N° 408. Wednesday, June 18. Decet affectus animi neque fe nimium erigere, nec fubjacere Mr. SPECTATOR, I Have always been a very great Lover of your Speculations, as well in Regard to the Subject, as to your Manner of Treating it. Human Nature I always thought the moft ufeful Object of human Reafon, and to make the Confideration of it pleasant and entertaining, always thought the beft Employment of human Wit: Other Parts of Philofophy may perhaps make us wifer, but this not only anfwers that End, but makes us better too. Hence it was that the Oracle ponounced Socrates the wifeft of all Men living, be'caufe he judicioufly made Choice of human Nature for the Object of his Thoughts; an Enquiry into which as 'much exceeds all other Learning, as it is of more Confequence to adjust the true Nature and Measures of Right and Wrong, than to fettle the Distance of the Planets, and compute the Times of their Circumvo< lutions. ONE good Effect that will immediately arife from a near Obfervation of human Nature, is, that we fhall cease to wonder at thofe Actions which Men are used to reckon wholly unaccountable; for as nothing is produced without a Caufe, fo by obferving the Nature and Courfe of the Paffions, we fhall be able to trace every Action from its first Conception to its Death; We shall no more admire at the Proceedings of Cati line or Tiberius, when we know the one was actuated by a cruel Jealoufie, the other by a furious Ambition for the Actions of Men follow their Paffions as naturally as Light does Heat, or as any other Effect flows from its Caufe, Reafon must be employed in adjusting C 2 the the Paffions, but they must ever remain the Principles of Action. THE ftrange and abfurd Variety that is so apparent in Men's Actions, fhews plainly they can never proceed, immediately from Reafon; fo pure a Fountain emits no fuch troubled Waters: They muft neceffarily arise from the Paffions, which are to the Mind as the Winds < to a Ship, they only can move it, and they too often deftroy it, if fair and gentle, they guide it into the Harbour; if contrary and furious, they overfet it in the Waves: In the fame manner is the Mind assisted or en« dangered by the Paffions; Reason must then take the Place of Pilot, and can never fail of fecuring her Charge if the be not wanting to her felf: The Strength of the Paffions will never be accepted as an Excufe for complying with them, they were defigned for Subjection, and if a iMan fuffers them to get the upper Hand, he then betrays the Liberty of his own Soul. AS Nature has framed the feveral Species of Beings as it were in a Chain, fo Man seems to be placed as the middle Link between Angels and Brutes: Hence he participates both of Flesh and Spirit by an admirable Tie, which in him occafions perpetual War of Paffions and as a Man inclines to the angelick or brute Part of his Constitution, he is then denominated good or bad, virtuous or wicked; if Love, Mercy, and Good-nature prevail, they fpeak him of the Angel; if Hatred, Cruelty, and Envy predominate, they declare his Kindred to the Brute. Hence it was that fome of the Ancients imagined, that as Men in this Life inclined more to the Angel or Brute, fo after their Death they fhould tranfmigrate into the one or the other; and it would be no unpleasant Notion, to confider the several Species of Brutes, into which we may imagine that Tyrants, Mifers, the Proud, Malicious, and Ill-natured might be changed. AS a Confequence of this Origiual, all Paffions are in all Men, but all appear not in all; Conftitution, E⚫ducation, Custom of the Country, Reason, and the like Caufes, may improve or abate the Strength of them, but ftill the Seeds remain, which are ever ready to 4. Sprous fprout forth upon the leaft Encouragement. I have heard a Story of a good religious Man, who, having ⚫ been bred with the Milk of a Goat, was very modeft ' in Publick by a careful Reflection he made on his Ations, but he frequently had an Hour in Secret, wherein he had his Frisks and Capers; and if we had an Opportunity of examining the Retirement of the ftrict-eft Philofophers, no doubt but we fhould find perpetual Returns of those Paffions they fo artfully conceal 'from the Publick. I remember Matchiavel observes, that every State should entertain a perpetual Jealoufie of its Neighbours, that so it should never be unprovi'ded when an Emergency happens; in like manner 'fhould the Reafon be perpetually on its Guard against the Paffions, and never fuffer them to carry on any Defign that may be deftructive of its Security; yet at the fame Time it must be careful, that it don't fo far break their Strength as to render them contemptible, and confequently it felf unguarded. THE Understanding being of its felf too flow and lazy to exert it self into Action, it's neceffary it fhould be put in Motion by the gentle Gales of the Paffions, which may preferve it from ftagnating and Corruption; for they are as neceffary to the Health of the Mind, as the Circulation of the animal Spirits is to the Health of the Body; they keep it in Life, and Strength, and Vigour; nor is it poffible for the Mind to perform its Offices without their As<fiftance: Thefe Motions are given us with our Being, they are little Spirits that are born and dye with us; to fome they are mild, eafie, and gentle, to others wayward and unruly, yet never too ftrong for the Reins of Reason and the Guidance of Judgment. WE may generally obferve a pretty nice Proportion between the Strength of Reafon and Paffion; the greateft Genius's have commonly the strongest Affections, as on the other hand, the weaker Understandings have generally the weaker Paffions; and 'tis fit the Fury of the Courfers fhould not be too great for the Strength ⚫ of the Charioteer. Young Men whofe Paffions are not little unruly, give fmall Hopes of their ever being confiderable; the Fire of Youth will of Course abate, and a C 3 ' is is a Fault, if it be a Fault, that mends every Day; but furely unlefs a Man has Fire in Youth, he can hardly have Warmth in Old Age. We must therefore be very cautious, left while we think to regulate the Paffions, we fhould quite extinguifh them, which is putting out the Light of the Soul: for to be without Paffion, or to be hurried away with it, makes a Man equally blind.. The extraordinary Severity used in most of our Schools has this fatal Effect, it breaks the Spring of the Mind, and most certainly deftroys more good Genius's than it can poffibly improve. And furely 'tis a mighty Miftake that the Paffions fhould be fo intirely fubdued; for little Irregularities are fometimes not only to be bore with, but to be cultivated too, fince they are frequently attended with the greatest Perfections. All great Genius's have Faults mixed with their Virtues, and refemble the flaming Bufh which has Thorns amongst • Lights. SINCE therefore the Paffions are the Principles of human Actions, we must endeavour to manage them fo as to retain their Vigour, yet keep them under ftrict Command; we must govern them rather like free Subjects than Slaves, left while we intend to make them obedient, they become abject, and unfit for thofe great Purposes to which they were defigned. For my Part I must confefs, I could never have any Regard to that Sect of Philofophers, who fo much infifted upon an abfolute Indifference and Vacancy from all Paffion; for it feems to me a Thing very inconfiftent for a Man to diveft himself of Humanity, in order to acquire Tranquility of Mind, and to eradicate the very Principles of Action, because it's poffible they may produce ill Ef•fects. I am, SIR, Your Affectionate Admirer, Z T. B Thursday, G Thursday, June 19. -Mufao contingere cuncta lepore. Lucr. RATIA N very often recommends the Fine Taste, as the utmost Perfection of an accomplished Man. As this Word arifes very often in Conversation, I shall endeavour to give fome Account of it, and to lay down Rules how we may know whether we are poffeffed of it, and how wemay acquire that fine Tafte of Writing, which is fo much talked of among the Polite World. MOST Languages make ufe of this Metaphor, to exprefs that Faculty of the Mind, which diftinguishes all the most concealed Faults and niceft Perfections in Wri ting, We may be fure this Metaphor would not have been fo general in all Tongues, had there not been a very great Conformity between that Mental Tafte, which is the Subject of this Paper, and that Senfitive Taste which gives us a Relifh of every different Flavour that affects the Palate. Accordingly we find, there are as many Degrees of Refinement in the intellectual Faculty, as in the Senfe, which is marked out by this common Denomination. a I knew a Perfon who poffeffed the one in fo great Perfection, that after having tafted ten different Kinds of Tea, he would diftinguish, without feeing the Colour of it, the particular Sort which was offered him; and not only fo, but any two Sorts of them that were mixt together in an equal Proportion; nay, he has carried the Experiment fo far, as upon tafting the Compofition of three different Sorts, to name the Parcels from whence the three feveral Ingredients were taken. A Man of a fine Tafte in Writing will difcern, after the fame manner, not only the general Beauties and Imperfections of an Author, but difcover the feveral Ways of thinking and expreffing himself, which diversify him from all other Authors, with |