following Letter is dated from
Cambridge
.
Sir ,
'Having lately read among your Speculations, an Essay upon
Phisiognomy, I cannot but think that if you made a Visit to this
ancient University, you might receive very considerable Lights upon
that Subject, there being scarce a young Fellow in it who does not
give certain Indications of his particular Humour and Disposition
conformable to the Rules of that Art. In Courts and Cities every body
lays a Constraint upon his Countenance, and endeavours to look like
the rest of the World; but the Youth of this Place, having not yet
formed themselves by Conversation, and the Knowledge of the World,
give their Limbs and Features their full Play.
'As you have considered Human Nature in all its Lights, you must be
extremely well apprized, that there is a very close Correspondence
between the outward and the inward Man; that scarce the least Dawning,
the least Parturiency towards a Thought can be stirring in the Mind of
Man, without producing a suitable Revolution in his Exteriors, which
will easily discover it self to an Adept in the Theory of the Phiz.
Hence it is, that the intrinsick Worth and Merit of a Son of Alma
Mater is ordinarily calculated from the Cast of his Visage, the
Contour of his Person, the Mechanism of his Dress, the Disposition of
his Limbs, the Manner of his Gate and Air, with a number of
Circumstances of equal Consequence and Information: The Practitioners
in this Art often make use of a Gentleman's Eyes to give 'em Light
into the Posture of his Brains; take a Handle from his Nose, to judge
of the Size of his Intellects; and interpret the over-much Visibility
and Pertness of one Ear, as an infallible mark of Reprobation, and a
Sign the Owner of so saucy a Member fears neither God nor Man. In
conformity to this Scheme, a contracted Brow, a lumpish down-cast
Look, a sober sedate Pace, with both Hands dangling quiet and steddy
in Lines exactly parallel to each Lateral Pocket of the Galligaskins,
is Logick, Metaphysicks and Mathematicks in Perfection. So likewise
the Belles Lettres are typified by a Saunter in the Gate; a Fall of
one Wing of the Peruke backward, an Insertion of one Hand in the Fobb,
and a negligent Swing of the other, with a Pinch of right and fine
Barcelona between Finger and Thumb, a due Quantity of the same upon
the upper Lip, and a Noddle-Case loaden with Pulvil. Again, a grave
solemn stalking Pace is Heroick Poetry, and Politicks; an Unequal one,
a Genius for the Ode, and the modern Ballad: and an open Breast, with
an audacious Display of the Holland Shirt, is construed a fatal
Tendency to the Art Military.
'I might be much larger upon these Hints, but I know whom I write to.
If you can graft any Speculation upon them, or turn them to the
Advantage of the Persons concerned in them, you will do a Work very
becoming the British Spectator, and oblige'
Your very Humble Servant,
Tom. Tweer.
Of the two letters which form this number the second is by
John Henley, known afterwards as 'Orator Henley,' of whom see a note to
[Volume 2 link:
.]
The European Magazine for July, 1787, says that the exact
copy of this Epitaph, which is on a Thomas Crouch, who died in 1679,
runs thus:
Aperiet Deus tumulos et educet nos de sepulchris
Qualis eram, dies isti hæc cum venerit, scies.
By John Henley.
Contents
|
Saturday, October 25, 1712 |
Addison |
Inde Hominum pecudumque genus, vitæque volantum,
Et quæ marmoreo fert Monstra sub æquore pontus.
Virg.
translation
Though there is a great deal of Pleasure in contemplating the material
World, by which I mean that System of Bodies into which Nature has so
curiously wrought the Mass of dead Matter, with the several Relations
which those Bodies bear to one another; there is still, methinks,
something more wonderful and surprizing in Contemplations on the World
of Life, by which I mean all those Animals with which every Part of the
Universe is furnished. The Material World is only the Shell of the
Universe: The World of Life are its Inhabitants.
If we consider those parts of the Material World which lie the nearest
to us, and are therefore subject to our Observations and Enquiries, it
is amazing to consider the Infinity of Animals with which it is stocked.
Every part of Matter is peopled: Every green Leaf swarms with
Inhabitants. There is scarce a single Humour in the Body of a Man, or of
any other Animal, in which our Glasses do not discover Myriads of living
Creatures. The Surface of Animals is also covered with other Animals,
which are in the same manner the Basis of other Animals, that live upon
it; nay, we find in the most solid Bodies, as in Marble it self,
innumerable Cells and Cavities that are crouded with such imperceptible
Inhabitants, as are too little for the naked Eye to discover. On the
other hand, if we look into the more bulky parts of Nature, we see the
Seas, Lakes and Rivers teeming with numberless kinds of living
Creatures: We find every Mountain and Marsh, Wilderness and Wood,
plentifully stocked with Birds and Beasts, and every part of Matter
affording proper Necessaries and Conveniencies for the Livelihood of
Multitudes which inhabit it.
Author of the
Plurality of Worlds
draws a very good Argument
from this Consideration, for the
peopling
of every Planet; as indeed
it seems very probable from the Analogy of Reason, that if no Part of
Matter, which we are acquainted with, lies waste and useless, those
great Bodies which are at such a Distance from us should not be desart
and unpeopled, but rather that they should be furnished with Beings
adapted to their respective Situations.
Existence is a Blessing to those Beings only which are endowed with
Perception, and is in a manner thrown away upon dead Matter, any further
than as it is subservient to Beings which are conscious of their
Existence. Accordingly we find, from the Bodies which lie under our
Observation, that Matter is only made as the Basis and Support of
Animals, and that there is no more of the one, than what is necessary
for the Existence of the other.
Infinite Goodness
of so communicative a nature, that it seems to
delight in the conferring of Existence upon every Degree of
Perceptive
Being. As this is a Speculation, which I have often pursued with
great Pleasure to my self, I shall enlarge farther upon it, by
considering that part of the Scale of Beings which comes within our
Knowledge.
There are some living Creatures which are raised but just above dead
Matter. To mention only that Species of Shell-fish, which are form'd in
the Fashion of a Cone, that grow to the Surface of several Rocks, and
immediately die upon their being sever'd from the Place where they grow.
There are many other Creatures but one Remove from these, which have no
other Sense besides that of Feeling and Taste. Others have still an
additional one of Hearing; others of Smell, and others of Sight. It is
wonderful to observe, by what a gradual Progress the World of Life
advances through a prodigious Variety of Species, before a Creature is
form'd that is compleat in all its Senses; and even among these there is
such a different Degree of Perfection in the Sense which one Animal
enjoys beyond what appears in another, that though the Sense in
different Animals be distinguished by the same common Denomination, it
seems almost of a different Nature. If after this we look into the
several inward Perfections of Cunning and Sagacity, or what we generally
call Instinct, we find them rising after the same Manner, imperceptibly
one above another, and receiving additional Improvements, according to
the Species in which they are implanted. This Progress in Nature is so
very gradual, that the most perfect of an inferior Species comes very
near to the most imperfect of that which is immediately above it.
The exuberant and overflowing Goodness of the Supreme Being, whose Mercy
extends to all his Works, is plainly seen, as I have before hinted, from
his having made so very little Matter, at least what falls within our
Knowledge, that does not swarm with Life: Nor is his Goodness less seen
in the Diversity, than in the Multitude of living Creatures. Had he only
made one Species of Animals, none of the rest would have enjoyed the
Happiness of Existence; he has, therefore,
specified
in his Creation
every degree of Life, every Capacity of Being. The whole Chasm in
Nature, from a Plant to a Man, is filled up with diverse Kinds of
Creatures, rising one over another, by such a gentle and easy Ascent,
that the little Transitions and Deviations from one Species to another,
are almost insensible. This intermediate Space is so well husbanded and
managed, that there is scarce a degree of Perception which does not
appear in some one part of the World of Life. Is the Goodness, or Wisdom
of the divine Being, more manifested in this his Proceeding?
There is a Consequence, besides those I have already mentioned, which
seems very naturally deducible from the foregoing Considerations. If the
Scale of Being rises by such a regular Progress, so high as Man, we may
by a parity of Reason suppose that it still proceeds gradually through
those Beings which are of a Superior Nature to him; since there is an
infinitely greater space and room for different Degrees of Perfection,
between the Supreme Being and Man, than between Man and the most
despicable Insect. This
of so great a variety of Beings
which are superior to us, from that variety which is inferior to us, is
made by Mr.
Lock
, in a Passage which I shall here set down, after
having premised, that notwithstanding there is such infinite room
between Man and his Maker for the Creative Power to exert it self in, it
is impossible that it should ever be filled up, since there will be
still an infinite Gap or Distance between the highest created Being, and
the Power which produced him.
That there should be more Species
of intelligent Creatures above
us, than there are of sensible and material below us, is probable to
me from hence; That in all the visible corporeal World, we see no
Chasms, or no Gaps. All quite down from us, the descent is by easy
steps, and a continued Series of things, that in each remove differ
very little one from the other. There are Fishes that have Wings, and
are not Strangers to the airy Region: and there are some Birds, that
are Inhabitants of the Water; whose Blood is cold as Fishes, and their
Flesh so like in taste, that the Scrupulous are allowed them on
Fish-days. There are Animals so near of kin both to Birds and Beasts,
that they are in the middle between both: Amphibious Animals link the
Terrestrial and Aquatick together; Seals live at Land and at Sea, and
Porpoises have the warm Blood and Entrails of a Hog; not to mention
what is confidently reported of Mermaids or Sea-Men. There are some
Brutes, that seem to have as much Knowledge and Reason, as some that
are called Men; and the Animal and Vegetable Kingdoms are so nearly
join'd, that if you will take the lowest of one, and the highest of
the other, there will scarce be perceived any great difference between
them: and so on till we come to the lowest and the most inorganical
parts of Matter, we shall find every where that the several Species
are linked together, and differ but in almost insensible degrees. And
when we consider the infinite Power and Wisdom of the Maker, we have
reason to think that it is suitable to the magnificent Harmony of the
Universe, and the great Design and infinite Goodness of the Architect,
that the Species
of Creatures should also, by gentle degrees, ascend
upward from us towards his infinite Perfection, as we see they
gradually descend from us downwards: Which if it be probable, we have
reason then to be persuaded, that there are far more Species
of
Creatures above us, than there are beneath; we being in degrees of
Perfection much more remote from the infinite Being of God, than we
are from the lowest State of Being, and that which approaches nearest
to nothing. And yet of all those distinct Species, we have no clear
distinct Ideas
3.
In this System of Being, there is no Creature so wonderful in its
Nature, and which so much deserves our particular Attention, as Man, who
fills up the middle Space between the Animal and Intellectual Nature,
the visible and invisible World, and is that Link in the Chain of
Beings, which has been often termed the
nexus utriusque Mundi
. So that
he who in one respect is associated with Angels and Arch-Angels, may
look upon a Being of infinitei Perfection as his Father, and the highest
Order of Spirits as his Brethren,
in another respect say to
Corruption, thou art my Father, and to the Worm, thou art my Mother and
my Sister
.
Fontenelle,
Entretiens sur la Pluralité des Mondes
.
Troisième Soir.
Preceptive
and in first reprint.
Essay concerning Human Understanding
, Bk. III. ch. vi. §
12.
Job
. xvii. 14.
Contents
|
Monday, October 27, 1712 |
Francham1 |
Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus
Tant chari capitis!
Hor.
translation
Mr. SPECTATOR,
'The just Value you have expressed for the Matrimonial State, is the
Reason that I now venture to write to you, without Fear of being
ridiculous; and confess to you, that though it is three Months since I
lost a very agreeable Woman, who was my Wife, my Sorrow is still
fresh; and I am often, in the midst of Company, upon any Circumstance
that revives her Memory, with a Reflection what she would say or do on
such an Occasion: I say, upon any Occurrence of that Nature, which I
can give you a Sense of, though I cannot express it wholly, I am all
over Softness, and am obliged to retire, and give Way to a few Sighs
and Tears, before I can be easy. I cannot but recommend the Subject of
Male Widowhood to you, and beg of you to touch upon it by the first
Opportunity. To those who have not lived like Husbands during the
Lives of their Spouses, this would be a tasteless Jumble of Words; but
to such (of whom there are not a few) who have enjoyed that State with
the Sentiments proper for it, you will have every Line, which hits the
Sorrow, attended with a Tear of Pity and Consolation. For I know not
by what Goodness of Providence it is, that every Gush of Passion is a
step towards the Relief of it; and there is a certain Comfort in the
very Act of Sorrowing, which, I suppose, arises from a secret
Consciousness in the Mind, that the Affliction it is under flows from
a virtuous Cause. My Concern is not indeed so outragious as at the
first Transport; for I think it has subsided rather into a soberer
State of Mind, than any actual Perturbation of Spirit. There might be
Rules formed for Men's Behaviour on this great Incident, to bring them
from that Misfortune into the Condition I am at present; which is, I
think, that my Sorrow has converted all Roughness of Temper into
Meekness, Good-nature, and Complacency: But indeed, when in a serious
and lonely Hour I present my departed Consort to my Imagination, with
that Air of Perswasion in her Countenance when I have been in Passion,
that sweet Affability when I have been in good Humour, that tender
Compassion when I have had any thing which gave me Uneasiness; I
confess to you I am inconsolable, and my Eyes gush with Grief as if I
had seen her but just then expire. In this Condition I am broken in
upon by a charming young Woman, my Daughter, who is the Picture of
what her Mother was on her Wedding-Day. The good Girl strives to
comfort me; but how shall I let you know that all the Comfort she
gives me is to make my Tears flow more easily? The Child knows she
quickens my Sorrows, and rejoices my Heart at the same Time. Oh, ye
Learned! tell me by what Word to speak a Motion of the Soul, for which
there is no name. When she kneels and bids me be comforted, she is my
Child; when I take her in my Arms, and bid her say no more, she is my
very Wife, and is the very Comforter I lament the Loss of. I banish
her the Room, and weep aloud that I have lost her Mother, and that I
have her.
'
Mr. SPECTATOR, I wish it were possible for you to have a Sense of
these pleasing Perplexities; you might communicate to the guilty part
of Mankind, that they are incapable of the Happiness which is in the
very Sorrows of the Virtuous.
'But pray spare me a little longer; give me Leave to tell you the
Manner of her Death. She took leave of all her Family, and bore the
vain Application of Medicines with the greatest Patience imaginable.
When the Physician told her she must certainly die, she de
Sir ed, as
well as she could, that all who were present, except my self, might
depart the Room. She said she had nothing to say, for she was
resigned, and I knew all she knew that concerned us in this World; but
she de
Sir ed to be alone, that in the presence of God only she might,
without Interruption, do her last Duty to me, of thanking me for all
my Kindness to her; adding, that she hoped in my last Moments I should
feel the same Comfort for my Goodness to her, as she did in that she
had acquitted herself with Honour, Truth and Virtue to me.
'I curb my self, and will not tell you that this Kindness cut my Heart
in twain, when I expected an Accusation for some passionate Starts of
mine, in some Parts of our Time together, to say nothing, but thank me
for the Good, if there was any Good suitable to her own Excellence!
All that I had ever said to her, all the Circumstances of Sorrow and
Joy between us, crowded upon my Mind in the same Instant; and when
immediately after I saw the Pangs of Death come upon that dear Body
which I had often embraced with Transport, when I saw those cherishing
Eyes begin to be ghastly, and their last Struggle to be to fix
themselves on me, how did I lose all patience? She expired in my Arms,
and in my Distraction I thought I saw her Bosom still heave. There was
certainly Life yet still left; I cried she just now spoke to me: But
alas! I grew giddy, and all things moved about me from the Distemper
of my own Head; for the best of Women was breathless, and gone for
ever.
'Now the Doctrine I would, methinks, have you raise from this Account
I have given you is, That there is a certain Equanimity in those who
are good and just, which runs into their very Sorrow, and disappoints
the Force of it. Though they must pass through Afflictions in common
with all who are in human Nature, yet their conscious Integrity shall
undermine their Affliction; nay, that very Affliction shall add Force
to their Integrity, from a Reflection of the Use of Virtue in the Hour
of Affliction. I sat down with a Design to put you upon giving us
Rules how to overcome such Griefs as these, but I should rather advise
you to teach Men to be capable of them.
'You Men of Letters have what you call the fine Taste in their
Apprehensions of what is properly done or said: There is something
like this deeply grafted in the Soul of him who is honest and faithful
in all his Thoughts and Actions. Every thing which is false, vicious
or unworthy, is despicable to him, though all the World should approve
it. At the same time he has the most lively Sensibility in all
Enjoyments and Sufferings which it is proper for him to have, where
any Duty of Life is concerned. To want Sorrow when you in Decency and
Truth should be afflicted, is, I should think, a greater Instance of a
Man's being a Blockhead, than not to know the Beauty of any Passage in
Virgil. You have not yet observed,
Mr. SPECTATOR, that the fine
Gentlemen of this Age set up for Hardness of Heart, and Humanity has
very little share in their Pretences. He is a brave Fellow who is
always ready to kill a Man he hates, but he does not stand in the same
Degree of Esteem who laments for the Woman he loves. I should fancy
you might work up a thousand pretty Thoughts, by reflecting upon the
Persons most susceptible of the sort of Sorrow I have spoken of; and I
dare say you will find upon Examination, that they are the wisest and
the bravest of Mankind who are most capable of it.
I am,
Sir ,
Your most humble Servant,
F. J.
Norwich,
7∞ Octobris,
1712.
T.
The Mr. Francham who wrote this letter was of Norwich,
whence it is dated.
Contents
|
Tuesday, October 28, 1712 |
Steele |
Vera redit facies, dissimulata perit.
P. Arb.
translation
Mr. SPECTATOR,
I have been for many Years loud in this Assertion, That there are very
few that can see or hear, I mean that can report what they have seen
or heard; and this thro' Incapacity or Prejudice, one of which
disables almost every Man who talks to you from representing things as
he ought. For which Reason I am come to a Resolution of believing
nothing I hear; and I contemn the Men given to Narration under the
Appellation of a Matter of Fact Man: And according to me, a Matter of
Fact Man is one whose Life and Conversation is spent in the Report of
what is not Matter of Fact.
I remember when Prince
Eugene was here, there was no knowing his
Height or Figure, till you,
Mr. SPECTATOR, gave the Publick
Satisfaction in that Matter. In Relations, the Force of the Expression
lies very often more in the Look, the Tone of Voice, or the Gesture,
than the Words themselves; which being repeated in any other Manner by
the Undiscerning, bear a very different Interpretation from their
original Meaning. I must confess, I formerly have turn'd this Humour
of mine to very good Account; for whenever I heard any Narration
utter'd with extraordinary vehemence, and grounded upon considerable
Authority, I was always ready to lay any Wager that it was not so.
Indeed I never pretended to be so rash, as to fix the Matter in any
particular Way in Opposition to theirs; but as there are a hundred
Ways of any thing happening, besides that it has happen'd, I only
controverted its falling out in that one Manner as they settled it,
and left it to the Ninety nine other Ways, and consequently had more
Probability of Success. I had arrived at a particular skill in warming
a Man so far in his Narration, as to make him throw in a little of the
Marvelous, and then, if he has much Fire, the next Degree is the
Impossible. Now this is always the Time for fixing the Wager. But this
requires the nicest Management, otherwise very probably the Dispute
may arise to the old Determination by Battle. In these Conceits I have
been very fortunate, and have won some Wagers of those who have
professedly valued themselves upon Intelligence, and have put
themselves to great Charge and Expence to be misinformed considerably
sooner than the Rest of the World.
Having got a comfortable Sum by this my Opposition to publick Report,
I have brought my self now to so great a Perfection in Inattention,
more especially to Party Relations, that at the same time I seem with
greedy Ears to devour up the Discourse, I certainly don't know one
Word of it, but pursue my own Course of Thought, whether upon Business
or Amusement, with much Tranquility: I
say Inattention, because a late
Act of Parliament has secur'd all Party-Lyars from the Penalty of a
Wager
1, and consequently made it unprofitable to attend them.
However, good Breeding obliges a Man to maintain the Figure of the
keenest Attention, the true Posture of which in a Coffee-house I take
to consist in leaning over a Table, with the Edge of it pressing hard
upon your Stomach; for the more Pain the Narration is received with,
the more gracious is your bending over: Besides that the Narrator
thinks you forget your Pain by the Pleasure of hearing him.
Fort
Knock has occasioned several very perplexed and inelegant Heats
and Animosities; and there was one t'other day in a Coffee-house where
I was, that took upon him to clear that Business to me, for he said he
was there. I knew him to be that sort of Man that had not strength of
Capacity to be inform'd of any thing that depended merely upon his
being an Eye-Witness, and therefore was fully satisfied he could give
me no Information, for the very same Reason he believed he could, for
he was there. However, I heard him with the same Greediness as
Shakespear describes in the following Lines:
I saw a Smith stand on his Hammer, thus,
With open Mouth swallowing a Taylor's News.
I confess of late I have not been so much amazed at the Declaimers in
Coffee-houses as I formerly was, being satisfied that they expect to
be rewarded for their Vociferations. Of these Liars there are two
Sorts. The Genius of the first consists in much Impudence and a strong
Memory; the others have added to these Qualifications a good
Understanding and smooth Language. These therefore have only certain
Heads, which they are as eloquent upon as they can, and may be call'd
Embellishers; the others repeat only what they hear from others as
literally as their Parts or Zeal will permit, and are called Reciters.
Here was a Fellow in Town some Years ago, who used to divert himself
by telling a Lie at
Charing-Cross in the Morning at eight of
the
Clock, and then following it through all Parts of the Town till eight
at Night; at which time he came to a Club of his Friends, and diverted
them with an Account what Censure it had at
Will's in
Covent-Garden, how dangerous it was believed to be at
Child's, and what
Inference they drew from it with Relation to Stocks at
Jonathan's. I
have had the Honour to travel with this Gentleman I speak of in Search
of one of his Falshoods; and have been present when they have
described the very Man they have spoken to, as him who first reported
it, tall or short, black or fair, a Gentleman or a Raggamuffin,
according as they liked the Intelligence. I have heard one of our
ingenious Writers of News say, that when he has had a Customer come
with an Advertisement of an Apprentice or a Wife run away, he has
de
Sir ed the Advertiser to compose himself a little, before he dictated
the Description of the Offender: For when a Person is put into a
publick Paper by a Man who is angry with him, the real Description of
such Person is hid in the Deformity with which the angry Man described
him; therefore this Fellow always made his Customers describe him as
he would the Day before he offended, or else he was sure he would
never find him out. These and many other Hints I could suggest to you
for the Elucidation of all Fictions; but I leave it to your own
Sagacity to improve or neglect this Speculation.
I am, Sir ,
Your most obedient,
Humble Servant.
Postscript
to the
Spectator,
.
N. B. There are in the Play of the
Self-Tormentor
of
Terence's,
which is allowed a most excellent Comedy, several Incidents which would
draw Tears from any Man of Sense, and not one which would move his
Laughter.
T.
By 7 Anne, cap. 17, all wagers laid upon a contingency
relating to the war with France were declared void.
Contents
|
Wednesday, October 29, 1712 |
Steele |
—Adjuro nunquam eam me deserturum,
Non, si capiundos mihi sciam esse inimicos omneis homines.
Hanc mihi expetivi, contigit: conveniunt mores: valeant
Qui inter nos dissidium volunt: hanc, nisi mors,
Mi adimet nemo.
Ter.
translation
I should esteem my self a very happy Man, if my Speculations could in
the least contribute to the rectifying the Conduct of my Readers in one
of the most important Affairs of Life, to wit their Choice in Marriage.
This State is the Foundation of Community, and the chief Band of
Society; and I do not think I can be too frequent on Subjects which may
give Light to my unmarried Readers, in a particular which is so
essential to their following Happiness or Misery. A virtuous
Disposition, a good Understanding, an agreeable Person, and an easy
Fortune, are the things which should be chiefly regarded on this
Occasion. Because my present View is to direct a young Lady, who, I
think, is now in doubt whom to take of many Lovers, I shall talk at this
time to my female Reader. The Advantages, as I was going to say, of
Sense, Beauty and Riches, are what are certainly the chief Motives to a
prudent young Woman of Fortune for changing her Condition; but as she is
to have her Eye upon each of these, she is to ask herself whether the
Man who has most of these Recommendations in the Lump is not the most
de
Sir
able. He that has excellent Talents, with a moderate Estate, and an
agreeable Person, is preferable to him who is only rich, if it were only
that good Faculties may purchase Riches, but Riches cannot purchase
worthy Endowments. I do not mean that Wit, and a Capacity to entertain,
is what should be highly valued, except it is founded upon Good-nature
and Humanity. There are many ingenious Men, whose Abilities do little
else but make themselves and those about them uneasy: Such are those who
are far gone in the Pleasures of the Town, who cannot support Life
without quick Sensations and gay Reflections, and are Strangers to
Tranquility, to right Reason, and a calm Motion of Spirits without
Transport or Dejection.