roughly with your own turn of thought, you will have no objection, I imagine, to my quoting it at large; and I-give it you, at the fame time, as a very great authority on your fide. "In reality," fays that writer," the man is not "known ever the more to pofterity, because his name is tranfmitted to "them: He doth not live because his name does. When it is faid, Julius "Cæfar fubdued Gaul, conquered Pompey, &c. it is the fame thing as to fay, the conqueror of Pompey was Julius Caefar, i. e. Cæfar and the conqueror of Pompey is the fame thing; Cæfar is as much known by "one defignation as by the other. "The amount then is only this: that "the conqueror of Pompey conquered "Pompey; or rather, fince Pompey is as little known now as Cæfar, "fomebody conquered fomebody. Such "a poor bufinefs is this boafted immortality and fuch is the thing "called glory among us! To difcern

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ing men this fame is mere air, and what they defpife, if not fhun." But furely "twere to confider too "curiously," as Horatio fays to Hamlet, to confider thus." For though fame with pofterity fhould be, in the ftrict analysis of it, no other than what it is here defcribed, a mere uninterefting propofition, amounting to nothing more than that fomebody acted meritorioufly; yet it would not neceffarily follow, that true philofophy would banifh the defire of it from the human breaft. For this paffion may be (as most certainly it is) wifely implanted in our fpecies, notwithstanding the correfponding object fhould in reality be very different from what it appears in imagination. Do not many of our most refined and even contemplative pleasures owe their exiftence to our mistakes? It is but extending (I will not fay, im. proving) fome of our fenfes to a higher degree of acuteness than we now poffefs them, to make the fairest views of nature, or the nobleft productions of art, appear horrid and deformed. To fee things as they truly and in themfelves are, would not always, perhaps, be of advantage to us in the intellectual world, any more than in the na

tural. But, after all, who fhall certainly affure us, that the pleasure of virtuous fame dies with its poffeffor, and reaches not to a farther fcene of exiftence? There is nothing, it fhould feem, either abfurd or unphilofophical in fuppofing it poffible at least, that the praises of the good and the judicious, that fweetelt mufic to an honest ear in this world, may be echoed back to the manfions of the next: that the poet's defcription of fame may be literally true, and though the walks upon earth, he may yet lift her head into heaven.

But can it be reasonable to extinguish a paffion which nature has univerfally lighted up in the human breast, and which we conftantly find to burn with moft ftrength and brightnefs in the nobleft and beft, formed bofoms? Accordingly revelation is fo far from endeavouring (as you fuppofe) to eradicate the feed which nature hath thus deeply planted, that the rather feems, on the contrary, to cherish and forward its growth. To be exalted with honour, and to be had in everlasting remembrance, are in the number of thofe encouragements which the Jewish difpenfation offered to the virtuous; as the perfon from whom the facred author of the Chriftian fyftem received his birth, is herself reprefented as rejoicing that all generations fhould call her blessed.

To be convinced of the great advantage of cherishing this high regard to poterity, this noble defire of an afterlife in the breath of others, one need only look back upon the history of the ancient Greeks and Romans. What other principle was it, which produced that exalted strain of virtue in those days, that may well ferve as a model to thefe? Was it not the confentiens laus bonorum, the incorrupta vox bene judicantium (as Tully calls it) the concurrent approbation of the good, the uncorrupted applaufe of the wife, that animated their most generous pursuits ?

To confefs the truth, I have been ever inclined to think it a very dangerous attempt, to endeavour to lessen the motives of right conduct, or to raise any fufpicion concerning their folidity. The tempers and difpolitions of man

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$52. Diffimulation to be feared.

He who would take a cleanly, unfufpected way to ruin his adverfary, mult pave the way to his deftruction with fome courtefies of a lighter fort, the fenfe of which fhall take him off from his guard, his warinefs, and fufpicion, and fo lay him open to fuch a blow, as fhall deftroy him at once. The kilful rider ftrokes and pleases the unruly horfe, only that he may come fo near him, as to get the bit into his mouth, and then he rides, and rules, and domineers over him at his pleafure. So he who hates his enemy with a cunning equal to his malice, will not ftrain to do this or that good turn for him, fo long as it does not thwart, but rather promote the main defign of his utter fubverfion. For all this is but like the helping a man over the ftile, who is going to be hanged, which furely is no very great or difficult piece of civility.

In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, we read of one whom the grandees of the court procured to be made fecretary of state, only to break his back in the bufinefs of the Queen of Scots, whofe death they were then projecting. Like true courtiers, they firft engage him in that fatal fcene, and then defert him in it, ufing him only as a tool to do a prefent ftate job, and then to be reproached and ruined for what he had done. And a little obfervation of the world may fhew us, there is not only a courfe of beheading or hanging, but alfo of preferring men out of the way. But this is not to love an enemy, but to hate him more artificially. He is ruined more fpeciously indeed, but not

lefs efficacioufly, than if he been laid faft in a dungeon, or banished his coun try, or by a packed jury dispatched into another world. South's Sermons.

$ 53. Enthusiasm.

Though I rejoice in the hope of fees ing enthufiafm expelled from her reli gious dominions, let me intreat you to leave her in the undisturbed enjoyment of her civil poffeffions. To own the truth, I look upon enthufiafm, in all other points but that of religion, to be a very neceffary turn of mind; as in deed it is a vein which nature seems to have marked with more or less strength in the tempers of molt men. No mat ter what the object is, whether bufinefs, pleasures, or the fine arts; whos ever pursues them to any purpose must do fo con amore and inamoratos, you know, of every kind, are all enthufiafts. There is indeed a certain heightening faculty which univerfally prevails through our fpecies; and we are all of us, perhaps, in our feveral favourite purfuits, pretty much in the circumstances of the renowned knight of La Mancha, when he attacked the barber's brazen bafon, for Mambrino's golden helmet.

What is Tully's aliquid immenfum infinitumque, which he profeffes to afpire after in oratory, but a piece of true rhetorical Quixotifm? Yet never, I will venture to affirm, would he have glowed with fo much eloquence, had he been warmed with lefs enthusiasm. I am perfuaded indeed, that nothing great or glorious was ever performed, where this quality had not a principal concern; and as our paffions add vigour to our actions, enthusiasm gives fpirit to our paffions. I might add too, that it even opens and enlarges our capacities. Accordingly I have been informed, that one of the great lights of the prefent age never fits down to ftudy, till he has raifed his imagination by the power of mufic. For this purpofe he has a band of inftruments placed near his library, which play till he finds himself elevated to a proper height; upon which he gives a fignal, and they inftantly ceafe.

But

But thofe high conceits which are fuggefted by enthufiafm, contribute not only to the pleasure and perfection of the fine arts, but to most other effects of our action and industry. To ftrike this fpirit therefore out of the human conftitution, to reduce things to their precife philofophical ftandard, would be to check fome of the main wheels of fociety, and to fix half the world in an ufelefs apathy. For if enthufiafm did not add an imaginary value to most of the objects of our purfuit; if fancy did not give them their brighteft colours, they would generally, perhaps, wear an appearance too contemptible to excite defire:

Weary'd we should lie down in death,

This cheat of life would take no more, If you thought fame an empty breath, I Phillis but a perjur'd whore. PRIOR. In a word, this enthufiafm for which I am pleading, is a beneficent enchantrefs, who never exerts her magic but to our advantage, and only deals about her friendly fpells in order to raise imaginary beauties, or to improve real ones. The worst that can be faid of her is, that he is a kind deceiver and an obliging flatterer. Fitzofborne's Lett.

§ 54. Free thinking, the various Abufes committed by the Vulgar in this

Point.

The publication of lord Bolingbroke's pofthumous works has given new life and spirit to free-thinking. We feem at prefent to be endeavouring to unlearn our cathechifm, with all that we have been taught about religion, in order to model our faith to the fashion of his lordship's fyftem. We have now nothing to do, but to throw away our bibles, turn the churches into theatres, and rejoice that an act of parliament now in force gives us an opportunity of getting rid of the clergy by tranf portation. I was in hopes the extra ordinary price of thefe volumes would have confined their influence to perfons of quality. As they are placed above extreme indigence and abfolute want of bread, their loofe notions would have carried them no farther than cheating at cards, or perhaps plundering

their country but if thefe opinions fpread among the vulgar, we fhall be knocked down at noon-day in our ftreets, and nothing will go forward but robberies and murders.

The inftances I have lately feen of free-thinking in the lower part of the world, make me fear, they are going to be as fashionable and as wicked as their betters. I went the other night to the Robin Hood, where it is ufual for the advocates against religion to affemble, and openly avow their infidelity. One of the queftions for the night was, "Whether lord Bolingbroke had not done greater service to mankind by his writings, than the apoftles or evangelifts ?" As this fociety is chiefly compofed of lawyers clerks, petty tradefmen, and the loweft mechanics, I was at first furprized at fuch amazing erudition among them. Toland, Tindal, Collins, Chubb, and Mandeville, they feemed to have got by heart. A fhoe-maker harangued his five minutes upon the excellence of the tenets maintained by lord Bolingbroke; but I foon found that his reading had not been extended beyond the idea of a patriot king, which he had mistaken for a glorious fyftem of free-thinking. I could not help fmiling at another of the company, who took pains to fhew his difbelief of the gospel, by unfainting the apostles, and calling them by no other title than plain Paul or plain Peter. The proceedings of this fociety have indeed almoft induced me to with that (like the Roman Catholics) they were not permitted to read the bible, rather than they fhould read it only to abuse it.

I have frequently heard many wife tradefmen fettling the most important articles of our faith over a pint of beer. A baker took occasion from Canning's affair to maintain, in oppofition to the fcriptures, that man might live by bread alone, at least that woman might; "for elfe," faid he, "how "could the girl have been fupported "for a whole month by a few hard "crufts?" In answer to this, a barberfurgeon fet forth the improbabilityofthat ftory; and thence inferred, that it was impoffible for our Saviour to have fafted Y y 4

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fers by bad fortune, but he who has been deceived by good. If we grow fond of her gifts, fancy that they belong to us, and are perpetually to remain with us; if we lean upon them, and expect to be confidered for them; we fhall fink into all the bitterness of grief as foon as these false and tranfitory benefits pafs away, as foon as our vain and childish minds, unfraught with folid pleafures, become deftitute even of thofe which are imaginary. But, if we do not fuffer ourselves to be tranfported with profperity, neither fhall we be reduced by adverfity. Our fouls will be proof against the dangers of both thefe ftates: and having explored our ftrength, we fhall be fure of it; for in the midst of felicity, we shall have tried how we can bear misfortune.

Her Evils difarmed by Patience. Banishment, with all its train of evils, is fo far from being the caufe of contempt, that he who bears up with an, undaunted spirit against them, while fo many are dejected by them, erects on his very misfortune a trophy to his honour for fuch is the frame and temper of our minds, that nothing ftrikes us with greater admiration than a man intrepid in the midst of misfortunes. Of all ignominies, an ignominious death must be allowed to be the greateft; and yet where is the blafphemer who will prefume to defame the death of Socrates? This faint entered the prifon with the fame countenance with which he reduced thirty tyrants, and he took off ignominy from the place; for how could it be deemed a prifon when Socrates was there? Ariftides was led to execution in the fame city; all those who met the fad proceffion, caft their eyes to the ground, and with throbbing hearts bewailed, not the innocent man, but Juftice herfelf, who was in him condemned. Yet there was a wretch found, for monfters are fome times produced in contradiction to the ordinary rules of nature, who fpit in his face as he paffed along. Ariftides wiped his cheek, fmiled, turned to the magistrate, and said, Admonish this man not to be fo nafty for the fu

ture."

Ignominy then can take no hold on virtue; for virtue is in every condition the fame, and challenges the fame refpect. We applaud the world when the profpers; and when the falls into adverfity we applaud her. Like the temples of the gods, fhe is venerable even in her ruins. After this, muft it not appear a degree of madness to defer one moment acquiring the only arms capable of defending us against attacks, which at every moment we are expofed to? Our being miferable, or not miferable, when we fall into misfortunes, depends on the manner in which we have enjoyed profperity. Bolingbroke. § 56. Delicacy, conftitutional, and often dangerous.

Some people are fubject to a certain delicacy of paffion, which makes them extremely fenfible to all the accidents of life, and gives them a lively joy upon every profperous event, as well as a piercing grief, when they meet with croffes and adverfity. Favours and good offices eafily engage their friendfhip, while the fmalleft injury provokes their refentment. Any honour or mark of diftinction elevates them above meafure; but they are as fenfibly touched with contempt. People of this character have, no doubt, much more lively enjoyments, as well as more pungent forrows, than men of cool and fedate tempers: but I believe, when every thing is ballanced, there is no one, who would not rather chufe to be of the latter character, were he entirely mafter of his own difpofition. Good or ill fortune is very little at our own difpofal: and when a perfon who has this fenfibility of temper meets with any misfortune, his forrow or refentment takes entire poffeffion of him, and deprives him of all relish in the common occurrences of life, the right enjoyment of which forms the greatest part of our happiness. Great pleasures are much lefs frequent than great pains; fo that a fenfible temper cannot meet with fewer trials in the former way than in the latter: not to mention, that men of fuch lively paffions are apt to be tranfported beyond all bounds of prudence and difcretion, and to take

falfe