Italian
Wits have applied themselves to the Writing of
this latter kind of Fables: As
Spencer's Fairy-Queen
is one
continued Series of them from the Beginning to the End of that admirable
Work. If we look into the finest Prose Authors of Antiquity, such as
Cicero
,
Plato
,
Xenophon
, and many others, we shall
find that this was likewise their Favourite Kind of Fable. I shall only
further observe upon it, that the first of this Sort that made any
considerable Figure in the World,
that of
Hercules
meeting
with Pleasure and Virtue; which was invented by
Prodicus
, who
lived before
Socrates
, and in the first Dawnings of Philosophy.
He used to travel through
Greece
by vertue of this Fable, which
procured him a kind Reception in all the Market-towns, where he never
failed telling it as soon as he had gathered an Audience about him
.
After this short Preface, which I have made up of such Materials as my
Memory does at present suggest to me, before I present my Reader with a
Fable of this Kind, which I design as the Entertainment of the present
Paper, I must in a few Words open the Occasion of it.
In the Account which
Plato
gives us of the Conversation and
Behaviour of
Socrates
, the Morning he was to die, he tells the
following Circumstance.
When Socrates his Fetters were knocked off (as was usual to be done on
the Day that the condemned Person was to be executed) being seated in
the midst of his Disciples, and laying one of his Legs over the other,
in a very unconcerned Posture, he began to rub it where it had been
galled by the Iron; and whether it was to shew the Indifference with
which he entertained \the Thoughts of his approaching Death, or (after
his usual Manner) to take every Occasion of Philosophizing upon some
useful Subject, he observed the Pleasure of that Sensation which now
arose in those very Parts of his Leg, that just before had been so much
pained by the Fetter. Upon this he reflected on the Nature of Pleasure
and Pain in general, and how constantly they succeeded one another. To
this he added,
if a Man of a good Genius for a Fable were to
represent the Nature of Pleasure and Pain in that Way of Writing, he
would probably join them together after such a manner, that it would be
impossible for the one to come into any Place without being followed by
the other
.
I
t is possible, that if Plato had thought it proper at such a Time to
describe Socrates launching out into a Discourse
which
was not of
a piece with the Business of the Day, he would have enlarged upon this
Hint, and have drawn it out into some beautiful Allegory or Fable. But
since he has not done it, I shall attempt to write one myself in the
Spirit of that Divine Author.
There were two Families which from the Beginning of the World were as
opposite to each other as Light and Darkness. The one of them lived in
Heaven, and the other in Hell. The youngest Descendant of the first
Family was Pleasure, who was the Daughter of Happiness, who was the
Child of Virtue, who was the Offspring of the Gods. These, as I said
before,
had their Habitation in Heaven.
The youngest of the opposite
Family was Pain, who was the Son of Misery, who was the Child of Vice,
who was the Offspring of the Furies. The Habitation of this Race of
Beings was in Hell.
The middle Station of Nature between these two opposite Extremes was the
Earth, which was inhabited by Creatures of a middle Kind, neither so
Virtuous as the one, nor so Vicious as the other, but partaking of the
good and bad Qualities of these two opposite Families.
Jupiter
considering that this Species commonly called Man, was too virtuous
to be miserable, and too vicious to be happy; that he might make a
Distinction between the Good and the Bad, ordered the two youngest of
the above-mentioned Families, Pleasure who was the Daughter of
Happiness, and Pain who was the Son of Misery, to meet one another upon
this Part of Nature which lay in the half-Way between them, having
promised to settle it upon them both, provided they could agree upon the
Division of it, so as to share Mankind between them.
Pleasure and Pain were no sooner met in their new Habitation, but they
immediately agreed upon this Point, that Pleasure should take Possession
of the Virtuous, and Pain of the Vicious Part of that Species which was
given up to them. But upon examining to which of them any Individual
they met with belonged, they found each of them had a Right to him; for
that, contrary to what they had seen in their old Places of Residence,
there was no Person so Vicious who had not some Good in him, nor any
Person so Virtuous who had not in him some Evil. The Truth of it is,
they generally found upon Search, that in the most vicious Man Pleasure
might lay a Claim to an hundredth Part, and that in the most virtuous
Man Pain might come in for at least two Thirds. This they saw would
occasion endless Disputes between them, unless they could come to some
Accommodation. To this end there was a Marriage proposed between them,
and at length concluded: By this means it is that we find Pleasure and
Pain are such constant Yoke-fellows, and that they either make their
Visits together, or are never far asunder. If Pain comes into an Heart,
he is quickly followed by Pleasure; and if Pleasure enters, you may be
sure Pain is not far off.
But notwithstanding this Marriage was very convenient for the two
Parties, it did not seem to answer the Intention of
Jupiter
in
sending them among Mankind. To remedy therefore this Inconvenience, it
was stipulated between them by Article, and confirmed by the Consent of
each Family, that notwithstanding they here possessed the Species
indifferently; upon the Death of every single Person, if he was found to
have in him a certain Proportion of Evil, he should be dispatched into
the infernal Regions by a Passport from Pain, there to dwell with
Misery, Vice and the Furies. Or on the contrary, if he had in him a
certain Proportion of Good, he should be dispatched into Heaven by a
Passport from Pleasure, there to dwell with Happiness, Virtue and the
Gods.
L.
Judges
ix. 8 — 15.
2 Sam
. xii. 1 — 4.
Livy
, Bk. II. sec. 32.
Xenophon's
Memorabilia Socratis
, Bk. II.
Phædon
, § 10.
that
Contents
Contents p.7
|
Monday,
October 1, 1711 |
Addison |
... Opere in longo fas est obrepere somnum ...
Hor.
When a Man has discovered a new Vein of Humour, it often carries him
much further than he expected from it. My Correspondents take the Hint I
give them, and pursue it into Speculations which I never thought of at
my first starting it. This has been the Fate of my Paper on the Match of
Grinning, which has already produced a second Paper on parallel
Subjects, and brought me the following Letter by the last Post. I shall
not premise any thing to it further than that it is built on Matter of
Fact, and is as follows.
Sir,
'You have already obliged the World with a Discourse upon Grinning,
and have since proceeded to Whistling, from
whence you
at length came1 to Yawning; from this, I think, you may make a very natural
Transition to Sleeping. I therefore recommend to you for the Subject
of a Paper the following Advertisement, which about two Months ago was
given into every Body's Hands, and may be seen with some Additions in
the
Daily Courant of August the Ninth.
'
Nicholas Hart
2, who slept last Year in St. Bartholomew's
Hospital, intends to sleep this Year at the Cock and Bottle in
Little-Britain.'
Having since inquired into the Matter of Fact, I find that the
above-mentioned Nicholas Hart is every Year seized with a periodical
Fit of Sleeping, which begins upon the Fifth of August, and ends on
the Eleventh of the same Month: That
- On the First of that Month he grew dull;
- On the Second, appeared drowsy;
- On the Third, fell a yawning;
- On the Fourth, began to nod;
- On the Fifth, dropped asleep;
- On the Sixth, was heard to snore;
- On the Seventh, turned himself in his Bed;
- On the Eighth, recovered his former Posture;
- On the Ninth fell a stretching;
- On the Tenth about Midnight, awaked;
- On the Eleventh in the Morning called for a little Small-Beer.
This Account I have extracted out of the Journal of this sleeping
Worthy, as it has been faithfully kept by a Gentleman of
Lincoln's-Inn, who has undertaken to be his Historiographer. I
have sent it to you, not only as it represents the Actions of
Nicholas Hart, but as it seems a very natural Picture of the
Life of many an honest
English Gentleman, whose whole History
very often consists of Yawning, Nodding, Stretching, Turning,
Sleeping, Drinking, and the like extraordinary Particulars. I do not
question, Sir, that, if you pleased, you could put out an
Advertisement not unlike
the3 above-mentioned, of several Men of
Figure; that Mr.
John such-a-one, Gentleman, or
Thomas
such-a-one, Esquire, who slept in the Country last Summer, intends to
sleep in Town this Winter. The worst of it is, that the drowsy Part of
our Species is chiefly made up of very honest Gentlemen, who live
quietly among their Neighbours, without ever disturbing the publick
Peace: They are Drones without Stings. I could heartily wish, that
several turbulent, restless, ambitious Spirits, would for a while
change Places with these good Men, and enter themselves into
Nicholas Hart's Fraternity. Could one but lay asleep a few busy
Heads which I could name, from the First of
November next to
the
First of
May ensuing
4, I question not but it would very
much redound to the Quiet of particular Persons, as well as to the
Benefit of the Publick.
But to return to
Nicholas Hart: I believe, Sir, you will think
it a very extraordinary Circumstance for a Man to gain his Livelihood
by Sleeping, and that Rest should procure a Man Sustenance as well as
Industry; yet so it is that Nicholas got last Year enough to support
himself for a Twelvemonth. I am likewise informed that he has this
Year had a very comfortable Nap. The Poets value themselves very much
for sleeping on Parnassus, but I never heard they got a Groat by it:
On the contrary, our Friend Nicholas gets more by Sleeping than he
could by Working, and may be more properly said, than ever Homer was,
to have had Golden Dreams. Fuvenal indeed mentions a drowsy Husband
who raised an Estate by Snoring, but then he is represented to have
slept what the common People call a Dog's Sleep; or if his Sleep was
real, his Wife was awake, and about her Business.
Your Pen,
which5 loves to moralize upon all Subjects, may raise something,
methinks, on this Circumstance also, and point out to us those Sets of
Men, who instead of growing rich by an honest Industry, recommend
themselves to the Favours of the Great, by making themselves agreeable
Companions in the Participations of Luxury and Pleasure.
I must further acquaint you, Sir, that one of the most eminent Pens in
Grub-street is now employed in Writing the Dream of this miraculous
Sleeper, which I hear will be of a more than ordinary Length, as it
must contain all the Particulars that are supposed to have passed in
his Imagination during so long a Sleep. He is said to have gone
already through three Days and
three Nights of it, and to have
comprised in them the most remarkable Passages of the four first
Empires of the World. If he can keep free from Party-Strokes, his Work
may be of Use; but this I much doubt, having been informed by one of
his Friends and Confidents, that he has spoken some things of Nimrod
with too great Freedom.
I am ever, Sir, &c.
L.
are at length come
Nicholas Hart, born at Leyden, was at this time 22 years
old, one of ten children of a learned mathematician who for two years
had been a tutor to King William. Nicholas was a sailor from the age of
twelve, and no scholar, although he spoke French, Dutch, and English. He
was a patient at St. Bartholomew's for stone and gravel some weeks
before, and on the 3rd of August, 1711, set his mark to an account of
himself, when he expected to fall asleep on the fifth of August, two
days later. His account was also signed by 'William Hill, Sen. No. I.
Lincoln's Inn,' the 'Gentleman of 'Lincoln's Inn,' presently alluded to.
that
That is, when Parliament is sitting.
that
Contents
Contents p.7
|
Tuesday,
October 2, 1711 |
Addison |
... Tantæne Animis cœlestibus Iræ?
Virg.
There is nothing in which Men more deceive themselves than in what the
World calls Zeal. There are so many Passions which hide themselves under
it, and so many Mischiefs arising from it, that some have gone so far as
to say it would have been for the Benefit of Mankind if it had never
been reckoned in the Catalogue of Virtues. It is certain, where it is
once Laudable and Prudential, it is an hundred times Criminal and
Erroneous; nor can it be otherwise, if we consider that it operates with
equal Violence in all Religions, however opposite they may be to one
another, and in all the Subdivisions of each Religion in particular.
We are told by some of the Jewish Rabbins, that the first Murder was
occasioned by a religious Controversy; and if we had the whole History
of Zeal from the Days of Cain to our own Times, we should see it filled
with so many Scenes of Slaughter and Bloodshed, as would make a wise Man
very careful how he suffers himself to be actuated by such a Principle,
when it only regards Matters of Opinion and Speculation.
I would have every Zealous Man examine his Heart thoroughly, and, I
believe, he will often find, that what he calls a Zeal for his Religion,
is either Pride,
, or Ill-nature.
A Man who
differs from
another in Opinion, sets himself above him in his own Judgment, and in
several Particulars pretends to be the wiser Person. This is a great
Provocation to the proud Man, and gives a very keen Edge to what he
calls his Zeal. And that this is the Case very often, we may observe
from the Behaviour of some of the most zealous for Orthodoxy, who have
often great Friendships and Intimacies with vicious immoral Men,
provided they do but agree with them in the same Scheme of Belief. The
Reason is, Because the vicious Believer gives the Precedency to the
virtuous Man, and allows the good Christian to be the worthier Person,
at the same time that he cannot come up to his Perfections. This we find
exemplified in that trite Passage which we see quoted in almost every
System of Ethicks, tho' upon another Occasion.
... Video meliora proboque,
Deteriora sequor ...
(Ov.)
On the contrary, it is certain, if our Zeal were true and genuine, we
should be much more angry with a Sinner than a Heretick; since
are
several Cases
which
may excuse the latter before his great Judge,
but none
which
can excuse the former.
Interest is likewise a great Inflamer, and sets a Man on Persecution
under the colour of Zeal. For this Reason we find none are so forward to
promote the true Worship by Fire and Sword, as those who find their
present Account in it. But I shall extend the Word Interest to a larger
Meaning than what is generally given it, as it relates to our Spiritual
Safety and Welfare, as well as to our Temporal. A Man is glad to gain
Numbers on his Side, as they serve to strengthen him in his private
Opinions. Every Proselyte is like a new Argument for the Establishment
of his Faith. It makes him believe that his Principles carry Conviction
with them, and are the more likely to be true, when he finds they are
conformable to the Reason of others, as well as to his own. And that
this Temper of Mind deludes a Man very often into an Opinion of his
Zeal, may appear from the common Behaviour of the Atheist, who maintains
and spreads his Opinions with as much Heat as those who believe they do
it only out of Passion for God's Glory.
Ill-nature is another dreadful Imitator of Zeal. Many a good Man may
have a natural Rancour and Malice in
Heart,
which
has been in
some measure quelled and subdued by Religion; but if it finds any
Pretence of breaking out, which does not seem to him inconsistent with
the Duties of a Christian, it throws off all Restraint, and rages in its
full Fury. Zeal is therefore a great Ease to a malicious Man, by making
him believe he does God Service, whilst he is gratifying the Bent of a
perverse revengeful Temper. For this Reason we find, that most of the
Massacres
Devastations,
which
have been in the World, have
taken their Rise from a furious pretended Zeal.
I love to see a Man zealous in a good Matter, and especially when his
Zeal shews it self for advancing Morality, and promoting the Happiness
of Mankind: But when I find the Instruments he works with are Racks and
Gibbets, Gallies and Dungeons; when he imprisons Mens Persons,
confiscates their Estates, ruins their Families, and burns the Body to
save the Soul, I cannot stick to pronounce of such a one, that (whatever
he may think of his Faith and Religion) his Faith is vain, and his
Religion unprofitable.
After having treated of these false Zealots in Religion, I cannot
forbear mentioning a monstrous Species of Men, who one would not think
had any Existence in Nature, were they not to be met with in ordinary
Conversation, I mean the Zealots in Atheism. One would fancy that these
Men, tho' they fall short, in every other Respect, of those who make a
Profession of Religion, would at least outshine them in this Particular,
and be exempt from that single Fault which seems to grow out of the
imprudent Fervours of Religion: But so it is, that Infidelity is
propagated with as much Fierceness and Contention, Wrath and
Indignation, as if the Safety of Mankind depended upon it. There is
something so ridiculous and perverse in this kind of Zealots, that one
does not know how to set them out in their proper Colours.
are a
Sort of Gamesters
who
are eternally upon the Fret, though they
play for nothing. They are perpetually teizing their Friends to come
over to them, though at the same time they allow that neither of them
shall get any thing by the Bargain. In short, the Zeal of spreading
Atheism is, if possible, more absurd than Atheism it self.
Since I have mentioned this unaccountable Zeal which appears in Atheists
and Infidels, I must further observe that they are likewise in a most
particular manner possessed with the Spirit of Bigotry. They are wedded
to Opinions full of Contradiction and Impossibility, and at the same
time look upon the smallest Difficulty in an Article of Faith as a
sufficient Reason for rejecting it. Notions that fall in with the common
Reason of Mankind, that are conformable to the Sense of all Ages and all
Nations, not to mention their Tendency for promoting the Happiness of
Societies, or of particular Persons, are exploded as Errors and
Prejudices; and Schemes erected in their stead that are altogether
monstrous and irrational, and require the most extravagant Credulity to
embrace them. I would fain ask one of these bigotted Infidels, supposing
all the great Points of Atheism, as the casual or eternal Formation of
the World, the Materiality of a thinking Substance, the Mortality of the
Soul, the fortuitous Organization of the Body, the Motions and
Gravitation of Matter, with the like Particulars, were laid together
formed
into
a kind of Creed, according to the Opinions of the most
celebrated Atheists; I say, supposing such a Creed as this were formed,
and imposed upon any one People in the World, whether it would not
require an infinitely greater Measure of Faith, than any Set of Articles
which they so violently oppose. Let me therefore advise this Generation
of Wranglers, for their own and for the publick Good, to act at least so
consistently with themselves, as not to burn with Zeal for Irreligion,
and with Bigotry for Nonsense.
C.
The Man that
that
that
that
that
that
in
Contents
Contents p.7
|
Wednesday,
October 3, 1711 |
Addison |
Cœlum ipsum petimus stultitiâ.
Hor.
Upon my Return to my Lodgings last Night I found a Letter from my worthy
Friend the Clergyman, whom I have given some Account of in my former
Papers. He tells me in it that he was particularly pleased with the
latter Part of my Yesterday's Speculation; and at the same time enclosed
the following Essay, which he desires me to publish as the Sequel of
that Discourse. It consists partly of uncommon Reflections, and partly
of such as have been already used, but now set in a stronger Light.
'A Believer may be excused by the most hardened Atheist for
endeavouring to make him a Convert, because he does it with an Eye to
both their Interests. The Atheist is inexcusable who tries to gain
over a Believer, because he does not propose the doing himself or the
Believer any Good by such a Conversion.
The Prospect of a future State is the secret Comfort and Refreshment
of my Soul; it is that which makes Nature look gay about me; it
doubles all my Pleasures, and supports me under all my Afflictions. I
can look at Disappointments and Misfortunes, Pain and Sickness, Death
itself, and, what is worse than Death, the Loss of those who are
dearest to me, with Indifference, so long as I keep in view the
Pleasures of Eternity, and the State of Being in which there will be
no Fears nor Apprehensions, Pains nor Sorrows, Sickness nor
Separation. Why will any Man be so impertinently Officious as to tell
me all this is only Fancy and Delusion? Is there any Merit in being
the Messenger of ill News? If it is a Dream, let me enjoy it, since it
makes me both the happier and better Man.
I must confess I do not know how to trust a Man
who1 believes
neither Heaven nor Hell, or, in other Words, a future State of Rewards
and Punishments. Not only natural Self-love, but Reason directs us to
promote our own Interest above all Things. It can never be for the
Interest of a Believer to do me a Mischief, because he is sure upon
the Balance of Accompts to find himself a Loser by it. On the
contrary, if he considers his own Welfare in his Behaviour towards me,
it will lead him to do me all the Good he can, and at the same Time
restrain him from doing me any Injury. An Unbeliever does not act like
a reasonable Creature, if he favours me contrary to his present
Interest, or does not distress me when it turns to his present
Advantage. Honour and Good-nature may indeed tie up his Hands; but as
these would be very much strengthened by Reason and Principle, so
without them they are only Instincts, or
wavering unsettled Notions,
which2 rest on no Foundation.
Infidelity has been attack'd with so good Success of late Years, that
it is driven out of all its Out-works. The Atheist has not found his
Post tenable, and is therefore retired into Deism, and a Disbelief of
revealed Religion only. But the Truth of it is, the greatest Number of
this Set of Men, are those who, for want of a virtuous Education, or
examining the Grounds of Religion, know so very little of the Matter
in Question, that their Infidelity is but another Term for their
Ignorance.
As Folly and Inconsiderateness are the Foundations of Infidelity, the
great Pillars and Supports of it are either a Vanity of appearing
wiser than the rest of Mankind, or an Ostentation of Courage in
despising the Terrors of another World, which have so great an
Influence on what they call weaker Minds; or an Aversion to a Belief
that must cut them off from many of those Pleasures they propose to
themselves, and fill them with Remorse for many of those they have
already tasted.
The great received Articles of the Christian Religion have been so
clearly proved, from the Authority of that Divine Revelation in which
they are delivered, that it is impossible for those who have Ears to
hear, and Eyes to see, not to be convinced of them. But were it
possible for any thing in the Christian Faith to be erroneous, I can
find no ill Consequences in adhering to it. The great Points of the
Incarnation and Sufferings of our Saviour produce naturally such
Habits of Virtue in the Mind of Man, that I say, supposing it were
possible for us to be mistaken in them, the Infidel himself must at
least allow that no other System of Religion could so effectually
contribute to the heightning of Morality. They give us great Ideas of
the Dignity of human Nature, and of the Love which the Supreme Being
bears to his Creatures, and consequently engage us in the highest Acts
of Duty towards our Creator, our Neighbour, and our selves. How many
noble Arguments has Saint Paul raised from the chief Articles of our
Religion, for the advancing of Morality in its three great Branches?
To give a single Example in each Kind: What can be a stronger Motive
to a firm Trust and Reliance on the Mercies of our Maker, than the
giving us his Son to suffer for us? What can make us love and esteem
even the most inconsiderable of Mankind more than the Thought that
Christ died for him? Or what dispose us to set a stricter Guard upon
the Purity of our own Hearts, than our being Members of Christ, and a
Part of the Society of which that immaculate Person is the Head? But
these are only a Specimen of those admirable Enforcements of Morality,
which the Apostle has drawn from the History of our blessed Saviour.
If our modern Infidels considered these Matters with that Candour and
Seriousness which they deserve, we should not see them act with such a
Spirit of Bitterness, Arrogance, and Malice: They would not be raising
such insignificant Cavils, Doubts, and Scruples, as may be started
against every thing that is not capable of mathematical Demonstration;
in order to unsettle the Minds of the Ignorant, disturb the publick
Peace, subvert Morality, and throw all things into Confusion and
Disorder. If none of these Reflections can have any Influence on them,
there is one that perhaps may, because it is adapted to their Vanity,
by which they seem to be guided much more than their Reason. I would
therefore have them consider, that the wisest and best of Men, in all
Ages of the World, have been those who lived up to the Religion of
their Country, when they saw nothing in it opposite to Morality, and
to the best Lights they had of the Divine Nature. Pythagoras's first
Rule directs us to worship the Gods as it is ordained by Law, for
that
is the most natural Interpretation of the Precept
3. Socrates, who
was the most renowned among the Heathens both for Wisdom and Virtue,
in his last Moments desires his Friends to offer a
Cock to
Æsculapius
4; doubtless out of a submissive Deference to the
established Worship of his Country. Xenophon tells us, that his Prince
(whom he sets forth as a Pattern of Perfection), when he found his
Death approaching, offered Sacrifices on the Mountains to the Persian
Jupiter, and the Sun, according to the Custom of the
Persians; for
those are the Words of the Historian
5. Nay, the Epicureans and
Atomical Philosophers shewed a very remarkable Modesty in this
Particular; for though the Being of a God was entirely repugnant to
their Schemes of natural Philosophy, they contented themselves with
the Denial of a Providence, asserting at the same Time the Existence
of Gods in general; because they would not shock the common Belief of
Mankind, and the Religion of their Country.'