell what pafled in her Mind, and as {he thought undifcovered by her Face, fo particularly and diftin&ly. Homer makes the Eyebrows the Seat of [;'] Ma- jefty, Virgil of [k] Dejection, Herace of [/] Mo- defty, and Juvenal of [m\ Pride j and I queftion whether every one of the Paflions is not afligned, by one or other of the Poets, to the fame Part. If you would rather have Authorities from the Writers of honeft Profe, Le Brun (who publiflied a very pretty Treatife, to (hew how the Paflions affeft the Face and Features) fays, that the principal Seat of them is in the Eyebrows, and old Pliny had faid, S" Ufa, y(a.ilai KpJ' art aflavaloW psyiui 8' IX. . 52?. It was from this Paflage that Phidias borrowed all the Ideas of that Majefty which he had exprefied fo ftrongly in his famops Statues of the Jupiter Olympiui ; and Horace, probably, his - Cundta fupercilio moventis. Lit. iii. Od. i. 8. [i] Frons Izta parum, & dejefto lumina vulty. Virgil. Mr., vi. 863. [/] Deme fupercilio nubem j plerumque modeftus Occupat obfcuri fpeciem. Herat, lib. i. Epifh ig. 95. [] Malo Venufinam, quam te, Cornelia, mater Gracchorum ; fi cum magnis virtutibus afters Grande fupercilium, et numeras in dote triumphos. Juvenal. Sat. vi. j68. It is here that the Roaiant ufed the Word fuferciliofus (as we do from it the Word fupcrcilhus) for proud and arrogant Perfons. rr.uch ONBEAUTY. 23 much the fame Thing [], fo many Hundred Years before him. Hitherto I have fpoken only of the Paflions in general : We will now confider a little, if you pleafe, which of them add to Beauty; and which of them take from it. I believe we may fay, in general, that all the ten- der and kind Paflions add to Beauty ; and all the cruel and unkind ones, add to Deformity : And it is on this Account that Good-nature may, very juftly, be faid to be " the beft Feature even in the " fmeftFace." Mr. Pop has included the principal Paffion of each Sort, in Two very pretty Lines : Love, Hope, and Joy, fair P leaf ure's failing Train ; Hate, Fear^ and Grief ^ the Family of Pain. The former of which, naturally give an additional Luftre and Enlivening to a Beauty j as the latter are too apt to fling a Gloom and Cloud over it. Yet in thefe, and all the other Paflions, I do not know whether Moderation may not be, in a great [n] Frons triftitiz, hilaritatis, clementiz, feveritatis index : in afccnfu cjus fupercilia, & pariter, & alterne mobilia ; & in iis, pars animi. [His] negamus; annuimus. Hsc maxime indicant faftu.m. Superbia alicubi conceptaculum, fed hie fedem habet: in corde nafci- tur ; hie fubit, Juc pendet. P'ln. Nat. Hijl, lib, xi. cap. 37. C 4 meafure > 24 A DIALOGUE meafure, the Rule of their Beauty ; almoft as far as Moderation in Actions is the Rule of Virtue. Thus an exceffive Joy may be too boifterous in the Face to be pleafmg ; and a Degree of Grief, in fome Faces, and on ibme Occafions, may be ex- tremely beautiful. Some Degrees of Anger, Shame, Surprize, Fear, and Concern, are beautiful ; but all Excefs is hurt- ful, and all Excefs ugly. Dulnefs, Aufterity, Impudence, Pride, Affedta- tion, Malice, and Envy, are, I believe, always ugly. The fineft Union of Paflions, that I have ever ob- ferved in any Face, confifted of a juft Mixture of Modefty, Senfibility, and Sweetnefs; each of which, when taken fmgly, is very pleafmg ; but when they are all blended together, in fuch a Manner as eithc r to enliven or correct each other, they give almoft as much Attraction, as the Paflions are capable of ad- ding to a very pretty Face. The prevailing Pafllon in the Venus of Medici is Modefty : It is expreft by each of her Hands, in her Looks, and in the Turn of her Head. And by the way, I queftion whether one of the chief Reafons, why Side-faces pleafe one more than Full ones, may not be from the former having more of the Air of Modefty than the latter. However that be, this is certain, that the beft Artifts ufually chufe to ONBEAUTY. 25 to give a Side-face, rather than a Full one; in which Attitude, the Turn of the Neck too has more Beau- ty, and the Paflions more Activity and Force. Thus, as to Hatred and Affection in particular, the Look that was formerly fuppofed to carry an Infection with it from malignant Eyes, was a flanting Regard ; like that which Milton gives to Satan [] to have had this unpleaimg Sort of Handfomenefs, and probably from much the fame Caufe ; the Goodnefs of his Features be- ing overlaid by the Uglinefs of the Pafiions that appeared on his Face. The fineft Eyes in the World, with an Excefs of Malice or Rage in them, will grow as (hock- ing as they are in that fine Face of Medufa^ on the famous Seal in the Strozzi Family at Rome. Thus you fee, that the Paflions can give Beauty, without the Afliftance of Color or Form ; and take it away, where they have united the moft ftrongly to give it : And it was this that made me aflert, at firft, that this Part of Beauty was fo extremely fuperior to the other Two, This, by the way, may help us to account for the Juftnefs of what Pliny afferts in fpeaking of the famous Statue of Laocoon, and his Two Sons : He fays, It was the fineft Piece of Art in Rome j and [q] to be preferred to all the other Statues end Pic- tures, of which they had fo noble a Collection in his [/>] Suetonius, in his Life of that Emperor, fays, " That he had a Look which might rather be called handfome than pleafing :" Vultu, pulchro magis quam venufto. Cap. li. [q] Sicut in Laocoonte, qui eft in Titi hnperatoris domo ; opus, omnibus et piftura: et ftatuaris artis prxferencum. Plin.Kai.HiJl. Jib. xxxvi, cap. 5. Time. 28 ADIALOGUE Time. It had no Beauties of Color, to vie with the Paintings j and other Statues there (as the dpolh Belvedere, and the Venus of Medici^ in particular) were as finely proportioned as the Laocoon : But this had much greater Variety of Expreffion, even than thofe fine ones ; and it muft be on that Ac- count alone, that it could have been preferable to them, and all the reft. Before I quit this Head, I would juft remind you of Two Things that I have mentioned before : That the chief Rule of the Beauty of the Paffions, is Mo- deration; and that the Part in which they appear moft ftrongly, is the Eyes. It is there that Love holds all his tendered Language : It is there that Virtue commands, Modefty charms, Joy enlivens* Sorrow engages, and Inclination fires the Hearts of the Beholders : It is there that even Fear, and An- ger and Confufion, can be charming. But all thefe, to be charming, muft be kept within their due Bounds and Limits ; for too fullen an Appearance of Virtue, a violent and proftitute Swell of Paflion, a ruftic and overwhelming Modefty, a deep Sad- nefs, or too wild and impetuous a Joy, become all either oppreflive or difagreeable. The laft finifhing and nobleft Part of Beauty is Grace j which every body is accuftomed to (peak of as a Thing [r] inexplicable ; and, in a great Mea- ly] Decorum quoddam arcanum, atque felicitas ; cujus efFefium in multis videmus quotidie 5 caufam vero reddcre nemo potcft. Erajmut in his PiUcdoxus, fure, ON BEAUTY, 29 fure, I believe, it is fo. We know that the Soul is, but we fcarce know what it is ; every Judge of Beauty can point out Grace; but no one that I know of has ever yet fixt upon a Definition for it. Grace often depends on fome very little Incidents in a fine Face ; and in Actions, it confitts more in the Manner of doing Things, than in the things themfelves. It is perpetually varying its Appearan- ces, and is therefore much more difficult to be con- fidered, than any thing fixt and fteady. While you, look upon one, it fteals from under the Eye of the Obferver ; and is fucceeded perhaps by another, that flits away as foon, and as imperceptibly. It is on this Account that Grace is better to be ftudied in Corregio's, Guido's, and RapbaePs Pictures, than in real Life. Thus, for Inftance, if I wanted to difcover what it is that makes Anger graceful, in a Sett of Features full of the greateft Sweetnefs ; I fhould rather endeavour to find it out in Guides St. Michael, than in Mrs. P**fs F,.ce, if that ever had any Anger in it; becaufe, in the pictured An- gel, one has full Leifureto confider ir; but, in the living orie, it would be too tranfunt and changeable to be the Subject of any fteady Obfervation. Horace thought it fo far from Leinj explicable, that he does not even venture to give it any Name, in fome very pretty Lines of his on thU Subject. Quo fugit Venus, heu ! quove Color ? Decens Quo motiis ? Quid habes illius, iliius. ui fpirabat amores, Quar me furpuerat mihi ? Lib. iv. Od, 13. 20 But 30 A DIALOGUE But though one cannot punctually fay what Grace is, we may point oat the Parts and Things in which it is moft apt to appear. The chief Dwelling-place of Grace is about the Mouth j though, at Times, it may vifit every Limb or Part of the Body. But the Mouth is the chief Seat of Grace [5] ; as much as the chief Seat for the Beauty of the Paflions is in the Eyes. In a very graceful Face, by which I do not fo much mean a majeftic, as a foft and pleafing one, there is now-and-then (for no Part of Beauty is ei- ther fo engaging, or fo uncommon) a certain Delici- oufnefs that almoft always lives about the Mouth, in fomething not quite enough to be called a Smile, but rather an Approach toward one ; which varies gently about the different Lines there, like a little fluttering Cupid ; and, perhaps, fometimes difcovers a little Dimpk, that after juft lightening upon you difap- pears, and appears again by Fits. This I take to be one of the moft pleafing Sorts of Grace of any ; but you will underftand what I mean by your own Memory, better than by any Exprefiicns I could poflibly ufe to defcribe it. The Grace of Attitudes may belong to the Peti- tion of each Part, as well as^to the Carriage or Dif- [r] Thus when the French ufe the Expreffion of are boa che fort gra- cifufe, they mean it properly of Grace; but when they fay, dct yiux tret gracifux, it then falls to the Share of the Paffions 5 and means kind or favourable. pofition O N B E A U T Y. 31 pofition of the whole Body ; but how much more it belongs to the Head, than to any other Part, may be feen in the Pieces of the moft celebrated Painters ; and particularly, in thofe of Guido ; who has been rather too lavifti in beftowing this Beauty on almoft all his fine Women, whereas Nature has given it in fo high a Degree but to very few. The Turns of the Neck are extremely capable of Grace ; and are very eafy to be obferved, and very difficult to be accounted for. How much of this Grace may belong to the Arms and Feet, as weH ; as to the Neck and Head, may be feen in dancing; but it is not only in genteel Mo- tions, that a very pretty Woman will be graceful; and Ovid (who was fa great a Maiter in all the Parts of Beauty) had very good Reafon for faying |V], That when Venus, to pleafe her Gallant, imitated the hobbling Gait of her Hufoand, her very Lame- nefs had a great deal of Prettinefs and Grace in it. " Every [//] Motion of a graceful Woman (fays another Writer of the fame Age) is full of Grace/' [r] Nee Venus oranti (reque enim Dea mollior ulla eft) Ruftica Gradivo difficilifve fuit ; Ah quoties lafciva pedes riliiTe mariti Dicirar, & duras arte vel igne manus! Marte palam, fimulat Vulcanum \ imitata decetat ; Ov;J. de Ane ArKanJi, 2. 5;. ] Illam, quicquid sgit, quoquo veftlgia vertit, Componit furtim fubfequiturque decor. T.W.us, lib, Iv. !. z. 8. She 3* ADIALOGUE She defigns nothing by it perhaps, and may even not be fenfible of it herfelf ; and indeed (he (hould not be fo too much ; for the Moment that any Gefture or A&ion appears to be affected, it ceafes to be graceful. Horace [#] and Virgil feem to extend Grace fo far, as to the Flowing of the Hair j and [^] Tibullus^ even to the Drefs of his Miftrefs ; but then he affigns it more to her Manner of putting on, and appear- ing in whatever (he wears, than to the Drefs itfelf. It is true, there is another wicked Poet, who has faid (with much lefs Decency) " that Drefs is the 44 better [s] Half of the Woman." There are Two very diftinct (and, as it were, op- pofite) Sorts of Grace; the Majeftic, and the Fa- [x~\ Crine decorum. Horace, lib. i. Od. 32, 12. Jntonfofque agitaret Apollinis aura capillos. Id. Efod. 15. 9. Ipfe i-.-.gis Cynthi graditur ; mollique fluentem Fronde premit crinem fingenj, atque implicit auro : Tela fonant humeris. Haud illo fegnior ibat. ^neas; tantum egregio decus enitet ore. Virgil. Mn. iv. 150. And again of the fame : Os humerofuue Deo Cmilis : namque ipfe decoram Casfariem nato genitrix, lumenque juventae Purpurc-jm, Sc laetcs oculis affiarat honores. Mn> i. 391. [y\ Seu folvit crines, fufis deret efle capillis } Seu comfit, comtis eft veperanda comis : Urit, feu Tyria voluit procedere palla j Urit, feu nivea Candida vefle venit : TalU in a?terno felix Verturnnus Olympo Milie habet ornatus, mille decenter habet. Ttkullut, lib. iv. El. 2. 14. [z] _ Pirs minima eft ipfa puella fui. Ovid. miliar ; O N B E A U T Y. 33^ miliar ; I fhould have called the latter by the Name of Pleafing, had not I been afraid of a Tautology ; for Grace is Pleafingnefs itfelf : The former belongs chiefly to the very fine Women ; and the latter, to the very p/retty ones; That is more commanding, and This the more delightful and engaging. The Grecian Painters and Sculptors ufed to exprefs the former moft ftrongly in the Looks and Attitudes of their Minerva's j and the latter, in thofe of Venus. Xenopkon, in his Choice of Hercules (or, at leaft, the excellent Tranflator of that Piece) has made juft the fame Diftindlion in the Perfonages of Wif- dom and Pleafure ; the former of which he defcribes as moving on to that young Hero, with the majeftic Sort of Grace i and the latter, with the familiar. Graceful, yet each with different Grace they move ; Ibiijlrikingfacnd Awe, that f offer winning Love [a], The ftrongeft Examples of each kind that I ever re- member to have feen, was Lady S * * *, for the majeftic Sort of Grace ; Lady R * * *, for the familiar ; and Mrs. B * * *, for each, at different Times ; and fometimes for both of them united and blended together. But not to have you imagine, that I am inclined to confine this Part of Beauty only to Perfons of Quality and Diftin&ion ; I (hall juft add, that we meet it, not unfrequently, even on the Stage } and [a] Choice of Hercules, ftan. iii. VOL. I. D particu- 3^ A' DIALOGUE particularly, in that Sort of Dances which are meant to exprefs Characters and Paffions' ; and in which you may eaflly recollect how much Comargo excelled, for the nobler Sort of Grace ; and FoJ/an- ine, for the more tender and pathetic. There is no Poet I have ever read, who feems to me to underftand this Part of Beauty fo well as our own Milton. He fpeaks of thefe Two Sorts of Grace very diftindlly ; and gives the Majeftic [] to his Adam, and both the Familiar and Majeftic to Eve ; but the latter in a lefs Degree than the former : In [J] Two of far nobler Shape, erecT: and tall, Godlike ereft, with native Honour clad, In naked Majefty, feem'd Lords of all ; And worthy feem'd. For in their Looks divine The Image of their glorious Maker (hone : Truth, Wifdom, Sanfticude fevcre and pure j Severe, but in truefilial Freedom plac'd ; Whence true Authority in Men : Though both Not equal, as their Sex not equal, feem'd, For Contemplation he, and Valour, form'd j For Softnefs me, and fweet attractive Grace. Milton's Parad. Loft, B. iv. 298. I efpy'd thee, fair indeed and tall. Under a Plantain ; yet methought lefs fair, Lefs winning foft, lefs amiably mild, Than that fmooth watry Image. . (Eve, of Adam and herfelf.) lb. yer. 480, .1 Her heav'nly Form Angelic, but more foft and feminine ; Her graceful Innocence ; her ev'ry Air Of Gefture, or leaft Action. B. i*. 461. Grace was in all her Steps : Heav'n in her Eye ; In ev'ry Geflure, Dignity and Love. B. viii. 489. Speaking, or mute, all Comelinefs and Grace Attends thee; and each Word, each Motion, forms. #.223. doing ONBEAUTY. 35 doing which he might either be led by his own ex- cellent Judgment, or poffibly might have an Eye to what is faid by f/] Cicero, in fpeaking on this Sub- jeft. Though Grace is fo difficult to be accounted for in general ; yet I have obferv'd Two particular Things, which (I think) hold univerfally in relation to it. The Firft is : " That there is no Grace, without " Motion ;" by which I mean, without fome gen- teel or pleafing Motion, either of the whole Body, or of fome Limb, or, at leaft, of fome Feature. And it may be hence, that Lord Bacon (and, perhaps, Horace [d]) call Grace, by the Name of decent Motion ; juft as if they were equivalent Terms. Virgil in one Place points out the Majefty Q^Juno, and in another the graceful Air ofjfpollo [#], by only It is obfervable, that in each of the Three laftPaflages, Milton fecms to have had thofe Lines of Tibullus in his Thoughts : Illam, quicquid agit, quoquo veftigia vertit, Componit furtim fubfequiturque decor. [cj Venuftatem, muliebrem duccre debemus ; dignitatem, virilem , Cicero de Offic. lib. i. 130. [d~\ In Beauty, that of Favour is more than that of Colour ; and that of gracious and decent Motion, more than that of Favour. Lord Bacon's Works, vol. Hi. p. 362. Quo fugit Venus, heu ! quovc color ? Decens Quo motus ? (For fo, I think, this Paflage flwuld be read j becaufe the Epithet of graceful, cannot belong to Colour) . Horace, lib. iv. Od. xiii. 18- {>] Aft ego, qua: divum incedo regina Mn. i. 46. Ipfe jugis Cynthi gradltur. m Mn, iv. 147. D 2 36 ADIALOGUE faying, that they move ; and poflibly he means no more, when he makes the Motion of Venus [f] the principal thing, by which JEneas difcovers her under all her Difguife ; though the Commentators, as ufual, would fain find out a more dark and myf- terious Meaning for it. All the beft Statues are reprefented as in fome Action, or Motion ; and the moft graceful Statue in the World (the dpollo Belvedere] is fo much fo, that when one faces it at a little Diftance, one is almoft apt to imagine, that he is actually going to move on toward you. All graceful Heads, even in the Portraits of the beft Painters, are in Motion j and very ftrongly in thofe of Guido in particular ; which, as you may re- member, are all either carting their Looks up toward Heaven, or down toward the Ground, or fide-way, as regarding fome Object. A Head that is quite un- alive, and flung flat upon the Canvas (like the Faces on Medals after the Fall of the Roman Em- pire, or the Gothic Heads before the Revival of the Arts) will be fo far _from having any Grace, that it will not even have any Life in it. The Second Obfervation is : " That there can be "no Grace, with Impropriety ;" or, in otherWords, [/ ] Dixit ; le avertens rofea cervice refulfit j Ambrofiasque comz divinum vertice odorem Spiravere : pedes veftis defluxit ad imos ; Et vera incefiu patuit Dea, Ille ubi matrem Agnovit, &c. y. i. 406. 2 that ON BEAUTY. 37 that nothing can be graceful, that is not adapted to the Characters of the Perfon. The Graces of a little lively Beauty would be- come ungraceful in a Character of Majefty ; as the majeftic Airs of an Emprefs would quite deftroy the Prettinefs of the former. The Vivacity that adds a Grace to Beauty in Youth, would give an additional Deformity to old Age ; and the very fame Airs, which would be charming on fome Occafions, may be quite {hocking when extremely mif-timed, or extremely mif- placed. The infeparable Union of Propriety and Grace feems to have been the general Senfe of Mankind ; as we may guefs from the [g] Languages of feveral Nations ; in which fome Words that anfwer to our Proper or Becoming, are ufed indifferently for Beautiful or Graceful. And yet I cannot think (as fome feem inclined to do) that Grace confifts entirely in Propriety; be- ca'ufe Propriety is a Thing eafyenough to be under- ftood, and Grace (after all we can fay about it) very difficult. Propriety threfore and Grace are no more one and the fame Thing, than Grace and Motion are : 'Tis true, it cannot fubfift without either ; but then there feems to be fomething elfe, what I cannot explain, and whatl do not know that ever any body has explained, that goes to the Compofition ; and [g] Thus, among the Creeks, the Words netirn and KaXox, and amon? the Romans, Pulchrum and Decent, or Decorum, are ufcd in- difltrently for one another. D 3 which 3$ ADIALOGUE which poffibly may give its greateft Force and Pica- fingnefs. Whatever are the Caufcs of if, this is certain, that Grace is the chief of all the conftituent Parts of Beauty ; and fo much fo, that it feems to be the only one which is abfolutely and univerfally ad- mired : All the reft are only relative. One likes a brunette Beauty better than a fair one ; I may love a little Woman, and you a large one, beft ; a Per- fon of a mild Temper will be fond of the gentler Paffions in the Face, and one of a bolder Caft may choofe to have mere Vivacity and more vigor- ous Paffions exprefled there : But Grace is found in few, and is pleafing to all. Grace, like Poetry, muft be born with a Perfon ; and is never, wholly, to be acquired by Art. The moft celebrated of all the ancient Painters, vrzsdpelles ; and the moft celebrated of all the Mo- dern, Raphael: And it is remarkable, that the diftin- guifhing Character of each of them was Grace. In- deed, that alone could have given them fo high a Preeminence over all their other Competitors. Grace has nothing to do with theloweft Part of JJeauty, or Color ; very little with Shape, and very much with the Paffions ; for it is fhe who gives their higheft Zeft, and the moft delicious Part of their Pleafingnefs to the Expreffions of each of them. i AH ON BEAUTY. 39 All the other Parts of Beauty arc pleafing in fome Degree, but Grace is Pleafmgnefs itfelf ; and the old Romans in general feetn to have had this Notion of it ; as may be inferred from the original Import [h] of the Names which they ufed for this Part of Beauty. The Greeks, as well as the Romans^ muft have been of this Opinon ; when, in fettling their My- thology, they made the Graces the conftant Atten- dants of Venus, or the Caufe of Love; and, in Fact, there is nothing caufes Love fo generally, and fo ir- refiftibly, as Grace. 'Tis like the Cejlus of the fame Goddefs, which was fuppofed to comprehend [i] [b] Gratia, from gratus, or pleafing ; and decor, from deems, or becoming. f/J H, xai &7tt> mStfftyiv ekva-dlo XEJ-OV i^avia nsixiXcy EvSate 01 SEXxlufi* asa.-fia. rtlvitlo. Ev9'iv( pi* (Xo7j, tv J' Tov pa ei EftSaXe x^c-iv, ntO* T efar', sx r 5Vc,uafc-. Ti) rw TCKTOV IfAttfla, -rtx J' EyXrtlSfs xeXTTW, IlMXiAov, w EVI wav?* Tslsy^aiai* euJg ^n,uj ATTjDxlsv yJ m i-^ai, ,T( pss- j' J* STTEila ia) syxalQflo xoXwa). Hbw. J/. |. 214. She faid ; with Awe djvine, the Qneen of Love Obey'd the Sifler and the Wife of Je : And from her fragrant Breaft the Zone unbrac'd, With various Skill anJ high Embroid'ry grac'd. In this was ev'ry Art, and ev'ry Charm, To win the wifeft, and the coldeft warm : Fond Love, the gf ntle Vow, the gay Dcfirf, The kind Deceit, the ftill reviving Fire, D 4 every 46 ADIALOGUE every thing that was winning and engaging in it ; and befide all, to oblige the Heart to Love, by a fecret and inexplicable Force, like that of fome ma- gic Charm. As CRIT'O- paufed here, both MILESIUS and TIMANTHES thanked him for his Account of a Thing, which they had never heard fo far accounted for before ; and the latter added, that in his Divi- fion of the Parts which conftitute Beauty, he, at firft, thought him guilty of an Omiffion, in not ad- ding a Fifth, that of Motion. CRITO faid, that Perfuafive Speech, and more perfuafive Sighs, Silence that fpoke, and Eloquence of Eyes. This on her Hand the Cyprian Gnddefs laid ; Take this, and with it all thy Wifh, (he faid : With Smiles fhe took the Charm ; and fmiling preft The pow'rful Cejius to her fnowy Breaft. f-cpe, II. xiv. 456. la Matte's Imitation of the fame Paflage is extremely good too ; though he adds a French FJouri/h at the End of it. Ce tiffu, le fimbole & la caufe a la fois Du pouvoir de T amour, du charme de fes loix. Elle enflamme les yeux, de cet ardeur qui touche j D'un fourire enchanteur, elle anime la bouche : Paffionne la voix, en adoucit les fons : Prete ces touis heureux, plus forts que les raifons : Infpire, pour toucher, ces tendres ftratagemes ; Ces refus attirans, 1' ecueil des fages memes : It h nature enfin y voulut renfermer Tout ce qui perfuade, & ce qui fait aimer. En prenant ce tiflu, que Venus lui prefente, Tunon a' etoit que belle, elle devient charmante. Les graces, & les rts, les plaifirs, & les jeux, Sorpeis chetchent Venus ; doutent qui 1' eft dres deux : V Amour meme trompe, trouve Junon plus belle j Et, fon arf a la main, deja vole aprcs elk, he O N B E A U T Y. 41 he had not forgot that, but thought it was compre- hended under the other Heads. For all genteel Mo- tion (fays he) as I have been fo lately mentioning, falls under the Article of Grace ; whence Horace calls it by it's true Name of graceful Motion ; and com- mon Motions are only fo many Variations of the Attitude, or Fofition of the particular Parts of the Body, and Features of the Face : The more figni- ficant of which, belong to the Article of the Pafllons; and the leis figaificant, may be comprehended under that of mere Form or Figure. And now I mention Horace, added he, it is obfervable enough, that he, and the other Roman Authors, have diftincr. Names for each of my Four conftituent Parts of Beauty, which the Commentators and Dictionary-writers have been fometimes too apt to miftake for Names of Beauty in general. Thus for the Firft they ufe the Wo;d Color ; for the Second, Forma ; for the Third, they feem to have had feveral diftinft Names, according to the different Sorts of Paffions whofe Delightfulnefs they fpoke of; for the Fourth, they ufed Gratia and Decor , when they fpoke of it in general ; and Venujlas or Digmtas, when they had a mind to be more particular. Their Word Nitor too [J, and Tome others of a like Import, which feem fometimes to be ufed in general for Beauty, [] . Lipatei nitor Hebri. Herat* Lib. iii. Od. xii. 6. Urit me Glycerz m'tor Splendentis Pario marmore purius. Id. Lib. i. Od. xix. 6. The Epithets marmoreus, cburtieui, and Candidas, are all applied t Beauties by the Roman Poets ; iometimes as to their Shape, and Tome- times as to the Shiningnefs here fpoken of. belong 42 A DIALOGUE belong more properly to that fuperficiai Sort of Beauty, which I mentioned in part under the Firft Head, in fpeaking of the filky Appearance of the Skin, and the Luminoufnefs in fome Eyes. But to talk of Things rather than Words ; I fliould be willing to add fome general Obfervationsthat I have made, at Times, in thinking on this Subject. It has been obferved by fome Writers, that there is naturally a great deal of Propriety in Pleafure ; or, in other Words, that Pleafure is annexed by Nature tofuch Things as are proper for our Prefer- vation, and Pain to fuch as would be deftruclive to us. Thus Pleafure, for Example, is annexed to Food and Exercife ; and Pain, to fuch Degrees of Abftinenceand Indolence as would be hurtful. The fame may be obferved in the different Sort of Plea- furcs, adapted to each Stage of human Life. Thus in Infancy, when Growth is as neceflary as Sup- port, we have more frequent Returns of Appetite, and more Pleafure in Feeding ; and as frequent Feeding requires the more Exercife, the chief Plea- iure of that Age confifts in the Love of Motion, and in a Series of little fportive Exercifes. The fame is carried on in other Pleafures, equally adapt- ed to the middle and latter Stages of Life ; fo far, that wherever Nature has affixed a Pleafure, {he leems to lead and conduct us toward fome Duty or ;<> Oj (J.QI Xiicwx * AAX* aiEi Tva a)T* y. - Ofr. 1. 516. Oh Heav'ns ! Oh Faith of ancient Prophecies ! This Teltmus Eurymidei foretold : i Long fince he menac'd, fuch was Heav'ns Command ; And nam'd Ulyflis as the deftin'd Hand. I deem'd fome godlike Giant to behold : Or lofty Hero, haughty, brave, and bold : Not this weak pygmy Wretch. Popis Trstflut, B, ix. ver. 603, * though 48 A DIALOGUE " though fo little ;" without confidering, that he could not be fo pretty, if he was larger. And then is (he for ever crying up her chief Favourite, Mr. JP* *# 9 w j t h that very bad P'ace, and thofe very bad Paffions which generally appear in it, only be- caufe his Shoulders fprcad a good deal wider, than they ought to do. But the grcateft and moft general Mifleader of our Judgments, in relation to Beauty, is Cuftom, or the different national Taftes for Beauty ; which turn chiefly on the Two lower Parts of it, Color and Form. It was from the mod common Shape of his Coun- trywomen that Rubens, in his Pictures, delights fo much in Plumpnefs j not to give it a worfe Name. Whenever he was to reprefent the moft beautiful Women, he is fure to give them a good Share of Corpulence. It feems as if nobody could be a Beauty with him, under Two Hundred Weight. His very Graces are all fat. But this may go much farther than mere Bulk ; it will reach even to very great Deformities j which fometimes grow into Beauties, where they are ha- bitual and general. One of our own Countrymen (who was a particularly handfome Man) in his tra- velling over the Alps^ was detained by a Fever in one of thofe Villages, where every grown Perfon has that Sort of Swellings in the Neck, which they call Gofers ; and of which I have feen fome, very near as big as their Heads. The firft Sunday that he was O N B E A U T Y. 49 was able, he went to their Church (for he was a Roman Catholic) to return Thanks to Heaven for his Recovery. A Man of fo good a Figure, and fo well dreft, had probably never before been within the Walls of that Chapel. Every body's Eyes were fixed upon him ; and as they went out, they cried out, loud enough for him to hear them ; " O how " completely handfome would that Man be, if he " had but a Goter /" In fome of the moft military Nations of Afr'ica > no Man is reckoned handfome that has not Five or Six Scars in his Face. This Cuftom might, poffibly, at firft, be introduced among them to make them lefs afraid of Wounds in that Part, in Battle ; but, however that was, it grew at laft to have fo great a Share in their Idea of Beauty, that they now cut and flafti the Faces of their poor little Infants, in order to give them thofe Graces when they are grown up, which are fo neceflary to win the Hearts of their Miftrefles ; and which, with the Affiftance of fome Jewels, or Ingots of Gold, in their Nofes, Ears, and Lips, muft certainly be irrefiftible to the Ladies of that Country. The Covering each Cheek all over with a burn- ing Sort of Red Color, has long been looked upon in a neighbouring Country to be as neceflary to ren- der a Fine Lady's Face completely beautiful, as thefe Scars are for the Beaux in Africa. 'Tis really furprifing, that there fhould be fowide a Difference in the Taftes of Two Countries, as VOL. I. E there 50 AD1ALOGUE there is in this Particular between the French and us ; when the bordering People of each live nearer toge- ther, than the Inhabitants do in the Extremes of one of our own moderate Counties ; as, for Inftanee, in this good County of Surrey, in particular. The firft Time I faw the Ladies all ranged in the Front of the Boxes, at the Opera at Paris, they feemed to me to look like a long Bed of high-colour- ed full-blown Pionies in a Garden. The Two prettied Women I have ever feen, are the Duchefs of B * * *, in France, and Mrs. A * * *, in England; and the very Reafon why I fhould give the Preference to the latter of the Two is, that the former is obliged, by the Fafhion of the Country where fhe lives, to heighten the Color of the Rofes which Nature has fcattered over her Cheeks, into one great Mafs of Vermilion. Were a Frenchman, on his firft Coming over hi- ther, to fee a Sett of our greateft Beauties all in a Row, he might, probably, think them like a Bed of Lilies ; or, at leaft, like a Border of light-co- loured Pinks. In fal, when the Count de Grammont was in England in King Charles the Second's Time, when the Court was fo gay, and fo particularly well fur- nifhed with Beauties ; he faid, " That the Englijb " Ladies were particularly handfome ; but that it " was a great Pity that they were all fo pale." The ONBEAUTY. 5I The natural Complexion of the Italian Ladies is of a higher Glow than ours ufually are ; and yet Mr. Addifon is very juft, in making a Numidian call the Ladies of the fame Country, " [] pale, unri- " pened Beauties." The Prince of Annamaboo^ whohad been and laterly fo much ufed to the European Complexion, yet faid, a little before he left London ; <; That < c MifsC * * * would be the moft charming Wo- " man in the World, if fhe was but a Negro." I remember to have read, in an Account of fome of the fartheft Travels that any of our People have made up the River Gambia ; that when they came to fome Villages, where, probably, no Europeans had ever been before, the Women ran frightened and fcreaming from them ; on taking them to be Devils, merely on Account of the Whitenefs of their Complexion. I cannot help obferving to you, that Heaven is very good and merciful to Mankind even in making us capable of all this Variety of Miftakes. If every Perfon judged exally right of Beauty, every Man [] The glowing Dames of ZanicCs royal Court Have Faces flufht with more exalted Charms : The Sun, that rolls his Chariot o'er their Heads, Works up more Fire and Color in their Cheeks : Were you with thefe, my Prince, you'd foon forget The pale, unripen'd, Beauties of the North ! Sypbax, to Juba j in Gate. Aft i. Scene 4. 'E 2 that i ADIALOGUE that was in Love in fuch a Diftri&, would be in Love with the lame Woman. Only confider of what fatal Confequence that muft be, in any City or Town that you are beft acquainted with. The ac- knowledged Fair one, in the fame Manner, could choofe out but one happy Man for her Favourite, in all her Town of Lovers ; and all the reft muft be left in a State of Defpair. This (as bad as it would bej is only the beft Side of the Cafe, and fuppofing every thing to be carried on with a Patience and Tranquillity, which would then bealmoft impoffible; for, in Truth, if the Affections of all centred on the fame Object, nothing but perpetual Quarrels and Mifchiefs Would be to be apprehended. The fuperior Beauty of each Hamlet would be the Objedl of the Hate and Malice of all the reft of her own Sex in it ; and the Caufe of Diflenfion and Murders among all of the other. If this would hold in one Town, it would hold, for the fame Reafons, in every other Town or Diftricl: ; and ofCourfe, there would be nothing more wanting than this univerfal right Judgment of Beauty, to render the whole World one continued Scene of Blood and Mifery. But nowthatFancy has, perhaps, moretodo with Beauty than Judgment, there is an Infinity of Taftes, and confequently an Infinity of Beauty ; for, to the Mind of the Lover, fuppofed Beauty is full as good as real. Every body may now choofe out what hap- pens to hit his own Turn and Caft. The honeft Ruftic can think himfelf happy in his Woman of a good ftrong Make, and Sun-burnt frowfy Com- plexion - t O N B E A U T Y. 53 plexion ; the fine Gentleman may be bleft in his Coquette; the common Soldier can delight himfdf with his Gin-drinking Trull 3 and the Captain with his military Miftrefs. This increafes the Extent of Beauty vaftly, and makes it in a Manner univerfal ; for there are but few People, in comparifon, that are truly beautiful ; but every body may be beautiful in the Imagination of fome one or other. As I have faid before, fome may delight themfelves in a black Skin, and others in a white ; fome in a gentle natural Rofmefs of Complexion, others in a high, exalted, artificial Red ; fome Nations, in Waifts difproportionably large ; and another, in Waifts as difproportionably fmall. In fliort, the moftoppofite Things imagina- ble may each be looked upon as beautiful, in whole different Countries ; or by different People, in the fame Country. I mould be apt to make a Diftin&ion here again, as to the Two former Parj"> of Beauty, and the Two latter. Fancy has much more to do in the Articles of Form and Color, than in thofe of the Paflions and Grace. The good Paflions, as they are vifible on the Face, are apparent Goodnefs, and that mull be generally amiable ; and true Grace, where- everit appears to any Degree, I fhould think, muft be pleafing to every human Creature j or, perhaps, this may never appear in the Women of any Na- tion, where the Men are grown fo favage and brutal, as to have loft all Tafte for it. E 3 - Y > 54. A DIALOGUE Yet, even as to Grace itfelf, under the Notion of Pleafingnefs (as I was juft now calling it), it may become almoft univerfal ; and be as fubjet to the Dominion of Fancy, as any of the lefs fignificant Parts of Beauty. A Parent can fee Genteelnefs, in the moft aukward Child, perhaps, that ever was born ; and a Perfon who is truly in Love, will be pleafed with every Motion and Air of the Perfon be- loved ; which is the moft diftinguiming Character that belongs to Grace. 'Tis true, this is all a mif- takcn Grace ; but, as to that particular Perfon, it has all the Effects of the true. Since I have fpoken of this Extent and Univerfali- ty of fuppofed Beauty, it would be very ungrateful not to fay fomethingof the real Beauty of the other Works of Nature ; which feem to reach every- where, as far as we are acquainted with them j and to meet us, which-ever Way we turn our Eyes. If we look upon the Earth, we fee it laid out in a Thoufand beautiful Inequalities, and a pleafmgVa- riety of Plains, Hills, and Mountains; generally cloatheu by Nature in a living Green, the Color that is the moft delightful and the moft refreshing to the Eye ; diveriified with an Infinity of different Lights and Shades : adorned with various Sorts of Trees, Fruits, and Flowers ; interfperfcd often with wind- ing Rivers, or limpid Streams, or fpreading Lakes ; or terminating, perhaps, on a View of the Sea, 5 which ONBEAUTY. 55 which is for ever changing its Form, and in every Form is pleafing. If we look up to the Heavens, how charming are the Riling of the Sun, the gentle Azure of the no- ble Arch expanded over our Heads, the various Ap- pearance and Colors of the Clouds, the fleeting Shower, and the painted Bow ! Even in the Abfence of its great Enlivencr, the Sun, we fee it all ftudded with living Lights, or gilded by the more folemn Beauties of the Moon ; moft pleafing in her infant Shape, and moft majeftic, when in her full Orb. I know not how it may be with others, but to me the very Lightnings are pleafing, when ftruggling amidft the (haded Clouds ; and thofe Fires that dart and waver upwards, fometimes in various Colors, and fometimes with Streams of gentle Light, not unlike the Break of Day, on the firft Appearance of the Morning, from whence they have their Name. If we turn toward the different Sorts of Animals, it is obfervable enough among them, that the Beauty which is defigned chiefly to pleafe one another in their own Species, is fo contrived as to diffufe Pleafure to thofe of other Species, or at leaft to Man. How beautiful, even to us, are the Colors that adorn the Necks of the Pigeon and Pheafant j the Train of the Mackaw and Peacock ; and the whole Drefs of feveral Sorts of Birds, more particularly in the Eaft- ern Parts of the World ? How neat and pleafing is the Make of the Deer, the Greyhound, and feveral Sorts ofHorfes ? How beautiful is the Expreffion of E 4 the 56 ADIALOGUE the Paffions, in a faithful Dog ? And they are not even without fome Degrees of Grace ; as may be feen, in particular, in the natural Motion sofa Chi- nefe Pheafant ; or the acquired ones, of a managed Horfe. And I the rather take Part of the Beauty of all thefe Creatures to be meant, by the Bounty of Nature for us ; becaufe moft of the different Sorts of Sea Fifli (which live chiefly out of our Sight) are of Colors and Forms more hideous, or (at beft) lefs agreeable to us. And as the Beauty of one Speciesof Animals may be fo defigned and adapted, as to give Pleafure to many others ; fo the Beauty ofdifte:ent Worlds may not be confined to each, but be carried on from one World to another, and from one Syttem of Worlds to another ; and may end in one great univerfal Beauty, of ail created Matter taken in one View. How far this may hold, we are, as yet, incapable even of forming any Guefs ; but fome late Difcove- ries have {hewn, that there is a furprifmg Symmetry and Proportion in the Sizes and Difpofition of the feveral Worlds in our own Syftem ; from whence one would be apt to imagine, that the fame Beauty of Proportion is kept up between the Worlds of other Syftems j and pofiibly, even between one Syf- teni and another: At ieafr, all that we know of thefe Worlds, are exactly proportioned ; and all that we fee of them, is beautiful. Thus all fuch of them as come within our Vie'w, make what we call a fine ftarry Heaven ; and as they compofethat beautiful Object to us, fo does our Syftem make a Part in fe- veral ONBEAUTY. 57 veral of their Profpe&s ; and may be, in the great Competition of the Univerfe, a little fingle Stud in a noble Piece of mofaic Work. And yet all the Profuflon of Beauty I have been fpeaking of, and even that of the whole Univerfe taken together, is but of a weaker Nature in Com- pariTon of the Beauty of Virtue. It was extremely well faid by Plato, That if Virtue was to appear in a vifible Shape, all Men would be enamoured of her : And it feems as if the Greeks and Romans in general had had this Idea of her Beauty, becaufe theGoddefs of Virtue, and the Goddefs of Wifdorn ( which was often taken for one and the fame Thing among them, as well as in our Sacred Writings) were always reprefented with the greateft and moil commanding Beauty. The fame appears yet ftrong- er from their ufmg the Words Good [] and Beau- tiful indifferently for each other j as if all Beauty was contained in Goodnefs. Indeed the Beauty of Virtue or Goodnefs ex- ceeds all other Beauty, as much as the Soul does the Body. The higheft Object of Beauty that we can fee is the Goodnefs of God, as difplayed in the Works of the Creation. In him all Goodnefs and Beauty dwells ; and whatever there is of moral Beauty in the whole Univerfe befide, is only as fo many Ema- [] KaXov, rifSTrw, Pulchrum, Honeftum. rations 5 ADIALOGUE nations from the divine Author of all that is Good and Beautiful. We fometimes fee a few feeble Rays of this Beauty reflected in human Actions, but much dif- coloured by the Medium through which they pafs ; and yet how charming do they even thus appear in feme Perfons, and on fome Occafions ? All the Grandeur in the World is as nothing in Comparifon of any one of thefe good becoming Deeds. How many more Charms are there, for Inftance, in the Actions of fuch an humble Perfon as the Man of Reft, tha-n in all the Victories of our Edwards and our Harries ? or (to go farther back in Hiftory) how much more amiable is the Death of Socrates, than the whole Life of Alexander the Great ? As Virtae is the fupreme Beauty, fo is Vice the moft odious of all Deformities. I do not know how to make this more evident to you by any Inftance, than by that of the different Conduct of Two very celebrated Poets, Milton and TaJ/o, in defcribirrg the fallen Angels : TaJ/o's Devils are chiefly made hide- ous by their Shape ; their Horns and Tails are the principal Ingredients of Deformity in his Defcripti- ons of them ; whereas Milton generally omits thofe little Particulars, and paints out the Deformity of {heir Minds ; their Pride, Impiety, Malignity, and Obftinacy ; by which Means his Devils are tenfold more Devils, and more odious and horrible to the Reader, than thofe of the Italian Poet. There ONBEAUTY. 59 There is a mighty eafy Confequence to be drawn from all this, which well deferves to be more gene- rally obferved. If Virtue be the chief Beauty, Peo- ple, to be beautiful, fhould endeavour to be virtu- ous ; and fliould avoid Vice, and all theworft Sort of Pafiions, as they would fly Deformity. [ wifh the more beautiful Half of the human Creation, in par- ticular, were thoroughly fenfible of this great Truth ; " That the readieft Way to be beautiful, " is to be good ;" and fuch of them as are more foli- citous about choofing and adjufting what they wear, and how that will appear, than about forming their Minds, and regulating their difagreeable Paflions, will really fall under the Cenfure I mentioned be- fore, from one of the Latin Poets ; and (hew too plainly to all the World, that they, in their own Hearts, confider their Drefs as the better Part of themfelves. I muft have quite tired you, I believe, added CRITO, rifing ; and fhould be glad if you would take a little Walk, to refrefh us all after this long Harangue. It has been far from feeming long to us (replied MILESICJS, as they were all going together out of the Tent) : 'Tis a Subj eel that canfcarce everbe tirefome ; and your Manner of treating it has, in general, been very pleafmg; only I muft fay, that, toward the Conclufion, it began to grow a little too like a Sermon. I wifli, fays TIMANTHES, that fome Ladies of your Acquaintance had been prefent at the whole Difcourfe, and particularly at that Part of it ; for I don't know whether it might not have done 60 A DIALOGUE &c. done them more good, than any Sermon that they ever were at in their Lives. However, as there were no Ladies here, I wifh CRITO would give us, who were of his Audience, Leave to beg he would be fo good as print it, for the Benefit of the Fair Sex in general ; for, I dare fay, it would be of good Ufe to fome of them. I know not whether it would be of any Ufe to them, replied CRITO j but if you really thought fo, and could recollect enough of it to write it down, if* is entirely at your Service ; and you have my full Leave to fend it to the Prefs, as foon as you pleafe. A P A R- A PARTICULAR ACCOUNT O F T H E EMPEROR of CH INA'S GARDENS,nearPEKIN: I N A LETTER from F. ATTIRET, a French Miffi- onary, now employed by that Emperor to paint the Apartments in thofe Gardens, to his Friend at Paris. Tranflated from the French j By Sir HA RRT BE A UMONT. [63 ] ADVERTISEMENT TO THE PUBLIC. T T is now above Haifa Century, fmce the French have been publifhing a Collection of the Letters of their Miffionaries ; from all the moftdiftant Parts of the World. This Collection is already grown very voluminous. The famous Pere du Halde was the Perfon who had the chief Hand in making and publifliing it. There were but Eight Volumes that had appeared before he undertook the Care of it, which was in the. Year 1711; and he carried it on, in Eighteen more, to the Year 1743 ; when the Death of that Father, and fome other Incidents, occafioned an Interruption of the Work, for about Six Years. It was refumed in 1749, by F. Pat- touillet ; who then publimed the 27th Volume. The following is a Tranflation of the Firft Letter in that Volume ; and is, perhaps, as curious as any one in the whole Collection. A L E T- [6 5 ] A LETTER F R O M A FRENCH MISSIONARY I N C H I N A. PEKIN, Nov. i, 1743. S I R, IT was with the greateft Pleafure that I received your Two laft Letters i one of the I3th of Oflober^ and the other of the 2d of November, 1742. I communicated the very interefting Account of the Affairs of Europe^ which you give me in them, to the reft of our Miflionaries ; who join with me in our fincere Thanks. I thank you too, in Particular, for the Box full of Works in Straw, and Flowers, which came very fafe to me : but I beg of you not to put yourfelf to any fuch Expence for the future ; for the Cbimfe very much exceed the Europeans, in VOL. I. F thofe 66 ALETTER thofe kinds of Works ; and particularly in their [0] artificial Flowers []. We came hither by the Com- mand, or rather by the Permiflion of the Emperor. An Officer was afligned to conduit us ; and they made us believe, that he would defray our Expences : But the latter was only in Words ; for, in Eftedr, the Expence was almoft wholly out of our own Pockets. Kalf of the Way we came by Water ; and both eat and lodged in our Boats : And what feemed odd enough to us was, that, by the Rules of Good-breeding received among them, we were not allowed ever to go aftiore, or even to look out of the Windows of our covered Boats, to obfervethe Face of the Country, as we paffed along. We made the latter Part of our Journey in a Sort of Cage, which they were pleafed to call a Litter. In this too we were fhut up all Day long ; and at Night carried into our Inns ; (and very wretched Inns they are !) and thus we got to Pekin, with our Curiofity quite unfatisfied, and with feeing but very little more of the Country, than if we had .been fhut up all the while in our own Chambers. %' ""* [a] Thefe arc chiefly made of Feathers ; coloured and formed fo exaftly like real Flowers, that one is often apt to forget one's felf, and fimll to them. The famous Signora VanKimeno, at Rome (fo many of whofe Works in this kind are continually brought Home by our Gentlemen who travel to that City) at firft learned her Art from fotne which were fent from China, by the Jefuiti, as a prefent to the then Pope. 0] Here is a Page or two omitted, as relating only to their private Affain. Indeed F R O M C H I N A. 67 Indeed they fay, that the Country we pafled is but a bad Country ; and that, though the Journey is near 2000 Miles, there is but little to be met with on the Way that might deferve much Attention : Not even any Monuments, or Buildings, except fome Temples for their Idols ; and thole built of Wood, and but one Story high : The chief Value and Beauty of which feemed to confift in fome bad Paintings, and very indifferent Varnifh -works. In- deed any one that is juft come from feting the Buildings of France and Italy, is apt to have but little Tafte, or Attention, for whatever he may meet with in the other Parts of the World. However, I muft except, out of this Rule, the Palace of the Emperor of Pekin, and his Pleafure- Houfes ; for in them every thing is truly great and beautiful, both as to the Defignandthe Execution ; and they ftruck me the more, becaufe I had never feen any thing that bore any manner of Refem- blance to them in any Part of the World that I had been in before. I fhould be very glad, if I could make fuch a De- fcription of thefe, as would give you any juft Idea of them ; but that is almoft impofiible ; becaufe there is nothing in the whole, which has any Likenefs to our Manner of Building, or our Rules of Architec- ture. The only way to conceive what they are, is to fee them ; and if I can get any Time, I am re- folved to draw fome Parts of them as exactly as I can, and fend them into Europe. F z The 68 ALETTER The Palace is, at leaft, as big as [c] Dijon ; which City I choofe to name to you, becaufe you are fo well acquainted with it. This Palace con- fifts of a great Number of different Pieces of Build- ing ; detached from one another, but difpofed with a great deal of Symmetry and Beauty. They are feparated from one another by vaft Courts, Planta- tions of Trees, and Flower-Gardens. The princi- pal Front of all thefe Buildings (bines with Gilding, Varnifti-work, and Paintings ; and the Infide is furnimed and adorned with all the moft beautiful and valuable Things that could be got in China, the Indies, and even from Europe. As for the Pleafure-houfes, they are really charm- ing. They ftand in a vaft Compafs of Ground. They have raifed Hills from Twenty to Sixty Foot high ; which form a great Number of little Valleys between them. The Bottoms of thefe Valleys are watered with clear Streams j which run on till they ioin together, and form larger Pieces of Water and Lakes: They pafs thefe Streams, Lakes, and Ri- vers, in beautiful and magnificent Boats : I have feen one, in particular, Seventy-eight Feet long, and Twenty-four Feet broad, with a very handfome Houfe raifed upon it. In each of thefe Valleys, there are Houfes about the Banks of the \Vater, very well difpofed 5 with then different Courts, open and clofe [f] A handfome City in France ; and the Capital one in the Pro- vince of Burgundy j between Three and Four Miles round. Porticos, FROMCHINA. 69 Porticos, Parterres, Gardens, and Cafcades; which, when viewed all together, have an admirable Ef- feft upon the Eye. They go from one of the Valleys to another, not by formal ftrait Walks as in Europe ; but by various Turnings and Windings, adorned on the Sides with little Pavillions and charming Grottos ; and each of thefe Valleys is diverfified from all the reft, both by their manner of laying out the Ground, and in ths Structure and Diipofition of its Buildings. All the Rifmgs and Hills are fprinkled with Trees ; and particularly with Flowering Trees, which are here very common. The Sides of the Canals, or kfler Streams, are not faced (as they are with us) with fmooth Stone, and in a ftrait Line ; but look rude and ruftic, with different Pieces of Rock, fome of which jut out, and others recede inwards ; and are placed with fo much Art, that you would take it to be the Work of Nature. In fome Parts the Wa- ter is wide, in others narrow ; here it ferpentifes, and there fpreads away, as if it was really pufhed oft" by the Hills and Rocks. The Banks are fprink- led with Flowers, which rife up even through the Hollows in the Rock work, as if they had been pro- duced there naturally. They have a great Variety of them, for every Seafon of the Year. Beyond thefe Streams there are always Walks, or rather Paths, paved with fmall Stones ; which lead fr-om one Valley to another. Thefe Paths too are F 3 irregular ; 70 ALETTER irregular ; and fometimes wind along the Banks of the Water, and at others run out wide from them. On your Entrance into each Valley, you fee its Buildings before you. All the Front is a Colonnade, with Windows between the Pillars. The Wood- work is gilded, painted, and varniftied. The Roofs too are covered with varnifhed Tiles of different Co- lours; red, yellow, blue, green, and purple; which, by their proper Mixtures, and their Manner of plac- ing them, form an agreeable Variety of Comparti- roents and Defigns. Almofr. all thefe Buildings are only one Story high ; and their Floors are raifcd from Two to Eight Feet above the Ground. You g;o up to them not by regular Stone Steps, but by a rough Sort of Rock-work, forme J as if there had been fo many Steps produced there by Nature. Thelnfide of the Apartments anfwers perfectly to their Magnificence without. Befide their being very well difpofed, the Furniture and Ornaments are very rich, and of an exquifite Tafte. In the Courts and Paffages, you fee Vafes of Brafs, Porcelain, and Marble filled with Flowers ; and before fome of thefe Houfes, inftead of naked Statues, they have feveral of their hieroglyphical Figures of Animals, and Urns with Perfumes burning in them, placed upon Pedeftals of Marble. Every Valley, as I told you before, has its Plea- fure-houfe; fmall indeed in refpecl to the whole In- clofure ; but yet large enough to be capable of re- ceiving the grcateft Nobleman in Europe, with all his 5 Retinue . F R O U C H I K A. 71 Retinue. Several of thefe Houfes are built of Cedar, which they bring, with great Expence, at theDii- tance of 1500 Miles from this Place. And now how many of thefe Palaces do you think there are, in all the Valleys of the Inclofure ? There are above 200 of them, without reckoning as many other Houfes for the Eunuchs ; for they are the Pcrfons who have the Care of each Palace, and their Houfes are always juft by them ; generally at no more than Five or Six Feet Diftance. Thefe Houfes of the Eunuchs are very plain ; and for that Reafon are al- ways concealed, either by fome Projection of the Walls, or by the Interpofition of their artificial Hills. Over the running Streams there are Bridges, at proper Diftances, to make the mere eafy Commu- nication from one Place to another. Thefe are moft commonly either of Brick, or Free-ftone, and fome- times of Wood, but are all raifed high enough for the Boats to pafs conveniently under them. They are fenced withBallifters finely wrought, and adorn- ed with Works in Relievo j but all of them varied from one another, both in their Ornaments and De- figns. Do not imagine to yourfelf, that thefe Bridges run on, like ours, in ftrait Lines : On the contrary, they generally wind about and ferpentize to fuch a Degree, that fome of them, which, if they went on regularly, would be no more than Thirty or Forty Feet long, turn fo often and fo much as to mak* their whole Length 100 or 200 Feet. You fee fome of them which, either at the Midft, or at the Ends, have little Pavillions for People to reft themfelves in ; F 4 fupported 72 ALETTER fupported fometimes by Four, fometimes by Eight, and fometimes by Sixteen Columns. They are ufu- ally on fuch of the Bridges as afford the moft engag- ing Profpeb. At the Ends of other of the Bridges there are triumphal Arches, either of Wood, or white Marble j formed in a very pretty Manner, but very different from any thing that I have ever feen in Europe. I have already told you that thefe little Streams, or Rivers, are carried on to fupply feveral larger Pieces of Water, and Lakes. One of thefe Lakes is very near Five Miles round ; and they call it a Meer, or Sea. This is one of the moft beautiful Parts in the whole Pleafure Ground. On the Banks are feveral Pieces of Buildings, fe- parated from each other by the Rivulets and arti- ficial Hills above mentioned. But what is the moft charming Thingof all is, an Ifland, or Rock, in the Middle of this Sea ; raifed, in a natural and ruftic Manner about Six Feet above the Surface of the Water. On this Rock there is a little Palace, which, however, contains an Hundred different Apartments. It has Four Fronts, and is built with inexpreflible Beauty and Tafte; the Sight of it ftrikes one with Admiration. From it you have a V iew of all the Palaces, fcattered at proper Diftances round the Shores of this Sea ; all the Hills that terminate about it; all the Rivulets, which tend thither, either to difcharge their Waters into it, or I to FROMCHINA. 73 to receive them from it ; all the Bridges, either at the Mouths or Ends of thefe Rivulets ; all the Pa. vilions and triumphal Arches that adorn any of tbefe Bridges ; and all the Groves that are planted to fe- parate and fcreen the different Palaces, and to pre- vent the Inhabitants of them from being overlooked by one another. The Banks of this charming Wa- ter are infinitely varied ; there are no two Parts of it alike. Here you fee Keys of fmooth Stone ; with Porticos, Walks, and Paths, running down to them from the Palaces that furround the Lake : There, others of Rock- work, that fall into Steps, contrived with the greateft Art that can be conceived : Here natural Terraces with winding Steps at each End, to go up to the Palaces that are built upon them ; and above thefe, other Terraces, and other Palaces* that rife higher and higher, and form a fort of Am- phitheatre. There again a Grove of flowering Trees prefents itfeif to your Eye ; and a little farther you fee a Spread of wild Foreft-trees, and fuch as grow only on the moft barren Mountains : Then, per- haps, vaft Timber-trees with their Under-wood ; then Trees from all foreign Countries ; and then, fome all blooming with Flowers, and others all laden with Fruits of different Kinds. There are alfo, on the Banks of this Lake, a great Number of Net- work-houfes, and Pavilions ; Half on the Land, and Half running into the Lake, for all Sorts of Water-fowl ; as farther on upon the Shore, you meet frequently with Menageries for dif- ferent Sorts of Creatures ; and even little Parks for the 74 A^ETTfcR the Chace. But of all this Sort of Things, the Cki- nefe are moft fond of a kind of Fiflh, the greater Part of which are of a Colour as brilliant as Gold ; o- thers, of a Silver Colour ; and others of different Shades of red, green, blue, purple, and black ; and Come, of all Sorts of Colours mixt together. There arc feveral Refervoirs for thefe Fifh, in all Parts of the Oarden ; but the mofl confiderable of them all is at this Lake. It takes up a very large Space ; and is all furrounded with a Lattice-work of Brafs-wirc, in which the Openings are fo very fine and fmall, as to prevent the Fifh from wandering into the main Waters. To let you fee the Beauty of this charming Spot in ks greateft Perfection, I {hould wifh to have you ttanfported hither when the Lake is all covered with Boats, either gilt, or varnifhed ; as it is fometimes, for taking the Air ; fometimes, for fifhing ; and fometimes, for [*/] Jufts, and Combats, and other Diveruons, upon the Water; but above all, on fome fine Night, when the Fire-works are played off there; at which Time they have Illuminations in all [d\ I have feen of this Sort of Jufts upon the Water, in our Parts of the World ; and particularly at Lhi.t in France. The Champions ftand, as firmly, as they are able, on the Prows of two BoUs, with a Shiela in their left Hands, and a blunted Spear in their right. There is an e^ual Number of Rowers in each of the Boats, who drive them on with treat Impetuofity. The two Combatants charge each other with their Spears j and often both, but almoft always one of them i s diiven backward on the Shock ; either down into his Boat, or (which often happens) into the Water ; which litter makes one of the prin- cipal Piits in this odd Sort of Divcrfion. the F R O M C H I N A. 75 the Palaces, all the Boats, and almoft on every Tree. The Cbinefe exceed us extreme'y in their Fire-works j and I have never Teen any thins of that Kind, either in France^ or Italy ^ that can bear any Companion with theirs. The Part in which the Emperor ufually refides here, with the Emprefs, his f/J favourite MiftrefTes, and the Eunuchs that attend them, is avaft Collec- tion of Buildings, Courts, and Gardens ; and looks itfelf like a City. 'Tis at leaft as big as our City of [/] Dole. The greater Part of the other Pala- ces is only ufed for his walking ; or to dine and fup in upon Occahon. This Palace, for the ufual Refidence of the Em- peror, is juft within the grand Gate of the Pleafure Ground. Firil are the Antichambers ; then the Halls for Audience ; and then the Courts and Gar- dens belonging to them. The Whole forms an Ifland ; which is entirely furrounded by a large and deep Canal. 'Tis a fort of Seraglio; in the different Apartments of which, you fee all the moft beautiful Things that can be imagined, as to Furniture, Or- naments, and Paintings (I mean of thofe in the Chlnefe Tafte) j the moft valuable Sorts of Wood ; [e] The original fays ; " les Koucifeys, les Feys, les Pines, les *' Kouci-gins, et les Ichangtfays :" and informs us in a Note, that thefe are fo many different Titles of Honour, for the different Clafies of fuch of the Emperor's M.ftreffes as are moft in his Favour. I did not think it worth while to fet down all thefe hard Names in the Text j and, perhaps, they might as well have been omitted even here. [/] The fetond City for Size in the Francbe Comte. varnifhed 76 ALETTER varnifhed Works, of China and Japan ; antient Va- fes of Porcelain ; Silks, and Cloth of Gold and Silver. They have there brought together all that Art and good Tafte could add to the Riches of Nature. From this Palace of the Emperor, a Road, which is almoft ftrait, leads you to a little Town in the Midft of the whole Jnclofurc. 'Tis fquare ; and each Side is near a Mile long. It has Four Gates, anfwering the Four principal Points of the Compafs; with Towers, Walls, Parapets, and Battlements. It has its Streets, Squares, Temples, Exchanges, Markets, Shops, Tribunals, Palaces, and a Port for Vefiels. In one Word, every thing that is at Pekin in Large, is there reprefented in Miniature. You will certainly a(k for what Ufe this City was intended ? Is it that the Emperor may retreat to it as a Place of .Safety, on any Revolt, or Revoluti- on ? It might indeed ferve well enough for that Pur- pofe ; and poffibly that Thought had a Share in the Mind of the Perfon who at firft defigned it j but its principal End was, to procure the Emperor the Pleafure of feeing all theBuftle and Hurry of a great City in little, whenever he might have a Mind for that Sort of Diverfion. The Emperor of China is too much a Slave to his Grandeur ever to {hew himfelf to his People, even when he goes out of his Palace. He too fees nothing of the Town, which he pafles through. All the Doors and Windows are {hut up. They fpread wide FROMCHINA. 77 wide Pieces of Cloth every where, that nobody may fee him. Several Hours before he is to pafs through any Street, the People are forewarned of it ; and if any fhould be found there whilft he pafles, they would be handled very feverely by his Guards. Whenever he goes into the Country, two Bodies of Horfe advance a good way before him on each Side of the Road ; both for his Security, and to keep the Way clear from all other Paflengers. As the Emperors of China find themfelves obliged to live in this ftrange fort of Solitude, they have always endeavoured to fupply the Lofs of all public Diver- fions (which their high Station will not fuffer them to partake) by fome other Means or Inventions, according to their different Taftes and Fancies. This Town, therefore, in thefe two laft Reigns (for it was this Emperor's Father who ordered it to be built) has been appropriated for the Eunuchs to acT: in it, at feveral Times in the Year, all the Commerce, Marketings, Arts, Trades, Buftle, and Hurry, and even all the Rogueries, ufual in great Cities. At the appointed Times, each Eunuch purs on the Drefs of the Profeffion or Part which is affigned to him. One is a Shop-keeper, and another an Artifan ; this is an Officer, and that a common Soldier: One has a Wheel -barrow given him to drive aboutthe Streets ; another, asa Porter, carries a Bafket on his Shoulders. In a Word, every one has the diftinguifhing Mark of his Employment. The Veflels arrive at the Port ; the Shops are open- ed ; and the Goods are expofed for Sale. There is 78 ALETTER one Quarter for thofe who fell Silks, and another for tbofe who fell Cloth ; one Street for Porcelain, and another for Varniih- works. You may be fupplied with whatever you want. This Man fells Furniture of all Sorts ; that, Cloaths and Ornaments for the Ladies ; a third has all Kinds of Books for the learned and curious. There are Coffee-houfcs too, and Taverns of all Sorts, good and bad ; befide a Num- ber of People that cry different Fruits about the Streets, and a great V ariety of refrefhing Liquors. The Mercers, as you pafs their Shops, catch you by the Sleeve, and prefs you to buy fome of their Goods. 'Tis all a Place of Liberty and Licence ; and you can fcarce diftinguifh the Emperor himfelf from the meaneft of his Subjects. Every body hauls out what he has to fell ; fome quarrel, others fight j and you have all the Confufion of a Fair about you. The public Officers come and arreft the Quarrellers ; carry them before the Judges, in the Courts of Ju- ftice ; the Caufe is tried in form ; the Offender condemned to be baftinadoed ; and the Sentence is put in Execution ; and that fo effectually, that the Diverfion of the Emperor fometimes cofts the poor Actor a great deal of real Pain. The Myftery of Thieving is not forgot, in this general Reprefentation. That noble Employ is af- figned to a confiderable Number of the clevereft Eu- nuchs, who perform their Parts admirably well. If any one of them is caught in the Fail, he is brought to Shame, and condemned (at leaft they go through the Form of condemning him) to beftigmatifed, baf- tinadoed, FROMCHINA. 79 tinadoed, or baniftied ; according to the Heinouf- ncfs of the Crime, and the Nature of the Theft. If they fteal cleverly, they have the Laugh on their Side ; they are applauded, and the Sufferer is without Re- drefs. However, at the End of the Fair, every thing of this Kind is reftored to the proper Owner. This Fair (as I told you before) is kept only for the Entertainment of the Emperor, theErnprefs, and his Miftrefles. 'Tis very unufu.,1 for any of the Princes, or Grandees, to be admitted to fee it ; and when any have that Favour, it is not till after the Women are all retired to their feveral Apartments. The Goods which are expofed and fold here, belong chiefly to the Merchants of Pekin ; who put them into the Hands of the Eunuchs, to be fold in reality ; fo that the Bargains here are far from being all pre- tended ones. In particular, the Emperor himfelf always buys a great many Things ; and you may be fure they aflc him enough for them. Several of the Ladies too make their Bargains ; and fo do fomeof the Eunuchs. All this trafficking, if there was no- thing of real mixt with it, would want a great deal of that Earneftnefs and Life, which now make the 13uftle the more active, and the Diverfion it give s the greater. To this Scene of Commerce, fometimes fucceeds a very different one ; that of Agriculture. There is a Quarter within the fame Inclofure, which is fet apart for this Purpofe. There you fee Fields, Mea-> dows, Farm-houfes, and little fcattered Cottages ; with 8o ALETTER with Oxen, Ploughs, and all the NecefTaries for Hufbandry. There they fow Wheat, Rice, Pulfe, and all other Sorts of Grain. They make their Harveft, and carry in the Produce of their Grounds. In a Word, they here imitate every thing that is done in the Country ; and in every thing exprefs a rural Simplicity, and all the plain Manners of a Country Life, as nearly as they poffibly can. Doubtlefs you have read of the famous Feaft in China, called the Feaft of the Lanthorns. It is al- ways celebrated on the 151)1 Day of the firft Month. There is no Cbinefefo poor, but that upon this Day he lights up his Lanthorn. They have of them of all Sorts, Figures, Sizes, and Prices. On that Day all China is illuminated ; but the fineft Illuminations of all are in the Emperor's Palaces ; and particularly in thefe Pleafure-grounds, which I have been de- fcribing to you. There is not a Chamber, Hall, or Portico, in them, which has not feveral of thefe Lanthorns hanging from the Ceilings. There are feveral upon all the Rivulets, Rivers, and Lakes ; made in the Shape of little Boats, which the Waters carry backward and forward. There are fome upon all the Hills and Bridges, and almoft upon all the Trees. Thefe are wrought mighty prettily, in the Shapesof different Fifhes, Birds, and Beafts ; Vafes, Fruits, Flowers j and Boats of different Sorts and Sizes. Some arc made of Silk ; fomeofHorn, Glafs, Mother of Pearl, and a Thoufand other Materials. Some of them are painted ; others embroidered ; and of very different Prices. I have fctu fome of them which F R O M C H I N A. 81 which could never have been made for a Thoufand Crowns,- It would bean endlefs Thing to endeavour to give you a particular Account of all their Forms, Materials, and Ornaments. It is in thefe, and in the great Variety which the Chlnefe {hew in their Buildings, that I admire the Fruitfulnefs of their Invention ; and am almoft tempted to own, that we are quite poor and barren in Comparifon of them. Their Eyes are fo accuftomed to their own Ar- chitecture, that they have very little Tafte for ours. May I tell you what they fay when they fpealc of it, or when they are looking over the Prints of fome of our moft celebrated Buildings ? The Height and Thicknefs of our Palaces amazes them. They look upon our Streets as fo many Ways hollowed into terrible Mountains ; and upon our Houfes, as Rocks pointing up in the Air, and full of Holes like Dens of Bears and other wild Beafts. Above all, our dif- ferent Stories, piled up fo high one above another, feem quite intolerable to them ; and they cannot conceive how we can bear to run the Rifle of break- ing our Necks, fo commonly, in going up fuch a Number of Steps as is neceflary to climb up to the Fourth and Fifth Floors. " Undoubtedly (faid " the Emperor Gang-by^ whilft he was looking over " fome Plans of our European Houfes) this Europe " muft be a very fmall and pitiful Country ; fince " the Inhabitants cannot find Ground enough to " fpread out their Towns, but are obliged to live " up thus in the Air." As for us, we think other- wife ; and have Reafon to do fo. VOL, I. G However, g 2 ALETTER However, I mutt own to you, without pretending to decide which of the two ought to have the Prefer- ence, that the Manner of Building in this Country pleafes me very much. Since my Refidence in Chi- #, my Eyes and Tafte are grown a little Chinefe. And, between Friends, is not the Duchcfs of Bour- bon's Houfe oppofite to the Tuilleries, extremely pretty ? Yet that is only one Story, and a good deal in the Chinefe Manner. Every Country has its Tafte and Cuftoms. The Beauty of our Architec- ture cannot be difputed ; nothing is more grand and majeftic. I own too that our Houfes are well dif- poted. We follow the Rules of Uniformity, and Symmetry, in all the Parts of them. There is no- thing in them unmatched, or diiplaced ; every Part anfwers its oppofite ; and there's an exact Agreement in the whole. But then there is this Symmetry, this beautiful Order and Difpoikiori too in China ; and particularly in the Emperor's Palace at Pekin, that I was fpeaking of in the Beginning of this Letter. The Palaces of the Princes and great Men, the Courts of Juftice, and the Houfes of the better Sort of People, are generally in the fame Tafte. But in their Pleafure-houfes, they rather choofe [g] a beautiful Diforder, and a Wandering as far as pofuble from all the Rules of Art. They go entirely [g~] The Author of this Letter feems here to have formed his Opi- nion only from the Garden jn which he was employed j for this is not univerfally the cafe in the Pleafure-houfes of the Emperor of China. I have lately feen feme Prints of another of his Gardens, (brought from FROMCHINA. 83 on this Principle, " That what they are toreprefent " there, is a natural and wild View of the Country ; " a rural Retirement, and not a Palace formed ac- " cording to all the Rules of Art." Agreeably to which, I have not yet obferved any Two of the lit- tle Palaces in all the grand Inclofure which are a- like, though fome of them are placed at fuch con- fiderable Diftances from one another. You would think that they were formed upon the Ideas of fo many different foreign Countries j or that they were all built at random, and made up of Parts not meant for one another. When you read this, you will be apt to imagine fuch Works very ridiculous j and that they muft have a very bad Effect on the Eye ; but was you to fee them, you would find it quite otherwife ; and would admire the Art with which all this Irregularity is conducted. All is in good Tafte ; and fo managed, that its Beauties ap- pear gradually one after another. To enjoy them, as one ought, you fhould view every Piece by it- felf ; and you would find enough to amufe you for a long while, and to fatisfy all your Curiofity. Befide the Palaces themfelves (though I have call- ed them little, in comparifon of the whole) ate very far from being inconfiderable Things. I faw them building one in the fame Inclofure, laft Year, for that Kingdom, and which will very fopn be publiflied here) in which the Difpofition of the Ground, Water, and Plantations, is indeed quite irregular ; but the Houfes, Bridges, and Fences, are all of a regular Kind. Thofe Prints will give the trueft Idea we can have of the Cbineft Manner of laying out Pleafure-groun] See Plutarch in the Life of Lyeurgus, fious 96 DEFORMITY: Jttaus confutes your Maxim ; and I hope to confute it too by my own Behaviour. Is the Carcafe the better Part of the Man ? And is it to be valued by Weight, like that of Cattle in a Market ? Inftead of this Lacedemonian Severity, thofe, who had the Care of my Infancy, fell into another Ex- treme ; and, out of Tendernefs, tried every Art to correct the Errors of Nature j but in vain : for (as, I think it is, Mr. Dryden fays) God did not make his Works for Man to mend. When they could not do that, they endeavoured to conceal them ; and taught me to be afhamed of my Perfon, inftead of arming me with true Fortitude to defpife any Ridicule or Contempt of it. This has caufed me much Uneafinefs in my younger Days ; and it required many Years to conquer this Weak- nefs. Of which I hope now there are but little Re- mains left. This ill Management gave me too an infuperable Bafhfulnefs ; and although I have pafled the Courfe of my whole Life among the better Part of Mankind, I have always felt a Reluctance to produce a bad Figure, which maybe fome Obftruc- tion to a Man's Advancement in the World j but an Advantage in retraining his Fondnefs for it. Unmerited Reflexions on a Man's Perfon are hard of Digeftion. Men of Underftandinghave felt them. Even Mr. Pope was not invulnerable in this Part, For when the Dunces were foiled by his Writings, they A N E S S A Y. 97 they printed a Caricatura of his Figure ; and it is evident that this ftung him more than a better An- fwer ; for ['] he ranks it among the moft atrocious Injuries. I never in my Life received the leaft Af- front on this Head from any Gentleman I ever con- verfed with ; or from any one who had the leaft Pre- tenfion to that Name : for I fhould be a Churl in- deed, if I efteemed as fuch any little innocent Plea- fantry of a Friend, which is rather an Inftance of fmcere Kindnefs and Affection ; and I fhould be un- fit to fit at Table with him, ftiould I refenthis Con- gratulations on my emerging from an Eclipfe of a Surloin of Roaft-beef, or of a Bowl of Punch, that flood between us. But the Scene changes extremely when I get into a Mob, where Infolence grows in Proportion, as the Man finks in Condition ; and where I canfcarce pafs without hearing fome Affront. But am now unmoved with that Scurrility, which ufed to affect me when I was young. The Title of Lord I never much valued ; and now I entirely de- fpife, and yet they will force it upon me as an Ho- nour, which they have a Right to beftow, and which I have none to refufe. This Abufe is grown into fuch a Habit with the Rabble, that an Irijh Chair- man often ufes it, when he afks me to take a Chair ; and fometimes a Beggar, when he demands an Alms. This Difference of Behaviour towards me hath given me the ftrongeft Idea of the Force of Educa- [;] In his Epiftle to Dr. Arbutbnst are thefe Lines : The Morals blacken'd, when the Writings 'fcape, The libel'd Pcrfon, and the/>iflr'J Shaft, tec, VOL. I. H ti9n 3 98 DEFORMITY: tion ; and taught me to fet a right Value upon it. It is certainly the Stamp of a Man's Chara&er : it dif- tinguifties the bafe from the valuable Metal ; and is the Barrier between the Mob and the civilized Part of Mankind. This Ufage hath alfo been a great Advantage to mej for it hath made me (like [k] Horace) fly from the Vulgar to the Company and Converfation of my Superiors, where I am fure to be eafy. I have ever enjoyed it ; and though I want polite Qualities to recommend me, I cannot fay I was ever ill received by them. Moreover, thefe Abufes from my Inferiors often furnifli me with ge- nerous Reflexions. I fometimes recollect the Ex- preffion of Brutus in Shakefpear, " Your IForels pafs " by me as the idle Wind which I regard not :" at other Times a Saying (I think) of Socrates-, " Shall " I be angry if an Afs kick at me ? It is his Nature " fo to do [/]." But perfonal Reflexions of this kind are almoft unknown among Perfons of high Rank. It muft therefore be only a French Romance, that gave rife to the Report, that our great and glo- rious Deliverer once called Luxetnburg crooked-back Fellow ; who replied, that he could not know that he was fo, for he had never feen his Back. When, by fome uncommon Accident, I have been drawn into a Country Fair, Cockpit, Bear-garden, or the like riotous Afiemblies, after I have got from [I] Odi prophanum vulgus, tc arceo. Od. i. 1. 3. [/] I might add another Bon Mot of Socrates ; when afked, how he could bear the Noife and 111- manners of Xantippt, be replied, They that live in a trading Street are not diflurbed at the Railage of Carts. See the Spectator, No. 479. them, A N E S S A Y. 99 them, I have felt the Pleafure of one efcaped from the Danger of a Wreck j for all the Time I am prefent, I confider myfelf as liable to Affront, with- out a Power of flievving any Refentment j which would expofe me to ten- fold Ridicule. Nor am I formed for a Mafquerade ; where fuch a Figure would foon be difcovered ; nor efcape Abufe from the lower Clafs, whom the Mafk introduces to their Betters ; and where all indulge a greater Liberty of Behaviour. I always had an Averfion in my Childhood to Dancing-mafters ; and ftudied all Evafions to avoid their LefTons, when they were forced upon me ; for I was ever confcious to myfelf, what an untoward Subject they had to work on. I carried this a little too far ; and have fometimes wiihed I had facrificed a, little more to the Graces. The Negle& of this has left behind it an Aukwardnefs in fome Part of my outward Gefture and Behaviour; and I am fen- fible, that I might, by Care and Habit, have cor- rected fome Things now grown inveterate ; and that, from a natural Diflike to Tjifles, I neglected fome Forms too much. Bodily Deformity is very rare ; and therefore a Perfon fo diftinguiflied muft naturally think, that he has had ill Luck in a Lottery, where there are above a thoufand Prizes to one Blank. Among 558 Gen- tlemen in the Houfe of Commons, I am the only one that is fo. Thanks to my worthy Conftituents, who never objected to my Perfon , and I hope never Hz to ioo DEFORMITY: t j give them caufeto object to my Behaviour. They are not like a venal Borough, of which there goes a Story ; that, though they never took Exceptions to any Man's Character, who came up to their Price ; yet they once rejected the beft Bidder, be- caufe he was a Negroe. I never was, nor ever will be, a Member of the M Ugly Club i and I would advife thofe Gentle- men to meet no more : For though they may be a very ingenious and facetious Society j yet it draws the Eyes of the World too much upon them, and theirs too much from the World. For who would choofe to be always looking at bad Pictures, when there is fo great a Collection to be met with of good ones, efpecially among the Fair Sex ; who, if they will not admit them to be Intimates, will permit them to be diftant Admirers. When deformed Per- fons appear together, it doubles the Ridicule, be- caufe of the Similitude ; as it does, when they are feen with very large Perfons, becaufe of the Con- traft. Let them therefore call Minerva to their Aid in both Cafes. There are many Great and Tall Men, with whom I (hall always efteetn it an Honour to converfe j and though their Eyes are placed in a much higher Par- allel, they take care never to overlook me ; and are always concerned, if, by Chance, they happen to ftrike my Hat with their Elbow. When ftanding or walking, we indeed find fome Difficulty in the [] Speftator, Numb. 17. Conver- AN ESSAY. ioi Converfation ; for they are obliged to ftoop down, as in fearch of a Pin, while I am looking up, as if taking the Height of a Star with a Quadrant. And I own I fometimes ufe a little Policy, that the Contraft may not be too remarkable. General 0. is Brother in Blood and in Worth to one of the greateft and beft Men of the Age ; and a brave Spirit is lodged in alargePerfon. The Man, who flood intrepid by his Majefty's Side in the glori- ous Day of Dettingen^ and afterwards by that of his Royal Highnefs in the more unfortunate one of Fon- tenay, is now placed at the Head of a Troop of Horfe Grenadiers, to guard that Prince, whom he hath fo long and faithfully ferved. I have the Ho- nour to be well known to him ; and I once accident- ally accompanied him to feetheHorfes of his Troop. I never was more humbled, than when I walked with him among his tall Men, made ftill taller by their Caps. I feemed to myfelf a Worm and no Man ; and could not but inwardly grieve, that, when I had the fame Inclination to the Service of my Country and Prince, I wanted their Strength to perfom it. As a Member of the Houfe of Com- mons, I fometimes ufe the Precaution to place myfelf at fome Diftancefrom the General, though I am commonly of the fame Side of the Houfe. Lord D. is another brave Officer at the Head of one of his Majefty's Troops of Guards ; one of the talleft of his Subjects j an ancient Peer ; an able Se- nator ; and (what is much to the Honour of any H 3 Peer) 102 DEFORMITY: Peer) a ufeful Magiftrate in the Country. I am al- ways proud of meeting his Lordfhip at the Quarter Seffions ; but I always take Care to have the Chair- man atleaft between us on the Bench, that it may not be too vifible to the Country, what a prodigious Difparity there is in every Refpect between us. But I will now divide my Text, in order to dif- cufs it more thoroughly ; and will confider the na- tural Confequences of Bodily Deformity; lirft, how it affedls the outward Circumftances ; and laftly, what Turn it gives to the Mind. It is certain, that the Human Frame, being warp- ed and difproportioned, is leflfened in Strength and Activity j and rendered lefs fit for its Functions. Scarron had invented an Engine to take off his Hat ; and I wifti I could invent one to buckle my Shoe, or to take up a Thing from the Ground, which I can fcarce do without kneeling; forl can bend my Body no farther than it is bent by Nature. For this Rea- fon, when Ladies drop a Fan or Glove, I am not the firft to take it up ; and often reftrain my In- clination to perform thofe little Services, rather than expofe my Spider-like Shape. And I hope it will not be conftrued as Pride, if I do not always rife from my Seat when I ought ; for if it is low, I find fome Trouble in it ; and my Center of Gravity is fo ill placed, that I am often like to fall back. Things, hanging within the Reach of others, are out of mine. And what they can execute with Eafe, I want Strength to perform. I am in Danger of being trampled A N E S S A Y. 10$ trampled upon, or ftifled in a Crowd ; where my Back is a convenient Lodgment for the Elbow of any tall Perfon that is near. I can fee nothing j and my whole Employment is to guard my Perfon. I have forborn to attend his Majefty in the Houfe of Peers, fince I was like to be fqueezed to death there againft the Wall. I would willingly come thither when his Majefty commands, but he is too gracious to expect Impoffibilities. BefiJes, when I get in, I can never have the Pleafure of feeing, on the Throne, one of the beft Princes, who ever fat on it. Thefe and many others are the Inconveniences continually attending a Figure like mine. They may appear grie- vous to Perfons not ufed to them ; but they grow eafier by Habit ; and though they may a little difturb, they are not fufficient to deftroy the Happinefs of Life ; of which, at an Average, I have enjoyed as great a Share as moft Men. And perhaps one Proof of it may be my writing thisEflay; not intend- ed as a Complaint againft Providence for my Lot, but as an innocent Amufement to myfelf and others. I cannot tell what Effect Deformity may have on the Health ; but it is natural to imagine, that as the inward Parts of the Body muft, in fome meafure^ comply with the outward Mould j the Form of the latter being irregular, the firft cannot be fo well placed and difpofed to perform their Functions; and that generally deformed Perfons would not be healthy or long-lived. But this is a Queftion beft deter- mined by Facts ; and in this Cafe the Inftances are too few, or uaobferved, to draw a general Conclu- H 4 fion 104 DEFORMITY: fion from them. And Health is, more than is com- monly thought, in a Man's own Power ; and the Reward of Temperance, more than the Effect of Conftitution ; which makes it ftill more difficult to pafs a Judgment. JEfop could not be young when he died ; and might have lived longer, if he had not been murdered at Delphi. The Prince of Orange fcarce pafled the Meridian of Life ; and the Duke of Luxemburg died about the Age of fixty-feven. The Lord Treafurer Burleigl (the Honour of whofe Company I claim on the Authority of [] 0/born) lived to feventy-eight ; but his Son the Earl of Sa- lt/bury^ who died about fifteen Years after him, could not reach near that Age. I have heard (but know not if it is true) that Mr. Pope's Father was deform- ed, and he lived to feventy-five ; whereas the Son died in middle Age ; if he may be faid to die, whofe Works are immortal. My Father was not deform- ed, but a&ive, and my Mother a celebrated Beauty ; and I, that am fo unlike them, have lived to a greater Age ; and daily fee my Acquaintance, cf a ftronger Frame, quitting the Stage before me. But I leave it to better Naturalifts to determine, whether Deformity, abftra&edly confidered, is preju- dicial to Health ; for in its Confequences, I believe, it is moft commonly an Advantage. Deformed Per- fons hav* a lefs Share of Strength than others, and therefore (hould naturally be more careful to preferve it ; and as Temperance is the great Prefervative of Health, it may incline them to be more temperate. [n] See Hiftorical Memoirs of ^EUmbttb, by Francis Ojbcrn, Efq. 2 I have A N E S S A Y. 105 I have Reafon to think that my own weak Frame and Conftitution have prolonged my Life to this prefent Date. But I fhould impofe upon my Reader, and affront Heaven, if I afcribed that to Virtue, which took its Rife from Neceflity. Being of a confump- tive Difpofition, I was alarmed, when young, with frequent fpitting of Blood ; this made me abftain from Wine, and all firong Liquors, which I have now done for near thirty Years. But (Inddit In Scyllam cupiens vitare Caryldim.) By this I fell into another Misfortune; and the Stone was the Confequence of my drinking raw Water ; but Care and Perfeverance, with Abflinence, have fo far fubdued that Diftemper, that at prefent it is but little Interruption to my Eafe or Happinefs. And weak as I am, I daily fee many dying before me, who were defigned by Nature for a much longer Life. And I cannot but lament, that the Genera- lity of Mankind fo wantonly throw away Health (without which [0] Life is not Life) when it is fo much in their own Power to preferve it. If every Virtue in its Confequence is its own Reward, Tem- perance is eminently fo ; and every one immediately feels its good Effect. And I am perfuaded that many might arrive at Cornaro's Age, if they did but follow his Example. On thinking upon this Subject, I have adopted many Maxims, which to the World will feem Paradoxes ; as certain true Geographical Theorems do to thofe, who are unacquainted with fJ Nan eft v'tvtrt, fedva/ere, W/a. Mart, 1, vi. Ep. 70. the jo6 DEFORMITY: the Globe. I hold as Articles of Faith (but which may be condemned as Herefies in many a General Council aflembled about a large Table) that the Itnalleft Liquors are beft : That there never was a good Bowl of Punch ; nor a good Bottle of Cham- paign, Burgundy, or Claret : That the beft Dinner is one Difh : That an Entertainment grows worfe in proportion as the Number of Difhes increafe : That a Faft is better than a Lord Mayor's Feaft : That no Conoifleur ever underftood good Eating : That no Minifter of State or Ambaffador ever gave a good Entertainment : No King ever fate down to a good Table : And that the Peafant fares better than the Prince, &c. Being infpired with fuch Sen- timents, what Wonder is it, if I fometimes break out into fuch Ejaculations. O Temperance ! Thou Goddefs moft worthy to be adored ! Thou Patro- nefs of Health ! Thou Protector of Beauty ! Thou Prolonger of Life ! Thou Infurer of Pleafure ! Thou Promoter of Bufmefs ! Thou Guardian of the Perfon ! Thou Prefcrver of the Underftanding ! Thou Parent of every intellectual Improvement, and of every moral Virtue ! Another great Prefervative of Health is, moderate Exercife j which few deformed Perfons can want Strength to perform. I ever chofe long Journies, and they have been fatiguing to me ; but I never found myfelf worfe for Fatigue. And (before I was troubled with the Stone) I have, on Occaflon, rode fifty Miles in a Day ; or walked near Twenty. And, though now flow in my Motions, I can be on my Feer A N E S S A Y. 107 Teet the greateft Part of the Day ; and cannot be faid to lead a fedentary Life. As a deformed Perfon is not formed for violent Exercife, he is lefs liable to fuch Dilbrders as are the natural Confequence of it. He will alfo efcape many Accidents, to which Men of athletic Make, and who glory in their Strength, are always expofing themfelves to make Trial and Proof of it. If he cannot carry an Ox, like Milo^ he will not, like Milo, be hand-cuffed in the Oak, by attempting to rend it. Ke will not be the Man that (hall ride from London to York in a Day, or to Wind/or in an Hour for a Wager ; or that fliall be perpetually performing furprifing long Journies in a furprifing (hort Time, for no earthly Bufinefs, but the Pleafure of relating them. Confcious of his own Weaknefs, he will be cautious of running into Places or Occafions of Danger. I deny myfelf fome En- tertainments, rather than venture into a Crowd, knowing how unequal I am to a Struggle in it; and, if any fudden Quarrel fliould arife, how. ill I am qua- lifted for fuch an Encounter. One Blow from a Slack or Brotighton would infallibly confign me over to Charon. Nature too calls on deformed Perfons to be careful not to offer fuch Affronts, as may call them forth into the Field of falfe Honour, where they can- not acquit themfelves well for want of Strength and Agility ; and they are fecurer from fuch Affronts themfelves ; fince others will confider the little Cre- dit they will gain, by compelling them to appear on that Scene. On the whole I conclude, that Defor- mity is a Protection to a Man's Health and Perfon ; which log DEFORMITY: which (ftrange as it may appear) are better defend- ed by Feeblenefs than Strength. Let me now confider the Influence of Bodily De- formity on a Man's Fortune. Among the lower Clafs, he is cut off from many Profeffions and Em- ployments. He cannot be a Soldier, he is under Standard ; he cannot be a Sailor, he wants Activity to climb the Rigging ; he cannot be a Chairman or Porter, he wants Strength to bear the Burthen. In higher Life, he is ill qualified for a Lawyer, he can fcarce be feen over the Bar ; for a Divine, he may drop from his HafTock out of Sight in his Pulpit. The Improvement of his Mind is his proper Province; and his Bufmefs only fuch as depends on Ingenuity. If he cannot be a Dancing-mafter toadjuft the Heels, he maybe a School-mafter to inftrucT: the Head. He cannot be a graceful Actor on the Stage ; but he may produce a good Play. He would appear ill as a Herald in a Procefiion ; but may pafs as a Mer- chant on the Exchange. He cannot undergo the Fatigue of the Campaign ; but he may advife the Operations of it. He is defigned by Nature, rather to fleep on Parnaffus y than to defcend on the Plains of Elis. He cannot be crowned at the Olympic Games ; but may be the Pindar to celebrate them. He can acquire no Glory by the Sword ; but he may by the Pen ; and may grow famous by only relating thofe Exploits, which are beyond his Power to imitate. Lord Bacon (that extenfive and penetrating Ge- nius, who pointed out every Part of Nature for Ex- amination) A N E S S A Y. 109 amination) in his Eflay on Deformity fays, " that, " in their Superiors, it quencheth Jealoufy towards ' them, as Perfons that they think they may at " Pleafure defpife ; and it layeth their Competitors ** and Emulators afleep, as never believing they " (hould be in a Poflibility of Advancement, till * 4 they fee them in Pofleflion." But it is much to be doubted, whether this is not more than counterbal- lanced by the Contempt of the World, which it re- quires no mean Parts to conquer. For if (as I have fomewhere read) a good Perfon is a Letter of Re- commendation, Deformity muft be an ObftnuSlion in the Way to Favour. In this refpect, therefore, deformed Perfons fet out in the World to a Diiatl- vantage, and they muft firft furmount the Prejudices of Mankind before they can be upon a Par with others. And muft obtain, by a Courfe of Behaviour, that Regard, which is paid to Beauty at firft Sight. When this Point is once gained, the Tables are turned, and then the Game goes in their Favour ; for others, fenfible of their Injuftice to them, no fooner find them better than they expected, than they believe them better than they are ; whereas in the beautiful Perfon, they fometimes find themfelves im- pofed upon, and are angry that they have worfhiped only a painted Idol. For (again take Lord Bacon's Words) [/] " neither is it almoft feen, that very " beautiful Perfons are otherwife of great Virtue : ueen Eliza- betb^ informs, us, that 4< fhe chofe the goodlieft Per- 44 fons for her Houfehold Servants ; but in her Coun- 41 fellors did not put by Sufficiency, f hough accom- " panted with a crooked Perfon j as it chanced in a 44 [r] Father and a Son of the Cecils, both incom- " parable for Prudence." It is well known the Queen would make the Father (Burleigh] fit in her Prefence ; telling him, that file did not ufe him for his Legs, but Head. But the Son (afterwards Lord Treafurer and Earl of Salijbury) was not fo civilly treated by the Populace ; and is an Inftance, not only that Envy purfues a great Man, but that the higheft Poft cannot redeem a deformed one from Contempt ; it attends him like his Shadow, and like that too is ever reminding him of his ill Figure j which is often [y ] De Augmenth Seientiarum, 1. viii. c. z. [rj I fuppofe what Cambdin fays of Lord Burltiglt'i comely and pleating Afptft, relates to his Countenance only, objected A N E S S A Y. in objected' for want of real Crimes. For the fame Writer [j] fays of the fame great Man j "that the *' Misfortunes accompanying htm from his Birrh did *' not a little add to that Cloud of Detraction, that " fell upon all that he faid or did ; a Mulct in Na- and my Health, in general, improved. I believe I could now ride, though I have not tried. I feldom feel any Uneafinefs in a Coach ; and when I do, it is inconfiderable ; though fometimes (but very rare- ly) it is attended with bloody Water. And the Mo- tion of a Chair or Walking do not affect me. In fhort, I have exchanged Pain for Eafe, and Mifery for Comfort j and had it not been for this Medicine, I fliould not have been now alive to have told my Story. My Conclufions are thefe : 1. Mrs. Stephens' s Medicine, orCaftile Soap, are fafe Remedies ; and three Ounces may be taken every Day for Years together (and, probably, during Life) without any ill Confequence. 2. That Health in general will improve by their Ufe ; for by their cleanfing Quality, I imagine, they better prepare the Stomach for Digeftion, and the Inteftines for Chylification. 3. They are Preventives of the Stone ; either by hindering the Generation or Formation of thofe Par- ticles cf which it is compofed, or by facilitating the Difcharge A N E S S A Y. 137 Difcharge of them before Concretion. And I arn perfuaded, that, by taking them, Perfons who have not that Diftemper, will be fecured from it j and thofe who have it, from growing worfe. And if, on leflening my Quantity, I again find the Appearance of red Sand, 1 will increafe it again to a Quantity fufficient to prevent it. 4. They are Lithontriptics. Of this I have often had ocular Proof ; and the difcharged Fragments arc foftened, and their Parts moreeafily feparated. . They are Lenitives, where the Stone is not en- tirely difcharged ; fo that when a complete Cure is not obtained, Eafe may, as I have happily experi- enced. But from what Caufe this proceeds, let Phyficians enquire and determine. I believe Men fcarce differ fo much In the Tem- per of their Bodies, as of their Minds ; and though many Cafes may be very unlike my own, I am per- fuaded, that a regular Ufe of this Medicine would, for the moft Part, be as beneficial to others as to myfelf. Perfons, with whom it difagrees, in other Refpedts, are excluded from this Benefit ; as the Intemperate are from the Benefit of this or any o- ther Medicine. I have, for a long Courfe of Years, abftained from all ftrong Liquors ; but drink every thing that is fmall. I can eat any thing, but not much j and like the moft common Diet beft. I prefer moft things to Flefh j and of Flefh the whiteft. I never altered ij DEFORMITY,^. altered my common Diet on Account of this Medi- cine j or the Times of my Meals, which have ever been very irregular. I have always taken an Ounce at a time j fomctimes before, fometimes at, and fometimes after, Meals ; and I have often made a Meal of ,the Medicine itfelf, only with a Glafs of fmall Liquor (of any Sort) and a little Bread, which I have always taken with it. I generally took the three Ounces at proper Intervals j and fometimes at veryfhort ones. This Medicine has always agreed with me ; and I never once felt it on my Stomach, or any other Inconvenience from it. And I think it my Duty to omit no Opportunity of publifhing hs Virtues to the World. POSTSCRIPT. SI N C E I finifhed this Eflay, I am in doubt whether I ought not to change the Title. For I have heard of a very ingenious Performance, called < The Analyfa of Beauty^ which proves inconteftably, that it confifts in Curve Lines : I congratulate my Fraternity ; and hope, for the future, the Ladies will efteem them DCS Beaux Garfons. POST- [ 1393 POST-POSTSCRIPT. T Wonder, that in the firft Edition of this Eflay, I forgot to mention fome Inconveniences I fuffer of a very grievous Nature ; and which have a Right to a Place in Pages 102 and 1 03 of this Edition. When I am in a Coach with a Fair Lady, I am hid by Silk and Whale-bone. When I fit next her at Table, my Arm is fo pinioned, I can neither help her nor myfelf. We are deprived of the Pleafure of feeing each other ; and (he would fcarce know I was there, if {he did not fometimes hear me under her Wing. I am in Purgatory on the Confines of Pa- radife. I therefore beg one Favour, and which fhc may grant with Honour; that (fmce I defpairof fupplanting her \_e] Lap-dog) (he will allow me a Cufliion to raife me above fucn Misfortunes. 0] N. B. Many Ladies fay, that Shock is as ugly a Cur as myfelf, and unworthy of his Poft. But nothing fo difrefpetful fhall ever e- fcape me j left it would offend, or be thought the Envy of a Rival. Lucina Lucina fine Concubitu. A LETTER Humbly addreffed to the ROTAL SOCIETr-, IN WHICH Is proved, by moft Incontestable EVIDENCE, drawn from Reafon and Practice, that a WOMAN may conceive, and be brought to Bed, without any Commerce with MAN. Ore omnes e verfvento gravidee (tiiirabik diftu) Saxa per et Jcopulos et deprejfas catwalks Difirgiunt", non, Eure, tuos, tuque Solis ad ortut In Scream Caurtimque, aut unde nigerrimui Atifter Ntf/iitur, et plu'vio contrijtat frigore calum, L 3 thus i 5 o A LETTER TO THE Thus tranflated by Mr. Dryden-, The Mares to Cliffs of rugged Rocks repair, dnd, 'with No/I, Us, fnuff the Weftern Air: When ('wondrous to relate) the Parent Wind, Without the Stallion, ft op^ gates the Kind. 'Then, Jir'd icith amorous Rage, tb y take their Flight Thro* Plains, and mount the Hill's unequal Height. Nor to the Ncrth, nor to the rijing Sun t Nor Southw rd to the rainy Regions run', But lontig to the Weft, and hairing there, With gaping Mcuths they draw prolfa Air. Now it is well known, that this fame Virgil was a great Natural Philofopher, as well as a Poet and aFarrier ; and here we fee he confidently aflerts, that it was very common for Mares to become pregnant, without any Coition, only by turning their Faces to . the Weft, and fnuffing up the Wind in that Quar- ter : But all Naturalifts Being agreed that there is a great Analogy and Similitude in the Generation of &11 Animals, whether Bipeds or Quadrupeds, it occur- red to me, that what had happened to a Mare, might, for this very Reafon, happen to a Woman. Thus was I got fuccefsfully through two Steps of my Difcovery : The great 'Voollajlon has told me, that Animalcula were difperfed about in opportune Places, to be the Seed of all Generations ; and the greater Firgilhzd told me, that certain Mares of his Acquaintance \vere impregnated by a Weft Wind,, which, therefore I concluded to be one of thofe opportune Places^ and confiiared it as the proper of thefe floating Embryos. But ROYAL SOCIETY. 151 But not willing to rely onHypothefis only, or pre- fume on the Authority of great Names, efpecially in this enlightened Age, where experimental Philo- fophy is fo triumphant, and nothing goes down that is not made obvious to our Senfes, I refolved to have Demonftration before I ventured to publifh my Thoughts to the World. There are, I know, a droll Sett.of Gentlemen, who think themfelves au- thorifed to tell any Lies in Print, and afterwards to quarrel with the World for not believing them : But for my Part, I write purely and fimply for the Love of Truth, for the Ufe and Emolument of my Coun- trymen ; and I fliould efteem myfelf the moft un- worthy of all Beings, if I prefumed to amufe them with Fables, or abufe them with Forgeries. Accordingly, after much Exercife of my Invention, I contrived a wonderful cylindrical, catoptrical, xotundo-concavo-convex Machine (whereof a very exact Print will fpeedily be publifhed for the Satis- faction of the Curious, defigned by Mr. H y , and engraved by Mr. Vrtu] which being hermeti- cally fealed at one End, and electrified according to the niceft Laws of Electricity, I erected it in a con- venient Attitude to the Weft, as a kind of Trap to intercept the floating Animalcula in that prolific Quarter of the Heavens. The Event anfwered my Expectation ; and when I had caught a fufficient Numberof thefe {mall, original, unexpanded Minims of Exiftence, I fpread them out carefully like Silk- worms Eggs, upon white Paper ; and then applying L 4 my i 5 2 A LETTER TO THE my beft Microfcope, plainly difcerned them to be little Men and Women, exad in all their Limbs and Lineaments, and ready to offer themfclves little Candidates for Life, whenever they (hould happen to be imbibed with Air or Nutriment, and con- veyed down into this VcfTels of Generation. After this fiift Succefs in my Undertaking, I con- tinued to make Experiments of various Kinds, too tedious to be related, for a whole Year, till I had at -length fully eftabiifhed the Doctrine of Winds and Embryos j and I find that as other Infedls are ufuall y brought by an Eafterly Wind, your Human 'hfefls arc always wafted from the oppofite Quarter j the Swarms of both appear like Blights to the naked Eye ; and bothfeem deftined to much the fame End of Exiflence, fruges confumere natt t born to con- fiime the Fruits of the Ground. Oftentimes, while I was viewing them through my Glalt>, my Imagination would turn romantic upon the Subject, and reprefent to me the great Variety of Fortune thefe Infets might go through, whenever they {hould happen to be called out into Day-light. I faid in my Mind, this little Reptile may be an Alexander^ that a Fauftlna^ another a fully, and another a Mountebank; and I was (truck with Ad- miration to confider huw many Heroes, and Pa- triots, and Legiflators, and Monarchs, were now contained on a Sheet of Paper, whofe great Souls, in Time to come, may make them efteem the whole World too confined a Scene for their Ambition. I remembered ROYAL SOCIETY. 153 t'-membered the Sarcafm of Jitvenal, as true before Life as after Death, Expends Annibalem^ &c. and I icpeated, with a kind of Enthufiafm, thofe excel- lent Lines in Dr. Garth's Difpenfary ; Ntnv fte unfolds the faint and darvjning Strife Of infant /itoms kindling into Life ; Hew the dim Speck of Entity began 5"' extend :ts recent Form, and jiretch to Man ; To koiu minutt an Origin ive o*we Young Ammon, Czefar, and the great Naffau. But now the great Trial of all was come, which, I believe, would have puzzled a whole College of Phyficians, and fet at nought all the confulting Powers of If rw k Lane. The preparatory Points were eftabliflied to my entire Satisfaction, but whether Animalcula could be ripened into Exiftence, by paffing through the feminal Veflels of a Woman only, was ftill a Queftion ; and how to make the Experiment, hie labor, illudopus. Very hard it was to know when a Woman had imbibed the neceflary Seed j and harder ftill to reftrain her from all Com- merce with Man, till the Experiment had Time to take Effect. If I made Choice of a married Woman, there the Difficulties were innumerable ; or if I made Choice of a Maiden, Virginity has, in all Ages, been efteemed a very brittle Ware ; and, I prefume, has not greatly mended its Nature of later Days. Some- times I thought of taking a Wife, over whom I could ufurp an abfolute Authority, and lock her up till the Day of her Labour ; but fearing (he might grow defperate, when fhe fhould find I had only married i 5 4 A LETTER TO THE married her to try an Experiment upon her ; and at the fame Time grieve i:fly miftrufting the Continu- ance of my own Affection, after I had accompliftied my Ends, I dim-lifted that Project, and refolvcd, after much Perplexity, to hazm' all upon a Cham- bermaid. According, having firft perfuaded the Girl he was iU, I read Jacob Bebmen five Times over 5 and then mixing up fome Animalcula in a Chymical Preparation, I adminiftered them to her as a Dofe of Phyfick. After which I difcarded my Fcotman, and fuffered no Male Creature, in hu- man Shape, to approach my Doors j nay, fo great was my Caution to have my Stratagem fucceed, that I hardly permitted a Dog of the mafculin.e Gender to enter my Houfe. In about fix Months it was very vifible the Medi- cine had taken Effect ; and let the Reader imagine,, if he can, the Joy I felt, when nrft I perceived her begin to bourgeon : At the fame Time too a little Circumftance happened, which heightened my Joy, and put thj Manner of her Conception beyond all Poflibility of Doubt. As I was fitting alone one Morning in my Study, ruminating on this great Event, the Girl came in to me with Tears in her Eyes, and having obtained my Leave to afk a Que- ftion, entreated me earneftly to tell her, if it was pojjlble to breed after three Tears? Though I guefled the Drift of her Qiieftion, yet, affecting an Air of Ignorance, and putting on a grave Phyfician's Af- pect, I ordered her to be more explicit ; whereupon {he proceeded, with fiequent Breaks of Crying, to tell ROYAL SOCIETY. 155 tell me how much fhe was r.ftonifhed at fome Symp- toms; that Heaven above knew what was the Matter with her, but jbe verily believed herfelf a breeding., and yet jhe could take her Bible Oath., jbe had not been been been touched by a Man for thefe three Tears []. So then, faid I, with a fterner Countenance, and a Tone of Severity, You confefs then that about three [t] When I wrote this, I had not feen a remarkable Cafe published in the Philosophical Tranfaflions of September, of a Woman, from whom a Fcetus was extracted, that had been lodged thirteen Years in the Fallopian Tubes, fent from Riga by Dr. James Mounfey, Phyfician to the Caxarina's A my, together with the Bones of the faid Fetus, ag a Prefent to the Royal Society of London. The Woman, as we are told in that ingenious Treatife, was a Soldier's Wife of Abo in Finland, of amlddle Stat'urf, who, being pregnant for the third Time in the Year 1730, was afflifted with violent Pains and Twiftings of the Bowels, &c. and continued fickly for ten Years afterwards. In the Month of Sep. tember 1741, ihe pierced her Navel with an Awl, out of which ran a yellow-coloured Water, fc. In the Month of f jun: two fmall Bones came out, &t. and in QElober 1742, me was taken in Hand by Dr. Bfttmfty, and Mr. G title, Surgeon, who thruft a grooved Probe into the Fiftula, and made an Incifion with a Biftory, upwards and obliquely, from the / inea alba, into the Cavity of the Al>domcn\ but the Wo- man being unruly (as well /he might) and the Operation not going on according to the Doctor's liking, he proceeded no further till the next Day, &c, At the next Operation the Incifionwas carried downwardsj but Csre taken not to make the external Wound larger than needful, left the Omentumaod Guts fliould fallout, &c. In fhort, the Fcetus was at length extracted Piece- meal at feveral difficult Operations. Now comparing all thefe Circumftances together, it feems reasonable to believe that this Fruit never was in the Cavity of the Womb, but that the impregnated 0-vum was ftopt in its Paflage through one of the Fallopian Tubes, where it grew and was detained fo many Years. Nothing therefore can be concluded from hence againft the Caufe J have affigned of my Maid's Pregnancy (as a certain learned Gentle-, man of the Royal Socitiy, who communicated this Story to me, feem- ed to imagine) for the Cafes are very different ; and the uncommon Delay of this Finland Woman's Delirery was owing to the preter- natural Situation of the Fcetus. Years , S 6 A LETTER TO THE Years ago, you was guilty of Incontinency ! Yes Sir, replied (he, to be fare it would be a Folly to deny it to a Man of your Learning to be fur e 1 mufl con- fefs that about three Tears ago to be fur v, 5;>, I was not quite ft good. Sir, as I Jhould have been, Sir. My lajl Ma/ler, Sir, who was a Parfon, Sir^God forgive him and me too I am fur e I have repented it a hundred Times, and I hope he has done the fame The courteous Reader, I hope, will pardon my def- cending to fuch low Particulars, which, I confefs, are beneath the Dignity of a Philofopher ; but as it very much concerns me, in an Aftair of fuch Mo- ment and Importance to the World, to (hew how regularly and cautioufiy I proceeded, it was neceflary to defcribe the Girl's Simplicity as a Proof of her Honefty. Authors who write only for the Amufe- ment of Mankind, may choofe and omit Circum- ftances at their own Pleafure, according to the Rufe of Horace, %<* Defperes trattaia nitefcere poj/'e t relinquas. 'But we who are unfortunately tied down to Truth, muft write, as it were, in Fetters, and are obliged to keep on in the direct Road, without the Privilege of turning afide to entertain ourfelves with Profpe6ts. Be it fufficient, however, to fay, that at the nine Months End, the Girl was delivered of a chopping 'Boy, whom I have ever fince educated as my own, in fpite of all the Calumny of the Neighbourhood ; and I cannot doubt, but, in Time, he will rife to be a Judge or an Alderman* Thus, ROYAL SOCIETY. 157 Thus, Gentlemen of the Royal Society, I hope I have proved, in the moft inconteftable Manner, that a Woman may conceive without any Commerce with Man ; that the World has been in an Error for fix thoufand Years, and, probably, would have con- tinued in it fix thoufand more, if I had not been born on purpofe to break through filly Prejudices of Edu- cation, and undeceive Mankind in fo material a Point. Material I muft call it ; for how different is this from all the Difcoveries of Ifaac Newton the Star-gazer ! His, al! of them, end in Speculation, but mine ex- tend to Practice j his are only calculated for thePer- ufal of a few College-Pedants, but mine offer them- felves to the World in general : And I {hall flbortly publifli a large Volume to fhew that this is the moft natural Way of being born; grounding my Demonftration on the following infallible Argu- ment, which I have drawn up fyllogiftically, to prove my wonderful Talents in Logic. [c] Nature (fay certain Authors of great Erudi- tion) is a very frugal old Lady-, and a prodi- gious good CEconomift : She is obferved to- give herfelf as little Trouble as (he can, and to do every Thing at the cheapeft Hand. But Animalcula may be hatched as completely in a Female Womb, as when they take the more tedious Progrefs through the Loins of the Males alfo. [c ] This is a Method much praftifed by the learned Mr. W rb-~ *, I fuppofe for the fame Reafon, to fho*v his Skill in chopping Logic. 5 j 5 8 A LETTER TO THE Ergo, That is the right Road into Life, which is the ftiorteit Road. And now what fhall I fay next ? As it often hap- pens that the Ufe and Practice of a Thing are known, before the Theory of it is difcovered (for Inftance, Men of War could batter down Towns with Bombs, long before it was proved that Projec- tiles defcribe a parabolic Curve; and little Boys had amufed themfelves with the Shadows of a magicLan- thorn many a Day ere fome great Philofophers un- dertook to explain the Myfteries of that wonderful Machine) fo has it fallen out in the Subject now un- der our Confideration : Hiftory has here and there furniflied an Example, and fome Phyficians of Anti- quity have accidentally glanced upon the Subject ; but ftill I think I may challenge to myfelf the Merit of an original Invention ; and it would be very hard if a few Hints loofely dropt in old unfafhionable Au- thors, which too I never faw till after I had eftab- lifhed my Theory, fhall prevail fo far as to fix up- on me the odious Scandal of Plagiarifm. There are, I know, a Sort of malevolent Readers, who take an infinite Pleafure in telling you that all Authors have ftolen their Works fince the Days of one Orpheus j and how lucky it is for that old French Poet, that we know not the Names of any of his Predeceffors ! but more efpecially they have recourfe to this Device, whenever they find it not quite fo eafy to anfwer the Doctrine of a Book, and yet are determined to cry down its Reputation : Then we are fure to hear, Lord, ROYAL SOCIETY. Lord, Sir ! the Fellow Jlole it all ; there is not a Page, nor a Ling, nor a Word, nor a Syllable, nor a Letter^ nor a Comma of it his own ; I can turn to the very Book and Place from tvhence he pilfered it all. Now that J may anticipate this heavy Cenfure, and fave certain ingenious Critics the Trouble of turning back to the good old Writer (Peace unto his Manes, whoever he be) from whom I tranfcribed this little Treatffe, I have determined to produce of my own accord what few Paflages I have accidentally met with upon this Subject, and afterwards I (hall leave the World to decide, whether, in fpite of fuch occafional Hints, I may not ftill be allowed to be the fole Proprie- tor of this wonderful Hypothefis. Galen, in his celebrated Treatife upon the Meafles, wherein he endeavours to account for the Origin of that Diftemper, delivers it as a common Opinion, that it was brought into the World by a Woman, born without the Afliftance of a Father ; but he feems to treat this as a vulgar Fable, and calls it a Notion of the Multitude. Hippocrates informs us, that his Mother ufed fre- quently to tell him, (he had no carnal Intercourfe with his Father for near two Years before his Birth, but that (he found herfelf ftrangely influenced one Evening, as ihe was walking in a Garden. His Father obtained a Divorce on this Occafion, and the good Woman fell under the Reproach of all her Ac- quaintance : But I hope this Treatife will vindicate her -Jo ALETTERTOTHE her Memory from the Infamy, which has ever fince attended it through all fucceeding Times. If we look back to the fabulous Ages of the World, when everything was aggrandized by poetic Ornament, we read of many ancient Ladies, got with Child by fuch impoflible Methods, that I believe they muft have owed their Pregnancy to what I have been defcribing, and I hope all Commenta- tors and Mythologifts will, for the future, fall in with my Explication. For what elfe are we to think of Juno's growing big-bellied only with eating a Piece of Cabbage [d] which Flora gathered for her in the Olenian Fields ? 'Tis plain {he muft have fwallowed fome Animalcula at the fame Time, and thus be- came with Child of Mars. -How elfe are we to ac- count for the odd Conception of Danae in her Im- prifonment ? Some old Oracle had foretold, that her Father Acrifius {hould have his Throat cut by a Grand fon ; and to defeat this Prediction, he locked up his only Daughter in a brazen Tower, under fuch clofe Confinement, that it was impoflible for any thing but ^Vind to get Accefs to her ; yet in thefe Circumftances the Lady was brought to Bed of the moft mighty Perfeus^ who accomplifhed the Oracle in putting Acrifius to Death. The Poets indeed tell us aftrajige improbable Story of Jupiter's raining himfelf through the Tiles of the Houfe in a [/taflc, dummodo cajla, viro-? But before this was known, when the World was fooliih enough to f uppc'e Coition always previous to Conception, how many Ladies have innocently loft their Reputation ? How many unhappy Creatures have fallen under the Cenfures of a malicious W^orld, been excluded from Vifits, left out of Card-Parties, and pointed at by Prudes, only for the flight Incon- venience of happening to be brought to Bed before Marriage ? Whereas, when once this Difcovery is fpread, it will be eafy for a young Lady to lofe her Maidenhead without lofing her Character, and to take the Air without any Dread of Calumny and Re- proach in Confequence of fo innocent a Gratification. Jam redit et virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna, j^am )wva progenies ccelo demittitur alto. Another great Benefit refulting from this Difco- very, w.ill be the utter Abolition of Martrimony, [jf] Invent at aut qul vitam excoluerefcr arlts, VzRG. Quoted for the Sake of a Quotation, RO'VAL SOCIETY. 165 which has long been complained of by all the polite World, as a Nufance grievous and intolerable, in- confiftent with all the Articles of modern Pleafure, and deftru&ive of that Freedom, which of Right be- longs to Gentlemen. In confequence whereof, we fee Dukes and Dutchefles, Lords and Ladies, and all the Great, whoring, divorcing, poifoning one ano- ther, ftarving one another, cutting one another's Throats, and practifing every other genteel fafhiona- ble Art to break loofe from their Fetters, and refcue themfelves from this worfe than Egyptian Bondage. Now as I am a moft devoted Admirer of the Great, apt to efteem every thing wife, lawful and right, that comes from the Mouth of a Nobleman, I account myfelf happy to be Author of a Scheme, that falls in fo naturally with their Defires, and will deliver themfromthat moftperniciouslnftitution, fupported by no other Authority than that of the Scriptures, an Authority long obfolete and out of Date with the politer Part of Mankind ! And as I cannot doubt but all Women for the future will choofe to propa- gate the Species upon the Plan here recommended, I can aflure them for their Comfort, that their Satif- faftion will be as great in this Way, as in the ordi- nary and coarfer Communication with Man ; which indeed the Fondnefs that Ladies have alwaysexprefT- cd for Zephyrs, abundantly proves, though hitherto they have been ignorant of the Caufe of the agree- able Senfations excited by that amorous Wind. But the moft capital Advantage of all remains yet to be told, and in defcribing of this I muft exalt my Style : M 3 Major i66 A LETTER TO THE Major rerum mibi nafcitur or Jo, Majus opus moveo. There is a certain Diftemper moft fatally epide- mic, which has much employed the Speculation, and more thePra&ice, of Mankind. Whether with Phy- ficians we call it the Lues Venerea^ with 'Pothecaries the Venereal Difeafe, with Ladies the French Dijltm- per, or with fine Gentlemen the P x j it is known by all thefe Denominations, befidesan infinite Num- ber of inferior Titles, that mark the feyeral Stages of this puiflant, deftroying Peftilence. Nomina mille t Mille nocendi artes. Some tell you that Columbus brought it over from his new American World in a Ban-box ; and that it is nothing more than the Yaws operating differently upon European Conftitutions [h]. Others are con- tented to go no further for it than France ; and very confidently aflure us, that it was imported hither among other elegant Accomplishments, for which we have been indebted to that Land of Luxury and Refinement. But though its Origin be doubtful and uncertain, its Atchievements are unqueftionablyfure; and, oh, that I had the Pen of Fracajlorius to defcribe [/>] However fome People may contend for the modern I ntroduftioa of this Diftemper, I am perfuaded it is as old as the Days of Hercules, and that this illuftrious Giant-killer was infefted with it. The enyc- nomed Shirt of Nefliu, and the Torments he fuffered by putting it on, are plainly a Poetic Allegory, which I interpret in the following eafy Manner. Ne/ui p--x'd his Whore, and Ihe px'd Htrculn. the ROYAL SOCIETY. 167 the Ravage it commits upon a human Body ! Lend, lend me Afliftance, all ye battered Rakes, while with blackeft Ink I undertake to paint the Havocks of that honourable Difeafe, of which thoufands of your Forefathers have died, and whereof yourfelves fo vain-glorioufly boaft in Taverns and Coffee-houfes, to the great Advancement of Virtue and Morality. Say, illuftrious and and , for ye know, with what fatal Rapidity its Venom over-runs the Conftitution, how it undermines the Teeth, un- hinges the Nofe, foddens the Flefh, ftrikes Rotten- nefs to the Bones, and poifons the very fpinal Mar- row. Say, farther, moft enviable Sons of Pleafure ; for this alfo Experience may have taught you, how it fpreads by Contagion, and operates by Commu- nication. Some Hufbands give it their Wives, and fome Wives give it their Hufbands. Nor does the Evil end with Life, but revives again in the Pofteri- ty, is entailed on the Heirs of great Families, inherit- ed in fure Succeffion, and oftentimes, too often, proves the only thing that is inherited by Heirs of noble, but corrupted Blood. Hence arifes an enervat- ed Progeny, weak in their Perfons, and weaker in their Underftandings; a puny, ill-compounded, un- manly Race, who bear about them the Marks of their Father's Wickednefs in moft legible Charac- ters ; and though liable to be blown away by every Blaft of Wind, have the Arrogance to ftrut through the Mall with Swords by their Sides, and fancy themfelves Men. Alas ! their Mother's Chamber- maids would make better Men. juventus orta parentibuj Infecit aquor fanguine Gcdlico. M 4 Now io8 A LETTER TO THE Now thisDiftemper, fo terrible in its Effects, and fo pernicious in its Confequences, has been attacked for many Centuries, by allth' Efculapian Art in vain; [/'] Mercury has exhaufted all its fruitlefs Powers ; Salivations exerted their cleanfing Influence without Effect ; and the mighty Ward^ with his illuftrious Pill, fits defpairing in an Elbow-chair at Whitehall, to find himfelf defeated by this invincible Difeaf*. But what neither phyfical Prefcriptions, norchirur- gical Operations, what nekher Empirics with their Pills, nor Graduates of the Faculty with their Purges, have been able to accomplifh ; I pretend to perform in a fafe, eafy, effedtual Manner, (abfit fuperbia ditto] and for ever to drive out the P x from his Majeft)'s Dominions. If all in female Shape (for I dare not call them all Women) will agree to feclude themfeives from the foul Embraces of Men for one Year (which I account a very modeft Propofal, as I offer them abetter Gratification in lieu of what they are to forfeit, this ruinous Plague muft ceafe from among us). And I humbly recommend it, with all due Submiffion, to the Judgment and Confederation of the rnoft honourable the L ds of the P. C. whe- ther a R 1 Edicl: would not be well employed, to forbid all Copulation throughout the Kingdom for the Space of one whole Year, beginning from Lady- day next, in order to flop the Growth and Increafe of a Contagion much more fatal than that which [] Ctffar tells us pur old. Briti/h Anceftors worshiped Mercury above all the Gotis, Deum maxlme Mercurium colunt, &c. Their mo- dern Descendants ftill worfhip the fame Deity. 5 now ROYAL SOCIETY. 169 now fweeps away our horned Cattle, and equally deferving the Interpolation of Authority. But Ohjedors ftill may be apt to queftion, whe- ther your double dtftiird Children, whopafs through the feminal VefTels of both Sexes in the old Wa^ of Generation, are not of Courfe more healthy and vi- gorous, than -ywc fingle-dlftilFd Infants will be, who are to receive only the Nature of a female Womb ? In Confutation of which filly Prejudice, though I could produce feveral very cogent Arguments from the Depth of Philofophy, yet I chooff to anfwer this Query by another ; Whether the prefent Race of Fathers, efpecially thofein high Life, under the Cir- cumftances I have defcribed, are qualified to beget Children at all ? But when Women are left to breed of themfelves, and the Venereal Difeafe is baniftved from among us, we may then hope to fee an OfF- fpring robuft and healthy ; Eritljh Valour will then recover its ancient Glory ; new Creffys, new dgin- courts, new Blenheims fucceed to grace our Annals, Nor Henry be the laji that conquers France. Wherefore, not doubting but my Scheme will immediately take Place, I (hall apply very foon for a Patent to fecure to myfelf the fole Advantage of this Difcovery ; and in the mean Time I have taken a Houfe in the Hay-market^ dans la marcbe au foin y where Ifhall give Attendance to all Women defirous of breeding, from the Hours of Seven or Eight in the Evening, till Twelve at Night ; and if they will quietly fubmit thetnfelves to my Experiment, I will enfure i;o A LETTER TO THE, & f . cnfure their Pregnancy at the proper Time, calcu- lating from the Hour they did me the Favour of their Vifit. Let them confuler that the Glory and In- tereft of Great Britain are now incumbent upon them, that it is in their Powe-- to raife our Vigour, and, as I may fay, to mend the Breed of Englijkmen. In fo doing, their Names will be recorded in Hiftory, as the illuftrious Propag .tors of Heroifm, the Found- ers of a new Se&of Men, and be handed down to Pofterity equally famous with the Spartan and Ro- man Ladies, whofe many gallant Achievements for the Good of their Countries, in Times of Diftrefs, engaged Poets and Hiltorians in their Praife. But principally and earneftly I addrefs myfelf to you, Gentlemen of the Royal Society, who Jhine in the Dignity of F. R. S. and I hope you will recom- mend this Treatife to the World with all the Warmth and Zeal, that becomes the Promoters of ufeful Knowledge, the Patrons of Learning, the Judges of Science, and the Inveftigators of Truth. I am, Gentlemen, with all poffible Refpedl:, De- ference, Submiffion, and Veneration, Tour moJJ obedient, bumble, end devoted Servant, ABRAHAM JOHNSON. A MO DEST DEFENCE o F GAMING. Firft Printed in the Year 1754. C '73 ] MODEST DEFENCE O F GAM IN G. . OF ail the zealous Efforts that have been made by the Reformers of this Chriftian Agci to check the Pittgrefs of Vice and Immorality, the Clamour againff Gaming hath met with the greateft Number of Voices to fupport it : the Journalift worries it from the Prefs : the Preacher curfes it moft devoutly from the Pulpit ; and to crown all, the Tragedian thunders againft it from the Stage. This laft courageous Author, in the! Hurry of his Valour, difdaining the Precaution of moft Heroes, who have ufually entered upon thefe Adventures, cafed in Poetry, and armed at all Points with Rhyme and Metaphor, fallies out with no earthly Weapon, but honeft blunt Profe, upon the old Scheme of fighting Giants, and taming Monftcrs, But firft he fends out his little Dwarf of 174 AMODEST DEFENCE of a [a] Prologue, to challenge the Hydra from her Den, and to defire fhe would come out and be tamed : they meet j and after a Fight of three Hours, the Monfter having received fome fecret Wound, nobody knows where, falls down and ex-* pires. So Moore cf Moore- Half i With Nothing at all Hathjlain the Dragon of Wantley. But, in the Name of Fortune^ what has the So- ciety ofGame/Jers done to provoke all this Violence ? If the Zeal of Gentlemen lies upon their Hands, let them however employ it upon its proper Obje&s. There are Vices at leaft as epidemic as Gaming, and far more pernicious, that may employ all the Wit and Genius any modern Author has to fpare. Hath Extortion been baniflbed from the Seat of Trade ; Perjury from the Courts of Juftice ; or hath Covent Garden been deftroyed by Fire from Heaven ? What Wifdom is it to connive at thefe Enormities, and vent our Spleen upon an innocent Diverfion, which^ if an Infirmity, is furely the Infirmity of Noble Minds ? That this Caufe fhould hitherto have wanted Ad- vocates, will, no doubt, appear fingular : for though the Profeflbrs themfelves are not at leifure to deal in [a] Our Author, Sirs, is come a Monfter- taming, Arm'd at all Points agajnft the Hydra. Gaming. Prologue to the Gamtfttr. Controverfy, O F G A M I N G. 175 Controverfy, it might be expe&ed their Dependants would take the Pen in their Behalf. However, fince Gratitude has not done them this good Office, Ju- ftice (hall ; and 1 hope thofe noble Perfonages will interpret, with their ufual Candour, the Intentions of one, who honours them for their Principles, though he is a Stranger to their Perfons : Principles, that open and enlarge the Soul ; dear to Philofophy, becaufe they are founded in the Contempt of worldly Things ; Friends to Policy, becaufe they make Money circulate, and teach Induftry the Way to thrive j fomething allied to Religion too, for they fill the Hungry ivitb good Things, and fend the Rich empty away. In order to fet this Matter in the cleared Light, I fhall fairly ftate and anfwer thofe Objections that are made to the Game/ier, confidered as Matter of a Family, and Member of the Community ; that we may fee how far his Profeffion can be thought to affect either Domeftic Peace, or public Happinefs : After which I (hall briefly enumerate the Advantages that refult from this Practice, which either Careleff- nefs hath overlooked, or Prejudicce mifconftrued. And firft it is rcprefented as a Matter of Scandal, that a Gentleman fhould indulge himfelf in a per- petual Courfe of licentious Diverfions, while his Lady is left to bear the Burthen of Family- cecono- my, and repining for the Lofs of that Tndernefs to which fhehath an undoubted Claim. Here I obferve, how difficult it is for Englljbmen to preferve Reverence, or even common Modefty, when 176 A MODEST DEFENCE when they are difcourfing of their Superiors. Here is the whole Bqdy of the Female Nobility and Gentry ftigmatized in a Lump, as if they fubmit- ted to the v ulgar Drudgery of infpe&ing the Accounts and Morals of their Families : Such Calumnies as thefe are not the iefs injurious to Decency, becaufe in this Country of Freedom they may be vented with Safety j neither is it any ways fit, that Cha- racters of this exalted Rank mould lie at the Mercy of the vulgar Herd, who judge without Diftin&i- on, and cenfure without Feelingi As to the other Chimaera, that Women of Qua- lity ever repine for their Hufbands Abfence, or that one fingle {haggling Idea ever went in fearch of them, or their Amufements, their Bufmefs, or their Company, I can only wonder, where it found an Imagination to harbour it. Is any one fo wild to conceive that Numbers marry for any other Purpofe than to get a Separation as raft as poiftble ? Some wed for a Title ; fome are weary of a Mother's Lead ing- firings ; fome fettle in the World, that they may run loofe about the Town, and indulge the Marrbge Liberties : 'Tis the Lawyer, not the Prieft, tyes the Knot ; they mortify for the prefent, to have Pleafure in Reverfion. But the ftrongeft Objection againft this Commerce in the Eye of the World is ftill behind ; and that is, Allegiance to the higher Powers : For there reigns in this Ifland a Monarch, who unfortunately could not be prevailed upon to abdicate at the Revolution, though O F G A M I N G. 177 though he had always claimed and exercifed a dif- penfmg Power ; the Prince I mean is Fajhion. His Laws differ in one Refpect from thofe of the Medes and Perfians ; for they altered not ; whereas his are (hifting every Hour j but they agree in this Point, that whoever oppofes them had as good be caft into the Den of Lions, and devoured out of the way ; for no human Creature will give him Countenance, or be feen in his Company. This Prince, like a wife Legiflator, hath built his Syftem of Government upon the old Foundation of Rewards and Puniftiments. The Ladies of England enjoy from Fajhion, as the reft of us do from the Common Law, certain Rights and Privileges, that are not to be forfeited, except by their own Confent. It would be needlefs to recite them at prefenf; they are contained at large in the Grand Charter Fajhion gave his Subjects ; they, on their fide, engaged to fubmit their Thoughts, Words, and Actions to his Direction, and to do him Homage as their Liege Sovereign. From this fhort Sketch it will be eafy to point out the Confequence, if any Woman of Fajhion were to commence an Acquaintance with her own Hufband : She would be excommunicated from every Aflembly in Town, and her Name expunged from the Catalogue of human Beings. Gentlemen therefore may well be excufed for not obtruding Vifits, which are unconjlitutwnal^ and void in tbemfehes ; neither ought the Gamefters in parti- cular to be taxed for Principles which they only hold in common with all Perfons'of Figure and Tafte. VOL. I. N It i;8 A MODEST DEFENCE It is further alledged againft the Practice of Gam- ing, that the Heirs of great Families are often ruin- ed by the Vices of their Parents, and reduced from a State of Affluence to ftruggle againft Poverty with a Spirit broken by Difappointment. Let us argue this Matter calmly. The Mifchiefs of a vicious Education areuniverfally lamented ; and, I hope, all will concur to apply the Remedy, where- ever found, without any Mixture ofPafiionand Pre- judice. I fay then, it is one main End of the wife Infcitution of Gaming, to prevent or correct the Ef- fects of a vicious Education, and to fecureour Youth from Intemperance by the falutary' Reftraints of \Vant and Poverty. It is the Confidence of inherit- ing great Eftates that naturally begets Idlenefs and Debauchery ; and do we cenfure thofe whofe un- wearied Practice it is to abate this Confidence ? It is to this independent Spirit we owe the Exiftence of thofe Creatures that walk upright, and are called Bucks ; and from this is derived that monftrous Brood of Country Squires, whofe fole Bufmefs and Pleafure it is to kill Foxes ; a Practice that cannot eafily bejuftified either to God or Man, becaufe thofe Animals do lefs Mifchief in a Manor, and are a far more rational Vermin, than themfelves. But if the Principles of Play were duly attended to, the Heirs of Gaming Families would reflect on their precarious Situation, and (belter themfelves in fome Liberal Profefiion : They would confider, that Induftry O F G A M I N G. 179 Induftry and Application might fet things right, and make them almoft as rich as their younger Brothers. Intereft would charm them to Virtue, though they had ftopt their Ears to Reafon and Confcience : For all Well-bred Perfons are agreed to deteft Poverty more, if poffible, than Learning itfelf. Still it will be urged, that the Daughters of Gamefters are unprovided for in this Scheme, whom Cuftom, if not Nature, hath barred from all Re- fources of Induftry, except fuch as are berieaththe Dignity of noble Birth ; and therefore, in the Cafe abovementioned, they are inevitably expofed either to Poverty or Contempt. 'Tis confeffed, their Education differs from ours : They cannot flourifli at the Bar, or blufter ia a Campaign ; but they may exercife their Genius at Wbijl) or their Courage at the Brag-Tabk j the Card Aflemblies are ftill open to their Induftry ; the nobleft Scene, wherein the Female Talents can be exerted : Neither is any great Fund neceflary for this, if we confider the known Prerogatives of the Sex : When they win, they have fpeedier Payment ; when they lofe they have longer Credit. And cer- tain it is, whatever Pain it may give us to confefs it, the Ladies have the Powers of Gaming in great- er Perfection than the Men : What Enthufiafm in their Hopes ! what Judgment in their Fears ! what Skill in changing Places and veering about, when the Wind of Fortune is in their Teeth ! how dextroufly do they fliuffle ! how critically do they cut ! how do N 2 they i8o AMODEST DEFENCE they penetrate into an Adverfary's Game as it were with a Glance ! then they calculate ! Thought cannot keep Pace with them : doubtlefs they play the JPhole Game with greater Succefs than we can pretend to do. But fuppcfmg they had no Refource ; it is only a particular Inftance of Diftrefs from which no State hath been exempted ; an Accident by which the beft Purpofes of Induftry and Virtue have fometimes mifcarried : it is no Difgrce to a Gamefter that he is foiled by Fortune, who hath lurched Generals in her Time, and Statefmen too when they have look- ed wifeft. Some, like Roderigo, to put Money in their Purfe, have fold all their Lands; why not? Gaming, like the Law, abhors Perpetuties. Property is in conftant Circulation; but then, like the Sea, what It lofes on one Shore it gains on another ; and if fome few can be mentioned whom Play hath redu- ced to Beggary, I could engage (if it would not of- fend their Modefty) to name many more whom it has taken out of the Mire to Jet them with Princes. Now to view this Affair in another Light : Pray where is the Difference, in point of Morality, be- tween the Gamefter that trafficks with his Stock at home, and the Merchant that fends it abroad on fo- reign Ventures ? But it will be alked, " Do I call " the Profeffion of Gamejlers a Trade ?" Yes, cer- tainly ! one of the moft flourifhing in the Kingdom. And O F G A M I N G. 181 And if they fhould getthemfelves eredted into a Cor- poration, 'tis what I have long expected, and they cannot do a better thing. But to proceed : the Si- tuation of our Country inclines us to Commerce, and the Genius of our People determines them to Play. The Merchant often rifks his whole Effefts in one Bottom, and the Gentleman often hazards all his Efiate upon one Rubber : 'Tis truethey are both liable to the Strokes of Fortune ; for one cannot command the Winds and the Waves, any more than the other can the Aces and Honours ; but their Defigns are the fame, equally tending to advance their Family, and to ferve their Country. The whole Diftin&ion is, that when the fatal Stroke happens, one is ftyled a Bankrupt, the other a Cull ; but for my own Part, I muftbe indulged in calling the Gamefter, under thofe Circumftances, a Broken Merchant^ becaufe it was the Term we ufed at School when a Boy had loft all his Marbles. But now, to fee the different Treatment the mif- judging World affords to thefe two baffled Adven- turers : One is received with Pity, the other with Infamy; neglected by his Friends, infulted by his Enemies, defpifed by all. This is the Reward of diftrefTed Merit in this Northern Climate ! Thefe are the Fruits a Gentleman is to expect after hav- ing Sacrificed his Time, Health, and Quiet, in the Profecution of a noble Scheme, merely becaufe he has happened, in the Experiment, to beggar himfelf and his Posterity. N 3 But i8z A MODEST DEFENCE But I hope tbefe Gentlemen, when they are brought to a Situation wherein they (ball no longer chocfe to be popular^ I truft, they \vill appeal from the Clamours of the Multitude, to the ftill Voice of their own Confcience And when they fhall hear themfelves traduced as Poifoners of Morals, and Corruptors of Youth, they will lay their Hands up- on their Breafts (where they will be fure to find all quiet) and reflect that all this happened to Socrates ago. I novv come to thofe Objections wherein the Gamejler\s taxed as an Enemy to the general Good of the Community. And firft, thofe old-fafhioned Politicians (there are not many of them left) who think Righteoufnefs exalteth a Nation, are in Pain for the general Defection to Vice, which Gaming oc- cafions ; and they are grievoufly afraid that the hor- rid Oaths and Blafphemies which are daily vented, and numberlefs Frauds which are incefTantly prac- tifed, will fuon complete the Meafure of our Iniqui- ties, and bring on the third Earthquake very (hortly. As to Oaths, the Objection, I muft needs fay, is frivolous enough ; for all Perfons are agreed, Gen- -temen muft fwear fomewhere, what is the matter whether it be done in the Progrefs of a Rubber, or an Intrigue, in IV- tis Cbocolate-houfe^ or a Lady's Bed-Chamber ? But for my own Part, fmcePerju- tries have been fo freely tolerated of late, I thought, (and if I am wrong I beg Pardon for a very innocent 2 Miftake) O F G A M I N G. 183 Miftake) I took it for granted that Oaths had been allowed^ as tending to enliven Converfation, and to revive Eloquence. The Suppofition of Blafphemy muft proceed from a Want of Candour, which, I hope, few will imitate. Such Words fhould not be rafhly applied to large AfTemblies, where it is odds but far the greater Part are entirely innocent ; for how can Men blafpheme a Power which they do not acknowledge to exift ? As to Frauds, they could never be fufpected, 'if the Principles on which Gentlemen regulate their ConducT: were once known, which I fhall therefore take leave to difclofe as briefly as poflible. It is agreed by Philofophers, there is a ftri& Ana- logy between the Natural and Moral Syftems. Now as the Mafs of Nature, according to Arijlotle^ is compounded out of four principal Ingredients, to which he afterwards added a<^uinta EJftntia, of more refined Nature and occult Dualities ; fo Morality is formed in like manner out of four Elements, which are vulgarly ftyled the Cardinal Virtues, befldes which there is a ghtinteffence called Honour , for the Ufe of the Nobility, Gentry, but No Others ; for thus the matter is ordered ; the Mob content them- felves with the Elements, leaving to the Quality the fole PofTeflion of the QuinteJJence. As to defining it, I (hall not fet about it for the prefent, nor in all Likelihood for the Time to come, it being a thing much eafier to be felt than underftood. And here N 4 -184. A MODEST DEFENCE without the leaft Intention to offend the Clergy (for whofe Function I have a fincere Reverence) I muft have Permiflion to hint one thing. It would be well taken, if they would dr6p this Subject entirely in all their Difcourfes and Writings. There is a fecret Impediment in a Gown and Band, which difquali- fies the Owner from faying any thing to the Purpofe on this head ; for as a Noble Lord well obferved, Honour fhould never be mentioned in the Pulpit, nor Religion out of it. Not that I think Jujlice fhould altogether be difcarded ; and 1 am of opinion that Temperance, with fome few Improvements, might- be maxle ufeful enough : But Honour ! By Heavens it 'voere an eafy Leap To pluck bright Honour from the pale -fa? d Moon, Or diuidlil>et indutui celeberrima per loca vadet, Perfonamque feret non incondnnus utramque. Hor. Hit Dre/s, tbo* 'varied, fix" 'd the public Eyes, And flew 1 d an Elegance that mock'd Difgutfe. Ariftippus had a wonderful Penchant toward the Fair Sex : He would ride Poftat any Time, rather than baulk his Affignations : And once it is record- ed he made a long Voyage, for the Pleafure of con- verung with the celebrated Lais, the F nny M-rry of her Age. But here the Scholars have far out- (tripped their Matter, if we except the Sailing Expe- dition, which Fortune hath put out of the Queftion> by providing them with Miftrefifes, as well as Sur- geons, in every Street. t, Ariffippi. It O F G A M I N G. 189 It will not appear ftrange, after what was faid in the laft Paragraph, that drijlippits had feveral na- tural Children ; but there being no Foundling Hofpi- tal in thofe Days, he told their Mothers, in bis eafy Way, Procreation was not what he defired or in- tended ; that for his Part, he confidered Children as mere bodily Secretions : However, if the Parijh chofe to provide for them, he had no Objection. Our Proceeding, till of late, was the exact Coun- terpart of this : Now indeed the Cafe is altered ; and Gentlemen commit Fornication in the Spirit of Patriotifm, in order to raife Supplies for the Herring Fijhery. However, there is one thing which it would be unfair in me to fupprefs : Horace introduces Ari- Jtippus holding a Converfation with Diogenes the Cynic, wherein he fays of himfelf, what Hiftory hath likewife confirmed j - Equusutme portet, a/at rex, Qjjicium facia - 1 fell my Flattery for Gain, And fanun for Luxury 'which Kings maintain* The Philofopher, it feems, not being born to an independent Fortune, condefcended to accept certain Gratuities from the Princes and Great Men of his Time ; and, for fear of lofing his Pen/ion, was their veryobfequious and devoted humble Servant ; which is the only material Point, wherein his Character 5 differs i 9 o A MODEST DEFENCE differs from that of our Nobility, to whom nothing of this Sort can, with any Colour, be objected. But to return to my Argument (which I do with the fame Pleafure that a Gentleman who has cutout, returns to a Rubber}^ another Advantge of Gaming is, that it clears the Mind of many uneafy Paflions. Tally has left us a Treatife againft Per- turbations ; but, in my Opinion, Mr. Hoyle has pub- lifhed a much bet;er for Ufe and Practice : For whoever has ftudied the Works of this Philofopher, enjoys a State of moft bleffed Infenfibility : He is in perfect Charity with all Mankind, forgiving Injuries, and forgetting Benefits : He has a Wife and Chil- dren, Relations and Friends ; but he has neither Fears for their Welfare, nor Tears for their Dif- trefs : He bears their Afflictions with the moft Chri- ftian Patience, and kifles the Rod with which Pro- vidence hath chaftifed them : Conforming precifely to that Divine and Stoical Precept of Epiftetus, * c lf " thy Friend be in Extremity, thou mayeft fay " thou haft Pity on him ; but be fure not to feel '* any, becaufe that is an Infirmity beneath the " Dignity of M^n." A third Advantage refulting from this Practice is, the Influence it hath upon the Military Eftablifh- ment. It muft give Pleafure to every Lover of his Country, to obferve us exactly tracing the Plan, which Horace prefcribes in that folemn Ode ad- drefied to his Friends, for the reftoring warlike Difcipline O F G A M I N G. 191 Difcipline among the Reman Youth : Speaking of whom he fays ; Angufiam, amid, pauperism pati Robujlus acri militia puer Condifcat, & Partbosf traces Vexet eques mctuendus hajla. Let the brave Youths, wbofe Souls for Glory pant, Siijtain the manly Difcipline of Want, They ne'erjballjbrink from Deaths impending Blow, Nor breathe from Slaughter, 'till they've quelfd the Foe. Horace appears to have been very fond of this Doc- trine ; for, in another Part of his Works, he tells a Story of a Soldier in Lucullus's Army, who had been robbed of all his Money by Thieves. The Fel- low was in a violent Rage, fwore like a Trooper ; and, fully determined neither to give nor take Quar- ter, runs to the Head of the Forlorn-hope, ftorms a Caftle, and fhielded by his Defpair, came off without Lofs of Life or Limb ; but when he had reimburfed himfelf by Plunder, his Courage by no means feconded the Motion his General made to him foon after, to go upon fuch another Expediti- on j for he very cooly aflted him, D ye think me, Noble General, fuch a Sot ? Let him fake Cajlles who has nier a Groat. Mr. Pope. From whence we may collect, that Men in eafy Circumjlances are not the fitteft to go upon defperate Adventures j and that thofe who have charged through j 9 2 A MODEST DEFENCE through a Troop of Creditors, are moft likely to have the fame Succefs when they face an Enemy. What then {hall we fay to a Britijb Army, in which there are perhaps Half a Dozen Officers, all Gaming-proof, with empty Purfes, and ftarved Hopes, who fear neither God nor Devil, have felt the worft that Man can do, and have hid in a Fund of Defperation fu'iHcient to anfwer the Exigencies of an whole Campaign, though it were commanded by Hannibal himfelf ? And fhall we renounce fuch Advantages as thefe, in which the Interefts of Eu- rope are concerned, to gratify popular Prejudice and Clamour ? I take Gaming, confidered in this Light, to be the beft Inftrument for enabling us to fulfill our Treaties on the Continent. Another great Advantage of Gaming is, that, like Charity, it is the conftant Reconciler of Differences, and the chief Uniter of Mankind : Here Company meet without the leaft Regard to Age, Condition, or Party : Fortune's Veterans mix with young Ad- venturers, and teach them the Path to Honour : Ybc Ceurtier and the Patriot cut in together, equally complain of Grievances , and want Supplies : No Man's Principles are queftioned, if his Credit be uncontefted ; for Money is indifferent to Parties, and freely lifts itfelf en either Side. To conclude ; let me offer one Argument, which perhaps will weigh more with our Opponents than either O F G A M [ N G, &t. 193 cither Reafon or Juftice ; and that is, the Impoffi- bility of fucceeding in their Attempt. This is no Time to expe& Succefs in Projects that have beea fo often baffled. What hath the Wifdom of the Nation effe&ed by its Laws, or the Fury of the Rabble by its Clamours ? The Rulers have confpired together, and the People imagine a vain thing. Vain indeed ! They had better therefore renounce their Oppcfition while they can do it with a good Grace, and fay at once with the Great Durandarte^ \_c] Patience ! and jlmffle the Cards. [r] Vide Don Quixcte. VOL. I. O THE THE Pretty Gentleman ^ O R, SOFTNESS of MANNERS VINDICATED From the falfe RIDICULE exhibited under the Character of WILLIAM FRIBBLE, Efq, Firft Printed in the Year 1747. [ 197 1 T O Mr. G A R R I C K. SIR, AS in the Wantonnefs of your petulant Fancy, you have fallen .upon a Sett of Gentlemen, who cannot poflibly have given, you any perfonal Provocation j I have thought proper to prefix your Name to this their De- fence, and call upon you thus publickly to juftify your Behaviour, if it be poffible. But furely, Sir, it muft have been a fecret Admi- ratidn of their Elegant and Refined Manners, that called forth your Spleen, to turn into Ridicule thofe foft Accomplimments you de~ fpaired to equal ; and, as a Comic Writer did by the Divine Socrates, mimic and burlefque upon the Stage what you had not the Face to imitate in real Life. But your Wit was as im- potent as your Malice was ftrong. Your Farce was no fooner feen, than it was laughed at ; you know, Sir, it was laughed at ; moft pro- digioufly laughed at : A plain proof, that it was judged to be very ridiculous. O 3 Believe 198 To Mr. GAR RICK. Believe me, Sir, you have fallen moft mife- rably fhort in your Attempt. And how fhould it be otherwife ? Tou pretend to exhibit a Re- prefentation of ^he Pretty Gentleman^ who are by no means an Adept in the Character ! Tou I that are an entire Stranger to thofe fine Senfa- tkms, which are requi/ite to give a thorough Notion, and true Relifh of the Enjoyments it affords ! How fhould you paint what Nature has not given you Faculties to feel ? As far as She leads you by the Hand, you may, per- haps, fucceed : But to leave her behind, and treat thofe fecret Paths to which her Guidance never points ; %bis> Mr. Garrick, fbis is far beyond the Power of your limited Genius. So wifhing you more fortunate in your next Eflay, and wife enough never to expofe your- felf again to Derifion, by endeavouring to laugh out of Countenance a Character, which all fenfible Men look upon with Admiration and Aftoni/hmnt, I take leave to fubfcnbe my- felf, as much as I ought to be, S IR 9 Your Humble Servant ', PHILAUTUS. E 199 3 THE Pretty Gentleman, @V, TH E Theatre is faid to be the proper School for correcting the little Irregularities and Foibles of Mankind ; and no Method is held more likely to check the Growth of Folly, than to bring it to full View in Scenes of humo- rous Reprefentation. But then the Comic Writer fhould be certain, that what he endeavoured to ex- pofe, be really an Object of Ridicule; othewife he not only offends againft the Rules of the Drama, but the Precepts of Virtue. I am led into thefe Reflexions, by a late Perfor- mance exhibited on our Stage, wherein the Author attempts to laugh out of Countenance that mollify- ing Elegance which manifefts itfelf with fuch a be- witching Grace, in the refined Youths of this cul- tivated Age. It is in Defence of thefe injured Gen- tlemen that I have taken up my Pen ; and how well qualified I am to execute fuch an Undertaking, the Reader will be convinced, if he has but Pa- tience to perufe carefully the following Sheets. O j. Amidft 200 THE PRETTY GENTLEMAN. Amidft all my Refearches into the Hiftory of this Country, I do not find one PRETTY GENTLEMAN, till the glorious Reign of King James I. This Prince had an odd Mixture of contrary Qualities. In fome refpedls he retained the Rufticity of Gothic Man- ners ; in others, he was very refined. Lord Clarendop afTures us, *' That His Moft Sa- u cred Majejly was fo highly delighted withaBeau- ra#/ Publica cura. Thus THE PRETTY GENTLEMAN. 219 Thus have I prefented to the Reader's View, an Enumeration of the feveral Qu?.l : ties which conftitute A PRETTY GENTLEMAN. From whence it is eafy to collect the true Notion of Genuine Elegance ; which, without r.ry Appre- henfion of being difproved, I do not hefitate to de- fine thus 4{ Elegance is the Abfence or Debilitation of Maf- " culine Strength and Vigor,-Or rather, The Happy " Metamorphofis,-Or, The Gentleman turned La- " dy ; that is, Female Softnefs adopted into the *' Bread of a Male, difcovering itfelf by outward " Signs and Tokens in Feminine Expreflions, Ac- " cent, Voice, Air, Gefture, and Looks. Or, as the *' French more clearly define it, jfje ne fgai quoi." And now I appeal to the Judgment of the Im- partial, whether This be a Character, which de- ferves that Contempt and Ridicule fome rude and undifciplined Spirits have endeavoured to throw upon it ? It is impoflible that any ferious Perfon can entertain fuch a Thought. I call therefore upon the WJfdom of the Nation : I call upon the L ds, K ts, and B s, nowaf- fembled in P 1, to interpofe in this important Caufe, this truly National Concern. The Queftion is, Whether we fhall become more than Men, that is, Pretty Gentlemen ; or worfe than Brutes, 220 THE PRETTY GENTLEMAN. Brutes, /. e. Mafculine, Robuit Creatures with un- foftened Manners. The latter will infallibly be the Cafe, if an effectual Stop be not put to that licenti- ous Raillery, which would Jaugh out of Counten- ance the generous Endeavours of a Race of virtuous Youths, to poliih. ou: Afperity, mollify us into gentle Obfequioufnefi, and give us a true Relifh of all the dulcet Elegancies of Life ? I will fpeak without Re- ferve : Should not the Theatres be abf&lutely demolifb- ed? We have already in vain tried the lenient Mea- fures of Reftriction. Why then fliould we not now have Recourfe to the laft Remedy, and cut down the Tree, which, after all our Pruning and Culture, ftill continues to produce pcifonous Fruit ? The indulgent Reader, I dare fay, will approve the Method I prefcribe. But perhaps fo many Dif- faculties may arife to his Imagination, that he will conclude it impracticable. Difficulties there are, no doubt ; but One there is, which, if He can furmount, I myfelf will under- take to remove all the reft. Here lies the grand Impediment ! How can we expect the Favour of the Learned, or the Protection of the State, to chc-rilh ar.d fupport This Refinement^ when itsmoft inveterate E P. cmy is the very Man, who has always been the Standard of Tafle with the for- mer ; and is now raifed to a Poft, which gives him 'fuch an unhappy Influence in the latter ? Unhappy indeed for the Sons of Elegance ! For what can the moft Sanguine expert from one, who has made it the Bufmefs THE PRETTY GENTLEMAN. 221 Bufinefs of his Life, to bring into Repute the falfe Refinements of ancient Greece and Rome ? Will a Perfon of his Mafculine Talents become the Patron of foft and dulcified Elegance ? Will He give up that Attic lFlt t which has gained him fuch high Ap- plaufe, and made him the Delight of a mif-judging World, to cultivate Qualities, in which he is not formed to excel ? What then remains, but that the Sons of Elegance wait with Patience (for they are too gentle to ufe any violent Methods) till the kind Fates fliall remove this implacable Adverfary out of the World. And then, my foreboding Heart affures me, true Polite- nefs will thrive and profper, and fpread her fweet mollifying Influences over the Land, till nothing (hall be heard of or feen, but Softnefs and Complai- fance, Prettinefs and Elegance, Infantine Prattle, Lullaby Converfation, and gentle Love ; and every well-educated Male amongft us fliall become Mollis & par urn Fir ; that is, A PRETTY GENTLEMAN. THE THE POLITE PHILOSOPHER: O R, An ESSAY on that ART which makes a Man kappy in himfelf, and agreeable to others. He ivho intends /' ad but may alfo introduce them into Difcourie, provided it be before proper Com- pany, and on a proper Occafion. The un- polifhed Scholar lugs them in whenever they occur j quotes Ovid to his Miftrefs, and re- peats a Pafiage from Poly- ing Toafts, by an Equality of Behaviour, to avoid the Cenfure of thefe ill-natured Tatlers. Such baplefe Fate attend* the young and fair > Expos' d to open Force, and fecret Snare : Purfu'J by Men, ivarm luitb defttuBi Alas ! Gentlemen, what Miftakes are thefe ! How- will you be furprifed, if I prove to you, that you are in the fame Sentiments with me; and that you cou!4 not have io warm jRefentmcnts at thefe Pecadilloes ? if you d.d not think the Ladies more than mortal ? Are the Faults you would pafs by in a Friend, and fmile at in an Enemy, Crimes of fo deep a Dye in them, as not to be forgiven ? And can this flow from any other Principle, than a J^erfuafion, that they are more perfect in their Nature than we, and their Guilt the greater therefore, in departing, even in the fmalleft JDegree, from that Perfection ? Or, can there be a greater Honour to the Sex, than this Dig- nity, which even their Enemies allow them ? To fay Truth, Virtue and Women owe lefs to their Friends, than to their Foes ; fmce the vicious, in both Cafes, charge their own Want of Tafte on the Weaknefs of Human Nature ; purfue grofler Pleafures becaufe they are at Hand ; and negle6t the more refined, as Things of which their Capacities afford them no Idea. Bern with a fertile Giift tofenfual 'Joy, Souk of low Ta/fc the fa:red Flame diftroy ; By which, allitd to the etfareal Fire, Celeftial Views the Heroes Thoughts infpire ; 'Teach him in afublinifr Path to move, And urge him en to Glory and to Love : Paffiom which only gi-ve a Right to Fame, *To prefent Blif:, and to a deathlefs Name. Whde thofe mean Wretches, 8j fion, than the cold Efforts of the Clofet were ever able to produce. Thofe happy Turns, and emphaticalfprightly Phrafes, ^hich are flruck out by the Heat of ani- mated Converfation, and that genteel graceful Dignity .of Expreflion, which is peculiar to thofe who move in the higher Spheres of Life, will catch the Ear of him who is familiarly accuflomed to them, and fleal, in forne Degree, into his ov/n Diction, For as. our Senfes naturally retain the Print of the Images, which are commonly prefented to them ; fo our Language almoft unavoidably takes a Tincture from thofe, with whom we ufually converfe. Thefe Effects are fo 'conftant, that we feldom fail to difcover 'by a Man's .Writings, with what kind of Society he has generally mixed. I muft add j that in thefe high Scenes of Obferyation, there are frequently iuch lucky Hints thrown out, as prove a fruit- ful Source of Thoughts and Imagination, which would never have occurred to him in DEDICATION. in the ftudious Hour, or in the Company of meaner Spirits. Thefe,MyLoRD, are fome of the Ad* vantages, which Men of elevated Charac- ter and refined Genius, communicate to him who is honoured with their Intima- cy, and whole Mind is fufceptible of the Imprefiions. They raife him, as it were, above himfelf, giving him to enjoy fome Share of their Spirit, and darting a Light into his Breaft, from that Fire which en^ flames their own Qnafi lumen de lumine fuc accendunt. If, under the Incitement of thefe ani- mating Influences, he mould try to dif- play the Beauties of Delicacy -, the Great- nefs of the Encouragement may, in fome meafure, juftify the Boldnefs of the At- tempt ; though it will be far from excuf- ing the unfuccefsful Execution. And mould he happen not to fail ; he can claim no other Merit, but that of a faithful fince his Preteniions go no far- ther DEDICATION. 283 ther than to give them back the Images of their own Minds. With this View the following ESSAY was undertaken -, which is here, with a warm Senfe of Gratitude, addrefTed to Your LORDSHIP j whofe Indulgence lifted me up to that Experience of Life, and Obfervation on 1'afte and M.anjiers 9 which gave Birth to this Dengn, fuppli- ed me with Materials, and was the only Foundation, on which I could build any Hopes of Succefs. I am, My LORD, with the utmoft De- ference and Refpect, Tour LORDSHIP'S Moft Obedient and moft obliged Humble Servant, NATHANAEL LANCASTER. THE PREFACE. AMIDST the Variety of Competitions,, with which the Learned of this Nation have enriched the Republic of Letters* we ftiil want a Treatife upon that Quality r , which gives the finishing Touches to the Culture of the Underftandingi and diffufes the fined Delights through the Commerce of HUMAN LIFE. Though in the celebrated Performances of our molt elegant Writers, we meet with many mafterly Strokes, and beautiful Obfervations upon it ; yet, lying widely fcattered in various intermitted Speculations, they have not that Efficacy, which refults from a regular Plaa and connected Syftem. But if all that occurs were brought into one entire View, and ranged in the beft Order ; many Things would ftill be wanting to com- plete the Work, and give us that Fulnefs of Satisfaction, which we Ihould have receive^ had if$ PREFACE. had they entered profefiedly upon the Subje&i Therefore, as it is impoffible not to admire what they have done ; it is natural to wifh they had done more, and anticipated the Ne- cefiity of any farther Enquiries. This Omiffion, it has been faid, was owing to an Opinion, for fome Time too fuccefs- fully propagated That He only, who had attained the high Accomplishment, was equal to the Talk ; and that to undertake the Sub- ject, carried with it an Air of arrogating the Charadler. This was an Obftruftion not to be furmonnted by the cautious Candidate for literary Fame , fince the very Attempt to ob- tain, mult unavoidably fruftrate, his Hopes of public Approbation. If the Author of the following ESSAY had been perfnaded, either tha: this Opinion had any Foundation in Truth, or was ilill gene- rally received ; the fame reftraining Confide- rations would have kept hi-m in the fame Bounds. But fince he finds it has now no longer the Countenance of Numbers, and is fctisfied it never had the Authority of Keafon, he hopes he may endeavour to explain the Nature, and illuflrate the Beauties of DELI- CACY-j PREFACE. CACY, without the Imputation of afiumir.g to himfelf the Glory of the Attainment. A Man may certainly be qualified tode- fcribe a Character in his Clofet, though he cannot aft up to it in Life : As we often find Men well verled in the Theory of an Art, and able to point out its fcveral Excellencies, who want either Faculties or Attention to reach the Practice. The Talents are founded upon different Principles ; and the one may fubfifl without the other, in the higheft Per- fection. If this be not allowed ; the Poet as well as the Hiftorian, mult be pofiefied of every great Quality, which hepaints with Accuracy, or traces with Difcernment. And when we find him fuccefsful in defcribing the Exploits of an Hero, we muft conclude, that he is himfelf no lefs expert in the military Art, and endued with equal Magannimity. But it can- not be denied that there has been many a Writer capable of drawing up an Army, and fighting a Battle in all the Propriety and Vi- gour of Language, who had confefiedly as little Addrefs to conduct the one, as Courage to attempt the other in the Field of Action. PREFACE. lingua mclior^ fed frigida bells Dexter a And why fhould the Pofiefiion of the Qua-* lity be thought more requifite in the Difplay of DELICACY ? This is fo far from appearing evident, that it feems rather to be, in fomc Refpects, a kind of diiqualifying Circum- ftance. It is not improbable, that the fine Senfations in the Soul of him, who has at- tained to this high Refinement, might prevent him from doing full Juftice to his own Ao complimments ; for DELICACY is always found to withdraw itfelf from every thing that has the lead Appearance of Vanity. But if this Obftruction could be got over ; yet when it is known to be his own Picture, which he exhibits to View, it may be looked upon as the Reprefentation of Features and Linea- ments heightened by Self-regard and the Biafs of a partial Judgment. But though the Attainment of the Quality is not requifite in the Writer ; yet it is efien- tially neceffary that he (hould be intimately acquainted with thofe, in whom it is found to exift. This PREFACE. 28^ This is the Source from whence he mil ft draw not only the Materials for his Work, but the Ability of carrying it into Execution. For it is only by frequent Intercourfes with Men of Rank, and polite Acquirements, that he can wear himfclf into that Caft of Senti- ment and Exprefiion, which th^ Dignity of his Subject indifpenfably demands. It has been the Author's Fortune, to be admitted into thofe high Scenes of Improve- ment, and to have long been honoured with the Acquaintance of Perfons, not lefs diftin- guifhed by the Refinement of their Abilities, than the Eminence of their Station. On this Foundation he builds his Hopes. On the Encouragement of fuch Advantages he refts his Apology for the Undertaking ; neither vainly a/Turing himfelf, that he has been able to make a right Ufe of the Oppor- tunities, nor meanly courtirig the Reader's Favour, by profeffing a very low Opinion of his Performance. He choofes rather freely to confefs, he has here exerted his beft Endea- vours, and entirely fubmits himfelf to the Decifion of the Public. VOL. I. U If 290 PREFACE. If he fhould be judged unequal to the Tafk ; yet (he is inclined to think) the Defign may not be altogether ufelefs. Though the Plant did not thrive where it firft fprung ; yet being removed to a better Soil, it may gain new Vigour, and advance to Maturity. But whatever be the Event , it will be at^ tended with this agreeable Reflexion ; that he has not fpent his Hours in trifling Amufe- ments, but in Difquifitions of a ferious Nature and real Concernment to Mankind. Certainly we were intended for fome farther Satisfacti- ons, than the Attainment of fuch Things only, as are barely neceflary to the Support of our Being. We have Faculties adapted to the Enjoyment of refined Delights: Thofe Delights muft therefore be relative to Human Life; which would prove a very infipid Poflefiion, without this heightening Relilh of Exiftence. The animal Functions might, indeed, be car- ried on ; but fcarce with any Joy beyond what the Brutes themfelves experience. The ele- gant Pleafures of Imagination, the enlivening Satisfactions of liberal Knowledge, and all the fweet Effects of the amiable Paffions, would be entirely fet afide, and the rational Part of the Creation PREFACE. 291 Creation abandoned to the low Employment of gratifying the coarfeft Appetites in the coarfeft Manner. Slender and fordid would be the Intercourfes of the Friend and Compa- nion ; if Friend and Companion could then be found : Social Pleafure would degenerate into Savage Merriment j and decent Familiari- ty into deteftable Freedoms , were they not under the Controul and Guidance of this.re- ftraining Quality. But the Pleafure arifing from the Cultiva- tion of this Accomplishment, is not the only Circumftance, which recommends it to our Regard : For whilft it improves our Joys, it refines our Morals, by cherjfhing thofe fine Emotions in the Soul, which create an Abhor- rence of every thing that is bafe and irregular, and prepare the Way for the eafier Impreflions of Virtue and Honour. The Tafte of Beauty in the lower kind, leads naturally to the high- er : And the Love of Harmony in exterior Things, is a good Step towards the Relifli of what is graceful and amiable in the in- ward Principles of the Heart. Whoever, therefore, undertakes theCaufe of DELICACY, is engaged, at the fame Time, U 2 in 292 PREFACE. in the Support of Virtue, and confults the Happinefs of every individual Member of So- ciety. For the Manners of the Great are fo con dandy copied by their Inferiors, that when a right Senfe of Order and Decency prevails among the former, it will not be altogether waiting in the latter. The Spirit of Refine- ment Hops not where it was firft railed, but is caught from Bread to Breaft: And though it operate with the greateft Efficacy where it finds the belt Materials , yet, in fome De- gree, it is communicated to the whole Body of the It is the Defign of the Author to fet thcfe Points in a clear Light; and to demonftrate, that Elegance of Tafte, and Refinement of Manners, are the proper Objects of a rational Purfuit, iUuftrious Ornaments to Human Na- ture, and leading Characters to a virtuous and moral Conduct. And if his Endeavours fhould fall far beneath the Dignity of the Subject , he hopes, however, they may be confidered as a Teftimony of his warm Re- gard, and of the Deference and Honour he thinks due to thofe elevated Characters, un- der vvhofe Influence we behold Arts and In- genuity encouraged, Life understood, and Britain PREFACE. 293 Britain afpiring to the Reputation of Attic Elegance and Roman Urbanity. And though her Advances may not, perhaps, keep Pace with the Eagernefs of our Wifhes ; yet this fhould rather animate than difcourage her Pro- grefs : Since it is obfervable, that the extra- ordinary Afiiduity and Skill neceflarily em- ployed to raife and perfect the Polifh of the Nobler Gems, is amply compenfated by that Admiration and Pleafure, which refult from the Superior Luftre. U 3 THE THE PLAN of the whole WORK. General Defign of ibis Undertaking is, to explain tie Nature, trace out the Standard^ and recommend the Cultivation, of that Duality, which, in our Language, is marked out by the Denomination of DELICACY. Ibe Work is carried on by way of Dialogue, and opens with the Characters of two Gentlemen ^ who keep up the full Enjoyment of thofe Satisfac- tions, which arife from the Harmony of Friend- jhip ; though^ in fome RefpecJs, the Turn of their Minds is extremely different. The one is a warm Admirer of Elegance in Arts and Manners, and is perpetually contending for the Necejfity of cultivating a refined Tafte. The other thinks, that good Scnfe and Virtue-are fuffcient Recommendations, and Jland in need of no adventitious Ornaments. The Converfation begins with a Difpute con- cerning the Origin of Society, which, the Author U 4 apprehends, 296 THE PLAN OF apprehends, will not be efteemed an improper In- troduction to a Work of this kind -, fmce all the Embellijhnnnts of Life are undeniably derived from our Ajjociations. In the Second Dialogue, the Meaning of ihi Word DELICACY is explained, agreeably to what feems the genuine Acceptation of it amongft our inoft approved Writers. : tfhe Nature of the Quality r , the Criterion* by which it is ascertained, the Objections made to the Cultivation of refined tfajle and Pajfion, and the Ufe and Plesfurc ar^- fing from it, are diftinclly examined. fhe next treats of the Rife of degant Arts and Manner 5, enquires from what Source, it is moft probable, they derived their Original j and though the former may havsfirft rifen in a Free State, whether the Monarchical Form be not a more proper Nurfery for the tatter. 'This Enquiry is followed by a Comparifon btfl&een the Ancients and Moderns with rejpeffi to the Delicacy of Good-breebing. The Fourth examines what it is, which confti- tutes Delicacy in Writing. And enquires int the Characters of fever al Greek and Roman du- tbors,fofsras relates to tke Subject of this Eitay ; THE WHOLE WORK. 297 in which Refpeft, Virgil is allowed to have greatly furpajjed Homer. This opens the Way to fome Obfervations upon the Court of Auguf- tus, and the Advances, which were made in Elegance and Politenefs under the Influence of that accomplijhed Prince. The Fifth is a Di/ertation npon tie Rife and Progrefs of Refinement in the Language ; Compo- fitions, and Manners of the Englifh Nation. The Sixth confiders thofs Qualities , which con- ftitute Delicacy in a Public Speaker ; and to what 'Degree It feems to have rifen in this Coun- try whether the Flowers of ancient Rhetoric and Elocution, are preferable to plain good Senfs and Argument ; beyondwhich Point, the Englifh Eloquence is faid fcarce to afpire. This Con- verfation is clofed with fome Reflexions upon the Power of fine Language ; which is compared to that of Mufic, and Jhewn to be, in fome Re- fpefts, fimilar, in the Effefts it produces. The Seventh treats of that Faculty in the Art ff Painting, which is called Grace, and points cut thofe Mafters, who have been moji diftin- guijhed by this Quality. <&* * 9 8 THE PLAN OF Ihe Four Succeeding Dialogues exhibit the Character of an accompli/bed Gentleman, and dif- play his Conduff in the various Scenes of Life and Converfation > Jhewing, at the fame Time, that the trueft and higheft Refinement conftjls in the Purity of Morals ; and that Virtue is the moft illuftrious Ornament of Human Nature. In Ccntraft to this Representation of Elegance and Sanftity of Manners, is exhibited the Fiew of an impure and uncultivated Demeanor ; that the Beauty of the one, and the Deformity of the ether, may appear in aflronger Point of Light , by the Neighbourhood of its contrary Character. The Next Dialogue touches upon the peculiar Charms of Female Elegance, and Jhews with what a fuperior Lujlre DELICACY manifejls itfelf in the Sex, which is tempered with a purer Flame, and formed with a quicker Senfi- bility, and higher Relijh of every Ornament and Grace. The Laft Conversation recommends the farther Cultivation of this Accomplijhment, and enquires whether the Advances, ive have made in it, are equal to thofe of a neighbouring Nation ; and it THE WHOLE WORK. 299 ;/ not, to what Caufe the Difference may be afcribed. The EfTay ends with a Differ tat ion on thofe Deities, which were faid, by the Ancients, to be the Source of all that is amiable and plea/ing, to difpenfe Jujlnefs of Tafte, Love of Beauty, find that Happinefs of Manners, 'which adorns and enlivens Merit, and is a proper Attendant upon Senfe and Learning : For which Reafon they ufualfy reprefented the Graces in the Train of the God of Wifdom. A N C 3' 3 A N ESSAY UPON DELICACY. DIALOGUE I. PHI L O C L E S is one of thofe few, who can be chearful and employed, without having Recourfe to the Bufmefs or Diverfions of the World. He has a warm Imagination, tempered with an excellent Underftanding, both which he has improved by a judicious Mixture of Reading and Converfation. Though his Inclination has led him into Retire- ment j his Talents qualify him for making a Figure in the active Scenes of Life. Yet, at the fame Time, it muft be confeffed, there is a certain natural Deli- cacy in the Frame of his Mind, which would have rendered 302 A N E S S A Y Dial. I. rendered him lefs ferviceable in Bufmefs, than others of inferior Abilities without the fame Refinement of Temper. He is arrived to that Period of Life, when the Powers of the Mind are in their trueft Vigour : And having cohverfed at large long enough to give him a thorough Knowledge of Mankind, be has narrowed his Friends, as well as Acquaint- ance, defining but few of either. The Spot he has chofen for his Retirement is within a convenient Diftance of the Town, yet not fo near as to want any Advantages of the Country. He is a profefled Admirer of what he calls Refined Simplicity , and difcovers that Chaftity of Tafte, not only in his Judgment of the fine Arts, but in his Houfe, his Furniture, his Equipage; and in fhort, throughout the whole Conduct and CEconomy of his Life. At a fmaU Diftance from his Houfe ftands a Wood ; which has fo many natural Beauties attending it, that, with a very inconfiderable Expence, and by judici- cufiy humouring the Genius of the Place, he has made it one of the moft delightful Scenes imaginable. In the Center he has erected a little Temple, the Materials of which are cheap and common ; yet they are chofen with fuch Judgment, and thrown together with fuch Art, that perhaps the moft coftly Orna- ments could not have produced any thing more plea- Juig to a juft Eye. It is covered with Thatch, and paved with Pebbles; and the Pillars are nothing more than the Trunks of fome old Oaks, which grew upon the Dial. I. O N D E L I C A C Y. 303 the Spot. But the 'Plan is fo happily defigned, and fo neatly executed ; and the feveral Parts are fa harmonioufly proportioned to each other, as well as to the whole, that it forms one of the moft agreeable Structures I ever beheld. To this favourite Scene Phi lodes retires, whenever he would enjoy himfelf or his Friend without Inter- ruption. And here it was that Sophronius found him in his Evening-Meditations, having been informed at his Houfe, that he was taking a Walk in the Wood. Sophronius and Pbllocles have long lived together in the ftri&efl Intimacy, and moft unreferved Com- munication of Sentiments. Scpkronitu has a jufr, rather than a lively Imagination. His Senfe is ftrong, but improved more by the Force of his own Reflexi- ons, than by Books ; for he has thought much more than he has read. Not that he is unacquainted with the capital Authors, both Ancient and Modern; but it is his Maxim, that " Books have made more " Fools than ever Nature defigned." Truth is the fmgle Aim of his Enquiries; and to ftrew her Paths with Flowers, is, he thinks, to retard rather than to forward the Progrefs towards her. The Mind is amufing herfelf with little artificial Beauties in the Way, whilft fhe (hould be pufliing forward to the End of her Journey. In (hort, as he is naturally of a phlegmatic Conftitution, he declares againft En- thufiafm of every Sort, efteeming her as the worft Enemy that Truth has to fear. He frequently rallies Pbllocles upon this Article j whom he thinks, upon 304 A N S S A Y Dial. I, many Occafions, efpecially where the fine Arts ar concerned, a downright Vilionary. After thegeneralCompliments hadpafied between thefe two Friends ijpw, faid Sophronius fmiling, {hall I anfwer it to the Dryad of thefe Groves, for thus "breaking in upon the Contemplations of her Votary; when, perhaps, {he is even now expe&ing you under forne venerable Oak, or favourite Elm ? f-Iowever ronaar/tic you may affect to think me in my Amours, replied Phi/odes, you do not, in good Eameft, I hope, believe me o ill a Judge of real Happinefs, as to imagine me capable of thinking I could exchange the PJeafures of Fricndfhip for any more val.u able Enjoyment. No, Sophronius! as great an Admirer as I am of thefe Beauties of Nature, fhe is ao where fo charming to me, as in her moraj Operations, and that Harmony fke produces from focial Concord. Were I to have traced the Genealogy of Friend- fhip, returned Sopbronius, I (hould hardly have ex- pected to find Nature her Parent. It feems to me jnuch more reafonable to fuppofe this Union derived from Nece&ty and Convenience, or fome other Principle arifing from our Wants and Imperfections, than any implanted Biafs in our Frame, previous to thofe uncafy Feelings. Tbe State of Nature could not have admitted of this refined Commerce; fince every Individual, at .that Period, muft have had a feparate and opposite Intereft. It Jial. I. ON DELICACY. 305 It is for that Reafon, among others, anfwered Philocks, why I think it improbable, that fuch a State fhould ever have exifted. There is in our Frame fo ftrortg a Biafs, fuch an irrefiftible Ten- dency to unite in the focial Circle, that we muft either fuppofe Mankind formed originally with Af- fections very different from what appear in them at prefent, or give up the Notion of this barbarous State, as an abfurd and groundlefs Suppofition. It is not to be wondered, faid Sophronius, that the firft View of this rude State fhould ftartle a Mind, which has been accuftomed to a regular Community, andhas formed its Ideas of Truth from familiar Ap- pearances of improved Nature. But it is very eafy to miftake Habits for Affections, and afcribe to the direct Impulfe of Nature, what is, in reality, owing to the Maturity of Time, and the Difcipline of many Generations. Societies have been long eflab- liihed : Ufe has taught us the Advantages, that are derived from them ; and therefore we fancy that Men fall naturally and unavoidably into Aflbciati- ons, when the Truth is, they are only inclined to be fociable from Practice, rather than from any im- mediate Incitement of Nature, or the Love of their Species. Look back upon the Accounts which Poets, Philofophers, and Hiftorians give of Mankind in the Infancy of the World ; and you will have a View very inconfiftent with a Principle of friendly Union and focial Coalition. They defcribe them not only without Arts and Sciences, but without Habitations, VOL. I. X Laws, 3<* AN ESS AY Dial. I. Laws, or even Language itfelf, and feeding upon the raw Herbage, like their fellow Brutes, the Te- nants of the fame Shade and Pafture. I remember a PafTage in Cicero, where he fpeaks to this Purpofe of the firft Race of Mortals \a\. And Horace [], as well as Lucretius fc], you know, talk of them exa&ly in the fame Manner. In fhort, all the Records of Antiquity affirm, that, in the firft Ages, the Conceptions of Mankind, their Manners and Difpofitions, were rude, barbarous, and brutal; that their Attainments went no higher than fatisfying, at any rate, the coarfe Demands of their unreftrained Appetites : And thus, being under no Controul in the Gratification of their felfifh Paflions, they ran into the moft violent Exceffes, and "were perpetually invading and feizing each other's Pro- perty. This is the defpicable Figure Mankind make in the feveral ancient Pictures of their original State. I acknowledge, faid Philocles, that this was the Do&rine of the Epicureans ; but the Principles of a particular Set cannot be looked upon as the Standard [a] Nam fuit quoddam tempus, cum in agris homines, beftiarum more vagabantur : nee quidquam ratione animi, fed pkraque viribui corporis adminiftrabant. Non jusaequabile, quicquid utilitatis hberet acceperat, &c. CICERO de Invent, lib. i. ] Cum prorepferunt primis animalia terris, Mutum & turpe pecus, glandem atque cubilia propter, Unguibus & pugnis, dein fuftibus, atque ita porro Pugnabant armis, &c Ho*. Sat. lib. i. [ c\ Nemora atque cavas monies fylvafque colebant, ft fniticet inter coadebant fqualiida membra. LVCKIT. of Dial. I. ON DELICACY. 307 of Antiquity. It is ufual with the learned, when they are endeavouring to eftablifh fome favourite Hypothefis, to pick out a Paflage from a Greek or Roman Author, that happens to co-incide with the Notion to be advanced, and then argue from it, as a received Principle among the Ancients. Superficial Reafoners and minute Philofophers may be thus deceived ; but Sophronius, I am fure, is not fo cafily impofed upon. And if he had been in the Humour, he could have drawn up a long Lift of claffical Names, to throw into the Scale againft thofe he juft now mentioned. What think you of the Golden Age^ when Nay, interpofed Sopbroniits, if you are for foaring to the airy Regions of Romance, I will not endea- vour to attend your Flight. I can follow you well enough, whHft you keep within the humble Paths of fober Reafoning ; but the Towerings of an heated Imagination are much too elevated for my Reach. Have Patience, good Sopkronius ! I was only going to mention what fome of the Ancients have thought concerning the State of Man, when he was yet new to Being, and frefli from the Hands of his Creator. The Defcription Ovid gives of his Situa- tion, in that firft Period of his Exigence, feems (fome poetical Embell Qiments excepted) fuch as, were we to reafon a priori, we fliould conclude he was placed in. The firft Charateriftic he gives of it is Innocence X * 3 o8 A N E S S A Y Dial. T. [/) Firft rofe a golden Age ! the human Mind ^o Faith's fair Rules fpontaneous then indirfd, " Unforced by Punijbment, unaiu'd by Fear : " Man's Words iverejimp/e, and his SouIJincere." Seneca likewife gives an Account of the State of Nature, as it flood in Saturn's Reign, exactly con- formable to this Notion of focial Virtue being then exercifed in all its Purity [e] Nor does it feem in the leaft improbable, that fuch a Happinefs might once have been t! e Lot of Mortals ; though their prefent degenerate State is fo different from it, as to need the ftrongeftReflraints, ial-t ON DELICACY. 317 Principles in Mankind, which lead directly and ne- ceflarily to combining Fellowships. Man, fay they, was created frail and weak, fubject to Wants, which in a fmgle Capacity he could not fupply, and obnoxi- ous to Dangers, againft which his own unaflifted Arm was not a fufficient Defence. An Union of the Many was therefore formed, as a Remedy for the Imbecillity of feparate Individuals. Hence Ju- ftice arofe ; and the Rule of Right was afcertained and enforced, as a neceflary Means to maintain the Plan of focial Order. You aflert, that the Law of Equity is an original implanted Principle in the hu- man Breaft. But if I were inclined to difpute this Point with you ; I might afk, what Occafion would there have been for fuch a Law, if Man had been framed with fo ardent an Affelion towards his Spe- cies, as you contend for? Where Love reigns in full Power, Property cannot be a Subject of Contention. So far is (he from doing Violence and Wrong, that (he is ever tender of the Welfare and Intereft of the Obje6t beloved, and even lavifli in her Munificence.' I do not contend, faid PlHocles, that the focial anti kind Affections are fo ftrong as to fubdue all the reft; but only that there are fuch Pafiions in Mankind, in Conjunction with others. The Love of our Species cannot therefore be faid to fuperfede the Love of Equity : On the contrary, they are entirely compa- tible with each other. Nor does it feem in the leaft to folio v/, that, if the Cafe be as I have (rated it, tmiverfal Peace and Juftice muft for ever prevail. For Man being liable to great Errors, not only from the 3 iS A N E S S A Y Dial. I. the Mif-rule of his Paffions, but the Imperfe&ioit of his Reafon, many Occafions of moral Evil muft necefl'arily arife, notwithstanding the focial Af- fections are allowed to exift in all the Strength, which I contend for. But had mutual Affection, returned Sopbroniusi been only a leading Paflion in us; or had it been equally ballanced with Self-regard, ail legal Reftraints had been entirely unnecefTary. Man would have been in no Danger from the fecret Attempts of Fraud, or the bold Attacks of barefaced Opprefiion ; His whole Life would have been one continued Scene of Security and Happinefs. But the Legifktors found his real State to be quite another Thing. If they did per- ceive that Nature had clearly dictated the Law of Equity ; yet Experience taught them, " That the *' Adminiftration of that Law was fo incompetently e and irregularly executed, as to inflame rather cc than heal the Evils of the undifciplined State, 44 whilft there was no common Arbiter to adjuft * and enforce its Operations [/]" Thefe are the Reafons, which induce me to be- lieve, that Dangers and Neceffities gave Birth to the Plan of Government. And when Society was eftab- liflied upon a proper Bafis, and equitable Laws had given Security to Mankind, the Community had fuli Experience of its happy Effects. But as Particulars ftill felt many Wants, for which the public Combi- nations afforded no Relief j it was natural for them to Erf *" ' D - !* look Dial. I. ON DELICACY. 319 look out for a Supply to this Deficiency. Thcf moft obvious feems to be private Fellowfhip; which, by an Union of Hearts, and amicable In- tercourfes, might procure Enjoyments, which do not refult from general Aflbciutions. This I take to be the true Source of Friendfhip: Nor does it appear to me any Derogation to the Lovelinefs of the Affection. For, what but the Im- becillity of our Frame gives Rife to that Paflion, which is looked upon as the moft amiable belonging to our Nature? Had the Firmnefs of our Minds been greater, our Companion had certainly been lefs. For it is ever found, that as the fofteft Metals are mod eafily diffolved j fo the tendered Minds fooneft melt into Pity. This, perhaps, is the Reafon, why that Sex, whofe Characteriftic is by no means Strength, are moft liable to the Impreflions of this affliaing Paflion. Pity, returned Pbilocles, can hardly be faid to flow from Weaknefs in the fame Senfe that you fuppofc focial Affection to do : In the latter, Weaknefs is the Attribute of that Subject, from whence the Af- fection is fuppofed to proceed ; Men united, becaufe they found themfelves too weak to fubfift in a feparate State: But in the former, Weaknefs can only be the Attribute of that Subject, on which the Paflion is fuppofed to operate. It is not the Weaknefs of the diftreffed Object, but of him who beholds it, which produces the fympathizing Sorrow. Imbecil- lity therefore cannot give Rife to focial Inclinations, 320 A N E S S A Y Dial. t. in the fame Way you imagine it does to Companion. The only Inference, that can fairly be drawn from your Argument, feems to be, that the Tendernefs of Senfations, or Weaknefs (if you will call it fo) is the Means whereby the Paflion operates upon any Subject: But it does not therefore follow, that it is the Fountain of the Paffion ; or that it is grounded on no other Principle in Nature. For why fhould Sopkrcnius afcribe this Sufceptibility of Compaflion, to a Weaknefs of Mind ? Is it not far more reafon- able to derive it from the quick Feeling of the Sen- timents of Humanity, and the fudden Exertion of generous Sympathy ? Examine the Condition of your own Breaft under a lively Senfeof Pity; and tell me whether you do not always find, that it gives you an exalted Idea of the Generofity of your Temper, when it is touched in this kind and benevolent Way ? And though it may, perhaps, draw Tears from your Eyes j yet they are the Tears of manly Affeion, and not the Meltings of weak Effeminacy. For furely, Sopbronius, there can be no Weaknefs in Compaflion, purely and abftradledlyconfidered ; fmcc the nobleft Souls are open to the ftrongeft Impreflj- ons of this Kind; Homer, who had a complete Infight into Human Nature, and fo well underftood what it was that gave the finifhing Excellence to a Character, reprefents the Hero of his Poem, the great Achilles himfelf, melting into Pity at the Mi- ieries of a venerable aged Monarch, on his Knees begging him to reftore the Body of his Son HeSter. Nay, he not only makes him relent, but even endea- vour to affuage the Sorrows of the unhappy Prince, Dial. I. ON DELICACY. 321 with the moft tender, as well as rational, Confola- tions[^]. Pity then, in the Eftimation of this judi- cious Poet, who was always true to Nature, is per- fedtly compatible with an elevated and fublime Spi- rit. Nay, is it not an Attribute afcribed even to the Deity himfelf ? How then can it be derived from fo mean an Original ? It is, indeed, a Softnefs, but not (as you call it) an Imbecillity of Heart. Juvenal, I remember, fomewhere extols it as the beft and moft lovely Paflion belonging to human Nature, and the diftinguifhing Chara&erftic of our Species [r]. [$"] Aijltn' ttno S-jO'/w ta$o, ?t?mla Je '? awpi Otxlltftvv woAiov Ti xapn, woXiev TE yivtw Kai juiv $xvric-a,<; siren srlipca^a orpss^uJa. " From the high Throne divine Achilles rofe : " The rev'rend Monarch by the Hand he rais'd j " On his white Beard and Form majeftic gaz'd, " Not unrelenting. Then ferene began "With Words to footh the miferable Man." Iliad xxiv. Pope's Tranfl. Thsre is not, as Mr. Pofe obferves, a more beautiful Paflage than this, iii the whole Iliad, llomer, to ftiew that dck'illes was not a mere Soldier, here draws him as a Perfon of excellent Senfe, and found Reafon. And it was a Piece of great Judgment thus to defcribe him : for the Reader would have retained but a very indifferent Opinion of him, if he had no Qualification, but mere Strength. It alfo /hews the Art of the Poet, thus to defer this Part of his Character to the Conclufion of the Poem : By thefe Means, he fixes an Idea of his Greatnefs upon our Minds, and makes his Hero go off the Stage with Applaufe. POPE'S Homer, B. xxiv. p. 168- ed. 1736. [r] " i Molliflima corda " Humano generi